1 Month Until....

CHRISTMAS!
Just a sneak at some trimmings around our house.  Most of our decor is hand-me-downs or rummage sale finds...which I think makes our Christmas decor unique and special.

Grandpa & Grandma Brown's Santa Candy Cane Holder (with "fresh" candy canes)

Craft show find, I love personalized decor

Opportunity Village (Clear Lake's Version of Good Will)  I was going to buy Pottery Barn Stockings, but my mom found these for $2!  I think they are great, reminiscent of mine and Ryan's stockings as kids.  

Santa's Plate, a gift from my mom 2 years ago and this is the first year we get to use it!

Baby's Room Peek

We started organizing and putting the baby's room together this week...

Riley has a beloved blankie and he picked this one out for his baby brother...

Craft show find...that I love!

21 Week Baby Update

We had our second ultrasound to check for heart defects and even though little baby boy wasn't cooperating again...the tech managed to get what she needed and didn't see anything abnormal...so we are in the clear.  We took Riley to this ultra sound and he was pretty excited to see the baby, he kind of acted like he understood the process of gooey gel on mommy's belly = picture of baby on tv :)  That night at home he kept wanting to kiss and hug my belly...and said "awwww....baby, love you baby"

Clark W. Griswold

Like every responsible Christmas decorator Ryan decided to put up the outdoor lights before it got too cold or too snowy.  I thought he was just going to string the lights on the porch...I guess I have my very own Clark on my hands.  Riley kept climbing the ladder yelling "Daddy...you there?"  When Ryan got down, we went to go plug in the lights and he said "this better %&*@#$ work!"  HA!  They did and he did a wonderful job!

Chuck+Door Hinge

Riley was pushing and pushing his Chuck Truck and ran into the door hinge, head first.  Ryan was reading the paper (he had the day off for Vet's day)  and I was fixing lunch...When I heard Riley start crying, I really didn't think much of it because he always runs into something, until I turned around and saw blood pouring down his face!  Ryan didn't react until he heard me say "OH MY GOD!!!"  he jumped up and aided the poor child as I paniced and got a roll of paper towels.  As I wiped the blood away, I saw a hole about the size of a door hinge.  We took him to urgent care and they glued and butterflied it shut, the doc didn't think Riley would sit still for stitches...he was right.  

 

Arts and Crafts

Recently Riley has been going through a "change"  with his behavior. Lots of fits, lots of hitting, lots of screaming, lots of time outs!  He doesn't take his naps like he use to, during his naps, he has pulled his dresser over twice, torn up 3 books, pulled down the curtains, I found dirty hands prints on the wall that are way to high for him to reach??? (I have no idea)  I am in his room every 5 minutes telling him to get back in bed.  It has been exhausting!

So Ryan and I had a pow wow and discussed this problem...because we refuse to give into the "terrible two's" theory.  We figured out I need to have more organized mental activities during the day.  So I went and bought finger paint, colors, coloring books, games...all kinds of art supplies.  And guess what....so far so good!  Although we still have a fit once in a while, he is 100% easier to deal with.  He is not the most artistic child, but he loves a task.  I guess all he needed was a little bit more attention and mental stimulation...and mom and dad have fun with the crafts too!  It's a win-win!  Here are some pictures from the last week!

Finger Paint!? How about Toe Paint!

 I poked holes in a foam bowl and Riley was so intent on stringing the leaves through the holes

We collected a bunch of leaves, smeared glue and squashed the leaves down!  I then asked Riley to draw a purple flower, brown dog, orange cat, green grass hopper, blue bird...he did his best and I added the faces

We went out and counted stars one night and the next day we finger painted what we saw...I drew the moon and Riley smeared the blue and red paint together, then we added sparkles for the stars!

It's a Boy!

Up until 2 weeks ago, I thought we were having a girl.  My instincts were telling me and my dreams were showing me girl.  But I was walking down the stairs 2 weeks ago and I was overcome with a feeling...we were having another boy, I just knew it.  Well I was right!  The ultrasound was intense compared to Riley's.  It took an hour and the tech was very thorough.  Although baby wasn't positioned right for the tech to check for heart defects, she was able to check for other defects and all is good.  I need to go back next week to try again for the heart ultrasound.

The room was set up really neat, I laid in a chair, while the TV displaying what the tech saw was on the wall right in front of me, in easy sight.  I started to cry when she said "here is baby's little arms..."  I couldn't help it, the picture was so clear!  Then we saw the profile and the baby was opening and closing his mouth, it was so cool!  He was even giving us a thumbs up...(we may have another thumb sucker)  Everything is measuring right on...due date stayed the same, my weight is good (13 pounds total)  I feel pretty good, I have been walking and running every morning to try and keep in shape for taking care of Riley and for labor.

Ryan and I are really excited and glad we found out the sex, 2 boys will be a lot of fun!

Maternity

Our really good friends Dameon and Lindsay Place asked me to take some maternity photos for them.  We had a lot of fun and it was a beautiful day at Buxton Park (where I take most of my outdoor sessions)  Dameon and Lindsay live in Winterset, which is about 30 minutes west of us.  Lindsay is due almost 10 weeks ahead of me, so we will have fun watching these babies grow together.  Maybe if they are both boys, it will be Dameon and Ryan all over again!  :)  Here are some photos from our session:

Halloween

We went trick or treating in Grandma Deb's neighborhood, thinking Riley needed to see how Reese and Caleigh  trick or treated.  But after the first 2 houses he caught on and did a great job on his own.  It was a lot of fun to see him walk up to strangers houses and say "trick or treat....thank you...BYE BYE!"  All the people seemed to really enjoy our little football player!  Ryan checked all the candy for needle holes and all was good, after that he dug in to his bucket, of coarse not without saying Trick or Treat first...even today when he got a potty treat he said "trick or treat...thank you"