Halloween Playgroup!

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I was hoping to have a ton of great pictures to share but I must have flipped a switch on my camera and most of the pictures turned out wonky!

This year we went back and forth and back and forth on what Brayden would be. Last year, Brayden was a monkey ... because he was in LOVE with monkeys. This year it wasn't quite so easy. I found a sweet little costume I liked but Chris vetoed it. Then Chris thought it would be a fantastic idea for all THREE of us to dress up as Shrek, Fiona and Puss N Boots. You can bet your bottom dollar that I vetoed that (and sadly, they don't make Fiona maternity costumes which helped my case).

So we started brainstorming about something else that Brayden would really enjoy...and then the lightbulb went off.

Brobee from Yo Gabba Gabba!

Here's "Brobee" with his monkey friend Stella! I love the look on Stella's face; she's like oh no! You caught me! But they were allowed in this closet so all's good.

Apparently, B has a large head. My mom had to sew elastic to the hat so that we could keep it on but eventually he pulled it off anyway.
Here's the Bman with our hostess, Rebekah. She is one of the nicest people I know and she has a beautiful home! B is eating one of the rice krispy balls she made - soooo good!

We had such a fun time and for once I actually didn't get lost (huge plus in my book!) even though I hadn't been to her house before!

What will your child be this Halloween? Any other Brobee's out there?

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I did not get the memo that today was National Chocolate Day. And I'm a little upset about it seeing as I'm a dedicated chocoholic and have been for ... well, probably my entire life.

Good thing I celebrate this holiday every day. I started out with some chocolate milk this morning, then grabbed a SCHC (Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate) at Starbucks, and now I'm having a Kit Kat. Hey, if I'm going to support something, then I'm going all out.

Just thought I'd pass this little tidbit along in case anyone wants to join me in celebrating!

Thanks for all your sweet comments on my last post! A lot of you asked where my sweater came from - I ordered it from Old Navy! It's warm but not too warm which is great because I feel like a furnace most of the time now.

35 Weeks!!

How Far Along: 35 Weeks

Size of baby: 5 1/4lbs,18 inches and the size of a honeydew melon.

Weight Gain: 18lbs

Maternity Clothes: I am still able to wear a combo of maternity and regular clothes which is realllllly crazy.

Gender: BOY! (Brody)

Movement: Pretty often but he's really running out of room to do too much.

What I miss: Sleep and being cold.

Sleep: I get up about 5 times per night.

Symptoms: I'm always way too hot and usually very exhausted. Only 4 weeks left!

I had a checkup today (I'm on weekly visits now) and my doctor was running late. She came into the room apologizing and said that the patient before me came in and was complaining about "a little pain every few minutes." Well, she checked her and she was 9cm dilated, in active labor and about to have a baby! They rushed to check her into the hospital, got her a wheelchair and took her to L&D which was why she was late getting to me. I didn't mind the wait since my mom was watching B (thanks Mom!) but I can't imagine not knowing that "pain every few minutes" was contractions! Good thing she had an appointment today!

In other news, I found out (possibly) why I'm so tired. They did a standard iron test on me and I'm anemic. I've been put on a prescription iron pill (I have no idea what the difference is between the OTC pill and the RX pill) so I'm going to start that tonight. Hopefully I will get some energy back! Seriously, all I want to do is lay down or sleep 24/7 which is impossible when you've got an active 21 month old!

Final Visit...

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Thanks for all the anniversary wishes! We had a wonderful night out (and in, watching TV!).

Yesterday we went to the final pumpkin patch on our list - the same one we took Brayden to last year. It was pouring down rain but when I get an idea in my head, we usually go through with it. My mom spent most of the car drive trying to convince me that we shouldn't go and by the time we got there she had partially won - we decided that I wouldn't get out of the car since I'm still sick and I really don't want to get any worse!

My Dad got out to take pictures while Chris and B picked out a pumpkin. Rather, Brayden picked a pumpkin while Chris kept him from getting wet.

I haven't uploaded all the pictures yet because I've been super, super tired, but this is one Chris had on his iPad and he did some creative stuff with the coloring. I thought it was really cute!

Going to this pumpkin patch is one of the traditions we started so I'm really glad that we made it out there again this year!

5 Years!

Today was Chris and my fifth wedding anniversary!

We were saying that we just can't believe it's been five years already! We are so blessed to have each other. I look forward to Chris coming home from work every single day so that we can spend the rest of the evening together as a family. To me, there is just nothing more important!

My parents kept B so that we could go out to dinner this evening. We seized the opportunity to go to a restaurant that we normally wouldn't take Brayden to just because it's a very quiet, nice place. We had a great dinner and a wonderful (chocolate) dessert!

Normally we'd go do something else fun but I'm just too tired anymore to go out! I don't even think I'd make it through a movie! So we decided to just have a low key evening catching up on DVR'ed shows. Hopefully the weather will be good tomorrow so we can go to the pumpkin patch - I know, I know, we've gone to two already but we want to take Brayden back to the big one that we went to last year!

MOPS Day Out

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Yesterday our MOPS group met up at a local pumpkin patch so that our kiddos could get together and have a fun day out!

My friends were very proud of me for not getting lost on the way there. I think it was a first. I seriously get lost everywhere that I go. It's quite sad. Haha!

They had a version of the cow train though it didn't really look anything like cows and it was pulled by a 4wheeler. Unlike last time, Brayden did not do well. He's below in the second "cow" with my friend Heather's son. They had to stop the "train" so that I could go get him. Poor baby!

After that fiasco, we moved onto an activity that he preferred - digging through corn kernels for prizes. Can you spot Brayden? Yeah...he's the one trying to eat the corn. Hehe! It's okay though he wasn't alone! After this shot he figured out that the object was to look for prizes, not eat the kernels!

They had this neat rope swing for the older kids. Brayden thinks that just because he's about to be a big brother that he qualifies as an "older kid." The hay was stacked a couple of feet up off the ground and I couldn't climb up to take him so we were going to skip it but these two nice women that work at the patch volunteered, so I let him go in! He LOVED it. I think this is where we spent the majority of our time!

After that we went on a hay ride - perhaps not the best idea when you are 34 weeks pregnant. Honestly, it wasn't too bad or too bumpy but I should have thought about it a little more before I hopped into the trailer.

And finally it was time to pick a pumpkin. I let Bman choose his own - it may not have been the most perfect looking pumpkin but it was the one he wanted and that makes it perfect and special to me!

34 Weeks

How Far Along: 34 Weeks

Size of baby: 4 3/4lbs,18 inches and the size of a cantaloupe.

Weight Gain: 16lbs

Maternity Clothes: I am still able to wear a combo of maternity and regular clothes which is crazy.

Gender: BOY! (Brody)

Movement: A lot!

What I miss: Sleep and being cold.

Sleep: I get up about 5 times per night.

Symptoms: I'm always way too hot and usually very exhausted. Only 5 weeks left!

Pumpkin Patch #1

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Yesterday we met up with some friends from one of our playgroups and went to visit a local pumpkin patch!

They had a petting zoo, a corn maze, a corn cannon, a cow train and of course pumpkins.

Brayden thought the goats resembled one of our dogs and kept going up and petting them and calling them "Bah" which is what he calls Buster!
Once everyone got there we put the kids on the cow train. Here's Brayden, Reid and Lilly:
And Brody, Stella and Cilla:
And here's who made it back still on the ride! Just Brody and Brayden! I guess the cow train was a little too scary!
Brayden wanted to "drive" the tractor and kept pointing to it and saying "Vroom, Vroom!!" so we had to take a picture of him!
We ended up not going to get a pumpkin this time because you had to take a ride back to get them and I'm way to pregnant for that! But that's okay because we have a pumpkin patch trip planned this week with our MOPS group and then next weekend we will go with my family to take Brayden back to the pumpkin patch we went to last year (it's huge). So he will not be missing out!

We had such a fun time yesterday!

Lunch with Whitney & Melissa

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So today B and I drove down to meet Whitney and Melissa for lunch at one of my favorite spots - the Flying Burrito!

Brayden fell in love with Whitney - I think she probably ended up holding him 90% of the time we were there! He kept telling her "Up, Up!" meaning, pick me up!

It was so nice to finally meet Whitney - we talk on twitter all of the time so I felt like I knew her and it was great to see Melissa and little C! I met Melissa last year at MOPS and now she is my table leader (at MOPS) and we go to a playgroup together!

We had such a fun time chatting that I didn't realize we'd been there over two hours! It took us awhile to get home because of the horrendous craft fair traffic! Tonight we have some fun plans and we will be celebrating Chris' birthday again - this time with his mom and step dad.

Happy Birthday Chris!

Today is Chris' birthday! He finally caught up with me (in age)!

We went out to dinner with my family at Bonefish - yum! I love their cajun chicken egg rolls! I actually don't eat fish/anything that comes out of water but Chris loves fish!

He requested carrot cake for dessert. It's one of the few cakes that I've never made and the only recipe I knew of was one my grandmother had (she passed away when I was 3). My mom had it and gave it to me so that's what I made. It turned out pretty good but I doubt as good as when she used to make it!

After that it was present time. I got Chris a "nice gift" but it hasn't arrived yet so I thought I'd get him something to open in the meantime.

Chris hates the Snuggi commercials. He makes fun of them every.single.time they come on. If we see them in a store he jokes about them. So what better gift to give him?

A Razorback Snuggi!
And....we have a convert!
He is secretly loving this thing. Seriously, it's a genius idea! Even Brayden put it on and walked around in it! I tried it too and it really is comfortable!

Happy birthday babe! You're the best husband and father! I love you!

33 Weeks!

How Far Along: 33 Weeks

Size of baby: 4lbs,17 inches and the size of a pineapple.

Weight Gain: 16lbs

Maternity Clothes: I am still able to wear a combo of maternity and regular clothes which is crazy.

Gender: BOY! (Brody)

Movement: A lot!

What I miss: Sleep and being cold.

Sleep: I get up about 3-5 times per night.

Symptoms: I'm always way too hot and usually very exhausted!

I had a checkup today and found out that my c-section date is going to stay the same (I thought it might move since I switched doctors). I'm not sure if I will still be in the hospital on Thanksgiving or not; it will probably depend on how I'm doing. I think my new doctor will let me go if I want to go and she's happy with my recovery. I guess I need to get a "My 1st Thanksgiving" tee made!

And just because...a pic of my Bman.

Layer Cookies

I had a picture for this post but I can't find my camera battery charger! So for now, I'll put a picture I took with my iPhone but it isn't that great...

Layer Cookies are one of my families favorite holiday treats. My mom has been making these since before I was born! Usually we don't start making them until November but they sounded reallllllly good the other day. Chris actually made them this time. They are super easy! Here's how:

1/2 C melted margarine (1 stick)

1 1/2 C graham cracker crumbs

1 C chopped walnuts

1 C chocolate chips (though we usually use more)

1 1/3 C flaked coconut

1 15oz can of Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk

Put the stick of margarine in the bottom of a 9*13. Place into a 350 degree oven. Pull out as soon as it's melted and top evenly with graham crackers to coat the bottom. I really like the graham crackers so sometimes I add more for a thicker crust.

Next, layer on the walnuts, chocolate and coconut. Open the can of milk and drizzle evenly over the top.

Bake 20-25 min's or until just lightly browned.

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(Semi) Wordless Wednesday

Since I didn't post my 32 week picture yesterday...here it is. Ignore how sickly I look. I have brohncitus, an ear infection a fever ... and I was diagnosed with asthma. Yes, seriously. I know.

I told Chris to hand me the camera so I could take a picture of him and Bman, but what I didn't realize until I uploaded them was that he had stuck his stomach out and pretended to do a belly shot!

32 Weeks

How Far Along: 32 Weeks

Size of baby: 3.75lbs,16.7 inches and the size of jicama.

Weight Gain: 16lbs

Maternity Clothes: I am still able to wear a combo of maternity and regular clothes which is crazy.

Gender: BOY! (Brody)

Movement: Mostly at night. He is VERY low but he recently discovered the joy of wedging his foot into my ribcage.

What I miss: Sleep and being cold.

Sleep: I get up about 3-5 times per night.

Symptoms: I'm always way too hot and usually very exhausted!

Believe it or not I'm sick again - it seems to be a recurring theme for this pregnancy. Therefore, since I look like death, there is no picture today - but check back tomorrow. I have a doctors appointment so therefore I will look halfway decent and I'll try to remember to have Chris take a pic.

Our Weekend...in Parties

We had a busy but really fun weekend! First, I had tweeted about making some Pumpkin Chocolate Chip muffins. If you want the recipe, just click here.

We actually had three birthday parties this weekend (which is why it was so busy)! I decided to take today to sit around in my sweats and do NOTHING. I am soooo tired!

First up was Brody's birthday party at the Little Gym. We are planning to do Brayden's 2nd birthday at Gymboree so I was excited to see how it went - it was so great. All the kids had so much fun and were able to burn a LOT of energy!

I thought this was funny - you can see several of the husbands in the background talking football and checking scores.

The birthday boy got to take a ride in the parachute.
This was really fun - the kids got to lay on this huge plastic inflatable while they aired it up. B loved it!
Brody blowing out the candles on his very yummy cookie cake:
At the end they attempted to get a good group shot but with all those toddlers it was nearly impossible!
After Brody's party we headed to a surprise 30th birthday party for a new friends husband. It was so much fun! I think that he might have figured out something was going on before he walked in the door but it was still a great time. I didn't take my camera in because we parked way down the street to hide our cars and frankly it was just one more thing to carry! But Chris took this one of B laying in their baby swing - apparently he was worn out!
Yesterday we went to church and then celebrated my Dad's birthday out at our cabin. My mom made his favorite German Chocolate Cake and we had a little family BBQ. It was such a nice, calm, fall day! My very favorite thing is spending time with my family!

Birthdays, Shoes, Friends and Semi Trucks

First, Brayden wants to say "Happy Birthday GrandDaddy!!!" We look forward to celebrating this weekend with you!

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Brayden loooooves to wear our shoes.

His favorites seem to be my slippers and Chris' tennis shoes. It seems that by easily being able to put on our shoes, he's learned how to put his own on as well and he seems to get them on the right feet about 99% of the time!

I've been lacking on my posts lately because I keep forgetting to take my camera with me. We had a fun playgroup yesterday and another fun playgroup today. Afterwards my friend Sara and I went out to eat at a new burger joint in town. There's a huge biker rally thing going on and traffic was horrible! It took me almost twice as long to get home as it normally does. I also have now become know as a "semi magnet." They just realllllly want to hit me or run me off the road. I'm about to paint my car neon yellow so that maybe they'll notice me! I mean, I drive a big SUV; I can't be that hard to spot! Haha!

I hope everyone has a great weekend!