Grateful

It has been so long since I've had any updates, I know!  A few weeks ago I started an insanely long blog post detailing all of my medical history over the past eight or so months but I immediately trashed it because what is more boring than someone else's medical issues?  Hahaha, not much I say!

The wonderful, awesome, terrifying, happy, scary, thrilling news is that we are expecting #3 in June.  The other wonderful, awesome, terrifying, happy, scary, thrilling news is that we are moving to Texas in less than two weeks--a few months before we expected to go.  We've closed on our house and we're already underway with a few updates.  Huzzah!

The girls are psyched because we have a pool--they don't yet realize that most people have one--so they think we are livin' large in Texas :)

I'll try to post more updates after we move and as we get closer to June.  There is so much to look forward to and be grateful for.

What We're Loving Lately

Hi there!  Long time, no post.  I figured it is time for a "what we're loving lately" write-up:

1. Me Reader
For her birthday, Rhett and I got Charlotte the Disney Princess Me Reader, an electronic reader (like a tablet) that reads any one of eight books to her.  We also got a Disney Jr. set from friends.  There is a symbol on each page of the books and when you press the correct character and symbol on the tablet, the reader tells you what it says on the page.  Both girls LOVE the books and, oddly, the voice on the Me Reader.  I love the fact that I can eat a bowl of Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Stars while someone else reads to them.  It's outsourced parenting at its finest!

2. Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Stars
I'm going to be honest and say I hide these from my children because they are too good to share.

3. Back to Basics for Skin Care
I was at the dermatologist a couple of weeks ago and, at the end of my appointment, received some recommendations on skin care.  Are they recommending the latest $100 eye cream and $150 moisturizer from some insanely expensive brand?  Nope!  My dermatologist's practice recommends Cetaphil cleanser and cream moisturizer.  A friend of mine who goes to the same practice also said they like Neutrogena Rapid Wrinkle Repair.  I was shocked!  I've bought a $50 eye cream or two but I won't again.  For now I'm sticking with Cetaphil and Vaseline!  The Cetaphil cream moisturizer has been especially awesome as a body lotion.  Apparently the cream is a better and longer lasting moisturizer--who knew?

4. Cooking with Kids
A sweet friend gave Charlotte a princess-themed cookbook for her birthday and it has been so fun to use with the girls!  The recipes are actually good and...drumroll please...they are trying new things!  We're going to bring it to Salem for Christmas so we can make a couple of treats for Rhett's family.

5. Cate's Stocking
After eight months of stitching, and two months of my mom prepping and sewing, I finally completed Cate's needlepoint stocking.  Ta da!

You can't tell in the picture, and allow me to geek out over needlepoint for a sec (who am I??????), but I got to use some really cool threads and stitches on this.  Oh my gosh, did I really just say that?  The point is, this is the first needlepoint project I am really proud of.  Charlotte and I already have our eye on her stocking canvas.  We just have to wait for the after-Christmas sale.  It's a Noah's Ark design with a purple whale (favorite color), a zebra, and an alligator (favorite animals).  We love it!

Loving Three

When Cate was approaching her third birthday, I looked upon the day with some dread.  Three seemed like such an "in-between" age.  Turning two meant stepping completely out of the baby phase and leaving total dependence behind.  Four seemed O-L-D and like the first step toward Kindergarten.  But three?  What was great about turning three?

As with so many things with regard to parenting, I was just flat-out wrong and had to learn with experience.

Three is awesome!  It's my favorite age so far.  Three means being able to articulate real feelings. Three is rapid learning of ideas and concepts.  Three is moving toward independence, but still total faith in your mom and dad.  Three is complete sweetness without any of the "mean girl" stuff that is sure to come later.  Three is huggable.  Three is kind.  Three is counting everything.  Three is telling jokes.  Three is making your parents laugh out loud.  Three is funny.  It's good to be three.

Now that Charlotte is three, she is able to answer the birthday questions that Cate has done for the past few years:

Favorite Color :: Purple
Favorite Toy :: Elsa Barbie
Favorite Fruit :: Strawberries
Favorite TV Show :: Paw Patrol
Favorite Movie :: Minnierella
Favorite Thing to Wear :: Purple sparkly dress from Yaya
Favorite Animals :: Zebras and Alligators
Favorite Song :: Let it Go
Favorite Book :: Frozen
Best Friends :: Cecelia and Emma
Favorite Snack :: Pretzels
Favorite Drink :: Lemonade
Favorite Breakfast :: Pancakes
Favorite Lunch :: Grilled cheese
Favorite Dinner :: Noodles
Favorite Game :: Chutes and Ladders
Favorite Thing to do Outside :: Swings and slides
Favorite Holiday :: Halloween
What Do You Sleep With At Night :: Little Minnie and Pink Blanket
What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up :: Minnie Mouse

Love you, Charlotte Angel!

Filling Our Time

And just like that, it's mid-October and it feels like the year is drawing to an end.  In many ways, I will be happy to close the books on 2014, but we've had tons of fun too, and this fall has been just great!

The girls LOVE school.  Love is actually an understatement.  Cate told me that she wants to live at school, as in, be in kindergarten all the time, every second of every day.  Charlotte cries on Thursdays and Fridays when she doesn't have preschool.  So, I guess my job here is done??!?  While it's a little sad they're so attached to school, it's also totally wonderful.  I'm so happy that they are happy.

We've done all the fall "things" like going apple picking and visiting the pumpkin patch.  The girls have been invited to a bunch of parties, one of which had a special guest appearance by none other than Queen Elsa from Frozen.  I'm not exaggerating when I say it was one of the top three greatest moments of Charlotte's life, just behind 1) Being Born and 2) Seeing Minnie Mouse at Disney on Ice and smiling so brightly that I immediately burst into tears.

This is so random, but I've also tried a bunch of really good recipes lately that were so delicious I feel like I need to tell the world about them.  Go make these NOW:

Southwest Salad with Cilantro Lime Dressing
Homemade Cheez Its
Kale and White Bean Soup (use canned beans--the dried ones make me gag)
Banana and Chocolate Chip Muffins (skip the walnuts, cinnamon chips, and butter rum/coconut flavoring)

My other project has been making Halloween costumes.  Cate decided on being a Monarch butterfly (??!?) but she wanted to be one that was pink.  Charlotte jumped on that bandwagon faster than you can say "wings" so I've been working on some custom costumes at home.  I still have to make some tutu skirts but the wings are done.  Here is a preview:

I hope everyone has been having a fun fall!  We've been trying our best to stay busy :)

Fresh Start

I've never looked forward to the end of summer but the start of the school year has been a breath of fresh air around here.  Our summer was so fun, but both girls were very eager to start school and I could not wait to get all of the past miscarriage stuff behind me.  September felt like a big milestone and one I was more than a little relieved to reach.

Thankfully, my surgery was exactly what I needed to get over the latest miscarriage.  I remember, back in July, telling Rhett over and over, "I don't even care about being pregnant or having a baby, I just want to be NORMAL again!"  And finally, mercifully, I can say that I am back to normal.

Getting back to my old self meant I could begin fertility testing.  I have such a new appreciation for the struggles that women go though.  My clinic e-mails out couples' stories periodically and they have opened my eyes to some pretty amazing journeys.  We're talking women in their early 30s with no healthy eggs left, women who go through endless cycles of IVF, women with cancer.  In short I realized my life ain't that bad.

The testing all came back pretty normal.  The only things that were off were not big deals--one of my hormone levels is slightly high and I carry a genetic blood clotting disorder.  How much either one of those things has affected past pregnancies is highly debatable.  Should I wish to try again, my doctor has suggested taking some over the counter and prescription medications that may support a healthy pregnancy.  The drugs come with very low risks so there aren't any big reasons not to take them.

I feel extremely laid back about getting pregnant and no longer feel a push to make it happen.  This is a very comfortable place to be.  I should have known the whole time that I'm not in control, but it was difficult for me to live that way.

Cate was also thrilled to reach September.  She started at a little church-based Kindergarten on September 2.  There are eight kids in her class, and she has half days Monday and Friday.  They have circle time, singing, dancing, and music just like at preschool.  But now she's also doing science, computers, Spanish, etc.  Kindergarten isn't what I remember--she already knows the difference between a parallelogram and a rhombus.  I wasn't ready to be confused by her math worksheets for at least a few years.  If she comes home talking about asymptotes, I will just throw in the towel now.

Regardless, she is happy, having fun, and eager to learn.  This is all Rhett and I can hope for!

If Cate was thrilled about Kindergarten, Charlotte's excitement was at a fever pitch to start preschool. She's at Cate's old preschool and so happy.  Her school bag, her cubby, the classroom, the playground--she marvels at it all.  Charlotte loves her teachers so much, when she sees them, she starts jumping up and down.  Here's a little video I took of her the other day:

Here's to fresh starts!

The Genius of Dr. Seuss

The girls and I were at the library this week and let me tell you, the kid's section has been gutted.  I guess every mom is a liiiiittle short on activities now that summer is winding down because our regional library has gone from thousands upon thousands of children's books to about twelve.  One book that was there was "Oh the Places You'll Go.''  Cate has never read it, and I grabbed it thinking it would be appropriate given that she starts Kindergarten in less than a month. <--- WHAT????!?

Everyone can agree that Dr. Seuss is amazing but, reading that book to the girls today, I was struck at how applicable "Oh the Places You'll Go" can be to anyone.  From the book:

"You can get all hung up in a prickle-ly perch.
And your gang will fly on.  You'll be left in a lurch.
You'll come down from the Lurch with an unpleasant bump.
And the chances are, then, that you'll be in a Slump.
And when you're in a Slump, you're not in for much fun.
Un-slumping yourself is not easily done.
...
You can get so confused that you'll start in to race
down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace
and grind on for miles across wierdish wild space,
headed, I fear, toward a most useless place.
The Waiting Place...for people just waiting.
...
NO!  That's not for you!
Somehow you'll escape all that waiting and staying.
You'll find the bright places where Boom Bands are playing.
With banner flip-flapping, once more you'll ride high!
Ready for anything under the sky,
Ready because you're that kind of guy!"

Maybe I'm just looking for optimism, inspiration, and hope wherever I can find it, but I was reading that book with the widest grin on my face.  Thank you, Dr Seuss.

Five

Five years ago I was blissfully tired and enjoying my newborn baby Cate.  Fast forward to today and I can't believe what she's become.  The way she looks, talks, behaves, laughs, asks questions, and talks some more is no surprise because I've watched the progression.  But if you'd shown me her five-year-old self all those years ago, I would have been in complete shock.  And I would have been so proud.

Here is her five-year-old questionnaire:

Favorite Color :: Pink and yellow
Favorite Toy :: My Little Pony Wedding Castle
Favorite Fruit :: Watermelon
Favorite TV Show :: My Little Pony
Favorite Movie :: Tangled
Favorite Thing to Wear :: Pink Disney princess dress
Favorite Animal :: Cat
Favorite Song :: I Want to be Like Jesus (from Vacation Bible School)
Favorite Book :: Ocean
Best Friend :: Vivian and Taffe
Favorite Snack :: Peanuts
Favorite Drink :: Milk
Favorite Breakfast :: Pancakes
Favorite Lunch :: Chips, carrots, peppers, and apples
Favorite Dinner :: Noodles
Favorite Game :: UNO
Favorite Thing to do Outside :: Ride my bike and Razor scooter
Favorite Holiday :: Christmas
What Do You Sleep With At Night :: Yellow Blanket
What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up :: A mommy