Nervous Nancy

Em is on her way back to the states as I type.

She has been really anxious and dramatic about the journey and I have tried

to be as comforting and reassuring as possible.

The truth is that I am worried and anxious for her as well

and now that she's away from the interwebs I can finally come out with it.

I mean, who is flying that tiny plane from Dominica to San Juan?

Did he or she get a good night's sleep?

And what about the pilots flying her the rest of the way...?

That's some pretty precious cargo they've got there.

I've said about 18 prayers in the past 24 hours for her safe arrival on home soil.

If anyone else wants to say some more,

I don't think a few extra would hurt.

I can fix that! or A lesson in the importance of correct posture

So Em, as much as I really REALLY want you to have a baby, I am also a true believer in the importance of full disclosure. Check out these pictures Kate took of me while we were Skyping yesterday. Please forgive the blurriness (especially since it mostly effects Addie's face)...

This is me standing next to my babe about 5 1/2 ft. from the camera.

I look fairly normal, except with a basketball under my shirt, right?

And then there's this...  Kate and Addie were playing a game of peek-a-boo and when I turned around to join in, I saw myself in the bottom of the screen and couldn't believe it. I told Kate to check out how fat I looked, and the expression on her face said it all.

Yes Kate, I'm going to post it. Here is the highly unflattering photo where I don't look pregnant, but rather like I've just gained 150 lbs. Sexy, huh?

WARNING: This photo has been modified to burn out the retinas of any viewer

who looks at it for more than five seconds. 

So go ahead, love. Get preggo! Have a baby! I want to be an Auntie!!! Just be sure to sit up straight and with your shoulders back. **smooch**

Got the fever

We've been talking about baby fever lately and I have to say, I go on a roller coaster of baby fever experiences when I spend time with the local kids at In.Light.In. 

Look at their sweet faces - uhh! sooo cute.

But then, they will throw something at one another - or start a fight moments later.  This is one of the few videos I had where kids didn't start choking each other out to get the spotlight.

Wooooahh - stop the baby train.  I need to get off.

But I'll get back on shortly.

Went to the county fair last night. It was pretty sweet.
Especially enjoyed the tractor pull. (Check out the video on Hillside Reflections!)


I tried to get Annie to climb into the tire with me, but she refused. Sadly, they don't let tractors this big participate in the pulling. I think this dude would win.

Tsk, tsk!

"I didn't go into the street without a hand. I stayed right here on the sidewalk." - Stephanie **, circa 1999

And now, as only a middle sister truly can:

"I didn't publish blog posts without tags. I used at least three on every post." - Kate, circa today


Sorry. Couldn't resist ;-) After Sara making a big stink about how we all need to make sure we're tagging our blogs, I was looking at all of our posts and noticed that *ahem* some of us have been slacking. You know I don't really care, I just couldn't resist the opportunity to use our favorite Stephanie quote! I think it may only be topped by "Tears or presents?" on my list of favorite one-liners that we love to give eachother. At some point one of us is going to have to write a post about that story...

Completely unrelated side note: Am currently sitting at my desk eating some Baker's (a.k.a. Kroger) sushi pretending that it's half as good as the food my hubs is enjoying down in NOLA this week. Monday's my only day at work next week so lets plan on some mid-day Skyping, shall we?

**A little back story for our readers: Stephanie is a little girl (or was anyway... She's got to be a teenager by now - Yikes!) at our dad's first church in western Kentucky. This quote comes from a scenario in which her younger sister was caught walking out into the street without holding an adult's hand after church one morning. As little sister was being scolded, Stephanie made sure to point out to her mommy what a good job she had done of following the rules. It's a classic sister moment that I'm sure anyone with a sibling can relate to.

My Back Yard Tonight

Our awesome mom

I know you gals don't need me to tell you how fantastic our mom is. We would not be the women we are today if it wasn't for her and I feel like I'm still learning so much about who she is and how deep her layers go.

I can honestly say that I did not fully appreciate her true wonderfulness until I became pregnant. Suddenly she became this mecca of all knowledge to me and I still feel like I rely on her so much whenever I have a question about Addie. To me, when it comes to being a mom, she knows it all.

Seeing her shine in her role as Memere kicks everything up a notch as well. Witnessing the moments between her and our little bug make me so proud that she is our mom. The Cabin brings out the best in all of us, and last week was no exception! Between taking care of big ol' preggo me, Addie and our sweet 86-year-old Sweetie--I swear, she may just become the first Lutheran saint!

She took over for me in my enormous state and introduced Addie to the beach.

She reassured Little Miss. that while it's cold at first, 

the water really does feel good once you get used to it.

She showed Addie how to jump in with both feet and no fear.

And our girl figured it out in no time.

Just look at the two of them. Addie sure does love her Memere.

Me too.

Kids Say the Darndest Things

Sara, remember all those conversations about the funny and random things that young children say? Well here's a wonderful example from my friend Ingrid's blog, My Boys.
She has two boys with another mystery baby on the way (they're keeping it a surprise) and they're living in Japan while her husband is on assignment for the Marines.

Check out her recent adorable conversation with her oldest son, Maximus, here.

:-)

The Neverending Story

a.k.a. Kate & Seth's Kitchen! ...or the whole house really.

Tonight we painted the kitchen a lovely dusty teal (the actual name of the color is "Venus Teal") which I LOVE! We used Behr Premium Plus Ultra which is that fancy new stuff that has the primer and paint in one. For the most part it only took one coat - thanks to the fact that we weren't painting over white.

The sad news is that once we painted over the patches (remember all of those holes that the plumber made when he was fixing our multitude of leaks?) we realized that our patch job apparently wasn't very good. Our beginners' imperfections that we thought we get covered up by painting still stick out like a sore thumb so now we're going to have to go back and sand those spots down, re-spackle, re-sand, and re-paint. Boo!

Oh well... at least the rest of the kitchen looks fabulous!

Sara, I hope you're having fun in Michigan. #1: I'm totally jealous that we're not there with you, and #2: It's driving me crazy not to have new blog posts to read every day on Mommy Honesty!

Em, I was so sad to miss your Magic Jack call! It was so good to hear your voice, even if it was just via voicemail. My work schedule is crazy until the 20th when my "summer break" starts. We need to find a time to Skype soon!

I love you both and can't wait to talk to you... and only 4.5 weeks left till I get to see you!!!

Auntie Gifts

My first time becoming an Auntie, thanks to you Sara, I can't remember a visit going by without offering gifts and sentimental pieces of thecutestiestlil things.

My second time becoming an Auntie, I was worried I would loose the zeal. I was worried I would tell you to just share the same pieces that I offered in the past.

Nope. My mind is filled with little things that this girl must have. 

The first thing on my list:

I don't know your plans for the nursery, but can I please get her this? Or any other adorablecutie thing from Sarahjanestudios?