i'm still here...

...and I still only have one child, for now. I've been CRAZY busy with travel planning. Apparently, this last snowfall on Monday was the final straw for lots of people. I have more quotes and leads this week than I've ever had. It's been fun, if not hectic, trying to juggle my travel work with motherhood. Thank GOD for my mom...she took Emerson for several hours today so that I could get lots of work done. But I'm still at it. In fact, as I type this, I'm holding with a travel provider trying to put together a spring break trip for a client.

Anyways, just so you know, I'm due 4 weeks from today. I've been having some contractions on and off, so I'm hopeful that I'll deliver a bit early. I have a gut feeling that it'll be March 14...don't know why, but that's just my guess. I *plan* to bring my computer to the hospital, so you'll know pretty quick after the big event.

Make it a good week~

she has a heart of pure gold

So yesterday, I was having a day. What I'm saying is that I was having a DAY. I felt crappy, had a hard time parenting a noisy, needy 2.5 year-old, and just wanted to sleep. So by the time I made dinner {which is the "witching hour," btw} I was pretty much done. And Emerson just wasn't getting it. She kept reaching up on the counter while I was chopping, and I lost it. Like, stood sobbing in the kitchen, begging her to go play in her room. She looked at me for a minute, and then methodically wandered over to the bottom drawer, where she proceeded to mumble to herself and rummage around for about 30 seconds. She then procured a large box of baggies, handed it to me, and said "Here, Mama. This will help you to be happy."

Oh. My. Goodness. As if I wasn't already sobbing. Of course, I dropped to my knees, gave her a huge hug, and counted my blessings. THAT'S what it's all about.

How'd I get so lucky?

happily reporting that i have nothing to report

Greetings from the other side of the big girl bed. I'm happy to say that Emerson's sleep was fantastic last night (12 hours), she woke up excited and beaming with pride, has blissfully played in her new room and in her bed for the majority of the day, and is, of all things, NAPPING!!! And she's told anyone within earshot that the "old yellow room and crib are for Deuce now." Mission accomplished.

Sheesh, if I'd have known that THAT'S all it'd have taken, I would have busted out the big girl bed a year ago.

Seriously, though, we've made a big fuss about her new room for about a month now, and have really built up the big girl bed thing. So she was prepared and excited. We let her pick the paint color, and even let her help with some of the painting, so she got to take some ownership of the process.

Now, tonite, when she goes to bed after taking a nap (which usually means she sings and talks in bed for a hour or so), it's the true test. Fingers crossed...

happy valentine's day

And a happy day it was! We had a special breakfast of doughnuts with raspberry jelly together this morning...Deuce wanted them...and Emerson opened a little bag of Valentine's treats. Eating breakfast together this morning made me so happy. It was just such a simple thing, but we were all smiling and enjoying the yummy treats. I know that chaos is about to overtake our home, and I'm appreciating the simple moments with my 2 favorite people more than usual these days.






After church, we headed off to Ikea to make a big purchase...a new mattress for Emerson's big girl bed. This afternoon, Emerson and Jeff enjoyed watching the cross-country skiing together on the Olympics before we all headed to some friends' house for dinner.

But the biggest news of the day came at bedtime. After LOADS of work on Jeff's part, Emerson's new room is ready for it's inhabitant, and as I type, she's sleeping in her new big girl bed for the first time. We still have some details to take care of in there (curtains, trim on the floor, some storage units), but she's SO excited to have a new blue room. And she's ready to pass the torch (and her old crib) to Deuce.
(I apologize that this is not the best photo...my battery died, of course, so this is all I was able to take)


It's really all coming together now. Scary.

the fun of being a travel agent

So I have to take a break from my mommy-blogging to share something fun that I got to do for a client today. I have a family of 4 staying on property at Disney World this summer, and their reservation includes hotel, park tickets, and meals. Disney released a discount offer yesterday that applies to their travel dates, so I called down there to see if I could get the rate dropped. I was able to save this family $700!!! I got to send a fun email to my client this afternoon telling her about the savings.

That's just one of the benefits of booking travel with me...I periodically check back on my bookings to see if there are any new discounts that I can apply to the reservation. Lots of times, there aren't. But sometimes, POOF, insta-savings!

I'd love to make a vacation happen for you!

sink or float

Playgroup friends, prepare to sigh at me. (they make fun of me because I'm so "teachery")

This was one of my all-time favorite activites as a child. I remember doing it in o, and our kitchen sink, standing on the step-stool. And I remember exploring it again in Kindgergarten. So when Friday afternoon got a bit long, I dragged out the big plastic bin, grabbed some toys we explored the properties of water.

We talked a bit about how heavy things usually sink and light things usually float. As Em dropped each item into the water, I said "Make a prediction, Em. Take a guess. Will it sink down to the bottom, or float on top?" She was pretty accurate. And she had a blast too.

pictures

I've been promising pictures for quite some time now, and I'm ready to deliver.


Our little snow angel loves to play outside. Too bad her Mama has zero tolerance for winter.


Emerson got to help paint her new room...blue, of course. It's her favorite, don't you know.


My little girlfriend and I love to do yoga together. While it's not the most relaxing way to do yoga, it's pretty darn cute.


Em and her papa made a snowman this week. She named it Frosty. Pretty original, huh?

preschool? really?

So I toured a preschool for Emerson today. Really? How is it humanly possible that I'm checking out schools for my BABY? Ugh. I can't even get my brain aroud this.

For the last 6 months, I've been adamant that Emerson not do preschool as a 3 year old. She will likely not start Kindergarten until she's 6, and I felt that 3 years of preschool was too much. But now that I've really thought about what life will be like for her with a newborn in the house, I have to admit that we won't have as much time for projects and learning and crafts and whatnot. And I reluctantly admit that preschool can do a better job than I can.

But now that it's really upon us, I just can't believe that my daughter's academic career will be starting in SEPTEMBER!!!

When did I get so old?

life is beautiful...crazy, but beautiful

Howdy. I just have to tell you that I heard the best news about a friend today. The kind of news that gave me goosebumps, brought tears to my eyes, and has kept me smiling all day. Talk about an upper! I'm so happy for you...you know who you are ;)

So, I've gone MIA again...It's been a whirlwind couple of days, hence my absence from the blogosphere. But all is well here. My college roomate and her son came for the weekend, so it was a crazy, loud, FANTASTIC weekend with 2 kiddos ruling the roost. And no sooner did she leave on Sunday, then I ended up at the hospital having contractions. Seeing that I'm only 33 weeks today, this was less than ideal, but we got them under control and all is well now. I plan on keeping this kiddo snug and warm inside for another few weeks at least. Add onto that a ton of trips coming my way for work, a newfound sense of nesting and baby preparations, and a 2.5 year old who has forgotten what the word "nap" means, and well, I just haven't had a lot of time to blog. But we're happy, healthy, and loving life around here. My number one priority is to devote as much time to my little girl as possible before her whole world turns upside down next month. And I hope to have lots of great pictures to share here soon.

Make it a great week~