Busy Week

Monday night was the start of our busy week here at our house. Leah had her first ever 3rd grade concert at her new school. She was very excited, and though I had to sit far away, I am sure I could hear her singing loud and proud! It was so fun to see her so excited for this concert. Alex was able to get up close and snapped these for me. She was in the very front (surprising due to her size, huh?!).

Wednesday, Celeste had pre-school Spring pictures. She missed the "real" school picture day back in October, so I took these beforehand in case the ones they took didn't turn out. This is her Easter dress she chose- she looks good in blue too!Then last night was Alex's cross over to Boy Scouts, and the annual Pinewood Derby. Exciting!!
He actually didn't make a new car this year- he decided to use a car that he won 1st place with back in 2008, his first year in Scouts! Well, it must be a lucky car, because last night he was the big winner again! 1st place! To be honest, I think it made it better just knowing he is out of Cub Scouts and now on to Boy Scouts, with the older kids! He also received 14 Webelos pins for all the work he did this past year. He walked across the Arrow of Light and is now officially a Boy Scout! We are so proud of him, and thanks to good leaders, he has stuck with it!
You would think, or hope I suppose that would be the end to our busy week...but no, at 8am this morning, Leah had a pancake breakfast at school for her 3rd quarter achievements! So, bright and early today we headed there- I didn't take any pictures- I am wiped out! Now I am relaxing and looking forward to relaxing more this weekend and upcoming week of Spring Break! It might just be the last break I have before the 13th!!

20 Days and Counting...

I went to my OB this morning.
No dilation...still measuring over a week small.
Only gained a pound (seriously surprising, since I ate the entire box of Tagalongs myself, not to mention birthday cake and ice cream several times!)

Chose an induction date:

Wednesday 13 April 2011

(If not sooner on my own- which we can only hope for!)
So, wish me luck to make it to the end- it's starting to not be so fun, but I can do it!

Birthday Boy

As I mentioned before, birthdays here seem to go on for days! This was no exception. On Friday, his actual birthday, he invited his friend Justin over for pizza and then to Graeter's for yummy ice cream (expensive, I might add)...but thanks to gift cards, we paid nothing!! Loving that! Then we had presents from us: Wheel of Fortune for the Wii, Lego Ninjago, and gum from the girls! On Saturday, we took him out to dinner- his choice- Bob Evans of course! He got grilled cheese and smiley face fries- though he was still hungry- he needs to start ordering on the adult menu. Then, on Sunday, we went to my parents for cupcakes and ice cream to celebrate with Brianna for her birthday too! He got more Lego Ninjago stuff and a remote car- this boy is spoiled, I tell ya! He now has some birthday money to spend, so off we go to Target tonight to get more Lego stuff. He said he had a great birthday- I can only hope so!!

St. Patrick's Day 2011

For the 3rd year in a row, the weather on St. Patty's Day did not disappoint! It was sunny, warm, and perfect for a downtown parade! This year the parade lasted nearly an hour! Dana came for the first time ever- (but he was not the most impressed!) but still had fun. We only had Celeste and she had a great time, of course! We went to Planks' afterward for some pizza and March Madness. Next year the parade will be on Saturday, so the other kids can go too- we hope the weather is nice again!
On a side note: I have 24 days to go!!

11

Today Alex turns 11!!

Crazy, right?!
I am not old enough- and I believe I said the same thing last year, and the year before and the year before- so you get the idea! I can remember every minute of the day he was born, so at least my memory is still intact (somewhat). It was a Saturday and I was being induced. I only had mild contractions for a couple hours before I got the beloved epidural and then we just sat and sat and I slept a little while we waited for the time to come. Many people came to visit me while in labor and we laughed and passed the time easily. The longest part was the pushing- my body hadn't done that before, so it seemed to last a long time. My drill Sargent (Dana) was counting in my ear and driving me a little crazy- (he doesn't do that anymore- I made sure he counts softer now!) My 7 pound 3 oz boy came in just after 5pm and my life as a mom officially began. I cannot think of a better title in life- MOM.
Alex is a wonderful son- he truly doesn't give me much grief- only when he wants his way, or really thinks something is unjust- he is a principle fighter- much like me- which is hard sometimes. I know he will go far in life. He is loved in his classroom by all his friends and teachers- he is respectful and honest and very smart. I know he gets all that from me, too! ha!
We are very grateful Heavenly Father sent him to our house- we know we have a tremendous responsibility with this boy and we intend to do all we can to continue that work.
Tonight for his birthday, he invited his friend, Justin over for pizza and then Graeters. Then on Sunday, we will have cake and ice cream with my family and Sean and Steph's for Brianna's birthday too. Birthdays last a few days here at our house! Lucky kid!
So, Happy 11th Birthday, my Alex- I hope you know how loved, how special, how fabulous, and how happy we are you are ours!

Itsy Bitsy (her, not me!!)

So today I went to my OB for my 34 week appointment.
I don't normally ask a ton of questions...I have been through this before, ya know.
But since I only put on a pound in 2 weeks (rare, honestly!), I thought I would ask one.
I asked if I measured okay- she normally doesn't even tell me what I measure- she just says, "great", or "see you in 2"- whatever. She always tells me the heart rate- it was 150 today- pretty normal for her.
She said that I am measuring small- well, I don't look small...in fact, I am many things, but small is never an adjective for me...ever...let alone at 34 weeks...maybe when I was younger (MUCH YOUNGER- like elementary school)...
Her point: SHE is small...oh, okay- I figured- Leah was 6lbs 13oz at full term and Celeste was 6lbs 2oz full term, so another small little girl- I am okay with that!
So next appointment in 2 weeks, and we can talk about an induction date- whoo hoo!!
She is probably only about 3lbs right now, so she cannot come yet!! (as much as I am done being prego- she is not ready, nor am I...)Oh, and there is a huge shadow around my head- my hair is not that big! Short, but not that big! And I can still wear my jeans- my favorite, most fabulous jeans, but since my tummy is larger, they are much longer and they drag the ground- I don't wear them as much now. I am just happy I have something to wear that still fits after 35 pounds!! Yikes!

Up and Down

Good news!!!
Baby girl is head down!!!!!

Bad news...
My TSH levels went UP...
More meds...means I will be head down too...

Trying to stay positive- less than 7 weeks to go...hurry,hurry!

Great Treasures...Great Times

Last week was super busy for me. I had several places to go, people to see, and projects to complete! I felt really good, which was very helpful in getting it all accomplished.
A couple weeks ago, I bought 2 dressers off of Craigslist. I had been looking for months for the perfect one- we just needed one for our bedroom, but I was picky and didn't want a cheap one or one that I had to assemble! I looked and looked, and finally one day, minutes after it was posted, I found exactly what I had in mind. It included 2 dressers, actually, and so we decided to use one for our room, and one for Elaina's new room. But, they had to be refinished. But, they are solid wood, from the 60's, in fantastic shape, but with a laminate coating. My good friend, Katie had some ideas....
She had redone a piece similar, so she suggested we prime it and then paint it- easy, right?! ha ha- no, really, it wasn't that bad...she came over and we got to work. Priming them first with oil based primer (no worries, I wore a mask the whole time!!), and then when that dried, we spray painted an oil rubbed bronze (it will look black to you in the picture), on our dresser, and then the next day, I roll painted Elaina's dresser a satin eggshell cream from Behr paint.
(side story: I went to buy the paint for hers at Home Depot...I picked the creamy color I wanted, then had them mix it...as I was being handed the can, the worker dropped it! He gave it to me as an "oops" mix for $1!! Yes, one whole dollar!! Cannot beat that! and I love it!)
Okay,
so here is the before, and sorry the drawers are not in them, but you can see that each drawer of her dresser actually has dividers and compartments! LOVE THAT feature!!

WOW!! I am in love! It looks even better in person- come and see!

Then ours:I tipped it over so I could make sure I got every spot, but in the final project, I still missed some. I will have to touch it up very soon!

This is at the end of our bed- don't check out our messy closet, but imagine a new flat screen hanging above this piece- I love it too! Sadly, Dana has used all the drawers for himself! I have to continue using my old dresser hidden in my closet!
I lined all the drawers with this:
SO pretty- this is from Elaina's dresser drawer, but I did ours the same!
This Saturday, Alex, Celeste and I headed to Indy to see Suzanne and her crew. It was the first trip I have taken since before getting sick, and most definitely the last before baby. So needed by me, and I could not have had a better time! We got to be in their new, gorgeous home and just chill out- it was the perfect retreat! The kids were great and we even visited their Ward- and Alex loved his class there too! The food and conversation were delightful and we all wish we could've stayed longer (well, maybe not her family, but ours!!) We so look forward to a summer getaway with them again!
Here are Suzanne and I this morning- me at 32 weeks and her at 34:

Abby, Celeste and Olivia ham it up for me just before we left. They had such fun times together- it was hard for Celeste to leave- knowing we won't see her for another few months. It was a good drive home, and next time, I hope it doesn't rain- it poured the entire time!! Yuck!
Here's to another good week, but much less to do, I hope!

The sun is shining!!

I looked out the window and what did I see?
The sun is finally shining in February!
I have been sick with a cold for nearly a week- the weather was crappy anyway- but today, the first day I am feeling a little better, the sun is out! It's like it knew I needed to see it's face today! It has melted nearly every inch of snow in my front yard and the temperatures are going to keep climbing this week! I am desperate to open the windows and air out all the winter germs- looking so forward to Spring!
I have just 8 weeks to go now...
Spring will come before her- but that is my countdown!
My friend Katie and I are going to be working on re-doing 2 dressers this week- I am so excited to show you! I will take pics for that post. For now, just imagine my happy smiling face as the sun debuts just for me!

Super Saturday

Today is day 6 of feeling pretty good!
I decided to take advantage of some fun Valentine's Day crafts I wanted to make. I love Valentine's Day decorations. I love the pink and red and glitter! I had most of the stuff used on hand- just had to pick up the little hearts and print off these sweet printables. (They were free, of course! The blog they came from is called thecraftingchicks.com. They put free stuff to download all the time on their blog and I love it!
So, first craft was for my mantle:Just download the free printable and size it however you want. I just printed it on cardstock and then put some cute pink dotted paper behind it...had all on hand, including the frame!
I thought the ladies I visit teach might like some Valentine's cheer, so I whipped up these two:
This was a white frame I glittered the crap out of- and that was a mess, I have to admit, and took longer to recover than I wanted to spend too- the heart came from JoAnn's and I just covered it with the glitter and then glued it down on top of the glass with paper behind it- hope my friend likes it!Aren't they lucky girls?!! I used a 5x7 block for this, painted it black and then modpodged the printable on it- it smeared a tad, but it is still cute.
My girls wanted their own as well, so this one went in their room:I was perusing some blogs the other day and saw that the girl writing had a messy make-up drawer to reorganize. I thought- hey, I do too!! She bought some wire baskets at the dollar tree and for about 4 bucks, transformed her drawer. I thought I could do that too- so off I went and here is the before: (embarrassing, I know!)
I had to go through it majorly, first! Half the stuff just needed to be put in my jewelry box on my dresser, and the rest got a new home:


They won't even slide, because behind them is my pedegg, and a small mirror! This cost me about 10 minutes of time and a whole 3 dollars!
I got a lot accomplished today, huh?! Celeste went to a friends' house for a few hours, and Leah and I went to visit Granny! What a wonderful visit we had, including ice cream!! Thanks, Granny! We love you!
I even squeezed in cookies to make ice cream sandwiches with! I needed to capitalize on this energy burst- I never know when I will not feel good- but so far, much better!