cup of joe: we are having fun.

In a recent conversation with Jesse about various things, he said he was going to remind me that I had commented that (roughly), "for me, I find fun in doing stuff with our kids." What I was really meaning was that we shouldn't postpone potential plans and trips "until the kids are older" because we'll miss some horrible times and wonderful memories to be made NOW. He was grumpy that I had a good point and was trying to be silly. So the other day when Emma was being difficult, he happily (and with a bit of snarky bite) said "but we're having fun!"

But you know what, it's true. Emma is a handful. Lily is almost 3 and learning boundaries. As sarcastic or not as Jesse may have been trying to be, I told him to yes, please say that! Sometimes, a momma needs a reminder. All moms know in the back of their mind that, yes, this too will pass- whatever "this" is that is the current difficulty- and we're supposed to always be enjoying every single moment, but honestly, some days that's a tall order. Like the days where I am always a step (or three!) behind Emma and I spend all day following her, cleaning up water from the toilet, water from Zeke's water dish, the dog food, pulling chairs away from the table in an effort to keep her OFF the table top...or when Lily questions and challenges everything from the minute she wakes up to the minute she goes to bed: we are having fun. It was a good reminder, and I hope he occasionally and tactfully does remind me of that.

Anyway, deep contemplations aside, I will try and update this silly thing I neglect.

We are doing very well. Everyone is happy (occasional grumps aside), healthy and keeping entertained. And in case you somehow have missed the memo up to this point, I am pregnant, which should be reason enough for why my blog has been so quiet for so long. More on that in a minute: I really am going to try and post a picture update this weekend. There's no way I will be able to post all the way back from April or whenever I left off last, but we'll see what I can do.

The girls are little hilarious balls of energy. Lily is almost done with naps (NOOOOOOO!!!), but after a week of no naps, she is taking one today. Instead of nap times for her, we've had Quiet Room Time, which works very well, too, except she doesn't seem to grasp that that is MY time for quiet as well, and she needs to stay in the play room the whole time. Regardless, she has been doing great with that and I guess I just need to make my peace with that. I also need to start wrapping my mind around the fact that she will be 3 in a month...ugh. Where has the time gone? How do I have an almost three year old!?

Emma is a busy little handful. Seriously. I know there are more difficult children out there, and I'm not complaining!, but she is difficult for us some days. But I suppose all children can be...all that aside, she is lots of fun and makes us laugh with her little 14 month old antics. She is finally getting to the fun age and past the boring part- don't judge us, we prefer toddlers to newborns- and is an eating and sleeping champ. Finally. She loves animals, no surprise there, and I think her first word she really tried to seriously say besides "momma" was "cow." I'm told she also tried to moo the other day. Chicks might be her favorite, but she loves all little animals, or so it seems. She really isn't talking or attempting to talk much, but she is signing please, more and sit, so communication is easing up with her, too.

Jesse and I are keeping busy. Jesse is thrilled I'm into the second trimester and have a little more energy, a little less grump and that I'm feeling majorly better. Since we kept it quiet that we were expecting again for most of the first trimester, to sum up what you missed: I was tired a ton, felt sick when I ate, had zero motivation but overall, have felt a TON better than I did the entire pregnancy with Emma. Praise God for all pregnancies and children being different. According to our first calculations, I am 16 weeks and 4 days and due on February 3. According to the 11 week ultrasound I had, I am 15 weeks 5 days and due on February 9. I think a good chunk of the family is leaning towards the 3rd, but really, this baby will come when the time is right and due dates are ridiculous anyway. One friend is trying to convince me to have the baby on his birthday (2/14) and I laughed and said no way, I don't have babies late. Which may not be true this time, but I'm not afraid to go out and start jumping rope and doing squats to get things moving when it's closer to a due date. I haven't felt up to much exercise, which is super annoying, but I have kept very busy/active chasing the girls and the three of us go on several 30+ minute walks a week. And since I live in hills and always have one of the girls in the backpack, I think that's a sufficient work out for now. I am (hopefully) getting over my Pregnancy Poison Ivy, which has me thrilled. Jesse just thinks I'm allergic to being pregnant, but I just think I'm highly allergic to the annoying weed when I'm pregnant and I only have to look at it to get it, and have had 3 pretty severe rashes with all my pregnancies (not counting my miscarriage). Fortunately, this one didn't cover me head to toe like the one when I was pregnant with Lily...

And now: pictures! Some highlights, anyway.