8 Months pregnant (with little brother)

8 months pregnant and...

I am obsessed with the virgin version of this drink, thanks to my BFF Sarah and her fabulous recipe!  It is like a great mix of a strawberry margarita and daiquiri all in one!  It's got coconut milk it in, so it's healthy,  right?

My belly is pretty sensitive to food and it seems like anytime I go out to eat I throw up my entire meal, it's just when I go out to eat though......sad.

Sometimes I am pretty sure my sons hand is going to come right out of me

We have been working on the nursery, slowly making progress.  This is so late into a pregnancy for me, I mean I am 34 weeks and I don't have the nursery done yet?  who am I?  Oh wait, I have 3 kids, we just moved and I have been decorating an entire house, I guess that's a good excuse, it is just still so late in the pregnancy for me, I have had a few freak out moments!  I am just weird like that though....

Here is a little sneak peak of his room  (it should be done this week!)

I only have 5 weekends until I am due, that is not a lot! Let the nesting begin, well actually I think that started at like the beginning of my pregnancy.

I am aloud to have at least one (if not more) irriational pregnancy freakouts right?

Well mine happened..... Ikea was all out of the crib I wanted, so we went with crib choice #2 (we are running out of time folks), which had a slight curvature on the ends, looking slightly feminine to me, but Brett assured me it was fine.  So we bought it.

Well, we get home

Next day I am in the nursery, Brett is at work.

I have a freak out!

I cannot have the crib with the curved railing, it is tooo girly!!!  And I am going to despise it every time I walk into the room and wish I had the other crib!!! Lots of emotions running high!

I look online and see the if crib I prefered will be in stalk later in the week at Ikea, and it is!

I email Brett bc I am to embarresed to call him about my freak out

And he graciously says he will go back to Ikea (1 hour away) and exchange it.

Love him

And you can see how the cribs are hardly different....

haha, I told your I was allowed to have a least one irrational freakout right
oh and I also made brett return candy at the gas station bc it was the wrong kind of sour worms for the movie.... I didn't even know you could make a return at a gas statio, but Brett did

And my sweet little Maya can often be found doing this often

Colorful Dates!

A while ago, on another blog I saw a mom take her son on a date doing a 5k color run!  I thought it was such a fun and great idea for a date, so I stole it, well kind of.  I told Brett it would be a good idea for him to take Maya on a date doing the same thing.  See, I don't come up with these ideas on my own,  I steal them from other people and you can steal them too!

Even better he found the Color in Motion a 5k run on Groupon and we didn't have to pay for Maya since she was only 5.  So it didn't cost much at all and they had a blast!

Norah, Sarah and I got to be part of the audience and it was fun even just watching.

They got doused before they even started, you should have seen the smile on Maya's face!

Plus, I let Norah get involved in some of the color action.

Ready, Set, Go! 

 

Sarah loved watching!

 

waiting at the finish line

   

They did it!

 I know it looks like more like Maya a zombie run, she just ended up in a lot of red, it is stuck right below her eyes and mouth

Next year, Norah's turn!

Life Lessons # 3 {the disease of parenting comparrison}

I remember before I had kids

All the things I thought I would or wouldn't do. 

 The times I said " I won't EVER do that" 

The ways I looked at others parents with screaming kids in the store and thought, "psshhh my kids won't ever be like that."

The time I told a friend, " I will NEVER let my kids eat in the car"

The way I thought I was going to be a totally awesome parent, better than the rest.

And then something really humbling happened.  I had kids.  And now lots of them.

I have given in

Had a screeming kid(s) in the store

And, I let my kids eat in the car like all day long.

I have learned to have a little more grace toward my own parents, my friends, and the mom who has the screaming toddler, because I don't know why the heck they are screaming and it is not always as simple as it seems.

But one thing that I have been guilty of and am still guilty of is this disease our culture has, the disease of "parenting comparison"

It is so hard for our generation, so hard not to compare, with facebook, blogs, magazines, all the social media. You either find yourself thinking you are a terrible parents or you find yourself thinking you do things better or wondering why a parent would ever do such a thing!  I mean, I must be a better parent, right?  Wrong.  Stop for just a second, stop comparing.  I don't even parent my own children the exact same way, so why would I expect another parent to parent exactly like me.  And you aren't a bad parent at all, nothing is ever as it seems online.

I am so guilty of this, that is why I am writing about it.  It has been one of my biggest life lessons, just to simply stop judging and comparing myself to other parents.  Not all people, including my friends are going to make the same decisions for their children, but its ok, because they aren't my kids.  Really what it comes down to is that other parents love and care for their children and are not harming them, it doesn't matter if they use the same diapers as me, home school, vaccinate or not, that is really their business.   I may not agree on some things, but I don't have to judge them. 

I do think their are decisions and things we can do as parents that can make our lives easier, less stressful and more able to enjoy parenting, so sometimes it is hard to watch parents caught in the the trap of exhaustion and stress from choices they have made, but I need to let them figure that out.  I don't need to give unsolicited advice or judgement.  If someone really wants advice they will ask.

I think the best way to learn is always by example.

I have seen children, who are exceptional, and that is when I ask, ask the parent "what did you do, what are you doing, tell me your secrets"  They don't have to solicit their opinion on me, because I can see the fruit of their labor.  

I first did this with my best friend Sarah, I saw her baby girl, the way she behaved, the way she slept, her general demeanor.  I saw good parenting and Sarah didn't have to say a word to me because I could see it all and so I asked! 

I do remember one mom telling me, "you will find that people who parent similar to you is who you will be closets to" and it is so true! My closets friends have similar parenting styles, but it doesn't mean I can't be friends with those that aren't like me.

So I just encourage you next time you are in the store and you see the mom with the feisty toddler instead of judging them offer a hand

Maybe simmer down on comparing and start encouraging

Give advice when asked

And ask for advice when you see good parenting

And give others a little grace, including yourself

(ps. i do realize that this whole post is unsolicited advice, so you don't have to hear a word if you don't want to)

July thoughts and moments

Our neighborhood does a movie night at the pool once a month in the summer, seriously one of my favorites.  Plus, she got to try this for the first time

I have had a few freak out moments about Maya starting Kindergarden in 16 days!!!!!!

I never knew getting uniforms could be so stressful, complicated and expensive!

I really don't like that summer feels like it is over in July.  Summer is over September 21st, not August 1st, sad......

I know 8 girls in Colorado Springs that are pregnant and having babies within just a few weeks/months of me, and every single one of them is having a girl, except for me!  I missed that memo.

Here are 5 of us in order of when babies are due

The work we have to do in our backyard is overwhelming, but I am loving the grass we had installed (yep it is artificial, and saves millions of buckets of water and hours of mowing).

We had a duck crossing recently in our neighbors yard

We had so much fun when our friends the Hornaceks came to visit in June.  I still haven't posted photos, but it has been the highlight of my summer!

What is so special is not just the connection I have with my BFF Sarah, but the connection my husband has with hers.... I just love it.  Guys need good friends too!

Maya & Norah are little fish in the water.  I don't really know how, but they can both swim and love to do it!  I would sign them up for a swim team if I had any idea how. 

Here is a video of Brett made of some pool time with the Hornaceks

Boats & wraps

I always love finding easier ways of doing things.  Easier ways that really don't take a whole lot of effort or money by me.

So I am going to share one with you, something that has made my summer a whole lot easier!!

Paper Boats

Yes, totally lame and silly and not at all environmental (don't report me to the EPA)

But so much easier for serving meals and snacks, yes, like all lunches and dinners and every time guests come over, this is what we eat out of!

Why use them, do you ask?

It has saved me about a million hours of cleaning, dish rinsing, and dish washing (so there, I am being environmental, using way less water!) So I have had more time for other stuff, like my girls!

Not kidding I ordered about 1000 of these from amazon, and they were so much cheaper, less bulky than paper plates, and so much more fun!  

Look perfect for all meals even spaghetti!

I accidentally ordered the really small boats at first, ones that are for like 1 bite to eat, so I had to reorder. But I have used the small boats for snacks and smaller meals.

Big Boat, small boat, boat boat boat!

 

Snack sized 

I think you can get them at Sam's club, but we don't have a membership there and if Costco had them I would be sure to buy them there ( you hear that Costco?)

I use them every time we have guests over!  If you have been over to dinner at our house this summer you have eaten out of one of our classy boats.   And if you haven't eaten out of one of our classy boats it just means you need to come over!

I take them to the pool when we grill out, they are easier, cheaper, and less bulky.

I take them on hikes, bikes and with trikes.  Well, no, none of those, I just felt like this blog needed a rhyme. 

They have simply, just made my life easier.

So here's to boats!

You want to help make my life easier too?  Well, I need some advice.  I need a good Wrap/sling for when the baby comes (like to carry the baby). I  have a feeling I am going to need one a whole lot more.  I had the moby wrap with Sarah and didn't love it..... I had one with Maya too, the Hot sling, but it wasn't all the great.  So I need a good wrap, that I can understand how to use, and put on myself and put the baby into it myself, that is safe.  

What are your suggestions?