My Sweet Girls

Due to various circumstances, including a nice bonus from work and our old camera dying, I got my birthday/Christmas present incredibly early this year - a Nikon DSLR! I have been wanting a better camera for a long time now; we've had our previous camera for about 7 years which is forever for a digital camera.

Of course, I had to break it out as soon as I could last night and have some fun with it!

Sophie, at just over 9 months, is not crawling yet, but is not far from being on the move:

I finally managed to get Gabbie to give me a good smile, not a goofy three-year-old funny face. (My secret: telling her to say, "I'm a silly monkey!" It's a hit with the preschool set.)

Between these two and the busiest time of year at work I feel like I barely have time to breathe these days, but I'm glad I have these two around to keep me smiling. They're so busy being adorable most of the time, that I just about melt on a daily basis. 

All Kinds of Updates

Life marches on, busy as always. I feel, and I know Aaron agrees, that we barely have time to remember to breathe these days. It's crazy, but crazy good too.

Sophie will be 6 months old next week! Don't ask me how that happened, because I don't have any idea either. She is a rolling fool these days, and basically doesn't stop moving, ever. Since she started rolling over we stopped swaddling her at night. I was scared of this day (mostly because it was not an easy process when we did it with her big sister), but it didn't phase her one bit. She just rolled on to her side and fell asleep. Maybe it's because she's older than Gabbie was when we attempted it, but maybe more because she's just (and I realize I'm blessed and possibly jinxing myself here) an easy baby. A happy, easy baby that is so cute I could just die.

We tried rice cereal with Sophie this past weekend, and, well, it wasn't a hit (yet another way in which she's different from her big sister). We expected her to love it because she watches everyone else eat so intently, but instead she gagged a little and pushed it back out of her mouth. She's just not ready yet, and that's fine with me. It's easier to just nurse anyway. We'll try again in a week or two.

Also, and I may be crazy here, but I swear she has started to say "mama." It doesn't happen all the time, but when I don't pick her up as fast as she'd like, she says, "ma ma ma ma ma MA MA MA." Gabbie didn't make consonant sounds until she was much older (I remember being very worried about this; now she never, ever, ever shuts up, so I didn't need to be so worried), but Sophie is all about them. That and blowing raspberries. It's so super adorable.

Gabbie wants nothing more in life than to be big. (She is so like me it is not even funny.) Not too long ago we were playing around after bath, but before bed, and I asked her if she wanted me to make her hair curly for school tomorrow. She jumped right on that idea, and so we braided her hair. The next day at school she preened every time anyone mentioned her hair (which was often). It was adorable and also made me very aware of how aware she is of her looks already. Raising girls is hard, yo!

The other day we were driving home just as the church in our neighborhood was letting out from their Saturday evening service. Some guy looked like he wasn't going to stop at the stop sign (and therefore looked like he was going to hit us), and Aaron called him a douche bag. From the back seat we hear, "douche bag?" Lesson learned yet again - we need to watch our mouths around this one. She doesn't miss a beat.

Gabbie is very, very three, and I agree with everyone that three is so much harder to take than two. However, she's still very smart and funny, and just a really great kid. However, again, she's having issues pop up, especially at school, that are a little trying. Her morning teacher seems to relish telling me about how Gabbie misbehaved the day before, and I think that this needs to stop. We don't need to talk about Gabbie being bad right in front of her. She needs to hear how great she is, too. I need to figure out how to make her teacher knock it off; it hurts even me to hear the "misbehaving report" every day, when I know that it's just a small part of her day.

On Sunday, Aaron totally made Gabbie's day by taking her fishing, then to the big kids park, and then out for "coffee" (steamed milk with flavored syrup for Gabbs). She even caught a fish! It's so nice seeing the two of them have their own relationship. I absolutely love it, and seeing Aaron be such a good dad makes me fall even more in love with him every time.

When I was growing up I knew I wanted to be a mom. Before I became a mom, I know I'd love it. I just didn't know how happy getting exactly what I wanted would make me. I'm happier than I ever thought possible; this family of mine is pretty awesome.

Counting My Blessings

Recently a co-worker and I were talking about balance and family. We both decided that we were more work-to-live as opposed to live-to-work type people, meaning work for us is secondary in importance to the rest of our lives. As much as I love my job, my family far outweighs my job in importance and enjoyment.

Later on the day of this conversation, Aaron and I were chatting after the girls had gone to sleep. Even though each of us occasionally gets a case of the “wants,” I realized not long ago that I have everything I ever wanted. And even though I’ve been feeling pretty miserable for the past few months, I also have never been happier, so it’s a weird dichotomy. Talking about our many blessings (as well as recent warmth and sunny days) has really helped my mood.

Every night when I say my prayers, I recount the things I am thankful for:

A beautiful, healthy family.

More than adequate shelter.

More than adequate food.

Good, stable jobs.

Lots and lots of love.

Seriously, what more could I ask for?

(Unrelated adorable baby picture: guess who has found her feet?

)

The best things about Spring...

The trees are all fuzzy and tinted with the green or pink that means leaves will be appearing soon.

Tulips. I absolutely love tulips.

Baseball.

Not having to wear a coat.

Sometimes taking a chance and wearing open toed shoes (which means no socks, which is great because I hate wearing socks).

Pedicure season starts again.

No mosquitos yet, so we can use our back yard.

Grilling season starts (once we buy our grill this weekend!!!).

Not having to bundle the girls up so much - and seeing how much Gabbie loves not wearing a coat. And a hat. And gloves. And a scarf. And boots. Man, winter is heavy to wear.

Yard work.

Rain (mostly because it's not snow).

Opening the windows and getting rid of the air that felt so heavy and stale all winter long.

And finally, some of the fog is lifting. The fog that was especially bad this year because of post-partum hormones. The fog that made me incapable of doing anything but the bare minimum that was required of me so that my world would keep running and my kids were fed and clothed and cared for. This wasn't the worst it's ever been, but the worst since I've been responsible for two small humans, which made me feel a million times worse about it. But, it's clearing. Slowly, but surely, I'm feeling more like myself. And that's the very best thing about spring.

Distractions

I cannot believe it's March already. The fact that it's March means that it's nearly time for me to go back to work. In fact, Friday is my last day of maternity leave. Although I do look forward to getting some adult interaction time, I am dreading not being home all day every day with my girls. However, this job is a large part of what allows us to live such a blessed life, so I'll go back happily.

But, I can't deny that I'll be missing these two so much it hurts.

Snippets of the past two plus weeks

• On Friday the 23rd, we had our middle-of-the-pregnancy ultrasound. It went well, the baby looks healthy, but was also pretty uncooperative. We are fairly sure we're having another girl (!!!), but we will get another look to make sure (along with a better look at her heart, diaphragm, and her profile, as she was hiding these things too) on August 20th. I can't wait to get another peek in there at this little baby who insists on kicking me pretty much continuously these days! (I absolutely love that she kicks me pretty much continuously these days!)

• Last Thursday I finally got word that I got the promotion I had applied for last month! Which is totally awesome, but also comes with a buttload more work, because I still have to keep on doing some of my former position duties. All in all though, this promotion is a great thing. I'm excited to go to work again! My days have flown by lately, and before I know it it's time to go home, and once I get home, I blink and it's time to go to bed. This is why I've sucked at blogging lately (among other lazy reasons). 

• Aaron and I escaped for a weekend up north on Friday. We took Gabbie to my parents' house and then headed up to our favorite place in the state - Traverse City. We stayed in a really, incredibly lovely bed and breakfast, and spent the whole weekend eating and sleeping and enjoying being together. It was wonderful, and I'm really glad we took the chance to get away just the two of us. We really needed it.

• Weird pregnancy factoid - I have never in my life liked any kind of olives. I have tried to like them, but I just can't. Until lately, that is, because now I want sliced black olives on everything. So weird!

• Weird pregnancy factoid #2 - Not that I've tested this out *ahem*, but this pregnancy has made fantastic changes to my hair, including the ability to go at least 3 days without showering and it still looks fresh. One of those pregnancy things I wish would stay around forever.

• I found myself wishing today that I could vote a split ticket in the state's primaries. We have crap choices for our next governor, especially on the democrat side. I care much more about which republican candidates don't make it past the primary (there are some seriously shady and way-too-conservative choices over there), but I chose the most ethical choice and stuck to the democratic candidate who has better records and policy toward women and the environment. I still wish I could have played spoiler on the republican side though. Michigan polictics are such a mess (*ahem*Kwame*ahem*)!

• Speaking of polictics, if you made it past that last painfully boring bullet point, there's something that has been cracking me up lately. I listen to NPR in the car (another weird pregnancy thing - I have a hard time listening to music or being around loud noise, it's just too much to handle), and they are frequently interviewing republican politicians who spend the whole interview complaining about Obama and the other democrats playing politics. I'm sorry, isn't that kind of their whole job as politicians? There are quite a few lawmakers over there that need to stop whining and actually do their jobs. (Okay, I'll step off my soapbox now.)

• Okay, I'll end with something fun. (At least it's fun for people other than me.) Lately, when Gabbie doesn't want to do something she lets us know by saying, "No thank you," which yes, is polite. Until you hear it a million times or have it screamed in your face. Then it becomes less funny and polite. My family thought it was hilarious until they heard it a million times this past weekend. A couple of weeks ago, we were home in the afternoon, and Gabbie really needed to take a nap. She had refused to clean up her toys (instead kicking them under the couch), screamed at me for a treat (she is so two these days), and was throwing a huge tantrum. So, I picked her up and took her upstairs to her crib. She spent the next 30 minutes, laying down, kicking the matress and slats, and screaming, "NO THANK YOU" at the top of her lungs. I finally couldn't take it anymore (see the above weird noise thing) and took her downstairs and plopped her in front of a movie. But, even though it's annoying, I chuckled a little bit at her using politeness during a tantrum and I'm sure we'll look back at this a few years from now and think that it was all very adorable.

Right Now

Right now, Gabbie is singing her favorite song (the Bumblebee song). She and I just finished up mixing together some banana bread because we had a whole bunch of bananas I let get overripe just for that very reason.

Baby J has been moving around all day, but right now he or she is quiet, probably because I've been up and around and rocking the baby to sleep. We bought a sleeper for the baby yesterday, the first thing we have ready for baby number two. It's really starting to hit us - we have just over five months left. We have about four weeks until we find out if this little one is a boy or a girl. We are starting to get even more excited.

Aaron is lounging, reading his latest Wired magazine, one of his birthday gifts from me. He loves it, and I just knew he would.

The evening sun is shining on the vegetable garden my mom and dad helped me plant last week. As of right now we have: 6 tomato plants, 3 sweet pepper plants, 4 jalepeno plants, 1 cayenne pepper plant, 1 basil plant, and two cucumber plants. I plan on adding in some additional herbs: parsley, cilantro, and chives, plus maybe a heirloom tomato plant or two. Come the end of next month and through August, I'm going to have more tomatoes and peppers and cucumbers than I know what to do with, except I will know what to do with them - canning ahoy!

Right now I'm blissfully content, sitting at my desk in our family room. I have a roof over my head, a full stomach, a loving husband and daughter, and another baby growing. I have everything I've ever wanted, and I couldn't be happier.

I'm having another one of those days where I need to think happy thoughts

Here are a few things I'm excited about that are happening in the very near future:
1) We're taking Gabbie to her very first movie this weekend. I think we're going to go to Planet 51, and we're going to the 11:10 show, since I'm guessing it will be a younger/smaller audience. We'll see how she does. Matinee prices also mean we won't be out as much if she decides the theatre experience is not yet for her.
2) Thanksgiving. I'm not cooking this year, but I am making pies. We're going to Aaron's cousin's house, and his aunt typically buys pies, but I figure once a year isn't too much to make a bunch of pies so I volunteered. I'm making pumpkin, apple crumb, and sweet potato. Yum!
3) A week from Sunday I turn 30. Aaron's taking me out to dinner at a new fancy restaurant in town that has been getting rave reviews. Then a week later he's throwing me a big bash at the house. I love a party, so I can't wait.
4) We're going on vacation, alone together, for our 5th anniversary the week before Christmas. It will be 4 days of togetherness. We're heading to a ski resort, and I'm guessing we'll try a little skiing (neither of us ever has before, but we're all for new experiences), but I'm also guessing we'll spend most of our time sleeping. What can I say; we're exciting vacationners.

Although this did make me think of one thing I'm not excited about - only about 4 weeks until Christmas and I have yet to buy a single gift. I'm going to have to get on that!

Reversal

I'm sure this has happened to everyone else too. You have a day that starts out okay, but very shortly devolves into a day when you hate everyone, their face, and their brother.

I had one of those days today. I'm still having one of those days today, although coming home to an itty bitty girl who wanted nothing more than cuddle and hug and kiss me. A husband who made a delicious dinner from scratch was also an awesome mood adjuster. Thank God for my family and their ability to make it all worth it, even when I spend most of the day wanting to throw everything away and just hide for a while.

I also love being able to say "my family". It's amazing to have created this small group of people who mean the world to me.

And just like that, I'm feeling even better. Counting my blessings never fails to put everything else in perspective.

You know what else helps? Listing out a few things I love right now.

1. Say Yes to Carrots C Through the Night Moisturizing Cream. I've been using this every night lately after cleaning my face with their makeup removing cream (which I also Love). The cream smells so good and is kind of a relaxing scent, which totally makes sense. I really enjoy being lulled to sleep with good smells.

2. The Bloggess' posts about her trip to Japan (including and especially the posts to her "sex column". She makes me laugh incredibly hard.

3. V on ABC. I'm actually missing the second episode right now, but no worries because I'm recording it. On a related note, I also LOVE my DVR. Anyway, I'm always looking for new shows to enjoy, and this one fits the bill. It had enough in the pilot to keep me intrigued while still answering some of the questions with which it started out.

Now I'm going to watch my husband work out. From behind. It's kind of a nice view. See? All kinds of things are happening to improve my mood tonight!

Ways in which my week is going better already

1. I'm leaving today to go to a conference (which, yuck), but it's in one of my very favorite places in the whole wide world - Traverse City. Add to that the fact that I'm taking Gabbie and my mom with me to share in the fun, and this is going to be a great trip!

2. I have a GPS to play with. I've always wanted one because I am horrible with directions, so I checked one out from work and get to use it during my trip. I'm thinking if we have extra time I might have to go find a geocache!

3. I did everything on my to-do list last night. Since I typically prefer to be a big ol' slacker, this is quite the accomplishment.

4. I made an apple pie last night and it turned out wonderfully. Let's hope this is the beginning of the end to my cooking slump.

5. I bought new shoes last night, and I love them.

Battling Away the Blahs

The other day I emailed Aaron to ask him why it was gain that we couldn't just drop everything and run away together (with Gabbie too, of course). He said something about responsibilities, blah, blah, blah, but seemed disappointed too.

So, to counteract this overhwelmed, tired, crabby state we seem to be in lately (me especially), here are five things I'm really grateful for lately, since it always seems to cause a vast improvement in my mood and general outlook, on life:

1. Gabbie learning to talk - it's adorable! Last night she lifted up her shirt, smacked her stomach, and delcared, "BEWWY!" (aka belly). She also makes saying goodbye a three-sylable word - "Buh-buh-bye!" See? Adorable!

2. Aaron and I have been watching lots of shows about ghosts lately, and I have to say, it's a lot of fun. Ghost Hunters, Ghost Adventures (that one had us up late with the lights on the other night), Destination Truth, and Ghost Lab. I also watched Paranormal State the other day and loved it too. I love it when we both get on a kick for the same thing; it's a great bonding experience.

3. A plethora of pears. We have a pear tree in our back yard, and apparently had a larger-than-normal crop this year (so sayeth our neighbor). I don't usually like pears, but these are excellent, and I've been having fun with them. Gabbie loves the pear sauce, Aaron loves the pear butter I've made, and I've enjoyed cooking with them quite a bit. I need to find some sort of baking recipe for the remaining pears so I don't waste them. Pears FTW!

4. Coffee/caffiene. When it comes to this point in the year - it gets dark earlier, cold weather starts to set in, it's rainy and grey all the time - my body goes into hibernation mode. Thankfully I have delicious, fresh roasted goodness to get me through. It really makes a huge difference.

5. Good friends. Tomorrow I'm having lunch with a former co-worker who I haven't seen in a long time (she was doing research in Africa!) and who I miss so, so much. Another co-worker is taking me out to lunch today. I also get to see my best friend on Sunday, and my other best friend is turning 30 next week and I have some fun up my sleeves that she doesn't know about yet. These ladies are so much fun, and I'm incredibly glad to have them in my life.

Blissfully Banal

Today I'm home from work (Yay President's Day!) with Gabbie, and we're playing. Probably napping as well, but mostly playing. This is likely going to be a great day.

We caught one of our friends lately saying that we've become boring since the baby came along. I think he was just joking, and didn't know we were there, but it's pretty true. We don't go out much, our stories are all about Gabbie, and our lives revolve around this little one. Not that my life was terribly exciting before she came along - it wasn't - but I can see how, as the only couple with a small child among our group of friends, it would seem we've become very boring.

Truthfully, though, I wouldn't have it any other way, even if someone paid me handsomely. I love my life these days.

It's the most wonderful time of the year

Between Blogger being blocked on the internet at work, and our internet at home being down all week, I haven't had to post, and all this during a time when there are actually things to post about. Things like:

The Pacifier Incident

Gabbie gets a pacifier at home, mostly during naps and at night, but we don't send it with her to daycare. This hasn't been a problem at all, and then we don't have to worry about keeping track of pacifiers in two locations. however, this week on Monday there was a pacifier incident at daycare. Gabbie, who has been irritable (I think she's teething) apparently rolled over to another child, stole their pacifier, and then through an absolute fit for about five minutes when the teacher took it away from her. Luckily they thought it was hilarious (and we agree), so now they're trying to keep her separated from kids who are using their pacifier as much as possible. 

Hey, I'm just thankful she hasn't gotten kicked out yet. I was kicked out of daycare when I was a toddler. Twice.

Four Whole Years

Yesterday was our four year wedding anniversary. We've made it four years, and even though our relationship is much different now that Gabbie's around, it's as strong as ever and I couldn't be happier. We didn't really do presents this year (although, Aaron did get me flowers - for the first time in years) but I did thank Aaron, multiple times, for marrying me, and for giving me the best gift anyone has ever given me - our baby. (Sorry for the absolute sappiness of that statement. It even made me a little sick.) He agreed that we haven't ever done anything better than her.

Four years ago:

 

And now:

 

More Lists

On my "Bad" List this morning:

• My husband - who woke up late, took forever in the shower, didn't pack up any of Gabbie's stuff or get her dressed, and therefore made me 20 minutes late to work. Yes, he does plenty of good stuff (like grocery shopping, which I totally appreciate), even getting up with Gabbie last night so that I could sleep. However, doing the crap he did this morning to me on a day when I'm not feeling so great? Puts him on this list.
• Speaking of not feeling so great, my 3rd cold in 5 weeks also makes this list. I am tired of being sick.
• Having to work to make a living. I would much rather be in bed than here at work, where I am extremely busy and therefore can't skip out. Grrr...
• The moratorium we've put on eating out. I didn't want what we have for lunches today, but I have to eat it. It's either fast food or a new bedroom set, and the bedroom set wins out. I shouldn't be eating all of that bad food anyway.
• The dead animals all over the roads on my way to work are squicking me out to the nth degree. There have been some really gnarly kills along one road that almost make me gag. And they stay there for weeks, since our road commission apparently is trying to save money or something.
• Mother's milk tea. It's not the best tasting thing by a long shot, but I'm drinking it and doing whatever else I can to up my supply since Gabbie is eating so much that I'm having trouble keeping up with the demand. I hate necessary evils.

I feel like I can't spew out all of this hatred without some goodness to compensate, so here's my "Good" list:

• Hot Caramel Apple Cider
• Good books (I'm about to start the 3rd in the Twilight series, and although they're not my favorite, I can't seem to stop.)
• Warm sweaters
• A husband who does the grocery shopping, the laundry, and the dishes. And who hugged me this morning and vowed to do something later that would make me smile. I guess I may have to let the other petty stuff slide. He really is a good guy.
• A snuggly baby who wants nothing more than to cuddle up with her mom and dad. Even though the sleep issues can be annoying, we're only going to have such a small portion of her life in which we get to hold and cuddle her like this. I'm taking full advantage and reminding myself of this fact regularly, so that I can turn any annoyance into gratitude.
• And like ususal, the things I'm thankful for in my prayers every night: a beautiful, healthy daughter, a handsome, loving husband, more than adequate shelter, an abundance of food, a comfortable life, and a wonderful family who loves us.

And look at that. I'm feeling better already. Gratitude really does work!