Wednesday, November 4, 2015

Baby BOY Weeks 12-16



 It's time for my monthly baby #2 update :)

Week 12.5 – plum – October 1:
I had a routine checkup today with my doctor.  Kevin came home early to stay with Olive while she napped and I headed out.  My doctor was delivering a baby when I got there so the other doctor in the practice came in to see me.  He said hello, asked me a few questions and did my ultrasound.  He asked if we wanted to find out the gender.  I said yes we’d love to know in a few weeks.  He responded with, “Would you like to know today?”  

I went through every emotion in just a few seconds – shock, confusion, excitement and anxiety because Kevin and Olive were supposed to go to the gender appointment with me.  So I said, “Isn’t it too early to tell?”  He said it was early, but he had a pretty good look and could tell me today.  He said everything looked great, the heartbeat was great and he was really pleased with what he saw.  I said great!  He zoomed in and asked what I saw.  Honestly, it was hard to tell but it looked like a clear shot of a boy part between two legs.  I said Is it a boy?  He said you are correct.  I could hardly believe my ears.  So I asked him how sure he was that it was a boy.  He responded with “Ms. Whitney, in my experience penises rarely disappear.  I’m sure it's a boy.”  He printed off three pictures for me.  One of the baby’s profile, one of the boy parts and one that I’m fairly certain is a cat.  He left the room, I gathered my things, kept looking at pictures of my baby boy and scheduled my next appointment.   I headed to my car smiling in disbelief. 

I had no idea it was even a possibility to find out the gender so early so I was still in shock.  My next moment was spent thinking of ways to tell Kevin.  He would not be expecting any gender news so I texted him things were looking great and I’d be home in a bit.  I decided to run into Kroger to get several blue things to give Kevin.  I’d say I got him some snacks to thank him for helping out with Olive during the day and share the news.

I picked up blueberries, Blue Moon beer, blue Gatorade, Reese’s pumpkins, blue & green pacifiers and a tiny It’s a Boy balloon.  I checked out quickly, got carded for the beer because “I don’t look anywhere near 33” bless you saleslady and headed home.  Olive was still asleep so the timing was perfect.  I told Kevin I picked up a few treats for him and gave him them one at a time.  I could tell that he thought it was a weird assortment.  I saved the balloon until the end and asked him if he noticed a theme with the other items.  He did not.  Typical guy :)
 
I gave him the last clue the It’s a Boy balloon.  He was shocked.  He had a million questions and mostly wondered how we could tell so early.  I showed him the ultrasound pictures and we let the news sink in.  Olive was going to have a little BROTHER!  We gave her the balloon when she woke up and told her she was getting a brother.  She smiled and said “brudder”.  She loved looking at the ultrasound pictures.

We decided to hold off announcing the boy news until we had another ultrasound at the end of October just in case.  At home we’ve been talking about little brother and thinking in terms of having a boy.   What fun, unexpected news today!! 

Week 13 – peach – Oct 5:
We announced to all of our family, friends and on-line that we are having a baby!  It was so fun to share our great news and get such sweet reactions from everyone.  We mentioned to our parents that it looked like we were having a boy, but wanted to wait for another ultrasound to confirm.  Kevin told his co-workers so our baby secret is out for the whole world to know.
Meat still sounds delicious – we had ribeyes and burgers this week.
 

Week 14 – lemon – Oct 12:
Hello 2nd trimester!!  It’s exciting to be at this point in my pregnancy.  I’m feeling pretty good.  My hips are feeling sore, I wake up occasionally with carpel tunnel/tingly arms and have been having headaches.  Nothing too terrible and very similar things to my 1st pregnancy.
Kevin surprised me with a fun package from Target filled with BOY clothes.  He picked them all out himself and it was cute to see him select things for our little guy.  He tracked it online and then texted me that there was a package on the doorstep for me.  It's so fun to see tiny baby boy things at our house.
Craving: comfort foods – mac & cheese, chicken and dumplings, biscuits and mashed potatoes

Week 15 – orange – Oct 19:
We tailgated for homecoming and had a great time.  I had my first non-family member touch my belly this week.  It kind of freaked me out and reminded me of how awkward that is.  I’m sure it won’t be the last time that happens.
I pulled out my maternity clothes this week and it was fun to look back through them.  I am excited to be pregnant in the exact same seasons as last time.  I think I’ll add a few pieces to my wardrobe and rewear everything else.
I'm feeling great.  Not nearly as sleepy and basically back to normal minus a growing baby bump.
Cravings: Halloween candy - DOTS, comfort food, pizza, cereal and ice cream

Week 16 – avocado – Oct 26:
Random hip pain, itchy belly, carpel tunnel/numb hands and hungry 24/7
We had a lot of Halloween fun this week.  It was great to make treats, go to fun festivities and enjoy the holiday.  I'm wearing all maternity pants or leggings now.

We had a check up with the doctor and the whole family came.  Olive was on her best behavior and loved the entire appointment.  She was really into seeing the baby on the screen and pointing out the features - head, arms, hand, legs, etc.  The doctor took the time to make sure she could see and point out the features to her.  Baby boy was super cooperative, had a heart rate in the 140s and showed off for his photo shoot.  He waved, sucked his thumb and made sure we could easily confirm that he was a BOY.  The doctor was so sweet to include Olive and talk her through the images, print out tons of pictures for us and I'll always treasure the memories from this visit.

Craving: cheese burgers, salty food and Halloween candy

I'm enjoying my 17th week right now.
This 2nd pregnancy seems to be flying by :)

Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Tuesday Talk: Oatmeal Scotchies Cookie Swap

I'm excited to share a new cookie recipe with you today.  I tested it out a few weeks ago and my family loved them.  I love butterscotch chips and they always remind me of my mom.  I don't cook with them often and I'm not sure why that is.  I made some changes to this recipe from Averie Cooks to come up with the following recipe for Oatmeal Scotchies.

Ingredients:
1 egg
1/2 c room temp butter
1/2 c brown sugar
1/4 c granulated sugar
1 T vanilla
1 1/2 c quick cook oats
3/4 c flour
2 t cinnamon
3/4 t nutmeg
1/2 t baking soda
pinch of salt
1 heaping cup of butterscotch chips (or any other chips)

Combine egg, butter, sugar, vanilla and cream together.
Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add in the dry ingredients.
Save the chips for last.
Tip: Keep a small handful of chips out of the mix and then put them into the cookie dough balls before your refrigerate them.  This will help your cookies to be prettier when they bake and the chips to stand out.

Refrigerate dough for at least 3 hours.
I did mine overnight.  It's easiest if you scoop your dough out into balls prior to refrigerating them.

Preheat oven to 350 and bake 9-10 minutes.
You may want to flatten your dough balls out a bit prior to baking and then let them cool on the warm cookie sheet.  They should look a little glossy when you take them out of the oven.  Be sure not to over bake them or they will be crunchy cookies instead of chewy.





Here are a few of my other favorite cookie recipes:
Dark Chocolate Bites


Amazing Brownie Cookies


Butterfinger Cookies
 

Monster Cookies


It's time to link up with my favorite ladies this week.
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



Michelle - Grammie Time // Beth - Our Pretty Little Girls // Elizabeth - All Kinds Of Things // Stephanie - Wife Mommy Me // Christina - Waltzing In Beauty // Becky - BYBMG //  Lauren - Simply Free // Sarah - Abiding In Grace // Keri - Living In This Season // Laura - Life Is Beautiful // Jess & Katie - Sweet Little Ones // Whitney - Polka Dotty Place

Join us with your favorite COOKIE RECIPE or your favorite post of the week.
Be sure to hop around and check out all of the other cookie recipes.
We had 168 people link up with us last week!!

Polka-Dotty Place

Monday, November 2, 2015

Halloween Weekending

We celebrated Olive's 3rd Halloween this year and it was by far our best one.  She was so excited to pick out her costume, pick her pumpkin (purple = her favorite color) and she worked hard to say happ-a-hallween and trick-o-reat.  We visited Kevin's office in costume to deliver sugar cookies to his co-workers.  We headed home for the weekend so that we could celebrate with our families.  We have never been able to go home for Halloween so this was a real TREAT.

Pirate Olive on campus practicing all of her pirate phrases (arrrrrrrrrr, yo ho mateys, tic toc croc, tappin hook and smee) and keeping an eye out for the tic toc croc.  Everyone thought she was adorable and she loved the attention.



We headed to Southern IN after work and went to the annual Fall party at Kevin's parent's house Friday night.  There was a bonfire, smores, chili, games, treats and lots of family to visit with.  Olive was a big fan of the games my MIL had planned.

 We kicked off Halloween by inviting our favorite girls - Jacque & Scarlett - over for breakfast.  I made some yummy food and the girls had a blast playing together.  We ate too much food and had a great time.

 We had lunch with my MIL and ran a few errands.

Then we were ready for some trick-or-treating with cousins.  My sister and her kids came over to my parent's house and we took our kids to the houses that we used to trick-or-treat at.  It was so much fun.  Olive held our hand, walked around the neighborhood carrying her treats and eagerly ran up to each house.  She shouted her Halloween greetings and thank yous.

Happy Halloween 2015 from the FOUR of us!


 The pirate life is a hard one... haha

My mom fixed dinner for us and the cousin crew had a blast.
Lots of candy was consumed by everyone.

My sister made some cute cookies for the kids :) 
Did you see our baby BOY announcement earlier today??
We are so excited!
Olive was sweet to share her cookies with me.

We snuck in a quick lunch with my parents before we headed out of town.  Olive was enjoying getting her back scratched and was dozing off at the table.  She fell asleep as soon as we left the restaurant.  She sure loves her Mimi & Papaw.

Linking up with Stephanie @ Wife, Mommy Me for her Costume Party today!

 We had a wonderful weekend and I hope you did, too!!
Tell me about the highlight of your weekend.
Mine was spending so much time with our families.

Bow or Bow Tie??

We are thrilled to share our latest baby news with you today!
What's your guess... more bows or bow ties at our house???

IT'S A BOY!!!!!!!!

Olive is getting a baby "brudder" this Spring!!

We had a check up at 12.5 weeks and my doctor told me he thought it was a boy.  I was a little skeptical of being able to find out so early so I was looking forward to our 16 week appointment to confirm the gender.

Kevin, Olive and I got to go to my 16 week doctor's appointment together last Friday and were happy to share that moment.  Olive loved the entire appointment and did not like it that I had to get a shot (bloodwork).  She was really into seeing the baby on the screen and pointing out the features - head, arms, hand, legs, etc.  Baby boy was super cooperative and showed off for his photo shoot.  He waved, sucked his thumb and made sure we could easily confirm that he was a BOY.  The doctor was so sweet to include Olive and talk her through the images, print out tons of pictures for us and I'll always treasure the memories from this visit.

We'd guessed we were having a boy all along so this appointment was no shock.  My cravings had been completely opposite from my first pregnancy (meat, meat and more meat!) and we'd just always called this baby a boy from the start.  We are thrilled to be blessed with this little boy and are eager to learn how to be the best little boy parents possible.  We are kind of clueless about raising a little boy so we're just praying that we are super parents to this little man that is coming to complete our family.

Olive is going to be a great big sister and she's very eager to announce "I big sister" and "baby brudder" to anyone that will listen.  She is obsessed with our ultrasound pictures and calls them "our baby".  It's darling.  Blue looks good on our family :)







Baby BOY we cannot wait to meet you this Spring!!
Olive is eager waiting for a playmate.
Bring on the blue and the bow ties!!