Be-YOU-tiful!

Good morning, everyone! I woke up feeling much better today. I hope you all have a wonderful day in this wonderfully strange world ;). Remember - you're brilliant and beautiful! Now go do something that your future self with thank you for :).

Staying Positive

Between a tough doctor visit today, sleep deprivation, and a huge dinner time battle, I'm pretty exhausted and a bit emotionally drained. Abigail has definitely entered the two's in more ways than one. Don't get me wrong, she's a wonderful little girl and I feel so fortunate because she's so happy-natured and really well-behaved most days. But there are still exhausting moments. And knowing that she's sick (ear/sinus infections and a yucky cough) and not feeling well on top of the meltdowns make it a bit harder. So tonight, I'm going to look at these pictures that I took from our walk today, smile at the sight of her smile, and thank God for another day with my wonderful little family. Life may not always be perfect, but that's perfectly okay with me! I have what I need and love in life the most, and I wouldn't change that for the world. 

Mothers Pride

Isn't it funny what makes us proud as mothers? Or more generically speaking, as parents?! I used to take pride in getting a good job, accomplishing a goal that I had dreamed of for a while, and so on. Nowadays? I find myself feeling so proud of the smallest things that Abigail does. Whether it's going potty, saying a new word or expression, or watching her help me clean up a spill...I am filled with joy and pride. Today, it was watching her focus on trying to draw pictures while we were getting our taxes done. 

I have never seen her so focused on something. She was "checking" off the boxes on the checklist, then "drew" a picture of Charlie (our dog) along with J.D. and Maddie (my parents dogs). She was so proud to show me her scribbles, which in turn made me so proud of her. I love watching her imagination grow, along with her focus. She amazes me more every day and I'm so proud to be her mommy. 

Upcoming Trip & A New Do! :)

I'm not one to complain, but bear with me. Since people choose if they want to read this or not, I'm just going to let it out!

This winter and pregnancy have both been tough on me. For starters, the entire first trimester was awful. I was sick and tired all day, every day. Taking care of a toddler and trying to move, settle, and maintain our home on top of those things made for a pretty rough few months. 

Then, once I began to feel a bit better, our house got hit with the flu, norovirus, and a cold! All back to back. To say the least, it wasn't fun. Thankfully those things are behind us now (aside from a little cough and snot on Abby's behalf). We are SO thankful to have our health back! 

We just got our final orders (finally) and our trip to San Diego is confirmed!! We are going to be in San Diego from Feb 29-April 15. We decided instead of staying in Coronado this time that we wanted to mix it up and stay on Mission Beach. I have a friend staying there during the same time, too, which will be a lot of fun for me! 

~here's a photo of Mission Beach~

~looks rough, right?!~

I'm quite the homebody in the sense that I like the security of being close to home, but even more so, close to family. I'm not the type of person that enjoys a lot of time to myself. I've always been an extrovert and no matter how exhausted or how many kids I have, I don't see that changing ;).  Since I've been stuck in a bit of a rut this winter between pregnancy "blah's" and the yucky germs going around, I'm pretty excited for a change of scenery and some healing Vitmain D! 

That all being said....I had another boost in my mood yesterday. :) My sister has been doing hair for a while now, and she's really turned out to be an amazing hairstylist. I told her I've been feeling like I need a change, and that I wanted to brighten things up a bit just in time to leave for sunny California! I swear hairstylists are miracle workers ;). 

She totally took me from "drab" to "fab." I don't need to look a certain way to feel good about who I am, and I hope that's not the message that I'm portraying. This just put an extra pep in my step yesterday and gave me back a little spark that I've been missing! And seriously....how talented is she?! I'm so proud of her. She's always been the "artistic" one of us, and I'm so happy to see her using that talent.

So...thank you sis for making me feel a little better about myself, and for giving me an extra boost in confidence before I leave for our trip! 

An early morning!

Good morning, friends and family! Our day began at 4:45am today, thanks to this new "big-girl bed" thing. Abigail decided that she was well-rested before the sun even came up, and came galavanting into our room, ready to "feed Charlie and watch Mickey Mouse" before my eyes were fully open. We had a full bacon & eggs breakfast eaten by 6:45am! Then we were dressed and off for a day of nannying by 7:15am. We get to hang out with two cute little boys every other Friday for a little extra spending money & it helps out a friend of mine...it's a win-win :). 

As I sit here, sleep deprived from a poor nights sleep, I can't help but laugh thinking that this is God's way of preparing me for the new baby. I've always been one to suffer from insomnia, but it's been on a new level lately. Nothing like a big 'ol belly, awkward pregnancy dreams, a super active unborn baby, and a 2-year old that has a cold AND is adjusting to being out of her crib to help contribute to restless nights. ;) 

Speaking of the "big girl bed," let me touch on that! Abigail has officially slept 4 (maybe 5, but I can't remember) nights in it all by herself! Those who know me know that I'm pretty firm on having an "independent sleeper." I've never wanted her to require a fancy routine of any sort (whether it be the lighting, noises, us laying with her, etc.) to fall asleep. We say our prayer with her each night (which she now says with us - and it's ADORABLE), kiss her, lay her down, and simply walk out. She's been a dream at bedtime. I would never judge another family for choosing to co-sleep, etc, that's just not for us.  We had a couple really rough nights at first, one of which Abby and I were up from 11pm on until the next full day! But the last couple of nights, I've watched her (thank you, video monitor) soothe herself both when she's initially going to sleep and when she wakes up throughout the night. It's hard to believe that our little baby girl is growing up to become such a smart, self-sufficient toddler! 

Anyways, back to today.... We got out the door a couple minutes late, much thanks to the front door for jumping in front of Abigail as she walked outside ;). Poor girl ran RIGHT into the open door, bouncing her head off of it so hard that she got knocked onto her butt, hitting the back of her head on the wall inside the house. It wasn't one of her most coordinated moments. Turns out, she does take after her momma in some ways! :) We are now at the boys' house, playing with lots of toys and working on our sharing skills! Hanging out with a 4-year old and a baby under 1 are both great for Abigail, teaching her a good combination of sharing, learning new words and skills, while learning to be gentle and help with a baby, too. As much as we love it, I'm going to stop once baby Isabelle gets here. I want to be sure to focus on my girls and get into a routine of our own, while figuring out how to be the best mother of two that I can be! 

I hope you all are having a great day so far, and that it continues to get better and better! It is FRIDAY! So it can't be too bad, right?! :)

~just being silly in the early hours of the morning~