ten smile tuesday...

here i am...making an attempt to get my smiles up...in the midst of a crazy whirlwind of the past few days. seriously, yesterday i was either in the car en route to a doctor's appointment, at the appointment, dropping off a prescription to be filled or picking it up, driving to pick libs up, heading to another appointment (since the poor girl was up shrieking about ear pain in the middle of the night!--and lo and behold, she does have an outer ear infection...probably from sprinkler or pool water getting in her ear--which i find ironic, since of my two daughters, she is definitely the one who is least fond of putting her face or ears in the water...but i digress) for the entire morning and part of the afternoon...and then this morning started with another appointment and a trip to target for dog food (can't let mugho starve!) and in just a few hours we have kate's first step evaluation, which will take the remainder of the afternoon...i'm exhausted! :) but seriously, i am also thankful for insurance and doctors...and vans to take us to and fro...and my sweet friend chrisy who watched libs so i could take kate to her hearing screen without a talkative, active big sister tagging along! :)

1. step one of kate's speech and hearing eval was the hearing screen monday morning, and she passed with flying colors! :) and honestly, i am so thrilled that in the past week she has really ramped up her efforts in the trying to communicate and use words category. we'll see what the first steps evaluators have to say today, but i am already encouraged at the progress she is making without "intervention".

2. upcomings...okay...so blogger tells me that isn't a word, but it should be. i must start this post with the fact that i am REALLY looking forward to heading to the lake for a long weekend...in less than 48 hours we'll be on our way! but, to tide me over until then, i am also looking forward to having some date time with my hubby this evening! have i mentioned lately how much i LOVE the date night swap we are a part of...seriously amazing...two date nights a month without having to pay for a baby-sitter and all we have to do is watch the whole gang of kiddos once a month. GOOD STUFF!

3. 31 weeks! oh my goodness...i can hardly believe it...just a couple more months and we'll be meeting the newest little "yak". i had an OB appointment this morning, and oh how i love, love, love hearing the heartbeat...and, even better, seeing the wonder in the girls' eyes as they listen to that amazing sound! i must say, i am also thoroughly enjoying all the thrashing about baby is doing these days...there is just nothing quite like glancing down at my belly and seeing a little foot poke out and dance around. and let me tell you, this baby is a mover and a shaker...mike and i were cracking up the other evening...it felt like the little guy (or gal!) was taking both feet and kicking at my belly button with ALL his might...as if somehow that might provide an escape route from the womb! :) while i am so excited to meet this baby on the "outside", i will admit that i am totally going to miss that unique sensation of movement while in the womb....(but i'll admit it, i won't miss the heartburn and insomnia...nope, not one bit!!)

4. a bit of backyard fun! it has been SO hot (like so hot i don't even want to go get the mail hot--and humid)...so i am really thankful for the cool down the past few days, though we haven't had the chance to really get outside and enjoy it. but last week i did finally brave the heat to let the girls run through the sprinkler (and, of course, race down the slide with their wet bottoms!) while i just maybe got nearly as wet as they did to keep cool! :)

5. some productivity! miranda (well...actually leslie and michael...miranda's mommy and daddy) was kind enough to invite both girls over for a saturday morning play-date...meaning mike and i had 3 entire hours to work on making some progress around the house...mostly in the nursery. we were able to get the crib up, sort through a mess that was accumulating in the room, and even tackle a few other projects. the nursery is really coming together...the next task is to strip the boston rocker and dresser that have been "handed down" to us and repaint them...we bought the paint, and now i just need to get going! i've also finished all the squares for the baby's afghan and am now working on whip-stitching it together...hopefully, i will have a picture to share next week! :) here are some shots of the fun the girls had at miranda's house....compliments of her daddy!

gotta love that kate's inner-tube is almost as big as the entire pool!

best friends!

wagon ride, anyone!? :)

6. our little houdini...this pic is terrible, as it was taken on my cell phone...but this is the face i found when i went in to get kate this morning....shirtless and trying her darnedest to get the pants and stinky diaper off as well (praise the Lord she didn't succeed in that!). this girl cracks me up, constantly managing to get articles of her pajamas off in the middle of the night!

7. the fabulous laptop my hubby surprised me (well...the whole family...) with one evening last week. he's apparently been researching and finally settled on one, and its great!

8. the 4 lbs of strawberries sitting on my counter downstairs...waiting to become strawberry shortcake and strawberry fruit salsa for our time at the lake. YUM!...and the fact that a target coupon made them cheap, cheap, cheap...but not quite as cheap at the $.25 a container edy's slow-churned ice cream i also picked up at target this morning...seriously folks, a quarter for a whole big ol' thing of ice cream (target coupon combined with manufacturer coupon for those who are wondering)...now if only i could enjoy it without heartburn...but alas, at least mike and the girls can enjoy a summer's worth of ice cream bliss! :)

9. getting to see aunt kim (mike's sister) and grandma and grandpa (mike's parents) on saturday evening. the girls and i (and grandma and aunt kim!) enjoyed some time at a baby shower for one of mike's cousins, and then we joined daddy and grandpa and all enjoyed some good ol' corned beef and mustard sandwiches and chatting time at shapiros. aunt kim was beyond sweet and came bearing many gifts...it was like Christmas in July...almost! :) i promise to share some pictures of the girls wearing the cutie outfits she picked out for them (in fact, they are wearing them as i type...well, as they nap!). and i'm definitely loving the tote she picked up for me at the vera bradley sale...a belated birthday present!

10. my now established morning routine. though my summer Bible study is already over, i am loving continuing in the same "method"...going on into the book of Colossians. my heart has been so blessed by hearing what He has for me in the Word each morning...journaling about it...praying the Scripture passage...meditating on it throughout the day. and friends, let me tell you, i have struggled with the whole getting up early thing in the past...i mean, really struggled, but i am so thrilled that for the past 5 or 6 weeks God has been faithfully getting me up early...without an alarm...every morning. how great is that! :)