Spring Things

We have been blessed with some nice weather lately.  In the land of rain, rain, and more rain, we have had some WONDERFUL sunny afternoons in the past few days.  Don't get me wrong, we have also had some wet and rainy {miserable} days too, but those sunny breaks every few days have been oh, so, welcome! 

It's still early spring here (read: a tad bit chilly to my taste), but we have had some nice, dry and dare I say it....partly sunny afternoons as well.  They are especially wonderful because the forecast has only predicted rain, so these little dry moments are always a welcome surprise. 

I have also been self admittedly stalking our seven day forecast, anxiously awaiting this weekend's arrival, praying that the forecast doesn't change.  It seems like each year when Easter comes, we get torrential downpours on the day of Easter, but lovely days preceding and succeeding the big day.  It would be such a huge blessing (and treat!) if the forecast will actually come true for us this year. 



























So I anxiously await.

I got a new macro lens (I think?) for my {little used as of lately} camera, so I have been trying to play around with it.  I am LOVING the bokeh it provides in the photos.   This lens makes this amateur photographer look like she half way knows what she's doing.  Just compare the smaller depth of field (meaning a more blurry background) this lens provides:

 
























 

























Huge difference, right? 

 


Plus, can I just share how much I LOVE it when the cherry blossoms are in bloom?  They are so, so pretty!!!  They just scream springtime and all things girly! 

LOVE them!  

 

























 

























A special thanks to Hubs for all the fantabulous pictures of our sweet Peanut....I am having problems bending/squatting down to her level in my delicate condition.  

Although, I did get to sneak this one in after bath time a few nights ago.....

 





















 

I just love these two.  

Driver's Ed

She's practically a better driver than a lot of grown adults (oh, how I kid....sort of)......

and she's certainly cuter!



 

Lovely Day

Ohmylanta....so, according to our trusty almanac, the first day of spring was on Tuesday.  Or so it says.  However on Thursday morning--here in our neck of the woods--we woke up to this:

 
Ahem. Despite those sad looking daffodils, that doesn't look very springy to me. 

That said, my family and I were just a little more than thrilled on Friday AND today, when we had some of THEE most beeeauuuuutiful days of the year (at least so far!!!!).  I think the high today was 64 degrees?  And if you know us crazy Northwesterners, when we get gorgeous days like this, we go all out.

Like break out the new spring/summer clothes all out.

And go out and take pictures to have proof of a 60+ degree day all out. 

 






















 

And go and fly that kite we've been promising Peanut we would fly all out. 

 And even break out the flip flops all out. 

























 

Yes, yes, I know.  That belly is definitely showing and I probably should throw financial caution to the wind and spring (ha, ha, get it?) for that pedi.  Either way, here's to more gorgeous days ahead!

Oh, and in other delightful news.....I had my glucose test this week.  And the results?  I DON'T have gestational diabetes--not even close!  This was quite a concern, as I did have it with our little Peanut.  I have been watching what I am eating (although most wouldn't really even say that I have been very restrictive--just cautious) and I have been making use of my parents treadmill during our stay here.  Which if you know me, takes a tremendous amount of discipline for this I prefer not to exert myself kind of girl.  But either way--praise the Lord--I am blessed!

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Oh, and I can I just share?!?!.....just 37 more days until our house is back in our possession!  Note I just said possession......we won't be living there quite at that point, as this nesting mama has an ever growing Honey Do/My Gracious Folks Can You Help Us {Hubs?} With? list.

But I am still way excited....can you tell?  

A Little R&R

I am not even going to give a bunch of excuses of why I haven't been blogging.

Because I have none, except for the fact that I am lazy.  Isn't that sad?!?!?!?

However.  

My little silly attempt like the Pioneer Woman's hotel tours.  :)

Hubs and my birthdays were both last week and we were given a delightful little joint gift of a trip to the beach this past weekend.   What a treat it was!  We haven't been to the coast (at least in our state--because we did get a chance last summer on our little trip to see my in-laws) since probably around 2006 (?) and we definitely haven't had a trip without our Peanut since she was born over three and a half years ago, so we were long overdue!  Plus, with our new little arrival early this summer, this was a great time to sneak in some R&R before the little man's arrival.  'Cause when you breastfeed, you can never be too far away!  At least was the case with our Peanut.   But I digress. 

It was just a nice, nice weekend.  The forecast called for rain and wind at the coast (pretty typical of the Pacific Northwest) but it actually turned out better than expected.  It didn't end up raining at all during the daytime when we were out and about.  BUT, we got the perfect amount of rain storms during both evenings while we cuddled up watching movies with the fireplace roaring.  Isn't that just a nice word picture? 

Did I mention we had a great weekend? 


























 
Because we really, really did. 



 

Playtime

Our little Peanut has been having tons of fun with all her new playmates.  She just has lots of little ones between all our family and friends that keep her occupied.  There are the little ones across the street from my parents (our current digs), my friend's kids, my other friend's kids, my cousin's little girl (I always forget the term of that relation--would that be my second cousin or first cousin once removed? I have no idea...).  Combine this with preschool two days a week and story time at the library and well, our little girl is sacked out when it comes to bedtime.



























We spent yesterday evening with my cousin and her little love and this morning/afternoon with one of my closest friends and their little girl (and could I remember to take pictures two days in a row? Of course not.).



























She fell asleep tonight at six o'clock, folks.  

 





















 



And here I am at 22 1/2 weeks.  It's funny because my starting weight this time around was about ten pounds less then it was with the Peanut.  And currently, I've only gained around 8-9 pounds.  But somehow I look like I am at 36 weeks.  When "they" say you show a lot quicker the second time around....."they" weren't kidding!  

 

Fashion Designer

I've mentioned before that the Peanut has quite the way with clothes....she was at it again this morning.  Normally, when she is in the bath, I usually go in her room and lay out her clothes for the day on her bed.  Note, as I said, I just lay them out on the bed, still folded.

She got the idea today to lay them out as an "outfit" as well accessorize the ensemble.

Yes, those slippers are much too big for her right now.   She found them stashed away

 in one of her drawers. 

She is such a funny girl!


 

Our Newest Addition!

We got our perfect little "love gift" (as my husband's cousin so appropriately called it) late yesterday afternoon.  We are so excited to announce that our newest addition to our family is a......................

I cannot even begin to tell you how excited we are!

Why, Yes--I Do Still Know How to Operate a Camera

I actually have been taking some pictures in the last several days.  There are even sweet little things to say about each one.

I mentioned before that Peanut looks forward to every afternoon when Grandma gets home from work.  My Mom usually gets home around 3:30 every afternoon.  Some days, as early as 11 am!, Peanut asks repeatedly, "Is Grandma home from work yet?"  It's too funny.  Today, I got to capture some of her excitement on camera.  Peanut was outside playing when my Mom got home and I was able to tell her that Grandma was home and snap a few pics at the same time.

Our sweet girl is in preschool right now and they are having a Valentine's Day party tomorrow.  So we got to go to the store to pick out Valentine's.  I think I was as excited as she was--probably more, cause I don't even think she gets it yet.  Of course, my girl, who had a plethora of pink and purple My Little Pony, Disney Princess, and all other sorts of hearts and flowers Valentine's to pick from, she went with her favorite, Toy Story.  Or as she calls them, "The Buzz One's."  But as my Mom always tells me, pick your battles.  Eating your vegetables?  There's a battle worth having.  But Valentine's?  Not so much.

 



We were making Valentine cupcakes and I went upstairs to use the bathroom, again (sheesh, and I'm only at 21 weeks!).  I come back downstairs and Peanut has made herself more than welcome to the chocolate cake batter.  Her response?  "Don't worry Mommy, I only had a little bit."

  

And for the final tid bit, our Peanut has become VERY bossy to my parents ever patient black lab, Jet.  Pretty much because she's the only one that will listen to the Peanut.  Jet puts up with Peanut's bear hugs, her bossiness, her three year temperament like. a. champ.  So Peanut has now taken to reading Jet stories as well.  And Jet even listens.

Most of the time.  But if Jet sees an opportunity, she escapes as fast as she can.  Either way, she is such a good girl to our little girl.

Stay tuned Wednesday or Thursday of this week--we get to find out if our little bundle will be in pink or blue!

A Bad Case of Writers Block?

I have been way bad on posting lately.....so much so that my Mom has even made mention of it.  So it must be really bad.  Not that I didn't already know that.  Life has just been different these past few months.  Not bad in any way, but definitely different. 

Being pregnant, then packing, then moving, and now, settling in.  Talk about different, right?  Just calling on address changes alone.....good grief!

Peanut is in preschool, so that takes this homebody away from home (the computer) for multiple hours each week (but I can hear an amen on grocery/Target/Costco browsing all. by. myself?!?!?!  AMEN.).

Hometown is a *somewhat* rural area (although still part of a major metropolitan area) so it takes longer to get most places as compared to our former Smalltown.  So that takes some of my time. 

I got our taxes filed and then had to amend my filing because I forgot one of the things we were supposed to claim, so that has taken some time. 

I have friends here (I am pretty much the wall flower, so sadly {all of my own doing!} I didn't have too many close relationships in Smalltown) and I have been having fun catching up with everyone here, so that has taken some of my time.  

And my iPad?  Well, my affections for my much loved (and much missed) DVR have been replaced with games on my tablet.  So, yes, that too, has taken some of my time. 

Finally, living here at my parents, we now have a nice large, gated yard for Peanut to explore, so that takes some time too.   

We are settling into a new normal.  Life is good, just different. 

I am liking loving different. 

Nineteen Weeks

I can't believe 1/12 of the year is already over.  That probably sounds a little silly, but time is flying by!  I say that every month of every year, but seriously.  Of course, it couldn't be that we were busy moving and getting settled through the better part of January, so it was like I blinked and missed the whole month.

Or maybe that was the case.

My photo taking has been way lagging lately, so those three little posts for the month of January?  That was pretty much the extent of my picture taking for the whole month. We have even been behind in taking photos of the progress for little love #2.

Way to keep up on that promise that I would take just as many pictures of the second child as the first child.  Nice, right?  

We've been behind partly because of moving.  But mostly, because every time I thought to take a picture, I either hadn't showered, hadn't put on a stitch of makeup, looked like a slob (or some sort of combination of all three-yikes!) OR if I felt it was a picture worthy moment, Hubs wasn't home to catch it on camera.

Poor Hubs.  

Definitely have popped out from the last picture, huh?

Welcome to being married for almost eight years, right?  Those photo worthy moments (at least of me) are further and further between. 

However, all that aside, in other (wonderful!!) news, we had my first prenatal appointment yesterday and we FINALLY got to hear the heartbeat!  My first appointment up in Smalltown was at just ten weeks, so we couldn't hear the heartbeat just yet.  Although they did try.  But the little love was very active in the ultrasound, so that was very comforting.  Both my doctor up there and down here said it wasn't really necessary to have another appointment until we got moved and settled, so that is why it's taken so long to get to be able to hear that little hummingbird beat.  But we got to hear it yesterday, and it was just as awesome as it was the first time.

We also got to schedule the next ultrasound, so as long as this little one isn't shy, we should be able to find out if our sweet little Peanut will be having a little brother or sister.  Plus, the appointment is on Valentine's Day, so isn't that sweet?

Please cue for the collective Awwwwwww. 

We also gave notice to our renters, and they were (somewhat surprisingly!) very understanding and agreeable, despite them having to move about two months earlier than they had originally planned.   So praise God for that as well!

And our Peanut?  LOVING the late afternoon when Grandma gets home from work.  Asks me several times each day, "Is Grandma home from work yet?"  So I will leave you with a photo I took this afternoon when my mom beckoned me outside to take a picture.