Recently

How's about a few pictures to give you a peek into our lives recently.

Baby Boy, set to arrive in May

We are excited about adding another arrow to the quiver. And not that I am disappointed, but I just haven't been impressed with the baby boy clothing options. And I know it is about so much more, but, seriously? It's like you really only have a few options: sports, frogs, trucks and dinos.  All great in their own right, but not nearly as cute as all those little girl options out there.

Christmas, 2011

We celebrated Christmas. It was fun and festive and special.  It was the first Christmas without everyone though.  My grandpa passed in September, and my little sis was hugely pregnant and wisely opted against the 20+ hour drive home.  But, we still had a fun time. Ansley seemed to enjoy it more this year, actually opening presents and wanting to play with her toys immediately.  She didn't get any clothes, which is proving to be a little bit of a problem. Cause she keeps growing. And Growing. And GROWING.  Seriously, since spring, she's gone up two sizes each season.  And now, with about 2 months of cold left, she has outgrown nearly all of her pants and shirts and winter dresses.  So, this is how she spends a lot of her time:

In "jommies"

OR

Sans clothing.

There are some battles I just don't feel like fighting these days. Most mornings, I drop her off with the sitter in her pjs. Well, not the sitter in her pjs, but Ansley in her pjs.  On the weekends, we are both in our pjs until the afternoon. And, sometimes, she doesn't have any clothes on at all. And, I'm ok with that. 

So, that's what we have been up to. Babies and toddlers and holidays and... just, stuff.

It's a good life though, and we're happy to live it.

BIG news

It's not really BIG news, I suppose. Just more of me getting big. Ugh.

I started this blog 2 years ago after Ansley was born. It was a Mommy blog, and I didn't really have much intention of turning it into a pregnancy blog.

But, then again, I do know what the number one cause of pregnancy is, thankyouverymuch.

So, here I sit, 22 weeks pregnant. Not "preggo" or "preggers." I have never been able to get on board with those terms. Knocked up, ehh, could be worse I suppose.  "Preggo" just really makes me want to eat spaghetti. Like, I think I've got the Pavlov Effect going on right now.

Many have asked how this pregnancy has been different from my first. Well, for starters, I have little boy parts in my uterus.  That's a pretty big difference. And, to be completely honest, it totally freaks me out. Sometimes, when he's moving around, and I can't figure out what body part is where... Ok, arms, check. One leg, two legs,  so what...is...eww.

I also have seemed to reach the wanting-it-to-be-over phase much quicker.  I know the little guy still has 18 weeks to bake, and I certainly don't want him to come as early as his big sis (as my doc says, wimpy white males have the most trouble if they are born early), but I seriously don't know how I will survive the next 18 weeks. EIGHTEEN WEEKS. THE REST OF JANUARY. ALL OF FEBRUARY. ALL OF MARCH. ALL OF APRIL. NEARLY ALL OF MAY.

::shutter::

I suppose I don't feel all that bad, except at the end of the day. Then those cursed round ligaments start aching, and the waddle comes on full force. And the marital duties (which, to be completely honest, cause contractions that freak me out even more than the little boy parts swimming around inside).

Another huge difference is what I want to eat. Sweets. All.the.time.  Cakes, candy bars, ice cream. With Ansley, I couldn't get enough fresh fruit.  Sweets made me wanna head to el ban-yo to say goodbye to my stomach contents.

Which is another difference. With Ansley, morning sickness made me toss my cookies, regularly. But I felt better afterwards. With this kid, the goldfish-swimming-in-my-stomach feeling was a constant, though the cookie toss wasn't as regular.  Which means I've spent a lot more time sitting in the floor in front of the toilet wishing I had cleaned it better.

Undone

After a long stay in our home, our beautiful, 11 foot frazier fur tree was removed from the home today.  I would like to say that it was bittersweet, but the only thing bitter about it was how I was starting to feel about it still being in my home.

I love the beauty of Christmas. I love the lights and the decorations and the candles and the cookies. I love it after Thanksgiving, not before. And when it is time for it to go, I want it gone.

I treasure the meaning behind the holiday. And I know it is so much more than gifts and goodies and lights and trees. The meaning is always important to me, no matter the time of the year.  But, the tree? It was dead. Beyond dead. We're talking fire hazard dead.

So many needles on my floor. On my porch. Now on my sidewalk. Though the tree is currently in the middle of my yard, I have reclaimed my living room.

I know there are some that still have their beautiful trees still up. And I know that there are some...ahem...my mom, who have the tree down and decorations gone on Dec. 26. I like to think I fall some place in the middle.

Last year we put a small, live tree in Ansley's room and decorated it for Christmas. It was cute and festive. And wasn't taken down until, um, May or June?

Ok, so, maybe that was a little long. And very dead. But I took it down.

Eventually.

Happy Undecoration Day!

Back at It

I have had a wonderful break from work. A glorious week, paid, that didn't require the use of any hard earned vacation or sick days. 

I really started to enjoy the stay-at-home-mom role. We fell into a routine, which often involved sleeping until 9am and taking a 2-3 hour afternoon nap. Yes, both of us.

I was able to keep the house clean, cook a few meals, play with a doll house, and stay in my pjs until about 11.  It was awesome.

I know there must be more to this than what I have experienced.  There is the great and lasting debate about which is more difficult: working mom or staying at home mom. So, what am I missing?

Sure, we've had our rough patches. Naps weren't always the easiest, and sometimes I just wanted to skip the laundry and clothes folding for something a little more, fun. Like a Grey's Anatomy marathon.

Perhaps the difference is that this was just a week. It was a week were I was home, but we still had 2 incomes. I suppose true SAHMs do things like pay the bills and balance the checkbooks and clip coupons and stuff. And have play dates in the park, and power walk. And make their children geniuses. All things I seem to have no interest in.

Well, except the child genius part. We're getting there. She almost knows her right and left. Sometimes. By accident.

Ok, so maybe I'm not cut out for this...