Mispronunciations.

Every once and awhile Layton will have a problem with pronouncing a certain word. There aren't many, but a few he gets stuck on.

It just so happens to be one of my favorite things that he does, because quite honestly, it's just adorable and I know that someday I am really going to miss it.

Kaylee and him share the chore of taking the trash cans to the end of the driveway every Wednesday night. Yesterday, after school they went out to do it, and he ran back in the house frantic, saying that he just couldn't.

Him: Mom, I can't touch that garbage can.
Me: Why?
Him: Because there is a huge and nasty crock-roach on there!!
Me: A what?
Him: A crock-roach!!
Me: Are you sure that's what it's called?
Him: (After thinking for a second) ... A crotch-roach?
Me: (Trying not to die laughing) No, not a crock-roach or a crotch-roach... How about a cockroach?
Him: Ohhh, yeahhhh, that's what I meaned.

[[We obviously still have some work to do.]]

Ahh, this boy. He can always make me laugh.
I just love him to death.

36.

My cute husband had a birthday yesterday, and my attempt to make his favorite cake - german chocolate, didn't end in disaster.

I think I may be getting the hang of this 'baking' thing, and I actually really enjoy it.
Imagine that, the girl who used to burn everything she put in an oven, has made a pumpkin pie, brownies, chocolate-chip and sugar cookies, and now? a birthday cake.
(Geez, do I sound preggers, or what?)

Up next... cupcakes.

Major mishap.

Over a year ago, I made the mistake of trying to cut my own bangs. BAD idea.
Because if this little experience you would have thought that I had learned my lesson? Apparently, not.

I tried to "trim" Kaylees hair two nights ago because she begged me and I figured I could handle it, but that attempt ended with us both in tears and me making a frantic call to my stylist late at night.

Luckily, she got us in the next morning and was able to save what was left of Kaylee's hair. She did lose 3 or more inches, instead of the 1 inch that I had meant to cut, but at least she likes it and she isn't bald.

And, the most important thing? After all of this, I have finally learned my lesson - from now on I will leave it up to a professional.

Month: Six

-- My appetite has decided to show up finally. I spent the first few months with the urge to vomit every 30 minutes so food became a hard thing to handle. I can now say, that food is sounding good, and tasting good again. I have noticed that I can't eat a whole lot at one time (I am guessing it has something to do with the shrinkage of my stomach after all of those weeks of morning sickness?) but it is nice to actually be able to sit down to dinner and enjoy what I'm eating.

--  I bought Ava's bedding a few weeks ago. I have decided to go with a brown & pink mod-dots theme and found everything on Clearance at Target. They didn't have a few of the seperates but my oh-so-awesome mother-in-law got the missing pieces for me online and I now have the full set. I am getting super antsy to get her nursery done, although I know it will be awhile based on the fact that the add-on still hasn't started. I guess that's what happens when you have a husband working OT all the time. The plan is to hit it hard in February. Lee even said the other night that he's beginning to stress a little about it now, but I know that once we get started it should go pretty quickly. Fingers crossed.

-- At my last appointment I was still measuring bigger than normal. Almost 3 weeks to be exact. This girl is just growing, growing, growing. I'm also starting to notice that getting up from a lying-down position is getting harder and rolling over at night almost takes the wind out of me everytime.

-- The kids finally got to feel her kick. I will never forget that moment or the looks on their faces when they finally felt her. It was the best.

-- Lee likes to talk to my tummy a lot as of lately. I find it a tad bit sexy, I'm not gonna lie. The fact that he is so connected makes my heart melt. I actually think that most of the time, he is more excited about her arriving than I am. (Which, says a lot because I am super stoked.) I can't wait to see him hold her for the first time. Just thinking about it gives me goosebumps.

-- The peeing-every-ten-minutes has started too. Oh, someone shoot me. It is a rule now:  before any shopping trip - we must stop at the potty first. By the end of it - we hit it again before leaving. It's pure fun. NOT.

-- Sleeping is almost non-existent. It's been rough, but I'm getting used to it. Just rolling with the punches, and hoping it doesn't last the entire rest of my pregnancy. A few breaks in between would be greatly appreciated.

-- My friend Sarah has become my preggo-texting-buddy. We like to keep each other informed on anything baby and it's been really nice having someone to chat with who is going through it with me at the same time. 

-- Cravings. Wow, my cravings have been crazy! Anyone who really knows me, knows how true this statement is. I have been loving dessert. Anything sweet has become my new best friend. That's ice cream, cakes, brownies, donuts, cinnamon rolls... the list goes on. Normally? Anything sweet makes me turn up my nose. The other night, Lee just stared at me while I sucked down a strawberry milkshake, smiling and shaking his head. He's probably thinking: 'who are you? and what did you do with my wife?'

-- I took a trip to Victoria Secret the other day because I've been noticing that my bras have been a little snug and wanted to be re-fitted. I was so stunned that I thought I mis-heard her when she told me my new size. But, sure enough - she was right. Happy to report that I can now breath again.

-- I have also started shopping for the little Miss. Duh. Since we found out what we were having, I have had a hard time not hitting the baby department at every store I visit. She has quite the pile of clothes, blankets, and baby things piling up on my side of the bed. My newest favorite: a pair of leggings and a ruffly skirt in the smallest size possible. I seriously have a problem. The bestie has even started going a bit crazy but, I will admit, I enjoy it. She has good taste.

-- My weight gain has been like a yo-yo but it looks like it has finally started. As of this morning I am up 3 lbs. I know it only goes up from here, just like the last two.

 -- We have another ultrasound scheduled for next month. A 3D/4D just for fun. I'm excited to get a sneak-peek of what she's gonna look like. Eeeek!! Layton said to me the other day "Oh mom, I just hope she's cute." Ha! Made me crack up... but then kinda left me thinking the same thing.

Jipped.

We got teased this week with the idea of snow.
As for me and Lee, we know better than to ever believe the weatherman when he says we might get snow. We go by the 'believe it when we see it' rule. But, as for the kids? Different story.

They checked out the window all weekend for it, prayed for it to come on Monday night, and then freaked out when they discovered the light dusting that we got when they woke up Tuesday morning.
You would have thought we had 2 feet of it or something based on their reactions.

School was put on a 2 hour delay and they both sat in front of the T.V most of the morning waiting to see, and hoping that it would be cancelled. Layton even sat by the window for a long while (talking to the sky) saying something like: "Please, snow harder than that. Please, please..."

It never happened.

Let's just say that they weren't too happy when they piled in the car a couple of hours later to head to school. I must admit, I was a little bummed too.

What fun is snow, if there isn't enough to build a snowman?

That's right, it's NO. FUN.

Checking-in.

Man, I am totally slacking lately on keeping up with my posts.
Maybe it's the fact that nothing super exciting has been going on around here, or the fact that I haven't been feeling great and I just haven't wanted to mess with it?

So, let's see. This week:

-- Kaylee started her math-tutoring program after school. This seems to be the only subject that she struggles with in school so I am happy that they are taking the proper steps to get her the help that she needs before she gets thrown into middle school next year.

-- We decided to get registered for baby stuff, so spent a couple of hours at Target and Babies "R" Us. Let me just say that all you need to entertain my husband, is aisles of items to scan and a gun that beeps. He was seriously worse than a child. But, he had me cracking up the whole time and I loved every minute of it. Plus, I am happy that it's over with, because it's one thing I get to check off the "things-to-do-before-baby-gets-here" list.

-- Lee came down with a nasty cold and was oh-so-kind-enough to share it with the family. I caught it last and it has knocked me down. Hard. Today will be a day of nothing to do. I need one of those.

-- I turned the big 3-0 on Friday. It was a good day (besides the fact that my body ached so bad that I wanted to kill myself.) We had made plans to do dinner in town and then head up to Portland for a comedy show. Everyone pre-ordered their tickets so there was no cancelling on my part - believe me, it crossed my mind. But, I bucked up, went and was happy I did. I had a great time. I'm lucky to have the family and friends that I do. They're pretty awesome you know. I look forward to my shopping spree that I will be going on (thanks to them) this week. I have lots of gift crads to spend, and cute new knit UGG boots to wear while I do it - thanks to this bad-ass husband of mine. Maybe this is strange, but I'm totally looking forward to thirty. Pshhh, I'm gonna rock it.

-- The rumor of us getting snow started around Thursday, so yesterday Lee and I went out to my errands ran. A trip to Winco to load up on groceries (just in case) because, Lord knows, I don't drive in snow - even a half an inch of it. I like to look at it, and play in it. That's it. I woke up this morning to all of my Facebook friends bragging about the fact that they all had some. I look out the window and nothing. I'm highly doubting that it happens here, but am ready for it if it decides to.

Insomnia.

This last week has been killer and I don't mean that as-in awesome.

Sleeping has become an absolute chore. I'm not sure what or why but for the life of me - I just can't sleep.
No, it's not the baby. (Yes, I do get up to pee every 30 minutes but in between I just lie awake and toss and turn.) No, I'm not stressed. No, my mind isn't on overload. No, I'm not loaded up on caffeine - I don't even drink it.

But, it's enough to drive me crazy. Especially, when during the day while I am expected to function, I am being literally slapped in the face with this sudden urge to nap - which I am unable to do. Ohhhh, someone kill me.

If this is some crazy symptom of pregnancy, it's a new one to me and one that sucks a fat one. Geez, I hope that it's short-lived.

[Okay, VENT is over.]

Uh-oh, I feel a new obsession creeping in.

Kaylee loves to rock the scarf look. Although, she still has an issue with the whole matching thing, the girl loves her scarves.

Yesterday morning after I got dressed I thought to myself that I should just try one since I see them everywhere, and agree that they are rather cute. So, I raided her closet going through all 25+ that she owns until I found the one I was searching for (the adorable silver one that Maddy got her for Christmas) and the only one that would work with the rest of my outfit.

It then took me over 15 minutes to try and figure the damn thing out and I'm still not sure if it looks just right. I just knew that I was going to need help from my 10 year old later in the day. Pathetic, I know.

However, I have this feeling that scarf shopping is in my near future. It's quite the accessory, and rather slimming to my growing bump if you ask me.

Back at it.

So, as most of you know it has almost been a year that I have been a stay-at-home mom.
While I have enjoyed being home with my kids more and taking on that domestic role, I have somewhat missed the extra income. My photography brings in some, but wow, have I have learned in the last 12 months that it is hard getting started and building a clientele, or what?

So, Lee and I started discussing me going back to work (part-time) a few months ago and brainstorming on something I could do that would bring in good pay but still allow me to be home with the kids most of the time. Especially with a baby on the way now, that was a must.

My friend Tirzah was kind of in the same boat with wanting to be home more. Her commute back and forth to Portland everyday for her job was really wearing her down. So, we got together, formulated a plan and... "GRIMY GIRLS CLEANING" was established.

We thought it would be nice to be able to do move-in/move-outs for appartment complexes, thinking it sounded simple enough, we could most likely set up our own schedule, and get pretty good pay in the process.

We decided on our prices, made up cute flyers, then spent a day dropping them off at realtor companies all over the Salem area. At first, we were pretty discouraged because nobody seemed interested. But about 2 weeks later we got a call from one and went in for an interview. They hired us on the spot.

We started last month and were lucky enough to even land a commercial job with them (which pays bank.) SCORE. It's looking like this is going to be a great thing for us. We pick our own days and hours which so far have been pretty minimal, and get to be home still when our kids get out of school. It's a win-win, and I am really excited about it.

It feels good to be able to do both, especially when I'm not overly stressed, and tired afterwards. Plus, having the extra money to help out with the household responsibilities and help prepare for this bun-in-oven (who will be here before we know it) feels pretty nice too.

[[And to those who are wondering (because I know some of you are.) YES, HMF Photography is still my #1 passion, and NO, I will not be taking a break from it. Are you kidding? No way. I will continue to "shoot people" any chance I can get.]]

It's a new year.

Today marks the 1st day of 2012.
Looking so forward to what it has in store for us.