25 Weeks.

We are now 25 weeks along. Baby boy is quite the active peanut these days. His most active times are around 6 am in the morning (right about the time when Rick is leaving for work), after breakfast and evening. But there are days I feel him moving all day- is that a sign that this baby is not going sleep?! :) Hot damn does Stella keep me moving....I am whooped by the end of the day! Being preggo and running after a toddler is no joke...haha. Our doctor appointment last week confirmed that everything continues to look and sound good and baby boy is healthy with a strong heartbeat. a million smiles over here. I also was right on target with my weight gain guess....I am up 14 lbs. If I remember correctly I am about where I was when I was this far along with Stella. Next appointment at 29 weeks will be the glucose test. guess i should lay off the gummies...:) 

We finally began working on the nursery. Baby steps. I have my ideas and theme I guess you could call it all ready. Just like Stella's I didn't want anything babyish; I wanted something he could keep for a while and grow with. This little book was the beginnings of my inspiration for Ricky's room... a true favorite.



What is even more special is Ricky the III will be using Rick's baby furniture from when he was just a tot. I refinished the dresser and it is going to be perfect in the new nursery. It is truly a one of a kind now. :)

Just a few other updates:
Wedding rings are still on, no swelling, belly button is looking damn shallow these days, cravings are still the same- mostly sweet stuff. Been loving Outshine yogurt bars-mostly the strawberry ones, cool whip with frozen blueberries, grapefruit- I could eat an endless amount of thee suckers, fruit snacks, and lastly good and plenty's and jujubes.

Overall I am feeling good... and just truly excited to meet this little man in a few months. 

Lately in Photos and Captions...

afternoon at the park...

preggo cravings lately....eek! anything gummy- get in my belly :)

I think it is safe to say that I am not the only one that loves my body pillow ;)

Yep! Because that is exactly where the laundry goes...

banana blueberry baked oatmeal is what's for breakfast...yum

cool whip with frozen blueberries have been a favorite around here lately...

washing daddy....

love love love this gal....

this smile.... melts my heart every time

With Motherhood Comes Worry

Motherhood can be described in so many words. So many joyous words. One word that I have talked about so often is the worry. I learned that a Mom begins to worry after she learns that she is expecting. My worry falls nothing short of constant. When I first found out we were expecting our first baby I was overjoyed but I also found myself worrying that he or she would be healthy, worrying that my body would be able to carry her to full term, worrying about every little pinch or pain that came along with pregnancy. When our baby arrived that worry did not stop...it continued but it's different now.

A few weeks ago, on one of the first nicer days, I took Stella to the park in town. It was during Spring break so there were other kiddies running and playing. Stella was by far the youngest one there. When we first got there I took Stella out of the stroller expecting her to take off and run to something colorful like the jungle gym or slide. Instead she stood still taking it all in. She watched all of the kids running and yelling. I just stood back (figuratively speaking) and watched her. I watched her expressions, her body language, and heard anything that she had to say. The other kids were whizzing by her as if she wasn't even standing there; some close to even knocking her down- not purposefully of course.  And it got me thinking, well worrying....

what if she doesn't make friends when she goes to school?

what if the kids pick on her in school?

what if something happens in school and i'm not there to help her?

what if she doesn't like school or want to go to school?

what if the kids don't want to play with her on the playground or be her partner in class?

what if she doesn't get invited to 'that' birthday party?

Ultimately one would say screw the others and it doesn't matter what they think. But, truth is (and being a teacher before, i can say this) kids can be flat out mean. Ruthless little shits. I want to teach my daughter to have that thick skin; to be able to brush those invaluable things off. To really know what matters. 

And really deep down inside, all I really want for Stella is for her to love herself, have and show off that confidence in herself, be proud of herself, and see beauty in all of the things that she does. I want her to know that she is loved dearly, even though the world can be cruel at times. 

Stella darling....

   Momma and Daddy will always love you, be here for you and do anything in our power for you. You will learn to love yourself for who you are. You are one beautiful, smart, kind, and loving little girl. Nobody will ever take that away from you. 

A Perfect Weekend...

It was what I would call a perfect weekend. The weather was killer, the productivity level outside around the house was more than great, the family time was even better...

This weekend was obviously spent outside. Rick started and finished all of the demo work on the front porch. He tore down the old porch and he will begin building the new one on these upcoming weekends. Nice thing is there is no rush; he can work on the porch little by little and make finishing decisions as we come to them. Rick and Stella brought out the tractor for the first time this year. Rick and his pit crew (Stella) worked on it in the garage and primed it for it's first cut of the season. Stella still loves the tractor and it is soooo nice to have a green yard again. Too bad Stella isn't quite old enough to pick weeds yet..haha but she did help Rick pick up the leaves and put them into bags after he raked them into piles. Stella is obsessed with rocks lately. She loves to pick out certain ones, put them in cups, make piles out of them, throw them, etc.. Well all three of us were in the yard cleaning up the leaves at one point. I was holding open the bag, Rick was raking and putting them into the bag and Stella was either taking small handfuls and also putting them into the bag or taking small handfuls and sprinkling them other places than in the bag. Then this happened:

I see Stella pick up this what looks like to be a brown rock out of the leave pile.

Me to Rick: I swear this girl can find a rock anywhere.

Rick: takes a closer look. That's not a rock that is Ellie's shit. and bats it out of her hands.

Me: Oh My! It looked just like a rock! Good thing it didn't make it's way up to her nose since she smells EVERYTHING these days!

Good ole' toddler tales...

A few other things that we did this weekend...

I planted my herbs. Basil, both green and purple basil, flat leaf parsley, and rosemary. My three favorites!

We went to Jimmy's for dinner and soft serve by the creek.

Stella played endlessly in her water table.

Ate lots of popsicles!

Went to Lowes and bought paint for the nursery.

Sidewalk chalk, bubbles, swing, and repeat!

Grilled arugula pizza's for lunch.

Rick gave Stella the longest bubble bath on Sunday night to end the perfect weekend. She is was in her glory as she took handfuls of bubbles and smothered it all over Rick's face. 

a few captured weekend moments...

6 months along...

i look back at my pregnancy chalkboards with Mabel and they still make me sad so i have not had the urge to start them again. however, i also know that i will be sad when this little babe arrives and the lack of my documentation and pictures from his pregnancy hits me. so here i am writing an update at six months along. i am not quite sure of my weight gain but if i had to guess it would be somewhere around 14 lbs? i will find out for sure at my upcoming doctor appointment this week. i feel that my belly has grown much quicker this time around. as far as cravings go, they have been sweets, sweets and more sweets. i have been trying my hardest to make those sweet indulgences healthy so my favorite choices lately have been the outshine strawberry yogurt pops, grapefruit, a scoop of cool whip with frozen blueberries and im in love with the teavana peach green tea lemonade at Starbucks. 

i am beyond excited for our our little guy to meet his big sister. i know deep down that they are going to love each other and be best buds. i am feeling truly blessed for this healthy baby and am already so in love with him. i can't wait to meet him and cuddle his sweet little body. 

not only can i feel his (i would say sweet little but they are not at times) strong kicks these days but rick and i love to watch my belly move with each of his movements. still so surreal. 

to my son:

i love you already and i haven't officially met you. i am thankful for you each and every day and can't wait to shower you with cuddles and kisses. 

Stella's Story Telling

Stella loves to tell stories. Well, that is what we are choosing to call it. Rick and I just really really wish we knew just what she was saying. See, she tells them in her own language and a lot of the time, she looks right at us, talks to us using her hands and all. Clearly she knows what she is saying; just wish we did.  At times it sounds as if she is scolding us, she gets all up close in our faces. Listening to Stella tell her stories has Rick and I literally rolling in laughter. Her stories must be that funny because she even laughs at them too. She tells stories ALL the time lately. Just this morning as I first greeted her, before I even said good morning...boy did she let out a looong story. Some are so long she actually uses all of her breath and needs to take another deep one to continue her story. I hope this is just the beginning of her imagination running wild....

here are two snippets of her telling stories

Happy Hump Day :)

Signs of Spring and the Word No

Yesterday Stella and I spent most, if not all of the day outside playing. We had a picnic style lunch, ran around the yard, went on the swing, did sidewalk chalk etc.. I know...what toddler would want to come inside to take a nap while there is more playing to be done?! Stella kinda  surprised the hell out of me yesterday- our conversation went as follows:

Me: Stella, do you want to go inside and take a nap?

Stella: No...

Me: I think we should go take a nap. We will bring blankies, kitty and Minnie. We can come out and play more when you wake up.

Stella: No...

What?!?! Did she just tell me no in the correct context? I felt blind sided. Not only did she look right at me and say the word 'no'; she used it correctly. Momma did win the nap battle...she was out in 15 min. :)

Has Spring sprung? 

Here are a few signs of Spring...

walks around town and by the river with our sunnies

town was mobbed!!

warm sunshine

only a windbreaker

picnic style lunches

short sleeved shirts

finding shade for the blanket

barefeet

swinging away

spring flutter shirts

spring color tops

This morning's conversation went as follows:

Me: Stella let's change your diaper.

Stella: Noooo...

This is going to take some getting used to... ;)

A Few Friday Favorites

Monday was the biggest tease, EVER. Good thing we spent most of the day outside since we have been housebound this week because of the shit weather. On Monday, Stella and I played in the driveway with bubbles, sidewalk chalk, ate snack, went on the swing and colored the rocks. She has such an obsession with the rocks. To my surprise she wore her sunnies that the Easter bunny got her the entire time. I saw her squinting in the sun when we first got out there and I thought I would just try putting them on her to maybe see if she would wear them...and whaddya know?? She wore them the whole time we were outside and loved them! She calls them her "sss" for sunnies.

Some of Stella's other favorites lately are painting her own nails and back to those sunnies, strolling around in her sunnies and necklace that she randomly found one afternoon digging in an old purse shoved in the back of my closet...haha Some days she wears her tutus all day long and some days we go tutu free! :) If there is one in her bedroom and she spots it first thing in the morning than it is no doubt going to be a tutu kind of day. 

Being that we have been mostly inside this week, I can't help but mention that it has been a pretty productive week around the house. Let's see I shampooed all of my carpets, scrubbed all of my hardwood floors and scrubbed the shit out of Rick and I's bathroom! And the best of all?? Our new refrigerator was delivered yesterday! Hallelujah! It was truly one of those things that you don't realize how much you will miss until it's gone. Soon after it was cold enough, Stella and I went to the food store and did a HUGE grocery shop to replace all of our food that we lost. That was tiring! But it feels sooooo good to be back in normal mode with food in the house and a working fridge. 

And for a few of my favorites this week? I am digging the french door style on the new fridge. We have so much more room than when we had the side by side doors. I complained redundantly about the side freezer. bigger freezer means more ice cream!  I am also addicted to grapefruit lately!! Cut that baby in half, place it in a bowl with with a teeny tiny sprinkle of sugar, grab a spoon and dig in! 

Stella's cheesy smile just keeps getting better, I swear. It seriously gets me every time...totally a favorite of mine. and always will be. 

And this little sweatshirt one piece that I got for our little man....totally smitten. It does feel so crazy browsing and shopping the baby boy section since girls is all I have known...it's a whole new world :)

Off the playroom! There is a little one standing next to me waiting for me to play.... TGIF!

Our Easter Weekend

Easter was so much fun this year. It was filled with family, food, festivities and candy! I felt like a child again :)  We kicked off our Easter weekend with dying eggs. Stella had no problem slam dunking the eggs into the dye cups. Our fingers were literally green when we were done because of her love for the green cup. Every one of our eggs would have been green if it were up to her ;)

Saturday we went to Nana and Poppop's for an Easter dinner and Uncle Wyatt's 16th birthday celebration all in one :) It was a great day spent with lots of family and close friends. Besides what felt like an ever lasting temper tantrum it was a great day. We indulged in a buffet style dinner and lots of goodies afterwards. Stella absolutely loved the kids egg hunt. She got the hang of it very quickly. She actually filled her basket in no time at all, in between getting blown over by the wind. The wind was in sane!! Every time she saw another egg she yelled with excitement, pointed at it and ran to it. Instead of putting the whole egg into her basket, she had to empty each one out into her basket; then put the egg in. :)

Rick and I were so excited for Stella to wake up Sunday morning to see what the Easter bunny had left. it was kind of like Christmas morning all over again. We set her basket on the coffee table so she could reach it easily and hid the eggs so she could easily find them. We were shocked that all she wanted to do was sit on the couch and have her morning milk before ripping through her goodies. just like Momma with her coffee...haha. So the goodies sat there as she drank her milk. When she was ready to began picking through her baskets....let's see; she wore her new tutu, new sunnies and had vanilla cupcake goldfish grahams for breakfast- sounds like a perfect morning. 

Later that day after Stella's afternoon nap we headed to Gammy and Pop's house for Easter dinner. We spent the late afternoon with Gammy, Pop, Aunt Nikki and the ponies :) The Easter bunny must have known you were going to Gammy's because he left you goodies there too! After opening your goodies from the bunny and eating dinner we went up to the barn to see Chaps and Elvis. No tears this time, Stella actually had no problem petting their heads :)

enough pictures for you?! :)

And for me? I am so truly blessed with family and friends. I am thankful everyday for my husband, my daughter, this healthy baby boy growing inside and the beautiful little family that we have created. 

Happy Easter 2015!