33 weeks and counting.....

We're so close to having a little boy! In a few weeks I'll be considered full-term, and that is such a relief - to know if the baby comes right then, he'll be just fine on his own, no help from machines and such. I may have mentioned before that we only have two bedrooms in our current house. Adeline's room is very girly, but I haven't touched it yet, partly because we're still looking for a new house (wouldn't wait to repaint and redecorate only to move in a few months), and secondly because I don't know how to make the room unisex (jungle animals, maybe?). And, lastly, just because I don't have the energy. Second babies are definitely different than firsts.

I love looking at other mom's blogs, and recently Mary Kathryn S. had pictures of her little boy in the coolest blow-up kiddie pool thing. She was kind enough to pass on that it could be found at Wal-mart for only $20! So, on my next trip, I picked one up for Adeline. She loved it, you can tell from the pictures below. Thanks Mary Kathryn!





We've had a really lazy weekend, the last that we'll probably have for awhile. I think just about every weekend from now until the baby gets here will be filled with obligations, some fun and some not fun. I'm really sad that we will be missing out on a few weddings! Our friend, Elise, gets married soon, but it will be too close to my due date to be traveling. I do not know if you follow us on here, Elise, but I know you will be a gorgeous bride! You other law school friends will have to give her a hug for us. Some of David's friends from college are getting married too, in Birmingham and in Jackson, and we won't be making those either. I have learned that is another reason to not have a baby during the summer (other than the heat), you miss all the wedding fun!

I came across a delicious coffee recipe the other night. Those of you who know me know that has nothing to do with pregnancy cravings. I love fancy coffee drinks, and probably spent the equivalent of my law school tuition at coffee shops. Anyway, I went to Food Network the other night and typed in "coffee," and this is one of the recipes I found. It's so good! Props to Emeril, want to make sure to give him his credit : )

Chocolate-y Café Au Lait

1 1/2 cups whole milk
2/3 cup plus 1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
2 ( 2-inch) cinnamon sticks
1 strip orange peel, about 1/2 inch by 3 inches
10 whole cloves
2 to 2 1/2 cups hot brewed strong coffee
1/4 cup cold heavy cream
Ground cinnamon, for garnish
Cocoa, for garnish

In a medium saucepan, whisk together the milk, 2/3 cup of the sugar, and cocoa until smooth. Add the cinnamon sticks, orange peel and cloves and bring to a simmer, stirring, to dissolve the sugar and prevent the cocoa from sticking to the bottom of the pot. Simmer for 2 minutes, then remove from the heat, cover, and let steep for 10 minutes.

In a medium bowl, whip the cream with the remaining 1 teaspoon sugar until thick and frothy, and peaks form. Set aside.

Strain the milk mixture into a coffee pot or carafe and add 2 cups of the hot coffee (2 1/2 cups for stronger coffee flavor, to taste). Pour into cups or small mugs and top each with a dollop of the sweetened whipped cream.

Serve immediately.

Hope you had a great weekend!

and a Happy Father's Day for you dads out there! Dave said he wanted a box of fried chicken and time to watch the Bulldogs play, so that's what he got! (And some other stuff too ofcourse : ) Too bad his team couldn't make the day perfect!





Lately Adeline's vocabulary seems to grow by at least 10 words every day, and now she's trying to put sentences together. That's amazing to watch. She get so frustrated sometimes when she can't get us to understand what she wants/needs. She's still obsessed with the stuffed animals, but only certain stuffed animals. Primarily bears - of any variety - bunnies, and a frog. You can see most of them lined up on the windowsill behind her in one of the pictures. They have to sit in the highchair with her too, and if they aren't there NO ONE is going to eat until we find them.

According to the ticker, I'm 32 weeks. Wow, this pregnancy has gone by so quickly. No current problems, and I really need for things to stay that way. I did go ahead and pre-register at the hospital, just because that makes the process go a little more quickly. I'll be at a different hospital this time, but this one is really nice, so I don't expect to have any complaints.

Can't sleep....

So I thought I would update my poor, forgotten blog. I rarely have free time these days, and am really wishing for high speed internet so I could update without having to set aside an afternoon to do so.

Above is Adeline striking a diva pose. This child has way more attitude/personality than I ever even thought about having. It's funny to watch her becoming very particular about certain things, like, she has to carry a couple of stuffed animals or dolls just about everywhere. I've GOT to take a picture of her in the high chair at meal-time. She has the chair so stuffed with animals that there's barely room for her to sit in there! And at bedtime, same story, we have to take a few to lay down with us. It's cute, and so much fun to watch.

Speaking of fun, we seem to know lots of you who are expecting right now! I won't out you on the blog, because I don't know if you want the info to be THAT public, but we are so excited about our friends who are joining us in parenthood! I've been thinking lately about how Pregnancy: Round Two is different from the first go round:

1. You're not dying to tell every stranger in line at Wal-Mart that you are expecting - because you know these are the same people who will (at seven months) ask if you're "due any day now." They can wait to find out.

2. You try to stay out of maternity clothes AS LONG AS POSSIBLE. (This time, I wore regular size 10 clothes up until about six months - whether they really fit or not).

3. You DO NOT subscribe to the "I'm eating for two!" theory. I found out all that makes you is FAT. And it gets you in trouble with the doctor.

4. Not as much fluid retention with baby #2! That is the most welcome change. With Adeline, my rings didn't fit by the six month mark and my face looked big and puffy. Not so this time - thank goodness!

5. Contractions (the Braxton-Hicks kind) start much earlier, like around 5 months, and are much more intense. My doctor is especially concerned with these. He has questioned me, in-depth, at my last two appointments. I haven't thought much about them until he asked.

6. You also are certain about feeling the baby move at a much earlier point. I could feel this baby moving at around 14 weeks, with Adeline, it was closer to 20-something before I really realized what was happening.

7. Labor is not such a scary thing. One word: epidural.

8. YOU ARE SO TIRED. For the first four months or so at least. This was much worse than when I was pregnant with Adeline. I'm sure it has something to do with having to chase her! But I really thought on some days that the exhaustion was going to kill me!

9. You know carrying the baby in your belly is not the hard part. Bringing baby home and realizing you are responsible for a little life is.

10. You know that however difficult the day -or week- is, it is all absolutely worth it - because you've seen how the little one gets cuter and sweeter every day!

Zoo!

Ms. Sandy, Andrea, and I took Adeline to the zoo recently. Adeline was interested in the animals (somewhat) but she had much rather pick up sticks and rocks - or play in mud puddles! Kids.

Back Prob-lems

Some of you have probably checked and wondered, where the heck is she? Well, for the past two days, the answer has been incapacitated. Serious lower back pain - not just the common I'm-carrying-extra-pregnancy-weight variety, but the I-hope-this-is-not-labor kind. I had this same occurence at about this same time with Adeline, and I'll spare you all the details, but let's just say it's an alarming thing. It's slowly getting better, the only problem is I pretty much have to stay off my feet, which is not possible if you live with an 18-month-old. But I do have good news, I had my monthly check-up last week, and no gestational diabetes! Not even close. That's a very good thing.

Adeline also had a check-up on Monday. She didn't like being poked and prodded anymore than last time, but I didn't get a speech about strong-willed children from the doctor. (Whew!) Probably had to do with the fact that I went earlier in the day, and saw a different doctor. She's still tall and skinny, but the weight gain is picking up. I felt so bad when they gave her the shot, because I know by now she fully understands what's coming and wonders why I let them do that to her.

I don't have any new pics, cause the couch is not the best angle for taking them, but I can show you the bag I found on sale at Target Monday. Cute, huh? Note: I bought the white one, which I think looks better than this black one. Only $19.00, what a deal.



Happy Mother's Day to all you mommys out there!

Thank you Jenny!

For all these great pictures! I was so sad that I didn't come home with any, so this makes it all better.


Not to worry, the saddle is just sitting on a fence.

Andrea and I cuttin' some cake - that chocolate cake went really fast!

Andrea, me, Adeline, David and Ms. Sandy (my belly looks really big here).

David, Jenny (David's sweet cousin), and Andrea.

Emily and her flower girl.

Andrea and I at the reception. I called this the black and white cookie (you know, Starbucks) picture, because she's so tan and I'm so NOT.

Me, Adeline, and David's mom, Ms. Sandy (aka Mimi)

Emily - didn't I tell you she was a beautiful bride!

Emily and Ira's rehearsal dinner, Andrea's in the foreground, in the back you can see Adeline, David, and I.

Sent by Robin (Samson) McCoy

I know not all of you went to law school, but those of you who did will probably find this as funny as I did.....

YOU MIGHT BE IN LAWSCHOOL IF:

You consider dropping out of law school approximately
every hour, but after that first semester you realized
you were already in too much debt to be anything other
than a lawyer.

You aspire to one day own Blackacre.

Substance abuse becomes you.

The drama in your life now rivals that of high school.

You make adverse possession jokes.

You can name without hesitation at least three people
who make you want to throw things when you see them
raise their hands in class.

You think IRAC and CREAC are just code for saying the
same thing over and over.

You are truly and deeply unnerved by the thought of
some of your classmates becoming attorneys.

You think tequila shots are essential to ordered
liberty.

You wonder if that one professor who always seems
angry and irritable and treats students' minds as his
personal playground is actually a sociopath or just
didn't get enough hugs as a child.

Sometimes during disagreements you are tempted to
12(b)(6) the offending friend or family member.

You know and understand the complicated
epistemological and metaphysical differences between a
conspirator and an accomplice.

You know and understand the complicated
epistemological and metaphysical differences between
coffee and red bull.

You can't remember if you decided to come to law
school because you wanted to help people and make a
difference in the world or because you hate yourself.

You think whoever came up with the Socratic method
should have his face lit on fire and then beaten out
with a rake.

You can't think of any legitimate reason why a law
student would need access to certain public records,
but you can think of a whole lot of illegitimate ones.

After the first semester you realized that "briefing a
case" need only consist of looking it up on Lexis or
Westlaw.

You've given yourself carpal tunnel from all the
spider solitaire you play in class.

When someone is expressing their frustration or anger
about something that is in any way related to the law,
you can't be sympathetic because you're too busy
figuring out in your head if they have a cause of
action.

You hear about the death of an elderly friend or
relative and wonder if they died intestate.

You have considered changing career paths to hot dog
vendor, stilt walker, or career alcoholic.

You're pretty sure the reasonable prudent man is a
friendless tool who still lives with his mother.

Hello world!

Grizzlies game.

These are pics from my great-uncle's 90th birthday party, two weekends ago.





Took a little hiatus. We took a trip in the meantime too. David's cousin, Emily, got married this weekend! Congrats Emily and Ira! We went to Okeechobee (about an hour and a half outside of Orlando, FL) for the wedding. This was Adeline's first plane ride, and I don't think she'll be racking up any frequent flyer miles soon. No matter what we tried, she could not stand the ear-popping on descent. I felt really bad for her...and the guy sitting next to us, but when I apologized, he said, "No problem, I've been through this with four of my own." Nothing like sympathy to make you feel better.

I already knew she was a kid who gets car sick (biggest reason we decided to fly), but we were still not safe on that one either. She threw up in the rental car on the hour and a half ride from the airport. Let's just say traveling with an 18-month-old is not high on my list of favorite things. But getting to see David's family in Florida is! It was great to see you guys, and Emily made the most beautiful bride ever! When Adeline and her baby brother get older we'll come back for a Disneyworld trip!

It seems like we've been really busy lately, but doing what, I don't know. I have my first court appearance tomorrow, and I'm nervous about that. Say a prayer for me!

I have a picture shortage again. I'll try to do better. (Jenny, if you have any pics from this weekend, you'll have to email some). There are those from the b-day party above, then there is one random one from last Monday when David and I went to a Memphis Grizzlies game. I put some of Adeline's clothes in a big consignment sale held near here called Me-and-Mommy. They were giving away door prizes, and I won tickets to the game!

Cedar Hill Farm

Even with the cold weather, we still had a great time with Casey, Bethany and Harper on Friday. I had no idea this place is just down the road from us! The girls loved the petting zoo. Adeline did her usual animal thing - she tried to feed each one rocks. I don't know why, but she does the same to our cat and dog.

Cedar Hill has kind of a sad story. It's owned by a doctor and his wife, and the whole thing is in their backyard. They created it years ago for their son, who was very sick. He passed away, and they closed the farm for a year. They then realized that they had all these wonderful things in their backyard, and they should share it. So, every fall they have a Pumpkin Picking and in the spring, it's the Easter Egg Hunt. I think it's open pretty much year-round. In addition to the petting zoo, there's a old-country type store with concessions, inflatable bouncy things for kids to play in, and a train ride. I Paint ball too, but we won't worry about that for a few more years.

Easter

BOY!

Yep, we are having a LITTLE BOY! Found out yesterday. He's healthy and everything looks good - that was great news. Needless to say, David is excited, and I have always wanted at least one girl and one boy, so I couldn't be happier too. My due date stayed the same. Also a good thing. With all I have going on, I was hoping it wouldn't get pushed further into August. I don't know how to scan my ultrasound picture on here (I'm not sure ya'll would be that interested in it anyway), but we got a cute one of him "waving." Now, we just need a name. I'll keep you updated on that one. Oh, and majority won with the poll - sorry, Mary Carole!

I haven't been up on my picture taking lately. Here are a couple from the other morning. And, I am a dork, I also took a picture of my herb garden. I didn't think I would be able to grow them, but I've got parsely, cilantro, basil, chives, and I can't remember the other one. I can only think of about two of you who might be interested in this, so I shall not go on.

Hope you're all having a great week! And Happy Easter! We're taking a trip to Cedar Hill Farms tomorrow for an egg hunt!

Papa's 60th

My dad's birthday was the 20th, but we had a surprise party for him on the 17th. As for the "Papa," he really wants to be called Papaw, but Adeline can't say that (or chooses to not do so), but she does call him Papa. I think its really cute. And I hope it sticks. : )

The other pics are from post-party. We've been talking about how Adeline needs a table, to sit and do, well, whatever. Mom told Aunt Judy, who in turn found this picnic table! Thanks Aunt Judy! David and Uncle Justin did a fantastic job of assembly, Adeline did a fantastic job of climbing all over it.

Finally able to upload those pics MC sent......