what a difference a year makes...

well, looks like we may have started a tradition. highland orchards for apple picking, apple cider and cider doughnuts (mmmmm, mmmmm). i looked back at our post from the same time last year and could not believe how big aubrey has gotten. our little baby is now a full fledged, walking, talking toddler. aubrey picked her own apples this year. she fed the goats all by herself, she even climbed up and down the steps that the pumpkins were displayed on. we feasted on all the wonderful fall goodies that highland orchards could cook up.

it's hard to believe in just a two months (76 days, give or take!) aubrey is going to be a big sister. these past 2 years have just flown by. next year our (almost) 3 year old will be leading us around the pumpkin patch, while we tote little leah on our back just like we did with aubrey the year prior.

i always marvel at the fact that God has already set a path before us. that he knows what our little family is going to look like, even though we don't. i am so excited for what is to come.

happy fall everyone!

the x-files

saturday afternoon and we've got nothing better to do. isn't that a wonderful thing.

83 days to go.....

Sorry our posts have been so silent about our 2nd little bundle. I don't even think we officially announced that we are having ANOTHER GIRL! Yeah! I told Matt it was going to be Barbie central in our house.... just give it a few years. We have decided on the name Leah Angely. Leah was picked by our good friend Dan (who has been waiting patiently for years for us to have a boy so that we could make Daniel the middle name.... choosing Leah's name for her was the next best thing). Angely was a little girl from the Dominican Republic that helped me out with Aubrey the one day I got to be one the work site. She was so sweet and we wanted so badly to take something home with us from the DR and make it a part of Leah's story.

The past couple of weeks have been busy ones with appointments and such for our little girl. Happy to say she (and I) are doing amazingly well. I will post our most recent ultrasound pictures for you to enjoy as soon as I can get to a scanner.

3 am "potty break"

please forgive the blurry picture. we were just a little bleary eyed at 3:30 in the morning. this is when aubrey decided to wake us up for a 3 am potty break. last night was a little unexpected to say the least.... our little munchkin woke up crying and while trying to console her she started saying that she wanted to go to the potty. at first we thought this was a ploy to get down and "play" in the middle of the night so we shrugged it off. we then tried to put her in our bed, which never works, but it was stinking 3:30 in the morning and at least WE would have gotten to crawl back in bed. she insisted that she wanted to go to the potty and in a last ditch effort we gave in. the result..... AUBREY USED THE POTTY! sure, she waits till 3 in the morning for her "eureka" moment, but we were proud all the same. we gave her a little snow white princess, which she has deemed "white one".... in any event, we all made our way back to bed and had a wonderful night sleep. parenting is hilarious.

don't need anything

matt and i returned from bar harbor late monday night. it was an amazing weekend! we had so much time to rest and relax, we enjoyed just being able to be together. we arrived in bar harbor on friday night and made our way to thurston's lobster pound.... i would say our favorite place to eat. it was chilly and a little rainy, but perfect. we sat in the candlelight next to a fire and devoured our wonderful meal. by 9:00 we were in bed, after a full day of driving we both welcomed sleep.



saturday it rained.... "perfect maine weather" matt said. he was right. you cannot go to maine and not have a cold and rainy day. we got a chance to go shopping in bar harbor and hit some of our favorite shops. sunday was beautiful, warm and sunny. we went hiking in the morning and did some sight seeing in the afternoon.

it was back to thurston's for one last "hoorah" and then off to bed.



we are back home and have reentered LIFE. tons of appointments this week, matt's back to both his jobs and we are both running in different directions. we are hoping that lord willing it all slows down soon.... but we are not complaining.

we are happy.

don't need anything
by: Glen Phillips

I've got gardens growing, got quiet days
clothes on my back, food on my plate
got friends to help me if I call for them
don't need anything I don't have

got eyes to see this beautiful land
feet to take me where I want to stand
if there's work to be done, I've got these two strong hands
I don't need anything I don't have
I don't need anything I don't have

some years the rains don't come
some years floods clear out the plains
but if those waters wash this town away
I would still have enough if she was with me

I've got a roof overhead, stars if I choose
but I've no need to fly, I've got no itch to move
got almost nothing, but I understand
that I don't need anything that I don't have
I don't need anything that I don't have

he's a hard, hard workin' man.

ok.... this will be one of those annoying posts where i tell you how lucky i am to be married to matt o'malley. if you don't want to hear it or you are starting to gag, move on, cause i need to explain what kind of man i am married too.

i have never met a man who works harder then my husband. matt is up by 6 something in the morning (most days) and has already fed and let out the dog before i even stir. he works HARD all day..... everyday. 4 nights a week he comes home, takes a shower and heads out the door to starbucks (his second job). he comes home around 11:00 and makes me go to bed. he plays with the dog, checks email, does the dishes and brings up water.... he reminds me to take my prenatal vitamin and manages to stay coherent enough to hear me babbles random thoughts about my day...

when he is not at work the man does not stop. errands with aubrey and i, refinishing furniture, mowing the lawn, yard work, training the dog, laundry and well..... anything.

for a woman who's love language is "acts of service" all i can say is i can hear him loud and clear. i am loved.... and that's all a girl needs to know.

on friday matt and i are (finally) taking our anniversary trip (it was 5 years in june.) we are heading up to Bar Harbor, one of our favorite places. ok, so this year there will be no rock climbing or strenuous hiking, but we are looking forward to holding hands and spending time together.....

i love matt o'malley...
and i got to marry the man of my dreams!

aubrey's "pocket"

toddlers do strange things. aubrey has decided that "down your shirt" is considered your pocket. (i vaguely remember her picking this up from her second cousins...emily & olivia.) pretty much anything can go in your pocket. your juice cup. your bunny (seen). even your home depot credit card.

yep.... see things don't just go in your own pocket, you can put things in other peoples pockets too. like the home depot credit card for instance, which got shoved down the front of my shirt while talking to the appliance guy at the home depot. i am guessing this is just the beginning of my children embarrassing me in public. guess it's payback time.... i just know my parents are chuckling at this.