Random Act of Kindness

This afternoon Lily and I were coming home from a playdate at the park and I needed to stop for a few things at the grocery store (some friends are coming for dinner and I needed to pick up a few last minute items). I told Lily as soon as we left the park that we would be stopping and she was greatly looking forward to the free cookie our grocery store gives out to the little ones. So, when I realized half way home (and to the store) that I forgot to bring my wallet- well, things got ugly. Lily was very upset. I wasn't thrilled either because I wasn't sure when I would get a chance later in the day to make it to the store. And then right after Lily calmed down I remembered that while I didn't have my wallet I did have my checkbook in my bag! I could go to the store after all (because I don't think our grocery store has ever, once, asked me to see identification)! So I stopped, picked up the few things I needed, Lily got her cookie and we headed to check out. Everything was great- our two bags of groceries were loaded and in the cart, the check was written and we were ready to go...until the cashier asked to see my license (or any form of identification). I explained the situation and added that I had never been asked to show anything there before. Apparently the computer only calls for ID every now and then- go figure! The cashier was very nice and offered to hold my order until I could come back, but I told him that he didn't need to do that, apologized, and he voided my check. I was ready to walk away empty handed when the very sweet lady behind me handed the cashier some money and told him that she wanted to pay for my groceries!!! I was totally shocked- and quite honestly tried to talk her out of it. I assured her that I was fine and could indeed afford my groceries. But she insisted. So I let her pay, but tried more than once to get her to give me her name and address so I could send her the money. But again she insisted that she had been in my situation before and that somebody had helped her- and that now she wanted to help me! Isn't that incredible!!! Thank you sweet little lady from the Hannaford- my little family (and our friends coming for dinner) have been blessed by your kindness today!

P.S. For this random act of kindness I thought I would include a random picture (our pup, Indy, and Lily's pup becoming friends)!

Lunch Conversations with Lily

Today at lunch:

Lily: "Mommy, you getting bigger?"

Me: "Yes, I sure am. Do you know why?"

Lily: "Because baby Eli is pushing out your belly."

Me: "That's right!"

Lily: "Why?"

Me: "Because my belly is a safe place for him to grow. When he's big enough he'll be born and he'll come live with us."

Lily: "Will he drive here?"

Me: "Not exactly honey."

Bed

This is my bed.

Simple and Cozy.
I was going to work on the nursery.
But this prego mommy is really tired.
So, I'm going to go to this cozy bed for awhile.
Do you think Lily will nap as long as me?
Here's hoping.

Little Angel

This last picture was just too funny not to include!

Okay, so I don't know if I would exactly call her a "Little Angel." Don't get me wrong, I think she's about the most beautiful, wonderful little girl ever, but even I can be objective here. Angel? Not exactly. She does tell me everyday that she loves me. And lately when we are out somewhere and both of us have to use the bathroom she gently puts her arms around me (like I do with her) so that I won't fall into the toilet. She's a sweetie. Then again she slapped me yesterday because I wouldn't let her have a snack right before dinner. Let's just say there is good and bad in her just like everyone else. But...I just couldn't help putting her in these little overalls the other day. Mostly because they were mine when I was little! I clearly remember either wearing them or seeing pictures of me in them (maybe my mom could send me a picture if there is one and we could see how much Lily and I look alike). Anyway, they were a little torn on the side and we ended up taking them off a few hours later when the straps just wouldn't stay up, but it was still fun. Mom, hope this brings back some memories!

Last Days of Summer!

Well, it's official- today was the first day of Fall!! That means these pictures I took the other day are from our last days of Summer! And really all I can say is that we had a wonderful summer! We left Maine before the 6 weeks of non-stop rain- and enjoyed warm, sunny days in Colorado (with thunderstorms in the afternoon and evening)! And immediately upon our return to Maine the weather here turned around and we really were able to enjoy the best of Maine summer weather! In fact, this late summer/early fall has been just incredible! The other day was just a little too cool for the pool, but Lily and I spent some of the afternoon outside just enjoying our backyard- playing in her sandbox, "mowing the lawn" and learning to climb trees (or at least hang out in them)! Farwell summer, we really enjoyed you this year!

Introducing Blueberry!

I would like to introduce you to Blueberry- the blue rubber donkey. He is Lily's newest friend. He actually belongs to our friends Steph and Ryan (who bought him at Goodwill for their nieces to play with). This fall, however, this donkey has found a new calling as being a part of our white water rafting programs (something about rescuing him in the river I believe). Well last week the donkey was left at our house (along with all of the other rafting gear) and Lily discovered him. And fell in love with him. She rides him, feeds him, reads to him (as you can see in the pictures), baths him, walks him (on one of Indy's leashes), and even puts him down for a nap when she takes a nap! We named him Blueberry and he has become a very good friend. In fact, Blueberry even has his very own barn in our living room. It's a very roomy cardboard box complete with blankets, pillows, a window, a lantern, and even a door latch made of string. We assure Steph and Ryan that Lily will likely grow bored with Blueberry after a few weeks and that eventually we will be able to return him! Thanks guys for letting us borrow him for a while! Never thought I would have a blue donkey living in my living room!

A Recent Favorite

Love This Girl.

We bought some candy corn yesterday- which of course Lily loved. So much so that as she was getting ready for bed (both at naptime and bedtime) she said to me, "Mommy, don't eat all of the candy." Apparently she was concerned. I adore this child.

Hilary's Wedding Shower

Aunt Cindy (the mother-of-the-bride), Aunty Ann, and Hilary (the bride)

Aunty Ann & Lacey

Mama Cousins & Lacey

Hilary's two younger sisters- Julia & Katie

Hilary opening gifts

My sister-in-law Marianne

My sister-in-law Mary and her daughter Lacey

Last weekend Joe's family hosted a shower for his cousin Hilary who is getting married in just a couple of weeks! We had a great time at the shower just catching up, playing a few little games (which of course my sister-in-law, Marianne, won), and enjoying some yummy treats! My camera is kind of on the fritz these days (long story for another post), but I did manage to get a few pictures at the shower. And really this post might be more appropriately titled, "Family who never let me take their picture." It's true, I managed to capture a few shots of the many people in Joe's family who would prefere NOT to have their photo taken. Case in point, while we were at camp this summer Joe's mom even offered to buy me an additional Christmas present this year if I wouldn't take her picture while she was in the lake. Mama Cousins, I'll be looking forward to that extra Christmas present!! At least I got a few shots of those illusive family members at the shower!

Happy Birthday Lacey!

Lacey and her funny face!

The side view of Brenna's "mean face" that her father taught her. This picture doesn't do it justice- it's absolutly hilarious!

This weekend Lily and I headed down to be with Joe's family for a few different family events (Joe had back-to-back rafting trips this weekend so he wasn't able to join us)! I was just relieved that I managed to pack and drive us the two hours there all on my own (quite an accomplishment these days)!

Our first event was my niece Lacey's birthday party- she's one year old!! How fun to be able to celebrate her birthday and just relax with family. The girls had such a great time together as usual and we all enjoyed an incredible chocolate strawberry cake made by my sister-in-law. Happy 1st Birthday Lacey!

Stamps!

The other day we got a package in the mail from my mom (yes mom, it finally got here)! It was mostly hand-me-down clothes for Lily from my Aunt Linda (thanks Aunt Linda), but it also contained a cute little Melissa & Doug stamp set from my Aunt Pam (thanks Aunt Pam)!! I was able to hold Lily off until the next day when we had more time, but she was super excited to use this stamp set (which was cute little farm animals, by the way)! I covered the table in white paper and let her go at it (in her pajamas as you can see)! At first she was a little frustrated and kept saying that she couldn't do it. But once she figured out how to push down hard enough on the stamp she was as excited as ever. For a while every time she made a stamp on the paper she raised her hands and cheered, "I did it!" You can see this in the last picture! Thanks for all the goodies everyone! And mom, I hate to tell you, but I ate more of the jellybeans than Lily did (hey, at least one of your grandchildren got them)!:)

Whole Fruit

Yes, I've finally taken some new pictures!! I am off crutches and even though my ankle is still pretty sore I am able to hobble around the house. Life is slowly returning to "normal"- whatever that is!

These pics are from today at lunch. Lily has decided in the last few weeks that she doesn't like her fruit cut up anymore. She would rather be given the whole thing so that she can bite into it! Really, it's pretty nice. It's less work for me, she's happier, and she eats more of her fruit. The only down side is that she doesn't often finish the entire piece and nobody wants to eat the mushy mess that's left behind!

It's kind of crazy watching her eat an apple (or in this case a nectarine) like a real big kid. My baby is growing up so fast!

Are You Ready For Some Football?

Okay, I admit it- I have no new pictures to share (as I've only taken pictures once in the last two weeks since spraining my ankle). What can I say, I can't get around very well and my camera is large. Maybe tomorrow....

In the meantime, I'm sitting here on this beautiful Sunday afternoon wishing that the NFL regular season started today instead of next week. Oh well- only one more week! Around this house we get pretty excited when football season rolls around. And I've already been going at it a bit with our neighbors- whom I happen to really like despite the fact that they are Vikings fans (and just recently signed Favre to their team). That whole Favre thing is just sad.

But...I was reading some of the NFL predictions today and...Sports Illustrated is predicting the Packers and the Patriots to go up against each other in the Superbowl this year! Okay, it's only a prediction (and many other people predict something different), but this is the match up I've been waiting for (and nearly got 2 years ago)! That would sure make things interesting around our house! Bring on the football- we're ready!

You Know You're In Bad Shape When...

So you know you are in bad shape when you are shopping at target and a wife scolds her husband for cutting in front of the poor pregnant woman with a crutch (and that's you)! I officially feel pathetic. Oh well.
You might have noticed that my last couple of pictures are a little old. What can I say, I'm having a hard enough time managing the growing belly, bad ankle, and crutches much less trying to add my camera to the mix! I'll try and get some new pictures this weekend. In the meantime I found this picture today that made me laugh- it's Lily and Indy looking out our office window (taken this spring). Just one of Lily's many entertaining faces!

What a Week!

Well, last week was quite the week. In a span of 7 days our dog was sprayed by a skunk (for the 2nd time in a year), our computer crashed (as in it's dead), we were in a car accident with an ambulance, I fell and ended up on crutches, and for about two days Joe was feeling sick. Ummm....yeah....what a week! It has to get better right?:)
Okay, so it was a pretty hard week. And yet I just can't shake the feeling that God was protecting us through it all. After all, Joe did realize this time around that Indy had been sprayed by the skunk before he let him in the house (saving me hours and hours of cleaning). After our computer crashed Joe was able to get it started briefly a few days later (long enough to save everything on the computer onto a seperate disk). Not to mention how grateful I am that the baby wasn't hurt when I fell or that I didn't do more serious damage to my ankle. And only God knows how we were protected from something far worse during our adventure in Acadia the day we were in the car accident. So yeah, I do believe that God has been protecting us. And I look forward to the day in heaven when I can see it all clearly and in full.
In the meantime if He chooses to make this week a little easier that would be nice too!

Baby Fun at Target

About two weeks ago I created a gift registry for our newest little one at Target! Now, I'm really not expecting lots of gifts, showers, or anything like that this time around. So, then why did I do it? Well, a few reasons. 1). Just in case there are a few people who do want to know what we really need/want this time around. 2). To help me get organized for our newest arrival. 3). Because after the baby is born Target will give me a coupon for something like 10-20% off anything left on my registry (at least they did this when I registered for Lily). This alone makes it worth it! 4). But mostly I did it just because it was fun! It was a great way for me to get away for an evening, be by myself, and just concentrate on the baby. And do you know what? It was really FUN this time around! I also registered for Lily at Target when I was pregnant with her and it was totally overwhelming. There were so many things we needed for her (being the first one) and I just remember looking down an entire row of baby bottles and feeling totally clueless and overwhelmed. This time around, however, I know a lot more and we need a lot less- and it really was just lots of fun!