24 weeks

Here's the newest belly picture :)


I have a very active boy growing in me :) I had a night of Braxton Hicks contractions, two weeks ago, and thankfully have not felt any since. The good that came out of that... I had a doctor-ordered ultrasound and I got to see our baby boy!! He's kicking as I'm typing this... either he knows I'm talking about him, or my Cold Stone ice cream has made it to him. :)

Zoo with friends

Today our play date took us to the OKC Zoo. I was really excited to take Kaitlyn because she knows a lot of the animals and their sounds, and there was a new Children's Zoo that just opened too. We met all our friends at the entrance, then strolled to the Children's Zoo to see what it was all about. Right at the entrance there was colorful birds, and a pond with HUGE fish. There was also a petting barnyard that had sheep, pigs, rabbits, goats, and even donkeys! The goats were out for all the kids to pet. Kaitlyn kept saying how the animals were "messy". It was cute.

It was just a neat little area. The benches were cut logs to fit the theme.

Kaitlyn and Kate

Kaitlyn and Cater, both very excited to see the monkeys

A big slide, for those who didn't want to take the stairs

Kaitlyn got to see Giraffes, Zebras, Rhinos, Lions, Cougars, and so many more animals!

Friends: Macey, Carter, and Lily

On our way home, Kaitlyn reminded me that she got to pet the goats, and the friends that were there. She had a lot of fun. I think we will probably make more frequent trips now that the weather is getting warmer (finally).

And to complete a great day, I got some awesome deals! :-D I needed to get Kaitlyn more milk, so I checked the store's weekly deals, made a small list, and got my coupons ready. Kaitlyn was really funny... we always need to get the cart with the car attached to the front. So she gets into the front and starts to steer us in. Once I stopped the cart to find the item to match my coupon, Kaitlyn would get out of the car, want to put the item in the cart, and then hop back into the car so we could keep moving. She did it for EVERY item. It was really cute.

When we pay Kaitlyn has to help put the items on the belt, being mommy's little helper. But this grocery store, you just push your cart right up to the cashier and they empty the cart as they ring in the items. The only way I could get Kaitlyn to wait for our bags was by letting her give the cashier a few items. Kaitlyn also handed some of our coupons to the cashier as well as the cash I pulled out. The cashier seemed pretty impressed, and asked me how old she was. She seemed a little surprised when I told her Kaitlyn just turned 2. It's the not the first time she's blown people away with how awesome she is :)

Now this is awesome... all this for $20

2 gallons of milk, 2 V8 Fusion juice, 2 lunchables, 2 Degree deodorants, Pantene shampoo and conditioner, 3 Land o Lakes butter, bananas, and 10 pack of Gatorade.

Deal Domination

I told you I was going back for more deals today. :) I think I made out better today than I did the last two days! I went back to the consignment sale to look for things for Kaitlyn. She doesn't need near as much as baby boy. We found quite a few things pretty fast, so I thought I would be adventurous and look through the books and toys... with a toddler, YIKES!

Kaitlyn did extremely well today! She picked out two books (with sounds), and I put two others that I think she will like in my bag too. They kept her occupied enough to get done looking through the books and toys. Then I remembered a few things that I have mostly PINK like receiving blankets, towels, washcloths, car seat headrest, burp cloths... well I found all that in BLUE! I do have some yellow blankets, etc, but now combined with the things I got today... we should be set!

Here's a picture of the things I got at the consignment sale (all for a grand total of $90, Kaitlyn's outfits were half my total)

This trip I got:
3- dresses
2- shorts
1- zip up hoodie
5- short sleeve tops
1- tan car seat headrest
2- bath towels
11- wash cloths
13- burp cloths
9- receiving blankets
4- books

Now I felt that Kaitlyn could handle a few extra "deal" errands, so we made our second trip to CVS for more diapers, which I got for 4.86 a pack (I only had one $2, the rest were $1.50), still makes me excited! I got two packs for baby boy on the way and two packs of pull ups for Kaitlyn (she is so close to potty training!). It didn't end there... I had two FREE gallons of milk I needed to get.

I went to Homeland (a local chain here) last night to get cereal, and after my purchase their coupon machine printed off two coupons for FREE milk. Since I had another coupon left to match their deal, I made a second trip there today, got 5 more boxes of cereal and two gallons of milk and paid 3.92!!! I think I am starting to get the hang of couponing :)

I got all this for $26 :-D

GREAT DEALS!!!

Ok... I know this may not be what most of my readers are interested in, but I am so excited I just have to share! Getting prepared for baby #2 has been easy with all the deals I am getting! I got 4 packages of diapers for 4.42 a pack :) (I'll be going back for more tomorrow). Then tonight I picked up 5 boxes of cereal (name brand) for $5, and I got two FREE gallons of milk to go with them. And earlier today I got a TON of clothes for baby boy for $158. I know that sounds like a lot, but when I tell you the details, you would think I spent over $500.
This is a picture of all the clothes I got for our unborn son. It's official... he won't need socks until he's 3. I got:
61- pairs of socks (newborn to 2T)
18- sleepers (sizes 0-9 months)
10- rompers (rompers are casual t-shirt type onesies)
6- collared onesies (great for church)
5- long sleeve onesies
5- side snap tees (GREAT for hot weather)
2- overall outfits
6- pants

I would like to get back to get some stuff for Kaitlyn. She was a little difficult when we were shopping. She didn't want to sit in her stroller, she wanted to explore! I packed a snack and juice and always have crayons and paper in my purse for her, but she had no interest in them. I had to hold her pretty much the the whole two hours we were there so she wouldn't get into everything. We saw a disability dog there, and she wanted to pet the "puppy," then she saw the play kitchens and kept whining about wanting to play with it along with all the other toys we had to pass, and of course by the time we were ready to check out, so was EVERYONE else... the line was insanely long! I had fun holding a squirmy two-year-old... my arms were tired by the time we left! Totally worth it :)

Got the pictures

Grandma and Grandpa mailed the pictures they took from their visit. Between Grandpa and Aunt Alli I uploaded almost 200 pictures! :) Here are just a few from their visit.

coloring Easter eggs

Nice job! They look delicious!

Playing with her toys in her baby's playpen

Bailey loves to sit on Kaitlyn's couch

Two pregnant mamas! :)

This makes me laugh. :)
I wonder if she felt like she was at a Disney Resort... :)

Kaitlyn likes to play with Chauncey

No more yellow :) Thanks to my awesome painters :)

here's the dining room before
Getting tired while shoe shopping

Getting ready to go out for dinner :)

Grandma likes the bunny tail on the back of Kaitlyn's towel

Thank you for sending them to me :) I didn't take any pictures while you guys were here. I'm healthy now... wanna come back? :)

Thank you for coming :)

Now that I am feeling better... our company has gone home :( I wish they could have stayed longer so I could have enjoyed their company while healthy.

While they were here we got a lot accomplished around the house. So much I can't believe we did it all in a week. I think the biggest thing they did was spend time with Kaitlyn while I was sick with bronchitis. I am so thankful that they love us so much to help us out as much as they did. I will post pictures from their visit soon :) (they are all on Grandpa's camera). Kaitlyn was asking where "Auntie" (Alli), Grandma and Grandpa went after they left here Friday morning. I know that she really enjoyed having so many people to play with her.

I know I will miss a few things... but some of the things we did while they were here: got a new, bigger, kitchen table, picked up a twin bed for Kaitlyn's big girl bed, started to get decor for our baby boy's nursery (including putting up curtains and needing to stain a curtain rod to match the wood), got new (and more) towel bars for the guest bathroom, a few new decorations for the guest room, a new exhaust fan in the guest bath, centering our light fixture over the kitchen table, a dimmer switch for the dining area, painting the dining and laundry rooms, fertilizing the lawn and filling and seeding holes, joined me for an ultrasound to see baby boy, cooking meals, bringing extra shelves for the garage, carpet piece for the garage, extra rugs, Christmas lights and our tree, and the best part... Disney souvenirs for Kaitlyn and boy outfits for our newest addition. Alli and I did get a chance to make it downtown to the movie theater to see "Alice and Wonderland" which was a lot of fun (even if I was coughing the whole time).

We really cannot thank you guys enough for everything you did while you were here. I really appreciate all that you did, especially helping with Kaitlyn while I was sick. I do not know how I would have managed this week without your help. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!! I look forward to seeing the pictures from Grandpa's camera so I can post some on our blog soon :) and of course we look forward to seeing you this summer to meet our little man :)

Sick with visitors

Last Monday, I started to feel a cold coming on so I thought it would be best to rest to prevent the cold from coming on. I wanted to nip this cold before our company arrived on Friday. Grandma and Grandpa Van and Aunt Alli drove down from Michigan to see us. I feel terrible... we planned all these fun activities (and mini work projects) and I have been on the couch, coughing and being miserable.

I'll upload some pictures from Grandpa's camera soon.

Crayons in the "pocket"

I talk about the silly things Kaitlyn does. I was at the counter checking e-mail, and I hear Kaitlyn saying "pocket, pocket." I grabbed my camera to get video and picture of this cute moment! This happened right before we were going to leave for her 2 year well check up. She got two shots in her leg, and she didn't even cry! What a big girl! She's around the 30% for weight, and 50% in height.

She moved all her letters from the fridge to the oven

belly full of crayons

this is from a few days ago...
Kaitlyn put all her stickers on Chauncey.

Here's a short clip of Kaitlyn