My Baby Boy...

Tex is going to sign this sweet face up for Kindergarten today! What? It kind of makes me lose my breathe just thinking about it. I don't understand how he could be old enough for kindergarten, weren't we just painting his nursery? Oh I love this guy so much and I know he is going to do BIG things, I just wish it didn't go so fast! You will ALWAYS be my baby boy even if you are a big kindergartner! ha!

ReCharged!

I am totally RECHARGED! I had hands down one of the best weekends that I have had in a LONG time!! It is no secret that this move hasn't been everything I had hoped for and I just needed to get a way and recharge and reconnect and that is exactly what I did! I took off by myself Saturday morning for a weekend of eating, friends, pampering and just some "me" time. (Thank you to my wonderful husband who never complains or questions my need to be around my girlfriends! I think he knows that it makes me a better wife and mother :) I can't tell you what a little girlfriend therapy and some alone mommy time can do, it is truly amazing! Even though I am sad that I am not in Louisville I have to be grateful that it is just a short drive away and that I can visit any time I want to!

On another positive note! I totally found baby T #3's bedding! I have searched high and low website after website with a specific look in mind for this nursery. I wanted more sophisticated. I have done the bright colors and this nursery is small and intimate and I wanted something to match that feel. I also needed something that I could incorporate the yellow rocker and ottoman that I have used in all of the kids nurseries, that was a must!

So, I know you all are wondering how in the world I picked out bedding when I have no clue what this child is? Well, in my defense it was under GENDER NEUTRAL bedding sets on the website, so I say that it can totally go boy or girl. It is probably more on the girly side but if baby T # 3 is a boy then he will just have to be a little girly for the first 2 years because his mommas is OBSESSED with this bedding! ha! 

We are going to use Ann Mason's crib and her dresser from her room and I took her shopping for some cute things for her room last night. We have a lot of switching and moving around to do but i think it is going to work perfectly! So here it is....

Love it! I am thinking an accent wall in that mocha color or incorporating some of the blues....?

Here is the big view of it...

Think less busy, we won't have the full panel drapes and all of the wall decor. More so just the bedding... I bought a lamp shade and a pillow for the glider to match, just enough!

I am starting to feel like this may actually be real! haha I have a lot to do in the next 5 months!

15 weeks!

I am 15 weeks today!! WOOHOO! I am feeling like I am turning a corner and I am SO happy to see the other side! Meet Baby T #3....

My sweet baby is the size of an APPLE! I get to hear the heartbeat on Wednesday and then I have to wait 5 LONG weeks for the gender ultrasound. I don't get to find out until 21 weeks here! That seems so long :) Probably seems longer for the kids. I am putting Aunt Ashley to work on the Team Boy/Team Girl shirts for the ultrasound, we will ALL be going in! ha!

Obviously there is no baby bump picture partly out of vanity and partly out of the fact that I never did find my camera cord and I even looked in the fridge! I PROMISE I will start doing these darn things! I know I will enjoy them.

Here is a lovely, random (of course) list of the little things in life that this mamma is enjoying! It doesn't take much these days!

OMG! McDonald's smoothies, I swear everything McD's has is good. These smoothies are awesome and a lot of times when I am nausea and not craving anything at all these sound good!

There are VERY few shows that I get to watch these days! Mainly because I usually can't stay up but there are about 4 that I am currently watching/catching up on thru DVR. Revenge, Parenthood, The Voice and Bethany Ever After

I am telling you, if you want a series to get into this one is it! It just finished the first season so you can catch up! It is so awesome!

LOVE, LOVE this show! It makes me happy and I find myself yelling for the contestants!

Probably the most random on my list is my  "go to meal" for when I am sick and nothing sounds good.... Ramen Noodles! How freaking random? Loving them and all of their yummy goodness and convenience and the funny thing is Annie and Palmer think they are delicious as well! This is my kind of dinner these days a few packs of Ramen Noodles and we are set!

And me and this little fav had a date last night. OMG! It took everything I had not to eat it all. I did stop but half way thru, it just kept saying "eat me!" When pregnant I love me some ice cream and popcorn for nightly snacks but I usually only have to make myself have a snack like 2 times a week!

I found this little gem when I was planning Annie's pinkalicious party! I am OBSESSED! I have had such a hard time cutting back my caffeine, I LOVE caffeine so this has helped SO much! It is mine and Annie's "pinkalicious" drink, we love it!

So, there you have it can't you just picture me and my belly on the couch eating my Ben & Jerry's Cheesecake Brownie, drinking my pinkalicious lemonade watching the Voice! ha! It seriously happened just last night, the whole combo!

Have a great rest of the week, we are almost thru it!

I am here and the fog is lifting!

I have unintentionally taken quite the blogging break! I am here and I FINALLY feel like the fog is lifting somewhat. I will be 15 weeks Thursday! This has been by far one of the hardest pregnancies. I think I have still been fighting a lot of emotion and uncertainty from the move and trying to find my way around a new life here. The extra hormones for 13 weeks on top of being pregnant I think did quite a number on me as well! haha I don't need extra hormones that is for sure! With Ann Mason I was concerned because I felt "down" during the first half of my pregnancy and I can say with certainty that this pregnancy that feeling has been magnified. I am so grateful that I can recognize this, evaluate it and decide on some kind of action that I feel comfortable with. Don't get me wrong I don't feel "down" because I am not happy I am pregnant I just happen to think that the hormones that multiply when your pregnant cause different emotions in us all and this happens to be mine.

With all of that being said the night sickness is fading, the crying spells are becoming less and less frequent and each day my outlook seems to be a little brighter and more positive! Hallelujah! It is terrible to know that how you are feeling isn't "you" and I am not normally a sad person but when you are in the middle of it, it is hard to feel like you are going to come out on the other end!

I say all of this so that I can remember this time and I can look back on it and hopefully see how nothing lasts forever! I am already starting to feel less overwhelmed and am truly getting excited about SO many wonderful things happening including this precious baby growing inside me! 

We had a wonderful weekend! I had a girls night with my mother in law and sister in law Saturday. We went to church on Sunday (after a long journey, we have now gone to the same church two weekends in a row and are truly hopeful that we have finally found somewhere that we would love to call our church home!) that afternoon we spent time with friends at their farm and I watched my kids ride four wheelers for the first time and they LOVED it! I have tons of pictures but I have misplaced my camera cord (I will probably find it in the fridge right next to the tv remote control from last week, thanks pregnancy brain!)

Things are looking up each day and I am SO grateful. I know God has a plan and I know we all must face struggles and in the end it always, always turns out ok. I am heading to Louisville this weekend for a girls night. I can't tell you how excited I am to get there and laugh, relax and enjoy some mommy time! I promise I will find my camera cord before then :)

Pinkalicious!

Oh man did we have a pinkalicious weekend! Ann Mason had decided that she wanted a "pink"party months ago and thanks to the handy internet and pinterest I found a whole new world called Pinkalicious. Pinkalicious is a super cute book about a little girl that eats too many pink cupcakes and turns pink herself and the only way she can get back to normal is to eat a lot of green veggies!! Ann Mason LOVES it so the pinkalicious theme was born! Buying pink was easy! Being pregnant and having no brain power trying to plan an indoor birthday party at my house for a bunch of kids was another task :) In the end everyone had fun and that is all that matters! If I happen to mention that I am having another winter birthday party in my house remind me that it might not be the best idea! ha! It was like a sugar filled Animal House for 3 year olds! I think if some of them (including mine) could have reached the ceiling fans or chandiliers they would have swung from them!

Here is the birthday pinkalicious princess. Thanks to Aunt Ashley for the super adorable "Annielicious"shirt it was a hit!

I love this kid!

So fun I was jealous and kind of wanted a boa and hair feather too!

Kroger came in handy for the cupcakes I found pinkalicious cake toppers and then they put some bling with fake diamond rings :) the girls loved them!

The pinkalicious book, plates and napkins

The main table. I didn't take pics of my tissue paper pom-poms in the back. I made some country time strawberry lemonade for the party and this prengnat momma and Ann Mason are LOVING some pinkalicious lemonade, as we call it! That stuff is addicting!

Here is part of the cupcake decorating station. Another one of my not so brilliant ideas! ha!

All of the goodies!

The birthday girl looking a little mischevious!

Well, this is how Ann Mason looked the ENTIRE time we sang Happy Birthday to her. Scared, with her hands plastered over her ears! AWESOME :) The boys even had to blow out her candle she was literally frozen.

And the girl racked up on some presents. Like some awesome, girly, mommy kind of wants to play with them kind of presents :) So fun! I am loving that she is starting to get into the arts and crafts stuff, I was totally the art kit kind of kid!

We had a blast and the kids were SO excited that Aunt Ashley, Uncle Joe and Bellies stayed the night with us (mommy was too). Bellies was definitely the guest of honor and the kids followed her everywhere and LOVED every minute of it! My house is still paying the price from the pinkalicious party but it is slowly getting back to normal! ha!

THREE

Three years ago today our lives changed forever. About this exact time last year I was in reocvery holding my sweet, sweet baby girl! I will never forget my ultrasound when they told me I was having a daughter, I don't think I have ever been as excited and nervous at the same time! You were such a blessing and great addition to our family!

Palmer was immediately in love and has stayed that way ever since! You all may fight hard but you love each other even harder! I LOVE how you two are best friends and want to do everything together, I hope it stays that way!

Oh I could just squeeze this pictures, it makes me excited about getting to have another baby in our house. I just love those babies! Oh I loved dressing Ann Mason up everyday it was SO fun!

This was our first family of four picture. My hormones were WAY better after Annie than they were with Palmer. I think I was able to enjoy everything so much more and be much more relaxed and focus on the joy of being a new mom versus the fear of something going wrong. I can remember feeling SO happy in this picture!

Annie, you were SUCH a good baby. You fit right in, you would go with the flow, fall asleep where I laid you, eat what I gave you, etc... A welcome change from your picky brother whom I love dearly! ha!

You two have made me excited to be a mom every day! The love you have for each other is priceless!

Girl, you are spunky! You get fiesier every day you get older! I know that the attitude and drama will just keep increasing, I am hoping I can handle it. You can make me laugh and fire me up within minutes :) You already know how to press my buttons! Watch out!

You are a happy, independent, baby doll loving, social butterfly! You crack me up, you LOVE a crowd like your daddy! Palmer and I could avoid them forever :) The more the merrier in your eyes, I love it!

You love, love, love friends! You ask them questions, you know about their lives. It cracks me up, you tell me things about your friends all of the time. I love that you are so caring and such a good listner (almost too good! :) Being around people makes you happy and you have such a mothering nature, you are always wanting to take care of people!

You might look sweet but you are also trouble with a capital T! You can instigate and manuvuer some pretty crazy situations! I always know who the leader of the pack is at our house :) Palmer follows your every move, he is not as much of a risk taker as you!

You have been my #1 cheerleader during this pregnancy! You are BEYOND excited. You are making this SO much fun for me because of your love and excitment. You talk to your baby bro/sis every day and even though you tell me daily that my belly has gotten SO big I still love that you care so much!

You are my beautiful daughter and I hope you always know how beautiful you are! You have been a bright spot in my day for 3 years and I can't wait to see what is in store for our family! You are going to be the best big sis in the world and I cant wait to watch you blossom in that role! Thank you for making me feel like one special and loved mommy! I love you!

Working Momma

I am doing a late link up at Kellys Korner. She is doing a Show Us Your Life - Working Moms... I hesitated to do this post because honestly I struggle with it so much! In all honesty my working causes probably 95% of all my "mom guilt". I realize that I do this to myself! I can remember when Palmer went to school for the first time I would sit at work those first few weeks and literally torture myself by adding up the hours that he was at "school" compared to the hours he was with me. The hours weren't in my favor and this caused me to go into my crazy mode thinking of how by me working this was going to effect him for the rest of his life in negative ways!

Palmer on his very first day of school 2007

Fast forward 4 1/2 years and I am not as irrational but I still have an inner emotional struggle with feeling like an inadequate mom for working. As a little girl I always wanted to be a mom and being a mom meant to me that I would stay at home because that is what my mom did and that was really the only way I knew. Well, God had other plans and right now staying home is not an option for our family as much as some days I wish it could be and I have to be ok with that and not beat myself up for having to work. Am I jealous of stay at home moms? Absolutely, most of the time. Do I think I have it harder than they do? No, not necessarily because I know that staying at home is a 100% full time job and to be honest I don't know if I would even be good at it. I think it is easy for me to make excuses sometimes and say things like "Well, if I stayed at home.... I would make homemade valentines and big breakfasts in the mornings and would have wonderful from scratch dinners made every night. The laundry would always be done, we would have a daily craft time, I would be in 5 mops groups, etc... haha Sometimes what I thought I would be like isn't always the reality of what I am. As I learn more about myself I highly doubt that it would matter if I worked 75 hours a week or stayed at home... I probably am never going to have all of my laundry done, or make from scratch dinners or be the most creative mom. It just might not be the mom that I am?

Palmer and Annie on their first day of school together 2009

I think there are a lot of misconceptions when we become moms. A lot of false pressure that we put on ourselves. What I thought or wanted to be like as a mom and what I am as a mom are different but I have come to realize that is not always a bad thing. I am not a perfect, eat your veggies, house is organized, lunches are packed, I don't forget anything kind of mom :) I am however, a real mom and I NEVER forget to hug my kids when I pick them up and ask them how their days were. We are the family that sits down together to eat every night even though we are eating hot dogs and mac-n-cheese and not  a healthy from scratch meal. I am a human mom that forgets pj day at school and does Walmart bought Valentines Cards but I do it with love and we do it together :) There are days when I think the grass would be greener if I could just stay home and it might be... but for right now I have to learn to embrace and own the fact that I am a working mom and I can be good at both, darn it :) Sometimes as a mom, wife, employee, etc.. I feel pulled in a million directions and I feel like sometimes I am only giving 5 different areas20% of myself and really wanting to be able to give one area 100% of myself, but that's life. That probably wouldn't change if I didn't work. In the end it's my attitude and outlook that are going to bring me down or bring me thru this. If I have an "I can" attitude life seems to truck a long easier. That doesn't mean that I love every single thing, every single day, it just means that I take what I am given with a positive attitude and vow not to be perfect but just to do better. I love that, we have to give ourselves a break and not expect that we can do everything, all of the time.

I am preaching to myself more than I am to the choir :) I can let myself have a pity party pretty quick if I don't keep things in perspective. I think as long as I keep my priorities straight and always make time for God, Family and then my job things will always seem to work out!

Well, I feel better! ha! For all of you working moms or stay at home moms we are all doing a great job and at the end of the day when our children go to bed feeling loved and safe that is all we can really ask for !