Weekend, Come Back!

Hey hey!  How’s it going today?  I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!  Mine was great, packed full of fun and family! 

Friday we laid low since Aiden wasn’t feeling so great and Andy was gone to the Iowa vs. Minnesota game (we won, btw!).  Saturday morning we woke up and Aiden felt 100% like himself again. Sheesh, fast cold, lucky guy!  So that meant we could go to my nephew Charley’s flag football game.  After that we loaded up the car with me, Aiden, Brennan, my sister, niece, nephew and mom.  It was a loud car ride!  First stop, lunch! 

We voted and Applebee’s won.  I got a turkey, bacon and avocado sandwich.  It was okay, doubt I get it again. I usually love that combo in a sandwich but this one tasted bland. My sister got French Onion soup, so I was able to try that for the first time in my life. It wasn’t too bad but I don’t think I could eat an entire bowl of it.  Next stop was Michael’s.  I’m working on a couple of gifts so needed some supplies.  We also hit up Target, Theisen’s and JoAnn Fabric.  Pretty low-key afternoon of shopping but what do you expect with 4 kids in tow?  Ha ha! 

While at Target we did a little Christmas List shopping, meaning we looked for toys the boys want to add to their Christmas lists.  I have found one of the easiest ways to work on your list while at the store is to just snap a picture with your phone of the kid by the toy they want with the price tag showing.  Then when I get home I write it all down on their list.  This helps me not stand in the store and sloppily write down the item, and if you have the price it helps the person you give the idea to, to really make sure they get the right thing.  (Don’t mind the cowboy hat, it was purchased for his Halloween costume that day!)

We got back to town about 5:00 so I decided to take the boys out to supper.  Our hometown has a great little ‘dive’ restaurant with some of the best pizza ever!  We weren’t terribly hungry so the boys split a cheeseburger and I got a pizza burger.  Heaven!  They had the Iowa game on in there so Brennan camped out in front of the TV while Aiden and I relaxed in the booth (Aiden was playing his DS).  From there we were homeward bound.

Andy got home at 1:30 in the morning Sunday.  I’m glad he made it safe and sound, it worries me him driving so late by himself. 

Sunday morning we woke up, ate some breakfast and waited for an important phone call.  The call came about 11:00 and off we went.  Here are pictures showing what that phone call was all about!

 

 

Yep!  My dad called to tell us where he was picking corn so we could go for a ride!!!

The middle picture shows the load Brennan helped pick.

The last picture is of Brennan and my dad.  I love and adore my dad.  He is so great to us.  We have a special connection.  Andy used to say that my dear, sweet Grandma (dad’s mom), my dad and I were all peas in the same pod.  Now we’ve added Brennan, he’s one of us, too!

 

 

 

Aiden’s load!

The middle picture is what I call “Iowa”.  I love the farm off in the distance, just past the edge of  the corn field.

And of course that’s Aiden and my dad. 

 

 

 

 

This is the picker.  Like a combine it picks the corn. The difference is the picker doesn’t take the corn kernel off the cob, it just keeps it all together.  My dad works for a seed stock company where he plants plots of corn every spring that he combines in the fall, then that corn is taken to the plant in town where they do “something” to it to make it seed corn (corn that is planted) for the next spring.  This corn he picks for work isn’t used to feed any animals, it’s all used to make seed corn.  What he plants at home, though, IS combined and fed to the animals.

After our exciting time in the picker we headed in to town and visited with Andy’s folks, then ran a couple errands.  When we got home it was almost 3:00.  We spent the next hour or so outside.  Andy, Aiden and Brennan ran football routes for about an hour then Andy helped me hang this awesome Fall wreath my super good friend’s mom made for me out of corn stalks.  I just love it!  I’m super excited to have it hanging outside and am glad it’ll work out there through Thanksgiving.

Today is my 20 week OB appointment and ultrasound!!  Now don’t get too excited, we aren’t finding out the baby’s sex so there won’t be too many exciting things to share.  But tomorrow I will have an update and I will share the US picture with you!

Until then,

Erin

New Friday Favorites Link Up

Good Friday to you!  This has been a hellish week for me health-wise.  This cold is NASTY, but today I am finally feeling like me. Well, all except for this thick, mucus-y cough.  TMI?? Sorry!

 

My loving husband has just left for the weekend, headed up to Minnesota for the Hawkeye game.  Andy and his best buddies go to one away game every Fall, they are trying to hit up all of the Big 10 schools.  They have 3 left (then add in the 2 newbies once they join in ‘15).  This year is a repeat year but most of the guys couldn’t get away from home long enough to head out to Penn State or Ohio State, and Nebraska is Thanksgiving weekend which is hard to swing.  Anywho, TMI again.  So he is gone until late LATE tomorrow night, which means the boys and I have some free time to goof off and have some fun.  No plans for tonight but tomorrow we are going to watch my nephew’s football game in the morning then load up my car with my mom, sister, niece, nephew and boys and we’re heading to the big city to do some crafty shopping.  I have a couple of projects I want to make but don’t have the right scrapbooking paper so what a better time to go hunting for it then when Andy’s gone and I can take my mom and sis along?

 

One of my newest blogging friends, Anastasia, is starting up a new weekly link up about your Friday Favorites.  She is also a new blogger so please stop by her blog and check her out (her button is the top one, click it to link back to her blog), give her some love and click that little ‘Follow’ button on the left hand side of her page. She is a mommy and has an amazing ‘getting back into shape after baby’ story and before and after’s.  I know you’ll like her!

 

This week my Friday Favorites are…

~ seeing (and hearing) all of the combines out in the fields and watching the landscape change because of it

~ watching Aiden catch his first interception EVER in a football game!!! So so proud of that boy!

~ the possibility that MAYBE Andy felt the baby kick this morning for the first time!!!

~ I am feeling more human today, definitely a favorite of the week

~ feeling the baby kick more and more every day

~ getting low and hi lites in my hair and a good trim on Tuesday night

~ Nashville!!!  That was a great episode Wednesday night!

~ hearing Baby Aspen (10months old) say ‘Bye Bye’ for the first time to her mommy Thursday morning, so precious!

 

What are your Friday Favorites this week?

Well, I tried all week to stay away from the boys as much as possible, not to kiss them on their face and to not breathe on anyone but lo and behold my sweet little Aiden came down with my cold this morning.  He came into our bedroom around 4:30 this morning complaining of his throat hurting.  Poor guy.  When we woke up later he said it felt better so off to school he went.  About 10:45 I got ‘the call’ from the school nurse, Aiden didn’t feel good.  I ran over and picked him up quick before Andy left, brought him home, loaded him up on Tylenol, gave him a glass of OJ and tucked him into bed.  He’s been there over half an hour and not a peep from him.  I hope he gets some rest this afternoon and he kicks this bug faster than I did.  If not we’ll be staying home tomorrow, no sense in taking a sick kid out and about when they don’t feel good. 

What are your weekend plans?

Erin

My Best Jr. High Friend

The other day I was be-bopping down the road when a song came on that I hadn’t heard in quite awhile.  Boy did it bring back memories!  Back in the day, when I was in jr. high, my best friend, Lisa, and I were big Green Day fans.  Not big like we had memorabilia or would ever go to their concert, but we did love their music. 

Anyway, we loved Green Day.  I had their CD ‘Dookie’ and about burned a hole in it from listening to it so much!  So, this one particular song of theirs came on the radio the other day and boy did I crank it up and jam out!!! 

Man, I still love this song!  I’m thinking of digging my ‘Dookie’ CD out of the basement and listening to it!!

So, more about me and Lisa.  We were connected at the hips!  We were always staying overnight at each other’s houses.  One time we made a homemade face mask out of oatmeal!  I remember she took a picture but I couldn’t find it, must be buried somewhere because it was a tad bit embarrassing!  We used to watch the movie ‘Speed’ with Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock in it all the time! We were in LOVE with KR!  Ha ha!  

We also used to make each other mixed tapes we’d dub off of the radio and CD’s and tapes we had!  Ha ha, omg, we were such dorks!  We’d personalize the cases even!  Here’s the only one I have left that Lisa made for me.

We were constantly writing letters back and forth during study hall and boring classes.  We both had ha-UGE crushes on Steve Brechler.  We were both country girls, both Catholic and went to the same church, both had older sisters.  We just had a ton in common and were super duper best friends.  Unfortunately high school and boys hit and we grew apart.  So sad because of all the fun we’d had together. 

What funny, crazy things did you and your jr. high bestie do together?

Erin

North Of The Border Or South?

That is the question…of the day, at least.  And by this I mean, are you okay with your husband being ‘down there’ watching the birth of your baby or would you prefer him to be up by your head making no eye contact with ‘that’ region?

I don’t remember ever discussing this with Andy before the boys’ deliveries. I know he was up by my head, holding a leg with both deliveries, and I do know he took a peek every so often.  He was, after all, the first one to say they were both boys.  But he is definitely not the type to hang out down ‘south’ for the whole thing giving pointers and tips to the doctor.

I remember worrying that Andy would have a problem being intimate with me after seeing the trauma that happens ‘down there’.  I mean, it is quite gross and definitely doesn’t look the same as it normally does when you have a 9 pound baby coming out.  He was very kind and lied to me, ha ha!

Next question: To Watch In a Mirror Or Not?

I was never offered a mirror to watch the birth of the boys.  And I am fine with that.  I can’t figure out how you’re supposed to watch anyway when your eyes are squeezed shut as you’re pushing out that miracle.  Would I want to watch?  Umm… no, I don’t think so.  I think it might freak me out a bit and scare me.  It’d be hard for me to focus on the task at hand.

Question: Lay The Fresh, Goopy Baby On Your Chest Or Dry It Off First?

I am totally a ‘dry it off first’ kind of gal.  Aiden was kind of thrown up on my belly on a blanket and they wiped him off there and put his little hat on, then wrapped him up in a clean blanket before really handing him to me.  With Brennan he had the cord around his neck so they had to put him in the warmer and sort of resuscitate him, so he was fully wiped and swaddled before I was able to hold him.

How about you?  North or South? Mirror or Not? Goopy or Clean?

Erin

Baby Harper and Lora Fundraiser

Kimmyyyyy set up a page for Lora and her family to raise money to help pay for the hospital bills. The goal is $1000, but I’m betting that number gets blown out of the water. If you would like to donate here is the link.

https://fundrazr.com/campaigns/dbgqe/ab/

Erin

19 Week Baby Update

Wow, one more week and I’ll be evened up – 20 weeks down and 20 weeks to go.  Half way!

Well, this week the baby is the size of a Mango, about 5 1/2 – 6 inches long and weighing in at about 7 oz.  (How can this little one not weigh a pound yet?  Heck, we’re not even to 1/2 a pound yet.  But boy can it kick!)  One interesting thing I learned from my app baby updates is that the baby has not been sleeping up until this point.  Say what?!?  How weird is that? What has it been doing this whole time?  But now it can sleep, and along with that it can dream when it gets into REM sleep.  What can it possibly have to dream about in there?  That weird looking umbilical cord?  The weird noises it hears? Sounds like nightmares to me!

As for how I’m doing, same as last week – I’m doing GREAT!  Growing, but slowly. I think I might be smaller with this baby than I was at this point with either of the boys. Feels good!  Maybe my walking is paying off. Two things that are ruling my pregnancy right now – heartburn and hot flashes.  But they aren’t that bad.  The heartburn is either when I’m hungry or at night (usually).  Tums still take care of it.  The hot flashes, though, are whenever and where ever.  They come on at strange times.  For instance, sitting at church Sunday morning I had 3!  But it was on the warmer side in there so I’m sure that contributed.  They aren’t anything I can’t handle, though.  Sleep is decent, but I can’t blame the lack of sleep on the pregnancy … yet.  Saturday, early morning, it was Aiden waking me up.  And Sunday night it was from my extremely sore throat, it was hard to swallow. 

Speaking of the sore throat, this is my 2nd cold in a month, 2nd cold of this pregnancy.  Not sure if it’s a sign of what’s to come, meaning I’ll be catching every virus that’s floating around this winter, or if it was just a fluke.  The good thing is that so far the boys are staying healthy, but I guess that’s also the weird part.  Where am I getting these colds? 

And now for a terrible quality picture of the bump.  It was in my bedroom mirror, you can see I hadn’t made the bed yet when I took it. Ha!  Don’t mind that part, just look at that growing bump. Oh, and you can’t see my face because I cut it out – no makeup and my hair was up in a towel! Next week you will see all of me.

Next Monday is my 20 week check up and also my 20 week ultrasound!  I can’t wait to share that with you!

Erin

Prayers For Harper and Lora

This is a short post because my arm/hand is killing me today.  Did s/t to it last week and it's hard to type today, have it all wrapped up so hoping it's better tomorrow.

In the meantime, fellow pregger Lora at Raising Steppe Sisters had her sweet baby boy Harper last night, 13 weeks early.  :(  Little Harper weighs in at a whopping 1lb 9oz and needs all of our thoughts and prayers.  I'm sure Lora, her husband and 2 daughters could use our prayers for strength also.  So please, if you're the praying type please add Harper, Lora and family to yours today.

Thanks!
Erin

Pregnancy Dreams

Hey there!

I had my first pregnancy dream last night.  It was very bizarre and long, but the jist of it is that my uterus was having indigestion so a nurse stuck these packs of Tums to the outside of my belly and they rushed me to the hospital.  I don’t think anything came of it, probably because the boys woke me up before I could finish the dream. But how weird, indigestion of the uterus! Ha ha!

I think I had this dream because yesterday I wasn’t feeling the baby move all day.  I was so freaked out.  Nothing I did would make that baby kick. I was just terrified, what would I tell the boys? Should I go to the hospital just to check?  Last night, around 7:30, I felt what could have been a kick.  It was so faint, I wasn’t really sure.  Then about 8:15 I started feeling a series of kicks.  I finally started to relax.  This morning I felt a little kick again, so I think I was just panicking for no reason.  18 weeks is still early to be feeling the baby kick so it probably had more to do with that than anything else.  It’s hard when you get so used to feeling that baby then it just stops. 

What kind of weird pregnancy dreams did you have when pregnant?  Any fun plans this weekend?

Erin

It’s Thursday… Finally

Good morning! I’m so glad it’s Thursday, this has been a long week.  No, nothing exciting going on today, just means we’re one day closer to the weekend.

Last night Aiden had a flag football game.  I was so surprised at how rude and downright mean the other team was!  I saw one kid show an act of sportsmanship, otherwise the rest of them were pretty much … punks.  It’s so frustrating and disheartening.  We preach good manners, being friendly to all, and showing good sportsmanship on AND off the field.  Aiden was very upset about how mean they were, which only gave us a great teaching opportunity.  We reminded him that in a few years those kids he played against from the next town over are going to be his teammates because our football teams are a combination of our kids and theirs because our school districts are so small.  Those kids are going to be his friends in the end, so continue to treat them with kindness and respect because one day they might end up being great friends.

Please remember to teach your kids what good sportsmanship is.  They are kids, after all, and at this age these games are supposed to be fun, not rough and tough and mean words.

My dear friend, Annie, nominated me for another Sunshine Award.  I’m going to answer her questions now.

1. You're at starbucks what do you order? Do they have muffins??  I don’t drink coffee so have never been to a Starbucks.

2. Do you and your hubby/significant other have celeb "free passes" if so who? No, we don’t have ‘free passes’ although we are free to mention how HOT a celeb is (hello Jon Hamm!)

3. Peanut butter and jelly or honey? If you’re talking toast, I’d have to choose Honey (right now, this will change again in a few months I’m sure).  But if you’re talking making a sandwich, I’ve never had a sandwich with just honey, but I think I might have to try that, sounds yummy.  And side note – my aunt and uncle ‘raise’ honey bees and make honey to sell, and I am saying this with no bias and with all certainty: theirs is the BEST honey I’ve ever had!!!  At their son’s wedding in June the couple gave out tiny little honey bears of honey that said on the front “Meant To Bee”.  So cute!

4. Favorite workout machine at the gym or at home? At home, the treadmill (b/c it’s the only machine I have.) 

5. Favorite place to online shop? I’ve never been a huge online shopper, but recently I’ve ordered from Old Navy.com.  I signed up for Ebates.com and the last few times I’ve ordered online I’ve forgotten to go through there – duh, Erin!!!

6. You have 3 hours of uninterrupted time what do you do? Hmmm, good question. Maybe clean, maybe lay on the couch and watch some TV.

7. If you could do ANYTHING to your hair and you knew it would look good what would you do? Chop it all off! And go blonde.

8. If you have to choose between doing your makeup or doing your hair what do you do? Makeup.  Having long hair is handy, I can just pull that ish up in a ponytail and walk out the door. But now that I have pregnancy acne running rampant there is not way I am walking out the door w/o makeup!

9. Day at the spa or day at the beach? Oh wow, that’s a toss up.  It would depend on what is happening in my life at that time. Right now I’m going to say day at the beach.  I’d love a nice, adult, relaxing vacation right now.

10. Do you believe in love at first sight? Sure, why not believe in s/t that wonderful?  I’m a hopeless romantic, after all.

 

Can you believe how fast September is flying by?  I know at the top I said this week was going slow but this month? This month is flying by! 

Happy Thursday, friends!

Erin

SWW

Linking up with Life After I Dew for another fabulous edition of So What Wednesday!

 

So what if…

~ I am 2 days late getting groceries and I had to call my husband to bring home a frozen pizza for supper last night

~ I’m crabby that the temps are going to be in the 80’s today and tomorrow, I was really enjoying the Fall-like weather these last few days.

~  I don’t think I’ll ever be able to sell the boys’ baby clothes, they all have memories attached to them!

~  I pin a bunch of ‘junk’ I’ll never, ever use, make or do

~  somehow this entire list is a link to Shannon’s blog and I can’t figure out how or why it did this

~  I’m already planning our Thanksgiving dinner with Andy’s family – I am hosting it again this year and I’m so excited to!  I love hosting ‘event’s

~  I think of random events that are coming up next year and how I’ll be holding a baby at them, like at Aiden’s First Communion

 

That’s what I’m saying So What to this week!

See you again soon!

Erin

TV Link Up

One of my BBF’s (blogging best friends) is having her annual Fall TV Primetime Link Up.  I am so all over this!  If you’re into TV program viewing go check out my girl Shelli over at The Beauty and the Baseball Coach and link up!

I have almost completely forgotten about all regular shows on TV.  Our summer has consisted of watching Duck Dynasty, Dateline, Mountain Men (which I loathe), Mad Men on Netflix and a bunch of other ‘reality’ shows.  Summer TV has really stunk this year.  Am I the only one who thinks they don’t show re-runs during the summer anymore?  I didn’t see any re-runs of Nashville, and I really do need a refresher before it starts up next week.

Speaking of ‘Nashville’, that is the one show I am really looking forward to watching this Fall.  I have no idea what happened last season, can’t remember, so I’m hoping they do some back tracking in the first episode. 

The one new show I am excited to see is ‘The Goldbergs’.  It’s a family from the 80’s, looks totally hilarious!  Look at this ‘family picture’, aren’t you laughing already?!?  Bah!!!

And I always love me a good episode of ‘Modern Family’.  That show totally cracks me up! 

I’m excited for the new season to get started!  Happy TV viewing to all!

Erin

The Fifth Month–18 Week Baby Update

Yesterday I opened up my “What To Expect When You’re Expecting” book to the spot I had bookmarked from last week, the spot I’ve been at for the last 5 weeks.  And guess what, 18 weeks wasn’t there!  That’s because I have moved into ‘The Fifth Month’!!!  I was so surprised, it totally snuck up on me!  I mean, the Fifth Month is the middle month!  The middle of the pregnancy!  Which means after the Fifth Month we’re on the downhill side of this whole journey!  Give me a moment while I catch my breath, I might be hyperventilating right now.

In through the nose, out through the mouth.  In through the nose, out through the mouth…

Okay, I’m better now .. I think. 

So, with the realization of being in my FIFTH MONTH (in case you haven’t heard me say that yet) came the first time I felt the baby kick on the outside.  Now, I know what you may be thinking – it’s too soon for me to feel it on the outside already.  I agree.  But I totally felt it.  I had my hand on my bump, right over where the baby was going crazy kicking, and I felt it tap my palm!  Baby has been kicking a lot over the past couple of days, which is super exciting, but last night it was on overdrive.  I do believe the baby either LOVES or HATES chili, because that’s what I had for supper and boy did I have heartburn last night!  That’s the reason I suspect Baby doesn’t like chili, because of the heartburn.  But with it kicking like crazy maybe it actually really loved it! ???  Who knows. If you follow me on Instagram (homemadehappenings) you saw that I couldn’t fall asleep last night because of the heartburn.  I took a Tums and about 10 minutes later was falling asleep, so luckily TumTumTumTumTUMS worked (remember their old commercials with that song?).

Enough about that, I thought I’d share a picture of what the bump looks like from my bird’s eye view. The camera made my chest look extremely wide, that’s a bit exaggerated (thank goodness) but the bump is pretty accurate.

It’s just past my boobs now.  So far still coming straight out so I don’t feel any wider than I did before (except for my butt which is ha-UGE, ha ha!). 

And a terrible shot in the bathroom mirror.

Last, I am having hot flashes.  They aren’t coming as often or as HOT as they did when we were dealing with 90+ degree temps, but they are still there.  I never had hot flashes with the boys so this is new for me (as is the heartburn starting so early).

2 weeks from today we get to see our little one – we have our 20 week ultrasound!  No, we will not be finding out the baby’s sex, you’ll have to wait 22 more weeks for that! 

Have a great one!

Erin

There’s An App For That

I am the type of person to always know exactly how far along I am in my pregnancy (17weeks, 4days).  I am also the type of person to want to know every single day what the baby is up to, what my body is up to, and to just have the pregnancy in my face at all times.  That is why I love my pregnancy apps on my phone!

For all of your preggers out there (and to be preggers) here are the apps I use.  They are all free and all were found on Google’s Play Store.

The What To Expect Pregnancy App

This one’s ‘home page’ keeps you on track with what week and day you are, how many weeks and days you have left, and, the fun part, what fruit or vegetable your baby is the size of (this actually comes in handy with the boys, helps give them an idea of how big the baby is instead of saying 4” long).

It also has a weekly update detailing what the little sweetie is doing and what your body may be doing.  And the daily info or tip.  You can connect to groups, so if you have a question you can post it on there and 1000’s of women can help answer it for you. 

Last, you can upload photos to this app.

The Baby Center App

This app coincides with the Baby Center website, which I use and look at often.

This app tracks your weeks then gives you daily info and a ‘to do’ checklist to keep up with (drink your water today, do some stretches, go for a walk).  It also gives you the rundown of where you and the baby are each week. 

This one also allows you to connect with other mom’s and pregnant women.  And a neat perk – it has a “Kick Counter” for when you are farther along and your OB wants to know how often your baby is kicking, or for you and your curiosity.

The Med Help I’m Expecting App

This one only has a weekly update, so during the week I don’t check it.  But what it does have that I love is a tool to keep track of your weight, a calendar to put in your appointments and important dates (Baby’s first kick!), a place to put all of your Dr.’s info and a spot to list all of your symptoms.  Basically it’s your ‘Before Baby Baby Book’. 

There are a ton of apps out there, I had to limit myself to only these 3 or I’d have a phone full of them! 

Happy Thursday!

Erin

Guest Posting So What Wednesday!!!

I’m so dang freakin’ excited!  I am guest posting for Shannon Dew over at Life After I Dew today!!! And it’s So What Wednesday, my favorite weekly link up!! Eek!!!  I’m so excited!  Please head over to Shannon’s blog and read what I’m saying So What to this week!

One more favor.  Please say a prayer for all those who were lost 12 years ago in the September 11th terrorist attacks.  Always in our hearts, never forgotten.

Love,

Erin

Burritos Of The Breakfast Persuasion

If you didn’t see them all I had 3 posts yesterday.  I hope you check them out, there were 2 baby updates!

Ok, have you seen this video??  I couldn’t get it to load onto my post correctly so please just click on the link below. I have too many questions about the why’s and the what for’s of this to list.  Just watch it, you won’t regret it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CddMD3QqTFs

So I mentioned yesterday that I took breakfast burritos to the tailgate.  I also mentioned I’d get you the recipe for these.  Well, I can’t say there’s a real recipe, per se.  I just wing it every time.  But here’s what I did Saturday.

Breakfast Burritos

24 tortillas

18 eggs, beaten and scrambled

1 lb. breakfast sausage, browned and drained

1 lb. bacon, cooked and chopped

1/2 package shredded hashbrowns

2 c. shredded cheddar cheese

After the eggs are thoroughly cooked, add the hashbrowns and stir until heated through/cooked.  Mix in the sausage, bacon and shredded cheese.  Stir it all together. 

Spoon the mixture onto the individual tortillas, wrap them up burrito style and then wrap them up in tin foil if using them for tailgating.  Throw them in the fridge overnight, for up to a week (I’d say).  Reheat in a microwave without the foil, or throw onto a grill that is on low and heat until warmed through.

These are fairly ‘plain’, adding onions and peppers, ham, etc. would be great in them too!  Also, you can totally cut the amount in half or less.  I’ve made a batch of a dozen and put them in the fridge for Andy and the boys to have for breakfast before.  They keep fairly well and the guys love how easy they are to warm up. Another plus is they aren’t cereal or toast!

Fantasy Football Update:  I won my first game!  Last week when I was setting my roster for the week I was poking around my FF page.  The power’s that be gave me a D+ on my team! Say what?!?  Needless to say I was preparing myself to lose all of my games, so I was pleasantly surprised to win this week!

Have a happy Tuesday!

Erin

Quad Screening Results

I’m sorry for 3 posts in one day but I just couldn’t wait until tomorrow to share my great news!

My OB’s office called this morning with the results of our Quad Screening.  They came back normal!!!!  We don’t have to worry about Down’s, Spina Bifida, Anencephaly or any other disorder!!!  Our baby is healthy!!!

I’m so relieved and many of you have been praying for us so I couldn’t make you wait any longer for the GREAT news!

Love,

Erin

Baby Update –17 weeks

Week 16 turned out to be a big week for me!  Not only did I have my check up last Monday, but this is the week I felt the baby move for the first time!  Yep, I am officially marking Week 16 Day 4 (Thursday, Sept 5th) as the first time I felt the baby move!  There’s a chance I felt it last Sunday and again on Monday, but I’m not 100% on those 2 times, but Thursday I am positive I felt it and I’ve felt it move a few times since then. 

Just like with both boys it was a definite drop kick.  No butterflies or bubbles for me!  Nope, just a good solid KICK, like “Hi Mom, here I am!”  I was sitting in the chair watching the opening game of the NFL season with Andy and the boys and was emailing a dear friend when I felt it.

Now that I’ve felt the little tiddler kick I try to focus all of my energy on it and will it to kick some more.  Did any of you mommies do that when you were pregnant? 

Feeling the baby kick is such an amazing feeling!  I feel so blessed to be having this experience again. 

As for how I’m feeling, I’m feeling great!  The heat this weekend was a bummer, it really saps the energy right out of me.  I didn’t get sick from the heat at the game like I was worried I would, but it definitely didn’t make me feel outstanding.  I’ve started getting some heartburn but nothing too major.  It really started around 12 weeks but was so light that I wasn’t really sure if it was pregnancy induced or not (although I don’t get heartburn when not pregnant so not sure what I was thinking there). Now it seems to come about 9:00 most nights, really light and usually goes away on it’s own.  Some afternoons I notice it a little bit, too. 

My bump is out there and ‘solid’ enough that it looks and feels like pregnancy, not just chubbies.  I love resting my hand on it and rubbing it every so often.  This used to drive me nuts when I’d see other preggers doing this but now I don’t care what others think, I just want to enjoy the feeling of pregnancy and being pregnant as long as I can.  Right now I feel cute, I also want to enjoy that feeling as long as possible because I know I will be big as a house by the end of the pregnancy and feeling cute will be far from my mind.

Last week I walked on the treadmill 4 days in a row, and it felt great!  I didn’t do any walking this weekend because it was so busy and I was so worn out but today I’m back on the mill and I can’t wait! 

Erin and Baby

Fight Fight a Fight For Iowa!

Well, another weekend come and gone.  And this weekend went really fast because it was such a busy one! 

Saturday was a great day!  We had our annual Friendly Friends Being Friendly tailgate and game get together with some of our amazing and awesome friends.

Just as we were getting started for the day Herky the Hawk made an appearance.

We had a TON of food, which I’m bummed I didn’t get a picture of to share with you!  Because it was an 11:00 kickoff we went with breakfast food.  I made breakfast burritos (recipe to come!), which are always super easy for tailgating and a big hit.  There were 3 types of muffins, 2 different kinds of fruit filled pastries and fresh fruit.  We also snacked on fruit veggies, a taco dip, cookies and chips.  Such a yummy spread!

About 10:30 we tore down the tailgate (canopies, grills, chairs, etc) and headed up to the game.  At this point it was in the upper 80’s.  We were allowed to bring our own water into the game, which helped.  I made it to the middle of the 3rd quarter (90+ degrees), then the heat got to me and Baby and we went inside to the concession area and sat on the floor in the shade.  By the beginning of the 4th quarter we were hungry so texted Daddy and he came up and we left. 

It was a great game, a perfect day with our friends AND the Hawkeye’s won 28-14!!!  Go Hawks!

After we ate we went to my folks’ to get the boys and came home.  We were such slobs, we went straight to bed and Aiden popped popcorn in the microwave for his and Brennie’s supper, then the boys laid in bed with us until bedtime.  Then I got up and made 2 pies for our church’s annual Fall Festival fundraiser that were used for the meal.  After that, bedtime!  I was exhausted!

Sunday we woke up, got ready and took the boys to religion classes and we went to the parent’s meeting.  Left there at 10 and headed to the Fall Fest. 

Our annual Fall Fest is our church and school’s big fundraiser every year.  We have a huge meal that includes turkey and ham, mashed potatoes and the most amazing gravy ever, stuffing, green beans, salads and pies, all homemade!  Yum!!!  It does a pregnant girl’s heart good to see (and eat) all of that food!

From there we have a ‘Country Store’ where homemade items are sold (home baked goodies and crafts, mostly), there are kid’s games and the big money maker is our auction.  It starts at noon on the nose and goes until 6 or later, depending on how many items they have to sell.  Because we are Catholic we do auction off beer and wine, so that makes the bids come easier sometimes, ha ha!  I was there until 4:30 and when I left the auction had brought in over $35,000!!!  Our goal this year for the entire festival was $75,000, I think we made it!  It’s such a fun afternoon! 

And there’s my busy weekend in a nutshell!  It was a great weekend, but very exhausting!  Next weekend looks to be just as busy.  I’ll need all week to recoup and gear up for the next one.

Have a great week, friends!

Erin

Sunshine On My Shoulders Makes Me Happy

Looks like the awards circuit is on the move again! This time it’s the Sunshine Award!  This one totally makes sense to me, you get nominated by someone who thinks your blog posts brighten their day!  What an nice compliment!

I have been awarded this Sunshine Award by two awesome bloggers who’s blogs brighten my day every day.  Miss Kate over at The Widgeon Nest, and Miss Kimmyyyyyy from That’s The Thing About Destiny. 

Here are the rules if you get nominated:

1. Include award logo in a post or on your blog (above).
2. Link to the person who nominated you
3. Answer 10 questions about yourself and write 10 questions for your nominees to answer.
4. Nominate 10 bloggers to receive the award. Link your nominees to the post and comment on their blogs letting them know they’ve been nominated.

My questions from Kate:

1. What's your personality type? (Myers Briggs, C. Jung, CVI, Sex in the City character survey, whatever). (If you've never taken one and don't have the time, just describe your personality!)    Bubbly, chatty, protective, helpful

2.What is the hardest thing you've ever had to do?   Say goodbye to the baby

3.What's in your car's trunk?  jumper cables, a blanket and a first aid kit for those boo boo’s at the park

4. How many times have you been to Disney World or Disney Land?  Zero

5. What's one thing you've been putting off?  Dusting so I can put up my fall decorations

6. What do you have going on this weekend?  TAILGATING and cheering on the amazing IOWA HAWKEYES (GO HAWKS!)!!! 

7. Wine, beer, or mixed drinks? What kind?  If ever I do drink, I like Moscato and the occasional beer at the bar

8. If you had to legally change your name, what would you choose?  I did that already when I married Andy!

9. What cheesy line do you tell yourself to get motivated for a workout/run/whatever?  If I get on the treadmill then I can sit and read blogs after I’m done, but not before.

10. Bill Murray or Will Ferrell? I mean, if you had to choose.  Give me some good old fashioned Stripes, Caddy Shack, Ghostbusters and Scrooged.  In other words, Bill Murray!

 

My questions from Kimmyyyyy:

1. Favorite desert recipe?  Cherry Cheese Pie!! (A cream cheese mixture poured into a graham cracker crust, when set cherry pie filling poured over top.  It’s not Christmas w/o Cherry Cheese Pie!)

2. Song you could listen to on repeat for days?  Any of my favorite oldies!

3. What would your last meal be/?  Pagliai’s Pizza, their palace special no onions

4. What is the 17th picture on your phone?  I just got my phone back from being fixed and they wiped out all my pics, so no 17th pic…yet.

5. Must See TV show for fall you can not wait to start?  Nashville!

6. Favorite sports team(s)?  Uh, do I need to say it?  Okay, I will! IOWA HAWKEYES!!!!!

7. What did you do on your 21st birthday?  I don’t remember, and not b/c I was drunk, b/c I wasn’t, it just wasn’t memorable b/c I was lame! Ha ha!

8. What’s your favorite thing at Taco Bell? (don't pretend like you do not like it!) Doritos Locos Taco Supreme

9. Favorite Reality show? American Pickers

10. Cats or Dogs?  Hmm, I like cats but not their shedding. I like my own dogs (don’t have any now but when I was growing up our farm dogs) but I don’t usually like other people’s dogs.  I don’t own either.

 

My questions for my nominees:

1. What makes you happy?  A yummy dessert?  A butterfly flying by?  Finishing a good book?
2. What song makes you sing your heart out every time you hear it on the radio?
3. Do you have a full set of teeth or did you have to have some pulled as a kid?
4. What’s your favorite Tootsie Pop flavor?
5. Would you rather go a year without shaving your legs or your armpits?
6. What is your favorite kind of dressing for your salad?
7. What is your favorite app on your phone (or website if you don’t have a smartphone) BESIDES those social media ones (i.e. Facebook, IG, Twitter)?
8. Which is better: Full House, Saved By The Bell, or Boy Meets World?
9. What kind of scent do you like to burn in your house? (Floral, Baking, etc.)
10. In your opinion who’s hotter: John Slattery (yummy), Vince Vaugh (adorable) or Matthew McConaughey circa 2003 (I die)?

 

My nominees:

Jodi @ Love and Crayons

Alicia @ Brew Mama

Annie @ One Crazy Mama

Sami @ Simply Sami

Kaitlyn @ Wifessionals

Desiree @ Macke Monologues

Shelli @ Beauty and the Baseball Coach

Sam @ Counting My Blessings Instead of Sheep (name that song/movie)

Chrissy @ Mama Chrissy’s Chaos

Shannon @ Life After I ‘Dew’

 

Please go check out these lovely ladies I nominated, they are sure to brighten your day, too!  Thanks to Kate and Kimmyyyy for nominating me, you made me feel special!

Erin

Fall Favorites

Walking on crisp leaves

Filling my Scentsy warmers with Spicy scents

Wearing boots!

Making pies

Going to the Apple Orchard

Picking Pumpkins

 

 

 

 

 

Trick Or Treating

Cooler temperatures

Tailgating (Go Hawks!)

Watching football

Getting out warmer clothes

Jeans!

Leaves changing colors

Oranges, browns and yellows

Craft shows

Colorful Mums

Cuddling under a blanket

Turning the furnace on for the first time

First fire in the fireplace

Hot apple cider

Riding in the combine with my dad

 

What are you Fall Favorites?

Erin