A good laugh at work...

A mom is shopping at Baby Gap with her 3 year old. Three year old picks up a pair of fleece pj's and says "This is sexy!"

Laughter ensues.

Priceless Gift

I have heard about Jesse trees for about a year now. They're a different kind of way to celebrate advent, but very visual and interesting for kids. It basically traces the lineage of Jesus back to Adam w/ really neat symbols and Bible verses.

I got an email awhile ago from a friend that said she was putting together a Jesse Tree ornament exchange. You pick your symbol, make 28 of the same ornament, and trade them amongst friends so everyone goes home with a completed tree. My first thought was "oh heck no. I don't do crafts and I don't do 28 crafts. And I don't do 28 crafts in the middle of all this morning sickness and busy-ness. I also don't do 28 crafts with Ainsley anywhere in the house." Can we say disaster? Then there was the money aspect: I know you can craft on the cheap, but I just didn't have any extra pennies to put toward this idea this year. To summarize: not the year for it. I found some neat Jesse Tree printouts and so my plan (for NEXT year!!) was to just hang those on a tree and eventually trade the printouts for ornaments as the years progressed.

At MOPS on Monday the presenter (who happened to be one of the ladies involved in the Jesse Tree exchange) had the finished tree on the stage to show off to give all the moms ideas for ways to introduce Spiritual things to our kiddos around the holidays. I sat there looking at that tree, wishing I had just summoned the energy to make the ornaments so I could have one to do with Addison and Ainsley. Again, it inspired me for next year (or let's be honest here....the next year after that!)

Tonight Devin and I were having dinner with my very wonderful friend Alicia and her husband John. At the end of dinner she came over with a shirt box and said "This is a Christmas present from the Hansens to the Rileys." I knew what was in there, and I started crying before I even opened the box. Inside were 28 ornaments from the Jesse Tree exchange. Alicia had taken part in the exchange and had given me all of her ornaments. The ornaments were all created by ladies from church that I love and admire. These ornaments will be in the Riley household for YEARS, and everytime I pull one out I will remember each of those ladies, and Alicia for so selflessfly giving me this special gift. I honestly can't think of a cooler way to kick off the Christmas season. I love you Alicia. Thank you so very much.

Taking 2 kids to your OB check ups

My mom has watched the girls for me the last couple times, but let's face it: there are lots of appointments and sometimes it just seems easier to bring them along. Here were the highlights:

-getting lost on the way even though I've already been there twice this pregnancy.
-having our name called quickly and getting my hopes up that our wait will be really short, only to end up waiting longer in the tiny exam room instead of out in the nice big open waiting room with a kids area. Next time we're going back out there to wait and the doc can come get us!
-peeing in a cup in a tiny bathroom with my two kids standing right in front of me and wondering what in the heck I am doing.
-bringing skittles for them to eat during the appointment. Ainsley managed to eat them neatly for the first half of the bag. The second half was smeared all over her face, shirt, and hands. That was a nice sticky mess.
-Addison saying "I have to go to the bathroom!" right in the middle of my time with the midwife.  She was super sweet about it and even offered to keep Ainsley entertained while I took Addison (even though I know she had other people waiting. My sincere apologies to those people who were waiting, but you gotta do what you gotta do). It helps when your midwife is a mom of two young kids too.

Really, in the grand scheme of things, this was a pretty easy breezy experience. No trantrums. No poopy diaper blowouts or accidents, etc. etc. etc. The best part was that my midwife plopped the girls up on the exam table with me and let them help "hear" the baby's heartbeat. She had to completely maneuver around both of them, but it was a really sweet moment.

I think we'll get to find out the sex in about 6 weeks!

Oh and yeah we stayed another 15 minutes so the kids could play in the play area. I got to read a magazine. They played. Win-win.