Yardwork...

Ahhh. This is why I breed males :)

OK, not really, but it is definitely a major plus for when he becomes of age to do chores around the house!

If you will take a second to notice Lee on his new "toy." Well, it's not so new, but new to him. In the loss of my best friend moving to Atlanta, Lee gained this riding lawn mower for a steal (thank you, Ryan and Cathie. Because of you the yard is now cut every 3 days :)). The mover was unable to make the move with the Kellys to Atlanta, so it now resides with us in Fairhope. Lee loves this thing, and might I mention...so does Foxie. Lee could drive around all day long with Knox on his lap...I'm not sure who loves it more. I thought it was super sweet, so I had to snap a shot.

Well, I am 11 and a half weeks pregnant and I regret to inform you that the nausea has not let up...nor has the exhaustion. I really don't remember it being this hard with Knox. Maybe it's because instead of laying on the couch like last time I actually have to try and keep up with Knox this time. I keep telling myself that it will be worth it in the end, but man oh man am I starting to really struggle with anxiety about it never ending. Praying hard hard hard for just a little bit of relief. On a different note, Lee took off for FIVE entire days in a row. FIVE. He was with us at the house and WOW was that a treat. I have to give him a shout out...for the entire time that he was here he did everything. EVERYTHING. If you know Lee, bless his heart, you know he's not necessarily the "cleaner" in the family. If you know me, you know that a lot I don't rest well if things aren't in order. I'm trying to grow in that area, but it seems to worsen with age. Well, I don't think I changed one diaper for those 5 days. Lee wanted Knox all to himself so that I could rest. He also provided meals, cleaned the house, did the laundry and stayed on top of the dishes, and he really did it with such a loving heart. I was really blessed by his service, and hopefully one day I will be able to get back to everyday housework and serve him back! I could type for days about how much I love watching him and Knox together. Knox has gotten to where he squeals and lights up whenever Lee walks in to a room. I love it, but I am also dreading the day when Knox would rather be with daddy all the time. I know that day will be here before I know it...

Here's a little prayer request for you. Lee and I are leaving for London on Friday...yes, Friday...and we are very nervous about how I will handle all the traveling since I have been so sick. My sister and her husband are going as well, and we have been planning this for about a year now. Needless to say, this pregnancy wasn't in the original plans for the trip. I can't imagine not going since we have really been looking forward to it, so prayers for NO nausea and exhaustion would be awesome. Lee has a work function over there, so that's what orchestrated the entire trip. I feel like once this second baby comes I will be home bound for quite a while, so I really wanted to get this "last" trip in while I still can. Foxie will be staying with the ever-serving Lolli again (major shout out...I hope he doesn't wear you out too much), and I know he will have a blast. As soon as we get back, we are having his birthday party that Saturday. I can't believe he will be a year old. Every mother says it and every mother can't believe an entire year has gone by. Pretty soon I will be saying the same thing about graduations, weddings, grandchildren, etc. :). However, I really believe that Jesus is coming back before any of my kids become teenagers. In fact, I'm kind of counting on it! :)

We are finding out the sex of the baby on August 5th. I am going to Birmingham for an early ultrasound at Virginia Tech. Lee's sister introduced it to me with Knox and I found out with him at 15 weeks, and that's about how far along I will be when I go with this one. Lee is talking me in to going, having the tech write it down and seal it in an envelope, DRIVING ALL THE WAY HOME WITH IT, and opening it with family in Baldwin County. I think that's asking a lot! I mean...the envelope will be screaming my name the entire way home. That puppy might be torn to shreds by the time I get to the interstate. It would be fun to see every ones reaction at the same time, though. We'll see. People keep asking me what I think it is. I don't know. With KNox, I feel like I knew from the second we knew we were pregnant that it was a boy. We both really really wanted a boy so maybe that's why I felt like that? Most family and friends think it's a girl because I have been on my death bed, but I'm not really convinced either way. To be honest, I don't really have an absolute preference. I do, however, think that it would be SO much fun to have 2 boys so close in age and to be able to say "Lawson boys"... and spend lots of time at the baseball, soccer, football fields...and of course the basketball court. Lee has an AMAZING sister, but has always wanted a brother, so he is definitely pulling for team blue 100%. He lays in bed at night and tells me how scared he would be to raise a little girl and watch her go through all the heartache and drama that girls do. I agree. To say that I am scared of all that comes with a girl is an understatement. If you have ever met a mean middle school or high school girl, then you know what I'm talking about! But I also know that the first little chica that breaks my Foxie's heart will leave me in quite a tizzy. One positive about having a girl is all the cute girl clothes that I would inherit, but that's not really a reason to hope for a certain gender...or is it?? :) Don't even get me started on how the baby clothing industry is extremely biased. I could go on and on! Anyways, all that to say that we will be finding out August 5th, and I will be thrilled either way. Good thing God is in control and knows exactly what we need!

OK, I feel like this was a pretty long post with very few pictures. It's hard to stay on top of the blog these days, so I am trying to get everything out in one sitting. Stay tuned for London pics and photos of Foxie's big O.N.E. I sure will miss my little guy...