Sew Simple

Wondering where I've been? I've been busy making my girls some mommy magic. I've been wanting to make the girls something special from me, since I made Ben is fun chew toy. Well I got some really cute summer fabric and I made each girl a purse, just the right size for them.

Here is Hannah's And Alanna's

And because they are so cute, here they are together.

Here is an up close of the fabric. So cute for summer, and my 2 sweet girlies.

The Squishy

I catch Alanna jumping on the couch a couple of times a day. She has so much energy, and with winter here in Michigan its hard for her to get all of it out. I told her to jump on the floor and she stated, the obvious. "Its not squishy". I remembered I had the girls old crib mattress, laying around after we got a new one for Ben. I pulled it out and let the girls play. Alanna calls it the "squishy". So I present to you,
"The Squishy videos", starring Hannah, and Alanna.
Who would have figured all these toys and what you really need is an old mattress {HA!}

More pictures of the "Squishy" on flickr.

weather and my cute kid

I'm almost afraid to say it, but I finally think summer is here in Michigan. I have been drooling over all these posts from other people about how hot it is where they live and the pictures of the shorts and swimming, while me and my kids are here in sweatshirts and jackets.. This morning at 7:00am the bank said it was 77...and...humid. Well it didn't say it was humid but you could feel it for sure. I am not a big fan of the humidity, please tell me who is? But I am a fan of warm weather way more so than snow and cold. Today its supposed to get to 92ish...I am stuck in the office, but have every intention of enjoying this HOT weather this weekend. Can you picture shamou? (shamoo?), (sham moo?) in a bathtub..that will be me, LOL
Yesterday Alanna played in the sprinkler at Mimi's house (Aunt Tammy/Uncle Kyle) and could not stop talking about all the fun she had. I told her today we would send her bathing suit and she responded in, "my babysuit, oh momma, I so appy." It was the cutest phrase every said in the WORLD, I swear I checked it out...It seems her talking has just clicked. She so enjoyable to have a conversation with. This morning on the way to Mimi's house, Hannah was singing..Alanna looked at her and yelled STOPPPP, Hannah said why? Alanna shot back with e-cuz. (because) and just left it at that. She then started to crack herself up and we all laughed the rest of the way. Even on the most stressful of mornings, my girls are the greatest.

Big sister/Little sister

Tomorrow will be Hannah's last day of school. I can finally breathe a sigh of relief. School is not bad for Hannah, she actually really enjoys it. But I am burnt out on homework packets, lunch money and library books for the year. Having Hannah home for the summer and me actually being able to be home for part of the summer will be a nice treat for all of us. I know its hard on babysitters and family with having the girls all day everyday, I on the other hand enjoy it. I know I should because I am mom, but I do enjoy the girls being together and playing. Its the memories worth keeping.

Last weekend Hannah got a dose of what it really will be like this summer with a little sister who is mobile and vocal. Hannah was across the street at a friends house and Alanna wanted to play with her sister, so Alanna sat at the sidewalk and screamed over to Hannah until she came home to see what she wanted. It was frustrating for Hannah but funny for me to watch them both. Alanna was so adamant at getting her sister to come home she tried some very funny things. Screaming, singing, playing, and jumping. It was quite the sight. Hannah finally convinced her friends to come home t play for a little while so Alanna could play...I wasn't hard though, Alanna has won the hearts of all the neighborhood kids.

Month 7

Okay here we go. I am 28 weeks, that's the beginning of my 7 month and also the 3rd trimester. Can you believe it? Chris and I found out we were prego at 4 weeks, and now 24 weeks later it seems like a lifetime ago.
Baby boy is about 15-16 inches long from head to toe. Its amazing because both girls were only 18 and 18 1/2 inches long. Baby weighs about 2.4 pounds at this point. Which again is very amusing since Hannah was only 5 pounds 16.9 oz when she was born. Alanna was 6 lbs. 13oz. My uterus is a little more than 3 inches above your bellybutton. I say this because damn its hard as a rock right there. The average weight gain at this time should be between 17 and 24 pounds, however I must admit I am very happy to announce I have only gained 5 pounds. But don't worry, my doctor is also happy with this, because I have the weight to spare, she always says ever so politely :)

This month they (the professionals) say that I will probably start to visit my doctor every 2 weeks, I don't remember starting this early for the 2 week appointments, but my next visit is this Saturday, so I guess I will find out then. Week 28 is an important week for testing. I went last weekend for the glucose tolerance test. That's the worst one of them all I think. I have to drink this stale, flat orange drink, wait around the hospital for an hour and then get some blood drawn. Not fun. At least I had Hannah with me for entertainment. I taught her the hand slap game, and now she is addicted. There may also be an iron level test and if you are Rh negative, you should have an antibody test. I'm not sure about either of these 2 tests, but it has been over 2 years since I was pregnant last. I'm sure my Dr will bring it up on Saturday if she is concerned. I will not bring it up, because if I can avoid losing more blood and getting poked by more needles, I will.

Baby boy's brain continues to develop and is now forming the folds and grooves of a fully developed brain. The amount of tissues within the brain also continues to increase in large amounts. The hair that covers your baby's scalp is also getting longer.

Baby Boy has opened his eyes by now and the eyebrows and eyelids are well formed. He also has developed taste buds and sucks his thumb. And we do have proof of this in every ultrasound picture. The organs and systems are well developed by now and if born prematurely at this stage baby can survive if provided intensive, specialized care. The lungs approach maturity and the respiratory movements are now coordinated and regular.

I also have to mention that the girls are getting very excited. Hannah will kiss her brother every night before bed, and Alanna will lay on my belly and talk to him. She also thinks she has a baby in her belly, so she will lift her shirt and lay her belly on mine and the babies will "talk". Its so sweet to be able to include both of them..I also am very excited for baby boy to show up. Chris and I will be buying his bedding this week. The room needs some painting and organization, of course pictures will follow once we start doing all of that. Only 12 weeks left to go...

The girls room

I finally got the girls room done this weekend. Here are some pics.

The bed
The TV corner
The lounge area
Closet and more chairs
Alanna's bed

Hannah's bed

Close up of the comforter

Girls playing in the bed box

Silly girls

Chris working hard to put the bed together

More pictures here.

The new bed

Chris decided to put the bunk beds together last night. He really impressed me, because there was no tantrums, no stomping, and no throwing the furniture around the house, LOL. He was a good hubby and daddy last night. After the beds were all put together Alanna went around and said thankyou to me, Chris and our friend Phil who helped. She then went to her new bed and started kissing it all over and saying thankyou. It was THE SWEETEST thing in the world...I know you just want to steal her from me, but you can't. Shes mine. Well you can have her around 8:00 everynight. Thats when she starts to get crabby for bed time.
The girls slept in their new beds with little problems. Hannah complained because she wasn't used to the new and improved comfy mattress we bought. Alanna wanted to sleep with her sister on the top bunk and I had to go in the room a couple of times which is not normal, but over all I am very proud of the girls and how they handled the change.
We decided to put the girls in the same room now so when the baby comes they will be used to sharing and not feel displaced or moved out of their room right away... Pictures are coming soon, as soon as the room gets put all the way togehter.

Sisters

I didn't have a sister at my house 24 hours a day, like the girls do. My stepsister lived with her mom and my dad. We got a long great when we were together, but never anything this fun. I am so happy my girls have each other and I hope their friendship stays with them as they grow.

memories for a lifetime

Well we made it home. We got home last night about 5:30pm and was exhausted. The girls were so good in the car, that Chris and I have decided to make this Florida trip a once a year deal. The girls, Chris and I had a blast. There really are no words to describe the memories we made along the way and the gleam in both girls eyes in the adventures we took them on. We took more than 200 pictures and about 2 hours worth of video. The pictures are up here, and please forgive me for not putting them up here, but it took over 3 hours to get them upload to Flickr, and I am so tired. I am so happy we decided to drive, thanks to everyone who encouraged us to do so. You were all right, Once in a lifetime memories that we made as a family
We headed out on Wednesday at 5:45am and made it to North Carolina to visit with my Uncle, Aunt and Grandma. We stayed the night and started our trip again at 5:15 Thursday morning. We made it to my moms house around 6:00. Friday we headed for the beach in New Smyrna and never stopped from there. My mom and stepdad took us to a restaurant full of seafood, more for Chris than me, but I did try a crab stuffed mushroom for the first time. (When it comes to seafood, I am a little chicken to try it all, but slowly I am coming around). The restaurant was right on the water and when I say right on the water, it was running under our table as we ate on the deck of the restaurant. The view was amazing..Don;t ya know this was the only time I left my camera in the car...Shame on me. Saturday, we headed to the pool and swam a bit and then to Downtown disney we went. Seeing all the sites and Lego city, that was pretty cool too. If you don;t know Downtown Disney is more for adults, but they do have some fun kids stuff, like Goofys Candy store...HOLY COW, Keep me away from this store, please. The cookies were double the size of my hands, the chocolate covered strawberry was gourmet and the chocolate covered pretzels with m&m, peanuts and sprinkles would just melt in your mouth. Oh and lets not forget about the GIANT Carmel, chocolate butter finger dipped apple I had to have. That didn't last to long despite the size, good thing I'm pregnant or I would have been in big trouble.
Sunday we headed bright and early to Disney World. This was awesome. Hannah and Alanna both enjoyed it so much. We didn't get to do everything, but the important stuff like meeting Mickey and Minnie were first off our lists. Chris and Hannah rode some rides and even Alanna got in on some of the action. We seen attractions and ate, ate, ate. Popcorn and ice cream taste so much better at Disney :). We seen the parade, and skits, and many more characters along the way. We tired to see everything, and I thing we did an okay job of it. We didn't go in every building or on every ride, but what we did do was all the best in our books.
Monday we sort of relaxed, we went to the pool while Chris slept...He was prepping for our long ride home. We left at 9pm after many tears and hugs from my mom and stepdad. Well the tears came from me, Hannah and my mom. We had such a great time, and didn't want to return to reality. I missed my mom so much, before we made the trip down to Florida and the time they showed us was amazing and wonderful. We just didn't want to leave. Hannah and I sniffled about 10 more miles down the road and then reality did set in and we prepared for the car ride. We drove all night and and all day and finally made it home. I did shed a little tear when we came home but thats only because it was SO DAMN COLD, and the weather we left was dream like...80s all week long. The Michigan weather will put you in your place every time.

Like I said out trip was amazing and there really is no other words to describe it. Thanks to my mom and stepdad for showing us a GREAT time and cannot wait to do it again next year with the baby. Hopefully we can hang on to some of this fun until then. I am so greatful Chris and I were able to do this for our family and even though Alanna is only 2, I know these memories will stay with her and Hannah for the rest of their lives. Oh and I think baby boy had a great time to. Every once in a while he would kick and tell me he liked what we were doing...
PS be sure to chek out the pictures..they tell the trip so well.

Girl, your momma wasn't a glass maker

This is a new thing Lindsay has started. I thought, hey I have a toddler and sometimes there are good times and other times not so good. I hate to say this, because I know I will kick myself in the butt later, but so far so good the "terrible" twos haven't hit us all that bad. I know I said this once with Hannah and a week later they hit and I think sometimes they are still hanging around...but Alanna has been a lot of fun lately, and very funny.

Just last night Hannah and I were watching a show together. Jon and Kate plus 8, have you heard of it? The show usually comes on at 9:00 pm on Mondays on the TLC network. Hannah always wants to watch it, but its past her bedtime...Anyways for some reason it was on at 7:30 last night and she was sitting quietly on the couch next to me and watching the show. Alanna was on the floor playing with her toys when she got up to ask me a question..Alanna was in the way of the TV and Hannah asked so sweetly, "sissy, will you please move because Hannah is trying to watch this show?" Alanna backed up right in front of the TV and shook her butt and let out a little Ha~Ha~Ha. Hannah got so mad, and the more mad Hannah got the louder the Ha, Ha's got from Alanna...Oh the joys of a toddler...

For more toddler tales, check them out here.

Random Cuteness

Sunday night, both girls stuffed their shirts with stuffed animals and pretended to be prego like their mommy. Alanna got a big kick out of it. She ran around the house showing off her bump and laughing like crazy. Then Hannah taught her to lay down and "push" the baby out...That was really interesting, to say the least.

Last night Hannah had Alanna tied to a scarf and Alanna crawled around the house barking like a dog. Hannah taught her sister to sit and speak on command. Chris and I was sitting on the couch playing with our new "puppy" when she jumped on the couch and started panting and "kissing" our faces. She especially likes it when we scratch behind her ears...

Everynight before bed Alanna has to go through her night, night routine. She kisses her sister and gathers her blanket and her stuff animals, then she lines the animals on her bed all around her..She gets tucked in by her daddy and then kisses from mommy. Shes now started to kiss my belly and saying night night baby. Its adorable!

Last Saturday night I babysat Kylee for my brother. He turned 21 and celebrated in style at a local bar. Anyways, she was crying Sunday morning while I was fixing her a bottle and Alanna sat next to her and started playing peek a boo, and Kylee stopped crying, Alanna was so proud, I wish I had a picture...it was the best and brightest smile I ever seen on her.

how precious

Last night when I got home from work, I assumed my normal position on the couch, because I was still not feeling the greatest. Hannah wanted to lay on the couch with me, but we compromised and she layed on the floor right under me with a pillow and a blanket. We were watching TV together. Alanna was off playing with Chris on the computer, when all of a sudden she comes running in the living room with her blanket and pillow and lays right next to Hannah and starts watching TV with us, what a sweet heart she was. It was a really cute picture.

Day 1

As Promised, The cutest pictures of a cheerleader and a baby that you will ever see. Happy 1st day of NaBloPoMo

Hannah and Alanna
I got some candy mommy
Cheese
Group shot of Hannah, Alanna and their friends.

For the the pictures check here.

Good times

We had a really busy weekend. Our county fair was in town and we took the girls down to check it out. This year they are really family orientated and the girls had a blast. Check out the pictures below.

On Sunday, Lindsey and I met for lunch. We had a great time catching up and Lindsey is just wonderful. I can't believe we waited this long to get together again. We will not wait this long again...I left Alanna home with her daddy so I added a few extra pics of her so she wouldn't feel left out, hehe.

Wishing everyone a happy and safe 4th of July.

I heart my family

I can not believe it. The wedding countdown is at 30 days from today. That means in exactly 1 month I will be married. Its almost doesn't sound real. Everyone keeps asking me if I am nervous. I am. I am nervous that things won't come together, I am nervous that I am going to be an emotional wreck, I am nervous about being nervous. I go for my final dress fitting next Friday and then after that we have to do the bouquets and the wedding favors. Then all done! I think I am on top of things right now.....we will check back on that thought in a few weeks.

Can you guess what we had for dinner tonight? If you are thinking spaghetti then you are right. Poor baby her food kept falling of the spoon so she just dug in like no other. She would pull the bowl done and giggle, take a deep breathe and dig right back in. She had me cracking up. It was one of the funniest things she has done so far....oh except for last night...

I don't know about all of you, but I love to nibble on Alanna toes. Especially when she gets out of the bathtub. She thinks this is something funny. Well lately we have been pretend her feet smell and make a big PEW WEE noise. Last night Hannah took off her socks and Alanna ran over to them and SMELLED them and yelled PEW WEE!! Hannah and I rolled on the floor laughing. Well Alanna being the entertainer that she is took the sock and shoved it in Hannah's face. Hannah pretended to pass out and I thought Alanna was gonna pass out herself from going the full fledged toddler belly laugh. She found herself so funny that she carried on like this for the next 45 minutes. Shoving the sock in my face and then Hannah's back and forth and every time finding it funnier than before. These are my favorite moments with my girls. These are the memories that I hope stay with them. The fun times where we just sit back and laugh. After Alanna was in bed, Hannah looked at me and said, wow Alanna was a lot of fun tonight, I love my cute baby sister. She doesn't know it, but Hannah brought tears to my eyes and melted my heart.

Monkey see, Monkey do

Alanna always is trying to be like her big sister and tonight was no different. After we got home I did the usual routine. Get the girls their baths, pj's, unpack Hannah's book bag, go over her day and get things ready for the next day to begin. During this time Alanna was on the floor playing and she brings Hannah's snow boots to me and sits down and tries to put them on. Once I did she was stuck. The boots were to heavy to move her feet. It was funny until she fell on her butt and started kicking her feet. Maybe next time she will think about trying to steel her big sister's snow boots.