So...What.

Yes, I buy cookies/candy at the store for myself and let Camille carry it to make it look like it's for her...so what? Yes, sometimes I pretend to be talking on the phone in public, engrossed in deep conversation in order to avoid having to speak to someone I don't want to see...so what? Yes, when I make coffee I have to make only odd number amounts of it...so what? Yes, when I eat frosted mini wheats all the pieces have to be facing icing side up...so what? Yes, when I am seen in public with my cute nephews I pretend to be their parents and take the credit for their cuteness...so what? Yes, I eat all the marshmallows out of the Lucky Charms and blame it on my kid...so what? Yes, I secretly enjoy watching the Disney princess movies with Camille AND sing along to EVERY song...so what? I have a few weird quirks but they make me me. My parents always taught me that God me unique...weirdness and all. I want my children to grow up embracing who they are, and not to be ashamed of the personality God gave them. I always think of this song my parents (mostly my Dad) sang to me growing up and I sing it to my girls too. It goes:

"You are a promise, you are a possibility,

You are a promise, with a capital 'P',

You can be anything, anything God wants you to be."

Legacy of Love

Have I mentioned lately how much I LOVE being a mom? The fact that my name officially went from "Jessica" to "Momma" doesn't phase me in the least bit. The fact that I went from spending my weekends hanging out with friends and drinking to jumping on the trampoline, making letters out of jello and taking my children to Sunday school never crosses my mind. I wash and fold a BAGILLION pink outfits every day and the only reason I'm awake at 3 a.m. now a days is to breastfeed. I spend all day every day speaking in three year old language and no, that's not a funky perfume you're smelling, that's the spit up that I'm constantly covered in ;) It may not seem glamorous to many women, but to me it is FABULOUS. My very wise mother (who raised five children) said something the other day that has really stuck with me. She said, "If I'd known how much free time I would have (after all the kids were grown), I wouldn't have minded being stuck at home for so many years." Our "babies" are only babies for a very short amount of time and then POOF!! They're gone. Once they start kindergarten, they're on to middle school and before you know it they're graduating from college and getting married. Yes, it gets stressful at times and some nights I feel like drinking an entire bottle of wine...but when my grandmother passed away recently I realized that when you die, all you leave behind is your legacy. She passed on to my mother the legacy of love and treasuring your family. And in turn my mother has passed that on to her daughters. Now, I am trying to live up to that and teach my daughters the legacy that was started with my grandmother's mother many years ago.

The Facts of Life

So, sometimes when I think about the fact that Im the mother to two...it's a little surreal. I tend to think of myself as still being young and cool. That is until my almost four year old tells me to stop dancing because I'm embarrassing her or the little girl from across the street informs me during one of her visits that her older sister is "so old" at twenty two. That was the first time I experienced the "I'm not comfortable divulging my age" situation. Or like the other day when the hubs and I went to The Houndstooth before the Alabama vs Arkansas game and when I stopped to look around I realized I was in the "older" category...we then humbly went across the street to Egan's (we felt it was more age appropriate) and quietly drank our drinks. So there's this constant battle between acting the way I feel and acting the way a mother of two should act. Am I seriously going to be one of "those" moms that thinks she's soooo cool only to have her kids laugh at her behind her back?!`But then I realize, it actually doesn't matter if my kids think i'm cool. My job is to protect them and to instill in them the love of God and to have high standards and values...although it will be fun to embarrass them every once in a while ;) And now i'm at that place I think every woman that has children gets to eventually...it's called the "when did I turn into my mother?!" stage. But the older I get, the more I realize that that's not such a bad thing.

I LOVE my girls!! There is nothing sweeter than seeing their sisterly bond forming...Cam is so so proud of being a big sis to her "sissy".

Finding Go(o)d

Life is hard. In my twenty four and a half years of life I have learned that this life road we travel isn't always smooth. I've learned that the plan you have for your life doesn't mean a thing...within days, hours or minutes your best laid plans can be obliterated. Not a trace of them will remain. But, as Christians, it's in this brokenness that we find ourselves before God's throne, begging for mercy and healing. Something else I've learned in my short twenty four years? HE ALWAYS IS THERE TO COMFORT US. Whether it's through someone else speaking His truth to me, through a Bible passage, through my beautiful daughters or just through feeling His presence.
Life has been especially hard lately. Im trying to juggle life with a three year old and a newborn, my dear grandmother whom I loved and adored passed away, and then I've also had some personal issues too. It's been a rough few months. My sister came to me right after Lily was born and told me she really felt like the Lord wanted me to seek Him. So I did. I joined a small group at church and I've been communicating more and more with other moms from church. But mostly I've been spending more just talking and listening to God. And it's been amazing. I feel so encouraged, like I'm right where God wants me to be. So, in turn, I want to encourage you to do the same. Really seek the Lord in your times of trouble. A lot of times it's easier to distance yourself from Him when life isn't going so well but I'm telling you from experience...it totally pays off in the end.

The Bump

103...that's how hot it was on Saturday when the heat became a bigger issue than hiding my big ole pregnant self. And not only did I give in and go swimming at a pool filled with college students, but I also wore one of my pre pregnacy BIKINI'S...okay, okay, I had a cover on but the cover (to my horror) I soon discovered was TRANSPARENT when wet. Haha, those college students got more than they bargained for that day ;) But surprisingly, I found myself embracing my "bump" (ahem, more the size of a basketball) and enjoying myself. This miracle, I realized, is something to flaunt...what is more beautiful than the gift of life?? The next day, I picked a very snug maxi dress that showed every angle of my ever growing belly and you know what? I LOVED it =) Every time another woman smiled at me, or I looked down, I was reminded of this amazing thing happening inside of me. I am so so blessed and never again will I think of my "bump" as a nuisance or an inconvenience.




"For You created my innermost being; You knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made." Psalm 139: 13-14

Seeing Pink and Feeling the Heat

Happy belated Easter,my friends! What a great Easter it was, even if it was 85 and HUMID out. And let me tell you, after spending most of the weekend outside, I have a newfound respect for women who were pregnant years ago in the summertime without that wonderful little thing called AC.
I'm very happy to say that we finally settled on a name and while we are sorta keeping it a secret I will tell you that she is going to share the same initials as her daddy, LMW. And even though her nursery isn't quite finished, we are on the road to completion! Oh happy day whenever that is. My sweet husband spent his weekend painting Camille's new room pink which is ironic since we swore we'd never have a pink room in our house...but CamKat won the battle in the end =)
I am in my 27th week and feeling great! My sotmach is big but not "that" big...yet. (Pics to come soon, no laughing allowed) And can I just say, the one thing I look forward to the most, post pregnancy, is being able to wear normal clothes again. Im already wondering how soon after childbirth I can start running again and every now and then I go sneak into my closet and say hello to my long lost size 4 jeans =( Even harder than that is having to put off our annual trip to NOLA that we plan all year long... But no matter how depressing it may seem right now, none of that will be anywhere close to my radar when I gaze for the first time at my sweet baby girl.

Just call me "The Procrastinator"

I am ashamed to say I can't even remember the las time I blogged. However, it does make me feel a tad bit better to see my other blogging friends have fallen behind lately...let's just chalk it up to pregnancy, a toddler and a very busy schedule. On second thought, just blame it all on the pregnancy. It seems to have consumed my entire life!!
After what seemed like an eternity of waiting, we found out it's a another sweet girl (insert a :) and !! here). And the fact that Camille is so involved in the pregnancy and in the preparation of her little sister makes the experience so much sweeter. No, we haven't settled on a name yet but I do understand now why my sister decided to keep that a secret. Everyone and their mother has an opinion on your name choices...whether you asked for that opinion doesn't seem to matter, you're going to hear it regardless. I will share my number one name choice (maybe you guys can help talk my husband into giving it the OK) and that name is 'Charlotte'. Charlotte and Camille...cute, no? Every time I watch a rerun of Sex and the City (which seems to be every day now that E! plays it ALL the time) I fall in love with it all over again.
On a somewhat different note, my new litte nephew, Asher Caleb Weathersby, finally made his way into the world on March 3rd. He was a very healthy 10 lbs 3 oz and is already in 3 month clothing and size 1-2 diapers...perhaps he got the "linebacker" gene that his Uncle Luke was born with. Now if only his brother Liam was as crazy about him as everyone else ;) We have yet to see more than a poke here and a prod there but i'm sure some day he'll realize that little thing soaking up all the attention is an actual human...maybe :/
I am currently 22...er, 23? weeks pregnant and have yet to pick a name or start the nursery. Maybe the next time I check in with you guys at least ONE of these will be accomplished. As far as my little miracle's growth and development goes, she seems to be quite the soccer player in training and is constantly kicking, kicking, kicking.
I'm going to end this post here otherwise I could go on and on...this is what happens when my blogs are so far apart ;) I hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful weather, I sure am!!

And the first trimester is almost over! Couldn't think of a better way to start this post. Considering my first trimester has consisted of days and days in bed, throwing up 20 times a day and two visits to the hospital, I am over the moon that I'm now down to only throwing up a few times a day and the second trimester is just days away...now only 199 days to go ;)
I hope everyone's Christmas was as blessed as ours. And how fun was it to see a little bit of snow on Christmas day? Camille Kate finally got the trampoline she's been asking for (although it's been so cold she's only jumped on it three or four times). Sorry this is such a short post but I feel the nausea setting in and by now I've learned the warning signs. Oh! And congrats to my best friend, Laura, who gave birth on December 30th to a beautiful little angel, Leila.