18 weeks

At 18 weeks......
I am showing for sure but still at a comfortable stage.
Morning sickness has checked out but heartburn has unfortunately settled in for a 20 week visit, I'm afraid.
I feel movement consistently throughout the day. Those little movements and kicks are my favorite part of this journey so far.
I crave cheese...like alot! I still could care less about having any sweets.
I drink milk by the gallons...it has never tasted so good. With doodle, it was chocolate milk I adored, this baby prefers regular milk.



I wonder all day long if baby is a boy or girl. June 17th is the big sonogram.
Please cooperate, sweet love. Mama needs to know what you are!

In doodle's words, "mama, your belly button is flat." What he does not know is that it is about to pop out. Lovely....
I am still trying to squeeze into (or make work) regular clothes. I may can pull this off for a couple more weeks.

My back is cranky and the strange way my stomach muscles push up are back after 5.5 years.
I walk regularly and attempt my prenatal exercise DVD from time to time.
I am ready for bed much earlier than I usually am.
I am more relaxed this time around. I drink a glass of tea from time to time. I had zero caffeine with doodle.
I've worn a swim suit (never did with doodle but then again I was not pregnant with him during summer months).
I will attest that being pregnant at 33 (gasp) is much different than at 28. I feel old...my body is feeling this much more.



If you are a boy or girl...it absolutely does not matter! Your name is picked, either way. Your bedding is chosen, either way.
The image of you fits so perfectly into our lives. October seems so far away.... While we are all so very excited, your big brother is your biggest fan. You are included in all of his plans and he tells everyone (including the HEB bagger) about your impending arrival. By all accounts of our planning, you will be our last. Because of this, I am soaking this in. Enjoying this special time. I can't believe we are almost half way through this journey.

More pictures from Memorial Day Weekend

Memorial day Weekend: Concan

We are so lucky to have so many amazing friends. We were so fortunate to spend Memorial Day weekend with some awesome people. We packed up and headed to the Frio River on Friday night. Emily & Shane organize an amazing river trip each year and this year was no exception. We stayed in a huge cabin that sleeps 26 people and we filled each bed. We spent the days by the water and the nights under the beautiful Texas sky eating yummy food and watching the kids catch fireflies. The great thing about this trip is that it is as much fun (if not more) for the kids that it is for the adults. We truly enjoyed each and every minute of this holiday weekend. Some of the most memorable events of the year:
1. The music war with the camp across the river.
2. Lincoln's Posse rescue from the river (mostly his hilarious lines.)
3. The storm that blew in, in about 5 seconds and blew all of our stuff (Em throwing her grandma into the cabin.)
4. Doodle deciding that it was the beavers who built the dam in the night.
Great friends, fun memories!



What river trip is complete without some minnow catching?

By the end of the weekend, they were pretty good!

Floating the Frio!

doodle, reese & teghan

A break from the water & sun...their version of playing Scrabble.

Big Kids play @the river too!

River flip-flops must include a bottle opener on the bottoms.....

Shae & Robbie came up for the day on Saturday to hang out with us!

Such a great group of girls that plan an annual river trip!

The girls take cover when the rain started...the boys? Nope, they sit in the rain.

More of the ballplayer.....

On the pitcher's mound....he got two out!

Taking a swing at the ball.

Taking the Little League Oath before each game.

Get the ball!

Carnival Day @ school

Last Friday, we spent the morning at Castle Hill's Carnival Day. All kinds of booths and games for the kids. Doodle had a blast and left with a huge bag of goodies. What a great way to round out the school year!




Cool Lizard tattoos

A face painting booth- doodle picked a baseball

Fishing Game

Spin the Color Wheel

Random things from around the house....

Spending so much more time at home these days makes me enjoy the simple things that fill my home. I am really focusing on making our home organized, comfortable and a relaxing place to be. There is so much that I want to do but am hold for one reason or another. I cannot wait to start on the baby's room...can't do that until we know the sex. But don't worry....I have everything picked out for boy or girl. I can't paint or lift heavy things. So, for now I am doing the most that I can do up to a point.





I have tried for years to grow African Violets without any success. But not now....I hope I do not jinx it but it is growing beautifully and blooming! I have had it for over half a year now so this not one straight home from the store in full bloom! Doodle is really the one who takes care of it...hmm....maybe that is why we finally have one that is living. He has a green thumb!

I am spending my evenings sewing. I find it so relaxing and I love creating. I am working on several different projects- stuff for doodle's new room and of course baby stuff. Do you know how hard it is too find gender neutral fabric?

I got my Pottery Barn desk. I love it! As you can see, it is not yet moved into it's new space just yet. The picture does not do justice for how big it is. The other side shows the great top drawer that it has with built in organization system for all my embellishments, etc... It has a piece that fits on top that has drawers, a spool for my ribbon and slats for paper. It is going to be a great workspace for me. The armoire is all cleaned out too and the rest of my supplies will go into there. It is close week for MSW so that is why the old furniture has not yet been moved out. This is one of those frustrating things....I am ready to move on this and if I were not preggo I would have already moved that old furniture out myself and had my desk all set up. For now, I wait....patiently....kinda.

While I was shooting around the house I thought I would show a glimpse of my bathroom. It is just now that I am realizing that i did not even photograph the floor which is really what started the project and where all the hard work went. I also wish I would have lined up the towels before I took this picture. It is a really calm, nice room and I am so happy with it. We are about to start in the other upstairs bathroom for the kids (still sounds so weird to me!). New floors, toilet, paint and theme. We are doing a surf theme. If baby is a girl I will add in some tropical flowers to "girl it up" if baby is a boy no flowers- straight surf.

Organizing our Casa

I have time on my hands....a true rarity! I wake-up early with the boys and I am alone until 2:00 when I leave to go pick up doodle from school. So much that I want to do and at the top of my list is organizing our home from top to bottom. It could be my OCD/Type A personality it could also be a nesting behavior. Whatever the case, I am getting so much done. I began upstairs. Every room, single drawer, even my hope chest has been cleaned and organized. I am purging like crazy and it feels so good. We will be welcoming a new love into this home in October and without doing away with some things, I am not sure we would have room for one more. Yesterday I focused on the Mr./Mrs. closet. I was dreading the closet....MSW is messy when it comes to hanging up his clothes and there were tons of plastic dry cleaning bags stuffed into every corner. Now, everything has a "place" and our clothes are organized by style and color. Love it!

His side of the closet.....

My side...

Where does all the purge go? To my studio for now...which will soon become doodle's new room. A lovely mess, don't ya think? I started out thinking about a garage sale, now I am thinking a nice donation to the Salvation Army sounds pretty good.

If your child(ren) are not into Legos yet...consider yourself lucky. These things come with 1000's of tiny pieces. I am already having panic attacks thinking about how to keep these out of baby's mouth. I am starting the conditioning now. First, we started with an organization system....everything must be put away into a bin when not in use. Second, they can only be played with in doodle's room. I think I have put the fear of God into him about baby choking on one of these tiny pieces. Once I move him into his new room, he will have a nice "work" area for his Legos. Another organization thing to do that felt so good to get marked off the list.

Happiness.....

They say a photograph is worth a thousand words.....
These pictures speak volumes to me....
I am nostalgic....I am happy....I am in love....
This is us in our everyday....

Me in May....

Growing every day......

enjoying my time of thought and reflection.....

rested, relaxed and happy!

My Baby turns 5!

The Birthday boy's table. I had intentions of decorating much more but I was

in bed sick with a horrible stomach bug the day before and did not get it all done by the next morning.

Lego Maniac!

He is becoming a pro at ripping off that paper.

He was so excited to get the Crystal Sweeper Power Miner set. I love the happiness in this picture even if it is out of focus.