the blizzard of 2014

I can count on one hand the number of days I've had off due to weather.  Not anymore, though, because tomorrow will be day three of this week.  It's a little mind boggling.  Equally so when I walk by the window and catch the white abyss that is still our snow covered yard.  We live in Alabama, y'all.  This is nuts.

 I was sitting in my principal's office Monday {not in trouble!} when she got the news that Tuesday we'd be taking a snow day.  I squealed just like my kiddos did when I told them the news.  Not because I actually thought there'd be snow-- I didn't, just because I really enjoy a day off.  I stopped by the grocery store to grab a few onions and a hunk of cheese for tomato soup and laughed at the hoards of silly people buying milk, bread, batteries and beer.

Monday night, after watching the news, it became apparent we'd be experiencing some type of winter weather.  I still wasn't overly concerned.  We've heard those forecasts before and seen nothing.  I did, however, negotiate an earlier hair appointment for Reese.  Because I have priorities and he looked like Albert Einstein.

Tuesday morning Lofton headed to work and I lounged around until Reese and I needed to leave to get his hair cut.  It was cold and raining, but again nothing alarming.  The alarm began when I came out thirty minutes later and my car was frozen solid and it was still raining. Only now it was frozen rain. I did what any smart girl would do and called my husband and asked him to come home.

The day unfolded from there.  More and more icy rain, a husband that couldn't come home from work, and a little panic starting to creep in.

Obviously we're fine.  And finally the rain turned to snow, which was happily welcomed by a certain five year old. We are, though, counting our blessings that we have two furnaces.  The one in the back of the house isn't working and it's a brisk fifty degrees back there.  Reese piled in for a slumber party last night, which as you can imagine meant Lofton and I got very little sleep.  It appears we will be suffering a similar fate tonight.

All this to say, Winter Storm Leon is certainly one we won't forget.

16 weeks

As I read back over my blog I feel a little guilty.  I'm neglecting to capture this second pregnancy and now here we are -- four weeks shy of halfway through!

Let's get to the big news first.  It's a...

Truthfully, we would have been happy either way.  I do think I'm a pretty jam up boy mama, though.  Reese would agree.  He also really wanted a brother.  All afternoon he's bounced around talking about all the things he can teach his "little brother."  I'm a puddle.

The only reason we thought it might be a girl is because this pregnancy has been really different.  It's hard to know why-- I surmise it's the increase in age {31 as opposed to a spry 25, yikes!}, but I also know our lives are a lot fuller now with work and church and a five year old.

The sickness has been brutal, but this week I seemed to have turned a corner.  I'm so thankful for that.  The exhaustion has passed as well.  Although I'm definitely tired at night and go to sleep easily, my pregnancy insomnia is the real deal.  I had it with Reese, too.  I'm awake most nights between 1:00 and 3:00, sometimes earlier. The headaches aren't as frequent, but they still hit me about once a week.  If I'm at work I take two tylenol, turn off the overhead lights, and drink a diet dr. pepper.  It's not a perfect fix, but I can function.  At home, I take the medicine my OB gave me and go to bed.

As far as weight, I started tenish pounds lighter this pregnancy and then lost a few in the first two months.  I'd be willing to bet my first born that I've gained them back in the last month, as my pants are getting a little snug.

The strangest thing to me about this pregnancy is really the lack of time I spend thinking about it.  It's not that I forget I'm pregnant, but it isn't our sole focus like it was the first time.  Lofton and I are both really excited, but also a little anxious about the change in our family dynamic.

And finally, the room is in progress.  We have walls and a closet, plus the fireplace is gone.  The fireplace is being replaced with a custom bookshelf.  That husband, he's a talented one.  The green paint will not be staying.  We also have a crib {thanks Emo!} and a rug.  Reese's old glider is going to be reupholstered and we need to find a dresser. We may use Reese's dresser because it's the right height for a changing pad and then find him something new.

Obviously the best part of it all is this --

A healthy, growing LONG legged little boy. Now for a name...

gratitude

Reese and I spent New Year's Eve morning at the dentist.  The hygienist, a friend, always schedules our next appointments while we are there.  Let's be honest, she knows I'll forget to call.  Six months out, she said, is the last week in June... and then she stopped and laughed.  I guess you won't be coming in the last week of June!

Six months out?  The last week in June?  No time for a dentist appointment, I'll be having a baby.  Crazy right?  We picked a random day at a random time the last week of July.  It's weird to think I have no idea what our schedule will be like.  I have no idea what a lot of things in our life will look like, to be honest.  That probably explains the lack of sleep I've had the past week or so.  Pregnancy insomnia is real, people.  The vortex of worry is also real.

In case you haven't picked up on it, I'm a worrier.  {ha. ha}

That's why my word for 2014 is gratitude.  The past two years I picked present and intentional.  Both similar in motivating me to soak up more of my life with the boys and be more thoughtful and direct with my words.  I'd like to think I did both of those things pretty well.  I enjoy picking a word to guide my year because I do well with focus.  It centers my thoughts and gives me a purpose.  So gratitude it is and I'm going to start now...

Gratitude for my sweet five year old boy.  He challenges me daily with his words.  I feel like I say constantly, "watch your tone" because he genuinely forgets he's five.  He also mirrors his mama :) But he is so sweet and he loves us so much.  Yesterday was a shower of hugs and kisses all day long as he bounced from toy to toy.  It's easy to forget those things when I'm tired and he won't eat anything but yogurt and peanut butter.

Gratitude for my husband.  The one who washed his own clothes with a three musketeers candy bar in his pocket.  What a surprise when I opened the drier Monday.  Seriously though, he takes such good care of us.  He brings me coffee every morning {and crackers from weeks 4-10}, makes the bed, takes care of making Reese's lunch, and so much more.  He is my very best friend.

And finally gratitude for my job.  My fourteen kiddos can exhaust me like no other and they are quite an eclectic group this year.  But there are only fourteen of them.  And they are sweet, at least to me, almost all the time.  I'm also grateful for a boss who is compassionate and understanding, who listens and is thoughtful.  I was super apprehensive about working for a woman, but so far so good.  Obviously the beginning of the school year is going to bring some challenges-- namely that I won't be there.  But I'm going to try not to worry about that right now.  Maybe March?