Is Celebrating Labor Day (Hopefully With No Labor Of Any Kind =)

I hope you all get to have your honeys home!!

Silver And Gold Sunday

Week In Review: Playing Catch UP

What a busy week we've had!

We soaked up the last few days of summer and enjoyed, loved and cherished the beautiful, low-humidity weather! It was like heaven for this pregnant lady!

We spent many days playing at the park, swimming and having adventures!

It was perfect =)

I know I'm going backwards but that's the way the pictures uploaded and I'm lazy so I'm going with it =) Yesterday we went to Storybook Land which was, like, my favorite place ever!!!

We had SUCH a wonderful time--the weather and the girls were perfect! It is the cutest little amusement park in South Jersey (for the preschool set) and we loved every second we spent there!

Granny of the East treated us all to such a fun day--THANK YOU Granny!
Here's a picture of the Weber girls! (Aunt Micayla and Ryleigh were there too!)

We also spent some time swimming! We're soooo sad that the pool will be closing this weekend but the sadness was tempered by the fact that the water is STINKIN' FREEZING!!!

I think it was like 50 degrees in the pool even though it was 80 out of it =)

The girls played until they turned blue and I tried to capture a few moments since I've been the laziest photographer ever this summer!

The swimsuit Maeve is wearing was Amelie's--it's going to be hard to part with! I might have to try for another girl someday just so I can see its cuteness again!!

Amelie was like a little fishy this summer! She loves "practicing her big girl moves."

We also made it out to the zoo again this week with friends!

Aren't they cuties? It was perfect zoo-visiting weather!

I only took three pictures--lazypregnantladysyndrome--so I only got one of Maeve and Miss Leah's back! These little ladies will be 2 next month!!!! Let's have a moment of silence to contemplate that fact...

*tear*

What a lovely week! I'll miss you summer! I'm not ready for the Fall and all that it entails for the Wonderful household. In fact, I'm anxious, overwhelmed, excited, scared, thrilled and terrified all at once. We're in one-day-at-a-time-mode now!

Happy Labor Day Weekend Friends!!

Because I Need A Break From Packing

So...I've started to throw things in boxes.

I feel weird about it.

I feel like until we have the keys to our house in our hot little hands that I shouldn't do anything...but the planner/organizer/list-maker in me can't help but do it!

*sigh....I don't like feeling weird about things.

We went to the pool today and though it was lovely outside the water was

absolutely

FREEZING!!

The girls had blue lips in a manner of minutes and spent most of their time running around the grass so we packed up early. It was a little sad--I'm not really ready for summer to end as our Fall is going to be extremely busy.

(understatement of the year!)

And then something happens that puts every little thing I'm going through into perspective and makes it all seem small.

Please pray for our friends, the *S* family, as they found out they lost their little one on the way today.

(there is nothing more painful than the loss of a little one!!)

My heart is broken for them.

Every blessed minute we've been given is such a gift that we ought to celebrate what we have

all. the. time.

because you never know when it might be gone.

I'm going to go count my blessings now...and pack a few more boxes while I'm at it.

Good night!

Wordless Wednesday: My New Favorite Picture Of My Maeve

The Difference Between My Children

Amelie Poses For Pictures.

Maeve Tries To Figure Out How To Eat The "Props"!!

Amelie Does; Amelie Says

It sure is bitter-sweet to see your precious babies grow up! I can't believe what a big-girl Amelie has turned into over this past year. She is so sweet and helpful and she surprises me every single day with what she knows and does!

Today at the park I had a pregnant-mama-emotional-moment when she, for the first time, started swinging all by herself--perfectly.

With no help. No pushes and she went high.

It was a small thing but it felt soooo big.

She came up afterward and told me, "I'm busy practicing my 5 year old stuff...cause I'm gonna be 5. It's like I'm 5 already with all the stuff I can do, right?"

*sigh....It sure seems like it my little one!

I Heart Polka Dots And Stripes (And Gymboree Like Totally *Knows* it)

Maeve-y Milestones: A Belated Month 22 Shout-Out!

My sweet and sassy Maeve-y-girl is speeding towards her 2nd birthday and I

can. NOT. believe it!!!

Being as preggo and preoccupied as I have been ALL summer long, I've been remiss in celebrating her monthly milestones!

So, a belated, happy 22 Maeve! to my sweet little one!

Maeve is such a delight--I can't believe how wonderful this summer has been with her and her sweet big sister!
Maeve is fearless, independent, loving, funny, easy-going and walks everywhere on her tip-toes.
Her hair is nearly as long as her poor sister who has been growing hers out for 4.75 years now =)
Speaking of Amelie, she is Maeve's best friend--they are excellent playmates! They never fight (YET!) and always have fun no matter what game they make up together!

Maeve says words here and there but really lets her sister do most of her talking! She's strings together simple sentences but is more of a jibber-jabber-er than a talky-talker.
And, she's finally reached the big ol' 20 pound mark! She's huge! (Her sister was 20 pounds at 1 year, so they are def. different!!)

I love, love, love you my sweet little one! You bring us so much stinkin' joy! We are blessed to be your family and can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for your future!

*Love-ly*

My bff and her sweet family came down for a visit the other day and it was wonder-ful!

We've been conspiring between us to unite our families in marriage (!!!) through our precious firstborn babes. I know, I know, it's a little creepy--but I seriously think we should put a little arranged marriage in writing--cause look how much they already LOVE each other (and wouldn't their wedding slide show be TDF?! =)

Like Daughter, Like Mother

The other day as I was driving along with Amelie she was busily telling me all matter of pre-schooler facts and then announced,

"I am the smartest girl!"

"Well," I said, "Amelie--you are very smart because you're learning something new every day!"

She continued, "I am actually the smartest kid. I am also smarter than all of the adults!"

And I thought: Oh. Boy. !!!!

"Amelie-girl, you are very smart but everyone is very smart in their own way--that's what makes us all special!" I continued to explain that we all have things we are better at than others and others have things they are better at than us etc.

This conversation got me thinking, as hilarious as it is that she thinks of herself as the biggest and the best, the center of the universe, I, at 30, know that I'm not, but often act, think and feel that I am.

I've really been learning this lately in my life--when something I felt I was at the center of slowly started to change. And I didn't realize I wasn't at the center until it was painfully obvious that I wasn't even close to it!

And boy, was it PAINFUL to realize that things didn't and don't revolve around me as I thought they should. I stood back and looked around and thought,

When did this happen?

How?

Why?

Who am I now if I'm not treated the way I think I ought to be?

But as I've waited and embraced by "new" role, my life has been filled with a new well-spring of Peace.

The reality is that I was never at the center of anything!

The reality is that there is only

One Center

One Constant

One Unchanging Fact:

God is the true center of all things and anytime I feel that everything is or ought to revolve around me I'm just fooling myself!

Acceptance of this truth is the only route to true peace in my life!

*I* am not the center.

*I* never was

*I* never will be

And that is JUST the way it's supposed to be.

Praise the Lord for His patience in teaching me and that He is willing to teach me the same lessons over and over and over again until I get it!

Now, if only someone could come and help me help Amelie to get it, we'd be all set =)

Brain Freeze

Last night I was making dinner and I went to sprinkle some special "only-found-in-upstate-ny" seasoning on our pork.

The seasoning was in a cinnamon container since I mooched it off of my parents while I was home visiting and that was the only empty container available.

So I reached in the cupboard for the seasoning in the cinnamon container, opened it and shook without looking, only to realize that I had poured actual cinnamon

(a WHOLE container of it, since the shaker lid conveniently flew off)

all over our dinner.

I must have *cinnamon* on the brain!

Maeve Says

When I lay Maeve down for her nap, I always sing her the same songs and say,

"Sleep good Maeve-y! I love you!"

Today as I said this and walked out of the room she said (for the first time)

"I luv oo Mama!"

And my heart exploded.

The end. =)

What I've Been Working On:

Embellishing shirts for Baby Ezra!

I found a bunch of fun Etsy stores that sold appliques on the cheap and can't wait to make all of E's little clothes a bit more fun.
'Cause that's how I roll...=)

Poufy Princess Dress Parade

Amelie was beyond excited today when our little neighbor girl, who is in the process of casting off all of her princess paraphernalia to Amelie, gifted her this dress today!

Behold--Amelie's sweet new girly princess dress =)

Shelly Is...

* Obsessed with Tropical Punch Kool-Aid.
*....and paint chips
* ...and fabric swatches
* Excited about our home inspection Monday...or nervous...or thrilled...or terrified (I'm not sure exactly what yet)
* Happy that tomorrow is Saturday!
* ...and date night!!!
* Sitting in a peaceful house. Ahh...

Time for a little HGTV--goodnight!

The *Waiting* Game

I am no good at waiting.

I am a planner, a list-maker, an organizer, a non-procrastinator, a do-er-right-away-er.

Waiting is soooo hard for me.

These past summer has been a real exercise in waiting and boy--is Jesus workin' on me cause I feel like I've had to wait for everything lately =)

And although I don't like waiting much, I think it's really good for me, in general.

The longer I have to wait for something, the more I appreciate it and that's a good thing.

We've been waiting on bunch of *big* things lately (I don't even have time to go into the nine million little things we're *waiting* on--eh):

Baby Wonderful!!!

Being pregnant is the best exercise in waiting EVER! And puhlease, don't let anyone fool you--it's not just 9 months of waiting, it's 10, people!! 40 weeks--YOU do the math =)

I've been *waiting* to buy baby accessories (ok, not waiting to buy the clothes but a girl can only wait on so many things =) and just finally made my first baby gear purchase!!!

I present to you the bouncer!!!

Isn't it super cute?

Our old one was pretty much devastated by Amelie and Maeve's frequent use and when I found this cute (cheap!!!) one at Target I had to invest.
It even features my baby boy room theme: Owls!!

Speaking of owls and baby boy room themes, here are my inspiration pages that I ripped out of a few baby magazines as I exercise my patience in *waiting* to see if we even end up with a baby boy room at all!!

I'm planning on painting a similar tree/owl mural on baby boy's wall.

You know, as long as this pregnant lady's strength endures!!

We still need a crib and dresser for him but most everything else is squared away

(thanks to the stock pile of baby gear left over from the Maevenator!)

And I love these owl pillows and the cards--

I'm planning on creating some owl wall art that looks something like these Etsy Cards I found:

We have the inspection on *our* house next week and I'm praying (maybe I should start fasting too, oh boy) that everything comes together so I can start working on things for a move!

It would be totally amazing to have a nursery for our little one--I can't even express how much this whole house thing means to me. God has certainly blessed us where we are and I am thankful to be here but having a yard and an extra bedroom would def. fill my cup to MORE than overflowing!

So anyways, that's my story.

I'm waiting....and that's ok....for now =)

Conversations With Amelie; And *PROOF* That We Are In Some Ways Dissimilar

Mommy says,

"Amelie, why don't we go to Chick Fil A to use our free breakfast coupon and you and Maeve can play!"

Amelie says,

"Why don't we just stay home, eat fruit and exercise."

30 Years; And 30 Weeks

This pregnancy is flying by!

I'm sure it has something to do with the

busy-ness that having young children brings and I like it that way!

10. more. weeks.

!!!

And I have a feeling, that even if all keeps sailing along smoothly,

this 10 weeks will fly since I'll be:

a. packing

b. moving

c. unpacking

d. unpacking

e. unpacking

f. sending my oldest to pre-k (everyday!! *tear*)

g. sending my husband back to his regular, longer houred days of teaching

h. entertaining an almost-2-year-old Maeve

g. having a baby

Yep. Busy.

But it's a good, happy, full, noisy season in our life and I intend to enjoy every blessed second!

And Now I've Forgotten What I Was Going To Blog About Because Amelie Just Said:

"Mommy!!!! I LOVE YOU!!!!!

Can you come wipe my butt please?"

Ah...the joys of Motherhood.