EASTER BUNNY

I just adore this picture with the EASTER BUNNY! It really shows Madeline's adorable personality.hehe.

Pink frilly dress and a basket full of cars

It's that day of week again, Happy Hellnastics Thursday! Well, we had another great session. I almost feel bad calling it Hellnastics now...but I think in those first three weeks it kind of earned that name. And now, we only have one week left and that makes me sad. I followed the same plan as last week and arrived 10-15 minutes late, after warm-ups and right before they run. Perfect plan. She's so funny though, instead of standing on the black line, she stands next to the teacher as if she is also teaching the class...actually, there's a possibility she thinks that she is. Something that's pretty impressive is she has also mastered how to imitate the whistle noise for races, so she also blows her "whistle" when it's time to run or maybe I should say when she feels it's time to run.

It almost amuses me quite a bit that other kids are just now coming out of their shell, meaning want to run around instead of follow directions. And Madeline doesn't really have that shell...she comes right in being herself and is not going to budge.haha!

We had an awesome class today though.

The Easter bunny visit went really well also! Nothing like our Santa experience. I'll have to scan a picture tonight and add it here. The one I took of our picture with my phone didn't turn out too well. She didn't sit on his lap and that is just fine, she sat in a chair beside him. 

The part she wasn't too fond of was waiting in line, so we waited beside him...out of the view of the camera...and played with a basket of eggs that she brought to him when it was our turn. After each child, the Easter bunny would try to get her to come over and I had to keep shooing it's hand and say it wasn't our turn.ha!

\

Well, off to pack up for a fun-filled Easter weekend!

Here's our princess....

A gorgeous pink frilly dress and a basket full of cars! Love this girl!!

Damn this short, unforgiving body

I'm loving these aquatic fitness classes. I'm working everything, getting my heart rate up, feeling the burn, all without feeling the weight of this monstrosity that is becoming my belly and there's no sweating when you're in a cool, indoor pool. I definitely feel it the next day, so I know it's good stuff.
The downside...you know how hungry you get after you have been swimming? Multiply that by 1,000 when you're exercising AND pregnant. I come home and want to eat like a teenage boy that just got home from school. Definitely challenging my self control, as I crack open a hard boiled egg like starved maniac and grab the hummus and carrots when I really want to shove some cookies and a squirt of whipped cream in my mouth. Damn this short, unforgiving body...why must you always get in my way of pigging out?!!

Check this out, my belly is about an inch away from interfering with my driving....

I look miserable in this picture...I promise I'm not. 

So, my son and husband are both tornadoes as they get ready to leave in the morning...Joshua more than Anthony. I basically lay in bed and stay out of their way because it's damn stressful to watch. Well, I came down this morning, after Joshua had left, and there was a bakery box on the damn kitchen floor, cologne on the island, deodorant on the counter, a wet towel on my clean clothes...so naturally, I'm fussing at him out loud. Well, Madeline walks into the kitchen with a confused look and says, "Mommy, Josh at school". Ha, thanks, kid, Mommy really needed that reality check.

Well, now I'm off to combine all the best tips off these spring cleaning lists that I see on Pinterest to make one mega spring cleaning list!! Nesting?! Nah, I'm totally making myself do this. It needs to be done. Cleaning, straghtening, all that jazz I will have no time for once I have a newborn and toddler on my hands.


Hopefully I'll have an Easter bunny picture to upload tonight. She seems excited and we have been chatting about it all day, as I show her pictures that our friends have posted on facebook of happy, little children sitting on EB's lap. She wants to wear her Easter bonnet and princess dress, so maybe it will happen? Or we'll just waste 45 minutes driving to the mall for her not to go anywhere near. We shall see!

"I wear my bonnet for Easter Bunny!"

That time of year

Well, it's that time of year, the time when we basically need to take out a small loan to take Josh to the allergist and get all these meds he needs to be on to survive and breath these next couple of months. I hate having him on meds...I would much rather a natural way. But, that doesn't work. Been there, tried that. So, a small fortune, hours of time in a small room with a toddler and teenager, four meds later [and others denied], we are home, all medicated up.
It is SO stressful when your child suffers from any health problems. He had been struggling for the past few days and it was agonizing for me. We have been dealing with this since he was two and have spent many weeks in the hospital. I was hoping that he would grow out of it, I did. But, it is to the point now where he will just deal with it and that is sad. He doesn't panic when he can't breathe, he just waits for medicine or finds a way to deal with it, like chewing on ice. There are times when he doesn't even realize how bad off he is and the Dr will tell us his airways are only 50% open...most would be hospitalized at that. But luckily, with the help of the inhalers the Dr called in last night, he did really well today.
Children are enough to give mothers a nervous breakdown when it comes to health issues.

I feel exhausted from our trip this morning. Mostly mentally. Although Madeline was very good...thanks to the Wreck It Ralph videos on youtube. Oh and the fact that they have SO much candy in the office it's ridiculous. Everywhere you turn, there is a huge container of candy. I guess it helps them bribe all the little guys and gals they have to allergy test. Either way, she had 2 lollipops. It made me twitch. I forgot her organic pops and gummies at home. I know that one two artificially flavored, dyed lollipops are not going to kill her. It's just a damn lollipop..and even if I don't buy it, my children will get it somewhere else. It's just all this information we are given about junk food and artificial flavoring and dyes and obesity and hyperactivity and cancers. But that's with everything, right? There are so many unnatural things in our food and we don't even know it....but same as the air and water and soil, right? If I kept thinking about this, I could seriously drive myself insane. So, I have to limit myself to the amount of food research I allow myself to read.

Anyway. After the Dr, we went to see Anthony, who was on route with one of the trash guys....

::Disclaimer:: 

Truck was parked.

No sandwich bags needed

There have been so many hilarious things on facebook today. Some of my favorites...

And my absolute favorite because I was actually watching the robins this morning, as they were hopping along our front step...almost confused.

Waking up to snow this morning was definitely a surprise though...

Our backyard is pretty darn beautiful in the snow.

So it called for a Mickey Mouse pancake. Madeline was quite impressed that I made one, considering she had one at a restaurant this weekend.

I may have done something awful to my back yesterday because I have this tiny problem where I can't just let someone else complete a project for me. Instead, I painted the baby's room with Anthony. \

But when Madeline got up this morning and saw snow, I knew I'd have to get over this back issue super fast.  That's what women do, they can put their pain on the back [hehe] burner and keep on going. Pulling a toddler around in a sled may have irritated it a little more, but that didn't stop us me from making a snowman. Actually, Madeline ate snow most of the time and watched her Mom roll the snowman around...she came in for the decorating part and added some buttons.

Going for a ride.

Adding her contribution.

Then eating some more snow.

Not bad for a pregnant woman with a hurt back.

Haha...I love this look.

After an hour and a half of snow play, I was able to pull the hot chocolate card and she was ready to come right in. As I was removing her snow clothes, I noticed she was completely dry..even after rolling, falling, picking up snow. Amazing. I remember being chilled to the bone after playing in the snow for hours when I was little. The worst was taking off your boots to find cold, wet, frozen socks. And how hard it was to inch your jeans down over your bright red legs...or pulling the ice-crusted knit gloves off your fingers with your teeth. If you were at your grandparents, they at least tried to put some sandwich bags in between some mittens and your hands..and on your feet, under your socks. They would always either become too sweaty to keep on or slip off anyway. Oh, I almost forgot the ice-crusted scarf that was around your neck and mouth. It was actually warmer once you stripped down naked without the snow clothes on. When I was older, like 14, I had a pair of snow pants...truly luxurious.haha. But they still never stayed over the boots the way they do now.
I guess it just amazes me how much retailers have upped their game in the snow clothes department over the years....everything keeps you dry and warm for hours of snow play. No sandwich bags needed.

Oh and the room so far....

Still needs to be touched up in some areas.

And I didn't dare get the camera toward the closet wall....that's where all the junk is.

Happy Palm Sunday!

Happy Palm Sunday!
Quiet weekend here...which we will be glad we had once baseball season starts. Went to mass with Joshua this morning and we plan on painting the baby's room today....Anthony wants to take on the task, so we shall see how that works out.
Yesterday, we dyed (Madeline says painted) Easter eggs. Josh wasn't too psyched that I wanted him to participate too, but in the end, he had just as much fun as Madeline...even if he won't admit it.haha.

 

Oh, we also got the bassinet put together on Friday night! It happens to be Madeline's new favorite hiding spot.....

It's so cute, she keeps coming over to my belly, holding out her arms and saying, "Come here, baby...it's time to go in bed". I love her...and despite what some may think, she is going to be a very helpful big sister, like a little Mommy. As a matter of fact, Josh and I caught her telling a toy the other day, "Hi Gator, I'm big sister Madeline". We were cracking up.


Oh and TWO Pinterest projects yesterday. Anthony is trying to eat a little healthier, so we gave two light option recipes a try....

For dinner, Philly Cheesesteak Stuffed Peppers. Very simple. Very good. I think I'll use this from now on, actually. I ended up taking mine out of the pepper and onto some wheat bread. It was so much better than the greasy cheesesteak you buy at the store or order out. Anthony made sure to get Boars Head Roast Beef, since he likes that best. But, I highly recommend this...diet or not.

 

Anthony also picked up a special treat for me at the store....Mmmmm.

And for dessert, Three ingredient Low-Fat Creamiscle cake. SO EASY and SO YUMMY. Even better the second day. I used the cake mix I always keep on hand, Duncan Hines French Vanilla, instead of the white cake mix recommended. But, that's it. Cake mix, orange juice, 0% fat greek yogurt and a little orange zest. Amazing.

Madeline REALLY enjoyed it...

Hopefully I'll have some painted baby room pictures to share soon.

"Eat for one, drink for two"

We got our Thank You's out today. FINALLY. This is one of Madeline's favorite things to do.

I attended an aquatic fitness class today that an instructor friend had asked me to try. It was fun and made me feel a lot lighter than what I am these days. Had a little bit of Mom guilt, considering I was going "swimming" without Madeline and she loves to be in the pool. I also realized why said instructor friend asked me to attend...I was the youngest, by far. There was one other pregnant mama, as big as me...in a bikini, I shit kid you not. Anyway, I think one of the reasons I liked it so much is because I rocked it...unlike my poor performance in BodyCombat lately. I guess when you're used to taking intense cardio classes, an aquatic class is very low key, but it definitely made me feel good that I didn't need to modify anything. The old ladies were quite impressed with me. HAHA.

Speaking of water, I have been taking the whole "Eat for one, drink for two" advice from my Dr very seriously. So much that it is pretty much unimaginable just how much water I have taken in during this pregnancy. Sometimes you just want something a little stronger than water...like vodka. Alright, maybe not vodka. I am enjoying a soda right now and I don't even like soda, but it sure does taste delicious after gallons and gallons of water since the last one I had on Wednesday. I miss iced tea the most. I don't even buy it in the decaf form because I know it's all I would want to drink instead of what I should be...water. blah.

I'm getting to that point in pregnancy where I'm craving BAD things. Like really, really bad things. As I grazed through my huge spinach salad, chomping like a cow, at lunch. I kept telling myself: You have to eat this because you're having pasta for dinner. Stop eyeing up your daughter's pb&j. You need a carb free lunch to enjoy a carb full dinner.  You know how you get when you're eating something you don't feel like eating? It's like it takes forever to chew and swallowing is a chore.

Yeah, I talk to myself often. I think most people that blog probably talk to themselves all day like me..that's why we always have so much to write. I will often direct the conversation at Madeline so it doesn't seem like I'm really talking to myself, but I am.

Pinterest project FAIL:

Bathtub paint. 1 tbsp cornstarch, 4-6 pumps baby shampoo, 2-3 drops food coloring, 1-2 tsp water. 

Booooo. Mom read that as 1-2 tbsp of water and it ended up being too much. It wasn't as pretty as it was supposed to be. We will definitely try this again though because it has great potential!

She liked it anyway.

LOVES her rainboots...absolute favorite thing to wear right now.

Happy Hellnastics Thursday!

Well, those that know me or have read my posts know what today is, so.... Happy Hellnastics Thursday! 

I wasn't going back after last Thursday, I swore to it. I'll honestly say it was epic, the whole place knew we were leaving early...then she cried about it the whole way home, breaking my heart in a billion pieces, "Nastics, please! Go back nastics, please?!". We weren't going back.EVER. I didn't even want to write about what a quitter I was, so I didn't mention it. I was going to pretend it never happened. As the week went on and Thursday slowly crept up, I went back and forth with myself. It's only 3 more classes...yeah, 3 more classes of HELL. But, she does have fun...ugh, its so damn stressful! Maybe it will get better...I carried a full blown tantruming toddler out last week. She's brilliant and just has high energy...this really isn't the place for that. She IS the youngest in her class, with the most personality...but it's probably distracting the other kids. Let's not forget the epic tantrum! One woman in the lobby even said, "Well, that's annoying."...she was lucky my big pregnant ass already looked crazy or I would have turned around, oh I would have, but I kept my composure and reminded myself it wasn't worth it.
Oh, I forgot to even mention what started this epic blowout. I was not letting her climb up the equipment instead of down. Yep. That's it, proper use of equipment violation gone terrible wrong. She kept looking right at me and doing what I said not to do, so I pulled her out of class to talk about it...she just got upset and didn't recover. So stupid, right? It's kind of funny what can be so upsetting to a toddler, especially a hard headed, independent one like ours.

So, as the week went on and I thought about how much I hated being a quitter, I formulated a plan. Obviously, the whole warm-up/stretching activity is not stimulating enough for our girl...so I would arrive 15 minutes late, as they were finishing and the races were starting.

Well, I got up this morning, said Happy Hellnastics Thursday to myself, I kid you not, and calmly started to get ready. When it was time to wake Madeline up, I asked her if she wanted to go to hellgymnastics. Is it bad that I wanted her to say no? I would have not asked again and just stayed home. But, of course, she jumped up excitedly and asked to get her "nastics suit" on. The whole car ride, I prepped her, "Madeline, you have to be a good girl and listen to Mommy or we will have to leave again." and her response was, "Mommy, I not cry. I good girl".
We arrived to a much bigger class than usual, just when I wanted to...the last stretch. She didn't run over to the equipment, instead she helped me stretch. Then, it was time to run/race, she stood on the line and waited for the whistle THREE times. During gym time, she ran like she loves to do, but then she also used every piece of equipment.even the one that the other kids were tumbling down. She looked right at me and used the equipment the right way. I was praising her so much that it probable sounded like I just got a new puppy. She did not play duck, duck, goose...but seriously, show me a two year old that has the patience for that..really, I'd like to see it. Then, it was parachute time. She held on, shook the parachute, waited to be told she could go under, sat down on it nicely while all the Moms pulled them around in circles. I almost cried right then and there, seeing the little smile on her face as she was sitting on the parachute nicely and listening. I waited though, I waited until I was in the car and calling my husband. I was just so happy that we both finally enjoyed ourselves. [[pregnancy hormones much?]]

I wonder what happened.  Did she remember last week's horrible experience and have some sort of toddler revelation? Did she just finally get the knack of it? Was it because it was a larger class and there were actually high energy kids like her? Did she bump her head this morning? Did someone switch our child over night?? Really, I NEED to know why today was so different. I'm not saying that we will not be back at square one next week, but I think I would be ok because I will cherish the enjoyable gymnastics experience we had this week. HAHA.

Anyway, it's been a terrific Hellnastics Thursday, let's hope the rest will be similar, and our good listening gymnast was treated to "the hopcorn store" afterward! hehe.

Time to finish my Thank You cards....I'm the worst. I am SO very appreciative of gifts, but the absolute worst at the Thank You card situation. Better late than never. Maybe the cute picture of Madeline inside will make everyone forget how late they are!

Official basketball smuggler

So, I'm sitting here...waiting for all that energy and nesting shit to kick in. It's about that time, right? You start getting further along and then your body lets you know that you should really start getting ready for this human that has resided in your body for what feels like forever. Yeah, not happening yet. Instead, all I can think about is wishing I could take a nap and then, when it's time to go to bed at night, all of a sudden I become an insomniac ..laying, tossing, turning. Preparation for long nights with a newborn, I suppose.
There is a low iron issue, so maybe once I get a few more iron pills under my belt, my energy will pick up.
But, I pulled into the driveway after my Drs appt today and just sat there...thinking of how much effort it takes to get myself moving.....

Official basketball smuggler.

Speaking of the Dr, every two weeks, I have been getting up, rushing around, making breakfast, getting Madeline and myself ready, hopping in the car...and for what? To be asked how I'm feeling, get my belly measured and the heartbeat checked. I'm going to be honest and say I could do this at home...and if you're on your 3rd kid, maybe you should have that option. I can tell that the Dr almost feels bad for this 5 minute visit because he sits there and tries to find things to talk about after. And I've got nothin...I'm pregnant, I'm tired, I'm huge. I probably seem super anti-social at the Drs, but in reality, I'm kind of glad it is done and over with in 5 minutes because there is a very small time frame where a two yr old will sit in the chair next to you like this.....

They were super impressed that she said they were taking my blood pressure. Thank you, Doc McStuffins Dr kit.

I've been in a wicked mood lately. Can you tell? My poor guys....they come home from work and school and I'm usually trying to find something to pick at them about. It's come to the point where I think they're trying to direct attention on one another and away from themselves. Survival mode.

Hump Day Bump Day bathroom pic.

And the Pinterest meal last night was..... Cheesecake Factory Copycat: Sundried Tomato Fettuccine. It was a lighter version, so it didn't taste exactly the same...and I'll be honest, my pregnant taste buds were a little bit let down. But, it was good because there was not much guilt, especially since I substituted veggie fettuccine for the real deal.  
Here it is....

That little piece of spinach off to the side in the first picture is driving me nuts, but oh well. I really am too hungry to care in the heat of the moment...meaning right before I eat.

I'd make it again.