Miscellany Monday

{1} My husband has this strange ability to blow dry Emersyn's hair and make it look STUNNING. Seriously, he doesn't even know how he does it and he didn't discover it on purpose, it was out of necessity once when he had to get her ready for something and dry her hair. I need to watch how he does it. Her hair turns out so smooth and straight; it's hard to describe how it's different from when I do it but it's amazing.

{2} I am officially obsessed with Pita Pit again. It's a good thing for my budget that they don't have a drive though.

{3} I scored some killer deals this weekend at the outlets for Ems. Got her $60 UGG style Bass leather boots for $9.99. Bought her two pairs and got a $5 off coupon so two pairs of boots regularly $120 I got for $14.98. I also left my phone at the store which I later discovered when I was at another store so that would have been a serious buzz kill after my good deals but thankfully it was on the counter right where I had left it. NOT fun thinking it was gone though, Ems and I prayed in the fitting room at Carters while Brett ran back to the store.

{4} I am ready to tackle this week head on. I have about a million things to do before we leave in ONE week and my to-do list seems to just be growing versus shrinking. But doing something every day WILL lead to accomplishment. We have a house sitter that stays at our place while we're gone and this FORCES us to leave the house clean, rather then in a state of disaster like we have in the past. It's super depressing coming home from paradise to a mess. Once I had the house professionally cleaned the day before we went to Hawaii. But, back then I was working. Now, I am my own house cleaner. :)

{5} If you saw how dirty my microwave was before Brett deep cleaned it on Saturday, you might have ended our friendship. It was SICK. Brett cleaned it sparkly clean (without being asked I might add) and I totally swooned and let him play his PS3 NBA game for hours guilt free afterwards. It was a win win situation for us both.

{6} Every day I eat my lunch and watch a "Friends" rerun that is on my DVR. I have it set up to record "Friends" every day. It's like a guilty pleasure but it's my oasis of sanity amidst a crazy toddler raising day. I make my lunch the minute Ems goes down for a nap and totally enjoy my tv/lunch time.

{7} Emersyn slept in until NINE FORTY FIVE on Saturday. Could she have picked a better day to sleep in!?!?! Brett and I were ecstatic, the extra sleep felt so good. We had a late night on Friday but that doesn't always mean she will sleep in, it usually means she will take a longer nap. It was glorious. On Sunday she slept in until 8:45 which again is awesome but it meant that we had to scramble to get to church on time, which we did! Part of the reason was because Brett got Ems completely ready from bath to hair and, as mentioned in item number one, her hair was fabulous.

{8} Me: Emersyn, I love you sooooo much. E: I love you too. Me: No, I love you more! E: I know.

{9} Me: Emersyn, how on earth did you get so cute?? E: Hmm...I don't know.......wanna go to Target?

{10} Happy Monday, ya'all. :) I just like saying ya'all even though I would never actually say it, just write it.

Fill in the Blank Friday

Fridays didn't used to mean a whole lot to me because Brett worked weekends but now that he doesn't, I LOVE THEM!!! TGIF!!!


1. I am madly in love with Brett Jensen, our daughter and Baby E; sooooo tired of being lazy at home, I'm SO over being sick and tired and am confident that Hawaii will cure me from my nausea and fatigue; slightly obsessed with top ramen these days. Not good.

2. The bravest thing I've ever done was hmmm....well, I'd say giving birth was brave but it's not like I really had a choice and when I hear the word brave it sounds like something voluntary. I've had an oyster shooter before which was disgusting but sorta brave? I don't know, being brave isn't something I overly aspire to but maybe I should!

3. I feel prettiest when Brett randomly compliments me. :) I pretty much do not feel pretty at all when I am pregnant so ask me again this fall. :)

4. Something that keeps me awake at night is this freaking cough!!!! Seriously!!! Although, I don't think that's what this question is really asking. Sometimes I get to thinking of the news, 20/20's, etc. about child abductions, people dying from cancer....those kinds of worries can plague me at night but I try to channel it into prayers for faith and not fear.

5. My favorite meal in the entire world is hmm....this is a tricky question again given the whole prego thing. If I HAD to choose it would be a big old plate of California Rolls. I'm drooling just thinking of them...something about the forbidden makes it so desirable I guess? I also have been craving some mizithra pasta from Old Spaghetti Factory.

6. The way to my heart is through words of affirmation and acts of service. Compliment me while your washing my dishes and I'm yours.

7. I would like to jhave a better attitude and am working on it. I would like to be more active with my daughter and really make these last months of just the two of us count. I would also like for my husband to not have to ASK me to wash shirts and underwear for him. I have lofty goals, I know. :)

Have a great weekend everyone!

**If you think about it, say a prayer for baby Annie and her mama Julia. Julia is having some complications and she's only 23 weeks pregnant with sweet Annie and they need some good news at the dr's today. God is faithful!!

We didn't plan it, I promise!!! :)

So back when I found out that I was expecting Baby #2 (who we can officially refer to as Baby E now because both our possible names start with E) one of my concerns was that a good friend of mine might be upset over our *accidental* good fortune since she and her husband had been trying for several months. In fact, back in the fall when Brett and I started tossing around the idea of trying for another baby, one of the things that held me back was wanting to wait until Jonette got pregnant at least. Jonette's daughter Stella is one of Emersyn's little besties. They are exactly 2 months apart, Ems being the older one.

I saw Jonette for the first time after the craziness of the holidays and it felt slightly awkward to me because I knew I had this big secret and I don't do well keeping secrets, secrets of my own anyways. :) We had a meeting at our church and then decided to take our girls to the mall so they could play. At the childrens play area we watched the girls play and again, there was this awkwardness in the air. I didn't know when or how I should tell her about being pregnant. Should I tell her in a group so she can absorb it with other people around? Should I tell her one on one so she has time to process it?

Finally, after a 20 minute painfully awkward playdate Jonette turns to me and says, "okay....I feel like I'm keeping something from you". Oh my gosh, I start to get hopeful....how perfect would it be if she were already pregnant?!?! "What is it???" I ask. "Well.....I'm PREGNANT" Jonette exclaims excitedly. "Oh my word, I AM TOO!!!!!!" I yell and we totally have this moment in the children's play area and hug and it was so so surreal and fun. It was like the PERFECT way to tell each other and I was just ecstatic. She is two weeks ahead of me.

We decided to have two other couples over for dinner a couple weeks later to tell them our good news. We put the girls in their big sister t-shirts and let them play. It was so fun to watch our friends reactions as they slowly read their t-shirts and were like, wait, what?? It was a really fun night. :)

Ems in disguise...she had to hide her big sister shirt until Stella got there so we could do the big reveal together. It took our friends a little bit to read what they said. :)

Now, however, whenever people at church find out that we are pregnant together, I totally know that they think we planned this together but that SO isn't the truth. We revealed that I was pregnant at 8 weeks, Jonette waited until 14 weeks. People assume that she got pregnant because I was pregnant but in reality, she is more pregnant then I am. It's a funny situation.

If things go they way they did last time and she delivers a week late and I deliver a week early, the kids may just share a birthday week if not a birthday, how crazy would that be?!?!

Okay, that's my fun story for today. Hope everyone is doing well. I have a terrible cough and it's a total bummer. Hopefully I'm feeling better tomorrow. :)

Miscellany Monday

{1} Happy Valentine's Day! Unfortunately I had to cancel Emersyn's annual Valentines Day Playdate due to both of us being sick. I sure am glad I cancelled it though; she was up for half the night with an earache. It was a rough night for us but she finally calmed down when we brought her into bed with us. She has never slept with us before, it was interesting. :) I kept feeling sweet little hands and feet rubbing my back. I didn't sleep well at all and am totally looking forward to nap time. We don't have any exciting VDay plans. My in-laws offered to keep E tonight so we could go on a date and I think I am going to take them up on it even if it's just for a break. I don't know that I'll feel well enough for a date but would love to go to bed early. I think Ems going to spend the night too so I can go to bible study in the morning and then I have to stay after for a lunch meeting and I don't think E would enjoy having to sit and be quiet for a couple hours. I'm thankful that Auntie Marcy is going to hang out with E Tuesday morning!!

{2} I have all my birthday cards displayed on my mantle. It makes me feel happy and loved. :)

{3} Yesterday Brett gave E a long bath and I decided to clean up the downstairs. I can accomplish more in 30 min alone then I can all day with E. After it was clean, we had a MUCH better day. I have determined that Ems is a lot like me and doesn't do well when her surroundings are messy and chaotic. It just puts her in a funk and I can totally relate!

{4} I obsessively check expiration dates of everything I eat and especially at other peoples house. Did you know that MOST peoples condiments are expired? Seriously. I have found salad dressings on other peoples dinner tables that expired YEARS ago. SICK. One time we were at a friends house and literally every single thing she served was expired. From the Bisquick biscuits, all the condiments, etc. I didn't dare eat anything. I also check dry goods for bugs pretty obsessively as well. Once in high school I was at a friends house and she started making waffles from a mix and I looked close and there were little bugs crawling around. Now every single time I open my flour, sugar, etc. I look for little critters. So far I haven't found any but still.

{5} I used to have NO idea how women resented pregnancy so much. In fact, I thought they were kind of selfish. Here this miracle of life is growing inside them and they are complaining about feeling tired, etc??

Now I totally understand what they are talking about.

{6} Toasted Trader Joes blueberry waffles with just a little butter are my favorite thing right now.

{7} We watched two movies this weekend. "Red" and "Wall Street". We liked Red and thought Wall Street was really really slow. It was fun to just sit on the couch and hold hands though. We go through phases of watching movies. Sometimes we'll go months without watching any and then one random weekend we'll watch like three.

{8} Emersyn's new favorite thing to say is "in a minute" and "hang on". Such a turkey.

{9} Brett was totally singing a "Yo Gabba Gabba" song in the shower today, ha!

Fried!!!!!

Oh man.

This mama is FRIED after a week/weekend with a cranky two year old. Emersyn has given me a glimpse into why people call this age the "terrible twos". Honestly she's not usually *that* terrible. :) Yes, this age has challenges but for the most part she is reasonable and easy to distract when she is being naughty.

Not this week.

I am a total relater (at least when it comes to my daughter) and this impacts my parenting sometimes in a not so good way. I tend to make excuses for her behavior and there comes a point when I don't know how much I really should discipline her when she's under the weather. But at the same time, we're trying to be consistent and not let her rule the house. It's a challenge and one that has worn Brett and I out this weekend!! Emersyn is feeling better but still battling a cough that wears her out I think and I totally get that. I think she's not sleeping as well which makes her more tired which makes her cranky and again, I totally get that too. She's SUPER whiny, constantly wants up, and throws fits at the drop of a hat.

I am totally just venting here after a long weekend. It's not really as big of a deal as I'm making it but in case I have given the impression that Emersyn is the perfect child, here is your reassurance that she is indeed not. :) I definitely have been more lenient with her this week and we have cuddled lots and lots. I know that she needs more attention when she's not feeling well but it almost seems like as she's feeling better, her behavior is getting worse??

Meanwhile, I'm sick with a cough that Ems generously shared with me, super nauseous for a large part of the day and just beat. Oy. But now my little monkey is sleeping in bed and I'm going to watch a movie with her daddy. After I put Ems to bed I came downstairs and Brett and I just looked at each other with this look like "we made it!!". :)

This too shall pass. :) Hoping for a much healthier week!!!!!!!

Wordless Wednesday

30th Birthday Weekend!

I had SUCH a great birthday weekend thanks to my amazing husband and friends. :)

My day started off on Friday, my actual birthday, with a Starbucks date with my favorite little lady.

In honor of my birthday I got her a kids vanilla steamer. She drank it in one gulp I'm pretty sure. She loved it. :)

After Starbucks we headed to the kids salon to get her bangs cut, even though she does look awfully cute with no bangs. Her hair is so fine though that if we tried to grow out her bangs I think they would be in her face ALL the time unless they were in a clip or something.

This is worth every penny of the $5 that the salon charges. E holds perfectly still for them and they do a good job. After we got her bangs cut we headed to the library to feed the ducks!


After the ducks we headed home and Emersyn requested an early nap time, God bless her. We both took about a two hour nap and it was wonderful. :)

Brett had said that we had plans for Friday night and the only thing I knew was that Emersyn was going to spend the night at my in-laws so I needed to get her ready for that. I didn't know anything else. My secret wish was that Brett was taking me on a date but I kind of figured that he might have planned something with friends. It's not that I didn't want to hang out with friends, it's just that it had been a loooong time since we had gone on a date and that is what I truly wanted for my birthday.

Before we headed out, I opened a present from my Auntie Marti....a beautiful Amethyst necklace!!!

(Cheesy self portrait but I sent this to Marti so she could see how nice the necklace looked on!)

Brett got home from work and we immediately leaded over to his parents house to drop E off. Then we drove off to our secret location and arrived at.....The Melting Pot!!!! We had eaten at the Melting Pot for Brett's 25th birthday and it was one of our most favorite memories. I was SO excited when we pulled into the parking garage. And it was a date for just the two of us. :)

We were at the restaurant for over three hours! We had a cheddar fondue appetizer, salad, entrees and then dessert. It was my favorite. When we were first seated they put us at this really tiny crammed booth and I HATED it. I asked the lady that sat us if we could have a different seat and she said they were all reserved. I was going to be really bummed if we had to sit at this lame table so Brett went and told the manager that it was my birthday and I was pregnant and uncomfortable and they moved us to another booth instantly. My hero. Where we sit in a restaurant is a big deal to us since we don't' get to go out that often! We are all about the full experience!

After dinner we headed home and Brett surprised me with a purse from Macy's that he had picked out and I LOVED it!!! I didn't take a picture of it but you can see it here if you are just dying to know what it looks like. I got the silver color. I have been wanting a purse for a long time but am terrible at making a decision and loved the one that Brett got me. He said that we could go shopping the next day to make sure it was my favorite but I refused and said that I loved it and it was perfect! I was not expecting a gift after our pricey dinner but I guess Brett wanted me to feel spoiled and he succeeded. :)

The next morning we headed over to pick up Emersyn and Brett mentioned that we had plans for that evening which came as a total shock to me. It turns out I DID get to celebrate with friends too! My friend Jonette hosted a small little party for our close friends to celebrate my big 3-0. :)

My crafty friend Rachelle made me this DARLING book...



It is seriously like my favorite thing. Words of affirmation are totally a love language of mine and I could read and re-read the sweet things written in this book every single day. What a special gift!!


We had such a fun night and I felt like I got the best of both worlds......I was able to have this amazing date night AND celebrate with friends. SO fun!

My sweet parents made my birthday weekend so special too. They sent my birthday gift in a card (yay for $$) and also surprised me with two other gifts, one being this copper tea pot that was my Gigi's. I just love it and whenever I see it on my stove, I think of her fondly. She used to make me tea when I was sick and it was a special Gigi thing. My mom also had a cake made and delivered to me by a friend who is an aspiring baker. Seriously, my parents are SO thoughtful.

Yay for a wonderful weekend and yay for turning 30. It's going to be a great year!!! :)

Miscellany Monday

{1} I had the BEST birthday weekend ever. Details and pictures coming tomorrow. :)

{2} I'm 11 weeks today. Time is flying by. My next appointment is a week from Wednesday. I'm excited!

{3} I am a huge fan of five dollar footlong month at Subway. Brett and I split a Subway Melt loaded with veggies. Yum.

{4} My little lady has croup, or at least I think that's what it is. She has that nasty barking cough and a low grade fever. Poor girlie. I had to cancel a playdate today with a friend that I've been wanting to get together with for FOREVER but a mama's gotta do what a mama's gotta do.

{5} I think we *might* have determined what our girl name would be should my little gummy bear be a girl. We'll see. :) It's a secret until we find out the gender though.

{6} I ordered a maternity tankini from Old Navy for Hawaii and I'm jazzed about it. I needed a new swimsuit anyways and I wanted to be comfortable with my growing belly so I'm excited to see it! I ordered some jeans too.....it's just about time to retire my *normal* jeans. I can't believe how much more pregnant I feel this time around and so much earlier too!

{7} I am totally over feeling sorry for myself in regards to my last post. I need to fully accept who I am and where I am at in life in order for me to move forward in life. I'm thankful for friends that accept me and my imperfections. We as women are all coming at life with different levels of experience and skill sets. Every day is a new day and an opportunity to learn and grow. I'd like to say more but I'll leave for another day, another post. :)

Happy Monday!!!

Birthday Eve

Tomorrow I enter the ranks of the *real* grown ups out there....those that can be defined as in their "30's". Wow. It makes me chuckle when I think back on how I spent so much of my adolescence wishing it would go by faster and thinking that I was NEVER going to get married, NEVER going to be a mommy. Before marrying Brett, I had some dramatic tendencies. He helped extract those once we were married, ha! Anyways, now here I am in my home with my mini-van in the driveway, my toddler running around like a wild woman and her sweet sibling growing in my tummy and making me sicker and sicker as the days go on. It's lovely. :)

For the most part I was okay with turning 30. Then this week happened and I've been faced with several failures from real estate deals to friendships and it's hard to know what to make of it all. I feel like it's timely with this birthday and instead of sulking and feeling sorry for myself, I am choosing to draw near to the Lord, which I have a feeling could be why these events occurred in the first place. Whenever I feel like things are spinning somewhat out of control, I know that is the Lord calling me back to Him and it's a challenge to re-focus. Clearly I can't succeed in my own strength; I mean CLEARLY. It's an ugly thing to be reminded of, especially when it seems to be one thing after another.

For some reason I thought all my problems would be solved when I quit working. I had this idealistic picture in my mind of a woman that had endless energy, a well behaved toddler, a well kept home, and had the perfect balance of friends and social time. Well, that hasn't happened. In fact, NONE of it has happened. I tend to blame my pregnancy but then I realize that it's *always something*. I don't want to go from "I can't because I work" to "I can't because I'm pregnant" to "I can't because I have two kids" to "I can't because.....". BUT at the same time, this pregnancy really has taken a lot out of me and I have stepped back from some things in life. There is a season to do that though, right? But with that comes hurt feelings from friends I've apparently neglected without meaning to and misunderstandings.

All of this leads me back to my Heavenly Father and His promises for me. I can't do this on my own and it's about time I quit trying. I'm excited to enter my 30's. Life doesn't look exactly as I'd imagined, particularly I don't look like I'd imagined I would on my 30th bday but God is good nonetheless. I want to go into my 30's confident about the woman He has called me to be and have that be enough.

As I enter this new chapter I am challenged to start my days off with the Lord again like I was when I was working. I think having too much time on my hands can be a challenge for me. I used to do well knowing that I only had a couple hours to utilize before I had to get ready for work. Now that I don't have those restrictions I feel like I've been slacking.

This post kind of feels all over the place but these are just some thoughts that I needed to get out. I'm feeling a little discouraged, a lot actually, but trying to just press forward and strive for change rather then wallow in self pity. :) After all, tomorrows my BIRTHDAY!!!! :)