Skype Shower

My wonderful cousin, Shonda, is due almost exactly one month before me. She and her husband live in Seattle, WA. But I wanted to think of some way for her to have a shower, even though she could not make a trip to LA. So I thought about the wonderful wide-world web. I knew that she and her husband had Skype accounts, along with her dad and step-mom. So that is how we did it. Everyone mailed gifts to her in advance. Then, last night, everyone went to her dad's house and gathered around the computer to watch her open gifts via webcam. We attempted a 3-way Skype call, so I could "be" at the shower as well. But we soon learned that Skype only does 2-way video conferencing. Luckily, Shonda and her husband have 2 computers and 2 Skype accounts so I was able to watch her open her gifts. It was such and neat and exciting experience.

Here are a few pictures of Shonda and I showing off our baby bumps.....

This one is when I was about 5 weeks pregnant and Shonda was 9 weeks. Can't wait to look like that again!

And here are our most recent pictures. I used photoshop to attempt to get us in the same picture at the same time. She was 34 weeks in this picture. I am 31 1/2 weeks in this picture.

Shonda, it has been so much fun being pregnant with you! I have enjoyed sharing all of our experiences with one another. I can't wait till we can share stories about our new little boys!!

Landry's "Babies"

For Christmas, I wanted Landry to get plenty of things that would encourage the use of her growing imagination. So GiGi and PawPaw bought her a doll house. Thanks to GiGi, PawPaw, Aunt Willette, and Alivia, we not only have a doll house. But we've got a doll house full of indoor and outdoor furniture. We were worried that she may be a little young to play with it right away, but that is definitely not the case. Landry affectionately refers to her doll house and little people as her "babies". Right now, it remains a supervised activity, because of all the small pieces. But it is so much fun to sit back and watch Landry's imagination run wild when she is playing with it all. She'll put the babies in their swings and have daddy pushing them. She'll put mommy and daddy in the bed and then have the babies climb in with them. She'll have the whole family sit at the table and then make them pray together. She even has them sit on the potty from time to time.

Here is a video of her playing with her "babies". I can't wait to see what else she comes up with as her imagination continues to develop.

Geaux Saints!,.

Here is Landry cheering on the Saints......
Oh, and she is dressed nicely with a bathing suit around her neck and an inside out stocking cap

Landry's Well Visit

Yesterday was Landry's 2-year-old well visit at the Doctor's office. I was so hoping that there were no vaccinations this time, but I was informed quickly that there was one and a hemoglobin test as well. They tell me this is it until she is 4. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

See Landry, since she was about 9 months old, has gotten nervous at the very arrival to the doctor's office. When we enter the triage room, the screaming begins. And when a doctor or nurse walks into the room, she is just done. There's no reasoning with this child. And the whole office knows it. She is known as a drama queen there. How lovely :).

So, as you can expect, our visit was quite the experience yesterday. But how can I blame her, when almost every time we have gone to that place, she has been stuck by at least 3 needles. Researchers, please find an easier way!!!

Now, I must admit, I did have to laugh when my drama queen was still crying an hour later at the very sight of her band-aid. She would calm herself down and be going about a normal activity. Then she'd look at her finger and start whaling all over again. I can't tell you how many times I said the phrase, "Landry, it's over." She was quite pitiful.

So besides the traumatic experience, the doctor said she is doing great developmentally. She weighs 26 pounds and 12 oz., which puts her between the 50th and 75th percentile in weight. And she is 35 inches long, which puts her between the 75th and 90th percentile and height. I don't expect the height to last long, since mommy and daddy are short. Oh, and her hemoglobin looked good, which was excellent news since I worry about her not hardly wanting to touch meat.

We are so thankful for a healthy child. We've not had any major issues, and really hardly any minor ones. Thank you God for your many blessings!

Couponing

Ok, so when people would mention couponing before, I would always think it was not for me. It is sooooo time consuming, and I just didn't know if it was worth it. Well, for M.O.P.S. yesterday, we had a speaker who talked about budgeting. It got me thinking of ways that we really need to be saving. Then, later that day a friend mentioned to me a website: southernsavers.com . I decided to take a look at it, even though I was skeptical. And what do you know, I became slightly obsessed. Here in GA, and I know in AL as well, we have a grocery store named Publix. They always have lots of buy 1 get 1 free deals. This website gives all the secrets about how to use coupons on top of the deals to get things for little of nothing. Basically, the website does all the work for you. Anyway, to make a long story short, I spent Landry's naptime today mapping out a plan to shop at Publix and grab some great steals. I could hardly wait for her to wake up. Once she did, I took my list and my STACK of coupons and we headed there. I loaded my buggy with all the things I planned to buy and went to check out. I watched as my total began to shrink. The little asian lady behind me watched too. She kept saying, "you already saved $20, now $30......" I had this lady convinced by the time I was finished checking out. I had saved almost $90 with the store savings and the coupons. It was quite a victorious time in my life.

I think I just might stick with the couponing. Thanks Mandy for the suggestion!

Name Change

No, we haven't changed Eli's name. But it was time to change our blog name. Eli will be here soon, so we wanted to come up with a name that included our entire family. I thought through many "V" words that might describe our family: The Valiant Veulemans, The Very Infectious Veulemans, etc. But nothing seemed right. So, I decided to look for a verse that would describe what our family is all about. Cory and I know our purpose on earth is to follow Christ with our whole lives and to lead others to Him. This starts with our own children. I found the verse, 3 John 4, which states:

"I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth."

Our heart's desire is for our children to follow Christ and be used by Him in amazing ways. So I present to you our new blog name "No Greater Joy".

Pretty, Pretty Princess

One of Landry's favorite things she got for Christmas was a trunk full of dress-up clothes from Nana and Poppy. Yesterday, even in the midst of potty training, we broke out the trunk and Landry went to town dressing up. Her favorite part are the shoes. This child changes shoes about 15 times a day. At any given time, you may find her wearing sandals (with or without socks), slippers, rubber boots, mommy and daddy's shoes, etc. etc. etc. As a matter of fact, as soon as she saw the trunk, she kicked her feet immediately, throwing off the princess shoes she was already wearing, so she could put on a new pair of princess shoes. Here is our little "Cinderelly" all dressed up.

And wearing a tutu just makes a little princess want to twirl. Landry twirled round and round to her music until she was so dizzy she would fall over. Then she would get up and twirl some more. In this video, she does the motions to "This Little Light of Mine" while throwing in a twirling intermission.