Baby #3: The Last 14 Weeks

I have been looking forward to writing this post for a few weeks.  It's taken me longer than I would have liked to get all the details pulled together.  Thank you for your enthusiasm, excitement and love for Baby #3.  We are thrilled!  I hope you enjoy some details I have yet to share about this pregnancy.

A little backstory to get started...

We have struggled with infertility since 2011.  You can read all about our journeys to Olive and Fletcher here - Infertility: I Never Thought It Would Happen to Me.  We have never been able to get pregnant on our own.  It has always required so many doctor visits, tracking, medicine and more.  Getting pregnant with Fletcher was twice as long and complicated as Olive.

So fast forward to 2019... we really felt like our family was wonderful and we were really happy with two kids.  We also felt like it was nearly impossible for me to ever get pregnant on my own.  We both agreed that we weren't interested in going through fertility treatments again at this point in our lives.  We'd joke and say that if we were supposed to have another baby, it would be up to God.

Both kids have asked for another baby regularly this year.  Olive said she'd pray for one (specifically a little sister) and Fletcher on his own asked me one day - How do we get another baby?  I told him it was something we had to pray about and ask God for.  He proceeded to pray for a baby. 

Towards the end of this Summer I just wasn't feeling great.  Tired, low energy and just worn down.  We had a variety of sickness at the same time for all of us, I'd just taken on a new role of president of my moms group and was really busy.  I just attributed all my symptoms to that.  I was eating better than ever, exercising daily and starting to feel a little better.  If you know me well, you know that low energy, low motivation, low drive to get stuff done is something that I NEVER complain of.  I keep busy all the time and always get stuff done.

Given my infertility history, It really never crossed my mind that I was pregnant.  I have PCOS and have always struggled with regularity and predictability with cycles.  Being all over the place and irregular was somewhat of a norm.

Fletcher randomly drew my portrait the week of September 16.  I turned around from my computer to see this.  I asked him to tell me about the picture.  He said "This is Mom and that's a baby in your belly!"  I was shocked.

He went on to draw a family picture.  I was still shocked and he was super proud.  It got me thinking - What if I was pregnant?!?!

We have been really trying hard to walk, exercise and stay active during this time.

September 18 I ordered two pregnancy tests with my online grocery pick up order just in case.  Such a sneaky and convenient way to do this in 2019.

September 19 Late that night I casually mentioned to Kevin the things above and said I was probably going to take a test soon.  He said to do it right now.  We'd never done it this way.  I'd always waited on dr phone calls, testing, numbers before taking tests when the time came.  So I took the tests, set some timers and we waited.  Kevin said a prayer, we looked and they were both POSITIVE.  We were thrilled, but also in SHOCK.  Was this really happening!?!  Especially after 8+ years of this not happening for us!?!  We went to bed with a game plan to call my doctor in the morning to make an appointment.  

And as tradition would have it, Olive woke up in the middle of the night with terrible ear pain.  We had to scrap our morning plans of school/phone calls to head to urgent care.  Double ear infections and medicine was the diagnosis.  When we announced we were pregnant with Fletcher, Olive woke up the next day was a very high fever and was so sick.  It's like a quick reality check that parenting is UNPREDICTABLE.

September 23
I was able to get in to see my doctor the following Monday.  She'd been my doctor when I was pregnant with Fletcher.  I've never lived in the same city for long enough for this to happen before so this felt so easy and unfamiliar to me.  I dropped Fletcher off to Kevin's office and headed to my appt.  My doctor was in a new location at a new hospital.  I randomly ran into my childhood Sunday school teacher in the parking lot.  It was a sweet surprise and was super comforting.  I was nervous and it was like God was giving me a little sign :)

The appointment went great.  Everything looked great.  Healthy Baby #3 Coming April 14, 2020!  That meant I was almost 11 weeks along!

11 weeks:

The baby was the size of a strawberry this week!  Only Kevin and I knew our secret and it was so much fun!  He's been super sweet.  He reminds me often that I'm doing the most important job in the world, insists I nap on the weekends and is always looking for ways to help me out.

Olive drew this family picture of us around Christmas last year.  Notice anything about my picture?  I asked her about it and she said, "You've got a big belly because there's a baby in there."  We just laughed it off back in December.  This family picture is still hanging in her room right now.

12 weeks:
Oct 4ish
We started Sharing Our Joy of Baby #3 with family and friends.  I was feeling pretty okay - still tired, still nauseous, but excited.

We decorated with lots of 3s this year.

The kids were super excited and loved practicing taking care of their babies.

13 weeks:
I'm starting to feel better and life is zooming right along.

14 weeks:
The baby is the size of an orange.  We've told the kids the size of the baby in relation to fruit every week and it's been so fun.  They announce it to everyone - My Mom is having a baby and it's the size of an orange this week.  It's such a great way to help them connect with the baby.

Friends have dropped off fun baby gifts.  I've noticed a theme with baby #3... Here's a sweet, totally unnecessary gift for the new baby.  I love it!

My cravings or lack of cravings is totally throwing me off.  I've been more nauseous and more tired this time around.  I craved sweets and citrus with Olive and burgers, steak and Taco Bell with Fletcher.  This pregnancy I am basically having to make myself eat.  Food doesn't sound great in general.  We're ordereding cheese pizza for me because meat sounds gross.  Bagels sound good sometimes, coffee sounds awful and I'm having to talk myself into making desserts.  Who am I??  No clue what any of this means for a helping me guess if it's a boy or girl.

We added a baby scarecrow to our family decorations this year.

Now we're all caught up on baby stuff!  I'd imagine that my next baby post will probably be a gender reveal!

We are so thankful for this sweet surprise baby.

I used to say that I didn't like surprises, but I was wrong.  It's crazy to me that something we prayed for for YEARS (to get pregnant on our own) is coming true 8+ years later.  God's timing is always better than ours.  We're settled and happy and can't wait for this sweet addition.  We are all excited and can't wait to see if we're adding a boy or a girl.

Tips for Feeding a Crowd

I've hosted or planned several meals for a crowd lately.  I have learned some things along the way and wanted to share them with you.  It can be intimidating to feed a group of people.  I'm hopeful that my tips will make it seem doable and fun.

Tip: Keep in mind your budget, your guests, your time and meals that are portable.

I host a monthly morning meeting at my house.  I like to bake something to share.  Mini muffins are always a hit with kids and moms.  I also bought a bag of frozen biscuits to pop in the oven the morning of the meeting.  They were tasty and really quick.  I put out a variety of jams, jellies, honey, cinnamon sugar and apple butter. 

Tip: Cook the main ingredient at home and transport it in a crock pot.  That way you aren't fussing with cooking at the event and you can plug it in to keep it warm.

Here are some ideas of dinners for a crowd dinner:

TACOS:
I prepared turkey taco meat at home (taco seasoning, salsa, onions and peppers) and then put it in a crock pot.  I also fixed some lime rice (white rice with lime zest, lime juice and chopped green onions).  Both stayed warm in a crock pot and all the guests brought a variety of taco toppings and sides to share.  Tip: Ground turkey is much cheaper than ground beef.

CHARCUTERIE BOARDS:
I bought a couple cheeses and meats, brought the food name tags and then asked guests to bring more charcuterie supplies.  We ended up with a really fun assortment of foods.  Everything traveled really well and stayed cold in my freezer bags.  Tip: Aldi has really affordable charcuterie board ingredients.

HUMMUS BAR
I purchased several different hummus flavors and chopped veggies.  I asked guest to bring any foods that would be good to dip in hummus.  We did traditional hummus flavors along with dessert hummus.

SOUP BAR
We served three different types of soup (Chili, Butternut Squash and Taco Soup) and asked guests to bring sides to go with the soups.  Each soup stayed warm and ready to eat in a crock pot.

HOT DOG BAR
Grill the hot dogs ahead of time and keep them warm in a crock pot.  You can also boil them.  I just prefer the texture of grilled hot dogs.  Then have guests bring sides and toppings for their hot dogs.

PASTA BAR
Cook the pasta ahead of time and then offer a variety of sauces.  You could also have meatballs and bread sticks to go with your pasta.  Maybe even a salad!?

WAFFLE BAR
We are doing a waffle bar with my friends next week.  They've all signed up to bring yummy toppings and I'll premix the waffle batter.  I'm bringing my waffle irons and everyone can make their waffle on the spot.  It should be tons of fun!

Do you have any more menu options for feeding a crowd??

Life Lately

Hey Friends!  I've got lots of random things to share with you today.  We've been having fun plenty of fun this month.  Let me show you.

The Oscar Mayer wiener mobile showed up in our area.  We spotted it and the kids thought it was hilarious.  We had to go up for a closer look.  They got hot dog whistles, stickers and go to see the inside.  The laughed about it all day long.

Fletcher and I tagged along to Olive's field trip last week.  They went to the museum.  Fletcher loved playing with the big kids.

The kids convinced me that our bushes needed some cobwebs to look festive for Halloween.

Fletcher loves his science class.  We go a couple times a month and it's always fun.

We hadn't had a date night in weeks so I scheduled one for Friday night.  We stopped by Kevin's office to do some organizing (my favorite & his least favorite so he likes my help) and then went out to dinner.  I enjoy helping Kevin with organizing projects and his office is in great shape to finish out his semester.  And you can never go wrong with a quiet dinner for two :)

It's gotten cool enough for holiday pjs!!!

We went on a quick one day road trip.  The skies were beautiful!!  I've learned to keep balls and tennis rackets in the car so we're always ready to play when we get somewhere.  If I have enough time I usually pack scooters & helmets, too.  We got to see some family and run errands to a few of our favorite places.

Kevin's Grandpa Carl turned 90 and we had to go celebrate with him!  It was a really fun time to hang out with Kevin's family.

The kids are loving their Sunday School classes at church.  Fletcher was telling us Bible stories about kings and Olive was learning about Moses, the Red Sea and Egyptians/Israelites.

Olive's school hosts a Color Run each year and she LOVES it.  She runs one mile, runs through color powder stations and then gets a packet of color to throw at the end.  It's her favorite.  Fletcher and I had fun cheering for her along the path.

The cats rarely make the blog anymore, but they're doing great.  Topher is happy and friendly.  Oliver really just loves me.  haha

Olive tells me every day that she wants to grow up to be an artist, art teacher, painter of memories or all of the above.  It's fun to see her so excited about something.  She drew this self portrait one day and I'm obsessed.  It really does look just like her.  She had to make

Then we were asked to bedazzle a scarecrow for homework one week.  She wanted to add all the sparkles and glitter to hers.

We've got some Halloween fun on the horizon and then we're on to November.  It's my birthday month so it's always a favorite!

Italian Sausage Cheese Tortellini Soup

I've been pinning new recipes to try this Fall.  Soup and comfort foods have sounded good to me now that the weather is finally cooling off.

I picked up all the ingredients to make this Italian Sausage Cheese Tortellini Soup last week.  It sounded so good and I was pleasantly surprised that it turned out delicious.  I started this this recipe for Sausage Tortellini Soup from The Recipe Rebel and made some changes to make it work for us.

I don't think I've ever cooked with Italian sausage so it was a fun way to change up our dinner routine.  I also love cheese tortellini.  I figured this soup had to be delicious and I was right!

Ingredients:
1 lb mild Italian sausage
3 large carrots peeled and chopped into fourths
1 yellow onion diced
1 green onion
1 bag of baby spinach
1 t oregano
1 t basil
1/4 t garlic powder
1 t minced garlic
1 t salt
1 t sugar
salt and pepper
3 c chicken broth
1 c water
1 c diced tomatoes
1 1 2/ c Ragu (or your favorite spaghetti sauce)
1 pkg cheese tortellini

Directions:
Brown the Italian sausage and crumble it up as it cooks.  Drain.  Dry off with a paper towel.

Chop all the veggies. While the Italian sausage is cooking, combine all the other ingredients in a large soup pot.  Let them simmer making sure to leave out the tortellini until you are ready to serve.  The tortellini cooks for less than 10 minutes so just pop it into the soup pot those last few minutes before you eat.

You could do this on the stove top or in a crock pot.  I made the soup at lunch time and let it simmer for an hour.  I reheated it at dinner time and added in the tortellini.  It reheated well for several days. 

The best part of this recipe was that 3/4 of my family loved it!  The adults and the kids!  Hooray!

I have several other soups I'm hoping to try this Fall/Winter.  I'll be sure to share any that we love!

Halloween Fun for Kids: Quick Crafts & Games

Do you enjoy crafting with your kids??

My kids love doing almost any art projects or crafts.  They'd do them daily if I had the activities planned.  Most of these activities only took 15-20 minutes.  They were quick, not very messy and tons of fun. 

I've tried harder this month to pull out cute crafts because A. I picked up lots of Halloween crafts on clearance after Halloween last year at Meijer.  They were around $0.75 each instead of the usual $4-5.  B. It's been a fun after school routine for us.  And C it's easier to come up with holiday themed crafts once it gets to this point in the year. 

Our typical routine: The kids have a snack after school, watch a show or two and then they sit at the kitchen island to craft.  For most projects I just explain the process, give them some instructions if needed and let them get busy.  I use this time to catch up on dishes, chat with them about their days and help them if they need it.  Then we move on to homework, play outside and dinner.  I will also prep dinner during craft time if I haven't already done it for the day.

Here are some of the cute projects/Halloween things we've done together this month:

1. Dress in festive clothes!
Target and Meijer are my favorite spots to get Halloween kid clothes.

2. Paint Sun Catchers
These kits came with two sun catchers, paint and a tool to paint with.  Each kid got one kit.  We swapped out the tool for a traditional paint brush.  Let them dry overnight, added string and hung them in the kitchen windows.  Fletcher needed a little help with this one.  These were really hard to photograph, but I promise they're super cute.

3. Color Wooden pictures with Markers
The kit came with three wooden pictures and markers.  We added in our own markers and both kids enjoyed this one.  Teacher Mom TIP: Only give them marker options for the appropriate holiday colors.  Your finished project will turn out so much cuter and festive if you have color guidelines.  I hadn't originally included pink, but Olive insisted her witch picture needed pink :)

Olive picked out the big one and then Fletcher got the little two.   I'll be honest, these turned out MUCH cuter than I was expecting.  I love all the little details.  Both kids put them on display in their rooms.

4. Apple Tree Activity
Fletcher played this game at science class.  He loved it so much that I had to replicate it at home.  All you need is pom poms of various sizes, wide popsicle sticks and one toilet paper roll per kid.  The game is super simple.  Stack 2-4 branches on top of the toilet paper roll and then carefully add pom pom apples on top.  The goal was to try and get 10 pom pom apples to balance on top of the branches.  Fletcher was obsessed with this game and Olive was fine with it.

5. Halloween Houses
Andrea from Momfessionals is one of my favorite moms.  I share her recipes, her mom ideas and her crafts with you regularly.  She's crazy talented and so relatable.  She posted an updated link to her Halloween Houses at the end of this post and my kids have had tons of fun decorating them again this year.  We used markers and stickers.  The sticker option was great for Fletcher who doesn't want to spend tons of time coloring.  Olive colored for a long time and then added flare with stickers.

 6. Halloween Decorations
We added a baby scarecrow to our scarecrow family this year.  The kids also help put out the decorations inside and outside.

I hope these activities seemed doable and fun to try with your own family!  The more you let your kids be creative and craft, the easier it is.  We set clear rules, clear supply options and have a great routine going to make this a fun activity for all of us.  You can do it!! 

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!