Oh Boy ...

As stubborn as Katy is, I think Baby Mikey is doubly so.  This boy has definitely given me a run for my money and he's not even here yet!  Let's review, shall we?

TWICE I have gone into L&D with false labor.  TWICE!  Do you know how embarrassing that is, especially when you already have one child?  Granted, I didn't labor naturally with Katy, I was induced.  But still - ridiculous.  And here's the kicker: both times that I went in, I was totally justified.  The first time I went in, I was having contractions lasting a minute long, coming every 5 minutes for an hour and a half.  The second time (two days later), they lasted for 2 and a half hours before I went in.  Both times, they just stopped after leaving the hospital.  Done.  Finito.  What the heck?!

Last night, I was having contractions again for a good three hours.  I decided not to go in to the hospital because they weren't incredibly regular.  They'd be 2 minutes apart for a few minutes, then jump to 5.  Talk about worrying my poor husband!  He was convinced I was going to have this baby on the side of the road somewhere!

Every morning, I wake up and tell Mikey that this would be a wonderful day to be born.  Katy tells him she wants him to come out and play.  Michael gives him a pep talk.  Nothin'!

Boy child ... please come out soon - we're all dying to meet you!

Hello, stranger!

It's been 3 months since I last updated.  That is entirely too long - even if no one reads my blog, I seriously can't go that long without getting things out.  It's way unhealthy and it's definitely taken its toll.

So here's just a few quick updates so I can get moving on and *hopefully* start blogging on a more regular basis again:

-Father's Day is approaching much faster than I would have liked.  As a result, I have a partially finished project in the garage that I now have 2 days to complete.

-Katy is going to be a flower girl tomorrow!  She looks SO beautiful in her dress.  Seriously, the first time I saw her in it, I had flashes of her in a wedding gown and I nearly fainted.

-Little boy is growing at an alarming rate!  I'm officially in the third trimester with just about 9 weeks left to go.  It's becoming a bit more real that he will be here before we know it!

-On a sadder note, my mom passed away last month, exactly one week before Mother's Day.  That was tough and I still don't think I've really processed it.  Maybe I'll get more into that in a future post, but it's a lot more involved than a quick update will allow.

-The weather here in Chicago has been awesome, which also has been a factor in my lack of blogging. Any chance to burn off energy with my 2-year-old is VERY welcome.

-I have been missing my small group like crazy.  I miss getting together with them every Tuesday, even if it just meant having one evening where I didn't have to worry about where Katy was (especially since she was ALWAYS with Daddy).  And now that Miss Stefanie has had her handsome little man, Jake, I've been craving a get together.  (If any of you are reading this - let's get on that, shall we?)

-My in-laws are currently in Hawaii.  Now, I know they deserve it probably more than anyone else I know.  Seriously, though, I'm SO jealous.  I know I probably wouldn't be much fun in Hawaii in my current state, but really - in the words of Tina Fey - I want to go to there.

-Speaking of Tina Fey - I just finished reading Bossypants, which puts my total book reading count to 12 since finishing school a month ago.  Yeah - I have been reading with a determination that cannot be matched.  Of course, they're not scholarly books by any means - many of them are just summer romance books (you know the kind, the ones that are easily thrown into a beach bag to enjoy while the kiddos are swimming), so it's not some incredible feat, but I still am pretty proud of it.  I missed leisure reading during this last semester so I'm happy to be catching up!

And really that's about all I can think of at the moment - partially because I'm being whimpered at by Little Miss about how much she NEEDS to see Rhea and Trace - so we're off to a Jamba Juice / picnic lunch date!

An Onion

That, ladies and gentlemen, is how big my baby is!

That's right - in August, Mike and I will be bringing another beautiful baby into the world and Katy will become a big sister!  We couldn't be more excited - well, kind of ... Katy doesn't really care yet.  She's just not aware of what it all really means.

I still haven't decided if I want to know the gender, but I know Mike is really pushing for us to find out at the anatomy scan in a few weeks.

I'm currently 17 weeks along and that means the scary first trimester is completely over.  The morning sickness and nausea have been put behind me and we're on to bigger and better things.  And I do mean bigger!  All pants worn are now maternity pants.  This belly is expanding much faster than it did when I was pregnant with Katy.  Which is to be expected, I guess.  It's still amazing to think about the differences in belly size!

This is me at 17 weeks with Katy

 17 Weeks with Starrick #2

And for more comparison with my original

It's really, really exciting and amazing how quickly the second pregnancy goes.  I'm already feeling the baby moving like crazy and have gotten to feel a few outside kicks.  Mike still hasn't felt them, but I know it's only a matter of days before that happens.

By the way, how do you like my new 'do?  Just got it done a couple days ago and I LOVE it :)

It's Christmas Eve!

It's Christmas Eve and in about and hour, I have to head out the door to work.

While I am incredibly thankful that I have a job when so many have been unemployed for so long, I crave the day when I don't have to work on Christmas Eve.  I have so many plans for future Christmas Eves.  I want Christmas Eve to be the day we do family crafts.

I want Christmas Eve to be the day when the kids all gather in the kitchen and we make salt dough ornaments and fingerprint snowmen and paint and make messes.  Because isn't that what Christmas with kids is?  Tons and tons of messes that need cleaning up but that you just can't force yourself to touch until at least the day after Christmas.

I don't want Christmas Eve to be me in the bathroom, getting ready for work, Katy watching cartoons in the living room, eating her breakfast.  I don't want Christmas Eve to be fast-paced and hurried.  I want Christmas Eve to be slow and steady.

But, I will find the joy in today.  I will wish my customers a Merry Christmas, not a Happy Holiday (I don't care what you say, Mr. Bank-I-Work-For, today is not a day to be PC).  I will smile brightly.  I will be a shining example of what it is to be joyful on Christmas Eve.

I hope your Christmas Eve is joyful.

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Isaiah 7:14 

Picture Time!

Ever have one of those mornings when you have SO many things going through your mind that you just can't even get one down on paper the screen?  I'm experiencing one of those right now.  So in lieu of a wordy post, I'm gonna go (semi)wordless.  Catch-up photos of Katy.  What could be better?

Christmas? Really?!

It's nearing Christmas and, as much as it pains me to say it, I haven't really been in the Christmas spirit.  Maybe it's the lack of snow (don't get me wrong - I hate snow, it just doesn't feel like Christmas in Chicago without it), maybe it's the busyness of finals and selecting classes, maybe it's the tightness of our budget.  Whatever it is, it just doesn't feel like Christmas in our house.

We've had our tree up for almost 2 months now.  Mike convinced me to put it up.  And by convinced, I mean I told him he could put it up if he cleaned the living room and rearranged the furniture by himself.  And he did.  So up it went.

I baked up a storm a week and a half ago.  I still have more baking to do.

Christmas shopping is all done.

But, it still doesn't feel like Christmas is just 4 days away.

I'm not trying to be a bah-humbug Scrooge over here.  I ADORE Christmas.  I really do.  And maybe that's why it doesn't feel right, that Christmas is 4 days away and I don't feel like it's coming.

But, in the end, it isn't about the presents, it isn't about the lights, it isn't about a tree or lack thereof.  It isn't about snow, or feeling like Christmas is around the corner.  Because Christmas is coming.  And for that, I'm thankful.

I Sincerely Apologize

I have severely neglected this blog.  And for that, I apologize.  I could tell you that I have been soooo busy with school, that work has been taking all my time, that Katy has entered the terrible twos early, and while that's all true, that's not the reason I haven't blogged.

Truthfully, I never really felt like writing.  I didn't have anything to say.  I couldn't think of anything creative, unique, funny, interesting.

But I've been feeling the tug lately.  The blog has been beckoning me.

I don't want to give you one HUGE entry updating you on everything.  Who wants to read page after page of what's been going on in my life?

Instead, I plan on starting fresh, pretending (almost) as if I never left.  I may do an update here or there, but mostly so we're on the same page.  So really, only if it pertains to a specific post.  Know what I mean?

So, while we have a lot of exciting stuff going on in our lives here, I'll try to keep myself focus.  Bear with me?

How precious is this?!