thankful

This year, I was most thankful that I got to see my sister and my nephew. Isabelle and Noah had a great time together despite their 4 year age difference. I am thankful for many things but I don't get to see my sister very often so it was a special treat this year.
PS Only 2 more days to get your votes in. The ultrasound is on Monday. And I forgot to mention that even though we're finding out, we're not telling anyone right away. You'll understand later. ;)

two years ago

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I don't think this post needs many words. I am just amazed when I look at old pictures how much a single person can learn in two years - how much I've learned as a mother but more amazing, how much Isabelle has learned from being that helpless tiny little baby into the "independent" toddler that she is today. I wish I could put the love I have as a mother into words.

it's a close race

With 25 votes in, 13 think boy and 12 think girl. One week until the ultrasound.

I was kind of "Oh if we find out, great. If we don't, no big deal." with Isabelle but it's a little different this time.

I'm starting to worry that our little mango won't show the goods. Of course she (or he) won't, because I sort of need to know for a little project I'm working on.

learning english

If you have a child who is still learning to talk, do you realize that you understand almost everything they say? But sometimes other people just hear babble?

I feel like I speak Isabelle's language sometimes when no one else does. Her whiny, "I want milk" is as clear as just polished crystal to me but Johnas yells in frustration, "What do you want?" I say, "She just said she wants her milk." Even Johnas understands more than someone who is not around her all day. We both clearly heard her tell us that her ketchup was spicy the other night but someone else at the table may have looked at her with one eyebrow raised and thought, "Huh?"

On a side note: I couldn't figure out why she was saying her ketchup was spicy because it wasn't. It was just regular old Heinz 57. I finally realized it is probably because we had "shrimp sauce", you know ketchup with horseradish, at my parents' the other weekend and we told her it was spicy ketchup.

So the only reason I'm even writing this post is because there is a little girl in Isabelle's class about a month or so older than Isabelle. She started talking to me yesterday and I had no idea what she was saying! I'm sure the teachers sort of understand each child's different "dialect" and surely her mom could've told me what she said but it's weird how each child is so different at this age!

so grown up

Being a grown up is cool. And being a grown up with kids is even cooler. I think I just said cooler. Pretend I didn't.

I just spent $80 today and I didn't have to work 3 days just to earn that much. Now I'm not trying to brag about how much money I make because I don't make enough to brag about. But... it sure beats packaging cheese for $7/hour. Rachel, Paula, Robin - you all know what I'm talking about! You've been there too.

My $80 today was well spent. A friend pointed out a shoe sale at www.6pm.com. I'm not a nutso crazy shoe lady but I do like nice shoes especially at a good price. So I got a cute pair of Nine West Dollface heels for Rachel's wedding. This is so you don't have to google them when you're done reading. You're welcome! They were only $14.95. Sweet. I don't care if they're "so last year" or whatever. They're cute (in my opinion anyway). So that plus shipping, my total was $21. I could've gone to payless and paid more than that!

The rest of my $80 was spent at wait for it... Any guesses?

Target.

By now, surely you all know that I have a slight obsession/problem/addiction to Target. I thought it was bad when I worked 5 miles from a Target. I'd go there on lunch breaks when I had nothing else to do. Guess what? I also didn't have much money. I was a starving college kid so I often left the store empty handed.

Now though. Now is a different story. I work 2 miles from Target. I have a daughter! Daughters are fun to shop for. So today's purchase consisted of a couple of books from the $1 bin. That little section in the front of the store kills. I usually have to walk past because I always find something. Always. But, I knew there were books and you absolutely cannot have too many books. Plus, Isabelle loves picking up the books to "read" herself now. So I got one about potty training and one about a new baby. Perfect. I also picked up her Christmas outfit.

I hate to say this but I love loved an outfit at GAP but the dress alone was $40. For something she's only going to wear a handful of times, I couldn't do it. Not even with my 20% off coupon. I stumbled upon a dress at Target that was very similar. I had it in my basket last week but at the last minute decided not to get it. The dress was $14.99 so I had to go back and get it today. Especially since I saw in Sunday's paper that the boots I wanted to go with it are on sale this week! So I had to have it. The dress. And the boots. I'm glad I went today. There were only two left in her size! Although I probably could've gotten the 18month size and it would've fit just fine. I'm actually considering digging through boxes to find her dress and tights from last year. They were so cute and I have a strong feeling they'll still fit.

And lastly, I got a 12x12 album for our new yearly tradition. I'm planning on making a Thankful Tree every year with the kids and put them in an album so we can see what we were thankful for that year. I've got our tree cut out and glued. I'm just waiting for my new leaf sizzix die to come in so we can start cutting leaves!

$80 well spent? I'd say. Now I just have to resist going to Target for a while.

Whoops. I just remembered I was supposed to actually get things we needed while I was at Target. It will have to wait until the weekend when I have my restraints with me aka Johnas.

bump time

18 weeks Round 2 flipped so they're the same direction.
18 weeks with Isabelle

no more lazy mom

This is going to sound stupid. I've made it my goal this week to stop being a "lazy mom".

I like to pretend that I stopped wearing makeup and caring about my hair when I had a kid because I just "didn't have time for that anymore" but the truth is I've never really cared. I've always been the queen of ponytails. And not the fancy "I spent 20 minutes on this" ponytails - the "I need to get out the door and haven't brushed my hair yet" ponytails. I've never really liked makeup either but it makes me feel a bit more put together.

Johnas said I should "Dress for success" every day. Ok.

So, Day 1. I didn't lay back in bed after I took my shower. I got dressed right away, went upstairs to brush my teeth, applied two colors of eye shadow (MAC Forgery on the upper and Seedy Pearl on my lower eyelid), and mascara. That is probably no more than I'll ever do. I hate putting stuff on my face. It feels yucky so it will only ever be eye makeup.

My goal for the rest of the week is to at least blow dry my hair and put in some sort of frizz control. I like Aveda's Smoothing Fluid. And to wear at least mascara. It makes my eyes stand out and they're pretty much the only thing I like about my body. Some days I am happy with ME and other days I'm only happy with my eyes, so I gotta at least make those stand out. :)

I'll report back at the end of the week with how well I did.

of the 6 of you

I noticed that of the 6 of you that voted in my poll to the right, 5 said brother. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, you're probably reading this on Facebook, or through some type of feed reader like Google Reader. Come to the blog to place your bet guess on baby N's gender. The poll closes in 17 days. We're going at 7:45am on 11/30 to find out so get your guesses in soon.

Notes to help you decide:
-Isabelle originally wanted TWO Brothers/Sisters but has since changed her mind to SISTER
-Overall, I was less sick than I was with Isabelle. I was nauseous until about 17 weeks which is just about the same time it ended with Isabelle but there was less toilet hugging this time. TMI?
-I'm showing sooner but seem to be carrying "right out front" again
-Food cravings. Lots of salty but lots of candy & chocolate too - just about everything.
-Food aversions - meat. again.
-Heartrate: 133bpm @ 6weeks, 168bpm @ 11.5weeks, 160bmp @ 14.5weeks, 150bmp @ 15.5weeks
-Chinese gender chart says GIRL

Any other questions that might sway your vote? Ask away in the comments and I'll add my answers to the post so everyone can make an informed decision.

billboard hits

Watch out Miley Cirus & Lady Gaga! We've got a singer AND songwriter on our hands. While getting ready to go out the door to school, Isabelle busts out a "I wear pink shoes. I wear pink shoes. Wear pink shoes ALL DAY!" She really gave it all she had for those last notes too.

I don't know how she does it. She can string 4, 5, 6 words together but she's put together maybe 1 or 2 complete sentences. Then she sings a whole song. I love her. She makes me smile every day. Even bad days.

onion

Baby onion. It's sort of hard to picture my baby as an onion but I guess for comparison's sake...

Isabelle is about the size of well, the bear she got for her birthday.
I imagine Isabelle is going to seem like a giant when I'm holding a 7ish pound newborn in my arms. I already feel like she's getting heavy. And she's not even 22 pounds yet. I know most people in my situation, with a 2-year old, are carrying around a few more pounds than I have to. I can't imagine lugging a 30 pound 2-year old while being as exhausted and so easily out of breath as I have been.

So I'm going to enjoy my 22 pound "bear" and my 6 ounce onion while I can. Because next week, I'll have a 22 pound "bear" and a 7 ounce 'insert vegetable larger than an onion here'. And someday, my bear is going to gain weight, and my vegetable is going to come out, not looking like a vegetable at all, and weigh as much as a melon. And I'm going to have to care for them both!