We tried

So Renee was here last weekend. It was so much fun and I'm so glad she was able to come visit! We hung out, scrapbooked, talked and took plenty of pictures, of course! The weekend flew by. After being phone and email friends for 3 years, it was fantastic to meet her in person. Thankfully, no awkwardness! It was like we'd been friends for life! Emma loved her, which I loved.

 

 

Here's a belly shot - 34 wks, 3 days. I'm feeling huge!
 

Speaking of pictures...she attempted to take some family pictures of us. Yeah. That didn't work out so well. I didn't really think it would but I wanted to try. Emma just will now sit still or look at the camera! These are the best of the bunch. Yes, the only way we could get Emma to smile was to pull her up in the air. Crazy girl.

 
 
 

 

She did get a couple good picture of just me and Michael though.
 
 


Saturday night Marie came over and we all scrapped. And yes, ladies, I'm posting these goofy pictures!
 
 

 

This is cool.

So glad the announcement is up because it's been killing me to keep it a secret!

Meet the 2008 Simple Gals!

:)

In less than 2 hours..

I'll be picking up Renee at the airport! I'm happy because I've so been looking forward to our weekend. And Michael's happy because her visit means the house is really clean right now. :)

A nice surprise

So, this is pretty cool. Saw it when I read Simple Scrapbook's blog tonight.

Simple's blog entry - Fiskars TV

When you click on the Fiskar's link, it's the 9/17 episode. So fun!

This is why Emma doesn't eat ravioli more often

Because it's a giant mess! After lunch, she had to have a bath to get all of the sauce off her. But, at least she enjoyed it. :)

 
 
 
 

Stupid RLS

So, one of the not-so-fun pregnancy pains for me has been Restless Leg Syndrome. Or, as Michael calls it, Dead Leg. In my case, even more so Dead Foot and Ankle. I had RLS with Emma but it's been much worse this time. (Gee, seems like I've been saying that about everything this time!) Friday night I was up until 3 because of it. It's now 2:10 AM and here I am blogging. If you've never experienced RLS, it's the most annoying and awful sensation. I just lay in bed constantly moving my legs and feet, trying to make the sensation stop. Finally, I have no choice but to get up and walk around because it alleviates the discomfort. I decided to read some more about RLS when I got online just now. Something I've done before but I thought I'd refresh my memory. And I'm glad I did. Turns out an iron deficiency can worsen your RLS symptoms. Hmm...I'm anemic this pregnancy, and I haven't been taking my iron supplement because it makes me sick. Maybe that's why it's been so bad lately! Guess I really do have no choice but to start back on the iron tomorrow.

Enough of my complaining...

Here are some pictures of Emma making a mess in the house. As you can see in the first picture, she obviously got into a box of tissues when I wasn't looking! For the record, to reach this box of tissues she had to climb up on the couch and get them off the ledge. And all those toys? Yeah...that's what my family room looks like on a daily basis. :)

 
 

In 9 short days Renee will be here! So excited to see her. I'm really looking forward to a fun weekend of talking, scrapbooking, relaxing and picture taking.

Wednesday, I'll be 33 weeks. We've started getting ready for the baby. The first step obviously was getting Emma in her new room, which went off without a hitch. See this page The nursery has been cleaned and purged of Emma's items. Baby clothes have been washed and put away. This week I'll be getting the bouncy seat, etc all out and ready to go.

Nesting has completely set in. I'm actually starting to panic. I've had all these things I've wanted to do and kept putting off. Now I know I really need to get them done because once the baby is here there isn't going to be a lot of spare time. So I've made my list and am slowly checking items off. Am I going to get them all done? Probably not. But I'll make a good effort!

Time to go do some laundry and maybe by then, sleep will come!

Wheeee!

She's a little big for the swing, don't ya think?

 
 

We got the baby swing out for some friends to use when they were over a couple weeks ago. We left it out because Emma was playing with it, putting her baby doll in it, pushing it, etc. Then two days ago Emma climbs up in it, no problem, like she'd done it a million times before. And there she'll sit. She opens and closes the tray, says "Wheee" and just hangs out. Crazy girl.

9/11

You should read this:

102 Minutes
From the Publisher
The dramatic and moving account of the struggle for life inside the World Trade Center on the morning of September 11, when every minute counted.

At 8:46 am on September 11, 2001, 14,000 people were inside the twin towers-reading e-mails, making trades, eating croissants at Windows on the World. Over the next 102 minutes, each would become part of a drama for the ages, one witnessed only by the people who lived it-until now.

Of the millions of words written about this wrenching day, most were told from the outside looking in. New York Times reporters Jim Dwyer and Kevin Flynn have taken the opposite-and far more revealing-approach. Reported from the perspectives of those inside the towers, 102 Minutes captures the little-known stories of ordinary people who took extraordinary steps to save themselves and others. Beyond this stirring panorama stands investigative reporting of the first rank. An astounding number of people actually survived the plane impacts but were unable to escape, and the authors raise hard questions about building safety and tragic flaws in New York's emergency preparedness.

Dwyer and Flynn rely on hundreds of interviews with rescuers, thousands of pages of oral histories, and countless phone, e-mail, and emergency radio transcripts. They cross a bridge of voices to go inside the infernos, seeing cataclysm and heroism, one person at a time, to tell the affecting, authoritative saga of the men and women-the nearly 12,000 who escaped and the 2,749 who perished-as they made 102 minutes count as never before.

I read it a couple years ago and it was phenomenal. Made me cry. Amazed me with the stories of heroism, how selfless so many were that day. Read it

That Peyton Manning is a hoot!

Yes, I really said that. After watching this commercial. Have you seen it? It's hysterical. Okay, maybe it's not that funny. But when I saw it last night and I laughed and laughed. Then I tried telling Michael about it. And for some reason, while explaining it, I found it even funnier. I was laughing so hard I couldn't talk and I was crying. Michael just said "What is wrong with you????" Then, after I could breathe and talk again, I said "Boy, that Peyton Manning is a hoot!" Which caused my husband to look at me very strangely. Yes, I said Hoot.

Woo hoo!

So happy to be able to share this:

American Crafts

I'm now a member of the American Crafts design team. I'm so excited to be a part of such an awesome Design Team. Congrats to all the new team members!

While I was gone

Emma had a busy week while I was in Colorado, Michael too. Michael had baseball games 5 nights, so Emma spent a lot of time with Grandma and Grandpa Sweeney. She ate corn-on-the-cob for the first time, played at Grandma's, learned to say "Here ya go" "Grandma" and Grandpa", started walking up and down the stairs all on her own while holding the railing, went to a petting zoo and had her hair done each morning by the girls at Kid Park while Michael worked out. Oh, and she didn't even know I was gone. :)

 
 
 
 

If anyone knows how to turn that picture around, let me know!

Colorado is really flat

So, the first thing I noticed about Colorado is how flat everything is. Except for the giagantic mountains of course. But really, it's flat. Wasn't expecting that. I can't believe I've been home two weeks already. The last two weeks has flown by and I thought I should post about my trip before too much more time went by.

Now, I did have a hard time leaving. And I was homesick. In fact, I started crying when we turned on to the airport's road and was sobbing by the time I was in line to check in. Hardest thing I've ever done leaving Emma. Leaving Michael, well...Ha ha! :) (Just kidding honey!) I'd never been away from her except for one night. And even that wasn't even a whole night!

I had a fantastic time. It was great to see Ashlie. And Lee, Tabitha and Ethan. I hadn't seen Ashlie and Ethan since January 2005. Waaay too long. When Ashlie picked me up at the airport, it was like those 2 1/2 years hadn't happened. We slipped right back into our friendship. So nice to have a friendship like that. Wish she lived closer.

Here are Ashlie and I at On the Border. It's a Mexican Applebees. Seriously. And we didn't plan the matching shirts. Or that we'd match the restaurant. Oh, and in case I didn't mention it, she's pregnant too. Due September 20th.
 

Here's me at 26 weeks.
 

All the houses on the flat land. She's in Colorado Springs and I swear as far as you can see it's new houses. Crazy.
 

Friday we went to Woodland Village to walk around. It's up in the mountains and it was a beautiful ride there. On the way, we passed Santa Claus Land, a kiddie amusement park. Granted, I could only see the ferris wheel sticking up above the trees on the side of the mountain, but that's what it was.
 

So, we hear Sonic commercials ALL the time. But, the closest Sonic is 2 hours away. Annoying, isn't it. But in Colorado Springs, Sonics are everywhere. Oh, to be able to have a yummy Sonic slush whenever I want!


The one tourist-y thing I wanted to do was visit Garden of the Gods. We decided to do that the Saturday before I left. And after a week of beautiful weather, it decided to rain that day. Of course. So instead of walking through, we drove. Still was cool to see all the rock formations. We went to the gift shop afterward and they had this giant buffalo you could take pictures with. So of course we did.

Ashlie and her family.


The Kissing Camels.


And our version of the Kissing Camels. :)

This little girl...

Is 18 months old. :) She loves to run and climb. She eats better than her Mommy - eating lots of fruits and veggies, chicken, beef, pork and fish. She eats sandwiches with lettuce and tomato (something her Mommy doesn't) and chicken quesadillas. Her new thing is walking up and down the stairs on her own. She's only fallen once, thankfully. She loves to dance anytime music comes on. But especially to Choo Choo Soul on Playhouse Disney. She loves for us to play it on the computer. She can jump and actually get both feet off the ground. Her new favorite toy is her Learning Bunny. Yesterday was her first day going binky-free for her nap and at bedtime. Nap #2 is going on right now, again, binky-free. Earlier this week I had to spell my first word in front of her, e-a-t, so she wouldn't run upstairs to the fridge. She'll give you "the rock" while making the kissing sound. :) She's talking more and more. I've lost track of the words she says. She knows what sounds a cow, doggie, kitty, sheep and duck make and will make them too. But, any animal she sees is still a doggy. Ha ha! When you ask her what a monkey does, she puts her hands in her armpits and says "ooh ooh" and when you ask her what a bird does she flaps her arms. She loves to go on bike rides with her daddy, although she doesn't like to wear her helmut. She likes Elmo and as of this week, loves Dora. She rarely sits still, is full of energy and always on the go. She's amazing. So much fun. Makes us smile and laugh all the time.

       

Go Tribe!

So this past Wednesday we were brave and took Emma to her first Indian's game. I'll be honest, I was really nervous. Emma has a lot of energy and loves to run around and I wasn't sure how well she'd do for nine innings. She surprised me though - she was amazing! We took plenty of toys and books to keep her occupied. Plus, food always helps! We had such a good time. Michael was such a proud papa sitting there with Emma. :)

 
 
 
 

Rotten!

She's rotten. Seriously. But in a really cute, adorable and hard-not-to-laugh way.

Example #1

July 4th, at Michael's cousin's house, playing in the gravel near the swing set. We're sitting there and I'm thinking how impressed I am that Emma hasn't tried to eat the stones. Instead she was just digging in them with a spoon, moving them around, etc. Not long after thinking this, she looks up at me with this look on her face I can only describe as....rotten. Then she grabbed a fistful of rocks and quickly shoved them in her mouth. I said no, got them out of her mouth and she laughed. She then grabbed another handful. I smacked her hand and she laughed again. And we did this at least two more times. Then she got another fistful in her mouth, totally grinning at me the whole time. We then left the play area and she wasn't allowed in the rocks again. This did not make her happy and caused her to throw a fit or two when I wouldn't let her near them. See, rotten. Oh, and the worst is how funny it was. It's really hard to discipline when all you want to do is laugh.

Example #2.

July 5th, in her crib. I was with my friend Stacey helping her register for her first baby and Michael and Emma were here at home. Michael needed to get in the shower so he put Emma in her crib with some toys. When he got out she'd thrown out her toys and was having fun just jumping. When he went in to see her she'd started spitting. Now she gets in these spitting phases and what a mess. Slobber down her chin, onto her shirt - it's a mess. So Michael told her no. She spit again. He smacked her hand and said no again (oh, I should mention, we barely hit her hand, honestly, it's more like a love tap. Obviously, since she just thinks it's funny!) She spits, he smacks and says no, repeat. Then she does the unthinkable. She spits...then holds our her hand for him to smack!!! I'm telling you - rotten! He then gave up, turned out the light and shut the door. :)

I'm sure Example #3 will happen soon!

4th of July was fun. I was really hoping for rain as we need it badly but we didn't really get any, just a few drops. Thankfully though it was mostly overcast so it wasn't too hot. The kids were on the slip-n-slide though so we thought we'd give it a try with Emma. She was only interested in the water that comes up the side to get it wet. Oh, how she loved this. In fact, at one point she was using the red plastic spoon (which she carried around for over 2 hours!) to drink the water. My crazy kid







I had my monthly checkup today and all is well with the baby. The blood tests I had done last month all came back normal. I'm 22 weeks, 2 days - thanks goodness only 18 more to go! And if he schedules my c-section early (something I'm certainly not opposed to) it could be 17 weeks to go.

Michael took a new coaching postition. He's no longer the freshamn boys basketball coach. He's now the boys varsity assistant, something that I think he's really going to like. A good change, I think.

Only 3 weeks and a few days until I leave for Colorado. I'm going to visit my friend Ashlie for a few days then Renee before flying back home. I'm really excited about seeing Ashlie as it's been 2 1/2 years and finally meeting Renee! But I know I'm going to be a mess when I leave. I've never been away from Emma except for one night, and even then it was only from 10 pm until noon the next day. But, I know once I'm there I'll have a good time. And hopefully I won't be too homesick!