I scream, you scream we all scream for...

...ICE CREAM! Last week Madeline had her first trip to the ice-cream truck! It was just after dinner and bath, and in true Madeline fashion she was already asking for a snack. Daddy heard the ice-cream truck and decided to run out and try to grab it. Daddy carried Madeline to the truck and picked out her very own Sponge Bob Popsicle. Success!

Daddy and Madeline at the truck.

Yay!!!

Time to dig in...

...loving it.

What we were left with. Madeline hasn't really ever been big on ice-cream, and this was no different. But it was the experience that mattered :)  

By the way, did I mention that this popsicle had black gumballs for eyes? BLACK? As in so black they stained my fingers? I would like to hurt the maker of this popsicle just for that. C'mon now people. Common sense here please!

I told you...

I would be indulging in candy corn, and Miss. Avery has been providing the perfect snack rest :)

cOOkies

Okay friends and family, and YOU know who I am talking to :) Madeline's school is doing a fundraiser to help raise money for education materials. So, we are selling cOOkies!!! It's actually a pretty good deal, you get a box of 48 pre-portioned chunks of cookie dough, so you can make as little or as many as you want. You can keep them in the refrigerator for up to 4 weeks or in the freezer for up to one year. Each box sells for $15 each. They are asking us to sell 15 boxes per child. Yikes! So I need your help. E-mail me or comment below if you would like to buy any of the flavors below (click on the photo to see them larger). As for family, I'll be seeing you all in November when Avery arrives, so no excuses. I kid, I kid. I know I'll be in for at least two boxes, so that leaves me with 13 left to sell.

C'mon, you know you want some :) Oh, and our orders and money are due by Sept. 23.

Staying busy

We were stuck inside most of the weekend because of the weather, and after already playing with our toys, taking long baths, baking cookies, watching movies etc. I was starting to run out of ideas. So yesterday Madeline and I made chocolate covered animal crackers with fall sprinkles, a little early I know, but it's what I had. Plus I love fall :) Anyway Madeline was a great helper, aside from wanting to eat all of the chocolate, she did a great job decorating the dipped cookies, and eating a lot of the sprinkles. Not surprising is it?

The supplies.

Her "cheese" face.

Hard at work.

29 Weeks

29 Weeks: just shy of 30 weeks, 203 days down and 77 days to go. We are getting there folks :) Not much to report on my end, things have been the same as usual with me. However life outside has been a different story! The weather has been crazy; the Earthquake and the Hurricane took hold of pretty much everyone this past week. However, the earthquake only left us with a rumble shaking our dining room china, chandelier and lights, which I thought was Brad running through the house (go figure), and the Hurricane spared us most of the wind and rain. And today, we have been blessed with a gorgeous fall-like day. Not kidding, we spent 1.5 hrs at the park this morning in 75 degree weather. Amazing. I'll take these days any day of the year.

Initially took this photo, then realized you can't really "see" the baby shot.

So here is photo no. 2. Definitely baby shot :)

Belly: It's there. Ha. Forgot to mention I'm measuring right on time at my last apt. 27.5 for 28 weeks :)

Belly Button: In, in, in!


Stretch Marks: Nope

Weight Gain: Still holding steady at 14 lbs.

Boy or Girl: GIRL. Avery Quinn. :)

Feeling: Again the same, lot's of back burning and lots of contractions, some painful, some not, but definitely more than the average 4 per hour. In fact this morning at breakfast Madeline looked at me and said mommy boo-boo? And then put her hand on my back and said "Mommy back hurt? I kiss it." I guess I have been complaining a lot about my back. :/

Cravings: Mint iced tea as always. However candy corn is out now and I fear for what my weight can might do. I love this stuff and it loves me. Yikes!


Sleep: If I don't take something to help me sleep, I am honestly up every hour. Every hour!!!!!

Energy: Still walking and working out. Going to try to make it to my weight lifting class tonight, but I can feel my energy slowly leaving me... :(

Baby: Lots of movements! We have an active and hopefully very healthy baby on our hands.

Nap Strike

After almost two hours of not napping and listening to this...

...Madeline finally decided she was tired enough to fall asleep. And in case you are wondering, she was reading the "Polar Express," her favorite book and movie, and shouting "Merry Christmas!"

Awesome.

Aren't these two the cutest?

I snapped these photos of my sister and her adorable little boy, Timothy, when we were all together in July. We had a big weekend of the Hershey Plaza (the pool, where I grew up and life guarded), Hershey Park, and cousins time :)I know I need to post the park photos and I will do it soon. In the mean time, I couldn't resist these few photos. Love them :)

28 Week Appointment

Hello all! On Tuesday I had my 28 week appointment. Everything went well, my blood pressure was 90/60, baby's heart rate was in the 130s, and now we start going every two weeks! Yay! The end is truly in sight!  Oh, and I also had to take another yummy glucose test.  Results from that should be in with in the next week or so. All in all, a great appointment for me and Miss. Avery.

28 Weeks

Hello third trimester! Yay! We're finally in the final trimester, and less than 85 days to go! Woohoo!!!!!! I'm ready for this whole trimester to fly by, let's hope that it does! For the most part we are ready. Avery's room is coming together great (photos to come soon), the crib is together, we finally found bedding, curtains are up, and the clothing is out and ready to be washed. Whew! A few small things left to do and we're as ready as we will ever be.

Belly: Uncomfortable, and growing by the day.

Belly Button: Still in, but I have a feeling it might pop with this pregnancy. We'll see


Stretch Marks: Nope

Weight Gain: 14 lbs., yeah looks like we took a big jump from last week to this week. Yikes!

Boy or Girl: GIRL. Avery Quinn. :)

Feeling: Uncomfortable. Lot's of back burning and lots of contractions, some painful, some not, but definitely more than the average 4 per hour. 

Cravings: Good ole mint iced tea as always. It seems as though my appetite is diminishing a bit, at least in the past 3 days or so. Not sure if it's because I have no room, or because the nausea is taking hold again?


Sleep: Up a lot, though I did treat myself to half of a unisom twice this past week, and it was great! Though even with the unisom I was up 3 times. Oh well. Better than every hour right?

Energy: Energy is about the same. Trying to exercise 4-5 days a week, even if it is only taking Madeline and Hanna out on a 30 minute walk. Better than nothing right?

Baby: Moving around a lot, starting to keep a stead pattern, which might be Avery's routine once she grace's us in this world. According to all of my baby apps, baby is between 2 and 3 lbs and around 17 inches long :)

Happy Four Year Anniversary!

Happy Anniversary to my wonderful husband. We both kind of forgot our anniversary this year, and by that I mean, we remembered it, but on the day (this morning), we both forgot to say Happy Anniversary. Go figure. Since we have another baby on the way, with lots of baby needs, no gifts this year. But we are treating ourselves to a dinner out on Saturday evening at the place where we had our Rehearsal Dinner four years ago. And in honor of that, I am posting several of our engagement photos that make me smile. Enjoy.

Madeline's First Hair Cut!

Yesterday we took Madeline to get her first hair cut! We had been talking about it all week, and how she was going to get her hair cut like a princess...that did the trick! Well, that and the fact that we went to see our friend Mr. Dan at his studio Portfolio in Boalsburg. It always helps when it's someone she knows!

To my surprise Madeline did excellent! I couldn't believe it! She let Dan cut her hair, just below her shoulders, blow dry her hair, and curl it all with a hot iron! Can you believe my child sat still for this?!?! She even walked out with a bag full of sweedish fish, our friends really are too kind. On a side note, her hair looks so cute now that it's all one length, why did I wait so long to do it?

Oh and we topped the evening off with a trip to Chic-fil-A, Madeline's favorite place. All in all, I would say it was a successful evening :) Love evenings like this.

Getting started!

Let the trimming begin!

Soooo serious.

Blow dry done. Time for styling!

Realizing that if she doesn't sit still, she WILL get hurt by the hot iron! Classic face.

Finished product: Hair like a princess! Thank you so much Dan!

A happy princess on her way to dinner. Love her.

(sorry this last photo was with my phone)

More Princess Photos

Found the good photos on my camera, so I had to share :) The look of pure joy as a princess.

A princesses duties are never done...working in the office all afternoon.

Enjoying the view.

She looooved those earrings when we put them on!

Can you tell?

A princess must always take time to pose for photos with her adoring fans.

Someone is...

Princess obsessed. Not kidding...

Turkey Dinner!

I finally got around to making my Turkey dinner this past Sunday! I've only been planning on making it for the past several months or so. And I have to say, that this was the tastiest bird I have made yet! Served on my pink china, yay, with a side of homemade mashed potatoes, corn and rolls :) It was a fabulous meal. We are now finishing off the left overs of our 19lb bird, with sandwiches!

27 Weeks

Here we are at 27 weeks and then some. I'm always late taking these photos. I've been feeling pretty good overall. Made it back into the gym this week for a spin class. Unfortunately my belly smacked the handle bars several times when we had to come out of the saddle. :( Oh well, at least I'm there right?

Belly: Large and uncomfortable. I am constantly feeling bloated or like I have a stomach ache. Tums, Pepcid and Zantac are my new best friends. This baby will probably have a ton of hair.

Belly Button: Still in, though I think it's trying to peak out a bit.

Stretch Marks: Nope

Weight Gain: 11ish lbs.

Boy or Girl: GIRL. Avery Quinn. :)

Feeling: Uncomfortable.  Same as last week: my back is constantly burning, especially by the end of the day, but now I have the wonderful stomach aches too. Yay.

Cravings: Just the iced tea.

Sleep:  Up a lot. That's all I have to say.

Energy: Energy is bounding back now that we aren't traveling as much, but still ready for bed at 9 p.m. Ha.

Baby: Moving like a busy bee! Not kidding, I had Brad feel the other night b/c she goes crazy in there!

26 Weeks

26 weeks and 3 days to be specific. Dressed up and headed into work at Atlas for the day. And I think it's safe to say that I have "popped," and by that I mean, there is no way around my large belly. Definitely looking very pregnant and feeling it. There are moments when I feel as though my stomach can stretch no more. Ugh. Is it November yet?

Belly: Large and uncomfortable. Though we are down to less than 100 days to go. I see a light at the end of the tunnel.

Belly Button: Still in, though I think it's trying to peak out a bit.

Stretch Marks: Not yet, knock on wood!

Weight Gain: 10 lbs and gaining I am sure.

Boy or Girl: GIRL. Avery Quinn. :)

Feeling: Uncomfortable.  My back is constantly burning, especially by the end of the day. :( I am constantly leaning over on the counter when I cook or clean. Brad calls it my sexy pregnant lady pose, he's kidding I know, but I feel for him (and me too), I'm not the gal I used to be :/

Cravings: Still eating the nectarines a lot, and now that my morning sickness is back with a vengeance so is the mint iced tea. Yup, back on the Zofran daily now. Really not fair.

Sleep: What is sleep? And I know it's only going to get worse.

Energy: Energy is bounding back now that we aren't traveling as much, but still ready for bed at 9 p.m. Ha.

Baby: Our little lady might turn out to be a soccer player too! At over 2lbs now, she is wiggling around like a crazy girl! I'm not kidding, I don't remember Madeline ever having movements like this girl. Our next appointment is on the 24th and then we move into appointments every two weeks. WOW!

Afternoon delight

Madeline has been spending the last three days ALL day in school, so that I can cover at Atlas while our receptionist is out, and it breaks my heart. I know that she loves being there and it's really no big deal to her, but since she's never had to go all day I think it hurts me more. That said, when I picked her up yesterday at 4 p.m. we went for a special afternoon treat. Who cares that it's almost dinner time when I get to spoil a little girl as cute as this?

Dairy queen was the spot and she requested chocolate and "white" ice cream with sprinkles. She was finished after about 10 bites, but this special treat was worth every penny to me.

Mmmmmmm, so good! And even Snow White got to join us on the trip.

Painting Avery's Room

This past weekend we started our big make over on Avery's room. Madeline was a big helper! She was more than ready to help get some paint on the walls, starting with circles and snakes :)

I am happy to report that the room is completely painted, dresser has been moved in, and the crib and light will be going up this weekend! Photos to come.

Such a big helper, and cute too!

We love organization!

Anyone who knows Brad and I know that we are a bit anal on the cleanliness and organizational side. I guess that's partly why we make such a good match. Well, it looks like the organization skill is starting to rub off on Madeline. I caught her in two separate instances grouping all of her colors into like groups. Can I say how proud I was?!? She's going to fit into this family just perfectly. ha!

Grouping our blocks in the living room...

...and in grouping our colored letters in the bath tub!

Note how proud she is of herself, that's my girl.

Madeline's First Movie!

A few weeks ago, when the heat was unbearable, we took Madeline to see her first movie! Okay, I guess this was her second movie, but the first time we attempted last year we had to leave 40 minutes into the film. Good news: we are now one year older, and able to sit through an entire movie! Well we had a few attempts to get up and stand in the aisle, but over all she did very well!

We decided to try out the $1 theater just in case we had to bolt. This way we weren't out $25. However, Madeline loved the Disney movie Rio and we cannot wait to take her back for her second movie. I cannot believe how big she is getting!

Settling in for the beginning of the movie, and wondering why mommy is taking her photo with a very bright flash in a very dark theater.

Silly Smiles with Mommy

Madeline loves taking photos and then getting to see herself. She asks to do it again and again. Uh oh! Still cute none-the-less. :)

"Just like Santa"

Is what Madeline turned to me and said in the bathtub the other night. Looks like we'll be ready for him this year when he decides to visit!