Life Lately...

Yep.  It's me.  I don't even know if you've missed me, but I'm still alive…I have to admit that I have let this little old blog of mine take a backseat in my everyday life.  I still enjoy reading and catching up with all y'all, but I've been slacking.  Really, there's no other reason than I've been using the time that I used to sit down and bust out a post and have been using that energy to start what I only can appropriately call "nesting" already!

That pantry that has bags of Veggie Straws and Pirate's Booty shoved in just enough so it doesn't come flying out at you when you open the door?  Yeah, I've probably cleaned and organized that sucker three times in the past month and a half.  Now that we have a "Mr. Independent" on our hands, he will just take his little bathroom step stool and grab whatever his little heart desires to snack on at that minute, with no regard to the fact that I just spent 45 minutes rearranging everything he just toddlerized over the past two weeks.

Anyway, enough about that, besides cleaning and organizing and pitching every thing I can get my hands on, life has been becoming more chaotic around here.  Being stuck inside for the past three months because of this God awful cold we have been dealing with, we are going a little stir crazy coming up with activities to keep a 3 year old entertained for more than 20 minutes at a time!  That said, we started swimming lessons again…which, thankfully, this preggo mama no longer has to waddle into the kiddie pool with him anymore!  He is one on one with an instructor and he's loving it.  I think he was more excited about the goggles he gets to wear than the actual learning aspect, but it's only been two weeks, so I think he'll come around!

Seriously…no words!

We also started him in a gymnastics class once a week.  Growing up, it was unheard of for boys to do gymnastics…in fact my Dad had always said that if there was a way to get my younger brother gymnastics lessons without anybody finding out, he would have signed him up in an instant…because it is so good for coordination, balance, and to improve athletic ability.  But, times have changed, and now, three out of the four kiddos that are in Madden's class are, in fact, boys!  He is loving every minute of it…coming home and doing somersaults, donkey kicks, skipping, and wanting to jump off of every piece of furniture in our house because he thinks of them as the trampoline that he jumps off at the gym.  Ummmm, you want to know how many times I have had visions of him jumping off the couch and either breaking his foot, or splitting his head open on the coffee table?  Yeah, more times than I care to admit.  Trust me, kid, there are days that I wish I could jump off the couch time after time, half as many times as you…his energy is out of control.  Just another reason I cannot wait to get outside and let him run off some of his pent up energy in the back yard!

Soooo proud of his "Gold Medal" after his first class of gymnastics…it's the little things!

As for me, well, I'm just trying to keep up around here.  The laundry never ends, I'm constantly wiping sticky paw prints off the refrigerator, (I don't care how beautiful stainless appliances are, they are NOT meant for families with toddlers!) sweeping up crumbs, and wiping up spills day in and day out.  I don't know how I'm going to keep up when #2 gets here.  Either one of two things will happen: 1.) My house will become a train wreck because I just don't care anymore or 2.) We will just spend so much time outside that none of those little things will even happen inside…they will just be done outdoors!

I am still keeping up with my workouts…even at almost 6 months pregnant, I can still keep up with the non-preggo gym goers.  I'm taking each day in stride, though, because I don't know how much longer this will last.  Things are getting pretty tight in the 'ol uterus, so breathing is becoming harder as the nugget is squishing my lungs and pressing on my bladder as I try to run!  So, I am doing a lot more heavy lifting to bulk up these arms and legs of mine, since my middle section will continue to grow...But I am determined to keep up my workouts until the day before "d-day," like I did with Madden, so we will see how long I can keep up!  So far, so good ;)

I've been doing more "bare bump" shots, to truly see the bump, versus it being hidden under my shirts…as I couldn't tell a difference from week to week when I was doing that!  So bear with my half naked pics… ;)

I have been trying to keep my craving indulgences at bay, by having TONS of fruits and veggies on hand at all times.  Now, come Friday and Saturday I may or may not let my cravings get the best of me, but I do keep things in check during the week.  Some of my huge cravings lately have been super spicy foods, followed by Dairy Queen blizzards (ummm, have you tried the red velvet blizzard from there yet??  Heaven!) or Sonic Butterfinger Blasts…which I allow myself once per week…on Saturdays after church…I know this weekend will get out of control, eating wise, as my birthday is on Sunday…this means eating out Friday, Saturday and Sunday and probably indulging in more cake and goodies than I care to admit.  One thing I do have hanging over my head, though, is the fact that I have the dreaded Glucose test on Tuesday, which I obviously want to pass, so maybe I will have to save some of the cake and ice cream for after that test...

I feel like there are so many other things I am missing, and I feel awful about this…I am going to do my best to post more, update you on my life, and try to give you better pregnancy updates, as we are only a short 15 weeks away from meeting Babe #2!

That said, what do you feel that you have been missing from me?  What haven't I talked about that you want to know more about?  Please, shoot your questions my way and I will give you all the details!

Thank you all for sticking around and not completely abandoning me…I truly appreciate and love each and every one of you!!

Until next time...