14 Weeks = 2nd Trimester!

Well, I’ve arrived!  I’m officially in my 2nd trimester.  Wow, can’t believe that.  I know the first tri goes fast because you don’t know you’re pregnant for part of it but it really feels like my first flew by.

As you may know, they call this trimester the ‘Honeymoon period’.  This is the one you feel the best in.  More energy, a better appetite, just overall feeling better and more like yourself.  Aside from the lack of energy, my first trimester was smooth sailing so I don’t feel like this trimester will feel that much different from the last one, aside from the ever growing belly. 

Speaking of the belly, it still looks like I just ate too much in the mornings.  But by evening it looks HUGE and round and very baby-like!  Last night I made Andy rub the belly, he was surprised at how tight it was already.  But I went to bed last night and woke up this morning just looking bloated again.  Kind of funny how it does that.  I like it though. 

So I am 14 weeks 1 day, which means in 2-4 weeks I’ll probably be able to feel my first kicks!  Wow, I can’t believe that in possibly 2 weeks I could be feeling this little lumpkin move!  It’s such an amazing feeling!  But can you believe in 2 weeks I’ll be 16 weeks?  For some reason 16 weeks always feels like a big number for pregnancy.  I’ll have a regular check up that week, then 4 weeks later I’ll be at my half-way point and having another ultrasound.  Seriously, this pregnancy is going so dang fast!  I know, I know, talk to me at week 30 and I might be singing a different tune.  But as far as picking a time of year to be pregnant in, this is definitely it. The cooler weather, sure, but it’s more about the hustle and bustle of fall and winter that makes it go so fast!  We are extremely busy starting in August and going right through December.  January is a slow month but February starts the 5 months of non-stop birthdays and year-end school stuff, which is another fast time of the year.  So really, this pregnancy will go fast and I’ll be holding this baby in my arms in no time!

Another way to look at this, though, is that I still have 6 months until I meet the little tiddler.  That seems like a long time, of which I’ll be enjoying every moment!

Happy Monday!

Erin

Haircuts and Pictures

Happy Happy Thursday!!!  This girl is super happy today because yesterday we got a new internet provider!  Yay yoo yippee!!!  No more frustration with not being able to get on the WWW!  I feel light as a feather about it!

This morning I gave Aiden his back to school haircut.  He was pretty darn shaggy, he missed his haircut last month so there was 2 months of growth on there! And that kid’s hair grows fast so you can imagine how woolly he was!  We could also see the first day of school on the 7 day weather forecast this morning, which means we’re under a week away from the first day.  Wow, so sad that summer is over.  But these fall-like temps we’ve been having have been making me ache for Fall, so at least there’s that to look forward to.That and boots!

Our county has a really nice man-made lake and campground in it, about 10 minutes from our house.  They have been trying to secure funding to complete a paved trail project.  Andy is partly in charge of this and needed some action shots of the lake and campground and of families using the area for a pamphlet he’s putting together to send in to try to get some funding.  So we loaded up the boys’ bikes the other night and went over there to take some pics.  Andy was the photographer because I was in the truck with a headache not feeling good. 

You can see in the top right-hand corner of the top picture how the trees are starting to change colors here.  Isn’t that lake picture pretty?  The boys had fun playing at the playground.  It was such a pretty evening.

And speaking of Andy’s photography skills, he is my official maternity photographer.  He does a good job, don’t you think?

DANG!!!  Are my boobs big or what!?!  Yowza!  Ha ha!  Hormones, gotta love ‘em!

One last thing.  Kaitlyn over at Wifessionals posted an amazing post last week about starting up a blog, how to build your blog and some basic blog etiquette.  It was a great read and I think every blogger could get some good tips and ideas from it, no matter how long they’ve been blogging.  HERE is the link. 

Time to get moving, might be canning tomato juice this afternoon so need to get the kitchen good and clean.  Talk soon!

Erin

Baby Talk, 3 Months

Erin

My First Celebrity Siting

One thing I didn’t tell you about from our State Fair visit was how I hollered hello to a celebrity and yelled “I love your show!” and he yelled back “Thanks, Honey!”  Honey!  He called me Honey!!!  It made my day.  I was giddy for the next … ten minutes at least! 

So, who was this celebrity?  The one and only Frank Fritz.  Do any of you know who Frank Fritz is?  Go ahead, think about it.  I’ll give you some time.

How about a picture to help.

He’s one of the duo on ‘American Pickers’ on the History Channel! Ahhh!!!  We love Mike and Frank.  And it helps that they are Iowans!  Their store is about 2 hours from here.  Truth be told, I have a little crush on Mike, his laugh gets me every time.  But Frank called me Honey!!  Hee hee!  Sorry, getting giddy about it again.

Baby Talk

I’m 13 weeks this week.  My last week of my first trimester.  Feeling great, more energy but I think the headaches are starting.  Bring ‘em on.  I’m happy to have them because they mean I am pregnant!  We are tossing around names, having a hard time coming up with anything we really like … again.  We looked up the popular names of the 1930’s because I think we are wanting an older name for a boy.  I listed them off in front of Brennan, he said he liked Clifford, Arthur and George – can you tell he watches PBS cartoons? Ha ha!  Sorry, when we do pick a name we will keep it to ourselves, we like knowing something about the baby that no one else does. After all, you don’t know the baby’s sex and neither do we!

Happy Tuesday!

Erin

State Fair Coverage

I’m so excited to share our State Fair with you guys today!  Now, I have to say upfront that we do not see everything, we do not take in any contests (do we have any pig callers out there??), we do not visit the Midway, and this year I started feeling icky early so we left before 2:00 which means we didn’t even see or do all we normally do.  Not cool, by the way!

But what we did see was awesome!  Prepare yourself for a LOT of pictures!

One thing the Iowa State Fair is famous for is their Butter Cow and Butter creations.  These ‘statues’ are made completely out of butter (with a wire frame underneath it).  Each and every year there is a Butter Cow, but the other Butter statues change each year depending on what anniversaries are that year.  This year it was the anniversary of the Lincoln Highway, which runs through Iowa.  Part of that exhibit was a likeness of Abraham Lincoln.

There is no shortage of ‘cut outs’ at the fair.  This year the boys were pigs.

There is a really really neat barn at the fair where they have live animal births!  Everything from cows to pigs to chickens (hatching), even ostriches!  The baby’s are there for you to see with their birth announcement hanging above their pens. And if you miss the birth you can watch it over and over again on the many TV’s they have in the barn!  And this isn’t just any barn, it’s air conditioned and super clean!  The boys love this barn.

The Little Hands on the Farm area is super cool for little kids!  You walk in and they give you a visor (provided by Pioneer Seeds, ick!!) and an apron. Then you grab a basket and follow the path to the first area.  You grab a ‘seed’ (that looks like a poker chip with a veggie picture on it), hand shovel and watering can then plant the seed and water it in.  Next stop, harvesting your produce! You can pick from plastic tomatoes, peppers, onions, potatoes and carrots.  At other stations you milk a cow and get your milk, you get wool sheared from a sheep, and you pick up your corn and soybeans.  Then you hop on your trusty tractor and drop off your corn and soybeans at the local grain elevator.  After that you sell your produce and goods at the Farmer’s Market, where you earn money and can buy a (real) treat.  It’s so cool for the little ones! 

One of the main reasons we like to go to the fair on the first Friday is because of the old car show.  I love old cars, someday I will have a late 60’s cherry red Mustang Convertible.  Drool! 

This is the place my family ate at every year we went to the fair growing up. The Depot.  One of the cool things about it is that a local oldies station sets up their DJ booth right there and cranks the tunes throughout the booth.  So fun!  I got a foot long hotdog every year growing up, yum!

What fair is complete without the building of businesses trying to sell their garb.  Sewing machines, hot tubs, saunas, siding… and our 2 favorite booths, the local PBS station and the Iowa Hawkeye booth!

We love Clifford, THE BIG RED DOG! Ha ha!

Brennie saw this and yelled “Barack Obama!”  So we took his picture with the president.

That’s me and the boys in the sauna.

Hawkeye tattoos!

Farm equipment, we are in Iowa after all!

Lunch time!!!  We ate at the Cattleman’s booth, so so soooo yummy! 

And now for the Hot Beef Sundae, I know you’ve all been dying to find out just what this awesomeness is!  It is .. heaven in a bowl!  You start with mashed potatoes (to resemble the ice cream), top that with hot beef in gravy (chocolate syrup), sprinkle shredded cheese over the top (sprinkles!) and top it with a cherry tomato (cherry on top!).  O! M! G!  I’m craving one already! 

We ate lunch in the shade on the grass.  The boys had a cheeseburger and Andy had a roast beef sandwich.  Neither compare to my sundae!

Not sure if all state fairs do this, but ours does a big animal contest.  Big Boar, Big Ram, Big Bull.  Here they are.

For us, our trip to the fair isn’t complete without going down the Big Slide! 

We like going through the 4-H exhibits, there are so many talented kids around these parts!  Shortly after that I started feeling not so good.  I had a headache, got too hot, had walked a ton and probably didn’t drink enough water.  We left shortly after that, which means we didn’t get to do everything we normally do.  We didn’t get any other food than what we had at lunch, although there is so many fried goodies (fried butter anyone?) and tons of food on a stick (even saw beer on a stick!).  Except for not feeling good at the end it was another great year at the Iowa State Fair! Proof that the boys had a great time:

This year’s theme is “Happiness is ____ at the Iowa State Fair”.  To follow that theme, Happiness is having all of our memories at the Iowa State Fair!

Erin