23 Weeks

I am 23 weeks today! WOOHOO One week away from saying I am 6 months pregnant :) April flew by and I have a feeling May will go by even quicker. We have my dad's 60th birthday weekend, Palmer's 5th Birthday Party and a trip to the BEACH!

Please excuse the BAD picture, I tried to take one that was not in front of the toilet! Everything is great with Chandler even though I am throwing up nightly and sometimes mid day still, apparently it is not effecting her in any way and I am trying to drink lots and lots of water!

Everything is definitely getting bigger  to say the least :)

Speaking of my cravings for food this was my dinner last night (yes, I am sure it could have fed 4 people! ha!) but it was mostly veggies, right? Asparagus, Squash, Tomatoes and pork chops with salt, yes please! The kids LOVE pork chops and au gratin potatoes so it is a win/win for everyone. They think squash and asparagus are yucky!

It is Thursday which means its almost Friday and I LOVE Fridays! The weekends can't come soon enough :)

Obsessed...

So I found a new (new for me) cleaning product that I am 100% obsessed with. I have found that coming from a new house to a 30 year old home I have had to change how I clean. It isn't necessarily a bad thing but just different. I think older homes probably have to be cared for and maintained obviously different than new homes and it seems I am slowly learning the ropes.

Given the fact that I am almost 6 months pregnant and I am obsessed with cleaning currently I needed to find something that would work the way I wanted it to without the harsh chemicals of products with bleach in them. So insert my new fav thing...

WHITE VINEGAR

At only $2.96 for this HUGE bottle this cleaning product is not only AWESOME at cleaning but VERY economical! Go here to Vinegar Tips to find the hundreds of amazing things this product does! I first learned about it from a friend who was soaking her water tray from her refrigerator in it to get off the hard water stains! I have never found something that could do that!

I also have used it in my microwave with water and heat it up and it wipes completely clean in minutes! I seriously have not used another cleaning product in the last 3 weeks. It does windows, counter tops, appliances, bath tubs, etc... I think Tex thinks I am crazy because our whole house smells like vinegar but it is clean! :) The tips in the website are amazing, use it in your laundry, dishwasher, etc... I had a lot of build up around my faucets in the bathrooms and on our shower doors. Sprayed this and let it soak for about 10-15 minutes and voila it all comes right off! Just had to pass this along!

Miss Chandler

I had the privilege of seeing this little beautiful miracle this morning! Chandler Grace is almost 23 weeks and weighs 1 lb 2 oz. She is perfect and active :) She was kicking the ultrasound tech, eating her fingers, moving her mouth like she was talking and having a great time!

Today I was overcome by gratitude and emotion. For me there is no way you can't believe in God when you experience the miracle of a baby growing inside of you. I feel honored that I get to experience this gift again and feel truly, truly blessed. Life has thrown me many curve balls some I handle with grace others I handle like a raging lunatic :) but at the end of the day I TRY to be a good example to my children. I TRY to show them that life isn't always fair but it isn't how we handle ourselves on our best days it is how we handle ourselves on our worst days. Sometimes I fail miserably and sometimes I get it right. I am pretty sure they know I am human and they have seen my tears and felt my defeats even at their young age but they have also seen me keep on going, rise above and love them with a fire that burns deep inside of me. I get to do this again, my heart gets to grow 100 times more, I get love another person more than I ever thought humanely possible. It is an awesome day!

The weekend was crazy busy! I am starting to see a pattern here :) our weekends might be crazy for the next 18 years! Despite being super busy I did get not one but two mommy nights out on the town! It was AWESOME! Friday night I went with my mother in law, sister in law and a friend to see this movie...

My oh my! Zac Efron is ALL grown up! I enjoyed the movie a lot! I have heard some say that it was slow but I enjoyed it~ Zac Efron made it enjoyable to watch especially when he had his shirt off :)

After we went to the movies we ate at Olive Garden! I ate too much but it was SO gooood! It was such a nice night out with the girls to recharge myself for the weekend!

Saturday night we got to go out to eat to celebrate Tiffany's birthday! Robbie and Tiff have known Tex since before he was Palmer's age. It is so fun to watch our kids grow up together! Aunt Tiff can keep them in line for sure! I am going to send my kids over to her house when they get in trouble!

I had to take some pics since we rarely go on a date night!

This is us with me at almost 23 weeks! I love comparing pictures of us with the different kiddos!

We did a lot of eating and a lot of running this weekend! Palmer is now playing soccer and tee ball so we had two games and a practice this weekend not to mention church, Sunday lunch and grocery! I was worn out last night! It was so fun and a great weekend!

22 Weeks!

Well, I am 22 weeks! Which means that I have 17 weeks left (c-section at 39 weeks) and it also means that I have hit the less than 4 month mark for both work and being pregnant! I know I will look back and say how fast it flew by but right now I am not there yet!

Here I am in all of my 22 week Glory. Weight Gain is definitely picking up and that's a little scary! I am terrified to think about my body at 35 weeks in the dead of summer! haha

This week has been very uneventful and I LOVE uneventful :) Things have been running SO much smoother at our house since we have implemented the sticker chart almost 1 week ago (sticker chart post to come!)

Happy Thursday! It is almost FRIDAY! WOOHOO!

Summer Reading List

So, I have a big list of reading to accomplish before baby Chandler gets here! I have been hearing about so many books that I want to read. I am making a promise to myself to avoid social media at night and focus on reading! It is so much more calming and I find that I sleep SO much better if I read before bed  vs. being on my phone or the computer! So, here is my summer reading book list. I might not get thru them all but I am going to try!

Fifty Shades of Grey by EL James! I don't know if I should even admit that I am dying to read this one :) You will have to look up the dirty details yourself! It is definitely not apparently a light read to say the least. I definitely want to figure out what the juicy is buzz is all about!

This next book is by a woman named Kelle Hampton. I am not even sure how I stumbled upon her blog but it is a MUST READ! Go here Enjoying the small things to start reading. This link takes you directly to Nella's story where you want to start off. I have NEVER read anything more gripping, raw, emotional and inspiring in my life. I was literally grasping on to every picture and word. Her writing is amazing and she is a true inspiration as a woman and a mom. After Nella her life changed and she wrote a book chronicling how she found happiness in the unexpected. I have already heard wonderful things about this book and I literally can't wait to read it!

Hunger Games.... need I say more? I think I may give in to all of the hype and just read them apparently they are sooo good :)

This is the book that I am currently reading. I am only on page 60 but it is a great book so far. It is a true story about a homeless man, a millionaire art dealer and a woman who binds them together and changes their lives forever. I am just getting to the good part so I will let you know how it finishes out but I heard this one is a life changer. I love books like that :)

Recently I have had several people tell me how good Safe Haven was. I have always loved Nicholas Sparks but I think I burned myself out on him a while ago. I probably haven't read one of his books in about 2-3 years but I heard this one is amazing! I also recommend the Lucky One (the new movie coming out with hottie Zac Efron) I did read that book and it was GREAT!

So there you have it. You can pretty much guess what I will be doing after 9 pm every night! I will let you know how they turned out!

Party Time!

It was a partying kind of weekend at the Templeton household. We ended up having 3 birthday parties this weekend and this momma is WORN out :) (I didn't get to take my nap on Saturday or Sunday! ha!) The kids had a blast and they acted awesome which made for a fun weekend!

The first birthday party we headed to was for Palmer's buddy at school. He had a superhero bowling party. This was Palmer's first time bowling and he LOVED it! He loved it so much that before we left the bowling alley he signed up for his 5th birthday party next month (tear, tear!)

Here is my little super hero buddy bowling for the first time!

Intensely watching his ball roll down the lane! He was actually pretty good!

The boys in his class are seriously the sweetest group of boys ever. They just hug each other all of the time it is hilarious. If one boy hit a pin they would all just hug each other and high five. This is Collin Palmer's BFF!

All of the kiddos...

The next birthday party was for Tatum she was turning a big 4!

All of the buddies from Tatum's Party!

These two melt my heart, they literally get SO excited when they see each other! I need to find some pictures of their daddies together at this age, I am pretty sure they would look the same!

Oh Ann Mason :) She was a good girl this weekend I think she likes to party :)

Well, our last stop and birthday celebration was for Papaw. Ann Mason is to say the least pretty smitten with her Papaw and I am pretty sure he feels the same way.

The whole crew Mamaw and Papaw with their grand babies, can't wait to throw another one in the chaos!

This picture sums it up.... we found Ann Mason on the couch dead asleep at 7:15! Palmer is probably smiling because he got to stay up and watch his favorite movie Transformers in peace :)

It was definitely a fun filled weekend, I think it might take me all week to catch up on my sleep!