We did our maternity pictures with the same photographer that did them before Ben was born and we are so happy with how they turned out. We took them 9/20, so just at the end of my 37th week of pregnancy. It was a bit humid, but she got them taken quickly and we barely broke a sweat! I am glad we waited until further along in my…
How far along: 36 weeks Total weight gain: 18lbs Movement: Still all of the time. It’s so fun to be able to see and feel her moving around in there. I can’t believe I’ll never feel another baby kick after this! Mood: Happy and excited! Food cravings: Root beer floats! Gender: Girl. Sleep: Not terrible! I feel like I might actually sleep the best when I’m napping with Ben during the day.…
Some of my favorite memories as a kid are in the kitchen with my mom. Half the time the things I was “cooking” were not edible. But she’d let me measure and mix and create to my heart’s content. Then there were times she cooked and I was able to help her by adding in some of the ingredients and I felt so grown up. When we received…
When I left my full-time job to stay home with Blaire and Ben, I had been working in life insurance for three years. Up until I started there, I knew nothing about life insurance. I knew I had a life insurance policy through my employer and I just hoped it was something I would not have to spend any more time thinking about. As I dove deeper into…
We wanted to use the long Fourth of July to get out of town as a family. Knowing we’ll be welcoming a new baby in just a few, short months, we’re wanting to make the most of our time together as a family of four. We decided to take a roadtrip to Bloomington, MN, the home of Mall of America. And gosh there are so many things to…
With our other two kids, we’ve opted to find our their gender during the ultrasound. For Blaire, the ultrasound tech just told us. For Ben, the ultrasound tech took Blaire outside the room and gave us a blue balloon so she could be the one to tell us. So for our last baby, we thought it would be fun to do a gender reveal. I did the Sneak…
2,000 plastic water bottles are used every second in the US. Let that sink in. Drinking water is really the ultimate healthy choice, yet it is one that is trashing our planet. Plastic water bottles take 450 years to decompose and by 2050, there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean. Thinking about the health of our planet can be overwhelming. What can one small person…
If you’re anything like me, you start thinking about Valentine’s Day in January, when the stores put everything Valentine’s out. BUT it’s too early to buy anything because you’ll lose it somewhere in your house. Lol! So… then a month goes by and you totally forget about Valentine’s Day. Fast forward and it’s February 8, your kids come home from school for the weekend with their Valentine’s Day…
Last year I took a survey of my friends and family to find their favorite Christmas books. I really challenged myself to cut back on the number of festive clothing items I’ve let myself buy for each holiday, but I guess I am now channeling that energy into holiday books. I mean, they don’t outgrow books as quickly as they do clothing, right?! ;) Last year Pick a…
One of the hardest parts of adulting is dealing with your finances. Sure, I can think of a few people who are good at it, but do they like it? No. If they didn’t have to do it, would they? Nope.In our family, Jason is the saver and I’m the spender. He is SO good at need vs. want, and me, well if I want it then I…
Ben has had so many firsts and milestones in the past two months. He went from crawling to running, looks like a big boy after his first haircut, gave up formula and is sleeping in his own crib. Ben’s stats and photos for 13 months are from March 21 through April 21 and 14 months are from April 21 through May 21. Most of his exciting firsts came…
We finally got family photos done, for the first time since Ben’s newborn pictures back at the end of March. And I love, love, LOVE how they turned out. It was 70 degrees the Monday after Thanksgiving. Which is UNHEARD of for Illinois. I am obsessed with this location. It’s about an hour from our home, so we shot with a different photographer than we typically use. She…
