Faces

Lately Abby and I like to play a little game with each other where she makes a face and I copy her. I tried to get her to make some of the faces she does, but as soon as I poked my head behind the camera to capture it she would stop.

Getting ready for mommy to play along... oh how I love those big blue eyes.

This is her "sad" face.

 Looks more like a scuz, but she always says "sad" in a little sad whiny voice, so I know that is the look she is going for.

Surprised.

Happy!

I had several unsuccessful attempts to get her angry face... it is so cute. Oh well... I'm sure I will get it eventually... maybe not when we're playing this game.

Of course Sarah has always been good at making faces... especially ones that make me laugh!

Oh how I love this goofy lil' girl!

Gabby Abby

Abby has been slightly slower to get moving in her speech. Sarah was slower too... so I wasn't really worried. I know enough to be able to keep on top of how delayed she is and when to be concerned. She is really starting to be quite the talker. What she says often surprises us.

I love how you realize things that you say all of the time because you start to hear them back from your kids. Apparently I tell Abby, "I love it" a great deal because she has started telling it to me all. of. the. time.
Getting dressed for church, "I love your dress mommy."
Waking up in the morning, with my hair literally sticking straight up, "I love your hair."
After drawing a requested princess stick figure, "I love your picture."
I wish I could get the inflection on here... it is so cute, and so hard to catch spontaneously on film.
Guess if you want to hear it, you'll have to come visit. :D

Our whole family has been coughing up a storm. I think we should start a coughing chorus or something... make a little extra moolah for the holidays. Abby has had it the longest and worst... or so it feels. She has started coughing so hard that I've run to get the throw-up bucket because I thought she was going to lose it. Well, Ryan was coughing once and Abby, with her little vocabulary that is getting bigger and bigger each day, ran over to him...
"You coughing Daddy?"
"Yeah."
"Going to throw up?"
Apparently I made an impact with how many times I asked her that same question in the middle of her big coughing spells.

Abby knows change is a coming. She has become ultra clingy. If ever I run Sarah to preschool in the morning and leave her with Ryan it is set up for disaster for the rest of the day. Won't let me leave a room with out panicking and crying. She has also become quite the snuggler. One of my favorite things is to hear her sweetly ask for me to snuggle in bed with her at nap time or bedtime. It is really hard to say no, and most of the time I don't. But as of late, it is crunch time for Christmas and baby, and I know I'll fall asleep with her if I lay down, so I have to resist the temptation to give in.

We have a bunch of goofballs in our house, and I point it out often so Abby's favorite lil' game is to go through and talk about all of the family members.
"Silly Abby! Silly Mommy! Silly Sarah! Silly Daddy! Silly Baby Brother!"
She just giggles with delight thinking she is the funniest girl alive. I LOVE it!

It is so fun to hear Abby say all of these random phrases that she has picked up. Can't wait to share more and more Gabby Abby moments.

Good News!

Our Lil' Fella FLIPPED!
He has been breech this ENTIRE pregnancy and now he is finally head down and ready to go...
all except the fact that he is HUGE! Oh boy, I'm in trouble.

The past couple of weeks have been anxiety filled for me. If this lil' guy remained breech then it was a guaranteed cesarian delivery. Which I know isn't the end of the world... but I was nervous and not looking forward to the extra recovery time (especially being so far away from family).

There is still the possibility of needed a c-section. This fella is measuring HUGE! I'm 37 weeks and he measures at 9lbs and 15oz. It isn't accurate, so he could really be anywhere between 7lbs 15oz and 10lbs 15oz... but still... I have at least three more weeks... and if he is already 8lbs, I'm in trouble!
We'll see what they say at my next appointment.
I see a group of midwives (that are very popular, and close) and they are not into inducing women. But I figure, if I'm headed toward a c-section... might as well try inducing me early, see if he will come out while he is "smaller." We'll see what they say about my next appointment!

But for now I get to stare at this cute lil' guys face until I meet him in person.

(technology is amazing!)

Sweet Lil' Abby

There's a reason she's so sweet... and sticky!

 Some lil' miss likes to drink the remainder syrup out of her dipping dish, and lick it dry.

Uh-oh! Busted!

Lip-smacking good!

Our Elf: Eubie

I LOVE the magic of Christmas. I love watching little children's eyes sparkle as they learn about all of the wonders Christmas entails. So it is no surprise that I would fall in love with the "Elf on the Shelf" idea. My mother got all of the grandkids the story, with elf included and I was so excited to start the tradition this year.

For those of you who aren't familiar with this tradition. The elf is, of course, Santa's helper who has come to live with a family and keep tabs on the children and update Santa on how they've been. The elf uses magic to fly to the North pole and report to Santa. This magic of course disappears if the children touch or play with the elf. Each morning the elf will be hiding in a different spot for the children to spot in the morning. It is so fun, and Sarah is really getting into it.

Sarah has lovingly named our Elf, Eubie...
after a character in "The Happy Elf" a cheesy movie on Netflix right now. 

I love to hear Sarah giggle and talk to Eubie when she spots him in the morning. The other day while she was still in bed I heard her calling out to him in a whisper, "Eubie...Eubie! Can you hear me? Did you check on me last night?"

She is the perfect age for such magic.
Hope it continues for several more years before the worlds spoils it.

We do talk about the true meaning of Christmas in our family too.
Lately Sarah has been including into her prayers at lunchtime,
"Bless us to have the Christmas spirit and remember baby Jesus."
So I don't feel too guilty for encouraging the Christmas Magic. 

First Primary Talk

This past Sunday Sarah gave her very first primary talk. She did such a great job. She talked about how the scriptures teach her about the birth and second coming of Christ.
I leave my Gospel Art kit at the church for singing time, so I decided it would be fun to print out some pictures and color them (well... I would have just printed them out in color, had our color ink not gone out). Sarah decided to help me out in the coloring realm. I had to post pictures of her detailed work.

She mostly copied how I colored mine, but I was so impressed with how well she stayed in the lines, and how long and hard she worked on them. Her focus on art has really increased since starting preschool, I just love it! 

So great job Sarah on both your pictures and your sweet little talk.

Definitely a great way to start off our picture wall for the Christmas season!

Patient with Friends

I love Sarah's hair... it is so pretty, shiny and long. She loves it too... but sometimes getting the tangles brushed out can be a whole lot of drama.

So imagine my surprise to look over and see Sarah patiently sitting still while her best friend brushed the tangles out of her hair.

All smiles... no tears when Emery does it.

They are such sweet friends, I just love watching them play together.

I wonder how much Emery would charge to come over and brush out Sarah's hair every morning.
Sure would make my life a whole lot easier.

Sweet Snugglers

It seems as though most of our Fridays are spent in our pj's. Sarah doesn't have preschool on Fridays, and I'm usually spent from the week, so we spend it in our jammies watching shows and hanging out at home.

I thought it was cute to turn and find the girls snuggled up together watching their show, 

and had to snap a picture of it.

 Abby is apparently to distracted to show any facial expressions for a picture.

Love my sweet, sweet daughters.

Christmas Tree

To help get Sarah to go to bed after having such a fun time on Thanksgiving day, we promised to set up the Christmas tree and decorate it in the morning. I ran out to Joann's to score some sweet deals on fabric, but Ryan told me that in the morning Sarah was waiting patiently at the top of the stairs before going down to see the Christmas tree. I guess we didn't explain that we'd be setting it up together as a family, but I thought it was darling that she waited upstairs without sneaking down to see the tree.

Ryan was in charge of this decorating fest. He ordered to me the couch and to unpack ornaments and pass them out to the girls. It was a little frustrating because the girls were SO excited to help and wanted to work like lightning, but all in all it was fun to do as a family.

Sarah got to put the Star on this year.

Ta-Da!!!
The girls were so proud of their work. 

And I promise our skinny lil' tree is standing up straight, I guess the angle I took this picture at makes it look like it is going to fall over.

We now have it safely wedged between our couch and our piano... which slightly deters the girls from playing with the ornaments... but luckily, there are few that could break. Thank goodness for shatterproof ornaments.

Thanks sweetie for all of your hard work getting the tree set up and the decorations all pulled out. The house looks wonderful!

Thanksgiving

We had such a fun Thanksgiving this year. Our friends the Bringhurst's moved out just a week before Thanksgiving hit and decided they'd like to spend it with us! It was fantastic and I wish I would have take more than just this one, single picture of the day.

We of course gorged ourselves on Turkey and all of the sides and even decided to cram a little pie in after. I've decided that being this far along pregnant is no fun during Thanksgiving. I literally only was able to have a bit or two of everything before I had to call it quits.

The kiddos all played so sweetly together too! I loved it. We let them roam through the house and play cowboys and indians while the grown ups sat and talked and even snuck in a game of Settlers.

It was a jam packed day that left no room for missing our families that were all so far away.
Thanks Nate & Sarah! You're welcome over anytime!

Randomness Related to Pregnancy

I've been meaning to for a while post some stories, thoughts and feelings from the pregnancy. It seems as though blogging has taken a major fall back on my list of things to get done regularly. Which to the grandma's... I apologize.

So, while I have a minute to myself (both of my girls are napping *gasp*) and for some reason I can't turn off my brain to join them, I figured I'd blog it out...

This is the first pregnancy where I got really sick all of the time. I'm not one who vomits easily, so it was mostly nausea combined with my regular migraine symptoms.
When I did feel up to eating... it was usually for something spicy... like pepperoni's.
It was always late at night too, but when you haven't eaten all day, and something finally sounds good, your go for it.

Then we went into the popsicle phase. I could eat popsicles all day. So yummy. Now the cravings have moved to Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream... and has pretty much stayed there.
Since I don't think I really have it written down anywhere, I thought I'd just recall quickly what I craved with the girls. With Sarah the biggest thing I wanted all of the time was Apple Juice... which is probably why I gained so much weight... all of those calories and didn't fill me up. I also remember really loving Bit O' Honey and Swedish Fish. As for Abigail... the only thing I can really remember craving all of the time was meat. Big juicy steaks, hamburgers... you name the meat and I'd want it. Mostly steaks, but I thought it was so weird that I wanted meat so much. I think we went out to Golden Coral several times during that pregnancy to have their rotisserie chicken.

Okay... onto some more pregnancy randomness.

I am really not too much of a complainer (well to everyone but Ryan, sorry love). So I don't usually let on how much pain I've been having in this pregnancy. I've had tenderness with my ligaments connecting my legs to my hips with all pregnancies, but it hit a lot earlier with this pregnancy. I've also had a huge amount of lower back pain. I can't unload the dishwasher with out my back aching before I'm done. Also, having a breech baby I think has made a big difference. Since this lil' guy's head is up in my ribs I have had a hard time breathing when I lay down. It also seems more uncomfortable then I remember to bend over and pick things up off the floor. So Ryan usually gets an ear full of what is hurting every minute of the day, but to anyone else who asks..."I'm doing great!"

To go along with my discomfort. This morning actually I was walking from the girls room to go lay back down for a minute and Sarah sweetly asked me,
"Mommy, why are you doing the potty dance?"
(slightly confused) "Um, I'm not, I'm going back into my room."
"Well, then how come you are waddling like a penguin?"
Gee... thanks Sarah...

I've had a really hard time with names this pregnancy. I think we've settled on one, but it really hasn't clicked for me. I agree that we will name him this name, but I guess this whole pregnancy has been so surreal... and gone so quickly that I don't ever give myself time to think about it. So we've been testing out a name... it still feels weird to call him by it... but I figure it is the only way it will sink in. So I've been asking the girls frequently what baby brother's name is. Here is what happened with Abby the other evening.
Me: Abby, where's baby brother?
Abby: Wight dere! (Right there).
Me: That's right. Abby, what is baby brother's name?
Abby: JESUS!!

I still wonder if Abby really understands what is coming to her. She has been so snuggly and clingy lately, her world is going to be completely rocked when she loses a little bit of that mommy attention with baby brother. Sarah has been excited since they day we told her. As I've written previously, she would tell complete strangers how I have a baby in my tummy. She still will randomly tell people about her baby brother that is coming after Christmas. To Sarah... the next scheduled events are, Christmas, New Years, Baby Brother comes, G'ma visits and then her birthday. Hope she realizes that this is two full months that we're talking about... I worry she thinks they will be one right after the other.

All in all, I do feel very blessed with this pregnancy. I really can't complain, there are so many that have much tougher pregnancies than me... or that even struggle to get pregnant.
The timing was a surprise, but is turning out to be perfect. I'll get a good 5-6 months of help from Ryan before he starts his 3rd year med school duties. Where as we were planning on shooting for May, and I would have maybe gotten two months. Glad I'm not in charge of the big picture.

Well... that is it. Still not tired... so maybe we can get some pictures on here for the G'mas. 

It is FINISHED!!!

I'm done! Hooray!
I'm so glad to finally have all of these stinkin' ornaments done. 

Now onto other projects (like getting ready for this baby to come, HA!)

If you want to check out my advent calendar and ornaments up close go to my craft blog

Craft. Me. This.

Be sure to leave me some love so I know how you liked it.

Sweet Mint Gum

Well, I just had to write something to get a new post up... the last one was too depressing and so not me. ;) So, I'm going to share a story...that is probably too much information. 

We have a junk drawer in our kitchen, and in that drawer Ryan and I keep packages of gum so we can grab some on the way out the door. Well, Abby hasn't been able to get into it... until recently. Abby LOVES my sweet mint Orbitz gum, and why wouldn't she, it is good! If she ever gets to my purse, or climbs into the car before me, the first thing she riffles for is my gum and gobbles up as many pieces as she can before we catch her (she just chews it a little and swallows it). 

Well... she had started to get into the gum in the junk drawer, and I should have moved it after the first couple of episodes... but I was lazy and she only ever ate a piece or two. The other morning Ryan and I were "sleeping in" and the informant came upstairs to announce that Abby was eating all the gum. So, I finally willed myself out of bed and came down to the kitchen to find Abby with a pile of gum wrappers EVERYWHERE! The lil' stinker ate an entire box... or more!

The whole rest of the day Abby had sweet minty breath. It made me laugh anytime she came and got in my face to tell me something. Well... the fun continued... because later that evening I smelt the mint smell again... rather strong. Only, this time it had a slightly unpleasant aroma with it. Well... you guessed it. She filled her diaper, and it was minty poo! Made me laugh so hard. So, for any of you who believe that it takes 7 years... we can happily say that it does not. :)

Oh, and I apologize if that thoroughly grossed anyone out... I thought it was funny.

Therapy Post

Today has been 'one of those days' and so I'm utilizing this blog for a therapy post.

It is late, I'm tired and sleep deprived... so I'll probably feel dumb posting this later, but for right now, as I'm being kept up by a defiant two year old, it is what I'm going to do to make myself feel better.

I don't know what it was about today that made it so crummy, could have been:
-that I woke up with an upset stomach (didn't I just get the pleasure of food poisoning!)

-that both girls were cranky and not listening well

-that the hour I had to take a nap while my dough rised was ruined by one little girl who refused to go to sleep (until right before I had to get up to finish the rolls)

-that I spent ALL afternoon getting rolls ready for the bake sale that, 1. didn't turn out right and 2. I didn't get finished in time to deliver them for the bake sale (the WHOLE point!)

-that I spilled every possible thing on the floor while baking all day!

-that the girls destroyed the house while I worked all day in the kitchen

-that I was just exhausted from two consecutive late, late nights

-that I realized I had forgotten to drop off Sarah's preschool tuition that morning

-that I had to wake the girls early from their nap

-that the girls whined and fussed all the way to help dad pick up some cells from a nearby lab

-that I was late getting dinner delivered for my dinner swap group

-that the girls spilled water ALL over the car, and the dinners on the drive to deliver the meals

-that it was a battle to get Abby to eat anything

-that Abby broke a hand mirror in the bathroom

-that Ryan has to work late in the lab, so I have to miss my "book club" tonight

-that I laid in bed with Abby for an hour and a half only to have her NOT fall asleep at bed time

-or that I just wasted a hunk of dough because I took all day to get to it and it was all dried out

-or that I'm sitting on the couch when I should be cleaning up my very messy house, but have a lil' night owl next to me who just wants to snuggle...
and I feel guilty that I don't want to and just want her to go. to. bed!

Wow... that is a long list... and then I sit here and think for a minute. 

I am so blessed.

Lately I have been an emotional wreck, in fact I opted to not read my "book club's" selection this month because emotionally I didn't think I could handle it (it was about the Rwanda Genocide)
I think about all of the sweet, dear people in my life who are facing so much worse than spilt water in the car in their lives. Sometimes I feel like I can't handle all of the sad things that are happening to those around me (and I'm not really affected by it directly, but I just get so sad for them). I hear stories in the news that just make me want to cry. There is so much heartache in the world, and here I am letting the small stuff get to me. *sigh*

I'll blame it on hormones, or sleep deprivation... or the lack of chocolate in the house.

I don't even know where I am going with this, or if anyone is even reading this still...
I guess the only thing that I can do is to make a list of some of the stuff I am grateful for.
-my family

-a call from my sister when I was at the peak of my stress day (the moment I realized my rolls were blah and timed poorly)

-that I have two very sweet little girls... hope they don't look back on their childhood and only remember days like today where mom is blitz and can't control her temper

-that I have music in my home, a talented husband and lil girls who love to sing all day long

-crumbs on the floor, dirty dishes in the sink (or everywhere really)... because it means we have food on the table to eat

-dear sweet friends who do so much for me

-having my mom respond to my text with a phone call... it was so nice to hear her voice after a day like today

-for this glass of egg nog... yum!

-for the sweet lil' words of a two year old, "Mommy wait! I love you. Snuggle on the couch?"

-that I still have at least four weeks until the baby comes to finish all of my crazy projects
-for a sweet note from my hubby apologizing for having to work late and not being able to help out tonight

-that I didn't have heart burn for three whole days after my bout of food poisoning...silver lining

-that the cold/cough I had a few weeks ago ended quickly and didn't turn into bronchitis

-that tomorrow is Friday and I don't have to go anywhere or do anything if I don't want to

There are so many things that I am grateful for... but my eyelids are feeling heavy and my heart is feeling lighter from unloading a little. I'd say this was a therapy post that did its magic.

Here's to tomorrow and a day that will be much, much better. 

Now to convince this lil' Abby bug that she is tired too...