Max & Kaylee

For whatever reason, I was really convicted to think more about doing my own social media fast for a determined length of time. I have been lacking a lot of discipline in my life lately (so I feel), and although I can't fast from food for a day (because I am pregnant), I can easily (or not so easily!) give up some of my social media habits for a time.

Therefore, I am going to be doing a 40-day fast from social media, in order to work on discipline in my life, and to spend that time connecting with God, myself and L. 40 days, you ask?! Well, I liked the sound of 40 days - seemed like a good number :) I know this might seem crazy, but oh well! I am excited to do it! I am sure it will prove difficult - I am on facebook WAY too much - but I know that there are lessons to be learned through this challenge.

I DO realize though, that there are people who stay updated on our lives through this blog, so although I would consider blogging to be social media, I am going to modify my challenge slightly. I will still be blogging (probably only once or twice a week AND when the baby is born!), but will not be reading other blogs (although I love you all, I spend WAY too much time doing so, and this must be part of my challenge for the next 40 days - I'll be back soon enough, I promise!). I will also still be emailing (mostly because this the main form of communication Max and I have, and we agreed that it must stay for that reason!).

So, my rules for the next 40 days: absolutely no facebook, no reading other blogs and otherwise limited internet usage. I am also giving up desserts for this time frame (just because I can always use discipline in that area...). I WILL continue posting blogs every so often and use email/skype.

There you have it - my announcement! My 40 days starts tomorrow! I'll keep you posted on how it's going! And if anyone wants to join in with me (for 40 days or for whatever length of time!), feel free!!!

Fall is undecidedly here. How do I know?

First of all, this little crazy (yes, she DOES take after her daddy, bwa ha ha!) had to wear her little warm hat on our walk last week! It was a bit chilly and her ears were getting cold!

Second, I am CRAVING pumpkin in everything and ANYthing - pumpkin bars (um, I think I ate half a pan of those delicious little buggers...), pumpkin lattes (I figured out to make a homemade pumpkin spice latte - save me some moolah!!!), pumpkin muffins, pumpkin risotto, pumpkin scones, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin chocolate chip bread, pum.... If anyone has any good pumpkin recipes they'd like to share, offer them up!!! I would love to try anything pumpkin-y and fall-ish - as long as I can keep finding pumpkin in the stores :)

Third, it's almost October - and that is SO exciting to me! So close to meeting the little blueberry man that's been growing in my belly!

Fourth - well, ok, those are the reasons I have. I suppose the having to pull out some sweaters and super fun scarves to wear is also a good indication of the cooler temps of Fall. I DO enjoy fall - the only bummer about it is that it's a blatant reminder that winter (and all the icky, freezing ice and snow) are on their merry way.

We had a photo session today - mostly for L's 1 year old photos and a few of my belly (For my sweet husband who will never get to touch or feel the little man in my belly!!!! He's GOT to have something to remember it by!!!). It was good - L lasted almost 2 hours before she got SUPER crabby and things went a little haywire. I can't wait to see how the photos turned out - stay tuned for them in a few weeks!!!

I have an announcement coming up in the next few days - nothing too exciting, just a little challenge I have for myself that I will share with y'all. Just putting that out there!

I have some blog business I have been meaning to attend to:

First, I got a little award, thanks to Newlywed and Deployed!

Thanks for thinking I have a lovely blog - that makes me smile!!

Second, I have been tagged by Kaylee (yep, another Kaylee - how cool is that?!) at Devil Dog Darling to answer some questions, so here goes:

1. What is your favorite thing about being a woman?

I love being able to carry babies during pregnancy - I think it's amazing how God made our bodies to hold a growing human being in them!

2. Do you like rainy days or snowy wintery days more?

DEFINITELY love me a good snowy, wintery day! Curl up in front of the fireplace, book in hand and sip some hot chocolate while watching the snow fall down - such a peaceful feeling!

3. What's your favorite book and why?

Hmmm. I know it might sound cliche, but my ultimate favorite book is the Bible. Awesome stories, great history, profound wisdom, amazing lessons, beautiful perspective.

4. What's the first thing you notice about people when you meet them?

If they are walking towards me? How they walk with their feet - on their toes, heels, etc. If not walking, then usually their eyes.

5. Would you rather take pictures or be in pictures?

I LOVE taking pictures, but I also enjoy having pictures taken, simply to preserve memories. So both? Is that allowed??

6. If you could own a non-traditional pet, what would it be?

A giraffe. Hands down.

7. Can you change a tire on your car? Have you ever?

Yes, I know how to change a tire on my car. No, I have never had to do so.

8. If you could anyone any gift in the world, to whom would it go and what would it be?

This is a thought-provoking question! Off the top of my head and this might be sappy, but I'm tired, hormonal and just miss my husband - I would give my man the gift of not having had to miss the first year of his daughter's life - to be able to experience each thing she did/said/experienced. Yep, that gift (if it were possible) would make me happy.

Third, Kaylee (Devil Dog Darling) ALSO bestowed the "Lovely Blog Award" to me. Thanks Kaylee - that's sweet of you!!

Fourth, I was also tagged by Mel at Head in the Game. Heart in the Sand to answer a few questions. Here they are:

1. What's your typical sickness ritual?

Sleep. Lots of water, juice, tea, etc. Sleep. More sleep. Turn on a movie. Sleep. Lay in bed for hours on end. And sleep.

2. What's your favorite lazy/rainy day movie?

Either Chocolat or Wild Hearts can't be Broken or Pride & Prejudice (the newest version).

3. What do you consider to be the most relaxing outdoor activity?

Does swinging count as activity? Definitely swinging. On swingsets. Swing chairs. Hammocks. Any type of swing - I LOVE!

4. Do you play board games? What's your favorite?

Heck YES I play board games. I like a lot. But my current (and maybe close to all-time) favorite is definitely backgammon (Shout out to my B-gammon buddy - you know who you are!!!!)

Hope that gives y'all a little more insight into my life! I know I'm supposed to pass along the award AND a set of questions, but I am going to be a bum and not do so. I love ALL the blogs I read/follow and think all of the women that write them are quite LOVELY!!

Last but not least, I am contemplating some blog changes in the next few weeks - maybe a new background, a new header, a wider post section?! I am just feeling the need for some change :)

I have been wanting to take another trip to the Zoo for a few weeks now, but the weather has not been cooperative on our free days...until YESTERDAY!!!! It was a gorgeous day out, so I grabbed my opportunity and we were off to the Zoo with Auntie Brandice.

Please forgive my photo overload - I got a little excited to share what we saw - and I haven't figured out how to make photo collages yet...

Lovely orchids. Some of my favs.

L, watching the fish, making daddy proud :)

Sleepy sloth. I think I am enamored with him because he reminds of Chubaka, ha ha!

Flamingoes.

L and I, by the tortoise statue.

Making silly faces.

Then we saw the REAL tortoises. They were super active and trucking along - it was sweet!

"Max", the seal. My husband Max has a fondness towards this guy...

Polar bear.

Lady Lion.

The Arctic Fox! I have seriously NEVER seen the arctic fox at the zoo before! Probably because I go when it is HOT out and the poor little ARCTIC fox doesn't do well in heat! They were SO cute - and much smaller than I expected!

My happy girl! If you look close, you can see a third tooth on the bottom :)

And now begins my mild obsession with the giraffe baby:

Mama and L.

Look! L loves giraffes too! She gives the giraffe statue a big smooch :)

Crazy bird.

L watching the ostrich. She wasn't sure what to think of it.

Zebra stripes.

Spider monkey man.

Thanks for sticking with me! We had such a great time at the Zoo! I have learned my lesson - not going in the summer is WAY better - fewer people, much more active animals and way less sweat, ha! I think another trip to the Zoo may be in order before the snow flies - I may just have to see that baby giraffe again :)

Ok, so I know I've had the same purple shirt on in the last few weeks of preggo pictures. I promise I own other articles of clothing (although to be fair, I've been wearing most of the same clothes for over a year now...and am getting tired of the same old, same old...).

And second, yes I know the photo is a bit fuzzy, but I liked it, ok?!

I am 35 weeks pregnant today. And I feel as though I have a dancing hippopotamus in my belly! I am CONVINCED that he is a tank of a little man, but who knows - only a few more weeks and we'll find out how big he is!

My sweet little girl!

It's hard to believe that L is 11-months old today - mostly because that means that turning 1 is just around the corner! Do I have an almost 1-year old already?! Wow!

L is a busy little girl - always on the go, exploring, investigating, trying to climb on things. She LOVES to read books (her current favorite is 'Is Your Mama a Llama' - I think we read that at least 15 times a day!), take baths (or be in any form of water), make noise (whether that be banging on things like a drum or "meowing" like a kitty), eat her meals (she pretty much eats all the same food we do, unless it's too hard or crunchy for her), and play (she loves peek-a-boo and have someone "chase" her). L is spoiled rotten by her grandparents, great-grandma, uncle and aunties - seriously, I don't know what I am going to do when we move out and they aren't here all the time to spoil her so much - she is going to miss them when we move!

She is always making us laugh, whether it's from doing something silly, like showing off her dance moves, or testing her limits (which we TRY our best NOT to laugh, so we don't encourage behavior that's not appropriate) by flinging food off her tray. L also loves to point at things and people. She learned how to wave bye-bye a couple months ago. She started off waving backwards, at herself, but has slowly gotten better and waves AT people. She also knows how to give smooches (open-mouth ones, at that), eskimo kisses and blow kisses goodnight. We have also been working on body parts - she can identify someone's nose by pointing to it, and in some of her books, can show us a character's eyes. We are working on mouth, tongue and ears as well.

It really does amaze me that she is already 11-months old! And that in one month, she will be a 1-year old. AND that I will have a newborn around that time as well! CRAZY!!!

Today also means that we are 7-months done with this deployment! Hooray! Time is moving right along.

Max is doing well. All I can say is that he seriously has a brain like a sponge. Hearing him talk about stuff that he's learned - so much of it goes over my head! It's been such a blessing to have had a chance to skype with him this past week - definitely does my heart good!

I LOVE this! Oh SO much! Birthday or Christmas idea, anyone?! I am in love with the Airstream trailer (of COURSE!) and I think the saying is perfect!

Oh and by the way, I found this at Vol. 25 (and no, I was not asked to say all this, ha - I am just in love!) - they have tons of cute prints. Go check it out!

As I mentioned last night, Jessica over at Jesstagirl and Her Officer is hosting a cupcake Bake-N-Blog today. Basically, she found this stellar website, Ming Makes Cupcakes, in which there are 33 cupcake recipes. Jessica had people sign up for each cupcake, make them and then link them to her Bake-N-Blog! This gave us all the chance to try making one, but not having to make all 33 cupcakes! We can live vicariously through all the other cupcake bakers :)

I chose cupcake #28 - the Gingerbread Cupcake with Fluffy Cream Cheese Filling. They sounded "fall"-ish and different, so I gave them a try!

All of my raw ingredients, ready to go. I had everything I needed in the cupboards - flour, baking soda, brown sugar, molasses, cinnamon, ground nutmeg, ground ginger, eggs, butter, salt and sour cream (yeah, I thought it was a bit strange too...but I went ahead and kept trucking...).

The baking soda, meeting the flour. These two things were combined together.

Next, in a separate bowl, I combined the room temp butter, brown sugar, salt, ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg. And mixed it on up.

I would definitely make these again and try to do a better job with the filling - since I had such "muffin tops", it was a slight battle getting the cupcakes out of the tins without ruining their tops, therefore making their appearance a little rough around the edges! And I wouldn't make mini's either - I didn't have a choice yesterday, seeing as how I only had so many regular muffin tin papers! Oh well!

If you are a fan of gingerbread, I would definitely recommend these! Yum! I think I might have to go find another one now....

{The recipe can be found at Ming Makes Cupcakes.}

I am 34 weeks preggo this week. And feeling swell (not swollen, ha ha - just swell - similar to feeling lovely!)!

Little Ms. L has been sick-ish/teething the past few days. Well, actually, she has been teething for what feels like the entire last month. I can see at least 4 of her top teeth under the gums, but they are taking their blasted sweet time coming in, causing much pain for L and much angst for this mama. Plus, this weekend, she developed a runny nose and hacking cough, which has been nice enough to rob us of too-much (in my opinion!) of our sleep the past few nights. I am praying that those teeth pop through real soon, and that her cold-like symptoms end quickly.

I went to my first ever MOPS (Mothers of PreSchoolers) meeting today. Well, actually, I almost wasn't able to go. You see, I was quite concerned about taking L with and potentially infecting other little one's with her hacking cough and runny nose. I didn't realize how much I was looking forward to going, to being part of something, to meeting other moms, until I realized that I probably shouldn't take L, and therefore couldn't go, seeing as I couldn't just leave her home alone!!

{Sidenote: I have a really hard time asking for help. I have had this mentality/attitude/personality trait (whatever you want to call it) for as long as any of us can remember - and am caught saying it all the time. "I can do it myself". Ever since I was a little girl, I was the one, standing there with arms akimbo, telling whoever that "I could do it myself" - and I did! This can be a great thing - independence is something I value! But can also have it's negative sides - can be seen as stubborn-ness. Not only that, but I am sure that being a military wife and having a husband who is deployed only leads me to have more of this mentality, as I know that a lot of women tend to take on this mentality when their men are away!}

Anyways, I REALLY wanted to go to MOPS and knew that I could ask for help, even though it's not always one of my strong suits :) So I pulled on my "big girl" pants and called a friend. Thankfully I have amazing friends and family who are willing to help me out - seriously, where would I be without them?! So was able to leave L at home, carefully attended to (thanks Aimee!), while I ventured out for my first ever MOPS meeting! So glad I was able to go! It was awesome to meet other moms and I am already excited for the next meeting!

Last piece of share-worthy news for you. We have been incredibly blessed to have been able to skype with Max the last two days! It's been over two months since we have seen his face (via skype video) and although I am incredibly thankful for our mostly weekly phone calls and mostly weekly (sometimes bi-weekly) emails from him, I had been getting antsy to just SEE his face, however choppy the connection. It was fantastic. I think the best part, besides seeing my husband and being able to "chat" for a few minutes, was that he got to see L - she waved at him, chattered at him - it made me smile.

It's easy for me to forget that it's been almost 7 months since he has seen her, and that she has done so much changing in those 7 months! I am with her everyday, but I am sure that for him, the change is amazingly crazy!!! Last time he held her in his arms, she wasn't even rolling over or sitting up on her own! And last he saw her on video, she was just learning to crawl and eat solid food! Now she is standing on her own, chattering up a storm, making noises, can blow kisses, give smooches, loves to read books and can identify different people in her life! So, for me, it is a grand feeling to watch her "chat" with daddy and for him to "see" her. Makes my heart happy!

I am off to bake some delicious cupcakes for the Bake-N-Blog that Jessica Lynn at Jesstagirl and her Officer is hosting! Check back in tomorrow for the end results!!!

I heard the little pitter-patter of hands and feet crawling on the floor below my (starting-to-swell) feet, as I was making lunch the other day in the kitchen. I periodically glanced down to make sure L hadn't snuck something in her mouth that wasn't meant to be there. On one of my many glances, I see her quite absorbed in a little project she found:

She found the kitchen towel drawer! And was in the process of completely emptying it - oh the fun of emptying drawers!! She would dump a bunch out, then shove a bunch back in! Here she is, caught in the act:

"What Mama?! I wasn't doing ANYthing!"

It's so much fun to see her explore different parts of the house. To watch her curiosity and to see her excitement for everyday ordinary objects is so amazing - definitely makes you think about what it's like to be a child - and what that looks like then when Jesus tells us to have faith like a child. Makes my mind start rushing with thoughts...

I have been busy with my to-do list. I feel like it's quite long. And to be honest, I was super motivated to make the actual LIST, but am having a hard time executing the to-do's so that I can cross them off. Good thing I have good friends - Aimee made me work on a bunch of my to-do's yesterday - and it DID feel so good to be able to check some off.

What's on there?! Stuff - mostly related to baby #2 - setting up the 2nd crib, making sure I have all the props I want for L's 1-year photoshoot, sewing projects (which I'm super excited to work on - a nursing cover, pacifier clips and bibs!), invites and planning for L's 1st birthday party, and piddly paperwork/phone calls that need to get done before the little man arrives.

Speaking of L's 1st birthday party, I have been working on making the invitations, so that they can get sent off (when I do both, I can cross off TWO things on my list - I LOVE crossing things off, I just feel so accomplished!!!) this week. While making them, I've been attempting to learn more about PhotoShop - uh, seriously, I feel like I need to go back and take a few courses on how to use that blasted program! It really is a fun program and I know there is a lot I can do with it - it's just that I have zero experience with it and it feels complicated to learn how to do things!!! So if anyone has suggestions on where I can find good, not-too-complicated tutorials or a good, simple book on PhotoShop, PLEASE let me know! I want to figure it out so that I can put it to good use!!!!

I am off to continue working on the birthday invitations and cut out my fabric for the nursing cover! All while craving a pumpkin latte (fall is most DEFINITELY in the air!!)

I'll leave you with a few more photos of my dear L: