Mothership Confessional

**This post was written a several days ago; I am just now publishing it** I am going to try and write this post while little girl makes laps around the downstairs entertaining herself with my flip flops, an empty box, and the dog's lips. I'm in ultra-quiet stealth mode, as usually any peep or change in position from me and she detects it and comes over to me and demands to "help" with whatever I'm trying to do. She even hears when I press the home button on my iPhone. She's crazy. We'll see how far I can get before I am detected this time. Finally we are 2 DAYS  away from seeing little peanut! I could be as far along as just shy of 11 weeks and we still don't have a clue what little baby is up to in there! I have been experiencing lots of nausea - round the clock this time. With Ava, it was only in the evenings and I barely ate anything because I hated almost all food! This time around, nausea hits me at all times of the day and I try to power ...

**This post was written a few weeks ago, and I am just now publishing it.** I don't even know how to start this post so I'm just going to start putting my thoughts down. I find it so ironic  that my post from earlier today included a part about wondering how I'm going to store all of Ava's baby things. I found out just a few hours ago that I will only have to keep them in storage for 9 months!!!!!! ...yes, I found out today that I am pregnant...AGAIN!!!!!!!! Oh my gosh. Obviously I am writing this up just a few hours after seeing that positive test, so things are just sinking in. It is just so  wild!  God sure does work in mysterious ways! So let's rewind to how I got to this joyous moment! Chris and I decided when Ava was around 8 months old that we would forgo the birth control and let nature take its course. We want to have kids close-ish in age, and once again, we felt confident in going the "no birth control" route sinc...

I feel like someone has turned a page into a new chapter in my book of being a mother. Chris and I were talking after we got home from our Kansas trip and we both agree that Ava seems to know that she is a 1 year-old. She just acts bigger!  She learned how to say "cracker". It just sounds like "kkkkkkkkkkkk" at the back of her throat! She's pretty impressed with herself when she says it! She walks everywhere! She has really become a walking expert and doesn't even crawl at all anymore. She also doesn't want anyone to hold her hand while she walks. She's very into the "me do it" phase with walking! She just acts like a such a big girl! It's almost as if the universe knew she turned one and now all these changes are happening. It makes me so happy to see her loving life and learning new things each day. I love all the communicating she can do - she finally signed "more" a few weeks ago and I love when she does i...

Our sweet Ava Mckenzie, our Ava baby, Ava Bava, Ava Mac & Cheese, my little froggy...turns  one year old today!!! And what a difference a month can make!! I feel like I've only recently become really good at making the most of each day, specifically, her nap times. Did it really take me 10 months to get to the point where I was  eager  to get things done while she was sleeping?!  Yes, it did!!! Know why? Because that's how long it took for her to start sleeping through the night, and therefore, I no longer felt like a  complete   zombie.  She's an early riser so some days I definitely still want to nap, but I'm finally feeling more productive and in control of my days, and I feel like tackling small projects again. Yay me!! During one nap time, I can now: *Sit and do nothing for a little bit *pick up the downstairs *do a little workout (emphasis on little!) *clean a toilet or two *shower and/or get dressed *work on a ...