So What! Wednesday

This week I am saying SO WHAT if...

• I'm having to block a lot of the facebook smocked auction sites because I can't handle the matching jon jon/bubble sets for my boys? Yep, I will be that mama that wants my boys to match while they are little.
• instead of making our planned pancakes last night for dinner, I got Ben to take me to our favorite local meat & 3 for some chicken fried chicken? what? Don't judge. GriffDawg is going through a growth spurt & I was huuunnngry!
• I may cry when MOPS ends soon?
• I totally went against what everyone told me and got G a bubble for this summer? NEXT summer he will be too old. And? This one has smocked roosters on it. He can say "dooooo doooooo!" like a rooster! 
• I could give a crap if Facebook bought Instagram this week? Everyone is all in a tizzy about it. If I was the creator of Instagram and Mark Zuckerberg offered me $1 billion, I'm pretty sure I would accept. {what amazing app can I design?!} 

Go link up with Shannon for SWW!

confessions

...because sometimes it just feels good to let it all out. 

• I don't drink enough water. I know that I don't and I know that I need to. I especially know that with the hot weather coming quickly I need to drink water or I will puff up like blowfish. {which I don't get by the way. why does drinking water until I feel like I will float away keep me from swelling a ton? makes no sense to me.} Water shmater, I prefer a cold Diet Coke or gatorade. 
• Right before I sat down to type this I sat on the couch and scarfed down ice cream. No bowl, just the carton. Bachelor pad style. Just keepin' it classy, folks.
• Grayson has 4 main things he eats for lunch & dinner and that's it. FOUR things. 2 of those things are chicken nuggets & fish sticks. Mom of the Year, right here. 
• 90% of the time I am SO flipping excited about having 2 kids. That other 10% of the time? I am nervous. The only thing that really makes me nervous (so far) is how the heck am I going to get 1 toddler & 1 small infant to bed all by myself when Ben works late? 2 baths? 2 bedtime routines? eek. makes me nervous. I know in my head that I will figure it out, just like I did with G...but for now, it makes my head hurt thinking about it.
• I'm just gonna say it & I apologize to the 4 guys that probably read this: the girls (you get my drift) are out of control right now & make me feel SO self conscious. Basically, if I'm not wearing a t-shirt, they are out there. I can't help, I hate it, & I promise I'm not trying to show off "the goods" to the world. 
• I don't miss teaching. I feel like I should at times, but I don't. 
• If Ben is at work & someone rings my doorbell, I grab G and hide. Seriously. Not because I'm scared of people or anything, but because my dogs are so dang crazy that it's too big of hassle to juggle a toddler, open a door, and hold 2 big dogs back. 
• I feel like I have failed my child already when it comes to school. I threw around the idea in my head of G going to a 2 day/week MDO program in the fall for a few hours each day. I started looking at programs 2 weeks ago and apparently everyone did registration in early February. I'm already behind and he is only 18 months! Gah, I suck.

phew. I feel better. 

23 weeks with Griffin

*How far along?: 23 weeks 1 day

*Total weight gain?: 11ish lbs...I go back to the doctor next week! 

*How big is baby?: a papaya
*Sex: another sweet boy!
*Maternity clothes: absolutely.
*Stretch marks: Nope. fingers crossed!
*Sleep: Ben says I toss & turn a ton at night; my hips are killing me!
*Symptoms: My feet are starting to swell a little just after being on my feet a lot during the day & my rings are starting to get tight when it's hot out! Maybe it's time to purchase another ridiculously huge fake diamond?!
*Best moment this week: spending Easter with family & seeing G's excited face when we gave him a new train set!
*Movement: Griffin is a mover & a shaker. I can now see my stomach move & Ben felt him a few days ago! Baby boy likes to have dance parties any time after 9pm. I bet we'll be having late night parties in August, too!

*Food cravings: ice cream & milk. So random. I only drink milk when I'm pregnant!

 *Labor signs: hopefully not anytime soon!
*Belly button in or out: in..slowly getting flatter. ick.
  *What I miss: sleeping comfortably without having hip pain
*What I'm looking forward to: continuing to clean out G's new room & organize things so we can get this ball rolling!

Easter Recap & Woes of a Traveling Toddler

We are back from a fun weekend in Alabama with Ben's family! G was a trooper on the ride down there. He only slept for 30 minutes, but he loves looking out the window now & shouting "truck!" (his version, anyway) when we pass big rigs.

 Grayson loves the new SUV because it has an air vent right above his head. Of course, he wants it to BLAST on him at all times. He was cracking up when I cranked the air on our way down! 

We got there on Friday afternoon just in time to watch Ben's little brother play baseball. G is obsessed with any sport that involves a ball right now so we figured he would love a real baseball game. He did! He watched the game, ate a hot dog, and ran around talking to everyone. Such a people person!

We brought G's tailgating chair and he sat right next to a new friend, drank his water, and watched Uncle Thomas at bat. He was such a ham! 

Everything was all good & dandy until bedtime on Friday. Grayson is still in a pack-n-play when we travel and after 2 hours of sleep, he decided he was not having it. He has to sleep in the room with us when we are in Alabama & my child does not cosleep.  I'm pretty sure that he thinks that big beds are wrestling rings because he acts like a crazy person when he is on a bed! He flipped, flailed, and rolled around all night long. He slept for a total of 2 hours. We were all pretty miserable on Saturday morning. He ended up hating the pack-n-play all weekend; no napping in it & no sleeping. He did sleep last night with us, very squished in between. 

Here's my question for mamas of toddlers: What does your child sleep in/on when you travel if they are still in a crib at home but hate the pack-n-play? We are going to the beach in mid-May and I am now nervous of the sleep situation!

Easter was so fun this year since Grayson is older & understanding more. We had fun filling up his Easter basket with trucks, books, bubbles, and skittles!

I even found a matching blue basket for Griffin...just need to get them monogrammed! :)

Can you tell trucks are our favorite thing right now?! G is obsessed!

Look at that sweet boy! ...let me tell you, it was SO hard to get him to stand still for this picture. It's still kind of blurry! Seriously, photographing toddlers=no easy task. 

I can't believe this was our last Easter as a family of 3. We will have another sweet boy to add to our picture next year! 

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter weekend! 

"There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain:
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave he rose again!
And as He stands in victory
Sin's curse has lost its grip on me,
For I am His and He is mine -
Bought with the precious blood of Christ."

happenings

I feel like we have been so busy lately. Last week was too much. It was one of those weeks where we literally had a couple things we had to do every single day. I was overwhelmed. I was telling Ben earlier this week that I need to be better at saying "no." I can't do everything; certainly not with a toddler in tow.

On Ben's off day last week we took Grayson to the zoo! We went a few times last summer/fall but I knew he would be way more interested at this age. We actually bought an annual pass & I'm excited about going a lot more! 

We brought the stroller along with us even though G walked most of the time. I need the stroller for the 20 pound diaper bag. Seriously.  G is getting SO good about walking and holding hands. Such a big boy. 

The Nashville Zoo has an area with farm animals and I'm pretty sure Grayson would have just stared at the cows all day. He kept mooing at them. He also loved the birds! They were flying all around us and he was fascinated! 

G loved the elephants too! I wish they had gotten closer for him to see. He loves to "do what elephants do" and use his arm as a trunk. Animal lover? Absolutely. He get it from his mama! 

We were supposed to participate in our neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday morning but I was feeling lazy. I wanted a day with zero plans. So, on Sunday we had our own little egg hunt in the backyard. Please note that our backyard doesn't have a single tree or anywhere to hide eggs. ha! 

Really, it wasn't much of a "hunt." 

He figured it out pretty quickly. G would open each egg and quickly discard it if was empty-ha! He was on the hunt for skittles!

Ben: "Do you want me to help you hold your skittles?"

G: "NOOOoooooo!"

G had a good time and enjoyed a few skittles once we got out of the blazing sun!

I've been enjoying the backyard SO much more now that it's "clean." I got G a water table that was on sale this week so now he has plenty of fun things to do out back. I'm not sure why it took us long to actually do things so we could enjoy our yard...it's one of the reasons we bought this lot!

Grayson has his last x-ray tomorrow morning to make sure his arm is 100% healed & then we are heading to Alabama! One of Ben's friends is getting married on Saturday & we will spend Easter with his family. I hope everyone has a great Easter weekend!

So What! Wednesday

This week I am saying SO WHAT if...

• I saw Titanic in theaters when it first came out but am totally itching to see it again? I mean, you just can't beat Rose and Jack. 
• I feel like I'm already 30 weeks pregnant? I'll admit it. I am not enjoying it as much this time around. Everything is happening sooner & it is exhausting chasing that little hooligan around! 
• the OCD list-making part of me wants to go ahead and make a packing list for our beach trip....in mid May? I'm crazy. I'm aware. 
• I think it is totally lame sauce to leave rude comments as a no-reply blogger? 
• my poor feet are already getting a Rainbows tan line? I live in those flip flops...the tan lines happen every summer!
• I've been bribing G with a jellybean in order to take his nasty allergy meds? This is the first time he hasn't liked the flavor of a medicine...but the kid loves candy! 
• I think Blake Shelton AND Adam Levine have lost their dang minds? I have professed my love for them & The Voice many times...but praising RaeLynn for her ridiculous twang and horrible voice? REALLY?! Come on. She was awful this week. I hope America is smarter than them. 

Go link up with Shannon @ L.A.I.D so you can join in on the SWW fun!

22 weeks with Griffin

*How far along?: 22 weeks

*Total weight gain?: 11lbs

*How big is baby?: a spaghetti squash...that seems big!
*Sex: BOY:)
*Maternity clothes: Yes. Is this really a necessary survey question? It's pretty obvious!
*Stretch marks: Nope. fingers crossed!
*Sleep: Some nights it's fine, other nights it's bad. Just depends! At least I'm not up ALL night though!
*Symptoms: My feet are hurting when I've been standing & walking too much. I get sore when I sit in the same position for a long time...this means our long beach drive in May will be fun, right? Also, my hips are hurting in the middle of the night if I have slept on one side too long. Shouldn't all of this be happening LATER in the pregnancy?!
*Best moment this week: Griffin decided to move!
*Movement: Yes! finally! My placenta is in the front this time which is why I have not been able to feel anything. I starting feeling little jabs earlier in the week. He moves a lot more at night than during the day...uh oh!

*Food cravings: ice cream...it's hot outside!

 *Labor signs: hopefully not anytime soon!
*Belly button in or out: in
  *What I miss: my energy & regular pants:)
*What I'm looking forward to: we picked out the paint for G's new room so I am ready to get started...probably not until after Easter!