save for a rainy day.

I have a, somewhat, irrational fear that if everything is going well then something bad is about to happen. I'm working on it. Right now I feel so blessed, purely happy and full of joy. I often limit myself from feeling so great because, like I said, I have that irrational fear.

My new approach:

embrace the good days and grasp them as fully as possible.

write them down and save them for a rainy day.

be happy in times of happiness and focus on the positive, always.

Dear life,

today you are great. Devon and I are on the same page. We love each other unconditionally, and we have the same understanding of what forever means. We both strive to make each other's lives easier, and better. We've come so far. We share beliefs and values and have the same goals for our family. We are a team. Ella is amazing. She is two [and a half] and incredibly smart. You can't pull one over on her, she is too quick to comeback. As Devon puts it, she has an answer for everything. Yes, at times this is what makes her difficult but it's also what makes her so fun. She is so comprehensive and tells the most outrageous stories. She is funny and dramatic, so creative and expressive. She just fills our lives in a way I never imagined. And now, this little man cooking in my belly is such a blessing to us already. The thought of our lives becoming more full seems impossible, but I know he will add so much to our family and I can't wait to see it happen. I'm amazed at where my life is, and all we have. God is good. He knows our needs and wants, he knows what's best for us and will safely lead our paths if we let him. I'm grateful for everyone and everything that fills up our lives.

one little, two little, three little

Projects!

I should have done before and after's of the little spaces in my kitchen I have touched up this week.

I used to have a small calendar, little cork board and weekly white board in this space, now it's a big chalk board... I like it, ella does too!

This used to be a big boring blank white wall. It took me like 5 minutes to transform it into something I love! Who knew some simple twine, clothes pins and Ella's art could add so much!

This was another blank space, but it never bothered me because I just never really noticed it. Adding this cool calendar really completed the space! I don't remember exactly where I found this calendar project but if you want to make your own all you need is a frame and some assorted paint color swatches, then you just use a dry erase marker to change the dates every month... simple!

Viola...I'm loving the new look of my kitchen!

technically I'm 25 weeks tomorrow but...

a 24 week belly photo:
a note for my little man:

You sure like to move, Ella did too. [Guess we shouldn't count on having any mellow children]

Your movements are bigger and stronger than I remember hers being at this stage. It feels like you are tunneling around in my belly. I first felt you about 14ish weeks and daddy got to feel your bumping on father's day. Now we can see you squiggling around in there, it cracks me up how crazy you get. We can't wait to see what shenanigans you and your big sister are gonna get in to!

those are like watermelons.

1. i'm six months pregnant today... time is flying! I feel [mostly] great. I swear my belly wasn't this big last time. Most people say it doesn't look that big, maybe they are being nice, maybe I am delusional, maybe I should take some dang pictures!!! I can't even pretend to know why I haven't yet. It's like the last thing on my mind, until like 2 in the morning. I'm pretty sure devon would be pretty upset if I woke him up in the middle of the night to take a photo of my bellly. Kinda don't even want to try that one.

2. [tmi?] ella has developed a new fascination with my ever growing chest. I must document this for my own memory, which is not so good these days. On one occasion she looked at me and said, with a laugh of course, "those are like watermelons!" Nice!

3. a quote I just saw and liked a lot, "I am a good enough person to forgive you, but not stupid enough to trust you." perfectly said!

4. i want it to be christmas. I keep having these dreams that it's Christmas and I was too busy to experience the season. I'm frantically trying to play all my favorite Christmas songs and watch all my favorite Christmas movies in one day before it's too late... what does that mean?!?!

5. I'm feeling crafty and keep hitting dead ends. I have three projects that I have started only to find that I can't find one important object/material to finish it. grrr!

6. i hate our separate blogs. this whole thing was devon's idea, his insistence, and he never ever blogs! I feel that I am entitled to make the executive decision on this one and go back to the one family - one blog concept...

7. tomorrow we are going to the fair. how do I put the excitement into words? I will definitely indulge in some gluttonous behavior and not feel one bit of guilt about any of it, mark my words!

aaarrrr!

a sunny afternoon filled with pirates. and taffy. we love the harbor!

oh look, you can kinda see our little man poking out from this angle.

random thought: this morning while ella was climbing into our bed half asleep I had the sudden thought, how the heck is she gonna learn to sleep through the baby crying?!?! and just like that the idea of our newest little one's cries brought the biggest smile to my face. seems like a strange thing to get excited about but boy, I can hardly wait to meet this little guy.

a lovely day.

beach.

family.

yummy food.

fireworks.

our 4th of July was pretty perfect.

how was yours?

hey little guy.

guess what tiny baby growing in my belly...you're a boy! I'm sure you already knew this but we just saw the evidence. the nice ultra-sound lady said it's 100%. daddy says I almost jumped off the table, i think he's exaggerating... just a bit. but we are ecstatic!

i have dreamed about you for so long, I just can't wait to meet you, hold you and kiss you.

we love you little guy.