Goodbye to a WONDERFUL year

Man, 2011 has been quite the year! My hubs and I welcomed in the New Year last year with one of those party packages through Wild Wings Cafe and it was AWESOME!!! We had so much fun! That's how we welcomed in the year....saying good-bye to the year I will be having a very small glass of champagne directly after nursing so that it will be out before Miss Emily nurses again. No wild and crazy for us this year:) This time last year I was really struggling with TTC....I had had almost all could take and was about ready to give it a rest for awhile. I was going to give it one more month and that was it....and that is all it took! In Feb. my little Victoria turned 2 and in March we found out we were pregnant! I have had a blast this year! I have had ups and downs but looking back I love every single one of them. I am very blessed with a wonderful family, a spouse...who at times makes me want scream, but who loves me with his whole heart for all that I am and I could not ask for a better hubs, I have 2 wonderfully beautiful and loving little princesses, school is going fantabulous, I have a roof over my head, food in my belly, and love and support all around me. I am very blessed and I am ecstatic to see what this year brings.

I haven't done resolutions in a long time. I don't keep them so what's the point? I always want to stop biting my nails and that never happens. This year though I have some goals.

1) Graduate with my B.S. in Education
2) Run the Knoxville half-marathon

That's it! I mean I want to be in better shape and lose some of this baby weight but that will come in time with training for the half-marathon.....and nursing.

I hope everyone has a very safe and blessed New Year!!

Cloth Diapering A Newborn

Diapering my newborn has proved to be quite the challenge. If you want to cloth diaper a newborn I would HIGHLY suggest investing in Rumparooz Lil' Joeys. I showed you those in this post. Jeez....wait just a min....have I really not talked in depth about cloth diapering on here?! Craziness I tell you! Well....let's just jump right in.

I use prefolds for the most part. I show a prefold in that linky up there as well. I LOVE prefolds!!! My fave prefolds are from greenmountaindiapers.com These prefolds are a bit more pricey BUT they come in a variety of sizes and I like that since it helps provide a nice trim fit. I can't stand a bulky diaper. I generally buy these when they have seconds sales which does not mean used (althought I have NOTHING against buying used dipes). This just means they aren't perfect, but honestly I can never tell what's wrong with them. I got 20 preemie prefolds for Emily (I didn't start cloth diapering with Victoria until she was like 4 months). I thought I may be crazy, but my babies tend to grow kinda slower than average so I took the plunge. I am so glad I did because they fit Emily GREAT!!! The problem you run into however is that you can't hardly find a danged cover to go over them for a new baby (and I just don't feel right putting a cloth diaper on a fresh from the womb baby for some reason). I started Emily in cloth around 2 weeks. My all time fave cover....Thirsties.....were a JOKE on my little girl (who weighed in at atleast 7 lbs. 6 oz. at the time since that is what she weighed 2 days after leaving the hospital). I did some research and ended up getting some used Bummis Super Brite newborn covers which do fit nicely but, IMO, fail in the no leaking category. They leak like CRAZY!!!! I definitely have to remember that I need to change her diaper like every hour in these things unless I want to change her clothes with every diaper change. I'm not a Bummis fan.....I'm pretty much only a Thirsties fan in all honesty and I am happy to report that at 1 month old they are not so rediculously huge on my kiddo. They are still a bit big but I'd say in about 2 weeks that I will be using them and not the Bummis anymore. Here's Emily in a prefold....please shield your eyes from the crazy lady holding her. Dear sweet hubby took it with his phone and it is a HORRIBLE angle mixed with baby thickness. That purple thingy is the snappi:)

I LOVE my prefolds because they are super easy to use, they are cheap, and they wash and dry very quickly. They are easy to sun bleach on a clothesline (which I'm about to buck my HOA guidelines and install come spring). I use a snappi but I used pins first and actually used them the other day when I couldn't find a danged snappi close by. You don't even need either of these......you can just fold the prefold into thirds and put it in the cover. You can't tell me cloth diapering is hard....it doesn't get much easier than that (well, unless you use all in ones).

I'm not a pocket diaper fan so much. I do have some one size pocket diapers (Bum Genius seconds), but I HATE stuffing those suckers and they are super bulky. The dry and wash better than all in ones (AIOs) and you can make them more absorbent BUT......still not a fan. Pocket diapers are a waterproof shell that has a pocket that you stuff. They are generally one size which means there are multiple rows of snaps you adjust for the right fit. Let me just add that one-size will most likely NOT fit your newborn despite what they may say.

AIOs are bulky too IMO. I do like some AIOs so that my dear sweet hubby will actually use a cloth diaper. These diapers go on the same way as a disposable....you just wash it when you take it off instead of throwing it away. They take forever to dry and they are harder to wash since they tend to hold in more detergent and such. They are handy when you are out and about for sure though. Also....the Lil' Joeys are AIOs. I recommend going to Diaper Junction to get these or looking for used ones. They come in a 2-pack for about $30...used you can find them around $10-$13 each. I also have some Bum Genius from Cotton Babies that I like alright. I even have the XS ones for newborns with a cord notch......yeah....not so much. These were way to big on my newborn and are just now starting to fit....kinda.

So to sum it all up....if you want to cloth diaper a newborn I HIGHLY suggest the Lil' Joeys. If I had it to do over again I would get 20-30 of those and call it a day. They have a snap down for the cord stump and it actually stays under it better than disposable diapers!!! They fit up to 15 lbs. so they aren't a wasted investment. If your babies grow like mine you'll get at least 6 months use out of them, but if your babies grow more average then you'll get around 3-4 months out of them which is still not bad. Then you can turn around and resell them for at least $10/dipe!!! Okay....if you don't go that route you definitely should get some preemie prefolds. I think I will get at least another 2 wks.-1 month out of these (so up to 2 months use for $20 on 20 seconds prefolds). They fit super nice and trim and I'm happy to have bought them. I didn't try the rumparooz cover but it may work better than the Bummis because of the gussets around the legs. Not sure. Anyway...if you are stuck with the Bummis covers like I am then just be prepared for a lot of changes, but hey, you have to change newborns a lot anyway. Infant prefolds are A LOT bigger than the preemie so trust me here....you'll want some preemies.

Saddly I do not have any pics of Emily in a Lil' Joey so you'll just have to trust me.....this is your best bet.

Go away baby weight!

Soooo....I gained a lot this go around. With Victoria I gained 33 lbs. and with Emily I gained 39 lbs. I gained 3 of those over night before I went in for my c-section. I KNOW I didn't chow down on over 10k calories the day before but whatever. I ended at 183 and I am now at 157....so 26 down and 13 left. The thing is.....my clothes that I wore before I got preggo with Victoria don't fit like they did at all....or fit at all really and I was 158 when I got preggo with her. Ugh! I think it's fat and not muscle AND my hips spread a bit (or my butt is just as HUGE as I think it is). I am going to start walking and doing some exercises this week. Well, I have already started doing some squats (as in 1 set of 20) and some lunges and stuff. Since I had the c-section I am not really cleared for another week and a half but I'm feeling good and I'm going to just take it really slow. Here's to hoping that I am 5 lbs. from my pre-pregnancy weight at 6 wks. pp like I was with Victoria....even though I really don't see that happening. Maybe I should aim for 9 lbs. left....I am just really hoping that getting moving will give me the boost I'm looking for since the scale has not budged in over a week. Here's my before and after.....41 weeks and 1 day and 3 weeks post in the same pants.

I'm 4 wks. post now and look about the same....I will update as soon as I can jog 2-3 miles so HOPEFULLY in about 3 wks. but we shall see since I was not in the best of shape before and now....well....it's worse.

Mommy of 2!

Since my computer is down I am doing this blog entry from my iPad which means it will be sans pictures.....and probably have more typos than normal. Anywho.....we welcomed my second beautiful daughter into this world on November 28, 2011 at 12:21 pm. She was 7 pounds 15.4 oz. And 19.5" long. The weight was a complete surprise she she kept measuring small. She probably would have been 8 lbs. but she came into this pooping.....a lot.....and she still does! She had a poopy diaper when they took it off to give her a bath, pooped right after the bath, and another time later that day. She still poops if she sneezes, cries, etc. Cracks me up! Anyway....I love her to pieces:) she is almost 3 weeks old now and I was just telling hubs today she doesn't look fresh from the womb in her face anymore. Made me sad:/

Being a mom of 2 is definitely different. Victoria tries to nurse her or just help me nurse by holding my boob. I have to go pee with Emily on the boob and Victoria in there beside me doing something. It takes an hour to get out the door. Life is pretty perfect in other words! I have everything I ever dreamed of and this time next year I will be done with my bachelors degree and hopefully will be teaching soon. This semester I finished 24 credit hours.....and my brain is about to explode! My life is moving quickly lately but in the complete right direction!

Sorry I have been MIA lately.....it's been hard on me....I just can't really do a lot without a computer. Hopefully soon things will return to normal and I will be able to update more because I have been DYING to share things lately and no outlet.

Missin' my blog

Just f.y.i. my computer has CRASHED!! Ugh! I miss my blog like no other. I am considering doing like 5 posts in 1-2 days....is that overkill? I like to keep up with my life on here because I read where one blogger's husband published a book for her out of her blog. I would LOVE that! Anywho....I can't keep up with it right now because I am borrowing computers to keep up with my school work so I just can't update the blog. Hopefully next week:) Stay tuned!! I have some good stuff to share....like pictures of my new baby girl!

Stationery card

Vintage Volute Pink Birth Announcement

Find hundreds of cute baby birth announcements at Shutterfly.com.

View the entire collection of cards.

Sometimes we don't get what we want

This pregnancy has definitely been a roller coaster. Sometimes I forget how difficult it was to actually get pregnant and I feel sorry for myself over little things. When I felt nauseous for the first 30 something weeks that was definitely a toll. I felt horrible about being upset about it, but really there is only so much one can take. I have had a lot more water retention, constipation, heart burn, pain, tiredness, moodiness.....basically more EVERYTHING this go around than I did with Victoria. Now that I am in my last 12 days I'm starting to get sad. I don't sleep well at night anymore.....I'm just not comfortable. I have to literally roll out of bed when I want to get up. I have to scoot to the front of a seat and push myself up. I have to do squats to pick stuff up. On the flip side I will definitely miss feeling her squirming inside of me. I feel way more with this one than I did with Victoria and I enjoy it. I love watching her make my whole belly move.

I can't wait to meet Miss Emily. What will she look like? Will she look like Victoria? What will her personality be like? We are unsure if we will have a 3rd though so this is kind of bittersweet for me. I actually have not let myself think that it is my last or I would probably cry everyday. No matter how horrible I feel some days I love the miracle of life growing inside of me. If we do have a third it will be 3-4 years down the road. I just can't imagine this being my last go around.

With Victoria and with Emily I wanted a natural, unmedicated birth. With Victoria my OB was going to be out of town the week of my due date and I was so scared of delivering with another doctor I decided to be induced and that is something I regret on a pretty regular basis. I never progressed past 7 and I think that is because I was trying to force my body do something it just wasn't ready for (even though I was 3 cm. and completely effaced by the time I got induced). I ended up with a c-section. I felt like a failure. This time was going to be different. I was just going to wait it out. Well....this time is different. This time I don't have a choice. My baby is breech and despite my best efforts she is not budging. It has been hard to come to terms with. I will say I feel blessed for knowing from 28 wks. that she is breech. I think I would have had a lot harder of a time if she had flipped at 38 or 39 weeks and all my dreams of a natural birth came crashing down. I have to trust that God and Emily know what they're doing....maybe the cord is around her....maybe I actually don't have a very well shaped pelvis or uterus and Emily is best how she is. With Victoria the doctor told me I had a small pelvis or a big baby and Victoria was 7lbs. 2 oz. By looking at me you would never think I had a small pelvis but how big you are on the outside does not influence how big or small your pelvis is.

Anyway,I hoped, I prayed, I tried everything else out there to get my baby to flip but it does not seem to be in the cards. I will be scheduled for a repeat c-section. Sometimes we just don't get what we want. It's hard for me knowing that so many women out there that don't really want to experience birth get to and I don't, but I do get to have a baby and for that I am thankful. Sometimes I forget to look at the bigger picture.....I complain about the little things when really I should be praising God that I have been blessed with this little miracle and in the long run I guess it doesn't matter how she gets here. Maybe if we do have a third I will get my natural birth, maybe I won't, but maybe it doesn't really matter.

Abingdon, VA

The hubs and I always go somewhere for our wedding anniversary. This year we celebrated our 4th anniversary in Abingdon, VA. It was BEAUTIFUL!!!! We got married on 10-28 and for some reason we pretty much always celebrate the weekend before. Fall is usually really showing off at this point and this year I think was the most beautiful yet! There is a bike trail in Abingdon that is called the VA Creeper Trail and I wanted to go on it sooooo bad!!! It is pretty long but it is supposed to be pretty easy. Well, considering I was 34 weeks preggo at the time I was told no by my doctor. It was actually a pretty sad thing.......I forgot to ask the doctor at my appointment around 30 weeks so I called the nurse to ask her and she said no because I might fall. Well, I had been so looking forward to it that in my crazy hormonal state it was all I could do to not start bawling my eyes out right there on the phone with her. I held it in though and looked at other options and VIOLA! I could ride a trike bike instead. Umm....not so much.....the doctor nixed this idea by saying that with the road being bumpy and the repetitive motion over such a long time could possibly cause placental abrubtion. That's all I needed to hear.....it was a no go. We had fun anyway and we will definitely be going back to ride that trail! We actually stayed in Bristol and I enjoyed the area we stayed in because it was around so much food...not so crazy about the hotel. We stayed at Holiday Inn Bristol Conference Center.....I got a great deal on Priceline, BUT housekeeping never came....they messed up our room service order and never fixed it, they didn't have coffee (how is this even possible), and you could hear a ton of traffic since it was right on the interstate. We drove up to Abingdon (which took like 15 min.) the next day (Sat.) and went Abingdon Winery which has the best wine I have ever tasted (yes, I did the wine tasting even though I'm pregnant). It is so light and it was a great price. The winery was so beautiful!!

I'm not gonna lie.....we totally passed that little sign and had a heck of a time finding this place.

This is the view if you wanted to sit on their little patio and eat...we didn't but it was nice.

We took a tour......and why yes....that whale looking thing is me. LOL!

We ate lunch at Pop Ellis Soda Shoppe & Grill.....I would recommend eating inside because our server kept forgetting about us outside. I didn't really care because we weren't in a hurry and it was beautiful. We found out while we were there that President Obama has eaten there and that was pretty cool even if I'm not his biggest fan. Sadly this is the only photo I thought to take of that place. The food was super yummy and decor inside was pretty interesting.

Then we toured the Fields-Penn House Museum (it's free) and we really loved that house! It had such high ceilings! I also loved all the antique strollers and such along with these rods on the runner on the stairs.

We just kept walking down Main St. and passed the Barter Theater and went down and checked out the entrance/exit to the Creeper Trail.

It was a great trip and we so cannot wait to go back!!! We will probably actually stay in Abingdon next time, but maybe not because of the great food choices around us last time. We'll see. We probably can't make it back next year since I'll be doing student teaching (hopefully) and we are going to be way too broke to be spending money on trips...but maybe in 2 years:)

36 weeks 4 days

I haven't done an updated picture in a while so since I was thinking about it while the hubs was home and awake I had him take a picture. These events rarely coincide anymore which would be why I have not updated the picture in almost 5 weeks. I was going to just wait until 37 weeks but chances were slim it would actually get done so here is this one. I'm feeling good. Nausea is generally not there (again) and I'm not too gosh awful tired. I don't have a burst energy or anything (although that would be nice). It's awkward getting around and I have started having to think about not only can I park my car in that spot but can I get out once I do manage to park (I'm not a very good parker.....or at backing out). I have actually had to find another spot twice because I couldn't get out of the car. Nice. I feel like I am as big as I was when I delivered Victoria AND I'm thinking I'm going to be going PAST my EDD this time. If the doctor will let me the repeat c-section will be scheduled for 12/7 so that is 10 days past the EDD. Hopefully my stubborn little girl will decide to turn around and come out before then but if not I'm pretty sure my papaw will appreciate the birthday present:) I have gained 31 lbs. which is just AWESOME.....or not. I gained 4 in 2 wks. a little while back and for the last 3 it's leveled off pretty well. They say most women don't gain anymore at the very end so let's hope that is true. I would have liked to gain less than I did with Victoria but honestly as long as I stay in the 25-35 lbs. recommended I am good. So here's me at 175 (EEK)....

Breech Baby

So, Miss Emily is still breech. I'm 36 weeks and chances of her flipping at this point are pretty slim. Yesterday I went to a chiropractor/acupuncturist to see if that route would work. He stuck 1 pin in each of my little toes. She's still not flipped.Today I'm going back and we are going to try the Webster's Technique. I wasn't so excited about spending money on that, but I figure we will be spending a lot more paying for a c-section so it was worth a shot.

I'm feeling pretty defeated at this point. I had not allowed myself to feel down about it until yesterday because my doctor will do external cephalic version to turn the baby himself. Well, he will BUT you have to have at least a "good" amniotic fluid index and mine is not; 8-18 is the range of normal and mines 8.4. Go figure! Yesterday I was told no version and I needed to get on the books for a repeat c-section. My world felt like it was crumbling around me. All I want is a nice normal non-medicated birth. Is that asking too much? I didn't get it with my first and it looked like I wouldn't be getting it this go around either. I felt like I should be crying because honestly I was devastated.....I think I was just past the point of crying over it though. I got a little teary a couple of times, but never really broke down over it. I was really struggling with when to schedule this c-section for...I still am kind of. The doctor will for sure do at least 1 more ultrasound before the c-section because he wants me to be happy with the birth and all. I was just going to go ahead and schedule it for 11/19....that way we could be out by Thanksgiving. Well, I have decided against that. I feel like rushing things with Victoria is what got me a c-section with her in the first place. This time I will just be patient. I am going to schedule the repeat c-section for the absolute last day I can which I *think* is 12/9 (almost 3 weeks after that first date mentioned). Do I think I will be miserable? Yes. Do I think that I will always regret not giving Emily every chance to flip otherwise? Yes. So, no, I don't want to go past my due date by any means, no mother does, but I will because some babies will flip during labor. Honestly if she doesn't flip before labor I am 100% hoping to go into labor on my own and dealing with it from there.

Oh, and just f.y.i I have definitely checked out Spinningbabies.com (and have done those exercises) and I have done the ice pack, music, shining light, laying upside down, accupuncture, and today I am getting the Webster Technique performed. Whew!

It suddenly dawned on me today what I have not done is what I should have done first. I have been thinking there is something I can do to control this whole situation. I have control issues. It's hard for me to realize I can't control everything and really what I need to do is "let go and let God." I have to remind myself of this often. Life is scary sometimes and I worry a lot, but I have to let it go. Worry is me not trusting in God and I can't be having that.

Pumpkin Patch Playdate

This post is a little late....but better late than never right?

I LOVE the fall....have I said that? I think I have. Anywho....there are a lot of things that are going on in the fall that I love....we have football, Halloween, Thanksgiving, my anniversary, this year we'll be having a baby, and for me it's not fall without a trip to the Pumpkin Patch.

I never went before having a kiddo and that first year the trip was definitely more for me than Victoria, but it was so much fun to go on a hayride and pick out our pumpkin. In the past I've picked little ones out for her. A size she could carry. This year was a different story. This year I never made it out to actually buy pumpkins so I decided to get 2 big pumpkins....this was not a good idea at 8 months pregnant. I had to just hope my 2.5-year-old would cooperate while I carried 1 in the crook of my arm (the genius I am got one without a proper stem) and the other I carried by the stem. I thought I was going to DIE. My bestie almost got a shot of this craziness until Victoria went running to a tractor to jump on and ride away without out me so not only was I carrying 2 good size pumpkins; I was also running with them to get my child. Fun stuff. I didn't take my camera....just my phone so pardon the pics. I have always gone with one of my besties and it has been so much fun to take our children together. Her little boy is 3 months younger than Victoria (and we're expecting together again!!!). It has been amazing to look back at pictures and see how much they have grown. This year we got to go with our other bestie and her 2 children (another little boy that is 3 months younger than Victoria and a little girl who was 14 months at the time). Besties make everything more fun and we had a great time:) I feel so blessed to have 2 such wonderful ladies in my life.

We go to Oakes Farm and it's always a good time. We did the "Back 40" this year since the kids were old enough to participate a little. They played on the slide, the corn pit thingy, and checked out the animals. They tried to jump in the bounce house but it was having some issues. There was a lot more to do, but with 2 year olds and wind and such we just didn't get around to it. We were going to go back after the hay ride and pumpkin picking....but we didn't.

And a photo of the 2 that have been going for 3 years together now on top and the bottom is the group photo (which is hard to do with 4 kiddos...all 2 and under).

Apparently I'm the sentimental sap type.....

When we first moved into our house I loved it of course because it was our first home, but I dreamed of the day we could move to a more manicured subdivision and a little bit larger home. When we moved I was about 16 weeks pregnant with Victoria and so then I became a little attached to my home; this is the house my baby was born into. She has a beautiful mural painted with love by her aunt. Victoria even tells you that Kathy put it there. (BTW....this picture from her nursery when it was still a nursery just about breaks my heart.....my baby girl is growing up and has a full-size bed in there now).

The of course there is this...

I hadn't "planned" on that per say but I love how in old houses and it movies you see this and just couldn't resist anymore. Those 3 marks are my baby at birth, 1, and 2.......soon there will be 2 new marks when little Emily is born and when Victoria turns 3. How can I possible leave this?!

Then there are my gardens. They are still quite the work in process BUT my great-grandmother passed away last year and her plants that she loved so much came to live in my gardens. Plants from my Papaw's garden (like the beautiful crepe myrtle he was getting rid of) and from my Mom's garden live in there. I'm not huge into plants....but I care about these.

Then we replaced the cheapo carpet with wood floors in most of the house. My husband laid it at an angle and I'm in-love with it! I mean seriously I don't know how I could move into a house without it laid like that.

Now our second little girl is about to be born and well, our house has become our home.....our memories. I watch my husband paint Emily's room and I don't know how I can leave this place. I don't have to worry about that any time soon, but our house seriously has NO storage. I hate that other people in the subdivision could give a flying flip about their houses and the yards are overgrown with weeds.....it's just not the subdivision I planned forever in, but I just don't see how I can leave my home. Our plan has always been to leave in 3-5 years, but we've been here 3 and well...the plan is still 3-5, but secretly I don't want to go....ever. I would have to take the growth marks, the plants, the flooring, the girls' rooms.....and of course that's just not possible.

Sweet Sayings

Miss Victoria has been saying the sweetest things lately and it just melts my heart. Sometimes having a 2-year-old is more than a little stressful. I'm not a big fan of her saying "huh" all the time and I have no clue where she got this. I'm also not a fan of her showing me her food in her mouth....I think that one came from parents day out....Anyway, every time she has about pushed my patience to the limit she does the super sweet things to make up for it.

I kiss her on her face about a billion times and tell her "I'm going to eat you up!" Well, she loves and and smiles and laughs....now she asks for it. The other day while her Daddy was supposed to be getting ready for basketball I heard little girl just a giggling away and went to see what was making her so happy. She was running all over my bedroom saying "Eat my up Daddy, Eat my up!!" They were having a grad ol' time! It was super cute:-) I just love the way she says "Eat my up!" I don't think I'm ever going to be able to correct her.

The other cute sayings is "You got me!" when you give her a big hug....or sometimes it's just after she jumps on you so you can hold her. She's also been talking about her little sister Emily all the time! I LOVE that she is old enough to know what is going on. She can tell you she is having a little sister, what her name is, and where she's at. She'll also tell you that she is going to hold, and feed her, and play with her, and wash her, etc. (all while she is making the motions to each action).

My little girl definitely pushes my buttons sometimes, but she always turns right around and makes my heart melt over and over again.

Vegetable Beef Barley Soup

I tried to talk myself into putting a picture with this blog but I just can't do it......yet. I will add it at the end when I've talked it up because the picture looks not so yummy. I LOVE this soup though. It is going to be a staple this fall. The first time I went to make it the hubs got that disgusted look and said he'd eat a sandwich. He had never had it; he just assumed he wouldn't like it. Of course now that he's tried it he likes it as much as I do. I didn't have an onion this last time I made it so I threw in some Onion Soup Mix and I couldn't tell a difference. I also didn't have green bell pepper so I just left that out. A word of warning.....the day you make it's really soupy, but it becomes pretty thick and I guess stewy (because of the barley). I like it both ways....I actually prefer it thicker because I'm not much for really liquidy soup. I know that sounds a little odd. Oh, the hubs asked for more veggies!!!! When I picked my jaw up from the floor I made note to make it with more corn and such the next time, but the hubs STILL wants more corn and green beans in there!!! I can definitely oblige. I asked him about carrots.....that was a negative. LOL! Both times I've made this I forgot to throw it in the crock pot early enough so I did high for 4 hours instead of slow for 6. This is another Betty Crocker Recipe;)

1/2lb stew meat
2 cans (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can (14 oz) beef broth (I didn't have any the first time so I used chicken broth)
1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
1 cup frozen corn kernels
1 cup frozen green beans (I accidentally grabbed snap peas so I used canned green beans)
1/3 cup uncooked quick-cooking barley
1/2 tsp. thyme
salt and pepper to taste

Throw it all in your crock pot set on low for 6 hours and there you have it!

Did I say I LOVE this soup?!?! I think I could eat it EVERY. SINGLE. DAY! I know it looks gross, but you should give it a try:) This picture by the way is left over so after a day it has thickened up quite a bit. Sorry for the blur.

Dresser Make-over

I can't believe that I get to blog about my dresser make-over!!!! I'm not a DIY person although I seem to forget that from time to time and think I'm Martha Stewart. This time I actually fell into the project somewhat by accident....maybe that was the difference. I had planned on having my dear sweet hubby paint this armoire AND add drawers and change it into more of a wardrobe type piece.

It is HUGE though and it was going to be a big project on top of what I already have him doing so we decided to part ways with it and buy this dresser. Man oh man I tried so hard to snatch up a $30-$40 one on craigslist, but alas....it was not to be. I snagged this one for $40 (down from $50 after I haggled for the first time EVER).

I felt like it had a lot of character. I knew I wanted a piece with doors like that or with little drawers for such things as little bitty socks, etc. I offered to sand it for my dear husband because I figured you couldn't really mess that up. Once I started sanding that baby I fell in-love with it all over again! The wood was beautiful!!!! It was hard to think of painting it truth be told. I asked one of my besties who is really good at this sort of thing exactly how to go about painting it and I also did some research online. I ended up following this blog's instructions with hopes that the wood grain would show through.

So I sanded, sanded, and sanded some more. I used a little sander with 80 sandpaper and this is what I got. I didn't care too much about the drawers...I cared way more about the top and sides.

Then I got started with the primer. I bought one can....I would recommend 2. I have no patience so I went ahead and got started. I got 3-4 coats on top though and went heavy with 2 coats on the drawers (but they definitely could have used more). Oh, and I would recommend a mask or something because I was not digging that fumes from the spray paint. This is what I got.

Then I started with the paint. I was all gung ho about the 5 coats of thin paint is better than 1 thick....until I felt like I was going to loose my mind after 2 coats. The top got 4 and so did the inside of the drawers, but everything else got 3. I didn't feel like using multiple brushes so I just used one big one. Needless to say with all the curves and crooks there are some spots I need to take a small brush to for some touch ups. I ordered new knobs (at an AWESOME price from here and bought some new hinges at Home Depot....but they don't let the doors close all the way so they're going back and getting exchanged for some that do. I WAS going to put some super cute contact paper in the bottom of the drawers but I am loving the clean look for now. I made some mistakes.....I forgot about filling in the holes on top where some weird piece of random wood was screwed down AND I figured the knobs would cover everything from the old hardware but it didn't. Oh well! It was the first piece of furniture I have every done this too and I am loving it!!!!! So I will file this is the anyone can do it category. I have a couple of things in there (like running a marathon). I think that if you honestly WANT to you can:) Was it harder than I thought? YES! I didn't think it would be easy, but it was 5 hours of priming and painting alone....that's not fun at 7 months preggo. Will I do it again? Ummmm....probs not. Next time dear sweet hubby says he'll do it I'll say "OKAY" and go inside and bake him some these cookies that he loves so much and tell him thank you. I am happy I did it though:)

ETA: The dresser came from a thrift store....forgot that part and the wood grain DOES show through on the top:) YAY!!

Holy WOW!

I was thinking recently that I might have been rounder with Victoria at this point in my pregnancy. With her it was Christmas when I was this far along and I just remember one shirt in particular fitting a lot different. Don't get me wrong.....getting my big round butt off the sofa is still quite the task and the hubs looks at me like I'm a nutcase every time he sees me do it. Anywho......here's a comparison picture....the weeks aren't exactly on....the one on the Left is with Victoria at 30 weeks and the one on the right is with Emily at 32 weeks. I think total weight gain is the same so far.....

The hubs doesn't think it's that different. My pants aren't in the same position so that does throw it a little.

Italian Ravioli Soup

Mmmmmmm.....I love the warm comfort food this time of year. I also don't mind that it takes about 15 min. or less to throw some food in the crock pot for a yummy supper. My only problem with crock pots is I tend to forget to throw the food in there........so then it's like 2-3 hours before supper time and I have to come up with an alternative. Oops. I get less forgetful as the season goes though. Pardon the horrible pictures I take of food....maybe it will get better. I should have taken a picture of the soup in the bowl instead of what was left over in the crock pot after we were done eating. Oh well...you live and learn. I didn't come up with this recipe.....I don't come up with a lot of recipes. This one is courtesy of Betty Crocker......a lot will be since that is the app I use on the iPad when I'm meal planning. Anyway, I really liked this soup and it took probably 5 min. to put together! The hubs said it needs meat so you could add some ground beef or use ravioli with meat, but I liked it as is. I don't have to eat meat with every meal and since being preggo I'm not a huge meat fan anyway. If you're a vegetarian you could substitute out the chicken broth for veggie broth.

Ingredients:
4 medium carrots, sliced
1 large onion, chopped
2 cans (14.5 oz. each) diced tomatoes with Italian-style herbs, undrained
2 cans (14 oz. each) chicken broth
1 can (19 oz.) cannellini beans, drained
2 tsps. dried basil
1 package (9 oz.)refrigerated Italian sausage- or cheese-filled ravioli (this is where the sliced cheese is at my grocery store)

Directions:
In 3.5-4.5 qt. crock pot mix all the ingredients except ravioli. Cover and cook on low for about 6 hrs. (or until carrots are tender). About 10 min. before serving throw in the ravioli and cook on high. That's it!!

32 weeks!

Today I turned 32 weeks!!! I have 56 DAYS left.......that's just craziness!!! I told the hubs today that it will have taken less time to bake this baby then it did to make it. That's kind of odd to realize. Today I worked on a little project for Miss Emily's room. I can't wait to post pictures!!!!!! I am going to blog all about the process of my dresser painting project BUT first I have to get the hardware in the mail......an exchange the hinges I got because they do fit. I am going to wait (if I can) to blog when I can take a picture of the finished project. I am also going to be doing some blogging on some FOOD this fall! I LOVE crockpot season. I am going to do the first foody blog tomorrow.

Let's see....hubs is still working on that wall print. Poor guy......I tried to help and wanted to shoot myself after about a minute so I cannot complain about how long it's taking.....at least he is doing it. I couldn't or wouldn't...not sure which one. He has got almost all the way around the room with the design on the part he could easily reach.......he still has to go back around the room with the ladder which I can only imagine is going to blow balls. He's going to take a break though and do the beadboard before he does that. I'm hoping the beadboard will actually go on the wall next weekend and then he will be almost done! I think it will really make him feel like he is getting somewhere once he gets done with that because then he really is only a week or two away from being done with that room. I got rid of a few of his projects so I think he's happy about that. Instead of making him paint the changing table that I adored and changed all my little Victoria's diapers on......I sold it. It was pretty sad. I've picked out a new white one and we'll see if I actually get it......depends on a few things; I may just end up throwing the changing pad on top of the dresser. Yes, I use a changing table (I know some people don't really, but I do). Also, I am working on selling my armoire and instead of trying to paint and transform that piece we bought a dresser at a thrift store and painted it. I'm in-love with it....and frustrated at the same time, but I'll save that for the blog. Anywho....

Last ultrasound Emily was breech. I *think* she has flipped, but I have no clue really. I actually think she flips all the time in there. I have another ultrasound in just over 2 weeks so we'll see. I'm 100% exhausted all the time. I think I am more exhausted than I was in the first trimester. It doesn't mesh well with nesting, or school, or watching kiddos, or anything else. My back is KILLING me......especially after my project today. I have no patience at all. I know to just not put myself in certain situations right now because I am way too hormonal. I am so hormonal I almost started bawling while on the phone with the nurse when I was asking if I could ride a bike. Then I about cried again later that day when the guy who was supposed to come buy my armoire couldn't find my house and so he didn't come get it. Ummmm.....I NEED that money for dresser work dude! Oh well.

Sorry for the long blabbing blog! Oh...........found my camera!!! Of course after I blog about it being gone. I am going to do a late blog about the fair here in a couple of days. Victoria had a blast!

Here's me at 168.5 (24 lb. gain) and 32 weeks. The belly is FINALLY getting cute:)

Camera Issues

I have had a ton of issues this year keeping up with my camera. It's just not a good thing. I keep losing it, but I know eventually I will find it again. This time however, I think I may have lost it for good. I took it to the fair and I have been waiting to do a post about the fair until I could retrieve my pictures, but I do think my poor camera got lost in the parking lot. That's what I get. I kept putting it on the handle of the stroller (there was a groove between the padding and the handle I "secured" the strap in). I haven't seen it since the fair so I'm pretty positive it is gone for good this time. I guess the only good thing here is I am pretty sure my phone takes pretty comparable pictures and my camcorder also takes pictures.........albeit crappy ones. I think I am just going to forgo getting another camera for awhile. I'm just sad that a) I lost all my pictures and b) I've had that camera for about 2 years and I will miss my camera:( I guess the next camera I get I will aim for bigger and better, BUT I'm not really into the photography hobby thing (I totally don't have the eye for that). So, I'm not sure what kind of camera I'll eventually get, but I know it won't be until around this time next year before I get one. Farewell camera.

Victoria's first day of "school"

This week Victoria started Parents Day Out at a local church. I felt pretty guilty about sending her, but I know it's really what was best for her (and my sanity in the long run). We call it school and she LOVES it!!! She is such a little social butterfly. She goes for 5 hours, twice a week and when I went to pick her up on Tuesday it was all I could do to pry her away. I am a stay-at-home-mommy that watches other kiddos so I can stay at home, BUT I am also going to school full-time to become a teacher. I will start my demonstration teaching next fall and my little girls will have to go to childcare full-time. I think this 2 day a week thing will be a good transition for Victoria. I also recently just lost one of the kids I watch that is closest in age to Victoria and so now she doesn't have a playmate close to her age (my other full-time kiddo turns 1 this month) and I felt it would be good for my little copy cat to go be with kids her age and older. I can already tell life is going to be a lot less stressful. I am going to be able to get more cleaning and studying done and that is always good!

Good news!

So, I said I would hopefully have good news today, and I do!!! When I went for the anatomy scan at 19 weeks they told me that Miss Emily had some choroid plexus cysts and that it could be a marker for Trisomy 18. In case you are unsure what that is, it is a chromosomal disorder that is not usually compatible with life. Nice huh? Usually the baby passes away in utero, but if it doesn't is usually passes in right after birth or within the first year. They told us there was a 1% chance to not worry, so for the most part I actually didn't which is very unusual for me. We didn't really share with anyone (other than my besties.......what girl would I be if I didn't share that kind of stuff with them). Anyway.....they're gone!!!! Yay!!! She is also measuring 2lbs. 4 oz. right now:)

Now Miss Emily is deciding to be difficult in new ways.......she's breech, but I'm not too worried about that either since I can feel her head and I am pretty sure she is doing somersaults in there:)

I had my glucose testing done for gestational diabetes today and I haven't heard back about that yet.......which no news is good news and they will get the results today. Oh.....and I had to have that stupid RhoGAM shot......BLAH! Not fun!

Sneak peak ;-)

I can't wait to show off the finished product!!!! The hubs has started painting the design:)

Here's the pencil marks of many hours of tracing.

And here's some painted!!!

Hello Third Trimester!!!!

Wow! I have seriously been slacking with the blog. My camera has been MIA for awhile now and as soon as I figure out how to get the pictures off my old phone I will have another blog about our Splash Country adventures last weekend. Anywho.....

THIRD TRIMESTER!!!!

I really consider 27 weeks to be third as do a lot of websites and my doctor, but as I have mentioned in previous posts.....there's a lot of variance with this. The nitty gritty of it is.....there are only 83 DAYS until my due date. Holy cow.....for realz we are in the countdown of days! I can't seem to get the hubs on board with the urgency I feel.......I think he is working on the "slow and steady wins the race" train of thought. Today he FINALLY finished tracing the pattern on the wall of the nursery and will start painting it. I hoping that this will not take as long as the actual tracing because we still have to paint the beadboard and get it up, put up the trim, sand paint and redo the inside of the armoire, sand and paint the changing table, put together the crib, and then I can work on all the other finishing touches. WHEW! It's a lot! Poor guy has about a billion things on his plate right now. I have anxiety issues (as I have discussed in other treads) and I would probably be having a meltdown every day if I were him. He rocks though:)

As for me....third trimester has brought back the nausea (not that it ever left completely), extreme tiredness, moodiness (I cry ALL.THE.TIME), and tons of aches and pains. I now up to 165 (so 20 lbs. as of yesterday.....thanks family reunion) and here's the belly.

This go around I am definitely getting bigger all over the middle and butt. I'm actually starting to wonder if the baby is actually hiding in the cellulite on my ass...but hey.....whatever.....I'm about to have a baby! I get to see little Miss Emily tomorrow (via ultrasound) and so there will be another blog tomorrow about some hopefully good news I have been waiting for....fingers crossed. She has definitely moved in there and she is running out of room. I usually don't feel the big movements anymore and instead just little adjustments. Still....she does get mad at the iPad sitting on my belly sometimes and hits right off! I LOVE it!

25 wks.

Man, I feel like I haven't blogged in FOR-EV-ER!!! Well, I had some things I wanted to blog about and then after they happened and I was ready to my danged computer went CRAZY!! Well, we thought the computer went crazy, but apparently the adapter did. Great! Another adapter. This will make number 3 in like 5 months. Ugh! It's better than having to replace the computer though AND this way I don't have wasted homework stuck on my computer.

Anywho! I'm 25 weeks:) Tomorrow I will be 100 days away from my due date!!!! Holy cow it's getting close! I used to say that sometimes I waddle.....then I saw my shadow......I waddle. The hips hurt. I'm feeling a lot of pressure and some Braxton Hicks. I went for a jog a couple of nights ago and holy Braxton Hicks! I haven't jogged in a little bit so I wasn't pushing myself, but walking causes me to have them anyway so I guess it's common sense they'd be there for jogging. Oh, and I swear my belly is HUGE after working out. This weeks picture is after working out so I do think it's a bit bigger than normal BUT I have grown a lot lately! I was doing so awesome with my weight too......and then I gained 3 lbs. this week. AWESOME! I did the same thing with Victoria though so I guess that is just how my body works. I have gained the same amount so far as I did with her but it has been spread out a little better. I started this week at a 15 lb. gain (159) but now I'm up to 18 (162) as of this morning. It better stop creeping up every morning though or I might be in some trouble. I'm chill with the whole 25-35 and with Victoria I gained 33. If I gain that again then that's fine. The baby's gotta grow right? And then of course she needs though fat stores to eat off (that sounds gross, but that's just how it is).

Here's the belly:)Sorry for the craptastic photo; we couldn't find the camera so this was taken with the video camera.

Here's the side-by-side:) I've been waiting to do this one!!! I felt like 25 wks. I just POPPED with Miss V. This is definitely a different shape going on. I'm not sure if I think it's bigger or just more spread out......just don't know what to think about the shape this go around.

I'm not even going to resize that. I know it hugemongous but whatev. I'm totally not standing the same, but can't do much about that now. I think this one is DEFINITELY lower..........any thoughts? I mean I KNOW there are people other than me reading this. I have that dandy map at the bottom that tells me so;)

Fighting Sleep

Ugh...I fight sleep. Does anyone else do this? It's not that I'm not tired; I just don't want to lay down and close my eyes. It doesn't make any sense at all to me. I am so freaking tired right now for example. I got tired of fighting Miss Priss to sleep earlier (she get's all kinds of crazy hot and sweaty if you cuddle with her, but insists on being cuddled) and so finally I told her she was just going to have to go to sleep on her own in her own bed. She's actually gotten a lot better at this lately as long as she gets in some cuddle time first. Anywho....I was crazy tired at that point so I said to myself that I was going to go lay back down and go to sleep as well........but I totally didn't. That was like 2 hrs. ago. I'm sitting here yawning and typing. I have no stinking clue as to why I don't want to go to sleep. I'm exhausted, I'll be exhausted tomorrow, there's nothing I HAVE to get done right. this. second. I just don't get it. Please, please, please tell me other people do this. There's nothing for me to do right now; I'm bored as all get out because no matter how many times a refresh FB and my email nothing is happening. I guess I could read. My point is there is nothing so exciting (or even not exciting) keeping me up. Even if I were to lay down right now I have such fight in me I wouldn't go to sleep. Maybe that is the problem. I HATE laying there FOR-EV-ER trying to sleep to no avail so I just don't bother. I was on Lunesta for a long time for this but stopped taking it because I heard it hurts your chances of getting pregnant (and we were trying for my little Victoria). I never resumed it because I was nursing, and then I was trying to get pregnant again. Yes.....that does seem a bit odd. I nursed for 20 months though and one of the only reasons I stopped was in hopes it would help me get pregnant (the other reason is it was getting a little disturbing for me since Victoria could dig it out herself and say please and thank you in regards to it).

I think I have some heartburn going on too......not positive. I'm going to go make half a pb sandwhich. Wish me luck with the sleep thing.

Confusing Trimesters......and months......and due date

This blog has definitely turned into me talking....typing.......about whatever comes to my mind. Sorry about that. Anywho......topic du jour is how confusing it is knowing dates when you are pregnant. For me it is easiest to just go by weeks. Anyone that has been pregnant or know anything about pregnancy will know that when you say you are 23 weeks along you are more than halfway. I hate trying to deal with months. Right now I am 5 months, working on 6 months. I don't go around saying I'm in my 28th year though.....I say I'm 27 (well, I say I'm 25, but that's a different story), so IMO you can't say you are 6 months until you are finished with you 6th month. It's hard to even know how your weeks break down into months considering there are 4.3 weeks in a month. Next up is trimesters....that is pretty hard too because you get tons of different info. Some website or people consider the 1st trimester to be over when you turn 12 weeks while others don't consider it over until you turn 14 weeks. I always thought it was 12 and stuck to that. Mathematically I know I'm wrong since 40/3=13.3, but not everyone is pregnant for 40 weeks. 2nd trimester is more of the same......it varies from when you turn 25 weeks to 28 weeks. I do 27. I've just been thinking about this a lot since I'm now 23 weeks and only a short 4 weeks from the final stretch. I am pretty sure it was just yesterday that we were trying, and trying, and trying to conceive.

My next appointment is Sept. 2nd and it's an ultrasound and then after that the next one is Sept. 6th.......I get to do the fabulous glucose screening test then. YAY.......not. I really wish they did ultrasounds in my doctors office because I am really over having appointments less than a week apart in the same building. Hopefully this is the last one. Then I go to appointments every 2 weeks......craziness.

ETA: I babbled so much I forgot to mention why due dates are confusing! LOL! If you go by my last cycle I'm due on Nov. 27, but according to the 1st measurement at the doctors my due date is Dec. 2. I'm sticking with 11/27. I mean going by measurement it less accurate IMO. That little cursor just has to be off a teeny tiny bit and it messes with your due date. UGH. Whatever.

BTW, I did 2 very exciting things to prepare for baby this weekend:) I ordered the crib (which was $200 off making it a whopping $99) and I bought the coming home outfit! Pictures below.

AND.....if everything goes as planned then I will be the proud owner of this fabulous bag at the end of the day:)

It's a retired print on ebay:) I'm a stay-at-home-mommy so I don't really have a ton of disposable income. It actually just went down because I'm not going to be watching one of my kiddos anymore after Friday. So...point is I don't go splurging....I look for good deals and found 3 great ones in the last 3 days (oh and my dear sweet parents are buying me the crib....they are AWESOME)!

22 weeks 2 days

I cannot believe I am over half way there now! I am definitely growing and so is little Miss Emily:) I can feel her moving around all the time. It's quite a big change from Victoria. I had and anterior placenta with her, but I also have one this go around so I'm not sure what the difference is...........Maybe Emily is just a stronger mover. I just know that had the movement been reversed I would have been seriously freaked out by the lack of movement I felt with Victoria.

I've been feeling pretty great aside from the hip pain. The nausea is mostly gone now so that's a plus! I can't eat a lot in one sitting, but I haven't really been able to the whole time this go around. I could really put some food away when I was pregnant with Victoria, but this time I think I'm starving and I could eat a lot but I really can't. I just kind of stay hungry all the time. Oh well....definitely worse symptoms I could have. I'm not having any trouble gaining weight; I can tell you that much! LOL! I have gained 13 lbs. (157) and here's the growing belly.......

I don't quite know what to think about the shape going on........I'll let ya know in 3 weeks. I just think I was more round with Victoria at this point. I have a photo at 20 weeks with her and the next isn't until 25 sooooo.......Heck the whole pregnancy has been completely different so why not the shape?

My how far you've come!

I was glancing over some of my past blog entries last night (like this one) and was amazed how back in January Victoria was just starting to put 2 words together. She is now saying full sentences can tell you exactly what she's thinking. She says things like "I don't want that one." and "I like macaroni and cheese!" and "Where'd my purple baby go?" She is easy to understand for the most part and I can't believe it was just 6 months ago that she was just starting to get the hang of it. Children are amazing with how quick they change!

ETA: I know this is not really an exciting entry for most BUT I like to have updates of my little girl. Like I said, I was shocked when I realized it was just 6 short months ago that she was just starting to put 2 words together. I also wanted to share 2 of her Daddy's favorite things Miss Victoria says......"No, it's my do it!" "I like it!" "Uh-huh, I do." and "Moon and back, thiiiiiiissssssss much!"

Stupid Type A Personality

I'm not sure why I bother planning things out way, way, way in advance. I NEVER stick to the original plan. Case in point...I made poor dear hubby trudge through about a billion of girl names as soon as we started trying for baby no. 2. Girl names are hard for us. We decided on Nadia Ragen. After many months of trying and no luck and many people giving me the the puke look I was no longer keen on that name. I like it again now....oops. If we have another baby, and if it is a girl, we will most likely use it. After I FINALLY got preggo we started looking at girl names again....we decided on Emily Elizabeth....now I have people left and right asking me if I'm naming her after the girl on Clifford. Are you serious peeps?!?! Yes, I'm naming my child after the girl on Clifford.....(enter sarcasm here).

Anywho....as some of you may have noticed I wrote a big 'ol blog here on how I was going to do nurseries.....it's changed. Surprise, surprise. I went to order the fabric for the bumper.....discontinued and no more in stock. I debated something else, but I realized just for the bumper I would easily spend $100. I decided to break down and just buy something else. I decided to go with this beautiful set from Land of Nod

We are still doing the beadboard, but we are going to paint it peridot by Behr now....it's a light green color....I can't figure out how to show you on here.........sorry:( Trim will be white and upper walls will be AWESOMENESS! I'm pretty excited about this; ask me how I feel during the process and I'll probably not feel so great. I had planned on doing lavender with a super great vinyl monogram, then I decided to go with lavender damask wallpaper (I was a little worried about if it would be too busy but decided to just roll with it).......the hubs vetoed the wallpaper, so now I am going to follow Emily with Jones Design Company's lead and try out this

She has a great tutorial complete with template and I'm feeling pretty good about it. The hubs LOVES it so we must go with it. We'll do lavender walls (haven't picked the exact color) and paint the stencil in white. When we agree on something we just have to use it because it does not happen very often;)

We aren't positive on the curtains yet, but I can say they'll be white. Then there is the lighting.....my goodness......I want a chandelier, but surprise! hubs isn't feeling it. My second choice is a basic white fan with light. Fans cut down on SIDS and provide white noise; if we can't agree it might as well be sensible. Oh, thing is hubs of course LOVES the fan idea........go figure.

I cannot wait to show pics!!!! I may give some before pics, but only if you promise not to make fun of the spot on the wall I had the grand idea to stencil on a saying and ran out of room. I have big ideas; not the best on planning them out though. There will definitely be after pics. I am so excited!!!! It'll be my first DIY with photos:) Hopefully it goes better than the DIY hospital gown I never showed. I'm still working on those BTW.....they're not gorge by any sense of the word though.

I'm about to burst with exicitment right now.........wish we could go start it!!!!! We just don't have ANY of the supplies. LOL!

Moments I Live For

Sometimes........a lot of times...........being a stay-at-home-mommy is tough. I'm the one who disciplines the most, I'm the one who gets to hear the crazy fits, I'm the one who gets to feel like I'm talking to a brick wall a lot of time,BUT then there are the other moments.......the ones that I absolutely live for. I love to watch my baby sleep, get big hugs, and hear all the new stuff she's learning....then there are the quirky things too. Right now, I can't seem to talk Victoria into wearing clothes. She laughs at me and runs away when I try to get her dressed so most of time I say the heck with it! She's 2........she gets to be naked if she wants to.........while we're at home. Yesterday, I was getting a snack ready for her and she apparently decided that would be the moment to strip down. The next thing I know she has pulled her little chair over to the counter, climbed on it so she could "color" with a pen and paper on the counter while eating her snack. You can see the red cup with her water and the bowl is somewhere in front of her. It touches my heart to know at that moment how precious and innocent my little girl is. These moments melt my heart.

I love how she is standing there with such attitude................all cocked to the side:)

Then there are these moments that have the same affect on me....

If anything can melt my heart more than my little girl it is watching my husband be the best Daddy in the world. I fall in love with him over and over and over again. He comes home early on Fridays.........most Fridays (sometimes he golfs) and today when he got home he put little girl down for her nap. He loves that little girl more than even I can imagine..........I'm pretty sure she is his whole heart..and I like it that way :)

Beach Time!!!

This past week we had our family vacay at Hilton Head Island, SC. We have been very blessed to be able to go to the beach every year since we have been together, and we ALWAYS got to HHI. Last year we also spent a day at Fort Walton, FL because we were spending a long weekend visiting my Dad. We LOVE the beach!!!! Victoria's favorite part is chasing birds, riding bikes, and getting buckets full of water and dumping them out. We aren't so sure we are going to be able to make it next year since that is when I start student teaching and we kind of need to penny pinch like crazy. We'll cross that bridge when it comes, but I will say if we do go we'll be getting a 1 bedroom condo and staying by ourselves.....it would be the very first year that would happen. The first year we went to the beach we were engaged and we shared a 2 bedroom with my parents, the next year we were only able to stay a few days instead of the usual week and we stayed with hubby's parents, the next year when Victoria was 5 months we stayed with my grandmother and her bestie, last year we shared a condo with my parents, and this year we shared a condo with my sister's family. Whew! I guess I'm just trying to say we have also been blessed with always being able to go very cheap (or free) and have the company of our families.

Hubs family has been going since he was very little and they always go the same week.....that week of his birthday. If we do go next year we probably will not be going that week for frugality reasons (rates are HIGH in July). It is nice to be able to have a family vacay where you can spend time together or apart, but you are all there....and by all....I mean ALL! This year family that went was my FIL, step-MIL and their 3 little boys, SIL, BIL, and their 2 kiddos, sister, BIL, niece, and then of course hubs, me, and V......my parents even came for a couple of days. Family is everything and even if you don't all get along like best friends, I feel it's important to suck it up for the sake of the rest of the family. I personally think it's very selfish to let your own discomfort or whatever, keep the rest of the family from bonding. Anyway....I'll get off my soap box...don't know where that came from?

Of course I have photos! I should do a little blurb and collage on the years we've been.....but I'll save that for another day.

Cousins are so much fun!!

I am pretty sure she could have fetched water ALL.DAY.LONG.

Best Daddy in the world teaching little girl to play putt-putt. She finally decided it was just a lot easier to walk over and put the ball in the hole;)

Seriously Slacking

So....I NEVER added ultrasound pics...that's how on top of things I am. I don't have a scanner though so pardon the bad quality. The first one is of her belly, face, and arm (I think she just has her head turned so it's an odd looking pic); the second one is of her knees bent up to her head. LOL! I will get a post in shortly of our vacay, but fair warning....1) I don't take great pics and 2) I pretty much forgot about my camera the entire time. Go figure.

It's a................

............Girl!!!!!!!! I am over the moon!!! I wanted another girl sooooooo bad. I felt really guilty wanting a girl, but I just couldn't help it. I wanted to be able to drag out all of Victoria's packed away clothes and use them again. Little Miss Emily should be able to get quite a bit of use out of Victoria's clothes since Victoria had winter and spring newborn and 0-3 month clothes. I tried to talk the hubs into dragging a box out of the attic and that didn't really work in my favor.....maybe because we are in the middle of getting the car packed to leave for the beach in 6 hrs. We're just trying to get a little shut eye first and then we have to leave at the wonderful time of 3am since Victoria doesn't do so great in the car. She about a billion x a billion better than when she was an infant, but she still doesn't really like to be in there for long. I can't blame her....I'm not looking forward to a 7.5 hr. drive (ride) either. Anyway....if you read my blog then you know before my fb friends;) We're not telling the fam until tomorrow....no matter how much they try to dig it out of me. I'll post some u/s pics later....by this time tomorrow.

19 weeks:)

I am almost half way there!!!! I am so excited!! I have a big week coming up. First off I only have a 3 day work week since I didn't have any kiddos today and I won't have them on Friday either. YAY!!!! I love short weeks:) Friday we hopefully get to find out what we are having and I really can't wait for that! What do you think? Boy or Girl? Most people seem to think boy. We are waiting to tell family for a little bit, but seriously just a teeny tiny bit. LOL! We are all going to the beach on Sat. so Sat. night we are going to tell my family by way of cookie cake (we're all staying in a condo together), and then we'll tell Kevin's family when they take him out to eat for his birthday. We are going to get some Hershey bars and color the "He" blue or the "she" pink and distribute them some how. One of my friends had them both colored for her gender reveal party and it was too cute! I've been doing pretty good lately....I would like to work out more....I'm just bad at making time for it. My hips hurt a bit more than with Victoria but for the most part I'm doing great:) So far I have gained 10 lbs. (154) and here I am...

Oh...and those shorts are getting a bit snug and the last thing I need is a muffin top so I'm going to have nix those from future photos. LOL!

Discipline

Whew...some days Victoria wears me out! I can get so frustrated because she rips off the sofa cushions, I put them back and say no, no, she does it again. I put them back and say don't do it again or you're going to time out. She does it again. I say Victoria I told you not to play with the sofa cushions and you are not listening so you are going to time out. She screams, goes to time out, and then rips the cushions off again. I say Victoria you are being bad and you are going to get a spanking if you do it again...while I am putting them on again. She rips them off again and gets a spanking.....repeat...and repeat again. I just cannot get through to that child sometimes. Then, 5 seconds later, she looks at me and says "Kiss Mommy" then puckers up. She kisses me and says "to the moon and back....thiiiiiissss much!!!" (This is her combining I love you to the moon and back and I love you this much.) This completely melts my heart and I immediately feel horrible for spanking her. Was I too hard on her? I need to have more patience. Parenting is super hard. It has fairly recently magically occurred to me I can't coddle her after disciplining her (hardest thing ever) and that makes me feel worse. It sends mixed signals though. Sometimes I am not patient enough, but a lot of times she just needs discipline. Last week my pastor did a sermon that included how you discipline your children because you love them. I reeeeaaaalllllyyyy needed to hear that.

So here's encouragement to the the mommies who know we have to teach our children there are boundaries and you can't just say "Oh they're just being a kid" all the time. My precious daughter obviously still loves me very much and I would say in spite of discipline, but I think it's a little....strike that.....a lot because she does have discipline. She knows what is expected of her and that's comforting to children. Heck...it's comforting to me when I know what is expected of me! LOL!

I debated this odd topic for a while, but just felt like blabbing about it so there it is!

ETA: I had to edit this because of course she pushes her boundaries in many other ways than just ripping off cushions (like finding pens and coloring all over herself, climbing on top of the bathroom counter and playing with soap and water, etc.). That was just the example I was using. She's 2....pushing boundaries and having consequences is her full time job;)

The baby is on the MOVE!

This is just a short and sweet to share the good news, but also because I need to document when this happened since this is the only place I really do that.

I FELT THE BABY MOVE!!!! I think I may have been feeling it flutter for a little while now, but I haven't been sure. I was pretty dang sure I felt it on Sunday, but I felt the same thing on Monday night and I know it was the baby:) It was way down in like my hip area. I don't know if the baby can actually be in that area, but that's where I felt it. I used to feel little Victoria there all the time too. I think because of my anterior placenta it makes me only feel the really down low movements. Anyway, I felt it, I pushed in with my hand where I had felt it and I felt again with my hand!!!!!! So exciting and 100% unexpected. I didn't feel Victoria for sure until 21 weeks so I was hoping to feel something around 19 or 20, but again....the placenta really made me not get my hopes up.

Well, I better get off here. My charger is broken and a new one is on the way, but my dear, sweet hubs took my computer to his Mom's to charge and he would KILL me if he knew I was using my battery for blogging instead of school work. I just HAD to catch up with all that was going on in my life.

Goodbye Papaw

My Papaw passed away this past weekend, Saturday, June 18th. We knew it was coming. He has been suffering from Alzheimers for some time now and this past year he went down hill really quick. It was sad to watch. It is more sad to me though that my little girl will not remember how head over heels she was for him. She will not remember wanting to "pet" him and "tiss" him during his last couple of days. She will not have the chance most did to fight over his lap. She will not remember not wanting to leave the casket during the funeral. She just kept saying "Papaw resting" and "Papaw with Jesus." Harder than losing my Papaw was my daughter losing her Papaw. My Papaw was a great man and he loved his grand babies so much.

Another part of losing my Papaw that was pretty hard is that I lost my great-grandmother last year. She was not doing so great either and in both cases I am trying to not be sad that they are gone and instead be happy that they are new and happy with Jesus. It has been really hard losing 2 grandparents in 2 years and I am really hoping this is not a trend. I love my grandparents so much and I was blessed to grow up with a ton. The downside to that is losing them. It has been more spaced out in the past though. I lost my great-grandfather when I was 4 and I have great memories of him playing Barbies with me. I lost my Papaw Brandon when I was 16 and he used to come to my basketball games. Then there was my great-grandmother when I was 26 and now my Papaw Webb at 27. I'm down to 1 Papaw and 2 grandmothers now. My baby though has 3 great-grandparents and for that I am thankful.