It's a...

GIRL!!! Meet our newest addition, Savannah Joy. We got to see this little cutie on an ultrasound on Tuesday, and boy are we in love already! She is currently weighing in at 8 ounces and measuring right on track. She is about 5.5 inches long and moving all over the place! I am SO.EXCITED to know that we are going to have a daughter! However, I'm not sure that the city of Charlotte has enough bows for this little one ;) She is the proud owner of her first 3 girly outfits and those are all from the first day after finding out she's a girl {our family and friends REALLY wanted to go girl shopping, lol!} and I have a feeling this little girl won't be doing much outfit repeating. (Until mommy and daddy start buying the clothes, ha!) She will be one loved little girl, for sure! I'm not sure that Porter and daddy are going to know what to think about all this pink that's about to explode around here!

This little sister won't go a day without being kissed by her big brother :)

And your first nursery hint...

we'd hate to give away too much, too soon ;)

Pink or Blue?!

After finding out that we were expecting our second baby, I wondered if everything was going to be AS exciting with the second one or if it would start to feel more routine (mind you, that probably makes it sound like were weren't as excited as with Porter. That's not true AT.ALL! If anything, we were probably even more excited now having known what exciting things we were in for! And we had to wait a little longer for this peanut than with Porter. TMI? Sorry!). The verdict? Each and every milestone thus far as been every bit as exciting as it was the first time around :) Tomorrow is the day I have waited for and anticipated for 14 weeks now (since I knew I was pregnant!). Some people decide to wait and not find out what the gender of their baby is until birth. I admire them! If I combined my life's supply of patience, it would be nowhere near enough to wait that long! I HAVE to know! For me, it makes things so much more 'real' to know whether we are planning for a son or daughter. So after months of waiting, tomorrow is the big day! AHHH! I am SO EXCITED, how will I ever sleep?! This time tomorrow, we will know if our second miraculous blessing will be a son or daughter. We will know if Porter will be a big brother to a baby brother or a baby sister. We will know if the nursery will be vintage airplanes or shabby chic (yes, I have them both planned. Don't judge, lol!). Anyways, this tired and slightly excited mama is off to try to sleep. Stay tuned blog readers...

27 and counting

This past Thursday, we celebrated my sweet husband's 27th birthday! We aren't much into store bought cards around here, so I made him a homemade birthday card to read on his birthday morning. I thought it would be nice to give him 27 reasons I love him, only it didn't end up quite as meaningful as I intended, lol! This was our conversation: (Sean reads card) S: That's sweet honey, I really like it. J: Thanks, I thought you would think it was special. S: Well, I did but I'm just wondering, did you just pick a number or did you just start writing reasons and stopped when you ran out of things to say? J: Well Sean, you know how old you are right? S: (after taking a few seconds to count in his head)Oh yeah! Well, that makes sense then. Wow! Old age anyone? ;)

Seeing as how I LOVE to bake, I had been asking him since Monday what kind of cake he wanted. I never could get a clear answer and he kept turning down my suggestions. Finally, Wednesday night, he made his final decision...chocolate chip COOKIES! What?! Only my husband :) {I secretly think he chose that because he knows this week has been kind of difficult and baking delicious cupcakes/cake that I couldn't enjoy with him would have been a little disheartening. And I love him extra for that!} So Porter and I worked together and whipped up a batch of warm chocolate chip cookies just in time for our birthday boy to get home!

The birthday dinner feast, lol! Anyone that knows Sean knows that he is nothing shy of OBSESSED with finding good BBQ joints (yes, that's the most appropriate term! You should see some of the places this quest takes us!) and his birthday was no exception. He found a local BBQ restaurant that sounded good to him and had a challenge that he just couldn't pass up :) So the challenge was 2.5 POUNDS of BBQ (on a bun) in 30 minutes and your meal was free. Well...what we didn't know was that it also came with 6 hushpuppies (on top of the sandwich), macaroni and cheese, and baked beans, all of which also had to be consumed within the same 30 minutes, yikes! Neither one of us had a good idea of what 2.5 pounds of BBQ on one sandwich might look like...

When THAT came to the table, the only thing to do was laugh! {Side note: it was also quite hilarious that literally everyone else in the restaurant became more amused with Sean's sandwich than what was happening at their own tables, and I can't say that I blame them!} He worked at it for a good 30 minutes, at the end of which it still looked like this... 

Wow! I know! I'd say we brought home a good 2 pounds of it, but it sure did make for an amusing dinner! All in all, a great birthday celebration for a very deserving man! When we first welcomed our tiny boy into the world (15 months ago today, by the way) I had no idea what an amazing, loving, kind, patient, and silly daddy this man that I already adored would become! To say I'm thankful to share my life with him, just doesn't quite cut it. Porter and I love you to the moon and back ;)

1st Corinthians for Moms

I can't take credit for the following, because I borrowed it from a blog that I LOVE reading. But I was very touched by it! What an amazing legacy I could leave for my children by using this to shape my "mothering" choices. With having some discipline issues weighing me down lately {yes, he's cute, I know, but wow can this kid test a mama's patience. I.e.- when he came over to the computer today, I told him "No touch!". His response: to put his chin on the keyboard and stare at me. How is he learning this stuff already?!} it was a nice bit of insight to remind me that in the big picture, handling each situation with love and grace that mirrors our Father's grace for us is the best way that I can lovingly parent my child in a way that honors Him. So without further ado, I hope you all {mothers, non mothers, men, women, everyone} enjoy reading and reflecting on this as much as I did...

If my child speaks in the tongues of men or of angels, masters sign language at six months and Spanish and Mandrin Chinese by six years, but does not learn to love, she is only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If he has the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge-ABCs at a year, reading by two, writing chapter books in Kindergarten-but does not have love, he is nothing. If I volunteer for every mommy ministry-MOPS, AWANA, Sunday School, and if I give all I possess to the poor (or at least bring loads of groceries to the foodbank), but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy other mother's lifestyle choices or possessions, it does not boast in the areas of my children’s natural strengths (while covering for their faults), it is not proud of the way my child potty trained before your child. It does not dishonor others by insisting that my method of parenting is the best, it is not self-seeking-hoping that you’ll notice how smart, talented or well rounded I am raising my child to be. It is not easily angered by perceived slights or misjudgments, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth that all of parenting is fueled and driven by God’s grace. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.Love never fails-even where I have fallen painfully short of God’s best for my children. But where there are competitions to see whose body bounces back best after childbirth, they will cease; where there are verbal fights over the correct methods of discipline, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge about the best way to feed and clothe and nurture a child, it will pass away. For we know in part and we parent incompletely, but when they are fully grown, what we thought we knew about raising our children will disappear. When I was a new parent, I thought, spoke and reasoned with immaturity and without grace. As my children grew, I asked God to give me the wisdom to put these childish ways behind me. For now we see our children’s future as only a reflection as in a mirror; one day we will behold their adults selves face to face. Now I know in part; then we shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Thankful Thursday

So the word is in and I officially have gestational diabetes, again :( I needed yesterday to soak it up {and pout a little} but it wasn't all that bad last time and thankfully it went away right after I delivered Porter {literally, I had pancakes and syrup hours after delivering Porter and my sugar was just fine!}. So it definitely could be worse, and there actually are some positives to this! Trust me, I have mulled over this for hours trying to come up with some and they're there!

1. I, on my own, have NO self-control when it comes to junk food and sweets! However, having to be healthier and make better decisions for the health of my sweet baby is all the self-control I need. So, overall a good life lesson!

2. This low-carb, high protein diet will definitely add some a lot of needed servings of fruits and vegetables to this little one's diet that he/she might not be getting otherwise. {What?! Onion rings aren't a vegetable ;) }

3. It kept my weight gain on track last time and hopefully will do the same this time which definitely makes getting 'baby weight' off a little easier!

4. It's a swift kick to the rear for my fear of needles! Having to prick your finger 4 times a day and do the occasional insulin shot here and there {to yourself, mind you} makes that fear seem a lot smaller {until they come at me with the hospital IV for delivery, YIKES!}.

5. My favorite bonus! Having gestational diabetes means you get several extra ultra sounds to make sure the baby is growing on track. Most people get 2 in the course of a 'normal' pregnancy. Last time, my count was up to 6, score :) I won't complain about an extra sneak-peak of our little sweetie!

So all in all, I guess that I can say I'm actually thankful for this bittersweet blessing in disguise {it just took a day's worth of a pity party to come to that realization}. The Lord's sovereign timing was just perfect on the timing of this baby and I know He's got a plan for this too! So in light of a new diet eating plan, I'm off to have my spinach salad with chicken, mandarin oranges, strawberries, feta cheese, and almonds {not bad for a Thursday lunch, huh?!}.

Onions!!!

The strangest phenomenon is occurring around here these days...we can't seem to find enough onions! Why, you ask? Well, because it's the thing I crave ALL.DAY.EVERY.DAY! I'd love to say that I didn't crave them from the time I wake up to the time I go to sleep, but that would be a lie. Bloomin' onions, fried onions, plain onions, onion rings, onion powder, you name it! If it comes in onion flavor, I need it. Most cravings that I've read about have legitimate causes (i.e. your body's lack of calcium, vitamins, etc.) but what in the world would make a person crave onions?! (other than because they're AWESOME!) Anyways, in the past few weeks I have become an onion fanatic and can tell you every restaurant/drive-thru in a 10 mile radius that sells anything onion related (no seriously, it's actually a little bit pathetic). I had a few cravings here and there with Porter, but nothing that really stuck. One week I needed all things pumpkin flavored (which somehow ended up being the same week that there was literally a canned pumpkin shortage, not kidding! That's a whole other story, but talk about one mad, hormonal woman!) one week it was corndogs (don't judge, I don't understand it either!) and then it was bread and chocolate for a little while, but none of the above compared to my love addiction to onions this time around! Strange, I know, but it happens to be what floats my boat these days and I just thought the obscurity of it was worth sharing. Don't mind me...I'm off to enjoy my nightly onion rings courtesy of Cook-Out, yumm!!!

Should it be embarrassing to admit that I'm drooling just looking up pictures of onion things?! Nahh :)

ALL Boy!

I've always been amazed with watching how young children seem to instinctually pick up on certain gender 'appropriate' (for lack of a better word, pregnancy brain!) behaviors and our little one is no exception. Within in the past few weeks, his ALL boy personality is starting to show more and more and I think it's so fun to watch! Even in his playroom, this kid always has either a truck or a ball in each hand, without exception!

Yesterday, we went to a birthday party for his 2 year-old cousin, Olivia, and while all the sweet girls were sitting so nicely playing with chalk on the sidewalk, my child insisted on eating the chalk and hitting anyone who walked remotely near him with that same chalk. (Ok, so maybe not my proudest mommy moment, yikes!)

Today, we decided a picnic at the park would be perfect. And it was! However, rather than letting mommy blow the bubbles and Porter chasing the bubbles, this little adventurer needed to walk around the playground with the bubble stick in hand hitting each and every surface of the play place. Thankfully, the toddler play place was in a separate gate from the rest of the park. (I did wonder whether that was for the protection of us or everyone else at the park!)

And as I type, he is sitting beside me having a snack. Only before he eats each goldfish cracker, he has to smash it with his transformer toy thingy (alright, alright I haven't done my research on big boy toys yet. I thought the days of action figures would be later down the road!) and then eat the crumbs in hand fulls. Sigh.

This kid sure is keeping us on our toes lately, but I can honestly say that I wouldn't change one tiny aspect of his personality! (Is this him begging for a little brother?!)

Flashback Friday

Watching Porter learn to feed himself this week has reminded of way back when he had his first taste of rice cereal, at almost 5 months old. To me, he doesn't even look like the same boy. Now, 10 months and a million milestones later, our tiny, precious boy is growing up right in front of us. I believe 'bittersweet' would be the correct adjective here!

The Bump

Keep in mind that it is with hesitancy that I share these pictures :) I know everyone with multiple children warned me that the second baby shows much quicker, but... WOW! I'm beginning to think that either they missed a second baby in those early ultrasounds or I have the makings of a small whale growing in my stomach. We've started taking weekly pictures with this pregnancy and being able to compare the pictures to my pregnancy with Porter only confirmed my suspicions! It's not that the entire world is getting smaller {like I had hoped} it's that I actually am as large glowing (humor me people!) as I feel. All I have to say is this is going to be one L.O.N.G. summer!

{16 weeks with Porter}

{16 weeks with Porter's little brother or sister. YIKES!}

My new trick

Porter was quite proud of himself and wanted to share his latest accomplishment. Mind you...the spoon was upside down most of the time and not all that much yogurt actually made it into his mouth, but for a first time, I'd call it a success!

Alligator boy

After nearly making it to his first birthday without a single pearly white, this boy has become a teething machine, no really! His first tooth cut through at 11.5 months and the second one followed about a week behind. Well after the second day of feeling like a human teething toy, I finally held him down (yes, that's about as fun as it sounds. How is this kid impossibly strong already?!) and sure enough, my little alligator has two FOUR top teeth cutting through at the SAME.TIME.YIKES! At least I can rest assured now knowing that the whiney, clingy, needy child that has been visiting our house this past week hopefully won't be staying for long! At this new rate of 1 tooth per week, we might be buying stock in Tylenol and Baby Orajel! Any volunteers to babysit? ;)

My little book worm

I just can't get over the cuteness of my tiny boy sitting in a library chair reading a book all by himself. When did my needy baby turn into an independent, curious toddler?!

We're back!

Porter and I apologize for the lack of blog updates lately! We've been so busy chasing each other (aka, mommy chasing Porter) ALL.OVER.THE.HOUSE. that sitting down long enough to blog just wasn't in our cards. So what's been happening in the Mitchell house lately? Let's see...

We were able to get away for a weekend to our favorite place in the entire world...the beautiful mountains of Asheville for an 'end of tax season' celebration of sorts. This trip consisted of not much more than lunches/dinners in some of our favorite restaurants, an amazing hike up to Craggy Gardens on the Parkway, and a few chocolate shops here and there. Just what we needed! (Ok, so no one actually needs chocolate, but it sure is therapeutic!)

Porter has become a walking machine! He takes a few falls here and there but seems to be able to get wherever he wants to go in a record breakingly short amount of time! Seriously, he can get from the far side of the playroom to the kitchen and into the dishwasher (we definitely need to remember to keep that thing locked!) quicker than I even realize that he's no longer sitting quietly playing with books. No need for a treadmill, I have my own tiny personal trainer! This little walking machine has also become quite the jokester lately. It's quite a game for him when mommy is leaning over picking up his toys (not that he EVER makes a mess, riiight!) and he can come up behind me and 'tickle' me. He has figured out what sounds and words make us crack up and saves them for just the right moment. You know, like the quiet moment when we've just laid him down for the night and are walking out only he decided he wasn't quite ready for bed yet (manipulative?!).

Our littlest bean is growing like a weed and is up to 4 inches long already! He/she is 15 weeks old today. I can't believe how fast this pregnancy is going already. I have my glucose test for gestational diabetes in a week so any prayers in that area would be appreciated! My 'morning' sickness (ok seriously, who named it that?! I would love to have a heart to heart with them!) has subsided for the most part and I'm feeling like a normal human in the energy department again, which is amazing! In less than 3 weeks, on May 29th, we get to find out if this little darling is a baby brother or baby sister.

We are 38 days away from vacation and I'm a little unbelievably excited!!! The thought of a week of games, food, sand, and family time is crossing my mind multiple times a day. Hurry up vacation!

Yes, I have resorted to bribery. (Before you judge, I welcome you to come chase my little energizer bunny around here for a day or two!) Sometimes finishing a whole dinner takes a cookie and I'm ok with that :)