Finding the time

Run down of the past week. It's been a busy one.

Last weekend, almost everyone from Brett's extended family came to visit us on Sunday evening for dinner. It was great to see everyone! We grilled hamburgers and hotdogs on our NEW GRILL. I love it! It's our mother's/father's day gift to each other, and it's WELL worth it. Top it off with the fact that Brett's brother, Chad, and his wife, Rebecca, came to visit all the way from South Carolina, and it was a pretty great weekend. Well worth all of the cleaning and box-hiding that we did the week...day...morning before everyone came over. Ah, we were a hot and sweaty team by the time everyone arrived, but we opened the windows and totally enjoyed the evening. Good food. Good times.

On Monday, we went up to Lafayette to continue our visit with Brett's family. Both his parents took off work that day, we we just bummed around the house and visited with his parent's and brother. I needed a recoup day from the craziness of the day before, so I welcomed the down time. Chad and Rebecca brought their Rock Band...oh my. We had great fun with that thing plugged in to his parent's high def TV. No one really has amazing, knock-your-socks-off musical talent, but put us four kids behind Rock Band instruments, and we suddenly become the Partridge Family...minus the corny outfits. Brett's parents just stood there watching us the entire time and laughing. We must have all been concentrating really hard or something. Sophia got a kick out of the drum set, and I have pictures that I will post soon. Post Rock Band, they all played Tiger Woods golf on Brett's dad's Wii. So, yeah, we did spend a lot of the day behind video games, but it was fun. We also had our family Christmas, since we didn't all get together this year over the holidays. Good time all around.

Sophia and I have been laying low this week. I have taken care of a lot of work things, which is good. Totalled up my outstanding invoices, and I am VERY pleased with the money that will be coming in. We can definitely use it, just like everyone else right now.

With recommendations from my friend Ariel, who I saw two weeks ago, I've been checking out some fabric and quilting stores in search of my next big project and the fabric that will inspire it. I ended up finding some great fabric at Hobby Lobby of all places, which I'm going to use to make some things for Sophia's room. Good times there. Thanks to Ariel, I have discovered the MODA line of fabrics. Beautiful. I've also fallen in love with Amy Butler fabric (and hello, her website is gorgeous), which I found gobs of at a fabric store here in Noblesville called Always in Stitches. Love. Love. Love. I have some other projects that I need to take care of before tackling anything new...projects like unpacking boxes and refinished dressers. You know, small stuff. HAH! Still, I can't wait to go to this store and really delve in to their fabric for a great project. I'll have to take my mom or my sister. They would love it.

All while I am typing this, Sophia is pretending to crack plastic eggs in a bowl and whisk them together. I made a breakfast casserole tonight and put it in the refrigerator...ope...hold on. She's giving me a bite of something. Yum, yum, yum. And apparently, I have to say "Ahhhhh" while I open my mouth. I have a little person here. Another example of her all-grown-up-ness:

Usually Brett or I will take Sophia on a walk outside at about 7 or so at night. It's become a nightly routine and allows us all to stretch our legs for a grand 20 minutes or so. Sophia likes it because we let her walk down the sidewalk on her own and pick up as many rocks as she wants. Last night, we went out for our walk. Our neighbor, who has three sweet dogs that deparately need to be played with, was in her driveway trying to tell the puppy of the three to sit. Sophia was standing in our driveway and suddenly starts yelling, "Puppy! Sit! Sit! Sit!" Every time we leave the house, we always take time to wave at and say goodbye to the puppies, so she knows they are out there all the time. Anyway, my 17-month-old is yelling at this puppy to sit from across the street. Great. It took us a good 5 minutes to get out of the driveway. We took our walk down the block and came back, when Sophia spotted the dogs again. Now, it's been a good 20 minutes since she saw them, and she goes in to her yelling mode again, "Puppy! Sit! Sit! Sit!" And then, she pops a squat on the driveway, like she's showing them how to do it. It was the funniest thing and was the highlight of my day.

I have pictures to post too. Have to get those off the camera. Maybe that will be my project tonight.

Baby #2 is growing...sucking all my energy...suck, suck, suck. I think this one is kicking in odder places than Sophia did, or maybe I'm just noticing it more now. Still. Definitely engaging in some Braxton Hicks contractions, some of which can get a little ouchy. Oh, I can't wait for the real thing!!! Will they give you drugs at 1 cm?