Yeesh, it's been awhile.

I don't know that there is anyone out there still following, but I can try to briefly fill you (whoever "you" are) in on our lives.  I'm only on a tablet - our laptop is toast - so my resources are limited too, but here I go.

Cedar turned 2 in May and has developed many changes since then.  She has always been very predictable - behavior, sleep, eating habits, etc.  But not anymore!  She surprises me every day now, and I hardly know what to tell babysitters what to expect from her.  Naps are no more, cribs are no more, and...diapers are no more! She is growing, glowing and making me smile every day.  Here are some birthday photos...4 months late :)

Speaking of growing and...glowing (ha! Let me be clear:  I do not glow.)  I am now 26 weeks pregnant with baby girl #2.  I'm doing okay.  Very tired, and dealing with some heartburn/general discomfort, but I'm enjoying baby's constant movements, my growing bump, and the portability of said baby while still pregnant.  That said, I just can't pretend that I enjoy pregnancy - but I sincerely love my daughters and wear this baby bump with a grateful heart.

She is so gorgeous!

This is baby around 11 weeks.  Can You believe that?  Only 11 weeks!

Cedar took a dance class, and loved it!  This was on her last day, when the teacher gave her a chocolate kiss, oh my!

I almost always find cedar sleeping under layers upon layers of toys when I go to bed.  She is a very, very busy littleerson.

I am learnimg, having a little girl means many hair battles.  Every day.

...and that pretty much sums up our summer (add ham and Janelle to all of our activities though!).

Myself and baby at 26 weeks.

Dress up time.  A new favorite.

This is the nursery.  I am so pleased that it's completed so early, and I just love it! It's calming, cute and simple.  Can't wait to bring our girl home.

And...Cedar's big girl room!  I love this room, too.  It's so...Cedar.

This girl decided she wanted to potty train and just did it one day!  We had been practicing unsuccessfully for a while, but it just clicked fir her one day, thank God.  Now I am using our budgeted diaper money on teeny newborn supplies.

We learned to bake cookies....

Discovered pockets...

And, oh!  Got a dog.  

Don't ask me how it happened, my current opinion on it, and for the love of God, don't be the millionth person to remind me that in 3 months, we will have a 2 year old, a newborn and a puppy.  I am very, very aware.

He's cute to look at, at least.  Meet Ruckus, Cedar's new best friend.

Seriously.

A Month in Photos

It's been a very eventful month over here.  

Four weeks ago, Jody and I learned we were expecting another baby!  We are absolutely thrilled and definitely couldn't wait to tell all of our friends and family.   I'm nearly 8 weeks along now and am currently in the throws of morning sickness.  However, I'm marveling at how different this pregnancy has already been from Cedar.  With Cedar, I didn't get a positive home pregnancy test until I was nearly a week late.  Cedar was also a total surprise.  With this one, I found out nearly the moment I possibly could have, when I was not even four weeks along.  We also had been praying for a pregnancy (for quite a while) this time around.  

So far, morning sickness has been quite unpleasant, as it was with Cedar, but different.  I've already thrown up multiple times and generally have really bad bouts if nausea/dizziness on and off all day and night.  I threw up only once in the 9 months I carried Cedar.  I promised myself I wouldn't wish away a momentof pregnancy this time, but I am definitely finding myself looking forward the the second trimester :)

Hey Cedar!  You're going to be a big sister!

Here is the little one around 7 weeks.  Pregnancy is such a miracle!  Amazing that little thing has a beating heart.

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As soon as we found out about the pregnancy, poor Cedar was hit with a nasty cold.  We missed nearly two weeks of work, as both families were very sick, and Cedar and Mama lost nearly a week of sleep.  It was rough, but it got rougher when I caught the nasty bug (resulting in more sleep lost) and then far worse when Jody fell ill as well.  Thank God he can wipe his own nose.  I am only now beginning to breathe through my nose and sleep through the night again.  

We were first time Netti-Pot users!  Two thumbs up.

In the midst of the sickies, this happened:

Our dishwasher broke.  And flooded our kitchen.  Jody had to rip out our laminate flooring, (again) clean up a wretched mess, unhook the kitchen sink and wait for a repair man.  The good news:  Our home warranty covered a brand new dishwasher!  The bad news:  All of this happened a night before we were to throw a big BBQ for Jody's two sisters.  We were anticipating over 30 people at the the house with no kitchen floor and no running water in the kitchen.  It happened though!  I forgot to take pictures but the BBQ was indeed a success!  I converted one of my bathrooms into a dish washing station (a little gross, but necessary) and lots of people took dishes home with them to help me out.  An exhausting success :)

The next morning was Easter, so our Easter plans changed a bit due to our circumstances as well.  We headed over to cousin Aliyah's house for cinnamon rolls, fresh orange and grapefruit juice and an egg hunt.  Here's a picture of our pretty girls.

And Cedar and Mama:

Cedar looked beautiful in her Easter getup and enjoyed two church services (in the nursery).  She adores going to church and has made many friends there, but am a bit nervous for her, as she will be moving out of the nursery and into the two year old classroom in a few weeks.  I can't believe it's already time!

I'm loving this phase of Cedar's life.  She is so much fun!  She talks and talks and talks and talks.  Just like my Mom always said she would - paybacks for my gabby nature as a child.

She also has some 'tude.  Here she is telling me to "Gopp it!" (Stop it!).  She recently realized Jody's name is Jody and we are fighting back laughs to straighten that out.  It's a little funny but mostly naughty.  Sigh.

We ride bikes together...

Grocery shop together...

And share many silly meals together.

Spring Break - And Randomness

The Mama for whom I'm currently working was on Spring Break this week, which meant I had 5 whole weekdays to sample being a Stay-at-Home-Mom (yet again).
It was glorious.  I took the opportunity to finish up some projects around the house that have been bothering me.  I did some organizing, LOTS of cleaning, and indulged in some reading and running.  I'm tellin' ya, glorious!

 One of my projects was to move around some furniture in our bedroom.  Jody recently insisted on switching with me sides of the bed, but I was uncomfortable with my new side.  I like routine, people.  So my next best move was to beautify my half and make it more comfy.  I moved in a little bookshelf so I could be close to my books/bible and put up a lovely canvas I recently painted.  Project #2 was keeping the room clean.  All day.  Every day.

(Daunting).

It was also great getting extra one-on-one time with little Cedes.  She's absolutely hilarious and becoming quite the little personality.  We've been dealing with more and more temper tantrums as we approach the "terrible twos", but we are mostly enjoying this phase.

Cedar is a lover of cheese, slides, her cousin Hammie and treats.  She is NOT a lover of the vacuum cleaner (it's "nee-nee") and babysitters.  We have recently begun a once a week routine of meeting up with cousin Aliyah and Aliyah's Mama to go to bible study at the church.  Cedar absolutely adores Aliyah and copies everything her older (Aliyah is 3) cousin does and says.  The girls get to play in the nursery while the Mama's get two full hours of sipping coffee and talking Life/The Bible with other women.  I'm loving it and am grateful that Cedar is beginning to enjoy time away from me, as well.

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Mama Cedar believes one can never have too many babies.  Mama Kayla agrees whole hearted-ly.

Cedar and her posse:  Froggy, "Quack", "Lovey", doggie #1, doggie #2 and "blankey" go e.v.e.r.y.w.h.e.r.e with her - in the house, that is.  Babies are usually our tagalongs for errands.

We are in "copy-cat" phase.  Everything we do, say or (I swear!) think, she does too.  Yes, curse words have been repeated.  She also insists on going potty every time I go potty (frequently, people) and walked up to me and squeezed my tush once.  I'll bet you'll never guess where she saw that.

We don't eat very many meals together as a family, unfortunately.  Due to our odd schedules, it's just hard to make happen and I've mostly let that idea go, for now.  This weekend, though, I got up early on Saturday to create a lovely breakfast for the three of us and I think it went well - although, I truly don't believe any day could possibly go wrong when started with champagne.

Overall, we are happy, healthy and working on improvements all around.  Jody and I have been prioritizing date nights and taking a couples class at the church on Sunday mornings.  Jody bought a Jeep and is loving making it his own and taking it out for joy rides.  And our house is a work in progress.  In 2015, Jody has replaced our front door and finished a good chunk of the trim in the kitchen and hallway.  Once the weather gets nice, we will be either painting or putting up new siding and replacing windows.  Each project has to happen as the extra money is available, so we are both always on the look out for extra jobs.  I'm planning on staying home this summer, but am hoping to bring in some extra cash via babysitting/housecleaning when I can.  Jody's job often has OT opportunities as well, which is a blessing that we always try to take advantage of.  

God continues to pour, and we are grateful.  Onward, Spring!

In This Moment

A few weeks back, in an effort to distract my whiney little darling, I held and swayed her like an infant and sang Rock-a-bye in a mocking tone.  Cedar loved my silly singing voice and immediately clapped her hands and screamed for "Mah!" (more).  Since then, I've caught her multiple times, rocking her baby and trying her own rendition of the classic.  This morning, she climbed up onto my lap with her blankey, layed it against my shoulders and asked me to sing to her.  In tiny human words, what went down was more like this:  Up peese.  La, la, la, laaa.  Mah.  Peese." 

So I sang.  And each time after I finished, she'd look me right in the eyes and demand for Mah.  It's moments like these, when she is loving me for who I am - her Mama - and not for my horrendous singing voice, that my eyes just want to well up with tears and my heart feels it might burst.  How long will she appreciate my singing to her?

Since being one and a half only lasts for so long, I am concentrating hard on enjoying each and every time I hear that tiny little voice call for me, because, in reality, that tiny little voice will grow up, and one morning I'll sleep past eight and wake up in a panic and wonder why Cedar hasn't called for me yet.  Then I'll realize she's not a baby anymore.  She's in the living room, having gotten herself up, onto the potty, into the cereal and started coloring.  Without me.

These are the moments I am loving/feeling thankful for right now:

-Bedtime routine.  Cedar gathers her "supplies", (blankies, stuffed animals) flips on the space heater, turns on her sound machine and I lift her into bed.  We pray together and I say sleep good, I love you.  She looks me right in the eyes, binkie in mouth and mumbles, "Luh-yoo."

And then I die a little.

-Mornings.  This is a love/hate.  I wish so much that I could have slow mornings again, but right now I have to beat Cedar to the punch, so I am (usually) up and showered and drinking my coffee when the jabbering begins, right around 7am.  She sings and jabbers until she gets annoyed and demands Mama, Dada, or Papa or Grammy or just WHOEVER THE HECK COME AND GET ME OUT OF THIS CRIB!  The day has begun and we are off.

-Brief, quiet moments when she is playing by herself.  When she is in her own little world and I happen to catch her.  They happen rarely, and they happen quickly, but in those moments I get to peek around the corner and watch her little movements and wonder what she is thinking, and who she is talking to?  I get to watch Cedar turn into...Cedar!

I have NO SHAME when it comes to taking selfies with Cedar.  Her eyes light up when she sees "Dee-dah!" in the camera and we have a good ol time making silly faces and smiles at the camera.  So, there's that :p