Baby Items

I know a baby doesn't need much. Especially with this being our 2nd baby. We saved a lot of the big stuff from Jake.

There are a few things I am super excited about getting and using for our baby girl. A couple are for fun because I have seen them on line and love them & some are what I consider must haves for a baby. And now I get to buy them in super cute girly patterns.

The Baby Be Blessed Doll...these dolls look so cute and cuddly. But one of the best parts is their tummies have a Bible verse stitched on them. I need to get to picking out a Bible verse for our girl.

I started baby wearing with Jake around when he was 6 months old. I only had a mei tai carrier with him. I am very excited to start wearing this baby from the very beginning. But then there is the choice of a carrier(or several) to choose from. Do you have a recommendation? I would love to hear your favorite carrier...especially for a newborn.  I am leaning toward a pouch sling and a ring sling. But I hear great things about several other carriers. Heavenly Hold  

{Images of slings from Heavenly Hold }

Along with a diaper bag I am also want a small bag for diaper and wipes. I love the Gussy Sews diaper/wipe wristlet. 

Lastly for the moment( I am sure I will see several more things online).  A nursing cover. I used the Bebe Au Lait hooter hider with Jake and really liked it. I will use it again, but am excited to pick out a girly pattern.

Meal Plan(9/26-10/2)

Here is this weeks meal plan! Are you making anything good this week? I have started adding a few fall recipes to our meal plans. Even though it is still in the low 80's here for a high.

Breakfast: sausage egg & cheese cups (x3), pancakes (x2), probably fill in with cereal or toast the other days

Lunch: 7 layer tostadas(x2), ranch turkey roll ups (x2), out, leftovers. Lunches filled in with pretzels, fruit, & veggies

                                                               {source}

Dinner:

Monday- pulled BBQ chicken sandwiches, coleslaw, veggie

Tuesday- Crockpot Chicken fajitas & rice

Wednesday- leftovers

Thursday- Shepherds pie

Friday- baked potatoes with toppings

Saturday-leftovers

Sunday- Fair Food(yea for the fair being in town)

Miracle of Birth

What an honor it is to witness a miracle. Today I was able to be in the room with my sister, Heather, as she delivered her 2nd baby boy.

Johnathan "Wyatt" was born today at 2:58pm weighing 7 pounds 12 ounces and 18 inches long.

A total joy to be in there when he took his first breath. To  be with mommy, daddy, & Nana as we all welcomed this sweet baby boy into the world.

Pink, Bows, & Ruffles

We are so excited to share that we are expecting a GIRL!!! Yes, you read that right. Our lives are going to be filled with pink, hair bows, & ruffley things.

I went into our 20 week ultrasound really having no idea whether we would hear pink or blue. So when she said it is a Girl...I was surprised. In fact I think as I write this I am still a little surprised that we will be welcoming a precious bundle of PINK!!! Jason was pretty shocked too, but has already been talking girl names, picking out girl things, and is excited to welcome Daddy's little girl.
Her profile

It took Jake the majority of the day to be excited about having a sister. Because his cousin is having a brother(on Monday) Jake thought for sure his baby would be a boy too. His first reaction was "I wish she would have told me I was having a brother." Then he was very worried about not having toys for a girl. We saved all of Jake's baby toys in our attic(all of which are completely gender neutral). But Jake then said "we don't have girl baby toys in our attic and Nana doesn't have girl toys either." Later as we drove down the road I heard him say several times "I am so excited to have a sister." And then his finally remark before turning the corning and being totally excited to pick out all things pink was "but, Mommy, I drew a boy baby in our family picture." I assured him it was ok and soon as the day went on and into today he is very excited to have a baby sister. He has kissed and rubbed his sister(my belly) several times today.

Our girl is breaking the boy chain. On my side of the family including Jake my parents have 7 grandsons!!! And now will be welcoming their 8th grandchild a GIRL!

And now it is time to start shopping! ;) 

                                                               Her feet

Preschool

 1st day of "preschool" You all know I have lots of mixed emotions about preschool. I know that it isn't "necessary," for a child to be enrolled in a school away from home. But at the beginning of the year preschool registration rolled around and everyone was talking or asking if we were putting Jake into preschool.












It really came down to one big thing...I am not ready for Jake to leave me. And so the decision was made(with a few other factors in as well) Jake would not go to preschool this fall. Next fall is still up in the air. He will be old enough for pre-k at that point and of course we will reevaluate what our plan will be.                                                                                              

                                                                                                                                                     Tracing letter J

                                                                 We read about Jonah and then colored a picture
We officially began homeschool preschool last week. I am using that term very loosely. I have lesson plans and activities planned for our days. But our days are definitely not filled with "school." Jake loves it and ask every morning when we will start school. It is fun for me to see him actually remembering things. Like his Bible verse for the week or being able to write his letter J without tracing it by the end of the week.

                                                                                   Graphing gummy bears

I have been asked where I come up with our ideas. Some of them I think of on my own. But really there are a ton of blogs that are filled with great preschool resources. If you are looking for preschool ideas here are a couple places I get ideas. As I share some of our preschool days I will share other blogs I use as well.
2 Teaching Mommies  
Confessions of a Homeschooler 
Homeschool Creations

Half Way

Wow...have I said this pregnancy is going so fast? Well, it is!! We are 20 weeks(5 months)!!! It seems so strange to already say 20 weeks. 

At about 16 weeks I finally reached the feeling good stage. No more sickness!! I can feel the baby moving several times a day. You know the small inside belly flutters. I am looking forward to Jason & Jake being able to feel the baby from the outside soon! It should be soon!

Cravings are all over the place. Ice cream has been the only constant. Everything else is all over. And some weeks nothing really sounds good. But usually the problem is I can't think of anything I want to eat,  but everything I hear or see sounds good.

I have started to have some heart burn at night...is it too early for this?
I take a picture every month wearing the same shirt
The downer...Gestational Diabetes! I had it with Jake & my doctor decided to test early. Sure enough both the 1 hour & 3 hour tests...failed. I was really hoping this time would be different and I wouldn't have it, but no such luck. With Jake my previous doctor went straight to insulin shots. I was so worried about doing shots again. I know if it came to it I would. But thankfully this doctor is letting me control it with diet for the time being. Of course I still have to check my sugar 4 times a day. Jake is mesmerized by me checking my sugar. And often ask me throughout the day if my sugar is too high. Of course having gestational diabetes puts a little damper on my ice cream craving(umm...not that I don't indulge sometimes).  If you think about it would you pray I can control this with diet.

Super exciting 20 week news...we go on Thursday to find out if baby #2 is a boy or girl!!! To say I have been counting down to this day would be an understatement!! We can't wait to know. And Jake is super excited about going to see the baby on the screen.

Menu Plan(9/12-9/18)

Another week of menu planning. I was bad about it last week. I went to the grocery store twice for meals those days. And the rest of the week was either left overs or sandwiches. I just wasn't in the mood to cook & nothing sounded good. Crazy how I can go from one week of craving tons of things to the following week have a desire for nothing.

Breakfast-pumpkin chocolate chip muffins(x2), cereal(x2), egg & cheese burritos(x2), eggs & toast

Lunch-turkey wraps(x2), sandwich skewers(x2)...not sure what else. Lunch has kind of been a play it by ear thing.

Of course fruit & veggies will be added to lunch & fruit to breakfast as well...depending on what I get at the grocery store.

                                                                 {source}
Monday-BLT Salad & bread

Tuesday-Crescent chicken, green beans & mashed potatoes(dinner for a neighbor who had a baby doubled for us to eat too)

Wednesday-Leftovers

Thursday-Sloppy Joe Loaf & veggies

Friday- oven baked Chicken fingers(buffalo for Jason) & salad

Saturday-leftovers

Sunday-Braves game (if home for dinner southwest cornbread casserole)

Family Meal(giveaway)

I love the idea of making a meal and everyone sitting down at the table together. Enjoying healthy meals & good conversation. The reality is Jason isn't home a lot of nights for dinner. Almost every night Jake & I sit down at the table and enjoy dinner together. I often wonder if all the statistics about family dinners being good for kids apply when one of the parents isn't there as often. But for our sake I choose to believe it has all the same benefits. And I recently read that kids get the same benefits out of having breakfast as a family. Really it is just the sitting down together no matter what the meal is. We will be working family breakfast into our days since Jason is always home at breakfast time.

Fox News shares 8 Reasons to Make Time for Family Dinner.  A short little article to look over if you are struggling with family meal time and need a little jump start. It includes things like: Kids might learn to like their veggies, a great setting for trying new foods, & of course the often heard it helps kids "just say no."

For us I want fun memorable meal times. Jake being almost 4 & us being together every day sometimes there isn't much to talk about at dinner. We always share our favorite part of the day & if there is anything we didn't like or will try to work on. Then some nights there isn't too much other conversation that would make meal time memorable. I want Jake to grow up and say "I remember eating meals with my family and it was fun." I am guessing when your kids are in school there might be more to the conversation, but wouldn't it be fun to have more then just normal day to day?

I couldn't be more excited about Erin from In Between Laundry's just released ebook "Table Talkers." Filled with 52 fun, no supplies needed  things to do around your table. She includes table talker printable conversation cards with the book. Erin makes it so easy to add fun & memories into your table time. We printed these cards out, laminated them and have them in a bowl on the center of our table. The activities range from preschool age and up. Great for families with a wide age range of kids or for your younger kids to grow into the activities as well.  Jake had so much fun doing our 1st table talker drawing and then participating in the activity. He kept asking if he could pick another card. But me wanting the choices to last told him we could only do one a day.  Of course there really are no rules. You can use Table Talkers how ever best works for you family.

Are you ready for Nunnally Family Fun's 1st giveaway? Erin has agreed to let me give one of you a copy of this ebook for FREE!!!


Your kids will love starting or ending their day with a fun activity around the table.

And now what you want to know...how to enter the giveaway: 
You must be a follower(join with google friend connect) of Nunnally Family Fun

• Go to In Between Laundry and become a follower of her blog, come back here and comment that you became a follower and tell me how often your family eats meals together at the table.

•  For an extra entry Like In Between Laundry on facebook(comment here letting me know you "like") 

Giveaway ends September 14th & winner will be announced by Friday September 16th 

Cravings

Goodness pregnancy cravings. Not sure if they are pregnancy cravings or just being more easily persuaded. As I type I am still thinking about spaghetti o's(no clue where this came from it has been years since I have eaten this), lemonade & donuts(if you saw my facebook post earlier).

A few things that make me want to eat everything...driving down the road. There are so many food signs and restaurants. I have passed Dunkin Donuts 3 times this week and now I can't stop thinking about donuts. The food court...there are just way too many choices & everything looks good. And probably the worst thing for power of persuasion is Pinterest.

Have you joined pinterest? If not you are missing out. Aside from all the yummy food I am about to show you there are a million other great ideas and tons of inspiration. Let me know if you need an invite. And be sure to follow me if you are already there. Enjoy some pinterest deliciousness!!

Apple Carmel Cheesecake via The Girl Who Ate Everything

 Lasagna Soup  via A Farm Girls Dabbles

 Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Brownies via Pennies on a Platter

 Cheesy Chicken Enchilada via Mogwai Soup

cinnamon pumpkin baked donuts via multiply delicious