Blessings All Mine

...all my bags are packed, i'm ready to go....

...to the hospital, that is....to meet this baby boy. might i mention that he is a big baby boy, just like his sister jillian was. we had an ultrasound on Monday morning and he currently looks to be between 9-10 lbs...i'm huge...and ready. seriously ready...but trying to remember to enjoy these last few days of time with just my girlies...but honestly, i must admit that my patience is thin, especially in the midst of feeling quite "shut in" by the ice, then the snow, and now the frigid temps. i was, however, able to actually fall asleep and take a nice hour long nap this afternoon...which was extremely encouraging, as i am very lacking in the sleep department.

anyway...i am stunned as i think about the reality that very soon my sweet baby will no longer be the "official" baby of the family (she'll always be MY baby). speaking of that sweet little girlie...don't you love her first little piggies...they kind of make me want to give her whatever she wants. she is big into that lately...trying to get her way, to get whatever it is she wants. she has definitely perfected the art of throwing herself on the floor in a tantrum...one night last week she went so far as to end up in bed before dinner was even over. i think a tiny little bit of it is the teeth working to poke their way through on the bottom...however, i suspect MOST of it is simply part of being 17 months old...and testing the limits. ;-) i'm quite curious how she will react to the whole idea of a new baby in the house...i suspect she might be a wee bit bent out of shape for a bit, but i'm equally confident she will love her baby brother.


elizabeth and kate are very eager to meet their baby brother...although, elizabeth has had a few episodes involving tears as she realizes that i will soon be heading to the hospital. i suspect she is also "experienced" enough to realize and remember that while baby's are cute, they are also quite attention-sucking. :) but both girls like to pray for "the baby brother"...so cute that the other day elizabeth asked me, "umm...mommy, do you and daddy have a name for the baby brother yet?"...yes, sweet girl, we do...we just aren't telling you, lest you spill the beans. :) i am pretty sure kate is perhaps the MOST excited about the impending arrival of baby...and i'm guessing she is going to be my biggest helper of all...i also suspect that in true kate form she will have her fair share of melt-downs, etc. ;-)....but then again, i'm fairly certain i will too!

so what have we been up to...other than not finding time to blog.

well, i mentioned it above, but yes, the weather this winter hasn't been overly kind. we are way above average for snow...which truly doesn't bother me...except that it keeps coming at just the perfect moment to cancel the few "outings" we regularly have...MOPS, etc. but last week we were closed in by a crazy ice storm...bonus that mike was off work tuesday and wednesday because pretty much everything shut down (and that we didn't lose power). we pretty much hunkered down inside...other than my champion of a husband chipping away at the 4 inches of ice and snow encrusted over our driveway. the picture below doesn't give a great reference, but that ice layer was as thick as my iPod is tall...so about 4 inches....and quite SOLID...lots of parking lots and side streets are still ice skating rinks (well...most of the driveways in our neighborhood still are as well!). then saturday when we were FINALLY going to leave our house for the first time since monday to head to a birthday party for a super special 1 year old, we awoke to find snow falling like crazy....and ended up with a fresh 5 inches on top of our already icy and white winter wonderland...and now, well, now the air outside is arctic! saturday we put a kabosh on the birthday party plans that were a half an hour away, but we did decide that for our own sanity a quick trip a mile down the road to the china buffet was in order...and the grocery store. let me tell you, it did a family good! :)


oh, and we've baked and decorated cut-out valentine cookies already...since, after all, it is likely we will be a little busy right around valentines day. the girls actually made valentines today for their classmates at the school they attend on mondays. they had fun. i love that the teachers are emphasizing God's love on monday...not so much just a celebration of love in general. jilly did help spread the frosting on her cookie for about .5 seconds, but then she realized she could lick the spoon, and, well, the jig was up then!



and this one...well, it is from way back at the beginning of january, but elizabeth was quite sure i should add a picture of them sliding down the yule slide at the children's museum. so there!


and finally...one last "pictoral" from the past week or so...daddy roars, jilly giggles...and you can hear the big girls splashing and laughing in the tub in the background. this was a particularly sweet evening recently.