12 weeks

Today I am 12 weeks along, and I already have the belly to prove it.

Photo courtesy of Kate Watson

This pregnancy feels just like the rest, not sick, just really tired.  I usually can nap when Max naps, so it works out.  My craving are similar to when I was pregnant with Kate.  I want salty stuff.  Chips, salsa, popcorn, Mexican food...  Unfortunately all of these give me heartburn now so Tums has become a staple in my diet.  With Max I only ever wanted sweets.  So maybe this is pointing towards another girl?  I don't know.  We shall see!

I had a doctors appointment today.  They said everything looks good so far.  It took two people to find the heartbeat which freaked me out a bit, but once they found it it was really strong.  165 beats per minute.  Max laid on the table with me while they used the doppler on my stomach, he was very interested in it all!  I think he's starting to get it a little bit.  Today he pointed to his stomach and told me there was a baby in it.  Kate thought the doppler was an ultrasound machine and asked the doctor is she could tell her what the baby was.


Kate wanted her say in this post so here's a mini interview with her:

What should I tell people about the baby Kate?
 -The baby is going to come out.  I love babies, I just do.

What do you think the baby is?
   -I think the baby is a boy but I want a girl.

What should we name the baby?
  -If it's a girl her name is Alice.

(She is so dead set on this name, it's hilarious.  I don't even know where she got it from, but she's very strongly opinionated that her name is Alice.  Just not "In Wonderland")

But what if it's a boy?
  -It's not a boy. It's a girl.


Here are the ultrasound photos at 8 weeks to confirm the pregnancy.  Kate came along to this appointment as well.  She thought it was really cool to "see" the baby.

We're very excited about the new addition to our family!

Love Watermelon Cake. Make it all Day

(Kate titled this post.)

We've crossed a few more things off of our list lately, here's our latest adventures.

#35 Watermelon cake.  I found the idea here, obviously theirs was a lot fancier than mine.  It still was delicious though!

#13 Sleep in a tent!  It was a really tight squeeze, but me managed to put the tent up in the play room.  We've been having so much fun with this that we haven't taken it down yet! 

#25 Hopscotch. Indoor style :)

#17 Movie night at home.  We rented Oz the Great and Powerful, and Kate was really brave and "wasn't scared of the green witch".  She loved this movie so much that she's already asking for it for Christmas.  I liked the movie.  I thought it took awhile for the story to pick up, and some of it was a little cheesy, but I really loved how many elements and characters they took from Frank L Baums original book.

#11 Go to the movies.  Of course we had to see Monsters University opening weekend.  It was really good!  We all loved it.  The kids did surprisingly well.  Max got a little restless at the end and I had to stand at the side with him, but other than that they were perfect.  Except for the time Max hit the lady in front of us with his sword.

#4 Ice cream cones.  We are loving Burger Kings .50 cones right now!

#39 Make cookies.  They like to help make the cookies just so they get to lick the beaters.  I don't blame them.

Summer fun

We've been having a lot of fun crossing things off of our summer bucket list!

#18 make "strawberry pies". 

Kate has this new little quirk.  She'll imagine something, believe it's totally real, and she won't let go of the idea until you do something about it or have to crush her dreams.   I've already had to crush her dreams about "balloon school" and the "real fashion show" she was going to be a model in.  So when she told me that she could make strawberry pies for dessert, I decided to just go with it.  I got all the ingredients and aside from cutting the strawberries, she made them all by herself.  She was very proud.

#35 Go to a splash pad.  I'm sure this one will be repeated a few times over the summer.  

#30 Play dress up.  Quite possibly my favorite picture of Kate and Jaylee.

#7 Bahama bucks.  The kids were introduced to their very first shaved ice on Monday.  They loved it! 

#2 Play with cousins.  Another that will be repeated many many times.  On Monday we went over to play in their pool!

It's been a great summer so far!  We can't wait to cross more stuff off of our list!

Father's Day

The kids and I really wanted to surprise Dustin for Father's Day this year.  So instead of waiting until Sunday, we surprised him with a little party when we got home from work on Friday.

The kids drew some pictures for him, made a frame, and Kate filled out an adorable interview.

It reads:  My dad is 25 years old and has black hair like mine.   His favorite thing to do is play with me and I love when he takes me on a date.  He's always telling me to be quiet when he's watching basketball.  When we do things tofether I always like to go to the zoo and eat my favorite food.  His favorite food is BBQ sandwiches and usually drinks crazy soda.  For his job he plays basketball and mutual, but I think he wishes instead that he was playing with me.  The thing that makes him laugh the most is when I make funny faces.  I always know me daddy loves me when he makes cards for me.  My favorite thing about him is that he always comes home and does stuff with me.  (Then she drew a picture of her and daddy getting attacked by a bird)

When he got home the kids were beside themselves with excitement.

We got him a grill!  Complete with propane and a grill tool set.  I also got him a pair of wireless headphones.

On actual Father's Day we put the grill to it's first use and made hamburgers.  I made Dustin one of his favorite desserts, Boston Creme Pie.  We called the Grandpa's in our lives to with them a happy Father's Day as well!

Air Tent

Since I've been trying to do more fun and creative things with my kids lately, I've decided to make a bucket list for summer. I sat down with Kate today and we made a list of 50 things we would like to do this summer. Kate came up with most of them, I came up with a few, and Max's contributions were "see animals" and "play pirates".

After we wrote the list,  I decided to jump right in and do #12 on the list.  Build a fort.  I got a sheet, packing tape and a fan and we made this cool bubble tent!  It's kept them entertained all day long!  Plus, it's nice and cool in there.

My sad attempt at getting in a picture.  I kept knocking the tent down!

Puppet Theater

Last week Kate requested that we make puppets for craft time that day.  So I set them down with paper bags, crayons, ribbons, paper and googly eyes, and I set to work on a theater.  I used a diaper box, cut it up a bit, and covered it in scrapbook paper.  It's not the cutest thing ever, but I thought it was good for a 10 minute impromptu project!

They had so much fun putting on shows for each other!  They even had an "audience"!

Each show ended with the children taking their bows.

Indoor bubbles

Now that preschool has ended and we are in triple digits outside, I've been having to find creative ways to entertain my children lately. 

This was a super simple idea I stumbled upon online, and I knew it would be a hit with my kids.  It's just water and dish soap.  I also added a few drops of blue food coloring to the water to make it a bit more fun.  Then I armed them with small things that float, some play dough tools, and straws to blow bubbles in the water.  This entertained them for an hour and a half!  This is an activity I'm sure we'll do again this summer.

My table, floor, and kids all got soaked by the end!  But since it's just soap and water it cleans right up.  My table and floor were very clean thanks to this!