Snore.

You guys, I am a walking zombie today.

Last night my hips were KILLING me.  I hate that part of being pregnant. I have to sleep on my sides because I obviously can't sleep on my stomach or I'll squish the baby's house.  I can't sleep on my back because I can seriously feel my heart stop beating because the baby house is killing my internal organs.  So, it's my sides.  Except, my hips are expanding (cause they should totally expand...and make me feel even larger...I'm totally cool with that) and it HURTS.  So, I toss and turn and curse my body pillow for not supporting my hips more.

Then, for the last week, Julia has insisted on sleeping with every light in her room on.  Not a big deal, Ebeth did the same thing around that age and Evan did too when he was little.  But, Julia will wake up randomly and, since the light is so bright, she has no idea if the sun is up or not.  So, I have been going to her room before I go to sleep and turning off the overhead light (but leaving the desk lamp and the night light glowing).  Well at 6:00 this morning, I bolt out of bed because I can hear her calling for me and I'm assuming she's super pissed to find out that I've turned off a light when she's sleeping.  I walk into her room where I WAKE HER UP BY OPENING THE DOOR. I say, "Juju, did you call for me?"  She then looks at me like I am a moron and says, "No.  And will you turn dat big light back on?".  Awesome.

Thinking I'd dreamt it all, I go back to my room, knowing full well she's not going to go back to sleep for the next hour like I am hoping for, to hear that same noise again.  I tell Evan what happened and he says, "That's a cat making noises outside. I think it can see our cats through the windows." For the love of all that is holy.

As predicted, Julia is up as soon as she hears Elisabeth use the bathroom (at 6:30) declaring that she pooped her overnight pants.  I try to tell her to make Daddy change them (cause I am an awesome spouse) but she says he's in the shower.  So, I very grumpily stomp around to get stuff to change her pants (I need to let the entire house know that I am not happy with any of them and that I am SLEEP DEPRIVED for crying out loud), change her and tell her to go downstairs, without yelling at Elisabeth for once in her short little life, and eat something because I am going back to bed.  Evan comes to kiss me goodbye and to see if I'm getting out of bed.

Nope. No way. I am exhausted and my hips don't hurt right now.

He then asks what he should do with Julia who is awake and fed.  And, that, dear people, is when I say:

"Turn on the tv."

MOTY

Don't worry, though, because Julia came into my room as soon as Evan left to sit on my bed and stare at me while she talked to people on her play cellphone about how I was still sleeping and she was just waiting for me to get up because it was morning.

There is not enough coffee.  But, today, the baby growing in my belly is going to get more than one cup.

Virtual Coffee

Hey there! So glad you stopped by for coffee today! I am having an iced coffee due to the high today being 100 degrees. Yep. Still kind of hot here in Texas.

So, while we chat away, I'm going to show some more "cool" fall pictures of when we went apple picking in Illinois. It makes me feel better.

Today, I am going back into high gear of getting this house completely unpacked. There are a couple of rooms that I won't be able to finish (the nursery and guest room) until we've gotten things replaced by the movers since they broke/lost some things, but there's no reason the rest of the house can't be done. Especially our bedroom. It is a dump right now.

Dude, there are NO pumpkins to buy anywhere here yet. The grocery stores don't have any. WalMart doesn't have any. It's so weird. I know they are shipped in from other states (due to the drought and Texas not really being an ideal place for pumpkin patches), but I kind of thought they'd be here by now. I'd like to decorate the front of my house with pumpkins.

I have pulled out the fall and Halloween decorations for the house, though. I love it when the girls cheer to see some of their favorite things. I have a ghost pillow (that I love) that Elisabeth always insists on cuddling as soon as I pull it out of the tub. Both girls like to reminisce about where we bought the decorations or why they like them so much. Christmas is the same way too. Gotta love holiday memories.
(some of the apples were...um...gross)
So, tell me how it's going with you? Whatcha reading? I'm still working my way through The Scarlet Letter. I had never read it and I am loving it. It's hard for me to concentrate when I am pregnant (I totally gave up reading when pregnant with Elisabeth and even a few months after due to my lack of concentration), but I'm almost done with the book. Apparently, The Scarlet Letter is one that most high school kids are made to read, but somehow I missed out. I might watch the Demi Moore (1995) movie afterwards. I'm sure it's going to be a perfect rendition of the book. ;)

This weekend, I am taking Elisabeth shoe shopping. She has one pair of shoes right now that fit and she asked me nicely if she could maybe have a couple more pairs. Oops. In my defense, she just grew out of children's shoes and is now wearing a women's size 6. Do you know how sad that is?! And her feet are so narrow, I can't just go out and grab a few pairs for her, she actually has to be there with me. But, the girl LOVES shoes, so she's all kinds of excited to get some new ones. I think my sister is going to go with us and Evan's keeping Julia while we're gone, so it's a total big girl day out.

Well, Evan's on his way home for lunch. Have I told you how much we love living on base? Evan has an 8 minute walk to work, so he usually walks there every day and walks home to eat lunch with us. Julia loves it. She gets an entire hour with him in the middle of the day. And, we're so close to the commissary and the gas station, we are barely using any gas. It's awesome. Definitely worth the wait.

Well, thanks for stopping by. Please make sure and see the lovely Amy at Lucky Number 13 if you are in the mood for another cup of coffee and more chatting. I'll see you next week!

Oh, and happy birthday, Kyle!!!!!!!

Celebrating 30 at the zoo.

This past Friday, I turned 30.

As is my birthday tradition, Evan made me a pumpkin pie instead of a birthday cake. I like pie.

I had lots of people ask me how I felt about turning 30. Exactly the same way I feel every birthday--excited it's the day of my birth!!!! Can you believe some people don't care when it's their birthday? I think that's insane. I love my birthday. And, I've never been all worked up about turning 30. Maybe I'll feel different about different birthday milestones, but the idea of turning 3o just didn't freak me out.

For this birthday, I couldn't think of anything I really needed or wanted. And, since last year at Christmas I told our friends and family that I'd rather have them gift the girls chances and opportunities to make memories and experience things, I decided to take my own advice and told Evan that all I wanted for my birthday was to go to the San Antonio Zoo. So, Saturday we went and Evan bought us a membership! Best birthday gift EVER!!!!!
The high on Saturday was 95 degrees (stupid Texas heat), so we got there in the morning when it was still nice and balmy. There are lots of flowers at the San Antonio zoo. I may have taken a ton of pictures of them. I'll just share a couple with you today.
We really enjoyed the zoo. It is HUGE and a small aquarium in it that Julia loved. She even wore her fish dress to show the fish at the zoo. There was this weird, ugly, tired turtle that I kind of couldn't stop staring at:
And there was this spotted sting ray that looked like a cow that I loved:


More flowers...
The girls liked it. There was so much to do that there was no way we could do it all in one day. I kept telling them we'd be back a million times and we'd totally do it all.
Have you ever seen an alligator like this before? Or is it a crocodile? Crap, I can't remember.

By 1:30, we were done. It's was creeping up into the 90s and Julia gets just as cranky as I do when she's hot and sweaty. We made one last trip to see the elephants and got to watch them being fed...and happened to stumble upon the hippos who were comically cuddling underwater.


I told the girls that this zoo will rock during cooler weather because we'll get to see the animals move around more. Plus, it never gets too cold, so it's a zoo we can visit all year long!!! It was a great birthday weekend.

Virtual Coffee

Hello there! I know it's been forever, but would you like to have a Virtual Coffee with me today? Cause I could totally use a good friend chat this morning and we haven't caught up in forever.

If you were really here this morning...I'd probably show you around a little and remind you that the house is still a work in progress. I totally plan on giving a "virtual tour" of the house once we're done, but these last couple of days I haven't been in the mood to organize. I've been in the mood to veg.

Thankfully, the kitchen is fully done (except that one counter that is a catch-all because we're still trying to find homes for some things). It's always the first room in the house that I need to have completely organized when we move in. It's what makes me feel "at home" in a new house. Right now, I totally have everything where I want it and I'm ready to start cooking and baking to my hearts content again. Oh, and did I mention this place has a gas oven? Cause it does. It's fabulous.

If you were really here for coffee today...I'd tell you how the weather has been pleasant lately. Highs in the low 90s and cool enough in the morning to not feel stupid for drinking a hot cup of coffee. We even were able to go venture to the park after dinner the other night.

The park is just down the street and definitely geared more for big kids and not toddlers.
But, there are swings, so that makes my Juju happy.

If you were really here for coffee today...I'd tell you that, right now, I'm not feeling trapped and lonely. Yet. Part of it is that I'm still so busy getting the house together that I haven't really had a chance to think about my lack of friends here. However, unlike when I moved to Colorado and had a "I'm the loneliest person on the planet" meltdown, I am taking some preventative steps. I am starting a new book club in October, which I am kind of excited about. Well, I guess the part I'm most excited about is that the restaurant they hold the meetings looks delicious!!!! I have been really craving baked goods this pregnancy and the restaurant has a fabulous delicatessen selection. Mmm....

There is also a breastfeeding group at the hospital on base that meets weekly that Julia and I will be visiting soon. Nothing like a bunch of nursing moms to develop some friendships.

Well, I have laundry calling my name and, even though I don't feel like it, I have some rooms and some unpacked boxes that need my attention. It was so nice of you to stop by for coffee. I have missed our chats. No worries, I will be here next week with a nice hot cup waiting for you.

Our Illinois Trip

I must warn you, this post is picture heavy. We spent 8 days roaming around Illinois, visiting friends and our favorite places, and I'm just sharing a smidge of the pictures that I actually took.

I heart taking pictures.

Thankfully, I have a digital camera, because could you imagine how much money I'd be spending on film and development?!?! It'd be billions, I tell you.

As you might remember, we started off our trip in Chicago to celebrate my dear friend Melissa's wedding. While we were there, we took advantage of exploring the city. Poor Julia hadn't been to Chicago since she was 6 months old, so it was all new for her.

The girls were most excited to have their Nina and Papa with us.
Melissa had booked an architectural boat tour of Chicago as part of her wedding weekend. It was so interesting and we got to see a part of Chicago we'd never seen before. They also served lemonade and cookies, so the girls were content.


After the boat tour, we walked over to Navy Pier for some lunch and rides. Julia saw the ferris wheel and fell in love instantly. She could not wait to ride it.


After the ferris wheel, Jana and Ebeth rode on the swings...
and Julia took a ride on the carousel.

The view from our hotel rooms was gorgeous. I just love Chicago. I need to make sure I don't go so long without visiting.


Why is she so big?
After Chicago, we headed to DeKalb to visit some of our favorite places and friends. Julia was so excited to get to play on a playground. The poor thing hasn't been able to play at a park because of the super hot Texas weather.

Elisabeth went to visit her dearest friend, Avery. It's so fun to see them reunite.
And then, we finally made it to Pekin where this little red head was waiting for us. (Look at those curls!!!!)
Owen is 15 months old now, and though he is protesting the walking (he is a night time walker only), he made sure to be involved in all the big kid playing.


And then there was my Ethan, who is sooooo tall and still moves too fast to get a ton of pictures (although, he does stop and smile for pictures now if you can catch him fast enough!).

Owen loved Evan. He would seek him out for nap time snuggles or reach for Evan if he saw him. It was super cute.
Julia got to take Ethan to preschool one day. Ethan showed her off to everyone. :)

We got to see my grandparents, which I always am excited about.


We went to the Marigold Festival for the first time in years and Julia got to watch her first parade.
We had a great trip. It's hard to only see family once a year (as Elisabeth declared on the car ride back to Texas), but it does make the time you do see them more special.