Easter Fun!

Meredith has gotten to have lots of fun getting ready for Easter! It started with Easter egg dyeing with Bubbie, then cookie baking with me, more egg dyeing with Gigi. Meredith and Bubbie had lots of fun decorating eggs this week while Mommy was hard at work resting!

We had so much fun making cookies - Meredith loved icing the bunnies and Easter egg shapes with the pink frosting she picked out at the store...
But not surprisingly, sprinkling the cookies like crazy was her favorite part!

When we got to Gigi's to start Meredith's 2nd egg dyeing experience for the year, Gigi offered her a bib to keep her shirt clean (knowing that getting dye on her would probably not be Meredith's favorite part!) Meredith seemed confused and asked why she needed a bib. I tried to tell her that dyeing eggs can be messy so it was a good idea, to which she replied "When I made Easter Eggs with Bubbie I didn't need a bib!" We were laughing so hard that she was so offended that we were questioning her egg dyeing expertise!

Meredith designated which egg each of us will get on Sunday.
As you can see, we did convince Meredith to wear a bib, which after this reaction to the dye on her hands, I think we probably made the right choice!

The sweetest little girl

Every day I am just so amazed at what a wonderful and thoughtfully sweet little girl I have. My hormones are now, I am sure, playing a part of this, but it makes me tear up just thinking about her. She has had to give up so much mommy time and just normalcy these past few weeks because of my bedrest, but it has really left her fairly un-phased. She has had a few more "moments" than normal but I felt they were all very warranted considering she is 2 1/2 and really doesn't get what is going on.

For the past few days, she has gone to stay with Bubbie during the day and has even spent the night with Bubbie and Gigi a few nights when I was feeling especially drained. As soon as she sees me, though, she has come bearing gifts and treats to make me feel better. First was her sharing Pinky with me while I was laid up on the couch and then it was a cracker that she hand carried from Bubbie's and today, cookies that Bubbie said she was insistent I have. I feel so blessed that God entrusted such a beautiful little girl to me and I can't wait to see her as she shows her little sister how she too can be such a wonderful person.

The room is ready!

Today, Bubbie brought over the a newly and beautifully recovered cushion to make Jillian's room all ready! So much planning went into her room and I had lots and lots of help making it perfect! First, I picked out bedding that my friend, Laura, very nicely picked up for me so that I could save money (she had a coupon that only she could use), then the hunt began for all the perfect things to go with the bedding. We had painted the room when we moved into the house and the color was really just a placeholder - we picked a light blue and I am not even sure why. When we found out Jillian was a girl, we thought we were going to have to repaint, but luckily the bedding had the exact color of blue and it looked great with the walls, so we left them the way the were and I couldn't be happier!

The only "problem" with the bedding that we picked was that there weren't as many accessories to go with it that we had for Meredith, but luckily Gigi is the perfect shopper and helped me find everything that I was looking for.

I am pretty proud of these because I actually painted them! Luckily they are very basic shapes!

I am so blessed to have lots of talented people in my life - Bubbie (aka Neal's mom) recovered the cushions that she recovered for Meredith to go perfectly in Jillian's room. And Aunt Sandy made these beautiful curtains - she mimmicked the bedskirt to the very last detail and they are so adorable!

I made this cute bow holder after seeing some at a store that wouldn't match her room. And we have lots of frames ready for pictures of her sweet face. The long pink wall hanging has a sweet sister phrase painted on it.

I was super-excited to find the mobile that is above the changing table. Meredith has one that has sea animals that matches her room and she used to stare at it so contently while I changed her diaper. This was something I didn't imagine I could find to go in Jillian's room, but this one is perfect!

So now, we just need a beautiful little girl to make this room totally complete. I had another Dr's appointment today and got another great report on my blood pressure. She also offically scheduled me for induction for next Tuesday - so she will be here before we know it!

A belly shot

I have been terrible about taking belly pictures this time around - probably because I never did anything with all the ones we took when I was pregnant with Meredith, but a couple of weeks ago, I was out with my photography class and one of our assignments was to take silhouette pics and one of my classmates asked to take one of me and Jillian - I had to miss my final class, but she sent me this so I could have it and I think she did a great job with it, so I wanted to share!