Recent maternity purchases

Maternity and nursing sleep shirt

Matching pants (both are on sale!!)

Fabulously comfy set of pjs that I can fit into now and will be able to wear later for nursing!

Hoodie cardigan

Matching pants

I'm going to wear this outfit home from the hospital with a nursing tank.  It's so cute on and will be so comfy to come home in (especially if I have to have another c-section).

Adorable shirt WITH pockets!!

This shirt is so comfortable, it has pockets, it looks great over leggings with a cardigan now and will look adorable this spring too! 

I scored all this on sale and am really happy with these purchases.  I haven't bought much at all this pregnancy, so I didn't mind buying a few extra things now.  I do need to get a few more nursing tanks for this time around as mine are SO worn from wearing them constantly for a year after Spence was born.  If I can find a few cute nursing tops (besides just tanks), I'm in for those as well.  I keep checking Zulily as they've had good deals in the past on nursing clothes.  Anyone else out there love the nursing tops they have or other cute new maternity clothes?

Something all moms should read.

I read this blog post Monday, and while I don't have four kids (yet???  Just kidding, B!!), there are days when one (sweet and perfect (ha!)) toddler is enough to make me think I'm crazy for having another.  Most days, this is not the case, but let me tell you, getting him into the carseat when he is mad and doesn't want to is the worst.  I had zero concept of that prior to being a mom.  Or when he decides he is starving in the middle of the day and there are no more snacks in the diaper bag and he is screaming "Nack, Nack" over and over.  Or when whining takes over your toddler to the point where you want to send him to his room for inappropriate behavior (laughable for a 21 month old!). 

Most days, I adore being a mom more than I ever could imagine, but there are days.  For sure.  I think this post is the best I have ever read on the journey of motherhood.  We all judge; it's so easy to do.  But what is so important to remember is that everyone, you, I, children, husbands, bosses, EVERYONE has a bad day now and again, and just a little bit of kindness may be exactly what that person needs.  I compliment parents at work often (since I work in pediatrics and it's part of my job), but I don't ever think about it in public.  This is my reminder to myself that everyone appreciates and deserves compliments regularly and that it is always wonderful to hear that you are a great mom or dad and that your child is being very well behaved/respectful/polite/patient/funny, etc.  We're all trying very, very hard to do right by our children.  It's just not always perfect!!

21 months

Buddy, you are now 21 months old.  That is ALMOST 2!!!!  It has been an amazing month for you, little guy.  Daddy and I have been astonished at how much you have learned and the things you are now doing.  You look like you have grown a lot in this picture, though you are pretty on par for your age.  You're wearing mostly 18-24 mo clothes with a few 2Ts thrown in there.  You're a size 5 or 5.5 in shoes and a size 5 in diapers. 

I think the biggest advancement you have made this month is in vocabulary.  You have learned so many new words.  You can name most people in our extended family (you LOVE saying Nick and "Yaya" ie Leah), you love the letter W and can recognize it too, you have most of your colors down pat (yellow, green, purple, and black are probably your favorites), and you adore repeating words after us.  My favorite thing is when I say "i" and then you say "I" and then love and then you.  It's adorable!  I think your favorite thing in the whole world right now is Wheels on the Bus.  We could sing it non-stop.  You also still love the Elmo videos on youtube and the alphabet and number trains on youtube.  You are now saying two word phrases.  This is a milestone you have to meet by the age of 2, so I'm glad it's already happening.  Check that one off the list!  You know that Daddy sings in the choir at church and you love to say "la la la, Daddy" (that's supposed to be Alleluia).  You also love for us to sing Alleluia to you, especially for me to sing it when Daddy is gone.

Running in the hall.

You adore your bear and your milk first thing in the morning.  We have occasionally forgotten bear at daycare and it's rough when that happens.  Luckily your Little Giraffe blanket is also ivory with the same textures, so that will usually get you by.  You also love "woof" (dog lovie), baby (pink baby doll that make noises), and Spot.  But bear is definitely, definitely your favorite!!

Going down for bed has become a little bit of a struggle over the past two weeks.  You've backed up your bedtime from 7:15 until about 7:45 but now you will NOT go down without crying for extended lengths of time.  It's hard b/c you have always been a good sleeper.  Once you are down, you don't wake up, it's just the getting down that is rough.  Daddy and I have often had to rock you completely to sleep after you've been crying for 20-30 min.  We both know this is a horrible habit to get into, so we really need to start a direction with you to get you back to your normal sleeping pattern.

Helping is your favorite.  You love to do pretty much anything we ask.  If we are cleaning, you want to help.  If Daddy is shoveling, you want to help.  If we are in the kitchen, you want to help.  Baking with mommy is one of your favorite activities.  You're so funny about stirring- it's messy, but you LOVE it and you love watching the Kitchen Aid go "wound and wound". 

Lately you have learned that unasked for kisses on the cheek melt mommy and daddy's hearts.  You'll stand behind us on the couch and reach for our cheeks to kiss us.  You also love giving hugs and are so sweet about it.  

I'm really proud of how much you are learning and how sweet you are, Buddy!  We're soooo glad you are ours!

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

From our favorite Valentine to you all,

Hope your day is wonderful and full of things you love,

like touchdowns, great food, a sweet dessert, and a few kisses (preferably of the wet, toddler, open mouthed variety!!).

I've got a someone who'd be willing to hand a few extra ones out!!

(PS- see that blue wall in the background???  Sneak peek of things to come in SYT's new room!)

NESTING!!

I am in a new place in my life, ladies.  It is called nesting and it has hit me HARD!  I do not remember this at all with pregnancy #1.  I remember people talking about it and I'm sure I thought I was by decorating the nursery, but it was nothing like this. 

Thursday I stayed home from work with a sick SYT, and I decided it was very important to scrub all the grout and caulk in our shower with a tiny scrub brush, windex the inside and outside of the glass shower, clean all of the shampoo/conditioner/facewash bottles, plus clean the rest of our master bath within an inch of its life.  Seriously, I even sanitized our toothbrushes.  Spence did get a kick out of "helping" in the shower, and it occupied most of the morning which was great.  Our shower looks absolutely fantastic 4 days later and I'm still impressed by how much cleaner the caulk looks.

This weekend I took down all the blinds upstairs and washed them all in the tub.  That is a disgusting job!  I've never seen so much dirt and dust.  It took forever too!!  Uggg.......  I also realized that a few of our blinds really do need to be replaced in a few rooms.  The strings are just really worn and don't go up or down evenly.  I also cleaned all the window casings and started on the baseboards.  Let me tell you, it's a good thing that we don't have bad allergies in this house.  Dust was definitely building up on top of our window casings (yes, I'm admitting I'm not a great housekeeper right now.  Just keeping it real!). 

While I was doing this, B was taking down all the towel bars in our upstairs bath, filling in the holes, and hanging all new ones.  The old towel bars were brass and wood and practically falling out of the walls thanks to an improper use of wall anchors.  We hung all new brushed nickel bars to match the sink fixtures.  This goes along with the taking down of the hideous brass and mirrored shower doors that we did two weekends ago.  I just bought the fabric to make the shower curtain, and as soon as we pick a name for this chap I have in my tummy, I will be ordering monogrammed towels for the boys as well.  Yea for an updated bathroom!!  (I do still want to paint it, but we're unsure yet if that will happen before or after the baby comes).

We still have a pretty good sized list of things to do before May, but I'm SO glad we were able to check quite a bit off the list this weekend.  It really is nice having snowy winter weekends to accomplish household chores.  If this were June, I'd get nothing done!! 

Any housekeeping stuff you checked off this week???

Right before the Super Bowl, I saw the trailer for The Hunger Games.  I cannot wait for March 23rd!  I'm not sure B and I will actually go opening night (there's a chance we will be out of town that weekend), but we WILL be going.  That's what I've asked for for Valentine's Day- a date before the baby comes to see the movie of the book I loved.  I'm not sure if B will love it or hate it, but he's being sweet enough to go with me. 

Anyone else planning on seeing it?  I know a ton of you have read it.  I'm not sure it'll live up to the books (that's always hard, though The Help was pretty much spot on), but I still think it will be really good.  Oh, and if you loved Hunger Games and haven't yet read Divergent by Veronica Roth, get thee to a bookstore, a library or a Kindle near you and DO IT.  You will not regret it!!!

Happy 200th!

Oh, Charlie (Dickens that is), it's your 200th birthday!!  Normally this would not excite me except you did write one of my favorite books of literature of all time. 

My high school English teacher was amazing at getting us all to read, and enjoy, quite a few of the great works of literature, and this was, by far, my favorite.  It's probably been 10 years since I've read it, which means that I should probably go back and do it again.  Have you read it?  Did you like it as much as I did? 

What are your favorite lit books?  My other faves are Jane Eyre, Rebecca (those two are very similar and I loved them both), The Scarlett Letter, and Gone with the Wind (does anyone NOT love this?).  Anna Kerenina and I did NOT get along (holy boring and WAY too many Russian names that are way too similar), The Great Gatsby was just okay, Wuthering Heights lost me about chapter 4, and I still have never cracked open a Jane Austen book. 

My Current State of Affairs

I saw this on Rare and Beautiful Treasures the other day, and I loved it and thought I'd do it myself.

current guilty pleasure: Pinterest and The Bump's baby name board

current nail color:  Natural (though I'm getting my first shellac in 2 weeks!)

current playlist:  NPR, The Wheels on the Bus

current read:  The Kitchen House (amazing), waiting for Game of Thrones from the Library

current drink:  Water, lots and lots of water..........
 
current food: Smoothies, Roasted broccoli.  Truly, right now, I am so flexible with food.  I haven't had a craving yet with this pregnancy (with Spence it was black beans and clementines all winter!)
 
current favorite show: Glee, hands down.
 
current wish list:  About 20 things from Bella Bliss's new spring catalog for SYT and Baby #2, a new monogrammed sweater for me, black boots that actually fit my "athletic" calves, a gorgeous new chandelier for our entryway, and some time in the kitchen.
 
current needs:  Baby #2's name!

current triumphs: Making it through this week at work while B was out of town for 3 of those days.  It was a tough week.  Winter viral season is in full force which makes for a VERY busy week at work.

current bane of my existence: Having enough energy to work out; no snow!!

current indulgence:  Ice cream (I had an amazing bowl at work today and it was so well deserved)
current blessing: Baby #2's kicks. 
 
current excitement: B comes home tonight; the painter starts next week; Spencer has learned so many words lately

current mood:  Happy, tired, blessed

Anyone want to play along?  It's a fun one!!  Have a great weekend!