Kid Stuff

A few weeks ago, my work did an Easter basket drive. So, Anna and Livia went shopping with us to help us make 2 baskets for some needy kids in our area. Before we went shopping, I asked April, "If the girls still believe in the Easter Bunny, how do we explain that we are shopping for Easter baskets for needy kids?" She just laughed and I hoped they wouldn't ask any questions. (And if they did, I would've said, "That's a good question for your mom!" Haha!) We took them to the store and they carefully picked out items for each basket. Then, we went back to their house to assemble them and have pizza. There were only a few times that Livia wanted some of the candy for herself! She's our candy queen. :-) They did a great job and I'm sure 2 little girls were very happy this morning.

Arranging Easter baskets requires serious conversation ;)

Goofballs!



The finished products!

Not too long after Easter basket shopping, I made cupcakes and decorated them with Jaime, Veronica and the gang.

I guess Connor missed the memo that it was cupcake "decorating," not eating!

Aunt Ruth helping Sophie

Happy Easter!

We had Easter dinner at our hosue this year with mine and Brook's parents and Hannah. Trent and April and the girls joined us for dessert and a mini-scavenger hunt later in the afternoon. I made a ham, au gratin potatoes, green bean casserole, a salad and rolls and Brook's mom brought the desserts. There was no shortage of food, that's for sure! We worked hard all weekend to get the house and dinner ready and it turned out quite lovely, if I do say so myself. :-) What a great way to celebrate the risen Christ!

He is Risen! He is risen indeed!

Birthday Fun

We celebrated Ria’s 5th birthday at Chuck E Cheese with the fam. I thought the kids would be wild gazoobians, but they were really good. Connor, Julia and Maria seemed to enjoy it a little more than Sophie, though. She wasn’t very fond of Chuck E! Ria absolutely loved it and basked in the attention, as most 5 year-olds would. As I’ve said before, she made me an aunt for the first time and changed my heart forever. I didn’t know I could love kids so much until I became an aunt and just can’t imagine how much I am going to love our baby.

Awesome cake, made by Gma Sherri!

"Oh no, there's Chuck E!"

Keeping her eye on Chuck E

27 Weeks!

Only 1 week away from the 3rd trimester – not that I’m counting or anything. Ha! The baby continues to be extremely active - as the ultrasound tech said, “He’s a wild child!” Over the last few weeks, at least twice a week, he enjoys practicing his kickboxing / tumbling skills every hour from 1am to 5am. I suppose he’s trying to prepare me for when he’s born . . . It does make for 1 tired mama in the morning, though. The positive is that all his movement tells me he’s a healthy little guy.

In the month (geez, blog slacker!) since I’ve posted, I:

- had my first experience buying diapers. Brook was on a men’s retreat that weekend, so Hannah and I took a fun outing to Toys R Us to pick up a few boxes. (Once again, how my idea of “fun” has changed!) After all, they were having a deal on Pampers – buy 2 boxes, get a $20 gift card. ‘Awesome!’ I thought. Yeah, until I got there and realized how much they were. $85 later, I am walking dazed to my vehicle. I actually said to Hannah, “We need to take these back!” LOL. I’m sure all you moms are laughing at me, but it was quite traumatic for this FTM (who’s an accountant)!

- was lucky enough to fail my 1 hour glucose test and get to do the 3 hour screening. My first number was 138. Some OBs/CNMs have a limit of 140; so, I would’ve just made it. Not mine. Hers was 129, so I got to do the other test. That whole week was emotional for me . . . I couldn’t really put words around my emotions, but there’s something about knowing that something YOU are doing could be putting your baby in danger . It’s just hard. Period. And so (drumroll please), here are my results, (with normal ranges in parenthesis):

Fasting: 66 (74-95)

One hour: 89 (65-180)

Two hours: 76 (65-155)

Three hours: 37 (65-140)

A dr actually called me to make sure I was OK, b/c of my last number. How in the world I got 138 on my first test is beyond me! The good news is, I don’t have gestational diabetes.

- started our birth classes. We decided to learn the Bradley Method, which is a partner-based approach. I really like the idea of Brook being an active part of his son’s birth and helping me in whatever way he can. The classes are over 2 hours long – each week for 12 weeks. I actually asked the instructor if we would really go so late (leave it to me, right?! Come on, 9:45 is late for this pregnant woman!) Well, the classes absolutely FLY by! We’ve attended 2 so far and I am loving them. Let’s just hope we can retain some of this info when the time comes for us to use it. ;-)

Here you go, Chass! :-)