Miscellany Tuesday

1) Rain rain, go away!! So many of you are all posting about your incredible weather and I think we all know how I feel about that. :) Yesterday it was actually decent out, a high of probably 60ish. Today it was raining and cold. Ems desperately wanted to wear a skirt though so I let her even though her legs were probably chilly. She wears these Crocs just about every day too. :)

2) I've started letting Ems help more around the house. She LOVES it and totally thrives with being appreciated and completing a task. I let her empty the silverware (after I empty all the sharp knives). Does my silverware drawer look a little messy? Yes. But do you see the little girls face up above? Totally worth it. She actually does a good job putting each utensil where it goes, she just doesn't make it all go the same direction. I can live with that.

3) Ems has learned to catch a ball and it's so cute. She would play catch outside for hours if we let her. :) I'm so excited for her to have a little brother to play with.

4) I had SUCH a fun weekend with my little family. It wasn't quite as productive as I would have liked; I still was having ear pain on Saturday and Sunday which lead to headaches so I actually napped both afternoons with Emersyn. It was still fun though, we did some shopping, went to breakfast, and enjoyed each other and the long weekend.

5) Have you ever gotten such a good deal from a retailer that you almost felt kinda guilty about it?? So we went to Lowes on Saturday to order a screen storm door our front door which I'm totally jazzed about. In the store, they only carry the white one. We decided to special order a color that would match the trim of our house, which costs a little bit more but worth it in the long run. Well, we go to the store and the display price for the special order door is $364. Brett quickly looked on my phone and saw that online the door was only $346. The guy that wrote up the invoice honored the online price of $346. On the way to pay for the door, we noticed that in the Lowes ad, the brand and size of door that we ordered was on sale down from $298 to $268. We went to customer service and showed them the ad. They said that the sale price only applied to the white doors in stock (which are usually $298). Being the savvy shopper that I am, I pointed out that this wasn't stated anywhere in the ad. It just said that the size and brand of door that we ordered was on sale, period. I wasn't rude about it at all, just persistent in a friendly way. Guess what? They honored the ad price for our special order door. So they rang up the door, advertised in the store for $364 and they honored the $268 price. Well, then I did what I didn't think I was going to have the courage to do........I gave them my 10% off coupon that I had printed off online. I was almost embarassed but hey, money is money. So we got our door basically marked down from $364 to $242. Thank.You.Lord!!!!! I am 100% certain that He blessed us and we are so excited to enjoy the door and the fresh air and light that it provides!!!!! I'm proud to say that I did the bulk of the negotiating too while Brett chased Ems around the store. :)

6) I failed my one hour glucose test last week. Bummer. I'm taking the three hour tomorrow morning at the wee hour of 8am. Three.Hours.Ugh. The nice thing is, Ems is spending the night at her Nana and Papa's tonight so that I don't have to take her over there at the crack of dawn tomorrow which means that Brett and I can go on a date tonight, whoo hoo! We're just going to dinner, toddler free. *happy sigh* Cross your fingers for the test tomorrow. I'm not actually *too* hopeful since I had GD last time around but I am hoping that if I do have it this time that I can control it without insulin. We'll see.

Friday

* I have an ear infection. Yesterday I had my OB appointment and asked her to glance in my ears because I suspected I had an infection. Turns out, I was right. Oy. Glad to be on antibiotics though, praying they kick in fast. I'm exhausted from being sick and I'm sure you're all tired of hearing about it. :)

*Emersyn woke up at 6am this morning. Why?? It's the earliest I think she's EVER woke up. Brett brought her into bed with us which was probably a mistake. I think we need to make her read quietly in her room when she wakes up at the crack of dawn. This mama can't function on that little of sleep and I don't know WHY she woke up...she didn't get to bed until 9pm!

*Hopefully next week there is more delightful content on this blog. Hearing about how sick I am is just as irritating to me as it potentially is to you. :)

Have a wonderful holiday weekend!!!!

Everett Update

Yesterday I got to have a *bonus* ultrasound. I switched dr's and at the time of my first appointment, my new dr. hadn't received any medical records yet. She scheduled an u/s just in case the records never came through. Well, the records did come through but they went forward with the u/s anyways, much to my delight!

Everett is doing just great and is a mover and shaker, that's for sure. It's a good thing that this wasn't the gender revealing u/s because he wasn't overly cooperative in showing off his *parts*. We did see something towards the end but not nearly as definitive as my first u/s. :)

My dr. had noted that I was measuring a little bigger then my predicted due date and the u/s tech asked how big Emersyn had been which made me nervous. She was 7lbs 13oz which is pretty stinkin' average. While the tech was doing the measurements the baby's gestational age was displayed on the bottom of the screen. Brett was watching the screen and said, "oh my gosh, so you mean the baby is measuring as if he were 26 weeks and 2 days?!?!" in a worried tone. The tech kind of chuckled and I told Brett that I actually AM 26 weeks and 2 days and he was shocked. He thought I was more like 23 or 24 weeks. Just shows how much attention he pays to the weekly schedule on the fridge, my Facebook, the fact that I say "hey, I'm (insert appropriate number) weeks tomorrow!" just about every Sunday night, etc. It was cute. :)

Everett is weighing in right around 2lbs and 5oz. Apparently the normal range is between 1.7lbs and 2.7 pounds so we are on the heavier side of what's *normal*. I feel like he is bigger then E was at this stage, which is totally uneducated I know but it could be because I just feel SO much more pregnant this time around at this stage.

I am beside myself with excitement at the thought of meeting my baby boy. I can officially say that I have a "baby itch" which really is great timing considering I'm having a baby. As most of you know, it took me a long time to get used to the fact that I was pregnant and then another shock of finding out that Emersyn is going to have a brother, versus a sister. But just like Ems loves to sing at the top of her lungs while we're in Target, "God's way is the best way....". I am giddy and totally stoked to be expecting this sweet baby boy. So much, in fact, that I went through allllllll of Emersyn's clothes and disbursed them to the appropriate piles. For some reason, I am pretty attached to her clothes and as silly as it is, I actually mourned the fact that I wasn't going to have another child wearing them when I found out that we are expecting a boy. I can tell you something about literally every piece of clothing that she has, it's how I assign memories for some reason. I am sure this isn't totally unusual but anyways, it's a big step for me to have gone through all her clothes. A large part of my therapy is that a Emersyn's little buddy Sophia has gotten 90% of Emersyn's clothes now, the ones that are in good shape at least, and then Rachelle gives them back when she is done and I can either pass them on again or sell them. It's so fun to see Emersyn's clothes live on. Silly I know. Anyways, yesterday I went through ALL of her clothes and made a couple piles to give to various friends, sell at a garage sale and toss/donate to Goodwill. It was very therapeutic and I'm really excited to go through all the clothes I already have for Everett. Between two of my amazing friends, I literally have enough clothes for the first 6 months of Everett's life!!!! I've picked up a few things on sale here and there that are dressier for church but as far as casual clothes and jammies go, I am set, praise the LORD!

I have my glucose appointment tomorrow, wish me luck!!

Wordless Wednesday- Emersyn and Riley through the years....

Over it!!!!!!!

(Stole this picture from Dara's blog)

Warning: this is not going to be a fun blog post but more of a place for me to vent.

Here is our sickness timeline:

*Early last week: Ems has runny nose and is sneezing a ton, I chalk it up to allergies

*Thursday: I start to develop sore throat, blame it on allergies again.

*Friday: have killer sore throat. Cancel playdate but proceed with date night out of desperation for some quality time with my husband. Go to see "Something Borrowed" which was cute. Only problem is, the movie didn't start until 10:20. What were we thinking?!?! We're way too old to be out that late!! Didn't get home 'til 1am and at that point everytime I swallowed it felt like I was swallowing broken glass.

*Saturday: wake up early and head to Walgreens for some better cough drops and allergy medicine. I was still trying to convince myself this was all allergy related. Then Brett and I went down to Woodburn to pick up some arborvitae's. After Woodburn, I got ready for a birthday party and went to pick up Ems from her Nana's where she stayed during our date. Nana says Ems has green snot so I vote to stay home from the party which was SUCH a bummer. If it had just been me feeling icky, I would have totally gone but taking a green snot monster to a little girls party = party foul.

*Sunday: wake up with my left eye crusted over. Awesome. Call dr. on call and he says based on my symptoms it's a viral pink eye infection with no treatment required, just need to wait it out. I quarantine myself to my room for the day and catch up on SisterWives episodes (I stopped watching for awhile but then got curious again) and took a couple naps. Brett gets to hang out with the green nosed monster and judging from the way they destroyed my downstairs, I'd say they had a fun time.

*Monday: wake up with my OTHER eye crusted over in addition to the left eye. Seriously!?!?! Call the dr. again who reiterates the same information. In-laws text me to ask for a ride to the airport. I decline due to crusty eyes but I do make a trip to Starbucks, my drug of choice. I may or may not have indulged in a piece of coffee cake too via the drive thru. Ems is still green snotted monster but in a great mood. We rent "Tangled" from Redbox and attempt to watch it together. Then we realize that sitting and watching movies is just not who we are and Ems starts to play in her kitchen and I clean up the kitchen. We let the movie play in the background and enjoy the bits and pieces we see. Emersyn takes a great nap. I didn't feel tired so I decide to make my husband the happiest man around and iron several of his work shirts and do a bunch of laundry. I am proud of my productivity despite my diseased state.

*Tuesday: Ems wakes up and is excited to go to bible study. Today is the last day and we were supposed to go out to lunch afterwards. I take one look in the mirror at my freaky pink eyes and see the constant green snot flow from my daughter's nose and decide it may be best to stay home, rather then scare the public with our appearance. I dread a long day of boredom and not feeling good STILL and now have developed a wheezy cough. I may treat myself to some "me" time when Brett gets off work and go use my double coupons at Albertsons. I'm enjoying a cup of coffee right now and blogging my heart out as therapy.

That's the sickness timeline so far. Do you feel sorry for me because that's the whole point of the timeline, to conjure up sympathy. I'm starting to do that whole debating whether or not to take Ems to the dr. but she's sleeping well through the night, no temp and in good spirits. Usually that just means it's a cold or virus and you have to let it do it's thing. I have another ultrasound tomorrow (whoo hoo) because Kaiser never transferred my medical records to my new dr. (thank you Kaiser!) so they want to do an ultrasound to verify the gestational age. I also have a regular dr. appointment on Thursday when I'll do the glucose test.

It's supposed to be a nice day today. I'm hoping to get some fresh air but if the sun is bright, it will burn my pink little eyes since I'm wearing my glasses and not able to wear my sunglasses.

Whah whah whah.

I hope that all of you in blog land are staying healthy and happy!!!!

Getting to know you Sunday

1. what's your favorite rainy day activity?

I actually like cleaning and organizing on rainy days. It's hard for me to stay inside when it's nice out and do my *chores*. But in the rare event that the house is clean, I'd say my other rainy day activity would be reading and drinking a cup of hot tea.

2. what time do you go to bed?

Later then I should. Usually between 11 & 12.

3. how many magazines do you subscribe to?

Oh gosh, too many to count. I get them either for super super cheap or for free. I get Marie Claire (which I am not renewing, just not into it anymore), Women's Day, Family Circle, Whole Living, Thriving Family, Parents, Parenting Fun....I used to get Cooking Light and Rachael Ray but didn't renew them. The problem with magazines is that I never have time to read them!! My favorite place to read a magazine is by a pool.

4. did you sell all your belongings because you thought the world was ending yesterday?

Um no.

5. what's your beauty obsession?

Oh man, I'm LOVING a new moisturizer I got at the MAC counter a couple weeks ago. It has changed my life and adds a little shimmer to my face to give me a healthy glow. Once I get a little sun in my face, I won't even have to wear foundation.

6. if you could only wear one designer/brand for the rest of your life...what would it be?

Hmm...that is a really tough question!! I have NO idea!! If I could only pick one brand of shoes to wear, it would be Jessica Simpson. :)

7. what's your summer must have?

Old Navy flip flops!

8. do you make weekly dinner menus?

Not as often as I should....maybe like once a month. I always love it when I do though, feel so much more organized and have to make less trips to the store.

Book review: Choosing to See

I saw this book on the "hot new releases" shelf at the library yesterday and I snatched it up. I recalled reading about the loss of the Chapman's 5 year old daughter (their teenage son didn't see her when he was driving up the driveway and hit her with his car....just awful) while I was still pregnant with Emersyn and was interested to hear the journey that this mother has gone through. In a way, I think I'm fascinated by tragedy which probably sounds morbid but I just am so interested and inspired when I learn about how someone copes and works through a loss. Plus, it is such a good reminder of treasuring each day with our loved ones.

The book is about Mary Beth's life, her marriage to Steven Curtis Chapman, and their children. They have three biological children and three adopted children and the story of how each adoption occurred was interesting. Mary Beth has struggled with some depression (before and after their family's tragedy) and I was inspired to read how she has worked through that.

I totally bawled during the chapters describing their family's loss. I just cannot imagine. They've had some triumphs in the meantime, including two of their children getting married and I finished the book challenged to be a better wife and mother and to not take anything for granted.

One of my absolute favorite songs is called "Cinderella" by Steven Curtis Chapman and I cannot listen to it without totally tearing up. He wrote this for his daughters and it's such a wonderful reminder of how fast our children grow up and how important it is to take the time to enjoy them....

Grateful

There isn't a day that goes by that I'm not overwhelmed with gratitude for being able to stay home with my girl. I was thinking today as we played at the park how I used to drop Emersyn off at her Nana's on my way to work and my heart would literally ache as I drove past parks on sunny days, so envious of all the mama's who got to soak up the sun with their babies and wondering if they had any idea how fortunate they are. Today I got to be one of those mama's and yes, I am completely aware of how fortunate I am. :)

Miscellany Monday

{1} Today is my EIGHTH anniversary!!!!! Eight years ago today I married my best friend and I still feel like I'm playing "house" some days. Marriage is both a far greater challenge and blessing then what I ever imagined. I'm so thankful for a wonderful husband and father to my children. We're going to celebrate with a date night on Friday using a Groupon 'cause being frugal is our style. :) I'm super excited for our date though; it's much needed after a crazy couple of weeks and Ems will have a great time at her Nana & Papa's.

{2} I've started seeing my belly dance around a little bit when Everett kicks. So far I have to say that he is far more active then his sister was at this point. I think he's going to be a busy boy, just like his daddy. I've always said that if we ever had a son, I hope he is just like Brett and I have a feeling I may have gotten my wish. :) I could just stare at my belly for hours when he's kicking, looking for those slight movements. It's not dramatic enough for someone else to notice but I can see it. I'm 25 weeks today.

{3} I've found a new activity to keep Emersyn occupied while I'm drying my hair. She gets soooo needy when I'm trying to get ready so I decided to let her indulge in one of her favorite things, lotion. I let her put lotion on my legs while I dry my hair. It's a win/win really....I get to dry my hair and have moisturized legs and Ems gets to play with lotion (that I dispense of course).

{4} We found the fabric that we're going to decorate Everett's nursery around!

I'm so excited!! I'm also getting the feeling that I may have blogged about this before. Hmm...oh well! With this fabric, we can keep the nursery green which will save a lot of time and money. I'm going to do navy and yellow accents too....very fun!

{5} We've also decided on this quilt for Emersyn's room!

I've added these items to Everett's registry on PBK and will buy them when I close out the registry and get 10% off, score!

Prayers for her Baby

Emersyn has such a sweet and tender heart. Every time she puts her baby down for a nap, she kneels down and whispers prayers with them. I finally caught it on camera when she wasn't looking...or not looking at first anyways. :)

Dear Jesus....thank you for this day.....

Thank you for my baby and allllllll her friends...

Keep her safe and healthy and strong....

And now I'll rub your back....don't cry when I leave, I'll be riiiiiiiight back!

Okay mama, she's ready for bed now!

Miscellany Monday

{1} I'd forgotten how delicious the Olive Garden is until last week when we went there for lunch after church. They have this super flavorful Chicken & Gnocchi soup that I LOVE and of course their salad and breadsticks. I loved my lunch last week so much that I picked it for Mother's Day lunch. It's a great place for Ems too....she loves the minestrone soup.

{2} Emersyn is constantly singing. Like, constantly. Her favorites are "twinkle, twinkle", "mighty to save", "jesus loves me", "father abraham", and many many others. I think she thinks her life is a musical and I think that's just wonderful. She sometimes will rap songs too, like just say the lyrics really fast talking.

{3} I am just a tad bit obsessed with matching girls. I just think they are so cute. This could be why the Lord is giving me a baby boy; He could see me taking it just a little too far with another girl. Thankfully I have a friend who also appreciates the darling-ness of matching girls and thus we have created a matching Mother's Day tradition for Emersyn and Sophia.

I know.

They are too stinkin' cute for words.

{4} Speaking of Sophia, I get to watch her next week for an afternoon and I'm so excited!! AND her mama is throwing me a shower with the help of a couple other friends!! Ironically, I threw her a shower exactly a year and one day ago from the date of the shower that she has planned for me. If you had told me at her shower last year that she would be throwing ME a shower one year later I would have laughed and said you were crazy!!! :) Needless to say, I am SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

{5} I am participating in a group garage sale with a friend of mine and one other gal next month and it's totally motivating me to purge the house, especially the guest room which is being converted into Emersyn's big girl room very very soon!!!!!!!!

{6} It's May, almost mid-May and the sun has made very limited appearances here in the Pacific NW. I beg of you, my southern and east coast friends, share some of that sunshine with us!!!!!!!!!! :)

{7} Brett found an email that I had written him from October saying that I had a baby itch. :) I honestly don't remember writing that but I did....crazy crazy. I definitely have the itch now!!!! :)

Happy Mothers Day!

So happy to spend this Mother's Day with my mama and the one who made me her mama!! :) Hope you all have a great day of celebration as well!

My weekend!

This weekend was pretty much occupied by one thing.....my brother and sister-in-law's graduation from college!!! My brother got his B.A. in Cinema and Media Communications and his wife got her B.A. in Broadcast Journalism. I am SO proud of them. They owe George Fox University a lot, not just for their education but for their marriage. :) They met one year, were engaged the next, and spent their final year married. Jenny completed the program in just three years which enabled her to graduate with David. What a special thing to accomplish your first year of marriage!!

I know. They're kind of adorable. :)

Our family is so proud of them! I'm so thankful that my parents were able to come out to celebrate. They will be here for the next week and we have all kinds of fun planned, including a visit to Chuck E. Cheese. :) My mom will get to stay an additional week too! I'm looking forward to some quality time with my parents.

David and Jenny, we are so so proud of your accomplishment! You inspire us with your diligence and commitment to your futures. God will bless you for your hard work and we can't wait to see what He has in store for you!!!!!!!