Easter photo dump

I am in love with Instagram. I will now bombard you with pictures.

I know I'm about the last person on Earth to use this app, but I just got my Iphone and I love it! Aunt Ashie took so many awesome pics when we were home in Texas for Easter with it, that I just had to go ahead and turn in the ancient Blackberry once I got home. I missed it for about 2 minutes. Die evil rolly ball!

We had a wonderful Easter! Since Marc was in China for 2 weeks for work, Henry and I took a trip to Texas for 5 days. We were there the week before Easter, but we still had a hunt in the front yard. The weather was perfect and we had a great time just hanging out with the family.

The festivities & sugar wore him out. Blankie in hand. He loves his blankies.

I could not wait to take pictures in the bluebonnets this year. It's funny the things you miss about Texas when you don't live there anymore. And bluebonnet season is one of them!
He was not having it.

Sucker time!

Time for a smoke break.

Sour!

We found one!

I like this picture. Green shirt with the green grass.

Oh my, I am large.

The things you do to make them laugh.

How did the Easter bunny get my blankie in here? Whaaa?

That's a big egg.I have decided that Easter might be one of my favorite holidays. It's so festive, yet not much work is involved. Fill a couple eggs with candy, done. Buy a ham (or in our case, visit 3 grocery store and have your husband practically have to arm wrestle to get the last one), done. Dye some eggs, done. Invite friends over, let the kids play, and watch the Masters. Done and done.

Marc got back the Thursday before Easter and we were so glad! Single mommin' while pregnant is hard. Heck, single mommin' not being pregnant is hard.

Not just mentally, but physically too. I'm trying so hard not to carry him as much anymore, but it's so automatic to me. I put my Zen Massage groupon to use for sure.

And we missed Marc big time. We were able to Face Time every other day or so, but Henry just doesn't get it. As soon as he sees the Ipad, he wants to play games. Poor Marc! Anytime he tried to talk to him, all Henry would say was "Dozers?" and then cry.

But when he got home, oh my gawd. Reunited and it feels so good. Marc had a shadow for 2 days straight. His tackling and football playing buddy was back.

I'm slowly realizing that he's not a baby anymore and we need to celebrate him being a "big boy" before the baby comes. We're doing all we can to talk up the big boy thing and how proud we are of his growing independence.

The big boy bed has been a success! It took about a week to get back into good sleeping habits from Marc being gone, trip to Texas, moving out of the crib....etc. All I can say is, the ferber method is a miracle worker. Straight up miracle. After 12 minutes of crying that first night, he finally gave up and conked out. He slept throught the night and when we both went to get him in the morning, he was so proud! Sitting up in that big bed, just smiling.

We moved the queen guest bed mattress to his room and just put it on the floor to see how it would go. We just bought him a full bed with a twin trundle underneath on Craig's List. I'm also the last person in the world to discover Craig's List. When you are buying a lot of furniture for a new casa, it is awesome!

Speaking of the casa, we close next FRIDAY, April 20th! I cannot believe it. Our friends who just moved generously gave us all of their packing stuff (boxes, bubble wrap, tarps), so we just starting packing this week. The closing date has changed multiple times and finally got confirmed....um, yesterday. So, needless to say, we are kicking it into high gear. Movers are booked, boxes are being packed. It's coming together.

Hugs with our neighbor friend Austen.

We planted m&m's in the dirt to grow lollipops (thank you Pinterest). I think this was his favorite Easter activity.

28 weeks pregnant. Take it in. This is girl pregnant. I will be starting as offensive linebacker for the Panthers in the fall.
I failed my gestational diabetes test. Sigh. I go back to take the 3 hour test on Tuesday.

I ate very well the week prior to the test, so there's not much more that I could have done. We'll see how this next test goes. I will definitely be fasting starting at midnight rather than 2 hours prior to the test just to be safe.

Frustrating, but maybe this is just how my body reacts to pregnancy.

Luckily, I'm already in the dieting mindset so maybe it won't be so bad if I have it. I've already got the pantry and fridge stocked with all the foods I'm able to eat and that's half the battle.

Dipping red pepper strips into guacamole instead of tortilla chips? Oh it's healthy alright and I'm smiling on the outside. But I am crying on the inside. I'll see you in 10 weeks chips. Oh margaritas too. I'll go ahead and make a request for both of those items at the hospital, mmkay?

Lots of exciting stuff happening around here!
Next time I write a blog, it will be from the new house!

Love,

Lynds

Henry updates

I forgot to include any updates on the man in my last post.

Oh, my sweet boy. Not even 2 and a half yet and already in 3T clothes. Growing up so fast!

- We are not quite ready for potty training yet. He seems to play better when his diaper is at full capacity. Zero interest at all.

- Since we'll need the crib for the little sister, we'll probably go ahead and make the transition to big boy bed first. We have a hand me down comforter set from his second cousin Noah with trucks and construction all over it, so he's pretty excited about that. He's sleeping great in his crib right now...so we'll see how it pans out.

- He talks ALL the time! His vocabulary is out of control. He's just started the "What is that?" phase and is so curious. The other day, we were watching a nature show with a moose, and he said "Hi moose. How are you doing?". He loves to watch nature shows, especially ones with tigers! He loves cats of all kinds and will sometimes walk around the house meowing.

- The boy has the sweetest and most caring heart. If Betsy is acting up and I yell at her he says, "No no mama. Betsy nice." He does not want me to yell at her. He'll sneak up on me, wrap his arms around my legs and say, "I love you mom". If I tell him no, he'll look at me with this most concerned look and say, "Don't worry mom". Yeah right!

- He is still obsessed with Mickey. We watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse at least once a day. We have a Mickey Mouse firetruck book and an Easter book that we alternate every night. We can't ready anything but those two books no matter how much we beg. Mike Mulligan used to be his bedtime fave, but now....only Mickey. Lord help us. I see a Disney World trip at some point in our near future.

- His favorite video is called Mighty Machines. It's a construction video that his Aunt Ashie sent him. He asks to watch it everyday. We have set up his own construction site in the backyard so we can be like Mighty Machines. Sometimes, he'll wear his hard hat and when I ask if he's ok, he'll yell back, "I working. Big jobs."

- He loves to climb up on his step stool and wash his hands and brush his teeth like a big boy.

- His favorite toy is still his Bruder garbage truck, which he loads and unloads with "garbage" everyday. He loves his piggy bank right now and likes to fill it up with coins. Blocks are a big favorite again lately. And he's just starting to like coloring and playing with stickers.

- He will do anything for a lollipop. He's still a pretty good eater, but is getting pickier by the day. Breakfast and lunch, he'll eat. Dinner, forget about it.

Henry and his best buddy Jack

Sliding!
We always have a shovel at the ready. The sand is endlessly entertaining.

He loves to watch sports with his dad and snuggle on the couch. Such a cuddler!

It only took him 2 years, but he's finally come around to the swings.

Right now, his favorite sport is golf. And he will tell you, "I love golf." Good thing we're moving to the golf course! He practices hitting in the backyard all the time.

The fascination with sports continues. Throwing a football or soccer ball up and down the stairs with his daddy. Yay!!

When grandparents come to visit, we get really excited and don't like to take naps. Then, we fall asleep on the couch at 7pm. Too tired to suck the thumb.

Our first time watching the Cars movie. I'm not really sure why we had a step ladder in the living room. Provided a good place to climb though!

And to pose!



Cooking in our play kitchen with our best neighbor friend Austen.

"Helping" mom make brownies.

His first attempt at photography. Look at the size of that foot!

I understand throwing all the blankets out, but how in the world did he get the mattress pad off??

The library makes me tired.

Love,

Lyndsey

A whole lotta life

I have not blogged in a long time.

Frankly, we have a bit a bit busy around here and I have not had a spare brain cell available to even think about writing about our lives. We have been too busy living it.

And that happens sometimes right? The past couple months have been filled with a whole lotta life. And that's a good thing.

A new baby- July 5th.

An old house move out- April 15th.

A new house move in- April 17th.

A new car- February 15th.

A new office- March 1st.

So much new!! Throw in our yearly winter sicknesses and work travel, and I admit that I have had days where I have wanted to pull my hair out with all the stress. My hair that desperately needs some highlights if I can ever find a chunk of time to go get my hair did. Oh, I've seen some gray stragglers in there. I have earned them.

This seems to be the way we do things around here. Let's do every major life change at once! Why not?! Yeah!

I am a routine girl. I like my daily schedules, to-do lists, and a little order.

In the wise words of Garth, "We fear change."

BUT...in the grand scheme of things, changes that would have thrown me totally off kilter a couple years ago, I am handling pretty well. And we are so blessed and thankful. The timing of our move and the baby is working out amazingly well. And Henry is growing up and being just his sweety boy self. What a great big brother he is going to be. Even though he still wants to name his baby sister Airport Seven and when given the question, "Do you want a baby brother or sister? (this was before we knew the sex). His response was "Nothing."

Look at me, handling all this mature adult stuff. Baby girl's growing up!

Speaking of baby girls......the little one is progressing nicely. Her heartbeat was strong and fast at our last 23 week appointment. I was glad to find out she was not affected at all by a 48 hour stomach bug I caught when I was up in NYC for work.

I threw up in a cab.

You read that correctly. I THREW UP IN A CAB. It was one of the most horrible moments of my life. You never feel more vulnerable than when you are yacking your guts out into a Gap shopping bag in an already disgusting taxi in the Departures section of Laguardia airport. And I didn't even have a crazy drunken night out to show for it. Lame.

Here's some pics from our gender ultrasound. These pics tend to creep me out, but I think the top one actually is a good face shot, minus the umbilical cord in the eye. I can totally see Henry in her little face.

I cannot wait to get into the new house and start on her room! This is such a big part of the nesting process for me. Being pregnant with the second baby is so different. You are so busy with everything that you tend to forget most of the time what is actually going to happen in umm....4 short months away. Oh, you know it will be the night before and we'll be scrambling to get the car seat in the car and all that stuff. But, we're pros right? This ain't our first rodeo.

Who am I kidding? I remember nothing. Let's just say a little prayer that I will remember how to hold an infant, rather than propping her on my hip like the sack of 33lb potatoes that I currently carry around.

My mama bought her nursery bedding on Etsy. Could you die? I love all the colors. Totally bohemian. She is going to be a total free spirit. Thank you mom!

And here's her dresser. I'm turning an old antique ivory desk that I currently already have into a changing table. I'm just going to change out the knobs with some fun ones from Hobby Lobby or Anthropologie.

I haven't decided on the wall color yet. I might go with something a little more neutral, like this color Coventry Gray I saw in the PB Kids catalog. Or I might do lavender to match the bedding. Decisions, decisions.

As far as the house goes, we are moving to a golf course community called Skybrook in our same town of Huntersville, NC. We love the neighborhood and already know some friends that live there, which is going to be absolutely great to have some other mommies close by.

Worst picture of a house ever. I promise you, it does not look like an orphanage from the 1800's in person.

I am changing my name to Scarlett. I have found my Tara. Can I walk down those stairs in evening gowns on my way to all the galas that I currently go to? And by galas, I mean play dates at Chick-Fil-A. Maybe I'll throw on some big earrings for some sparkle.

The kitchen is sick! This is my domain.
Marc's long awaited Man Room. Aka Football watching headquarters.
We are sitting right on the 12th hole.

The main goal of moving was to get a larger house to fit our expanding family and still have room for our visiting family. Plus, in the words of Beyonce (I am really quoting some legendary 21st century minds today), "Let me upgrade ya!" 1800 square feet to 3300 square feet. I cannot promise it will always be clean, but let me tell you....it is going to be decorated like a boss.

Can't wait to get in there already!

Love,

Lyndsey