Catching Up with a Picture Overload...

I feel like that is my "go-to" title lately since I tend to go weeks without updating, and then have to play catch-up and load a gazillion pics at once. Life seems to be going at warp speed some days, and as slow as molasses on other days, and by the time Whitney is in bed I dont have the energy to think, let alone deal with picture-loading and writing.

Waah, waaah, waaah. I know. Poor me. HA! Life is so good right now, it just tends to get in the way of blogging....so here are some pics of what we have been up to lately :)

I know Ive said it here before, but I LOVE Pinterest. LOVE.  Im not sure if this was a Pinterest idea, but I am sure I dont have enough brain cells to think it up on my own, so Im giving the credit to Pinterest. I grabbed an old roll of (ugly) Christmas wrapping paper, flipped it over to the plain white side, and let Whitney make giant pictures on it.  One night before bed, we decided to tape the roll to the floor and trace our princess so we could "decorate" Whitney. She thought it was fun and loved watching Daddy draw in her face. :)

Ignore the Christmas jammies....it was cold and she loved them. 

And because I know he has several fans out there...here is yet another picture of a "smiling" Baileydog :) 

February started out with an 80 degree day! Like most of the country, we have had a really mild "Winter" with hardly any hard freezes and a lot of sun! Whitney and I played out front one day after school and it was HOTTT! 

How much do you love her "big girl" pony tail!? She told me she wanted her hair in "one big circle in da back", and I deduced that she meant "a ponytail". I cant even use the itty bitty little rubberbands that typically hold her hair out of her face, as her "one big circle" pony tail was too thick and required one of my own hair elastics!

A few weeks ago, Eric had a poker night with some buddies so Whitney and I had a Friday night at home, just us girls. She asked to dress up like Snow White. No, this phase has not come to an end yet....nor do I see it going anywhere anytime soon. Therefore, I predict one VERY happy little girl when she sees all the Snow White-themed birthday paraphernalia I ordered from etsy, amazon, and beyond :) Balloons are fun, and a cheap/fast way to make a room look fun and decorated for a party....but I think the 5' tall Snow White cut-out will be her favorite decoration at her birthday party this April! 

Whitney has two Snow White ensembles. She asks to wear her "REAL" Snow White dress at home (see above), but insists on wearing her "FARKLY" Snow White dress (sparkley, duh) when we let her dress-up to head to Disney. We were lucky enough to watch two of our nephews a few weeks ago, and what else do cool Aunts and Uncles do when you get a sleepover with awesome kids? We bring them to Epcot! :) We only went for a few hours at night, and they really only got to ride Mission Space and Spaceship Earth, but we had three happy, SUPER well-behaved kids.  I know Ive said it before, but these two boys are SOOOO good with their young cousins.  Whitney ADORES them and frequently asks when they will come play again. They always include her and let her tag along while looking out for her safety. We got to Epcot and had talked about which rides they wanted to go on. They decided on Mission Space which is for "big kids" and "non-pregnant people".  Kyle asked what ride was inside the big epcot ball, and when I told him about Spaceship Earth, he asked, "Can Whitney ride that?" When I said, "Yep, she loves it!", both Kyle and Dean said, "Well let's ride that first then!"  I would be willing to bet that when most nine and 13 year old kids hear "We might only have time for one or two rides", they would want to SPRINT to the ride THEY wanted just to make sure they got their fun in before we had to leave. But these boys would rather make sure EVERYONE is included and having fun, and then ride their fun stuff when Whitney has already had her fun. Such awesome kids. 

We were invited to a few Super Bowl parties this year, but we really didnt have "a dog in the fight", so we opted to stay home.  Eric was thrilled (cough, cough) to have some time to finish painting Grady's room while Whitney, Bailey, and I enjoyed an evening picnic in the playroom. 

Another shout-out to Pinterest, and I want to be sure to document how cute Whitney's valentines were this year, as I am certain the store-bought, attach-a-pencil kinda valentines will appear in our future as life with two kids gets hectic through the years.  But I figured it was her very first year to bring her friends valentines, so I would start strong.  These werent exactly difficult, but I had to buy things in several different locations, which is quite different from grabbing the package of Disney Princess valentines and tossing them in the cart.  The little gift tag says, "Will you o'FISH'ally be my Valentine? <3 Whitney Bass" and I put a handful of Swedish fish in the bag with a silly straw to look like a fishing pole. Everyone liked them, and Whitney was happy, so Im calling it a success :) 

My parents share the same birthday, the day before Valentine's Day, and because it was a "big" birthday for my mom, I wanted to do something special.  Last year, my dad turned 65 and took the whole family to the Dominican Republic for a week.  While a Caribbean vaca was out of the budget this year, I found a fun idea last Fall that I thought I could make happen. Again, Pinterest is half inspiring and half exhausting, as I LOVE the idea, but needed a lot of help to make it happen.  I emailed anyone and everyone on my mom's email  list, in her address books, or in her golf directory. I told them all that I was trying to put together a project for "65 Years of Memories" for my mom's birthday, and kindly asked that they mail or email me their favorite memories of my mother through the years.  I sent the email at the beginning of January, and then sent another threatening reminder email at the beginning of February. It was SOOO fun getting the mail every day and seeing letters from people my mom probably hasnt thought of or talked to in YEARS...maybe even decades! I gathered all the emails and letters and photos and cards and put them in a scrapbook (side note: I do not know HOW you scrapbookin' people do it. That was NOT fun! So many ways to make a boring sheet of paper look cute and fancy...so overwhelming! Shutterfly albums are the way to go!) In the end, we had at least 65 memories (I will have to go look at the book and count them) and my mom had a lot of fun reading and laughing at all the fun things people had to say about her.  A few really awesome friends sent more than one memory, while some people just sent "Happy Birthday, Lynne!" in an email. I included them all and it was a lot of fun for all of us. I will admit that there were two people who's names mom did not recognize, which we think it hilarious. All of her current friends participated and we heard from tennis and golf friends in Connecticut, siblings and cousins in Ohio, and school friends of hers as well as my friends and my brother's friends! A fun project from start to finish :) I'll have to take pics of the final product.

When all else fails (and I was worried the memory project would flop), we enlisted the help of Aunt Gerry, my mom's favorite sister :) Aunt Ger flew down last Friday and surprised my mom. So. Much. Fun! Remember the video of Aunt Ger meeting Whitney in the airport for the first time in 2009? It was pretty much recreated in my parents' living room on Friday afternoon when my mom laid eyes on her sister :) Screaming, squealing, laughing....love it.  We had a great weekend, despite the cold front that moved in. It was in the 80s all last week....then Aunt Ger arrived and things dropped to 50s.....and now, as her plane has departed for Ohio again, it is back in the 80s. Of course.  Mom and Aunt Ger had fun corrupting playing with Whitney, and of course Whitney looooved being the center of the universe. :) My mom and Aunt Ger have the best pics, but here are some from the weekend celebrations:

Whitney picked the cake: 

Helping Mac and Gwamps blow out their candles!

This was late at night, and Im lookin' rough, but its the only decent pic of Whitney in her Valentine's outfit. She wore the same dress last year, but I put a heart/W on it this year. :) (Any of you 'W' mommies, let me know if you are interested!)

We went out to dinner at Paris Bistro and got a table in the courtyard. Normally this would be a prime location....however, the temps dropped considerably, leaving me bundled up with blankets from my parents' car. Everyone else enjoyed wine to warm up! 

It's really too bad Whitney doesnt get ANY attention or affection, right? Poor child. Totally neglected. 

HA!

She continues to crack us up and surprise us with all the things she knows! She is fighting and ear infection (and winning!) in the following pictures, but you'd never know it! She is always, always, always SOOOO happy! It is so rare to see her cry or act crazy (which is the only reason I learned of the ear infection....she never complained that anything hurt...she just acted unhappy/not herself and I knew something was goin' on. Sure enough...ear infection....and she's back to herself in one dose of "Buzz and Woody medicine" :))  

Yesterday, Eric once again proved his Super Daddy/Husband status by leaving work to come home and clean up a pukey carseat/back seat as a result of Whitney's ear infection. (Apparently her equilibrium was "off", combined with running around in 80 degree heat, and it was a recipe for some tossed cookies as we pulled into our driveway yesterday.)  While Eric dealt with that, I ended up joining Whitney's pukey club, and Eric agreed to take Whitney to her doctor's appointment in case I was officially "sick".  Thankfully, the illness has left our home and the clorox wipes have done their part to ensure it wont return.  

However, as Whitney and I drove home from school yesterday, we were talking about getting her kiddie pool out, filling it up, and spending the afternoon on the porch since it was such a beautiful day.  Whitney was sooo sad to let that plan go when her sickies got in the way, so I promised her we would fill up her pool tomorrow and stay outside as long as we wanted. Sure enough, Whitney never forgets....she woke up at 7:20 this morning and gasped, "MOMMY! Im awake and Its 'tomorrow' and you can fill my pool up now!!!!"  She was SOOO excited when I said "You're right! Let's have some breakfast and get that water in the pool!" Bouncing up and down, singing, laughing...sooo excited! I think we have an AWESOME Spring and Summer ahead of us! I held her off til the somewhat-respectable hour of 10am before we went outside to enjoy a FABULOUS day laughing and playing in 3 inches of water. 

She was giving all of her "guys" different voices and making them play so nicely together. It was so fun listening to her dialogue between Batman and a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. She gave them really deep, funny voices and had so much fun letting them "rescue" each other from the water. Such an awesome imagination. Whoever says "Dont let your kids watch TV" is insane because I KNOW *I* couldnt teach her how to be that creative and silly and fun with the voices and noises she was making!

I think I captured some of my FAVORITE smiley faces from her today.  I rarely (never) take our camera out anymore because our cell phones are so much more convenient and faster. I grabbed our camera, knowing we were halfway through February and I had yet to snap ONE decent pic, and just started laughing as she went about her business of playing.

She cracked herself up with the tube around her waist, saying, "Dats SO siwwy, isnt it Mommy? I dont need a fwoat in dis small pool!!"

And of course it was only a matter of time before the bucket of water went over her own head:

Which she thought was hilarious :) 

I LOOOVE those pig tails. LOVE. And the bathing suit bottom is an 18 month size, but without a swim diaper, it fits like a 3t :) She was soooo excited to put a "bay-ling suit" on!

There was time for silliness and time for serious pouring and measuring :)

And more silliness, of course :) 

I know, I know...picture overload...but I couldnt possibly pick just one or two of these super-smiley faces!!

"Mommy! Watch DIS!!!" (looking at me as if to say, "What? Wait...youre not going to tell me I cant do this?? Youre not going to stop me? Really!?")

"BIIIIG laughs!"

There was som serious baseball/teeball practice, too!

I see a lot of good times ahead of us this Summer :) Our "big pool" has had a leak all winter, so we are draining it in hopes of patching things up and refilling in the next week or so (that's why our poor pool looks so neglected and sad.) But Whitney couldnt have cared less! She loved that little kiddie pool with 3 little inches of COOOOLD water :) 

And of course, Big Brother Bailey had to join in the fun :)  When playtime lead into snack time/"Im not napping, Mommy. Im just westing a widdle bit." time, Bailey was close at hand in case any cheez its hit the ground.

Sleepy girl winding down ..... fading fast...

Some hugs and kisses for the Big Bro, and she was off for some lunch and a snooze:

"High Five, Buddy....good boy! Your sucha-goo-boooy-Baywee!" I LOOVE how Whitney talks to Bailey. She tells him good morning every day and tells him "I missed ya, Buddy!" when she gets home from school. SOOOO cute :) Some of it she copies from us, Im sure, but its still soooo cute to see her talk to him so sweetly, even asking him "Did you have a good day, Bay?" at night. Love her sweet heart. 

And Ive posted some pics on FB, but havent posted a "Grady" pic on the blog lately, so here I am 2 weeks ago at 27 weeks. Ive grown considerably since then, though I only gained 3 lbs in the 4 weeks between doctor's visits.  They say I am measuring perfectly despite everyone's insistence that I am "soo small!" Whatever...Ill take any kinda "small" compliments, as I am now firmly out of the "cute and comfortable" phase of pregnancy, and thoroughly entrenched in the "large, cant catch my breath, there is nothing cute about this, cant get off the couch without assistance" phase of pregnancy.  The third trimester arrived with a bang, and I am back to being exhausted easily and not really feeling like eating much. (Well...that's a lie. I eat a lot....just nothing healthy.  I joke that this kid is going to come out bright orange, as I think I existed on cheetos and clementines for about a week.) Nothing really sounds appetizing, and when I find something that sounds like I might want to eat it, it never tastes as good as I want it to. Im hoping my taste buds come crawling back home when this is all over, as I miss steak tasting amaaazing.  

And while i have been busy growing a human, Eric has been busy painting like a mad man.  When I told him I wanted Grady's room to be stripes, he didnt seem to balk or question it, so I pressed on. Little did either of us know just how difficult it is to stripe a bedroom. Its only 4 walls, no crazy cut-ins or corners, but it was HARD. Admittedly, I did not put one stroke of paint on these walls, as it was ALLLLLLL Eric, and he did an AMAAAZING job.  We think Pottery Barn Kids should be calling us for pics any day now ;) 

It is turning out EXACTLY as I wanted and I couldnt be more excited! I never thought I could love a room as much as I LOOVED Whitney's nursery, but Grady's room is quickly measuring up! I LOVE it! 

We still have to paint the dresser...its going to be white overall, but we are planning on putting stripes on the top and maybe his initials or something on either end. We'll see how creative we feel after a few more coats of white paint. :) We're also going to paint the mirror white and it will hang above his dresser where his changing pad will be, just like Whitney's.  We spent some of our best times looking the mirror over Whitney's changing pad, and I cant wait to hear Grady laugh at himself and babble and talk the way Whitney did...err...does. :)

Grady measured approximately 3 lbs 3 oz at our last ultrasound. According to the docs, he is "supposed" to weigh "about 2 lbs 2 oz", so he is about a pound bigger than "average".  We all know that ultrasounds are approximate, so Im hoping he evens out and isnt some 12 pound Bass in a few short months. His stomach measures two full weeks ahead of his gestational age, and everything else measures at least one week ahead right now.  I still feel great though, and dont even want to discuss inductions or c-sections as an option yet. I happen know a pretty amazing mommy who just pushed out a "giant" baby without an epidural less than a month ago :) While I am TOTALLLLLLY going the epidural route, I dont see any reason he needs to arrive ahead of schedule (unless, of course, we have our due date miscalculated....ya know...seeing as how this kid was a complete surprise...hmmm). 

Lots to look forward to in the weeks ahead! I have two baby showers planned, one by Eric's amazing family and one by my awesome girlfriends! Plus, Whitney's birthday party to tackle just nine short days before Mr. Grady is due to arrive. And a big St. Patrick's Day party, my birthday, our anniversary.....LOTS going on around here :) I will try my best to get better about posting...I know people "miss Whitney" when I dont post often enough, and I know how much Ive enjoyed looking back through my blog over the last two years, so I WANT to keep it up regularly....I will try my best :) 

Right now...im a little envious of my sweet girl who is STILL napping after her morning of fun in the kiddie pool :)