Babymoon beach trip

As baby #2's arrival draws nearer, we have been warned by many that things are much easier with one kid than with two in tow. Therefore, we've started a bit of a baby bucket list - things we want to see, places we want to go before baby #2 shows up. Topping that list was finally making it to the Gulf.


So this weekend we drove down to Destin, Florida. It's a little under 7 hours from Huntsville, and Addison wowed us with her tolerance of long car rides. On both the way down Friday and coming back Sunday, she was great! She slept, read her books, and listened to songs; but never once got antsy or upset about being stuck in her seat for hours. It was a great start to a wonderful weekend.

Of course the weather didn't always cooperate with us. It rained most of the way down, and was still raining cats and dogs all through breakfast Saturday morning. So instead of running straight to the beach, we drove around town for a bit first to see the sights while waiting for a break in the clouds. Thankfully we found one, and got a couple of hours at the beach before the rains came back.

Playing on the beach with Addison was a blast. The sand is so different than any other beaches we've been to - they really are white and as soft as sugar. And even wet from the rains, the sand was so powdery that it made excellent sand castles. Since Addison wasn't so sure about the water, we spent most of Saturday's beach time making sand castles.

 Once the rains returned, we headed indoors and found a great happy hour at a restaurant right on the sand. The Back Porch had a view that can't be beat, even if it's pouring out. It's right on the sand in Destin, and was a perfect spot to wait out the weather. Not to mention that the oysters and fish and chips were pretty tasty.

After an early night (due partly to the weather and partly to a very tired toddler), we beat the rush to breakfast the next morning. I highly recommend the Donut Hole if you are ever in Destin; we ate there both Saturday and Sunday morning. Then one last trip to the beach before heading home. Because the sun was out, we hung out for a few hours playing in the sand and surf. And boy was the water pretty - crystal clear and a gorgeous turquoise color, it complements the sand perfectly.  We even managed to get Addison's toes in the water despite some protests.

Thanks to an energetic morning on the beach, we had a peaceful drive home. Although I should mention that Addison asked to go back to the beach numerous times on the drive home. Overall the trip was a little shorter than any of us wanted, but a wonderful way to spend a weekend. I can't wait until we find a chance to go back, and I'm pretty sure Addison feels the same way.

Put your lips on

Today I bought lipstick for the first time in I can't remember. Perhaps it is the first time I ever purchased lipstick. That's not to say I've never worn it; but for most of my life it's been rather easy to get by with the sample from a Clinique counter. Especially since I didn't live in the South.

Unfortunately for me, my staple lipstick was in my purse that was lost/stolen over the holidays. So I have been going with nothing other than chapstick for a couple of months, and therefore learned the hard way that it's not possible around here. People wear lipstick. Granted, I only wear it if I'm going out, or to church on Sunday's, but I noticed that I now feel a bit naked without it on those occasions. And some of my friends have said that they grew up with the expectation that you always put on lipstick before leaving the house.

Yes, while I was always expected to wear a belt before being considered "put together," apparently my southern counterparts were taught to "put your lips on" before heading out for the day. Now, I'm not saying that all 8 year old girls are walking around looking like they should be on Toddlers & Tiaras, but more that adult women consider putting makeup on and styling their hair as a routine part of going anywhere (I discovered that the big hair stereotype comes from the necessity to use a lot of hair product to combat humidity). And now that I have lived here for a while, it's starting to rub off on me too.

So while at the grocery store today, I purchased some lipstick. Wow, maybe I'll become a pseudo southern belle one of these days...  

The Burgeoning Belly

I guess it's about time that I talk a bit about being pregnant. Yes, coming up later this Spring, our family will increase to 4. And although the first time I was obsessive about tracking my progress (and the baby's) week by week and taking the growing belly photos every month, this time I haven't felt the urge to be as clued in. The first belly shot I've taken was for the benefit of this blog, and I'm at 28 weeks (versus starting at 8 weeks last time).

Here's the long awaited belly shot.
Why did I take so many of these the first time?

Now, everyone says that each pregnancy is different. I will agree that it isn't exactly the same as last time, but perhaps that is due to the fact that I'm currently chasing a 2yr old around, rather than spending my days sitting at a desk. Trust me, it will make anyone tired, especially a pregnant woman.

Other than being a bit more tired than I remember being last time (after all, last time Derek and I moved when I was only 3 months from my due date), this pregnancy has been pretty uneventful to date. And I can't believe how fast it's going! I've just started my 3rd trimester, and it feels like it was just a little while ago that I was telling everyone we were pregnant. I imagine I can thank Addison for that as well.

So I am now in the home stretch, I guess. Which should mean smooth sailing from here on out; especially now that I've completed my glucose test. For those of you who aren't familiar with the glucose test, it is a routine blood sugar test given to every pregnant woman around 27 weeks. One of the more unpleasant tests, in my opinion. First, I had to fast overnight, arriving at the blood lab having eaten nothing but water. Then, they took my blood and proceeded to have me drink 16oz of a highly sugar form of flat orange soda as fast as I could. Yuck! Then I had the joy of sitting around in the waiting room so they could take my blood again an hour after ingesting the sugar syrup... And then again an hour after that.

 The whole time, I couldn't eat or drink anything other than water (not even gum), or risk it interfering with the test results. And trust me - being awake for several hours without eating anything is not an easy feat for a woman who is pregnant. Once I got home after the test, I had the biggest breakfast I've had in a very long time. And it was sooooo delicious! Thank goodness I only have to take that test once.

Yes, she might be the reason I'm worn out

Why...why...why...how?

Yes, our little toddler has finally hit the "why" stage. She constantly and continuously asks why to everything. Whether it is in response to "time to get ready to go" or to "we can't drive until the light turns green," she is always asking why. Sometimes it is easy to answer - although she just asks why again, and sometimes it's a bit trickier to give her a good answer.

For example, she doesn't like when the car stops moving, so is constantly saying "drive momma, drive!" When we pull up to a stop sign or stop light, she starts in with "drive momma, drive!" almost immediately. So when Derek or I try to explain that we cannot drive forward when the light is red, she wants to know why.  And trying to explain traffic laws to a 2yr old is not easy. Although I learned last night that a complete and detailed answer is better than a simplified one.

Every night when we tuck Addison into bed, we turn on her mobile -  it plays music and projects a rotating jungle scene on the ceiling. So last night when the mobile came on, instead of asking why the jungle animals were rotating around, she asked how (her second favorite question). I was about to respond with something generic like "with batteries" when Derek goes into a rather complicated explanation including lenses, light projection, and a motor creating the rotation. 

And it worked! Instead of asking why or how again, Addison just said "oh!" and that was that. Amazing. It kinda reaffirms my thought that she may end up an engineer just like her daddy. And I'm definitely going to have to remember this and work to embellish my explanations; maybe I'll get an "oh" next time.  

What's in a name

Someone once told me that one of the toughest things to do is to name a child. There are many difficult things in life, so I'm not sure I agree entirely, but will say that there's a lot of pressure to pick a good name. Kids are brutal with nicknames, initials can accidentally spell out bad things, and everyone has opinions on names of people they already know that can positively or negatively impact the decision. Even with Addison we still struggle with the dilemma of whether she should be known as "Addison" or "Addie" (or as my mother likes to say "Addie Mae"). There's a lot to consider.

So here we are, a few months before baby #2 arrives, and playing the name game. We have no idea if peanut will be a boy or a girl, which just adds to the fun. Now there are some general rules that we've been trying to hold to, such as no living relatives, no close friends or their children, and no celebrity names. Essentially we don't want to put pressure on anyone that we are naming our child after them.

In general I've learned that I like pretty names, so choosing girls names is much easier for me; boys names seem to be much more difficult for me. I even find myself liking a lot of boys-names-for-girls but not for boys. Example, I like "Kyle" for a girl but not for a boy, although I'm not sure if it is on either list at the moment. Derek tends to veto a lot of my suggestions, which is thankfully keeping the list to a manageable length.

I'm sorry to say that at the moment the list is in so much flux that I don't want to share any possibilities here yet, but perhaps as we get closer and start narrowing down the names list, I'll share it with y'all. But for now I'll continue to toss ideas around in my head while pushing Addison around on her new tricycle.

That new carpet smell

It seems that home projects always take at least twice as long as we expect them to, but I'm so happy that we've finally gotten around to replacing the carpets. I can't believe what a difference it makes!

I wanted to post some before and after pics so you could see. These are the before (although I grabbed the downstairs den shot after Derek had ripped up the old carpet, so it's a nice shot of the ancient linoleum we found underneath).

And then here are the after photos. Granted the color isn't that different, so I have to say that the pictures don't portray the true impact of the change, but trust me - it is an amazing difference.

Something we hadn't considered when scheduling this (we had the carpets replaced one week before Christmas), was that we needed to paint the walls before the new carpets went in. And since it was mandatory on my list that we paint - I really hate the creamy-avocado-beige that the walls were, we added a lot of painting to our to-do list at the last minute.
Thanks to some nap time and late night painting sessions, we got it done. And now the living room is a cape-cod blue, and our foyer and hallway are a nice sage green. And the carpets are beautiful!!

Yes, I realize that the joy I get out of new carpet secures my position in adulthood and potentially is pushing me towards middle age quickly, but I don't care. The carpets are just that nice; especially after living with stained, dog pee covered ancient carpets for over a year. Merry Christmas to us!  

Birthday Monster

Now that most people know that we are expecting another little one in May, I guess I can start blogging again. And just in time - Addison turned 2 on Monday.  I haven't a clue why, but most toddlers seem absolutely enamored with Elmo, and Addison is no exception. So, for her birthday party I decided to make her Elmo cupcakes. I think they turned out pretty good for a first try.

Since red frosting is next to impossible to make, I made homemade buttercream frosting and with a lot of red food coloring managed to get it to a dark pink. To make him look furry, I topped each cupcake with red sugar sprinkles. The eyes are marshmallows I cut in half, and stuck a chocolate chip to the sticky side. The nose is half of a marshmallow that I had previously rolled in yellow food coloring and let dry. To make sure everything stuck to the cupcake, I put the eyes, nose, and chocolate chip mouth on before the frosting had time to set, and then applied the sprinkles last.

Although there were a lot of steps, none of them were too difficult, and the finished products were a hit. Addison had a great time playing with her friends, although she got a bit shy when everyone sang "Happy Birthday" to her.

And now the holidays are over, birthday was a success, and we can relax into the normal routine again. Ha, whatever that means.