hello...

... 2nd trimester.

fondly known as the best of the 3!

hello energy.

hello no nausea.

hello maternity clothes.

hello thickening wasteline.

hello tightening jeans.

so far, i am waiting on all those hello's. except maybe the thickening wasteline. kelly says it's not, but he is just being sweet.

don't get me wrong, i am not missing the last three. as far as the first two... energy and no nausea... i am waiting for them to knock on the door so i can say goodbye to fatigue and a funny tummy.

i'll let you know when that happens.

today i went on a nice long run to celebrate this milestone in hopes of finding some endurance to make it through the day without a nap.

i should also say that i become a terrible runner when i'm prego. something strange happens to my knees and they feel like they're breaking with each stride i take. it probably isn't a good thing. but, they made it through hunter's pregnancy and i'm hoping they won't fail me now.

i can't go without running.

i was going to be ambitious and do a workout dvd after the run. i wrote this which means i didn't do that. oh well. there's always tomorrow!

the sweetest thing

this post is dedicated to bragging on my husband.

today, i left hunter home with daddy while i went to a baby shower. i was gone for about four hours. i called kelly as i was leaving the shower and he said he had a surprise for me. i had no idea what it could be. usually i can come up with it right away. not this time! it was a real surprise!

as i turned down our street, i saw a house with pretty christmas decor. i thought, oh, our neighbor's house looks great! then i looked again. nope... that wasn't our neighbor's house... that was our house looking great!

kelly surprised me by putting up our wreaths and garland! really, they are my mom's wreaths that we use every year; this year she said we could keep them. it makes more sense that way - otherwise she would store them throughout the year {super nice!} and then i'd always ask to borrow them. thanks mom for the wreaths! anyways, kelly did a beautiful job. i am so impressed! see for yourself!

he is pretty much the world's most fabulous husband and dad. i mean, he watched hunter for four hours while he decorated the house!!! that certainly qualifies him for dad of the century!!!

thanks babe for being beyond sweet and bringing christmas cheer to our house! you are the bomb diggity.

beginning a tradition!

this christmas, we are going to be starting a new tradition at our house. since hunter will only be 10 mos. old, he won't understand this... but, i want to start it now so it becomes a given at christmas time!

as we receive christmas cards from different families, i want to pray over those families at our dinner time. it will be a great way to teach our children how to pray for others... especially when they may be people we don't see or hear from often.

it is a simple tradition, not costing anything, but i know it will have a lasting impression on our kids and for eternity!

what's your favorite christmas tradition?

a season of thanks

what a wonderful time of year. a time where all of our thankfulness is in the forefront of our minds. a time where we remember to give the Lord the glory He is more than due for all the goodness in our lives. what a blessing to have an eternal inheritance in Heaven because of our Savior. the greatest blessing of all. the reason for living, the reason for all thankfulness!

"enter His gates with Thanksgiving, and His courts with praise! give thanks to Him; bless His name!" -psalm 100:4

"...and tell of His deeds in songs of joy!" - psalm 107:22

i am also praising God for his perfect gifts in my life! kelly and i are going to be celebrating five years of marriage next month, we have a son that brings us bundles of joy, and we have a new blessing in surprise that will arrive in june! i am beyond thankful. kelly has a job that he more than loves, i get to stay home with my hunter, we are apart of a Bible believing and Gospel centered church, have a wonderful church family, and most of all, have sweet sweet families!

i am also sad this thanksgiving... my grandfather has severe cancer and was given probably 6 months to live. after seeing my dad and grandmother both lose the battle to cancer it is hard to watch another family member suffer from it. but, i am so very thankful that i was able to go home to california for a visit this past summer to spend time with him. i am glad that hunter got to meet his great-grandfather.

my grandpa and i this past summer.

hunter and great-grandpa.

hope you enjoy this thanksgiving and cherish the memories you make!

hunter got a brand new hat.

so we've had one cold day here in the south carolina fall.

which, by the way, makes this nor-cal girl sad. i love cold weather. i mean freezing, cold, snow weather. i'm serious.

anyway, on that cold day, we decided that hunter needed a hat!

so, off we went to baby gap with a 30% off coupon in hand.

this was our first try.

he said, "stop. mom and dad, we live in south carolina." enough said.

off we went to try on some more.

this one matched his jacket perfectly. and he seemed to like it.

yep, its super cool.

and for only $6, hunter got a brand new hat.

you know...

... you're really sick when you go an entire day without getting on the computer once.

that was me yesterday. although i didn't like being sick, it was nice to be away from the instant technology for a day - i will certainly be doing that more often.

since kelly works all day sundays at the church, my mom took hunter for the day. i was so thankful for the rest! my mom is so sweet and always willing to help. what a blessing!

i am still sick... but hoping i get better asap! when you're pregnant it seems like the cold or flu is always way worse and lasts much longer. : (

my sister-in-law and her family are here for thanksgiving so i better get better quick! i have two beautiful nieces to love on and some yummy thanksgiving food to eat!

week 12

how far along? 12 weeks, 1 day. it's funny because i receive weekly pregnancy updates from babycenter.com and i got one for this week to let me know that the baby is the size of a lime. wow...the last time i remembered to read one of those updates the babe was the size of a blueberry. it's so different with your second pregnancy! with hunter, it seemed like it took forever for him to be the size of a lime. now, this one is just zooming straight through the produce section.

total weight gain: zero. i know that won't last long.

maternity clothes? absolutely not. hoping to not wear them for as long as possible.

stretch marks? zero. since i didn't get any with hunter, i am guessing/hoping i won't get any this time either.

belly button in or out? in. mine never popped out with hunter.

sleep: as much as possible. i am e-x-t-r-e-m-e-l-y fatigued. still. i was getting my energy back and feeling much better, but now i am sick. so, i am back to being a zombie.

cravings: nope. aversions: no food sounds good. actually, sweets aren't very appealing to me. which is crazy for me.... i am a chocolate fanatic. but, i am less nauseas - i think i am pretty much over that part - hopefully i am not saying that too soon!

what i am looking forward to: of course, finding out what we're having. that won't be for another 8 weeks (i am sure it will go quickly!!! after all, i have a 1st birthday party to plan for my baby boy!). my doctor's office will not schedule you any sooner than 20 weeks to find out the gender.

dear baby #2: although mommy is busy with your big brother, i still think of you all the time and pray for your sweet self as the Lord knits you together in your mommy's womb.

meet banjo.

this week on kelly's korner, "show us your life," it's all about your pets!

meet banjo, the cutest boston terrier you will ever lay your eyes on. all 12 pounds of her!

she's our spunky little creature who's a bustling bundle of extreme energy. although banjo looks like a perpetual puppy because she is a runt, she's really six years old.

yes, she is as crazy as she looks here. daddy used to let her wear the spike collar. once mommy came into the picture the spike collar was no longer. i mean, come on, she is a girl. and with a name like banjo she has to keep her femininity somehow. my pink collar idea got vetoed. so i just settled for nixing the spikes.

kelly always teases me because i can never manage to pick her up. well, here's proof that i did it once. oh man, kelly just reminded me he handed banjo to me for this pic.

she has an insatiable desire to lick. hunter indulges her way too much and she turns into a euphoric fool. hunter is banjo's absolute favorite person. i would bet that banjo is hunter's fave too, but i'll let you decide...

oh, in case you're wondering about the bell... kelly trained banjo to ring the bell when she needs to go out to go potty. it's pretty darn cute.

that's more like it...

yay.

my blog finally looks more like me.

i am so done designing it.

it is finally finished!

grab my new button: {it's for real this time!}

<a border="0" href="http://www.carissagraham.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i629.photobucket.com/albums/uu20/folly_surf_fisher/button-1.jpg" /></a>

i'm fickle.

so, a few days ago i created my new blog design. i loved it. now i am done with it. my husband is always right. he said he didn't like it from the beginning and i should've listened to him. i love the shabby/vintage look. but, let's face it ... it's so so so not me. i think i just love digital design; i frequently get a craving to design something. i should start a business. but, i think i would need a computer that is not more than 8 years old to do that. so, for now i'll satisfy my craving by redesigning my blog all over again. i'm so fickle. maybe the practice will payoff and one day i will get a better computer and open an online design shop. or maybe i just keep telling myself that so i don't feel bad wasting so much time on this stuff.

{if my blog looks icky for a bit... it is because i am in the middle of yet another renovation... soon my newest design will be up!}

new music.

or what i want to be listening to. these are all brand spankin' new. (mom, if you need any ideas for christmas, here's a few... he he.)

norah jones' the fall

john mayer's battle studies

switchfoot's hello hurricane

phil wickham's heaven & earth

i can guarantee that the last two are much more wholesome than the first two.

what are you listening to lately?

scam alert : (

you must read this. sorry, i know its long.

today kelly is my hero. today the today show is also my hero. for the past year, we were being scammed out of $14.95/month. you could be also. but thanks to kelly from the help of the today show, we were able to stop the scam!!! let me explain...

this morning kelly had hand surgery (it was a minor surgery) and while he was waiting to go into the pre-op, he was watching the today show (for kelly's benefit, i'll say that he normally never watches the today show. he only watched it because it's what they had on at the hospital.). today ran a segment on internet scams.

here's how the scam works - basically, when you go to make a purchase on a site (big sites that you would trust! like shutterfly, airline companies, oriental trading co., etc) a coupon will be on the page where you enter your credit card info. the coupon says something like "save $10 now" or "save $10 on your next purchase." these coupons appear to be from the company you are purchasing from. i mean, the coupon even has the company name and logo on it. you would certainly think it was an offer from them and no outside party. well, apparently, when you click on the coupon, the company you are purchasing from (like shutterfly) sells your credit card info to this outside company who really put the coupon on the page. confusing enough? watch the today report below. trust me, they explain it a whole lot better than i did.

when kelly got home from the hospital he asked me if i had ever clicked on those offers especially because he knows i've purchased from shutterfly in the past. i told him that i remember seeing an offer like that and that i was sure i would've clicked on it (remember, i love me some coupons!). so i began scouring our credit card statements.

low and behold... i realized we were being charged $14.95 per month from a company called "encore marketing." we had been getting charged since last november. an entire year. that means we had given this scammy company $165. ahhhhh! i was livid. i mean livid. i called them. i kept my cool (i am not sure how... the Lord was with me : ) because i'm telling you, i was so mad. i felt like we had been robbed!) and after speaking with several supervisors and after demanding my full refund, they finally said they would return all the money. it is a miracle. i am hoping they follow through.

it wasn't shutterfly, i found out that when i made a purchase from oriental trading company last october, (this was back when i worked for our church and was purchasing some items for the children's ministry) i must have clicked on a $10 off coupon. the minute i clicked on it, oriental trading company sold my credit card info to this encore marketing company, enrolled me in this membership savings program and began charging me $14.95/month (i never even got $10 off!). how is that legal for one company to sell your credit card info to another??? the senate is investigating these types of companies because they believe this is unfair. i hope it becomes illegal. i can't believe that this is happening. beware. and double check your credit card statements.

i can't believe companies like shutterfly, oriental trading co., etc, are willing to engage in these practices. they are making millions off of it. they get a hefty kickback the minute they sell your credit card info to these companies. the today show reported that shutterfly made 6 million off of this last year. that disgusts me. i will never buy anything again from shutterfly or oriental trading company.

i am afraid to buy anything online now. yikes!

thanks kelly for watching out for us (and for watching the today show!). and yes, you are my hero everyday, not just today.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

changes

my blog is about to get a whole new look! i am super excited. i have been designing the day away!!! you will see these changes appearing and by tomorrow the new look should be rearin' to go. yippee. i love design.

my fave fave fave

tonight i made my favorite easy dinner. i think it is my ultimate favorite dinner. the fact that it tastes so darn good coupled with the fact that it is super easy, is a recipe for success. wait a minute. before i tell you what this recipe is, let me digress for a moment...

i discovered today that we always have a good amount of food in our house, but it seems that it is never anything to make meals with. that is due to my lack of planning. shame on me. since i just shop the sales based upon what coupons i have, we end up with a whole bunch of mish mash. i've known this for awhile, but i just kept saying i'd figure out ways to just throw things together in hopes of it tasting good.

i have a lack of creativity when it comes to cooking. so, if i do anything in the kitchen outside of a recipe it most likely will end in failure, the throwing away of the meal, and having to run out for something cheap to replace the thrown away meal. pretty much a lose lose lose situation. i decided today that i must start making a weekly dinner menu. i will try to choose recipes based upon the weekly sales, but i am determined not to have an anxiety attack if i have to buy a few ingredients that aren't on sale or that i don't have a coupon for. pray for me. that will be no easy task.

back to my favorite... here's the recipe for chicken crunch. trust me, you're going to fall in love with it. it's also great because there aren't many ingredients which keeps the cost down!

Ingredients

• 2 chicken breasts, cooked and deboned
• 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup
• 1 (8 ounce) container sour cream
• 1/2 cup butter
• 40 buttery round crackers

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Chop chicken into small pieces and place in a 9 x 13 inch baking dish.
3. Mix soup and sour cream and pour over chicken. Dot with butter or margarine. Crumble crackers finely and put on top of chicken mixture. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 minutes.

prayer

"one of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God." - luke 6:12

if you don't have charles spurgeon's morning and evening, buy it. seriously. it is the best devotional book. the other day, i came across a great writing on prayer. i have to share it with you.

from november 12, evening:

"if ever one of woman born might have lived without prayer, it was our spotless, perfect Lord, and yet no one was ever so much in supplication as He! Such was His love for His Father that He loved to be in frequent communication with Him; such was His love for His people that He desired to be in frequent intercession for them. the fact of this eminent prayerfulness of Jesus is a lesson for us - He has given us an example that we may follow in His steps...shouldn't we learn from Jesus to resort to special prayer when we are under peculiar trial, or contemplate fresh endeavors for the Master's glory?"

Lord, teach me to pray.

operation christmas child

i am sure most of you have heard of operation christmas child. this is a part of our Christmas traditions. i have always enjoyed packing up a shoebox. i am even more excited for hunter to pack a shoebox one day when he understands it. it is amazing knowing that the small shoebox, full of fun toys, toiletries and other necessities, will help share the love of Christ along with the Gospel story to children all over the world. it only costs around $15-25 to make. my favorite part of putting the box together is praying over it...praying for the child who will receive it. - how wonderful it is to be involved in the Lord's workings around the globe! this is a great way to teach your kids about giving, sharing Christ and His love, and also reminding them of the true meaning of Christmas. go here to get more info and to find out how you can pack your shoebox (this year you can even track it to find out where it ended up)! hurry, national collection week is (next week) november 16-23!!!


how cute is this!!! look at the joy and excitement on their precious faces!

admiration

if you are a veteran, presently serving in the military, or a family member of one serving, i admire and respect you. saying thank you is hardly touching on how grateful our country is for your service. there are not enough words to express, not enough money to be payed, and not enough praise to be given, for the sacrifices you have made, are making, or will make. you are upholding the freedoms and principles this nation was founded upon. you are upholding and preserving these words that made history over 200 years ago.

"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

publix paid me a penny

i finally went to the grocery store today. i was supposed to go last friday. but, nausea plagued me for so many days that the thought of stepping into a grocery store with so much food was too much for this pregnant girl's weak stomach. i finally made it there today! anyways, here is my favorite deal from this shopping trip:

1 box of special k cereal

2 boxes of kashi go lean crunch cereal

total spent: $0
total earned: $0.01

yep, publix paid me a penny for those three boxes of healthy cereal. thanks publix.

scenario:

kashi was on sale, two for $5. i had two $3 off coupons. so, i earned $1 for buying them. then, special k was buy one get one free, which made the cost of one box $1.99. i had a coupon for a $1 off special k, which made the cost $0.99. with the dollar i earned and the $0.99 i paid, i still made a penny. woo hoo! freebies are so much fun.

want

what do you do when you get a pottery barn mag in the mail? if you're like me, you probably look through it and think, well if i had money to spend i would want this and this and this. today i was looking through one and was sort of sick over how much i always want more and more possessions.

right next to the pottery barn mag was a voice of the martyrs newsletter/mag that we get every month. i read through the pages. page after page was full of wants. they were what i call "holy wants." all these people living all across the world want the Gospel to be spread throughout their respective lands. that is their desire. they want nothing more than to see the name of Jesus shared, no matter what harm may come their way. go here to read the story of a high school boy in china who was expelled from school for refusing to denounce his faith in Christ. he will not be able to go to college now. yet, all that matters to him is Christ. it may seem that his future is grim because he won't be able to further his schooling, but his future in heaven is beaming bright.

i want my flesh to be rid of all my earthly wants. i want to be full of "holy wants" and for my desire to be only that of Christ.

you can sign up to receive voice of the martyrs (vom) newsletters by mail or email each month. it's free. if you are looking for an organization to give to this Christmas, i plead with you to support vom. they are caring for our brothers and sisters in Christ who are in chains for the Gospel.

weekly preggers update

how far along? 9 or 10 weeks. based on my calculations i am 10 weeks. based on baby's measurements i am 9 weeks. but it feels like i am 9 weeks for the second time since i already thought i was. i definitely think i am 10 weeks. otherwise, we wouldn't have found out i was pregnant when we did.

total weight gain: zero. i know that won't last long.

maternity clothes? absolutely not. hoping to not wear them for as long as possible.

stretch marks? zero. since i didn't get any with hunter, i am guessing/hoping i won't get any this time either.

belly button in or out? in. mine never popped out with hunter.

sleep: as much as possible. i am e-x-t-r-e-m-e-l-y fatigued.

movement: we saw the babe moving like crazy on the ultrasound. so sweet.

cravings: nope. aversions: everything. no food sounds good. but i know that if i eat i will not feel nauseous. so, i make myself eat even though it makes me feel like i am going to barf. however, if i don't eat i will barf. weird.

what i am looking forward to: of course, finding out what we're having. that won't be for another 10 weeks. my doctor's office will not schedule you any sooner than 20 weeks to find out the gender. bummer.

milestones: we saw our baby for the first time this week. the heartbeat was 185 and it was wiggling like crazy.

little bitty baby

we saw the bitty baby today! reality struck...it is really happening. we are excited! i saw the same lady who did my very first ultrasound with hunter - she remembered us and laughed. she said, "well they won't be too too close together." i said, "15ish months." and then she said, "well that is close. really close." and laughed again! she is the sweetest thing!!!

the heartbeat was 185 bpm which is extremely fast. i am guessing it's a girl. so is my doctor and she has an 85% record of guessing it right. i also have nausea (with hunter i didn't have any. wow, i was sure lucky!) which makes me think its a girl. oh, and the chinese calendar also says its a girl. but, i promised my husband that i wasn't going to believe in the chinese calendar.

back to the appointment. based on my last period (i specifically remember it because its the only one i have had since april of 2008. sorry, tmi.) i should be 10 weeks and have a due date of june 4. based on the baby's measurements i am almost 9 weeks which would make the due date june 12. that made me really nervous. the doctor wasn't concerned so i am trying not to be! if the due date is june 12 then it wouldn't have been possible to find out that i was pregnant when i did. but either way, i will have a scheduled c-section for the end of may or very beginning of june.

i am opting to not try a vbac (vaginal birth after caesarean) because they do not allow them at the hospital my doctor delivers at. i could deliver at a different hospital with a different doctor but that sounds much less than desirable! i love my doc and i can't say that enough - she goes to our church and she is someone i would so be friends with. plus, the hospital i deliver at will be opening up their brand spanking new hospital in may. which means it will be super clean. that sounds perfect to me. also, the risk factors for vbacs are extremely high! if your uterus ruptures during delivery (which is highly possible because of past c-section) there is a 75% chance that the baby won't make it. no thank you. i will stick to a scheduled c-section and i am hoping to choose a cute birth date! i would love it to be june 2...then my babies would be exactly 16 months apart.

we are beyond thankful for this blessing!

9 something...

...is what i spent on all these groceries:

2 packages of betty crocker mashed potatoes

5 cans of del monte vegetables

starkist tuna salad

bumble bee albacore tuna

monkey bread

trident layers gum

uncrustables

progresso beef broth

bisquick

2 warm delights

normally all these groceries would be right around $41. honestly, i didn't do that great this time with triples. but hey, i am not complaining!

sorry, but i thought i spared you long enough from coupon talk. and with triples this week at harris teeter, i had to share my deals (thanks jenny at southern savers for figuring out all these fabulous deals!!!). triple coupons usually happens right at the right time. i was suffering of coupon sickness {coupon sickness = totally sick and tired of coupons} but this was just the motivation i needed. there is no turning back. once you start getting free money, why would you ever want to stop?

jury {insert sad, unhappy face here} duty

tonight kelly had jury duty. he always gets called for jury duty. every year. i have never been selected. he has been chosen probably five or six times. ahhh. poor guy!

he left at 5:45pm. i was getting hunter ready for bed and realized i had a voicemail. it was from kelly. since it was only 6:30 i figured he called to let me know he didn't get selected and would be on his way home. at least that's what i was hoping. i listened to the message. i was so mad. i mean mad. he told me that all he could say was that he would be put up in a hotel for twelve days and wouldn't be able to communicate with me again until the trial was over. i needed to call his work and tell them what was going on, since he wouldn't be there for twelve whole days. i started crying. but then i thought about it. why would he need to stay in a hotel? i realized it was all a big fat joke. so i called him right back. i was so sure he would answer. nope. no answer. then i thought it wasn't a joke. i cried some more. i called him again. he answered and was laughing his head off. the end.

yeah, it was pretty funny. i am so glad he is home and really didn't get selected!

happy 9monthday hunter!

today my baby is 9 months old! wow... i can't believe how fast time flies...

and how fast he's changing! : ) looking more and more like daddy everyday.

a friend of ours made this and sent it to kelly. i crack up every time i look at it. thought you'd get a good laugh out of it.

sunday

we had a great message today at church (as always!) and i just have to share a small (but huge as far as Truth goes!) tidbit of it.

"for I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." -jeremiah 29:11

until we can fully believe that the Lord is absolute goodness and has our absolute best in mind, we will never be able to fully obey Him...i must believe in the absolute goodness of God otherwise i will never win the battle of obedience. for some reason i haven't ever tied together obedience and God's goodness. i am certainly always interested in learning how to better obey the Lord and His Word! it was nourishment for my soul!