An Award!

The "Honest Scrap Award" comes with a caveat or two.

First, you have to tell your readers ten things about

you they may not know, but that are true.

Second, you have to tag 10 people with the award.

Third, let all the people you've given the award to know

they've gotten it (comment on their blogs or something).

And, finally, make sure you link back to the person who awarded you

(Thanks, Katie!).

Alrighty...here's 10 things you probably don't know about me, or at least, I haven't written about them on my blog before.

1. I eat chocolate every day. Right now it's M&M's. Peanut or peanut butter. Preferably a mixture of both with 2/3 peanut, 1/3 peanut butter. and yes, I'm particular about it right now.

2. I have only one sibling, an older sister; and I desperately wanted another sibling when I was little, so the kiddo that is on the way will probably not be our last. Tyson grew up with 2 siblings and I always wanted 2, so my guess is we'll end up with 3 kids. Possibly 4. we'll see.

3. Today I had to lay in Audrey's big girl bed with her so she would fall asleep for her nap. I feel like I broke a huge rule in "transitioning your child to a big kid bed." I will regret it forever, and she'll never be able to fall asleep on her own again. But it's what needed to be done today. (I'm kidding, obviously. I know she'll be able to fall asleep on her own again, but it just bugs me that I gave in.)

4. I have some gray hairs already. And they're predominantly on the right side of my head, so I part my hair on the left side so I can "cover" them up. I know that I'll just get more grays as I get older, so I'm holding off on having my hair dyed professionally (because of the expense and upkeep) because I know that this is something that I will have to do on a regular basis in probably 5 years or so. Every once in a while I'll use hair dye from a box, but it seems no matter how normal of a dark brown color I choose, my hair turns a reddish tint...and then I hate it. especially when it starts growing out.

5. I have a LOT of recipe books and a lot of my family members'/friends' recipes but I can't seem to get out of my rut of making the same 10-15 dishes for dinner. I really like to know what a dish is supposed to look like at the end, so it's hard for me to try a random recipe without knowing if it will at least look like it's supposed to before serving it to my family.

6. dvr'd tv shows take up too much of my time these days. I'd say we're in a love/hate relationship right now.

7. I'm leading (I prefer to say facilitating) a ladies Bible study at my church for the first time in my life and I am very overwhelmed and intimidated and feel inadequate and don't always know what to say...but, God is growing me through it and I'm learning and being challenged. I'm stepping out of my comfort zone and doing something that I would have laughed about if someone had asked me to do a few years ago.

8. A few weeks ago I failed my 1 hour glucose test by a measely 2 points. I took the second 3 hour test yesterday and I am a little freaked out that I have gestational diabetes. I know a lot of people that have failed the first test lately and they all passed the second test (except one person), so there's probably nothing to worry about. But still, I have to admit that I'm a little nervous every time the phone rings that it's going to be my nurse telling me that, in fact, I do have gestational diabetes and, among other more serious reasons, it would make me very sad because I would have to give up #1 on this list.

9. When I sleep (or at least when I'm falling asleep) my eyes are not shut all the way. It's not like they're all the way open or anything freaky, but there's a tiny sliver of my eye that other people can see, or at least that's what I've been told. My college roommate would start talking to me and then realize that I was almost or already sleeping some nights. Because of this, it's hard for me to fall asleep in a room with any light at all. I need complete darkness.

10. I have double jointed fingers (sidenote: I think I passed them on to Audrey) and people sometimes ask me to do my "stupid human tricks" with my hands at very random times. Their favorite is when I make my hands into spoons where the inside of the spoon is the top of my hands.

I'm (only) tagging (8 people):

1. Heather

2. Alyson

3. Jenae

4. Gretchen
5. Margo

6. Pam

7. Joy

8. Mary

Audrey's Big Girl Room

*(first of all, I must note that this is my 100th post on this blog...it's pretty amazing I've lasted this long!)*

Now...onto the real reason for this post: Audrey's new room!

As soon as we found out we were expecting baby #2, I started thinking about transforming the guest room/office into Audrey's new room. We did the nursery in neutral colors so I knew we wouldn't have to change anything in that room, which meant I could completely focus on making a 100% girly room for my little girl...and I couldn't wait!!

I spent some time checking out bedding sets online and trying to decide on a theme or a color scheme. After seeing that most of the toddler bedding was either Disney Princesses or Dora (both of which are fine, by the way, I just didn't want a character that she might get sick of because I wanted her to use this bedding for a LOT of years) I decided to not pick a theme, but just go with colors instead. I found a few that I liked (and had a favorite almost right away) but decided that I would look at all the options every day for about a week and try to picture each of them in the room and contemplate if Audrey would like the colors for long time, just so I wouldn't make a rash decision. I showed the options to Tyson and he said they were all cute. thanks for the help, hun. I ended up choosing my original favorite. :) We ordered the bedding and curtains and I fell in love with the colors: bright and fun for a little girl, but it could also grow with her for years to come...just what I wanted!

Then I made a few trips to Hobby Lobby and found paint (and various other accessories) that matched the colors on the bedding and did a few painting projects to make some of the decorations match perfectly...like her name that once hung above her crib (as solid white) and now it's painted to match her new room.

My mom (Audrey's Nana) also had a big part in getting her room done...she painted the walls "Chocolate Truffle" and even painted the dresser. The dresser we're using in her room is the dresser I had in my room as a little girl. We were able to paint it white and change out the knobs and now it looks like a completely new piece of furniture! I love that she's using the same furniture that was once in my room. Thanks for all your help, Nana!

I still have a lot of pictures (in white frames) to hang up and a lot of "stuff" to clear out, but I feel like we're almost done! Here are some pictures of the progress so far:

and...here's our big girl taking her first nap in her new bed today!

and she just went to sleep tonight like a champ...is she really this old already?!?

to talk or not to talk

Yesterday, I got a massage. It was great to get away for a little bit by myself and just relax and have someone work on my aching muscles. Everything was just as I expected it to be...except for the talking.

I've had a few massages over the years and for the first few minutes, there's casual chit-chat just to break the ice, then the majority of the time is spent with just the sound of the water feature and the relaxing background music playing.

Not this time. Just as I was really getting relaxed, she would ask me another question. And all of the questions were about being pregnant.

Seriously, lady...of all people you should understand that I'm sick of answering questions/talking about being pregnant and I'm here getting a massage to JUST RELAX! But, she couldn't help herself. Like almost every other person that I cross paths with, I'm pregnant, which (obviously) means that I want to talk about it with complete strangers. Normally, I love being asked questions, but NOT during a massage!

so...what's your take on massages and talking? Am I justified in being annoyed? Or have any of you had someone talk to you the whole time they massaged you? just wondering!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Here's Audrey in one of her many heart/Valentine's Day outfits, wishing you a happy Valentine's Day!!

I just don't care right now.

Obviously I haven't written very many posts lately.

I've started a lot of posts. And never finished them.

It's not that our life is boring or anything right now. Tyson is as busy as can be with work and taking classes for his master's degree and traveling to England for work. Audrey is at the most fun stage of her life so far, learning to say new words and skills (like climbing out of her crib) every day and she continues to crack us up with her facial expressions and funny noises. Baby #2 is doing great. I'm actually showing enough that (I hope) people don't have to guess if I'm pregnant or if I just had too much for lunch. I'm busy getting the new women's Bible studies organized at church and working on Audrey's new room in any spare moment I have. My sister is going to be having their second child sometime during this next week, so Audrey and I will be traveling to meet the new family member with Nana and Papa.

all that to say...Life is great!! We're so blessed and happy and trying to soak in everything that's happening, but when it comes to writing posts, I've got nothing. I'm not motivated. I'm not in the mood to be creative. basically, I don't care right now. I don't even read blogs as much as I used to. so, until this phase passes, my posts will be minimal and probably boring.

Just like this one.

hello, baby!

Sweet baby,

Hello, there!! I'm your mommy!! It just dawned on me today that you are more than half way done with your time inside of me and I haven't written you an official letter yet! I feel horrible. You're already falling into the "2nd child" category (that I swore wouldn't happen) and you're getting the shaft. I'll work on that. Don't worry, though, I've been filling out your baby book and have had daddy take some pictures of my growing belly, just like we did with your big sister, Audrey.

I can hardly believe how fast the time is going! It seems like yesterday daddy and I were standing together looking at that pregnancy test and we could hardly believe our eyes!! "Is that a line?!?" We were so excited and our eyes filled with tears as we hugged and started thinking of fun ways to tell everyone! Suddenly, I'm 21 weeks pregnant and I don't know where the time has gone!

We're very busy getting the house ready for your arrival. The house is already full of toys that your big sister plays with so it should be a smooth transition once it's time to pull out the baby swing, exersaucer, floor mat and high chair again! The nursery is all ready for you since we decorated with a neutral theme when we were expecting Audrey, so we're busy getting Audrey moved on to her new "big girl" room, which will be right next to your room! Speaking of your big sister, she loves patting (sometimes hitting) my belly and says "baby!!" I'm not sure she understands that a real baby is going to be living at our house very soon, but for now she's very excited.

I have to admit, right now I think you're a girl. (If you're a boy, I'm really sorry, it's nothing against you or boys, it's just my feeling so far.) Let me explain: Audrey's and your due dates are only 6 days apart from each other, which means I'm going through every stage of these pregnancies at exactly the same time of year. I didn't have any morning sickness, just like with Audrey and I'm also carrying you high, just like I carried your sister. So, basically, this feels like an identical pregnancy. Another thing that is the same is that we have a girl name picked out already (just like we did with Audrey at this time) and we are once again, undecided on a boy name. Don't worry, though, if you are a boy, we'll have a name ready by the time you arrive!

One of the new things that is very exciting lately is how much I'm feeling you move around inside of me! The first time I felt you was on December 8, 2009 and it was right after I woke up in the morning. It was the tiniest of little flutters and it was so sweet! Over a month later, I'm feeling you almost every day (depending on how much time I get to sit down, since I spend so much time chasing your big sister.) I usually feel you move on the left side of my belly and we found out at the ultrasound, that's where your legs are, so it makes a lot of sense! Keep kicking, little one! (Just not, too hard!) Hopefully daddy will be able to feel you kick on the outside, soon. He can't wait to actually get a high-five from you!

Oh, sweet little one, we have so much anticipation for your arrival! Now that we've managed to get your sister to 20 months old, we feel a little more at ease about how/when to do things, but as everyone is telling us, the second child is usually the polar opposite from the first. We'll accept you and love you no matter how you are and we look forward to getting to know your personality and likes/dislikes. Oh, we can't wait!! What a little blessing you already are! It's crazy to think that in about 4 months we'll be a family of FOUR!! We thank God for allowing us the privilege of being your parents and for a safe/healthy pregnancy so far. What a miracle you are!

I already love you so much and I look forward to meeting you and holding you and kissing your sweet little face (and finding out if you're a boy or girl!!) I look forward to your first little smile and the first time you call me "mommy." Until then, just know that you are thought about a million times a day and you've already found a very special place in my heart.

I love you, sweet baby!

love, Mommy

It's been 40 days since I last wrote...

so here's what's been happening!!

*We decorated our house for Christmas, not as much as usual, considering we have a very curious toddler running around this year and we knew wouldn't be around to enjoy it the whole season.

*We celebrated Christmas early with Lisa's family at her parents' house...what a fun (fast) weekend!

*I've slowly (but surely) been working on Audrey's new room. All the bedding is here and I finished working on the curtains and I even painted some of the things that will hang on the walls!

*We packed all of Audrey's things and sent her off to Nana and Papa's house for 8 days because...

*Tyson and I went on a cruise with Tyson's family over Christmas!

*While we were cruising, Audrey, Nana and Papa flew to Denver to see my sister, her husband and their daughter!

*Tyson and I had our 6th Anniversary on December 27!! We haven't officially celebrated because we were driving back from New Orleans (12 hour drive) that day and then Tyson got (what we think was) the swine flu.

*Once he felt better, it was time to pack up again and go to Tyson's parents' for his grandparents' big anniversary party!!

*We brought in 2010 by going to bed early. :)

*Once we got home, it was time to unpack, do loads and loads of laundry and then start taking down the Christmas decorations. ugh.

*Audrey is 20 months old today!! seriously, when did she grow up?!?

*We had our BIG ultrasound this afternoon! As previously mentioned, we decided that we wanted to have another surprise. Just a few days ago, I started thinking, "oh, it would be kind of fun to find out." Then yesterday, I saw an episode of "A Baby Story" and there was a couple that didn't know what they were having and I was reminded of all the anticipation and guessing and the big moment when the baby comes out and I cried watching it. So, my mind went back to not wanting to know. Then today, I mentioned all of this to Tyson as we're sitting in the waiting room for the ultrasound and he said, "Let's just find out!" I was shocked because I thought he might say something like "oh...you really want a surprise, let's just wait" but it proved to me that he really wants to know!!!! great. Then a lightbulb comes on and it finally occured to me that he may want to know as badly as I don't want to know. Then I wondered, "is this one of those times when I should give in?" We were still talking about it when the tech called us back. We chatted with her and then mentioned that we still didn't know if we wanted to know or not. She said she doesn't check "that area" until the very end so we could still talk about it and had time to decide. yeah, right!! We talked about this A LOT at home many, many weeks ago, so why would and extra 15 minutes while a tech is taking measurements on our child help us decide?!? Then I had the brilliant idea of having the tech write down "boy" or "girl" on a piece of paper that we could take home and decide to read if/when we wanted to...but we were only going to have her write it down if she was completely, 100%, without a doubt, sure what it was. and sure enough, the baby didn't cooperate! He/She had his/her legs held tight together and their ankles crossed!! so...we'll take that as confirmation that we're not supposed to know until he/she comes out! what a crazy rollercoaster of emotions!

here's the latest pic of #2 (turn your head to the right. the face is looking directly as you and the right hand is on the ear and the left arm is under the chin.) The baby was kicking its legs and waving at us. We could see the 4 chambers of the heart and all the itty-bitty vertebrae on the spine. The heartbeat was 141bpm (the slowest to date) and right now the baby weighs 13 ounces...SO TINY!! What a precious little miracle! keep growing strong, little one!