Still waiting to meet Miss Audrey. In the meantime though, I've been busy. Busy resting and playing with Easton. Sometimes I do get a little crazy and run a bunch of errands or whatever but mostly I'm just hanging out at home. This weekend I'm planning to cook a bunch of meals that can be frozen and reheated so that I won't have to worry about what's for dinner when I'm taking care of 2 little ones and recovering from surgery. I think I'll recruit Jason to help me in the kitchen this weekend. Boy, won't he be thrilled?! Well, actually he might not mind too much since if I don't cook later, he'll be the one left doing it.

I'm really excited about having company soon. I pick my mom up next Tuesday. Then I've got my pre-op appointment on Wednesday and have the baby on Thursday. If all goes well, I should be home Sunday or Monday and should just be able to relax and get adjusted to having a new little one around the house. I'm glad all of our big projects are done so that we can all just focus on taking care of Miss Audrey and Mr. Easton. Then after my mom leaves, Jason's mom is coming for a while. Yippee! Boy, Easton won't know what to do with getting to see his Nana AND his Nanny and Papa Kyle so close together! We can't wait!

We've been having fun around here lately and here are the pictures to prove it:

In his "mimming poo" (swimming pool) - I tried to get him to wear a hat or sunglasses to keep the sun out of his eyes but he wanted no part of either one of those.


Easton in his wagon - Again a squinty-eyed picture because he won't wear a hat.


With his new mower - Easton likes to mow with his mower just like Daddy's.


Battle scars - I cannot keep this boy from getting all scraped up! I know he's a toddler and that's gonna happen but ouch! This one came from a run-in with the concrete while we were on a walk. Guess I'll just have to get his 18 month pictures made while he's all scraped up. I keep trying to wait until his wounds have all healed but then he gets another one before the last bruise or scrape is gone!

Hmm...guess I shouldn't post an "I almost had the baby" post and then leave it up for a while with no more posts following. Sorry! Nope, Miss Audrey is still where she should be...in mama's humongous belly. I've been taking it easy and just hanging out with Easton the past few days. We did go out to dinner for Cinco de Mayo with some friends. That was fun.

I also went to Walmart and bought a bunch of groceries to stock up our pantry before the big event. That was not so fun but at least I got another thing crossed off our "to do" list. And at least all that walking around didn't earn me another trip to the emergency room. :) I had a checkup Tuesday and my doctor didn't seem the least bit concerned about my ER visit. She said "Well, you're here today so I guess things went ok." Yep. Looks that way, huh?

It finally quit raining! Hooray! I am SO tired of rainy days! Easton loved it though. He liked telling everyone at the store yesterday "rain, rain". It was pretty cute. I love taking him shopping (most of the time). He says "HI!" to every person we pass and it really surprises people and makes them smile. I love that.

Easton's teething again. Working on two top teeth and possibly some on the bottom. That makes for a cranky baby and mama too. He doesn't sleep well but at least he usually doesn't run much of a fever. I don't sleep well at this late stage of my pregnancy so when you combine the two, that makes me REALLY cranky! I do take lots of naps though, which is nice. I am really taking advantage of that while I can!

And that's about it for us. Just waiting til the big day and taking it as easy as possible.

Spring cleaning again at the Crafty house. Jason and I spent all day yesterday cleaning out our filing cabinet. We shredded a HUGE pile of old bills and papers. It felt good to get that done but it wasn't on our "to-do" list for the weekend. Thankfully, most of my to-dos are done and the few that aren't are easy. Well, with the exception of one of them. I STILL haven't got the closet cleaned out in the nursery yet. Who knows if I'll get around to that before Miss Audrey gets here or not.

Yesterday and today I've been taking it easy. I start having contractions if I do so much as get up off the couch so mostly I've just been sitting around all the time. It' s boring and I'm already tired of it but if it will help keep Audrey from being born before my mom gets here, I'm sure gonna do it! :)

Easton is having a hard time understanding why we can't go "mimming" or why we can't go for a walk. Besides the fact that I'm pretty much confined to the couch (or bed), it's been raining off and on for days. I think a large part of the country is with me when I say I wish the rain would go away and we could finally see some SUN!!!

That's about it for us here. Nothing too exciting. Just waiting on the 28th to get here so we can finally have this baby. This has been the longest nine months of my life!

Tomorrow is Cinco de Mayo. We usually have a party here and invite a bunch of our friends. I make chicken for quesadillas and provide all the toppings so people can make their own quesadilla. We also make a few pitchers of our Blue Moon Margaritas and get a case of the "Beers of Mexico" from Costco. It's a pretty fun party and I'm sad this year that we'll have to pass but it's just too much work this year! We're meeting up with some friends at a Mexican restaurant instead. Let someone else do all the hard work. Happy Cinco de Mayo! Have a margarita for me, will you?

Apparently deciding to pack my bag for the hospital gave Miss Audrey the impression we were ready to meet her. While I am SO ready to be done being pregnant AND we really are looking forward to meeting our little girl, I didn't mean I wanted to meet her this morning!

Last night, my back was hurting a lot. Nothing unusual, it's been hurting a lot for months. Then we went to Kohl's and came home. Apparently I walked around a little too much (but didn't know it at the time). I started having some contractions this morning about 1 a.m. I timed them and they were about 5 minutes apart and lasted about 30-45 seconds each. My doctor told me if I had 5 or more contractions in an hour then it was time to head to the hospital for a check up. Just as I had about decided to go in, the contractions stopped. Hooray!

I went back to sleep only to wake up again around 4:45 with more contractions. I decided just to head on into the hospital for a check just to be on the safe side. Easton was sleeping and I didn't want Jason to wake him up for what I thought was probably going to be a false alarm so they both stayed home and I drove myself to the E.R. Sure enough, they hooked me up to the monitor and I didn't have a SINGLE contraction while I was there!

I'm glad I didn't but at the same time it sure made me look silly for going in for a checkup for nothing. Of course, I don't feel too bad about it. The nurses and doctor were super nice and didn't make me feel silly about it at all. They said what I had been thinking all along, which was it was better to be safe than sorry and it was a good thing I went in. I'm sure they've seen that tons before and at least I wasn't panicked or freaking out thinking the baby was on the way right then. I just sat there listening to the baby's heartbeat on the monitor, read my book a little and waited til the doctor told me I could go home.

YAY! I was a little panicked about what we were going to do if it was the real deal and we had the baby early. Jason would have to take off work, we'd have to find someone to watch Easton, my mom would miss being here with the baby is born, etc, etc. What a mess that would have been! I gave Audrey a stern talking to on my way to the hospital and told her we weren't quite ready for her to make her big debut just yet. Must have worked. Good girl...already listening to her mama. :)

I got home after about an hour and a half or two hours. I think it was around 7:30 this morning when I came in. Jason was great. He got a lot more sleep than I did so he let me go back to bed and he got up with Easton when he woke up. It was nice to be able to sleep in a little after that craziness!

Today I bought some cute new pajamas to wear in the hospital. Gotta get out of that hospital gown as soon as they'll let me! :) We also bought some Mother's Day gifts and found Jason a shirt on clearance. Gotta love Kohl's 15% off coupons! Those of you who don't live by a Kohl's, it's worth the trip to the nearest one just for all the good deals. And YES you want to sign up for their credit card (I pay with mine and then pay off the balance before I even leave the register). They'll send you great coupons that make their clothes C-H-E-A-P! I also got a good deal on some pillows for the spare bedroom ($3.39 ea)and some Elmo utensils for the kiddos ($2.85 ea). They also have great clearance sales. I've found cute kids clothes there for $1.00 a piece. So get yourself to a Kohl's and see what great deals you can find!

I laid down to sleep tonight and couldn't quit thinking of things I need to do. So I got up and packed my bag for the hospital. Yes, I realize it's a little early for that but I just want to make sure I have everything I need. I am SO ready to not be pregnant anymore! My back hurts, I hate that I have to waddle everywhere and I can't bend over to pick things up. Heck, I can't even see my toes! And I really want to meet this little sweetie who keeps kicking me and keeping me awake. :)

I'm nervous about what will happen when all our visitors go home and I'm at home still recovering from surgery, not able to drive, with a newborn and a very active 18 (by then will be 19) month old. Hear that, all you visitors? You can come visit but you can't leave! Not til 6 weeks after Audrey is born, OK? Then I can at least be cleared to drive and we can get out of the house for a while! :) Hmmm...somehow I don't think that's gonna work. Good thing Jason still has some time off he can use. We'll see how it goes. Keep your fingers crossed that this recovery is even speedier than the first one was.

I had a check up today and everything looks great. I go back in two more weeks and then after that it's every week. I did not gain ANY weight this week and I'm still swearing up and down that there is NO WAY I gained 5 pounds at my last visit. Must have been the heavy shoes and sweater, right? :)

In other news, why is it that I can think of like 15 names I like for Miss Baby 2 but my hubby can't even suggest ONE?! (Sorry, honey. I'm telling on ya!) OK, ok that might sound harsh but seriously, I have a list of like 15 names I like for the first name and 4 for the middle name and can come up with millions of different combinations that I love. But every time I talk to J about it he says he has to think about it. It is driving me crazy! In his defense though he HAS been really busy at work and home both so I guess I should cut him a little slack.

But I've got STUFF to do once we pick this name! I want to put her name up in her room, personalize some stuff, etc. I know I have all of her life to do this stuff but I want to settle on a name so I can finally have an answer for everyone who's been asking.

We'll take a vote here...these are just some of the names I like:
Audrey or Audra
Ashlynn
Brooke
Cameron
Carly or Carlie
Grace
Jaci or Jacey
Jayla
Jaelynn or Jalynn
Jaysa (can't figure out the spelling for sure on this one)
Kendall
Lauren
Paige
Taylor
Tyler

Middle names:
Grace
Lee or Leigh
Michelle or Michele
Paige

Anybody have one they like more than the others? Have one you like that's not on the list? I'm really stuck on Audrey Grace but really like some of the others too. We'll see.

(Jason, please don't get mad at me for posting this...just wanted to get some others opinions! Love you!)

The Crafty Lil Devil's been at it again. The story of what very well might be my last craft project for a while.

I decided since I couldn't find a mobile I liked for Baby 2's room, I'd find one online. Then when I found this one online at The Modern Baby Company:



and my budget wouldn't allow me to spend a whopping $48 (!!!) on ONE mobile for the room. I got to looking at the product description and realized it says this:
material
die cut foam, monofilament thread, hand shaped wire

I thought um...I can do that! I've got a circle punch and can get some foam sheets for CHEAP! That way I can pick out my own colors and do exactly what I want and it will be WAY cheaper than $48. Oh yeah, baby! I LOVE copying an expensive product that I love for a fraction of the cost.

I bought sheets of foam in chocolate brown, yellow, orange, green, blue, pink and white for $1 a sheet at Michael's. Then I went home and tried to fit the sheets of foam in my circle punch. Uh nope! Won't fit. DARN! Just when I thought I had it all figured out. Oh well, I'm not easily discouraged. Ask my husband. When I get an idea in my head, it is gonna happen if there is any way possible! (Some would call that stubborn but I prefer to think of it as determined.)

So I painstakingly cut out what felt like a MILLION circles in three different sizes. I wasn't sure how many I'd use so I cut out WAY too many. Then I got some fishing line and had Jason cut a wire coat hanger (I cannot cannot CANNOT say that phrase without thinking of Mommy Dearest) into pieces for me. The rest was EASY! I just tied a knot in the bottom, poked a tiny hole in the middle of the circle with a straight pin, threaded it onto the fishing line and then voila! A mobile for C-H-E-A-P! I love the way it turned out and when Easton saw it he said "Wow!" so I had to make him one too.
Here's the one in Baby 2's room:




Don't look too close because some of my circles are a little wonky and uneven but I figured it would be up close to the ceiling so you wouldn't notice it too much. I am pretty happy with the results though. I saved a lot of money and made it the way I wanted it. Hopefully Baby 2 likes it too. I know Easton likes his. He says "Wow!" every time he sees it.

I've got the stuff to make tons more mobiles if you know of anyone who would like one. :)

Photos of Baby 2's room.
Before:






After:











Finally finished! Now all we've got to do is get the crib mattress from Jason's work, get some curtains to replace the tan temporary ones we put up in these pictures and we're done! Woohoo! Boy, that feels good!

Whew! What a day! Well, two days actually. Yesterday and today I have literally shopped til I dropped looking for stuff for our sweet little girl's room and for Jason for his birthday. We got a little unexpected money and decided to spend it. We normally are in save, save, save mode so this was a rare treat.
Yesterday I went to:

• The bank - important first stop if I'm gonna be doing any shopping
• Lowe's - to check the price of garage door opener systems. I didn't buy one there but I did buy Easton a rug with a town and roads on it so he can practice making car noises with his daddy.
• Target #1 - to check to see if they had the curtains I wanted for the baby's room. They didn't.
• Walmart - I found some good deals on clearance though. Some bins for the organizer shelf we bought for baby 2's room.
• Bath and Body Works - to use some coupons I had.
• Chick-fil-a - LUNCH!!
• Gymboree - to see if I could find any good deals on clothes for my kiddos. I bought E one pair of pants.
• Motherhood Maternity - fun fun. Bought two nursing bras. Super exciting, huh?
• Sears - bought a garage door opener with 2 year parts plan and installation.

And that was just yesterday! Today I went to:

• Kohl's - looking for a bedspread to put on the guest bed in baby 2's room. I found a super cute one that hopefully Miss 2 will like when she gets bigger and can use as her "big girl bed". On sale. Plus 15% off. I love that place! I also got some earrings to replace the ones my dad bought me for Christmas last year. (I lost one and was REALLY upset because I LOVED those earrings.) They're going to be from Easton for Mother's Day so I'll pretend I'm surprised. :)
• Sears - to return the garage door opener. There wasn't anything wrong with it at all but we got it home and decided we should wait til around Father's Day to see if they go on sale. For his birthday, we're paying to have his '69 Camaro hauled here from Perry...FINALLY!
• Gymboree - to return the pants I bought in the wrong size yesterday. Grr!! I hate when I do that! I just flat wasn't paying attention and grabbed 12-18 months instead of 2T. Thankfully, the return was no big deal.
• Panera Bread - LUNCH!!! I usually go somewhere cheap and that is certainly NOT Panera but I decided to treat myself today and man I was glad I did! Delicious!
• Michael's - to use a 40% off coupon I had to get a picture frame for the baby's room. And some sheets of colored foam. I'm going to attempt to make a mobile to hang above the crib but we'll see how that goes.
• Target #2 - to see if they had the curtains I need. Nope. But they did have a double stroller. I said forget it to trying to find one that will work with our current car seat and just went ahead and bought the stroller and a new infant carseat. Hooray! Finally the stroller fiasco is FINISHED!!! I also bought a rug, some art, some mirrors, a lamp and a piggy bank for little 2's room. I went a little over our budget but boy that room is CUTE!!! And it is just as "done" as Easton's room is and that is what I was trying to do. I didn't want any hard feelings once little Miss 2 gets old enough to compare bedrooms. E's room was totally decked out and done up so it was only fair that we do the same for her. And it was F-U-N! This is also where a very rude woman in the Easter basket aisle took one look at my big belly and one look at cute little Easton and said "yeah. Good luck with that! We spaced ours out and they're still a hand full." What the heck? Lady, mind your own business! HOW RUDE!!!

Now I'm exhausted but I'm looking forward to getting all of the new bedding washed and put in the room and all the new things put away. Now I say "let's be done!"

P.S. Pictures as soon as everything is put together. Should be soon...I hope!

P.P.S. And HOW could I forget?! Easton had his first haircut today! He didn't need a cut all over but just in back. Yep. Mean mama cut off all his adorable little curls. I loved those curls. But they kept getting caught in his bib when we weren't careful enough and Easton really hated that. So I did him a favor and took him in for a trim. Ms. Angie at Family Cuts in the mall did a great job. I took pictures but after that all-day-shopping marathon I'm too tired to get up and find my camera. Check back by Sunday and hopefully I will have them here.

Sniff, sniff! My baby got his first haircut today! Guess that means he's officially a big boy. Man, oh man...the time sure flies!

I had a checkup yesterday and it was pretty uneventful. Except the part where they told me I gained FIVE pounds in two weeks!!! Holy COW!!! When I asked my doctor about it he could tell I was shocked and embarrassed but he said it was OK. Last time I weighed in I hadn't gained any so it must have taken this long to catch up with me. Plus I had on heavy shoes. Really. I did! I haven't gained an enormous amount of weight with this baby so it was OK if that happened a time or two. Uh NO. That will only be happening once, thank you! No wonder I've been feeling more "waddle-y" these days! YUCK!

Only 60 days until we meet the newest member of our family...if all goes as planned. Holy cow! That's not a lot of time! Right now the nursery is full of boxes and the closet needs to be cleaned out. But thanks to my mom, it's a beautiful, buttery shade of yellow and I like to go in there and take a nap when I get a chance. (We left a full-sized bed in there for company.) I'll take pictures when we get it looking more presentable. :) Wonder how Easton's going to feel sharing mom and dad with a new little one?

I've been doing a LOT of research lately into double strollers. Most of the places I go are REALLY hard to get in and out of (ex: old historic buildings that have been converted into offices) so I'm thinking we might need a double stroller. I have found some that are just your typical 2 seater strollers where both kids have to sit down. But then I found some styles where the older kiddo has the option of either sitting on a bench (and being buckled in) or standing up on a platform while holding onto handles. I thought "Boy, wouldn't this be a versatile option for those of us with kids close in age?!" Plus, some of them can even accommodate infant carriers so that's extra convenience for me. Just unbuckle the infant carrier from the car and pop it into the stroller. Nice.

• While I was out running errands today, I ran into a mom there who had one of these type double strollers and asked her if she liked it. She went on and on about how great this stroller is and how easy it is to use and she just loves it so much she has TWO of them and it's just the best thing since sliced bread. She even had me try pushing it with her kids in it to show me how easy it was to manuever. She had an 11 month old boy and a girl who's 3 1/2 and it WAS easy to push around.
  
  I got home and looked it up online to see how much it was...HOLY COW!!! $269.99!!! It's the Joovy Ultralight Caboose Stand-On stroller and man oh man I wish I didn't love that stroller so much. She did say that she had bought and tried out several other strollers that were cheaper and they were so heavy she could not push them around with her kids and the diaper bag in them. So now do I fork out this huge amount of money for the Cadillac of double strollers? Could I do just as well with our current stroller and a baby carrier until Easton is able to walk on his own? Do I even need a double when I've got a perfectly good stroller already? I love my Eddie Bauer stroller when we go somewhere we'll be doing a lot of walking. Plus, we've got a great little umbrella stroller we use for quick trips in and out of places because it's smaller and takes up less space in our trunk. Hmmm....what to do, what to do.

Pros:

• Probably makes it easier for me to get both kids in and out of places by myself.
• Wouldn't take up more room in the trunk than our current big stroller does. (I asked.)
• Easton could sit or stand depending on his mood and level of ability when baby 2 comes along.
• Could probably get at least some of my money back at a consignment shop when we outgrow this stroller because they're in high demand.

Cons:

• COST!!! Holy cow! I could buy a month's worth (or more) of groceries for that money!
• Everybody with 2 kids must want one because I'm not having any luck finding a used one.
• Why buy another stroller when we've got 2 perfectly good ones already, right?

Any suggestions?

Spring cleaning time continues at our house. I took in a huge tote of Easton's old baby clothes to the consignment shop, 2 huge boxes of books to donate to the library and 2 huge trash bags of clothes to donate to the Salvation Army. And the best part? All I had to do was call at the library and the Salvation Army and someone came out to my car to pick them up. Boy was I grateful for that! These days just lifting Easton makes my back ache and by the end of the day I'm usually hunting for the Tylenol and the heating pad. It feels good to be able to get rid of some of the extra "stuff" at my house and put it to good use somewhere else. All this cleaning just in time to have Baby 2 and get even MORE stuff! :) Guess that's the way it works though, right?

It's a GIRL!!!! :) Yippee!!! Time to buy some pink and purple. Not that we wouldn't have been excited about a boy because hey, we've already got boy stuff, right? But it will be nice to have one of each.

Happy first day of spring! Too bad it's 45 w/a wind chill of 38! Too cold! Bring on the 50s and 60s at least!

Jason might actually get to stop working Saturdays for a while. Woohoo! It's about time! Now we (ok Jason really) can have time to finish up a few little projects around the house AND still have another whole day to relax. Wow! 2 days off at the end of the week? What's that feel like? Hmmm...you say most of the rest of the world has this every single weekend? No way! We're getting gypped! :) Just kidding...Jason's job actually goes through this sometimes. Long stretches of time working lots of long hours. And then right as the weather's looking beautiful the work slows down and he sometimes works 4 day work weeks. Pretty sweet deal, really but those busy stretches are the pits!

This week has been somewhat uneventful around here. Just homework for me, a little housework (as always), story time with Easton yesterday at the library and that's about it. Nothing too exciting to blog about. Baby 2 is doing well it seems. Very active. Sometimes it feel like just one little baby couldn't possibly be moving around that much...he or she moves around enough for two but thankfully several doctors have said there's only one in there.

Monday is (hopefully) the big day. We can't wait to find out if Easton is having a brother or a sister. I've already washed the yellow and green and gender neutral clothes that E has outgrown. We'll see if I need to wash the rest of them or box them all up to go to the consignment shop here in town. Hmmm...I'd love either one but I'm feeling the need to buy a little pink these days. We'll see. Look for a post some time on Monday. My appt is at 9:30 and then I've got some errands to run after that so it might be late afternoon or evening before I get to post but I promise I will if we get to find out. If Monday comes and goes with no post here, you'll know that Baby 2 is in for a spanking from Aunt Leslie when he or she makes their debut because they were shy and didn't want to show off. :)

Boy, have we been busy around here! My mom left today and we got more done in the time she was here than Jason and I could have done in a month! We got the office moved to one end of our living room, painted the baby's room (mom did the painting), organized my scrapbook stuff, sorted through lots of books and got a big box ready to donate to the library and some to send home with my mom, shopped for baby stuff, put together the nursery (crib, changing table and storage cube organizer). We also did some organizing in the kitchen, put up a shelf above our new office area, added some storage above the washer and dryer and in the attic above the garage (Jason did that). We finally got our master bathroom cleaned (thanks, Mom!), moved a bookshelf into some of the extra room in our walk-in closet, cleaned out our coat closet, and vacuumed and steam-cleaned some of the carpets. We also got lots of little projects done that had been on my "to do" list for months. Boy, that feels great!

Thanks Mom! You just left today but I already miss you! I know you're ready
to get back to your own house and routine and work but we sure miss you here!
Glad you're coming back in 2 months. We can't wait!

P.S. Thanks so much for the new bread machine!!! I'll use that baby more than any other kitchen gadget I have and you know that's saying a lot! :)

I cooked a lot of my favorite recipes while mom was here. I figured it was a good chance to do one of my favorite things...cook for someone I love. Over the course of her visit I made:

the Tyler Florence chicken enchiladas w/rice and beans

a glazed lemon cake

several loaves of country style white bread

BBQ ribs in the crockpot, mashed potatoes and veggies

quiche

pancakes

meatloaf, mashed potatoes and veggies

artichoke chicken pasta

my favorite cake - Yellow cake with milk chocolate icing

grilled chicken

BBQ chicken pizza and pepperoni pizza w/mushrooms and olives

Club ranch paninis with ranch dip and veggies

spicy broiled shrimp, spinach salad with warm bacon dressing and parmesan bowls

It might sound like all we did was work and eat while she was here and that's partly true. By the end of the day we were all so tired from all that work that it was a struggle to stay awake to a respectable bedtime. By the time 9:00 rolled around, we were all thinking "Good. Now's not too early to go to bed. I'm exhausted!"

I had so hoped to get to take mom to D.C. while she was here. I am very disappointed that we didn't get to go. The first part of her visit we were so busy getting stuff checked off our list of things to do that we didn't do much of anything else. By the second part of her visit, I was having lots of back pain and some Braxton-Hicks contractions and was kinda afraid to get that far from home and do that much walking. I didn't do any heavy lifting or climbing ladders or anything like that. (Well, OK except for that one brief minute I climbed the ladder with Jason right behind me so I could peek at all his hard work in the attic. But that was only for a split second to admire the flooring he put up there...I was very safe I promise and I won't do it again, OK?) I'm still having a lot of back pain but I am taking it easy and sitting down a whole lot more than before and the Braxton-Hicks have stopped for now.

Only 9 more days until we find out if Baby2 is a boy or a girl. We've got boxes of Easton's outgrown clothes stacked up in the newly painted yellow room all ready to be washed and hung up if we're having a boy. Or we'll wash much less of them (just the yellow and green unisex stuff) if it's a girl. Either way, we'll be thrilled. I just really want to know who's in there!!!

Well, we've got baby2's potential arrival date scheduled. I'm scheduled for my pre-op visit Weds May 27th at 9:15 am and then I'll have my c-section the next day (time to be announced at the pre-op visit). I'm excited we can start planning when people will be here to visit. We're really hoping to have someone here all the time for the first few weeks. My mom is coming out for the big day (and hopefully once before too!) and might get to stay until about June 6th or so. Anyone else want to plan a trip? Come out on June 6th and we'll just make one trip to the airport! :) Let us know if you want to come out and we'll make sure we have an empty guest bed. We really truly want everyone to come out that wants to, so don't be afraid we'll be overwhelmed with too much company. And want a hint? Tuesdays through Thursdays are cheap travel days if you fly Southwest. If you're coming from OK, OKC has a non-stop flight to BWI (Baltimore-Washington International) that you can usually find a decent price on if you book early. Dulles is about the same distance from our house but usually way more expensive.
Just let us know. We can't wait to see you!

Whew! I'm tired! I had such a good day today though. Sometimes I have tons of energy and can go all day long almost like I used to before I was pregnant and other times it's all I can do not to sleep the whole day away. This morning, I got up before my alarm went off, ate breakfast, got dressed (with hair and makeup no less! holy cow!), got Easton up and got out the door all by 8:30 am. That is no small feat for me, let me tell you!

I had an appointment today but it wasn't until 10:15 so I went to Target to shop for baby stuff and stuff to organize my office and scrapbook supplies. I found some great stuff at Target but didn't really buy much because I wanted to take Jason and get his input before I bought any of it. We left Target and then went to pick up Jason at work.

I had my appointment (just a checkup-nothing too exciting.) and everything looks good. I get to call on Monday and schedule my c-section. I'm looking forward to having a date to meet this baby! And that way we can start making plans for visitiors too! Anybody want to come visit? We're trying to schedule it so we have people here for quite some time after the baby is born. I am kinda freaking out about not being able to pick up Easton for 6 weeks after the c-section. Poor little guy! I don't think he'll be able to understand why mama can't pick him up and I'm feeling a little guilty about that. I'm sure we'll manage though and hopefully he'll come out of it needing little to no therapy. :)

After my appointment, we all went to lunch at Texas Steakhouse. Oh my goodness, it was so good!!!! Probably TOO good. Now I'll be wanting to go back again really soon. Delicious! After lunch, Easton and I dropped Jason back off at work and I went to pick out some new glasses. My current ones are all scratched up and I am several months overdue for a new pair. I ordered some new ones (very similar to the ones I'm wearing now) and then we went to Walmart.

Easton was such a sweetie in Walmart today. He did about drive me BANANAS by saying 'nana over and over and OVER again! I bet he must have said 'nana 75-100 times during the course of our LONG Walmart trip. I finally stopped the cart and said "YES Easton! We have bananas! See?!" I wasn't mad at Easton, I just wished with all my heart that he would pick another word already! Then I laughed at myself for getting so worked up about it because I am THRILLED that he is talking at all! :) Yep Dad, you were right. You DO spend months trying to get them to talk and the rest of their lives trying to get them to shut up! haha

After Walmart, I drove home, put Easton down for a nap, put the groceries away, made dinner, and helped Jason give Easton a bath and put him to bed. Then I shopped for a bit online (baby2's registry at Target -FUN!) and then finally settled down to do my homework. Now it's midnight and I'm totally exhausted. Thankfully we have nowhere to go tomorrow and nothing to do except hang out at home.

By the way...what do you all think about registering for a 2nd baby? I'm not sure how I feel about it. I wasn't going to at all because we have most everything baby-related that we need. We sure are lucky to have such generous friends and family. I was overwhelmed by all the gifts we received before Easton was born! Thank you everybody!!! I certainly don't want anybody to feel obligated at all to buy us stuff just because I did that but several people have asked about it and I figured that would be the quickest way to answer their questions...just be able to say "yes, I'm registered at Target".

If Baby 2 is a boy, we certainly have the clothes part covered! The only thing is that this baby will be born at the end of May and Easton was born at the end of October. I'm not sure if the seasons will match up to the sizes of clothes we have but I'm sure some will work OK. Of course, we have to get a crib. Easton's grows with him all the way to a full-sized bed so we needed a 2nd one. (Thanks, Dad and Tina!) And I'm determined to deck out Baby 2's room just as much as Easton's is so there's no hurt feelings over Easton's room being more "done" than this little one's just because Easton was born first. (See, kids? Mom tries REALLY hard already to make sure things are fair and Baby 2 isn't even born yet!) Anyway, opinions or thoughts about this would be appreciated. Is it greedy? I hope not! Is it the smart thing to do? I hope so! Let me know.
Good night and happy weekend!

P.S. I bought lots of tomatillos at Walmart today. Guess what that means? Expect a review of that much anticipated enchilada recipe some time next week. I think I'll be making it on Sunday. It better be good! I'll let you know.

Baby 2,
Like that nickname, little one? Looks like you'll have it for at least another month or so. I went to the doctor today and tried like crazy to get them to take a look at you and tell me whether I should buy you pink or blue clothes but they decided they wanted to keep me in suspense for another month. I did shop a lot for your nursery anyway today. I think we'll do something with lots of yellow and brown and ABCs and 123s. That way we can hurry up and get your room done without waiting til close to the end. I get to call the doctor on Monday and schedule the day you might get to be born. That's a pretty exciting thing, if you ask me. What do you think about May 27th or 28th? That's about the time they told me to expect. We'll see though. I may go ahead and schedule it but you may have other plans in mind. Just whatever you do, make sure you're really good and ready, ok? We are very anxious to meet you but you just take all the time you need to make sure you're healthy and ready to meet us, OK?
I love you, little one! I'm thinking of you all the time and can't wait to see your sweet face.
Love,
Mama

Happy Friday the 13th! Thought I'd do something special in honor of the day.
I found this idea on a blog I read and really liked it.
http://asimplewalk.blogspot.com/2009/02/13-lessons-motherhood-has-taught-me.html
Here's my list:

13 things Motherhood has taught me

1. There is nothing sweeter than the sound of your baby calling you mama.
2. It's inevitable...the only doctor's office appointment available will be during your child's nap time.
3. People really are basically nice. I've had more doors opened for me while pushing Easton's stroller than I ever imagined.
4. Old historic homes do not make good doctor's office buildings. Try getting a stroller up a flight of stairs.
5. No matter how many times you sweep the floor, you will still step on at least one Cheerio or goldfish cracker every time you walk through the kitchen.
6. Real live goldfish can go an extremely long time without being fed. (SORRY Mr. Fish! Won't happen again!)
7. No matter how many times a day your child says a new word, it's guaranteed they'll quit the minute you pick up the phone to show off to their grandparents.
8. A fifteen month old can eat more food in one sitting than you would have ever thought possible. Sometimes even more food than YOU can eat!
9. Something as simple as a favorite food (a banana) can make your kids so happy they giggle.
10. The dirtiest diapers ALWAYS happen away from home.
11. Since having E, I now know where almost every single baby-friendly restroom is in Winchester, VA and which places to avoid at all costs. GROSS!
12. It is possible to change a squirmy baby's dirty diaper on your lap. Possible but not always pretty.
13. Even when you're completely worn out, all it takes is one smile or sweet gesture from your child and suddenly you're not quite as tired as before.