thick as thieves

These two...

they entertain each other,

they love each other, 

they pick on each other, 

they have my whole heart.

two little faces

Sometimes I am so desperate to get Laurelei and Abbott to smile, in cute clothes, in the perfect local, with the perfect lighting, and I get so frustrated when it is just a little bit off. I've been dying to get spring pictures of the little ones. That requires a great deal of maneuvering on my part. Getting them dressed, keeping them happy, keeping them clean. When I started to think about it, the whole reason I wanted pictures of them was to just trap those sweet faces in time, having a beautiful reminder someday of just what they were like at this age.

 Well, today during lunch time I had a big aha! moment. Laurelei was sitting in her high chair, making faces at Abbott who was playing on the floor. Her face couldn't have been grimier with some serious mac and cheese remnants going on, but it also couldn't have been more perfect. After a few minutes of studying their little expressions and just watching them interact, I decided this would be these would be the perfect expressions to capture. I grabbed the camera and proceeded to snap a few pictures of them, just as they were. I wasn't being demanding or interrupting their playtime. I was just a bystander with a camera, capturing the most perfect memories.

Someday I like to think that when I look back at pictures, I'll be the most excited to look at the ones that have memories attached to them. Of course I'll love the ones of us all in our Sunday best too, but I think I'll really relish in the memories more. I'll look back at these pictures and just see the sweet, perfect little faces of two beautiful babies on a day that couldn't have been more wonderful. It probably won't even matter that my camera was all kinds of broken and all the pictures are way overexposed. Or that Laurelei had no pants on and cheese all over her face. Or that Abbott was still in yesterday's clothes. All that will matter will be those two faces that I love, perfectly frozen in time.

anchor

When all the world is spinning 'round
Like a red balloon way up in the clouds
And my feet will not stay on the ground
You anchor me back down 

 

 I am nearly world renowned
As a restless soul who always skips town
But I look for you to come around
And anchor me back down

There are those who think that I'm strange

They would box me up and tell me to change
But you hold me close and softly say
That you wouldn't have me any other way

When people pin me as a clown
You behave as though I'm wearing a crown
When I'm lost I feel so very found
When you anchor me back down

There are those who think that I'm strange
They would box me up and tell me to change
But you hold me close and softly say
That you wouldn't have me any other way

When all the world is spinning 'round
Like a red balloon way up in the clouds
And my feet will not stay on the ground
You anchor me back down

 Happy Valentine's Day Matty.

-lyrics by Mindy Gledhill

faces

these are the faces I love. 

they make me smile. 

they make me laugh.

they say a lot.

they keep me grounded and remind me what is oh so important. 

it's funny how you get to know the little features that make up the faces you love,

 and you look forward to seeing those little features and sweet faces every single day. 

our baby girl

our baby girl is so many things.

funny.

creative.

beautiful.

 

fearless.

loving. 

a little bit ornery.

And not really a baby anymore.

thankful

I love having the kind of husband I can slow dance in the kitchen with.

{via}

I just wanted to always remember being thankful for that.

Tomorrow is the big day!

I am over the moon people! Tomorrow we will finally get to meet little Abbott and figure out once and for all how he is doing! I cannot even begin to tell you how excited I am for all of the attention to be off my body and well being and be solely on his. I am ready to welcome him and face whatever it is that delivery brings, although I feel so certain it will bring a 100% healthy baby this go around. While I am making a little progress on my own, I've been told they will intervene around 1am to help us along if we need it. Say a little prayer if you think about it!

 I can't quite figure out how big I think he is going to be. He was right on track growth size at our last ultrasound, but that was a couple of weeks ago.  That would make him right around 6 lbs now. Comparing him to L throws me for a loop though, as she was born around 38 weeks and was still only 5lb 14oz. Maybe he will surprise us all and be bigger than expected! Who knows? All I know is that I am praying I get to hold him right away and feel for myself, no waiting this time.  :)

{The last belly pic, whew!}

When I got L ready for school this morning I had mixed emotions. I had a feeling that this morning was different, though I didn't know we'd be going into the hospital today. I hugged her a little more, gave her lots of kisses.

 I even packed a bag for her before I left for my doctors appointment, just in case. As I wait for her to come visit me in the hospital right now my throat is a little tight. I love that little girl so much and am going to miss her like crazy this week. Her life is about to change in such a drastic way and there is no way for any of us to really prepare for it now.

 My prayer for her is that having another family member in the house only makes her feel more love. I can't wait for her to meet Abbott tomorrow. I kind of feel like she has spent 36 weeks thinking I am crazy when I talk about having a baby in my belly, I wonder what she will really do when she sees the real baby in my arms.

Goodness I wish I had just one more night at home with her, though I am pretty sure that no matter when this happened I feel that exact same way!

Guess I will be back sometime soon with an update on our newest little one. My heart is so full tonight!

A stroll down memory lane...

This is the first of probably many very random blog posts, but seeing as how I am pretty much confined to my bed today (and what it seems may be a million more days for the rest of forever...) I thought I would link up to Baby Berry's 'the proposal' link party. Now I get to spend my long afternoon reading sweet love stories and thinking about the past, ahh....

 

Anyway, what makes our story special is that it is, well, ours! Matt and I have been together for 9 years now. Yes, we are high school sweethearts. I met him in 8th grade and we instantly became great friends. It's like something out of a movie when I think about it really. I remember at one point in our sophomore year of high school when I was 'playing hard to get' Matt told me he was going to marry me someday. I like to think about that when I know I am being particularly obnoxious. I mean, I can't be more obnoxious now even on my worst days than I was when I was in high school, and if he knew he wanted to marry me then...? :)

So, onto the story. It was December 4th, 2005 and I was a junior in college. (I know, a baby, right?) I remember having the distinct feeling that something was different about that night when I was getting ready even though I wasn't expecting a proposal quite so soon. I took a little extra time selecting my outfit and fixing my hair. I was nervous when he came to pick me up. We went to dinner at a 'new-to-the-area' restaurant. Somewhere between courses I remember knowing it was all about to go down. Matt started getting all sentimental (that is so my department usually) and talking about the years we had spent together and the future he wanted for us. It all happened very quickly. He gave me the most gorgeous ring he had designed himself with a jeweler in our hometown. It was all so perfect.

 

And it only got better from there. After dinner we went up to a place in Cincinnati called Mt. Adams and got ice-cream and walked around looking at the Christmas trees that had just been put out. One of the best things about our small college experience was that we had the most incredible group of friends there. Little did I know Matt had spent a good amount of time with one of his very best friends planning a surprise get together. He made a DVD of our years together to the tune of a great little song called "Marry Me" and all of our best friends were there to watch it and celebrate our engagement together. It was exactly what every girl wants, all of her best friends around to gush over the engagement and ring and details. We got to relive the story immediately and it was great! 

 

It was all so perfect. Like I said, the best part is that it's our story. Here we are 4+ years into marriage and we have already lived in another country, had a beautiful daughter and are about to bring another little baby into the world. It'd crazy to think that this same guy who pledged his love for me when he was 16, stood by me through so many ups and downs, held my hand in really crappy times, got caught by the police with me, married me, took me on the adventure of a lifetime to a foreign country, and made me a mother still loves me after all these years of knowing me.   I know I have said it before, but Matt really is just perfect in so many ways.