hi, i'm rachael and i am the mother of 2 boys

Hi, I'm Rachael. I am 27 years old. I have been married for 6 years and I have 2 sons. My oldest son is named Hunter and the younger is Judah. And I am content in only having 2 boys.

I have found the past few days and weeks that an unusually large number of people have asked me if Justin and I were really done having kids. I dont know why, perhaps spring is in the air and people are in the breeding mood...whatever it is, I am flabbergasted. Beyond the fact that it is weird that I have gotten this question so often recently is the fact that probably 75% of the people who have asked me are almost sad for me when I say, "oh hell yes, we are done having children." At first I thought it was the absolute finality in my response that catches them off guard, but then I get the "but you dont have a girl yet! Dont you want to try for that girl?!?" to which i reply, "no." to which the hardcore inquirers retort back with, "oh come on, you know you would have so much fun with a girl." to which my final response is, "yep, probably would...however that requires i risk the chance of getting another boy and I'm not one of those girls who really LOVES babies. so, nope, we're good with 2. and it just so happens they are both the same gender." end of conversation.

Now, i will admit...there was a point about 2 years ago when i toyed with the idea of "trying for the girl" but after realizing my husband's great desire to only have 2 children (regardless of gender-well, he says that but I do wonder if he would have pushed for a third if we had had 2 girls instead) I came to the point of saying, "these are the 2 incredible babies God has given me and rather than wishing for what i dont have, I will embrace the 2 I do have." And with that, I experienced a new found freedom knowing that I could truly get rid of baby stuff and reclaim my body as my own as it would not be used as an incubator or snack station again. what a glorious freedom this has been.

I will also admit that occasionally I do wonder what it would be like to have a girl or girls instead of the 2 beasts upstairs, however i love being a mother to boys because:

1. wrestling is way more fun than tea parties
2. mud beats makeup any day of the week
3. i get to teach them how to respect women
4. marvel comics are way cooler than barbies
5. teaching them about bugs is met with "awesome!" rather than "yuck" 
6. when one of the bugs i say yuck to is found in the kitchen they argue about who gets to pick it up and flush it down the toilet
7. clothes are something required when leaving the house rather than a huge ordeal in making sure one has the most fashionable outfit on
8. when they will go hunting with their dad, i will have oodles of me time
9. baseball trumps dance
10. encouraging your son to go ask that girl to the prom is probably way easier than explaining to a girl why that boy didnt ask her to the prom
11. picking out a tux is a whole lot more simple than buying a prom or wedding dress
12. no one will ever tell me my toenail polish is a hideous color
13. i dont have to buy cars2 and tinkerbell clothes, i can utilize hand me downs. 

and finally-the most important-in a house with 3 boys and myself it is an unspoken rule that mama is queen, and no one will ever challenge my place on that pedestal.

So, this is the end of "i only have 1 gender represented in my children" therapy session.  thanks and join me again next week for the therapy session titled: "yes, i grew up in minnesota but that doesn't mean i think 40 degrees is warm ."

to all you single parents out there...

This post is aimed at you single moms (or dads) out there. This is me bowing down to you. This is me being awestruck by your incredible ability to raise a child or children alone.

Tuesdays/Thursdays and many weekends throughout the year I am a single mother. The boys and I do not see Justin on Tues/Thurs because he leaves the house at 6am, works for 17 hours and comes home around 12am. (How he works that many hours in one day baffles me, but he has done it since hunter was born and so I guess he is just used to it) So on these days i am responsible for getting up, getting myself ready, the boys up and ready, lunches packed and out the door by 730am. we head to my in-laws (3 miles east of our house) and drop off Judah, turn around and go 7 miles west to hunter's school and drop him off, then hop on the highway and sit in outrageous traffic to go the 20 miles south to work. i work for about 8 hours and then hop in the car, drive the 20 miles north in terrible, but not as horrendous, traffic to pick up h from school, drive the 7 miles to gather judah and then on days like today rush over to tball practice, get home at 715 to let the poor dogs out, feed the beasts supper, play with dogs, get boys ready for bed, read stories, tuck in and then wait for them to fall asleep. oh, and then i have to do laundry, do the dishes and perhaps, just maybe find 10 minutes for myself.
I do this routine (well, the tball isnt every tues/thurs) 2 days a week...some people do it 7 days a week. i dont know how. how do you maintain sanity? i am in complete awe of you do it single parents. well done, i am impressed.

Go Cubs!

Tonight was a momentous occasion in the James household. Tonight was the first practice of the U6 Cubs t-ball team! I was nervous going into it because well, h didnt have the most spectacular try out and I didnt want him to be that kid on the team who was lacking in skills. luckily, I had nothing to worry about as a few of the other younger kids are in the same skill-level he is. I think he is the youngest on the team-Hank who is the 2nd youngest has his by 13 days-and there are some very obvious 6 year olds who not only look much more mature, but also have much better skill sets. H took to the coach (Travis) really well and had a great time playing catch with Hank and got to be buddies with Zach during the rotation time.
Highlights:
1. I think most of the moms are working moms-this is nice, because we all came to practice tired from running kids around and all mentioned having valentine parties today at the boys' schools. interestingly enough, 5 of the moms are teachers/counselors at RR ISD schools.
2. I think its funny that when i mention i work at the blood center, everyone (ok not everyone, but a large percentage of people) reply with "oh, interesting. i really need to go give. i think i am O+"
3. Judah found a buddy. Zach's 2 year old brother and Judah had a blast running around together. And i enjoyed chatting with their mom-Lauren. Oh, and Hank's mom who thought it would be a good idea to try for that girl after 2 boys and ended up with twin boys...case and point on why i am not trying for that girl.
4. My baby is grown up. He loved playing out under the lights tonight and had a huge smile on his face most of the time.
5. I realized this was the first of what will end up being HUNDREDS of baseball practices over the course of the next 12-14 years and i am excited.
Here are a few pictures of the event-pardon the fact that they are crap but i took them on my phone and my phone is crap so what can you expect.

1st team meeting...agenda:learn the other boys' names. 

Hunter and Hank during warm ups

Hunter said hitting the ball during rotation time was his 2nd favorite of the practice-his most favorite was running the bases because he could show the other boys how fast he was. 

After practice we played a few minutes on the playground. Doesn't he look so old?!?

When we got in the car to go home H said, "lets call dad. i need to tell him all about how awesome baseball is." this melted my heart and when i was putting him to bed he said, "I had an awesome time at baseball tonight and i can't wait to go back again." success.

PS.  Happy Valentines day!

being content during construction

Justin and I (along with the rest of the church) were challenged by our pastor to go through the whole Bible in 2012 and he gave us a great tool/reading plan called Life Journal. This reading plan goes through the old testament once and the new testament twice in a calendar year, and while the paper copy was available at church both Justin and i decided to use the electronic version. I follow the readings on youversion.com and he uses the mobile app of youversion.com to listen to his daily readings. so far i am really enjoying it as we have made it through genesis, most of Exodus, Luke and part of acts. i love the deep cultural history of how Israel came to be and reading about Gods unbelievable grace and mercy to his people who fail him daily. i have been surprised that i am enjoying the old testament readings more than the new testament, perhaps because i know the stories of Christ and the apostles and while it is absolutely fundamental knowledge i am enjoying the history so much. currently we are reading through the last third of Exodus and bleh, its all the measurements of the tabernacle/alters/lamp stands/etc. i dont particularly care about how many cubits the chair, curtains, lamps or tables are...but what i did catch onto today was this...our God cares about details. He cared enough about the minute details of a tent, he certainly cares more about the minute details of his people. I forget this all the time. i too often get sucked into the mindset of, "oh, i dont need God for this tiny little thing. i can totally do this on my own." forget it rach. you suck at doing stuff on your own and after reading this passage again today i decided that i think God likes the little stuff. I think he likes when we bring him into the "dumb" stuff that we probably could do on our own. I firmly believe that He wants me to ask him to help me find the boys SS cards rather than just bringing him in the "big stuff."
so, as i contemplate life this evening (on a day that i am tired of everything) i am reminded and reassured that God had 2 men (Bazeelel and Aholiab) build his tabernacle which means it took practically forever to build and that means that i, his creation that he cares more about than his tabernacle, am going to take forever to build. i am too detailed and to ornate to be thrown together. i am a work in progress.

this being said...i must also be reminded that the 2 little boys i was at my wits end with today are also a massive work in progress.