Fall!!!

I got the camera out this morning. I just had to take pictures of my girls dressed in their pants :) I love Fall! I love putting them in pants and long sleeves and being able to bring out a different wardrobe. I love summer clothes too, but I'm always ready to retire the sleeveless dresses and shorts and bring out the jeans! I love jeans! Seriously, I wear jeans 98% of the time.

So we got up and got dressed this morning. Big Sis has school today so she got to wear her jeans and her new Little Mermaid t-shirt. And Middle Sis got to break out some yoga pants and an apple shirt (stuff that Big Sis got much use out of last fall)! So here are some pictures of my girls dressed for Fall - for the first time this year!

Excuse the messy room - we were playing with baby dolls before we got dressed!

Why does my baby look so old????

Yes, that's Little Sis's bootie! She got in the way right as the picture took.... but I love Big Sis's smile in this picture. She is so precious!

"Hey Mom - I think I look kind of cute today with my apple shirt!" Ooooh I love this baby so much!

The weather is PERFECT today! Seriously, I've been trying to think of reasons to be outside - and that is SO NOT like me. I'm an inside person.... but I just feel like it would be disgraceful to waste such beautiful weather. So we are getting the basketball goal out and taking some of our push and ride toys out.... I know two girls who are excited about this!!!

I hope you all enjoy this incredible day - maybe Fall is actually here to stay!!!!!!!

"Yay Fall!"

Paintings and Cleaning Out!

Ok Mommas... I need some ideas/advice. We are in the process of making 3 little girls fit into 2 bedrooms. We are moving Big Sis and Middle Sis into the same room and will use the other bedroom as the nursery. My question is this.... I have multiple paintings with the girls' names on them. But they are all different colors and styles and one is pretty "baby-ish". So I'm wondering what you all have done or would suggest doing with these sweet paintings. There is a part of me that wants to save them for my girls... but how practical is that really? I mean, what would they do with them? So any thoughts? Ideas? Advice?

Here are the paintings I pulled out of the room today... they are all cute, right!

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I made great progress in our Great House Clean Out of 2009 yesterday! I managed to knock out 2 closets, one bedroom, the living room and one bathroom! And now I have a HUGE pile of things to sell. I'm talking A LOT of clothes. I can't wait to get rid of all of this stuff.

Today I'm working on the kitchen, entry closet and hall closet. And I need to start organizing the stuff I've pulled out to sell.... the hardest part for me is trying to decide how much to sell it for. I have a few people that I plan on asking for help in that area. :)

So what do you have planned for this Tuesday? And what are your suggestions for my paintings???

Busy Weekend...

This weekend was a BUSY one! And it was so much fun!!!

I have been planning and preparing for a special baby shower for weeks now and we held it Saturday afternoon. I hosted it, along with my other S-I-L's for our S-I-L who is expecting her first baby in November! We had good food and good company. It was a lot of fun! I hope it was special for J and Baby A! We love you! I didn't have my camera so I don't have any pictures. I was too busy and I had my two girls with me so I'm sure if I had brought my camera I wouldn't have been able to take any pictures. But you can go here or here to check out pictures!

After the shower, the girls and I came home. The hubby had some guys over to watch the Hogs game..... we lost, so sad. :( But we managed to have a fun time, despite the loss. I made tacos so we had a taco bar! Yummy yummy! Seriously, that is my biggest pregnancy craving - homemade tacos. I will not embarrass myself and tell you how many tacos I can eat at one meal (7). I had also made a banana pudding Saturday morning that we brought out for dessert. It was a fun time and I think all the guys got their bellies full! :)

By the time we got the kids in bed and got ourselves ready to go to bed, I was exhausted. But it was a good tired... you know the tired where you have just accomplished so much that it wore you out. Yep, that was me! But I actually slept GREAT these past two nights so that helps A LOT!

I really wish I had some pictures from the weekend but I was just too busy to think to get the camera out.

This week I have a lot of things planned... I'm hoping to actually get most of them done! And I would like to post some pictures this week.... I've been so bad about that lately.

Hope you all have a great Monday and I hope we can all be productive today!!

Any tips?

My girls and I, along with my Nanny, are planning a trip to see my sister. It will be about a 7-8 hour drive (without stops). This will be the longest trip we've done with the girls. The longest the husband and I have done is close to 4 hours. And the husband won't be with us on this trip... just Nanny and me and the girls.

Needless to say, I'm getting into super-planning mode. I want everything to go as smoothly as possible, even though I know it will not be an easy trip! So if any of you have any advice for traveling that far with a 2 1/2 year old and a 1 year old.... please let me know! I'm serious!!

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This week I've been working on a baby shower for my sweet S-I-L. They are expecting their first baby and everyone is over-the-moon excited! So we're having a shower Saturday for her. I've also been working on some things for our new baby.... I love making things for my children. However, I have to put the creating on hold because I have a lot of house work to do today! :) I can't put it on hold for long because I have some gifts that I need to finish ASAP! I need to post some pictures of some of these fun things but I'll wait and do a post just on that.

Hope you all have a wonderful Thursday - I can't believe it is Thursday already, this week has flown by!

For Baby...

I ordered and have already received something new for Baby M. Its a struggle when you have all girls to not just reuse everything you already have but to make sure that each child gets new things of its own. At least that is a struggle for me. So I'm trying to get a few things for this baby that are just for her!

So I got some washcloths! How boring, right?

Well these are a little more than your average washcloths... and really, washcloths are something I use ALL THE TIME! They aren't just for baths.... they are perfect for runny noses, for wiping faces... I have found many uses for them. So I ordered my Bummas last week and they came in yesterday! Go check out their website... I'm really excited about this product! I'll let you know how much I love them in the future, when I've actually used them! Right now they are waiting to be washed :)

So what are some of your FAVORITE baby products????

A First Glimpse...

at our little baby M.

We decided on a name last night. Hubs looked over my list of 41 names and immediately saw one he said he "loved" and "had always liked that name". Funny, because I have never heard him mention it! :) But it just happened to be one of my top picks off my list. So that was perfect!

We had a little struggle with a middle name. I suggested one and the Hubby suggested one. We played around with both of them and said them out loud. We couldn't agree. :) But after a while we finally picked one! And we both love it!

Baby M is measuring big which is new for me! Both of my other girls were normal or even a little smallish. We can't wait to meet this new sister... less than 5 months away!

A Very Special Day...

Let me begin by saying that I have no pictures to put up.... issues with the camera/etc. I'll figure it all out and try to get some pictures asap!

Last night the hubs and I were laying in bed and The Baby started kicking. I put hubby's hand on my belly and he felt it.... in fact, this little baby got all excited with Daddy's hand there and went to town kicking! Seriously, some of the sweetest stuff in the world!

I couldn't sleep last night... I was too excited/anxious/nervous for this morning. We had our ultrasound appointment. I used to think that ultrasounds were all fun and games... you go in, see your baby on the monitor, hear the heartbeat, all is well. Then we had our second child. During the 18 week ultrasound with her, we discovered cysts in her brain. Everything was fine but it has forever changed the way I look at routine ultrasounds. Thus, I was somewhat nervous for this morning.

We dropped off the girls at Nana's house and headed to the doctor's office. We had the first appointment which was so nice. And we went back and started the ultrasound. I laid back and revealed my belly. The way I was laying made my belly look all misshapen. You could see a definite bulge where the baby was laying... the hubby thought it was so cool! Anyway, we start the ultrasound and this baby is LOW.... I'm talking we were moving the wand way down over my c-section scar... LOW!

We saw the Teeny, Tiny Baby and it was wonderful. Quick check showed a heart rate of 157 (good!) and then we went looking for the "goods". All morning, all I could think about was how no one knew what our baby was but God... and that was about to change. I prayed for a healthy baby above all else! I will be honest, there has been a part of me that has longed to give my husband a son. I've been thinking that this may be the time he got to have a little boy.

So we anxiously watched the monitor... this baby was not cooperating very well (uh oh... I can sense a difficult child). Finally we saw it about the same time the ultrasound tech said it.... it's a

Girl!

Yes.... you read it right, 3 girls for us! I get to keep thinking pink and hairbows and tutus and dresses and ruffles and I'm so excited! Hubs is excited too!!!! He loves his two girls so much and they think he is the best thing ever.... and I know this little girl will be no different! The rest of the ultrasound went well (other than a baby girl who did not want to let us get a good look at her when we tried). Momma had to move around and we jiggled her and finally got to see what we needed... all is perfect! Praise God!

Now we are ready to name her. We haven't really talked much about names because we wanted to wait to see what this baby would be. But now that we know it is a girl we are ready to get started playing the name game. I've made a list of about 40 names that I like so I'll give that to my Sweetie tonight to narrow down. Hopefully we can pick one tonight! Then I'll start planning things like nursery and the big girls' room and all that FUN stuff!

Thanks for sharing this special day with me! Love to all!

So far this week....

MDO (a.k.a. school) Part 2.

First, I promise that I won't give you a MDO update/recap each week... but since I blogged earlier this week about our second day of MDO I thought I'd let you know how it was. Great! We took Big Sis at 9:00 this morning. Thankfully the rain held off long enough to allow me to get her inside, while toting Little Sis, without getting wet. After kisses goodbye, we were off.

Little Sis and I ran errands and took naps and had lunch (at home, nothing exciting) and went back to pick up Big Sis at 2:00. Perfect day... she did well. The only issue is that she wants to constantly take her shoes off.... why is this? She loves taking her shoes off and doesn't like to wear them when she is supposed to. However, she will wear a pair of my shoes ALL DAY!

Tomorrow is the big day... hopefully! I can't wait to see this baby on the monitor again.... eeee, I'm getting so excited! I wish I could think of a fun way to tell all of our family and friends whether its a boy or a girl, but I've got nothing.

And finally, because I'm a proud momma, here is a picture for you....

This baby loves to go sit by herself (she usually goes by one of our doors) and "read" books. How cute is she? And I'm so proud that she loves books already.... both of my girls do! I have visions of us laying around, reading, on rainy days in the future. So sweet!

Hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday!!

My escape...

Do you read?

I have always been a reader... in fact, I dream of writing a book one day. When I was in grade school that was what I wanted to do when I "grew up".

Anyway, when I had my second baby I was up so much at night nursing and rocking her and I was worn out and had trouble staying awake sometimes. I hated falling asleep while I was holding her or feeding her so I thought I'd get a book out and read it to keep me awake during those long nights.

I grabbed the closest book to me, which was a gift from my dad when she was born (does the man know me or what?!). It was Simple Genius by David Baldacci.

Oh. My. Word. I fell in love with this book quickly and also fell in love with his writing. I love a suspense novel.... I love complicated plots.... I love mysteries. And I found it all in his book.

So since that point I've managed to get my hand on nearly all of his books (most of which I borrowed from my dad) and have loved each and every one of them.

I realize that reading isn't for everyone.... but for me it is my escape... my thing to do for myself (along with crafting). So I just thought I would share with you this author and his books. Thanks Dad for introducing me to David Baldacci and his writing. I'm a fan!

Happy reading - or whatever you do for yourself. Take some time to do something for yourself today!

Slacker...

Ugh, I've been such a blog slacker lately. I can't even remember what has happened since I last posted. So rather than re-capping the past few days, I'll give you a glimpse into our very near future :)

Wednesday is MDO again! I'm a little nervous to see how I make it when I have to do the get ready, drop off, pick up by myself... well I say by myself, but I'll have my little tag-a-long with me. Just no daddy this time. So if you think of me Wednesday morning, say a little prayer that I'm able to keep my sanity and manage both of the kids during drop off and pick up!

Thursday is a BIG DAY for us! We are having our big ultrasound to check on baby #3. I'm so excited! I love watching our babies on the ultrasound machine and dreaming of how they will be in person. And knowing that this is our last time to do this (unless God changes our minds one way or another) makes it even more special. Plus, we should find out what Baby is... any guesses?!

And Saturday I'm hosting a Southern Living at Home party! Woo Woo! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE their products and can't wait to see what kinds of fun stuff I buy! But more importantly, I'm looking forward to hanging out with some of my favorite women Saturday morning! I plan on doing a little brunch spread. Hopefully my children and my husband will cooperate with me and I can pull it off!

So there's a little insight into my week. I will do my best at filling you in as our week progresses. Hope your week has started out well!

:)

First Day of "School"

Alrighty... let me first say that last week our internet broke down. And it took a week to get a new router then we were gone all weekend so I'm just now getting back to business. And actually, I'm going to confess that I TOTALLY enjoyed my internet break and I am considering making it more of a regular thing. Not total internet disconnection, but much less internet usage for me. It was so nice and I felt so refreshed every day knowing that I spent zero time doing "nothing" online. However, since I've had a few requests, I will continue to get on the computer and keep in touch with you all!

So here is my story for today. My darling child started "school" today. She has spent the past week being so excited! She told everyone that she has a backpack and lunchbox and she is ready! So we got up this morning and got all ready to go. I packed a lunch for her - a totally new experience for me. I loved putting her food in her baggies and putting them in her lunchbox. It was fun and exciting for both of us! Simple pleasures :)

And then it was time to go... Daddy was home today because he had taken yesterday and today off of work to enjoy and EXTRA long weekend. So he got to enjoy this special day with us! Here she is all ready to go! We went outside to take some pictures....

Then back inside to get everything together. She didn't want to take her backpack off! Such a sweet, crazy girl! Here she is with me... I'm such a proud Mommy, can you tell?!

And with Daddy.... he loves this girl so much! They are definitely two of a kind. She does things every day so she can be like Daddy... such as eating the same cereal as him or putting her feet on the coffee table like he does. She thinks he is the greatest!

All dressed up and ready to go to school!

Can you tell by her face how excited she was? She walked right into her classroom and was perfect. When we picked her up this afternoon her teacher said she was great and even took a nap! I think it was a success, even though I missed her terribly all day!

I hope everyone else had a great day!