BGT...#2

Yep... that means exactly what you think it means. Baby GIRL Takekawa is well on her way, and expected to arrive around January 16, 2016!!

Tommy and I just found out a few days ago what the baby's gender is. I know people love waiting to find out when the baby is born, but I have a hard time understanding why. I've had a perma-grin on my face since the moment I found out. Knowing we have a sweet little baby girl on her way brings me so much joy! And what a surprise it was.

A few months prior to me getting pregnant I had this vision that I'd be having another daughter next. And then I got pregnant. Read the Chinese Birth Chart. And Heard the Baby's Slower-Than-Emi's heartbeat for the first time. And I started to think- this must be a boy?! And then my friend's three year old told me it was a boy. And according to this boy's parents- he has never been wrong. So for the next 16 weeks I walked around beyond confident that I'd be having a little boy. So when Emi opened up the envelope and read the letters to us (kind of) and revealed it was a girl- well, I don't think I've ever been so surprised.

Now Tommy and I have all the confidence in the world. We know how to raise girls. BGT's birth date is just a few weeks before Emi's birthday, so we are pretty much ready for her arrival. I know exactly what to expect from my second daughter- sleeping through the night at 10 weeks, easy-going personality, beautiful dark hair and olive skin, and the sweetest personality in the world right?! I mean we are all exactly like our older siblings so I don't know why this wouldn't be true for us.

We are so looking forward to our life as a family of four. And Emi is living up the rest of her life as a single child. Her requests to be carried are suddenly being fulfilled (before we'd tell her to walk but knowing our arms are going to be full again soon as gotten us to soften up and lug her around) and a nice trip to the Dominican Republic this Fall as a finally hooray for our family of three!

Life.Is.Good.

The Five Minute Rule

Lately I've been feeling incredibly inefficient. Between Bravo having some especially good seasons of The Real Housewives and summer laziness... I just haven't gotten a thing done.

As I was sitting on the couch the other day (watching Bravo Tv) thinking about how I should get laundry, cleaning, work, shopping done I remembered an incredibly brilliant rule a friend had told me about several years ago. The Five Minute Rule. Here it is in a nutshell- if the task that needs to be done can be done in less than five minutes- do it now.

I have been employing this rule lately, and I am amazed at how many tasks can get done in less than five minutes each. And honestly, once you get a few tasks done in a few minutes one of two things happens: 1) you feel so motivated at how much you have already gotten done and forge through the remainder of your to do list; or 2) feel so accomplished that you quit your to do list and enjoy the rest of your afternoon and evening guilt-free! Win-win either way.

As for the tasks that take more than 5 minutes. Well, those are a struggle. Currently I'm removing them from my to do list and placing them on my husband's. The tasks still aren't getting done, but they are off my list.