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! :) :)

Update on life.

Welp, there I go again, not blogging for longer than I expected. 

What can I say, life has been busy. Really busy. 

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I'm participating in a craft show at the end of November, so my naptimes (haha, ok, Molly's naptimes!) have been full of creating. Like, basically start to finish. But I'm super excited about the things I'm taking. :)

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We took a road trip to see some precious friends and be there for their beautiful baby girl's dedication to the Lord. It was SO good to see them all and spend time with them and their families. They just feel like our own, they really do. :)

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Chris declared October as our "eating vegan" month. And for the most part, we did pretty well! It sure has kept me busy though with meal planning and an average of 1-1.5 hours preparing dinner in the kitchen each night (which is a lot for me. I've typically been a food-preparer, not a cook). :)

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Oh, how could I forget? Revival services at church. While the 5 nights straight of services (7 services total when you include Sunday morning) were filled with good preaching, it was exhausting for me as the music leader. Pile together the planning and prep work, making sure we had dinner to come home to, singing that many days in a row while being almost 30 weeks pregnant....Haha, I'm actually laughing. Needless to say, I was glad when it was over. :)

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I know that it's so easy to let busy-ness get out of control, so this past month, I've been trying desperately to still take many moments throughout the day to get on the floor and play with Molly. To hug her often. To love on her in a way that she knows that she is more of a priority than any of this. We've had Starbucks dates, play time at the park, lots of walks, and lots of reading books and doing puzzles.  

ANYWAY, I thought you all deserved an update. :) 

And of course, I couldn't hit publish without adding a few pictures as of late:

She's laughing here. Little goober, that's what she is.

A few shots of Molly wrapping up her baby in a giant blanket. 

Most times, she brings both to me and says, "Wrap! Wrap!" 

So I swaddle her baby and she just giggles the whole time. :)

Mad props for trying, right?

A little bit of embracing the camera.

Because in 20 years, she won't care about my make-up-less face and my crooked glasses. She'll probably get a kick out of the fact that she's holding a spray bottle and my camera lens (which she kept trying to put back on my camera)(hence her not looking).

And finally, a 29 week belly picture. Little boy sure is growing!!

**This post brought to you in part by my sweet daughter who actually stayed asleep in bed when I slipped out this morning. This is maybe the first time in probably, a whole month that this has happened?? Thank you, sweet girl. Your tired mama needed that.

The Fruit Farm- pictures galore!

Over the weekend, we went to a fruit farm which didn't really include a lot of fruit, haha, but had fun fall activities. We took a hayride out to a corn maze and pumpkin patch, where Molly picked her first pumpkin! 

It was so fun to watch her trampse through all the pumpkins and tripping on the vines. At first she was pointing and saying "ball!" Then we taught her pumpkin and she continued....

"punkin! punkin!"

It was so awesome. I love seeing her experience new things in life. It's one of the most incredible things about being a parent, in my humble opinion and short 16 months of experience. 

Ok, enough words. Onto pictures. Many, many pictures. :)

Friday Highs.v40 - Late Night Edition

I'm a little late posting this, but today has been filled with lots of baking and cooking, so needless to say, I've been busy.

Lots of highs with Molly this week. I've been lost in moments too precious to remember to blog. This little girl just continues to capture my heart with love. 

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Lately when nighttime comes, I've been SO exhausted. This being pregnant and having a toddler thing is kicking my butt.

Needless to say, my husband is amazing. Earlier this week, he went out and got me DOVE chocolate and a caramel apple spice from Starbucks. What a guy. :)

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I won a giveaway!!! This amazing nest necklace is from Melody's shop. You can check out her lovely blog here and her amazing goodies in here shop here.

Thanks again, Melody! I am absolutely in love with my necklace!

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Finally making the time to start preparing for the birth of baby #2. Yoga, relaxing music, Scripture verses written on notecards. It is incredibly refreshing and exciting. 

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And yes, I realize these are all from my instagram feed again, but sometimes life's just too short. 

It's bedtime for the kid and dessert and a movie for me and my man. Happy weekend, friends!

Baby, Baby: 27 weeks

How far along: 27 weeks. 

Baby's size: about the size of a head of cauliflower. approximately 2 lbs, 14.5 inches long.

Sleep: Meh. Not great, but I'm not complaining. Just waking up a lot and shifting. Sleeping on my back is no longer comfortable, and I can't decide which side is best. 

Maternity Clothes: Definitely pants. Still wearing regular shirts, although the one in this picture probably won't last much longer.

Food cravings: None.

Food aversions: Nothing anymore.

Symptoms I have: Backache, exhaustion, and heartburn. Oh, the heartburn. *grin*

Doctor’s Appointment: Next week I'll have my test for GD and my rhogam shot. Fun times! 

Movement: He is a little wiggle worm. As much as I love feeling his kicks with my hand, I really enjoy watching my belly too. Also, this morning, Molly felt him kick for the first time! 

Gender: It's a boy!

What I miss: My body being back to normal in all regards.

What I’m looking forward to: Seeing his face! Meeting him! Watching Molly and him interact. She loves hugging, kissing, and rubbing my belly, so I can only imagine the special bond these two will have. :)

13 weeks

22 weeks