things i'm thankful for in no particular order

* Jesus and His loving Father who turned His back on Him to save me
* my beautiful and healthy girls
* my handsome husband and his invention--"12 days of thanksgiving" where i get a present each day (i.e. on the 2nd day two types of flowers etc.)
* nap time
* all my new jersey in-laws
* paper towels and a working vacuum
* all my blogging friends
* my new phone
* thanksmas/christgiving this week in ny with my family! woo hoo!

woo hoo it's friday!

i asked amelie to say cheese for a picture and this is the face she gave me:
the girls and i went shopping again today--yay for target! we bought gift bags for christmas! yes--i know it's a bit early for christmas but we're heading to new york for thanksgiving--weather permitting--where we plan to celebrate thanksmas or christgiving--the best holiday EVER invented!!! it's too much for us to go up there twice especially with two babies so we're doing it all at once! we celebrated it this way last year and it was super fabulous! i can't wait!!!

not too much else is going on--we visited steven for lunch and now i'm waiting for nap time to come around--although--i'm not too excited about it b/c maeve is sleeping now which means she will be wide awake at 1:30 when amelie goes down.

oh yeah--just for future reference--don't go to mcdonalds at 10:58 and ask for a happy meal--because they'll just tell you that it's not lunch time...yeah...i'm pretty sure i could have just waited for them to make the happy meal in the parking lot...but no--they wouldn't even let me order! i wasn't thrilled....well--i'm over it now, but just thought i'd share!

yay for friday!

so excited today is friday--can't wait to have my husband back for the weekend! thank goodness for my mother in law who has wrangled my little amelie while i'm glued to the couch with maeve! bravo!
some things i've learned this week
1. i will never be able to get enough of that newborn smell....maeve is absolutely delicious, i am so thankful for her!
2. i have gone through a disturbing amount of wipes these past two weeks--two in diapers = many trips to target for supplies!
3. keep sippy cups away from your cell phone
4. the mailman/ups man will always come during nap time and ring the doorbell
5. amelie is obsessed with barbie...i don't understand it
6. yes, you can be too tired to blog...i'm done
yawn
stretch
narcolepsy

sleeping beauty and my stream of consciousness blog

* why doesn't my camera have a "newborn" setting for the flash? there are like 15 different settings and unfortunately they all blind maeve into shutting her eyes before i can get her picture! the best i could do is a "half eye open with my hand over the flash" pose...the other pose is the "i may be a newborn but i occasionally flash gang signs."

* maeve slept pretty well last night--waking up every hour between 9-1 but then switching to 2-3 hour intervals thereafter

* amelie is fighting her nap today--i call it the "daddy special." for some reason she thinks that having daddy home means party time!

* it's still raining...i'm happy for the rain and the cool air coming in my windows but i would really like to get out and take a walk tomorrow with my super cool double stroller...i'm praying for a few hours of sun!

* ok, i think i got amelie to sleep--i had to be the mean mommy and go in there and tell her that daddy was gone and unable to tuck her in! she was crying, "my daddy is goneeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee." they are totally bonding now that i'm a full time member of newborn land--it's a good thing--i love to see how happy they make each other!

* steve will be home monday and tuesday morning--yay for family time! he hasn't had any time off except the day i came home and the cardiologist appt. so it will be nice to be together although he is still going into work to have choir/music team practice--such a dedicated teacher!

* ooo...the sun is shining

fin

the thoughts that i've been thinkin'

* my arms look like corpse arms with all of the bruises from the i.v. which had to be re-inserted three times at the hospital...along with where they took blood--it's not pretty.

* if i resemble anyone famous at the moment it's probably dolly parton...nuf said.

* what's the deal with precious newborns sleeping 3 or 4 hour stretches during the day and 1 hour "stretches" at night...i'm LOVING every second of it but am pretty sure this pattern is going to make me veryyyyyyyyy tired =-)
* amelie is a big girl. when did it happen? she's so lovely it makes my heart hurt. this picture is of her "cheese!" face. also included, a picture of the backpack that maeve gifted amelie when we arrived home =)

* maeve is looking more and more like baby amelie did. she is lovely--her rolly little eyes make me smile.

* my mom just left for ny. *sob...it's hard to hold your tears until after your crying mother leaves so that she doesn't feel she's leaving someone who doesn't want her to go. it's so hard to be apart from my family. i'm so thankful for everything i have in south jersey but i can't help but beg the Lord once in a while to let me go home.

* i love the rain and leaves and the fact that it's friday and fall.

you know it's bad when...

i have to remind myself how thankful i am. my life is happy and quiet and lovely but some of my dearest family members have been dealing with very difficult circumstances for a few weeks now and it hurts my heart. how i wish i could be with the ones i love all the time, but God has reasons for keeping us right where we are. i'm content for now to know that at least we are ALL in the palm of His hand.




i'm thankful for:

1. a wonderful day with amelie--what a joy!!
2. beautiful FALL weather!
3. i lived through buying groceries (going to wegman's certainly makes it more bearable!!)
4. maevey baby and her antics (even though most of those antics are taking place in the vicinity of my ribs--ouchey).
5. my peaceful, clean, comfortable, airconditioned apartment--never more then 2 blocks away from my husband!
6. my parents and their faithful marriage of ....(i'm horrible at math) 33 years and their growing ever-adventurous friendship now that they are unhampered by children at home =-)
7. working transportation
8. flip flops, stretchy waisted skirts and tank tops--comfy clothes are the best
9. my friends--who all add something different and wonderful to my life (and all of their fabulous kiddos who each add something different and wonderful to my amelie's life)
10. internet access
11. stevie-beans--i can't stress enough how thankful i am for my sweet husband.

i could go on and on and on...but i'll stop for now! by the way, the picture is of my little giraffe LAST september--oy vey, does time fly!

the park's a lark except for when it's a goose

** we went to the park this morning--bright and early--and i was feeling ambitious and amelie was ready to play! after a few trips down the slide we headed off to walk around the local "lake" (about 1 mile all the way around) and amelie decided she was afraid of geese (she wasn't yesterday...so maybe she had a bad dream? who knows!). every time a goose came near us she would say, "hi goose! honk honk!" and then scream at the top of her lungs and run away. it was different....
** her fear also was transferred onto the ducks, which is a shame, because ducks, at least, are cute!
**we found some fish swimming by the dock and fed them some goldfish crackers--it seemed to border on cannibalism but i didn't share that with amelie.
** she is not scared of fish (for now...).
** btw--i am now too pregnant to walk a mile--i thought i was going to explode! i just did it last week and was totally fine--not fine today!
** i thought i was going into labor last night--turns out i just needed a nap, ha!
** tomorrow is my dr.'s appt--i'm hoping for some news like--she'll be here any minute! (well, any day at least!!)

we shall see...

i'm super grumpy right now b/c my nap didn't seem long enough so here are some things i'm thankful for so i don't take up this space complaining!

1. hair bands--i would shave my head if i couldn't put my hair in a pony tail!
2. mu mu type dresses--'nuf said
3. peanut butter right out of the jar
4. a.c. + couch + pillows (at least 4-6) + blanket + t.v. and last but certainly NOT least
5. patient husband

aw, friday, i've missed you.

aw, i love friday. steven had to go back into work today but should be home early, yay! i love him, he's my favorite! we've been in our little apartment for a week now and it definitely already feels like home--it would feel slightly more like home if there were a dishwasher here, but otherwise it's all good =-) it's also fabulous to be close to everything! there are a million (well, about 5) different parks within 2 miles, our favorite ice cream joint, church & steven's school, 2 libraries, etc....i like it.

i <3 the library, btw--i scored two hi-5 videos for amelie to watch! she's having cable withdrawal so this has definitely hit the spot! yay for the library! i can't wait to work in one someday....

not too much planned today--i'm thinking of taking amelie to a new park and for a long walk as she has been resisting nap/bed time lately (anxiety over the move perhaps?). she certainly has that daddy of her's wrapped around her lovely little finger--here's a list of some of the reasons why her daddy is the best!

1. he's hot (this is more for my sake then hers, ha!)
2. when my patience runs out his is still overflowing for her
3. he loves to take her to the park and for ice cream when i'm too tired to move off the couch
4. he dances the routines with her from barney and hi-5
5. he tucks her in at night and sings her as many songs as she wants
6. he works all day, takes care of amelie all evening and works hard on his school work until the wee hours and never complains, is always helpful and almost always understanding of our needs in every way.

he's the best, i love you honey! that's enough mushy stuff for now--i received this in a pregnancy email and thought i would share as it made me laugh: