Weekend Recap x 3

I am going to attempt to do a big post of our last three weekends!  I am sure I will forget something, but I will do my best!  So, the first of the weekends (March 21), we started off with Katie having a soccer practice on that Friday evening!

And the weather on the Saturday was awesome, so we went to the park and played and let Katie ride her bike - she rode it over a mile!  I definitely think her legs are stronger from playing soccer!

And we made it to church that Sunday morning!

The kids had a big time playing when we got home!  I love that they play so well together these days (most of the time, of course).

And we had a birthday party to go to that afternoon - here are Katie and her friend Hannah Jo before heading in!  They had such a fun time!

That night, we had friends over to watch some Tennessee basketball!  Here are the big girls together!

The next weekend started off with some time with friends to watch more basketball at Buffalo Wild Wings!  Love these girls!

And we had a lazy morning at home that Saturday!  The kids played with toys in their jammies - love mornings like that!

Jack loves to tackle Katie when she is laying on the floor - so funny!  Love this picture of the two of them!

And then it was birthday party time again!  This time for Katie's sweet friend Annalane!  Here she is before heading to the party!

 An action shot!

 The whole group of kiddos! 

 And Katie with Hannah Jo and Annalane...these girls have been friends since they were about 15 months old!  So sweet.

 And a picture of these two crazies before jumping in the car!

 On Sunday, it was time for yet another birthday party!  It's that time of year!  Here is Katie before heading out!

One of the things I did while she was at the party was get things decorated for Easter (see yesterday's post for the full décor)!

And this is how she came home!  Such a pretty butterfly - and love that it actually matched her outfit! :)

This past weekend, Katie had makeup soccer pictures before her early soccer game Saturday morning.  And it was FREEZING!!!  We had to be there at 8am for the pictures - and then they played at 9.  Whew!  Of course the sun came out after we got in the car to go home!  Here is her cute soccer team!

We didn't really do anything else Saturday - aside from eating dinner at Wendy's :) Oh, and the kids had a great time playing together with cars!

 Sunday, we had an easy morning and actually took a long walk in the neighborhood!  It felt good to get exercise for sure!  We stopped at the playground for some fun before heading home.  The kids thought it was fun to have races on the slide!

 And I do believe I caught Jack's true personality in this one - wild man!!! With a choo choo in hand of course!

 This boy is growing and changing by the day.  He is learning new things all the time and is such a fun, busy guy!

 And Katie amazes me each and every day with what she knows and the questions she asks!

 There are big rocks and things to climb next to the playground - and Brad, Jack, Katie, and Sadie climbed to the top!  I took this of them - so cute!

 And this picture puts it into perspective for sure!

 Once we headed home, it was time to eat lunch and get Katie ready for yet another birthday party - seems to be the story of our life these days, huh!  It was a girly, wear-your-favorite-princess-costume party...and she LOVED IT!  The theme was Frozen, so of course the girls were all obsessed.  Here are Katie and Hannah Jo before this one!

 And when we got there, we saw that Katie and Annalane matched!

 And you can imagine the squeals when Elsa and Anna arrived - it was so cute!

They read a book with all the girls.  I couldn't believe how quiet the girls were!  They were in a trance, I guess!

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 And they all made their own tiaras and got hair and makeup done - here is my little princess!

 A selfie! :)

 And a group shot of Elsa and Anna with all the girls!

 And I got one of Katie with them.  She just saw the picture and said, "I could look at that picture for forever!!!" HA! 

Definitely a fun birthday party!  After we hurried home and changed clothes, we went to dinner with Brad's family.  Katie was exhausted and Jack threw pasta all over the floor - other than that, it was a great time! :)

 

Whew!  I did it!  If you are still reading, kudos to you!  I will do better about weekend recaps from now on - that's hard to remember all of that! 

 

 

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like...Easter

Aside from Christmas, I have not done a very good job of getting our decorations out lately!  So I got really excited once I felt like it was time to decorate for Easter and spring!  And it really does make things look happier.  Here are a few items you would see if you came over to my house!

 

I love this little Spring sign I bought a few years ago.  I do believe I found this at TJ Maxx!

 And I love this hand towel that I added to my collection this year.  It is bright and cheery - and most importantly - says "He is Risen!"...perfect decoration for this time of year.

And the mantle.  I love it.  I love the burlap banner I bought from a local lady.  It actually makes me want to have a banner I can just leave up all the time!  And then the bunnies I found at a cute little store I stumbled upon!  And the carrot décor - I found those last week at Kirklands!  And the big vase of decorative eggs that my mom made years ago!

 Isn't that banner so cute?!  LOVE it!

 A better view of the banner and bunnies and carrots!

 And the other side - the carrots and the vase of eggs!

 And one more - the two designs on the banner.  I love that the décor on the mantle coordinates with the banner - the bunnies and carrots!

And in the downstairs bathroom, I have a cute bunny towel!  And it just happens to match the yummy smelling soap we have out :)  I got that bunny towel at JoAnn's about a month ago!

And then outside, you would be greeted by the Happy Easter garden flag out in the flower bed! 

 And then the egg wreath on the front door!

Now that I have all of these fun touches around the house, it already has be thinking what I can put up next to keep things festive!  I try to keep a cute garden flag and wreath on the door, but the rest of the things around the house are an added bonus!  Maybe something that would work for the transition from spring to summer?  I know I need it to last a while since BC3 will make an appearance in June :)

Bump Watch: 28 Weeks

How far along: 28 weeks!  Hello, third trimester!!

Size of baby: The size of small cabbage - about 17 inches and 2.9 pounds!

Total weight gained: It is definitely time to start exercising more!  As in exercising in general :)  I guess keeping up with my kids doesn't burn as many calories I had thought!  I am up about 30 lbs.  Yuck.

Maternity clothes: Absolutely.  I did try to wear some non-maternity workout pants a couple weeks ago and that was not a good idea.  A day or two ago I attempted my maternity skinny jeans and that really didn't work either.  Yikes. 

Gender: Boy!

Movement: All.the.time.  Last weekend it felt like he was using my hipbone as monkey bars.  Not fun.  And when he moves, my whole belly shakes and moves! 

What I Miss: Being able to go up the stairs and not get out of breath.  Heck!  Being able to walk and talk on the phone and not get out of breath.

Cravings: Nothing really special!  Peanut butter crackers have been delicious.  And chocolate.  Really, any kind of sweets.

Aversions: Nothing really.  Other than cooking.  I need to use my crockpot more - by the end of the day I am wiped out and don't feel like cooking!

Symptoms: My back has been hurting more.  And my previous C-section scars have been sore.  And my bellybutton feels bruised.  Hormonal headaches are not fun.  And hunger.  Good gracious!  In the mornings I will eat breakfast and then within the hour I feel like I need another meal!  I say all that, but I do feel good!  I can definitely tell that my back is getting more stiff.  And I feel enormous!  I also think that pregnancy is messing with my hair texture this go around - it seems so frizzy and yuck!  I thought it was the super cold winter, but it is still doing it.  Hopefully that goes away once BC3 is born!

Best moment of the week: Katie has finally felt the baby move!  She thought it was really neat, of course.  And I try to tell Jack that there is a baby in my tummy and he lifts my shirt up and says, "baby!" - and then he points to his belly and says, "baby!"...still have some work to do there :)  And hearing Katie say BC3's name in her prayers makes me excited.  I promise a name reveal is coming!  Oh - and seeing the nursery start to come to life and seeing how much Katie is loving her new space has been exciting too!  I've also signed us up for a big sis class at the hospital where BC3 will be born - it is different than with the other two kiddos, so I figure doing that class will let us see what we need to and let Katie get a feel for the new place too!

 

And I know I have done a post with this picture in it, but it definitely needs to be posted again.  I absolutely love it!  So glad I have this to document this part of my pregnancy!  And for the record, I was 26w5d in this picture!  Don't forget to check out Amanda McNeal Photography!  You may actually find this image there :)

 And just for comparison's sake, here I am at 28 weeks with each of the 3!  I feel like a whale already, but when I look at these pictures, it kind of puts it into perspective.  Some days I feel like I carry him higher and then other days it seems like he drops.  I know he is obviously super active, so there is no telling what kind of positions he gets himself into in there!  Can I also just say how glad I am that I don't have braces??  I had them when I was pregnant with Katie and that just wasn't fun!

 

Just For Kicks: Katie's First Soccer Practice

Another catch up post, so here we go!  This one is back from February 22 - wow!  Katie's first soccer practice!  I played soccer growing up, so this was so fun for me!  Of course it made me want to get out there and kick the ball since I played for so many years.  Katie was super excited for her first practice too!  And she did great all things considered - it was the first time to practice!  We had kicked around in the backyard, but this was the first time with a team and a coach and all that.

 

Thank goodness the weather was mild and just perfect!  She was ready for sure!

Just look at that sweet girl!  I love this picture :)  She posed like this all on her own!

And then she wanted to hold the soccer ball!

And I did ask her to stand like this :)

After the photo shoot, we were off to practice!  Brad stayed home with Jack because practice was right in the middle of his nap.  So I took some pictures of practice too!  An action shot of kicking the ball around!

And her coach had all the girls introduce themselves and say how old they were and all that.  Here is Katie up in front of some of her teammates!

And Katie learned the team's cheer!  So neat.  Here they are in the huddle at the end of practice!

I think this picture is hilarious.  Definitely an action shot - and she looks absolutely worn out!

And she happens to be on the same team with two of her buddies!  Cute girls - they've known each other since they were about 15 months old!

I will say that the girls on her team are learning and growing each week!  They have one practice during the week and then a game on the weekend (today they actually had an early game with pictures before the game - meaning way too early - and it was freezing!)...and it is so fun to watch them!

Pee Pee In The Potty + Here Comes Kindergarten

Whew! What a day!  I attended the Sixth Annual TABS Conference (the one I used to coordinate) and had a great time learning and seeing everybody!  I got a text around the time that the kids go to bed that simply said, "Woo woo woo woo woo woo!!!!"  I had a feeling I knew what it had to be, but only because I knew just two days ago, Jack had his first experience sitting on the potty before his bath.  It wasn't a success, but he did keep saying, "Pee pee! Pee pee!" - I'm glad he is enthusiastic about it!

And so when I saw the text from Brad, I had a feeling I knew what it was.  And I was right.  Jack went pee pee in the potty for the first time!  And yes, Brad sent me a picture of pee in the potty :)  I am impressed that I didn't even have to request a picture - he knows me oh so well.  I was sad that I missed that first, but so excited for him - and glad to hear how excited he was!  Brad said he had a huge smile on his face - probably feeding off the enthusiasm of everybody in there with him!

So I knew I had missed that, and then I finally got home and got the mail.  And then I saw this.  Katie's last Imagination Library book - and of course it is a reminder that Kindergarten will be here soon!  AH!  My babies are growing up so fast!  

Hope you've had a good week! We have to be up bright and early for Katie's soccer pictures and her game - exciting!  Check back for lots of catching up, weekend recaps, and what we were up to this week!

 

The BC3 Bedding Reveal

All along during the first half of the pregnancy, we were all beyond convinced that this baby would be a girl.  As in - we would have bet our bank account we were so certain!  I know I have mentioned how surprised we were at the 20 week ultrasound to see learn that BC3 is indeed a boy! 

 

I was so certain, I even bought girl bedding at Target (of course knowing that it could be returned)!  This was the bedding we had picked out.  I loved the medallions and the purple and lime together!

So shortly after the big ultrasound, I headed to Target to return that bedding (along with a few other girl items I had bought on sale) and we started looking online for some options.  Our goal was to find something that matched the green color on the wall in what was Katie's room and is now the nursery.  And I think we did a pretty good job!  Brad is quite pleased that he only had to paint Katie's bathroom and room and only had to touch up some places in the nursery!  The bedding we ended up choosing is Kidsline Jungle Doodle!  Here is a picture of the whole thing.

 And an up close of the quilt that came with the set - you can see more of the colors and design up close.

 And here is an up close view of the crib sheet!

 And a closer view of the valance for the window.

It is so fun to see this nursery turn into a baby room.  The furniture is in there and the window décor is complete.  I've washed the crib sheet but still need to put it on the mattress.  I have bought a few things for the walls.  Needless to say, it is slowly coming together.  I will do a big reveal of Katie's new space sometime in the next couple of weeks - that has been my main focus since she moved to her new space.  And once the nursery is finished, I will obviously do a post with pictures.  Hard to believe that BC3 will be joining us 11 weeks from tomorrow - yikes!  My 28 week post to come sometime soon too - can't believe I will be in the third trimester tomorrow!!!