Snowmanny

Jesse went snowmobiling for the weekend and it was just the kids and me.  We only had the Jeep for the weekend and I really don’t like going anywhere in the Jeep in the winter – so we stayed home all weekend.  Saturday it was so nice out!  In the 30s!  We have been experiencing lots and lots of negative temps – so 30s felt wonderful and refreshing! 

I laid the kids down for a nap and told them after nap we could go outside and make a snowman.  Well… I should of never said it.  They couldn’t sleep!  They sat up there for an hour giggling and playing that I finally went up there and said… everyone up and lets go outside!  They screamed and cheered!

At first I couldn’t get the snow to pack!!  It took us to the third location before I finally got it to pack.

We found sticks by the fire pit and we picked pine cones off of the neighbor’s pine tree!

I wanted a picture of me in here – so that kids would remember that I grunted and moaned and used every single muscle to lift those gigantic snowballs and made the snowman!  Snow is extremely heavy!

Then they attacked me.

The neighbor (not the one who we stole pinecones from) came over and took our picture on his cell phone.  He said – he hasn’t seen a snowman in so long that he needed a picture of us!  He even called the neighbor (again not the pinecone neighbor) directly across from us and told them to look out their window and check out our snowman.  : )  I joke that we live in a retired community – so they love watching my kids play and seeing that snowman just was too fun for them.

Mallory loves snow angels and she makes them a lot.  Well Max just jumps up and falls over backwards and then sticks one arm up in the air for you to pull him back up.

We bought a swing set from friends one street over at the very end of fall.  So the kids haven’t been able to use it much.  After snowman and snow angels they ran to swing and go down the slide.

We ended our day together in footy jammies with popcorn, juice boxes & movies.

Mallory really wanted footy jammies for Christmas.  Really wanted them!  So I would tell her, “I’ll get you footy jammies for Christmas if you get me footy jammies for Christmas.”  Christmas rolls around she gets her footy jammies!  She is so excited!  Then we go to Christmas at the Frey’s and the kids have presents for us from them.  We had no idea!  I open my present and it was a pair of footy jammies!!  I giggled!  The kids were so proud!  What surprised me was that they never once told us they bought us presents – or what they were!  They requested that I wear mine for our movie night.  Movie night was early (like 5pm) and I was so afraid someone was going to come to the house and find me in footy jammies.  No one did.  : )   

Snow Jeep & Snow Tubes

After Jesse stood on the counter and drove the remote control Jeep around and around and around the kitchen while kids chased it trying to catch it.  Crashing it into my brand new kitchen cabinets.  We decided that maybe the Jeep would like drive outside in the driveway!

It worked.  But only the driveway.  Max kept trying to drive it up the sidewalk but it was too slippery it couldn’t go.

Mallory left her snow tube outside and we sent her on a mission to try to find it under all the snow.

It was a pretty morning and I got distracted  by pine trees covered in snow.

It was easier for him to drive the jeep without his gloves on.

Mallory found her snow tube and was sledding up a storm down the sidewalk.

Maxwell’s hands got cold so we put the Jeep away and got out the gigantic tractor to see if he could plow some snow.

Mallory is still sledding.

Max took a turn.

He is a bit lighter and he goes all the way across the driveway.  When Mallory saw that – she made Jesse push her super hard so that she could go all the way across.

Belly Bump–13 Weeks

Ah 13 weeks!  Finally!  I’m telling you when you find out your pregnant at like 2 weeks… Making it to 13 weeks is like… Amazing!  I’ve been watching friends on facebook announcing they are pregnant and their due dates are well before me!  : )  It feels like the longest pregnancy already and we are just getting through the first trimester!

Baby is Due July 1st.

I’ve been battling morning sickness again this time around.  The last couple of weeks have been good though.  This time around a friend introduced me to all natural ginger chews to help with the nausia.  Which actually helped.  I ate a lot of them.  I still have them once in awhile now.

I know I was tired and exhausted and no energy the last two times but this time around it is extreme!  I worked with my other two pregnancy.  I’m not working with this one and I keep thinking… how would I ever work!  I have NO energy!  Drinking (caffeinated) coffee made me horribly sick.  I couldn’t even boost myself with coffee.  It took everything just to make it to nap time.  To which I totally crawled into bed and slept!  I attempted to set the alarm for only 30 minutes but I was turning that sucker off and ignoring it when it went off.  I felt super guilty taking naps – but my super awesome husband told me not too(feel guilty)!  I am growing a tiny human!  I continued to take naps.  I don’t need a nap every day now – my energy is slowly coming back.  Slowly. 

Emotional!!  Oh goodness!!  I cry so easily!  Doesn’t even have to be sad!  My sister-in-law sent me a youtube video “Jimmy Kimmel Told Me To Eat Your Candy” which is the parents pretend to eat all their kids Halloween Candy and record their reaction.  I’m not kidding!  Full on tears!  I felt so bad for those kids!  All their candy was gone!  Well then that night I did it to my own children!  Seriously!  Hormones!  I recorded my children when I told them I ate all their candy.  But I didn’t cry.  I laughed!  Hormones! 

I have no memory!!  No memory!  I can’t remember a thing!  Lists and cell phone reminders are a must!

Eating strange things.  I don’t really remember eating strange things with the other two.  This time around I crave a lot of carbs and salt.  Which I had reduced my carbs (two months) before getting pregnant.  I’ve been trying to fight all the carb craving because I feel horrible after eating them.  But sometimes I can’t be convinced to not eat them and then I eat Tums.  Back to strange foods… one day I ate refried beans and a peppermint (decaf) mocha… together!  Before the morning sickness hit I couldn’t get enough cream cheese, roasted red peppers, hummus and Dr. Pepper. 

I have ligament stretching/pains already!  already!

That pregnancy glow!  For the birds!!!  I have no glow!  More like acne galore!! 

I had a baby dream already and my dream was we had a boy.  I can’t remember the dream at all.  I just put a note in my phone journal that I had the dream.

I would really like to exercise with this pregnancy.  Being in my 30s this time and with it being the 3rd one… I feel like I’m going to need all the jump start I can get to getting back to pre-pregnancy.  I’m not going to be crazy about it – I’ll be healthy about it.  I haven’t been very good about it since the Holidays… but I hope I can get back into it afterwards.  I also hope that exercise will help with energy levels!

The kids are excited!  Max wants a little brother.  Mallory wants a little sister.  So they think maybe there are two and they both will get a baby.  They pray for the baby every night before bed.

Christmas = Princesses & Tractors

Christmas Eve we headed out to Jesse’s Uncle Bobby’s House.  The kids ran around with all the other little kids.  As we are leaving to go to our next stop Aunt Janice is hugging both the kids and she says something about Santa coming to the kids.  Max yells “Santa isn’t real!  He is just pretend!”  Blew the socks right off Auntie Janice!

We headed over to the Hemmers for Family Christmas.  I didn’t have time get a picture of us all before we left so I had my Mom grab a few with my camera.

Mallory wanted a picture with Wilson the Elf in one of our pictures.

The next few pictures I really like because you can see goofy Max and sweet cute Mally.

It is a little crazy at Family Christmas so I never picked up my camera again.  Wrapping Paper.  Giggles.  Running.  Mean Game of Spoons. 

Christmas morning with our little family.  The kids slept until 8am!!  A day of no naps and getting home late will give us that perk!  Mallory runs into our room and says “Can we open presents now!?”  I say yes.  She runs out of the room to the living room.  I think nothing of it.  I get out there and she has a present open already!!! 

Whoa!!!  Guess my “yes” meant right now!  Here she is busted opening presents without us!

Lots of tractor equipment and farm animals!!

Oh and a remote control muddy Jeep.  Of course!

Max and I were in the store one day and he saw this muddy jeep and made me backup the cart so he could show me.  I didn’t see it.  When he opened it he says “Just like at the store!”

Happy boy!

It was the year of princesses for Mallory.  I think she has 6 of them now!  She loved them! 

And my brand new kitchen is being terrorized by this remote control jeep and a little two year old!! 

I told Jesse this says for ages 8 and up.  He said… get it anyways.  It has been a huge hit – but he has no idea how to turn it or stop it.  Just full speed right into what ever. 

We then ended Christmas at the Freys.  I totally meant to bring my camera and forgot.  I wasn’t happy!  Mallory received an American Girl Doll.  She has been dreaming of one since the summer.  She jumped up and down and screamed.  She was very excited.  Max was gifted a gigantic tractor & combine.  I really do mean gigantic!

It was a fantastic Christmas.  We are all feeling very blessed and loved. 

Bringing Back An Old Tradition

When I was a kid we did a cookie baking with my Mom’s entire side of the family.  It was a big event.  It was super fun.  Make tons of cookies.  Hopefully it was snowy and we could go play outside.  Hopefully the pond was frozen and we could “skate” on the pond.  It was one of my personal favorite Christmas traditions. 

All us kids grew up and went to college and the tradition ended. 

Now I have been blessed with this big open spacious kitchen – I decided that’s it!  I’m bringing back cookie baking!  So I did!  : )

I think it is safe to say it was a huge hit… and it is a tradition that might actually stick around for awhile. 

Started out with the kids having to unwrap kisses.

Put chocolate in front of this girl… she is going to eat it!

Jesse put in his work too.  He is not a chocolate lover – so he was a safe worker.

Some more guests arrived and gave Junior the pans to make noise and drool on!

The first cookies went in!!  I always remember that being a huge event from when I was a kid… so I documented my first cookie sheet going in! 

Aunt Gayle is not afraid of a little help.  She puts all the kids to work.

You also can’t be afraid of germs during cookie baking… because they give the pans to the babies to chew on!

Didn’t take him long to find the chocolate!  Oops!  Who is in charge of this baby!?

The guys are safely tucked away from all the chaos!  But within watching distance so they know when they are missing the good stuff.

Ellyn takes her jobs very seriously!  You tell her a tiny bit of frosting… she is going to give you only a tiny bit!

It was time for Junior to have some man time.

I love the way he is acting all grown up and following the conversation.

The last cookie… cut outs!!

All kids are in on this adventure.

Grandma took one team.

Auntie Gayle took the other team.

Max was so covered in flour I thought for sure when I washed his clothes I would a have a glue factory in my washing machine.

Then it was time for frosting them.  Some how I got stuck between the two boys!! 

I really like that picture (above)!  I like that you can see Jesse watching us!

I let the kids frost two cookies and then I kicked them out!  There was way too much spoon & knife licking for my fancy.  I sent them outside to get three-wheeler rides with Jesse. 

Jesse took all four kids… by himself!!  They all had a blast!  They love their adventures with Uncle Jesse/Daddy! 

My kids are personally huge fans of cookie baking day… because they have been eating cookies every chance they can get!