I'm Still Pregnant...

If you know me, you know this is AMAZING! Today I'm 38 weeks pregnant. This is my third baby and I've never been THIS pregnant before. It is crazy! I'm actually to the point now where I hope Little Miss waits until next Thursday because I have all the plans made and everything taken care of.

I got up this morning and put on some lounge pants and when I went to grab a t-shirt I realized that none... NONE of my t-shirts will fit over my belly. So what did I do.... I went shopping on my husband's side of the closet. :) I can't believe how big my belly is and every day it seems to get bigger and bigger!

Today we are having a bit of bad weather so the girls and I are staying inside. I wish I could say this was different than every other day for us, but it isn't. I haven't been getting out by myself (other than a quick trip to the post office yesterday afternoon) just because it is too physically hard on me. And I'm afraid of going into labor. Basically we just stay home and play around the house. We play a lot in the girls' room where I can sit/lay on the bed which is nice. I have zero energy and I could pretty much sleep at any point during the day except at night when I want to sleep - then I'm wide awake!

I have pretty much quit calling my family because every time I call they pick up the phone all kinds of excited expecting me to tell them we are having the baby.... then I have to disappoint them. So I just wait on my mom, sister, dad, etc. to call me now :) Speaking of which, my dad called last night while my phone was in the bedroom charging and I hadn't checked it in about an hour. He started to freak out so he called my sister and asked her if she thought we were at the hospital. Like I wouldn't call him!!! Then he did something he has only done ONE other time in the past 4 years, he called Jared. I laughed so hard.... he seriously thought we were having the baby and weren't going to call him. He is so funny!

Everyday I mark the calendar as we get one day closer to meeting this little girl. 6 days left! I'm looking forward to a relaxing weekend that may include some quality time with my sweetie and some house cleaning and maybe even a nap for this momma! Happy Friday everyone, hope you have a wonderful weekend as well!

Time to Catch Up!

Ok.... here is my "catch up" post. All the things I've been needing to post but haven't for whatever reason.

Baby Shower -
Here are some pictures of some of the wonderful gifts we received. Again, it was such a blessing in so many ways. I am so thankful for my friends and family. Note: If you don't see your gift in these pictures it is probably because it was in the laundry or already packed in the diaper bag or maybe already in the closet waiting on Miss M to use it!

Check out my new diaper bag in the top left of the picture - I am IN LOVE with it! It totally makes me feel like a cute, stylish Momma (and I've been needing to feel like that lately!)

I love all the monogrammed things we got! I am totally in the mood to monogram everything since I know I won't have to save it for another baby :) I'm trying to restrain myself though.

Red shoes - need I say more!

A sampling of the sweet outfits M gets to wear soon! The little brown sleeper actually matches some PJs the big girls have so you know I'm thrilled to see all 3 of my girls dressed to match! LOVE IT! I love it all, I really do - thank you all for the sweet gifts!

And the car seat cover from Aunt Whit Whit - we weren't sure if we would need it with the weather being so warm last week, but thankfully it has turned cold again and this will be perfect!

Baby News -

We are packed and ready. I went to the doctor this morning and guess what... NOTHING! There is nothing at all going on. This baby is going the distance. I'm ok with it now. I have been frustrated because we were expecting her to already be here. BUT I am embracing the fun of getting to plan out her arrival. Only 10 days left and I'm going to do my best to enjoy all of them!

Haircut -

My children, bless their hearts, had no hope when it came to their hair. J's hair is full of cowlicks and grows all crazy and my hair is very fine with a nasty wave (that isn't cute no matter how hard I try to work with it) and a lot of cowlicks. So our poor girls have the craziest hair. Well, P has been needing a haircut for a while. Her hair was so stringy and blah and I finally got sick of looking at it so I cut it!  I am just not ready to try to fight with her at a salon to get her hair cut so I decided to cut it myself. I am no hair dresser, but I did an ok job. I just took a few inches off all around so she has a sweet little bob to match her sweet little personality.

I am so proud of her... she is really growing up and it is so fun to watch! Oh how I love this girl!

** I would have taken pictures of our re-arranged living room, however I have a huge wall that is blank because I haven't figured out how to fill it up yet and we are still working on sorting through the toys and finding them all a home somewhere in our house. So it really isn't picture worthy yet! Hopefully soon...

Hope you all have a fabulous start to your week!

I've been bad...

I just realized I haven't posted in a week. And to top it off, I have pictures on my camera that I keep meaning to upload and post but I haven't. So here you go.... a post that will cover the past week or so and there are no pictures to show you!

Weekend:
Last weekend we had a great time. J and I had dinner Saturday night with some sweet friends (Robyn, if you are reading this, I missed you!). The other operations manager at J's work and his wife had us over for dinner. They were so sweet!!! It was such a good time getting to know them and eating good food! The girls were supposed to go with us but my dad was missing them A LOT so he drove down after work on Saturday (tax season has him working Saturdays) and kept them for us. We loved getting to spend that time with him :)

Sunday afternoon, while the girls were napping, J and I decided to re-arrange our living room. So my darling husband moved all the furniture around (every piece).... I couldn't help since I can barely move myself around. We love it! It makes our living room feel more like a living room.

Monday:
I had a doctor appointment Monday.... all is well. I saw the Nurse Practitioner since my doc was in a delivery. We are still set for February 4. And I'm starting to think we are actually going to make it to then. I just knew this whole pregnancy that Little Miss would come early, but now that I'm all ready for that to happen I think she's decided to hang on until the last moment. At least I'm getting to FULLY enjoy this pregnancy. The exciting thing is that Mika Lynn will be here in less than 2 weeks! We are all so ready!!!

The rest of the week:
I have spent the rest of the week in my PJs. I'm too pregnant to maneuver my children in and out of carseats and shopping buggies and around stores so we have stayed home every day this week. J has been working late or we would have done things with him in the afternoons. I am more and more tired every day and I'm sleeping less and less at night. I'm swelling more and more and baby girl is riding low in my belly but she's still hanging in there. It will be nice when I feel good again, and I know J and the girls will be ready for that too!

However, I've had some sweet moments with my girls this week, curled up on the couch or in the bed watching movies and loving on each other. Those moments are usually followed by craziness but I'm loving all of it! I find myself thinking every day that in a couple of weeks things will change forever and it won't be just my two girls and me here all day. I can't wait to have M here with us, but I am also really cherishing these moments before she gets here, knowing I will never have this time with P and L back.

Sounds like a couple of little girls are waking up from their naps and will want to play with their Mommy... hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Note: I'm posting this without re-reading it because of the girls getting up, so excuse any errors or sentences that don't make sense. :)

I have seen....

the visions of my future. And it includes this


and this


I let the girls play alone in their room today while I ran to the back of the house for less than 2 minutes.... When I opened their door I found them both standing on top of their play kitchen. The little monkeys apparently like to climb up there and do who knows what. I'm sure they are going to do that one day and fall off - they have my clumsiness :)

All I can say is it is a good thing they LOVE milk and maybe it will really give them strong bones because they will need strong bones if they are going to continue down this path!

Oh how I love those girls and their crazy ways! If I hadn't been having a Momma Heart Attack I would have grabbed the camera and taken their picture.

And in other news.... Little Miss M is still hanging in there - no progress as of yesterday. Looks like she may be in there a while longer!

Happy Thursday everyone....

A Wonderful Weekend...

I know I should have posted this on Monday but I've been working like a crazy person trying to get things ready for this baby!

I had the most wonderful weekend!

Saturday we cleaned and did laundry and it felt so good to make some progress on my list of housework! J was home so he was able to help me with the girls so I could get SO MUCH done! Thanks baby!

We had planned for his parents to keep the girls overnight Saturday night so we could have an Anniversary Date (a couple days late). The girls were being awful before we left and we called to cancel but my sweet Mother-In-Law wouldn't let us! Thank you!!! And much to our surprise, the girls were angels for them! It makes me so happy when my babies act right for other people.... it really does!

So we dropped the girls off and headed out for our date.... We had planned on eating at our favorite restaurant, Benihana, but when we got there we were told there would be an hour and a half wait if we didn't have reservations. We apparently missed the memo about the rap concert down the street - I guess Benihana is a popular place to dine before a rap concert. Who knew?! So we left and decided on a Plan B.... Outback. We used to eat there all the time but we haven't been in ages. And we both love some Outback bread, so we headed that way. Luckily we found a booth in the bar area so we didn't have to wait and we had a great meal and a great time together!

We came home and put in a movie. Have you seen The Hangover? Oh my gosh.... we laughed through the entire movie. It was so stinkin hilarious! It is definitely not a movie for everyone, but we loved it! I love just spending low-key, quality time with my husband.... and I'm thankful we got to have that this weekend.

We got up Sunday morning and finished our housework and got ready to have a special day. My mom and Nanny came into town Sunday morning so they could go to my baby shower that afternoon. We had a great time together just hanging out. They are so great and I am so blessed by them!

We went to the shower and of course I forgot my camera. But if you want to see a couple of pictures you can go here. It was wonderful and I felt so loved and so blessed by my family and friends. And Little Miss M got some GREAT things! I can't wait to show it all to her :)

Speaking of the Little Miss.... I have our bags packed for the hospital and her room all ready for her. This is the most prepared I have ever been for a baby so I just know she will hang on until the last possible minute. And while I'm beyond excited to meet her and have her here with us, I won't mind her sticking around until she is ready to come. We'll see what the doctor says tomorrow! I need to take some pictures of her cute things.... maybe I can get that done this afternoon and post them tomorrow :)

It was a great weekend and we've had a great start to our week! Hope your week is going wonderfully as well!

Just a few random thoughts...

*Yesterday, my almost 3-year-old daughter informed me (while watching a clip from a Hannah Montana concert on Disney Channel) that she wanted one of "those". I asked her to show me what she was wanting - turns out it was a glo stick.... REALLY? I had to laugh at the thought of her waving around a glo stick like our living room was a concert arena or a rave!

*My diaper bag came in yesterday.... oh how I love it. Granted, it isn't packed with anything yet, but it is so darn cute. I don't usually indulge and buy cute things for myself (I tend to save the cuteness for other people) but I got this bag and it has made me quite happy! I hope I still love it once I try to put some things in it.

*Speaking of packing bags... I made the hospital bag packing list. That way we have some guidance in case we have to pack in a rush (like we've done two times before).

*All of my baby laundry is washed and I have one load left to put away! That was a chore, I tell you. But I'm so glad it is done. Now all I have to do is clean up the car seat and we are ready for this baby to come!

*I took down my Christmas decorations.... finally! Now I want to rearrange my living room furniture. Crazy? I think so! But I can't stop thinking about it.

*Tonight is a date night with my sweetie to celebrate our anniversary.... I'm so excited! I'm sure it will involve dinner and a movie at home (because I'm just too uncomfortable to sit in movie theater seats) and we'll probably both be asleep by 10pm. That's how we roll.

*I plan on cleaning my house some today.... wish me luck!

Hope you all have a wonderful Saturday and a wonderful weekend!

4 Years Ago...

Four years ago today I married the love of my life.

(FYI - this is probably my favorite picture ever of us.... and it was just a random snapshot by the pool one afternoon. Thanks Alicia for taking it!)

We met in our first semester of law school.... and became instant friends. We would go out to dinner and movies and study together and talk all night long - it was like we were dating, but we weren't. It took me a few months to "convince" him that we had more than a friendship and thankfully I finally did!

I knew there was something special about him from the first time I talked to him.... and it didn't take me long to realize that my life wasn't complete without him in it! We dated for seven months and as a complete shock to me he proposed at dinner one night. Of course I said "Yes".... when I finally realized what was happening. :)

We spent the next three months planning a small-ish wedding in my hometown. And then we were married. It has only gotten better with each day and each year that passes!

The past four years haven't been easy or even always fun.... but I wouldn't trade any of it for the world!

We are best friends.

We talk about it all the time, but we really feel incredibly blessed to have each other. We know how special marriage is and we never take our vows lightly.

Thank you, Jared, for always making me smile and laugh and feel incredibly loved. Thank you for being the wonderful man you are and inspiring me (and others) in everything you do. Thank you for always keeping God first in your life and our marriage..... Thank you for marrying me four years ago. 

It is amazing what four years can bring.... and I can't wait to see what the rest of our life together holds!

Happy Anniversary Baby!

Christmas Eve 2009

Late.... I know! But I want to remember this so I'm blogging it!

The night before Christmas Eve we had Christmas with my husband's family. Always a wonderful time. We came home from that and I got the girls ready and in bed while J went to his parents to get their one, BIG gift from us. It was a kitchen playset. We had looked at it different times and decided it was the perfect gift for us to get the girls together. 

So with the girls in bed, Mom and Dad get out the kitchen. Oh. My. Word. I finally felt like I had been fully initiated into parenting that night. We put that kitchen together until after midnight.... and J even went to Wal-Mart at midnight to get batteries. He absolutely refused to give them a gift without batteries in it. :) 

**Side note-- apparently Wal-Mart is crazy the night before Christmas Eve, J came home and said the parking lot was full (it was midnight) and that he even ran into someone we know! 

We get the kitchen all set up - it took forever but it is a super-cool kitchen and we were so excited to give it to the girls. We finally got to bed around 1am (which is WAY too late for me!). Apparently the girls could sense the excitement because they were up by 6:30 the next morning... crawling into our bed. We all got up and headed into the living room where we had the kitchen set up....

P was bursting with excitement! This was a real smile... not one of her "cheese" grins that she gives when I pull the camera out!

Same for Little Sis.... She LOVED the kitchen! They were both so excited and seriously played with their kitchen the entire morning while I got ready and packed up to leave.

"Look Mom, play donuts!"

"Can I take your order?"

After about 2 hours of straight kitchen playtime... we were ready to get on the road. I called my sister (who was at my Nanny's house) to check on the weather situation. It had been raining for a couple of days and was starting to flood. She informed me that the road in front of Nanny's house was covered in water but it wasn't bad.... BUT she said the toilets weren't working because of all the water. WHAT?

Apparently floods make my grandmother's toilets not work so everyone who was at her house was having to make trips to my mom's to use the bathroom. I asked why they didn't just pack up and go to my mom's house and was told that Nanny wasn't leaving her house. She was always there cooking on Christmas Eve and this year would be no different. 

We head out and actually had to drive through some pretty badly flooded roads. Thank goodness for our Tahoe... and my adventuresome husband who gets a thrill out of driving in scary conditions. I kept seeing houses flooded and abandoned cars on the side of the road and my heart just broke. All I could think was that this was how these people were spending Christmas Eve and Christmas... I spent a lot of that 1.5 hour drive praying for those families and people. 

We finally made it to Nanny's around lunchtime. We spent the rest of the day driving to go to the bathroom, eating too much Christmas food, laughing, playing games, and enjoying time together.... despite the flood outside. 

Stay tuned for the rest of our Christmas Adventures....

I know I haven't blogged in a short forever BUT I promise I have good reasons. I've been incredibly busy, I promise! :)

My "plan" tonight is to take the computer to bed when I go lay down at 7pm (yes, that is the honest truth... I hit the bed by 7 every night now because my body just can't handle another minute up) and to upload pictures and write out the posts that have been piling up in my mind for a couple of weeks now!

Until then.... have a great day!