Pink Overload!!!!

Thank God for fabric stores! I cannot find one bedding/sheet set that I like for a girl. It really surprises me because I have met quite a few people who do not want pink for their little girls. You would think there would be more out there to choose from. It seems like the options are pink or completely unisex. Before I say this, let me just say that if your little girl has a bright pink room all decked out in frills and lace that's okay....but it's just not my thing. I have never been a pink person or a girly girl. I was never really a tomboy, but I didn't play with dolls. I was a Heman girl. Until I graduated from college, most of my good friends were guys. Don't get me wrong, I have always enjoyed getting dressed up, putting on make up, etc, but for the most part, jeans and a t-shirt are the preferred choice. All that to say, I want Ellie to have a feminine room, but not a girly room. Does that even make sense? I want something very simple that can easily convert to a big girl room one day.

That brings me to my trip to High Fashion Home today to check out some fabric. It might be my new favorite place to shop. They have everything from furniture, to kitchen decor, baby/kids clothes, gorgeous women's clothing and jewelry, and of course more fabric than I could have even imagined. I was a little overwhelmed by it all at first, but decided I would just stroll down the isles and snap a few pictures of anything that caught my eye. I really am leaning towards very earthy, neutral colors with yellow and brown accents. I found a few other colors that I liked (mostly blues), but the yellows are my favorite. This should make Eric very happy since the room is already painted a very pale yellow. I'm going to get a few opinions on the fabrics I found and them hopefully get the sheets and bed skirt made. Fortunately I have a friend who sews and can pick out what I really like instead of just buying something that I'm really not that fond of. I am so excited!

Based on my description of possible room decor, you have probably gathered that you will not see my daughter decked out in head to toe pink. I think you can have delicate and beautiful clothes that are any shade so I don't see any reason to use a color that isn't a personal favorite. Now I do realize that people are going to buy her pink and I will absolutely appreciate the thought behind it. I'm not anti pink, but I can only take it in small amounts. I think a cute shirt with some pink on it is great, MAYBE even a very light and delicate pink dress in the spring time (we'll see). You can even accent an outfit with some pink shoes or bow. And yes, I fully recognize that my personal feelings about this almost guarantee that I will have a little girl who is obsessed with all things pink. And I promise, once she's old enough to say she wants to wear pink that's fine. I'll let her rock hot pink from head to toe, but until that day comes, I'm thinking we are going to go in another direction!

So Last Week Mom....

Is it just me or are kids really fickle? For the past week Mac has run to the refrigerator and begged for bananas ("nanas"). Monday when we went grocery shopping his eyes lit up when he saw the rows of bright yellow fruit and squealed with joy. So what do you think happened when we got home? Of course he now refuses to eat bananas. As a matter of fact, I also have a big bag of grapes that have probably been in my fridge for a week or so and are getting nastier by the minute because someone no longer wants them. I am slowly learning that buying any food in mass quantities for a 2 year old is not a smart idea. I ended up having to give away a huge box of dried apples and strawberries from Costco not too long ago because, once again, Mac refused to eat what had previously been his favorite snack.

There seem to be only 2 consistent loves in our house: Elmo and baths. The child sleeps with Elmo, wears Elmo, eats out of an Elmo lunch box, has Elmo place settings, and carries said items in an Elmo backpack. Hopefully he will love Elmo for a LONG time! Baths are also a consistent source of joy and happiness. Sounds great, right? Well, it's great until bath time is over. An all out fight erupts. It's actually a little frightening to try and pick up almost 30 pounds of a wet, wiggling, kicking and screaming toddler. But it doesn't last as long as he gets to look in our mirror and watch himself jump naked on the bed. Whatever works, right?

In non Mac news, we have decided on a name for our baby girl! We had actually picked the name Ava Grace (before we knew it was a girl), but it seemed like everyone was using the name Ava. It is a beautiful name, but I just wanted something a little more unique/rare. The day we found out it was a girl the name Ellie popped into my head. No reason, just thought it was pretty. Eric liked it as well and so we have decided to name her Ellie Grace Bethea. I think it's such a perfect name (of course) and am glad to have chosen it so quickly! We actually sent out an email to family today telling them the name and this is the response I got from my Dad:

I am not telling a lie at all. After Mac’s party and after we found out it was a girl, I started thinking of names and the one I thought was best was Ellie or at least something close to that. Sort of a nickname type thing but I am just sayin’. How weird is that. I guess we sort of think alike.

I love it! I think it's a cute little story to tell her someday.

Now on to the actual pregnancy. I am definitely bigger than I was at this point with Mac (almost 20 weeks). I have gained 10lbs (and you can expect that to be the one and only update on my weight gain!!!) which is right where I should be, but I feel huge. I want more than anything to go to the gym, but I can count on one hand how many times that has happened since I got pregnant. Eric keeps saying it's all in my stomach, but come on, the man's not stupid. What's he gonna say: "Yes honey, your butt is ENORMOUS!" I really don't think I'm big, but I just feel very blah at this point. At my last appointment the doctor told me that he wants to do an ultrasound at 28 weeks to check on her size since Mac was small. He was completely healthy, just smaller than expected. Theoretically he would have been 6 lbs 12 oz if I had of made it to 40 weeks (he was 5lbs 12 oz at 38 weeks), but that is still a little less than a pound smaller than the "average" birth weight. He said I may just have small babies (Eric was only 6lbs 3oz) or there could have been an issue with the placenta. Either way, I get to see a picture of our sweet girl so we'll see what happens then. All in all, the pregnancy is going well though. We definitely appreciate all the prayers we have received so keep them coming!

Number 2

The number 2 seems to be a common theme in our house right now. To start, we found out in October that we will be welcoming our second child in July, and this past Thursday we learned that it will be a baby girl! Eric and I had both convinced ourselves that Mac would be getting a little brother so we were very surprised when we saw a little girl on the screen. Then again, we were also confident that Mac was going to be a girl. And of course, she has already manged to aquire 3 cute litte outfits since then. We've already agreed on 2 name choices so now it's just a matter of picking one, which means we are way ahead of where we were in terms of naming her big brother. Now it's on to decorating and organizing. I can't wait!

The "2" theme continues as our little boy has somehow turned into a big boy, having just celebrated his 2nd birthday yesterday. I have no idea where the last 2 years have gone. He has definently started to assert his independence. He likes to push his own stroller, climb into his own chair, and I'm pretty sure he bosses the dog around even though I have no idea what he's saying half the time. Elmo is the man of the hour in our house, and after his party yesterday, I'm pretty sure he has every Elmo related item ever made! We actually had 2 parties; one for the kids in the morning, and one for the family at night. It was a very long and tiring day, but worth every minute of it to see such a happy little boy.

So the plan is to give this whole blogging thing another try...hopefully weekly posts? We'll see how it goes!

Here are a few pictures of our sweet baby girl and Mac's birthday party:


It's a Girl!:


Foot:


Mac's Party Pics:

Seasick...

All the ups and downs in the last month have made me feel a little seasick! Less than a week after my last post it seems like all hell broke loose! The day before Halloween Mac, Heisman, and I met up with Mac's Godparents for a little doggie Halloween fun out near Cypress. It was basically a dog friendly/centered event that had fun stuff for the kids too. We had a really great time and of course mac was happy because there were tons of puppies for him to pet. As we were leaving I saw that I had a voicemail from my sister saying that she had to take my grandmother to the emergency room because she couldn't breathe. I'm the first to admit that my mind always jumps to the worst case scenario, but lets face it, she's 90 years old. Once I finally got in touch with her I found out that she had a pretty severe case of bronchitis and the doctors thought it would be best to admit her to the hospital. And before I go on, let me just say a huge "Thank You" to my sister and brother-in-law for sitting in the ER for at least 10 hours with her. Since I had Mac I couldn't really go up there and it was so nice to know she was being taken care of...so thanks Mel and Travis! Well, within 24 hours her bronchitis had turned into pneumonia, which is why they wanted to admit her. Pneumonia is serious in a young healthy person, so in an older person it is just not a good thing. Nothing really changed until Wednesday. I called up to the hosptial to let her know I was on my way up to visit and my great-aunt Ruth answered the phone and told me that she was about to be taken in to surgery! What?!?! Not only did they need to go in to clear out some of the mucus and fluid so that she could breathe, but in the process they found out that she had breast cancer. I was shocked. I got the hospital at 10:30am and after a very very long day of wondering and waiting, they brought her back to the room around 4:30pm. After a few days of waiting we found out that the 2 biospies that were done (one of the breast, one of the lungs) both came back positive for cancer. My grandmama is something else though. She said it doesn't make a difference to her. She had cancer before she came into the hosptial and she'll have it when she leaves because she's not going to do anything about it. And honestly, I am glad. I would rather see her live the rest of her life at home, not in and out of a doctors office than to watch her to through treatment. We did have a little scare last week when she suddenly spiked a fever and had to be sent to ICU, but within 24 hours she was back to her old self and in a regular room.

We did have a nice little celebration for her this past Thursday. She turned 90 years old and we had a little party! It was nice to get a few of us together to celebrate such an amazing and special woman! I love her!

During her little party Mac must have thought he wasn't getting enough attention and started coughing and subsequently puked all over himself. I had a sneaky feeling that he didn't just get choked and that sickness was upon us. Friday when I took him to school he just wasn't acting right. He usually sings all the way to school, but was oddly quiet, and just make matters worse he tripped in the parking lot and fell right on his chin. To add insult to injury, I got a call right before lunch saying that he fell in the hall and busted his lip open! Poor guy. Eric took Mac to dinner (so Mommy could have a little peace and quiet) and he threw up in the car on the way home. This morning it really hit. He was running 102 fever, threw up on me, and just wanted to be held. He took a 4 hour nap and still went to bed at 8pm. He has not had a good weekend. Hopefully he'll feel better tomorrow!

And yes...I am too lazy to post pictures right now. I'll put some up later this week =)

To Grandmama's House We Go

Mac always loves going to my Grandmama's house. You would think that it would be for the gigantic toy box full of anything you could possibly want to play with, but no. Other than his love for her, this is why Mac enjoys his visits so much:



The woman feeds him while he lays on the floor! Actually, she feeds him in pretty much any position he wants to be in. I always laugh when I take him over because I know we will be skipping the next meal because he is stuffed with whatever chocolate covered dessert she has made.
She has a cabinet full of ever plastic continer she has ever purchased (sour cream, butter, etc) and Mac has the best time playing with them. I guess we've wasted a lot of money on toys!

Professional Travelers

Do you ever feel like you are always going somewhere??? I'm the first to admit that I am not a good traveler. I don't like to be gone from my house for more than a few days. I miss my house, my dog, and my bed. And to be completely honest, I pack such a ridiculous amount of clothing that even a weekend trip requries me to take the biggest suitcase I can find. So you can only imagine how much I take for a week long excursion.
For those of you who know my husband, you know that from late August until December or January (based on whether or not the Ags actually decide to play and make a bowl game) we are always out of town on the weekends. It's not a complaint...just a way of life. About 2 weeks ago, since the Ags weren't playing at home, we decided to take a plane trip to Colorado to go see Eric's Mom and brother. I told Eric we need to get all our plane traveling in before next February so that Mac can still fly for free! We left late Wednesday night and were lucky to be on a plane that was half empty. Mac had a blast. The rows in front of and behind us were empty so he could get away with doing pretty much anything he wanted. We spent the next two days in Evergreen and Boulder visiting Eric's mom and brother and on Saturday we took a mini vacation to Vail. Just the two of us. Of course once we got there we missed Mac terribly, but it was such a nice little get away. Our major accomplishment is that we somehow managed to survive a 20 mile bike ride down Vail Pass. And when I say down, it does not mean down hill. The bike rental company told us it was a downhill ride and we would only have to pedal for a few minutes the whole ride...LIAR! It ended up taking us about 2 hours to complete and all I know is I did a lot of pedaling! When we got back from lunch we were both pretty tired and decided to take a nap. Our nap turned into us refusing to get up for dinner and ordering room service because we were so exhausted. It was really fun to just get to hang out and lounge around though.
And Mac just hated being the center of attention! Eric's Mom kept him while we were away and I think she wore the child out. I think he went to bed by 8 pm every night...which is unheard of in the Bethea home. It was a good trip.
Since I was 3 weeks late last month posting Mac's monthly report, I'll get this one in a day early:

Mac, at 20 months:

-You weigh 28 lbs
-You know the colors red, blue, and white
-You love cars and birds
-You enjoy dancing naked in the back yard while Mommy sings Itsy Bitsy Spider(yes, I let him)
-Your 3 favorite songs are "Itsy Bitsy Spider", "Ring Around The Rosy", and "Shoes" (a Yo Gabba Gabba Song)
-You have your own unique style of dance that I have yet to see anywhere else
-You like to stand on your head
-You said your 2nd sentence: "Thank You BB."
-You recognize your friends and family by looking at their pictures
-If I ask you for a smack you give me a big kiss
-You think it's funny when Daddy smells your stinky feet
-You speak in your own language that no one else seems to understand
-You call Elmo, "Melmo"
-You love babies
-You have learned how to undress yourself, diaper included
-You love to sing into your microphone
-You peed in your big boy potty
-You are still the most photographed baby in the world
-You insist on double fisting milk and juice
-You don't like to be fed, you want to do it yourself
-You attended your first college football game with your buddy Caleb
-You love to ride on airplanes
-Your teachers always tell us what a sweet boy you are
-You are still the greatest thing that ever happened to your Daddy and I!

Here are a few pictures from our trip and some randoms: