Asa is here!

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1 month...

...until Asa's due date!

Let the countdown begin. :)

Special Pancakes

Pinterest and I have a love-hate relationship. I see all these cute, fun kids ideas on there, but when I actually try to be craft mom, it never goes as planned and it's a total flop. So, you can see why I was so excited when colored pancakes were a hit this morning in our house! You would have thought I'd hung the moon. Here's the pancake recipe, and I just let the kids stir in some food coloring. Silas, of course, picked red and Lois picked pink as their first choice of colors for pancakes. The finishing touch was syrup with sprinkles on top. :)

Mission accomplished.

Homemade Lotion for Eczema

This is my favorite lotion for treating eczema. I have tried most over the counter lotions for Silas, and this DIY recipe has worked the best!

The ingredients are simple. Two parts raw shea butter to 1 part coconut oil. For this batch, I used 2 T of shea butter and 1 T of coconut oil. I got the shea butter from World Market and the coconut oil can be found at most grocery stores.

 Fill a pot half way with water. Double broil over medium heat until its melted.

 Once it's melted, remove the bowl and put it in the fridge for 30 min-1 hour until it starts to solidify...

 ...like this.

Then with a hand mixer, use the whisk attachment to whip into lotion consistency. 

Lastly, put it in an empty container. Baby food jars work great for this, but I just didn't have any! Enjoy!

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Asa Matthew.

When Silas was born, we literally took thousands of pictures of him! Someone told me, "Wait until you have your third, you will have a couple lines written in a journal somewhere and that will be it!" And how true those words are. But here is my attempt to document at least a little something about this pregnancy. 

I am delivering in Franklin, but after 2 ultrasounds the doctor sent me to Asheville to get a better picture of Asa's heart. We made it a family trip and brought the kids. Silas thought it was awesome seeing Asa on the screen. Lois was just concerned about what the tech was doing to me, and so she stood by the bed and held my hand most of the time, which was totally precious. The best news was that Asa's heart looked perfect! Praise the Lord!

The ultrasound tech surprised us, and gave us a 3d ultrasound, and we got to see Asa's little face!

This has been the fastest pregnancy, most likely due to Silas and Lois keeping me busy. I was nauseous the longest though, probably until about 16 weeks, and mostly at night. Have I had any cravings? Jack has made frequent trips to a local thai restaurant this pregnancy. :)

What really has made this pregnancy so special though, is how excited Silas and Lois are to have a brother. They tell Asa goodnight and give him hugs and kisses, and Silas is always very careful when he sits on my lap so that he doesn't squish Asa. It feels like Asa is already a part of our family. Only 8 more weeks until he makes his debut!