The Thing About Snow.

It's snowing. Finally. Maybe I'm in the minority, maybe not... but regardless - I am so happy it's snowing!

My relationship with snow and winter is a little hard to understand. While I may not be the biggest fan of long winters, bad driving conditions, inversions, and freezing temperatures - that doesn't really mean I don't like winter, snow, or cold conditions.

Confused yet?

Basically it comes down to snow. There is something very... romantic? beautiful? nostalgic? ... maybe just more easily put as magical about Winter time and snow. When those big fluffly flakes start to float down from the sky I can't help but be excited and calm all at the same time. I mean think about it - snow is perfect for an excuse to stay inside, bundled, warm, and just relax and do nothing (or blog). It is also a great excuse to get out in the cold and be a little kid again.

This year especially I've been excited for our first real snow more then ever because of Rose. She is in love with all things "snow". Snowflakes, snowmen, etc. This morning was a perfect example - even though we just had a small dusting of snow on our deck Rose still looked out in wonder and amazement. She then quickly ran up to me shouting "Bucket! Outside!" and wouldn't stop asking until we finally gave her a bucket and shovel, put on her hat and coat, and let her explore outside.

I am in love with her adventurous and fun spirit and can't wait for us to have a real snow fall so I can show her how fun playing in the snow really can be.

And because of the magicalness that is snow it somehow always can put me in the perfect spirit for Christmas. I still can't believe that it's basically mid-December already and Christmas is just around the corner. Rose has already made this season so much more fun and I can't wait for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with her. :)

I'm not really sure where this blog was going or if it has made any sense... but in anycase I hope this snowy day finds you safe and warm inside - or outside, playing and having fun - whichever you prefer. :)

In other un-snow related news:

- Rosealynn is getting so big. I seriously feel like there are days she looks so old and it really hits me that she isn't a baby anymore. I have a toddler. That is complete craziness to me. I love her more and more every day.

Love how long her hair is getting, love that face, lover her smile. Love everything about her.

- I'm officially 31 weeks pregnant. I can't believe how close we are getting to having this second little girl. I still can't believe we are having our second child. I feel so blessed, honored, and sometimes stunned. I mean... some days it seems just like yesterday I was still struggling with our first miscarriage and trying to get pregnant with Rose. Seeing her now so grown-up, and feeling our baby Haevin's hiccups and movements inside my belly is the best Christmas gift I could ever ask for. I really am blessed and can't wait to meet this second baby girl.

Nothing else too exciting is going on in the Goudie household. Just counting down the days to Christmas and then the days to Baby Haevin. We are happy and life is good. :)

Till next time - loves and hugs!

Thanksgiving and December.

I've got quite a few things running through my mind lately... here are a few:

Thanksgiving was wonderful. I feel bad I didn't do a special "I'm Thankful" post... but let's just sum things up by saying I'm so thankful for my life right now. I have a beautiful, loving, and amazing family that is close to expanding again, a wonderful home, a great job that allows me to be home with my beautiful and energetic daughter, and more. I have days where I am stunned with my life... I don't know what I did to be so lucky and loved but I am not complaining. We enjoyed our Thanksgiving with our families and I wouldn't have had it any other way.

Rose sitting on her great grandma's chair at my parents. :)

Playing in the leaves at Braedon's parents.

How can you NOT feel joy and love looking at this picture?

And now... I can't believe it's December. I know it's been December for a few days now so I probably should be used to the idea... but I'm not. With that said I couldn't be more excited about the fact that it's December. I love this time of year for all the reasons basically everyone loves this time of year. Beautiful decorations, family time, Christmas, and more. We of course put up all our decorations the day after Thanksgiving. Putting up our decorations this year was a little more work as it included re-organizing our house because we finally finished our basement!

It took us a while but I am so glad it's finally done and to have the extra space. I now have my little office downstairs and am able to watch Rose a bit better while she plays. It makes things a lot more easy and more enjoyable for both of us. Plus I love having all of Roses toys away from our upstairs main room... and Rose loves having her slide inside. She plays on it constantly. All in all it's been a great and much needed change. 

Plus our upstairs now looks so good! It looks like an actual home rather then a place taken over by a two year olds toys... who loves being able to shut the door on all her mess and toys when we are in a rush and don't have time to clean? This mom! I also love having the TV away from the kitchen... it makes meal times a lot more easy and more meaningful as we aren't tempted to turn on a show or let Rose watch a show while eating. 

Once we got the basement all organized and set up we then put up our Christmas decorations and I'm in love. I love putting up decorations. For as long as I can remember every morning the day after Thanksgiving I'd get up and help my mom put up all the decorations in the house while listening to Christmas music. Last year we only got to enjoy our decorations for about a week since we didn't move into the house until December 19th... so this year I was even more excited to put them up and be able to enjoy them for a full month. And the best part? My mom was over (helping finish the electrical for the basement) so she was there putting up decorations with me... just like we used to. I loved it. :)

And take a look at how it all turned out:

Moving the TV and such downstairs left the room feeling a bit TOO empty, so we bought that little couch table and I love it! Also - Rose picked out her stocking and I'm kinda jealous of it.  

Close up of the new table and tree. :)

A shelf to organize all her toys is on the way.

The slide corner. This is where she spends most of her time playing and it's right outside my little office. I love watching her play all day!

Basically we are loving December so far - and Rose is at an age where she is starting to understand that there is something to look forward to and is loving the magic that is Christmas. She get's so excited any time she see's ANYthing Christmasy. Kids really do make holidays so much fun and a lot better. We went to the Festival of Tree's last night and I loved just looking at her eyes taking in all the pretty sights and lights. She has such an amazing spirit about her it makes me even more excited for Christmas. :)

Rose and Cousin Ari at the Festival of Trees

All in all Thanksgiving and the start of December have started out in a great way. I'm glad we are finishing up all these big projects before Haevin comes. This weekend my project is to finish organizing her room so we can enjoy the holidays with out stressing about that in the back of our minds. :)

Speaking of Haevin! She is a MOVER! I'm sure she probably isn't moving more then Rose... but let's just say she makes me very aware of when my abs are sore. Girl likes to push her boundary's! I'm officially 30 weeks tomorrow which seems crazy to me. 

Me at 29 weeks.

Things are going good so far, everything checks out at my appointments, she is growing and so am I (in all the right ways thankfully).  I'm still going to Crossfit and still enjoying it. I for sure have to take an extra rest day here and there but I feel blessed that I am able to still move and exercise at 7 and a half months pregnant. With that said the only downfall of pregnancy right now is of course not sleeping great (but I always figure it's good prep for time with a newborn) annnnd my ribs are officially popping out basically on a daily basis - just like they did with Rose. They started popping out a lot sooner in my pregnancy with Rose though so I'm glad I made it this far without having to deal with that pain. I am also glad for chiropractic medicine that helps pop those suckers back into place now and again so I can get some relief from the pain. All in all I'm getting pretty excited and anxious to meet this adorable little girl. :)

Life is good. I know this month will fly by with all the family time, parties, and the like... I just hope that January flies by as well. Cause let's face it... no one really loves January. 

And now to leave you with a few random pictures of Rose. Cause I can. :)

To bad her head is huge. Love you Rose and your huge head. ;) 

Love her smiles. :)

Love her!

Love and Hugs all! :)