I'm comin' out.

So I've hit my 11 weeks and we've entered the leave-the-pants-unbuttoned phase. I'm pretty sure with Livvy this didn't hit me until I was seriously like 18 weeks. Second baby, I guess.

The other day I was walking up to the house after church and about halfway to the door realized that I had undone my skirt and it was quickly falling down. Thankfully I looked down and noticed otherwise I probably would have walked all the way inside with only my tights on =). Maybe I should bust out the maternity clothes...

On a more up beat note...one of our friends gave us a sweet glider/ottoman and a toddler bed! I am SO excited. I love feeling like I'm getting stuff ready for this little baby and for Big Sis...even if we still have a LONG time to wait.

Livvy continues to be cute and demanding and sweet. She is back to sleep trained....and doesn't make a peep when I leave her at night...except to say "I lauuv you!" and the occasional "See ya!" I love that cute kid.

Nothin' much.

I just put Livvy down and Lincoln is at a friends watching "the biggest game of the century" (Goooo Cougs).

Livvy has had a bit of a cold and we've spent our days doing laundry, watching movies, and snuggling on "mommy's pillow". Lately we've been pretty busy, so it's been nice to relax and take her all in. She is a cutie patootie. And I love love love her.

I'm 10 weeks (finally) and still feeling pretty good. I eat random things and have an issue with sandwiches but besides that I'm loving this pregancy.

I'm at the point now where when I eat a big dinner (tonight = Panda Express) then I look like I have a baby bump. It's always fun to feel and now look like I ate too much. =) But seriously I am excited to get this pregnancy moving and enter the 2nd trimester.


Sometimes I lie awake and think "How am I going to handle TWO kids?" I know it will get easier with time, but I am a little freaked out. Then I think how did my mom handle 9 kids?

Then I get really freaked out.

But then I see a picture like this and I realize that I'm going to have another baby to love. And I cannot wait.
Last night I was talking 100 words a minute about the baby and Lincoln sweetly said he is most excited to see Livvy meet her little sibling. I can't wait for that either.

There's a baby in my cupboard.

The story...

So most of you already know that I am pregnant, but I'd thought I'd share the road we took to get here.

When Livvy was 7 months old I was ready to start trying. I thought it would be nice to have two kids close together and only having one left me with some extra time. I love being a mom and was ready to start adding to our (hopefully) large brood.

Months went by and no luck. More months went by and no luck. I weaned Livvy in July and still no luck. Each month was really hard for me. Each month that passed was another month that suggested something wasn't right. I began to worry about fertility. I called a doctor in November and he put my mind at ease and told me that sometime when moms nurse (very frequently) their body emits a hormone that inhibits them from getting pregnant. This made me feel much better. Livvy was a big fan of nursing (day and night), so maybe there was still hope.

Day after day we prayed. And month after month I was sad. I was frustrated. Lincoln is the master of all patience and was so comforting throughout the whole process. He told me he had felt that we just needed to wait longer and that in time we would have a baby.

I doubted, when every month Lincoln said...next month will be it. One day we were driving home from BART and I told him I felt like I needed a blessing. He gave me one of the most special blessings of my life and helped me feel loved by my Heavenly Father.

Then, one morning a week before Christmas, Lincoln told me to go take a test. I closed my eyes as I waited for the results. So many times a negative and I didn't want to see it again. Then when I opened them...the blessed positive! Livvy didn't understand why I was crying and Lincoln just looked at me like he already knew it was going to be positive.

I know this baby is such a blessing. I know that so many other couples have harder stories and unhappy endings. I am so grateful for prayers, for the priesthood, and for my Heavenly Father.

I know that we have p-r-a-y-e-d this baby here and I cannot wait to meet him/her in August.

Disneyland

We had such a great time over Christmas. We drove in Christmas Eve and made it there in time to run to the grocery store, make dinner and open Christmas presents. Side note: buying food for 15 people is crazy. We ended up with three grocery carts overflowing with food. It was insane.

Christmas Eve was kind of our Christmas morning. We opened presents and Livvy LOVED it. Here is Livvy trying on her dress from Grandma and Grandpa Fleming. She loved it and insisted on wearing it!

Here's Livvy playing with her Christmas loot. She started jumping up and down when she opened her farm toys and immediately started doing puzzles with Papa. It was so much fun to see her excited about her toys!

Christmas morning came and after a pretty sleepless night which included the following order of people in our King sized bed: Lincoln (squished on the edge), Me, Livvy, and Victoria. It was a little crazy and we were all happy to wake up and head off to Disneyland Christmas morning!

"Tia" still happy after a long sleepless night with a crying baby!

Livvy's favorite ride by far was Winnie the Pooh. Since we've been home she has requested "Pooh moovie" every morning and sleeps with her little Pooh stuffed animal. We went on this ride I think 2 or 3 times. So cute and fun to see her LOVE it.

Here is part of the group on the Jungle Safari ride. *Notice Livvy's scared look...she thought all the animals were real. Lincoln would hold her on one end and then when she would get scared she was passed down the line to me.

We loved the Aladdin show at California Adventure and had so much fun seeing all the characters. My hands-down favorite part of the trip was the "World of Color" show. It was absolutely incredible and made me want to go out and buy every Disney classic!

Livvy did pretty well and usually napped in her stroller. She never cried during any scary rides, just hung on real tight to the lap bar!

We had so much fun at Disney and were definitely very tired when we got back!

Livvy update

Livvy setting the table.

This has got to be the best phase ever. I know every phase is the best, but seriously 18 months rocks.

Livvy is talking up a storm these days. She repeats everything I say (including "Shooot!" when I hit my car door).

A few of my favorite things that she says:

L: Papa?
V: Where is Papa?

L: At wooork.

L: Daddy?

L: At wooork.

She has taken to calling us by our first names on occasion. When she wakes up in the morning (after ending up in our bed no doubt) she pops up and yells "Cincoln!"

Livvy hugging her bff.

Her favorite things are: Nae Nae (my youngest sis), COOKIES, Pooh Bear, Elmo, and her MANY babies. She also loves to play with her friends and their babies! =)

She is very good now at responding to questions with a "yes" or a "no". Lincoln usually gets home and asks about her day and she responds very dutifully to every question. When she is asked if she wants to go to bed her response is always, a very short "no".

Livs loves to say "oookaaay" to everything. She just loves to talk (just like her momma!)

Livvy is definitely turning into a little girl full of her own attention-loving personality. On Sunday all of my siblings were playing a game in the front room and she realized no one was watching her...so she walked on in and yelled "HELLLO!" Then all eyes were on her and she was happy. Spoiled little cutie.

My hands-down favorite thing she does now is ask for a "Fleming Sandwich". Lincoln and I started doing "Fleming Sandwiches" with her when she was just a baby and apparently it stuck. When we were waiting in line for the show Aladdin at Disneyland she said "eming saanwish!"

2011

And we're back. We had a ton of fun in Disneyland and if I had any energy right now I'd download a few pics, but I'm not going to. Sorry Charlie, Disneyland post will have to wait.

Tonight we had FHE about setting goals (and about folding our arms-Liv's FHE lesson). It made me think about our first time making goals.

A few weeks before the wedding, Lincoln suggested that we each write down some individual and family goals that we had and we could share them before the wedding. Days before the big day Lincoln and I sat on the old couch in my brothers' bedroom to talk and set goals. I grabbed my paper which included the following goals: 1) Graduate college 2) Have as many kids as I can 3) See my family at least once a year.

Check off the first one, still working on the second and definitely fullfilled that last one every single week.

After reading my list of 10-15 items, Lincoln smiled. He then proceeded to pull out a 3 page, typed, subcategorized goal list. The subcategories include: Daily, Monthly, 1 Year, 5 Year, 10 Year Goals, Family Goals, Fun Goals, Goals about Children, and Others.

Enter red faced-embarrassed me and sweetly smiling Lincoln. Man, I loved that kid at that moment. I knew he had seen past the wedding craziness and into a future with me. All I was thinking about was flowers and when I was going to get the bridesmaid's gifts.

Three years later, and looking back on this list of goals (which is my journal), we have probably fullfilled a hand full. But as I read through this list of goals tonight I realize that sometimes goal setting isn't about finishing each goal, but it's about trying to make yourself better. It's about new beginnings like a new marriage or a new year. We can start by trying and thinking and hoping.

So, for 2011 I'm going to start by working on this three-page goal list to a happier future. =)