Coordinates (31,30)

Judah's 3!

2011-12-28T19:58:00.009-06:00

My dear Judah is THREE years old! Yesterday was his birthday - I can still clearly remember the day he was born and the time that followed...my little man was born 4 weeks early and spent 9 days in NICU. It's hard to believe that was THREE years ago!

Since his birthday is right after Christmas (the 27th sneaks up fast) we tend to keep his actual birthday low-key and spread out his celebrations after Christmas. He has a birthday party this Sunday and another one next Saturday. Lucky kid - he gets four weekends with presents (two for Christmas and two for his birthday!)

On Monday (day after Christmas, day before his birthday) Joe and I went shopping for his present. A few weeks ago Ethan made a pop-up book for Judah and had it wrapped and hidden under the table - he was so excited to give it to him!

Here's Ethan proudly showing Judah his gift - I wished I would've thought to record their interactions; it was ADORABLE.

Ethan: Judah, I made you a pop-up book!

Judah: Thank you Ethan!

Ethan: You're welcome.

Seriously.
Joe and I wrapped our gift in a Captain America bag - Judah loves the bag almost as much as the gift. Simple things right?
We got him a Green Lantern Jet and Action Figure - he LOVES it.
We also found a 'Golden Books' book about Super-Heros! Score! I think I've read it to him about 100 times so far.
After a relatively normal day we went out as a family to IHOP for a special birthday dinner! Yum! Judah was so excited and acted all big-boy while ordering his food. I love that IHOP puts their kids meal options in picture form on their kids coloring page - GENIUS. Why don't other places do that? It was so simple to have the kids look at the pictures and choose from that. The boys even had ice cream sundaes as a special birthday dessert:)

We had a wonderful birthday-day as a family!

Check out his 2nd birthday here

Check out his 1st birthday here

*I was reading through my older posts and in one of them I have 8 days in NICU and the other 9 days...when do you start counting...the day he was born or the next day? He was born Saturday and discharged the following Sunday (you count Saturday it's 9 days, don't count Saturday it's 8)

Snowless Christmas?

2011-12-22T19:51:00.006-06:00

It appears that we may have a snowless Christmas this year (granted I can't recall the last time I watched the weather forecast...but there's no snow on the ground and Christmas is this weekend!)

Remember our HUGE snowstorm last year? I do. And for some reason this year I'm not loving the idea of that MUCH snow...maybe it's because I now have THREE kiddos to haul through it if I venture out. It's fun to play in but not so fun to drive in.

We had some snow a while ago (which obviously melted) and the boys had a ball in it. So, I guess for their sake maybe (just maybe) I'll wish for snow this winter....too bad it's inevitable! Here's some super cute pics of them enjoying the little bit of whiteness we've received this year...

Aren't those mini-snowmen adorable? Yep. I guess I'll embrace the silver lining of winter snow and think of all the cute snowmen and snow angels my kids will make. Way to go me!

We're getting ready for a fun-family-filled Christmas weekend; there will be lots of delicious food and fabulous company! Hope you all have a wonderful weekend:)

Loving

2011-12-13T22:14:00.004-06:00

Judah loves to love on his baby brother! It's adorable...Judah takes his job of 'big brother' very seriously! He loves to make Isaac smile, give him his paci, tell him "it's ok buddy boy" and inform me when Isaac needs to eat!

Way to go Judah!

Monkey's

2011-12-08T15:09:00.004-06:00

I have two monkey's on my hands....very creative little monkey's! The other night Ethan and Judah flipped over our bowl chair and re-purposed it as an 'exercise bar' -- they would hang on it and proclaim, "look at me! I'm exercising!" Little monkey loves to mimic big monkey...Judah could actually hold his weight up! Strong guy:)
Tag Team! My little crazies:) I love 'em to pieces!
Sadly, their 'exercise' time ended as a result of them arguing about who's turn it was....classic right? Hopefully next time they can play nice and take turns! What a fun skill to learn....:)

I'm always impressed with the creative things my big boys come up with!

Just Like Mama

2011-12-05T14:02:00.008-06:00

My big boys love to imitate me; it's absolutely adorable! You can totally tell what they watch all day (ME) - Copying is a form of flattering right? something like that...

I made (ie: cut and tied long pieces of fabric together) WRAPS for my big boys. They see me 'wear' Isaac in my Moby and like to 'wear' their babies (Judah's Panda and Ethan's Bear)

Ethan will wear his Bear for hours at a time! It's too stinkin' cute.

I haven't gotten a picture of this yet - but Judah likes to nurse his Panda -- I've (tried to) explain that only mama's can nurse babies...I think he gets it:)

On another Judah note: we've been potty training on-and-off for a loooong time with him and it just wasn't sticking...well folks - IT STUCK! Hooray! We're on day FOUR of underwear all day and he's even doing his 'business' in the toilet (BM!) Hip Hip Hooray! I do a little happy dance every time I realize what is happening:) It's been a long road with him. Major humbling experience for me as a mom....Ethan literally trained HIMSELF at 2.5 years old. seriously. So, I figured all my kids would be potty pros at a young age - insert sweet mr. Judah:) He still got it before 3 though so that's good...his birthday is in 3 weeks! He is SOO proud of himself - he tells everyone that he's in underwear and that he goes 'bubbles' in the toilet - only a toddler could get away with that kind of talk right?

Well, my little babe Isaac is calling my name (waaaaa-waaaa)

Blog to ya later.....

my babies...

2011-11-22T21:51:00.002-06:00

...look so alike! I love it:) Joe and I were browsing through old baby pics of our kids and commented how much Isaac looks like baby Judah!

Can you tell which is which? Probably not since I haven't posted many pictures of Isaac yet:) Top one is Judah and bottom is Isaac - you can definitely tell they're brothers! Now I need to find a baby pic of Ethan with his head facing that way....

My baby is doing wonderful; he had his 2 month check (already?!) and is a superstar baby!

Stats:

Height - 1' 9.25" (3.94%)

Weight - 9 lb 11 oz (10.21%) WOW! good eater I guess:)

Head Circumference - 38 cm (12.22%)

All our kids have big heads so that was no surprise...but 10th% for weight? Way to go Isaac! We make tiny kids *case and point: Judah's 18 month stats.... 0.78%? Judah's been moving up the percentile ladder though - he'll have his THREE year check (seriously?) soon and we'll what his new stats are!

Life is good. Busy. Tiring. Rewarding. Exhausting and energizing all at once. Totally worth it!

Recently

2011-11-19T09:27:00.003-06:00

Recently...there has been lots of baby kissing....
....lots of brotherly love...
...and lots of family cuddles!
Off to feed my sweet baby:)

This and That

2011-11-10T14:01:00.003-06:00

Wow I'm bad at keeping up on this thing! I think of wonderful ideas for posts and have ALL these adorable pictures to put up...but they're not on here. Instead of that here's a sampling of this-n-that of happenings around here!

*Isaac will be 8 (EIGHT!!?) weeks this Saturday! Wow. I know with each kid times seems to go faster but mr. Isaac is in hyper-speed! I'm making sure to take time to sit and stare at my baby - he sure is a cutie! Those dishes can wait:)

*Isaac is now smiling! We haven't gotten a picture of it yet - soon! I love the 'happy eyes' that accompany his smiles:)

*I am now a certified group fitness instructor! I went to a 3 day (came home at night) training last weekend and passed both my written exam and audition. I pumped for 3 weeks prior to make sure I had enough breast milk for Isaac and I had MORE than enough! Whew. I was worried about that. I brought my pump with as to keep my milk supply up (and keep me more comfortable!) - success! Isaac latched right on when I came home in the evening and we're back to our normal routine as if nothing changed:) score!

*It's starting to get cold. brrrrrr. I'm not a fan of winter or being cold; we went to Target today and I put the boys in their winter coats - I'm sooo not ready for this! I guess it makes me appreciate our wonderful Spring, Summer and Fall we get - silver lining? I'll call it that:)

*Isaac got weighed last week and he's already 8 lbs 12 oz! WOW! This kid likes to eat:) I don't know how I'm going to handle carrying the bucket seat this winter - my right arm is going to be stinkin' strong!

*Isaac still likes to party with me at night....aka: he doesn't like to sleep more than 2-3 hours at a time at night. It'll come with time....right? right. My other boys didn't sleep chunks at night for a few months (Ethan is was TEN months before he slept through the night....come on Isaac - show up your brother!) Thankfully when Isaac wakes at night it's to nurse then he's right back to sleep. Not too bad.

*The big boys are doing AWESOME adjusting the Isaac. It's almost like he's always been here:) We're getting our groove down for daily stuff (getting ready in the morning, going into stores, making dinner, etc) and the big boys are doing wonderfully:) They love it when Isaac is awake and makes little noises (not crying of course!)

*I have a TON of ADORABLE pictures I need to post. I've been using Joe's Mac and (sadly) don't know how to load my pictures on here...so I need Joe's help. Hopefully soon I'll get them on here and show you all how stinking cute my kiddos are!

Long and Short

2011-10-28T15:04:00.004-05:00

I can't believe it's been over a week (ha..almost 2) since I posted last - hence my title "long and short"...

My days seem so long...they start early with Isaac (or rather go throughout the night!) and is a marathon with my active big boys and ends late with mr. Isaac....they seem so long! Then I stop and realize - it's FRIDAY ALREADY? Wasn't it JUST Friday? Yep. The weeks are flying by.

Long days. Short weeks. Lack of blog posts and updates. Oops.

So here's some updates in no particular order:

*Isaac is CUTE as ever. We're anxiously awaiting the first awake smile (we've seen plenty of sleepy gas smiles:)

*Isaac loves to nurse! We're still working on the love of sleeping:) He's had a handful of good nights (aka: 4 hr stretch of sleeping) but as soon as I brag about it he reverts to the good ole wake-every-two-hour deal. ick.

*Judah's working on potty training - we tried while I was pregnant but as my belly got bigger my motivation to 'train' him got smaller. Ah well. He's doing really well this time around! He's awesome at staying dry but hasn't mastered the BM part of it...at all. GROSS. It'll happen though!

*Judah's vocab is increasing everyday - I LOVE hearing all the things that float through a 2.5yo mind. I love listen in on Ethan and Judah chatting in their room...precious!

*Ethan is growing up too fast. His thought processes on things are super impressive! He loves to ask questions and learn new things. Our 'Preschool' is going well - we're working on letters, phonics, patterns, and whatever else Ethan shows interest in!

*Ethan informed us that when he grows up he's going to be an 'animal rescuer' but he won't rescue scary animals. He also informed us that this is going to happen when he's FIVE. So..in his brain FIVE = grown up. I guess that makes me ancient:)

I'm loving this crazy time with a preschooler, toddler and newborn! There are times when the days feel so LONG but then I remind myself how FAST the weeks/months are going and don't want to wish this time away...so I'm gonna embrace these long days and (try to) ENJOY them:)

Time

2011-10-15T18:19:00.005-05:00

Time is flying - my baby is now 4 weeks old! Oy. It's 6:20pm as I type this and at 6:24pm precious Isaac was born! It feels like yesterday and it also feels like forever ago...crazy how that works!

My baby is four weeks old and I am very sick. Sick with a nasty head cold. boo. Clogged sinuses, scratchy throat, chills, ickiness. I had big plans to write up a sentimental 4 week post with recent pics of the babe but....aint gonna happen. I will show you some cute pics from a week ago!My three beautiful boys hanging out together! The big boys are loving little Isaac - they love to watch his random movements and exclaim "Isaac touched my nose!" - "Isaac touched my hand!" oh the little joys in life:) We went to an apple orchard last week for my moms birthday - it was a BEAUTIFUL day out! Like 80's in October with no humidity...pinch me. Of course we had to try for a decent family picture - cuz that's what you do when you're outside and it's nice out:)

Here's hoping that my body kicks this cold soon and that no one else catches it! Joe's had (what seems to be the same sickness) a few weeks ago so hopefully he's safe...and Isaac should be safe from my breastmilk...right? So, to try and keep two toddlers away from my germs and keep them washing their hands - I'll let you know how that goes:)

Stats and Brotherly Love

2011-09-29T19:53:00.006-05:00

Isaac had his 'one-week' appointment today - even though he's almost 2 weeks old:) He passed with flying colors!

His birth weight was 6lbs 3 oz and measured 18 inchesToday he weighed in at 6lb 7 oz! He was discharged at 5lb 12oz - our doc was very pleased with his weight gain over the past 1.5 weeks - way to go my little eater:) Today he measured 18.5 inches...either he's grown 0.5 inch or they were able to stretch his little froggy legs out more - gotta love the curled legs!

My little man was wide awake through his whole appointment - what a show off! He's been on a kick of sleeping all day and being awake *most of* the night - ugh. For the past hour or so Isaac's been awake...I'm hoping that means he'll sleep better tonight!

The big boys are really warming up to Isaac - they love to hold him and try to calm him down when he's crying. My biggest boy, Ethan, has the magic touch!The past few times Isaac's been really fussy Ethan will asked to hold him - the first time he asked I figured Ethan would get frustrated if Isaac didn't stop crying (and I wasn't anticipating that Isaac would calm down - he was crying HARD!) -- lo and behold as soon as I put Isaac in Ethan's arms (with my hand holding baby's neck) and Ethan started talking...he STOPPED! He stopped crying and stared at Ethan!

Now every time Isaac is crying Ethan wants to hold him and if I let him 99% of the time Isaac stops crying! Who knows...maybe he remembers Ethan's voice from inside my womb:)

Judah loves to get in on the brother holding action too....too cute! I love that my big boys love my littlest boy:)

And for your viewing pleasure - here's my baby wide awake!

Isaac's Entrance

2011-09-23T15:21:00.005-05:00

I finally found myself a few extra minutes to write down dear Isaac's birth story....enjoy!

My first two labors/deliveries were very FAST so I was (with good reason I think) anticipating the same with this one. That said - the last 2+ weeks of my pregnancy I was very 'aware' of my body and every time I would have consistent Braxton Hicks I would worry (excited-ly of course!) that it was it and plan out how I would manage a fast delivery with 2 kids etc...

After 2 false alarms of thinking I was in labor and then it wasn't I began to throw caution to the window and 'ignore' (as much as you can) my Braxton Hicks and try to go about life as usual.

At my 39 week appointment my midwife (who was VERY surprised I hadn't delivered my baby yet!) swept my membranes (again..I had it done at 38 weeks too) and said I was dilated to 2+cm and she would be surprised if I didn't have this baby soon. Trying not to get my hopes up I went about my day - and the next day - and the next day.....

On Friday (my 39 week appointment was Wednesday) I started to spot a little...hooray! Always a good sign (it means you're dilating!) and tried again not to get my hopes up. I went about my normal Friday - went to tutor math (College Calc and Pre-Calc...no biggie in pre-labor right? ;) and came home. Around dinner time I noticed my 'Braxton Hicks' were starting to feel a little different....not harder or more painful just different. I told my mom (who was at my house watching the big boys while I tutored math) and I talked to Joe. We decided we better be safe and sent the kids home with my mom for the night...just in case. Still my Braxton Hicks/contractions weren't hurting or anything but we all knew how fast I went with the other two.

I had Joe pick up Chipotle for dinner - partially because it sounded good and partially because we have quite a few friends that swear Chipotle pushed them over the edge into labor. We enjoyed our delicious dinner and went for a walk. My non-hurting-contractions were still there about 10 minutes apart and we were just waiting for them to start hurting and get closer together. We went to bed and I told Joe I'd wake him if anything changed. I woke up quite a few times in the night to time them (still not hurting - still trying not to get my hopes up that it was the real deal) and they were still 10 minutes apart.

Fast forward to morning - we got up - got dressed - etc and headed out. Did lots of walking trying to get my contractions (that didn't hurt still) to start hurting. I think it's funny how I was trying to inflict pain on myself! We walked and walked and walked. Walked the mall - walked stairs - had an Orange Julius (MMmmm) and sat down to discus what we should do. I had been timing them on my handy iPod Touch and we reviewed the times - every 5 minutes for an hour lasting a minute each. Textbook for when to go in. We all know the 511 rule right? 5 min apart. Lasting 1 min each. For an hour? That's where I was but they still didn't HURT. I noticed them but I could still talk and walk.

We made the decision to go in and get checked *just in case* it was the real deal. I halfway thought we'd be sent home but the timing and consistency made it appear as if I was in labor.

We went to the hospital at noon and I got checked at Triage - I was FULLY EFFACED, dilated to a FOUR and baby was REALLY LOW. Ok. Good thing we went in:) I got admitted and we went to our room. I paced around the room a little and they were starting to come a little closer together - still not painful though. Right when we got admitted they had a nurse switch so we got a new nurse - our old nurse poked fun at me saying (to the new nurse) and you can't tell when I'm having a contraction except that my face gets a little red! I still was talking through them and everything. If it weren't for the monitors they had me hooked too I don't think they would've believed I was in labor! They checked me again and I was a SIX at this point.

They let me walk around with my monitors on (I had like a 3ft sq to wander in being attached) - they were monitoring baby because he wasn't showing the variation in heart rate that they wanted. His heart rate was right in the normal range (hooray!) but he wasn't showing them the increases that they wanted (like if he got excited or something). Also, when I would have a contraction his heart rate monitor would drop low - there was some question as to if the drop was HIS heart rate dropping or if the contraction made baby move so the monitor was picking up MY heart rate. Either way - they wanted to see him have some accelerations and he wasn't so I had to stay monitored. The midwife told me they would need to see 20 minutes of no decelerations and have some accelerations for me to have my desired water birth *just to be safe*. I'm cool with being safe.

So, here I am hooked up to the monitors (thankfully NOT in bed - who wants to be in bed while in labor? not me.) I decide on the birthing ball. That ball is AWESOME! I would sit on it and Joe sat next to me on a stool and my nurse (who was the BEST by the way!) on my other side watching the monitors (and me since I go so fast..) I would get a contraction - put my hand on Joe's leg - he'd put his hand on my back and I'd rock back and forth. All while having a conversation with our awesome nurse:)

I hung out on the ball for a while and chatted with Joe and our nurse. Side note: Our nurse was absolutely AMAZING! She was my age, from Australia (wonderful accent!) and a Christian! I loved how she would say "you're doing wonderful doll!" - "you're amazing dear, keep it up sweetie" all in her adorable Aussie accent!

Midwife comes in to check on us - she is amazed at what the contraction monitor is saying compared to what I am showing emotionally (being able to talk through them all still) - we chat about options and she concludes that because of the baby's heart rate we can't do my water birth. BUMMER. The pool had been filled and staring at me this whole time. So they empty the pool. The plan is after the pool is empty my midwife would come and check me and break my water if I wanted.

I tell my nurse that I'm starting to feel the urge to push with my contractions now - hooray! I'm partially in denial that I would feel that because I felt SO GOOD while I was having contractions. Still not 'hurting' in the sense that my others did and still being able to talk through them.

My midwife comes back in - I move onto the bed (boo! I hate the bed) and she checks me. I'm a NINE and my bags of water is RIGHT THERE. She breaks my water and boom I'm a TEN. First contraction after my water is broken I push with all my might and HELLO there's my baby!
Break down of the last few minutes:
6:19pm - midwife checks me - NINE cm, Breaks my water
6:22pm - FULLY DILATED TO TEN
6:24pm - contraction - PUSH - Baby's born!

so FIVE minutes on the table - not to shabby:) I pushed for one contraction (1 min) and he's here!

NO tears, NO stitches, no complaints from this mama!

I got to hold him all gooey and new for 45 minutes!! He latched on right away and nursed like a pro. He also pooped and peed on me. Rock star baby.
Whew. I loved it. Every minute of it. Call me crazy:) I felt SO in control. SO empowered. SO strong. I want to do it again...Joe thinks I'm crazy for that:) My labor never got to the point of unbearable pain. I was able to talk through my whole labor. I'm glad we went in when we did because otherwise I don't think I would have 'believed' I was in labor till it was too late.

I am so in love with my new baby. I was sad a didn't get to do a water birth but in the big picture I don't care. I had a wonderful birth experience!

Family of FIVE

2011-09-22T22:17:00.004-05:00

Here we are - our beautiful family of five! This was taken the day we came home from the hospital (Monday)- can you tell the boys were excited? yep:)

I've been wanting to sit and write out Isaac's birth story and have is basically composed in my brain..it's that whole 'find time to sit and write with 2 toddlers and a newborn' thing that's getting me...Hopefully I can find a window of time soon!

He's Here!

2011-09-18T17:03:00.006-05:00

Introducing.....

Isaac Joshua!

He was born Saturday September 17th at 6:24pm

Weighing in at 6 lbs 3 oz and measuring 18 inches long

Such a little stud! I'll write more about labor and delivery later (which was awesome!)...

now is time to soak in my adorable baby:)

Still cooking...

2011-09-12T20:24:00.003-05:00

I'm still pregnant. I totally forgot my 38 week post...opps. Pregnancy brain all the way! I'll be 39 weeks this Wednesday - oh boy!

I keep telling myself I can't be pregnant forever - even though it feels like it! I think I'm spoiled because my other two babe's came early -- Judah at 36 weeks and Ethan at 39 weeks; subconsciously I think I've been expecting this baby sometime between there (36-39) and now that I'm basically 39 I feel like I'm 'over-due'....which I know I'm not!

Soooo here's to hoping that this little guy decides to come out soon!

37 weeks - FULL TERM!

2011-08-31T20:57:00.003-05:00

Hip Hip Hooray - I'm officially full term today!

How Far Along: 37 weeks! Officially full term!

Size of baby: Your baby weighs 6 1/3 pounds and measures a bit over 19 inches, head to heel (like a stalk of Swiss chard). (thanks, BabyCenter.com!)

Milestones: Your baby is now considered "full term," even though your due date is three weeks away. If you go into labor now, his lungs will likely be mature enough to fully adjust to life outside the womb. (Thanks again, BabyCenter.com!)

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 20 lbs

Maternity Clothes: Yep! I've been sporting my maternity yoga capris and yoga shorts a lot and loving my stretchy maternity dresses (hooray for no-waist!)

Gender: BOY:)

Movement: YES.

Sleep: It's getting increasingly harder to fall asleep and I'm up several times a night to pee...but that's ok:) I still get a short nap in the afternoon (until I have to go potty:)

What I miss: Hmmm...shaving my legs is getting harder! So - bending over?

Cravings: Mexican! I've had the pleasure of eating yummy Mexican food both last night and tonight:) MMmm.

Symptoms: My belly, waddle, moans getting up and down, etc...

Best Moment This Week: Being FULL TERM! If I go into labor I can do my waterbirth! I needed to be at least 37 weeks to do one at my hospital and now that I've passed that mark I'm ready to roll:)

What I'm Looking Forward To: Meeting my little baby soon! I cannot wait:) Come on babe...

Full Term Tomorrow

2011-08-30T19:51:00.004-05:00

I cannot believe I will be FULL TERM tomorrow! well, I guess I can believe it since this little man have inhabited my body for the last 9+ months:)

The past 37 weeks have both flown by and seem like forever (more so on the 'flown by' side though..)

I have been having lots of Braxton Hicks the past few weeks/months and I'm hoping soon they turn into the real deal! I had a few today that were noticeably harder so.....hopefully soon! Getting the prep work done downtown I say;)

Any guesses on when the babe will come? I'm guessing within a week or 1.5 week - that may be wishful prego-mama talk but I've dropped and I'm 'softened' and Braxton Hicks are taking up my days....only time will tell!!

I would post an almost 37 week pic but I don't have one and honestly I don't want to move off this couch to take one right now -- sorry folks. I'm hoping to get one for tomorrow's actual '37 week' update post. Just take last week's picture and add an inch and some bags under my tired eyes:)

p.s. I got the most adorable swimsuit top for my waterbirth today! Well, as adorable as you can look full-term prego in a sports bra-ish swim top... The one I was originally going to use was an old top of mine and when I tried it on and remembered how my ribcage gets much bigger when prego - good excuse to buy a cute one right? I think so.

Freezer Meals

2011-08-27T20:24:00.003-05:00

I've said it a million times...I'm nesting. A lot:) The last two days I've gone to town with making freezer meals!

Earlier in the week I sat down and made a list of oven meals that I could easily make and freeze. With my list in hand I hit up two grocery stores (I couldn't get all my ingredients at my 'discount' grocery store so I had to stop at good ole Target:) and picked up some tin-foil baking dishes to ease cleanup!

Yesterday was the big day: I had half my meat thawing in the fridge over night; I got up and got to work! At 7:30am I made myself at home in the kitchen and cranked out 4 meals by 9:30am - way to go me! By 9:30 the boys were eager for some more attention and I was eager to get out of the kitchen. Ethan did help me with 2 of the 4 meals - and was actually a help!

This morning I was determined to crank out the remainder of my meals I had planned...I didn't start as early (come on..it's Saturday) but I had the added bonus of Joe being home and playing with the kids. I browned up a HUGE 3 lb tube of ground beef then made the rest of my meals!

Here's what my list of freezer meals:
Oven Mac-n-Cheese (big dish)
Ravioli Lasagna (big dish)
Tator Tot Hotdish (2 small dishes)
Turkey Chili (2 meal size baggies)
Sloppy Joe meat mix (1 meal sized bag)
Beef/Bean Enchiladas (2 small dishes)
Chicken Mexican Lasagna (1 small dish)

Count 'em TEN meals! And the 'big dish' meals will definitely give us leftovers:) I'm hoping that these meals in conjunction with meals from my MOMS group and meals from friends/family will keep me out of the kitchen for dinner time for a good chunk of time!

9 months!

2011-08-24T22:02:00.004-05:00

*don't mind the tired eyes, forced tired smile and general "do you really need to take a picture of me?" look - It's after 10pm and I was productive today!*

How Far Along: 36 weeks! 9 months! Crazy to think that my little Judah was born at this time...

Size of baby: Your baby is still packing on the pounds — at the rate of about an ounce a day. She now weighs almost 6 pounds (like a crenshaw melon) and is more than 18 1/2 inches long. (thanks, BabyCenter.com!)

Milestones: He's shedding most of the downy covering of hair that covered his body as well as the vernix caseosa, the waxy substance that covered and protected his skin during his nine-month amniotic bath. Your baby swallows both of these substances, along with other secretions, resulting in a blackish mixture, called meconium, will form the contents of his first bowel movement. eww. (Thanks again, BabyCenter.com!)

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I had my 36 week appointment today and I'm 19 lbs up from when I got pregnant! Not too shabby!

Maternity Clothes: Yep! I've been living in my maternity yoga pants, yoga capris and yoga shorts. What can I say...they're super comfy!!

Gender: BOY:)

Movement: YES.

Sleep: Hard to fall asleep but once I'm out...I'm out...till I have to pee. Which is like 2 times a night:)

What I miss: Sleeping through the night? (see peeing comment) I am FULLY aware that it will be quite some time before I sleep through the night again though:)

Cravings: I was able to conquer my watermelon craving from last week and single handed (almost) eat an entire personal size watermelon-- they call them 'personal' sized for a reason right? :) Today: Not sure what sounds good enough to be called a craving....maybe an ICEE?

Symptoms: Same same...Belly - check. Absence of lap - check. Swollen fingers - check. Pregnancy brain - double check!

Best Moment This Week: Having my appointment and getting the great news (and anticipated) that baby is HEAD DOWN, DROPPED and I'm 'softening'...I'm also dilated to 1+ but that doesn't mean much seeing that when I labor everything goes FAST (ie: dilation from next to nothing to 10 in record time!) Now hopefully baby will stay in and cook another week...I really want to do a water-birth and they won't let me unless I'm at least 37 weeks!

What I'm Looking Forward To: Laying low for the next week; I wanna keep him in there for another week then watch out - I'm back at the gym (I've taken a week off) and will try and encourage little man to make his entrance!

Missed It

2011-08-22T09:12:00.003-05:00

I was so excited to do a fun post when I hit my 35/35 mark! I've seen a few friends and fellow bloggers do it and had it tucked away in my brain waiting for it to happen....

...and then I totally missed it. argh.

It should've been last Wednesday - 35 weeks done + 35 days left till my due date! How cute is that? 35/35!

I don't know how cute it is now that I'm 35wk5daysDONE/30daysLEFT. ah well. You win some and you forget some...this prego seems to forget:)

I must be a bird...

2011-08-19T19:42:00.006-05:00

..'cuz I'm nesting like mad!

Remember when I said I made my 'to-do' list for pre-baby? and that is was super long? I am proud to say that I have crossed off a good ole chunk of it! Thank you nesting!

Here's what I've been up to:

*went through the boys clothes
*changed the bunk beds to traditional format
*moved the boys toy kitchen and blackboard/whiteboard to the sunroom (make more room in their room!)
*got a new shelf to store/organize the boys toys in their room
*went through ALL (when I say 'all' I literally mean ALL!!) their toys and reorganized them! whew. that was a back breaker.
*got all our preemie and newborn boys clothes out of storage and washed them
*got a free (thanks Heather!) drawer-storage thing for the baby clothes - it's going to fit on top of the boys dresser so it won't take any floor space...score!
*got our infant car seat down from the attic - cleaning it is on my to-do list for tomorrow:)
*bought material at Walmart (who knew Walmart had fabric? I didn't! that rocks.) to make a Moby wrap! I spent $11 on enough fabric to make TWO wraps (so if one's in the wash I have an extra) $11. enough said.
*rearranged (Joe..not me) our bedroom to accommodate the cradle - there's a beautiful little spot right next to my side of the bed:)

Do I sound productive? I sure feel it!

Here's an uber-embarassing photo of the ridiculous amount of toys my kids have....I have ALL of the toys they own in the room here (everything from their room, the living room, the sunroom, etc..) Don't think that they were living with all that in there - I went around and got ALL their toys and pulled them out of bins and organized everything....like I said - back breaking! But I did it! Pat on the back for me:)

Here's the new shelf we picked out to help organize all their stuff; the boys LOVE it! It's nice that everything (or almost everything) has a place and the boys know where to put it. I hope this will help maintain a clean room - so far so good! I can say "clean up your toys before we go" and within 5 minutes their floor is clean - all I can say is awesome.

We had to give our free drawer-storage-thing a quick rub-down with soap and water and I enlisted my little helpers...They had a blast washing them out! And I had a blast NOT bending over to wash them myself;)

I still have a few things (ahem...more than a few) on my list but the big ones are getting crossed off! SO exciting! We're picking up the cradle this Sunday and will have that in our room to stare at and dream of our baby - awwh:) Way to go nesting!

35 weeks post!

2011-08-18T19:43:00.004-05:00

How Far Along: 35 weeks, 1 day! (opps I forgot to do this last night...)

Size of baby: Your baby doesn't have much room to maneuver now that he's over 18 inches long and tips the scales at 5 1/4 pounds (pick up a honeydew melon) (thanks, BabyCenter.com!)

Milestones: His kidneys are fully developed now, and his liver can process some waste products. Most of his basic physical development is now complete — he'll spend the next few weeks putting on weight. (Thanks again, BabyCenter.com!)

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 20/21ish pounds. We'll find out 'officially' next week at my 36 week appointment.

Maternity Clothes: Yep! I've been living in my maternity yoga pants, yoga capris and yoga shorts. What can I say...they're super comfy!!

Gender: BOY:)

Movement: Yes. Double Yes. This kid is a mover!

Sleep: I nap almost everyday again. It takes a while to fall asleep at night...that whole getting comfortable thing:)

What I miss: My lap? I'm almost positive I dropped and hence when I sit I don't have a lap at all! My baby belly is sitting right where my use-to-be lap is. :) It's a funny feeling.

Cravings: Right at this second: watermelon. Do we have any? nope. I've still been guzzling water like no one's business (oh the joys of pregnancy in the summertime!)

Symptoms: Belly - check. Absence of lap - check. Swollen fingers - check. Pregnancy brain - double check!

Best Moment This Week: My birthday was Tuesday and was really fun! I got to eat out both meals (hooray for NO dishes for me!) and got to tutor math (well, that's a weekly deal but it was fun to use my math brain on my birthday). Everyone who saw me on my birthday agreed that it looked like I dropped...stay in there baby!

What I'm Looking Forward To: My 36 week appointment next week! I want to see if all my braxton hicks and my what-feels-like dropping is doing anything! But on the other hand I REALLY want this baby to stay in there till 37 weeks so I can do a water birth...they won't allow water births unless you are 37 or more weeks. 2 weeks. Stay in there 2 weeks. Watch...I'll go till 41 weeks...wouldn't that be funny? not really:)

Nesting

2011-08-13T20:18:00.003-05:00

Ahhh the wonderful burst of organizational, motivated, let's get-er-done right now that comes with the end of pregnancy! Honestly, I don't remember ever having 'that' with Judah (probably because my dear Ethan was still a BABY! They're a mere 18 months apart..)

But this time around? Watch out. I'm on a roll! The other day while sitting outside watching the kids decorate our driveway (side note: our new fave outdoor activity? Each boy has a box of chalk and mama lounges in a chair and watches the masterpieces unroll!) -- anywho, I was sitting outside and had this urge to write down EVERYTHING that needed to be done *ideally* before baby comes....

...yeah that was a BIG list. I then took my crazy long list and organized it into categories of
*TO DO
*TO BUY
*TO GET FROM ATTIC --which is a 'Joe' list...I'm not climbing up there!

I fit it all on one sheet of paper (with 3 columns - hooray for dorky-ness!) and am now planning how to work through it all.

This morning I awoke with some strange, strong, desire to conquer a part of that list! So I did. Booya. I'm calling it nesting.

8am this morning I plopped myself in the boys room with my cup of decaf coffee, my phone, turned on classical radio and got to work!

My goal today: Go through ALL the big boys (Ethan and Judah) clothes and pack away stuff that doesn't fit, pull out the upcoming/current sizes and clean off the top of their dresser (which was piled HIGH with jammies and other random clothes!) FOUR (yes...4!) hours later I emerged victorious! Those kids had a lot of stuff crammed in that dresser/closet!

I think some of my nesting energy must've rubbed off on Joe because he came in and helped with some of the BIG moving (which obviously I can't do!) - we had the boys' bunk beds staggered to we could sit in the bottom and we (aka: JOE) re-arranged them so they are right on-top of each other now (think classic bunks). This way we made room for the crib! wahoo!

Our home is a 2 bedroom so we have to be creative with beds and toys storage; hence the changing of the bunk configuration and we are going to invest in a mini-crib...I found out about mini cribs a few months ago and LOVE LOVE the idea! Babies never take up all of their crib anyways so why do you need a full-sized one? Plus, we make small babies and our older 2 were out of the crib by 1.5 and 2 yr old.

All this jibber-jabber to say that my nesting is in full-swing and hopefully we'll have the 'boys' room set up and ready to roll soon! I didn't take any 'before' pictures today partially because I was lazy and partially because I was embarrassed of how messy their dresser/closet was! I WILL take pictures of the finished product though:) We're planning on throwing some blue paint on the walls as well to make it a 'boys' room (they have lovely white walls now).

Ahhhh nesting. Please stick around...I only crossed a few things off my massive list!

34 weeks!

2011-08-10T20:30:00.002-05:00

How Far Along: 34 weeks! Didn't I just do my 33 week post? Like I always say....time is flying!

Size of baby: Your baby now weighs about 4 3/4 pounds (like your average cantaloupe) and is almost 18 inches long. (thanks, BabyCenter.com!)

Milestones: His fat layers — which will help regulate his body temperature once he's born — are filling him out, making him rounder. His skin is also smoother than ever. His central nervous system is maturing and his lungs are continuing to mature as well. (Thanks again, BabyCenter.com!)

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I would guess 20...I don't have a scale but I know I'm getting bigger!

Maternity Clothes: Yep:) Maternity for anything other than lounge/workout clothes. I wore a non-maternity top today (shown in the pic above) and it was fine in the morning but by the evening it was riding up and my belly was making an appearance:) *Hence my hands under my belly hiding the skin!*

Gender: BOY:)

Movement: Yep! He gets REALLY crazy right around the time I'm exhausted and want to go to sleep...gee thanks bud:) It's kinda hard to get comfortable and sleep when you have an active baby in you.

Sleep: Piggy-backing off the 'movement' thing - I love to sleep but my babe likes to play when it's bedtime:) It takes a while to fall asleep and I'm up once (sometimes twice) a night to visit the potty. Thankfully I am still able to take naps almost daily - there are a few days a week were my schedule won't allow it.

What I miss: Lately I've been missing sleeping on my back - it's hard to find a comfortable position on my side but I freak out about laying on my back...it's only temporary though! Soon enough I'll be laying on my back with my cute baby next to me!

Cravings: I've been eating a lot of grapes and clementines lately and guzzling water...currently chocolate chip cookies sound good to me!

Symptoms: big ole belly, swollen fingers, my little waddle, starting to get some sharp pain around my tail-bone, lots of braxton hicks. The end is in sight - no time for complaining:)

Best Moment This Week: I've been able to work out 3-times/week though my whole pregnancy (dance-cardio-class) and last Friday our normal instructor was out of town and her sub didn't show up.....so yours truly taught the class! (background: I've been in 'training' to teach for a while now so I know all the choreography) I gave myself a pat on the back for teaching an hour class (obviously showing the lower impact option) at 33.5 weeks! p.s. it was a blast:)

What I'm Looking Forward To: Two things...
#1: my birthday is next Tuesday! I don't have anything extraordinary planned yet but I always enjoy my 'special' day and I wanted to make it past my birthday with this babe and all is looking well for that!
#2: my appointment in 2 weeks (36 weeks) and to see how things are 'progressing', I've been having lots of braxton hicks and hoping they're all doing something!

33 weeks!

2011-08-03T20:34:00.005-05:00

Me with my 3 boys! I figure I should have some pictures of my prego belly with my adorable kids - glad I did:) Aren't their little bellies so cute?? yes they are.

Onto my weekly updates:
*like our new walls? I do!*
How Far Along: 33 weeks! It's flying by!

Size of baby: This week your baby weighs a little over 4 pounds (like a pineapple) and has passed the 17-inch mark. (thanks, BabyCenter.com!)

Milestones: He's rapidly losing that wrinkled, alien look and his skeleton is hardening. (Thanks again, BabyCenter.com!)

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 19 pounds

Maternity Clothes: Yep:) Maternity for anything other than lounge/workout clothes.

Gender: BOY:)

Movement: All the time! He lets me know he's in there:)

Sleep: Once I find a comfortable position (key word: once) then I'm good to go! It does take me a while to get comfortable...

What I miss: I recently started getting (I think it's called) acid reflux - I remember having it with Judah near the end...not so fun revisiting what I recently ate...ick. It's worse when I'm laying flat - which makes falling asleep a little more difficult too! Enough with this complaining. I am so excited to meet this little man! All the discomfort is SO worth it:)

Cravings: I just ate a HUGE bowl of grapes and then followed it with a HUGE bowl of watermelon. All within 20 minutes. I guess I'm craving fresh fruit!

Symptoms: Typical 3rd trimester symptoms: big belly, tired, swollen fingers, hard to move, etc...

Best Moment This Week: Ethan's been asking when the baby's coming and I respond with "September" - I then explain that September is the month after August that we're in....that makes me so excited! I think the boys (Ethan especially) are getting anxious to meet their baby brother.

What I'm Looking Forward To: I don't want to say the end quite yet..I enjoy being pregnant and never want to take it for granted! I am looking forward to enjoying my mid-30's weeks before the end:) Bring it!

Little Dreamer

2011-07-29T19:41:00.004-05:00

Ethan has been talking a lot about his dreams lately. He loves to tell me all about them when he wakes up and the other day I had this ingenious idea to write it down! *don't ask why it took this long for me to think that up....prego brain? Still a valid reason:)*

Here's Ethan's dream from the other day word-for-word as he told me (I had to write SO fast to keep up with him! That boy has his mama's fast talkin' skills!)

Ethan's Dream:
I was a superhero - batman of course. There was three bad guys in it, they turned me into a cow! The police came with snowballs connected to their back and one snowball was coming about to crash but I got up! The girls were in something circle like. It was a half circle. There were two girls in the circle thing and there was an inside line. And there was a pig police and there was a girl police. I went flying up in the air to grab something that was a claw and the police told me they had food in their car...the police car was white. There was dirt on the ground. There was a control on the half circle and a computer on the half circle with just buttons. That's the end of my dream.
Now imagine that being told to you at 7am from a very animated/fast talking 4 year old! whew. I'm tired re-living it:) Sure the dream isn't told in a coherent story-format but I think it's pretty-stinkin' cute - what a great imagination (or dream life). It's a fun (albeit tiring) way to start the day to hear about all his dreams!

8 months!

2011-07-27T20:29:00.003-05:00

How Far Along: 32 weeks - 8 months!

Size of baby: By now, your baby weighs 3.75 pounds (pick up a large jicama) and is about 16.7 inches long, taking up a lot of space in your uterus. (thanks, BabyCenter.com!)

Milestones: He now has toenails, fingernails, and real hair (or at least respectable peach fuzz). His skin is becoming soft and smooth as he plumps up in preparation for birth. (Thanks again, BabyCenter.com!)

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 18 pounds- I had my appointment yesterday so I actually know my weight:)

Maternity Clothes: Yep:) Maternity tops for sure; maternity bottoms when I 'go out' and regular sweats and cotton shorts for lounging (or really anything besides Church and tutoring!)

Gender: BOY:)

Movement: He's my little mover!

Sleep: I get really tired at night but it takes forever to fall asleep! I think it's hard to find a comfortable position in our bed. I'm still napping pretty much everyday on the couch (which somehow I fall asleep right away!)

What I miss: Joe, Jordan, Ty, Christie and Luke did the Warrior Dash this past weekend and I admit I missed not being able to run in it too...but a BABY is SO worth it! I'll be in it next year - watch out!

Cravings: I've been drinking a lot of Gatorade and water - trying to stay hydrated in this wonderful summer heat! Chewy cookies have been a yummy treat too:)

Symptoms: My growing belly:) My fingers are starting to swell just a little..it's getting harder and harder to remove my ring at night. I'm sooo hoping I can wear it all the way to the end though!

Best Moment This Week: I had my 32 week appointment yesterday and I brought the kids with me - side note: they did AWESOME! - it was really neat to see their reactions to hearing the heartbeat:)

What I'm Looking Forward To: We recently picked up some paint to spruce up the house a little before the baby comes - I'm totally looking forward to that! I remember spending LOTS of time in the living room late into the evening with new babies and am excited to spend it in a 'pretty' living room:)

sleeping boy

2011-07-25T19:52:00.006-05:00

I love peeking in on my kids when they sleep:) I always go in their room every night before I go to bed and just stare at them and smile....so precious.

For the past few months I've been having to wake Judah up from his nap so he doesn't sleep too late (and then have a hard time going to bed at night). Most days I go in...rub his back...start talking to him about the rest of the day...etc... Well, today I went in and just stood and stared at my not-so-baby boy snoozing away and was in awe of how OLD he looked!

His head on his little pillow....
Laying on his side with his legs crossed...WAY TOO CUTE! He was out cold - the room was dark so my camera flash was super BRIGHT - he didn't move an inch. I could stand and watch him sleep for hours:) After about 5 minutes of staring and taking pictures I did wake him up though...

31 weeks!

2011-07-20T19:33:00.005-05:00

**I realized that I'm wearing the same top (from working out) in my last weekly shot! opps. Can you tell I don't change my clothes after I work out on Wednesdays? I don't see why because it's so HOT I keep on sweating!**

How Far Along: 31 week! into the single digits countdown...wow!

Size of baby: This week, your baby measures over 16 inches long. He weighs about 3.3 pounds (try carrying four navel oranges) and is heading into a growth spurt. (thanks, BabyCenter.com!)

Milestones: He can turn his head from side to side, and his arms, legs, and body are beginning to plump out as needed fat accumulates underneath his skin. He's probably moving a lot, too, so you may have trouble sleeping because your baby's kicks and somersaults keep you up. **yes he is!* (Thanks again, BabyCenter.com!)

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 17ish pounds

Maternity Clothes: Yep:) I've been getting by with non-mat workout shorts and just recently bought the next size up...Girls XL:) It's the way to be frugal I tell ya! They fit the same as womens size S!

Gender: BOY:)

Movement: ALL THE TIME. literally. I notice when he's NOT moving more than when he is moving:) I love it!

Sleep: I want it a lot. I have a hard time falling asleep at night and going more than a few hours without a trip to the bathroom...bummer. I'm back to my daily naps (I had like 3-4 weeks of not daily naps...I wish that had lasted longer!)

What I miss: With this HEAT WAVE we're having I guess I miss being able to sit outside for long periods of time and enjoy the heat; now I sit outside for long periods of time and I get braxton hicks! Ah well:) Thank goodness for kiddie pools and AC!

Cravings: Watermelon sounds delicious right now!

Symptoms: My growing belly:) Really tired. Hard to get up and down off the floor:)

Best Moment This Week: Realizing I'm into the single digit countdown! 9 weeks or less...wow! Both my boys came early so we'll see.....

What I'm Looking Forward To: I have my 32 week appointment next week - I'm looking forward to seeing how things are going! Appointments are always fun:)

Baby on the brain

2011-07-18T08:33:00.002-05:00

My kids are starting to latch onto the idea that I have a REAL baby in me! It is adorable:) I'm sure the fact that I'm a lot rounder and that my roundness will kick them is helping...

I've been trying to remember some of the cute questions/comments that they've been asking me about their baby brother -- OF COURSE there's a TON where I say to myself "that is soooo funny! I need to write that down!" and then I don't. Fail. Here's a few that I do remember...

**I was walking in front of Ethan and he said to me:
Ethan: Mommy! The baby's sure is making your back bigger!
Me: Thanks bud:)

**Judah looking at my belly:
Judah: Mommy has baby in her tummy and my have belly in my tummy!
*gotta love the 2-yr old dialect!

**Ethan watching me take a drink of water on a VERY HOT day:
Ethan: Thanks mommy for giving the baby a drink of water - I think my baby brother was thirsty.

**It was down-pouring rain the other week and everyone had raincoats on except me (I had an umbrella)
Ethan: MOMMY! The baby doesn't have a raincoat! It's going to get all wet!

**Both Ethan and Judah are convinced that we should name the baby IRON MAN. Oh boy.

**Both boys are recently obsessed with pretending their stuffed animals are babies; they put the babies to sleep, feed them, calm them down, tell me to whisper and on and on!

I know there were other funny quotes they've said to me but of course I can't remember them...blame it on pregnancy brain? yep. That's what I'm going with:)

Ethan asked once how babies were made...oy. Come on buddy, you're only 4...give me a few years to come up with an eloquent answer! I kinda-sorta side-stepped it and said we'd talk more about it later - he hasn't brought it up since. whew. Daddy might have to tackle that one:)

All I know is that Ethan and Judah are both PUMPED for their baby brother to come!

30 weeks!

2011-07-13T19:38:00.003-05:00

How Far Along: 30 week! wow!

Size of baby: My baby's about 15.7 inches long now, and he weighs almost 3 pounds (like a head of cabbage). (thanks, BabyCenter.com!)

Milestones: His eyesight continues to develop, though it's not very keen; even after he's born, he'll keep his eyes closed for a good part of the day. When he does open them, he'll respond to changes in light but will have 20/400 vision — which means he can only make out objects a few inches from his face. (Normal adult vision is 20/20.) (Thanks again, BabyCenter.com!)

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 16ish pounds

Maternity Clothes: Yep:)

Gender: BOY:)

Movement: Oh yeah! He is C.R.A.Z.Y!

Sleep: Yes please. I went to bed last night at 9:30 - I was so tired but of course I laid in bed for what seems like forever! But once I did fall into that blissful sleep it was wonderful...until I woke up at 1am to pee:)

What I miss: Piggy-backing off the last question...I sometimes miss sleeping through the night? It'll be another year till that happens again...lol!

Cravings: WATER! I ate a bunch of cucumbers today that tasted so good!

Symptoms: My growing belly:)

Best Moment This Week: Ethan proudly told the bank teller that..."the bump on my mommy's tummy has my baby brother in it!" Thanks for explaining what the bumps for bud:) And claiming the baby as "my baby brother!"

What I'm Looking Forward To: I'm just enjoying every day with this little guy - I can't think of anything in particular I'm looking forward...just loving each moment of this pregnancy!

4th of July

2011-07-08T19:53:00.018-05:00

I'm a few days late for my 4th post but better late than never....right? right.

As of July 3rd we had no plans for the 4th. The next morning we changed that:) We invited over some family that didn't have plans either (win-win for everyone!) and we had a blast!

Ethan and I made a last minute food run to Cub and picked up some classic 4th food: hotdogs, buns, chips, watermelon, corn, etc...YUM! The joys of shopping on the 4th for the 4th is that everything was on SALE! :)My brother Jordan and my boys helping to get the corn ready - gotta love sweet corn!Joe and his brother Tom getting the grill ready - don't laugh at our little grill! I say: little house = little grill. Once we get a bigger house you better believe we'll be getting a bigger grill! I say all the grilled food tastes the same though regardless...A while after dinner we had popsicles; (I think) this was Judah's first popsicle on a stick and he was so CUTE to watch...

"It's so drippy mom!" Trying to catch the melting part:) Needless to say about half that popsicle landed in the grass! He's getting better at managing them now though - practice makes perfect!MMmmm watermelon! We ate SO much watermelon:)Me and my man:)My sister Myra stopped by a little later to join the fun too!We had the kiddie pool out for the kids (and me...) to play and cool off in; nothing says 4th of July like hot weather and water right?My baby belly:) The babe likes all the sun and food!We had lots of kids toys out (for the kids..) and of course the big boys had to play with them too! Love the enthusiasm Jordan:)

Tom brought over some little fireworks for the kids to enjoy (which turned out perfect since we didn't end up seeing the 'big' show) - the kids LOVED it! Lots of 'ooohhh' 'aaaahhh' "mommy look at that one!!!" He also brought sparklers to play with - the boys had a blast with those too! Ethan called his "fire power" :) Judah wasn't too sure what to do with his...just stare:)

The kids were up WAY past their bedtime and were having so much fun! I asked Ethan if he enjoyed his 4th of July and he gave me this: YYEEAAHHH!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Holiday weekend!

29 weeks!

2011-07-06T19:14:00.003-05:00

How Far Along: 29 weeks! I feel like I just did my 28 week update...time is flying!

Size of baby: My baby now weighs about 2 1/2 pounds (like a butternut squash) and is a tad over 15 inches long from head to heel. (thanks, BabyCenter.com!)

Milestones: His muscles and lungs are continuing to mature, and his head is growing bigger to make room for his developing brain. (Thanks again, BabyCenter.com!)

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 15-16ish pounds

Maternity Clothes: Yep. I can still manage some baby doll tops and sport shorts but mainly maternity. I've been living in my workout cotton shorts (non-maternity) in this wonderful hot weather! I should really pick up another pair...

Gender: BOY:)

Movement: Yep! He is C.R.A.Z.Y!

Sleep: It's harder to fall asleep but I sure do love once I fall asleep!

What I miss: I've been having some low back aches so perhaps I miss my non-achy back? BUT I figure my back is achy due to the growing baby in front and I'm happy about the growing baby!

Cravings: We had some delicious watermelon on the 4th and I seriously ate half the melon...Mmm. Wonderful hot summer food!

Symptoms: My growing belly;) Perhaps a little waddle? I feel like it at least!

Best Moment This Week: We had a wonderful family weekend this past week and I had a bunch of moments where I'd smile and think "next year we'll have a 3rd little guy in the mix!" LOVE IT.

What I'm Looking Forward To: I can't believe I'm already 29 weeks! I guess I'm looking forward to saying the prefix of '30' starting next week...30 seems so close to the end! I'm really trying to savor each moment of this pregnancy:)

I love summer

2011-07-02T21:05:00.005-05:00

I really, really do! The heat, the sun and the water! Today was a wonderful picture of why I love summer....lots of heat, sun and water!

We started out the day with at the beach with lots of sand toys and a picnic lunch in hand - of course we were having TOO much fun that I forgot to take any pictures:) opps. You can picture it: Beach blanket on the green grass pulled up to the sandy beach where the kids played for hours making sandcastles....ahhh love it.

We played in the sand; went swimming; ate lunch on our blanket; played some more and decided it was time to get home for nap/rest time.

After an uneventful nap/rest time we pulled out the kiddie pool and filled 'er up! Throw a bunch of bath toys in there and it's a party:) I pulled my beach chair right up to the edge of the pool and dipped my feet in the water....perfect way to cool down! The boys had a ball!Joe pulled out our handy-dandy travel grill (small house = small grill = same wonderful grilled taste!!) and made dinner while we played....have I mentioned I love summer? I do. What a perfect picture: kids playing in the pool; mom sunning herself while watching the kids (and getting the 'occasional' splash) and dad grilling up some dinner!We ended up getting dinner on the table close to 7 and the boys gobbled up their food and had seconds and thirds! That's one way to get them to eat a lot of dinner; let them play a ton outside and eat at 7pm! The sun made me hungry too - nothing tastes better than a home-grilled meal after a day in the sun:)

After a quick bath the boys were in bed and I get to sit here and reflect on the wonderful summer day we just had....it puts a smile on my face to know that summer is nowhere near done and that we will have many more days like today - filled with heat, sun and water!

*Random side note: we ran out of sunscreen in the afternoon after I had sprayed the kids and half of myself - I tried to spray what I could onto my thighs and thought it would do the trick. HA. I now have a strange burn with non-burned SPOTS on my thighs where the sunscreen hit me with those last few sprays..hott mama I tell ya. :)

28 weeks = 7 months!

2011-06-30T19:23:00.004-05:00

How Far Along: 28 weeks! 7 months:)

Size of baby: By this week, my baby weighs two and a quarter pounds (like a Chinese cabbage) and measures 14.8 inches from the top of his head to his heels.(thanks, BabyCenter.com!)

Milestones: With his eyesight developing, he may be able to see the light that filters in through your womb. *cool!* (Thanks again, BabyCenter.com!)

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 15ish pounds

Maternity Clothes: Yep. I can still manage some baby doll tops and sport shorts but mainly maternity.

Gender: BOY:)

Movement: Yep! He's a mover!

Sleep: It's harder to fall asleep but I sure do love once I fall asleep!

What I miss: Not a whole lot! Sometimes I miss caffeine but other days I don't even think about it:)

Cravings: Water in this HOT weather (hooray for summer!); fresh fruit; good corn on the cob

Symptoms: My growing belly;) My moans when I get up and down off the floor...

Best Moment This Week: Today was the best and worst....I took my 3 hour glucose tolerance test this morning (worst moment of the week) and I got my results this afternoon....I PASSED! With flying colors too! (BEST moment of the week!) wahoo!

What I'm Looking Forward To: NOT having to retest for gestational diabetes (I had to retest my 3 hour test with Judah because I 'barely' passed..then I failed the 2nd one) I TOTALLY passed this one so I officially don't have it! I chalk it up to me working out so much with this pregnancy:) I'm at the gym 3 times a week for an hour and I think it's paying off - I've heard that consistent exercise can help with GD!

1 year later

2011-06-27T20:46:00.004-05:00

As I sit here on the couch - my feet propped up - browsing blogs and facebook it dawned on me what the date it today....JUNE 27th. Not a big deal to many - but it's a date that I will forever remember. It's the date that God called my precious unborn baby home one-year ago.

I learned a lot in that year. I learned that not everything goes according to my plan; I learned to mourn; I learned to be patient; I learned to trust and I learned to be content in my current situations.

One year later I sit here on the couch and praise God for His perfect plan and timing - I praise God for the little baby boy I feel dancing in me as I type! I praise God for teaching me all the tough lessons I needed to learn. I praise God that HE is in control of all things and not me...now that would be a mess:)

A major lesson I learned through the whole miscarriage is to be CONTENT. To be content in every situation; being pregnant or not - having a job or not - having well behaved children or not - and on and on!

I mentioned a long time ago the newest tattoo I got (last August) and it was inspired by the overwhelming theme of being content that I learned last summer.

It's the Greek word for 'content' from Philippians 4:11

11 Not that I am speaking of being in need,
for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.
12 I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound.
In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.
13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

One year later. One year stronger. One year wiser. Thank you God!

Lord willing next June 27th we'll have 3 little boys running around ages 5, 3.5 and 9 months!

27 weeks!

2011-06-22T21:08:00.004-05:00

How Far Along: 27 weeks!

Size of baby: This week, your baby weighs almost 2 pounds (like a head of cauliflower) and is about 14 1/2 inches long with her legs extended. (thanks, BabyCenter.com!)

Milestones: He's sleeping and waking at regular intervals, opening and closing his eyes, and perhaps even sucking his fingers. (Thanks again, BabyCenter.com!)

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 13-14ish pounds

Maternity Clothes: Maternity bottoms for sure; mostly maternity tops but I can still pull off empire waist and baby doll tops in regular sizes:)

Gender: BOY:)

Movement: Yep! He goes crazy! He kicked my midwife at my appointment today:)

Sleep: Lovin' it. Sometimes it's hard to fall asleep but once I'm out I'm good:) I'm starting to hit the phase of waking up in the middle of the night having to pee SO bad! BUT that means I'm getting closer to the end:)

What I miss: Not a whole lot! Maybe getting up and down off the floor with ease?

Cravings: We got a grill a few weeks ago and I have been LOVING myself some grilled meat! Mmm. We had grilled BBQ pork chops tonight...YUM! Still guzzling LOTS of water - pop just doesn't sound good any more.

Symptoms: My growing belly;) Random bulges in my tummy moving...aka: the babe dancing!

Best Moment This Week: I had my midwife appointment today and my midwife walked in and said "you are seriously the cutest pregnant lady ever - and I see a lot of pregnant ladies!" awwwhh. way to make a prego smile! It's a sure-fire way to cheer a pregnant mama up!

What I'm Looking Forward To: I want to say more days at the beach but I looked at the weather and we have a cold spell coming...in late June? what? Hopefully it won't last long - I'm not really in the mood for low 60's right now - I want to sit at the beach and watch my belly move (he dances in the sun - seriously!) and watch my kiddos play!

p.s. remember how I said I had my 2nd 1 hour glucose test today? yeah I did. and I failed it. bummer. I kinda figured I would...moving on to the 3 hr test and maybe I'll pass that one!

26 weeks

2011-06-16T20:49:00.004-05:00

How Far Along: 26 weeks! (well, yesterday...I lost track of time:)

Size of baby: He now weighs about a pound and two-thirds and measures 14 inches (an English hothouse cucumber) from head to heel. (thanks, BabyCenter.com!)

Milestones: The network of nerves in your baby's ears is better developed and more sensitive than before. He may now be able to hear both your voice and your partner's as you chat with each other. (Thanks again, BabyCenter.com!)

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 12ish pounds

Maternity Clothes: Maternity bottoms for sure; mostly maternity tops but I can still pull off empire waist and baby doll tops in regular sizes:)

Gender: BOY:)

Movement: Yep! He loves to kick Judah when he sits in my lap:)

Sleep: It's a little harder to get comfortable at night but once I fall asleep it's so nice:) Still loving my naps most days - Ethan will ask me why I'm not sleeping during rest time if I have to do other stuff (aka: make a grocery list or clean!)

What I miss: Sleeping on my tummy and back...I find myself waking up in the night on my back and I FREAK out! I turn over to my side and go back to sleep:) I do love the feeling on laying on your stomach a few days after giving birth...feels so good!

Cravings: I saw a commercial for cheesecake with berries on top...MMmmm that looks good!! I'm still drinking LOTS of water and can't seem to get enough!

Symptoms: My growing belly;)

Best Moment This Week: Laying in bed last night trying to remember how far along I was (hey, I have 2 crazy kids - it's easy to lose track of it!) and realize that I was 26 weeks yesterday! I'm sad that it's going by so fast but super excited to meet the little guy!

What I'm Looking Forward To: I have my midwife appointment next week and get (aka: HAVE) to retake my glucose tolerance test. They tested me early a few weeks back since I had GD with Judah and I passed that one...now this is the 'normal' time to test and I'm hoping I'll pass again! I'm not looking forward to actually drinking the nasty stuff but AM looking forward to getting the (hopefully positive) results!

Super Family!

2011-06-13T19:47:00.004-05:00

For the past few weeks, maybe even month, Ethan has given all 'super hero' names and calls us by them 70% of the time! He calls us the 'super hero rescue team family' - imagine that mouth-full coming out of a 4-year old's mouth:) Serious cuteness.

Here's our secret identities according to Ethan (and Judah knows them all too!)

Daddy: SUPER MAN

Mommy: SUPER GIRL

Ethan: BATMAN

Judah: SUPER PUPPY

Baby Bro in Mama: IRON MAN (but according to Ethan; he's not Iron Man until he comes out and grows up...right now he's Iron BABY)

Watch out bad guys - the Super Hero Rescue Team Family is onto you!

BIRTHDAY BOY!

2011-06-09T20:11:00.013-05:00

Happy Birthday to my wonderful son, Ethan! It's hard to believe that it's been FOUR years since I pushed that little man out:)

We have a standing playdate every Thursday with some of Ethan's friends and since today was Ethan's big day we brought cookies for everyone! It was sooo cute to hear his little friends sing "happy birthday" to him - he was sung to 3 different times! Adorable.

After our playdate we came home for lunch - Ethan really enjoyed last night's dinner so he requested leftovers for lunch (made it easy on me!)The afternoon was pretty normal: rest time then play time. Once dad came home the boys went out and grilled up the meat for our birthday dinner! *Judah is out there...just not sitting by the grill*Ethan requested the entire menu for tonight (and thankfully I had everything on hand for it!) - we had: Grilled Chicken, Rice, Brussels Sprouts and Corn! *I LOVE that my FOUR year old requested that! I was thinking he would say 'pizza' or 'burgers' but no....Brussels Sprouts!**Don't mind his mouth full of Brussels Sprouts - he couldn't wait till after the picture! He pops those things like candy!!*

After dinner we gave Ethan his gift from us; Judah came with me to Target last night and helped me pick out Ethan's gift. We decided on a fishing game and an auto-bubble maker!He was very excited about both of them!For dessert Ethan made a specific request for chocolate cupcakes with mint frosting....strange because he normally doesn't like 'cake' type things. I made it anyways:)
We serenaded him and he blew out his FOUR candles:)
He actually ate over HALF of the cupcake! I guess when you turn four you try new things!

What a fun day for my fun little man!

Ethan had a party last weekend and another one this weekend - I'll post pictures from both soon!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ETHAN! I LOVE YOU DEAR!

25 weeks!

2011-06-08T20:36:00.003-05:00

How Far Along: 25 weeks!

Size of baby: His weight — a pound and a half — isn't much more than an average rutabaga, but he's beginning to exchange his long, lean look for some baby fat. (thanks, BabyCenter.com!)

Milestones: He's also growing more hair — and if you could see it, you'd now be able to discern its color and texture..sweet! (Thanks again, BabyCenter.com!)

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 11ish pounds

Maternity Clothes: Maternity tops are definitely more comfortable so I'm favoring those:) I need to get some maternity shorts that I like - I'm having such a hard time finding maternity bottom summer-wear that fit! I've been living in my workout (non-maternity) shorts during these HOT days!

Gender: BOY:)

Movement: Yep! This morning I think the little guy was trying to tunnel a way out - he kept kicking me in the same spot for a LONG time! Sorry bud, that's not the exit and you still need to cook a little more:)

Sleep: Some insomnia (not cool) but still able to nap (cool!). Once I'm asleep at night I'm good but some nights it's hard to fall asleep...

What I miss: Not a whole lot...maybe not peeing ALL the time? Oh wait - I do that even when I'm not pregnant:) So you can imagine how often I go now!

Cravings: I've been eating a lot of ice cream cake (I made a homemade ice cream cake for one of Ethan's b-day parties) and love that:) Fresh fruit has tasted delicious too! We're coming out of a major heat-wave (aka 103* yesterday!!) so anything COLD has been wonderful!

Symptoms: My growing basketball. My groans when I try to get up to fast:)

Best Moment This Week: Playing at the beach a lot this past week and not having to worry if I look pregnant or just chubby in the tummy....I KNOW I look pregnant now!

Also - Ethan was sitting next to me this morning with his arm resting on my belly - the baby kicked his arm and he looked at me like "what was that?"! It was awesome:)

What I'm Looking Forward To: SUMMER! I LOVE this warm weather (granted we have a 2-day cool down coming...but then back to summer!) - we're having a blast playing at the beach and playing at parks - summer always seems to fly by for me and when this summer is done 'flying' by it will be baby time!

hello summer!

2011-06-04T19:56:00.007-05:00

We've missed you. Winter was long. Spring decided not to show up this year. Oh summer - we love you!

It's been BEAUTIFUL weather the past few days (sunny, hot, humid, breezy...love it!!) and today we made our first trip to the local beach as a fam:) It was wonderful. Simply wonderful:)

We left after rest time with our dinner packed and sand toys in tow. Got to the beach, found a PERFECT (seriously....perfect!) spot to park ourselves and let the kids play!This was the view from our blanket - we got a spot in the grass a few feet (maybe yards..) from the sand so Joe and I could lounge and watch the kids play!

We brought plenty of water since it was so hot and humid - the boys did a good job staying hydrated:)We played in the sand and water for a good few hours then it was dinner time - the boys ate SO well! It's amazing how their appetite grows when they've been playing hard outside...makes common sense right? Yet another reason I adore summer:)After dinner we played some more and after they were good and tired (and a little pink) we packed up and headed to Dairy Queen. There just happens to be one on the way home for the beach; what a wonderful coincidence:) After eating yummy ice cream outside at DQ we finally made it home and put some worn-out, sun-kissed kiddos to bed.

Hello summer. We love you.

6 months!

2011-06-01T22:05:00.004-05:00

How Far Along: 24 weeks; aka 6 months!

Size of baby: As long as an ear of corn! (thanks, BabyCenter.com!)

Milestones: His taste buds are continuing to develop; cool! (Thanks again, BabyCenter.com!)

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 10ish pounds

Maternity Clothes: shirts: mostly maternity. I just bought some (non-maternity) size L tank tops for working on in and they just barely fit over my bump! pants: maternity:)

Gender: BOY!

Movement: Yep! Baby boy likes to kick Judah when he sits in my lap - it makes me laugh:)

Sleep: Loving it:)

What I miss: Not much!

Cravings: WATER! (hello summer weather:) Watermelon, purple grapes, caramel frappichino (decaf of course...)

Symptoms: my beautiful basketball under my shirt! Lots of movement, harder to get up and down...

Best Moment This Week: We went up north to my parents boat for the long weekend and it was very relaxing:) The drive there and back went smooth (granted my bladder almost exploded a few times...ah the joys of pregnancy!). Baby boy was VERY active on the drive up and back - weird but fun! Who knows if it was the sun beating in on my belly or sitting still for that long...

What I'm Looking Forward To: Being able to say that I'm SIX months pregnant! It seems to far in - hooray! I guess I'm not looking 'forward' to this as I can say it as of today...I'm looking forward to people asking me and then responding...that works right? :)

23 weeks

2011-05-25T20:47:00.003-05:00

How Far Along: 23 weeks!

Size of baby: About as big as a large mango! (thanks, BabyCenter.com!)

Milestones: Loud noises are becoming familiar to him now — such as your dog barking or the roar of the vacuum cleaner *in our case, my boys being loud boys!* — probably won't faze him when he hears them outside the womb. (Thanks again, BabyCenter.com!)

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 9-10 pound-ish:)

Maternity Clothes: Maternity pants, some maternity shirts, some shirts a size bigger:) I need to invest in some maternity shorts for summer..if summer decides to show up this year!

Gender: BOY!

Movement: All the time:) I love that you can see it from the outside!

Sleep: I'm napping maybe 40% of the time now! Yeah!

What I miss: Not much!

Cravings: Summer-y stuff: corn on the cob, watermelon, cold lemonade....Mmmm.

Symptoms: The basketball I shoved under my shirt:)

Best Moment This Week: A few people have been able to feel baby boy move from the outside which is fun! I love seeing their reaction when they feel it:)

What I'm Looking Forward To: A relaxing weekend! It's been a very busy few days and I'm really looking forward to putting my feet up:)

22 weeks!

2011-05-18T21:24:00.004-05:00

How Far Along: 22 weeks!

Size of baby: He's the length of a spaghetti squash! (thanks, BabyCenter.com!)

Milestones: His lips, eyelids, and eyebrows are becoming more distinct, and he's even developing tiny tooth buds beneath his gums.(Thanks again, BabyCenter.com!)

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 9 pound-ish:)

Maternity Clothes: Maternity pants, some maternity shirts, some shirts a size bigger:)

Gender: BOY!

Movement: All the time:)

Sleep: I'm trying to weed out my daily naps...I can go every other day or so without one! (granted I fall asleep super early on days on don't nap)

What I miss: Not much!

Cravings: I walked by cheesecake the other day in the bakery...ooh that looked good:) I've been guzzling lemonade lately...ice cold lemonade! yum.

Symptoms: Big Belly. Feeling kicks. Acid Reflux...yeah that one's not so fun!

Best Moment This Week: On Tuesday I had a stranger say to me: "you look like you're about ready to pop! When are you due?" Me: "Umm...September" Her: "oh. um. I mean....." Me: "Don't worry; it's my 3rd baby - my body knows what to do!"

In her defense I was wearing a tight-fitting shirt that clearly showed my belly in all it's belly-goodness!

What I'm Looking Forward To: Enjoying everyday of this pregnancy! I know that once he's out I will miss his little kicks and the beautiful belly bump:) I'm to the stage where it's clear I'm pregnant and I love it!

21 weeks!

2011-05-13T16:00:00.004-05:00

How Far Along: 21 weeks! (and a few days...)

Size of baby: My baby is the length of a carrot! (thanks, BabyCenter.com!)

Milestones: My baby's eyebrows and lids are present now! cool:) (Thanks again, BabyCenter.com!)

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I had my 21 week appointment Wednesday morning and according to their scale I'm up 8 pounds! *granted it was in the morning...we'll say 8-9 pounds:)

Maternity Clothes: Maternity pants. Some maternity tops. Some tops a size up. I need to buy some bigger sizes (or maternity) tanks for working out it...if I raise my arms too high you may see some lovely, white belly skin!

Gender: BOY! It was very clear in the ultrasound...very clear!

Movement: Oh yeah! Judah was sitting in my lap the other day and baby boy was pushing back on him! Little Judah had no clue though...

Sleep: yes please. :)

What I miss: Not much!

Cravings: I went out for dessert with a wonderful friend on Wednesday and the dessert we split was DELISH! I'm craving that again. and again. It was some sort of magnificent cheesecake with chocolate crust and caramel and nuts and everything else good in dessert world...oh yeah:) We ordered it by pointing at it through the display so I honestly don't know what it's called!

Symptoms: well, my bump is really giving me away:) Love it!

Best Moment This Week: Finding out that we're having another BOY! I also PASSED my 'early gestational diabetes' test this week! Since I had GD with Judah my midwife doesn't want to miss it...I got tested at 21 weeks (which I passed!) and then again in 6 weeks (I really hope I pass again!!)

What I'm Looking Forward To: Getting the boys excited about having another BROTHER! Ethan is starting to warm up to the idea more and more each day:)

3 of a kind!

2011-05-06T19:52:00.003-05:00

We had our ultrasound yesterday and our little babe is looking wonderful! Growing right on track, all the parts are there, beautiful as ever:)

Babe even cooperated and we CLEARLY saw that.....

IT'S A BOY!

Ethan was a little sad/confused when we first told him (he was convinced the baby was a girl) but he has warmed up to the idea now:) Soon I'll write his response (clearly from the mouth of a toddler!)

We are very excited for our healthy little baby boy - 3 of a kind! How fun:)

20 weeks!

2011-05-04T20:37:00.004-05:00

How Far Along: 20 weeks! half way:)

Size of baby: About the length of a banana from head to toe! (thanks, BabyCenter.com!)

Milestones: My baby's swallowing more these days, which is good practice for their digestive system. (thanks again, BabyCenter.com!)

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I got weighed last week and I am up 8 pounds; so I would guess this week at 8-9 pounds.

Maternity Clothes: I've embraced my maternity pants; tops I'm still getting by with either a size up and some maternity:)

Gender: WE FIND OUT TOMORROW MORNING!

Movement: Yep! It's getting easier to feel from the outside of my tummy - Ethan had his hand on it the other day and I think he felt it! (I know the baby moved and asked him if he felt it...of course he said 'yes')

Sleep: Still napping almost everyday and loving my sleep at night.

What I miss: Not much - maybe sugar? maybe not. If I have too much sugar I get dizzy and sick (my wonderful GD test is coming up soon....joy.)

Cravings: Depends on the time of day - sometimes all that sounds good is fruit and water and other times carbs sound delish!

Symptoms: My growing bump:) Lots of baby kicks!

Best Moment This Week: Getting over my nasty cold - weird 'best moment' but when you're pregnant with a horrible cold and can't take any meds for it...I call getting healthy a wonderful moment:) Thankfully, my head cold only last 3 (very long) days. whew.

What I'm Looking Forward To: Tomorrow's ultrasound! Hopefully the babe will cooperate and we'll discover if I have a little girl or boy growing in me!

May?

2011-05-01T21:24:00.003-05:00

I cannot believe it's already MAY! Time is flying so fast around here...I feel like it was just Christmas! Wow. The days seem long but the weeks and months are whizzing by me...before I know it September will be here..oh boy! With May upon us it means SUMMER is right around the corner - I LOVE SUMMER:) Here's hoping for a long, relaxing, (warm!) summer!

Mexican Lasagna

2011-04-28T21:15:00.003-05:00

Mmmm...I'm drooling thinking about it:)

Mexican Lasagna is a family recipe from Joe's parents that is a family favorite around here! It's my go-to for dinner when we have company over or when I have to give a meal away...it's always a hit!

We had it tonight and of course I forgot to take a picture of it....we were too busy stuffing our faces with it - opps!

Mexican Lasagna

What you need:
3-4 cups cooked rice
1 lb meat (chicken, ground beef, ground turkey.....I think shredded chicken is the best though!!)
1 can Nacho Cheese soup
1 16 oz jar salsa (you pick the spice level :)
1 package taco seasoning mix
1/2 cup taco sauce
1/2 tsp. chili powder
8 oz shredded cheese (I like to use Colby-Jack but any kind works...)
package of soft, flour tortillas

*Spray or grease your 3 quart baking dish (I use my 9x13 pan) and preheat oven to 350 degrees
1. Cook Rice
2. Cook meat (either boil chicken and shred it or brown ground meat and drain); add taco seasoning and simmer according to package (I use less water and simmer till all liquid is basically gone.)
3. In a big bowl mix: meat, soup, salsa, taco sauce and chili powder.
4. Add 3 cups of rice; add the 4th if it's too runny (this depends on how much liquid you simmer off of your meat) Mix well.
5. Cut tortillas into 1 inch strips
6. Put a layer of tortilla strips on the bottom and sides of your greased dish
7. Cover tortilla layer with 1/2 of rice mixture and cover with cheese (about 1/2 the cheese)
8. Add another layer of tortilla strips, topped with remaining rice mixture and remaining cheese **your dish will be very full:)
9. BAKE at 350 COVERED for 30 minutes right away or refrigerate until ready to use; if baking from refrigerated increase time to 45 minutes. Let sit for 5-10 minutes after baking.

ENJOY!

We love to top ours with sour cream and more taco sauce; add tortilla chips on the side for scooping and you're set!

19 weeks

2011-04-27T20:06:00.006-05:00

How Far Along: 19 weeks!

Size of baby: about the size of a large heirloom tomato (thanks, BabyCenter.com!)

Milestones: My baby's brain is designating specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch! (thanks again, BabyCenter.com!)

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I don't have a scale but I would guess 7-8ish pounds..I go back in to my midwife in 2 weeks so we'll find out then

Maternity Clothes: I pulled out my maternity pants and packed away my normal pants...ah well:) Mainly maternity tops and normal tops a size (or two!) up!

Gender: we find out next Thursday!! hooray!

Movement: Yes, yes, yes! Joe got to feel the babe move last Saturday for the 1st time - that means the kicks are getting stronger:)

Sleep: yes. a lot still. The boys have been sleeping in more so that's been an added bonus!

What I miss: not much - I'm loving it;)

Cravings: I ate a lot of jellybeans the other night....opps. Jellybeans are not on my cravings list anymore! Fruit and water are still sounding wonderful:)

Symptoms: Baby bump. Lots of movement. Pregnancy brain:)

Best Moment This Week: Having Joe feel the baby move!

What I'm Looking Forward To: Next Thursday's ultrasound!Ethan loves this little babe so much! He's convinced it's a girl....we'll see if he's right!

Little Studs

2011-04-25T19:55:00.009-05:00

I dressed up Ethan and Judah yesterday and they were lookin' good!
Isn't Judah adorable?? I think so. Love the cheesy smile, bud! This is what I get when I say "hug each other"..close enough:) My almost-4-year-old-stud:) (under 2 months is getting 'almost' enough for me! I can't believe he'll be FOUR!)They're both standing still and saying 'cheese' - try and act natural guys....TOO CUTE!

We had a wonderful Easter afternoon at Joe's parent's house; lots of great food, great company and wonderful weather!

18 weeks!

2011-04-20T21:02:00.006-05:00

*Joe was working on the van when I got home from work so I 'tried' to get a belly shot on the timer!
How Far Along: 18 weeks!

Size of baby: About the length of a bell pepper (thanks, BabyCenter.com!)

Milestones: My baby is busy flexing their arms and legs:) *I can totally feel it too!*(thanks again, BabyCenter.com!)

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I'd guess 6-7 pounds..

Maternity Clothes: Still holding out on the maternity bottoms...I have my BeBand and some awesome pants with elastic waist - still loving my sweats too:) Mainly maternity tops or normal tops a size up.

Gender: 2 weeks till we find out!

Movement: For sure! Mainly when I'm not moving...

Sleep: yes. a lot. I'm curious to see how my iron levels are....

What I miss: not much - I'm loving it;)

Cravings: Joe and I went to Bambu to get my Tiger Pork I talked about last week..it was good but not as WOW as I remembered - ah well. Fresh fruit has been delish and water:)

Symptoms: the usual: baby bump. tired. feeling little kicks.

Best Moment This Week: Checking out at Target and having the cashier ask me when I was due!! Doesn't seem like a big moment but it was the first 'random' person to acknowledge that I was expecting!!

What I'm Looking Forward To: I love feeling all the movement and look forward to feeling more (and harder!) jabs - I love it when you can feel/see it from the outside!

My Little Helper

2011-04-15T19:22:00.004-05:00

Yesterday was a 'stay-at-home-and-clean' sorta day here...no real rhyme or reason besides the fact that we had no where to go in the morning. Not a gym day, not an ECFE day, didn't need anything at Target day...a day like this is not very common for us!

So, I used the opportunity of staying home for the WHOLE morning to do some cleaning. I made a big list (ie: list with BIG letters) and had the kids help me! Once we completed the task I'd let one of them cross it off (hence the BIG writing - some of their crossing off skills are a little crazy).

One thing on the list was to vacuum - and to vacuum everywhere. Under the table, under the bar-stools, by the baseboards, and so on... I handled the big vacuum and my big helper, Ethan, requested the hand vac! Of course I said yes (what mom wouldn't take willing help??)

What followed was soooo cute! Ethan, in a shirt and undies, taking his job as vacuum-er EXTREMELY seriously:) He got under the table, under the bar-stools and all the baseboards! Dare you to not smile while looking at that picture:) Can't do it. He used that hand vac until the batteries were dead! I told him we needed to re-charge it and he told me that he could just blow it it to give it more air....nice try bud:)

It's very refreshing to have one of the mess-makers getting interested in cleaning up his messes! We're taking baby steps here: they put their dishes in the sink, clothes in the dirty laundry, toys away (if I ask them to...) - little by little we'll get there. I'm just glad that he 'wanted' to help with the actual cleaning of the house! (I don't like a dirty house but I don't necessarily like to deep clean...slight dilemma)

I wish I was able to snap more pictures of him helping but we were in the zone - I didn't want to risk breaking that zone and losing all the momentum we (ie: me) had!

17 Weeks!

2011-04-13T19:34:00.004-05:00

How Far Along: 17 weeks:)

Size of baby: About the size of a turnip (thanks, BabyCenter.com!)

Milestones: Baby can move their joints, and their sweat glands are starting to develop. love the details:) (thanks again, BabyCenter.com!)

Total Weight Gain/Loss: About 6 pounds...

Maternity Clothes: Tops: maternity and regular a size (or 2) up. Bottoms: Jeans with my BeBand or my wonderful sweats:) My maternity workout bottoms (capris, pants and shorts) came in the mail yesterday - I wore them today at the gym and OH MAN they are comfy!

Gender: find out in 3 weeks!

Movement: Oh yes! Mainly in the evenings when I stop moving or when I'm sitting outside watching the kids play - LOVE IT!

Sleep: I'm still napping everyday and having some trouble falling asleep at night....but once I am asleep I love it....ohhh sleep how I love you:)

What I miss: Perhaps not sleeping every afternoon away..perhaps not though; sleep is a good thing:)

Cravings: I went out to eat with a girlfriend last week at an Asian place and had the BEST Tiger Pork - not sure what made it sooo good but I've been craving it since then! Anti-craving: I haven't been able to stomach chicken (weird huh?) since about 5 weeks and tried it again the other night....still can't stomach it. We'll try it again in a few weeks;)

Symptoms: Baby Bump. Lots of movement. Sleepy:)

Best Moment This Week: This morning at the Y there was a mix-up and there was no instructor for our class...long story short - they asked me to step in and teach! Of course I said yes:) In case you didn't know I was training to teach last summer but due to my miscarriage I had to step down, so I know all the choreography but I'm not 'certified'.

We had a 'certified' instructor stand in the studio while I taught (since I'm not certified) and it was soo fun! I got to wear the Brittany mic-headset too! (It's a dance - Latin Hip Hop class...)

I guess it's pregnancy related in that I taught 45 min straight (we lost 15 min trying to figure out where the instructors where!) while 17 weeks pregnant! I kept it low-impact (no jumping) but still shook it with the best of them:) Teaching the class is definitely the highlight of my week!

What I'm Looking Forward To: Countdown to the Ultrasound! 3 weeks:) I am so excited to see the little babe and discover (hopefully) the gender!

Comic's

2011-04-09T22:01:00.007-05:00

A few weeks ago we had a birthday party for my grandma; she's now 71 years young!

During the party I found Ethan hanging with my grandpa (his great-grandpa!) in the sunroom reading the newspaper. I waved my mom over and she snapped these ADORABLE pictures of them reading the comics together! They had no idea their picture was being taken as the glass door was shut and they were both engrossed in the Sunday funnies:)I think Great-grandpa was reading some to him....And it must've been FUNNY! I love the smirk on both their faces:) TOO PRECIOUS! Love it:) They spent a long time out there looking at the comics together; good buddies:)

16 weeks:)

2011-04-06T20:39:00.003-05:00

Hello 4 months!How Far Along: 16 weeks! 4 months!

Size of baby: About the size of an avocado! (thanks, BabyCenter.com!)

Milestones: Baby has started growing toenails! Love it:) (thanks again, BabyCenter.com!)

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I don't have a scale but I would guess 5-6 pounds....

Maternity Clothes: Yes for the tops. Still working the BeBand with my normal jeans still and some 'normal' pants with elastic waist:) I finally caved and ordered some maternity workout shorts and pants; the shorts I've been wearing are getting tight and I have to wear them REALLY low (cue LONG tank tops!) - I can't wait for them to come!

Gender: Don't know yet...I set my ultrasound up for the first week of May this morning!

Movement: YES! I've been noticing little 'flutterings' or mini jabs in the evening when I relax and put my feet up:) Hip hip hooray!

Sleep: Once I fall asleep it's decent; I've been having trouble falling asleep (which is a bummer when you feel soooo tired!)

What I miss: Not much:)

Cravings: Well I overdid my salad craving last week and ate a LOT of salad...now the thought of salad is the total opposite of a craving; oops. I have been craving Subway flatbread sandwiches - good thing they have $2 subs this month!

Symptoms: Tired. Baby Belly. Crazy Dreams. Losing Vocabulary. :)

Best Moment This Week: Starting the feel the baby move:)

What I'm Looking Forward To: Wearing some of the new clothes I found tonight at a thrift store! They're non-maternity but a size up from what I normally wear...and super cute for showing off my bump!

Energy Burst

2011-04-03T21:52:00.003-05:00

I'm still waiting for mine:)

When I was pregnant with Ethan and then Judah I seem to remember an energy burst in the 2nd trimester....so far no luck with this one!

BUT... I no longer have ALL DAY morning sickness! HOORAY! I guess being tired isn't too shabby compared to that:)

I'm still taking 1hr-3hr naps a day (depending if Joe's home and if I need to tend to my other little guys..) and somehow I'm STILL tired at the end of the day. I tell myself my body is so busy growing our little babe it's using up all it's energy - sounds about right, right?

So for now, I will continue with my daily naps. Good thing I love to sleep:)

15 weeks!

2011-03-30T20:17:00.003-05:00

How Far Along: 15 weeks!

Size of baby: about the size of an APPLE (thanks, BabyCenter.com!)

Milestones: Baby can sense light. If you shine a flashlight at your tummy, baby is likely to move away from the beam. (thanks again, BabyCenter.com!)

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I had an appointment today and according to the office scale I'm up 5 lbs! (Granted my appointment was first thing in the morning...I'm still claiming 5 lbs though!)

Maternity Clothes: I caved and unpacked my maternity clothes last weekend; I washed them all but am only wearing the tops. I'm still rocking the BeBand with my normal pants (when not in sweats of course!)

Gender: Don't know yet...ultrasound will be the first week of May!

Movement: Still waiting.... when my midwife was listening to the heartbeat she said the baby was moving around a lot! :) So hopefully soon!

Sleep: Not too shabby...crazy dreams still but I can handle that:) I still nap almost everyday too!

What I miss: Not much:)

Cravings: Recently: good grapes (not the watery kind), salads, good brats and steak...mmmm good thing we have steak planned for dinner tomorrow!

Symptoms: my growing bump (and growing other places...whoa!); my nausea is pretty much gone (fingers crossed); SLEEPY! *still waiting for my 2nd trimester burst of energy!

Best Moment This Week: Hearing the heartbeat of our little babe this morning!

What I'm Looking Forward To: Setting up our ultrasound! And eventually going shopping for SUMMER maternity clothes! I wore long sleeve and 3/4 sleeve with both my pregnancies (worked in A/C for one and delivered the other in Dec.) so I need to add a few 'summer-y' pieces to my collection - hooray for shopping! Now if only I could get over my $10 rule...*I have a self-imposed rule that I will not spend more than $10 on a single item of clothing; let's see if I can stick to it with in-season maternity wear*

Map

2011-03-28T19:49:00.012-05:00

We were given a wonderful floor-sized puzzle of America and Ethan LOVES it! We've done it a few times for 'school' and I decided to document it this time:)I put together the edges for him and then he followed the 'map' (ie: the box) to figure out where to put each state!

He always starts with Texas; the 'boot' state as he refers to it and works his way east...

Checking his 'map' frequently to see where each state goes - I LOVE watching his brain process!

After he fills in the east coast Ethan moves over to the west coast - quite the system!

Finished with the west coast and filling in the mid-west...he saved Minnesota for last! (I'm sure it was pure coincidence though..)

Ethan with his completed puzzle! We pull this out every few weeks for school and talk about the states and the pictures on the states:)

OF COURSE if Ethan's doing a puzzle...Judah has to do one too:) Always wants to be like his older brother!

Transition

2011-03-25T20:00:00.003-05:00

I call the time between finding out your pregnant and the time you're fitting well into those maternity clothes "Transition Time". My last 2 pregnancy I managed through "Transition Time" by wearing pants the next size (or 2) up and sweats. It worked I guess...but I really didn't like the super-baggy butt/thighs and extra length with wearing up sizes. I always felt frumpy but didn't think I had any other options.

UNTIL....

I discovered the BeBand! I had heard about them in the past but never thoughts much about them (who knows why) BUT then a friend from college used one with her pregnancy (thanks Sarah!) and I thought to myself, "if it works for her - I bet it would work for me!"

And it totally does. :)

I did research on how to wear it (I know, I'm a dork.) and this is what I landed on: I step into it, pull it up over my tummy, pull up my jeans on top of the lower portion of Band, then fold upper portion of Band over unbuttoned/partially unzipped jeans. TMI? You decide. *I figured if there's any newly prego or maybe prego in the future readers I'd save them some time figuring out how to work it!*

All that to say I'm LOVING my BeBand! I don't know how long I'll be able to rock it (with my quickly growing bump) but I know I've gotten great use out of it the past few months!

p.s. I am sooo excited for my appointment with my midwife next week:)

14 weeks!

2011-03-23T20:15:00.004-05:00

How Far Along: 14 weeks!

Size of baby: about the size of a lemon (thanks, BabyCenter.com!)

Milestones: My baby can now squint, frown, grimace, pee, and possibly suck his thumb! (thanks again, BabyCenter.com)

Total Weight Gain/Loss: We don't have a scale at our house so I'll guess on this one...I would guess 4-5 lbs (I was up 2 lbs at my 10 week visit). I have an appointment next week so I guess we'll find out then!

Maternity Clothes: Not yet! I bought a BellaBand this time around and am LOVING it! I can wear *most* of my pre-pregnancy jeans with the band:) I'm in the next size up shirts or empire waist shirts. Disclaimer: As much as I love the BellaBand and LOVE my sweats more; as soon as I am home the jeans are off and the sweats are on.

Gender: Don't know yet...Ultrasound will happen during the 1st week of May!

Movement: Not yet - hopefully soon though!!

Sleep: Give or take depending on the night; some nights I fall right asleep and others I toss and turn. CRAZY dreams though...whoa.

What I miss: Not a whole lot! I love my bump and I love that my clothes are getting small! I definitely DON'T miss the ALL DAY nausea from my first trimester - I may feel sick in the morning before I eat but I can handle that:)

Cravings: hmmm...they vary day to day. Most recent: Cinnamon Ice Cream (which my wonderful hubby surprised me with!), a good cheeseburger, spinach salad.

Symptoms: MY BUMP:) Little nausea in the morning sometimes (which I am sooo fine with since it's not all day anymore!!), super tired and just starting today: round ligament pain (ouch)

Best Moment This Week: Starting the SECOND TRIMESTER!! Woo-hoo!

What I'm Looking Forward To: Hearing the precious heartbeat again next week! I could listen to that thump-thump all day!

Waking Up Slowly

2011-03-21T20:55:00.005-05:00

Ethan has this super cute habit in the morning. Every.single.morning (literally every) he gets up - comes out of his room and lays on the living room floor. He peeks his cute little head over at me and says: "Mommy, I'm waking up slowly." ok bud:)

Since he does this every.single.morning I figure I should document it with some pictures! Sadly, the flash was on and after two pictures he was done 'waking up' :)He tucks his legs under him, curls his head in and just lays there! Too Cute. It reminds me of what a baby looks like in the womb:) I hope he doesn't outgrow this adorable tradition any time soon! It's such a sweet way to see him wake up:)

If You Give A Mom A Muffin...

2011-03-19T19:27:00.005-05:00

Have you ever read the book "If You Give A Mouse A Cookie"? We love that book in this house! We've also read "If You Give A Cat A Cupcake" - equally as adorable! All that to say..I was forwarded a spoof off those books about Moms - I read it and laughed so hard! (I don't know who wrote it as it was an email forward)
******************
If You Give a Mom a Muffin

If you give a mom a muffin,
She'll want a cup of coffee to go with it.
So she'll pour herself some.
The coffee will get spilled by her three year old.
She'll wipe it up.

Wiping the floor, she will find some dirty socks.
She'll remember she has to do some laundry.
When she puts the laundry in the washer,
She'll trip over some snow boots and bump into the freezer.
Bumping into the freezer will remind her she has to plan supper for tonight.

She will get out a pound of hamburger.
She'll look for her cookbook. (101 Things To Make With a Pound of
Hamburger.)
The cookbook is sitting under a pile of mail.
She will see the phone bill which is due tomorrow.
She will look for the checkbook.

The checkbook is in her purse that is being dumped out by her two year old.
She'll smell something funny.
She'll change the two year old.
While she is changing the two year old the phone will ring. (Of course!)
Her five year old will answer it and hang up.

She remembers that she wants to phone a friend to come over for coffee on
Friday.
Thinking of coffee will remind her that she was going to have a cup.
She will pour herself some.
And chances are,
If she has a cup of coffee,
Her kids will have eaten the muffin that went with it.

************
oh.so.true. There are many mornings I make myself a nice cup of hot chocolate (or something similar) and never get to drink it!

Sounds like the mom in the poem has 3 kids; soon enough I'll get to write a poem about my 3 kids!

Watch me grow...

2011-03-18T19:59:00.010-05:00

I've kept it in long enough so it's time to spill the beans...WE'RE EXPECTING AGAIN!

We kept quiet for a while due what happened last summer. Now that I'm safely past 3 months we're spreading the news!

In February, we heard the BEAUTIFUL heartbeat of this babe (at 10 weeks) and I've been growing (and sick and tired) steadily!

I'm now almost 14 weeks - due in mid September:) We've been taking pictures of my growing belly since we found out in January (sadly, something I never did with my 2 boys. I totally wish I did!)

I'll stop my jibber-jabbing and show you the pictures!

4 weeks:
6 weeks:
8 weeks: buttons getting tighter...
10 weeks:
12 weeks: 3 months! Hooray!
13.5 weeks (I totally popped...guess my body knows what to do!)
So, here we go again on this wonderful journey called pregnancy! Good thing I enjoy being pregnant:) (minus the sick part - which was horrible for the first 3 months...Yesterday and today were the first days I didn't feel sick AT ALL!) Hooray for 2nd trimester!!

Check back for updates:) I'll be posting 'em!

School Today...

2011-03-17T19:22:00.007-05:00

This morning when it was school-work time Ethan informed me that HE was going to be the teacher today and he was going to teach ME. Sounds like fun - so we went with it!

We're going through that reading book I talked about and Ethan was going to 'teach' me my lesson this morning. We both work out of the same book so he's very familiar as to what happens first, second and so on....it was precious! I wish I thought ahead to set up the video recorder or something because he was so stinkin cute:)

E: now mommy, do you know what this sound is?
Me: teacher, I forgot. Can you teach me again?
E: of course. I am the teacher. This sound is "ssssss"
M: thanks.

and on and on. When it came time to sound out words he 'taught' it to me just like I taught him!

E: now mommy, first you say it slow. Then you say it fast. Watch me....ssssss-aaaaa-mmmm. Now say it fast...SAM! Mommy, mommy I know a Sam!!!
*when he refers to saying something fast he says it fast and LOUD! oh my.

We made it through our lesson (and I wonder if he learned even MORE because he 'taught' me) and we got ready to go outside.

Now that we're out of the arctic blast known as winter I'm ALL about being outside. Anything over 32* we're out there. We went out this morning (low 40's) and the boys drew with chalk and stomped on snow for a while. Then we headed out for our 'adventure hike'! Judah chilled in the stroller and Ethan walked. I let Ethan decide which way to turn when we came to an intersection and we observed as we walked.

We talked about everything we heard and saw. We heard cars and airplanes and LOTS of birds! We would stop everytime we'd see a bird in a tree or in the air (lots of stopping) and almost every one Ethan would exclaim "It's a Harpy-Eagle!" (none of which were; he learned about Harpy-Eagles on Diego)

Ethan would also stop at every puddle (lots of those too) and tell me what it looked like. Wow, that kid has an imagination.

We found every drain and talked about how the snow was melting and flowing into the drain; then going into a lake. Ethan was happy that the fish got more water to swim in!

Highlight of the walk was spotting a beautiful red bird in a tree; we stopped and admired it for a while:)

Then is was lunch time, then rest time. Oh how I love rest time:) After rest time we went outside again (high 40's at that point) and the boys drew with chalk, ate a snack and we explored the yard together. The snow had melted a lot so we jumped from grassy patch to grassy patch.

Inside for dinner prep, ate dinner, read some books then ready for bed. Ahh what a day:) I love that we can start going outside more and more! I am soooo looking forward to summer where we can literally stay outside ALL day!

There's a little look into our Thursday school day: a reading lesson, little adventure hike with some science and nature, art in the driveway and of course story time! Oh the joy of schooling at home:)

And just because it's cute..here's a pic of my charming boys eating lunch the other day: I love Ethan's 'what's up?' pose! Totally not on purpose; I think he was showing me his food:) I love these guys!

Happy Pi Day!

2011-03-14T19:54:00.005-05:00

Today is March 14th..aka pi day! (3.14)

In honor of pi day Joe picked up a pie for us to enjoy tonight! Mmmmm Lemon Meringue:)
For you viewing pleasure (or to appease my dorky-ness) here is that wonderful pi I'm talking about:

3.14159265358979323846264338327950288....

Grab yourself a piece of pie for pi day!

Great Book!

2011-03-11T20:26:00.003-06:00

For part of Ethan's schoolwork we've been working through the book "Teach Your Child To Read in 100 Easy Lessons" at first I was a little skeptical but I had heard a lot of good things about the book...
...Ethan is getting it! Absolutely amazing! I may be biased because I'm his mom but I think he's doing wonderfully:) We're only a few weeks in but he is sounding out simple words; I LOVE the proud look he gets on his face when he successfully sounds out a word!

There are mornings when his attention isn't all the way there or he gets easily distracted..but he's still learning it somehow!

I would totally recommend this book - hooray for reading!

LOVE

2011-03-07T22:13:00.002-06:00

I love this guy:)

Tent Fun

2011-03-05T21:00:00.007-06:00

A while ago Joe brought his tent out of storage (aka our garage) and set it up in the living room for the boys to play in. It was such a hit! The boys loved it:)They played in it for a long time...had snacks in there...and even watched a movie! It's amazing what a change of scenery can do for kids! They played with their normal toys in the tent for such a long time - the joy of forts:) The next morning Ethan convinced me to have him do some of his schoolwork in the tent:) (it wasn't that hard to convince me!) Here he is practicing some 'threading' of beads on a string:Sadly, the tent could only stay up for 2 days. We have a small living room and the tent took up a good portion of it! I'm sure we'll pull it out again for some rainy day fun;)

Growing Up

2011-02-27T19:50:00.006-06:00

I feel like my boys are growing up so fast these days! I snapped a pic of them making 'forts' under the bar stools and it instantly brought me back.....

here's the then and now:
Of course they weren't under the same sides but you get the picture:) The earlier one was taken a little over a year ago (15 months maybe?) - WOW Ethan looks like a GIANT now and Judah like a little boy! I'll try and persuade them to squeeze under them again in another year!

Turtles

2011-02-26T08:40:00.005-06:00

I finally uploaded my pictures! Hooray for me:)

We went to the Children's Museum with Joe's family a while ago and had a blast! They had a turtle that you could get in...well of course Joe got in there:) My full grown TMNT:) After Joe tried it, Ethan got the courage up to crawl in there too! WAY TOO CUTE! I love my little turtle:) Judah never crawled in there - but he did enjoy sitting on top! I doubt his arms would've been long enough to fit out anyways...

We had such a GREAT time at the Museum! Sadly, my camera's battery was close to dying so I got limited photos. BUT that meant I had more time to play! I SCRUBBED all our hands after we were done exploring and thankfully no one got sick! (Hands on museum made just for kids = LOTS of germs! Especially in the dead of winter!)

I love watching our little guys explore the world and the Children's Museum gave them plenty of opportunity for that! They both fell fast asleep within 10 minutes of leaving - it wore them out good:)

10 on Thursday

2011-02-24T21:04:00.004-06:00

1. My littlest guy is under the weather...boo. Poor Judah has a fever and threw up early this morning (thankfully nothing since 9am!)

2. I HATE HATE seeing my kids sick! They look (and are) so helpless! Judah fell asleep in my arms at the dinner table tonight - I can't remember the last time he's done that!

3. I am SO hoping he has a 24 hour bug - I'm hopeful since he only threw up in the morning and seemed to eat fine after that. The fever is hanging on but hopefully a good night sleep will help kick that!

4. Joe picked up a new faucet for our bathroom (our old one was leaking all over our counter!) - it makes the bathroom look so nice and now Ethan can wash his own hands after he goes to the bathroom!

5. It has two separate handles instead of one so it will be MUCH easier for Ethan to turn on - hooray!

6. Joe also picked up a part (I have no clue what it is) for our toilet - it had a leak somewhere...I don't know much - all I know is that Joe is fixing it now and the toilet's all taken apart:) *and I have to go to the bathroom! ahhh!*

7. I started the book "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Lessons" with Ethan and he's doing great! (granted we're on lesson 5....but it's a start!) I've heard great reviews on it so I figure we'd give it a shot!

8. Ethan saw the letter 's' today and said "hey mom - that 's' says 'sssss'" which is something we just learned from the book! hooray for retention!

9. It's aimed for 4-5 yr olds or 'bright' 3.5 yr olds...I thought we'd do it now and if it didn't click we'd do it again next year!

10. I'm having a hard time believing that February is almost over..wasn't it just Christmas? I know I say this a lot - but time is FLYING around here!

snow..snow...

2011-02-21T20:15:00.002-06:00

I think we've had enough snow for the winter! I was sooo excited when we could see the tiny corner of our grass last week - that 'warm up' was just a tease! We've had a blizzard doing it's thing since yesterday afternoon...lots of snow!

I keep telling myself that soon enough spring will come - spring will come!! I cannot wait!

10 on Tuesday

2011-02-15T20:59:00.003-06:00

1. Hooray I'm actually getting this done on Tuesday!

2. Tuesday's are my busy days...ECFE in the morning and work in the afternoon...whew. I'm tired.

3. We got our new (to us) fridge over the weekend and I LOVE it! It's a sleek, black, side-by-side:)

4. The boys love the new fridge too and are obsessed with making new artwork to decorate it with...too cute.

5. I took a video of Judah doing his puzzles with his mad skills and we're trying to speed up the video so people can watch him do his magic. We're running into some issues trying to speed it up but (hopefully) we'll figure it out! Otherwise I'll just post a 5 min video of him:)

6. While grocery shopping the other day I needed toilet paper. I compared prices, picked a good one, bought it and came home.

7. As I was hauling my 'toilet paper' into the house I looked at it and realized I bought a huge thing of PAPER TOWELS. Oy. At least we have a good supply of paper towels now...and I bought some real TP tonight:)

8. Also on that shopping trip I NEEDED baby wipes; like we had 2 wipes left. Wouldn't you guess that I got all the way home and realized I forgot baby wipes? yep. I also bought those tonight. Double Oy.

9. Our van is in need of repair (starter I think? Ask Joe..) so Joe and I have been sharing the car. It's been working out fine but it makes me REALLY appreciate the sliding door on the van! It's so much easier to get kids in and out with a sliding door!

10. Remember when I said I had tons of pictures and needed to get them on the computer? Yeah, still haven't done that. Bad me. It'll happen eventually I promise!

Valentines Day

2011-02-14T22:13:00.007-06:00

Happy Valentines Day! We had a wonderful day:)

I dressed the boys in red and we all went to the Y this morning; my instructor had 6 raffle give-away gifts in honor of Valentines and both Tess and Christie won one! Christie was so gracious to split hers with me:) I came home with a yummy smelling candle. hmmm. The boys came home with cute heart stickers:)

Then Joe and I went out for a lunch date! We both had won free buffet lunches at this little restaurant in town so we decided to redeem them - it's a cute Asian place and we had the dining room to ourselves! Good food+great date+FREE=awesome. After that we went to Caribou (buy-one-get-one day!) and then grocery shopping; romantic right? It seriously was fun though!

We came home to this....The boys made us chocolate covered strawberries (with Grandma's help) - they were sooo proud of them! They also ate almost half of them by bedtime:) I don't blame them..they'll delish! *Notice our beautiful new (to us) fridge in the background! We got it Saturday and I love it! It really updates our kitchen*

We did our normal afternoon rest time and then off to swimming lessons..back home...ate dinner...put the boys to bed.

After the boys were sleeping Joe and I made ourselves a 'fancy' dinner to enjoy - we made steak, raw fries, green beans and onions. Throw in a glass of Ginger Ale and light a candle and you have yourself a romantic dinner! It was sooo good - I love myself some steak:) Plus, I love cooking with my man:) I hope you all had a wonderful Valentines Day! I have 3 very handsome Valentines that I was honored to spend the day with!

10 on Tuesday on Wednesday

2011-02-09T19:41:00.003-06:00

1. wow - I'm getting really bad at getting my 10 on...post up on Tuesdays! Can I blame it on the fact that Joe's home on Tuesday evenings now? I sure can and will.

2. I think Ethan's having a growth spurt - that kid eats SO much now! And is always hungry...always! Good thing he's eating lots of healthy foods: 3rd helpings of broccoli is a win in my book!

3. During rest time today; aka: Ethan watching a movie while I rest; Ethan actually FELL ASLEEP! Another clue to his possible growth spurt...sleeping during the day!

4. My boys are obsessed with bubble baths! They would take one every night if I let them...sometimes I do:) They took one tonight and I got a little carried away with the bubbles - they loved it though!

5. I told Ethan that his and Judah's nose's look the same (they do!) and he kept on trying to 'clean' his nose to make it look different. didn't work. It's adorable when they're next to each other in the tub and you see the similarities in their faces.

6. We watched Astroboy on Saturday night as a family on Netflix (gotta love the instant streaming!) and Ethan LOVED it! New favorite movie. He's now 'Astroboy'.

7. Ethan had swimming lessons on Monday and insisted that his instructor call him Astroboy. She's a sweetheart and called his that for the whole lesson;)

8. Weeks ago (like 3 or so) Joe and I went on a little get-a-way to a cabin about 2 hours south - I still have the pictures on my camera and hope (soon!) to get them on here soon! It's an adorable little place:)

9. Speaking on cameras...I am being so LAZY with getting my pictures off that and onto my computer! argh. Every time I think of it I'm too tired or something. someday. I promise:)

10. I LOVE cake mix cookies. So easy. So simple. So yummy. I'm going to go make some:)

I'm dreaming of....

2011-02-07T20:49:00.004-06:00

SUMMER!

I'm done with winter. We have plenty of snow, plenty of cold, plenty of sniffles...and we're ready! Ready for some sunshine and warmth! Ready for picnics in the front yard! Ready for t-shirts and shorts! Bring it on!I was browsing through some old pictures on Facebook and found this gem of my boys eating dinner outside! Such is the life:) Warm, sunny days that go on till 8pm! There's something very comforting about sitting on a blanket, eating food and hanging with all my boys:)

Here's hoping that old-man-winter will leave soon. We've enjoyed you (somewhat) but it's time to move on. The boys have enjoyed playing in your snow but this mama is ready for some fun in the sun! Bring on the parks and beaches!

Sadly, I know we'll have to live with this cold (and by cold I mean the low tonight with windchill is -28 and the windchill HIGH tomorrow is -12! brrrrrrr.) I know EVENTUALLY the snow will melt, the sun will get warmer and sweet summer will show it's face!

5 years!

2011-02-04T20:53:00.007-06:00

FIVE years ago I married my best friend:) Oh how time flies!
I can vividly remember that day...getting my hair done, getting my makeup done, getting a caribou caramel cooler to calm my nerves, lots of pictures, waiting for the ceremony....waiting....then BLINK...we're married! The ceremony went by sooo fast!

I do remember walking down the isle - or in my case walking down STAIRS - with a death grip on my dad's arm and my train of my dress getting STUCK on a screw or something! ack! Keeping my cool I stopped - looked back at my train - then thankfully the person sitting in that isle spot unhooked my dress. whew. Other than that the ceremony went off without a hitch (or any that I can remember 5 years later!!)
I still remember back in 2005 when we were trying to find a date for our wedding; we looked in January and I peeked ahead to February just to see what the dates looked like; and when I say 'look' I literally mean 'look'..and I found the COOLEST 'looking' date!

02-04-06! Call me a nerd. I'll take it:) It's nearly impossible to forget our wedding anniversary...two-four-six! Fits perfectly with my math background eh? I totally planned that.

It's been fun to reflect back on our 5 years of marriage...what a FULL 5 years it has been! It makes me excited for the next 5 years!

Joe and I just got back from a WONDERFUL anniversary date evening...I may devote a whole post to it (hopefully!)

I thank God daily for my awesome husband and wonderful children - I can't imagine my life without them!

puzzle boy

2011-01-27T21:32:00.004-06:00

Judah has discovered puzzles...not those wooden ones with knobs but actual puzzles. whoa. I think he started doing them because he kept on seeing Ethan do them...and this kid (Judah) is actually REALLY good at them! And he gets soooooo excited when he gets it to work:)
We were given a Thomas the Train puzzle for Christmas and Judah LOVES to do it! I love to watch his little brain process everything and find the right place for each piece.

Remember my post about Ethan's puzzle craziness? The puzzle brains must've been passed to Judah too! It amazes me:)It takes him a while to do the whole puzzle - and sometimes he loses interested before then - BUT I'm still amazed at his strange ability to figure where the pieces go! Way to go my littlest man! I like to think that they inherited some of my math brains....a girl can dream right? :)

10 on Tuesday - Birthday Party Style!

2011-01-25T20:43:00.009-06:00

1. I'm a little (a lot) late on posting about my littlest guys 2 year birthday parties...so it's getting it's own 10 on Tuesday for it!

2. His first party was at my parents house - Joe and I made a "Train" themed cake and Judah loved it! We kept it hidden from him till the party and when he saw it he kept saying "Choo-Choo!" 3. On my side of the family, after we sing "Happy Birthday" we chant "Not gonna stop till you skip around the room, skip around the room, skip around the room, not gonna stop till you skip around the room......." while the birthday person literally skips around the room! Well, we did this for Judah and he knew exactly what to do! He RAN around the room soooo fast! 4. He almost hit his head...key word: almost...I caught a pic of his just barely missing the table! He didn't want to stop running!

5. Then he enjoyed his cake....hmmmm6. Think he likes cake much? Yeah he does:)

7. His next party was at Joe's parents house - Joe and I made a "Fireman" themed cake - once again, we hid it from mr. Judah until the party and he kept saying "wee-ooo-wee-oo" *his firetruck sound*8. I made 2 different types of cakes and layered them...we had an over abundance of cake! hmmm yummy:) 9. Judah enjoying his birthday cake - this kid could eat cake everyday if I let him (which I most certainly will not!) 10. At Christmas, Ethan got a big boy bike from Joe's parents..when Judah saw it he asked Grandma "Judah bike?" asking if he was getting one.....he didn't get one for Christmas...good thing his birthday is shortly after! He got his own bike too - he was SO excited! We had 2 wonderful birthday parties for our wonderful 2 year old boy!

STATS

2011-01-22T16:31:00.005-06:00

here's the stats for my littlest man:

Height: 2'7.5" 1.34%
Weight: 25 lb 13.22%
Head Circumference: 50 cm 81.10%

HOORAY! My little Judah made it past the 1% for height! Remember his 18 month stats? He was under the 1% for his cute little height:) I love my short, little man!
He passed all his developmental marks with flying colors and even 'impressed' our doctor with some antics in the exam room - that-a-boy!I love you Judah!

10 on Tuesday...err Wednesday

2011-01-19T19:53:00.003-06:00

opps. Tuesday came and went and no post was made - can I blame it on the fact that Joe is done with school so I no longer have to wait up till 11pm on Tuesday nights? *hence my 10 on Tuesday posts!* (He had class Tuesday nights in case anyone missed that connection - hooray for being done!)

onward...

1. I won a $25 gift card for Mr. Tai's Asian Restaurant this afternoon! Hip Hip Hooray for a free dinner!

2. They have been using Facebook to get their name out there (smart move I say) and had a photo contest of sorts; they posted a photo of a nature scene that was taken within their delivery area...first person to correctly guess the intersection where it was taken wins a $25 gift card...

3...you guessed it; I guessed it! There were like 9 guessed before mine and then I correctly guessed it! I wasn't thinking I would win at all (since the photo was on a snowy wetland - those are everywhere around here) but I DID!

4. We enjoyed a delicious take-out meal of: sweet and sour chicken, sesame chicken, Kung Pao Beef and Beef Lo Mien! hmmmm and we have LOTS of leftovers:)

5. Ethan decided to sport my snow boots on his feet and my 'fashion' snow boots on his hands and walk around like a bear. Normal toddler behavior right? It is in my house:)

6. I went to a Mosaics class with my mother-in-law this past Saturday and it was a blast! I made a mirror and Theresa made a wall panel. We chose the tile, cut it (if it needed to be cut), patterned it however we pleased and then glued it!

7. They sent us home with the grout to do at a later time as the glue needs to set overnight; I still need to do that part:) I am excited to see what the finished product looks like though!

8. I made mine with the colors of our bedspread (browns, greens, tans) with hopes to put it over my nightstand...I think my plan with work!

9. I have SO many pictures to load off my poor camera and onto the computer...I just don't have time; and then when I do have time (aka right now) I lack the motivation. See...when I put it on the computer I make myself put it on our external hard-drive so I know it's backed up...and I lack the motivation to do that. argh.

10. When I DO get more motivation expect posts on Judah's birthday parties; his recent doctor visit (which was today); superman jammies and more! Ohhhh the anticipation...

Resourceful

2011-01-17T19:38:00.003-06:00

Ethan displayed his resourcefulness to me this afternoon....

...I had set him up with a movie and a snack for rest time and I was in my room; it was quiet for a long time (rest time should be that; so nothing wrong here) and then my phone rang. I went out into the living room to get it.

Apparently, Ethan must've still been hungry after the snack I gave him. He decided to get himself a snack instead of bother me....his choice of snack is the interesting part.

I looked over at him on the couch, happily watching his movie while eating out of a

BAG OF SHREDDED CHEESE.

ok. I asked him why he was eating shredded cheese (and making a mess with it too) and he said he wanted cheese but couldn't cut the 'cutting cheese' (that's what we call block cheese; because you cut it) so he decided to eat shredded cheese.

I chose not to get mad and offered to cut him some 'cutting' cheese. He was pleased with that and continued with his rest time.

I found it very cute how resourceful he was!

10 on Tuesday

2011-01-11T21:00:00.002-06:00

1. My house is a wreck. boo. It's not abnormal though...most days this time of night I think the same thing. I blame my two toddlers;)

2. I made beef stew today! Put everything in the crock pot this morning before ECFE and went about my day - lovely meal was ready for dinner! yum.

3. We still have 1/2 of Judah's birthday cake from Saturday leftover; Joe and I have been trying to eat a piece a night to use it up! Probably not the best time to eat it - ah well:)

4. Judah's vocabulary has EXPLODED the past few weeks! He's a talking maniac now!

5. I now have TWO VERY TALKATIVE TODDLERS. oy. Let's just say I really enjoy talking to Joe in the evening when they are sleeping....no toddler interruptions.

6. Judah's poor lip is soooo dry and chapped it started to bleed yesterday! I put some of my scent-free chapstick on it and he seemed to enjoy it:)

7. I'm ready for Summer. I'll even take Spring:)

8. Mine and Joe's FIVE year anniversary is coming up soon! (Feb. 4th) WOW that went fast!

9. Library run tomorrow! We'll see what kind of good finds we'll find:)

10. I need to upload pictures and then I'll have a lot to blog about:) Birthdays, cute boys, and more!

Bubble Bath

2011-01-10T22:14:00.004-06:00

With these COLD winter days and nights the boys have been taking A LOT of warm baths! Bubble baths to be exact:) They were given some bubble bath for Christmas (in Buzz and Woody containers!!) and LOVE to play in there!

I don't mind at all: warm water, warm bathroom, happy kids, clean kids, tired kids after....win win!

BUNK BEDS!

2011-01-07T20:11:00.008-06:00

A little over a week ago my two big-boys got BUNK BEDS! They LOVE them:)
I was worried that Judah would get out of his bed; or miss his crib; or any other possible thing that could go wrong and NONE of those happened! YEAH! The first night there he stayed in his bed; slept through the night (well, 5am that first night) and LOVES his bed!

Ethan loves his top bunk - or as he calls it...his 'fireman station' :) He hasn't showed any fear of being up high (and by high I mean under 5 feet; they're short bunks)

Judah even NAPS in there - just like I was hoping for:) I was worried that he wouldn't transition from napping in his crib to napping in his bunk but he did it like a pro! I 'helped' him fall asleep the first day and since then he cries for like 2 minutes then he's out! woot!In other news: Ethan got new Super Man pajamas for Christmas and LOVES them! We have a cape (from before) that he constantly wears with the jammies....watch out - here comes Super Man! And here comes our mini-Super Man (sadly, he didn't have his Super Man jammies on that time...he does have some though!) One of these nights, I need to put them both in their super hero gear and catch them on film running around! There he goes - flying to the rescue!

10 on Tuesday

2011-01-04T20:52:00.003-06:00

1. Opps...I forgot to do a 10 on Tuesday post last week....Holiday weekend overload:)

2. Judah had his first of two birthday parties last Sunday - his second party is set for this Saturday...you can expect a party post coming soon after!

3. In my extended family when it's your birthday you have to skip around the room after the 'happy birthday song' to the chant of "not gonna stop till you skip around the room, skip around the room, skip around the room, not gonna stop till you skip around room....." and when we did it for Judah OH MAN he RAN! He knew exactly what to do and ran around that room with a huge smile on his face!

4. I think he knew to run from watching ALL the birthday parties that happen in my family (6 kids, 2 in-laws, 2 parents, and 5 nieces and nephews = lots of birthdays:)

5. Ethan and Judah got BUNK BEDS last week! They LOVE them:)

6. No one has fallen (yet) and Judah hasn't gotten out of his bed yet. (He moved from a crib to the bottom bunk)

7. Ethan calls them his 'fireman station!' too cute.

8. I peek in on them every night (so far) to gaze at them....I love seeing Judah sleep in his big boy bed - so grown up!

9. Because the crib is out of their room they have SO MUCH more room to play!

10. It's so weird to check them in at the YMCA and say ages 2 and 3. Wow that time went by fast!

Christmas Recap!

2011-01-03T20:17:00.018-06:00

A few days (err week) late..here's all about our Christmas 2010! We celebrated over 2 weekends and attended many fun parties:) Here's the short(er) recap:

Saturday before Christmas (Dec 18) we had an extended family gathering for Joe's mom's side of the family. The Host cleared out their garage and put carpet down, tables up and left the service door open to the house - talk about smart and resourceful! It added another large room to the party - and they had bins of toys out there for the kids - our kids had a blast!They had a Birthday Cake for Jesus and each kid got an anonymous present (from an assigned adult) - both my boys LOVED their gifts!

The next day (Dec. 19) we had my mom's extended side family gathering; it was at my grandparents house - we each brought something (or two) for the appetizers and meal...we had quite the feast!The boys got a lot of wonderful gifts - these slippers being one of the faves! Ethan has Spiderman and Judah has Cars - can't go wrong with those! The other 'boys'..aka my 3 brothers and Joe...got pocket knives - really? Of course they had to use them with everything they did - including drinking their coffee....Boys will be boys I guess:)

Our next party was on Christmas Eve Day at my parents; I have a large family (I'm one of 6 kids; 2 of us 6 have kids so it's getting big!) it's hard to coordinate everyone being together on the holiday at the same time - well, we could ALL be together Christmas Eve Day so that's what we did! For our siblings we bought fair-trade gifts from other countries; we went through Ten Thousands Villages; all the proceeds went to the crafts people directly! We got my brothers musical instruments (which is fitting as they are in a band together) - I could (and probably should) do a separate post on ALL the gifts we got; I must say they were pretty cool!

Speaking of gifts - I got these sweet slipper boots! LOVE 'EM and have them on right now:)
We stayed at my parents house through dinner then went over to Joe's parents for a short visit in the evening (Christmas Eve still); it was the only time we would see Joe's older brother and wife over the Christmas weekend as they were going to her (my sis-in-law) parents the next day. So, we hopped over there and had dessert and the boys got a few presents. I love how the other kids (Ethan's 2nd cousins) are hovering over the cool gift! Handy Manny was a hit this year! We stayed at Joe's parents for a few hours then went home to call it a night.

The next morning (Christmas Day!) we woke up and had a lazy morning (our mornings start EARLY around here..) and then the boys opened up their stockings from US. Yep - US not Santa. Short nutshell of why we don't do Santa: he's not real; we won't lie to our children; he has nothing to do with the 'meaning' of Christmas. nutshell done. Then it was off to Christmas Breakfast at Joe's parents house - we had a delicious egg bake with fruit and yogurt...hmmm...

It was a quieter gathering with just us, Joe's parents and Joe's brother Tom. We opened presents and everyone got wonderful gifts! Judah loves his firetruck! He calls it his 'weee-ooo-wee-ooo' (imagine a toddler creating the sound of a siren) I got some new winter snow boots! I was so excited! Since my boys are older they want to play outside more..and my old boots were dead. Ethan got a big surprise...A BIKE! He was super pumped and wants to ride it now...spring will come soon enough (I hope:)

We hung out at Joe's parents till early afternoon then headed back to my parents for our annual Pannekokens! Pannekoken's are a baked, fluffy, giant pancake (sorta) that you pile high with yummy goodness - our goodness of choice: ice cream, powdered sugar, fruit, syrup, etc..Joe is cutting that one in half for us. He got one half and I got the other - it's big but it's sooo good. It's the whole meal! I tend to plop all the toppings on and gobble it up where my hubby makes his a piece of art first...then gobbles it up:)

After Pannekoken it was game time - I got in on a game of Golf with Tess, grandpa and Jordan....Such a fun game! Me and my sister, Tess...I think she's scared that I'm beating her in Golf...or maybe not:)

As you can see/read we had quite the Christmas season this year! Lots of family, parties and food - good thing I enjoy all of those! We came home with wonderful gifts from everyone - such a huge blessing! Our boys were troopers and did AWESOME at all the parties! I'm still in shock that it's 2011....oh boy. Happy New Year everyone:)

BIRTHDAY BOY!

2010-12-27T21:35:00.009-06:00

My baby is TWO today! I cannot believe that 2 years ago today I was in the hospital giving birth to my little man; those 2 years FLEW by! wow!My precious little baby; born 4 weeks premature, spending 9 long days in NICU is now our happy, healthy, hyper toddler!With Judah's birthday being so close to Christmas (hello, 2 days after!) we had a low key day and are planning his 'parties' for later this month.

He opened his presents this morning...I made a mental note to get birthday wrapping paper but I lost the note; I don't think Judah minded though:)
Joe and Ethan went to Target yesterday to get Judah's birthday presents (don't judge - there's LOTS of great clearance day after Christmas!)

For Judah's special birthday dinner we had chocolate chip pancakes, sausage and oranges...hmmm:) Judah loves breakfast food!
Happy birthday my baby! I LOVE YOU!

p.s. there will totally be more birthday posts after he has the 'eat all the cake and get messy' parties*

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

2010-12-24T21:07:00.002-06:00

Merry Christmas blog-sphere! We had a wonderful Christmas Eve and are looking forward to another great day tomorrow on Christmas Day!

10 on Tuesday - Wednesday Edition

2010-12-22T19:48:00.004-06:00

1. I have a really really good excuse for not posting yesterday......3 letters for you: F. L. U.

2. Yeah, I got a wonderful 24 hour flu bug; at first I thought it was food poisoning but then it continued after I 'emptied' my stomach (euphonious way of saying puked) with a fever so good ole flu it was!

3. I started feeling weird Monday night and was 'emptying my stomach' all day yesterday and woke up today feeling MUCH better! By mid afternoon I felt about 85% and now in the evening I'm getting closer to 95%!

4. I BETTER be 100% by Christmas Eve!

5. We have a fun-filled Christmas Eve and Christmas Day schedule with no time for sickness. no time.

6. Our trash can disappeared while I was sick - it was at the curb for trash day Monday, then I got sick, then I went down to get it today (Wed) and it was gone! You can see where it was sitting in the snow but it's not there....weird.

7. I called our Association property manager and left a message; I'm worried she's gone for the holidays and we won't hear back for a while!

8. Judah will be TWO on Monday. TWO. ummm weren't you just born?

9. Judah is talking up a storm lately! TOO CUTE.

10. I have a few last minute things to finish before the Christmas weekend; I better feel better and feel productive tomorrow!!

Easy Cookies

2010-12-20T19:41:00.010-06:00

That's what this recipe is: easy. Really easy:) And that's why I love it! Sometimes I like to spend time measuring and mixing and taking my sweet ole time with baking. And other times I want to eat the cookies now! This recipe is for those occasions when you want instant gratification OR don't have a lot of time to bake.

I made these for a cookie exchange last week - at first I felt a tad guilty that I wasn't slaving in the kitchen for hours but then I realized who I was exchanging with: fellow MOMS. Most moms I have met don't have an over abundance of TIME so an easy cookie recipe it was:)

I call them my 'Cake Mix Cookies' and I just so happened to take pics while making them last week - how convenient :)

Start by combining cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl and set aside.

Pick your favorite cake mix - I used Classic Yellow to make a snickerdoodle and German Chocolate to make a delish chocolate treat! (I made 2 different cookies) Combine cake mix, eggs and oil together....Roll into little balls and shake around in cinnamon/sugar mixture...and put on cookie sheet....Smoosh the balls a glass (my fave part!)...and bake for a mere 8-9 minutes! Then you get these beauties...I LOVE these made with Yellow cake mix - they taste just like snickerdoodles! I packaged 3 chocolate and 4 snickerdoodles in a bag and attached the recipe for the cookie exchange. Yummy.

Here's the actual recipe:

Ingredients:

3 Tbsp sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1 pkg cake mix (I’ve used Pillsbury and Duncan Hines brand before)

2 eggs

¼ cup vegetable oil

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees; line cookie sheet with parchment paper

2. Combine sugar and cinnamon in small bowl; set aside.

3. Combine cake mix, eggs and oil in large bowl. Stir until well blended. Shape dough into 1 inch balls. Roll in cinnamon-sugar mixture. Place balls 2-inches apart on cookie sheet. Flatten balls with bottom of glass.

4. Bake at 375 8-9 minutes or until set. Cool one minute on cookie sheet then move to cooling rack and cool completely.

I LOVE trying out these cookies with different flavor mixes - I haven't found a bad one yet! Happy Cookie Making!

10 on Tuesday - Cookies!

2010-12-14T22:01:00.007-06:00

1. We made sugar cookie cutouts the other day as a family....way fun! 2. I set up our table with cutting boards, lots of flour, cookie cutters and we got on our aprons (minus Joe...)

3. The boys LOVED cutting out all the shapes! This was Judah's first year doing cookies and he caught right on.
4. Joe's mom passed on a bunch of cookie cutter that she had been given; I think they're 5th generation now!

5. Ethan enjoyed rolling the dough out and using plenty of flour:)
6. Joe would roll out Judah's dough and then Judah would 'push' the cutter in - he (Judah) would get so excited when the shape would come out of the cutter! We filled up many pans with beautifully (although not all the same thickness) cookies!

7. Aren't my boys cute? I think so:)
8. We cut them, baked them and cooled them.

9. We never got around to frosting them....I'm fine with that though - less sugar for the boys and less cleanup for me! It was QUITE the mess to clean up as is!

10. ALL the cookies are gone. You read right. We ate them all:) hmmmm.

SNOW!

2010-12-11T19:39:00.006-06:00

WOW. That's all I have to say about the AMOUNT of snow we got (and continue to get) today! It started late last night and hasn't let up since! It is beautiful:) We just saw on the tv that we've gotten 16-18inch so far! WOW.

Of course, the boys wanted to go out in it (and I did too) so we got ready to play around 10 am this morning. This is what we were greeted by:
SNOW! We could barely open the door - you can see my blue snow-panted leg pushing the door:)

Judah and I ventured to check out the new fluff...there was a lot of it!
Judah still isn't too sure of it; he wants to be outside with us but doesn't want to be IN the snow. He's a trooper though:)

Ethan had a BLAST!
Lots of snow castles! He doesn't realize when he's cold because he's having so FUN!

Gotta love the rosy red cheeks:)
Later that day (lunch-ish) my brother Tyler came over to play - the boys loved playing with their uncle outside! His car got stuck on the street after the plow came by so we got to dig him out...30 minutes later he was on his way:) Only to be met by a 4 foot snowplow drift in front of his driveway! Thankfully, he dug himself in:) I'm glad that we didn't have to drive anywhere today!

Snow, snow, snow. We have an abundance:) They are comparing this to the Halloween blizzard of 1991..now that makes me feel old because I remember that! Good Ole Minnesota for YA!

p.s. I noticed today's date: December 11, 2010...12-11-10! SWEET. Yep, I'm a numbers geek. Deal with it:)

Muddy Buddies....Puppy Chow!

2010-12-09T16:17:00.007-06:00

Remember last Tuesday when I said I was so excited to make 'puppy chow'? Well, I made it and it didn't disappoint! It brought me back to my high school days for some reason; I must not have had it since then! With the Christmas season upon us I thought this would (and will be!) and great appetizer to bring to those Holiday parties! I'm all about easy and saving money - this one especially helps with the $$ for us - we get the cereal and peanut butter on WIC! Double score:)

Go ahead and try it - I made a half batch yesterday (simply because I had 1 gallon bags not 2 gallon) and it is wonderful!

Image from Betty Crocker

Chex Muddy Buddies
*from back of Rice Chex Box*

9 cups Corn Chex®, Rice Chex®, Wheat Chex® or Chocolate Chex® cereal (or combination) *I like Rice Chex, nice and light*
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1. Into large bowl, measure cereal; set aside.

2. In 1-quart microwavable bowl, microwave chocolate chips, peanut butter and butter uncovered on High 1 minute; stir. Microwave about 30 seconds longer or until mixture can be stirred smooth. Stir in vanilla. Pour mixture over cereal, stirring until evenly coated. Pour into 2-gallon resealable food-storage plastic bag.

3. Add powdered sugar. Seal bag; shake until well coated. Spread on waxed paper to cool. Store in airtight container in refrigerator.

Could it get any easier for a delicious chocolate-peanut-butter snack? You don't even need the oven or stove - Oh yeah:)

I'm joining in the Holly Jolly Blog Hop from Natalie over at Extraordinary Love! Have fun hopping around and finding lots of great recipes for this time of year!

10 on Tuesday

2010-12-07T22:36:00.005-06:00

1. Judah LOVES his rain boots. He wants to live in them, sleep in them, everything in them.

2. Judah cries when I have to take off his rain boots.

3. These rain boots are blue with red firetrucks on them - absolutely adorable! THANKS Theresa for the great boots!

4. Today at lunch Ethan came over to me and gave me a kiss on the check and followed it up with: "Mommy, I do that because I love you"

5. Doesn't that melt your heart? Mine's mush thinking about it:)

6. The other night Ethan asked me "Mommy, why are you soooo beautiful?" (insert: awwwwhhh:)

7. How do you respond to that? I did the same way I do to most of his 'why' questions: because God made it (me in this case) that way. He seemed satisfied with that and I felt pretty the rest of the night:)

8. We got our Christmas cards from Shutterfly! They look AWESOME but our text is really small - that's what we get for trying to cram a bunch of words in a small space...ah well. That's what reading glasses are for right?

9. Our next 3 weekends are BOOKED! It should be fun though; lots of family fun!

10. I picked up some rice Chex on WIC the other day and am SO excited to make some puppy chow from it! Remember that from back in the day? They call it Muddy Buddies now though - sounds a little more appealing:)

Denial? Or blond?

2010-12-06T20:48:00.003-06:00

I'm going with denial because my hair is clearly not blond right now (I'm actually really dark right now...I love it...but I regress....)

This morning I was signing Ethan up for more swimming lessons at the Y and filled out the registration form; no biggie. Name, birthday, class number I got it covered. Sign and date the bottom and we're golden.

Later this afternoon I stopped by the bank. I went inside, filled out my deposit form, waited in an unusually slow line and got to my turn. Handed my papers to the teller and did my transactions. I'm outta there.

This evening I met my great friend, Heather, for a dinner date and was a few minutes early. I tinkered around on my phone (don't we all do that to waste time?) and something caught my eye.

THE DATE.

Today is December 6th.

I've been writing...

November 6th

...all day. NOVEMBER? really? I guess I missed that month! I find it hilarious that I did it not once, but TWICE today! And nobody corrected me either:)

Ah Well. Hello December:)

BRRRR

2010-12-05T21:53:00.002-06:00

I have a perma-chill. brrrrrrrr. It's cold here. real cold. I just head the weather man said it will feel more like mid-January this week than early December...I wonder if that means mid-January will feel like early March? A girl can dream...

I think I need some hot-chocolate and a blanket:)

brrrrrr.

My little Puppies

2010-12-02T20:39:00.004-06:00

Ethan and Judah were given home made winter hats last year from my Grandma; they are adorable little puppy hats!

They love wearing them and I love that they keep them on!

TOO CUTE!