A Kind of Sad Kind of Day . . .

Today I'm having one of those "I feel like I haven't done anything around the house except take care of the baby" kind of days. I did two loads of laundry and got the kitchen cleaned up and dishwasher loaded but that's about it.

Megan is now into rubbing her food in her hair and spitting it at me. Part of me wants to cry but another part of me wants to laugh and take pictures of her when she does it. Thankfully, the second part won this round!!

Today is also my father's birthday. He passed away five years ago very unexpectedly. He was only 59. He had just retired, bought a fishing boat and had a grandson named after him. He stepped in to help with my sons when my husband passed away suddenly just a year before. My life has changed so much since then. I have an incredible new husband and we added our baby to the brood last year. I don't cry anymore when I think about my first husband. Actually, I should say I don't cry for myself anymore but I do still cry for the boys when they have a momentous occasion in their life that their father isn't physically here for. I know he's certainly here but not for the boys to see.

I do still, however, cry at the drop of a hat when I think about my father. I honestly don't know that I will ever think about him on days like today and not cry. I was just starting to scratch the surface of who he was. What my father lacked in fatherhood he made up for in "Grandpa-hood" and my boys adored him. My daughter is the only grandchild that he never got to hold. I tell her about him. I tell her she has a belly just like "Grandpop Rippy." "Rippy" was his nickname.

I miss you so much, Dad. XOXOXOXO

Many blessings ~ Wendy

The Many Faces of Megan Part 1 . . .

Megan at Three Weeks . . .

It's hard to believe that Megan is three weeks old already yet it's hard to remember life without her after JUST three weeks. We've taken lots of pictures but they all seemed to be of her sleeping!! :)










She's even been sleeping four to five hours at a time at nite. Being older this time around I am certainly welcoming those precious hours of sleep. My husband has also been helping out in the morning getting the boys up and out for school when he can. This has been a tremendous help in keeping my fatigue to a minimum.


I am one of those people that doesn't function well on little sleep and I have found that to be the hardest part of having a new baby. So far, so good. : )

We've all been adjusting well to the new member of the family and everyone has been pitching in to help take care of her.







Megan with Trevor and big cousin Andre.







We even got Trevor to change a diaper!!




I can honestly say that I never thought I'd have a daughter. I want to save the story of how Megan came to be for a future blog post. It truly is a gift from God for her to be here and I fall in love with her more and more each day.




Many blessings ~ Wendy

Miss Megan is Here . . .

Our beautiful baby girl, Megan Grace Valentine, arrived at 8:44 am on May 17th weighing 8 lbs. 5 oz. She looks just like her daddy and I think I might see a hint of her daddy's dimples, too.

There are no words to describe the love and joy she's already brought into our home in the short time that she's been here.

Before Meggie was born, I told my husband that he wouldn't be able to remember life without her once she's here and yesterday, over lunch at our favorite diner where we had our first date, he told me he now understands what I meant by that.

This was taken a few minutes before I was wheeled into the operating room for my c-section.

Thank you, God, for this incredible gift you have bestowed upon us. There are truly no words other than "Amazing Grace" which is how she got her middle name.

Many blessings ~ Wendy

Sunday Sayings on the Day Before Our New Baby Arrives . . .

" Motherhood is watching a sleeping child and

not remembering how you were before this tiny

miracle came into your life . . . "

On the eve of the birth of our new baby, I thought this quote was perfect for the new journey that we're about to embark upon. All prayers are welcome and I look forward to posting pics as soon as I can. I've learned not to take anything for granted in this life and I pray that all goes well. We have lots of guardian angels looking out for myself and Megan. Amazing Grace. : )

Many blessings ~ Wendy

The Final Countdown . . .

Today we had our last official pre-baby delivery doctor's visit. I'm happy to say that all is well. My blood pressure is up just a little bit but that's to be expected at almost 39 weeks pregnant. The doctor wasn't concerned and told us that we don't need to see them again until our scheduled c-section on Monday morning. My water broke three days before my scheduled section with the last baby so anything is possible.

So we're tying up some loose ends around here such as finishing up packing my suitcase, washing some last minute baby things in Dreft (I LOVE the smell of that stuff!!!), trying to get to the bottom of the regular laundry pile, making a list of people to contact when Baby V gets here and several other things. I still had a bunch of things left on my TO DO list when my water broke early the last time and we made it thru okay so I'm not worried.

My Honey has to work Friday and Saturday nite and then he's off for 11 days which works out perfectly. I don't think our room is going to be ready in time for the baby's homecoming but, as long as the paint doesn't smell anymore, I'll still be a happy girl.

Brendan and his friend, Tommy, after making their Communion. I just love this pic!!

Jim swears he'll have it done before we get home from the hospital. Knowing him, he'll come home after being with us all day at the hospital, get the boys situated and then work until the wee hours just so his two girls have a pretty room to come home to. That's my man!!!

Brendan, my nephew Danny and Jim on Mothers' Day.

I hope you like the pictures I've posted throughout. These are a few more of Brendan's Communion and some from Mother's Day. I look forward to posting new baby pics real soon!! : )

Many blessings ~ Wendy

Quite a Busy Weekend . . .

This weekend we celebrated not only Mothers' Day but another special day, as well.

Brendan celebrated his First Communion on Saturday. Can I tell you how handsome he looked?!!? When I was fixing his tie in the kitchen before we left for church, I said to him "Do you have any idea what a . . ." to which Brendan replied, "hunk I am?" I asked him how he knew I was going to say that to which he replied, "you always tell me I'm a hunk, Mom." I guess I do. And he certainly is!!

Here are a few pics of his special day.

Brendan and his Grandfather and friends.

Getting ready to leave for church with Dad and Uncle Tom. Uncle Tom also happened to be the birthday boy on Saturday!! : )

Brendan and his very proud Mom and Dad.




After church, we went to a wonderful restaurant called "Gilligan's." Brendan is a lover of seafood and chose lobster when we told him he could pick whatever he wanted for lunch.

I remember when I made my Communion many moons ago my choice was lobster, too. You know what they say about the apple falling from the tree!! : )

The face says it all!!!!!

Thankfully, my brother in law was sitting across from him and had the fun task of taking the lobster apart. He was rewarded handsomely with any lobster that was left over!!

I love the look on my niece, Taylor's, face!!

More pics tomorrow. Right now I have to get to my list of things to do before baby .

Six days and counting. Can I tell you I'm ready right now. I want my happy disposition and my ability to walk without crying due to sciatica back!!

You truly forget how difficult the end of pregnancy is when you wait so many years in between babies!!

Many blessings ~ Wendy

Just One of Many Works in Progress . . .

I wanted to share a few pics of one of our many works in progress here . . .


We have a three bedroom cottage with an attached garage that is currently being used as a giant storage bin. : ) With the impending arrival of our fourth child we knew we would be needing another bedroom. We decided to convert the garage into one such bedroom.




After receiving estimates from several contractors (if that's not a financially eye-opening experience I don't know what is!!), we've come to the conclusion that it would be best if we did most of the work ourselves.




My husband basically tore down the house he owned when we met and built much of it back up with just the help of friends and neighbors and his dad and step-dad when they were in town.




We'll now be able to work at our own pace financially which is very important to us ~ especially with a new baby, a son going to college in a year and a half and our wanting to be able to go on vacation or out to dinner without having to worry about breaking the bank.






Time is definitely going to be my husband's biggest obstacle when it comes to doing all of this work. That annoying little thing called "a job" gets in the way!! : )




Right now, our top priority is getting our bedroom in order. All of these pics are of the work currently being done in our bedroom.

The baby will be staying with us for several months while the work is being done on the garage.










We're painting and putting up new trim. We're also laying down a new hardwood floor and adding new window treatments.
















My mother has generously offered her king-sized bed to us since she's going to be getting a queen-sized one. I've been resisting my husband's begging and pleading for a bigger bed but have since given in. I know the baby is going to be in between us once in a while and I'd feel a lot more comfortable knowing that she had more room.


Not to mention those occasional nites that our eight year old has a bad dream and crawls into bed with us.




How does someone so small take up so much room?!!?





He's lucky he's cute!! : )










So for now, Miss Megan's clothes are all put away in stackable storage bins until the garage gets done . . .


which is where son #1 is going . . .


so that daughter #1 can have her own room.



One work in progress at a time. OY!!!




I almost forgot to show you the hole dear hubby put in the wall when he fell down our bedroom stairs while carting out construction debris. Don't worry ~ the wall got a much bigger boo-boo than my man did!! : )








Many blessings ~ Wendy

Wedding Anniversary #2 . . .

Yesterday, Jim and I celebrated our second wedding anniversary.

He was scheduled to be in an all-day meeting but was allowed to leave early.

Instead of visiting the baby doctor by myself, I was pleasantly surprised by my handsome husband in the waiting room. We got to listen to our baby's heartbeat and then shared lunch and milkshakes at one of our favorite diners before we had to go our separate ways again.

We are now waiting SOMEWHAT patiently for our belated anniversary gift to arrive in the form of a pink bundle of joy. I can't think of a better way to spend our special day or a better gift to celebrate our love for each other.

I love you with all of my heart, Jim V.

Many blessings ~ Wendy

Booties and Bonnets . . .

I've always been in love with baby bonnets and booties.

I remember when I had my first baby and a woman who volunteered at the hospital where I gave birth came around to all the rooms with a cart full of handmade booties, baby sweaters, blankets and hats.

I instantly fell in love with everything she was peddling but, unfortunately, only had a few dollars in my wallet.

I had to throw some daisies in there, of course!!

I was still able to purchase a few pairs of booties as they were selling for only about $3.00 per pair.

My oldest son (who now wears a size 12.5 shoe!!) wore those booties. He was a big bruiser of a baby but I still wanted him to look like a baby and, to me, nothing says "baby" like a pair of booties.

How sweet are these?!!?

Isn't this vintage bonnet with the rose just gorgeous?!!?

Unfortunately, bonnets were obviously out of the question with the three boys. It was baseball caps for them!!

Go Yankees!! Sorry but I had to throw that in there!! :)

This time, though, I've already stocked up on several bonnets and am thrilled that Baby Megan will get good use out of them since she's going to be born at the beginning of the warm and sunny months. They've all been washed in Dreft and put away. I can't wait to touch and smell and kiss that sweet little head of hers.

Seventeen days and counting . . .

Many blessings ~ Wendy