Friday, October 31, 2014

Fall Family Pictures

  I said in yesterday's post that we took our family pictures this past weekend which was also the last weekend that I worked, so to say that we had a very busy day was an understatement! We decided on 1:00pm to meet at our photographers house due to Brielle usually taking her nap anywhere between 2:30-3 and we decided (along with the photographer) quickly that it was not a good time at all to take pictures due to the position of the sun.  I think we still got great pictures and can't wait to take more when we have a family of 4!
Hope you all enjoy them as much as we do!  Thank you so much Dee Zavadil for the amazing pictures, if you would like her information you can find it on facebook Lucky Shots by Dee or here.













Thursday, October 30, 2014

Getting ready for baby #2!!

  There were so many things on our to-do list before our last appointment where we told that I am already dilated to a 3 and that kind of got us moving a little faster on our list.  We had to get new tires on my car, deep cleaned the entire house and started to organize and clean out Brielle's room which will eventually be shared by both of the girls since we live in a two bedroom rent house. We also got our room ready for baby Rochelle to be with us for the first 6 months or so! :)
  I am officially packed for the hospital, I also packed Shane and Brielle bags as well so we will all be set for when the moment comes! I also cannot wait to give Brielle her big sister bag at the hospital after she meets her sister for the first time.  We are so excited! Hopefully she will stay cooking for as long as possible!
  We also set up an appointment for the dogs to get their heartworm testing and flea and tick medicine which is a also a huge expense all at once but I am so glad that they are taken care of for the next three months!  I also had decided to make last weekend the last week of my working for about 6 weeks or until I feel ready to go back. Let me tell you, I am savoring all the precious moments of just being us three before baby girl arrives!
  We also just now took our family pictures for the fall last weekend and I love how to they turned out, and when I get everything processed and transferred to my laptop I will be doing an update and post some of my favorites on there! Even though this is probably the biggest I have ever been, I have never felt so beautiful to be with Shane and Brielle in those pictures!  Can't wait to show you all.
Changing table ready! 

Super cute bassinet we got from my cousin cara

Added on to the wall :) 

Painted her nails for the first time ever!  Pink with glitter!  So cute. 





Saturday, October 25, 2014

36 week check-up!


Baby: 36 weeks and 5 days! Rochelle is now shedding most of the hair that has covered her body as well as the vernix caseosa that we will see at birth.  She is able to swallow that substance which will result in a black mixture called meconium which she will have in her first bowel movement post birth! We had an ultrasound today which showed that baby girl is weighing in around 5 pounds 10 oz. (the 18th percentile) and still has long legs and arms, and the only odd thing was that her abdomen was measuring at 33 weeks so the sonographer did some more extensive test to see what else could cause a small growth in the belly but they said everything came back normal.  My doctor stated that this sometimes happens when the baby stops growing overall which would result in an immediate delivery but since there are no other signs of slowed or delayed growth throughout her body he is going to continue to let me carry her as scheduled.

Mommy:  I am officially 3cm dilated and 50% effaced! Which means, I could have baby girl naturally sooner than expected without having to be induced! I have officially told both of my jobs that this is going to be my last week of working because as it is looking right now, we might be having her a couple of weeks early! My hospital bag has been packed and I take it with me even when I work in Austin, because at the end of the day you just we just never know when baby Rochelle wants to present herself to everyone!

Daddy: Has been cleaning and organizing with me like crazy lately trying to get our house and everything else in order before Rochelle makes her arrival.  Since today's appointment I think Shane and I did the most cleaning we have done in a long time! So glad Daddy is able to take off work and be with me at every appointment and during the delivery and hopefully a couple of weeks after! He can't wait to meet baby Rochelle as well!

Cravings: This last week it has been popcorn.  Not just any popcorn though, the popcorn from the Friday night football games.  I even called my sister in law when I didn't go to the game to meet Shane at the front gate for some popcorn so I could have some that night while we caught up on our shows.  Crazy!

Brielle: Has been doing great with her independent play and just using her mind in so many different ways lately to put things together.  You can definitely tell this is a huge growth and learning period for her since she is interested in everything anyone is doing.  One of her favorite things to do is "ring around the rosie" and she can literally do that over and over again! Does anyone know how hard it is to keep getting up and down at almost 37 weeks pregnant?  lol! The things we do for our kids these days :)

Of course we celebrated another week down in the pregnancy by going to eat at Olive Garden and then went to Discount Tire to see which of my tires needed to be replaced since I have only had one flat time and replaced that since I got my vehicle and turns out after 40,000 miles all three of my tires needed to be so needless to say that was a huge unexpected expense but we are glad we did it before Rochelle came.  One less thing we have to check off of our never-ending to do lists! :)
Brielle at discount tire after the appointment! 

I love this crazy pic of Brielle and Shane! 


Her saying "cheese"  lol! 

The back of her big sis hospital bag! 

The front.  It's all full now and ready to go! 

Brielle at Nana and Grandpa's house. 

Nana,  Grandpa,  Aiden,  Emma and Brielle 

My mom with her birthday balloon my brother got her :)  we love you mom! 
Rochelle's nose and lips! Definitely big like Brielles! 

All of her beautiful face. 

Saturday, October 18, 2014

35 week check-up!!

Baby: 35 weeks and 4days at the day of the appointment! Her kidneys are now fully developed and her liver can now process some waste products! Yay for the small things.  Her heart rate was 133, the same as the weekend before at the 4D ultrasound.  Glad she is still sounding great!  Next week we will get to see another ultrasound of our beauty and the doctor will start doing weekly check-ups!

Mommy:  I have been feeling SO much pressure lately!  Some days I swear this girl is just going to fall out of me, lol! But my doctor will start to check me next week to see how far dilated and effaced I am, so we shall see! I am definitely the biggest I have EVER been in my life! Not sure if it's because it's my third pregnancy in three years, or what, but I am definitely dragging lately! Can't wait to meet this precious girl in a little over 3 weeks!

Daddy: Still so amazing to me and Brielle.  He is helping me get everything ready on my off days and just doing what he can a lot of the time to help me.  (Especially since Brielle wants "up" so much lately!) Just having him around makes everything so much easier/better!

Cravings: Still sweet stuff, literally love me some sweet stuff! I really think I will not want another donut/ice cream after this pregnancy is done for a LONG time! It's hilarious because I would never eat this before and now can't go without it! Lol!

Brielle: Has this new thing where she tries to feel where Rochelle is on my stomach and will just wait for her to kick her! It's so hilarious and is her daily ritual.  Just kissing my belly and hugging me makes this whole experience so much better! I can't wait for her to meet her sister, good thing that she LOVES babies and kisses them like crazy!  I can't wait to see how much she grows and matures over these next few months as well.  We love Brielle like crazy and are so blessed to be her parents!

Here are some fun adventures that we have been up to lately:

Eating at olive garden after a great doctor appointment :) 

Emma and Brielle at the jumpy house.  She doesn't look too thrilled lol! 

Just casually relaxing on the slide. 

With Grandpa at our favorite breakfast spot: Dans! 


Brielle casually eating pancakes at Nana and grandpa's house!  Love her morning hair. 




Sunday, October 12, 2014

4 year wedding Anniversary!

  I remember the day like it was yesterday.  It was 10-10-10, and I was in the middle of my 1st semester of nursing school.  Some may have thought, what in the world were you thinking?? But Shane and I knew that was the right time for us and we were so thankful to be married in front of our closest family and friends.  I cannot believe time has gone by so fast!  If you were to ask us where we saw ourselves four years from then, I am pretty sure we would be living very similar to now.  We knew of our we wanted 2 to 3 kids, we wanted to have them young, and we wanted them to be raised knowing and loving God.
  So much has happened from getting pregnant for the first time, to now the third (each and every pregnancy is so amazing and different in its own way), from getting promotions and new jobs, and just growing so much closer to each other in our marriage and love for each other and God that I wouldn't change any of it for the world.  No it wasn't easy, and that first year of just adjusting to living together for the first time was definitely harder then either of us thought it would be, but just taking the time we each needed to get comfortable in the rent house and for me to get comfortable with my new environment not being close to my family and friends took some time but it was so worth it.
  This year we actually decided to go out and have a nice dinner since our anniversary was on a Friday night, but since we are parents and Brielle had gotten sick we decided to stay home, eat dinner at home and enjoyed a movie at home.  We both were relaxed and spending it at home was just as meaningful as spending it away.  Our gift to each other was a 4D ultrasound of baby Rochelle and since she is so low and we decided to wait so late in the game to get the sonogram we got some decent pictures, not the greatest but just to see her grow and so healthy and big meant the world to each of us.  We can't wait to meet in her in a few short weeks!
  After the sonogram appointment my best friend Adriane came over to help me make a blanket out of all of the pregnancy shirts I have made (saw the idea on pinterest and it took a LOT more time then either of us assumed it would) and the blanket turned out great!! It was way smaller then I thought it would be, but I will forever cherish the memories of wearing them for my babies and show them the blanket when they get older.  I definitely won't be doing another blanket any time soon (unless we learn how to sow one together) but I am glad we took the time to do it.
  We signed up for a fall mini photo session to happen in just a couple of weeks and we can't wait for that and hope the pictures turn out great!

4 years down,  many more to go! 


The start of my blanket 

The end result!  


Thank you again to everyone who wished us a Happy Anniversary, we can't wait to spend many more together!
This is our precious bundle of joy! 

Monday, October 6, 2014

33 week check-up!

Baby: 33 weeks and 5days at the day of the appointment!  (Even though today we are technically 34 weeks!) Rochelle has been like rolling in my stomach lately I swear and it's crazy to feel so much pressure (down there) at times.  She now has her own immune system, and since her amniotic fluid has maxed out this week and is starting to get thinner she can start seeing more light pass through differentiating between day and night!  Her heart rate was ranging in the 120's-130's and sounding great! I wish we did another sonogram to get her weight but she is supposedly gaining half a pound a week now.  My Doctor wants to schedule my induction for November 10th (a week early) and start with cervadil(used to thin the cervix) and then start pitocin after that and go slow to see how well Rochelle can tolerate labor.  We discussed our options again regarding my preferences during labor, what happens if a complication were to occur, and how the the NICU team felt about this pregnancy and how they will be there when I am giving birth.  I can't believe in 5 weeks from today we will be meeting our baby girl for the first time, I cannot wait!

Mommy:  I enjoyed my MUCH needed week off from work and returned this past week at the nursing home and had a great weekend working there and then I am going to back to Austin for tomorrow and Wednesday so start my busy month of work there.  I get one full weekend off this month and I am definitely looking forward to that!

Daddy: Still doing amazing foot rubs every night I am home, and helping out a LOT around the house since I am having a harder time bending down and picking up stuff quick when there is a spill or what not from Brielle and cooking a lot more too.  Such a great husband and father to Brielle and he tells Rochelle every night that he cannot wait to meet his new precious girl.  Rochelle is hilarious and knows exactly when Shane touches my belly because she tries to do something funny or crazy inside of me to show off for Daddy!

Cravings: Still sweet stuff but I have calmed down a LOT.  I have been wanting apple juice a lot more lately these past two weeks but as for any other cravings I have not had a lot.  Oh and cereal for lunch a lot of the days now.

Brielle: We did her 15 month weight for my book that I keep all of her weights in and she is now 22 lb 10 oz.! And 29 1/2 inches long. She has been the same height for quite some time now.  We thought for sure she went through a growth spurt for a while eating a lot more then normal and waking up so much in the middle of the nights but nope.  She is now completely bottle free but refuses to drink milk out of a cup.  Absolutely refuses so I have gotten creative to sneak more calcium and vitamin D into her diet and add whole milk into anything that can have it during her meals.  She is talking SO much now and definitely acting like a toddler (temper tantrums, getting mad and trying to hit (which we have NO clue where she got this from), and wanting to do everything herself.  Love the joys of all the different stages she goes through and looking back it's crazy to think  of how much we have been through with her in the past 15-16 months.  She is one amazing child.

She can now catch a ball!!! 

Go longhorns!!  

Emma and Brielle walking to the park

We love you Nana and grandpa! 

Playing with her medical kit. 

Thursday, October 2, 2014

5 Fun Toddler Activities

  During this week that I took off from work I knew I really wanted Brielle to have some fun new activites to do around the house and I wanted to share a few of them that she has absolutely loved! Let me start off by saying that my child rarely sits down for more then a few minutes to enjoy a certain activity, but these got a good 30+ minutes out of her which was amazing!

  1.)  Put the ball through the roll.
  In this activity, you will need an empty paper towel roll, some tape, and pink pom-pom balls or whatever you would like to use to put through the paper towel roll.  We also added a blue bowl at the bottom to catch them which made it a little more fun.
  To do this activity it really is as easy as it sounds.  You just put three pieces of tape length wise on the paper towel roll to stick it to an empty part of the wall, and place the bowl underneath it.  Then you just take the pom-pom balls and put them through it.  Easy as that.  And while we were doing this we were practicing our counting which is always great!

2.) Push the pipes through the strainer.
  In this activity, you will need a bag of pipe cleaners and a strainer that is preferably a bowl so that you can easily flip over.
  To do this activity is so fun and super easy, you just flip the strainer over and see how many pipe cleaners your child can put through the holes without any help! Brielle did great for the first few until they started bending then I had to teach her to hold the pipe cleaners at the bottom and put it through and she loved it!

3.) Trace the shapes
 In this activity you will need a box of crayons and a coloring book or just blank pieces of computer paper like I used and draw the outline of the shapes yourself.
  To do this activity is simple, all you need is to help your child focus on how to trace the different shapes, or anything that you have pre-outlined on the paper for them that you would like for them to go over.  This required a lot of help from me to my 15 month old, but she will get there someday! She is great at drawing lines right now, and just loves the act of coloring.

4.) Reading with expression.
  In this activity you will need some interesting, new colorful books for your child to read.
  To do this activity, I just bought a couple of animal books and went for it! I used loud, funny voices for all of the animals in the stories and Brielle REALLY stayed focused the entire "story time".  It is so fun to be crazy and weird with your children as well so they know how different animals sound and they can start understanding the story in their own way.

5.) Chalk time!
  In this activity, all you will need is a box of chalk and a sidewalk area to do it.
  To do this activity I would just use a couple of colors of chalk so your child does not get distracted/overwhelmed by the amount in the entire box.  We have been practicing how to spell her name for a little while now so when we ask her how to spell it she will draw a line and say "B" and then another one and say "E" haha so we are missing all the letters in between but she will absolutely spend 30 minutes-1 hour outside playing with the different chalk and trying to draw different things.
Pushing the pipe cleaners through the strainer. 

So many! 


Practicing counting while putting the balls through. 

Chalk time! 


I hope this helps a few mommas who just want to add some new fun activities into their house! :)