"Inducible"

That's my status as of yesterday's doctor's appointment - "inducible." Basically means although they aren't planning to induce me, they could if they needed to. Feels like progress, as last week they said they would try to stop labor if it started. Now I'm dilating and effacing and all the other important mumbo-jumbo, so I could go whenever. My doctor said, "Could be tonight, could be 3 weeks." I like that kind of expectation management - I really have no idea. With Kate I wasn't making any progress and he said, "but your water could break in the parking lot." And that's not far from what happened. It's a funny thing to have no control over something so important. I suppose control is really just an illusion anyways since big things can always happen, but I tend to maintain that illusion as best I can. I guess it's great preparation for what our world's going to look like. I'm getting more and more excited everyday. Also a bit more uncomfortable ;) Ellie, we can't wait to see you!

Family Camp

This is so amazing - we have a group of friends who decided they wanted to organize a camp so our kids could have memories together with their family and friends specifically connected to their faith. Last year there were 20 families, and this year there were 40 families (and they had to cut it off because it was so full.) Basically there are fun activities, skits, games, songs, swimming, etc. with all of your best friends. When we got back Kate wanted to know if we could go back the next week. It was so sweet.

It's cool to see people who are so gifted bring their best to planning an event for kids and families. There were songs written for the event by songwriters, shirts designed by graphic designers, books written and illustrated by children's authors, financial matters covered by accountants, first aid handled by doctors - you name it, it was first class. And how cool to see that just for kids. At night, they brought in Mae Klingler, a friend of ours who writes and sings children's songs, to perform. It might as well have been Bono to this audience - the crowd went wild. Here is a video of Kate and Cana rocking out...

Flower Girl

Kate is JAZZED to be a flower girl for Nikki and Andrew! As we've been planning the showers she's asked if we were having a birthday party for Nikki, to which I responded, no, it's her wedding. So, she keeps singing "Happy Wedding to you, Happy Wedding to you, Happy Wedding Nikki & Andrew, Happy Wedding to you!" She is excited to be a helper and wear a red dress. What fun! We'll see how she does walking down the aisle in front of all those people - Kate really likes to be prepared before she does anything, and there is really no way to get her prepped for that scene, so hard to say. But no matter what, she'll look cute!

Awkward, fun progress

Well, this pregnancy is definitely not the same as last time. I'm physically much more tired here at the end, which makes sense while playing, carrying, and hanging out with a 2 year old all day. But I'm still feeling good, just physically tired and a little uncomfortable and awkward. Luckily, I love the heat, so that part doesn't bother me a bit. I'm not swelling and my back is fine; I just have a giant belly. The other day while swimming with Kate, I kept feeling like I wanted to fall forward because I was so off balance. It was so funny. It was a great day - Kate said I should take a turn on her "timmy the turtle" raft, which I did, and it was so relaxing! She was right. We played and she jumped off the dock about 30 times. She said to me, "You are the best mommy I have ever seen" and I started to cry at Coney it was so sweet :)

At my doctor's appointment he said Ellie is in perfect position and I'm starting to dialate, so that's good news. No telling on timing, but I'm still guessing early August. Kate came at 37 1/2, my due date is Aug 15th but I think that's technically a week early, so I'm still sticking with first week in August.

We shall see...throw out a guess on the date!

New Rooms

We've had a big move lately - Kate has recently moved to her new, big girl room. She has done an amazing job. We approached it with what appears to be the one and only strategy I know - cold turkey. Luckily, it seems to work for her. We've been talking up the new room for quite some time, and we made the decision that as best we could, when the time came we would move her to the new room, and specifically new, big bed for good - naps and nighttime. Brett came up with a back-up plan (thank God for 2 parents :) that if she rejected the big bed she could sleep in her pack & play in her new room, which was great because then she still had a choice but it did not include the crib. The big thing was, we didn't want to buy a new crib for a 2+ year old. Luckily, it really worked well.

Kate has been amazing in her new room. She really loves it. We have been picking out decorations for it for almost 2 months, so I think she really feels ownership of it. Her favorite color is blue, so there is lots of teal everywhere. The furniture was mine, and also my aunt Susie's before that, and I'm so happy with it. Our FANTASTIC painter Graham said, "I'd like to give you a gift and paint your furniture for free." Uh, absolutely Graham, I love gifts, you can definitely paint the furniture for us. He did a great job and I'm really happy with it. (PS - if you need a painter, Graham is amazing and very reasonable- see his website at www.vfpainting.com)

The day before she moved, we threw her a "new room party." She wanted a monkey cake (the same as her birthday), so this time I made it pink and blue. We celebrated with the Pattersons, and they showed her their big beds. It was perfect - I think both the party and the big kid room tours were clutch. The first couple of times she pulled a typical Kate negotiation - "I think maybe my Pooh crib would be better for me for my nap." Nice try, cute girl, but we're going to your new big girl bed. Now she's excited to be in there, which is so lucky for us.

I'm really happy with the way Ellie's room has turned out. It feels totally different to me than when it was Kate's room; just new bedding and some new pictures, but it makes a big difference. I'm excited to be in there with her. Kate seems to get that it is now Ellie's room. Hopefully she's still good with it when Ellie is here. But so far, she is doing great. Lucky for us - what a blessing!

Celebrating Ellie

I received the best gift recently. My friends Alli and Sara threw me a shower for Ellie. I would probably have to say it was my favorite party ever. Let me tell you some of the reasons why:

First, they broke the "rule" that you don't have a shower for babies after the first born. The truth is, the best part of any shower is celebrating the baby who is coming into the world. I felt so blessed to get to celebrate Ellie uniquely. Secondly, the party really felt like a perfect celebration for who Ellie is. It was very feminine, held at the Bonbonorie Tea Room. It was light and fun. There were so many beautiful gifts just for her. It was awesome. Next, and probably the best part, was the invite list. It was very small and included my very favorite people. With my dearest friends there, it just felt right. Probably connected, I received the best presents ever. I'm not normally a "gift person", but every single gift was just delightful and perfect. I guess from the people who know me the best, that makes sense.



The theme of the shower was gifts just for Ellie, and that was perfect. I really felt compelled early on that Ellie shouldn't just have everything from Kate. Her room should feel different; she should have different things that reflect her. This shower made that happen in lots of fun ways.

Overall, it was such a beautiful event. It made me so happy. Happy to have such amazing friends. Happy to receive this beautiful new girl. Just happy.

Expectation

I'm definitely getting excited for Ellie's arrival. I had an experience the other day that really felt like a gift, so I thought I'd share.

Now that I really look pregnant, it's fun to get people's reaction. Of course it's nice to have people want to help you with things, like offer to carry something or open a door. But even better is when you can see that they are celebrating the joy of pregnancy with you. That's always cool, even from a stranger.

The other night, I went to Target to do some quick errands by myself around 8pm. (Aside - I was shocked at how many people had their little kids there, and then watched as they got frustrated that they weren't behaving - I wonder why!) Anyways, 3 times in the same trip, I interacted with people who were clearly excited for me. One woman was 25, she looked married, not yet ready for kids, but excited by the prospect. Another woman was 40 and was in the thick of raising her kids, and was excited about that newborn stage. The last woman was around 65, her kids were grown, and she looked at me with a fond remembrance and knowing joy of what was to come.

All of these women had an overwhelming look of love and joy in their eyes. They didn't know me at all, but they were excited by the expectation of a new baby.

My friend Josh, who some would say has a bit of a hard exterior, said recently when looking at his newborn son (his 5th child) that "babies are like crack to him." When I asked why, he said, "because this is as close as we are to perfection. So innocent and pure."

I can't say for sure what it was for each person, but there is something very exciting about the expectation of a newborn baby. It's a love that's very raw. While I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed logistically by the thought of a newborn, I am ready for that kind of love.

Tonight at 8pm

You should turn on NBC and watch "The Jensen Project." Our buddy Steven wrote the original script for the movie, and he wrote and sang a song that is in the movie. I'm really excited for him - this is his first time doing something like this. Randy Jackson from American Idol picked all the songs, so he was probably more excited about his song getting selected than even about the movie. Hopefully the movie is good - he didn't get to write the final screenplay since he's not yet in the writer's union. No matter what, I'm super excited.

Steven's blog is linked on my site, as is Dora's wedding blog Viva Bella events. His music is at stevemanuel.net. (Steven led Kate's dedication, in case you're trying to place him...he's also our pastor.) Here's what the Cincinnati paper wrote -

P&G movie storyteller's big chance
By John Kiesewetter • jkiesewetter@enquirer.com
July 15, 2010

When Steve Manuel of Oakley saw the helicopter with "The Jensen Project" logo, he realized that he finally made it as a movie writer.

"We made this thing up on the phone, and now hundreds of people were making our vision become a reality," says Manuel, 37, a singer-songwriter-screenwriter, about his February visit to the Montreal set for the TV movie.

Manuel and pal Jeff Davenport of Denver created the story for "The Jensen Project," which debuts Friday night on NBC and is the second family-friendly NBC movie produced by Procter & Gamble and Walmart.

LeVar Burton, Kellie Martin and Patricia Richardson star in the film about a rogue genius stealing cutting-edge research developed by the super-secret Jensen Project.

It turns into a "Spy Kids" story when two teen-agers (Alyssa Diaz and Justin Kelly) try to rescue the boy's parents.

Manuel and Davenport pitched about three dozen ideas to Brian Wells of Cincinnati's Front Porch Entertainment, which is producing the films with P&G. He's an executive producer on the film.

"P&G makes movies much the way it makes soap, finding out what people want and need. Then they put the ideas into testing and see how people react. The Jensen idea got traction, so we expanded on it," he says.

The part-time music leader at Crossroads church also wrote "Anything Is Possible" for the TV soundtrack album produced by "American Idol" judge Randy Jackson. They met while recording the movie trailer music last month in Los Angeles.

Manuel was awestruck walking into a Hollywood recording studio filled with session musicians who had played with Paul McCartney, Sting, Michael Jackson and Madonna. Then Randy Jackson asked him to join back-up vocalists on a track, after working with Manuel's song.

"After plugging away for 20 years as a singer-songwriter, to be able to write, sing and perform for Randy Jackson was pretty satisfying," he says.

Manuel has been helping friend Sam Hills prepare to open the High Five hair salon Aug. 19 in O'Bryonville. Manuel's wife, Dora, plans weddings and events through her Viva Bella Events company in Kenwood. They have a 9-month-old daughter.

Manuel says he and Davenport want to write more for Front Porch and the P&G-Walmart family friendly campaign. The companies plan to make at least two more films, says Jeannie Tharrington, P&G publicist.

P&G launched the movie series in April based on research showing that only 23 percent of U.S. viewers are satisfied with family-oriented programming.

To Manuel, it's as simple as the "You Are What You Eat" message on his T-shirt.

"We want to tell stories that inspire, teach life lessons, and model integrity that impacts all who watch them," he says. "When you have good stories of hope and caring, then that's what people will aspire to do."

More coming soon...

I promise I'm going to have some updates soon!

The third trimester hasn't been bad, but I've been napping during my normal blog time.

But expect to see more details on the following soon - A super sweet shower for Ellie, Kate moving to her big girl room, our almost complete construction projects, and more.

I promise, more soon! But we're all doing well!

Updates at 2

Kate had her 2 year check-up, and she is doing great on most things. Her only real challenges are things that are messy (such as drinking from a cup) because we've given her no exposure - that's what you get from 2 neat freaks :) She is off the chart on height (and head size :), but the doctor said sometimes with girls it's not totally predictive. Who knows why. But I doubt she'll be short.

Verbally she has exploded lately - it's so cool to see the way she puts her thoughts into word combinations she's never heard before. At this stage she should be able to put 2 words together that are a noun and a verb (like "puppy runs") but she is way past that. For instance at the store the other day she said, "I think it would be better for me to walk not have a cart." She's got the gift of persuasion for sure. Another example I thought was funny - yesterday something smelled really bad when we walked in the house. I couldn't figure out what it was. Kate walked in the kitchen and said, "Why it smells like poop in here, Mommy?" Excellent question, Kate; I don't know why. Where this is not super helpful is when she tells me all her opinions about what she would and wouldn't like to do - man, she's got a strong will! We're working through it though.



Overall things are going well. We're in swimming lessons right now, which are awesome! More on that later, but it is so fun to have a water baby! PS - how funny are these pics! I love that dancing one!

On the run

Every morning and afternoon, Kate and I go out on trips. Sometimes we have a specific purpose, other times we are just going out to see what fun we can find in the world. I can't see any reason to just sit around our house. There is fun out there, and Kate and I will find it.

But, occasionally, we do need to be at home - a contractor's coming over, I have a commitment that forces us to stay in for a while, etc. It doesn't seem noteworthy enough to mention to Kate, "Hey, this afternoon, we're just going to hang out at the house," but I am starting to see that she may need that type of notice.

The other day after her nap I had a painter coming over at 4:30 so I was just sitting on the couch. She put on her shoes, stood at the door and said, "Come on, Mommy. Let's go. We need to go on a trip. Let's go to the mall." I casually said, "We're just going to hang out here," to which she replied, "No, we need to go on a trip. How about Target? Or even Home Depot?" I've not only trained her that we need to always be on the go, but also that there is a hierarchy of places we can visit. When the mall isn't an option, we settle for Target, or even Home Depot when we are desperate.

This is just more data to support that Kate needs to be in preschool when Ellie gets here. Kate needs to be out in the world, having fun, burning energy, while Ellie and I are getting some sleep. Clearly a priority we are going to need to invest behind for everyone's sanity :)

Alli said - I was just remembering that I used to be on the go a lot more with just Andrew. I even remember thinking "maybe I'm teaching him we always have to be going somewhere. Is that a bad thing?!" Anyway - good news: he's a 4 year old now who is perfectly content to be at home or on-the-go. No harm done. :-)

Happy Birthday Kate!

I can't believe she's 2 (tomorrow)! What a cutie! Here are just a few things I know about this sweet girl -

Kate is loving. She cares deeply about those around her, aka "her buddies."
Kate is smart. Good grief. That brain of hers is strong.

Kate is passionate. She's all in, all the time. Her intensity is high.
Kate is fun. She loves to laugh and make those around her laugh.

Kate is a shepherd. She is inclusive and wants everyone to be involved.
Kate is joyful. What a joy and delight she is!

Compliment or Insult?

So, I'm not sure how to take this - what do you think?

Today I saw a friend that I hadn't seen for a couple of months. We chatted for a while, she complimented my outfit and told me how cute I looked, and then she asked me if anything new was going on. When I said I was excited about the baby she said, " What! You're pregnant!" I feel like this happens to me more often than it should, and I don't know how to take it. Is it a good thing that my body handles pregnancy well even at 6+ months, or is it a bad thing that people think nothing of me gaining 20+ pounds primarily in my stomach? It's one thing with strangers or people who don't really pay attention to physical appearances, but a girl friend who clearly had noticed how I looked and not noticed, I don't know what to do with that.

Seriously??

Kate and I have been checking out preschools lately. Kate loves it. She says, "I have to do work. I need to go to school." I don't know where she got that but it's funny. She loves being around kids, and when the baby is here in August, I really want her to have her own, big girl thing to do.

As we look at these schools, I have to admit I'm way out of my element. The level of chaos in a preschool far exceeds my capacity. But all the kids and teachers seems to be loving it so here's to them.

But I do have my limits. At one school we visited, the director was explaining one of the school's policies to me and I could barely keep my composure. Here's what she said - "If a child is playing a math game and says that 2+4 = 5, we don't correct them or tell them that they are wrong. We don't want to discourage them!" I stood there with my mouth hanging open in disbelief as she continued, "We want them to like math, so we just try to model the right answers in hopes that they will get it right next time." Ummm, seriously? You've got to be kidding me. I promise you that kids who think 2+4 = 5 will not have math as a love of their heart over time. I swear it was the stupidest thing I've heard in a long time. And probably the thing that shocks me the most is, I'm sure it's a philosophy being taught in a university setting somewhere. She also added, and I guess this won't surprise you based on what I've already shared, that they don't tell the children "no" or "don't do that." I certainly think there is a time for redirection, but how can you not acknowledge the need to tell kids - who are just small people - no. Absolute lunacy. So the search for Kate's school continues...

On being a mom

I was in the bathroom at a restaurant Saturday night, and there was a woman washing her hands at the sink next to me. I noticed her because she was strikingly beautiful, but I couldn't figure out what about her made her so attractive. She was fairly average in every way, and yet, I found her so beautiful that I was kind of staring at her to land on the heart of her beauty.

As I was glancing back and forth at her subtly, she kind of caught me off guard by asking me, "Are you a mom?" I of course said yes and she wished me a happy Mother's Day. After assessing that she was about my same age, I asked her the question back and she replied yes, so I bid her the same. I then added that I had another on the way, and she congratulated me.

(This is a separate point - I feel like when I meet strangers, or even see people I haven't seen in a while, I need to tell them I'm pregnant and not unfortunately shaped or letting myself go. I have to say it's hard - I just had some people I see pretty regularly find out and be surprised to learn I'm pregnant. Good grief with the long torso - it's 6 months already!)

Back to the main story, so after being recognized as a mom, I stopped and considered what got her to the conclusion. And at first, I was upset - I thought, "Am I wearing a 'mom' outfit? Do I have a 'mom' haircut?" I hope my body at least makes me suspicious, but based on her reaction I wasn't obviously pregnant to her. So basically, all of my first reactions were negative - I didn't want to look like a mom.

But then I thought, maybe she thought I looked soft. Maybe my smiles seemed loving to her. Maybe she could see that I'm nurturing. Perhaps even the beauty I saw in her that I couldn't identify was her softness and grace, and that's what she was also seeing in me. I liked this idea better so I stuck with it. :)

My Mother's Day was outstanding. Brett and Kate made it a perfect day. I knew what I wanted to do, asked for it, and received it. They took me to breakfast, gave me sweet gifts, hung out, had Dairy Corner custard - all my favorite things. Kate really understood it was a day to celebrate me - she kept asking to "cuddle mommy" and hug and kiss me. Adorable little girl. I love being her mom :)

What's in a name

So it looks like we have a name for our new baby girl. Once we knew we were having a girl, her name came to us pretty quickly. With Kate, we knew her name before she was even conceived. We also have had our boy name picked out for years - Jonathan Thomas. But we weren't sure on our second girl right away...here's a little background on the process:

We started with Grace, but felt like Grace Little would be read as "Little, Grace" and we want lots of Grace not a little bit. Our next fave was Alli, but I never really liked that TV show "Kate & Alli" and I thought I'd always think of that. Lillian has always been a huge favorite of mine - that was my grandma's name and I love Lilly as well, but Lilly Little just doesn't roll off the tongue for me. So, we kept thinking.

Brett and I have both always loved the name Elizabeth, but we could never land on a shortened version that felt right to us. But then Suzie Zakany, Brett's aunt, suggested Ellie or Elle. YES!!! My response was, can you do that? Well sure you can. So it looks like her name is going to be Elizabeth Little, and we will call her Ellie. When she gets older, maybe she'll want to transition to Elle, but we'll have that be her call. As for the middle name, the lead horse is Grace (the issue above doesn't bother us in the middle)...Elizabeth Grace Little.

The name Elizabeth is Hebrew and means "Consecrated to God." Uh, yeah, that's awesome. In case you don't use the word consecrated every day, it can be defined as, "dedicated to the Lord," "set apart for God," "devoted to God." Yes, please sign our daughter up for these things.

So don't hold us to it - there's still time for a change, but I think we're feeling pretty solid on this one.

Partying at 5am

The other night it was storming, and Kate had to go to the bathroom at 5am. When she heard the thunder she was confused and said, "Daddy's awake! Let's go see Daddy!" I told her he was still asleep and that it was raining outside. She started laughing like I was crazy and said, "I can't go outside in my pajamas!" Apparently she was looking for action. I explained we were staying inside and going back to bed, to which she replied, "But I need to get the newspaper." Yes, it will get all wet, but it will be okay. The conversation continues like this for a while... While there are advantages to a potty trained kid, I could do without this early morning excitement...but she is pretty stinkin cute :)

A cute nest

So, the nesting phenomenon must be real. Just like when I was pregnant with Kate, I've got about a hundred projects going around the house. It could also be that I'm off work again and I spend too much time watching HGTV...but anyways...

I felt like the new baby should have her own new space. Of course I don't want to buy all new stuff - reusing some things is just practical. But I also feel like she should have a room that is for her, not just Kate's old room. I was looking at thousands of designs for cute nursery stuff and coming up dry. Alli said to me, "Why haven't you looked at Pottery Barn?" Well, I think there stuff is so expensive that I wanted to check everywhere else first. But then I broke down, and sure enough, I found the BEST stuff at Pottery Barn. It's so cute!! We went to the outlet and found stuff for Kate's new room, and then the main store for cute bedding for the baby. I'm so excited - the rooms are really looking great :) What fun! Here's a preview of the rooms:

Kate's new stuff

New baby's stuff :)

We love Nikki!

Yesterday Nikki moved to Baltimore from Cincinnati. I am so happy for her. It is such a good decision. She and Andrew are getting married in October, and this seems to be the perfect way to start their marriage. Andrew has a great job that he enjoys. It's a cool, exciting city. It just feels right in every way. What an exciting time for them!

But of course, it's sad for us. We will miss having her a mile away. It was hard to say good bye. We love her so much. But it felt so selfish to feel bad for ourselves while she is making such a great decision. It is so good for her, and I'm so proud of her for doing it. We love Nikki!

This was Nikki and "Big Bird" (Kate dressed up in a yellow coat - she decided she was Big Bird)

Perspective

Just when I think Kate is so smart she should work for NASA, I get perspective and remember she's still one...this morning I heard her choking in her room and I thought, there is no food in there, so there's nothing I should be concerned about, right? Wrong. She walks back to me and says, "I ate the crayon. The green one." This is where I have trouble with discipline. I say, "Kate, repeat after me - We don't eat crayons." She says, enthusiastically, "No eat crayons!" I start laughing. I mean, it's funny, right. They're non-toxic, she didn't choke. Now she has the hiccups from eating the crayon. Awesome.