One Month Ago...

One month ago, my sweet little dinosaur baby was in my tummy still. I was at the hospital walking and walking and walking trying to get contractions started because my water had broke! It's crazy how fast this last month went! Now my little girl is here and has made quite the impression on us! I can't even imagine life before her! She has fit in so well and we all love her.

One of my favorite things about having Aliyah in our lives now is how much Elijah loves her. He gets so happy every morning when Aliyah wakes up. He runs over and talks to her in a baby voice and says hello and good morning and gives her a kiss and hug. He often asks me if I can bring Aliyah into his room to play. We either put her in her bouncy seat (which doesn't work) or we lay her on his bed. His favorite is when we lay her on his bed because he thinks it's so funny. He also always runs and gets her a blanket if she doesn't have one on her. He shows her his cars. He talks to her about what he has done all day. It's just so cute. And the other super cute part is that Aliyah is always listening to him and watching him. I am pretty sure that he is her favorite person to listen to because he's always talking and he's always excited about whatever he's talking about! :)

Aliyah has grown so much more alert in this first month. She smiles at us now and I think she's trying to laugh sometimes, but it doesn't quite come out right. :) She watches everything intently with her big eyes. She is starting to stay awake every day for around 2 or 3 hours at a time. She does still sleep most of the time. She is now sleeping in her own crib. She is breastfeeding like a champ now. She doesn't cry too much. She loves to cuddle and I think she would prefer if we held her the entire time she is sleeping, but she's starting to sleep for longer intervals. During the day she only sleeps for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, but at night she sleeps for at least 3 hours at a time. She was sleeping 4 hours, but then we switched her to her crib and she's getting used to it. When she starts to get upset, she makes these little dinosaur cries, so I call her my little "Allisaurus." She's too sweet for words. I love her so much!

Anyway, our lives were forever changed a month ago when we welcomed this adorable little baby girl into our family. I am so thankful that God blessed me with her. I love her so much already, and I just know God had huge plans for her life! Thank You, Jesus for giving me the little girl I've ALWAYS WANTED, and the best big boy I could have ever asked for, too! I love my kids!!!! :)

A Strength I Underestimate...

So there have been a few times in my life where I have been faced with a situation that I truly didn't believe I could get through. The first time was when I was called to Iraq in 2003. I couldn't tell you exactly how scared or unsure I was...it was the most frightening thing I've ever been faced with. Yet, I went, I made friends, I found my husband, and I loved my experience. Another time I was faced with something I wasn't sure I could handle was when my husband was called back to Iraq without me. I was facing a year of life without him. A year of life with him in a country where there were people trying to kill him. A year of life with taking care of our 1 year old son (who turned 2 halfway through). Yet, I said goodbye to him, went back to school, took care of our son, and somehow grew closer to my husband despite the distance. This brings me to my most recent trial. I got really sick last week with mastitis. I have been having a love/hate relationship with breastfeeding. I love bonding with my sweet girl and feeding her, but I hate the pain. Well, this last weekend was pretty much the sickest I've ever felt. My left breast hurt more than it's ever hurt, and I continued to breastfeed the entire time. In fact, I breastfed more frequently than ever because I was told that's what you're supposed to do. I got very frustrated at one point and said "I'm done! I don't want to do it anymore!" However, I kept on doing it, and now a few days later, things are better. I feel better, my supply is going up, and best of all THE PAIN IS GONE NOW!!!!!!!! It doesn't hurt to breastfeed anymore! So, I'm so thankful I stuck it out.

It just amazes me that at times when I feel so overwhelmed and stressed with things, I forget how strong I am. God has always given me the exact strength I need to get through every tough situation I've been through, so why would I doubt that he would give me the strength to overcome this sickness last weekend? I would say that from now on I'm going to remember that I'll be able to get through anything, but I'm sure I'll forget by the time the next big trial comes my way. Although, I think that's okay because everytime I feel that much more grateful for the love and strength of God for helping me through! :) Anyway, I'm just thankful that I didn't give up on breastfeeding and that I got sick this last weekend instead of this coming weekend when AJ will be gone the entire time! Praise the Lord!!!

My Thoughts On...

Breastfeeding....

So, I formula-fed Elijah because I knew I was going back to work after 3 months and it just seemed like the best option for me at the time. I was also kind of wierded out about breastfeeding, so it was an easy decision for me not to do it. Well, 3 years later, I felt completely different on the subject of breastfeeding. I had talked to my sister in law Emily about it a lot and some other people and I really had such a desire to breastfeed this time. I was told it might hurt at first, but that it was worth it if you stick it out.

I am 2 and a half weeks into breastfeeding my little girl and I feel like I have learned so much and am close to being a pro at it! I have to say, though, that it was not at all what I expected. Here are my thoughts on it...

~ It hurts like CRAZY at first! I had to wait til Monday to see a lactation consultant at the hospital, and Aliyah was born Sunday evening, so for that whole first day I was doing it wrong. Well, that resulted in me being VERY sore and dreading every single time that Aliyah was hungry!

~I feel like I am a machine at times, and my whole purpose in life is to provide milk for my baby any time she's hungry! (which is ALL THE TIME it seems!)

~I have been avoiding going out in public with Aliyah too much because I am afraid of having to feed her in public.

These thoughts were mostly what I had the first couple weeks, but the last few days...these are my new thoughts on breastfeeding....
~I am amazed after this easy delivery and breastfeeding my baby girl what my body is capable of. I have a new love for it and a big desire to take care of it and get back into the shape I'm meant to be in!

~I love that I am the only one who feeds Aliyah. I love that I make milk that is perfectly formulated for her little body. It's amazing and quite a miracle. I feel blessed that I get to experience this.

~It no longer hurts like crazy, so I no longer dread feeding her. She also seems to be going a little bit longer between meals and eating more during her feedings, which has enabled me to get some much needed cleaning done and do some things that I like doing by myself.

~She is such a happy baby. She only cries when she's hungry, and she doesn't seem to have tummy problems the way Elijah always did from formula feeding. He used to have the hardest time pooping, and she doesn't have those problems.

~I wish I could go back and breastfeed Elijah. I feel like I cheated him out of something really good, but I look at him and realize that he's fine, healthy, and happy, and it makes me feel like it's okay. I would do it differently if I could go back, but I can't so there's no point in regretting my decision not to breastfeed him.

~I LOVE not having to wash a lot of bottles! We don't have a dishwasher, so it's nice that I never have to wash one!

~It is so convenient to feed her at night! She is sleeping in our room with us right now, so I just have to sit up, feed her, maybe change her if she needs it, then lay down and go right back to sleep! I feel WAY LESS sleep deprived than I ever did with Elijah! It's really nice! I plan on transistioning her into her own room by 6 weeks, but I'm really enjoying this this time with her right now!

Well, these are my thoughts on breastfeeding! I am still quite new at it, so I'm sure I'll have more thoughts on it later, but I am really glad I chose to do this! It has been a great decision for us! :) And, if anyone ever wanted advice, I would say stick it out because it gets much easier and less painful the more you do it! :)

Big Brother

So things are going well here in the Maldonado household! It sure is fun being a family of 4 now! When we first got pregnant, I was worried about how Elijah would adjust to not being the only kid. I was worried that he would feel left out or resent Ali because she was getting a lot of attention. I guess this is one instance where the saying "don't borrow worries from tomorrow" applies. Man...this kid has adjusted wonderfully! He tells me ALL THE TIME how much he loves Aliyah. He always asks to give her hugs and kisses. He shows her toys and gets her blankets if she is fussy. He is always willing to get me things if I am nursing and I forgot to grab something. He loves helping out! I think the 3 year age difference is a great thing because Elijah is at the age where he always wants to help out, and he feels important when he does. He isn't jealous at all of her.

Before we had Aliyah, I read that it's good to make sure that you make time for your older child and try to make him feel just as important as he was before. So, sometimes, if Aliyah is crying at the same time that Elijah asks for help, I'll say "Aliyah, I'm helping your brother really quick and then I'll help you" just so Elijah hears that he is just as important as Aliyah. I think that's been a good thing. Elijah has such a sweet heart, though, that he really doesn't like when Aliyah cries, so he usually doesn't ask for help while she is crying or if he does, he says to help Aliyah first. He is sweet! :)

Anyway, so for those that have wondered how Elijah has adjusted, there it is! It has been a very easy adjustment for all of us! Aliyah is such a good baby. She cries when she's hungry, and that's it. She sleeps so well at night. I go to bed after I feed her around midnight, she will wake up between 4 and 430 to be fed again, then she sleeps til 8 or 9! So, I am getting plenty of sleep! I think it's amazing the difference breastfeeding makes! I formula fed Elijah and he had such tummy problems that he was fussy a lot more often. He had the hardest time pooping. Now that I'm breastfeeding Aliyah, she has absolutely no tummy problems at all! Maybe it's because she's just different than Elijah, but I really think the breastfeeding has made all the difference!

Well, I hope you are all doing great, too! :)

The Birth Story...

Well, Aliyah Jane Maldonado is here! I can hardly believe it because I have been waiting forever, but she really is here! I am so in love with her. I honestly can't get enough of her! I want to hold her or look at her all the time! :)

I want to remember the birth story this time because I really don't remember much of Elijah's. I decided that I should blog about it while it is still fresh in my memory! So here it goes...

Her official due date was October 3, 2010. At 4:30 am on October 3, Elijah woke up crying out for Daddy. I woke AJ up and asked him to go see if he needed anything because I knew that it would take me a while to make it down there. When AJ got out of bed, I rolled over and felt this gush of fluid. I thought "what?! I'm peeing my pants?!" So, I got up and went downstairs to the bathroom. I went potty and when I stood up, I was still leaking everywhere! That's when I knew...my water had broke! Luckily, Nikki (my sister) was in Nappanee at a scrapbooking retreat that weekend, so I called her and she came to get Elijah. I took a shower, got ready, packed a few last minute things, AJ showered, got ready, packed some stuff, and off we went to the hospital. I wasn't in a super huge rush because I wasn't having contractions at all. So, we stopped at McDonald's before we went for breakfast. I could hardly eat anything, though, because I was so excited, but I knew I should eat something before I went so that I would have more energy to get through the long day!

We arrived at the hospital around 7 am. We checked in, they checked to see if it was my water that broke, and it was. When I first got there, I was only 25% effaced and 1 1/2 cm dilated. We walked around for a long time to see if anything would start on it's own. At about 9:20, I was given 1/4 of a pill of cytotech in my cervix to help soften things up. I then started having pretty regular contractions. We walked and walked. AJ took a nap while I walked some more. At 1:15, they checked me and I was only dilated to 3 cm, so they gave me pitocen to help speed things up. My contractions became pretty intense. I was able to sit on the fitness ball, though, and that really helped. Well, Aliyah decided she didn't like the external heart monitor, so after trying over and over to keep her heart on the monitor, they decided I needed an internal heart monitor so they could make she she was doing okay throughout the labor. They put one in, and it didn't stick. They had to try to get it out, and that hurt so much that I involuntarily started crying. Then I was getting contractions while the nurse was trying to get the monitor out, it just was really hard. They finally cut it and then took it out without trying to untangle it. Then they tried 2 more times to get the monitor in, and they finally did on the 3rd try. The nurse said that Aliyah must have a lot of hair because the only time they have so much trouble is when the baby has a lot of hair. That was the only comforting thing about having to have them try 3 times! :) The internal heart monitor wouldn't register on the mobile monitor, so after they put it in, I was confined to my bed to deal with the contractions.

When they checked me at 4, I was still only 4 cm dilated, so because I wasn't allowed to take a shower or sit on the fitness ball, I asked for the epidural. At 4:16, I got the epidural, and as soon as it was in, I felt so much better. I layed down and took a little nap. At 6, they checked me again, and I was 5 cm dilated. She had me roll over on my side with my leg over a pillow, so I was almost laying on my tummy. She said if I felt the urge to poop to let her know because it probably means I'm ready to push. Not even kidding, at 6:30 pm, I started feeling the urge to push, and it was during contractions when I would feel that. I thought for sure that it was too early. I had only been 5 cm dilated half an hour ago! So, I waited about 15 minutes, and the feeling only got more and more intense. I called the nurse in, she checked me, and said "Yup! You are 10 cm dilated and her head is RIGHT there!" She called the doctor, who was all set up and ready to go by 6:55 pm. I was shaking so hard, which they said was a sign I was ready to push. The nurses were AMAZING at coaching me on how to push. AJ was, too. He was so encouraging throughout the whole day. I pushed through 3 or 4 contractions, and out she came at 7:06 p.m. on her due date! They put her right on my chest to clean her up and said that the next hour was mommy and Aliyah time. They said not to worry about her crying, that it wasn't quiet time and by crying she would get all the gunk out of her lungs that she needed to. So for an hour, I held her on my chest and looked at her and memorized everything about her. I fell in love as soon as I saw her! :)

They weighed her after the hour and did the bloodwork and everything for us. She weighted 7 lbs 1 oz and was 19 inches long. Perfectly tiny. She has dark hair...we think it's black, but if not, it's dark dark brown. We can't really tell what color eyes she has yet...they look dark, but they'll become more of a color in the next few weeks. We could tell Elijah's eyes were blue right away, so she might have dark eyes. I don't really know.

Anyway, that's the birth story! It was the best experience ever...I had the same nurse the whole day. She thought she wouldn't be there for the birth, but at the end of her shift, Aliyah came on out, so it was perfect! From the time my water broke til the time I had Aliyah it was only 14 1/2 hours. And from the time my active labor started, it was only a little less than 6 hours! It was really fast and perfect!

Smallville

Can I just get this out in the open? I am a HUGE Smallville fan! When AJ and I first started hanging out, he gave me some of the seasons to watch while we were in Iraq. I got hooked not only because this hot guy wanted me to like the show, but because I actually REALLY liked the show! So ever since, I have been keeping up with it. Last week AJ came home from school with Season 9! I was so excited. We have been watching it the last few days because the season premiere of Season 10 (sadly, the final season) is next Friday night! I CAN'T WAIT!!! So...there you have it...I am addicted...and I just had to be honest. :) Does anyone else watch this show? If not, you should...it's definitely worth your time!

On another note, the Apple Festival is this weekend, and I saw the tents being set up in town tonight. I got really excited. Fall is my favorite time of year. It starts getting cooler, the holidays are all coming up, the stores are starting to get decorations for Thanksgiving and Christmas, and the Apple Festival always seems like it's the start of this amazing season! I love to walk down there every evening with AJ and Elijah and look at the booths, see people we know, get some good food, and just enjoy our little town. I guess you guys know what I'll be doing all weekend now. I will be enjoying the festival! :) The weather report looks good...I am thinking we'll even have to wear hooded sweatshirts at night! I LOVE FALL!!!

And...it wouldn't be a proper post without saying something about Aliyah's upcoming arrival...so I'll end with this....17 days left!!! Yeah! :)

Okay...I'm Ready!

I am 34 1/2 weeks pregnant. I have 5 1/2 weeks left until our baby is due. I had a doctor's appointment today and I asked a million and one questions about when I should go to the hospital, what contractions feel like (because I truly didn't get any with Elijah until I was in the hospital and I don't remember them now!), what it feels like to have my water break, if it's possible to not know that my water broke, etc. I think I was smiling like an idiot the entire time I was asking questions because I can hardly believe we're already at this point!

I already have my diaper bag for Aliyah. It is packed and ready to go! I have made a packing list for the hospital for me so that I will be able to throw that together really fast when the time comes to leave. I need to figure out where Elijah will be going for sure and have a bag packed for him soon. I know exactly where to go in the hospital and what to say when I get there. Aliyah's room is totally ready.

The doctor told me today that at 38 weeks they will strip my membranes, which is what the doctor did 3 days after my due date with Elijah and put me into labor right away. She also told me that they do not want me to go more than a week over my due date, so around my due date if nothing is progressing, they will schedule a date to be induced. So for sure by 10/10/10, I will have my baby in my arms! It's crazy knowing that!

All this to say...I'm READY! I cannot wait to go into labor and have this sweet little girl! I can't wait to meet her and hold her and look at her and see who she looks like. I can't wait to dress her in her cute girl clothes and put ribbons and bows in her hair (assuming she has any...and even if she doesn't, I can still put headbands on her head!). I am excited to rock her and nurse her and put her to bed in her bright room. I am excited to see Elijah with her and watch them interact. I know she will love just looking at him and watching him as she gets older, and I think he will be a very good big brother to her. I am so ready for our family to be a family of 4 instead of 3! It's just so exciting!

Anyway...just wanted to say I'm ready! I want her to grow a little more in my tummy before she comes out, but after 37 weeks, I'll be happy with her coming at any time! If she wants to go ahead and be a September baby, that's totally fine with me! :)

New Adventures...

AJ and I were talking the other night about the way our life has gone. We are both in school right now (although I am taking a break to grow and have a baby), and we are parents to a young son (and almost to two children!). We don't feel like we get the adventures we always dreamed we would be getting, but I think we both came to the realization that it doesn't need to be that way! We can plan adventures and make our life just as exciting as it once was! Goodness...I mean, having two kids under the age of 4 is a pretty big adventure in and of itself! :)



Anyway, we made some adventurous plans for next summer which I think will really be fun to try to achieve and work towards all year! I am going to go through the entire 90 days of P90X as soon as I can exercise after having this baby. Then I'm going to start running, and we are going to do at least a 10k together next summer, but our big goal is to do a half marathon together at the end of next summer! Also, we are going to try to get in really great shape this year and to take a fun vacation just the two of us somewhere next summer where we'll have to show off our awesome bodies! Okay...so that's not the point of the vacation, it's really just to get away and have fun together, but still...it will be great to work towards that all year!



That's all we're for sure planning right now, but just making these plans has made us both more excited and has added a little "pep" in our step as we go throughout our days! It's fun to have a husband who wants to plan things with me and who encourages me to still be young and live life to its fullest even when life seems so full of responsibility and structure! :)

A Whole Lot of Nothing

Well, it's summer. I have always thought it would be really fun to be pregnant in the summer. Guess what...it's not all it's cracked up to be! I have been soooooooooo hot lately! We don't have central air in our house, so it gets pretty hot. We have slept on the couch the 2 onights because it's just too hot upstairs. It makes me very grateful that we switched Elijah's room to downstairs. I actually have to admit, though, that the couch seems more comfortable than our bed, so I have gotten some good sleep the last couple of nights!

I have less than 3 months until I have this baby. I will be in my 3rd trimester on Saturday! I can hardly believe I'm already at that point...it just doesn't seem real. I want to enjoy this time left with just one kid, but I am so anxious to meet our new little one! I feel very ready to add another member to our family!!! Plus, it's a little girl, and I won't be outnumbered anymore!

Elijah is such a boy. All I hear day in and day out is AJ and Elijah going back and forth with things like "ppppphhhhht...oh! You farted, Daddy!"..."pppppphhhhht...oh! You farted, Elijah!" I mean, seriously? I have to admit that it makes me laugh, though, and I do love having a boy. I never thought I would like it that much because boys are gross and I didn't want to deal with all the boy stuff that I had no idea how to handle, but it's been pretty easy! Elijah has changed my perspective on boys. Sure they're gross sometimes, but they are also so sweet to their mommy's. :) He can always make me laugh and he is always willing to help me out with whatever I need.

I have been working on Aliyah's room a lot lately. It's so cute. I love it. I love that it is mostly yellow, with some pink and white. It is bright and cheery and girly. She's gonna love her room! I have even gotten crafty! I made a ribbon mobile that turned out EXACTLY how I imagined it would! I was so excited! I didn't have instructions...I kinda just went with it, but it's perfect! Elijah walked into Ali's room after I hung it up and said "WOW! COOL!" So, I think it's a hit! :)

Well, I don't have much to blog about...just hadn't updated in a while. It's a rainy day here, which I'm actually enjoying a lot. I kinda needed a mellow day. It has seemed so busy around here lately! I hope you all have a great rest of the week/weekend!

A Simple Text...

I love my husband for many reasons, but one of the things I love about him the most is that he says the sweetest things to me right when I need to hear them! Last night we were just sitting in the living room watching the movie "Invictus" (which is so good and I recommend everyone watch it!), and I got a text message on my phone. I looked at it and AJ had texted me this: "I love you, and thanks for carrying our baby girl." Wow...talk about perfect timing. I have been feeling HUGE lately and this just made my day! :) I have a great husband, and I'm so thankful that he says romantic things like that to me. It wasn't anything big...but it's the simple things that mean the most to me. :) Anyway, I just wanted to share how amazing my husband is!

I've been inspired....by MYSELF!!!

I have been inspired by my former self. AJ and I watched Elijah's baby videos last night. I have been thinking about how different it's going to be with a new baby in the fall. I was having a hard time even remembering what it was like! So, we watched Lij's baby videos. Let me tell you...I'm so excited now! I forgot how fun it is to just love on a little baby and watch them grow and change. Elijah went from just making funny noises to making funny faces, laughing, smiling, rolling over, scooting, and crawling! We stopped watching it when he was around 6 months. He was so adoreable and I am so excited to have another little baby to take care of! It'll be especially nice to have Elijah with us this time to enjoy the whole thing with us.

Anyway, you're probably wondering what inspired me. Well, I was working full time and taking care of a little baby and I kept our house so clean all the time! I loved how it was arranged in the videos (it went through a couple changes in those 6 months) and I loved how clean it looked. I have been having a hard time keeping our house clean since AJ got home! It's like it has doubled my workload and with Elijah being older and wanting to play with his toys all over the house, it just gets to be crazy around here sometimes! But, I figured if I could keep it clean back then, I can surely keep it very clean now! So I woke up with a purpose this morning, and spent the next few hours cleaning and rearranging our house! It feels great and I'm motivated to keep it that way and even go ahead and get the baby's room done, too. I'm just going to have be diligent about it and ask the boys to pick up their stuff whenever they can!

Have you guys ever been inspired by your former selves?

It doesn't seem possible...

I was thinking about how much I love Elijah today. I know that sounds wierd...who really sits around thinking about how much they love someone...but it's what I do sometimes. I love him more than I ever thought possible. It's wierd because when you're a parent, you love your child in such a different way than you love anyone else. I love AJ so much because he's an amazing person and I was captivated by him right when I met him, but I have such expectations of him. I feel like I'm disappointed when he lets me down, even though I quickly get over it and realize it's not a big deal. I get disappointed in a lot of people at times because I feel like they should act differently or treat me differently, but I shouldn't have those expectations of people. That's not right. No one is perfect, and no one is supposed to be perfect...people make mistakes. The only perfect One is God, and I shouldn't have expectations from Him either because I don't ever want to put him in a box...He is the only One who will ever exceed my expectations every single time. It's amazing...and I'm so grateful to know Him and to have a relationship with Him!

Anyway, back to what I was saying...I was thinking about how much I love Elijah. I don't have the same sort of expectations for Elijah that I do with other people. He makes mistakes probably more than anyone else in my life, yet I never feel let down by him. It's like I just realize that he will make mistakes and that's okay. It is easier for me to show him grace than anyone else in my life. He's 3, so he is learning how to live life. He's learning what behavior is acceptable and what isn't. He's learning the things he should or shouldn't say to people. He's learning to live! Every time I look at him, my heart is FULL with love. So, I guess that's how I love him differently than anyone else.

I was also thinking about Aliyah. I haven't even met her yet, but I feel like I'm already getting a glimpse of her personality in the way she kicks or moves or reacts to people touching my tummy. I'm so excited to see what she looks like and to just really get to know her, but it just doesn't seem possible to love her as much as I love Elijah. That sounds bad, I know, but I just can't see how I can have that much love to give. And sometimes I wonder if loving another child will take away from loving Elijah. Everyone tells me that it is possible to love all your children as much as each other, so I know that will happen. But when I really think about how much I love Elijah, it just seems impossible! Luckily, God makes the impossible possible, and I know I will love her just as much as Elijah and that won't take anything away from Elijah. I'm excited to see for myself how this happens. It excited me to think about loving another little child as much as I love Elijah! I'm so blessed already with the perfect husband for me and the perfect son for me...and it overwhelms me to think I am also being blessed with the perfect daughter for me! Praise the Lord for His blessings! I do not deserve them, but I am very thankful for them!! :)

Crazy dream, Crazy boy, Not-So Crazy Life

Hmmm...I don't have much to blog about these days. I have been loving the summer weather more than normal this year. We have been outside so much and my tan is coming along pretty nicely! Although, I have a million tan lines...but that's besides the point! :) It's been rainy this weekend, so we've spent a lot of time cleaning and playing games and watching movies. It's been a very nice, relaxing weekend. I'm ready for some sunshine now, though! I feel too lazy when the weather is gray and cloudy.

Elijah has been coming up with some crazy things to say lately. He went through a pretty whiny phase for a couple weeks, and I think he now realizes that when he whines he doesn't get what he wants. If I hear him whining I say "Mommy doesn't listen to your whining," and he will repeat it without whining. I've had to say that less and less the last few days, so that is encouraging. He is also learning to ask nicely for things. I just don't give him what he wants until he asks nicely and that seems to be working. Man...this kid is so cute, but sometimes he can be so cranky and whiny! I love him, though, and his bad phases make the good phases just that much sweeter. I can deal with it, and that's what parenting is all about, right?

Anyway, I decided to paint Aliyah's room yellow and white. I'm going to do 3 walls white, and the wall with the crib on it a bright yellow. I would love to find a cute saying or something in white letters to put up on the yellow wall, but first I would just like to get it painted! I actually priced out the primer, paint, and supplies today, so we'll be getting it sometime soon.

I had the WIERDEST dream last night! The gyst of if is that I went into labor at 26 weeks. I gave birth to a boy and we were so shocked that instead of naming him Lincoln like we wanted to, we accidentally named him Blinkin! Then I asked if we could change it, and it just seemed like too much work so I was thinking of keeping the name. I couldn't understand why they told me that I was having a girl when I had a boy, so I asked and they said that I had another baby in there that would probably come at 9 months like she was supposed to. I just couldn't grasp that I was having twins, but they would be born 4 months apart! Crazy! AJ had left right after I had the baby, and my mom and sister were there, but they didn't seem concerned about anything except what channel to watch on TV. And to top it all off, I realized that I had only fed the baby once in 3 days! I kept forgetting to feed him, but he was still so happy. Needless to say, I was so happy when I finally woke up!!

So that's it...I hope you're all enjoying your summer so far!

Bedding for Aliyah

Well, I picked out the bedding for Aliyah's room the first week we found out she was a girl! It is perfect! I wanted yellow with a little pink, and I found this online at babies r us. Then I found it way cheaper at Amazon.com! I was excited! We are going to paint her room in the next couple weeks...pretty much whenever I decide for sure how I want to paint it. I originally wanted to paint it yellow, but now I'm thinking about painting it the pink color in the quilt because it's a really pretty pink. We will see! I wanted a bright and happy room, so I thought yellow would be good, but I can't use the yellow in the quilt because that's really bright. I could use a lighter yellow, but I don't know if that would be bright enough. Such a dilemma! :) Anyway, I wanted to show you all the bedding we picked! It looks just as good in real life, too! I can't wait to paint

the room so I can put the bedding in the crib and look at it every day!

Anyway, we had our doctor's ultrasound on Friday, and the tech said again that we are having a girl! This was a different person than the last time because we went to a 3d/4d place the first time just to find out the sex of the baby! This time we actually got all the measurements and everything. Although, I was hoping they would tell me if the baby was healthy or not, but I have to wait for my doctor to call in order to hear. Ugh! I just want to hear that everything is developing as it should! She was really cute, though. She moved around way more this time than in the other 2 ultrasounds. And we could see her heart, her kidneys, her spine...everything in this one. It is so neat that you can see your baby before it's born! I know this is nothing new, but I just am amazed sometimes because I can never understand how someone just comes up with this stuff! Anyway, it was good to see her, and the guy made us a dvd of pictures and a couple videos!

Well, we have been enjoying this weather so much! We got Lij a little pool and have been sitting outside by the "pool" everyday! We are going to the beach tomorrow! And I am just planning on being outside a lot this summer! I want to enjoy only having one kid while it lasts (even though I'm SO excited to have another one), and soak up the free time this summer!

I hope you are all enjoying your three day weekend, and this awesome weather! :)

Hardest Secret to Keep!

Well, I'm sure a lot of you have already seen on facebook that we are in fact having a little GIRL! I can't believe it! I have wanted a little girl since I WAS a little girl! I have high hopes that we will be close and when she is older we will be great friends! I also realize that girls can be a bit dramatic and she will be so much different than Elijah! I am ready for it, though! Sometimes I feel like I'm in a boy-dominated little world. AJ and Elijah are best buds and do all kinds of crazy boy things, so it will be refreshing to have another little girl in the house who I can cuddle with and dress cute and do her hair and paint her toenails and do girly things together! I feel like this is a dream come true, and I truly couldn't be any happier! It's kinda funny that I crave doing the girly things with her since I'm not that girly myself, but I have a feeling my girly side is going to come out more and more as we get closer to having this little one! AJ and Elijah are VERY excited we are having a little girl, too, so Aliyah will be very loved! :)

We found out on May 10 that it was a possibility that we were having a little girl, but her legs were crossed and the tech. could not get a perfect shot, so she had us come in a week later. AJ couldn't come with me the second time, and the whole morning my stomach was sick and I was so nervous! I think I had gotten it in my head that it was a girl and I was trying to convince myself that it could still be a boy! I really would have been happy either way. There are so many benefits of having both, so I was just trying to remind myself that I didn't care either way...but that's easier said than done when you have the thought in your head of who it might be! Anyway, the tech didn't say anything at first about the gender...just showed me the hands, feet, legs, head, and face. Then out of nowhere she said "Yes, I just cannot see any hint of a boy, and I see all girl parts!" I still wasn't sure if that was her telling me it was a girl or if she was just saying she couldn't see boy parts. So I didn't get excited yet. Then she showed me the three beautiful lines that show it's a girl and I saw them throughout the rest of the ultrasound. She said she had just wanted us to come back because she didn't want to say it was a girl JUST BECAUSE she didn't see boy parts. She did see girl parts but wanted just to make sure. She said "Congratulations! You're having a little girl!" I was sooooo happy!!!

I'm not sure if I shared this yet or not, but Elijah has been in LOVE with this baby since he saw the first ultrasound a couple weeks ago. He talks to her all the time now, he cuddles with her, he kisses her, and he hugs her. He calls her by name and it makes my heart so happy to know that he has already accepted the fact that there will be a new person in our family. When he talks about our family, it's not just Daddy, Mommy, and Elijah anymore. It's Daddy, Mommy, Elijah, and Baby! It's really sweet. When the tech. said it was a girl, Elijah jumped up on the bed with me and kissed my tummy and started talking to her! I think that was my favorite part of the day...even better than hearing "It's a girl!"

Anyway, we were able to tell my family last night. We had them over to our house and we showed them Elijah's Birthday video. They didn't know that the gender of the baby would be on there, so I was really excited for their reactions! It was the funniest thing in the world because when the last picture came up with Elijah holding a "It's a girl!!!" sign, the room was completely silent! I was like "did everyone just see that?!" I guess that it was an emotional video and my sister was trying not to cry! And then Emily realized she should be clapping or something, so she started clapping and I just had to laugh. Lesson learned...don't show an emotional video if you're expecting a jump up and down reaction! We had a fun night, though, and played games and hung out! :)

Check out the new poll at the side of my page! We are sure of the first name, but not so sure on the middle name! Thanks for voting before! Most of you were right! I voted boy because I was sure it was a boy! One other person was wrong, too, but the rest were right! So great job! :)

New Background

I love this new background! It's very sunny and happy! :) Just wanted you all to know that today is the day we tell our family whether we are having a little boy or a little girl! So, be looking for a new poll on the side of my page later tonight or tomorrow! :) And, also be looking for a new post telling you guys what we are having! So this is your last day for guesses! :) I'll be blogging soon!

The Happiest Little Boy I Know

Three years ago, at 410 am after 31 hours of labor and a little more than 2 hours of pushing, Elijah Abraham Maldonado came into this world! I have never seen anything more beautiful than that little boy when I saw him for the first time. He was perfect, and had his Daddy's nose. :) I fell in love immediately. I knew from the first moment that I held him that he was special and my life would never be the same.

As I have watched Elijah grow, I have seen his personality come out in different and new ways every day. He has become such a creative little guy. He plays with his toys and makes them talk to each other now, he draws things that actually resemble what he's trying to draw. He knows his ABC's and loves to sing and dance. He makes up stories and can now tell us exactly how he's feeling and why he's feeling that way! He is the funniest person I know. He can make me laugh so hard that I start crying on a daily basis! He loves Curious George and Dora. He likes to pick out his own clothes. His favorite thing to do is go to the "castle park" and play hide and seek. He is the happiest little boy I know and can make ANY situation fun! He is just becoming more and more independent every day.

When I look at Elijah, I sometimes just feel overwhelmed and awed that he is MY son and that I get to be a part of his life forever. I feel so lucky to have him and to hear him call me "Mommy" every day. I get to hear him say his prayers every night and hear him say "I love you, Mommy!" every day! I get to be the one he runs to when he gets hurt because he wants a kiss. I get to be the one to jump up and down with him whenever he is excited about something! I get to be the one to help him make up crazy songs or stories. I just am so lucky, and even though it is sometimes (or all the time) a lot of work being a mom, I LOVE it! I wouldn't trade a single day with him for anything else in the world. I feel like I have a purpose in life when I'm around him...like I was made just to be his mom or something. It's a great feeling, and I'm so thankful for him!

So, anyway, I just wanted to say Happy Birthday to my little stinks. He has brought more joy than I deserve to my life, and I'm excited to see him become a big brother this year and see the changes that will happen because of that in him! It's going to be a fun ride watching him grow every year! :) I love you, Lij!!!

Today could be the day??

I am a bundle of nerves right now! Don't get me wrong...they're excited nerves, but man my stomach is turning like crazy thinking that I might find out what our baby is today! I leave in less than an hour to drop AJ off at school before heading to Niles with Elijah to find out if this baby will cooperate this time! We went a week ago and the baby looked great but had it's arms AND legs completely crossed! I totally fell in love with this little one, though...I could see it's little heart pounding, the cute little way it was sleeping, and how comfy and cozy it looked in there! My heart is full of love and joy knowing that baby is really in there and has a strong heart beat! :) Elijah has really seemed to grasp more than ever that we are having a baby and that it's in my tummy. He cuddles with the baby all the time now and kisses it and talks to it. It is really sweet, and I'm excited to see this relationship grow as the baby grows. It's so special to think that Elijah really WANTS a new baby brother or sister now. It makes me happy. :)

We had a great time in Minnesota! It was my favorite time we've ever visited! I think part of that may have been how sweet AJ's mom was! She kept telling me over and over how beautiful I looked! Who doesn't want to hear that?! :) It was so nice! We went to see Iron Man 2, went to the aquarium at the mall of America, went to a Twins game, went out with the siblings, and went to Deluth! It was a fun-filled week and felt so great to relax together and enjoy each other's company. Plus, AJ's mom surprised us by telling us she's coming to visit after the baby is born! That will be lots of fun, and we're really excited because no one from AJ's family has seen our new house! We have a lot to do before they come like decide where we will sleep when they're here, but it will all work out and be awesome!

Well, this is my first week of summer vacation and I have a lot planned. I want to weed the side of our house and get mulch put down, clean out the fridge, catch up on ALL the laundry, organize AJ's and my room upstairs, plan our blue/pink party for Friday night, go to a doctor's appointment, and maybe start planning the baby's room! I really hope we can find out what the baby is today! If you read this and think of it, say a prayer that the baby shows us all its parts! :) I'll explain about being modest AFTER the baby is born!!! ;)

Have a great week everyone!!!

Happy Mother's Day!!

It has been a perfect Mother's Day for me so far! We went to church this morning, where Elijah made me his first homemade Mother's Day card and proudly presented it to me when we picked him up! I love it...it's so cute and is a great reminder that parents are there to help children "bloom" in their love for God. When we got home, I played Uno with Elijah while AJ made lunch! Not just any lunch either...breakfast lunch! Mmm...that's my favorite! Also, yesterday AJ got a rose for me and a rose for my mom! I thought that was really sweet!

Anyway, I was thinking a lot this weekend about the mother's who have inspired me. There are so many, but I thought I would focus this post on the mother's in my family who have encouraged me and taught me different things that I hope to use in my own mothering.

First...my mother! I love my mom! She has always been one of my favorite people ever. When I was little, I wanted to be with her all the time and I loved to show off for her and make her proud. My mom ALWAYS encouraged me and let me know that I could do anything I set my mind to! As I grew older, she became more of a mentor. I would ask her for advice...sometimes following her advice and sometimes not...and I would go to her for comfort when things went wrong. I told her everything about everything! After I left for college, she became one of my best friends. I guess the thing biggest thing I learned from her is to be a mother when my children need that and a friend as they get older and need that. She is my favorite example of a mom, and I always feel so blessed when I realize that she is MY mom and I get to keep her forever! :)

The next mother I want to talk about is my sister Nikki. I remember when she first had Nick. I was in 8th grade, and the week after she had him, she brought him to one of my volleyball games and let me carry him down the bleachers to introduce him to my friends! She was always so proud to show him off, and she was really relaxed about letting other people hold him. I always loved that, and when I had Elijah, I let anyone and everyone hold him and took him everywhere right after he was born! It really was so fun to show him off! :) Another thing I have been learning from her is to let my kids be who they want to be. This is going to be hard for me because I want my kids to dress how I want them to dress or act how I want them to act, but she has showed me that it's important to let them be who they are! Her kids always talk to her about things and love to be with their family at home, and I think a huge part of that is that she lets them dress and act how they want. They feel like she truly accepts them no matter what. That is a great mom! I also feel so blessed that she is my sister and that she loves Elijah just as much as I have always loved her kids! It's so neat that my son loves his Aunt Nikki and is always really excited to see her!

Next on the list...Christi! I am not a creative person AT ALL, but she is! She is the most creative person I have ever met. She always seems to find such joy in creating different projects and showing them off. She has always let her kids create things, too. She comes up with really neat projects to do with them and really develops their creative sides. I want to do that with my kids, too...even though it is much harder for me since I do not know the first thing about being artistic! Kids like to create things, though, and I need to allow Elijah to do that more. I need to just let him get messy and try things out! I'm really happy that Rick married Christi because she is so much fun to have in our family! :)

Now to Emily. Emily has become such a great friend to me and someone that I can talk to about the ups and downs of my life. And a lot of those ups and downs have to do with my son! I always tell her this, but I admire how she is ALWAYS prepared as a mom! She always has a hundred snacks in her diaper bag or purse just in case her kids get fussy, she makes them great lunches and plays with them and shows them she loves them all the time. She is great at disciplining her kids without seeming too harsh. She can say one word and Hunter will stop in his tracks and listen to her. She adores Sophie and I can already tell that they have that special mother-daughter bond that every daughter wants. She also loves the Lord so much and teachers her kids even now about Jesus and reads them Bible stories and prays with them all the time. I look up to her a lot and I think she does such a great job not only of being a mom but also a wife!

Anyway, I was just thinking of these ladies today and wanted to say how much I appreciate them and love them and look up to them! They are great women! I think it's so neat that God places people in your lives to teach you how to be a wife, mom, and friend. We would be lost without those examples!

Happy Mother's day, Moms! I hope you enjoy being with your family today, and I hope that you feel appreciated! You all deserve it! :)

19 Weeks...

Well, I don't have much to say, but I am 19 weeks pregnant now and almost half way! It's so exciting! AJ took a couple of pictures of me today, so I thought I would share my baby bump! It's fun to be at this stage of pregnancy! I can feel the baby move so much now! It's such a fun thing to feel the baby moving (and dancing, it seems sometimes) in my tummy. It makes me feel like he/she is having such a fun time in there! :)

I also got my hair cut on Wednesday! I have had it long for quite a while, but I got it cut pretty short this time! It feels good to swing my head back and forth, and I like the way it looks! It's so easy to style.

Elijah is loving the warm weather! He has been spending a lot of time outside riding his bike! I love how happy he is to run around and explore outside! I'm so excited to spend time with him outside all summer! I am free from school now, so I am going to soak up all this free time and enjoy these next few months with just Elijah! :)

Anyway, I just thought I would share some pictures and make a little blog. I know it's such a deep, thought-provoking post! :) I hope you all have a great weekend!!!

A Soccer Mom Dream

When I was growing up, I always dreamt of being a "soccer mom"...that perfect mom who took her kids to all their games, sat and watched and cheered loudly! I wanted to do fun things with my kids...be creative and always spend time with them, encouraging them and loving them. I wanted to bring my kids to church every Sunday and talk with them afterwards about what they learned, and hopefully be able to pray the prayer of salvation with them at some point in his young life! I wanted to be perfect.

I have only been a mom for 3 years and I already feel like I've failed at a lot of things. I feel like I don't spend enough time with Elijah. I feel like I don't do enough creative and fun things with him. I feel like I don't read him enough Bible stories or pray with him enough or talk to him about Jesus enough. I have been FAR from perfect.

I want Elijah to think back to his childhood as a fun and happy time in his life. I want him to have good memories of the things we did together and be proud to say that we are his parents. It seems like I have so far to go to become the mother I want to be and the example for Elijah that I want to be, and now we have another little soul coming into our lives soon.

It is such a huge responsibility to have kids and to raise kids. I mean, we are the first adults they see and learn from. We are their whole world for the first 5 years of their life! I am not at all where I want to be in my walk with Christ, or as a person. And I have felt such an urgency lately to get things together so that the person Elijah remembers when he grows up is a woman who was devoted to Christ and devoted to her husband and devoted to her children. I know I will never be perfect, but I can't just let that be it. I need to always be striving to be better, if not for myself, then for my children.

I'm excited to meet this new little one that is set to arrive in October, and it does make me happy to think that even though I'm not perfect by any means, I am the perfect mom for Elijah and this new baby. God picked me to be their mom, and I feel so blessed. I couldn't ask for a better son than Elijah! He is funny and smart and sweet! He can always put a smile on my face, and I'm excited to see what this new baby's personality will be, too! :)

Relationships...

Ugh...the service was great this morning, but also very challenging. It was about relationships and one thing that stood out to me is that you want to keep harmony in your relationships but that doesn't necessarily mean keeping the peace. I have always struggled with confrontation...I would rather just be miserable myself than confront someone who has hurt me. (unless I'm super close to that person...but even then it's very hard for me.) During the service this morning, a woman was brought to my mind. I don't have a very good relationship with this person and even though I'm certain she would never see this blog, I would never post her name. Anyway, I felt convicted because I haven't been praying for her like I should...or at all really. Pastor Dave said this morning that we need to pray and bless the ones who have hurt us, and that it is very hard to be upset with someone you're praying will be blessed. I realized that there are a lot of people I haven't prayed for...not just this one person, and I felt very convicted that I need to be praying for people every day. I made a list when I got home of those people that came to mind that I wanted to pray for everyday and stuck it in my Bible. Anyway...back to my main point...I know that sometimes you need to keep your mouth shut and try to let things slide, but sometimes you really need to talk it through to reach that point of harmony in your relationships. That is one of my biggest weaknesses, but I'm going to try hard to pray about it and to listen to the Lord about when I should or shouldn't talk things out with someone. This is going to be a struggle for me, but I can work on it and maybe someday it will be a strength of mine! You never know, right? :) Anyway...great message today!

Last week of school this week! YES! And...even more exciting...one week from tomorrow is when we get to see our baby on the ultrasound and hopefully find out if it is a he or she!! I can't wait to see that little miracle on the screen and feel even more like I am pregnant and there really is a baby in there! :) I'll let you guys know how it goes! :) You may have to wait a while to find out the gender, though, because we're leaving for Minnesota right after the ultrasound for the week! Suspenseful, right?! :) Have a great week!

I finally get it...

Hey you guys! So this weekend I went to the Beth Moore simulcast called So Long, Insecurities. Let me tell you...this was the best conference I have ever been to. I think my heart was just so ready to let God speak to me and work in me. I have struggled with feeling free my whole Christian life. I was saved when I was 8, so I was pretty young. I have had times when I felt close to God, but I don't think I truly got it until this weekend!

I have always had the problem of feeling guilty for who I am and the things I have done or do on a daily basis. I have always felt like I just needed to work harder to be close to God. I have always felt like I haven't done my part to be in the Word as much as I should or praise God for everything. But this weekend, Beth said that being a secure woman means to BELIEVE that God LOVES us and FORGIVES us. That's it! He FORGIVES us! He died on the cross for MY sins...ALL of them! I don't have to feel guilty. I just need to BELIEVE that He has already paid the price for everything I have or will do in my life! The most significant part of the conference for me was when we were singing the last worship songs, and I just bowed my head and said "God, I BELIEVE that you love me, and I BELIEVE that you have forgiven me!" I can't tell you how free I felt for the first time in my life! The emotion I felt just swept over me, and I could barely contain the tears! I AM FREE!! And I can be SECURE in the fact that even if no one else loves me or accepts me, GOD DOES!!! And isn't that what truly matters?

There was so much that I learned, which I will share throughout the rest of this week, but I just wanted to share with you all the FREEDOM that I feel now! I am so thankful to the Lord for working it out that I would hear this message at this exact time in my life! :) It's like it was meant just for me! (And I'm sure a lot of other women felt that way, too!) Enjoy your weeks, and I hope you all realize that God loves YOU...FULLY and UNCONDITIONALLY!!!!!!! And not only that, but if you are a believer or want to be...HE FORGIVES YOU COMPLETELY!!!!

These are our names...final answer...

So AJ and I have been feeling the pressure to come up with good names for our little one since we find out what he/she is in a couple weeks! We had already picked out a great boy's name that we both liked so much, but I just wasn't that happy with the girl name. (FYI, I still think it's a boy, but I need a girl's name just in case!) Anyway...yesterday I was thinking about what color I would paint a girl's room and I had originally thought pink/brown, but then I just didn't feel like that was what I wanted. My favorite color has always been yellow, so I decided if we have a girl, we will paint the room yellow with white! Then I got to thinking that our name for a girl just didn't go with a yellow room. I wanted a happy name for our girl. So...I started thinking and came up with one that I absolutely LOVE. So.....here is our pick for names....

BOY: Lincoln Harrison Maldonado
GIRL: Aliyah Grace Maldonado (and we would call her Ali)

I love them and I can't wait to see the ultrasound and to be able to call him or her Lincoln or Aliyah! :) Alright...that's all for now! :)

Oh Springtime, How I Love You!!

Last week was probably the busiest week I've had with homework so far since I've been back in school! I was so looking forward to Thursday after school because that would mean I was done with my last hard week before summer! It felt so good to come home on Thursday night and relax and know that I had nothing major to do that night! I'm so excited that school will be over in about 3 weeks!! YES! :)

I had another doctor's appointment on Thursday morning before school. It went really well and I got to hear the heartbeat again. I was crazy excited to know that nothing is wrong and the baby is still growing in there! We also made an appointment for an ultrasound on May 10! I can't wait to find out if this is a boy or a girl. It will be so nice to call him/her by name! I still think it's a boy, but my husband is convinced it's a girl. We shall see! We actually decided that we are both going to plan something super fun to do with Elijah after our ultrasound and we will do whoever's plans that was right about the gender! So I'm excited!

I made this amazing peach/strawberry crunch on Wednesday! I also made taco salad and we had BLT's this week, too. All of those things made me truly feel like it was finally Spring! I love this feeling! And people have been mowing and we have been opening our windows and getting that fresh cut grass smell in our house...my FAVORITE smell EVER! I love this time of year!

Well, that's about it except that AJ and I had a date night last night! Ross and Emily watched Lij and we went shopping and out to eat. It was so nice. We got a Blueray DVD player because our DVD player was skipping all the time. I love it! AND AJ got me a computer for my birthday! (which is in like 2 weeks) I was so excited! It's an HP and it's white. It's small and wasn't very expensive, but perfect for me! My other computer hasn't worked for about 6 months. I think AJ got tired of always having to share his computer with me!

A last thing I want to leave you with...if you like BBC movies or movies like Pride and Prejudice, then you should watch the show Lark Rise to Candleford on youtube! It's soooooooooo good! Emily got me started on it and I can't stop watching! It's probably one of my favorite shows ever!

Well, enjoy your weekends! We are watching Hunter and Sophie overnight tonight, so we will be having so much fun! :)

Children's Resale #2!

Today I went to the Children's Resale at Wakarusa Missionary Church for the second time! I went with my two sister-in-laws Christi and Emily! We actually got there at 4 in the morning! It was so cold, but I had fun and got some good deals! :) I have to say there wasn't that much for Elijah, but when I got home I realized I had found more than I thought. I got a few maternity things, too! I didn't even know they had maternity things, but I was happy. I was pregnant in the winter last time, so I didn't have many summer things. It was nice to find a few things I liked for really cheap!

Now I'm sitting at home enjoying some alone time while AJ and Elijah are gone. AJ wanted to take Elijah to the movie "How to Train Your Dragon." Elijah was really excited about his night out with his daddy. And Mommy was really excited for a little bit of complete alone time! You need that from time to time! :) I'm happy that AJ and Elijah will come home at the end of the night, though!

I'm in my last week of my 1st trimester this week! I can hardly believe I'm so far along! I forgot I was pregnant yesterday morning! Elijah had his cousin (and best friend) Hunter spend the night on Thursday night, and we took them to McDonald's for breakfast Friday morning and they were playing in the play area and I went up to play with them and pulled myself up on my tummy and later I was like oh yeah! I'm pregnant, probably shouldn't be crawling around on my tummy! haha...it happens. When I was pregnant with Elijah, I was 3 days overdue and playing dodgeball at my brother Rick's house with his kids and AJ and Rick. I was so into the game that I dove on my stomach for the ball. Everyone looked at me like "what are you doing?!" and then I realized that was probably not a good idea. I was nervous right after that until I felt Elijah moving around like crazy. I need to be more careful!

We went to Emily's parents church on Friday night and had an easter egg hunt and Mexican dinner! It was a lot of fun, and Elijah was really excited to find the eggs and get a cool Easter basket! We had a great weekend. I hope you all did, too! :) Looks like we're going to be getting nicer weather again this week!!! I CAN'T WAIT!!!! :)

blood...gross

I was reminded today when my doctor's office called to tell me that my blood results came back normal that I had to give 6 things of blood at my first doctor's appointment for this pregnancy! I HATE needles so much, and I always sing to myself and look the other way whenever I get shots or have blood drawn. Well, this time Elijah was in the room with me, and he was very interested in the whole thing. I was trying to not pay attention to it, but Elijah felt the need to let me know exactly what was going on the entire time. I have never felt so sick in my life! I guess he's not afraid of needles! :) When AJ got home later that day, the first thing Elijah did was tell him that Mommy had a boo-boo on her arm (where they drew blood) reminding me ONCE AGAIN of the horrible trauma I went through. I don't think I'm taking him to another doctor's appointment! :)

summer plans

Okay...so I was reminded today by Jessica Davis that one month of school left is not that long compared to two months of school left, but it truly feels like school will never end! I thought the nicer weather would give me a boost to help me finish the semester, but it has had the opposite effect on me! I see the sunshine and I just want to spend all my time outside or at my house with the windows open, the sunshine pouring in the windows, and a cool breeze throughout the house! Is there anything better than that?

So...in order to motivate me to get through the rest of the school year, I am going to make a list of things I'm excited to do this summer!

~walk all over Nappanee
~go to the park with AJ and Elijah
~take Elijah to swim lessons
~go to the beach!!!
~take a trip to Indianapolis to go to the zoo, the children's museum, and walk around the city
~ride our bikes
~go to Minnesota
~go camping
~cookout

Hmm...that's all I can think of right now, but it's enough to make me happy. I am just going to push through these next 5 weeks of school and be happy that I have my husband home this year and that I have a 3 day weekend every weekend. I guess my life is pretty good, huh? :) I've got NOTHING to complain about!

I hope you're all enjoying the weather! And if you haven't seen my poll at the top right of my page, vote on what you think our baby is going to be! It's just fun to see what people think we're going to have! So far I'm the only one who thinks it's a boy! :)

Mommyhood...the second time around...

Well, I'm sure most of you know by now that we are pregnant with our second baby! It hadn't really hit me yet that we were really having another baby, but I had my first doctor's appointment yesterday and heard the heartbeat of this new little one! It was the best feeling because I knew that the baby is okay and it's really in there! Now I really feel like this is happening and we are having another baby!!! YES!!

I'm so excited for Elijah to be a big brother! He always will say hi to the baby and kiss my tummy, which I think is so adorable. He also always tells us it's going to be a baby girl! I don't know what he'll think if it's a boy, but I'm sure he'll love the new baby just the same! It is going to be so different having two kids! I'm a little nervous, but mostly excited! It's really fun having a family and expanding that family!

Anyway, I want to start blogging again, so I thought this would be a good time since I have a new baby on the way. I can keep you up to date on the latest pregnancy things and the way Elijah reacts to things. Maybe no one cares, but it should be fun for me to look back on later at least! So...here's to a fresh start on blogging! Let's make it last this time! :)