a cake for Jason

I had a wonderful birthday yesterday!  Bryce and I met Jason for lunch at Moe's and then we had pizza for dinner with my parents and then Jason's family joined us later for dessert.  I prefer ice cream to cake so I got an M&M Blizzard ice cream cake.  It was delicious.  I also decided to incorporate Jason's birthday into my special day.  Not only did he work super hard on my present, but we didn't get a chance to celebrate his birthday with all of his family because of VBS and vacation.  I thought this would be the perfect time to celebrate him too!

Jason's favorite cake is chocolate pound cake from the family bakery.  I didn't plan very well in advanced, but got lucky and stopped by the bakery on a day when they make the pound cakes.  It just so happened that they had made a chocolate cake that day for sampling.  So instead of customers sampling it, our family got the pleasure of eating 4 pounds of chocolate pound cake!

The cake was still warm when we went to get it, so they told me to come back later after they had a chance to decorate it.  I told them to do chocolate icing and write "Happy Late Birthday DaDa".  They asked if I wanted anything on it and Bryce decided a baseball would be nice.  Well we were shocked when we came to pick it up and saw this amazing hunting scene on it.  Guess that's what happens when you order from the family bakery!  Jason was thrilled and it was nice to have cake and "ice cream" from our two cakes.

Happy Birthday to Me!

When we moved into our new house a little over a year ago, I made a list of all the renovations I would like to make someday.  Finding the time and the extra money seems to hold us back on projects.  One night a couple weeks ago after we put Bryce to bed, we were talking about what we wanted to do around here.  I mentioned wanting to renovate the downstairs bathroom.  Jason agreed that it was a good place to start.  So at 9:00 that night, he got right to work tearing out the old vanity.  After that, there was no turning back!  Here is a picture of our downstairs (half bath) BEFORE.

Here it is AFTER!  It turned out perfectly and just as I had envisioned.  All I have to say is that my husband is AH-MAZING!  My vision for the bathroom began years ago when I purchased the lime green bath mat you see on the floor.  I have had it for at least 5 years.  I didn't want to waste it at the old house so I saved it for a new house.  That brings us to this bathroom.  With the mat, I envisioned a pedestal sink and bead board.  Here it is!

The project was quite a bit of work.  The old vanity was wedged in the corner, but I wanted the new sink centered between the right wall and the toilet.  That meant Jason had to move the plumbing.  Check!  While I was shopping for the light fixture, I realized that the electricity would also have to be moved to be able to center it.  Check!  We took the easy way out with the bead board.  Instead of using the plywood sheets, we found vinyl sheets that fit together and came with matching top and bottom moulding.  I also need to thank my mom for painting!  I went with brushed nickel fixtures.  I also added a white corner cabinet on the other wall to make up for the lack of storage with the pedestal sink.  I still need to get a towel bar, but I'm hesitant to drill into my pretty walls or bead board, so I'm holding off.  I also would like to hang something on the wall to the left of the mirror and add crown moulding.  But for the most part, it is DONE and I could not be more thrilled.  Thanks Jase for the BEST present EVER!

12 weeks

Pregnancy Highlights

How Far Along: 12 weeks

Maternity Clothes: Not Yet

Gender: I heard the heartbeat on Monday.  163 bpm.  Any guesses?

Movement: Not Yet

Sleep: I can get to sleep, but I sure can’t stay asleep.

Cravings: I got my Rolo McFlurry I wanted.  It wasn’t as good as I had hoped.  Not really craving anything this week.

Symptoms: Still tired some days, but I’m not taking a nap everyday anymore.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: +3ish pounds.  It varies every day.

What I Miss: Have I mentioned diet coke?!?!?

Best Moment of the Week: Hearing a healthy heartbeat on Monday!

What I'm Looking Forward to: My birthday tomorrow.  I CAN’T wait to show you what my wonderful hubby has been working on for my BEST birthday present EVER!

Here I was at 3 months pregnant with Bryce.  I had a lot of hair color/style changes during my pregnancy.  None of which were a great look, plus I gained weight much faster with Bryce.  I looked much rounder at 12 weeks last time!

it's been a while

I realized today it had been a while since I last blogged so I tried to snap a few pictures of Bryce this evening. Bryce helped Jason make some Amish Friendship bread tonight.  We were a few days late making it, but it still turned out pretty good.  Jason doesn't like the concept of making the batter and then giving it to people to sit on their counter for 10 days (since it has milk in it).  He says that eventually someone could get a starter bag that has been sitting out for years, ha!  So we threw out the starters and just made our batch.  Sorry to anyone who may have wanted a bag.  The train stopped here!

We went to a pool party last night and Bryce was introduced to goggles.  He liked them so much that I picked up some for him and Chase at the store this morning.  Bryce is clearly in love with his!

The other night we went to Jason's cousin's house for dinner.  Bryce enjoyed playing with their kids Hannah and Sarah.  They were also babysitting Dylan who is the son of another one of Jason's cousins.  It was quite a family gathering!  They enjoyed watching Toy Story, playing trains, and making a wreck of the house!

11 weeks

Pregnancy Highlights

How Far Along: 11 weeks

Maternity Clothes: Not Yet.  I’m still fighting the belly band, but I just don’t like it.  I did have to get new bras this weekend……up a cup size!  That's music to a girl’s (maybe even a husband’s) ears, he he!

Gender: I would love to have a girl so we would have one of each, but I would also love to see how a second boy would resemble Bryce in appearance and personality.

Movement: Not Yet

Sleep: I don’t remember not getting a good night sleep this early on with Bryce.  I toss and turn ALL night long.

Cravings: I got my Thai food last week!  I saw an ad for Rolo McFlurries while we were in Nashville and I can’t stop thinking about it.  A friend told me they have made their way to Mechanicsville so I may need to try one!

Symptoms: There is no nice way to say this….zits!  Luckily they aren’t all over my face, mostly just around my hair line and a few on my chin every now and then.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: +2 lbs.  None this week!

What I Miss: Have I mentioned diet coke?!?!?

Best Moment of the Week: Feeling great almost all day every day!

What I'm Looking Forward to: going to the doctor on Monday and hearing the baby’s heartbeat! 

You may have seen this masterpiece on the door behind me in my picture this week.  Bryce calls this his "work".  He probably made 20 trips from the kitchen to the front door to put ALL of his magnets on the door.  He refused to eat his breakfast that day until he had finished his work, ha!

This is how I fond Bryce last night when I went to check on him before I went to bed.  I came out cracking up laughing and told Jason he had to peek at him.  He couldn't understand what in the world could be so funny.  He came out crying he was laughing so hard.  He insisted on going back in to snap this picture!  We'll save this one for the wedding slide show one day!

making progress

Day 2 of swimming lessons went much better.  We got to the pool a few minutes early so I had Bryce sit on the steps to get used to the water and practice some of the things he did yesterday.  He was slow to warm up with me, but went right with Tyler when he came for the lesson.  I didn't even have to get in the pool today!

They practiced kicking (he kicks about twice and then he's done) and using his arms to swim (he can't seem to grasp the movement and he would rather hold onto to Tyler's hands for support (see below). Bryce still isn't willing to put his mouth in the water and blow bubbles. 

They used the step a lot to practice kicking. 

Bryce jumped into the water to Tyler which was a HUGE deal.  Whenever he jumps in the pool to me, he wants to hold my hands rather than letting me catch him in his armpits.  He did it right away the correct way for Tyler.  Of course by the end of the lesson he didn't like it anymore so I threw him in to Tyler and he went under a tad and it wasn't the best ending to the lesson, but he got over it pretty quickly.

He was much braver today and not as fussy.  I think it helped that he had warmed up to Tyler a little bit and was more familiar with him.  I'm hoping by the end of the week he will be able to blow some bubbles in the water.

I told Bryce that we would get a Slurpee as a treat if he didn't cry today and did everything Tyler asked him to.  He did great and deserved a treat! 

After seeing these pictures, I've decided that my point and shoot camera is a piece of junk (the pictures seem so blurry) and I'm going to try and only use my SLR from now on!  We'll see though, it's just so much to lug around. 

a day of failed attempts

I bought a Groupon for Romp n' Roll a while back and finally decided to take Bryce today. We went to the Little Gym on his birthday this year and he loved it.  I thought for sure he would like this place since they had music, art, and a gym.  I couldn't have been more wrong.  I'm not sure if the goofy instructor or this week's dinosaur theme set him off, but he didn't take to it very well.  I was able to get a few happy pictures, but they were few and far between.  He got upset with every new thing we did. 

He did a great job walking the "S" shaped balance beam.

The rings were a big hit.

He loves a trapeze.  All he wanted to do was play basketball.  He would not do the first obstacle course and he wouldn't do the parachute which surprised me because he loves it when they do it at story time. 

So if I didn't torture him enough at Romp n' Roll, the first day of swimming lessons sure did him in.  You would have thought the child had never been in a swimming pool, much less a bath tub.  There was never an opportunity for me to take a picture because I ended up getting in the pool with him for the whole lesson.  We didn't accomplish many of the tasks the instructor had planned today (blowing bubbles in the water and walking on his hands so he could kick his feet).  Hopefully he will warm up as the week goes on. 

odds and ends

Bryce and Macy eagerly await Jason's arrival each afternoon.  Here is how I found them the other day while I was cooking dinner!

Bryce got a train table for his birthday, but we have been waiting for it to get here.  It was missing in the mail and it took until today to get it!  He was so excited when Mama Pat showed up with it today!  Chase came over this evening to help him break it in.

10 weeks

Pregnancy Highlights

How Far Along: 10 weeks

Maternity Clothes: Not Yet.  I bought a belly band so I could leave my pants unbuttoned, but I’m not loving the look.  I’m going to let my fat belly bulge over my pants for a little while longer, then I’ll cave for more of the maternity look rather that the fat look!

Gender: I wonder if it could be a girl since I have not been as sick as I was with Bryce?

Movement: Not Yet

Sleep: Great other than the fact that I'm getting up to go to the bathroom a few times a night.

Cravings: I’ve really been wanting Thai food.  I’m hoping we go this weekend!

Symptoms: T.I.R.E.D.  Thank goodness Bryce takes a long nap every day.  I have been sleeping almost as long as he has!

Total Weight Gain/Loss: +2 lbs. I lost half a pound since I have been home from vacations and I can eat healthy snacks throughout the day.  Definitely not trying to lose weight, just gain it slowly!

What I Miss: A glass of wine every now and then.

Best Moment of the Week: Finding out that our friends Grant and Brittany are expecting a baby two weeks before us!

What I'm Looking Forward to: Enjoying my last summer with Bryce as an only child.

beatin' the heat

It is H.O.T. here this week.  Bryce and I got up and going early this morning to beat the heat.  When I asked him what he wanted to do today he said go to the playground.  So we left the house about 8:30 in order to get in some outside time before it was unbearably hot.  Luckily the first twenty minutes were cloudy!

After the playground we headed to Bed Bath and Beyond to cool off and do a little shopping.  It is near Panera and we can't get close to that place without visiting the ducks and fish.  We walked through the parking lot and sweated to death, but Bryce was happy!

So to cool off again, we headed to Barnes and Noble to play trains.  It just so happened they were having story time while we were there so we hung around.  I must say, our local library does one hundred times better with their story time.

Tonight we're headed to the pool to keep cool.  I'm hoping for cooler temperatures real soon!

Nashville

We headed out last Thursday for a long weekend in Nashville.  Jason's childhood friend, Grant and his wife Brittany, live out there and we have been meaning to get out to see them and their new house and we finally organized a trip out there!  Bryce was super excited to fly on an airplane for the first time!

He enjoyed watching a little Caillou on my phone while we waited to take off.

This is how Bryce looked the majority of the trip.  Whenever he could have his seat belt off, he was up at the window taking it all in.  We couldn't have asked for a better traveler.  He did not have any problems with his ears or motion sickness and we had plenty of things to entertain him when he got tired of watching the clouds go by!

While we were in Nashville we got to eat at some fun Nashville restaurants and visit some popular places.  Here we are on a boat ride at Opryland Hotel.  Of course I didn't even take a picture of Grant and Brittany while we were there.  Maybe I should have bought the overpriced tourist picture they took of our whole group so we would have a picture with them!

We took Bryce to a Science/Children's Museum.  Bryce loves dinosaurs and when he saw this one he immediately referred to it as Rexy (that is Caillou's dinosaur).  However, once we got close to it, he changed his tune.  If only you could see his face when he was looking through the dome!

We had a wonderful trip and got to do a lot of fun things and got lots of visiting time in while we were there.  Bryce was worn out by the time we left and he fell asleep while we sat on the runway waiting to leave Nashville!

We have had a fun few weeks of traveling, but I'm glad to be home in my own bed and getting back into a summer routine. 

9 weeks

Pregnancy Highlights

How Far Along: 9 weeks

Maternity Clothes: Not Yet

Gender: We have a ways to go, but will definitely find out!

Movement: Not Yet

Sleep:  Great other than the fact that I'm getting up to go to the bathroom a few times a night.

Cravings:  Nothing yet.  Still trying to eat pretty healthy so I don't gain weight at an alarming rate like I did with Bryce, ha!

Symptoms: Some morning sickness that pops up throughout the day, but NOTHING like I had with Bryce.  Praise the Lord!

Total Weight Gain/Loss: about  +2.5 lbs. Not happy about this, but a week of vacation and the need to eat when I get nauseous doesn't help.  As long as I don't gain 10 pounds between my first two visits like I did with Bryce I will be happy.

What I Miss: Diet Coke

Best Moment of the Week: Listening to Bryce tell people he is going to be a big brother!

What I'm Looking Forward to: Hearing the heartbeat at the next visit.

Jason and I went for my first ultrasound on June 24.  I was 7 weeks and a few days.  Jason wasn't able to go with me to my first ultrasound with Bryce so he really enjoyed this visit. 

a video message

Due February 8, 2012

More details to come

4th of July

We have had a great 4th of July.  Jason has been working the night shift since we got back from the beach so Bryce and I have been trying to spend most of our days away from the house so Jason can sleep in peace.  We went to Nana & Pap's pool this morning and Bryce had a blast.  We went to Kelly and Dave's for a cookout tonight.  I used most of these pictures because Bryce's animated faces cracked me up!

Swinging his 4th of July streamer from his Sunday school teacher.

Just a blurry action shot, ha!

Playing a little baseball.

Running in the sprinkler.

Showing off how wet he got.

He got tired of pulling his pants up so he took them off!

Hope everyone had a nice 4th of July!