Me Just Call Him Donut Face...

Hello again.  I realize that today's date is September 23rd and this is only my second blog post of the month.  I'm sorry.  My Mom has been quick to point out that her blog book at the end of the year is not going to be as thick as last year.  I have assured her that it will be... somehow.

So, I am now 14 weeks pregnant.  Woo hoo!  I am feeling much much MUCH better and am only queasy here and there.  I can deal with that.  I have been feeling the baby move (especially after I drink a can of V8 Original).  At the last doctor's appointment the heart rate was in the 160s.  This makes me think it is a girl because the heart rates have been almost exactly the same as Maleah and Carissa's.  If it was a boy I think it would be at least slightly different.  But who knows!  I have another ultrasound and find out the sex of the baby in 10 days!  I am really looking forward to finding out!!! 

What else is new with us?  Well, let's see...  I have fallen in love with my crockpot again.  Actually, more like the idea of my crockpot because I would really like to buy a new one.  But in the meantime I have been trying all sorts of new crock pot recipes in my old crockpot from the Crockpot Girls on facebook.  So far our favorite recipe has been chicken n' noodles in the crockpot.  It was super yummy and I haven't been hearing as many complaints about how I'm always fixing the same ol' thing.   The potato soup recipe was really good too.

Here's a funny Carissa conversation:

Carissa:  One time I was at chuuch (church) and there was this boy there cwying.
Me:  There was?
Carissa:  Uh-huh.
Me:  Who was it?
Carissa:  Umm, Donut Face. 
Me:  What?
Carissa:  Umm, Donut Face.  You know, he had donuts all over his face.  Me not know his name.  Me just call him Donut Face.  He cwied a lot.

This past Saturday Jason and I took the girls to St. Louis.  We ate at Logan's Roadhouse and then went to the St. Louis Zoo.  The girls had so much fun.  Carissa really wanted to see a lion and she did.  But her favorite part was getting to ride a lion on the carousel.  Actually I think it was a cheetah but we didn't tell her that.  She thinks all big cats are lions.  Maleah was excited to see the elephant named Maliha (pronounced the same).  We're not sure if the elephant we saw was her or not but we pretended it was.

My Mini Coopers

Jason, Carissa, and Maleah

Jason, Maleah, and Carissa with Maleah telling

me I Love You in sign language

We stopped at Applebee's on the way home and

Carisssa wanted me to take her picture.  Cheese!

A few weeks ago we went to Holiday World for the day.  The girls had a great time there too.  Our friend Calli went with us and had fun too.  Carissa hated the lazy river ("it's too code!") and the rest of us loved it and thought it felt great.  Calli, Maleah and I all rode a big waterslide together and it was fun.  And Maleah and Jason rode a different slide together several times and enjoyed that.  It was a great day to go because it wasn't too hot and the crowds weren't bad at all.  Maleah also got to drive an antique car with her Dad and had a blast doing that.  Carissa and I rode in the backseat of a different car and let Calli drive us.  Carissa thought that was super fun!  I think it was the only ride that she actually rode on.    Here are some pictures from that day:

Jason, Maleah, and Calli on the Raging Rapids

Waiting patiently for the others.

My happy girl.

Being chauffered by Calli

Daddy and Maleah in the antique car.

Our family.

My girls with Calli and Santa.

Carissa giving Santa a hug.

And that, my friends, pretty much gets us up to date.  It is a beautiful day here and we are all excited about another fun weekend ahead of us!  I'll keep you posted on any breaking news (i.e. gender of the baby.)

Me Don't Want to Gwow Up!!

We had a great Labor Day weekend!  I have a lot to tell you.  But first, we'll start with the pregnancy update:  I am now about 12 weeks.  Woo hoo!  That first trimester is just about done.  I am continually feeling better.  I still have some bad days but they are getting further apart.  The baby hates meat.  I am turning into a vegetarian because all meat pretty much sends me to the bathroom.  The baby does love pasta, pretzels, chocolate & caramel covered apples, pickles and most of all cereal (not all at the same time).  The baby really really hates Steak & Shake.  Today I had lunch at Subway.  I haven't eaten there or even walked in the door there for several years but today that is all that sounded good.  Maybe because that is the only restaurant in town that I haven't gotten sick on?  Or maybe because the baby likes sandwiches?  I don't know and I don't care at this point. 

So, on to our weekend fun.  On Friday night we went to Applebee's for supper.  It was good.  The baby tolerates it.  Friday night wasn't too exciting.  On Saturday, Jason's Mom Sherrel and his Aunt Kay stopped by to see us.  Kay lives in Michigan so it's always a treat to get to see her.  The girls loves Grandma Sherrel and Aunt Kay so they were pretty happy to have them come visit us.  On Saturday evening we went to my cousin Andrea's wedding.  Her and her new husband, Dustin, had a wonderful wedding ceremony and reception out in the country at a private home.  It was a great night for an outdoor wedding.  We all had a great time.  Maleah danced the night away and Carissa played with her friend Tyler.  It was fun and I loved seeing such a wonderful couple get married. 

On Sunday, I was a little sick in the morning which caused us to miss church.  By lunchtime I was feeling better and we ate at Cracker Barrel.  I had been craving Dumplins from there (no chicken).  So I ordered just dumplins along with three other vegetables.   I was served four tiny dumplins and a boatload of corn, a small scoop of carrots, and a little bit of mashed potatoes.  I was disappointed.  Next time I think I'll just say a large plate of nothing but dumplins.  After lunch, we stopped in Hord to see Uncle Craig and Aunt LuAnn.  We had a nice little visit with them and then we headed home to get ready to go to a cookout.

We went to our friends' Deb and Paul's and had a great time visiting with them.  Our girls love playing with their kids and they had a great time, which included a water balloon fight that was very exciting.  And then on Monday morning, I woke up early and headed to Tuscola with my friends Melissa and Penny.  I brought Maleah and left Carissa at home with Jason.  We were school clothes shopping for Maleah and she desperately needed to try on jeans.  We hit the jackpot and found her some really cute things that were all on sale.  Yay!  I had a great day with Maleah and my friends.  I love having a daughter that loves to shop!  And friends that love to shop!  It was a super fun day!

I was so tired on Tuesday morning though.  Oh my gosh, I stayed in my pj's until noon.  My weekend wore me out.  It was fun getting to spend so much time with friends and family though.  My house really suffered for it though.  How is it that the less we are home, the messier our house gets?  Isn't that bizarre?  I finally got motivated around noon on Tuesday though and cleaned, cleaned, cleaned.  I cleaned both of the girls' rooms from top to bottom.  I boxed up most of their summer clothes and put out their new fall clothes.  I brought up all of the 3T stuff for Carissa that I had saved from Maleah and was disappointed to find that most of it was summer stuff.  How is it that two girls born four days apart are always off seasonally on sizes?  Maleah was a lot bigger than Carissa is.  So, I may end up buying Carissa some more new clothes too.  I also did a toy rotation.  I try to do that every two to three months.  My friend Tina tipped me off to that idea years ago and I love it.  I store stuff in the basement for a few months and then when I bring it out again it's like a new toy all over again.  So this time, a lot of stuff went downstairs and a few that have been gone for awhile came back.  Their rooms are spotless and I hope they stay that way for awhile.  Next project:  my closet.  It's time get my "regular" clothes out of the way and the maternity clothes to the front.  Oh, and while I was doing all of this cleaning, I also made some yummy chili for supper and then baked cookies.  Wow, am I the woman or what?  Sometimes, you just have to toot your own horn...

Maleah is doing great in school.  Her teacher is giving each student reading tests to see how much they can read.  The goal for the first quarter is 20 to 30 words per minute.  The goal for the end of May, when school gets out is 62 words per minute.  At the the end of the second week of school, Maleah was reading 79 words per minute.  Yay!  I really want my kids to be strong readers and I am so proud of her! 

Carissa has been doing good.  She is such a funny little character.  She loves to start conversations with these phrases:  "Mayyy-be..."  "So..."  and other things that make her sound much older than two.  I showed her a baby picture of herself today and asked her who she thought it was.  She said "Sis" meaning Maleah.  I said "Nope, that's you when you were a tiny baby."  Then I explained that she started out in my belly like the new baby is now and then she was a tiny baby in the picture and then she kept growing and now she is two.  I thought she would be excited but her response was:  "Me don't want to keep gwowing (growing).  Me DONE!  Me want to be wike (like) this and not bigger."  She said all of this all while giving me a very dirty look and then she walked away.  Wow.  Even her bad attitude is pretty cute all though I would never let her know that.

I have a lot of other funny and cute stories about my kids but I can't think of anymore right now.  I am too tired.  This mama and her baby-to-be are headed to bed.  Good night!