29 weeks

Ugh. That's about all there is to say about 29 weeks. I'm fat. I'm tired. I ache. And I still have 11 weeks left. I'm putting on a happy face here, but really, it's been a pretty uncomfortable pregnancy. I'm hoping it doesn't get too much worse.


And I don't even have a cute little friend in this picture to distract from the big ol' belly.

Something's wrong

I'm pretty sure ice isn't supposed to look like this!


For a few months our freezer's ice machine has been producing smelly ice. It was so bad I actually turned the stupid thing off and bought the old ice cube trays because I couldn't drink water with that smelly ice in it. Then, Mike's dad installed a water filter on the line going into the freezer. Apparently, it has a carbon filter and this is supposed to happen. I wasn't so sure. Thankfully, after letting the ice run a few cycles it was back to normal and we no longer have smelly ice.

When he is all alone

This little guy is about as close to perfect as a mother can ask for. I had the day off work and really wanted to use the morning to catch up on the blog. I sent Nick off to school, set Zander down at the table with some markers and a color book and barely heard a peep out of him for nearly an hour. I got a ton of pictures edited and uploaded while he happily colored with everything from crayons and markers to his Do-A-Dot dabbers.

Where did he learn this?

Apparently I have a genius on my hands. For the last few weeks Zander has been asking about letters. A lot. He wants to know what the letters on my shirt are. What the letters on the store are. What the letters in the book are. And every once in awhile he would come up to me and say something like "That's an L, mommy." Then, the other day we were driving by a Big K (Kmart) and he said "That's a B, mommy." I thought it was crazy he could actually tell me those two letters. Then I sat down with him and the iPad.


The first app I ever bought was the Super Why app. We've never watched the show at our house, but apparently Zander has seen it at daycare. He kept going to the game that asked him to fill in the blank with a full word. And he answered the question right several times in a row. I jokingly told everyone that he could read. And while that isn't quite the case he is a pretty smart cookie. He may not be able to read, but he can identify about 80 percent of the capital letters. He's not even 3 yet!

He gets a little excited sometimes and just wants to touch the first letter he sees, so I have to hold his little hand up while the pig asks the question.


Then, he thinks about the answer (for a half a second) ...


... and chooses his answer.


He's so proud of himself!


And I am pretty stinkin' proud of him, too!

Sneak peek at Miss R.

This little girl is absolutely adorable! And though she wasn't very fond of me the last time we got together (well, unless I was bribing her with cake) she was an absolute ham this time around. I promise, the smiles get bigger, I just haven't gotten around to editing those yet! Here are just the first few from our session this afternoon!

Meet the team

In case anyone didn't already know --- Nick is in love with hockey. Everyday after school he asks if he can watch hockey on TV. He's very disappointed when there isn't a televised game. And everytime there is a game on TV he reminds us that he has only been to two hockey games this year. So, when I found out the players would be serving dinner at a local restaurant I thought Nick would like the opportunity to meet the guys. He was very interested in seeing all the guys, but he wouldn't say a word to any of them. This was the only picture I could get out of him throughout the entire meal.


Then Zander wanted to get in on the action.



We were getting ready to leave and I was resigned to the fact Nick wasn't going to say anything to the guys and he certainly wasn't going to get his picture taken with any of them. Then, I said if he did get his picture taken with our waiter we could print the photo out and he could take it for show and tell at school. Well, that got his attention. He was suddenly very excited for a picture. Here he is with our waiter.


And some other players I don't know. He was scouting these guys out from across the restaurant and making me, my pregnant belly, my big camera and Zander (who was on my hip) weave our way through the throngs of people to get his picture taken with just one more guy.










But, I think this might have been his favorite person to see all night. Felix is his hockey buddy. He's the same guy who took him to see the zamboni and showed him how it works. And Felix is also a fire truck afficianado. He owns two vintage trucks that Nick got to see when he was younger. Even though they didn't get off on the best foot (Felix was first introduced to Nick when he was picking Mike up for a weeklong business trip) I think they are buds now.

Keeping busy

Winter is just dragging on too darn long. The weekends have grown nearly unbearable. It never fails. The temperatures get in the upper 30s and 40s (and even 50s) during the week, but as soon as the weekend rolls around it's cold and rainy/snowing and we are once again stuck indoors. This pregnancy (and my still unorganized computer/craft room) have kept me from being as involved with the boys this winter as I would have liked, but I found this activity in my Tumblr archives and decided now might be a good time to give it a try.

The temperatures are staying just warm enough that we can justify hanging out in the three season porch for short stretches of time without freezing. This means I can let the kids have some fun with crafty ideas that I'm a little jittery about doing on our new table. Nick had a great time making his recycling conveyor belt. And if you can see Zander's you will see he had to help with his, too.


They raided their construction and farm vehicle piles to find suitable tractors, trailers and "recycling" trucks and went to work. They didn't do as much color sorting as I hoped, but they had fun for a good 15 minutes after we finished the actual making part.




Zander stuck around for a little longer, but Nick was bored pretty fast. The mats are still on our table but they have yet to play with them again. I bet if I threatened to pick them up they would protest, play for another 5 minutes and then promptly abandon the project again.

Mashed mess

That’s what we had after Ben had his first go-round with mashed potatoes. At first, he wasn’t quite sure what to think about the starchy mess clinging to his fingers.

But, then he dove right in.

Quite literally. There were mashed potatoes in his hair

On his face and in his eyelashes.

But, most importantly, they were in his belly. Doesn’t that look like a carb coma face to you?

Instead of trying to clean that mess up in the kitchen we took him straight to the bathroom. Nick was already in the tub, but we threw the mashed potato monster in, too. And of course Zander couldn’t miss out on the fun, so he hopped in, too. Such cuteness.

But, this is why we don’t usually let them in there together. I’m pretty sure Zander might try to drown Ben if given even the smallest opportunity. It would be an accident of course, but still, I wouldn’t want that weighing on him. I kid, I kid. Kind of.

My little lefty

He's actually an ambidextrous little boy at this point, though the pen just looks more comfortable in his left. I'm a little worried about him being a lefty, though. He's asked me to help him write before and I don't know how to help hold his left hand and make the letters. Mike's a lefty but his handwriting is atrocious so he's of no real help!

And so has he!

I can't love up on Nick in one post and not have some equal loving for Zander in the next one! This little guy is getting pretty smart, too. He's light years ahead of where his brother was at this age in the coloring department (Not that I'm comparing, I know that's bad). But, look, he almost stays in the lines. And he's not quite 3! My only other point of reference, Nick, was in preschool and just turned 4 when he started coloring like this!

He's come a long way

Despite the hassle of writing out 30 Valentine cards Nick still had the desire to keep up with his handwriting practice later in the week. I was putting his school stuff away this afternoon and he asked me how to spell strawberries. Then applesauce. And then cherries. Finally, I got my things done and sat down to talk about what he was doing. His answer: he was making a grocery list. And when he was done with the grocery list he was going to make a list for Scheels, but decided that Dicks would have more of what he needed (bike pedals -- apparently his aren't working).


So, he would tell me what was on his list. I would write it on my paper and he would copy it to his paper.


Look at that concentration.


And here is the final list. Can you tell what we need?


I'm so proud of him for how far he has come with his handwriting (despite the trouble this weekend). He really is doing well for a 5 year old.

27 weeks

Here's the big ol' belly in all it's glory.


I am definitely starting to feel the full effects of this pregnancy. I waddle. I struggle getting up and down and my back is already starting to hurt from carrying around this extra front-loaded weight. I don't remember feeling the need to complain nearly as much with the first two, but I feel like that's all I do with this one.

Happy Valentine's Day ...

... to all of you!

A special "I love you" dinner

We rarely do "themed" dinners around here, but when I saw this on Random Thoughts of a Supermom I figured it was worth a try! I even went shopping this afternoon looking for a squeeze bottle. I couldn't find one so Mike had to improvise and use a baggy with the tip cut off. His hearts were a little questionable at first, but I think overall the pancakes turned out pretty darn cute! And the boys seemed to love them.

Patience is a virtue

Patience is a virtue desperately needed when helping a 5-year-old meticulously address more than 30 Valentine's Day cards for his preschool and daycare class. Nick can sign his name (though the N is often backwards) and he can usually write most other letters if he has something to copy. But, he loses interest quickly. And I lose my patience when he loses interest because that means even the letters he knows well are turned around and written wrong. I know, he's 5. I shouldn't expect the moon. But, sometimes I slip. A lot.

In all, he actually did really well when all was said and done. And I give the kid credit for slogging through all the cards in one day. It's a tough job for anyone, but especially a 5 year old. Maybe next year I will remember to get started on them a little sooner so we don't have to cram everything into one Sunday. Oh, and we completely forgot to do cards for his teachers. What sort of Valentine's day package doesn't include special cards for the teachers?




Oh, and Zander couldn't be left out. He had to write some Valentine's for his special daycare friends too.

Hittin' the hills

We got the boys new sleds for Christmas, but it's been so stinking cold we haven't had a chance to use them. So, when the boys started whining about being bored we decided today might just be the day. I can't do much in my condition, but the boys of the house seemed to have fun.


See, isn't that the best face ever??? And what about these ones?






I can't forget this little guy. I think he had more fun than his older brother!






He even helped carry the sleds back up the hill.


Nick got a little bored toward the end. Then, he got a little mad when his sled went down the hill without him.


And by the end of the afternoon I think Mike was more worn out than the boys.