A Beautiful Day

A couple of mornings ago my son lifted up my shirt a bit and looking at my belly said "growing bigger and bigger and bigger." I unable to keep a small smirk off my face replied with "yes, your baby sister is growing bigger in there."

We had a fun family day today, we packed a picnic and ate at a local wildlife conservation area by a river. Then we did some hiking and off-roading - using our SUV for what man intended it for I guess. It was a ton of fun. After awhile I was done with both boys begging for more and bigger hills - I said they'd have to make a day out of it when Mommy and baby were at home resting!

I'll leave you with some pictures of our day and my belly (20 weeks and 4 days along) if you want to compare it to 4 weeks ago here's the link.

Where's your baby sister?"

Watching for another fish to jump.

Kissing baby sister

A refreshingly beautiful day.

Another favorite quote:

“As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." - Proverbs 23:7

Quirky quote contest

Jewlsntexas is having a contest and the winner gets a new blog template. I'm participating because let's face it I can use all the help I can get - plus I love quotes! One of my favorites is

"We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them." Albert Einstein

Thinking bloggers

My parents are visiting for a couple days so I was just going to sneak a quick blogging moment. (They tired my son out enough for him to take a nap!) But I come to find out that sweet, sweet Linds my blogging friend of Rocking Chair Reflections has given me a thinking blogger award. Apparently that means I make her think - which makes me chuckle since I'm not so sure that I agree!! BUT I am totally blushing and tickled that she thinks so!

So the point of these awards is to "pay it forward" to five other bloggers. I'm finding it hard to narrow down just five since the reason that I read all of your blogs is because you do make me think and learn and challenge me!

Even though she was also on Linds list a blog I have to include is Owlhaven. Mary's was the first blog I ever read which got me hooked to this whole idea. She's inspiring and her writing about raising 8 kids, adoption, God, and the reality of life all makes me think and strive to be a better Mom, Wife and Child of God.

Stephanie from Adventures in Babywearing is next on my list - not that this is in any special order. Whether she's posting about the complex decision of vaccinations or to stay in pjs all day she's always making me think about the important things in life. She's a wonderful blogging persona here in blogland and I'm very blessed to read her.

I too agree with Linds that it's wonderful how generation gaps are non existent here in the blogging world same with physical boundaries like oceans and mountains too I guess!! Anyway, Barb writes at A Chelsea Morning and her writings are very wonderful to me. She makes me think about life. Everything from should I really be ironing my sheets ;) to keeping the focus on God. She's always letting us in on projects she's up too and I love the devotions she does on Sundays they are always insightful for me.

Another one that makes me think is Ashlee at New Mama's Nest. I love her writing style as well as parenting style. She's done some terrific writing on what being the Mommy of a preemie has been like for her and her family. Her son is a hoot and I love to follow the things they do. And an added bonus is that she takes amazing photos!

Last but not least I'm going to have to say that Linds you have to make it on my list as well. Her writings are absolutely amazing. Her faith in times of hardship and loss are truly inspirational and her love of life and her children - mostly grown now- are so profound and I feel truly blessed to have found her blog when I did!

Remember to pass these awards forward!!! And thanks for being my blogging buddies!!!!

We're having a .......

Here are some new ultrasound pictures of our precious little one. Linds there really didn't turn out to be a great picture for you to try to guess since the Dr typed on that one and I'm too tired to blur it out tonight! I also forgot to ask hubs to take a picture of me today at 20 weeks so I'll have to remember tomorrow!

It's a GIRL!!! It's a GIRL!!! It's a GIRL!!!

More potty talk

We made it on an outing today and not one accident. It was to church which he considers kind of like home anyway, I was able to find a step stool so that he could go standing up "like daddy does." It was the first day without an accident except one #2 accident (only his second of the week) yup I'm so happy for him! I may brave my Dr's appointment and the grocery store tomorrow!

**************************************************

My Mom sent me this in an email the other day and I thought it was fun.
Paul Harvey Writes:

We tried so hard to make things better for our kids that we made them worse. For my grandchildren, I'd really like for them to know about hand me down clothes and homemade ice cream and leftover meat loaf sandwiches. I really would.

I hope you learn humility by being humiliated, and that you learn honesty by being cheated. I hope you learn to make your own bed and mow the lawn and wash the car. And I really hope nobody gives you a brand new car when you are sixteen.

It will be good if at least one time you can see puppies born and your old dog put to sleep. I hope you get a black eye fighting for something you believe in. I hope you have to share a bedroom with your younger brother/sister. And it's all right if you have to draw a line down the middle of the room,but when he wants to crawl under the covers with you because he's scared, I hope you let him.

When you want to see a movie and your little brother/sister wants to tag along, I hope you'll let him/her. I hope you have to walk uphill to school with your friends and that you live in a town where you can do it safely. On rainy days when you have to catch a ride, I hope you don't ask your driver to drop you two blocks away so you won't be seen riding with someone as uncool as your Mom.

If you want a slingshot, I hope your Dad teaches you how to make one instead of buying one. I hope you learn to dig in the dirt and read books. When you learn to use computers, I hope you also learn to add and subtract in your head.

I hope you get teased by your friends when you have your first crush on a boy\girl, and when you talk back to your mother that you learn what ivory soap tastes like.

May you skin your knee climbing a mountain, burn your hand on a stove and stick your tongue on a frozen flagpole. I don't care if you try a beer once, but I hope you don't like it.. And if a friend offers you dope or a joint, I hope you realize he is not your friend.

I sure hope you make time to sit on a porch with your Grandma/Grandpa and go fishing with your Uncle.

May you feel sorrow at a funeral and joy during the holidays. I hope your mother punishes you when you throw a baseball through your neighbor's window and that she hugs you and kisses you at Christmas time when you give her a plaster mold of your hand.

These things I wish for you - tough times and disappointment, hard work and happiness. To me, it's the only way to appreciate life.

Written with a pen. Sealed with a kiss. I'm here for you. And if I die before you do, I'll go to heaven and wait for you.

Paul Harvey riddle:What is greater than God, More evil than the devil, The poor have it, The rich need it, And if you eat it, you'll die?

I'll be back tomorrow with the news!!!

Oh my word...

...does time fly when you're having fun. I guess my last post was a lie - oops and sorry! I haven't even turned on the computer all week, we've been enjoying some nice spring weather and doing a ton around the house.

I guess the biggest news of the week is that my son is potty training!! We tried for a couple days about 4 weeks ago and neither one of us was ready. Then this past Monday right before his quiet time he asked to sit and read on the potty and we did for 40 minutes - yes indeed he is quite determined so I guess he just wanted to sit there until he succeeded. And he did! Lots of hugs, a call to Daddy and a chocolate chip later and we were on to something.

Today he only had 2 accidents BOTH within 30 minutes of each other AND while I was cooking dinner. Similar to the night before so I'll have to increase the frequency of my reminders in the evening time. Still in diapers during naps and outings since I haven't been brave enough to just go for it. I think I may invest in some training pants this week for while we are out! Any advice you'd like to give on this subject will be well received as I always feel like I need to be a sponge and learn more about parenting at each new stage!

On Tuesday I go in for my 20 week u/s!!!!!!!!! We'll be finding out if we're having a little brother or sister!!!! Other pregnancy news - I'm so hormonal right now that one of the comics in the paper today made me cry. Can I just say my poor hubby, I'm certain he thinks I'm nuts. I'll post another belly picture soon.

A couple of weeks ago my son was asking to go outside, I was on the phone with my sister so I really didn't pay that much attention to what he was saying (insert twinge of guilt here). It was a nice day so I sat out there with him and the next thing I know he's coming over to me holding the watering can saying "flowers need water." I find that he'd stuck some of my silk flowers into the garden - apparently spring couldn't come too soon around here! Happy Spring!!!

Getting back to blogging

I'm back...feeling SO much better and I've cleaned and pruned bushes and laundered (actually put away even) and cooked and exercised. I'm feeling productive enough to get back to visiting my blogging friends!

The winner of a homemade party favor (I think we'll make cookies tomorrow) is Monkey Giggles. Congrats and I hope you'll enjoy!

Some new blogs I've found and enjoy (among many) are Woman With Many Hats - Tracey's posts are many about attachment parenting and I'm finding them fun and educational! - and bleeding espresso - Sognatrice lives in Italy and shares many insights about the world and life (not to mention pictures) of a world away!

I'll be around to visit soon!

A little break

Thanks for all your wonderful comments...I seem to have been slapped in the face by a cold for one of my birthday presents and I'm grateful that I had a reminder of all I have to be thankful for!!!!

I'll be taking a little break from blogging until Monday - I might be around to visit you though :)!!!! See ya in a few!

Wordless Wednesday: Tulips are coming!!!!

Remember to Party!

32 Things to be Thankful For

Since I shared the news that it's my birthday I decided to share 32 things that I'm especially thankful for this year! In totally random order...

1. My loving husband
2. the wonderful connection we have
3. A wonderful and truly amazing son
4. A growing pregnant belly
5. "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb" vs.13 and the rest of Psalm 139
6. Outstanding parents - the best
7. The best siblings and extended family
8. My Mom for (of many reasons)being an example of natural childbirth (30 something hour labor with me I want to say!)
9. A terrific Mother-in-law
10. 2 handsome nephews and a beautiful niece
11. Our health
12. Smiles
13. The best friends
14. That God always provides
15. 2 crazy dogs to teach me patience
16. Girl scout cookies ;)
17. A wonderful church family
18. Tulips piercing the earth
19. Eyes to read and learn
20. Ears to hear the best laugh ever
21. Spinach and lettuce coming up in the garden
22. That I get to stay home with my son- as he says "Daddy go work and Mommy stay home play!"
23. To be a sinner saved by God's grace
24. A son who sleeps through the night
25. The drive to become the best mom and wife I can be
26. My blogging friends :)
27. A beautiful home
28. Mexican food ;)
29. To be living in the US
30. Running water and a multitude of appliances (I can't imaging being without these luxuries especially while pregnant!)
31. All my family - I know I mentioned them before but they deserve 2 spots since I'm doubly grateful for them all!!!!!!
32. A joyous life!!!!!!! (Yes, we have our moments too but I love how wonderful it really is!)

Someone really needs to invent a lock for a box of girl scout cookies. One that say, spits out a serving and then won't let you have anymore for 24 hours. Otherwise it might be possible for one person to eat an entire box in two sittings or less!!!!!

In my house girl scout cookies = failed lesson in self control!!!! ;)

Remember to party!

Prego Belly Pics

The above picture was taken when I was 37 weeks along with my son. He was born on his due date so I still got three weeks bigger than this. Sorry that it's not the best picture, we have some others that are bare belly and actually show how HUGE I was but I'm not brave enough to post those!!! My son was 8 pounds 6 ounces and I'll be posting more about my birthing experience with him in the next few weeks! The sunflower was knocked over in a wind storm but I wanted a record of how big it was too!

This was taken today (Sunday 3/4/07) at 16 weeks 5 days along! I'm hoping to post them periodically so I can have a record and we all can see how big I get with this one!!!!

For more pregnant bellys or to link up yours visit Steph at Adventures in Babywearing.

P.S. Remember that there's a party going on!

Apple Fruit Leathers

Today we made apple fruit leathers from scratch. I've wanted to try them for awhile and they were both easier and harder than I anticipated.

I followed the recipe that's in my La Leche League cookbook, Whole Foods For The Whole Family. The ingredients are: 1- 1 1/2 pounds (or more) ripe fruit and 1 T to 1/4 C water, if needed (I didn't add any)
Optional ingredients: 1 T. to 1/2 C. honey, ground spices such as cinnamon, allspice, cloves or ginger, and flavorings such as vanilla, grated lemon rind or grated orange rind.

For softer fruits it said to peel (peaches, plums etc.) but for harder fruits (apples, pears) the recipe said to leave them unpeeled. I was semi skeptical about this so I peeled half of the apples - knowing that there are so many nutrients there but not wanting the flavor tainted! (Tasted fine BTW.) After coring and cutting into chunks I boiled them with about half an inch of water until fork tender. (With softer fruits you can skip the boiling step.)

Puree with skins in blender or food processor cool and force through a sieve. I don't have a sieve that I thought would work plus I just thought that it wasn't necessary as the puree was an applesauce consistency - like the instructions said.:) Add options to taste...I used cinnamon, honey, vanilla and allspice.

All is going well so far but here was where the hard part began.

Line one baking sheet or drying screen with heavy plastic wrap securing corners. Spread puree 1/8 inch thick on prepared surface. Dry in food dehydrator or outside in the sunshine (cover with cheesecloth to protect from insects) on warm days, bring inside at night. May dry in a gas oven with pilot light or electric oven heated occasionally to 120- 140 degrees; open door periodically to let out moisture. May also use the top of a wood stove or the rear window of a closed car parked in the sun.(seriously it says this) Dry for 1-2 days or until no wet or sticky spots remain.

I had read somewhere else to oil the baking sheet instead of using plastic wrap so I did one tray of each. Spreading the fruit very thin was a bit difficult with a 2 year old trying to help. Once Daddy occupied him it was somewhat easier! It was also easier to spread on the oiled sheet, the plastic wrap even though it was secured to the sides would slide on the bottom of the pan which made it a bit more frustrating. Plus I'm not the biggest fan of having soft plastic like that right next to my food in a warm place where it could potentially leach into the food.

All that being said and done when I went to put them into my electric oven I found out the lowest temp that mine has is 170 degrees. I thought it would be ok :)! Really it was ok but I think I should have just let it heat up and then turned the oven off, cracked the door ajar and the oven light would have provided enough heat. I left the oven on for almost an hour (cracking occasionally to let steam excape), then I turned the oven off - left it closed and we went to a friends for dinner. When we got home a couple hours later the pan that was only half way filled was done...actually overdone. Around the edges it became a fruit brittle, which tasted good but it wasn't what I was really going for. The pieces tasted great this morning on top of oatmeal and I'm sure they'll make a great topping for granola too.

The second tray still had large wet spots last night so I just took it out of the oven and covered it on the counter to continue in the morning. I heated the oven (slightly) put it in and left the door ajar while we went to church. When we got home it was done.

They taste good but I think next time I'll spread the mixture a bit thicker, when dry these are paper thin. All in all it was a really good learning experience and I plan to make some more with some frozen peaches and pumpkin (since I have both in the freezer still) to see how those turn out. (For pumpkin it says puree cooked pumpkin, add options and proceed as directed.)

For storage it says to roll and store in an airtight container in cool dry place, can refrigerate or freeze for long term storage. Oh, here we go...if fruit becomes brittle sprinkle on celery? or yogurt.

Really they weren't as time consuming as reading this wordy post!LOL!!!! Just have to get the knack of drying them! Since it's challenge week at Stop the Ride! I'll be submitting this for Stephanie's carnival be sure to head over there on Tuesday and see what all the other participants made from scratch!!!

Updates and DNA

For those of you who asked, my birthday is Wednesday, March 7th and an update on how being 16 weeks pregnant is...I'm feeling so much better - I still have a pretty strong beef aversion but I can eat chicken as long as I've cooked it, mostly I'm craving a lot of Mexican food (cheese enchiladas) and guacamole. The mornings are still a bit rough but usually after breakfast I'm feeling great for the rest of the day.

I've felt occasional movement and can't wait for more of it! The good thing is that all of us are getting used to eating less meat and more vegetarian type dishes which is of course so much healthier anyway. Last but not least at my appointment 9 days ago I had only gained 1 pound total - ignoring the fact that I'm a good 10 pounds heavier to start this pregnancy than I was with my son that's not so bad.

This is the last time I plan to talk about my weight, I don't even own a scale because I believe that they aren't really a good indicator of health (having been a dancer and knowing all the unhealthy ways in the world to loose a few pounds before a performance). If we are eating right and exercising then building lean muscle and losing fat might not register on the scale anyway which is just discouraging.

Wow, I've gotten off topic and I really don't care how much weight I do or don't gain during pregnancy the goal is a healthy baby and that means more poundage! :) Besides nursing will help take off the weight again anyway!!!! I can't wait to have another nursing kiddo! What a blessing this pregnancy is!!!

Thanks to the babywearing Stephanie (and others) for sharing this.

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Chocolate cake

In my party post I mentioned a recipe for chocolate cake. Before I get to that however let me just say that some of my favorite TV lately is the Food Network. I love 30 minute meals with Rachel Ray and I also have been getting some good ideas lately from Quick fix meals with Robin Miller.

Tonight for dinner I fixed these meatball parm subs but with beef instead of chicken. I've made them before and they are a snap to make and very tasty!

Now on to the good stuff, the first year Adam and I were dating (10 1/2 years ago) I made him a chocolate birthday cake from scratch that he says was the best ever. For 10 more birthdays I've been trying to make it again and finally this year I succeeded. (I didn't actually make chocolate EVERY year!) I saw Robin Miller make this one on one of her Quick Fix Meals shows and I thought I would try again this year. We found it very delicious and easy to make so it looks like a keeper!

Chocolate Cake

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cups brown sugar
3/4 cup cocoa
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup boiling water
Confectioners' sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
*Note:I didn't have buttermilk but substituted Milk with 1 tablespoon vinegar per cup milk and let sit for a bit.

Combine dry ingredients in large bowl and slowly whisk in wet ingredients. Pour into greased 9 by 12-inch baking pan and bake for 25 minutes. Allow to cool. Dust with confectioners' sugar and serve.

I felt that after 25 minutes it looked a bit runny still so I cooked it for about 12 more minutes and it turned out that the center was still wobbly then too but it did gel up nicely when it cooled a bit and those were the best pieces. Next time I think I'll pull it out at 30 minutes. Enjoy!!!

It's a party!!!!

Susan and Janice over at 5 minutes for mom are so much fun! They are hosting this wonderful blog party for everyone with fun prizes and everything! I'm totally digging a party where I can meet some new and wonderful bloggers and sit at home and sip some ginger tea!!

If you're new here I'm a stay at home Mom to a wonderful 2 and a half year old son who keeps me plenty busy and entertained and I'm 16 weeks pregnant with our second due August 14th! If you'd like to find out a bit more about me you can read 100 things about me and you can see what a semi-typical day around here is like.

What's a party without a cake??? Tomorrow I'll be sharing a super delicious chocolate cake recipe! I'm also turning 32 next Wednesday so there's lots of reasons to party around here!

I'm also offering a prize for everyone that leaves a comment here. You'll be put into a drawing for some sort of homemade treat - it could be something I canned or something I'll make special, not sure yet. Make sure to leave me a comment so I can come check out your place and so you'll be put in the drawing!

A Day in My Life

I'm playing along with Owlhaven's fun game A Day in My Life! I chose yesterday for my day and since it was my hubby's birthday it's more like a semi-normal day around here but you'll get the picture. I still did my 3 loads of laundry even though I spared you those pictures (except the laundry basket that you see sitting in the family room ALL day!) along with the dishes from the dinner the night before that didn't get done until after lunch!

Since I'm not all tech savvy like many of you I couldn't get a link to put the slide show right on my blog using flicker or flash so hopefully the following link will work!!!!
MY DAY!
UPDATED: to add that if you let your mouse hover over the pictures in the slide show you'll be able to see the titles of each picture, otherwise for some reason they don't show up!

Since I'm a nerd I'll also tell you a bit about our day too. If I get long winded, just watch the slide show since it's just stuff I want to remember too. Like the word of the last few days is "zoinks" and I have not a clue how he came up with that one. Cute though!!

Our days pretty much always start the same around here; we get up, let the dogs out of their crate and feed them, fix breakfast - today's was waffles for hubby's birthday but usually it's more like scrambled eggs or cereal topped with yogurt. Then it was time for a bit of TV - Caillou today.

Some days my son is going through that "my self" phase so he gets undressed and dressed with minimal help. He'd been asking to go to the park for days so I told him we could go for 10 minutes today. I had to make a trip to our local coop for some items for hubby's birthday dinner as well as a few other things that we were out of so I picked a nearby park. I don't think I even lasted 10 minutes and as you can see there was still a dusting of snow in the shadows - I think it was about 40 but the wind was chilling!

I actually left the camera in the car at the store but after my son found the "just for me" shopping cart I had to go and get it. I'd never even noticed that they had them there before so we both had fun - yeah it took a little longer but it was worth it.

I guess when you take 173 pictures in one day your kiddo will turn his sippy cup and multiple toys into cameras saying "smile" throughout the day. While I did the night before and all morning/lunch dishes he played happily running between rooms. When I was done all pillows were stripped off the living room couch and he had made a little fort between it and the coffee table. He also was jumping on the couch which I'm still not sure if that's allowed or not but I left it alone for today! He did more playing with his trains and puzzles while I collected ingredients for the birthday cake.While the cake was baking we rested and read books for a quiet time.

I found a terrific recipe for chocolate cake and I have a little story to go with it but I'll be posting that later in the week with the recipe- yes it's from scratch! LOL!

We normally don't eat this fancy but dinner was red rainbow trout with lemon butter sauce, beets and garlic bread. Some of Daddy's favorites. Daddy's little boy picked out the Elmo candle to go on the cake for "my birthday too" I'm pretty sure that Dad was OK with sharing.

Bed time is pretty much the same every night: he takes a bath (4-5 nights a week) or sometimes a shower, gets into PJ's, brushes his teeth then picks out 5-8 books to read (enough to last at least 15-20 minutes or so). I usually read the books and then hubby will come in for prayers, I'll kiss them both goodnight and turn out the light. Hubby sings a few songs and puts him into bed. Since today was one of many days without a nap he was asleep in no time, sometimes he'll sing or talk to himself for awhile too.

Then picture me in front of the computer and then out by the TV folding clothes and that's my day!!!

The make Make it From Scratch Carnival is up and there are some yummy and cool recipe's and instructions!

I'm at a loss for words tonight and need to go scrub my favorite (Read as the only ones that fit very well.) maternity pants again. In the same day they got chocolate milk and permanent red marker on them - both of which seem to be fading from the light khaki background. Contrary to the permanent marker's name it WILL come out. Suddenly I'm reminded of Macbeth - time to scrub and maybe to bed!

I had to start wearing maternity clothes just before 15 weeks - I'm sure that's a detail I forgot to mention and all of you were just dying to know!!! Seems a bit early to me but my hubby tells me I'm supposed to get big and fat and it's beautiful - so that's what I'm going with!

Blog stuff

Life sometimes goes awry here and I take completely unintentional hiatuses from this blog. Day after day I think about post after post (or my hubby will say laughing "this is going to end up on your blog!") and they just don't get written.

Part of the reason is that life just happens and we go with it. Another part could be that we made 5 batches of homemade pasta on Friday - borrowing my super duper bestest friend's pasta roller thingy (technical term) thanks AM!!! The biggest part of me becoming a lurker on my bloglines and not commenting on all of my favorite blogs (yours!!!!)as much as I like is that I've been working. Thankfully from home, but for 5 hours a week or so I'm doing stuff on the computer that's not blogging and by the time I'm done with that I'm ready to get off the computer for awhile and do my other wife/motherly duties and or play! That's pretty much that until I get used to my new routine.

There's also a ton going on this week in bloggityville that I don't want to miss out on but despite making an insane amount of pasta on Friday I neglected to get a post about it in for Stephanie at Stop the Ride! She's doing a make it from scratch carnival now!!!! I'm really excited about it since the first week every month it's something you've never made before and the other weeks can be anything from scratch. On my list of stuff I've never made before:puff pastry, fruit leathers, re-cushion and upholster our dining room chairs, make roman shades. I'm hoping that this keeps me motivated to do one new thing each month. If your interested in participating the guidelines are here. The cut off for emailing her your posts are Sundays and she'll post the carnival on Tuesdays! Should be lots of fun!

Another event of the week is going on at Owlhaven. Mary's having "a day in my life" in pictures we can all share bits a pieces of our days. It can be any day between now and March 2nd. Then on the 2nd we'll all go link up w/ Mr.Linky. Anything that requires me taking insane amounts of pictures of my kiddo sounds like fun to me and you can check out the details here.

Then remember that this week starts the fun of 5 Minutes for Mom'sUltimate BlogParty which starts on March 2nd through the 9th. I'll be there especially since my birthday falls between those dates - great that they are having this big bash huh???!!!

First Snowman!!!!

Our snow is usually the dry powdery stuff so when I woke up this morning and saw the huge wet snowflakes coming down I knew what we were going to do this morning. My son has been asking for snow lately anyway so I knew when he saw it we'd be outside right after breakfast!

He had fun rolling and picking up "Frosty's head". "I can do it all by self." was fun to hear right before..."Heavy Mommy! Help with the head! No fall!" So he did it mostly by himself!!!

"Snowman eating rocks Mommy!" Since that's what we used to make the eyes and mouth. We tried to arrange the leaves that stuck in as buttons down the front! Then, he stood back and looked saying "eyes, nose, mouth, arms. I know a hat!"

What frosty is finished without a hat - the first one I found was the one my hubby uses to mow the lawn - it seemed to do the trick.

Then we had fun throwing snowballs and walking around the block. Since there wasn't much snow left in our front yard!

Seeing Ashlee's post the other day about Frosty in her freezer reminded me of something we used to do as kids. We'd put snowballs in the freezer and get them out on the 4th of July. They become more like ice balls in the freezer but it was always fun to play with them while they melted in the summer heat! So we'll be doing that this year too!

My Mama!

Stephanie at Adventures in Babywearing started a photo tag. She thought it would be fun to see the Moms behind the Mommy bloggers, so here's mine!

Meeting my son for the first time....

Reading books on a visit this past fall...

I wrote a post about her here.

She's so crafty, she just finished this beautiful sweater that my son is handsomely modeling. She knit it on the tiniest needles I've ever seen. He loves it already and it just came in the mail two days ago. It truly is wonderfully made, terrific! Thanks Mom!

More food!

Last night for dessert I made my husband a Quick and Easy Banana-Caramel Tart courtesy of Emeril. Let me tell you it is so good, it tastes incredibly heavenly, and it took like no time to make.

Like the recipe says, I used a store bought puff pastry but next time I'd like to make my own - maybe if Stephanie has another "make it from scratch" I'll make some. When I looked at the recipe I just couldn't see myself spending that much more time in the kitchen after the tamale fun the day before.

With the ease of it I just couldn't help sharing it with you all, the next time you are in the mood for something wonderfully fruity and sweet and (best of all) easy keep this one in mind!

Wordless Wednesday: Good till the last lick

From Scratch!!!!

Now that I'm all caught up on my list and much more it was time for a day of fun!!! (Well, still hard work but worth it!)

I'm playing along with Stephanie of Stop the Ride she's having a contest. She has challenged her readers to make something from scratch that they've never made before. I choose tamales since I want Mexican food every day lately and I've always wanted to try my hand at them.

I cooked a chicken and shredded the meat - you can see in the pictures that my idea of shredding is a little more chunky but it still tasted great. We soaked the corn husks and mixed the masa - by hand.

I added some spices to the chicken (garlic powder, chili powder, cumin, salt & pepper and a little olive oil.) and mixed it very well. Then got all set up to make the tamales.

I found lots of different recipes online for tamales and followed parts of a few of them to try to fit our tastes. Each one also had different instructions for putting the masa on the husks and rolling the filling. I wasn't very exact and they didn't look the best but that's what you get when they are homemade I guess! (At least in this house.)

After they were all rolled, I put them into my pasta pot with a strainer that fits inside and steamed them for what seemed like forever. The problem that I had was the pot only left room on the bottom for about an inch of water and I kept having to interrupt the process every 15 min or less to add more water to the pot. It took the first batch about 2.5 hours too cook and boy were we ready for dinner when they were done. I thought they turned out good, I think my masa wasn't quite the correct consistency for that batch it was too moist - which was certainly better than too dry in my opinion. My hubby made guacamole when he got home and we pigged out!!!

I also made a batch of sweet tamales that I just took out so hopefully those will be as good as the chicken ones. Thanks to Stephanie for having this contest it was so much fun to try something new and my hubby is now super thrilled that there are tamales going into the freezer for many future meals!

Now to get caught up

Thanks for all your kind words. Speaking for myself I feel SO much better today than I did. It's been over 24 hours since any one's you-know-been-sick. (She says with fingers crossed.) We aren't taking any chances and are still eating relatively mild foods for good measure.

List for the day: 1) get caught up on all the laundry - I'm wearing miss-matched socks since I looked through one of four clean piles of laundry that haven't been put away.
2)Put said piles of laundry away.
3) Finish doing taxes.
4) Actually make some dinner for my husband for the first time all week. (He actually ate cereal for dinner twice this week - so sweet!)
5)Since my dog just did something completely unmentionable and may make a liar out of what I said in the paragraph above, steam clean family room carpet!

I think that might be enough to keep me busy for the rest of the day!!!

Spoke to soon - puke up to my shoulder and all over the bathroom floor (thankfully) - took a shower and can't scrub the smell out. Ugh... Hope you all are having a wonderful day -it's nice to read about other days when mine is - well, a bit less wonderful!

Some Updates

We seem to be on the up swing of this illness!! After one night of sleeping in the rocking chair and on my sons floor I was so very grateful for the 3 hour nap we took together yesterday. I was even more grateful for the long and good nights sleep I got last night!

I've been wanting to post about this ever since she posted about it last week but our fellow blogging buddy Ashleehas started her very own business!!! It's called Nest and boy do these slings look awesome!! I've never seen more stylish slings and I'm putting it on my list for the new baby! (The Chocolat is my favorite, hint hint! LOL) Anyway, go and check them out if you or someone you know is having a baby. And if you need some reasons why babywearing totally rocks she's listed a bunch here!!! Thanks Ashlee and best wishes on your new adventure!!!!

Some updates on the compact pledge. After a month of really not buying much new I'm much more confident that we can really do this for the year. We did purchase a new duvet cover. Our old one had needed replacing for awhile. I'm sort of considering this in the delicates department since my hubby definitely wouldn't go for a used duvet cover since in the summer we really don't use a sheet just the comforter. - I may just be justifying here :)- Anyway, my brother and SIL gave us a gift certificate to Linen's n things and the duvet was on sale for $33 so we only paid $18 out of pocket. Not too bad in my opinion!

I did find a used baby monitor on Craig's list that I bought since ours would wake us up during the night and randomly get all staticy. This one is older but works great and was $10. (Roughly one-fifth the price we bought ours for just over 2 years ago.) I might not buy many new things again!!! I'm also looking at some maternity cloths too!

The only other new things I've purchased (besides food etc.) is some diaper covers for my son. The ones I had purchased a few months ago shrunk and ripped, and one just disappeared somewhere. These were recommended by Stephanie at Stop the Ride and work wonderfully. I love them SO much I'm so glad that she blogged about them right when I was getting fed up with the one's I had. If my son's size had been available on eBay I would've purchased them there used. I was just desperate and I think it better to keep cloth diapering then wait until some used come available!

If your still with me - my apologies if this got long a boring!!LOL. BUT be sure to go and visit Nest!

Forever a Perfect Fit

I am weak but thou art strong - Jesus keep me from all wrong;

In the just over three years that my son has been with us from conception, God has never been more evident to me. Since He let the miracle of life begin those three short years ago I've been ever more grateful with each passing day. Never have I been more convinced that God brings specific children into our lives for a reason just as he brings specific moments, chance meetings and wonderful people.

I'll be satisfied as long as I walk dear Lord, close to thee.

Today, we rocked as you lay on my too quickly growing belly and snuggled in close breathing me in as I you. If ever I thought about how I would rock you and snuggle you as you grew now I know that I'll always find a way. All the learning about zygotes and chromosomes and DNA and RNA just can't do this justice. I can't always find the words to say just how amazingly insignificant all that science became after seeing the evidence of God's hand at work in my womb.

Just a closer walk with Thee - Come Lord Jesus hear my plea;

God gave you to us to care for, raise up and train to fly because he's all knowing. He knows that you make our family more complete. You've actually brought our family closer to God than we've ever been and closer to each other. I'm repeatedly amazed at the lessons you teach and the thoughts you provoke in me. The things about life you make me question when you ask me "why?." Sometimes I cannot find the answer I want to give for awhile and by then you are on to something else. Then I pray that I'll hold the answer until you ask me again.

Daily walking close to Thee - Let it be, dear Lord, let it be.

Now that my role as a Mother will be expanding in 6 months or so I know that God has this child planned just for our family. The next one will bring even more fullness to our lives and more wonder and joy. For an instant I wondered if we'd still have these moments together when you awoke wanting more Mommy time while your long sweeping eyelashes gently tickled my neck. I'm confident that God will give us these as we need and many other moments of catching each others eyes from across the room and you giggling saying "silly Mommy."

Through this world of toil and snares, if I falter Lord who cares?

I am suddenly and truly feeling a calm and peaceful reassurance from above that I've been trying to force myself to feel since this pregnancy began. I realized that although I said I trust whatever God had planned for us it wasn't fully in my heart yet. I relied on our first ultrasound to relieve my fears but that lasted for about a day until thoughts and doubt crept in. The second ultrasound also brought more comfort and reassurance but not a day later I began to feel more doubt sneaking into my daily thoughts.

Who with me my burden shares? None but Thee, dear Lord, none but Thee.

Learning how to trust and be close to God is not easy for one like me that tends to resist and enjoys my illusion of control. The lack of reassurance after those Dr visits is a good thing even a great thing because now I honestly can feel peaceful and trusting wholly in my Savior!

When my feeble life is o'er, time for me will be no more;

I'm most grateful that God used my sick child today as a reminder to slow down and let this song come back through my head. Tears of joy landed on soft sandy hair as I sang sitting with him by the fire as his fever chilled him knowing that we'd always have this feeling for each other and always be two neighboring pieces in the puzzle of life, no matter where God leads him.

On that bright eternal shore I will walk dear Lord, close to Thee.

Craziness!

I was just over at 5 Minutes for Mom reading a post about how they didn't realized they were nominated for the Share the Love Blog Awards. I thought now would be a good time to go and vote myself. As I was going through the voting I realized that one of you amazing people nominated lil' old me in the happiest blog category. Can I just say how sweet you are!!!

I appreciate all the support and love that all you bloggers give. You are the best group of people! Thanks, you just made my day which didn't start out the happiest this morning!

There are so many wonderful choices in each category so if you haven't yet voted head on over and do so. Thanks to Heather at One Woman's World for Sharing the Love!

Is my kid the only one...

...who gets sick in the middle of the night very stealthily and goes back to sleep afterwards????!!!!!!

Seriously here peeps, this is gross and can I tell you the Mama guilt going on that I didn't even hear my own kiddo getting sick in the middle of the night!!

It's one thing to clean up puke it's another to clean it up hours later when it's dry and crusty.

He really doesn't seem worse for the wear now that he's using his "just in case" bowl for a hat.

Wordless Wednesday

Lovin' Grandma!

We are missing Grandma since she moved this weekend. Ok, so honestly not having the option of any more FREE babysitting did cross my mind once. (She know's I'm kidding!LOL!) BUT really even though we'll miss her here we send her with all the best wishes and blessings for her new city to become a wonderful home. Luckily it's an easy place to fly to from us!

I Am From

I loved reading these so much when I read about them before at Mary's (Owlhaven) that even though I didn't have a blog of my own back then I wrote one for fun. I never have posted it here so here goes! Be sure to visit Owlhaven to do one yourself or to read some others.

I am from twirling beneath maple branches watching seed pods fall like helicopters. I am from breathing crisp autumn air while raking leaves into piles and jumping in from the tire swing. From Ovaltine after sledding and sun tea after summer fun.

I am from the little house with many additions and the gravel driveway with sweet smells of apple pie wafting down.

I am from lilacs and snapdragons and colorful, fragrant, tasty gardens, from the woods with the creek and the old railroad tracks.

I am from homemade ice cream on the Fourth of July and strawberry picking on Father’s day and Yankee baseball on muggy summer nights. From hazel eyes from Bill and Margie and Jim and Betty and Bill and Elsie.

I am from book readers and great bakers and hard workers who know how to have fun. From “take your elbows off the table” and “you can do anything you set your mind to.”

I am from Catholic and Methodist and God loving people who treasure family and friends. From NY’s suburbia with a short walk to the post office and the firehouse siren every day at noon.

From Germans, Austrians, English, Welsh and Dutch, who generations before took the long boat ride here so that I could live this life! From bagels and cream cheese after church on Sundays, Bobo’s sauerkraut, Gram’s sweet rolls, and Mom’s jam and bread & butter pickles.

From walking up the hill to Grandma and Bobo’s to be entertained with stories of the “good ‘ol days” and water skiing at the lake in the dry heat of the annual summer visit out west and Mom sitting while I reheated dinner after weeknight dance classes to keep me company.

I am from bulletin boards and notes on the fridge and pictures on walls, in albums, shoe boxes, envelopes and bags. These hold proof of the memories of love and joy and laughter. Of broken arms and healed hearts, of black Labradors and striking young Grandmothers, of playing in the basement and climbing the tallest of pine trees, of sister sleepovers and playing soccer on the back lawn, and of babies being loved dearly into adulthood and continuing with each generation.

Our little one

We went in for my second ultrasound yesterday and it was so much fun. It was so crazy seeing all the little parts- hands and feet and fingers and toes! Of course the scanned in copy doesn't look too great but the wee one had his legs crossed and was waving hands and jumping and wiggling all around. I guess she better enjoy it while there's still room to do all of that!

The little foot measured 0.83 cm! Just a true itty bitty one in there.

My goal was to make it to 12 weeks without getting out the box of maternity clothes and while it might be close I'll be 12 weeks on Tuesday so I think I might just make it!!!

UPDATED: I'm adding this link because has some interesting info about fetal development so you can see what's been happening in just the last 11 weeks.

Thanks and winner

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who participated in yesterday's activity festival! All of your ideas were so creative and since many of you listed a bunch of ideas I'm beginning to think that spring is just around the corner!

Thanks again! And the winner of a can of peaches is....Stephanie from Stop the Ride! Congrats Stephanie and just shoot me an email with your address and I'll get those out to you soon. (Probably not until Monday!)

Winter Activity Festival

Mornings are a bit touch and go depending on the day around here so I thought I'd get this up tonight.

Welcome to the Winter Activity Festival where we can share some of our new or old ideas for winter fun with our kids. We are sharing ideas for winter activities, games, or crafts for any ages. You know, the fun stuff that puts the sunshine back into these bleak days.

You can post on your own blog or leave your idea in the comments whatever you'd like. You also may leave as many ideas as you'd like to. If you post on your blog leave me a link in the comments and I'll update the links at the bottom of the post.

If you do post on your own blog your name will be put a drawing for a chance to win a can of peaches. One of the ones that we picked and then canned. I thought it might be a fun thing to add since today I got my first package in the mail from a fellow blogger and I just loved it! There's something about getting something from someone you've never actually met face-to-face that is really meaningful. Thanks Stephanie (Adventures in Babywearing!!)

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I'm sharing a silly game that my son and I have made up over the last couple of weeks. It's something he likes to call Running High Five. And the title really does sum up the game pretty well, I sit on the floor with my arms out and he runs in circles around me giving high fives on each pass. Yeah, it always works out that I get to play the part of the stump on the floor! It works out well for a tired 11 week prego Mom!

We play with switching directions and counting the number of times he can high five in a row. He laughs most of the time and it usually ends up becoming a game of Mommy trying to catch and tickle him. He will ask to do this multiple times a day now and it will last for about 20 minutes or so with some hugs here and there for breathers. I've found that it gets out some of that - little boy pent up energy - quite nicely and ends up being great bonding time for us as well.

Can't wait to see what activities you have to share!

"Children think not of what is past, nor what is to come, but enjoy the present time, which few of us do." Jean de La Bruyere

5 minutes for Mom
Owlhaven
Life With All Boys
Stop the Ride
The FlipFlop Mamma
Baseballs and Bows

Little Daredevil

I was just looking through my pictures from Christmas when I realized that I haven't taken a single picture for two weeks. I'm pretty sure that's against our house rules! Our quota is like 40 a week! This is the last one that I loaded onto the computer on Christmas day.

My Dad and my Son...two of a kind!

Party stuff!

This sounds like too much fun to pass up so I'll be partying with Janice and Susan at 5 Minutes for Mom along with all of you. I'm looking forward to finding even more blogs to read..LOL! It's seriously so much finding a connection with all these other Moms (And Dads) out here in blogdom!

And if you didn't make it to the end of my rather long winded post the other day I'd love it if you'd like to play along with me in sharing a winter activity at my Winter Activity Festival on Tuesday the 23rd! We are sharing ideas for winter activities, games, or crafts. Fun stuff that you do with the kids indoors during these long cold days. You can post on your own blog or leave your idea in the comments whatever you want. Of course if you post on your own blog I'll put a link in the post to yours.

Don't worry I'm not delusional thinking I'm going to get a million of these I know I don't have that many readers! My goal is for 10 since there will be about 9 weeks left of winter and that would be one new activity a week until spring, plus one extra. Hope you want to come play too!

Time Well Spent

Awhile ago my very good friend sent me this wonderful link which by the way just made me teary reading it again for at least the 4th time! If you have a few minutes to read this link I promise it's worth your time.

I just love this perspective. I am just as guilty as the next Mom (more so even) of trying to find something to occupy my son (Mr. Roger's Neighborhood) while I fix dinner quickly - even though he loves to help me. I do feel that I spend a lot of time with my 2 year old son but I also find time to justify why there’s not as much quality in that time.

Along with simplifying life around the Butterfly home I am putting an effort forth to spend even more quality time with my son. After all in about 30 weeks (can we hope for 28.5!) he's not going to be getting all of Mommy's attention anymore. Why not lather it on now!

In these early years of my son’s life I’ve wanted to give him everything that he needs to succeed in life. If only I can realize and really bring into the forefront of my parenting the extent to which we (his parents) are absolutely everything he needs.

Today as I was starting this post and doing some reading, a post at Overwhelmed With Joy said pretty much exactly what I was trying to say. Finding ways to spend time with my child that builds up our relationship not necessarily involving toys. (Even though plenty of our quality time involves throwing, catching, rolling, counting, bouncing, swatting, kicking or grabbing at a ball.) Since Owerwhelmed's post asked for things we do with our kids I'm going to list a few - even though most will probably be duplicates of hers.

We do tons of reading around here usually before nap time was lost again during a quiet time in the afternoon and before bed. Some days we may fit some books in other places as well.

We visit the library often for their music and movement class. It's typical for us to leave with about five books (so Mommy can keep track) but lately one of them has to be the Berenstain Bears.

We listen to all different types of music. We dance together and get silly! We'll also play on the piano (he does this most with my hubby) or we'll play the harmonica together or shake rattles to the music. We've also been known to make a trumpet out of a paper towel roll and drums out of many things but chopsticks are his favorite drumsticks. (Sorry, I guess this one used toys but I think music is important.)

We do some fun yoga poses together. Mostly the animal poses: lion, the dogs, cat, cow, etc. It's fun for him to add the sounds to each pose for some added silliness!

We go out and check the mail after walking around the block. Listening for dogs barking, looking at geese flying over, and waiting patiently for tulips to be blooming!!!

I think I'll stop here and ask if anyone would be interested in playing along with me say next Tuesday January 23, 2007. I would love to set up a Mr. Linky (if I can) or just link to everyone who leaves comments. We can all share a post about a fun winter activity or craft. It can be anything you do during the many indoor hours this time of year for any and all ages. I know we can't be the only ones who go stir crazy so I thought it might be worth it to swap ideas. Then we'll have a new arsenal for the last couple months of winter! And for those of you who are frozen solid I hope you get a thaw soon!!!

I hope you’ll come back on Tuesday and join in for a Winter Activity Festival!

Do you think since my son can now climb up onto the changing table by himself it's time to get rid of it?

Honestly, he probably could have done this months ago but he never tried it until yesterday. And no it's not anchored to the wall (please don't yell at me!!! I know, I know!).

Just please no one give him a heads up about climbing out of the crib, I'm so grateful that he's still in there!!

You know you're pregnant when

* all you can stomach is chicken broth with rice noodles and brownies.
* dinner prep is filled with gaging and your child asking "OK Mommy?"
*while holding your breath looking in the fridge you remember that the baby probably needs that oxygen.
* even the thought of ANY kind of meat cooked or raw (even just reading it in the recipe title) is just about enough to make you start gagging.
* your family has gratefully eaten pasta for three days in a row.

If y'all have some yummy vegetarian type dishes that you'd like to share with me I'd greatly appreciate them!!

Not that I'm complaining, just grateful to be feeling this way at all!

Wanna see all the stuf

...we found inside our stereo speakers?

There's a hole in the back just the perfect size for little fingers to drop all sorts of stuff into. My wonderful hubby and Dad took them apart over Christmas. They still had one more to do when I took these pictures. It had tons more legos and a couple more little footballs. Where does he come up with this stuff? And seriously, just HOW MANY balls does one little boy need?!?!?!?

Homemade gifts

Last month I spoke about making most of my Christmas gifts and promised to share. Most of my family got cookies, some of the canned goods I made this fall (applesauce, peaches, peach jam) and I also put the dry ingredients for some cookies in a jar. Those layered cookies were fun to do and SO easy but I think I may have lost the recipe - I guess I'll have to find a new one for next year!

For my parents and MIL I had been meaning to make these little plaques since Mother's Day - I thought they would be a nice Mother's/Father's day gift. When those holiday's past I forgot all about them until Christmas.

I went to my local craft store and purchased a rectangular shaped piece of wood, two different sized hearts and as many wooden stars as kids needed.

Then I just started painting away. Around the edge I used a tooth brush with metalic paint instead of a regular brush.

The stenciling made me nervous since I had to try to make it all perfectly centered. That didn't last long and I just crammed it all on. I used a pencil to draw the letters on and then traced over it with the marker. "Caution, Grandparents at play!" Is what the sign reads and then I listed all the grandkids names on stars. The kids names I just had to free hand on the stars because I didn't have a stencil the right size.

I added all my parents grandkids mine and my brothers in birth order since I thought it might get to confusing keeping it organized by families. I also put two extra stars since we are both expecting again - she's due any day now!

I just used hot glue to glue the heart and stars on and I figured that they could keep going up and around with new ones or hang a piece of twine underneath and staple the next batch of kids on to that!

Living and learning

2006 was a year of learning for me. Learning how to parent a toddler for one thing was HUGE. Learning how my attitude indeed affects everyone inside my house (outside too) and if I can grasp my moods the days go SO much better! I learned a ton - mostly from fellow bloggers, THANKS -about how to be more frugal. One commitment I'm making for 2007 is to become even more frugal.

Did you see Stephanie's post on Saturday? It had some really great links and info. I especially loved this article about The Compact. They promised not to purchase anything NEW for the year - exceptions are food, toiletries, undies etc. Thanks Steph!

I am considering doing this with a few exceptions. My hubby absolutely needs some new pants and shirts (I'm sick of him wearing the same one to church every week!) so those are one my list for this year. We don't go extravagant or anything but he doesn't like to buy used clothes so probably LL Bean - hopefully their wrinkle free ones! When I explained The Compact to Adam he said "Don't we kind of do that already?" - excepting a few new things for our son for birthday and Christmas yes, we kind of did this for the last 6 months or so but not to this extent.

I was so amazed two months ago when I bought really cute 2T overalls at a thrift store got them home to find that they were Baby Gap - and along with another pair of pants, snow boots and a book all for $8. That was my first visit there but I will be back this year. I am also looking at it as a way to make life a bit simpler. Can I have as simple an 8 months as possible so that it will still be doable with a toddler and infant for the rest of the year? We'll see and I'll keep you posted.

On a similar subject I recently read about these in a magazine recently and I think the idea is super amazing. I don't know why they call them earthships exactly but it uses recycled and natural materials to build the house. Then by using solar powered electricity, collected rain water and very insulated materials it is virtually utility free. Comments I've read say that it will mostly remain in the high 60's to low 70's no matter the outside temp without heating or a/c. If we ever get our dream to build I would LOVE to use many of these ideas for our house.

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BTW, the only reason I got the laundry all caught up last week while feeling so ill was because the week before my hubby called a young woman from our church who baby-sits our son and asked her to come help me clean for the afternoon. Can I just say that I love my husband for thinking of me, he knows that I would never ask for the help myself and she cleaned and played with my 2 year old for hours - terrific! That is the only reason why last week the only thing I had left to do was the laundry (since hubby also cleaned our master bathroom)! Thanks Sarah!!! Thanks honey!!!

New Year's News

I'm feeling like things are getting back to "normal" around here. Honestly, it’s actually abnormal to have only one more load of laundry to do and then there will not be a dirty item in the house - excepting what we are wearing of course! But considering we have been searching and sifting through clean piles and baskets it is nice to be caught up and have clothes in the closet again!! I still haven't taken down Christmas, it is my least favorite thing to do but hopefully before Valentine's day everything will be back in boxes, LOL!

So the big news - yes even bigger than laundry - is that we are pregnant again. Yippee - on December 27th we saw the little heartbeat of a peanut on the monitor. The very best Christmas present ever, ever, ever! (We are VERY thrilled this visit was so much different than the last time.) I am feeling quite ill, which my hubby likes to joke is a really good thing - since it is pretty much exactly how I felt with my son. No complaints but lots of sitting and sipping peppermint tea on the couch!

I'm due August 14th which is 8 days from my son's birthday. At least I've got all the right maternity clothes - if they still fit! My 2 year old was born on his due date so it's hard to expect anything different this time but we'll see in 32 more weeks. Oh yeah, I'm 8 weeks right now.

I was looking back through my calendar and it is very hard to believe that this time last year I had a 16 month old who didn't take his first steps until 3 days before he turned 17 months. It amazes me that he now says such grown up things like "nice and warm", "be right back", "see you in two weeks", (I think he got that from The Very Hungry Caterpillar book) and my personal favorite "Oh, what fun!" I think my favorite is actually that when I ask him a question (would you like to read a book?) he’ll reply with “oh, great Mommy!” Then he’ll run and grab one of the many books that he can actually read to me. Oh, to have the memory of a two year old!