Baby Registry- Need your help!!

I am in the process of registering for baby boy! It's been a little difficult since I can't actually go to Babies R Us and roam up and down the aisles, but luckily I can create and update a registry on-line as well! I'm trying to go through all of the categories and think of what I need, but I feel like there is so much new stuff out there and available since Addyson was born 3 years ago! It's crazy how much things change! So, I need a favor! Will any of you moms out there (or anyone that has seen anything cool lately!) reply and let me know what "must have" items you use daily or that you received and you couldn't live without? That will help me tremendously as I'm having a hard time thinking if I've covered all my bases!

One thing I just put on my registry is a jogging stroller. The stroller I had with Addyson was part of a travel system and it's really not the best stroller in the world. It would probably work fine, but I've heard lots of good things about jogging strollers and so I thought I would give it a try. Does anyone have one that they would recommend or not recommend? Any features that I should be sure and look for? Just curious!

Thanks!!

Christmas Day!!

We woke up to a White Christmas on Christmas morning and it was so pretty! I don't know that this has ever happened! What a great start to the day!

Addyson opening her presents! She kissed the Diego finger paints Santa brought her!

Of course she got plenty of Princess dress up clothes- after she opened all of them she did not want to open anything else. We tried on each and every outfit with all of the accessories- that's all she wanted to do! Finally we got her to open the rest of her presents- slowly but surely!

This one is her fav!

Ryan and I gave her the dollhouse from us- we had it in our room and so she waited on the couch with her eyes closed while Daddy brought it out!

In yet another dress and she loves her big new dollhouse. I must say it is super cute and looks great in her room! The colors are so cute and the rooms are decorated really cute as well!

Later that day we went over to Nana and Pops for the rest of the day. We didn't do presents with them yet- we're doing that on Sunday. The kids played- here Addyson is wearing the Cinderella dress that she puts on EVERY time we go to Nana's and she is water color painting.

The boys in the kitchen- Ryan made the beef tenderloin and it was super yummy! I love it that he is such a great cook!! He also makes yummy drinks- him and Brittany were drinking dirty martini's all day with blue cheese stuffed olives. Everything about that drink makes me want to barf!! I like sweet drinks, I hate blue cheese and I hate olives with a passion! They loved them though!

Here are the kids eating dinner! We have them eat before the adults and then put on a movie for them while we all eat our dinner. It usually works out pretty well!

We had a great time and we're looking forward to Sunday of opening more presents!!

Today, Saturday, we (well, Ryan) took down all of the Christmas decorations and got the house back in order. As much as I love putting Christmas up, I always like taking it down! Our house feels a lot less cluttered and clean and it's nice to have it back in order!

Chrismas Eve

Christmas Eve day was full of fun! That morning we had brunch over at Gram's house which is an annual tradition. She always makes a really yummy breakfast and all of the cousins come over and we exchange gifts with Grams and do all of the kids presents between cousins. Don't worry- I was laid up on the couch most of the time! Addyson did lock herself and Katie (18 months old) into Gram's room but Ryan bribed her out with some candy. At least she was able to figure out how to unlock the door!

Brittany and Caleb (7 months)

Addyson got out Gram's bible and was speed reading- so cute!

Brooks and Bosten- we got them guns and holsters, handcuffs and lots of rolls of caps that smoke! You're welcome Britt!! She said to get ready for paybacks!

Addyson sipping her OJ- Grams gives the kids nice champagne glasses with a sugar rim- they all feel so special and they love it!!

Christmas Eve afternoon- Daddy assembling the doll house (more pics of that later!)

Christmas Eve night- we went to church which was really nice. Addyson participated in the nativity scene as an angel. This pic is hard to see her unless you know where she is- she's standing in the top left of the pic. I always love the Christmas Eve service!

Chrismas Eve night we went to my parents for dinner and presents with them. The girls were tired but when we started in on presents they woke right up! Here's Addy with her Sleeping Beauty princess doll.

Princess jammies....

My mom made baby boy a blankie! Very cute!
The girls in their sunglasses!

At home on Christmas Eve- we put out cookies for Sants and some carrots and celery for the reindeer.... Nite Nite!

Pre-Christmas!

I have several posts to do, but I'll stagger them out like I've done before. Hmm, de-ja-vu, last time I did this I went into labor!! Let's hope that doesn't happen again!

The week before Christmas we had several activities going on (most of which I could not partake in!). Sunday, 12/20, our neighbor's dressed up as Santa and Ms. Claus and invited everyone in our neighborhood to come over and take pics in their front yard with all of their decorations. My parents came over and brought dinner and Hallie, Stewart and LeeAnn also came over. It was fun!

The girls were pretty hyper that night... )

Monday night, 12/21, I was supposed to go to Uncle Julio's in Fort Worth with some girls for dinner. We had planned this a while back. Well, sweet Kimmie offered for everyone to come over to my house and they picked up On The Border Fajitas instead and everyone came over and hung out! It was a lot of fun and of course good to catch up with everyone. Below is Kim, Whitney, Nicole, Jennifer, Marcy (pregnant with twins!), me and Katie.

Wednesday, 12/23, Addyson had her Christmas party at Mommy Nessa's house. I ventured out of the house for this as I knew I could just go and sit on her couch and be fine! I feel really bad missing anything to do with Addyson and so I wanted to go and be there for her! It really wasn't a big deal- the kids had some cupcakes and they had drawn names for presents. It was cute- all of the kids over there are really sweet and Addyson loves it over there which makes me happy!

Addyson anxiously waiting to open her present!

Hallie, Sophia and Addyson

The kids eating their cupcakes in the playroom

Wednesday night Ryan went out to dinner with his whole family to Eddie V's. He got Addyson all ready for bed and fed dinner before he left and so all I had to do was put her to bed, which I had no problem doing! The only problem I had was that I was super jealous as I have really been wanting to eat at Eddie V's! I looked up the menu while he was gone and imagined what I would order!! Ryan promised that he would take me there as soon as we had a night off- hmm, that's probably only 6 months away!! :) They had a good time and he saw Chelsea and her family there also!

Yummy coffee cake recipe!

This is a very yummy recipe for a Christmas morning (or whenever!) coffee cake. Thought some of you might enjoy. It's super easy to make! It's also a good brunch food for showers, etc.

24 frozen bread rolls (frozen food section- the brand I buy is Rohdes white dinner rolls 36 count)
1 pkg butterscotch pudding (NOT instant)
1 stick butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 tsp cinnamon
chopped pecans

In a bundt pan, spray generously with Pam cooking spray. In a small saucepan bring to just a boil the stick of butter, brown sugar and cinnamon. While that is melting, put the chopped pecans (the more the better- probably like 1/2 cup chopped up) into the bundt pan. Place anywhere from 18-24 frozen bread rolls in the bundt pan. Depending on the size of your bundt pan, you'll want to use more or less. I usually do about 20. Pour pkg of butterscotch pudding over frozen rolls. Pour butter and brown sugar mixture over rolls. Spray Pam cooking spray onto press and seal wrap (or you can use foil, but spray it) and cover overnight on countertop. I put the bundt pan onto a cookie sheet because sometimes when everything rises some can fall over the edges if you used too many rolls! The cookie sheet will catch the mess!

In the morning, uncover and cook at 350 for 30 minutes. My oven only takes about 25 minutes. I cover it with foil for the last 5 or so minutes if its getting too browned on top. I also put the cookie sheet in the oven under the pan as well because it spills over sometimes!

Let sit for 5 minutes after cooking and then turn it upside down onto a plate. Scoop out all of the gooey stuff left in the pan onto the coffee cake. This won't last long- enjoy!!

Christmas morning I'm making this along with an egg casserole! It's nice because you make it the night before and all you have to do in the morning is put it in the oven!

Relaxing

This time of year is sooo busy. Parties, making sure the house is perfect, presents are wrapped, gifts are purchased, food is made, etc. There is always something going on!! It has been kind of nice to just sit back and be forced to slow down and actually enjoy all of the little things about the holidays and not be frantically be running around everywhere! This weekend I sat with Addyson and read her books, we did puzzles, watched cartoons and just hung out. I got to thinking that I really don't do that all that often because usually I'll turn her cartoons on and then go and do a million things around the house and it's nice to just sit and take the time to do those things with her! Hopefully you can all take a little time to slow down and do the same!

Resting at home!

I got home from the hospital yesterday! Yea! It was nice getting home to my own bed. It's almost impossible to sleep in the hospital hooked up to an IV, pulse oximeter, blood pressure cuff, 2 leg massagers (so I wouldn't get a blood clot in my leg), contraction monitor on my tummy and the baby's hearbeat monitor on my tummy as well. Can't really get comfy with all of that going on! Every time I had to go to the bathroom (which was often because I had to drink so much water) I had to unhook everything and then hook it back up! Fun times!

Now I am home and I am on orders to lay in bed or on the couch and just get up to go to the bathroom and to shower once a day. No cooking, cleaning, shopping or being on my feet. I can work from home on my laptop, which is nice, and I can go for a short car ride to my parents or in-laws house to lay on their couch, etc. but nothing major where I would be on my feet for any period of time. Poor Ryan is having to really do everything, but we also have lots of help with family and friends being close, so that is nice. I can't imagine not having that!!

I have to take pills every 4 hours around the clock, so right now I just set my cell phone alarm every 4 hours to take my pill. That includes 1:00 AM and 5:00 AM- guess I'll be nice and ready when baby gets here for those middle of the night feedings! All in all, I'm very thankful that they were able to stop the contractions and that I'm able to be home! I'll be on bedrest and meds until I'm 36 weeks, which is about the middle of February. I'm sure it will be here before I know it!

Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers!

High School Play Date

Last Saturday we had our annual High School play date. It was fun but a little more chaotic than last year! All the kids were pretty good, but there was just a lot of them! Addyson had a fun time and so did I catching up with a lot of friends I had not seen in a while! Thanks to everyone that drove in for the day! Also, thanks to Jennifer for hosting this at her house!

Addyson and Clayton

Ella (Brandon Baker's little girl), Addyson and Paige (Kelsey's daughter) eating lunch

Katie and Briggs- he is such a cutie!!

Kim and Jennifer and Clayton

This was funny. Of course, we all wanted a group picture of the kids. How hard can that be?? Well, apparently impossible! This is all of the moms trying to get their kid to stay on the couch or to quit crying or something. How many moms does it take??

Addyson had a job to hold Avery....

She's slipping and Noah is pissed!!

Noah still mad and Anderson now getting mad as well

Okay, Noah now taking off his shoes and they were all over it at this point! We tried!

Kim and Noah. He's better now that he's with his mommy

Paige and Addyson- Addyson was following her around and they were playing princess!

The pregnant girls! Erika is due in April, I'm due in March and so is Kelsey. Kelsey and I are exactly one week apart and we are both having boys. Erika is having a girl! All of us are on baby #2 and we are all having opposite of what we already have!

Me and Kimmie

Jennifer and Clayton- he's happy as a lark as usual!

Update

Hello all!

First, Sunday night I did a series of 4 or 5 blog posts and I staggered them throughout today and tomorrow posting. So, if you get the random laundry room post amongst the hospital updates, that is why! I'm not going crazy- I promise!! (Not yet at least!)

I saw a perinatal specialist this afternoon for a sono and everything looked good with the baby and with my cervix. The baby is 2 lbs 13 oz which is a great size for 27 weeks and everything looks great on him. My cervix showed to not be effaced and it was closed, which is another great sign. Looks like we caught the contractions before they started doing lots of work down there! Yea!

I'll most likely head home tomorrow- I have been feeling good this afternoon and evening and I hope to get some sleep! Haven't slept in 2 straight days and surprisingly I'm not that tired!

It's the little things

I'm not very on top of our laundry. It just always piles up and I never seem to have it all done. One of my "problems" with the laundry is that I think if I could just get it all folded and hung up while taking it out of the dryer it might help. So, I told this to Ryan and wa-la, he fixed my problem! I was super excited about this new addition! He spent about $8 and put up 2 brackets and a rod (which we already had from a closet that we don't use for clothes) and now I can take things directly out of the dryer and hang them up right then and there. Yea! Sometimes it's just the little things that make my day!

In the hospital...

Well I went into labor last night! Not an ideal situation for 27 weeks at all. I have been non-stop busy since last Thursday and I probably (okay, I wasn't) drinking near enough water or resting. We did Six Flags, Christmas parties, play dates, working, baby showers- all of it added up and I started having contractions last night at 11:00. I drove myself to the hospital at 1:00 AM- I didn't want to mess with taking Addyson to my mom's or Cheryl's and waking up the whole world if this was a false alarm. Well, when I got to the hospital my contractions were 2 minutes apart and were starting to hurt just a little. Yikes! I was admitted to the hospital around 3:45 and started an IV, fluids, antibiotics, pills, steroid shots- the whole gammet. The pills worked for 30 minutes and then the contractions started back. So, plan 2 was to try a shot of some drug. That has seemed to work!! I have been feeling better but I'll be here until probably tomorrow so they can continue monitoring me and I have to get another steroid shot tomorrow morning at 4:30 AM (they do them 24 hours apart). That should be a nice wake up call!

I am fully trusting in the Lord to take care of all of us and I know he will do what is best. Continue praying for all of us!

I'll be on bedrest for possibly the remainder of my pregnancy. We'll see how this goes when I leave the hospital to see if the contractions return. Thanks for all of your positive thoughts and prayers!

Holiday in the Park

On Sunday we went to Holiday in the Park at Six Flags. It had probably been 10 years since I had been out to Six Flags and it pretty much looks the same! My parents got us all tickets as our fun Holiday outing and we had a great time!! I couldn't ride anything because I am preggo and so Ryan was the designated rider with Addyson, which he didn't mind at all! The girls had a great time! Six Flags looks so pretty this time of year with all of the lights and decorations.

Addyson hugging Daffy duck. Her and Hallie would get so excited when they saw a new character!

The girls with Wonder Woman and Hulk Girl

Porky Pig (or as Hallie called him Honky Pig)

On the swing ride!

With MiMi and Pa Pa- they got them a cute glow light candy cane necklaces which were a hit!

Sporting the new necklace!

Again with Porky- not sure if we saw him twice or I just copied this one twice.

PaPa, Addy and MiMi

Scooby Doo and the Girls!

Addyson with her vanilla ice cream. Don't get me started on the food prices out at Six Flags. It's the biggest rip off ever! We ate dinner out there and Addyson's plain kids hot dog was $8. I'm sorry but that is ridiculous! She loves ice cream and even though it was pretty cold outside, this is what she wanted for her snack! One scoop- $7. Whatever!

Addyson was trying to give Hallie a good bye kiss but apparently Hallie didn't want anything to do with that!