Baby # 3 - 21 Week Bumpdate

Note to self, stop taking pictures on Iphone and at night!

Due Date: 8/8/2014

How far along: 21 weeks - whoa how did that happen?!

How big is baby: Approx. the size of a pomegranate

Weight gain: Don't even want to know

Sleep:  Lots of tossing and turning happening now, but still getting plenty, I am still so dang tired all the time.

Best moment of the week: Celebrating my Mama's birthday and my Brother in law's birthday :)

Movement: Oh yes, baby girl is definitely doing gymnastics in there!

Food cravings: This week it was pepperoncini's - I was making a salad for my brother in laws party and wanted to put them in so bad so I packed up the kids Friday night and went to the store, then bought an extra jar for myself and they are almost gone... My father in law was over yesterday and he said don't those set the baby on fire!? LOL

Food aversions: Nada

Maternity Clothes: Mostly everything now

Wedding rings: Down to just my engagement ring!

Symptoms: - Really bad lower back pain in my left side, like almost can't walk kind of pain, thankfully it isn't all the time. 

Stretch Marks: None - praying it stays that way

Belly button: In

Gender: A GIRL!

What I’m looking forward to: warm weather and Brayden starting gymnastics this week

What I miss: Not feeling huge!

Next appt: 4/8/14

Thankful for:  Nice weather on Sunday - the kids got to run around the yard all afternoon.  Ella's new favorite thing is to go down the slide, I think she did that 100 times, he he

Brayden - 44 Months

Brayden Lee! My little munchkin butt, you are now 3 ½! Seriously I feel like we just celebrated your 3^rd birthday (which I still can’t believe!!)

You just become more and more funny the older you get.  You say the silliest things, do the silliest things and have me laughing out loud most of the time.  It is so fun being your Mama!  Lately before bed you have started this new crazy routine of spinning your pj’s around and making me grab them, it is so funny! You are laughing the entire time you are doing this by the way, which leaves me cracking up.  First we do the pj bottms, then the pj tops. I love that this is now part of our nighttime routine.   

You have adjusted so well to preschool.  From going to never being around kids since you didn’t go to daycare, to a classroom full of little ones, you have done so great.  You have made a few little friends, and you even tell me you like this girl named “V”, although lately I think this may be changing to Peyton. Everyday I ask who you play with and lately it's only her, so I think V better look out :)  I think you are definitely still a little shy and reserved and you have found some friends that are more outspoken.  Preschool has definitely helped you come out of your shell a little bit and quite a few people have even made mention of this.  I am so proud of you!!

We still love doing crafts together and I really hope that never fades.  I will always want to spend time with you making something fun!  You are really into painting right now, it’s what you want to do like every day, ha ha.

You are still my little helper in the kitchen and I love this.  You are always the one to cut the cucumbers for the week, you love that this is “your” job.  You love to help me bake too, whether it’s cookies or cupcakes and you are always begging to lick the spoon, starting from the second we start, he he.  You always want to help make breakfast on the weekends when I’m home and even though it takes longer, I absolutely love the help from you. 

You are so in love with your Papa!! This makes me so happy to see you two developing a great relationship with eachother, especially since this is your only Grandpa.  I love that we live within walking distance to your Grandparents so we are able to go over there a lot. You will walk in their house and immediately ask Grandma Pam if Papa is home and then you two go to the basement to play your marble game. 

Your favorite TV shows right now are Jake and the Neverland Pirates and Paw Patrol (which took Daddy and I forever to figure out what you were saying when you would ask to watch this! I guess you only watched with Grandma Deb at first) You love the Disney movie Frozen and ask if Queen Elsa can come over everyday to play with you. 

You are mr. sassy pants lately as well.  Being a 3 year old is not easy and I see you trying to find your way in this big ol' world. I like that you can now tell us how you're feeling and what you want, but sometimes, it's so dramatic! But again, I know it's not easy being small, and you are doing a great job!

You are really becoming a "big" brother to Ella, it's sweet the way you ask her to play with you or when you tell her, "come on Ella, time for a bath" I just love the interaction between you two and it's really picking up more and more.  The other day we were at a baptism and Ella was just wandering around at the luncheon and you would follow her and hug her and tell people that was your sister, it melted my heart!

I love you to infinity and beyond my little man, you have made me SO happy! I look forward to watching you continue to grow and thrive.

This picture melts my heart!!

Baby #3 - 20 Week Bumpdate

How far along: 20 weeks! 

How big is baby: Approx the size of a banana

Weight gain: Don't know, don't care

Sleep:  Still getting a good amount but find myself starting to get uncomfortable

Best moment of the week: Finding out a little baby girl is joining our family!! 

Movement:  Feeling tiny kicks and flutters

Food cravings: Everything, but this week it was wings

Food aversions: Nothing at the moment

Maternity Clothes: Pants and some tops

Wedding rings: On but not for long :( 

Stretch Marks: None - praying it stays that way

Belly button: In

Gender: A Baby Girl!!

What I’m looking forward to: Lots of house stuff is happening in the next few weeks, I cannot wait for that!

What I miss: Being able to run around with my kids like I can when I'm not pregnant. 

Next appt: 4/8/14

Thankful for:  My hubby, he painted our front room this weekend and it looks soooo good!

The newest addition to our family will be.....

We found out this week that baby #3 is a 

To say the news surprised us would be an understatement - the hubs and I both really thought this one was a boy.  Obviously we are happy either way and she looks healthy and is growing right on track so that is all that truly matters!  It's just a little hard for me to grasp that I am going to be a Mom of 2 girls! That is something I never thought I would be, ha ha.  But after having my little Ella and seeing just how awesome girls are, I know having 2 is going to be that much more great.  Plus, I am very excited for Ella to have a sister!  Big brother Brayden is going to have his hands full protecting his 2 little sisters!  We cannot wait to meet our newest little love and I know she is going to steal her Daddy's heart just like Ella has. 

Now, to decide on a name!! This is always the hardest thing for the hubs and I to agree on!

Ella's Trip to Build a Bear

So a couple of weeks ago when the hubs took Brayden to Home Depot for their kids workshop, I took Ella Bella to Build a Bear.  It was so fun having Mommy/daughter time!

Here she is waiting to go in. It takes ALOT to get any kind of emotion out of this girl, she is pretty serious most of the time and right here she was pretty focused on eating cheerios out of her snack trap.

It took us me forever to pick out a bear!

Selfies with my girlie

She definitely liked playing with these buttons :)

I'm pretty sure hands down, her favorite part was when we got to pick out the clothes, AKA open every drawer and pull everything out.

She did NOT like that her bear was getting a bath - she refused to help

Here she is registering her bear, again AKA push every button and then get mad when I try to actually type the correct info in, little stinker :)

And her she is with Sparkle, our newest addition!! Of course, Sparkle is wearing a Disney princess shirt, I mean, what else would she wear?!

Even though she had no clue what was going on, I absolutely loved spending some quality time with my little girl!

Easy Mac N Cheese...with a secret ingredient

So we loooooove mac n cheese around our house and once I had kids I realized I should probably get them eating a better version than the boxed kind (although that stuff is pretty good)  Homemade mac n cheese is super easy and I have tried several different recipes and ended up combining a little of everything into my own recipe that is amazing, if I do say so myself.

The little secret ingredient that I think makes this extra yummy is….hot sauce! And yep, I use hot sauce and my kids still eat this, it’s not hot at all, it just gives it that extra kick of flavor.

This recipe is so awesome because it is all cooked in 1 saucepan and you never have to drain anything, just mix it all and cook and BAM, a delicious mac n cheese meal is served.

Ingredients:

16oz pasta (I love using wagon wheels, I think it’s the kid in me)

3 ½ cups of water

1 cup of milk

1 teaspoon of flour

½ teasopoon of hot sauce (more if you would like)

8oz bag of cheese of your choice (I like using Colby Jack)

In a saucepan, combine the pasta, water and milk.  Cook on medium-high heat for about 9-12 minutes, until the pasta is cooked.  After the pasta is cooked to your liking, add the flour and hot sauce, stir together and let it all simmer for a few minutes, your sauce should start to thicken, but it won’t be completely thick.  Once you’re done with that, remove from heat and add your cheese.  Stir well and that’s it, all done, all in one pot and in less than 20 minutes.

I hope you enjoy this as much as we do!

Baby #3 - 19 Week Bumpdate

How far along: 19 weeks

How big is baby: Approx the size of a mango

Weight gain: Up 12lbs I think? 

Sleep:  Still getting a good amount but waking up more throughout the night

Best moment of the week: Finally getting my hair done!  

Movement:  Feeling tiny kicks and flutters

Food cravings: Pizza, Taco Bell and corned beef this week :)

Food aversions: Nothing at the moment

Maternity Clothes: Pants and some tops

Wedding rings: On but not for long :( 

Symptoms: - Lots of pressure going on

Stretch Marks: None - praying it stays that way

Belly button: In

Gender: We'll know in  1 week!!

What I’m looking forward to: Finding out the gender!

What I miss: Sleeping on my back

Next appt: 4/8/14

Thankful for:  Coffee! Up all night with a sick baby girl and I am beyond exhausted today!

Spring Bucket List

Well, even though Chicago does not want to let Winter go, I know in a few weeks Spring will happen either way, and with snow on the ground or not, I am looking forward to doing lots of activities with the kiddos.

      I made up this Spring Bucket List and I think it will be pretty easy to check all of these off, I know the kids (at least Brayden) will be so excited to do these! 

Baby #3 - 18 Week Bumpdate

Due Date: 8/8/2014

How far along: 18 weeks

How big is baby: Approx the size of a sweet potato

Weight gain: Still not sure, appt is tomorrow, I'm sure it won't be pretty

Sleep:  Getting plenty - I stayed up until 11:30pm on Friday night (woohoo!) so I had to go bed at 9pm on Saturday :)

Best moment of the week: Having dinner with my friends for my besties 30th  

Movement:  Definitely can feel flutters and tiny kicks but it's not consistant

Food cravings: Pizza!!

Food aversions: Nothing at the moment

Maternity Clothes: Pants and some tops

Wedding rings: On but not for long :( 

Symptoms: - Some pulls and twinges here and there in my tummy and just so tired

Stretch Marks: None - praying it stays that way

Belly button: In

Gender: We'll know in  1 week!!

What I’m looking forward to: Hopefully going to see the new Veronica Mars movie this weekend :) I was obsessed with that show when it was on and am ecstatic they finally made a movie. 

What I miss: Alcohol again, we hung out with my sister and BIL yesterday and everyone was enjoying delicious beers at our lunch and I really wanted one! 

Next appt: 3/11/14

Thankful for:  Family - they really are the best and I am beyond blessed to have my own family.  I am getting so excited to become a family of 5!

Rainbow Crafts

I just loooooove making crafts with my kiddos and now that Brayden is older, he REALLY enjoys it too. Long gone are the days where he is crying hysterically because I painted his hand to get that perfect turkey print, heck now he paints his own hand.

I of course browsed Pinterest to find some cute/easy St Pattys day crafts and came across this and this.  We pretty much followed the pictures and added our own stickers.  The fingerprint rainbow is Brayden's and the handprint is Ella's.

I love how they turned out and love that I have some new St Patty's day decorations to display!

very concentrated :)

Homemade Garlic Dill Pickles

Yummmm, these are a pregnant girls dream, at least they are mine!! I remember growing up my Mom would make pickles and they were always soooo good. Personally I think the pickles at the grocery store are way overpriced, or at least they are where I shop.  $4 for a jar of pickles that I could eat in 1 sitting, no thank you. Plus I got to make these with Brayden and he had so much fun helping! 

This is the 2nd time I've made my mom's pickles and I am enjoying them especially now :) I have already eaten a whole jar and I just made them 2 days ago...ahhhh!

It just so happens my local grocery store puts all of the things you need to make pickles on sale the same week - they must have read my mind that this was on my to-make list :)

What you will need:

• Fresh pickles - I bought 2.5lbs
• Fresh Dill - I bought one bundle
• 3 heads of garlic - you can go more or less on this - I just loooove garlic so I use a lot
• 3/4 cup of vinegar
• 1/4 cup salt
• 2 quarts of water

In a saucepan combine the vinegar, water and salt and heat until the salt dissolves.  Cut up the pickles however you would like, or keep them whole.  Pack your jars with dill, garlic gloves and pickles. Pour the vinegar/water/salt mixture into the jars almost to the top.  Put your lids on and place in the refrigerator for 1 day. (trust me, you need to wait a day, I get so impatient and eat them hours later and they are just not ready)

**the garlic will turn blue in the jars, but that is completely normal

Excuse me now while I go eat another jar....

Baby #3 - 17 Week Bumpdate

Yucky picture!

Due Date: 8/8/2014

How far along: 17 weeks

How big is baby: The size of an onion

Weight gain: Still not sure, appt is next week

Sleep:  Still getting lots and lots, I actually managed to stay up until 10pm one day last week! 

Best moment of the week: This mornings breakfast - I had a dr appt so I was going into work late and Brayden and I made bacon and pancakes and we all had a nice family breakfast :)  

Movement: Thinking I've felt a few flutters!

Food cravings: This week it was Chinese, the hubs picked it up on Saturday, it was delish and as soon as I ate it, I passed out, ha

Food aversions: Nothing at the moment

Maternity Clothes: Pants and some tops

Wedding rings: On but not for long :( 

Symptoms: - Some pulls and twinges here and there in my tummy

Stretch Marks: None - praying it stays that way

Belly button: In

Gender: We'll know in  2 weeks!!

What I’m looking forward to: Seeing my sister, BIL and baby nephew this weekend!! 

What I miss: Being able to run on the treadmill for more than 2 minutes without taking a break, ha ha 

Next appt: 3/11/14

Thankful for:  Washing machines and Baths - last Friday night Brayden was laying in our bed while I was downstairs, he started screaming, I ran up there and he was throwing up all over my bed, everywhere.  Poor little dude was covered head to toe in throw up.  I gave him a bath and then spent the next hour cleaning the chunky vomit up and then washing EVERYTHING.  So much for my nice quite Friday night :)