Fridays on the Farm are Beautiful {Simple Woman’s Daybook 20}

by Meghan // February 19, 2016 // Comments off

Walking through the woods; jumping in the dry part of the creek

Outside my Window …
The sun is just coming up over the trees in the front of the house. The calves have full bellies and are resting in the barn, Thora is laying on the front porch being protector of all things, and it is SO beautiful and nice we will be reading on the front porch today. We don’t usually do much school on Fridays, just because we don’t have to, but I always try to read lots of books and maybe throw in science or art- both which can be done outdoors!

I am thinking…
Oh, I hope we don’t lose the other two calves. Yesterday we lost one; the biggest one, and healthiest LOOKING when we got them last Saturday. However, he was the most sickly acting the last 5 days. For two days he had some light scours we were treating as directed, and before running to the vet yesterday I went out to check him one more time, and he was gone. =(

I am thankful…
That the kids weren’t devastated. They were very supportive of their sad mama. Lexie wanted to know if we could just turn it into beef. =) I cried; not so much because the calf was dead, but because I felt defeated, helpless, despite all our efforts and hard work. Part of it, I know. But I don’t like defeat….

In the kitchen…
Oh gosh! It is a mess. There are dishes from J.Tom breakfast, a pot that needs to be washed, and a skillet on the stove for me to cook our eggs this mornings.

I am wearing…
Pajama pants and a maternity shirt; I am running out of clothes that fit well.

I am creating…
Nothing. I was crocheting, but with it being so warm I got out of the mood. And I have started the girls some dresses, I should really finish those 😉

I am going…
To never take advantage of my computer again. My hard drive died last week; and I was one saddened girl. I can’t think on a teeny tiny screen (my phone) to pay bills, write blogs, and look up recipes. I always go to my computer …

I am wondering…
What else I need to add to my list for the store today.

I am reading…
A new book, but can’t think of the title … I will come back and add it later. *edit- The Liars’ Club: A Memoir*

I am hoping…
These calves survive!

I am looking forward to…
The weekend- in the 70’s and sunny. I am starting on my tan!

I am learning…
Although my life is pretty nice, life is hard. Losing calves is hard. Losing baby chicks is hard (not as hard as losing a calf…), getting up at 5:30 am is not as hard as getting up at 6:30am …

Around the house…
I need to vacuum. Just ew! (since the weather has been like spring, we have been tracking in LOTS of dirt.)

A favorite quote for today…

Something my Dad would say. =)

One of my favorite things…
baby cow noses, watching the kids play in the dirt while the chickens free range, Ila’s BIG, ginormis, baby hugs, the sound of her saying, “Yes ma’am,” our new friendships with a beautiful family that lives very close by, watching the sun come up on the front porch.

A few plans for the rest of the week:
It’s Friday Y’all!

A peek into my day…
This past week: plying in the dirt and loving on the chickens

Our Newest Addition: 3 Bottle Fed Cows {on the farm}

by Meghan // February 16, 2016 // Comments off

Last week my husband came across an ad for bottle fed calves (meaning they are never nursed on their mama-also meaning we would become baby cows’ mama!). We discussed the pros and cons of starting cows right now, and here are a few things we came up with:

We are most definitely NOT professional farmers/cattle raisers. So starting with babies that are less expensive than our “dream” cow/calf combo is probably best
In July I will have a 4th human baby to nurse- it is probably best that we (translated to I) am only nursing one species at a time … so to speak. So starting calves now, while I am in my 2nd trimester, feeling good, and have less to do would be a pro; waiting until our 4th human baby is a year+ old to get cows would be a con. Plus, by the time human baby comes, baby cows will be old enough to go out to pasture.
Soon we will be out of our side of beef we bought last year, which means that when it is time to butcher these guys, our freezer should be nice and empty for them.
Butchering bottle fed calves that we (the kids and I) have raised will kinda suck … but we can always do it again, starting with more fluffy little calves.
Our own meat in the freezer will ROCK!
Selling the beef once it is ready for butcher shouldn’t be too hard; we know lots of people looking for farm raised, antibiotic free, grassfed beef
Does adding beef cattle make us official farmers? =)

Well the answer to the last question is no. I think successfully raising beef the way God intended will make us official homesteaders/farmers … so we will see how this goes!

After the above discussion, we decided that we would give it a go!

J.Tom promptly started re-building the stalls he just tore out of the barn, and moving some equipment out of the barn to make room for the baby cows (yes, we just call them baby cows around here). We also had to check the pasture was safe and secure and J.Tom bought two Cattle Guards to go at either end of the pasture.

We made our list of necessities based upon hours and hours of reading and youtube-watching which consisted of:

soy-free milk replacer
bottles
bottle holders (for when I don’t have time to feed them myself)
calf starter pellets
straw for bedding
a trough for their stall until we are ready to turn them onto the small pond pasture
a halter

We quickly realized J.Tom’s knot and rope tying skills could make us a much nicer halter than the ones at the stores; so that will be returned. The reason for halter training them is so they’re easier to bring in from pasture if you have to, return to pasture if they get out, and put onto the trailer on their big day.

When the farmer delivered the cows, he commented on what a nice set up we had for them, and how that was one of the first things in keeping them healthy; basically, if you can keep them alive the first 3 weeks or so, you should be fine, he said. Also, he offered for us to call him with any and all questions, because he gets really upset when people lose a calf. He feels like there really isn’t any reason to lose a calf; just call him and he will tell us what to do if anyone gets sick. *whew* That was a relief for this beginner! The calves are about 9 or 10 days old.

I was really impressed when he told us they have been on colostrum for several days, bottle fed, and NONE of the cows they come from ever get antibiotics or shots. That means our three little cows are getting the best start in life they possibly can; doesn’t mean they will all make it (fingers crossed they do!) but they do have a head start.

He also mentioned to feed them MILK protein only replacer- NO soy. This was another relief because A) soy is evil and B) I’d already bought a more expensive, quality milk replacer that was soy free.

Quite honestly, I can’t tell you how excited we are; the 3 days leading up to their delivery included some SERIOUS nesting on all our parts- think nesting for your first baby but on steroids!

They don’t have names … not sure we should name them since they aren’t pets; the kids joke about hamburger and ketchup for names (definitely their daddy’s sense of humor). I think maybe we should just call them “calf 1, 2, and 3.”

It stinks that not all calves are raised with their mamas, but that is just the reality of some farms, not all farms can afford to have fabric buildings, but we are so lucky we have the space to keep ours safe. I am happy we could take them in and raise them to be healthy, grass fed cows so we and other families can have beef the way nature intended.

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Pregnancy Update: 20 weeks

by Meghan // April 28, 2014 // Comments off

Last week we went to the doctor for our 20 week ultrasound.

Everything looks good- baby is a little above average on size, but really that is hard for even an ultrasound to know at this point. Heart rate was 154 consistently and baby was super squirmy. S/he was also very shy, covering their face and booty- not only could we not see the facial features but the tech couldn’t find out what gender baby was; legs were crossed at the ankles and hands were on the face the entire time. In this picture you can see baby’s hand, and profile. We will get another ultrasound at about 30-34 weeks. Apparently our doctor likes to do ultrasounds twice- once in the middle, and once towards the end.

I am feeling good. Some days I am up a few pounds, other days I am down a few pounds. So I am still going with no weight gain? =) Belly is much bigger, and baby is kicking, moving all over the place and gets the hiccups a lot! Lexie had hiccups all the time- I don’t remember Max getting them. I just remember how often Lexie got them, and it was what seemed like all. the. time.

We are excited to still not know the gender. We both almost caved the day before the scan, but decided we definitely do not want to know. Our to do list for before pregnancy is sloooowly getting smaller. Very, very slowly. I am not sure that we will get bunk beds built, because A) I still want Max in his crib, and B) I don’t think JTom will have time to build them anyway, with all our projects and his traveling. So, they will probably just share a crammed bedroom for a while. I am okay with that.

In typical second-trimester style, I have more energy than I did during the first ~~13-15 weeks~~ trimester. I do have days that I am wiped out, but overall feel good.

So … yea. That’s it for the half way point. Yay!

Sonlight P4/5: What I think so far

by Meghan // April 7, 2014 // Comments off

After I wrote this post , I did a lot of praying, thinking, re-googling and reading, and a lot more praying.

The next morning I woke up, and began purchasing what we need for Sonlight P4/5 for next year. Between Sonlight, Amazon, and eBay I got everything we need, plus supplemental materials, for less than the package from SL. This is important to our family; we try to live on a budget and I needed homeschool for this year to fit into that budget.

I don’t know if we will go with SL in the future? I don’t know if it will (mostly) fit what I want for my kids as they get older, but I do know after looking in the instructor’s guide for P4/5, it will fit us perfectly this year!

In the Instructor’s Guide, I am excited to see (and wasn’t expecting):

extra activities, cognitive and hands on, that we can add into our lessons and Max can be included
room to write in other activities- like our extra memory work, math lessons, etc
character traits to focus on that go with the week’s memory verse (LOVE character lessons in this house)

I went back and ordered the binder and tabs. The tabs (which are weekly) can’t be found elsewhere up to week 36, and the binders have their own reputation for holding up well. I also bought extra color-coding stickers for our book spines, because I plan to add more books into our reading. (I may get their P3/4 sticker labels for our BFIAR books, so I can organize them as well for Max later.) We read a lot. But what I like about adding in our own selections is that we can read them as quickly or as slowly as we want, and it just adds more great literature.

There are a few titles that I am super excited about; the The Berenstain Bears’ Big Book of Science and Nature is one of them! I think that will fit nicely with our Big Book of Play and Find Out Science Projects we will add in on our own, and nature studies.

Another title I think will be fun is the audio CD of American Tall Tales. We love books on CD, and this looks like a great one. We have the stories that go along with these in our book of Children’s fairytales and fables, A Treasury of Children’s Literature, though Sonlight doesn’t actually call for the physical books for them.

Now, I just have to structure out our extra memory work (poems), All About Reading, and Saxon math lessons into our schedule, and we will be ready to go! Well, I also have to decide when we will begin, because with baby #3 coming in September, we will need to start early (probably August); but I also like the idea of just taking the month before baby to do nothing but spend time with the kids outside and hold the structure off until after baby comes. Who know what we will do! =)

Have you used Sonlight P4/5 in your homeschool? Are you using something else? Please share in the comments!

Pregnancy #3 Update: Beginning of Second Trimester

by Meghan // March 29, 2014 // Comments off

Well, with my first two pregnancies I updated pretty regularly. This time, we didn’t announce the pregnancy until almost 12 weeks, so I haven’t really been writing updates thus far.

We are almost 16 weeks along now; I had a doctor appointment last week and everything was great. The heartbeat was 157 (I think…) and the doctor okayed me to stop the progesterone supplements. My next appointment is in April and we will have the anatomy scan. Here, they only do one ultrasound (what’s up with that?!) at 20 weeks. We had an ultrasound at 6 weeks, to date and confirm the pregnancy.

We will not, however, be finding out the gender. We have a girl and a boy, all babies are September babies and the nursery can be gender neutral. I am good with that. (ok, so if you know me well, you are probably as surprised as I am that I am okay with not “planning” for a girl or boy…) The urge I have to perform a home baby gender test is a little too strong at the moment!

The surprise of finding out in the delivery room with only my husband far surpasses my innate need to plan, design, and decorate. I can’t wait to spend that moment with him. We are also not talking names. To anyone. Or to each other, for that matter. =)

J.Tom and I haven’t even discussed names, because we can’t seem to agree on anything. So, I figure if we wait until we have him or her in our arms, we can whip out the handy dandy name list and we can go from there. I just don’t feel like arguing over names, or listening to other people’s opinions of names when we don’t even have a name semi narrowed down yet. *and I’m not saying that all snotty* If we happen to come up with names before the baby arrives, I will be happy to discuss. But we said this time we want to wait until we have our baby in our arms, and that’s what I am sticking with.

It will be fun.

Lexie is very excited about “baby #3.” We don’t call the baby “the new baby” because that just seems mean to the siblings. So it is baby #3. Max is pretty clueless, of course. He is too obsessed with eating, throwing things, and chasing the dog.

Oh yes, we got a new dog. She’s furry, and sweet, and smart, and precious.

We will room Lexie and Max together. For now we are planning on J.Tom building bunk beds- the top bunk will be above the crib, and then when Max is ready to move to a big bed we will build a bed frame for a bottom bunk. I really like snuggling in the bed with Lexie, so maybe I will just put the crib in her room and take out a dresser…. It is up in the air for now.

It is hard watching my babies all grow up on me! It is exciting, of course. This pregnancy wasn’t originally planned. After experiencing a loss in early December, we decided at the very last minute (literally) to try for baby #3. The timing worked out to being another September baby, which I had hoped would happen, but hadn’t actually thought would happen. Just before our loss and all we decided to wait another year. Funny how God works.

No nausea since about week 12-13. I have 3-4 days of TONS of energy, and then a day or two where I am exhausted and can’t keep my eyes open. I workout a few times a week with T25, or we go for walks on warmer days. No weight gain so far ~~(well, technically I gained back the weight I lost in the fall, but that happened before this pregnancy, so I don’t count it)~~ but I am pretty sure my hips are bigger! How does that happen? … And I haven’t lost the weight from Max, so it doesn’t seem likely that I need to gain much. The doctor is good with that.

Still praying for a healthy 5 more months. I hope to go full term, as usual. Big healthy babies seem more durable when you have a Max Payne running around the house. Poor Mister, he has no idea what is coming! Then again, neither do I.

Pray for me, friends! =)

So Much Happening-life update

by Meghan // May 25, 2012 // Comments off

Wow- sorry I have been MIA lately. We’ve had a lot going on around here in the last 2 months, this month being so hectic!

As you read, we were all sick with stomach bugs last week. The weeks before that we were drowning in party preparations, chicken coops, and packing for a mini vacation. But, it looks like things will be a tiny bit more laid back in the weeks to come.

All my free time has been spent sewing! I finally got my sewing machine out after a ( …. 6 year?) hiatus, but didn’t start really enjoying it until the first of this month. I’ve been sewing Lexie some cute dresses and just finished some toddler bibs for a friend’s son’s birthday, which is this weekend! I got a serger for my re-found hobby! It is amazing- it’s this one: Janome Juno 3434D serger I can now have those really great-looking, professional seams on anything I create. And I can do rolled hems! I am very excited about that. I used the rolled hem on a ruffle top I made for Lexie, and it’s so pretty. Anyway, so I am excited about that. I have made her 3 dresses and a top, just in May. It’s rather addictive. I am currently working on dress #4 and plan to have it completed tonight or tomorrow at nap time. =)

——-

The chickens are doing great! The 5 Rhode Island Reds are such sweet baby girls. One is extremely feisty, and I think she runs the roost for them (Tessa). Also, I think maybe Dolly is a girl after all, but am still waiting for confirmation on that. 😉
Saturday I went to Bismarck and picked up three 12 week old barred rocks. We named the nicest one Elmo, the other two can be a little crabby towards the babies. They’re not far enough in age or so much bigger than the babies that they hurt them, but they do peck and chase them some. They’re still working out the pecking order, but there have been no injuries, so we’re good.

Yesterday, we hung them some cabbages to play with, and they’ve literally destroyed them. haha They’ve been having a big time. Chickens are like kids- when they get bored they start making trouble with they others (pecking, bullying, etc). So you can add things to their run, like cabbages, to keep them interested and busy. It’s funny to watch them boxing the cabbage.

——

I am almost 26 weeks pregnant now- 26 weeks on Sunday. The baby has decided he likes my ribs as much as Lady did.

Perfect.

But we’ve been going to kettlebell classes twice a week and yoga on Wednesdays. Now that she will be done with school next week, I will probably go to yoga more often which I’m really excited about. The baby seems to like yoga; he shifts around and kicks a lot during the class.

We go to the doctor on the 6th for a regular appointment and my glucose test *blah* Then it’s appointment every 2 weeks until the last month. I just can’t believe we will be at 30 weeks so soon. Of course it still seems so far far away, but sometimes it is just flying by.

13 Weeks Pregnant, Baby #2

by Meghan // February 26, 2012 // Comments off

I thought maybe I will try to keep a pregnancy log on this pregnancy, to keep it separate from the rest of my blog. Every few weeks, probably once a month, I will post some questions about my pregnancy and their answers… So, here we go!

How far along? 13 weeks today. We get our first ultrasound TOMORROW MORNING!!
Baby is the size of: a peach, according to www.thebump.com Baby is 2.9″ long or so and forming vocal chords and teeth buds under her gums. Baby also has tiny fingerprints!

How do you cope with no sex? Well… we do, in our own way!
Because I’m often so sore, I couldn’t imagine having sex right now. Whenever my husband is in the mood, I’m not :(. I just reassure him it’ll be over soon and everything will go back to normal. In the meantime, he often takes some time out for himself. I’m pretty sure he uses this time to watch some porn videos on tubev.sex but I could be totally wrong. All of a sudden his showering habits went from 5 minutes to 15!

Weight Gain: 3 lbs … =( AT some point I will probably stop answeing this question. Since I have 10lbs left from Lexie, I don’t need to gain very much- I am “overweight” so this only requires a
15-25 lb gain. I think had I been running like I was pre-pregnancy, I would not have gained anything. Shame on me.

Maternity clothes: YES please! I actually put on my maternity yoga pants two weeks ago, and my jeans one week ago. They’re still a bit big in the tummy, but SO comfy. My regular pants are just entirely uncomfortable.

Stretch marks: I have a few left over from Lexie on my hips- but when I stopped nursing her and dropped 20+lbs in 2.5 months, I gained a few more. =(

Sleep: constantly interrupted with the need to pee, an aching back, or sore boobs. Constantly.

Best moment of this week: our ultrasound tomorrow!

Miss anything: yes, good sleep!

Movement: sometimes I think yes, it started last week.

Cravings: randomly. hamburgers, sweet stuff, and things I can’t have like dark beer and sushi. =(

Queasy or sick: sometimes queasy, but I think this has to do with food choices … when I start my day w eggs (yes, I have started eating eggs- yikes!) I feel much better throughout the day. protein=good! But just like w/ Lexie, no morning sickness- YAY!

Gender: Hoping for another girl this time .. but who knows?!

Labor signs: Heavens no.

Symptoms: thankfully most have gone away. Again with the bladder, and some mild cramps from time to time, raw meat food aversions … that’s about all.

Belly button: still in there

Wedding rings: still on. Yay

Happy or Moody: ha. That’s always your best guess w/ me, regardless of pregnant or not. But generally I am a very happy pregnant person.

Looking forward to: the whole “more energy” theory, since we are beginning the second trimester. I’m not so sure I believe in this the second time around, with a toddler to chase.

We have a few things left to do just for baby, well maybe a lot of things. We need to get some new carpet downstairs in the (soon to be) nursery, get a crib (which I have already picked out), pick out some bedding/make some bedding, decide on a double stroller, find a second hand dresser we can refinish to match the chest of drawers we will use, and get a boppy lounger. haha Oddly, I am in no hurry to do any of it. That’s not good… I guess I just have faith we will get it all done. But really with J.Tom’s IN.SANE. work load lately, I may be left recruiting family coming in town to help me complete projects. He is already leaving for a week in Germany and Spain, who knows how many more times things like this will happen in the next 5 months?!

Maybe by the next time I do a pregnancy update, one of these things will be marked off my list. But most likely not. 😉

News and Nursery, Hooray!

by Meghan // May 17, 2010 // Comments off

Somehow I missed last week’s entry. Not sure what I was doing.. probably being lazy. =)

Well, update: we are 25 weeks along! Only 15 left, which is not very many to get everything done, about 3 full months if I go until the end of August. The only changes I have noticed are my back hurting, not sleeping through the night, and what may be the pregnancy ligament pain on my left side. It isn’t that bad, just shooting pains sometimes. I have a short torso, so I am thinking all this expanding in the way of my tummy is a little harder on that area. However, I have noticed I am carrying Lexie Raye more across, and less “out front,” if that makes sense. I have been told by several moms that this is what a girl does; and this is also how my mom carried me.

The doctor last Tuesday, May 11th, checked me for some swelling; he seemed to think there might be some in my ankles (which is probably from all that salt I am craving, before I never put sat on my food) but he said it is nothing really right now. Every time the nurser would try to get Lexie Raye’s (we are calling her by both names) heart beat, she would move in the other direction, but it was strong and fast. Dr. G also said she is growing fast! She is way above m belly button now, which seems weird to think about. Yesterday, I was on the phone with my mom and Granny, the phone was on speaker laying on my tummy while I laid in bed, and she was just kicking away while they were talking. It was the funniest thing, so I think she will know their voices when she arrives, because she sure liked them yesterday. =)

We have started on the nursery, and now I just need to do closets and cabinets (which is this weeks chore). After everything is thrown out and taken to Salvation Army, it will be time to wipe down baseboards, walls, and wash all the blinds in the house… Not sure how I am going to get the big window’s blinds washed, but I will figure it out!

J being the wonderful husband (and daddy) he is, painted the nursery, moved all the trash out, and moved the furniture in. We are on our way to progress! The crib is even more beautiful than I thought it would be in the nursery. The dress and chest of drawers look great and will be perfect for storage (since the closet is not very big). We decided to go with no doors on the closet; my mom and I are going to put up some curtains and tie them to the sides with bows. The closet is long and narrow, so with doors you just can’t get to the back and everything, so this will be a perfect, girly solution to that problem.

I have 3 pictures Ms. S got Lexie Raye for the nursery when we went shopping a few weeks ago, which I think will go perfectly in there! I just have to decide where I want them before I go putting holes in the wall. I cannot wait to get the bedding and J.’s rocking chair set up either! (Oh, so much to do!) I think I have decided to put the glider in the living room, but I am not sure yet. I do not know where I will spend the most time, in the living room or in the back of the house where our room and the nursery are. I will prob put the rocking chair in the nursery and the glider in the living room; but I have a feeling things will get moved around several times before I make up my mind…. poor J!

Here are some pictures of the nursery furniture, the walls are “Quaker Grass” green from Lowes. Below is the crib, my favorite piece of furniture in the entire house now! It is just perfect, and I cannot wait to get the bedding put on. =)

The piece on the left is the chest of drawers, and the right is the dresser. I am thinking I want to find a hanging mirror to go over the dresser, but I just don’t know what kind yet…

I think 2 of the pictures Ms. S for will go behind the chest of drawers with a small lamp. I can have some storage on top of the dresser, but the changing pad will be on top of it, so there will not be much room for a lot. I cannot wait to add all the finishing touches to the room! I think my friend J who is the crafting QUEEN wants to make the letters for Lexie Raye’s name to go over the crib. Which will be beautiful! Everything is coming together perfectly and I am so excited!!

Lots of love and prayers to family and friends! We miss you. We should be home the weekend of June 26th for the Memphis baby shower, so I will definitely see you then!

Three is a Magic Number

by Meghan // April 9, 2010 // Comments off

So, yesterday I worked my fanny off. It started out as a regular Thursday; I was up at 5:30, at school by 7:30, and home by 12:00. Then I laid out for a few hours and I have some magnificent tan lines now! (You must understand that life gets no better for me than laying our in the sun, where it is warm and relaxing. It is the best way to clear my head). Then, a few hours later I just had this need to get busy.

So, I moved my Cricut and scrapping materials downstairs to their new room, and got all of that organized. I also did about 5 loads of laundry (how do 2 people produce so much laundry in a week?) This makes me fearful of life after the next 4 months: how much laundry exactly does a baby produce? Because I have a feeling it will be more than this, and that is terrifying. Anyways, so I did all of those chores, scrubbed the bathrooms (which were SO overdue, gross!), and did the floors. Used to, I could have continued working for 4 more hours before I fell flat on my face. However, pregnancy has a tendency to change that. Although I have my energy back now, it is not the same energy I had pre-pregnancy. I am beginning to think I will never have energy like that again.. babies probably have that affect on you. =/

After exhausting myself, finishing a little homework, and with an aching back I climbed in a hot, hot shower. Then, I collapsed next to J and pretty sure I didn’t move after that. However, I did ask him, “Do you realize in less than 21 weeks we will have a baby? Really, like a real baby?” He replied, “Yes, I do realize that, Meg.” Then, I asked, “Do you think we will be good parents?” and without hesitation he responded, “Absolutely.”

I am glad one of us has faith in this whole parenting thing! No, really I have faith it will be fine, too. But you know really when you have planned for a child and have thought about all these things and contemplated what you will do, etc. it is probably a little less scary in your head, a little less frantic. While I have become much, much more excited, I am still a little frantic. But I don’t think God will let me screw up too bad, I hope.

Anyways, so our little conversation before I passed out last night, reminded me of the Schoolhouse Rock Song, “Three is a Magic Number.” And after finding the video online and watching it, I realized as much as I loove J, and as much as my life is pretty close to perfect with him, I think it may get even better. Is that really possible? Maybe three really is a magic number…

by Meghan // April 5, 2010 // Comments off

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter Sunday! Also, I am so happy to announce our friends L and A welcomed their beautiful, healthy baby girl into the world yesterday, Easter! How very exciting and we just cannot wait to meet baby B.

Also, today we are exactly 19 weeks along, putting the baby at the size of a mango. This mean only one more week until we know what we are having! (Don’t forget, you can vote on the gender over on the left hand side of the page. So far boy is winning.) No new symptoms and no symptoms have decreased. Still have lots energy (yay) which only took me about 17 weeks to get back. I know for a few other moms to be it was a quick 12 weeks, oh how jealous I am. Anyhow, with the exciting news of only one more week to go, I have been looking at baby bedding for the nursery. Below is the nursery furniture we have ordered from JCPenny, it should be here sometime this week or next:

The bed is a convertible bed, so it becomes a toddler and a full size bed. My sister in law suggested the convertible style, because she loves the one they have for Baby E. I fell in love with this bed because of the curves, and also because it is not a slay bed. We have a slay bed in our room, which is beautiful and nice, but I am just not a fan of big slay beds like I thought I would be.

Here is the chest of drawers and we also ordered the dresser, which I am having trouble loading the image of right now. We only did this because the bed converts into a full sized bed which will be used for years to come, so we thought it logical to get the other furniture to match. Also, instead of a changing table which will never be used again, we are using the dresser as a changer with just a changing pad on top. I think this is what a lot of people are doing now, because changing tables only have one use.

I cannot wait to get the nursery put together, but we need to get it painted first. Depending on the gender, I have chosen these 2 bedding sets:
This one is obviously for the boy; a baby wildlife theme. This is about as Southern as I am going to get with the baby stuff! =) No camo, hunting, etc.m There will be plenty of time for that when he is older and obsessed, just like his daddy! haha

And here is the possible bedding for a girl. I like the butterfly theme, because butterflies are my favorite! However, I am not a big fan of pink, so I like the fact that the room can still be painted a light sage green and has a lot of greens in the bedding and not too terribly much pink.
(So now, family who cannot make it to Hot Springs in the future can see what the baby’s room will possibly look like.)
Also, as we have all noticed, spring is officially here! J harvested our first batch of asparagus this weekend. We are probably having that tonight, with the rest I need to go pick along with chicken noodle hold the soup. You can find the recipe here:
http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/food/recipes/chicken-noodle-hold-soup/
It is one of J’s favorite dinners and it is healthy, too!
So, hope everyone has a fabulous week and enjoy this beautiful, sunny weather!