Ramblings . . .

I'm tired. I don't like being tired, and perhaps I'm just thinking about it more today because we got up at 5:00 am this morning to travel home, but I'm sick of being tired.

And I'm sick of not getting good sleep. You are probably thinking, "just wait until the new baby arrives. . . " but, theoretically, at least I'll physically feel like I can sleep (even if I'm being woken up every two hours by a newborn).

I hate not having the energy I want to play with Ella. She learning and growing so much each day, and I want to be involved with her (obviously). I am absolutely amazed at how much energy she has these days and wish I could borrow some of it! :) Speaking of playing with Ella, does anyone have any toddler blogs they enjoy reading with good ideas of activities to do with your toddler? I've got a few ideas of some things I want to do with Ella, but I'd love to read some blogs to get lots and lots of ideas!

I am so thankful to have such as wonderful husband! He has gone above and beyond to help relieve me throughout all this time of being tired and having no energy.

My photo of Ella was picked as a favorite last week at the Trendy Treehouse blog. Woohoo!




I really need to get to work getting Ella and baby brother's room together. Even though the baby will sleep in our room in the beginning, I really want the room together before he comes for a couple of reasons. For starters, I'd like for it to be DONE. And secondly, I'd like to be able to take pictures of him as a newborn in the room. Silly, I know, but I do love photography (in case you haven't figured that out by now, lol). I've picked the paint colors, so hopefully I can get motivated to at least get a start on the room this weekend.

I'm so thankful for my family! We were able to go visit both sides of our family this past weekend (one last trip before the baby arrives), and we are so absolutely blessed by them!

And, as much as I'm ready to not be pregnant anymore (considering my comments about being tired and having no energy earlier), I'm so thankful to be pregnant, and I can't wait to meet our little boy.

I Heart Faces: Surprise!

Check out all the surprises on I Heart Faces this week!

Peaches!

I mentioned that one of Ella's new words this month is "peaches" and boy, she sure does love peaches! Her dad has been taking her every week to the local farmer's market to visit one of our friends who specializes in peaches. She usually eats one or two peaches just sitting there visiting with our friend during the few minutes they are at the farmer's market. Plus the peaches they bring home never go bad . . .she gobbles them up! She loves Mr. Cliff's peaches! Sadly, the peach season is ending, and there are probably only one or two more weeks of the farmer's market.

We've been visiting with my parents who have a few peach trees on their property. Ella enjoyed some of their peaches as well, and also had fun helping her dad get rid of the bad peaches (aka, she tried to throw them like dad over the fence). :)

I'm glad Ella loves fruit so much!

Happy 18 Months Ella!

Happy 18 Months Ella!

When I started writing these posts last month, I never imagined you would learn and grow so much in one month! Your energy is amazing, and you love to run and climb everywhere. You learned how to kick when you were playing with your dad at McCarty. You love to dance, and you start dancing when the music comes on - even if we are in the car (I've posted a video below of you dancing in the car - sorry for the video quality, I took it on my phone). You respond with the cutest "uh-huh" and head nod when you want something or you are answering "yes" to something we ask you.

Last month, I was able to write down every word you knew. This month, you know so many words, I can't even imagine writing them all down. I would never get them all! Your dad observed that you are learning at least 1-2 new words every day (if not more!).

Some new words you've added this month . . .

• "Boos coos" and "dotebook": As I mentioned recently, you love "boos coos" (aka Blue's Clues). When you are watching the show, you even holler out "dotebook" (aka "notebook") when clues are written down in his "handy, dandy notebook."
• Purse: You love to carry a purse around with you, and put things in and out of your purse including smurfs and some 'lipstick' that you put on your lips.
• Door: I didn't know you even knew the word "door" until we were at the doctor's office for your 18 month check-up and you wanted out of the room as fast as you could get out. You did not want to see the doctor!
• Hot: You've learned that the oven is hot, sometimes food is hot, sometimes water is hot (like in your bath), and that it is REALLY hot outside. I'm amazed that you can already apply the word "hot" in so many ways. If we say your food is hot, you pick it up and blow on it - it is absolutely precious to watch you do this!
• Peaches: Your dad has been taking you to the local farmer's market each week to get peaches from one of our friends. You absolutely love Mr. Cliff's peaches!
• Goat: You had so much fun meeting goats at a friend's house.
• Finished: You can both sign and say "finished". At first you only applied this to eating, but now you say you are finished when you are done doing many things.

Signs you do: thank you, please, milk, bath, thirsty, hungry (eat), more, finished

Words you say: I can't even attempt to name all the words you say!

Animal noises you can make: owl, cow, sheep, puppy/dog, horse, bee, cat

Body parts you identify: head, hair, nose, ears, eyes (your favorite to point out!), tongue, feet, toes, cheeks, belly, belly button, hands

Favorite foods: peaches, banana, guacamole, tortilla, eggs, broccoli, noodles with meat and red sauce, rice, chicken nuggets

Shutter Love Tuesdays: Weddings

We were recently at a rehearsal dinner for some friends, and Ella got a hold of the flower girl's basket of petals (Ella was NOT the flower girl). She had a ton of fun playing with the petals . . . specifically dumping them out and putting them back into the basket over and over again!

Proverbs 31:24

(To read previous posts in this series first, click here!)

Proverbs 31:24 (NKJV): "She makes linen garments and sells them, And supplies sashes for the merchants."

This verse expands more on the fact that the virtuous woman is a hard worker. I've already discussed this quality in my posts on verses 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, and 21 of Proverbs 31. I'm truly amazed at how hard the virtuous woman works in all aspects of her life, and hope that I can do the same! This woman is not idle or lazy!

I'm also amazed at the resourcefulness and talent of the virtuous woman. She provides food for her family. She researches business propositions and makes wise decisions regarding business deals. She clothes her family very well. She creates quality merchandise with her hands; and her merchandise is obviously quality work because she is able to sell her garments and supply her garments to the merchants to sell.

Be sure to check out the home blog for this study (Bringing Up Benjamin) and participate in the weekly discussion in the comments section!

Weekly Menu on Monday: August 2nd

Ah, after a few weeks missing my weekly menu posting, I've finally planned a weekly menu again this week (although abbreviated since we have some things going on where I won't be cooking dinner):

1. Migas and Fajitas. Migas are a wonderful scrambled egg mixture generally containing tortilla strips, onions, jalapeños (or Serrano peppers), tomatoes, and sometimes topped with cheese. They are one of my absolute favorite Mexican breakfast (or lunch or dinner!) items. You can eat them alone, inside a tortilla, or even with some fajita meat inside a tortilla. Yum! Another plus side is that this meal is low carb for my gestational diabetes diet- the only carbs come from the tortilla strips in the eggs and the tortillas (if you choose to eat with tortillas).
2. Slow-cooker roast. What is your favorite way to prepare roast? I've tried lots of different ways, but haven't found a favorite yet.
3. Shrimp scampi. I've never made shrimp scampi, but I saw this recipe on one of my new favorite food blogs (Annie's Eats), and thought it looked so simple and yummy!

What are some of your favorite food blogs?? I love new places to seek out recipes!

For more weekly menus, click here!