Friday, January 29, 2016

Five Things on Friday: 1.29.16

one || recap of Monster Jam
We had such a blast at Monster Jam this year!  Winston has been imagining and playing monster trucks at every chance that he gets these days.  We have been building ramps and bridges to knock down.  I love being a part of his world and imagining fun things with him!

two || finding this little gem
I participated in What's Up Wednesday this week and I think this monthly post will become one of my favorites to do.  One of the prompts is reminiscing and led me to find this happy little gem of Winston from when he was brand new!

three || nap time with lulu
I have been carpe diem-ing the day and taking time to rest with my legs propped up giving Lulu the perfect opportunity to snuggle up against me.  She did this same thing when I was pregnant with Winston and she loves him to pieces.  I am hoping that her love for Truman runs just as deep!  

four || lunch date 
We met up for lunch with my dear friend Ellen and her sweet newbie Nolan.  It was so good to catch up on how she was adjusting to motherhood and to meet her little joy!  Winston was smitten with Nolan.  He has a heart for little ones and speaks so sweetly to them.  Seeing him with Nolan readied my heart for how awesome of a big brother he is going to be! 

five ||  comfy clothes
The closer I get to my due date, the more I find myself wanting to have nothing but comfy clothes.  Oversized everything: dresses, shirts, joggers! What are some of your favorite comfy clothes brands?

winton's favorite thing this week: using the selfie stick
This kiddo is hilarious when it comes to pictures these days.  He wanted to wear his Monster Jam shirt to school this week and so I let him.  I mentioned that I wanted to get a picture of him in it and this is what he said:
"I can use the stick, Mommy and push the button all by myself.  You don't need in it Mommy, just me. I can do it!"
And so he did!  He gets such a kick out of seeing himself in the screen of the phone and pushing the button over and over and over and over again!  They turn out quite cute and it makes me giggle at how much he loves to take pictures!
We have a weekend of house work planned: painters coming, finished up Truman's room, hanging curtains and hopefully {if this strange spring weather keeps up} doing some fun things outside!  Wishing you all a wonderful weekend!

Linking up today with 5 on Friday: April | Oh Hey, Friday: September Farm + The Farmer's Wife | Friday Favorites: AndreaErika and Narci

Wednesday, January 27, 2016

What's Up Wednesday: January Edition

Today I am joining Shay, Shaeffer and Mel for What's up Wednesday!  Every month on the last Wednesday I'm going to be answering the following prompts!
What We're Eating This Week
This week we are chowing down on some goodies: Shake and Bake pork chops and Spaghetti Squares {a family favorite!}.  

What I'm Reminiscing About
Benjamin retrieved the first two bins of baby clothes from storage a few weeks ago and I've started going through them and sorting what I think might work for Truman.  Seeing all of the adorable tiny clothes has been reminiscing about some of my favorite outfits that Winston wore when he was first new.  

This one with the turtle is one of my ultimate faves for a few reasons:  1. When Winston was slow in making his debut into the world we started saying he was like a turtle, slow and steady he would make his appearance at his own perfect time.  2.  They kept saying how huge WAC was going to be so I purchased like zero newborn clothes.  Then he arrived and was smaller than 0-3 month clothes!  So of course that put this first time mama into a tizzy and we hit up any kids clothing store that had tiny outfits.  This one was discovered and came home with us for reason one.  
Needless to say, this little outfit is being tucked away in a box that will remain just Winston's things.

For mamas with multiple kiddos of the same gender, did you find yourself reserving certain outfits for just the first one that wore them for sentimental reasons?  

What I'm Loving
Chocolate gummy bears + chocolate covered sunflower seeds from Lolli & Pops have been my jam of late.  Benjamin got me a jar from there for Christmas with 52 refills and so far every visit I have filled the jar to the brim with mostly these two delicious morsels!

What We've Been Up To
Benjamin and I have been in the groove of cleaning out this month.  We both have the "we might need this someday" disease on different things.  With the pending arrival of Truman we've had to clean out our extra room and rearrange another to make room.  This then spurred on the clean out!  Every week this month I have made a stop at our local Goodwill drop off center and am on a first name basis with the workers there!  
We have also been in the "get it done before Truman arrives" mode as far as getting a few projects around the house wrapped up.  We've spiffed up our dresser with new knobs, ordered curtains for our room, ordered new bar stools, changed every lightbulb in the house to a brighter white {I can see!!!}... you know... just little things like that.  
We have also been trying to make the most of every weekend we have together with Winston.  So that means like last weekend we went to BrickFest and Monster Jam!

What I'm Dreading
The switch to weekly appointments starting the first week of February!  Although I am thankful for the great medical care I receive and have a great relationship with my doctor those weekly appointments are the true sign that the end is nearing!

What I'm Working On
My post for the Kids Behind the Blog link up!  I am excited to see how Winston answers these questions!  I am certain that as we have two little people toddling around I'm going to want to remember more and more who said what!  
We are also working on finishing up Truman's nursery!

What I'm Excited About
Besides being excited about welcoming Truman into our world, I am excited to see Winston be a big brother.  He loves little kiddos {and big kiddos too!}.  I know that we will have some challenging days ahead, but I am thankful and excited about our new family picture!   

What I'm Watching/Reading
I have been watching Friends on Netflix lately and enjoying seeing the clothing styles change throughout the seasons!  I also spied my first laptop computer making an appearance in one of the episodes!  Yup, that's right, I had an iMac clam shell!  In orange!

I've also been reading The Best Yes and find myself highlighting huge chunks of sections at a time!  :) One of my favorite authors, Rachel Hollis just announced the release of her newest book, Smart Girl, so that's getting downloaded tonight!   

What I'm Listening To
I put my Gungor CD into Kermit about two weeks ago and Winston instantly loved Brother Moon, or as he says, "the number two song!"  As soon as we get settled into the car he is asking for it from the backseat.  I love hearing his sweet little voice singing praises to God!  Melts me!

What I'm Wearing
Maternity clothes from Pink Blush Maternity, GAP and H&M have been my jam as of late.  

What I'm Doing This Weekend
This weekend we are soaking up family time once again.  We will have donuts, Lulu will get a heat treatment, we will have a bright yellow laundry room by the end of Saturday and things actually hung on the wall in our bedroom!  {And the people rejoiced!}  If the weather permits, we may even try out our Church on Sunday and gearing up for another week.

What I'm Looking Forward to Next Month
Truman's Arrival!  I haven't "seen" little baby since his 20 week appointment.  I am excited to meet him!

What Else is New
Winston's love for using the selfie stick on his own is comical and endearing!  He totally gets a kick out of making faces and pushing the button to take pictures!  We may have created a selfie stick monster!

What's Your Favorite Valentine's Day Treat
I'm not sure that I have a favorite Valentine's Day treat.  I mean, I do enjoy conversation candy hearts with the best of them and for some reason chocolate turtles come to mind.  And now that I'm pondering this, I think I might make some mini-cheesecakes to celebrate the day!  If it's non-edible we're talking about, I'm always a sucker for fresh flowers!  

What are you looking most forward to next month?  I'd love to know!!

Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Monster Jam 2016

By now, you may know that my little family has been known to love a good night of loud noises, crazy stunts, and car crushing known as Monster Jam!  To prepare for our event, we made a countdown to the big day where Winston excitedly crossed off the numbers each day!  
And the night before he wore his special monster truck jammies.  As we tucked him into bed that night he told us: "I get to have ice cream and see monster trucks!  It's the best day of the year!!"  The next morning he woke up ready to do nothing to talk about monster trucks and who he was going to see there!  He played with his trucks while we got ready for church creating an obstacle course where they could smash into other cars!
We opted to attend the Pit Party and booked it downtown after church eating a snack in the car and basically surrendering any hope of a nap.  Winston was just too excited!  When we got there we saw Monster Mutt, Ice Cream Man, Sonva Digger and his favorite Grave Digger!
Winston brought his very own Grave Digger along with us to the event and was super pumped when he saw that a little dirt pile had been set up for wee ones to play with their trucks in.  As is customary for Winston, he was very cautious to stay mostly clean and when he was done playing was quite concerned about how Grave Digger was going to get clean!  
We had some time to kill between the Pit Party and the start of the show, so back into WAC enjoyed a "mini-nap" as he says while riding on Benjamin's back.  We love having the Ergo Baby for when we attend events in large venues.  It's way easier to use than a stroller and it ensures that Winston is right with us when we are walking through parking lots and won't get lost in the crowds.  
After grabbing a bite to eat and resting for a wee while, we headed to our seats to get ready for the big show!
One of the very first races was between two of Winston's favorite monster trucks: Grave Digger and Ice Cream Man.  It was so fun to see him enthralled with the racing, the donut competition, and the freestyle sections of the show.
The big surprises of the night were when Monster Mutt caught on fire during his round of the donut competition and when Sonva Digger completely drove his car into pieces and caught on fire as a "grand finale" of sorts for his freestyle run!
Then came the ice cream! :)
...and more jumps and flips!
We all had a fabulous time for our third year at Monster Jam!  Even Truman was quite active during our time at NRG Stadium.  Next year will be even more fun have with our two little guys!!
{My two best guys}

You can read about our other Monster Jam Adventures:
Year One
Year Two

Have you ever been to Monster Jam?  Is it something you'd ever do some day?

Monday, January 25, 2016

Weekend Recap: Los Trompos + Brickfest

Saturday morning started like usual with donuts and hash browns.  Then we loaded up in Kermit and headed downtown to our first big event of the weekend: BrickFest!  The event took place at George R. Brown so we parked by Discovery Green since it was a beautiful morning and enjoyed the Los Trompos exhibit.  It's these really awesomely colorful structures that spin around and around.  Winston had a blast riding them!
Benjamin may have gotten a little dizzy from all of the pushing he was doing at the request of this little happy buddy!  But I give him mad props for snapping this photo of Winston and I while the top was moving!  It's quickly becoming one of my favorite pictures ever.  

We continued our adventure into BrickFest and was pleasantly surprised with the event.  There was a Duplo building area, a place to build a car and then race it, a place to build a picture and ...
 ...and Winston's favorite: Mini Golf!!  The kid loved mini golf!  Every time he put the ball in the hole he would exclaim, "GOAL!" 
It was getting to be lunch time so we headed to Midtown to try out a new to us lunch spot: Natachee's.  Everything was very tasty!  The fried pickles hit the spot and Winston's chicken nuggets came in an lunch box!  I highly recommend this spot for lunch if you're in the area - especially if you have kiddos!
The afternoon consisted of family nap time and this little monkey sneaking a few donut holes before dinner!  
The boys put together some minifigures and Winston played doctor performing lots of check ups on Truman!
Winston is super cute when it comes to Truman.  He puts his hand on my belly, gives it squeezes and tells him that he loves him.  I have mixed feelings about Truman's arrival.  On one hand I am ready for him to be here so we can move onto settling into our new routines.  And on the other, I am not ready soaking up my one on one time with Winston.  What I do know is that when he gets here, Truman will be one well loved little guy!  

Friday, January 22, 2016

Five Things on Friday: 1.22.16

Here we have made it to Friday!  I am always amazed at how fast the week flies by.  It was a good week with a doctor's appointment, dinner with our new Sunday school, play dates at the park and friend's houses and snuggling time.  Can't forget the snuggling time!

one || evenings around the house
We are in the last weeks of life before Truman's arrival!  We have been trying to keep our week night {and most weekend} evenings low key.  Soaking up time just us three and Lulu before the routine that we have fallen into changes to adapt to the addition of another human!  Our evenings look at lot like this:  After dinner is all cleaned up, we gather in the living room to either play race cars or a ruckus.  Some nights we read books.  Some nights we go up stairs to build obstacle courses.  Some nights my legs become bridges and other nights I am a patient to his doctor.  I do know that no matter what it is we are doing, I desperately want my heart and mind to remember all of the ordinary moments of our together time.  It's being present with him.  Talking to him, giggling with him, imagining with him - my heart loves every moment and it makes it almost burst when I think about how amazing Winston is.   He is just so comical too! 

This week though he said the following while giving my mid-section a hug: 
"Truman!  I've missed you!  I thought you were going to be coming out!"  {two beats of a pause} "Noooooooo!  Not yet Truman! Stay inside!"  {launched into a fit of giggles!}
Benjamin and I just died in laughter!  I am very certain Winston has heard me tell people that we are okay for Truman to stay comfy inside until his due date!   Despite this funny outburst, he is quite looking forward to Truman joining our family!


two || breath-right strips
I have a love/hate relationship with these things.  I tend snore really loudly when I'm with child.  I think it just happens as it does when you grow a human!  I decided this week to try wearing them for the sake of my sweet husband who needed a good night of sleep.  While they seem to help, they  make my eyes water like crazy and really are a beast to take off in the morning.  Anyone else feel like they rip 17 layers of skin off of their face?!  The only up thing is that I purchased the lavender ones and so I at least drift off to sleep smelling something lovely!  The things we do for love!

three || valentine's sunnies
How adorable are these lip sunglass?!  They are perfect for Valentine's Day or heck any day!

four || friends
For whatever reason, when Friends first aired I did not watch it.  I remember my roommates in college watching it and catching the last season or two... I remember watching the final episode but the very first ones - never really watched or paid attention to them.  They came up as available to watch on Netflix so one day while I was ironing, I started the first episode... and now I'm hooked!  It's a great show to have on while cleaning up or ironing or even when I need to put my feet up to rest in the afternoon during nap time.  And I found out that Benjamin used to get together with a buddy to watch it! Any good show suggestions you have for me?  

five || Monster Jam
I am most excited about attending Monster Jam this weekend!  Our gift to Winston this Christmas was a remote control monster truck and tickets to Monster Jam.  This kid loves a monster truck!  And it will be our third year to take him!!  I drew up this countdown last Saturday and he has enjoyed marking off a number each day.  We also made sure that our ear protection was still up to snuff.... and it was, so we are good to go!

winston's favorite thing this week: pj masks
We discovered PJ Masks this week on Disney Jr. and the episode with the shrink ray and ninjalinos has been on repeat {only once a day though because...sanity}!  Winston has even been imagining to be Gekko when we're outside on the playgrounds and green is now his color of choice! 
Does your little get fixated on a specific show for a period of time?  

Linking up today with 5 on Friday: April | Oh Hey, Friday: September Farm + The Farmer's Wife | Friday Favorites: AndreaErika and Narci
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