My Big Girl & My Big Belly

Emma is growing into a little person right before my eyes. I only have two months left to enjoy being a mother of one, so I'm trying to take extra time to enjoy in my girl before I have to share my attention all the time.

Taking a "nap" with her baby doll.

She is learning so much. She started saying Ls correctly some of the time. The "L" sound has always come out as Y sound at the beginning of words. If you ask what her little brother's name is, she'll say, "Baby Yiam." As of this week, she tries EXTRA hard to get that L sound in there, and it's adorable. She now says "yellow" correctly almost every time.

Unfortunately, Em wakes up between 6 and 6:30 A.M. This has been going on since the start of Spring and I am not a fan.

Emma has crying fits because she wants to be independent. For example, this morning (shortly after 6A.M.) I helped my girl step into her underwear. She had a full-on screaming fit. "Me do it all by myself!!!!!!" She insisted on taking them off only to put them on again, independently. While I love that she wants to do things on her own, I could do without the tantrums.

At least twice a week, when she wakes up (at 6A.M.) she tells me that she wants to wear a dress. A dress?!?! Whose child is this? Help! I have a girly girl on my hands.

We're constantly working on ASKING "May I have _____, please?" instead of just telling me, "Mommy, I want _______." She kind of gets it.

When she wakes up (at SIX A.M.) she shouts from her room, "Mommy! Pick me up! Please!"

Though I don't really feel like I look pregnant all of the time, I REALLY do look pregnant all of the time. When I catch a reflection of myself in a full-length mirror I stop and say, "Woah!"

I'm 30 weeks along and got to hear Liam's heartbeat at the doctor's today. I weigh the same now as I did at this point while pregnant with Emma. That's good news, because I started this pregnancy six pounds heavier than at the start of pregnancy #1. I don't want to gain too much weight because then I have to lose more later. Goodness knows that lazy, old me doesn't want to have to exercise on a regular basis.

I don't sleep so well these nights. Mr. Liam thinks that when I lie down he should start Celtic dancing, doing karate, and practice jumping in a mosh pit, all at once. When his theatrics are over, it takes a while for me to get comfortable enough to fall asleep. An hour later, the dog might bark to wake me so he can go out and pee, or maybe the cat will wake me because she's hungry, or maybe my bladder will wake me because it's full. Who knows? Last night, when recounting my regularly broken sleep to my husband, he said, "No wonder you're crazy."

Em took this one all by herself. She didn't even throw a tantrum first.

Despite being crazy, I feel like a very successful super-mom this week. I took two toddlers to the zoo one day, then to the park and library the next. I did lots of laundry - which I enjoy this time of year because I get to hang things outside to dry and that makes me happy. I even made delicious, beautiful dinners TWO nights in a row. I feel healthy and very happy, aside from being tired because I sleep in two-hour chunks and start my days at 6 A.M.

It's hot outside, my house is cool, and life is good.