What A Wonderful World

I love the ways our kids choose to copy us in random ways. It's rarely in the big moments; instead, it's the little things. I saw Bella this morning, swiping a DVD back and forth across her t-shirt, because that's how she always sees me clean them off. It's not the most professional method, but it's quick and easy when two toddlers are begging to watch Wall-E or Bambi. It makes me smile that this is one of the little ways she has chosen to copy me.

Or when she tells Rex, "No ma'am!" because that's what I say to her. Thank goodness she hasn't picked up on "Oh crap!", but it may just be a matter of time. I'm going to need to start quoting Scripture to the kids in my house. So far, when I tell her that something she did made Jesus sad, she looks at me like I'm crazy. At bedtime, we tell her that Daddy loves her, Mama loves her, Mel loves her, and Jesus loves her. I think she's waiting to meet the secret, extra addition to the family.

She has these unbelievably sweet moments, too. When she follows me into the bathroom as I'm throwing up, she'll pat my back and say, "Wha's frong?" In between gagging, I'll try to reassure her that I'm fine, and when I'm finally finished, she looks at me and says, "All done?" It doesn't sound sympathetic, but I think it's the best her two-year old brain can do.

Steve's Last Day Of Work

Not his last day of work ever, but wouldn't that be fun?! If Steve just didn't need to work anymore and could stay home all of the time, it would rock my world. Some couples would go crazy, but we'd have a blast. We'd be insanely fat, but we'd have fun!

Okay, anyway, Steve's last day of work at Bank of North Georgia was yesterday. He has had a pretty good week saying goodbye to co-workers and going out to lunch. He was able to leave right after his "goodbye lunch", so he got home really early and got to hang out with us all afternoon!

Bella is going through a stage (please just let it be a stage!) where she'll get really excited about Steve coming home and even walking through the door, but she'll freak out and cry if he tries to pick her up. It's not a fun stage. Yesterday must have been a fluke because they got some wonderful snuggle and bonding time together. She was content to just sit in his lap and they played with stickers together. Then, she snuggled into his chest and layed there for a little bit. It was really sweet and I think it did Steve some good!

Bella "decorated" Steve with stickers that she got at her Fall Party in preschool that morning.

She was very particular about their placement; even his arms got covered.

Daddy and daughter time is the best! I love when they get special time together.

First Trimester Awesomeness

Some lovely moments from my first trimester so far. It's just so glamorous.

I went grocery shopping last week with Steve, but I decided my Taco Bell was too good to leave in the car. Steve must have been so pleased to walk down the bread aisle with me while I was stuffing soft tacos in my mouth and mumbling about how good they were.

There is a toddler potty laying under the dining room table.

My husband is proving, one again, that he is the awesomest man alive. He has whipped up a batch of homemade laundry detergent, run to QT to get me a Coke Freeze, cooked dinner, changed diapers, and countless other things to allow me to just lay on the couch in a stupor. And he still tells me I'm beautiful. I'm telling you...he's the man.

I already look about 4 months pregnant, but the beautiful part is, I'm just too tired to care. And I'm way too cramped to actually attempt sucking in. So, 4 months it is!

"Pregnancy brain" is a real thing. It's taken me three days to write and publish this post.

I take bags of cereal with me to church and eat throughout during the service; it's the only way I can keep from throwing up. Mel thinks it makes me look like even more of a disaster.

I haven't cleaned my house since I found out I was pregnant. Thank God I have two other adults in the house who are aware of banana smeared on the kitchen floor.

Ooo! Fun fact! I figured out that I miscalculated my dates, so I'm actually a week farther along than I thought! Score!

Our newest little human in his current state of development.

Weekend Party Girl!

Last weekend, we had Charli's first birthday and Bella had a blast! Whitney did such a great job with an owl/bird theme; the craft was painting a birdhouse, but Bella only cared about the roof. I think it got about 8 coats of paint with some buttons stuck on there for good measure. And the cupcakes were fabulous, too! So yummy!

A brief word of warning: don't even try to take the Q-tip away from her. It doesn't matter if you are a control-freak Mama and want to make the bird house prettier; she will cut you.

I don't know if you can tell, but there are a bajillion coats of paint on that roof. She even painted over the buttons! I finally just walked away.

Going to town on that cupcake!

I was a little curious if it would burn when she snorted in all of that icing, but luckily, I think we scraped it off of her in time.

She likes Mel the best. Mel doesn't try to take things from her.

First Dress-Up Clothess

Pregnancy brain has kept me from posting sooner. The whole nauseous and exhausted thing has pretty much made me a total wimp. BUT...I'm actually posting today! Steve's mom and dad are visiting this week, and they never come empty-handed. one of mom's goodies was some dress up clothes from Aunt Julie. (Thank you, Aunt Julie!)

This is our first adventure into dress up clothes and Bella loves them! She tried on the Cinderella dress first and didn't take it off for two whole days! So adorable!

Thank you to Bella's cousin, Kinslee, for being willing to part with so many fun dresses!

Our Baby News!

This post was written on Sunday, August 21st, but I saved it until we decided to tell people about the pregnancy.

After praying, following schedules, charting cycles, peeing on more sticks than I can remember, and some more praying, we are pregnant with our second baby!

"I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of Him." I Samuel 1:27

Sunday had been a very long day. There was a pre-church meeting, a new class for Bella since it was Promotion Sunday, our new class with Trey and Whitney, big church, a church-wide lunch afterwards to preview our new children's wing, a baby shower that I was co-hosting, and a second baby shower that Mel and I had to attend. Whew! A long day...I think Mel and I got home around 6:00.

After a day of baby showers and talking about babies, I was a little discouraged. I am not a naturally patient person and it has been frustrating to wait so long for this baby. In the weeks leading up to this, I had been feeling like I was supposed to be this "spiritual" person who was praying for patience with God's timing, and I still think that's important, but I started kneeling down and asking God for exactly what I wanted: a baby.

Whitney had talked to me recently about trying a brand-name pregnancy test because they were able to detect the pregnancy hormone sooner, and of course, I wasn't able to resist. Steve and I ran out on Sunday night and grabbed a test. I really felt like I was just being a glutton for punishment and was going to be more discouraged when I saw the bold "NO" flash across the screen.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

When the screen flashed "YES", the biggest emotion going through my body was relief. I just sat down and started to cry. I was upstairs by myself, so I was able to just have my meltdown moment. Steve and I have been spared a lot of heartache in terms of conceiving, but I can still say that we have cried out to God for this baby. We have longed for this child, maybe even more so than when we were trying for Bella. When I walked downstairs to tell Steve, I couldn't even say anything at first. I was still teary-eyed, so I just handed the test to him.

(P.S. This is pretty much the exact same way I told him about Bella. I always have these super-cool plans in my head and then, it's so unexpected to actually get a positive test, that I show him the stick in surprise! One day I'll have more patience!)

So that's our news! You've heard me say before that I would love a boy, but we will be perfectly content with whichever God chooses to give us. We just think it'd be fun to have one of each!