Blue or Pink, What do YOU Think?

Hello Friends.  Welcome to the (virtual) party.

This is the card I made hacked to send to family, but then I didn't get stamps and get them in the mail in time....sooo maybe you can enjoy it instead.

Welcome to our house.  We tried to decorate for fall, but the ideas in my head don't always translate well.  I made this wreath a few years ago.

So, do you have any guesses?  Now's your chance (final tally was 8 for boy and 2 for girl).  I find it amusing when people say they can tell because (fill in the blank).  Anyway, come on in, and check out the living room.  

I am making slow progress on decorating.  I sit down to make a pillow case, look at all my material, fuss with it a bit, and put it all away.  Zero inspiration.  2 pillows made and we've been here since August.

The newest (pillow) edition.  Dare Mighty Things is a quote by Theodore Roosevelt.

O colored the pumpkins when she was 2 1/2.  The candy was meant to be decor, instead every time I walk down the hallway I sneak a few.  Bad Idea.

We have fall colored leaves all over the house.  No pretty red leaves outside yet, but inside it is bright and cheerful.  The wood sign was made by O when she was 3 1/2.  I need to pick up another craft for her to color this year.  (And yes, that is Handy Manny on the TV.  The official party starts in an hour.  The house is clean.  I want it to stay that way.)

Our map is a new edition.  We added post its to show where some of our friends are.

I know, I know.  You aren't here for a house tour.  You want to know what we are having.  

To the kitchen.

A few quick pictures of all the hard work I have been up to.

 And then there is our bird.  Mango.  Have you met him before?  Loud, little bird.

We are not friends.  Yes, the photos are a bit blurry...because the bird is charging at me.  See that toy in the background?  I bought it for him.  I feed him and give him water.  I even taught him the hokey pokey a few years ago, and how to play peek-a-boo.  Still, he hates me, and loves F.  He bites me, and nuzzles up with F.  How does that make sense?!

Want to play a game?

Any guesses for when baby will get here?

My due date is Feb 15, 2014.

What about baby's size?

O was 7 lbs 10 oz and 21 inches long.

If you post your guess in the comments, and you are the closest, I have a special homemade gift for the lucky winner :)  

Also, while I have your attention....name suggestions?  I love hearing what names people like.  It is fascinating.

And Now for the long awaited moment.

Grab a cupcake. 

Take a bite.

Pink is girl.

Blue is boy.

Baby Boy!

We are thrilled.

This little guy seems to be more laid back than his sister (not hard to do).  At the ultrasound, he sat perfectly still with one arm above his head, and hardly any wiggles.  That is a far cry from our little O, who was practically dodging the technician and doing somersaults the whole time.  

Did you guess correctly?  

This Week (In Pictures)

I watched O about break her neck dozens of times as she tried to master a handstand and cartwheels.  Do you think she would take advice from a mama who was in cheerleading, dance, and gymnastics?  Nope.  She's got this.  Fine.  Kiddo you are going to crash into our TV, and will get to explain that to daddy.

School--Yippee.  I am burnt out (yes it is only day 32--we skipped school on Tuesday).  We did Domino math and used Scrabble letter tiles to make words.  

O was on another sewing kick this week.  She is bursting at the seams with ideas for things she wants to make/sew/create.  I, on the other hand, have zero interests in creating anything right now.  I want to sleep, and stare off into space when I am awake.  Not so good, when I have shops to refill and blog posts to write.    

Why did we skip school on Tuesday?  Well, F and I celebrated our anniversary by going to an ultrasound and a doctor visit, and my mom watched O for us so we had extra time to eat out--twice!  We ate at a local diner (The Snug) for lunch and The Back 40 for dinner.  Both were yummy and I ate a whole lot of food.

The Back 40 has all kinds of quirky decorations and every piece has a story.

This guy stared at me all dinner long, but I didn't mind because I was enjoying orange bread, pumpkin ice cream, pickles, and ham and potatoes (sound like pregnancy cravings?  I am a walking stereotype).

Tune in next week for the big reveal....He or She what will baby be?  :)

Whole30 Update

We completed 7 days, with yummy meals.  I tried to remember to take photos, but I am not terribly good at that.  I forgot most days.

We had plates full of veggies, fistfuls of protein, healthy fats, and a bit of fruit every day.
Day 1:  No headaches from lack of sugar.  No sluggishness.   We felt fine, minus the fact that I was sick all day with 'morning sickness'.
Day 2:  F said he felt 'the crash' at 2pm.  I didn't feel sleepy, but I couldn't actually eat any food that day.  It took me about 4 hours to eat breakfast, and actually keep it down.  Yea, I am 19 weeks at this point and should be way past morning sickness.
Day 3:  Same as day 2.  F is tired but no headaches or any other symptoms, and I can't keep food down.
Day 4:  I kept some food down, but had a serious stomach ache.  I really just wanted to eat carbs.
Day 5:  The hubs and I talked.  I lost 2 pounds in the first 4 days of the diet.  Not good.  If I didn't keep food down on day 5 and 6, we were calling it.
Day 6:  I quit :)

I really wanted to do this, but we can't always get what we want....
It was/is more important that I am gaining weight, and keeping food down rather than eating 100% clean/strict paleo.  My stomach can't handle it right now.  Maybe after baby comes we will try again.

The Last of September

We are enjoying the last of the warm days around here with picnics and many walks to see the changing scenery.  

This past weekend we found a few baby snakes sunning themselves on the walking path.  O picked a few flowers for me, and as I carried them little bugs climbed up my hand, so I put them on a tree stump for others to see.  We found acorns and pinecones.  We have quite the assortment of berries on our front porch.

We also had coffee (ok O had hot cocoa) on our front porch and watched the sun come up, and read Bible stories.  

The mornings are getting cooler and the days are getting shorter, and me oh my we are getting ready for Autumn all over the house.

Ah, yes, there is one more thing we are preparing for this week.

A party.

In honor of the little baby coming soon.  Is it a boy?  or a girl?  Guests will have to eat a cupcake to find out.  We are excited to share the news at the end of the week.  :)

  

Recuperating

Sometimes, we just need a day to play catch up.  

With all the excitement of the last weekend, and the constant going no one felt rested Monday morning.  O woke up saying, 'I'm not doing school work today' and the day kept on spiraling down.  For the first time, in a very long time, I actually thought to myself, 'I see why people do not like Mondays.  It is hard to get back into the swing of things after a crazy weekend.'

  

Instead of doing our 'normal' schoolwork, we spent a lot of time catching up on housework, and random chores/projects that needed to be done.  Here is a bit of our day.

 Last week, while O was outside playing she decided to make mud on the front porch for her 'wormy friends' to live at.  It was a mess.  I told her she could use the hose to rinse everything off, but she preferred the idea of scrubbing like a certain princess.  So, it sort of looks like I have child labor in my front yard, but it really wasn't like that.

While Mama crocheted for the shops, O sewed on her canvas.  I showed her a new technique, and she also practiced holding onto the eye of the needle while tightening/pulling the thread, so Mama doesn't have to rethread the needle after each pass. 

Laundry.  Oh My!  O helps sort the colors, put the clothes in the washing machine, move them to the dryer or outside to the drying rack, and she folds and puts away all her own clothing in a semi-neat manner.  Unless of course she is grumpy, then she shoves it in the drawer. 

After all that work in the morning, and eating lunch O asked to take a nap.  Whoa.  Why yes, little lady you may take a nap.  Just what we both needed!  She didn't really sleep for that long, but it was enough to help us get through the afternoon without the grumpiness the day started with.

We even made a trip to the library (where we collected 41 books to bring home, oh my!), had a tea party with some neighborhood kids and did some counting by 10's.  

The Weekend

 This weekend we spent a lot of time standing in line.  O is always amusing and was standing in some of the most dramatic ways possible.  Hands on hips, sometimes she even tapped her foot while waiting.

Although her face is hidden in the photo, she loved this ride.  The scrambler, the sizzler, the octopus--whatever you call it, this was the favorite ride of the year. 

She loved the rides at the fair.  That is for sure!

 

 I loved the taco potatoes.  I did try a lot of other food at the fair, but this is my favorite :)  

My parents and brother showed up while we were going on rides, and my mom gathered us for a group photo.  Not too bad, since there were a lot of people in there, and my arms are only so long.

After all the hoopla of the fair last week, we decided to do Whole30.  You can read more about here.  I cleared out all the sugar, flour, and other treats that have sneaked into our diet all too often.  Everything we can't eat is in a tote tucked away.  Out of sight, out of mind, right?

We started on Sunday (yesterday).  Day 1 was a success.  F was worried he would be hungry, but at the end of the day decided he had plenty to eat.  I will probably do a recap of our meals sometime in the future.  I was a little concerned about the side effects.  Although the fair food was yummy, I felt the effects of eating junk for food and last week was sick/yucky feeling most of the week.  I am hoping eating healthier will kick the last of the morning sickness I am still experiencing.  

And just for fun, this is O on the first morning of our healthy eating.  While F and I are following the plan pretty strictly, I am being rather lenient with O.  She can still have oatmeal for breakfast with honey, and chocolate almond milk for a treat.  I feel like both of these are yummy, and still pretty nutritious.  She eats what we eat for lunch and dinner, so I think she will see have some benefits.

This Week (In Photos)

We have started every morning this week with a walk around the neighborhood in jammies (Ok, O is in Jammies I am not).

We have completely pigged out on too much fair food.  Mmm Elephant Ears!

And Cotton Candy!

And because we have had so much junk, the hubs and I are thinking about doing the Whole30 challenge.  Have you ever tried this?  I have been researching recipes.

I am not quite sure I can blame the fair on the mess all over our house, but whoa.  I feel like a maid chasing a tornado.  I clean one room, to find two more have been ransacked.  Also, lately I seem to be the only person in the house who is aware that empty toilet paper tubes and toothpaste containers go in the recycling.

We did quite a bit of school work this week, and I didn't do such a great job taking photos.  This is about it.  I promise we worked on actual subjects too.

I have been searching for this paint for about three weeks.  It was in the abyss also know as my garage that I avoid like the plague.  I finally can finish that dining room table! 

I have been throwing around the idea of adding some silly bows and flowers to my fingerless gloves.  I had to way overexpose the above photo and you still can't really see it well.  Hmm...I'm still not sure.

I also dragged out my quilt I started in 2008 and finally got around to finishing in 2012.  The hubs doesn't love it.  I spent so much time quilting it, I kinda have bad feelings towards it as well.  Maybe this winter when I get tired of so much teal in our house?

Side Note:  I am very happy we decided to go with neutral walls and furniture in here mainly so I can switch up the bedding when I please.  That makes me happy.  :)