My Crowded Mind

There are all sorts of things floating around in my mind. Here are a few...

* I'm scheduled to have a baby on Thursday. Say what?!

* My mom is flying in Tuesday night and staying for a few weeks to help. I cannot wait! She will be a huge help with both girls!

* Avery has been doing great with potty training and I hope she keeps it up! Only using a diaper at naps/bedtime is cutting down on diaper money, which is nice because we will shortly be spending tons on diapers again!

* I've been doing really well with cooking meals during the week, but my baking has slowed down. I knew it would. I knew it was just a phase (probably brought on my pregnancy or something crazy) and that's ok. I'm not a huge baker, but I do like to cook.

* I started to get sick a few days ago, which is a bummer for SO many reasons: I'm having a baby in a few days, and I haven't been sick in over a year. I guess I was due to get what everyone else has been sick with for months.

* We've been in a small group since September and I love it! The people are great, and I feel like we are learning a lot about God through the study and people in the group.

* I've been trying to simplify my life the last few weeks and although it's uncomfortable, I have to say I think it's been better for me and my family. Having more family time has been nice, and saying no to certain people and things has value!

* Although I hate missing out on social gatherings, I've found that the ones I say yes to I enjoy more because I'm not spread so thin.

* We are hosting Easter at our house with some friends and I'm looking forward to it! Easter is just a week after my mom leaves to go back home, so it'll be during a time of transition, but I think having it at my house will be easier than going to someone elses house who doesn't have all the baby 'stuff'.

* I don't watch Downtown Abbey, but I hear about it all the time. In fact, we don't watch a lot of shows that everyone is talking about. The only shows I really make an effort to watch is New Girl and Glee. Sometimes we'll catch Modern Family, but we have group Wed nights so we usually don't catch it.

* John is taking a full week off when the baby comes, and a week of 1/2 days which will be awesome! When we had Avery he was only home for 3 days, and 2 1/2 days. This will be much better!

* We went to Great Wolf Lodge (a massive indoor water park) with some friends last weekend for free and had a blast! We were only there for 3 hrs because we had a party with our small group that night, but it was just the right amount of time!

Friends who are pregnant together, stay together

I'll never forget 4th of July weekend this past summer when Katey stopped me before we walked down to the beach and said, 'So, I wanted to tell you something before the day got crazy and we didn't have a chance to chat. Matt and I are expecting again...!' I looked at her with a smile, and said, ''Us too!!'

Meet my friend Katey! This is our second time around being pregnant together! When I was pregnant with Avery, she was due 3 weeks after me, but had Piper a week early, so Avery and Piper are 10 days apart. This time around, we are due 2 days apart with my due date being 2/27 and hers being 3/1. And no, we did not plan this! Our husbands however may be a different story... :)

I love being pregnant with other close girlfriends! Pregnancy is such an emotional time, and it's nice being able to share it with a friend who understands what you're going through physically, and how you're feeling emotionally. Although our friendship has changed over the years, and we've added more kids and miles between us to the mix, we try to keep up with each other. I think the friendship our family shares (we affectionately call each other DOLLERS) is special, and a forever friendship; regardless of life's circumstances.

Last night we got to celebrate Katey and Baby Quinn. The shower was given by her girlfriends in Va Beach, and it was intimate, sweet and special! Since this is Katey's 3rd girl, they asked people to contribute towards a stroller instead of buying more pink (which she already has plenty of!). There was a time at the end set aside to pray for Katey and Quinn, and it was so special. I loved hearing people pray verses over Quinn's life, but I think what was even more powerful was that we were able to pray those verses knowing they are truth!

 At Katey's shower in 2010. I think we were around 34 weeks or so.

 At Katey's shower last night. Both of us 38 weeks.

Katey is an awesome mom, and Matt is an incredible dad! They take their roles very seriously as parents, and have raised great kids! John and I have learned a lot from watching Matt and Katey parent their two girls, and I can only hope it rubs off on us a we parent our two girls.

Try to say no...I dare you!

Try to say no to this adorable little girl being your Valentine. You know there is none cuter!

Lucy's little nursery

So we finally finished the nursery! Phew! We reused all of Avery's nursery stuff, and just tweaked things a bit to make it a little different. It was weird decorating for another nursery, because in my mind, nothing would really compare to decorating a nursery for the very first time! It's so exciting! You have so many new ideas, people pay for *a lot* of what fills the room up, and in a lot of cases, you've dreamt of what the nursery would look like for a while.

Lucy's room is nice and spacious, and has a big closet which the back of it we are using for some storage space, since we don't have any closets upstairs. The room has really been transformed from when we just used it as a guest room! Here are some pictures!

Making simple memories

 It was pretty darn cold on Claire's birthday!

 Celebrating a beautiful friend

 Girls' dinner out

 Someone focusing real hard on coloring

 A candid moment with my man

 Snowy face

 The face of a little gal who is rockin' the potty train

I love my little family, and I love my friends. Both bring me so much joy! I am a people's person, and get charged by being around people, more specifically friends and family. I'm expecting that after Lucy arrives there will be a period of time when I won't be able to get out and see friends as often, and I probably won't get tons of quality family time. The last few weeks, and the next few weeks, it's my goal to really soak up time with the special people in my life! It doesn't need to be anything earth shattering, just simple and special time with great people. Here are pictures of the last few weeks, and I hope to post pictures over the next few weeks before Lucy arrives!

Less than one month to go

Oh.my.word. 

Just typing the title of the blog got me a tad nervous! Of course I'm exited, thrilled, and elated, but believe me...nervous and anxious are among those feelings as well!

My due date is 2.27.13, but because Avery was so big, my doctors want to induce me at 39 wks (a week early) to help with the size of the baby. Of course I'm totally fine with that, and that would put Lucy's arrival on/around 2.20.13. Ahh!

Maybe you can blame it on the 'nesting mentality', but I've been saying no to a lot more lately, or at least trying to. I'm really trying to protect my/our calendar and if I don't say no to certain things (even the really good things in life), the next month will fly by (even faster than it naturally will) without any quality time spent with Avery and John. Saying no is hard for me, but I'm finding so much value in not running around, not being over-committed, and being a little more inward focused. Sometimes I feel selfish about it, but then I realize it's not selfish at all to want to focus on my family, and our little unit before we add another person to the mix!

There's a part of me that gets sad when I think about what Avery's life will be like in a month...very different! There's no way around it. Her life will be totally different. I know it's not a bad thing, just different. But different is usually hard at first. I hope I adjust well, too. I hope I don't lose my patience (who are we kidding?!) too much. I told John a few weeks ago that I want us both to make a concerted effort to spend quality/special time with Avery after Lucy is born. Even just a simple trip to the store, or taking her on a walk will remind her how much we love her. Ok...I'm rambling.

Please pray for me. I'm getting anxious. I'm feeling nervous. God has it all under control.

My Crowded Mind

I haven't written a blog post since NYE, so I figured I'd update those who are interested on what's been going on the last few weeks. A lot is about to come out...get ready...!

* I'm currently 34 weeks pregnant, and since my doctors are planning to induce at 39 weeks (because of how big Avery was), that means I only have 5 weeks left!

* My girlfriends threw me a small and intimate shower over the weekend at my favorite coffee shop! It was so nice to just hang out with these friends and celebrate Lucy!

* We are registering Avery for preschool over the next few weeks (she'll be starting in the fall), and it just seems unreal that our 'baby' will be in a school environment! Wasn't she just a newborn??

* My mom is in town and still has a week left here, and has doing all things helpful: cleaning, laundry, cooking, and running errands. She's learned that she must earn her keep at this house. Kidding!

* I've joined a Bible study at Peninsula Community Chapel called, 'Brave' by Angela Thomas and I'm excited about it! It meets every Thursday morning, and Avery is watched there in the childcare program.

* We started potty training Avery about 2 weeks ago, and she has been doing great! She is averaging about 1 potty accident a day. She doesn't usually tell us when she has to use the potty, we just put her on it every 45 min or so, but it's been working well!

* Lucy's nursery is almost done. We're just waiting for two things to arrive in the mail: the same pink paper lanterns we did in Avery's room, and a decal with her name and a scripture verse on it for her wall.

* I love Sweet Italiam Creme creamer. 

* I'm trying to keep life a little more on the simple side lately, in preparation for when Lucy comes. There are weeks when our schedule is jammed packed, and other weeks when we have nothing going on at all. Saying no is really hard for me (both of us, actually), so it's been a bit of a challenge.

* John has been working hard to get the new upstairs bathroom (it's going to be the girls' bathroom so we don't always have to bathe them downstairs. Our upstairs bathroom doesn't have a tub so bathing them in a shower stale would be a bit tricky) ready, and it's coming along great! We still need the sink and granite top on the vanity, and the vent fan in the ceiling, but other than that it's done! Avery took her first bath in it a few nights ago. He started the project while I was in NY visiting family almost 2 yrs ago, so it's a project we've both been itching to complete for a while now :)

* My sister is coming down this weekend for a short visit, and I'm really excited to see her! I haven't seen her since the end of July!

* My brother, and his family are coming down for a visit the end of June and we're super excited about that, too! That's a great time of year down here; not too hot and lots of fun outdoor things to do. They are bringing my niece and nephew, 4 and 6 which will be fun for Avery!!

* We took maternity pictures with the same photographer who is going to be taking Lucy's newborn pictures and we are so happy with how they came out! It was pretty cold, but that just meant we got to snuggle even closer :)

* I am so thankful that I get to stay home with Avery! She is a blast, and I can't imagine missing out on all her craziness! Although she drives me crazy some days, there are more days than not that I look at her and feel an overwhelming love towards her.