February

I've really been failing at keeping up with this blog so here are some picture highlights about what's been going on!

We did the annual King Cake celebration with Josh's family...
{A & her little cousin E}


Baby W is continuing to grow...
{32 weeks along (last week)}


We had lots of fun on Valentines Day...
{heart-shaped chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast}


We went to the grocery to pick up a few things so my sweet A got her favorite reward...
{riding the penny horse}


We made some sweet treats for Daddy...
{cupcakes}

{and cake}

{and chocolate dipped fruit}

{taste testing the goodies}

{"mmm good!"}


I always try to snag a picture when A & her Daddy are having a "dance party" but she always says "no pictures, Mommy!". Also, it's just really hard to get little A and her giant Daddy in the same frame, haha!
{The best I could get}


One night recently as we were settling down for bed, A told me to take a picture of her, Stuffy (her stuffed animal from Doc McStuffins), Hello Kitty (her pj's), and Mommy. I took the following pic and when I showed it to her she said "Aw, best friends!". Words cannot express how those words make my heart flutter.
{"best friends" :)}


Lastly, the Hubs and I were sitting on the couch in the living room and noticed too much silence... we went into the room where A was playing and found this...
{silly girl}



I have so much fun with my sweet girl and although I'm still not sure how we'll make it all work, I can't wait to have another bundle of preciousness here to add even more joy to our lives! Which reminds me... I must wrap this up so I can get back to organizing the girls' closet!!!

#29weeks & a Sweet Mommy/Daughter Day

All of the sudden it seems like this baby is almost here! About 11 more weeks to go and I know that time is going to fly by and I'm going to be holding my sweet Waverly in my arms.

I may or may not be crying like a baby while I type this.

On Wednesay's I like to stay away from making plans and just enjoy spending time with my big girl. Especially since her days of having mommy all to herself are numbered, I've been trying to make sure we have plenty of cuddle time, playing together, coloring, and her new favorite watching mommy put together puzzles!

Today for lunch we decided to go out for some soup and rice (i.e. Sake Blue). We got there and sat in a booth together, she thanked the hostess for the menu and "color" (the sushi menu and pencil, haha), and we looked over the lunch menu together. I asked her what she'd like to get and she emphatically said, "RIIIICCEE!!". The waiter came to take our order and then brought us some waters. I got out a little fun pack of crayons, a coloring book, and some stickers for her to play with and she immediately placed the stickers all over me. We colored for a minute and then our soup and salad came. She usually loves soup but it didn't seem appealing today, she just kept signing "Rice, rice, rice, riiicee, please!". Finally her rice came and she gasped with delight! I scooped some on her plate and she dug right in, at first with her chopsticks, but then that wasn't doing the job so she switched to a fork. She was shoveling it in as fast as she could and every once in a while she would just stop and smile the cheesiest grin. Sometimes I just watch her, in awe of how smart and big she is. When she was ready for more I loaded her plate back up as she danced around waiting to get back to her yummy lunch. Finally, after she just about polished off the entire thing, she said she was finished and wanted to color some more. I continued eating my lunch and all of the sudden I found myself wrapped up in the sweetest little arms. She squeezed my neck and shouted with so much love, "Mommyyyy!". I almost cried.

It's nothing out of the ordinary for her to shower me with hugs and kisses and more love that anyone could ask for, but it hit me in a different way today. A way that happens often - but not often enough. In that moment, nothing else going on around me mattered at all. Not work, finances, heartburn, the cold weather... nothing except being present with my precious daughter. Soaking up this time I have with her while she's still the only one I have to take care of (well - I mean, I am obviously doing plenty of work growing the other one but it doesn't take nearly as much conscious effort), and while she's still so little. I feel like she is so big, and old, and mature, but really she's still just little and precious and amazed by the wonders of every small detail in life. She think Mommy's kisses have instant healing powers and she doesn't doubt or question my love for her. She knows. And she loves me back in the same unconditional way.

For anyone that's not a parent, or maybe just anyone that isn't filled with pregnancy horomones, I'm sure this is this most boring story ever but I just want to remember every bit of this special day with my girl. I already feel like the past 27 months have flown by and I am completely aware that the next 27 months will no doubt pass just as quickly... if not more so with my hands even busier with two!

After lunch, we went to Target to look for some more jeans, because there never seems to be a clean pair that actually fits her. Because she ate so well at lunch, we stopped by Starbucks and picked up a cake-pop for her, and a decaf frap for me. Today she wanted to sit and the table and enjoy her treat, so we did. Even that little "tradition" we seem to have established is so special to her and I love it. I love that we both look forward to these simple little things that we do together.

When she finished up we loaded up in the cart and went off looking for the things on our list. We found some new black boots for her, some sunglasses (which she's been asking for for weeks!), and a few pair of jeans (they were on SALE - woot!) and then we finished our way through the store, hand in hand, to the register. We headed home and then went straight upstairs for a nap and after crying and arguing "I'm not tired!", she quickly fell asleep. She's so funny, that girl. I'm so grateful for my sweet Auria - every single day.

Now that I've recorded this in the memory book, I'm going to head back upstairs and snuggle with her while she finishes her nap. And when she wakes up, I'm gonna give her tons of kisses, and we'll play until I have to leave for class tonight.

What a blessed day ♥

Third Trimester... Already?! #27weeks

The last few weeks have been so busy with the holidays, a surprise house guest, and my dad's emergency stay in the hospital! We had a great Christmas together, despite Pop-Pop being stuck in the hospital. We hit up all of the usual family stops over the course of a week or two and we did our own family celebration on Christmas Eve morning. I know that goes against all of the "rules" of Santa but it was the best chance for us to have time to actually enjoy some time together. Plus, besides "Ho, ho, ho", Auria still doesn't really know anything about Santa or care anything about him (and frankly, neither do I) so we took advantage of what was quite possibly our last year of flexibility on that front.

Our New Year celebration consisted of the normal 9pm bedtime routine. I set my alarm for 11:45 so J & I could wake up and toast with some sparkling grape juice and have a midnight smooch. Then we went back to bed. We live the crazy life ;)

Since the holidays have come and gone we're now transitioning to getting focused on creating a new office space in our lower living room so we can create a playroom for the girls. We're also trying to sort out a play for the kids' bedroom. And i'm just trying to wrap my head around the reality that in +/- 13 weeks we will have a newborn again! WHOA!

I know people (especially my husband) think it's crazy that I am constantly surprised but how close it's getting but since I stay so busy with A, work, Bradley classes, and the rest of life in general, I don't have as much time for it is sink in and feel totally real like I did when I was pregnant with Auria.

I'm starting my next Bradley series tongiht. I'm not sure how long I'll wait before I begin another one because this one will finish right before our due date. I'm really excited because it's a packed class and it's full of ladies that are expecting around the same time I am. I'm hoping that means we'll have an even stronger connection and it will definitely be a different experience for me to be teaching now from this prospective. I mean, I've been pregnant and gone through natural childbirth before -obviously- but it's a little bit different now that I am preparing again myself, and I'm in for a different experience this time since it's:
1) A different baby and each childbirth experience can be completely different, even with the same momma.
2) We're not planning the same hospital experience as we had before so there are new unknowns with that alone. And if all goes as planned I'll to have a water birth this time!

Anyway, it's definitely exciting that this time after my class series is over, I won't just be waiting to hear from my students about their births - I'll be waiting to share my new one, too!

In the mean time I'm trying to focus on enjoying the last of this time with my sweet girl as an only child.

Sometimes it's hard for me to think about because it's all either of us have known. I'm absolutely thrilled about welcoming our new family member but it's difficult for me to imagine how I'll still have the time to show A how much I love and adore her while sharing my attention with her baby sister. It will all work out but for now we're going to be sure to enjoy the last few months of just us two girls... & Daddy, of course!

I'm feeling better and better about how she's going to react to welcoming the baby. She's usually very interested in babies when we are out somewhere and see one. She is usually pretty calm and gentle around them and she always says "Awww, baby!". She's even been practicing baby-wearing with her Ergobaby doll carrier. It's gonna be so adorable when we're both wearing our babies ♥

Well, I was hoping for a better update than this but my girl wants to play so I must answer the call. Hopefully there will be more before Waverly arrives! ;)

Green Means Go (and other stuff). #23weeks

We used to have a DVD player in the car, but it was within kicking distance so it is no longer functioning. I'm totally fine with that because I like for A to be able to check out the scenes of the world as we ride from place to place. Anyway, since the DVD players demise she's found a few games she likes to play such as "Big Trucks", where she points out every big truck she sees as we drive down the highway. Another recent favorite it "Green Means Go", which consists of A looking out for every traffic light and making sure the light is green so we can "Go!". When they're red she yells "Stop, Momma!" and then we wait until it turns green again, at which point she will proudly announce "Greeeeeen... means go!".

Today we played this game on the way home from work and she was so disappointed when she asked if there were more lights ahead and I told her there were no more. She hung her head down and said "Mommy, I'm sad...". It was so hard not to laugh at her. I mean, really, most of us adults love bypassing traffic lights (especially on Bardstown Road near the afternoon rush-hour), but not my sweet girl. For her it simply meant an end, far too soon, to her favorite game. But never fear, Mommy to the rescue! We made up a new game today - "Find the Stop Signs"! I bet you can guess how that game works. the new game is no replacement for "Green Means Go" but it was a good enough distraction to lift her spirits.

When we got home, Daddy was already here and we decided today was a good day to get out and knock out a bit more of our Christmas shopping. (We're getting closer but still not completely finished yet... ack.) It's kids eat free night at Mark's Feed Store so we decided to eat out and then head to good ole Target after that. This girl refuses to eat any kind of meat (which is ironic since I was a vegetarian before I got pregnant with her and once I got over my morning sickness I craved --and I mean CRAVED = had. to. have.-- Arby's roast beef sandwiches) so we usually just get her a couple of veggies for her to eat. Mark's got rid of the veggie plate on the kids menu though so we ordered a PB&J with green beans, and an extra side of corn. We figured Daddy would eat the PBJ after he polished off his fish sandwich. Apparently A was a very hungry girl because she ate every last kernel of corn on her plate, most of the green beans, and she even tried her sandwich... which she went on to eat half of! I bring you... baby's toddler's first PBJ experience.

[Get that PBJ, girl!]
We've tried to get her to try them before but she didn't trust us but today she was feeling adventurous I guess and she loved it. I think she would have eaten the whole thing if Daddy & I hadn't already eaten the other quarters. Anyway, I was super proud of my girl for eating her dinner so well, she got a little treat for dessert as we wandered through Target.

Going back to yesterday...
We had our monthly visit with our midwife to check on baby W. We talked about my fears/anxieties/thoughts/wishes/hopes/etc about this pregnancy, labor. It was a nice little counseling session. I'm realizing that there are a lot of things my tiny little brain is trying hard to process. Between the difference of our hospital birth experience (you can read the short and sweet version of A's birth here) vs. our plans for a home/water birth this time, the reality of welcoming the fourth member of our family, the adjustment of A going from only child to big sister, etc. It's a lot to think about. Just the way our whole lives changed when A arrived, it's going to happen again. In wonderful ways of course, but it's still hard to imagine all of the details. How will it all work out? I know it will work out just fine but the planner in me is desperate for a few certainties to envision.

Baby W measured right on track with our EDD and her heartbeat was strong in the 150-160's. I wish I'd had my phone on me while the midwife was getting the heartbeat on the doppler because A's face was precious when she heard the thumpity-thump. She got so excited and said "Way-ly!"... a precious moment I will keep locked away in my memory bank. It's always wonderful to get the reassurance that baby girl is doing well and growing as she should. And hearing her the heartbeat never gets old :)

Oh, and I've been really bad at taking belly pics this time. I'm glad I did last time because it's fun to look back, and I meant to be all cute and Pintrest-y with it this time but live just has not permitted the time for such creativity. So here's a shot a snapped between showering and the midwife appointment yesterday:

[almost 23 weeks]
Bless my sweet friends on Instagram for leaving nice comments on this picture but I feel frumpy and huge... already. It's all for a great cause, of course, but I'm certainly not feeling a pregnancy glow.

Ok, so that's enough recap. I have to join in on the night-time ritual before my princess falls asleep without a kiss from Mommy!

Thursday, Funday...

[WARNING: Lots of pics in this post!]
Thursday morning I was off from work and miss A wanted to "mix" something for breakfast so we made wildberry muffins!

First, we measured the milk and then my beautiful assistant added the milk to the muffin mix.

Next step: Mix, mix, mix! Except this was really the hardest part to control because you're not actually supposed to mix this stuff too much, just until moistened. That's very difficult to explain to a 2yr old mixing queen.

Then, of course we had to transfer the mix to the pan. That was another tricky part because she really wanted to help but the kitchen was already such a mess I could hardly stand it. [Yes, I know I'm not in the running for the Mom of the Year award]
I've used the silicone mold before for making chocolates but this was our first time for baking.

The end result was ok. A litte tricky to get them out while holding their Christmasy shape but we didn't mind. The part I was not fond of was that I felt like the muffins tasted like they were baked in a silicone pan. Yuck. Could just be my super sensitive pregnancy taste buds but we may just be sticking to chocolates in the silicone molds from now on, just in case.

My helper certainly didn't seem to detect any unpleasant taste. She gobbled down a Christmas tree, a stocking, and I think another Christmas tree after that.

After breakfast we played for a while. We were supposed to get together with our friends Brittany & Talon today but B had a headache so we improvised new plans. Since we don't get to see GG as much as we'd like, we called her to see if she wanted to meet up later for lunch. I had a few errands to run, too, so we got dressed and headed out. I've been needing to drop off my glasses at LensCrafters to get my scratched lens repaired so we took care of that first. You know, it is really distracting when there's a giant gash in front of everything you see! Thankfully when I bought my glasses I purchased the insurance stuff because it only cost me $18.25 to get my (fancy transistion) glasses fixed! Woot! After that stop we met GG at Olive Garden for a bite to eat. My girl was hungry and she was loving her "noodles"!


After our delicious lunch we ran back to the mall to return some clothes at Old Navy, then back to LensCrafters to pick up my spectacles. Of course, there is a play area next to LC so my little lady had to go burn off some energy for a while. She actually did a great job playing with the other kids in there. I was amazed by how well they all seemed to share and take turns. Go kids!

A while later I was ready for something sweet after the salty lunch so we stopped by Starbucks and got some cake-pops and drinks.

Judge me if you must but these things are how we make it through many shopping trips to the mall and/or Target.

All of that took longer than planned though so we had to hurry to make one last stop at Hallmark to look for an Elf on the Shelf. Luckily they had just gotten a new shipment in so we were able to proceed with the adoption! (More on this in future posts?) Auria has no idea what the elf means --neither do I yet, for that matter -- but she loved that she got to carry the big box up to the counter and we brought it home with us.

My poor little partner was so worn out from all the fun, she fell asleep before we even made it out of the mall parking lot. And thank goodness because she needed a nap!

I absolutely love these kinds of days when I get to just spend the whole day with her, exploring the world, having fun together! Especially since soon enough it will be far more difficult to hop in and out of the car, bouncing from store to store with TWO little girls. I try hard to savor each moment with my daughter anyway, but it seems even more important now that we are approximately 17 weeks away from being a family of four. Whoa! Still trying to wrap my head around that.

Anyway, another day of sweer memories. And yay for documenting it so I can enjoy it again a year or so from now :) Thanks blog.