7 Quick Takes Friday ...er Saturday (Late Saturday)

Ok, you know me... I try, but there's never anything "Quick" about these.  They should be called "7 Catch-up takes Friday".  If you want to, read on...

1.  Here are some of the photos the amazing Miss Kelly took and even though there were quite a few that captured how out of sorts and uncooperative we all were that night, there were still somer great ones an these are the ones I whittled down to include in our family Christmas card...

 These are from Thanksgiving...

 

And my Mum randomly took this one (good job Mum!)

 

 

and since we couldn't decide, we went 50/50 and our cards look like these... but you can't see them because I don't know how to copy a larger picture from the Walmart site... *squint* and maybe you'll "get the picture"

 

 

2.  This is what's been happening with our Autumn pumpkins lately!  Ava LOVES to watch this little guy from the kitchen window, which is low enough for her to peek out and catch him

3.  Speaking of rodents... Welcome to our fully renovated, absolutely beautiful, 100 year old home full of charm and character and unfortunately during this time of year, the occasional mouse.

EVERY time we think we've caught the last "mouse in the house".  Weeks will go by with not a one and then... *Squeak!* I'll hear in the middle of the night (when everyone else is sleeping and I'm watching Christmas movies on T.V. and too tired to pick my pregnant body up and drag it to bed... uh "Getting things done for Christmas") and see a teeny tiny shape skitter across my floor.  I don't allow myself to freak out.  And I don't allow myself to think "Oh, it's so super tiny and actually kind of cute really", but instead think, "Ugh... that thing does NOT belong INSIDE my house and around a baby (and almost two babies). 

Now, honestly, I HATE the thought of harming a living creature, but something has to be done.  What do we do?  We've tried mouse traps and sticky traps (both of which have worked, but only if baited with chocolate. 

Our mice are chocolate lovers... which is why they come here... because we are too) but sometimes the mice are honestly SO tiny that they won't even set off the traps (they're too LIGHT).  We've tried those electric things you plug into the wall that supposedly make a noise mice can't stand, but we can't hear.  We've tried these mouse repellant "bags" of cedary smelling stuff down in the basement (where we think they might be coming in near some teeny tiny hole in the old granite foundation.  ...but they're honestly SO teeny they could probably squeeze through anywhere. 

I have to get rid of them... any suggestions???

4.  Talk about a close call!  We finally got the loan to begin work on the new "old" house, BUT the day before we were supposed to sign the contract with the contractor we had chosen to the best of our abilities... he had put his sign up in our yard (before we granted permission) and it's funny how things work because after he did that, we recieved a phone call from a friend in which they mentioned that they had hired him in the past to do a bit of work for them and now were in the middle of a litagation case with him over it! 

We went to go see the work he did (along with all the references he gave us) and were so appalled that we could simply not hire him to do work on our house.  So... all those prayers for God to help us make the right decision when choosing contractors?  Thank GOD my friend drove by our house and saw the sign that he didn't wait for permission to post on our lawn and ended up calling to warn us! It was literally the NEXT morning we were supposed to sign a contract with him. Things are funny sometimes...  Glad we didn't go with him or we may have needed "Mike" afterwards!

5.  I'm so grateful that I was able to sell these today:

and a bunch more wine charms this past week.  It's so nice as a stay at home mom with no source of income to be able to purchase a few small gifts for my family and hubby without having to use HIS money to pay for HIS gifts.  I know... I know it's really "ours" but you know what I mean.  Thank you to all who supported this stay at home mom with her little business of making handcrafted wine charms.  "Like" me on Facebook to see more!  Everyone who supported me this year helped me to cover my costs and get a few surprise gifts for those I love.

6.  Ava turns 15 months TODAY!  CRAZY!  She's so funny and sweet.  I want to make a list of SOME of the things she does that I dont' want to forget about.  Like:

• How she tries to crawl up on the couch with her blankie and bunnies to watch her baby einstein movie with me before her nap.
• How she climbs up the stairs and thumps the stair and looks at me through the bars till I come get her to say "I'm ready for bed, Ma-Ma"
• How she runs to the corner between her crib and the changing table and hides when she has to go "poop" (We call it her poopy corner)
• How she cuddles up with her blanket when I rock her to sleep and starts to hum the beginning notes to the lullabies I sing to her to to tell me "start singing, Mommy"
• The way she says "Ma-ma" lately and calls to me from wherever in the house
• How she runs around the house and knows to "duck" and walk really low when she's going under the dining room table
• The way she roars like a lion, raises her arm and toots like an elephant, "oooohs" like an owl and opens her mouth REALLY wide like a hippo ..and just laughs when I say "What does the doggie say?"
• How she tries to do head shoulders knees and toes by putting her hands on her head and bending down to touch her toes.
• How she feeds and kisses her baby like such a good mommy and puts her to "sleep" when she goes down for her nap
• How she waves hello to everyone in the store or anywhere we go.  She's super social.
• How she says "Na-na" for my mom and absolutely makes her day
• How she's finally learned to put her cup on the table when she's done instead of throwing it on the floor (and how she puts it back in the cupholder in the carriage at our grocery store when she's done drinking)
• How she "cleans" everything in sight with a paper towel like my mom (not like me... like my mom)
• How she gets down on her belly and slides around to scope out under the couches for toys
• How she sings and dances all day long
• How she walks around on her tippy toes to pretend she's a ballerina
• How she "brushes" her hair with the opposite side of the hairbrush
• How excited she gets to take a bath ...and brush her teeth
• How she kisses Jesus and Mary a gazillion times a day!  She just loves them SO much
• How she still sucks on her bottom lip like a built in pacifier when she's tired
• How cute she looks in these pictures (even though we didn't use them in our card)

 

And SO many other little things that I hope I never forget...

7.  My labs came back last week and all checked out ok, so thank God the high bloodpressure was just a fluke thing and not beginning signs of preeclampsia again!  Thanks for the prayers.  This little one has dropped and is now directly on my bladder, which she seems to like to punch with her hands.  She's pretty quiet most of the day, but gives a few good kicks when she's not sleeping, just to let me know shes' ok. (Like just now as I'm typing this)

Though I have to say that this has been a GREAT pregnancy, I definitely feel more pregnant as of late and have a heck of a time getting UP from my seat or the couch or bending over to pick up something I've dropped or loading the dishwasher without a gutteral "Ungh" exuding from my lips.  It seems all of a sudden my belly feels really really ...big.

Miss Ava loves to be carried around on my "built in seat", but when I think of how much weight I'm carrying with both her and her sister propped on my front I'm like, "Ugh" can someone help me, please?"  Those are usually the times she doesn't want anyone else and wraps those legs firmly around Mommy.  Sometimes the belly really gets sore from all that work, but even then, I still feel "doubly" blessed with these two girls.

I try to remind Shaun it would be as if he strapped a 40lb dogfood bag to the front of his body and tried to do all his regular "things" with it there.  Bend over to pick something up, shower, pick up the baby, get up from your seat, SLEEP, etc...  He so so wonderful in so many ways, but was not called to be a nurse or caregiver of any sort and therefore doesn't give me a ton of sympathy (though he IS patient), but I suppose that keeps me from throwing much of a pity party.  And in some ways it's probably better that way.

I don't know how much she understands when we tell her she's going to be a big sister, but she does randomly come up and kiss me throughout the day directly on my belly.  If I say "where's your baby sister" she'll pucker up and give a big one right on the belly.  ...except today she missed and got my boobie.  ...and once she was confused and got my foot ...close enough I guess.

8.  (because I can add an extra if I want to)  Just a request to continue to pray for both baby Dominic and baby Simeon who both underwent surgery again this week.  Click on their names to read how they're doing.  It's really inspiring to see how these families are pulling together and how much they are witnessing to life and love and faith through their suffering.