Life as she knows it

Last night, McKay and I were talking about how tomorrow is the "end of the world".  :)  I told him that we had better make today a REALLY special day.  But then as I got thinking about it I realized that for Adalyn it really was the last day of her "normal" life up to this point.  My reasoning behind this is because today was the last day that Adalyn and I would spend together doing our normal routine while dad was at work.  McKay is now off work for the Christmas holiday and then the baby will come and life will never be the same again (in a good way). 

Even though this is a big transition (becoming a big sister) that Adalyn will not remember in the years to come; I will always remember our one on one time together that we have had for the past year and a half.  Adalyn was an excellent teacher for me on how to be a mom, and she has been very patient with my many mistakes that I made along the way.  I remember it felt SO overwhelming our first few weeks together I thought I would never get used to life with a baby 24/7.  But it is amazing how we transitioned and figured things out, and now life as a parent of 1 feels very natural.  (I keep reminding myself of this whenever I get anxiety about having 2 kids... it will get easier and become natural also). 

My favorite things about staying home with Adalyn have been...
-Going in her room after she wakes up.  Always love how happy she is to see me. (and she has crazy hair, like the pictures below)
-Nap time (not going to lie)
-Having a shopping buddy to take to the store

So in honor of our last "normal" day together we snuggled lots, watched movies, and went to the mall for a pretzel.  Adalyn's favorite part of the day was running through Barnes and Noble (on her own) and playing with all of their fun toys and books they have.

We love you Adalyn and can't wait for you to be a big sister! (6 days or less!)

Have a great day! 

Making room for a Boy

So I have a small sneak preview for you of baby boy's room.  It is small because not much is finished in there, but not much is going to be finished in there before he comes so I decided to just show you what we have got so far. 
WAY back when we learned that we were going to be having a boy I immediately decided on a theme for his room.  Colors and all.  Big mistake.  Always find bedding first/make sure your color scheme is out there BEFORE you decide on the colors.  I did the SAME thing with Adalyn's room (you think I would have learned) and it has been a challenge once again to find all of the right bedding/furniture/decorations to match my "dream" room. 

But I think in the end it is going to be worth it, because I am LOVING how it is all turning out (even if some of it is just in my head still because of lack of funds).  I am also excited that we now have a "boys" room and a "girls" room (that third baby should be a breeze to bring home; all you have to do is throw another bed in the appropriate room). 

So without further comments from the peanut gallery I give you baby boy's vintage basketball room...(or at least some of it)

View #1:

 

This is the view from the door.  The colors we choose for the room are basketball orange (almost like a rust orange), navy blue (go aggies!), and white.  Not a lot of blue is showing up yet, but don't worry it will when we add the bedding (thank you Julie for making it), and curtains (my future first sewing attempt).  Also there are obviously wood accents.  The crib is white like Adalyn's crib in case they ever end up in the same room with future children, we wanted them to at least match. 

The basketballs in the corner are the boy version of the cute tissue paper balls.  We got all of them from different garage sales this summer for a dollar or less a piece.   

This weekend we made the basketball court out of an old wood pallet and a white sharpie paint marker.  Normally in our DIY projects I come up with the idea (or find it online) and McKay makes it.  Well this time we did things backwards and McKay came up with the basketball court idea and I painted it.  Kind of fun to switch things up every now and then!  The basketball court is even the actual measurements of an NBA court scaled down to size, thanks to my engineer husband.  :)  Here is a close up (McKay is VERY proud of this, and I definitely have to agree that it was a cool idea)

View #2:

The other corner isn't quite as exciting yet.  The letter on the wall is a *possible* name choice though we still haven't narrowed it down completely (still want to see him first). The chair is Adalyn's old one and I love it SO much I wish I had one in every bedroom in my house I LOVE sitting in it that much.  The dresser/changing table was McKay's special project and I wish that I had taken a picture of it before he refinished it.  But it was a beautiful piece of work/junk that needed A LOT of love and care.  McKay convinced me to buy it, but then he did all of the work of refinishing it.  I like that it adds to the vintage feel of the room.

Well that is about it for now.  It isn't much yet, but it is clean, his closet is organized, the drawers are stuffed with all of those cute little 0-3 month clothes that he will out grow in weeks and the carseat is ready to be put in the car.  We can't wait to meet this little man!  (two weeks!) Have a great day!

37 Weeks

So I feel like I should write this post to have it documented for the future, but honestly I don't know what to write...  Everything is just so normal.

I will be 38 weeks on Monday. 
Everything is looking great, seriously nothing unusual.
Had to have a mental switch this week, when I had felt like I was SO done, yet the end was SO far.  I hopefully will have a better attitude this next week.  This last month is always really hard for me.     
He moves and kicks
He is head down, but I am not dilated yet
I felt like he "dropped" this week, so I decided to stop going to Zumba because it would be too hard to really move and jump around with him right on my hips.  So we are begrudgingly doing some at home workouts to keep exercising, but they are definitely not as fun.
Blood pressure is super low
No swelling
Feeling SO thankful that it is a "boring" pregnancy because hopefully that means everything is going well.
Here is the traditional belly shot...

The only exciting thing (at least to me) is that I started having a few contractions this week.  I know for many this is just a normal thing of pregnancy, but I seriously have NONE the whole time, so when I start feeling them I get excited.

Speaking of excitement this weekend has been a blast having McKay home as my personal slave helper and we have gotten a few things done in the baby's room.  We love how the things have turned out and I will have to share them on here soon.  Unfortunately we won't have everything done that I want to do in his room before he is born, but it is starting to look more like a little boy's room instead of a sterile hospital.

Well there are so many fun things going on in the next few weeks (3rd anniversary, Christmas parties, wrapping gifts, and waiting for baby to arrive), but I am still hoping that they pass quickly.  I am SO SO ready to be done being pregnant and move on with this next stage of life.         

What are We Eating this Week

Since I wrote my post about the changes in food that we are eating many of you have asked me to post some of the recipes that we use now.  So I thought instead of just posting random recipes (which I may still do in the future) I would post this week's menu that we are using.  I found all of my recipes through random searches on Pinterest and then just combined them for this week. 

Here is what we are eating for dinner...

1. White Chicken Enchiladas and Frozen Green Beans (Just like our old Enchilada recipe but with out the Cream of Chicken and we also use sprouted grain tortillas) 

2. Vegetable, Rice, and Bean Stuffed Butternut Squash w/ homemade bread

3. Black Bean and Pumpkin Vegetable Burgers w/ Fruit (we had grapes)

4. Spaghetti w/ Side Salad (I didn't use a recipe for this one.  Just bought organic whole wheat pasta and organic sauce and heated them up.  SO easy.)

5. Sausage with Whole Wheat Buttermilk Cheese Biscuits and Fruit

6. Rosemary Chicken and Potatoes w/ Frozen corn (We have had this one several times and really enjoy it)

7. Slow Cooker Meatloaf (made with Ground Turkey) and Baked Sweet Potatoes w/ Side Salad

Normally I only plan about 5 or 6 meals, but because of the way that we work the budget around pay day this "week" was a little bit longer so I added a couple extra meals.

Also I don't usually plan out ALL of our lunches and Breakfasts but I do like to plan one or two things to help me out through the week when I am at a loss on what to eat.  (I am really terrible at just winging it, as you can tell by my VERY detailed dinner menus.  I HAVE to be that detailed or I just end up wasting food or just going out to eat because I think there is NOTHING to eat.)
So...

Here is what we are eating for Breakfast...

1. Berry and spinach smoothies (no recipe here, just throw berries, plain yogurt, milk, and spinach into a blender)

2. The regular (oatmeal or eggs)

3. Homemade granola (still trying to find "the" recipe that will work best for us but this is the one that I am trying this week)


For lunch we are eating...

-Hard Boiled egg Sandwiches with Avocado (I was just going to wing it and guess on the recipe, but there is this one if you want exact measurements)

-Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwiches


For random snacking I will be making...

Whole Wheat Carrot Cake Muffins

Well that is about it.  And I know that I have said this before, but I LOVE meal planning.  Seriously is the highlight of my week to find new healthy recipes to try out.  I love going to the store (maybe won't love it with two kids) and finding the healthiest thing that I can (I know we don't get out much)  By the way, Idaho does not have very many "health" food stores so I have just been doing the best that I can with just going to a regular grocery store.  I did branch out this week and go to the only health food store that is close to me and bought the pasta, sauce, and tortillas but everything else came from a normal grocery store.  And I even stayed in my budget. :)
 

Have a great day!

  

15 almost 16 months old

Hello everyone!  Yesterday Adalyn *kindly* set a VERY random alarm on my I pod (which she thinks is her cell phone) that woke me up BRIGHT and early this morning so I guess that means you guys get a new blog post from me, ALL about HER.

But I really am quite overdue with a update about her so I thought that we should try and get one in before the new little guy shows up and steals all of her thunder on here. 

Today Addie is 15 months old, but will be 16 months on the 10th of December. 
A few things about her at this age...
-Loves to read books.  I think she is pretty tired of all of her toys so she has resorted to reading ALL day.  Mommy trys to be patient and read each story 40 + times a day, but it gets a little exhausting. 
-Can say yes and no.  Which is actually really helpful when she is trying to tell you what she wants. 
-She is a great mother to her baby dolls
-She is a really good Eater and sleeper these days
-Wears size 24 month shirts and 18 month pants and a size 5 shoe
-Likes to dress up, wear mommy's shoes and jewelry, and will now wear headbands again because she likes it when we say "pretty Addie"
-Likes to carry her blanket around the house, but it gets heavy and then she just wants mommy to carry it for her. (lucky me)
-Loves watching mom and dad cook food and do dishes from her high chair.  She will sit there FOREVER (to the point that she will almost fall asleep) when she is eating and just watch us.
-Screams A TON (praying for the day that she can talk) to let you know what she wants. 
-Gives really good hugs
-Can do stairs like a pro now

We love our little Addie girl, she is the highlight of my day.  She has been a very sweet comfort for me on the rough days and helps keep me going.  Here are a few pictures of her, She was ALL smiles on the days that I took these....

Feeding her baby, and then decided to let her little brother have some milk too. :)

Adalyn Smile!

Loving all her old baby toys that we are now pulling back out again.  Maybe we will just wrap them all up again and give them to her for Christmas.

Her fake laugh...

We love her. Oh so much!  Have a great day!





 
P.S. Sorry to confuse many of you, BUT that tree in my last post was not actually my Christmas tree and I can't take credit for the beautiful gifts underneath it.  But I loved it and wanted to throw in a Christmas picture with that post.  SO sorry to confuse you, our Christmas tree pictures are coming soon!

Christmas Prep 2012

Well I am officially done shopping for Christmas this year.  I have a few things that I have to finish "making" but no more stores for me. 

This year was our first "real" year (last year she was just so little that there was not much thought that went into her gifts) as Santa Claus even though I was still able to take Addie with me most of the time (let me tell you it was a nightmare in Toys-r-us with her, she wanted to play with EVERYTHING). 

A few months ago I sat down with McKay and we discussed how we wanted to handle Christmas and the whole Santa situation.  Both of us came from homes where Christmas morning was VERY magical and exciting.  We knew that we wanted it to be exciting for her too, but we didn't want to start out huge and then have to scale back over the years as more children (hopefully) make their appearance.  So we came up with a # of gifts and then McKay threw out his rule... no batteries/ no toys that need batteries.  My thoughts weren't super kind up front.  I was mostly thinking WHAT?!  Why?! But... as we discussed it more I decided that I understood where he was coming from and could go along with his "rule".  I think we did a pretty good job at not over giving, but still giving her things that she will enjoy (atleast I hope she will enjoy them).

But yesterday I read a very insightful blog post written by a much more experienced mom and I thought I would share it here.  It definitely gave me some food for thought for future Christmas's.  As parents at this time in the world we have a VERY important job to train up our children in all things that are good and lovely.  They get so much filth and garbage from the world and I want my home to be a place where they can learn and grow using positive and good tools/toys that I provide.  The mother gave a few examples of things that she likes to give her children as gifts and I am excited to start collecting many of them in my home over the years.  

So... if you would like to read her post click HERE.      

Have a great day!      

Our Thanksgiving Escape 2012

Wow I feel like I haven't posted a normalish type post in awhile since I was writing about my health journey.  But now that that is over (may do a couple updates in the future to keep you guys in the loop.  Oh and by the way thanks for all of your sweet and encouraging comments, it was nice to hear that I wasn't the only one trying to be better with food and fitness) here is a quick recap of our Thanksgiving that involved visiting LOTS of family.  It was our last trip as a party of 3 and was definitely a fun one that we will remember for a long time.

Tuesday:

I worked like a crazy lady to pack the car up for four days of fun

Picked daddy up from work/bus in Poky

Drove to Salt Lake and Adalyn soaked herself with a water bottle on the way down

Adalyn showed off her fake laugh to all of her adoring fans

 

Wednesday:

Went to the gym with my mom (got asked if I was over 15 years old, sure hope I am if I am 8 months pregnant)

Baked in the Kitchen with my mom and sisters all day (made my first pie)

Took the most AMAZING nap that I have had in awhile (seriously haven't slept that well since)

Took family Christmas card pictures

Soaked up the warm Utah sun

Boys shopped, did MANY grocery store runs for the women, and ate authentic tacos in Salt Lake

 

Thursday:

Happy Thanksgiving

Drove to Provo

Visited with McKay's mom

Adalyn spilled more water and spent the whole day without her shirt

Did family research online

Told family stories

Built a fire and used TONS of firewood

Ate Thanksgiving dinner with ham instead of Turkey (good thing it still tasted good)

Stuffed ourselves and still had SO much food leftover

Drove to Laron and Michelle's house for pie that night (hot apple pie and ice cream is seriously SO good)

Adalyn loved playing with her cousins, I loved that they can actually "play" together now

Drove to Evanston, WY to see the rest of McKay's family

 

Friday:

Didn't do ANY black Friday shopping

Castrated and dehorned calves (I promise it wasn't as bad as it sounds).  McKay enjoyed wrestling the calves and Addie enjoyed scaring them.

Made some Christmas crafts for Liz's house

We were spoiled with yummy food and Addie ate ALL the eggs she wanted

I got some health food tips from my father-in-law.  So thankful for those who are willing to share their wealth of knowledge :)

Jace made us some yummy steaks for dinner

 

 

Saturday:

Craft class for the girls in the morning.  I made the cutest elf :)

Boys babysat Addie while designing fences and cages for the chickens and Brownie (the milk cow)

McKay and Jace showed off their motor cross skills on the huge dirt piles in the field.  (McKay begged me to go off the jumps and I just laughed...)

Drove home that night and didn't hit ANY deer :)

 

SO SO fun!

 

Ok and I can't end this Thanksgiving post without sharing my thankful thoughts.  I have had a lot of them recently.  We are in a beautiful stage of life right now and I am so grateful for ALL of my family.  Life is not perfect, but it is very sweet right now.  I am grateful for the gospel and my savior Jesus Christ.  So excited for this Christmas season that we are entering.  I have a feeling that it is going to be a really good one. :)  Have a great day!