Rambling

I know I am a huge slacker in the blogging department! I don't think I have any "faithful" readers, just nice people who happen to stop by every now and then.

It's Sunday afternoon and I am seriously considering a nap. Nora is FINALLY laying down after playing in her crib for about 30 minutes. Before we had even left the church parking lot after services, she was sound asleep. Of course, the second we pull into the garage, she is up and ready to party. Oops, I hear her playing again...I am not budging...she WILL nap.

We have Bible Study at our house tonight and I really should be cleaning, but I am tired. With my first pregnancy, I don't remember being as tired. AND I had a full-time job teaching 2nd graders. Am I getting old or just tired from keeping up with a toddler? Probably both.

Tomorrow I get a massage! I am so excited! Back in the fall, Matthew and I went to an auction. He bid on a gift certificate and won. It expires on March 31st, so I am getting it in right under the deadline. Matthew is on spring break this week, so I don't even have to find someone to watch Nora for me. What a great day!

We are leaving Tuesday for Hattiesburg, MS to visit Matthew's dad and stepmom. It should be nice. Matthew will (hopefully) get to play some golf and I will (hopefully) have some grandparent help with Nora. It's always nice to go there. We're excited, however, we are not excited about the 10 hour car ride.

I go to the doctor April 2nd for my first official doctor's appointment. I will be 13 weeks along. I don't even feel pregnant right now, which at times makes me nervous. Did any of the rest of you ever get anxious during your pregnancy? You know, you kind of wanted to carry a fetal monitor around with you at all times to make sure the baby was actually inside of you and growing okay. I know, in my head, that everything is probably fine, but I need to let my imagination know that too. Am I the only crazy one in this world? Before having Nora, we had a miscarriage, and I wonder, if that had not of happened, would I be like this? Would I worry or even think of the worse-cased scenario? I don't know. What I do know though, is that no matter what the outcome, God is taking care of me and our family. He is in control and knows so much better than we do.

Thanks for letting me unload.

Matthew preached at church this morning (the regular guy was on a trip with his family). Matthew did a fabulous job! I was so proud of him. He spoke about 12 ordinary men (the 12 apostles). The only thing that made them extraordinary was the time they spent with Jesus. Each one of us is also ordinary, but God has chosen us, and if we spend time with the Father, than we can also become extraordinary people for God. Of course, he did a much better job than I just did. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful husband who loves God and his family so much!

Nora is finally asleep and I think I am going to lay down. Very random post today...sorry. One day, I will actually upload all the pictures off my camera and share how my baby girl is growing so big. Everyone have a great week!

Into EVERYTHING!!!!!

My, my, my! It's amazing how much destruction one small person can do in such a short amount of time. Nora is still not walking, but that has not seemed to slow her down any. She can get into just about anything and I'm sure it won't take her too long to figure out the safety latches on cabinets :). Here are a few pictures of her playing:

Every day while I am in the shower, she takes everything out of my cabinet and dumps it on the floor and plays with it. But, I am able to enjoy a 5-7 minute shower without much interruption...whatever works!

A few days ago, I was in my bedroom, working on my lesson plans for my graduate class and thought that things had been awfully quite for a while. I knew Nora was in her bedroom, but I couldn't imagine what was keeping her so occupied. This is what was doing the trick...emptying the books off of her bookshelf.

This past Saturday it was an absolutely gorgeous day outside. Matthew, Nora, and I had gone that morning on a hike at a state park nearby. On the way home, she fell asleep and decided that the 30 minute nap was good enough and didn't want to sleep again that day. I had to grade some papers, so I asked Matthew if he would mind watching her outside while he did some yard work. I looked up from my grading, and this is what I saw. She loved the dirt!!!! She loved the dirt so much that she even ate a few handfuls before gagging. I'm not sure if the fertilized potting soil is poisonous, but she is still alive today.

She is definitely keeping me busy! It's a wonder that my house ever gets clean anymore! It seems like that is what my nights are now for. Put her to bed and break out the broom. It is nearly impossible to get any cleaning done while she is awake. So, we just play :).

She is enjoying her new car seat. She looks so tiny in it and it looks like her neck is going to break off when she falls asleep in it. Any suggestions on how to save her neck? What have you other mommies done? This is a picture of her in it right after we got it delivered. She just woke up from her nap and we are in our living room.

Nora and I are off to San Antonio on Thursday. We are meeting the majority of the women in my family and some friends for the Women of Faith Conference. It is the National Conference. We are really excited and the weather is supposed to be incredible. My mom has offered to watch Nora during the conference so that I can actually go. I am sure it will be a very inspiring and uplifting weekend. We come back home on Sunday afternoon, so I will blog about it then.

Finally-a huge, long update

Well, Nora's birthday party was excellent and she loves being one. She ate 1/2 of her cake and then cried hysterically when we took it away from her. You can look at all of her pictures from her party here. We had a fantastic weekend and had a lot of family here. I cannot believe she is one! Since becoming the big one, she has not slowed down. Although she is not walking, she is pulling up on EVERYTHING and cruising around everything. She has had a few battle wounds from falls, but seems to bounce back quite nicely. I think she is teething again, so I am looking for new teeth (she already has 4-2 on top and 2 on bottom. Where do the next ones typically grow? Top or bottom?).

She also is attached to me. If I go into the kitchen, she thinks she must be in the kitchen right beside me. If I am in the guest room, she wants to be hanging on to my leg, and so on. She used to sit by herself and play with her toys, but that is not the case right now. I am hoping that she will go back to that independent little girl soon. It is very difficult to cook dinner when someone is holding on to your leg.

We have ordered her new car seat. However, she is still just a mere 17 pounds. We are turning her around though (don't turn us into the authorities!) because she practically turns herself around in her current carseat. I looked at Consumer Reports and found out which carseat was the most safe and that is the one we got (Evenflo Triumph 5). Anyone have one of those? The Britax Roundabout also scored high, but the Evenflo scored highest in overall safety in crashes.

This post is delayed for many reasons but one of the main reasons is that we recently found out that we are going to be adding another baby to our family! Yep, I'm expecting. And if you are shocked, you should have seen the looks on our faces when we found out. This was HIGHLY unexpected! But, we are very excited! We finally told our families on Sunday. I wanted to wait until I was past the first trimester but I am already starting to show (I am 9.5 weeks along) and figured it was time to share the news. We know how fragile the 1st trimester always is and are praying for a healthy pregnancy, but we know that whatever happens, God is in control.

So, there you have it...our update. Oh, the baby is scheduled to make his/her appearance into this world around the beginning of October (if you are quickly doing the math in your head, Nora will be 19 months old). We welcome your prayers for our little family. Thank you!