*BOY* I Needed That!

Today, after a lovely swim date with friends, Amelie checked our mail and pulled out a very fancy envelope. I knew exactly who it was from even though I was far away and was thrilled to receive a little something from my favorite Minnesota girl!

Amelie, however, was not thrilled that the beautiful princess card/package wasn't for her (but that's another story =)

I have the good fortune to have a dear friend from college who takes the time to send *real* mail. I used to be really good at sending real mail too, until, ya know, the babies happened!

There is nothing more wonderful than a little pick me up package from a friend who knows you inside and out! (It's all her fault, by the way, that Mr. Wonderful and I ended up dating, so she has an extra special place in my heart =)

Thank you Sarah!

And the little package she enclosed for Baby Wonderful, well that was just icing on the cake!

Have you ever seen these? Oh. my. I laughed so hard! I have a LOT to learn about baby boys!!!

Sarah--you ROCK and everyone ought to know it! Love you!

****Also, a special shout-out to my dear friends who both found out this week that they are joining the BOY club! Yay Breezy and Amy--I'm so happy for you both and can't wait to raise my little boy along side of YOUR little boys! What a special blessing to have good friends to go through pregnancy with!****

And another thing, we had our offer accepted on the cute little house we found! Woot! However, in a test of tempting fate, we put in an offer on a much larger house we found today, in our "target" neighborhood tonight. I'm so glad God is in charge of all this--whatever His answer is I *know* that it will be the right one.

Goodnight!

*Whirlwind*

I feel like I'm caught up in a whirlwind!

We've been so busy this summer

(we are very anti-busy-ness in our household so it's been a bit unreal!).

On a whim, after much fruitless apartment hunting

(3 bedrooms to rent on a budget is nearly impossible in South Jersey--the land of expensive EVERYTHING!)

we started looking at houses.

It's. been. interesting.

(Even more interesting when you take a 1 and 4 yo with you on your house hunting journey-let's just say, I don't recommend it =)

I'm praying for the Lord's will and that the right doors will open and the wrong ones will close.

This process is bringing up many memories of our first home hunting experience which was extremely difficult but amazingly rewarding in the end.

So I'm going to bed now and waiting to hear if our very first offer will be accepted.

I'm so thankful that I'm not in control of the situation and that I can trust God with the outcome.

(And I'm extra thankful for my husband who is just the right person for me to be married to--esp. when I'm extra pregnant. =))

Shelly...

* has numb fingers from all of the power listing i've been doing on ebay of little girl clothes. go take a look and spend lots of money on my cute stuff (seller id: michellerose630) tee hee ! =)
* is very excited about some possibilities that have just come up--we'll know whether they'll come to fruition in the next month...but i'm having a hard time sleeping b/c i can't stop thinking/praying about it all!
* is having a hard time sleeping! oh the joy of pregnancy!
* has to do my glucose screen still--do you think they'll notice if i skip it? =)
*doesn't get to see her friends enough during the summer! we do well on our own but miss our little circle.
* is itching to get home to NY before i become to pregnant, which, let's face it--is already upon me! ack! the third trimester!
* looks hott in her new maternity dress. i look hot in anything now-a-days, motherhood really turns up the internal heating system!!
* has some stinkin' cute kids and can't wait to see what the next one looks like.
* has an awesome husband!!
* just found a new consignment shop in H. Heights--excellent prices, friendly lady-owner, gymboree in stock--SCORE!

ttfn =)

Amelie Says

Upon watching *Wipeout* with Amelie and Mr. Wonderful the other night I was having an hysterical laughter fit. You know the kind--brought on by the fact that I'm pregnant and unable to really control my emotions--the things that would normally make me chuckle cause me to laugh uncontrollably.

So, as I was laughing and weeping with laughter Amelie looked at Mr. W very seriously and asked:

"Why is Mommy crying?"

and then to me,

"Mommy! Why are you crying? Is it because you're sad that you're having a boy?!"

HA! Oh my! That just about killed me I started laughing so hard. I'm not sure where she got that idea as I've never been anything but thrilled about Wonder Baby's Boy status. It sure was funny though!

He Shall Be Called:

At least, I *think* so =)

He Shall *Not* Be Called:

Mr. Wonderful and I had narrowed down our name choices to a select few and recently decided to nix all but one.

((All of our names had two syllables (because amelie has 3 and maeve has 1 I wanted a boy name with 2--i know, it's just a *me* thing). I also favored names that were vowel heavy--as they sounded better with my daughter's unusual names. ))

Deacon: off the list because, it just doesn't go with the middle name I want our baby to have. (Deacon Steven--too rhymey/formal sounding)
Grayson: off the list because, I found this baby name web site where people wrote in/answered survey questions about their own names. (like--do people mispell your name? mispronounce it? etc). One of the questions was--do people make fun of your name? And resoundingly--boy after boy wrote in about how people call them Gay or Gayson instead of Grayson. I told my husband and it kind of ruined this name for us b/c I hate to knowingly choose a name my son might get made fun of for! I *know* kids can make fun of basically anything but seriously--let's not make it too easy for them!

The name we picked?
It's Hebrew.
Means: Help or Aid.

And one of my guessers did correctly pick our name!

An Exercise In Futility or Anti-Frugality or Something

Oh. MY. Word.
Just saw Mini Boden's Fall/Winter Line for Boys online.
Be still my fashion conscious heart!!

Friday Five!

1. spent the day at the shore with granny of the east and our lovely church friends! and successfully lured amelie away from said beach and friends (maeve was borderline hypothermic--she has a deadly love affair with freezing cold ocean water! and had the blue arms, legs and face to prove it! yikes and ha!) to the rides without a nervous breakdown. NICE! both babies were fed, bathed and sleeping by quarter to 7. woot!
2. have a weekend full of plans with the visiting granny of the south. i'm sure it will all be very interesting! chuck e. cheese is in the works and we'll see what happens from there!
3. he shall be called, "E.S.W."
4. any guesses?
5. exhausted. going to be now! (9:20) oh what a glamorous life i lead!

good night! and have a pleasant tomorrow!

The Cutest Birthday Dress Ever--Because What Girl *Doesn't* Need A Cake Shaped Purse!?

Cake Dress. Cake Purse. Cake-tastic!

It's Only Wednesday Morning And This Week, I've Already:

* worn my bathing suit inside out to the pool--only realizing it was inside out after:
a. I had already been there half an hour
b. gotten completely wet
c. eh =)
* set a small fire in my kitchen which
a. resisted being put out by the "decrease available oxygen" route
b. finally went out after I doused it with a box of baking soda.
c. was on the stove
d. led to me spending the night scrubbing the stove
* picked out a baby name that
a. I love.
b. I will tell you after I tell a few people firsthand (like, um, my Parents!!)
*entered my THIRD TRIMESTER!!!! seriously?
a. this pregnancy is going fast!
b. I'm still holding out hope that we'll find somewhere in the 3 mile radius I want to live which is affordable and has three bedrooms. we. shall. see.
c. I still have to do my glucose screening and am so not looking forward to it--ick in the extreme man!!
d. I can't wait to meet my baby!!!
* dropped Amelie off at a local church's vacation Bible school where she has:
a. had a wonderful time
b. learned lots of songs, eaten lots of snacks and played lots of games
c. given me 2.5 hours each day alone with the Maevenator WHO HAS BEEN TAKING NAPS TWICE A DAY. I still haven't figured this one out!!
*this week shall henceforth be known as "The Busiest Week Ever" we'll see if this homebody:
a. survives
b. makes it out to everything we have planned
c. gets enough naps to stay sane-(can there ever be enough naps?!? i think not =)-tee hee!
Happy Wednesday!!

The Wonderful Sisters: A Study In Contrasts

Etsy: Handmade Boy Cuteness

Isn't this little handmade set I found on Etsy tdf?

There is hope for cute boy stuff!!

I'm starting on my must-have-boy-stuff list and I'm happy to report that I don't *need* much and I can't wait to start checking items off!

Oh, and I think I've decided on a name...but you're probably not going to like it =)

*tee hee*

Off to look up fabric appliques! Woot!

Girls At The Pool

Girls On The Go

Girls At The Park (We Love the Park At 8:30 A.M.: Quiet, Cool, Empty!)

Shelly's Snippets

* I'm so thankful that my girls play so well together--Amelie is the most loving and kind big sister, and is a great helper to her little sister at the park and the pool! i'm proud to be their mother!
* Maeve has started saying Amelie very distinctly, "Ahh maaaa leeee!" it is so cute!
* I need a new point and shoot digital camera--my pocket camera is fading fast! and I don't have room to tote around my big digital for the everyday stuff!
* Just found out that not only did our insurance coverage change this year, but my husband's school switched providers, right in the middle of my pregnancy. Something tells me that this is going to be annoying for me! Ahhhh! But, at the same time, I'm thankful for insurance!
* Still am not used to wearing a maternity bathing suit every-single-day-in-public. I'm pretty sure I'll never get used to it.
* TMI: I smashed my toe this week and now have half a toe nail on my pinky toe. So sad =(
* Loves Jersey Fresh Blueberries!
* Needs another vacation!
* Needs to start going to bed earlier!
* Excited that we have NOTHING to do this weekend!
* Enjoys Nameless Baby Weber and all of his kicking but does not appreciate that he only starts kicking at night, just as I finally get comfortable enough to fall asleep =)

Happy Thursday!

Yay for Day One Of Month SEVEN!!

Your Baby

Your baby isn't just sitting around doing nothing, he's working hard preparing for life outside the womb—perfecting his lungs and packing on the pounds. He'll gain 1/2 pound this week alone. Other highlights this week:

• Things are starting to get a little crowded inside the old womb as baby grows bigger and bigger. Your ribs are probably pining away for the good old days when they didn't have a foot permanently lodged between them. Hate to break it to you, but it's going to get worse before it gets better.

• Your baby's ears are fully functional now. And since they are, you may notice that loud noises and sudden movements can startle the little bugger. He's getting used to the everyday sounds inside the womb: the sound of your heart beating, your lungs inhaling and exhaling air, the growling of your stomach.
  

• Baby's got a fully developed inner ear now. This means his sense of balance is working and he can tell whether he's hanging upside down or right side up. He can also feel you moving, so go ahead, pop in your favorite tunes and boogie.

• Your little Wiener schnitzel is about the length of a foot-long Chicago hot dog and weighs about 1 1/3 pounds.

The Fireworks Fairy

Amelie, Granny of the North and Daddy at Amelie's first fireworks!

Beware--if you send Daddy off to buy a light up toy for your girl (thinking that he would get a wand or a tiara) he will buy her a three foot long sword.
And she will love it!

The dance of the fireworks fairy!

(pretending the sword is a flute!)

I love that kid!

Zoo-bi-lee

We had a lovely day at the zoo on Monday--the weather was perfect and the crowds and traffic were light!

This was my view for most of the day:

Amelie and Maeve and their squishy face picture:

Anna, Amelie and Ellie

Cousin Ryleigh

Yay for friends and family and fun!