Projects

I have now reached 35 weeks and "they", whoever they is, say my little guy is now the size of a honeydew melon...

But I'm thinking he's more like a pumpkin... this pumpkin:

Five more weeks to go (unless Owen decides to take his sweet time like his sister did), and I still have a list of projects a mile long. I decided for my own sake I would make a list. Yes, I am a list maker; even to the point of actually drawing little boxes next to the items on my list so I can make a neat little check mark when I'm through with it. So here is my list of "to do's" before baby arrives:

1. Finish painting the kids' dresser
2. Finish Grace's quilt 
3. Sew together curtains out of some great fabric I bought today.
4. Organize the kids closet (which can't actually begin until I get the dresser finished)
5. Hang up picture frames in the kids' room
6. Make Owen a mobile similar to my dear friend Sarah who made this adorable one for her son:

 

 Now to be reasonable with myself, considering I am the size of the fore mentioned pumpkin and have to take breaks every hour or so, I really only have to finish the dresser and the closet. But I also know once baby comes, there will be little time or energy for much of anything, so I want to get as much done as I can.

So there you have it. I will try and post pictures of my accomplishments when they are through. Again more for myself than anyone reading my blog. It's a good way to look back and see all that I accomplished.

Life, Love, and Chocolate Milk

These last few weeks have been a little on the stressful side, to say the least. So my wonderful hubby and I planned a little trip to the coast; to get away, relax, enjoy some time before the baby, and celebrate our anniversary (which happens to be very close to baby time)/Valentines Day. However, it was not to be. Friday night my sweet little girl got the stomach flu. We're talking four loads of laundry, three outfit changes for me, one for Joe, and lots of Febreze. This is the third week in a row I've had a sick girl. Trust me, summer and the end of cold and flu season can't come fast enough.

When I look back on this winter, I can honestly say it has been a doozy. And not just the, ho-hum winter blues, I'm so tired of the rain and ick, when is spring coming kind of winter. But an emergency surgery, sick with a sinus infection for three weeks, family crisis, stress at work, feeling tired and sore because I am really pregnant kind of winter. I'm not exactly sure what God is trying to teach me. Maybe He's not trying to teach me anything. Maybe that's just the way life is sometimes.

I just finished a good book recommended to me by a friend and the last chapter is about loving life, and about choosing to look at what is good instead of wasting my time wishing for something else. How much of life passes us by while we fixate on all the things that aren't going right? How many little details of God's brilliance do we miss? Well I decided to sit down and make a list of the simple little things I've noticed today that say "It is good."

• Little breaks of sunshine between all the rain
• Living on Summer Street instead of Winter because summer is such a happier time full of so many good memories.
• Grace's laugh - her straight from the belly laugh where you can't help but laugh along.
• My baby boy getting the hiccups and making my belly look like an alien is inside me.
• Good friends and a small group who lifts each other up in prayer
• A wonderful husband who does two loads of dishes in one night
• Cute shoes when I don't feel the slightest bit cute
• Ducks, crackers, and Elmo
• A good book
• Chocolate milk, which for some strange reason I can't get enough of right now.
• Using my baby as an excuse to eat more chocolate 
• Not having to go grocery shopping for another few weeks because I just went

Oh and Happy Valentines Day :)

Recent Happenings

What's happening in the Mogford home?
I am still growing a baby and have officially hit the I'm-uncomfortable-no-matter-what-position-I-am-in point. Joe is basically sleeping with 15 pillows + little ol' me sandwiched amongst them. Seven more weeks to go. That is if everything goes according to schedule, which we know never happens. Here is a picture of me at 33 weeks. I really like this dress, but was also told by I think seven different people at church yesterday "wow, you're looking big". Which I heard as "You look ginormous. Could you get any bigger?" I'm telling myself it was the dress. I was also told I look great by about as many people, so it all evened out. ;)

There is also an odd smell in our house that I can't find the cause of. I pray something didn't crawl under our house and die, but I took out all the garbage, did all the dishes, cleaned out the fridge, did all our laundry and looked under both couches. I even got down on my hands and knees, which is quite the feat now a days, and smelled the vents. But so far I have been unsuccessful in determining its source. It wasn't a total loss: the house is a lot cleaner after today.
Grace appears to be returning to her happy self after a long stint of sickness. While helping me in my find the unidentified odor quest, she carried around the broom and "swept" the whole house for me. It was quite adorable and made my heart happy. I have also come to treasure our time together in the morning when we get to cuddle together on the bed. Not sure if this is going to be able to happen after Owen enters the picture, but for now I am savoring each morning. She brings so much joy into our house. While motherhood is one of the most challenging things I have ever done, I don't think I have ever done something more rewarding or joyful.

I have also tried to introduce the idea of the toilet to Grace. We are not ready to start potty training yet, but I thought it might be helpful to get her used to the idea of going on the big girl potty. I know she gets the idea but also has no desire to actually do anything about it. So I was a little surprised to find this in the bathroom the other day:
Yep that's her baby next to the toilet with a bunch of toilet paper by her... um head. It definitely brought a smile to my face.

Words, Lovely Words

To somewhat steal a blog post from my dear friend Jessie, I thought it would be fun to document some of the words (and their translations) that Grace is now saying.

goo or goose = juice
bo = pacifier
kackoo = cartoons
booball = football
elalala = Ella
dakoo = thank you
kacka = cracker


More recently, thanks to her dear friend Elalala and her mom's blog, Grace is in love with Elmo. Her favorite episodes are the booball one and "qack qack" or duck song. I get asked to watch these all day everyday. To be honest, most of the time it is really hard for me to say no because she is so cute about asking. I know, I know, I'm a softy.

And that is all for today folks because lately I have been feeling like this:

Books I Want to Read

I know with a new baby coming I will have limited time to read, but I love books. I thought if I made myself a list maybe I would be more apt to make time to read. So here goes...

Books I want to read this year:

God's Smuggler by Brother Andrew
Affliction by Edith Schaeffer
The Hidden Art of Homemaking or What is a Family by Edith Schaeffer
Safely Home by Randy Alcorn
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Son of Hamas by Mosab Hassan Yousef

Anyone have any more suggestions of must reads?