Five on Friday

1.  I'm so glad this was a 4 day work week :)  Hooray for the weekend arriving again already

2.  The nesting instinct is really settling in full force.  I have the urge to clean and organize EVERYTHING.

3.  I tried a Chick-fil-a banana pudding milkshake yesterday.  Two thumbs up. :)

4.  We've had a break from highs in the high 80s and have had two glorious days in the low 70s.  Loving it.

5.  I gave Asa a haircut.  His hair was way too long, so I went for the summer cut--NOT a buzz, but much more tapered to his head.  Oh my goodness he looks entirely too old.  The following picture is right after he got up, so his hair is tousled and messy.  I can hardly stand how much older he looks though--I miss his fluffy head!

Weekend Rewind

We had a BEAUTIFUL weekend!!  And we spent a LOT of it outside. :)  I'm so thankful we could do that since we're expecting rain every day this week.  Then again, the highs where we lived in FL are 97 all week.  At least we can find pockets without rain (I hope!!!) to check the mail or take a quick walk.  I do find myself being rather sentimental about FL as pregnancy hormones surge, the 1 year mark of living in Ohio is quickly approaching (June 1--HOW is that possible?!?), and making final preparations for Anna Reaghan reminds me of making final preparations for Asa's arrival.... in Florida.

Friday:  I'm pretty sure we had something lame for dinner that Matt was undoubtedly very sweet about. :)  Oh, I know what it was. In Florida, we ended up with a tradition of having pizza on Friday nights.  Publix would periodically have Freschetta pizzas BOGO, so I'd pick 2 up we'd have them on Friday over the course of a few weeks.  The grocery store here had them on sale (which I have not seen happen much), so I picked one up (see, sentimental for Florida, I tell ya).  It was kinda fun to have our old routine, and Matt was excited about it.  The sentimentality of it was sweet.  The taste was NOT like I remembered... not after having made homemade pizza on Friday nights for us for much of the time we have lived in Ohio.  It tasted soooo processed and artificial.  Funny how you are clued into such things after not having them in a long time.  Anyway, it's the thought that counts, right?  Asa was really excited about having "pizzas" for dinner (the most dairy thing we ever let him have--the cheese on it--and we go back to STRICTLY dairy free for days afterward to get his tummy settled back down).  Due to one thing or another, it was late when we finished eating and I knew after just eating and being excited Daddy was home, there was no way Asa would go straight to bed (even though it was already at his latest bedtime).  We went for a walk before the sun went down--Sammy in tow (Asa loves when Sammy tags along).  We played a little bit in the loft ("bunnies" which = Calico Critters--actually Sylvanian Families animals and a few chairs and beds that were mine when I was little.  Asa loves to make them sit and lay down, and I've shown him how to put a "blanket" on the beds and tell the animals they are "cozy."), and then we got him in bed.  He still talked a LONG time and was up until at least 9:30 just entertaining himself in bed (we usually shoot for 7:30, 8:00 at the laaaaatest).  Matt got us ice cream for dessert (our new OH Friday night tradition is ice cream on Fridays) and we watched more of Dr. Quinn.  See how exciting we are?!? :)

Saturday:  Asa didn't really sleep in despite his late night on Friday.  Matt mowed the front yard, Asa had a nap.  Then we gathered our things to attend a cook out/get together.  The ladies from my spring Bible study small group were having a get together, families included. :)  We drove out into the country, which Matt loooooved, and spent the afternoon visiting, watching kids traipse all around the yard, hearing Asa call both dogs at the house "Sammy" and pestering them (they were super patient with him wanting to pet them all.the.time.... I'm sure they weren't sad to see him leave), and watching Asa try out a little bubble mower (we've been thinking of one for his birthday, but he hadn't played with one before)--he LOVED it. :)  We got home, let Asa cool off a little from being out in the sun all afternoon, and then got him in bed.  Matt mowed part of the backyard, and then we just relaxed the rest of the evening.  I actually spend the evening with my foot propped up as I fell down the stairs first thing Saturday morning.  I was carrying Asa, somehow a foot slipped out from underneath me, but my legs went behind me as I fell backwards (?).  I slid down the stairs on my lower legs/ankles with my legs bent at my knees.  Nothing broken or sprained, just a little swelling a a really bad rug burn on one ankle.  That is what's sore as I lost a couple layers of skin.  It was scary  more than anything, but we are alllll fine, praise the Lord!  I'm so thankful I fell back and not forward!

Sunday:  Sunday was my first turn to work in the nursery.  I was placed in the newborn room since I'm not supposed to lift over 20 lbs. (a general pregnancy guideline).  Three of us were volunteering and there were only 2 babies, but I got to hold a sweet 2.5 month old baby boy the last bit of the service and pat him to sleep.  Worship was a blessing, and while it's toooootally not about me, we sang several songs that are very praise-ful/worshipful to me.  Asa barely napped 1.5 hours after church, so it was a bit of a longer afternoon for him. ;)  But we filled it up by playing outside.  Matt emptied the rice from his little table in the basement and took it to the back deck where we filled it with water instead.  Asa probably played for at least an hour straight.  Splashing, filling and pouring (aka "duuuuump") cups and pitchers of water, making the little trains that go with the table connect and drive around, filling them with water, pouring water on his head, and dunking his face in the water (alllll his idea!!!).  It was hilarious.  I'll have to make a post this week with pictures from his water play time.  He MUST have enjoyed himself, b/c he asked to go out and "play water" again this morning.... in the rain. ;)  We took him straight to the bathtub (he was already wet, why not?), played inside, had a yummy dinner of sweet and sour chicken, hung up the Anna letters of Anna Reaghan's name (still need to hang the Reaghan part)--well, Matt did that while I played with/read to Asa and "supervised." ;)  We also had the WONDERFUL revelation that the reason the house would not cool past 77 degrees... even when it was much cooler outside, was because the condenser was on a different circuit breaker than the blower, and the condenser breaker was turned off over the winter while the house was vacant.  Matt flipped the breaker, and we have cool air!!!  I mean, I know we kept the house in FL between 78 and 80, but electricity costs there were INSANE.  And we had ceiling fans in every room to make up for it.  And even when it was 80 inside, it was near 100 outside and you appreciated the difference of being inside.  And we just used to it.  We didn't want electricity bills that were 100s of dollars.  But it seemed silly to live in OH and be stuck in a hot house again. Without ceiling fans.  And everything was becoming increasingly muggy.  I'd to go get Asa some crackers, and unless the pack was twisted up SUPER tight, they'd be kinda mushy.  It was because when we turned the "a/c" on, we were just blowing air around.  Once Matt flipped the breaker, you could tell the humidity in the house went down significantly.  And I slept with covers on for the first time in nights. :)  I told Matt he was a smarty-warty. :)

Today I am 34 weeks pregnant and Asa is 23 months old as of today.  It is amazing to me how quickly time is flying.  I feel like I've been pregnant the whole time we've lived in Ohio, and I wonder what it's like to live in Ohio and NOT be pregnant. :) It's not really true.... I got here in June and we got pregnant in October.  I think I was just in such a fog the first few months trying to adjust (and it rained all the time, hmmm) that last summer just runs together in a blur.  So many changes in one year!  We are thankful for God's provision at every turn, and thankful He is near as we prepare to hold Anna Reaghan in our arms and celebrate two AMAZING years with Asa. :)

Weekend Rewind?

So I'm not going to do a weekend rewind for last weekend.  It was rainy.  Matt was out of town.  It doesn't feel like the weekend if we don't get to pal around with Matt.  Weekend errands aren't as fun without Matt to talk to... I run errands without him all during the week.  Don't get me wrong, the weekend was fine.  It had it's long/lonely moments (like waiting 1 hour and 20 minutes for our pizza to be delivered?), but he made it to Baltimore and back just fine.  We even got to all go to church together on Sunday because Matt got home late Saturday night.

What have we been up to this week?  What thoughts are rolling around in my head?

• I am 33+ weeks pregnant today.  I feel like Anna Reaghan is definitely growing!  My stomach is getting harder and harder as she fills out more and more space.  Knock on wood, I'm still not feel digging into ribs or anything like you usually hear.  She hopefully will follow Asa's lead and have plenty of room inside my 6 ft. tall frame. ;)
• I am still wearing pre-pregnancy jeans.  I'm not sure if this speaks more of how much too big they were before I got pregnant (Asa was still nursing, my weight fluctuated a bit as a result, and I didn't want to buy new pants until he was done nursing and I could see what size I settled at), Anna Reaghan riding higher than Asa did (I think I had switched to jeans the next size up with him at this point).  I mean, I'm sitting crossed legged on the couch, and I have the top button of my jeans undone for comfort, but that's it!  It kind of boggles my mind, because I KNOW she's growing and I look pregnant.  The doctor even thinks Anna Reaghan might end up a few ounces bigger than Asa was (although, who knows!).
• Further proof that the pants thing is really weird:  Today for the first time in this pregnancy I noticed new little stretch mark extensions.  There are 2-3 places stretch marks (which I didn't get until the verrrrry end of Asa's pregnancy) from my first pregnancy have grown by the tiniest margin (think 1 cm).  Anyway, I know some women really worry about stretch marks.  Honestly, I'm not planning on ever wearing a bikini or anything that would show the stretch marks, so it doesn't bother me too much.  I just find it interesting in light of how many of my maternity clothes are still too big.  Again, maybe I'm carrying ARK higher, and so the skin is stretching (earlier) in different places than it did with Asa?  Beats me!
• I CAN WASH DISHES AGAIN!!  The disposal up and quit working a few days ago.  Matt used the handy-dandy hex key to free the motor, but it bound right back up with just WATER running through it.  Our landlord agreed to let us pick one up and Matt installed it tonight.  We were at the point where the kitchen sink was not draining well if we ran any water down it, so I have a HUGE stack of dishes, pots, and pans to wash.  I have to pat myself on the back that when nesting is really, really hitting (I cleaned the laundry room floor on my hands and knees this week b/c it just bothered me suddenly), I have stayed really calm and relaxed about piles of dirty dishes mounting in the dishwasher, on the counters, and slowly running out of clean pots and pans to use.  I am really excited to run the dishwasher tomorrow (we thought it was connected to the disposal, but during the installation tonight Matt determined it is not after all) and let my pots and pans soak before scrubbing them clean and washing everything away!  Woo hoo!!!
• Asa has said some funny things lately.  Matt carpools with a coworker named Simon most days.  Several times early in the arrangement Asa would become rather confused that Matt's car was still in the garage (on days Simon drove) but Matt was not home.  I just told him Daddy was at work but he rode with Mr. Simon.  Now every morning Asa tells me, "Dada work... Simon."  Tonight Matt ran to get the disposal and I was putting Asa to bed while he was still at the store.  Asa told me, "Dada... bye... Simon."  Apparently, Matt & Simon go EVERYWHERE together. :)  As I mentioned, I ordered pizza for dinner last Friday when Matt was gone so we could have an easy dinner and even have left overs later in the weekend.  I ordered it online, and I do believe Asa was sitting next to me on the couch when I did that.  This afternoon I was checking weather radar online to see if it was clear to run to the grocery store (we could hear lightning), and Asa told/asked me, "Order pizza."  He only saw me do that once!  He kept insisting that we order pizza while we were online.
• Asa recently noted that on a set of magnets he has, you can see men operating construction vehicles.  He now checks pictures of trucks for "men," puts all sorts of little figures into his cars and trucks so they have "men," and he even took a sticker of a "man" (it was a knight), stuck it right over the cab of a bulldozer sticker, and told me the "dozer" now had a "man."  Loooove all the connections he's making and how his play (LOOOVE imaginative play!) is becoming more and more elaborate.  He is changing and learning and growing at lightning speed right now.  It's amazing, oh so fun, and it keeps us giggling a LOT of the time to see how he sees the world and pieces things together. :)
• Anna Reaghan was RIDICULOUSLY active for about 1-1.5 hours straight this evening.  Nonstop, LARGE movements (some borderline painful as, well, she can't just bust out through my stomach... as much as she was trying).  The constant movement was wild.  It was followed by a short time of hiccups, and then she must have gone to sleep.  It's interesting to me to note her patterns.  Asa's evening active times in the womb definitely correlated with his active/awake times as a newborn.
• Lastly I'll close with the news that we checked on our little robin family tonight, and the baby birds have hatched!  It rained a bit yesterday (the first day in the window of expected hatching), so I didn't check then.  Tonight we saw three little birdies with necks outstretched and beaks uplifted when their mom hopped away as we approached.  Asa's eyes got SO big when he realized the nest had tiny birds in it, and he asked where the eggs went.  We will try to get a picture tomorrow.  I'm so glad all the birds hatached!  We have about 2 weeks they'll live here before they learn to fly and take off!

Five on Friday

1.  Our week has been mostly low-key.  Matt's parents came up last Saturday and stayed until Tuesday morning.  It was so good to spend time with them, show them our new house, let them see Asa in his natural environment, etc.  He showed them all his favorite things to play, adjusted their names (Poppy = Poppies and Nana = Nonny currently) :), and was his sweet, adorable self. :)  We also took a yummy trip to Taggarts and each enjoyed a delicious ice cream treat on Monday when Matt took a half day.  Mmmmmmmm.

 Playing with his Easter train ("Eater tane")

 silly smile

 favorite activity:  reading (he snatched the journal where I record something he does/says everyday and pretended to read it)

2.  We found out on Tuesday that I passed the glucose test for gestational diabetes, but we were surprised to find out I'm anemic.  I was so bone-achingly exhausted during Asa's pregnancy but NOT anemic that I figured there was no way I was currently anemic.  I mean I'm tired, but it's nothing I don't just push through.  With Asa I napped all afternoon every day. Seriously.  Looking back some things make sense--I've snacked more with this pregnancy, both to keep nausea at bay and for little boosts of energy (I did not snack in front of my students during Asa's pregnancy).  And I'm super winded just going up the stairs or after a quick-paced conversation and I have to sit down during worship--standing + singing  makes me very light-headed.  The anemia explains those things.  So now I'm adding an iron supplement 2x/day to the prenatal vitamins I take.  Hopefully it will give me the boost Anna Reaghan and I need!

3.  I finished my first dress for Anna Reaghan.  I've had the material for a long time--for sure since before we knew Asa was a boy.  Maybe even before I was pregnant with him.  It was on clearance, adorable, and I just knew it would make a cute dress for SOMEone.  I didn't know that someone would be OUR baby girl!  I am really happy with how it turned out. :)  I'm almost done with a second one (made from a different pattern), and deciding what's next on the crafting docket. :)

4.  We are so thankful a family from our Bible study invited us to have Easter lunch with them.  They do not have family nearby either, so it's a blessing for all of us to have someone to celebrate with.  God has sweetly provided fellowship with Believers each Easter since we've been married--in FL we spent one in Orland with Uncle Randy and Aunt Janie, a couple with the Eubanks family, and Asa & I spent our last Florida Easter with 3 other families at the Frenches' house.  Those are sweet memories, and we look forward to making new ones this Sunday.

5.  Asa is learning new words ALL.THE.TIME (seriously, on a daily basis).  TOO fun.  And we've been able to introduce him to special phrases.  My current favorite, in light of the season, is "Zanna! (Hosanna)  Sus-jee is risen (Jesus is Risen)!"  Hallelujah!

Five on Friday

1.  Today I hung pictures around the house.  It's so nice to see our familiar things on the walls.  Asa's room is now done, the kitchen and living room are done, the upstairs hallways is almost done.  Yea!!

2.  Some neighbors came over this evening to introduce themselves and bring us warm, home baked brownies.  Yum!!

3.  The master bathroom in the house has a GIANT bathtub.  Asa has always been a fan of baths, but has kicked up to a whole new level of fun and anticipation now that he has a giant bathtub to play in.  He now cries, "Bath!  Baaaaath!  Baaaaaaaaaaaath!" when it's time to get out of the tub.  Bittersweet. :)

4.  We got a medium dumping of snow last night.  Probably 4+ inches total by mid-morning this morning.  It's so weird to me at this point in the year that the snow actually melts completely away and you see grass and trees and it feels like spring will come.  Then the next day everything is blanketed in white again and spring feels so very far away after all. ;)  It also makes me laugh that my hometown schools are on spring break this week.  Spring?  Where is Spring? WHEN IS SPRING?!?!

5.  I think there are only THREE boxes left to unpack in the house!  THREE!  Woo hooooo!!! :)

Frosty the Snowman

 As I mentioned earlier, Matt made Asa his first snowman on Friday night.  It was not a little snowman--it was over twice as tall as Asa!  Earlier snows this winter were more dry and not great for making snowballs or snowmen.  The snow last week was quite different.

Matt said he almost threw his back out trying to hoist the 2nd snowball onto the bottom one. :)  Heavy, wet, snowman-perfect snow!

Trying to give you an idea for size comparison.

Frosty and Asa, pre-accessories

 Frosty with eyes, a "carrot" nose, buttons, scarf, and arms!  Brad & Joy gave Asa a snowman kit for Christmas along with a fun snowman book.  The eyes, nose, and buttons were all from the kids.  They are on dowels and made of wood so we can reuse them.  The kit included small black beads for a mouth as well, but the snowman was sooooo frozen I couldn't get them to stay on his face!  Asa loves scarves, so we added one of my scarves, and I found some sticks to be Frosty's arms.

 Hello up there, Frosty!  Asa was rather intrigued! :)

 Asa adjusting a button. :)  Note Frosty has a hat in this picture, too.  The kit included this hat, it was just too windy to stay on in all the pictures. :)

 I like my snowman!  Thank you, Dada!

Trying on Frosty's hat

We have enjoyed looking out the back doors when we're eating and smiling at our Frosty.  What a fun surprise it was for Matt to think of and make for us!

When did this happen?

Asa brought a craft home from Bible study nursery on Wednesday.  Not just a few scribbles on a coloring sheet (although I do love to see those, too)... a REAL CRAFT!  He and one other child were the only ones registered for the nursery under the age of two (but they're both 1.5 or older).  The nursery is required to have at least 2 workers in a classroom, and 2 workers for 2 kids isn't the MOST cost effective way to run things. ;)  So the nursery elected to try moving Asa and the other child to the 2s & 3s class for Wednesday morning Bible study instead.  There are still fewer than 10 children in the class, so it's not like he'll be run down by big kids. :)  And they added an "under 2" nursery worker to the classroom to keep a watchful eye on the 2 extra little ones.  I'm so thankful they were determined to make a way to still offer us childcare instead of just closing the under 2 class on Wednesday morning--I wouldn't be able to go to Bible study if they did that!  And now Asa does "big kid" activities on Wednesday morning.... like making a craft!

They must have been talking about Noah's ark, because he made a giraffe and it has a verse about Noah on the back of it.  I'm sure he had plenty of help ;), but it is PRECIOUS and it will be a prominent piece of decor on our new fridge when we move!

 The giraffe can stand on its own on the clothespins, but my little helper was preventing that from happening when I snapped the pictures. ;)

Asa had only been in a church nursery once before we moved--my last Sunday in Florida I put him in the nursery just during the sermon so his very first time could be when we had trusted friends he knows (yea, Nate & Melissa!) in the classroom.  The nursery at the church here in Ohio has been incredibly warm and welcoming to all three of us.  It's a huge blessing and answer to prayer!

18 Weeks

Yesterday marked the completion of 18 weeks of this pregnancy!  I had always heard subsequent pregnancies fly by, and that's certainly proving true!  I can't believe we're almost halfway through.  It's just amazing!  I am feeling the baby more and more, and Matt has even felt a few little kicks. :)  Next Thursday is our big ultrasound.  I have a confession:  I am still voting boy, but for about the past week when I talk about the baby, the pronouns that immediately come out of my mouth without even thinking have all switched to feminine and I keep "seeing" a little girl. The same thing happened but in reverse with Asa.  Last time, I had a "gut" feeling the baby was a girl, and a month or so before our ultrasound I flip-flopped and was pretty sure it was a boy.  Gah!  I just hope it is glaringly obvious on the ultrasound either way! :)

Pregnancy Update:

How Far Along: 18 weeks

Size of baby: the size of a bell pepper (about 5.5 inches and almost half a pound)

Maternity Clothes: Not yet.  Some of my dress pants for church aren't feeling so roomy when I sit, but I'm still wearing all regular clothes.  Maybe JUST starting to show if you know me well and look closely. ;)

Food: Still not much of an appetite most days.  Starting to have less nauseous days, but they are not exactly the norm yet.

Asa is great. :)  He is still talking tons and starting to try more and more to put two word phrases together. :)  He recently started understanding "where" more, so we are hearing, "Where Dada?  Where car?   Where go?"  It's very sweet. :)  His left 2 eye teeth have really made it through the surface of his gums, so we had a few days' relief from fussiness.  Now the right side has started. :)  I'm hoping he'll get them all through and can take a break from teething in time for Tyson's wedding March so we'll have our usual happy camper for that weekend adventure!

We have an ice storm going on right now.  I ran my necessary errands yesterday--yea!  The forecast called for up to a foot of snow, but as the system approached our area of Ohio, it turned more and more into an ice storm.  I think we have 1/2 inch of ice right now with another 1/4 to 1/2 inch expected on top of that!

I am working away on Asa's first year scrapbook.  I made photo books for each quarter of his first year through sites like Shutterfly and Picaboo, but I also wanted an overview of his entire first year.  I'm in December, so I'm about halfway done.  I think once I get past documenting his first Christmas in it (3 layouts--1 for each location), I should be able to move pretty quickly through early 2010.  I would love to get caught up to present day so I can just do a layout or 2 a month.  That would be GREAT!!  And I actually have a Shutterfly code I need to use to make a photo book of the last 4 months of Asa's first year.  We have one well-photographed little guy. :)  AND I want to make an appointment at Penney's for 18 month portraits.  He's 19 months old, but we'll let that slide, right? ;)

That's about it for us!  I'm hoping to do some more sewing soon, so stay tuned for HOPEFUL crafty updates. :)

A Little Hello

We had two favorite moments yesterday at our doctor appointment. :)

1. First was seeing the baby moving all around.  My first ultrasound with Asa was at 20 weeks.  By that point, I could feel Asa moving regularly and knew there was a live baby kicking and jabbing.  I knew that even if there were an issue with the baby's development, it was alive inside me.  I have to admit, I was jealous of my friends with early ultrasounds.  To have that confirmation so early that the baby was alive and growing, whereas I waited weeks and months longer to feel Asa and know he was inside.  I thought my friends had it made.  I decided this time around, after we knew we were going to have an earlier ultrasound, that it's pretty scary to face an ultrasound when you DON'T know how the baby is!  I had no confirmation that we would see a live and moving baby on the screen.  It made me very anxious.  VERY anxious.  I had to keep reminding myself I could not change anything we would see and Who was ultimately in control.  The relief of seeing Matt's eyes light up (the screen was facing him but not me at first) the second the baby, moving all around, popped up on the screen was incredible.  We are so, very thankful.

2.  Something else happened the minute the baby was visible on the screen.  Asa excitedly said, "HIIIIIIII!!!" the minute he looked up and saw his little brother or sister.  It was absolutely precious and a moment neither Matt nor I will ever forget (and that we'll probably remind our children of later on down the road when they are less-than-fond of each other). :)  We already feel our love multiplying and can't believe Asa will be stepping into big brother shoes in 6 months!  I love my big brothers and I'm thankful to know our littlest one will have such a great big brother in Asa. :)  This is one blessed baby. :)