Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Day 2

Yes, I'm breaking the snow days down into a few days work of posts. I want to remember all the details of the kids first snow! We woke up on Wednesday to a little layer of snow! We decided that we'd try to get a little sledding in before the big storm hit that afternoon. My mom headed over and we got the babies ready to sled. Dressing two babies in snow gear is no joke. I used to want to move to Chicago with Jay for a year or two just to experience urban living. Not so much. The cold mixed with babies is not for me!

My mom found this old flashlight at her house and brought it over a few weeks ago. The batteries were all coroded and we had been putting off cleaning it up. When they warned of power outages due to the snow/ice, Jay got to work bringing this baby back to life! The kids have LOVED playing with it!

When the chance of snow was announced, I decided to order snow bibs for the kids. I found these super cute north face ones but couldn't justify the $89 price tag for each pair. I found this gray substitute on amazon. I didn't realize the top was was camo! Haha!


I'm looking a little rough and our bed was not made today but I stuffed my 30 week pregnant self into my ski pants for a romp outside! 

I'm ready to go mom!

It was SOOOOOO freaking cold. I think it was 24 degrees with a 17 degree wind chill. We only lasted about 30 minutes at the park but we had a blast!



Aunt Bo took some time off work to meet us! I'm sure the babies were glad to have her to sled with!



we face timed Aunt Allie and Uncle Brett! Allie LOVES the snow and loves sledding and was having major FOMO being in Atlanta while the rest of us were hanging in the snow.

Emma Cate LOVED eating the snow. By far her favorite part! Last snow day she pretty much hated life but this time around she loved all of it.




my snow bunnies!



We left the park when the snow started sticking to the road. I snapped this pic and texted Jay to start heading home. His car is rear wheel drive and handles HORRIBLY on the snow. I was not in the mood to drive uptown to pick him up if he got stuck. NO ONE from his office was planning on leaving early and he didn't want to be the only wimp. Plus, when I sent him this pic, there was NO snow at his office at all.

We stopped by my house for 10 minutes on the way home to collect our snowed in supplies and headed to my mom's to camp out for a few days. I took this picture leaving my house and told Jay he better get his behind home! He showed his boss and he told him to get outta there! The snow had JUST started falling at his office. Thankfully, my mom left her 4 wheel drive SUV for Jay to drive over to her house.


sunflowerbutter sandwiches for lunch!

my mom has a way better playroom than we do and the twins were in heaven playing down there. Not a bad place to be snowed in!


watching the snow pile up!

four dogs and two babies= chaos... but in a good way!


drying hats and mittens for our next adventure in the snow.

my parent's pretty backyard

my parents help us out A LOT. My mom is ALWAYS up for babysitting and helping me out when Jay isn't home. It's hard to pay them back for all they do for us but this snow day gave us (well Jay) an opportunity to install some backsplash behind my parents' new vanity. Just a little way to tell them thank you! So glad he's super handy and LOVES doing this stuff.

this monkey woke up from her nap early and enjoyed not having to share her nana with Holden!


Jay had to run out and brought me home a coke icee. I was busy cooking and Emma Cate was sitting on the counter. We looked over and she had helped herself. Her first taste of soda/icee.

I don't think she knew what to think at first but she wanted to go back for seconds and thirds and we ended up having to hide the cup from her!

homemade chicken noodle soup with a snowy backdrop.

This girl was begging to go outside. She made it a few feet before she fell. She froze in the snow and we all realized that none of the adults had shoes nearby to put on to go get her. Finally Jay grabbed his and went to rescue her. 



After dinner and baths we made some snow cream. I thought it was pretty disgusting and the babies did too. I may have used too much vanilla. Pouring the condensed milk in was super gross. Someone shared a more whole food friendly recipe with me that uses almond milk and agave syrup and I'm going to have to try that one :) My whole family is from the mid-west and we've never made snow cream. This was a first for us and maybe a last :)




Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Day 1

Last week my mom casually mentioned that we may get some flurries this week. Ha! Try more like 8 inches! The snow fell at the perfect time. We went to school on Monday, had an early dismissal on Tuesday, and were out Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. I had already taken Friday off for vacation but am thankful I didn't have to use one of my days!

Tuesday

I was so excited to see this on Tuesday morning! The flakes didn't start arriving until 10 but they were so pretty. We watched from my classroom window. So hard to teach when the snow is coming down!

I sent these two off to school in their valentines best knowing this would probably be the only day to dress for the holiday.



I snapped this picture from my classroom at 10am.

It looked like this by 12. Our dismissal wasn't until 1 but starting at noon we had tons of interruptions in our classrooms from the parents coming to pick up their children. 

I headed to pick up my babies from school and headed to the mall for lunch with my mom. We are those crazy people that go out to eat instead of heading home like the weather man suggests!



The kids took super late naps (went down at 3:30) and Holden had just woken up when Jay got home at 5:30. He was still sleepy and in the mood to cuddle. He is NEVER like this so I soaked it up!

love this one of my guys!


We woke this one up at 6:30 because needed to feed her. Lord she was in a mood! I'm loving these little North Face sweatpants. Jay and I each have them in adult size. The kids ones are on sale at Nordstrom. 



I thought she looked like a teenage with a temper in her rolled jammie pants and over-sized t shirt.
Check out that bedhead. 

Baby #3 Week 31

31 WEEK POST:

This post is a little late because of some crazy events! We've had a ton of snow and Friday was the first day that we've really been able to get out with the babies. We left on Friday afternoon to visit my Dad in New Jersey but not before a crazy morning!

I stayed up late packing on Thursday night and after getting the kids up and out the door Friday morning, we went to pick up my mom to grab some breakfast before putting all of our luggage in the car. We pulled up to ihop and I got Holden out of the rear driver's side door and began walking around the back of the car towards my mom who was getting Emma Cate out. I slipped on a patch of black ice and fell backwards. I was holding Holden on my left hip and thank God fell towards my right side. I was able to catch him on my body and thankfully he didn't get a scratch but started wailing as soon as we hit the ground. I landed with all our weight on my right arm. I screamed (my mom said it was terrifying) because I wasn't really sure if he was injured or not and I couldn't move. My mom ran over to get Holden but realized she left Emma Cate unbuckled in her car seat with the door open so she ran back to grab her. Tons of people from all over the parking lot came running to help. I would have been sooo embarrassed if I wasn't in so much pain.

They helped me to my feet and after I stopped crying and made sure Holden was ok (I was totally shaken up that I may have harmed him but he stopped crying and was totally fine. I am so thankful). My arm was in sooooo much pain but my kids hadn't eaten breakfast yet and I figured that the pain would start to subside. I barely ate anything because I felt so sick with pain. I made the call to head to the ER because my arm was not getting any better and I wanted to get an ultrasound to make sure Shep was ok. He was moving around like normal during breakfast and I didn't have any bleeding or labor symptoms so I had a good feeling he was ok but wanted to check for sure.

learning that it was broken

hooked up to the monitors

the best part about being in maternity is the on-call dining. I took advantage and ordered lunch while I was there. I haven't have chicken fingers in sooo long!

The staff at the hospital were super nice and we decided against X-rays after the doctor told me she was 100% confident that my arm was broken. Turns out that I broke a bone in my elbow and tore the joint in my shoulder. I'm now sling-bound indefinitely. After the visit to the ER, they wheeled me down to maternity and I sat hooked up to the monitor for 1.5 hours. Shep looked great and I got the ok to leave and head out of town. Jay, my mom, and kids picked me up from the hospital and off we went to catch a flight!

It was a CRAZY day (we totally forgot to celebrate Valentine's day- whoops!) but I am just soooo thankful that both my boys are fine.

Switching topics, I love going back and reading the posts from my last pregnancy. Last time, I was griping about ugly pregnancy symptoms and stretch marks but I did have the nursery 100% done and everything was washed and put away! My feet were also SOOOO swollen by this point last time (even my toes had rolls!). Thankfully no swelling as of yet! This time I haven't had a chance to put my feet up but at the same time I feel awesome (minus the broken arm) and am easily able to go-go-go! My only issues are that I get contractions when I walk quickly with a full bladder (go figure!) and the acid reflux (which isn't even bad enough for me to take a daily prevacid). I was able to keep up with the kids in the snow this week and although I avoided sledding, I did have such a fun time watching them!

We had an appointment with the doctor on Monday. Everything was looking great minus Shep's position. Dr. Stein had a hard time finding his heartbeat and thinks that he may not be head down. She told me if I was further along we'd do an ultrasound but not to worry until I'm 36 weeks. Everything looks great and I'm measuring right on track! We have another ultrasound in a week and a half to check on his kidney. Please say a prayer that it has healed up on its own :)

Pregnancy Highlights:
Today's Date: Friday, February 14th , 2014
How Far Along: 31 weeks
Pregnancy Countdown: 59 or less days
Size of baby: A pineapple. The baby is 15.2-16.7 inches long and weighs between 2.5- 3.8 pounds 
Total Weight Gain/Loss: 20lbs. This was really all I wanted to gain my entire pregnancy but I guess I'll be going over a little bit! Hopefully I'll stay under 30. 
Maternity Clothes: Yes, my long sleeve basic tees from Gap are getting too short!
Gender: Boy- Arthur Shepherd Carroll
Movement: Yes! Shep is doing body rolls! I love watching my stomach move randomly throughout the day. He's started to become a little party animal in the middle of the night and I've been woken up on occasion.
Sleep: Sleeping really well. Finally to the point where I really can't sleep on my tummy anymore. Things are a little rougher with a broken arm but making do just fine. I've just started having to use the restroom if I wake up during the night. Boo!
What I miss: Nothing really!
Cravings: The sweet tooth is back MAJOR and I want cake and frosting :)
Symptoms: Lots of movement, getting tired more easily, heartburn, lots of pressure when he moves a certain way. Thankfully, no new stretch marks (does it even matter at this point though :))
Best Moment this week: Learning that both my boys were okay after my fall. It just made it so much more real that I've got three kids now!

30.5 weeks with Baby Shep

loving letting Daddy feel some kicks!


Your baby's the size of a pineapple!
He's about 15.2 to 16.7 inches long and weighs about 2.5 to 3.8 pounds this month. He's getting so big, he's probably crowding your lungs.