27 weeks

A pic will come later. A lot goes into packing for nine days away from home so the weekly photo did not happen.

How far along: 27 weeks. Helloooo 3rd tri. I need to get on this nursery decorating thing.

Total weight gain: 127lbs, up 15 pounds.

Maternity Clothes: I think my hips are widening because my non-mat pants are getting a bit tight in that area. Fabulous.

Best moment this week: my Gestational Diabetes test. Oh wait, we're talking best moment. That would be watching baby girl move my belly all around :)

Movement: still quite often. It amazes me how big she is already. I feel her move on both sides of my body at the same time. Arm and leg jabs all at once!

Food Cravings: Nothing crazy, but I did eat that Cinnabun loaf like it was my job.

Sleep: I'm exhausted but can't seem to get to bed before 11pm. My body is getting me ready for the inevitable sleep deprivation.

Milestones: baby's lungs and immune system are maturing. She's clocking in around 2lbs and 14 inches.

Random: I'm checking out and will be spending the next week beachside. I'm so ready for this vacation!

While no bump pic, I always have Parker pics :) My girly girl is not a fan of getting messy so helping with the garden lasted all of 4 seconds.

This was about a month ago. Now our garden is flourishing with yummy things like zucchini, peppers, tomatoes, a million herbs, carrots, peas, and other veggies. Oh, and weeds. If you recall, I think gardening basically blows. I have no intentions of spending hours pulling weeds so they will just have to stay put. We'll see what grows!

20 Months

How how how did this happen? How do I have a 20 month old? I often look back at vintage Parker pictures and I can't believe how much she has changed in such a short period of time.

Girlfriend is still babbling away this month. New words/phrases are:

-diaper, said with an accent--die-pair
-this is fun. We heard this a lot on our hayride at the farm last weekend
-mine/my. We also hear a lot of this.
-spoon, specifically Elmo spoon. If we ever loose that thing we're screwed.
-bee
-down
-go away, compliments of the love-hate relationship between Parker and her daycare boyfriend
-scoot. If someone is in the way Parker will let them know to scoot over
-cuppy dog--puppy dog ;) Love.
-tea party--girls are so fun. I'll have a tea party with Parker any day
-wagon
-water table
-soap. We love hand washing in this house
-bread
-Crocs
-sandas--sandals
-bu boom--bedroom. When Sydney acts crazy (which is like all day every day) we tell her to go to the bedroom. Parker picked up on that in no time so any time Sydney barks it's followed by Parker yelling "bu boom!"
-cow
-goat
-carrot. Parker likes going in the fridge to find carrots to give to Syd as a treat
-all gone
-all better. If Parker hurts herself we must kiss the hurt area and then she says "all better."
-do this. Parker is quite particular on who does what. Like if Kris is pulling Parker in the wagon she will say, "mommy, do this" for me to start pulling her instead.
-toes
-hurt. When Parker hurts herself she says "I hurt" then asks for us to make it all better. A simple kiss on the boo-boo does the trick.
-legs--At dinner Parker says "legs" for us to scoot close to her so that she can put her feet on our legs. We giggle, then she tells us to scoot.
-not nice

In other news, Parker still loves Sydney and gives her hugs and kisses every time we leave and before bed. And now Kris and I get constant kisses that consist of Parker grabbing our cheeks and kissing us straight on the mouth. We hear "thank you" all the time, she drinks from a big girl cup, and is obsessed with birdies. She likes watching them out the window and many times we try to catch them outside. It never seems to work. Parker loves diapering and rocking her baby dolls. "Rock a baby" she says while swaying back and forth with her baby. She's not shy about telling us "no" or letting people/things know when they're being "not nice." This morning she hit her head on the door and said "not nice, door."

Potty training is going awesome. I'm surprised at how effortless it is right now. We're taking a slow approach and by the end of August I'm going to really give it a go and see if we're ready to be diaper free. Parker's "reward" for going potty is that she gets to pour the pee from her potty into the big one and that is like the coolest thing ever to her. We just gotta work on her aim because the pee doesn't always all land in the toliet...

Parker loves singing songs and thanks to daycare she knows a bunch of fun dance moves. I was so excited to see her do the motions to Wheels on the Bus when we were singing together :) She's still thriving at school and learning a ton. Picking her up at the end of the day and seeing her playing with her friends before she notices me and runs over with a huge smile and giggles is the best. On the weekends she talks about her daycare boyfriend. Kris says she's too young to be talking about boys ;)

And lastly, she can put her tounge in a U shape. I'm 28 (for one last week) and still can't do that.

In honor of 20 months we had a mini photo shoot:

No fun for this baby

Parker is 20 months old. And she doesn't watch TV.

Are you still with me?

I'm sure this is viewed as borderline crazy but if I worried about looking crazy I don't think that I would be doing half of the things I do ;) One thing Parker does love is looking at pictures in Google Images and telling us what she sees. While Googling Elmo one day I accidentally clicked Videos and lo and behold, Elmo's Ducks appeared. I think she liked it.

O.M.G. What have you been hiding from me??

Yep, that's a clap.

When I couldn't figure out the Internet when Kris was in France I resorted to using my phone for Parker's 2 minute Elmo's Ducks fix.

Now when she sees my phone she asks for Elmo's Ducks. It's really weird but Elmo's ducks always seem to be taking a nap whenever Parker wants to watch them. Huh.

There's no plans in the near future to utilize our kid friendly TV channels. Though that day will come eventually and I have a feeling that the remote will end up lost more often then not ;)

Weekend Recap

Man, are Michigan summers ever rough. With so much to do we have jammed packed weekends each and every weekend. It's makes it tough to decide what makes the cut but we'll deal with it ;)

Race car shopping cart ride.






















P: "Mommy, go potty."
Me: "I don't have to go right now."
P: "Daddy, poopy?"
Kris: "Not right now"






















"Beep beeeeeep"






















Why you never need to go to Cinnabon ever again but why you do need a gym membership.






















Important calls cannot wait.






















Nor can weed wacking wood floors. No fears--the blade isn't on.






















Chilling poolside is way cooler than the kiddie splash area.























If you get water in her eyes during the bath the drama come out. "My eyyyyeees! Eyes hurt! Not nice water!" If you get water in her eyes at the water park it's suddenly super fun. Someone bring me some soap.






















Officially six months pregnant. Three months until we meet our little girl and I can see my toes again.






















Fun day at the farm.






















This horse is showing me exactly what he thinks of this photo.
























Katie the three month old goat named after the 15 year old girl who delivered her. ::shudder::






















Parker was so obsessed that I was contemplating shoving Katie in my purse and making a run for it. All she wanted to do was feed Katie food (grass). "Katie...more food. Katie, food."



























Lights out.

26 Weeks!

How far along: 26 weeks. Actually 26w3d. One day I'll get around to posting this on the right day.

Total weight gain: Still at 126lbs, up 14 pounds.

Maternity Clothes: I'm still in the same old clothes but some of my regular shirts have turned belly barring on me.

Best moment this week: the weather. Not because it's been 100 degrees but because it's our first summer where we can relax in the super cool finished basement. Ahhh, so refreshing.

Movement: this little girl doesn't ever stop moving and shaking in there.

Food Cravings: I have a stack of recipes a mile long to try out. So basically everything.

Sleep: I'm still having zero issues with falling asleep. When I'm out, I'm out. That is, until Parker or my bladder decide otherwise. Or if we have a thunderstorm I'm a nervous wreck and can't sleep. Pre-Parker I never minded thunderstorms. I actually sort of enjoyed them. But now they make me anxious. I worry that a tree is going to crash into our house or lightening is going to strike us. I'm pretty sure that ridiculous worrying comes hand in hand with being a mom.

Random: I'm in my last week of the second trimester about about 3 months out from meeting our little girl. On one hand it feels like I've been pregnant forever. On the other hand it feels like time is flying by. I feel bouts of sadness here and there that Parker is going to be my one and only for just a few more months. Don't get me wrong--this baby was very much planned and wanted, but I can't help but wonder how this life changing event will affect Parker. All of our time and attention is focused on Parker so having to share that with her is definitely going to be an adjustment. But having sisters so close in age is going to be a wonderful thing for both of my girls :)

Wordless Wednesday

Loving on her "cuppy dog" :)

Good Eats

Friday night I made a brave move. I went to Sam's Club. With Parker. Alone. This might not seem like the impossible feat but it is if you know this little girl. Shopping carts are only tolerated if snacks are provided. If there are no snacks or if they fill up her belly, I'm screwed because then the world (aka Sam's) is her playground.

She wants to push the cart, or run down the huge aisles, or follow other babies, or try to eat grapes off the floor. I don't know what's worse--putting something in her mouth from a very dirty floor or trying to eat a whole grape. Either way it's not good.

I've drastically tailored my grocery shopping style since Parker arrived. Pre-Parker I would shop for food at my leisure. I'd text Kris asking what he was in the mood for and we'd pick up the ingredients that night. Now there's no time to waste frolicking around Kroger/Whole Foods/Meijer. I make a detailed 4 to 8 week meal plan and stick to it. I buy the bulk of our food on a massive trip at Sam's and run out once a week during the day to stock up on fresh fruits, veggies, eggs, milk, and the few odds and ends. Life is good this way since Kris can typically accompany me to Sam's once every few months and I get the other stuff on my own.

But Kris was out of town and our deep freezer was dangerously low in the meat department. I could survive as a vegetarian. Kris...yeah, not so much. Friday was my only opportunity to shop since we have plans this weekend and vacation the week after next (!!!) so I had to go at it alone.

I had a list with my items listed by their location in the store (I realize how lame this is). I loaded Parker up with snacks and 1 hour and $400 later we made it through with only one escape from the cart. Thankfully cookies, aka Pub Mix, was enough motivation to corral her back into the cart. A nice lady helped me load everything into my car, proving that there are still good people in the world, and we were on our way.

We were rewarded at home with freezer pops.

With a box of 200 there's plenty to go around.

Now I have all the ingredients I need to make these bad boys again.

Soft Pretzels via Pinterest. I'm going to go with bite sized pieces next time. Next time will be whenever I have enough will power to not eat the entire batch in one weekend.

Soft Pretzels

1 1/2 c. warm water (110-115 degrees, and warm to the touch)

1 Tbsp. sugar

2 tsp. kosher salt

1 package active dry yeast

4 1/2 c. all-purpose flour

1/4 c. unsalted butter, melted (Plus an additional 2-4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted, for later.)

vegetable oil, for pan (I used canola oil.)

10 c. water

2/3 c. baking soda

1 egg + 1 Tbsp. water for egg wash (I melted that extra butter and preferred that over the egg wash.)

sea salt for sprinkling

Combine the warm water, sugar, and kosher salt in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add yeast and allow to sit for 5 minutes so mixture can begin to foam. Add the flour and melted butter and, using the dough hook attachment, mix on low speed until combined. (Macheesmo has tips on kneading this dough by hand too.) Change to medium speed and knead until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, about 4-5 minutes. Place ball of dough in a clean bowl that has been coated well with oil. Turn dough to coat, cover bowl with plastic wrap, and sit in a warm place for 55-60 minutes. The dough will double in size.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and lightly brush with vegetable oil. Set aside.

Bring 10 cups of water and the baking soda to a rolling boil. Turn the pretzel dough out onto your work surface and divide into 8 even sections. Roll each piece into a 24″ rope. Make a U-shape with the rope, cross the ends over each other, and press onto the bottom to make a pretzel shape. (Again, Macheesmo comes through with great tips.) Place the pretzels, one at a time, in the boiling water for 30 seconds on each side. Remove each from water with one or two large spatulas, and place on baking sheet. Reshape as necessary. Brush pretzels with egg wash (or that extra melted butter!!), sprinkle with sea salt, and bake until golden brown, approximately 12-14 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack.

Happy Father's Day!

Some daddy is back from France and some little girl couldn't be happier.

Father's Day was spent at the Metropark with the enormous brand new playground. Thankfully Parker didn't get stuck in the highest possible spot and start screaming for my 6 month pregnant self to go through small spaces and tubes to rescue her like Saturday morning. Even though it was cloudy we got some beach action in, chased seagulls, shoveled sand, and had a picnic.

Check out this model baby with her hair flapping in the wind and all.
















































The fabulous Eric Carle flash cards. Kris does a mad elephant impersonation. Ask him to show you sometime.

And the even more fabulous Barnyard Dance. It's confirmed that the Sandra Boynton books are just as funny to little ones as they are to adults.

Parker didn't like Kris' style so she decided to unbutton his shirt.

All in all it was a pretty perfect day filled with fun and delicious food. Kris is an awesome, loving, caring, super cool Dad and I'm pretty sure that Parker lets him know this any chance she gets :) It's hard to believe that next Father's Day Kris will have two little girls loving on him!