why my kitchen isn't clean yet.

i loafed around for much of the morning, as you can see from my earlier post. i finally got motivated while ellie was napping, and cleaned the living room. it looks quite nice. i'll have to re-straighten it after ellie goes to bed; she pulled all her toys back out again. but that's OK. the dusting, wiping down and vacuuming will still be valid by then.

i had plans to rest for a little while and start work on the kitchen. i made the mistake of equating "resting" with "surfing the web." i tend to get myself in trouble when i do this. i'm quite obsessed with gray's room and finding the perfect details to finish it out. i tend to stray away from wanting absolutely everything in a nursery bedding/decor collection. it's more fun to search for things and put them together. i did that for ellie's room. it's even more fun this time 'cause i know more places to look.

anyway.. the kitchen isn't clean yet 'cause i found this website today.

i love this nursery and this nursery and this nursery. oh, and this one and this one too.

they are all so great. so creative and just.. wonderful.

here's some advice from one awesome-nursery-creating mom that i love:

"…stop looking in the baby section. look anywhere but there, really. kids don't necessarily need childish things. there are amazing pieces at your local thrift store, they just need a good cleaning or a coat of paint.

they won't be babies forever, they won't even be babies for that long! i think if you decorate a nursery with what you like, not with what you think a baby room should look like, then you will be happier and so will your baby."

contractions in the night.

i was super groggy so i don't truly know how many or how often, but i felt like i was having contractions all night last night. they were more intense than the ones i've been having for at least 10 weeks now when i overexert myself. they seem much tighter. it was strange though 'cause it also felt like gray was moving super strong and hard all night last night too. a few of the contractions sent shooting pains down through my pelvis. not every time, but several. i've been sitting down most of the morning, and i'm still having them, but they aren't as intense as they felt last night. i don't know if that's because i'm awake, and they aren't irritating my by rousing me from my sleep or they really are weaker than last night. i don't think i'm in labor or anything, but it's just crazy to think how i'm getting close and my body is practicing and preparing. still 6.5 weeks to D-day, but i know they'll fly even if they feel like they're dragging. i'm going to the doctor on wednesday, and i'll tell her about the night contractions. i wonder if she'll check me for any dilation yet. it'll be my 34-week checkup. any of you girls with adams remember when she starts checking? until then, i'm going to attempt to write stories, get laundry done for our trip over the 4th and get things in some type of order before the play date tomorrow. a nesting/cleaning urge could hit any time now. i could use the motivation...

play date details.

the play date is still on, complete with snacks for everyone, good conversation for mommies and play houses and a baby pool for kiddos. again, bring anything you think would be fun to play with outside. i only have a 16-month old. our collection has only grown so much so far.

it's tuesday at 2 p.m. call or comment if you need directions.

feel free to come whenever you can. it's definitely not scheduled. i texted those of you whose cell numbers i have, and between those responses and comments on here, i think we have at least five moms and however many kiddos they add to the mix.

i'm excited. it'll be nice to chat with the girls.

i hope you're coming!

new plants and stuff.

things did not get better last night after my 'counting sheep' post. i think i fell asleep between 2:30 and 3, but then ellie woke up at 5. normally, if she wakes up, she's pretty easy to appease with her 'sassa' (paci) or a few minutes of rocking. but even as i rocked her, she fussed. i really think she wanted to get down and play. uh, no. i finally got her quiet with a few ounces of milk. then it took forever to fall asleep again. blah. so, i skipped church. i'm rather proud that i haven't skipped church more than twice in this pregnancy. still, it felt weird. sundays are weird without church. it was good though. i got a nap and got to rest so i'm feeling pretty good. hopefully sleep will come easier tonight. please.

instead of church this morning, i prayed while i planted plants. it was lovely because of the crazy rain last night, overcast and not as hot as usual. i had lots of plants from landon's aunt, but some of them went to be with the earthworms so i bought some replacements. part of the problem with keeping them alive was that there were several unidentified plants (they came from toni's horticulture class plant sale, and they weren't all labeled) so i guessed wrong on where they wanted to be -- sun or shade -- and how much water they wanted.

this time, i did some reading on better homes and gardens and tried to buy plants that are "heat tolerant" and specifically for containers i already have situated in the sun or in the shade. i bought a couple more succulents, aka cactus, since i've had great success with the ones i already have. they're sorta fool-proof. lots of heat and sun and little water. i can handle that. plus, one of them is called a 'maternity plant.' how could i resist? i also bought a pretty hosta for a super shady corner of my deck. it's the one i'm most excited about, but also most worried about. it may be a little high maintenance for me. i love it though. and there are begonias for another shady spot as well as lantana, vinca and an ornamental pepper plant for spots with lots of hot, late afternoon sun. oh, and something blue that said it was drought tolerant and likes lots of sun in the container with the lantana, but i can't remember what it's called. i know you're sad. that sounds like a lot of plants, now that i'm rereading, but i really found some pretty stuff for not too much money.

anyway, i'm really digging (haha, i made a pun) having a container garden this year on my deck. sorry if this bores ya'll.

pictures for those of you still reading.

counting sheep.

i can't sleep. i don't know why. not sure if it's that the game wound me up too close to bed time or it's that heartburn is keeping any lying-down position from being comfortable or it's that i really want to do laundry, paint gray's room and plant the plants i bought today RIGHT NOW.

whatever it is, it's annoying me. 'cause it's 2:08 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. is only 6.5 hours away. and i have this sneaky suspicion that at 8:30 a.m. i'm not going to feel nearly this energetic.

i did just take a warm bath. that's helping a little.

oh, for the days of regular sleep patterns.

they'll never come again, will they?

i'm doomed.

i guess i'll go try again now that i've had my bath.

i'll let you know how it turns out.

bling.

i get compliments on my diamonds all the time. they ARE quite beautiful, if i do say so myself, and it pays to be a left-handed journalist. your hand is sparkling every time you take notes.

this week has been a particularly copious, not to mention diverse, one in the compliment department.

mira:

"those are some serious rocks. have you had those the whole time you've been married?" -a sweet 10th-grader in our youth group while i was taking prayer requests in small group wednesday

..and..

"nice rings. tell your husband he did a good job." -a large, black man with dreads, a defensive back for the san angelo stampede-express football team while i was interviewing him tonight after the game.

love it!

47 days and counting..

i've been wondering, do you think the memories of our pregnancies and deliveries really are erased so that there's a possibility of baby-making past child No. 1?

i definitely do not remember ellie moving the way gray does, like he's ready to bust out of my skin 24 hours a day. ellie moved alright, but it wasn't like this. it was way more delicate and gentle and scheduled. but, maybe i'm just forgetting.

what i'm really wondering is whether the PAIN of the final EIGHT WEEKS has been erased from my memory. or if this time really is different.

i did nothing yesterday. nothing. and still i was so exhausted by the end of the day. my back HURTS! really low. almost my butt. and some days there's some sort of nerve pain (i don't think it's sciatica after all...did some research) that just sits at the very base of my back all day. it's irritating, but the worst part is when i stand up and bend to do something, shift my weight or just plain step wrong and it send shooting pain that makes me catch my breath.

i'm not trying to whine here. but i am. i'm sorry.

i remember that i was uncomfortable and big last time, but i don't remember specific pain like this. am i just forgetting?

it hurts so bad that i don't do anything. and then i'm more pissed 'cause i'm not doing anything. and it's just a bad situation all around.

this morning, however, thank God, the nerve pain seems to be gone for the time being. maybe it depends on the position of the baby, and sometime in the night he danced away from wherever it is. my back still aches. my belly still gets annoyingly tight if i do anything on my feet for any period of time. but the surprise, shooting pain is not here so far.

i think i might get some laundry done.

laundry and doing the dishes?

mmm.. that might be pushing it.

JUST COME OUT GRAY! I'M READY!

i'm ready for a squishy belly and prepared for questions for the next, ahem, several months about when i'm due even though i'm holding you. i'm prepared to nurse and deal with ellie's possible jealousy and stay up with you at night and be swollen and...

OK. maybe you can stay in. just stay off my nerve!

a middle name for gray.

we decided that gray's middle name will be reed. i have this long list of names that i came up with and liked when ellie was cooking, and one of them was reed. i hadn't thought of it at all since i've been pregnant with grayson, but landon brought it up the other night. i think he heard it somewhere and remembered that we'd liked it.

we were lying in bed when he suggested it. i liked it right away. sounds good, huh?

grayson reed henry.

the initials don't spell anything weird: grh. gHr. very important.

so we're mulling it over and landon says, "also i like the verse where it says 'a bruised reed He will not break...'" i, of course, had to hop out of bed to figure out where that was in the bible and what it was referring to. it's isaiah 42:3. the whole verse says, "a bruised reed He will not break, and a smoldering wick He will not snuff out. in faithfulness He will bring justice." isaiah is prophesying about Jesus, if you hadn't caught that. i came back to bed to tell landon the address and the whole verse. i asked him what he thought it meant. landon said, "i think it's saying that Jesus will not overlook the seemingly small and insignificant." the next morning, i looked up the verse in the message translation. it says, "He won't brush aside the bruised and the hurt, and He won't disregard the small and insignificant, but He'll steadily and firmly set things right." wow. right on, honey.

a nice thing to know that Jesus will never overlook our "reed," no matter how small he may seem or how this world may bruise him.

another thing i looked up the night we thought of it was the meaning of reed. it means, uh, "reed," oddly enough, but it also means "red" or, this is the good one, "cleared land." when i told landon that he said, "cleared land is a ready foundation to build something great."

how about THAT for a prophesy for my boy!!!

i love it.

grayson reed henry. he's gonna be so beautiful.

play date at ellie's.

we've lived here since nov. 9, and have since been taking and taking in the play date realm. i've been trying to think of a time to have one over here, and determined that next tuesday, july 1 would be a good option for us.

would anyone be available and interested?

i'll post details when i figure out if anyone will be able to make it. it'd likely be a backyard thing -- i have a huge one. we have a couple of play houses and ellie's baby pool. additional easy-to-haul (read: yours) baby pools and any bigger kid toys you'd like to bring would be welcome. snacks and drinks on the patio for moms.

let me know.

our first ever play date! i'm nervous, but ellie seems cool as a cucumber.

monday recap.

i think this might be a record for number of posts in a day. at least for a really long time. here's a picture of ellie from today and a video of me trying to get her to talk when all she wants is her milk. her new(er) words are "mommy" (love that one!), "night night," "ellie," "hot" and "thank you." today was truly the first time i heard her say "ellie." she pointed to herself and said it. such a smart girl. the l's aren't perfectly pronounced, but she's only 16 months, people. she doesn't actually say "thank you" on this video, she signs it. she only says it when it's her idea. if you ask her to say it, she signs it. whatever. she really can say it though.

also today, she took off her diaper some time during her nap AGAIN. pee everywhere. luckily the waterproof pad was on this time. i've gathered i can't put her to sleep without shorts or a onesie. crazy child.

other things that happened today:

• i reported and wrote a story and reported another i'll write tomorrow.
• the baby gate fell and broke this vase i've had since my junior year in college when my mom helped me decorate my apartment. it fit the asian theme that i loved so much. it had random asian characters, not sure what language, and cranes. it now resides in the trash bin in the alley. sad.
• i think we decided on a middle name for gray... i won't reveal it yet, but i'm pretty sure we're sure! finally!
• i went to heb -- i love heb -- and bought central market pomegranate italian soda. i had some lemon flavor at mom's when we were there last and it is SO good. i drank some tonight out of wine glass. makes it even more special. i love that heb has some central market things. i miss central market.
  
• my sciatic nerve (isn't that what's hurting when that shooting pain starts in your back, goes down your butt and all the way into your leg to your knee, making you catch your breath?) is officially bothering me 24/7.
• i watched a movie with my husband after dinner and baby bedtime, which is always a treat.
• i haven't been following my cleaning schedule to a t, but i have been keep the place rather picked up, if i do say so myself. if you know me, you know this type of consistent maintenance for nearly two whole days is quite the accomplishment.
• even though she peed everywhere, ellie took a 4-hour nap. literally. no exaggeration. it was phenomenal. i wasn't even really mad about the pee.
  
• i found an AMAZING deal on a gently used glider on craigslist. it's a green color that appears to compliment gray's bedding, and it's huge and all upholstered, just like i'm wanting. it was $550 new, and i'm promised it's in top condition. the pictures do not contradict that claim. i'm getting it for way less than half the original price, which is also way less than i'd pay for even a cheap(er), new glider that i don't really love. it's in dallas, and my fabulous brother has agreed to go pick it up and hold it for me until we're up there again in about 10 days. very exciting. i figure, if the color isn't perfect, i can always have it recovered.
• as i already posted, we got a refund check from the hospital for $211! a-ma-zing.
  

and.. i think that's it. photo and video follow. hope your monday was as lovely as mine.

blessings in the mailbox.

i just opened a $211.35 refund check from the hospital in plano where landon had a series of thyroid tests done about a year and a half ago.

apparently, we overpaid!

o-h m-y g-o-o-d-n-e-s-s!

i'm...speechless!

thank you, Jesus!

stolen pictures.

i stole these from delana's blog. i love them, and a few of you don't check hers and i wanted you to see them! sorry for the repeat for most of you...

grayson.

i'm trying to remember where i came up with that name. i'm searching my blog for hints. i haven't found any so far. does anyone happen to remember when and why we decided to name our son grayson?? i know there is no deep meaning behind it (it literally means "son of the gray family"), and that we just like the sound of it, but i would like to remember where i found it. or when exactly we decided we'd use it.

sheesh.

is this the very obvious start of the small-things-just-aren't-as-monumental issue with the second child.

ah!

summer nights.

the weather on friday was just lovely after the storm we had thursday night. landon was mowing our front yard at about 8 so ellie and i decided to go watch. she was totally content to sit on the hood of the explorer and wave at daddy. it was just one of those sweet, simple, "life is good" moments.

i know i'm a little biased, but i think she gets more and more beautiful every day. i catch myself staring at her all the time.

what a blessing to my life you are, my sweet ellie.

garage sale. no changing!

the garage sale is officially scheduled -- in ink -- for august 1 & 2.

please let me know if you are interested in participating on those dates.

yes, i know i'm due to have a baby 13 days after that date.

that is why i will be taking the rest of this month and all of next month to get ready for it. heaven help me, it will be the most organized, least last minute, smoothest running garage sale of all time.

grayson needs a dresser so the garage sale must go down. that and there is way too much crap in my garage, and it's aggravating my hormonal need to organize.

thank you for your time.

ellie's new room!

the view from the door.

it's finished! i painted the baseboards yesterday before church, and david, delana and kylah helped move everything in, arrange it and hang it up this afternoon. i had a slight scare at 1 a.m. last night when i pulled the tape off the floor from having painted the baseboards and the finish came up. there was a perfect tape line of stripped wood floors around the perimeter of the room. i was royally ticked. but kylah and i set in to cover it this afternoon with finish we found in the garage, and, surprisingly, it covered beautifully and easily. it only took us about 20 minutes. thank goodness. i kept thinking about it every time i woke up last night. so annoying. but everything is up and in its place. the only thing we still might do is a mirror tile collage above the purple table 'cause the kid loves to look at herself in the mirror. it's really quite cute. i love the room because it's so big and feels like a room you hang out and play in, not just a cozy little baby nursery. perfect for my big girl!

so... do you like it?! (set your mouse on each picture for a caption.)

32 weeks.

melissa called for this, referencing crystal's bar-setting of once a month belly pictures. well, meems, this is only a three week difference. so how about that! even more than you bargained for.

white shirt: 29 weeks.
green shirt: today, at 32 weeks.

today's reason to be thankful.

just got a statement, and, if we didn't have CHIP, we would've owed $1100 for ellie's visit to the emergency room earlier this month. instead, we paid a $50 copay.

wow wow wow wow.

baby room progress.

there hasn't been any technical progress made on the actual baby's room, but the time is drawing nearer because of the progress made on ellie's new room.

i believe i've said it before, but she's moving to the big front room (formerly the guest room) so the smaller room that's closer to ours can be gray's nursery.

yesterday, with beautiful "cutting in" help from angela and a lovely two-coat job by kylah, ellie's room got painted. it's a light purple-y color, very close to what she had in her original nursery in plano. there are some touch ups that need to be done on the ceiling, window sills and the door jamb, but it looks really good, in my opinion.

today i scraped this ridiculous yellow ticky tack off of the ceiling that was there when we moved in. you know, little tiny dots that probably held those plastic glow-in-the-dark stars or something. i also swept the floors, dusted the window sills and fans, removed old window treatment hardware (also from the previous tenant) and cleaned the floors with some special hardwood-cleaning stuff.

there's one more project to complete before we move e's stuff in there: painting the baseboards. the baseboards through this entire house are horrid looking. best we can tell, they restained the wood floors, slopped the stain up on the white baseboards and left it that way. the walls through the whole house (except the now-purple room) are an olive greenish, taupe color, and, for some reason, the nasty baseboards are slightly masked next to this paint color. next to a vibrant purple, however, they are blaringly jacked up. so...we're going to give them a couple coats of white so clean up the look. also, kylah had this genius idea of running a line of caulk (david, you may be volunteered for this project) along the top of the baseboards after they're painted for a crisp, clean line. i LOVE that idea.

anyway...i'd totally be painting the boards now, while ellie is napping, but the tape landon bought me is in david's truck which is at the church. boo. i planned to have her in the new room tonight, but i think it might be thursday night. i want to get her in there asap so she can get used to it before gray comes.

then we'll have eight weeks to get everything ready in his room.

i bought some green paint for his room yesterday when we bought ellie's, but it's looking too bright/yellow for what i'm wanting now that i have it home. i'm annoyed because that's $13 wasted in addition to the $13 wasted for the 2nd gallon of paint we bought for ellie's room. it's a big room, and i didn't think one gallon would go the whole way for two coats. it's was the exact amount. i should've known better. i wish walmart would take paint returns. poop.

anyway, i'm going to have to go to lowe's or home depot, i think, to pick a color for gray's room. they just didn't have enough selection at walmart. i've been told that you can pick a color at lowe's or home depot and take it to walmart where they can match it in their generic brand. cheaper, you know. that's what i'm going to try.

i'll take pictures of ellie's room once her furniture is moved and walls adorned. there are a few things we've had since she was born that have never gone up in her room (pottery barn box shelves, pottery barn metal hooks with pink glass knobs) due to space limitations and a few new things (a big, round, pink shag rug, a new ellie-sized purple bean bag chair, a tile mirror collage, pottery barn white, sailcloth curtains) that will round out her larger big-girl room. it should be fun.

even though i'm excited, i'm feeling a little blue. i've admitted my strange, nostalgic connection with rooms, and i think the combination of that and knowing that our lives are about to be so different is making me wistful.

it'll be OK though. i know that. the Lord has great things in store for my children. both of them. they are an immeasurable blessing.

i would just like to say..

..that, in this moment, i am full of faith that my heavenly Father is going to perfectly provide over these next few months when i will be unable to freelance as much because of gray's arrival. it is often a scary thought to contemplate, but He has never failed us. His provision has been just enough and right on time over and over and over again. calculators and negative numbers have nothing on the One who holds all the universe in His hands, the One who loves and cares for me and my family the way only a perfect Father can.

a new one.

i got ellie up from her nap a second ago, picked her up and carried her around the house with me while i gathered the diaper changing supplies that always seem to be strewn about in places that are not the places i need them to be at the time.

i put her down to go through her suitcase (still haven't unpacked) to get her something to wear for the day.

finally, i laid her down on the floor of her room to change her diaper and dress her.

she was naked from the waist down.

she had on a long shirt so i guess i didn't notice, but she didn't have a diaper on.

i looked in her crib to find a clean, dry diaper and a big wet spot on the sheet.

did she take her whole nap with no diaper? or...?

of course, i have never, and i am not exaggerating, put a sheet on ellie's bed without the waterproof mattress pad underneath.

not until the last time i put on her sheets, that is.

both pads were dirty so i just stuck a sheet on real quick 'cause it was time for a nap. this was the day before we left for district council.

so, yeah. her mattress is wet.

any suggestions for cleaning it?

ay.

painting.

for those of you who are wonderful enough to think it'd be fun to help, i believe the painting process at the henry abode will begin tuesday morning. there is some taping and possible spackling (i have no idea if that's even a word) and priming to do. keep that in mind when you're making your plans. you may want to show up later for the fun, colorful part. it's up to you.

notes to self, a running list.

• clean out the baby's carseat after weeklong vacation before putting clean baby in seat to ride to church. otherwise, said baby ends up eating and/or smearing a variety of foods all over her clean skin, hair and clothes.
• realize that it will take at least 12 hours to cool a house from 95 degrees when the air conditioner is off for an entire week. this realization will help you avoid having to fall asleep at 1 a.m. while it's still 85.
• missy has to be the most incredible teenager on the planet. she dogsat doc for the whole week, something we planned on and for which we planned on compensating her. but while she had access to my empty house, she cleaned THE ENTIRE THING. among other things, she STEAMED THE CARPETS. she cleaned my whole kitchen. SHE DID ALL OUR LAUNDRY. holy cow.

more to come..

this week and beyond.

we're in waxahachie for district council this week. i am enjoying it. i don't think i'd like to live in a hotel forever, but coming back to your room with clean towels, a made bed and an empty trash can each day is super nice.

we have service and luncheons and seminars until thursday afternoon. then we'll be going to plano to spend a couple days at my mom's before heading back to san angelo.

the target in waxahachie has all the stuff for gray's baby bedding in stock. i'm super pumped to go look at it later today. i've seen the bedding set in real life, but i want to buy a small piece (flannel blankets or wall decals or something) to help with the picking of paint. i'm thinking i want to do a green that's in the same family as the green in the bedding just lighter. you know, if the bottom color on the three-color paint chip card matches the bedding, i wanna paint the walls the top color. make sense?

which brings me to next week. next week kylah will be in town. i think that will be just the motivation i need (because kylah will keep me company) to clean out the guest (read: junk everywhere) room, paint it and move ellie over there. then we can paint gray's room with said green paint and be on the way to having everyone situated in their proper rooms. as a bonus, if we're super efficient, we may get my bathroom repainted. i'm not sure if i ever mentioned it on this blog, but it's this terrible mint green color, and i have a chocolate brown roman shade on the window. it looks like a tub of mint chocolate chip ice cream, and i am not impressed. the tile is a fairly dark ivory so i think the only thing i can do without creating that painful, shocking contrast is paint it a lighter ivory. so... yeah. that's on the to-do list as well.

i've also been attempting to implement a more maintenance oriented house cleaning routine. monday is master bedroom and bathroom. tuesday is kids' rooms. wednesday is hallways and guest bathroom (easiest day because we have church). thursday is kitchen. friday is living room. it also requires a daily picking up of the junk that so quickly accumulates on all surfaces at my house. i think i followed it two out of five days last week. i'm hoping to be more faithful this week. i just know that i'll be a much happier stay-at-home mommy of two if i can get a decent routine down. also, poor landon. for as long as i've been a wife, my house keeping skills have pretty much sucked. the ol' this-is-so-dirty-i'm-going-to-puke or the-sink-is-starting-to-smell-from-all-these-dirty-dishes or someone-is-coming-over!-quick!-clean-it-all methods have been my way of approaching the matter. i think everyone would benefit if i could just get some discipline in the whole situation.

so...incredibly boring post, but, there's the update.

i'm going to be painting and cleaning away next week, however, we will will be available for any and all play dates. especially ones involving the swimming pool. so bring 'em on.

fyi: the "we" in this post does not indicate that i expect kylah to do all of this crazy cleaning and painting with me. just that her company will help me get things done. don't worry, jo...

addielyn faith.

presenting the perfectly gorgeous, now-two-day-old addielyn faith.

born wednesday, june 4, 2008 at (approx.) 6:50 p.m.

8 pounds 1 ounce. 20 inches long.

and her mama is doing great too!

a bizarre afternoon bath and "b" words. three of them!

i put ellie down for her nap this afternoon, and she squealed and yelled and played for about 20 minutes before she started to fuss. this has been her mo lately. she fights her nap. we're already pretty much down to one nap instead of two, but i refuse to believe we could be ready for no naps. after 20 minutes of seeing if she'd play herself to sleep, i went to check on her.

her room stunk like puke. and there was a big wet spot on her sheets. and her hair was wet and crusty. and her shirt had what looked like throw up on it.

but when i walked in, she laughed and danced and clapped and smiled. i stripped her and the bed and put her in the bath.

the following video is further evidence that, if she did in fact throw up, she wasn't all that affected by it.

so weird.

and so incredibly cute.

grunt-worthy: story deadlines, mountains of laundry and fig newtons for breakfast.

all of a sudden, i feel really, really pregnant.

gray turned 30 weeks yesterday. and i'm not sure if it's because addi was born and owen was born or what, but i feel suddenly very pregnant.

like, waddling is not an option. and my pelvis aches. and my back KILLS. and bending over is impossible. there's this thing in the way of my regular movement.

landon recently made a comment in reference to my grunting -- no, i won't tell you the whole story. i, understandably, was not impressed and resolved to show him by not grunting no matter what.

ha.

i totally grunt. and moan. and sigh. ALL THE TIME.

and it's weird 'cause i don't feel as heavy or as just-plain-fat as i did last time, but the baby is so THERE. like right out in front causing an unnatural center of gravity that somehow became the bane of my existence when i was not paying attention.

and i have stories due. and i really wanted a pop-tart, but they're all gone so i had to have fig newtons. and we're supposed to be in waxahachie next week for district council, and we're thisclose to going commando if i don't wash underwear soon.

but my pelvis hurts.

ten more weeks?

yes. you heard right. that was me grunting.

first pool trip of summer 2008.

i would just like to say that the first trip to the pool was SO much fun. getting to talk with jenny, melissa, angela and cathy and our 8.5 kids while getting sun and staying cool is my idea of the perfect activity. (melissa didn't bring josh, and i'm counting grayson as .5 at this point.)

ellie had a blast. we were there two hours, and i slathered her with sunblock about four times. she looked a little pinky when i laid her in her crib. i don't know if four times was enough. but she kicked her feet in a little baby floaty we borrowed from melissa, she loved to "jump" from the side of the pool after mommy counted "1-2-3!" and she even blew bubbles. oh, and she wanted to play with every ball she saw. "ba! ba! ba! ba!" i think we're gonna have lots of fun at the pool these next couple of months.

strangely, she refused to nap before we left for the pool. and we got there at 2 and stayed until 4. that means she hadn't had any nap by 4 p.m., and she'd been playing in the sun and water for two hours. needless to say, she was sacked before i could pull out of my parking space. i think we could've stayed a little longer if she'd napped beforehand. all the other girls were there going strong when i decided our time was up for the day. but ellie was screeching her high-pitched squeal, and i knew things were only going to go downhill. i'm going to be very surprised if she wakes up before tomorrow. just kidding. sorta.

anyway, it was super fantastic. i would go there everyday, i think. the other moms are planning on at least once a week. i guess that'll do.

you know what's insane? what ellie looked like last summer. here are two different water experiences: one in june. and one in july.

holy mackerel.

here she is today:

24 hours later.

impressive, no?

(yes. i know she isn't supposed to drink milk in her bed.)

"eye of the tiger."

so we'd previously determined that ellie is quite sensitive to bug bites when some time ago she got one on her shin that was hot, hard and very swollen for several days. she scratched the crap out of it and still has tiny scabs and what will likely be a scar. i have pretty impressive reactions to most bug bites, especially ant bites, so we weren't altogether surprised or all that worried.

we were not, however, prepared for this:


this is what my precious, beautiful child looked like this evening at about 8 p.m. AFTER two hours in the emergency room that included a shot of epinephrine and a shot of decadron. when we went to the emergency room, her eye was twice this big, twice this swollen and twice this terrible. neither landon nor i could look at her long without wanting to cry.

after much contemplation, we figured that she must have been attacked by mosquitoes last night while watering the plants with delana. she has a pretty intense bite on her left wrist (see picture below) that kylah can remember seeing last night before we left their house. she also has several on each of her legs. i never noticed any of them until this morning when i got her up for church. her eye was swollen then, but not anywhere near this bad. i took her to church, we watched her and we gave her benadryl. everything seemed to be OK so we came home and put her down for a nap. she woke up about 4 p.m. looking like rocky after his worst fight. i immediately took her to the living room and told landon we were going to the er. he didn't argue. his mouth was actually agape for quite some time. it was a terrible sight.

she didn't act upset all day, before, during (excluding having her eye poked at and needles jammed into her legs) or after the er experience. she just played and blabbed and laughed as usual. it was really quite amazing, as a matter of fact.

her eye started opening up pretty quick after the shots. like i said, these photos are about an hour after we got home from the hospital. we ate dinner, played for awhile and then took a long, playful bath before i laid her down. that was about 9:15.

i'm trying to decide whether or not i should go in her room and see if i can catch a massive, horrible swarm of bugs that only comes out to attack my baby when i'm not there.

talk about heartbreaking.

"it's the eye of the tiger, it's the thrill of the fight/
risin' up to the challenge of our rival/
and the last known survivor stalks his prey in the night/
and he's watchin' us all with the eye of the tiger."