"A Good Friend Is A Connection To Life-A Tie To The Past, A Road To The Future, The Key To Sanity In A Totally Insane World."

~Lois Wyse

A cradle for our room, lent to us by the nanny family. Perfect, right?!?

Clearly, whoever is doubting the good in the world, does NOT have the friends that I have! As I sit here licking the plate of the remnants of my homemade banana cream pie (I know I should somehow be ashamed for admitting that, but there is no shame with this dessert), I am so very grateful to be surrounded by such generous, sincere, caring, and loving friends who have become extensions of my family and of my heart! Thank you to everyone who through small gestures, grand gestures, kind words, random check-ins, and silent prayers help us to be who we are today. We would not be here without you! Specifically today, I am grateful for an amazing boss who shared her cradle so that we may have a bed in our room for our dear little peanut, who also gave us extra car seats for when we need it for a second vehicle, for a husband who looked so unbelievably lovable while making a homemade Christmas present for TWO HOURS tonight for a family member, for a former boss who called to check in and remind me how amazing of a mother she thinks I am going to be, and of a super gal pal who-amidst her crummy day-called to see if I was getting any more sleep than the last few nights. You are all incredible and continue to inspire me to be a better friend. Thank you for sharing your love and support! It really means so much! Again, I am reminded of how truly blessed we are to be so fortunate with the people we are surrounded by!

This morning I was able to sleep in until 5am and had only gotten up once to pee last night-victory! I'll gladly win the small battles every time and be happy with that! I got to work on outlining our Christmas card, reading  some of my daily devotional for small group, doing a bunch of dishes, purging our refrigerator of expired and unwanted food, and scrubbing down the kitchen. I was going to make Tony some cinnamon rolls for breakfast, but time got away from me and before I knew it he was off to work and I was lost in chores. I headed into work myself for a few hours today, talking to a former boss on the phone while on the way. It was nice to catch up with her and see how she's been, and she had some very nice things to say to me and some motherly wisdom to impart. 

At work I was surprised by the beautiful holiday decorations around their house-so festive! Who knew you could have nice decorations with a 2 year old and 6 month old?!? That's right, M is 6 months old, as of yesterday! He even LOOKED older today! I swear! I also enjoyed the fact that they had a blue tree as well-and here I thought I was the only one who liked a theme...K and I chatted before she headed out to run some errands. Both boys were a little under the weather, although you wouldn't have known by their behavior. Gosh, I just wanted to cuddle them for four hours straight! J and I played with toys for awhile and then the boys and I took a walk before I had to turn back to use the bathroom. When J was down for his nap, I snuggled with M while he napped on my chest...what cuties they both are! K sent me home with a cradle they are no longer using-which we plan on using in our bedroom for the first few months that Peyton sleeps in our room. It is so nice to be able to use friend's furniture instead of purchasing it for ourselves just to use it for only a few months! She also gave us her spare car seat and spare infant seat and we will also be getting her baby "gym mat" on Thursday. What a gracious friend to share all of that with us! How did we ever get so lucky?!?

Came home and read a little more out of my Purpose Driven Life book while eating a late lunch of Spaghettios-really hit the spot! Was surprised to find we had no mail-not even junk mail. Put away all of this morning's dishes and caught up on my daily allotment of stalking. When Tony came home he got right to work on making his Christmas gift (my mom's side of the family has a theme every year when we exchange names-this year the theme was that your gift had to be handmade). I would've included a picture here, but Tony refused to let me photograph the process and if I took a picture of his finished product, then the surprise for his secret Santa in a few weeks would be ruined. Thus, no picture. While he worked on that, I made some chicken fajitas for dinner and think they were exceptionally tasty tonight! Afterwards, I chatted with Nikki, helped her scan a few things-she had to update internet stuff because her accounts had been hacked, and was trying to stretch out my belly as much as possible because Peyton was already doing it from the inside and I was trying to be agreeable and helpful by giving her as much room as I could.

I felt in the mood for some vanilla pudding and then all of a sudden realized I wanted banana cream pie, and, voi-la...a half hour later and I am fully satisfied-as I think Monkey is, too! Now it's time for a shower and then time to cuddle with an incredible man.

I will post pictures of his Christmas project AFTER our family exchanges presents...that way I won't be responsible for ruining any surprises. I think he really got into the process and I even think he may make MORE items like this in the future-perhaps for his daughter...hmm...hint, hint, wink, wink.

Okay, love to all of you out there! A special shout out to my dear little girl-you are going to love hanging out at my job with two amazing boys who can't wait to have a little girl around to play with. You are so lucky to have them to look up to and to watch out for you! Good night, darling! Momma loves you so very much!

"Let There Be Light."

Not the full holiday outside decorations I had been hoping for, but this is what we have: door wreath and railing garland.

To signal us when we have visitors.

Our version of snow here in Northern California.

An alphabet blanket knit by a friend of the family. Thank you, Jeanne!

~The Bible

...and so there was! Our kitchen light was fixed today. It has never worked. Ever since we moved in almost a year ago (December 8th), this has bugged me. The recessed light above the kitchen sink has never worked, despite new light bulbs and Tony tinkering with the electrical wires. Today, that problem was fixed by a little man in a tool belt-and all under warranty-hooray!

Went through more bins of holiday gear today, made a fresh sweet potato pie for my bosses for tomorrow, confirmed addresses for our Christmas card mailings, organized random things in our closet, dropped off a necklace to Darcie to be fixed (I had broken it, but has a lifetime warranty), wrote all of December's birthday cards that need to be mailed out, did dishes, decorated the railing outside, and watched a few movies. Oh, and today I took my first nap since I started vacation...boy did that feel amazing! So cozy! I felt a little guilty because there is definitely stuff I could have worked on, or I could've enjoyed the beautiful weather and clear view of the mountains, but the pillow was calling my name-and I think Peyton appreciated laying down, too!

Was surprised when I got the mail this afternoon to get a package from a long time family friend. She had sent us a super soft and sweet baby blanket that has blocks with the alphabet in white. Thank you, Jeanne! I can't wait to wrap our little girl in it when we bring her home in a few short weeks!

Stalked a bunch of people on facebook, talked with Mom, Dan, Dad, and Mary today and started thinking about the little bit of Christmas shopping I still need to take care of. Tons of lists made, but I feel like I have a plan now.

Made some chicken parmesan for dinner tonight and redid the December dry-erase calendar...officially starting the countdown to our little lady's arrival! Big month ahead! I think she sensed her big day on the horizon, as she was very active all day...some of it not as pleasant as others-I appreciate when her foot is somewhere OTHER than in my ribcage....but I'll take what I get.

Sugar and spice and everything nice...can't wait to meet you, sweetheart! xox

"Chaos Is A Friend Of Mine."

~Bob Dylan

Over the years I have fought against change and tried to have a tight grasp on my day, only to come to the realization that I cannot control EVERYTHING. I've also come to find that the more I try to hold onto my schedule, the easier it falls away from me and the more I miss out on the actual experience of living. My life has slowly transitioned from one long "To Do" list into that of "here's a general idea of what I want to happen, but I have to be open to how things get there." I think I'm FINALLY growing up. Just in time, too...

This morning I woke up at 5am, played on the computer for an hour. Went back to sleep and snuggled with Tony until 7:30 when I had to get up, go to the bathroom, have breakfast, and get ready for church. I left to help set up the sanctuary for service and then taught Sunday school. To say that these kids have a lot of energy and a lot to say is an understatement. My plans were immediately altered when Lori informed me that about 45minutes of the class would now be used to practice for their Christmas program. The attention span and energy levels of the nine children this morning also led me to re-think my lesson for the day. The theme was serving GOD by serving others. I think that the general idea was reached but not in the original structure I had set for myself. I had some fun props to help demonstrate serving (a tennis racket and balls, a game, a worksheet, some analogies, a story, trivia game, snack, etc.) and things need to be changed on the spot to accommodate the "climate" of the room. Either way, it was a nice way to meet the children and parents of youth in the church, to serve my church, to teach about how we help serve our purpose, and despite the cold weather, to have some fun. I think I will volunteer to help about once a month, but I am sure glad that Corinthia was there to help with crowd control. Today was challenging in a good way. It challenged me to be adaptable and to change what I am doing to be more effective, rather than simply sticking to a plan out of principle.

even have a stocking for you, baby girl! xoxox

...thanks, Mom, for all of the blue ornaments!...

this is my favorite part of decorating the tree every year!

After I got home from church, I made Tony and I a bacon and turkey sandwich, grapes, and chips for a quick lunch. We pulled down the holiday decorations from the attic and I couldn't resist the urge to get to work on decorating the house. I hung the wreath on the front door, hung some bells on the doors in the house, decorated the mantle and hung our stockings above the fireplace, and hung another wreath in the front room while Tony assembled the tree. There is some dining table festive pieces I intend to use for Christmas dinner, but I am not going to put those out until the week of Christmas. I asked Tony if he'd hang one strand of lights (on the pre-hung hooks) along the roof line on the front of the house and he said absolutely not. I guess he is not a fan of outdoor displays of holiday spirit. Although I tried every trick I know (bribery, flattery, eye-batting, begging, etc.) to get him to hop on that ladder and string the lights, I failed. Another year, I will try again or do it myself, but this year, I give up. I settled for the fact that this year I get to have "MY" blue tree and that tomorrow when it is light out, I can hang some garland around the front porch railings. Oh well, I think it will still be nice!!! It was fun taking out all of the ornaments and lighting the tree as darkness fell across the Sierras! I'm so excited for this Christmas, Monkey~I wonder if you'll be here early to share it with us...

For dinner I made a cheesy, bacon-y, ranch-y chicken recipe that my cousin Mandy had passed along to me a week or two ago. It was super tasty (we ate it with mashed potatoes and corn)...thanks for the yummy suggestion, MSJ! We'll definitely be making this again...I did add one thing to make it "my own"...I added sauteed mushrooms with the bacon and cheese...next time I'll try and remember to take pictures of how it turns out...we ate it before I remembered to do that this time!

Now Tony is out in the living room playing his video games while I play a few games of solitaire and wheel of fortune on the computer while listening to music on Youtube.com

Tomorrow I plan on hanging around the house in the morning because a lady should be stopping by to fix the recessed light in the kitchen, dropping off a necklace I broke to Darcie so it can be sent in and fixed, decorating the front porch with garland, reading in my 40 days of purpose book for small group, writing in my belly book-as I forgot to do that on Thursday, and packing my suitcase to have my items ready should I go into labor.

Hope you are all enjoying this last stretch before the new year! Peyton is definitely still active and growing bigger by the day (as evidenced by my completely stretched and active belly). Wish I could spend the holidays with everyone back in Wisconsin, but am glad that our little girl is growing healthy and happy and that she will be worth not being able to fly these next couple of weeks!

"Each Person’s Life Is Lived As A Series Of Conversations."

~Deborah Tannen

I dearly enjoyed my day-long conversation with Nicole today! Started the day out with being wide awake at 3:30am when I disappointingly realized that there is very little to stalk on Facebook at that time of the night as I've already seen what they posted the previous day before I went to bed, and they've clearly not started their day yet to give me anything new to stalk. I then crawled in bed, cuddled my cold feet up to my husbands, rubbed his arm and very sweetly (but loud enough to wake him) asked if he was awake. To which he nicely asked "are you sick" and promptly fell back asleep after I answered that I was NOT sick, I just couldn't sleep. At about 5am I seduced him out of bed with an egg sandwich on a toasted sandwich thin with sausages-the smell leading him to get up and entertain his bored and wide awake pregnant wife. I do still have SOME tricks...

Dropped Tony off at work, even though he DOES have his motorcycle back. The forecast for the day was dreary, cold (by California standards-in the 60s), and wet and it was already raining outside. With him being sick yesterday and me not having to work I easily volunteered to drive him to work in my warm, dry car. To which of course, Tony put up no protest. After I dropped him off at work at 7:30am, I went to Walmart to try and get his watch repaired and to get a few other items that one cannot find at Costco (or that one does not want a Costco amount of said item). Unhelped in the watch aspect of my errands, I was able to get everything else I had been hoping to get. I dropped all the items off at home and then headed to Nicole's. We chatted there for awhile.

Next we headed to Costco where we each completed our grocery shopping-quite possibly the last set of groceries I will be buying baby-less as we only go once a month. We dropped both of our goodies off at our respective houses, unpacked, and nibbled on some food. Next we headed more towards downtown where I could get Tony's watch repaired (one of the pins in his wristband had come out and needed to be replaced) and where we tried to spend Nicole's in-store credit at William Glenn. Not an easy task as everything was overpriced and gaudy. After completing those errands, we headed over to Nicole's friend Melissa V.'s apartment in Natomas. I had met her on a couple other occasions and enjoyed her company so was happy to go with Nicole on this errand. Melissa lives in a nice apartment with her 8 year old son, Tristan (I LOVE that name) and was having her family over for the Thanksgiving holidays. We visited for a few hours, shared stories about husbands, family, kids, living in California, etc. It was entertaining and a good afternoon.

When Tony texted saying he was ready to be picked up from work, we headed out. Picked Tony up from work, dropped Nicole off at home, and headed home ourselves to make some dinner. We tried a new way of using leftover turkey from Thursday-shredded and battered in oil and served it with greens over some brown rice. Surprisingly tasty although it didn't look that good. I chatted with dad on Skype while Tony played some computer games. Now I am typing the blog while Tony finishes up his school online quiz and homework that is due tonight.

Tomorrow I teach Sunday school. I'm excited to meet some of the youth at church as I usually don't get to see them because I attend the service while they are at children's church and so our paths don't usually cross.
It was nice to spend the day with Nicole and catch up with her. I was lucky enough to only have 2 or 3 episodes of heartburn today (knock on wood) instead of it being all day like the last few days!

Gotta start planning out our Christmas decorating-perhaps I will have Tony pull stuff down tomorrow while he's got the day off so that I can work on it throughout the week. If any of you have kids, this is an awesome (and convincing) website to send them a video email from Santa that is personalized. Definitely check it out!

Alright, I need to hop in the shower and get to bed at a reasonable hour because there's some serious lack of sleep I need to make up for if I'm going to teach 15 little people about serving others in the morning. Hope you all are enjoying your long holiday weekend and staying warm and healthy.

Night, Night...

"May Your Troubles Be Less And Your Blessings Be More, And Nothing But Happiness Come Through Your Door."

~Irish Blessing

Rough night...up from 1:45am-4am. Ant was up, too, as he was coming down with a cold (just hours after I was telling everyone how Tony NEVER gets sick). We both fell back asleep for another hour before our day officially started. I dropped Anthony off at work, picked his mom up from the car dealership (she was getting a couple things on her car fixed AND her smog check). When we got back to the house, Mikee took Nikki's car for a smog check and to get some groceries for her now that her appetite is back (she's feeling better today, yay). We chatted, ran some errands, and had some lunch. This afternoon I stopped over at work to pick up my paycheck and to see the boys I love so much. Deposited money at the bank, gassed up, picked Anthony up at work, picked up some dinner on the run at Panda Express with Tony, and picked up his motorcycle that was FINALLY fixed. Got back home and am watching FRIENDS. Today was a lot of running around. Didn't get as much stuff done as I had hoped, but I think Nicole and I will do our grocery shopping together tomorrow and I can catch up on everything else.

Did get an invitation to my friend Kate's wedding in Las Vegas for this February-that was super exciting so now I gotta start flight shopping. Off to bed as my neck is bugging me again and I want to cuddle with my sick husband. So grateful for everyone and wishing you all a season of blessings. Ooey-gooey chocolate chip cookies as a nice snack before bed. Tomorrow there is rain in the forecast but it was nice to see the sierras all clear and outlined all day today! That's one of my favorite parts of living here in Sacramento. So happy I didn't have to go shopping today and fight crowds!

"Call It A Clan, Call It A Network, Call It A Tribe, Call It A Family. Whatever You Call It, Whoever You Are, You Need One."

~Jane Howard

Yummy food! So good to be spending the day at home. So blessed! Happy to have shared our day with family and friends! Even had extra time to watch the movie SHOOTER with Mikee this morning and to set up Peyton's changing table before we ate/people came over.

our latest addition/find: our changing table

so juicy and tender thanks to Nikki's suggestion of brining it this year!

"greens"-a southern tradition

my contribution-sweet potato pie

Long day. Full day. At least around noon my neck stopped hurting! Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! We are so blessed to count you among our closest friends and family! The only thing I missed this year was being with my family back in Wisconsin...but hopefully the next year will bring an opportunity to spend more time with them and our little girl.

Nikki was still feeling under the weather with a migraine she's had for a few days now...she's debating going to the hospital just so they can give her something so she can rest. A decision about that has not been officially made at this point but I think she's going to stay here awhile longer.

Yay for Thanksgiving food-I think Peyton enjoyed it. Now it's time for MY turkey coma...wish us luck that we will get a call tomorrow saying Tony's motorcycle is fixed (as we were told the parts at least came in yesterday late afternoon).

"Be Not Afraid Of Greatness: Some Are Born Great, Some Achieve Greatness, And Some Have Greatness Thrust Upon Them."

~Shakespeare

Peyton, you have one great and amazing dad! He can't wait to meet you! I know you will fall instantly head over heels in love with him, just as I did a few years ago! This man already wakes up and wants to touch you in my belly and after a long day of work he will go with me to pick up a changing table for you, disassemble it to fit in the car, reassemble and sterilize it when we get home, and fix your play table because he thought it wasn't safe enough. Plus, then he does little tasks around the house so that his pregnant wife can rest. What a sweetie! We are both so fortunate to have this man in our lives! I just know you will have him wrapped around your little finger, too!

Woke up today with a neck cramp (probably a result of propping my head up last night to try and reduce the heart burn). No heart burn today, but I have a sore neck to deal with in it's place. Oh well, fixed one problem. :)

Tony took my car to work today and I stayed around the house. Turns out your aunt Nikki was a little under the weather today, so she slept all day. I did a few loads of laundry, watched a few movies, did some reading, found a few things on craigslist (only resulting in one actual purchase-a $7 changing table that I will show you tomorrow or Friday probably once I get it stocked and looking the way I want it), made a fresh pasta salad, picked up around the house, did a couple loads of dishes, talked with your Grandma Wipp, made a small batch of fresh baked chocolate chip cookies, gave myself a manicure, baked another sweet potato pie for tomorrow, chatted with your Grandma Mikee while she was here brining the turkey today, and fixed the mural on your wall from peeling off about 3 times...anyone out there with any suggestions on how to keep that thing stuck to the wall? I stayed busy today and even though I did give in and try to take a nap around 3pm, I was unable to fall asleep.

Your dad is working on a paper he has for homework and I think I'm just about ready to pop in a movie and call 'er a night. You've been moving and stretching all day-I hope you're comfortable in there...I'm doing the best I can to let you have your way with the belly and I can't wait until you're on THIS side of the belly! ...Oh, while I'm thinking of it, remind me to tell you about your Uncle Goo-Goo (Logan) and how we called pre-belly time "while you were in Canada."

All our love little girl and regardless of all the good food, family, and friends surrounding us tomorrow (in person or in spirit), we are most thankful for YOU and all of the years to come that you will continue to bless us! Sweet dreams, princess!

"No Entertainment Is So Cheap As Reading, Nor Any Pleasure So Lasting."

~Lady Mary Wortley Montagu

As Nicole explained to me tonight, I will most likely enjoy reading the Sookie Stackhouse series of books and watching the TRUE BLOOD shows that are based on the books. Todd then lovingly referred to us as fang bangers. There are worse things to be called. Because I got so into the TWILIGHT series, I imagine this is right up my alley...but I should probably start now as I'm not sure how much reading I am going to get done once Peyton arrives!

Awake this morning from about 1am-4am with heart burn, then woke up at 5am to use the bathroom so I didn't get as much sleep as I had hoped to. I had heart burn all day, but I do know a few pregnant ladies who have had it since day one, so I know I shouldn't complain. Drove Tony to work in the rain-crummy way to start the day but luckily the sun was out and shining and warm at about 11am for the remainder of the day.

Worked with the boys for about four and a half hours today while K had a dentist appointment and ran errands. It felt like they had grown so much and that I had missed so much, even though I did see both of them on Saturday when I babysat. I can already tell I'm not going to enjoy my time away from them for the next few months...gosh I love those boys!

After work, I came home thawed chicken and a pie to make for Todd and Nicole tonight, did a bunch of dishes, and talked with Toys 'R Us online and Geico about different questions/issues I was having with each of them. Got that all resolved and then went to check the mail-nada...:(

Picked Tony up from work, as the motorcycle is STILL M.I.A. and then when we got home we got to making Tony's really juicy and yummy chicken, mashed potatoes, corn, salad, croissants, and sweet potato pie for dinner with our amazing friends that we just don't invite over enough.

After dinner the boys played games and looked at swords while I showed Nicole more stuff in the nursery and she helped me put up the tree/monkey mural (as I would trust her with and maybe only one or two other people to do it the way LINDSAY wants it to be done and to my standards). Thanks, Nicole! It turned out better than I envisioned! They headed home around an hour ago to go take care of their puppy and Tony and I did dishes together and now it is time for bed.

Hmmm...what DVD should we put in tonight? Monkey's kicking, so hopefully she'll settle down at SOME point today so that I can go to sleep. Love to all and safe travels for all of you driving to visit friends and family for Thanksgiving in the next few days! xoxox

"If You Wait To Do Everything Until You’re Sure It’s Right, You’ll Probably Never Do Much Of Anything."

~Win Borden

Surprisingly stayed busy on my day off. Woke up, enjoyed the morning routine with Tony, as usual. While I was up I put the Turkey in the sink filled with water to thaw it out for Thursday and started boiling the sweet potatoes to make a pie for Wednesday and Thursday. I had so much stuff that I made that I also ended up making little mini pies for everyone at small group tonight, too. Dropped Tony off at work (as his motorcycle is STILL not fixed and is sitting at the shop waiting for the parts to come in). After I dropped him off, I walked around Target, stopped off at the bank, did some reading for small group while at Barnes & Noble, went to sell some old jewelry and then came home around lunch time. Heated up some leftover macarroni and cheese for lunch and had some yummy jalapeno/artichoke dip with some chips. Emailed a bunch of people, caught up on stalking, ordered my stepdad's birthday present, picked up around the house, made worksheets for Sunday school that I'm teaching this Sunday, and picked up Tony from work. After I dropped him back off at home I went to small group with Meghan, Karolina, and Xavier. It was sad to not have a full group, but also enjoyed talking more in depth about other things. Everyone in small group is so sweet and I enjoy their company. They always seem to lift me up about the things I seem to be struggling with. The only thing I don't like is driving home at night because it seems to give me a headache with the darkness and the bright headlights for the thirty minute ride home. Now it's time to clean our jewelry (we do it every so often), give Tony a haircut, take showers, and head to bed. I had to resist the urge to take a nap today...I'm trying NOT to get into that habit before Peyton arrives. I know I'll easily nap with her! But, in the mean time, I have a lot I need to get ready before she arrives and so I need to use my time wisely.

On a side note, my dream last night happened to be in the hospital after giving birth and I was asking the doctor to give "her" to me (Peyton) and he informed me "she" is actually a "he". Tony smiled and celebrated the strange turn of events and I was a little disappointed that even though we had originally thought it was a boy, that meant that I had to switch all of my "girl" stuff to "boy" stuff...again. I guess I know I truly am happy you're a girl, little one...just in case there was any doubt. :)

Love to everyone and thanks to those who remind me to keep my heart open, for it is not about my pleasure but about learning to love.

"Successful Is The Person Who Has Lived Well, Laughed Often, And Loved Much, Who Has Gained The Respect Of Children, Who Leaves The World Better Than They Found It…

~Unknown

Woke up at 6:45am-yippity skippity! Now, I DID go to bed at 1am, but it was nice to not have to make separate trips to the bathroom last night. Plus, there was the added bonus of waking up to the morning light. What a great feeling!

Tony made me a waffle for breakfast and then I headed off to church early to help set up. While there, I also volunteered to teach the K-5 Sunday School class for next week-as they still needed some help. I will need to find a tennis racket and two tennis balls before Sunday for the lesson...

Church was nice. I remembered to sit in the back so that I could stand at different points to help stay more comfortable.

After church I picked up Tony and we stopped over to visit his mom for an hour or two. Afterwards, we put gas into the car and went to a Super Walmart to get some supplies and groceries that I needed for Thanksgiving and to get Tony a new toothbrush. We stopped off at Michael's on the way home to pick up some art supplies for Tony's homemade Christmas gift he is making for the Wipperman gift exchange. We got home around 4:30pm and both sat down in front of our computers. I caught up on emails and Tony worked on his class homework. Tony made macarroni and cheese, corn, and sausages for dinner-good on a cool day like today. He played games and I have been watching FRIENDS on dvd and trying not to fall asleep.

I think I'm going to bed early as I feel like I'm in need of some extra Z's. This morning's blue moon was a beautiful start to the day and I am excited to cuddle up in bed with long pants and a sweatshirt for the first time since last winter.

Peyton, you've been kicking and stretching all day-I'm glad you're staying active but I'm curious how you're even finding room to move around in there! Sweet dreams, dear girl!

BLOG NUMBER ONE HUNDRED!!!

What a loving and amazing Dad you have, Peyton!!!

As a special treat to myself and for a celebration of the little girl who is already changing our world, Tony and I got professional maternity shots this afternoon and because you are reading my blog, you are getting the FIRST sneak peek at our little treasured memories. I have included four of our pictures here plus one additional one on Facebook.We will be using some other poses in our Christmas mailings, so this is just a little preview...sorry but I like to keep SOME secrets...

We are ONE HUNDRED days closer to meeting our little baby girl! We absolutely can't wait! What a special way to commemorate our hundredth blog, than by getting special pictures taken, today!?!

It was a busy and filling day, from start to finish, that is for sure! Woke up this morning, having only had to get up once last night to use the bathroom-YAY for tiny miracles! Tony put together the new baby bouncer we got from the Krebs-Oppenheimer family, we played around to try and get our baby monitors set up, I had chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast.

Oh, I JUST remembered my dream from last night...Tony and I were shopping at Kohl's (nothing we have ever done together more than once or twice, just FYI) and Tony kept oohing and ahhing at different waffle makers. We ended up buying SIX waffle makers and when we got home (in my dream) I asked him if he wanted waffles for breakfast and he shrugged his shoulders and said, "...meh, that's okay, I'm not really a "waffle" kinda man..." Now what kind of a dream is THAT?!? Oddly enough, I asked him if he wanted a waffle for breakfast this morning (before sharing my dream with him) and he replied, "Nah, I'm okay..." That seems similar to his response in my dream, no?!?

After going through the stack of clothes that Ms. Emily had given us on Thursday, we put a few things away from last weekend's baby shower. Before we knew it, it was time to drive to our morning dentist appointments.

I am happy to report that FOR POSSIBLY THE FIRST TIME, we both had glowing reports from the dentist today! Hip Hip HOORAY! No cavities for either of us (I've been working pretty hard on this one as I tend to get a cavity about once every other year and supposedly you're more prone to cavities when pregnant) and Tony's check up went off without a hitch, as well. I did need to get some x-rays and was already over this year's insurance coverage, so there is a co-pay we had to come up with, but nothing when compared to how much we HAVE been shelling out at our last few appointments. We walked out of the dentist with big smiles on our faces.

After our dentist appointment, we quickly stopped off at the Babies 'R Us in Elk Grove to see if we could pick up a few items we didn't get from our registry (I was trying to manipulate the coupon system)...failure...that particular store doesn't carry OUR line of baby gear that we have all over Peyton's nursery.

We drove home and quickly had Tony swap into his motorcycle gear so that we could drop off his bike to be repaired today. He was going to have new sprockets, a new chain, AND a new set of brake pads put on his bike, but the parts that were supposed to be in by Tuesday haven't come yet. We still decided to drop off the bike hoping that possibly the parts would have been delivered this afternoon by UPS. No such luck, but they will most likely be there on Monday, so we left his bike at the shop.

Rushed home to quick hop in the shower before Nicole came over to help get me ready for our maternity photo shoot. As we all know, I cannot be trusted to wear flattering, cute, and appropriate clothing on my own. NOR do I know how to style my hair in anything other than stick straight or in a ponytail (my preferred method of "style") or how to apply makeup (does chapstick count?). Thus, comes Nicole! My trusted go-to girl for opinion, style, and general supervisory roles when I am supposed to look presentable. (If I am only supposed to appear dressed, I know how to accomplish that, but BEYOND that expectation, I need help!) She came over and helped me pick out a coordinating wardrobe for Tony and I, did my hair and makeup, and even lent me some of her cute jewelry to help me play the part of a put-together mom-to-be. Thank you Nicole for working your wonders, again! Every time I see these photos I will be reminded how my great friend helped me get ready and make such memorable and treasured photos...by the way, do you think you could bring your makeup to the hospital and work some magic on a lady who's been in labor and now has to look semi-decent holding a new, precious little girl? ...You truly are a godsend and really helped me today! I appreciate your time and thoughtfulness (and attention to detail!)!

At Babies 'R Us we had made an appointment, though I honestly don't know what the point of that was, as they accept walk-ins and we didn't even get started with our session until 45 minutes AFTER when we were supposed to start. Either way, we got a bunch of poses and about half-way through I could tell Tony had had enough of the loudness (children in the store AND studio), of the smiling/posing, and of being watched by other people waiting to get their pictures taken. I'm just thankful we weren't trying to entertain a baby while having our photos done, because that would've added more time to get us all posing correctly, added frustration in trying to keep her entertained and happy during the LONG shoot/pose changes, and inevitably she would've been hungry or had a full diaper sometime during the 2 hour ordeal. After we got all of our pictures taken, we sat with the photographer cropping the pictures and putting them into different package options. We found some shots we really loved and are so glad that we did this! This is definitely a memory-in-the-making and a time we will always remember! We will never be NEW PARENTS ever again. As always, I had a coupon for 40% off of our photos and for a free sitting, so we are happy with how much we paid and with how much we got for it all. Plus, we got all of the proofs with the copyright, so that is how we were able to upload our photos onto the blog today. I am looking forward to Christmas letter time so we can upload ALL of our photos online. In the meantime, these pictures still make me smile!

I was starving and hadn't eaten anything since when I woke up this morning and had the pancakes (at 5am) and it was 5:30pm now, SO...we drove through the McDonald's drive through and picked up some dinner on the way home. Peyton had been kicking all day-perhaps to prompt me to eat because she was hungry but I really wasn't hungry at lunch time other than to consider eating something because it was "lunch time." I passed up lunch not only because I wasn't actually hungry, but because I had also gotten a fluoride treatment at the dentist and wasn't allowed to eat anything until 1pm and it was time to get ready for pictures, by then. NOTHING makes a pregnant girl more happy than a big chocolate shake, some french fries, and a chicken sandwich after a long and busy day!

Stopped at home for about an hour to upload pictures, change clothes, put things away, and return a few phone calls before heading out to babysit for the nanny boys. It was so nice to see them and it was nice to get to put them to bed-it meant I got to see them today instead of getting there AFTER they were already asleep and NOT getting to see them until Tuesday. It rained pretty hard on the way to babysitting, despite the fact that the weather forecasted it was supposed to storm ALL DAY (not really a big loss, I must admit) and you would swear that this was the first time people drove in the rain. Traffic was moving along at a snail's pace and instead of being my normal "early" self, I arrived to babysit right at 7:30pm. M and K went out on a date and I got to cuddle a little while with my little men. Boy are they so cute! I can only imagine how big they are going to be when I come back full time in March...it's scary to think how fast they will grow and how much I will miss in these upcoming weeks/months!

Left babysitting at 10:30pm and was excited to get to drive home in dry skies! Tony, of course, was already fast asleep by the time I got home and now it is officially Sunday morning and I need to head to bed! Good night! Tomorrow will be another day of running around, getting things done, and I also am helping set up church early tomorrow morning (and then of course GOING to church).

Had an amazing day and so blessed to have our little girl on the way, a husband and soon-dad-to-be who spoils me and let's me put him in a bunch of "cutesy" poses because he knows it'll make me happy, and friends and family who are constantly showing us love and support. I cannot begin to grasp how lucky and blessed we truly are! Thank you everyone!

"Home Is The Place Where, When You Have To Go There, They Have To Take You In."

~Robert Frost

I am glad to have found my new home in a local church. After searching since I moved to California, I have finally found a church to call home-FUMC of Neenah, you set the bar high and will always be my childhood home! I still think of you all as family, but there is a new family I serve with now! So lucky! Thank you Meghan for introducing us! Streamline, you have a new place in my heart!

Today was my last full day with the boys. Boo! I already miss them. It's so strange to think about it, but I feel like I'm going to miss out on so much now that they are not "scheduled" with me. Luckily I have a quick fix-babysitting for them tomorrow night! Plus, I will see them on Tuesday for a few hours! We had a nice "lunch bunch" get together at one of the organizing Mom's Group houses today for a mock Thanksgiving. We had make your own turkey sandwich with cookies to decorate and then everyone brought food to share. J had a great time, ate stunningly, behaved amazingly, and I think M enjoyed people watching as much as I did. All the moms are so nice and they will be missed while I'm gone. I'm happy to say that I have found some great people to surround myself and can't wait to bring Peyton to a Mom's Group activity once she arrives.

K got home early from work so I was able to go home and read a little bit before small group met tonight. Tony's mom ended up coming over so I visited more than anything, plus she brought over Thanksgiving fixings for Thursday. Which reminds me, I still need to get the necessities for making the sweet potato pie that Tony likes.

So glad I went to book club tonight, as this weeks' readings have been the most home-hitting and impactful, thus far. Plus it was nice to have Pastor Dave and his wife Lori sharing tonight with us! Dropped off some food for tomorrow's "Give A Gobbler" that Meghan organized as I won't be able to deliver it myself due to a busy and packed schedule tomorrow. It has rained or sprinkled pretty much non-stop all afternoon-which makes for slow traffic. I know we need the rain, though! I'm glad we'll be fixing Tony's motorcycle tomorrow with the rainy season upon us! It makes me feel safer!

Peyton has been kicking non-stop since about 4pm. I wonder what she's trying to get my attention for, but she's got it. I really enjoyed listening to Taylor Swift's song, "You Belong With Me" on the way to small group tonight-the words really spoke to me!

Ready for bed as it is almost 11pm. Excited that tomorrow's entry will be the big 1-0-0! Yay! That means we are 100 days closer to meeting you, Monkey! Mama loves you and appreciates you finding a new comfortable position that is NOT with your feet in her ribs-today felt so much more comfortable than the last week!

Busy day tomorrow-dentist appointments, motorcycle fixing, babysitting, pics at Babies 'R Us, visit with Nicole (consulting), grocery shopping for Thanksgiving fixings, etc. Ready to have a day at home on Sunday (after church, of course).

Thank you for a blessed day and for friends and family who find a way to say just the right thing and to pop out of the woodwork when it is most meaningful! We are so loved!

(On a side note, is it my pregnant hormones acting up, or am I valid in being a little perturbed by my husband NOT answering his cell phone-what if I had been in labor, or an accident...he SHOULD pick up even if he's sleeping, right?!?)

"Our Lives Are Not Determined By What Happens To Us, But How We React To What Happens, Not By What Life Brings To Us, But The Attitude We Bring To Life. A Positive Attitude Causes A Chain Reaction Of positive Thoughts, Events, And Outcomes. It Is A Catalyst…A Spark That Creates Extraordinary Results."

~Unknown

Woke up this morning to packages from UPS that got delivered at 9:30pm last night (after my bedtime). These wonderful additions to the nursery will be so great and help remind me of some great Berkeley friends! Amy, Jennifer, Talia, and Adin. There's a monkey bouncer, monkey storage collapsible container (that we will use as a hamper), a monkey wall hook, and a 3 monkeys in a tub rug. What a great surprise and fun way to start the day! And what amazing friends do we have!?!

Tony made me some yummy grits for breakfast and then threw together a crock pot full of beef stew type items before leaving for work. Got a bunch of dishes done before leaving, too.

The boys and I spent the day playing at their house (the Mom's Group play date at the park was cancelled because not enough people signed up) so I got a bunch of laundry, ironing, and cleaning done around the house and got to spend some much needed quality time with the boys on my second-to-last day of full time hours. J had a doctor's appointment this morning, so Mo Mo and I got to spend some quiet time by ourselves while M and J were at the appointment. What cuddle-bugs and I am trying not to turn sad thinking about not being with them so much in the next 3 months.

Stopped at Emily's house on the way home from work. She had a bunch of size 3T girl clothes that she was donating and thought I might want to take a look at. It was really nice chatting with her and seeing her three adorable children. Again, we are so lucky to be surrounded by such generous and loving friends!

Made some plans with Nicole on the drive home for Saturday afternoon and next Wednesday evening. Can't wait to see that lady! Got home, made some rice to go with the stew, helped Nikki assemble flowers she got from her french man, got the mail, did more dishes, and started some laundry. Had to go get gas after dinner tonight as I was driving home on fumes and didn't want to have to wake up early tomorrow morning to fill up before work. 

Today is the beginning of week 34 of pregnancy, but I forgot to get a belly picture before taking a shower, so I will take a picture tomorrow morning before heading to work...stay posted. 

Am starting to get that pregnant belly line that runs down the center of the belly. My starts at my sternum and runs to my belly button. Am I remembering wrong, or isn't most people's from their belly button to their pubic bone?!? Either way, it is super faint right now, but I'm sure it'll get darker. My belly button is almost popped as it has almost no depth like it used to. 

Trimmed Tony's toenails after his shower tonight-I love when he lets me cut his nails and cuticles. Super relaxing. I even made an attempt to shave my legs while taking my shower (mostly because I was embarrassed that the sunlight streaming through the window at work today noticeably pointed out the small blonde hairs on my toes and I needed to remedy that A.S.A.P.!).

Watching more friends while putting laundry away and then writing in the belly book and doing our kick chart with Ms. Peyton.

Tony and I shared a bowl of vanilla ice cream tonight. What a great way to end the day! Hope you all have a fantastic start to your weekend! Looking forward to the Lunch Bunch with the Mom's Group tomorrow.

"How Beautiful, How Buoyant, And Glad Is Morning."

~L.E. Landon

What a beautiful and glorious drive into work I am blessed with almost every single morning. Another thing I appreciate is being able to see the clean, crisp, snow-covered tops of the Sierras, again, now that the winter air is back. It just starts the day out so wonderfully and offers up so much hope for what the day will bring!

The boys and I enjoyed another morning of music makers today and came home for some naps and bath time. I'm trying not to think about the fact that Friday will be my last day of full time hours until after Peyton is born because if I think about it, I'll begin to cry as I know I will miss those boys on a daily, if not hourly basis! I've become so attached and I think I'm going to feel a little separation anxiety when I can't be with them forty hours a week! Both boys had healthy appetites today! Hooray! There, see how I changed the subject?

Pinched my left thumb in the door today...we'll see how it looks in a few days...it's super sensitive to pressure. It seems like I'm getting more and more clumsy...is this something I can pass off as a pregnancy side effect, or should I be worried there are deeper issues at the base of it? Comments?

Had leftover spaghetti from last night with Tony while we watched last night's episodes of GLEE and PARENTHOOD on hulu tonight. I also helped myself to ice cream and Tony heated up the TGIFriday's potato skins that I had bought at the super market (one of his favorite foods). Let me warn you for all who think it sounds yummy-NOT worth the money and also not as good as in the restaurant. What a disappointment. Oh well, we wouldn't have known had we not at least tried it. Plus, now I get to share my experience and warn all of you before you plunk down $4 for 5 potato skins. Lesson learned!

Will be stopping by Emily's tomorrow after work to go through some possible clothes she has to share with us (they are size 3T, but hey, free clothes are free clothes...plus, it'll be nice to chat with her!). Tonight marks the end of 33 weeks which means she may be here in SEVEN weeks...in some areas I am so ready for her to be here and in other areas I'd like her to stay a little longer because I know so many things are going to change and because I know she'll be healthier the longer she stays in the belly.

Sad about this weekend's weather being full of forecasted storms and rain and in the 60s but excited for Thanksgiving shopping, maternity pictures, dentist appointments, fixing Tony's issues with his motorcycle, dinner with friends?, lounging, yard work, etc. Should keep me pretty busy and distracted from the fact that I am in the home stretch of the pregnancy when time apparently starts to crawl by at a snail's pace...

Ready for a little R 'n R with the husband. Hmmm...what shall we put in the DVD player tonight...

Oh, and I'm officially into the "waddling stage" of pregnancy now...boy is that NOT attractive. Plus, today, while trying to pull up my maternity jeans for the thousandth time, I tore the elastic band from the actual jeans in the back-can we say embarrassing?!? Nothing says big round belly like a big hole in the jeans! I know, some of you are shaking your head and saying to yourself, "she's done things like this even BEFORE she was pregnant-why am I not surprised!?! That is SO "Lindsay!" " Well, you're right, but I still would've preferred to think that maternity clothes are impenetrable and that I would avoid "Lindsay moments" like this for at least nine months. God bless our little girl and I hope she doesn't take after me in THAT department...although, it would make for some rather humorous entertainment and bonding moments... :)

Sweet dreams to all! Hugs to those who will except it and smiles for those who need it! Everyone else, blue M&M's for you (they ARE the best, you know!?!)...

"Love Doesn't Make The World Go 'Round. Love Is What Makes The Ride Worthwhile."

-Franklin Jones

Cuddled with Tony while watching an episode of HOUSE on hulu.com this morning. At work I got to take the boys to a city south of us called GALT where we toured one of the fire stations there. One of the moms in the mom's group we are active in has a husband that works there. We got to tour the fire house, where the offices, gym, living area, kitchen, and bedrooms are. Of course, no firehouse tour would be complete without seeing the trucks and watching the firemen get dressed in their fire fighting uniforms. It was so cute to see J "ooh" and "ahh" over everything and for him to repeatedly say "wow" when we were by the trucks. All of the kids enjoyed the station tour and talking with the firemen. At the end, everyone got to sit in the fire truck (which is different than a fire ENGINE, for those of you who don't know). Afterward, all of us went to a local favorite called the SQUEEZE INN. J and I shared a "small" cheeseburger and french fries. It was nice visiting with all of the moms and J ate phenomenally well. I was so proud. He fell asleep on the way home, as did M. I think they had such a good morning that all of their enthusiasm wore them out. While they were napping this afternoon, I made my mustard chicken for dinner for them.

Drove home after work and chatted with Mary and then when I got home I talked with Mom. Tony came home late, again, and made spaghetti for dinner. I love it when the husband cooks for me! So yummy-especially when someone ELSE makes it! I just finished making some mini-chocolate chip cookies for dessert and am listening to WILL & GRACE in the background. I have to take a shower tonight and head to bed to try and catch up on sleep-as I still seem to be exhausted.

So blessed to have all of our loved friends and family surrounding us every day and rallying around our growing family. I really appreciate each and every one of you and am excited to introduce our little girl in a few short weeks. She will love you all and see how happy you make her mom! xoxox

Good night!

"Things Start As Hopes And End Up As Habits."

~Lillian Hellman

If I allowed my tiredness to win me over, I would easily skip writing my blog tonight. I don't want to get in that pattern/habit so I am forcing myself to write, even if it is really brief.

Normal day with the boys...gosh I love them both so much! It's hard to believe but I actually miss them over the weekend! Did another round of ironing...again, not "me" but it needed to be done. If I can help it, I will continue to only buy clothes for our family that do NOT need to be ironed.

After work I stopped at home for some quick dinner and then Tony and I went to a "Newborn" class over in Folsom. It was a three hour long class from 6pm-9pm and we just got home. Exhausted. Overwhelmed with data/facts/info. Ready to call it a night. Sorry that there is no fun story or anecdote for today, but my brain is completely wiped.

Did get fun texts from Nicole today and a cute thank you card from Ms. Morris, otherwise it was a rather normal, uneventful day with some good 'ole fashioned sternum pain just to make sure I'm awake and paying attention. Today it was sunny and got up to 78 degrees.

Good night! Sleep tight! Don't let the...........zzzzz........

"Fashion Can Be Bought. Style One Must Possess."

~Edna Woolman Chase and Ilka Chase

The only way that I have gotten compliments on the way I look recently is because of my personal style expert and helper, Ms. Nicole. She helped with yesterday's makeup (let's be honest, she didn't HELP, she did it ALL), and helped pick out a few outfits that I've worn lately. I was also complimented on today's choice of clothing-a beautiful and comfy shirt from Ms. Emily and some jewelry that Darcie's friend Stacy helped me pick out. Hopefully, one day...all of their efforts will rub off on me and I will be able to dress myself appropriately and wear makeup like a grown up. I do enjoy being helped in the learning process, though!

Luckily I got my internet working again this morning so I was able to finish uploading pictures from yesterday's shower and finish the blog. Boy was I exhausted last night! I think I fell asleep before my head hit the pillow last night. Luckily I was able to sleep until 5:30am this morning before needing to use the bathroom.

Got a bunch of stuff done this morning and uploaded pics onto facebook before heading to church to help set up for the service this morning. I got there a little later than planned and everything was already set up. Luckily I brought some stuff to work on for such a scenario and I headed to the Starbucks down the street and wrote all of my thank you notes from yesterday's shower.

Church service was really good today, and I felt called to offer up any help and assistance I could to the children's program so we'll see what kind of way they can use me. Sermon was really good and enjoyed seeing people from small group that I missed on Friday due to Tony's motorcycle issue. It's getting harder and harder to sit during church because of the pregnancy so I think that maybe next Sunday I will sit in the back so I can stand at different intervals.

On the way home from church I was hoping to pick up the changing table that Darcie found on craigslist last night, but I hadn't heard back yet-I think she must have gotten rid of it already. Stopped off at Target to spend the gift card we got yesterday. Picked up a diaper genie, some liners for it, bottle scrubbers, newborn nuks, baby grooming set, some pink and brown headbands for Peyton, changing table pad, and a formula container-just in case. Stopped off at the post office to pick up some stamps and mail off the thank you cards and then picked up some Cinnabar wine for Nicole as a small thank you for all of her efforts in throwing yesterday's shower.

Came home to find Tony playing games on his computer in his pajamas. He smiled a guilty smile and told me he got to work this morning and found out he was actually supposed to have off today and tomorrow because of some scheduling issues and had taken it upon himself to come home and enjoy his unexpected day off and "intended" on telling me when I came home. I think he sensed that I would've put him to work had I known that he was home, so...to remedy my oversight, that is exactly what I did now that I was home.

Tony carted all of yesterday's gifts into the baby's room and put together the red wagon. He made dinner and did a bunch of dishes before I let him get back to his games. While he played, I napped. All evening yesterday and all day today my sternum was bothering me-perhaps because of my underwire bra, maybe because Peyton has been kicking there a lot recently due to her "head down" position, it could be because of all of the bending over I did to clean the house, or just possibly it is because I was bending over a lot at the shower during the gift time. Either way, I feel like my rib/sternum area is bruised and incredibly painful despite my attempts to change bras, use Tylenol, and sit in different positions to relieve pressure. I found that laying down helps with the pressure so I took a nap this afternoon to help with the pain AND because I was tired.

At dinner time, I woke up with drool all over my pillow-lovely visual, eh-and quick ran some of Nicole's party dishes over to her house along with the wine. Chatted with her and Todd for a few minutes and then headed home to a yummy chicken and rice dinner with Tony. I have thus finished my stalking while watching WILL & GRACE on dvd. Now I will head to bed because, despite my nap, I am still tired and am looking for some pressure release in the chest area.

Off to a timely bedtime and excited for my last week of full time before K goes off term and I reduce my hours to a few babysitting chunks until baby comes. Thank you, again, to everyone who made the shower so special! We love you all!

"Life Is Like A Mirror. Smile At It And It Smiles Back At You."

~Peace Pilgrim

What an adorable spread Nicole made!

How sweet is this girl cupcake onezie cake?!? It was also very delicious! Peyton had a few cupcakes...

Monkey diaper cake, tic tac baby girl bottle party favors, and a few monkeys thrown in for good measure.

The party scene.

Tasty mini quiches, salami rockets, turkey wraps, the famous Mama Angeloni meatballs, veggies and dip, crackers and jalapeno artichoke dip, sherbert punch, and pretty water. Mmm...so full from "sampling" all day!

The tower of dirty diapers for the "chocolaty goodness" game where you can use whatever senses necessary to determine which candy bar is melted inside the mystery diaper. (Some tasted, some smelled, some touched...it was entertaining...but it all looked rather nasty and easily believed most were little "baby droppings!")

Me, well I stuck to the "smelling" sense of the game to try and win...did NOT work, I think I only got THREE right. We also played "finish the nursery rhyme" and the "don't say this/don't do that" safety pin game which I was also not very good at, but enjoyed playing!

Everyone read some advice or wishes for our family and Peyton and then we all released balloons in Peyton's honor.

So pretty to watch them being released...what a special moment to honor our little girl on the way! Everyone had such kind words to share and it made me get all teared up. Oddly enough, the green balloons were all at the top of the pack and the pink balloons stayed lower...all you science nuts out there...any explanation?

Nikki and Mikee had an entire toy chest and box of stuff for little monkey...this was just one of the items in their package.

Nicole's husband Todd shared this hilarious t-shirt with Tony...it reads: GAME OVER with a picture of a baby in a game type style/logo. Ahhh, too funny!

A diaper stacker from Miss Meghan...

...and a lot of diapers to go with it!!! We will definitely use these!

A set of organic baby clothes all made from recycled items and a Target gift card from the Berger-Gertz and Thouati families (Berkeley crew).

A frog bath toy scooper/caddy from the Brown girls. This really does make bath time so much more enjoyable!

This is a patch of "grass" to use as a bottle/baby dishes drying rack-from the Mahlke/Angeloni women.

And, contrary to the entertaining prospect of using it as a "potty trainer" for Miss Peyton (as Talia had thought it was), it will ONLY be used to dry dishes...but it sure was funny picturing putting her cheaky buns on that little patch to watch her "do her business!"

This IS in fact for potty training. Darcie and Anne got Peyton a musical toilet that celebrates with music whenever the sensor detects a "#1 or #2" submission...how fun is THIS going to be?!?

The new nanny family got us some adorable bath time toys complete with caddy, monkey and dot wall decals to play with. So sweet and we'll really enjoy playing with these!

My mom had shipped a secret surprise for Peyton to Nicole's house: a Radio Flyer wagon! So excited to use this on our walks around the neighborhood!

Nicole got us a wonderful keepsake where the frame has molds for a newborn footprint, hand print, and picture of Miss Peyton. So excited to do this when monkey arrives! Nicole also got her a monkey outfit and threw us this amazing baby shower! We can never say thank you enough!

Peyton's "booty" at the end of the shower. Thank you to everyone who made a trip out on their busy weekend to celebrate our little girl and growing family! We are so blessed to have you in our lives and can't wait for you to meet our little girl!

All of our little princess's new outfits. We are so happy you shared in our day with us and it was so nice to show you the nursery, our house, and my ever growing belly! We had such a fun day!

Love to all of you friends and family and especially to Miss Nicole tonight! Thank you for an awesome shower and to all of our wonderful friends for helping welcome Peyton into our family! You all made today so special and we will think of you every moment we spend together!!!

"The Only Thing You Can Control Is Your Own Effort."

~Theodora van den Beld

Strange dream about having a birthday party when a bit younger hosted by my mom (who apparently ran a resort on the lake out of her log house) and her and I got into a fight because my friends left the party due to the fact that I was not paying attention to them and working on my homework instead (as my mom had told me to do). In the dream, she yelled at me for acting in a way that made my friends leave and I started crying because she had told me I HAD to work on my homework and I was confused because I couldn't entertain my friends at my birthday AND do homework at the same time...

...cut to my alarm buzzing...
...cut to INSTANT and EXCRUCIATING charlie horse in my left leg.

Because of my alarm waking me up from an emotional dream (or at least in the dream it seemed emotional enough to make me cry) and the painful cramp in my leg that I couldn't massage out because I couldn't reach my leg due to my ever expanding belly ... I started to cry in real life from being woke up, from a bad dream, and from pain that I couldn't fix. Poor Tony was startled awake by an alarm that I was ignoring and his pregnant wife writhing around the bed saying "OW" and crying between desperate sobs. Gotta give the guy credit, he asked what he could do to help and jumped up to assist, but I was so inconsolable and weepy that I couldn't describe what I needed from him nor was anything he could do going to make my cramp go away.

Again, another early morning. Tony sat with me until my leg got better and then made me some of his famous oatmeal to help calm me down while I visited the bathroom for the third time tonight/this morning. On my way into work, I vowed to myself that it was just a bad morning and that I wasn't going to let it affect my day, even though I would've appreciated a little bit more sleep due to my lack of sleep yesterday.

Woke up to receive an email from my protein/urine lab test from yesterday. Now, just waiting to hear what the doctor says about the results. Feeling a little swollen in my feet all day today, but that's about it for new prenatal side effects.

When I got to work, the boys and I had a relatively "normal" morning and J was rewarded with lunch from Mickey D's. He was such an amazing eater that I had to make a special note to tell K and M about it when they got home from work today AND I gave him his "good eater" stamp all the way up his arm. Well done, J! Made some spaghetti bake for the family for their dinner, did a few loads of laundry, vacuumed, swiffered, did a bunch of dishes, and entertained two adorable men until we had to meet K at the doctor's office this afternoon. M was having another appointment because of the suspected nystagmus with his eyes and some suspicious head bobbing he had yesterday. Please pray that there is something we can do for him to help correct these issues!

Got home from dropping M off at the doctor with K when Tony called to tell me he missed me. Or at least, that is what I thought he said. Turns out he didn't miss me, he had an issue. He had the day off today and had taken himself to a movie in Folsom where upon the story of the night starts. In parking his motorcycle he apparently spun his front tire in a way that kicked up a large rock into the underside of his bike, thus killing the engine and doing something for it to prevent being able to restart. It also knocked Tony off balance and his bike hit the ground. Luckily it was not a traffic accident, no cosmetic damage was done, no one else was involved, and despite the strange circumstances, we were hoping it'd been a coincidence that the bike wasn't working  and that it would be a "quick fix." I finished work while a tow truck company-specifically for motorcycles (which we used last October when Tony had his accident on the highway)-towed Tony to the ONLY repair/service motorcycle place open this late on a Friday. On my way to pick him up from the repair place on the northeast side of Sacramento in an area known as Auburn, I grabbed some cash to pay the tow guy. Timing wise with rush hour traffic and getting off work and having to wait for the tow truck, Tony had only had to wait for me for about 20 minutes, so that is not bad.

On the way home, we got a call from the repair shop saying that the bike was back in working order. Turns out that the rock had disconnected Tony's shift line (don't ask, because that's about as much knowledge as I can repeat about anything motorcycle-related) that had most likely already been loosened by last year's accident and the rock had just hit the right spot in order to cause it to disconnect and be unable to start. He charged us the diagnostic fee and Tony rode his bike home. Yay for the way things turned out! Things could've been much worse, Tony was fine, the bike was fine, the overall cost could've been much higher, AND the bike was already back in working order. I said a little prayer on the way home because, all things considered, tonight went very well-better than expected.

Unfortunately I missed my book group due to the unexpected motorcycle issue. I was really looking forward to it and seeing everyone and discussing what I had read. But, alas, it was not meant to be. I feel like everything will even out and I still am able to get something from the readings.

On the way home I had to stop and fill up my car with gas, as I was running on fumes for driving further than I had anticipated today. While pumping, I was staring at Arby's next door (a place I have avoided out of principle because I don't like roast beef) and the fact that it was 7:30pm, dark, and perhaps because I was pregnant, I thought I had never seen anything look more delicious or appealing. I picked up a late dinner for Tony and I and was on my way home.

When we got home, we quickly ate our dinner and got to cleaning for tomorrow's baby shower. Tony vacuumed the entire house (including the furniture), scrubbed all the floors, took out all the garbages, brought in the garbage bins from today's pickup, put away his games from the shelf in the dining room that I had been bugging him about for awhile, dusted a few things, and helped put things away around the house. While he did all of that, I dusted the rest of the house, wiped down windows and spider webs (tomorrow it is supposed to be sunny and in the low 70s so I plan on opening up the house), washed and put away a load of dishes, wiped down the entire kitchen from top to bottom, and picked up while running some laundry. The only thing I ran out of time to do is to clean our bathroom, which I plan on doing tomorrow morning before Nicole comes to set up. I am so lucky that we got back in enough time to clean tonight, that Tony helped, and that I have time to finish up tomorrow. I am also lucky that we have this shower tomorrow at our house, or I would've most likely postponed cleaning the house for another couple months. As organized as I am, I don't clean as long as everything APPEARS clean. These social gatherings force me to be honest about the cleanliness and realistic appearance of the state of our house. It feels so good to walk around a clean house, to smell the cleaning products, and to know that Tony and I worked together to make it happen!

I just got done taking a shower and Tony has long since "signed off" for the night after completing his online quiz for his class. I am definitely ready to hit the hay and Miss Peyton has stopped hiccuping and moving for the time being, so I feel like she's already gone to bed for the night. Hopefully I can have a night of normal sleep (do I remember what that is, even?) and wake up energized for tomorrow's shower! So excited to see everyone, to show them our house, and especially Peyton's nursery. So glad that things turned out better than I expected with regards to the motorcycle and am so fortunate to have family and friends checking in on how tonight panned out! Love you all!

Peyton, remember that is is more important HOW you react to things than the things themselves!