bug hunt

We are always looking for fun and inexpensive activities around here. Toddler aged children love repetition and this is a game inspired by Charlotte's love for the easter egg hunt. We purchased a bug catching kit from the Dollar Store, but I'm positive I've seen other variations at the Dollar Tree or the Target Dollar Spot. I was just going to get the kit alone, but then I worried that Charlotte would either: (a) not find any bugs to catch and be miserably disappointed (b) find bugs and accidentally squeeze them to death with her bug catching tweezers, thus scarring her tender bug-loving-heart OR (c) capture lots of bugs and then try to take them inside and make them a home and invite them to sleep on her pillow with her.

So, I purchased a package of ladybug erasers (also for a dollar at the Dollar Store) that were the perfect size for her bug catching net and would not result in any bug guts or home invasions.

I hid the bugs all over the yard while she was sleeping and gave her the kit when she woke. We spent the rest of the afternoon hunting for bugs and have repeated this game several afternoons since - sometimes outside if the weather's nice and our nextdoor neighbor's viscous attack dog isn't out or inside if it's rainy or too chilly.

Charlotte Mae Stewart

Our precious girl arrived July 19th at 11:20 p.m.

Weight: 7 lbs 6 oz

Length: 18.5 inches

"Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart."

Psalm 37:4

Baby Update {40+ Weeks}

So, I've kind of been a big bundle of emotional dynamite since Tuesday came and went with no signs of sweet babe's arrival. Good thing I have such an amazing husband. He's had normal ole' Margo for the past eight months, but then psycho, plump, pain in the (sensor) Margo made an appearance four weeks ago. Tyler has managed to love me despite my marathon pity party that begins the moment I enter the fourth floor elevator after each Tuesday afternoon doctor's appointment. He loves me even though I built a replica of The Great Wall of China out of pillows straight down the middle of our double bed. And I think what he loves the most is to hear me whine about all of the comments I've been getting from people - "You know, Margo, that baby will come out if you just eat cornflakes for breakfast, take a hot shower at nine, go for a two mile walk, eat a bologna sandwich, watch The Three Amigos, do a back flip, go for another two mile walk, but this time walk backwards, eat some shrimp alfredo and have tons and tons of sex."

I'm so blessed to have a have a husband who loves me through all of my emotional ups and downs.

It's Vacation Bible School week at church, so I've spent every afternoon and night this week at work watching four months of preparation unfold into a smooth operating program for three-year-olds through fifth graders. We have 400 kids in our building each night, learning all about how God is WILD for them. It's been so exciting to see all of their energy each night, but it leaves me one tired momma. Since I've been at the church a lot in the evenings, Tyler and I spent the morning together. Here are some photos of our day:

Fixing to go to the mall to look for some new sneakers and then go to lunch.

My hospital bag is all packed and ready to go. Callie the Cat thinks she is going too. Silly cat.

Here is Tyler and his brand new left shoe!

The first tomato of the season is here! What it lacks in size, it makes up in taste.

Baby Update {30 Weeks}

• Every morning, around 6:00 a.m., little muffin has a dance party. I think her favorite dance moves are the macarena and any kind of line dancing (boot-scoot-boogie, electric slide, etc.) Hopefully she will be as smooth as her daddy on the dance floor.

• Sometimes, I get this crazy acid reflux. Like, I'm pretty sure there is a ball of fire in my throat. 

• I've got sleeping down to a science! After several nights of discomfort, I have finally figured out the most comfortable sleep position. If you stick a standard sized pillow between your legs and then have the top tip of the pillow go slightly underneath your belly, you are in good shape! The only trouble happens when you decide to roll over in your sleep and are either awaken because you rolled onto your back and your spine is being crushed by a bowling ball. Or you wake up because you are now treating your spouse as the pillow you once had perfectly situated. Tyler and I have a full size bed and, while neither of us are large people, a full size bed is teeny-tiny when you are growing a human in your belly. Every time I complain about not sleeping well, Tyler reminds me of that day, long ago, when we were in Hank's Furniture shopping for our mattress. It was three months before our marriage and Tyler was sleeping on the floor of our studio apartment. My parents gave us a handful of cash to purchase a bed as a wedding gift, so we were at Hank's trying to score the best deal. My logic was, "Hey, let's buy a full size bed since it's the cheapest and then we can save the money we have left to put towards a kitchen table." I recall Tyler agreeing with the saving money part, but he insists that this is a false memory and that he fought to buy the queen bed. Nevertheless, we are still proud owners of a full size bed. Sorry Ty.  

• The nursery is coming right along. My mother-in-law, grammy and mom purchased the glider from my registry and it arrived in a huge box a few weeks back. It is white wood with a beautiful butter yellow cushion and footstool. Just this weekend, I just purchased a rug I had been eying at Target with some birthday money and a gift card. It is gorgeous and is truly the focal point of the entire room. Now I just have to narrow down all the beautiful artwork I have saved on my Etsy wishlist to a few pieces that I want to hang in Baby Girl's room. When Casie and I went to IKEA back in January, I got these really cool picture ledges that I'm hoping to put interchangeable artwork, children's books and photographs.  Ty is going to help me hang the shelves once he is finished with this semesters' school work. And I got the cutest little square end table from Hobby Lobby that was marked down to $20. I had a $50 gift card that my momma gave me for my birthday, so the table was free. Holla!

• My appetite is increasing and my stomach capacity is decreasing. After supper, it sometimes feels like I am gasping for air. I keep taking these deep breaths and making these loud sighing noises, which is usually what I do when I am feeling frustrated or overwhelmed. The other night while we were sitting on the couch watching a movie, Tyler looked over at me and said, "Is everything okay? Are you upset?" I replied, "Nope. Just trying to breathe." My torso is shrinking into oblivion. No lie.

• I am getting more and more excited about meeting her. I can't wait to see what she looks like. Will she have her daddy's auburn hair? Will she have my big brown eyes?

Happy Valentine's Day

Baby Girl at 19 weeks old.

18 Weeks and Counting

This is me reenacting how surprised I was when I came home and saw that Tyler had built the crib.

We are making progress! We painted the room and Tyler assembled the crib the other day while I was at work ::squeal of excitement:: After many failed gray attempts, we went with a soft teal color for the walls - Benjamin Moore's Crystalline AF-485 in their Natura zero VOC paint.And the crib is from IKEA. I love how simple and petite it is. It is perfect for the small bedroom.

Okay, I know you may all think that I'm getting a little ahead of myself. I know that I've still got 5 months until little muffin comes, but, people, you've got to understand my circumstances. 

 

First off, it's like negative 70 degrees outside for the entire month of January and February 'round these parts and I've got to find something to do to keep myself busy. That is why I spend my weekends looking at magazines, browsing Target and IKEA websites, shopping for junk at the Habitat for Humanity Restore so that I can upcycle it into something lovely. I had to start this baby room project while the weather is awful out so that when spring finally gets here, I will have time to build my garden (and by "build," I mean shout commands at Tyler like, "dig here" and "plant there" while I lounge in my plastic adirondack chair and use my growing belly as a tabletop for my ice cold lemonade). 

 

Another reason why we have to get crack-a-lackin' on baby room is because Tyler is a hard workin' man! He works 45+ hours a week at the church and, at the same time, is taking a full load of masters courses this semester. It's not like he's just sitting around on the weekends waiting for his sweet wife to hand him a container of spackle and an electric sander. He's got homework to do and the last thing he needs is to jam pack a bunch of work into his one day a week of study time. So he is committing a few weekends this spring to help me prepare for little Stewart.

 

And remember this post when I poured out my soul and told you my desire to control things? I know I can't control everything, but it sure does help me function at "100% Margo" if my house is in order. Call me crazy, but one of the ways I can prepare emotionally for baby is to tangibly prepare for his/her arrival.

I just cannot wait to hold little one. So until then, I am okay with spending my Saturday mornings praying for baby while I bake blueberry muffins. It feels so magical to walk into the bedroom and try and picture a small baby swaddled up and sleeping in the crib. It makes me so happy to crack open the door and look beyond the construction zone as I imagine myself rocking baby to sleep each night.

Angels We Have Heard on High

The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you." Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God." Luke 1:28-30

I bet that Mary was "greatly troubled" because there was a shiny glowy man that flew into her bedroom and woke her right in the middle of her REM sleep. If this angel looked anything like the angel that appeared to the shepherds later on in the birth narrative, Mary probably got the ba-jeebers scared out of her, because Luke 2:9 says that the shepherds were terrified at the sight of the angel that spoke to them. 

Now, I know peeing on a piece of plastic is not exactly the same as having a glowy flying guy come tell you that you are going to have a baby, but when that perpendicular line showed up in that little window...I felt so many emotions. 

Joy.

Excitement.

Disbelief.

Scared-out-of-my-mind-ness.

In my first few weeks, my thoughts were ruled by fear. I was scared that something could go wrong with the pregnancy and I was frightened about all the financial details we were going to have to work out and I was nervous about figuring out my work schedule and I was fearful of starting a family with my own family living so far away.


I think I was scared, because I really enjoy having control. I control what I wear, what I cook for dinner, how I organize my house, and (up to just a few months ago) I controlled my fertility. But with this incredible miracle growing inside of me, I felt completely out of control.


I can't even imagine how Mary felt. Whether she wanted to or not, God chose her to give birth to the Savior of the world. I seriously doubt that she was thrilled when she found out this news. How on earth would she explain this news to her mom and dad? And what would the young carpenter she was dating think? Would he believe her? Her life was now out of control. 


And yet she responds to the angel by saying, "I am the Lord's servant. May it be to me as you have said."


Father, forgive me for my distrust. Let my prayer be like Mary's. Make me a servant.

Mom and Dad Visit Champaign - August 2010

I love my family. It is so hard to have them so far away and to get to see them so little, but it makes the moments that we do get to share together just that much more special (I realize this is an awful sentence). Mom and dad came to town last week and we spent the whole week doing projects together.

I love having Mom around because she is so creative! She helps me figure out how to rearrange my furniture and how to hang my curtains. She has got a great eye for detail and she sure has taught me a lot about taking pride in your home. She kept saying how clean my house was...well how do you think I became such a "cleany"...because of her, of course! She set the bar high when it came to being a great housekeeper and hostess. I whined to her all the time about having to make my bed each morning or having to pick up the living room each night. And now, that is exactly me. I love coming home from work to a clean bed room and I like to have things relatively straightened up before I go to bed. Since I work 9 to 5 each day, I feel so much less stressed when I come home to a tidy house. With a clean house, all I have to worry about when I get home is what to make for supper, not "how the heck am I going to clean up all this crap?" Thank you, Mom, for always taking pride in your home. I may not move the couch and vacuum underneath is once a week like you do, but at least I put the coffee table on top of the couch and vacuum nearby it. Speaking of immaculate house keeping, my dad is quite the gardener. His lawn always looks like a 5-star golf course (do they have those?) I don't know how he keeps his yard looking so good in that south Texas summer drought and with a dog that digs up everything in sight (you're welcome, Mom and Dad).

Here are some pictures our delightful time together:

The Eppersons had us over for s'mores the first night Mom and Dad were here. Here's Tyler and Abe roasting their mallows.

The grill master grilled up some mean pork chops and some Illinois sweet corn. Yum-o!

My wonderful parents.

We were dad's kitchen runners.

 Eating. We did a lot of it.

 

 

New knobs and pulls for my kitchen! Great upgrade for cheap!

 

My mom and I spent one whole morning shopping for back-to-work clothes for her at TJMaxx. We weren't fashionistas, we were maxxinistas (isn't that how the commercial goes?)

Dad and I put a foggy film over the bottom window flush so that no creepers could watch us shower. I think it is pretty dumb that someone installed a window smack in the middle of a shower, but now that I have the foggy-filmy-thingy on, it has been really nice to have all of that natural light each morning.

My mom said, "Oh, we have to get a picture of Margaret and Tyler together before we leave." That is how this picture came about.