Budding Photographer...

I just wanted to give Kelly props lately on his photography skills...he has been practicing a little, and the outcomes have been terrific! I'm so excited to see the pictures he'll take of our new little one (today or tomorrow!)

I affectionately call the picture above 'ragamuffin'...doesn't this child have a mother? And does she do her own hair or what? Not to mention, before Kelly played with it in photo shop she had Popsicle all over her face! But somehow she is still cute. That's not really fair huh? If I went out on the town with one one-sided-falling-out pony tail and a barrette somewhere in that mess and Popsicle on my face, no one would think I was cute!
This picture (above) took literally 179 shots before we got one where they were both looking. We have a lot of shots of their back sides as they are running away from us...thank goodness for digital cameras and the ability to delete!

And here is our little Laynie again, looking oh so innocent. She is pretty sweet most of the time...and the other times we just won't get into.

Anyway, check back in a day or two for pictures of Ditto #3!!

Still pregnant....

Sundays are tough when you are pregnant and over-due. People at church like to say things like "You're still here??!!??" and "No baby yet??!!??" My favorite part of this whole situation is that they ask it like I had something to do with the whole situation! As if I'm not doing my part to have this baby! Well, I just want everyone to know, I have been doing my part! FOR SURE!

Here is my pregnant tummy, complete with the belly-button protrusion. Our little neighbor boy lifted up my shirt (quite unexpectedly) this week and said, pointing to my belly-button, "is that the baby's nose?" Although embarrassing to have my large white belly exposed to the neighborhood, it was a very funny comment.
So, on to doing my part...here I am jumping on the trampoline the day before my due date (my due date was yesterday for the record). In addition to jumping, I have walked about 1000 miles, done countless hours of yard work including jumping on the shovel to edge the garden, Had two different foot massages, and yes I have even swallowed castor oil...on a few different occasions. I guess I am learning that this little Ditto will come when she is good and ready...unless she doesn't come before Wednesday, then I will be induced on my dr.'s recommendation.
There's the update on how the pregnancy is going...thanks to all of you who haven't called to say "Do you have a baby yet?" I promise to be the first to shout it from the house tops when it happens. We are all very eager and looking forward to meeting the newest member of our family!!

Motherhood...

I love being a mom...most all of the time. These past few days have presented some interesting challenges: Addison's constipation has traumatized both of us with trying 'remedies' for this frustrating problem; Laynie's tantrums have become at least 10x louder and more determined over the past few days; and I was SURE that I was having a baby last Friday, only to have all of my contractions stop abruptly after several hours of coming every 5 minutes :(

But, motherhood is by far the most fulfilling and usually enjoyable thing I have ever done. Addison, after learning about plants at preschool, asked me if he were to drink a lot of water and sit in the sun if he would grow (I wish it were that easy!). And Laynie brought me her Elmo pony-tail holder after finding it outside wet from the rain and said with her serious expression "this is so terrible."

Yes, I love being a mommy, and I am so excited for our new little girl to come. Hopefully the next post will be all about her!

A little nesting...

I know this won't look like a big deal to those of you who have never seen this room, but this is A BIG DEAL! My friend Tiffany called last week to see if I could watch her kids, and then said "I want to do something nice for you..." and her idea was that she would come over to help me organize my vinyl room. This was something I have been meaning to do for a long time, but every time I would go down to start, I would immediately feel overwhelmed and do nothing!

We hung up all my signs, got rid of so much garbage, organized all the odds and ends into containers, cleared off the desk so I actually have a work space, and made it a comfortable place to be! Yea!! Thank you Tiffany!!
After this project was done, I had so much motivation to clean and organize! I cleaned out our sunroom and laundry room and I have big plans for the kitchen! :)

Feeling Pregnant!!

I can officially say today "I am due next week!" That is EXCITING! Actually, I have nothing to complain about in this pregnancy...it has truly been GREAT! So, that means this little girl will be great right? Sleep through the night right off the bat, get the hand of nursing on day 1, never cry, etc.

It's true we still don't have a name that we agree on yet. Kelly loves Sylvia (sounds like an 80-year-old woman who smokes to me) and I love Maren (Kelly says it sounds like a fish). We are THINKING about Carina...it means cute in Itallian...so that would be fitting. The middle name has been set from the beginning, Jean, so whatever name we do choose has to fit with Jean. We are taking suggestions!!

A rough go...

Our poor Laynie has had a rough go at life lately...Last Thursday she was grumpy all morning and then as soon as she woke up from her nap, she threw up. This was a problem because I was supposed to go to the doctor for my 37 week appt. So, I decided to just bring her with me instead of leave her with a babysitter...I mean, she wouldn't throw up again right? WRONG. She threw up in the waiting room, and then on the way home. Yeah, what was I thinking??! Friday she woke up happy and drank a big glass of Gatorade which I felt good about since she needed to get hydrated...she threw all of that Gatorade up ON ME about 20 minutes later. The rest of Friday wasn't too bad, and Saturday morning she was acting like herself again, and then Saturday night, lying on my bed, she threw up again :( This turned out to be even more of a problem because after putting bedding/clothes/etc. in the washing machine...the dryer wouldn't turn on! Good think my parents live 3 blocks away. So, Sunday was looking great until after dinner at Nana and Papa's when she was walking down the hill with her hands in her pockets and tripped-- she barely skinned her nose, so we thought, until the next day when the scab appeared! This week has been much better for our little Laynie and so far Addison hasn't been sick at all!!

Sharing = Warm fuzzies?

Yesterday the kids were enjoying a Popsicle and Addy said "Laynie, I'll give you a bite if you give me one." Amazingly enough, she agreed, and they swapped Popsicles for a minute so they could try each other's flavor. My dad was watching the whole scenario, and he being the type never to pass up a good teaching moment, said to Addison, "Wow, that was sure nice Addy, how does that make you feel inside?" Addison looked at him and without skipping a beat said "Cold!" Of course Papa, how else would eating a Popsicle make you feel inside?

It feels like Springtime!

Tuesday was almost 70 degrees outside, and in the afternoon when the sun finally came out, Addison said "It feels like Springtime!" I thought that was so precious and I am excited for it to be warm enough for them to run around outside (not only because my house might stay a little cleaner...)

We put Laynie is a 'big girl bed' this week. So far she has done beautifully!! In fact, she treats her bed like her crib and doesn't get out until Kelly or I go in and say "good morning!" Until then she just sings and talks to whatever stuffed animal she slept with the night before. Yeah, I have it good right now in the sleeping department...both kids go down at 7:30 and don't wake up until 7:30...I guess I can enjoy about 3 more weeks of that...
Here's Addison enjoying the nice weather on Tuesday-- I got the packet for Kindergarten registration for him-- Holy Smokes is it fat! And why, can I ask, do they want me to fill out the same information over and over and over again? Don't they have computers in the Elizabethtown School District? Well anyway, I can't believe he's old enough to go to Kindergarten already!
Addison also went to the dentist for the first time on Tuesday (I know Logan, we're probably a little late) He was so excited! He loved it and smiled the whole time. The hygienist seemed totally relieved, I guess some kids can really be a nightmare! Not Addy, he was thrilled with all the attention and especially liked the prize at the end! Oh, and his teeth are "perfect" according to the dentist-- whew!