To-do's

So, since the thought has occurred to me that there are 3-5 weeks left before baby girl arrives, I am trying to tie up loose ends. There are days when I am very tired due to lack of being able to sleep or getting up several times per night and not being able to fall back to sleep or what not. Fortunately, some nights I fall asleep and can go back to sleep after waking up the 3-5 times per night.

We finished the baby room with the exception of like 2 items. It looks very pretty and I love going in there and looking at it. It is so calming and I love the colors!

I am trying to make sure the gifts are purchased or figured out for the many August events coming up as well as September. There are a few loose ends to tie up for the party.

Trying to stay on top of laundry and household chores so it isn't behind when she arrives.

We are still walking each night (at least the girls and I). Still tending the flowers and weeding (bending over is quite a challenge.

Oh yeah, we have been doing school with the girls here and there. I don't want us to be behind in September once the baby arrives so we are working into it slowly, but doing well! It is all organized and ready to go!

I finished my last lesson for teaching in children's church last Sunday. Life with work, homeschooling, and a newborn plus other duties will keep me busy enough!

So...everywhere I look I'm trying to get stuff done!

6 weeks or less!

I have no idea where the time has gone! We had contemplated one last trip to Chicago before baby, but decided that we had items that needed finished at home. Important and fun stuff like planning/getting supplies for a double birthday party, putting together a crib, setting up the nursery and moving the girl's toys elsewhere, and just general things around the house. Many of these things are little things that I can't do alone (putting crib together and mowing). So, with Josh home we can get it done!

I can't believe it getting so close! It is 6 weeks or less unless I go over which hasn't happened before. We are very excited with how the nursery turned out (see Facebook for photos). There are a few things to tie it all together that we still need to get/find. I have a pretty good idea of the rug that will make the room complete and we still have to get the mattress. It may need a few items to hang on the wall, but I just don't know what yet...

She (baby girl) is jumping around quite often. The name is picked, and I can't wait to see what everyone thinks. We keep it a secret until the birth day. I guess we just think it is fun to keep that a secret and then there is less hassle once baby is born regarding opinion on what you should/shouldn't name them. As usual, we have gone with non-ordinary, but I must say this one is probably the most non-ordinary for both first and middle that we have picked thus far. It is not a name of anyone we know (true to tradition for us), not on any top ten list, not easily guessed, and follows our protocol of endings or at least ending sounds being the same for first and middle. I'm not worried that you have figured it out because yeah...it's different.

We have had a most enjoyable evening together daddy and all of his girls. We enjoyed dinner at none other than Chili's where I got my craving for chips n salsa and buffalo wings satisfied. Yes, spicy is my thing...all of the time! We shopped for party favors and gift ideas, and then we returned home for the crib/nursery work. Actually, it doesn't matter what we do as long as we are all together! I love them!!!!

If weather allows, we have plans for a dip in the pool as well as some fun outside. The humidity has diminished allowing us to breathe easier once more. I can tolerate heat, humidity NOT!
Well, I am tired and have been tired this week so I need some sleep! Not much longer before I won't be getting much of that for awhile.

Rain Rain Come Today

I'm so glad that we got a few drops/buckets of rain tonight! Anything to bring down the humidity/temps and water my thirsty flowers and yard gets an A-OK in my book especially at this stage. Hard to believe but there are probably 4-6 weeks before little #3 is here! A lot of times I can't wait, but I try to remind myself to enjoy every stage. Things are so busy right now that we can hardly blink!



We have a number of birthdays in August and September (plus we are adding a birthday to one of those months shortly. The girls really really wanted a bigger party this year for their birthdays. Since the baby is due so close to Keirah's b-day, I didn't want to plan a party to have to cancel due to labor/delivery or whatever...we are doing a combined party for both girls in August. Needless to say, we have a very busy week in August with so many birthdays and regular life thrown in...



We have a few things left to purchase for baby. I remembered the other day that we needed bath stuff, a baby book, and a diaper bag. Gotta have a clean baby so I got the tub ordered that I wanted and it came today...now to get the baby wash/lotions so she can smell good =). Somehow, I forgot that you can't reuse baby books--LOL! I haven't found THE right one yet, but one will come along hopefully after some serious searching. As for a diaper bag, Josh has a diaper bag that he wants to carry...very modern and cool, but mine needs to be kinda like a purse. His straps around his body (fine for him) but that's not the kind I want. Anyway, I have an idea, and I think we are close...just gotta purchase. Baby's room is about 65-75% ready. We have a crib...but it needs put together and a mattress and bedding added. We still need to move out the dolls that the girls have in that room as it is seeing its last few weeks as a toy room for them. Other than that, a few minor furniture shuffles and we are done.



Fortunately, Aliyah hits a milestone in a few weeks...no more car seat!!! In Illinois, children have to be 8 years old or a certain weight before they can sit in a car normally. Aliyah wouldn't make the weight restriction until high school at this rate so 8 years came first!!! This is just in time to make room for a baby seat in the cars! I'm glad I will have to helpers in the back to assist with baby while we drive. They are so excited they can hardly stand it. They constantly pretend to be mother/baby and they even switch where Aliyah is the baby. I love my girls to death!!!



I don't know where the time has flown off to this evening, but I've got tons to do so bye for now!

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!

Changing Focus

Okay, I deleted last short post in favor of the positive. I remember having it in my mind to have this blog for the positive and not the "sandpaper" things.

I'm so thankful for a wonderful day on Tuesday with my beloved family. It started with a dr. appt that went long, but that's okay. We ended it with a little/delightful swim.

Our baby furniture is coming in piece by piece. The crib came yesterday. We are waiting to put it together because of refinishing the floor in that room. The dresser is ordered since it went on sale AND had free shipping. The only "major" thing left is the mattress. Kinda boring purchase if you ask me. The bedding came this week and I love it. I love even more that I paid less than half of what it cost at PBK by purchasing on ebay.

We are now working on finding a good portion of Aliyah's homeschool books on ebay. I have found a few--yay.

Normal posts to be back soon. Have a great weekend everyone! Happy Father's Day!

this is fun

We are having or at least I am having fun picking out and finding good deals on the baby gear we need. The list is easy starting with all F's: furniture, formula, and flowers. Making strides toward all three. I ordered the crib yesterday after finding it cheaper than anywhere else plus free shipping. My college friend who we saw last week gave me some formula & coupons so we could begin stocking up. As for flowers..that's just room decs. I got the PBK bedding. That I wanted off ebay. So yay!
Waiting for a sale on the chest of drawers plus free shipping...
Doing all of this while baby girl jumps around is even more thrilling!

livin'

Celebrating 10 amazing years with my soulmate on vacation! Soakin up sun, swimmin in the pool, enjoying thensouth, and today we get to see one of my best friends from college. It has been 10 years since I saw her.
Breakfasts ever morning at our hotel have been amazing. We eat so much! The baby loves it too! She has literally been jumping around and serves as my floatie beach ball.
Oh yeah, we have decided on her first name, but are still debating the 2 middle names. We got all 3. Girls a Cinderella glass slipper with their name engraved on it.
The only things I'm not liking so much is the humidity and the over the top red shirt people.
Palm trees and Florida sun-how I've missed you. its also enjoyable to be in the hospitable, sweet south. Rain comes and goes and then out comes the ever-warming sun. Oh yeah, love the resort too!

Bye for now...my tan is awaiting.