I've Missed This....I'm BAAACCKK!

It has been so long since I was able to write a normal post so this will be a catch-up I'm hoping. This is a perfect day to have the new computer up and going as it is a scorcher outside and pregnant/scorching don't fit so well together. It makes me feel kinda miserable and lazy when I go out. I may have to hop out later to give the flowers a drink, but not until it cools offfff--whew!

I think I will do this one by subjects since there are so many things to catch up in bloggy world writing...

Josh and I celebrated 10 wonderful years of marriage about 1 month ago by taking a little trip. We ended up going to Orlando. It wasn't our first or second or third choice, but it was time away and time together and it was wonderful. We enjoyed seeing Disney again after all of these years. Our favorite times were those spent chilling out at the pool and soaking up sun as well as visiting with my roomie from college. It has been 10 years since I saw her and you know the only thing different for both of us was the whole marriage and kids thing. We got to meet her husband and kids and she saw me pregnant. Other than that, it was like old times. Oh, how I wish we lived closer to each other as we would have so much fun together. Her little boy is the male version of our Aliyah. It is funny. Sweet family! I wouldn't have ever imagined anything different. One of our other favorite things from our trip was the breakfast buffet every morning. It is the South and breakfast so they had everything one could want. Not only that, it was delicious!!!!!! The restaurant overlooked water that had swans swimming--breathtaking. We filled up each day as we knew we would be walking miles and sweating it all off! It was probably 95 each day and morbidly humid and steamy. I can handle heat...humidity makes me feel like I'm melting.

Work--for me work is probably busier than I ever remember in my 7+ years there. It is fun and can be challenging. The days fly by and I'm stuck at the end wondering where the time went. Today...no different!

Aliyah--our little brown girl is enjoying summer to its fullest. She reads constantly and I have to limit the reading some days because she simply does it SOOO much! She is starting to grow fins and scales I'm afraid and is quite cocoa in color thanks to the visits to the pool and Lake Michigan. She finished the summer reading program at the library about as quick as she started and is now enjoying all of the bounty of it. When we go outside, she loves to jump on the trampoline and swing. We are also working on riding her bike by herself. Her tiny frame is timid with the bike thing. She has lost her two front teeth and looks very cute. Less than a month until my baby is 8!

Keirah--miss maturity/independent. Keirah is the go-getter/organizer. She has enjoyed organizing closets, folding/sorting the baby's laundry and whatever else. She tells me that she is my helper and she is by my side quite often. When I water the flowers, she likes to help get the hose out and get this...she is in to pulling weeds--what??? I never asked her to, but she has watched me do it and since this summer has brought an abundance of weeds and they grow along the curb, she has taken upon herself to help me pull them. The other day, I pulled some and walked away to do something else as bending over with a watermelon belly can be difficult at times...I look and she is bent over carefully pulling weeds. I was so touched and even more touched when big sis came over to help her pull them.
Aside from work, Keirah is in to dolls, Littlest Pet Shop, swimming, and listening to music. She pays attention to details!

What can I say, not a day goes by that I don't feel an overwhelming sense of how blessed we are with these little girls! I love my girls and I love my sweetie! I am wealthy beyond measure with them in my life.

Baby girl--she has a first name that is decided which is secret and hard to guess, but the middle name is narrowed pretty much to two but probably narrowed to one but spellings we are figuring out. We try to be a bit different than normal, but at the same time we do have themes (endings). Little sweetie is a busy one and has been since many many weeks ago. I can't believe how quickly this has gone. There are 9 weeks or less left! She is so cute as we got to see on the 3d/4d sono. She mostly looks like Keirah as a baby. Fortunately, no diabetes this time and things have gone well. There have been minor things like blood pressure issues, however we came to the conclusion that I experience a bit of white coat syndrome.
Her room is organized and bassinette is ready, although there are still a few American Girl dolls and such in there until I move them to a new spot for the girls. We have had a ton of fun picking out furniture and stuff for her room. Grandpa & grandma H. are purchasing the crib mattress for her so other than some very minor items...we are pretty much set!

Chaney--the cat...he's a silly/ornery thing and he follows me around like a dog. He likes me the most, but he is very tolerable of being carried/hauled around by the girls.

Projects--we chose to do fewer this year in hopes of trying to enjoy summer. We put up a new white fence that we really love in the spring. Josh tiled the main floor bath and entryway which looks great. We painted the closet in baby girl's room, had a garage sale, and had a tree removed. Other than minor things...we have been trying to just enjoy life! Josh has a minor thing or two and that's it!

Fun in the summer--we are enjoying Chicago and summer there once more. Lake Michigan is simply gorgeous and fun. The cool thing is...no oil slicks to worry about, no sharks, no stingrays, or scary stuff. Aliyah is quite the wave rider. With as much fun as we have in Chicago, we don't have to go far to have fun...no plane needed.

Aliyah is wanting me to make a Shutterfly book. I'm excited to do this as it has been months since I could make one and we have plenty of memories to fill it with...

This post has been LOOOOOONNNNNNG enough, but I will be back to update on more of a much more regular basis. Oh yeah...I have to talk garage sales soon. They have been okay this year and we have found nice stuff, but not even close to the stuff we found last summer.

Wow--can I tell you how good it felt to blog again????!!! YAY!