Bloggin break

With the move and Christmas I'm going to be away from the computer for the next week or so. Hopefully the next post will be coming from our new house!

Have a very Merry Christmas!!

oh baby

I looked down today and realized that my belly sure is growing! With this pregnancy there have been days that I forget I am even pregnant, until I feel a kick or try to squeeze into a small space that I use to fit into. I know things have been pretty busy lately, but what mother forgets she is pregnant with a tiny baby girl? Well I have. And since I am already 28 weeks and a few days I need to start writing about this tiny baby so she knows that we loved her and wanted her before she was even here. I can't believe in about 11 weeks she will be in our arms to hug and kiss.

Here is a picture of me at 28 weeks and 4 days about to walk out the door to Adam's Christmas party!

Of course Sammie and Grace had to be in the picture. :)

8 days!

We close on our house in Okahoma and our new house in Texas in 8 days (December 21st)!!! All in the same day. We are so excited! I can't believe how quickly everything is going. So I'm off to keep packing! We have a LOT to do. Thank goodness I'm done with my Christmas shopping!!

Christmas picture

We were unable to get a cute picture of the whole family (all 3 of us that is), so we opted to take a picture of just Grace for Christmas cards this year. Since I mailed mine this morning I thought I would post the picture for all those that don't get a card out in the blogging world.

What a cute smile! I love it!

Christmas cards!

I love getting Christmas cards! It really makes getting the mail fun throughout the month of December.

Anyway, several family and friend have emailed asking where to mail cards to... for now keep sending them to our Oklahoma address. We will have our mail forwarded when we move, plus I will send an email out as soon as we do move.

We are currently just waiting on an official closing date. We just found out today that we might be able to close next week! This would be awesome to move before Christmas!!!!

Anyway, can't wait to see everyone's cards (and hopefully cute pictures!).

Christmas thoughts

I'm so sad this year because I have no Christmas decorations to look at. Since we are probably moving the week of Christmas we have opted to not put up a tree and bring out all the stuff. I did bring out the wreath for the front door and our stockings, but that's it. At least we will be at my parents house for Christmas morning so Gracie will get to enjoy a tree there.

This weekend we also started (and finished!) our Christmas shopping!! The last several weeks have been so busy with job and moving stuff that we haven't had time to focus on Christmas. I can't believe it is in just a couple weeks!

We also attempted a Christmas card picture... not much luck for a family photo so I got one of just Grace. Hopefully we can get those in the mail this week!

OH and I almost forgot we tried to do Santa, but the line was LONG!! Apparently Sunday's at 11 are bad. I guess because everyone is already dressed up for church they just head to Santa... who stole our idea? So we are going to try again hopefully this week or next. Gotta go see Santa right?

That's about it for my Christmas thoughts. I'm off to wrap Christmas presents. And maybe start packing... we move in 3 weeks (maybe sooner!!!).

Our realtor

I've been meaning to post all week about our realtor in the Big D. He was AWESOME! His name is Bill Nelson. He and his wife have a team of Realtors that are so wonderful. His wife spent several hours setting up times to look at homes of our choice and I sent her a pretty long list! Then Bill spent the ENTIRE weekend with us looking for a house. He was out looking with us at 9 am Saturday and we looked till dark. I know I was exhausted and I'm sure he must have been, but he was at our house again the next morning to keep at it. We found a house we loved and he was there with us to answer any questions when we signed the house contract. Since I'm not planning to move anytime soon (at least 10+ years!) I just wanted to pass his name.

Anyway, if you or anyone you know is moving to/from Dallas/Ft.Worth he is the man you want! Check out his car here... you can't miss it driving down the road. OH and one cool thing he does, if you buy a house from him then he will sell your house for free! Check him out at www.teamnelson.com.

She loves it!

This summer Adam and I took Grace on her first carousel ride and she HATED it. She was okay until it started moving. So we figured we would wait a few months and head back.

This past weekend we were at the same mall with the same carousel and we thought we should try it again. Success! It's amazing how a new day and a few months will change things.

I'm hoping to have the same success with Santa this weekend.

A new home...

About 48 hours after we sold our house in Oklahoma we bought a home in Texas!

I think we are both still in shock, but very excited to have found a home so quickly. The house will only be about 20 minutes from my parents and most my family! We close at the end of the month, so we will probably have an exciting New Years of unpacking and organizing. The house is definitly something that we can grow into and hope to be there for many years as this is our dream house!

So once we get settled come and visit anytime!! Here is a picture of the outside of the house. I love the rock and brick combo.

SOLD

Only 2 weeks and 2 days after we listed the house we accepted an offer OVER our asking price. WOW! Thank you everyone for your thoughts and prayers. We have to be out of our house by December 31st... so 31 days to find a new house, pack and move. No problem! Hopefully :)

TWO or THREE??

That is the possible number of offers we have on our house! I still can't believe it. We already have 2 offers and we might have a third coming in tomorrow. This is WAY more than we could have ever dreamed of. Shoot we were just praying to sell before the baby comes. It is looking like we might be moved a good 2 months before she makes her arrival. AMEN!

God is good. We will keep you posted.

Thanksgiving, house, baby and stuff...

Grace snacking on the dog!

Thankful.

That can describe in one word best how I feel. Although things in our lives are CRAZY right now, really things couldn't be going better.

Thanksgiving week was wonderful. We spent the first part of the week trying to find areas we like. It went well and we found a few neighborhoods that we are in love with. Grace spend a few days with her Mema and PopPop in East Texas. They spoiled her lots, so I know she had a blast. We got to East Texas on Wednesday and basically just relaxed. We hung out around the house, watched lots of movies, celebrated my nephew's 3rd birthday and ate too much food. We were sad to leave on Sunday, but ready to get home. Grace doesn't sleep very well when we aren't at home, so it was nice to just be back and get some sleep.

Kaleb ready to dig in!

Kaleb and Grace riding on rides at Chuck E Cheese!

Grace found a new friend... Annie. She carried the dog around all weekend... she was just the right size!

Our realtor had an open on house on Sunday and it went okay. We had a few interested people come out. The best news is that we have had one of those people already come back to see it again today. Then this afternoon we have 3 more showings and on Thursday we have a couple coming in from California to see it!! So who knows... maybe an offer will be in the near future. I just can't believe it... the house hasn't even been on the market for 2 weeks. Trying not to get my hopes up, but we are just so excited!

This morning I had a doctors appointment. We got to have another ultrasound to make sure the baby is still a girl. And she is! She looks great. Very healthy and active. Only 14 more weeks till she makes her big appearance!

Then we ran from the OB's office to the Pediatricians office... well we actually drove since they are 3o minutes from one another. Grace has been coughing for a couple weeks now. Ends up she has a sinus infection. But with a little medicine she should back to normal in a couple days. AMEN... I need my happy baby back!

So I guess that is it for now. OH YEAH... I got a new laptop. Basically an early Christmas present, but we had to give back our old computer since it was Adam's company! And since he is leaving we thought they might want it back! I've never had a computer of my very own that was new. I had my parents old hand-me-down in college, until Adam built me one to last a little longer, then I've always just had Adam's computer. Kind of cool to have my very own now. I guess I'll share it Adam from time to time :)

And just a cute picture of Grace snoozing in the car. She puts her blankie behind her head when she sleeps now... how cute is that.

Hope you have a wonderful day filled with family and fun.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

We will remember!

Watch this. Grab some tissues too!



A day that I will always remember is November 18, 1999. My roommate woke me up at 5:30am to tell me to turn on the tv. Bonfire had fallen. Students were trapped. We got up and threw some clothes on and headed to campus to see for ourselves. By time we got there the sun was just coming up. It was so busy. Policemen, firemen, students, and volunteers working feverishly to remove the logs one by one in hopes of finding students that are still alive. Students were surrounded by the stack of logs praying and watching in disbelief.

You see Bonfire was an Texas Aggie tradition since 1909. It started with a big bunch of trash and students getting together for a sort of pep-rally to get fired up about the big game the following day. (Texas A&M v. Texas) Years later it was a 55 foot stack... huge... but amazing.

About 2:30 in the morning on this day 8 years ago, the centerpole (the tallest log) snapped. This sent the stack towering down and killing 12 students and injuring 27 others.

I was a sophmore this year. And my freshman year I went to the community college in my hometown so this was my first year at A&M. So I've never seen a Bonfire before, but I will never forget it.

breathing...

What a week.

My husband accepted a new job. WHOOP!

My husband quit his job here ... went very well.

I celebrated my birthday 3 nights in a row... yeah for no cooking!

I got lots of fun presents for my bday... a new Nicholas Sparks book (in hardback... I normally wait until its in paperback), a beautiful new coat, a Sonicare toothbrush (which I LOVE!), and a couple fun things from some girlfriends... including some Belly Butter from Burt's Bees... every pregnant woman should try it... its great!

We put our house on the market. We even had a showing yesterday and are suppose to have a couple more this next week.

I've cleaned my house more this week than I did the entire month of July. (If you remember I was pretty sick that month and cleaning wasn't in my vocabulary that month... nor was cooking!). Seriously though my house is so stinkin' clean.

Adam and I are meeting his parents today to drop off Grace. They are keeping her for the week! Well I guess for a few days. We will be going to their house on Wednesday. Until then we will be working on finding a new house and praying our current home sells so we can buy a new home!

So for now I'm just breathing and taking one day at a time. While we are super excited to be moving home, I'm just trying to take it slow and not get overwhelmed. Thanks for the prayers.

We actually ordered a St. Joseph on e-bay that I'm hoping will come very soon. Have you heard the old wives tales about a St. Joseph statue when trying to sell your house? Check it out here... anything is worth a shot :)

BIG NEWS

It's official... we're moving! Yup you read that right... we are moving.

We are leaving our little town in Okalahoma and heading to the bright lights of Texas! I think I'm still in shock. When Adam and I first moved to Oklahoma 5 years ago, we were just a few months out of college and we never thought we would be here this long. Not that his job wasn't good, we just thought he would do this job for a couple years then move back home to Texas. But that wasn't what God had in store... Adam earned a couple promotions along the way, I was able to stay home with Grace and we really started to like here. However, due to several changes and a growing family we started to think about moving home again. It's really hard to be away from family when you have little ones. We have been so blessed to have found so many wonderful friends here that will truly miss... hopefully they will come visit us.

After several months of searching for the right job and many many interviews later, Adam has accepted a position. We couldn't be more excited!! Our house here in OK goes on the market today. Hopefully it will be sold fast, but the average length of time a house in the market here is 120 days... so it could be a while. I also have no clue where this baby girl in my tummy will be born. Maybe the house will sell this week and we wont have to worry ourselves with that.

Anyway, I've been dying to tell everyone, but had to keep things quiet until it was official. So help us in praying for a smooth transition, move and new start in Texas!!!

hi

Sorry for the lack of posts lately... things have been just so busy. I'll expain more later, but for now here is a picture of my child reverting to being a baby. I pulled out her exersaucer to put in the attic and she HAD to be in it. And you also may notice the pacifier. She has never taken a pacifier except when she was really little... but the last couple weeks she has to have one. So I've had to go out and buy a couple because she was stealing other children's pacificers. What am I going to do when baby #2 is here?? Do all 21 month old children do this?

My Oreo baby

Grace LOVES Oreos. But then again who doesn't. Shoot I don't even like chocolate (which is a totally different post), but I like Oreos. I think the baby in my belly likes them too :)

Anyway, she pulls apart the oreo and licks all the icing out of the middle then proceedes to eat the 2 chocolate cookies. It is just so funny to watch. How did she learn to eat the good part first? Adam and I don't eat oreos that way?

Here is a picture of my oreo girl!

dentist drama

I hate the dentist.

Seriously... I brush twice daily (sometimes more often), I floss almost daily (sometimes I am just too tired to floss... but I floss at least several times a week), I go to the dentist religiously every 6 months and I have ever since I can remember.

Yet I still have TWO cavities! Granted I don't remember the last time I had a cavity, but still I have TWO!

I'm going to blame this on my dad since he has bad teeth, but the dentist said I need to stop eating candy. WHAT! Stop eating candy?? You can't tell a pregnant woman to stop eating her main craving! But I guess I'm on a mission to try to eat less candy.

So if you see me eating candy...especially things that are hard or sticky... make me stop. Now I have a month to think about getting those cavities filled. YUCK!

Oh and just so you know they called my OB and he says its okay to have it done since I will be in my 3rd trimester when I'm having it done.

And since every post is better with a picture... here is my Miss Pris in all her glory picking her nose! Oh joy!

The news is in...

IT'S A BOY!

No, not me... we are still having a girl (at least we think so!). My brother and his wife just found out they are having a little boy! My sister-in-law is due just a couple weeks after me and we couldn't be more excited for a little boy! Especially since we have one little girl here and one on the way... we need a boy in the family. :)

Oh and just for those who are curious...

my 2 friends and my aunt that are pregnant are all having girls! So you can see we really needed a little boy.

Happy Halloween!

Some pics of us tonight from our church's Halloween Party. Grace was a Texas Aggie cheerleader... which is funny since they don't have cheerleaders at A&M. She wanted nothing to do with the costume I wanted her to wear... a tutu! Oh well... maybe next year.

Gig 'em Ags!

"This hay is ichy!!"

Enjoying the hay ride!

Hawaiian Punch

That was our costume... something simple and easy. I was hawaiian and Adam was a boxer... sooooo Hawaiian Punch! Cute huh! We had a nice night out childless. I think I had more fun looking at all the crazy costumes.

If you look really hard you can see my belly button through my white shirt... trying to pop out!!

hey hey

Where did the week go?

I really have no clue. It was a busy week, plus I crashed my laptop when I spilled a little water on it. Thankfully we just had to get a new hard-drive and it works like new. I was also relieved that we have a back up wireless hard-drive that all our pictures and documents were saved to. So I didn't lose anything. AMEN! What would I do if I lost all the pictures of my baby girl??!!

We also had church meetings, a Halloween party and I had a girl's dinner so the week just flew past us. I'll try to be better this week, but now I'm off to bed early. I'm still tired from staying out late last night for the Halloween party. I needed to post something so my granny wouldn't worry.

And since I have no new pictures I thought I would post a picture of Grace from last Halloween. I can't get over how round her face was... she was my little chunky monkey! What happened to the rolls??

stuff

Thank you so much for all the sweet words! I think I am still surprised because I really thought we were having a little boy... but I couldn't be happier to have another girl!

I have to post a picture of my sweetie. Don't you love that smile!

And everyone has been asking what we are going to name the baby... we have no clue! We like a couple names, but aren't ready to claim one for her yet. And no it will not be something like Faith or Hope. We like traditional, simple names. I'll let you know when we decide. Until then feel free to give any suggestions!

It's a ....

We are tickled pink and blessed beyond words to be having another little girl. Everything looked great on the ultrasound! The baby girl is growing perfectly! So in about 4 months Grace will welcome a baby sister into the world!!

20 months and 20 weeks...

Pucker up!

Well I totally missed that Grace is now 20 months old. Where has the time gone?? She is every bit of a growing toddler these days. She tries to be independent, bossy, and loving all in the same moments. I just can't believe in 4 months she will 2 years old! Next thing I know she will off to Kindergarten! Grace gives out kisses and hugs often and reminds me daily why having children is so wonderful. I wouldn't trade it for the world.

Cheese!

It also happens to be that I'm 20 weeks along. The baby growing inside me is "half baked". :) In 2 short days we will know whether Grace is going to have a little brother or sister. I'm really thinking boy this week, but most of our family and good friends think its a girl. Either way we get to see the baby and see how he/she is developing. I can't wait!!

My pumpkin

The other day Grace and I went to our local farmers market to pick up some pumpkins. We don't have any pumpkin patches near by so the farmers market had to do. I went straight for the big pumpkins, but Grace loved the little ones that she could carry around. So here is Grace looking very proud with her pumpkin pick. Notice the shoes... goes perfect with the outfit... or so she thinks! :)

Aggie Chick

Grace is suited up to support her Aggies today! Gig 'em Ags!

SHOES!

Yesterday I was going through Gracie's clothes for fall/winter (not that the weather is cold enough for fall/winter clothes, but because I'm so tired of her summer clothes). She happen to find many shoes that she loved. But these one in particular were her favs. Yes the black patten leather shoes with little pink flowers that were a size too big were her favorite. She insisted on wearing them ALL day with her khaki pants and pink shirt. Oh and the best part is they were on the wrong feet. I tried to *help* fix the mistake, but she didn't need any help. Lovely. What am going to do with her when she is 13?? Maybe this baby in my tummy is a boy... then at least I will hopefully only have 1 child with a shoe fetish.

Mommy and Me

Grace and I started a Mommy and Me class this morning. It is a little dance and a little play, but all fun! Grace LOVED every minute. I'm just so happy that they started one in our little town. I had to post a picture of Grace in her cutie little leotard before class. All the little girls and boys were so stinkin' cute!! Can't wait till next week. I'll try to get some action shots next week.

Home at last

I'm here and boy am I tired. I honestly don't think I've been this tired in a long time... maybe when I had a newborn I was this tired.
Why am up blogging right now? Because I have to update my blog for my granny. :)
So here goes... last Thursday we left Oklahoma for a Texas tour. We stopped in the Big D for dinner with my mom and brother. It was a nice dinner. Then we headed to East Texas to drop Grace off with Adam's parents for the weekend. We didn't get there there till 10 so we went straight to bed. Unfortunately our alarm clock (AKA: Grace) got up early around 7. We brought Grace up to mother-in-laws school where she teaches and up to my father in laws work to show her off. She was a big hit in her new squeeker shoes. (I'll post about her shoes later... they are soooo stinkin' cute!).
Then after lunch we left our baby girl in good hands and headed to College Station, TX for a good 'ole Aggie football game. My uncle is Bob DeBesse... he is the wide receiver coach for A&M so we stayed at their house and hung out with all the other coaches wives and families. Friday night was hanging out while eating pizza! DOUBLE DAVES... yum!!
Then Saturday we headed to a tent sale where I managed to spend over $100 on Aggie gear. We don't get to Aggieland very often so I had to stock up. I got the cutest shirt for Grace that says "Aggie Chick"! I'll post a picture as soon I get one. We had lunch with some other friends that came into town for the game at the Chicken Oil. Double yum... but I forgot to order cheese fries, so I was craving them the rest of the day. Then off to TAILGATE! We tailgated with my family and all their Aggie friends. It was just so nice to hang out with my Aunt and cousins that I don't get to see very often. And finally the game. OH MAN. If you missed the Aggie game vs. OSU on Saturday night you missed an AWESOME game. The first half was boring for us since we were loosing by 17 points at the half, but then the Aggies decided to play some football. We ended up coming back and winning 24-23. It came down to the last couple minutes! What an emotional game. After the game we went to the Fox and the Hound (the only place that wasn't super busy or smokey), ate and hung out for a bit. Didn't get in till around 1:30 and didn't get to bed till about 2.
What were we thinking?? I'm a HUGE sleeper. I need a good 9 hours to function. But we had to get up at 9 to start driving to get Grace. And since I had to work today and since Adam is away on business for the week it has totally caught up with me and I'm tired. So I think I'm going to head to bed.
Here is a random assortment of pictures from the weekend. ENJOY!

My cousins and I. (Kaila (left) is a freshman at A&M and Brittany (right) is a junior at Purdue). Why did no one tell me to take my sunglasses off?? John and Sarah and with Adam and I. John was one of Adam's roommates in college.
Adam and I on the field before the game. (A perk of being family of a coach).
My friend Katie and I! Notice she gets to drink beer and see my water on the table! I would love a nice cold margarita!
Lane - He was the star player!! I just took a picture of him in the locker room stretching before the game. He is a HUGE guy... at least three times my size!

OH and Grace had a good weekend with Mema and PopPop. She got to eat lots of yummy food and got LOTS of attention! Like she isn't spoiled enough :)

2 weeks and 2 days!

That is how much longer I have to wait till we find out!!!! My doc wasn't there this morning. His head nurse said he over did it yesterday. While I do want him to be healthy, I'm bummed! So since this week the ultrasound tech doesn't work and next week Adam and I will be out of town I have to wait an additional week till October 18th to have an ultrasound. :(

I did find out that I'm measuring small and I still haven't gained back the weight I lost. They said its okay for now. I don't get it though... I'm eating like crazy and I'm especially craving ice cream, candy and still everything bagels. I was 5 pounds heavier at this point with Grace. Oh well I'm sure I will gain soon enough!!!

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On a brighter note, Grace is doing much better today. Yesterday she was mad at us and super tired! Today she is much happier. And her nose seems to not be bleeding as much. I've already done 2 loads of laundry from yucky bloody clothes, sheets, & blankies!

Getting better

Grace's surgery went well this morning. She was in surgery for about 1 hour and 45 minutes. The longest 1.45 hours in my life! Finally the doctor came back and said that Grace was in recovery and doing fine. Unfortunatly they were not able to finish the procdure. They were able to probe the tear duct, but they were unable to get the tube from her eye into her nose cavity where it was to stay for 3 months. We are going to wait to few weeks to see it does happen to clear up with just the probing, but her doctor seems to think it will not. If that is the case we will have to see a specialist in Dallas that will have to do a little bit more evasive surgery. The doctor thinks there is additional blockage, but he was unable to tell why the tube would not go in. So back to square one.
Grace did great coming out of the anestesia. She was pretty upset at first and just wanted daddy, but within 2 hours she was trying to be her silly self. She is resting now... just pretty tired today, with a bloody nose off and off, but overall seems to be doing very well. I hate that we may have to put her under again.
Anyway, thank you to everyone for your thoughts and prayers. I wish I had brought my camera to take a picture of her before the surgery... she was such a cutie in her little gown that was WAY to big on her (and it was even a toddler gown). But here are a couple pictures of Grace on the mend. Sorry about the bloody nose in the first one, but it captures how she was feeling.

Daddy makes things all better!!

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And on a less important note, I talked to my OB's office and they still want me to come in the morning. My OB is back but not really.... I might get to see him since I have one of the first appointments of the day, but I might not. Which means I might not be able to find out the sex. The crappy thing is that my OB normally has a ultrasound tech in his office on Thursdays, but not this week, then next week Adam will be out of town in Wisconsin! So not sure when we will find out what we are having. Maybe a couple weeks at worst :( I guess we will find out eventually. I'll post after my appointment tomorrow morning.

Stroller decision

I decided to buy my cousin's Graco Duo Glider b/c she lowered her price and made it a deal I just couldn't pass up. I think I will just start off with that stroller and then buy just the single Sit 'n Stand when Grace is really ready for it and I'm ready for her to be able to get in and out of the stroller. I guess I'll just have to get over the large size and bulkiness of the stroller. It really is a nice stroller and a blessing to find it for so cheap!

Thanks again Leigh!

Question

We are dying to know what we having. I can't imagine waiting the full 9 months to know what you having. How do our mothers and grandmothers wait that long?? The planner in me wants to already start getting things ready, buying things, etc.

So just curious... Was the Chinese Lunar Calendar right for the sex of your children?

It was right for Grace, but I don't know if that was just luck. Afterall, it is just a 50-50 guess. Anyway, just wanted to poll you ladies and see what I got. Click on this link HERE to go to a calendar if you haven't ever done one.

Oh and for this pregnancy it says I'm going to have a girl. But I'm really feeling boy... who knows. I guess I'll know this week. Either way we would be excited, we just want to know. And of course we want to know that the baby is healthy and growing like he/she should be!

Thanks again for the stroller recs. I still have no clue which I'm going to go with. I also had another friend recommend a Combi double b/c they are pretty compact. Who knows!

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Update to above post:
We are suppose to have my ultrasound on Tuesday morning, however my OB just had his gall bladder out and had a few complications. He is the one that does all my ultrasounds so I'm suppose to call on Monday and see if I need to reschedule. At worst, if my appointment gets moved it will just be to Thursday when he has a ultrasound tech in his office. I'm really hoping my OB is well... he is pretty young and has never been out of the office for this long (4 weeks) in the 4 years he has been practicing. He has actually delivered every one of his patients babies except for 5! But now of course that changed.

Double Strollers here I come!

Okay so I need a little help from mamas of 2 or more. As many of you know I'm expecting our second baby in March... just 2 weeks after my daughter celebrates her 2nd birthday! We use our strollers (we have 3... an umbrella, the big travel system, and a jogging stroller) all the time!

I can't imagine that in 5 months that my daughter is going to miraculously be able to walk independently while we are out and about, while the baby takes a ride in the stroller. Thus we need a bigger stroller. However, most double strollers are HUGE!

The Graco Duo Glider is the one I was leaning towards at first, but it is still just so big when it is folded down. I currently drive an Accord so its not like I have loads of storage space in my trunk. One good thing about the Duo Glider is that my cousin is selling hers, which is in great condition, for a great price of $100. But new I could get one from about $150.

Then I found the Sit 'n Stand Elite Double Stroller. It goes from a traditional double stroller (like the Duo Glider), but when your older child is ready it converts to a Sit 'n Stand where the older child has the option to sit on bench or stand. And it really isn't that pricey at just under $200.

There are also so many other brands and choices. I'm just really so confused. Thankfully I have a while before I have to make any big decisions, but I just wanted to see what else is out there that I might not know about.

So what has worked for you or what do you think would work for you if you don't have 2 kiddos yet. Thanks for your help!

Miss Pris

My little Miss Pris is so grown up all the sudden! Where oh where did my baby go??

She is such a girl. She LOVES shoes. In fact it was one of her first words. But if we happen to leave a pair out she usually claims them. I normally have to hide her little hot pink crocks otherwise she would wear them to bed. Oh my... what do I have to look forward to.

I've been wanting to get Grace one of those pop-up tents, but after realizing how much they are ($50 bucks!!) we decided to wait and make it one of her Christmas gifts. So we made a make-shift tent with our card table and a blanket and she loves it. She doesn't know that there is no Dora the Explorer on the side. She even has lots of room for friends (as you can see in the picture!).
She is copying me in this picture b/c I got on my tummy to snap this picture. (Which I wont be able to do much longer!) Oh and you can't tell by the picture, but she has started to say "Cheese" whenever you pull out the camera. It is too funny!!
Grace is also getting ready to have a little brother or sister soon. She put her Muddy the Mud Hen (Toledo's minor league baseball team's mascot... we have friends up there) in her booster seat, snapped him in and was attempting to put her bib on him. It was too cute.

And an update to the peanuts allergy: Grace is doing GREAT (as you can see in the pictures). No rash anymore!! My friend has been telling all of our friends that Grace is allergic to peanuts... so sweet... she still just feel terrible. To be honest, I'm sort of happy that I know how Grace reacts to peanut butter, as bad as that might sound.

Well I'm off... nap time is over!

NO PEANUTS!!!

We had a scary Friday afternoon.

Let me give some background info first. When Grace was around a year she was having some constipation issues and the doctor thought it might be food related so we allergy tested her for the big ones... wheat, corn, milk, peanuts, etc. We found out that she though this allergy test that she was allergic to peanuts. So we have never given her peanuts.

Well yesterday morning, I dropped off Grace with a friend for 2 hours while I ran down to the hospital to sign some papers and get her pre-registered for her eye surgery on the 1st. Grace had already eaten breakfast and I knew I would be back before lunch so I only packed some Cheese-its for a snack. Well as things would have it, my friends kids got hungry and she fed them some peanut butter crackers and cheese sticks. And you know how kids are... if one of the has something they all want it. She actually didn't know that Grace was allergic to peanuts... I just never thought to tell her and this was the first time she has watched Grace for me without me there. Anyway, she thinks Grace only ate maybe one cracker because she was more interested in the cheese (she LOVES cheese!).

When I picked her up she seemed like her normal little self so I brought her home fed her lunch (just spaghetti that she has had a good hundred times) and laid her down for a nap.

After about 1.5 hours she got up screaming. She is normally my pro napper, sleeping for 2-3 hours most days and usually wakes up happy. I went into her room I noticed that her ears were really red and looked a bit swollen. Then I realized within seconds that she was scratching her tummy like she had just been bitten by 10,000 ants! I pulled up her and shirt to see huge welts... a VERY bad rash! I pulled her out of crib and inspected her body to realize she had bumps and redness everywhere... her arms, back, tummy, diaper area, legs! (It looked very similar to the rash she had when we found out she was allergic to penicillin.) I immediately called the doctor and they told me to give her Benadryl and come in immediately.

I loaded her up and drove to the doctors office (30 minutes away). By the time I got there she had stopped itching, but was still very red and her poor ears looked so big! (I wish I had taken a picture, but I was so scared that was pretty far from my mind).

I knew the doctor would want to know what she ate, but everything I fed her she has had many times before... oatmeal and a banana for breakfast and spaghetti for lunch. Then I thought maybe my friend fed her something, so I called her on the way and she told me about the crackers. I knew that was probably our culprit. He thought for sure that was it and gave her a steroid shot and a prescription for some other stuff to help her skin clear up. Which today looks so much better!!!

He also gave us a prescription for EpiPens. An EpiPen is just a shot that we push into her thigh if was having a severe allergic reaction... like is she was having a hard time breathing or swallowing.... give her the shot then get to the emergency room b/c it is only temporary. He wants us to have one on hand at all times in case of an emergency. He said since she reacted like that to such a small dose of peanuts he just wants us to be safe in case. Especially as she gets older.

So moral of the story... tell everyone that my child is allergic to peanuts!!

Oh and my friend feels terrible. She called at least 3 times yesterday to make sure she was better.

HUGS

Grace and Sammie are true buds! Not sure why Grace has a stressed looked on her face? She loves Sammie so much. Sammie lets her ride her like a horse, pull her tail, give her hugs and kisses and just all around pester her! She is such a sweet dog to have around a pretty girl!

A little of this and that....

We're here... just busy I guess. This past weekend we made a quick trip to the Big D to see some family that came in from out of town that we haven't seen in forever. Although we didn't get to spend as much time with them as we would have liked it was nice to see everyone. For those of you that don't know my family its pretty big. My mom is one of nine children and my dad is one of eight children so I have LOTS of aunts, uncles and cousins. Grace seems to love the craziness of family get togethers as much as I do. Although this weekend she was more interested in climbing the stairs then socializing.

On Saturday morning I was craving my usual everything bagel so I decided to go to Einstein's bagels which is just minutes from my parents house. All I have to say is gross! They put some extra seed on their everything bagels that make it disgusting... so I'm staying loyal to Panera Bread from now on.

Last Friday before heading out of town, I brought Grace to the opthomologist (spelling?) to see what we need to do about her clogged tear duct. It was decided after much thought and questioning that Grace will have surgery on her eye. In a nut shell, they will have to put her under, probe the duct and insert a tube in the tear duct. The tube will stay there for 3 months and then they will remove it. The surgery is scheduled for October 1st. I'll post more as I know more.

In other news, Grace has been a delight this week. The last couple of weeks I was beginning to think the terrible 2's were beginning, but thankfully my sweet baby girl is back. Hopefully to stay for a while... because my patience sure can't handle it right now. I blame it on the hormones.

I've been feeling really good the last week or so. AMEN!! I've only gotten sick briefly in the morning, but I am fine once I get something in my tummy. This little one sure is a hungry one! Two short weeks till we find out what we having. I can't believe it! This pregnancy really is going so quickly. I'm also so excited that I have so many friends and family that are preggo too and due within weeks of me. My friend Hailey is due February 18th, my friend Tiffany is due March 4th (I think... her date keeps changing), I'm due March 5th, my aunt Julie is March 9th, and my sister-in-law is due March 23rd. How exciting!!!! What do you bet that they all have their babies before me. For some reason I feel like this little one is going to hang out in my belly longer than I would like.

So I'm rambling now!! Oh I almost forgot... please check out my friend's new blog... MAMAVICE. It is really cool. It's basically a place to ask questions about your kiddos and get some advice from other mamas. Check it out!!

bagels ... Part II

So finally made my way to Panera Bread this morning and bought the remaining 7 they had. Seriously, it was only 9 in the morning and they only had SEVEN left. Oh well I got some so I was happy. Very happy! Then I head home after hitting Target (yes the nearest Target is also 30 minutes away from my house) and head to Walmart for groceries (the only grocery store in my town). While picking up some tortillas for dinner (I'm making some yummy sausage quesadiallas on the grill) I happen to notice EVERYTHING BAGELS sitting on the shelf in my walmart that is 3 minutes from my house. WHAT! Granted they aren't Panera Bread everything bagels, but hey I would have taken Pepperage Farms everything bagels in a heart beat this week. Why did no one tell me?? Honestly I've never noticed them before... maybe they sell quick too, but at any rate I drove 30 minutes when I could have driven 3. Oh well I guess I only wasted like $10 bucks in gas :)

The Itsy Bitsy Spider

How stinkin' cute is this?? Forgive my terrible singing!

YEA!!!!!

Went to the doctor today and everything is looking good. I'm measuring exactly 15 weeks and I've gained back a few pounds but I'm not quite back up to my starting weight. I seriously don't see how I haven't gained more because I'm practically in all maternity clothes now!

Anyway, we did find out that in 3 short weeks we will find out if Grace has a brother or sister on the way. So stayed tuned till October 2nd!!

cravings...

I should start by saying I really haven't had any true cravings. I really have had more food aversions than anything... can't really eat chicken or really any plain meat for that matter which is odd for me b/c I am normally a big meat eater.

But back to the cravings... the last few days I've been dying for an everything bagel from any type of bagel place. Seeing how I live in rural Oklahoma with NO bagels places in my town, I convinced Adam to drive me 30 minutes away to go to Panera Bread to buy me a dozen everything bagels. I was so excited! However, little did I know that once Panera Bread runs out of bagels for the day that is it... they make no more until the next day! So when I got to Panera Bread and ran in I learned this and I also learned that they only had ONE everything bagel left... so I bought the one everything bagel and I already ate it this morning. So now all I think about is what I am going to have for breakfast in the morning. I would totally drive the 30 minutes in the morning if I didn't have to work.

The thing that is more funny about this is up until 1 week ago I didn't even know I liked everything bagels... I always bought a plain bagel... maybe its the onion or garlic, but yummmmmm I just can't get it out of my mind. So the next chance I have I am on my way to Panera Bread to get me some everything bagels.

Enough of my ramblings... did anyone else have weird cravings like this? With Grace I really didn't crave much... sometimes candy (which I crave with this one too) and salty foods, but that was about it. How about you?

Hey there

We have been a busy little family over the last week and a half. Last weekend (pretty much last minute too) we decided to go visit our good friends Joey, Hailey and Molly in Arkansas... so we drove 5 hours one way to spend a quick weekend with them. Even though it was too short was enjoyed hanging out with them. It makes me realize how much I miss them here! It was so beautiful in Arkansas with it's rolling hills and trees everywhere. Makes rural Oklahoma look even worse. Molly and Grace had a blast hanging out and stealing toys from one another! Will they ever out grow that? Everything was "mine" or "my"... can't wait till that new baby gets here. I'm sure Grace will steak claim on all the babies toys!

This picture was taken near the Arkansas River on a beautiful day! Bikini girls!Hugging and feeding her baby in the car

Then on Monday of this week (after getting back Sunday afternoon) Grace and I got back in the car and headed to see my friend Katie and her little girl Paige in East Texas... a 4.5 hour drive. We hung out, got pictures taken of the girls by one of Katie's friends (I'll post when I get them), went shopping at the Woodlands Mall and ate some yummy food. It was a nice little trip despite the fact that Grace didn't sleep well. She was waking up a couple times a night... which is hard when you are pregnant and tired and use to having a toddler that sleeps at least 11 hours at night! We headed home on Thursday. I have to say that Grace has really gotten to be pretty good in the car. After all it is pretty hard for a toddler to be restrained in a car seat for hours on end. Amen for portable dvd players!!

Here is a cute picture of Paige(3 months) and Grace(18 months). Grace did pretty good with Paige... despite the fact that she nearly sat on her several times, kicked her (on accident), and nearly smothered her with hugs she will make a good big sister in March. (I HOPE!)

dancing baby

I got the idea from my friend Michelle to post a video of Grace dancing.

Her little one is a dancing fool and so is my Grace! Enjoy.

canceled

Why is it when you plan your day around one event, then that one event is cancelled. Gracie's eye doctor appointment got rescheduled b/c the doctor had an emergency surgery so I guess that is a pretty good excuse. Unfortunatly we couldn't get back in till September 14th. Oh well... I guess we will just have to live with eye goop a little longer! Thankfully it doesn't seem to bother Grace.

CHEESE!

I can pull the camera out at any time now and she just starts smiling... it is too funny. She was in a terrible mood tonight and I was able to get this goofy smile!

This one is from yesterday.
(she had just finished a cookie, but it was such a cute smile not to share)

We'll keep her...

One of my favorite foods is artichoke. YUM! I love it! When I met Adam he had never had an actual artichoke... just the hearts mixed in pasta. I got him hooked and now when I make artichoke I make one for each of us. I don't really like to share! Grace hasn't ever had artichoke until last night and she LOVED it. She even knew exactly how to eat it! Although I do think she liked it more b/c we dipped it in miracle whip and melted butter. I'm hungry just talking about it. I may have to go buy another couple for dinner one night this week!

Here is a picture of her eating mamma's favorite.

Boy or Girl?

What is your guess?

All the questions have started including ones about the sex of the baby. Here are my answers to the ones I've been asked a lot lately!

What do you think you are having? A boy. Why? Not sure... just a feeling I guess. Although I did think I was having a boy with Grace and well we all know that she is far from a boy.

Do you want a boy or girl? This is a tough question. For us, it would be wonderful for Grace to have a sister and we also have a few pink things already on hand. But at the same time, a boy would be fun too, to have something different and buy all new blue things. I don't think that God wouldn't give us anything we couldn't handle!

Are you going to find out what you are having? OF COURSE! I think if it were 1950 and I wasn't able to find out what I was having then I would be fine with that, but since I can find out why not. Plus if you know me you know that I'm a huge planner and I would probably die of anxiety if I waited until the baby was born.

Do you have any names yet? Yes... we have a girl name, but no boy name. Not sure if we are ready to annouce the girl name yet since we might not have a girl and we may still change out minds. Shoot we didn't decide on Grace's name until I was nearly due. If you have any cute boy names that go well with Grace let me know!

So to keep things fun... What do you think we are having? We will all find out in 6 weeks time... early October!!

well check today!

We went to the doctor this morning for Gracie's 18 month well check and everything looks good. She is right on par with other 18 month old's. Here were her stats:

Height: 33 3/4 inches (95 percentile!!!)

Weight: 23 pounds (25 percentile)

Our little long and lean girl... wonder if this means she could be a model or basketball player?? Two things I would have never have imagined for myself being only 5'4" :)

Only bad news we got is that Grace may have to have a little procedure done on her eye. Her eye is still getting this yucky goop in it pretty much on a daily basis. A lot of babies have this ... it is called a clogged tear duct, but it is normally goes away on its own by this age. So we have to see a Opthomologist (spelling?) next Tuesday to see what he thinks. Our pediatrician thinks they will just have to release the duct which will require Grace to be put under anesthesia... sort of scary, but it is a common procedure that takes about as long as it does to get ear tubes. I guess the concern is that the goop in her eye could lead to vision issues so we would rather get this taken care of now. We will let you know how the appointment goes and what the doctor says next week!

Here is a picture of Grace after nap showing off her battle scar... thankfully there was only 1 shot today!! Grace didn't even cry, but probably b/c the nurse distracted her with a bracelet and a sucker. (Her sticker has hearts on it. The ones they always give her b/c she was our little Valentine baby!)

Pig Tails and 12 teeth...

Sometime in the last week Grace got 2 more teeth bringing her grand total to 12 teeth. Unlike all of her other teeth these were quite uneventful. Maybe she knew that mommy already had enough going on to worry with a unhappy fussy toddler! So she definitly gets the BEST Toddler award.

We have also been trying to find some new hair styles for Miss Pris.... well here is our attempt at some piggie tails... they look okay in the picture, but she just really needs more hair. Hopefully that will come soon!

OH and I did want to tell everyone that I've been feeling MUCH better. I've only gotten sick a few times in the last week and it wasn't near as bad as it was. I've been able to eat more... in fact I've quite a little appetite already! So I'm sure I'll be putting on the pounds in no time!!

Hi!

Grace just wanted to tell everyone to have a good weekend. Here she is holding her baby! We are already starting to teach her to be gentle with the baby. It's a work in progress.

Have a good weekend!