Baby Shower for Mark and Family Pictures!

My sister in laws Gretchen and Rachael and my best friend Megan threw us a small baby shower for Mark this past weekend. We didn't need much since we have a lot of gender neutral items from Kennedy but it was great to get some baby boy clothes, diapers and a few other odds and ends that we had registered for. I love Mexican food, so the food was Mexican themed. We had a mini taco bar, homemade chips and queso, corn dip,  guacamole deviled eggs, and virgin margarita punch, yum. My mother in law made a fabulous strawberry cake, which is my all time favorite! Kennedy had a blast helping me open presents and hanging out with everyone at the shower!

 

 

 

 

We played this hilarious game that Megan found online. It was a relay race game and everyone on your team had to blow up a balloon one by one and put it under their shirts like a baby bump. Then after everyone on your team had their balloon blown up, you had to pop them one by one. We found out my SIL Gretchen and I suck at blowing up balloons, lol, it took us both forever to get our balloons blown up! Gretchen's team still managed to win though!

 

 I think Megan looks adorable with a "baby bump!" Totally ready for her and Brent to have a baby!

 

We are so blessed to have such an amazing group of friends and family!

 

 

My friend Valerie took some maternity/family pictures for us this weekend. She posted a sneak peak on Facebook and I am in love with them!  Kennedy was being such a ham and loved saying "cheese!" I can't wait to see the rest. A lot of people have given me grief about the fact that I let Nick keep his hat on, but that's my hubby for you. You rarely see him without a hat on so it just seemed natural to let him wear it.

 

 

I am 35 weeks today! Wow! My feet are officially fat and swollen so I have special permission from my principal to wear flip flops (against dress code) to school. I am also soooooo tired all the time, very similar to 1st trimester. I can't get enough sleep! Still getting bad heartburn and indigestion at night no matter what I eat. But guess what? It's all worth it! Unless God has a different plan for us this will be my last pregnancy so I am trying to savor the feeling of all the kicks and flips in my tummy as much as possible!

 

Have a great week everyone!

 

 

 

 



34 week appointment, zoo trip and an epic toddler meltdown

Happy Friday!

 

 

Monday we had our 34 week doctor's appointment with ultrasound. We were surprised to find out that Mark is only a little bigger than Kennedy was at this stage. At our 34 week appointment with Kennedy, they estimated that she was 4 pounds 2 oz. They estimated 4 pounds 7 oz for Mark. So, it looks like I may be induced on my due date instead of a week early which is fine with me. The tech did mention that he was super long and that his butt was up in my ribs, so that explains a lot of the pressure I have been having and why I feel so much bigger this time. Kennedy was tall and skinny too. She weighed 6 pounds 6 oz and was 20 and a half inches at birth. I am really relieved that it sounds like he will be similar in size to Kennedy so I should be able to avoid having a C-section. I am also really relieved that my parents are flying in from Oregon on May 9th, so if for some reason I go into labor on my own earlier, they will be here to take care of Kennedy. My in laws both work full time so it's a little harder for them to watch her.

 

On Tuesday, we had a fabulous trip to the zoo. We got there right when it opened and it wasn't too hot. Kennedy is at a really fun age for the zoo. She was sooooo excited to see all the animals and even though we brought the stroller, most of the time she wanted to walk around and see everything. She is STILL telling everyone she sees about all the animals she saw. Here are some pictures from our trip:

 

 

Wednesday was not such a good day. I feel like sometimes when I read other people's blogs, it's all sunshine and rainbows so I try to be real as often as I can. Let me tell you, Wednesday, I felt like a total failure of a mom. Kennedy woke up in a rotten mood and was very sassy to me all morning but for some reason I still thought it would be a great idea to take her to the public library for a story time. Wrong. Well, she did okay during the story time despite being grouchy. She listened to the books but every time the lady doing the story time would say something like  "now let's sing a song" or "do you think the doggy's going to eat the cake?" Kennedy would scream out "NOOO"! *Face palm*

 

After the story time I told her she could pick out 3 books to take home, which she did. Then, we went up to the checkout desk so I could sign her up for her own library card. Well, the lady at the checkout desk was obviously either someone who hates her job or just doesn't like kids because she was slow as Christmas getting all my information and had zero sympathy for the fact that I was trying to keep a 2 year old entertained while doing all this. She asked me to repeat my phone number THREE times and then the third time she asked me to repeat my email address I finally grabbed a pen and paper and just wrote it down for her. At one point, Kennedy ran away and began to bang on the computer keyboard so I ran after her. While I was doing this, a couple came up to check out books and the lady started checking out their books for them so I had to wait once again for her to finish checking out their books. Kennedy started to run off again and at that point, I grabbed her arm and told her firmly "no, if you run away again, we are going home." She proceeds to hit me and scream "no!"  Yay. So I pick her up kicking and screaming and walk out of the library intentionally leaving the books and unintentionally leaving my drivers license which the lady decided not to come after me with. Nice. Carry her to the car continuing to kick and scream where she proceeds to become limp when I try to put her in her carseat so I just let her sit on the floorboard of my backseat and have a meltdown. I sit in the front seat and ignore her. She finally calms down and I buckle her in and we go home. The whole way she keeps asking about her books and I tell her that since she couldn't behave in the library and because she hit me, she doesn't get to have her books.

 

We go home and eat lunch and then I lay her down for her nap. During naptime, I called my mom in tears because I felt like such a bad mom. It's the worst feeling in the world when your child is "that kid" that just can't behave in public and even worse, that kid who hits her own mother! We have only had a problem with her hitting at school one time, same for biting and both times were done in defense so I was so embarrassed that she hit me and thinking "how in the world does she think this is okay?" She has her moments but she is usually very well behaved. My mom listens and then says "yeah there was a woman in Starbucks this morning who's child was having a meltdown. I felt so bad for her because she had a new baby with her too." Gee thanks Mom, way to make me feel better, lol. She went on to say that I would get through the phase though and that I handled it the right way by just leaving and not letting her have the books. However, I am starting to get really stressed out about Kennedy acting out and the changes that will happen when her new brother gets here. All I can do is love on her and spend as much time as I can making her feel special.

 

And of course, pray!

As my mom also likes to say "this too shall pass..."

 

Thanks for reading! Have a great weekend!

 

 

 

 

 

 



We are still here.....

The past few weeks have been just plain crazy. Kennedy has had a stomach virus THREE times and I had it twice. Nick never got it. I am praying that we are done with it. It was awful. I hated seeing Kennedy so sick.

 

On a good note, we are on spring break right now! The weather has been beautiful aaaand I am 34 weeks pregnant so not much longer until baby Mark gets here!

 

We have a doctors appointment in a few hours with a 34 week ultrasound that will give us an estimate of how big he is. However, my doctor and I already discussed that we may induce a few days before my due date just to try to avoid what happened last time. Not only did I have to get cut but I tore very badly. My doctor says my pelvis is very narrow and my body is just not made to birth a baby bigger than about Kennedy's size. Kennedy was pretty small, 6 pounds 6 oz, so we shall see what happens. Nick is convinced that  we have a big boy in there and I am probably going to have to have a C-section. Honestly, I just want to do whatever is safest for my son so whatever happens, happens, but I would prefer not to have a C-section.  I know a lot of people have bad feelings about induction but we had a great experience when I was induced with Kennedy at 40 weeks 3 days. I know so many people that waited too long because they were set on not having to be induced and then the baby grew so big they had to have a C-section. 

 

I have been feeling good, but very tired and the swelling of the feet and ankles started last week, yuck. I haven't really been craving anything in particular, just hungry all the time! We have gotten really slack on the bump pictures so this picture of us on Easter yesterday is about the best I can do for a bump picture.

 

 

Backing up to other recent events....the consignment sale at Kennedy's daycare was a huge success. We raised 1600 dollars for the daycare and I made 360 dollars selling Kennedy's old clothes. It was hard to part with these beautiful smocked dresses but I am glad other little girls are getting good use out of them. Jessica and I are already starting to plan on how we can make the fall sale even better!

 

 

I surprised Nick for his birthday (early) by buying him tickets to the bacon festival in Columbia. He had no idea where we were going until we pulled up at the festival. He said he thought we were going to see Kenny Chesney play a concert because he was coming to town that night. He was very excited that it wasn't that, lol. We had lots of great food but I was a total slacker and didn't get hardly any pictures. Our favorites though were the bacon donut, barbeque bacon on a stick and the bacon sliders, yum! My best friend Ashley and her husband Kevin came with us and Ashley had a huge pickle that was wrapped entirely in bacon. She said it was the most delicious thing she had ever tasted!

 

 

Kennedy and I went up to my alma mater, USC-Aiken, for an alumna/collegiate brunch with the Phi Mu girls. The food was so yummy and it was good to visit with other sisters I hadn't seen in a while. Kennedy had a blast playing with fellow Phi Mu legacy, Laurel. She also made Mommy very proud because she is already perfecting the infamous "sorority squat" for pictures, love it!

 

 

I was especially excited to get to spend some time with this girl! Rachael is the former vice president of the collegiate chapter. She is graduating in May. I have been the advisor for the vice president for the past couple of years. I hate to pick favorites but she and I got very close when I was her advisor and she was by far the most hard working out of all the VP's I have worked with thus far. I am excited for her to join us "old girls" in the alumna chapter. She is also getting married in September, so excited for her!

 

 

I am loving this warm weather and sunshine we have been having. We had Good Friday off so we spent the afternoon hanging out at our neighborhood park. Kennedy loves to be outside! We met some doggy friends there including a small black dog named Abby, who swung in a swing beside Kennedy, which Kennedy got such a kick out of!

 

 

We had a fabulous Easter which started off Thursday with Kennedy's Easter egg hunt and party at school, which she was so excited for. Her teacher Ms. Stephanie was nice enough to text me some pictures from it. It's hard being a working momma and not being able to go to those special events so I am thankful for great teachers like Ms. Stephanie!

 

 

That night we took Kennedy to see the Easter Bunny, which she loved and kept talking about the Easter Bunny's "house" which was the backdrop for the picture.

 

 

On Saturday night, we read the Easter story in Kennedy's children's bible and when we got to the park about the stone being rolled away and the tomb being empty, Kennedy kept saying "WOW!" over and over again. I was laughing but inside I was thinking "that's pretty accurate thinking, wow, how lucky are we that Christ is alive?!?!"

 

The next morning Kennedy opened her Easter basket which I forgot to take a picture of but we never really go overboard with the Easter basket. Her Grandma Kaune always gets her a basket with a lot of candy so we didn't put any candy in it, just a few Dollar Tree dress up necklaces/bracelets and a few figurines to go with her Sofia the First talking castle that she loves playing with. I am honestly kind of confused as to why all of a sudden Easter has become "Christmas." Some of the Easter baskets I saw on my Facebook feed were insane. One person I saw had so much for her kids it was spread out all over their kitchen table, Lego sets, brand new baseball helmet, UnderArmour clothes etc...good grief! I am okay with doing the Easter Bunny in addition to teaching Kennedy about the real meaning of Easter but I think when you go that overboard on the gifts it really takes away from the real reason we celebrate Easter. Just my opinion....

 

Left the house and went to the early service at church. Kennedy had a blast as always in Sunday school and came out with her hands covered in dried Elmers Glue from making a tissue paper cross, which turned out so cute and will be going in her memory box.

 



 

We went to the early service with the hope that we could get Kennedy down for her nap a bit earlier so we could get over to Grandma and Paw-Paw's to hunt eggs with her cousin Lexie before she had to go to her dad's house. However, Miss Priss must have been waayyy too excited about the Easter egg hunt because she wouldn't nap for us which hardly ever happens. So, we headed over to Grandma and Paw-Paw's to hunt eggs and eat Easter dinner. Kennedy had fun playing with her cousins Lexie and Tristan and was surprisingly in a great mood for not having a nap.

 

Lots to look forward to this week! Our doctor's appointment, a prenatal massage, taking Kennedy to the zoo, maternity/family pictures and my baby shower on Saturday! Also looking forward to just resting and relaxing! Yay for spring break!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Recent Happenings

I am such a random blogger. It is so hard for me to just write an entire post on one topic.

 

 

First off: Happy St. Patrick's Day!

 

 

I love how the timehop app has a then/now option now. I miss Kennedy being this small! I am sure I will say the same exact thing about the picture we took today another 2 years from now.

 

Last weekend was a fun one! Friday night was a yucky rainy night but we met Jessica, Joe and Janna up at a new local barbeque place called The Pot Smoker BBQ. It was soooo yummy! I had the pulled pork plate with their loaded baked potato salad and a piece of homemade pound cake for dessert. It was heavenly. Kids eat for free on Thursday nights so we will surely be taking advantage of that in the near future. Afterwards Janna came over for a playdate.

 

How cute are these two???

On Saturday, Kennedy went to Chuck E Cheese for the first time for our friend Grayson's 5th birthday party. His parents, our friends Jessica and Adam, told us they would understand if we didn't come because it was right in the middle of Kennedy's nap time. We adjusted her schedule for the day and I am glad we did because she had sooooo much fun! She loved the rides and games, loved Chuck E and loved the show they did on the stage. She was dancing the whole time and wanted to go up close to the stage.

 

 

This picture cracks me up. Grayson's older brother Payton and his friend C.J. were so not thrilled about having their picture taken with Chuck E. I guess for 5th graders, that is just so not cool. Right before Jessica took the picture she pretty much threatened Payton's life that he needed to smile for the picture so he did but the rest of the kids stopped smiling, lol.

 

 

 

I think I am going to have to skip my 5 on Friday post this week because I will be in the midst of the consignment sale at Kennedy's daycare. However, I hope to be back next week with my 32 weeks post! My 32 weeks doctor's appointment is on Monday. Eeeek, can't believe it! So crazy that we will be meeting our son in such a short period of time.

 

Oh and I will definitely be posting about this at some point:

 

 

I am taking Nick on a surprise date (don't worry he doesn't read the blog) to the bacon festival next Saturday as an early birthday present! We are meeting my college roomie/bestie Ashley and her husband Kevin there. Both Ashley and Nick are probably two of the most bacon obsessed people I know. It should be a great time!

 

Hope everyone enjoys the rest of their week and thanks for reading!

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 



Friday/Life Lately

Happy Friday! I have been a bad blogger lately so let's catch up!

1. Last weekend my friend Jessica and I went to the Southern Tots warehouse sale. Holy moly, it was crazier than Black Friday. I am talking people pushing and shoving and crowds so thick you couldn't even get through. Jessica was a lot more aggressive than I was and got a lot of cute stuff for Janna but I only came away with 2 outfits for Mark and a dress for Kennedy. The crowds were making me claustrophobic and I just couldn't deal. We have agreed that next year we will just go late and pick through what's left over because the craziness and long lines were not worth it. I ran into a girl I knew from college who pointed out that if you are a smart shopper and watch Facebook sales you can get cute smocked and boutique clothing for just as cheap and in the comfort of your own home without having to fight people for it. I had to agree with her. The most I have paid for a smocked dress for Kennedy was 35 dollars.

Seriously though, how cute are these outfits I got for Mark?!?! The tractor longall was only 20 dollars and the baseball outfit is Mud Pie and was 16 dollars.

I am so excited for the consignment sale at Kennedy's daycare next week. Jessica and I have been advertising like crazy online and posting flyers all over. Hopefully it is a successful sale! I am also hoping to score a lot of good deals for my own kiddos. I am finally done tagging all of Kennedy's old clothes, hard to part with some of them!

2. If you are a peanut butter lover like me, do yourself a favor and buy this ice cream:

It is chocolate and peanut butter ice cream mixed with peanut butter cookie dough and brownie. It is heavenly....

3. What did ya'll think of the Bachelor finale? I was excited because I love Whitney. I really hope they make it work. I wasn't a big Becca fan but I do think it was great how honest she was with Chris.

The Bachelorette announcement was super disappointing to me. I really wish they would have just picked Kaitlyn. I agree with former Bachelor Sean that it's super degrading to have 2 girls and have the guys vote because on the first night, chances are all they are thinking about is looks. I really hope the guys see past Britt's manipulation and choose Kaitlyn. I have seen enough of Britt and her ugly cry!

4. I am 30 weeks this week. I passed my glucose test, yay! 

 I am starting to get really emotional about some things. Kennedy has been super clingy to me lately and I think she is really starting to sense that things are going to change soon. I know she is excited about having a baby brother but I still think it's going to be somewhat of a tough adjustment for her, as it is with most kids. We have plans to take her to the zoo and to Build a Bear before Mark gets here and are trying to make her feel as special as possible. I am very nervous about leaving her while I am in the hospital. I have never been away from her longer than a night so I think it's going to be hard for both of us.

Knowing this is my last pregnancy (unless God has a different plan for us) has been bittersweet. I won't miss the sickness, the aches and the raging hormones but there are so many things I will miss! I will miss the excitement of seeing that positive sign, hearing the heartbeat, the kicks, the belly and the sonograms and doctors appointments. We made the decision before we started trying for baby number 2 that this was going to be our last child, no matter what the gender. I had always said I wanted 3 kids but Nick is one of 5 kids and he didn't like being from a big family because he said he and his siblings didn't get a lot of individual attention and they didn't have the money to take trips or do a lot of fun things. I can understand where he is coming from, especially since they don't pay teachers nearly enough! 3 kids would be a struggle for us to afford even if/when Nick gets an administrator's position.

5. Besides being clingy to Mommy and catching a yucky 24 hour stomach bug earlier this week,  big sister Kennedy has been great! She is in underwear when we are at home and pullups when we go anywhere because she still refuses to go number 2 in the potty. We aren't pushing it. I feel like she's still pretty young and I am proud of her for mastering pee-pee in the potty. I figure when she's ready, she will let us know. She has been doing great with pull ups and will tell us or her teachers if she has to go pee-pee instead of just treating it like a diaper at times like she used to do.

Other favorites and stats for our little princess at 2 years, 3 months? Loves to TALK and people comment constantly on well they can understand her and what a great vocabulary she has. She also loves to play in her princess kitchen and dance to Taylor Swift. "Shake it off" is her fav!   Loves to be around other kids and is more happy playing with others than solo, which bodes well for her being a big sister. Still wearing all 3t clothing and weighs 33 pounds, big girl!  



Third Trimester!

I am 29 weeks this week. I seriously cannot believe how fast this pregnancy has gone. Here are some tidbits so far about the third trimester!

* I feel huge. Like waaay bigger than I was with Kennedy. However I haven't gained as much weight as I did at this point with Kennedy. Weird.

This is my 28 week picture:

And this is my 29 week picture:

I look at this picture and all I can think is "whoaaa."

*We had our 4D sonogram last week. Mark was much more cooperative than Kennedy was when we had her 4D. Kennedy wanted to put her hands in front of her face the whole time. Here are some pictures of our sweet baby boy:

Is he adorable or what? I love the one of him yawning and blowing bubbles!

*Still craving cereal. Also craving pimento cheese. I also have been craving sushi which really sucks since I can't eat it. Boo. I know I can eat the veggie rolls but those just aren't as good.  

*Feeling movements constantly. Can see movements from the outside which is quite fun for Nick and Kennedy!

*Fatigue is coming back. At the end of the day, I am absolutely exhausted.

*I am sooooo tired of my winter maternity clothes. My mom bought me a bunch of clothes from Target and Motherhood Maternity when she came to visit at the end of November for Thanksgiving and Kennedy's birthday. I was so excited because I barely had any winter clothes from my pregnancy with Kennedy. Now, I am dying to break out with all my summer maternity clothes!!!! I have a 50 dollar Kohls gift card I have been hanging on to and I think I may just have to buy a cute maternity dress with it when it starts getting warm.

*I have been very emotional and moody this past week. Poor Nick....

*Gestational diabetes test on Friday. Hopefully I pass on first try like I did with Kennedy. It is a teacher workday on Friday and after my appointment I am meeting my co-worker Tiffany at a yummy lunch place called "Betsy's on the Corner." I already know what I am ordering, grilled pimento cheese sandwich with sweet potato fries. Yum.

*Looking forward to: Our 34 week ultrasound. I know it's 5 weeks away, but I really, really, really want to know how big this baby boy is. My doctor has said if he looks like he is going to be bigger than Kennedy we may have to induce at 39 weeks due to my narrow cervix. Also can't wait for my shower my sister in law Rachael and best friend Megan are throwing me on April 11th!