I’m back, if you noticed I was absent

I don’t know why I haven’t blogged lately. I think sometimes there is just too much to blog about and it’s too overwhelming to narrow it down and focus on one thing. But atlas, my floors need cleaning and Ella’s taking a nap and I really don’t want to clean my floors.

My new niece entered the world last week (yay!) unfortunately while I was away on my trip (boo) but I got to see her about three days later and she’s a little doll. Tiny with lots of black hair. And the labor went so well, and it seems as if the mommy and daddy are adjusting well to life with two kids. This simultaneously eases my worries about my upcoming due date and scares the bejeezus out of me. I mean, can we all be so lucky? This may mean that I’ll be the one who’s in labor for 36 hours while my oldest child is deep in the trenches of her terrible twos. Otherwise I’m staying extremely positive.

So, anyway, I guess I’ll just touch on a few things as of late …

1. Our trip was really nice. That Opryland hotel is quite amazing. Ella really loved the boat ride through it, taking the shuttle bus to the mall, riding the train and the carousel at the mall, and our really nice Lincoln car that we rented to take there. I guess she pretty much likes any kind of ride. I thought it was really funny when we got back and while riding in my car she said “I want to ride in the Lincoln!” I said “Me too, Ella. Me too.”

2. I did manage to ruin my new phone on my trip. I don’t want to really get into details, and it’s already been replaced. But it was a few long days without it. I’ve already grown so fond of having Internet and e-mail and instant messaging all on my phone all the time.

3. Ella did pretty well going to the potty on our trip. She would actually tell us when she had to go and we would pull over for her. I did have her in pull-ups the whole time because I was way too nervous of the site of poop in public at some fabulous restaurant or shop in Nashville. And she did have a few accidents but, pretty good.

OK, that’s all I really feel like writing for now … but stay tuned, we’ll know little baby’s gender in exactly ONE week from today! A lot of us seem to be guessing boy now.