Happy Homemaker Monday {Sept. 6}

The weather in my neck of the woods: 70 degrees and cloudy

Things that make me happy: My house fully decorated for fall. This is a little earlier than I usually pull out my fall decor...but it's for sure my favorite season to decorate for and I'm glad to have it done before baby's arrival!

Books I'm reading: Haven't had a ton of time for reading...but I'm still working my way through "Her Mother's Hope" and Hannah's favorite book this week is: "Are you my mother?" ..this was a childhood favorite of mine too. Dad and Mom...how many times did YOU read this book?! :)

What's on my tv? Well..my hubby is home, so the tv is actually on. I'm not sure what's on it or that he's even watching it...but it's on.

On the menu for dinner? Well, usually I'm planned for this weeks meals by now..but I haven't done that yet...this whole holiday on a Monday throws me off! I think we'll have somethin' on the grill!

On my to-do list: Again, hubby is home so it's kinda a different day. Today's to do list is all about enjoying time as a family of 3. :)

New Recipe I tried or want to try: I tried two new recipes this week and both neither one of them went over very well: Skillet tacos and pizza roll up burritos- they were okay, but didn't make it to the family favorites list.

In the craft basket: I suppose that I should be working on something for the baby...but have been busy with things around the house lately.

Looking forward to this week: Meeting my baby boy!! I'm due in 7 days and hoping for his arrival any day now!!!! I'm not really looking forward to the labor and delivery part....but sure can't wait to hold him in my arms!

Tips and tricks: make a list!

My favorite blog post this week: I'm so excited that my dear friend Julia has created her own blog. She is a wonderful mom and is very purposeful in her mothering and discipline as you will see if you take the time to read this great post about training our kids!

No words needed (favorite photo or picture yours or others you want to share):

love the friendship these two girls share!

Lesson learned in the past few days: patience. God's timing is not our timing, his ways and his plans are best!

On my mind: obviously thinking about and preparing myself for the whole labor/delivery/mom of two thing that is coming my way very soon. Giving my fears to the Lord and looking forward to the wonderful gift He is about to give our family.

Devotional, Scripture Reading, Key Verses:

Isaiah 41:13 "For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you."

Pizza & The Park

Seth and I were busy, busy around the house today....lots of cleaning, pulling things from the attic and putting other things into storage...lots of nesting going on for both of us! After Hannah's nap, we decided to take a break and enjoy the evening together as a family. We all decided that pizza sounded good, so we stopped for a pizza and took it to the park to enjoy the beautiful evening. The sun was shining and breezes were blowing. It was fun to be together just three of us. I played a little, and sat on the bench a little to just rest and take in the preciousness of my husband and daughter playing together...I am so blessed!

Hannah would say "Daddy...protect me from the wind!" He would wrap her up and she made this precious face over and over...ah the comfort of Daddy's arms!

Feeling like she's on top of the world...

swinging with mommy...she's very into learning to pump her legs back and forth and loves the feeling of being on a "big girl swing"

fun with daddy!!

Getting closer...

Well, Fridays are doctor appointment days. I had another good check up today..baby is doing well. I am now 3cm dilated (that's where I was at when I got to the hospital when having Hannah...so we are already ahead of the game!). I've been having contractions, but nothing consistent yet. My doctor said that if I'm at 3cm and haven't been having consistent contractions, that I shouldn't wait until my contractions are 5 minutes apart to come in...but more like 7 minutes apart.
He also said that my platelet count looks good and stable and didn't think we even needed to check it again today. He said that if I'm still pregnant next week, we can go ahead and check it then.
I've been bustling around the house trying to tie up loose ends and get last minute things done. Sure am getting eager to meet my little one (and be rid of the back pain ;o))...maybe, just maybe I'll be laboring on this labor day weekend?!

two & A HALF!!

Today is my half-birthday!! It was fun to celebrate being two and a half.

I had a fun day hanging out with Mommy. She let me pick out a lunchable while we were shopping at Kroger and I got to have that with lemonade for lunch!

After dinner, Mommy and Daddy gave me a half-birthday cake and ice cream...it was a yummy treat!

This was my face when I first saw my cake!

I love being two and a half!!

Puddle Jumpin'

Seth's car has been in the shop all week...so Hannah and I have been home-bound. He got it back today, so while he as at his AWANA meeting tonight, we headed to Aldi to get some much needed groceries. While we were in the store it started to pour. My body moves about as slow as a turtle right now, so by the time we got back to the car and had the groceries loaded we were both soaked and full of giggles. When we got home, we decided that since we were soaked anyway, we should do some puddle jumping before getting ready for bed. Hannah had fun getting all wet and jumping in the water. Thank you Lord for the rain.

I love you

Hannah has been working on the sign for "I love you" for a long time...trying to get it just right. It's pretty tricky to get that ring finger to stay down, but she has finally perfected it. It's one of her favorite signs to use. She tells us "I love you" all the time...the girl sure knows how to melt my heart!

Baby update

My most recent doctors appointment was this past Friday. The appointment went well...heart beat still very strong, baby very active, etc. As of Friday, I was not showing any further progress...still just a centimeter dilated. I did have more blood work done, which I finally got the results for today. Thankfully, my platelet count is stable at 129. My doctor said that she would be happy if my count stayed right around 130...which it looks like it's going to! Yay! Praise God! I'm going to keep praying that it stays there...but it's good to see that I'm stabilized. Right now, my prayer is for my back. I've been in a lot of pain and find it hard to even get around the house with Hannah let alone do the housework that I would like to get done. I'm praying that the baby either comes soon or my back pain eases. I can't really complain though..I've had a great pregnancy and everything with the baby is looking really good and we praise God for that. We sure our eager to meet our little guy...really any day! :)