Happy New Years Eve

Wow, this week is just zooming on by, crazy to think today is the last day of this year!! Luckily we don't really have plans on New Years this year and to be honest, I'm not all that torn up about it!! I'm thinking maybe a few movies and an easy dinner!!

This year has been filled with many blessings, surprises, laughter and some really hard times. I know I typically recap our full year, but because I'm such an emotional mess, I'm not going to go there this year. 

I will say that this year was pretty good to us, we have been blessed with another baby joining our family in 2016, we were shocked and surprised, but soo incredibly happy!! That is probably the best of the year and the worst would be losing our Lily, something I find myself still getting over if I can be really honest. I'm not sure if it has to do with the fact that I was there from the beginning right up until the end or if it's because I was with her when she passed away? I've lost dogs before, but this time was and is different. 

2016 has a lot to offer for our family and I am really looking forward to it, as the events keep popping up with plans and fun ahead!! I have soo much to share and I am ever hopeful to get caught up, as I realized a few posts are missing from this year, like Noah's first birthday post for example. 

Let's talk resolutions. I don't like them. M and I tend not to set resolutions, but we do have an idea in mind for what we are reaching to accomplish! I plan to keep this in mind, as I have seen it floating around on Instagram and it couldn't be a better reminder:

Children only have ONE childhood - make it memorable, make it count. 

I'm hoping to work on my patience for sure as well.

We are just going to continue striving to be the best us we can be. 

Next week I will be back with our holiday recap, 26 week bump date and the barn board DIY project!! And because I forgot to share our Christmas card this year, here we have it!!

Happy New Years Eve friends!! Wishing you all the very best in 2016 and may the past of 2015 be forever memorable!! 

Canadian Blogger Christmas Swap 2015

This year I decided to go back in on the Canadian Blogger Christmas Swap that Leigh and Lindsey host every year. 

I was lucky enough to be paired up with Anna, who actually lives about 45 minutes away in a town I actually used to work in!! Small world! 

It was neat to see how much Anna and I have in common, both being toddler moms and expecting in April! 

We decided instead of shipping our packages to each other and wasting money on postage that we could arrange a swap location - being my sisters who lives about 10/15 minutes from Anna. 

I received my gift about a week later when I saw my sister next and was quite thrilled to open such a cute box!! Inside I found a camera ornament that was personalized and a necklace set from Joe Fresh!! 

 

It appears Anna did a little research and noticed I love taking pictures! The camera is even has my name on it!! 

Thank you so much Anna for the thoughtful gifts!! I'm wishing you and your family all the best this holiday season and all the best in the new year!! 

I was going to post the seasonal barn board tutorial today as well, but I think it needs its own post! So stay tuned next week! 

I'm not sure if it's just my crazy pregnancy hormones this week or a few different things that have come up, but I'm an emotional mess! Monday afternoon and evening I found myself in tears more often than not! I know I tend to reflect on the whole year around this time, but we do have another big change taking place this weekend. So this years events are still taking place! I will touch more on that next week! 

I think most of all I'm missing a certain red haired dog more than I care to admit! Christmas is extremely hard without her as it was her favorite holiday! 

25 Weeks with Baby #2

How Far Along: 

25 weeks

Size Of Baby?

Maternity Clothes?

Yes! The bump is large and in charge! I'm definetely bigger than I was at Christmas when pregnant with Noah! Here are a few family pics showing what I have been wearing this week:

Stretch Marks?

Nope, trying to remember to put oil on at least once a week! 

Gender?

We will find out in April!! 

Name?

We will share in April, our girl names are pretty much set, but boy names are very few, I will say we have two contenders and two middle names all picked out! 

Sleep?

Hit and miss! Napping has been a necessity lately. 

Cravings/Aversions?

Lemonade does not taste good anymore AT ALL!! 

Movement?

Seeing this baby move from the outside is a constant these days and soo amusing. Baby is a kicking and punching machine and feels to be still head up in my ribs and feet down, straight ip the middle.

Weight Gain:

Roughly 13 pounds. 

Feeling?

Pretty good. Headaches are still coming and going and I'm tired, but likely due to the holiday rush more than anything! I'm an emotional mess!! 

What I Miss?

Can't think of anything.

Items Bought for Baby:

Baby got a few things under the tree this year, which I will share next week when I'm a bit more organized!!

What the doctor had to say? 

No appointment this week!

Highlights:

Celebrating Christmas with our families, watching Noah enjoy the magical season, otherwise it was a quiet week before Christmas, as we stayed in to avoid all the sicknesses going around! 

Belly Button?

In, but I will say it is getting shallower!

Bump Pic:

Looking Forward to: 

Bringing in the new year

These posts will be a week behind, as I am now 26 weeks.

Canadian Blogger Christmas Swap 2015

This year I decided to go back in on the Canadian Blogger Christmas Swap that Leigh and Lindsey host every year.

I was lucky enough to be paired up with Anna, who actually lives about 45 minutes away in a town I actually used to work in!! Small world! 

It was neat to see how much Anna and I have in common, both being toddler moms and expecting in April! 

We decided instead of shipping our packages to each other and wasting money on postage that we could arrange a swap location - being my sisters who lives about 10/15 minutes from Anna. 

I received my gift about a week later when I saw my sister next and was quite thrilled to open such a cute box!! Inside I found a camera ornament that was personalized and a necklace set from Joe Fresh!! 

It appears Anna did a little research and noticed I love taking pictures! The camera is even has my name on it!! 

Thank you so much Anna for the thoughtful gifts!! I'm wishing you and your family all the best this holiday season and all the best in the new year!! 

I was going to post the seasonal barn board tutorial today as well, but I think it needs its own post! So stay tuned next week! 

I'm not sure if it's just my crazy pregnancy hormones this week or a few different things that have come up, but I'm an emotional mess! Monday afternoon and evening I found myself in tears more often than not! I know I tend to reflect on the whole year around this time, but we do have another big change taking place this weekend. So this years events are still taking place! I will touch more on that next week! 

I think most of all I'm missing a certain red haired dog more than I care to admit! Christmas is extremely hard without her as it was her favorite holiday!

24 Weeks with Baby V2

How Far Along: 

24 weeks

Size Of Baby?

Maternity Clothes?

Still mixing it up where I can, but mostly maternity clothes!! Finally found my maternity leggings, I had been wearing non-maternity ones that still worked but below the belly! 

Stretch Marks?

Nope

Gender?

We will find out in April!! 

Name?

We will share in April, our girl names are pretty much set, but boy names are very few, I will say we have two contenders and two middle names all picked out! 

Sleep?

Soo far so good! M really needs to work on using his alarm clock better. He did drop the baby monitor at 3 in the morning after Noah woke from a bad dream and startled me and apparently the baby, because s/he was kicking and moving like crazy afterwards! Headaches started at the end of week at 3 AM, which didn't make for a good nights sleep! 

Cravings/Aversions?

Loving Cran-grape juice, but otherwise nothing crazy this week! 

Movement?

This baby is a moving machine! Mike felt the baby kicking like crazy when we went to bed one night this week! He couldn't believe how strong the kicks were. Baby is still head up according to my 
appointment (and the movement I feel) this week and straight up the middle! 

Weight Gain:

Roughly 13 pounds. 

Feeling?

Great!! Headaches are still persisting! On Wednesday I had a headache from 3 AM until I went to bed and actually had a nap when M came home from work to try help get rid of the headache and I was just exhausted from our day! My nose has started running again as well. Feeling great otherwise, but definitely took advantage of some naps this past week! 

What I Miss?

Can't think of anything.

Items Bought for Baby:

A few little Christmas gifts! 

What the doctor had to say? 

I have graduated from 2 week appointments to 4 weeks for now! My blood pressure is still sitting around 130-135/80-85, so not too bad, but if I notice it climbing I'm to call and get a closer appointment. Fingers crossed we can just sail on by! So we go back in January, where I will have another ultrasound for growth and to check on my placenta for any signs of pre-eclampsia, I will have my sugar test and see the doctor. 

Highlights:

Graduating to 4 week follow ups instead of 2 weeks, especially around the holidays will make my life a bit easier! 
Officially 6 months pregnant!!

Noah saw Santa this week again and we got a smile! 

Mike feeling the baby was exciting as well and I loved his reaction! 

Hosting Christmas at our house with family! 

Belly Button?

In, but I will say it is getting shallower already!

Bump Pic:

And a bare belly pic:

Looking Forward to: 

Celebrating Christmas!! 

These posts will be a week behind, as I am now 25 weeks.

{ Weekend Rewind }

My intentions to blog on Friday are lagging right now with the holidays, and now because of said holidays, I'm falling behind in the posts I need to get up this week!! So hopefully I will manage a post every day this week and I might even have to combine two posts into one!!

Moving on to our weekend. Friday morning Noah went to the farm so that I could get an hour and but in to clean the house. I managed to get all the laundry put away and clean up the bedroom! I really slacked on picture taking this weekend!! Oops!!

Friday night Noah was super snugly and only wanted his mama, which I was happy to oblige and I put him to bed. Crazy to think when these special moments happen, I soak them in and find myself almost teary because all that goes through my mind is how fast he is growing up and he won't want to do this forever. He ended up staying up later due to a longer nap in the day, but he just wouldn't settle easily. Luckily we have it to the point where we don't have to keep going up, we can call up the stairs and tell him to back in bed and go to sleep and he gets back in bed and tries to sleep! He eventually gave up!

Saturday morning we all slept I until just after 8, I didn't sleep well and ended up with a headache again at 3 AM, so M let me sleep in until 9! We woke up to a skiff of snow on the ground and it continued to come down. Noah was just mesmerized with it, it was such a distraction for him.

We decided we would brave the dollar store and Walmart and get everything we need for the week and Christmas dinners, etc. We are officially done shopping. We got home around noon, had lunch, played for a little bit and then put Noah down for his nap, while M and I cleaned most of the main floor. When Noah woke up, we did a few crafts including this one:

M and Noah cleaned up the basement while I showered and got ready for the business Christmas party over at the pub here in the village!

Noah was a champ during dinner, we were so impressed with him. Of course he had to sit with Grandpa but overall he behaved great for being at a restaurant for so long! We went straight into bedtime routine (tubby time, milk, book and bed) and then M and I worked on wrapping a batch of presents!

Sunday morning we were all up just after 8 and got straight to work with finishing up cleaning the house (floors, kitchen), made taco dip, baked somemore cookies, and when Noah went down for his nap M went to get beer and extra chairs.

Family started showing up after 2 and of course Noah only napped for 45 minutes. The kids opened presents, which Noah got a new digger, a new truck and 2 books! Then we played a gift game with adults, which is always fun! M ended up with a cookie tin and I got a bag full of 3M products including a whole whack of washi tape!!

We had 16 people all seated around our dining room table, it was very tight, but we managed. We made the ham and had everyone else bring a part of the rest of the meal, so we ended up with scalloped potatoes, mixed veggies, buns and for dessert we had apple crisp and a pumpkin cake, as well as a whole assortment of homemade cookies!!

The only picture I managed to take was of Noah and Hannah!! 

I promise to take more pictures of Christmas haha! 

Hope everyone had a great weekend!! I can hardly believe Christmas is at the end of THIS week!! Where did this year go??? 

Oh and that bit of snow you saw above has melted and we are now getting dumped on with rain today!! 

Thursday Things

Today's post was really supposed to be on my DIY seasonal barnboard, however I haven't taken pictures of the Christmas side because it has been raining... Don't get me wrong, I'm happy it's rain, not snow, but therefore the post isn't ready and will hopefully go up next week!

So you will get the random musings of my mind for today. Which I will forewarn you I woke up this morning remembering conversations with people and things I was supposed to get back to them about that I never did!! If you are one of those people... Sorry!! 

This week J and I got together to work on another craft, however these are gifts, so I can't post about them until after the holidays!! But what I can say is, I was really loving the look, but I used metallic paint, so it was hard to read- well last night I decided to add some black to the letters and now I love it!! 

I have also realized I would really like a Cricut machine!! Of course I just came up with the idea a week before Christmas! 

Today is going to be a nice low key day at home, as it has been go go go all week!! Noah even spoiled me with an 8 AM sleep in!! Right now I have a toddler getting frustrated with my leg position because he wants his tractor that he's driving on me to go "up high" - real world problems. 

It is that time of the year to start cleaning out the freezers, so I stocked up the cupboards and we will hopefully get by at the grocery store with just dairy, fruits and veggies! Hard to believe I got out of Costco yesterday with only spending $113!! I didn't buy anything too exciting! 

Noah saw Santa again yesterday at the library program we goto and we got a smile!! He really wasn't too sure at first.. But rocked it! 

I'm itching to get wrapping gifts so I can do an inventory of what all I have bought... I'm sure I have enough and didn't forget anyone! But I also still have gifts coming in!! I totally rocked the online shopping this year! 

And there you have it!! That's my random thoughts for today! 

23 Weeks with Baby V2

How Far Along: 

23 weeks

Size Of Baby?

Maternity Clothes?

Still mixing it up where I can, but mostly maternity clothes!! 

Stretch Marks?

Nope, and luckily I found my oil that my toddler hid on me... Of course M and I searched at midnight for it one night this past weekend!! 

Gender?

We will find out in April!! 

Name?

We will share in April, our girl names are pretty much set, but boy names are very few, I will say we have two contenders and two middle names all picked out! 

Sleep?

Soo much better now that my cold is gone!!! 

Cravings/Aversions?

Cookies...damn cookie swap!! 

Movement?

I feel like this baby moves soo much and baby still must be head up based on the movement I'm getting!! I also felt the baby have the hiccups this week while I was laying in bed one morning!! 

Weight Gain:

Roughly 13 pounds. 

Feeling?

Great!! Cold is gone, backaches are still persisting, but nothing unmanageable!! 

What I Miss?

Can't think of anything.

Items Bought for Baby:

Christmas gifts!! (Just a few) 

The worth the wait onesie came in the mail that I ordered from Cheeky Cheeky Baby and Christy sent the baby the sweetest little hat!!

What the doctor had to say? 

We go back next week!  

Highlights:

The house is decorated for Christmas!! Cookie swap with the village ladies was fun!

Crazy seeing this weeks comparison... Same shirt 4 weeks apart between being pregnant with Noah and this one and I'm close to the same size now...

Belly Button?

In, but I will say it is getting shallower already! My belly seems to have popped a bit more now! 

Bump Pic:

Looking Forward to: 

Celebrating Christmas with family! 

These posts will be a week behind, as I am now 24 weeks. 

Weekend Rewind

Our weekend was crazy busy with a lot of Christmas activities. 

Friday night was pretty basic. We played, ate pizza and went to bed! 

Saturday morning was when all the fun began. We had breakfast with Santa. M was off early to respond to a medical call and then to help setup for the breakfast as it was at the fire hall. Crazy to look at Noah's pic from last year and compare it to this year:

We didn't get any smiles on Santas lap this year, but we didn't get any tears either, so I am calling it a win!!

Isn't the difference crazy?? He is not a baby at all anymore!! We enjoyed pancakes and sausage for breakfast, cooked by the infamous Daddy:

Grandma and Grandpa came too, along with my sister and the kids. It was a nice morning. Noah really enjoyed himself and of course before we left we had to check out the fire trucks! M was home by noon, so we had lunch and played for a bit after lunch. We put Noah down for a nap and M took Gracie into Pet Valu to bath her. We love bathing her there, as it is only $10 to use their facility and that includes their shampoo, scrubber, raised tub, towels and high powered blow dryer. It is awesome and Gracie enjoyed picking a snack on her way out of course! M had to make a quick stop and then get a car wash. However, he still managed to be gone for 2.5 hours! While he was gone, I emailed some photos, made a double freezer batch of cookie dough, and worked on laundry. 

Noah had a monster 3 hr nap! Before we knew it, M was heading out to the parade, as he was in it with the fire department. I fed Noah dinner and then it was pretty much time to go! Grandma and Grandpa came over to watch the parade with us, so we headed out!

Noah absolutely loved the parade and actually we did too, it was really well done!! Noah would respond with "wow" often and the look on his face was priceless:

I absolutely love watching him experience new things and the joy of season!! 

Before bed, Grandma and Grandpa popped back in after they went for dinner (we ordered take out). Noah was tired, but he was also just too excited I think after the parade. He put up quite the struggle and ended up putting himself to sleep for the first time in his new room and bed, but at 10 PM! 

Sunday morning M got up with Noah and I slept in until 9 AM! It was fantastic after my week last week! Noah and M were downstairs cleaning, putting away Christmas bins, and organizing the office. They actually got a lot accomplished! I managed to shower and get laundry going and next thing we knew it was lunch time and time to get ready to got the farm for a family Chrstmas! 

We had a few gifts to wrap and Noah thought picking the paper was the best job ever!! Such a fun age!! 

Then he thought he would help Daddy with the wrapping:

We headed to the farm around 1:30, Grandma put Noah down for a nap and we enjoyed some apps and then a delicious Cesar salad and lasagna! We were stuffed! Noah napped for about an hour and a half and the weather was only getting foggier, so we did presents right away. Noah wasn't too sure at first, as he was just waking up still, but he got the hang of it! Oh and I forgot to mention it was an ugly Christmas Sweater party! 

Noah made out well, he got a new tractor, a giant floor puzzle, a little critters collection book, another tractor, fireman dress up costume, with rain boots, a new stuffed elephant with a baby elephant and a sound puzzle! He was a happy boy!! 

Here is our ugly sweater photo:

Mike was my my elf on a shelf, and my sweater filled in Santas belly! Noah's had a bear on it! 

We had an awesome before bed snuggle on the couch having his milk and attempted to call it a night. He was exhausted once again, but put up a stink going to bed again and ended up putting himself to sleep.

We are hoping the sleep fairy visits this week to help make up for the missed sleep last week and here is to hoping for a easier going week for the little guy! He did have a great weekend, as did we and our days are only getting busier! But I am happy to say we are all done Christmas shopping, aside from stocking stuffers and dinner related items! 

Our Monday is off to a great start with a sleep in until 8:15 and the sun is shining!! I don't think we saw the sun last week more than once and that was Friday! 

Hope everyone had a great weekend!!

Friday's Five

This week has been rough, I won't even pretend it hasn't been. Noah has just been out of sorts all week and so far today is off to a much better start.

Yesterday I somehow ended up in my pjs all day until it came time to goto the cookie swap. That should tell you how frustrating yesterday was. I managed to get a 45 minute nap out of my child, who needed like a 3 hour nap... Soo cranky! 

The cookie swap was great! We somehow managed to screw up our numbers and were one short, so that made for an interesting resolution!! But we got it figured out! 

Yes I look tired... But like I mentioned above, yesterday and this whole week have been rough. 

I am waiting for the next batch of Christmas presents to come in and then we just have a few presents left to get! Feels great to get to have this much shopping done already!

The sun is actually shining today! We haven't seen it all week, so it is a welcoming change! Not to mention it is supposed to double digits (10) today! I will say we are lucky to be having such a mild winter so far! 

This weekend will be busy! We have breakfast with Santa tomorrow morning and then we have the Santa Claus parade tomorrow night. We are also hoping to take Gracie in to get a bath before the Christmas celebrations begin! Which we have our first Family Christmas celebration on Sunday at the farm and its an ugly Christmas sweater party. 

Hope everyone has a safe and fun weekend!! 

Little Moments Like These

It's been a while since I have posted some of my favorite special moments with Noah. He is literally changing every single day and I couldn't be a prouder mom.

- the way you always say "my mommy"
- you love hats and you have the tendency to put them on the funniest ways!! You must wear a hat when riding your rocking horse every time! Safety first!

- always eager to help and if it is something strenuous the sound effects are priceless

- the way you say your name "Woah"

- the way you run, your little shuffle is priceless and I often find myself hoping you always run that way because it is just so darn cute!! 

- your obsession with the wiggles, you ask to watch it when you wake up in the morning and nap time. It allows you to wake up slowly and about half way through you are up dancing about!

- you are a people pleaser and ready to flash a smile at your friends just to cheer them up.

- the way you insist on sitting right tight with me on the couch

- you are tractor and truck obsessed
- oh and Grandpa obsessed
- I love the way you have to say goodnight to all the pets in the house before bed
- lots of snuggles for Gracie
- it melts my heart when you reach for my hand even just while you are sitting beside me
- your giggles are endless
- your kind heart and eagerness to share
- the way you look at things or people to try to understand
- the way you put your boots on and its usually the right feet too!
- you absolutely love reading
- your excitement after you used the potty lately. You are just soo proud, as are we.

But let's be honest, we are proud of the many things you do and the compassionate, fun-loving little boy you are turning into! There have been many big changes going on around these parts, some initiated by yourself, like potty training, wanting to sit in your big boy high chair, and some that we started like sleeping in your big boy room, but either way you are tackling them all like a champ! You do tend to get easily frustrated with us when we don't know what you are saying. Your language is coming a long great, and you continue to say new words each day. We love you like crazy little man!!

{ Weekend Rewind }

This past weekend was super busy, just as I expect every weekend coming up through December to be!! But it was fun none the less!

Friday night I went over to J's to get our Christmas boards done. I have yet to post about our Halloween boards, but now that our Christmas ones are done too (on the same board just back and front), I should probably get that post ready!! Here is a sneak peek of my board. I will hopefully get the planter ready outside and snap a pic soon as well!!

 

Saturday morning Noah stuck to the trend of waking up around 6:30 AM... not my thing... and luckily Daddy was home to deal this weekend! Although I ended up being awake the whole time, I rested in bed as long as I could until M had to go to work for a few hours to survey! So in the mean time Noah and  I got some laundry done, Noah had a quick morning nap and I showered during that time. We had to run onto town to drop off my Christmas Swap gift to my sister, so my partner (Anna) could pick it up from her place (yay for close swap partners to save on shipping)

 

When M got home just after lunch, he put Noah down for a nap and I got my Christmas baking done for the village moms cookie swap. 7.25 dozen cookies made, I only needed 5.5 for the swap, so I did make some extra, but I think I will make maybe 2 more batches of freezer dough! I ended up over buying on my supplies, not realizing that 3 batches made that many!

 

Noah had a monster nap, which honestly, he really needs! This poor kid is behind on sleep and I am not sure if its the new bedroom transition or teething causing the problem, but he is just not sleeping the same! So when he woke up from nap time we let him try his very first homemade cookie! He wasn't too sure, but was super excited and ended up devouring it! Look at his little smile:

 

Saturday night M and I had the fireman's Christmas party, so M's parents came over to babysit and took Noah out for dinner while we got ready! 

 Noah enjoyed his night with Grandma and Grandpa and even went to bed like a champ!! We enjoyed our little night out and were constantly joking about the last time I was pregnant and going to this party, we didn't make it because I fractured my ankle and ended up in the ER. Yes, I am being overly cautious now with this pregnancy and praying my bones hold up this time!

Sunday morning Noah was up at 6:40 again. I managed a real sleep in until 9 AM and felt great! Today was the day we Christmasified the house! So we brought up the tree and bins and this little guy was already getting excited!

 

We had to change the room around, so that took some time, but we managed to get the tree up before nap time and we even enjoyed a little buffet lunch, which Noah surprised us with doing so well with!

We decorated the house with the decor while Noah was napping, put up the train track system on the tree and I got the garland on the tree.

 

Noah had to measure the tree apparently!

 

I will say seeing Gracie laying by the tree made me miss Lily like crazy. I ended up in tears before I knew it remembering just how much Lily enjoyed Christmas - it was her favorite holiday!! 

 

Noah only napped for an hour and then we decided we would head into town, we had some shingles to return and a few gifts to pick up! We are soo close to being done Christmas shopping, with just a few people left on our list to buy for!

We decided to pick up pizza for dinner and invited M's parents over to help decorate the tree! Noah wasn't too interested in putting ornaments on, and really just wanted the train to keep going around! Train obsessed!!

The finished product:

 

Today I am happy to report Noah slept in until 7:45, which is soo much better for this mama!! We are just about to head off to play group and hopefully have a nice low-key day!!