30 weeks!

30 weeks! I am 30 weeks pregnant with Eva now :)


This week our favorite girl is over 15 inches (not too much change from last week) and over 3 lbs now (3lbs 4oz according to my ultrasound earlier this week). Her eyesight is developing rapidly and will continue to do so. Eva, like a good girl, is head down now, and will hopefully stay that way!


At the ultrasound, we did get gender confirmation, but I won't post that picture - we'll just say Eva is definitely a girl :P I'm also not posting the 3d picture because she had the umbilical cord around her face, and it looks like she's enveloped in something with just part of her face sticking out. She did show off how limber she is by touching her nose to her knees!


Bump picture and Eva picture :)

bump

Eva showing off her bendiness

December Arts and Crafts at Home Depot

As many of you know, Ethan LOVES arts and crafts! Home Depot has a kiddie workshop (brilliant marketing strategy - get the kids in for a little project, get mommies and daddies in to spend money) on the first Saturday of the month, where the little ones can go hammer, glue and paint a little project to take home. They also get a little pin for their apron so they can track what projects they've done.


Please enjoy the December highlights and the best snowman napkin holder ever! I love how Ethan was creative with the colors and the sticker placement :)

getting settled in

carefully gluing the snowman's hat

painting the snowman

more snowman painting - look at all the colors!

finished product, side 1

finished product, side 2

29 weeks!

I know I've been a little slow with the weekly posts, but I'll try to keep up with them a little better. It's been crazy busy around here with my birthday and Christmas!


Anyways, Eva is in the super growth mode now (weight wise at least) - from now until I meet her sometime in the next 8-10 weeks, she'll be putting on close to 1/2 pound a week! At 29 weeks, she weighs somewhere in the neighborhood of 2.5 pounds and is 15 inches from head to toe. Her muscles and lungs are continuing to develop rapidly (this will be a strong girl, I'm sure many of you have heard my stories about Eva's kicking) and needs more nutrients from me than ever. Good thing I crave things like fruit along with french fries ;)


I had a growth ultrasound yesterday, but I will include those pictures with the 30 week post, which I PROMISE will not be as late as this one was.


Weekly bump watch:

28 weeks!

My third trimester is here! At 28 weeks (and 3 days now as of this post), I have less than 11 weeks to go before I meet Eva!


Our girl's been busy growing - she weighs in the neighborhood 2 1/4 pounds and is nearly 15 inches! While she won't be growing THAT much taller (I'm guessing another 3-5 inches), she'll certainly be packing on the weight (but not too much hopefully!). She's blinking away now and has grown eyelashes. I hope they're as long and plentiful as Ethan's!


As for me, the cravings have kicked in again - highlights: ham sandwiches, tapioca pudding and banana splits. Someone, who shall remain nameless, has yet to procure these items for me...hehe.


Anyways, weekly bump picture!

27 weeks!

I know this is a little late, but here's the 27 week post!


It's hard to believe that I'm over 6 months pregnant and that in less than 3 months, I'll be meeting little Eva!


This week she weighs in the neighborhood of 2lbs and is almost 14.5 inches if you measure her from head to toe. She's sleeping and waking at regular intervals - but I think she's been doing this for WEEKS now. I'm sure some of you have heard me complain about her "sleep strikes" - just the other week, I swear she didn't sleep much for 2 days. It was kick kick kick, 5-10 minutes of rest, then back to the kicking. Eva is a very active little girl!


Obligatory bump picture...

26 weeks

I know I'm a little late with this post, but I've been really busy at work this past week!


Anyways, I am now over 26 weeks pregnant with Eva! She's practicing breathing so that she's ready when she joins us sometime in less than 14 weeks. She's a tall girl at about 14 inches and is starting to chunk up at a whopping 2 pounds!


This week's post has extra pictures in addition to the weekly bump watch - I have the picture from when I was 26 weeks pregnant with Ethan (did not take weekly pictures back then) and an ultrasound done at 25 weeks and 6 days. I think I'm carrying a teeny bit higher with Eva than when I was with Ethan.

26 weeks with Eva

26 weeks with Ethan

Eva at 25w6d, she was making faces at the ultrasound tech apparently!

Ethan "reads" Curious George

Ethan loves to read about Curious George and all of his crazy escapades. He's read enough of these books that he's memorized large chunks of them and can recite them from memory.

Ethan's version:
"This is George. He was good little monkey always curious. Today George curious about roller skating. Hundley Dachshund used the new skates.... Too fast!"


Actual words from the book:
This is George. He was a good little monkey and always very curious. Today George was curious about roller-skating! Hundley the Dachshund was the first to try out the new skates. Hundley went fast! Too fast!

Summer-saws

Ethan just learned to do "summer-saws" (somersaults) and wants to show off for you :)

The Mommy Song

Ethan decided to make up a song for me - please enjoy the mommy song :)

Crafty goodness

You may remember this post from a few weeks back when I started the yarn wreaths. 


Here is a picture of my fall wreath on my front door :)

If you look closely, you'll notice the packing tape under the ribbon - I had dropped the wreath and the foam snapped, so we had to tape it back together. Lesson learned - don't drop your wreath!

I had so much fun making the first wreath that I decided to make a Christmas one, which I'd like to point out, I have not dropped. Yet.

I like the bright cheerful colors :)

25 weeks!

25 weeks pregnant with Eva :) 


Our favorite little girl has been doing some serious growing this past week - she is 13.5 inches from head to toe and about 1.5 pounds! She is also starting to fill out a little with some baby fat and is busy growing hair. I hope she is as lucky as Ethan was and is born with a head full of beautiful hair!


We'll get another peek at her in less than a week when I go in for the growth ultrasound...but until then, a picture of my pregnant belly will have to do!

24 weeks!

24 weeks :)


Little Eva has spent the past week growing! She's over 12 inches long and over a pound in weight. She is still a scrawny little girl, but she'll be filling in with lots of kissable baby fat over the next 13-16 weeks :) Her taste buds are really developing well - all the flavors from the yummy foods I eat are being passed to her in the amniotic fluid - she really likes chocolate, just like her mommy!


I am convinced Eva is nocturnal - she's pretty quiet during the days now. She'll move a lot before 8am, not move so much during the day, and then go into overdrive after 8pm! 


Bump! I don't feel quite as big with Eva as I did with Ethan, I suppose that's a good thing :)

Arts and Crafts Fun for Me!

Lately I've been hit by a need to get crafty. After many days and lunch hours of poring over DIY/crafting blogs, I came upon the perfect simple beginner's craft - felt rosettes and yarn wreaths!


The rosettes were really simple (and I'm generally craft challenged) - although I think I might have to buy better fabric glue because some of the rosettes are starting to come undone a little.


Yarn wreaths are super simple and cheap to do it yourself. Just check the prices on Etsy (yikes!) if you need motivation! I will say it takes FOREVER to wrap the yarn around the styrofoam wreath, but it'll get done. Eventually.


Here are pictures of my first attempts at being crafty - please don't laugh too hard :)

practice wreath - intended to be fall seasonal for my house

pink rosettes - will be used in a yarn wreath for Eva's room

Arts and Crafts Fun at Eaglebrook :)

Today I took Ethan to an arts and crafts event at the Eaglebrook Country Club clubhouse. While I think it was geared mainly towards older kids, Ethan still had fun and I think he made the best arts and crafts!

Ethan ate his fries, his fruit and a whole chicken finger! I think he was one of the only kids to eat their fruit though.

Apparently all that food wasn't enough - Ethan is eating the lettuce off of my plate!

Ethan made me a pretty bracelet

Ethan made Eva a pretty picture frame

23 weeks!

I'm 23 weeks (and 2 days) pregnant with Eva now!

Our girl is quite the little dancer now - with her sense of movement and increased ability to hear louder noises (like Ethan's serenades!), she is not lacking for entertainment. The blood vessels in her lungs are continuing to develop in order for her to be ready to breathe in 14-17 weeks! Eva's going on 12 inches and a little over a pound now!

Weekly bump picture and another sneak peek at our girl!

comfy sweat pants are a pregnant girl's best friend!

Eva

22 weeks!

I'm 22 weeks (and 2 days) pregnant with Eva now!


My girl is about 11 inches long and nearly a pound now. Her lips, eyelids and eyebrows are becoming more distinct by the day. She's pretty wrinkly now, but she has plenty of time to grow that baby fat!


I had a good 22 week doctor's appointment. Because my blood sugars are so well under control (practically non-diabetic), I now only have to test twice a week for the next month. I've put on 5lbs in the past month, bringing me to a total of 15lbs gained so far. Oh, and Eva demonstrated how active she is by kicking for the doctor twice! What a feisty little girl she is!


I am finally wearing maternity pants, but still haven't had to wear maternity shirts. Granted, I do have to wear longer shirts for the office, but I only go in twice a week or so :)


Anyways, here's the weekly bump picture, and it's really a bump now!

Trick or Treat!

Trick or treat! Ethan had a cold, but we bundled him up and took him out to what I think was a lot of houses for a 2 year old - up and down my parents' street (they live on a cul de sac) and a couple of my neighbors. My sweet little boy said "please" instead of "trick or treat" - how polite! But he quickly picked up on what was going on - as he was running down the sidewalk in between houses, he would happily yell "Ethan want more candy!"

Here's a treat for all of you...

My favorite little bear in the world!!!

"Ethan want more candy!"

So sweet!

Fall Festival fun at Heritage Prairie Farm

On the Saturday before Halloween, Chris and I took Ethan to a fall festival at one of our favorite places to go - Heritage Prairie Farm! They had all sorts of fun Halloween themed events for the little ones - face painting, pumpkin hunting (and decorating!), candy and Ethan's personal favorite, donkey feeding (the donkey is there all the time, but I have to mention it anyways)!

Please enjoy the pictures!

sweetest little bear

Ethan is a real bear now!

bears and donkeys get along!

funny close up of mr. donkey :)

inquisitive boy fingerpainting a pumpkin!

Random cuteness

amoxicillin moustache - poor Ethan had a double ear infection...

Ethan fished my blender out of the cabinet, assembled it, plugged it in, dumped in his sippy cup of milk and blended!

blended milk moustache :P

Ethan loves to sing

Tracy, this one's for you :) He didn't quite focus long enough to sing the whole song, but enough to be cute!

Ethan's first love

As many of you already know, one of Ethan's favorite people to play with in the world is Molly, our neighbors' 7 year old granddaughter. Molly "loves that little guy" and Ethan "loves Molly". The pure innocence of a 2 year old's first love :)


She came over not too long ago to help rake the leaves off the driveway.

Being  "silly silly"

Ethan <3 Molly

21 weeks!!!

I know I say this practically every week, but I can't believe I'm 21 weeks pregnant with Eva! I'm over halfway there and before I know it, I'll be meeting the little hellraiser (more on that in a bit).


Let's see...official developments...Eva weighs in the neighborhood of 3/4 of a pound and is about 10.5 inches long. Her movements are more coordinated and are definitely becoming strong kicks and nudges. Strong enough to wake me up in the middle of the night and strong enough to stop me from falling back asleep...doesn't she know a girl her size isn't supposed to be this strong quite yet? I digress. 


Weekly bump picture - 

20 weeks!

I can't believe I'm 20 weeks (and 3 days now) pregnant with Eva!

She weighed approximately 12 oz (can of pop) this past Thursday and is about 8-10 inches from head to toe. One of the big skills she's working on this week is swallowing, which we may have seen on the ultrasound when we caught her opening her mouth :)

On a personal note, I managed to make it to 20 weeks without having to wear maternity clothes - it's just pants now, my shirts (as long as they're stretchy) are still fitting! I'm happy :) I detest maternity clothes (they don't make anything good in my size), so the more I can avoid them the better. I'd be perfectly happy in sweatpants and fuzzy slippers for the rest of the pregnancy, but I don't think that counts as business casual. Or casual :P

I digress. Random nursery stuff - rather than painting the whole room pink, we (and by we, I mean Chris, of course) chose to paint the north wall of Eva's room pink (exact shade is Poetic Princess by Behr). Her crib bedding has also been purchased (crib skirt, fitted sheet and quilt in Scarlett from Pottery Barn Kids). Decorations and theme have yet to be decided. Rest assured there will be lots of pink!

Here's the 20 week bump :)

Thinking...PINK!!!!!

I think the title of this post gives it away, but in case you haven't quite figured it out, we got confirmation today we'll be having a little girl!

Little Eva (and yes that's what we're going to name her, no middle name picked out yet) was quite the little show off today - she enjoyed showing off how well she could move, how well she is growing, her precious little feet, her little tongue, I could just go on and on! All of her measurements were perfect - she measured at an average of 20 weeks and has an estimated weight of 12oz (can of pop).

Please enjoy the ultrasound pictures (apologies for the poor quality - I don't have a scanner, so I have to take pictures of pictures with my camera)!

You can't tell from the quality, but the ultrasound tech labelled this one girl! According to the internet, they look for the classic 3 lines, 2 lines or lack of a boy part. With Eva, there was a distinct 2 lines and no evidence of boy parts!

Eva with her legs pulled up in the classic fetal position - if you look closely, her mouth is open!

Close up of Eva :)

Eva's little feet!

Gaufre de Liege

Who doesn't like breakfast food for dinner? We love breakfast food at my house, and my waffle maker has gotten quite the workout lately - from cornmeal waffles to go with chili, to regular buttermilk waffles and now Liege waffles (gaufre de Liege just sounds so much more exotic!).

I had just gotten my new issue of Food and Wine magazine this week and while flipping through it, I came to a stop when I saw the Liege waffle recipe. It was exciting because Julien is from Liege (in Belgium).

Recipe here - http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/liege-waffles

The exciting part is that I actually found the Belgian pearl sugar that the recipe called for right here in Geneva at a more reasonable price than I found on Amazon.

OMG, it was totally worth it - this batch of waffles was seriously the best ever! The pearl sugar caramelized in places, and in others, it stayed crunchy. You didn't even need syrup or any sort of topping - just a plain Liege waffle is happiness on a plate and in your tummy :)

Belgian pearl sugar, waffle batter

steamy waffle maker - I love my KitchenAid pro line :)

Tower o' goodness!

"Ethan eat waffle!"