Playing Catch Up

Happy Easter!!!

We had a wonderful time celebrating as a family yesterday, and I've got the pictures to prove it:

(Easter is a big deal at our house.  Cue big breakfast with the siblings.)

(Someone spied the melon and decided waiting was overrated. Note the coffee cup in hand.  Brother loves him a splash (read: drop) of coffee with the grown-ups.)

(Hello, Miss Mowgli! And hello, awesome green pants.)

(I love my people.)

(He is kind of my favorite.)

(The Hubs is a big fan too.)

(So out of focus, but you can still spy that sweet boy's smile!)

(We had lunch with Newbie's Grandma and Grandpa...Grandma knows how to throw down a great Easter egg hunt and a serious lunch spread! We had a lot of fun.)

(Real. life.)

We wrapped up our Easter celebration with a sunset visit to Jubilee's spot.  Newbie picked out some flowers at the store (tulips- my favorite!) and sang over his little sister.  I'll never tire of watching his innocence and joy in this place.  We tell him his little sister is in Heaven, and Brother gets it.  He sees Jubilee's story with Jesus' eyes, and I hope he always knows the Truth of grace and love and the sweet gift of Easter. We have so much to learn from little ones.

It was a precious way to end our Easter Sunday.

*****
So much has been going on in my neck of the woods outside of this Easter weekend.

And I realize I left some of you hanging on the binky saga.

Let me fill you in: it was brutal.

BRUTAL.

However, two days, three nights, and lots of tears later (Newbie's and mine- ha!) we came out on the other side. And homeboy moved into a big boy bed.

(He's getting a bedroom overhaul for his birthday, so the walls have already changed color since this picture was taken, and there's new bed stuff in the works too.  Birthday boy is psyched...)

I just pummeled through the transition and didn't think too hard about how we were moving the crib and packing up his nursery stuff.  Sometimes you just have to head down and power through if you don't want to get swept away in an ocean of hormones and sentiments.

It helped that we got to move the crib right next door for Little Sister. =)

Potty training, binky outta here, and a move to the big boy bed.  We whacked them all off the to-do list in about two weeks, and Newbie has been a champ about it!

In other news, Miss Mowgli and I are officially into our third trimester.  WAHOO!  This is the home stretch, baby.  Homegirl gave us a scare last week with some serious contractions that didn't go away and ended up landing us in the hospital.  I was NOT on top of my mental game that day.  Being in the maternity ward way too early brought on some intense feelings of deja vu, as it was exactly where I was this time last year.  I was in and out of triage with contractions with Jubilee all the time, and there I was again, this time with Miss Mowgli.  So very thankful to report she looked great, and I was just told that I'm one of the lucky ladies who contracts throughout pregnancy and will have to come in each time I have more than six contractions in an hour because we'll just not know if its the real deal unless we get monitored.  Six times in an hour doesn't happen all the time, but it is safe to say its not entirely out of the question that we might find ourselves there again for a quick check.  We're just hoping if it happens again its as uneventful as it was last week. =) Every week I find myself giving Mowgli a little high five and thanking God that we're one step closer to full-term.  One step at a time!

Next week we have another big ultra sound to check in and make sure Mowgli's growth is still on track and that there's nothing to be concerned about.  I'm thankful for the appointment and looking forward to seeing our little lady again.  So far, so good, and we would so appreciate your prayers that we get more good news for Miss Mowgli next week. =)  Thank you!!!

As we countdown to Go Time, we are scrambling to pull everything together around the house.  By 5 months along with Newbie I had his nursery ready to rock and roll.  HA HA HA.  Right now, Mowgli's nursery looks like the town dump. We've got a ways to go. The good news is that the basement is almost finished so we'll be able to move lots of stuff up and into the basement soon.  I'm looking forward to having a little more space and a good spot to stash toys besides Miss Mowgli's crib.

The other thing we have on our radar is Newbie's THIRD birthday party in a couple weeks.  I don't know how we are already looking at three.  Three?!  When did that happen???  I can't believe he's gotten so big so fast.  He is such a treasure, and we have so much fun laughing and hanging out with our big boy.  He's got baseball on the brain, so a baseball party it is.  Birthday party planning is my happy place- I'm having a good time. =)

("Mommy, yook at my big muscles. I am berry frong!")

Someday I'm going to have to fill a post with Newbie-isms.  It gets so much better than "berry frong". Three is going to be awesome.

I think that covers where we're at these days.  Busy counting down to Newbie's big birthday and Miss Mowgli's arrival.  These kiddos keep me on my toes. =)

Wishing you all a blessed week!