Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Pumpkin Palooza

We took a little field trip to a local garden center last week to scope out some pumpkins.  I wanted some small ones for decorations and figured we could snap a few pictures while we were there.  Olive had a blast exploring the whole place - pumpkins, flowers, yard ornaments and fountains.  We were the only people there and the employees were very friendly.  We ended up with the perfect picture for our baby announcement, but I took several other cute pictures that I just had to share.

Olive picked out 4 mini pumpkins for our family and was SO excited to find striped ones.
She rearranged them, carried them around and we had some fun conversations about pumpkins.  She was confused about the bumpy ones, gave me the side eye when I suggested that the white ones were in fact pumpkins and had a great time.


Pumpkin hugger.

 Flower picker.

Mad Olive.



 Her reaction when I told her it was time to go home.
Oh no :(



 We had a great time at the Garden Center.
Olive carries her pumpkins all over the house.
$3 worth of pumpkins was worth the hours of entertainment :)

The Last 12 Weeks with Baby #2

I'm excited to do a little pregnancy recap of the last 12 weeks today.  We are really thankful to have a second baby on the way.  We struggled to conceive both with Olive and baby #2.  We had to rely on the help of doctors/specialists, lots of appointments and prayers being answered for it to happen.  Neither of us had any family history of infertility, so we were surprised that it was something that ended up being a part of our story.  Some day I'll go into more detail about our infertility journey, 
but today I'm going to focus on the the last 12 weeks.


I've always been the kind of person that wanted to wait to announce any baby news until at least our first doctors appointment just to make sure things were okay.  Plus, It was fun having a secret that Kevin and I were the only ones in on so we did the same with baby #2.  We waited to tell our family and friends until I was 16 weeks along with Olive.  Partly because we lived across the country and partly because I wasn't really showing and could get away with it.  This time was different.  It was harder to keep our baby secret when we were seeing our family frequently, I felt like I was starting to show earlier and so we decided it was the perfect time to tell them last weekend as I was wrapping up the first trimester.
  

Baby #2
Week 4 – poppy seed - August 3, 2015:
I took 3 positive pregnancy tests on August 7th and was so happy!!  I had been feeling sluggish and extra tired so I had my suspicions confirmed.  Olive got very sick right after we found out I was pregnant.  So we spent a quiet weekend at home celebrating and taking care of her. 

Week 5 – orange seed - Aug 10:
-We headed to the Indiana State Fair this week and had a welcome to ISU picnic to go to.   
-We left Olive with her first babysitter and I cried when we left.  I blamed pregnancy hormones, but truthfully probably would have gotten teary eyed regardless.

Week 6 – sweet pea - Aug 17:
-I’m craving meat which is totally the opposite of my aversion to meat when I was pregnant with Olive.  I want ridiculous things like Taco Bell, burgers and Jimmy Johns and crave it at all hours of the day.  I sat up in bed and told Kevin that Taco Bell sounded delicious the other night.  
-I’ve been napping when Olive naps.
-We headed home to host a baby shower for my friend Sarah and I was so tired!  I felt like I was really dragging despite getting more than enough sleep during the week.  It was a busy weekend and I tried my best to keep up and squeeze in a nap.  We had a great, busy visit.  My friend Sarah and I both pregnant although no one knew my news yet :)

Week 7 – blueberry - Aug 24:
-I’m feeling nauseous and tired.  Lemon everything sounds delicious – gum, lemonade, lemon water, lemon in everything.  Never getting sick, but not feeling great.  
- I met with a new OB doctor this week.  We didn’t really click so I don’t plan to go back to her and am on the hunt for a new doctor.  Her talking about how old I was throughout the whole appointment, her love of everything natural and opposition towards medicine, her questioning my allergies and her lecture about breastfeeding were all a turn off.  I don’t have time for bad doctors.
-We are working hard with potty training Olive and staying close to home.

Week 8 - raspberry - Aug 31:
-We headed out of town to visit family and head to a wedding this weekend.  The drive was easy and I had a funny conversation with Kev as we were getting ready for the wedding.  I asked if I should wear my dress with or without the belt.  He said “I’d say with the belt if you want to show off your baby bump and without if you want to keep it a secret a little longer”  No belt it is!
-Carbs, candy and meat always sound delicious to me.

Week 9 – green olive - Sept 7:
-We had our first ultrasound at 9 weeks 4 days, met our new doctor and got a great report on baby.  I scheduled my appointment during nap time so Kevin stays with Olive and I report everything to him when I get home.  Things are a little different the second time around because Kevin and I went to every appointment together with Olive.  I'm hoping we can schedule some appointments where the whole family can go.  Strong heartbeat and everything looked great.  We go back for another appointment at 12 weeks.  I love my new doctor and am so happy I made the switch when I wasn’t happy with the first one.  I hate complaining, but something was just off with the first lady.  My new doctor was really positive, encouraging and we get along perfectly.

Week 10 – prune - Sept 14:
-We had a busy week of playdates, my sister coming in town for a visit and potlucks.  I am still feeling really tired and heading to bed well before midnight which is totally abnormal for me.  I got in bed one night at 9:55pm and seriously can't remember the last time that happened.

Week 11 – lime - Sept 21:
-Craving all kinds of fast food – taco bell, burgers, MEAT.  Seems like I’m hungry all the time.  Sugary cereal sounds delicious just like I craved with Olive.
-Felt first baby flutters.  This is earlier than I felt them with Olive, but maybe that’s because this isn’t my first baby rodeo.
-Olive was having a conversation with the grocery checkout woman.  She asked Olive if she was the biggest or the littlest in the family.  Olive didn’t miss a beat and replied “I big sister”.  It was the sweetest and I may have teared up a bit.  We’ve been talking about being a big sister so it was sweet to see it soaking in and her embracing her new title.
-Each week when we go to the store I point out the size of the baby to Olive.  This week was a lime so we talked all about the baby being the size of a lime.  She wanted to hold the lime, hug it and give it a kiss.  She says "The lime is soooooo cuuuuuuute!" 
-I also feel like I'm starting to show this week.  It was fun to look down and see Olive snuggling me and my bump.

Week 12 - plum - Sept 28:
-Baby’s 1st visit to Notre Dame for game day.  I was 6 weeks pregnant with Olive back in 2012 when I was on campus the last time.  I’m glad that I was able to visit campus both times I've been pregnant.
-Tons of baby flutters to say hello this week especially when I’m sitting down or laying down in bed.  Olive is very into pretending to be a doctor lately.  She brought her stethoscope over to listen to my belly and said “Baby’s good!”  Thanks Doc Olive for the healthy report.
-We went to pick out pumpkins and I let Olive pick out four for our family of four.
-We have our 12 week appointment this week and I’m excited to take a peek at our little baby.  I am guessing it's a boy since my cravings and symptoms have been different this time.  We often refer to the baby as him and I've been more tired this time around.  We are excited about a boy or a girl and have no preference.  We will be finding out the gender and feel like God will give us whatever we need to complete our family.  We will see in a few weeks if there’s any truth to Mother’s intuition.
-All of my regular clothes are still fitting, but I'm noticing things are getting tighter.  I definitely need to start searching for that box of maternity clothes that is somewhere in our garage.
 Olive with a plum since that's the baby's size this week.
It's one of my favorite parts of the week.
She's already the cutest big sis.


I'm in my 13th week now and still feeling tired, but overall pretty good :)
My blog post from 2013 where I shared my first 18 Weeks with Olive.

I am due April 9, 2016 which happens to be my dad's birthday.
We'll see if the family tradition of shared birthdays happens again.

Tune back in tomorrow to read about the fun way we announced our baby news!!

Tuesday, October 6, 2015

Tuesday Talk: Fall Goals

Thank you for all of your sweet comments on our baby #2 announcement yesterday!
I'll get busy replying to your well wishes today :)

I'm excited to share our Fall Goals with you today.  They are all fun options for our family to do together this fall.  I sat down with my husband and we came up with a list of fun things we'd all enjoy doing.  There's no pressure to get to every single thing on the list, but we're excited to have a list of great options to tackle in October and November.

1. Visit a pumpkin patch in our area.  Pick out pumpkins, do some fun activities for kids & eat fall treats while we are there
2. Go on a hayride
3. Take a little road trip to meet our newest baby friend
4. Eat candy corn and Reese's pumpkins
5. Do Halloween/Fall crafts together
6. Decorate our house for Halloween
7. Invite my brother in law over to watch football at our house
8. Go to an ISU game and tailgate
9. Work out the details of Olive's Halloween costume & practice saying trick-or-treat
10. Spend Halloween weekend with our family - Fall party, Halloween dinner & time with cousins
11. Make treats for Kevin's co-workers and have Olive deliver them in her Halloween costume
12. Go for walks in the evening
13. Read pumpkin/Halloween books together
14. Have a little bonfire in our backyard and make s'mores
15. Play in the leaves
16. Paint or carve pumpkins
17. Buy Halloween candy for our friends
18. Make caramel apples for a treat
19. Make chili
20. Bake pumpkin shaped sugar cookies

What fun thing are you hoping to do with your family this Fall?
Did I leave anything out?


It's time to link up with my favorite ladies for Tuesday Talk.
We had 151 bloggers link up with us last week.
Come join us with your favorite post from the week.

We have two new blogger hosts to check out this week:
Stephanie & Laura
Keri - Living In This Season  ~ Christina - Waltzing In Beauty
Lauren - Simply Free ~  Becky - BYBMG
Jess and Katie - Sweet Little Ones ~ Whitney - Polka Dotty Place
Laura - Life Is Beautiful ~ Elizabeth - All Kinds Of Things
Sarah - Abiding In Grace ~ Stephanie - Wife Mommy Me

Polka-Dotty Place

Monday, October 5, 2015

Save The Date: April 2016


We are THRILLED to share our baby #2 news with you today!!

Olive walks around saying "I big sister!" and is already loving her new title.
She changes her prediction from "brudder" to "sissssster" hourly
and occasionally requests a kitty cat.
We feel so thankful for this new little one joining our family next Spring.
Stay tuned for more details :)

Friday, October 2, 2015

The Highlights

Happy October to you!!  It was a lovely fall week in Indiana.  The weather was great and I loved having some rain.  We had just enough to enjoy a relaxing time at home baking some pumpkin treats.  I'm in the mood for soups, crock pot meals and lots of football.

The best part of our week were:

1. I ordered these Halloween plates from Pottery Barn Kids a few weeks ago and they arrived just in time to kick off October.  They were on sale and I can't wait to use them for many years to come.  I kind of think of them as a holiday investment that Olive will love eating off of for a long time.  They are a great size, have washed really well and are adorable.  I'm also excited for the coordinating alphabet place mats to help teach Olive her letters.
 
 2. I picked up some new Fall nail polish this week at Wal-Mart.  The brand Sinful Colors is less than $2 a bottle, made in the USA and I love it!  I have two summery pinks and now this fun fall color called You Goji!  I painted my toes this week and my two year old said - "Where's the pink?"  haha  I didn't realize she paid that much attention to my toes :)

 3. I've heard great things about Hands Free Life and am anxious to get busy reading it!  Have any of you read it yet??  I started One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp and kind of hated it.  I just couldn't get into it and felt confused by the writing style from the very beginning.  I keep trying to pick it up again, but I think I'm just going to wave the white flag on it and put it in my donate pile.

 4. We packed up all the goodies for a tailgating lunch last weekend and I wasn't sure how I'd bring all the condiments we'd need for brats.  I decided to squirt them all into plastic bags, bring scissors to snip off the end and then we just squirted out what we needed.  It worked out perfectly and we didn't have to mess with hauling the bottles back and forth :)  I also tried a new recipe for Easy French Dip Sandwiches.  They were delicious and really EASY.

 5. We headed up to Notre Dame for game day last weekend and had an amazing time!!  It was so much fun, the weather was perfect and it was neat to introduce Olive to ND.  Looking forward to watching the ND/Clemson game this weekend with our family.

Any fun plans for your weekend?  
Hope you have a great one :)
 

Thursday, October 1, 2015

Teaching Together: 15 Bean Soup

I picked up a bag of 15 Bean Soup at the store because I thought Olive would really enjoy pretending to make her own soup.  She loves cooking with me and I wanted to give her a chance to cook for me.  The beans cost about $3 and provided HOURS worth of learning opportunities for her.  This teacher mama loved planning a fun preschool activity for home.

 I set everything up as an invitation for her to find.
She saw it sitting on the coffee table and her eyes lit up.
I told her it was for her so she dug right in.

 She immediately announced, "I baking soup!" and started scooping beans into her owl.  She was hesitant to try out the different spoons so I kept offering her a different one to try.  It was fun to see her figure out which spoons were best for scooping and which ones were troublesome.  She offered me some soup and warned me that "It's berry hot!" so I blew on it.  She wanted me to scoop beans with her and she kept saying, "Come on Mama!"  She ran to the kitchen to get herself a bib when she declared things were getting messy!  It was really entertaining to watch her learn.

Learning that took place:
We counted beans,
talked about size - bigger & smaller
colors
pretend play
trial and error with spoons
bury objects in the beans for her to find
talked about the different noises the beans made falling into glass vs. plastic
worked on fine motor skills 
and lots of imagination.

Olive is two and I think you could easily do this with older kids, too.
You could teach them about measuring, sizes, capacity and recipes.


 I guessed that this learning activity would grab her attention for 30 minutes or so.  Boy was I wrong!  She played with this for HOURS.  I had to make her stop for lunch and then the first thing she requested after her nap was her beans!  We made soup for several days straight and she had a blast.  She never tried to eat the beans and really didn't make much of a mess.  I put out a place mat for her and only found a few stray beans on the floor when we were done.

I plan to pull out the beans again and have her sort them into an ice try by color and by size, 
see how she'd transfer them to an egg carton, 
put them into containers with lids to make our own musical instruments
and talk about colors and try to find all 15 different beans.  

Can you think of any other learning activities we could do with our 15 Bean Soup?


Linking up with a brand new link up this week called Teaching Together