My Favorite Burp Rags

A few weeks ago I told you I had made a gift for someone but couldn’t tell you what it was until after they received it.  Well, she has received her gift!  Part of it was my world famous homemade burp rags.  I love love LOVE these rags!  I’ve made them for almost every baby I have given a gift to ever since Aiden was born.  They are super soft, very absorbent and can be super duper cute depending on the fabric you pick out.  Another added bonus is how long they are.  They are long enough to hang down your back a bit so when Baby unloads it’s whole bottle on your shoulder the rag catches most of it instead of having a surprise running down your back.  If you can sew AT ALL, even if you can only sew semi-straight/mostly curvy lines, you can make these!

Supplies:

1/4 yard baby snuggle flannel

thread (I always use white, but you can color coordinate if you want to)

Only 2 items in the supply list?  YES!  I told you they are easy!

Step 1:

Fold your fabric in half RIGHT SIDES TOGETHER.  Don’t worry about the long sides being perfectly matched, just make sure the short end is lined up good.  No need to pin unless you are OCD.

Step 2:

Starting at the folded end, sew a 1/4” seam allowance (put the edge of your presser foot against the edge of the fabric) the entire length of the rag.  Cut the thread and go back to the folded end and sew the other long side.  *If your fabric didn’t match up exactly along the edges make sure you are sewing along the edge of the piece that is shorter so you catch both pieces of fabric.

Step 3:

Turn the rag RIGHT SIDE OUT.  Turn under the end that is not connected about a 1/2”, then sew across the end on top of the fabric using a 1/4” seam allowance again.  (It’s a burp rag, for goodness sake, who cares if you can see this seam?)

Step 4:

Iron the rag nice and flat.

Step 5:

Starting a couple of inches in from the short end, sew a straight or curvy line all the way down the length of the rag to within a couple of inches from the other end. 

And that’s it! 

Have fun picking out the fabric, there are so many cute designs to choose from.  Tell the mom you are giving these to to wash them a couple of times before use, that will make them super soft and absorbent.

I think when I make some for the baby I’m going to add some ribbon tags along the sides to make it double as a tagsie and burp rag. 

This is a super easy, super quick project to make. Each one takes less than 5 minutes.

Happy sewing!

Erin

SWW

Wednesday already?  This week is flying by!  Today is another weird/quick day – the boys get out of school at 1:00 and tonight we have their mid-term conferences.  Wednesday will be over before I know it.

Another edition of So What Wednesday, coming at ya!  This week I’m saying So What If…

• when I type So What I want to type Sew What.  Must have something to do with Shannon’s last name, Dew. 
• we have watched every game of the World Series (even though we are not baseball fans and never watch any games) and have fallen asleep in the 7th or 8th inning every game (and missed some really exciting endings).
• I asked Andy why the Red Sox had red socks sewn on their sleeves.  I know, how dumb can I be?  I thought it was in honor of some sick kid or something. OMG Erin, wake up!  Ha ha!
• I  just admitted that I asked about those socks.  LOL!
• I spend extra time wrapping up gifts with pretty paper and ribbons.  I know they are going to get torn apart and thrown in the trash but who wouldn’t love to receive a pretty gift?  Plus, at Christmas, they look so nice under the tree.  It’s like having another decoration.
• my good friend is starting to put up her Christmas decorations this weekend.  She has so much stuff it takes her a couple of weeks.  I can’t wait to see it!  I’m going to ask her to let me take pictures so hopefully I can share them with you. 
• I told that same friend if she ever decides to downsize her decorations to call me first to go through her castoffs.  She has amazing taste!
• I’m happy that October is basically over.  I love October but could care less about Halloween so am always happy when the last week of the month is gone and over and we can focus on the important stuff – Thanksgiving food!  Oh, and family.

Happy Wednesday all!

Erin

24 Week Baby Update

Yesterday was my last appointment of my 2nd trimester.  Everything went well.  Looks like we are going to have another big baby, I’m measuring 2 weeks ahead.  There go my dreams of having a 7lb-er!  My dr. told me if I continue to measure ahead 2 weeks or more I’ll have another ultrasound somewhere in the first 6 weeks of my 30’s.  That would be fun to see the baby so far along!  I told Andy I might be tempted to find out the gender of the baby since we’d be so close to the end. We’ll see.  I bet I’d chicken out!  Besides all this the heartbeat was nice and strong.

I did talk to the dr. about my recent bout with depression and anxiety.  The anxiety is normal, she said, especially after what we went through with the last baby.  As for the depression, because I had postpartum with both boys it was not a surprise that I was battling some sadness now and would more than likely have postpartum again.  We discussed med’s and what my options were for which ones and when to start taking them.  More than likely we’ll wait until the baby is born, see how I’m doing and make our decision then.  I felt better to have some answers and that I let her know so she wasn’t in the dark and I didn’t feel so out there on my own with it.  Not that I was, I had Andy, but it gives me comfort to know that she knows and is going to keep an eye on me.

Baby: Weighs about 1 1/2 lbs, is about the size of a corn cob (or in my case, a LARGE corn cob!), 11 inches long.  The lungs are developed enough to possibly survive outside the womb and the baby is practicing breathing by ‘breathing’ in amniotic fluid.

Symptoms: Baby is very active and lets me know it by wiggling, kicking, punching and rolling over a lot.  Up until this past week it would be very quiet during the day and I’d feel it more at night while watching TV.  Now it’s morning, noon and night.  The other night I was up a few times in the night and every time it would be kicking and rolling around!  Andy and both boys have now felt it kick and I can watch my belly bounce around.

Weight Gain:  Ugh, 12 lbs!  I packed it on this month!  Added about 5lb’s. Oh well, baby is healthy so I’ll take the weight gain.

Highs: The boys feeling the kicks and always telling the baby that they love it and missed it.  And the baby’s first gift.

Cravings/Aversions: Last week, the morning of the wedding, I wanted a big, bad, Amish-style cinnamon roll in the worst way!!!  Guess what, Denny’s doesn’t serve cinnamon rolls!!!  That was disappointing!  As for aversions, mine don’t have to do with food.  They have to deal with people!  Seriously, there are certain people who shall remain nameless that I can’t stand the thought of being around!  How terrible am I?  But my mean hormones don’t give a darn, ha ha!

What Excited For: A super sweet friend of mine offered to host a baby shower for me!  It’s not until after the baby is born so they can all see and hold it, but I am already super excited for this!  I never in a million years thought I’d have another shower!  So that’s pretty exciting.  I’m also looking forward to being able to eat 2 pieces of pie for Thanksgiving and chalking it up to pregnancy!

Here’s a pic of my bump looking down at it.  I love sitting on the couch or in the car, looking down and seeing that sweet little bump there!

So all in all we are both doing really well and trucking right along.  By the calendar we only have 3 1/2 months left.  By weeks, we have 4 months left.  I can’t believe we’re already to 6 months!  I’m antsy to get my totes of baby clothes out and play with them but I’m trying to hold off until after Christmas.  We’ll see if I can make it that long!

And just for fun, a comparison of pics.  3 months vs. 6 months.

Erin

Home Improvements or Nesting? You Decide!

Oh my, what a weekend! 

It all started with me watching Kevin O’Connor from This Old House do a segment on the Today show Friday about doing small home improvement projects around the house.  One of which was removing wallpaper. Well, we have a little of that left in our house from when we bought it 2 year ago.  That first month we removed wallpaper and border from a couple of major rooms but left the bathroom and the one wall of paper in the dining area as is.  We’ve been wanting to remove the carpet from the dining area and lay down wood flooring in there and the adjoining kitchen.  We decided we couldn’t do that until we took down the wallpaper and then painted.  So, back to Kevin.  He reminded me that we should be getting that done.  The wall the paper was on has the door and 2 door sized windows on it that leads onto the deck, which means there wasn’t a lot of paper to remove, just the thought of doing it was holding us back.  So, I texted Andy: “Guess what we’re doing this weekend!!!!”  Andy: “What?”  Me: "Removing the dining room wallpaper and painting!!! Yay!!!”  Andy: “Oh boy!”  Ha ha! 

Saturday morning, bright and early, we started in on the job.  The actual removal wasn’t that bad, it came right off.  Then there was the adhesive.  Ugh.  Hours of scrubbing and scrapping.  But we got it done early that evening.  We also had time to fill the holes and sand that down. 

We got cleaned up and headed to town to look for paint.  Our hope was to get those little sample containers of color to paint on the wall and to look at for the next week until we could decide which one we liked best.  Well guess what, that didn’t work out.  We brought home the teeny tiny paper samples and stuck them to the wall.  So far we are undecided. 

Meanwhile, we came home and grabbed the mail and I found the sweetest package in my box!  My dear, sweet Best Canadian friend, Jodi, sent me our very first baby gift!  I sat on the couch sobbing and clutching the hat for the next half hour.  Andy and the boys really thought I’d lost my marbles! But just look at it!  How adorable is that?  It will be going to the hospital with us for Baby’s first ride home! 

If you’ve never had Cheezies you must get yourself to Canada to get some!  Yum!  They are better than Cheetos!  They are dangerous for this preggo for sure! LOL!

So, back to the task at hand.  Got up Sunday morning to start painting.  Well, priming.  I am not usually the type of person to tape off trim, ceilings, etc, but decided that since this was the dining area where we eat every day I’d better make double sure not to get any paint where it shouldn’t be. (Usually I just use an angled brush and cut in the edges by hand.  Most times I do a pretty good job but again, didn’t trust myself in this high traffic area.)  With everything taped off I start trimming the wall out with primer.  Andy came behind me with the roller and we knocked that out pretty quick.  Then Andy said “since we have the mess started should we go ahead and take down those cupboards?”  Uh, sure, we have no plan but yea, let’s go ahead and do that. Ha ha!  Actually, we’ve been talking about doing this forever and sort of kind of had a plan, but the plan wasn’t to do it at that moment!  So, Andy removes the trim and loosens the first cupboard to see what’s up there.  Clean!  And down they came! 

(Yes, everything is a mess and looks terrible!  No we don’t live like that!  Just what happens when doing home improvement projects at the McGuire house!)

OMG!  So exciting but at the same time I told Andy I was worried we’d get in trouble for doing it. (Like there are cupboard police who are going to come bust us!)  The room looks so different!  I love having those damn things gone!  Now to just finish the mess.  We have to do a little finagling with part of the cupboards to finish the end off, then put the trim up on that.  So in addition to painting the dining room wall we also had to paint the ceiling where the cupboards hung.  There will be a before and after post when we finally get it done. Can’t wait!

Oh, and we pulled the fridge out, cleaned behind it and painted behind there, too.  You know, since we already had a big mess why not?  I think we were glutens for punishment this weekend! 

Add to the list mowing, trimming down some spireas for the winter, raking a few leaves, repotting a plant, cleaning off and winterizing the deck, scrubbing the cupboard fronts, putting away the hoses and outdoor decorations, and putting away all of the summer stuff in the garage and putting the snow blower in there.  Phew, I’m pooped! Who wants to come rub my aching back?

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On a completely different note, I received this last week.

Does anyone else get excited about the holiday issues of magazines like I do?  I just love and devour them!  I’m trying to take my time with this one, don’t want it to be over too soon!

Last week and this week at school is Red Ribbon Week (Drug Prevention).  There are all kinds of different dress up days.  Friday was Bad Hair Day and on top of that Aiden’s class earned a pajama day.  I think Aiden makes a better looking boy than girl, what do you think? 

And if he were a girl I’d be giving him a better haircut than Andy’s old mullet wig! Ha ha!

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Today is my 24 week baby check up!  My last month of my 2nd trimester, where did that go?  Looking forward to giving you a baby update tomorrow.  In the meantime, I wanted to update on my blue mood I talked about last week.  It just disappeared.  Well, sort of.  I got my butt back on the treadmill and I think that actually really helped!  Now if I can just stop worrying about the baby all the time (yea right) I think I’ll have smooth sailing for the rest of the pregnancy where my mood is concerned.  Thanks to all who left me such nice, uplifting comments.  I really really appreciate you all, this blogging community is really great.

And hopefully since my mood is much improved I’ll be back to daily blog posts.  I’ve missed you all!

Have a great week!

Erin

Baby Update–Week 23 and It’s A Boy

I have only one month left of my second trimester, folks.  This pregnancy is flying by!!!  4 months to go, how crazy is that? 

So you are probably freaking out by the title – “I thought she wasn’t finding out!”  “What?!? A boy!!!”  Hold your horses, friends, it’s not been confirmed and NO I didn’t find out.  But!  Andy had ‘the dream’ this weekend.  With both boys Andy had a dream about them.  He nailed it, too.  With Aiden his dream was that he was a boy with very long monkey arms and that he was a BIG boy.  Aiden was born a boy (duh), weighing in at 9lbs 1 oz. (huge) and when he was laying in his bassinet at the hospital his arms would stretch out and go up the sides of the warmer because they were so long (monkey arms).  Brennan’s wasn’t quite as descriptive, just that he was a big boy.  Boy? Check.  Big? Check (9 lbs. 1 oz. again).  So this time his dream was that it was ANOTHER BIG BOY (ugh, can’t I just sneeze out a 7 pounder for once??) and that this one’s complexion was what he called ‘normal’.  Aiden was born with a tan and still has one at all times, Brennan is pasty as Casper the Ghost and this baby, in the dreams, was somewhere in between.  Oh, and he has lots of hair (thus the heartburn, I guess).  So there you have it, my dreams of having a girl have ended. 

As for me and how I’m feeling at week 23?  Meh, ok I guess.  For the most part I feel fantastic physically, just had a few aches and pains here and there.  What’s really bothering me is how I’m feeling emotionally.  I’m sad all the time.  I cry all the time.  What is wrong with me?  I’m so happy to be pregnant, so happy to be having a baby, but I just can’t shake this gloomy feeling.  It’s really irritating.  I don’t want to feel this way, I shouldn’t feel this way, but I do.  Add to that how I can’t stop worrying about this baby.  I’m terrified something will happen to it and we’ll have to tell the boys again that they aren’t getting a baby.  That would crush me and them.  I know, according to my appointments and ultrasounds, that this baby is perfectly healthy, but there’s always the chance of something going wrong and I can’t move past that thought.  I am freaking myself out over every little thing.  It’s starting to take over my thoughts.  And because of this constant worry and depression I’m turning into an evil, awful mom who yells and gets mad all the time.  It’s not the boys’ faults that I feel this way, plus they are such good boys so why take it out on them just because they do one little thing that they shouldn’t?  I’m so upset over this whole thing.  I have my next appt. on Monday, I will be talking this over with my dr. for sure.  I can’t do this for the next 4 months, it’s not fair to Andy, the boys, this baby or me.  And poor Andy.  I feel so awful for him.  I am constantly needing him to reassure me that he still loves me, that I don’t gross him out, that he does want to be around me.  I don’t know why I am so freaked out about him.  If he doesn’t hold my hand in the car I jump to the conclusion that he’s grossed out by me.  If he doesn’t give me a million kisses and hugs in the evenings I’m just sure he doesn’t love me anymore.  The man is a saint, and he is trying his hardest to put up with me and my psycho behavior, but I am sure he is close to his breaking point.  Monday, come fast!!! 

Sorry for dumping that on you, I just need to get it off my chest.  I tell Andy everything I am feeling but he doesn’t know what to say to help me anymore.  I’m just at my wit's end with this, I hope my dr. can help me figure this out. 

Erin

Going To The Chapel…

Hey there, it’s Monday!  And I’m exhausted!  I need at least the next 3 days to catch up on sleep, we had a crazy busy weekend. 

Thursday we dropped the boys off in the morning and headed due West to Omaha.  Our dear friends were getting married and Andy was the Best Man (The Better Man, as he kept saying, ha ha!).  Thursday night was the rehearsal and dinner so we headed out to the winery where the wedding was being held, then back into Omaha for the dinner.  Dinner was at a brewery and they had a really delicious supper – lettuce salad with a yummy vinaigrette, roast beef, chicken, mixed veggies, potatoes and rolls. 

The groomsmen and their wives

Me and my love (who wouldn't take that darn jacket off! Ha ha!)

Staci, Amy and me, I.E. My besties

The decorated dining area, super pretty

Me, Andy, Groom Mike, Bride, Micaela

Friday evening was the ceremony and it was really nice, went off without a hitch.  We were outside and it was fa-REEZING out there.  A high of 55 degrees, brrr!  When we left that night at 11:00 it was 35 degrees.  The head table was set up outside with a few other tables for guests, which is where I was sitting.  They also had indoor seating.  They had heaters set up outside but it was so darn cold nothing would have helped.  Luckily once the dance started (which was outside) we warmed ourselves up by busting a move!  For the meal they served chicken in a white wine sauce, pork in some kind of sauce, garlic mashed potatoes, steamed green beans, lettuce salad and a roll.  The cakes were delicious, I tried them both, ha ha!  They had a photo booth which was a ton of fun.  Overall it was just a really fun evening, so glad we could be a part of the celebration.  And now for the photo dump.

Best Man Andy and Maid of Honour

Saying their vows



Our gang

If you follow me on IG (homemadehappenings) you saw this next picture with the caption “This is after I about caught my hair on fire #dontstandsoclosetothefireplacenexttime #lessonlearned”  The story is that we were standing outside next to the fireplace warming our buns.  I smelled burning hair but didn’t even think about it.  Luckily a friend smelled it too and asked if I smelled it.  He pulled me away from the fire place and looked at my hair (not smoking, thank goodness!), but said it was definitely me.  I ran my fingers through my hair and O!M!G!  It just broke off!!!  I singed part of my hair!  It smelled awful and I was so freaked out.  Looking at it in the mirror in the bathroom you couldn’t really tell too much (thank goodness) but I could sure feel it.  Yuck.  So that put a tiny damper on the evening, but what are you going to do?  Alls well that ends well, I didn’t catch on fire like I could have and today it doesn’t look bad at all.  I can feel one section that feels funny but am going to run to my hair stylist this week and see what she thinks.  I’ve been conditioning the heck out of it, hoping that helps.

Two braggie pictures – one of my new earrings which I am in love with!  And one of my bump that’s a bit blurry but you can get the idea. 23 weeks!

As great as the wedding was, my favorite part was spending so much time alone with Andy.  We always have the best time on long drives chatting.  A friend who was heading out to the wedding too was texting me.  I asked how things were in her car (boring, one driving, one sleeping) and she said “I bet you guys are chatting and holding hands the whole way.”  It cracked me up because that was exactly what we were doing!  So today I am now paying for all of that great ‘together time’ by having Andy withdrawals.  I think lunch together today is in order.
Hope you have a great week!  We are in store from December-like temps here.  Highs in the 40’s, lows in the 20’s.  Had to bring my houseplants back in, they wouldn’t like that cold weather. 
Erin

Gender-telling Wives Tales

1. If you carry your baby up high, it’s a girl; lower, it’s a boy. I’m right in the middle, not really high, not really low.
2. If you carry your baby out front, boy; if you spread more horizontally, girl. All out front for me (so far), Boy
3. Baby’s heart rate is higher than 140 bpm, girl; lower, it’s a boy. Girl, heartbeat has been in the 150’s, some 160’s, at all appointments
4. Craving sweets? Girl.  Want salty snacks? Boy  Girl and Boy. I want french fries and Cheetos some days, chocolate others
5. A girl causes acne; dry hands indicate a boy; cold feet point to a boy; a larger left breast indicates a girl; dark nipples are signs of a son. Ummm… ha ha!  I’ll go with GIRL on this one, mainly because of the acne.  No cold feet or dry hands.  Lets leave the boobs and nipples out of this, shall we? LOL!
6. If Dad gains weight, it’s a girl. Boy, no excess weight gain … yet.
7. If you hang your wedding ring over your belly and it swings back and forth it’s a girl; if it swings in a circle it’s a boy. Boy!  It started as back and forth and then started going in a circle. 
8. The Mayans said if the year you conceived and your age at conception are both even or both odd numbers, it’s a girl.  If one is even and the other is odd, it’s a boy. Boy – age 32, year 2013
9. Morning sickness indicates a girl.  No issues?  Boy!  A little urpy, but never sick – BOY
10. Put a key down on a table in front of the mother.  If she picks it up by the narrow end, she’s having a girl. If she picks it up by the round end, boy oh boy! I didn’t do this one because I knew I’d go for the narrow end. LOL!
11. If you hardly have to shave your legs at all, it’s a girl.  If you have to shave more than usual, boy. I’m definitely needing to shave less often, GIRL.

Only 18 more weeks until we find out which of these hold true!  Looks like more blue up there than pink, and we all know I am a boy factory!  Odds are in favor of a boy.

I am going to be MIA Thursday and Friday.  Would anyone be willing to guest blog for me?  I’d need your post by 2:00 Wednesday afternoon.  Shoot me an email or leave me a message in the comments section.  Thanks!

Have a great week!

Erin

Our Football Star

Wednesday night was Aiden’s last flag football game of the season.  This is homecoming week for the school we share football with so to commemorate that the flag football teams played at the high school, on their field, with the big lights on!  They even had the commentator there!  It was such a fun evening!  Our team got STOMPED!!!  BUT!  My Aiden, he was a football star that night!

I can’t give official stats because they don’t keep any but Aiden pulled a ton of flags!  He caught 3 of the 4 passes they sent his way, and he was the only kid on the team to get any yardage.

It was the final play of the game, 7 seconds left, and we were on the 40 yard line (or so).  The QB threw the ball to Aiden, he plucked it from the air, turned, and ran with all of his might! He broke a couple of ‘tackles’ and hauled his little booty towards the end zone.  At the 1/2 yard line, with his toes almost touching it, a kid grabbed his flag.  It took 2 4th graders to catch my little 2nd grader.  At this point the score was 40 something to 0, and I’m pretty sure Aiden broke the plain (plane?), but time had ran out and they didn’t give them the 6 points.  But it was such an exciting play, and my little guy was the star of it, so I’m going to take that good feeling with me and forget about the points not given.  It was the only time our team got a 1st down and the closest we came to getting a TD.

And if you’re wondering, YES, I was jumping up and down cheering and yelling as loud as I could!!!!  So so SO proud of my boy!  The best part, though, was how proud he was of himself!  He’s not a bragger at all, so he was very  modest about it, but I could tell by his face that he was PROUD!  What got him the most excited was hearing his name over the loud speaker, which I thought was very cool, too!  Sorry to gush and go on forever but I am so proud of him!!!  I love how it boosted his confidence!

Yesterday Aiden brought home his school pictures.  They turned out so great!  I just love them!

Have a great weekend!

Erin

I’m Talking About Mom Farts

If you want to find out what this is all about head on over to Miss Darci’s blog, Strongly Feminine, to read my guest post there. And if you don’t follow this crazy, awesome, amazing girl DO IT NOW!!!  Her vlog’s are Blog Award worthy!  And she takes the prettiest selfies ever!  I love her style.  Gah, I could go on and on about how awesome Darci is.  Just go check her (and my post) out!

Erin

SWW

Well, I called it.  Just last week I was saying to Andy how I was surprised that Bruce and Kris Jenner are still together because, on the show at least, she treats him like crap, like a doormat, and that I wondered if the only reason they were staying together was because of the show.  I can’t imagine they want that bad publicity.  So I was watching an episode of the new season of “The Kardashians” and see he is living in a separate house in Malibu.  What happily married, even UN-happily married couple do that?  This is why I am so not surprised about the news of their split.  And I can’t believe I just devoted an entire paragraph to it! Ha ha!

(Andy just glanced over my shoulder and noticed my title.  He asked “Looking for Single White Women?”  I laughed. The guy is a goof ball.  And is the king of turning something I say that is totally normal into something sexual sounding.  Someday I will write down his ‘one liners’ and devote an entire post to it.)

Now on to So What Wednesday!

This week I’m saying So What if…

• I am actually writing this post on Tuesday night but writing it as if it’s already Wednesday
• I had Andy cook supper last night because I didn’t want to, and because he knows how to boil hotdogs and heat up chili from a can for Chili Dogs
• Aiden is going to be a slice of pizza for Halloween.  Help me.
• I switched the furniture in the living room around again
• I still can’t stop thinking about Christmas
• I am panicking because Thanksgiving is only 7 weeks away and I haven’t made my menu yet for the meal I am hosting
• I haven’t watched a single new show on TV this season, none of them interest me

What are you saying So What to?

 

Tonight is Aiden’s last flag football game of the season.  They are playing on the actual high school field with the big lights on!  It’s going to be pretty cool for him and the other kids!  And we are going to have quite the cheering squad for him.  My folks, my sister and her kids, Andy’s folks and his brother are all coming to cheer on Aiden and his team.  He’s pretty excited!

Have a great Wednesday!

Erin

Ramblings

Hey there!

Last night we went to our niece’s 8th grade volleyball game.  She did a great job! She’s an excellent server! We had fun watching them beat the other team.

Is anyone else getting super duper excited for Christmas (except @armpitsex, I KNOW that guy is already excited, ha ha!)?  I can’t stop thinking about it!  For instance, just the other day I was thinking that Mrs. Claus is probably busy cooking fattening foods for Santa to fatten him up in time for his big ride Christmas Eve.  Like, who thinks about that as a 30 something year old? LOL, weirdo.    Leave it to me.  Besides that, tho, I am thinking about shopping for everyone, decorating, the excitement that comes with the holiday, all that good stuff.  And there are only 11 weekends left to shop before the big, exciting day!  Better get crackin’!  Oh, and not to leave Thanksgiving out, my favorite holiday, there are only 7 weeks left until that!  Wow!  This year is winding down already. Guess we better get prepared for 2014.

 

Quick question – why are they doing ANOTHER Romeo and Juliet movie?  Does anyone remember the one with Leo and Claire back in the day?  I had that soundtrack, can’t ever remember listening to it tho. I do remember watching the movie in the theater with a couple of friends.  I think I loved it, although I can’t really remember much of it. 

I moved the living room furniture around today.  Does anyone else love doing that?  I think I really like the set up.  Can’t wait for Andy’s reaction when he gets home tonight, ha ha!  Part of the reason I do the things I do, to get a reaction out of Andy!  He cracks me up, I love that guy!

Okay, can we talk about the massive BOY explosion we are having?  There are many pregnant bloggers and I do believe all of them that I read are having or have just had BOYS!!!  Seriously!?!  What’s going on?  There’s Emily, Lora, Skinny Meg, Kate ‘Hair’, Erin, Shannon.  That’s 6 right there.  And I bet I forgot one (I tend to do that when preggo).  So I guess the odds are that I will be having a boy, too.  Miss Shelli finds out this week what she’s having, anyone want to place a bet on what it is?  

Time to get moving, have a wonderful day!

Erin

Weekend Unload

Hey hey!  Happy Monday!  How was your weekend?  We had a great one!  Our plans changed and so the long afternoon of ‘me and Andy’ time was shortened because we were given 4 tickets to the Iowa Homecoming game.  We took the boys and had a blast (even though we lost)!  This was both of their first times tailgating and this was Brennan’s first game ever.  He was beyond excited!  Everything was so new and exciting for Brennie, he made it all that much more fun!  Poor guy, though, he was so sad in the first quarter when Iowa hadn’t scored yet, he was practically in tears! True fan there! Ha ha!  By the middle of the 3rd quarter he was done with being there. The 3 guys dressed like bozo the clown, but with green hair, in front of us were super annoying and Brennan had just had it.  So we went up to the concourse and walked around and took pics.  Here are a few from the day.

We left in the middle of the 4th quarter and headed down to the campground to drop the boys off.  Then Andy and I went to a tiny town on the other side of our hometown to go to a BBQ/Steakhouse owned by some people who’s hair I used to cut.  The owner was a mailman in town for 32 years and then one day decided to live out his life long dream of owning his own restaurant.  He smokes his own meat, they make their own sauces and the food is AMAZING!!!  They’ve been open for almost 5 years now but this is our first time trying it.  A little pricey but oh so good!  A perfect place to go to celebrate an anniversary, birthday, career advancement or whatever!  So, I had the salmon, side salad and twice baked potatoes (that weren’t back in the shell but in a cup and holy smokes I thought I’d died and gone to heaven!!!).  Andy loves BBQ so he had the 1/2 rack of ribs, baked beans and garlic mashed potatoes (again, HEAVEN!!!).  One of their sauces was called Jalapeach.  Andy wasn’t brave enough to try it but he did love their Spicey and their Sweet sauces.  We were stuffed when we left so took a piece of Mile High Chocolate Mousse Pie to go.  That pie was so.damn.good, I have a little bit left to snack on today.

Sunday we worked in the yard for a bit.  It was our first really cool Fall day.  I mowed the lawn while Andy and the boys cleaned out the garden.  It’s sad to see it empty but so nice to know it’s all cleaned up and ready for winter.  In the afternoon I headed to the basement and worked on some crafty stuff.  I made a birthday card, a wedding card and 3 gifts.  The birthday card went to my nephew who turned 9 yesterday (Happy Birthday, Charley!).  The wedding card I’m super excited about but can’t show you in case the bride stops by the blog and sees it.  Lets just say I feel like I outdid myself!

Same with the gifts, not able to show them … yet but there will be a tutorial coming up later this month to show you one of them.  Sorry for the teaser and non-info, I hate that!  But can’t ruin a gift, can I? 

And to top off our weekend we went to my sister’s for supper last night to celebrate Charley’s 9th birthday.  Supper was delicious: lasagna, a spinach salad her MIL made, green bean casserole, fruit salad and Crock Pot Cake and ice cream for dessert.  I can’t believe Charley is 9 years old already!  Next year, double digits!  That’s big stuff!  And don’t remind me that we’re only 3 years away from that ourselves with dear sweet Aiden.

Speaking of Aiden, I so adore that boy.  He is such a neat little guy with an awesome personality.  Last night I asked him if he’d rather get one present that might cost a lot but that he really, really wants or 3 or 4 less expensive gifts that he isn’t really that excited about.  His answer: “Well, if someone got me, like, the same Lego set I already have I’d be like ‘Okay, I can just have two of these’ and be okay with that.”  Ummm… LOL!!!  So proud he wouldn’t say “Hey, I already have this!” and would just be happy with it.  But then I finally got him to answer my q, and his answer to that was he’d rather get 1 present he really really wants than 3 or 4.  I’m happy he understands it’s not about the number of gifts you get.  He’s such a cutie, I’m so happy he’s mine all mine!

Now on to the week ahead. We have a busy evening schedule this week, I hope I survive!

My good friends Jodi and Alicia are co-hosting a Fall Swap.  If you’re interested in joining in on the gift swapping fun click on their names and check out the details on their blogs!  Looks like so much fun!!!

I wish you all a wonderful week! 

Erin