Did I mention...

...that I am very blessed?

I may have mentioned it before. But my blessings just keep flowing.

I feel so loved.

I had been trying to locate a used car seat for Ethan to keep in his Grandma's car. I'd been having trouble locating a gender neutral one for a good price. Well, two very sweet ladies arranged for me to be handed down a car seat for my mom's car. Is that not the sweetest thing? I can just cross that off my list now!!!

I had also been looking for a good deal on a used Ergo baby carrier. If you are into carrying your kiddos, I had been told this was the "Cadillac of carriers" and the only one you "had" to have. I had been lusting after one for a while. It wasn't a need, but I could come up with plenty of good reasons why I should need one. I won't bore you with my list! I mentioned my lust for the Ergo baby carrier to a few people in hopes that they might be able to score me a good deal on a used one. Well, lo-and-behold, A bunch of my loving family members all went in together and bought me a new one as a gift for me and Kaylee! And it was exactly the color I had been wanting!!

I am sooo blessed. I am so loved.

I had the best Christmas ever!!

Thank you everyone for wrapping my family & I with love this holiday season, and every other day of the year!!

Seasons Blessings

With all the craziness going on, I am so blessed to be finding joy in the little things right now.

Yesterday, I got to spend the day with some of my most favorite people. The Norwood Babies & The Kansas City Crew. It was chaotic & wonderful. Ethan loves his cousins. Most of his cousins love him too. I love my cousins & my Aunt Kathy. There were 5 kiddos under the age of 5 at Ang's house. It was amazing! My dear sweet cousin, Charlotte (she's a year older than E) normally has very little patience for Ethan. However, she was very kind to him yesterday and shared her popcorn with him. And even fed it to him. It was so sweet! Ethan also surprised me by how interested he was in baby Isaac (close to 8 mo old?). Isaac had a cough and at one point Ethan bent over in the cutest way and peered at Isaac as if to check and see how he was doing. They are just too cute, I could just eat them all up!

My husband is one of the sweetest men alive. He often comes home in the evenings after working and takes over caring for Ethan. Not only does he take of caring for Ethan, but he makes me dinner and does the dishes too. He is such a keeper!

I am also blessed by God in how he provides us with water. Without a water bill. I know this sounds silly, but we are on a cistern and only have the rain/snow water that we collect and often have to be very conscious of our water usage. This often means short showers. Lately, in the evenings, I've been tired and achy and have had a hard time relaxing. A long, very hot bath is about the only thing that can help me get comfortable. We have been so blessed with the rain/snow that I've been able to indulge without hesitation. Which is good, 'cause I've even been known to sneak back into the bathroom in the middle of the night for a 2nd shower/bath if I can't sleep!

We were blessed financially with some unexpected extra money that will help us pay off a big chunk of medical bills that were still lingering from this summer. How nice to be able to go into the new year without that burden lingering!

We are blessed with supportive friends and family in so many ways that I couldn't even begin to mention them all!!

I am feeling God's love as the blessings just pour out on our family this holiday season!

Bragging Rights

I have to brag on my mom. My mom has been working her bottom off (literally & figuratively) trying to loose weight. She gave up sugar and dramatically reduced her white flour intake a few years back when her dad, my Grandpa Egbers got sick and passed away. She lost a lot of weight just cutting out those things. Then she went on Weight Watchers and started tracking points. She lost a bunch more weight and when she kinda hit a wall with results, she kicked it up a notch. She hired a personal trainer and started working out twice/week. She reached her goal weight a few months ago! I am sooo proud of her!

She is still working out with the trainer and walks with friends and is very careful about what she eats. She loves fitting into skinny jeans and buying hot mama clothes! Years ago, she worked as a meeting leader for Weight Watchers and loved it. She has always wanted to get back into that kind of work. She mentioned it to someone at her meetings and was recently informed that they need a meeting leader near where mom lives. She has started the application process and is anxiously awaiting to hear back. She is sooo excited and we are very proud of her!

A rose by any other name...

She shall be named Kaylee.

Over the weekend I heard Nick refer to our baby girl on multiple occasions as "Kaylee". When I asked him about it his response was "Well, that's what I'm going to call her."

With that, it was settled, her name will be Kaylee.

Now, I just need to go find wooden letters spelling her name to hang on the wall in her bedroom. (Oh wait, I still don't have a room for her. yet. I am working on it though.)

Name letters are a big deal in our house. Ethan has his "letters" in his nursery over his bed and he asks us to tell him about them every time he wakes up. He points up at them and looks at you expectantly. So we point out each letter saying "E" "T" "H"... He has gotten to where he will even track with his eyes to each letter if we don't point them each out. It is one of his favorite things to do and everyone participates willing with him!

He speaks!!

Ethan is finally starting to pick up some words here and there. It is just sooo cute to hear him try to say a new word. This is a long post just for the purposes of gushing on and on about all the cute things he does!!

His favorite word is "ut-oh"! He says this every time he hears a loud noise, hears something drop, just before he falls, after he falls, and just before and after he throws something. It is sooo funny! We can hear him playing in his crib every morning and often hear "ut-oh". We walk in to find all his blankets, stuffed animals, and pacifiers on the floor.

He also loves to talk about "diggies" (doggies) and even makes a whining sound like the dog does. He talks to the dog in a whining cooing sound. He talks the same way to his stuffed hound dog "Snuggle Puppy".

And he can often be found rambling on about the "ki-ki cat" that his Grandma has. He walks around chasing the cat calling out "ki-ki-ki-ki". Even when we are at home, he loves to talk about "ki-ki cats" and will point them out in his favorite picture book.

The other day, I was changing his diaper and told him that he was Stinky-Pete. He kept trying to say stinky after that. It comes out as "sticky".

He has also learned how to pucker his lips and make a kiss sound. We like to watch eachother in the rear-view mirror when driving down the road, and we blow kisses to eachother.

He signs "more" & "all done" and waves "bye-bye" and "hi". We are working on a few more, but he is quite stubborn (I wonder where he gets that?!?). He refuses to sign "please", but we will continue to work on it.

He is starting to understand more and more of what we say. We fall more in love with him every day.

I remember...

...and my heart finally beats with anticipation!!
I am finally at that place. The place I've been wanting to be in for 31 weeks. The place where my heart & thoughts are filled with joy and anticipation at the arrival of our baby girl. The place where I am finally getting things ready.

Looking at these pictures of Ethan helped. Finding a newborn size diaper in Ethan's sock drawer helped a lot. (do you remember how tiny those diapers are?!?!)

Praying helped even more.

I am finally there.