Top 5

Shane and I were discussing our "top 5" the other day. 

The top hottest members of the opposite sex.

Other than each other of course.

Shane likes Rosamund Pike, Alison Brie and Kylie Minogue. 

As for mine.....

 Daniel Craig is just all over yummy. Best Bond ever.

I never really paid much attention to Ewan McGregor.

But then I heard him sing on Moulin Rouge. 

Wow. Hot factor through the roof.

Ian Somerhalden.

Doesn't everyone put up with the lameness of Vampire Diaries just to watch Damon?

Jimmy Fallon. Sexy and funny. Really really funny.

And he also made a great young Jack Donaghy on 30 Rock.

And I'm strangly attracted to Jack Donaghy. Not Alec Baldwin. Just Jack Donaghy.

And my #1 all time pic for sexiest man? 

MATT LAUER.

I have been crushing on this guy since I was 18 years old and he took over the Today Show and suddenly I was so interested in the news.

I know. It's random. But that guy is beautiful and has the best style. 

Other really fantastic runner-ups? Joel McHale, Matt Bomer, and Jude Law. 

Whose on your top 5 list?

Saturday Sick Day

Oh man. I am so sick. I've come down with a cold but I've never had a cold like this. Today is day 6 and I'm miserable. And of course, I'm pregnant. 

That beautiful Nyquil taunts me as I stick to the honey-lemon tea and Tylenol that my doctor prescribed. 

I haven't sleep for more than an hour at a time since Monday. The only place I feel some comfort is laying in the shower so I've been taking three showers a day (or middle of the night.) On the bright side, my legs have never been so smooth. 

Thursday I co-hosted a ladies brunch at my friend's house and then hosted a bridal shower at mine. Previously planned things I couldn't postpone. 

I looked like death, but somehow I got through them and they turned out nice.

With the help of a sweet housecleaner who took my emergency call.

Shane can't take any time off, but I've had some great friends who took the kids for a few hours to let me nap.

Not that I can nap with the constant coughing, but resting is nice. 

Anyone know what happens when you have a big baby resting on your bladder and an uncontrollable rasping cough? Yeah. That happens. 

The person who I am so impressed with is Lydia. She has just taken over watching Collin. They play school, she helps him pick out clothes, they play board games together. 

Friday morning I woke up to find that Lydia had already made herself and Collin breakfast, 

and a little something for me.

Sweet sweet girl. 

I have a great family.

(But being sick and pregnant still totally sucks.)

Any suggestions for dealing with a cold while pregnant? 

MY Summer Bucket List - before and after baby

Lydia came home from school last week with her cute little summer bucket list. "Go Fishing, Go Camping, Eat lots of Popcicles...." All the fun basic summer plans that a seven year old would want. I looked at her list and decided it would be pretty easy to check off her list.

Then I started thinking of MY summer list. Usually I'm not very focused on my own summer. But this summer is different. At the end of this summer, everything is going to change. 

I've decided that August is actually a pretty good time to have a baby. Yes, it's hot. But I have two full months to enjoy this little island of easy that I've created in my family. 

I have a seven year old and a 4 year old. Both are potty trained. Both go to bed easily. (Well, Collin is going through a get up a lot at night phase, but we are working on it.) When the two of them get up, they don't come and get me. They play for a while and sometimes make their own "pre-breakfast" to tide them over. I sleep until 7:50AM everyday. 

When I make dinner, they stay out of the kitchen and play outside or use their TV time. When we drive in the car, only pleasant conversation accompanies us.

My house is pretty clean most of the time. Clutter happens and normal spills occur but I can keep up with it. I'm always caught up on laundry. 

My nights are free to work on church projects, read books or organize.

Date nights are a cinch to make happen.

My life is my own and I am in control.

In two months my life will implode.

Let's be honest. I've done this twice before. And lately I've been up at night, staring at the ceiling thinking, "Am I really starting this over again?!?"

Don't get me wrong, I'm beyond excited for this baby. But I'm aware of what happens next. My life is about to about to be something I have no control over. 

Mostly it's the exhaustion that scares me. That crippling exhaustion that is unlike anything you've ever experienced. You think you've been tired...and then you have a baby. Being awake is agony. Being awake and expected to function like a normal mother? It's its own special kind of torture. Exhaustion plus the pain of a c-section? I can't even think about it.

Laundry, meals, homework, cleaning, church callings, playing with kids, attempting to get them to school on time.....all these seemingly easy tasks morph into one insurmountable mountain that must be climbed while wearing an infant attached to my breast. And a husband who works hours that make him completely inaccessible. 

So. There is not much I can do about all that. I'm getting as much ready before I have the baby. I'm praying daily I'll have a mild mannered daughter who sleeps well and is easily comforted. 

What I can do is enjoy these two last months. Enjoy the calm before the storm. Or at least until the bed rest starts.

My bucket list - Before Baby

1. Tend my herb garden and cook from it. 

2. Start making freezer meals

3. Go to Roaring Springs Water Park, pretend I'm confident in my maternity swimsuit. Lounge in the "lazy river" while Shane takes the kids on the slides.  

4. Send the kids and Shane camping and relax in the house alone.

5. Go to "Movies in the Park" with the family and stay the entire time. (Done!)

6. Buy all Birthday gifts and school clothes for the next few months so I don't have to stress about them.

7. Spend two weeks reading next to the pool while the kids take swimming lessons. 

8. Watch fireworks on 4 of July. Grill. Make smores. 

9. See a outdoor play with Shane.

10. See a movie with Shane.

11. Go out to romantic dinner with Shane.

12. Have a backyard tea party with the kids.

13. Take Lydia on a special date.

14. Paint and decorate nursery. (Shane paints. I decorate.)

15. Spend a week in Spokane. 

16. Eat at Rancho Viejo Mexican Restaurant. 

17. Attend the Green Bluff Strawberry Celebration. Point to plump berries for my kids to pick so I don't have to bend over.

18. Let my dad take the kids fishing on his boat while I nap.

19. Yard sale with my mom.

20. Get a mani pedi the week before delivery.

21. Make Shane agree on a middle name.

My bucket list - After August 12th - 

1. Cuddle with my baby and try to remember each smell and sound.

2. Watch my children fall in love with their new sister.

3. Accept help with basic duties.

4. Not stress about a messy house.

5. Help Lydia make the school bus on time with lunch money, clean clothes and matching shoes.

6. Ignore the phone/emails regarding Relief Society Presidency stuff. (Sorry. I need a couple months off.)

7. NOT look in any full body mirrors. Not worry about "getting body back" until c-section is fully healed.)

8. Give the kids extra T.V. time while I nurse and nap.

9. Stay patient with Shane's work schedule and remember he would be home if he could. 

10. Get newborn photos taken of baby and take photos of the kids all together in matching outfits.

11. Hang out with visiting relatives and not worry too much about being a lacking hostess. 

12. Take a long shower and cry for no reason.

13. Be loving to Shane and remember this is a exhausting time for him too.

What's on your Bucket List?

InstaFriday #38

I'm just about 30 weeks! Yay! 

So far not feeling the third trimester yuckness yet. Except the heartburn. Yowzers. 

That stuff sucks.

I was a little nervous about weight gain. I'm already at 20 pounds. But then my nurse told me she gained 100 pounds with her last baby. I felt much better after that.

My Baby Center "29 weeks along" text told me I need to be very focused on calcium at this point in the baby's development. So Collin and I hit the local donut joint for a big jug of milk. I do what it takes to take care of my babies.

And I'm no where near gaining 100 pounds so what's the harm? :)

There is no hiding this. Maybe I should lay off the donuts. 

And Nutella.

And Almond snickers.

And Five Guys Burgers.

After 10 years of driving it, I sold my Honda Accord.

I was a little distraught when it drove off. 

I brought both my babies home from the hospital in it.

One of them was conceived in it!

(Just kidding.)

But I sold it in 24 hours at 20% above Blue Book, so that helped with the sting.

 I treated myself to some of my (second) favorite flower. Now I need to find some hydrangeas (my most favorite flower) to mix in.

My outside flowers are looking pretty sweet too.

But that's mostly because Shane installed irrigation so my negligence won't kill them.

In other news, Lydia went to cheer camp.

I don't know how I feel about that. But she and her best friend had a great time.

I think I need to get her into soccer soon.

Shane has been reading "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" with the kids and has now moved on to "The Marvelous Land of Oz". They are pretty into it. Shane voice for the wicked witch is super creepy. I'm on a mission to catch it on video.

Took the kids to get cheap summer flip flops at Old Navy and suddenly Collin disappeared.

Where oh where could he be???

Spent a few hours last Saturday scouting neighborhood yard sales.

 Nothing quite as thrilling in the world of yard sales as finding a "horder's estate sale" run by their weary relatives. Got this summer craft supply hoard for the kids for $4.

I'm putting together "summer fun bags" for the kids. Today is Lydia's last day of school!

So excited for summer!

Follow me on instagram @natssentiments

For Sale!

After some serious effort, our lovely little Tennessee house is back to being the beautiful home we remember. Repairs all done, all new carpet and paint, this place looks brand new.  

(Thank you Todd M! You are the best!!!)

If anyone is looking for a great family home on a quiet cul-de-sac in the Ooltewah/ Collegedale Tennessee area, email me and I will get you the details and our realtor's information. 

______________

Winners! 

The winners of the copies of Elizabeth the First Wife are Jessica and Liz. 

Congrats! Email me and I will get you your fun read!

Top Names!

Hooray! The Social Security top 100 names of 2012 were released a couple weeks ago. (Nice to know there is something that the Social Security administration does that will actually benifit me.)

I've been waiting very impatiently for the list to come out so I can make some decisions regarding naming the baby.

By the way, I loved so many of the naming suggestions I receive on my previous naming post.

There are just so many things you have to consider before choosing a name!

I have gotten a lot of "Lucy" suggestions, but we have a cousin with that name. (Actually she's my cousin's daughter, but the kids know her as "Cousin Lucy".)

Lot's of "Olivia" love, but it is wildly popular (#4 this year!) and I think sounds too much like Lydia.

Collin still calls the baby "Madeline" which I love love love, but it's also too popular for my taste. There are like 10 Maddies in Collin's preschool. Which breaks my heart a little. Seriously love that name.

Jennifer, I LOVE that you thought of the name Mallory and how it sounds like a mismatch of all my sisters and my mom. I actually considered that name a while back.

And then there is the wonderful aspect that Shane just vetoes everything. He has a name he loves, but I'm only mildly in like with it.

I was NOT happy to read that "Grey" as a name has grown hugely popular after the 50 Shades of Grey books. I've never read the books, and I named my son "Collin Grey" two years before the books came out. But naming a baby after the main character in an Erotic book series seems super creepy to me.

Anyway, we're pretty much 99% decided on a girl's name. I was just waiting to make sure it didn't score too highly on the popularity list. I've even started making a few things with the name in it to see how it feels.

But you never know. My mom called me Emily up until the day I was born. Maybe I'll have a little Daisy Lou or Piper Joy or some name I never even considered. But I seriously doubt it.

28 weeks along. 12 to go!

It's the final Countdown!

It's only hours until the new season of Arrested Development. We've got our corn baller heating, ice cream sandwiches in the freezer and bananas ready to be nutted. We're ready. Come on!

(Anyone else this excited? If so, we would probably be friends. Let's get together at the Queen Mary to do a little seal watching and best-show-ever quoting.)

Steve Holt!

InstaFriday #37 - Birthday Boy

My baby boy turned four years old.

(Shane came home with 4 balloons and 4 fun candies for Collin to find with he woke up.)

Collin is the sweetest thing in the world and growing too fast.

He's also a bit strange sometimes.

My parents headed over to spend Collin's birthday with us and we had such a nice time.

We hit the bowling alley to introduce the kids to the wonder of bowling.

Both the kids scored higher than me.

Happy Birthday love. He had a great day.

And as a little treat for me, I got to spend an afternoon alone in the house while Collin went out with my parents.

I was going to nap. But a bath sounded so decadent.

Shane won "best husband" award for bringing home a Kneaders chocolate bomb. Just for me, just because. I ate it in the bath where no little grabby fingers would steal it from me.

Pretty nice week.

Happy Memorial Day weekend!

Follow me on instagram @natssentiments

 

P.S. Don't forget to enter to win a copy of Elizabeth the First Wife!

Yellow Love.

Did a little fantasy yellow shopping when Shane went out of town last week. 

I have a hard time making myself head to bed went he's gone.

Some of my favorite non-purchases.....

(Lydia's yellow dress is from Crew Cuts.)

1. Shane got me this chair last year for my birthday. He is very good about my yellow love.

He says, "It's not like you're into pink or something crazy like that".

Good man. Should I tell him I think we need to give the chair a matching friend?

2. Snapped this pic the last time I was over at the Pendleton Woolen Mills. 

Why don't I have this blanket yet???

 3. Baby Gap So cute! This baby is going to wear a lot of yellow. A lot.

4. No one freak out. But I've decided not to do a yellow nursery. BUT I still want some cute yellow accents. Pillow from Etsy.

5. I'm thinking I could rock this watch. But I'd rather find one for like $10 instead of over $100.

6. A grown up version of salt water sandals?

Don't you just love yellow?