St. Patty's fun!

When Jax woke up on Saturday, he came downstairs to discover a leprechaun trail across our kitchen table! I had lined up green tic tacs with rolos in between. We explained that the leprechaun tries to hide his gold and as he's running away, some of it drops out. I also hid rolos in random places that he would find throughout the day. I, of course, forgot to take pictures of all of this. But I did remember to take pictures of the other fun things we did throughout the day.

For breakfast, Daddy made us green waffles, green eggs and green milk. It was delicious!

After breakfast, we played a Lucky Charms sorting game. Jax did so good and had so much fun lining up the different shapes.

He was very proud of himself!

After we all got ready for the day, we headed out and ran some errands around town, grabbed lunch at a local pizza/pasta place, then came back home for nap time.  

When Jax woke up, we did this fun craft. I tore up paper of all the colors of the rainbow, then outlined a rainbow on a piece of paper and Jax glued the colors on. It was super easy and turned out super cute. Jax loved it!

After the craft, we made some leprechaun floats (lime sherbet and 7up) to drink while we made some green cookies.

Green chocolate chip cookies with pieces of Andes mints. Yum!

Ryan and I were practicing for a maternity picture that involves writing on my tummy. Jax felt super left out so Daddy gave him some artwork too!

Jax has had a fever off and on for the last 3 days, and Ryan's tummy hurt this afternoon so they had some relaxing couch time while I prepared dinner.

Pesto pasta with peas... and more green milk. Super yum!

This was the first year that Jax started to understand the fun stories and traditions, and we had a great day! Each year will just get better and better!

23 and 24 weeks

I turned 23 weeks last Thursday, which was moving day for us! I knew that I wouldn't get around to a 23 week post so I just figured I would combine them this week. I was smart enough to remember to take a picture though. Go me! My memory about what my 23rd week was like? Gone. I really don't remember what happened last week. Oh well.

Here is the picture I took before my memory left me...

PS- this is my FAVORITE maternity shirt. It's from Target and it's sooo soft and comfy, and I would wear it every day if I could!

I turned 24 weeks a few days ago, but finally got around to taking a picture today (Saturday). Ryan's new job had him gone all day for the past few days so I haven't had anyone to take it for me. I tried to get Jax to help, but you can guess how well that went. Ha!

This past week has been super full and busy, but not much of it is related to Lexi. I've been so focused on unpacking and organizing and scouring Pinterest for good ideas that I've hardly had time to think about being pregnant. And then when I do think about it, I just get annoyed that this sweet girl I'm carrying seems to be the laziest baby ever. She rarely moves. I haven't even tried to do kick counts because she would fail them every time. 10 movements in 2 hours? I'm happy if I feel 10 movements all day! However, I will say that there have been a few times in the past week that she has gotten a little energy spurt and I've felt her kicking and wiggling around for a solid 3 or 4 minutes. That makes this mama so happy!

Here is my picture from this morning... sporting my green for St. Patrick's Day!

(Ugh, the lighting is horrible. I'm just too lazy to edit it... especially since I don't have a good editing program. Sorry!)

And here is the comparison with Jax...

I think that I am carrying Lexi higher. So I guess that old wives tale is true?!

We've been doing lots of fun stuff for St. Patrick's Day today, 

so I'll post pictures from that soon!

Randoms... And the big move!

Sorry that I have been MIA so much. We've been busy moving into our new house! As of today (Thursday) we have been in our house for one week. We are pretty much fully unpacked. Now I get to start decorating. I'm so excited to have blank walls to start fresh. And I'm SO thankful for Pinterest because I do not have a decorating bone in my body! I have sewing projects planned for both Jax's room and Lexi's nursery. I can't wait to get started.

I will get some pictures of the house soon. I also need to post my 24 week pregnancy post. I can't believe we're at the 6 month mark!

For now, here are a few iPhone pictures...

Daddy made a robot from a big box. Jax had fun painting it.



Both Jax and Elijah enjoyed playing with the robot!



Last week we went to a restaurant where they gave Jax these sticky things that could bend into whatever shape you wanted. Daddy had more fun with them than Jax did!



After not having his hair cut for 6ish weeks, I finally got the clippers out and cut it yesterday. He was very proud if his handsome hair!



Happy Friday! And happy St Patricks Day tomorrow. We will be having lots of green food and keeping our eye out for any gold that the leprechaun might drop!

Randoms

The other day Jax decided that we all needed bowls on our heads as hats. He also decided that the animals needed them as well. Poor Nala was such a trooper and let him stack all the bowls on her. He was very proud.

I ordered this sweet gown and headband from Bows or Knot. Isn't it sooo adorable?! I'm so happy with how it turned out.

We ran to Target last week and it just happened to be Dr Suess story time. We even ran into our cousins! Jax was so excited to see Willow and Aria. He was also excited that we bought some new books and he got a goodie bag to take home.

The theme of the story time was The Lorax, and the goodie bag came with this fun mustache. Jax was having fun wearing it when we got home.

Ever wondered how to contain your kid so you can get some stuff done around the house? Buy a car seat, stick it in front of the tv, and tell your kid it's a race car seat for watching movies. Done and done.

Happy Sunday!

22 Weeks

22 weeks (and 1 day) down, 18 to go... hopefully less!

The highlight of this week was getting the 3d ultrasound done. It made me so happy to see my sweet girl growing inside of me. It's completely mind boggling to see her on the screen and know that she is inside of me. It's just such a miracle. 

I still love feeling her kick more and more. I've even felt a few movements across my tummy, not just kicks. It's such a strange feeling, and I wouldn't trade it for the world! Lexi is now about 11 inches long and almost a pound! I know she still has lots of growing to do, but she sure is starting to get big. I've also been able to feel the outline of body parts. There are times when my stomach feels so hard in one place, and I feel around my belly and can feel a round outline of something. I'm assuming it's her head or her butt. It's pretty cool to feel her like that.

I know my picture this week is a little hard to see. My shirt sort of blends in with the background. But my tummy is there, I promise! And it's round. Very round. Ha! Also, my belly button has already popped out... So early!

I'm really looking forward to feeling more movement from her, and especially for Jax to be able to feel and see her move. He is so excited to be a big brother!

Happy Friday!

Lexi in 3D

We decided last minute to get a 3d ultrasound done today. It's been 4 weeks since my last doctor's appointment and because we are in the middle of starting a new job, I won't have medical coverage for another weeks or two. I was so anxious to hear Lexi's heartbeat and make sure she's growing how she should. So I talked my wonderful husband into getting a 3d ultrasound this morning. We called when they opened at 9 and we scheduled an appointment for 1030! So exciting!

She was squirming a lot and hiding her face in her placenta. She's such a stinker! But it was great to see her sweet face and hands, watch her practice swallowing, and even see a perfect outline of all 4 chambers of her heart!

New life is such a miracle!

Sweet, smiley girl!

It's beautiful outside!

The weather here has been so amazing! It's been in the 70's for the past few days and gorgeously sunny. It's the kind of weather that makes you love having toddler to take to the park. Beautiful weather = happy mommy and happy kiddo.

We've been taking full advantage of the sunshine by heading to the park to fly a kite...

And riding the trike around the street...

And hanging out with our best friends...

Even Mojo has been a little sun worshipper over these past few days...

I heart California!

21 Weeks!

The weeks are going by very quickly! I'm sure that these next few months will fly by as well. We will be so busy with moving, settling in and adjusting, and FINALLY being able to prepare for Lexi to make her arrival. I am secretly praying that she arrives a bit early, just not too much of course. It's so exciting to think that I am closer to her being here than to when I got pregnant (aka past the half-way mark). Does that statement even make sense??

This week has brought a little more movement from Sis. Just yesterday I was holding my phone and it was resting on my stomach, and she kicked and made my phone bounce. I love that little things like that are starting to happen. Her kicks are getting a little stronger and I usually feel them a few different times throughout the day. Ryan was also able to feel her kick this week, so that was pretty exciting!

I'm still very comfortable moving around and taking care of Jax. The only thing that is harder is sleeping comfortably. My hips hurt pretty bad when I wake up in the mornings, and they did the same with Jax. However, it started much earlier this time. They've been hurting me for a few weeks now. Boo! Obviously it's a small price to pay in order to hold my sweet girl in my arms in a few months!

Here is the week's picture...

And here is the comparison with Jax...

Ignore my no makeup/wearing an undershirt picture from Jax's pregnancy. Gross.

We are in the middle of switching health coverage, but I cannot wait to get back to the doctor and hear my sweet girl's heartbeat! And I'm hoping that I will get another ultrasound at my new doctor, to get everything established for their office. Here's hoping!

California Randoms

We are still in the middle of transitioning our lives from NC to CA. We've been living with my parents for the last 2 weeks and we're getting the keys to our new house on Friday! I'm very sad that it's 2.5 hours north of our family and friends, but I'm so looking forward to being in our own place and having all our stuff back. I can't wait to start decorating the kids' rooms. I have lots of sewing projects planned for the next few months!

Here are a few pictures of these past two weeks.

Max and Jax, two of the three musketeers, have been having so much fun being reunited after 8 months apart


We met the third musketeer, Ben, at the zoo a few days ago. These two are also pretty excited to be reunited


We got all three boys together for a little dinner party to celebrate Ben's daddy's birthday. They were all very intrigued by the candles


My mom bought this shirt for Lexi... Couldn't you just die?!!


We also piked out the colors for sister's nursery. We have a brown crib, so it was very hard to find girly colors to match. I really wanted to do pink and gray. Oh well.


I found some fabric to match too (PS- the accents are brown, not black)



I'm SO very excited to have a Trader Joe's close by again. Jax is too because they give him stickers


And last but not least, an example of my boy being a boy. I mean, why not build a tower to stand on and put sunglasses on and watch tv from 3 inches away while Mommy is in the shower?? This kid cracks me up!

21 week pregnancy post coming tomorrow!!

About Me

I was recently tagged by Callie Nicole from Through Clouded Glass to do an about me post. I have to tell you 11 random things about me, then answer the 11 questions that she asked.

Here we go.

1- If it were acceptable to have a child in high school, I would have. I have always wanted to be a mommy and I couldn't wait until I was old enough to do so!

2-I used to live in Las Vegas. I went to college there (for 3 semesters) and had such a blast! It's such a different town when you actually live there. It wasn't all about partying and being a crazy college girl. I met some great Christian friends, lived with 3 other girls, and had a really great time.

3-I've gone to 5 different colleges. Crazy! One in my hometown in California, two in Vegas, and two in North Carolina.

4-I am a total hypochondriac. I always think things are wrong with me, or Jax, or the baby. At least I'm aware of it and I try to calm myself down and think rationally.

5-I also tend to be a "glass half empty" kind of girl. And I hate it about myself.

6-I'm a little bit of a picky eater. But as I've gotten older, I've definitely gotten better. These days I'm more willing to try things that I didn't used to like. However, I still can't stand mustard, pickles, seafood, and olives.

7-I'm very clean, organized and uncluttered. I can't stand clutter. Seriously. If we haven't used something in the recent past (say, 6ish months), it is getting thrown away.

8-I also go through lazy times and let chores pile up. Sometimes I just don't feel like doing the laundry, or scrubbing the sinks and toilets. Really, who can blame me??

I know that's not 11, but I could only come up with 8. Don't hate me!

And now for the questions that Callie Nicole asked...

1. If you could only listen to one album for the rest of your life, what would it be? 
-- I actually listen mostly to the radio or Pandora, so I don't have a lot of albums (except all my Britney Spears, NSync, Backstreet Boys etc from Junior High... ha!), but if I had to pick, it wold probably be The Altar and the Door by Casting Crowns. 

2. If you were a teacher, what subject would you teach?

-- Well, since I am trained to be a teacher, this is an easy one. Kindergarten, 1st or 2nd grade. Which means multi-subject.


3. What is your favorite verse and/or quote?
--"For you created my inmost being, you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Your works are good, I know that full well" (Psalm 139:13-14). I know this isn't really a verse or quote to live by, but it means so much to me at this motherhood stage in my life.


4. Why did you start blogging?
--Because I was pregnant with Jax and living 3000 miles away from family. I figured it would be a good way for family and friends to know what was going on with our lives. 

5. What is one book you think everyone should read (besides the Bible, because that's a given)?
-- Love and Respect by Emerson Eggerichs  

6. Favorite drink to get at Starbucks?
--Iced grande nonfat upside-down caramel macchiato (I worked there for 5 years, I know my drinks y'all)

Photo Credit

7. Would you rather it snow or rain?
--Probably snow, just because we don't get that much around here

8. Advice that your mom gave you that you never forgot?
--Never disrespect your husband, even in a joking manner. Men need to feel respected by their wives. (See question 5)

9. Most read website or blog?
--Does Facebook count? Ha! I also frequent Kelly's Korner, Pioneer Woman, and the LPM Blog

10. One thing you would tell your 13 year old self?
--Respect yourself. Don't let friends tell you what you should and shouldn't do. Trust God's plan for your life. 

11. What do you hope people will say about you after you die?
--That my loved ones always knew how much I loved them, and that I was a good person who was a Godly example to those around me.


Well, there ya go... lots of new stuff that y'all know about me now! I had a lot of fun thinking of things to write about. Thanks, Callie Nicole!