The grass! It's growing!

This year Chris is bound and determined to grow some grass in both the front and back yard. Bound and determined!! He put down some manure and then some grass seed and covered it all up with more manure. Then we weren't to walk on the grass - except the mail person walks across it every single day and every single day he gets so frustrated. It's really cute to watch.

He and Elianna have been keeping their eye on the grass growth and lo and behold! it is growing!! Elianna is funny because she'll come running in the house yelling at him to come look and then she'll show him a new spot of growth. Then they get down right close to it and check it all out. It's the little things that excite and bring them together - I love that!

The BEST big sister!

Elianna is going to be the BEST big sister! I am very sure of that!! She loves to talk to Selah, to hug and kiss her, and to sing to her. It's so sweet to watch!

In this picture - Elianna wanted some "alone" time with Selah so she put a blanket over her head and "talked" with Selah. It's so sweet to watch!

I know she's a little nervous about becoming a big sister and the pressure she believes comes along with it. We've been trying to reassure her that we will love her just the same and although, at first, Selah will take a lot of my time, she is still important. Praying we can keep that balance. 

We've made a chain to count down the days until school is done (wahoo!! we can't wait!) and then the days until Selah's due date. The plan is to spend that last month to spend with just the 3 of us and enjoy our last days as a little family of 3 together. 

May Day

May Day is a tradition we adapted when we moved into this neighborhood. Apparently, not a lot of people know about or celebrate May Day. We don't do the whole ribbon twirling and such. The only part we do is delivering gifts to our neighbors. It's a drop off with no name gift but 95% of people on our street know it's us even when Elianna tries to run away without anyone seeing her.

This year we made popcorn covered in white chocolate with spring-y sprinkles and chopped Jordan almonds. I had meant to get some spring colored chocolates after Easter but my pregnant brain kicked in and I totally forgot so Jordan almonds it is since they are spring colored. 

We love having another opportunity to show our neighbors love in a different and fun way.

Easter Sunday

We began Easter by eating breakfast at Snooze - their eggs Benedict options are so delicious! Their Bella! Bella! Benny is one of my favorites - thin slices of prosciutto, Taleggio cheese, poached eggs on toasted ciabatta, topped with cream cheese hollandaise, balsamic glaze and arugula. Yeah... it tasted just as good, if not better, than it sounds. We are hoping to replicate that option here at home. Can not wait!!!

Coloring with the Papi Man

Reading the Easter story

Mother's Day

Oh goodness! So much for keeping up-to-date on here, huh? It's hard to get back in the bloogy groove after you've been out so long! I need to figure it out now before Miss Selah arrives.

The days leading up to Mother's Day was filled with lots and lots of whispering and plotting between Elianna and my Chris and even my own dear mother got pulled into it. The morning began with me waking up with an extreme charlie horse while my husband and daughter sat waiting for it to subside so they could properly wish me a Happy Mother's Day. Nice, huh? After I could see straight again and was no longer in pain, I saw flowers, a gift, cards, a chocolate covered strawberry, and breakfast which consisted of a filled donut with bacon on top. Yes, pretty much the best way to wake up in the morning (minus the charlie horse of course). 

Chris spoke at a church in Sedalia (Plum Creek Chapel) and then we spent the day with my cousin and his family. I did end up doing my Walmart grocery shopping which is nice to have crossed off my list already. Then we left Elianna and Grace with Tyler and us parents headed off to a crawfish county boil. 

We did have to watch a video or 2 until we got the hang of how to peel them so they could be devoured. We (read Chris) then decided that all the heads would make a wonderful stock so we brought home all those eyeballs and pinchers and legs. 

Then we decided that we couldn't go home quite yet so we went to an ice cream/gelato store that had the most delicious banana pudding ice cream. It tasted just like banana pudding - it was just a little colder because it was, of course, ice cream. So good! May even be worth a daily drive. Ha! Just kidding - every other day. 

Karate Tournament

For a few weeks, things were so slow that I had nothing to post about. Now, so much has been going on I haven't had time to sit down and post anything. But since I can't sleep most nights, I decided maybe I would use that time to post. 

Last weekend (yes, Easter weekend - who planned that???), Elianna had karate tournament. She performed Pinon 3 for her form and sparred in her belt/age division. She ended up winning 3rd place for sparring which was pretty exciting since they don't spar very much at her lessons. She did great and was super excited to have won a trophy. We were very proud of her for working hard.

Selah Joy

We have (finally) decided on a name for baby girl. Her name will be Selah ("say-la") Joy. We had a list of names that either Chris like or I liked but nothing on our "together" list. Then one Sunday, someone mentioned the name Selah. Chris loved it at first, but I had to take a little time to process and think about it. It has been the perfect name for this little one.

Selah means "to pause" or "to reflect". So put together with Joy - her name means to pause or reflect on Joy. We think her name is perfect for this time and place in our lives.

We can't wait to meet you Miss Selah Joy!

Tea Party

While my aunt and uncle were here, one day the guys went to a local coffee roaster and the girls stayed here and had a tea party. I made a GF Bob's Red Mill chocolate cake mix, attempted a coconut cream frosting which ended up being the middle layer between the cakes, and a buttercream frosting made with half ghee (it would have taken the whole $8 container of ghee and I just couldn't justify that) and half coconut oil with chocolate almond milk. I quickly frosted the cake and then let Elianna decorate the top of the cake. Amazingly enough, the cake turned out very good tasting and looked good for Elianna's first cake she decorated!

We had peach tea, cake and we played Sleeping Queens. Then the girls got distracted with their BABear animals and scrambled off to play while the rest of us "girls" sat and talked until the guys came back.

Build-a-Bear

My aunt and uncle came into town this week to visit my cousin and his family. Jennifer (my cousin's wife) had given Elianna a gift card to Build-a-Bear for her birthday and this past Tuesday, we finally used it. Jennifer also had a few other gift cards that Grace (her daughter) also used.

The girls did very well at quickly picking out which animal they wanted. I had envisioned a lengthy process but they did great! Elianna picked a rabbit with colorful dots all over it, a flowered dress, "glass" (silver) shoes, and bows to put on the ears. Grace picked out a teddy bear with flowers all over it, the same flowered dress as Elianna, pink shoes and a hat on a headband. 

First, the girls picked out a sound to put into their animals. Elianna picked rabbit sounds (hopping, eating, sniffing) and Grace picked the Care Bears theme song. Next they did this song and dance with their animal's "heart" (rubbing it on their back so their animal would have the girls back, rubbing it on each others backs, kissing it, and making a wish). Then it went on to filling the animal with stuffing. Next they "washed" their animals and then they picked out their clothes. Lastly, they named their animals and put them into the database. 

Elianna named her rabbit, Goldie. Grace named her bear, Twinkle ??. I'll have to ask Elianna exactly what the other 2 names of the bear are.

Since getting her rabbit, Elianna has taken to pushing her rabbit around in a stroller so "she can get some practice for when her baby sister comes."

St Patricks Day

Truth be told, I know nothing about St Patrick's Day except you wear green, make a leprechaun trap, and eat some good Irish food. However, it doesn't stop us from doing at least 2 of those things each year. Two years ago a leprechaun apparently peed in our toilet leaving green water in there. Elianna swears it was me and that I put green food coloring in the toilet. 🙄

This year the leprechaun shenanigan was that the leprechauns put crepe paper criss-crossed over her door. I expected a bigger jump or squeal when she opened her door - so much so that I actually sat in the bathroom (right across the hall) on a small wooden stool for a half hour waiting for her to come out of her room. Of course that was the 1 day that she slept in leaving me sitting there for what seemed like forever! When Chris got home from training a personal client, he took over and, of course, she came out not 5 minutes later. 

Anyway, her reaction was nothing like I had expected. She stopped, looked at it for about 10 seconds and then busted right on through. There may have even been an eye roll thrown in there for good measure. 

For breakfast we had Lucky Charms because they are now gluten free - wahooo! And for dinner, we had Irish stew and homemade coconut cream pudding layered with more Lucky Charms. She also had Lucky Charms for a snack at her Friday school. Pretty sure we've filled our quota for Lucky Charms for the year.

I know Sissy LOVES it when I text her this picture every year. 😁

PS: Yay! for discovering blogs now have emojis!👏

Dinner by the creek

Our weather here has been so beautiful! I'm sure at some point soon, I'll be saddened by the snow that we get especially after appreciating the warmer weather. I also know that we need the snow to help curb fires this summer, but its just been so nice!

Elianna has also been begging to go scooter around the park and has been sad because I just don't think I can walk quite that far right now. You sorta need good sleep in order to have lots of energy to walk around the park and that hasn't happened for a few weeks now. Anyway, I compromised and said we could walk to the creek instead and have dinner. 

Elianna was still able to scooter and we got to eat dinner by the creek which is a win-win situation in my opinion!

Jump City

School breaks are the time that Chris' cousin, Tiffany, and I know we will for sure see each other. Now that they live over an hour away (wahhha!), we don't see each other as often. Last week was spring break for her and I had Elianna with me since Chris had a meeting, so we decided instead of going out to eat (our favorite pastime), we would go to Jump City (thank you, Groupon!) to give Elianna something to do while we talked. 

She had 2 hours to jump and run and play while Tiff and I sat and talked. It was a total win-win situation for sure! In typical Elianna fashion, she found a friend who she played most of the time with. Their 2 hours were up at the same time which made it that much easier to tell her it was time to go. 

I didn't get many pictures - I was too busy talking. 

Clothes clothes EVERYWHERE!!!

Well the last week has been a whirlwind of trying to get things done. After we found it the baby is another girl, I wanted to go through the baby clothes. Elianna had SO MANY clothes that I had individual tubs for each size (0-3, 3-6, 6-12, 12, 18, 24/2T, 3T, 4T, and then 5T+). That's 9+ different 34 gallon tubs. SO MANY!!! I have cut everything in half and now there is 2 sizes in 1 tub. Both winter and summer clothes. I feel that isn't too bad to deal with now. The other good part is when the baby outgrows a size, I can get rid of them! No reason to keep them after this! Yay for cleaning out the storage!

Needless to say, there are tubs everywhere in the living room and dining room right now. Some are full of clothes that I need to put on hangers and get ready for the consignment sale. There is another bag full ready for Goodwill. And some have just been thrown straight into the garbage because no one (not even me) wants to put their kid in a poop stained onesie. The next question is .... why, oh why, did I even keep it in the first place?!?!

I've been through all but the 4T and 5T+ clothes, the "other" clothes-ish stuff (bibs, receiving blankets, socks, shoes, etc etc). I also have a tub full of some boy clothes that Sissy had given me a loooooooong time ago (I mean Caleb is in his teens now so yeah a looooooooong time ago). Then there is all the "other - other" stuff (bassinet, bumbo seat, stuff I don't even remember). It seems never ending and totally overwhelming!

The consignment sale is in April so I'm working feverishly to get it all done before then to hopefully (hopefully) sell most of it. If it doesn't sell there, we'll have a yard sale and then what's leftover from that will go to Goodwill.  After 2 sales, I will be done with all that mess! I'm praying most of it sells at the consignment sale obviously but I've heard mixed reviews on how well people do at consignment sales.

The next week or so is already filling up quickly so I'm not sure when this stuff will get done. Who wants to come to Spring filled Colorado (70-80 degrees this next week) to help me get all this done? Any takers? 

It's a ....

Well, we found out what we were having on Monday. I think Chris and I were both kinda surprised by the results. See when I was pregnant with both Toree and Elianna, we could only think of girl names and could not agree on a boy name. Fast forward to this kiddo. We could only think of a boy name and could not (and still cannot) come up with a girl name. Naturally, we kinda thought, based on past experience, that we were going to have a boy. Either you already know or you've guessed it, but yup ... It's a GIRL! 

Just to clarify, we are both good with a girl - just surprised and now frantic to come up with a name. We have approximately 135 more days to come up with one so I'm not too worried about coming home with a Baby Doe.

Prior to our appointment, Elianna had made up a little note on which the ultrasound checked GIRL. The note was put into an envelope and Elianna opened it when we got home. We could hear her dancing and running around in her room. She then came out and brought us the note and ultrasound picture the tech had put in the envelope.

And without further ado, here SHE is...

Elianna decided to write her baby sister her first sweet little note.

No questions as to whether she will be a wonderful big sister or not!

New Beginnings

Well, it's been over a year since I've posted. It's been said many times but this is my sorta scrapbook and sadly, I've missed a whole year of stuff. Now that the new baby is coming, I really really need to get back into if only for myself. Yes, I'm the mom who can never remember how much her babies weighed or measured at birth unless I come on here to see. Bad, I know. It's another reason why I want to get back to this. So we'll start at the new baby. Yay!

We found out in October that we were going to be having another baby after 7 years. It was a surprise in that I didn't expect to actually get pregnant again. We had been praying and talking about having another kiddo but the fact that it went off without a hitch was a surprise. One night we made a conscience decision to try and the next morning Elianna looks funny at my stomach, rubs it and walks away. Yeah... it worked and that was super creepy! 

How I told Chris: I found a shirt on Etsy (the one in the picture) and told him I had found Elianna's Christmas gift and showed him the picture. He looked at it for a minute and then when I held up the pregnancy test (in a baggie, please people, I'm a germaphobe), he really got it!

How we told Elianna: Elianna and I had gone to Hobby Lobby after Halloween and saw a little bib that said "My first Halloween". I bought it and when she asked who it was for, I just simply said "I'm sure we can find somebody for it." That evening, I told her to show Chris what we had bought and when we got to that she said "We'll find some baby for it." I said, "How about ours?" It took a little bit, but she finally understood!

To say Elianna is so excited is a complete understatement! She sings to, talks to, rubs, kisses and hugs "the baby." The other day she bought it a cute little bunny for the baby and when she showed it to Chris, she hid it with her hand so the baby wouldn't see it. Silly girl!

The first 4 months were terrible! So terrible that this is the picture Elianna drew of me. Yeah...

I'm still going to Orange Theory 2 days a week and the rest I either walk on the treadmill (least favorite) or do prenatal yoga (my go to!). I still could take a nap most days since I'm not sleeping so well at night (sleeping on just your sides sucks!). 

According to the physicians assistant, the baby is due to come on July 21. However, I disagree with her for 2 reasons. 1. I pretty much know what day the baby was conceived (see above creepy story) and 2. the first time I went she could barely see the baby on the ultrasound, yet she somehow measured the baby and decided the due date based on that. Hmmm.... The next ultrasound, the one where you could actually see the baby, the baby measured bigger but she wanted to stick with her initial due date. Basically, I'm planning on a baby sometime between July 9 - 21. {Eye roll}

My dear friend, Lisa, also took these pictures which I absolutely love! Enjoy!