ME – Page 22 – xangelle.com

Delicious Summer Evenings

I’m sitting up in my bedroom and my ceiling fan is on and it’s SO warm and the air is still and quiet and it’s…….heavenly.

I long for summer evenings like this. I know it’s not technically summer, but there is something about the warmth and the sun that makes things seem all better.

We came home this afternoon and I sat out in the sun for just over half an hour and I felt totally recharged. Well, as much as someone who is 30 weeks pregnant can feel energized and/or recharged.

We came inside and managed to re-arrange the TV Room to include some office space. Opening up the TV Room to accommodate some office stuff meant that we could clear out some of the stuff that we’ve been storing in our bedroom, thereby freeing up space that we need for the baby and more specifically the baby furniture.

In the process, I also managed to clear about 5 things off my “To Do List”.

I’ve got about 5 pages of “Things to do” (it’s double spaced, so it’s not like it’s a million things) and last night Jon and I sat down and put a time frame or time limit to each of the items. We are aiming to get the “important” things finished by the beginning of June and then there are some things that I’d like to get done but that aren’t critical and I can finish those during June as I’m counting down the days. There is nothing worse than just sitting around with NOTHING to do just waiting for the baby to come. I’ve done that and it SUCKS!

Well, time to put my boys to bed. Oh and By the way, I’ve loved hearing your movie favorites….if you haven’t shared, there is still time to chime in with your two cents.

ps. I love light movies like Sweet Home Alabama and Failure to Launch. I also LOVE action movies like FaceOff and the Transporter, and I even love the M. Night Shyalaman movies. I think that my least favorite movies are science fiction type movies. But, it all depends on my mood at any particular time as to which movie I choose to watch and re-watch.

30 Weeks

I’m 30 weeks and creeping closer and closer to the finish line.

I’m starting to feel a bit more awkward and am noticing my gut starting to get in the way which shouldn’t be a massive surprise for 30 weeks pregnant. I’ve just not really noticed my belly “getting in the way” before now, aside from the fact that I can’t sleep on my stomach and haven’t been able to since about 20 weeks pregnant.

I had my mid wife appt on Thursday and am now into the “every 2 week” appointments. I gained a little more (5 lbs in 3 weeks) than I was happy with and I’m totally blaming that on Easter and the extra chocolate that I consumed. My blood pressure is perfect and our sweet boy’s heart rate was sitting at 144 bpm. Everything else looked good and we’re just continuing on. I have my next appt on April 26th which is also when I have my next specialist’s appointment….it will be a busy day.

I did just recently go to my chiropractor as I’ve been having quite a bit of pain in my left hip and it was referring to my right knee….how fun is that? The worst part is the fact that at this point, he can put me back into place, but I’m pretty much guaranteed that it’ll pop right back out. The Relaxin (it doesn’t just affect the one area, it’s an equal opportunity hormone – so much fun, eh?) is at play and there’s not much I can do about that but to just ride the rest of this pregnancy out. BUT…….If that’s my biggest complaint….then I’m really not doing too badly physically, am I?

So, Physically I’m doing pretty good, but Emotionally or Mentally is a whole ‘nuther ball game….and seeing as we’re just about to head out grocery shopping I’m not really going to get into it right now.

I’m okay (don’t worry) I just need to make some decisions (possibly set some boundaries) and well, that’s always so much fun isn’t it?

So, in the mean time….one of my favorite ways to avoid dealing with things is to watch movies (while I’m crafting)…..so, What is your favorite movie and why?

The Finished Crib Set

Well, after a lot of cutting and piecing and sewing and stitch ripping and a few quick “on the fly” adjustments because I miscalculated………the crib set is COMPLETED.

I sewed the very last piece of thread on the drive home from church on Sunday and I have to admit….it felt pretty good.

I actually made a crib sheet (still need to make one more), bumper pads and a quilt all without an official pattern and I think that it looks pretty good, if I do say so myself.

I guess that biggest thing is that I actually like it. I do see things that I could have done differently or if I were doing again, that I’d do better, but for my first ever attempt at anything like this….I’m pretty proud of what I’ve accomplished.

I wrote a few different patterns for the quilt and finally settled on one that I figured that I liked. it wasn’t too busy and I didn’t figure that it’d be too difficult to cut and piece and actually “do”.

I cut out all the pieces of fabric based on the sizes that I had calculated in my pattern and tried to figure out at the same time where they were all going, based on how much of the fabric I had and what looked the best sitting next to each other.

Here is my attempt to puzzle all the pieces together before attempting to sew them….

Once I actually started to sew the pieces together I realized that I had miscalculated by 4 inches…..that’s a pretty big miscalculation AND…..I didn’t have enough fabric left over to re-cut the pieces that I had messed up on and so…then I had to figure out how I was going to “fix” it and continue on.

Here is the finished top piece and you can see where I had to add additional 2 inch pieces in on the 3rd and 4th lengths and in order to make the quilt look “intentional” I also then had to reduce 2 of the outside panels that I had NOT miscalculated on…oh the joy…..oh the fun!

I then stopped working on the quilt and started working on the bumper pads. I was initially going to just make them completely out of the dark paw print material, (I bought 2 meters of the yellow dot, and 2 meters of the dark brown and a fat quarter of each of the other prints. I could have just gone and bought some more, BUT…it was almost like a challenge to try to use up the remaining fabric that I had left over and still come up with something that I liked while not HAVING to buy any more fabric……..and aside from wanting to buy one more meter of the yellow dot to make another crib sheet – I have been able to do exactly that.) I didn’t have enough fabric to go ahead and do that, but I could piece some pieces together and hopefully make it work.

I’ll admit, that I created WAY MORE work for myself than was necessary but I was able to puzzle enough pieces together without them looking completely ridiculous and I didn’t have to buy any more fabric (for this project) AND…….even better…..The bumper pads fit PERFECTLY!

Here is a side view and we are still going to paint the crib and to figure out a way to tie the end ties onto the head and foot boards to keep them from falling down….

Here is Jon holding up the completed quilt…

and here is a partial view of the back side of the quilt……

My mom came and helped me to “quilt” the blanket and we used our little man’s name and also put 3 stars in the 2 opposing corners……It looks AMAZING, but you’ll have to wait until the big day to find out what our little man’s name is going to be….

There are a few extra pictures in the set that you can check out if you so desire.

I’m just happy that it all worked out and that it’s ONE MORE THING that I can cross off my list.

Sunshine for the Soul & the Baby Booties Giveaway

First I just want to say, a HUGE Thank you to you all who have commented and twittered recently. I appreciate the nice comments that you’ve made and it really made my day(s). You all rock!

I managed to get outside and sit in the sun this morning and it felt so amazing. I had to go inside eventually because my vampire like pale skin felt like it might burn and while I welcome a little color….red is not the color I have in mind. I gotta find me some sunscreen quickly. I felt like the sun was warming right into soul. What an amazing feeling!

I sat out there with my notebook, my personal calendar, my work calendar and scheduled out a bunch of stuff and managed to also fill in the rest of the months meal plans. That’s one thing that’s off my list of “things to do”. I tried to sit down with the kids this weekend, but…it didn’t work out. I did, however, get a bunch of other things planned, listed and on or off the “to-do” list and so on top of the soul warming experience – I also feel like I accomplished something. What a great feeling!

In a highly scientific manner, I chose 4 pieces of paper and wrote the names of the 4 baby bootie entries. I folded them identically and in such a way that we couldn’t tell, which was which and then I had Jon pick one. Normally I’d do a short video documenting the whole process so that you’d see just how I tried to make it all perfectly fair, but this time…you’re just gonna have to take my word for it. I’m too tired these days to fiddle with making a video and uploading it – You’re just all lucky that I remembered to actually do the giveaway today.

Anyway…….without further ado……..

The winner of her choice of booties is…………Lise!

Send me your address or gimme a call and I’ll either mail the booties to you or we can make a plan to get together. (My vote is for the latter – if it works out for you.)

A Big Thanks to Debbie, Courtney and Cara for playing along. You guys rock!

Crossing Things Off My List

I have a list written down somewhere. Actually I have a few lists written down in a few different places, and well….can I find any of them right now…..NOPE!

I’m usually super organized and yet I’ve been feeling SO SCATTERED recently.

I think I’ve got too many things on my plate right now and yet…..that’s a post for another day and another time.

We’ve bought a crib set for each of our other kids. I figured that at the very least, I could save and one day pass on the comforter to each kid and that each child was unique and deserved something of their own….With each child I’ve had a harder and harder time choosing something that I really liked that wasn’t too over the top, gaudy or just down right ugly.

I did find a cute set for Siah and yet I wanted something different for this little one.

I decided to buy some fabric and to make some co-ordinating bedding and covers for this baby.

I’m not the worlds most amazing seamstress. My mother can make anything, even without a pattern, (She sewed my sister’s wedding dress and it was UNREAL! A massive hand beaded fairy tale princess dress!) and my sister has made and can make some of the most amazing things – clothing and toys. They can both sew like nobodies business. I can use my machine (barely) and I’ve made a few simple dresses for my girls when they were younger but I had to follow a pattern religiously.

I figured that most of what I wanted to do involved straight lines (I even have trouble with that sometimes) and that at the very least, I could give it a try. First hurdle….finding some fabric, that #1 went with my bedroom colors (as that is where the baby furniture is and where he’ll be rooming for most of the first year.) and #2 that I actually liked and #3 was appropriately boy-ish without being all balls and animals and primary colors. The second hurdle involved the fact that I had NO PATTERN to follow. I figured that at the very least I could try and if it turned out that bad, I’d rope my mother in to helping me.

Fortunately for me, and the family who has to live with me…….I’ve managed to start to pull it all together.

As of this past weekend, I’ve purchased some fabric…..

I’ve finished one crib sheet…..

and I finished one change pad cover……(I’m quite proud of this considering the rounded or scooped edges that I figured out how to do all on my own – YAH ME!)

Here is a closer view…..

I’m almost finished the second change table cover and I still need to make another crib sheet. After that I have to make the bumper pads and the biggest project will be the quilt…. ACK! I’m a little nervous about that one.

My mom did come over to help me figure out how to “fit or secure” the cover and sheet underneath the pads and instead of using elastic, I’ve…..well…..I’ve no idea how to explain what I did. I basically sewed the bottom edge into a corner so there is a pocket for the corners to fit into. I have no idea if you understand and short of going and taking more pics…..which I don’t feel like doing right now….It’s all okay. It works and looks good and more importantly…..they fit perfectly and required no yelling, screaming or swearing.

I’m gonna finish the change table cover today and hopefully the second sheet too.

I think I might even take few minutes to sit down and actually write out a good list of everything that I really want to do before the baby comes and post it somewhere where It won’t get lost.

Oh, and you can see the color that we’ve painted our room in those pics of the change table. When we finish decorating, I’ll take some more pictures and show the whole thing, but for now…that’s a sneek peak!

Baby Booties and a GIVEAWAY!!!

I’ve seen a few pictures here and there around the internet with the CUTEST little felt baby booties.

Most of them are for girls, but I’m having a boy. And so while I think they are absolutely darling…they are useless to me. Unfortunately, I don’t know anyone right now who is expecting a baby girl or I’d be making some of the cutest little shoes for them.

I was, however, thinking about my sisters and their baby boys and how tiny their little feet are and I found a SUPER EASY pattern for cloth or felt booties.

Last week, I had been cooped up in the house for most of a week and on Saturday afternoon – I ESCAPED! I went to the fabric store and bought a bunch of coordinating fabric that I am using to make some crib sheets, some change table covers, a set of bumper pads, and a crib quilt. After I’m done all of that, I have a few other projects that I’m considering (time allowing).

The fabric store closed and I wasn’t quite ready to head home yet, so I ran into Michaels. I didn’t really have anything in mind that I wanted to get, BUT…..I thought I’d just look around.

I found a package of felt in brown camo, blue camo and pink camo and I wondered if I could make some booties from them. After wasting a bit more time, I came home, printed out the pattern and started in on the project. It didn’t take very long and these cute little boy booties were finished. It says that they are a size 0-3 months and while I can’t imagine that they’d fit either of my nephews (just yet) – I do think that they’d fit in another few weeks. They aren’t huge, but they are a little bigger than tiny newborn size.

I whipped up (hand sewed) the first one of this pair yesterday on the way home from work and finished the second one after the boys went to bed. It is a fairly quick and easy project and one that could be modified with bows or buttons or a cute animal or shape cutout (similar to Robeez type shoes).

I don’t think that these would be strong enough to handle a walker, but for tiny babies….they’d cover the feet and look awfully cute. More like slippers, than shoes…..

I’m going to give away one of these pairs of booties.

If you win, you get to choose whether you want the pink ones or the brown ones….

To enter, leave a comment and Next Monday April 12th, I’ll randomly pick a winner.

28 weeks

The weeks are flying by. I feel like I just said that I have 13 weeks left and BAM! A whole week has passed by and I’m annoyed with myself that I’ve not “accomplished” anything on my “list of things to do before the baby comes”.

Recently I’ve painted my bedroom and my bathroom, BUT….I’m not finished the job. In my bedroom, I have to finish touching up the edges on two walls down by the baseboards and I need to finish up the trim in my bathroom as well. I have 2 small walls and around the shower and in a corner between my bathtub and a wall to finish touching up.

So, it’s not like I have a ton to do in either of those rooms, but the knowledge that it’s undone…..well, it’s weighing on me. Maybe I’ll try to get it finished up tomorrow……or maybe not.

I also want to paint a mini-crib that I’ll be using. I need to sand it, prime it and paint it. Then I need to pick up some fabric and make some sheets, a bumper and a blanket. I also want to make a few coordinating (with the crib set) covers for the change table.

I still need to get some curtains for my bedroom and to figure out what (art, photo, picture, etc) we are going to put on our walls. I also need to find a bed spread that fits in with the color and feel of my bedroom (not hard…I can just do all white or some combo of white, tan, chocolate and turquoise).

I do need to go through my baby stuff and figure out what I might need and what I want and to start to stock up on some of the disposable items.

Seeing how fast this past week flew by, I know that if I blink – then next thing I know I’ll be holding my baby and nothing will be done. Which, in the grand scheme of things is not the end of the world and I know that. Everything will eventually get done and even if it doesn’t, the baby will still come and we will make do and it will all be okay. BUT….I want to get all this stuff done – if I can!

Here is a picture of me from yesterday.

For a fun comparison, Here is a picture of me at 27 weeks (it was either that or the next one I have is at 30 weeks) pregnant with Josiah.

On another note, I’m having a bit of a “Fat Day”. I just feel gross and fat and awful about myself.

I’m sure that I’ll change my thinking soon. I do weigh more than I did at this point with Josiah, but that’s because I had spent 3 months losing weight and prepping my body to be pregnant when I got pregnant with Siah. With this pregnancy, I was attempting to lose weight and to get healthy, but there were no plans of a baby anywhere in those plans.

I’ve been exercising during this pregnancy and for the most part, I feel amazing about myself. Yes, I know that I am at a heavier weight than I’d like to be, but I am WAY more fit and I’m certain that I have built muscle and that once I can work a bit harder at “losing” weight that I’ll be able to attain a better, more suitable goal for myself.

I do spend a total of 6 hours a week in a too revealing exercise outfit in front of floor to ceiling mirrors and have come to love my body (for the most part) over the past 8 months. I rarely have “bad” days in regards to my body image and I used to have a TON of them. I see how I have changed and toned and tightened and I am mostly happy with myself. I see beauty where I didn’t ever think that I’d see beauty – fat, stretch marks, double chins, under arm flab and all.

And then today…..I saw some pictures of myself working out and then took these pics and while I know that pics do show the truth, they often show a side of the truth and that the full, moving view of myself is different than a still shot, but….still……I guess I’m feeling sensitive today.

I’m determined that I’m going to throw off this funk and feel beautiful about myself again. I’m worth believing in myself and seeing the strength and beauty in my personal shape and form. I want to live like that for myself and to be able to pass that belief onto my girls especially, but also, I want for my boys to be able to see that I believe in my own strength and beauty and for them to be able to find and see beauty in everyone………28 weeks pregnant and all.

A Dash of Color

I love to update my hair.

Over the last few years, it’s been a bit more difficult to actually get out and “get” my hair done.

The last time I got it done……..June of 2009. Yah! Almost a year ago. Fortunately, my cousin…..who does my hair……is an AMAZING stylist and her cut still looked fabulous. The biggest issues that I had were that the ends needed to be trimmed (wicked split ends) and I had the MOST amazing roots. Last time I got it colored, we did a reddish color for the main part of the hair and threw in some chunks of vibrant blue that was mixed with some purple so it was a really rich looking color.

I LOVED it. What I didn’t love, was that the blue color washed out too quickly and I was just too busy (read that as lazy) to go and get it touched up.

Here is what it roughly looked like in a recent picture earlier in March…..pardon the yellow glow, but I took this pic in my bathroom and try as I might, I can’t figure out how to kill the yellow glow from my stupid bathroom lights. It’s a beautiful Oompa Loompa look, don’t you agree? You can get an idea of what the cut and length looked like and then just imagine that my hair is not quite so red……reddish, but not quite so intense.

We went darker and shorter, and then chunk-ed in some blond pieces and then added a vibrant turquoise streak.

Here is the side view…….

I know that we are getting closer to summer (okay, it only just became spring, but still…it’s closer than it was a month ago) and that people usually go lighter for their “spring/summer” looks, but here’s the deal…….

I am still exercising 3 times a week and so this means that I’m washing my hair 3 times a week…..I used to wash it once or twice a week. We didn’t use shampoo (just baking soda( and my hair was not greasy so I didn’t need to wash it more than that. But, I sweat like crazy and have to wash it more often now. So, knowing this I’ve done a couple o’things.

1. I went a darker color….knowing that it would wash out and fade as the sun actually started to come out more and more.

2. The turquoise color supposedly lasts longer than the pretty purple/blue color that I had last time and when it washes out it turns a prettier color as it fades. The purple/blue ended up looking quite grey at one point….NOT COOL!

3. I am going to go back in early June just before I have this baby to get the turquoise touched up.

I was thrilled to find out that I don’t have any grey hair, yet. I didn’t think I did, but my cousin confirmed it. Although it’s really not that big of a deal….it’s one of those things that I can tell myself when I’m having a “bad day”.

There are a few things that I typically do to extend the time in between hair appointments.

I don’t get streaks or highlights on the top of my head.

I find that either the stylist doesn’t usually get all the way down to the roots which means that your roots show sooner resulting in the need to get your hair done sooner or even if they do get all the way…..it grows out pretty quick and then you need to go back fairly soon and get it done again. I like to get highlights or chunks of hair that start under a top patch of hair. Yes, I realize that this is not a “normal, grows like that” look, but none of my looks are usually “normal”. It’s not that they are totally off the wall….just slightly off of normal.

I try (sometimes) to get a main color that is just slightly darker or redder than my natural color.

This way, as I wash it and as the sun bleaches it….it basically fades to something very similar to my own hair color and I can usually get away with stretching the time in between appts. (Almost a year in between appts. – well, that’s just insane).

If you use regular shampoo (we don’t, we buy some hippie shampoo which totally flies against the the fact that I use chemicals to color my hair like this…I know, I know….just call me a hypocrite!)….to buy shampoo for color treated hair TOTALLY works if you’re wanting to prolong the color.

Also…..Find some one who can really REALLY give you a good hair cut.

A good hair cut will make world of difference between hair appts. A bad hair cut won’t hold it’s shape well, but you’ll know if you get a GREAT hair cut because you can definitely stretch it out further in between appointments….you know, unless you have a short hair cut…in which case, there is no way you could stretch it out for a very long time…..but then again, you probably wouldn’t want to or need to. BUT…even with a short hair cut…if it’s a GREAT CUT, you’ll be able to stretch it out – if it’s completely necessary!

So, what are your favorite hair tips? Any favorite products or tools?

Do you like to color your hair? How often do you go and get your hair done? And, if you do get your hair colored, WHY do you get your hair colored? For fun….out of necessity? Or, if you don’t color your hair – why have you chosen not to?

Inquiring minds want to know…..okay, just me, but still – I’d love to know the answers to my questions! ‘MmmmKay?

Getting the Kids Involved

I have a 2 week meal plan.

I posted a while ago about wanting to try planning a month of meals and have never gotten around to actually making it happen.

I still believe that it’s a good idea and would like to test it out soon.

I am also aware that soon I shall have a newborn and all the fun and sleeplessness that brings.

As a general rule, I expect my children to help out around the house. I like to think that I have a pretty good balance or at the very least that I’m attempting to have a pretty good balance when it comes to allowing my kids to just be kids, but at the same time learning valuable life lessons.

All 3 of the older kids know how to do laundry from picking up the dirty clothes all the way through to putting the clean clothes back into their drawers. This does not mean that they always do their own laundry, nor do they always put their dirty clothes into the dirty clothes hamper, nor do they always put their clean folded clothes into their drawers, BUT….that is the goal and we manage to accomplish this a decent portion of the time.

All three of the kids also know how to cook and while Angelica and Alexandra obviously know more than Jeremy does, I am confident that all three of them could put together a decent meal with very little prompting using both the stove and the oven and having a balance of veggies, carbs and protein in the meal. This is not to say that if we had a box of sugar cereal in the cupboard that they would bypass the sugar cereal to have a well balanced meal….no, they are actually normal kids, BUT, they do know HOW to prepare a balanced, nutritious and delicious meal AND…..they regularly get the opportunity to grow these skills.

Each kid helps out with making meals and with cleaning up after them about twice a week. Even Siah gets in on the action in whatever small ways he can. That kid can help to make a mean batch of pancakes, let me tell you.

I know that with the new baby coming that I will need the kids to pitch in and help out, maybe even more than they are right now…

I don’t want it to feel like I’m “dumping” anything on them when the baby comes and so I’d rather start preparing them now so that when the baby does come….it’s just a normal part of their lives and responsibilities.

I had the three older kids sit down with me on Sunday night and we planned out the next 2 weeks of meals. They each got to pick their favorites and which nights we would make them on and I think that also helps for them to feel invested in this concept of meal planning.

They are constantly asking what’s for dinner anyway and so now we have the next two weeks planned out and listed on our big fridge calendar and the kids are excited to help out on their nights to be able to make their favorite meals.

Here is what we had/have planned for this week

Monday: Homemade Chili and Rice

Tuesday: Chicken and Bean Fajita’s

Wednesday: Beef and Broccoli

Thursday: Almond Chicken and Veggies over Rice

Friday: Roast Chicken with Potatoes & Veggies

Saturday: Nacho’s

Sunday: Bar-B-Que Chicken and Potatoes and Salad

I love that the kids are excited about helping out. It makes such a HUGE difference that they have “buy-in”. I’m looking forward to seeing how this idea plays out.

Again, it’s not that my kids are perfect, and they have their days when nothing seems to go right for them and they melt down regardless of how excited they were at one point, but when they are looking forward to something and it was their choice…..there are a lot less break downs, melt downs and flip outs. And that makes for a much less stressed and a much more peace filled environment.

Do you have a meal plan? Do you involve your kids and if so, how? What seems to work best for you?

Beginnings and Endings

I’ve been thinking a lot recently.

I’ve processed through the shock that we are going to be the parents of 5 children and am waiting expectantly for the day when we finally get to meet this little one.

I’m also aware that barring some miracle this will be our last baby…the last time that I’m pregnant…the last labour and delivery…..there are so many lasts…..and yet in the middle of all of those “lasts” or “endings”…..I’ve come to realize that every time one stage passes, another one starts.

I’m currently at the stage where I’m finishing the second trimester and entering the third one.

First Trimester

I was so much in shock and not really sure what to think. I was dealing with a lot of stress and concerns that others would think that we were crazy – when really what does it matter what others think. I thought that I had dealt fairly well with that issue and BLAM! Apparently it’s something that I needed and still need to process a bit more. I was SO sick, and not just with pregnancy related nausea and vomiting, but literally sick, first with the H1N1 and then with every cough, cold and virus imaginable. It made October, November and December very VERY crappy months. I was also SO TERRIFIED that I might lose this baby. I really didn’t want to deal with another loss and at times the fear and accompanying stress were overwhelming. Honestly, I was so glad to be out of the first trimester. I really didn’t spend a lot of time enjoying that time. Which, in hindsight, I regret, BUT….honestly, I was just trying to survive and I recognize that and can have grace for myself.

Second Trimester

I was still sick (pregnancy related) for most of this time, but I was able to process through to a place that the excitement and expectancy of waiting to meet our sweet baby overshadows the possibility of loss. I do still struggle with the possibility of losing this baby and the fear that loss inspires, but for the most part I’m okay. I have felt more energetic during these past couple of months and was finally able to accomplish more than I had been able to at the end of last year.

We still have not told everyone that we know that we are expecting and although I feel that it’s more noticeable that I’m pregnant – I still get the odd sideways glances that let me know that someone is unsure and just too polite to ask. Seriously, who wants to be the person who asks if you’re pregnant only to find out that you’ve just gained a few pounds (AHEM – 9 pounds so far, to be exact – AHEM!!).

We took this picture yesterday morning.

Here is a shot from a side view…..sorta……I need to get a better side shot, I know.

There are so many beginnings and endings happening around me or maybe I’m just more aware of this concept right now.

My baby will no longer be my baby…..but he will always be my miracle.

I’ll never be pregnant again and will never get to feel the amazing feeling of my baby moving inside of me BUT…….I will never have to deal with the constant nausea that pregnancy seems to bring to me.

My first baby is going to be a teenager in just a few days and I’ll get to deal with the challenges of walking her through the transition times from being a child to becoming an adult. For the record, I’m looking forward to it, not fearing it. She’s a great kid and will become a great adult.

I’ll have a teenager and a newborn…..how interesting will that be?!?

My oldest son who was my baby for the longest time will now be firmly entrenched in his position as the middle child of the family.

I will go all the way back to parenting a newborn, when we are currently walking through the toddler phase and into the child phase….regardless of the fact that I’m headed back to the baby phase, Siah is still barreling towards the child stage of his life.

Beginnings and Endings…..they are everywhere.

Jon and I will no longer be parents of 4 kids and the challenges and blessings that brings, but now we will be navigating through life as parents of 5 kids while still finding time to invest in ourselves and in our relationship…..should be interesting.

I love that I can let go of the stage or phase or age that is passing by me and grasp firmly a hold of the one presenting itself to me. I don’t have to rush or strive to get there. I can just enjoy every stage as it comes and the ones that I find that I struggle more with….well, I know that it will pass and that each new stage will bring it’s own set of challenges and blessings.

I get to take the good with the bad and just relax and breath and enjoy every moment. These moments pass by all too fast and you rarely get the opportunity to give it a second chance in exactly the same way.

Knowing this has really helped me when I am feeling stressed or pressured. I can repeat to myself, “This too shall pass!” and just knowing that I won’t be “stuck” in any particular phase or stage forever has helped me to be able to “chill out”……most of the time!!! I’m still human, eh?!?

I’m just trying to enjoy each day and what that day brings whether it be good or bad…it’s all a part of the journey and what makes life special and unique for me.

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
			1	2	3	4
5	6	7	8	9	10	11
12	13	14	15	16	17	18
19	20	21	22	23	24	25
26	27	28	29	30