More Practice

While Trey and I are actively TTC (and in case you didn't know, we officially are) I am spending my time practicing for future mommy duty. I went home this week to get my hair done (my step-mom is my hairdresser) and visited with my big sis, Natalie. I am enjoying being an aunt more and more, especially now that I can't wait to have little ones of my own. Plus, I'm constantly learning so much from my sister and from helping her out.

Little Knox fell asleep in my arms at the pool

 

 

 

 

 

Tomorrow Trey and I are flying to Florida to stay with his aunt and uncle who have seven children! They range from ages 6 to 23...and are so incredibly fun. We visited them last summer for a couple days and had such a blast that we are going back for a whole week this year. I plan on taking some lessons from their parenting because they are such a great family. I have never seen such well-behaved, helpful, respectful, kind, thoughtful, and fun kids. They are not only good to their guests, but they get along better than any family I've ever seen.

The Woolwine Cousins: 6 of the Florida kids, 4 of the Virginia kids

This photo was taken last summer during our visit. Livie, the tiny,adorable girl I'm holding is one of my favorites. I cannot wait to see her again, as well as the rest of their clan. Keep your fingers crossed as Trey and I continue TTC :) 

xo,

Doggy Momma

Three days ago on July 14, 2011, our puppy was born! Unfortunately, we were not there to see it, and we actually have to wait several more weeks until we are allowed to visit. Trey and I have been anticipating the arrival of this puppy since the middle of February, which I recently realized has been like waiting for the arrival of a human baby - without the whole pregnancy bit. 

So here's the story behind our puppy...

Trey has always been a lover of dogs.

Trey and his family's golden retriever, Cohen

I, as you may have noticed, am a cat person. Imogen is my sweet baby girl and the love of my life (besides Trey, of course). I got my first cat when I was in elementary school, as a reward for reaching my Accelerated Reader goal. My mom provided great motivation, right? Since then, I've had a couple cats (R.I.P. Morgan - my sweet baby boy, before Imogen). I have a true connection with them and love their presence. 



Fortunately, Trey has grown to love Imogen (and cats) as well, even though he grew up with only dogs. He has been such a wonderful cat daddy to her, so I knew when we got married that I would need to cater to his desire to have a pup. Don't get me wrong, I love all animals. I just don't like being slobbered on...or being knocked over when I walk in the door...or listening to really loud barking in my house. I guess I'm my own little princess (like Imogen) in that way. I know you're thinking, "This girl is crazy! She's getting a dog and she doesn't like all the things that dogs do!", but I know that once I have this dog of my own to take care of and protect, I will care for him no matter what. And hopefully he will be the most wonderful dog in the world, who with proper training, will not slobber excessively, knock me over when I walk in the door, or bark loudly every time a person walks by our house. (I have high expectations). 

Moving on with the story...we moved into our home this past January and about a month later, Trey began talking about getting a pup. Naturally, he had been talking about it since we got married, but we both agreed that having a dog in our small, two-bedroom apartment would have been miserable (plus we'd be breaking the rules). We decided on a male yellow lab (I've always thought they are beautiful and usually well-behaved: a must for me!) and Trey began his research of breeders. He found one that we both agreed on and who was expecting the lady pup to go into heat at any time (this was February). Every week after we made our decision, we would check in to see the progress. It wasn't until May that she finally went into heat (delaying our plan a bit) and got pregnant with her baby pups. So as you can see, we have been patiently awaiting the arrival of our puppy for quite awhile. 

The cutest lab puppies!

All we know as of now is that he was born three days ago - and we are hoping for pictures soon. We know he will be absolutely adorable (aren't all puppies?) and it kills us having to wait about eight weeks till we can take him home. However, we are busy getting ourselves ready for his arrival (just like with a baby), with the biggest project being the building of a fence in the backyard. So, yes, there is lots to do!


I am very much ready to be a doggy mom and know this will prepare me to be a real mom, as I continue to be a madre in waiting.

xo,

Mommy Practice

This past weekend my older sister, Natalie, came to visit and brought along her two little darlings, Carter (2 yrs, 11 months) and Knox (6 months). Now you know why I haven't written in awhile...having two children at these ages keeps you quite busy! It was also excellent preparation for my future mom plans. In fact, when I would start to look overwhelmed Trey would whisper, "Having second thoughts?". My response? Silence. But no, I assured him I was definitely still ready, but I didn't mind waiting a few years to have another one! 


God bless the mothers who have multiple babies around the same age. What a handful! Especially when the toddler is used to having mommy all to himself and then this new baby comes along, seeking all her attention. This leads to much acting out and behavior issues, which I observed greatly with Carter. I do hope it gets better for Natalie's sanity! 


But we had a great time. Living three hours away from my sister means I only get to see her and the boys on occasion, so I was thrilled they came to visit us. 

two sisters & two brothers, bonding time!

Here's a description of our daily adventures:


Friday night: They arrived around 7:00. We unloaded the van and let Carter roam around the house. We ate some food from the fridge and caught up on all the latest happenings while playing with the kids. At bedtime I took Carter upstairs and read him a story (my favorite) and fortunately I have a book about firetrucks (his favorite). I turned out the light and pretended to fall asleep while he tossed and turned for 20 minutes (I got lots of practice with this when I used to babysit). I finally snuck out and joined the adults downstairs before we all went to bed. 


Saturday: Rise and shine! Carter banged on our door at 7:30, "Lizzie! Lizzie! Lizzie!" (this was an everyday occurrence that I was not used to!). I eventually got up, ate some breakfast while trying to help out with the kiddos, and got dressed in my running gear. My sister and I are training for a half-marathon in November (you may have noticed my new widgets I added with my race schedule) so I wanted to show her this great route I love to run. Fortunately, Trey agreed to watch the babies (see? he's going to make a great dad!) so we could do our thing and have some sister time. 

future daddy getting practice

Once we got back we took turns taking showers and watching the kids/eating lunch before heading out for the day. Carter LOVES "choo choos" - especially riding them - so we took him to the mall where they have one outdoors. 

a happy, happy boy!

Next we went to the Children's Museum where they had another choo choo!! Carter was ecstatic. We ran a few "adult" errands (checked out some shops) before the meltdowns started because the poor kiddo was exhausted. When we got home we grilled out chicken (in this amazing orange/thyme marinade I made), along with corn, and then relaxed at home the rest of the night. 


Sunday: Trey and I were exhausted by this point - having kids is hard work! We all laid around in our PJ's half the day, watching the USA ladies soccer game. It was an awesome game and Carter loves soccer because his mommy plays in an adult league. I baked some blueberry & mascarpone turnovers while we watched (they were delish!) and then we gradually made our way out to a couple shops before coming home for dinner. I cooked one of my favorite dinners, penne with butternut squash and goat cheese. Yum! We were all exhausted and crashed not too long after dinner. 

Penne with Butternut Squash & Goat Cheese

Blueberry and Mascarpone Turnovers

    

                                         recipes courtsey of Giada, source: foodnetwork.com


Monday: Time for big sis & the boys to head home. They got packed up and we said our goodbyes. "Love you Lizzie! Love you Trey! Hugs!" (Carter's so sweet!) 

So, what did I learn about being a mother from this visit? Lots. Here's a few:

1) Don't pack too much into one day when the kids are with you. It's exhausting not only for them, but for you!

2) Make sure the kids take naps on time : with a baby, they can nap anytime, any place. A toddler? Not so much.

3) Take everything you might need with you. Food, bottles, diapers, extra clothes. My sister showed me this awesome little container for holding baggies to put dirty diapers in. Super cool! She has this one:

                                                               source: expotv.com

4) Don't make promises you can't keep. They won't let you forget it! 
5) Be strict. They will be quick to test you (just like with teaching!). 
6) When both kids are screaming and crying while you're driving and there's nothing you can do about it, sing "Baby Got Back". Yes, we did this and believe it or not, things quieted down! Plus, we got a good laugh out of it. (We memorized every word to this song about 10 years ago so it only seemed natural to pull it out at that moment).

I learned loads more, but those are some of my favorites. Now that the kids are gone, it's so quiet in our home which makes me even more excited about the possibility of a new little one in our family. I can't imagine just how much love I will feel for him/her! Natalie tried to explain this to me during our run, but I guess I'll have to wait till I get the real thing. Until then, I'm still a madre in waiting.


xo,

 

TTC (my new favorite acronym)

Through my extensive internet research on having a baby (and by extensive I mean whatever Google Search gives me when I type in a new question), I've learned a new acronym "TTC". 

Any guesses? And no it's not "Totally Too Cool". 

My new favorite acronym that makes me feel totally too cool when I say it stands for "Trying To Conceive". Clever, eh? I think so. Especially since in a few weeks I will officially be TTC. Eeee! (squeals of excitement).

What makes me nervous about TTC is the whole planning bit. Of course this may change if I discover that TTC is not as easy as I think it's going to be. And I know for some future moms, it's not. My mother insists that if I'm anything like her, I'll get pregnant the first try (and I sensed some sarcasm when she said this). Hah! 

So we'll see. I'll worry about that when I get there. But for me, Mrs. Type A - all the way, I know exactly when I want to get pregnant so I can plan exactly when I will have the baby. And for good reason. I'm a teacher and I'm getting ready to start my second year, so I only have so many saved sick days. I have been told by my older sister who is also a teacher, and has had 2 boys in the past 3 years, that you only get paid for the days you have saved up -- even though you are given a leave of six weeks. As I am our main provider while my husband is in dental school, I do not want to miss more days than necessary. So naturally, I want to have the baby sometime close to summer break. That way, I'll get paid for the few weeks I miss (which I do have saved up) and then I'll get summer off to be with my new little one. Perfect plan, right? 

Maybe. However, as most of us know, no one can really "plan" for a pregnancy, as we are all different.  When I discussed this with my OB-GYN, she advised "start when you are ready" because there is no way to know when you will conceive or how long it can take. She said for some it can take 1 month, for others it can take a year - or more. So much for my need to plan. But maybe I'll get lucky and it will work out just right. The main thing is, I know I want this baby no matter what. Even if we have to be extra frugal  for a while. So I keep telling myself not to stress about when it will happen. God will make it happen when it's right for us. 

                My husband (Trey) and my oldest nephew (Carter) : He's such a natural with children, lucky me!

 

Our plan is to start pretty soon. Ideally I would like to get pregnant sometime in August/September/October. But again, what I like may or may not be the plan. We're keeping it quiet for now (a handful of my closest friends + my big sis know the plan). That's the main reason my husband suggested I start this blog: in order to voice my thoughts during this whole crazy TTC phase but not sharing all this until it's officially official. Until then, I'll be a madre in waiting. 

xo,