Pregnancy Growth

Here I have compiled all my pregnancy pictures up to the current pictures I have for comparison. I will add more as they are taken. Less than 6 weeks till my due date! Yeah!

13 weeks


16 weeks



18 weeks


20 weeks


21 weeks


24 weeks


26 weeks


32 weeks


35 weeks

Native Flowers and Smoothies

Today Lyshie went picking some of the Queen Anne's Lace I planted last year. I know, most of you will think I'm crazy for actually planting it. It is a great growing plant/weed in Michigan so why not?



While picking these I thought of my sil Sarah, who had many bouquets of these for her wedding reception. I was the one that actually got to put them together. Talk about feeling honored!



A few days ago I decided to make my own smoothies as a knock off of Tropical Smoothie. My son started to drink his and after telling me how much he liked he, he wanted me to take some pictures of him drinking it. lol! So here they are!




I used frozen strawberries purchased at Aldi (no sugar added), frozen banana halves, just a bit of plain yogurt, turbinado sugar and a bit of water. We like more banana than strawberry. I'm sure the options are limitless.

AMH Photo Scavenger Hunt!

I belong to the best mommy forum on the web which you can visit at amomshideout.com Today we're having a photo scavenger hunt that sent my daughter and I running all through the house. Talk about fun! Below is a list of things we had to find as well as the pictures we took from it. Thanks so much, Melanie for the fun time!

1.jar of cooking spice


2. toothbrush with toothpaste


3. a yellow flower


4. your child's favorite toy


5. your least favorite toy


6. the inside of your refrigerator


7. a picture drawn or colored by your child


8. car keys


9. whatever is outside your bedroom window


10. your computer with AMH on the screen


11. non-white underwear


12. the most annoying thing in your house


13. something with stripes


14. something summery


15. something with wings


16. your breakfast/lunch/dinner place setting


17. something with at least 4 numbers on it

Favorite Preschool Sites

Here is a listing of my current favorites for preschool aged children. I just came across the first one today. It has LOTS of really great printable's which I will be using for my son's age 3 preschool this coming school year.

www.kidslearningstation.com - has lots of great printables for all preschool stages.

www. starfall.com - ultimately the best interactive site out there for little ones. what a GREAT teaching tool!

www.chasingcheerios.blogspot.com - this blog has great crafty ideas for kids. this would be great for those who use more of a waldorf or Charlotte Mason style of learning. lots of hands on fun:)

http://www.letteroftheweek.com/preschool_age_3.html - this is a great way to really reinforce each letter of the alphabet.


Have fun teaching your little one:)

Crayons, Flowers & Thrifty Finds!

It's been so long since I've updated again that I thought I'd post a few fun things.

First, my husband came home the other day with a huge bouquet of real (not hybrid) roses. Absolutely gorgeous! The picture above does not capture all their beauty. It was a much needed surprise that day as things had been hard. Talk about making my week:)

With everything going on, the ER visits and other such issues, I had to start resting and putting up my feet more than I would have liked. So, because of that and the reminder of an amh friend that Christmas is only 6 months away, I started making up my Christmas list and doing a bit of shopping here and there as I saw things on clearance/sale. I'm totally done with my nieces, Lyshie and have something for my mom. I have figured out for everyone else except siblings what we'll be doing. For the nieces and nephews, with their gifts I'm giving them crayon cakes (all except 1 niece cause she's just too young). I had so much fun making them and can't wait to make more. I just peeled the crayons -mostly broken ones, broke them into pieces and put them into a cupcake tin. Heated the oven to 350 degrees and baked for just over 10 minutes. They took a couple hours or so to cool then I just popped them out. These are great for little toddler fingers. I must say it took forever to peel the crayons and I had crayon stuck all underneath my fingernails. lol.

Last but not least, today I went to the Goodwill store with my husband and son - my daughter is gone till Sunday:( I have been looking for a bookcase to put on a wall close to the kitchen table to put all the school books for this coming year in. I was hoping to have one this year but we just did not find one that we liked and/or was in our price range. While at Goodwill today, my husband saw this beautiful bookcase from Target with a salvage sticker on it. He didn't see anything wrong with it and it was only $14.99 compared to at least $70 or more at Target. We got it, brought it home and he found out the reason why it was salvaged was because a worker there was trying to put it together and didn't know what he was doing - so he thought there was something wrong with the bookcase. All the pieces were there and we just LOVE it! It's much more beautiful in person. We also got a new packages of size small vinyl diaper covers, a new oven mit, a new potholder, a new hair thing for my daughter and a nice looking black and clear organizer along with the bookcase all for a total of $21.30. I LOVE thrifty shopping!

Raisin Bran Muffins

I think these are very yummy. They are not to sweet and substantial enough. I like to add a smidge of cinnamon to mine as well. Sorry for the generic muffin pix. I hope to get one of my own up soon.

Ingredients:
4 cups raisin bran cereal
2 cups milk
2 eggs
1/2 cup oil
2 cups of flour
2 teaspons of baking powder
1/2 cup of Sugar
1 teaspoon of salt


Directions:
Put cereal in a bowl with milk, beaten eggs and oil. Stir all together and let sit 10 minutes.

Add in rest of ingredients and stir well.

Fill your muffin container 2/3 or more full.

Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.


I've also found the below recipe but have not had time to make it yet. I'm anxious to see how it turns out.
Ingredients
1 1/4 cups flour, all-purpose
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups raisin bran cereal
1 cup milk
1/3 cup honey
1 each egg
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
Directions
Stir together flour, baking powder and salt.

Set aside in large mixing bowl, stir together raisin bran cereal, milk and honey.

Let stand 1 to 2 minutes or untl cereal is softened.

Add egg and oil beat well.

Add flour mixture, stirring only until combined.

Portion batter evenly into 12 greased 2-1/2 inch muffin pan cups.

Bake at 400 degrees for 18 to 20 minutes or until lightly browned.

Serve warm.

My Birthing Ball - I'm in love!

I finally got out the aerobic ball I got very inexpensive at a Thanksgiving sale at Meijer at least 3 years ago. Still new in the box, I figured now was the time to get it out. I'm now a few days shy from 31 weeks in my pregnancy and would love to use the ball this time in labor. Matt was sweet enough to blow it up for me and wow! I can't say enough . I didn't want to get off of it and I'm not even in labor yet. I'm thinking I should get a second one so I can have one in my room and in the living room at all times. Below are some links that explain how to use and the benefits of using a "birthing ball". Make sure you purchase an exercise/aerobic/birthing ball in your appropriate size:)

Here's a great article on the basics of using a birthing ball.

Here is a lovely video that shows how to use the birthing ball.

I just love learning new ways that may be helpful during labor. The last time around I knew about these balls, however, I had so much to learn just simply going "natural" that I did not take the time to get out or use my ball. This time around I'm hoping for an even better experience. The last time was great, this time will be awesome!