Where to start?

I'm sorry blog, that I have abandoned you.  I'm going to list my excuses now.  Tot 2 Tot was great, but insane leading up to it.  We sold more than we expected, but less than we hoped for.  We pray the next sale is even bigger.  We had lots of sellers and LOTS of items, just not enough buyers, so friends, spread the word!! :)  We had like 5 racks of girl clothes and 1 rack of boy clothes, so if you have boy clothes to sale, bring them on (especially bigger sizes).  Also, if you are one of those annoyingly tiny people, bring on your size small and medium maternity wear.  That was the one question we got asked over and over, "do you have any smaller maternity items."  My response was, nope, only us big girls got rid of things this time.  Thanks for asking.  :)  It was crazy enough with 2 pregnant women and one with a 5 month old running it.  Now we're thinking about our September sale, when I'll have a 3-4 week old and Amber will be large and in charge with child due within 3-4 weeks.   Yes, we are certifiably crazy, but we have great helping husbands!!!  Here are a few pictures of our day:

Amanda: here was part of our boutique wall.  That one lattice was full of bows, as were those three bins.  It was awesome.  Thought a lot about you that day :)

But, the day before Tot 2 Tot was when Mike went into the hospital and things got bad.  We only had 6 days with him before he passed away in the hospital.  For those that asked, he was doing really well until he got the last 3 diagnosed brain lesions.  They think the cancer had spread to his spinal fluid, which was why he kept getting lesions on his brain.  That man was a fighter until the very end, refusing pain medication until the last day.  I love to remember the great times we had as a family, because there were many.  Did you know he got to see me in all my glory (ok, I had my panties/bodice on) on my wedding day?  Then I got payback when I lived with them while Eric was finishing up grad school and I had already started at ConocoPhillips.  The alarm was going off and I came downstairs to try to fix it and he came out in his tighty whities :).  We always joked about that.  We could sit and watch Nascar and Astros games forever together.  He and I both liked to cook and was one of the best dads you'd ever meet.  Sometimes he could seem intimidating to outsiders (believe me, I was one for a short while), but once he got to know you, he treated you like one of his own, and he'd do anything for Clara or his kids/grandkids!!  We miss you Mike.  His birthday is on Tuesday of next week (same as George Strait's, see he even was born on my fave singer's birthday!), and we will remember you that day.  How sweet that my friend is having her little girl that day!! :)

What else? Oh yes, a few days after Mike's funeral, I had to get Bailey's baby shower rolling.  Her friends are great, they have some great ideas, can't wait to see it all come together next Sunday!  I got to make the invites via photoshop, and I say they did come out quite cute ;).  I'll post after the shower, we have enough invitees---can't handle any more! :)  So, that got me sewing.  See, Bailey and I had got together when Jack was about 2 weeks old and picked out his fabric for his nursery.  She wanted me to make him curtains and a quilt.  Simple enough.  Except it sat untouch for 6 weeks.  I finally decided, people may want to see what she picked at all these showers, so I got busy.  Plus, if I can finish the pile of things for others on my table, maybe I can start sewing for my girls!! :)  I love that....girls!! :)

Then, little Jack, not to be out done, decided to get an infection the day before his originally scheduled surgery (5/5).  so we had to pray a little harder, but he came back fighting.  He had surgery this past Tuesday and is recovering.  He was up to 5 pounds 7 ounces before the surgery!! :)  The plan now is to get him finally feeding on mommy's hoard of milk, and then go home before his next surgery in 8 weeks.  We pray that's God's plan as well!!

We've been going to Clara's (Eric's mom) house a lot lately.  Trying to help with some decisions and you know me, organize the house (especially since she's given us a time frame of 2 years to get it sale-ready.....oh goodness do we have a job ahead of us!).  She decided she would 'like to someday' move her card making supplies upstairs and make her formal living/dining more formal again with a reading area next to her book shelves.  So last Saturday, we went to help her with a few things and then got busy!!  It looked great, and I got to organize :).  We also got a ton of stuff ready for our garage sale tomorrow, that she's been asking me to help her throw for over a year!  She and the family are doing amazingly well.  She has moments when she desperately misses her husband (of 32 years, they would have celebrated 33 on 5/7), which are completely understandable.  Oh how I wish I could take the hurt away from her.  I am so thankful to God for my husband in my daily life!

Mother's day was a good day.  I actually got a decent shot of me and the kids, and church was great.  The only problem was, after nap we went to run a few errands, and this mommy wanted a vanilla coke from Sonic.  We get there and order, and 'sorry sir, we're out of vanilla flavoring,'  WHAT??? :)  The good thing about Katy is they have 2 sonics :).  And we made it there before happy hour was over (barely!).  Here is a little mother's day flashback for you:

Cara and I, 2007

Mother's day 2008 (Cara wearing a dress I made her!), pregnant with Micah man.  Please disregard the bad hair cut, was growing it out from a February awful cut!

Mother's day 2009 with my 2 babies:

Cara, Mommy, Micah and baby girl, May 2010!

Man, the glasses make me look old!

We also got this great shot of the kids that day

I actually printed those last two and updated some old frames hanging in the hallway that had like 2 month old baby Cara pictures in them :).  We joined the YMCA for the summer, so we've been swimming more, which is why Cara and I are getting tan!  We went to Schlitterbahn on 5/1 with Eric's band and that jumpstarted the whole tan thing.  I love being in the pool in summer! 

The kids are too precious.  Cara is such a little mommy.  The past few weeks, she and Aynslee (only 13 days left to watch her!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  yes, I'm excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) have been playing mommy and baby CONSTANTLY!!  It is so cute to watch.  Except for when Cara is the baby and she does this most annoying voice.  I tell her I'm glad she doesn't talk like that in real life.  She's having some big throwing fit issues, which we are trying to deal with.  Mostly telling us no a lot and immediately going for the cry.  We are working on it though.  Micah man (yes, I think that will forever be his name) is SOOOO talkative.  Seriously!!  He's putting 3 and 4 words together.  We did Signing Times with both of them.  Cara loved it, Micah could care less.  She signed EVERYTHING under the sun, and didn't really feel the need to talk until she was almost 20 months.  Micah has been talking our ear off since about 13 months.  This third baby HAS to be quiet....right.....RIGHT!?!?!?  His new favorite words are "big truck,"  "mommy, more milk," "riley dog," and sissy.  It's too cute :).

Baby # 3 has expanded.  Or wait, that's just me.  I felt like 2-3 weeks ago, I was showing, but just slightly.  Now, there is no question that I'm pregnant.  I know that when the vet asks me, if a grown man is willing to ask if I'm having one more, then I KNOW it's not a question of just fat anymore :).  Anyways, here's a picture from 24 weeks, 3 days.   

Now, we just have to acknowledge the fact that there is actually a third baby coming in 14 or so weeks, give or take.   Can I just share my name for her with you all?  I think you'd like that.  That's actually why I got up in the middle of the night, to research name meanings.  But for a few months, to me at least, she's been Anna Marie.  Anna means grace/gracious, and my Mawmaw's middle name was Ann.  Marie is my mom and Bailey's middle name, and it means, well, I just see that it means bitter.  There's got to be a better meaning right?  I used to think it meant Queenly?  On babycenter, it says, "like Marie, maybe you'll like Ann and Grace"  :)  Well, I do!  Cara even occasionally calls the baby Anna.  Now we just have to get Eric on board.  Well, it's not that he's NOT on board, it's just we haven't really talked about it much.  End of school year stuff, I blame!  So, we have 14 weeks to bake a baby and do our master bath!!  (it's been demo-ed since end of January....to be continued) :)