Another Winter Storm...

This winter has been pretty brutal. We haven't had the massive storms that we had last year, but it has been bitterly cold and so the snow never melts and just continually accumulates from each small storm. This week, however, mother nature decided to surprise all of us (including the meteorologists) with a big one. It was a particularly strange storm--amidst the blizzard, there was a thunderstorm. Abby was dying to go outside but I'm not brave enough to take her alone in my off-balanced state. So, we had to wait for daddy to get home to head out.

We sent Abby and Lil down together on the sled. They thought it was pretty fun.



Sam picked up Abby and dropped her in the snow. She was pretty shocked but thought it was hilarious.



Snow snuggles are especially fun.



Abby's favorite part of playing in the snow might be the part when we come inside and have hot chocolate!

The Way to Live

I've always loved this quote, attributed to Mother Teresa:

People are often unreasonable, irrational and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies. Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you. Be honest and sincere anyway.

What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight. Create anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, will often be forgotten. Do good anyway.

Give the best you have, and it will never be enough. Give your best anyway.

In the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.

I always feel more joy when I am living my life to please myself, my family and most importantly, my Heavenly Father. When we worry what other people are going to think of our actions, it often stifles our willingness to be better, to reach out and to grow. Like this quote says, no matter what we do, it will never be enough to impress everyone. So, why don't we stop trying? Easier said than done, I know, but why don't we all work on it together...

One month...

There is now one month until my due date, which sounds really short and really long at the same time. I think it feels that way since it could be shorter or longer and there's no way of knowing! Due dates are kind of cruel that way.

I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow. I'm curious to see if there is any action going on, but I'm determined not to get my hopes up for an early delivery if there is. Instead, I'm going to focus on how great it is to let my body work without feeling the pain.

I've been feeling quite a bit better the past couple of weeks. I'm mostly just really tired (and I'm fairly certain I pulled my groin.) After getting up, eating breakfast, showering and tidying up the house, I'm ready for a nap. I usually let Abby watch a show while she has a snack and I lay on the couch half-conscious. She's been pretty understanding when I tell her I can't do something or that I just need to lay down for a minute. In fact, she'll usually bring me a blanket.

Abby keeps telling me things she's going to share, play and do with baby sister. The other day, she said, very earnestly, "Baby sister come over, please, PLEASE, PLEASE!" I hope the excitement keeps up, even when she realizes that baby sister isn't particularly exciting for a couple of months.

Here's to hoping the next month (or less...or more...) goes by quickly!

Hooded Towels

I found towels on sale for super cheap at Kohls a while back and bought a couple remembering this hooded towel tutorial I had been wanting to try.

I whipped up three of them the other night, one for me and two to give as gifts.





I just feel bad that the ones I give as gifts won't come with this cute model!

Ties and Bows

My friend Sarah and I hosted Girl's Night this month. We decided to do a craft night making hairclips and little boy ties.

Making hair clips has kind of become a tradition, so we found some new ideas to spruce up our collections. I made four clips for my (soon to be) girls and a headband for myself.



Here are the directions:

Purple Rose

Scrunched Flower

Ruffle Headband

Felt Flower

These projects are so addicting. My craft bin keeps calling to me but for some reason, I have a bad feeling about two-year-olds and hot glue guns!

I'm going to leave you in suspense and post about the ties later...

Introducing...

the newest member of our family.

No, sorry, it's not baby sister.

It is my new diaper bag!



I ordered it right after Christmas with some Christmas money and I absolutely love it. My lovely streets-of-New York "Coach" bag broke a couple of months ago and I've been using this dinky black purse that hardly fits the diapers and wipes, let alone everything else I need to carry around.

I was so excited to find this bag! I love that it looks like a purse but still has all of the wonderful storage compartments that you want in a diaper bag. Now, if only Abby didn't love the matching changing pad so much! It doesn't make getting her excited about potty training any easier!

Nursing Cover

I didn't have a nursing cover with Abby. I always just covered up with a blanket when I needed some privacy. I thought a real cover would be a good thing to have this time, especially since I have Abby around who is kind of a blanket nabber and may expose me (Eek!).

Nursing covers are kind of expensive, and I kind of feel uneasy about products with names like "Udder Cover" and "Hooter Hider" so I figured I would make my own.

I found an awesome tutorial on this great sewing site:



It was a quick, easy project. I'm really happy with how it turned out!



I can't wait for baby sister to get here so I can put this bad boy to work!

The Road Not Taken

I often find myself thinking about this quote, which President Thomas S. Monson, prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has used in several of his addresses:

"In Lewis Carroll’s classic Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Alice finds herself coming to a crossroads with two paths before her, each stretching onward but in opposite directions. She is confronted by the Cheshire Cat, of whom she asks, “Which path shall I take?”

The cat answers: “That depends where you want to go. If you do not know where you want to go, it doesn’t really matter which path you take!”"

I feel as though I've always felt fairly certain of where I want to go and, therefore, which path I need to take. And, when I reflect on my life, and the path I have travelled, I think of Robert Frost's poem, The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood
and sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveller, long I stood
and looked down one as far as I could
to where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
and having perhaps the better claim
because it was grassy and wanted wear;
though as for that, the passing there
had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
in leaves no feet had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I --
I took the one less travelled by,
and that has made all the difference

I think about my friends from my teenage years, those with whom I felt the deepest connection with, and I can't help but realize how different our lives have become. There is no telling who's life is "better" or "more fulfilling" as we are all on a different journey. But, it is amazing to see how far apart we can become as we each choose a different way to go.

Some people are surprised about the path I have chosen. Some feel that I am wasting my talents spending my time in the home rather than in the work place. But, as I am about to bring another child into this world, my confidence in my path is even more solidified. I was born to be a mother and I know that as my journey comes to an end, I will look back without regret.

The road less travelled by is perfect and beautiful and there's nowhere I would rather be.

Abby Lately

Abby is such a fun-loving, sweet little girl. I am constantly entertained by the things she says and does. She is a serious chatterbox. I don't think she ever really stops talking. It's been so fun to have real conversations with her and to find out what goes on inside her little mind. In case you haven't seen it, I started a list of the funny things she says on the side of the blog. I seem to forget things so quickly if I don't write them down.

She is becoming very independent. She likes to put on her own shoes, clothes, etc. She likes to put the toothpaste on her toothbrush. She is constantly telling my, "I can do it by myself." While folding laundry the other day, she put this dress on. She got the bloomers (or pantaloons as they are called in this house) on right but struggled a bit with the dress...



Not only does she like to do stuff by herself, but she's always telling us that she's going places by herself. She usually says she's going to the library but lately she's also been going to the store, work and church. She brings a purse, a suitcase or sometimes one of her babies. This morning, she asked me to put on her jacket and she put on her shoes so she could go to the store. Hey, the sign says "No shoes, no shirt, no service." They never say anything about no pants!



She loves to sing. When we put her down for nap time or bedtime, she usually sings to herself for a while. We hear, "Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle bells, HEY!" or "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star."

She loves to read books. The library is probably her favorite place to go. After a couple of reads through a new book, she can usually complete every sentence for us. Sometimes, she'll sit and read by herself and I am amazed at how much of the story she knows. Hopefully this enthusiasm continues and book reading can be a nice, quiet nursing activity.

She loves to take care of her babies. She regularly instructs me on the proper way to change a diaper, which usually entails a very thorough wiping. If she likes baby sister even half as much as she likes her babies, I think we'll be in good shape.

Despite the challenges and occasional monotony, I really do love being her mom! There is nothing in the world that I would rather be doing every day!

33 Weeks

Here I am at 33 weeks:



Only 7(ish) weeks left. It doesn't sound like that long, but time seems to be slowing down now that the holidays have passed and the cold weather has really settled in.

I'm doing my best to really enjoy these last few weeks with just me and Abby. She seems to understand the baby sister concept pretty well, but I know she can't possibly comprehend how much it's going to rock her little world. It might sound silly, but sometimes I feel guilty and sad. I'm going to miss devoting all of my energy to my special little buddy. It's going to be a big adjustment for the both of us but I know it will be great!

And, just in case you didn't notice in the picture...Winter weather and my thin, fine hair weren't getting along very well, so I decided to chop a bunch off. The less hair I have, the easier it is to keep the static under control. Now, if only there was a way to keep Abby's static under control. It would probably help if she didn't use her head to climb onto our micro-fiber couches...

I'm tired...

I don't know what it is about Sam going back to school, but it always leaves me feeling totally exhausted. I guess having an extra set of hands around the house really does make a big difference.

I have a daily internal debate to decide if I should just get used to being tired or if I should get all the rest that I can while I have the chance. The latter usually wins out!

I had big plans to start on some projects last night. Instead, I lay (yes, I did just look up the difference between lay, lie, laid and lay) on the couch watching t.v. because even the thought of reading a book makes my eyelids start to sag.

And now, as Abby naps, the debate begins again. To sleep or not to sleep...

Snow Days

On the day after Christmas, we got our first, real snowstorm of the year. It was hyped up to be a big one but a foot of snow seemed like nothing compared to last year's epic winter storms.

Some of our friends were playing outside so we bundled up to join them. I was anticipating a quick return seeing as Abby was less than enthusiastic about the snow last year. Boy, was I wrong. She loved it.



After seeing it done on one of her shows, she was thrilled to make a snow angel. Her 24 pounds pretty much just float on top of the snow, so daddy had to show her how it was done.



She had a blast going down this little hill on the sled. She kept wanting to go again. On one of her runs down, the sled tipped at the bottom and she face-planted in the snow. She was tough about it!



We don't really have the best winter gear for Abby. That, in combination with a relentless breeze, left her practically convulsing. She was so cold that we had to take her home. She cried for about 20 minutes after we got inside. Despite how cold she was, she wanted desperately to keep playing.

She has been asking to play in the snow ever since, so we thought we'd better take her out before the forecasted rain melted it all away. This time, it was much warmer out, so we were able to stay outside without turning into icicles.

We found this little snowman that some of Abby's friends had made. His face had fallen off so we thought we'd do some reconstructive surgery.



She loves crunching the snow and I love seeing her tiny boot prints.



Sam's "Peterson genes" drove him to straighten the leaning snowman. However, he ended up just knocking him over. Abby helped put him back together.



Daddy taught Abby to throw snowballs. Surprisingly, none of them were aimed at me.



I told Abby to say, "Cheese!" and this is what we ended up with. Man, I love that girl.



Coloring in the snow with a stick she found. She decided it was a chessestick (aka string cheese) and attempted to put it in her mouth.