So I know it's been forever. I'm sorry. I really am. I would say that I've been busy. Which is true. But I've also just chosen to do some different things with my free time lately. I'll get back to regular posting. I promise!

I've been feeling big lately. My belly's starting to get in the way of shaving, doing my toenails, etc. Lol. But I just LOVE feeling her kick and punch and jump around inside! I freaked out last weekend because I hadn't felt her moving much, but then I realized that on the weekend our routine is completely different from the weekdays, and I just wasn't paying attention at the right times. It's so reassuring to feel her going crazy inside there! Dan has felt her move several times, and last night she was so crazy it made me catch my breath a few times! As for a name, if we can't come up with anything stunning rather quickly, we'll probably just stick with the name Dan likes. It's not really all that bad, and I will love it if we name her it. That just means that I get full power over the next baby name! Lol.

Today we got invited to H's 3rd birthday party (the oldest of the kids I watch). When I asked Marissa later if she wants to go, she said "What should I wear?" I told her she'd wear a pretty dress, then she asked "What should I wear on my head?" I guess she remembers birthday hats, so I told her H might have birthday hats for everyone to wear at his party. Lol. It's good to know I'm raising a girly girl worried about what to wear - just like me!

Tonight we are dressing Marissa up as a princess and going to our church's small group Halloween gathering. I'm worried that I won't be able to dress Marissa warm enough, and still have her look like a princess! She'll have tights + leggings + a possibility of 2 turtlenecks under the actual princess costume. But her head and her feet are the problems! I will be wearing 2 shirts in layers, partly because I want to be warm, but mostly because my warmest sweater doesn't cover my belly very well!

Well, I think Marissa finally fell asleep for her nap. Today she was almost asleep in the car on the way home from work. So when I put her in her bed, I expected a nap soon. So I got in the shower. Once I got out, however, I heard some music playing from her room. Music from one of her toys on the floor that she could never reach from her bed. So I went to her room. Her light was on, she was sitting in her Elmo chair, and playing her little piano! I said "Marissa Lynn, what are you doing?" and she just looked at me like "Duh, Mom, I'm playing the piano!" Lol. It's great that she gets out of bed and plays in the mornings (especially weekends!) but she knows she needs to sleep first! After I put her back in bed, she talked and babbled for a while, and I think she finally stopped! It's really cool that she learned how to turn her light on too. She pulls one of her chairs over to the light switch and can just barely reach it when she's standing on the chair. She usually forgets to move the chair back, so when I open her door it crashes into the chair. But this afternoon, it was back in place on the other side of her room. Funny girl!

I think I'm going to go eat some sugar, lay down on the couch with some good tv, and wait for my baby girl to jump around inside me!