The Expectant Quartet

Amanda's husband Michael videoed us singing on Sunday, and has uploaded the clips. Check us out!

The Call to Worship: "Tis so Sweet"

The Expectant Quartet - Opening Act from Michael Snowden on Vimeo.

The Offertory: "Day's of Elijah"

The Expectant Quartet - The Offering from Michael Snowden on Vimeo.

Thanks, Michael!

Day Four

of Joanna's fever and unusually grumpy grumpiness. We discovered she had a fever Sunday evening before bed. I was assuming it was a tooth thing since I know she's cutting molars, but since it's lingering, maybe it's something more. It has definitely been an un-fun week. She actually seems to be feeling okay right now, so maybe there's hope for MDO tomorrow. It's their last summer day! She had to miss Tuesday. I do not like it when Joanna misses school. It makes me very sad. I think it makes her sad, too. I know her teachers miss her (I mean, wouldn't you?).

So today after two days of staying at home catering to a very grumpy child, I decided we had to get out of the house. We drove over to the new Super Target for a little shopping. I've found that's the only place I can find my laundry detergent. We also just bummed around and picked up a few odds and ends. Famous Footwear was right next door so we went in and Joanna tried on a few pairs of shoes. Nothing was just perfect, although we came close to getting a pair of pink converse! It was almost lunch when we finished and we were both hungry, so we headed to one of our favorite places to eat, Panera. I love how they have healthy choices on the menu as well as lots of whole grain and organic ingredients. Joanna hasn't been eating much lately, but she had some of my spinach artichoke egg souffle (perhaps not a super healthy choice -- but very yummy!) and a few bites of apple with her milk. On the drive home, some sunglasses and a magazine kept Joanna out of dream-land.

I just layed her down for a nap. I think I may head that way myself after I finish this post. I have some cleaning and work to do, but the bed is just so tempting!

A few minutes ago we were playing in the play kitchen. Joanna is getting very good at the pretend thing. We "cooked" some food in the oven, then used spoons to "eat" it. That girl is so cute!

Some more recent cute/new things:

• She now officially says "bye-bye" instead of "dye-dye." Sometimes it sounds like "buh-bye." So cute.
• She says "outside" when she wants to go out. She also says it when you put her shoes and socks on. I think "outside" is another word for shoes.
• She knows how to sign "please" and "thank-you," but up until recently she would only do it when asked. Now she has started doing it on her own. She sign thank-you when we give her something (especially if it's something wonderful) and she'll sign please when she wants something (especially if it's something wonderful.)

Our house is in a shambles this week. We got the closet and corner of our room cleaned out in preparation for New Baby, and I decided I wanted to use it until then. I have become increasingly frustrated with my dining room/office. I like being able to scrap and stuff in the living area, but I am so sick of being so cramped in the dining room. I constantly have scrapbook stuff out on the table and there's no room for the high chair. So I decided to move a dresser, a desk, and a small bookcase into the bedroom for my scrapbook stuff. It is perfect! The stuff is still up and out of the way so Joanna can go in there, but there is so much more space in the dining room! I left my big bookcase and my computer in the dining room because of lack of space and it really is the perfect place for my computer. It's on the bar where little hands cannot reach it.

Joanna just woke up. I think she may have slept 30 minutes. This is very very sad. If her Daddy or Gran were here they could get her to go back to sleep. Me, I'm just counting the hours 'till Matt comes home. Then I might go away somewhere. Far far away. I miss my sweet Joanna. I want her back. GO AWAY FEVER AND JUNKINESS!

Now it's a few hours later. Matt is home. Yea!!!!!! After nap Joanna and I stopped at the church and then headed to Babies R Us for some shoppin'. I picked her up a little soft toddler chair. I just couldn't wait any longer. In the 5 minutes we've been home, I am positive she likes it. A lot. I also got a leash for Joanna. Yes, I am one of those mothers. I don't plan on using it a lot, but I really wanted to have one on stand-by. Joanna loves to walk, but she's all over the place (of course) and fast (of course), and as the days go by, I'm slowing down a little. :)

I also decided to make an doctor's appt for Joanna for tomorrow. I'll feel bad canceling it early if she wakes up with no fever (wait a minute, no I won't), but I was able to get an 8:40 with our doctor at the Kingwood office (yea!) instead of over in Atascocita where we usually see him. The Kingwood office is VERY close to the church, so we'll be set to go to work after the visit. Imagine, people still want the bulletins printed when Joanna is sick. I can't believe it!

Play Day, Parties, and Performing

I was going for some alliteration with the title.

But before we get to those topics, last weekend Matt and I had the opportunity to go out to dinner and SPLURGE on a feast. Sure Matt laughed at me, but I took pictures of the food. Oh, this was SO good. And I got a couple of meals out of it.

Matt had some kind of steak/seafood thing on top of mashed potatoes.

And for dessert...A giant chocolate chip cookie filled with more chocolate covered in ice cream. Um, yum. A lot.

We got an exersaucer for new baby, and had finally figured out how to collapse it down for storage when Joanna decided to climb in. She got slightly stuck, but that didn't really seem to bother her. On Friday for play day, we went to the children's museum downtown for some fun. First, let me remind you of Joanna the last time we went to the children's museum:Joanna was almost 10 months old. It's amazing what a different 7 months makes at this age. For me, the real difference is the lack of teeth and hair!She had fun then, but she really enjoyed the trip this time. There were like a billion kids there, but Joanna didn't mind. She spent a long time going up and down the stairs and ramp. She loved collecting balls and carrying them around. Good thing there were many many balls there.
"You lookin' at me?"
She spent some time hugging on some babies. And reading the giant version of Goodnight, Moon, a personal favorite.
She climbed into this little pit to play with the animals and dolls there.
Staring at her reflection in the plastic. She's pretty infatuated with that beautiful girl that shows up in mirrors lately.
Riding a fish.
And outside the "Tots" area, driving a train with her friends Anna and Emma. I didn't manage to get any pictures of Caleb and Colton, who also came with us. She's a little short, I guess.
And driving a van.
We had a great time playing, then we had lunch, then checked out a couple more things before heading home. Lisa and her girls Anna and Emma rode with us. Anna and Emma fell asleep in the car, which I was fully expecting Joanna to do. But SHE STAYED AWAKE THE WHOLE WAY HOME. She loves me; she really loves me!

Continuing our busy weekend, the ladies in our home group threw a baby shower for our friend, Kim. Kim has Caleb (see the Ege's blog), and they have a little girl on the way. So, we went all out pink on this one. Check out the fabulous decorations and cake: There are some seriously talented ladies in this bunch. I made the punch, but of course forgot to take a picture of it. You can imagine it. It was a container of rasperry sherbet mixed with a 2 liter bottle of sprite. Super easy, and if I may say so, quite yummy (and, of course, pink). I stopped taking pictures after this. I didn't have pockets and I didn't feel like keeping up with my camera. I've sent an email picture begging (hint, hint, ladies!), but you can also check out most of the other blogs linked to mine for more pics. I know Theresa already has some up -- over acheiver!

When I got home, we decided to move this dresser across the room. Doesn't it totally look like Joanna's helping Daddy? She was really straining, too. Obviously it didn't go anywhere.

This is me this morning (at 7:20am!) before heading to church. "The Expectant Quartet" (The four pregnant ladies from our home group) sang in church. If I may say, I think we rocked it. It was really fun, and of course we got all kinds of jokes about our "situation." A couple of the ladies, Kim and Amanda, are due this fall so they're sporting pretty big bellies. I have a tiny pooch (courtesy of all my cheeseburgers and ice cream!), and Theresa isn't really showing yet as she's due in March. So we were all stages of pregnancy up there. I didn't manage to get a picture of us. I keep thinking about it during the service, when it wasn't an appropriate time. Oh, well. I don't think this will be the last the world will see of us. :)
Continuing my preggo side shots: 16 1/2 weeks pregnant.

Ramblings

Sorry no pics of cute Joanna, just rambling from me. I just have to say that I LOVE this weather! Sure it's wet and yucky. And you can't play outside or swim, and your shoes, socks, and pants get wet a lot. And you can't really do your hair. However, when I put my thermostat at 76, it STAYS at 76 ALL DAY LONG. That is amazing. And fabulous. And wonderful. Because recently our afternoons and evenings have been in the family of 80+. Which is hot. I shouldn't complain because at least we have a/c, and fans and all that stuff, but I like to complain a little. I love to have my window blinds and back door open and not worry about how much light/heat am I letting in. And I like being able to turn my car off and sit there for a minute without dying. And I like wearing pants. And I like not wearing my sunglasses constantly. And I like cloudy days, okay?

In unrelated news, I've been trying really hard recently to remember to use my canvas shopping bags when I go to the grocery store. Sometimes I remember; mostly I do not. I always think about it at the check out line. At that point I have a basket full of groceries and a Joanna. I just can't make myself go out to the car to get the bags. Sometimes I'm in a different car and I forget to bring the bags at all. Yesterday, though I was walking in to Kroger and they had a sign that said "Don't forget me" or something like that with a picture of a canvas shopping bag. Yea! At that point I was happy to go back to the car and get the bags. Especially since I was parked in the stork spot. Yes I know, I'm lazy. I don't have a bunch of bags yet so I still came home with one paper sack. I'm not letting myself buy more bags until I'm in the habit of actually using them. They do not do the earth any good in my car. And I can use the paper sack for a craft. If I want to.

The X-Files movie comes out tomorrow. I am very psyched. Very very very psyched. At this point, I'm probably going to go by myself. Which is not me trying to sound all pathetic (I will actually enjoy it!). We just didn't get around to getting a sitter. Did I mention I'm a little lazy? There is a midnight showing tonight, but I'm thinking that would really be a bad idea. I'm trying to see myself tomorrow after having watched a movie from 12-2am. Hmmmm... I don't think so.

16 weeks and 17 months

I can't believe Joanna is 17 months old now. She's almost 1 1/2! We weighed her using our super-accurate (um, not) bathroom scale, and found that she is 22.5lbs! OH MY GOODNESS. That tiny girl was just over 16lbs at her 1 year check up, and like 19lbs at 15 months. Talk about a growth-spurt. I sure feel it when I carry her around.

My big girl came with me to the OBGYN this morning for the 16 week check up. She was so good! We got to hear the heartbeat, and discovered that little one had the hiccups. It was so cute -- beat, beat, beat, beat, ka-thump, beat, beat, beat, ka-thump. My nurse couldn't believe that one so early had the hiccups. My babies are so advanced. :) I'm gaining too much weight, but I figured that. I feel like I'm eating constantly. I just need to reign my meals in, a little. And probably drop the Jr. Bacon Cheeseburgers and ice cream. Drat. We set up the appointment for the ultrasound. It will be August 21st. I'm so excited! Just four weeks and we get to see pictures of little fetus!

Pics and thoughts

Here are some random recent pics:

Joanna and I are usually up at the church 3 of the 5 week days. Two days are school/work days and one is for Bible Study/nursery. Every time we're up there we always stop into the office because everybody there goes through Joanna withdrawal without her (I mean, wouldn't you?). You may recall that we used to work there full time so all these people have known Joanna her whole life.

One of Joanna's favorite things to do is play with the pens in Barbara's desk. Here she is answering the phone also. Joanna is very good at answering phones. She doesn't usually say anything, but she's a great listener.

On the way home from MDO last Thursday. Joanna the Elephant:
Such a creative child.

Joanna in her swim gear before the pool on Monday. She actually keeps this hat on very well. I am quite impressed.
Joanna's favorite thing to do at the pool this past trip: Dunk the sheep in a bucket of water.
Our friends Megan and Madison on the great turtle in the kiddie pool.

That's all I've got for pictures. I've been slacking a little lately in my photo-taking. I can't believe I didn't take any of Joanna and Di Di.

So it really hit me today how tremendously lucky I am. I think part of it is all those pregnancy hormones, but I'm feeling all warm and fuzzy today. I have a fabulous husband, amazing daughter, a little baby growing inside that is NOT causing me to be sick constantly, a cute little house, a super wonderful loaner car, cinnamon rolls, and air conditioning. What more could a girl want? Not much. Although I have been pretty addicted to Kingwood Yard Sales lately :) This time around (baby-wise), I have a pretty good idea of things I didn't have with Joanna that I want to have for new baby. Either because I did use them (borrowed) or I wish I had used them. So KYS has this feature where you can go in and put the things you are looking for (i.e. bumbo chair, exersaucer, play kitchen, etc.) and they will email you when somebody posts an ad for one. It's pretty nifty for a couple of reasons: it keeps me from constantly checking KYS for stuff, and it's always nice to get email. So this evening it seems I've gone crazy. People have been posting ads for several things I'm looking and for the price I want. Yea! I love buying (some) baby stuff second-hand. It's better for the environment, it's cheaper, and it declutters other people's homes. So tonight I finally brought home a kitchen for Joanna. I've been on the hunt for a while. She LOVES it. It has lots of doors to open and close, and she has already "washed" her hands at the sink. What a brilliant child! I also picked up an exersaucer for new baby that is very cute, and I will pick up a Bumbo chair tomorrow. I've been holding out for a green one of those, since we don't know which type of new baby we're getting, and I like green. It's funny, the Bumbo is actually from a family we know from church. Small world. Okay, I guess not really -- it IS KINGWOOD Yard Sales. Anyway, I think that's nice. I get to help declutter the home of an aquaintence. I know I'm starting this whole "collecting baby stuff" kind of early seeing as how I'm only like 1/3 of the way into my pregnancy and the baby will need to grow a little after it's born to even be able to use this stuff. However, I don't care. I remember the end of my last pregnancy. I remember having a newborn. These were stressful times, and I did not feel like shopping/driving around town. The only downfall is that we have to store this stuff. Oh, well. I don't think Matt really needs all that room on his side of the bed. :)

Still killin' time at the church

Or rather, killing time again. This time I'm not waiting on Joanna, she has a couple more hours at school. Thursdays are my "big" work days, and I'm waiting on the copier to finish printing my bulletins. It is slow. I've started, finished, and loaded my Media Shouts, printed the 8:30 bulletin, and spilled a root beer on the carpet. Now I want to take a nap. I'm really hoping I'll have time for that this afternoon. I also want to sweep the floor and do laundry, but I think the nap will win out...if the copier ever finishes the bulletins. I still haven't uploaded new pics to the computer, but I thought I would post some general updates on the cute Joanna.

• She loves making noises for things. Mostly she makes animal noises. Her favorites are dog, cat, sheep, and cow. She also makes noises for other things. One that comes to mind is the sound you make after you drink a soda -- aahh. She'll point to our glasses (of anything: water, soda, milk, coffee) and say "aahh." It's hilarious.

Okay the copier finished, I went home, I didn't get my nap but it's okay. It's now well over 24 hours later and I'm just now finishing the post.

• Joanna is at the stage where you can hand her something and say, "bring this to Daddy" and she'll do it! I think it's wonderful. Along those same lines, when she gets in to something she's not supposed to, she will generally bring whatever it is to you or at least look over at you or say "uh-oh" or something. I know this won't last which is why I'm enjoying it a lot now.

Okay I'm going to start another post because I don't feel like moving the pictures/text around once I upload them.

...to be continued...

I'm killing time at the church waiting to pick up Joanna so there won't be any pics in this post. I have the camera with me but no camera cord. I don't have much to post, but there are a couple of cute pictures I'll upload later...hopefully. Now that Joanna's back in MDO for a little while, Tuesdays after staff is theoretically my time to clean house, do laundry, etc. It's really enjoyable to get it done at least once a week :) However, I keep having other stuff to do -- which is fine because it needs done too, and frankly, most of it's more fun! Like today I met with three other ladies up at the church to practice a song we're going to sing in church. It's funny because four of us in our home group bible study decided to get together and sing something one Sunday this summer and it ended up being the four pregnant ladies in the group. So we are the "Expectant Quartet." And you can bet I'm printing that in the bulletin, too. I think we're doing a great job so far. One of our group actually wrote out parts for us (yeah Kim!) and I think we're sounding pretty good! Anyway so that's why I'm chillin' at the church for a little while. I don't have time to go home, and I'm pretty sure Joanna's sleeping over there so I'm not picking her up any sooner than I have to. That child needs her sleep for sure.

Joanna and I are pet sitting this week over in a sub-division close-by, just up the street from the pool. So after playing with the little dog yesterday morning, we decided to take a swim. I was actually expecting Joanna to have a little more fun than she seemed to. She wasn't sad or anything; she just wasn't her water-loving self. The kiddie pool was very nice -- big and it went from 1ft-2ft, which is pretty snazzy. I think she really wanted to be able to get down on her belly like she does in the bathtub, though, and the water was too deep for that; she kept going under. I will say she handled that very well though. We walked in to the pool to find some friends of ours already swimming. My friend Pam and her twin daughters were there enjoying the sunny day. I think it's funny that neither of us live in this sub-division, but we were both there swimming. It is a nice kiddie pool. Joanna and I also got in the big pool, and she seemed to enjoy that a bit. I think her favorite part of the whole adventure was standing in the water by the side giving a little plastic lamb a bath in a bucket. I have pictures if you can't quite get the mental image. We also brought along our lunch and had a little pool picnic. It was a nice time; I do wish the pool opened up early than 11:00, though. We didn't get to stay too long before we had to head home for a nap.

Joanna is so cute with the little animals we're taking care of this week. The animals are pretty self-sufficient -- there's a doggie-door, so all they need is occasional food and company. The cat is very sweet, and Joanna loves to point at her and say "ow, ow." The dog is also very sweet, but VERY excited. She's a little fluffy thing (I don't know dog brands) named Didi. She's knocked Joanna over a couple of times because she's SO excited to see her. Joanna loves Didi's toys, and for the most part Didi is good about sharing with her. If Joanna would just figure out how to throw them, these two would be quite a pair. We're only over there for a little while every day, but it's pretty tiring keeping up with a toddler and a dog. Especially when the toddler LOVES the dog but doesn't actually want the dog to touch her. Funny little girl.

Last night we had home group, and we took Joanna with us due to her being only 1 and not able to stay by herself. :) She did really well, in my opinion. Sure, she's a major distraction, but that's just because she is the most beautiful, congenial creature ever. Right. She played and played with Miss Abby's toys. I think she especially loved the vacuum cleaner (go figure) and Abby's little soft princess chair. I've been thinking about getting a little chair like this for Joanna so she has a place to sit in the living room. We have her rocking chair, but she loves to stand up in it that it stays in the closet a lot. I realized the other day that with our big 'ol furniture, she really only has the floor to sit on when we're just hanging out in the living room. Especially seeing how much she loved Abby's little chair, I think that's a purchase for the near future. I would love to get something a little more "neutral," like Sesame Street or something, versus Princess or Cars which are pretty gender-specific in their coloring and target audience. The little pink princess chair is really really cute, though. We'll see!

It's time now to go get Joanna and find something fun to do this afternoon. I'll try to post pics soon.

Growing Up

Today when I dropped Joanna off in the nursery, I handed her off to the nursery lady, and Joanna waved "bye bye" to me. No crying, no sad face, just "see-ya, mom."

Summer MDO!

Don't get me wrong, I like hanging out with Joanna full time. I really like it. It's the best job ever. However, I am really glad that Joanna has Mother's Day Out for the next 4 weeks. It is just so crazy trying to get my work done at the church with Joanna with me. For the past 6 weeks, I've had lots of help from Joanna's grandmas and friends while I've worked, but I've still had her with me some. It is so nice when she's in "school" while I work. I know she's having fun, and she's really well taken care of. What more could a mommy ask for?

I was thinking about it today, and I realized that I haven't really missed MDO the last 6 weeks. I realized, though, that the roughest weeks of my first trimester were when school was on a break. Go figure. I'm really started to get my energy back these days, and my nausea is all but gone. I tried to cram a lot in while Joanna was playing at school. I went to staff meeting, I went to the dermatologist, and I tried to clean my house... a little. First I had to have my mother-in-law come rescue me from cockroaches! Thank you Mom! The day went by sooooo quickly, but it was so wonderful to have a little time to pick up toys and sweep without sweet Joanna following me around pulling out toys and picking through dirt piles. She's weird.

When I went to pick her up at 2:30, this is what I found:I was expecting this. 2:30 is pretty much right in the middle of nap-time. I decided to let her sleep for a little while, but I finally woke her up at 3:00. I can't wait all day, you know.

I found this in her bag: So cute! I'm pretty sure she didn't actually color most of it. I know Joanna. I've seen her color. She doesn't. She eats crayons.

Warning: Extremely long proud momma post ahead

Mostly this post is about 4th of July fun, but there's other assorted things thrown in, too.

Like this:

I've been sort of hunting around for sunglasses for the Joanna. I could find the ones with the straps on them, but I just wanted plain 'ol sunglasses. I knew she wouldn't keep them on for long, but it would be some help against the blaring Texas sun.

Like I mentioned before, Kathryn and Patrick were down last week visiting. They brought precious little moccasins for BOTH babies! Joanna's are still a little big, but they stay on her feet really well, and they are SO cute!
These are New Baby's. They are so soft and so tiny!

Joanna ended up with so many patriotic outfits that we had to wear them over several days. Here we are on Thursday for a fashion show in the front yard. One of Joanna's little friends handed down a few things including this cute little denim skirt with red and white stars on it and the little white flip-flop sandals. Mamma brought her the red bow (and any other bows you see in this post!).Joanna can pull the sunglasses off, but she can't put them back on yet. She says "uh-oh" when they come off. She calls them "eye." Isn't that brilliant?!


On Friday morning we went to the parade! We thought Matt wouldn't be able to come with us, but he went to work really early and got his stuff done and was home early enough to go. Yea!
Joanna LOVES parades. We did not know this, but we're definitely hitting any local parades when they come up. Joanna was facinated with our parade-watching neighbors. One lady had a water bottle almost within reach and the family on the other side had dogs -- woof woof! That may have been Joanna's favorite thing about the parade. There were quite a few dogs, and she greeted them all with a "woof woof."
Cute shoes, again.

Sometimes my sweet little girl gives me kisses right on the mouth. Other times she shakes her head and pushes me away with her hand. I'll take what I can get.
Joanna watching.

Ooooohhh, some goodies: a water bottle, bead necklace, and a flag. Parades are so much fun!
I also let her have a taste of a grape sucker. Oh, she's a fan, for sure.

And just randomly, there was a really big snake in the parade. Just thought I'd share.
Friday afternoon/evening we headed over to a friend's house for a fun evening. All the kiddos were dressed in their red, white, and blue so we had to try and get a picture. This was the best I got:
From left to right we have Joanna, Aidan, Anna, Caleb, and Abby. Anna's baby sister Emma was there, too, but she wasn't up for a group picture yet. After a yummy barbeque dinner, we went outside to play for a while. The Ege's have a great swing set and a lot of open space in their backyard. Joanna was swinging on this two person back and forth thing with Anna but she kind of took a nose dive off her seat. It was ugly. I actually have it on video, but I promised a couple of people I wouldn't post it, cause, well, it's ugly. There was no blood, only some crying. Joanna was fine. I'll show the video to anyone who wants to see it. :) After that, Joanna was happy just to sit down and chill for a while. She was pretty tired by this time. It was after 7, I think.
Here are some friends on the swing set.
Football, anyone?

Joanna ended up getting a second wind after a little snack and some milk and we stayed until 8:45! When we got home and I handed her the blanket and giraffe, this is what we got:
On the pregnancy front:

Still not much of a belly, although I am definitely filling out my bigger clothes pretty well -- 13 weeks.
Saturday morning Matt and I headed downtown to Whole Foods for some grocery shopping. I love Whole Foods. Sure, it can be expensive and it takes 40 minutes to get there, but it's just so nice! Then Matt and his dad and his nephew went to pick up Joanna's new outdoor toy. A friend of ours was ready to get rid of it, so we took it off their hands.

Oh, that girl climbed up the slide. Then she slid down (with help). Then she climbed up again; then down. And over and over and over. She has really strong muscles.
That evening we went to Mamma and Pop's house just to hang out for a while. Cousin Kurt was there, too. Look at these cute cousins. And Matt.

It was a very busy weekend, but we had lots of fun. It's a little sad to be back to our plain 'ol Monday. Although it is nice to recover from all that fun.