Beeba visit

Taylor’s one-and-only aunt came into town this weekend to visit, take pictures and squeeze her goddaughter’s thighs. And to say that my daughter adores Libba is a huge understatement. In fact, Taylor refers to her aunt as, My FRIEND Beeba. Yes, they have a pretty special relationship.

And even though Lib and I have seen each other at least a half-dozen times this year, this was the first time she had been up to Asheville since last year. So we had to make a few pit-stops at her favorite eateries and soak up some of the sunshine and leaf-peeping while she was here. And, of course, she honed in her amazing camera-skills to take some pictures of Taylor and her bestie, Elliot, in their matching-Cinderella Halloween costumes.

It was a fabulous, short-but-sweet trip, and it wasn’t hard for us to say goodbye because hopefully we will be seeing her again this Thanksgiving when she and Dirk come back up to the mountains. Oh my, Beeba and Uncle Dirky at Taylor’s house for a holiday. That’s gonna be some serious fun.

29, 30 months old

Yes, yes, yes. This is a combo post. Because the end of August and entire month of September was a blur of morning sickness and exhaustion. But I’m back, Bloggers. That fabulous second-trimester energy surge has taken over my body and I am now fully able to record the monthly milestones of my adorable two-and-a-half year old girl. Yep, she’s officially six months away from being a three year old. And six months and ten days away from being a big sister. Let’s just say April is going to be birthday party central at the Famous Amys house from now on. We might as well just invest in the giant bouncy castle now, huh?

And here are some of my favorite pictures of my very cute two-and-a-half year old Taylor from our recent photoshoot with her super talented Aunt Libba:

And to say that Taylor is pretty pumped to be a big sister is a gross understatement. In fact, when people now ask her her name, she responds, My name Taylor. I be big sister. And the other day when I was snuggling her on the couch, I was giving her smooches and said that she was my precious baby. And she pulled away and said, No, Mom. I’m not baby. I’m BIG SISTER!

And her vocabulary has just grown in leaps and bounds, and more often than not Chris and I find ourselves having actual conversations with our daughter. And that’s enough to make dinnertime about a million times more entertaining. Every night Chris will ask her, So, T. What was your favorite part of the day today? And she’ll stop, cup her cheek in her hand while pointing her finger to her mouth and go, Ummmm. Ummmm. Ummmm. Like she’s thinking really hard about our day, and then she’ll chirp something like, The park, Daddy. I go down slide and climb up wall at the park. And Chris will remark, That’s great! You’re such a big girl! And she’ll correct him, No, Daddy. I’m BIG SISTER!

But one not-so-cute conversation that we have on a constant basis is the, Mom-can-I-have-that? conversation. As in every time she spies a toy commercial, toy aisle or toy ad in the paper, she points at it, whines and repeats, MOM! Can I have that? MOM! Can I have that? MOM. CAN. I. HAVE. THAT. And you can’t just ignore her, or she’ll keep asking all day. And you can’t say, NO! out of frustration, because she’ll get too worked up. So my answer every time we see a princess-something, which is about twenty times a day, is, Gee, Honey. Maybe you can get that for Christmas or your birthday if you’re a good girl. And instead of freaking out, she’ll sigh really loud and go, Oh THANK YOU Mom!

And something else I’ve been doing that is most likely not featured in the Mother of the Year handbook, is that every time Taylor has a temper tantrum, one surefire thing that will bring her around is putting a band aid on her. Like when she gets peeved about me throwing away the dried-out, rock-hard play doh we found under the couch, and I’m just over the toddler-tantrum, I’ll concede and say, Hey, would a band aid make you feel better? And she’ll immediately stop crying and say, Yes. I wanna princess band aid. And then I’ll stick about four band aids on her and everything is healed for the time being. And I’m sure there are a lot of deeper-meaning issues revolving around me doing this, but COME ON, I was suffering through a first trimester. Anything I could do to stop the screaming I was on board with. And that’s why Taylor had enough bandages on her arms and legs these past months that she looked like she had been through some sort of vicious toddler battle to the death.

But now that I’m feeling SO MUCH BETTER, I’m going to be able to crack the whip on a few things that I’ve been letting her get away with for the past months. Because soon she’s going to be my BIG girl. And I know that she’s going to be an awesome big sister. Not just because she’s so excited about the title, but because she’s already such a great little helper for me. And she’s just a really, really good little girl. And I know I’m prejudice with the whole situation, but she’s she about as perfect as any two year old can be.

And so for the next six months, I’m going to be soaking up every second of just being me and my Taylor. And while I get a pit in my stomach thinking about not being able to focus ALL of my attention on just her, I am so, so excited to bring another wonderful being into our family. Because our life with Taylor has been such a fabulous, blessed journey, and I can’t wait for her to share in this next adventure with us. She is the reason we want to do this process all over again. Because if it can be this fun with one, just imagine what two will bring.

From heartburn to a heartbeat – My first trimester

So if you’re just tuning in, let me recap my previous post – I’M PREGNANT. Knocked up. With child. Baby on board. Yes, we are super thrilled to be adding to our family. And, DUDES, it has been so hard for me not to spill the beans these past months. But hearing all the horror stories and cautionary tales out there, we just felt it was right to make our big, blogging announcement after we heard Baby’s heartbeat. And last week at our 12-week appointment we finally heard it... That fast, strong, wonderful heartbeat that starts to make everything really real. We are having another baby.

And while it was never a question that Chris and I have always wanted to add to our brood and have a bigger family, but after nearly a year of trying to conceive Miss Taylor, you can say we were a bit shocked when we saw that blazing pink line after our second month of not not-trying.

And I’m not even kidding you, two days after finding out the bean was in my body, I became sick as a dog. SICK. AS. A. DOG. And I don’t ever remember being this sick with Taylor. I mean, I had bouts of morning sickness and exhaustion here and there, but nothing as severe as I had these first months. So if you were at all curious as to why I only posted four blog posts in September, it was most likely because I was alternating my time between having my head in the toilet and feeling like I was stapled to the couch. And I can remark upon it with humor now that that fabulous second-trimester energy is taking over, but at the time it was pretty awful. But THANK GOODNESS for Disney Channel, Nickelodeon and Sprout, and giant coloring books, Play-doh, and building blocks. Because keeping my two-year old occupied while feeling like doo-doo would have been impossible without all of that artillery.

And on top of the around-the-clock nausea and fatigue, I had heartburn absolutely radiating through my body at levels comparable to the surface of the sun. Which made it pretty much impossible for me to consume anything other than applesauce, baked potatoes, string cheese and purple-flavored Gatorade. And that’s why I actually LOST weight in the first few weeks of being pregnant. I mean, not even ice cream sounded good. And that’s pretty much the same as Taylor refusing gummie snacks. Not natural.

And I know what you might be saying now, that because this pregnancy is so different than when I had Taylor in my belly that I might be having a boy. Well, we’ll just have to wait and see. And when I say WAIT, that’s what I mean, because we’re totally waiting until the big push to find out the gender. And we’re not just doing this to torture the grandparents, Chris and I talked about it and feel like you don’t get many big surprises in life, and this is going to be one of them.

So the first four weeks came and went, I had my initial doctor’s appointment and saw the sea monkey swimming in my belly. And even though this is our second time around, it was still truly amazing to watch the flutter of it’s itty-bitty heart, the outline of the spine and the beginnings of the arms and legs. It really makes you sit back and realize how truly miraculous this whole process of life is. Because at that moment, actually SEEING this baby inside my body and then going home and being able to squeeze my precious two year old, I am reminded how truly blessed Chris and I are with these two, amazing miracles.

And it may sound corny, but seeing that heartbeat during the eighth-week really made the morning sickness and exhaustion and indigestion seem worth it. And for the past month the nausea, fatigue and heartburn has become much more manageable, almost routine in a way. If that’s how I have to start my day – Oh well! If my body forces me to take an hour nap every afternoon – I can think of worse ways to spend my time. And if this Baby doesn’t want me to eat fried chicken or spicy bean dip – Well, let’s just say I have another six months to indulge in calories. See, I’m done complaining. Because if the end result of this first trimester is another prize like Taylor, then I can’t complain about this process of motherhood at all. Yep. No more whining, no more pouting and no more feeling sorry for myself. Well, at least until they are both teenagers.

Taylor's BIG announcement

Little brother/sister to arrive mid-April.

Birmingham Blackwell birthday bonanza

Last Wednesday Taylor and I headed south to help my Grandaddy and my sister celebrate their big birthdays. And when I say BIG, I mean my grandfather turned 90 and Libba was welcoming in her 30s. And with such momentous milestones in the family happening, of course my mother flew down from Iowa to help party. Because ain’t no party like a Blackwell birthday party, ‘cause a Blackwell birthday party don’t stop. Seriously. We’re gangsta like that.

And because the before mentioned birthdays took place on Wednesday and Thursday, my sweet hubba had to stay behind to put bread on the table. And because I was less than thrilled to drive the nearly six-hour trek by myself with a sassy toddler in the back, we managed to borrow a friend’s portable-DVD player and Disney Princess movie library for the trip. And, OH MY GOODNESS!, it was a lifesaver. I kept having to remind myself that Taylor was even in the car... But the Little Mermaid soundtrack in the backseat was a good reminder. And wouldn’t you know that I still can recite EVERY word to that entire movie and sang along with all the songs. Look at this stuff, isn’t it neat, wouldn’t you think my collection’s complete... You can probably pick it up from there, Steph.

So we made it down to Birmingham just after lunchtime, beating Mom and Grandaddy back to his house and found this in the front yard:

That night, all of the local and visiting Blackwell family members gathered at a fancy restaurant to toast Grandaddy and his 90 tremendous years. Well, everyone but Taylor. Let’s just say it wasn’t a toddler-friendly environment. So Libba lined-up a friend to stay with T at her house for the two hours we were gone. And, I’m not gonna lie, it was pretty nice to be out with my family and actually be able to listen to and partake in conversations without interruption, savor my delicious dinner without someone grabbing the avocados off my plate and carry a purse that didn’t have an entire toybox full of attention-occupying stuff in it. Yes, it was nice. But at the end of the night, I was super anxious to get back to my little peanut. Ah, such is motherhood.

So, YES, Grandaddy’s party was a truly special event. And emotional. All 16 guests took turns standing up and toasting and thanking the matriarch of our family, and with the amount of vino flowing, you can imagine some got a bit choked up. And then the birthday boy gave his rebuttal, thank you toast, and didn’t leave a dry eye in the house. My grandfather is very special to myself and a lot of other people, and I felt very blessed to be able to spend such a joyous occasion with him that night. And I can’t wait to toast him again on his 91st birthday next September.

And to keep the birthday train rolling, Libba turned the big three-oh the very next day. And in trying to plan something totally wonderful and amazing for her big day, her husband, my mother and myself decided to throw a bit of a surprise party for her at one of her fave restaurants, Cantina. And other than a few balloon malfunctions and mid-day cookie meltdowns, the actual party was a total success. And we had one super happy 30 year old on our hands.

Another wonderful birthday party, this time accompanied by Taylor, a DQ ice cream cake, birthday girl tequila shots and lots of queso dip and guacamole. And Miss T was a social butterfly at the party, constantly keeping DIRKY and HER BEEBA at an arm’s length. That girl loves her aunt and uncle, and they seem to be pretty fond of her too.

Friday we shook off our post-party cobwebs and the Young women spent the morning shopping and lunching. Which, of course, was followed by naps. You know us Blackwell females, we require at least one nap and one bag of cheese curls each day of vacation. And after naps, Libba had an organized photo shoot of my precious daughter that I cannot wait for you to see the results of. Between the wedding and previous bridal parties, it had been some time since Taylor had some focused attention in front of Lib’s camera. And you all know how amazingly talented my sister is, so you only imagine the cuteness that you will all see once the edits are done.

And Saturday was the day T and I headed back home to the mountains, which resulted in another successful princess movie-filled roadtrip. A wonderful trip all-around, that didn’t even end with sad Goodbyes being that Lib will be visiting Asheville in the coming weeks and we will be seeing my parents again before the end of the year. Of course you’ll have to check my sister’s blog for more pictures of the adventure – It’s always pretty useless to have my camera around when she’s shooting. But without a bunch of photographic evidence, just trust me when I say it was an amazing trip, and a wonderful reminder of how truly blessed I am to be surrounded by so much love within my family. And I miss them already.