So I'm behind the times...

we're 20 weeks pregnant with our second child....

who happens to be....

a...........


Moira was BEYOND excited, as she has been asking for a baby for awhile now :)

2 years and growing

Sweet girl,

• you are 32 pounds (95% for your age group) and 36.5 inches tall (97%).  

• You wear 3T/4T clothes, size 7/8 shoe and 18 - 36 month tights and socks. 

You are growing right on track and the doctor said you're absolutely doing wonderfully.

• Your language skills are above where they should be and you are a very confident toddler :)

• You love to help mommy around the house and are very stubborn self-assured that you can dress and undress yourself, even though you get stuck and incredibly frustrated to the point of shrieking. 

• You brush your teeth and hair every night, admiring yourself in the mirror and telling the M in the mirror that you're such a big girl. 

• You protest sitting in seat of the carts at the store, so you like to "drive" in the basket or walk next to the cart (if mom AND dad are with you!). 

• You still use a paci at night or when you need some extra soothing. 

• You are drinking either out of sippy or regular cups now - what a big girl! Fork and spoons are being used consistently but if you feel that you can't shovel it in fast enough, the hands still come out occasionally. 

• You LOVE raw carrots, apples, oranges, all colored peppers, yellow peppers, onions as well as the cooked versions. You still don't like lettuce or green beans or peas UNLESS they're dipped in ranch dressing, BBQ sauce or ketchup. Just about everything else is okay, as long as you're in the mood for it. Some days you eat EVERYTHING and other days, very little.

• Ranch dressing, by the way, makes your face break out :(

• You are sleeping in the converted toddler bed but decided lately that you need a big girl bed. You like to MOVE your furniture around your room when you sleep and we don't feel it's safe. 

• You always go to bed with your nightlight on, soft music playing and your T-Rex tucked in. You MUST have T-Rex next to your pillow, laying down and tucked in with a blanket.

• In morning, you wake up happy and chipper not matter WHAT time you went to bed or how many times you got up. Mommy is jealous :) 

We love you, sweet girl. Your laugh, your smile, your ability to make my heart just want to explode with love. You are growing so fast and we are so incredibly proud of you. Momma loves her sweet peanut!

The Divine Miss M

Our sweet, vivacious, sign-language lovin'-coloring obsessed-mini sweet pepper eatin' miracle girl turned

2 years old on Saturday.

Folks, we officially have a toddler.
And whoa, does she ever fit that title perfectly!
We had a party here at our house with about 20 of our family and friends.
The list originally included nearly 40 people and I'm honestly not sure what I was thinking when I did that because 20 people felt like 100.

Her party was nice - poor girl got overwhelmed and overstimulated about 1/2 through present opening and simply shut down. She did the same thing at Christmas. We are learning quickly that she has to do this on her time, her pace, her environment. I ended up opening up many of her gifts and we actually kept some aside for her to open the next day. Some guests were getting antsy because she wasn't opening gifts, so that's why I stepped in. M would come in and out from the playroom to investigate, but she was much happier cooking and playing babies with A and E than anything else. And really, who can blame her? 2 friends to play with AND balloons? SWWEET!!

M has been obsessed with Caillou lately and when we would ask her what she wanted for her birthday, she would tell us "Rexy".  Rexy is the treasured stuffed dinosaur that Caillou carries around with him. Everywhere. I looked online and couldn't find a stuffed replica of his beloved dinosaur, but we DID find a Gund T-Rex. 

It was love at first sight.
He's a dark green courdory material with a soft belly, soft spikes and is nicely stuffed so that he's able to sit up on his own. He's huge at 15 inches and I just feel in love with Gund brand toys. AMAZING!
She LOVES him, takes him EVERYWHERE and his name? T-Rex.
My kid is original to the max :)

The lovely Amber Yanovich from Amber Yanovich Photography was kind enough to spend the afternoon with us and take pictures so that I could enjoy the party and do things like cut cake and make homemade whipped cream for the hot chocolate bar. You can head over to her blog to see pictures of my sweet girl who was being an absolute stinker and didn't want to smile. She was obsessed with the chalk.
And that dang stool.

She brought her sweet girl who, at 6 months younger than M, makes my daughter look like a huge monster. M loved A and was determined to "save her" when A was crying during the mother-of-all-fighting-nap-marathons. Amber, your girl has got quite the set of lungs on her - I'm impressed! :) Thank you for taking time out of your weekend and bring A and celebrating with us, taking pictures and just hanging out. It was very nice!!

By the way guys, I still have 6 bags of mallows and nearly 30 bags of hot chocolate left - anybody want some?

the best of intentions

I really had every intention of posting every day.
My migraines, toddler and life had other ideas.

Today, I am thankful for carpet cleaner that spotlessly removes coffee from my carpet.
Yesterday, I was thankful for the 2 hour nap that my husband allowed me to partake in because I was so incredibly grumpy. I think he just wanted me to quite griping. Can't say I blame him.
On Monday, I was thankful for another day that the three of us could just stay home and snuggle. It was seriously one of the best days of break - actually doing next-to nothing!
On Sunday, I was thankful for our toolkit that my Aunt and Uncle bought us for our wedding. It made putting together Moira's kitchen (that also came from the same Aunt and Uncle) easier, even if it did take 3 hours.
On Saturday, I was extremely thankful for family, especially for my husband's grandfather. I grew up not really knowing either of my grandfathers, so to have that in our family is absolutely amazing. And to see my daughter grow her own relationships between her own grandfathers just makes me so tearful and proud!

Peppermint Mocha and Combos Pizzeria Pretzel

I woke up yesterday with a scratch throat and stuffy nose.
By mid-afternoon, Moira was complaining of a "hurty roat, momma".
Oy.
Last night, I wanted to do everything I could to help her, and water seemed to be the drink of her choice.
She downed an entire sippy cup before falling asleep.
I, on the other hand, was still "hurty".
Enter: a large cup of coffee with a good helping of liquid peppermint mocha and a big bag of Combos.
I know, it's not the nicest combination but it didn't taste half bad.
Really.

I'm not sure whether they really helped my throat, as it's still pretty "hurty" today, but between the warmth of the coffee and the hard edges of the Combos to soothe/itch my throat, I did feel better for a bit.

Eggo In the Oven love

Go here to see Eggo in the Oven's FB page.

While it breaks my heart that it was necessary, I am honored that these shirts are so important to the Scott family that they asked if they could send them back to me to add another set of "angel footprints" for another miscarriage. ♥
No words. Just hugs.

 

Tears welled up as I opened this page and saw what the lovely Kim had said about us. 

Tears were literally streaming down my face. 

Something simple as a t-shirt with hearts on it make such a statement for us. 

Thank you, Kim.  

 

Musings of a Mommy

I haven't posted since our miscarriage - our lives are extremely busy and I just didn't have the "umph" to do it.
Since losing the baby, we have had numerous tests done with nothing coming back as anything but normal. We're disappointed but encouraged that we don't have anything glaring wrong with us. And we know my body can carry a baby, as I have a toddler that is currently enamored with Caillou, Elmo and all things Dora and Diego running around my house :)
Our next step is currently just prayer and the unknown.  We have decided to take some time off of testing and all that jazz, as we are both back in college and working hard.
Speaking of college, Caleb and I both finished our first quarters with 4.0 in each of our classes :)  We both worked very hard, learned some lessons about going back to school while working and parents but we enjoyed our professors and classes. It feels great to be back in school, achieving goals and trying to keep my teaching certificate! I've met some great new people and am just loving it! Caleb's schooling is helping him move up in his job and finally achieving the college degree of programmer that he really wants!
We both start up again in 2 weeks and are about as ready as we can be.  Once again, we will have to have rotating grandparents on duty one night a week, but I think that both the grandparents and Moira enjoy it as much as we do!  She gets a few hours of uninterrupted grandparent time, dinner (and often times, choco milk!) with them and just all around fun.  We get 4 hours of class (not always fun) but we know she is in good hands :)
Work is going well - Caleb was promoted right after we started college again and is now Programmer Analyst for the team. He would eventually like to be Programmer but needs some more schooling in order to achieve that title. It's a big motivator in doing well and getting his degree!
I'm still teaching part-time at a local school with the after-school program. This year has been challenging, as a few of my kindergarten students are very low...they struggle with simple concepts and tasks and could probably have great benefit in attending a preschool but since preschool is not required.... It is fun though, and I really enjoy working with the kids.  We made gak the week of Christmas break ( a great find on Pinterest) and the kids had a BLAST! Some of the parents got irritated with the mess we were making when they came to pick up their kids. I personally enjoy making the mess with the kids and we always clean up! My current college plan is also to help my job - in order for me to keep my teaching certificate, I have to have 18 credit hours.  My certificate expires in June of 2012, so I need to push through getting my hours in before then!
Moira is going to be 2 in a few weeks - I still cannot believe it! She's a walking, running, signing, laughing, coloring toddler who LOVES Dora and Diego, as well as Caillou and Elmo. She enjoys crafts, coloring and hates to be messy. Go figure.  She's speaking in full sentences a lot and it is great to see her personality just shine through! She is stubborn often times (there is a great debate as to which parent this trait comes from!), especially if she's tired.  We notice massive meltodwns, temper tantrums and whiney toddler moments when she's overstimulated/overtired, so we're making every effort to make sure she's getting her necessary sleep.  I know this seems like general knowledge, but up until a few months ago, this kid could/would sleep anywhere with just about anything going on. Not so much now.
Her party is planned for her birthday and we're going to do a simple fun penguin themed soiree. Cupcakes and hot chocolate bar will be the menu, I think.  Her party is just a few weeks after classes start and I really don't know that I can handle anything huge.  Some balloons, a few decorations. Nothing big.
Well, I have been offered a lovely lunch of hot dogs, hamburgers, yogurt, baby's bottle and oatmeal from Moira's Diner, so I must go!
I want to make every effort to try to post something each day in 2012 - something about the day or what we are thankful for. Not exactly sure yet but I'm going to try!