The Fredrickson's

What a day!

2012-01-30T16:37:00.000-08:00

This picture pretty much sums up our day. Yucky! Long story short, after waiting in line early this morning, we still did not get Sam into the new preschool we were hoping for (#4 on the waiting list), left my diaper bag/purse at my parent's house, and ran out of gas after picking Sam up from school (this is where a diaper bag with formula and money would have really come in handy!) Thanks God for my mom! I'm sure she thinks I'm a complete space cadet, which today I totally was, but oh well, it ended up being funny :) Thanks again mom! Love you!

On a different note, check out the awesome weekend we had! Gigi, Farfar, and Aunt Abby came to stay with us. We had a blast playing and just hanging out. And thanks to Aunt Abby for being our photographer. I didn't get any with her in them but she was definitely there!

We love you guys and can't wait to see you again soon!

2012-01-27T21:29:00.000-08:00

Just 2 brothers hanging out. Sam looks thrilled!

2 Months already!

2012-01-23T19:27:00.000-08:00

It's been 2 months already?!? Why does time go by so fast? My little baby is quickly turning into my big baby!

Check out his 2 month pictures. Mr. Monkey is already looking a little small!

And just in case you were interested, here's a pic of Sam at 2 months...

We're headed to the doctor for his monthly check-up on Wednesday, so I don't have any stats yet. I can tell you a few things that he's up to now.

*Happy! such a happy boy, he seriously never cries

*He loves his room and his changing pad. He always smiles when we go in there.

* Sleeps anywhere from 6-8 hours straight a night. Yay!

* Good eater! We've upped our formula ounces from 5-6 this week. (although, right now as I'm writing this daddy's having a hard time keeping him awake to eat!)

*Loves to sit up and look around. He's not a huge fan of laying down when you're holding him.

*Brother is starting to interact a little more. I love when Levi watches Sam play :)

*And my favorite thing, Levi will follow me with his eyes when I'm walking around the room. He doesn't let mama out of his sight!

And my other boy...

Sam made a bird feeder at school on Friday. As soon as we got home he made me hang it up outside. The birds ate it that day! He loved it and said he wants us to put a cage up outside next time. UMMM, maybe a not!

Happy boy! Yesterday Levi went to church for the first time. He looked very handsome in his tie.

One more picture of Sam. Isn't he turning into such a handsome young man???

Levi and the Ladies

2012-01-20T12:47:00.000-08:00

The girls are fighting over him already!

Check out my little ladies man at his first group playdate. He'd better get used to it, bc there are lots of girls joining our group! All of his guy friends are going to be jealous :)

PS- Aren't Peyton and Leighton cute with their matching shirts???

hanging out

2012-01-19T21:10:00.000-08:00

Just hanging out

Guess who napped in their big boy crib today? And no it wasn't Sam....

Levi!

I finally got to try out our new video monitor and I loved it! We didn't have one with Sam, and I have to say this is the way to go. It's got so many cool features (temp readings, talk to baby intercom, music control...). I have to brag about Levi for a minute, my sweetheart put himself to sleep (which for you mommy's know that's a hard skill to learn) without crying. We are so blessed with a good baby!

-on a side note, Levi would have slept for at least 2 hours, but big brother decided to leave his own nap early and go into brother's room to find him, and of course wake him up.

PS- another Pinterest craft!

I've been wanting to make these family initial pictures I found on pinterest, and I finally found the time to do it. I think they're going on up the staircase, and I don't think they turned out half bad if I say so myself!

2012-01-15T20:50:00.000-08:00

I know all of my posts lately have been really random and all over the place. :) I've been trying to get as many pictures up of the boys as quickly as possible. Well, this post is going to be no exception...

Random topic #1 : Pinterest

Like everyone else in the entire world I'm obsessed with pinterest. I've tried several recipes already, have my next house decorated and designed, have the boys' next 5 birthdays planned, and have got about 7 craft projects under way (which I will probably never have time to finish). Anyways, I'm kind of on a health kick and am going to share 2 "weight loss" drinks I found on pinterest.

The first is called "sassy water". It is extremely resfreshing and tasty and I could totally see myself drinking an entire pitcher of this daily like it recommends. I don't really see the weightloss factor in it except that you'd be drinking a whole lot of water. Sorry The picture I took has most of the water gone. I seriously drank the thing so fast.

Sassy Water

Sassy water to boost weight loss- 2L water, 1 medium cucumber, 1 lemon, 10-12 mint leaves. Steep overnight in fridge and drink every day!

The very next day I tried Dr Oz's Tangerine Weight-Orade Drink
It totally doesn't look as appetizing as the Sassy Water does it? Well, it definitely wasn't as easy to drink either.

Dr. Oz Recipe:
8 cups of green tea brewed
1 tangerine sliced
handful of mint leaves

The first few glasses were fine, but after a while it was work getting this stuff down. I managed to drink the whole thing in one day, but will not in the future. Overall, I see myself making the sassy water again. It would be a great drink for a party or shower of some sort as well!

My new thing this week has been smoothies, so I'll let you know how it goes :)

Back to the boys!

Random topic #2: Levi's growing! I think he has officially grown out of his "little brother onesie". It's a newborn size and is tight!

2 weeks

7 weeks

Random topic #3: Aunt Abby

Check out the cute outfit Aunt Abby got me. She does love to hug me :)

Random topic #4: carseat

This kid loves his carseat. Not sure if it's the warmth, snugness, or what, but if I'm trying to get him to fall asleep all I've got to do is put him in the thing and he's out. (and yes, his shirt says wing man, so cute!)

Random topic# 5 : Little Brother and JoJo

Such a cute picture! Little man is so alert now!

Random topic#6: Big brother napping!

Last but not least, Sam has been randomly napping again! Yay! I don't know how this can be comfortable, but hey, whatever floats you're boat!

busy boys!

2012-01-12T14:17:00.000-08:00

happy heartbreaker!

Field trip to the fire station

I had so much fun going with Sam and his class to the fire station. It started out a little rough for Sam (check out the pictures below. on the left is his class listening to the fireman, and on the right is my son trying to make an escape. Although, I think the fire dummy sitting against the wall behind him is a lot scarier than the fire truck) He loosened up after a few minutes and had a great time. It was nice getting to hang out with just the two of us again ( I'll admit I did miss the little guy a bit :))

just looking cute!

Rocket Launching!

Happy!

2012-01-09T22:19:00.000-08:00

I am so cute! Look who's been a big smiley boy lately :)

opposites

2012-01-08T21:47:00.000-08:00

One of the things I'm most excited about it getting to know Levi's personality. I'm so curious to see if he's a goofball like his brother of if they are completely their own. If these pictures are any indication then it looks like Silly Sam and Serious Levi are going to balance each other out great!

Sick Sam

2012-01-05T21:01:00.000-08:00

Sam woke up this morning his normal self, and by noon he was on the couch with a fever of 101.6. He told me he was sick and that his "body hurts". I love that he can tell me when he's sick now, but hate when he feels bad :( It happened so fast, so I knew I needed to get him in to the dr., especially with a 6 week old brother around. After a long wait and a few tests we found out Sammy has strep. Is it bad that that's what I was hoping for, so we could get an antibiotic for it??? Usually it's a viral throat infection and we have to wait it out in misery for a week. He should start feeling better by tomorrow. The dr. reassured me that it's really hard for babies to get strep, and try not to worry so much.

On a fun note, we started back at Baby Boot Camp today! I had my 6 week follow up appointment yesterday and I've been released back to normal life! It obviously didn't take me long to get back to it. It was bitter sweet since it was my first day back as a member and not the owner (did I mention I sold it a few weeks before Levi was born?), but so nice to be out and I'm happy that the business is doing well! I'm still going to be teaching one day during the week, so I'm not completely out of it :)

And of course I had to add a few pics of the little guy. I think I seriously have a problem, bc I can't stop taking pictures of him!

pretty boys

2012-01-04T19:44:00.000-08:00

Check out my pretty boy. My little model giving us some of his favorite looks. Such a happy boy.

And my other pretty boy. We found him putting on my make-up yesterday afternoon. Daddy was not thrilled about this discovery. He tried to quickly put a stop to it, but not before I snapped a few pictures.

And then my pretty boys, Levi and daddy :)

newborn pics

2012-01-01T20:49:00.000-08:00

the boys were pretty much the same age when these pics were taken. Can you guess who is who? I love their hands :)

Love these boys!

2011-12-30T12:52:00.000-08:00

I just love my boys! They are so sweet and fun it's ridiculous. Sam cracks me up with something new everyday and Levi is starting to smile. Melt!

maybe one of my fave pictures ever! These buddies are so funny together! They kept switching their outfits, bc they couldn't decide which Village Person, I mean hero, they wanted to be!

Levi has been loving his new toys!

Check out the cute hat his girl Ava gave him for Christmas. Precious!

A little playtime with brother. Sam layed all of his dinos down to "sleep with Levi".

UMMMM, Let me think........

Christmas!

2011-12-27T20:18:00.000-08:00

Home

GoGo and Pops

What a great Christmas we had this year! Sam made out like a bandit and Levi slept through the whole thing :) Thanks to everyone who helped make our first Christmas as a family of four special.

PS- please don't judge our ?Hawaiian Christmas at my parent's house. We had a few technical difficulties and the only option we had for pants for Sam was an old bathing suit. The first thing he said when we pulled them out of the closet was, "we're going swimming!?!". No baby! It's Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T20:59:00.000-08:00

We've had a busy but fun couple of days, so check back for our pictures!

1 month old

2011-12-23T09:59:00.000-08:00

Look who is one month old today! Happy birthday baby boy! We love you and you are growing up WAY to fast.

Levi has changed so much in such a short time. He is gaining weight like it's going out of style. We were having weight gain issues at the beginning, but those days are long gone. We weighed him yesterday and he was about 9 pounds.

Check out the picture below of Levi (left) and Sam (right). I think it's obvious that Levi's already getting the chunk! It's amazing how similar the boys look, but also how different they are. Levi right now seems like the 2 month old version of Sam. He is so much more sturdy and seems more developed then Sam was.

Levi is so alert now and loves to sit straight up so he can watch everything that's going on, or maybe it's to watch his back so he doesn't get hit in the head with a flying sword again....

This month has flown by and his been very difficult, but it's also been the most fun we've ever had. What a blessing he is to our family and we can't wait to see what he's up to next month! (but not any time soon, this month needs to slow down :))

And I can't leave big brother out! Check him out sitting in front of the oven watching his cookies bake. He made them for Santa :) He was counting how many cookies he was going to get to eat when they came out.

little bear

2011-12-20T15:15:00.000-08:00

This much cuteness should be illegal

Our week in pictures

2011-12-18T12:36:00.000-08:00

We've had a busy week of pretty much hanging out at the house! Usually not our style but we're making it! I can't believe that in less than a week I will have a one month old. Why is time flying by already??? So, we've been trying to stay busy at the house which is hard to do. I found this recipe for homemade Christmas ornaments on Pinterest, my new favorite thing by the way, and Sam had fun making them.

He even washed his own dishes! Well kind of :)

Levi is our little helper on all our projects :)

Going back to Pinterest, I got the idea for these cute and easy reindeer cookies on it. I made them for Sam's school Christmas party. I will definitely be making them again. So easy!

Sam at his party

I actually ventured out a couple of times this week by myself with both boys. This is going to take some getting used to, but we made it through! We met a few friends out at Bass Pro Shop and got the boys picture with Santa. I love it! Look how alert little guy is. He is starting to stay awake more during the day and really check out his surroundings.

Speaking of staying awake more, check out those big bright eyes!

We also went to our Strollerfit/Baby Boot Camp Christmas party. Look who made it back this year in the White Elephant gift exchange. The really blond/young/prekid/well rested Aaron and Mari. That seems like FOREVER ago :)

Doing a little ornament painting

Chillin with daddy in my grandpa pants!

My 3 year old who is trying to convince everyone that he is a baby too, and that he should be allowed to sit/sleep/eat everything that Levi eats.

Well that was our week! I'll try and post pics again soon, bc we have A LOT going on this next week! Merry Christmas everyone!

Normal

2011-12-12T20:41:00.000-08:00

I've been feeling pretty "normal" lately. Today I actually left the house with both kids by myself! What an accomplishment! We even got BOTH kids bathed and in bed by 8:30. Well, Sam in bed by 8:30. Levi pretty much just stays up when we're up. I took Levi to the doctor (by myself I'll reinforce again) for another weight check. He's at 7 pounds 8 ounces. Almost to his birth weight!

Check out a little comparison between brothers. Levi's in the red and Sam's underneath. Levi is 2 weeks younger in his picture and he looks bigger!

Last night we went to Santa's Wonderland. It's a drive-thru light display. Sam was not into it at first, but then we let him get out of his chair and walk around the car. He thought he was too cool for school. He ended up loving it!

before

after

Chunky monkey boy

first bath

(sam's first bath)

It's Christmas Time!

2011-12-10T20:48:00.000-08:00

Wednesday night was Sam's first school Christmas pageant. Knowing our son, we had a feeling that we would be watching his usual deer in headlights performance (not that we wouldn't be completely proud :)). He actually did all the hand motions and sang a little. He did great! Little brother was in the audience to show his support. This was our first outing as a family of four :)

My boys and their tree

Getting in the spirit!

Camera Phone

2011-12-07T20:43:00.000-08:00

Hello, my name is Handsome! Isn't he a doll? Here's a few pics from my camera phone. I know they aren't the best quality, but take what you can get! We're lucky to get a few spare minutes to upload pics :)

Sammy and his new nativity set. You should here him talk about Baby Jesus, it is so cute!

Check out my (upside down) chunky monkey! Today is his 2 week birthday and the last week and a half we've been working on fattening him up. He lost almost a whole pound after birth and we've been having to go to the doctor every few days for weight checks. Babies are supposed to be back to their birth weight at 2 weeks. We aren't quite there, but he has gained 8 ounces in 5 days. Very impressive! He is definitely looking a little more filled out. Everything else about our boy is perfect and the jaundice is gone!

Current weight: 7 pounds 4 ounces (birth weight: 7 pounds 10 ounces)

Current Length: 20 inches (birth length: 18.5 inches)

Bed time

2011-12-04T20:20:00.000-08:00

Bed time has become quite the ordeal around here. Sam is so worried about what Levi is doing that he can't relax in his room and go to sleep. Levi helps us put Sam to bed, but we're thinking of pretending to put Levi down with Sam, so he thinks he's not getting to do anything fun without him :)

Sam helped me feed Levi tonight. And as you can see in the picture he gave me a nice haircut. He's such a multitasker!

After Sam had been in his room for about 20 minutes we heard his door open. A few minutes later we checked out his hallway and this is what we saw. Poor baby does not want his brother getting any fun time without him!

And then there's Levi, who could care less about what he's doing!

Tinker

2011-11-30T20:23:00.000-08:00

Look who came to visit! Sam's elf, Tinker, is around for Christmas. We've started the Elf on the Shelf and it's so fun!

Will Hold for Candy!

Our little man is doing good. His brother is teaching him all his tricks.

We're still here!

2011-11-28T07:46:00.000-08:00

I haven't forgotten about the blog, just been a little preoccupied lately :) I actually started this post this morning, and am just now getting around to finishing it. I've taken a whole bunch of new pics today that I wish were on here, but they will just have to wait. I'm too tired to wait for them to upload!

We are all adjusting well! There really haven't been too many surprises, bc I've kind of prepared myself for the worst. Is that bad to say? Let me just start off by saying that having one baby, or newborn, is EASY! All they do is sleep and eat and poop! Maybe we've just got a really good one though :) When you add 2 in the mix you're in a totally different ball game. When you have one you can do the whole "sleep when they sleep" thing, but with another that is totally out the window. You've got to be ready to GO GO GO. Right now Levi is eating every 2 hours on the dot, morning and night. We had to go to the doctor today for his weight loss and jaundice that he had in the hospital. He is gaining his weight back which is great, but his jaundice levels are rising. They are concerned, so they have me feeding him pretty much 24-7 to try and flush it out of his system. We have to go back in the morning to check his levels again. Say a little prayer for him and for me that I'm able to keep up!

These were right before we left the hospital. I love his milk drunk face :)

Why hello! Levi helped me make breakfast this morning in his bouncy seat.

And now to big brother. He is doing well! He finally held him tonight for the first time, so if I have a second tomorrow I'll post the pics of that.

More from the hospital

2011-11-24T19:37:00.000-08:00

Here are a few pics from the last 2 days! I apologize if this picture is TMI, but I think it is so cool! When they were pulling him out they lifted my head up and told me to watch. I was like, um no thanks, I'm good. The anesthesiologist was like, no really this is it, look! I did reluctantly and saw him come out! He looked so perfect and had a scream like I'd never heard. One word, AMAZING.

We are on day 3 in the hospital and I am feeling so much better today. Levi is doing great and is such an awesome baby. I can't believe he gets to come home with us tomorrow! We're so lucky and blessed. Speaking of being thankful, check out our Thanksgiving dinner we had yesterday. Don't be jealous that we all got to cram into our little hospital room for our meal. My mom brought food in for us and it was actually really good!

Here's a little info about how it all went down on Levi's (and GiGi's) birthday. We were scheduled for a c-section at 7:30AM, and we had to be there at 5:30AM. We got there on time believe it or not, and we were prepped and ready to go in our room. 7:30 comes and goes and we are informed there has been a few emergencies above us and we'll be delayed an hour or more. Long story short Levi was born at 1:04 PM, so it was a very long day for everyone there! He was well worth the wait though! Thanks to Gigi, Farfar and Aunt Abby for taking care of big brother for us. He had a blast!

He's Here!

2011-11-23T15:54:00.000-08:00

Levi Ligon Fredrickson

November 23, 2011

7 pounds 10 ounces

18.5 inches long

We are doing great! Just wanted to do a quick update and will definitely add more pictures tonight. Thanks for your sweet thoughts and prayers. We are truly blessed this Thanksgiving!

Last update

2011-11-21T15:17:00.000-08:00

Last update before the big day! This morning I had my last doctors appointment. Unfortunately I'm still not dilated any, so it looks like this little guy is going to just hold out for the c-section. I'm excited to be prepared this time and NOT have to labor 2 days before his arrival like I did with Sam. We had a little scare at the appointment today and almost got to meet Levi. I really wasn't worried, but Levi decided to take a nap my entire ultrasound and did not move once, even with all the poking and prodding from the tech. My doctor was concerned and stuck me on a monitor to check his movement for another 3o minutes. She said that if he did not look perfect on it, then I was headed right to the hospital for delivery. Levi decided to wake up from his nap and put on a show for all of us, so needless to say, we'll be meeting him on Wednesday :)

Check out some of our delivery pictures of Big Brother Sam! He was such a tiny cutie :) Oh yea! Levi was measured during the ultrasound and he's bigger then I thought! He weighed in at 7 pounds 10 ounces! It obviously could be off some, but he is definitely bigger then brother was!

First time holding him

So sweet! Can't wait to compare how similar/different the boys look!

Next time I update the blog it will be with pictures of Levi! I'll try to do them as soon as I can so make sure to check back sometime Wednesday afternoon. My surgery is scheduled for 7:30 AM! Please say a prayer for us all during this exciting time.

PS- I forgot to mention that Levi will be sharing his birthday with his GiGi :) Now both boys will share their birthday's with a grandparent! Levi and Gigi on November 23rd and Sam and Granny on August 29th. So special!

38 weeks- wow

2011-11-18T19:21:00.000-08:00

Before (14 weeks)

After (38 weeks)

It really is amazing that in such a short time I could go from this to THIS! I can't believe that we've already reached the end. This pregnancy went by so fast (except for this last week dragging by). Levi feels so much bigger to me then Sam ever did, or I've just forgotten :) Vote on the poll to the right on how big you think this kid will be! Just to give you an idea, Sam was 6 pounds 3 ounces when he was born. In an ultrasound they measured Levi to be 6 pounds 3 ounces 3 weeks ago! They could easily be off though on their measurements :)

Friendship Feast- today we celebrated Thanksgiving with Sam's class. Next time Sam goes to school he will be a big brother!

Ready!

2011-11-17T20:29:00.000-08:00

I think we can officially say we're ready for Levi to come! We made it through our "before baby comes to-do-list" today. We had a really fun family day at the movies and then Bass Pro Shop for our annual Santa pic. I have NEVER been this early for pretty much any Christmas event, but we wanted to make sure we got it in. I'm so glad we did, bc it was awesome this year! There were all kinds of free games, snacks, crafts, and elves around! We stayed in the Santa's Workshop section for about 2 hours. Sam loved the shooting games and race cars the most, and the actual Santa visit the least. All in all it was a great time and I'm so glad we got to spend it with Sammy as a family.

Baby update: My contractions have started to pick up a little, but I have a feeling he'll be waiting until the 23rd :) It feels like every day goes by a little bit slower, and I feel a little more anxious. Say a little prayer for us, and we'll keep you updated if anything does happen!

Mark your calendar...

2011-11-14T14:16:00.000-08:00

If I don't go in to labor in the next week then our little turkey's birthday will be November 23rd. Looks like we'll be having a fabulous Thanksgiving in the hospital :) Oh well! How blessed and thankful we are this year!

Just for fun, check out these two hams wearing their super hero glasses from Subway.

Tying up loose ends

2011-11-12T20:57:00.000-08:00

We've been working in Levi's room to try and have it done in time for his arrival. We've still got a few details to add (like the mattress for the crib, it was in the other room when I took the pictures!), but for the most part it's done :)

we still want to add a pillow, rug and a few more personal touches, but so far I love how it turned out! Our little cowboy will be here before we know it! Stay tuned because I'm technically full term now (37 weeks), and could go in to labor at any time. I'm so ready!!!

my boy

2011-11-09T15:11:00.000-08:00

My buddy and I have been spending some good quality time together lately. I'm trying to get in as much "us" time as possible before brother arrives. I'm so thankful for the past 3 years we've had together. It's so hard for me to believe it's not going to be just us anymore. I know as soon as Levi gets here it will be like he always has been, but for now, I'm enjoying just having my Sammy :)

(check out the picture above! Finally smiling in one!)

Yesterday Chase and Sam had so much fun at story time. Every time we take the boys Brittny and I are like, why do we not do this every week? Sam's shyness is definitely starting to fade and he's coming out of his shell.

celebrations!

2011-11-06T19:33:00.000-08:00

What a fun weekend! We've had birthday parties, baby sprinkles, and a birth! Today the Strollerfit girls threw me and 2 other expectant momma's a little sprinkle. It was so fun! Katie and Brittny are both due in December and are both having girls. Levi is a lucky guy :)

Something else fun is that Ava is here! She is a beautiful 8 pound 13 ounce girl, and Lauren is doing great. Congrats Lauren and Brent! We love you guys!

On a different note. Another nomination for mom of the year award should go to me. Yesterday morning Sam went upstairs to play and he was being so quiet and good! I started picking up downstairs and even finally packed my hospital bag. I kept yelling upstairs, "you ok buddy?". He kept yelling down, "yea, I playing!". I was thinking to myself, wow what a great little boy! Finally I told him we had to leave and come down. He walked to the top of the stairs and had 2 open suckers in his hands and a purple mouth. He looked at me, held out one hand and said, "you want one?". Ughhhhh! I went upstairs and my little angel had brought his Halloween candy upstairs and dumped it out all of the trampoline. There were wrappers everywhere! I normally am kind of a helicopter mom when he eats any kind of hard candy. I'm so afraid of choking! Glad to know that for a half hour he was upstairs eating 3 suckers and probably jumping on the trampoline!

2011-10-31T20:23:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween! This year Sam really got into it! We were able to wait on the sidewalk while he walked up, rang the door bell (sometimes just opened the front door), and said "trick or treat!". We got way to much candy for a big old pregnant mama, but it was so much fun!

Levi's appointment went well too! He weighs 6 pounds 3 ounces which is exactly what Sam was when he was born! The doctor asked if our bags were packed and Aaron and I both said, "ummmm, no?" She said, well it's time! I think that's going to be on my to do list tomorrow! Also, here's another attempt at a profile pic of the big man. I think he is a dead ringer for his daddy! What do you think????

Busy weekend!

2011-10-30T19:39:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've posted a belly shot. I'm 35 weeks now! Wow I'm big! I'm off to the doctor again in the morning, so wish us luck!

I think it's safe to say that the "it" costume this year is Spiderman. We went to our Baby Bootcamp Halloween party on Friday and everyone was wearing the same costume! The boys loved shooting webs at each other and my favorite costume is Chase's. He had a major growth spurt from the time his mom bought his costume last month and now. You can tell my the major high waters he's sporting :)

Last soccer game

Saturday was Sam's last soccer game. I can't say that I'm sad the season is over. I'm thinking soccer is not going to be our sport, but Sam did play awesome his last game! I think we should have made him goalie earlier in the season, because he was GREAT! When I say great I really mean that he stayed on the field and played.

Sam got his first trophy! He is so proud of it and we're so proud of him :)

Amanda is having a...............

BOY! I am so excited that Levi will have a best buddy in March! Amanda threw the cutest Halloween reveal party. I would have taken more pictures, but I was busy following this little guy around. My new thing to bribe him with is going to be sprite in a can. He felt so cool with his own can of coke and wouldn't put it down. He even sat next to a random old man at the party and starting talking to him about it.

All the pregnant mummy's

Dentist Visit!

2011-10-25T13:36:00.000-07:00

Someone doesn't look very happy about being at the dentist...

Sam had his first visit today and he did so well! You really can't tell by the picture but he sat there and did everything the dr. asked him to. His teeth look great and no cavities! Yay Sammy!

Levi's Sprinkle

2011-10-24T20:22:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we celebrated Levi's upcoming arrival with a little "Sprinkle". It was so much fun celebrating with everyone, and he is one lucky kid! I was afraid that him being the second child, he'd get the shaft on things like this, but no way! He got some awesome new stuff and a lot of things that he can call all of his own:) Thanks to everyone who celebrated with us, and for helping make this time in our lives so special. We are so blessed!

And a big thanks go my mom, aka "JoJo", for putting this on for us. We love you so much!

The group- most of my girlies are preggers, so Levi will have plenty of friends!

Thanks mama! Even though I look like I'm twice your size in this picture I still love you:)

The man of the hour! I've been going for weekly ultrasounds and monitoring to make sure the contractions are staying under control. The last few weeks have been pretty low key. We have not been able to get any kind of picture of his face. He is head down and super low. The ultrasound tech was poking at him and making me drink cold drinks to try and get him to move, but he wasn't having it. I think he's just ready to go! He's keeping us in suspense with who he's going to look like, which is just fine. Our c-section date is November 21st, but there is still a chance he could come on his own before that. It's close no matter what and we can't wait!

Happy Fall Y'all!

2011-10-19T14:02:00.000-07:00

We came for the pumpkins but barely made it over to them. Once Sam saw the tractor it was all over! I finally had to bribe him with cookies in the car to get him off the thing.

A few shots with mom and dad, and of course, Levi.

Blue Steal! This is his best Zoolander impression. It looks like he's practicing his strut for the catwalk!

Last smile mom! Now can I get back to my tractor!?

Such a hard worker

2011-10-17T16:50:00.000-07:00

Friday night we volunteered with JoJo at our church pumpkin patch. Sam needed a quick cat nap before he started his shift.

When he woke up he did a quick walk through of the patch. You know, to make sure there was no monkey business going on.

Pumpkin selling is hard work! He needed a quick snack break.

Daddy came at the end to help us out! Happy almost Halloween everyone!

Speaking of being a good worker, check out Sam making chocolate chip cookies the other day. He did such a good job measuring and stirring!

But best of all was the eating! Nom nom nom!

This animal clinic will never be the same

2011-10-12T14:13:00.000-07:00

Today Sam's preschool class went on their first field trip of the year. We visited an animal clinic, and Sam was really excited to see the sharks! I told him that that might have to be another field trip :) The kids saw dogs, a cat (her name was Mary by the way), looked at x-rays, looked through a microscope, and listened to a golder retrievers heart through the stethoscope. All I can say is those vets are troopers and that place will never be the same!

Ps-Thanks Kelly Garvey for letting me borrow your awesome picture. I think we all know my camera did not take this one.

2011-10-09T19:32:00.000-07:00

Sam's favorite part of his soccer games....

#1. The warm-up

If there was a medal or trophy for the best warmer-upper Sam would get it. He loves the races, stretching, jumping jacks, and pretty much all of it.

Once it's over and it's time to play the real game, he's had enough. Here he is walking off the field to sit in the stands with the adults while all the other kids are playing.

#2. The after game snack.

I can't really say I blame him, this would probably be my favorite part, too.

She's getting close! I went to Lauren's last baby shower that was held at my mom's house. It was fun getting one last belly picture of the babies before they make their big arrival. Ava is going to be here any day and Levi shouldn't be to far behind!

Another one of Sam's favorites, green apple sonic slush. When he's had a really good day Sam will sometimes get his favorite drink. I think he really just likes looking at his tongue in the mirror.

Things are looking up!

2011-10-06T15:48:00.000-07:00

Today we had an appointment to check out everything that's been going on, and it was all good news! Woohoo! I've only had a handful of contractions today which is back down to the normal level. I've got to go in every week to monitor them, but other then that we're good to go! Thanks for all your good thoughts and prayers :)

My boys being there for moral support :) Sam was a trooper for our 4 hour appointment! (maybe the longest doctor's appointment in the history of the world) Aaron only had to take him outside about about 7 times to ride the elevators.

Cutie alert! Even though you really can't see anything in these pictures I thought I'd still share. Levi weighs 4 pounds 2 ounces and the ultrasound tech and my nurse in the hospital both commented that he was a happy healthy baby. I'm sure they say that to everyone, but I'm going to choose to believe it was just meant for us!

2 (kind of) funny hospital stories to share:

Now that we're out and everything is looking good, we can laugh a little about a few things. A few days ago Aaron and I were randomly reading the hospital folder the doctor gave us to prepare us for our hospital stay. One of the sections was a list of items they recommend packing in your hospital bag. We basically made fun of the entire list, because it pretty much sounds ridiculous. Our favorites were "nutritious snacks for your coach", "mildly scented massage oil or lotions", "a focal point to aid in concentration during labor", and " two tennis balls in a tube sock to use as counter pressure back support".

Long story short, when we were sitting in my hospital room for 6 hours we started thinking of all the things that would be helpful to have with us, like a nutritious snack, bc we were starving at 4 in the morning! A book or something to do!, and at one point when I was in some serious pain and Aaron was nodding off in his chair I actually starting looking around for a focal point to help with my breathing. Moral to the story is no matter how ridiculous the hospital list looks, they know what they're talking about! Except maybe not the tube sock thing, still can't figure that out.

Story #2 is short and sweet and will haunt me for the rest of my life. I was waiting to use the restroom in the labor and delivery wing, the girl in front of me came out and her water broke all over the floor. Worst part is I wasn't wearing shoes. I literally walked back to my room, in my hospital gown, dragging my IV pole behind me, and cried.

Hospital Visit- warning- long post

2011-10-05T19:21:00.000-07:00

So, I haven't gotten around to taking all those pictures I was talking about. The last several days I've been feeling like something just isn't right. I've been having a lot of braxton hicks contractions, and been very uncomfortable. I shook it off like it was just a normal pregnancy thing and just tried to rest more than usual. Last night my contractions were very consistent and were about 3 minutes apart. Braxton hicks are supposed to only happen once in a while and not show any kind of pattern. Finally last night at 10:45PM I decided to call the nurse line and ask if this was normal or if I should be concerned. They were getting pretty painful and I knew this was probably not normal. They told us to come in to get monitored, and so we got Sam the man out of bed, dropped him off at my parents house, and made it down to the medical center by midnight. Aaron and my mom were very excited that after telling me pretty much all day to call in to the hospital, I finally decided to at midnight. So convenient! Oh well, I'm glad I went, bc turns out I was in labor! They monitored my contractions all night which stayed constant and continued to get more painful. They decided to give me an IV to try and stop the contractions. This didn't work, but luckily I wasn't dilating any! They decided to run a bunch of tests to make sure the baby wasn't trying to make his way out, and if they came back bad we would have to start talking about maybe delivering. Ummmm, this was not even an option because not only does Levi need to get a bit bigger to make sure he's as healthy and safe as possible, but we literally have NOTHING READY! My contractions didn't let up, but they decided to let us come home in the morning and had me monitor my contractions all day today. I am still having them, but they are spreading out a lot and have become a lot less painful (thank God!) I have a doctor's appointment in the morning, so we're going to check everything out again and figure out what our game plan is. Keep baby Levi in your thoughts and prayers! We can't wait to meet him, but are definitely willing to wait a few more weeks. I mean we don't even have a car seat to bring the poor kid home in :)

Here's a happy picture of me and Sam after he was born. Hopefully the next time I can post a pic like this it will be several weeks from now with a healthy Levi! Good thoughts!

Tired

2011-10-03T20:18:00.000-07:00

I decided it was time to update the blog, and when I went to upload all of my pictures from the weekend this is what I got. 2 pictures that Sam took of himself and 1 that I took at a birthday party. Pretty pathetic if you ask me. You can't tell by the pictures, but we actually had a fun and busy weekend. GiGi and Farfar came in on Saturday to watch Sam's soccer game and without going into to many details, well, let's just say we will never bring gatorade to a sporting event again :)

I think that by my lack of pictures and poor effort it is clear that I am TIRED. This baby being in my tummy is starting to cramp my style and I think I'm starting to feel ready for him to be here! Don't get me wrong we still need him to cook a little bit longer, but I think everyone in my little family is feeling the same way :) (well, maybe not Sam. When we asked him if he was ready he said, "no, I want him to stay in your tummy")

Starting right now I'm back on my A game and promise to take more interesting pictures, so we don't bore you to death. Sam's had a nice little break, but his annoying picture taking mom is back!

Happy Birthday FarFar!

2011-09-29T20:40:00.000-07:00

Happy birthday Farfar! I can't wait to celebrate with you this weekend :) Have a great day!

Happy Anniversary Husband!

2011-09-28T20:07:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's been 4 years and 1.5 kids already! It seems like we just took this picture yesterday. It's been a fun and wild ride, and I can't wait to see what the next 40 years have for us!

One of the reasons why I love this guy. Check out all the hard work he did today for Levi.

He can be quite the handy man when he wants to be :) He was thrilled at all the pictures I was taking today. The biggest hint would have to be the last picture I took which I did very secretively through the blinds. Love you AERN! (that's what Sam is calling him now)

Ps- Isn't Levi's room looking cute? I can't wait to finish it, so we can post more pictures! And just a thought... maybe I should have gotten him a work bench for his anniversary gift, so he could look a bit more manly and not have to use Sam's sandbox for building.

Moving on up!

2011-09-27T20:39:00.000-07:00

Week 2 of soccer went a lot better! Sam seemed to feel more comfortable out there and actually kicked the ball a few times!

He even participated in the warm up at the beginning (remember we were hiding behind the lightpole last week)

He was even so into it that he couldn't tear himself away to go to the bathroom. Click on the picture to see how he's standing.

He kicked the ball! (ok, maybe he's not so good if I get this excited about that)

Toward the end of the game he got a little tired and decided to sit himself on the bench. This sports playing business is hard work!

All in all it was a good time. Go team Los Angeles!

Another moment worth documenting, Sam actually taking a bite of something I made and saying, "MMMMMMM, that's good mama!" Email if you want the very kid friendly recipe to this chicken and noodle crockpot meal thing.

Happy Birthday Sarah!

2011-09-23T19:56:00.000-07:00

It's Sarah's 30th birthday, and I'm so happy she's joined the club! This year is going to be your best one yet, and I can't to see all the awesome things you're going to do. Can't wait to celebrate friend!

Speaking of 30, guess who else is the big 3-0 today? That would be me! Well, 30 weeks that is.

Not the best helper...

Poor baby ( I mean big boy) doesn't know what to think about his new brother. We FINALLY started getting some baby stuff out and Sam had a hard time dealing with it. He told me that HE'S the baby and that he gets to use all the baby stuff. He also sabotaged my clothes organizing by throwing them all over the living room. I'm sure he'll be over this by the time Levi comes, right???? :)

Question (in my best Dwight Schrute voice)

Any ideas for these onesies. Levi can't wear them and they were Sam's coming home outfits. I don't want to get rid of them :(

Accident Report

2011-09-21T14:32:00.000-07:00

Today I got a call from the preschool director at Sam's school and she was quick to let me know everything was fine, but that Sam had an "accident". She wanted to warn me that when I picked him up he had a bad scrape on his cheek from sliding on the concrete during outside time. When I picked him up I was expecting half of his face to be cut up, and when his teacher saw me she had an accident report ready and was very sweet and concerned about his face. When I saw him I said, "that's it?", my son has already had a cat scan and staples in the back of his head, this is nothing! I think I'm getting used to this boy mom thing and these little things don't really faze me anymore :)

It's a good thing I'm getting used to being a boy mom, bc we've got another one coming right around the corner!

I bought this carton of milk today and the expiration date is pretty much when this baby is due. It's hard to believe that I could possibly have this same carton of milk in my fridge when this baby comes home! (I won't bc we go through like 2 cartons a week, but you get the idea!) On another note, why does organic milk stay fresh so long???? It's amazing!

A little peak at Sam's little brother. I can't believe I forgot to post these last week. Isn't he precious?!

This is it

2011-09-17T20:45:00.000-07:00

The moment we've been waiting for for the past 3 years. Sam's first sporting event! Today he played in his first soccer game and it was so fun and cute! We were a little nervous about if Sam was going to actually want to play or not.

And the first 10 minutes did start like this.... (Sam hiding behind the light pole while the rest of his team was practicing)

But after a little watching and warming up, it wasn't long before he was out there running around!

After a while he seemed to get a little too comfortable and made himself right at home on the field. Yes, that's Sam playing and getting caught in the net WHILE the game is going on.

Overall it was a success and I know each week he'll feel a little more comfortable out there and might actually get up the courage to kick the ball! He did however excel at snack time.

Go team !

His cheering crowd! We need some more people next week, so come on out and enjoy the show!

A little celebratory lunch and wagon ride.

Quick trip

2011-09-15T21:14:00.000-07:00

This morning I had another doctor's appointment, and one really cool thing about my new doctor is the location of the office. It's right next to the zoo! JoJo took off this morning to help us out and brought Sam to the zoo while I was at my appointment. They picked me up after and we wanted to go back for a bit longer, since there was no one there that early!

Our favorite part was the giraffe feeding station. Is this a new thing?! I've never seen it before and it was so cute!

On another note, Sam was recognized at school during birthday chapel. I love the death look him and the little girl next to him are giving me. They look thrilled!

Take that!

2011-09-12T20:33:00.000-07:00

So, paci has been gone for about a week! We decided it was time when Sam pretty much made nap time the WORST time of the day. He has just been using it as a sleep aid for a while, so if he's not sleeping, he doesn't need it! He has done so well and even hasn't mentioned pass the last few days. Today, once again, he fought his nap. 2 hours later I realized I hadn't heard him in a while so I went in to check on him. At least tried but something was jamming the door shut. I pushed it open and found this little mess in his bean bag chair, head propped up on his arm, with a paci! He must have found an old one sometime during his daily room destruction. It's like he's laughing at me in his sleep saying , "nice try mommy! I got one!". He probably thinks he dreamed the whole thing, bc I took it out of his mouth before he woke up. Oh well, he got one last hurrah!

A little of this and a little of that

2011-09-11T20:18:00.000-07:00

Go Tigers! Sam loved going to Austin on Friday, and watching Uncle Eric's team play football. Dripping Springs (daddy's Alma mater :)) played Manor and the Tigers won! Sam loves his football that he got from the cheerleaders and has not stopped talking about going to "Ganny's house". He cried tonight when I told him we had to go home instead of drive to Manor to see her. It was so sweet!

Daddy didn't want me to post the picture below, but when do I ever listen to him, right? :)

Ava is almost here! Today we hosted Lauren's baby shower at our house. It was so much fun seeing old friends and catching up. We couldn't decide who Ava will probably go for. Her cute best buddy Levi or his cool older brother Sam! Either way we'll be happy!

Sammy and I were spent after our long day. Do you like how I have to sleep with my hand on my hip to relieve my rib pain??? Ahhh, the many joys of pregnancy!

First Day of School!

2011-09-07T20:47:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe that it's already a new school year. Sam looks so big in the pictures I took of him this morning! I normally wouldn't post such, um, unflattering pictures of my son, but these are the only two that I took and he's posing the same way in both pictures. I guess it's Sam's way of wishing everyone a great school year!

GiGi's in town! It's nice that she's now retired, because we will have a babysitter any time we need :) Right??? I've got a doctor's appt. tomorrow , so she was nice enough to come in and help out with Sam while Aaron and I are at the appointment. Say a little prayer that everything is going well with little Levi!

While you're at it, say a big prayer for all the wildfire victims. This is a picture of the smoke taken close to our house. So sad!

Recovering!

2011-09-04T20:52:00.000-07:00

We've been recovering from our wild birthday weekend all week and have kept it pretty low key.

Sam made a Halloween costume collage. Still trying to decide what we're going to be this year. Have a feeling we're leaning towards Spiderman...

Sam and mommy being silly like usual :)

One of Sam's favorite things to do at JoJo and Pops is make coffee. He loves helping poppy and even tried a little today. I don't think he's going to take up the habit any time soon, but is definitely turning into quite the Barista!

Sam's 3rd Birthday!

2011-08-30T21:23:00.000-07:00

Family birthday party!

Sam and Chase's joint birthday party! We rented out Noah's Ark Pool, and the kids had a blast. It was HOT but I don't think the kids minded :)

Singing happy birthday!

He was out the second he got in the car!

Opening my gifts!

The end to a long but awesome day!

Good morning sunshine! Someone looks like they aren't quite awake after their busy day before!

Sam had some birthday money to spend so off to Target he went! He loved picking out his toy and actually paying for it with his own money! He's been wanting these cars for a long time :)

On Sam's actual birthday it was mostly just mommy and Sam. Kind of nice to be just the two of us since next year it will be a party of 3!

hotdogs for lunch! Sam's fave!

Clay's for dinner. Sam loves the pony rides!

And that's it! Sam can't say we didn't celebrate his birthday to the max! Thanks to everyone who helped make this his greatest year yet! We love you Sammy!

My Birthday Boy

2011-08-28T20:04:00.000-07:00

Year 1

Year 2

And Year 3!

We had a full day of parties today and it's not even his real birthday yet! Tomorrow we'll post pics from Sam's family party, friends party, and tomorrow his real birthday pics :) Thanks to everyone who has helped celebrate with us so far. Sam is such a lucky 3 year old!

Almost Birthday Boy!

2011-08-27T21:32:00.000-07:00

Check out the almost birthday boy in his birthday suit! Did I forget to mention that on Monday this big guy will be 3?! Maybe I'm just in denial, bc 3 seems a whole lot older then 2. Sunday kicks off our birthday celebrations. We've got a family birthday lunch in the early afternoon and then Sam's birthday party in the late afternoon. It's going to be a busy day and I'm already tired from prepping for it! So worth it though, bc these are seriously the most fun days ever :)

26 weeks!

and BIG.

Nursery Pics!

2011-08-26T12:44:00.000-07:00

Isn't it adorable? We've really been working hard :) Just kidding, Levi's room is still our storage room. At least we have the crib in there (even if it is disassembled against the wall). We're still brainstorming ideas, so if you've got any good ones feel free to share! Hey, his closet is at least on its way to being a baby closet.

Speaking of rooms, Sam's been using his playroom a lot since it's so hot outside! His favorite things right now are "working", "fishing", and being silly :)

Little Levi

Poor Levi has had the worst ultrasound pictures. Not really sure what we're looking at here, but it's our sweet boy! He weighs 2 pounds already and is looking good. My doctor decided to transfer me to a high risk doctor down in the medical center, so hopefully we'll start seeing them next week. Right now our lives pretty much consist of doctors, doctors, and more doctors! We'll keep you posted on our progress!

Update!

2011-08-23T19:15:00.000-07:00

Guess who's been doing awesome at potty training! That's right! It's this guy! This is week 2 of no diapers and we are so proud. He's pretty much accident free all day (except for the whole #2 thing). As long as he's going #1 on the potty I can handle the other stuff for now! Great job big boy! We are so proud of you!

Super Sam!

2011-08-21T20:31:00.000-07:00

Look out it's Super Sam! You would think that this kid was a real superhero. If he was his super power would be not having to sleep. ever. I don't know what's going on with him, but not only are we not napping, but he's started to not need to sleep at night, too. Last night we put him in his room at 9:00PM. A few hours later we were getting ready for bed and went in his room to check on him and the kid was still awake! We got in our bed and not 2 seconds later the little guy was walking in our room saying, "good morning!". Um, I don't think so buddy. We put him back to bed a few more times and every time he just walked back in our room and climbed right on in bed. He told us to get out of HIS room! (he thinks every room is HIS room) The last time I heard him was close to 12:30AM, who knows if he even went to sleep. What I do know is the little guy walked in at 7:00AM and woke me up with another, "good morning!". Gotta love the good attitude though :)

Here's the my little devil thinking he's being all sneaky during nap time. Today he did not take a nap again after his wild late night! I see you buddy! Go to sleep!

On another note, happy birthday to my awesome friend Amanda! Yay! Another one is 30 with me! Nothing like a grape juice birthday toast! Oh yea, it was another wild one!

Hanging out

2011-08-18T21:06:00.000-07:00

We've been doing a lot of hanging out since we're potty training. Here's the boys doing some work. Daddy on the computer and Sammy on his ipad. His legs look so long! (Sams not Aaron's)

Check out the little monkey watching daddy set up his water slide. We've been trying to get creative with rewards for peeing on the potty all day long. We're getting desperate!

This is random....

But right now Restaurant Weeks is going on in Houston. I'd never even heard about this until about 2 weeks ago! Basically a bunch of fancy/expensive restaurants in town participate in this fundraiser every year. Lunch is $20/person and dinner is $35/person for a set 3 course meal. $5 of that money is donated to the HFB. Aaron and I tried out Del Friscos for lunch last weekend and last night we went to Perry's for Mom's Night Out. I must not get out much, bc I'd never been to either of these places before! I ordered the same thing at each place, bc I wanted to compare the two and see which was better. My clear winner was:

Not really sure what they do to their steaks but OMG! (or maybe it was the awesome mashed potatoes they served with it instead of the super healthy asparagus at Perry's) It's not to late to try out restaurant weeks! Check their website for the list of places participating!

PTBC

2011-08-17T21:46:00.000-07:00

For the past 3 days we have been in Potty Training Boot Camp. Aaron had Monday and Wednesday off so we thought it would be the perfect time to really commit to working on it. I managed Tuesday by myself and it wasn't as bad as I thought! Starting first thing Monday morning we ditched the diapers and set the timer for 15 minutes. Every 15 minutes we sat on potty. Needless to say we spent the entire day at the house. The next two days we ditched the timer and just judged when we thought he needed to sit on it. He only had 2 accidents in 2 days! As you can see from the pictures we were Serious Sallys about this! Sam was such a trooper and hardly fought us at all when we steered him into the bathroom (or car a few times). Tomorrow is judgement day when we taper off and see if he will initiate going in there by himself. I'm thinking we're going to have a lot of wet puddles. That's ok though, bc after all this I truly believe what they say about them not doing it until they are really ready. There is no right or wrong way to potty train, bc it all depends on the kiddo. Wish us luck tomorrow bc we'd love to see these last 3 days count for something, but if not we'll survive and and keep working on it. We're not going to stress him or us out over it though! After all, I don't know any 12 year olds that aren't potty trained...

Just the 2 of us!

2011-08-14T21:31:00.000-07:00

This weekend Sam visited Austin all by himself! He was there from Friday morning until Sunday morning. Daddy and I had a very relaxing/busy (does that even make since?) weekend! I need some pictures from their weekend adventures to post, so here's an oldie until I get some :)

Aaron and I spent all day Saturday doing kidfree things like.....I used a spa gift certificate I got for my birthday, we had lunch in the Galleria at Del Friscos, and an afternoon movie (during nap time!). Can you tell it's been a while since we had some time without Sam. It's like we tried to do as much stuff as possible! Saturday my mom and I, or I should say mostly my mom, organized and cleaned out Levi's room! His closet no longer is home to Easter decorations and gift wrapping stuff, it looks like a real baby closet! One thing down about 500 more to go :) Baby steps! (literally)

Sweet tooth

Sam has had quite the sweet tooth lately. I'm sure with no influence from his pregnant mama! We tried Orange leaf tonight and it was AWESOME! If you have one in your area go! It's all natural frozen yogurt with the most amazing toppings you've ever seen! Sam's concoction consists of cookies and cream froyo, fresh blueberries, waffle cone pieces, and of course m&m's. (It's a do it yourself topping bar) YUMMY!

Speaking of a sweet tooth, Check out these cupcakes I made for a friends baby shower the other night. A very easy fix for a not very attractive icing job. I just bought a little bouquet of fake flowers from hobby lobby, cut off the flowers, and stuck them in! Just an idea if you're ever in a pickle.

Football

2011-08-10T21:12:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we ventured out into the heat and headed out to the Texans training camp. Sam had a blast watching the football practice. Every time they would start a play he would yell, "Look! They're running! They're running!" He made sure everyone on the bleachers knew this :) Thanks Hayley and Kayla for keeping Sam in line! He loves hanging out with those girls :)

birthday season

2011-08-08T20:54:00.000-07:00

Birthday Season! It seems like August starts off all of the birthday parties. This past Saturday Sam and I were dates to two parties! We started out in the morning with a Cars party for Ben. You know that was right up Sam's alley.

Then we headed out to Garrett's party that evening. He had a gymnastics candy party! Another winner for Sam! Happy birthday friends! Thanks for letting us celebrate with you :)
Next up... Sam's birthday! I can't believe I have an almost 3 year old! I have 20 more days with my 2 year old and I'm going to hang on to them as hard as I can! I can't believe how fast it's going. Tear.

On another note, Sam has been (literally) hiding from meal time. We called Sam over to the dinner table last night and he never showed up. We searched everywhere for him and finally found him sitting so quietly behind the closed study door. I yelled in for him to come and join us and all he said back with a little hand wave was, "no thanks". Well, at least he was polite!

23 weeks

2011-08-05T20:45:00.000-07:00

We're 23 weeks along! Only about 15 weeks left. Levi will be here before we know it :)

Stacey and her girls met us at Chuck E Cheese the other day for lunch. They are so sweet and good with Sam. This was the only pic I got of them. They were helping him pick out a prize with his 16 tickets. Pickings were slim! We're going to miss them when Stacey goes back to work next week!

Sam wanted back in his high chair. We've been talking a lot about the baby and what it's going to mean to have him with us. We've been trying to get Sam pumped up about having a live in best buddy! Our pep talks are not working so far. Tonight we told Sam that he's a big boy so he gets to sit in a big boy chair and that Levi is going to use the high chair since he's a baby. Sam did not like this idea. He immediately asked to eat his dinner in the high chair. He hasn't eaten in it in about 2 or 3 months. I think we're going to have some jealousy issues ahead of us...

2011-08-02T14:33:00.000-07:00

These are a few of my favorite things...

Sam LOVES his cars. We've resorted to bribery with the potty training and every time he goes on the potty he gets a new car. He's obsessed with the ones from the Cars movie. He even sleeps with them at night. As you can see we've run out of cars to buy, so we're back to m&m's. Let's just say the cars were definitely helping the cause more than the candy!

A little paint goes a long way!

They say you start "nesting" when you're pregnant in order to prepare for the baby. I think my nesting stage consists of fixing up the house more than getting ready for baby! We painted the kitchen this slate green color and I'm so glad we did! If you know me you know I like some color in my house, and we were in dire need! Sam was a great helper like always :) We have a few more projects around the house to do, and then maybe we'll get around to cleaning out Levi's room!

Recipe Exchange!

2011-07-28T12:44:00.000-07:00

Last night we had our Baby Boot Camp Mom's Night Out. We had an appetizer exchange and let me tell you there was some good stuff! All of these recipes are super easy to make and good to know if you ever need something to make quick.

Above are a few of my favorites, but the one below was the group favorite. It sounds strange, but is sooooo good! You must try it! Everyone went home with the recipe card.

Splashpad and pizza!

This is the new splashpad out in Fairfield. It was so cute and nice! There was a dog park attached to the back of it. I had to keep pulling Sam off the doggie playground equipment and bring him back to the people toys.

Lake Trip

2011-07-26T20:58:00.000-07:00

We just got back from the lake and it was a blast! The pic of Sam pretty much describes our couple of days there.

Everyone had fun on the slide, even Aunt Abby!

relaxing

Evening boat ride

Sam's first fish! Now if we can only get him to come close enough to see it...

Bed time

Captain Sam!

Thanks again for a great weekend! We can't wait to go back!

30!

2011-07-25T20:53:00.000-07:00

I'm 30!

I feel like the picture of me and Aaron above pretty much sums up our life. We're still trying to look all GQ, but oh wait! Here comes our almost 3 year old to bring us back to reality! I'm really excited about this next chapter, because I really believe it when people say that your 30's are so much better than you're 20's. (although, they've got some living up to to do)

Thanks to everyone for coming out for my super low key party. We had such a fun time catching up, and I think we are all going to be in trouble next year!

Birthday Weekend!

2011-07-22T20:18:00.000-07:00

Today kicked off my birthday weekend! Tomorrow I will be 30 years old! Oh.my.goodness. I'm old! The Baby Boot Camp ladies were sweet enough to surprise me with a cake after class this morning. Daddy was .off today, so he joined in the fun

Tonight I went to a gender reveal party. My friend Katie is one of my BBC instructors and she revealed that she's having another GIRL! So exciting!

A picture of a few of the BBC preggers ladies. Something was in the water!

Lastly, 21 weeks.

Party Time!

2011-07-21T19:53:00.000-07:00

How many kids can you fit on a trampoline, ladies can you get to wear an Oh Sew Peachy hat, and moms can you fit in a booth? That's the million dollar question. Creepily the answer is 9 in both pictures!

PS- if you're interested in one of these super cute hats that all the cool kids are wearing, check out my friend Kari's blog. She makes them! http://ohsewpeachy.blogspot.com

2nd annual circus trip! Aaron had his hands full :) Obviously we went pre hair cut.

Sideburns are out

2011-07-18T19:43:00.000-07:00

Looking cool is in!

Somebody is enjoying his new bang free, sideburnless, puffy sides haircut!

Mommy is not :( Moral to the story is don't get your babies haircut at Walmart. Aaron found out the hard way that when you say you want a "trim" you go from this...

To this....

PS- It's hard to see in pictures. You really need to see it in person to get the full effect, but my favorite part is the part above his ears. He looks like a page boy.

Growing up!

2011-07-15T20:21:00.000-07:00

First sleep over! Big Brother is growing up! Kayla spent the night at our house on Wednesday night and Sam loved it! We played at the house, went to see Car's, and ate lots of junk food! I really did not think this whole sleeping arrangement thing was going to work out, but it did! Kayla is more than welcome any time, bc it's like having a live in nanny. She keeps Sam in his place and more importantly, Stacey brought us over a delicious dinner when she dropped Kayla off. A nanny and a cook??? Score!

Future blackmail picture. We've been working with Sam on potty training, bc he has to be potty trained before he starts school! I've been told you need to just put them in big boy underwear, so when they pee on themselves they can actually feel it. They realize they don't like the feeling of getting all wet and they start trying harder to go on the potty. So tonight we put on our "Scotty Potty" training underwear and headed outside! He had already gone once on the potty, and I was hoping that if he had an accident he would do it outside while we were playing. Of course he stayed dry until we came back inside. He decided to let it all go when he sat on our couch. He was definitely surprised when he was all wet. So, we cleaned up with a towel and tried again. Best part of the whole thing was when I walked into the room later on and found Aaron and Sam playing peek-a-boo under the pee towel. Needless to say Aaron was a little disgusted, Sam couldn't care in the least, and I thought it was hilarious!

Isn't he cute!? Even with that huge mop on his head???

Levi and I are doing a little growing up ourselves.

20 Weeks! The half way point. Although, technically we're a little over half way since we'll be delivering a few weeks early. Levi is doing really well! He is totally different then Sam was in my tummy. He seems a lot calmer and quieter. During our last ultrasound I even had to ask the us tech if he was awake!. She said yes that he was just hanging out. Sweet boy! The pregnancy is going good. Not great, but so far everything is fine, and we can't complain! My gestational diabetes is back, which is fine, bc we were expecting it all along and it's not a big deal in the grand scheme of things. One thing the endocrinologist did find was an enlarged thyroid. I have to go back in 2 weeks for an ultrasound on my neck to see what's going on with it. Also, we have to go back for another ultrasound in 2 weeks with my ob, bc my placenta is very low and looks to be growing toward the scar tissue from my c-section. Only me, right? We aren't really sure what this means, but what we do know is that we don't want it to attach to the scar tissue and that we really need the placenta to start rising! My doctor wants to talk about options at our next appointment. Best case scenario is that it will rise and we won't ever have to worry/think about this again! Pray for us in the next few weeks that all of these issues resolve themselves. As long as Levi is fine, everything else is easy :)

Sad Samuel

2011-07-13T12:47:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Sam went to Summer Fun day at our church. It was Rescue Workers day. He met firemen, policemen, tow truck drivers and checked out all of their vehicles. One thing he brought home was this "Samuel" picture (the first of I'm sure many times people will mistake Sam for a Samuel). He handed me this picture and very seriously told me "Sad man". He kept telling me over and over how sad he was. He seemed genuinely concerned for this gingerbread, wig wearing band aid infested man. Poor Samuel!

Didn't take long for Sam to snap out of it and turn that frown upside down!

Check out the video of Sam playing the Don't Smile game. He might be the worst ever at it, but it's so cute!

Don't Judge

2011-07-09T22:06:00.000-07:00

But we went and saw the Wiggles today. For those who aren't familiar with them, they are a four man kids band. They have a pretty bad wrap, because their material is quite addicting and annoying! For some reason Sam LOVES them. He knows almost all of their songs and the movements to go along. This is not something we talk about publicly or proudly, but we took one for the team and brought our boy along. We learned something pretty interesting/sad at the concert. Jeff, the purple wiggle, was not able to perform today, bc he was back in Australia after having heart issues and he had a pace maker put in. They informed everyone that they have been doing this for 20 years! Holy Crap! That's a long time! Jokes on us, because you know these guys are making serious bank!

Dinner with friends! Tonight we got away for a little bit to have dinner with good friends. The babies had their first of many dates :)

19 weeks

I keep forgetting to post these pictures! Half way there!

Baby brother's name is...

2011-07-06T20:48:00.000-07:00

Click to find out! Sam just had to tell you himself :)

Magic Kingdom at Night

2011-07-05T20:40:00.000-07:00

This was supposed to be the classic picture in front of Cinderella's castle, but I guess my mom didn't get the memo that you actually want the castle in the picture. Love you mom! If you look close you can see the top!

The carousel is always a fave in our family. Sam named his horse Bullseye

This is maybe my favorite picture from the whole trip. The Buzz Lightyear ride took a picture somewhere in the middle of it and it is classic! I have no idea why we were all so into this shooting game. I am so determined and serious looking and my mom is down in shooting position! Sadly the two of us were still beat by Aaron and Sam. Better luck next time! Click on it to get a good look!

Watch out world! There's a new driver on the road!

My favorite Mickey cone

And he's out. The end to a great trip!

Happy 4th! We recovered from our trip with a fun and relaxing day! I love Sam's face with Hayley and Kayla! He so didn't want his picture taken!

Our little swimmer. He is finally getting used to the water again! My favorite part of the video is how he won't let go of his water gun :)

We're home!

2011-07-03T08:17:00.000-07:00

We are home and exhausted! We packed as much in as we could while we were there and had great time. We got in some family time with Grandpa at his home and even ate down in their fancy dining room! He's living quite the life!

The first park we visited was Animal Kingdom. This was the first time I'd ever been to this park and we loved it! We were there for 10 hours straight. There was not much sleeping or naps on this trip and Sam was a trooper.

Visiting Africa!

African Safari! Sam saw some kind of bull or something and yelled "hook em" when we drove by! Daddy was so proud :)

We are pretty much the coolest people around :) Just hiding in some bushes!

The Lion King

Just exploring the park before the rain! It rained every day we were in Florida. Luckily we could plan our day around it and avoided it most of the time. Hey, at least we got to wear these super ponchos or jackets as Sam called them.

On day 2 we started off at Epcot and ended the day at Magic Kingdom. Sorry if I offend anyone but Epcot sucks. Don't bring your toddler to the most boring place on earth. Ok, I have to give it some credit. It did have a cool Nemo ride/exhibit, and Sam did get his manly viking ensemble there, but other than that it was horrible. We had early admission from our hotel, and we were all excited to get an hour ahead of everyone. We got there and everything was closed until the regular opening time. Soooo, what are people supposed to do with early admission? We still had some fun though and luckily we didn't have an all day pass.

Nemo! Sam loved the nemo exhibit! They had aquariums everywhere and one large fish tank with all the real nemo fish/characters from the movie. It was so cute!

Thomas the Train's town! Sam didn't want to leave.

The little viking. We had a character lunch reservation in Norway and Sam fell in love with this viking get-up. He has been wearing it ever since and even sleeps with it!

One of the best things we did was a character lunch in Epcot. We were a little hesitant at first, bc the only one available was a princess lunch! You can only imagine Aaron rolling his eyes! Oh well! I gotta get my kicks! We are an all boy family you know! It turned out really cute, and Sam looked adorable in his armour. It's like he was there to save all the princesses! If you have a girl, you have to take them to one of these sometime. The little girlies were in heaven :) At the end I asked which one was his favorite and he told me the "lellow" one. I agree she was a hottie!

On the way out to beat the rain! We ended the day at Magic Kingdom, but I'll give you a little break from all of these pictures and upload them tomorrow :)

Happy Birhtday Pops!

2011-06-29T20:15:00.000-07:00

We love you! Sorry you're all alone on your birthday, but we'll be sure to do some celebrating in your honor :) Just kidding, we'll wait until we get back! We have a really busy day tomorrow, so I don't have time to upload a lot of pics so this will have to do! Yesterday we missed the rain by an inch and made it to the beach. Sam loves it! Today we made it to Orlando and had lunch in Downtown Disney at the T-Rex. It was such a fun place but a little intense for Sam! His favorite part was the fossil digging at the end:) Lots more fun tomorrow as we're headed to Animal Kingdom! Pray that we miss the rain bc it seems to be all around here!

MICKEY!

2011-06-26T14:52:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday we're headed back to Orlando to visit family and visit our friend Mickey! It's becoming quite convenient to have family in Florida. Sam loves seeing everyone and it's always a fun trip. Sam's going to be meeting my cousins for the first time and we're really excited! Grandpa George has been in the hospital because of a few issues, so it's working out perfect that we'll be there to see him and give him our love. We're trying a couple of different parks this year, so it should be a really fun time.

A few pictures from last year. This year we're doing a character breakfast at Disney World and a character lunch at Animal Kingdom. Hopefully this isn't a huge bomb with Sam and the characters. Aaron tried to take Sam to Chuck E Cheese the other night and they had to leave the second he saw the mouse! We're bringing the computer with us, so we'll update from our adventures! Wish us luck on the plane ride! This year Sam gets to sit in his own seat :)

PS- Sam's not much help with the laundry or packing. I swear he is actually excited about the trip.

Early birthday present!

Sam got his first bday present and it came at the perfect time! I foresee lots of friends and fun in the near future :)

Love

2011-06-22T22:04:00.000-07:00

I am so in love with this little guy. Every day he does something to make me smile. We went to open his door and check on him before going to bed and found him like this. It looks so uncomfortable.

If that's not cute enough check out my star student in swim lessons yesterday. He has to find his favorite toy from the basket every time. It must be the age. The other little boy in his lessons always grabs the purple haired barbie. Two of a kind.

Fisherman Sam

2011-06-21T20:54:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday we drove out to Clear Lake for cousin Sean's 8th bday. It was such a boys party! They had water gun fights, fishing, crabbing, and pizza! Sam felt like such a cool big boy. At one point we looked over and Sam was soaking wet with a huge smile on his face. All the other kids were using him as a target and Sam just felt like the belle of the ball. He had no idea what was really going on :)

crabbing with the birthday boy!

Group shot! This is a pic of all the cousin together. You'd never guess that Sam is the youngest by 5 years :) He looks so big!

Thanks so much for having us over Sean! We loved spending your birthday with you!

Get it boy!

Sam has a new best friend, the water hose. Why has it taken us so long to introduce the two of them? Last night he watered all the plants and this afternoon he played by himself for a good 45 minutes with that thing. I have a feeling this will be our new afternoon ritual. `

I forgot to post this the other day, but this is a pic at 16 weeks. I might be setting some records on this belly. This little guy is not messing around!

Gender Reveal Party!

2011-06-19T14:02:00.000-07:00

It's a boy!!!!!

We're so excited that Sam is going to have a baby brother! Lock up your daughters! There's another Fredrickson boy in town! We had so much fun at the reveal party. Thanks to everyone for coming out to celebrate with us! It means so much to our growing family! Baby brother is already so loved :)

We decided to have a Gender Reveal Party since 2nd babies kind of get the shaft on a lot of stuff! We wanted to do something special for him, so when he looks back at all the pictures he feels just as special as his big brother. So, this is how it works!
1.) Get a cake!

2.) Gather friends and family!
team pink and team blue

3.)Cut the cake

4.) Surprise!

Soon to be a family of four. Wouldn't want it any other way :) Oh yea! Happy Father's Day! More on that to come!