Giving Thanks!!

As my house (and belly!) are filled with the pitter patter of little feet, there is so much to be grateful for on this glorious day. I have a wonderful husband, a hilarious daughter, a snuggly pup and a roof over my head. We have been so blessed with an amazing church family here who have been so amazing to us since we walked through their door. My family's incredible, I'm so proud of how my parents are still growing as people and as a couple. They make me so happy. :) My in-laws are some the salt of the earth and have become my best friends. And my best friend of 13 years (holy cow), I miss you and wish we closer. We've been able to watch each others little girls grow up even though we've always lived so far apart, but remained so close. :)

Here's just a short & random list of things that I'm thankful for:

• Family
• Being best friends with my husband
• The laughter of my little girl
• My house being filled with amazing smells as the turkey cooks :)
• Skype! It's been such a blessing to bridge the gap with family since our big move
• Little kicks from my new little girl, they make me smile every time
• Our church. Seriously, they've filled a huge gap for us
• Bible studies with my husband
• My sewing machine!! It's become such a hobby and inspiration, not to mention an outlet
• Our amazing country. So many have tried to impede on the freedoms that make it so great, I pray for our servicemen & women who are still fighting to keep it strong.
• Moms & Grandmas, both by blood and "adopted". They just make the world a little better
• Bacon
• Possibility

And the verdict is.....

The old wives tales were full of it!! :) And my dear father-in-law, who was 6 for 6 in predicting the genders of his 2 kids and his 4 grandchildren finally had a blip in the radar.

WE'RE HAVING A LITTLE GIRL!!! :) :)

This is the gender reveal: no pork & beans= princess!

The left photo is her profile and the right is a frontal face picture :)

After my appointments and ultrasounds last week, our little nugget (who is getting bigger and bigger!) is perfectly healthy! It was wonderful news to hear. Now I can start referring to our little one as "her" and "she" instead of "it", which always drives me crazy. SHE is such a little active one, but it relays comfort with every kick. According to the ultrasounds, she's looking good and growing great. They did bump back my due date by a week, which was an estimation anyway, so now we're looking at March 10 instead of the 2nd. But, in all honesty, she's going to show when she decides to make her appearance. After being induced with Neva, I'm pretty opposed to it this time. I think it caused a lot of hiccups that might not have happened otherwise. But it was my first pregnancy, I was huge and I was ready to not be swollen and hold my little baby. This time, things are just a little different. Lord willing, things will go smoother this time. I'm hoping for a VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Cesarian) this time around and I'm going to a doctor and delivering at a hospital where that is pretty common and nurses and midwives are very supportive. Fingers crossed!!

We don't have any names officially picked yet, but there are a couple in the running. Once we get that figured out, I'll be sure to update. :)

Just a little out of it…

This is how I've felt this whole pregnancy: not great, not awful, just kind of out of it. The reality has taken longer to set in (and frankly, still is), I've been EXPONENTIALLY more emotional (I'll talk more about that later), and I've just felt distracted. I don't know what to chalk up to life, stress or hormones.

When I was pregnant with Neva, I felt pretty balanced. I never really had any of the crazy outbursts, and we moved cross-country when I was about this far along. This time around, I just feel like everything is right at the surface. I can't hold anything back, it's so frustrating. I'm tired of… feeling lol. I just want to be able to watch a movie or have a conversation or survive a couple of months without crying at every little thing.

This baby has been SOOOOO much more active than Neva was. I first felt Neva's flutters at 23 weeks (right where I am now), I felt movement with this pregnancy at 18 weeks and the kicks have been stronger sooner. Tim didn't feel kicks until about 30 weeks. He felt this baby a few days ago. :) I'm just wondering what this is going to tell about his/her personality. :)

I'm trying so hard to go through this season with grace. Some days are better than others. :) I've heard from 4 different people in a week that its harder to be pregnant and care for a toddler than it is to have 2 kiddos. This is both very comforting and frustrating. We're managing and getting through, it's such a short season and I really do enjoy being pregnant. It's so cool feeling those movements and having the knowledge that someone is living and growing inside of you. It's such a privilege… even if it scares the crap out of you. :)

I have no idea what the next year has to offer. I'm under no delusion that it will be easy. I'm preparing for a lot of tears and frustration, but also new joys that I never knew existed. I guess I'm just scared. I've never been a mom to two kids before. I just hope I don't screw it up too much. :)

Hurricane #2: Check!

Sandy has come and gone and we faired just fine. :) We didn't think we were going to get much as far south as we were, but the Lord still smiled on us. While lots of neighboring communities had flooding or lost power, we were spared of both. The worst part for us was the cabin fever! Yesterday afternoon, we had to make a break from the four walls that were closing in quickly and went puddle hunting. :)

Puddles are definitely my favorite part of storms, I'm glad Neva agrees. :)

Now we're just enjoying the cooler weather. As a Colorado native, it's nice to be out of the 70's and 80's when it's almost November. The cooler air is refreshing, and it's nice to not have the air conditioner on anymore!

Neva did learn a new skill during the short incarceration, she can now climb up onto our high dining room chairs. No place is safe anymore! :) She got her daddy's agility, I'm afraid. (Not a bad thing, just makes for a tired mama.)

Why I love Dutch Bros Coffee....

Next to family, the mountains, friends and familiarity, one of the things I miss most about Colorado Springs is Dutch Bros Coffee. It sounds a little silly, but let me explain.

Dutch Bros came to C-Springs a few years ago as a little coffee hut downtown where they played good music and the coffee was good (and a really fair price!!). There are a million other coffee chains all over the city, but for some reason I would drive across town to go to Dutch Bros. One day, after all of my boasting of this awesome place, my mom asked me what was so special about it.

I don't know what the hiring staff does at Dutch Bros, but it's amazing. I wish more businesses would sync into their special recipe for finding amazing people. I have never gone to a Dutch Bros when someone is having an "ok" day. Every time, the staff is enthusiastic, excited and so friendly!! The music is pumpin' and they are having a blast. They aren't drones, they get to show their own style and they get the freedom to give a little. If you fill your punch card, they give you the most expensive drink free, not the cheapest. Once in awhile, they'll shoot you a couple extra stamps on your card "just because". They remember your drink, name, and smile. They hire people who care about people. The staff is incredible.

They know to get customers, you've got to give a little. They give free stickers a lot! I love stickers, always have. I also love promoting businesses I love, this works out well for all parties. :) Stickers are cheap, advertising is expensive. It's just smart.

I've written in on their corporate website on two different occasions, both times to toot their horn. Once was just because I wanted the higher-ups to know that they're doing an awesome job, the other was a couple of months after my husband and I had moved cross-country. We hadn't really settled in yet and didn't have any friends in 1,500 miles. We have a "Powered by Dutch Bros" sticker in our back window on our car. We had gone to the beach when my mom came to visit and when when we got back to the mostly vacant parking lot, someone had parked right next to us with Idaho plates and a Dutch Bros sticker in their back window. This might not seem like much, and maybe it wasn't. But that was the first time I felt like I had a friend in VA. I never even met this person, but felt a kinship. It sounds lame, but I really needed that. (I was pregnant, emotional, and far away from everything, don't judge.) Both times I have written on the Dutch Bros website, I've received an actual, personal response within a couple of days. Awesome. :)

Oh yeah, the coffee is really good too... and at competitive prices. :)

Out here, the places for coffee are gas stations, Dunkin Donuts and Starbucks. I have found few (if any) small business coffee houses out here. Every time I make it back home, I make sure to frequent DB and say hello. I hope they are able to continue to grow and expand and I wish the best for them! :)

If you'd like to check out the "Dutch Love" for yourself, here's their website. :)
Dutch Bros

Pink or blue? I'm takin' bets!! :)

Ok, so I'm a little over halfway into this pregnancy and we still haven't found out the gender. Honestly, it's not bothering me near as much as I thought it would. I think it's bugging everyone else more than Tim and me. :) But I thought it might be fun to conduct a few little old wives experiments and see what actually happens. :)

Old Wives Tale #1:
Hold your wedding band on a string over your belly. If it swings back and forth, it's a girl. If it circles, it's a boy. :) Here's a link to the short video of the experiment. Please excuse the messy house in the background!

Wedding band on a string gender prediction. :)

[Spoiler alert: It circled!!]

Old Wives Tale #2:
If you're having a girl, she'll steal your beauty. It's rumored that if you're having a girl, you'll have acne and more blemishes. This was TOTALLY true with Neva, my first baby. I had acne all the way through my pregnancy and she was definitely a girl. :)

This pregnancy, I've had a lot clearer complexion.... which has been awesome! :) I don't know about the "glow" I keep hearing about, I think I just feel like I sweat more. ;)

Old Wives Tale #3:
If you're carrying high, it's a little lady; low it's a little fella.

It's a little hard for me to tell on this one, but from what I can tell by comparing belly pictures from Neva (a little less than 2 years ago) and currently, I feel like I'm carrying about as high as I did before but I don't think it's as wide as with Neva. I feel more basketball-y this time around. I don't know if this has to do with gender, the fact it's a 2nd pregnancy, or that my starting weight was a little lower this pregnancy. But looking at the pictures side-by-side, it definitely looks like this little one is lower!! The picture on the left is with Neva at 23 weeks, the right picture is from earlier today, 21 weeks.

Old Wives Tale #4:
If you're craving sweets, you're having a girl. If you're craving salty, it's a boy. This one's a toss up: I want to eat everything I hear anybody talk about. There's been a lot of sweets, but the biggest has been chips and salsa. So I guess salty wins out.

Old Wives Tale #5:
Chinese birth charts use your age (and time zone, I guess) at conception to determine the gender of your baby. I trust this about as far as I can dig to China, but it's all part of the fun. :)

(I'm not sure if the link will take you to the site or the results, but here ya go)
Chinese Gender Calander


The results:  It's a girl!  (Chinese Age 28 at Lunar month 4)  .... whatever that means lol. :)


Old Wives Tale #6:
If your hubby has sympathy cravings and gains a little extra padding, you're in for a sweet little girl. Again, I don't know if it's the gender of the baby, or the fact that Tim's working full-time, going to school full-time, living on a steady diet of coffee and.... coffee and still trying to be here for his wife and toddler, but I think he's lost weight this pregnancy. 

Old Wives Tale #7:
If you've got morning sickness, you're having a girl. With Neva, I had it fast and furious in the morning and at 4 p.m. like clockwork all through my first trimester. I think I only got sick about a dozen times, but the morning sickness hit me pretty hard. This pregnancy, I was a little queasy for about 3 weeks, but I never got sick. Which was nice. :)

Old Wives Tale #8:
Burn, baby, burn!! If you've got lots of heartburn, you're having a boy with a full head of hair. I hardly had any heartburn with Neva. She was a cute little girl with hardly any fuzz on the top her little dome. This time around, I haven't had any heartburn at all. Granted, I am only 21 weeks, so we'll see if that sticks later on in the pregnancy. :)

Old Wives Tale #9:

If you grab a sole key by the round part, you're having a boy. If you grab it by the skinny part, you're having a girl. Honestly, I usually grab my keys by the Carbineer, but when I have had to grab one alone I snagged it by the round part. But I can't ever recall seeing someone pick it up by the skinny part. :)

So, according to 9 popular old wives tales, the score is 7 for a boy and 2 for a girl. :) Time will tell and I'll be sure to post the results to follow up when we find out the gender for ourselves. :) 

Blue Box Art Party!!

Today was a very fun and colorful day. :) I received my Blue Box: Art Party In A Box from Blue Twig Studio a couple of weeks ago, and today I was able to have some friends over to do our project!! Everything for the entire project was included in the box, all we had to bring was the creativity. I was very excited and so were my friends, excellent combination! Add some music, muffins (and kiddos running around) and you've got yourself a party!

We started by painting our canvases with the background colors.

 

Everyone has different styles and personalities, so I was very excited to see what people were going to create. :)

Then we started to play with the stencils! We all decided that stencils are awesome and we don't use them near enough in the other things we do. 

 Jen's turned out really cool!

 Amy's drying her piece....

 "What are you kids up to over there?" :)

 Beth's looked really cool! She was trying to decide whether or not to add some purple I had dug out of the closet. My graceful action of spilling coffee all over the table made the decision for her. But she saved the canvas!! :)

Then we were able to add our ribbons. Everyone's pieces started taking on a little different personality with the background paint and stenciling, but it was really fun to see the different ways people applied the ribbons.

Amy figuring out her ribbon placement :)

 Jen lets her's dry a little before the next layer

 Beth making sure the sides get secure. 

 Get it in all the nooks, Amy!

 Hey! Who's that sneaking around my feet! Neva had to see what we were up to. :)

 My finished product.

Everyone was able to choose a word band that they liked and fit their personality.

 Beth's art! "Possibility begins with imagination"

 Amy's Art! ""Know in your heart you are loved"

 Jen's Art!! "Capture life's moments" (Very fitting for a wedding and event planner!) :)

My Art! "Embrace imperfection" 

Fitting for every aspect of my life. :)

We had a great time during our Blue Box: Art Party In A Box! Everyone was very happy with their finished pieces and love the fellowship and girl time. It was a great way to spend the day! :)

Getting things done feels so good!

The mojo has returned!! It was forced at first, but only gained momentum. It's been awesome. I've been sewing everyday and my outlook feels so much better! I got a project done that needed to be done for months and I love the way it turned out. The client who ordered it absolutely loved the photo and I can't wait to get it sent off to her next week. I carried the momentum and made a matching nursing cover. :)

Once that was all finished, I made a skirt last night with some fabric I've had for a couple of months. I really love it and it's so comfy!! And here's an updated belly pic (and the skirt). We're at 16 weeks!! One more month and we'll be halfway through this trip already. I can't believe it!! :)

It's time to start over!!!

Lots has happened since my last posting. I've been horrible about blogging the last few months and, in all honesty, I've kind of just taken a time out from life. Part of it was good, it needed to happen. Other parts, need to be shaken off and reborn.

For those of you who haven't heard, we're expecting again!! I found out early on this summer and went public with it in late July/early August. As it stands right now, everything is going normally and I'm 16 weeks along. :) The picture is from last week, but you can see the bump! :)

Even though I haven't been online (or doing ANYTHING with Sweetie Wraps, shame on me!!), I've been so busy. Neva is ridiculously active and it is a full time job keeping up with her, on top of the pregnancy fatigue, it's been a little hectic. Not to mention just stupid to try and get anything done. I nap when she naps most days and my house is a wreck, but she's happy and we're both healthy. :) We also went to Colorado to visit family for a few weeks, which was awesome. (Minus the part where I sewed through my finger, but that was short-lived.) It was really good to touch home base, pretty hard to leave. I also threw a joint baby shower for two of my friends, one is due in October, the other is due in November. (I also have a friend due in December, I'm due in March, and 2 others due in April! Babies are IN THE AIR!!) :)

This week I decided that a change needed to happen. I was so unmotivated and tired all the time, I couldn't handle it anymore. I just can't tell what's from the pregnancy, what's from feeling overwhelmed and stressed, or if it's something else. I hadn't sewn in months and that was a pretty big thing for me. I used to sew every day, or at least a few times a week and I had no desire, no drive. It was horrible. There has always been some sort of creative outlet for me. I've been crocheting, but that wasn't cutting it. I finally woke up the other day and said "Yep, today's the day." Instead of taking a nap, I cut out fabric!! The next day, I started on the straps for a mei tai baby carrier. Today I attached the straps! Tomorrow I only have a little bit more to do and it will be all finished!! My client has been more than understanding and patient, for which I am SO grateful. I'm hoping to throw in a little something extra for all of her understanding. It feels so good being back at my sewing machine though. I made this yesterday for my best friend's daughter. She asked me to make a purse for her, and she happens to love Batman. :) I'm really happy with how it turned out and I think she's really going to like it. She'll be the coolest kid at preschool!

I feel good though. I have a good support net out here and I'm hanging out with a friend tomorrow. We're going to have a chat, a walk, and hopefully some coffee. :) Life is looking brighter. :)

Day 43: Best toy in the world!!

Neva got a birthday gift today! It's from my brother and sister-in-law in California. While the bouncey zebra is wonderful (and so stinking cute!), the thing Neva has been playing with all afternoon is… the box. Go figure. She likes to climb. She is her daddy's daughter.... :)

You can see the zebra in the background! :)

Day 42: Cutest Girl EVER!!

The more Neva is growing and developing her personality, the more I like her. We're a lot alike, I wonder if that's going to come back and bite me later? If all else fails, go outside. This has been a constant since she was a week or two old. Last summer, we would spends hours walking from here to there and back again when nothing else seemed to soothe her. This reigns as true today as it did then. However, ten it put her to sleep, now she just take everything in. This little girl takes nothing for granted, I love how she's reminding me to do the same. :)

Day 41: Happy Easter!

He is risen! What a wonderful day and an amazing thing to celebrate. :) We are so blessed.

This morning, we wanted to do the Easter basket thing with Neva but wanted to make sure the grandparents didn't miss out on it. Thank goodness for Skype! Even though we are 2,000 miles away, they are still able to be here for all the events! :) We had one set on one computer, and the other set on the other. :)

Easter basket time!!!

The slinkys were a hit... with everybody :)

What a wonderful husband I have, to be so silly with his little girl!! :)

I really liked the carrot.....

Honestly, I'm just happy that we had an uneventful morning. (She made it through the morning and the whole church service without any blowouts or stains on her pretty dress!!) What an amazing thing it is to serve a gracious and risen Lord! :) Happy Easter everyone!!

Day 40: Playing catch up!

Oh my lordy, I'm still slacking!! Things have been so busy with getting Sweetie Wraps off the ground (which now is legit and on the grid with both the city and the IRS!), volunteering with the Crisis Pregnancy Center of Tidewater, prepping for the Walk for Life 2012, and the craft show at the Virginia Beach Farmer's Market.... I'm tired. Not to mention my daughter has decided she's ready to be a toddler now! Ack!! :)

Now that the excuses are out of the way, let's get down to the fun part: pictures! You can see what I've been up to! :) 

In a rare moment where Tim wasn't working or doing school work, he was able to hang out with us and play!! Neva took full advantage and is lounging with her daddy. Murphy (as always) is getting in some lovin' where he sees a vacant hand.

 Got your glasses!!! A never-ending battle....

 Ya know, for an old geezer of a dog, he sure is pretty. :) We really lucked out with this pup. We got him 2 1/2 weeks after we got married, he was 5. Murphy is now 9 and some change, and one of the most laid back, tolerant puppies ever. He has had to re-evaluate his escape strategies since Neva has learned how to walk. :)

Neva's very first Easter basket!! She was born the day after Easter last year, so we missed it... by 10 1/2 hours. What a wonderful day though!! :)

I have a hunch that many changes are around the bend, but they'll be for the better. I'm very excited to see where God leads us this next season! :) God bless and Happy Easter!!

Day 39: Busy day!

We have been so busy lately with trying to get Sweetie Wraps off the ground, I'm so behind on my blog! Today we started off by lounging around and taking a super long nap. This is a new and unexpected turn in our life lately, (ya know, rest?) and I don't really know how to handle it. :) Then we went to the fabric store so I could make my first big investment in fabric, I bought my first bolt! (Now please buy some of my wraps!) :) I'm excited! :) And I finally got a picture where you can see Neva's teeth! :)