21 Weeks

The big news this week is that Joe got to feel the baby move for the first time. We were watching the end of Water for Elephants and the part were the brass band is playing at the club really got the baby moving. I think I made him hold my belly on and off for about 20 minutes but he managed to feel a few good kicks.

Everything else is pretty much the same. I'm still more emotional and mood swingy than usual which kind of sucks when I'm dealing with a two year old. Thankfully she hasn't given me too much trouble this but I also think that the time outs that I have been giving her are starting to sink in. Hopefully we'll have her fits mostly under control by the time the new baby arrives.

My belly has started to come a lot more defined, so a lot of the loose shirts I am wearing are starting to get tight and not fit so well. My boobs are also starting to get bigger which I hadn't realized until my brother in-law tagged me in a picture on facebook holding Aubs and they look like they are going to fall out of my shirt. Obviously I need to be more careful about wearing lower cut tops now so I'm not flashing the general public.

Only about a week and a half until I have my next ultrasound. Hopefully we will get a definite conformation of the sex of the baby. We still think it's a girl and my husband will actually bet money that it is. At the 16 week ultrasound they seemed pretty sure that it was a girl but it was so early that I would just like a little more reassurance. If this next ultrasound if still iffy- I'm claiming team green for the remainder of my pregnancy.

Little Bits of Happiness

As you all know- my daughter has been a little bit of a terror lately. I know, I know she's two but it's still not fun to have to drop your kid off at preschool looking like your neck was attacked by a tiger because you forgot Gymbo the Clown in the car. Yep- we've got a scratcher. When I tell people this they say, "better than a biter" but honestly I don't find either appealing. I have started using in the corner time outs but I don't know if they are working or not. I guess it's too soon to tell.

Oh yeah- the title of this post is "Little Bits of Happiness", don't worry I'm getting to that. The bad behavior has made all the good moments that much sweeter. The cuddles, the hugs and the "I love you-s" are always nice but they are especially nice now. Yesterday afternoon my little devil was actually being a good girl. We were playing in the playroom but I also had the television on in the background. The Fresh Beat Band came on and while Aubs doesn't usually watch that show, she does enjoy the opening credits. She especially loves when they say "Shout" for some reason. She was laughing so hard every time I yelled "shout" that I had no other choice but to capture it on video and share it with all of you.



These giggles are all the little bits of happiness I need to get me through the tough times.
{Oh and if you didn't notice Aubs shirt- she is pretty into stickers these days}

Grow

I have been wanting to grow a little vegetable garden for a few years now.
I have grown herbs in the past but that's about it.
The nice about vegetable gardening in Florida is that you can pretty much garden year round.

I figured I would start out with tomatoes, bell peppers and cucumbers and see how that went,
So far, so good.
Although I did plant too many cucumbers and I had to rip two out today- I didn't realize how big the vines got



My crazy cucumbers- I am trying to encourage them to climb but some are being more responsive than others.


Better Boy Tomatoes- these have been doing really well. They are probably 3 to 4 inches around now.


Bell Peppers- This photo is from last week, if you can spy the little green pepper in this photo, it is about triple that size now




These cherry tomatoes are from a balcony basket that I bought because it was on sale. I am really happy with the purchase, I have gotten a least 30 tomatoes from this plant so far. They are delicious in salads or even on their own with a little bit of salt and pepper.

Have you guys out there ever gardened? Any tips or tricks would be greatly appreciated.

First Day of School

Aubs had her first day of preschool yesterday. If you missed my post about the decision to send her to preschool part-time, you can read it here. I'm happy to report that she did great. She always walks into new environments and acts like she owns the place and this was no exception. There was no tears, she was just enjoying her new surroundings.

My one big concern was lunch. They have the kids eat at 11 am which is on the early side for Aubs. Aubrey also isn't used to not being able to pick off of other people's plates- we haven't started to teach her table manners what so ever. Luckily her teacher said she ate her whole lunch and didn't try to scavenge off of everyone else's plates. Yay! The only hiccup they had with her was that she didn't want to do hand print art. She has been weird about getting stuff on her hands lately. She goes back tomorrow so hopefully she continues to do well.

I tried to snap some pictures for her first day but it wasn't much of a success. Trying to make a two year old sit still when you have been rushing around all morning doesn't make for good pictures. Oh well, at least I tried.

20 Weeks

First off, I would like to apologize for the horrible selfie of my bump. Our life has been shaken up a bit this past week with an unexpected death on my husband's side of the family. I had intended on taking my bump photo yesterday but I woke up at 5 am with severe stomach cramps and was out of commission pretty much all day yesterday.

So let's talk about my illness yesterday since this is my weekly pregnancy post. It was your typical stomach flu but with the addition of take your breath away stomach pains. We were about two seconds away from going to the emergency room because I was really afraid that I was going into early labor. Yes- they were that bad. Every time I moved from about 10 am to noon I had extreme abdominal pain that would last about 30 seconds. Once I got some food into my system that laid down and took a nap I felt a little bit better but the pain would still come on every time that I moved around a lot. These pains didn't stop until about 3:30 this morning. I called my doctor to see if I should come in and the nurse told me that there was a nasty stomach virus going around and as long as I was feeling okay today and I could still feel the baby moving I should be fine. I have to call them back if I start to get the stomach cramping again. It was awful- thank god my husband was home yesterday.

I'm kind of full of bad news today and this is becoming a downer of a post- whomp whomp. You know how I had my ultrasound last week and I was hoping that they could confirm that I was having a girl? Well I went and they couldn't tell if it was a boy or a girl because the position of the babe and my anterior placenta. I have an upper level ultrasound scheduled for May 10th so keep your fingers crossed for me.

In other news I should be posting more frequently this week. My husband is out of town for the next couple of days to attend funeral services in New York so I will have a little more time on my hands to work on the computer. I hope everyone had a lovely weekend- even if it wasn't so lovely I hope that it was better than mine!

Double Lolli-ing

What's better than one lollipop?
2 lollipops!!!








Linking up with my usual lovely wordless Wednesday ladies The Paper Mama, Baby Baby Lemon and Jenni from the Blog

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Preschool Daze

source


I've been playing around with the idea of sending Aubs to preschool part time for a while now. I had originally wanted to start her at 3 but now that we have the baby on the way I would like to start her earlier. I don't want her to associate us sending her to preschool with the new baby. I was going to wait until the summer but the new onslaught of the terrible twos have made me decide to take the plunge a little earlier.

There are a number of reasons why I'd like to send her to preschool. The main reason is that I think she will love it. Aubs is very social and a lot like me when I was younger. I absolutely loved preschool. I only went part time and I used to tell my Mom that I wanted to be one of the latch key kids so that I could stay later. She assured me that was only for kids who had parents who had both parents working and I wasn't allowed to stay late. Also with Aubrey being so social I believe this will help with the terrible twos because I think she might be getting a little sick of being with just me all the time. I mean she absolutely loves going to the kids club at the gym which I find kind of funny.

Another reason is that I think that being in another environment that is so different from her norm will help her grow a lot. Not only will it teach her how to properly interact with her peers without me watching over her but it will also teach her things that I haven't even thought of. Don't get me wrong- Aubs and I spend a lot of time "learning". She can count to 20 on a good day, knows all her colors, most of her shapes and almost all of her letters. I just think she learn more about sharing and communication at preschool.

Lastly- this Mama could use a few hours to herself every week. I haven't quite gotten the whole keeping a tidy house, parenting, blogging and million other things at once thing down. I know it's a learning process but I think 6 hours a week without a toddler pulling on my shirt will help. Also as my pregnancy progresses my doctors appointments get more frequent and it will be hard for my husband to stay home once a week with Aubrey. Bringing Aubs with me isn't an option, she is at that stage where she freaks out as soon as we walk through the door of any hospital or doctors office.

We found a great place that offers small class sizes and a really beautiful environment. My nephew who is 3 also just started there so it will be nice for them to see each other even though they won't be in the same class. She will be going on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9-12. This is actually the only preschool that I liked in the area that provided two half days. I had my heart set on another preschool but they don't offer half days at all and I wasn't willing to put Aubs in for a whole day because I don't want her nap schedule getting screwed up plus I don't think I'm mentally ready to have her in someone else's care for that long. She starts next week so I will give you guys an update next Wednesday on how that goes.

19 Weeks

The most exciting news this week is that I have started to feel the baby move. I thought I had a few times before but I wasn't totally sure. Now there is pretty much no mistaking it. She usually moves around at night when I sit down on the couch after putting Aubrey down for the night. I'm looking forward to when everyone else can feel her too. I think Aubs will get excited later in pregnancy when you can actually see the baby moving in my belly.
My new "craving" this week is root beer. I forget where I read it but there was another blog that said they were craving root beer floats which embedded the thought into my head. I have made one root beer float but mainly I just want the root beer.
Last week was a little bit rough. Aub's terrible twos are in full swing and while that is usually frustrating, for some reason I wasn't handling it that well. It's no fun when you put your kid down for a nap and then have a good cry. I'm thinking it's the hormones- I'm hoping it's the hormones.
In happier news, I have a 20 week ultrasound on Wednesday so hopefully it will confirm that we are having a girl. If my "girl's" balls dropped than at least I have 20 more weeks to adjust to the idea of having a boy.

Joining the Party

Hi! I'm Mallory and I thought I would join in on this year's Ultimate Blog Party hosted by 5 Minutes for Mom. I'll start out with telling you a bit about myself for anyone who is new here. I am a 28 year old stay at home mom to a incredibly spirited 2 year old daughter and I am expecting another little girl in the beginning of September. I am also wife to my handsome husband Joe. We have been together for over 10 years and married for almost 4. We live on Florida's gulf coast so you will often see that our adventures happen outside because it is warm 95% of the year. This little blog of mine documents our lives and occasionally I will throw in a recipe or a DIY.





This is me. I gave you the basics above but I will let you in on a little more now. I grew up in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania and moved to Florida when I was 19 to go to college but truthfully it was more to follow my boyfriend now husband rather than just to attend college. I am still getting use to the fact that I live 15 minutes from the beach after living here for almost 10 years.
I love to read and I may have a slight addiction to television which I am trying to break. My husband and I love the shows on premium channels like Californication, Boardwalk Empire, Shameless and True Blood(this one is more me than him though). I also really enjoy cooking and crafting. Although I have a hard time finding any time to craft these days.





This is my husband Joe. He works incredibly hard so that I can stay at home with our kids, well kid right now but soon to be kids. In his down time he plays golf and Modern Warfare.





This is Aubrey- the star of the show. She also goes but Aubs and Doodle. Usually you will see her rocking her purple glasses but she has been pulling them off a lot lately. She started wearing glasses at 16 months because she is extremely farsighted in her right eye. It is a condition that should correct itself by late childhood. Aubs is a very active 2 year old who has really been giving me a run for my money these days. My perfect little baby has turned into quite a handful as a toddler. You will definitely see me seeking out advice from time to time to figure out what to do with this maniac. We still love her though, she makes up for her outbursts with a lot of sweetness and her undeniable cuteness.




That's it for now... I am looking forward to meeting some new Mamas out there and this weekend I plan on hopping around as much as possible. Please leave a comment and let me know you were here so that I can pay you a visit too.

Spinach Dip Remix

So, I am sure that you all have had this at a party at some point in your life. The famous veggie soup spinach dip in a bread bowl. I make this all the time for parties because not only is it easy but it's a crowd pleaser.

If you know me than you know that it is pretty hard for me to leave a recipe untouched, this recipe is no exception. The little tweaks that I do are that I add a teaspoon of garlic powder and I omit the mayonnaise and add 8 oz of softened cream cheese instead. This makes the texture of the dip a little bit thicker and it also makes it hold up better when you have it sitting out for a long time or outside.

You can find the recipe on the back of pretty much every dried vegetable soup mix but I will break it down for you here just in case.

Ingredients:
1 packet of dried vegetable soup mix such as Knorr or Lipton
10 oz package of frozen spinach- thawed with excess water squeezed out
16 oz container of sour cream
8 oz of cream cheese softened
8 oz can of water chestnuts- chopped
1 tsp of garlic powder

Combine all ingredients and refrigerate for at least two hour or preferably overnight. Serve in a hollowed out round of sourdough or pumpernickel bread.

Aubrey's 1st Easter...Kinda

Well not really- it was actually her 3rd but...
This was the first year I made her a basket and that she actually participated in an Easter egg hunt
So it felt like her first "real" Easter



Linking up with my usual lovely wordless Wednesday ladies The Paper Mama, Baby Baby Lemon and Jenni from the Blog

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18 Weeks

18 weeks already, yikes! Well technically this photo was taken at 18 weeks 4 days but it's really hard to do my hair and make-up on a weekday so that my husband can take my picture when he gets home from work at 6:30. So I've decided to just have him take my picture on the weekend.
Pregnancy is pretty easy right now. I'm not nearly as tired as I use to be and I'm not nausea every morning when I wake up. I have been getting some heartburn and my boobs are still killing me most of the time. My boobs didn't even come close to hurting this much last time and even when they did, it wasn't this late in my pregnancy. I'm thinking maybe it's because I nursed Aubs for so long, who knows.
I don't really have any cravings but I have been eating kind of crappy this week. I've been making quesadillas with whatever leftover meat we have from dinner. That isn't so much of a craving, I think I just felt like quesadillas. I also starting going back to the gym. I'm skipping my usual elliptical workout because I usually get my heart rate pretty high and I haven't worked out in awhile. Instead I am just walking on the treadmill 3-5 miles when I am there. I figure every little but helps, right? Now I just have to start eating better again this week.
We are still undecided on a name for the little one. We have two that we are going back and forth with but we have pretty much have stopped talking names for the time being. I'm actually kind of freaked out because people keep telling that 16 week gender scans that read girl can often be wrong. I have another ultrasound when I am 20 weeks so we shall see then. I'm still pretty convinced it's a girl though and so is the hubby.
I'm hoping to give you guys a weekly bump update every Monday now so stay turned! I also hope all of my Christian friends out there had a great Easter holiday, I know we did.

A Little Bit of Sunshine

My girl and I have been spending tons of time outside lately
I was able to snap these adorable photos of her this afternoon
I hope everyone enjoys their holiday weekend!




In case you were wondering- Aubs adorable neon pink top is from Target