7 Quick Takes: I Wrote this Post at 4:00am

1. I write the best blog posts in the middle of the night. Well, I can't say if this is "great blog post" worthy just yet because I haven't actually typed anything, but my brain seems to free-flow words when all is quiet and that's what I'm saying. At 3:30am this morning, I was jolted awake by a killer charley horse in my left leg. Anyone else get those when you're pregnant? THE WORST. I finally got out of bed to walk it off and had a major coughing attack in the process. My noise woke Tory up, which woke Andi up, and then we were all up from 4:00am - 6:00am. Fun times. The good news is, I thought about lots of things to blog about while I was snuggling Tory back to sleep.

2. Did I mention all three of us are sick this week? I'd like to say Tory and I caught a summer cold from my little niece, Brooke, last week (because she had a cold and repeatedly kept drinking out of my water bottle despite my requests for her not to do so), but honestly we could've picked up a bug from a variety of places including the germy airport, a restaurant, or from someone else. I started to feel crummy last Saturday at the cabin while Andi's sister and her boyfriend were visiting and I felt super guilty for being a lousy host but I just did not feel up to extra cooking, cleaning up, bonfires, etc. Judging by Tory's constant meltdowns, insistence on me carrying her at all times and her poor sleep, she obviously wasn't feeling up to snuff either. There's nothing worse than being sick when you're pregnant - nothing. (Ok, well maybe those charley horses....) Andi came down with the same cold on Monday and well, it's no barrel of monkeys when we're all sick.

3. I'm 24 weeks pregnant this week which is just crazy to me. SIX MONTHS PREGNANT?! When did that happen? Aside from the leg cramps and occasional heartburn, I'm feeling pretty good lately. Baby Boy is moving around more everyday and it's comforting to know he's doing okay in there. Hard to believe he'll be here in 16-ish more weeks.

4. Six months pregnant must be the beginning of the nesting phase. I've been on a mission this week to start the big "play musical chairs with all the rooms in our house" project which eventually equals the completion of Aden's nursery. First up, our home office which we hardly ever use is getting the boot and will become the kids new playroom. Once the new playroom is complete, I can move all the toys to that room which will empty our current play room (which is Aden's future nursery) and then I can start decorating his room. Andi and I decided to use our existing crib and changing table/dresser for Aden which means Tory will need a new big girl bed in her room. She's about two shakes away from learning how to climb out of her crib, so this change is inevitable but I'm dreading it nonetheless. I am 100% confident we'll have a difficult time keeping her in bed as the girl climbs EVERYTHING. She can climb in and out of our fairly-high queen-size bed with no issue whatsoever.

So, in simple terms: home office become future play room // old play room become future nursery with Tory's baby furniture // Tory moves to a big girl bedroom set. That should be no problem to knock out in the next 16 weeks, right?

5. Andi and I have been going back and forth about what type of bedroom furniture to get for Tory. Toddler bed or twin? That is the question. A toddler bed is obviously the cheaper option, but Tory will only be able to use it for a short time. A cheap toddler bed doesn't include a dresser, so we'll have to pick up one of those as well or move all her things inside the closet. On the other hand, it might make more sense to just buy her a twin bed with rails that includes a dresser and night stand. I like the looks of those options better than the cheap toddler beds. Plus, let's face it, there will be many solo parenting nights ahead where I'm putting Tory to bed with a newborn in my arms so it'd be convenient to lay down with her to read stories, etc. We have a few more weeks to decide, I guess.

6. I made this trail mix for the cabin a few weeks ago, and it was so tasty and easy. I love that you just toss various items together without any real baking and there's something for everyone (salty and sweet) included. I'm planning to make it again for this weekend at the cabin when my best friends Ashley, Val and their families come to visit.

7. Our fourth wedding anniversary is next Wednesday and Andi's going to be out of town for it. I bounce between feeling super bummed he'll be out of town on our anniversary and completely understanding he has to work. Gone are the days we jet-setted to Vancouver or Vail, right? We're a grown-up old married couple now. We are planning to go out to dinner somewhere here in town in mid-August to celebrate and visiting the gardens where we were married. Guess we'll have to save up all our adventurous juices for the big FIVE next year.