Sleep is a wonderful thing.

I am so happy to report that sweet Baby Brother has slept through the night THREE NIGHTS in a row!

I am a happy Mama.

Other things going on around here...

I purchased a little shopping cart on Craig's List for Little One, thinking it would be a fun toy - and maybe a toy that he could play with on his own. Nope. All day long he would push the cart around the kitchen saying: "Okay Mama, Walk with me. Take my hand." Ah ha! So you do understand me when we're walking the grocery store isle! Those are the exact words that I say to him every time we're at the store. This morning the grocery cart went down the stairs, and he exclaimed: "Oh no! I lost my groceries!"

I love Craig's List, and I love Ebay. Today I posted three things on craig's list - and have already sold two of them. Right now my dining room is filled with stuff I need to sell. I love getting rid of the junk and having cash in the pocket.

I recently joined Facebook - and am totally hooked.

That's it for now. I've got some fun pictures to post - and will do so soon...

Just Waiting Randomness

I don't have much to post about. It's been pretty low-key around here. I am still very pregnant, with very few contractions, and am now counting down the days until we get to see and hold baby brother!

I've spent much of the week doing baby laundry - and washing the car seat, swing, and bouncy seat covers. Why can't all laundry be as fun as new baby laundry?

Today I went to a lactation consultant for a prenatal visit - I had quite a hard time nursing Little One, and am hoping to get a jump-start and another try with this little guy. The visit was very informative and I'm so glad I took the time to go. In my opinion, I think lactation consultants are absolute angels. They so came through for us with helping me and Little One be successful, despite the circumstances. And today proved to be no different. She recommended a different kind of nursing pillow than I used with Little One - and had one for $45.00 (gulp). I decided to wait to make the purchase, and stopped at a consignment store on the way home - they had one for $15.00. Finding a great bargain so makes my day.

I am very behind on reading/commenting on blogs - simply because my computer is upstairs - and I've tried to limit my stair climbing. It only takes walking across a room and I am totally out of breath. After climbing the stairs I have to sit and take a rest! I have barely no lung space! Tonight I was making the most simple dinner ever and I had to sit down and let hubs take over.

I think that's it for now. I need to go find some pillows. :)

Random thoughts from the expectant mother.

• Today I got out all of Little One's newborn clothes. Oh the sweet memories! Meanwhile he was climbing boxes in the closet, hanging on the rail shouting: "doing 3 shinups! 4 shinups!" Translation: he saw a sesame street where one of the actors was doing chin-ups and counting as he went. This is the only place I can think that he learned about chin-ups - as his momma certainly isn't doing them!
• I ran into a mom at the Pediatrician yesterday who recommended I look into a local Stroller Strides group. It's the first I've heard of it - anyone else familiar? It's really interesting that this meeting happened - because I have been longing (like crazy!) for the prenatal water aerobics class I attended before and after the birth of Little One. I can't find anything like that around here. Maybe this will be a good option.
• I am definitely in nesting mode - as I have a list of recipes to cook and tons of unfinished projects that I started last week and am determined to finish by tomorrow. (Ha!! :)
  
• This morning I made an early morning trip to the grocery store to buy more blueberries. I bought some last night, and decided they were such a good deal I needed more. Now I need to go freeze them! *Was it really worth a 6:45 trip to the store??*
  
• I am stumped about what to do with Baby Brother's nursery. My original thought (back when Little One was three months old or something) was to reuse all of Little One's crib bedding - we got it from Pottery Barn Kids and it's so cute. BUT - Little One is totally attached to the quilt - and it's kinda become his thing. I don't really want to spend a ton, I don't know if I should even put bumper pads on the crib, and am ready for a new look. But what should that look be?
• To register or not? There are some things that we will need - but not a whole lot. Did you register on the second time around?
• Do I get photos taken of my belly? I've seen some really cool ones, and kinda want to - but then don't really. I kinda regret not doing this with Little One - but then I don't. Heather, I wish you were close by so you could just take them - it'd be so much easier with a friend!!
• Little One went to bed early tonight - Hubs is working late, and I have the house to myself!! Hmm...what should I do? Bake, paint, put away all of these piles around my computer? (where do they come from anyway???) watch a movie? I'll go decide right now.
  

Blessings!
R

Great Finds - Whoo Hooo!!

Warning - much randomness ahead! :)

In the past month, we've found some real treasures. My sweet husband won a gift certificate to the restaurant Romeo's - pictured above. The day he won the certificate we had childcare scheduled through the y - perfect! It was a delightful place, live pianist, great Italian food, reasonable prices and wonderful service. The pianist even came to our table to ask if we had any requests! We'll definitely go back. I'd like to go back and sit on that sweet balcony. We'll have to do that before it gets too hot...

While my parents were here we took a day trip to attempt to find all of the infamous fields of Texas blue bonnets. (Similar to going to look for fall colors you only have a certain window of time before they are all gone.) We weren't very successful. I'll have to learn more about it and try again next year. However, we did end up in Fredricksburg - a town about 90 miles away. It is a sweet German town - and I could spend a lot more time there. Susan, I thought of you often and wondered what you would think of my Texan-German town. There were a ton of fun stores - so many that we didn't get to them all. I am thinking that it will be fun to go and spend the weekend there around Christmas time and do most of my Christmas shopping there. We found a market stand from a local farmer that was full of homemade/homegrown jams, pickles, butters, honey, and nuts. I bought a pound of freshed-shelled walnuts for $6.00. Such a deal!

Another thing my mom and I did while she was here is we went to a garage sale. And this garage sale was a jackpot! First of all, it was run by a lady who comes to your home and hosts and runs your garage sale. You can sign up to be on her email list and she lets you know where she is going to be - and what kinds of things she'll be selling. This last weekend she was at a home where the dad of the family worked for a golf store - and Hubs is getting into golf and needed a few things. So, we headed out and jackpot again! He got a golf bag, glove, balls, and a bunch of other things that are in nearly perfect condition for $55.00. Now, I don't know much about golf but hubs said that the balls alone would have cost that much.

Okay - so for some of the fun things that we found at the first garage sale:

This old bucket - it was perfect because someone had already drilled holes in the bottom...making it the perfect planter.

Here are my gardeners - Gree-ma and Little One.Lovely china mugs - I love how they just say summer! Thanks Mom! :)

And this tray - My favorite flower is the daisy - and I can't wait to find something fun to do with this item. I love how whimsical it is.


And lastly, I am learning to check out our local Goodwill often - I found this Little Tykes toy for $3.99 - and Little One loves it - especially the mailbox. It's really a toy that is made for smaller kids, but no worries - little brother will get lots of use out of it.
And this is the major bargain - we were dropping some goods off at Goodwill and my mom spotted this Radio Flyer tricycle - and it was marked $4.99! It is in perfect condition - it has a little bell, and a sweet little basket in the back. Little one is learning how to peddle - and he calls it "my bicytricycle!" Which is the same word he uses for motorcycle. Thanks for indulging me and my show and tell. :)

Have a wonderful day!

Rebecca

Happiness is...

You have spent most of the night up with a toddler who has a high fever. You spend most of the next day at the doctor discovering that the little guy has strep, and then running back and forth to the pharmacy to pick up his prescription.

Your hubby comes home and you send him back out to the store to pick up things like an extra medicine dispenser, apple juice and chicken noodle soup.

While at the store, he sends you a text that reads "cheesecake?"

And not only does he bring home cheesecake, he brings home the little sample cake that has four different types.

We were so tired we didn't even dive into it last night. But this morning, I opened the fridge to look for my breakfast - and there it was. I had cheesecake for breakfast.

I couldn't resist.

It was divine. It's the simple little things that make my day. :)

A literary moment

During a weekend of much needed rest, I spent most of my time watching movies in bed. It's been a very long time since I've been able to do that! My Hubby was my hero this weekend as he came home early on Friday - and did nothing but take care of me and Little One all weekend while I rested.

One of the movies that I saw was Becoming Jane. I loved it! It's a story about Jane Austen prior to becoming the author. I loved it on many levels - the first being that Anne Hathaway is such a doll! I loved her in Disney's Princess Diaries and it was really fun to see her act in a more mature roll. I thought the movie did a great job portraying events in Jane's life that she could have incorporated into her novels. For example, in the movie Jane's mother is surprisingly similar to Mrs Bennett in Pride and Prejudice. I also liked how they expounded on the character of Tom Lafoy. As I recall from the courses that I took in college, not much was known about Tom, just that he was an romantic interest for Jane and that they did not marry. I liked how they gave him such a charming personality - and oh so handsome! :)

After thoroughly enjoying the movie, I went to the special features and was even more delighted. There is an option to watch the movie with pop-ups and bubbles - and I was so impressed with all that I learned! They give you facts about the era, the actors, and settings. THEN I watched The Real Jane commentary and squealed with delight to see one of my English Professors, Joan Ray, interviewed. Professor Ray is the President of the North American Jane Austen society, and the one to whom I owe my love for Jane Austen. She introduced a world to me that I would have never known and there she was being interviewed!

If you haven't seen this movie yet, and if you enjoy Jane Austen I encourage you to check it out! I think for me, it's a definite for the home library.