oh baby!

Yesterday I was 14 weeks pregnant. That means 2nd trimester, thank goodness! I have felt Horrible with this pregnancy, so much different than with Addie. I have been sick everyday, tired, heartburn, headaches anything and everything you can relate to pregnancy......I've had it all! I am very confident that if my first pregnancy was like this, I would not have done it again.
I have had a bad time, BUT yesterday I woke up with alittle energy so I did a yoga tape in the morning and went to town on the house. I cleaned everything up and still had time and energy to play with Addie and Ellie. It was WONDERFUL :) I feel the same this morning so MAYBE I am turning the corner, I HOPE!!
Anyway, I go back to the doctor next Friday and in a month I will have the gender ultrasound. I cannot wait to find out what it is! Part of me thinks boy because this pregnancy has been so different. But there is still a part of me, that thinks it's a girl. I took a gender prediction test at 10 weeks and it said girl. We shall see!
Today I am starting the cleaning out the baby's room process. It has kept me up at night worrying about where it will sleep and such. So here we go. I want it all cleaned so we can come in and paint when we find out the sex. I'm thinking of leaving it green and doing old timey sports if its a boy, and if its a girl I think I want to do it in light purple and light gray. Either way I am going to make the bedding this time, since I have been sewing alot more! I actually have made bumper pads for Kaden (Miranda's baby!).

SHHHHH! MOMMY HAS A SECRET IN HER TUMMY!

Addie is SOOOO excited that we are having a baby! I am due Feb 2, 2011 (just a few days before Addie turns three!)
I know I know great timing! But it will be okay, I am already getting Addie's party all planned so I won't even have to think about it. Which will be good because I could have a 2 or 3 week old :)
We are VERY excited to have a little addition to our family. I, we, whatever have already picked names..........I think it will be Emmersyn Cate if a girl and Charles Morgan for a boy. If it turns out to be a boy Graham is going to fight with me about naming him Charles Graham Hines, II.........we'll just have to wait and see.
This pregnancy hasn't been THAT different from Addie. I am nauseous but have only "got sick" a few times. (with ad I NEVER threw up). The big difference, I have eaten EVERYTHING in sight. I can't stop myself i am just hungry ALL THE STINKING TIME! Over the weekend it has lessened alittle so maybe I am turning a corner (i hope so or I am going to put on 100 pounds!).

The Perfect Mommie

I stress myself out because I feel I need to be perfect all the time. Since I am blessed with being a stay at home mom I think the house should ALWAYS be spotless, a good well-balanced meal should always be on the table at 5:30, the Laundry always done, etc. Lately I have felt Tired, cranky and mad at everyone, and today my wonderful mommy explained it to me. She helped me realize that I put TOO much on myself. I try to do EVERYTHING and Perfectly.
I always thought the "Perfect Mommy" would be able to balance everything perfectly. That she would always look perfect, and have all her marbles in a row. WELL That isn't me! Today I realized that to me the "Prefect Mommy" is the one who laid on blankets in the yard and looked at the shapes in clouds for hours. The one who read 1000s of books in a single day because that is what her child wants. The woman who builds tents covering the entire living room and leaving it that way for days because it was raining outside. If you haven't figured this out my mom was and is the perfect mom. She did all this. Our house was clean but almost always messy, but she didn't care. We always ate healthy meals but they werent always on the table at 5:30 and sometimes it was one meat and veggie. We lived. She was the one who took us to the pool (about 20 mins away), she took us to the library for story time, she took us on Special trips to parks. This is what I want to be. Mom once said, " if your house is clean at the end of the day, you probably weren't the best mommie that day." Don't get me wrong I think I should clean. But it should be more of picking up in the evening and once a week really cleaning. Other than that just let it go. I have 2 two-year-olds running around for goodness sake. Addie will not be this age forever and I am missing out on things because I am being selffish and doing things I "think" I need to do. Addie could careless if the house is spotless, and she would MUCH rather have hotdogs for dinner every now and then.
So today I decided that is the mommie I want and am going to be. I am going to let things go and play with Addie (and Ellie). They are going to remember me as a fun mom who got dirty in the yard with them, finger painted, played babies, swam and do anything we can come up with!

First camping trip!

We took our camper out for a weekend trip to Chester Frost park the first weekend in May. It was a blast and we totally fell in love with our camper! I am so glad we waited for the "right one" to come along! It truly is exactly what we wanted, I see MANY MANY family memories to be made with this baby!

Please disregard my lack of makeup and messy hair :)
Addie LOVED LOVED LOVED helping daddy do things. She helped build a fire, cook, set things up! She was in HEAVEN!

Our little setup! we had a great spot on a hill that looked out at the water! BEAUTIFUL!

We love it! We are searching for a place to go for vacation this year. We are going to go somewhere in the summer for a few days, then go to Virgina in the fall! I can't wait! I have the Virgina trip all planned out BUT for the life of me I can't nail down a place for the summer! We are thinking Charleston, because it's close to the beach so we could spend a day at the beach, and there are plenty of fun kid friendly things to do there. But it's a 7 hour drive so it's probably 8 1/2 to 9 hours pulling the BEAST (as Graham calls it). I'm just worried about keeping Addie happy for that long :) BUT it seems like the winner for now unless Graham finds somewhere else soon.

We are planning on MAYBE taking it out west next year. Graham will have been at mueller for 5 years and will get 3 weeks vaca then. So it would be perfect to just go, and stop along the way! I'm still trying to talk him into it fully.

Where are your favorite places to camp?

Vicks and poop.....oh what a wonderful day :)

Yesterday Addie's allergies were HORRIBLE! The doc called in some allegra for her (she used to take zyrtec everyday but it isn't working anymore). Last night we gave it to her and put her to bed...about an hour later she was up coughing...after not being about to settle her down, and realizing she had a slight fever we gave her some tylenol. About another hour later she was up coughing again. I rocked her for awhile then she got choked and threw up alittle..........in my hand ofcourse! She was REALLY stuffy so I rubbed some baby vicks on her and back to bed she went. Addie and I got up about every hour until 4. Everytime I would get back asleep, she would wake up again! Finally she got into a deep sleep around 4 and slept till 10:15. Now she is the happiest child ever!

Me, on the other hand, got up at 7:15 for Ellie to come (Friday's Ginny has to be at work early so she drops her off about 7:30). Well Josh actually dropped Ellie off about 8. He said she had been up with a fever most the night so good luck :) (I'm pretty sure she has whatever Addie had on Sunday and Monday. It was a 24 hour fever and nothing else). So Ellie and I watched movies till Addie got up. Ellie is feeling better and has played more and more as the day has gone on.......

Here is where my day has gone.........There is poopie on my run in the bathroom (well there was, just got it out of the washing machine) and this is what I found when I got out of my 10 minutes shower (Yes when you have 2 2year-olds running around you shower VERY fast):

What is that you ask?

Baby Vicks Vapor rub! AAAAHHHHHH!!!! Stupid me left it on a table Addie could reach! She used the whole thing (which I bought last night!) on her Kitchen. I asked her why? she said: "Mommy I cleaning! So pretty!"

After cleaning her and Ellie (poor ellie touched the kitchen to play and got it on her!), took pictures, and cleaned it up, my entire house now smells of vicks! GRRRRROOOOOSSSSS!!!

Welcome to my world :)

May your Friday NOT be filled with Vicks and Poopie :)

Training for 5k

So I have been running everyday (except one) for two weeks. I am not good at it at all, BUT I am seeing some improvement. When I started I seriously could only run for maybe a minute and I was about to die. Now I am up to half a mile! Last week I was asked by a friend to run a 5k in September. I REALLY want to do this! A couple of weeks ago when I started the first time I was going about it the wrong way. I wanted to loose weight and that was why I was running. Now I don't even care about my weight (I put the scale up and WILL NOT get it out again), I want to run........I want to prove to myself (and Graham) that I CAN DO THIS! I WILL DO THIS! I also learned that I cant take days off, on my "rest" days I just walk. But I ALWAYS do something. If I miss a day I will not pick it back up. Even though I can only do 1/2 a mile I already feel like I've accomplished something. Its very nice to finish and feel like I accomplished something, even if it's just alittle bit more than the day before.

I've been bugging Graham that I "need" new running shoes. At first he said no (I bought new tennis shoes in February), he said he didn't want me spending money on shoes and use them for a week and stop. So we made a compromise, If I would keep with it for two weeks he wouldn't fuss. Welp, two weeks is up and I am still going strong! So Next week I am going to Fast Break to be fitted and get the best running shoes for my running style and foot! (It also helped that I rolled my ankle last night running, it made him feel bad)

Also, when I can run 2 miles without stopping or dieing I can get a new running outfit! LOL! The little things :) And when I finish the 5k in September, I get a Massage!! YAY!

I also have started a Women of the Bible study to go along with my "New Life" and I LOVE IT! I didn't realize how much I was thirsting for the Word! I get up early every morning and do my study before ellie gets here and Addie gets up. It starts my day off right and I have a better day because of it!

randoms

- GRAHAM HAS FINISHED HIS MBA!!! I cannot begin to tell you how proud of him I am. He worked so hard from last January till last night........with no breaks. Every week straight he had something due. He is a trooper!

-We FINALLY bought a camper last week. It pays off to wait and look, we have been looking since the fall and REALLY looking since Dec. FINALLY we found exactly what we wanted at a price we wanted.

-Addie is the funniest child these days! Tuesday night I was changing her diaper at my mom's and Cale (my brother) came up the stairs to where we were. Addie looked over at him and said, "Hey Cale, come look at this turd!" I have never laughed so hard!

-My very sweet friend in CA who has been on hospital bedrest for alittle over a month gave birth to her little girl Reagan Grace Friday. She was with them for 4 hours then went to Heaven. She was very early and had a few other things going on. I have prayed and cried and prayed and cried for her. Lauren is the sweetest, strongest woman I have ever known. Please keep the Straub family in your Prayers.

-Yesterday we attended church at LVBC to see Lauren and Mack dedicated their lives to helping Weston be a strong Christian man. It was a very sweet program, and we were honored to be there :)

-I have been THROW away queen lately! I am getting ready for a yard sale in May and I AM GETTING RID OF ALL THE CRAP IN OUR HOUSE :)

-Graham will get tonight off, but tomorrow evening HE WILL be sanding the wall so I can paint the living room and kitchen. Its been 9 months already!!

-I am going to go finish my coffee in peace before Addie gets up and Ellie gets here. Have a nice week everyone!!

Egg hunt, and Easter

Friday, Graham was off so we took Addie to the Zoo. She loved it! Stupid me forgot to take the camera :(
Saturday we got up and dyed Easter Eggs. I have NO IDEA why I always do this the day BEFORE Easter? Every year Addie has had blue and purple fingers on Easter. Maybe next year I will remember to do it a few days before.



We went to the Egg Hunt at church that afternoon. Addie actually had a blast finding the eggs, it was just Mommie taking pics that made her mad.

OH Easter. It was an absolute Beautiful day! Except, Addie got up in a bad mood.......see she is terrified of Band aids (we don't really know why??), and Friday she insisted on wearing her old pair of crocs that I THOUGHT were too small but they seemed to fit okay.....or so we thought. They wore 3 blisters on her sweet little feet, so Saturday night we put meds on the blisters and band aids....needless to say she was pretty pissed about it.........She was also mad because the Easter Bunny had come to her house while she was alseep????SHE IS STRANGE! She didnt even want to look for her basket!

See when I was little the EB used to leave rhymes all over the house leading us to our baskets....I decided Addie would be old enough this year to do that and once we got her going she LOVED it!

After Addie found her basket and was looking through her things I finished getting ready. Only to find out that the dress I was going to wear that I had let someone cut off and make it shorter (it was long and I made it a knee length dress) did a HORRIBLE job. So I had to find another dress at the last minute, iron it and get out the door. Addie on the other hand looked BEAUTIFUL! BUT she was in a bad mood most of the day so I never got any good pics of her. So, one day this week I am making her put her dress on again and we are taking pics!

Here are the few I did get ;)

One of the best Pictures I have of Addie and Daddy

See what I mean, she was saying NO to the pics and this was one of the first ones!

No they didn't plan it, but Addie and Tanner matched perfectly!

Playing with the boys ;)

I teach Addie's class on Wednesday nights at church. It was so pretty last week, we finished the lesson early and went out to play. I captured these sweet pics of Addie, Tanner and Shane going to the playground.

We made these glasses in class, mom and I tried for 20 minutes to get Shane to put them on.....he said he just wanted to play! LOL I Love him!

When You don't think you are getting through....

Addie and Graham were playing in the yard tonight while I walked/ran. Graham was throwing a ball against the house (I know he is so a child, lol), and he looked over at Addie who was standing on the top of her slide. Addie was standing on her slide with her head down, hands clasped saying, "God, them mumbled something, then Amen".
We try very hard to remember to talk to God everyday. We try to teach Addie to have an open relationship with God. To be so comfortable with him that she can talk to him about anything and everything. But to be honest, we forget! I know it's horrible but sometimes I lay down in bed at night and realize we forgot our prayers (with Addie), or we get done with dinner and I remember to pray then. But when Graham told me she was standing on her slide praying...........I felt like Maybe, just Maybe we were getting through. Maybe she was developing a relationship with God!

New giveaway!

There is a new giveaway over at TomKat Studios for a CUTE CUTE CUTE tutu!

Here is the link!!

http://tomkatstudio.blogspot.com/2010/03/fabulous-giveaway-win-tutu-from-jessica.html

Go enter to win one for you sweet little princess!!

Alot of nothing :)

So I have been a BIG reusable grocery bag lady! For Christmas my sister got me this AMAZING HUGE bag with and H on it for shopping! Its HUGE and it holds up to 40lbs! I LOVE IT! I need more. Problem is it was a $30 bag! So After carefully looking it over and the fact that I just got a new sewing machine I have decided to make another one on my own.

Today, I was looking on Etsy and came across these little wonders

What a SMART idea! So I will be heading back to the store to find some sort of mesh material to attempt these little babies also! I JUST love it!

I am SOOO ready for Spring! I am ready to go to the park everyday...play outside....wear flip flops without anyone looking at me crazy (I've been known to wear them when it is snowing)...DRESSES....and it also is very nice to walk and run when the weather isn't 30 degrees (which BTW I have done really good with! I ran father last night than I have since high school!)! I can't wait to head over to Linda's tomorrow and get some fresh veggies for dinner! I really wish someone would come to my house and set up a garden for me! I would SOO do it except for the initial work involved! Maybe I will start with a very small one this year and add to it.

Yesterday, I went through every room in my house and made a list of what we needed to do/buy for that room. Needless to say, Graham was so excited when he got home and saw the massive list that was going to cost him......ooooooooo.....probably $10000 inside and outside (we need to cut a backdoor and build a deck. Oh and buy a hot tub for said deck :))

I am going to lay down and enjoy a few more minutes of quiet before Addie gets up! Have a Wonderful DAY!!

COUCH TO 5K

I have ALWAYS wanted to be a runner. I wanted to look like runner, and I wanted to just be able to go run several miles just for the fun of it. BUT I HATE running, with a passion..........Well I THOUGHT I hated running. Yesterday afternoon I was talking to Miranda (my sister) and she was telling me about couch to 5k program and how she really liked it. It's a 9 week program and is supposed to take even the most out of shape people and make them runners in 9 weeks. HAHA I thought....but after reading more about it (coolrunnings.com) I thought it seems doable WHY NOT?
I downloaded the App onto my IPOD, made a quick playlist and headed out. On my way to John A (the local track) I decided I needed one of those arm cuff things that holds my IPOD so I ran to walmart. By the time I got to the track I was STOLKED to say the least, I was SOOO ready to start this.

The program starts with a 5 minute walk warm up, then it dings and you run for 60 sec, walk for 90 secs. There are 8 run/walk sessions. After section number 5 I almost died....so I MADE myself get through section 6 and then just continued to walk instead of run the rest of the time. IT's HARD! But tonight I will do it again and I will go 7 times, even if it kills me.

My short term goal is to stick with this for ATLEAST 4 weeks. My long term goal.....run a 5k in the fall!
So there you have it!


ON ANOTHER NOTE:
My birthday is Friday and since we are going out of town that day Graham went ahead and gave me my present last night so I could play with it. He got me......................................................
MY VERY OWN SEWING MACHINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Over the years I have borrowed my moms and the last 6 to 9 months I have had Dotties (My MIL). I was SOOOO excited to have my own, and to have a new one (the only ones I have sewed on have been from like 1970)! I have been sewing addie and Ali things all day long!

Also- We took Addie to the Circus last weekend.....SHE HAD A BLAST! I will post more and pics soon!

I have to get back to my beloved machine :)

I AM GOING TO BE HEALTHY..............

even if it kills me!

Today I joined weight watchers! I am pretty excited about it, mostly because my mom started it maybe 2 months ago and looks AMAZING!! I have been doing my workouts but it just isnt melting all this blame fat off my body! So HOPEFULLY this will help! So here goes nothing!

P.S.
You can join online for a free week trial of it and if you dont cancel and like it they will automatically enroll you and charge $65 to your account for 3 months. Then it is just like $17 a month after that! It seems to be pretty easy and you can even download an app on your ipod or iphone to keep track of your points!

WISH ME LUCK :)

Cookies and Milk Party

I don't want to go through moving my writing at the bottom to the top, so sorry! Here are pics of Addie's Milk and Cookies 2nd Birthday party, in no order!

Addie's favorite book is "If you give a Mouse a Cookie"! She loves it! She CRACKS up everytime we turn the page. One day we were reading it and I thought........wow what a great party idea! So I started brainstorming. I am very big on making Birthdays, Christmas and Halloween BIG DEALS. I have made Addie's costumes for Halloween both years, I went ALL out doing everything but the cake for Addie's first birthday party (and almost killed myself,lol) and Christmas........well, I did WAYY too much (we are going to do better this year). I love to bake so I decided I would make all the cookies, I would milk all the cows..........jk, and get my mom (the BEST story teller in history) to read the book. Then I decided since Addie LOVES her "Jammies" so much, she pretty much wears hers all day, we would do it as a "Bedtime Snack" and have everyone wear their PJ's! It was very cute to see all the kids in their PJ's!

All week I had planned on spending the entire day Friday making cookies........welp Friday morning Addie still wasn't feeling well so we went to the doctor. She had a sinus infection and he started her on some meds. That took half the blame day! I started baking around 11 am and pulled my last cookies out of the oven at 11 pm! I baked over 230 cookies, 9 different kinds! Addie sampled all of them, and she would have helped bake them but I couldn't let her spread germs around :)

Weeks before the party I gathered glass containers, some I already had, some I bought, some I borrowed, and decorated them with scrapbook paper and ribbons. I think they turned out really cute!