I'm officially nuts

Monday night, the night of probably the craziest idea I've ever had...My dad has a really nice electric Lionel "Choo Choo" around the base of my parents tree that Mark LOVES!!! Everyday Mark requests to "play choo choos with Gaga" or "play with Nana" or "see Nana's Christmas". So I decided to make his dreams come true. We planned on going over to their house that night so Mark could play with the train. I decided to take both kiddos myself so that David could have time to study for his banking finals and to finish hooking up our outside Christmas lights. I learned my lesson from the previous choo choo session where Mark refused to eat dinner, so I decided to grab us something to eat before we went over to my parents house...

Here's where I must have lost my mind. I decided to take them into McAlister's to sit down at a table by ourselves to enjoy a slightly healthy meal. I am over us eating french fries or convenience food at drive-thru restaurants, but maybe I should have made this decision when I was going to have some help. Ok so I pick up Mark from school. Everything's going great. He's having a great time with his teacher. Molly has a full belly and is content in her car seat...this is going to work! Well...Mark starts requesting a candy cane, a candy cane that I do not have. He proceeds to request said candy cane and whatever piece of candy pops in his head the entire way to McAlister's. When he realizes that he's not getting candy then his carseat hurts and guess what will cure the pain?!! "Candy cane, Mama" (in sad pathetic whine). We drive up to McAlister's, he's screaming and tears are rolling. Molly's still pleasant...actually asleep at this point and I'm thinking to myself, "Stephanie, you're nuts!!!" I'm still gutsy at this point. I get her out of the car and come around to get him. He's still crying, but as soon as the crisp air hits his face he's distracted. So now I'm thinking we're going to be fine. I pick up the car seat while still carrying him (approximately 60 pounds I'm carrying now) and enter the restaurant. Not 3 feet into the door I put him down for him to walk and he throws himself on the ground and starts crying AGAIN. I pick him back up and proceed to walk to the order line. He gets himself together and asks to walk. Ok...he's checking out the Christmas decor, everything's dandy. I order, he's still great. I hand him his milk, grab my tea and Molly and he throws himself down again. Apparently he wants a giant jug of tea that they were advertising. Oh man!!! I pick him up, try to calm him down. At this point a customer comes to me, looks at me like I'm helpless or something and offers her help. I'm thankful, ask her to grab me a cup to share my tea with him and we move on to sit down. He's calm now we're having a great time, Molly's still asleep, he's eating his food, we're talking about his day. I'm thinking ok this is great!!! He spills his milk, now my bottom is wet and cold, but it's ok he's still in a great mood and I'm feeling very capable. Next...Molly's eyes pop open. Oh no, she's either going to play it cool or start screaming. Then her face turns blood red and the grunting begins! You've got to be kidding me!!! There's no way I can make it back out to the car to grab the diaper bag, take them both in the bathroom, change her diaper and not lose my mind at the same time!!! She finished her business and sat in it happily for a few more minutes at McAlister's and the whole ride to my parents. Thanks, Molly, now that ends the story on her. Ok back to Mark...he's finished his meal, he's still happy and now he requests a cookie. Apparently the Teddy Grahams will not do. So I get him all excited to leave the restaurant, without a cookie, with promises to go see Nana and Gaga to play choo choos and eat cookies. (Sigh) We get almost out the door without a hitch...I'm thinking I've held the door long enough for all three of us to get out the door, but I hadn't and the heavy door to the restaurant came back and smacked Mark in the head. It was soooo loud and I just knew he was gonna lose it! He didn't thankfully and I kissed his head, he rubbed his head and we walked to the car. I get Mark in the car, find a piece of cookie from the day before in his seat. I hand it to him thinking this will keep him quiet on the way to their house (I know, mother of the year!!!). He's happy with my find. I walk around the car, pop Molly's carseat in the base, shut the door, come back around the car...I sit in my seat, let out a sigh of relief and then....a piece of cookie flys from Mark's hand and pelts me in the back of the head!!! Perfect ending to an interesting dinner experience!!! LOL!!! I will NEVER do that again!

It's been a while...

I decided to revisit our blog and noticed...oops it's been a while since I posted last. A lot has happened since August 26th. I started back to work 3 weeks ago, Molly started smiling, Mark got pink eye, Molly started school, and Molly got kicked out of school the first day because she has thrush!!! Wow it's been a whirlwind 3 weeks for me.

I started work September 20th and in the middle of the night before I came back to work, Molly gave me a huge smile! How sweet of her to give me such a precious gift right as my maternity leave came to an end. Sweet girl! Molly has been such a good baby. Everyone said we lucked out with Mark that he was such a great baby and good sleeper that there's no way our next one would be as good. Well they just don't know any better. Molly started sleeping through the night (8 hours) for us on October 3rd. It's been awesome! Sunday morning I woke up to a cry expecting to roll over and see that the clock struck 2 am, but alas it was 5 am! Hallelujah!!! After that we had a couple of hit or miss nights but we got it down and she's been sleeping well for about a week.

Here we continue chronologically in the world of the Bangs'. Two weeks ago I get a call from Mark's preschool..."Stephanie, we think little Mark has pink eye..." Dun Dun Dun! I'm freaking out thinking my kid is the contaminated one. Oh and btw they posted signs saying some nasty kid in this classroom probably infected your kid with pink eye! Yep that would be my kid. Ok they didn't really do that and NO he's not a dirty kid. I tell you what is highway robbery though is the cost of eye drops for pink eye even after insurance! I think next time unless my child is in pain I might just let it ride itself out!

Alright, next, Molly started school yesterday. I spent all Sunday night getting everything ready and was so sad but so excited for Molly to have new people loving on her. Here it comes...I'm at lunch yesterday and I get a call from the school..."Stephanie, I think Miss Molly has thrush..." ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!!! I'm the mom that has the nasty kids, they must think I don't take care of the. Ok I really don't think that they think that, but this is getting almost comical. So David goes back to school seriously like an hour after he drops her off to pick her up. Of course the pediatrician is at lunch...so what do I do? I use my doctor privileges and call her in her first medication. Don't worry people, it's for her mouth and that's kind of my expertise. Thankfully the medicine is working but Molly is having a really tough time eating so needless to say last night was kind of sleepless or more so than lately, because she doesn't eat much at a time because it's painful. My poor baby!

All in all we are doing well as a family of 4. Adjusting really well I think now. I've mastered watching both of them alone in the evening and cooking at the same time. Mark is in love with his little sister. He's very proud of his "Memaw" and loves to tickle her. It warms my heart seeing my little happy kiddos loving eachother. This is the best time of our lives thus far!

We're in the groove now...

Not gonna lie these last couple of weeks have been difficult. Two kids is a lot more difficult than one, duh! The first week was great. Mark was into Molly and he was still really happy and fun, but then the second week rolled around and he realized she's not going anywhere. That's when the "Mommy complex" started. I can't pick him up for a couple more weeks because of the C-section so it's been really hard when he wants me to pick him up and console him and he doesn't understand that Mommy is recovering from major surgery.

But the last few days have been promising...Mark started preschool which, aside from morning drop offs, he's really enjoying. Molly's settling into a pretty predictable routine and for a 3 week old she's sleeping well. Going down around 10:30pm or 11pm and sleeping until 3:15am and then back up around 6:20-6:30am. Not too shabby...although I'm able to rest during the day while she's napping, having a two year old and a newborn is proving to be quite exhausting!!! Especially since our sweet little boy who USED to sleep until 9 am wakes around 7:15 am every morning ready to play :)

It's been fun though we've finally figured out when to have Mark time while Molly's asleep. While Molly's awake, Mark loves playing "where'd Molly go?" , which yes does entail a blanket over Molly's face. Don't worry we're near by :) We can tell he really is starting to love his sister. It's rewarding seeing our family grow and bond more and more everyday. Although this has been a tough few weeks, I wouldn't change anything about where we are right now.

Molly Bangs is here and now we are 4!

A week and two days ago I weighed 183 pounds and today I weigh 161. How did I lose 22 pounds in a little over a week?! I call it the "Have a Baby Diet"! 7lb 4 oz of that 22 pounds was little Miss Molly and a lot of it was a huge amount of water weight! Boy am I glad that I wasn't pregnant this last week in Texas. It was a hot one!

Molly Katherine Bangs was born to us last Friday, August 6, 2010 at 8:08am via C-section done by the fabulous Dr. Ellen Parrill at Arlington Memorial Hospital. She was, like I said, 7 lbs 4 oz. and 18 1/2 inches long. She has been a really good and easy baby thus far. She got to meet her brother last Friday afternoon after his nap and he has been smitten ever since. He calls her "Memaw" and "Mawyee". It's too cute. He always wants to hold her but then gets over it quite quickly. The best is watching his face light up when he gets to sit in the back of the car with her. He just talks and talks to her. My sweet little boy is turning out to be quite the fabulous big brother.

So we had a little nursing problem last week. And I know right now you're wondering why is she sharing this? But it's because it's funny and it involves David. Molly wasn't latching on very well and I was getting frustrated. So my husband offered to take care of her while I took a shower. When I got back to the living room, David was holding Molly and she was nursing on his shirt. He said, "hey I think this is the position she prefers". He was so proud of himself, because for those of you that know my husband well you know that he loves to figure out great strategy. Well I'm here to say he is very good at it and I credit Molly's nursing achievements to David. Thanks, David, for being the most loving and supportive husband and the best Daddy to our sweet babies.

So yes we're waking up about every 3 hours through the night now. The first few nights she gave us 4-5 hour stretches, but that was short lived. I can't complain though because she eats and then goes right back to sleep. This transition from one kid to two hasn't been as awful as I had planned. Now I will miss my husband as he goes back to work tomorrow. It has been very nice having him home for a week so we could bond with our growing family. The Lord has really blessed us with a sweet home. I love all of my fabulous roommates! Thank you all for your prayers and support. Special thanks to our Sunday School class that has been blessing us with meals for the past week and who will carry that on for us this month. That has been a huge help!

Stay tuned to the blog because there will be many more posts updating Molly's growth and I'm sure hilarious things her brother does! He has been hamming it up lately. Sweet Mark!

The end is in sight!

I went in last Friday for my weekly OB check up thinking they would tell me everything's progressing and we'll plan for a nice, simple, normal birth in the next week or so. Well I did get the news that my body is progressing, but that my little Miss Molly is breech. Breech?!! Are you serious? Not at all in my plan. Maybe that's what God is trying to teach me these days. I'm not in control. Ok, Lord, got the message loud and clear.

I did however want to know exactly when she's coming and I got my wish. Just be careful what you wish for right?! So Miss Molly will be arriving via C-section this Friday, August 6, 2010 around 7:30am provided I don't get bumped for those more emergent patients. My OB is convinced I won't make it until Friday but I kind of hope I do so that way I can pretty myself up and also finish seeing patients this week. My staff did convince me to take off Thursday though. They are probably right...I should enjoy my last day or semi freedom. There is no such thing as freedom when you already have a sweet little 2 year old. I love him!

Last night Mark pointed out his "Night Night", his bed, and then Molly's "Night Night". We're hoping that he atleast has some type of clue that things are about to be different at the house. He was so cute covering his Daddy up with all of Molly's towels that I had laid out to wash. He topped off covering Daddy with towels and giving Daddy Molly's nursing pillow with Molly's diapers on David's rear end. Don't worry I got pictures and I'll post them soon. It was too cute. He's going to be my little helper I can tell.

So I know almost exactly when our lives will be filled with more love. We're getting really excited to see what she looks like. I'm praying she'll be slightly recessive so she will look like she's my child. David prides himself in his dominance :) Stay tuned for blog posts about our new little girl!

Getting very anxious!!!

As you all may know we're pregnant...34 weeks pregnant to be exact. Starting last week I felt like an 80 year old. I couldn't walk without grunting/crying because the pinch in my left hip was just ridiculous! I suffered through it for 2 days until I could find a massage therapist that could see me asap. I went for my first prenatal massage. It was great! My idea of a giant table with a tummy hole was shot down. She had no such thing. The massage gave me some temporary relief but the pain is still there. Not as bad but definitely reminding me of itself everyday! I'm sure I didn't do some post massage protocol correct.

This last weekend was pretty interesting for me. Saturday and Sunday I felt nauseous along with all other signs and symptoms that fall under the category of laboring (according to "What to Expect When You're Expecting") I know, I know...is it really a reliable source?! Well when you're so done being pregnant in the blazing heat you'll believe anything! I labored early with Mark and then ended up having him 2 weeks early...so naturally I'm betting it's going to happen the same way with Molly. I even had a patient, who's an OB/GYN, confirm that for me last week. His wife was 37 weeks pregnant last week and he fully expected her to have the baby before his appointment yesterday, since she had their first baby at 37 weeks. Last week he confidently said "oh yeah most labors are about the same in timing" (or something to that effect). Well yesterday he shows up and his wife now 38 weeks and not very dilated so he looked right at me and said, "Clearly I don't know what I'm talking about." Don't say that to a very pregnant woman who gets through the days thinking only "x" amount more weeks betting on her 38 week delivery. Monday was the worst for me...sharp abdominal pains, nausea, and just down right feeling awful! I just knew she was trying to work her way out.

Please don't judge me for almost wanting this baby to come very soon! When your hands and feet are sausages and you can barely feel them because they're so waterlogged, your back hurts like nobody's business and it takes you 20 minutes to walk somewhere that used to take you 2, and it's hard to breathe...you'll understand. I just have to get through the days and go home and relax every evening. Oh wait there's a giant nesting list and a 2 year old at home!!!

If you're reading this...pray that time goes by slowly but quickly if you know what I mean. Slow enough to get stuff done, but fast enough to just be done!

My sweet boy is officially 2!

I'm super behind on posting about Mark and his 2 year celebration. We celebrated Mark's 2nd birthday June 5 at the Little Gym in Arlington. Many of his friends came to play! They all had a blast! His friends that came were Kate, Griffin, Ashtyn and Drew, his cousin Kelton, and Max. Of course everyone brought at least one parent too :) We had a Thomas the Train cake, because Mark is obsessed with "choo choos". Daddy and I gave him a train table for his birthday and that's basically all we do at home is play with
"choo choos" and occasionally "mow".

Mark officially turned 2 on June 11. I can't believe all that time has flown by so quickly. You know we always here our moms reminiscing about "the day you were born..." Well I'm definitely one of those now. I remember that day two years ago to the T when my sweet little boy arrived and changed our lives forever. I just want you guys to know that I definitely semi cried myself to sleep last night just watching him on the monitor and thinking about how much I love him! Any who, on his birthday his Daddy and I decided to try to rush over to ride the Forest Park Miniature Railroad after I finished up with patients and then have lunch. David had to be at work by 1 and we were able to leave my office a little before 11. The park is not far from my office and we were hoping to make the 11 o'clock take off time. Well we didn't make it in time to the depot so we rushed down University to the other depot in hopes that we would catch it. Due to disorganization on the railroad's part and incredibly rude older people with their significantly younger grandson who could care less about the train, we did not make the train ride and since Daddy had to be at work we opted for lunch and Pappas Burgers instead. Mark took it really well and the bottom lip poked out for a split second so he was cool with just saying "Bye Bye Choo Choo" and going on our way. Now me and David we were seriously contemplating a throw down with some elderly people and I did shed a few tears (out of sight from my son and remember I'm 31 weeks pregnant:) )All in all though we had a great time with Mark on his birthday and we ended the day with dinner with both sets of grandparents and two cousins. Mark is truly loved!!! Happy birthday to my sweet little two year old!

Recap of our fabulous Memorial Day weekend...

This weekend was filled with projects and family time. Friday started off the weekend with dinner with Bebe, PopPop, Kelton, and Aunt Jenn. Kelton and Mark are really enjoying eachother these days until it comes to sharing toys. Oh difficult times. Saturday morning, Mark and I had a great time at brunch with my Sunday School ladies. Mark got to play with lots of kiddos and had to again learn to share. Not one of his favorite past times. We left Daddy at home for some alone time and preparation for Molly's closet overhaul. Special thanks to Mark for the super long nap he took on Saturday. I was able to work on Molly's mobile which I had been putting off. It's coming together quite nicely! Saturday night my parents graciously watched Mark so that we could go see a movie. There weren't many to choose from, but "Robin Hood" actually turned out to be very entertaining. Sunday was church, lunch at McAlister's and then spontaneous pool buying!!! I didn't think my husband would really go for it, and usually slightly expensive purchases take me a while to mull over and then buyers' regret set in, but this was just a no brainer for my gigantic pregnant body. The Sunday paper flyers are to blame here. My facebook status Sunday morning was "wish I had a pool" and after flyer shopping and a conversation over Mexican food we had purchased a 18'x42" above ground pool and the status quickly changed to "we have a pool!" So Monday morning, our day off, I woke up early like a little kid at Christmas ready to get started on the set up before the munchkin woke. Dave and I got up, ate, and started the assembly. Mark woke up just in time to help fill the pool. He especially enjoyed soaking his "Dada". Approximately 10 hours later the pool was completely full and so were our bellies thanks to Bebe and PopPop for feeding us at their cookout. Yeah that's going to be a water bill. Who cares though right?! It's in the best interest of the pregnant lady!!! David was up early this morning treating the pool so that it will be ready soon for enjoyment. So in summary the projects finished this weekend were many and very involved! Thank you, thank you, thank you to my sweet David for making sure the pool is ready and for finishing Molly's closet overhaul so I could get her room organized. Oh yeah and someday I'll have her mobile finished. I'll post some pics of the weekends events soon, but you can also see them on our Shutterfly site.

Look out world....he's singing!!!

Today marks a huge milestone for our little tantrum thrower. His new mastery is SINGING!!! My mom and I witnessed the cutest thing today. He crawled up on the piano bench today and started playing away while making some noises that sounded like singing. Then I realized what those sweet noises were. He was singing the "B-I-B-L-E"! Just banging, quite musically I might add, on the keys and signing the song at the top of his lungs. At the end he yelled out "Bible"! Then we learned a new song this evening. You know the vowel song with eating epples and iteing ipples. He can't sing along as well but he will just sing repeatedly "eat, eat, eat" or "ite, ite, ite". So if you're keeping our son and he chants "eat, eat, eat" he may just be singing and not requesting cookies. This is something else he does well is request sweets. I know, I know...I tell people every day not to eat sweets, yet my son has a mega sweet tooth. I blame that all on Molly, because she HAS to be the reason I eat ice cream almost every night ;)

Oh and on an unrelated note to singing...I have to share the best attitude problem I witnessed from my sweet almost 2 year old. Mark alerted me to the fact that he had his "forbidden" saline bottle last night by laughing hysterically and running away from me. (He knew it was "forbidden" the night before when I told him he couldn't play with it.) Needless to say my little boy knew he was being very mischievous. After at least two times of telling him to bring it to his mommy and that it wasn't a toy...he decided to give it to me alright! Picture it, a little boy with a miffed look inching his way to you with his arm cocked behind his head as he prepares to launch the saline bottle at your head. I informed the little defiant child that he could not throw that at his mommy, and next thing I know the saline bottle is returned to my hand in the form of a slap to my palm and then there goes the eye roll. Seriously?! Already getting appropriate use of an eye roll! He's not even two!!! The teenage years are going to be a REAL test of my patience :) Oh and then Molly will follow soon after and learn from his great example. Can't wait! I do love being a mommy!

Happy Mother's Day!

It was a great second Mother's Day for me. It started with a sweet little boy running to me with a card for his "Mama". The card was hilarious. It had a little girl stuck to a refrigerator and a little boy ratting her out for "eating the kitchen magnets again." It was representative of Mark and Molly. Oh and Molly had her own card for me courtesy of "Dada" and big brother Mark. It was sweet. Of course David had a beautiful card for me as well. They also took me out for dinner last night. The plan was Cheesecake factory, but the wait was forever long, so steaks at Saltgrass was a fine fall back plan. We ate good food and topped it off with blackberry cheesecake. A new addition to their dessert menu and I'll say it was a good move! Mark REALLY enjoyed the dessert. Mark and I ended the day with dancing, toenail clipping and snuggling. I love being his Mommy. Can't wait for next year when I'm a mom (for real) times 2! Thank you Mark and David for making me feel like a special mom :)

Bring on the Hormones!!!

Ever been pregnant?! If you have then I'm sure you've had one of these moments I'm about to share... One thing I've been real proud of is I can count on almost one hand (I think I bumped it to 2 hands tonight) the times I have lost it while being pregnant.

After church today, we went to lunch and came back home. David and Mark took naps, but surprisingly I was awake nesting, making the baby mobile and doing laundry. Well by the time Mark was up then Mommy was tired, but you know how that goes once baby is up. So David graciously watched "Choo Choos" with Mark so I could sleep for about 45 minutes. I woke up feeling a little weird and heartburnish, but altogether felt fine. Then I decided to put Mark's bday invitations together and after that things went down hill. I turned into crazy Stephanie for no reason and I'm not even sure when it happened. Tears flowing, loud talking and pointing of fingers. My husband just patiently watched with a smile until I was finished. He then suggested maybe I should take some time to myself.

So here I am by myself in front of the computer blogging and finishing off the Blue Bell while my family is grocery shopping to give me a break. I definitely just tilted the 1/2gallon carton so I could drink the melted ice cream. It's a been a little bit of a rough evening.

The idea of being alone sounded nice, but I miss my baby so much!!! Good thing he's just around the corner at Wal-Mart probably having the time of this life and he'll be super excited to see me when he gets home. I love my family!!!

My little Bible reader

I was just informed by my husband that the reason he waited to take Mark to daycare late today was because Mark did not want to leave the house. Why? Because Mark wanted to sit in his rocking chair and read the Bible. How cute is that? We started a new study at church about 3 weeks ago entitled "WiiFit" it's about becoming fit spiritually. This week's Bible verse is "Resist the Devil and he will flee from you." James 4:7. I've been reminded constantly of this verse this week because that's just how it goes...when you're studying a topic in scripture then you are just faced with it every day. That's why we equip ourselves with the Word to resist temptation. Anywho...this does all connect here in a bit. David said he heard Mark in his room this morning yelling "No, No" at the Bible and he noticed that Mark was pointing at a picture of the serpent from Genesis. He was shouting it again at the same serpent on the way to Kim's today in the backseat. Apparently Mark has been studying James 4:7 as well because he was resisting the Devil. I love that boy!

Can I just share how much I love my sweet Monkey?!

Last night Mark requested a bath early so he could play with Elmo and then he wanted to watch "Choo Choos" before "night night". "Choo Choos" is "Thomas and Friends" which is not my favorite to watch, but he just LOVES it! So anyway, I'm sitting there cuddling with my sweet boy under his quilt and watching "choo choos" just staring at him thinking of just how great he is and how I hate that he's growing up so fast. Oh wait a minute, let me wipe the tears out of my eyes so I can see the screen to finish this post...

Ok...all better. I started crying in the shower Saturday just thinking about how he's not always going to be my tiny boy with the sweet little voice saying "Hi Mama" every day. It's not just the pregnancy hormones talking either, it's the mommy in me. So since there's not a space in his baby book for me to write all his milestones/faves at this age I'm going to write them here for myself.

Mark is almost 23 months old, which I can't believe and here are the list of his current faves:

TV shows: Thomas and Friends, Wonder Pets and Backyardigans
Food: Spaghetti, Broccoli, Green Beans, Apples, Bananas, Graham Crackers, Yogurt
and I'm ashamed to say this...Cookies :)
Toys: basketball goal, water sprayer, Little Tikes car and trains
Activities: coloring, throwing balls, feeding us "pretend" food, horsey rides on our
legs, pushing around his car, playing the piano, tormenting the cat,
drinking from a big boy cup and his absolute fave...Dancing!
Numbers: 2 and 8, he likes to say these when we count to 10
Phrases and words: "Where is Dada", "Choo Choo" and "Cookie"

I'll probably have to add to his in the next couple of days because he just learns so much over night. I love that boy soooo much and I wish I could just snuggle with him all day long!!!

Slow down time...I'm not ready yet!

First of all can you believe April is almost over?! I've been looking at my patient schedule lately thinking "what it's already been 6 months since I last saw that patient, no way!" Oh wait...WAY! I know I say this over and over again, but August 16 will be here before I know it and there's still so much to do before the baby comes!!!

I was just texting my good friend, Kim, days in May that I'm going to need extra help from her with Mark and I realized that what I thought were just a few days seems like the entire month. That means that May is going to fly by even quicker than April. June will be busy. And then I'll turn around and I'll have another child to take care of! Holy cow!!! Still very excited about our growing family, but I just wish time would give me a break. Oh well...just got to get to it! Hope you're all doing well :)

It's time to get crafty!

I think I found my next project...making a baby mobile.

Butterfly baby mobile
http://babymakingmachine.blogspot.com/2010/03/diy-butterfly-mobile-see-spawnies.html

It's going to be a variation of this style, but I was happy to find a website with instructions.

Austin or Bust!

We were able to make it out of town for a much needed weekend getaway. Austin was the choice because a) more than a 3 hour drive is pushing it for all 3 of our sanities and b) Austin seems like you're out of state it's so hilly and gorgeous! The fam picked me up from work on Friday and we headed out on the road stopping at Chick-fil-A for lunch of course :) Mark slept on the way and was just the cutest when he was awake dancing and meowing to Veggie Tale songs. We arrived as scheduled on my itinerary to the Embassy Suites near the Arboretum, and much to our surprise they had a little pond stocked with 2 swans and huge koi fish. For the rest of the weekend Mark requested to see the "quack quack"'s anytime we were in the room. It was nice that we had this added attraction at our disposal since it rained ALL weekend. We rested Friday evening and ended it with a fabulous dinner over looking the lake at The Oasis and watching Mark dance to the live Beatles music.

Saturday morning we had our cooked to order breakfast, complimentary I might add, and then we were off to Zilker Park to ride the "choo choo" as Mark calls it. I just have to say that the Lord was watching out for us all weekend, making sure we were able to enjoy our plans despite the rain. Ok back to the low down...we made it to the train just a minute before they were taking off. For the first couple of minutes on the train Mark was repeating, "Choo Choo, Mama, Choo Choo." I'm sure the neighboring passengers were thinking, "Yes we're on a choo choo." He was SO excited! We were 98% finished with our trip around the track and it started to down pour!!! We were so thankful that we were able to get that train ride into our trip! We then headed off to Phil's Ice House for burgers. It would have been the perfect place for kids because of the sweet semi covered play ground, but it was raining and muddy. So anywho I totally recommend it for later trips with kiddos. They also had a photo booth and we were able to take cute pictures with our sweet family. I love photo booths!!! We went back to the room for naps, swimming in the indoor pool and then had dinner at the County Line BBQ. Again, thank you Lord, we were able to eat right before the place got super crowded, and we were able to enjoy the river for a few minutes and feed the turtles before it started pouring again! We ended that night with some amazing ice cream combos from Amy's Ice Cream. Another recommendation for a trip to Austin, it's conveniently located next door to Phil's Ice House.

Sunday we enjoyed our hot breakfast again and then I decided that we must make a trip to Ikea on the way home so we could shop for organizational and decorative things for the house, since holy cow, Molly will be here before we know it!!! Mark got a cute stuffed soccer ball which he entertained himself and his Daddy with while I shopped. After a little Pei Wei, and a random stop to Cinnabon in Hillsboro we were home. We ended that evening with a great visit from my sister, Mary Ann and her sweet family. We enjoyed visiting with them because they are moving to Indianapolis very soon. We'll miss seeing them often and I hope they enjoy the elliptical that they so gracioiusly took off our hands to make way for Molly.

It was a great weekend! Dave and I will miss the possibility of exercise...NOT! Now it's time to hunker down and get after that nursery! I spend my spare time now blog stalking for inspiration. Share with me any sites you have found and enjoy my links posted :)

Picky Eater no more?...

So I've always been so proud of my little Mark because he has never been a picky eater! Over the last week he's tested me a bit more at dinner time. Sometimes not eating what I give him or eating very little and then playing with the rest of the food. I'm thinking that he's maybe just eating a few too many graham crackers before dinner. I hope that's it although I'm pretty sure it's just the big fat "Terrible Twos" staring us in the face.

Well here's where I found hope...I made a new very easy, no nonsense recipe last night coincidentally labeled "Kid Friendly" in my Real Simple magazine. He had maybe a few grapes and one cracker before dinner, but he seemed very ready to get in that high chair for dinner last night. We sat there at the table discussing our days and before I knew it my child had eaten his entire plate's worth of pan seared chicken, mashed potatoes and peas and was requesting more veggies. I whispered to David "don't say anything to jinx this, but Mark is pigging out right now..." Oh how I hope we can just limit snacks and not venture into the picky eater phase, but please know that I know better. We'll have our day I'm sure...oh well. He's precious!!!

Frilly Bloomers :)

I ordered a cute little pair of white bloomers (diaper cover) with sweet lace, 2 pink bows, one on either leg and Molly's name embroidered in script on the little booty. I was so excited when I got them in the mail last week and I run up to David with a huge smile on my face..."Hey, Dave, look the bloomers came in the mail. Aren't they so sweet?!" David's response was a look of you've got to be kidding me and "a diaper cover, what does she need that for?!" Oh he just does not know what is in store for him!!!

Sleep? What sleep?!!

So I get the weekly updates from babycenter.com and the news for 21-22 weeks is all about whether you can sleep or not. Last week I was reading the emails thinking wow I've got it good. I'm not waking up all the time to go to the bathroom and I'm pretty much sleeping comfortably. I've got this in the bag! Yeah I got a HUGE slap in the face this last weekend. Two nights of horrible sleep!!! Saturday night was the worst. Tossing and turning to what seemed like 6 am, and the only reason 6 am seems so fresh in my mind is because that is when David's alarm clock went off. Over and over again. If I hear Caedmon's Call one more time I think I might scream!!! Sunday morning I woke up to 2 very numb fingers on my left hand. All I could think about when I woke up was "oh wow I remember learning about this nerve plexus, now where did I pinch off the nerves?!" Wow I am a huge dork!!! At least I remember a few things from school right?! So needless to say...I think I need to bite the bullet and buy one of those pillows because this pounding headache is not going to let me forget it! I'm real excited about you Molly, but you've got to give Mommy a break :)

It's a Molly!

The day was March 17th, St. Patty's day. David and I went in for the revealing of our second, and probably last, child's gender. I've made it no secret that my heart was set on a girl. Of course we wanted a healthy baby, but I knew the tears would flow if it was another boy. Don't get me wrong there is no one more precious to me than my sweet Mark, but come on it would be awesome to have the best of both worlds!

So here's how it played out...They call my name to come back to the sonogram room. Immediately my heart starts racing. I'm thinking, this is it, we're about to find out and there's nothing I can do about the outcome. Am I sure I'm ready for this?! I lay back on the table and I kid you not my heart feels like it's about to beat out my chest. I say to the sonographer "I really hope this is a girl. Do you have many people cry in here?" I know she must have thought I'm mother of the year. Already deciding that I'm going to be hugely disappointed if it's a boy. I would have cried, alright?! I still would have loved another son. Brothers would be so great! So she starts the sonogram, finding every organ of the baby, taking all her measurements and HER SWEET TIME!!! I felt like she was torturing us...come on lady, get to the good stuff!!! The moment arrives, we being normal people, not sonographers, can't tell at this point. Then she says "ok you can cry tears of joy." There Molly was in all her glory. I had her recheck again and point out to me proof she was a girl. My heart calmed down and tears rolled down my face. I was SOOO overwhelmed though. I'm not sure I know what to do with a little girl. Mark's easy...balls, cars and dirt. Not to mention he's a lot easier on the pocket book if you know what I mean. David's comment was "holy cow I have a daughter!" We were both so pleased and dumbfounded that we actually got what we wanted. The shopping has begun and not sure when it will stop. I have so many bows to buy :)

I'm going to try my hand at this more time...

I started this blog almost 2 years ago with little intention of following up with it merely because I wasn't sure how to mess with html. I still have no clue, but thanks to a friend and a website with cute blog backgrounds I'm feeling more confident. Most of you know that we're expecting a little girl in August, and since our family is growing I feel it is my responsibility to try this blog thing one more time. We'll see how this goes...