7 months

38.5" 120#

Wow- I really can't believe I'm seven months pregnant today!  I think I might say that every time, but seriously, it's going by so fast.  No time at all and we'll get to meet our sweet Little Miss.  I'm getting really excited! Oh, to hold a tiny, squirmy, sleepy baby again!  With her little floppy head and squishy cheeks- mmmmm... sweetness :)  They say now she should be about 3 pounds and 17 inches long, and functioning more and more like she will outside of the womb.  Dreaming, "breathing" amniotic fluid, seeing shadows & changes in light, feeling, hearing differences in voices, making her own red blood cells, and keeping her own body warm.  Her brain is still in high gear, as well as putting on the fat. Maybe that's why I'm eating so much ice cream... you go, girl. Pack it on!  On that note, haha, I've been weighing in on the Wii.  Today is the first day that I'm officially "overweight."  I'm kind of sickly happy about that. :)  Although, the Wii guy was not. "Let's try to set a new goal closer to a BMI of 22."  Yeah.... maybe later!!
I have to say that God is so good.  The nerves have been almost completely replaced by excitement and joy to meet our baby girl.  Rowen has been SO affectionate lately, to us and my belly and everyone he comes in contact with and to his baby doll- I think he's going to do great with her.  Her name still remains a mystery to us, but I'm confidant that she will eventually have a name, and not go to kindergarten as Little Miss H.  Now that's not to say I'm all put together emotionally.  I'm having some pretty awesome mood swings and "hormonal" moments. I'm forgetful, and doing my best to not be whiny- but failing. :)  The heartburn is back in full force and the insomnia is creeping in as well.  And I just feel generally huge & exhausted.  And then I remind myself- two short months!!  I'm trying to enjoy all the precious time I have with just Rowen.  We're going on lots of walks when the weather lets us, playing at the park, munchkin playland, and just visiting friends.   Life will never be the same!  Good thing he wont really remember. :)

The Progress:

pre-pregnancy: 105#

One Month: 100#

Two Months: 101#

Three Months: 102# 29"

Four Months: 107# 34"

Five Months: 111# 36"

Six Months: 115# 37.5"

Seven Months: 120# 38.5"

Rowen inside at Seven Months: 120# 37.5"

squirt squirt

Rowen likes to grab my (completely non-toxic) cleaning bottles out of the cupboard and carry them around. Sometimes he gets a towel too and pretends to wipe the chairs or floor or walls. Even though I make my own cleaners and know exactly what's in them, I still thought I'd get him a Rowen-Sized squirt bottle so he'd (hopefully) stay out of mine. He liked the idea, as you can plainly see. :)

Toddler Meal #1

Thought I'd share this super easy, fairly nutritious "toddler meal" idea - in case you might have little eaters at home and need some new ones. (Ideas, not new toddlers. Heaven knows I need some new ideas!)

Beets & Buttered Noodles

5 servings

2 cups dry mini pasta shells

one bunch roasted beets (alternatively, 1 can. rinsed)

5-10 black olives, sliced

2 T butter

Boil noodles. (For added nutrition, boil in vegetable or chicken stock or milk or a combo rather than water.) Drain. Add butter. Dice beets, slice olives, stir both in with noodles until the noodles are completely pink. Serve one bowl to your hungry kid, freeze the other four for later. This is one of Rowen's top 5 favorite meals, no doubt! Who can resist pink noodles, anyway? ;)

I like to freeze his "meals" flat in sandwich baggies.

Then they stack beautifully in a plastic shoe box. See?

p.s. if you've never roasted beets, you should. They are SO good. Leave a comment if you'd like a how-to.

Tupperware

What can I say? I love him.

Rowen's First Haircut!

bye bye... sweet baby curls!

Tulip Festival

So much fun with my friend Riley!

Wanna-be Gardener.....

Here's my first post for the Happel Garden 2010!

(it may also be the last post, depending on how things go.)

Last year, we tried to have a garden. It seemed like there was plenty of sun in our back yard, so as soon as we moved in we dug out a little patch, tilled, planted, watered, fertilized,

battled the slugs, and.... pretty much got nothing out of it. Corn: complete failure. Not an ear. Basil: pretty good crop. Tomato: sad. Probably 5 (albeit tasty) tomatoes total. Chives: excellent. Salad: slug food. Cilantro: no show. Parsley: also a no show. Carrots: darling. The smallest little carrots you ever did see. Multi colored and quite tasty for the whole bite. Spinach: slug heaven. Sugar snap peas: yum-o!

For a few days, I went outside each hour (so long as it was sunny) and recorded just how much

sun our little patch was actually getting. Turns out, only 4 full hours, plus 3 hours of part sun. Bummer. So this year, we are re-thinking our crop selection. I did a little research on part sun crops, (or at least ones that will supposedly survive without full sun all day) and planted a few things as soon as the soil was workable. Now that we've had some sun and rain, I'm happy to

report that things are sprouting, I took a few photos this afternoon to share with you our bright start!

garlic! mmmm

potatoes coming up- aren't they cute?

sweet peas sprouting around the teeny garden fence. I'm hoping peas wrapped around the barely visable fence will help Rowen not trip over it. Also, the chives came back bushy and beautiful!

leeks! Oh, how I hope I have success with leeks. I l.o.v.e. leeks. See the teeny tiny sprouts coming up in this little trench? mmmm....... I have a few planted indoors too waiting for transplant. I thought I'd see which set did better.

Also barely sprouting are beets and spinach. I'm going to try to keep the slugs out of my spinach this year, as it's supposed to do well in the shade. Eggshells, hazelnut shells, more beer traps, something....

I just transplanted brussels sprouts and broccoli. They don't look so hot, but after setting them outside to "harden off" many of the sprouts "broke" so.... I don't know if they'll keep growing or not. I might just plant more directly in the soil.

We also have a few mystery sprouts! I'm guessing a little gift from the compost pile. There are... oh... five? of these little guys scattered throughout the garden. I may transplant them into a sunny spot once they're bigger just out of curiosity. Zucchini? Cantaloupe? Any guesses? Darling little things. (Like my scattered broken egg shells to ward of slugs?

Judging by the bite taken out of this leaf, they aren't that effective.)

And....... HERE'S the view from standing in our garden into our neighbor's back yard.

I have a feeling my battle with the dandelions is going to be fierce throughout the spring and summer. Oiy.

On another gardening note....I was wondering why our tulips weren't budding. There are just a small handful of them that came up around the base of the big tree. I've been just waiting and waiting for their happy little heads to shout "welcome, Spring!" Upon closer inspection, they've been decapitated. All of them. I hate squirrels. (See the tiny purple evidence at the bottom of the photo?)

Last fall our iris' (also planted around the base of the big tree) showed some signs of disease. So I dug them up, cut off the bad portions, split them, and replanted. The squirrels dug them up. So I replanted. And the squirrels dug them up. After several weeks of this game I gave up and threw all the poor little tubers into a bucket in the garage and forgot about them until January. I put them in a new spot by the house where the nasty squirrels left them alone, and I'm happy to report they are now all sprouting. :) They survived!!!

We had planted a couple ferns around the tree last year which did not survive the crazy squirrels. I'm hoping to plant my rosemary around the tree- seems like a really good spot- but I'm going to have to think of some sort of squirrel protection plan first. Hm.....

Okay, enough already! Obviously I've got spring fever!

Rowen's Big Boy Cup

Rowen's First Chores

This video is kind of long... but I couldn't help but post it :) Rowen puts all the laundry from the dryer into the basket, and then pushes the basket to his room. Love it!

6 Months

37.5" 115#

Here we are, in our third trimester already- time just keeps flying by! I can't think of anything new to report- but, an uneventful pregnancy is good. :) According to averages, she should be about two pounds now and 15" long, and would have an 85% chance of surviving if she were to be born now. (Not that she has permission. For heaven's sake.) She's blinking and sucking her fingers and going through some major brain developments. Time to eat more salmon! mmmmm.....

I go in Thursday for our next prenatal check up. They've all felt super quick and none-too-exciting this time around, but it's still nice to go and hear her little thumpity-thumpity heart beating away, and to chat with my OB who I just adore. This time, though, I "get" to do the 1 hour glucose test, which means I'll be guzzling that "yummy" glucola and then get my blood drawn an hour later. (I think it's mostly to test for gestational diabetes?) oh, yay.

We haven't added any new names to the list yet, although Matt is in the middle of a name book and has jotted a few down. We're pretty close to crossing Brynlee off the list as it's starting to sound too trendy every time I hear it out loud. All in all, not any closer to figuring out what her name is. The Lord knows her by name- we just have to keep listening. :)

The Progress:

pre-pregnancy: 105#

One Month: 100#

Two Months: 101#

Three Months: 102# 29"

Four Months: 107# 34"

Five Months: 111# 36"

Six Months: 115# 37.5"

Rowen inside at Six Months 118# 37"

April Resolutions

January - read through the bible in a year.

I'm....... fairly on track. it's certainly still holding me accountable to more consistent quiet times.

February - be better about using the envelope system.

Did better this month than last month- still using my debit card here and there but the budget isn't breaking anywhere.

March - only use facebook/check blogs during Rowen's nap.

After 15 days, I decided this was a rather silly resolution. I use facebook much like email and don't spend THAT much time reading blogs... so, I gave up on this one. Not continuing it. I do, however, want to be deliberate with how I spend my time and making sure my priorities are my Savior, my husband, our son, and our home. So, keeping an eye on that.

April - this month, I'm going to walk any day it's not raining/threatening to rain. Today was the first break in a rather crummy week weather-wise, and Rowen and I packed up as soon as he was awake and fed and we strolled four miles. LOVED it! We were out for almost two hours (a few groceries were part of the trip) and though my feet will probably be sore, it's a great form of exercise for me in this.... uh.... condition. :)

I know it's a little ironic that I picked April for my weather-dependent walking resolution (what brings May flowers?) but- here's to hoping for a little sun. Or, at least sun breaks :) Also, Rowen loves going for strolls, even if our destination isn't the park. Or so it seems at this point, anyway. So, maybe it's a perfect month for it!