Already Missed a Month...Must Have Been Busy

So, my whole plan was to do this once a month and here I am having missed November...I'm not going to beat myself up about it because I know things have been busy. Let's see, what has been on my mind lately?

1) I spent most of November working on making all my Christmas cards (I made 72 of them and they were ready by the end of November). However, only about 1/3 have been mailed out so far...I guess I can aim to be better about that next year, but I still think people will appreciate them because I made each and every one of them myself.

2) This year I decided that rather than do tons of shopping for gifts and hoping that I find something that speaks to me about each person on my list, I'd make all my gifts. I figured that I have lots of scrapbooking supplies, why not try to use some of that and tap into my creative side? You know what? I am so pleased with how my gifts turned out, that I think I will try to keep this up for next year as well :)

3) I am really getting excited about seeing this new baby and seeing how my little girl adapts to being a big sister. I think she will be fabulous because she is a gentle soul and really is a sweetheart (that's what everyone tells me, and who am I to argue?). I look forward to watching the interaction between my girls. I only hope that my first one does not feel like she is not getting enough attention. I hope she doesn't feel "abandoned" by Mommy because I will have so much of my focus pulled away from her. We'll just have to wait and see...

4) We are less than a week away from Christmas and I still have yet to decorate! What the heck?! I usually do all the stuff the first weekend of the month, but this year with being pregnant and all, it has not been as easy to get things in line. However, this week is the beginning of my year of maternity leave, so I will get the decorating done. No way is my little girl going to NOT have a tree and decorations. I grew up in a house that was always decorated to the max and she's going to get the same thing (she loved it last year and was so excited every time I lit up the tree). Doggone it, it WILL get done!

5) I am pretty calm these days considering that there will be a new baby in about 2 weeks. I can't wait to hold a little one in my arms again :)

Have a Merry Christmas everyone!

The Beginnings of a New Blog

Well, this is my first entry in this new blog. It was inspired by the monthly "challenge" that I just saw on the blog "Just me, My Soldier and our 4 little chicks" which I have been following for some time. I thought, 'what a great idea' since it's the everyday moments that we often forget to keep track of. So here is my very first attempt to follow speaking from the heart...

1) These days I am reveling in my belly. The reason being that I am now 29 weeks pregnant with my second daughter and I seriously LOVE showing it off. There is just something so great in showing off the fact that I have a little miracle kicking away in there (and she kicks a LOT). Not to mention that it is pretty much the only time that I am not self-conscious about my abdominal area. I love being pregnant :)

2) There is a LOT to get done in the baby's room. For my first little girl we were way ahead of the game. This time, we are only a little over 2 months away from delivery time and the guest room that is now to be her room is a huge mess. It has become a bit of a storage area since we started to move things out and get it ready. I have to keep telling myself to tackle one thing at a time. First, I need to straighten up the master bedroom so that I can transfer my scrapbooking stuff from the guest/baby's room before I can help my husband clear out the room to get the painting done (which reminds me, we need to pick up the paint). Then there is an area in our living room that has also become a spot to drop things...ugh! One...thing...at...a...time...I did see a few things at IKEA last week that I think we will pick up this weekend (a new entertainment unit that is much larger than the one we have at the moment that will allow us to store more things and help with the clutter...and a long DIY desk that I can put scrapbooking stuff on that will be narrow enough to fit along the main wall in the master bedroom ~ perfect!).

3) I am loving the stage my little girl is at right now. She is always telling us, "I so happy!" and it makes me smile. She loves to give kisses (especially if she thinks it will make your "bo-bo" all better) and hugs. I will take as many as I can get before she realizes she is embarrassed by us. She is so expressive and her vocabulary is growing so fast. I am just in awe of the little person she is becoming.

4) I wish I was at the end of my pregnancy because I want to be on maternity leave now. I am tired of working and just need a break. I keep telling myself to hang in there because, before I know it, I will get to that year off I am so looking forward to!

5) I am being very conscious of preparing to take lots of pictures of the next baby as well as documenting similar milestones because I don't want her to feel like all my scrapbooking efforts went into her older sister and that she somehow got gypped. We have scheduled pregnancy photos for this one just like we did with the last one. I think it will be fun to do again!

Thanks to Stephanie Howell for inspiring me to do this. I am sure I will look back later on and be thankful I did this :)

And so my first entry comes to an end...Make sure you smile today (it leaves better wrinkles later on ~ lol)!