21 Questions

What is something mommy always says to you? Books

How old are you? 2

How old is mommy? 5

How old is daddy? 6

What makes you happy? Daddy and you

What makes you sad? I go to school and I cry for momma. 

What is your favorite movie? Tangled

Who is your best friend? Sophie, Emma 

What do you want to be when you grow up? I don't want to get big, I want to get little. 

What is your favorite color? Pink

What do you like to wear? A dress

What is your favorite food and drink? Chips and milk

Where does daddy work? He works at his thing and he builds it.

Where does mommy work? You work at school. 

Why is mommy's belly so big? Cause it's Maddie Lou

What do you want to teach your baby sister? I want to teach her how to walk and slide and say momma and daddy and that's all I says

What is your baby sisters name? Maddie Lou 

What do you like to sing? Cinderella 

What is your favorite animal? Umm gariffe 

Where is your favorite place to go? To the zoo and to church

What is love? Love is when you have fun today and love is very nice 

I plan on asking Lilly (and Madelyn when she's old enough) these questions every now and then. I have a binder for Lilly that has all of my blogs in it so I can give it to her one day. I'll have to make one for my Maddie Lou too. Her answers are so precious. We had her parent/teacher conference at daycare yesterday and she has excelled in everything. I'm so proud of her and the little person that she is. 

In mommy news, I finally got my van that I've been wanting!! I absolutely love it. I wrote a blog almost 2 years ago about wanting a van and filling it up with kids. Now I just need my "baby on board" sticker and I'll be set. :) Madelyn's kicks are getting stronger everyday. She is now the size of a spaghetti squash and weighs 1 lb. I am 22 weeks already! That blows my mind. Lilly enjoys kissing and rubbing my belly and telling me how big it is. I can't wait for her to rub and kiss her in person. What a great big sister she will be. 

Sugar and Spice, and Everything Nice

"Sugar and spice

and everything nice

that's what little girls are made of

Sunshine and rainbows

and ribbons for hair bows

that's what little girls are made of

Tea parties, laces

and baby doll faces

that's what little girls are made of"

I am so excited for this new little miracle to join our family and I am so excited for Lilly to have a sister to play with. I feel like we are giving her a life long friend and my heart, once again, is so full. 

I wanted to find out the gender of this baby with Lilly so we got the ultrasound lady to put the results in an envelope for us. We had to wait about an hour and a half after we got the envelope and we were both about to go crazy! Lilly was more interested in tearing up the envelope but it was a precious moment for our family. We had decided on a name already if we were having a girl so that part was easy! Picking out girl names was very easy for us both times. It literally felt perfect when we said it and I knew she was my Madelyn Louise the moment I found out. 

I'm 20 weeks now, half way there, and I feel more and more kicks and movement everyday. The placenta is in the front this time (which is ok) but it can muffle some of the movements. I feel her the most when I am still or lying down. Mike has felt her too. It is my absolute favorite part of pregnancy, besides the big belly. Her ultrasound was perfect and everything is healthy and she is growing right on schedule. This is the biggest blessing of all. I'm feeling pretty good and just overall happy and peaceful. 

In Lilly news, she is growing so fast! I can't believe she will be 3 years old in just three more months. I'm already thinking about all of the matching outfits they can wear (oh yes, it's going to happen) and how to decorate their bedrooms and girly bathroom (when we get our own place). Madelyn will be able to wear Lilly's baby clothes too since they will be in season so that is another huge plus! AHHHHHH I'm just so thrilled to do this all over again. Lilly loves her baby cousin Margaret and wants to touch and kiss all over her so I hope she loves her sister just as much! I can just see her trying to pick her up and put her in a baby stroller... Oh it's going to be a fun summer! 

When Life Gives You Lemons

"When life gives you lemons, squirt someone in the eye" 

"When life gives you lemons, throw them right back" 

"When life gives you lemons, make a margarita"

These are just a few variations, but the one I prefer is "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade". We can learn a lot from the lemons we receive sometimes in life, and hopefully, if you're optimistic, you can grow and become a stronger person. 

I don't think we realized how different it would be to move with a toddler and a dog into my parents house. We were too excited and overwhelmed about our new beginning, but somewhere along the line that excitement faded and now my brain feels like scrambled eggs sometimes. I miss our bed. I miss our bed soooooooo much. I hate that Lilly doesn't have her own little girl room with purple walls and prissy curtains. Every kid should have that! I worry about bringing a new baby into this house if we are still here and where we will put all of the new baby things. Those are the top three stressors that sometimes keep me up at night. And also not really having a definite plan about where we will go when we do sell our house. Lots of stuff to think about. 

But, when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Yes, all of the things above do worry me, but I know that this part of our journey isn't forever, and I am excited about so many other things in our future that make those other three stressors seem silly. Like the fact that we have a new realtor! She sent us a huge list of things to do to the house (very small things thank goodness) so my wonderful husband went up there this past weekend and knocked them all out. He said he threw away so much stuff in our attic (thank goodness!!!!!) and everything looks more "staged". Hubby up!!! I'm excited that we have her and I'm excited to sell this house! 

In baby news, he or she is now the size of... You guessed it... A lemon!! I went to the dr last Wednesday and the heartbeat was almost 170! Lilly's heartbeat was always in the 140/150 range. We will find out at the end of January if Lilly will have a little brother or sister. I am so glad to be in the 2nd trimester! No more morning sickness!! But I'm still very tired. That's probably because I have an active two year old. A very active two year old! 

Lilly has become miss prissy pants. Everyday when we get home from school she takes all of her clothes off at the door, runs upstairs and puts on her "pingo" dress (it has flamingos on it) or her Christmas dress, complete with her ruby red shoes. She would wear these two dresses everyday if she could. And it's probably all she will wear over Christmas break. But Santa is bringing her some new dresses too so she will have more options! And holy moly, I don't think we have ever been so excited for Christmas!!!! It's the most wonderful time of the year! 

So, all in all, life is still good. It's not perfect. We are missing several pieces of the puzzle, but it is still good. I'm going to continue to drink my lemonade, and maybe a margarita in about 6 more months. 

I Love You

I love you when you hold my hand and beg to pick you up, I love you when you forget your manners and demand I fill your cup.

I love you when you kiss my cheek and sweetly say "I love you", I love you when you throw a fit, it's ok, remember you're only two.

I love you when you say I'm pretty and try to comb my hair, I love you when you misplace your shoe and can't find the other pair.

I love you when you sing your songs for everyone to hear, I love you when you scream and cry those alligator tears.

I love you when we go outside and you show me how you run, I love you on those grumpy days that don't seem like too much fun. 

I love you when you dance around in your princess dress, I love you when spill your drink and make a great big mess.

I love you when you act so cute, my heart strings you so tug, I love you no matter what, because you're my Lilly Bug.

And

I'll love you when the new baby is here and everything is new, I'll love you when you're not so sure, I promise mommys heart is big enough for two. 

. 

Dinner for Two

November 13, 2014

9 weeks 2 days 

Everybody that I live with is currently on a diet. Everybody except me (and Lilly)! I can't imagine being on a diet and living with a pregnant woman that is eating everything in her path. My dad is down 6 lbs since Monday. I'm probably up 6 lbs since Monday. 

In fact, I am so definitely pregnant that I woke up Sunday morning and cooked (gasp!) a big Sunday breakfast complete with eggs, bacon, and about 14 pancakes. Tuesday we ate lunch in Cary at a D&S Cafeteria. That was a dream come true. I even had room for desert. Today when I got home I was greeted with the smelly smell of a crockpot meal which almost made me barf. Mike brought me home some habachi chicken with rice. I love that man. I thought I would have enough leftover for lunch tomorrow, but who am I kidding? Everybody stared at my delicious food while they ate their diet meal. And now I'm in a food coma on the couch. 

I think one reason I'm eating so much, besides the obvious reason, is because I feel like I have to feed the nausea, like it's this big mean monster that I have to keep feeding so it doesn't completly attack me. Everytime I feel the slightest bit hungry my nausea monster takes over full force and my two choices are to eat or barf. 

One food that makes me feel better is carrots. Weird, right!? Munching on a cool crisp carrot has saved me from the monster many times. Atleast it's not a snickers bar. 

And while I'm on the complain train, I might as well vent about how uncomfortable I already am. I feel huge. My stomach feels so tight and itchy already. I feel like my dinner just sits in my chest after I eat. I'm sleepy. I'm stuffed up and sneezy (common pregnancy symptom). My pregnancy brain has already embarrassed me a few times. And my jewelry is irratating my skin!! Geez, it sounds like I'm all of the seven dwarfs rolled into one. This pregnancy is already so different than it was with Lilly. I didn't dare complain when I was pregnant with Lilly. I was just so happy to be pregnant that I didn't care about anything else. I'm still happy and feel incredibly blessed to have this new baby growing inside of me, but maybe I'm a little more human this time around. Maybe because I know what to expect this time. I know way way way more about pregnancy, the good and the bad, than I ever did with Lilly's pregnancy. The more you know, the more you grow (literally)! But I'm going to soak up every minute of this pregnancy as I can because as hard as it can be, it's the most incredible experience you can have. 

I can't wait to meet this baby. 

Here We Go Again!

November 1, 2014

7 weeks 4 days

We found out we were pregnant the Friday morning of October 10. We found out we were pregnant with Lilly on a Friday morning too. It's hard to describe the feeling those 2 pink lines give you. We giggled like kids. We laughed and joked about having a baby while living upstairs in my parents house. We hope we are settled into a new house by then, but I guess there is a possibility we won't be, depending on when we sale our house. But right now we are just focusing on the positives! 

We had our first ultrasound on October 29. The baby was upside down so it looks like they are standing on their head :) We heard a strong heartbeat of 141. Best sound ever. And just like that I had the same feelings I did with Lilly. It feels weird to think about loving another baby as much as I love Lilly, but I don't think this is going to be a problem. Our due date is June 17. Lilly's due date was April 16, but she was born on the 4th. I wonder what this baby will do? I've already asked the baby to please be born on the last week of school so I can enjoy a nice long summer with him or her. Lilly seems excited and she keeps telling us she has a baby in her tummy too, named Ella Charles! 

But holy moly.... I never knew something the size of a blueberry could make me so sick. I guess this baby is already trying to outdo their big sister. I have puked and puked and puked some more. I constantly feel like I drank 15 beers the night before. I've even had throw up parties at work!! One day after school I drove straight to my grandparents house and laid on their couch for an hour. When we were sick as kids, we called their couch the "sick couch" because we would lay on it all day while grandma took care of us. The dr gave me medicine on Wednesday. Thursday was the first day in a while that I haven't lost my food. But the medicine makes me feel funny, very drowsy but jittery. And on top of that, I puked after our trick-or-treat hay ride on Halloween. Boo. This baby better be cute!! 

November 8th, 2014

8 weeks 4 days 

I need to knock on every piece of wood I see.. But... I think I'm starting to feel better. I stopped taking the first medicine the dr gave me and now I just have zofran. I'm only taking it if I feel like I'm about to puke. Yesterday and today I have felt half way normal, just a little queezy. Maybe I will be back to normal by Thanksgiving!! 

And can we talk about this baby bump! I guess it is true that you show earlier with your 2nd. None of my pants fit. I never thought maternity clothes would feel so good. We decided to announce my pregnancy now because it's getting pretty dang obvious. And we are excited. And I'm pretty sure my nieces already told everybody they knew. I think we announced Lilly's pregnancy even sooner than this baby. We are horrible at keeping secrets. Babies are blessings... Even if they do make you sick :) 

Same Ol' Same Ol'

Well, let's see here. I haven't sat down and wrote a blog in a few months! That means life is super busy, and boy is it! Except right now. Right now Lilly and I and Mike are watching Peter Pan. One of her (and my) favorites. She keeps calling me "mom" tonight instead of "mommy". I can't decide if this is cute or heartbreaking. 

So, here's what we have been up to! School is great and exhausting. I love Deep River and everybody I work with. My students are way to sweet and they have some awesome parents. We had a pumpkin day today where we counted and sorted pumpkin seeds. The kids brought in 15 pumpkins! 15!!!! It was a fun day. But one thing I didn't expect was how different it would be to teach in a new county. In some ways I feel like a first year teacher all over again as far as staying late and getting everything done. But that's slowing down now that the first quarter is over and things are starting to feel a little normal. 

Except that we still live with my parents. Which is fine and they are super helpful. But I never knew how much I would miss my own bed. Holy moly I miss that bed. We have had lots of people look at our house, which is great, but no bites yet. I hope we have our own place sooner than later. And I know we will. Just putting my faith into Gods plan for us! But I wouldn't mind if you said an extra prayer for us tonight. I would love to have a new house for Christmas! Maybe I'll add that to Lilly's list for Santa. 

On more exciting news, Lilly is 99% potty trained!!! She is in panties full time, even during naps, but diapers at night. This is all because of her wonderful teacher at school. I was going to try and potty train her over the summer, but I was too lazy and didn't have a clue what to do, so thank goodness for her teacher that picked up my slack. Now she won't have to go to kindergarten in diapers! Score! 

So, overall things are good :) We get to see Cole, Lindsay, Addison, Aunts, Uncles, and Grandparents anytime we want. And that has made everything else totally worth it. Even not having our own king bed to sleep in. Excited about our future :)