Overwhelming To-Do List

Well as I am waiting for some laundry to finish and taking a quick breather I thought I would document this lengthy list of "to-do's" before baby comes. My goal is to get these all done by the end of my winter break. . . so by Jan 2nd in other words.

Before Christmas:
Finish 3-4 purchases
wrap presents and organize stocking stuff
Clean House
put all kinds of "stuff" back where it belongs (why I can't do this part as I go each day is beyond me.)
clean the bathroom
clean the kitchen
clean all the floors
laundry, laundry, and more laundry (about 6 loads to be more accurate)

Before Jan 2nd:
Put away all the Christmas decor
finish nursery
paint the walls
place-arrange furniture in nursery
dye fabric for
rocker cushions
blanket
rug
and misc.
find 2 cheap curtain rods
make and hang curtains
make pillows for rocker
make crib sheet
make changing pad cover.
make/buy a wall hanging for the room
find some chunky frames
find pails or tubs for storage

Sometime before Baby comes:
put together the swing
put the carseat in the car
clean out the car
get a several must haves from store

I guess this is why I seem disconnected whenever people are talking to me :)
This list didn't just happen b/c I waited until the last minute but I am a teacher teaching a new grade that I've never taught and also a mother of two. It has also been a stressful year b/c of many other things too but nonetheless I will overcome and only with the Lord's strength and help I'll make it.

Now I'm off to check off some more things on the never ending list. Oh and I welcome any prayers for the ones that might be reading.

Announcing Boy or Girl!

I wanted to be a little creative with announcing the sex of this baby. I decided to have family over for icecream and cookies. I made blue goody bags and pink goody bags which each person chose according to what they thought it was. Then they ate there icecream with a hidden blue or pink piece of gum inside. That is how everyone found out what we were having. J.J guessed boy and I guessed girl. I thought it was a girl b/c I had a lot of similar cravings with my daughter. I also had a dream when I was pregnant with Jack that we had two girls and a boy. They both bring so much joy into my life that I really didn't care which one but Elaina really wanted a sister so I was kind of pulling for her.

It's been too Long!

Well like the title states, it has been too long since my last post. Life for me sometimes seems to be on fast forward mode and I wish I could slow things down instead. Teaching a new grade has been a real challenge for me. I sometimes feel like I'm a first year teacher again. And being pregnant on top of that is exhausting. I'm finally over the sickness and not nearly as tired as I have been, but since I don't exactly have a lot of time left I'm starting to feel overwhelmed with everything I have to do before he comes. Anyway, with God, I'm making it. I'm now going to post several short posts highlighting the past few months.

Miracle Child

This is my precious miracle niece. My sister-in-law published a picture of her today and I just had to share. A little background: She was born in early April this year at around 1 pound. I can't remember exactly if she was 1 lb 5 oz or 1 lb 7 oz. As you can see in the first picture she was tiny. The ring is a size 6 or 6 1/2 I can't remember that exactly either but it fit over her hand like a bracelet. The last picture is what she looks like today. She is now off all oxygen, weighs over 7 lbs, and is waiting for the day she can come home from the hospital. They are waiting on some test results but we are praying for her homecoming. I know her two sisters and brother are excited to get her home too. This has been such a long exhausting journey for them all but God is good. The Lord decided to take her two triplet brothers home to be with him one before and the other shortly after their birth. Though we are so saddened by the loss we are also thankful and blessed to be able to see the miracle of this sweet Charli girl. What a joy to be able to see fat rolls on a baby!

Welcome surprise

Yesterday when we came home from running around there was a long slithering surprise waiting on our front porch. . . a snake!! It caught me off guard and I thought for a minute that J.J was trying to play a joke on me. I didn't remember seeing it when we left so that made me think differently plus it just looked real. Well I backed away back to the car to call him and see if he was playing a joke. While I was waiting on him to answer the snake moved! I didn't know what to do. It wasn't extremely close to the front door but I still didn't want to take any chances especially since I had my kids with me and it takes a little longer to get inside the house while holding the door open with kids. You Know!? Yuck! I poked it with a very long stick and it barely moved. I thought it might be dying and felt a little safer to get the kids out of the car at that point. I told Elaina I thought the snake was dying so we should be o.k. but we needed to still hurry . . . and that sweet caring thing started thanking God for the snake like she really wanted him to help the snake or something. Doesn't really surprise me b/c this child isn't afraid of anything. This morning she was telling me that she wished we could have caught it to put in her room as her pet. LOL!

Daughter Date

J.J and I decided to take Elaina to see Toy Story 3 the other day just the three of us. Jack got to spend time with Grandma all by himself. The movie was super cute and b/c I'm so sensitive hearted I cried at several parts. I know I know! Crying during Toy Story is a little crazy but there is something about having children to me that makes things even more sentimental. My heart strings get pulled a lot more now that I have kids is what I'm trying to say, and when I see a mom hugging her son and getting emotional because she knows she'll miss him when he goes off to college. . . even if it is an animated character. . . well . . . it's just so sad b/c kids grow up too fast. I know with just a couple more blinks my sweet Elaina will be heading that way herself. Anyway, she loved the movie and laughed through the whole thing. We all three had a great time.

Go to sleep.

A while back a friend of mine tried to show me what her kids taught Jack and he would never do it for me. Well a couple weeks ago he did it for me kind of by accident. I told him it was time for him to go to sleep and he did it on cue. It is really adorable. Don't forget to pause the music so you can hear the video.