Its open season!

Lots has happened since the last blog..I've lost ALMOST ten pounds. Almost. Vestimus is bigger than ever, eating baby food, wearing ridiculous things I put on him..the norm.

The most recent thing, and the subject of the blog is...

Tob and I are house hunting.

Can you believe it? Our very own home..that we wont be renting..and it will be cheaper than rent..now we just have to find it.

I thought we did. I fell in love with a cheapo foreclosure, and I was convinced it was going to be the one. You see, when I decide I'm going to do something..I do it in a hurry. I am a lot of things..but patient is not one of them. This was the very first house we looked at. And I was ready to sign for it.

Imagine my surprise when I found out Tobi's sister had put in an offer on the same house! Haha it wasn't my happiest moment. BUT since then I've fallen in love with several more houses. Thank God for my (sometimes) level-headed husband. He'll be the only way we don't rush into buying something just because I love it.

I'm also noticing how expensive my taste is. If it weren't for that sweet birth marked man of mine, I would totally buy something we can't afford. I find something I "love" and then check the price tag. Oh, $350,000? That's all?

I also thank God for our realtor Deborah Hill. She's been a friend of our family since before I was born and she is WONDERFUL. Seriously, if you ever need to buy or sell..she's your lady. Although, I'm pretty sure she's going to block my number after she closes on whatever house we buy. I call her forty-seven times a day. Seriously. She deserves a trophy. So does Tobi.

Eventually, who knows, it may be Friday when we go look at a few, or it may be a year from now, we will find our house. But until then, I will be on a mad hunt for every house I see. So don't judge me if you see me dressed in camo and carrying around fifteen real estate magazines.

it FINALLY happened!

Guess what?! Today, my baby is 16 weeks and 3 days old. That is almost four months old. If you really wanna talk numbers, Jackson Uriah Vest was born one hundred and fifteen days ago.

You may be wondering what the significance is..

Here's the answer.

Today, on the 115th day of my precious red head's life, we stayed home all day.

Isn't that sad? We've tried so many times, and then family ends up wanting us to come over, or we need something from Target, or we got hungry and went to get stuff, or doctors appointments. There's 115 different reasons we have been gone.

I wish I could say that since we stayed home all day, my house is spotless and the cars are washed and my toenails are painted and there's nothing else that needs to be done. But thats simply not the case.Instead, here's how the day went.

We slept til about 9:30. Fed the baby, got back in bed.We watched a movie with daddy, I put a load of clothes in the wash, and the baby down for a nap. Tob washed dishes and made the bed. We ate lunch. The baby got up and ate again. Tobi went to work, I dumped the clean clothes on the bed and the baby and I napped until bath time. Then we played, and went to bed. Now thats a PRODUCTIVE day.

BUT atleast he's experienced a lazy day at home now. And after he went to bed I did ride the elliptical. 4 miles, 28 minutes. Its getting a little easier. And for those of you keeping up with the 24day challenge, today was day 5 and im down about 4 lbs. I want to eat everything in sight. Be very cautious if there's anything tastey in your hands if youre anywhere near me. I may not keep this will power very long!

I'm aware this has been a rambly, random blog..but I needed to share the fact that we were home all day and did nothing! Now I have to fold this mound of laundry I've been putting off. Unless I decide to wait until tomorrow

Who needs balance anyways?

I've been thinking about this blog for days. I was going to write about finding balance in my life..I had gymnastics references and everything. It was going to be so enlightening and you all were going to relate to it and it was going to change the way you viewed life.

Okay, maybe not. But I really did have the gymnastics references.

I've been feeling like a court jester for weeks-juggling a million things at once. I finally broke down and kind of shared my feelings with Tobi last night. But not entirely. Bless the man, the Lord REALLY knew what he was doing when he set us up. He tried his hardest to help, offered his opinion and tried to be encouraging.

I wasn't having it. I was convinced he didn't understand what I meant and what I needed to hear. I left the conversation, took a shower and we went to bed. Oh but quite contrary to what I thought, my husband knew what I needed to hear after all. I just didn't realize it until today.

Today, my enlightening blog about balance, got taken off of life support. I've been trying to find the balance between being a mother, a wife, a housekeeper, a babysitter, a teacher, and a Christ follower. Today, as I cried out to God again while washing dishes..I finally heard God's answer. Note the wording.

NOT God finally gave me an answer. But I finally heard the one He's been giving me all along.

I've never heard God audibly speak to me. And to be honest, I'm not sure I'm strong enough to handle it. Part of me hopes I never hear him until I am entering Heaven, so that it won't be this earthly body that has to deal with it. Pretty sure I'd explode. Some of you are thinking "That's crazy. God doesn't talk to people anymore." Guess what? You're wrong. Now I'm not saying everyone who claims to have heard God speak, is telling the truth. But I am saying that Hebrews tells us that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. So if God chose to, he could most certainly talk to me today.

Anyways..like I said, I've never heard Him speak (felt him tell me things, absolutely. But never in an audible voice), but if I did I imagine it would go a little something like this.

"April, I love you. But you sure are an idiot. Do you really think I want you to find a way to balance me into your life? Do you really think that I am here for YOU?

Do you really think that you can fit ME into a box and place me on a shelf until you have time to spend with me? I don't desire to be balanced into your life. I want to be involved in every aspect of your life. I want to help you be a mother, a wife, a housekeeper, a babysitter, a teacher and a Christ follower. When people look at you, I want them to see me. That's why I sent my son for you. So that we could have a relationship. Not so you could decide when and where you need me, when you can't handle it alone. I desire to spend every minute with you.

Stop making excuses, you either want to be with me or you don't."

Now my prayer is that I can lean upon him, and invite him into every part of my life. Not just the parts I'm comfortable with. But every part. No more juggling.

here's to turning over a new leaf

Tomorrow, I start the 24 day challenge from Advocare.. I am a nervous wreck. I am TERRIBLE at dieting. Maybe its because I already fetched me a man and don't feel like I have to impress anyone..(haha sorry honey!) maybe its just because I reaaaaaally like food. I love carbs. LOTS of carbs. I love sugar. I'm thinking about quitting already. Haha, to prepare myself for this challenge, I went and bought half a dozen Gigi's cupcakes.

Relax...I only had half of one. ughhhh but I so could have eaten the whole box.

I hear wonderful things about this process..lots of good results. I am determined to be someone with good results! Although I did the elliptical for a while earlier and wanted to die. Maybe I need some encouragement/accountability. If you see me out, maybe you should ask how its going. But be prepared, if its not going so well..you may get yelled at..or hit..or I may just lie. Haha

All jokes aside, I am excited to shed the last of the baby weight, and maybe even some of the "i just like food" weight too. AND I'm part of a group going through this challenge, everyone at different stages (this sounds like some sort of rehab! I will now refer to it as food rehab) and there is a devotion for each day. There's my encouragement. I have always been told my body is a temple..and with the exception of a very short time period its been very easy for me to keep alcohol and such out of my body. Unhealthy and large quantities of food is a different story. This is going to be a struggle no doubt, so I will definitely be needing those devotions!

My hope is in the Lord for all things. Why should it be any different for losing weight?

Where is the horse?

My parents are awesome. My dad is a moron who is impossible to be around without cracking up. And my mom has the biggest servants heart I have ever seen. Maybe THAT is why all three of us turned out perfect. :)

My mom is known for a lot of things..my favorite is the "Where is the Horse" song. Some of you are giggling right now because you've heard it. She wrote a song for Brent probably 30 years ago..and then when Drew was born he got a verse added for him. Five years later I was born and got the next verse (the best verse!). Same goes for all the grandkids. Now Uriah's verse is my favorite. You can't go wrong with "where is uriah? eating a papaya..before he takes a nap, in his mama's lap". Haha! Its Charleigh's favorite too. Don't judge my family, we have fun.

Lots of people tell my mom she needs to make the horse song into a children's book. I think they're right. I'm giving her a few more years and then I'm going to do it! And take alllll the money. Ok, maybe not, but how cool would that be to have a book made of the bedtime song we grew up with?!

Leave it to my mother, who probably just made up the song for a fussy baby Brent, to turn it into a song she sang all the time to all three of us, and then into a song that her children sing to their own. I don't know if Drew sings it to his kids, but I sing it to Char every day at naptime. She sings with me...loudly. I do know that Brent sings the song, because sweet little Elizabeth can sing it already..also loudly. haha we also like to send eachother texts with our newest verses. We're getting better...but some of them are not winners.

I can't seem to sleep lately..maybe I should try that old faithful song.

Where is the horse? He's resting of course..

Where is the dog? Sleeping like a log..

Thats all you get people, atleast until the book is published. :)