Add on to house post

I decided I wanted to get rid of my curtains in my living room. With three cats and a giant dog always looking out the window the curtains were becoming a pain. The sun shines right in the window and can make it really hot in there if the curtains are open (which they usually end up being) So here's what I did...

Ugly curtains on cheap curtain rod. Usually the cats would knock it down. 

On sale at Menard's for $18

OHHH AHHHH!!! Much better. 

After I finished putting up the blinds, I noticed him. Doesn't he look comfy?! 

Our house

We bought this house in July of 2008. 

I just wanted to share some photos of our house. We've owned the house for three years, but we didn't move in until Nov. 2008 because there were lots of renovations to make.  We are currently still working on stuff and our newest renovation will be the upstairs unfinished attic space.  Right now the house is 2 bedrooms and 1.5 baths. We are going to finish the upstairs and add another bedroom.  (More on that later) Enjoy the before and after photos!

The four squares are a fireplace heating system.  In the far right picture we removed two of the vents and hid the remaining two. We also painted the surround and got a new mantle.

We took out the window. It was weird because it was behind the stairs.  We also took out the wall where the fridge is in the first picture.  

We put in a new tub surround, shower head, and new vanity (not shown) 

On the left is how our upstairs looks now. On the right is our plan for before the baby comes. We will be moving into Marley's current room.  (Mike told me these are not right at all and it won't look like this since it's not to scale, but I had fun making them)

Here are a couple more pictures of some small improvements I've been doing around the house.

Got all 3 plants for $15

Added some landscaping to the front. I'm not done, but being 4 months pregnant kind of limits what I can do.

I painted all the frames black, then hung then on the wall near our stairs.  

Most have pictures of Marley, but some of her artwork is also on display here.

The top left picture is me when I was a baby. The frame for the long picture on the right is broken, OOPS!

Crazy Zeus

Zeus is our 14 month old 85 lb. puppy.  He is CRAZY!!  Last Friday Zeus got neutered. I just wanted to share some pictures from after we brought him home because for about 12 hours he wasn't crazy. For the first hour that we got him home he just stood in the middle of the living room staring at us.  The vet's instructions were to keep him calm for 7-10 days. When she told me this I just laughed.  We were able to keep him calm for maybe 3 days.  He's doing great now and acting like nothing happened. 

The cone lasted about 5 days. He ran into everything including us so it had to go.

16 weeks

Marley the cheerleader

Like I mentioned last week, Marley had her first cheerleading competition this past Sunday. She's on what is called the Mini team.  All the girls are between 3 and 5 years old. Marley is the second youngest on her team.   It was pretty funny watching her.  I wasn't sure if she would actually do it once she saw all those people but she did great!  Enjoy!

She's a silly kid! 

She's on the far right. That's her awesome cartwheel. 

She got a little distracted. 

So cute!

15 weeks

I fear for my sanity!

Before we found out that Marley was a girl, Mike really wanted a boy.  He wanted a little buddy to ride 4 wheelers with and have fun with.  I, however, really wanted a girl. Someone to dress up and do cheerleading and gymnastics, and all that girly stuff.  Well, little did we know Marley would be perfect for both of us! She does cheerleading and sometimes likes to do girly stuff, but she also has a tomboy side to her too.  She loves digging in the dirt and getting muddy. We have a go-kart and a 4-wheeler and she loves riding those and going fast.  So all in all, both Mike and I got what we wanted.

Now, this is where I get worried.  If the baby is a girl that's all fine and dandy cause she can do the girly stuff and the boyish stuff, like Marley does. But if it's a boy, I'm really in trouble.  Boys can't really do all that girly stuff.  So we'll have another "Little Daddy" Which is what I usually refer to Marley as. (Oh and we aren't finding out the gender until the baby decides to enter the world)

This is Marley at Deep River Park in the river. 

This is Mike stuck in some water on a trail. 

How will I handle Mike, Marley and the new baby all out riding 4-wheelers and being crazy?!

Lost a week =(

Today was my 14 week doctor appointment. She said everything looks great from my lab results and ultrasound results. We listened to the heartbeat. Marley was with me and she really enjoyed hearing that. When I told her what the noise was her eyes got really big. It was very cute.  I had my first ultrasound about 4 weeks ago, and apparently they are charting me at only 13 weeks, so in a way I've gone back a week.  I was originally due on March 21st, 2012, but now it's March 26th.  Which, for those of you keeping track, is 6 days after Marley's 4th birthday! It will be "exciting" to see if I end up with a March or April baby!  Marley was 8 days late so who knows what little Corn Tuck a Tuck has in store for us. (If you missed the post about the baby's name you can see it here)  As far as me, I'm feeling really good, no morning sickness or nauseous feelings at all.  I just have to make sure I eat every few hours and I feel great. I've gained about 7 pounds so far, which is right on track I guess.

We have a busy weekend planned.  Marley is on an all-star cheerleading team.  (All-star cheerleaders only do competitions, they don't actually "cheer" for any sports teams) Anyways, her first competition is this Sunday!  We're very excited and anxious to see how this goes.  She told me today when I asked if she wanted to wear a shirt with a cheerleader on it that she hates cheerleaders. This could be interesting!

Here's Marley getting ready for Sunday

I will definitely have a lot of pictures and possibly a video to share on Sunday night.  EEEKKKK Can't wait!

14 weeks

I have a doctors appointment on the 22nd so I will update more after that.

Dinner recipe- Cheesy Crockpot Chicken and Snickerdoodle Cookies

I decided to share my dinner with you!  Actually it's just the recipe and some photos, but it's better than nothing.

Cheesy crockpot chicken

4-6 chicken breasts (boneless, skinless)

2 cans condensed cream of chicken soup

1 can cheddar cheese soup

1/4 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp garlic powder

Put all ingredients in crockpot. Cook on low 6-8 hours. Serve over rice or noodles.

We also had broccoli and potatoes. I'm always using coupons and finding the best sales,  so this entire meal cost me around $5.00.

I was really into cooking for some reason, so I made snickerdoodle cookies.

1 cup shortening

1 1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 3/4 cup flour

2 tsp cream of tartar

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

Heat over to 400. Mix shortening, sugar, and eggs.  Sift remaining ingredients and stir into the shortening mixture.  (I mix it using my hands)  Roll into balls. Roll them in 2 tbsp sugar & 1 tsp cinnamon. Place on ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake 8-10 minutes or until lightly brown but soft.

YUM!

13 weeks

Not much to report. I'm feeling great.  And everything is going good. 

12 weeks

Marley was running to try to get in the picture which is why I'm making a weird face

How Far Along: 12 weeks
Size of baby: plum, about 2 inches long and weighs about .5 ounces
Total Weight Gain/Loss: last I checked I've gained about 5 lbs.
Maternity Clothes: Not yet. Although I do have to unbutton my pants if I'm sitting for a long time
Movement: None yet
Sleep: I'm sleeping good besides having to wake up to use the bathroom around 3am every night
Symptoms: Surprisingly none. I'm not complaining though.  
What I miss: My pants being too big.  
Cravings: Nothing really.
Best Moment this week: Visiting with Laura and Jacki
Labor signs:  None, and it better stay that way for another 28 weeks at least!

Labor Day!

Here are a few pictures from our Labor Day weekend.  I went to a friend's house to visit and Mike and Marley went to my parents house to ride the go-kart and got extremely muddy!

Jacki and I have been friends since 2nd grade. And Laura moved here in 6th grade and the three of us have been friends ever since. 

I'm 11 weeks pregnant and Laura is 23 weeks. Due on Christmas day! (Update- Jacki was 8 weeks pregnant in this picture, but it was still a secret)

Before their ride

After their ride. She loved it!

Baby bumps

When I found out I was pregnant with Marley 4 years ago I took a picture of my "bump" every week until 41 weeks when I was eventually induced.  Marley was 8 days late and weighed 8lbs 2 oz.

Well here starts the weekly belly pictures for Baby #2 (Marley's decided on a name- Corn Tuck a Tuck. Not sure why, but she's pretty dead set that that's the baby's name)

6 weeks

7 weeks

8 weeks

11 weeks

Ahhh, only 30 more to go. 

Adding a fourth

Well, here's where the story begins I guess.  We found out towards the end of July that I am pregnant! Or as Marley would say 'mommy has a baby in her belly'  As of today, I am currently 11 weeks along.  From about the 6th-9th week I was extremely tired and wasn't feeling good for the first part of the day.  Then one day I woke up and just felt "normal" again.  I'm not going to lie, this scared me a little.  However, I had my first ultrasound on August 25th and saw the little heartbeat just a pumping away.  We also got to see it's little arms move.  Of course, it's been 4 years since I was pregnant with Marley, but I don't remember seeing her little heartbeat and when I mentioned this to Mike he said he doesn't remember seeing her move until she was much bigger.  So that was definitely a neat experience.

Little baby at 10 weeks. Head is on the right. Can see a little arm sticking up.

So, for now we're just doing our normal thing. Trying to get Marley excited about being a big sister and answering all of her questions about when the baby is going to come out, why can't it come out now, and all those fun 3 year old questions.  We're in the process of looking for a 3 bedroom house, but we're not rushing into anything since the next place we move will be where we stay since Marley will start school in a couple years =(

This blog is going to just be a way for us to share all the excitement of adding a new member to our little family and to show what's going on in our life on a daily basis. Sounds exciting right?!