Last Week and a Little DeLurking!

I know the real "delurking" week was back in January or something, but with the baby coming THIS WEEK, I'm going to hold a special week of delurking here at Olive Tree. I'm pretty sure I did this right before I had N2, so why not make it a tradition. :-) While I am aware of some of you who read here, I know there are lurkers ... and with a forthcoming announcement of a new baby, I'm just curious to know who will be stalking checking in for any details. I'll remind you all over the course of the week, so when you get a chance, please leave me a comment ... it doesn't have to be fancy - "hi!" is perfectly fine. I won't even make you guess how big you think the baby is going to be. :-) Much thanks!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In other news, I think I got a grand total of one and half hours of sleep last night. N1 had a little stomach bug that surfaced about 11 p.m. ... Travis did bed duty (stripping sheets and getting it ready for her to go back down) while I comforted her, got her into dry jammies and administered a little watered down apple juice. Poor girl gets COMPLETELY freaked out when she wakes up suddenly and is sick like that. Not that I blame her at all, but it does take a while to calm her down. By then I was burning up hot and could not get cooled down enough to fall asleep so I tried watching a little TV ... that didn't work great, but I started getting sleepy sometime after 2 a.m. Then I was rallied by the sound of crying from N2 ... she had gotten sick as well so this time I got her cleaned up and put her bed with Travis while I restored some order to her crib. Then she was WIDE awake and apparently happy that her stomach had been cleared of whatever was bugging her because she just wanted to play and talk until about 4:30! Oh, well! :-) In the midst of all this, I did get a couple loads of laundry done so that the girls would at least wake up to their favorite blankies clean and free of ick.

I'm very thankful that we have a low-key day around here ... the agenda includes more laundry, a trip to the bank and that's about it. I've also got to finish laying out what I want to pack in my hospital bag and I need to check our baby car seat and bouncy seat (which have been stored in the garage) and see how dusty they are and if they need serious cleaning. I don't think they'll be in too bad of shape ... I mean, we JUST put them out there a few months ago! Crazy. :-)

So...

Anyone else try this? Tastes the same to me. :)

Coca-Cola North America today announced it will launch Diet Coke Plus™, a sparkling, calorie-free beverage with vitamins and minerals. In addition to providing great, refreshing taste, Diet Coke Plus is a good source of vitamins B3, B6, and B12, and the minerals zinc and magnesium.

Friday Favorite, April 27

It's so hard to pick just one! :) But, I'm going to go with one of my favorite Bible verses that I've been chewing and stewing on for well over a year now. Right after N2 was born, I even had it taped to the wall next to the bed and would sit and read it over and over again as I would go to sleep.

The Lord's lovingkindnesses indeed never cease,

for His compassions never fail.

They are new every morning;

Great is Your faithfulness.

Lamintations 3:22-23

Such a good reminder to me ...

For more Friday Favorites, head over and meet Amberly at Moments Amid Messes!

Yet another...

5 Minutes for Mom cool contest! N1 has FINALLY discovered the joy of hair accessories ... we had some what of a late start as she didn't really even have hair until she was about two. :-) However, she now will request different barettes and ribbons to go with her outfits and I'm tickled pink. So, when I saw this week's giveaway at 5MfM I was all about it ... cool barettes and fancy hairbows from Madison's Room!

Hop over to 5MfM if you want to enter!

Goodies

... from Aunt Kathy. She goes a little crazy with the girl clothes and we totally benefit. :)

Thankful Thursday, April 26

So much to be thankful for as always, so this week I'm going to participate in Thankful Thursday, hosted by Iris at Sting in my Heart. :)

• Nine days to go until we meet our baby!
• Rainy, cooler weather.
• A husband that keep me stocked in ice to much on ... what I crave terribly here at the end of pregnancy.
• Eating oatmeal with honey in it with N2.
• Being silly with N1.
• Other babies that are on the way very imminently!
• Macaroni and cheese for lunch.

Nothing New

I imagine things will be somewhat slim around here for the next several weeks. There is just not much going on to report as we are in those last days of waiting. I mean, I could write long posts about how little sleep I'm getting and how ready I am to have this baby, but that will get real old, real fast. :) There are rumors that the hospital we are going to deliver at has wireless internet now ... but I doubt I'll be up to updating the blog until we get home. We'll see. :) My sister will be updating Women at Home of course, so the WAH ladies can all check there for any breaking news.

The Newberry Challenge

Thanks to Nattie, I'm going to do the Newberry Challenge. The plan ... to read six books that were Newberry Award Winners between May 15 and December 31. I'm always up for reading children's books. :)

My choices:

1. Holes, Louis Sachar

2. The Midwife's Apprentice, Karen Cushman

3. Sarah, Plain and Tall, Patricia Maclachlan

4. Miss Hickory, Carolyn Sherwin Bailey

5. Dear Mr. Henshaw, Beverly Cleary

6. Caddie Woodlawn, Carol Ryrie Brink

All these are new to me with the exception of Caddie Woodlawn ... and I couldn't even begin to tell you how long it's been since I read that one. :)

Menu Plan Monday, April 23

So last week I was on the ball with breakfast, lunch and dinner planned out ... not happening this week. :)

Monday: breakfast burritos, fruit salad
Tuesday: Ritzy Chicken, squash cassarole (didn't make this last week), some green veggie. (The Ritzy Chicken is from the Simple Centsible Suppers cookbooks from Biblical Womanhood).
Wednesday: Chilled pasta salad
Thursday: Sloppy Joe Turnovers, shoestring oven fries, some healthy veggie (green beans?)
Friday: Pizza
Saturday: Up in the air ... Travis is probably going to take the girls to the zoo that day so I'm not going to plan anything and just see how the day unfolds. :)
Sunday: Family lunch

Visit Org Junkie for more great menus!

Nancy made a comment on my last layout post about finding the time to scrapbook. I had to laugh a little because that layout (and this one) are probably the first two that I have made in weeks. I just got the itch and acting on it right then, which isn't my first tendency. Normally, I put it off until I think I'll have time to sit and get a bunch of pages done and then it never happens. :) Coincidentally, I read a quote this morning in a interview with Ali Edwards about how she manages to find the time to scrap and be creative when it seems like everyone is so busy now-a-days. She says:

I think what I would really like to change is the misconception that the people who do this are the ones with tons of time on their hands. Come on! Everyone is busy; everyone has stuff going on in their lives. Creating is really a lifestyle choice.

Love it. And I'm learning that a little bit of creativity goes a long way in helping me retain my sanity.

For example ... this morning was one of THOSE mornings. N1 had two incidents which required baths from the waist down ... I have no idea what hit her, but suffice it to say, UGH. And there was me with no Diet Coke in the house, 2 weeks away from having a baby, and a 14 month old who was also emitting some special smell herself. I sat down for a second, contemplated how hard I needed to cry about my situation, and decided I could either mope about the rest of day or change my attitude. So, I cleaned up the girls, put N2 down for a nap, put N1 in clean clothes and let her pick out a 1/2 hour video to watch, and I got out my scrap stuff. One thing I'm learning from folks like Ali Edwards and Stacy Julian is that in big picture scrapbooking, I want to remember to document as much of our life and memories as I can, no matter how random, or even if they are about dirty diapers. Thus, the layout above, done in about 30 minutes. The journaling reads:

One of those mornings! Bathroom blowouts requiring new outfits and a bath (and just throwing away the ARIEL underwe@r ... THAT BAD). Random photos of my girls to remind me these frustrations are blips in their life. The big picture ... it's all good. They are so worth these little incoveniences and mess.

Real life scrapbooking. :)

Friday's Feast

Appetizer
What is your favorite kind of bread?
Like I could pick just one. :) If I had to choose, I would probably pick a bread bowl (like you get at Atlanta Bread Company or Panera or someplace like that. I admit it ... when I finish my soup, I have been known to devour the bread bowl as well. Especially if the bread is soaked with yummy broth from French Onion Soup or something like that.

Soup
When was the last time you bought a new pillow?

A couple years ago I had to return a Christmas present to Wal-mart and ended up with a $40-50 credit at Wal-mart. I ended up spending it all on stuff that was just fun and silly ... nothing practical like groceries at all! And, one of the purchases was a new pillow which I'm still using.

Salad
Approximately how many hours per week do you spend surfing the ‘net?
Randomly surfing? Not much. Reading blogs ... um, I claim the fifth. :) Granted, I'm spending a little bit more time on now just because I'm trying to make myself sit some in the afternoon and in the evenings with my feet up. I'm sure this will decrease dramatically when baby 3 arrives shortly.

Main Course
What’s the highest you remember your temperature being?
Maybe 101 or so? I honestly don't know.

Dessert
Fill in the blanks: When I ____________, I _____________.
When I need to get out of the house and have no money, I take my girls to the library! And that's what we'll hopefully be doing this afternoon. :) We've been home since Tuesday and N1 has been patiently asking every day to go to the library and recheck out the Curious George book I had to return.

Off to get lunch ready for when N2 wakes up and then head out for a bit. The girls are spending the night at my folks' house tonight ... sort-of a test run for them (especially N2) since she's never slept over there before they spend 3-4 nights with them when the baby comes. I need to finish getting their bags ready ... my goal is to have their bags packed as if they are going over for the baby-visit and then my Mom can just keep them there. That will hopefully same me any panic or headaches should something unexpected come up with the baby and they get shuffled to Grandma's without anything. Now if I could just hunker down and get MY bag packed!

Miscellaneous

1. kissed someone? Probably one of the girls ... we had some floor time this afternoon and I believe there was kissing and tickling involved.

2. drank coffee? Just warmed some up in my cup ... mmm.

3. read a book? I'm between books right now, having just wrapped up a couple. I need to pull Emma back out of my book basket as well as start on a new non-fiction from my Spring Reading list.

4. cursed? At least college ... I have two really specific memories of swearing. (I know, you are dying to know about it!) One was as a 4-5 year old and I took God's name in vain. First time, I remember my Dad explaining we wouldn't do that and if I did it again; the second time ... obviously the spanking I received made quite an impact. I've not done it since. :) I think the 2nd (and really, honestly, the only other time I can remember swearing) was when I was maybe a sophomore in college ... it just came out, I was shocked and appalled, and that was it.

5. had a nightmare? It's been a while, but I'm also not getting lots of sleep and what there is isn't very good. :) Probably not sleeping soundly enough to have a nightmare.

6. checked your email? It's up right now ... love high-speed internet. :)

7. had a crush? On my yummy yummy baby girl this evening. She enjoyed her dinner so much that we literally stripped her down in the highchair and she went straight to the sink for a quick bath before jammies and bed. She is too stinkin' adorable.

8. drove a car? I think Tuesday ... we've been home a bunch this week.

9. rode a roller coaster? Um, I don't do roller coasters - too fast, too high, too nauseous. Ick. :) I did ride some little rides with N1 at Cedar Point last summer. Travis and our neice took on the big ones and had a ball!

10. took a nap? Um. I can't remember. That's a shame because I could really use one.

11. went to the movies? We took the girls to see the Berry Blossom Festival (Strawberry Shortcake) about a month ago before Travis went out of town on one of his trips. They loved it. N2 danced to the music through the whole thing and N1 was very into it as well. I was just glad we only paid matinee prices for it ... but it was cute and clean and very girly. Right up our alley.

12. drank alcohol? I never have. I've tasted a few things over the years, but I don't count that as drinking. Beer once in college, a cosmopolitan when I used to work at the bar association, maybe wine once or twice. I've never liked the taste.

13. went to a party? Define party. Umm, we had a spring party here about a month ago, and Sunday we're celebrating my Dad's birthday.

14. said “I love you"? To the girls this afternoon.

15. cooked a meal? Dinner tonight was a homemade masterpiece. Well, it was hot when it hit the table. :)

16. exercised? Ha. I got a drink and went to the bathroom a few mintues ago.

Hat tip to Lindsay at Enjoy the Journey for this one.

Linky-Dinky-Do

Another 5 Minutes for Mom contest ... they encourage you to share the news about their contests on your blog because others might like to enter and win, but seriously, pretend you didn't see this because this would be so cool if I won. :) They are giving away a 9" Digital Photo Frame from Phillips. How cool would that look sitting on my desk, with pictures of my girls rotating through it.

So, what are you waiting for? Go sign up yourself. You know you want to. :) (And if you win, it would be a great baby gift for someone ... hint.) :)

Pencil Lines Challenge

My layout in response to a challenge posted at Pencil Lines. I'm a huge fan of Kristina Contes' scrapbooking and when I saw that she did the sketch, I wanted to try and scraplift it. Plus, I've had these two photos of the girls on my desk for about a week and knew exactly what I wanted to say about them ... the journaling is a portion of lyrics from the Martina McBride song, "In My Daughter's Eyes."

For Heather

I'm sure you've seen these all over the Blogosphere, but today's For Heather. For her story, go here. To find out how you can help, go here.

Or pray, right where you are, for His healing mercy, wisdom for Heather, her family and her doctors, and that His grace and soveriegnty will be so apparent in this situation.

Thus Far ... Spring Reading Thing Update

Fiction

• White Chocolate Moments by Lori Wick. I finished this one first. For a spot-on review of this book check out Robinznest ... it wasn't the best Lori Wick ever, but it was passable. Predictable, a little cheesy, and I found the male characters fairly unbelieveable.
• Emma by Jane Austin. In Process
• The Yada Yada Prayer Group Gets Caught by Neta Jackson. Sooooo good. Love Yada Yada. This is what believeable characters should look like - warts and all. Jodi is my girl. Stepping out in her walk with the Lord and looking so often like mine with 3 steps forward and 2 steps back. Liked it so much that I added...
• The Yada Yada Prayer Group Gets Rollin' by Neta Jackson. (Book 7) Excellent! Now I just have to wait until October for the eighth and last book in the series.

Non Fiction

• A Place of Quiet Rest: Finding Intimacy with God Through a Daily Devotional Life by Nancy DeMoss. This book blessed me so much. I think, if I can put enough thoughts together on it, I want to do a whole post on it. (I did touch on one part here). This is by far one of the most encouraging, practical, well-written books I've come across on how important daily time with the Lord is and there are 3-4 chapters alone dedicated to suggestions ... do-able suggestions. Two thumbs way up!
• Hospitality Commands by Alexander Strauch. An excellent (and short!) book convicting me on this area and how I need to be extremely purposeful on opening my home up to others.
• Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook. Eh. It had some great recipes in it, but what I think they meant by it not being your mother's slow cooker book is that most of the recipes were fairly exotic, requiring ingredients that I wouldn't normally keep on hand or were frankly more expensive that I could afford for a meal. It would be a great reference cookbook or for a special occasion, but not one that I would use often.
• Daniel (as in the Bible) Read through this and did fine for the first half. Totally confused during the 2nd half of the book when it dips deep into prophecy. Thankful that it looks like we'll be reading and studying through this this fall.

Children's Reading

• The Complete Adventures of Curious George by Margret & H.A. Rey. We enjoyed this big time! So much that when I had to finally return it to the library, N1 has been asking almost daily when we can go check it out again.
• Have read almost one book a day to the girls, sometimes more. So, going good!

Menu Plan Monday on Tuesday

At least I did it on Monday ... !

Monday:

(B) Oatmeal

(L) Sonic ... we had to get groceries ... side note: have you tried their new patty melts?? Yum!

(D) Ceasar Chicken Pasta Salad

Tuesday:

(B) Oatmeal

(L) Chicken nuggets and fruit for the girls; leftovers for me

(D) Chicken Broccoli Lo Mein

Wednesday:

(B) Banana pancakes

(L) Mac & cheese with hotdogs

(D) Mexican soup in the crockpot (eaten over fritos)

Thursday:

(B) Oatmeal

(L) Ummm, sandwiches? Leftovers?

(D) Cowboy Chow, squash cassarole (from the Mitford Cookbook!), and green beans

Friday:

(B) Biscuits

(L) Leftovers

(D) Pizza or possible date night??

Saturday:

(B) Oatmeal/cereal

(L) Leftovers/sandwiches

(D) Breakfast burritos, fruit salad

Gasp!

Three days of no internet or email at home!

*deep breath*

Life is hopefully now back to normal. :) I have my 37 week appointment this afternoon. Going so fast.

More later.

Friday's Feast

I haven't done one of these in a while, and as I'm not feeling any particular inspiration, here goes:

Appetizer ~ When you were a child, which crayon color was your favorite?

I'm going to guess purple as that was a favorite color for a looooong time.

Soup ~ On a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 being highest), how likely would you be to change jobs if it required you to move?

I can't really answer this as I'm a S@HM, however, I would be totally open to it if Travis' job necessitated a change, or if he ever decides to go to seminary full-time. I've moved so much in my life, that it doesn't freak me out like it would have 10-15 years ago ... now I would look at it as more of an adventure. That doesn't mean that I don't love where we are now - our home, church, friends, closeness to family, etc. But, I'm not one that is so firmly staked somewhere that I couldn't move.

Salad ~ Take all the numbers in your birthday and your phone number and add them up, one by one. What’s the total?

50

Main Course ~ Have you ever “re-gifted” anything? If so, what was it and who did you pass it on to?

Well, yes. :) It's been several years, but when we were expecting N1, I was given at least 2 (maybe 3) winter coats for her, both with tags on them. A girl that I worked with at the time was also expecting her first daughter, so I gifted her with one of the coats.

Dessert ~ Name something you need from the store.

Coffee - we only have enought left for one more pot!

Blog-Love

Christian Living

• Advent for Evangelicals
• Amy's Humble Musings
• Biblical Womanhood
• Girl Talk
• Living Proof Ministries - Beth Moore

Homemaking (a.k.a. those that bring out my inner Martha Stewart!)

• The Aldi Queen
• I'm an Organizing Junkie
• Like Merchant Ships
• Making it Home - Mrs. Catherine
• Pleasant View Schoolhouse
• The Sparrow's Nest

Mommy Blogs

• Ashley's Journal
• Baseballs & Bows
• Blest with Sons
• BooMama
• Callipidder Days
• Enjoy the Journey
• Fruit in Season
• Home Sanctuary
• In the Midst of It
• Looking Towards Heaven
• Lots of Scotts
• Once Upon a Time
• Preschoolers & Peace
• Raising Five
• Reflecting Him
• Rocks in My Dryer
• Seeking Faithfulness
• Snapshot
• Staying in Touch
• This One's for the Girls

Recipes, Food & Diet Inspiration!

• The Amazing Shrinking Mom
• Crunchy Culinary Capers
• Kayln's Kitchen
• One Weigh or Another

Scrapbookers & Other Artistic Inspiration:

• Ali Edwards
• Allison Kimball
• Becky Higgins
• Cathy Zielske
• Donna Downey
• ElisaLou Designs - way cool purses
• Elsie Flannigan
• Heidi Swapp
• Jessica Turner
• KaiMei Smith (Fontwerks) - Living Dreams
• The Look Blog
• Pencil Lines/Sketches
• Rebecca Cooper
• Rebecca Sower
• ScrapHappy
• Shimelle.com
• Stacy Julian
• Tara Whitney - Photo Blog

Women at Home Ladies:

• A Wandering Heart - Lauren
• Bellclapper's Garden - AmyJo
• Bright Sunshiny Day - AJ
• Crissy
• DuckyFriend - Pat
• Kudzu and Koolaid - Cheri
• Holly
• Maria
• Mom Just Like You - Nancy
• Nattie Writes
• Our Homeschool Journey - Misty
• Pattie
• PlaidHearts - Dawn
• The Prattling Pastor's Wife - Leann
• PWChick - Aleta
• Simplegrace - Crystal
• The Sockgirl - Cheryl
• Think Pink - Dana
• Twinkling for Jesus - MichelleD
• Zoe's Blog

Misc.:

• Deliciously Clean Reads
• Diamond Sky - Lexie
• Freckles is Lost with Sawyer - Nicole
• Maltaharma - Kellie
• The Well-Drained Mind

Slow Cooked Tamale Cassarole

As requested (and thanks for asking!), here is the recipe for Slow Cooked Tamale Cassarole that I made this week.

1 lb. ground beef
1 egg
1 1/2 cups milk
3/4 cup cornmeal
1 can (15 1/4 oz) whole kernel corn, drained
1 can (14 1/2 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can (2 1/4 oz) sliced ripe olives, drained
1 envelope chili seasoning
1 t. seasoning salt
1 cup (4 oz) shredded cheddar cheese

In a skillet, cook beef over medium heat until no longer pink; drain. In a bowl, combine the egg, milk and cornmeal until smooth. Add corn, tomatoes, olives, chili seasoning, seasoned salt and beef.

Transfer to a greased slow cooker. Cover and cook on high for 3 hours and 45 minutes. Sprinkle with cheese; cover and cook 14 minutes longer or until cheese is melted.

Serves: 6
From: Taste of Home Slow Cooker Recipes 2007

Thinking

One of my books that I'm reading in the Spring Reading Thing is A Place of Quiet Rest by Nancy DeMoss. The sub-title of this book is Finding Intimacy with God Through a Daily Devotional Life. I'm laying it out here ... I really struggle with this. I'm not good at setting aside time for the Lord ... some of it is due to habits I never learned, some due to some misconceptions I have had about God ... but make no mistake, it's something I need to do. That said, I ran across this paragraph in the book that made me stop, and think, and go back and read the paragraph again, and think some more. You get the idea.

Over the years I've watched women walk through almost every conceivable ordeal, some of which have been unbelievably tragic or complex. I have prayed with friends through their struggles to cope with terminal disease, rebellious sons and daughters, abusive husbands, and torturous memories of sexual abuse. I have wept with women at the graveside of a little child, in the hospital following an accident that left their loved on on life support, and at the bedside of a husband dying from cancer.

Through those experiences I have learned a foundational truth. Whether the problem is earth-shattering or a mere blip on the radar screen of our lives, ultimately, the real issue is this: "Will I surrender to God's hand and purposes in my life?" Those who refuse to relinquish control become emotionally and spiritually bankrupt - bitter, demanding, impossible to live with. Those who say in simple surrender, "Yes, Lord," emerge from the experience spiritually rich, and their lives become a source of grace and encouragement to others who are hurting.

I am realizing that this is something that I don't know how to do and it affects everything. From my relationship with God ("ahem, fix this and this and this"), to submitting to my husband (um, no control issues there!), to fear of how I would handle some devestating tragedy in our family ... I fight surrender to God's will in so, so, so many areas.

One way that I have specifically seen this played out is in the last area that I mentioned. We have been so abudantly blessed with two healthy little girls. There is a part of me that sometimes wonders when the other shoe will drop, so to say. Will it be with this sweet baby? As if I don't know enough friends struggling in my offline-life, I've become acquainted with several women bloggers who walk this path daily: Sarah and her daughter Addison and Trish and her daughter Ashley. This morning, I read of another Mom, already dealing with her daughter heart condition, has been diagnosed with a brain tumor. Yet, amazingly, their writings are so full of grace and wisdom and that peace that passeth all understanding ... I am floored. I'm not saying they don't question. I'm not saying there is never anger. But these are women that have learned an amazing truth:

For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways," declares the LORD.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways
And My thoughts than your thoughts.
Isaiah 55:8-9

It's a good feeling to be searching the Scriptures on my own so that I can write these truths upon my heart as well.

36 weeks and then some...

Dr. appointment this morning and all went well. I'm down to weekly appointments and we even have our section date scheduled! (Still not sure if I'm not going to leave it for a surprise or not). :) I even lost 4 pounds, probably due to the little stomach virus that we suffered through as a family over the last week and a half. I guess that's one positive thing that came out of it!

Check out this fun Misty-mail that came yesterday:

Okay, I know I'm a little biased to girl stuff, but how totally cute! Thanks Misty!! :)

Menu Plan Monday - April 9

Monday: Slow-cooker Tamale Cassarole ... been trying to make this for 2-3 weeks and it's in the crockpot for dinner tonight. Probably serving with spanish rice. New recipe.
Tuesday: Aisan salad with diced chicken. (The Fresh Express bags of salad were really reduced at Kroger this morning and so I bought the 4-5 that they had left ... I'll just use one of those bags and throw some chicken in there for an easy meal).
Wednesday: Chili (in the crock)
Thursday: Charleston chops (from Saving Dinner's pork freezer meals ... new recipe), baked potatoes and more salad.
Friday: Dinner out!
Saturday: Ham and beans in the crockpot.

For more menus, visit Org Junkie!

Not much else in the way of news to report from this end. We had a wonderful and busy Easter ... it was freezing here so we bundled the girls in winter dresses for church and will have to wait a few weeks for a cute picture of them in their Easter dresses. :) Today has been nice and slow with only a trip out to get the oil changed in the car. I've been trying to rest a bit more in the afternoon when N2 is napping and N1 is having some computer time. Making myself sit with my feet up is HARD. :) (Not that I don't like sitting and reading and stuff, but it's hard to do it in the afternoons when that's my good productive time when the baby is napping). Tomorrow is our 36 week appointment and hoping to have a section date scheduled.

On tap for this week - get my hospital bag packed and ready, as well as the girls' go-to-Grandma's bags. They are both spending the night with the grandparents on Friday night ... a test-run mainly for N2 since she's never slept over with them before, and my goal is to have both their bags ready to go and then just stay there until their baby-stay. Also want to start addressing baby announcement envelopes. The baby announcement card (I think) is finally finalized and ready to go ... just need baby info now! :)

A is for age: 36
B is for beer of choice: Diet Root Beer
C is for career right now: Wife and mother
D is for your dog's name: Sam and/or Jenny. Take your pick, there are two of them.
E is for essential item you use everyday: My laptop!
F is for favorite TV show at the moment: I can't tell you the last TV show I watched. Favorite would probably be Alias or West Wing on DVD.
G is for favorite game: We don't play tons of games ... we play with the game pieces, but not according to any actual rules as of yet. :)
H is for home town: OKC, if you mean where was I born.
I is for instruments you play: Piano, acoustic guitar, flute.
J is for favorite juice: I so rarely drink juice. It's been burned into my head that those are wasted calories/sugar from my Weight Watcher days. However, I love cranberry juice with diet ginger ale.
K is for who you'd like to kiss: Any immediate family member. I like them all! But not my dogs. I don't kiss dogs.
L is for last place you ate: (I'll answer this based on yesterday). We had Easter lunch at my folks ... we were supposed to host it, but with the germs we couldn't seem to shake we decided it best to pass on the hosting duties this year.
M is for marriage: Five years in August.
N is for your full name: No thanks.
O is for overnight hospital stays: Twice (almost 3 times) for babies.
P is for people you were with today: My family and an older gentleman from church who joined us for Easter dinner.
Q is for quote: "You can do it!" (What N1 says to me all.the.time. when she is trying to convince encourage me to do something). :)
R is for biggest regret: Two at the top of my list ... not knowing or understanding the importance of daily time in the Word and prayer at a younger age ... it's such a struggle now. And that I would have practice the piano more.
S is for status: Happily married.
T is for time you woke up today: 6:30 am
U is for underwear you have on now: Uncomfortable, and that's all you'll get.
V is for vegetable you love: Lately, all about the broccoli.
W is for worst habit: Um. Too much computer time. :)
X is for x-rays you've had: Teeth, ankle (rolled it off a curb), finger (broke it playing softball), maybe a few others...
Y is for yummy food you ate today: Again, based on our yummy Easter ... it was all good. My Grandma's apricot jello salad, green bean cassarole, ham, etc.
Z is for the zodiac sign: No thanks. That creeps me out. I don't even know what mine is.

This quiz courtesy of Baseballs and Bows!

Introducing...

Moe.



Noelle has Baa.


Natalie has her elephant (however, although she loves her elephant, her blankie is her true love).

Baby #3 will have Moe. Off to pack one of them in the hospital bag so she'll be ready to go.

A New Love

Thanks to a new book that I spotted at this blog, I have a new fun project that actually keeps me awake while watching TV with Travis in the evening. :) I made this one for baby girl to see if I could pull this embroidery thing off and was pleased with the results! I need to do a better job of hiding my threads in the back, but overall, not too shabby for the first time.

Who Do You Know?

Nan has a fun linky up to participate in today ... the question is "who do you know" in blogland, and the optional tag-a-long question of who you would like to know. :-) Now Nan is a new to me blogger, however, I went to college with her husband (not a close friend, but I definitely recognized pictures of him!)

This spurs me to share a photo of my friend Leah, who is fairly new to blogging. She and I roomed together the fall semester of our senior year ... both of us social studies education majors!



I've had the privilege of meeting several bloggy friends ... most I have met through the Women at Home ministry which I've been part of for about two years now! You can see pics from a recent W@H gathering here. I think that's the third(?) time I've seen Dana, and maybe the 2nd to hook-up with Say-ruh. Lauren and I run into each other a little more often since we live in the same town, and her Dad and my Dad are photography geeks buddies and her folks go to my church. Maria and Vicki were first-time meet-ups. :) I've also met several others from Women at Home: Leann, Nattie, Becky, Jojo, Heather, Skipper, Stacey ... who am I leaving out ... I didn't realize that I'd met so many!

Then, of course, I have had the privilege of dinner with Blest when she and her family were traveling through town on their way home:



And Meredith and I have crossed paths a time or two trading tiny girl clothes and toys for busy preschoolers!

There are way too many that I would like to meet up with IRL to list them all so I won't even go there. :) (Like Cheri, Katherine, BooMama - although I really think I just want BooMama to feed me...) Really, the list is just ridiculous if I put everyone on there). :)

If you play along with this, leave your linky over at Nan's, and let me know so I can come read your post!

Spring Pictures

Some of you may remember this picture (summer 2005):



This is this summer:



And a few spring pics of my girl:

When I Grow Up

Starting a new class today from Shimelle called When I Grow Up. I so enjoyed her Christmas Journal Class that I'm back again.

Menu Plan Monday - April 2

It's a good sign that things are looking up around here when I can plan meals with real food. :-) Or maybe that's optimistic of me. Here's this week's menu and a few new dishes thrown in to test:

Monday: Ground Beef Gyros (freezer meal from Saving Dinner), leftover salad. Note: this is the second time we've had this dish, the cucumber dressing that goes with it is wonderful!
Tuesday: Potatoes and eggs (breakfast burritos), peaches
Wednesday: Slow-Cooked Tamale Cassarole, from Taste of Home's Slow Cooker Recipes, new
Thursday: Cowboy Chow, from Busy Cooks' Lowfat Cookbook, with broccoli parmesan
Friday: Pizza night
Saturday: Charleston Chops (pork freezer meal from Saving Dinner, new), baked potatoes, salad
Sunday: Easter Lunch at our home ... menu to be worked out with my Mom and sister tomorrow over lunch. Ham will be on there, along with my Mom's apricot jello salad (YUM!), my sister's green bean cassarole, and I'll probably be making homemade yeast rolls.

I'm going to try and do a bit more planning today, so I can get a few extra meals in the freezer each week pre-baby.

For more menus and meal ideas, head over to Org Junkie's!

Sunday

I'm home from church with the munchkins this morning. N1 had a restless night, and the cause of that was shared with all of that a little before 7 a.m. this morning. It's now 9:30, and both girls are napping - N2 in her crib, and N1 on the couch out here with me so I can monitor her easily and assist in any rushing to the bathroom. I didn't sleep so well last night either (I think yesterday's first day of real food was a bit much for my sensitive stomach), so I'm going to the couch and veg, maybe make a grocery list for this week, and just rest.

If you need something to read, stop over at Holly's for a great post on contentment. Pretty timely for me this a.m. Struggling with being content when I'm dying to get out of the house, and am tired of washing sheets and clothes over and over.

Things I can be thankful for:

• the fact I HAVE a washer and dryer that clean our clothes so well
• all our cloth diapers are clean as of this morning!
• for Grandparents that take the time to drop of a Dora DVD for the sick kiddo on their way to church
• that I didn't have any responsibilities at church this morning (unusual) and could stay home without have to have lots of bases covered
• God is good