Happy Halloween!

Wishing you a spook-tacular Halloween!

I hope it is just BOO-tiful!

Halloween -- Sneak Peek!

What are you dressing up as for Halloween? Well, our boys don't quite like scary costumes so we had them dress up early for a sneak peek of the big day. Aren't they the cutest clowns you've ever seen?

 

And, they didn't even mind wearing the neckties and bowties. How cute are they!??

And here are we... we each have our "pumpkin." Mine in my belly, J is carrying his. Oh, the things I make him do! :)

On another note, I've been working hard on those brussel sprouts. My garden produces a ton! We've given a few stalks away and I'm still left with all of these.

Have a great weekend!

25 Weeks -- Baby is the Size of an Eggplant!

Did you know that Michelle Duggar gave birth to her 19th child at 25 weeks? Holy cow! To think that technology has come so far that a baby born at only 25 weeks can survive if treated in a NICU. Incredible.

I know these pictures don't have much to do with me, but the boys got to go on another ride last night! How sweet are they??

 

How far along? 25 Weeks
Total weight gain/loss: 5 lbs
Maternity clothes? Yep. Even my pre-pregnancy tank tops are starting to inch up on my belly now!!
Sleep: Sleeping great!! Thank goodness for good nights of sleep!
Best moment this week: Going to the doctor and hearing our little guy's heartbeat strumming away!! And, getting the approval to go to Arizona for Thanksgiving! Woohoo! Sunshine, here I come!
Miss Anything? Iced tea, especially when we go out to dinner!
Movement: Yes! Still very active!
Food cravings: Eggs, still. And Frosted Flakes. Please don't judge.
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope.
Have you started to show yet: Yes.
Gender: Boy!
Labor Signs: No
Belly Button in or out? In
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy, happy, happy!
Looking forward to: Christmas! Our first holiday celebration is this weekend!!! So excited!

Learning Patience

Patience is something I'm still working on... patience in God's timing, patience in baby boy's timing, patience in J's timing, patience in all things. I'm known for the mentality of "if I want it done now and I want it done right, I need to do it." Well, pregnancy and its fatigue has helped me welcome "help." But along with requiring "help," I've had to attempt to learn patience, or at least embrace it more successfully. I feel like I have a long way to go with patience before baby boy arrives, which might be why God surprised me with a new test just this week!

I ordered my beautiful God-daughter a special gift for Christmas. I ordered this on September 2nd because the store gets so busy that they shut-down new orders by mid-October and I knew this was what I wanted to get her. I have waited and waited and waited for nearly SEVEN weeks to get this perfect gift to wrap for Christmas. It was so hard to be patient. I kept checking my order status to see if my handmade, custom order had shipped or if any new posting had shown up. The more days that crept by the more excited and anxious I was getting (kind of like how I'm getting more excited to meet our little one as each day goes by).

Anyway, this week, it arrived. Holy cow! When I saw that big package from California, my heart skipped a beat. I couldn't WAIT to rip open that package and see how they'd turned my vision into reality for my special girl.

J did the honors because I was too excited. Instead of pulling out the item, he gives me a sideways glance (= never a good sign). Long story short, they sent us the wrong item. Whoa disappointment. J keeps reminding me that they'll take care of it.Which they are, but that requires PATIENCE!

So, you see, I'm being forced to be patient once again. Patience, patience, patience.

I just have to be patient! The gift will be here before Christmas, my little guy will arrive when he is ready to bless us with his beautiful face and when I ask for a favor I need to be patient for it to get done. Baby steps...

Benton the Gardener

It's that time of year... time to clear out the garden and make way for Old Man Winter. On Sunday morning, we decided to take Benton out with us to get our last produce and clean up the garden.

The sun was shining, the air was chilly and it was great morning to spend some time outside. Here are some pictures of the day.

 

 

   

Benton surveying the empty garden plot.

Look at all those yummy brussel sprouts and carrots, Benton approves! This week my job is to get them all blanched and frozen! And, as you can see, Benton was such a big help out in the garden!

Baby Blankie

I love opening gifts... especially much anticipated ones! I bought something off etsy for our little guy and I couldn't wait for it to arrive from Seattle! Imagine my excitement when it arrived last week... but it didn't only arrive, it arrived fully wrapped! So not only did I get to un-wrap the mailer, but I got to unwrap the gift!

It was fantastic!

Once I got the package opened, our baby boy's blankie was inside! It is just like the picture showed. It is perfect! J and I each had a very special blankie growing up and we have scoured the earth for the perfect one for our baby. So far I have three that I just know he'll love but this one is just perfect!

I hope he loves it as much as we do! Even J couldn't believe how perfect it was... so soft, great color, perfect size, etc!

Photo Wall Display -- Update!

Remember these? They hang in our living room displaying our beautiful little ones in our life...

Little ones grow and change so fast, so I thought it was time for some new pictures! Here are the ones we chose!

Now my photo display looks like this! (Sorry it's so dark!)

Precious!!

24 Weeks -- 6 Months Along!

Yesterday, I got to take a tour of Epic for work! Spending part of my work day with my husband = AWESOME! Meeting some great people I've heard great things about = FANTASTIC! Eating lots and lots of awesome things = YUMMY! Here we are in building H or "Heaven"! See our little guy making my jacket pooch out?

How far along? 24 Weeks
Total weight gain/loss: -1 lbs
Maternity clothes? About a half and half mix still.
Sleep: Last night was the first night I had trouble sleeping... I hope it was a fluke!
Best moment this week: J finally feeling the baby kick from the outside! For weeks, the baby would be moving every-which-way and as soon as J would touch my belly the kicks would stop. I'm so excited that J was finally able to experience this with me!
Miss Anything? ICED TEA! I think I'm going to treat myself with hot tea (decaf) this weekend!
Movement: Yes, yes and yes! Still really active mid-day and late evening.
Food cravings: Eggs, still.
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope.
Have you started to show yet: Yes.
Gender: Boy!
Labor Signs: No
Belly Button in or out? In
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy, blessed, loved, excited.
Looking forward to: Purchasing our cloth diapers for baby this weekend! We went to a cloth diapering 101 class on Tuesday so we feel a lot more prepared than we did before! I'm also looking forward to our doctor's appointment next Monday. I love getting reassurance that all is going and growing as it should!

DIY -- Baby Edition

I haven't started DIY-ing for our baby boy just yet, but I have started laying out my plans. There are so many cute and easy DIY things you can do! I'm so excited to begin but I want to have the house and nursery more finished before I start more projects! As my dad says, finish one before you start another!

Without any more fanfare, here we go!

J's old t's are just itching to become these for our baby... like father like son!

http://www.alittletipsy.com/2010/11/baby-week-shirt-bib.html

No instructions for these giraffe baby rattles, but I think I can swing it on my own! I'll post some DIY instructions if once I do!

http://candacetodd.blogspot.com/2010/12/soft-baby-rattles.html

 I've already made a few blankets like this... I could totally make one in the shape of an "O" for our baby boy!

http://www.etsy.com/listing/69172547/monogram-taggies-owls-personalized

I need a tag to hang off of the bins we have in the closet in the nursery. Instead of plain white, I'm going with the gray chevron ones below! Gray is one of our accent colors and I think it is going to look absolutely perfect in there! Bath time, Dinner Time, Snuggle Time, Swaddle Time, Play Time, Story Time, and on and on!

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/jv9uxRK2bApi4_96C4st8VtjuKNRMYXFn09kQ_CZvkU?feat=blogger

These are sold for a pretty penny in a high-end boutique. Mine might look a little bit more clumsy different, but I'm willing to give it a go! How cute are they?

http://www.designsponge.com/2010/02/stitchcraft.html

Homemade burp cloths using pre-folded cloth diapers! I saved some extra fabric from the bedding to make these match the decor, too!

http://www.petitelemon.com/blog/2011/03/28/how-to-make-a-burp-cloth/

I am so excited to get started on some of these! If I end up being any good at these, I could start making them as gifts!

On the road, again.

My mom and dad are on their way out West. It is the start of Day #2. They should be in Texas by now. I'd be lying to say that I didn't miss them something crazy all ready. It's like you can just feel the distance.

But I know that Arizona is their happy place, their home and where they are meant to be. I just wish it was only about an hour away.

Safe travels. Love you.

The Wonderful Weekend of Ours

Ok, so wonderful may be a bit of an overstatement! But it kind of was in its own way...

Here's the run-down:
2 IPhone 4S phones picked up from UPS
1 XL teddy bear purchased from Costco
Costco pizza for dinner
1 photo shoot with said teddy bear
2 2hr naps
2 books finished -- The Death Cure and Forever
2 rented movies watched -- Bridesmaids and Horrible Bosses
1 TV movie watched -- Bride Wars
1 trip to the movie theatre -- Real Steel
3 trips to the dump
1 trip to Goodwill
1 re-organized garage (and shed)
1 lawn mowed, raked and winterized
1 snow blower and salt moved into the garage
4 hrs of errands -- grocery store, mall,craft store, book store, etc
A few more Christmas gifts purchased -- almost done!
1 homemade dinner with a good friend
4 bags of Puppy Chow made
2.5 consumed
3 Sonic pops
6 loads of laundry
3 hrs spent tagging, re-hanging and sorting baby clothes
1 hr spent organizing the nursery

Here are some pictures for your enjoyment... well, mainly for my mom! Hi Mom and Dad! Love you!

J's hour wait at UPS while I waited in the warm car!

Twin with no shoes and a giant teddy!

J's new work bench area full of my projects! :)

 

 

 

And, my favorite nephew won the championship game this weekend! So proud of him!

What did you do this weekend?

Vet Visit!

Yesterday was vet day for my youngest two pups! That is always a big day for us... emotionally, physically and financially. Aside from their normal check-up, each of them had something "special" that needed checked.

Thankfully, the vet says that they are OK. But, boy oh boy, when we got home the four of us were pooped and poor Ollie still wanted to play! Thank goodness for Uncle Josh, he played with Ollie until he got tired! (PS: This girl went to bed at 8:15pm. No joke!)

We are planning on tackling the garage this weekend as well as handful of small projects. Twin is going to the outlet malls... while I would love to join, I have other junk that needs done! C'est la vie! What are you doing this weekend?

23 Weeks -- Baby is the size of a Large Papaya!

Here's my bump from my perspective! We're nearing on six months along already. Holy moly! Time is flying.

How far along? 23 Weeks (Measuring nearly 25!)
Total weight gain/loss: -1 lbs
Maternity clothes? About a half and half mix now.
Sleep: I love sleep, except the trouble with flipping over and sore, sore hips!
Best moment this week: Having our first baby shower for our little one and celebrating this miracle in our lives! He is so loved. It was fabulous to be with so many friends and family!
Miss Anything? ICED TEA!
Movement: Yes, getting stronger by the day!
Food cravings: Eggs and cereal, again.
Anything making you queasy or sick: This week has been much, much better!
Have you started to show yet: Yes.
Gender: Boy!
Labor Signs: No
Belly Button in or out? In
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy, blessed, loved, excited.
Looking forward to: Working in the nursery this weekend organizing the new goodies we just got and (hopefully) buying a few things off etsy for the walls! I love what I have picked out!!

Tutu Finished!

A while back I posted about a special ballet bag for a little girl... remember the preview here?

Well, we finally worked on it and got it finished! Heather decided on the color scheme for Aubs and J and I made it happen. My mom even helped, too, so this bag was a true group project.

Here is the finished product. Super easy to do. Iron on or embroider the name, sew on the tulle, sew on the ribbon, tie a bow, wrap in a huge box with a ton of tissue paper for a sweet little girl to open!

Make sure said little girl's mama sends cute picture of little girl on the way to ballet with her new ballet bag! How sweet is my Aubs? She is the cutest thing ever!

Our Nursery Rhyme Baby Shower!

We are over the moon! Baby Brown will be here soon! We had our first baby shower, a nursery rhyme baby shower, on Saturday! It was simply perfect and our little boy is so loved and so blessed already. It was a wonderful day full of our dear friends and family from Indiana. It was nice to see everyone!

We had so much fun and felt so loved. Every detail was covered from the "three men in the tub" punch bowl, the "curds and whey" and jack and jill's water pails. They even made wishes for baby cards in lieu of a traditional guest book. The responses were so funny/thoughtful/sentimental that this pregnant momma-to-be hasn't made it through them all yet.
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