17 Weeks

So today marks 17 weeks.

They say my baby is the size of a turnip. I must confess I had to google "turnip" to be sure of what that was.

I can't be the only one that needed a visual, so there you go.

I am a total slacker this week and there is no baby bump picture. But know that the bump is definitely growing. I am already getting comments from people like,
"are you sure you are not further along?", " are you SURE there is only one baby in there, you're just so BIG".

To these people I would like to say thanks for making me feel like a cow! HA, Just kidding, I know I have a huge belly, but I will take it anyday over gaining weight all over.

What's new this week:

I have been having the same cravings for anything fresh. And I barely have any appetite at all.

I have started waking up all through the night with my hand being asleep only to change positions and wake up 30 minutes later with my foot asleep or vice versa. It has not made for restful nights at all. I hope this phase is short lived because this momma needs her sleep.

I have been feeling the baby move more frequently and Mike was able to feel it last night for the first time.

On a seperate note, I found out that another friend of mine is having twins, and it makes me REALLY thankful that I only have one baby taking up space in my belly. God knew what he was doing. :)

With school being out this week and the weather not being fantastic, we've had a little cabin fever going on.

My friend Katherine came to play with us today. She is one of my oldest friends and the boys have a blast with her. She even brought crafts.

We made Christmas Trees out of paper plates and pipe cleaners, but they really loved playing with the pipe cleaners...

Keddie in his hat and glasses

Langston wouldn't hold still, but you get the idea.

And we also decided to go see Santa today.
They were both really excited to see him and did a great job. Langston didn't really want to talk to him so Keddie told him what they both wanted. And ofcourse it was stuff they had never mentioned to me...

All in all a pretty good day...

16 weeks

Today I am 16 weeks and the baby is the size of an avocado.

You can see Langston sneaking in the bottom of the picture because he wanted me to hurry up so he could eat the avocado.

My weight is pretty steady, and I have almost gained back what I lost in the first couple of months. With the exception of today, the nausea has been getting better. Hopefully it will be gone soon.

I am exhausted all the time and get winded doing anything so I am looking forward to that 2nd trimester high that should be coming soon too.

I am still craving FRESH fruits and vegetables all the time.

This week I really wanted a Peppermint shake from Chick-fil-A (I was nervous because last time I had one it didnt stay down), I had one yesterday and it was Ahhh-mazing.

The only other weird thing is that I want to drink Coke...which for me is weird because not pregnant I am a loyal Dr. Pepper fanatic.

And Dr. Pepper tastes weird to me :(...hopefully that will go back to normal sooner rather than later.

P.S. After we wered one taking the pic, Langston ate the entire avocado...by himself...

The Apple of my eye

Thursday marked week 15...

My baby is as big as an apple.

This is a HORRIBLE picture of me, but in full disclosure, that's what I looked like today.

I am definitely showing and that's fine with me since most people correctly assume I'm pregnant now instead of just gaining weight!

My food cravings are pretty much the same...fresh anything.

I've been eating ALOT of blackberries and cucumbers. Not together.

The best part of this week is that Langston has been telling people "Mommy has a baby in her belly and it's the size of a lemon". He is so stinking cute.

Both him and Keddie flip flop between being excited about the baby and not caring at all.

till next week...

Gingerbread Houses

Tonight I hosted my 2nd Annual Gingerbread House Making Party.

When I was growing up, my brothers and sisters and I would make these every Christmas.

It was something that we looked forward to and a tradition that I am continuing with my kids...

We invited some friends over to join in on the fun...unfortunately I didn't get a pic of every kidddo but I know they all had fun...

Jordynn and her house

Langston in the process of decorating his house. He was very meticlious, candy in straight lines and color coordinated, he is something else.


Bennett and his house.

Londyn and her house.

This is the end of the night, lots of candy and he was not having a picture.

Man I love these two boys. We had a great night.

Here's to continuing traditions...

"Your baby is the size of a Lemon"

So last Thursday, I was 14 weeks along and they say the baby is the size of a lemon...

so for your viewing pleasure...

Now you will notice that my "bump" is definitely bigger than a lemon (I guess my baby likes to be well insulated:) )

I have been craving fresh fruits and veggies and am grossed out by meat.

I sleep as much as I can and do as little else as possible.

I am going to try and keep updated weekly pics since I know my other side of the country sister misses out on seeing the pregnant me.

The rest of you just get to suffer through...

where did the week go?

Where did the week go?

That is an excellent question.

I have spent the majority of it in bed feeling less than amazing.

Trying to keep some perspective, but I am ready to start feeling better.

Hopefully soon...

The Best Kind of Weekend

We have had a weekend of a whole lot of nothin and it has been fantastic!

Played outside with the boys...

Went to dinner at Chick-fil-A...

Layed around the house all day today...

oh...

I almost forgot the best part, I felt the baby move!!!

Thought I was making it up at first but it has been a few times today,

best feeling IN the world!!

The Details

So, yes, we are pregnant with baby numero tres.

And YES we are excited!

We told all of our family over the course of Thanksgiving week.

For all of the local peeps we had the boys make the announcement with these shirts.

They were so cute.

For my mom and my sisters that aren't close, we sent them the pic from the previous post. It was fun to get their phone calls after they saw it.

We decided that since this is definitely our last bundle of joy to di it up big!

The boys have known for a while and have done a pretty good job of not telling people before it was time.

Langston was just so excited that he gets to be a "BIG" anything, I'm not sure he quite understands, but he is definitely excited that there is a baby in mommy's tummy.

Keddie is maybe the MOST excited. and he is not being shy about letting people know that he wants a sister. I hope he put his order in...

So, without further ado, here is baby's 1st pic!

Pretty good shot I think and we were surprised to find out that I was 11 and a half weeks already.

So that puts me at 13 weeks now and one week shy of being done with the first trimester.

My estimated due date is June 6th, but don't hold your breath since Langston waited 7 days after his date to make his entrance.

I will say that even though I have been sick, I am enjoying being pregnant. Not like those crazy women that you meet that LOOOVE being pregnant, but am taking it all in, probably since if I want to stay married, this will be the last bebe.

Stay tuned, and we'll keep you posted!

Monday Math

Burrrr

Today I am thankful for the cooler weather that we have today. It definitely helps it to feel like fall and helps to get me in a more holiday frame of mind.

But mainly, I'm thankful becauseI can wear my new boots...

I found them last week at Target for a steal at only $34.99.

They make me happy!

A Mother to Boys

Both times that I was pregnant and would tell people that it was a boy several people responded "Oh that's great, you're the perfect mom for boys".

I never undersood what they meant. But now I know that I am the perfect mom for these two adorable boys.

This picture makes me laugh because I know that they were fighting and yelling at eachother. But the picture doesn't show that. It looks peaceful with maybe a glimmer of hope that one day these two will be good friends.

I am thankful that God blessed me with these two handsome, smart, funny, challenging boys.

I can only imagine how boring life would be without them...

Sisters are built in friends

"If you don't understand how a woman could both love her sister dearly and want to wring her neck at the same time, then you were probably an only child."

Did you guess that I am soooo thankful for my sisters?

I don't know who said that quote but it is SO true.

This is a picture of me and my sisters and our amazing mom.

We have been through alot together these past couple of years and who knows if we would have made it without eachother.

It is a rare day that goes by that I don't talk to atleast one of these amazing ladies, if not all three.

God knew what I needed when he gave me them.

A month to give Thanks

I am setting a personal goal to try and focus on all of the things that I am thankful for this month.

To kick off the month I thought I would focus on my hubby.

I know he reads this blog and probably won't be too thrilled to find himself the focus, so I won't gush too much.

Just to say I love him, am sooo thankful he is mine and thankful that he is who he is.

Love Ya Babe!

I'm still here...

Has it really been two weeks since I posted?

yep.

Dang, I've been slacking...

It definitely has not been because of a lack of happenings over here but I've been busy and TIRED.

I'll get it together soon, Promise!

Weekend Recap: Texas State Fair

We started the weekend as we always do with a nail bitter of a soccer game.

Keddie did great and they remain undefeated this season, and he had fun (which is all that really matters).

And then we went to Dallas to take in the Texas State Fair.

I am born & bread Texan but it was my first time so it was kinda fun to be able to experience it all for the first time along with the boys.

**Warning, picture overload**

The boys were immediately mesmerized by BIG TEX, he waves and says "Howdy Ya'll".

He is at the front of the fair when you walk in the gates, and he was TALL!

Mike with the boys when we first got there.

The boys were so fun to watch. Their little eyes would get so big when they would see a ride they wanted to do and those smiles were plastered on their faces.

This one was pretty lame and Langston had to ride with Keddie because he wasn't tall enough to ride alone. It only went around once and only lasted like 30 seconds...

This was Keddie & Langston's 1st roller coaster.

Big moment.

I had to go with them because again
Langston was not tall enough to ride anything on his own (atleast he could still ride though).

I was excited to go with them until it started to go and I realized that the individual cars spun while you were going. SPUN! I get motion sick, bad. I didn't want to scare the boys so I tried as best I could to act like I was having fun.

Langston loved it. Keddie hated it. I felt sick for an hour after....

After assuring Keddie that not all roller coasters spin, he was willing to try again. Still feeling sick, I sat that one out. You can't see, but Langston was sitting next to Mike.

Keddie liked it, I was so relieved, I didn't want for that crazy spinning ride to run roller coasters fun him for life.

Bumper Cars...

Langston couldn't reach the pedals so he needed a driver.

Keddie on the Ferris Wheel with his GranNita & Papa Jack

(Go Rangers, big games that weekend!)

Langston was not happy.


They also had a petting zoo...

zebras...

& baby pigs...

& donkeys (i think that's what that was)...

And they had a Car Show...

This is BumbleBee (for those without boys, he is a Transformer. The man that was with BumbleBee said that he was sleeping now but that he was in the first movie.

I don't know if Keddie was more excited about the rides or seeing BumbleBee...

Checking out a truck, it was raining by then and the boys must have climbed in and out of atleast 20 cars and trucks. We were just trying to stay dry and keep them entertained.

We left early because of the rain...

But we were pretty worn out.

No School for us on Monday so we took our time getting home and spent the afternoon celebrating my nephew's 15th birthday.

Man I'm getting old.

Great weekend. Thanks GranNita & PapaJack!!

Shopping for a Cause

I Love October!

Partially because the temps finally drop below 100 (gotta love Texas weather) and partially because I know I can get good deals on hair products at Ulta.

These are some of the products that Ulta offers in October for half price AND they donate a portion to breast cancer charities.

Pictured are the TIGI brand dry shampoo and hairspray. Normally they retail for $16 a bottle, crazy I know but I love them. I got them for $8 each. I paid $32 for 4 bottles of product when every other month of the year I would have paid that price for two.

I'm definitely going back tomorrow in hopes of getting enough to last me until next October...

It's the freakin weekend

I am proud to say that I made it through the week and that both children AND the dog made it to...

TGIF!!!

Enjoy the hubby being home

Soccer Game

Laundry

Grocery Shopping

Sister Time

Enjoy the cooler temps (hopefully)

and then, on sunday, I'm going to Warrenton!!

So excited.

Enjoy your weekend!

Update to Serenaded by Screams

Just incase you were wondering, Langston made it through the night.

It was a ROUGH night but we made it to the morning...

Serended by Screams

As I sit here typing I am being seranaded by the screams of my 3 yr old.

This mama's nerves are bad.

I love that little Langston, I SWEAR i do, but I just do not know what to do with him lately.

From the minute I pick him up from his daycare to the last seconds of him screaming himself to sleep, it is a battle. And his teachers say he is amazing and so fun to have in class, I think one of them even refered to him as a "joy"; I'm glad he's being good for someone, I just wish it could be me some days.

It doesn't help that the hubby has been out of town and I'm flying solo so there is no relief, no tag teaming him when I've had enough.

AAAnd then I have this mommy guilt set in.

The little voice in my head that says:

-enjoy the time you have with him in the evenings since you put him in daycare all day

-tons of parents NEVER have help and you can't swing it for a week alone

-He's feeding off your strees, if you calm down so will he

-Well he learned that behavior somewhere

-why can't I get him to stop

But then it spirals from there because he just. wont. stop. screaming.

Even as I am typing this I am feeling bad because I am sharing this negativity and who wants to hear my sob story, but isn't this better than me going in there?

Surely it is. Just sayin.

He is soooo strong willed, much like his mama, which I love most of the time.

He is independent and even at three knows what he wants.

But strong willed is one thing, defiant and tantrum throwing are another.

The Terrible Three's really are....well, terrible!

Piecing Together Some Love

Let me start by saying that I have THE most amazing BFF in the world and I could not function without her.

To show her how much I LOOOVE her I decided this year that I was going to make her a quilt for her birthday. I think I decided this in March and her birthday is in August, so I had plenty of time.

I decided on what I thought would be a "simple" square quilt. Four fabrics cut to squares, sewn together to make one big 12 x 12 square. Easy enough, right?

My plan was to join the large squares together with a coordinating blue fabric. I showed Lauren, my amazing neighbor and friend my plan one day and she suggested adding orange to the border... (I loved the idea but did NOT want to do it because it seemed hard)

But, I listened and it got me to here...

Lauren was totally right, it added a ton of character and I loved the addition.
This is the quilt all pieced together and ready to go the the quilter. And even though I planned ahead and had MORE than enough time to finish in a timely manner, I am a procrastinator at heart and this never would have been done on time without my Momma and my Amazing Sister Anna. They were HUGE lifesavers. THANK YOU!!!

Now I only piece the squares together and then takes the top and bottom to a lady here locally to "quilt it together". She has a machine as big as my living room that makes it look like this...

back view


And here's the front view, totally complete.

It was a total labor of love and I am so proud of myself that I actually finished it.

And Abby loved it (at least she said she did ;) HAHA ).

Dang I love that girl!

Salted Caramel? Yes please!

On Friday I treated myself to a Salted Caramel Mocha Frappuccino from Starbucks and let me just tell you it was AHHHmazing!! The perfect drink to usher in Fall...

Doesn't it look delicious?!?!

Well it was and I have been thinking about it ever since, must be something about the salty/ sweet combo but it had me hooked at the first sip.

So Sunday morning while blog surfing I came across these beauties

at Gallamore West. They are pumpkin cupcakes with Salted Caramel Buttercream icing.

I will let that sink in for a minute. Of course I decided right then and there that I had to make them and I did, from scratch, just like the genius over at Gallamore west. And they were good and rich and so fall.

I wish that I had pics to show you but my camera totally wigged out on me this weekend, they looked pretty much like the pic above except my icing looked no where near that good (but as long as they taste amazing, and they did, who cares what they look like...)

Extra Amazing Pic

I was not kidding yesterday when I said Langston was a terror at our family picture shoot, but you would never know it by looking at this picture.

And that is because Melissa Pickens is AMAZING!!

The temps are dropping, here's to a fantastic first weekend of Fall, Ya'll!!

Family pictures were a bomb

No that was NOT a typo, I did not mean to say family pictures were "tha bomb", as in awesome and great. Nope, I meant what I typed, they were A BOMB!

For starters I did not wear the most practical shoes, great for pictures, not so great for wondering though fields of tall grass looking for the perfect spot. This was the first time we used this new photographer, and bless her heart she probably thought I was Krazy with a capital K!

Langston was definitely exhibiting his terrible three's are worse than terrible two's attitude and I was so frustrated.

She assured me that there were good shots and that it will all be fine, i'm doubtful and we'll see if my children make it through the night.

(just kidding....kindof)

Ugh...Ants!!

Yesterday after it rained (for the first time in months) I was outside and noticed a small ant pile forming on the edge of our sidewalk leading to our door. While I wasn;t excited about the ants, I was excited to see the pile because hopefully that means they are moving out of my house! So I had the hubs put some spray on them (nip it in the bud before they get too comfy I thought).

Boy was I wrong, they must have LOVED whatever he put on them as this morning it had quadrupled in size. I mean really, that is ridiclious ( and I don;t think this pic even does it justice)! And of course the boys want to get as close as possible to see the ants crawling around.

UGH! I hate ants!

puttin together a look

So after waaay too long of procrastinating family pics, I FINALLY scheduled them.

For Thursday, yes, this Thursday.

I am a little excited but mostly nervous because we all know that the minute the kids figure out it's picture time they turn into little demons.

Here is the foundation of our look and the hubs and boys will coordinate with me.

I decide on a dress after scouring the internet for inspiration and fell in love, I don't traditionally wear a TON of dresses but maybe I will start.

And, ever since my sister visited over the summer and Keddie saw that her son has a tie, Keddie has been begging for one.

I found this one last week on clearance at Children's Place and thought it was adorable. Well the minute Keddie saw it he ased if he could wear it for pictures. Of course I said yes!
Those are my jumping off points, well see what else I can come up with to pull it all together.