In Case You Hadn't Heard...

She's finally here!

Lillian Joy arrived at 1:29 PM on Monday, September 26th... 8 pounds, 6 ounces (smaller than her brother- yay!) and 20 1/2 inches long.  To say that I am over the moon in love would be the understatement of the year.  My blogging has taken the backseat, not because I'm so overwhelmed by having 2 kids, but because I can't stop staring at her.  I literally get nothing done because all I want to do is hold my sweet girl all day long... which sums up this past week.

This week I do plan to sit down and write out her birth story, although I probably shouldn't post it for fear of being beat up based on how darn easy it was.  But I know my readers and there are at least three of you that love those gory details- you know who you are!  I have tons of pictures from the labor and delivery, too, so perhaps I'll post some of the more appropriate ones!  I wish that labor and delivery experience on every woman- hands down!

So far Jake has taken the transition so very well and we could not be happier about it.  He pretty much forgets she's around and then lights up and says "Baby!" when he hears or sees her.  Sometimes he even does the sign language sign along with it, which is super cute.  He doesn't really want to touch her, except for her toes when we ask him where they are, but he'll climb up and sit next to us from time to time.  The most difficult thing for me right now is that I'm not supposed to lift him, so he gets pretty upset when I don't pick him up when he needs me.  It's heart-breaking, but should only last a couple more days.  All in all, he's been amazing, but we have noticed that he has become a bit more dramatic (and funny) and we're not sure if it's his way of making sure he still gets attention.  And the only time he has shown any sign of jealousy was when our nephew, Kevin, was holding the baby.  Kevin is his hero and he not only gave Kevin a look that showed how disgusted he was with the whole event, but he also dropped to the ground and rolled onto his back... it really sent him into a depression!  He's too funny.

We were welcomed home on Wednesday and the whole family came by to see and hold Miss Lillian.  We feel so truly blessed to have everyone nearby now.

So all is beyond well here.  Having two is not quite as overwhelming as I thought it would be (yet) but I think it's because Lillian has been such an easy baby thus far.  She would probably sleep through the night if I let her, but I try to wake her for feedings.  Jake is by far the bigger handful of the two, so not a whole lot has changed.  I am so very thankful that God balanced the scales a little bit by giving me a sweet, calm, mellow girl after my rambunctious, full of energy, crazy boy.  I could not be more in love with the two of them... God is oh so good!

That's all I've got for now... I'm off to go cuddle that sweet girl before we go to bed.  Because seriously, who can resist this sweet face?

Goodnight!

Ohhhh... dancin' in September!

Random title, I know.  It's just that every September I can't seem to get Earth, Wind, and Fire out of my head, so I thought I'd get it stuck in your head today, too!  At the start of this month, I was convinced that I was going to be a great blogger because so much has been going on!  What I didn't account for is that since so much has been going on, I don't find a whole heck of time to blog!  Not to mention that I've been working my tail off to try and wrap things up with work before maternity leave.  So alas, although my intentions were good, here is everything (well, not everything... but close enough) wrapped up into one blog post.  Here's what we've been up to this month so far:

We've been having more fun times with the family... Jake is loving all of the fun with cousin Adam!

 Enjoying the last days of summer... although it already feels like fall (and we're loving it)!

Crafting!  A few weeks ago Josh took Jake down to Georgia for a couple of nights to help his dad move up here (hooray for having more family in town!) so I drove up to Cincinnati to stay with Mindy and Adam for a couple of days, since her hubby was on a trip, too.  We stayed up way late one day working on some fun projects with my friend from my UT days, Laura.  Together they made this beautiful cushion for the bench in our entryway:

And here it is up close.  We almost didn't have enough fabric (HA!) but it came out beautifully and I love it!  It makes such a difference since the bench was just boring and plain before.  Now our shoes have a place to live!

While they worked on that, I had a project of my own.  Since Jake has his name spelled out in his room (remember this?):

Well, they actually don't hang like that in his new room, but you get the picture.  I knew that Miss Lillian needed letters of her own, so while I originally just planned on painting them white, Mindy and Laura had ideas of their own and introduced me to the (very messy) art of Mod Podge (which I had never even heard of!).  So we started with plain wooden letters, scrapbook paper, Mod Podge glue, and a paint brush...

And after a few hours of (extremely) tedious and messy work, ended up with these beauties:

And yes, that is my belly peeking into the picture!  We used 3 different combinations of the paper... here they are up close:

I love the outcome despite the meticulous work they required.  The project itself was actually pretty easy- a lot like paper mache actually- but my one word of advice is to avoid doing this to anything with any grooves or beveled edges.  These letters had both, which slowed me down a bit.  Oh, and we did spray paint them white first, just in case we didn't get paper on every part.  My sister is already looking for something new to Mod Podge.  Me?  I'm taking a break for awhile, although I'm sure I'll do it again in the future to a picture frame or something to match her room.

Speaking of arts and crafts, our son is very into Crayons lately.  Here is his latest artwork:

Jake's Pawpaw was watching him when he got away with this!  The funny part of the story is that when we got home and asked Jake, "who did this?" he said "Pawpaw!"  What a stinker!  Luckily I had a spare can of wall paint to cover it up again and we're now working on, "Jake, where do we color?"  "On paper!"  The message still has not sunk in.

Wow, like I said, September has been a full month.  Last Sunday night I took my most favorite person in the world on a date night for his birthday to see Rob Schneider at the comedy club here in town and then we had a nice dinner outside.  His comedy was great... we highly recommend seeing the show if you ever have the chance!  After the show, he was nice enough to do a meet and greet with everyone there.  Josh and I decided that he has got to be one of the nicest celebrities ever!  He talked to us for a good three or four minutes, asking when the baby is due and congratulating us on her arrival.  He even rubbed my belly and told me I looked fantastic... always a nice thing to hear at nine months pregnant! 

Other than that, we've just been enjoying our last days as a family of three.  As excited as I am to have our daughter join us, there is a part of me that is a little bit sad that Jake won't be our only one... I know it sounds silly, but he's been my little buddy since day one and it's just me and him on a lot of days.  I don't worry about having enough love for the both of them considering that every parent in the world will tell you that there is more than enough, but sharing my time will be an adjustment, especially since he's a bit of a mama's boy.  But we'll get through it... every family does.  And as long as he keeps entertaining us with bits like this, it will be all smiles in Mauneyland:

The fun just doesn't stop... my Mom arrived into town last night as well as Michael, Mindy, and Adam, who will be down again next weekend in the hopes that Lilly might decide to make an appearance before or during their visit.  Tonight we are having friends over for Josh's 29th birthday celebration while we cheer on the Vols and the Cats and tomorrow Josh will be preaching again, which is what he loves to do most.  I can't wait.  And then next week, we should probably all slow down a bit (yeah, right!), take it easy, and do a lot of this in preparation for baby #2:

So that wraps up the first half of the month and I know the second half will be even more exciting as our due date approaches.  The family is here now so she has full permission to arrive anytime now!  Stay tuned...    :)

35 Week Bumpdate... It's Lilly Month!

September is HERE... which means that we are within 30 days of meeting our baby girl and this mama is more than ready!  

Between Braxton Hicks contractions (which I never had with Jake), backaches (which I don't remember with Jake), heartburn, and the constant rearranging of my insides, I will be happy to be the only occupant of this body again.  So even though I generally don't do these prego-surveys, I thought that since it's been so long it might be worth it this time around.  So here goes...

How far along: 35 weeks, 6 days (so almost 36 weeks if you want to get specific)

Total weight gain/loss: Ha!  Like I'm going to tell you that!  Let's just say that I have surpassed the highest weight I ever reached while carrying Jake (and started this one about 4 pounds lighter).  In other words... A LOT.

Maternity clothes: Yeah, since about week 8.  You know it's time when you're belly is showing in even your longest maternity shirts.  And several pairs of my maternity pants no longer fit.

Stretch marks: A few pinkish ones around my belly button.  I got a few like this after Jake was born (how unfair is that?) and they went away over time, so I'm hoping that these are temporary, too.

Sleep: Sleep?  What's that?  Between a body temperature that stays around 145 degrees and a toddler who still occasionally wants to have a middle-of-the-night party, I can't remember the last time I slept through the night.  But it's no big deal considering that the situation is not going to change any time soon.  I get the occasional nap and that works just fine for me!

Best moment this week: Ummm... we've had lots of good moments since our move, so I'm not entirely sure.  Seeing my sisters and their families as frequently as I have been has probably been the highlight.

Movement: She beats me up a lot more than Jake ever did.  I'd get an occasional jab or kick from him, but she likes to press my insides outward and then move, creating this odd sensation and a sight to watch!  I had an ultrasound today and the doctor said that I have lots of fluid in there (which thankfully might be why I'm measuring big... and by big I mean a week or two ahead of schedule) so she still has plenty of room to move around.  It's no wonder that I am short of breath so often!

Food cravings: Oh wow, what don't I crave?  The biggest one this time around has been Coke floats.  Weird I know.  I'm also really enjoying chips and cheese dip these days.

Food aversions: None.  Baby likes to eat!

Labor Signs: I had one day of some pretty good contractions and it was conveniently on a day when I had a doctor appointment.  According to the monitoring (which I get weekly), my uterus was demonstrating "erratic behavior," whatever that means.  The next day I was fine though and aside from some mild Braxton Hicks, all is business as usual... no dilation yet either... she must like it in there.

Belly Button in or out? Like a turkey thermometer, it's popped out.  This bird is cooked!

What I miss: Not going to lie... a frosty beverage or a glass of red wine would be heavenly!  And I'm kind of (and that's a very small kind of) getting antsy to run again.  I think it has something to do with living near my favorite running buddies.

What I am looking forward to: Meeting her (duh!)

Weekly Wisdom: This should probably be something about getting plenty of rest before baby, but I can't seem to do that.  I'm a busy-body.  I have managed to slow down a bit, but should probably stop and put my feet up more often.  

Milestones: Ummmm.... I couldn't really tell you.  In about a week I'll be considered full-term, so that's kind of what I'm waiting on right now.  I'm still set to be induced at 39 weeks (like I was with Jake and will be with every child I ever have) but I'm hoping that she decides to come a couple of days early so that I can experience what it's like to go into labor.  We'll see.

So I think that covers everything and more and makes up for my lack of posts about the bump this time around.  And since no decent bumpdate is complete without a photo, here is the latest:

I don't have one from my pregnancy with Jake at 36/37 weeks, but I do have one from 38 weeks with him for comparison purposes:

I think she's siting a little bit higher than he did, but I am glad to see that they are fairly similar.  As I've mentioned previously, the extra weight gain is in my lower back, love handles, and rear, which thankfully does not show up in photos!

So now you're updated, which is good considering that I'm not sure if another one will happen or not before her arrival.  Now it's just a matter of counting the days... and oh how I can't wait to kiss those sweet cheeks!

The Cutest Subjects

I think I've mentioned on here before that I love photography.  No, I'm not going to attempt to ever start a business with it and I definitely have a ton to learn, but I'm always excited when I get to use the knowledge that I do have to take pictures for a friend or family member.  So when my sister, Mindy, asked me to take some pics of her son, Adam, when she was in town this past weekend, I jumped on the opportunity!  Jake was with me, too, and thank goodness our oldest sister, Angie, came along to help us "herd" the kiddos... they were all over the place!  The pictures were taken at the Kentucky Horse Park, which lent us so many beautiful places to shoot.  It took me a little while to get my settings correct (like I said, I'm no professional but I do always try to shoot in Manual mode so I can practice) but by the end of the day (and about 500 shots later), I think we got some good ones!  None of these are edited (aside from making a couple of them black and white) as my sister is the Photoshop expert, but here are a few of our fav's:

Such a serious face, but I thought it was so sweet!

Yes he is holding a shoe... it made him smile, so we went with it!

Despite my efforts, his Mommy ended up getting the "money shot" of the day:

I love this one I took of Adam and his mom... her hair comes out so beautifully in photos!  Then again, it's incredibly beautiful in person, too:

Of course I took some of my favorite little man, too.... but mostly just got his back as he ran all over the place!  That boy loves to go go go!  I actually liked the shots from behind though as this captures his personality at this age:

My favorite: 

And how did we keep the kiddos occupied and smiling for the hour + that we were out there?

First off, Auntie Angie was essential!  Thank you for coming along and entertaining them both! 

And the real secret?  Oh yes, our kids love the iPhone.  Here's our geeky children with their gadgets... too funny:

My sister was also sweet enough to take a couple of prego-pics of me and Lilly, but I'm saving those for another post since this one is already pretty picture-heavy.  Besides, I am way behind on a belly update, so I'll have the hubby take one today and let you know how it's going tomorrow.  I have a doctor appointment later anyway.

Apparently I passed the test because I get to take pictures of this whole family in the fall!  Yay!  And luckily I won't have a big belly to work around since photographing toddlers takes a lot of bending over, laying on the ground, etc.

I hope you enjoyed your daily (double) dose of cuteness today!  Thanks, Mindy, for letting me practice my favorite hobby on my super-dooper adorable nephew!  Oh how I love that little guy!

Where's My Baby?

I think we timed this second baby just right.  Lately we've had some extra time to spend as a family (which has been wonderful!) and have gone on lots of fun outings while we explore our new city.  But it seems like more and more, I find that our "sweet baby Jake" has turned into a little boy right before our little eyes.  I know it sounds silly as he's only 17 months old, but the boy talks up a storm, throws a ball like a champ, runs around like a crazy-person, and climbs up everything- and I mean everything!- he can possibly figure out how to climb.  Plus, he is the size of a two-year-old, so when put next to a kid his own age, people just assume that he's older.  Here are some things that have wowed us recently and make me wonder, just where did my baby boy go?

First up was at a place called Just 4 Kids last weekend, which is a tiny-tot gym for kids pre-school age.  Jake loved the trampoline and jumped better than I expected him to be able to!  Then again, he gets lots of practice on our bed, in his crib, and on our couch:

Then there was a very large bounce-house with an obstacle course.  I totally underestimate my son's brawn apparently... he climbed all the way to the top by himself.  Please disregard the comments from his nervous camerawoman/mommy:

And this weekend Aunt Mindy and cousin Adam were visiting again (yaaaayyyy!) and the two of them had their first arcade experience.  Let me just tell you, Jake was LOSING HIS MIND over the carousel, driving games, and particularly all of the basketball games.  That boy loves his basketball, which is good considering we just moved to basketball country.  We let them play one of the smaller ones, and Jake even made a couple of baskets!

What I don't have video of is how difficult it was to drag him out of there!  Or how wound up he was once we left... all of that stimulation really excited him!  I am pretty sure these two spots will be ones that we'll visit occasionally as a nice treat for our crazy boy.  And each time, I'm sure he'll surprise me with his new skills and abilities.  As much joy as I find watching him learn, discover, and try new things (even though he scares me to death sometimes!), I do look forward to our sweet little girl arriving so that I have a squishy newborn to cuddle again.  Seventeen months goes by far too quickly.

Heaven Is For Real... and it's in our house!

Okay, so I really should actually blog about the book Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo.  If you haven't read it, I highly recommend it.  But instead of doing an insightful, intelligent post on that topic, I have chosen instead to share with you my favorite part of our new home.  I had hoped to have pictures of several rooms by now in order to do a full house tour, but it seems as if every single room is waiting on one tiny little detail, whether it be a picture to be hung or a shelf to be filled and I'm far too anal retentive to post pictures of an unfinished room.  Plus, once they're completely decorated, I will also have to find a day when they are clean... so it could be awhile.

BUT... the good news is that one room is done!  Josh has found my obsession with this room completely amusing and couldn't believe when he walked in and found me decorating it.  Yes, even hanging pictures.  So where is this room you ask?  Well, without further ado, let me show off our master closet!

Well wait a second, before I do that, I do want to throw a disclaimer out there.  Or a couple actually:

1 - As much as we loved our old house in Illinois, we did not love the lack of closet space.  Josh's clothes were split between two closets and mine were in a third down the hall.  I couldn't find a pair of shoes if I tried and the rest of my clothes were in a dresser in the guest bedroom.  The two of us had to visit three separate rooms in order to get ready to go anywhere.

2 - Even though we downsized (which I'm actually happy about), this house has definitely made up for it in closet space!  Most of our square footage is upstairs, and I think a fourth of it is closets!  One even has a window... it's crazy, but helps for storage.  The master closet is about as big as Jake's old room was, and we even joked about making it Lilly's room when she comes along!  For now, we're planning on having the kiddos share a room for awhile (after she's done bunking in with us) but there's still time to change our minds!

3 - I have never had a walk-in closet or anything remotely similar to one.  I never understood what the big deal was about them.  But now that I can see everything I own, I totally get it!  And poor Josh now realizes that I will never accept anything less.

Okay... enough explanation... let's get on with the show.  Here is a glimpse of my "heaven" at home:

The full view from the entrance

Josh's side... overly organized due to my nesting

All of the clothes that I don't fit into right now.  *sigh*

A picture of my favorite little man and some marathon medals for inspiration

And yes... a decorated wall!  I've never really known where to display our race memorabilia, but this seems to be the perfect spot.  And I hope to grow that wall soon after #2 is born.

So yeah, I officially feel a little bit like a psycho, especially now that I've done an "Ode to our Master Closet" blog post, but I'm okay with it.  Just know that if you're ever visiting and you can't find me, chances are you'll find me here... in my favorite room of the house!

Surprise!

Before marriage, a family, and all the fun that comes with this season of life, many of my weekends were spent with my girlfriends.  In Florida, I was so fortunate to find a great group of gals so surround myself with, and about four times a year we'd pile in the car and head out of town.  Well actually, we always went to Disney, but we never got tired of it!  I miss those trips, and even though I had some new great girlfriends when we lived in Illinois, I was knee-deep in pregnancy and dirty diapers during those two years that a trip with them just never panned out (yet, right?  You know who you are!).  So I was ecstatic when an opportunity for one of those rare girls' trips came up two weeks ago... this time with an old friend who I haven't seen in awhile and my best friend since high school.

The South Florida crew... and Pluto

Aside from living near family now, I have also quickly found that it's equally as lovely to be near some old friends.  As a graduate of the University of Tennessee (go Vols!... that statement could get me killed around here, but it's a risk I'm willing to take) we are now about two and a half hours away from Knoxville.  Even though most of us grads did not stay in K-town after graduation, all of my closest friends from those years seem to be within three hours of the place.  Once I graduated I spent five years in south Florida and the next two in Small Town, Illinois, so needless to say, I have not lived within driving distance for quite awhile.

About three weeks ago, my best friend's boyfriend sent out a mass email with plans for my best friend's big 30th birthday bash.  We had literally just moved into the house, but I knew immediately that I wanted to be there.  Elizabeth is probably winning in the who visits who more tally, and she even surprised me to be there for my bridal shower a couple of years back.  Yep, she's the best.  The party would be in downtown Atlanta, about six hours away, and Josh and I knew that we just couldn't get away for an entire weekend.  I was bummed because I knew that I didn't want to go all that way by myself, especially at 33 weeks pregnant!

Not long after that, my friend Kristen and I started emailing each other to see if the other was going.  Kristen was Elizabeth's college roommate (as was I in different years) and is honestly one of the nicest people in the universe.  If someone doesn't like Kristen, then they have serious problems... but I digress.  Up until this point, it had been a little over five years since we had seen one another, even though we keep up with one another on Facebook and in the blog world.  She mentioned that she was trying to work it out so that she could go, but would probably have to go alone so that her kiddos could stay home with their daddy.  And so from there, a plan was born!

Last weekend, I drove about four and a half hours to Chattanooga and met Kristen at a random hospital that we found on Google maps.  It was close to the Interstate, and a hospital was the safest place we could think of to leave a car overnight.  I'm not sure if I was more excited to surprise Elizabeth, or to see Kristen!  Because of some traffic snafus, we estimated that we would be at the restaurant about an hour late, so we texted Dara and let him know.  Kristen thought that Elizabeth might have had an inkling that she was coming, since she mentioned that she was trying to figure out a way to be there the last time they chatted, but we figured that if we were late, she would lose all hope... not part of the original plan, but sneaky sneaky on our part!  The drive to Atlanta went much faster than the rest of it had since we had such a great time catching up and we were downtown in no time!  We realized that we both needed to changes and scoped out the surrounding area for someplace that we could run in and use their restroom.  Feeling a bit awkward about that, we ended up in a non-crowded area of the mall parking garage and changed in the car!  I have to say, what sounded like an easy task proved to be quite a bit more difficult than usual with this belly of mine, but I managed.  We both put on some make-up and headed to the restaurant, arriving exactly an hour late.  Perfect.

The actual surprise itself could not have worked out more perfectly.  As we wandered through the restaurant looking for a big party, we saw two long tables flanked by balloons and figured that it must be them.  I spotted Dara right away and  noticed that Elizabeth was sitting right next to him, with her back turned to us.  Convenient!  We walked right up to her and tapped her on the shoulder.  When she turned around, she let out the loudest squeal, right in the middle of the restaurant!  We also  got hugs and a few happy tears, which was awesome and made the drive totally worth our while.  We were told later that some of her friends at the other end of the table thought that she had seen a mouse or something based on her unexpected scream!  BEST. REACTION. EVER.  She was absolutely giddy with excitement as she introduced us to everyone and her friends were kind enough to scoot down a bit so we could sit next to the guest of honor.  Again, our timing could not have been better considering that the waitress came around to take everyone's order about five minutes after our arrival.

Elizabeth, Kristen, and Me... back together again!

Dinner was delicious (sushi, which I rarely get... yum!  And don't worry, mine were cooked to keep the little one safe and healthy) and then we headed over to an upscale Irish pub nearby.  The place was really nice and not too crowded, which I appreciated, and we found a table and sat right away.  As the others in the group mingled with one another, Kristen and I just sat and caught up some more, even though we found that being blogging buddies over the years has made it feel like we had chatted last week!  It's funny how I feel closer to some of my blogging buddies than I do to some of my close friends that live far away.... just another great reason to not be so lazy and continue with mine I guess!  By quarter 'til one, the two of us were probably visibly tired and just trying not to show it and so we were happy when Elizabeth came over and said that she was ready to call it a night.  By the time we got back to her place it was already after 1:30am and I must say, I was quite proud of myself for hanging in there because this mama likes her sleep!  It was worth it to celebrate with my best friend though!

We would have loved to stay longer, but we had to head out pretty early the next morning as we both had things that we needed to get back home for.  On our way though we did spend about two hours at another friends' baby shower in Chattanooga (another one I hadn't seen for years) and there were some other familiar faces there, too.  It was just amazing to see some folks that I hadn't seen in a long time, hear about the great places their lives have taken them, and learn about their families.  It filled my heart with so much joy.

Needless to say, when I finally arrived home Saturday afternoon, I was pretty exhausted.  I managed to catch a little nap before we headed back out for the evening and actually felt pretty good for the remainder of the weekend!  I also realized later that this was officially Lilly's first girls' trip, too, and it makes me very excited to think about the trip that we will take together someday.  I used to get a little bit sad thinking about Jake going off with Daddy for a weekend of fishing or camping, but I know that this will be a big, special part of his life someday.  He is my little man and I know that I'll miss him like crazy and wish that I could be there, too.  But now I realize that on those weekends, I will have some girl-time with my little one where we can go have our fun, too!