Bun in the Oven

In September of 2007 we announced to the blog world that we were expecting a baby, who ended up being our daughter Charley. In February of 2009, we announced the beginning of another life, which is/who is now Eli. And now blog world, we are announcing, with great anticipation, the arrival of baby three in October. We are very excited! Today was our first appointment and ultrasound, and so far Spicken 3 is healthy and growing well.
We found out when I was four weeks, which is what I consider SUPER early (compared to the other two), and so it feels like I've already been pregnant for FORever. I'm 12 weeks. Not exactly forever.
As you can read about in this post, I wanted to tell Donald in a creative way that I was pregnant with Charley...and it didn't work. With Eli, D was the one who read the test results, so there was no creativity involved in that either. This go around, I was like, "This is it!! (probably) It's now or never..." So... I took the test after he left for work. I had a dentist appointment that afternoon, so he met me at the dentist to take the kids home. The dentist's parking lot isn't exactly a great place to share the news, so I had to wait until I got home from my appointment. The kids were napping and D was on the couch on his computer. D's family had been in town the previous weekend, so we had hamburger and hot dog buns galore leftover from a cookout. I manged to grab a hot dog bun and sneak it in the oven without D hearing me. Phew! I totally can't lie, so I was stressed about how to get him over to the oven, but God spared me and all I had to do is say, "Hey Honey..." and point at the oven. D was like, "Oh yeah!!! I left some of that stuff from Saturday in the oven!" Sweet. I ran with that, and was like, "Can you please come get it out??" He was a tad confused as to why I couldn't just get it out, but thankfully, after only a little persuasion, he came over. He saw the bun and was like, "Oh that???! I didn't know we left a hot dog in there." He didn't get it. I was like, "Yeah, it's a bun." He still didn't get it. "There's a BUN in our oven." ...Oven door shuts. He says, "NOT-ahhh. NOT-ahhh. Are you for real??" NOT-ahhh." He had the biggest smile on his face. It was great. Totally worth it. Success.
And no, it wasn't an accident, and yes, Charley is 2 and Eli is 1. But in October, they will be 3 and 2. Yes, I won't be going anywhere with the kids for a long while. Please come visit us. :)

So here's the first pics of baby three! Praising God for another precious gift!

P.S. My due date is October 31st. Trick or Treat.

Our Night Tonight

Sometimes I have visions of my children at bedtime sitting Indian-style in matching pajamas, hanging on to every word I read out of their favorite storybook, the spotless house filled with the aroma of fresh brewed coffee, and magical Christmas smells like cinnamon and pine. Bedtime tonight, like most nights, well, every night, didn't go like this. It all started on our way to a prayer meeting that our church was having downtown. Let's just say we were about to park at the church when Eli gagged on a chicken nugget and threw up EVERYwhere. Yes, AGAIN. Sooo, I ended up dropping D off at church and headed back home to give Eli a bath and clean up the stinky carseat, which unfortunately has become a ritual in our house. In the meantime, poor Charley was confused as to why we were heading back home and said, "Mommy...I wanna go to church and see my free-ens." sniff. (that's "friends" if you need a translator)
So, we got home, I threw Eli in the bathtub, scrubbed him down, (while Charley comes in and somehow dumps water all over the bathroom floor by trying to "play" in the tub while standing outside of the tub), and then I get Eli's jammies on. Okay...clean baby -- Check. I then have to take the nasty clothes to the sink to get the chunks out (lesson learned the hard way). There's also a grody jacket (now that it's "winter," we have layers of puke-covered clothes to deal with...fantastic). While I'm doing this though, I am praising God for clean, running water!! And a washing machine. Seriously!! Please may I never take these things for granted (well, I do every day, which is just wrong).
I then go in and out of the house to clean out the car and all the things that got dripped on and what not. On one of my trips outside, I heard the door knob jiggling (how do you spell that?!) from inside the house. Must be Charley. Ut-oh- CHARLEY! Yep, sure enough...she had locked the door. And I was outside of the door. With no keys. No phone. And no children. Niiice. Fortunately there's a window on the door out to the garage, so I could see Charley standing at the door. I could only hope that Eli was still playing in the play room, because with his attention span, I probably only had three minutes before he was off drinking the toilet water or something. Soooo, I was like, "Charley. Unlock the door. Turn the little knob thing again." So, thankfully, she listened. BUT...it wouldn't turn. Her little fingers couldn't get a grip on it, and she kept saying, "I did it Mommy!" but it was definitely still locked. So then I was like, "now what?" Even when D got home, he wouldn't have had a key, and all of our spares were for some reason IN the house. Niice. So, I decided that Charley just had to keep trying. So.....five minutes later, boom, she got it. PHEW. And everyone was fine. And I didn't have to throw a brick through the window to get in.
So, yay. I was inside. But still needed to get one more child ready for bed... and did I mention it's PITCH black outside?...thank you Time Change. My body thinks it's like midnight and it's only six o'clock. And bedtime is really an hour away, but...since their bodies think it's seven, and Charley didn't nap at all today, I was definitely aiming for a 6:45 bedtime. Sooooo...we all cleaned up the playroom...Even Eli helped by throwing a toy into the bin, and then clapping...repeat. So precious. Brushing teeth went well, minus the part where Charley starting "cleaning" the sink with her toothbrush, which completely grossed me out. We read stories while Eli pulled books off the shelf and proceeded to rip them. I started talking to Charley about what she had learned in church this morning and said to her "Charley, do you know that God loves you and that He is sovereign and that you can trust Him??" she nodded, and I continued, "Just like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were scared when they were put in the fiery furnace, but God..." she interrupted and said, "No, no, no day weren't scared...day were in de BIGGGGGG fire and de angel dere and God and BIGGGGG fire and BIGGGGG castle and den we went back to our cwassroom and did a cwaft." Amazing. It just made me smile.
So they are sleeping now. deep breath. And I look back at the last few hours and smile. Even though my house isn't clean and my kids' jammies don't match, I sure do hope the Lord received glory from my life today...in the decisions I made...my actions. I hope I can teach my children to clean up throw up with a "happy heart" with no grumbling. I pray that I can love others before myself, including my little ones, who I just want to put to bed without stories sometimes. May I cherish these times with them!!! But for now, while they sleep, the car seat is waiting for me in the garage. sigh. Off I go!
but first...here are a few recent pics...

Eli - 13 months!

Charley - two-ana-half!!

Soooo sweet

Happy Halloween!! (now bring on the turkey!)

How Many Wipes Does a Mommy Wipe?

I was laughing the other day about how my life consists of lots of wiping. Wiping hands, wiping, paws, wiping floors, wiping counters, wiping booster seats, wiping faces, wiping butts. What am I forgetting? Wiping little finger prints off of things. Anyways, that's random, but I've never really thought about how "wiping" is a huge part of being a mom.

look how long my hair is!

Charley will be 16 months on Sunday and is getting to be such a big girl. Still not walking, but I think at this point we may be dealing more with fear rather than ability. This month she started walking behind push toys and being more relaxed and efficient with "cruising." When holding our hands, she practically runs, which is hard for me to keep up with considering I'm waddling more and more.
She is starting to understand more and more things and make more and more connections. For instance, if I say, "You wanna get the mail?" she will drop what she's doing and crawl at full speed to the door to the garage. If I say, "You wanna swing?" she will drop what she's doing and crawl at full speed to the back door. We are working on a simple, "Yes please, mommy." Yesterday she and I were sitting in the living room and we couldn't see the door to the garage, but we heard it open and she squealed very loudly "daa-deeee!!" It was so precious. She loves her daddy.
We are currently making the transition to one nap a day. Her morning nap kept getting later and later (b/c she would just sit in there and play), and then she wouldn't even take an afternoon nap, so I figured we should try to combine them. The first few days of it resulted in one 30 minute nap, which was horrible, and then she had two days of 2.5 hour naps, which was actually worse! She tends to be grumpy with too much sleep. We're on day three of napping 1-3pm. Yay! Maybe that will stretch out even longer the more active she becomes, but for now, it seems to work best for her.
Charley is still pretty reserved in public and just kinda stares at people who talk to her (although she does wave to any and everybody and says hi to them. It's when they actually pay attention to her, she doesn't know what to do!). She loves being silly and laughing, she's in to absolutely everything, and is quite the talker. She is very strong willed, loves being independent (trying to be independent) and will pretty much cry if you try to help her with things. She is generally a very happy little girl and we LOVE being her parents (even during her most stinkiest of moments, literally and figuratively).
And there you have it -- thanks for bearing with me! I hadn't given a Charley update in a while and wanted to do so before the chaos begins! Less than 29 days to go! Oh, and I guess at that point, my "wiping" will double!

Yes, I'm Pregnant

I know, I know -- I have been really really slack this pregnancy with updates and pictures. Here is what's going on and what has gone on over the last 23 weeks.
I found out I was pregnant in late January, and since everyone asks, yes - it was planned. I use the term "planned" loosely, since anyone can have their own "family plan," and God can do what he wants regardless of that. So, I guess it would be more appropriate to say, "Yes, we had the desire to have another baby at this point in our lives." We are very excited, of course, but I'm pretty aware of the fact that football season, Halloween, Thanksgiving and possibly Christmas of '09 are all going to be a big blur as we head into the adventure of having a newborn and a barely walking (hopefully) toddler.
Since I had a great (or not-so-great) story about how I told Donald I was pregnant with Charley, this go around I wanted us to be together instead of me finding out and then botching up a fun plan. So, when I took the test, I sent Donald in the bathroom to get the results. He was in there for a little longer than it should have taken, and then he came out of the bathroom scratching his head (literally), and holding out the stick saying, "What does that mean??" He got my answer when my eyes popped out of my head at the sight of the "plus sign." Apparently I didn't send him in there with directions on what to look for.
So, my first doctor's appointment was February 2nd, and they did an ultrasound the next day to determine my due date since it was a mystery (it was slated September 24th). The first trimester was a little bit harder this go around. I had about three weeks of nausea around supper time and was good-graciously tired. However, everything cleared up around week 10, which was fabulous, and yes, I realize how wonderful my pregnancies have been compared to some women. To say that I only had three weeks of yuckness is definitely a blessing in my opinion.
I started feeling the baby move really early -- for sure at week 15, but had some questionable flutters at 14. Donald felt the baby move on the day I turned 20-weeks. This baby definitely has some moves and is much more active than I remember Charley being. You can already see my belly jumping sometimes!
I had my second ultrasound about a month ago, and as I posted earlier, everything looking great and we decided to not find out what IT is. I went again last week, and the doctor says I am measuring 26 weeks (and I'm only 22). Hmm. She gave me the "no sugar" shpeel that she gives everyone, so I'm really trying to do better. Really.
I still don't have a great pregnant-belly shot. I'm pretty sure I know why -- when I was pregnant with Charley a. I simply had more time on my hands and b. I was working, which means I actually looked nice most days of the week, where as now, I usually have my walking clothes on all day, and I'm lucky to get a shower. I told Donald the other day -- "next time I actually look somewhat presentable, remind me to take a pregnancy shot!". It hasn't happened yet. But, to give you an idea, I'm much bigger already than I was at this point with Charley. That's pretty typical with 2nd pregnancies...especially close-together ones. Let's just say that strangers felt comfortable asking me the typical pregnancy questions like, "when are you due?" at 14 weeks, and no one asked me that until I was like 24 weeks with Charley. Also, I got a full-fledged outtie around week 16 or 17, and that didn't happen until week 30 last time. Here is a picture of Charley and me at the beach -- you can kinda see the belly. She's sitting on it, which is actually very helpful!

Being a Mom Means...

Momhood has definitely changed my perspective on many things and has caused me to acquire new habits. Here's just some of the things that being a mom means to me, which of course won't apply to every mother. Everybody experiences and interprets things differently, so some things you may be able to relate to, and other things, well... you'll just think I'm crazy.

Being a Mom Means...

Having a new relationship with your washer and dryer.
All of a sudden thinking those toddler leashes look like a good idea.
Being out in public and suddenly realizing, "That's baby snot on my shirt." (or spit up, food, or you fill in the blank).
Waiting to put your "nice outfit" on right before you leave in hopes to avoid getting food, snot, spit up, etc., on it.
Melting when your baby smiles.
Finally understanding why your parents worried about you.
Constantly picking up lint and debris off the floor and/or fishing it out of your baby's mouth.
Calling your husband at work to let him know the baby finally had a poopy.
Texting your closest friends to let them know the baby finally had a poopy.
Surprising yourself by having the ability to read, sing, play, or even smile when you're so tired you can't see straight.
Being envious of your daughter's perfect tan.
Answering questions correctly on electronic toys every now and then so that the toys don't think your baby is a complete idiot.
Hoping that the last baby that was in the swing at the park wasn't sick or didn't have a leaky diaper.
Absolutely loving when daddy gets home.
Hoping that sand and dirt are good for the digestive system.
Wishing your child never got sick or hurt.
Hating tile or ceramic (hard-as-brick) bath tubs.
Knowing that God must have had you in mind when He created your child's need for a nap.
Parking next to the cart return.
Not really thinking twice about picking something out of your baby's nose, but being absolutely repulsed if someone else does it.
Being completely grateful to God for the opportunity to be a parent, and trying to never take it for granted.

I could come up with a bazillion more, but I'll stop there. Here's a recent picture of Charley... too cute not to post.