Introducing.....

 

We picked a name....and we think it's a pretty good one. I celebrated tonight by buying lots of cute little girly clothes.  Can't wait to meet Miss Skylar Paige. :)

 

Halloween Fun

Last Saturday we went to the pumpkin patch near our house that we took Brody to last year when he was just a month old. They have a "how tall in the fall" sign that we stood him next to last year so it was fun to see how much he's grown. Here's the picture from last year and then the one we took this year.
 

 10/24/11

 

10/25/12 

It was really sunny but we got a pretty good family picture

 

 

He found his pumpkin :) 

 

Daddy and his pumpkins

 

 

 

Brody even got to sit on Grandpa's motorcycle....I pray he never wants one of these- mommy would never sleep.

 

 

Then on Sunday afternoon we went to the church for Brody's first time trick or treating.  He loved it and caught on pretty quick. I held him for the first few cars (this was trunk or treat) and then put him down to go on his own. He was a pro. One person had the basket on the ground and Brody ran up and just helped himself. :)

 

 

In the bounce house

 

 

 

He had lots of fun playing at the church playground

when he got done trick or treating

 

And finally, one of my favorite pictures ever and the reason Brody was Superman for Halloween .....He loves to "be super". :) He's so cute I can't stand it :)

He will be dressing up as a sock monkey for his next round of trick or treating on Halloween night so more pictures to come :)

20 Weeks - Halfway there :)

 

Baby weighs about 10.2 ounces and measures about 6.5 inches. She's still got a lot of growing to do though.
  

*She's got working taste buds

 

*Now she's gulping down several ounces of amniotic fluid each day both for nutrition and to practice swallowing and digestion- significantly more than before

Today was a great, productive day :) The weather finally cooled down and apparently that put me in the mood to cook....a  lot.  I made muffins for Brody, two batches of homemade cinnamon rolls to freeze and then we had family over for dinner so I made beef tenderloin, crockpot scalloped potatoes, sweet potato rolls and a chocolate cake.  Now I'm exhausted.

 

 

me & my baby girl :)

 

Sneaky Veggies Round Two

So, I made another recipe today to sneak some veggies into Brody (happened to be zucchini again- had a few I needed to use). This one was Ham & Cheese Quinoa muffins, I was really hoping he would like these because they are packed full of all kinds of good stuff.  They are super easy too, as usual here is the recipe in case anybody would like it.

Ingredients:
2 cups cooked quinoa (about 3/4 cup uncooked)
2 eggs
2 egg whites
1 cup zucchini, shredded
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 cup diced ham
1/4 cup parsley, chopped
2 Tablespoons parmesan cheese
2 green onions, sliced
salt & pepper

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix to combine. Liberally spray a mini muffin tin with non-stick spray and spoon mixture to the top of each cup. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the edges of the cups are golden brown. Let cool for at least 5 minutes before removing from the mini muffin tin.

Doesn't get much easier- dump all the ingredients in a bowl- mix & bake. I can handle that with a toddler running around.

 

And what did Brody think??

 

 

He LOVED them!  :)

 

I actually thought they were pretty good too.

 

 

Here's a few more pictures from the last few days :)

 

 

Tickle Monster got him :)

 

 

Handsome boy! (Ignore the shoe in the background- he likes to collect them and put them on window sills around the house)

Pumpkin Patch

On Sunday we went to a pumpkin patch in Grapevine that I had been wanting to get some Fall pictures of Brody at. Great pumpkin patch, great atmosphere...pumpkins, tractors, roasted corn and caramel apples....one problem- it was 90 degrees. Seriously, that's just ridiculous....it's the end of October! I know we would have enjoyed it a lot more if the weather would have been about 30-40 degrees cooler- as it should be at this time of year. I dressed Brody in jeans because I refused to take pumpkin patch pictures of my child wearing shorts...just didn't feel right to me. So, we made the best of it- Brody was a little weirded out by the pumpkins at first but he loved walking around and playing on the tractors.  Next weekend we are going to the pumpkin patch at the church to get our pumpkins to carve and there is supposed to be a cold front coming so hopefully it will feel a little more like October and a lot less like August : /.

 

 

 

 

He found his pumpkin :)

 

 

He was surrounded by them- he hated this.

 

They had tractors for the little kids to ride on, Brody loved this.

 

 

Then he got to sit on the big tractor!

19 Weeks and IT'S A GIRL!!!!! :)

 

Not a great picture - but the last two days have been rough. I'm not sure if it's side effects from the shots (I've read that it could be) or if I have a virus but I have felt AWFUL...especially today. And on top of feeling yucky and not being able to get out of my pajamas all day, I also had to get another shot. :(

 

Baby's now the size of a mango!Vernix caseosa, a greasy white substance made of lanugo, oil, and dead skin cells (yum) now coats baby's skin, shielding it from the amniotic fluid. (Picture yourself after a nine-month bath, and the need for protection makes sense.) You might get to see the vernix at birth, especially if baby is premature. 

Yesterday I had my sonogram appt to try again to find out boy or girl. I went by myself because Travis has missed a lot of work for Dr appts already and it's also really hard to take Brody with us. I had the first appt of the day (8:45). I had a granola bar and a coke on my way there (they told me to drink caffeine and eat before the sonogram so maybe we would have better luck this time). When she started the sonogram she said "well the caffeine didn't work, this baby is not cooperating again". I was going to be so dissapointed if we still couldn't find out. She had me roll over onto my side and that got the baby to move a little bit. She was able to get all the pictures she needed for the Dr and then she said "okay you're good to go". I was thinking she couldn't tell again and I asked if we knew if it was a boy or girl. Then she said "oh, it's a girl"! I was SO excited. I have always wanted to have a boy first and then a girl so she could have a big brother to protect her. (I have a really great big brother who did that for me). The drive home was so long...I couldn't wait to get home and tell Travis. I made one stop to get pink donuts to celebrate with my boys :)  I walked in and Travis was waiting to hear, I told him we've got our girl! We are so happy and excited about our growing family and can't wait to meet our little princess :)

Brody got a special treat to celebrate his little sister- his first chocolate donut.

 

 

Picky eater

I now have a very picky eater on my hands - I know most toddlers go through this around Brody's age but I hate that he won't eat veggies. So, I've been trying to make things for dinner that sneak them in. Lastnight's attempt was a success. I made Zucchini cakes to go with the fish we had and Brody loved them (so did Travis). 

 

Here's the recipe in case anybody is interested.

 

63 calories, 1.1 grams sugar, 2.1 grams fat, 7.6 grams carbohydrates, 3.6 grams proteinEach scrumptious morsel is totally satisfying and packed with vitamin-rich zucchini, yet strikingly low in calories, carbs, and fat.

Ingredients:
1 large zucchini, grated
1 large egg
1 c. panko bread crumbs
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tbsp. Adobo spices
1/2 c. Parmesan cheese, grated

Directions:
Remove excess liquid from freshly grated zucchini by placing them between paper towels and squeezing. In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients. Mix thoroughly. Heat a large pan on medium, and spray with Pam (I used olive oil). Shape spoonfuls of the zucchini batter into 2-in. (diameter) patties, and drop onto the sizzling pan. Cook each side for about a minute and a half, or until the outside is golden brown. Finish the cakes off in the oven. Stick them on a baking pan and broil them for 1-2 minutes. Serve hot, alone or with ranch dressing. Makes about 12 cakes.
 

Big boy weekend

Saturday was Travis' birthday so of course we went to dinner at his favorite place, Texas Roadhouse. The ride there was the first time Brody got to try out his new big boy carseat. Here he is enjoying the ride :)

 

 

Travis and Brody at dinner (Brody is kind of a blur but this was the only pic I got)

 

On Sunday we took Brody to get his first haircut- I thought he would do okay because of all the distractions (he sat in a toy car with a tv playing cartoons on the front of it). We sat him down in the car and he started playing with the steering wheel but when the girl started spraying water all over his hair he lost it. He screamed the whole time, and definitley made it difficult for the girl to cut his hair.

 

 

 

Cutie with his new haircut!

 

When we got home he decided he didn't want to be too much of a big boy and wanted to play in his bouncy seat that we had out for his cousin, Zoe. :)

 

 

 

18 weeks, uncooperative baby and a birthday celebration!

Today we had a sonogram to find out boy or girl but this little baby wasn't ready to tell us and stayed curled up in a ball the whole time. They weren't able to get any views of the heart either so I go back on Thursday for another sonogram (was told to drink caffeine before I go) so hopefully baby works with us this time :) Everything was measuring great (baby is measuring 18 weeks 3 days and weighs half a pound).  I also got my second progesterone shot today- Travis is already a pro :)

 

 

We have lots of October birthdays in our family....actually not only October but 3 birthdays within the same week in October. So, tonight we celebrated Travis, Tara and Dad's birthdays

 

 

Zoe was blowing spit bubbles and Brody kept popping them :)

 

Cousins

 

 

Maybe giving him cake was a bad idea.

Two days of fall weather...it was nice while it lasted

Last weekend the weather was what it should be this time of year....not 90 degrees.  I was so excited to get outside and dress Brody in all of the cute clothes I bought him. We took Brody to a park near our house that he loves. He played on the playground for a little bit and then he decided he would rather take a walk. : )

 

 

 

He found all kinds of "treasures" on his walk : )

 

 

 

Saturday night we celebrated Travis' birthday at his parent's. Brody had a great time playing with his cousins...especially Stella- he loves her!

 

 

Dancing with Stella

 

So much personality in these two!

 

Cousins

Stella, Brody, Miranda

 

 

Tomorrow will be the big day that we find out if Brody will have a baby brother or baby sister!