The Birthday Email, Age 32

This morning I asked Mr. T to pray for me.
"I have to write the Birthday Email today and I still don't have a good angle," I said.

There's a lot of pressure to be funny.
And grammatically correct.
But mostly funny.

I'm sure Larry the Cable Guy and his wife have the same conversation every morning. 
"Babe, I gotta be funny today, but I don't have a good angle!"
"Just act like a big, dumb hick again.  That always keeps people laughing," his wife replies.
"Oh yea.  That's exactly what I'll do!!!"

Larry and I both live in the great state of Nebraska, where there are lots of cows, but not a lot of comedians.  Unless, of course, you count every small town preacher who starts off his sermon with a gut-busting joke.  Or my wonderful Father-in-Law who's known for generously sharing his collection of knee-slappers. 

And we all feel it.
Larry.
Preachers.
My Father-in-Law.
Myself.

Pressure.
It's amazing we can get out of bed in the morning, living under the pressure to be funny.

For those who are new to this whole thing, I started writing a Birthday Email several years ago.  Basically, it's a time for me to give the general public suggestions of what they can get me for my birthday.  It's sort of a joke...sort of.  But seriously, it's the stuff I want so please consider that when you're rushing out to make your purchases.

Year 31 has been a great year!  Being married to Mr. T has brought me a greater sense of peace than I have ever known.  I am so over the top in love with him, who he is, how he thinks, how he laughs, his hugs and the color of his eyes.  He takes the cake.

Not only that, but blessing upon blessing, we get to grow our family this year!  In about three months, our daughter will come.  That means, for the next three months, we can enjoy being "perfect parents".  We have so many opinions about raising kids and how people SHOULD raise their kids and we talk about when OUR kid comes we're not going to make THOSE errors in judgement.  Ahhh, the sweet bliss of being perfect parents.  I know the feeling won't last.  We'll make lots of mistakes and quickly join the ranks of other couples who, despite making mistakes, love their children fully.

So, with all these blessings, what else in this entire world could a girl possibly want?

I'm glad you asked!!!

The list is as follows:

Duvet Cover

 


Cute Pillow #1




Cute Pillow #2
Size 12 X 16




Chalkboard


Colander
 

The new Pioneer Woman cookbook was on my list, but my lovely sister already got it for me!

I love the people in my circle.
Family.
Friends. 
Co-workers.
Acquaintances.

My life is full of God's abundant grace.  My every breath is dependent on Him, who is the giver of all good things.  Whatever Year 32 brings, joys and sorrows, I hope the faith Mr. T and I have will deepen as we follow a God who guides us, a God who IS love, and a God who remains faithfully near.

May you see God's rich blessings and grace in your life as the year continues to unfold!

Love always,
Mrs. Tidyman 

We're Having A Girl!!!

In about three months we will welcome a DAUGHTER into our home!  We are very excited!
Below are a couple of pictures from our ultrasound yesterday.

Here's a face and an arm.  I love those lips.  And that Popeye arm!  I haven't even been eating that much spinach, but this kid could totally knock your lights out with that arm. 
Or maybe the picture is distorted.
It probably is. 
Probably...

Here's a shot that shows off all her limbs and a little of her sweet face.  And once again, the arm!  Seriously, come over sometime and arm wrestle our kid.  She'll take you down to crazy town.  You won't even know what hit you!  KA-PLOW-EE! 
Just kidding. 
I'm sure her arms are normal looking. 
Well, pretty sure.

What I AM sure of is that she will be very loved.

We Are Old People

This morning Mr. T and I woke up early and headed out to the Health Fair where they do discounted blood tests.  It was a huge blessing because I have to test my thyroid levels and our insurance won't cover thyroid stuff until October.  So, instead of paying $230 to have the hospital test it, we paid $15 and got it done at the Health Fair.

Blah, blah, blah - that's just background info...

The point of this post is to tell you that we feel old.

We roll out of bed in the morning and can't tell if the floor is creaking or if it's our bones as they warm up to another day. 

Then we have our coffee and a fiber-filled breakfast, get in the Buick, and head to work.

Well, Mr. T gets in his Buick. 
I drive a Nissan.
SO MUCH COOLER - but it just doesn't handle as nicely as the Buick.  The misalignment and worn out shocks are really starting to take a toll on my hips.

As I was saying...
Older.  We feel it.

Last Sunday, we got ready for church, hoped in the Buick and drove through the McDonalds' Drive-thru to pick up breakfast.  Then we took it home to our little lap dog and talked about the weather.

We are old people.
Today, we were leaving the Health Fair and we couldn't find our car because the parking lot was full of Buicks.

Like I said...

How Big I'm Getting

This is from last week.
I'm currently 24 weeks.
The baby is the size of an ear of corn and weighs a little over a pound.
Daily I catch myself thinking, "Who shrunk all my clothes?!?"

The Truth Fairy

And They Call The Thing A Rodeo

It's the ropes and the reins
And the joy and the pain
And they call the thing a rodeo

These are the lyrics to the popular Garth Brooks song that Mr. T and I were singing this weekend as we walked down to our County Fair to attend the rodeo. 

We kind of got a late start.

Plus, we had to stop by the Lion's Club booth to try our hand at a couple rounds of BINGO, which proved financially unfruitful.

And then I had to get a snow cone...
And some popcorn.

So by the time we made it to the rodeo, we were about 30 minutes late.  We walked up the middle of the Grandstands and turned left in search of some friends we'd seen just moments earlier.  Please note that walking in front of crowds is not my favorite thing. 

Plus, the Grandstands were packed.  There's not a lot to do here and when the rodeo's in town, everyone in the whole county is there!  So it was in front of the whole county that we marched.

Unbeknownst to me, the Rodeo Clown I waved at when we walked in had a microphone and a sense of humor and a signed contract committing him to entertain the crowds throughout the evening.  Again, I did not know this.  Otherwise, I would not have waved at his painted face.

It probably didn't matter.  The following would have happened regardless:

Clown speaking into his mic - "You realize the rodeo started half an hour ago!"
Mr. T and I become aware that he was talking about US!
Crowd laughs.

Clown - "Y'all have somewhere else to be?  Oh, I see what's going on - you've been BUSY!"
(in reference to my obviously growing belly)
Crowd laughs really hard.
Mr. T beams proudly.
My face turns beet red.  I look at my feet and keep walking.
All prior plans to find our friends are abandoned.
Just find a seat, FAST!

Clown - "So I guess that makes you a FERTILE TURTLE!"
(in reference to the fact that I'm preggo and late)
Crowd laughs the most.
Mr. T and I SIT DOWN.
I bury my head in the bag of popcorn.

Then, thank goodness, it was over.

Now, being pregnant is like being a walking testimony the world that sometime in the past, you in fact, "did it".  Okay, I can handle that because it usually goes without saying. 

That is, until a Rodeo Clown announces in front of the whole county that you've BEEN BUSY! 
Great...just great! 
Someone should remind him of the whole "goes WITHOUT saying" part.

Lots of people had a good laugh about it the next day when I went to work.

Mr. T's been calling me "Fertile Turtle" every day since.
I think it's probably a compliment.

Attention Maternals!

Dear Maternal Instincts,

The other day, several of you left great comments regarding baby things that were helpful/not helpful to you when your children were little.  It left me wanting to know more!  So...

1) What are the Top 3 items that you used with your little ones?

2) What are the Top 3 things that you could have lived without?

3)  Any other advice?

Please and thank you.

Love,
Mrs. Tidyman