Our Baby is Coming!!

 Okay, so I posted recently about how I hit 30 weeks and had a semi-freak-out that the baby is coming and have been revamping the house inch by inch since then.  We're making progress, things are coming together, we are 8 weeks away from the due date.  Which, as some may remember, I refer to as "6 to 8 weeks" because Reilly was 2 weeks early, and I've been so convinced that this baby will be too.

And then we had our last sonogram yesterday.

And they told us that they baby is measuring at 34 weeks.  WHAT!  34 weeks!! But I'm 32 weeks..that means the baby will either be huge, or 2 WEEKS EARLY!!  Now, some may think that this did not come as a shock to me, since I've been saying it my whole pregnancy.  And yet, here I am, in shock.  That baby is pretty much announcing his/her arrival in 6 short weeks.  Goodness sakes, the excitement!!

 People ask me where I'm hiding the baby, because I just have the ball sticking way out in front.  But let me tell you, this baby is taking up every since inch of my abdomen. I feel every movement, and barely have an appetite anymore because I just always feel so full!  Full, and thirsty.

So we are psyched over here.  And we need another sonogram, since the baby has such a crazy growth spurt, to keep a closer eye on when the little munchkin will be on it's way.  Lots of praying in the coming weeks for a smooth labor and healthy little one!

Snow Angel

Of course we had snow last year, and a freak storm in October that lasted only about 13 hours and then it melted...but this was Reilly's first real experience with snow!  Where she saw it falling and got all excited and yelling, "Oh boy! SNOW!"  Just WAIT until there is a weekday storm and she realizes that snow also means DADDY STAYS HOME!  That will officially be the highlight of her life.

But for now, she was completely enthralled with the cold cold snow, and how it felt when it sprayed her in the face.  She picked some up with her mittens as soon as we got outside, and then immediately started wiping her mittens off saying "Ew, Ew, yucky, gross!"  She must of thought it was like dirt or sand, which we always shake off our hands.  She was hysterical laughing as she did it, because the snow then sprayed her in the face and got stuck in her eyelashes.

Here she is, getting a kick out of herself and the coldness of the snow in general.

Here she is shake-shake-shaking off her mittens!

Here is she and Daddy..look at her hilarious sideways smile!

Sledding with Daddy!  Mommy remained photographer, since I felt sledding + toddler + ice on a hill + 8 months pregnant would not make for a good combination.

This one cracks me up, because Brett was stopping them and they were getting sprayed with snow, and they made the same face. :)

Cuties giving snow kisses!!

Daddy helped Reilly get some snow off of her mittens.  She thought this was the funniest thing ever.

The full snowsuit!  How hilarious does she look - like a little marshmalllow!

Giving Mommy some kisses on our stroll.

Big doe eyes babygirl!

This is how Reilly preferred to sled on our walk to the mailboxes.

I just love these pictures of her in the snow!  She was a funny little snow bunny, totally in love with her new ice playground.  We went inside and had hot chocolate together, as she tried to eat the snow remnants that followed us inside.  I actually remember doing this as a child, and couldn't help but laugh at the common kiddie instincts!

Well, that was a fun snow storm!  Spring, you can come now and give Daddy a millions days off at Easter.  Thank you!

My Little Parrot

 So even though it's chilly outside, it is already spring in our hearts!  Reilly is rocking her flowers everyday, and her cute green corduroys from her cousins, so I took the change to snap some pictures of her sweetness.

 And just as she was swinging her arms and clapping and being adorable, my memory card was full.  So as I deleted some pictures, and literally said "Grrrr." and growled while I was deleting.

And wouldn't you know that my little parrot thought that was just hilarious, and growled just like her mommy.  Good thing I was quick with the camera to catch this face!

Also a good thing that Mommy has learned to do things such as growl or say "Darn" when she's angry, otherwise we'd have a little angel with a quite a colorful vocabulary!

Chalk It Up to Nesting

I have been loving chalkboard lately.  I made some new signs that I'm selling that include chalkboard, I have chalkboard on my cereal containers for labeling our cereals, and I recently did some chalkboard on plastic bins in our linen closet for our different medicines and toiletries.

So with my chalkboard paint lying around so readily available, and my nesting setting in at full force, my kitchen was begging to be chalkboard painted. So during nap time the other day, I went to town on our pantry cabinets.

I love the way it looks with our gray cabinets and white walls.  The paint supposedly needs 2 hours to dry, 4 hours to do a second coat.  But I take liberties with paint.  I think I did the second coat after 2 hours, because it was totally dry after 1.  I have very little patience with paint drying, surprisingly.

 I saw the picture-framed-with-chalk-on-the-chalkboard idea on another blog...love the fun way to display a beautiful photo (thank you Gina Lenz!).

It did not take Reilly long to figure out that we could color on this wall!  She took the chalk and made one line, and then looked at me and started giggling.  The bottom half will be for her "byew-full" artwork.  Speaking of beautiful, her new favorite activity it to play dress up in our hat/gloves/scarf basket by the door.  Here she was sporting some of mommy's garments.

 

I love mixing things up around the house!  And this new little project is like and ever-changing piece of art - so many ideas for holidays and things!  

Football Dames!

Hieee everyone!  This is Reilly.  Yesterday was a very exciting football dame!

 See, what happened is, the 49ers is my Daddy's favorite team.  He never gets to see them on the TV though, because they play far away.  Our whole family always cheers for the Giants, because see,  my Mommy is from New York, and so all my New York aunts and uncles and Mima and Poppa LOVE the Giants.  They love them as much as I love ELMO!

So we always have so much fun cheering for the Giants!  But yesterday,  the Giants were playing against the 49ers!  It was so exciting, because it was for the ABC Championship Dame!

Mommy:  Um, Reilly Baby?

Yes Mommy?

Mommy:  It's the NFC Championship Game.  You were very close, though!

Yes, NFC.  That's what I said Mommy. 

So at first, I was so excited that both teams were winning and doing so good!

But then I realized, one team had to win, and one had to lose!  Then, I didn't know what to do!  Who do I cheer for??

But Mommy and Daddy said it's okay to like both teams!  So Mommy made me a 49ers shirt to match Daddy's and I wore it with my Giant skirt.  I was so glad that my outfit still kind of matched even.  Cute, huh?

So, the 49ers lost, which meant Daddy was a little sad.  But he was all better when I gave him huggies!  But that means that the Giants won, which means they are going to the Cereal Bowl!!  I am very excited about that!

Mommy:   Excuse me, Reilly?

Yes, Mommy?

Mommy: You're cute. 

Thank you Mommy!

Reilly's Chair

 One of Reilly's Christmas presents from Mima and Poppy was this beautiful little chair.  She absolutely loves it.   She now has a place to call her own, a place to watch Elmo, a place to sit with her Elmo and Abby dolls.  She loves to take her little "coffee" cup from her kitchen set, with a spoon, and sit in her chair stirring her pretend coffee and sipping it.  I swear, I don't know where she gets this stuff. ;)

Here she is, putting it to use right away, using it as her throne of present-opening only minutes after she got it.

Here she is getting her new favorite boots, from her Aunt Mimi who not only insisted that she have them, but insisted that her Mommy have a matching pair.  (Everyone should have an Aunt Mimi!)

Another favorite pastime of Reilly's is to sit in her chair, and text her peeps.

 Just kidding, that's Mimi's phone.  But how hilarious that she is sitting like that!!

 Here she is catching up on some of her reading.  The best part was, everyone was in the kitchen and she just sat here for the longest time just "reading" and turning the pages, and muttering to herself.

 As if the chair weren't cute enough, let's just put her chunky little stockinged legs in Mary Janes, and then sit her in the chair!  Ugh, I love her.

Nummers

 Reilly is very into counting lately.  I've been encouraging her to count different things, and teaching her how to use her finger to point and count.  We are working on assigning numbers to different items, counting things in books, counting all the time!  I'm a word person, so letters and writing are important to me.  But the numbers we've been working on to be sure to foster her math skills for Daddy.  :)

The other day I went into the car, and Hubby was in the driver's seat talking with Reilly.  He was teaching her basic addition.  I'm actually not kidding. It was quite funny, she was babbling away, "One plus two equals three!"

(We were nursing a cold on this day...can you tell by her sad little sniffle face?)

The funniest part about her counting, is that she almost always skips certain numbers.  If we go back and forth counting together, she knows all of them to eleven.  But when she is counting by herself, she says "One, two, three, four, five, seven, eight, nine, eleven, fourteen, EIGHTEEN!!"  She gets very excited about the fourteen and eighteen.

I loved when she was a newborn, I loved holding her and breastfeeding her and cuddling her.  I never wanted to her get bigger, or grow out of her frilly socks, or eat solid food.  But now that she has done these things, I think I'm more in love with watching her grow.  Today we were reading, and she was cuddled in next to me, laughing when I used silly voices and imitating me.  Then every so often, she would squeeze her cheek next to mine and hold my face with her little hand, and then turn and kiss my cheek.  I'll take that feeling, of her sweetness and love, for growing out of her frilly socks. Because instead of wondering the person that she'll become, I'm watching it.  And I love the little person she is becoming more every day.

Plus, the countdown is on for another little one to cuddle and breastfeed!!  Reilly will surely be on long division by then.  Ha.

Organizing Every Day

I have pretty much been organizing, in big or little ways, since the new year.   Some ways are noticeable, most are noticeable to nobody unless they live in our home.  But it makes a big difference to those of us living here, accumulating more things through the holidays, and about to accumulate even more with our little angel on it's way.

Our house isn't getting any bigger, but that doesn't mean that we can't have more space.  And so far, I've found a way to get 3 empty shelves in my linen closet, and clear our entire living room closet (which was jam packed), in order to make room for...baby things.  I'm thinking maybe it will be for toys?  Books?  Who really knows, all I know is I love seeing empty storage space.

The first thing I have to do is think a lot about the space I have, the items that are stored there, and whether or not they need to be there/where else they could live.  I've been purging a lot as well.  It's about looking at the space you have a new way I think.  And getting storage bins, because they make everything better.

For example, the top of our bookshelf started getting really crowded with toys, I knew there had to be a better solution. So, storage bins to the rescue!






















Now the middle basket is empty, ready for new toys!!

Baby steps!! (See what I did there?)

 

Meanwhile, Reilly is keeping herself busy, catching up on some reading while Mommy is a crazy person.  :)

Brr!

It's cold.  Winter just descended upon us this weekend (THANK GOD it has been freakishly warm until now!).  Reilly's face in this picture perfectly expresses my feelings toward the cold.  We're just not fans over here.  But, like I said, even though it is bitterly cold, I feel like Spring is so close!  Is that weird?  I prefer optimism.

On another front, I am due with baby in 10 weeks!  AHH I am so excited!  And the "Holy Moly we are 30 weeks pregnant already" feeling has taken over the home.  Or maybe it's taken over me, and therefore I have blanketed the home with that feeling.  I am an organization freakazoid.  Nothing could ever be organized enough for me.  I have organized things like the baking cabinet and my manuals for all my kitchen appliances.  Why would my newborn care about these things being organized?  Well I'll tell you - it won't.  But nonetheless, there is this overwhelming feeling inside me that it needs to be done.  Right now.

Also, I woke up the other morning to see the corner of Reilly's crib on the ground.  As in, BROKEN.  The metal bracket (yes, I said metal) completely snapped.  And this was no cheap crib, I tell you.  It is supposed to turn into a toddler bed, a twin bed, and a day bed!  I am just thanking God that Reilly was not hurt, and that our newborn was not in the crib at the time - because a little baby would definitely have been injured.  However, I spoke with customer service at the company this morning, and they were extremely kind and helpful.  I had the best customer service experience that I've EVER had on the phone!  I didn't even wait on hold, at all.  And I only had to explain my problem ONE time!  For anyone who has ever spoken to Dell, you know this is a big deal.  So we're getting a replacement crib, and we'll cross our fingers that it gets here in 10 weeks?  Oh boy, the excitement never ends.

Reilly randomly started saying "Oh, BOY!"  when she's excited, shocked, or upset.  So now I've picked it up to.  It cracks me up.

Don't think I forgot that Reilly was 2 weeks early.  Which means that I could be 10 weeks away from delivery, but I am more than like 8 weeks away.  Because second babies always come faster. 

This is no lie - as I was typing the last sentence, Reilly was eating grapes in her high chair, and I heard metal hit the floor.  A 3 inch screw from the high chair, was on the floor.  I have no idea where it came from.  If you'll excuse me, I have to disassemble and reassemble everything that Reilly has ever used in the next 8 weeks.

Things She Says

And now we are back for this weeks edition of Things Reilly Says.  A particularly funny edition, if I do say so myself.


She is very into "helping" lately, and she loves being my helper.  Her new phrase is "Here you go!" (Hee ya doe!).  The other day when we took the tree down, she picked up ever speck and pine needle off the carpet and brought it to me and said "Here you go! Helper."

When asked if she thinks she is going to have a sister or brother, she says "Sissah."  When asked if she thinks it's going to be a boy or a girl, she says "Puppy."  Hm.

I was giving her banana for breakfast, and only give her a little at a time so she doesn't waste it.  I was painting while she was eating.  We had this conversation:
Reilly: "More, please."
Me: "Very polite girl!  Wait just one minute."
Reilly: (holds up one finger) "Patience!"
I guess she understands the meaning of patience finally?

She has officially started using the phrase "No, thank you.", without any "what-do-you-say" prompting!  So exciting.  It happened after a food shopping day, when she was eating goldfish, and offered me every other one (probably about 30 times), and every time I said, "No thank you, Reilly."  Then she started holding the fish out to other shoppers and saying "Some?  No, thank you!" and then eating it.  Ever since then, she has been so good at it!  Although this morning, she said "No, please.", before giggling and correcting herself.

She loves singing along to all her favorite songs now.  She has been singing to the Elmo song for a while now, I think that was her first one.  Here is how the song goes:
La-la-la-la, La-la-la-la
Elmo's Song (or Elmo's World)  

Hubby or I would sing the "La's" and then, she would say "ELMO!"

But the other day, when I sang the "La" part, I paused, and she smiles at me and says "REILLY'S SONG!" and then started cracking up!  And then I sang it again, because the song repeats, and she said, "MOMMY'S SONG!".  When we called Daddy in to show him how she sang her new song, she plugged his name in and said "DADDY'S SONG!" without either of us saying anything.  She is such a little ham.

Handmade Christmas

This year, besides all of the painting for various customers, friends, and gifts that I made, I made some things for my own family!  This is part of what makes the month of December so busy for me, because besides all of the gifting and decorating and baking, I am painting for my customers, and then for my loved ones as well!  I like to make an effort to paint for people that I love, not just for orders.  Primarily, because I love to do it, and what's better than sharing what you love to do with the people that you love?  But also, because it is my talent, and I know family and friends are who appreciate our talents most.

Here' a bit of what I have been painting:

This is one of my favorite paintings - it was done on an old barn door that Hubby and I had acquired.  I painted and weathered it, and then he build a frame.  The background is white-washed, while the frame and lettering are all different shades of olive green.  This was an order for close friends of ours, and we were so happy to do it!  The best part is, it's 2 feet by 4 feet!  I love taking on a new challenge, and then tackling it.  If Reilly were standing next to it, it's bigger than she is!

This is a painting I made for my parents, adapted from one I had seen on the internet to be more personal to us and to the style of their house.  Canvases like this with lots of words always make me feel like I'm going to misspell something, even though I have yet to do it.  This one was a big hit. :)

Also a big hit, this one I made for my Reilly girl.  She LOVES reading all her "Elmo books", and naming every single character.  The decor for her and baby's new room is going to be "Rainbow Polka Dots", so I got this idea to make the "polka dot" characters.  She names them all and kisses them, it's so cute.

This is Reilly's hand print, and is a recreation of a painting I had made when I was three.  My parents still have it hung in their house every year, and my mom could cry just looking at it.  Clearly, this was a tear-jerker!  The berries are finger prints. :)

This is Reilly footprint, and we made it for Uncle E and Mimi's house.  Uncle E LOVES penguins, so it was fitting.  Also, one of their bathrooms has a penguin theme, so this is perfect!  And who doesn't love a teeny foot?  I mean really.

This we made for Hubby's parents, because again, who doesn't love teeny hands and feet??  I think these will be so special when she is older and everyone has little keepsakes of her tiny-ness at 1 year old.  When I ask her if she wants to paint now, she point to the palm of her hand, because she thinks it means we're going to do prints again. HA!

This is just a tiny snippet of what we painted this year!  I also made one for Daddy, which is Reilly's footprint turned into a reindeer!! Too cute.

And you can imagine, any day that included a Reilly-painting day was sure to be messy!  But always fun.  Hope you liked seeing some of our creations!