ten-ish smile tuesday

first...if you haven't already, check out this post from sunday...go on, i'll wait!

1. okay...now that you've done that...i can fill you in on the fabulous details. first and foremost...we are thrilled, of course! the official due date is sept. 3...and i am just now hitting the 12 week point. this time around has been MUCH different that my other pregnancies...constant nausea for the past 4 or 5 weeks (which does now seem to be subsiding a bit)...while i never had any nausea with the others. and this perhaps explains my absence from much of blog-land...you see, simply put, i've been sleeping whenever the girls sleep...which incidentally is my typical blog-time! :) we got to see the baby during a very early ultrasound around the 7 week mark, and then just last week i was able to hear the incredible, amazing little heartbeat...God is so faithful!

2. popcorn and movies...i feel like we've done a lot of this lately...for a lack of energy to do much else. i simply had to catch the moment with the girlies sitting side by side, munching on their popcorn and engrossed in the show...because truly, this moment was just that...one moment...and then they were off...running around, etc

3. a full freezer...a little over a week ago (since i missed "smiling" last week) my friends chrisy and jill came over and we cooked the afternoon away...stocking up our freezers with cavatini, beef stew, chicken tortilla soup, and chimis...i am SO thankful to not have to think about groceries and cooking right now!

4. yesterday, after our 18 month well-check peditrician visit for kate resulted in a melting down kate, the need for new (and pricey) shoes (apparently kate has extra wide, very flat feet), antibiotics for her icky nose and face rash, and a crazy morning, i was thankful for the blessing of a coupon for a free $25 gift card with new prescription shooting out of the magic CVS coupon machine at JUST the right moment before i picked up and paid for the script. since the co-pay on the prescription was just $2 that means they paid me $23....which means we scored three jumbo packs of huggies! (and it was a silver lining after spending more at stride rite on shoes for kate than i would choose to spend on myself....sheesh!)

5. kate's new shoes already are making a difference in her walking technique...she is walking heel to toe instead of flat footing it...and her little toes actually have room to spread out! and i'm thankful God has provided so that we were able to get the shoes and hopefully prevent future foot problems.

6. fireproof...mike rented this for our date night in, and i thought it was fabulous! we've had a lot of date nights in (or couch dates!) lately...i love that we able to be creative in this phase of life (without breaking the bank by constantly hiring sitters---although i TOTALLY think hiring a sitter is a worthy expenditure now and then!).

7. valentines cookie making! elizabeth had a blast helping frost...and kate, well, she just liked eating them!

8. the chance to get outside friday afternoon. it wasn't all that warm, but after a string of everyone in the fam being sick (at different times...) we were all ready for a nice dose of sunshine! kate was psyched to try out libber's tricycle!

9. surprising daddy by swinging by and picking him up for a lunch date after Bible study this morning. the girls and i took him to a little Greek place with a lunch buffet we enjoy! fun, fun!

10. a sleeping elizabeth! lately sleep has become a battle with elizabeth (who up until the past few weeks was a FABULOUS sleeper...11-12 hours at night and a 2 hour nap in the afternoon)...she is going to bed just fine but waking up at the crack of dawn, and then, rather than staying in her room as we've instructed her she is constantly in and out, waking us up, making noise, etc. and thus far discipline has had little impact. i'm not sure we've found the solution, but for the moment she is sound asleep in her bed taking a nap...which means that though i'd love to share more smiles, i should go and do the same while i have the chance! :)