Msc Update - Baby and Other Kiddos

Two posts in one day!! It's a record! Make sure you scroll down below this post to see my Sussie Layouts!!
******************************************
I haven't done much but share scrappy stuff on here lately and I figure I'm due a different kind of post. This has been a very quick and busy summer as we get ready for Jonathan to join us in just 7 short days.

I have not done well taking pics this time around, but here's one I snapped in the mirror last week at 34 weeks.


Currently I am:
Not sleeping the best. Just generally being uncomfortable, heartburn and leg cramps. Some nights are better than others, and I am grateful for the rest I am getting. I seem to get better sleep when I take an afternoon nap!

Feeling like the baby is about to fall out! Hopefully that's not TMI but he is sitting so low..
see what I mean? And yes I was just opening presents, not checking to make sure he hadn't fallen out on the floor! :)

Feeling a little anxious about the C-section being 4 weeks before he is due. I know that's not THAT early, but saying lots of prayers the everything will go smoothly and hoping he doesn't have to spend any time in ICU. But also knowing that even if he does this is the best decision to avoid any complications with my previous history of uterine window. Thankful that I haven't had any more pain that caused me some concern a month or so ago, and thankful for a doctor that is fully confident that all will go well.

Really looking forward to holding him in my arms and trying to remember to savor every moment because I KNOW those first few weeks will go oh so fast even as hectic and hard as they may be.

Feeling more organized than I've been in a long time. A little more on top of the housework (but never the less a long way to where I want to be!), making lots of to-do lists and getting lots of things crossed off! Planning a bit of pre-school curriculum for the girls to supplement their 1 day a week at Mother's Morning Out, and reminding myself to cut myself some slack because a newborn is about to be in this house, and a lot of this kind of stuff will have to be on the back-burner for a bit!

And speaking of the girls and Mother's Morning Out.. today was their first day of preschool. They will be going one day a week for 4 hours. They were both just a little bit excited!






So that sums up a bit in our world today! Hope everyone is having a good week!

Around the House

We are really getting into the Christmas spirit around here. Natalie has sung Rudolph a thousand times the last couple of days. We've watched both How the Grinch stole Christmas and Mickeys Twice Upon a Christmas today. We've also been wrapping presents!
Here are just a couple of pics as we enjoy the day at home.

The Latest

Just a quick post to share a couple of pictures and give an update. We've had some pretty days, so we've been to the park and the playground a couple of times. We had a busy day yesterday, we went to eat lunch with Obie and G-pa, then went to feed the ducks and fish, and then I had a quick photo session with my cousin's baby. You can see those pics on my photo blog.

Here's wild haired Abby!
My cousin's grandmother was there at the photo shoot with her dog, which Natalie loved!
That's the latest. It's supposed to be rainy the next few days, so it looks like we may be stuck in the house for a while!

Also.. some of the family wanted to see more of the wedding pictures that Natalie was in. You can view those here: My Facebook Album.

Over the last week, Natalie's taken an interest in feeding Abigail.

Fed the ducks with G-pa.


And wanted to go swimming, although it's not near warm enough for that quite yet, she's sported her swimsuit around the house!


Hope everyone's having a good weekend!

Mini John

Chillin' at home today for the most part.

Braved a big grocery shopping trip with both girls in tow.

Nat did so well riding in the back of the buggy, playing with the canned goods.

Watching Inaugural coverage for most of the day.

Currently watching Super Why DVD. Guess who requested that.

Now this one; Is such a mini John. I wish I could sketch a slight beard on her face.
That would be funny. To a select few anyway.

Cooking a big pot of veggie soup for supper.

That about wraps it up around here.

Happy Tuesday!

Playing Catchup

Random things post:

Since my last post I have had several sleepless nights. The colic continues; however it does seem to be getting better. She actually slept in her crib last night after just a short period of crying. So that's pretty much it for the last four or five days.

Random #1 - On Saturday I did get a chance to do a layout. A few weeks back Scrapping the Music featured a song by Steven Curtis Chapman. I loved the lyrics and again realize how fast my children will grow up. So I wanted to use them on a page.

You can click this link to see the story behind the lyrics. I didn't realize it until after I did the page, but this family lost their 3 yr old daughter in a car accident just a few months ago. He wrote the song much before that, so it takes on a whole new meaning for what their family has been through.

Random #2 - On the day I went into labor with Abigail I finished up the canvases I had started for Natalie's room. I finally got pictures of them today and now I just need to hang them up.




Random #3 - When Natalie gets up from her nap, her hair is out. of. control. Today I got evidence.



Random #4 - Abigail is already changing so fast.


Random #5 - She's already pinned her sister in their first wrestling match.

Happy Monday!

Some Pictures from Today

Natalie likes looking out the front door. We had some storms this afternoon, so she watched it POUR down.





Have I said yet how I just can't get used to how big Abigail is in comparison to Natalie?

Just Me and the Girls

John's time off eventually came to an end and today is day two of being at home all day by myself with the girls. It may sound silly to be a little apprehensive about that, but I'm still a little sore from the C-section and not completely back to being able to take care of all the household chores. Also things like, how quick I can take a shower, and how can I occupy Natalie while I'm feeding Abigail half the day; cross my mind. It's gives me a greater appreciation for single moms and people like this girl, whose husband is about to deploy for 15 months.

I have had several comments about being "super mom" or "wonderwoman" because I'm also finding time to scrapbook. Let me just put those ideas right out of your head. LOL! See scrapbooking requires little physical energy. I can grab a few supplies and sit on the couch and do a couple pages. Now ask me if my bathrooms are clean or if my kitchen floor needs mopping and you'll see I'm no June Cleaver. But you know what; I'm ok with that. I'm enjoying just hanging out with my girls. Things have gone really well and I have no doubt we'll be back into a good regular routine before long.

So of course during nap time I got some scrapping done. I needed to finish up a layout for a challenge over at the Scrapbook Nook about where I'm from. Also wanted to participate in some of the challenges at paperpopsicles. So this layout is doing double duty. The challenge over at PP was to use circle punches to create a "fishscale". Journaling says: There's nothing like a nice spring day down south. Hanging out at Papa's was one of those simple pleasures on this day. Spending time with family feels like home to me.

Another challenge over at PP was to do a summer/water layout. So here's what I did for that.

Also you'll notice a new blinkie over on the right in my sidebar. DixiePieces is having an online crop the first weekend in August. I hope some of my scrappy friends will get over there and register and join in the fun!

Tidbits from Today

• This pic pretty much describes our day today. Lazy and dazed. I can't get over how worn out I get doing the simplest of tasks. (Like walking from one end of the house to the other, or just taking Natalie to change her diaper). Side note: She has peepee'd in the potty twice this week! I really don't want to complain because so many more things could be making me miserable, it's just taking me by surprise because I wasn't this way at all with Natalie.

• We've been attempting to leave the TV off a little more, rather than just having it on just for the sake of it. Some days we do good, others we don't. One thing that I have noticed is that when we leave it off more Natalie will ask to watch her Elmo videos occasionally which she never did before. So that's what's she's doing in these pictures, watching Elmo's world.

• We can tell Natalie to kiss baby Abby and she'll come lift up my shirt and kiss my belly. I managed to get a shot of her doing that, but I don't really think you can tell that's what she's doing.

And here's another shot of the mammoth belly. :)

Snapshots

Just some random photos from the last couple weeks.

Attempting to put on her shoes:

She loves to brush her teeth:

Helping daddy drain the waterbed (can you tell she was attached to that mickey hat for a couple of days?):

Giving daddy some kisses:

Finally facing forward in her carseat!:

And finally, doing a little dance on the catwalk!:
To explain that last one a little further, every week over at Scrap in Style, they choose a handful of layouts from the gallery and feature them in a special section of the site (called the catwalk). This past week, the above layout was chosen! I have a handful of layouts I've done this past week, that I haven't posted here on the blog. So, if you'd like to see them, just go here to my SIS profile.