It's a GIRL!

I thought that maybe when we found out if we were having a boy or a girl that it might actually sink in that I am pregnant again. That still hasn't really happened. Now there's just more to "sink".

It was fun to see her moving all around (except not where the ultrasound tech wanted her to move) on the screen. It was funny how sure Stephen was that it was a boy this time, and how surprised he was to be wrong. It's been fun to start feeling the tiniest of "kicks" these last few weeks. It's fun to imagine Hannah being a big sister to her baby sister. But it still somehow feels like all this is happening to someone else.

It will be harder to choose a name this time. Hannah's name was picked out before we even knew she was coming. And everyone was sure she was a girl before we found out. This time we had a boy's name picked out, but we're having trouble with girls names. I want to name her Addy Ruth, after my great grandmother Ruth and the road her beach house was on. Stephen hates the name Addy almost as much as I hate the name George. Haha. We both agree however that if we ever have a dog we are naming him Maher-shalal-hash-baz....or "hash brown" for short. Now that that's decided, some runner ups for baby girl names are Audrey (after my mom's mom) and Emma. Two or three of my friends have Emmas, but that never really bothered me.

I'm glad we are having another girl. I think I would rather have two girls this close together than a girl and then a boy. They are going to be such good friends... eventually. And we already know that we Aldridges make good looking girls!

To Live With Real Intent

Today I'm going to do something I don't usually do on my blog. I'm going to quote from my journal. I think maybe if I write it down twice it will stick. Plus I always feel more accountable when I share things.

Yesterday we attended one of the best stake conferences I have ever been to. There were many words spoken on conversion and testimony and the difference between the two. Conversion is change. Not a once in a lifetime change, but rather a constant and living, breathing change. It requires action. It is inspired by testimony, but testimony alone is not enough. Stephen and I agree that of course we have testimonies, but we do not consistently work to improve spiritually. We have been content for much of our marriage to sit still in many ways. But of course that isn't enough.

We want more for our family. I am often reminded of a book I read (or should have read) for one of my HFL courses. It's title is The Intentional Family. I often think of that title and remember that the little things that hold a family together don't just happen. We have to do them intentionally; on purpose and with purpose. Our personal and family prayers and scripture studies must be more than habit. If family home evening is going to happen, we must plan it on purpose. We have definitely struggled with that as a couple. Maybe we assume it will be more important later, but it won't happen later unless we do it now. And we should acknowledge that we need it now for ourselves.

This morning we started the day with real intent. I prayed before my scripture study and felt that I should read from the Book of Mormon. I've been working my way slowly though the Old and New Testaments and only reading the Book of Mormon with Stephen each night. Today I decided to read backwards, so Moroni first, then Ether, and so on. I read through Moroni 7, in which Mormon speaks to the peaceable followers of Christ about faith, hope, and charity. The end of verse 6 says, "for if he offereth a gift, or prayeth unto God, except he shall do it with real intent it profiteth him nothing." So there is my proof that the scriptures, especially the Book of Mormon, are written for me every day.

My goal for this day, this week, this year, and for the rest of my life is to live and act on purpose, with real intent. And when I forget, I hope that I will read this and remember.

Bath Time

Hannah started out seeming indifferent to bath time, and to any water based activity at that. When I took her home this summer, I got her in the pool a couple of times, and even put her feet in the waves at the beach. Her reaction to both experiences was pretty non-existent. I guess four months is a bit young to test a kid's appreciation for those sorts of things. I was a little disappointed though, since I'm such a fan of every water activity you can think of. Now that Hannah is a bit older, she's discovered how awesome bath time is, and it's so fun to watch her play! I vowed never to take pictures of my babies naked in the bathtub, but I sure get tempted on days like today.

This morning after a very stinky diaper (which daily shortens nap time) I stuck Hannah in a little bubble bath. I have a no-slip bathmat in the bottom of the tub so she doesn't slide around so much, and a few Finding Nemo toys that we got her for Christmas. Nemo usually floats just below the bubbles, and Hannah loves to follow him around. For some reason when there are bubbles in the tub, she is more likely to try and drink the bath water. She has gotten good this week at blowing spit bubbles, and you can imagine how much bigger they were with a mouthful of bubbly bath water. She also figured out this morning how to blow bubbles under the water. I thought that I would be more worried about my kids drinking bathwater or accidentally breathing it when they inevitably went under, but after watching closely I've noticed that babies seem to come already knowing how to deal with water pretty well. Or at least they learn fast.

For now, there will be no pictures of my adorable baby with her face covered in bubbles. Just imagine how cute she is.

Here's to a better blogged 2013

I'll admit I didn't do so well with the blogging in 2012. You would think with bazillions of baby pictures I wouldn't be able to help myself. But instead Stephen takes all the baby pictures and I never see them again. It's possible that could change, since we are now the proud owners of a macbook pro. Apparently that will make it easier for a certain Papa to share pictures with this Mama. So instead of trying to catch up, I'm just going to look forward and hope for the best. 

Those of you who've been on facebook in the last few days will know that the end of 2012 held a certain HUGE surprise that I'm not sure I was ready to handle at the time. I still won't admit to being ready, but I am excited to announce that the Aldridges are expecting another addition to our family in mid-June of this year. Our sweet Hannah is going to be a big sister much sooner than expected, but I'm sure she'll be a wonderful big sister anyway. I've been joking that the two of them probably flipped a coin to see who got to come first. I've already noticed that this pregnancy has been different from the last, but then the circumstances are different too. It may be that I just noticed the first trimester more this time since I didn't have a full time job to distract me. I still never got "sick", but I did feel "almost sick" pretty much all the time. Unless I was hungry, in which case I felt like I hadn't eaten in days. I don't think I was any more tired that last time, but knowing Hannah is depending on me all the time made me feel more tired. It was a rough couple of months. But the last few weeks have put the first trimester behind me, and I'm feeling amazingly better. Except that yesterday I went to the doctor with a sore throat, expecting either a positive strep test or a "you'll be fine, just deal with it" kind of diagnosis. Instead I tested positive for Influenza A. Mostly that's just depressing because I still only feel a sore throat. It's hard to remember that apparently I have the flu and I need to be really careful not to give it away when I honestly don't feel that bad. 

There is much more I could write about now, but one of my goals is to write shorter posts more often. So I'll just leave you with this adorable video of Hannah's favorite Christmas present.