Early morning chaos!!

As I drug myself out of bed this morning around 5ish...I couldn't help but think about how much has to get done each and every morning before I even step foot outside of my home! And this morning was nooo exception. My darling seven month old has decided that it's her favorite pasttime to get up within ten minutes of my departure from bed. No ladies and gentlemen, it doesn't matter what time, day or night I get up...Miss Chipmunk will be yelling for me shortly after that feat. So I was amazed this morning when I had time to put on all of my make up...roll my hair and even get my clothes on before she began summoning me back to the bedroom.

Thursday mornings are ALWAYS interesting around our domestic estate, because not only am I trying to get my darling doodlebugs out the door on time and to school/work myself, but I'm trying to make sure everything is picked up for our cleaning lady. Yes, I too pick up in anticipation of our cleaning lady's arrival...and God Bless her! I broke down and hired her when the school year began because I knew that I wouldn't be able to hold back the tons of impending chaos with two little ones two and under and still keep up the schedule that we currently manage. And let me tell you...it's a schedule.

Miss Chickie has dance on Mondays, Gymnastics on Tuesday, and we pick up our CSA groceries on Wednesday. Then we inevitably have company Wednesday evenings...so Thursday mornings I'm more than ready for the house to be spruced up for the weekend!! Any free time (even just 15 minutes) to do more than a quick pick up here and there seems non-existant. I'm working on it...but I do believe that the piles and mounds of STUFF grow over night.

Anyway...the morning routine this morning, was CHAOS! I had to clean up the dishes from the night before because I fell asleep putting my darling doodlebugs to bed, for the third time this week. Then I rebooted the laundry, emptied the dishwasher, packed the lunches, loaded up supplies that Chipmunk and Chickie need for the sitter, fixed breakfast and finally got my dear little ones and husband out of bed. WHEW! And  yes, that's all before even thinking about heading out the door...

This morning, not only was the counter covered in dishes, but then there was the struggling with mounds and piles of LAUNDRY! Good gracious, I believe the clothes and paper have been communicating because I'm certain my laundry has taken a cue from the paper piles and is now multiplying and procreating as we speak. So after shoving the uneccessary paper piles into the black hole  (insert twilight zone music here) of our guest bedroom and gathering the fifteen piles of clothes from around the house, of clothing...I sat down...and enjoyed a hurried breakfast with my loved ones. Whew!

Mornings around our home! Gotta love them...and I do... but I'm I'm going to get better at preparing the night before (cough...sputter... after Fall break) ...I'm determined not to fall asleep with my children! I will load supplies into the car earlier and convince my precious seven month old that her dear Mommy does not need supervision during the morning sprint to prepare the household for our journey out into the wide wide world...at least that's my plan... ha ha!

Then again,  I may just decide to follow the song: Here we go 'round the Mulberry Bush. That's got to be the schedule that will calm the savage beast...also known as Thursday morning...

We'll see...won't we...but for now...I'm going to savor the fact that tomorrow is Friday...and then I have ten glorious days of fall break! Wooo hoo or should I say  Boop Boop de Doop!!!

NaBloWriMo

I've decided to try to participate in October's National Blog Writing Month. I tried to do this last year and it was an epic failure! I'm confident this year will be better though.

Basically the idea is to write a blog post a day for the entire month. I know it's going to be a challenge with two little ones running around to manage this. Hopefully, instead of discouraging me, the busy schedule that we have planned to October will inspire me to blog daily. So far plans for October include, our annual apple picking adventure, the Georgia National Fair, Kid-o-ween at Wild Adventures, playtime at Chehaw Park, possibly the Georgia Aquarium or the Children's Museum in Atlanta, Thomas the Train's big day out, a trip to the Pumpkin Patch and finally trick-or-treating!
Whew! It's going to be a wild, but FUN month! I can hardly wait...I have to admit it's my favorite month mainly because it's when fall really starts to begin down here in South GA.
    Ella Rose is SO excited about Halloween! She's already decided on her costume and has declared that she's going to be Bob the Tomato and Evie Alice is going to be Larry the Cumcumber. Now I've just got to make those costumes. Here comes, OCTOBER! I can hardly wait!

Maternity Leave

Figuring out when to begin my maternity leave has been quite an interesting adventure this time around. With Ella Rose it was much simpler, I was waiting for labor. :() Actually, I ended up waiting for a date to induce since my doctor was going out of the country. However, the induction didn't work and I ended up having her two days later...via c-section because my labor didn't progress properly and pre-eclampsia set in.

This time around though, there's no worries about labor. We won't be inducing and the only real determination has been when to start my maternity leave knowing that the c-section is scheduled for February 15th. Actually, it was originally scheduled for February 8th and that's why the maternity leave date began to move. I put in for my leave to begin on the 4th of February...but then my doctor announced he'd not be in town this week....SO...I moved the date until the 11th of February.

However, the situation has gotten more interesting. My little family has struggled through 4 deaths in 8 days right now. All of these deaths are people closely connected to my husband. Bless his heart...

So...things have been quite stressful at home. Needless to say my blood pressure has increased again during this pregnancy and so I've been worried about a repeat of the pre-eclampsia that didn't show up with Ella until I was in active labor. So tomorrow is it. I'll officially be on maternity leave until May 2nd, and I have to say that the prospect of being home for 9 weeks fills me with excitement, but anxiety.

I'm nervous about how things are going to go during the scheduled c-section. I'm very nervous about the two weeks at home confinement after the c-section. I am phenomenally nervous about how Ella Rose will react to having a sibling. I can't help but worrying that I'm somehow hurting her by bringing another baby into our lives. And yes, I worry that I won't be bonded with this child as much as I have with Ella Rose.

Ah, the worries of a soon to be second time Mommy.

I am however, looking forward to having time with my little ones...and I look forward to updating this site and having time to do things for my loved ones at home...

I guess we'll see how it goes.

Betty

The nesting begins

I am a month out from adding a new member to our little family. Ella Rose is quite excited about Evie's arrival and I have to admit I'm excited but nervous. There is soooooo much to do at school and soooooo much to do at home. Evie's border isn't up in her room yet. Her crib isn't put together. The guestroom has to be converted into a guestroom/office and the office has to be fully converted into Evie's room. I still have to buy a mattress and I need to retrieve Ella's cloth diapers from a friend who used them for their little one. But slowly, but surely all of this will get done...

In the meantime, I'm focusing on the little things. Ella and I sorted through her old clothes yesterday and organized them. We've cleaned all the cushions on the couch and yes, I mean CLEANED!! I took the covers all off of them, y'all and washed them. I don't think I've done that since I've had the couch. Yesterday, Ella and I mopped the floor and then got down on my hands and knees and cleaned under the cabinets. Ella and I also organized her cabinet in the kitchen and the tuperware drawer.

In the meantime, Ella and I played trains, tea party, and in her sandbox. We also went outside and played ball with our yellow lab, Daisy. It was fun and Ella just cackled with laughter as Daisy chased the ball.

We've also got to get Ella's new chest-of-drawers ready to go into her room and move the wicker one into Evie's. I feel like I have months of work to do to be ready for this precious little bundle of joy to be here...but I know it will all get done.

Then there's Ella's birthday party! Ella will turn TWO exactly 5 days after Evie arrives *if* Evie waits for her c-section date to arrive. So I'm trying to do all of the preparations and planning for her birthday now. I have decorations to order, a trackless train to schedule, and birthday presents to purchase. But I'm looking forward to it.

I may be totally out of my mind, but I can hardly wait to be home full time with my girls for a few months. And I know that things won't all go according to plan, but here's what I do have planned. Ella will keep going to Aunt 'Nise's on Tuesdays and Thursdays to play with her friends. Friday's Ella and I will go to Mommy and Me at the Arts Center and Evie will go to Aunt 'Nise's for an hour or so. Monday nights Ella will do gymnastics. Other than that we'll play outside...and do crafts at home and such. We can visit Wild Adventures on our season pass or go to Chehaw Park to the playground/zoo etc...on our season pass. I can hardly wait!

I have no idea what it will be like having two so close together in age, and I worry about how Ella Rose will react. Hopefully, it won't be so hard her. I am planning on tandem nursing and yes, Ella is still nursing now. I keep reminding her that Evie will bring more milk when she arrives. Ella really likes this.

But I am open for tips, suggestions and thoughts on what it's like to have two...two and under or just two in general. In the meantime, I'm going to return to my flurry of activities and nest away...after all Evie will be here soon...so there's a LOT to do before she comes.

Betty

Sunday, Sunday...

Well y'all, we didn't make to Kid-o-ween this weekend. Maybe we'll get there next weekend...instead we participated in a first Sunday brunch at our church. The family took naps this afternoon and we hung around the homefront and played. It was a nice Sunday overall. I did manage to find and purchase Ella's Thanksgiving dress. It's never too early to start working on that stuff...the house is still relatively clean and I've gotten my husband off for another business trip.

Tomorrow, will be another blissful morning of fall break. I don't yet know what the day holds, but I can hardly wait!

Until then,
Betty

Soothing Saturday

What a wonderful day to begin fall break.My dear husband returned from a business trip last night. Our dear daughter slept in this morning until 8:30. It was glorious!!! I thoroughly enjoyed the extra rest. The work that I'd put into cleaning the house yesterday before picking up my Ella Rose from the sitters has paid off. Amazingly the house is still relatively clean and we've had a grand family day so far.

Ella and I began our day by watching Thomas the Tank Engine. She is completely enthralled with him! She dances and sings every time she sees him and I am perfectly content with that being her main source of entertainment right now. In fact, we are taking her to see Thomas "Live" in a few weeks. I'm not sure which one of us is more excited...Josh, Ella Rose, or me! It will be so much fun! Ella will get to ride on Thomas, as will Josh and I. She'll get to meet Sir Topham Hat and  there will be so much there for her to do. I've even found pink Thomas the Tank Engine overalls for her to wear for this special occasion. :)

After our Thomas debut this morning, Ella and I fixed breakfast and then she announced it was time to go outside. So we let our kitchen dishes be  while we wandered out into the back yard! Have I mentioned lately how nice it is to have a fully sided house, y'all? It makes me smile, every time I look at it! :)  Ella played on her slide, in her sandbox and with her "bubbies" (bubbles). Then she began to entertain herself at her water table.

Josh decided he wanted to replace the side benches of the picnic table, so of course Ella Rose helped with that too. While they were busy, straightened up the morning dishes and headed off to the grocery store to pick up fresh fruits and veggies...I'm on a healthy eating kick, not that we've ever really eaten unhealthily, especially since we are vegetarian, but I know so many people in the U.S. don't get enough of their fruits and vegetables and I'm determined we will... Plus, we were out of most of our fruits and cheese. It was a nice relaxing trip.

I'm trying to get a bit more creative with Ella's lunches too. She is such a good eater, but I'd love to give her  better presentation of all of her foods. So I'm toying with the idea of doing bento. Hopefully, someone out there can  give me some advice. :)  I tried to make one for her for lunch today, and it turned out decently well...not picture worthy, but colorful nonetheless...

After lunch, there was more playing outside. Then Ella came in for a nap...and while I gathered up our recycling and loaded it into my car. Ella has now headed off to Lowes with her Daddy (this is her favorite store in the world) and I ran the recylcing to the recycling center. And now, I find myself back home, with a clean house and time to update my blog.

I just know this fall break is going to be great. I can hardly wait to share more about our adventures. Tomorrow, I think Ella and I may go to Wild Adventures for kid-o-ween...but that all depends on when Josh leaves for business. We wouldn't want to leave him out, ya know?

Until tomorrow! Have a blessed Saturday.
Betty

NaBloWriMo

Today begins the first day of NaBloWriMo and even though it's been a while since I've managed to blog, I'm looking forward to the opportunity. It also marks the first day of our fall vacation. I can hardly wait to share with all of you the wonderful experiences that my family has as we celebrate October and the fall.

-Betty