School's Out!

 Summer vacation started yesterday!  School is out for summer, and we have a busy few weeks planned.  I thought I would finally update with a few pictures.  Baby E turned 15 months old yesterday.  Where has the time gone? AK is 7 1/2 now and growing like a weed.  We went to back to back birthday parties at the waterpark yesterday.  E loved it, although I couldn't get her to smile for any pictures.

I still hope to find time to update my blog more often.  Keep checking back for posts...if anyone is out there reading :)

Long time, no post

Wow, it's been a long time. I am wanting to get back to posting soon. Life has been crazy busy, but I think I am finally getting the swing of the two children, full time job, and full time grad student thing. Maybe. Be back soon with updates on our lives :)

Laundry Day

As soon as I finished getting these hung up, it started to sprinkle.

Luckily, it didn't last long.

Signs of Spring

It was 80+ degrees here today. I think we skipped spring and went right to summer! I'm not complaining though. I am happy to be able to take baby E outside and give her a change of scenery. I spent a good bit of time (for me) outside over the past few days, and I noticed all sorts of signs of life! My hydrangea is sprouting new leaves. The hostas are poking their tips out of the ground. The tulips have grown (and gone actually).

However, the most exciting things I saw were birds building in my birdhouses! I saw a tufted titmouse flying in and out of my bluebird house. Tuba noticed it too, but he didn't bother him (or her). Then today I saw that my wrens are back!! I like to think it's the same pair of wrens every year. They were very busy cleaning the old nest out of the birdhouse and replacing old stuff with new stuff. It's amazing to watch them fit long twigs into such a small hole. I look forward to watching them this season!

I also did a little bit of cooking today. I found and made this recipe for homemade granola bars a few weeks ago. They were very yummy, but got really hard after a day or so. That didn't stop me from eating the entire pan myself though! I decided to make them again, but this time I only cooked them for 23 minutes instead of 30. Oh.My.Goodness! They are extra tasty and chewy. Perfect! John liked them enough to take some to his coworkers :)

The granola bars will not be helping me get back into my pre-pregnancy clothes. Neither will the peanut butter filled pretzels that I inhale all day long! I bought the economy size at Sam's a few days ago. Not good.

Speaking of pregnancy. My baby is 7 weeks old today. Where has the time gone? I only have 2 more weeks of maternity leave left :( I don't know how I will ever be able to get up and get ready for work AND get there on time! It's usually 1:00 p.m. before I can ever seem to get in the shower these days! I better start practicing soon.

Fluff Addiction

I am addicted to fluff...and no, I'm not talking about the stuffing that Tuba keeps ripping out of my patio cushions. I'm talking about cloth diapers. Who would have known I would rather buy adorable cloth diapers instead of adorable clothes...for me :)

I am enjoying our cloth diapering journey. Washing diapers every other day is not as bad a I thought it might be. It's not too gross either. Yet. I'm not really looking forward to the day E starts eating solids, as that will change what lands in the diaper (if you know what I mean!)

I spend a lot of time on the Cloth Diapering board on BBC. I also spend a lot of time on various cloth diapering blogs. There I enter numerous giveaways hoping to win a free diaper, but it has not happened yet. Maybe one day soon...

Here is my cute little E's tushie all wrapped up in an adorable diaper :)

The De-Stuffer

This is what I saw when I looked out the window the other morning...

How did I feel? Very unhappy. That used to be the seat cushion to our outdoor loveseat.

See, we have been having a major de-stuffing issue around here.
And a hole digging issue.
And a barking issue.

The culprit?



It's a good thing he's so cute.
Stinker!
(you can see the remains of the towel he chewed up scattered around him)

Any advice???

She's here!

My sweet girl decided to make her appearance early!

Born February 19, 2011
6:14 p.m.
7 lbs 5 oz
20.5 in. long

We are all in love!

Especially her sister :)

36 Weeks

Here I am...in all my glory...36 weeks pregnant tomorrow. I went to see my OB today, and he said I could go into labor any time now. Let's hope this baby holds off until my scheduled c-section date. I'm not quite ready yet. Everything looked and sounded great though!



See - I DO have feet! :)

I know I look worn out. These were taken after a long day with my 20 Kindergartners.

Baby Belly

I realized it's been 10 weeks since I posted a belly picture! Well, let me say, things have changed dramatically. My belly has taken on that oblong watermelon shape, and it.is.large. However, I don't need to hear people tell me that. I am aware of it. I promise. The last picture I have is from about 3 weeks ago. I am now 35 weeks and 3 days pregnant.
Here I am...

I will get John to take a more recent picture sometime this week. I tried to do it myself in the mirror, but it didn't work out. BTW, I do have feet. They just always seem to get cut off in these pictures :)

Oh! I discovered something new about Tuba today. We have noticed he's been eating the pecans from our pecan trees, and we were worried he was eating the shells and all. I was outside with him today, and he doesn't eat the shells! He very patiently cracks the nut and only eats the meat. Pretty talented I think!

Our Newest Addition

We finally did it.

We got a dog.

He is a rescue from a family who just didn't have enough room or time to devote to him. They were very grateful to us for taking him in. We are very happy to have him! His name from his previous family is Tuba. Tuba. We thought it was a very odd name, but somehow it has grown on us. We had thought about changing it, but we kept it. I call him Scuba Diver :)

Tuba is an 8 month old Great Pyrenees/Golden Retriever mix. He's very pretty! He has had some obedience training, and we've been pretty impressed with him so far. He's great with kids, but a little shy of men. He's been good with my elderly Kramer kitty so far. When Kramer hisses, Tuba goes to hide in his kennel :) Although today he stood his ground until I dragged him away!

Anyway, he's been a fun addition so far. AK loves him...or she loves to order him around at least :)

Welcome home Tuba!



Oh, I forgot to mention, Tuba loves to chew...he especially likes to de-stuff his stuffy toys. We have gotten rid of all of them, so he moved onto this...



We gotta work on that!

Happy Birthday!

My baby turned 6 years old on Monday. How did that happen? Because her birthday is so close to Christmas, we have her party a few weeks early, but we make her wait to open her presents from us until the big day. Happy Birthday AK! I love you!








You can tell by the last pictures what she was most excited about. A science experiment kit!
She also loved the locket we gave her. She's been saying she wants one to put a picture of her baby sister in. So sweet :)

BTW...ignore the date stamp in the pictures. It should say 12/20/10!

Belly Update

It's been a few weeks since I posted a belly picture, but here is today's belly one day before Thanksgiving:

I am 25 weeks and 6 days pregnant.

Here I am in the same shirt at 20 weeks:



Someone's been doing a little growing :)

I hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving!

Handmade Christmas

I really wish I was crafty. I tried to be crafty over the past year or so, but I ran out of steam when I got pregnant. Now I am starting to get my crafty back on. My plan was to begin making some things for friends and family for Christmas this summer. That way I would have plenty of time to finish. Well, since I was so tired all of the time it didn't work out that way. Needless to say, since it is November 18, I don't think my plan is going to work out completely. I still have some ideas in my head. I even have a supply list printed out! I have grand plans for AK and I to work on some things this weekend. I just hope I have the motivation. Anyway, I wanted to share some of my favorite crafty websites that have many great ideas. Maybe you will have the motivation to try some.

One Pretty Thing - I love looking at the pictures on this site. If only I could sew :)

The Crafty Crow - Very cute things for grown-up and kids!

One Hour Craft - I really love the birdie advent calendar.

Modge Podge Rocks - Fun stuff here.

Then there are always links to other great site within these sites. It's overwhelming at times, but I enjoy browsing. I hope you do too!

Cloth Diaper Hunt

John and I have decided to try cloth diapers with the baby. I was a bit overwhelmed when I first started reading about all of the options. The more I have read, the better I feel about it. I have found some great resources, such as the Cloth Diapering Mommies on BBC. They are a wealth of knowledge! I also came across Green Mountain Diapers website. That is where I decided to start with prefolds and diaper covers. I have ordered a couple of covers, and they sent me an All In One diaper for free! It is so soft and fluffy! It looks like this, but it is pink. Squishy! I can't wait to see this little girl in these cute, fluffy diapers :)

Lake Winnie

Last month we took a trip to visit John's parents. His sisters were in town, and we all went to Lake Winnepesaukah. I had never been, but it was a great place for kids! Anna Kate really broke out of her amusement park shell. She rode just about every ride in the park that she was tall enough for. The one that certainly surprised me the most was the OH-Zone. It's a 14-story free fall ride. OH-NO-WHAT-HAVE-I-DONE was more like how I felt! Once she got to the top, I got very nervous. She liked it but only wanted to go once :) I couldn't ride much since I am pregnant, so her daddy and aunts got to ride with her. Here are pictures!

I took a picture of her on the OH-ZONE, but it was nighttime, and it did not turn out :( Her favorite was the green frog looking ride (last picture). Just look at her face! We want to take another trip up there before Halloween so we can see all of the decorations. We're beginning to run out of time!

Baby Update!

Things are going well so far in this pregnancy. I have finally hit the "not so tired" portion of the 9 months. Although being pregnant at 38 is more tiring than it was at 32! I have a little mover and shaker in my tummy. The baby has been very active in the last 2 ultrasounds...wiggling, flipping, running...The ultrasound technician told me to buy a new pair of running shoes for this one! We can hear kicks through the doppler, and the doctor has to chase the little babe around my stomach when she's trying to find the heartbeat. Anyway, here are some recent pictures to share :)

Me at 15 weeks, 2 days



Me at 18 weeks...whew!

AND...our sweet baby... (drum roll)



GIRL!

It's been a while...

Oh wow! It's really been a long time since my last post. I had no idea. I've been busy. School recently started, and I am totally and thoroughly exhausted every afternoon. But the main reason for my lack of posting and exhaustion is this...

This little guy (or girl) has my body all in a tizzy! I have experienced morning/all day sickness that I never experienced with AK. I am SOOOOO sleepy and in bed by 8:00 p.m. every night. I am currently dealing with dizziness, and actually vomited for the first time of this pregnancy just this morning. What?? I'm 13 weeks along today. Aren't all of these symptoms supposed to be subsiding by now?

Even with all of these things, we are really looking forward to this journey. AK is over the moon with happiness. She's finally getting that sibling that the Easter Bunny kept forgetting every year :)

Summer Activities

I have tried to keep AK busy this summer. We've been visiting the water park a lot. She had theater camp for two weeks, and starts art camp and VBS next week. However, there are days where we have little to do, so I try to get creative. We decided to make slime the other day. It's a mixture of borax, glue, and water. Add a little food coloring to spice it up!

Motivation

I haven't had much motivation to post anything lately. I've been feeling very tired instead. So I thought I would just post a few pictures from our 4th of July weekend with our family. We had a very fun time!