13 more weeks....

....and there will be a baby in the house. Excited? Yes. Ready? Not so much. But we will be. We will have to be, right? So, Maria is doing great. She is absolutely, without a doubt, the most gorgeous Mom-to-Be I have seen in a long time. Some of us have that, and some of us don't. I'm not sure I had it, but Maria sure does. Ben is starting to get excited to meet his little princess, too. I'm happy to see him happy. I knew he would get there, but I wasn't sure when. He is there and it makes me one happy Momma. What about the King and Wyatt, you might be wondering. Well, The King is busy thinking of all of the cool things we will need with a baby in the house, and Wyatt is busy thinking of all the cool things he will teach her. Now, mind you, cool to you and me, and cool to Wyatt are totally different ideas. I think it would be cool for him to teach his niece to sneak up on her Daddy. Or maybe teach her how to ride a bike. Or even teach her how to float on her back. But cool to Wyatt? I'm pretty sure he wants to teach her how to spit and burp....among other things. Come to think of it, it might be cool to teach her how to spit. I can't spit without making a mess, so that could come in handy (if she ever wants to spit), I suppose. We're pretty sure Ryleigh (her name as of now) will have brown eyes like her Mommy and Daddy, and she will probably have dark hair, too. I also wonder if she will be able to blow bubbles off of her tongue like Ben and I can. Or maybe she will be able to touch her nose with her tongue like her Pop can. Whatever she can or cannot do, she will be a princess when she does it. I'm sure of that.

As for the rest of the crew, Wyatt is out of school for the summer and going to football workouts everyday. He has decided to trade the basketball court for a wrestling mat. I'm not sure how that will go, but if he is happy and busy, then I am happy. And busy. The king is keeping busy working and fishing and I keep busy, well....with everybody else while trying to log a few more miles on my running shoes. I have 9 more pounds to lose and it's taking forever....but I will get there...soon I hope. Oh, did I mention that Wyatt will be eligible to get his Learners Permit in exactly 23 days. Sorry Mt. Juliet drivers...it's true.

I promise I won't wait until the baby is born to blog again....There are lots of exciting things coming up that you won't want to miss!

Tonight I am thankful for: Old friends, Don't Bug Me! candles, and my patio,

Pink

It's a GIRL!

Pink or blue. Blue or pink.

Tomorrow, April 19, 2011, has officially become known as "Pink or Blue Day" in the Deane house. In case you haven't been paying attention, or have been under a rock somewhere.....Ben and Maria are expecting a baby in September. Yes, it was quite a shock to all of us. But....we're past the shock. Jimmy and I will be grandparents. Wyatt will be an uncle. Gaga and Pap & Nanny and Pawpaw will be great-grandparents. Grandmomma will be a great-great grandmother. How amazing is that? This new pink or blue baby will have GREAT grandparents. He/she will have the best GREAT-GREAT grandmother, too. If you know anything about our little family, when you're at Grandmomma's house, all is right with the world. I felt that way at my Grandma's house, my kids feel that way at Gaga and Pap's house & at Nanny and PawPaw's house. I want my new love to feel that way at Lovie and Pop's house. So, tomorrow, at 4pm, we will hopefully know if we need to start planning in pink or blue. My sweet Sophie will have her boyfriend or her new best friend and my sweet Gentry Claire will have a new best friend and partner in crime either way. Stay tuned for the official pink or blue post!

Tonight I'm thankful for: Sweet, stinky baby feet (thanks to GCH), listening to songs that should make me cringe, but instead I know all of the words (thanks to SWD), and magic wands that will let me take a sneak peek at my new little love (thanks to BJD and MBK).

I know it's April Fool's Day......but....

When a child is born, so are grandmothers. ~Judith Levy

Stay tuned.....

We have been a little preoccupied around here. I will be back, though....and will have some news to share with the blog-world. Until then, stay warm and cozy!

It's like having a puppy at the beach.

I had lunch with baby Peggy and her mommy today. "It's like having a puppy at the beach" is what the new daddy at the next table told us. I think he was referring to having a baby in a public place. Everybody talks to you. Everybody wants to know how old the baby is. But most importantly, everybody tells you how sweet she is and how cute she is and how quickly the time goes. Duh. We know how sweet she is. We know how cute she is. And I know how fast the time goes and so does her mommy. While it doesn't quite feel like 'yesterday' that the boys were like puppies at the beach, it certainly doesn't feel like 20 and 14 years! 20?? Yes, 20. Ben is 20. It's a fact. And Wyatt is 14. That's a fact, too. And baby Peggy is 5 weeks old already. Her mommy has one more week before she goes back to work. I wanted to tell her all about that day, but her heart is already breaking, so I didn't. She knows it will be hard. But hard doesn't describe it. Looking back though, it was one of the many, many 'hards' of mommy hood. She survived pregnancy. That's hard. She survived childbirth. Hard. She even made it through the first shots. She will make it through her first day back to work, too. She knows she will. But it's hard. No other way to describe it. Hard. So, to baby Peggy's mommy.....she will be fine next week. And so will you. I expect that you will call me a time or two, or ten that day. It's ok. I'm pretty sure I have called you over plenty of hard things....I owe you. I also owe you lots and lots of free babysitting! I love you both......and while some things will get easier....there will always be hard things.

Today I am thankful for: The day after Friday, coupons, and temperatures out of the teens.

Allegra-D 12 hour? No, thank you.

Sure, it works. It dries up the snot like nothing else. I took 1/2 the recommended dose on Tuesday and 1/2 the recommended does on Wednesday and didn't sleep a wink Wednesday night. Not one little wink. Nada. Zip...I was wide eyed and bushy tailed...all night. No fun today! Imagine if I would have taken the whole dose!! No, thank you!!! So, I am off to bed early tonight...I am ready for some sleep. Everyone is home and no one has plans to leave. This mother hen is happy with all of her chicks under the same roof. Especially at bedtime. Sleep tight, y'all...and stay away from Allegra if you ever want to sleep again!

Tonight I am thankful for: Friday. And Friday is Todd-Day.