Seven Years

Yesterday was my seventh Valentine's Day with Drew -- two years dating and five years married.  Seven years is a long time.

Five years ago -- our first married Valentine's Day!

Seven years ago, if someone had told me exactly where I'd be today, I wouldn't have believed them.

Sure, I figured I'd be married with kids, but the concept is so much different than the concrete.

I couldn't have imagined the incredible love that I have for Drew.  It grows every day.  What I felt then was only a tiny fraction of what I now feel for him!

I couldn't have imagined living outside of Dallas... and I definitely couldn't have imagined liking it! (It's taken me over a year to be able to say that.)

I couldn't have imagined how hard motherhood would be... and yet how fulfilling.

I couldn't have imagined how full my life would be with two wonderful children and one more on the way.  How much they complete my life and make it worth living.

I couldn't have imagined a more perfect family.  I truly am blessed by God every day that I get to spend with my husband and babies.  I just have to keep reminding myself on the hard days! ;)

I so needed to take a seven-year step back and look forward to today with new eyes.  There are so many things that I wouldn't have chosen, or I would have chosen, but in different timing.  But taking a step back, I can see the hand of God in everything and, thank the Lord, He knows better than I!

And it's a comfort to know that even though I can't imagine what life is going to be seven years in the future, I know it'll be better than anything I could plan.

If you're feeling overwhelmed today, take a step back.  Look at your life a year ago, five years ago, ten years ago.  Take time to really look at your blessings and acknowledge them.  And above all, know that God is good and that He only has your best interests at heart.

I promise, it'll change your perspective.

A Little Post of Randoms

Hello, friends.

My mind is everywhere lately and I can't seem to form coherent thoughts, much less compose a whole blog post.

Welcome to the sleepless nights of the third trimester, Mama.

So, I thought I would just post a few random things that have been on my mind.  Who knows... it might be entertaining to see where this leads...

Hopefully next week, I'll be able to get my thoughts in order long enough to write something worth reading! :)

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I got a domain!  It's been something I've been meaning to do for years, but I finally took the plunge and did it!  Woo!

I've been designing my sister's wedding website and was working in their domain trying to get it linked to the host (looooong story -- like 2-3 days long) and when I finally figured it out, I decided I might as well take what I'd learned and do my own.

Mine took literally 10 seconds.  Go figure.

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I missed my organizational goal last week.  I just hit a wall.  We hosted a Super Bowl party for our Sunday school class.  It took me two days to recover and when I did, the last thing I wanted to do was organize a closet.  So now I'm a week behind, which means I'll either remain a week behind and just tack the last project on at the end or I'll have to overlap projects a bit.  Not sure which one I'll do.

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During my previous two pregnancies, I've severely limited my sweets intake during the third trimester.  And by severely limited, I mean I would only ingest them on the weekends.

But I can't seem to bring myself to do it this time around.  I just want to reward myself for keeping the kids alive... or making dinner... or finishing the laundry... or whatever.  Because all of those things are the last things I want to be doing.  (Well, obviously I want to keep my kids alive.  But sometimes I wish they could keep themselves alive for at least five minutes!)

And because I keep eating all this sugar, I'm starting to worry that Asher is going to be quite a bit bigger than my other two 8lb, 6oz babies (yes, they were the same size).

Lord, help me!

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I am SO behind on laundry.  Ugh.  Last week, I had to pull stuff out of the dirty clothes just to have something to wear.  I've been pretty good about staying on top of my kids' laundry, especially with Hallie outgrowing all of her clothes (only a few outfits still fit) and Gabriel going to MDO (skinny kid only has four pairs of pants that fit around the waist).

But my laundry is rarely all clean at the same time.  Which means I'll have pants, but no shirts, or vice versa... or I'll have clothes, but no panties.  Poor Drew has been forced to do his own on the weekends.  Sometimes I'm able to fold it for him, but more often, he's living out of laundry baskets.

Currently I have 3 clean loads sitting in my hall, one in Hallie's room, and one in the dryer.  Guess I know what I'll be doing during nap time today.

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My car is in desperate need of a vacuum.  I haven't had the inside done since the summer... before our family vacation to the beach.  Yeah.  Gross.  It's just so hard to sit and wait with two toddlers, even on the weekends when I have Daddy's help.  Add another thing to the list of things to do when Gabriel's at MDO!

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Tomorrow, I have to take my glucose test.  I'm freaking out a little.  You'd think, being that this is my third, stuff like needles and getting blood drawn would be no big deal.  But it is a big deal.  I don't know if I'll have both kids (how long is pneumonia contagious?) or if Drew will be able to take off work in the morning to offer moral support.  And considering I have to drink the glucose mixture first, then sit and wait for however long with one antsy toddler (possibly two)... I'm just not looking forward to it at all.  Who could blame me?


Well, that's all for today, folks.  Time to go fold some laundry, call the pediatrician, and start dinner prep.

Whew.  Wish me luck!

Pediatricians and Pictures

I took my kids to the pediatrician yesterday.  Going to the pediatrician is always an adventure.  Hallie, usually friendly and outgoing, just cries.  It doesn't matter if the nurse is measuring her, weighing her, or talking to her.  She acts as if the world is ending.

And Gabriel, usually a little shy around new faces, acts like a wild man.  He is up on the table, wrinkling the paper, then sliding off.  He incessantly asks for snacks, drinks, and a lollipop.  It's all I can do to handle them both!

I purposely scheduled Hallie's checkup this time for when Gabriel would be at MDO.  Unfortunately, he developed a pretty consistent cough on Wednesday, so I went ahead and took him in to get looked at.

It was surprisingly smooth.

Oh, Gabriel was still a wild man, but he was also very helpful to the nurse and the doctor, offering his ears to be checked, opening his mouth really wide, and not putting up any sort of fuss.

And Hallie only cried a little bit, and she actually laughed when the pedi checked her neck and tummy.  I'm glad some of her happy personality is finally showing when we're there!

Anyway -- results?  Hallie is perfectly healthy.  She's in the 97th percentile for height, not that I'm surprised.  Her pants are all getting too short and I've been avoiding the chore of putting the 12-month stuff away and getting the 18-month stuff out.

And Gabriel... well, Gabriel has a mild case of pneumonia.  Lovely.

Bring it on, life.  Bring. It. On.

On a happier note, when we were in Virginia for Christmas, we got our pictures taken by some family friends, MS² Photography.  Mary and Missy got some great shots of our family, especially of Hallie.

Look at her posing!

Ugh, I can't even pick my favorite. :)

Gabriel wouldn't stay still long enough for them to get anything decent of him by himself, but these talented photographers were able to capture this priceless shot of him jumping mid-air on my parents' trampoline.

Look at this great shot of our little family!

And one of my personal favorites:

Seriously.  Readers from the Hampton Roads/Newport News/Williamsburg area should check these talented ladies out.  They are fun to work with, reasonably priced, and just plain awesome.

Until next time, lovely bloggies!

2013 Reading List

Here I am, ready to (finally) share my 2013 Reading List!

Yes, it's taken me this long to finalize it.  Don't judge. ;)

1.  First up is Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen.  As my favorite book, I try to read it about once a year.  And, as January 28th was the 200th anniversary of it being published, I've decided to read it first.

Yes.  You are seeing this right.  Little Austenite in the making!
If you're a nerdy mama like me, check out BabyLit.com!

2.  Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë (I will finish it.  I will!)
3.  Les Misérables, by Victor Hugo
4.  Wuthering Heights, by Emily Brontë
5.  Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens
6.  Tess of the D’Urbervilles, by Thomas Hardy
7.  Gone With The Wind, by Margaret Mitchell
8.  The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald

And now for the re-reads!

1.  A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens (I read this when I was probably 13)
2.  Loving Your Kids On Purpose, by Danny Silk (finish, not re-read)
3.  On Becoming Baby Wise, by Gary Ezzo (time for a refresher for Baby Asher!)
4.  Persuasion, by Jane Austen (my other favorite Austen book)

It's sad that there are so many classics that I haven't read, especially considering I'm an English major.
What can I say?  I was home schooled! ;)

Actually, I really can't blame it on being home schooled, as I read P&P and Sense and Sensibility when I was like 12-13.  I was constantly reading when I was in junior high and high school, but for some reason I just never read these books (or I read abridged versions, which do not count).

Ah, well, I am remedying it now.