Getting ready for baby...

I can't quite put my finger on it, but getting ready for a baby sure has a different feel this time around. Is the fact that I now have a little boy who requires my full attention and care? Is it that I just have that much less energy? Is that that I know what to expect and thus how better to prepare?

I am hoping it is a combination of all these things. Today was a great day and I felt like I got a lot of loose ends wrapped up. Scott and I headed to church this morning and afterwards did a big grocery store run to get everything else we would need for the next two weeks. I made a master meal plan with my freezer meals and things my mom could eat while she is staying at our house and we just needed to pick up some things to fill in the blanks. Like we are having enchiladas one night, so I needed to get chips and salsa...so on and so forth. We also picked up extra snacks for Michael to have on hand and some things for Scott to eat while he's staying in the hospital with me.

After a nice two hour nap for Michael and I, I finally got the extra dresser situated in the nursery. I pulled out all of Michael's winter clothes and outgrown stuff and put it away in storage bins and then I pulled out all of the itty-bitty baby clothes. Luckily, I had most of my gender neutral stuff in one bin, but I can't find my bin of little boy clothes! Maybe we are having a girl though and I won't have to worry about it?? Tomorrow I will get everything put away the way I want it so it is ready to go.



I've also been running load after load of laundry...it seems like it is never ending. I washed all of our bedding, then the sheets we had on our bed while they other ones were being washed, towels, Michael's clothes and tomorrow I will get the rest of it so we can go to the hospital with no dirty laundry in the house! Am I the only one who is weird like that?



Scott also kept Michael for a few hours on Saturday while I went to a baby shower for a friend. She is having a little girl and got so many cute little girl and cyclone things! I was jealous! Afterwards I got a much needed pedicure and did some browsing at the mall. My feet were in horrible shape, it was embarrassing. I'm surprised they didn't charge me extra! I felt like all eyes were on my belly at the mall so I must be looking like it is time. One lady even said at me "She looks like she is due any day!". Yes...I am. Thanks.

We also got newborn portraits scheduled and I am really looking forward to them. Our photographer does beautiful work and I'm glad we decided to spend the money on them because we were really on the fence about it. I told Scott that we would do these instead of family photos this summer so I hope he holds me to my word!

My sister graduated from high school yesterday and we had to miss all the festivities. I thought a long car ride would be too much for all of us and plus I don't really feel like a whole bunch of people seeing me in all my glory at 9 months pregnant! My sister is awesome and I think she has a really bright future ahead of her. I am really happy she is going to ISU and I think she will have a great time!!

I guess that is enough rambling for tonight...thanks for listening to me. I am excited for tomorrow and of course excited for the big day on Tuesday! :o) I hope we can keep busy today because I have a feeling it is going to be a long day!

And if you've stuck with me this even further, here are some photos from my iphone!

Big boy haircut- all ready to meet the new baby!

Test-driving the new double stroller!

Salvia are blooming! Yay!

Watching dad mow the lawn is an endless source of fascination...for Michael, not so much for me.

It was really beautiful out last night. Can you tell which one of our trees is dead? Yikes! We are hopefully getting it replaced this week or next.

My Little Trooper

We've had our first injury of the season. :o(

On Sunday, Michael was playing in our office and he sliced the heel of his foot on a glass picture frame that was on the ground.

He is doing much better now but has had to stay off of his foot for a few days. He looked so sad and pitiful that I just had to take a few photos! Does that make me a bad mother?

I think he got his fill of tv time for a while!

Luckily, yesterday he was feeling much more up to his normal self, even doing some playing. I was still worried about him staying off his foot so I stayed home in the morning.

He is such a little trooper and I'm so proud of him! He will point to his bandage and say "Ow", even though I don't think it really bothers him so much anymore.

I'm sure this will not be the last time we have an injury in our house, but I still felt bad. I only had one emotional breakdown ending in tears when I was on the phone with the doctor, but I am feeling better now. I never realized how powerful Mom guilt is!

Freezer Meals

**I've gone back and made a couple of edits- you will see them in red!!**

I think I am finally done with my freezer cooking in preparation for the new baby!

I've gotten a few inquiries about what I've been making, so I will share the master list with you. It is very different from the first time I did this, mostly because of the change of season. I just felt like lighter foods would be better for the end of May and beginning of June. I still have a few heavier things on the list, and I will be eating those right after I get home since that is when I will most likely be STARVING!! Anyone else experience that as a new mother? I could not eat enough after Michael was born....I get so angry when new mothers say they were so busy they forgot to eat because I don't think I could ever do that! Maybe that is the key to losing the baby weight faster?

Anyway, last time I did a marathon shopping/cooking day and made about 12 meals all in one shot. This time around I didn't have the luxury of having that much free time (or energy) so I planned a few extra meals to make throughout the week. I would just plan a freezer meal or two for that week and I would make one and we would eat one. It worked out really well and gave us a chance to taste the recipes since they were all new to us. It is a pretty good system and if I was supermom, I would totally do stuff like this all the time!

I kept a running list on my fridge as I made things so I would know how things were adding up. I think this should be at least 2-3 weeks worth of lunches and dinners with some extra things like frozen pizza and take-out thrown in.



Here is the list:

Broccoli Cheese Soup

Ham, Broccoli and Cheese Roll (this was a post-easter recipe to use up some of the huge ham I bought)

Grilled Chicken Pesto Wraps
*cooked the chicken and wrapped individually in foil, then put in freezer bag*

Black Bean and Mango Chicken Salad
*cooked everything, in freezer bag*

Buffalo Chicken Wraps
*cooked the chicken, assembled and wrapped individually in foil, then put in freezer bag*

Cheesy Potatoes (also a post-Easter recipe- we had cheesy potatoes with our ham dinner and I just whipped up an extra batch)
*assembled and frozen in foil pan, will thaw and bake when ready*

Foil-pack Chicken Fajita
*assembled and used a frozen chicken breast, then put in foil and in freezer bag. I cooked them once before with a frozen breast and it worked out well, I will probably let them thaw a bit before I put them on the grill*

Foil-pack Chicken and Mushroom Dinner
*same as above*

Baked Mommy Mac
*assembled and froze in foil pan, will thaw and bake when ready*
Hammy Cheese (2) (also a post-easter ham recipe)
*assembled and froze in foil pan, will thaw and bake when ready*

Enchiladas (2)

Chicken Pesto Spinach Salad
*all cooked and assembled, in freezer bag*

I also thought I would do some breakfast things since I really like breakfast. I don't really have a lot of experience with freezing these types of foods so I hope they turn out okay.

Chocolate Chip Cream Cheese Coffee Cake (this is to die for!)

Scrambled Egg Muffins

Apple Nut Muffins
*in freezer bag*

Breakfast Burritos
*also individually wrapped in foil, then in freezer bag*

The only holes I can see in my meal planning are things for Michael. Sometimes he will eat things we eat, and sometimes he just wants a hot dog and string cheese. Our fridge will be stocked with plenty of backups for him!

I had a lot of fun looking for good recipes to use and here are two of my favorite resources I found:

Once a Month Mom Freezer Cooking (I just picked recipes I thought that looked good, but to actually do the whole month long cooking thing is pretty cool!)

Kraft Foods (so good- every recipe has a photo and reviews)


Apple Muffins!

Here's to not going hungry after the new baby is here! :o)

Sunday Funday

Wow- it has been the best weekend! This weather has been such a blessing and we've been enjoying it to the fullest.

We had a nice Mother's Day with early church and then breakfast out afterward. I played at the early service and when I walked in everyone acted so surprised to see me--I guess it wasn't such a good idea to skip rehearsal earlier this week! I think they all thought I had the baby. I figured I better play one last time before I take a break for a few months.



Michael has a new water table that he loves. I like that he can still mess around with the water but not have the commitment of a pool. So far he's played with it every day since we've had it!

We also finally bought him some summer sandals. I hope these do the trick! I think he just looks so cute in them.



As you can tell...Michael loves being outside and always finds something to check out!

Even Scampy had to get in on the action! He's been wanting to go outside lots more, so I think it will be a good summer for everyone. He even spent a whole night outside....I will blame that one on my pregnancy brain!

And finally, a few hosta photos! :o)



I love watching them pop up and then unfurl their leaves. These guys are big ones and are big and fat like cigars.

I love the wrinkly ones...they remind me of a quilt.

Have I mentioned before that I love this time of year?

Planting updates

It's been a busy end of the week here for us. My mother in law has been with us for two days to help us get some things in the ground and we have fully taken advantage of her help! Scott even took a day off of work and got lots of jobs done around the yard. I think it is safe to say we are getting closer to having things wrapped up so all we have to do is watch it grow!



I bought these beautiful coleus at the nursery and put them in pots on my front porch. I love them!



My mother in law was busy putting all of my petunias in for me while I was at school on Thursday. She did a much better job than I ever would! I think they are going to grow and spread out nicely. We still need to add some mulch and get the rest of the plants (which I can't find anywhere yet) in.



Here are both of my front porch pots. I am hoping the plants will fill in nicely and get big and bushy.

Michael and I were home on Friday and did more work in the yard in the morning while my mother in law was still here. I am getting to a point where too much work is just plain too much for me so I think this will probably be the end of yard work for me for a while. Bending over is hard!

We celebrated the end of our day with bath time, pizza, and checking out our new fuzzy baby goslings that are living in our pond.

Can you spot them?

Happiness...

Michael and I had so much fun yesterday visiting the nursery. It smelled so good inside and everything was so bright and happy. It was bliss.

I was nervous about how I was going to buy plants and wrangle Michael without a stroller or a cart but he did so well. There was a big dog for him to say hi to and he had lots of fun pulling the wagon. Luckily he did not touch any of the plants or rip flowers off- this is a big step for him!

This place had the most beautiful sweet potato vine. I bought 10 pots....and I might go back for more. Yes, I am an addict. You'll understand why once summer hits- it is so beautiful!

In other news....my husband's baby was delivered today. His ipad finally arrived! I think he was more excited about the delivery of this rather than our own child that will be here soon. :o)

It is pretty cool, I am excited to start using it! I told him I called it between the hours of 11pm-6am...can't wait (har, har).

Spring Things

A couple of things are blooming in my yard and it makes me so happy. It is such a nice reminder that yes, winter is actually over and warmer days are here to stay. I love how much my yard changes every day and Michael and I are having lots of fun outside taking care of things.



Crab apple tree getting ready to bloom.

Some hostas fanning out. I planted a ton of new ones last year so I am excited to see how they look in their second year.

Plumeria blooming.

Michael is such a big helper outside. He is pretty good at staying close by and finding something to do. Unfortunately, finding something to do for him usually involves the hose and MUD! Every time we've gone out this week we've had to strip him down and throw everything in the washer as soon as we got inside. I need to find a good pair of hose-able shoes for him to wear outside so we can save his real tennis shoes a little wear and tear.

We have lots to do on our list between now and the 17th! We'll keep you updated!