Cool Breezes and Donuts!

The weather is a changin' and my face is a smilin'! This weekend we had a wonderful family day on Saturday. We had bunny pancakes as per Lauren's request. Then took our time getting ready. We made our way to the mall and bought our newest baby girl her first night-night (often also referred to as a lovey) and a sweet newborn outfit (so tiny)! Then we swung by the local sub shop, picked up a sub sandwich and headed to the park. 

Lauren just loves the park and didn't eat to much because who wants to eat when there are slides to be slid on and swings to be swung on?!? We took a little walk first and then let Lauren play until she looked ready to drop for nap. We headed home and enjoyed an evening of vegging out. What more can you ask for?

Well, you can ask for some donuts. I think having Brooke more than usual these days and having more energy has me pushing myself. So on Sunday I woke up on the "cranky side of the crib". Church, a dohnut (plus a few too many donut holes), and a three hour afternoon nap got me right back on track. Man did I wake up ready to conquer the world, lol, well maybe not that much energy. But it made for  a wonderful Sunday evening where Lauren and I played, made dinner, and cleaned up and Matt mowed the lawn. 

I can't say this for every weekend but we had a nice balanced amount of fun and relaxation, while still being productive and getting stuff done. Some weekends I walk away thinking- I totally neglected my house and "to do" list but had a great time. While other weekends I feel like I have no "fun" and spend the whole time doing this project or that project around the house. But this weekend had a nice balance to it, so Amen to that!

"Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 5:18 

(I know I've used this one before but it one I hold near and dear to my heart. It was also the scripture that our Sunday School lesson was based on and it really spoke to me this weekend.)

Fun at the Funny Farm!

Well here we are another picture post to let you know the fun we've been having!

Bunny Pancakes!! Yum Yum!

She liked to dismember the pancake before eating it.

 Daddy's attempt at a bunny pancake- it's a special bunny...

 Shaving Cream with food coloring makes fun in the tub.

 It took her a little to get the hang of it but once she realized she could scoop out a bunch at a time, the walls were covered!

 Had to show you the finished product and the green bath water. She loved washing the "mess" off the walls just as much as making them colorful.

 Day 1 of school. She LOVED it. 

 We worked on Day 1 of creation along with the letter G, for God, Good, and Genesis and the number 1. As well as how God is and what he did (for her level God is Jesus' daddy and he created everything!)

 We created homemade play-dough. She was involved in the making, playing, and cleaning up- she's mama's big helper. 

 She had a selection of 12 food dye colors and she picked black, I rolled with it thinking well black is like the darkness. 

 Just like God she loved all of her creations. Big hugs for everyone!!

 Day 2 of school. Still working with the letter G and the number 1. I think it's just too cute that she can hold up her finger and say "one."

 Annabelle loves learning too!

  Checking out her own work.

During our visit to our local Children's Museum where Lauren demonstrated her growth even more. She was able to get up on the whale and off all by herself. She just never ceases to amaze us.

Wednesday again!

I think it's neat that all of my appointments thus far have been on Wednesday. Mid-week is perfect. So today we had the last ultrasound and found a happy, cooperative, healthy baby! We also found out that we're...

We're super excited and can't wait to see what this bundle of joy has in store for us. It was funny because I think we both were so in-different about what the gender would be and we both also didn't mind having either one. Last time it was more defined. I guess that is why the name is still up in the air. I have two that I really like, one of them I love. Matt still thinks that the perfect name is out there- although he has admitted he likes both names I've picked, he just thinks there is some hidden name that we haven't thought of yet. I beg to differ.

I'm super excited to know how we're going to rearrange the house now. You see we have two bedrooms upstairs and two downstairs. Currently, Matt and I in one room upstairs and Lauren is in the other. Downstairs we have a guest/playroom and an office. It was already decided that no matter the gender Matt and I would move downstairs and the upstairs would be the kid zone. It works much better for them having their own bathroom and moving the majority of the toys upstairs is just a grand idea to me. We however were waiting on the gender to see if Lauren would stay in her room or move to our old room. Since it is a girl, Lauren will move into the bigger of the two rooms and the baby would move into the nursery.

Although the other way would have worked, this way is better. Most of the toys are Lauren's toys anyway, so since she has the bigger of the two rooms, most of the toys will be in her room. Also, we don't have to spend money on anything for the decorating of the nursery. I plan on keeping it all the same. No need for new bedding and decor, like we would have done if we were having a boy. We do however need to get Lauren some new decorations for her "new" room. 

I'm thinking the new room will help when it comes to transitioning her to a big girl bed. This is something we plan to do in late November, early December- all depending on how slow/fast I am at rearranging everything.

First thing though is moving us downstairs. So I need to clear our the guest room and paint it. Then I need to reorganize closets and lastly move our stuff down stairs. Once all of the is done, we can worry about getting her big girl room prepared. We have time too, since I plan on using a bassinet for the baby in our room. 

Oh this excitement has really got the better of me today. I was sad Matt had to venture back to work. Then after Lauren and I had lunch I just got really tired and wanted to lay down. I wanted to write the great news in here thought before I attempted a nap. But now my tired eyes are getting the better of me. Off to enjoy the quiet and solitude before my energetic, goofy girl wakes up!

Sleep...

I have had a random sleep problem recently and it is driving me nuts. I'm tired every night and tend to go to bed and be sleeping by 8:30-9. This is not anything unusual in the fact that I've never in my life been a night owl. I've always been an early to bed, early to rise type of gal. Plus, being pregnant has caused me to desire sleep that much more. So far no problems. I go to bed, and sleep like a champ until about 5 in the morning. Then I wake up and lay there. I refuse to get out of bed because I still feel like sleeping, I want to be sleeping. I'm not ready to get up physically or mentally. 

So why the heck am I waking up? I can't figure it out. I sometimes do fall back to sleep around an hour later, but then wake up at 7 or so when Lauren gets me up. Today I was feeling like pooh. I had a yucky stomach thing yesterday and then again this morning. I just wanted to nap. I wished I had family close who could take Lauren for just a few hours so I could sleep. 

We had a lazy day, which we don't do very often now that I've been feeling better and have more energy. We had the TV on almost the whole day, which again isn't normal. In fact, I don't think we watched TV all week until today. Anyway, there was a point I'm convinced I dozed off for a minute or two while Lauren played and read books. Finally it was 2 and time for her nap, which felt like it was never going to come, and I went down too. I took a two hour nap and Lauren took a 3 hour nap. When I woke up I felt like a new woman. My stomach wasn't bothering me and I was able to shower and pick up (the house was quite a mess since Lauren was just doing her own thing all morning). Lauren and I went to the store to get some stuff for dinner. I was just fine until I ate and then I was back feeling like do-do again.

Matt said he wasn't feeling good after eating too, so I'm wondering if we have a yuck bug going around the house. I hope Lauren doesn't get it. Oh I would hate for her to deal with this nastiness.

Who knows if the crazy new sleep pattern has to do with the nasty yuck or not. All I know is that my nap today has been still awake at 10:45 pm. I honestly can't remember the last time I was awake this late- woo-hoo you can tell I lead the rock star life...lol!

Here's hoping to a better feeling tomorrow and a good, full nights sleep!

"I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety." Psalm 4:8

It's all coming together!

So I wrote a few posts back about my fall plans for Lauren and some "school" time. I've been working and working on "lesson plans" which are very close to being done. I just need to print some stuff in color, which I need to go to church to do. I also have to finish the lesson plans for week 7, aka day 7 of creation, which I've started just need to finish. Lastly, I need to go buy felt and glue to make the felt board (flannel board- not sure why there are two names for the same thing).

But even though I have all of that "to do", I've done a whole bunch. I've found songs, coloring pages, letter and number sheets, I have a wonderful book (God Created by Mark Francisco Bozzuti-Jones), purchased the felt cut outs that we'll use on the board, I've created activities to learn the bible verse, and finally (as the pictures below show) I've set up a corner of our office for "school." Right now I've moved the outdoor picnic table inside and given her a small bin to put her coloring book, crayons, beads, puzzle, and stickers in. But I still need to buy a few packages of those oh so lovely 3M hooks to help me hang up the pocket chart and felt board. Maybe a few other things to make the corner feel more school like. 

I'm super excited about all that I've done and I can't wait to start with her on Monday. I'm getting her all primed and excited too. I showed her the felt cut-outs and told her they were for school and same with the book we got out of the church library. After setting up the corner today she sat there and colored and did stickers while I started dinner and we waited for daddy to get home. I think we're both ready!

Here are some pictures- I'll be sure to post the ones of the finished product!

 Here she is checking out the bin of goodies.

 Coloring "Hello Kitty" (You can see the foam board we bought at Michael's to create the felt board- go 50% off coupon!!)

 Stickers? Beads? I'm not sure

Showing me all of her "STICKERS!!!!" that she so nicely decorated herself with.

"Jesus said, 'Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God." Matthew 5:8

Back in the Saddle...

I just thought you should know that I'm listening to the Aerosmith song "Back in the Saddle" in my head as I write this post- hope you are now enjoying the same personal mind music!

I'm enjoying the second trimester with gusto! Wow, to feel like myself again. To enjoy energy and desire to do normal, day-to-day tasks is like a huge early Christmas present. I tell you- the physical and mental yuck of the first 12-13 weeks of pregnancy are just unnecessary. 

I'm enjoying the ol' routine since we've been back from the beach. Oh yeah...we spent a wonderful week at the beach! Lauren has found her heaven on earth- that girl loved the beach. In fact, I felt horrible making her leave. When we left she said good-bye to the beach and looked devastated and sad. I've never seen her emotionally upset about something abstract like that. It made me sad even though I was looking forward to getting home and using my new found energy to get my house and life back in working order. Anyway, here are some pictures of our time away...

 We had just arrived and already she was all smiles!

 "Swimsuit!!!!"

 Screaming with delight and splashing around.

 Getting buried in the sand with a friend is so much fun!

 Having fun touching Horseshoe crabs at the aquarium.

 The pearls of the sea!

 NEMO!!!!!!

Daddy and Lauren 

 Mommy and Lauren

 Happy Birthday Dada!!

 Family Shot

 Jumping in at the pool

We did so much and yet so little. Lauren went to the beach everyday except the day we went to the aquarium. We swam in the pool, visited our friends down the way and had them to our place, we had a great date night, enjoyed some local foods, and spent lots of time enjoying each other as a family.  

Now we're home, happy, and I'm thoroughly enjoying the energy, routine, and fall like weather!

"Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, no lacking anything." James 1:4-5

Plans for the Fall

I L.O.V.E. the fall! It is my favorite season and I've always enjoyed this time of year. Some of my reasons include, but are not limited to...

• the change in the weather- moderate temperatures, cooler nights
• the changing colors all around- love orange, purple, deep reds
• the smells of fall- wood burning stoves, apple pie, apple cider 
• the return of structure and routine- enough said!

I've got so many plans brewing for this fall too. I'm glad to have most of my energy back and I'm ready to put it to good use.

First, we head back to library time regularly. Now that vacations and camps are over we can get back to that regular routine. I'm looking forward to what Miss. Erin has planned each Tuesday!

Second, walking, walking, walking- getting this butt back in motion! 

Third, bible study. This spring/summer I've been bad about doing my daily devotional and prayer time. I really miss that daily time with God and I'm looking forward to building that back into my daily schedule. In fact, I'm getting involved with a Bible study at my church and since I don't watch Noah this year I can take advantage of the Friday morning study. It will help me build that back into my day.

Fourth, craft/pre-school time with Lauren. Since Lauren is older now and very capable of being actively involved with an activity or craft- I'm uping my game from last years stuff. Just a reminder, last year we worked through the primary colors with songs, books, and crafts. We also started on the "Christian" alphabet too, but only made it to the letter "F" before June hit and things got harder as I got sicker with pregnancy. 

This year I'm taking more of a thematic approach to this time. I decided Monday and Wednesday we'd devote a half hour or so to a lesson. I decided I'd start with the Creation story- sounds like the perfect place to start, right?! I've only brainstormed ideas but the first week we'll start with Day 1 of creation. Will bring in the numbers and have a bible verse with each lesson that we'll post so that we can refer back to it. I'm going to pull the letters and colors in as well. I plan on making a felt board and pieces that follow the story. Also reading books about creation and singing songs. We can do color sheets for each day too. I'm hoping to better organize my thoughts in an outline soon so we can start in the next couple of weeks.

Oh how I love the fresh start of this new season!

"...That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither- whatever they do propers." Psalm 1:3

My Little Parrot

Okay, I just want you to know how sorry I am. Sorry for what? Sorry I'm not the best writer/grammer person/speller. I just took a moment to look over my blogs from this summer, reflecting back on the last few months. And WOW!! I think I edited every post I read. Words left out, words spelled wrong (now = know, etc.), and my oh so common mistake- leaving off the "s" on a plural or possisive word. I just want you know that I have about a third grade knowledge of grammer. I've never been the best writter. But I love blogging. I love that I can look back at what happened in the past and all the blessings we've had as a family. The funny moments, the serious stuff, and everything in between. So again- you grammer kings and queens I'm sorry. But I'm glad to know you're still reading anyway, well I hope you are...

Anyway back to my sweet little parrot, aka Lauren Shea. She is blowing our minds these days. I can't believe how good her language is getting. I can't believe how many words she knows and how much she can communicate with her words now. She is saying all sorts of things. Our favorites include "there you go baby" which she will say unprompted when you do something for her. She also says "please, thanks" when you tell her to use her manners. She use to say "poss" for applesauce, but now she says "apple-oss." She will talk to herself while she plays legos or with her stuffed animals. Sometimes it's jibberish but other times it's not.

She's just growing up too fast. I was watching her today and I just wanted to freeze time. I wanted her to stay here just a little longer. It kills me to look back at videos of her when she was non-verbal and think that is the same sweet girl. She's just taking it all in and spitting it all back out.

I think that's how I know Matt and I are "ready" for baby number two. We get to start from scrach again and enjoy the show once more- this time with a different lead star. It scares me to think that baby #2 will grow up that much faster with Lauren around showing him or her everything she can do. Oh bless my heart. 

Wishing that I could save every moment in my memory and never forget!

"And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:7