Give Me Five Friday- {The New Guy!!!}

If you've missed it, here's the short version of Give me Five Friday. I like making lists. Every Friday I'll make a list. The only rule is it has to be five things.

He's only about 24 hours old, but I'm already learning things about him. So in honor of my new man, here's this week's five. (Warning: I'm currently still out of it, so this was really the best I could come up withhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh....oh sorry I think I fell asleep typing.)

{Five Things I alrealdy know about Collin}

1. He was born on 11/4/10 at 4:04 weighing 10.0 pounds. Notice the repeating numbers. He must be a math lover like me!

2. He's got the cutest sounding cry ever!!!

3. He's very big, and that's all I'll say about that.

4. His 4-D ultrasound picture was right on! Just look at the picture up top. Yep, that's definitely my guy.

5. He, much like his dad and brother, already has a strange power over me. I'm just a sucker for my Lankford boys!

Blessing #8- The Perks of Pregnancy

I have spent the past nine months of my life carrying my little guy. Many woman have told me that they love being pregnant. I myself would not go that far, but I do not dislike it. I guess I’m neutral, the Switzerland of pregnant women. Anyway, Lord willin’ this is my last day of this pregnancy. I'm so thankful, that everything has gone smoothly so far. Ultimately, that's the biggest blessing, but to mark the momentous occasion, I will let you know what other things I love about being pregnant.

1. Elastic waistbands are not only acceptable they are the norm.

2. Watching my son and husband talk to the little guy in my stomach.

3. Hankerins’- They aren’t as strong as cravings so I call them hankerins’. In the beginning of the pregnancy, I was convinced everything tasted better with a jalapeño on it, even ice cream. (I’m not joking. I tried it and loved it.)

4. When someone asks you how your are doing, you can be more honest than normal. It’s fine to say, “I’m feeling a little rough.” Notice, I said you could be MORE honest, not completely honest, just more honest. No one wants to know all the details. I don’t think the world could handle it.

5. During the entire nine months, you never once have to worry about sucking it in.

6. People are friendlier to pregnant women. I love how complete strangers smile at me and ask me how I’m feeling. Sometimes they may feel the need to share with me their own birthing horror story like, “I was in labor for 37 hours!!!” Overall though, the comments are great.

7. My favorite thing about being pregnant is you have the ultimate trump card line during pregnancy, “But honey, I’m pregnant!” Let me show the line used in context.

*** Did your husband park really far out into the store parking lot because he likes to look for money on the ground (another of Shad‘s quirks)? Look at him and use the line, “But honey, I’m pregnant!”

*** In conversation with your spouse
Spouse- “Sweetheart, you’ve been kind of moody today. In fact, I really think I saw your head spin around like Linda Blair in the Excorcist.”
Pregnant woman - “But honey, I’m pregnant!”

Note: This line has a limit of times it can be used before it looses its effectiveness. I don’t know how many it is. Shad would probably know that better than I would. I just know I passed it.

Project Life: October 25-31

Week 3 of Project Life and we are still going strong! If you want to join in you can link over at The Mom Creative. Hope you enjoy!



October 25 - This was my shower in a box. If you didn't read it I talked about it here.



October 26- Brandon got a hold of the camera again. So here's Brandon's view of life. Maybe I should get him photography lessons. Lesson 1: How to take a picture from a flattering angle.



October 27- No picture

October 28- My wedding ring is no longer fitting in the final stages of pregnancy. Brandon noticed this, and gave me a ring he got trick or treating at school. Nothing says love like a skeleton.

October 29- Let's play a game. I picked out two items in this outfit and B picked out two items in the outfit. Can you guess who picked what?

October 30- On Saturday, there was a small festival in our town. PNC bank had a booth where kids could dress up and take a picture of what they wanted to be when they grew up. B stood in front of a green screen for his picture, but when they gave him the picture the fire truck was in the background. This blew my four year old's mind. He kept looking back at the green screen wondering where the truck was.

October 31 - Since I had no Wednesday pictures, I did two Sunday pics. B thought this was absolutely hillarious.


October 31 (again)- I had to get an outfit for my littlest guy. He's only missing Halloween by a few days. My original plan for the outfit failed, but I ended up liking this one better.

Curse #2- Sowing and Reaping

I always knew the Biblical concept of sowing and reaping, but since I had a child I have lived this concept. Things I did to my mother, my son now does to me.

Shortly after learning the word "no," I refused to wear any of the ruffles and frills my mom tried to put on me. It wasn't me, and I would beg not to wear them. I’m sure my mom was disappointed, but she let me be me. This difference did not flare up again until Brandon was born. My mom wanted to dress him in sailor suits and things with smocking on them. Her argument was, "You can only dress them like this when they are babies." My argument was, "It's just not my style." Again, she was disappointed, but let me be me.

Recently, I have reaped those actions towards my mother in my son's life. When Brandon started pre-school, I got him several pairs of track pants. I thought they were more comfortable and would be perfect for fall, but B felt differently. After wearing the track pants for a few days, he started begging to wear his jeans. The first word out of his mouth every morning was, “Jeeeeeeeeeeans.“ I don't know why he doesn’t like these track pants, maybe he thinks they are pajamas. Occasionally, I can get him to wear them, but he asks to wear his jeans the entire time. Fortunately, I got all the track pants at yards sales. I think I may have spent $8 for all of them. It’s not a great loss, so I don’t force him to wear them. I pick my battles, and jeans versus track pants is a battle I don’t care to fight. I'll just take a cue from my mom and let B be B. (Read that sentence out loud. It's a tongue twister.)

Now his jean preferences are even more specific. He has “big” jeans and “small” jeans. Let me show you some examples. (Note: In both pictures his pants are above his "construction" boots. He's been wearing these boots for three weeks now. In the beginning I cared and would fix them. After three weeks, I no longer care.)

These are "Big Jeans"




These are his "Small Jeans." This is the only pair he calls "Small Jeans."

He would prefer to wear “big” jeans, but he will wear his small jeans for me. He only had one pair of “big” jeans, and they would get very dirty. This worked out good because I could just say, "No big jeans today, because they are dirty." However, his loving Mimi just sent him several pairs of jeans she got at a thrift store. As soon as B opened the package he said, “Big Jeans!” My mom says she was just being nice to her grandson, but I think it was my mom's passive aggressive attempt to get back at me. I knew I would be doing some reaping, but I didn't expect my mom to help out.

Give Me Five Friday- {words I should never say (or type)}

If you missed it last week, here's the short version of Give me Five Friday. I like making lists. Every Friday I'll make a list. The only rule is it has to be five things.

In the afternoons, I tutor students at a local tutoring company. This week I was tutoring three high school girls all at the same time. I felt archaic as they used slang I had never heard. They laughed at my ignorance, but I explained to them that slang has an age limit. It's a different age for each person, but I know I have definitely passed it. How do I know? A slang word said by someone else sounds fine, but when I say the slang word it just sounds awkward and lame. So here's this weeks five.

{five words I should never say (or type)}

1. chillin' or the variations of chillaxin', and chillin' like a villian

2. My Boo when used in reference to the man I love. The girls I tutor told me that your "boo-boos" are your friends. (See, you learn something new every day.) So I tried that one out....still lame.

3. gangsta' To be honest, I think this word would have always sounded lame coming from me, no matter what my age.

4. cool beans This phrase dates me as a teenager of the 90's. You know what? I may take this one off the list and try to bring it back! Cool Beans Forever!

5. lol Again, everyone else types this and it looks cool. But I just can't do it. I can't tell you how many times I've typed "lol" only to delete it and replace it with "That is so funny!"

Blessing #7- Showers of Blessings

This has been such an exciting week. We are coming down to the end of the pregnancy. The best way I can describe this time is it is like Christmas. However,unlike Christmas, you don't know when it's going to happen, and you end up getting the best present ever!

Anyway, over the past week we've had two baby showers. One of the showers was a traditional baby shower and the other was not so traditional. The first shower was Saturday morning. It was thrown for me by some friends. I did not expect to have a shower at all (you know second baby blah blah blah), but it was so nice that they did it. I got so many things we needed, all the details. The best part was I got to see friends I had not seen in a few months. And the food...any event with a sausage and egg casserole is a hit with me!


The second shower was only attended by Shad, B, and me. On top of that, I even cried during this shower. Before you think this was the most depressing shower ever, let me explain. My church in Georgia threw this shower for me. Because I now live so far away, one of my very thoughtful friends came up with the idea of a "shower in a box." I got a package in my mailbox, filled with cards. The first card had a Chickfila gift card and instructed me to go there to open all of my other cards. I called Shad up and asked if he wanted to go on his lunch break. It was a tough sell, but he agreed. So we got our food and took turns opening up our cards. As we opened them, I had to cry. I cried because of the extreme kindness shown to us. I cried because I'm so blessed to have people that love me in multiple states. And let's face it, I cried because I'm pregnant and hormonal. It was truly amazing, for an hour I was transported back home and embraced by the love of that church.

Project Life: October 18 - 24

It's week two in my Project Life! Again, if you want to see how I found out about Project Life click on this. Hope you enjoy this week!




October 18 - I put some jumper cables on the front step. I didn't feel like walking all the way out to the car. When B went out to play he hooked them up to this poor rhododendron.



October 19 - There is no purpose for Brandon to have a book bag for his pre-school. It's just two hours! However, he is the only kid there without a book bag. Shad found this cool monster bag for $5 at Staples. This was B's first day wearing it. He was so excited to have something to put in his cubby.



October 20- Isn't this so sweet? The big boy wanted to help mommy with cleaning the guest house! He asked if he could vacuum. I thought, "Wow, Stephanie, a hard working boy. You are doing something right." He then asked if I would turn on the sucker hose. I left the room and heard him giggling. I walked in to see this.

This is what I found him doing. I think this was his goal all along. He was just buttering me up.

October 21- I went on a walk to try to help the new baby out. This is one of the sites I got to see. I love living in the country.


October 21 (again) - I didn't have a Sunday picture, but I had an extra picture for Thursday. I love this picture. Are you having trouble, just ask daddy to help!



October 22- We went out to eat, and in order to occupy Brandon I handed him the camera. He discovered the wonder and self-absorption of self portraits. I just love that face!

October 23- Oh, there are so many things I could say about this picture. I'll just say this. Yes, we were at a friend's house. Yes, that's a doggy door. Yes, that's my son going through it.

October 24- No picture