Monday, January 30, 2012
Silly Kids
Friday, January 27, 2012
Field Trip to the Post Office
We're part of a homeschool group that does pretty frequent field trips and this past Tuesday, Hunter, Kylee, and I got to go on our very first one!
We went to the local post office. I'd never been in the back of a post office before so I think it was more exciting for me than it was for Hunter.
For a 4-year-old, I think he did quite well. He wanted to see everything our guide was talking about.
The thing he wanted to see most of all was the other side of the slot when we drop mail off.
Here he is in front of it, although I couldn't get him to stand still!
Here is the inside of the PO boxes...
And what I found most interesting of all were the little cubbies for each of the mail carriers. They stand here and sort their mail for each address they deliver to, then put it in bins, load up, and deliver it! It's crazy to me to think there's a slot for every address in New Bern. I guess it makes sense...I'd just never given it any thought.
After about 45 minutes he started asking to go home, so I'll have to
remember for other field trips that that's about the length of his
attention span! He did have fun though. I'm excited for the next 4-year-old appropriate field trip!
We went to the local post office. I'd never been in the back of a post office before so I think it was more exciting for me than it was for Hunter.
For a 4-year-old, I think he did quite well. He wanted to see everything our guide was talking about.
The thing he wanted to see most of all was the other side of the slot when we drop mail off.
Here he is in front of it, although I couldn't get him to stand still!
Here is the inside of the PO boxes...
We were encouraged to bring a letter to mail to someone so the kids could see what happens to it. Hunter decided to mail a letter to daddy. He colored a picture for him and wrote his name on the envelope. Our guide even let him stamp the envelope himself!
29 Weeks
I will say that I have deemed Gregory the "baby whisperer." Every time that poor man sticks his hand on my belly, even if baby boy is doing jumping jacks, he immediately stops. It's quite funny actually. I told him that I hope he has the same effect on him even after birth! But he just claimed that they already have a special bond. :)
Anyway here's the belly pic...followed by a series of silly pics. There usually are a few pictures every week that I have to delete but I decided to include them today. Enjoy!
Official 29 weeks with Hunter making a silly face...
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Friday, January 20, 2012
Update on Hunter
I haven't really updated with where Hunter is lately so I thought I'd do that now...
He has a super-silly personality and is always making us laugh with things that he says and silly faces he makes.
In school, he's doing excellent in math. I think it will definitely be one of his best subjects, just like Greg and me. Every day when it's time for school, he is excited to do it and even asks to do it some days before momma is ready! He can write his name and stay in the lines doing so, and we're working our way through writing the alphabet and learning each letter's sound. Just recently, he will pick out the beginning sound of a word that he knows which letter it is, or will ask if he doesn't. He is definitely ready to begin learning to read soon!
Just like his sister, he adores his sibling. He doesn't like when she is upset, and gives her hugs and kisses all the time. He is also extremely excited for a baby brother!
His favorite thing to do is play with cars and trucks, as it has been for years. His favorite playmate is daddy.
If you ask him, his best friend is David and loves any chance to play with him.
He loves playing games, and loves our new Thursday night tradition of Family Night where we play board games as a family.
He is such a joy and he's my handsome man. We love him to pieces and love watching him grow, which is happening faster than mom likes!
He has a super-silly personality and is always making us laugh with things that he says and silly faces he makes.
He loves our church here in North Carolina. He is excited every time we go and he really enjoys going to AWANA!
His favorite thing to do is play with cars and trucks, as it has been for years. His favorite playmate is daddy.
If you ask him, his best friend is David and loves any chance to play with him.
He loves playing games, and loves our new Thursday night tradition of Family Night where we play board games as a family.
He is such a joy and he's my handsome man. We love him to pieces and love watching him grow, which is happening faster than mom likes!
Kylee's First Birthday
Has it really been a year already?! I can't believe how fast it went.
Our sweet Kylee is such a joy. She has such a fun personality and loves to dance to anything, including the agitator on the washing machine. If it has a rhythm, that girl starts bouncing! She's as sassy as all get out and knows what she wants. She's tested us a few times too with sassiness.
She is pulling up on everything and walking along things and while holding our hands, but no standing alone or steps yet. She's certainly a fast crawler though!
She knows exactly who "dada" is and is starting to learn that I'm "mama." She says "UH!" for "uh oh" and has her own alien language that she talks in all the time.
She loves any toy with a face, but has a special place for her snuggle bear. We give it to her at bedtime and she grabs it, smiles and gives it a big hug.
For her birthday, we did a special cupcake with just us after dinner. We sang to her, and Hunter helped her blow out her candle. When we gave her the cupcake, that girl did NOT mess around. She touched it for just a second...
picked it up...
and went to town!
I think she liked it!
We are so thankful for our sweet girl and couldn't imagine life without her! We love you, Kylee Ann!
She is pulling up on everything and walking along things and while holding our hands, but no standing alone or steps yet. She's certainly a fast crawler though!
She knows exactly who "dada" is and is starting to learn that I'm "mama." She says "UH!" for "uh oh" and has her own alien language that she talks in all the time.
She loves any toy with a face, but has a special place for her snuggle bear. We give it to her at bedtime and she grabs it, smiles and gives it a big hug.
She adores her big brother and loves being in his room with him playing with his toys.
For her birthday, we did a special cupcake with just us after dinner. We sang to her, and Hunter helped her blow out her candle. When we gave her the cupcake, that girl did NOT mess around. She touched it for just a second...
We are so thankful for our sweet girl and couldn't imagine life without her! We love you, Kylee Ann!
28 Weeks
Some good news is that I passed my glucose test! And my iron levels are good, which makes me really happy because I haven't been taking my prenatals because they were upsetting Kylee. It's good to know my diet is sufficient enough without them! However, I gained 4 lbs in 2 weeks! It occurred to me that I never compensated my eating habits for the fact that I was weaning Kylee. I'm thinking that may have something to do with it. So as of this morning, I'm being a grown up and logging my food again like I did with Kylee's pregnancy. I'd rather log and keep it under control than throw caution to the wind and wonder what happened 50 lbs later.
So that's that. I'm exhausted. That's pretty much the bottom line.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Monday, January 16, 2012
The Theme of Today's Grocery Shopping Trip
Friday, January 13, 2012
27 Weeks
While I can't believe it, I can definitely feel it. I'm wearing a maternity support belt full-time now. I'm starting to feel the weight of baby boy which is just causing a lot of pressure so the belt helps alleviate some of that.
I can definitely tell he's growing in size too. Just this week I've started to feel kicks and rolls that are beginning to be painful. I'm anxious to see his estimated size at my ultrasound in a few weeks.
Although we aren't sharing until his Birth Day, he still doesn't have a name. We seriously can't agree on one...hopefully we'll be able to decide on one soon!
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Blue Eyes <3
Thursday, January 5, 2012
26 Weeks
This typically happens to me at least once a pregnancy where I lose count of how far along I am. I had a Dr's appt and they mentioned me being 26 weeks and I thought I was only 25. Yay for gaining a week!
I definitely feel that the third trimester is right around the corner. I'm starting to feel the weight of the baby...something I never really felt with the other two. My dr said to start wearing a maternity support belt to alleviate some of the discomfort. My appointment went well though. I was actually shocked I only gained 5 lbs this past month. I seriously thought it would be double that. I guess this making stuff homemade thing is good for more than one reason! My weight is still low though. I weigh one pound less at 26 weeks pregnant than I did when I got pregnant with Hunter!
I'm going to biweekly appointments already too! In two weeks I'll have another glucose test, yuck! Now that the holidays are past, I'm sure April will be here before we know it!
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
December Goals Recap and January Goals
December Goals
*Complete all of my 25 Random Acts of Kindness. Success! Posts can be seen here, here, and here.
*Study 5 days a week in 1 Corinthians. Fail. I did really well until Christmas and family was in town...then that totally threw me off schedule.
*Make a weekly to-do list, and complete it! I learned a while ago that a weekly list is way better than a daily one. I'm much more successful with this. Again, fail because of Christmas.
*Do at least one load of laundry 5 days out of the week. Can we just talk about before Christmas? I did great the first few weeks though.
*Memorize at least 2 more verses, and still remember the last 4. Success. Proverbs 31:26 and Romans 3:23
*Homemake any bread-like side (sandwich bread not included) that I serve to my family. Total success!!! I am SO proud of myself with this one! I lost count on how many cinnamon rolls I made...
And Parker House Rolls...
(If you make them, I suggest standing them up in a cake pan as opposed to putting them on a cookie sheet. I've made them both ways and this way keeps them softer and super delicious.)
I also made Cheddar Cheese Biscuits (with no Bisquick since the idea here is to weed out trans fat.)
And homemade pizza dough...I'm still trying to find a really good recipe though using google, so I don't have one to share since I wasn't sold on the couple I tried.
I even made my own pie crust! Here's a tip...if you don't have a pastry cutter like me, use a food processor to cut the butter in. It was so simple!
I think we definitely benefited from all the homemade breads, and I felt good knowing we weren't consuming all that trans fat. AND I seriously ate so many carbs this month and I only gained 1 pound over what I should've with the pregnancy, which totally could be attributed to all the Christmas sweets! I'm thinking that it was so much healthier than store bought stuff that it's ok to have a bit more. I'll definitely be continuing to make all our bread homemade...especially since Parker House Rolls are so delicious and my family LOVESSS them, AND because of my new KitchenAid mixer, so I don't have to hand-knead the dough for 8-10 minutes. I can stick it in the mixer and walk away!
And here's my January Goals
*Study 5 days a week in 1 Corinthians.
*Make a weekly to-do list, and complete it! I found this printable yesterday, so I'm going to print a few out and give them a try this month.
*Do at least one load of laundry 5 days out of the week.
*Memorize at least 2 more verses, and still remember the last 6.
*Continue making all our breads.
*Stop over-eating! Although my weight gain didn't necessary show it, I know I eat too much at meals sometimes. I need to stop when I'm full instead of overindulging.
*Send out Kylee's birthday invites. Her birthday is in a couple weeks, but we're doing a party in February because of finances.
*Be consistent with Hunter's chore chart. Greg and I sat down and reevaluated our list of chores with him and I want to be better than I have been in the past about making sure they get done.
*Be consistent with Hunter brushing his teeth! Typically, we would brush his teeth every night, but we've been having him also brush them himself in the mornings. I need be better about making sure he does it!
*Read through Hypnobirthing.
While talking to a friend about my desire to labor without an epidural, she suggested this book. I want to finish it before the month is over and decide if it's right for me and baby boy.
*Break Kylee of nursing at night...can you believe my almost 1 year old is still waking up at night?!? I know it's ridiculous, and it's totally my fault for not having the will power to break her of it sooner. I've tried multiple times in the past but would give in...but I'm not giving in this time! I want a bit of sleep before I have another baby waking me at night!
*Complete all of my 25 Random Acts of Kindness. Success! Posts can be seen here, here, and here.
*Study 5 days a week in 1 Corinthians. Fail. I did really well until Christmas and family was in town...then that totally threw me off schedule.
*Make a weekly to-do list, and complete it! I learned a while ago that a weekly list is way better than a daily one. I'm much more successful with this. Again, fail because of Christmas.
*Do at least one load of laundry 5 days out of the week. Can we just talk about before Christmas? I did great the first few weeks though.
*Memorize at least 2 more verses, and still remember the last 4. Success. Proverbs 31:26 and Romans 3:23
*Homemake any bread-like side (sandwich bread not included) that I serve to my family. Total success!!! I am SO proud of myself with this one! I lost count on how many cinnamon rolls I made...
And Parker House Rolls...
(If you make them, I suggest standing them up in a cake pan as opposed to putting them on a cookie sheet. I've made them both ways and this way keeps them softer and super delicious.)I also made Cheddar Cheese Biscuits (with no Bisquick since the idea here is to weed out trans fat.)
And homemade pizza dough...I'm still trying to find a really good recipe though using google, so I don't have one to share since I wasn't sold on the couple I tried.
I even made my own pie crust! Here's a tip...if you don't have a pastry cutter like me, use a food processor to cut the butter in. It was so simple!
I think we definitely benefited from all the homemade breads, and I felt good knowing we weren't consuming all that trans fat. AND I seriously ate so many carbs this month and I only gained 1 pound over what I should've with the pregnancy, which totally could be attributed to all the Christmas sweets! I'm thinking that it was so much healthier than store bought stuff that it's ok to have a bit more. I'll definitely be continuing to make all our bread homemade...especially since Parker House Rolls are so delicious and my family LOVESSS them, AND because of my new KitchenAid mixer, so I don't have to hand-knead the dough for 8-10 minutes. I can stick it in the mixer and walk away!And here's my January Goals
*Study 5 days a week in 1 Corinthians.
*Make a weekly to-do list, and complete it! I found this printable yesterday, so I'm going to print a few out and give them a try this month.
*Do at least one load of laundry 5 days out of the week.
*Memorize at least 2 more verses, and still remember the last 6.
*Continue making all our breads.
*Stop over-eating! Although my weight gain didn't necessary show it, I know I eat too much at meals sometimes. I need to stop when I'm full instead of overindulging.
*Send out Kylee's birthday invites. Her birthday is in a couple weeks, but we're doing a party in February because of finances.
*Be consistent with Hunter's chore chart. Greg and I sat down and reevaluated our list of chores with him and I want to be better than I have been in the past about making sure they get done.
*Be consistent with Hunter brushing his teeth! Typically, we would brush his teeth every night, but we've been having him also brush them himself in the mornings. I need be better about making sure he does it!
*Read through Hypnobirthing.
While talking to a friend about my desire to labor without an epidural, she suggested this book. I want to finish it before the month is over and decide if it's right for me and baby boy.
*Break Kylee of nursing at night...can you believe my almost 1 year old is still waking up at night?!? I know it's ridiculous, and it's totally my fault for not having the will power to break her of it sooner. I've tried multiple times in the past but would give in...but I'm not giving in this time! I want a bit of sleep before I have another baby waking me at night!
RAOK #10-25
While I may not have kept up with blogging my Random Acts of Kindness throughout the month, I did keep up with doing all of them! Here's the recap:
RAOK #10
I was parked in the very back of Harris Teeter and as i unloaded my cart, I noticed two more that were sitting on a grassy area, so I grabbed them and took all three back to the inside of the store. Not that this is why I'm doing it, but I got a "thank you" from the cart attendant!
RAOK #11
I was at Target and I noticed a "buy 2, get 1 free" coupon for bags of Hershey kisses. Since a hungry pregnant woman at the store is never a good combo, it caused me to go back to the Hershey end-cap I saw. As I walked up, I saw an older gentleman put 2 bags of kisses in his cart, so I have the coupon to him.
RAOK #12
I shipped some packages for a friend that didn't have time to before leaving for vacation.
RAOK #13
We were having a Christmas party at church and a tree needed to be decorated for it. It was a pre-lit tree...but none of the lights worked! I spent a couple hours taking off all the lights on the tree. What a pain! Pre-lit trees are definitely not meant to have the lights taken of of them!
RAOK #14
I went back the next day and decorated the tree for the party.
RAOK #15
I made homemade cinnamon rolls for the church staff.
RAOK #16-18
I made a variety of Christmas cookies for 2 of the pastoral staff and families (the 3rd was out of town) and for friends of ours who live down our street.
RAOK #19
I have a local friend who was asking me about training for a half marathon. I mentioned a book a friend gave me when I trained for mine that really helped, and when I remembered my RAOK's, I thought to let her borrow it since it was such a help to me.
RAOK #20
I got up early and took the dog to the groomers for Gregory. Normally he would get up a bit before work and take her, but I surprised him and saved him the trip.
RAOK #21
After dinner the other night, my mom told me she would wash the dishes in a few minutes, but she just wanted to sit down for a bit first. I washed them for her so she could relax.
RAOK #22
My brother bought Hunter a remote controlled car that needed a 9-volt battery. When we went to the store to get it, I bought it instead of my brother.
RAOK #23
While at Walmart, I noticed someone had stuck meat that they decided not to buy on a shelf, so I put it back in the refrigerator section so it didn't go bad.
RAOK #24
I disposed of a stepped-on Pop Tart at church before it got permanently ground into the carpet.
RAOK #25
I gave my fellow cloth-diapering friend some of my cloth wipes. I told her I'd been given some and she wanted me to let her know if I liked them because she was considering getting some. Since I love them, I gave her some of mine.
Now that it's all said and done, I'm really glad I chose to do it throughout the month instead of trying to cram it all in a day. Not only did it give me the opportunity for spontaneity and to bless someone I saw could use it, but it also got me in a totally different mindset than I was before the project. Every time I went out, I was looking for ways to help people. It got me really trying to find ways to bless people without expecting anything in return. I want to have that mindset all the time. I'm praying I don't lose it, and I can continue finding RAOK's to do, simply because that's how we, as Christians, are supposed to be.
RAOK #10
I was parked in the very back of Harris Teeter and as i unloaded my cart, I noticed two more that were sitting on a grassy area, so I grabbed them and took all three back to the inside of the store. Not that this is why I'm doing it, but I got a "thank you" from the cart attendant!
RAOK #11
I was at Target and I noticed a "buy 2, get 1 free" coupon for bags of Hershey kisses. Since a hungry pregnant woman at the store is never a good combo, it caused me to go back to the Hershey end-cap I saw. As I walked up, I saw an older gentleman put 2 bags of kisses in his cart, so I have the coupon to him.
RAOK #12
I shipped some packages for a friend that didn't have time to before leaving for vacation.
RAOK #13
We were having a Christmas party at church and a tree needed to be decorated for it. It was a pre-lit tree...but none of the lights worked! I spent a couple hours taking off all the lights on the tree. What a pain! Pre-lit trees are definitely not meant to have the lights taken of of them!
RAOK #14
I went back the next day and decorated the tree for the party.
RAOK #15
I made homemade cinnamon rolls for the church staff.
RAOK #16-18
I made a variety of Christmas cookies for 2 of the pastoral staff and families (the 3rd was out of town) and for friends of ours who live down our street.
RAOK #19
I have a local friend who was asking me about training for a half marathon. I mentioned a book a friend gave me when I trained for mine that really helped, and when I remembered my RAOK's, I thought to let her borrow it since it was such a help to me.
RAOK #20
I got up early and took the dog to the groomers for Gregory. Normally he would get up a bit before work and take her, but I surprised him and saved him the trip.
RAOK #21
After dinner the other night, my mom told me she would wash the dishes in a few minutes, but she just wanted to sit down for a bit first. I washed them for her so she could relax.
RAOK #22
My brother bought Hunter a remote controlled car that needed a 9-volt battery. When we went to the store to get it, I bought it instead of my brother.
RAOK #23
While at Walmart, I noticed someone had stuck meat that they decided not to buy on a shelf, so I put it back in the refrigerator section so it didn't go bad.
RAOK #24
I disposed of a stepped-on Pop Tart at church before it got permanently ground into the carpet.
RAOK #25
I gave my fellow cloth-diapering friend some of my cloth wipes. I told her I'd been given some and she wanted me to let her know if I liked them because she was considering getting some. Since I love them, I gave her some of mine.
Now that it's all said and done, I'm really glad I chose to do it throughout the month instead of trying to cram it all in a day. Not only did it give me the opportunity for spontaneity and to bless someone I saw could use it, but it also got me in a totally different mindset than I was before the project. Every time I went out, I was looking for ways to help people. It got me really trying to find ways to bless people without expecting anything in return. I want to have that mindset all the time. I'm praying I don't lose it, and I can continue finding RAOK's to do, simply because that's how we, as Christians, are supposed to be.
Monday, January 2, 2012
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