Long time, eh?

It has been entirely too long since I've written in here.

Really. M will be 3 in just over a month....and the last really solid post I wrote was when she turned 2.

Whoa.

A lot of everything has been going on around here since January 2012.
Pregnancies.
Loss of pregnancies.
A TODDLER who is very independent and open about what she feels, how she feels and shares it.
A husband who is working full time and going back to school.
A mommy who is working part time/SAHM the other 95% percent, going/went back to school (LONG story there but for now, I'm on hold) and now, pregnant.

Pregnancy the second time around, with an almost-3-year old who does not want to potty train, give her pacifier up at nap/bed AND who has discovered the power in the word "NO" with definite attitude...

holy cow, how did I EVER survive the first time around?!

right. no toddler. no working. lots of sleeping.

AHA! There in lies my problem.

But you know...I would not trade M for anything, even if it meant more sleep, less putting noses in corners, less messes (although I DO initiate a lot of those!), less worrying and less Caillou. Dora and PBS I can handle...Caillou, I cannot.

She gives me such joy and makes my heart swell with pride, my eyes with tears and just overwhelms me with her ability to pay attention to EVERY.SINGLE.DETAIL and remember things from months ago. Seriously - this kid was singing a song the other day and we asked her where she heard it.
"From Aunt Connie".  Oh really? When?!  (matter of factly) - "At Aunt Megan's wedding" with a look of "DUH, Mom!".

Her wedding was in the beginning of August. She has not sung that song until just a few days ago..

She is my wonderful peanut, my lover of dinosaurs, PBS, Sesame Street and all things sweet. This kid got THAT sweet tooth from her daddy...although I do love chocolate cake. With peanut butter frosting.

Really, ANY sort of cake will do (when I'm not pregnant - right now, the only sweet things that sound good are oreos with milk, homemade silky fudge and coffee with peppermint mocha creamer).

Like the one over at i.am.baker's blog.

IT HAS CHOCOLATE CURLS.... THAT ARE RED!
And the icing in the middle is all wonderfulness of red and green.

Seriously, it rocks.

See the wonderful cake?!?!

What's even cooler is that with this cake, there is an AH-MAZ-ING giveaway.

Verizon gift card and Droid Razr phone.

REALLY!

i am SO in!

I love cake and all fun giveaways.

and when my daughter wrinkles up her nose as her way of asking for a "nose" kiss - Eskimo kiss :)

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.