Her Favorite Thing

If Ellery could do anything this is what she would do, play in the dirt and play with Amos.

She's actually putting dirt on Amos' back in this picture.

What's funny to me is that in the morning when I give her the opportunity to choose her outfit for the day she will select a blue smocked dress. Of course I have to divert her attention to something more rugged because I know that eventually we will end up in the dirt. However she does wear the blue dress to church a lot and runs around the house before we walk out the door saying, "I'M SOO PRETTY!" :)

Time Standing Still

Meet Shannon. She is a friend who has known me since I was in the single digits of age (I think, see it's been so long I forgot how old we were when we met).

We were college roommates for 2 years and I love this girl.

Currently she lives in New York and the last time we saw each other was about this time in my pregnancy with Ellery.

Shannon is one of those friends that no matter time or distance we pick up where we left off as if nothing has changed. It's like time stands still while we are apart. Aren't those the best kind of friends?!

She brought her two kiddos over this morning for a fun play date!

Our last visit did not include these 2 little one's!! Shannon got lots of snuggles from the girls this morning.

I am shocked at how quickly our kids pick up technology. Nora and Ellery were just chilling out looking through pictures and videos on Shannon's iPhone. I don't even know how to work all the features of my Blackberry! Amazing....

Sean is Shannon's son and let me just say that he is one of the best kids I've met. He's so chill and laid back, compared to our 2 girls. LOVE HIM!!!

I was/am so sad when they left. I miss her!! Next time we see each other I wonder how many kids we'll have?!!

Okay, and this is totally random but Cary took these pictures of Ellery this evening.

I mean her hair is out of control.

Gym

I hit the gym today for the first time in 2 weeks; well I actually went to Yoga yesterday afternoon.

Man, does that feel good!

My body seriously needs it. I think it's just that everything is moving, growing, changing and stretching and with out a good strut on the treadmill or the elliptical and then a nice long stretching session I get all out of whack. Let's not forget the endorphins.

I did figure out that if I walked the Monument Ave. 10K in April it would take me 1 & 1/2 hrs (Cary is anticipating crossing the finish line 40 min. after he starts, just a little perspective). But today I only walk about 3 miles on the treadmill and was ready to get off at the end of my 45 min. Now let me just say that when the 10K rolls around I'll be about 8 months pregnant and I don't think it will be a good idea to walk 6.2 miles otherwise I might be headed to the hospital that evening. No thanks!! See....I'm not crazy!!

But regardless, I felt good the rest of the day and I am so unbelievably thankful for the health to be able to work out.

Birthday Girl!!

Ellery Cellery, how did you get to be 2 years old already?

 

We had a really fun day.

Your favorite time at the pool with Daddy.

 

 

You have become very adventurous. I'm amazed at your fearlessness.

 

You LOVE being outside, playing in the dirt with Amos and the frisbee or at the park.

 

Your giggles are contagious and I can't get enough of them. Your vocabulary is growing exponentially and we are trying to keep up with you. I can see the hard work of teaching you "please", "thank you" & "yes, mommy" finally paying off.

 

 

 

Gigi (my grandmother) sent Ellery her first baby doll. It's a boy! We have hopes that she'll find her maternal instinct and be able to "baby" this little one when Little Mister comes along.

 

You have a very sensitive side. The other day I was pretending to be upset (sort of reverse psychology on you) and you stopped crying, cupped my face and said, "It's okay, Mommy. Calm down. It's okay." I almost died!! I pray this love and tenderness continues to grow within your heart.

Ellery, you are so loved. Your dad and I are passionate about you and these past 2 years have been the best years of our life. Happy birthday Sweets!!

Memories

This time 2 years ago I was in labor and walking around the Richmond Home Show, accessorizing a project my father was working on and seeing all the cool garden displays.

I really wanted to be home, eating dinner and chilling out. But I think walking around helped push me into full on labor later in the evening.

Remembering these moments are so special.

I think the anticipation of going into labor and the birth of our children unfolding before our eyes is one of the most amazing experiences any woman can ever have.

I can remember on Feb. 19th when the labor and delivery nurse told me that it was time to begin pushing. I looked at Cary, my eyes filled with tears and I was scared to death. Life was about to CHANGE. Bringing a child into this world seemed bigger than anything else, even marriage.

That little girl has turned out to exceed my expectations and my heart falls deeper in love with her every single day.

This time, when a nurse tells me it's time to deliver our little boy I will be overjoyed instead of fearful. Somehow celebrating Ellery's birthday tomorrow brings with it a new excitement for what the future holds for our family in the next few months.

Did I Mention...

Cary began demo on our basement this week?





This space will become the new guest bedroom. You can see the toilet in the background. We'll add a tub/shower to this existing bathroom. Oh wait, that will require jackhammering up the floor. Oh Lord, I can't think about it...



This space will be divided into the new guest bedroom and a play area/craft-desk area.



The existing Man Room will remain untouched for now. We will eventually change the flooring and paint it but no real construction. That's a good thing because we need that space for storage right now.

Cary also wants to tear apart/gut the hall bath (the pink one next to Ellery's big girl room) while we have the demo crew here and are doing everything else. We haven't really discussed this in depth so we'll see what happens.

Does anyone else realize that I'm having a baby in 3 months? I want to believe that the amount of work required to finish this basement isn't a lot but in reality any construction is a lot, even if it's mainly building 2 walls and sheetrocking and installing new flooring.

I'm choosing to not think about it.

26 Weeks

Aww, what a belly!! It looks much larger than before; wow, was 22 weeks my last belly shot?

Okay, so this week I pulled out the body pillow. Getting comfy in bed just isn't working for me anymore with out that precious pillow.

Being sick last week was not fun and I still have a bad cough hanging around, which at some point during the evening makes my whole tummy hurt.

Ellery is quickly running out of lap space when it comes to story time. She has chosen to now sit next to me in the chair and she looks a bit squished from my perspective.

Little Mister still just rolls around. I think he is beginning to have the hick-ups every now and then. But I think his lungs are developing to the point now that hick-ups would be a good thing.

I have done nothing to prepare for this little guys arrival. Ellery's big girl room is painting, she has her daybed set up but I need to get sheets and move her clothes into the room. Truthfully I just have no motivation. Maybe it's from being sick last week, at least that's what I'm going to blame my procrastination on for now.

Cary and I have not had many more discussions on what to call our little guy on a daily basis.

This week I will have my glucose testing and another ultrasound. I'm super excited about that sugary sweet drink (just kidding) and seeing Little Mister. It's going to be incredible to see how big he's grown.

I will say that this morning I woke up and while I was working on rolling out of bed I had a moment of excitement that soon there will be another baby in the house to cuddle with. The past few days I've brought Ellery into our bed when she wakes up so we can snuggle and watch Sesame Street while our sleepies work out of the eyes. My hope is that maybe this will become a new norm for her so I can nurse baby boy while she's snuggling with me. Or if his eating schedule is the opposite then at least she can be in bed with me while I try to sleep for another 45 minutes!

Oh yea, the gym. I haven't been in a while due to the health issues but I'm looking forward to going back soon. Hopefully next week.

I think that's about it for now. Okay, I really want something sweet to eat right now but being that it's after 8:00 I'm going to resist the temptation. Bummer...

Happy Valentine's Day!

 

 

 

 

Turning The Corner

Well folks, it's been 4 days in the bed and I've felt like I've been fighting with the devil but thank the Lord I think I've turned the corner.

Both Cary and Ellery are not feeling well. But Cary is pushing through to take care of his family, and I can't thank him enough. My parents have been such a blessing, coordinating with Cary and watching E during the day.

Little Mister has not stopped rolling around and I'm left only to assume he's all safe and sound. I did tell Cary this morning, "life could have been worse this week; we could have had a newborn!"

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers. They've been working!!

Oh Boy

After 2 hours at Patient First this morning I have the flu.

It is possible to get the flu when you've had the flu shot!! So be careful!!

Tired

For the past 2 nights my body has been so exhausted at the end of the day I feel like I could curl up in bed at 8:00 and sleep for a solid 12 hours.

So that's what I do, curl up in bed around 8/8:30. I'll end up watching a little TV and before I know it, Cary is coming to bed. Then LOTS more time passes while I just lay in bed. It's like midnight before I actually go to sleep and then I wake up waaay too early.

What the heck? So frustrating! Let's not forget the "crazies" that set in on a pregnant woman about this time. You know, the hormones are so out of balance that my mind doesn't stop working and my mood changes within a millisecond.

Last night Little Mister just wiggled until I finally went to sleep and then as soon as my eyes popped open this morning he was back at it again. I'm beginning to wonder if it's normal to have such an active baby in the womb. I'm also beginning to be a little bit worried as to how much life will change with a very active little boy running around here.

Nap Talk

Ellery was put to bed for her nap around 1:30 this afternoon.

I walked from her room across the hall to my bed.

Approximately 1/2 hour later from a groggy sleep I hear her chatting. That's fine, as long as she stays in bed. I'm going back to sleep!

Then, as soon as those thoughts crossed my mind I hear her saying,

"MOMMY!! Mommy, whatcha doing? Whatcha doing, Mommy??"

I smiled, considered yelling back, "I'M DOING WHAT YOU SHOULD BE DOING, SLEEPING!!!" But decided against it and rolled over.

2 hours into my nap (holy cow) I woke up and realized that at some point she played herself to sleep and saw her curled up in a little ball on the video monitor.

These are the things that make her so darn cute and precious.

Somersault

Ellery's "new" trick!