5.28.2010

baby shower.

I'm oh so lucky blessed for my lovely {girl}friends.

I mentioned in an earlier post that my friend, April, threw me a diaper shower last weekend. It was small and intimate and my close girlfriends and immediate family members came. We sipped strawberry lemonade, ate cupcakes with edible balls on top, and had great conversation. And now I have a room full of cloth and disposable diapers that I need to organize. Not to mention, some new bottles, a beautiful necklace, and a handmade memory tote.

From left to right: My older sister, Lisa, the hostess, April and her daughter, my best friend, Kacie, Karlee, Me, Katie, my sister-in-law, Allie, and Kylie. (Unfortunately, I remembered to snap a picture of everyone at the end of the shower, in which, some guests already left.)

One of my super close friends, Steph. (Who is obsessed with Audrey, and I just love it.) She had a softball game, but she still made an appearance. How sweet.


I give you permission to be jealous of the cupcakes. Because they were that good.

Drink up.

Naomi.{Fae}.  I think it is the perfect name.

It was a beautiful day. And by the way, doesn't April have the cutest house?

5.27.2010

a very {favorite} moment.

I don't have any pictures for one of my favorite moments. But it is forever imprinted on my heart.

This past weekend, we spent some lovely family time out on the lake on my dad's boat. To get to the lake, we drive past the cemetery where my mom is buried. Anytime we pass that area I usually just glance over with silence. Nothing is said, but I definitely think about her. And life continues on.

But this last time, we didn't drive by in silence. As we were nearing the cemetery, out of the mouth of the sweetest little girl in the back seat comes Mimi's gave.

Instant tear. How did she remember? How did she notice where we were? Yes, Audrey, Mimi's grave.

Audrey: Touch.

Me: Do you want to touch Mimi's grave?

Audrey: Yes.

Me: It is fun to touch Mimi's grave and the shell. [Side note: My mom loved the ocean and now a shell sits on top of her grave as a memory.] We will visit Mimi's grave soon. Right now we are going on Gramp's boat.

Audrey: Boat. woder.

And the conversation goes on. Just as life does. But I will never forget that moment by Mimi's grave. Now, I know, Audrey doesn't get it. She doesn't understand graves and cemeteriess and Mimi. But that doesn't matter to me. One day she will and I will be able to share this story with her.

5.26.2010

corn on the cob.

It is one of my favorite summer foods {with butter and salt, no less}.

Apparently, it is also one of Audrey's favorite summer foods.

Audrey and her cousin, Jonathan, started with a half one each. That wasn't sufficient. They each needed their own whole one.

Another small moment shucked and gobbled up.

5.25.2010

a purple box.

For Easter I asked my dad to make Audrey a sandbox. I asked him like three days before Easter, not thinking he would actually do it or that I expected him to. I pictured in my head a square, unpainted box. By Easter he already had the box made and it was painted purple. It looked perfect to me already. But he wasn't done. He spent the next month making sure it was just right for his little granddaughter(s).

Last week, Audrey got her sandbox. It is a beautiful lilac purple, with four seats, and a custom lid with handles to go on top. And? My dad (who is super duper handy, but I wouldn't exactly consider artistic) painted "Audrey" and "Naomi" on it with a flower in the middle. Seriously. It is so sweet. And Audrey just loves it.

I'm so thankful for my dad and him being Audrey's Gramps. And if my mom was here, she would just be eating this up. Oh my. She would.

5.24.2010

I'm borrowing my husband's computer.

I can't take it much longer. This no computer thing. At first it wasn't too bad. It was actually sort of nice to break away. But in the last couple of days I have really missed blogging. Does that sound weird? It may. I don't know. I have realized how I use my blogging time to release and recap so many great small moments. And I like that. Now over two weeks have passed and my brain is full. And I don't know where to begin. So much happens in two weeks. Really.

In this two weeks of absence I have surpassed the half way point in this pregnancy. Whoa. Tomorrow I will be 21 weeks done. Again. Whoa.



Here I am 20 weeks. [Wish I could share and compare a picture from Audrey's pregnancy, but all those pictures are on my laptop which is getting fixed right now. Which brings me to the title of this post: I'm borrowing my husband's computer. He had to pack it up and bring it home from work just for me.]

I'm at a good point in this pregnancy. No sickness. {Yay! Yay! Yay!} I have a belly, which means I get the hey look, she is pregnant look instead of the hey look, IS she pregnant look? or I get the oh, she looks young for having a little girl and another one on the way look. (These are my favorite looks. I just smile super big.) I don't take a nap every day anymore. In fact, some nesting has kicked in. I have LOTS of projects in my head that I still need to get done. I can still paint my toes and shave my legs. My ankles aren't swollen yet to create those lovely cankles I get. My favorite part about this stage though, is feeling little Naomi move. She doesn't seem as active as Audrey was, but she definitely lets me know she is there. She must be easy going, right? At least, that's what I'm telling myself.

And on another very happy-related to pregnancy note. My friend, April, threw me a beautiful diaper shower yesterday. (I got a shower for my second baby. I know that is not common. It made me feel super special to have close friends and family there.) I received lots of wonderful cloth diapers (as I plan to cloth diaper the second one as well) and some disposable ones. Because I definitely have those lazy days that I don't do it and I don't plan on cloth diapering till Naomi is about two months. It was just a lovely day and I hope to share about it soon.

And now, while I hold Andrew's computer hostage, I'm going to try to get some posts ready for the rest of week. Because I have to empty this brain of mine.

{And thank you, friends, that have stuck around, or even come back to check daily to see if I was here. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.}

5.17.2010

i'm here (sort of).

You might have to dust off the cobwebs on here, sorry about that. But I am here. Well, actually I'm at my dad's house using his internet, because our internet has been down for over a week now. Which equals zero blog time both reading all my lovely blog friend's blogs and writing.

I hope to reconnect soon to this lovely world again.

Until then, I'm going to enjoy my new'do I got tonight- hurray!

5.09.2010

that lovey dovey feeling.

I had that feeling all weekend. It started with the cards I received in the mail on Friday and ended with the good night kiss to Audrey tonight. 

I took in so many small "mama moments" this weekend. Like when Audrey yelled at Lowe's "MAMA! MAMA! DER-SHE-IS!" After I returned from just going down the next aisle. She greeted me with such love as if I was gone for days, but it was only a minute. Or when I gave up my corn on the cob [which trust me, wasn't easy, I had been craving it for a while now] just so I could watch Audrey chow down on it like a true Hoosier. Or when Audrey returned from visiting my dad's neighbor's house and wanted to tell me so bad about the peacocks. "Oper. Beh-ders. Oper." (In case you find it difficult to decode Audrey language she said "open. feathers. open." She got a special glimpse of the peacock opening it's feathers and she wanted me to know about it.

I get these moments because I'm a mama. And I feel so thankful for that.

We spent the weekend wrapping ourselves around family. Andrew's mom and Nana on Friday evening. And today I woke up to the smell of bacon, eggs, sausage, and pancakes made by my husband. It has been the perfect Mother's Day weekend. We even made a trip to Mimi's (my mom's) grave.
This is how Audrey stayed entertained for the 2.5 hours up north to visit her Gamma. Stickers. E.v.e.r.y.w.h.e.r.e. Oh, and Cheetohs.

From left to right: Andrew's mom aka Gamma, Andrew's sister aka Aunt Suzanne, Andrew's Nana aka Nana, Audrey aka Dah-rey, me aka Mama, my niece aka Cousin Harlie, my soon-to-be-sister-in-law aka Aunt Astrid
We spent part of our afternoon today walking around the lake. It was lovely. It was even lovlier to be with my husband and girls. [Side note: That is Audrey's face when we ask her to say "cheese." How stinkin' cute, yes?]
I'm [almost] 19 weeks along in this picture with my Naomi Fae.

Audrey giving Mimi fresh flowers for her grave.
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Did I mention Andrew bought me these? I can't wait to get my Tom's in the mail! And I can't help but wonder what child will be wearing a pair because of the purchase.

Happy Mother's Day to all the mamas!

5.05.2010

what's in a name.

One of my very favorite things about being a parent is being able to name this little human being growing inside me. A name she will have her whole life. A name that will probably have nicknames. A name that may even get made fun of [Hello, my name is Abra. Trust me I know this part.]. A name that will get rolled called off in every classroom. A name that may even get mispronounced [Again, see above- I repeat, my name is Abra.]. But sure enough, a name that she will carry.

If you looked at my computer history you would see A LOT of websites that have to do with "baby naming" "old-fashion baby names" "classic baby names" etc. I definitely have spent countless hours looking up names. I have also spent countless time saying baby names out loud to decide if I like how it rolls off my tongue.

One of the requirements my husband and I had when naming our children was to consider the meaning. In fact, there has been many names that we have considered and loved, but once we looked up the meaning we decided it wouldn't work.

Another thing we considered when naming- we want the middle name to be in the family.

And lastly, we wanted names that weren't super common, somewhat old-fashion like, and fairly easy to pronounce without ere. [Embarrassing side story: You know when you go to a restaurant and they ask for your name? Maybe, just maybe, I have said "April" before because saying "Abra" means repeating it four times and it still getting it butchered.]

So the verdict on our children's names:

Audrey Rose- Audrey means "noble strength" and Rose was after my mother, Rosemary

The Newest Addition to the Family- Naomi Fae- Naomi means pleasant and Fae is after Andrew's Nana

Audrey and Naomi.

I have already said that a thousand times today. It kind of sounds perfect, doesn't it?

[Also, it may sound like I don't like my own name. But I actually LOVE it. It fits me. And I don't mind if I have to tell people over and over what my name is because it is a good conversation starter AND I usually get remembered easily because of how unique it is.]

5.04.2010

in case you haven't already heard...

We had our 18 week ultrasound this morning and....


IT'S [ANOTHER] A GIRL!

We couldn't be more excited! We are going to have two little girls just two years apart. Sisters are the best. [I should know, I have three of them. And I have two brothers, but who's counting.] And seriously, my love for this one just grew tremendously today. We saw her legs, arms, heart, brain, and oh my gosh, she looks perfect. Everything looks great (praise God!).

Andrew left this afternoon and said "take care of my girls." It sounded so right.

We also have a name. And we will share it. [I'm so not good with secrets, if you can't tell.] But I want to post on that later. :)

Tootaloo. I'm off to daydream about my little girls playing together.

5.03.2010

Monday Rambles.

  • We had a lazy weekend. It was so nice. My best friend came into town and stayed with us. We took a trip to the Farmer's Market and managed to walk away this time with just Chai tea. Although, next time I am definitely buying the rasberry honey spread my best friend got. Delish.
  • Today is beautiful. Blue skies and green all around. It is a good day to celebrate the life of someone really special to our family. My parent's neighbor, Irene, passed away and today we celebrate her reunion with her husband in Heaven. She was like a grandmother to us. I am so glad I went to an afternoon tea with her back in December. Those memories are cherished.
  • Audrey is going through a big attachment stage right now. It's like she flipped a switch in the last two weeks and has decided on only a handful of people that she wants to go to. Oh, and the toddler room at church, that's such an ordeal for her right now. So, anyone with toddlers (around 18 months), please tell me this is normal and just a stage and it will pass quickly.
  • Audrey enjoying a 'cup of tea' outside.
  • You have tomorrow marked on your calendar right? I'm sure in big bold print. We get to find out the gender! I can't believe tomorrow has snuck up on us like this. I keep getting asked "Do you have a hunch? What do you think it will be?" I am not good with 'hunches.' But based on the symptoms I have had that have been really similar to my pregnancy with Audrey, I'm guessing a girl. (Major morning sickness and high baby heart rate.) Oh, and maybe, just maybe, I took one of those silly online tests about gender prediction. According to the test we have a 70% girl and 30% boy. And just so you know, one of the questions was "What direction does your pillow face, north or south?" So pretty much, I put zero faith into that silly test. But, I would love to know what you think we might be having!
Rambling is now over. Hope your day week is full of love and small moments.