My Ballerina Cowgirl

 ... Or cowgirl ballerina?
Either way, I love it.
And her.

You've seen a couple of shots from this day ... and here are the rest!
I love these because they are SO HER at this age and stage. :-)

So girly and such a princess ... yet so carefree and such an outdoor-lovin' girl, too.

Here's my big four-year-old!
The Ballerina Cowgirl.

This is the wallpaper on my computer ... best buddies.

Love it. :-)

 Just try to tell me she's not cute ... :)~ 

(I mean, I know I'm a little biased, but c'mon!)

Giving Bubba a kiss through the fence ....

Three of my favorite things ... my little girl, my horse, and my dog. ;-)

THE BOOTS.

Yep, I'm making up for a lack of Lucy photos over the past several months!

That should be sufficient for a while. 

Or at least, for today. :-)

Baby Update: 36 Weeks!

I'm throwing my usual "baby update format" out the window this week because ....
Well.  Just because.

But here's your picture -- and PROOF -- that I'm now officially NINE MONTHS pregnant!!!
WOOT!

At the end of this week, lil' Max will be considered "full term".  Such a huge relief to be at this point!!!
This past week or so, I've spent so much time thinking back to the beginning of this pregnancy.
The initial SHOCK.  I repeat SHOCK -- that I was actually pregnant...
...after 9 months prior, when the fertility doctor told us he didn't have an explanation for how we already HAD a child (Lucy), and that we had about a one-in-a-million chance of having another without the most complex (and expensive!) form of IVF procedure (ICSI).
(And we gave up.)
And then the many complications and scary moments that accompanied those first few months.
Multiple trips to the hospital for emergency ultrasounds.
Blood tests ... and more blood tests.
Progesterone suppositories.  TWICE A DAY.
Ugh!
Spotting, spotting, and more spotting.
Tears, tears, and more tears.
Meltdown after meltdown.
Being in constant fear.

In fact .... I realized about a week ago ... I had FINALLY stopped checking the tissue after using the bathroom with dread at what I might see.

Phew!
Deep breath.
This has been quite the journey.

Overwhelming - in both happy AND sad ways - to almost be at the end of my second miracle pregnancy.

Meanwhile .... Max is now the size of a bowling ball (and it kinda feels like I'm lugging around a bowling ball, too!:)~  He's been head-down for a while now, and his little bum seems to be a couple of inches lower the last few days ... (I don't find myself pushing it down out of my ribs anymore!:-)
I've been having a lot of cramping and contractions, and I'm anxious for my doctor's appointment on Friday to see if all of that has resulted in any dilating yet.  (I dilated super-early with Lucy, too, so it wouldn't be very surprising - or alarming!:-)

The nursery is officially DONE (minus the last big project I keep mentioning).  I've actually decided to give up on that project for now, so I WILL be posting his nursery pictures within the next week, I PROMISE.
Max's diaper bag is packed.
My hospital bag is half-packed.
I plan on installing the car seat this week.
It feels good to be almost-ready!

Now ... the question is ... will there be a 38-week update!?!
I would assume so, but I guess we never know!
Stay tuned ..... :-)

And also, stay tuned for the nursery reveal, Lucy's cowgirl birthday party pics, and a few other things!
(IF I can get myself motivated to post them all this week!  Sure gonna try!:-)
See you soon!

Happy 4th Birthday, Lucy!

Well ... it's getting late, but I didn't want to let the night end without a quick post (for my own sake) recognizing the 4th birthday of my most favorite girl ... my little Lucy Lu!

I say this every year ... but I don't know where time has gone.
I remember 10/27/2008 at 6:20 a.m. as if it was 15 seconds ago.
The best moment of my whole life, by a long shot.

And the craziest part is .... little did I know then that I would love her MORE the next day .... and MORE the next day .... and MORE the next day (and you get the idea), which means that today -- 4 years later -- I love her 1,460 times more than I did then.

Though I don't know how you could possibly measure.

I love this little girl so much it's indescribable.
(I know every mom out there feels the same, and yet -- somehow -- I don't believe it.)
(Every mom probably feels that way, too.:)~

This fourth year with Lucy has been even better than the third (and the third was better than the second ... and the second was better than the first).
I guess because of the aforementioned loving her 1,460 times more today thing ....?  
I really don't know.
But somehow, it just seems to get MORE fun and MORE special every year.

(And yes, it terrifies me that at some point, I fear this pattern will stop -- or reverse.)

Lucy is such a special girl.  And not just to us, her parents -- but to most people who know her -- (and I believe ALL people who REALLY know her.)
She exudes joy and happiness.  She is SO funny and entertaining.  She is sweet and considerate.
(Most of the time.)

She loves to sing and dance.  She loves to play dress up.  She loves to "bake" in her kitchen.  She loves to bake with ME in the (real) kitchen -- and especially with Nana in Nana's kitchen.  She loves to be outside.  She loves her animals (stuffed AND real:)~.  She loves playing with her friends and going to church and being the center of attention.

I know this next year, that whole "being the center of attention thing" will come to an end.  She'll have to share the spotlight a little bit with her new baby brother.
It makes me sad in ways, to think that next year - on her FIFTH birthday - my time with her will have been so much less, because it will have been shared.
(I know that sounds silly.)

I have SO LOVED spending every single day with JUST my little Lucy.
How blessed we have been to have these four whole years, JUST US.
Thinking back over the last three years, and the infertility struggles we have endured ... I am humbled to realize that God's plan was so much better.  (Of course it was!)

Thank you, Lord!  For this amazing miracle (that we didn't even KNOW was such a miracle to begin with!).  And for four of the best, most special years imaginable.

If I could rewind backwards four years and do it all over again ... I would do it in a heartbeat.
So I could soak it all in even more....
My best four years.

I love you, Lucy.  To the moon and back a million times ... and then some more.

Meet Zip!

We recently added to the family!
No, not with a baby (yet!) ... but with a new horse.

Lucy has been talking about wanting "her own" horse quite a lot lately ... and we needed another kid-safe, (and husband-safe!) horse around here, anyway!
Zip kind of fell into my lap.
(Not literally, thankfully!:)~

So ... we surprised Lucy a couple of weekends back.
"Zip" came from about 6 hours away.  The former owners brought her 5 1/2 of those hours .... so we only had to travel about a half-hour to go get her (while Lucy stayed at Nana's house).

(PREPARE FOR PHOTO-OVERLOAD!)

Here she is walking into the barn after we told her we had a surprise for her ...

 And peeking into Zip's stall with Daddy ...

 Hooray!  It was love at first sight! :-)

She couldn't wait to get up there!

(And somewhere along the way, she snagged Daddy's hat, too ... :)~

It was dark out by the time we brought Zip home (in the photos above), so we had to wait until the next morning to take her out and let her run around a little bit.

....Welcome home, Zip!

Zip is an 11-year-old Paint.  SUPER sweet and gentle.

And then Dani came over to go for a ride!
(I obviously can't ride while 9 months pregnant!)

Lucy helped me saddle her up.
(Well, mostly she just hugged her leg!)

Zip doesn't seem to mind the hugs! :-)

(When I asked Lucy if it would be okay if Dani came over to ride her horse, Lucy replied with ... "well, if she bes verrrrry careful, she can!")

 For the first five minutes Dani was on Zip, all we heard from Lucy was ... "Mama, can I ride now?  Can I ride YET?  I can't wait!"

 I'm pretty sure she didn't stop smiling the whole ride. :-)

(Sorry .... lots of pictures .... but I just love them all!:-)

(Thanks, Dani .... for walking around and around and around ..... and around the arena!)

I think Zip is going to be the perfect equine addition to the family.  (So far, so good!)
Lucy is loving "taking care" of her and giving her treats every day.
And Zip seems to love Lucy about as much as Lucy loves her!

I'm sure there will be many more "Lucy & Zip" pictures in the years to come!
Next item on the agenda:  finding a saddle where Lucy's feet come somewhere close to the stirrups!:)~

**If you haven't entered the Shabby Apple gift card giveaway ... please click HERE to do so!  The lucky winner will be announced Friday morning!!!

Shabby Apple - $50 GIFT CARD GIVEAWAY!

Hey friends ...
I have a special treat for you today!
If you've been hanging around Little Lucy Lu for long, you know I have a great love for the online women's boutique, Shabby Apple.
Their vintage-inspired dresses are casual yet professional and wearable for just about any occasion you can think of -- including general, everyday life! :-)

Let me show you some of my current favorites:

Blue Eyes

Bampton

Conductor

Night Train

Whistlestop

Are those gorgeous, or what!?!
I'm telling you .... they have a dress for every body shape and style.
And the best part is -- they have EXTRA-fabulous customer service, with a super-helpful fit guide, live chat option ... AND if you order the wrong size, simply send it back and they'll send you another one with NO shipping costs!

So .... which one are you going to order if you win this $50 GIFT CARD???

To enter the giveaway, please use the Rafflecopter box below.
You MUST "like" Shabby Apple's Facebook page in order to win.
For ADDITIONAL entries, you can leave a comment here, telling me which is your FAVORITE Shabby Apple dress ...... AND you can "like" Little Lucy Lu on Facebook!
(You can have up to THREE entries if you do all three of these things!)

The winner will be announced next Friday, one week from today!
GOOD LUCK!
(P.S. If you have trouble figuring out the Rafflecopter box ... let me know, and I'll help you out as best I can!:-)

a Rafflecopter giveaway