Fervent Prayers...

I know we've been MIA for like longer-than-ever... and we'll be back soon, I promise.

But for today, please please please PRAY YOUR VALENTINES' HEARTS OUT for an old friend Lori, who with her husband Mike, are bringing home their 20-day-old daughter ~sweetheart Sofia Isabella~ so that Sofie can pass away peacefully in the comfort of her parents' arms and warmth of the beautiful nursery they prepared for her so long ago.

My hardest task this morning was picking which pants Casey should wear to her Valentine party at school, and I therefore cannot imagine the terror, anguish, and anger that will be present in Lori and Mike's day or upcoming days (and their families' as well).

Our prayers are intended for them, fervently, and I ask that yours be also.

What Goodies!...

When I first saw Casey through the doorway of her classroom this afternoon, I could tell her hair was differently styled than when I dropped her off this morning. It looked so cute from the front, but the real surprise came when she turned around, touching her hair and lovingly saying "Emily" (giving credit to her beloved teacher, who gave her the hairstyle), and showed off the two most adorable first-ever braids a little girl has had!

Seriously, I've never even THOUGHT about braiding any portion of Casey's hair - errrr... rather, I didn't think it was possible to do so yet. But man, did I love it!!!

We remembered to grab some quick pics in the tub before suds and water washed her braids away:



To add more excitement to the evening, a package was awaiting us when Casey and I arrived home (Tee Jay having been patient and leaving it unopened - even though it was technically addressed to him). It was from my Granny and Gogron in West Virginia, and ohhhhhhh... was it ever good!

First off, how totally awesome is it to get mail???? (We had also received our first photo holiday card of the season - super cute, Owen!!) But mail in the form of a brown paper package filled with goodies from West Virginia lovies? THE BEST! I won't list every little gift the box contained, but let's just say that we three Philly Bous exclaimed each step of the way, and Casey is already loving her little "look and find" book.



Tee Jay and I whole-heartedly agree that the pièce de résistance is this super hip and oh-so-sentimental "cake taker" which once belonged to my great-grandmother Stella. The cake taker is much older than I am and graced my Granny and Gogron's home on McQueen Boulevard the many times Stella brought a cake there. (Tear jerker! Family heirloom!)


Thank you, thank you, thank you, Granny - for packaging up such wonderful gifts! We love you and Gogron more than words could ever say!!

The Cat's Out of the Bag (or in the oven)...

So, if you’re a friend of mine over in the Facebook world (funny how “Facebook” gets mentioned in practically every post?) or if you’re a family member or have a way to obtaining good gossip, then you already know…

…we’re pregnant!

Yes, we are expecting our little “BouBerry” sometime around June 13^th (the date’s been up for debate among me, the doctors, the ultrasound techs, etc. – let’s just say it’s between June 9^th and June 14^th). That puts me at 11 weeks’ along at this point, and here are four quick observations I’ve made so far with this pregnancy:

1) We are already in a “better position” than we were with our last pregnancy, when at the first ultrasound, no fetal pole could be detected. The past miscarriage definitely made me a lot more paranoid this time around, but at eight weeks with BouBerry, we had an ultrasound which not only showed a moving little “raspberry” at that point, but also let us glimpse AND HEAR a beautifully beating heart. I know that life is fragile (especially the life of a teeny, developing baby) but I feel more confident now that I did after taking that initial pregnancy test.

2) Just like last time, people are already REALLY ANNOYING in their constant baby- and pregnancy-talk. Don’t get me wrong… it’s nice to be cared about. But when I work with someone 5 days a week, and they ask me how I feel, followed by “I had nothing for my first, but was sick as a dog with my second” every single day of those 5 days, it gets a little (a LOT!) old. And we’ve got 29 more weeks to go! Soon, I’m sure I’ll be bombarded with the “Wow, you’re getting big!” and “You’re still here?” and “You haven’t had that baby yet??” statements. For now, I’ll leave you with the two most interesting ones over the past week

– Last Monday, when I was 10 weeks’ pregnant, a coworker stated,
“You’re having a boy. Your face hasn’t changed a bit.” (I was only
TEN WEEKS’!!! I hope my face wouldn’t change already!)

– Today, the same coworker mused, “Wow – you’re really carrying
different this time.” (I am only ELEVEN WEEKS’!!! Come on!)

3) It is not too difficult (yet) to chase a toddler around while pregnant, which I’ve been warned could be a tough thing to do by the end. However, having a toddler does make it harder to sneak snacks in while driving! When I need to eat, believe me, I NEED TO EAT – and at 5:00PM when carting Casey home for a well-balanced dinner, the last thing I want is to have her snacking in the backseat. But if Mommy’s munching away, she definitely wants in on the action.

4) For the first time in my life, I have no idea where Tee Jay and I stand on the subject of Future Kids. Before we were married, we both knew that we definitely wanted children. I always said I wanted 7 (but would settle for 4), and he always quipped that 2 would be a nice number. At some point, I think I convinced him to jump up to the 3-kids range, and after Casey was born, we were still on the "there'll be another one someday" bandwagon. But now that we’re juggling the finances of just one in day care (and pulling our hair out about the certainty of a second), I honestly feel clueless as to what our future family will look like. I mean, don’t get me wrong – I’m not really worrying about this right now; it’s certainly not keeping me up at night (while other things are!). We’ve got plenty of time to ease into the parenting of BouBerry alongside Casey – and I’m sure plenty of pay raises, job changes and other life adjustments to get through – before we even have to think about adding a third Baby Boudreau to the mix. But it’s a strange, clueless feeling nonetheless.

Oh, and for the heck of it, let's throw in a quick fifth observation - If you are emotional to begin with and were even more emotional the last couple of times you were pregnant, well... it should just go without saying that you're DEFINITELY out-of-control emotional the fourth time around!

But we're living through it, and I'll leave you with the sweetest little pics of our BouBerry.

Artist

This morning Casey painted a few masterpieces after breakfast....






Then went promptly into the bath!

A wonderful start to the weekend!

Happy Halloween!...

Yeah, we have a lot to post. But let's just start with the most recent event, which was (still is!) Halloween!

Casey "for-real Trick-or-Treat'ed" this year, and she wore a homemade turtle costume. She was SUCH a little sweetie, really getting the hang of Trick-or-Treating after a couple of houses. (She wasn't so great at actually saying the words "Trick-or-Treat," but she certainly had "Thank you!" down pat.)

Casey's friend Zack "The Gorilla" Santucci came to visit from RI (with his parents) for the weekend, and he got into the spirit, too!

Ditto...

To quote my sister's recent blog post: "FACEBOOK MAKES US LAZY."

No, I'm not going to blame Facebook entirely for my Blogger absence. Or the insurance exam I took two weeks ago (and studied like a fiend for). Or the fact that our (pretty brand spankin' new, mind you) computer caught some virus (maybe) and has gone kaput on us, despite frequent re-setting, re-booting, whatever-you-call-'ems.

But all of those things, on top of my being a mom, wife, and well... ME (and those closest to me know that Christina is not the most organized of folks) contribute towards an overall blogging laziness.

Lazy. Lazy. Lazy.

Sometimes I think it's more about just being tired, personally. Tonight, for instance, I drove home thinking about how abandoned this blog is, and I vowed I would write a post. But when I got home, the house was filled with the wonderful scents of homemade, delicious American chop suey. You know, the really, really good kind. And I sat down to eat it, thinking, "Hmmmmm... It'd be a lot easier to just go on Facebook and write Christina is happy and full from her husband's amazing dinner."

But I'm here (double kudos because Blogger erased this entire post and I'm typing it again!!), and I'll give you a quick glimpse into yesterday.

My good friend Jen and her 2-year-old daughter Makenzie treated Casey and I to Casey's first-ever MLB game yesterday! They even showed up at our house with a little pink Phillies hat for Casey to wear, and she sported that thing for the majority of the day. It was the final regular season home game of the year, and the Phillies were playing the Mets (think Sox vs. Yanks type of atmosphere), so the crowd was excited and there was a lot for us to see. The girls patiently sat with us in the seats through the end of the 5th inning, Casey yelling "Gooooooooo!" and even waving her rally towel when she saw other spectators doing it. They gobbled up way too much kettle corn (I was a little paranoid, but no choking occurred, so I guess that means she's allowed to eat popcorn from now on) and took in all the sights of the game.

After the 5th, we escorted Casey and Makenzie to the Phillies Phun Zone where they chased each other (and were chased by other kids), went down the slide (over and over and over again), and really let their steam out so that we could take two "winding down" toddlers home with us. Right before we left, we stopped off at Guest Services, where Casey was presented with her very own "First Phillies Game" certificate.

I know Casey is cute and all. That's a given. And I guess I'm partial to her. But, man oh man, I could not stop staring at that kid yesterday as she walked through the stadium with her little pink hat, white t-shirt, stonewashed jeans, and new sneakers. She was just overwhelmingly adorable, and my heart was full. (The only thing that could have been sweeter was if we were at Fenway, but since this is her hometown, I guess I'll allow Case to cheer for the Phils as her National League team...)

I didn't bring my camera with me, and our computer is void of everything right now (I mean, there's NADA on this system), so you'll have to live with these three meager cell phone shots...

The Third Quarter...

We're in the third quarter of 2010, and I stumbled across my New Years' Resolutions today.

I'm pleased to announced that I have successfully:

2. Facebook'd less
4. Lost 15 pounds
5. Finished a few sewing projects (our living room is becoming adorned with pillows!)
6. Prayed frequently
9. Revamped the living room (though it's still a work in progress)
11. Traveled to both West Virginia and Missouri
13. Got family portraits done (of us three, but NOT of the extended families yet)
14. Successfully nursed Casey through the 12-month mark (and far, far beyond)
15. Donated a good amount of my hair to Locks of Love

We'll have to ask Tee Jay how he's doing with:
"have more patience for people who don't walk on escalators when there's no reason not to."