This man

This man has been getting the short end of the stick lately.

You see, I tend to get a little self-involved, especially when I'm nine months pregnant and starting to really feel sorry for myself. I start to think "who's caring this heavy load, not him!" too often. It's especially silly because I'm feeling great and have really enjoyed this pregnancy thus far. 

So I decided to change it. Life After I "Dew" is doing a 31 day challenge to show her husband that she appreciates and loves him more than she has before. Every single day I am inspired to do the same thing over here for my hubby and today was a great way to do it. 

Hubby slept in accidentally, so when I told him it was 7:15 (while still half asleep myself), his response was "Oh man I'm late. Can you make me a sandwich for lunch?" This request did not come out of the blue however. I've been telling him that I'd like to make his lunches and at least have food on hand for him to eat for lunch, but he gets up so early that this lazy mama kind of threw in the towel to that whole make-your-lunch idea.

When it's 7:15 and I know he's running late, I can't say no, right? So I rolled out of bed and found my way to the kitchen still half sleeping. I got the coffee brewing, made him some peanut butter bread, a sandwich, packed the Munchies chips he requested (made me feel like wife of the year when I forked over almost $5 for one bag) and an orange and had it all ready for him as he left the house. He was smiling from ear to ear because he wasn't expecting all of that, and we both started out this Friday on great note.

Easy? Yes. It's just one of the smaller things that I can do to show him how much we appreciate his super hard work that allows me to stay home with our kid(s). It's easy to be grumpy when he works late or isn't home for supper. It's easy to hold it against him when he has to work on the weekends and spend time in his office catching up instead of devoting all of his time to me. 

I find that I have to make a conscious effort to react positively, but it's always always always worth it. I'm always looking for little ways to make things easier and less stressful and so hope I can continue this for the rest of our (hopefully super ridiculously long) marriage.

I'm blessed. He's great.

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Picture recap + SNOW IN OCTOBER

This is what we woke up to this morning:

Amazing, right? It's October 4th, and it's snowing enough to stay on top of the grass instead of just melting as it hits the ground. I'm confident that it will melt away and we'll still have the Autumn weather, but man it makes it hard to not jump to Christmas mode when you see snow outside! This is the "nice" snow weather - it's actually above freezing at 39 degrees so it's not miserable out like it gets to be in January-March. Josie gets to wear her boots and winter coat today... first time! I need to remember to take a picture.

In my attempt to become a true baker, I volunteered to make cupcakes for my friend's surprise birthday party in honor of her hubby. It was a mustache party, so she gave me a few cookie stamps that were appropriate. I would have done a lot of things differently, like make the lips have a line down the middle, have the red be brighter (don't add black - no way to undo that!), and let the fondant dry out a little more. Generally though? They turned out good enough and tasted great. I still have a long ways to go before I'm ready to open a cupcake shop though.

A couple of weeks ago, Josie was playing with her butterfly wings that Auntie Lara found for her. She hadn't like wearing them, so I put them on Buckley (logical decision right?) She loved them after that and wouldn't take them off!

When Josie hangs out with Grandma, cousin Dean is usually there too (his daycare while his mama works). Jo has really started "playing" with him and it's so fun to watch! Grandma sent me this picture of them playing. Can you see the resemblance? There definitely is some Deyle in those kids!

And finally, my hubby is a duck hunter for the first time ever. He was so proud and we've been feasting on the delicacies ever since.

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Ode to Sleep

There has been little sleep at nights over here. I cannot blame the toddler. I cannot blame the husband or the dog or the weather. I can only blame the fact that I am 5 1/2 weeks away from having another baby. It's been rough the last couple of days nights.

Sleep, how I miss you.

Numerous nights this week I have tossed and turned laying on top of the covers with the fan on but not cool enough to drift into a blissful sleep. I check the clock numerously and am using the bathroom at least four times a night. I try different positions and rearrange the pillows a million times but it makes no difference.

It's that time again. Now I remember. Now I remember why you really start counting down the days at the end. I will do anything!for!comfort! I dream of waking up to feed a baby but then going back to sleep immediately because I will be able to.

Maybe I'm making the picture too rosy, but I'm holding on for dear life. 5 1/2 more weeks. I can do it, right?


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Josie Grace - 15 months

Yesterday was Josie's 15 month birthday. The last three months have gone so fast and she has changed and grown up more than I can even keep up with. 

We had her doctor's appointment on Tuesday where she did the usual measurements and had her flu shot along with her 18 month shot. I was surprised that they wanted to give her that shot now, but they said it was ok to do it early and then we don't have to go back in until her 2 year appointment. Since I'll have a newborn around her 18 month birthday, I figured this would work great for our family.

At the appointment, Josie measured:
Weight - 21 lbs 10 1/2 oz ( less than 50%)
Height - 30 3/4 inches (50%)
Head Circumference - 18 1/2 inches (75%)

Last month, she was at 50% for weight and 75% for height. When I pointed out that she didn't grow very much in three months, the nurse said that is common for toddlers. I'm guessing that her insane amount of energy means she's burning a lot more calories so I'm not that surprised that she hasn't gained any weight. I was surprised that her height had leveled off though! She only grew 3/4 of an inch, and here I was thinking she must have grown at least 2 inches. She just seems so much bigger to me now.

The doc did say that she could be drinking more milk, but no matter how much I offer her she just drinks what she wants and hasn't really had anymore than before.  He also said that she's hitting all the milestones that she needs to be and was surprised to hear how many words she can say.

Currently, she's saying: hi, bye bye, night night (ni ni), mama, daddy, boppa (grandpa), owl, puppy (all.the.time.), more, up, down, Buckley  (sounds like Buh ee), baby (all.the.time.also), moon, chair, house, horsey (sounds like housey), boots, shoes, and a bunch more that I'm not remembering. She has just started stringing more than one word together at at time (like bye-bye baby, bye-bye mama). I don't count night night as two since she has always said them together.

She also has gotten pretty good at pointing out parts of her body. She can show you her ears, nose, belly, feet, toes, hands, and hair. I hadn't really been showing her these too often, so she surprised me with how many she knows!

Foods she likes: Just about everything. Thank you God that she has passed that picky eater stage. I was not loving that at all, but now she'll pretty much eat whatever we put in front of her. She also drinks whole milk and water (no juice unless it's a special occasion and obviously no carbonated drinks)

She loves to"help" me with chores like folding clothes, emptying the dishwasher, picking up dog poop outside (don't worry, she just watches closely... no hand to poop touching here!), cooking in the kitchen, putting away books. Of course, all of this help usually means I do the job twice, but hey - eventually she'll get what she's supposed to do and I'll love the help!

For clothes, she's wearing 12-18 month in everything and her shoe size is between a 4 and a 5. We have enough shoes for winter, but it was no easy thing to find! I'll be happy when she's a solid 5 or 6 so we can find shoes that fit without spending a ton of money or having to shop in obscure places. It's so ... funny? annoying? how some 18 month clothes are huge on her while others barely cover her belly or go to her shoes. You'd think the clothing designers could be consistent for toddler clothes but I guess not.

She still loves to dance, has learned to run (great for this pregnant mama), thinks its the best when I dance with her, loves her books more than ever, and now even will read to me or anybody else around her. That's way more fun for me than hearing my boring voice! All the babble talk is so cute and I love that every once in a while you'll hear a real word thrown in. She has no doubt that I understand everything she is saying.

We still haven't cut her hair since her last (and first) haircut way back last spring. It's grown a lot but it still falls in her face all of the time so we wear it up or pulled back almost everyday. I usually get one shot to get it done and if I don't like it and want to redo it she lets me know how she feels about that by squirming and screaming. Thankfully, I'm pretty good at getting it right the first time around! I almost always do her hair while she's eating breakfast. The tv is usually on and she has the food in front of her so there are enough distractions to keep her from twisting and turning away from me. Her hair is almost to her shoulders in the back and the front is right past her chin. Eventually I'll have to even that out but for now I don't think it looks too bad. I just don't want it short all over again which is what would happen if we cut the back.. I just love her pretty golden hair with the slight curl at the bottom!

Josephine doesn't really get that there is a baby coming, but she does love everything baby. When she sees a real baby she has to touch and is very gentle, mostly because she has been spending so much time with her cousin who is 3 months old. She does get jealous if I'm holding him but that is mostly just when she is tired or hungry. If she's not either of those then she is content to play nearby or play with someone else. We'll definitely have to figure that out in the next couple of months with her sister!

When music is on, she doesn't break out in dance automatically anymore, but I can tell she's listening closely (for the first 10 seconds). She does, however, love when I sing to her while getting her diaper changed or going to sleep. It surprised me a lot because she never has shown interest in this, but I love having her attention and having those precious moments with her.

My crazy busy girl does give me hugs and lets me kiss her all the time which I am so thankful for! When she started moving around, she wanted independence so it's awesome when she is so affectionate to us. She loves her daddy more than anything and their bedtime routine is a huge part of her day. Whenever he comes home, she gets a huge grin on her face and waits for him by the gate.

We tried her toddler bed and decided it's too early. We also tried potty training and also figured out that it's not something I want to do right now. I realized that I don't want to have to drop everything to get her on the potty when I have a newborn attached to me, so we'll try again once the baby is old enough to hang out alone for a couple of minutes. Jo does tell me when she is ready to go "poo poo" so she's almost understanding! Unfortunately she kind of gets stage fright. I'm content with just doing a little here and there until she's older.

Let's see... she's still taking two naps a day (usually 1 1/2 to 2  hours each), going to bed around 8 or 8:30, and eating three meals and one snack in the afternoon.

She's just such a happy toddler and shows us new things everyday. We can't wait to see her be a big sister in no time at all.




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