Celebrating Baby Lent

So, remember that post “The Wedding of a Century”? It was about our sweet friends Chris & Amanda who became husband & wife in December 2011.  This couple was delighted to find out they were expecting a baby only a few months after saying “I do”. Fast forward to the fall & here we are celebrating that baby who will be making his or her debut in less than two months! And remember all those people who were SO excited about these two getting hitched? We are all still cheering : )

Amanda’s resume includes LOTS of interaction with children such as kindergarten teacher in the US & abroad coupled with working with missionary kids from all over the globe through Cru.  She also captivates my little ones with her sweet voice & interest in them…and with her sparkly jewelry.  With her love of children & children’s literature it was easy to settle on a book themed shower.

Our invites looked like library cards & encouraged the guests to bring along a book to stock up Baby Lentini’s library. Thanks to Pinterest (again) I found many adorable ideas & had a great time coming up with the décor. We had various well known books spread around.  I had a stash of some classics from the Ellis family library such as my very own copy of The Tale of Peter Rabbit that was given to me by my grandparents in 1984.  It made me smile to look at the covers & think about reading them as a child & now reading them to my girls.  I love the awe inspired by the words of these books that make Charlotte say her token phrase “If we were in the story….”

Here are some of the books spread about…

Cupcake toppers with 20 different book covers doubled for 40 cupcakes. I think they turned out pretty cute….so cute I wanted to ask people to not eat them so we could just keep looking at them ; )

The beautiful mommy to be quickly grabbed the cupcake topped with “The Giving Tree,” one of her all time favorites she once used in the classroom. Isn’t she lovely? I can only imagine how adorable Baby Lent will be with some blonde hair & blue eyes…just like mommy & daddy!

Our food was simply themed to memorable books such as:

• Assortment of Muffins- If You Give a Moose a Muffin
• Fruit- The Very Hungry Caterpillar
• Mini Quiche- Green Eggs & Ham
• Fresh bread with jam & butter- The Little Red Hen

Big thanks to Heidi, Leah, Traci, Krinki & Cathy who took care of all the food & drinks so I could play with my crafts.  Love them for that : ) I found a book of Charlotte’s that had a page ripped out & cut the rest into a pennant banner while she was napping one afternoon.  She came out to the scraps & said “Oh no! What happened to my book mommy?”  I reminded her of the baby growing inside Miss Amanda’s belly (which she is totally convinced is a girl). I convinced her it was for a good cause…she won’t miss it ; )

Baby Piper…..poor kiddo, she didn’t get any attention at all with her Mommy, Grandma & Auntie Leah plus all the other ladies who love some Piper snuggles.  It was nearly this time last year that we had a shower for her mommy! It is such a blessing to see a church family grow with welcoming little ones. Piper is a cutie & has a few offers for arranged marriages by friends of Luke & Traci, haha.  I have a feeling that many offer will be made on baby Lentini as well….

One possible future man in Piper’s life is my little nephew Issac.  He & P Marie had a blast playing on the floor together & squealing simultaneously during the gift opening.

Once everyone filled their bellies we moved into the living room for a little game, “A Children’s Book Scramble.”  It was guessing titles of classic children’s stories from a phrase like clue.  I thought a few were actually pretty tricky & laughed out loud when someone asked if I came up with them myself. My plan was to take what I found online & add to it.  I quickly realized that my brain does not work that way. At least not right now with two babies sucking my brains out at record speed ; ) So, I stuck with the original 14 & it was great.

If we were playing by the rules, no one actually won getting all 14 right.  The “soft cotton bunny toy” which was really The Velveteen Rabbit tricked everyone into writing “Pat the Bunny” or “The Tale of Peter Rabbit” which were actually great guesses.  Erica Gruidl finished first getting 13 right. Her prize was that she gets to be the first to bring a meal over to the Lent’s once they arrive home from the hospital. Those who followed getting 12, 11, 10, 9 (you know the rest) get to follow in order ; ) Just for the record, the mommy to be/Kindergarten teacher got 13 right as well.

We had many wonderful women join us in celebrating & snapped a group pic. Sadly it was taken at the end of the shower so we were missing a few that had to leave early. I love the picture though and am reminded of a similar picture in this same living room at the shower that was given for me when I was pregnant with Charlotte.  I just looked at it the other day & smiled at all the pregnant bellies knowing the little two & three year olds running around now that we hadn’t met yet or thinking about the people who were special to me & that have already come & gone in the transient place central Florida has proven to be. I am mostly reminded of the kindness that was extended to me as a new mom from ladies that love the Lord & have spent many hours of the course of their lifetime mothering children. Their wisdom, prayers & encouraging words have served me well thus far in my journey. So, all in all it was a delight to see Amanda relishing in the Lord’s goodness as she was so well cared for.

Amanda had LOTS of gifts to open! It is always fun to see what people have picked out & then ooo & ahhh over all the cuteness found in the packages.


She received many great gifts including some outfits, duckie towels & washcloths, a bouncer & a highchair just to name a few.  Her college roommate sent a thoughtful book of advice with each page titled “5 things….” such as “5 things that change after having a baby” or “the 5 best things about a newborn” or “5 things you should know about labor".” SO cute…I kind of wanted to swipe it…just for a minute to read up ; )She also got lots of books for little Lentini’s library!
Leah prepared a prayer from Psalm 139 for Baby Lent. She read it aloud & then various people prayed for her.  It is so wonderful to be reminded of the truth that God himself is forming that baby in Amanda’s womb & he or she is fearfully & wonderfully made.

I love the next picture of Hannah with her hand on her mommy’s shoulder while were praying. Hannah is in 2nd grade & is about to become a big sister at the end of December.  She is precious & fit in very well with all the ladies.

One final thing we had going was a guessing game on whether baby Lent is a boy or a girl, birthday, time, weight & length.  I think when it was totaled, there was an even amount of “boys” & “girls" There was a wide array of dates, some that may make Amanda feel doomed to many more weeks of pregnancy ; ) She said she was hoping that many guessed he or she would weigh in the 6 pound range.  I think lots of mama’s hope for that! I did, it got me no where…. Char & all her chub was over 8 pounds. I did guess 6lb 13oz for this babe though so I am still on Amanda’s good side ; ) Only time will tell….someone is bound to at least be close in a portion of guesses.

This was a last minute thought but thanks to the Silhouette Cameo is was relatively easy & turned out sweet I think…..

One of the first few casting their vote…..

It surely was a lovely morning celebrating a precious friend.  I am so thankful for this woman.  Because of Jesus she is beautiful inside & out. She is one of the most caring individuals I know which I think will serve her well in mothering.  She & Chris will be incredible parents to this little lady or gentleman.  Rob & I pray that we are cheering them on the whole way as they raise this child and any others that the Lord may bless them with.  It makes me smile so big to think about all the excitement in year one of marriage….it’s going to be hard to beat next year ; )

Here are the baby bumps at 33 weeks & 11 weeks. Amanda hides hers well in that dress but it is definitely there & cute as can be.  The clock is ticking….the baby is coming….can’t wait to get the phone call to head to the hospital!

Expecting the Unexpected: feeling like a loser

Pregnancy number 3 has been a little rough on this household so far.  This mama has been SO tired & SO nauseated for a good portion of everyday for the past 5 weeks.  I have described myself as feeling like a loser mom as I move from the couch to the bathroom while the girls kind of wander around spilling their snack all over the carpet while episode number 1 million of Dora is on for the day. I don’t feel like I am comparing myself to any super mom’s out there (if those even really exist) I am just reflecting back to previous months of having fun at home with two little ones.

I LOVE spending my days with a 3 year old & a 1 year old playing, coloring, entertaining, filling hungry tummies, teaching, reading & snuggling.  Not that the mundane tasks never wear on me but compared to the past month, I would trade performing those mundane tasks with energy in a heartbeat for feeling so crummy that I have to force myself to interact.  Yes, forcing myself to interact, that’s what I said….there’s some honesty for you : ) These poor girls have been so patient & sweet with a sick mommy.  Here is a good story for you about our interactions lately.  I made it through preparing dinner & was about to place it in the oven when the gagging took over my body. Charlotte quickly grabbed my hand & said in her little Minnie Mouse voice “come on mommy, let’s go to the potty!” I just let her pull me in there while I tried to not throw up on the way.  I could hear Elo’s little feet on the tile as she followed closely behind. Once I made it to my preferred position for vomiting & let loose, I felt two little feet on my back as I heard a match box car being driven up & down the bathroom door.  Little sissy came up & put her arm around me & patted my back as she said “ohhhhhhhh” as she watched my afternoon snack exit my body. I had to smile, in fact I kind of wish there was a video (with no sound of course) just to remember life right now.  We three spend countless hours together every day whether I feel fabulous or not so fabulous & they are learning about how to not be the center of attention : )

So week 9 of pregnancy was pretty much a killer with a lot of vomiting & not enough naps so when week 10 rolled around and I felt a tad better I made a promise to myself to try to not be a loser mom. I still wasn’t feeling up to getting out much so my goal was to do something out of the ordinary at home each day.  Did you know that just changing the sheets on the bed is out of the ordinary right now? Along with sweeping, mopping, vacuuming & cleaning toilets? All of those things qualify but I chose to wash sheets on this day & while in the process, I pulled the mattress out to the living room while two curious little girls watched. I grabbed a couple bins of dress up clothes which have been recently stocked by hand me downs from the Ziel family (wahoo!).  The girls stripped down & turned themselves into mini ballerina princesses & got down to business with some jumping.

Oh my, they had fun! In fact it was probably the most fun they have had in a month : ) They jumped for a good hour and a half & wore themselves out as the music blared. 

I decided to pull out the old dusty camera & snap some pics of all the excitement.  It was not quite dusty yet but it was headed that way.  Anybody remember Project 365 that I had stuck with doing for nearly 2/3 of the year? Yeah…that memory is fading with time.  I realized that you readers probably didn’t want to see a picture of me asleep or throwing up for for so many days in a row so I said “Adios Project 365” with a big smile on my face. It was actually kind of freeing to sever that tie. Maybe I will do it next year with all my free time.

Onto the first day of fun at the Valentine Nest in a long time……


Charlotte is a skilled jumper with all of her time spent jumping on beds & couches or off of pretty much any stationary object in our house. Elo on the other hand, she just hurls herself off & crashes to the ground.  She actually chipped her two front teeth a couple weeks ago. We didn’t see it happen but after watching her tricks off the mattress or falling onto concrete while holding a cracker in each hand that stayed whole while her chin got scraped instead, we are pretty sure that it could happen again pretty easily. All that to say, she was quite entertaining to watch : )

My favorite action shots of Charlotte…..

And cool down……

It was refreshing to all have some fun together. It was SO much fun we decided to do it again the next day with cousin Karis! Karis just turned two in August & a couple weeks prior to her birthday she fell out of her crib one day & then a few days later while shopping for a toddler bed fell out of the shopping cart face first onto the hard ground.  She ended up with an orbital fracture & some awful swelling.  She is extreme….she is the life of the party….we were a little nervous to turn her loose on the mattress.  She made it through an hour of jumping with no injuries even with all the crashing into each other that took place. 

They did wear themselves out & had to rest before moving onto some lunch…..

And not to worry “I-gee” got some lovin’ from his cousins when all the jumping had ceased.

So, week 11 is here. I am actually feeling a tad better. There was one day where I didn’t throw up at all…it was a wonderful day. I made up for it the following day but that’s just how I roll when I’m pregnant. I feel thankful & needy of God to provide the energy I need for each day.  He is doing just that & more. We went back to see Dr. Peppy on Monday & got to hear strong little heartbeats for the first time & see two wiggly babies via ultrasound. They are precious & looking more like little humans if you know what I mean : )  We are planning to see the Maternal Fetal Medicine Specialist at Winnie Palmer in a couple more weeks & will get to have a more extensive ultrasound.

All is well at the Valentine Nest as father bird graciously picks up the slack (cleaning, grocery shopping & cooking) while I grow our little eggs.  One day when I was sharing with him how I felt like I wasn’t doing anything he reminded me that I was doing A LOT, we just can’t see it.  I do look forward to my next nausea/fatigue free day but in the mean time, I am thankful for each day that these babies are growing inside whatever toll it takes on this broken body.

Who stole the Kishka?

Ahhhh, Dearborn Homecoming. It is worth the 21 hour drive just to be a part of the weekend festivities. Of course it is even more fun when we get to spend the entire time with Gigi, Meryl, Grace & Emma. Homecoming is held at Ford Field located a few minutes away from where Virginia lives.  We spent Friday & Saturday evening eating Polish food, dancing, enjoying the carnival & fireworks.  The girls were quite happy to be a part of the hustle & bustle.

Upon entering, we saw the sign with directions to the Polish Tent. That is all we needed…..we headed straight there to load up on pierogis & kielbasa while taking in some Polska by the Polish Dukes. I picked the title “Who stole the kishka?” because that is one of my favorite polish songs from a cd we bought for Pierogi Day a couple years ago. When I think about polish music, that song immediately comes to mind. Just for the record, a kishka is a polish sausage.

The music was fabulous, as expected & it didn’t take long for Char & Elo to busta move on the dance floor. Charlotte’s favorite move was twirling while Elo preferred to put her head to the ground & look between her legs.  Gigi joined in the fun & danced with both little ladies. I looked at Rob, pointed at the three polish chicks (Gigi, Char & Elo) & said “this is why I came.”  I would make that trip a million times over to see that Great Grandma teaching my girls to love Polish music!
Friday night was really the first time that Eloise was walking well while holding Charlotte’s hand. They walked all over the dance floor together & it pretty much melted my heart. I love this new phase of playing together with Elo on two feet.

Rob got some sweet Elo snuggles for a minute after dinner while she tried on his hat…..

Charlotte LOVED watching all the old cars enter. There had to be at least 100 if not more.  She waved at every single one & was deeply offended if no one waved back at her. If I am going to be honest, I was a little offended too as I watched a very eager 3 year old wave with all her might at a person who just stared right past her ; ) Thankfully there were some nice people that waved back & made her night.
Since we had so much fun on Friday night, we went back for more on Saturday!  Our first stop was around 8:30am. Rob dropped me off & I ran to the hill to stake out a good spot for viewing the firework show.  I laid out our blankets & hopped back in the car.  That evening, we made a bee line for the Polish Tent for more pierogis & dancing.

Elo baby got her hair all done up in pigtails for the first time. It was pretty darn cute : )

Gigi & the girls enjoyed some more dancing…..

Then we headed over to the carnival.  Rob remembered many of the rides as ones he rode as a kid at Homecoming : ) Char had a great time on the motorcycle, the wild gator rollercoaster & this rope thing she climbed up to a big slide.  Baby sis took a break in the stroller.

I was SO happy to have Virginia’s neighbors Grace & Emma with us to ride with Charlotte on a few rides. In the picture below, you can see “Mac & Cheese Slinger” in the background. Unfortunately Charlotte had to have someone over 18 with her on this one since it was missing seatbelts.  I was the only adult that paid to have a bracelet…..I was stuck with a decision to make.  Tell all three girls I am a wimp & hate spinny rides or suck it up & be a cool mom.  So, long story short, I made the wrong decision & hopped onto a bowl of mac & cheese with two silly almost tweens & a three year old who had too much sugar in her system.  I warned them that they shouldn’t make it spin anymore than it would on its own. Did they listen? NO WAY! I thought I was going to throw up all over them.  That should have been my first sign of thinking I could be pregnant ; ) Most of those rides seem very short for the amount you pay for a bracelet but not this one! They made sure we got to go around at least 150 times. It really makes me nauseated just thinking about it!

I really needed a break after the spinning so we headed over to one of the tents just as it started raining.  It was Meryl’s birthday & we had plans to celebrate! Rob & I picked up a couple mini cakes at a bakery that morning so we packed them in an ice chest.  We put Grace & Emma in charge of distracted their mom until we could get the cakes out & candle lit.  They did a fine job & Meryl was very surprised! We sang happy birthday & then enjoyed some delicious cookies & cream cake.

I love these three! Meryl’s husband died when the girls were about 3 & 1 if I remember correctly. They have grown up with a strong mother who loves them dearly & is doing an incredible job shaping these young ladies into kind, thoughtful & confident people. Virginia has really gotten to play an honorary Grandma kind of role living next door.  She & Meryl have a great friendship & the girls love spending time in Virginia’s home. I SO wish I could transplant them right next door to me!

Once the lightning stopped & the carnival was re-opened, Charlotte was reminding me about how she wanted to ride the big circle that goes up high…..aka the Ferris Wheel.  She had never ridden one before & I don’t think I have ridden one since Rob & I were dating.  She did not mind at all that we had to wait in line for a good 25 minutes before boarding our little cart. I LOVED IT! It was one of those sweet moments of enjoying your child delighting in a new experience. Oh she was SO cute & seemed like such a big girl.


The sun had pretty much set by the time we got off the Ferris Wheel so we headed over to meet Rob, Elo & Gigi at our blanket.  We were still a whole hour away from the fireworks but there was a band playing & glowsticks every where so the girls were content.  Char relaxed on the quilt next to Gigi while the band played. I love the picture below even though it is dark….

The fireworks put on at Homecoming are spectacular! They really are better than Disney & they go on for a good 30-40 minutes keeping our attention captured. At one point, I had Eloise in the Ergo & Charlotte was laid across my lap. “God Bless the USA” was blaring as we sang along & I looked over at Rob & we just smiled.  When we visited here last in 2006, we did many of the same things including the Homecoming Fireworks. It was that weekend that we made the decision to start pursuing having a child.  I have it written in my journal a description of how excited we felt & how it seemed the whole rest of our lives was before us. I know I pictured that I would have a baby I could bring back the following year.  We definitely could not have known the road ahead or the joy we would experience in our first return to Homecoming in 2012 with a story of God’s faithfulness & two girls in tow.  It was a memorable moment & then a few weeks later, we find out that I not only had two girls in my arms but twins growing in my womb? Oh my, that just topped it off : )

Here is a picture of us at Homecoming in 2006 with Grace & Emma. I am almost positive that spending time with these two adorable girls that week played into our increased desire for starting to grow our family. They were precious then & are precious now!

This was the best we could do for a family photo.  It was so loud we couldn’t get Eloise’s attention.

All said & done, we were worn out by the time fireworks were over. We got in the car to head back to the house & the skies opened up with rain! We got home, bathed the girls, Rob loaded the car with what seemed like two times what we brought & we got on the road.  21 hours later, we made it Orlando! It was a wonderful time in Dearborn & we can hardly wait to return. Virginia is going to have to get a couple sets of bunk beds ; )