Menu Monday

We finally have a baby and I am going to attempt to create a menu for this week so that when dinner time arrives it won't be so crazy around here figuring out what we are going to eat.

Monday -- Chili (from the freezer) and corn bread

Tuesday -- leftovers

Wednesday -- I'm going to do something with the leftover turkey....casserole or soup maybe??

Thursday -- leftovers

Friday -- We have an awesome friend bringing us dinner!! Thanks, Wendy!!!

Saturday -- A meal from the freezer

Sunday -- always a surprise....

Birth Weight

We had our first visit to the doctor's on Friday. Little Miss Adalyn is almost back up to her birth weight. She is at 7lbs 9.5 ounces. Which means she gained 9.5 ounces in 4 days!!! No wonder it seemed like she was eating ALL the time! She checked out great in all other areas, too!

Happy Thanksgiving

First's

Yesterday we saw the first snow this winter and today it actually stuck to the ground!! Shane was in snow heaven along with the dogs. They all went out and played in it for quite a while. A lot longer then I would have guested.

Adalyn's first visit back to the hospital for a lactation consultant and postpartum visit was this morning. With the snow Kenny stayed home to help get us there. I wasn't looking forward to driving my brand new infant to the appointment by myself. She is down to 7lbs which puts her at the 10% loss mark. Which means we need to supplement like we did with Shane. I felt we would probably have to do this. With some supplementing I think she'll do awesome and feel so much better. We both will since I'll be able to get some sleep at night, too!!

And Adalyn's first time in a fun chair. She has times of very alertness. We got one of those while she sat in a chair and looked around at everyone.

Big Brother, Shane

Shane has been doing a fantastic job as a new big brother. He likes to see what she is doing and to check on "his baby". Adalyn is doing great as a little sister with a VERY loud brother hanging around the house. She doesn't seem to mind all his energy and craziness. Which I think she has been use to hearing over the past 10 months.

The dogs are also doing well with the new family member. Their love tanks are a little empty, but other then that they seem very comfortable with Adalyn. They actually have adjusted to her arrival a lot faster then when we brought Shane home way back then.

Home Sweet Home

It is amazing that we are already home with sweet little Adalyn. Driving home from the hospital yesterday we couldn't believe that we had just gotten there the day before. The whole experience from start to finish has been so completely different from Shane's birth and homecoming.

Adalyn is such a mellow baby so far. It takes a lot to get a peep/cry out of her. She has been a text book baby up to this point. Making life so much easier for all of us. The biggest problem right now is she only wants Mommy and to latch on ALL day long...eating or not! Making life a little tougher, but well get it figured out.

Good Morning, Miss Adalyn!

We survived our first night with Adalyn. Kenny was able to get some sleep. Which was important to me since I need at least one of us functioning better then the other. Adalyn slept from about 8:30-2:30am, then was up feeding until about 7am. She was an eating champ, except at some point I was hoping to get some sleep. That just didn't really happen besides a few cat naps here and there for me. I've been promised a long nap when we get home this afternoon!

She has pooped 5 times and peed at least 2 times already in her less then 24 hours of life. The nurse told us yesterday that newborns normally pee/poop according to their days of age until 7 days old. She seems to be doing great!

She Has Arrived!

We'd like to welcome our newest member of the family...Adalyn Makenna arrived on Thursday, November 18th at 12:14pm. She weighed in at 7lbs 11oz and 21 inches long.

I must say that labor for little Adalyn was 150% better then with Shane. Basically I had about 10 hours of labor and pushed a whole 12 minutes! Kenny and I are still in disbelief by how smoothly and quickly the whole thing went. Evergreen Hospital has been fantastic and our nurse amazing. I could truly not ask for a better experience. Even more exciting is I don't have to ever do this again!!!

Adalyn has been extremely content so far and a rocking eater!!

Mema and Papa with Adalyn a few hours old.
Big Brother Shane, Daddy and Adalyn.
Adalyn about 1 hour old.
Baby Girl just moments old.




First bath given by Daddy.

41 weeks

and we are having a baby!! Finally! Today is the day. Off to the hospital in a little while. Not much sleep happened last night between Kenny and I. I started having contractions on and off at 11pm. Around 2am they started getting pretty consistent every 4-8 minutes. Looks like she really wanted to come today no matter what.

Oddly enough, her original due date was today....November 18th.

Just a few hurdles to jump (IV, epidural, pushing, etc) and she'll be here.

Wordless Wednesday

Three

This was our last weekend as a family of three. We didn't do anything super exciting, but it was nice to enjoy the last weekend as what we all know as "normal". Since next weekend our lives will be completely and forever different. Not that different is bad, but we won't ever be three again! I know that life will be chaotic and crazy at first with our new addition to the family, but I can't wait for things to settle back down to our new "normal". I think Shane will make the best big brother and will really enjoy having a sibling. I also think it will be a hard transition for him, too. Being an only child for your whole 3+ years of life will make all of sudden having to share Mommy and Daddy with another human being a not so fun experience.

Looks like Baby Girl will be holding out for her inducement date. Thursday is fast approaching.

Menu Monday

Monday once again and no baby. But by Thursday she WILL be here (the inducement will help make that happen.)

Another very simple meal week:

Monday -- Nachos or Tacos

Tuesday -- leftovers

Wednesday -- Salmon and rice

Thursday -- Kenny and I will be in the hospital with our new addition (I HOPE!!!!) I'll leave tonight's meal plan up to Mema, Papa and Shane.

Friday, Saturday and Sunday -- The freezer is stock to the gills with various options, so we'll just go from there for the next few days....

Holiday Craft Fair

I love the holidays! One of the things I enjoy about them are all the craft fairs there are. I didn't think I would be able to partake in any this year, but since baby girl is taking her sweet time arriving, I was able to visit two on Saturday afternoon.

I picked up some cute things that I wanted to share:

This is a Felt Flower Bookmark Kit by a local company based out of Greenlake called Kit and Caboodle Designs. They have the cutest kit projects for older kiddos (7+) or adults. I got this kit for myself since Shane is a few years off of doing sewing projects. But I just LOVED the concept.
I had been wanting to get some reusable snack bags to help cut back on all those baggies we tend to go through. I was really excited to find some handmade ones at the second craft fair I went to.
I have also been really wanting a bird house, but just hadn't found one that I really liked or that fit in my price range for a bird house. I was so excited to see this vendor full of inexpensive bird houses and super cute garden fences made out of reclaimed wood from fences. Tomorrow this sweet little birdie home will get hung on one of our big trees in the backyard.

I also picked up some fun snowman shaped and baseball shaped pasta. Shane lives on pasta these day so I thought this might make it fun for him.

Turkey Craft

I had been wanting to do a turkey craft with Shane. Thursday night I stumbled on one in a magazine I was reading. I can't say it turned out anything like the perfect picture in the magazine, but still cute for giving free reign to a 3 year old.

If you want to make this little "table setting" for your Thanksgiving table this is what you need:

--1 large brown circle for the body (I didn't have any brown paper, so I had Shane paint white paper brown)

--1 small circle for the head

--2 feet (I'm a terrible drawer so anything free hand is a struggle for me)

--1 beak

--1 gobble

--5 feathers

--1 "wiggly" eye (we didn't have any and I forgot to make one out of paper)

Shane decorated the "feathers" with markers, sparkle glue, feathers and tissue paper.

Due Date

Today is my official due date. I really didn't think I would see this day still pregnant, but I am! At this point she seems pretty darn content, comfy and happy in there. Kenny feels that the longer she is in there the healthier she'll be when she does arrive. Hopefully that will mean we can avoid some of the rough patches we went through with Shane since he was so little.

I'm feeling fine, just 40 weeks pregnant and ready to be over this portion of the "adventure".

The inducement date has been moved to Thursday, November 18th which means at the most I have 1 week left. If I've done 40 weeks of this so far, I think I can manage 1 more week. I'm just hoping this week goes by super fast!!

Wordless Wednesday

Menu Monday

Monday is upon us again and we still don't have a baby. BUT we did have an amazing weekend with out the little guy (who was at Mema and Papa's). We are really, really, really ready for her now. I think we are caught up on just about everything we can be....house cleaning, grocery shopping, laundry, sleep, errands and relaxing. Not to mention almost all the Christmas shopping is completed AND wrapped!! I held myself back from putting up the Christmas decorations over the weekend, but am itching to do so while baby is still not here.

This weeks menu is super simple:

Monday -- hash-browns and ham (didn't have it last week)

Tuesday -- tortilla pizza

Wednesday -- pulled bbq chicken sandwiches

Thursday -- leftovers (DUE DATE!!!!)

Friday -- Spaghetti and crescent rolls

Saturday -- leftovers

Sunday -- there better be a baby in the house by then....that is all I am saying about that!

Shane's 3rd Birthday Interview

Around the time of Shane's birthday I saw this great idea about giving your kiddo a birthday "interview". Unfortunately, I kept forgetting to do it way back in June and just remembered. But better then never. I think it will be really cute and interesting to see his answers change every year as he gets older.

Shane’s 3^rd Birthday Interview*

What is your favorite color? Yellow

What is your favorite food? Chicken

Who is your best friend? Trinity and Sydney

What is your favorite cartoon? The Cat In The Hat

What is your favorite book? Goldbug

What does Mommy do the best? Work and make pumpkin muffins.

What does Daddy do the best? Plays with me.

What is your favorite animal? Dog

What do you like to do with Mommy and Daddy? Play games downstairs.

What do you want to be when you grow up? Shark to bite somebody.

Where is your favorite place to go? Go to school and home.

How old are you? This many (holds up 3 fingers).

**Interview was taken on November 3, 2010

We Must Be Getting Close.....

39 weeks today....1 week until my official due date of November 11th. Visited with the Doctor today. We've scheduled a date to induce the little one out. If she doesn't arrive on her own before November 17th I'll be induced that morning. That is TWO weeks away though!

I got two walks in today. There is just no way I can take TWO more weeks of this. Shane is heading to Mema and Papa's house for the weekend. I figure that means we'll either have a quiet kid free weekend or little girl will crash the party. Either way works for me: win-win!

Christmas Cards

I've been going back and forth with myself over the past month or so if I will be sending Christmas cards out this year. Part of me is having a hard time not doing it and the other part of me is thinking about the infant that will be in the household making the holiday's even crazier then normal.

There are so many super cute photo cards out there to pick from. Then of course there is the card making side of me who is shouting "you must make your own Christmas cards". But those glossy beautifully designed photo cards catch my eye every time. No matter how much I love making cards I can't produce anything like this:

This is just one example of the awesome cards you can pick from at Shutterfly.

I still haven't come to a conclusion yet. Card/No Card -- Handmade/Purchased. I'll make that decision after the baby arrives....

Almost Wordless Wednesday

"I made a fire pit."

Preschool Fall Party

Last Thursday Shane's preschool had a fall party. Everyone dressed up and then went trick-or-treating in the church. There were 6 Moms (including myself) that "hide" behind different doors that the kids came knocking on then we gave them a treat. Shane was in the front of the group when he knocked on my door. You would have thought the kid had NO idea who I was. No reaction what so ever. I had even told him I would be there for trick-or-treating. At the party/snack time he barely even noticed me besides telling me he ate all his snack and had a surprise to show me later. We've come a long way in a couple months.

All the Moms -- I wasn't very cool and didn't dress up. Guess just dealing with the belly in and of itself is sorta like a costume.
This is Leo the resident preschool dog. He is so tall it is like you are petting a small person. He was begging for some Starbucks treat from one of the Mom's. Cute costume she has on, huh!?
This is Shane's "art room" class. There are 3 different rooms, so instead of 30 kids it's more like 10 kids per room. They all come together at the end of the day, but most of the time are in their small groups. Shane went through and named most of the kids for us. He is still obsessed with the girls. He says the boys are mean.
Mrs. DePano the art room teacher. Where Shane starts his day. Then he moves into the play room and finally the story room.

Menu Monday

I'm excited to say that so far I've been able to freeze a couple meals over the last couple weeks. The chili I made last week makes TONS, so I put that in the freezer. Along with some of tonight's dinner which also made a lot. I'm hoping that will make the first few weeks with baby girl just a little bit easier.

Monday -- Cheesy Ham and Pasta Bake (didn't make this last week)

Tuesday -- leftovers

Wednesday -- Breakfast: hash browns, ham and eggs

Thursday -- Baked Bean Burritos (I'll freeze a bunch of these, too)

Friday -- Spaghetti and bread

Saturday -- leftovers

Sunday -- Who knows, maybe we'll have a baby by then.........