Christmas in July

Last night, Daddy declared it Christmas in July night at our house. And if you've read our blog ever, you can probably imagine what that entailed. Yep.......The Polar Express. Joshua was in a mood yesterday from the moment we got home. I don't know what got into him, but nothing we did or didn't do suited him. Jason and I had the nerve to try to have a conversation about a few little piddly things- like finances and naming our daughter- and he was having none of it. He wanted to go outside, but the torrential downpours weren't making that a viable option. Things were going downhill fast before Daddy declared that it could be Christmas in July and popped the magical movie into the DVD player. Wisdom beyond anything I can even begin to tell you, my friends.

Joshua immediately went into mesmerized mode. He moved to the couch with Jason and sat perfectly still while eating a snack and soaking up every single moment of the movie. Soon, it was my turn to cuddle up with him and watch, and we enjoyed that a lot. Especially considering the fact that Jason and I got to resume our conversation.

Meltdowns ensued again when it was time for tub and bed, but I believe Joshua's exhaustion played a role there. He had a round of bad dreams last night which moved mommy to his room for a little while to help him calm down and go back to sleep, and he was still dreaming peacefully when I left for the office at 8 this morning.

Hopefully today is better because I really am not ready to start making The Polar Express a daily ritual quite yet. Although I did see one holiday commercial on TV yesterday morning. I chalked that up to some programming specialist at the tv station pushing the wrong button and putting the "I'll be Home for Christmas" Crest Whitestrips ad in the rotation, but maybe not. Maybe they were having Christmas in July too.

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In other news, I thought I should share with you a few of the comments I've gotten lately from relative strangers regarding my pregnancy. I want to record these for the sake of posterity. And quite frankly, I think it's funny.

Exhibit A: While sitting behind my desk yesterday on 2 different occasions by clients I haven't seen in a while. "Woah.....expecting another one already, huh?" and "Wow...you're pregnant!" I struggled really hard not to break out my "Well, duh!" response that was appropriate only in 7th grade. Perhaps "Here's your sign" might have sufficed.

Exhibit B: There's a store I've been inside one time to splurge on a Vera Bradley bag for myself and to pick up some gifts. My staff got me a gift certificate for there for my birthday and apparently the owner of the store was quite concerned about whether or not I'd had the baby yet and asked Julie to please keep her posted. Hello.....I wouldn't know her if I tripped over her. But I guess it's nice to have concerned folks around town.

Exhibit C: I went to Subway to get a sandwich for lunch yesterday. It's no secret that it's a place I frequent, and moreso this pregnancy than ever before in my life. I have a new found love for the Italian BMT...what can I say? In recent weeks, the ladies there have gotten pretty friendly with me and have started to ask questions. I guess they figure I might be the next Jared, although my waistline continues to expand which I don't think is the marketing message they're after. Well yesterday the lady who was helping me said, "It's a wonder that baby doesn't talk back to you with all the pepperoni you eat." Nice.

Exhibit D: (This is the one that led me to write all of these down. There just has to be a straw that breaks the camel's back, you know?) I was running a bit behind schedule this morning and didn't get to eat enough breakfast at home. So I stopped by Dunkin Donuts to pick up a bagel. Now, it's no secret that I go there quite a bit but so does every other single person who lives or works in Lewisburg. It's a local fact here that if you want to see anyone in town you go to Dunkin Donuts and there's a real good likelihood of running into them. On top of my daughter's love of BMT subs from Subway, she is also quite fond of bagels with reduced fat blueberry cream cheese on the side. I can't help it, I'm just part of the miracle in the making by the Big Guy and it's my job to help her grow big and strong until she's ready to come home with us. If she wants bagels, I'm not going to deny her. So, I'm pulling up to the drive through to get my (I mean her) bagel. The drive-thru ladies are not known as the most friendly of all folks. I try to make it my mission to get a smile out of them and feel quite proud when I do. They're busy- people want their coffee, and it probably gets pretty monotonous to hold hot cups out of a window while collecting $1.49 day in and day out. But today, the person who is waiting on me is someone I've seen a million times but never spoke a word to other than "bagel toasted with reduced fat blueberry cream cheese on the side" and "thank you so much, I hope you have a great day". And she says, "We haven't seen you in a while. We've all been wondering if you had your baby yet. Do you know yet what you're having? We've all been curious." OK...."we've all"? And really? I'm a topic of conversation inside Dunkin Donuts? Seriously.

They lead to me conclude one of the following:

1. I am huge and need to go into hiding somewhere because clearly my state is impacting how things move in the local economy.

2. This whole concept of "living in a fishbowl" as a State Farm Agent might really hold some weight. I mean, I know I have billboards around town and people see my face places, but this really kind of freaked me out. It's right up there with the time I was walking through Wal-Mart and three different people spoke to me by name who I am certain I've never before seen in my lifetime. I guess that's why I pay so much money for advertising. I need to work on converting such comments into new insurance applications, though, and not just pregnancy related comments that make me self-conscious.

3. I need some variety in my life. Ever since the Subway comment and now Dunkin Donuts, I've had a bit of a complex about the analysis that's going on about my dietary choices.

4. All of the above. I think it's that one.

Enjoy a good laugh at my expense.

Hop-Scotch, Somersaults & A Crib

Last evening was one of those "outside" kind of nights. After dinner, Jason and Joshua went out for some tractor time while I put a few things away inside (which may or may not have included a gaggle of diapers from diapers.com and a load of extremely adorable things perfectly suited for one certain little girl for whom we wait). If only my husband fully knew the appreciation I have for his time spent with Josh in the evenings just so that I can get a few of those little pesky things done. I can do in 10 minutes what would take me an hour to get done with Joshua nipping at my heels.

After I was done with those things, I joined the guys outside. Joshua had seen hop scotch somewhere and has been asking how to play it, so we broke out the sidewalk chalk and made him his very own hop scotch board in the driveway. He couldn't quite get the hang of hopping on one foot from square to square, so we settled on full frog method and he hopped his little self up and down the hop scotch board for the better part of a half hour before moving on to "cutting down trees" and helping me to water the flowers outside.

He also impressed us with some somersaulting skills last evening, flipping himself silly. No one is quite sure where he learned this, but he seems to be having a good time. We only intervened to keep him from flipping through the TV or into something that would have sent us to the hospital. Those boundaries seemed reasonable to us. This was only to be topped by the "tap dancing" (his descriptor, not ours) that he displayed for us right before bedtime, which I'm only sorry I didn't capture on video. It was hilarious and would have made for fantastic blackmail somewhere down the road (ie. to be played at his wedding, graduation party, or to be shown to his future wife for comic relief).

Finally, while taking one final load of blue things to the blue graveyard in the basement this morning, I remembered to take my camera upstairs to snap a picture of the ladybug crib set. So here you go. There is a lot of work yet to be done, but I feel good about at least having this much done. My baby "to do" and "to get" lists are growing and taking on some formality at this point (moving from in my head to on paper) so preparations are in full swing.

Yesterday's doctor's appointment went pretty well with no real earth shattering news. I was borderline on my glucose screenings, but the doctor isn't seeing any reason to repeat testing at this point since I'm displaying no other signs of gestational diabetes. My results were also very similar with Joshua. He did have me do the second screening with him, and I passed that one with flying colors, so we're going to try to self-limit sugars and not worry too much about it at this point unless I'd start to exhibit signs of trouble. We did schedule another ultrasound for 2 weeks on August 11th to measure the baby and check on the status of things inside. But other than that, nothing too exciting.

Time is starting to fly....I better buckle up and hang on!

Recovery Day & Nesting Begins

After the whirlwind that we had on Friday and Saturday (see Baltimore post below if you missed that one), we spent Sunday just trying to get back into the swing of things at home.

We headed to church in the morning, where Joshua made me so proud. They were doing a wrap-up of Bible School from the previous week and asked if any of the kids who were there wanted to come forward. I figured he'd be glued to my lap with a look of terror on his face, but he ran right up the aisle and stood there with the other kids. They sang a song and he did the motions like a champ. I almost cried at how proud I was of him. Imagine how I'm going to be when he REALLY does something impressive!

Joshua was begging to get outside and ride his tractor, so we parked in the driveway for a few hours after lunch while he worked in the yard. He rode and rode and rode until his little eyes were getting heavy and we worked our way inside for a nap. Then I worked at laundry (which I'm convinced multiplied on its own while we were in Baltimore because I swore I was caught up before we left) and cleaning and did some cooking ahead for the week.

In the past few weeks my nesting has really kicked into gear. Perhaps I'm feeling the time crunch as the number of weeks left until Baby's arrival ticks down into single digits. Or maybe there really is something to the nesting instinct. I've not yet taken to scrubbing woodwork and moving furniture as I did in the weeks leading up to Joshua's birth, and honestly, I'm not seeing that kind of motivation coming my way anytime soon. Jason did, however, convert the toddler bed back into a crib with Joshua's help on Sunday evening. We had forgotten just how chewed up the crib was from Joshua's woodchuck days, but I'm not too worried about it since our little girl will likely go through the same thing sooner than we're ready to admit. I then started the transformation into red ladybugs and am really happy with how things are starting to look. I only have the crib done and the changing pad cover on with a rug on the floor, but we're getting there. It's going to be really cute once it's all done, I think. Newborn clothes are hung in the closet and other necessities are starting to find their way into the drawers where they belong.

Our family had the joy of welcoming the first of the Richard cousins' Baby Boom 2009 babies (the second of 4) this weekend. God bless my cousin Stacie for enduring one of the most intense labor and delivery stories I have ever been privy to (including the 477 episodes of A Baby Story and Bringing Home Baby that I've watched). If there were medals to be handed out, she'd earn one....hands down. Adorable Anna arrived on Sunday evening after a very long weekend for Mommy and Daddy (and everyone else!). Just being on the receiving end of the text messages (I believe there were 53) with updates, and hitting my knees in prayer for her and the baby, and then seeing pictures of this precious, perfect, peaceful little girl and the love that everyone has for her has been so exciting and so surreal all at the same time. It's almost impossible to believe that we are blessed enough to be able to experience that for ourselves again in just 9 weeks. It terrifies me and makes me so excited that I could burst all at the same time. And knowing that all of the people who were on pins and needles for Stacie, Noah and Anna this weekend will also be praying for our baby warms my heart. What a fantastically supportive, loving family we are blessed with.....for saying prayers, for sending text messages, for making phone calls just because, for holding babies, sharing clothes and gear, and giving much needed advice, that's what it's all about. And I'm so grateful to be one of them.

In more baby business, I'll see Dr. Miller this afternoon for a check on our little one. We've graduated to 30 weeks pregnant today. I suspect that we'll be scheduling our final Trisomy 18 ultrasound for growth measurement in just a few short weeks, so that'll probably be the last peek inside until we meet her in September. I'm anxious to find out how she's growing, because the kicks I'm feeling are coming with such force these days that a few have actually taken my breath away. I'll go on record as guessing that this baby will be larger than Joshua was just by the force I feel behind those movements.

Baltimore

I've been meaning to get this post up all day, but just haven't gotten that far. It's a shame when work gets in the way of the fun of blogging.

We had a nice trip to Baltimore on Friday and seemed to meet all of Joshua's expectations of seeing all sorts of aquatic life. He was mesmerized by the sharks, located Nemo in a tank, and saw the dolphins. We did find turtles and an octopus and jellyfish, all of which he requested to see.

The funny part, for us, was that Jason and I have a tendency to travel pretty smoothly. Never in our lives have we been on a trip that went like this one. Nothing went terribly wrong, but it wasn't terribly smooth either. Not having a stroller at the aquarium was a challenge, not so much during the aquarium visit, but moreso when Joshua was tired of fish and was ready to move on to doing something else. Eating lunch required that we walk to the restaurants at the Inner Harbor, which meant that Joshua was either walking on his already tired legs or we were carrying him or a 30 pound diaper bag. It was hot and crowded and it wasn't a walk in the park....let's just say that.

We finally managed to get into our hotel room, which was RIGHT beside the aquarium literally, but it wasn't until 3:30. By that time, Joshua was overtired and going into "speed toddler" mode which generally immediately precedes a meltdown. Luckily for everyone, we got in and got him asleep before 4 which allowed for a rest before we tackled dinner. The not-so-helpful hotel staff said that we needed to catch a water taxi at the stop right beside the hotel about 30 minutes before our dinner reservation in order to get to Fells Point on time for our 6:00 reservation. We left at 5 just to be safe. Joshua was thrilled about riding in a boat. It wasn't looking good when we had stood at the taxi stop in the blazing sun for 45 minutes without a single sign of a water taxi who looked interested in picking us up. Plenty went right past us, but none pulled in. Just as we were trying to arrange for plan B, someone took pity on us and picked us up. We were late for our reservation, but that didn't end up being a big deal. Joshua LOVED the boat and would have been content to eat snacks out of the diaper bag all night if we would have let him stay on the boat and ride around the harbor.

By 8:30 we had gotten back to the hotel and it was definitely time to get Joshua settled for the night. I mentioned to Jason that I'd love to walk over and get a piece of cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory, but that wasn't going to work with Joshua. We'd pushed it far enough...and then some. Well, about 10:00, Jason returned back to the hotel room with two pieces of cheesecake and scored major husband points. I've never sent him on a craving run for anything while pregnant, but he must have seen in my eyes that I really did want a piece of cheesecake. He's a good husband....and he takes good care of me. His only requirement was that I put that on the blog for the world to see.

The three of us shared a king sized bed, which wasn't exactly ideal considering I should count for 2 people right now. Our room was supposed to have 2 double beds based on the fact that Joshua takes up a whole one by himself. Once we finally got into our room, you can be sure we weren't going to raise a stink about that. A bed was a bed at that point. When we got up on Saturday morning, we ate breakfast and headed home with one tired boy in the backseat. He reached meltdown point as we were coming through Winfield, about 10 miles from home. We knew it was coming and were lucky to have made it that far home before he hit the wall.

It was a lot of running around in a hurry for him, but I think Joshua really had a nice time. He's been talking about the aquarium quite a bit since we got home, so I think it was a success. Enjoy the pictures!

Why I love getting up in the morning...

I was tired this morning. Really tired. And I had a splitting headache. It's not normally a great way to start the day when all you can hear at 5 am is an alarm clock that you wish wasn't ringing, and the pounding in your brain. But that's how the day started. Because I had no choice, I got up like I always do and got moving in a robotic manner. (If it had been up to me, I would still be sitting in my sweats drinking a cup of tea this morning.)

I got my shower, got dressed, did my makeup and hair and was still feeling pretty rotten. I think that this pregnancy is finally starting to catch up with me. I'm feeling slow and sluggish and large...and it's making it a bit difficult to do things as quickly as I did even a few weeks ago. Hopefully that's normal. I don't know because I've never been 30 weeks pregnant before with a 2 year old who constantly needs something. I'm 100% positive I never moved at this pace before I knew what being a mom was actually like.

And then, all of a sudden, I didn't hear snoring on the monitor anymore. So up the steps I went to check on Joshua. I took my camera...and boy am I glad I did. This is what I found.

Immediately, my head didn't hurt quite as bad. This is how I've found Joshua most mornings lately. He'll sit there, waiting like this until I come and get him. Although he's perfectly capable of getting out of his bed and probably even opening the gate at his doorway, he doesn't. I think he likes our playtime in the mornings when he wakes up as much as I do. So I played along with him, asking him where Joshua could be. When I said that I thought maybe he was outside on the roof or he'd already gone downstairs and was cooking breakfast, this is what happened.

And that is why I love getting up in the mornings. It may be early. I may be tired. I may not feel like facing the day and all that it holds. But goodness, I love that face. I love the messed up hair and the messed up covers. I love that he's still snuggling with Bear even after he's done sleeping. And I love that he's THIS happy to see me every single day. What on earth have we ever done to deserve the unconditional love of our children? It has to be one of the most precious blessings in all of our lives.

I hope your morning greeting was just as happy this morning, and I hope it filled your heart and cured your headache the way it did mine.

Now, tomorrow might not go the same way. We're planning to be up and on the road no later than 6:30 to get to Baltimore for a full day of fish/creature watching at the Aquarium. Perhaps I'll take a look at these pictures before I go upstairs to wake up Joshua. He's not quite so happy when the wakeups don't happen on his terms. But I suspect he'll be over it when he sees the first shark or dolphin tomorrow.

With an air of confidence...

I present to you two photos from Bible School's second night. We were down a few toddlers, and the ones who were there were seeming to get with the program a bit. They'll have this thing licked by Friday night, although it's a shame I won't be there to see them in their following-walking-listening-singing-dancing glory. In these pictures, we were setting up for a very spirited game of duck-duck-goose. The funny part was that when someone became the goose, every single child got up and ran around the circle. Such joiners...

No catastrophes last night...just a good learning of the Adam and Eve story, some t-shirt painting (using fabric markers....someone was quite brilliant with THAT choice) and some snacks. For the first time, I think Joshua will be able to eat the actual Bible School snack with the other kids and I think he'll like that. He's been a good sport at eating his special snack, but it breaks my heart to see him singled out the way he's had to be.

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I also have a Joshua story to share from this morning as well. When I found him this morning, he was sitting up in his bed, covered in his comforter just waiting to be "searched for". It's really hard to tell how long he sat there, because I stood in his doorway for at least a minute or two before I even saw him flinch. But before he said anything else to me this morning, he asked me if I had the baby downstairs. I must have looked confused, because he said..."My baby sister???" (And I'm pretty sure that if he knew the phrase "duh Mommy" he would have added that on to the end.) I pointed to my tummy and said, "Nope. She's still growing. It's not time for her to come and play with us yet." To which Joshua replied..."Well I need to tell her good morning. I'm going to cut open your belly with my scissors and get her out."

It was that moment when I realized how thankful I am that he is not in charge of the exit strategy for our daughter. And I don't think I'm going to let him talk to Dr. Miller about any of his ideas either.

Bible School...

Bible School is proof positive that I did not have it in me to be a preschool teacher, or the mother of fourteen toddlers. No way. No how.

Joshua had a blast at last night's first Bible School session at our church. We are going on an Amazon Expedition this week, learning about the "truth" that the Bible teaches. Last night we focused on creation and the fact that God did, in fact, create the entire world in only 6 days. There's a song that the kids are learning that I thought would be so far over Joshua's head....you know, since he seems to be at the level of music class for 2 year olds in terms of songs he's learned to date. But if you want a good chuckle, you ought to hear his mastery of the "7 C's of History" after only one night of practice. They are "Creation, Corruption, Catastrophe, Confusion, Christ, the Cross and Consummation". Seriously....the two year olds are getting it a lot faster than I would have bet. There are motions (of course there are....every Bible School song has motions, right?) and he's starting to catch on to those as well. I'm sad to tell you that the song has been running through my head since last night and I can't seem to shake it. That's a problem I always had during my own Bible School days as well.

There were probably 100 children between the ages of 2 and 12 at Bible School. I say probably because I really couldn't worry too much about the other 86......the 14 two and three year olds we had last night were more than enough to handle. I believe I counted 7 helpers that were with our group.....and we could have easily used 7 more. Three were high school students who were doing their best, but were clearly unprepared for the "enthusiasm" (read: mischief) that the little ones would display. There was one grandmother, and then Miss Sarah (who I will offer up for sainthood, I swear it) and me along with 2 college aged boys who Joshua absolutely adored all helping with the group. We had a rope for the children to hold on to as they moved from place to place. Mostly they just tangled each other up in it, or used it to pull each other along. Clearly, there was not a lot of daycare experience in the crowd--- no one knew quite what they were to do with the rope. In the course of the two hours, we had one bloody lip, one bee sting, and one complete change of clothes from a mishap while making terrariums. (Honestly, I couldn't make this up if I tried.) At the closing last night, I had two children on my lap, one of whom was falling asleep (not Joshua). I was also holding ice on the arm of the little girl who got the bee sting, until she saw her mommy and went into a fit of hysterics about the bee again. Poor little thing.

I came home completely exhausted, sweaty and starving....with a child who was completely wired. He insisted that we stay at Bible School longer and "do more things". We'll be headed back tonight to see what we can come up with on the subject of "corruption". I'll be interested to see how we take that into the minds of two year olds...

Sorry about the lack of pictures from last night's adventures. If you thought I could have seriously handled THAT on top of the rest of the chaos, you have clearly overestimated my skill and ability.

I'm pretty sure 3/4 of this pile of mulch was IN Joshua's clothes on Friday night when I shook him out to get into the tub. It required a sweeper run in Nana's bedroom upstairs! Boys are the best, I swear it! This was Joshua bossing Noah around, right before they had their very first "business disagreement" (in Noah's terms). He asked for a 5 minute break, only to be told by Joshua that there was too much work to do. So Noah quit.

In the garage, where just about all good parties at my parents' house end up. See, that's Baby Anna in Stacie's tummy.....can't wait to meet her in a few short weeks!

Joshua's very first bite of homemade ice cream....a Richard tradition. He loved it and even went back for a second bowl. I've NEVER seen that happen before with him.


Joshua and Uncle Butch solving the world's problems. Joshua may be the first child in the history of our family to make up to Butch.....he even had him digging in the dirt with him for a while. Couldn't be too many cooler people for Joshua to hang out with....Uncle Butch is the best!

Aunt Libby with a lap full!

I just wanted to share a few quick pictures from our trip to Lewistown on Friday. The carpets had just been cleaned here (which was an adventure in itself given Joshua's love of sweepers and the size of the one our new friend Matt brought with him to do the job). We had a great time celebrating Pappy Fred's birthday....I got to tag along just because of being born on the same day as he was. Mostly, we just enjoyed the chance to be with family. Joshua loved the dirt and all of the different people he got to play with in the mulch pile (Aunt Karen, Noah, Uncle Butch, Steph, Pap). He even took two tractor rides with Pap, which were another highlight for him.

An entire Highlander full of pink stuff came home with us from Brooke's stash, and the newborn things are now lovingly put away in our not finished nursery. One thing at a time. With only a day more than 10 weeks to go until she arrives (if we're the ones in charge of that timing), I'm starting to feel the pressure to get a move on.

This week is NUTS.....Bible School each night this week and then our trip to the equarium (as Joshua calls it) on Friday/Saturday. I'm not exactly sure how this is all going to work, but we'll figure it out somehow. It's not like we haven't been running around like chickens with our heads cut off before....and I'm certain it won't be the last time.

Nothing runs like a Deere...

This is what happens when you grow so much that your small, cute, "baby tractor" (which, by the way, looked awfully big and ran awfully fast when we first introduced it to our little tractor boy) is too small. As Jason and I watched Joshua's little one struggle to take his 28 pounds around our yard the other night, we realized that it had been outgrown. But for Joshua NOT to have a tractor to help Mr. Fernandez cut the grass, or to help Jason with our yard work seemed a cardinal sin. So, Daddy got shopping. Last night, he came home with an upgrade--- a John Deere with a wagon on the back for hauling your tools. What more could a boy need?

They worked and worked in the garage to get the tractor put together. Jason describes Joshua's excitement as a little over the top. I describe it by the picture I took. See.....


Some genius at the John Deere plastic tractor manufacturer sent the battery with at least a little juice in it. If I could kiss that person, I might. Because the decals weren't even on the tractor yet and Joshua just could not wait one more second to try it out. It has since been decked out with all of the official John Deere signage. Frankly, it amazes me a little bit how real the thing actually looks.

So off he went, around the house, through the yard, with his tools in the wagon searching for things that needed his attention. On a side note, I have to say how funny it is to watch small people with a pretty good mastery of steering. I'm pretty sure that I wasn't even this good at maneuvering when my mom took me out for my first driving lesson in the Buick Century.

The tractor is now happily charging in the garage, preparing for its next adventure. I'm pretty sure Joshua spent the night dreaming about green and yellow. Makes no difference to me because he didn't call for me even once during the night last night. Hooray!

Today he'll get to visit his beloved Gator at Nana and Pap's house, so I'm sure he'll be chomping at the bit to get there and get moving. Seriously, what did we ever do as children before the invention of motorized toys? I think the best I had was a big wheel and a Huffy two-wheeler.

The Sweetest Thing

I've learned a lesson in the past day or so that I'm not sure I fully appreciated before now. I walked in the house last evening after a very long day at a very difficult meeting. I hadn't gotten a chance to see Joshua before I left at 6:30 am. It was 6:30 pm and I was just walking in the door with aching feet and a serious bathroom need after a trip back across I80 from State College. Joshua came running across the room with the biggest smile on his face and immediately took me to a corner to "show me something". I might add that I was still finishing a phone conversation with Libby when all of this was going on, but he couldn't wait to show me what he had for me.

In the corner was a special birthday present. There were three cards- one Joshua had made, one that he bought at the store (or maybe Daddy did, I'll never know), and one from Jason. There was also a present. The cards stole my heart.....especially when Joshua so proudly gave me the card he had made. He had to interpret what it said inside, and he told me very deliberately while pointing to each section of "artwork" what it said. "Mommy......this says 'I love you' and this says 'Happy Birthday'. These are some heart stickers, and this is a cake I drew." He did the same thing on the purchased card when he explained his "writing" inside of it. I just might keep those cards forever. Jason did a fine job as well, choosing a very sappy card by his standards. He said he tried to find a funny one, but couldn't find one he liked. Such a jokester.

It wasn't even my birthday yet, but I felt so loved. There's not too much sweeter than your child appreciating your birthday and telling you that he loves you. I don't make my parents birthday cards anymore, but I'm beginning to think that it might not be a bad idea, just so they can experience that love like they used to.

So, today I turned 31 years old. Joshua guessed this morning that I was turning 4. Oh, if only he was right. I find birthdays pretty reflective times, and I'm beyond grateful for the joys and blessings in my life. I marvel at the fact that my daughter has learned how to do cartwheels (or what feels like cartwheels) over the last few days. Her movements are a constant reminder of the miracle growing inside of me and how much I love her without ever having had the opportunity to meet her. I'm getting more and more excited about that day as each one passes. We know the joy of Joshua and Jason, and that keeps getting more and more precious to me as well. I don't know what I ever did to deserve all of this, but I think I know Who to thank. And I do so on a pretty regular basis.

On another note, I think it's pretty important to mention a whole bunch of other special July babies who are sharing very close birthdays....

The ultimate is Pappy Fred, who was given ME as a birthday present 31 years ago. I have a feeling he probably was wishing for something different, but I was what he got. I love sharing a birthday with him, and it's always made it special for both of us. There's a little gathering being planned for him on Friday evening. I've always gotten to tag along for the parties for Pap, and that's fine by me. Any chance to spend time with our family is one I'll take.

I also share my birthday with a little boy named Caleb who is turning 1 today. You've probably seen pictures of him on Libby's blog. He's a miracle baby who has been through a whole bunch in his first year of life, not the least of which was an open heart surgery at Geisinger when he was only weeks old. We've prayed and prayed for him, and celebrate his turning 1, even if from afar today.

Other close ones include my cousin Cory's wife, Shannon, who I know checks in here from time to time. We are sharing the experience of our pregnancies this time, as they are expecting their first child just days earlier than we are. It has been such fun to share stories and symptoms and research together with Shannon, and I can't wait to share motherhood as well. So, Happy Birthday to Shannon on July 14th. Incidentally, her baby has also taken up acrobatics this week as well. Looks like we're tracking right on with each other and I love it.

And although I mentioned Miracle Baby Delaney in my last post, who turned one on July 9th, her mommy is one of my dearest friends as well and also has a birthday on July 11th. What I would have done without Karen over the course of my State Farm Agency career I don't know. A long time ago, we got some tacky boot shaped beer mugs at a State Farm event and swore we'd celebrate our birthdays together each July with them. We haven't done that, but I always think about it.

And last but certainly not least is Lila, whose birthday is coming so fast....and I know her mommy hates that! I distinctly recall last July 15th being Lila's "un-birthday" when she wasn't feeling quite ready to share July 15th with me. I know Lindsay was more than ready for her to get here....and any of us who have experienced week 40 of pregnancy can back her up on that one. How a whole year has flown by since all of these special babies were born, I don't know. But I celebrate each one of them right along with my own today.

Sorry that I don't have any new pictures today. I'll see what I can do. Maybe I'm still trying to come down off of the 493 that I printed a few weeks back.....or protect my reputation in town.

Happy Birthday July Babies!

The weekend is over already?

It's never good when a weekend comes and goes and you can hardly recall what happened. But that's been the nature of our summer so far, and it's not showing any signs of slowing down. I personally spent the large chunk of the weekend working on a to-do list that I swear was growing and multiplying right before my very eyes. I'd cross one thing off and add three more things to the bottom. Needless to say, the weekend ended with a few things left uncrossed....I hated it, but couldn't do anything about it.

I had high hopes of getting the nursery completely put together this weekend, but that didn't happen. I did, however, clear it of all things blue, so we're ready for the transformation whenever I get motivated to do that again. Jason and Joshua are going to reassemble the crib and raise the crib mattress again (talk about the circle of life!) and then I'll be ready to set up some very cute lady bug decor. There will be some painting of shelves and fixtures that need to be attended to, but we'll get there. With only 11 weeks to go as of tomorrow, I'm starting to feel the need to get some of these things done.

Joshua and I had the pleasure of attending my friend Karen's daughter's (Delaney) 1st birthday celebration yesterday. I know that all children are miracles....and I truly believe that....but this beautiful little girl is something really special. After loss after devastating loss, Delaney came into the world last July 9th and is such a joy. What a blessing to have shared in the celebration of her first year of living. It was proof that God answers prayer and He hears every single one that we send. Some get answered on a different time table than we ever expect.

This week is a complete whirlwind.....and I do mean COMPLETE whirlwind. I already feel like I'm chasing my tail...and that's not generally a good sign on Monday. We will survive...and likely will have a to-do list to rival this weekend's by the time Friday rolls around. I should be used to this by now.

In the meantime, enjoy the picture of my favorite monkey, who just HAD to have a banana for breakfast the other day because the monkeys on his pajamas were also eating them. Couldn't argue with that logic.

PSU Package still lives on...13 years later!

This was a picture of Joshua holding his "monimer" (I believe he's trying to say "monitor") this morning while we were looking for animals in our house. You can see the giraffe beside him that we located with the help of this super sophistocated GPS tracking device for hidden animals inside of a residence. He'll hold up the monitor and then gasp suddenly..... "I hear one! I hear one! It's over theeeeeeeeere!" Then we have to go and capture it. Sometimes if it's something scary, we have to hide out in a bathroom or a bedroom so that we won't be spotted and eaten alive. We whisper and we tiptoe.....and giggle. Have I mentioned how much fun we have playing when his imagination is in active gear?

Perhaps I should note that the "monimer" he is using is the hand held Yahtzee game that Jason bought as a gift and sent to me in college as a reminder of our summer games of Yahtzee at his house when I'd go to visit him. I had never played Yahtzee until I hung out with him. Such a romantic he was...even though we weren't dating in college. God bless him, though, he really worked on me. Because we all know how exciting it is to be the person who gets the "package" slip in your mailbox at college. This was one of very few I received in 4 years at PSU. (Lindsay, you may the one and only person who gets my reference to our Heister Hall package days, so I hope you enjoy the trip down memory lane!) I'm not so sure now if he feels as though the ends justify the means, but I hope so. I surely remember that gesture and how happy he made me that day. Doesn't take much with me, does it?

That Yahtzee game sure has lived a good life. Just a few weeks ago, I removed the THON couple #207 sticker off of the back of it. It was part of my personal treasure arsenal that I took with me to THON in 1999. There wasn't much that could entertain you during the 48 hours of dancing/standing/crying about your sore feet/hallucinating, but Yahtzee did the trick for some of it. That, and clean socks. Don't ask me why, but changing your socks every couple of hours made a big difference.

I find it amazingly hard to believe that the battery in that little game has never been replaced, and it's been played hard. Why is it, then, that the batteries in my digital camera need to be changed every 37 minutes? I guess they just don't make things like they used to in the good old days of 1996.

Who knows where Yahtzee might go next. Perhaps I'll wrap it up, still with the same batteries chugging away, and send it to Joshua or our daughter in college so that THEY are the lucky ones holding the coveted "PACKAGE" slip while their roommate and dinner friends drool.

Darn whoopie pies...

I believe I mentioned that we did not skimp on food while in Benezette. I particularly enjoyed my mom's whoopie pies, which were always a favorite while spending time in Poe Valley growing up. My mom did not disappoint while on this trip either, as we found whoopie pies waiting for us upon arrival. I hope that I can get all the details right like mom mom does....honestly, I do. She's so good at it and she makes it look easy.

Well, after eating all of this yummy food (which may or may not have included Dad burgers on the grill, macaroni salad, mountain pies, Zig's breakfasts not one but two mornings, smores, a Thanksgiving dinner on the 4th of July that was DELICIOUS, and the aforementioned whoopie pies), I had the privilege of going to a prenatal checkup this afternoon. I am quite unhappy to report a weight gain of 9 pounds in the past four weeks. Darn whoppie pies.

I also had the pleasure of doing the gestational diabetes screening this afternoon which includes the lovely orange drink and an hour wait in the lab waiting room before the blood test. On this particular hour time span, I was treated to experience the blood work of approximately 13 children under the age of 3. Gotta love that. I've never in my life seen so many children coming through the lab. They waltzed back there, unassuming and smiling, usually chatting with the technician who they have no idea is about to completely wreck their day. They come out red faced, whimpering and ticked off. All of a sudden, my blood pressure started to rise thinking about needing to go through that with Joshua again in January when we redo his allergy profiling. Between the children and the funeral for Michael Jackson that I was watching, it was a long hour.

Hopefully the whoopie pies don't have any lingering impact on my sugar levels too....at least not the way they're "lingering" on the scale.

Going Camping...

What you can't see is that Joshua had just backed into the swimming pool and came up quite wet on the bottom half. We laughed......a lot.

Goodness, I love this little girl! It only took about 80 shots to get her smiling AND looking at me. I believe she did it just to get me to stop taking her picture!

Throwing stones "down the mountain" (as Joshua called it). Really, it was the top of the driveway, but we went with his imagination on this. And yes, the cliff he's standing on DID make me nervous.

Joshua and Aunt Libby were inseparable as usual. He loves her SO much!

Joshua's first swimming experience....I can't believe he's nearly 3 and has never been in a pool, but he loved it.

What you can't see is that Joshua's first smore ended up dissected and his hands covered in marshmallow. After this first one, he just requested to eat the chocolate. Can't say as I blame him.

Looking at the elk in the yard with Pap.

We're back after a fantastic few days in Benezette. In case you wonder (which I did), it's in Elk County, in the neighborhood of Dubois, Clearfield and St. Mary's, although not exactly close to any of them. Just in the same general vicinity. We could feel ourselves drifting further and further away from civilization as we made our way north....and it was wonderful. I had almost forgotten how much I love to go camping, although we can hardly claim to have been "camping" in the truest sense since our camp had running water, a hot tub, TV, two bathrooms and a bed for each of us. No tents. Very few mosquitoes. All the amenities of home, just in a gorgeous setting where the elk roam in your front and back yard. Pretty amazing if you're into that kind of thing.

Joshua is most definitely into that kind of thing. He loved the dirt, the campfire, the elk and the deer that we saw. He reveled in the sunshine, the cool evenings, the fresh mountain air. He couldn't even rest to take a nap--- wouldn't want to miss a single second of time there. The temper tantrums were few (actually, I can't remember any) and the laughter abundant.

We spent our days sitting on the deck together as a whole family- someone chasing someone's children most all of the time. It's been a long time since our family has had that kind of togetherness, but it was wonderful. We took walks up the driveway with Joshua to throw stones and make trails in the dirt with his sticks that he found. We built pretend campfires in the grass to match the ones that Uncle Zig built for us in the fire ring. We ate whoopie pies (a camping staple) and too much of everything else, but left with full bellies and full spirits from the time spent together. We watched elk graze as close as 10-15 feet away and saw a family of fawns with their mama in the grass.

Joshua got his wish of peeing in the woods with Daddy, Pap and Uncle Zig. I'll spare you the picture for fear of getting reported to the Blogger people who could shut us down for the full moon shot we have of the guys. Let me just say that Joshua went trekking into the woods with only his sneakers on. And the view didn't get much better after that. My dad's wish is to have a printed picture of the "full moon" for his bar, but I've just been humiliated beyond all belief by the phone call I just got from the Wal-Mart photo people saying that my "inappropriate" photos could not be printed per my request. Like I'm some kind of sicko or something. I'm mortified to go into the store to pick up the rest of the photo order, if I tell you the truth.



Hopefully we'll get a chance to return to Winslow Meadow Lodge again sometime. I can't wait to see Brooke playing in the dirt along with Joshua, and to enjoy it with another little girl next summer. Thanks Nana and Pap for planning such an awesome trip. They're still there, enjoying a more "adult" entertainment with some State Farm friends the next few days. They say they were sad to see us go on Sunday, but I'm sure they appreciate the peace and quiet.....which it was NOT when we were there.

493

One of the morning news shows I enjoy does a "News By The Numbers" segment. So here you go....the News By the Numbers from our house last night was this:

493 is the number of photos I uploaded and had printed at Wal-Mart this morning. Libby had uploaded some pictures of Brooke earlier in the week, which prompted me to remember that I hadn't done that in what seemed like a little while. When I checked the albums of printed photos, I realized that the last ones there were from Christmas, meaning that everything from January through the end of June had not yet been uploaded or printed. Yikes.

Approximately 12 hours later, the uploading process had completed. Approximately $74 after that, I had placed an order to have these little gems printed.

I can only imagine what the photo center people must have thought as picture after picture of Joshua spit out of their machine this morning. I'm betting it was something like..."This woman has a serious problem." Or maybe, "You know, they have 12 step programs for people like her." Or, if I'm trying to stay positive, "Look at that precious little boy who is growing up so stinking fast. What a great Mommy he has for taking so many pictures." Let's go with that one, shall we?

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In other news, in case there was any remaining doubt, I am definitely pregnant. What I mean by that is that I now feel pregnant mostly all of the time. Up until our little episode of pushing myself a bit too far on Satruday evening, things haven't gotten a whole lot better. I'm feeling the growth of my middle and its impact on my lower back. My legs are throbbing and my feet are hurting more and more. I believe I officially left behind my days of high heels and have transitioned only to sandals for the remainder of the pregnancy. I'm pretty sure I lasted longer this time than I did with Joshua.

The real kicker was yesterday at a meeting. I was in our management office for the total span of 6 hours. During that time, there were two scheduled breaks, plus lunch time, during all of which I visited the bathroom. I also had to leave the meeting on 5 separate occasions to go to the bathroom. No joke. It appears the baby has taken to karate kicking me in the bladder, and upon receiving such a kick, I have no choice but to head directly to the restroom. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200.

It hit me again last evening while I was reading Joshua some stories in his big boy bed. Can I just tell you how proud I am of how he's reacted to this transition? That's not the point of this, but I'm serious when I say that I expected far more drama over the whole thing, and there has been zero. He even said last night when he was in the tub that he was excited to get his pajamas on in his big boy room because that room (pointing to the nursery) is the room for babies. "And I'm a big boy now, Mama!" He even said, "My baby sister can have that room now since she's a baby." I believe I kissed him 11 times for being so sweet and grown up about the whole thing. But anyway, as I was laying beside him in bed with him cuddled up beside me and his beloved baby sister, I once again realized that I am decidedly pregnant when I couldn't get up from a laying down position without bracing myself to do so. And since we have bed rails on the bed to prevent head injuries and ER trips for Joshua, I had to scoot myself down to the end of the bed to get out. Boy am I glad no one witnessed the maneuvers it took to pull that off.....particularly not my husband who would have found great humor in the situation.

I don't mean to complain and hope it doesn't sound as if I am. I actually find it quite humorous and even a little enjoyable in a sick kind of way. I know that this is quite likely the last time in my life that I will feel this way- the last time I'll feel human life rolling around inside of me; the last time I'll probably be able to look at my expanding middle and know that it's because God's working a miracle that I get to be a part of; the last time that I'll get to think about a precious, perfect little baby with such anticipation each time I get up in the middle of the night to keep from wetting the bed. Or maybe it's just the hormones that are making me feel this way. I don't know, but I'm definitely pregnant now, in case there was any doubt.

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Tonight begins the packing for our trip to Benezette tomorrow afternoon through the weekend. This may be the true test of the Highlander's travel capacity...well, at least until we have to pack up for Thanksgiving with TWO children. The plan is to be on the road by late afternoon and parked in relaxation mode by 6:30 for supper with my family. We're all super excited about getting away for a few days and spending time together. Something tells me that there may be another 493 pictures for my friends at Wal-Mart on Monday.