Baby or Mermaid?

Addi is now convinced I actually have a mermaid in my belly.

I had an appointment this morning so, in the interest of keeping my sanity, I really tried to pump the girls up about it. I told the girls they would get to hear the baby's heartbeat and that the appointment wouldn't take long at all. Last night Addi started saying she hoped we'd be able to hear the baby crying. I told her I didn't think that would happen, but to be sure and listen carefully. (listen carefully=be quiet and still so as not to annoy the doctor or nurses)

So, this morning I started telling them about the baby's current size and what body parts the baby already has, which led Addi to wonder why the baby wasn't already fully developed and the size Libby was the day she was born. I went on to explain that in the very beginning babies are so tiny you can't even see them and then they grow arms and legs and fingernails. I told her that all babies start out with tails because I thought she'd think that tidbit was funny. She did, but she didn't really attribute it to herself or Libby, just Baby P.

The girls were wonderful the entire time we spent at the doctor's office. Of course, the last thing the doctor did was listen for the heartbeat. He left the thing (what is it called?...you'd think by my third child I would know!) on my belly and moved the speaker closer to the girls. They were thoroughly unimpressed. But, when we left Addi started imitating the sound of the heartbeat. Then she said the baby must have been sleeping because it was making a sighing sound. I said that was the sound of the "water" (I wisely thought mentioning amniotic fluid would lead to more than I wanted to get into) the baby lives in. To which, she replied, "Water! The baby lives in water? A baby that lives in water and has a tail! Are you sure you have a baby in there?! I think you have a MERMAID in your belly!"

Well, there you go. Her guess is as good as mine.

And, guessing is what we plan on doing with this pregnancy. Bryan and I are planning on this being our final addition to our family and found out the sex of both of the girls. This time is our last chance to be surprised, so that's what we'd like to be.

I know some of you will think it is ridiculous to be surprised when it is so easy and common to find out the gender. And, some of you (grandparents) will be disappointed. In fact, I told my mom today and she acted totally fine with our decision. Even though I suspect she's disappointed, I appreciate the fact that she kept her opinion to herself and that she loves me enough to be supportive of even something little like this. Maybe we'll set up a poll on the blog when I'm around 20 weeks to see what y'all think the gender of Baby P is...with the winner getting to stay with us for 1 week during the first 6 weeks after birth and take complete care (except feeding, since I'm kinda the only one who can do that) of the new little one.

Sounds like a deal to me!

Is anyone else out there scared to buy a toy?

What is going on with all these toy recalls? The weekend before our house went on the market we purged the playroom and that happened to be around the time the first recall went out. I was shocked that my girls had several of those toys.

Today, we had to get birthday presents for 2 parties the girls are going to this weekend. We almost went to Target because I also needed groceries, but then I worried that we'd get a toy that would be recalled later. I had almost decided on a bookstore and then changed my mind. We headed to a local toy store that specializes in more expensive one-of-a-kind toys. I was still able to stay within my birthday party present budget, but, let's just say, the kids won't be getting a bag full of goodies.

Kids these days have too many toys anyway!...mine do, at least!

Baby P and other updates

1. I think it's a combination of this being my third pregnancy and all the other stuff going on in our lives now, but I have to remind myself I'm pregnant sometimes. I'm about fourteen and a half weeks and I have an appointment tomorrow. My puking has stopped although I had a close call this morning...still having trouble when I brush my teeth each morning. I solved that one Saturday by not brushing my teeth until the afternoon. Bryan went on and on about how gross that was so now I'm too self-conscience to continue with that remedy. I can eat most anything I want and occasionally crave things like beef brisket with potato salad, fried okra and pickles from The Q-Shack. The only other thing is I am extremely tired. I remember being tired with the girls, but not like this. I always love the second trimester of pregnancy, so hopefully my energy will peak soon.


2. Our house hasn't had any offers. I am sick and tired of keeping it clean. In fact, if a realtor called right now and wanted to show our house in twenty minutes, we'd be in trouble! Thank goodness it's eight o'clock, so if we got a call it would be for tomorrow. I will have to pick up, sweep, mop, and vacuum tonight so we'll only have to worry about making the beds in the morning before we leave. It seems like the mornings I leave the house are the mornings we have showings. We have an Open House scheduled for the weekend after next. It will be as stress-free as anything we've had to do because we'll be out of town during it.


3. During the Open House, we'll be in Dallas looking for a new house. We're getting excited about that, of course! We've narrowed it down to about thirty houses and we have two full days and two half days to look. It sure would be comforting to have a contract on our house here before we go :)


4. I'll end this with a picture of a kiss:

a picture of a goof-ball:

and a picture of a princess:

Where is Addi?

Addi has been growing her hair out for about 19 months. For probably the last 4, she's been begging me to have it cut. I showed her the Locks of Love website and we decided she could wait until the end of summer so she'd have enough to donate. You have to donate a minumum of 10 inches! That didn't seem like too much at first. Even this morning before we left, I estimated how much would have to be cut off. I knew it would be a little more than what she was saying she wanted, but didn't think her hair would end up as short as it did. Before she could see a mirror, she ran her fingers through the back of her hair and said, "Why did you tell her to cut it so short?!!" Once it was dried and she was handed a mirror, she said she liked it. And, while we were waiting to pay (which, incidentally, we didn't have to pay anything here since we were donating) she looked up at me and said, "My hair is really adorable!" It is cute, but she looks like a different person. She looks like she's at least 6 and that makes me a little sad. What doesn't make me sad is how much time and heartache we will save when doing her hair...no more whining about how badly the tangles hurt!

before

back view, but she's looking down

the 10 inches cut off

after

Where is Libby?

Hiding, I'm sure.

She still loves to hide and she's getting pretty good at it. The other day, I found her hiding under my bed. Other favorite places include closets, behind any furniture, under tables, and on the far side of her bed where we "hide" her laundry basket. Oh, and, of course under a blanket :)

I've got ants in my pants!

Really, I do. Or, really I did.

On Saturday, I had the great idea to get out in the oven-like temperatures and attend the Lazy Days Festival. Our first order of business was to find the snow-cone stand and some shade. We sat on a half-wall of a flower bed while we enjoyed our sweet frozen treats. After a few minutes Libby decided she had to be sitting on the wall instead of in her stroller, so I moved over for her...into a pile of mulch.

We finished our treats, stood up and I realized I had been sitting in mulch. At that point I was much more concerned with getting the dirt off my bottom than with all the ants I saw crawling around where I had been sitting. Then, we started walking and I starting feeling some tickling...and then some stinging.

What else could I do, but repeatedly stick my hand down the back of my pants?! I was bothered by them for a good 30 minutes, but kept trying to tell myself it was really my imagination. Plus it was so hot and I was hungry and my daughter began to have a meltdown because, "I CAN NOT take ONE! MORE! STEP!", so I forgot about the little bugs crawling around my toosh.

Sure enough, I have 4 huge, itchy bites on my rump and a few more on my legs. One of the worst parts is while we were eating our frosty delights, I claimed we don't have fire ants in NC...maybe not, but I can testify to the presence of biting ants in NC.

lover of sweet potatoes

Libby loves sweet potatoes...always has and I figured she always would.

Until today.

As I began to cube up a previously baked sweet potato, she yelled (with authority), "EWWWW! 'Sssgusting! No, NO! 'SssgustING! Don't want it!"

I was perplexed and thought (to myself)...She loves sweet potatoes. She just ate some the other night. This is all Addi's fault. Addi, who won't eat anything. Addi, who just looks at something nutritious and turns up her nose. She's even picked up the word "disgusting" from Addi.

Not one to back down from a challenge, I told her I would heat a little up and she would have to try it, but if she didn't like it, she wouldn't have to eat any more.

I'm proud to say All is right with the world again...she ate one bite, I asked her if it was disgusting, and she smiled and said, "Noooo!" As I write, Libby is gobbling up a plate full of sweet potatoes and peaches.

A (Birth)Day in the Life of Libby Lu

Good Morning, Birthday Girl!...


Cinnamon rolls with candles and Happy Birthday...

Mom made us take a picture by the new sign in our yard...

Enjoying pizza...
Decorating cupcakes...

I need to taste the frosting to make sure it's good...

Addi's culinary masterpiece...

How am I supposed to eat it with the candles sticking in it?...

Present time...with lots of help...

Pinata time...

I was just trying to share my treats with sweet Baby Cecelia...


I love my new car!...

Tears at the end of a long birth day. I just couldn't stand for it to be over!

I know what I know...and not a lot else

Just a couple nights ago I boasted about how "I'm not stressed about the sale of our house or upcoming move".

And, then, I got stressed.

You see, we are working with a relocation company for this move, so we can't just call a realtor and list our house. Instead they sent out two different realtors last week to look over our house and talk with us and take pictures. We will be allowed to choose which of the two we'd like to work with and we were pretty sure by the time the first one left (I'll call her Ann) we would use her. The second one (I'll call Sue) came the next night and by the time she left, we knew we'd be using Ann.

Ann was very professional and it didn't hurt that she was complimentary of our home. She claimed to have worked with our relocation company numerous times. In fact, she told us she already had most of the paperwork filled out and would complete it and send it in the next day. Ann called Bryan to let him know she'd sent in the paperwork that next day and then we found copies of it in our mailbox that afternoon. The day after that we got a thank you note in the mail from her.

Now, we met Sue the evening after Ann's visit. She pointed out several things about our house that would be problems. I expected that...that's her job. But, they were things we couldn't change, like we live on the main street in our neighborhood, so there tends to be lots of traffic during peak hours. Only she didn't just point these things out, she kept reminding us of them. And, really, what can we do about it? She brought all the information that Ann did, but chose to not go over it with us. Honestly, that made me wonder how many other "short cuts" she'd be taking. Right before she left, Bryan asked her when she would have the completed paperwork turned into the relocation company. She paused and finally committed to a few days from then. We were disappointed with that answer, but there was nothing we could do.

We both expected to hear something from the relocation company Monday...nothing. By yesterday afternoon, Bryan called our counselor to see what was going on. After all, we have to wait to hear from them before we can get Ann back out here to officially put our house on the market and time is ticking.

Turns out, our counselor is still waiting on the paperwork from Sue! Today it has been one week since her visit. I want to call her myself. How does she ever sell a house if she takes this long to fill out some paperwork??!

So, that is what I stressed about last night. I couldn't sleep as my mind swam with anxiety. What if she never turns in the paperwork and then we have to get another realtor out here and start over? We don't even want to use Sue, but we still have to wait on her! We were already on a short time schedule and the longer our house sits off the market, the more impossible our time schedule gets!

Then I realized I'd been doing what I often do when life gets hectic. I was trying to go it alone. But, I don't have to. I don't have to shoulder this burden. God is always there for me.

I haven't been praying about this. Sure, I've said a quick little prayer on occasion, but I haven't really been praying about this. I've thought and even joked that we will be going through three of the most stressful life events at one time...a job change, moving, and a new baby! Yet, it hasn't dawned on me to devote daily prayer time to our current situation. Until now...

I know myself and I know that I don't stress too easily, but when things build (as they were bound to in this situation) I do tend to melt down.

I also know that I'm a planner. I find security in plans. I want to know our house is going to sell quickly and I want to know we are going to be able to find a house on our one short house hunting trip. I want to know that house will be in a great neighborhood with impressive schools and in a convenient location.

But, I don't know any of these things. Bryan and I have done all we can for now and all that's left is for me to hand over my worries and anxieties to God. I truly believe in the sovereignty of the Lord. He knows who will buy our house and when that will happen. He knows which house we will pick and whether we'll actually find one and be able to decide on it in only a few days. He knows it all. Not only does He know it all, He's taken care of it all.

There are people looking for a house just like ours in NC. There is a house for us in Dallas. It may not be the perfect house in my world, but it will be where the Lord wants us. We will be there for a reason. It is comforting and exciting for me to know that.

For me to get through this without stressing out, I must be in specific communication with Him. I haven't been doing that, but I'm going to start. And I would be ever so appreciative of more prayers lifted up on our behalf. Thank you, in advance.

This and That

1. Ladies, don't send your husbands out alone to buy stain for the deck! Our deck is now a nice, subtle shade of orange. (and we're Aggies...we don't like orange) But, it isn't that orange, it is more of a terra cotta color. In fact, that is exactly what it is...our terra cotta pots just blend right in :) In all fairness, I don't know that I would've done much better if I had picked the color. The swatch Bryan had doesn't look at all how the deck turned out.
2. Our 4-year old came running into the living room tonight hollering that Libby was after her. A few seconds later, the 2-year old ran in and tried to pelt Addi with a baby doll....over and over and over again. Bryan and I were in a bit of shock and finally realized we needed to tell her to stop. After it was all over and the girls left the room, we had to chuckle at the fact that Libby was "beating up" on Addi.
3. A few of you pointed out that I was going to have to change my title after this post. Very true. We will be moving from North Carolina, so I'll have to take off the little part about Living in North Carolina, but I'm gonna have to change the number of Texans, as well. We are expecting another baby...in late February! I guess it will be 5 Texans actually living in Texas!
4. Our (for now) youngest is about to turn 2! I am amazed by her. She is truly a delightful child. But, more on that later...

I think that's it. I'm not stressed about the sale of our house or upcoming move. We're just trying to enjoy Raleigh and our dear friends while we are still here.

So, I'll be back later this week with pictures of our 2-year old.

Randomness

So, I was tagged for this meme by Betsy.

Here are the rules:
1. I have to post these rules before I give you the facts.
2. Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
3. People who are tagged need to write a post on their own blog (about their eight things) and post these rules. (if you don't have a blog, email me)
4. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
5. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

Here is the randomness:
1. I have to eat evenly. For example, if I'm eating M&Ms, I will put 2 in my mouth and chew on one side, swallow, put in 2 more, but chew on the other side. If there happens to be an odd number in the package, I will bite the odd-ball in half and chew half on each side. For foods not as easy to divide, I just use my good guess-timation skills to divide each bite in half to chew an even amount on each side.
2. I like watching college football...pros, not so much, even the Cowboys (sorry, B). But, I love waking up on Saturdays in the fall to turn on ESPN for GameDay and keeping the tv on a college game the rest of the day. Especially if the Aggies are playing and the game's being aired, but even if a game is on just as back ground noise. Before you start thinking I am every man's dream wife, this does not hold true for every sport. I would rather eat my shoes than watch one second (which seems to last one hour) of baseball. If it was an aired Aggie game?...I'd watch it, but I'd have to have lots and lots of yummy snacks to distract me from my boredom.
3. Now that you believe I'm un-American with my disdain for baseball, I'll further your proof. I don't like apple pie. I like apples and love pie, but not together.
4. I also don't like lasagna, meatloaf, or cooked spinach.
5. When I was growing up I was painfully shy. Seriously, my parents thought something was wrong with me. I still consider myself a shy person.
6. I'm a contradiction...I was a cheerleader in middle school and high school. I remember my dad asking me how I could get up in front of the entire school and cheer, but get nervous about having to speak up in a class. I still have no answers on that one.
7. There was a time in my life when I only wanted to have sons. I later changed that to one daughter, but no more. God knew better than me...as always. I wouldn't change having two daughters if I could. It suits me perfectly.
8. My idea of fun is laying under the sun with a good book and a cold bottle of water. Bryan discovered this the first day of our honeymoon in Jamaica. Needless to say, we don't always have the same idea of fun. In my defense, I must tell you that I do enjoy adventure...rollercoasters, hiking, skiing, etc., and I would've eventually wanted to snorkel, kayak, pedal the huge floating tricycle thing, and participate in the Newlywed Olympics, but not all in the first hour we arrived.

I don't think I know enough people who blog regularly to tag. So, if you're reading this consider yourself tagged. And, leave me a comment if you do it, so I can check out your randomness.

* Well, I asked Bryan to come up with one and after I finished all 8, he reminded me that I don't like chick-flicks. I wouldn't say that's a hard and fast rule, but for the most part, I would rather watch Fight Club than say Bridget Jones's Diary.

Oh, so gross!

When I picked Libby up and out of her bed after her nap today, I noticed her nose was all bloody. She really wasn't concerned, but to console her Addi said, "It's okay, Libby. Whenever I pick A LOT of boogers my nose bleeds too!"

one-oh-five??

I'm sweating inside my house. Our poor upstairs a/c can't keep up. It runs continuously throughout the day and still can only keep the upstairs in the 80s. Fortunately our downstairs unit is bigger and is keeping the downstairs cooler. The girls wake up from their naps sweaty. I just keep thinking that this is killing me and we are moving back to Texas where 105 is not really that strange, especially in August. Maybe even July...I think it hit at least 105 the afternoon Bryan and I got married. At least we shouldn't have this humidity in Dallas though. Alright, enough complaining. It is only supposed to get into the low 90s this weekend. Maybe we will soon see the end to the Heat Wave of '07.

This is what happens each time Libby is told "no". She turns this on instantly. Sometimes she continues for a while, but most of the time she's smiling almost as quicly as she started crying...especially if we ignore her while she's crying, and, you know, don't take her picture :)

bitter-sweet

I've been trying to come up with a way to announce this for at least a week.

I guess, I'll just come right out and tell y'all.

We're moving. To Texas. Fairly soon.

Bryan interviewed for the job in early June and accepted it a couple weeks ago.

This week I've been busy procrastinating. Well, I've been busy with other, not as pleasant things also, but that is for another post. We have realtors coming next week and the house is almost as far from being ready for that as possible. I did throw away a huge yard bag full of stuff today. And, I almost hyperventilate each time I think of trying to keep this house neat and tidy with my kids. This really isn't the bitter part though. People with kids deal with their houses being on the market all the time, right?

The bitter part is something I've done a fairly good job of ignoring. Maybe that's why I've had trouble writing this post. You see, we are leaving a place we all truly love. Raleigh is a family-friendly city that is so close to so many neat places. We love our neighborhood. We love our church. We love the girls' preschool. Mostly, we love the friends we've made here. We will miss them terribly and hope we can remain close through the miles. That's pretty much all I'm going to be able to write about that. I'm doing a good job of stuffing emotions and don't really want to open a floodgate tonight :)

But, we are going to be living in the same state as my parents and brother, Bryan's parents and sister and her family, my mom's parents, my dad's mom, Bryan's dad's parents, Bryan's mom's mom, and countless other aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends. In fact, we will be within a hour of the majority of those people. It will be completely foreign to my girls. Heck, it will be completely foreign to me. I haven't lived in Texas since college. But, it's good. It's the sweet part. Actually it's the blessed part.

Stay tuned for updates...

Addi's list of requirements for a mommy

1. Must know everything - unless you don't know how to drive, in that case you're a Little Mommy
2. Must not lie
3. Must not get spankings

She threw in the Little Mommy bit so she could call herself a mommy. I didn't tell her that I don't quite meet all her requirements :)

children keep you humble

I overheard a conversation between a mom and her daughter this afternoon while they looked through a magazine. So, as to not implicate the innocent, I'll call them "Mom" and "Abbi".

"Abbi": Mommy, your hair would look beautiful like that girl's in the picture.
"Mom": [taking a hint] You don't like my hair much, do you?
"Abbi": No! It's yucky! I don't really like this part and the top is all crazy!

In "Abbi's" mom's defense, she let her hair air dry after her shower this morning. And, in "Abbi's" defense, she quickly added, "But, you're still my favorite mommy!"