Saturday Top 5 Laughs

I'm linking up with Saturday Top 5 Laughs. I haven't done this in a while so I have lots! My kids are always making me laugh. :)



1} A few weeks ago C woke up from his nap and was laying there with his head propped up with a hand under his chin and a thoughtful look on his face. I asked what he was thinking about. He said "I'm thinking about when I'm a big boy." I asked what he's going to do when he's a big boy. He said "I'm going to drive a car, I'm going to drive a boat, I'm going to sleep in my own bed.." I forget the rest but it was really cute. His little mind is always going.



2} My husband's work car was sent to the shop a few weeks ago. His company car has a company logo on both sides. When the kids and I dropped him off to pick up a rent car J knowingly said he would have to be sure to get a logo on the rent car since his work car has one. :)



3} A couple weeks ago, as we were walking into the circus, J and I were talking about the animals we would see. She asked if there would be giraffes then answered her own question with "I guess they don't have giraffes because giraffes and their long necks are way too tall to fit in a building." :)



4} We bought C a little pair of binoculars at the circus. As we were leaving and walking to the car the kids excitedly told us that C would be using his binoculars to look for owls out the windows on the ride home. Haha!



5} It was C's birthday last week and he got a few gifts on the morning of his birthday. That afternoon my mom brought over another gift but didn't have a bag so I reused of the gifts bags from that morning. The next day the gift bags were still laying in the dining room, empty now, and C told me "Take these bags and put some more gifts in them." Haha!



6} Last Saturday night we celebrated C's birthday again with my mother-in-law and sister-in-law. We gave him one last gift, a toy, that evening. Then he went on to open the gifts from my in-laws. He opened the first bag and said "Clothes....?" with the most doubtful, sad look on his face. Poor kid was hoping for more toys. Haha! His face was hilarious! I was excited and asked to see the clothes right away. After he opened a second bag from my in-laws and saw more clothes he immediately brought those over and dumped them in my lap too. They're adorable fall clothes from Gap Kids so it made mama happy even if he was disappointed!



7} Last Saturday night before church I picked out a dress with buttons down the back for J. A while later she walked over to it and said dresses with buttons or zippers were uncomfortable and she wanted to wear something else. I picked out a different dress and asked if we needed to get rid of all her dresses with buttons and zippers. She said "No, I just said that because I wanted to wear something different tomorrow." I said "So, you just made up the story that buttons are uncomfortable?" She said "Uh-huh and about the zippers too." Ha! Funny but she got a talking to about telling lies!



8} Last week J drew a picture of my herself and my mom walking hand in hand. My mom's hair was drawn with a purple marker. She gave the picture to my mom and told her "I used a purple marker for your hair because I don't have a white marker." Haha!



9} A few weeks ago we ate at Macaroni Grill for lunch. At one point a waitresses stopped at a table near ours and started singing opera. C stared at her in awe for a moment then turned to me with huge eyes and his mouth open wide while he was trying hard not to laugh. His face was priceless. I wish so bad I had a picture. Funniest face ever!! I still laugh just thinking about it! I'm sure many kids have a similar reaction to opera for the first time.. especially in a restaurant!



10) Last Sunday at Panda Express we sat close to a cute little baby girl in a high chair. C was watching her for a minute then told me he wanted a little sister just like her. He described her as he said he wanted a sister with "curly hair, a dress with flowers on it and a strap around her head with a flower on it." I laughed so hard! Only a boy would call a headband a "strap". Haha! He sounded just like a man.

First Day Of School!!

My kids on their first day of school, August 13th. J is super silly and super awkward when it comes to taking pictures. She gets really shy and goofy OR she gets really hyper and silly and won't stop talking or moving. Looks like she's in the middle of talking in these two. Ha! I love how C's outfit unintentionally matches his backpack and lunch back. This shirt is one of his favorite's because it has a pocket. :)

 She was probably talking away in this pic...

 I think they look so cute with their little backpacks..

 Being shy in front of her school...

The kids posed by themselves in these two pics. I thought it was so cute!! :)



Both kids had a great first day! J was excited to go back and see old friends. C was a little nervous but didn't even cry the first day! His first day of school was his second day potty training and he had one accident because he was scared to tell the teacher he had to go potty! The was his last accident.. he was trained completely in less than 24 hours. Their third birthday is the magic age for my kids with potty training. Since his first day Alex has cried at drop-off. :( It makes me so sad. I know he stops crying after a few minutes and loves his class... I guess the good-bye part is just hard for him.



My kids and I are both glad school has started. It's so nice to get back into a routine. I'm praying they have a wonderful year!!

Pregnancy, 17 Weeks!!!

How far along: 17 weeks

Due Date: Feb. 1, 2014

Total Weight Gain/Loss: My weight is back to pre-pregnancy.. thanks to being so sick so often. Ugh. 

Maternity clothes: I've been in maternity clothes since around 7 weeks but I've now outgrown all the larger non-maternity tops I was also wearing. Looks like it's all maternity from here on out and I really need to go shopping. Funny how my weight has hardly changed but I'm definitely getting a bump.

Stretch marks: I have a few from my second pregnancy. We'll see if this pregnancy adds a few more.

Sleep: Great!

Symptoms: Tired, irritable, a little morning sickness, a little heartburn and WAY too many migraine/vomiting/bedridden spells that last for 2-3 days at a time. :/ 

Food cravings: I crave random things all the time but can't eat most of them. Eating lots of fruits, applesauce and protein. Boring but good for me... 

Food aversions: Lots!

Labor signs: Nothing, thank goodness.

Belly button - in or out? In 

What I miss: Feeling better and my blessed migraine meds! 

What I am looking forward to: Finding out what we're having {for sure} in about 3-4 weeks! 

Movement: I've definitely felt lots of flutters! :) 

Milestones: Reaching the second trimester! Feeling the baby move and hearing the baby's heartbeat! 

How big is baby: About the size of an avocado.

Gender: We *think* we know after two early sonograms but the tech never acted 100% certain so we're waiting until the big 20 week sonogram at the OB office. I can't tell you how disappointed I am that the early sonogram thing didn't go better. :/ 

Names: Still thinking. I've thought I was settled on girl names 10 times but nothing seems right after a few days. I have one boy name that I've loved for a few years but not sure if I still love it that much and hubby isn't crazy about it. We do have one boy name that we will both settle on if we have to. Middle names for both a boy or a girl are pretty much set though. :) 

Best moment last week: Feeling baby flutters and seeing my baby on the ultrasound this morning. Even though we didn't get the 100% gender results we wanted it was still fun to see the baby again today. :) 

Weekend Wrap-Up & Stuff

Late last week I got deathly ill again.. well, it felt deathly while I was going through it. I have no clue what's going on but in the last few weeks I've a couple rounds of this migraine/constant vomiting thing that lasts from 24 to 48 hrs. It's terrible. I used to throw up with migraines (more often before my babies) but never constantly like this. And of course I've had morning sickness but again never constant. It's really weird and I'm praying it NEVER happens again. It's an awful combination. I'm talking 10+ on the pain scale and not being able to keep anything down (not even tiny ice cubes) for over a day. :/ I'm guessing it's a weird combo of migraines and pregnancy although it never happened during my other pregnancies. I also ate roast beef before both episodes. I have no idea if there was link to the roast or just a strange coincidence but you can bet I will avoid roast like the plague for a long, long time. My awesome mother has been great at dropping everything and coming over when I've been sick and taking over the kids completely. I don't know what I'd do without her! 

Saturday I spent the day recovering and resting while the kids spent the day at my mom's and my husband was at work. 

Sunday morning hubby and I spent our last day volunteering, at church, with the little 18-22 month old toddlers. We have been in that room since before J was that age. I think a little break from the baby/toddler area will be nice before our next baby is born. We're still going to volunteer in J's four year old class through the fall. 

Sunday we had On The Border for lunch. So yummy! J discovered (or rediscovered) a love for cheese quesadillas! 

 Ice cream and fun at On The Border. :) 

Last night C wanted to watch Shark Week on Netflix. He said "That'll be a good bedtime movie." Haha! He's such a boy. He sat there and watched it just like this.

This week is going to be a busy one! I started potty training C this morning. He'll be 3 next week so I think it's time. J pretty much trained herself right around her 3rd birthday and I'm really hoping the same holds true for C. It seems like he's ready. I've never been big on potty training or pushing kids to train before they're ready. With both kids we (I) half-heartedly tried to train every few months or so from the time they were 2ish. If they didn't seem to catch on quickly I dropped it and waited for another time. I don't get the stressing out about it. Gee, I have enough stress without freaking out about getting a toddler potty trained by a certain age. At the end of the day they will NOT be going to kindergarden. Anyway, C has done great today and at this point it looks like we'll carry on. He's very proud of himself and definitely knows when he needs to go. We have a chart and stickers and M&Ms and all that. He insisted on going out in undies while we ran errands for 3 hours. He only had one accident outside in the car after we spent 25 minutes or so inside Claire's where there wasn't a bathroom.. so I really count that as my fault, not his.



Both kids are starting Mother's Day Out tomorrow! I'm so excited! I know J is excited to go back. She had a great semester last spring and she's anxious to get back and see her friends again. C seems a little nervous but says he's excited. This is his first MDO experience so we'll see how it goes. He does not have to be trained to start the three year old class (that's not why I'm training him) but I definitely feel like it's time to get the ball rolling. Hopefully knowing his classmates are going potty will encourage him too.



We're also finding out our baby's gender this week! We are SO excited! I'll be going to the ultrasound alone on Thursday. My idea is to have the ultrasound tech write the baby's gender on a piece of paper and stick it in a sealed envelope. Then I'll take the envelope to a party store with instructions for them to open the envelope, read the gender, choose pink or blue balloons to put in a huge box (that I'll bring in) and seal the box tightly. I'll leave the store while they're doing that. I'll pick up the sealed box of balloons, bring it home and Thursday evening we'll have the kids open the box and we can find out as a family! I just hope all goes as planned. :) My husband has been saying the baby's a girl since day one. I've been thinking girl for weeks now but now I'm convinced it's a boy since I've been overly focused on a girl. Ha! I really have no idea but my official guess is "boy"! For the record my husband was right on the other two and I was wrong on the other two so who knows.



We're also planning to go to the circus this weekend. The kids are super excited! I'm excited too... I've always loved the circus. Last year we took them to the Shrine circus which was a bit of a disappointment so this year it's Barnum & Bailey.



Then next week is C's third birthday! We're all excited about that! No big party this year but we'll have at least 2 small parties.. maybe three.. with different family and friends. The week after that is my birthday (so exciting, ha!) and JBF! I get so excited about JBF... I actually enjoy getting all the clothes ready and love looking through that HUGE room full of stuff. I can't wait! I'm just praying I will feel good for the next few weeks so I can get through all this.



Hope everyone's having a great Monday!

Spammer? Stalker?

Does anyone else get weird stalkers, from overseas, on their blog? Some visitor from Beijing has been visiting constantly. I'm sure they're a spammer although they're not leaving spam. Do you ignore strange, silent visitors or what do you do? And, if you are the stranger from Beijing.. please do me a favor and do not come back. Thanks!

J at four and a half

It's hard to believe J turned 4 and half in July!



At 4 and half she is... 



- Talking non-stop. And I mean non-stop.



- Has known all her shapes forever



- Has known all her colors forever



- Can recite the alphabet and can identify almost every letter



- Learning to write letters



- Learning to write her name. (I'll just stop here and say we have never focused much on teaching letters, shapes, numbers, counting or writing at home. What she's learned she's pretty much picked up on her own or from day to day life and I think she's doing really well.)



 - She can count pretty well



- Is learning to add



- Has been potty trained for over a year and a half



- Loves to sing and dance



- Has a huge imagination. Her and C spent a good part of the day in "pretend play". The will spend hours playing house, school, church, camping.. you name it. It's so cute to hear them play together and listen to the funny things they come up with. :)



- Loves to help bake and clean.



- She already loves to shop! I'm so glad. :) I know we'll have tons of great times shopping together as she's growing up.



- Loves playing outside, loves to swing, loves riding her bicycle and swimming. Swings are always the first thing she'll run to at the playground although she hasn't quite mastered swinging by herself. She learned to ride her bicycle, with training wheels, right after she got for her 4th birthday.



- She's very active and is pretty much in perpetual motion a good part of the day (someone described me that way as a kid and it seems to describe her as well).



- Although she will sit still and quietly draw, read books, play with play dough, etc at different times as well.



- She LOVES drawing and art and is really into cutting up paper and/or folding it and taping it up and handing it out to different family members. :)



- We bought a little stuffed giraffe before she was born. She ignored it for the first few years of her life but in the last several months she has become really attached to it. She has to have the giraffe to go to sleep, wants to cuddle it when she's tired, etc. It's really sweet. She has always gone through phases with her other dolls and animals.. has a favorite for awhile, then switches to something else.



- She stopped taking naps several months ago and now spends C's nap time having quiet time on the couch and watching a movie. I'm not sure if she was quite ready to stop taking naps since she gets pretty cranky every evening but at least she goes to sleep quickly every night without a fuss.





And in her words:



- Favorite toys: baby dolls and doll [accessories], stuffed animals, tools, playing kitchen



- Favorite books: "Danny & The Dinosaur" and "Berenstein Bears & The Slumber Party"



- Favorite movies: "Danny & The Dinosaur, Richard Scary's Busy Town, Miffy, Barney, Angelina



- Favorite color: all colors (She definitely favors pink and purple though.)

Pregnancy - 14 Weeks!

How far along: 14 weeks

Due Date: Feb. 1, 2014



Total Weight Gain/Loss: I actually lost a little when I was sick last week but I'm sure I'm gaining it back. Not really keeping close track on weight, overall. 

Maternity clothes: Broke them out several weeks ago.



Stretch marks: I have a few from my second pregnancy. We'll see if this pregnancy adds a few more.



Sleep: Great!



Symptoms: Tired, irritable, still have some nausea off and on but it seems to be getting better. Some mild cramping (typical for me in pregnancy) and round ligament pain.



Food cravings: I crave random things all the time!



Food aversions: Lots!



Labor signs: Nothing, thank goodness.

Belly button - in or out? In 

What I miss: Nothing at the moment.. 

What I am looking forward to: Finding out what we're having in just a week and a half! I'm so excited! 

Movement: I've definitely felt some flutters.. in fact I'm feeling little flutters almost every day now. 

Milestones: Reaching the second trimester! Feeling the baby move and hearing the baby's heartbeat! 

How big is baby: About the size of a lemon. And, according to BabyCenter, at 14 weeks "Your baby can now squint, frown, grimace, pee, and possibly suck his thumb! Thanks to brain impulses, his facial muscles are getting a workout as his tiny features form one expression after another. His kidneys are producing urine, which he releases into the amniotic fluid around him — a process he'll keep up until birth. He can grasp, too, and if you're having an ultrasound now, you may even catch him sucking his thumb."

Gender: Don't know yet. I thought girl at first.. but definitely not convinced. My husband feels sure it's a girl and he was right on the other two. So we'll see...



Names: Still thinking.

Best moment last week: Reaching the second trimester! Feeling baby flutters! Having a sonogram on Monday and hearing the heartbeat. :)