First Fridge Doodle.

(First, I just wanted to say THANK YOU for the sweet comments on the previous post!

You guys are too kind--I appreciate you!)

Look what E left for me to find on my fridge:

She's so sweet.

;)

(And please ignore mine and my husband's ridiculous nicknames and banter. We are nerds. We realize. Nerds, unite!)

(But my nerd is pretty sweet, too.)

:)

D's Nursery!

Well friends, the nursery is FINISHED! What a fun project this turned out to be, and I just love the way it all came together for our little lady-to-come. My husband worked so hard on the many ideas I'd dream up, and we were blessed with some sweet contributions from our families, as well. Now, all that's missing is our little Baby D!

:)

We used a soft pink (Ballet Slippers) on the walls, and we scored the round rug for a steal at Tuesday Morning.

We loved this crib while putting together E's nursery a while ago, and it was on clearance when we started looking for D's nursery...woo hoo! The beautiful bedding (SkipHop) was a gift from my Mom and sister. Thank you!

Swirly mirror from The Rink antique store in OKC. Love that place.

Found the counting cards online through Zulilly, gathered up different types of frames on sale at various stores, and then Russell sprayed them all yellow.

The room became kind of a dandelion theme inspired by the bedding, and I love the ninth counting card. We've already found ourselves referring to D as our 'little flower'...love it. :)

The chest of drawers was a sweet gift from Russell's parents, and we love it! (There is a matching dresser that will serve as a changing table...forgot to snap a pic!)

Have I mentioned how talented our Mom's are? I gave them each a canvas and the same colors of paint and asked them to create dandelions. They turned out so great! I kinda wanted a personal touch from the grandma's, and they were sweet to oblige. :)

Coming home dress...just waiting for D!

Added a few rosettes to the lampshades in her room, and my Mom whipped up some nursing pillows from fabrics found at a local antique store.

Display chandelier from Lowe's that they marked down for me, so we repainted it yellow and added a ceiling medallion. Voila! Let there be (cheap) light! ;)

I had some wall letters left over from my classroom at the high school, and we were able to spell out her name along one of the walls. And, thanks to the fab Ohdeedoh.com, I found this idea to use embroidery hoops as decor. Fun...and easy!!

Well, there it is! Our little labor of love is now all done.

One last little 'labor of love' to finish, and the room will be complete.

Let's hope THAT labor is f-a-s-t!!!

;)

One Too Many Snacks.

Do you think we carry the extra weight in our faces?

;)

Enjoying a slow, rainy, snuggly day with my little lady.

Hope your day is just as lovely.

Going Back.

In our town, today was the first day back to school for students. While E and I were out running errands this morning, we happened to drive by the high school where I used to teach. The parking lot was full, "Welcome Back!" signage was out in abundance, and I even noticed a few changes to the building that must have taken place over the summer.

To say I missed it all would be an understatement.

For some reason, I found myself in tears as I drove away. Nothing bad had happened. In fact, today has been an exceptionally wonderful day spent with my little lady (well, except for the Great Green Bean Stand-Off at lunch...!).

(Aren't I such a mean Mommy for wanting her to try

one measly little green bean..?!?!) ;)

As we drove by my former workplace, I just had an overwhelming feeling of nostalgia and longing for that season of my life that seemingly came and went so quickly. I enjoyed my job teaching Senior English very much, and, at the risk of sounding like a bad stay-home Mom, there are times that I really do long for the working days of my past.

Once I made it home, put the kiddo down for her nap, and had time to process my strange outburst, I was able to zero in on why I was having such a surge of emotion today. (You know, other than being 8 months pregnant...can't control those crazy 'mones, am I right, ladies?!) ;)

The answer came in the form of a funny sent to me by my Mom. In one of her care packages, my Mom had included this comic among others:

(Might need to enlarge the screen zoom in order to read it...scanned kinda small.)

It's been laying on my counter for a few days, and, while it made me laugh upon first read, I think its message has been weighing on me a lot lately.

You see, choosing to stay home with little ones instead of work is sometimes a lonely job. There are days (like today, for instance) where you don't see another grown-up other than your husband. That's okay sometimes, too, but still...kinda lonely. In the workplace, you are forced to interact with others constantly, even if you don't always like the people you might work with. You also receive a paycheck while working, and, for me, this was always kind of like a "Great job! You're doing just what we've asked of you, and we'd like to let you know we appreciate the effort!" As a stay-home Mom, rarely will your child sing your praises as you parent him/her, leaving much of that task to your husband. Truly, one or two kind words from Russell regarding my choices and efforts to parent our daughter send me straight to the moon. (Side note: this man is an amazing encourager, and I am quite aware of how lucky I am. He teaches me so much about how to be verbally uplifting, and I would NOT make it through the challenges of raising our daughter without his encouragement. Better than any paycheck, for sure.)

Anyway, my point is that I think I was missing my old life, old job, old day to day routine so much this morning, because I know what is coming my way in just a handful of weeks: the lonely, exhausting days of having a newborn in the house once more. The more pregnant I get, the less I get out and about due to sheer exhaustion, and this slowing down process is all there to get me ready for what is to come. Believe me, I am SO very grateful for the blessings of my two baby girls. And yet, I am learning day by day, choice by choice, tear by tear, success by success just what people meant when they said that staying home to raise your kids is a sacrifice.

The sacrifice is YOU. Your life; your independence; feeling like you have something to do, to be, to think about other than your children. Hearing from your boss or coworkers or, in my case, students that you are doing a good job, or at least being told so in the form of a paycheck. Riding in the car alone, or, really, ANY alone time, for that matter. Seeing grown-ups on a daily basis...something I never thought I'd miss so much!

Do I have peace about my decision to quit working? Yes. One million percent.

But, if I'm being honest, there are times that I long for what was.

If I'm alone in that longing, so be it.

Thus, I had myself a good cry this morning, wiped my tears, and snuggled up with my little lady while she read me her favorite book of letters. The happiness in her innocent little face as she named them off one by one, and then the snuggle that followed lifted my spirits in immeasurable ways. When we finished reading and snuggling, I checked my phone, and waiting for me was a sweet text from my husband listing some of the ways he was proud of me today. The tears came back a bit...but this time, they were tears of peace, of happiness, and of coming full circle in my little self-examination today.

I know I'm right where I should be. Where I desire to be.

But I think it's okay and healthy to look back with fond memories on what has been.

Makes me appreciate the present that much more.

:)

So I'll Remember: Running to Daddy.

Birdie,

After I picked you up from the church nursery Sunday morning, we started walking down the hall to go find your Dad. He was waiting for us by the front doors of the church building, and, when you spotted him in the crowd, your face lit up so beautifully. You whipped around to look at me as if to say, "Can you believe it, Mom?! There's DADDY!!" The next thing I knew, you were wriggling out of my arms down to the floor. I set you down, and you took off running for your Daddy. Your arms were held high, already anticipating him sweeping you off your feet even though you had quite a ways to run before you got to him. You giggled and squealed as you clumsily toddled towards your favorite man in all the world. It was such a precious sight that you drew a small crowd as you made your way to your Daddy.

He swept you up in his arms, you gave him a kiss, and then you spun around to clap and beam at me. You were so very proud that you'd found your Daddy.

Something about watching this moment from behind really got to me. You, running in your puffy church dress, arms high in the air, squealing with delight. Your Daddy, crouched and waiting for you, beaming with so much pride I thought his chest might just explode with love.

He loves you so, my sweet girl.

I want to remember that moment forever.

Mommy

Two.

Question:

What's it like having two kids?

I'm getting a little anxious over how things will 'be' when we have TWO little ladies. How will that look on a daily basis? How am I going to divide myself evenly between two daughters at the same time...or is that even possible? Will I be as overwhelmed as I was going from no kids to one kid? Will it be easier to go from one kid to two kids? Will I lose my mind for the first six months and then one day resurface to face the world once more?!?!

You see, I just don't know.

What I do know is that I'm very excited to meet Baby D. I'm peaceful about our decision (and God's timing) to have two kiddos close together. I am trying to be fully aware of just what I've gotten myself into.

But.

I just don't know what to expect.

How about you? Was it easier/harder than expected to go from one to two? Why?

Just a little anxious today, I guess.

The Inaugural Juicy.

If you've ever been around my daughter (or read this post), you'll understand why it was quite comical when my husband recently came across this picture of E moments after she was born.

Seems she was quite the Juicy Penningtons even at a VERY early age.

;)

The inaugural Juicy.

And the Juicy is still going strong 16 months later...

Long live Juicy Penningtons!

;)

Text-iquette.

Question:

What kind of texter are you? I mean, when someone send you a message, do you automatically reply, or do you read it and wait to reply? Do you use lots of punctuation/emoticons to express yourself, or do you just type what needs to be typed and move on?

I'm curious.

Personally, if I don't respond pretty quickly after reading someone's text, I will forget all about. I wish the iPhone came with a "mark as unread" feature for texts. That's what I do with my emails if I can't write back right away. And I'd also say I tend to use more punctuation/emoticons than necessary in texts, simply because I'm always worried that my tone or intended inflection won't be carried across the airwaves without a little extra assistance.

As with any form of written communication, so much gets lost in translation, not to mention how different some people view this form of conversation. Quick response or no? How many exclamation points is too many?

(Can you tell I'm stuck inside due to this massive heat wave and about to lose my mind, thus pondering the inner-workings of the text phenomena...???)

;)

So. What's your text-iquette?

Bump-date III.

Well folks, the belly is growing, the ankles are swelling, the nursery is taking shape, and I've only got 8 weeks left to go.

Let's get to it, shall we?!

1. Took the one hour glucose test. Failed. Just like with E. Took the three hour glucose test. Passed. Just like with E. I'm sensing a pattern here. ;)

(23.5 weeks)

2. After a few friends suggested it, we bought our little lady a "practice" baby doll to sort of try and teach her things like being gentle, being soft, and, you know, not throwing the baby around by her neck. So far, so good. She'll watch me pat and love on "baby" and then try and mimic me. It's pretty darn cute. She is way too young to have a clue that she'll be a big sister soon, so this sounded like a nice idea to try in order to introduce her to the concept of not beating up on her little sister to come...too much. Let's hope it works.

(26.5 weeks)

3. For awhile now, I've been on the every-two-weeks appointment schedule with my OB. While I love hearing D's heartbeat (steadily in the 130's), it gets a little tricky trying to find sitters that often. My sweet MIL comes to my rescue on a regular basis and so do a few other dear family and friends...but I am feeling like such a burden these days! The saying "it takes a village to raise a child" should be amended to "it takes a village to gestate a child!" And I am ever so grateful for my generous and caring village.

(28 weeks)

4. I am carrying D very similarly to how I carried her sister: high and out front...although my already lax mid-section muscles seem to be spreading a little faster than last time to make room for this growing gal! ;) Maybe because it is way too hot to want to eat very much or maybe because I'm constantly chasing after a little toddler, my weight gain this time around is a bit less. Because of the dadgum heat, it seems like my number one craving is just WATER. Can't get enough. Perhaps I'll use these last 8 weeks to try and make up the weight difference with snow cones and frozen yogurt. ;)

(30 weeks...with a tiny admirer.)

5. D has the hiccups about an hour after I eat (so sweet!), and, in her spare time, she enjoys grinding her little limbs against my right hip bone. It seems like her head is down most of the time, and when she gets to really dancing around, I have to RUN for the restroom! My poor bladder. ;) This little lady likes to put on a show juuuuust about the time I'm ready to lay down for a rest (figures...), and for some reason, I feel almost all of her movements on my right side. These two pregnancies have been so very similar...although I'm SURE the two sisters will be quite the little individuals. :)

(32 weeks...again with the audience.)

6. The nursery is about 95% finished. The last few projects include hanging curtains and organizing D's closet. Other than that, I am SO ready to post pictures of this sweet little space! We love it so much, and it has been a satisfying family project.

7. A few final tidbits for my memory's sake:

-Still attending my weekly Zumba class, although I'm sure it is just getting ridiculous watching an 8 month pregnant woman trying to do "sexy squats"...let's just leave it at that. ;)

-Sometimes I try to remember what it was like to give birth. And how to do it. Sometimes I think I should just not think about it.

-My lower back is really bothering me a lot more this time around...probably because of the giant toddler I lift and schlep all day. ;) That could be it.

-Just bought the tiniest pair of dark wash skinny jeans I've ever seen. They are adorable. (For her...not me.)

-In a bit of shock that I am already at the end. WHERE HAS THE TIME GONE!?!? Craziness.

But it's the good kind of craziness, I promise.

:)