New Pictures of the Boys

I haven't posted any new pictures of the boys lately. Since we have been sick for so many months it has been hard even take pictures much less post.

This picture is of Jake. This morning he came running in my room while I was getting dressed. This the outfit he had picked out. I thought it was great! I love the UGA and the cowboy boots. All he kept telling me was,"Mom, I am a Georgia fan."



Tonight I took pictures of them in the bathtub. Bath time is a good time to take pictures because they are contained:-)

Sweet brothers!!

31 weeks

I thought I would post a picture of my at 31 weeks. I went the doctor on Wednesday. Mommy and Baby girl are doing great! I still can't believe she will be here in 9 or so weeks. Jake was two weeks early and Judd was one week early. Hopefully, she will decide to come right on time. :-) I still enjoy sleeping through the night!!! However, I am eager to see what she looks like and how the boys will act when she comes. 

Last night, Jake was getting ready to go to bed and he looked at me and said "Mommy is your belly still big?" I can proudly say "Yes"

By the way, she still doesn't have a name! 

Praying for My Children

It is so weird to write children instead of "boys." How different to know that I have a little girl coming in 11 weeks.

I read this verse last night and it really motivated me to start praying more specifically and consistently for my children.

Lamentations 2:19 says “Pour out your heart like water in the presence of the Lord. Lift up your hands to him for the lives of your children.”

I spent some time last night researching how other couples pray for their children and this is one idea that I thought would work for us. If you know me then you know that I am a list person so I need a list to stay focused.

Jim and I plan to take time to discuss each child's strengths and weaknesses. Hopefully, by doing this we can commit to pray through each of those areas and work with them to embrace their strengths and have victory over their weaknesses. At the end of 6 months we can reevaluate, update, and praise the Lord for his faithfulness. Also, by writing these down we will be able to look back and see how faithful our God is at answering our prayers.

They belong to Him, we are just allowed us the incredible blessing of raising them for a short time. I want that time to be productive and effective in His eyes.

If you have any input on the topic let me hear from you.

Boy vs Girl Names

Boys names are so easy to figure out. We have two more on our list, but girls names have always been hard for us to decide on. We know that we want it to be a GIRL name. Not a name that could be a girl or could be a boy. We don't want anyone reading or hearing the name and wandering, hmm, is this is a boy or a girl. 

For example: Jake, there is no doubt in your mind that he is a boy. No question with that one. Judd, once again no question. 

As we continue on this journey to name our little girl, we know that her name will have been well thought out. 

Perdue Family Update

I know that I haven't even said Happy New Year, but life has been a bit overwhelming at times. I just thought I would give quick update of the end of 07 and the beginning of 08.

Dec 23- Drove to Atlanta

Dec 24- Perdue and Etheredge Christmas

Dec. 25- Brown and Perdue Christmas

Dec 26- Shopping and Jim Cleghorn's Birthday

Dec 27- Try to relax

Dec 28- Travel to Atlanta

Dec 29- Judd's Birthday Party at the Mansion and Judd's One year Pictures

Dec. 30- Travel to Jackson, Ga for church and enjoy Family time at Nanabuds lake house

Dec 31- Jim went hunting and came home with a fever

This is where it gets good:

Dec 31- 11:35 p.m Jake wakes me up telling me that his tummy hurts.....

We stay up off and on until 4 a.m. with him throwing up and then at 4:30 the other part of the stomach bug starts to hit him so we stay up until 7:30 going to sit on the potty....Oh Yeah...Happy New Year!

Jan 1- The day we had planned to travel home...didn't happen! Jim left us in Georgia so he could get back to work. Judd started throwing up at noon and we just all laid around watching football.

Jan 2- Nana graciously brought us back to TN.

Jan 3- Jim and I felt pretty horrible all day and the boys still needed to recover so all four of us stayed on the couch all day. Jake will Jim and Judd with me. It really was a sweet time to cuddle,but we all felt yucky!!

Jan 4- We finally felt better. I started organizing the house some.

Jan 5- Jim is sick again-this make for another rough day

Jan 6- Church and Jim leaves for Lynchburg for the week

Jan 7-9 The boys and I try to manage without daddy around.

Jan 10- Jake wakes up with pinkeye.

Jan 11- Can't wait to see Daddy

We are hoping the Jan 14 will bring a new day, new year, and a normal schedule to our daily lives. 

I am blessed, but overwhelmed  this week. Question: what in the world am I going to do with three? I am just thankful this is Jim's last class!!!!

Baby Trey Update

Many of you have read this, but I thought it was worth posting:

On Dec 21, Jim and I went to have a 3D/4D ultrasound in Memphis. I really wanted to have a video of this baby since I had one for both of the boys and none of the ultrasound places around here would record my 20 week ultrasound. It was so cool seeing the baby in 4D.

Another reason we decided to get the ultrasound was I wanted to surprise our parents on Christmas morning with the gender of the baby. No, I didn't want to find
out, but I thought that it would be a nice present for our parents. It was a really hard decision for me.

Let's pause and rewind a few weeks before I continue. At our 20 week ultrasound the baby's legs were crossed, but the technician made a guess and Jim was able to find out on his 30th birthday. I still didn't want to know and I didn't want to find our if her guess was wrong, so I decided not to look at the picture. He did a great job of keeping it a secret.
Okay, back to the 3D ultrasound.....

When we got into the room I told Jim that if we could tell then I would try and guess the gender. So the lady started the video and I was able to tell immediately. I guessed and I was right. I must say now that I will not find out in the future. I REALLY enjoy not knowing....but since our parents and the rest of our family know I thought I would share our
news with each of you.

Jake has known since day one and he has always said "We are having a GIRL!!!" How did I raise such a smart kid!!!

Happy New Year!!! Our world will change in April!

p.s. No she doesn’t have a name!

Judd is 1!

I can't believe that my little baby turned 1 on Friday. It just seems like yesterday I was waking up at all hours of the night to feed him, and wondering if he would ever sleep through the night. He is now sleeping through the night, walking, laughing, and signing milk, more, and please. He doesn't talk much, but he is a pure joy to have in our lives.


We had a small party at our house Friday night, but his birthday party is going to be Dec. 29 when we are home for the holidays. I decided to have his 1st birthday party with our family. Here are a few picture from Friday night.

He loved playing in the cake, but he didn't want to eat any of it.

Daddy, Jake and Judd playing with Judd's new basketball goal. 

Baby Trey Update

On Jim's birthday, November 29, we had our 20 week sonogram. This was a great sonogram. We got to see many pictures of the baby. At this point, we have a breech thumb sucker. Also, the baby was sure to keep its legs crossed and the umbilical cord in between the legs. We have a great picture to prove it.
Below are a few pictures from the sonogram. If you would like to view Jim's favorite go to his blog.

This is the picture of its legs crossed.


This is our baby sucking its thumb.


This is a picture of the face and hands.

Jim's 30th Birthday

i can't believe I am married to some one that is 30.:-) The best part is that he just gets better with age. If you want to see what I gave him for his birthday check out his blog.

Happy Anniversary, Jim!

I know that I am a few days late, but I wanted to express my love and thankfulness for my man. Our anniversary was November 23. This marked our 5th year together. It is hard to imagine that we have been married for 5 years. Our time together has gone by so quickly. We honestly love each more today than we did five years ago.

Jim, how can I thank you for your humility, leadership, genuineness, love, and constant joy. You have made being married to you something better than I ever could have imagined.

It's the most wonderful time of the year....

In just a few days, I can start celebrating Christmas. In our house we have one rule about getting the Christmas spirit. We must wait until Nov. 30. Jim requests that we not start celebrating until after his birthday.

As I prepare to decorate my house, wrap presents, do more projects with Jake, and just truly enjoy this time of year I wonder if I enjoy all of the things of Christmas more than I celebrate the greatest Gift of all. Tonight I was reading a blog, http://www.girltalk.blogs.com/, and they were discussing worldliness and this quote really made me stop and think about my motives for Christmas.

"Take the Christmas season, for instance. Every holiday I can be drawn to all things Christmassy--the shopping, buying gifts, wrapping presents, decorating the tree, baking holiday treats, attending parties and celebrations. Of course these things are not wrong in and of themselves. They can be delightful gifts from God. But I can be tempted to desire them more than the most important thing--regardless of the season: sitting at the Lord’s feet (Luke 10:38-41). And then I wonder why my heart feels so dull come December 26th."

How about you? Will you be to busy "doing" Christmas this year to sit at the Lord's feet and grow closer to Him this year?

This is the most wonderful time of the year......

Drivers License

Today was somewhat depressing. I went to the TN DMV and got a Tennessee license. I think the hardest part was giving up my Georgia license. I am happy to be here, but there are things that make my sad at times. Georgia has always been home. I have had a GA license since I was 16. It is just a little hard to give up your past.

Happy Thanksgiving

This year we celebrated a wonderful Thanksgiving. We spent the holiday in Tennessee. We decided that it would be to long of a drive to Georgia for such a short time.

Jake and I did Thanksgiving activities through out the week. He really enjoys "projects."


This is Jake holding his turkey puzzle.


This is the turkey we made by tracing his feet and hands. The body is the outline of Jake's feet and the feathers are his hands.

After breakfast, Thanksgiving morning Jim, Jake and I sat down and wrote things that we are thankful for on fall leaves. We really wanted to teach Jake that we should be thankful for all the blessings God has provided for us. After we finished we hung them on the window for us to discuss throughout the day.

This year our Thanksgiving dinner consisted of ham, mac and cheese, and green beans. I decided to cook things that I knew all of my boys would love. Here are a few pictures of our lunch.

We are blessed beyond belief. I am so thankful for the life God has given me. I look forward to another year to be thankful to the Giver of Life.

Preach like Daddy....

Ever since we moved to TN, Jim had been wearing ties on Sundays thus making Jake want a tie to wear "like daddy." A couple weeks ago I went shopping with a lady in our church. I passed by the little boys department and decided to get Jake a tie. He has been wanting to wear it to church, but we don' have any dress shoes and I just don't think a tie and New Balance "go" together so I told him that I would get him some dress shoes this week.

We went to the store yesterday and found some dress shoes for Jake. He was so excited he wore them all over the store. When we were checking out he told the cashier, " Look I have shoes, now I can wear my tie and preach like my daddy." Priceless......
edit...we had to return the shoes so now he has black cowboy boots which are just as great to preach in.:-)

So this Sunday, Jake will be wearing his shirt, tie, khakis, boots, and preaching like daddy........

Home

We made it home safely. We home last Wednesday morning. It was so great to see Jim and be with him again. Jake and Judd were so glad to see him, Jake was running through the airport and Judd was kicking his legs and waving his arms in the stroller. It really is amazing the bond between my boys and their daddy. I am very thankful to have such a loving devoted husband who treasures the role of father.

We had a good trip in Elko and in Atlanta. It was good to see family, but we are glad to be back.

Missing My Man

This week the boys and I have been in Georgia. (I will post more later) We have enjoyed our time, but I really miss my man. He has been painting our house and working while we spend time with our family.

I have such a wonderful husband. I’m blessed beyond anything I could ever imagine because I have him as a husband. I prayed for a long time to find someone like Jim and God answered my prayers so perfectly in him.

I can't wait to see him very soon.

Jim, you are the love of my life!

Go Dawgs!

Go Dawgs! I am so excited that the Georgia beat Florida! I just wish we would have beaten Tennessee.

Bobbing for Apples

I feel like I rarely post about Jim and I. Tonight we went to two Sunday School classes fellowships. At the first Jim and I bobbed for apples. I thought I would post since this is such a cute picture.

Judd....Walking??

Judd is only 10 months and he has started walking. There are very few things that he has done before Jake, but walking is definitely one of them. He has only taken 6 steps, but it will not be long before he is running after Jake. This is going to be so much fun. I am excited that he is walking. I get tired of holding 22 lbs when we go places.

Hopefully, I will get a picture of him and post it soon.

Trey

Sick and Tired! Those are two words that would describe the last twelve weeks of my life.
Yes, we are having another baby. I am due April 16. We found out that we were pregnant two days before we left Georgia. Our house was in boxes and we were celebrating becasue we were going to have another little one. We are calling this one Trey since it is the third one. We wonder if this one will be a girl or boy. So far this pregnancy has been very different than the others. I have been much sicker and more tired. The tiredness could be due to the fact I have two some ones running around all day.

The fun has just begun! I cannot wait to meet this precious baby!