A New Sense of Order

The parenting columns for Chase's age started talking about teaching your kid how to clean up their own toys a couple of months ago. I tried, but all he would do is grab stuff and spread it around more or throw it around the room. I was so frustrated & figured that I just didn't know what I was doing!

Then, suddenly, he just "got it"! Without me even working with him, Chase started to show a sense of order in things. He still likes to play with the empty macaroni & cheese box & tear the top into pieces, but now he puts the pieces inside what's left of the box, dumps it out & puts it all back in over and over again. He's one of the best helpers at Gymboree class for putting the balls back in the basket to be put away. He loves to hand me his clean clothes, one at a time, to be folded & put in his dresser drawers. To encourage him, I sometimes hand him trash & let him put it in the garbage can and yesterday, while I was washing doors (preparing to put our house up for sale), I let him "help".

Its so much fun & I guess I really shouldn't stress about stuff like that so much. Seems like there are just certain things that come naturally and in their own time.

Head Over Hills for Pink!

The buying of "pink" started a couple of weeks ago after the first sonogram, with just that 60% chance of a girl. Just 2 pink outfits to start with that I figured could always be given away as gifts if we didn't end up with a girl.

A follow up sonogram yesterday confirmed that the chance of a girl is a pretty sure thing. We got a great view (several times) that showed no "boy parts" -- so we're counting on that girl now, even though there's always a chance that we missed something.

That being said, I am not going to be one of those mom's who refuses to buy pink. I've never understood that, though I've heard a lot of it over the years. I've definitely seen cute things in other colors, but we'll be having a lot of pink in this house. I don't know; I guess I kind of look at it as a way of celebrating girliness! And after waiting so long to get our kids, I am celebrating all that I can! We did tons of blue with Chase & will do tons of pink with our little girl to come!

Time to Think

I have been so exhausted with this pregnancy that I typically don't wake up until Chase wakes up - around 8am and then I also need a nap at his naptime. It doesn't leave much quiet time for me during the day! Chase is great & can entertain himself quite a bit, but there's always the sound of his feet running around & his loud voice babbling on & on. I love hearing him, but I've felt a lot like my head is just always clouded up.

I am currently reading a series called The Kingdom and the Crown by Gerald Lund. It is a historical fiction trilogy that takes place at the time that Jesus Christ lived on the Earth. It is so fascinating & touching and I am really learning a lot from it. In the 2nd book, there's a quote from one of the characters that reads: "I want to have time to think. I want to lay on my back and stare up at the clouds and ponder what Jesus is asking of us, of me." I was so touched by that comment and knew that I was definitely missing that in my life.

So, the quest begins to find that "time to think". Now that I have a bit more energy in this 2nd trimester, I've started waking up earlier (most days). And Jeff takes Chase out for a walk or to Gymboree a couple of evenings a week. Its amazing what happens on the days that I get that time to myself to think & work on projects. Not only do I get a TON accomplished, but my head just feels so clear and that feeling of a clear head has just made all the difference in the past few weeks!

15% off Gold Canyon is a sweet deal!

Gold Canyon is offering another great deal & I just had to let everyone know! If its time for you to replenish your candle supply, this is a great way to do it! Your order must be $50 or more & you can place the order on my website: www.gottahavecandles.com If you prefer, you can call or e-mail me your order & I can place it for you for the same great price!

Moving On

What a week we've had! Between our "60% girl" (by the way, I've already bought my first pink baby outfit!) and now finding out that a move is in our future. Jeff applied for a "new job" which is basically a new job with the same company that will transfer us to a new location. We'll be headed to Colorado! We're excited for the change, to get closer to all of our family (in Arizona), and to get out of the humidity (which has been terrible for my rheumatoid arthritis lately).

So, its a good thing & we're so excited! The tough part right now is that we don't know WHEN! The person that Jeff will get all that information from is out of the office until Tuesday of next week. In the meantime, we're busily finishing up all those projects around the house that never get done . . . painting & little fix-ups that would've been nice for us to enjoy while we lived here, but at least they might help us sell the house (oh, please!).

I'm one of those people that always likes to know the future. Its hard for me to walk into the unknown, so while I'm very excited, all the unknowns of . . .

when
will it be before the baby is born & what doctor will I use when we get there
how long do we have to get our house ready to sell
will we be able to sell our house without going into extreme debt
where will we live when we get there
will we pick the right neighborhood

. . . well, those have me a little on edge right now. Looks like this will be one of those times that I get to practice some faith! We knew that buying our current house was the right thing & we feel good about moving to Colorado, so I'll just have to have faith that however it works out, everything will be okay in the end.

60% girl

We went for the "big" ultrasound today. This modest little baby kept those legs crossed the whole time. The tech got one small glimpse that made her lean toward "girl", but she said she could only be 60% sure. My cousin went in for an ultrasound a few weeks ago & was told 70% girl - a second ultrasound a couple of weeks later confirmed they were having a boy!

So, basically, we have no idea at this point, other than the facts that Jeff thinks its a girl, this pregnancy has been a lot easier than the last one, and this baby isn't as wiggly as Chase was. So, we're still hoping for a girl & leaning that way, but who knows what we'll end up with?

It was good, however, just to see the baby's heart beating & see the baby moving - a little bit. (With Chase's ultrasound, he was soooo wiggly; it was so different than this one.) I felt movement with Chase at 13 weeks and consistently from there on out. I'm now 18 weeks and I still don't know for sure if I've felt this baby move. Every now & then I think I might feel something, but I'm really not sure. So, it was so nice to see the movement on the ultrasound to give me the feeling that everything is alright.

What to do with the buttermilk I bought by mistake?

Have you ever gotten home from the grocery store & wonder why you bought something, why it was even on your list? When we were first married, I bought stewed tomatoes, thinking I was picking up tomato sauce. I HATE stewed tomatoes & never use them in recipes.

On a recent grocery trip, I bought the buttermilk that was on my list. When I went to make the zucchini pineapple bread that I thought had buttermilk in it, I discovered that I had mistakenly looked at the wrong recipe when jotting down my list of what I needed. It turns out that no buttermilk was needed.

I don't usually make recipes with buttermilk in them since its not normally something I keep in my refrigerator, but this week I saw a recipe for pancakes that looked so good & since I had the buttermilk anyway, I tried it out. This was the best pancake recipe I've ever tasted! If you'd like to try them, you can check out the recipe at: http://bakerella.blogspot.com/2009/06/good-morning.html Jeff doesn't like blueberries so we left those out & we didn't do the orange maple butter that is included in the recipe.

And, I do still have buttermilk left, so if you have any good recipes using buttermilk, please send them my way!