Aaaaah, air conditioning!!

I'm back!! :-)

A great time was had by all, we're pooped, and completely out of groceries. More soon, but there's laundry to be done, food to be bought and doggies to be retrieved from the kennel...

It's Friday so...

Things that make you happy. From the mind of Nattie Rose.

Meeting Leann yesterday!

Naptimes.

New Bob & Larry videos that are coming out!

Classical music.

Online shopping.

Watching Noelle play.

Eating sugar snap peas from my garden.

From Friday's Feast:

Appetizer
What time do you usually wake up each day? If you could choose your wake-up time, when would it be?

Lately I've been waking up about 6 a.m., but it's rare that I get up before 7. If I could choose it, it would probably stay at 6, I would just actually get up then!

Soup
When was the last time you bought groceries? What store did you go to? Name 3 things you purchased.

It's been several weeks since I bought real groceries, but I did go this morning and buy some snacks for our road trip. I went to Walm@rt and bought . . . grapes, slim jims, animal crakers.

Salad
How many books have you read so far this year? Which was your favorite and why?

You can see my book list here - so far I've read 47 books, although the disclaimer is that they weren't all 1st time reads. I love re-reading when I don't have time to dive into something and give it a chunk of time to get into it. My favorite was maybe Breaker's Reef by Terry Blackstock. She writes GOOD Christian mysteries.

Main Course
What is something you consider to be very elegant? In particular, what about that item/place/person conjures up the feeling of elegance?

I consider simplicity to be elegant . . . just to be content with what one has and at peace with that. I see in that calmness and elegance and tranquility . . . not clamoring for more, more, more!

Dessert
Who taught you how to drive?

Both my parents . . . it took a combined effort!

I'm offline until probably next Thursday or Friday . . . we're heading out tomorrow to visit our Ohio family and I'm planning (hoping) to be offline until we get back so I get a REAL break from work. :-) See you next week!

Dr. Update

Just popping on to say the doctor visit went good yesterday! I didn't even have to have my blood drawn . . . they are going to wait and do that at my 13 week appointment next month when we also get to hear the heartbeat. All looks good, thank you Lord! I'm measuring a little larger than normal (and poking out and showing some already), but Noelle was such a big baby, my Dr. didn't seem that surprised by it. (Secretly, deep down, and not admiting to anyone but YOU - I would LUUUUUUURVE me some twins!) :-) Did some preliminary review of my chart from the last pregnancy. I had had to have a c-section with Noelle because the Dr. was worried I wouldn't be able to deliver her (9 lb. 11 oz.) and she was worried my pelvic bones weren't turned right or something. Anyway, it looks like (as of now) that she is okay with me trying a VBAC. Of course, she went into the risks and some of the precautions we'll have to take, but I'm just encouraged that there's a good chance I'll get to actually get to experience going in to labor, water breaking, etc. I had seriously high blood pressure and borderline toxemia when I delivered last time, so those factors will all have to be taken into consideration, too.

We also talked a bunch about diet. I tested high on my blood sugar before and, we already know about the size of baby #1 . . . I am really going to consciously work toward eating GOOD this pregnancy. That said, I'm starving at the moment and dinner isn't for another 1/2 hour or so! :-) So to tide me over until supper, some pictures of my delicious girl. :-)

Noelle and the puppies in the sprinkler getting soaked!



Noelle and her friends. :-)

Summer Solstice today - apparently the longest day of the year. In honor of summer I've changed my blog header and it stars our furry babies who just don't get as much press as our non-furry one. They were feeling slighted, I believe. :-)

Busy weekend! We had a great time on Sunday at our church picnic. The weather could not have been more pleasant. For this slightly pregnant person to be able to wear jean overalls and NOT be sweating is saying something. The picnic was held at one of our church family's homes about thirty minutes outside town. Huge yard - they had badminton set up in the front, volleyball in the back and horseshoes off to the side. Of course, you'll never guess where I spent most of my time? :-) At the fish pond! They had a small man-made fishpond right in front of their house filled with fairly large goldfish. Noelle was beside herself with excitement. Her favorite thing to do at the picnic was to lay on her tummy and just stare down at the fish. (I was sitting behind her, holding on to the back of her overalls). My Dad was making bets that Noelle would be the first church kid to fall in the pond so I was trying VERY hard not to win that bet. :-)

Our Father's Day was pretty much a normal Sunday around here with the exception that my family came to our house for lunch. We made fajitas (YUM!) and just hung out. Noelle got Travis a DVD for Father's Day . . . Baby Einstein's Baby MacDonald and they curled up in our chair-and-a-half to watch it after lunch. I got about a 2 hour nap . . . a luxury!

By the way, Beth asked about Driving School. It was really pretty interesting. The guy that taught it was a good speaker and there were plenty of bathroom breaks. :-) Overall, I think it has made me more paranoid about other drivers that are out on the road (there was a lot of discussion about road rage) as well as more conscious about my driving. Still I'm glad I didn't have to take the 8 hour class - 4 hours was plenty. :-)

Tomorrow I have my first OBGYN appointment for the baby. Praying for a good report and that I don't throw up or do anything embarrassing when they take my blood. I'm so thankful I don't have to take Noelle with me in the morning - one of the college girls at church is going to come over and keep her for me. I so rarely get a real babysitter that I'm always a little freaked about what to do . . . making sure she knows Noelle's "routine", having something ready for lunch or snack, etc. It would have been fine to take her with me, but I know they are going to want to draw some blood and I don't do so well with that anyway. When I was sick a few weeks ago and had to have some taken at my regular Dr., Noelle was quite weirded out about Mama getting hurt and not liking it.

Off to switch laundry...

Check out this cool baby ticker that I found on Manda's site!

Friday Felicities

Things that make me happy, from the mind of Nattie Rose.

A day with no swimming lessons!

Going to the dollar store with Noelle and buying her pool toys.

Worship music

licorice flavored candy!

Possibly getting to have lunch with Leann next week!

A phone call from an old, dear college friend who lives in the same town as me now!

My family. :-)

I laid down for a quick nap after lunch today and I can't seem to get back awake. This swimming has been great exercise for me (and Noelle), but I'm glad our last day is tomorrow! I'm looking forward to not needing to leave the house on Friday at all. :-) Planning on spending some time list making on Friday for our trip to Ohio that is coming up soon. Need to figure out what needs to be picked up before we go and make a packing list.

A couple new homemaking sites that have come to my attention in the last few days that I'll pass along.

Menus for Mom

Lunch Ideas - creative lunch ideas.

Jamie's Holiday Plan - this is going to be a great help for me this year. Being due in January, I want to get holiday stuff organized and taken care of so I'm not heading to the mall or the post office anytime around Christmas!

More later, Noelle is up from her nap. :-)

Week two of swimming lessons for us! Big day today - Noelle put her face underwater. :-) She didn't really seem to mind until the third time that we did it and then she clearly told me that she'd had enough of that nonsense! After swimming we ran back home to eat some lunch, then went to the Drs. to have her ears checked. Finally, her ear infection is cleared up - yeah! Hoping that we don't have to go back to see the dr. until her two year appointment in October.

Our church picnic got rained out big time on Saturday . . . thankfully we had called it off before I had made the run to buy the food and paper products. We're trying again for this coming weekend. I have a massive wedding announcement project that I will be putting together, so other than buying the supplies and sending them out with someone else, I don't know that I'll actually make it to the picnic. Just have to see.

Tonight I'm checking my driving/traffic school off the list. I have to have it done before July 7, which is just days after we get back from vacation. So, four hours of that tonight and I'm done with it.

Jumbled Bits of This and That

It's Friday! My apologies for this totally random, jumping around type post - but I had fun. :-) Bread is rising in the oven, Noelle is napping, and I'm getting ready to do a few things before I curl up on the couch and make myself rest for an hour or so.


Things that make me happy . . . from the mind of Nattie.

1. Air conditioning!
2. Dinner with friends tonight at their home.
3. The house smells like warm bread.
4. Church picnic tomorrow!
5. Noelle being uber-cute. :-)

Found round the web...

3 names I go by: Stephanie, maMA (how Noelle enunciates it), sometimes Mrs. Shepherd

3 physical things I like about myself: My hair, my hands, and .... ?

3 physical things I dislike about myself: Tummy, tummy, tummy :-)

3 parts of my heritage: We're so American, I can't begin to narrow down just three parts of our heritage. Very jumbled.

3 things I am wearing right now: Wedding/engagement ring, glasses, clothes

3 favorite bands / musical artists: Point of Grace, Phillips Craig & Dean, and The Martins. (So hard to pick 3!)

3 favorite songs: These would have to be current favorites . . . Holy is the Lord by Joel Engle, For All You've Done by Darlene Zschech/Hillsong, and The Veggie Tale Theme Song by Bob & Larry (because Noelle now sings along to it!) :-)

3 things I want in a relationship: Trust, fidelity, unity

3 things I want to do really badly right now: Nap, go to Sonic and get a shake (Chocolate Cream Pie Shake to be exact), read.

3 things that scare me: Having a long term illness, losing one of my children or husband, heights and tiny spaces.

3 of my everyday essentials: Glasses!, Diet Coke (down to one a day), and a few minutes alone per day

3 careers you have considered or are considering: Event planning, counselling, homeschooling mama. :-)

3 places you want to go on vacation: Western US (Grand Canyon, California, New Mexico, etc.); Israel; England

3 kids names you like: Noelle for sure, and I may keep the other two under wraps for the moment until we find out if Baby Shepherd is a he or she. :-)

3 things you want to do before you die: Grow old with Travis, travel, watching my kids grow up and have kids.

3 ways I am stereotypically a boy: I can fix things (take them apart and fix them), good with a map, and that's probably it.

3 ways I am stereotypically a girl: Cry easily, pregnant, and cry easily. :-)

3 celeb crushes: I'm so out of the loop on this kind of stuff . . . I can't say that I really have one.

From Friday's Feast...

Appetizer
Name one thing that made you sad this week.

Finding out that someone spoke wrongly of me behind my back. :-(

Soup
What was the last object (not person) you took a picture of?

My garden!

Salad
Who do you talk to when you need help in making a decision?

Depends on the type of decisions - pretty much all of them I discuss with the Lord, then Travis; music related/church stuff, my friend Gina; really depends on the topic or situation.

Main Course
If you were a weather event, what would you be, and why?

A blizzard - because I am PREGNANT and HOT!!!!

Dessert
Suggest a website that you think your readers would enjoy visiting.

Obviously Women at Home! But one of my favorite sites to just surf is Movie-List - you can watch trailers for movies that are coming out in the theatre. :-)

Your Inner European is French!

Smart and sophisticated. You have the best of everything - at least, *you* think so.

Who's Your Inner European?

Get a Grip

That's me. Trying to get a grip on what's going on. My schedule needs some serious straightening - not really 'cause I'm missing anything, but more because I feel like I'm just barely getting things done around here. Not the way I like to operate at all. Right now, we've been thrown out of whack due to Noelle's "swimming lessons." I put swimming lessons in quotes because they are not so much for her as they are for me - how to help her swim and learn how to kick and breathe underwater. It's been a half hour every morning this week (except tomorrow - Friday) and then next Monday through Thursday as well. Even though it's a half hour lesson, the getting there and back eats up our morning so that when we get home, it's time to eat lunch and get ready for a nap. Then I try and get a few housekeeping and work projects done while she naps, instead of resting myself, so that when she wakes up, I'm ready to crash. And I do, as soon as I sit down in the evening. :-) Anyway, hoping to get a bit of organizing done tomorrow and approach next week . . . the next several weeks actually . . . a little better. On our family schedule and "to do" list:

Arrange a time to go to traffic court . . . remember my ticket from a few weeks ago? Well, court was this morning and because I have nothing on my record, I get to go to 4 hours of driving school. I have to get it taken care of before July 7 and I want to just go and get it over with. A neat praise so our insurance doesn't go up!

This weekend is our church picnic. I'm meeting two of the young single guys from church at Sam's on Saturday morning to buy the picnic supplies so they can haul them down to our picnic area for me. Major *bursts of love* for these two guys! I learned the hard way that my car is too small to pick up all the supplies in and these truck-drivin' guys are helping me out. :-)

Make a side dish for said picnic. Hmmm, what to make?

Need to bake bread.

Next week:

Sunday we celebrate Travis' birthday! Woo-hoo! We're having a birthday lunch at my parents consisting of steaks, some kind of rice dish (and I can't remember what else, but it all sounded good!) Then I think we're going to go swimming in the pool at my folks' condo. I would post on here what Noelle got her Daddy for her birthday, but just in case he checks in I'll save it. :-)

Next week is week 2 of swimming lessons for me and Noelle. Monday also has us going to back to the Dr. for a 2nd check on Noelle's ear infection of a month ago that we are STILL trying to clear up.

The end of that week I will be working on wedding announcements for a girl that is getting married next Friday in Florida - she wants to use a picture from the wedding on the announcement so I'll be getting a picture emailed to me and then spending the rest of the weekend assembling. It will be busy, but the $$$ I will make will be worth it.

Week of June 19th

Celebrate Father's Day on Sunday . . . thankfully, we have gotten Noelle's goodie for Travis' and I've gotten something for my Dad so that can be checked off the list.

My 1st OBGYN appointment is the 22nd . . . Lord willing, we'll have a good report on the baby to share! :-) That evening, birthday party for a friend's soon to be 4 yr. old.

This is also our church's 5 Day Club week - this is the first time in a couple years that I haven't helped out with it, but I had to say no to something.

Also packing and preparing for our family vacation which is the last week in June! We leave Saturday to go to Travis' family reunion in Ohio and spend some time with his family.

Week of June 26

In Ohio!

I don't think I've shared yet the plans that Travis has made for our anniversary, either. :-) We have a frequent flyer ticket that we wanted to try and use as a family before Noelle turns 2 and we have to buy her a plane ticket. So, for our anniversary (Aug. 3), we are going to fly to Washington D.C. for about 5 days just hanging as a family there! Travis has done some research online and apparently all the Smithsonian museum, including the National Zoo, are free to get into! Woo-hoo! We're going to fly into Baltimore and take the train into D.C. - not bothering to get a rental car, but will take the train and subway to get around. I'm hoping we'll get to see my cousin (also a Travis) while there - he works for the government and my Travis has never met him, and I've never met his wife or girls. One of those rare opportunities to connect. Anyway, if you have any comments or suggestions on traveling in D.C., send them my way! I'd love to hear them.

Well, enough catching up and rambling for now . . . I'll close with a couple pictures. :-)

My tomato plants are getting huge & my lettuce is going crazy! :-)

Noelle in her $3 wading pool from Wal-mart...

---

Addendum to this post:
How could I forget?! Just to say that Lexie pointed out that my book list can in no way be complete with out the wonderful words of L.M. Montgomery added to it. How could I list my favorite books and not include the Anne of Green Gables series? And now that I'm thinking of it - Mitford!

My sister has accused me of not posting much, but I haven't had too many moments to sit and write. Noelle is taking swimming lessons (or more accurately, parent lessons - teaching me how to swim with her and help her) and that has been eating up our mornings this week, and next as well. I'm pressed to get stuff done in the afternoon and then I crash in the evening. I really need to make some bread this afternoon, but I don't think it's going to happen.

More soon...

I was tagged by Lexie here:

1) Total number of books I own?
Ballpark guess, 300 plus?! Travis and I are book people so that is still probably a conservative guess.

2) The last book I bought?

Fix it and Forget it Lightly cookbook (does a cookbook count)? If not, then it was The Naturally Healthy Pregnancy: The Essential Guide to Nutritional and Botanical Medicine for the Childbearing Years. I know next to nothing about herbs and natural remedies so I wanted to do a little studying up.

3) The last book I read?

I'm going with a new book (not a re-read) - Revelation by Beverly Lewis.

4) 5 books that mean a lot to me? (in no particular order)

My Bible

Sophie's Heart by Lori Wick

Pretense by Lori Wick

Julie by Catherine Marshall

My mind is totally drawing a blank here . . . I know there is something I could put here!

5) Tag 5 people and have them fill this out in their blogs.

Whoever wants to - go for it! :-)

Ode to Cheri

Happy Birthday Cheri!!!

I hope you have a wonderful, wonderful, WONDERFUL birthday, my twin! Thanking God that I've been allowed to get to know you! :-)

From the mind of Nattie Rose . . . things that make me happy.

Signing Noelle up for summer reading (in her case, listening) at the library today.

Ice cold iced tea in the fridge (decaffinated!)

Pizza night tonight!

Finishing my 2 Samuel/1 Chronicles study at church this week and learning how David finished well before the Lord.

My husband standing up for me when someone hurt me.

God's soveriegnty.

Beverly Lewis' The Revelation - very good. :-)

Edited to Add: Apparently I missed some comments last week so thank you to those that congratulated us on the baby news! I tried to send emails to folks, but I missed some. So sorry!!

A quick hello to say I'm here. I'm fighting nausea and exhaustion and the remains of this sinus infection and am REALLY trying to refrain from whining all over the blogging world. :-) I'm feeling incredibly behind on housework, Noelle-care, and bits and pieces of everything else so my computer time needs to take a temporary reprioritizing whilst I catch up. But a few updates of what's been happening.

We went to the zoo this weekend and had a blast! Of couse, a few photos if you click the picture below...

Noelle & Daddy...

I finished some wedding invitations for a girl from church today. She's having a small beach wedding so the invitations were very informal and fun.

I got a fun W@H postcard from Heather in the mail and a handmade card from Cheri. ((((Hugs)))) to both of you! Mail makes my day. :-)

My women's Bible study ended today. I'm hoping to jump back into Believing God shortly and use that as my summer study time. (By the way, I made this fruit salsa to take . . . sooooooo yummy.)

Noelle starts her "Parent & Me" swimming classes next week - 4 days a week from 10-10:30 a.m. Travis has even taken off two half-days so he can go with her to a couple of the lessons.

Off to pull together a few things to go with my chicken soft tacos in the crockpot for dinner. :-)