Changes

Golly, it is hot down here on the Gulf Coast and it seems as though overnight, my clothes are no longer fitting. I pulled out my maternity clothes that I feel like I just put away. Well, many of my summer maternity clothes are much too big considering I was 15-20 pounds heavier during my pregnancy with Mary Ella (my summer baby), so this gives me an excuse to go buy some hip summer clothes. So where did I go???? Target. Hey, I'm easy to please. I bought every pair of shorts I could find and a couple pair of flip flops so my feet don't get so darn hot. Thank goodness we live down here where tank tops, shorts, and flip flops are pretty much the uniform. I did come home and go to oldnavy.com for a few cute tops, a dress, and a bathing suit as I will be spending a lot of time in the water. Maternity clothes sure have changed since I was pregnant 4 years ago with Mary Ella (I personally think it is for the better!).

Another change??? I chopped my hair off. Yes, I did and I'm SOOOOO happy about it. It was close to the bottom of my shoulder blades and now it is just below my jaw bone. I woke up one morning and threw it in a wet ponytail for the last time. I'm not sure when I had the time to blow dry it last. Now I blow dry it in less than 4 minutes and I don't feel like such a frump anymore. There is something to be said for feeling groomed again. I walked in from getting it cut and Mary Ella had a shocked look on her face, then regained composure and said sweetly, "Mommy, I like your new haircut. It's really pretty."

The children seem to have changed just in the last couple of weeks too. Addy is in the "aimless wandering" stage leaving little messes all over the house. She picks up one toy and carries it for a few minutes, drops it to get get another. This is repeated all day and before I know it I can't go two feet without stepping on something sharp, slippery, or bulky. I am sure it is an interesting sight to see me try and regain balance with a large load of clothes in my arms. It definitely keeps me on my toes! On the contrary, Mary Ella has developed such a sense of pride cleaning up her room by herself and helping me around the house. Before storytime/bedtime, Mary Ella cleans her room. To my surprise, the past few nights, she is not only picking up her toys, she is organizing them appropriately then comes to me and says (with a very proud smile on her face), "Mom, come look what I did." Now, I know this is temporary, but I will enjoy this while I can. She definitely enjoys all the praise that comes her way. By the way, the "rest time" routine is working beautifully too. I'm on cloud nine and do believe I had more pepper in my stepper today! Praise God!

I know I've written a lot in the last couple of days, but I re-read yesterdays post and realized so much more had happened. Since this is a "journal" I hope to one day have printed and bound for my children, I didn't want to miss any details. So thanks for hangin' in there with me!