St Paddy's Day Weekend Recap 2018

This past weekend we celebrated St. Paddy's Day the best way we know how! With leprechaun's, parades, corn beef and beer!

Our Saturday started out like most Saturday's with a trip to gymnastics. It was pajama day so Lincoln had fun playing and jumping in the comfort of his pajamas and this mama was grateful for not having to get him dressed (ha!). After gymnastics we made the trek downtown for the parade.

Spokane is a fairly small city with not a ton of traffic, but I swear it took us 45 minutes to go 3 blocks on Saturday. Apparently everyone had the same idea of parking in the mall garage for the parade because from the time we got off the freeway to the time we got downtown took FOREVER. We made it though, and after grabbing a quick bite to eat at the mall food court, headed out to watch the parade.

The parade did not disappoint and Lincoln got his fair share of candy along with an eyeful of trucks, leprechauns and various other parade peeps!

That evening we headed back home for Corn Beef and Shepard's Pie with my parents. Lincoln and I also whipped up some green inspired dessert and made Mint Chocolate M&M Cookies with Mint Ice Cream. After too much food and beer, we all headed off to bed.

Sunday was a pretty laid back day, but we had a TON of leftover corn beef so my parents came back over and we made Corn Beef and Irish Cheddar sliders to have to round out the weekend.

Through it all, our newest little side kick was a trooper and tagged along (and slept) through most of the fun!

Welcome Baby Finn!

I am so excited to share that our newest little addition has arrived. Finn Augustus Alexander was born on March 1, 2018 at 1:59 PM via C-section. He weighed in at 7 lbs 11 oz and 20 inches long. We are so overwhelmed with happiness that he is here and can't imagine what life was like before he got here. Beware this is a picture heavy post!

Let's go back to where it all began....

Wednesday started out like any normal day. I went to work. Kevin and Lincoln went to school and we came home, made dinner, went through our usual nightly routine and I laid down to put Lincoln to sleep. Lincoln wanted to fall asleep in mommy and daddy's bed, and we obliged since we knew the countdown to baby Finn was close. We just didn't realize how close.

After I put Lincoln down, I stood up and thought I was about to pee my pants. It was around 8:30 PM, I ran to the bathroom and "thought" my water may have broken but wasn't quite sure. With Lincoln, it had been a sudden gush, but this was just a bit of a trickle. However, every time I stood up, more would come out, and soon I was laughing because I honestly thought I just couldn't control my bladder anymore.

I called for Kevin and told him that I thought my water had broken and we should probably call my mom to have her come up and stay with Lincoln. We got ready for the hospital, my mom arrived and we headed down about 9:30. At this point I was starting to feel contractions but nothing too intense or crazy. They checked us into triage to make sure my water had broken and see how far along I was.

Once they confirmed it, and told me I was only 1 cm dialated and about 40% effaced they checked us in. I wanted to try for a VBAC and they were ok with it, but I wasn't able to labor at home at all because of it and had to be constantly monitored. By 12:30 AM I was in a ton of pain and was asking for the epidural. They checked me again and I had gone to 3.5 cm dialeted and 80% effaced. At this point they thought I was making pretty good progress and would be on track for a VBAC. The gave me an epidural which brought a ton of relief and had to hook me up to a bunch of monitors and put a catheder in.

One thing I did not anticipate with the VBAC was that they wouldn't let me out of bed or move around. I was miserable. I had to lay on my side hooked up to a million machines and could only move when they'd come in to rotate me every hour or so. By morning, I was really feeling the pain again and because I couldn't move to get comfortable I was pretty over it. They came in that morning to check me again.

I had made zero progress overnight. That was the first round of bad news. They told me I could wait it out but the closer I approached to the 24 hour mark, the less likely I was going to be able to have a VBAC. They were going to give me small amounts of pitocin, but again because of the VBac, could not give me more than a 4. We waited till 10:30 when they checked me again. Still no progress.

Finally at 12:30 the doctor came in and checked me once again and confirmed that again I had made no progress. I asked him the likelihood at this point (almost 18 hours into labor) if he thought I was going to be able to have a VBAC and he said, there was always a chance but the fact that I had stop progressing for almost 12 hours meant the likelihood was pretty small. Finn had already started to try and descend into my pelvis as well but there was no where for him to go since I hadn't dialated yet. Because of this the window of us having a regular C-Section as opposed to some kind of emergency situation was getting smaller and smaller. I looked at Kevin and the doctor and just told them, let's do this. Let's get this baby out. C-section it was.

They prepped us for surgery and we headed down around 1:15 PM. They got me on the table and prepped and Kevin got to come in. At 1:59 PM they pulled Baby Finn out and let Kevin cut the cord. He was perfect and healthy and it was amazing to hear his little cries as they prepped him and brought him to me. Kevin and I were both crying, happy tears of course, as we met our new baby boy.

After they sewed me back up, I met Kevin and Finn in recovery where the got us ready to go down to Maternity for visitors. Everything went so smoothly and was so different from the emergency situation and NICU stay with Lincoln.

Soon after we were in maternity, my mom brought Lincoln down to meet his new baby brother and it was the sweetest thing I've ever had a chance to see. Lincoln is so very excited to be a big brother. He's adjusting really well, while we do have some emotional moments here and there, he's so proud and loves Baby (banana) Finn so much. We're only 5 days in and being a mom of two is hard and scary, but also really awesome. I can't imagine being without my boys!

I may not have got to have a VBAC and if we have any more babes, a C-section will likely be my only option, but I can honestly say this was a million times better than last. Baby Finn is healthy. Lincoln is so excited to be a big brother, and we are slowly settling into be a family of four.

Baby (banana) Finn we love you so so so so much.

Nursery No. 2: Sneak Peak!

We are 90% done with baby boy number two's nursery and I thought it would be fun to share a couple of quick photos. There are a few additional odds and ends I want to pick up to finish it off, but all of the big stuff is done and in.

We were able to re-use a lot of the items from Lincoln's nursery, just re-purposed in a slightly different way here. So all of the bedding, crib mat, changing mat covers, mobile, rocking chair, etc. are from Lincoln's nursery. The lamp was a hand me down from my mom (just needed a new lamp shade) and the crib was a gift from my parents as well! The bear poster was actually randomly given to me at work, so we just framed it and the hexagon shelves were built by Kevin and painted by myself. Each of the little ceramic animals and the succulent plan were purchased by my mom (thanks mom!).

We ended up needing to buy the end table and a new dresser since Lincoln still uses his, and the throw and pillow on the chair were relatively inexpensive finds at Target and on Etsy, but other than that, everything was either re-purposed or built by my handy husband and painted by me!

So, without further ado...below are a few quick pictures of our newest addition's digs.

One Special Day

The countdown is on until baby boy number two decides to show up and we wanted to make sure we spent some quality time with Lincoln before he embarks on the new and important role of big brother. Because of this, we planned a day where we got to do all of the things Lincoln likes to do! In addition, we threw in a few little surprises along the way.

Our day started out with a special breakfast of cinnamon rolls, hot cocoa, eggs and bacon. In hindsight, so much sugar on a day packed full of so many events might not have been the best idea, but Lincoln loved every bit of cream cheese frosting on that cinnamon roll so it was worth it!

After breakfast we all got ready for the day and for our first stop, Mobius! Lincoln, like most little ones, absolutely loves the children's museum and science center so we knew that this was a must stop location for our day. It was an easy one too, since we already have the year long membership. We spent a good hour and half playing and enjoying ourselves, before heading upstairs in the mall so he could pick out a brand new toy!

We did our best to try and persuade him to get anything besides another construction truck, but he was adamant on an excavator, so with yet another construction truck toy in tow, we headed to our next big stop!

We had told Lincoln we were going to take him to a movie, but what we didn't realize was that he associates all movies in the theater with the one in the mall because that's where Nana took him. After some tears and some serious convincing that we were indeed going to take him to a movie, we headed up to the Garland Theater to see Ferdinand! The movie was cute and Lincoln made it through the whole thing with some coaxing.

After the movie was over we headed home for a much needed nap (for both Lincoln and mama). Our naps came just in time because after a morning full of activities, Lincoln was about to lose it. Sleep solves all things though (at least in my opinion) and after our nap, we all woke up to play for a bit at the house before heading out to our last stop!

We made reservations for dinner at ShoGun, a hibachi style restaurant, that we thought Lincoln would love. We were right! While the fire scared him just a bit, it was honestly the longest I've seen him successfully sit at the table for dinner. The chef kept his attention the entire time and I think he enjoyed the show right along with the food!

After dinner, we headed home to spend the evening, relaxing and playing and getting ready for bed. Lincoln may or may not remember this day, but it sure was fun treating him to a few of his favorite things and some extra special surprises before he's no longer the only little man in our lives.

Baby No. 2 || Meal Prep Addition

Right before Lincoln was born, I went to town making all kinds of freezer meals. It truly was a lifesaver those first few months, especially with Kevin out of town so much. Once Lincoln was a bit older, I also started incorporating Blue Apron Meals a lot as well. Anything to make cooking dinner easier.

With the upcoming arrival of baby no. 2, I'm determined to stock our freezer with freezer meals again! We're coming up on Week 37 so baby can come anytime at this point. We kicked off our first weekend of meal prep (among other baby to do's) this past weekend and I thought it would be fun to share all of the recipes I plan on making in the upcoming days and weeks. It looks a little aggressive but my plan this time around has been to make a double batch of whatever meal we're having for dinner that night, and freeze the extra into two smaller casserole pans. So far it's working!

So, without further ado, below is my list of freezer meals (including breakfast, lunch and dinner options). I've linked recipes where I've found them. Otherwise, these are just meals I've come up with on my own, but I'm sure there are plenty of versions available on the internet!

Breakfast

Blueberry Muffins

Breakfast Burritos (Eggs, Sausage, Cheese and Peppers)

Buttermilk Waffles 

Lunch

Chicken Burritos

Pepperoni Calzones

Canadian Bacon + Green Pepper Calzones

Dinner

Quattro Formaggio with Broccoli (I threw broccoli into mine)

Chicken, Broccoli and Rice Casserole

Pioneer Woman's Chicken Spaghetti

Kibbeh

Costco Lasagna

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

Baked Penne with Chicken and Sundried Tomatoes 

Veggie Enchiladas 

Snacks/Desserts

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Lactation Cookies 

Weekend Recap || February 2018

Hello! Hope everyone's week is off to a great start. I haven't done a weekend recap in a while, but thought it would be fun to throw one in the mix. This weekend was a good mix of fun events and equal amounts downtime. So without further ado...

Friday evening started off with some heart shaped cookie making and decorating as we kickoff love month! I had a rough week related to pregnancy (turns out I was having contractions 3 minutes apart for 3 days!) so I haven't been able to do much besides hobble around and lay down in bed. I was feeling really bad about not being able to play/hang out with Lincoln, so after we found out the cause of my pain on Wednesday and the hospital was able to stop my contractions (so I don't go into labor too early) and I was almost instantly pain free, I quickly decided to spend some time with my favorite 3.5 year old and bake Valentine's Day cookies! Lincoln is a frosting eating machine so he spent a whole lot more time eating than decorating, but we still had a good time.

Saturday, I had my baby sprinkle, which I wrote more about here! It was nice to spend some time, kiddo free, catching up with girlfriends and celebrating baby boy #2's impending arrival. At the shower, one of my girlfriends surprised me by flying in from Seattle, so after the shower was over, she came over for some much needed catchup time before having to catch a flight out.

While I spent Saturday morning with friends, Kevin and Lincoln headed out to celebrate Ice Cream for Breakfast Day! We live a few blocks from our favorite neighborhood ice cream parlor and they were celebrating this unofficial holiday in style! Waffle topped Sundaes, Donut Ice Cream Sandwiches, Cafe Affogato's, Chocolate covered bacon toppings and more! Needless to say, sick and all, Lincoln was more than willing to participate in ice cream for breakfast day.

Saturday evening was pretty low key. Lincoln had a 102 degree temperature this weekend and is fighting a cough among other things, so we're pretty sure he may have a mild version of the flu. We tried to keep it low key and he headed to be early on Saturday night.

Sunday, Kevin and Lincoln let me sleep in before Kevin headed off to run a few errands and Lincoln and I got some quality play time in. We alternated between playing firetrucks and dinosaurs as well as watching Cars 3 (his new official favorite movie) since he's still not feeling 100%. Sunday afternoon, before nap time, we got a quick park date in. When I say quick, I mean 15 minutes haha. I know my little guys isn't feeling well when after only 15 minutes at the park he was asking to go back home and go "night night" in mommy and dadd's bed.

Sunday afternoon was Superbowl fun! My parents came over for the game and we had enough food to feed an entire football team, ha! It was fun to watch the Eagles beat the Patriots, even if we did end up losing a bet with my dad.

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!

A Baby Sprinkle for Baby #2!

This past weekend my sister and a close friend of mine threw a little baby sprinkle for Baby Boy Alexander No. 2. It was so sweet and fun to celebrate the soon to be arrival of our newest addition.

The sprinkle was small and intimate and held at my girlfriend's house. Just a few close friends, with good food and good conversation.

They had a little wild animal theme, so everything from the diaper cake to the cupcake toppers was decorated and so cute. A few photos from the afternoon are below!