So Busy!

I am LOVING being home!! I thought I would actually HATE it--especially right now since everyone is working--but I have found so much to do! It really helps that Jamie is staying home now with Livi, too, but even when I am not out buying last minute items to prepare for Brody's arrival, I enjoy just resting or napping at home. I guess resting and napping are important right now, huh? Dave is ALWAYS telling me to stop going so much and REST or NAP....he's such an awesome husband (and will be an awesome daddy!)! I am CONSTANTLY reminded of how much he loves me because he is always looking out for me and the baby and wanting to take good care of us. =) I feel so blessed to be married to such a terrific guy and my BEST BEST friend!!!!! =)

I get VERY tired most days by the end of my outings, especially if I don't get a nap that day. However, I keep telling myself that I only have so many days before I can't get out "whenever I want to" and I still have so many things to do. I DO rest though, so don't worry about me! =) If you know me well then you know I am a high-energy kind of gal so this is normal!!! =)

Recently I "helped" Jamie and Chad move because their house sold more quickly than they were prepared for. They moved to an apartment on the other side of town so we aren't as close to each other as we once were.... =( But, she is close to all the shopping so I still get to see her! =) Since I felt pretty much useless during the whole move because of my inability to do ANYTHING that I am normally capable of doing (ex: bending, stooping, picking up boxes, moving furniture, standing for extended periods of time, holding babies, reaching above my head, etc..........), here are some of the ways I "helped": drove our truck full of furniture back and forth several times, watched Olivia so Jamie and her mom could unpack, helped with organization ideas, became the moving "coordinator", and packed/unpacked a few boxes. This all happened for a few days. It was fun but I constantly felt like I was a little useless because generally I am a "workhorse" in those situations! I LOVE to help!!! =) But, Jamie says I did a lot, so I guess I have to take her word for it. =)

How do you pack with a toddler at your heels?? Here's how! =)

I also helped at church with a set for our sanctuary for this new sermon series our pastor is doing entitled "The North Face". I was asked to help paint some rocks to help them look "real". They did all the cutting of the foam (thank goodness because it was with electric knives!) and then spray painted them. I just came in and used tempera paint (safe for pregnant moms) to help give the appearance of shadowing, shape, etc. It was a lot of fun! The finished product looked amazing! I REALLY need to take a picture of the sanctuary on Sunday mornings because it looks REALLY cool with the lighting, etc! Our friends Justin and Dustin built the rock wall that Justin climbs each week and it turned out GREAT!

Rock on the left shows all the shading and the rock on the right is the finished product (they sprayed some speckled paint over the shading so it would look even more realistic.

Waiting for the speckled paint...

Some of the finished rocks and boulders

Here they are building the rock wall and positioning the finished rocks. I can't wait to show you the final outcome! I was quite impressed with all their ideas and talent!

Since Jamie is home also, we go shopping together a lot because she always needs stuff for her apartment and I always need stuff for Brody. We hang out a lot and even eat out often while Dave is at work. This particular evening we went to Tokyo, our favorite Japanese grill. Livi LOVES the fish here so it was so cute seeing her with her daddy looking at them! =)

On a recent trip to the mall, Olivia saw one of the cars you can pay money to ride in...this was apparently her first time to see them and she was very mobile and independent. She LOVED the hot dog car and kept wanting to get in it and push all the flashing buttons. The best parts were her huge smile and the fact that we didn't have to actually put money in it!! =)

While at one of many trips to Target, Olivia got to try on her very first piece of clothing! She is growing so fast now that Jamie wasn't sure what size to buy so she had Livi try it on. Let the fun begin from here on............ =)

We have also had a couple GNOs (Girls' Night Out) in the last month. At a recent one we went to our favorite Cheesecake Bistro and I ordered roast beef and Jamie ordered some kind of sandwich. The portion sizes at the Bistro are known to be HUGE normally so I was expecting the same thing.......here is what we got.....

Hmm...where is the beef under all that sauce??? My friend Jana DID point out that at least I got those two carrots with it. Apparently that makes everything better! =) The craziest part was that mine was $15 and hers was only $9! At least I had enough room to eat a whole piece of cheesecake afterwards! =) (And, just so you know, mine was the SMALLEST portion out of the large group that we had...........I guess they thought that the tree of broccoli would fill up the pregnant lady!!)