Molly: 18 months

It's hard to believe this was just a year ago. Time sure flies. But I'm choosing to dwell on the positive, because in all seriousness, this post could more appropriately be titled:

Awesome stuff my kid is doing.

As difficult as this stage can be at times, there are so many moments when I just sit back in awe of her and all that she is learning and becoming. Seriously, this part of parenting rocks.

So here is Molly girl in all her 18 month glory, learning about life, loving it, and maybe slipping in a temper tantrum here and there. *grin*

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Loving her bunny. And those two fingers.

Putting diapers on her babies.

Completely entranced in a puzzle. Concentration is key.

Loading her socks in the dishwasher.

Sidenote: one of her "jobs" is to shut the dishwasher whenever she is in there with me. She gets so much delight from this. :)

The other day, I asked Molly to go put daddy's shoes by the front door. I kind of had to point it out and show her "over by the basket." Once she realized it, she went promptly over and lined his shoes up perfectly straight. My little type A. :) :)

Hugging Grammie over FaceTime. She also tries to give her a sip of her drink, or a taste of her snack. :)

She can reach to put her cup on the counter when her milk is gone. This one makes me choke back a tear or so. How is she this big?!?

Playing peek-a-boo behind the curtains. 

Putting her own shoes on. The girl looooves shoes.

Whenever we go for a walk, we always have to stop and sit by the water. When we leave, she always waves bye-bye to the water. :)

And just a few more tidbits:

-Her speech has just exploded, She has so many words, and uses them so well. Here's a typical conversation:

Molly: Daddy!

Me: Where is daddy?

Molly: at work. 

Yep. Brilliance, I tell you. :)

- The girl loves her babies. She is always so concerned for them, making sure they are wrapped in a blanket, fed, and their faces wiped off. :)

-We're trying to work on identifying colors. She can match them really well, but doesn't yet know what's what. She does, however, parrot whatever color I tell her. I'm not sure if it's the color pink, or saying the word pink, but she loves it! Almost everything after we say that color is "Pink! Pink! Pink!" (said with a scrunched face and a little smile.

-Last Sunday morning when I was sick with some kind of flu, I was sitting on the couch waiting for Chris and Molly to leave and I asked Molly if she knew where my slippers where. (Who knew they were right under my feet??) She reached down, picked both of them up, and put them both on my feet. Tears were immediately streaming down my cheeks. She is my sweet, sweet little girl. :) 

Not Your Mama's Craft Market

Have I mentioned to you all that I've been busy? 

That's kind of a joke. Of course you already knew that.

Well, I'm happy to say that one of the projects I was working towards is now over and was extremely successful!

I was contacted by Chelsey a few months ago and asked to participate in her new and fresh craft show in our town. And let me just tell you, the girl does not disappoint! She did an absolutely incredible job, top to bottom. I could not have been more impressed. :)

You can read more about Chelsey here, and see her Facebook page here.

Here are the pictures from my booth. I was so nervous about how this would turn out, but in the end, I was very happy with it!

Also, a huge thanks to my girl, Whitney for all her help with the props on my booth. You are amazing, Whit! Love you!!

If you see something you like here, you're in luck! I didn't completely sell out of everything, so I'll be adding to my shop later this week hopefully! Stay tuned. :)

Thankful Tree, 2012

Last year, we started the tradition of the thankful tree. You can read those here. 

This year, it was a little more thrown together, but I didn't want to forsake this month of focusing on gratitude. 

Here are this years, in picture form. :)

Life right now.

My house is a wreck.

Molly has pulled all the clean laundry out of the basket.

I just made muffins from a box for my contribution to Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow.

Had to give up making them from scratch. Can't do everything, right? 

My child is walking around with oreo smeared all over her. Oreos with red filling. Picture that. And thank you husband.

I have a crazy amount of things to do yet tonight in preparation for leaving tomorrow and the craft show I'm participating in this Saturday.

Yet, I'm taking a minute to blog while I, myself, eat a few oreos. :)

It is so incredibly tempting for me to just want to fast forward to the end of this night when everything is perfect. Muffins made, laundry put away, packed for tomorrow, house clean, kid asleep, and everything ready for Saturday. 

But I had a mini-revelation that made me want to pause. 

This is life.

These moments, these precious moments, are what make up life. My type A self wants everything to be finished and perfect. But if I only focus on the end result, I'll miss all the joys that make up the journey of getting there.

And gosh, golly, that sure makes all this more enjoyable.

Thanks for letting me share, friends. 

Happy Thanksgiving. :)

Baby, Baby: 32 weeks

I know, I know. I owe you all a LOT of updates. Can I just say that life has been crazy busy? I'll try to fill you all in. Let's start with a post about BABY #2! 

How far along: 32 weeks. 

Baby's size: weighs as much as a large jicama -- about 3 3/4 pounds. (Length: about 16 3/4 inches, head to heel.) 

Sleep: Ya know, I figure at this point in life, lack of sleep is just kind of a sacrifice of being a parent, pregnant or not. *grin*

Maternity Clothes: Definitely pants. I have some shirts, and thankfully my dear friend lent me some shirts that should cover my belly for the last couple of months.

Food cravings: None.

Food aversions: Nothing anymore.

Symptoms I have: Exhaustion. Tiredness. Oh wait, those are kind of the same thing. :) I do have this weird pain on the top of my belly that seems to come about when I've spent a good bit of energy. It's not too concerning though. Just weird.

Doctor’s Appointment: I'm down to two weeks apart. And then after that it moves to weekly appointments. How in the world has this gone by so fast!?!?

Movement: Getting a little bit painful, if I can be honest. I remember with Molly, it was always such a wonderful, awesome experience. I'm not sure if it's just that this little guy is in such a different position, but a lot of times his movements make me quite uncomfortable. :( But it's still amazing. And still such a great assurance to know that he's healthy and growing. :)

Gender: It's a boy!

What I miss: My regular body. Soon enough. :)

What I’m looking forward to: So many things. Finding out when he's going to come. Will he be "late" or "early"? Before Christmas? After the new year? What will his temperament be like?  There are already so many ways that he and Molly are so different. I'm looking forward to getting to know him. :)

13 weeks

22 weeks

27 weeks

Flying with a Toddler

            

  

She fell asleep in my arms the last time we flew. Pure sweetness. :)

Amidst the business of laundry, packing, ironing (ick!), and all three of coming down with colds (double ick! or should I say triple...), I am remembering our most recent flight experience. 
Now, I should say, I was much less pregnant, and I had the tremendous help of my dear husband. So this time will be much different. But here are the tips I am remembering for myself that I also want to pass along to you!

*Be the LAST to board the plane.
Once you're on the plane, you're stuck until you land again. So why board early and spend that half hour or so cooped on the plane when I could let her run around the terminal and expend some energy? I think all four of our flights last time, we literally walked on the plane, sat down, and they took off within 10 minutes. It was great. :)

*Bring "new" toys and books.
A lot of people will tell you to buy brand new toys or books, but I know for Molly, there have been some books that I've bought that she has no interest in. So what I've done each time is to set aside her favorite books and toys a few days before we leave so that when she sees them again on the plane, they are "new" and she is excited about them.

*Wear your baby instead of bringing a stroller.
I know some people might disagree with this one. But this works very well for us. I take the bare minimum in my carry-on and it is much more bearable and less stressful to me than having to deal with a stroller. This way I can wear her right through security (except last time when I took the ring sling. Uh, duh Amy, the rings are made of metal.) This time we'll be sure to have a metal free sling, and all will hopefully be well. :)

*Don't bring a knife.
Um, could that have gone without saying? The last time we flew, we were on our way home and got stopped in security and my bag was checked. And what did they find in the inside pocket? A knife. Yep. A kitchen knife that I had in my bag to cut up Molly's food. I must have just not remembered it was in there, and I didn't see it the whole trip. But you know what that also means? We were on our way home, so we had already made it through  the Columbus airport and they hadn't caught it. Scary stuff if that wouldn't happened to the wrong person. 


And that's about all I've got! Although after this trip I may have more to add. *grin*  Please say a prayer for me if you think of it. Pray for a cooperative child and lots of physical strength for me. I'm going to need it! :) :)