4 months

Today is Silas' 4 month day. :)

Here's what he's doing these days:
*rolling from stomach to back AND back to stomach all the time
*playing for long periods on his tummy and enjoying his playmat
*playing with paper or plastic or anything that makes a "crinkly" noise
*reaching for things he wants (like my glasses)
*sleeping through the night (for about a month now)

He's a joy. These pictures make me smile.

Sleepy head

Awake!

ALVIIIIIIIIIIIN!

Halloween was spent at the Cardoza's with a bunch of friends. In case you couldn't tell, we were Alvin and the Chipmunks. We played a riveting game (or 3) of Cranium Pop 5 and had a blast. The guys won 2 out of 3, but there is absolutely NO proof of that. :P

Sunday Song

Revelation Song

Worthy is the, Lamb who was slain
Holy, Holy, is He
Sing a new song, to him who sits on
Heaven's mercy seat

Holy, Holy, Holy
Is the Lord God Almighty
Who was, and is, and is to come
With all creation I sing
Praise to the King of Kings
You are my everything
And I will adore You

Clothed in rainbows, of living color
Flashes of lightning, rolls of thunder
Blessing and honor, strength and glory and power be
to You the only wise King

Holy, Holy, Holy
Is the Lord God Almighty
Who was, and is, and is to come
With all creation I sing
Praise to the King of Kings
You are my everything
And I will adore You

Filled with wonder, awestruck wonder
At the mention of your name
Jesus your name is power
Breath, and living water
Such a marvelous mystery
Yeah...

Holy, Holy, Holy
Is the Lord God Almighty
Who was, and is, and is to come, yeah
With all creation I sing
Praise to the King of Kings
You are my everything
And I will adore You

I love my life.

More randoms

Here are some more random pics from the last week or so...

Sleepy heads

This is how I found Silas when I came back into the room on Monday morning. He was on his back when I left him... :)

Now he will hardly stay on his back! He also figured out how to roll while swaddled, so we had to stop swaddling him and he was not very happy about that for a couple of nights. Now he's good with it because he just rolls to his tummy, cries for a minute or two, and then settles in for some good sleep in his new sleep sack. We are working on teaching him to roll from his tummy to his back, and he did it all by himself this afternoon so yay!

He is definitely an active sleeper. I love this picture - he started out with his head facing the right and in his stabilizer and this is how I found him when I went to get him up. :) He was awake, not sleeping with his face in the mattress.

Now he sleeps on his tummy without the stabilizer.

Micah loves him :)

Sweet snuggle-bunny.

Playing with the tissue paper and grinning at Daddy

She'll be coming around the mountain

A few weekends ago we spent a little time in the mountains of north Georgia (Suches, GA) with our good friends the Mays and the Cardozas. It was a wonderfully relaxing time. We didn't leave the house, and with 5 kids under 4 that was probably a good idea. We ate yummy food, played games, soaked and LAUGHED in the hot tub, attempted to catch non-existent fish, played ping pong and air hockey on the world's smallest ping pong/air hockey table (and got sore from it), laid around and read in front of the fire, and just generally had a grand ol' time. The Mays and Cardozas started the fall.trip.to.the.mountains tradition before I moved here and I'm so glad they let us in on the fun. It's something we look forward to every year.

The view across the river

The house. Yes, that is like 5 stories of stairs. Maybe more.

The view from the porch - that's Justin trying to catch the oh-so-elusive trout that are supposedly in that river.

See? It IS the smallest ping pong table ever. And just so you know, I am good at very few things that are even slightly athletic (just let me think that ping pong requires some athletic ability) but I actually am pretty good at ping pong and it makes me happy. I beat Sarah (who wouldn't let Zach keep the score out loud), Leslie, and Justin, but was defeated by Matt, who plays ping pong like it's real tennis. He's kinda fierce. I didn't get to play Zach, but I'm fairly certain I would have beaten him as well. :PI grew up playing a card game called Canasta (actually I think it's a version of Canasta called Argentina) with my family and Justin and I taught it to the Mays last year and we taught the Cardozas our last night in the mountains. It was great fun and VERY entertaining. Matt and Leslie are a HOOT! This is how Leslie held her cards. :)

Our little group. Zach, Sarah, Micah, Connor, Matt, Leslie, Isabella, William, Justin, Silas, and me.

I'll decide when the Tutee has been Tuted!

I'm watching Saved By the Bell: The College Years and Screech just yelled that at Zach. Seemed as good a title as anything.

I thought I'd share a few pictures since I haven't done that in a while. Silas and I have had many lazy days lately and it's been wonderful.

Ok - so maybe it's not a FEW pictures. A lot. A whole lot. :) And they are in no particular order because I am lazy.

Lovin' on Daddy and holding that head up!

The Three Muskateers - Connor (5 months), Silas (3 months), and William (12 months)

Sittin' in the Bumbo like a big boy

4 generations - Dowden

4 generations - Moss

Pops and the babies. Yes, Fifi counts.

With Uncle Doug

This is my lifetime friend Holly. We were born a day apart in the same hospital and have been friends our entire lives. She just had a gorgeous baby girl, Emma Claire, last week (a week after this picture was taken). I can't wait to see them again at Christmas!

Swinging with Mamay (MuMAY)

Eating Pops

Holding that head up

With Great MeeMee and PaPa

This is my cousin Matt. He's a sophomore in high school and is 6'9" and growing. Yes, he plays basketball and is awesome. He makes me feel TINY.

My brother Doug and his girlfriend Rachael. I really like her. Really really. :)

With his Great DD

That was a lot - hope you stuck with it til the end!

We spend last weekend in the mountains with the Cardozas and Mays and I'll have pictures to share of that as soon as Zach SENDS THEM TO ME. :P

Happy Friday!

The view from the porch...

Lake Vernon in Leesville, Louisiana

It was GORGEOUS tonight. The lake is lowered about 20 feet right now because they are doing repairs on the spillway. All the land you see is usually underwater.

I grew up seeing this every night. I love my parent's house.

YoungLife

Young Life brings the good news of Jesus Christ into the lives of adolescents with an approach that is respectful of who kids are and hopeful about who they can be.

Young Life doesn't start with a program. It starts with adults who are concerned enough about kids to go to them, on their turf and in their culture, building bridges of authentic friendship. These relationships don't happen overnight — they take time, patience, trust and consistency.

So Young Life leaders log many hours with kids — where they are, as they are. We listen to their stories and learn what's important to them because we genuinely care about their joys, triumphs, heartaches and setbacks.

We believe in the power of presence. Kids' lives are dramatically impacted when caring adults come alongside them, sharing God's love with them. Because their Young Life leader believes in them, they begin to see that their lives have great worth, meaning and purpose.

This is the first step of a lifelong journey; the choices they make today, based upon God's love for them, will impact future decisions … careers chosen, marriages formed and families raised. All ripples from the time when a Young Life leader took time to reach out and enter their world.

Rockdale County YoungLife has the first Club of the year tomorrow night. There are kids that have been waiting and looking forward to this since the last Club of last year, and there are kids that don't even know what YL is yet that will show up because a kind and genuine adult approached them at lunch and hung out with them.

YL is an amazing ministry that impacts thousands of teenagers each year with the Gospel. Lives are being changed - and for every teenager that meets Jesus there is a family at home that is impacted as well.

Please pray today for the volunteer leaders all over the US that are loving on kids and pray specifically for the leaders of Rockdale County Georgia that are continuing to give of their time and energy this year even without a paid Staff person to keep things going.
They are:
*Zach May
*Lisa Leavitt
*Zach Ames
*Sarah Lynch
*Max Hunnicutt
*Lindsay Anderson
*Kent Harris

Pray also for the Committee Members that run the behind-the-scenes stuff and give support to the Leaders.
In Rockdale County they are:
*Dave Crandall
*Sarah May
*Jeff and Greta Beech
*Lonnie and Beth Lamb
*Matt and Leslie Cardoza
*Justin and Stephanie Moon

Each YoungLife area raises it's own support. This year Rockdale County YL is operating solely on volunteers - no paid Staff person. We are raising our funds so that hopefully next year we will be able to support a staff person to replace the one who recently moved to a different area. If you would like to give financially to Rockdale County YL (and we would greatly appreciate your help!) you may do so here. You can choose an Area to donate to - Rockdale County YL's Area Number is GA132.

Thank you for reading this long post and for spending a few minutes in prayer for this ministry. If you do choose to donate, please leave me a comment - I'd love to thank you personally.

Sunday Song

There is love that came for us
Humbled to a sinner's cross
You broke my shame and sinfullness
You rose again victorious

Faithfulness none can deny
Through the storm and through the fire
There is truth that sets me free
Jesus Christ who lives in me

Chorus
You are stronger
You are stronger
Sin is broken
You have saved me
It is written
Christ is risen
Jesus you are Lord of all

No beginning and no end
You're my hope and my defense
You came to seek and save the lost
You paid it all upon the cross

So let your name be lifted higher
Be lifted higher
Be lifted higher
____________________________________________________

Sorry for the lack of posting this week. I've been recovering from mastitis which is a B**** just so you know. I've been feeling like I was hit by a truck, but thankfully the antibiotics have been doing their job and I am feeling much better.

Regular posting to resume tomorrow.

Silas 8 weeks

Silas is 8 weeks old now - kinda hard to believe. He's constantly changing and growing. He smiles and "talks" all the time now and looks for us when he hears us come into the room. Instead of pushing up with his arms when he's on his tummy, he pushes up with his legs and it kinda looks like he's attempting a "downward dog." I haven't gotten a picture of that yet, but I'm sure I will.

We've been enjoying this 4 day weekend immensely (Justin is off on Fridays). Friday morning we all went for an early walk at the park where Justin informed me that I put the term "speed walking" to shame and then we spent the rest of the day loving on Silas who was in THE BEST MOOD all day. Saturday was !!!GAME DAY!!! and we got up, put on our UGA gear and watched the game at home. We went to the May's for dinner (ribs and shcrimp and cheese dip) and the Auburn game. Fun times. :)

Here's some pictures in no particular order:

The Moons

Silas playing air guitar. :)

Silas 2 months, Connor 4 months

GO DAWGS!

Oh yeah - last Thursday we got home from the May's about 10:15pm and realized that I had left the freezer door cracked for quite some time. ALL of my breast milk that I had been saving was thawed which meant it had to be used quickly because you can't refreeze it (which I don't completely understand). To keep from wasting all of that HARD WORK, Justin got to feed Silas a lot this weekend. Silas loved it and I think Daddy was pretty fond of it too. :)

The child definitely got his Daddy's eyelashes. Gorgeous.

I hope y'all are enjoying your Labor Day weekend!

Supercalifragilisticexbeallidoces

I have no idea if that's how you spell that, but that song has been stuck in my head for 2 weeks now. Yep. Commence with insanity.

I thought I'd let you see what I've been up to lately - between feedings and snuggles. Moonpie Designs is back up and running and I have a tentative "Show" planned for sometime in the 10 days I'll be home in Louisiana this month. I say "tentative" because I'm a little intimidated by it. I was intimidated by the last Show I had here and of course it turned out great (thanks again Sarah and Mom!), but for some reason this one is making me a little more nervous. I have 2 weeks today to finish everything and figure out how to get all the product there. We are traveling by train and I'm not seeing a scenario in which I can handle myself, Silas, our luggage, AND boxes of product all by me lonesy. The good thing is that if for some reason I don't finish everything I need to before I leave, my mom has an awesome sewing machine so I could always finish some stuff once I got there.

Anyway - here's a bit of what I've been working on:

Burp Cloths, Checkbook Covers, and ID/Credit Card/Business Card Wallets. That reminds me - I need a name for those (wallets) and I am having trouble coming up with something creative. What do you think think I should name it? Leave me a comment with your best idea.

_____________________________________________________

I just love my little pepper plant. I got it last October at a Yard Sale and it was just this little tiny plant in this little tiny pot. Now look at it! It survived the winter and my not-so-green thumb, and also being picked to the stem by some critter (it was naked and sad. The pepper plant that is, not the critter. Well, I guess the critter could have been naked and sad, but I'm not seeing how my pepper plant could have helped. Unless it wanted to dress Adam and Eve style. But I digress.)

ANYWAY - I love that it has purple, orange, and red peppers all at the same time. Very Autumn looking.

_____________________________________________________________

And now for some randomness (like that rest of this post wasn't random and scatterbrained enough):

Micah volunteered to snuggle with me for about 2 minutes last week and Zach snapped a picture. It was a sweet moment.

And now what post would be complete without my sweet boy?!

Happy Thursday y'all!

Happy Friday!

Everyone loves Fridays, but specially me and Silas - Daddy's off!

Smiles

Silas found his smile last week. :)




And just for fun...

BIG EYES!

Splish Splash

Silas loves bath time - and staring at himself in the mirror. :)

So snuggly and warm in his froggy towel

And just for fun...our new double chin!

The goings on 'round these parts

**Still can't figure out this picture sizing thing. Click any of the smaller pictures to see a big version.**
So.

I had a baby.

My very own baby! Not one that I have to give back at the end of the day (or that I WANT to give back! ha!) but my very own that I get to keep and love forever.

Perfection.

Two days before my due date I had a regular doctor's appointment and they checked me and informed me that there was little progress from the week before and set an induction date for the following Thursday. I left the appointment in tears because the pregnancy irrationality had convinced me that I was going to be the only woman in the history of the world to be pregnant FOREVER. We went home and had a normal evening and night. At about 4:30am (Saturday, July 11th) I felt a new kind of pain with a contraction. An holy-gees-what-is-THAT?!?! kind of pain. I just laid there and nodded off again. 20 minutes later there was another one. Another 20 minutes and another pain. Hmmm. Justin was sound asleep beside me this whole time. About 6:30am he woke up to me sitting up in bed, leaning up against the wall, breathing that stupid breathing they teach you in the classes that doesn't do crap. I informed him that I was hurting but ok and he quickly went back to sleep. I got up about 7am (mom and dad were still asleep, as was the rest of the world on a summer Saturday morning) and went for a walk. The whole time I was praying that this was "it." After 30 minutes of walking and stopping to breath and walking again, I took a 45 minute bath and attempted to read. Ha! Try reading a novel when you have to close your eyes and breath every few minutes. I read the same paragraph a ridiculous number of times. Justin got up around 8am and we hopped in the car to grab some Chick-Fil-A. On the way there the contractions stepped it up a BIG notch and Justin's hand got the first of many to-the-breaking-point-squeezes. Those chicken minis were the last thing I would eat for a while.

We get back to the house and I am visibly in pain. Mom and I start timing them and they are 3-4 minutes apart and lasting 45-60 seconds. This goes on for a couple of hours and we decide it's time to go to the hospital. I got in my room about 12:30pm and got the antibiotic started for my Group B Strep and put in the order for the epidural. The anesthesiologist was on his way to my room when there was a problem with another patient and so he had to go do an emergency C-Section. I didn't see him for 3 hours. Those were the longest (and strangely, the shortest too) hours of my life. I discovered that breathing didn't do a dang thing for me, but I had seen on one of the baby shows (Baby Story, Birth Day, etc.) with a woman doing this thing called "toning." I don't even know how I remembered that because when I watched it it didn't make a big impression on me. Anyway - basically toning is when you sing a note and hold it while you exhale. I decided to try it, and that's how I made it though labor before my epidural.

Trying to smile between contractions. Pre-epidural

Finally, about 3:30pm the anesthesiologist shows up and I immediately start freaking out. I was terrified of the epidural. Not so much so that I was willing to attempt birth without one, but still very scared. I started crying and my midwife and nurse and Justin all rallied around me. They let Justin be the one to hold me and that helped me a lot. Also, I had the best anesthesiologist in the world. He cracked jokes and made me laugh the whole time. I told him up front that I needed him to tell me EXACTLY what he was doing, in detail, since I couldn't see.

*Sidenote* I'm one of those people that has to watch when I get blood drawn or an IV or a cyst lanced -- if I am going to be hurting I want to see why. Also, I think it's interesting. If you try to make me NOT watch, I will freak out on you (Dr. Manuel).

So, since I couldn't see it, he had to describe it to me and he did a wonderful job. I was scared for nothing. But if you've ever seen an epidural needle then you understand why - it is not a small thing. He numbed me during a contraction and that was the worst part. After that I couldn't feel a thing. They gave me the test dose at 5 til 4pm and I immediately had relief. Shortly after that they checked me and I was at 4cm and fully effaced and happy as a loon. Zach, Sarah, and Leslie came in to keep me company and the time flew by. A little while later I was at 7cm and I couldn't even feel her check me. That was a very strange feeling - to know that someone is touching you but not be able to feel it. They started the pitocen to help things along and less than an hour later I was at 10cm and ready to push. Between 7cm and 10cm I started being able to feel the contractions again - not to the extent that I was before, but enough to make me have to concentrate during one.Pain.

Sarah celebrating when they announced I was at 7cm

Zach and Sarah had been with us for the past hour or so and the plan all along was for Zach to stay and take pictures before, during, and after the birth. When my nurse, Amy, said I was at 10 and ready to go it suddenly became imperative that Sarah stay too. I wanted both of them there for me and to share the experience with us. I gave her the option, but probably would have freaked out if she had said she didn't want to. :)

I started pushing about 6:50 and couldn't feel a thing. It was wonderful! I laughed and smiled the whole time. They had to tell me when to push because I couldn't feel anything. At one point my midwife, Melissa, asked if I wanted to feel the head so I reached and felt this little hairy Pushing and having no idea what I was doing

head. That was weird too. A couple more pushes and they were telling me to stop pushing because the cord was around his neck. He was dark purple. They unwrapped the cord and one more push and he was out! She let Justin tell us what he was and I screamed with joy. I KNEW he was a boy! They immediately put him on my chest and I thought he was the most beautiful stringbean of a little boy I had ever seen. :) Seriously, he had toothpicks for legs. Justin cut the cord.

It's a boy! (above)

He was 7lb 10oz and 21 1/2 inches long. He scored an 8/9 on the apgar and he peed as soon as they put him on that cold scale. :)
I could not have dreamed of a better delivery (well, maybe one where stitches weren't involved). I was alert the whole time and completely ENJOYED and RELISHED every moment of bringing him into the world. The team of people with me smiled the whole time and made me feel like that were thrilled to be there sharing the moment.

Justin was amazing - he was exactly who I needed him to be to get me through it all. Thanks babe. You and me (and Silas now).

Thanks also to Zach for thinking it might be a little weird to be in the room but doing it anyway, and to Sarah for staying with me. I wouldn't trade y'all for the world. :)


More pictures to come of Silas now. Can't believe he's 5 weeks old tomorrow.

More Silas

If you want to see some pictures from Silas' birth go here.

I promise I will update soon. :)

Introducing...

Silas Caleb Moon
7lbs 10oz
21.5 inches
Arrived at 7:10pm on Saturday, July 11th

Mom, Dad, and Silas are all doing wonderfully. More pictures and details to come soon. :)

39 weeks

**EDITED**
So once again I've screwed up the pictures and they are cutting off some stuff on the right side. I'm too lazy to fix it now since it already took way too long to get this post ready. Sorry!

Baby Moon is still cookin'. Momma Moon is still miserable. :P

In the past two weeks there has been a trip to the hospital over what turned out to be false labor (the kid's got jokes) and two doctor's appointments. On Friday I was still 2-3cm and 50% effaced which didn't surprise me since all contractions pretty much ceased after the hospital trip. They have picked up again in the past two days, so hopefully we're getting somewhere. I'll go again on Friday (the 10th) if nothing happens before then and will most likely set a date for induction. Until then I'm just trying to pass the time.

Thankfully the holiday weekend provided lots of entertainment and fun. Justin was off of work on Thursday and Friday so I had a great 4 day weekend with him. Thursday he and Mom and I went to see Transformers 2 and we all loved it. After the movie I went to get a mani/pedi (which took about 3 hours) compliments of the Cardoza family. THAT was lovely. :) Thanks guys!

Friday we spent the whole day with the gang at the pool (a friend's house) and I enjoyed feeling weightless in the water. It was the first time (and most likely the only time) I was able to swim since being pregnant and man do I wish we had a pool! Glorious. There was good food and fun was had by all. I played my best game of Corn Hole EVER, but we still lost thanks to absolutely ZERO help by my partner (Justin). It was a wonderful day - the best day that I had had in a long while. :)

Saturday was CCC's annual 4th of July party. Our band played all day (and by "all day" I mean, for the whole party - from about 12:30-4pm with just a couple of breaks) and it was fun covering a bunch of songs. It was SCORCHING hot, but I survived.

Sunday was a normal day and we got to spend more time with Michael and Krista, some good friends that recently moved away from Rockdale County. All in all the whole weekend was relaxing and fun and refreshing. Too bad every day isn't like that!

Here are a few pictures from the festivities:The band

Corn Hole

Michael. There are no words.

Me and Zach singin'.

The whole band.

Singin' with Bella.

Sweet William

Gettin' some sun on the enormous belly. :)

Hotness. :)

Thanks to Zach for sharing the pics.

Maternity Pictures - 36 weeks

The pictures are here! Like I said before, we had a photo shoot with Zach last week. They turned out great and I am excited to share them with you. There's a lot, but trust me, I narrowed it down as much as I could for you. :)

ENJOY!

In our living room

In the nursery

Our front porch

Our yard

In the field by a church up the road

My husband is hot.

At Corner Market in Conyers.

This one might be my favorite.

I really like this one too. Love that we are out of focus but laughing. :)

My husband is silly. Unless you know him well, you probably wouldn't think that.

What are your favorites? We have to pick some to frame.

If you want to see more of Zach's work or to contact him about booking a shoot, go here.

Now for the Baby Update:

At my appointment last Friday I was 1-2cm and 50% effaced. I have an ultrasound tomorrow (Thursday) to check the size of the baby - I'll be at 37 weeks, 4 days. If it is looking big we will talk about inducing so that it doesn't get so big that it increases the possibility of a c-section. I would really like to NOT have surgery. I'll see the doctor after the ultrasound so we'll see if I've progressed anymore since last week and what the options are for getting Baby Moon here. :) The contractions have definitely stepped it up a notch in the past few days so I'm getting excited.

That's all for now! Leave me a comment and tell me which pictures you like best! And go give Zach some comment love too!

Zippity Do Da

I was looking through some pictures last night and came across the album from our beach trip last year. I had forgotten about a lot of the pictures, and this first one in particular made me literally laugh out loud. That's me and Sarah - I think I was using her sunglasses as a mirror so I could fix my hair. Zach took this without us knowing it and now I'm glad he did. Compare it to the next picture of us about a month ago. Yeah. See the humor? :)



Zach came and took pictures of the belly and of Justin and I last night and I CANNOT WAIT to see them and share them with y'all. We had a really good time, and I didn't even really freak out in front of the camera. :) I didn't realize how tired I would be when we were done - but I had been standing for A LONG time and wasn't even thinking about it. I'm paying for it today, but that's just fine with me because I will have PICTURES! Yay! I'll share them just as soon as he gets them to me. If you want to encourage him to hurry it up go here.

Now for the all important baby update...

Let me interject here that I'm sorry for those of you that are still coming here because you want to see what crafty thing I've been up to and could care less about this baby that has taken over my blog (and my life). I promise I will be back to crafting eventually, but I also promise that you will forever be hearing about Baby Moon. That's just the way it is. So thanks for sticking with me!

Anyway - I went to the doctor last Friday for the first of my every-week-til-the-baby-comes visits. They did my Group B Strep test and I'll know the results of that THIS Friday. They also went ahead and checked me since I had been having some contractions and since I was already going to be undressed. Surprisingly I was at 1cm with a little effacement - nothing too exciting, but I was very glad to know that my body was at least getting ready. :) We also talked about the pelvic bones thing and basically Dr. Duhart said she didn't notice me being extremely small, but that since the baby was measuring big at 28 weeks that she would check me again this week and then either this week or next week I'll have an ultrasound to get an idea of how big the baby is and we'll go from there. I weighed 155lbs, which is what I THOUGHT I weighed the last visit, but the nurse said I weighed 154 last time, so I guess I gained a pound. But I swear she told me 155 the week before. :P The baby is supposedly gaining an ounce a day and I swear I think I can feel that happening. Also, I'm very curious about whether or not it is possible to feel and see the baby breathing - because there will be these very steady movements (not bumps or pokes, just the rising and falling of some part of the baby) that we can see and feel and they last for a long time. And it looks like breathing. It's kinda weird, but I can't figure out what else it would be. Anyone else experience that?

That's all.

P.S. I have a funny story (involving boobies) about my trip to the dermatologist today that I will share with you tomorrow so check back then.

34+ weeks

34 weeks, 155lbs

Well I'm under 40 days til Baby Moon's due date. I can't tell you how happy that makes me. I am so ready to meet this baby and also to have my body back. And I don't even mean my pre-pregnancy body, I just mean a body that doesn't have a mind of it's own that I semi-recognize both physically and emotionally. I feel like I have been a completely different person for the past 8 1/2 months. Anyone else understand what I mean? It's like all these hormones have screwed with my head so much that I can barely even find myself in there somewhere. My creativity is GONE and I'm just praying that is a side-effect (ha!) of growing a human and all the hormones because I miss it and I miss being able to form cohesive logical thoughts. I also miss being able to get out of the bathtub by myself. :) But enough ranting.

I went to the doctor last Friday and now I have met everyone that could possibly deliver the baby. My blood pressure was actually very average the last two appointments. I don't know if that's good though - hopefully it's not just getting higher and higher. I asked if it was normal for my ribs to make popping noises and feel like they are breaking and apparently it is. Joy joy. :) I also asked about the likelihood of a C-Section for me and if there is anyway to tell ahead of time if it is a big possibility. My mom and a couple of her sisters had the thing where your pelvic bones aren't wide enough for the baby to get though and they had to have C-Sections because of it. I'm just interested in knowing if there's any chance of knowing that before-hand so I don't get stuck dilated to 4 cm for 20 hours and then told I have to have a Section. I'm gonna see Dr. Duhart next week (she does most of the C-Sections) so she can look at me and we can talk about it. I AM NOT scheduling a C-Section. Let me just be clear about that before I start getting all kinds of ugly emails about it.I finished work with Bella and William this week and it is bittersweet. I had a wonderful year with them and I hate that they were cheated out of my usual energetic self for the past few months. But we had fun and I am soooooo blessed to have been their nanny. And I'll still see them all the time. :)

I spent the last week getting my house clean because I always feel like I can't start on fun projects until the dishes are put away and the bed is made. This week I hope to finish the nursery. I just painted the new closet doors and now I need to buy fabric and sew the curtains, paint the table and chairs that were mine and Doug's growing up, re-cover the cushions for the glider-rocker (and figure out where I'm putting it), find artwork for the walls, and hang the shelving in the closet. Not too much, but I'm ready to have it all done.

That's all I've got for now peeps. I promise it won't be so long between posts now that I'm a stay at home mommy. :)

My new favorite thing.

These Steakhouse Cheddar subs are my new favorite things. Sarah saw them on sale last week and bought us a couple for lunch and I fell in love. I am usually not a fan of "packaged" meals, but the bread, meat, cheese, and sauces come packaged separately so you build your own sandwich the way you want. The Steakhouse Sauce is basically Arby's sauce - and we know how I love me some Arby's sauce! Also, it comes with a microwaveable tray so you can heat it without it getting all soggy and gross.

You should try some.

And also this:


That's all.

What's your favorite thing right now?

Bellies

Wow. What a crazy past few weeks! Good crazy, but crazy nonetheless. The whole month of April was spent with family and friends and it was wonderful. My college friend Katy flew in from Texas and spent a week with me (she's pregnant too - due two weeks after me) and somehow we managed to let the week go by without taking a single picture.:( But a couple weeks before she came here we stopped over in Dallas for a night and managed to snap a pic of our two growing familes. :) Justin, me and Baby Moon, Katy and Jubilee, and Tommy

I've been sick for the past 20ish days with a cold/allergies/sinus crap. My doctor put me on a Z Pack promising that it would do the trick and it did not. I go back this Friday and hopefully we'll find something that will work. I'm pretty tired of not being able to breathe, and between the stuffy nose and a child sitting on my lungs it's been pretty rough.

Thursday nights are always spent with the May's and this last Thursday was no exception even though it was the day before Sarah's due date. I realized late that afternoon that we did not have a single picture of our pregnant bellies so I called Sarah and told her she couldn't go into labor until we took a couple. Who knows if we'll ever be pregnant at the same time again?! This was important stuff! She obliged and Zach took a few of us after dinner. We are terrible at having our pictures taken!! Zach kept telling us to do stuff and we would both just stand there or just start laughing. Believe it or not, I get pretty camera shy. But it was fun and we got a couple of good ones for the baby books. :) Now Sarah says that we get to take some again the day before MY due date so her belly will be back to normal and mine will be about to pop. I don't think that's very fair, but I love her so we'll see.We have about 15 more pictures like this one where we are supposed to be doing something specific but all we can do is laugh.

I can't begin to tell you how weird it was to have our bellies touching. I mean, the inside of your bellybutton never touches anything, much less the inside of your best friend's bellybutton. Very strange.
40 weeks and 30 1/2 weeks, respectively. I hope I look that good the day before I have this kid.I am ready to have this baby. 62 days feels like FOREVER, especially after I spent the weekend at the hospital with Sarah and Zach and their precious new baby, Connor. I'm ready to hold Baby Moon. And breathe again. :)

I have decided that week 30 was NOT my favorite week of pregnancy. Baby Moon found my ribcage and used them for monkey bars pretty much 24/7 with the occasional break to jump on my bladder. It is a strange feeling to have just peed and then 2 minutes later to feel like you better run to the bathroom to go again only to sit there for 5 minutes waiting to squeeze out 4 drops. I'm not crazy about that. I do love that I can "play" with the baby though. I can move it around and it will push back. Also, sometimes if it hurts me bad I fuss at it and push in kinda firmly and it lets me know that it doesn't approve of my discipline. :) Justin doesn't like it when I do that and thinks it's great when I get kicked 10 times as hard afterwards.

In other pregnancy news, I passed my glucose test the first time (Praise the Lord!!!) so I definitely don't have gestational diabetes. However, apparently I am not immune to the Rubella virus (it's the R in the MMR vaccine that you get as babies and then in high school - aka German Measles) so that's kinda weird since about the only women that aren't immune were born outside of the US. They said it doesn't mean anything for the baby, just that I have to have a new injection of the vaccine right after I deliver so that the next time I'm pregnant there is no chance I can get it and pass it to the baby (which can only happen in the first trimester). Good thing the virus has been eradicated in the US for quite sometime. Sheesh. And, I now weigh 150 lbs.. I cannot even comment on that.This is my bellybutton and Jorge, the scar just above it. Teenagers, this is why you don't get your bellybutton pierced. I got mine done in the fall of '02, took it out a month later, and I STILL got a scar from it when my belly grew. Now, can you imagine what a tattoo on your abdomen will look like when you are big and pregnant? Not cute!! Seriously - think twice - err, 100 times before you do it. You can't really tell in the picture, but it is about an inch long vertically and it's super shiny on the inside like a really bad stretch mark. Before my belly grew you could barely even tell there was a tiny scar there. So unless you want a scar big enough to name, don't do it.

Last one, I promise. Micah (Zach and Sarah's 1st born) stayed with us while they were at the hospital Friday, all night, and Saturday morning. We have very few pictures of me and him together, and I like this one because we were just chillin' watching some "Nemo." Micah loves me, but he usually spends most of his time playing with his "Ju-Jus" (Justin). But Friday he was in a "Neh-Nee" mood and snuggled with me for the whole movie. He's pretty much the cutest kid ever and we love spending time with him.

Yo Diggity

*I have no idea how the whole first half of this text became a link. Sorry. But if you want to see and HUGE version of Justin on the ladder, just click it. :)*

So it's been a while. But that's because there has been lots going on around here. There was a trip to Louisiana via airplane (that was delayed 3.5 hours), a road trip to Houston, San Antonio, and Fort Worth, and then a roadtrip back to GA. I had a baby shower in Leesville (lots of fun - pictures soon) and now my parents are here in GA for this whole week because I have a shower here on Saturday. YAY! We've been working on the house and yard all week (well, Mom and I have been keeping kiddos and Dad has been working on the house). It's looking great and I'm so very very happy. I finally decided on crib bedding and a paint color so we will hopefully finish painting the nursery tomorrow and I can share pictures of that. :) I told you there was a lot going on.

I had an ultrasound and my glucose test this morning. I managed to not throw up the lemony limey sickly sweetness that is the glucose you have to drink. Yuck. Pictures to come of Baby Moon but I have to scan them first. I had only gained 3 lbs in 3 weeks and that was with a very full bladder so I was happy. :)

Mom and Dad were here for Easter and it was a wonderful day. Church was fantastic and it was beautiful outside. We took a couple of pictures so enjoy those and maybe a few other randoms thrown in there for fun.

In our front yard - Baby Moon is definitely growing!

This was an accidental picture - but it's sweet.

Mom and Dad

My handsome handyman - working on the gutters and also fixing the crap job that the wildlife people did in sealing up the house. $600 down the drain.

We had this pretty little tree in the front year but since we didn't live here last spring we had no idea what it was. When we returned from our 10 day trip to LA/TX it had bloomed and it is a pink dogwood. Very pretty.

William is sitting up by himself now. He's so proud and cute. That's his "little old man" grin.

There's lots more to tell about the trips and the baby, but I'll wait until I have picture to go with it.

You are not naked.

Read THIS.

And then come back and share your thoughts.

First Kiss

My first kiss was in kindergarten.  Well, if by first kiss we mean the first time I was kissed by a boy not related to me.  His name was Harvey Logan.  It was recess and I needed to go potty so I went back into my classroom to take care of that business.  When I walked in the room it was dark but someone was coming out of the bathroom.  It was Harvey.  He walked right up to me and kissed me dead on the lips.  I nearly died.  Seriously - I'm not even sure what I did but I know that I was mortified.  He wasn't the gross kid or anything, but at the age of 5 1/2 I really had no interest in kissing boys (believe it or not).  He found me recently on Facebook and the first thing he said was, "so do you remember when you kissed me in Mrs. Ford's room?"  and I very quickly and firmly reminded him that THAT was most certainly not how it went down.  So there's that.

My first "real" kiss was at Jaimi Rodger's house at our 8th grade graduation party.  There were lots of people there (and by lots I mean maybe 20) but 4 of us decided to play spin the bottle.  Well as luck would have it there were no bottles to be found, so we spun an empty coke can.  Yeah.  First I kissed Martin Driscoll and I thought his tongue was fat.  Then I kissed Justin "Bubba" Randolph and he tasted like 7Up and Spearmint gum. 

My first real kiss not playing a game was shortly after that with Chris O'Brien.  We went 4 wheeler riding and then kissed in the moonlight by the lake.  Trust me - it sounds MUCH more romantic than it was. :)  I like him for about 2 days and then it was over.  Ah, young summer love. :P

I would continue that pattern of liking a boy, kissing him, and then 2 days later realizing maybe he wasn't so great for the next 5 or so years - which amounts to about 45 boys.  Throw in a very serious 3 year relationship in those 5 years (that ended my freshman year of college) and I'll let you do the math as to how many kissed boys were running around Louisiana College.  Sheesh.  What was I thinking?

Then I met Justin and that was it.  He's the last boy I'll ever kiss.  And I LOVE it that way.

So...

I think I want my kid to call me Mum like they do in England.

At least that way when there's a hundred kids at the park all yelling MOOOOOM! mine will stand out a little.  

And if it could have a British accent that would rock my world.

That's all. Carry on.

Giveaway Winner!

Miss Isabella drew a winner for me today and it was...

JORI-O who said, "Thanks for stopping by and giving me the head's up about your contest! Okay, one of the best presents we got was an Exergen temporal scan thermometer. I LOVE IT! The cheapest place I've found it is Wal-Mart--it's about thirty bucks and worth every penny."

Thanks for the tip!  I probably would never have added a temporal scan thermometer on my own, but it's on the registry now!

Go say congratulations to Jori!

Bump Watch 22 Weeks

Click HERE for the GIVEAWAY! You could win!!

______________

Here it is - The Belly at 22 weeks.  Would you believe me if I told you that in the past four days since these pictures were taken it has grown?  Well, it has - enough so that where on Sunday I could breath normally, now I suddenly feel like there's an elephant sitting on my chest.  OK, maybe not an elephant, but a small person at least.  Baby Moon is doing more than just wiggling now - it feels like there's a jungle gym full of monkeys in there!  Justin feels it all the time now and if you watch my stomach you can see it moving.  It's a very strange feeling - especially when it kicks right behind my belly button.  I keep waiting to see my belly button popping in and out when it kicks there. :)  I'm feeling pretty good overall - I have bursts of energy and then I crash but for the most part I'm still feeling kinda tired all the time.  But at least I'm not sick!  The back pain on the lower left side is still hanging around so I'm just dealing with it.  My doctor asked me if I wanted a prescription to help with it, but I don't want to take anything unless I have to - if it gets to where I can't walk I'll ask for something.  Until then I'll settle for lots of long soaks in the tub. :)

I'm getting really excited about my Baby Showers that are coming up in April - it's finally MY

TURN!! Yay!

We still haven't done anything to the nursery but throw the furniture in there, but I did order a fabric swatch for some bedding I think I like so hopefully we can get started on that soon.  Here's the bedding if you want to see.

That's about it on the pregnancy update.  I'll probably think of 20 more things later, but for now

 that's all I've got for ya.

In the mountains of North Carolina, overlooking Lake Glenville

Again, a very windy Lake Glenville

Last weekend was my friend Krista's Bachelorette Weekend (the wedding is in 2 weeks!) so we went up to Someplace, NC (I think it's between Highlands and Cashiers) and stayed at the Beech's lake house.  I wish I could describe how beautiful it is there, but I could never do it justice.  Jeff and Greta are quite possibly the most generous people ever, and on occasion they let us hang out at their place.  It's a huge three story house that could probably sleep 20+ people and it's right on Lake Glenville.  Gorgeous.  

We had a blast playing games and watching Krista open her lingerie and stuff.  I'm pretty sure

 the gifts that Leslie, Bailey, and I got her won't be forgotten anytime soon. :)

The Bachelorette

All the girls at Horacio's - a very yummy and intimate Italian Restaurant in Cashiers, NC.  If you are ever in the area you should totally check it out - but BEWARE of Horacio (the owner).  He just might feel you up if you aren't careful.  Seriously - watch yourself. :)

*EDITED*  This was supposed to be a picture of ALL the girls - but blogger is being weird again (or I'm just an idiot) and I can't make the picture any smaller so it's cutting off some people.  Sorry!

Me, Bailey, and Leslie.  The best part about this picture was watching Leslie try to get the camera set up to take it - at one point she was laying flat on a little table trying to make sure we would be relatively centered.  Good job Les!

GIVEAWAY! Calling all Mommys (and Daddys)

I need your help!  Justin and I are going this weekend to finish up our Baby Registry's and I want to make sure that we don't leave anything out.  We've got all the basics down plus the stuff BabiesRUs and Wal-Mart tells you is a "must." Here's what I need from you - tell me about the stuff you just couldn't live without - especially if it was a random gift or was recommended by someone else and we wouldn't normally register for it.  It can be for baby, or mom, or dad.

If you leave me a comment with a suggestion, you'll be entered into the giveaway.  You can choose your prize from this list:

*Personalized Bib and Burpie Set

*4 custom Potholders (or "hotpad holders")

*Personalized Custom Adult Apron (this is great for guys too!)

If you tell your friends to come and share their can't-live-without baby items, and they tell me you sent them, you'll get a second entry.

If you BLOG this giveaway and the specifics of what I need and come back and tell me, you'll get a third entry.

You have until Saturday, March 14th at 8pm to get your suggestions in so hop to it peeps!!

Don't forget to leave your email address in your comment or make sure there is a way for me to contact you if you win. :)

Randomness Part 2: Recipes

*Edited*  I apologize for the weird font sizes and spacing issues.  I spent a ridiculous amount of time trying to fix it and make it all the same and just when I thought it worked, I realized that it looked totally different when it published.  I don't know what the deal is.  Also, does anyone else that uses blogger know what is up with pictures lately?  It's been really difficult to get them arranged on the page for some reason.

Now for some more randomness...

Yesterday was Fat Tuesday, and to those of you who aren't Catholic (which I'm not) or from Louisiana (which I am), a day called Fat Tuesday probably sounds pretty weird.  Mardi Gras in French means "Fat Tuesday" and it is the day before Ash Wednesday.  I'll not go into all of that, but if you are interested just click the links.  

I spent all last week in Louisiana, and the tail end of the week was spent in New Orleans at the Mardi Gras festivities.  I'll have actual pictures from that soon (well, as soon as Mom and CeCe send them to me).  Since pretty much no one here knows or cares about Mardi Gras (to me it's a cultural thing) I wanted to do something fun to acknowledge "Fat Tuesday." I

 made Natchitoches Meat Pies and King Cake.  Zach, Sarah, and Micah came over and we hung out and watched Micah entertain himself with a hand full of beads for a couple of hours. :)  Both the Meat Pies and the King Cake turned out great, so I thought I'd share the recipes that I used.  

Natchitoches Meat Pies

INGREDIENTS:

½ pound ground me

at

½ pound ground pork

½ cup cooking oil

½ cup chopped onions

½ cup chopped celery

¼ cup chopped green bell

 pepper

¼ cup chopped red bell

 pepper*

1 tbsp diced garlic

2 cups beef stock (see recipe)

2 9-inch pie shells

1 egg

½ cup water

salt and cracked black pepper to taste

METHOD:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. 

In a heavy-bottomed sauté pan, heat oil over medium high heat. 

Sauté beef and pork until golden brown, stirring constantly, until all liquid has evaporated.

Add onions, celery, bell peppers and garlic. 

Sauté three to five minutes or until vegetables are wilted. 

This should cook slowly for about one hour, adding beef stock to mixture to prevent sticking. 

Season to taste using salt and pepper.

Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Roll pie dough into circles and cut into halves. 

Spoon a generous portion of the cooked meat mixture into the pie shells. 

Brush a little egg-wash around the edge of the shell, fold over and press the edges with a fork similar to apple turnover.

 

Place on a greased cookie sheet or pan. Make small slits in dough to vent steam, egg-wash entire pie and bake thirty minutes at 400 degrees. 

Pie may also be deep-fried. 

*I left out the red peppers because they are really expensive right now.  Also, I added Tony's Chachere's Cajun Seasoning and a little

Crushed Red Pepper flakes.  However, I did not let the meat and veggie mixture cook for an hour - it tasted just fine after 15 or so minutes of cooking.  Believe it or not, aside from the length of time I cooked the meat stuff,  I actually followed the recipe!

King Cake

Prep: 30 min.; Cook: 10 min.; Stand: 5 min.; Rise: 1 hr., 30 min.; Bake: 16 min. 

This recipe uses bread flour, which makes for a light, airy cake. You still get tasty results with all-purpose flour--the cake will just be more dense.

Yield:

Makes 2 cakes (about 18 servings each)

Ingredients:

1  (16-ounce) container sour cream

1/3  cup  sugar

1/4  cup  butter

1  teaspoon  salt

2  (1/4-ounce) envelopes active dry yeast

1/2  cup  warm water (100° to 110°)

1  tablespoon  sugar

2  large eggs, lightly beaten

6  to 6 1/2 cups bread flour*

1/3  cup  butter, softened

1/2  cup  sugar

1 1/2  teaspoons  ground cinnamon

*Creamy Glaze*

Purple-, green-, and gold-tinted sparkling sugar sprinkles

Preparation:

Cook first 4 ingredients in a medium saucepan over low heat, stirring often, until butter melts. Set aside, and cool mixture to 100° to 110°.

Stir together yeast, 1/2 cup warm water, and 1 tablespoon sugar in a 1-cup glass measuring cup; let stand 5 minutes.

Beat sour cream mixture, yeast mixture, eggs, and 2 cups flour at medium speed with a heavy-duty electric stand mixer until smooth. Reduce speed to low, and gradually add enough remaining flour (4 to 4 1/2 cups) until a soft dough forms.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic (about 10 minutes). Place in a well-greased bowl, turning to grease top.

Cover and let rise in a warm place (85°), free from drafts, 1 hour or until dough is doubled in bulk.

Punch down dough, and divide in half. Roll each portion into a 22- x 12-inch rectangle. 

Spread 1/3 cup softened butter evenly on each rectangle, leaving a 1-inch border. 

Stir together 1/2 cup sugar and cinnamon, and sprinkle evenly over butter on each rectangle.

Roll up each dough rectangle, jelly-roll fashion, starting at 1 long side. 

Place one dough roll, seam side down, on a lightly greased baking sheet. Bring ends of roll together to form an oval ring, moistening and pinching edges together to seal. Repeat with second dough roll.

Cover and let rise in a warm place (85°), free from drafts, 20 to 30 minutes or until doubled in bulk.

Bake at 375° for 14 to 16 minutes or until golden. Slightly cool cakes on pans on wire racks (about 10 minutes). 

Drizzle Creamy Glaze evenly over warm cakes; sprinkle with colored sugars, alternating colors and forming bands. Let cool completely.

Cream Cheese-Filled King Cake: Prepare each 22- x 12-inch dough rectangle as directed. Omit 1/3 cup softened butter and 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon. Increase 1/2 cup sugar to 3/4 cup sugar. Beat 3/4 cup sugar; 2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened; 1 large egg; and 2 teaspoons vanilla extract at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Spread cream cheese mixture evenly on each dough rectangle, leaving 1-inch borders. Proceed with recipe as directed.*6 to 6 1/2 cups all-purpose flour may be substituted.

*Creamy Glaze

Yield:

Makes 1 1/2 cups

Ingredients:

3  cups  powdered sugar

3  tablespoons  butter, melted

2  tablespoons  fresh lemon juice

1/4  teaspoon  vanilla extract

2  to 4 tablespoons milk

Preparation:

Stir together first 4 ingredients. Stir in 2 tablespoons milk, adding additional milk, 1 teaspoon at a time, until spreading consistency.

I only wanted to make one cake so I halved the recipe.  Have you ever tried to half 1/3 cup?  Yeah - it comes out to .666666666 and on and on.  So basically I just eyeballed it.  I made the whole recipe of creamy glaze though, because it is yummy.  

This was a Southern Living recipe.

Randomness: Moonpie Designs

I just realized that I never posted any pictures of some of my Christmas orders - and here it is the end of February!  Sheesh.  

Take a gander:

Matching aprons for mom and daughter

Bib and Burpie sets in a new font.  I like it - what do you think?

Super soft blanket

Diaper Bag - 4 outer and 3 inner pockets

(Justin actually picked out the fabric for this bag.  He did great!)

Scalloped Edged flannel blanket and bibs

Those are the last things that I've made for Moonpie Designs.  Pretty soon I get to start making things for me and Baby Moon.  Yay!

Bump Watch: 16 1/2 Weeks

At my last doctor's appointment at 15 weeks (I think 15 weeks - it was Jan 23rd) I weighed 133 1/2 lbs.  Mind you that was with jeans, a sweater, cami, tummy sleeve, socks, undergarments, and a hat. . . hey, it adds up people!!  I did manage to get my shoes off before the nurse started reading the scale. :) They don't waste anytime.  My blood pressure was borderline low again but they keep saying it's because I'm calm and small.  Ha!  Calm my butt.  

We were very excited about this appointment because we hadn't heard the heartbeat yet and knew we would get to that day.  It took a while to find it and both Justin and I were freaking out internally (his face turned pretty white real quick) and then after a little while the doctor said, "that's your heartbeat mom, hmmm, that's a baby kick, that's another kick..." and then there it was plain as day - loud and fast!  I breathed a huge sigh of relief and Justin regained his coloring. :) The heart rate was 162.  Please refrain from giving me your opinion on the connection between heart rates and the sex of the baby.  I already know and I think its hogwash.

I also had my Triple Marker test that day and I swear I am asking for a new blood-taker-person next time.  She has bruised and hurt me every time she's done it and I've never had a problem with having my blood drawn before.  Sarah agrees with me - this woman is no good.

What else?  That's about it. I still feel pretty good except for occasional headaches (three or four times a week) and round ligament pain.  Also, my balance is slightly off since there is a turnip (or so says Baby Center) in my belly. I haven't felt the baby move yet, at least not that I can really tell, but expect to feel it soon.  And we have not yet decided if we are going to find out the sex, so don't ask.  

My belly button is having to work extra hard these days - it's getting pretty stretched out already.  And what you can't see in this picture is that my jeans are unzipped ALL THE WAY and I have a rubber band through he button hole and around the button that is just about stretched to the max.  But you do what you gotta do right?! 

We bought furniture for the nursery over the weekend and I will post pictures of that tomorrow. Promise! Camera batteries are charging right now.

Yay!

Check this out regarding the CPSIA.

Thanks for all your help - keep it up!

And thanks to Natalie for sharing the news!

"Baby Yih-yum"

***Scroll down for more info on the CPSIA. UPDATED***


Ok - so y'all know that I keep sweet Isabella everyday. But Sarah pointed out to me this week that I haven't blogged about the new addition to the Cardoza family, William - or, "Baby Yih-yum" as Micah and Bella call him. He's about 3 months old and is the cutest thing. So now I keep both of them everyday. We've been having a lot of fun, but I must say there are times when I wonder why on earth people have more than one child. It's a lot of work! :)

I snapped a few pics yesterday right before we headed back over to their house. Take a look:

I've been getting that look from Bella A LOT lately. She's definitely stepped up the stubbornness over the past couple of weeks. Ah - all that is a 2 1/2 year old!

Squinty eyed smile

Don't you just want to eat those cheeks! He's adorable and such a great snuggle-er.:)

Look! I can squint my other eye!

*Scroll down to read a post about saving the handmade community and small business like Moonpie Designs.*

SAVE HANDMADE!!!

*UPDATE*

Go here. There's more info about the CPSIA.
****************************************

If you make and sell handmade baby goods, love someone who does, or enjoy buying unique gifts for your kiddos, please go read about the CPSIA. It's a complete crap piece of legislation that goes into effect on February 10th and will quite effectively shut down Moonpie Designs and thousands of other small businesses like mine.

Read about it here - Caroline does a good job of explaining the basics of a very complex law. She gives several links you can visit to learn more and/or see how others are taking a stand and how you can too.

Though I'm hopeful that eventually there will be plenty of changes made to the clearly-not-well-thought-out original law, I'm still stressed about it. I started Moonpie Designs because I enjoy making things, but also because I wanted to have something I could do at home that might provide a little income once the kiddos start coming. Well, one is well on it's way, so you can see why I might be frustrated.

Just so you know, I just typed all of that with only my right hand. Baby William is snuggled up with the other one. More on that preciousness later - I took some pictures of him yesterday. For those of you who have no idea who I am talking about, check back later today to find out. :)

I'd love to know what you think about this CPSIA thing.

Goodbye 2008

Well Merry Christmas and Happy New Year and just a general hello!  

I seriously don't really even know where to start there are so many things that need to be blogged and shared that have happened over the past few months.

I guess I'll start with the biggest news - there is a Baby Moon on the way!  I'm nearly 13 weeks pregnant with what the books say is something akin to a medium shrimp in size (Last week it was a lime, which I would think is bigger than a shrimp but apparently I am wrong.).  Funny how something so small can cause so many changes!  Thankfully I haven't been "sick" at all (and by "sick" I mean throwing up) especially for the first 10 weeks.  As long as I ate I was fine.  Weeks 10-12 were plagued with headaches though and nothing really helped except for sleep and if you've ever been pregnant you know how little sleep one can get between having to pee every two hours whether you drink anything or not to just being uncomfortable to not being able to shut off your brain no matter how exhausted you are.  For the most part the headaches are gone now, but have been replaced with an appetite that rivals a teenage boy's.  Seriously - if I don't eat every two hours (almost on the dot) someone is going to get hurt.  I know it's normal, but I just keep thinking that if I continue eating like this I am going to gain 100lbs and never ever look anything like I used to.  Is that vain?  Maybe.  Probably.  But I'd really prefer not to feel like a cow for the rest of my life. :)  I weighed 126lbs at my first doctor's appointment at 5 1/2 weeks and last night I weighed 130 which nearly made be fall over until I remembered that I'm supposed to be gaining weight.  So I guess 4 lbs isn't all that bad.  

We are thrilled about this baby (though also scared senseless at times) and our families are as well.  It was a very good holiday season.

We stayed in Conyers for Christmas this year since we were in Leesville for Thanksgiving.  We took a little trip to Nashville with the Mays to see our favorite singer/songwriter, Andrew Peterson and a slew of other uber talented folk perform his Behold the Lamb of God concert at the Ryman.  That's really a whole nother post though.  Sarah already talked about it all so you can go there to read more.

 For the most part it was a relaxing time with Justin off of work for several days.  Christmas Eve we went to the Moon's and had a traditional Christmas meal and then laid out on the couches and watched tv.  We spent Christmas morning at our house and opened our gifts from each other and my parents.  Justin got me a waffle maker and it has already been put to good use.  I cooked Chicken Deluxe for lunch and took it over to the Moon's where we ate and then exchanged gifts.  Great times.  Our Korean friend, Jang, drove in from North Carolina on Christmas day and came with us to Greensboro for Christmas with Justin's extended family.  He stayed until Monday morning.  We didn't do much after Christmas but lay around and watch the new movies we got :  The Dark Knight, Sleeping Beauty, Enchanted, Juno, The Sandlot, and Sleepless in Seattle.  I had a big order to fill that had to go to Dallas by today so I spent lots of time cutting fabric and sewing.  All in all it was pretty relaxing.  I'm starting to ramble so here are some random pictures:

Our Christmas gift from my DD - quite possibly the best gift EVER!  Love me some La-Z-Boy.

The belly at 11 1/2 weeks and my new pjs from Momma and Daddy.  It's tradition - every year we get new pjs to open on Christmas Eve.  These are the softest pajamas I have ever owned.  I wish I could live in them.  Wait, I pretty much have been.:)

My stocking.

And now I am mad at blogger because when I try to add images from the web it says that they have been added but they haven't.  BOO blogger.  I guess I'll have to add those later.

Hopefully it won't be so long between this post and the next!  Until then friends.

Noises

There's something in our attic again. This time it's big. Like, really big. Big enough to eat ALL of our blocks of rat poison and not die. This thing might be next of kin to Chuck Norris.

Justin and I were eating dinner and watching NCIS and all of a sudden it sounded like someone was walking on our roof. He ran outside with the flashlight to see what it was then ran back in and said it was in the attic.

Guess who's getting a call from us in the morning? Yep - the Wildlife people that we paid $600 to seal up our roof so nothing can get in. Clearly that worked. Sheesh.

I'm just so glad Justin heard it too because if I had called him and said, "there's a person walking on our roof right now" I'm not sure he would have believed me.