The Second Time Around.

Really, I'm just delaying the inevitable to-do list for today.

This pregnancy is FLYING by. It might just be that Claire is very, very mobile and keeps me running all day, but I'm already 1/3 of the way done!

My last appointment was last week. It's been the most exciting appointment of all! First off, I adore my midwife. She came in and gave me the biggest hug and kiss on the cheek. I've missed her a lot. She's like a really great friend. I had taken Claire to a friend's for a play date, and Jennifer, my midwife, was actually really upset about that. The office actually LOVES when you bring your kids. They love to hold them and play with them and know every single child by name. That was the first thing I noticed the first time I went into the office. I loved it.

Anyway, after the reunion with my sweet friend, I was told that my levels from the blood draw were really high. I had gotten an ultrasound at my first appointment and there were two blobs, but the tech told me one of the blobs was just a big yolk sac. I guess we'll find out. I'm measuring exactly how I'm supposed to though, and we only heard one heartbeat. We're 90% sure there's just one cooking in there. Let's hope so!!
hardly stand the sigh
I'm also on the high risk list. I think it's from all of the preterm labor I had with Claire, but with the high levels, she thinks I might be showing early signs of it happening again. Not to worry, she just wants to watch it for a little while and maybe I can graduate from the list!

This pregnancy is completely different than Claire's. I haven't worn real jeans since I was 5 or 6 weeks. But I did find some cute, cheap full panel skinny jeans from Old Navy that I'm pretty much living in.

Things I Love:
With Claire, I wanted candy, brownies, and everything sweet I could get my hands on. I can hardly stand the sight of sweets. I am loving fresh fruit and veggies. My counter and fridge is always stocked! And lots and lots of Orange Juice. Anyone who knows me knows I've always been an OJ guzzler, but now it's even worse.

Marshmello Mateys. The generic Lucky Charms. I won't even share them with Claire. That's Mama's cereal.

Dreyer's Lime Fruit Bars. NOT the variety pack. Just the box that has 6 lime bars. Those are my FAVORITE.

Sonic Ice. Yup, I go through the Drive-Thru just to order a bag of ice. It costs just as much as a bag of ice from the store, but it's the pebble ice. Plus, I don't have to get out of my car. Laziness at its finest.


I can't believe I'm already going to be into the 2nd trimester this week! It's been so nice not having to spend the days hugging my porcelain throne. I've only thrown up maybe 3 times. HUGE difference from Claire! It's been wonderful. Though that might change if Claire keeps getting into the cat food.

I think I've gotten over the shock of having 2 this close together and I'm really, really excited. It's been so fun having Claire around to make the time fly. Before we know it she'll have a new best friend to play with! I'm sure two babes will keep me busier than ever. Hopefully it'll help take off the baby weight, too! :]

Halloween Preview

This will be our third married Halloween, but our first dressing up. Naturally we're going all out. I really wanted to make our costumes this year, and yesterday I stumbled across the most brilliant idea for family themes costumes that really suit our family.

Claire is going to be a pink LEGO. First I measured the brick I wanted to duplicate. I wanted the proportions to be exactly right. I took the measurements in mm and converted them to inches. I took the foam and marked how big I wanted my pieces to be. I wanted crisp edges, but we don't have any power tools. So I used a kitchen knife and trimmed the loose edges with scissors. After hot gluing my circles on, it was time to paint. At first I used a spray fabric dye, but it was super bright and ran out quickly. Luckily, I had a can of hot pink from when I painted Claire's bow holder frame.
It came out like a sparkly tye-dye LEGO. I actually really like it. I'm just waiting for it to dry so I can piece it all together and try it on Claire! I'm really excited!



Now for Ross. I showed him this idea yesterday, but it took a little while to get him on board. Honestly, I just like having projects and having something to do during the day besides clean and change diapers. I was hoping he'd say yes, because the description said it would take between 40 and 50 hours to complete.

I spent the morning drawing out my diagram and getting the measurements of each LEGO part and converting them to Ross' height. It was actually a lot of fun and I really enjoyed doing math and using my brain. With my fruit bar breaks, I am in heaven.

I bought a couple sheets of poster board to make patterns for the round pieces that I'll use to cut foam later. One is currently being used as a drying mat for Claire's costume. I used a compass on the other to draw out my circles. Honestly, I'm a little impressed with how exact my measurements have turned out.



I'm REALLY excited about these projects. It's Day 1, and I'm having a blast. I hope that Ross' costume turns out as awesome as the original, but we'll see! More pics to come as the project progresses!

A Riddle For You.

What has two legs, two arms, and a tail??















If you guessed Claire, you're right!!

The Things That Matter Most.

It's a Monday morning, and this particular morning required a little extra uplifting. So I checked out the Mormon Messages on YouTube. I love these clips. They're short, to the point, and I always find exactly what I'm looking for. Today I watched one on enjoying the little moments. Judging by my laundry list of to-do's for the day, it was exactly what I needed. I looked up the October 2010 General Conference talk that was referred and dove in a little deeper.

"Let’s be honest; it’s rather easy to be busy. We all can think up a list of tasks that will overwhelm our schedules. Some might even think that their self-worth depends on the length of their to-do list. They flood the open spaces in their time with lists of meetings and minutia—even during times of stress and fatigue. Because they unnecessarily complicate their lives, they often feel increased frustration, diminished joy, and too little sense of meaning in their lives...

"My dear brothers and sisters, we would do well to slow down a little, proceed at the optimum speed for our circumstances, focus on the significant, lift up our eyes, and truly see the things that matter most. Let us be mindful of the foundational precepts our Heavenly Father has given to His children that will establish the basis of a rich and fruitful mortal life with promises of eternal happiness. They will teach us to do “all these things … in wisdom and order; for it is not requisite that [we] should run faster than [we have] strength. [But] it is expedient that [we] should be diligent, [and] thereby … win the prize.”

Lately I've felt exactly like the first paragraph. I felt proud of myself when Ross would come home and I'd divulge everything I had done that day. Ross is incredibly supportive. With the pregnancy, I really don't make dinner all too often. I love that he doesn't expect a hot dinner on the table and a spotless home when 5:00 rolls around. Let's be real here. When I go to pick him up, I am by far the scariest girl on campus. My hair is usually in whatever kind of pony tail I quickly did, with a splash of who knows what on my pants. Let's not even talk about the make up situation here.

Last week I had appointments, meetings, and just things to do on every square of my calendar. This week is completely blank. I think I'm going to take advantage of that and try to focus on the significant and what matters most. If dinner, a clean house, and possibly some make up just happen to happen, that's even better!

Pedro Germs, No Returns.

When I was in second grade, my family moved to Oregon. I went to Mary Woodward Elementary School. It took a while to make even just a couple good friends. A few years later there was a new boy named Pedro. I don't remember how it started, but I remember the kids were mean. Really mean.

If Pedro bumped into someone, that person would then touch someone else and say, "Pedro germs, no returns!" It turned into a game of tag almost, and you did not want to be the one stuck with "Pedro germs."

A few weeks later, some friends and I started the "We Care Club" or WCC for short. I remember scribbling out ideas for club names and for some reason this was the one I decided was best. We really didn't do anything with the club, but the one rule we had was that we weren't allowed to pass on the "Pedro germs".

I kept a list of the popular girls' names and swore to myself that those would be my kids' names. For some reason I thought if I named my kids after a popular person, they'd be popular, too. That was my ten year old logic.

Now I have a kid of my own and another on the way I can't help but think of the saying, "It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice".

I am overwhelmed by the responsibility and role mothers have, in a great way. And I'm so grateful for both of my mothers as well as the opportunity I have to be a mother.