dallas moms blog

At the end of July I was asked to join the team of writers behind Dallas Moms Blog.  You should totally add them to your Blog Reader so you can see all the fun things they post about.  

I'm really excited about this fun opportunity.  I'll typically post 1-2 times a month.  

It's not a paying job, but the perks are pretty cool!  In a few weeks I get to attend Project Mom.  

It's a 1 day conference in Allen designed to inspire, motivate and renew Moms.  If you are interested in going, check out this post for a special code to get 25% off.  I'd love for you to join me!!

And if you haven't already seen it,  you can check out my first post on Dallas Moms Blog.  

kids eat free

Today Pearson and I got to eat lunch at Hook, Line & Sinker with some of the other Dallas Moms Blog Contributors.  Beginning on September 18th at the Preston location, Kids Eat FREE on Wednesdays!!  

I just had to post this picture that our PR representative posted because it totally represented our lunch date!  There were 7 Moms and 9 Kids so it was kind of crazy, but the food was delicious (and FREE), so we all enjoyed ourselves!!

First they brought us out a few of their appetizers including.....

The Mexican Cocktail.....so good!

 Shrimp Cocktail.....always my favorite!

They also brought us out some delicious stuffed jalepenos and some oysters that this pregnant Mama did not touch!! Eww yuck!!

Pearson thoroughly enjoyed his chicken nuggets and fries, but he wouldn't touch any kind of shrimp. 

I usually try to avoid fried food, but this fried shrimp was calling my name! It hit the spot today!!

I can guarantee we'll be hitting up Hook, Line & Sinker again in the near future......especially since it's right down the street from Matt's new office!!

What are some other restaurants that Kids Eat FREE?

 Also, be on the look out for my first post to go live this Thursday at Dallas Moms Blog.  I'm so excited to be apart of this neat blog. 

meal planning monday

Monday: BBQ Meatballs

Tuesday: Mexican Pasta Bake

Wednesday: Oriental Chicken Salad

Thursday: Baked Ziti, Fresh Veggies, & Garlic Toast

Friday: Southwestern Club Wraps & Cream Corn

Saturday Breakfast: Monkey Bread

Saturday Lunch: Out to Eat

Saturday Dinner: Biscuit Pizzas

Sunday Lunch: Salsa Chicken Tostadas

Sunday Dinner: BLT Sandwiches & Chips

baby no. 2 {14 weeks}

how far along? 14 weeks

how are you measuring? Right on track.  I was measuring one day ahead in my sono. 

size of baby? size of a lemon

heartbeat? 180's bpm (at our 13 week appt)

total weight gain/loss? 0 lbs

maternity clothes? No maternity clothes yet, but I did pull them out this week because I feel like the day is coming.  However, all of my pants were way to big, so it looks like I'll be wearing the Bella Band in the near future before I really grow a bump that fits into my maternity pants. 

stretch marks? No new ones. Just a few faded ones leftover from my sweet first born!

sleep?  Sleeping pretty good this week with only one to two bathroom trips a night.  I starting to be able to stay up a little later at night and I only took three naps this week.  I'm really hoping my energy is starting to come back!!

best moment this week?  We had a fun trip visiting Matt at work this week and I started my "Nesting To Do List".  This week I got my closet all cleaned out!! Next up.....our bathroom.  

movement? I keep think I'm feeling it but I have had really bad gas lately so it's actually that.  I'm so excited that I will be feeling him or her soon. 

food cravings? Pasta! I had pasta so much this week which probably accounts for my weight gain. 

gender predictions? I still honestly have no idea.  With Pearson I feel like I always knew he was a boy, but I just don't know this go round.  I keep going back and forth.  Every time we ask Pearson, he always says girl.  We even switch the order that we ask him so he doesn't just say the last one.  He always says girl.  I wonder if he is right.  We scheduled our gender sono for September 24th.  I can't wait to find out!!!

what i miss? I miss feeling thin.  I'm totally in the in between stage where I don't really look pregnant but just a little fluffy. 
what i'm looking forward to? I am so ready to find out what we are having.  At this point with Pearson I had nursery ideas and names thought of for both sexes, but with this one I am just waiting to find out so I only have to plan one nursery and one name.  I can't wait to know if we'll have another blue nursery or a little splash of pink in our house!!
how are you feeling? No complaints this week.  I'm feeling great!! Okay, one thing.....I black out all the time. Not just when I go from laying to standing. So annoying!!

comparisons to last pregnancy? I'm starting to show sooner. 

Here I am 14 weeks with Pearson and 14 weeks with Baby No. 2.

food truck friday

We've been meaning to go eat lunch with Daddy all summer long, and we just hadn't gotten around to it.  I'm so thankful that for the past 5 years Matt has made the drive to downtown Dallas for work.  I sure wouldn't be able to handle it.  Since Matt will be starting a new job closer to home in a few weeks, I figured Pearson and I better get out to Dallas to see all of his co-workers one last time. 

It worked out perfectly because some Food Trucks came to Children's yesterday and we got to have a fun little lunch date!!

I got mac n cheese and a brisket sandwich from OinknMoo BBQ.  It was good but not near as good as Matt's lunch!!

 Matt got fajita nachos from Rock N Roll Tacos.  They were amazing!!

Pearson got soooooooooooo sweaty while we were waiting for our food.  Thank goodness Matt's office was close so we could take our food back upstairs to eat.

I'm going to be so glad when Matt is working closer to home so we can do lunch dates more often!!

Look at how Pearson has changed over the last few years of us visiting Daddy at work!!

For almost half of our drive home Pearson cried, "Daddy's work, Daddy's work".  He was so sad to leave.  I know he will happy when he can visit him more often for lunch too!!

i promise I'll blog again soon.....

Woah, y'all......

This pregnancy exhaustion is about to do me in. I'm pretty sure I have slept away the entire month of August.  I'm promise when my energy starts to kick back in and I don't require a 2 hour nap in the afternoon and a 9:00 bedtime, I will get my blog back up an running.  

Until then, my posts will be sporadic!! 

Thanks for hanging in there with me though!!

meal planning monday

Monday:  Lasagna, Caesar Salad, & Parmesan Toast

Tuesday: Dinner @ The Havard's

Wednesday: Grilled Chicken, Broccoli, & Rosemary Parmesan New Potatoes

Thursday: Green Onion Casserole & Salad

Friday: Pigs in a Blanket & Cheesy Eggs & Grits

Saturday Breakfast: Monkey Bread

Saturday Lunch: Edamame & Black Bean Salad

Saturday Dinner: Mexican Pasta & Salad

Sunday Lunch: Last Sunday Lunch w/ our ABF

Sunday Dinner: Pizza

Baby No. 2 {13 weeks}

how far along? 13 weeks

how are you measuring? Right on track.  I was measuring one day ahead in my sono. 

size of baby? size of a medium shrimp, the length of pea pod about 3 inches

heartbeat? 188 bpm (at our 9 week sono)

total weight gain/loss? -1.4 lb

maternity clothes? Nope not yet! I'm enjoying every last moment in my shorts that still fit!!

stretch marks? No new ones. 

sleep?  I have gotten a little more energy back and haven't felt the need to nap everyday.  I think I only took two naps this weeks. I used to take a nap everyday and go to bed early and now I just feel like I need to go to bed early.  Most nights I'm in bed before 9 or 9:30. I've been sleeping hard and only getting up once to go to the bathroom. 

best moment this week?  Matt got a new job!! Praise the Lord!! He'll be working closer to home starting on September 9th. And, Matt helped me clean the entire house on Saturday.  It was desperate for a good cleaning so it was nice to have him help me knock it out. 

movement? Not yet, but I'm soooooo ready to feel him/her. Little baby kicks are my favorite part of pregnancy.

food cravings? Bring on the sweets!! On Saturday I just HAD to have a peanut butter shake from Sonic.

gender predictions? This week I have had so many people tell me that they think I'm having a girl! Who really knows!! I'm just excited to find out.  Five more weeks!!

what i miss? I miss having a gym membership. It's so hard to motivate myself to work out at home. 
what i'm looking forward to? My appointment this week.  It's just always good to get a good report from the doctor and hear that sweet heartbeat.
how are you feeling? Feeling great this week.  For the most part my nausea has gone away. I only felt a little sick this week when a few smells got to me.  

comparisons to last pregnancy? My breasts are so tender and huge already. I don't remember them getting big until the end of my pregnancy with Pearson.  I definitely feel like I'm starting to have a little baby bump, but I still feel very bloated, so I don't know how much of it is actually baby!!

Here I am 13 weeks with Pearson and 13 weeks with Baby No. 2.

pearson {26 months}

• This month you have really started to throw screaming fits when you don't get things your way.  i.e. when a TV show is over, when it's time for bed, when we have to leave somewhere, when it's time to clean up, etc. Please tell me this is normal 2 year old behavior and we aren't the only ones in that boat. 
• You know ALL of your sounds and all of the little motions that I used with my Kindergarteners. You are so incredibly smart.  
• We are working on learning your colors, but those just haven't clicked like numbers and letter did.  You know all the names of the colors, but when we point to something and ask you what color it is, you get it wrong about 90% of the time.  You confidently throw out a color, but you are almost always wrong.  This week I think we finally mastered orange, red, and blue. 
• We are having you put your dishes in the sick if they are totally empty.  We tell you to "Go put it in the kitchen sink", but you call it the "Chicken Sink". Love it!!
• Anytime you hear the song "Up all night to get lucky", you sing "Yucky, Yucky Yucky" over and over again. 
• You are obsessed with trailers. 
• Anytime you spot a fire truck, police car or ambulance on the road, you let us know!!
• You started crying this month when we drop you off at the nursery at church.  You only cry for like 2 minutes, but it's so weird because you have never done that. 
• You love to dip your food into any kind of dip.  Ranch, ketchup, BBQ sauce etc.  However, you call it "duck".
• You are very much into yourself.  Everything is "Pearson's ball", "Pearson's turn", "Pearson's cup" etc.  The other day I gave one of your friends a horsey ride on my lap and you came running up to me say "Pearson's Horsey".
• When we drive by Lolly's house you say "Go dis way".  You get very sad when we don't stop by there house, so most of the time I avoid going into our neighborhood on their side to avoid the tears!
• When we ask you where the baby is you point to my belly, but then you lift up your shirt and say baby as you point to your belly, and then you do the same thing for Daddy. Apparently we have babies in our bellies.  
• First thing every morning you say "Daddy Work" and I have to tell you Daddy isn't at home because he's at work. 
• Your favorite book right now is "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom".  You love to say "OH NO" when the letters fall out of the tree. 
• When you play peek-a-boo you say "Pearson Doh" (Pearson Go) until we say "Where did Pearson go?  You will not come out until we say that to you!!
• When we drive on the road that goes to Chick-fil-A he start say "Chick-A-Way!".  He loves our weekly trip to Chick-fil-A for breakfast. 
• We started giving you gummy vitamins this month and you love them.  You call them "Bia-Mints".  He always wants more than one but he always reminds us that he just gets "One Bia-Mint".  He holds his finger out.
• You are obsessed with things being too hot. 
• You always say "Bless You" after we sneeze and you are really starting to say "Thank You" at the appropriate times. Most the time you say "Qweeze"(Please) when you want something. Hopefully you will be a little boy with good manners!
• You used to always shake your head and say "No, No" but lately you have started just saying "Noooooooo" in really whiney voice.  It is driving me crazy so I'm trying to teach you to say Yes Ma'am and No Ma'am.  When you do say it, it comes out "Yes, Man" and "No, Man".  We've got a little Jamaican!!
• You have a good understanding of what it means when the stove it too hot.  If I'm cooking, you will put your hand in the air and say "Too Hot".  However, you always think your food is too hot forever.  You will even touch cold food and say too hot. Silly boy!

annual back to school swim party

This past Sunday our ABF had our "Annual Back to School Swim Party".  For the past three years we have had a "Back to School" Party even though we don't really have kids going back to school.  In our defense, we do have lots of teachers in our class that do go back to school.  And this year we have quite a few kiddos, some of which are going to school!! Not elementary school, but Mother's Day Out and preschool!!! Ahh, I can't believe Pearson is about to start two day a week preschool in two weeks!!

 It's crazy to think that two years ago Pearson was the only little baby in our class.  Since then we have added a few boys that are older than Pearson and a little girl that is just a bit younger than him and added 10 babies.  Not to mention there are 6 more on the way! Our class take the whole "Be fruitful and multiply" verse seriously!!

Pearson had a ball jumping in with Brynn & Cooper (the two kiddos his age). 

{The Reams}

 {The Davis'}

 {The Goodings}

 {The Hills}

 {The Cooks}

 {The Raneys}

 {Silly Westin}

 {The Ogles with our newest addition to our class, Eva Mae}

I missed a few other families that were there, Westin's parents, The Hanks and our hosts, The Hares.

And of course my little two year old wouldn't cooperate for a picture. 

 We all brought sides and desserts to share, but Tim was a meat griller for the night! He made some delicious hamburgers and hot dogs. 

 Pearson and Cooper had a little indoor picnic.  They are too cute together! 

 After dinner we all just hung out in the house and watched this kiddos play.  Denise is the baby/kid whisperer of our class and is always so good with the kids.  She has lots of good experience being a nanny of a little girl Pearson's age. 

 Pearson and Cooper reading a story with Cooper's Mommy.  

We are seriously so blessed by all the people we get to "do life" with.  I am already looking forward to the many fun events we have planned for this fall/winter with our ABF!!

meal planning monday

Monday: Boys: Enchiladas, Rice & Beans Me: Bunco

Tuesday: Taco Tuesday

Wednesday: Crockpot Honey Sesame Chicken, Broccoli, & white rice

Thursday: Sausage Gravy & Biscuits

Friday: White Cheese & Chicken Enchiladas and Garlic Toast

Saturday Breakfast: Homemade Donuts

Saturday Lunch: Chicken Salad Sandwiches & Chips

Saturday Dinner: Cobb Salad

Sunday Lunch: Grilled Cheese & Tomato Basil Soup

Sunday Dinner: Leadership Mtg @ The Church

Baby No. 2 {12 weeks}

how far along? 12 weeks

how are you measuring? Right on track.  I was measuring one day ahead in my sono. 

size of baby? size of a lime

heartbeat? 188 bpm (at our 9 week sono)

total weight gain/loss? -1.0 lb

maternity clothes? My regular clothes are fitting fine, but my workout clothes are feeling a little snug.  I'm not sure if that's because I'm growing because of the baby or because I still haven't worked out.  That's now 3 weeks without working out.  I need to get my booty in gear, I'm just soooooooo tired. 

stretch marks? No new ones. 

sleep?  I'm only getting up once a night to go to the bathroom. I feel like I'm not going as much as I did with Pearson because I'm not drinking as much water.  I really need to force myself to drink more, even if that means more trips to the bathroom. I slept a little restlessly this week, but I don't think it's because of the baby. I've been on edge waiting to hear if Matt got a new job or not.  (update on monday: he got the job!!)

best moment this week?  When we ask Pearson where the baby he is actually started pointing to my belly and says "Mommy's baby".  But then he points to his belly and says "Pearson's baby" and then he points to Daddy's belly and says "Daddy's baby".  We all have babies in our belly according to Pearson and it's the cutest thing ever!!

movement? I keep think I'm feeling it but I have had really bad gas lately so it's actually that.  I'm so excited that I will be feeling him or her soon. 

food cravings? Nothing new or crazy!

gender predictions? This week when I've been talking about the baby I have been saying "him".  I don't know if that's because I'm thinking it's a boy or if that's just what I'm used to saying because I already have boy.  Six more weeks until we find out though!!

what i miss? Working out. I meant to work out this week but I napped instead.  This little baby is seriously sucking the life out of me.  
what i'm looking forward to? Nesting! I can't wait until I get all my energy back.  I've got a schedule for how I'm going to clean out every room in my house when I finally get some energy.  I'm doing some major cleaning out before this baby comes, but I've gotta have the energy to do it before I get started!!
how are you feeling? Other than a gassy tummy in the evenings, I'm really feeling great.  Of course I'm dog tired, but feeling great. I not feeling nauseous much at all lately.  First thing in the morning I feel sick unless I get something to eat really quick.  Food or even orange juice does the trick every time!!

comparisons to last pregnancy? Ugh, gas.  This was probably my worst pregnancy symptom with Pearson.  It's different with this baby, but it's gas none the less and it's no fun. 

Here I am 12 weeks with Pearson and 12 weeks with Baby No. 2.

knock, knock.....is anyone there?

So, you might have noticed I took a little blog break this week.  

I just had too many things going on this week to make time for the blog.

This week was full of.....

......contacting all the girls in my Discussion Group for MOPS.

......doing lots of recruiting for the Preschool Ministry.  

.....working on the curriculum for the preschoolers in MOPS.

.....going through all of my teacher stuff to start selling it. 

.....shopping for baby gifts for four of my friends that are having baby girls.

......nannying 3 little girls.

.....cooking banana bread and zucchini muffins with my little chef.

.....had a fun friday night out at Chuy's with my boys.

.....went to an ABF pool party.

Oh, and we can't forget taking 2-3 hour naps and going to bed at 8:30.

This little baby inside of me is sucking the life out of me!!!

And....

.....maybe I played a little Candy Crush too!!

It took me all week long to beat Level 110.

Now, off to catch up on some blogging.  

I've got a 10 on 10 post, an ABF swim party post, a Baby No. 2 

bump post, and a meal planning monday post in the works!!

10 on 10 {august 2013}

 While I was on my little blog break I almost forgot to do my 10 on 10 post.  I remember first thing Saturday morning that I needed to take pictures, but I just didn't get them up on the 10th!!

It's Saturday morning tradition to lay in bed and watch Mickey Mouse with our little guy!  The first thing Pearson says every morning is "Daddy work", but on Saturdays and Sundays I get to tell him that "Daddy is Home!!".  He loves it when Daddy is home!!!

 Pearson is obsessed with his new "bye-a-mints".  He would have one with every meal if we let him. 

 We've been experiencing these lovely screaming fits every now and then lately.  We really don't know what started this one.  He is soooooooo TWO years old!!

The boys stayed home and played today while I went to a baby shower luncheon for my friend Jennie.

 On my way home I had to stop by and get some milk.  I always thought people were crazy when they put more than a gallon in their grocery cart, but we are now officially a two gallon a week family.  Pearson drinks a ton of milk and now that we always have it on hand I drink it a whole lot more. There were two gallons that were on Manager's Special because they are going out of date in a week.  We will have both of these gallons gone before then so this was a great deal on milk for us!!

 While Pearson was napping I got to play hair dresser!!

 When Pearson woke up from his nap we headed over to our friend's house for an ABF pool party.

 Pearson loved getting to play with all of his friends, especially his new friend Cooper.....or as he calls him "Cooker". 

After a fun evening with friends it was time for bath & bed.   

What a fun 10th!!