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!!!