Grrr.... Midnight Insomnia

Love love love that I went to sleep 3.5 hours ago and now I am eye popping feel like there is a caffeine dip hooked up to me awake. My sister in law thinks that these rest/wake cycles happen to rev your body up for tending to new baby who is up every 3-4 hours so I consider myself in training!

New babies require lots of attention especially at night.  Cannot wait to take a pic like this of baby #2.

I have been having this problem for at least a week now so instead of tossing and bothering Lee I resolved to get out of bed and work/blog. Fortunately when you work with Chinese suppliers they are awake at this seemingly ungodly hour so I was able to get a few 'work' things done and now its blog time. Things have been so crazy/great around here since Christmas I have not been able to do an update. 

Merry Christmas!!!

Winter is Officially Here... I think

Well its 36 hours before Christmas and the weather in eastern NC is nothing to complain about. 50-60s during the day and 40s at night - if your a lucky prego lady - which I have not been the last few nights. Anyways Lee and I were just saying where the heck is the wintery weather. Last year we had massive snow on the second day of Christmas!

Since the winter temps are not here yet $10 bucks says that the super cold temps will be here when baby K #2 arrives. Fortunately baby's super great NC aunt hooked him/her up a while back. Actually she gave it to us before E was born but we never seems to use it because E was out of her infant carrier before the freezing temps arrived. I just know that this will come in very handy come Feb. I'll keep you posted on the usability but seems like it will be a keeper!

Cheers to coolers temps - for the pregnant lady!

E Update - 19 months!!!

Its that time of the month again - late as usual to update on E.

Boots!

Red heels... that match! I told her shed needed shoes that matched : )

From the closet to the bedroom - at least 25 ft of walking in heels!

This past month has been marked by a need to explore shoes. She is interested in any and all shoes - that she can try on. She seriously have taken steps in my 5 in heels!!! She likes her Papa's work boots - even though them make the front steps 'dirty' which she point out when we go outside. Slippers are of interest. She needs/wants to pick out her shoes for school and needs to put them on.

DRAMA-RAMA! I have no idea

Let's see what else is her up to... She has started making sentences and associations. If she 'likes' something she says she is 'happy' about it. When we go outside she loves to know what everything is and repeats what we tell her about 60-80% of the time - mailbox, sky, stars, moon, school bus, house etc etc. She enjoys counting and if you start on 1 and go through the odds, E will fill in the evens up to 10! She has taken to ABCs and knows the tune of the song, along with ABC, H, P, R, W(sometimes). It is cute. Along when we are in the car after we go through numbers and ABCs we practice animals- this month we are trying to learn pigs say Oink (and not Ribbit) and sheep say Baaa (not Nay) : )

Coffee (less than a teaspoon) with straw,  cereal, and cup

I have noticed that she has really gotten an attitude about some things and can get strung out about some things - that did not bother her before - like taking naps. She can be a great 'helpie' when she wants to be and can remember what needs help. Jibbe always needs help watering plants and Grammy always needs help shaking out rugs.

Thanksgiving...

Ready to go!

Papa and the Pavo!

Kids table with markers. My aunt is so creative!

COLORING!

 St. Nicholas...

Listening to St. Nicholas at church

Present from St. Nicholas

That 1.5 year old screaming moment because due to skepticism!

House Hunters - Appraisal Numero Uno

Well the appraisal was done today on our current house. Fortunately I was home to mention that we just redid the kitchen with granite countertops and hardwood floors - otherwise I am not sure if it would had been noted. Unfortunately the living room was E's warzone. How the heck do they do these appraisals anyways??? All the guy did was snap a pic per room and that was all.

With any luck - not that I believe it in, it just sounds good - this house will appraise higher than it did the last time so we can get some money $$$ out of it!

Stay at Home Mom for the Day...

Today has been a really fun day! Swimworld is closed for Christmas so I did not have to work so I had E to myself for the whole day and this is what we did.

Hit up the bank to keep pushing these people to move swiftly with this home buying/refi process! Then it was off to E's friend house for a playdate - even though we all know why mommys organize playdates! If I were a fulltime stay at home mom I know I would need playdates at least once a week. E had a good time with E - the girls had some sharing issues but generally had a good time. Mommys definitely had a great time catching up! Both girls are going to be big sissys around the same time so having a friend going through the EXACT same pregnancy issues while being challenged by a dramatic soon to be big sister is AWESOME! Though I think my heartburn issue cannot be matched - seriously I think I am going to power through this pack of Tums before the end of the year!

After a tearful car ride home because we had to leave E's house/party - this friend ALWAYS is having a party - even at school! E went down for a nap and I was able to catch up on my other job work - which was good because I only had about 15 missed calls - so I was not 100% being a stay at home mom but still.

Lee got home. I ran some errands. We went on a family walk - Lee pointed out it might be one of our last around our current neighborhood. Dinner and bedtime were uneventful. I really want to clean the kitchen floor tonight - for no other reason that it needs to be done. Just went in to check on E and she is sitting up reading one of her three books - smiling as if everything is super great - even though she is reading in the dark. Now at night she requires books to go to bed - Nini, baby, Elmo and kitty (her Japanese Hello Kitty) are a must but now books.

We only let E bring cardboard books to bed because she is still a very destructive reader - and she has managed to break a few cardboard books along the spine - which she enjoy announcing they are 'broken'. Top cardboard books are:

1. 'Luna' - Goodnight Moon - Its a classic in whatever language
2. 'Oruga' - The Very Hungry Caterpillar - Spanish version - She likes turning the pages using the holes in the book
3. 'Pececito' - Rainbow Fish - Another great one
4. 'Born' - On the Night you were Born - Mommy tear jerker that E only has brought to bed a few times in the hopes of preserving that book.

So I guess I should do another check on the little bookworm - I don't want to make too much noise in the kitchen so I have to wait until the coast is clear. Won't have that problem in the new house : )

Now what...

Its 3 in the morning and baby and I are wide awake. Without a stocking to work on what have I been doing... looking to find a pattern for new baby. I am not crazy about most of the kit patterns that are out there some of them are kind of cheesy looking. There is one in the book that E's stocking is from that I like for a girl but would need some color tweaking for a boy - which I don't think I want to do quite yet. I really don't want to start a girl stocking and then have to start a boy stocking later or visa versa - kinda having boy vibes now too so I am really confused about this baby!

Any cross stitchers out there send me some ideas/patterns!

House Hunters & our Christmas Tree

One of my favorite traditions around Christmas time is getting our massive Christmas tree from the NC farmer's market the last weekend of Advent and decorating 1.5 seconds before Christmas. Well... this year that is not happening : (

Why???
+ We are moving right in the middle of Christmas season 12/25 to 2/2 so we are not going to be moving a tree
+ I don't want a smaller tree in our house now because the ceilings are lower in the new house
+ We don't want to drag out all the decorations and pack them up in 2.5 weeks

So I am super disappointed that E and did not get to pick out a tree AND now I have to do the last thing I would have ever expected. We have to get a tree - a FAKE tree! UGH!!! I am not a fan of fake trees at all. However if we are going to do a fake tree then there is only one that I like. The Super short tree with Fiber Optic color changing lights on the tips of the branches. So I hunted around online to find this coveted tree and I have not had any luck. I have not seen these trees in several years so maybe they are a fire hazard or something.

I'll keep you posted on how are tree hunt goes : (

8 years later... a reflection

8 years ago (not to the date) I ran my first (and only marathon) in Jacksonville, FL. I was a freshman in college and finished in 4 hours and 30 min - and placed third in my age group! I had time to spend 5-10 hours a week running. Overall it was probably one of the most physically gruelling experiences that I have done.

Flash forward to today. I went on a walk for 40 minutes and probably walked about 2-3 miles - maybe. Because its so cold E and the stroller have not been walking with me recently but I certainly don't have between 5-10 hours a week to be dedicating to myself - let alone physical exercise! Fact of the matter of being a mommy of two.

So I have heard this comparison.. labor is like running a marathon. If a guy can run a marathon then he might have a clue/insight into what childbirthing is like. This is only my opinion here but that is sooo not true. There are positives and negatives to both but I think I would choose to run a marathon over labor.

Pros to marathon over childbirth
- only takes 4 months of training - instead of 9 months
- its over in 4-5 hours - instead of many more
- its possible to actually 'train' for a marathon whereas there is nothing that you can do to physically prepare for labor

Pros to childbirth over marathon
- a new baby is a so much better than a shirt and a medal : )

Christmas Stocking = Stitched!

Finished the Christmas stocking!!! Well, finished stitching the stocking.. now on to the backing which fortunately for me I have friends who sew because well... I don't. Couldn't tell you the first thing about a sewing machine : )

Probably/hopefully will know more about a sewing machine by the end of the week!

Cross stitch stocking - Nativity

Also, should note that I did not like the 'E' that the pattern called for so I improvised one - well two. I think it came out very nicely.

Now I have nothing left to do at night and I cannot start the next one until we find out if baby is a boy or girl!

T-Minus 54 days...

Okay as if there is not enough going on in life right now between little miss thing and her 19 month old attitude (love it - most of the time), buying a house, moving, becoming landlords... there is an impending arrival.

And this baby is not letting me forget it. We (baby and I) were up for at least 1.5 hours last night trying to get comfy and go back to sleep. Eventually it happened. I totally don't remember having this issue with E though I am sure I did.

Sometimes I think okay I am so over being pregnant - and I am but I am 100% not ready for baby to come so he/she needs to hold on for another 54 days. It is a very strange conflict of interest - physically to be more comfortable vs. mentality being more comfortable. I am sure this baby is going to stretch me out to the max so I have got to watch what I'm eating - and I have not been doing as good of a job of this as I have been. Then when he/she comes and I deflate then I will be stretched to the max mentally between juggling toddler, baby, and work.

Hmmm... I think I am okay with keeping my sanity for now : )

Yankee Candle Giveaway!!!

Thanks to Google Adwords/Adsense this lovely little blog is raking in the cash - well not exactly but anyways. When I do finally get that first check I am going to give back to all you loyal readers out there. Here's what I'm thinking... Since I am a super fan of Yankee Candles and we go through about a candle a month and I'm always open to fresh new scents I'll giveaway a small jar Yankee Candle every month. Maybe even do a poll to see what scent should be given away?

Sounds good to me!

Oh we did not make to Christmas so still no Christmas Tree candle so... in the mean time we have Sparkling Snow!

Dear Hallmark...

Okay problems abound with the cards ordered from Hallmark.

Background... Cards were supposed to be mailed out yesterday and today - unfortunately I have proof of that. Lee walked in the door and said I think you have a problem with your Christmas cards because there are 14 unaddressed ones that came to us in the mail.

SAY WHAT?!?!?!

Awesome. I wonder just how many we will get back. I am more than upset about this because -
1. I spend a ton of time entering addresses into Hallmark.com so that I would not have to hand adddress 150 cards
2. Hallmark shows that all 135 should have gone out with addresses
3. There is no way for them to know which ones printed and which ones did not so they have to do a batch reprint and mail so that means that people might get duplicate cards - which is horribly tacky but I have no other choice.

Nonetheless, I am super mad and trying to move past the fact that Hallmark really screwed this up! Definitely won't be doing this again!

Hallmark for Christmas cards = epic fail!