20 weeks

Looking at this picture, I think a few things. One, my belly has gotten ginormous since 16 weeks. Two, I'm so mad at myself for being unable to remember which way to turn for these pictures. Three, I look way more refreshed at 7:30am when this picture was taken than at the end of the day (see 16 week picture when I look ready to fall over).

So yes, 20 weeks. I am actually 21 weeks in this picture, because it is impossible for me to take a picture during the week I am supposed to, apparently. As I write this, I am almost 22 weeks. Y'all, I am having a hard time keeping it together, lately. The good news is that the baby is doing great. I had a very easy 20 week nurse visit. It was less than 10 minutes long. Good vitals for me. Good vitals for baby. I gained one pound (which is not good for my mental state- I've been gaining fine, but to my psyche that lack of weight gain was like a green light for "bring on the pie!" which can't be good). I digress. No health questions. No issues. The visit was boring and I like it. The baby is moving around a lot these days and it's to the point where Michael can feel it externally.

The bad news is that since then, I feel pregnant. This weekend, I threw my back out carrying a 36 pound JM to time out and also managed to get dehydrated enough to start some scary Braxton Hicks contractions. The contractions combined with the back pain freaked me out enough to call the Nurseline at my OB (goodbye, boring!) and they told me to drink more water and take it easy. Ha ha! Do you know how many times a day I have to pick up my 25 pound Noah? Take it easy? Noah is still at that phase where he needs to be carried in a parking lot. Not to mention that he has a tooth or 5 coming in, has been sick and wants to be held all day long these past few days. Does take it easy include making a box of macaroni and cheese with a baby on your hip?

The BH contractions scared me enough to try to take heed of the nurse's advice to slow down. How hard is it to slow down at this time of year? I don't know about you, but I have a gazillion things on my "To-Do" list. And, I don't know if you moms work or stay home, or have help beyond your husbands, but for me, if I want to go to the grocery store or Target or the mall, I usually have to bring my kids, which even though they are pretty well-behaved as toddlers can be, totally wears me out.

As I write this, I'm already feeling overwhelmed about Christmas and specifically about making Christmas meaningful for my boys, my upcoming kitchen remodel in January (we signed the papers last week- yay!) and life, in general. Today I tried to cram in a Target run and a Nordstrom Rack run with the boys in the morning, two loads of laundry, then after nap a trip to the library and then HEB, as we didn't have any food from Thanksgiving traveling.

How to slow down? We need food. We need toilet paper. We need/want to buy gifts for the Angel Tree at church and darn Target didn't have size 5.5 shoes, so I had to go to another store to see if I could get them... Our books were overdue at the library (typical) and on and on. I guess it's a matter of constantly evaluating what's important. What's really important to me is my family and showing the boys what Christmas is really all about. This is where God comes in. I need to slow and to focus. God, first. Me, next. Michael, next. The boys, next. All the other stuff, next. God, help me to do this this Advent! I really want to make Christmas cookies and send Christmas cards, but that stuff may have to hit the back burner. I may not make it to the gym like I want to, but I'm giving myself permission for that to be okay. The "most wonderful time of the year" is supposed to be about you, Lord and not about me putting pressure on myself for things to all be done. If I have a crib mattress in my entryway for a week or let my kids watch 10 more minutes of TV than they usually do to save my sanity, so be it! Help me to slow down!

Carnival O' Pizza

Today was a big "downtown" day for us. This morning, I took the boys to Will F's super fun birthday party at one of our favorite places, The Austin Children's Museum. After naps, we headed down to South Congress where Home Slice Pizza was having a Carnival O' Pizza. What is a Carnival O' Pizza? Well, there was lots of pizza eating, music, kids activities and games. It had kind of a New York street fair vibe, with a kind of Austin coolness to it. There were lots of dogs, hipsters and happy families. I'm so glad we went. I love Home Slice pizza. It is pretty close to a New York slice, if you ask me.

Anyway, between the birthday party, the pizza and carnival and stop at Amy's Ice Cream, this mama is wiped out. I can't imagine how the boys feel. It was a good day to live in Austin, Texas. I'm glad we didn't move to Steiner Ranch! I'd imagine we wouldn't go downtown as much if we had to drive 30 minutes (or more) to get there.

Eating some dinner

The boys get VERY wet in the duck pond

John Michael shares my root beer that looks a lot like a real beer

Daddy love

Someone's drawing of Hall and Oates in Home Slice. Love.

Craft Night

I am not a crafter.
But, my friend Karyn is. Somehow, a few weeks ago, it was suggested that instead of our monthly mom's night out drinking margaritas or the like we have a craft night at Karyn's.
We found some cute ideas on Pinterest and decided that we wanted to make this Christmas tree.
Oye, one trip to Hobby Lobby, 300 felt circles (and blisters from cutting them out) and one fun night later, may I present our trees?:

And, me with my finished project on the hearth. Since I am feeling very domestic diva with this craft thing, I will call it a hearth...

Cutting out 300 2-inch circles was no big deal for Karyn, but for me (and possibly some of the other ladies), I bitched and moaned and complained for a few nights this week. I laughed to myself because this was quite the ambitious project for our first craft night! However, getting there and chatting and putting it all together was really fun. I felt like we were channeling the quilting bee of yore. Am I nesting or what with all this hearth and yore talk? Or, maybe I am a dork. I digress. I am not sure if this tree is going to be the family heirloom I had hoped for, but I like it! I don't see a craft room in my immediate future, but I hope we do this again, soon!

Mongolian Beef Like PF Changs

Oh, em, gee, I love Pinterest! Do you pin? It's like the greatest thing since sliced bread. (P.S. Is slicing bread really that hard?) Pinterest is a virtual idea board. You can share ideas with people and see things they like, as well for all sorts of stuff. I love pinning recipes. This was delicious. I love PF Changs Mongolian Beef and this was a good knock-off. Best was that other than the meat, I had all ingredients on hand. Even JM gobbled it up! If it passes the toddler test, it's added to our menu rotation!

Source: Favfamilyrecipes.com

Mongolian Beef Like PF Changs
4 tsp. vegetable oil
2 tsp. ginger, minced (I have a tube of ginger from HEB produce dept. and used instead of fresh)
2 Tbsp. garlic, minced
1 c. soy sauce
1 c. water
1 c. brown sugar (packed)
2 c. vegetable oil
2 Lb. flank steaks
½ c. cornstarch
3 large green onions

Make the sauce by heating 4 tsp. vegetable oil in a medium saucepan over medium/low heat. Don’t get the oil too hot. Add ginger and garlic to the pan and quickly add the soy sauce and water before the garlic scorches. Dissolve the brown sugar in the sauce, then raise the heat to medium and boil the sauce 2-3 minutes or until sauce thickens a little bit. Remove sauce from heat.

Slice the flank steak against the grain into 1/4 inch slices. Tilt the blade of your knife at about a 45 degree angle to the top of the steak so you get wider cuts. Dip the steak pieces into cornstarch to apply a very thin dusting to both sides of each piece of beef. Let the beef sit about 10 min. so the cornstarch sticks. As the beef sits, heat up 1 c. oil in a wok (or skillet). Heat the oil over medium heat until its hot, but not smoking. Add the beef to the oil and saute for just 2 minutes, or until beef just begins to darken on the edges. Stir the meat around a little bit so that it cooks evenly.

After a few minutes, use a large slotted spoon to take the meat out and onto paper towels, then pour most of the oil out of the skillet. Put the pan back over the heat, dump the meat back into it and stir-fry for 1 minute. Add the sauce, cook for 1 minute while stirring and add green onions. Cook for 1 more minute. Now at this point you can either remove the beef with a slotted spoon or tongs and discard the sauce (this is what P.F. Chang's does) OR thicken the sauce with a cornstarch-water mixture to desired thickness and serve it over rice with the beef.

We served ours with lots of sauce and a bag of Mann's California Stir-Fry carrots, snow peas and broccoli that I stir-fried. Mmmm!

Prideful post

Yesterday when I was picking up John Michael from school, the aide in his classroom told me that every week when she works on Wednesdays, JM asks her "did you miss me?" I told her I couldn't believe he was such a flirt. Seriously, the boy is all about trucks, trucks, trucks. With which, his teacher who was standing next to her responded that John Michael is SO sweet and that they are big fans. She said it in a way that made me feel like she really meant it. Lately, JM is acting super emotional and doing a lot of limits-testing with me, so it's good to hear that his sweet side is sticking out at school. I am so proud of him. He is being really sweet at home, though, too. Yesterday morning when I went in his room to get him, the first thing he said was that he wanted to whisper a secret in my ear and then whispered, "I love you!" Heart. Melted!

I was painfully shy as a child and don't think I was ever really verbally or physically affectionate. When Mike and I were dating and I first met my twin nieces, they were 2 years-old and just the sweetest little lovers you ever met (and at 8 years-old, they still are!). It's so easy to love a child who is loving! I decided then, that I wanted to try to teach my kids to hug, to say "I love you" and prayed that would have giving-type personalities. I am sure that a lot of JM's behavior is a nature versus nurture thing. He probably got the genes from Mike's side! Ha ha Anyway, I am so thankful for the sweetness of both my boys and pray that John Michael and Noah continue to be pure of heart for a long, long time!

Exercise

I am proud to say that I did two things today that are easy for me to skip when I am tired.

1. This evening I went and Zumbaed my little pregnant booty off. I have worked out through all four of my pregnancies and I really believe that it helps with labor. Not only that, but it is good for my mind. And, because when I am pregnant, I like to well, say eat my children's Halloween candy in the afternoon, or please excuse me for a moment while I dust my orange fingers off from the Cheetos I am eating right now... Where was I? Ah yes, it's good for the body, too. Now, down, Judgy McJudgertons! I ain't the kind of mama that is going to run two marathons during my pregnancy and give birth at mile 25 like that lady in the Chicago Marathon (can you imagine!??). I am lucky if I make it to the gym twice a week these days and I am very very conscious about taking it easy. My OB has okayed my routine and I keep my heart rate low. And, yes, I know that Zumba is a high-impact class. Here is the deal. I love me some Zumba. It takes my love of urban music and the booty shake and combines it with latin music. It is a class I enjoy attending and makes the whole "going to the gym" experience so much less painful for me. It's fun! So when I am pregnant, I do a VERY low impact version of it (no jumping, keep shaking to a minimum) and usually don't stay for the whole class. To save money, I just quit the gym I've been going to for years and joined a national gym chain. I will say that there is a heck of a lot more of the booty shake going on at Zumba at this gym! Last week I went and we did a number to "I'm Sexy and I Know It" that involved quite a bit of what I call the "booty circle." I know I looked completely redonk 17 weeks pregnant attempting to do this, and may have offended a few of the non-pregnant people in my class :), I mean who wants to see a visibly pregnant woman doing what is supposed to be a sexy move, but hey, it's all fun.

2. This morning I arose in the 5am hour and PRAYED. Yes, I know you just read about me doing "booty circles," so you weren't expecting this. I've been doing a mom's Bible study at my church for a few months now and I love it. The message has been getting under my skin, so as suggested by the book we're reading, this morning for the first time I rose before my kids and spent 30 minutes alone with the Word. Truth is, I've been in a major rut with my prayer routine for eh, probably a few years now. I usually leave it until nighttime and well, let's just say I have good intentions, but the second my head hits the pillow, it's off to nigh nigh land. I really want to make this a routine, interweb. It felt good to start the day in the right way and have a rosary prayed and under my belt at 6:15 this morning, which kind of gave me the same feeling I get when I walk out of the gym, that relief and feeling of pride for doing something that's not always fun/easy. Today in the bottom of my purse I found a novena for rain, so I know that will inspire me to do this for at least 8 more days. I hope it sticks! God should be the most important thing in my life and I want to make this, as it should be, my number one priority.

Anyway, twas a banner day for me both mentally and physically. I'm hoping for many more repeats on the gym and especially the prayer! Both of my kids are sleeping pretty good these days, so I feel like I have no excuse for a few months, anyway.

It's so hard to fit it all in! Moms, I'd love to hear your suggestions about how you keep your mind and body healthy parenting young children. It's a constant struggle for me! As you can see, for me it means getting up early and staying up late, which is not always fun, but I need to remember that it's worth it! When Mama's happy, everybody's happy!

Margaritas

One of our favorite indoor activities around here has always been "coffee shop."
A close friend of mine who is a mother of three who lives in Iowa where they have long winters recommended creating a sensory type bin to keep the boys happy in the summertime. For me, that meant getting a huge bag of pinto beans from HEB, emptying it into a plastic Rubbermaid bin and adding all sorts of measuring cups, plates and bowls, etc. I get it out when I need to cook something and I don't want anyone pulling at my literal apron strings. Noah will play in there for 20 minutes. Since he doesn't watch TV, I love the coffee shop!

Anyway, to mix things up a bit, the other week, we dumped out the sand from our sand and water table and moved the beans in there. On our back porch the clean up of all the beans that inevitably spill over the side doesn't bother me as much. John Michael has taken to naming this coffee shop "Margaritas." Don't get me wrong, I love a good margarita, but I don't talk about them that often. I think it's hilarious that that's the name he pulled out of his little memory bank. He doesn't serve actual margaritas at the coffee shop, just coffee with cream and sugar.

Do you have a sensory area for your kids? You could fill a bin with popcorn or any type of beans. Get some shovels or scoops and get creative with the things they could fill up in there. We like filling my espresso-maker coffee pot and plastic cups, but at JM's school I've seen them fill up empty honey bears and empty plastic water bottles, too. Preschool teachers have the best ideas! Anyway, this idea is probably not for the Type-A neat freak. Beans or popcorn will get on your floor, but to me that's worth 20 minutes of peaceful cooking time!

My little Midwesterner

I noticed the other week that my Texas-born John Michael said something with a distinctly Midwestern accent. I wanted so badly to point it out to Mike when I was running down the highs and lows of our day, but couldn't remember what it was. The other day JM said it, again. Ah, yes. Banana. He says it like "ba-nai-hna." Since then, I've noticed that he also says mechanic, sandbox and pajamas with that long A sound. I don't think I have much of an accent; Iowans generally speak without one, but, apparently I have enough of one to influence my oldest child. I don't hear it in myself, but am especially sensitive to it living in Texas. I guess it's me with that nasal tone. Mike grew up in Dallas.

It's so weird that my boys are Texans. Growing up, I thought Texas was all snakes and tumbleweeds and cowboys, so it's funny to me sometimes that I live here. Obvi, now that I live here, I know that it's not all that stereotypical way, but there are some things that are really Texas-y about Texas: pick-up trucks, boots and cowboy hats, the occasional Wrangler or big belt sighting, etc. I have not heard JM say "y'all" yet, but that will really seal the deal.

Frick and Frack

It has happened. Noah and JM both think each other are hysterical. What's so funny? When Noah goes up to Mama's leg and blows and makes a big fart noise on it. Or, when Noah makes a fart noise on the leather sofa and then JM has to do it, too. Fart noises are big around here. This goes for any sort of scream or silly laugh, too. JM has finally discovered an ally.

The love goes both ways. Noah wants to do ev.ery.thing that JM does. If JM takes his shoes off, Noah wants his off, too. If JM runs down the sidewalk, Noah runs down the sidewalk. If Michael is doing a garbage dumpster flip over his head with JM, Noah wants one, too.

Thankfully, JM has been pretty sweet with Noah lately. I write this with a bitter taste in my mouth, and emphasize the word "pretty" sweet, as not 5 minutes ago JM pushed Noah off the step stool and made him cry and had to go to time out. But lately, JM has been taking Noah for lots of Jeep rides. He LOVES his little Jeep, so it's a big deal for him to have a passenger. He is also giving Noah impromptu hugs and doing nice things like pushing Noah around on the riding toy in the backyard, which totally rocks for the parent used to having to do such. Siblings are pretty cool. This stage totally makes it worth the guilt I felt at first when Noah was born and we added this "extra" person to the family.

Oye, and can you imagine the amount of screams and fart noises around here in our future with another boy? Aye yi yi!

16ish weeks

My Healthy Pregnancy Nurse through the program at Michael's work mentioned today that I am 17 and a half weeks pregnant, no? No time like the present to get that 16 week picture done, eh? Doh!

Anyway, since we're discussing wonderful week 16, I might add that I felt nauseous until week 16! Every night from 3-10pm from weeks 7-16, I wanted nothing but either a loaf of french bread or more realistically, a plain bagel with cream cheese. If you are feeling crappy in your first trimester, (or ehem, into your 2nd trimester!), try a bagel and orange juice. This baby definitely has gotten no shortage of carbohydrates thus far.

Eeek, my next picture is 20 weeks, when I'll be halfway through. Whoa!

P.S. I am still in denial that there is a boy in there.