Meadow's Baby Shower

My baby shower was wonderful! My co-worker, former co-workers, in laws and a friends were there. My mom did such a wonderful job on the food and decorations. Meadow got so many beautiful things!! We are so blessed to have so many great people in our life to give us such great support with our second child. I wish Josh would have taken more pictures of the gifts... the clothes were BEAUTIFUL!!! She will be a VERY well dressed baby :o) Now all we have left to get is a few of the bigger things - a new infant car seat and stroller, the crib bedding, and smaller things like bottles and such. I am just so excited!!!! To anyone who was there and may be reading this, thank you so much! I am so happy to have you in our life!!

Love like whoa

So, I'm getting ready for work this morning and Josh is about to walk out the door, and he comes to give me a hug and kiss, like always, and I got a whiff of his scent....not cologne, just HIS scent, and it set off this chain of memories in my head and my stomach got all fluttery and I got dizzy, and I was just like "WOW", ya know?? Like I am still just head over heels, butt-crazy in love with him. When we first got together (or actually, it was like 8 months after we got together), our love was like a hurricane. Or some might say it was a nightmare. We fought like crazy, and no one could understand why we were even together. But we loved each other so much (yes LOVE, even at 16) and stuck through it all, and that bad phase lasted for a good 2+ years, but what we have now is like our reward from God for sticking through the bad. He amazes me, every single day. He is the most wonderful husband, always doing small things like bringing me a smoothie to work when he gets off because he knows I've been craving them DAILY throughout this whole pregnancy, or texting me sweet somethings throughout the day, when I know he's working hard and takes out that 30 seconds just to let me know he's thinking about me. But even more than how amazing of a husband he is, what gets me is what a terrific DADDY he is. He gives his all to Tallon. I have never in my life seen the daddy change more diapers, make more meals, wake up on the weekends so mommy can sleep in, just really step it up (especially this last month or so because I am just so whiped out by the time I get home from work). And I know he will be equally amazing as a daddy of 2. Geez, I just love him so much.

Goodness Gracious

These past few days, Meadow, who was sitting firmly in my belly at some point last week, has moved down and cozied up in my pelvis. Oh, the pain! The discomfort! I think I've been a pretty good sport thus far, but I can't tough it out anymore. I am now one of those whiny, bitchy pregnant women you see in Wal-Mart, holding their belly and waddling down the aisle, wincing in pain along the way. I really don't remember it being like this with Tallon. I mean, I'm sure he "dropped" (as they all do), but I don't remember it being so far before delivery, and I definetly don't remember it being so painful!!

On another note, my baby shower is this Saturday, and I am so excited! I will see a few girlfriends that I have not seen in many months, and hopefully one that I haven't seen in about 2 years! And most importantly, I can FINALLY go shopping next week! I have been holding out until after the shower so I don't buy something that someone else has already bought. I did the same with Tallon (thankfully, because I ended up having to buy next to nothing). Last weekend was about my last weekend of leisure before Meadow gets here, as these next 4 weekends will be spent preparing her nursery!

This last month is really very bittersweet. Of course we are all very anxious for our sweet baby girl to be here, but at the same time, it is our last few weeks as "The 3 of us". Tallon, Josh and I. As it has been for the last 2 1/2 years. A part of me feels weird, almost guilty, about the new baby, because TALLON has been our baby, our main attraction. I wonder how he will feel about sharing the spotlight??

V-Day and Mardi Gras

This weekend was half wonderful, half not so wonderful. Valentines day was simple, but oh-so-special, as always. We just went out to Kobe for some Japanese and then laid around in the house all day, talking about the past 7 Valentines Days we've spent together. Sunday was not so bad, I'm just a little too pregnant to be walking 2 miles from a parking spot to the parade route!! But Tallon had a blast, and when Tallon has fun, I always have fun.

It's a Beautiful Day!

The skies are blue, it's a perfect 64 degrees outside, and everything just looks pretty, ya know? Besides the weather, I am feeling about 99% myself again, which is great! Today is Thursday, which means another week gone in the countdown to Ms. Meadow's arrival....5 weeks from TODAY!! I am getting NO WHERE as far as preparations!! Her nursery is still technically an office, and we just have NOTHING. But, thinking back to my pregnancy with Tallon, we procrastinated then, too. We didn't have his room ready until after his shower. In reality, she won't even spend any time in her room for several months even after she gets here, but it's just nice to have it all ready when she's born.

I am just wrapping my head around everything. 4 more weeks of work. A week of relaxation, then bam! Family of 4. Babygirl. No turning back. I've been praying really hard for a nice, easy, pleasant birth for her, and that she is as perfectly healthy as her big brother. I can't wait to see Tallon with his baby sister. I have my worries about his initial reaction to her, but I think once she gets here and he REALLY understands that she's here to stay and it's his baby sister, he's going to be such a wonderful, caring, protective older brother.

I have been having the weirdest cravings!! Which is really weird for this late in the game. But yesterday, I was LITERALLY daydreaming about eating this huge, heaping salad with about a pound of crabmeat on it. I never did get my crab meat salad :o( But Josh took us to Ryan's, so I had no complaints!! Right now I really really want a real, authentic cheese quesadilla. Not one from Taco Bell, but a REAL one, equipped with the grease. I could also really go for some curly fries from Arby's with the horsey sauce. Geez, I'm hungry!!

Holy perfume, Batman!

Wow, I actually woke up this morning, and for the first time in almost a week, I could SMELL!!! It was wonderful. I don't think I've been that excited in a while. So I get into my car and drive to PJ's to get myself a decaf Velvet Ice, smelling all the wonderful scents along the way. Then I get to work. Not an hour after arriving, a woman comes to see my boss and my nose is like "WHOAH, WTF!!??" This woman had on the cheapest, most horrible smelling allergenic perfume I have ever smelled in my life. My nasal passages got pissed, turn their backs on me, and have been closed off ever since. Thanks lady! Thanks alot!!! I mean SERIOUSLY, how could you not know that you are putting off a smell that is SOOO offensive! (This coming from a woman who has been changing diapers that range in all colors, textures and smells for the past 2 years). So that pretty much ruined any chances I had for a good morning.

Hmmm....the Wonderful World of Blogging!

I am a newbie to the world of blogging, so you'll have to give me a break early on. Here I am, 34 weeks pregnant, and sick as a dog for the 5th day in a row! Needless to say my work (as well as house chores) are suffering. But, I have somewhat redeemed myself by coming into the office (still very sick) and completing a stack of work for my boss. Now I just need the good Lord to grant me the strength to go home and do dishes and laundry!!

I suppose a little introductory post is in order, no?

My name is Winter Hope, known to most as simply "Winter". I am married to my best friend, my life partner, my better half...Josh. He is the father of my 1 3/4 children; Tallon James, 2 years old (the light of my life), and Meadow Jade, 34 weeks in utero. We live in a small town in southern Mississippi where everything New Orleans is our way of life and we have 2 seasons each year: Summer, and kind-of-Autumn. My job is a Legal Secretary. I spend Monday-Friday, 8-5, right here at this very desk, waiting for the moment I will go home and see my babies faces. I have about 4 weeks left until I take a 2 month break for Meadow's arrival. I am very, very excited! A little nervous, admittedly, but overall just anxious for her to be here, and for our family to be complete. I would love to keep writing, but my vision is blurred and my head is cloudy from the sinus medicine, so until next time!