northpark fun

This morning Pearson and I headed to Northpark for a morning of fun!  We got there early to pick up a ticket to see Santa, then picked up some Starbucks to sip on while we strolled around the mall.  We even got to listen to some high schoolers sing some Christmas Carols. 

We went back to "Santa's Castle" as Pearson called it, for Storytime with Santa at 10:30.  As soon as he saw Santa walk in he started saying "Santa, Santa".  He knew exactly who he was and was excited to listen to him.  

 Pearson enjoyed listening to his stories and actually stayed relatively still the entire time. 

 After storytime we still had a little to kill so we did a little shopping before we went down to see Santa. Matt was able to meet up with us for pictures with Santa!!

I had no idea how Pearson would be this year.  He definitely knows who Santa is and talks about him all the time.  When he saw him at storytime he seemed to be excited, but you just never know with a two year old.  The can be so unpredictable.  I thought since he cried last year he might cry again this year.  I was wrong though.  He sat right in his lap and was pretty mesmerized by him.  He didn't crack a smile the entire time but he was pretty interested in him.  

 The past two years Santa was pretty quick ask us to take Pearson back, but this year he really spend some time with him.  

 He showed him this little toy and then talked to him about what he wanted for Christmas.  

 He even sent him home with this little book.  

After pictures we all grabbed some lunch in the food court.  What a fun little morning we got to spend with Daddy Northpark!!

 And because you know I love a good comparison picture, here's Pearson past three Santa pictures!!  

holiday express train ride

Last night we took Pearson on a Holiday Express Train Ride.  

You can read all about it here on Dallas Moms Blog.

desktop {desktop}

This month's desktop freebie doesn't have a picture on it, so if you don't have photoshop you can actually utilize this desktop this month!! You can download the desktop here. 

meal planning monday

Monday: Chicken Poppyseed Casserole, Brown Rice, & Green Beans

Tuesday: Turkey Tetrazinni and Salad

Wednesday: Steak Fingers, Mashed Potatoes, Green Beans, & Biscuits

Thursday: Out to Eat w/ Matt's Parents

Friday: KITCHEN CLOSED

Saturday: KITCHEN CLOSED

Sunday:  KITCHEN CLOSED

baby no. 2 {28 weeks}

**Pardon the funny color in the picture. I am without a camera this week so I had to use my iPhone!

how far along? 28 weeks

how are you measuring? measuring right on track

size of baby? size of a eggplant

heartbeat? 148bpm (at our 25 week appointment) 

total weight gain/loss? I didn't weigh this morning because we weren't home, but it can't be good.  I'm feeling huge!! I was hoping to gain less that 40 pounds this go round but I feel like I'm on track to gain 40 again.  Oh well......I lost 45 pounds after Pearson so I know I can do it again if I have to. 

maternity clothes? Yep!

stretch marks? No new stretch marks and no line on the belly.  I wonder if I will escape that dark ugly line that I got on top and bottom of my belly button.  It was so awful looking so I would love to escape it. 

sleep? Pretty good this week. I can't complain. Pearson has been sleeping in until 8:30 or 9 this past week so I have been "sleeping in" until 7:30 or so and then just relaxing in the mornings before he wakes up.

best moment this week? A wonderful Thanksgiving with my family and a fun Saturday in Sherman with Matt's family. 

movement? Yes! Lots of movement in the evenings.  

food cravings? Chai Tea Lattes.  I still can't get enough of them. 

gender predictions? BOY!!!! Nash Matthew Link

what i miss? Just feeling comfortable and being able to move and bend as I please.  
what i'm looking forward to? Our kid-free weekend away (Babymoon #2) to San Antonio and seeing some friends we haven't seen in a really long time!!
how are you feeling? Feeling pretty good this week.  My only complaint is that my body is just plum tired in the evenings.  I start having lots of Braxton Hicks contractions in the evening, my back starts to ache and I just don't feel comfortable.  

comparisons to last pregnancy? I feel smaller in the belly this go round, but I feel like all of my weight gain is going straight to my butt boobs.  I also feel like I haven't done much in preparation for Nash lately.  With Pearson I feel like I was constantly doing something to get ready for him.  Ever since we got most of Nash's room finished I haven't done much.  I guess there isn't really much else to do since we have most everything we need and we are having another boy. 

Here I am 28 weeks with Pearson and 28 weeks with Nash.

countdown to christmas

This year we are going to start a new tradition with Pearson.  We are going to countdown to Christmas by unwrapping and reading a Christmas book each night.  I can't take credit for this idea at all.  I first got it from a friend in college, but since then it's all over Pinterest.

 This was an easy tradition for me to get started because I have an abundance of children's books from when I was a teacher.  I had way more than 25 Christmas books to choose from this year, however some of them are not the greatest.  Pearson won't care this year though.  He doesn't understand all of the stories we read to him, plus he mainly likes to just look through all of the pictures.  Each year I'm going to buy a new Christmas book to add to our collection.  I'd like to get more books that focus on the birth of Jesus.  I don't really have any since I taught in a public school.  I'm totally okay with having Santa books, but I'd like to have a good mix of Jesus and Santa books.  

This year our new book was a Search and Find book that I found at Sam's.  Pearson is totally into these books so I thought it would be a fun book for him to open on December 1st.  

 Here are a few of my favorite books from my collection.........

Fa La La by Leslie Patracelli

We  bought this book for Pearson last year and he absolutely loves it.  He calls it the "La La" book.  I love all of Leslie Patracelli books.  They are perfect for toddlers.  Quick easy reads!!

 The Tale of Three Trees by Angela Elwell Hunt

This book isn't totally a Christmas book but it is definitely Jesus centered.  It kind of has a little Christmas story part and an Easter story part, but it's a neat book so I threw it in the mix. 

 The Christmas Alphabet by Robert Clarke Sabuda

This was always a favorite of my students.  Each letter has a page you open with a pop-up illustration to represent each letter.  They are all such neat pop-up and my kids always loved guessing what was behind each page.  While this book is really cool, we'll have to open it and then put it high on a shelf to only read with Mommy & Daddy.  It's a fragile book that I would hate to have messed up. 

 Merry Christmas Mom and Dad by Mercer Mayer

This is just a good ole classic Christmas book.  I remember reading this book as a kid.  It's short and simple and I know Pearson will love it this year!

One of my very favorite Christmas books has gone missing.  I just might have to buy a new copy of it because the story is just so cute.  It's called How Santa Got his Job by Stephen Krensky.  It's all about the jobs that Santa had before he got his "real job" as Santa.

If you don't have 25 books to start this year, here are a few places you can check out before you go to Barnes & Noble and spend $15 per book.  

1.  Library

2.  Scholastic Book Orders

3.  Half-Price Books

4.  Amazon

5.  Facebook Garage Sale Sites

And also, I found this link on Pinterest that had some great ideas for Jesus Centered Christmas Books.  I will definitely be checking some of these out for our family in the future!!

What are some of your favorite Children's Christmas books?? I'd love to know so I can add them to my list for our collection!!

thanksgiving 2013

We switch off which family we spend Thanksgiving with each year.  This year we spend the day with my family.  It was a smaller crowd than normal because my older brother and his family were with his wife's family and one of my uncle's hosted his in laws at their house.  Pearson was the only little one there so he soaked up all the extra attention from my teenage cousins.  

I didn't get a picture of any of our delicious food but trust me, it was all yummy!! We don't set the table all pretty, have our food prepared in a fancy way, or eat on fine china, but my Mom and grandma's cooking totally makes up for it.  It's really the best!!  Plus, I couldn't care less about things being fancy.  The most important part about Thanksgiving to me is spending time with the ones I love.  

After lunch we had a little birthday celebration for my cousin Cole complete with presents, a pinata and ice-cream cake (on top of all the typical Thanksgiving desserts).

While some of the family spent the afternoon in a turkey coma, the rest of us just enjoyed the afternoon hanging out, chatting and watching the Cowboys play football. 

This silly ball provided hours of entertainment for Pearson.  My cousins would bounce him on it and he would roll around and fall.  We kept telling him to "be careful" because he would get really close to hitting his head on the fireplace.  By the end of the evening he would hop on the ball and say "I be careful".  It was so funny!!

We all had a good laugh when my cousin Kennedy played a little prank on my Uncle!!

We had such a fun day with all of my family.  I am so bless to have such a wonderful family.  I am incredibly thankful this year for my THREE boys.  I can't wait to have little Nash in my arms in February!!

Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours!!

my little turkey

We've had our Christmas tree up for about a week now, so in an effort to not skip Thanksgiving we did a few little Thanksgiving activities today.  This morning we went to Collin Creek Mall for the Chick-fil-A Tiny Tot Story Time and had a great time singing to turkey songs, listening to Thanksgiving stories, and munching on some chicken nuggets.  We even left with a fun little packet of Thanksgiving activities to keep us busy tomorrow!!

Daddy got home from work a little early this afternoon so when Pearson woke up from his nap we made an apple turkey together.  

 Daddy helped with the tail feathers and then I helped with the face.  

 He was so proud of his little creation when we were finished!!

I'm pretty sure he thought the best part of this activity was eating the marshmallows and cranberries afterwards.  He had never had marshmallows before so he was in heaven.  He ate every single on of them before he even got to the cranberries.  

Having a little one around the holidays is just so much fun.  I'm looking forward to spending the day with my little family three plus all my extended family tomorrow!! 

the trains at northpark

Yesterday Pearson and I went to check out The Trains at NorthPark.  I have lived in the Dallas area my entire life and this is the 26th year for the trains to be at NorthPark, but this was my first time to ever go.    Since Pearson loves anything moves, I had a feeling he would like it, but you just never know with a toddler!!  I was right though, he did really liked.  In fact I would say he LOVED it!! We had so much fun together looking at all the Trains then spending the afternoon walking through NorthPark.

He sat at this little window forever and watched the Thomas train go around and around.  Each time it would come around he look at me and say, "Mommy, Thomas again." He pointed to everything little thing he saw and recognized and was just bouncing up and down as each train passed. 

When we weren't watching Thomas the Train he would look at each train passing and say "look at dat choo-choo, Mommy" then "look at dis choo-choo, Mommy".  He was just mesmerized by all of the trains.  

While Pearson favorite part was watching the actual trains, I enjoyed all the scenes.  They were all so real looking and so neat to see.

If you were thinking about checking out The Trains at NorthPark this year, here is a little information to help you out!!

When: Saturday, November 23, 2013-Sunday January 5, 20114

Early Closings: November 27th-6pm, December 24th- 4pm, December 31st- 6pm, January 1st- 6pm, Closed Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day; Open New Year's Day

Where:  NorthPark Center, Level Two, Nordstrom Wing between Sephora and Free People

Cost:  $6.00 for adults $3.00 for children (ages 2 to 12) and senior citizens (65 and older) Children under 2 admitted free  {Discount tickets available at Tom Thumb ($1.00 off regular admission)}

Disclaimer: I was provided 2 free tickets to check out the Trains at NorthPark; however all opinions expressed in the post are 100% my own.

meal planning monday

Monday:  Dinner @ My Parents

Tuesday:  Dinner @ The Havard's

Wednesday: Stew & Cornbread

Thursday:  Thanksgiving @ Nonnie's (Making Corn Casserole & Turkey Cupcakes)

Friday: Leftover Turkey & Swiss Paninis

Saturday Breakfast: Pumpkin Pancakes

Saturday Lunch: Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad

Saturday Dinner: Turkey (or Chicken) Tetrazinni

Sunday Lunch: Out to Eat

Sunday Dinner: Lasagna, Green Beans, Garlic Toast

baby no. 2 {27 weeks}

how far along? 27 weeks

how are you measuring? measuring right on track

size of baby? size of a rutabaga

heartbeat? 148bpm (at our 25 week appointment) 

total weight gain/loss? 16lbs........and they just keep on coming....ugh!!

maternity clothes? All maternity clothes except cardigans!

stretch marks? No new ones. I've really got to get better at lotioning up.  I forget most nights.

sleep? So much better this week.  Most nights I wake up to go to the bathroom at 1:30 and 4:30 which was exactly what I did with Pearson and then ended up being our nursing schedule for the first couple weeks when I had to wake up twice a night with him. 

best moment this week? Pulling out Pearson's old baby clothes and seeing how teeny tiny they were.  I forget how tiny new born clothes are.  I can't wait to have a teeny tiny baby in our home again!!

movement? Yes! I feel like he is going to be a really long baby.  He sometimes kicks me really low in the groin and the top my belly at the same time.  He also does not like to be squished.  If I slump over, bed over or have bad posture, he kicks me hard to let me know to straighten up.  He doesn't like his space invaded.  

food cravings? Milk Duds

gender predictions? BOY!!!! Nash Matthew Link

what i miss? Having a flat stomach and being able to bend over with a belly getting in the way.
what i'm looking forward to? The Christmas Season.  We put our Christmas tree up this weekend and Pearson is just in awe of it.  It's going to be so fun to see Christmas through his eyes this year as he starts to grasp some of it.
how are you feeling? So much better this week.  No Charlie Horses, no sciatic nerve pain and no hand or feet falling asleep.  Praise the Lord!! I feel great all day and get around just fine, but after Pearson's nap (which is usually after I've been busy working on some sort of project) I start to poop out.  By the time Matt gets home I am completely exhausted and my body just starts to hurt. I have Braxton Hicks contractions occasionally throughout the day, but they always pick up in the evening.  I end up spending most of my evening on the couch.  

comparisons to last pregnancy? Still no dark line under my belly and this was when it really started showing up with Pearson.  Way more Braxton Hicks contractions

Here I am 27 weeks with Pearson and 27 weeks with Nash.