24 Weeks {Baby #3}

I'm a little behind on these updates as I'm now 26 weeks, but I think I'll do better now that the holidays are over. Speaking of Christmas there will be lots to come in the next few posts, but I wanted to be sure and keep up with Baby #3 first.

How far along: 24 weeks
Total weight gain: 20 lbs.
Maternity clothes: Pants yes, shirts most of the time
Sleep:pretty good despite frequent bathroom breaks

Best moment this week: Traveling to see family for Christmas

Movement: Yes, all the time, especially at night right when I lay down
Food cravings: nothing specific except maybe a Sonic fruit slush
What I'm missing: being able to bend over comfortably

What I'm looking forward to: getting the kids rooms switched and pulling out the baby items

The 24 week appointment went smoothly. Baby boy (a.k.a. Fred) had a heart beat in the 150's and was moving around like crazy. That was pretty much the entire appointment. I don't even think they took my blood pressure. Later that week I went to the lab for the standard glucose testing. I know some people HATE the drink, but I don't find it that bad. Plus I got a whole hour to myself! I haven't heard any news from the testing so I'm thinking that's a good thing.

And since I'm updating you on my health…a few days before my 24 week appointment I was working out. I've been working out pretty regularly this pregnancy. My typical routine is either running on the treadmill or doing the elliptical. Well I was getting pretty tired of the same routine so I decided to try a workout I did often when I was pregnant with Sawyer, walking on the treadmill at a quick pace with a large incline. My foot started to hurt during the workout but I didn't give it much thought as aches and pains are going to happen every now and then. My foot continued to hurt over the next few days, so I decided to take it easy the next week in hopes that it was simply a strained muscle or something.

Over the next week my foot pain continued to increase even with minimal activity (if you can count chasing a 2 and 3 year old around as low impact :) Since I knew we would be traveling soon I thought it wise to visit the doctor to determine the cause of the pain. Based on the doctor's knowledge he determined it was one of two things 1) stress fracture or 2) tendonitis. However, since I am pregnant he thought it best not to perform an x-ray as there is some risk to the baby and many stress fractures can't be detected on an x-ray anyway. Furthermore, he said the treatment for both conditions was the same: walking boot for 2 weeks.

I'm at the end of my 2 weeks and my foot is feeling significantly better. It took about 1 week for the pain to subside. Now it only hurts if a certain 3 year old tweaks it when running around like a crazy person. After reflecting on the injury I think it was probably a combination of both a stress fracture that also resulted in tendonitis. At first the pain was mostly centralized to the top/outside of my right foot. Making me believe it was a stress fracture. However, as I kept walking on it for a week the pain grew to include everything on the outside of my foot from right below the ankle to the toes. And given my history of tendonitis in other locations there is a good chance as my body was trying to cope with the fracture it resulted in the tightening of my tendons. That was a really long explanation, but I want to remember it in case the situation arises again. In the end I learned when the experts say to avoid changing up workouts during pregnancy I should probably heed their advice. Also, my body seems to handle running better than walking :)

Oh, and I haven't really mentioned my thyroid in a while. It was highly overactive at the beginning of this pregnancy, but over time and with the help of some medication at the beginning my levels have evened out and I have been weaned off the medication. This is the same scenario as my pregnancy with Nora, so I'm hopeful my body will continue to maintain regular hormone levels through the remainder of the pregnancy.

Christmas Card 2013

Since we can't send Christmas cards to everyone I thought I would post our Christmas card online to wish you all a Merry Christmas!

Please ignore the typos above I did this during a very busy season and obviously didn't take the time to proofread even after I printed everything :)
Once again I'll be taking a blog break to celebrate the holiday season with family and friends. See you in 2014!

Catching the Christmas Spirit

After a crazy busy October & November, December has been a welcome slow down period. We were able to have some family fun and focus on the true gift of Jesus' birth.

One of our 1st Christmas activities of the year was going out to look at Christmas lights around town and finishing with some hot chocolate.

Drinking hot chocolate

The next weekend we went to the Early Childhood Resource Center for a Morning with Santa. First we took a few Christmas tree pictures.

 It went from a look of confusion to a jumping party within seconds. And believe it or not these are the 2 best shots.

 Then we tried it with the parents trying to restrain the kids, but it didn't work much better. The kids were too excited for the upcoming Christmas festivities, so we made our way to the center.

 They colored gingerbread men, played with glitter play doh, made fruit loop candy canes and sat on Santa's lap. When we got to the Santa room Nora became quite timid, but with the help of holding Sawyer's hand she did a great job walking to him and sitting on his lap. Sawyer was super excited to see Santa. He doesn't really know what Santa does, but he loves any kind of mascot/person in costume so he was happy to sit on the jolly man's lap.

I know this picture is blurry, but I just die seeing them holding hands and Nora having her other hand in her back pocket

Making fruit loop candy canes.

And to round out our Christmas fun at home we had a birthday party for Jesus complete with reading the story of Jesus' birth and opening a few gifts.

 Opening the stockings

on to the gifts

Nora loving her Abby Cadabby doll and new apron 

Sawyer bouncing away on his new ball…perfect way to get the energy out during the cold winter months

Our church has a wonderful ministry called the 3 Wise Man Shop in which the children of the church and their friends get to pick out a gift for their parents. The kids had a blast visiting the shop all by themselves and picking out a gift for Mommy and Daddy. Sawyer could hardly contain himself he wanted to tell us what the gifts were when we picked him up, but he held it together for a few days until it was time to open gifts. Sawyer got Mommy a hat/glove/scarf set and he said he picked it out so Mommy could play in the snow with him. Nora gave Mommy a cookie sheet and cookie dough mix because she has a sweet tooth just like her Momma. They were very thoughtful gifts for a 2 and 3 year old. Then Daddy opened his gifts and it was a different story…Nora gave Daddy an oil lantern (you know for all the times the power goes out, or not :) and Sawyer gave Daddy a neon green lava lamp :) Sawyer was very excited about the lava lamp! It's always so funny to see what their little minds decide is the perfect gift! Funny enough there was a time that Kyle did love a good lava lamp. In fact I think that's what I gave him for high school graduation and he had it all through college :)

Fabric Food {Scrap Fabric}

This summer when I had the urge to use up some scrap fabric I thought Nora might enjoy some fabric food for her kitchen. After a quick look through Pinterest I came across these cute fabric bow-tie pastas.

I didn't follow the tutorial exactly, but it will give you good idea. I also didn't hand sew the middle of the pasta as it suggests in the tutorial. I simply pleated the bows and used the sewing machine, ain't nobody got time for hand sewing.

So one afternoon during nap time I whipped up a sweet little Christmas gift for my girl. I will pair it with a ruffle apron I made and a few play utensils to round out the gift.

Every Christmas I try to make each of kids something. This year for Sawyer I made my 1st attempt at pants. He is receiving Toy Story pajama pants. They were very simple and I know he will love wearing Buzz & Woody to bed.

Christmas Decor

Here's a look at our Christmas decor for 2013. Actually I don't think I ever showed you our fall decorations, so 1st here's a picture of the fall mantle.

Since Thanksgiving was so late and we are traveling for Christmas I decided we would do a mini version of Christmas decorating. And I wasn't feeling the glitzy side of Christmas this year, so the decor is pretty subdued with darker greens and red.

 And this year I had some helpers that were actually pretty helpful. Nora assisted me through the whole process of putting away the fall decor, getting out the Christmas goodies and putting it all together. She did the whole display of mini ornaments herself (see finished product below)

 Sawyer was SUPER excited to help with the tree! The kids put on all the unbreakable ornaments (that's why it's a little bottom heavy) and I put the breakable ornaments above (out of the reach of little fingers :)

Nora's ornament arrangement

Teaching Kids the True Meaning of Christmas

As our kids continue to grow (why does this have to happen?) we are continually looking for ways to explain the true meaning of Christmas during the holiday season.

I had high hopes of creating an Advent calendar/countdown that incorporates their favorite Bible, The Jesus Storybook Bible. Well, the Advent calendar didn't happen, but we have been following a reading plan from the Jesus Storybook Bible. Here's a free printable from Home With The Boys that outlines the plan.

Every Christmas Kyle and I do at least 1 giving project such as an Angel Tree child or a family we sponsor in our church. This year Sawyer's school was conducting a toy drive for needy children in the area and I thought it would be the perfect chance to get the kids involved in giving. Neither Sawyer or Nora really understands the concept of money. Sawyer plays with it like treasure and still thinks the coins are more valuable than the paper money.

The day I had scheduled to buy the gifts I talked to Sawyer and Nora about Christmas being Jesus' birthday and what a gift Jesus was to us. Since they understand the idea of gifts/presents I talked to them about other children who don't have toys/gifts. Then I asked them if they would like to buy gifts for those kids who may not have many toys. They both emphatically said "yes" and much to my surprise Sawyer declared he was going to go get his money for the presents. I was fully prepared to pay for the gifts, but I thought it was so sweet he wanted to use his money (from birthdays and such) to buy a gift for someone else. Sawyer decided he wanted to buy a SpiderMan for a little boy and Nora decided she wanted to buy Buzz Lightyear for a girl gift :) She subsequently decided it was Buzz's birthday, not Jesus…I guess we have a little more work on the concept of Christmas.

While at the store I had to explain a few times that the gifts weren't for them, but for a needy child but in the end they chose their gifts (Spiderman and a Doc McStuffins doctor bag), paid for it with their own money, then wrapped it and presented it to the teachers. I was quite encourages with their giving spirit and excited attitude!

They hear the story of Jesus through us and at church, but these 2 activities are our first concerted effort to teach them the true meaning of Christmas. We're learning as we go and I know repetition and consistency is important. Do you seasoned parents out there have any advice or activities that truly helped your child grasp the concept of Jesus' birth and the significance?

These pictures have nothing too do with the post, but I figured a post should include a few pictures. These were taken right before the football banquet last weekend.

A Pile of Rocks

While we were in Kansas we made it a point to get the kids outside everyday to run off a little energy no matter how cold the temperatures dropped. With all the fun and excitement of visiting family my kids were typically bouncing off the walls by mid-morning.

On this particular day we were at my Dad's house and the kids discovered a very large pile of rocks.

They seriously played on the rock pile for over an hour until Daddy and Grandpa couldn't stand the cold anymore! If it had been up to the kids they would have stayed out much longer.

 

I'm contemplating doing no presents for Christmas and just purchasing a truck load of rocks. It would keep them busy for days!

Nora's Thanksgiving

I know I've already posted several times about Thanksgiving, but these are just too cute not to post. It's a series of pictures depicting Nora's state as she progressed through Thanksgiving dinner.

Before the big meal

Slowly taste testing all the yummy selections

 She is wearing the paper crown from the English Poppers we did before the meal.

And by dessert it was all about shoveling it in. Even when she couldn't see :) She didn't even have time to move the crown up, it was all about getting that food in her mouth :)