Pumpkin Carving Party

We invited a bunch of friends over on Saturday for a pumpkin carving contest and party. It was so much fun! I made two big pots of white chili (which was divine, if I do say so), cornbread, all the toppings for the chili, and Mel made pumpkin whoopie pies (Oh my word!). For the little ones, we had mini pumpkins and a painting station set up. We ate, hung out, carved pumpkins, and played games. My energy was sapped by the time the game playing started, but Steve and I are claiming to have been there in spirit. We combined our friends with Mel's friends from her small group. We've had them over many times before, and we love them! I always have the best intentions for taking pictures, but when you're in the middle of "friend time", it's hard to stop for the camera.

Very focused on her own pumpkin.

The girls at the pumpkin painting table. This went over so well!

What's a party in the Fall without s'mores? The picture came out a little funny with the fumes from the flames, but Mel and Bella got some yummy, bonding time in.

Finally getting to hold little Sharpe! (This is where we'll be in 6 more months!) He is so beautiful and precious - I could have stayed in that chair all night!

Mel and Evangeline, the little girl of her small group leaders.

Beautiful, orange pumpkins, just waiting to be carved

Carving in progress! I will have to post the picture of Mel's tomorrow with some other Halloween decor we have up. Our pumpkin got donated to a friend who started to carve hers and realized it was completely rotted.

Mel's whole gang!

Later this week I'll post the recipe for my white chili and Mel's pumpkin whoopie pies. Oh, and our Halloween decorations!

Gluttons For Punishment

Sometimes it's nice to make decisions that you know you're going to regret later, but they're just fun at the moment! I have to gauge this decision a lot with Bella...do we let her jump on the couch? Do we wrestle with her, knowing she may use her new skills to take out another kid?

This week, we decided to ignore the practical and have some fun with Bella's legs and a pen. We let her decide what we would draw and then Steve and I took turns creating artistic flair. There was a sun, cat, dog, multiple butterflies, Steve's attempt at a duck, and my very sad version of a motorcycle. Totally worth the bonding moment, but I'm sure we'll be deep-sighing in the very near future.

Visiting The Pumpkin Patch

Steve and I love, love, LOVE our pumpkin patch! We have visited the same one for the last three years and it rocks our world! For those of you who live in the North (or Midwest) and can visit a real farm, our pumpkin patch may make you sad, but it works for us. The Methodist church down the street organizes it every year to raise money for a school they support in Haiti. They are incredibly friendly, have great prices, and it's never packed with too many people! We also love that it's right down the street so we can go and do our annual visit as part of our Saturday morning errands. (Do I sound way too excited about a pumpkin patch? I'm just excited I wasn't throwing up!)

She kept pointing to the ghost saying, "Wha's this?"

Perusing the merchandise. How cute is she in her little leggings and polka dots?!

She saw this green one and wanted to give it kisses because it had a "boo boo." After she kissed it, she would look at me and say, "All better, Mama!"

Picking out some little ones for Mama's table.

A big one!

"Helping" Daddy load the wagon.

Our family picture. Next year, we'll be picking out pumpkins for Bella and a little brother or sister!

Bella's First Preschool Boo-Boo

I got a phone call this morning from the preschool office saying that Bella had gotten a little cut. I have to be honest...when I heard who it was, my first thought was, "What did she do?" She is absolutely fine; apparently, she got hit by a toy. Since our beautiful little human is incredibly over-dramatic, she was screaming like crazy in the office and the secretary suggested I come get her. Normally that means a 30-minute drive, but thankfully, I was working in the church office today on the Missions Conference, so I just had to walk downstairs. If she had to get hurt, today was day! Everyone was very sweet and I just told them this was payback for all of the times she had picked on Rex. I think the main reason she was crying so hard was that her teacher was trying to hold her head still so that she could apply an ice pack. Bella absolutely hates to be restricted - taking her temperature is a disaster - so that was the source of most of the drama. The cut is right below her eye. See how tiny it is?

And the Oscar goes to...

Here We Go...

We had our first OBGYN appointment today for Little Human #2, and I loved finally seeing him (yes, I said "him"; I just can't say "it") in there. Pictures make it seem so much more real. I don't know if it's been because I am more sick this time around, but it's been harder to feel like there is really a human growing inside of me. It was fun to his little arms and legs and hear a heart beating.

The Little Human's Official Debut

We spent some time in the doctor's office today, talking with her about our options. I am really interested in doing a waterbirth at home. A waterbirth is when you labor and deliver in a tub or birthing pool (which looks just like a kiddie pool). The main reasons that I'm interested in for doing a waterbirth is that I'd like to try to have Bella naturally and water is used as a great pain reliever. It may be all in the mother's head, but I'm up for whatever works.

My motivation for a homebirth is simply that the options for a waterbirth in a hospital are very limited. From what I've seen so far, a lot of the hospitals provide birthing tubs that are like jacuzzis. This may seem really weird, but those tubs seem so hard and uncomfortable to me. I like the idea of using a soft-sided tub in our own environment.

I've read a lot of articles and watched a lot of home videos, and from what I've read and the research done, there is no danger of the baby breathing in water when it first comes out. The umbilical cord is still attached and the baby gets oxygen that way. Plus, the baby is quickly pulled out of the water and onto the mother's chest; the baby isn't left with their head underwater.

We talked to the doctor today about potential warning signs that would lead us to change the plan and head to a hospital. She was very informative and gave us sound advice. She also gave us some medical centers in the city that deal with homebirths, so that was a good lead. At the end of the day, I'm not making this decision because I don't like doctors or hospitals or medical intervention. I love the way Bella was born and the hospital and doctors rocked my world.

This is just an "I'd like to see if I can do it" moment. I don't know if that sounds selfish; I hope not. As we move forward, if it seems like this option is simply not a safe or good idea, I have absolutely no qualms about changing the plan. And honestly, Steve's only about 70% on board at this moment. I'm not willing to do anything that he's not 100% with. He's agreed to do his own research and keep an open mind. We're moving forward to finding a few different midwives that we can interview.

So there it is! Our "baby story" so far...

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.