Catch Up

It's been a while, who am I trying to kid...it's been a really long time since I've blogged. You all are just going to have to get over it.

Here's the low down on part of the reasons why it has been so long since you've heard from me.

- We moved into a new apartment and are still trying to get settled in

- We welcomed our sweet baby girl, Jorie, into our family (I'm really hoping to get a post up about that soon)

- We had all of our parents visit us in the month of November....ok my Dad and the Man's dad came out to help move us but they were still here.

- We took our own trip back to Wisconsin to get Jorie baptized

Besides all of that happening my laptop had broke a while ago, like in July! So I was forced to use the Man's computer. In our current house his laptop is in the basement and not really where I want go and do my blogging...I prefer to blog on the couch while watching tv after the kids go to bed (which is funny because currently I'm on the couch, watching Ellen but both kids are awake!) Anyways back to the laptop issue...so the Man bought me a new laptop in November for my birthday that was back in June...minor details! This laptop proved to be, for a lack of words, just dumb. Neither the Man or I liked it so today we took it back. We decided that I really don't need a laptop anymore. I mean I have a smartphone, an iPad and a laptop for work. Plus I can always use the Man's laptop if I really need to. Together we decided that maybe we should look at utilizing the technology we do have. So today we bought a blutooth keyboard folio for the iPad....which I am currently testing out for the first time to write this blog post. I'm hoping this will be the solution to our problems...and by problems I'm stricktly talking about me blogging more and using the iPad for more than a baby monitor and Jackson's games.

So bare with me as I try and figure out how to use the blogger app and the iPad to my advantage and hopefully do a much better job keeping everyone posted on what is going on in our lives....I know each  and everyone of you wakes up every morning just hoping that I have posted something new on the blog :)

If any of you have any tips on blogging using the Blogger app please let me know!!

36 weeks

After reading a friend's blog and seeing her side-by-side baby bump comparisons I had to take a bump photo and compare it to when I was pregnant with Jackson.

The black & white photo is when I was 36 week's with Jackson

35 almost 36

As I said in my last post I am sorry it has taken me this long to update everyone on this pregnancy.

This pregnancy has flown by! I really have a hard time believing that I will be 36 weeks on Wednesdays.

What's been happening:

-This pregnancy has been pretty easy if being pregnant is considered easy. The hardest thing had probably been keeping up my energy level...I really have no energy to do anything more than I must do.

-This sweet baby girl is WAY more active then Jackson.  It doesn't bother her to kick and push on my ribs & hips for extended periods of time. She also will start moving EVERY time I'm snuggling with Jackson.

- I believe my weight gain is pretty similar to last time....I can't remember exactly what it was at my last appointment but I believe I've gained between 20-25 lbs so far.

- my sweet tooth is a huge weakness. I think I could eat candy and junk food all day long, that's all this little girl wants to eat.

- I have been lucky enough to also have heartburn again. The difference is this time I get heartburn from EVERYTHING I eat: cheese, tacos, milk, ramen noodles...you get the point!

Since I'm writing this on my phone I know I'm forgetting to include some things but I promise to try and do another pregnancy before this baby arrives.

The Name Game

First I would like to apologize that I haven't posted anything about this pregnancy since we announced it way back in June.

Now as promised way back then here is a little bit of the baby name battle that the Man and I had.

The Man pretty much doesn't like any name that starts with a vowel...weird I know. And I really like the thought and idea of the name having meaning and purpose other than that I found it in a baby book, or in our case on an app.

As it currently stands we are 99.9% sure what this sweet baby girl will be named and we have shared it with a few people...but here our a few of the names that made my list and why:

- Emmalynn Marjorie: lets start with Marjorie, that is both of my grandma's names and really want it to be apart of this little girls name. Emmalynn I heard on a show and liked it, part of it that I liked was that Lynn is my mom's middle name so it would have some importance other than the tv show I heard it on. As you probably guessed the Man vetoed it pretty quick because he doesn't like names ending in Lynn...it reminds him of the movie Ted and therefore our child will never have a name ending in Lynn.

- Harper Marjorie: other than the middle name this name has no significance except we like it.

- Aidah Marjorie: this is one that wad added by the Man...weird since it starts with a vowel but whatever. I personally wasn't a big fan of it and would actually prefer to spell it Ada or Aida. Again nothing significant about this first name.

- Marjorie Elaine: Elaine is my mother-in-law's middle name and would be after her. Marjorie again after my g-ma's.  If this name would be chosen I would want to call her Jorie.  The Man has big issues with naming your child one thing with the intention to call them something else...I tried to explain that this was a little different since it would be after someone but he didn't agree.

- Jorie Elaine: This is basically the same reason as the last so no need to repeat.

Well those are the main names that made the list. Granted there were many other ones I had on there that the Man said absolutely not to like Ava or Avery. As I said before we have basically decided on a name and not that it's a secret, because it's not people know and can share with other people, but I'm not going to post it on here until she is born. This was the longest it took us to agree on a name...with my last two pregnancies we had a boy and a girl name basically decided on by 8 weeks pregnant and this time we didn't decide until probably a month ago!

Side note: this post was completely written on my phone in between playing with Jack.

Photo Overload!

Here are some photos that I had taken on my phone over the past couple of months, not including ones from our trip to WI and NY...I still have plans for each trip to have their own post, patients people, patients! If you follow me on Intsagram you have probably seen most if not all of these!

the new bedtime routine!

Originally when I came on the computer to blog I was planning on posting about our August trip to Wisconsin and our mini vacation to New York City. As I've mentioned before my computer is out of service so I have to use the Man's....well needless to say uploading pictures to post became a huge headache and I quit. Maybe something will happen later this week when I have more patients.

On to something else!

Last week Sunday we made the big transition with Jackson from his crib into a toddler bed. Originally our plan was to get a toddler bed, set it up and let him get use to it being in his room and the idea of it. And then ease him into sleeping and napping in his new big boy bed since baby girl would be sleeping in the pack-n-play in our room for about the first 3 months.  That seemed like a great plan when Jackson and this baby girl were going to have to share a room but now we are moving 12 days before my due date crazy I know! Between moving to a new house/apartment and having a baby within 2 weeks after we thought we should make those two transitions as easy as possible...hence transitioning into a big boy bed a month before the move.

Last Sunday we went to Ikea, picked out the cheapest toddler bed (ours was on clearance for $50), came home put it together and took down the crib. We were all in with this toddler bed...there was no going back on this decision!

The first night was a little rough and we ended up letting Jackson fall asleep in our arms on the couch and then laying him in his new bed. This was after an hour and a half of laying him down and him crawling out of bed just a giggling because he was so proud that he could get out of his bed all by himself.

The next couple days at nap time and bedtime were pretty much the same type of routine. Since the Man is gone at bed time during the week I was on my own with this bedtime battle. On Wednesday or Thursday I happened to have enough of this routine...I was frustrated and he would fall asleep in my arms, I would lay him down and with in 5 min he was back out of bed. Something needed to change! I needed to lay the smack down with him and get him out of this habit.  So that is exactly what I did...it ended up taking almost 2 hours to get him to finally fall asleep on his own, in his own bed but it happened!!! There were a lot of tears and I had to take away his nuk until he agreed to lay down in his bed on his own.

The next night I decided on how our new bedtime routine was going to go:
     - try and make sure he doesn't have his nuk for at least an hour before bedtime
     - around 6:45 we start to pick up all of our toys in his bedroom and the living room
     - after toys are picked up we change his diaper and put pj's on
     - Jackson then gets to pick out a book or two to read
     - we read his bedtime book/books 
     - spend a little time cuddling I'm not ready to give that part of bedtime up at all!
     - I then tell/ask Jackson if he is ready to go to bed in his new big boy bed, almost every time he has answered with yes
     - we then go into his room, he crawls in his bed and lays down, I cover him up, shut the door and leave

The first time I tried the "new" routine he got up 1 time and I took his nuk away until he layed back down in his bed. After that I have had no problems at bedtime...I think it almost is easier than when he was in a crib because now I don't have to carry him and reach over the crib rail to lay him down with this giant belly.

The real test was going to be putting him to bed on Saturday and Sunday because whenever the Man is home Jackson never goes to bed easy EVER! Saturday night I just did my same routine and basically left the Man out of it and Jack went down great. Sunday night the Man decided he wanted the bedtime cuddles and was going to give it a shot....it didn't go as smooth as it had been going for me. Jackson was totally testing the Man's authority and crawled out of his bed just a giggling and even went and grabbed a few toys which he's never done for me about 4 different times. I coached the Man on what worked for me, he did the same thing and almost an hour later Jackson was sound asleep in his bed.

Point: after a week I can honestly say that Jackson is sleeping in his big boy bed all on his own and the bedtime struggles are gone or at a very minimum!! WOOHOO! I really thought this was going to be a much more difficult task than it was...I hope it stays this way when we move into the new house/apartment.

Another New Jam

Last night I was chatting on Google Hangouts with the Man and he mentioned that he is really liking the artist Passenger at the moment and suggested that I check out a couple of his songs. I listened to 3 different songs of his tonight and the more I listen to him the more I'm liking what I'm hearing.  Here are 2 of the songs I listened to and am really liking.

Let Her Go by Passenger

Patient Love by Passenger

New Jam

Way back in 2011 I told you here about an artist that I just discovered Aloe Blacc and how you should all check out his album. I'm not really sure if you did or not but if not it's your loss at least in my opinion. Anyways back to the point, the other day week I was driving and a song came on that I never heard before by Avicii. Before this I've never heard of Avicii but as I was listening the singer sounded very familiar.  Come to find out the song is by Avicii featuring Aloe Blacc.  Needless to say I really liked the song before I knew this and now I'm loving it. Seeing as I've taken so long to blog about this I'm sure you all have heard this song by now but it's still worthy of listening to again, so ENJOY!

Wake Me Up by Avicii featuring Aloe Blacc

long time comin'

It feels like an eternity since the last time I've actually blogged....not that it's a big surprise because my blogging seems to go in streaks.

As I said in my last post my computer decided to break and I really mean break...it doesn't do anything at the moment! Now you would think that since I am married to a total computer geek this would be no big deal in our household. Well we've been busy and the part that we need to fix it is expensive...basically the laptop has been put in a closet and probably won't get fixed for awhile. So here I am using the Man's computer which I hate how it types and boycotted until now!

I'm not saying that my blogging is going to get any better anytime soon but I just wanted to reassure everyone that I am still here and I really am going to try and get back into the swing of things and maybe go back to my goal of at least 2 blog posts a week...yep you read that correctly I have a goal for blogging and I don't think I've succeeded at that goal for more than a 2 or 3 week time span, weak!!

Let me do a quick recap of whats been going on in our lives I really have every intent on doing individual posts for most of these things but again we will see what happens.

- We took a family trip to WI for 10 days
- Also took a random kind of last minute family trip to Brooklyn, NY to visit our friend Jordan
- We've been on the hunt to find some place else to live...goal is to be out of our current place before this baby gets here in November (update: we just signed a lease on a new apartment tonight and will be moving November 1st!!)
- Preparing for the arrival of this baby girl...OMG can you believe Wednesday I will be 31 weeks and only have a little more than 6 weeks left of work before I go on maternity leave!
- the Man started back up with school and is taking a full 12 credits again, along with working 40 hrs a week, plus doing military drills
- Jackson...need I say more. This little man keeps us on our toes daily and we wouldn't have it any other way.  He is a pretty incredible person and I can't wait to see how he rocks being a big brother.
- the Man had a birthday and turned the big 27

Well I'm drawing a blank as to what else has been going on that is big enough to be noted.  Other than those things its just been the same crazy schedule we've pretty much always have had. Hopefully tomorrow or later this week you will see at least one more post!

Broken

So my computer is broke and has been broke for a week or so now. Actually since about 10 min after I posted my last post. 

I'm hoping the Man can fix it soon but he's a busy guy so I'm not sure when it will become a priority for him. I am also hoping he will do a couple posts for me since I am not a big fan of blogging from my phone. My guess is that it won't get fixed till middle/end of August seeing as we leave on our 11 day family vacation in a little over a week!!!

But rest assured I will be back soon or later and hopefully with an update on this pregnancy, baby names, bump pics, our trip and the family!!

Window Shopping!

I've had a huge itch to go shopping lately...this is a big problem since we are saving our money for our up coming trip to WI, a car with 3rd row seating, a house & last but not least another baby. Here are a few items I am wanting at the moment for me & Jack

Anthropologie Open Knit Cardigan: $98.00

Anthropologie Stacked Stripes Ponte Skirt: $98.00

H&M kids t-shirt: $5.95

H&M kid's denim shorts: $17.95

H&M kid's t-shirt: $9.95

Jackson Part 2

So I realized that I left out a bunch of stuff I had intended to post in the update about Jackson.  So here is what else is up with Jack!

~ He has 11 teeth now! His front 8 have been in since 12 months and since May he has been slowly getting his molars in. 3 of them are visible and I'm hoping the 4th comes through before our trip to WI. It could be the vaca from hell if it decides to try and appear then!

~ He is starting to say words and tries to get his point across. The words we think he is saying are: more, water, ball, hello. He also roar's like a lion and moo's like a cow when ever he sees a cow.

~ If you ask him where the following things are he can usually get them right once in awhile he gets hung up on a couple of them: eyes, ears, hair, belly, nose, tongue

~ Jackson has also started helping put his toys away at night and during the day. He knows where they belong and will take them there again this is usually because he gets distracted fairly easily, I blame his dad :) and put them where they go. The only hang up we have is that after he puts it away he gets super excited and then takes it back down/out to play with it again. So I have to quickly get to him on to something else after putting his toys away so he doesn't take them back out right after putting them away.

~ We are working on eliminating the bottle. Towards the end of June we cut him off cold turkey from a bottle before his afternoon nap, didn't phase him. The next week we cut him off from the bottle in the morning, it was harder on the Man and I than him! And now about 2 weeks after that I am trying to weaning him off of his bedtime bottle. Instead of giving him a full 8-9 oz bottle at bedtime I have been lowering the amount in the bottle everyday...tonight his bottle had 5 oz. and he didn't even finish it all. I'm sure he would be fine getting cut off cold turkey like the other two but I am selfish and I really enjoy our current bedtime routine and I am afraid I won't get as many bedtime snuggles...judge away but Jackson gives some pretty amazing snuggles! I should also mention that the week before we started any of this we started putting milk in a sippy cup just to get Jackson use to the idea that milk doesn't just come from bottles. I think this helped a lot because the first couple of days he would take a drink expecting water and make a disgusted face and have nothing to do with it. After a few days he got use to the thought of milk or water being in his sippy cups. So now in the morning Jackson is given a sippy cup of milk when he wakes up and usually drinks that while snuggling with the Man for an hour. Then he has breakfast, after that he gets some snacks and a morning nap. At lunch he gets another sippy cup of milk to drink between then and his afternoon nap. After nap time he might get a little snack while I'm cooking up supper and then he gets another sippy cup of milk with supper. Then around 6:30 - 7 p.m. he is usually hungry again so he gets another snack and then at 7:30 - 8 its books, bottle and bedtime. Hopefully by the end of next week it will just be books & bedtime. this bullet got much longer than I intended!

Hair!

I am planning on getting a hair cut/color before we head back to WI in August. But I'm just not sure what to do with this mop on my head. Here are some pictures of various hair styles I have sported in the past years. I would love to hear your opinions on what I should consider doing. Keep in mind that most of these pictures were taken of me while I was drinking! Also if you have a suggestion that has nothing to do with any of the styles in this picture let me hear it :)