Twenty-Nine Weeks

(me and my current favorite ice cream flavor - Breyers Heath Bar Explosion)

The Baby: So Little Sprout is getting a bigger head now to make room for all those brains that run in the family. :) Her vegetable or fruit comparison of the week is a butternut squash, completely fitting for the season. I am supposed to be upping my intake of calcium to help baby's skeleton get stronger and harder. As you can see, I work hard on that every day with a big bowl of ice cream.

Me: I'm fine - just tired as usual and not inclined to do much of anything outside the realm of necessity. I have been happily eating my fair share of food these days, taking full advantage of the fact that I am pregnant and can eat whatever I want. Well, of course that's a myth but no one is going to argue with a preggo lady or try to take her food away. That would be extremely foolish.

The Siblings: I think the Spud is definitely getting more of a sense of what is happening. He is extra-snuggly and asks, "hold me like a baby, momma." It is certainly going to be a time of upheaval for him. I probably should try to wean him a little from this baby-like behavior, but selfish me eats it up and relishes it as much as possible because I know it won't be the same once Little Sprout arrives. The Beast has also made it quite clear that he does not appreciate having to sit next to Momma to read instead of on her lap due to my burgeoning belly.

The Plans: Nothing new this week. I am starting to realize how quickly December is coming and how busy the fall months will be for us; so a sense of urgency is beginning to develop. I still have to make a space for baby in our bedroom. I need to get our infant car seat back from a friend and have it ready to go. I have to fill out a lot of hospital paperwork. I need to figure out items I still need before baby arrives.

And just typing that list of things to do is exhausting. :) I would go take a nap, but three littles are not showing any signs of slowing down today. . .

InstaFriday #2

It's time for another Iphone photo dump, courtesy of InstaFriday from Life Rearranged and my everpresent phone to catch those little moments. So, without further ado, here's our week in grainy Iphone photos:

The Boy Scouts have been selling ice cream treats after church each week to raise money for their troop. For several weeks, we had been steadfast naysayers until the Nerd finally gave in this past Sunday, allowing the kids to pick whatever they wanted while I visualized my laundry detergent at home and fervently hoped it would erase any damage made by the popsicles.

I was very proud of Davey - although the ice cream cart advertised Spider Man popsicles, they ended up not having any. Instead of having a major meltdown, he very calmly chose another character and seemed pleased with his selection. (and in case anyone is wondering, the SpongeBob and Sonic popsicles taste awful! My kids didn't think so, but I ended up with a taste or too and they were disgusting. )

I managed to catch a few shots of party guests at our "Monkeyin' Around" bash on Saturday.

That's full-on party excitement, folks!

The birthday boy wanted me to take a picture of him and his cookie cake with my "funny phone camma." I obliged.

I have slowly been getting my feet wet in the whole couponing thing - this week I really managed to get some great deals without stressing myself out too much. With coupons and a quick trip to the local bakery outlet, I managed to get all of this for five dollars. Go me!

Surprise! They were serving up 25 cent bowls of ice cream at the splash park on Tuesday. This was a perfect scenario for me - eat the ice cream, get it all over yourself, and then go rinse off in the splash park. I call that a "win-win."

Halloween costumes have emerged from the closet as various little people around here have taken turns being Ironman, Spiderman, a shark, and Thomas the Tank Engine. Apparently the Shark likes himself a little TV time.

Library time is always a fun excursion for me. I take four kids and tell them repeatedly to be quiet and pick out their two books without disturbing the other patrons. The Spud always picks his books out in record speed because that leaves him more time to terrorize the library. Here he is searching for the key in a treasure chest "can you find?" book.

I scored some much needed girl time with my Rachels last night - no it's not a secret club; I just happen to have two close friends named Rachel. :) We hit up Panera Bread where I greatly enjoyed the above meal. The cashier had the nerve to ask me if I would like the pastry packaged up to take home later. I said to her, "Lady, look, I'm pregnant! Just put it on the tray with all the rest of the food!" We fully intended on walking through the mall or visiting the local bookstore after we ate, but conversation led us to stay firmly at that table until closing time. Ah yes. The food was very good, but the fellowship was far greater.

And that's it for this week. Now my phone is ready to capture whatever is in store for us this coming week.

Thirteen Weeks

The Baby: Little Sprout is now ready for the criminal justice system, as fingerprints are now formed on the little fingertips. Thankfully its little body is starting to catch up to its head size; this family is not ready for a bobble-head child. At almost three inches long, Little Sprout is now the size of a medium shrimp. :)

Me: I have been super tired this past week. On Monday, I started getting some serious side cramps, which freaked me out a bit. I found out that these side cramps are common in the beginning of the second trimester, usually signifying that the muscles and ligaments are stretching out to make room for the growing uterus. Unfortunately since then, anytime I do any kind of physical labor (laundry, a lot of walking or going up and down stairs, chasing kids, etc), the cramps return, and I am forced to sit and rest until they subside. Of course, with three kiddos ages 5 and under, it's difficult to take the time to rest; but I am trying to be careful.

The Belly: I am still not convinced it looks like a pregnant belly yet. I just feel big. But hubby assures me that even people that don't know I am pregnant would be able to tell now.

The Siblings: Last week, Grandma purchased Little Sprout's first gift - a super-soft blanket in a rich brown and decorated with jungle animals. The kids love it - they take turns snuggling with it and laying it on my tummy to "help keep the baby warm." The Beast is especially sweet - he will share his candy and special treats with me so that I can give it to the baby. :) He has also decided that we ought to name the baby Lowly. Yeah. That's definitely not on the list. :)

Well, I'm off to conquer a bowl of Southern Chocolate Pie ice cream. Priorities, priorities...

Toy Story Fever

Yep, we are pretty excited! We have been talking about Toy Story 3 coming out in theaters for a long time now. It's been quite hilarious how the Beast goes around talking about Buzz Lightyear as if he knows him personally, when in truth the kid has never seen Toy Story or Toy Story 2.

We have quite a few friends that have the TS movies on video, but no one had them on DVD. We had to wait until Disney released them "from the vault" (ah, you clever marketing machine!) on Tuesday.

There was no backing out - we were going to buy these movies. On blu-ray, of course. I knew they would be watched many many times, making it worth the extra cost. But still? $30 each??

And then some very thrifty friends alerted me to a deal in which I could print out some $10 off coupons, one for each movie. Woo hoo! I headed off to Toys'R'Us to procure the greatly desired movies. I am not sure who was more excited, the kids or us!

Unfortunately Toys'R'Us was already out of stock when we arrived; next we went to Target. They had plenty of the movies with a great deal - $10 off if you purchased both movies on blu-ray, with the movies already marked down to $22.99 each. I ended up spending about $8 for each movie, but considering that each movie comes with a free theater ticket to Toy Story 3, the DVDs were practically free! Woot!

Next, we overheard someone talking about Free Ice Cream Day at Ben and Jerry's! Of course, we made a detour to the mall and enjoyed some delicious cones - chocolate for the kiddies and Coconut 7-Layer Bar for me. Yum!

Nerd Boy brought home some McDonald's for dinner, and we picnicked in the living room as we watched Toy Story with the kiddies for the first time. Grand memories for sure! (as we sat there marvelling that Toy Story had come out 15 years ago! what?! seriously?! wow!)

Week Four Weigh-In

Um yeah. It's been a crazy week.

Well, when I put it that way, it could get rather redundant. I mean, all my weeks are crazy.

So let's just say not much effort was put into the weight-loss plan this past week. Very little exercise was accomplished, healthy eating was thrown out the window, and the burning of the midnight oil continued.

Hmmm. I know, I know, a little self-discipline is in order. So after I finish this Pepsi and eat this ice cream sundae, I'll get right on that.

Just kidding. At least partly. ;)

I did manage to lose another pound however, putting my total weight loss so far to 5.8 pounds.

I always have been more of a tortoise than a hare.