Happy 3 Year Anniversary!

Happy Anniversary to the best husband there is!! It has been 3 years since we said I do and that amount of time just doesn't do our relationship justice. We've been together for 9 great years and I can't wait to spend so many more with you.

Who would have thought meeting you at a keg party would have led to this. We now have the cutest little boy to share our love with and I couldn't be happier. Thanks for all you do for us. WE LOVE YOU!!

Plant Based Food Meals

We recently watched Forks Over Knives and Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead on netflix. It made us realize how many health benefits plant based foods have and we wanted to try it. It does mean no meat or diary (there are substitutes). A lot of myths are out there that say that you need meat for protein, but there are tons of plant based foods that you can get protein from. I'm not saying we're going full force, but at least we can try it and stop surrounding our meals around meat. David is wanting to do a juice fast for a little first since he has been eating so bad and it would be easier if he travels. Mom and I (and David) made a commitment to try a plant based diet for the rest of the week, starting today! We are off to Trader Joes to start our shopping. We are only going there because we need wine and what better place to start eating better than there.

Here is our menu for the rest of the week:

Lentils vinaigrette with lemon-parsley orzo and summer squash

Source: bistrokatie.com via Jen on Pinterest

Black Bean and Guac Burritos

Source: naturallyella.com via Jen on Pinterest

Soba Noodles with Sweet Ginger Scallion Sauce

Source: simplyreem.com via Jen on Pinterest

Eggplant, Tomato and Chickpea Casserole

Source: bistrokatie.com via Jen on Pinterest

Cucumber and Avocado Rolls

Source: williams-sonoma.com via Jen on Pinterest

Hummus Avocado Toast with Roasted Tomatoes- for a lunch

Source: eatliverun.com via Jen on Pinterest

They don't look too bad do they? Wish us luck! I will keep ya posted on how it goes. 

Max Already Has Friends

My friend, Amber had her baby 6 weeks after Max was born. These pictures are from last month, I just forgot to post them! Anthony and Max are already hanging out becoming good friends.

 Don't you just love little babies. They were semi cooperating for the photo shoot. 

So cute! Love them. 

My little baseball buddy

We're still around just haven't blogged much. My sister was here spending more time with us and now they're headed back home. We had so much fun and wish they could stay longer.

We went to a baseball game with David's work last night and Max enjoyed it. We didn't last too long, but it was good seeing everyone. He was so cute in his gear.

Max Turns 4 Months Old

Stats- We went to the doctor last week due to a rash on Max's neck (everything's fine) and he got weighed. He was 13 lbs 5 oz at 25% still. He goes back next week for regular 4 month check-up so i'll update with more stats.

Personality- He still loves to smile, coo and talk to us. He is very alert and loves to look at everything. Although he is still a very fussy boy and screams/cries a lot. He has to be stimulated by playing with toys, or always moving. He is never content just hanging out. His happy times are starting to out number the screaming times, but he has his days.

Eating- He is still breastfeeding every 3 hours (sometimes sooner). If he is still hungry after I feed him I either use back up milk I pumped or a little formula to give him more. We are using the Baby Whisperer book to try to extend his feedings to every 4 hours and to try to make sure he is getting enough. I am estimating that he is only eating around 4-5 oz when he eats so we'd like to get him to eat more at a sitting since he is still not sleeping through the night.

Ready to eat!

While we were at the pediatricians last week she gave us the go ahead to start rice cereal. He is liking it although not mastering the technique yet. He makes little noises and opens his mouth to get more. Half of it ends up on his bib, but we're getting there. It's good practice for the months ahead when we start some baby foods at 6 months.

Sleeping- He goes down to bed around 8-8:30pm and is up at 10:45pm for a dream feed then he wakes up usually once per night around 2:30am. He wakes up around 6am for the day. We recently started the routine where we're trying to get him to sleep until 7am to start the day. He naps in his swing for the majority of the time, but I sometimes rotate to the crib depending if we've been playing upstairs.  We also just started unswaddling him. It's been a little rough of me going in a few extra times at night, but he is loving his fingers. He has almost mastered the thumb sucking (still sticks the other fingers close to his eyes), but he is soothing himself pretty well. It seems as if we're starting all this new stuff, but we realized that he should be moving towards a 4 hour feeding schedule and we're far from it so we need to adjust some other items in the routine. He is a pretty good napper napping 4 times a day between 45mins-an hour and a half. He has been waking up crying sometimes around the 45min mark and sometimes will go back down.

Development- He has definitely found his feet. He grabs them and pulls them to his face and has tried to eat them a few times. He loves his fingers and has to have something in his mouth at all times. He needs a bib constantly. No teeth coming in yet, but when I was a baby I had one around 4.5 months. 

He also has been eating some teether toys and he bites down on them so hard. Sophie is a great pal of his still, too. He isn't minding the tummy time as much anymore and sometimes can roll over. He tries to sit up and do crunches if we lay him down on his back. 

When you are sitting on the couch holding him, he has to be standing and looking around. He is getting to be such a big boy.

He also is a roly poly. He rolls from side to side and almost flips to his stomach. When he sleeps in the crib and fusses around a bit, he has turned all around in the crib and faces a whole new direction. 

Randoms-
-He can still fit in 3 month clothes, but most comfortably in 3-6 month clothes.
-He is in Size 2 Pamper Swaddler diapers
-His eyes are still blue
-He still loves his bath and we give him one most every night still just because he is happy and loves it so much.

Michelle's Gender Reveal Party

My sister and James came to town on wednesday night to drop off the animals and hang out for a few days. They are now off to Vegas for their 5 year anniversary (in July) vacation. Since michelle only had an initial ultrasound and won't have another until 20 week appt. I convinced her to go to a place to find out here (she's right at 17 weeks)! They went without us and found out so they could keep it a secret for the party.

She wanted to do the reveal with just a cake, but I wanted a more dramatic approach so we made her a big box to fill with helium balloons. It was a big ordeal trying to keep the balloons hidden and everything under wraps.

Without further ado. Drumroll please... Baby M is a

GIRL!!

I honestly could tell all day just by looking at her, but I really did think since her pregnancy was so different than mine that it was a girl. We both really thought we'd have a house full of boys for some reason so it was a fun surprise still. 

 We had Davids parents, mom and Amber and Bob come over. The majority of the group was thinking girl though. Chris and Marla were on video chat and were both strongly voting for girl.

 Shell had put food coloring inside the cake so that when we cut into it you could see pink everywhere! It was delicious!

So happy for Michelle and James and for tutus and teacups!

Michelle's 16 Week Pregnancy Update

It's your favorite guest blogger Michelle here writing in with a pregnancy update. I haven't really talked about anything but the back story so far.

 I am 16 weeks 3 days today. The baby is the size of an avocado! At my 14 week appointment, baby's heart beat was 154.

Total Weight Gain: wellllll I went to the doctor at 14 weeks and I had gained 5 pounds in 4.5 weeks!! woah nelly.... and I had a prior 3 from 6 weeks to 9 weeks..... that's 8 total! (I am not weighing myself right now).  Let's just say I think the weight is going to my chest and BOOTY (seriously). 

Sleep: I get up to use the bathroom probably 3-4 times a night already! I also drink a lot of water right up until bedtime, which doesn't help. Sleep has been going fine, I can't wait to get my sleep pillows from my sis soon.

Symptoms: Nothing really crazy going on. I do get headaches occasionally. When I over do it with walking fast/cleaning my sciatica hurts real bad. I do the yoga poses to stretch it out and it helps a lot.
I have been feeling VERY well, I don't want to jinx anything, but so far so good. I had a bit of nausea weeks 7-9ish where I had to eat first thing and wait a bit before getting ready in the mornings. I got sick ONCE and that was a total fluke. I got ready for school picture day and was ironing pants (which I NEVER do- maybe that did it ) and had to run to the bathroom. 

Cravings: well I didn't think I was craving things until it was brought to my attention.... apparently I love sweets now. I never really cared for them, but I like to conclude every dinner with something! :) I also really want candy? Like those sour watermelons or smarties... Now I think we can see where the pounds are coming from, oops!


Aversions: I want to be NO WHERE near Mexican, BARF (unfortunate, I know)

Gender- Well we officially find out by the doctor at the end of June when I'll be around 19 or 20 weeks. I'm also very impatient so we are going to get a sneak peek while we're in GA THIS WEEKEND!! We'll see if he/she cooperates!
James and I think boy because we can agree on a boy name and not a girl :) My sister thinks girl because I've had such an "easy" time so far compared to her... ANY GUESSES?? 

Maternity Clothes: My sister gave me some of her maternity stuff, but I am NOT indulging in it yet. I have definitely utilized the belly band as most of my shorts don't button! My shirts are too snug and I had a little tantrum on Saturday. I got a couple of new shirts/shorts a size up so that I could fit into something. I did buy a maternity sun dress because it was on sale at target and I like how it had plenty of material not to creep up in the back. 

Best Moments so far: My sister's cousin (in law?) Ashley who was pregnant when she was let me borrow her doppler! I have been thoroughly enjoying hearing baby's heart beat! I can find it real fast now and it's very fun! I also had my last day of teaching for a while? I had been at my school for 4 years and they surprised me my last day with a gift basket for baby! My friend Jenny gave me presents when we told her (at 5 weeks) and then other than that, this gift basket was our first baby things and it's very exciting! I almost forgot what Auntie Jen sent us. She mailed a pregnancy recording book, The Girlfriends Guide to Pregnancy book and a giftcard to Jasons Deli to fill my belly with!

They went gender neutral as we don't know what we're having yet. I really love yellow, green, and gray so it worked out!

What I'm looking forward to: Our trip to see everyone in GA!! and  our GENDER ultrasound!! and our anniversary trip to Vegas (next week!) I can't wait to spend some time with my baby boy nephew Max! 


WOAH I almost concluded without putting a picture of myself! I've been slacking on a picture this week because I feel nothing has changed. Here is a picture from about 15 weeks (14.6 to be exact). It really pops out when I wear dresses (I'm holding it back to make my belly stand out).

Look at This Face

Max was an angel on saturday letting us all go to costco, home depot and hang out with the beautiful weather we had this weekend without as much as a peep. We def. paid for it on sunday. He was a little terror to put it nicely. He just screamed most the day for no apparent reason. And here we thought he had turned a new leaf. I thought it was time for more photos of our little boy, who thankfully on most days is a good boy. I'm sorry my blog posts aren't that substantial, but between looking for jobs, taking care of Max, cleaning the house, laundry and making dinner (who am I kidding, my mom does the latter of the list most days) I run out of time to do much of anything else.

 Fun in the backyard pool with Gigi. Didn't mean to cut her off, but was trying to take fast pictures before Max got mad. He actually really liked it, because we made the water super warm. 

 Blanket time!

Check out Mr. blue eyes. Still wondering if they will stay this color or not. Love this photo.