Precious!

So Almost 2 year old Baby H spent the night with her Pops and LaLa this past weekend. Big THANK YOU to my parents for letting me get some much needed rest and a few last minute things done around the house. I  had to share my favorite picture they sent from the weekend.

I think these two are each others biggest fans! We hear all about Pops's truck. Love this picture!

I might need a new title huh?

Still here, still pregnant. Very pregnant. About 97% pregnant I believe. Ha.
So we need to switch the name of the blog...again. But I want a different address too, so I will let you know when/if that changes, as there will soon be four little birds in our nest!

Sorry to have dropped off the blog. We have had a few changes in our home life and it means a little less free time for mama. But we are really thankful for the extra work and income that the Hubs is getting. Y'all just say a prayer for him as he is driving back and forth to Memphis those few days. He finishes up his degree at Belhaven at the end of October and we are just anxiously anticipating the new opportunities that may come our way as a result. Don't worry Oxford friends, we are not going anywhere with a newborn in tow! This spring we decided to take at least a year and prayerfully consider what God has in store for us in the future. Right now I am just trying to sort through the noise so that I can hear a bit more clearly. Intentional praying is a skill that I am not proficient in, or maybe it is the listening? Perhaps a combination of both.
Lately I tend to be a pray when I think about it person. Just little short prayers, bullet prayers I think they call them. I am really looking forward to maternity leave...for lots of reasons. But I am planning to use this time to be more intentional about my prayer life. And have fun with my new little one of course.

So here is the latest progress on the baby room:

We cannot wait to find out who will be living here!

And here is the latest progress on the belly:

Also cannot wait for whoever is living in there to GET OUT!

Back to the doctor on Wednesday and hoping for some good news! We have everything ready now, even put the infant car seat in the car - I thought having two cribs in our house was a shock. I was not prepared to have my entire backseat covered with car seats, books and remnant goldfish. You know what would make a million dollars? A hand vac that you kept in your car! Like in the trunk or something and charged off the battery. Man, I would buy a car just for that reason.
Don't steal my idea, you heard it here first! And I need that million, we are about to have two in diapers and daycare!

Catching up...

Whew! Being pregnant with a toddler is a lot harder than I thought it would be. Or it is at this point anyway. God bless our sweet daycare teachers! So let's see, it has been almost a month since I have posted anything. Unfortunately nothing remarkable has happened, save the exceptional weight gain I have experienced, 12lbs in four weeks, eek! But my OB assured me that is it "all baby." Girls, this is how you know you have a good OB.
So here are some pictures from Easter, yep Easter was a while ago. The problem is our family photographer relocated to Birmingham, so unfortunately you will only get quality pictures on major holidays from this point forward. And our babies better be satisfied with phone pics of themselves - I mean who are we kidding, by the time they care about pictures of themselves everything will be on high tech devices, so really we are doing them a favor by saving a step.

I think it's obvious to say they are related!

When this little girl was born she looked exactly like her Daddy, so what does it mean that at almost two years old she looks very much like my father-in-law?

Bubbles have become one of our favorite activities, along with sidewalk chalk, playing in the yard and bossing around Lola. We are entering the phase of dirty and daily baths are pretty much a necessity. This wouldn't be too much of a problem, except that she has decided she doesn't really like bath and if she has to get in one she would rather not sit down. I have no idea where this determined nature comes from. Ha.

  This is one of the few family pictures we have. I keep thinking that a nicer camera will make me take more pictures, but I really prefer the arrangement we have right now: someone else documenting our lives is much more convenient and time saving. I joke, but seriously if it wasn't for one sweet sister-in-law we would only have about half the pictures of our child that we do.
Thanks to wonderful parents we have gotten all of the spring cleaning done in our yard and minimal planting completed. This will be a low maintenance summer yard year. We have half cleaned out a room for our new baby and my plan is to have it done by the end of June, with about four weeks to spare until arrival. So hopefully we will come up with some names by then.
We are loving our CSA and I have learned how to use green leafy things in so many ways. Disguising spinach or kale in a fruit smoothie is a perfect way to pump up my green adverse toddler. Our home is becoming more of a regular spot for dinner with friends, which we love. And The Hubs and I have both been challenged and are learning a lot about our relationship and our relationship with God. Exciting times.

Ok, I am going to try to be better about posting and taking pictures to post. I need to get in the habit now, or this second baby will end up having a baby folder instead of a baby book.

Diaper Bags: what gives?

So here I am browsing through the Cribsie Awards and have discovered several things: 1) this is a pretty awesome time killer 2) it is also a helpful and revelatory site. So I am browsing down the categories and I see one of the categories is "Chicest Diaper Bag that Doesn't Look Like a Diaper Bag." Yes seriously, that really is a category. But you know, in the hospital they don't give you the option of "Post-partum Body that Doesn't Look Like I  Just Had a Baby."  So who are they fooling? I am pretty sure that everyone will notice the adorable, but sometimes drooling and smelly infant in your arms. But maybe if you have a super cool really expensive diaper bag they won't think its yours!And I am sure no one gave a second thought to that expanding beach ball under your shirt.

So here are some of your baby disguising options:

The Kate Spade Stevie Bag  - I know I have seen several of these floating around town.
Petunia Pickle Bottom's Touring tote
Anything Vera Bradley - especially if you are from the South

I am fortunate enough that I had a friend make a bag for Not so Much Baby H that has held up beautifully for almost two years now, complete with changing pad. You can find her on Facebook. Of course with our excellent timing, it is starting to look like we may need to invest in another bag. Either a regular one or one that is a bit larger so that we can put both babies things in one bag. Thoughts or suggestions?

Edit: I began this post a few days prior to the storms that came through. We are all ok and hope that you are too! There was quite a bit of damage in Oxford, one of our church families lost their entire house. We continue to hear about more damage across the south and pray for those who lost more than just earthly possessions. 

Also, there will be an Easter post coming soon!

Time Warp

I thought it would be fun to do a little comparison with these babies of mine. Since, let's face it, that is what I will be doing for the next year or so. They are already SO different. This little one is so still and Baby H was a mover and a shaker. I always felt great with Baby H and well... so far with this baby I have had 4 months of nausea, followed by 2 weeks of cold that ended with a sever ear infection and then another 3 weeks of cold/allergy/sinus funk that has resulted in a bruised rib/ torn side muscle. Fun times people. Fun times. And I still have 4+ months to go - no telling what is in store for me next.

I thought I would share these pictures taken at nearly the same time but two years apart. Yes, only two years.

Here is one of me with Baby H at 20+ weeks:

Here is one of me with Baby on the way at 20+ weeks:

I know that your first response was "Wow you look great and haven't aged a bit." RIGHT?! And then you can go ahead and say what I am thinking - that belly in the second shot looks a lot bigger. Yikes! Oh and yes it is the same tank top, for my fashion conscious readers. I have heard all about the showing earlier, but I didn't know that meant you showed bigger too.