Super Blog Slacker

I apologize for the lack of posts lately. I'm really feeling the 'burn' lately of having a crazy active toddler, being almost 31 weeks pregnant, and just being a little overwhelmed all around. It seems like even normal everyday things are big projects, and I have a feeling it's only going to get worse in the coming weeks...

I will try to get Christmas photos posted soon!

Merry Christmas!

I can't believe it's Christmas Day already! Where did December go?

Thankfully the weather hasn't been nearly as bad as they were saying, so we were able to go to my Grandma's house yesterday for Christmas Eve. We go every year, so I didn't want to miss it. We did leave earlier than usual, but were able to make it to church in Pine Island before heading home. This morning Mara got up...and didn't really care about her presents. Oh well. It was a little bit of a bummer for me, but not a huge deal. She did love her kitchen and baby stroller, but otherwise wasn't too interested in opening anything (those two things weren't wrapped). And all morning she just keep saying "nigh nigh" so I think she was still tired out from a long day yesterday! We made a nice brunch and now she's passed out in bed!

I have a few final things to do before heading to my parents house later this afternoon, so I better get to it! Hopefully the weather will hold out for the rest of the day.

Lots and lots of photos will be coming soon, stay tuned!

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, etc etc to all of you!

28 Weeks!

Where is the time going? I'm already 28 (almost 29 now!) weeks into this pregnancy. Tomorrow I go in for my glucose test and my first appointment with my new doctor (sadly, my regular OB is having a baby and will be on maternity leave until after my baby is born).

I am feeling large and in charge, and having a lot more aches and pains, but overall I feel pretty decent, and actually have a bit of energy right now. I'm sure that will go away soon! I actually think maybe this is the best I've ever felt while pregnant. I'm furiously knocking on wood as I type this of course!!

It's a little overwhelming to think that in about 2 and a half months we will have TWO children. I'm nervous about how Mara will adjust, and if I'll ever get any sleep! It's all becoming a little more real, as I feel the baby moving so much more now, and think about how close March is!

Hopefully things will continue to go smoothly for the rest of the pregnancy!

Santa!

I had pretty low expectations when we took Mara to see Santa at the mall on Friday. Of course, I HOPED she would sit on his lap and maybe even crack a smile, but she is hit or miss with strangers and shyness, so I wasn't counting on it. Realistically, I figured I would get a photo of Santa holding a blur --- Mara as she tried to get away. So, I was pleasantly surprised (thrilled!) when Mara sat on his lap with no problem, and even smiled a few times! Santa was taking a short break when we got there, and there was no one in line, so Mara got to look around a little bit before he got back. Then we sat her down on his lap, she checked him out a bit, and seemed fine. I snapped a few pictures myself, and the 'professional' took a few also. I was pretty happy with the results!

I thought the professional one turned out great! Afterwards Santa asked how old she was. When Jay told him she was 19 months he said he was very impressed with how well she did and that maybe we should buy some lottery tickets that day!

It's Beginning to Look...and FEEL like Christmas!

We've been a little spoiled here lately with unseasonably warm weather...but not anymore! It was downright COLD out today, and we've had some snow the last couple days. Nothing major, but enough to make it look a little like Christmas!

I wouldn't mind it being a bit warmer, but the snow does help me feel a little more festive! Today we took Mara to see Santa (pictures coming soon!) and tomorrow we're thinking about driving to LaCrosse to see the big light display there. It's supposed to be a little warmer at least! Sunday we'll put up our tree and a few other decorations. It will be interesting to see how Mara reacts to all of it. She barely paid any attention to my parents tree earlier this week when we went to their house to help my mom frost sugar cookies!

I have a bit more holiday shopping to do, and I need to get my Christmas cards in the mail (I need to at least get started on those this weekend). Otherwise, still plugging away on Jay's stocking! I can't believe it's only three weeks until Christmas!

Thanksgiving!

master turkey carver!


attempting a family photo


this one's not too bad!


Mara getting started on dinner (she was getting cranky and tired, so she got a head start!)


ready for a feast!


Mara, Jenna, Derek, and Jay - ready to eat!

Mara enjoying some food

This year was the first time Jay and I attempted to cook Thanksgiving Dinner on our own. It turned out great! We made most of the food the night before, so it was nice to not have to be rushing around doing all of that in the morning. I put the turkey in the crockpot and it was really tasty! We did rolls, mashed potatoes (that was Jay's big project) and gravy today, and my sister and her husband brought stuffing and corn.

What a feast! Everything tasted great, I was so happy! Well, I haven't officially tested the apple pie yet, but the meal and pumpkin pie were great, so my fingers are crossed that the apple pie will be yummy too!

It was nice to be at home - Mara was definitely tired and cranky by the time she finished eating, so she started her nap while we finished up - it worked out really nicely! Jenna had to work at 3pm, so after she and Derek left, Jay and I just lounged around most of the afternoon. It was nice to just relax!

I don't know if it's from being up late cooking last night or what, but I've been pretty tired all afternoon and evening. Must be from all that turkey! I think it will be an early night.

I am so thankful for a healthy daughter and baby coming in a few months, a great husband who puts up with me, and fabulous friends and extended family. I am so blessed!

Turkey, and Cranberry Sauce, and Pies...Oh My

It has been a busy night of cooking, but we are almost set for Thanksgiving! We decided to stay home this year and will have my sister and her husband over for a Thanksgiving meal.

We made our turkey tonight (our first time, and it turned out great!), made some cranberry sauce, and three pies! (two pumpkin, one apple). Tomorrow we'll make mashed potatoes and rolls. My sister is bringing stuffing and corn. Hopefully that will be enough food (ha!).

For now, I'm heading to bed...hopefully Mara will let us sleep until at least 7am...and then we'll start prepping more food. Should be a nice day, good food, football, and hanging out at home!

I'm sure I'll be sharing some photos...

Becoming More Domestic

For quite awhile I've been wanting to become more domestic. Maybe it's a 'motherly' thing. I would love to cook and bake more, but I feel like I never have the time or energy to do it. Or, I'm not confident enough in my abilities to try a lot of new recipes. I'm trying to ease myself into it though, especially now having Mara...I'd like to be able to make meals and snacks that she can enjoy.

I think the big thing with me, is planning ahead. Working full time and then chasing after Mara doesn't allow for a lot of planning and prep time for meals every day. I need to get better at planning out meals for the week, and doing whatever I can for them ahead of time, so it doesn't take so long when I'm already hungry! Also, Jay works sometimes in the evening, and on the weekends, so often he isn't around for meals then and I just get lazy... I know things will be even more crazy after this baby is born, so it would be nice to get into a better routine now, while I have a bit more time.

I really don't mind cooking and baking when I have the time (and energy) to do it, and I think I'd like it even more if I found new recipes that were easy and tasted good too. I have a few recipes that I always go back to, so I just need to build onto those.

As far as other domestic things...I've got a decent handle on the craftiness - I really enjoy crafty things. I could do a lot better with cleaning/general upkeep/organization of the house, but I'm trying!

Baby steps I guess...

Table and Chairs

We've been wanting to get Mara a table and chair set for quite awhile. We were both so amazed to see her sit so nicely at a table at daycare, and thought she would love a set at home too - a place to sit to read books, eat snacks, color, etc.

I looked around for awhile, and asked for some recommendations. My friend Andrea showed me a set from Ikea that she has for her kiddos, so we checked that out and ended up really liking it -- so that's what we got. Mara loves it! The chairs are a little high for her, but she's mastered climbing up on them. She loves sitting at her table. (And yeah...sometimes she loves standing on her chair and then climbing up onto the table too...but oh well).

We don't have a permanent spot yet for the table, so for now it's in the middle of our living room, but hopefully we'll be able to rearrange a few things to find more room for it somewhere!

18 Months!

On October 29th, Mara turned 18 months old. It seems like just yesterday she was turning 6 months old! Where does the time go?

As you can tell, this was one of our more difficult months for pictures. She didn't want to sit still and getting a picture without any stuffed animals was pretty much impossible.

Don't be too disturbed by the last picture...she was pretty mad, but she got over it quickly!

She is becoming such a little PERSON...it's fun to watch, even if it does make me a little sad some days!

Always Busy...

I'm a little behind here, there are a few pictures I want to get posted, but I will get to that when I have a chance!

For now, we have been very busy...Jay is super busy with school right now, plus working, and I can never seem to find enough hours in the day. After Mara goes to bed I'm pretty much useless - no energy left! I've been going to bed pretty early. I'm hoping to start planning a bit better so I can get more things done in the evenings, but we'll see how it goes!

Over the weekend Mara got pretty sick (high fever, vomiting), but luckily it was a quick bug and she is feeling much better now. Poor girl was feeling pretty miserable for awhile. We're hoping to avoid any more sickness for awhile -- my fingers are crossed!

I have been feeling ok, and have started to feel the baby move around a bit more too! Jay was even able to feel one particularily strong kick or punch last week. Most of the time the baby is not quite strong enough to be felt from the outside, since the placenta is cushioning it a bit! It's fun to feel more movement now, that's my favorite thing about being pregnant!

I am looking forward to the holidays, although the weather seems more like spring than November lately! I'll enjoy that while it lasts, since I'm sure it will be snowing soon!

Thanks for checking in on us! I will try to update with some new photos soon!

Halloween Fun!

watcing Daddy carve the pumpkin


really interested in the pumpkin carving


checking out the finished product


our little lion eating a cookie at the daycare Halloween party on Friday

playing games at the daycare Halloween party

checking out the pumpkin on Halloween afternoon

CHEESE!

Mara as a lion, posing with the pumpkin

Mara and cousin Rylee at Grandma and Grandpa's house

Uncle Derek helping Mara pick out some candy (she liked to empty the bucket and then fill it up again)

attempting to get both Rylee and Mara in a picture with Great Grandma

We had a fun Halloween! Mara loved wearing her costume and had lots of fun playing with candy (she did have a bite or two, but mostly she was happy to just play with it!). She got to see her cousin Rylee and actually looked at her a couple times and did say "baby" when she made a little noise. It was a fun weekend! Hard to believe that next year we'll have TWO little ones to dress up for Halloween!

21 Weeks

I haven't been as good about taking belly pictures this time around as I was during my first pregnancy (I did a weekly picture starting at 12 weeks last time I think! This time I only have 2-3 pictures total so far!). I did manage to get one over the weekend though. I'm 21 weeks (almost 22 now) pregnant, and it's getting hard to hide (not that I'm really trying)!

I need to dig out my pictures from last time and see how they compare. Some people have guessed boy or girl based on this picture, but it's pretty evenly split so far. I feel like I'm maybe a bit bigger this time around at this point, but sometimes I don't feel like there is much there yet.

I am not feeling the baby move yet (I have felt a couple small 'pushes' but nothing consistent) because of the location of my placenta, so I am eager for that to start soon...that's my favorite part of being pregnant!

Overall, I am feeling pretty decent. I get worn out and hot pretty easily. Can't just stand around or be out and about shopping or doing things like that for long, but I'm used to that from last time! I've been taking Zofran, but not every day and not feeling too bad (usually some nausea right away in the morning, but it's been much better), so I'm pretty thrilled about that!!

It's hard to believe I am due in just over four months! I feel like I have a lot to accomplish before then...

Then and Now - Winter Coat

Last year Mara didn't spend much time out in the snow, since she wasn't old enough to walk (and wasn't really crawling most of the winter either), but we did get her out to at least get this cute picture in late November. We had bought a winter coat for her, but it was HUGE on her, so it looked pretty comical.

Cut to this past weekend...and the same coat. It fits! It's a little snug if she has snowpants or a big sweatshirt on, but otherwise, it works just fine! Kind of funny to see how much she's changed, yet how much she is still the same! I think she will really have fun this winter playing in the snow!

Snow!

It's way too early to have this much snow! Luckily this is from yesterday, and most of it has melted now. But it was a little crazy for awhile there! It started out as rain, then got a little slushy and turned to snow, and wouldn't stop! It was snowing big flakes most of the afternoon. Kind of crazy for October 23rd. It was looking a little too much like Christmas, and it's not even Halloween yet!

Hopefully we'll have a break from the snow for awhile. I guess I could handle it now if I knew it wouldn't last until April!!

Happy Anniversary!

Jay and I got married three years ago today! It doesn't seem like that long, although our lives have obviously changed quite a bit since October 21st, 2006!

We had a great wedding, the weather was a little chilly, but otherwise a great day shared with family and friends! I spent our first anniversary in bed with a migraine and morning sickness. Our second was the day after my Grandpa's funeral, so we weren't feeling much like celebrating. This year I'm feeling decent, so that helps! Not sure if we'll do anything tonight to celebrate (free pie??), but we did go out to dinner and a movie on Saturday night, kid-free. Thanks to my parents to coming over to hang out with Mara so we could get away. It was very nice!

Happy Anniversary Jay! Thanks for putting up with me! ;)

One Year Ago

Me (9 months) and my sister Michelle with Grandma Angie and Grandpa Lloyd - July 4, 1980.


Four Generations - Grandma Angie, Grandpa Lloyd, Barb (my mom) Maralyn, and me - June 8, 2008


Mara and her Great-Grandpa Lloyd - September 2008


It was a year ago today that my grandpa Lloyd passed away. He is so missed! His sense of humor and love for his family are something that I'll never forget.

I'm so glad he was able to meet Mara and spend time with her, even if it was just for a few months. I'm very sad that he didn't get to see her grow up and change - she is such a different little person already now than she was a year ago! I'm also sad he won't be able to meet our little baby coming in March.

But, I'm grateful for the time that we all had with him, and we have memories and photos to remind us of the great times! We miss you, Grandpa!

There's a Baby in There!

On Tuesday, we went for our anatomy ultrasound! It's hard to believe I am already to that point in the pregnancy! I am 20 weeks along, halfway there!

The ultrasound went GREAT! Everything looks perfect!! We were so excited to see the baby and hear that things looked so good. It is such a relief to know that things are growing and developing like they should be!

We opted not to find out the sex again this time. I think Jay could have been swayed to find out, but I love the surprise when the baby is born. There is no other surprise quite like it!

Baby cooperated well for the measuring, and we got some pretty good pictures, so we were happy! It weighs 10 oz right now, and measured just one day off from my due date (March 4th).

It's amazing how you can tell a difference from baby to baby...this baby was definitely NOT Mara. I know that's obvious, but it's weird how you can pick that up just from an ultrasound. I'm excited to meet the new baby and see what kind of personality he or she will have!

Only 20 weeks (ok, maybe more like 21 or 22!) to go!

30!

I turned 30 on October 14th. It was a nice day...nothing too wild and crazy, but it worked. After work, Jay took Mara and I out to dinner. Mara was pretty good, and we got free pie too, which is always a plus! Mara went to bed shortly after we got home, and I relaxed and went to bed a little early myself. Such is the life of a pregnant woman! Overall, 30 feels pretty good so far!

Use Words, Please

I feel like I keep saying this phrase over and over to Mara (and then saying the words we want her to learn, over and over!) There is no denying that she's a smart kid (mostly when it comes to being naughty!), but a little slow with talking. No big deal, but it gets a little frustrating now that we KNOW she understands words and knows what we're talking about. But she will often just point and grunt if she wants something, or even better...YELL.

Over the last couple of weeks though she seems to be picking up on a few words. For awhile now she's been saying kitty. Although it sounds more like "geeeeee!" or "keeeeee!" when she says it (and yes, always with an exclamation point, she's usually excited when she sees one of the cats!). If you tickle her or attempt to tickle her, she'll say tickle tickle over and over (it often sounds like "diggle diggle diggle" but is getting a bit more clear). She says hi and is now starting to say bye. Of course, only when she wants to, and definitely not always on command! But, at least it's something!

She's also starting to say "ma" or "my" - we are trying to figure out if she means MINE or MORE, or maybe both?

It's fun to see her try to say things, and fun when we actually understand what she's trying to say! I always used to poke fun at moms who would 'translate' what their kids were saying (because to anyone else it just sounded like gibberish), but that's the mom that I've become, and it's not so bad!

Pumpkins and Apples

We braved the cold and overcast weather today to go to the apple orchard/pumpkin patch. The orchard is only a few miles from our house, and we met my parents there. There was a big crowd there despite the chilly weather. I guess it was the first weekend that's really felt like fall, so it put people in the mood!

Mara had lots of fun running around. She enjoyed looking at the animals too, mostly the goats and bunnies. We went on a wagon ride around the orchard, and got some fresh donuts and (of course) apples for a snack. It turned out to be a pretty nice day for the outing.

We picked out a nice pumpkin to bring home, and we'll carve that a little closer to Halloween. We went to the same orchard last year, and measured Mara against the sign to see how tall she was, so I'm sure we'll make that a yearly tradition!

A very fun afternoon for the adults, and of course for Mara!