#2

Today, Ellie turned 2. Amazing. Here are my highlights:

1. She got to go to preschool for the first time.
2. She got flowers and a balloon from a boy.
3. She got a new baby stroller from her grandma and papa, which she pushed around the house most of the night.
4. She called me up to her room after bedtime to have me pick up her binky from the floor. Apparently it was too far for her to reach without moving.
5. When I left her room after tucking her in, I heard her rollover and say, "Oh, hi teddy!" to her teddy (which is actually a monkey).

It's hard to believe that 2 years and 1 day ago, it was just me and Ben. It's hard to believe that she is my very own daughter. Mine. I have a child. Two, in fact. What an amazing life I have been blessed with. Thank you, Jesus.

Success!

In case you all are just as excited about my child learning to use the potty as I am...

Our first out-of-the-house, undies-only excursion was a success! Yes, indeed, I am one proud momma. Costco and back with no accidents!

Yipee!

Underwater Treadmills, Non-Exploding Cars, and Clutches.

Today was amazing. I ran in a treadmill in a pool. Seriously. Did you know that was possible? I didn't. And, yes, you actually run. The water comes up to your shoulders. They turn on the treadmill part, and you just run. So strange.

On my way home, I had to stop and fill my tank up with gas. When my car was almost filled with gas, I heard a car running and thought "who's car is running?" I looked around and noticed that I was the disobedient person who forgot to turn off my car while filling it up with gas. I quickly turned off my car. I called Ben almost in tears because I thought that when I restarted my car, it was going to explode. It didn't, thank you, Jesus, and I am still alive :)

A couple days ago Ben's dad towed up an old BMW. It is Ben's new project. At some point, they needed someone to sit in the car and push the brakes as they pushed the car off of the trailer and into the garage. Seems like a simple enough task, so they ask me to hop in. They push, the car rolls, I slam into the back of our garage, and I declare that the brakes failed. Fast forward several hours to where I hear sister Joni mention something about the clutch. What? No one told me this car was a stick. I thought I was pushing the brakes when I was obviously pushing the clutch. Like Ben, you may be wondering how I missed this huge detail....

1. No one told me it was a stick shift
2. The stick in the middle wasn't a clue to me as Ben's Audi had one there, too
3. I was too busy trying to avoid touching mouse poop and diseases to notice that there were three pedals.
4. Again, no one told me! (This one is huge in my book) If you are going to push someone off of a trailer into a garage, please make sure they know which pedal is the brake.

...Along came Zoe...

Zoe Hope arrived 12 days early, on my 23rd birthday (August 4th). This was particularly special because I, too, was born on my dad's 23rd birthday :) I am pleased to have two obedient children who both came out a little early. We knew we were having a girl, yet she still didn't have a name until day #2. We knew her middle name would be Hope from the beginning of the pregnancy, but first names are hard! Things are definitely different...

*Raising 2 children is much more difficult and busy than 1.
*I would love to have a clean house, but I can't remember what that exactly looks like.
*I forgot how well I function with little to no sleep.
*Zoe takes a bottle (Ellie wouldn't)...this is freeing...I think its time for a date with my hubby...tay tay & aunt Joni?
*I definitely want to have more children :) Life with kids is a lot of work, but so much fun!

The Countdown is On...

*There are less than three weeks until we get to meet our new little peanut. I think I will go into labor before then, though. Wishful thinking? Maybe.

*What am I going to do with two kids? Oh man, this changes EVERYTHING!

*I've discovered that I actually like reading when I'm not forced to do it. Last week I read Love, Acceptance, and Forgiveness...the new one, and Sheet Music. The title explains the first one, the second one is about sex ;) Both were fantastic. I just started The Shack, which is good so far.

*Preschoolers are funny. During free play time, a child playing in the "kitchen" brought me a cup. He said, "here, I brought you some beer!" I began reaching out for the cup and then decided against it and instead said, "we shouldn't drink beer at school". A second boy behind me excitedly said, "Ooo...I like beer!" End of conversation.

Power Tools and Curtains Rods

Ben is gone until Saturday afternoon.

Whenever Ben is gone, I try to accomplish something. This time, I decided that I would hang a curtain rod in our bedroom. This task first required me figuring out how to use Ben's drill. Yes, it's a power tool, and yes, I figured it out after about 10 minutes...all on my own. No, I didn't ask for permission, and yes, it usually makes him nervous when I touch his drill. For those of you who haven't figured it out yet, the huge protruding mass on my belly is a baby that is about to pop out very soon. So, me and my big belly are highly impatient because its hot and I just want things "done". The curtain rod is "done", though I can't boast that it is level. Measuring takes time that I don't want to spend. I'd rather play Snood on my computer.

I hope Ben likes it :)

Cars, Keys, and Pregnancy Brain

Cars, keys, and pregnancy brain. Yes, they are all related. Let me tell you how:

Ben plays soccer on Sundays. Today is Sunday, so he had a soccer game. I dropped him off, ran to Old Navy, and then came back. Ellie had fallen asleep in the car, so I decided to park, turn on the air, read my fantastic book (George Orwell's 1984), and wait until she woke up. I figured that it would be silly to have the car all the way on, as I was not driving, so I just turned it on "partially" so I could have some air. I thought this was a good idea, and that I was conserving energy, gas, and whatever else might possibly be associated with having the car "fully on". Afterall, who doesn't like to "be green"?

Then, my car died. Oops. Mistake #1.

Ellie wakes up, I go tell Ben what happened. He said "you're not supposed to do that". I replied. "No one told me!"

After the game in which they lost :( I go to find my keys. They aren't in my purse. I reluctantly ask Ben if he took them, and then looked all around. They were nowhere to be found. Someone sarcastically suggests that they are probably in the ignition in my car. That's ridiculous! I would never do that! Ben headed to the car, and found my keys in my ignition. For real. Mistake #2.

He and I both decided to blame the baby for stealing my brain, and all was good. A nice trip to Starbucks followed, and now we are at home resting from a long, but wonderful day.