Almost 13...

...weeks pregnant that is. Whoohoo! The nausea has begun to subside for the most part. I'm still tired most of the time and ravenously hungry at inconvenient times.

And I have to say the baby bump pops out a little sooner the second time around. It just makes me wonder: Am I gaining more weight this time around? Will I be HUGE by the time March rolls around? Or is this just a head start? Hopefully I won't be getting a talk from the doctor about watching the calories. Humpf.

Other than that I have discovered a few things:
-- Toddler snack times and preggie snack times line up nicely. As long as I eat something similar to what Kate is eating, I will actually get to eat it without her wanting some of mine.

--Toddler nap times are also preggie nap times, but I could stand for a few more during the day than Kate seems to need.

--Thinking of sharing this new baby with Kate makes me feel excited and happy and bursting with love...and a bit exhausted. Those will be busy days.

I'll be finishing up at the pregnancy center where I volunteer soon. If there were not a carseat in the middle of my backseat, I might consider taking a quick nap before heading home.

Kate took her baby buggy on our evening walk today. She loves pushing her babies. She's getting so big. Such an amazing little girl.

It's that time again...

Fall is coming soon to Texas and it's time for cooler weather and football games. Both of which I enjoy very much.

It's also that time again...

Yup, time for the Seefeldts to start getting ready for their next little one. Lil Seef is due early April. We thought we'd start him or her off right.

We are super excited!

Unfortunately, it has also been time for morning sickness and exhaustion. I'm hoping that will end in the next couple weeks as we move into the second trimester.

Not ME! Monday

I'm borrowing the fun from MCKMama. A goofy way to confess all the not so perfect things you have done recently. This will be a quick-and-dirty version.

Sunday was a long day. Of course, I did not choose to take a nap instead of working on preparing the side dish we needed to take that afternoon to an event. I did not leave it up to Josh to help me after his softball practice. And when he did get home to help, I did not end up talking on the phone instead of helping him.

Today was a long day. After missing our usual nap time, I did not put Kate down for a late nap just so that I could lie down for a few minutes. When I couldn't sleep, I did not eat a few snacks before getting her up just so I didn't have to share with her.

I certainly did not lie to my child and tell her that the M&Ms I was eating were medicine because, again, I didn't want to share.

I definitely am not keeping tabs on how many nights this week I am putting Kate to bed alone while Josh is out playing sports. I would never tally something like that (2 for 2).

I did not eat 2 or 3 Hershey's minis while watching TV and working on MOPS stuff just because no one else was home and I needed to indulge myself.

Rainy Day

This morning it is raining. That means no walk outside to exercise the restless dog and exercise-needing mommy. Instead, we three (mommy, baby, and dog) sit on the front porch watching the rain. It's finally cool outside. Kate wants mommy to pick weed flowers and pile them on mommy's leg. Sammy explores the yard and then sits with us watching the rain.

I'm ready to go in. There is laundry to fold, laundry to wash, vacuuming to accomplish. But Kate wants to watch the rain. So we sit there, we three, watching the rain.

Then Kate wants to walk out on the sidewalk. "Mommy doesn't want to," I tell her. I don't really want to get wet. It's easier to sit here. Kate tries to get Sammy to go with her, but he doesn't understand.

"Okay, Mommy will go with you," I say as I strip off my socks and offer my hand. She won't always want me to walk in the rain with her. There won't always be rain to walk in when it's convenient for me. What a chance to be free from the practical adult routine I usually try to remember! Laundry and vacuuming are worlds away as we walk down the sidewalk in the drizzly rain. We stop and I show her how to toss leaves in flowing water by the curb. "More," she says (as usual) and we toss more.

Soon it is time to go inside. We call to Sammy and walk back inside. Back inside to change into dry, comfy clothes. We got to escape, on a rainy day, the usual routine and remember to enjoy the wonders that are all around us.

On My Morning Walk

First, a confession: I'm a mall walker. Yes, it's true. It started last summer when I wanted to get out and exercise (which usually consists of walking these days because I can do it with Kate in a stroller) and it was just too hot to go outside. I have a great friend who would walk the mall with me with her stroller and we would chat and exercise.

This summer I haven't done it as often. And a few times I tried to disguise myself by wearing normal clothes and my Chacos instead of tennis shoes. Today, I did not even attempt a disguise. I wore work-out shorts (and by that I do NOT mean spandex) and my walking tennis shoes. Kate was loaded up with a snack and some books. I was going to exercise. Well, Kate fell asleep after about 10 minutes, so I only walked for about 20 and decided to head home to take advantage of her naptime.

But here are some things I saw on my walk:

Mall Walkers Sign: Yes, there is a sign for mall walkers on the wall at the mall telling us how many times around the mall to walk for one miles. Very helpful. And I think they also listed "guidelines" for mall-walking. But since I'm not really a mall-walker, I didn't read those.

Co-walkers: There were a couple other, much more mature, people walking at the mall too. One man was quite serious about it. I think he followed all the guidelines. He said I had a "nice buggy." I'm assuming he meant my stroller and was not referring to the fact that he had been walking behind me for some time.

Birthday-Boy: I did a little lap around JCPenny and passed an elderly couple finishing their purchase with a cashier. The Cashier told the gentleman, "Happy Birthday" and the woman (probably the gentleman's wife) said "I'm gonna go home and iron his birthday suit." I'm not sure what that means. Maybe he has a special suit he wears for his birthday? Could she have been referring to his "birthday suit?" (Wink, nudge)

Beauty Pills: On a stroll passed GNC there was a box in the window saying the vitamins enhance beauty. Really? The vitamins were called "Be Beautiful." Really?

I think that's about it. Kate's still asleep so I'm gonna try to nap too. Stay tuned for more adventures in Kerrville.

Time Flies

I wish I had a really good reason as to why I haven't updated in a while. Like we've been on some really cool vacation and I couldn't get to a computer. But that's not the case. I've just been busy.

Right now I'm working on getting things ready for our next MOPS year, coming up in less than a month. I've got a training meeting next week to prepare our table leaders to minister to the moms we will have coming. It's fun and exciting to think about the upcoming year.

Kate is growing all the time and doing new things. She says new words all the time. It's amazing how much she talks right now. Some of it is still baby jabber, but some of it is meaningful communication. She understands so much of what we say and responds when we ask her questions. It can be exhausting, but it's a lot of fun.

A few weeks ago our good friends Clayton and Holly came to town and stayed with us. Clayton was officiating a wedding of a high school friend of his and Josh. We had a good time with Clayton, Holly, and their kids. Here are the two guys with their girls.

Yes, that is my husband throwing the baseball with his sleeping daughter on his back.

Musts

Must Read: My Generation by Josh Riebock

As a guy from Generation Y, Josh sets out to explain a little about who our generation is, what we long for, and what we need. He gives stories and accounts of other Gen-Y-ers in their journey to God and community. I found it to be motivating, encouraging, and challenging. I think many of us from that generation will see parts of ourselves in the stories he recounts and see those we would like to be like. Highly enjoyable read as well. You can find it on Amazon.

Must See: Food, Inc.

Yes, it is a documentary. No, it is not boring. And Yes, it's important for you to see. Why? Because no matter how we choose to live our lives, we should make informed decisions as much as possible. Regardless of the food you choose to eat, you should at least know where it came from. "But I don't want to know. It will probably make me not want to eat that and I like to eat such-and-such." Stop saying silly statements like that and get informed. Then do what you want to do. Ignorance is not bliss. The documentary is well done, not boring, and informative.

I'll step off my soapbox now.

a big event in the morning

Yesterday morning Kate and Josh were in the kitchen while I was tidying up around the house. When I came back to the kitchen Kate wanted to fill me in on what had happened while I had been gone. Apparently, there had been an ant on the kitchen floor, which Josh scooped up on an envelope and deposited outside via our kitchen door to the backyard. Kate babbled over and over again about this ant, pointing to the floor, and to her daddy, and to the back door, and over again to make sure I did not miss out on this big event. I think she told me about it four or five times.

Toddler chatterboxes are so funny!

Arlington friends

A week ago we got to go to Arlington to visit our friends. We miss them and had a wonderful time getting to hang out and share our lives again.

Kate got to meet Daisy. They ran around Starbucks together.
Kate and Shanda are shoe buddies. How cute is that!
Kate and Grace hadn't seen each other in a long time. They had a good time running around the house together and learning to share.

We miss our friends in Arlington and are so thankful they welcome us back and spend time visiting with us.

Picnic by the river

Picnic dinner by the river with my favorite people...

...and favorite dog.

Dad Life

This is dedicated to all the great dads!

Dad Life

Love it!

BFF

A July 4th Adventure!

After all the parade festivities and resting at home through the rest of the heat of the day, we decided we needed to get out and play on Independence Day. Josh thought we should try the nature trail we had seen a sign for down near a playground we go to. All we knew was that there was a sign that said "Nature Trail .7 mi." Off we went.

In this case, "trail" is used very loosely. It was more like "people have walked here before so someone came and put a few signs with arrows once sometime ago." The nature was beautiful, though.

My adventurous husband and brave daughter. Yes, that is a fallen tree behind them. We actually encountered several of those. One time we had to lift the stroller over a tree. I didn't get a picture of that of course. Sammy was with us too, but he was not interested in pictures.
This time Josh decided to push the stroller under the tree. Oh yes, he did.
Kate was clearly not that impressed with our adventure.

We decided next time we go we will take Kate in the ergo (backpackish baby carrier). We didn't think that would be necessary since we were on a trail. Ah, learning from experience.

Happy July 4th!

Celebrating the 4th with a parade...

...remembering freedom is bought with a price.

Checking in

It's been a busy few weeks. Lots of things going on and lots of things needing to be processed. But that doesn't happen well when I am busy.

A song came up on the playlist yesterday while I was playing with Kate and it struck a chord with me. I realized that my heart is needing to be touched, to be expressed, to be sung to. I need to take the time to be still and listen to the music that sings to my soul.

Maybe I'll get a chance to do that today. Maybe I'll put aside the chores screaming to be done. Maybe I won't pick up the parenting book I'm reading to make sure I cover all the bases parenting. Maybe I won't take the nap I'm really wanting. Maybe.

(I'll post pictures soon. My computer is hiding the pictures I just downloaded from the camera and I don't feel like wasting anymore of my time looking for them. )

A Neighborhood...finally

Our entire married life, we have lived in neighborhoods, but we have not ever known more than 1 or 2 neighbors. And not from complete lack of trying. Finally, after living here for one and a half years, we feel like we live in a neighborhood.

The neighbors who live behind us have a 4 year old boy who LOVES Kate. He is a sweet, sweet boy and Kate likes to play with him too. He was gone for a week visiting his dad and when we saw him the evening he got back, he ran over shouting "Kate!" Last weekend his mom and her boyfriend came over to just to visit with us for a bit. They are a little younger than us and we are enjoying building a relationship with them.

There is a family a couple of houses down from us with four kids. Kate and I have played with the kids outside a few times after school and their mom has sent dinner over for us just because she wanted to share. Last night the parents came over to have coffee with us. They stayed until after 11pm, clueless to the fact that we go to bed much earlier than that. But we wouldn't have thought to kick them out sooner.

The elderly couple across the wall from us give us much cause for concern. They should not be living on their own anymore and we are trying to figure out how we can help them make that decision. They have trouble driving, can't remember where they live, and often don't remember who we are. It's dangerous for them to be alone.

It's good to be in a place where people know you and you know them. We have people who notice if we are gone. We have people we want to get to know. We hang out randomly and without planning. We like to be able to share life with those around us.

Goat playdate

Josh's mom recently bought two baby milk goats who have been bottle fed since they were days old. They are tame and act more like puppies than goats. We went out to play with the goats with two of Kate's little friends.

Group hug!
Helping Jojo feed the baby goatPlaying with a puppy...I mean goat.
It's funny that for Kate playing with goats is a normal childhood activity. She gets distracted by rocks in the yard or a ball to throw for the dogs and doesn't realize that playing with goats is not something everyone gets to do. She likes them, for sure, and runs over and gives the goat a hug when she thinks of it. It's so fun to watch her!

A Wild Night Out on the Town

Last night two of my friends here in Kerrville took me out to celebrate my birthday. Our husbands were watching the kids, so it was to be a fun girls' night out. We thought we'd head to Fredericksburg for something different. As we were driving that way, though, we could see the dark clouds sitting over Fredericksburg and saw HUGE streaks of lightning. When we hit torrential rains, we decided to turn around and just eat in Kerrville so we were closer to home.

The storm followed us and it was flood-quality. As we were going down one of the main streets to the restaurant, the power flashed off and then back on. The wind picked up and was shaking the SUV we were in. Barely able to see the road, much less stay out of huge puddles on the road, we pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant and stopped to think through our options. The electricity had flashed off and on again and we were wondering if the restaurant even had power. The wind was shaking our car and the streets looked like they were flooding. In fact, we watched as bags of trash floated down the street outside.

We all called our husbands to check in and found out that Josh and Kylie's husband were without power. Sally's husband had power, so we realized it was not down all over town. When the rain let up just a bit, we decided to race to the restaurant and salvage our dinner out.

We ran through the flooded parking lot. I was in a dress and heels, Kylie was in heels, and Sally (who is pregnant) was in white pants. Not running-through-rain outfits. But we made it inside with minimal damage.

We had a great time at dinner. Good food, fun conversation, delicious dessert, and wonderful company. We enjoyed talking without having conversations interrupted by toddlers. By the time we left, the rain had stopped. The drive home was eerie and dark. No street lights were lit. Trees and branches were down everywhere. Kylie's and my houses were still without power and remained so until 1:30am.

What a night!

I am so thankful that my friends wanted to take me out to celebrate and so thankful they didn't bail for bad weather! We had quite the adventure together and a good stories to tell.

Thank you, Sally and Kylie, for your friendship and your sense of adventure!