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.