You know "those" days?

Today began like most days. I got up around 6:45, took my shower and got ready, put a load of laundry in the washer, got breakfast ready for Justin, and had a little Jesus time. Madalyn arrived around 8:00, and we played until Elizabeth woke up around 9:00. This is when the little things began. I realized while I was changing Elizabeth that I had no more diapers for Madalyn, size 2, and Elizabeth's size 4 diapers were not going to work! Ok, I had already wanted to go to Big Lots today, so no biggie! Now it was time for breakfast. I put Madalyn's yogurt on the table, but when I turned around to put Elizabeth in her chair, Madalyn found the yogurt and pulled it to the ground spilling blueberry yumminess all over the floor. Again, no biggie, we can handle a little quick floor clean up. After breakfast, we prepared for our outing to the post office and Big Lots. (Side Note: Getting out today was not the best choice to begin with. We had wind advisory warnings and the local lakes provided conditions suitable for surfing. ) I got the girls all loaded up and was ready to go until I realized I was missing a garage door opener. (Somehow we are down to one, and it was in Justin's truck.) After a stop at Justin's office to grab the opener, we were once again on our mission to the post office. Upon arriving at my destination, I reached into my wallet to grab cash only to find it not there. Grrr... I stuck the cash in the jogging stroller last night for our Sonic trip. OK, debit card. Nope, just changed banks, haven't activated the card and have not a clue as to the obscure pin that was given me. Alright, credit card. Not available either, in Justin's wallet after Sunday lunch with friends. Back to Justin's office we went. Following this, we endured the wind and survived the post office with the help of a few kind strangers to hold the series of 3 doors (not handicap friendly!). Our trip through Big Lots was also pretty successful. I found several good deals on items we needed, and I had a 20% off coupon for my whole purchase:) I believe the total was $12 for 2 boxes of organic mac and cheese, 2 boxes of organic cereal, face wash, diapers, a box of 24 puffs snack packs, and clorox anywhere spray. As we exited the store, the wind again threw us around. I positioned the cart in what I thought was a safe spot and began to put Elizabeth in the car. I got one strap over her shoulder and saw Madalyn and the cart being whipped around and rolling away! I quickly ran to Madalyn and got the cart under control. However, when we returned to the car, I found 4 locked doors with keys and Elizabeth inside!!!! After a moment of panic, I called Justin. He was on his way to a church conference an hour away, but he had only gotten a few miles away. Thankfully, Daddy came and saved the day! While we waited for him to get there, Elizabeth realized that she wasn't buckled and began to stand up, wiggle, and make me very nervous. She never was freaked out though; we just sang and made silly faces at each other and passed the 10 minutes safely. Whew! When I finally got into the car and looked at the clock, it was only 11:53! YIKES... what else was in store?
Thankfully the rest of my day was much better, and I did take a mommy break while the girls napped to watch The Pursuit of Happiness and cried some more.
When all was said and done, I thanked God that Justin was available to come so quickly, and that he had a key, and that Elizabeth was safe in the mean time! I need these humbling days to knock me down a bit from thinking I have it all under control. As a friend so sweetly reminded me tonight- HE is Always in Control!

16 months and Half way through!

Elizabeth Grace is 16 months old and so much fun to be around! She is talking all of the time and LOVES to play with her friends. She still enjoys her food, and her belly is proof. We recently discovered that she is a chips and salsa girl; actually she prefers the salsa, sucking it off the chip and asking for more! Elizabeth's attention span is growing, so we spend many mornings and evenings before bed reading book after book after book. She has come to identify the letter "E" and will point it out whenever she sees it. She also is interested in learning her colors, but so far "yellow" is the only one she gets consistently. Thanks to Aunt Cheryl and Uncle Trey, ELMO has entered our world. Elizabeth's compassionate spirit is already showing; when Elmo is throwing his tickle fit, she picks him up to comfort him by rocking and patting him. She has finally overcome her distaste for things in her hair and on multiple occasions worn bows and pigtails (my personal favorite)!

All dressed up for Cousin Zach's wedding!

The Lemonade stand has been quite the hit!
I think she is talking to herself in the mirror of her sing and play stage.

Taco Salad- GOOD!

The "dress up" has begun! She just had to try on her new outfit...even if it was over her jammies! Complete with the WWJD lanyard!

Elizabeth's first trip to the stock show...
Her reaction, "Cow! Mooooo! Cow! Mooooo! Cow! Mooooo!"

Our little super star- between singing and dancing, she keeps us entertained!

In other news, I am 20 weeks along and half way through my pregnancy. My body has definitely gotten the memo, so my belly is growing at a quick pace- I will get a belly pic up shortly. I am feeling great and trying to get out for walks as much as the weather permits. My only problem has been some frustrating sinus pressure and headaches, for which I can't take the medicine I would normally. However, my new best friend has become my Neti Pot! If you have never heard of such a thing, you should definitely google it. It is quite a sight when I am using it, but it works like magic! I would HIGHLY recommend you try one out when feeling congested.

Ode to my Neti Pot!

Surprise! Surprise!

What an exciting week we have had!
First of all... in case you haven't heard, Baby Bassett #2 is on the way! On Wednesday, we went to the Dr. for our first sonogram. Because of some crazy insurance stuff and switching docs, I was already 14 weeks along, so we thought. As the sonographer began checking out the baby, she commented that she thought I was a little farther along. I didn't think much about it, because I just wanted to see that little heart beating and legs kicking. Well, after all of the measurements and calculations and seeing a perfect looking baby, we were informed that I was 17.5 weeks along instead of 14 weeks! That explained my very obvious pregnant belly!

Since I was farther along, she was also able to tell us that...
Elizabeth is going to have a little sister!
We are delighted and now preparing for a June 7 due date as opposed to July 1!

In case you cannot make out Elizabeth's shirt, it says, "I'm the BIG sister." Though we aren't sure how much she understands just yet, she does gives baby kisses and point to my tummy and cheer, "BABY!" I know they will be great friends... and probably have a good share of sister fights as well:)

15 Months plus some...

Well, this update is incredibly late for a variety of reasons, but mainly because we have had to have a funeral for our old laptop. It served us well for almost three years, but the battery quit charging, the CD/DVD drive was fading, the keyboard was finicky, and the last straw was the blank screen I got the morning after I had typed up and carefully edited our Christmas letter. We are so thankful for Christmas money that purchased our new laptop! I didn't realize how connected I was to the computer until I spent two weeks without it!
In the past month Elizabeth's verbal skills have exploded! I cannot even list her words, because they are now so numerous. Thanksgiving and Christmas were a blast with our sweet girl! She is always full of excitement and loved everything about Christmastime. She really loved the jingle bell ornaments on the tree that occasionally "fell off" just for her to carry around. Paw Paw bought her a blow up "peek-a-boo penguin" yard decoration that we opted to keep inside; she thinks it is so funny and still begs for me to plug it in. When the penguin pops out of the ice cube, she shouts, "BOO!" Another favorite was her nativity advent calendar. Each morning after breakfast, she scampered over to it and would say, "Cal, Cal, Cal;" it was so fun getting to daily share with her the truth of Christmas as we added to the scene!
Elizabeth also learned a great deal about sharing in the past month, as I began keeping Madalyn, a little girl 2 days older than Elizabeth. It has been a joy to be home with my sweet girl everyday and to watch her interact with her friend. Ma Ma, as Elizabeth calls her, was a premie and adopted from Guatemala by some of our friends. She is on the petite side, but Elizabeth is so gentle with her and really loves having her around.

Here are some pics to chronicle lost time!

All bundled up to go get our Christmas tree!!
Playing in the leaves with third cousins, Jack and Marin-- our source of great hand-me-downs!
Christmas morning... a sit 'n' spin and princess big blocks:)
Lookin' pretty in the dress Paw Paw bought her!
She loves to sweep! What a great helper!!!
Ma Ma and Elizabeth ready for a ride...
Ma Ma pooped out after a good stroll:)