heartbreaking

Please meet Landon.. his dad Marine LCPL Carpenter made the ultimate sacrifice while serving with the 3/8 in Afghanistan earlier this year.. a month before his son was born. Never forget the price of freedom.

I've seen this posted on FB more than once and it breaks my heart every.single.time I see it....plus it's too adorable not to share!

jumping on the bandwagon

I knew I couldn't stay away forever but I tried to for as long as I could and now the time has come.....

I want to be a part of pinterest!!!

I'm totally blaming almost every single blog that I read because I see all of these things that they have pinned {especially really yummy recipes} and I want to check this thing out for myself. 

So I headed over to the website and apparently you have to be invited?! I requested to be receive an invite, thinking I would get an email right away with the "invite" and what do I get? This...

"Hi!

Thanks for joining the Pinterest waiting list. We'll be sure to send you an invite soon.

In the meantime, you can follow us on Twitter for Pinterest news and updates. You can also explore a few pinboards.

We're excited to get you pinning soon!"

There's a freaking waiting list?!?! How long am I going to have to wait to get an invite to join a freaking website?!?! Hopefully I get it soon or else I might not want to start pinning!!

tying it up

I have been looking for something cute & affordable to put on our front door for fall and I couldn't find exactly what I wanted. Well, I found some stuff but I didn't want to pay the price for it. So I did what anyone else would do....I made one myself! 

I saw one last fall on a blog somewhere that I thought about trying because it was super cute & super easy. It was basically fake leaves hot glued on a picture frame mat.....but that didn't happen. Then I kept seeing some this fall that looked even easier to make so while I was at the store one day I picked up what I would need to make it.

I picked up the styrofoam from Michael's and the fabric from Wal-Mart. I love that Wal-Mart sells fabric in these pre-packaged things now. Each one was two yards of fabric and I ended up using one yard of each color. I'm a huge brown/orange fan for fall but you could use any colors that you want really, I've seen some that were used with ribbon & those were super cute! Maybe at Christmas time I will do that?!

I simply cut the fabric into strips and then tied them onto the styrofoam alternating between the two colors. Then I trimmed the ends of the knots to the length that I wanted. Tied some ribbon on the top and it was done!

I wasn't sure how I was going to like it while I was making it but I think I really like it! {plus Ryan even said that he thinks it looks good....that doesn't happen often!} It's super light too so I don't have to worry about it falling off the hook and it's not too big so I don't have to worry about it getting smashed between the two doors.

I'm thinking about getting the letter P to attach to it somehow or maybe a little scarecrow.

Opinions on adding something to it....yay or nay?! 

photo dump

Let this be your warning: this post is going to be mostly just pictures, a lot of pictures....all of which have been taken between Saturday and Monday.
watching cartoons with daddy

not so much a baby bump anymore....

we were trying out the self timer on the the new camera.....

Keegan & his bff on Saturday night

this is his poker face...

Keegan & Great Grandpa Mudd

showing off his dance moves

it's tough being 3 1/2



his exact words while taking this picture: "mommy, that's enough pictures"

our new friend, he needs some pumpkins & mums & hay bales to hang out with!

hello Carson!!

say cheese!!

Christmas came a little early for me this year!! Yes, I got my Christmas {and probably birthday} present in September! I wasn't exactly planning on getting it when I did but with some awesome deals I couldn't pass it up, plus I was going to get it before Carson is born so I would have gotten it early anyways!

 

After lots of researching and looking at different types and brands I ended up buying this baby....

 

 

It's a Canon Rebel T3. I've only had it since Friday but so far I love it!! I'm not crazy on having to carry around a big 'ole camera bag instead of being able to just put it in my purse like my old camera but I think I will be taking a ton more pictures now! My old camera got soooo slow over time and was a pain in the butt when trying to really "capture" things that Keegan would be doing but now I don't have to worry about that because this thing is super fast!

I ended up buying it on Friday because it was on sale and the Internet price dropped another $40 off of the sale price and they had to give me that price in store. After getting it home Friday night and playing around with it I decided that I really wanted the extra lens to with it. I saw a sign in the store when I was there that said you could save $150 off of the lens when you purchase the camera. After talking about it a little bit we decided that it was worth it so we headed back to the store on Saturday. I told them that I just bought the camera the day before and changed my mind about getting the extra lens and was wondering if I could still get it for the discount. Since I had my receipt they said it was no problem whatsoever!!! Score!!

So now I have this little thing to go with it....

I ended up getting the 55-250 Telephoto Zoom with the image stabilizer. Of course I had to get a new bag too because the one I bought before wasn't big enough for the camera and extra lens! After all was said and done I ended up saving $200 on everything, which counts as a good deal to me. I'm slowly starting to figure it all out and I'm pretty sure Keegan is going to get real sick of me taking pictures all the time while I try to figure out all of the different settings!

After getting that and a new phone {which is a completely different story} this past week I don't think I will be getting anything else for a looonnnggg time!! Which is perfectly fine with me.....until I find something else that I have to have! :)

how do you know....

when you are really pregnant?!

You can easily do this with no problems whatsoever....

clean up on aisle 3

I went grocery shopping today. This isn't something that I would consider to be one of my favorite things to do but I also don't hate having to do it either....until today!

I was simply walking around Aldi, minding my own business grabbing things off the shelves, everything was just fine & dandy until I get to the milk.

I opened the door to the refrigerator where the milk was and apparently I was standing a little too close to it because the door scrapped against my toe. It hurt like hell but I figured it was no big deal. I take a couple of steps, look down and notice that there is a little bit of red starting to show. I still think it's no biggie, it just looked like a scratch where blood just barely surfaces the top of it. Take a couple more steps and there is now blood pouring out of my big toe. Seriously, the blood was flowing! My first thought is "crap, I don't have any band aids or napkins in my purse" then I think to myself "I wonder if they have any band aids here"....just an fyi, Aldi doesn't sell band aids! I thought about grabbing a pack of napkins and opening them so I could wipe the blood off of my toe, which is now going under my toe. By the time I get to the napkins I look at my foot and there is blood everywhere underneath my foot and all over my flip flop...and it's starting to dry a little! So I said screw it, it won't do any good now that the blood is starting to dry. So I walked around and finished up my shopping with blood running down my big toe and a puddle of blood on my flip flop {and no, the blood did not get on the floor, I made sure I wasn't leaving a trail behind me!}

Doesn't look like much blood but trust me, looks can be deceiving!!

Of course I had to go to Wal-Mart afterwards too! So I went from the crazy pregnant lady walking around Aldi with blood all over her foot to the crazy pregnant lady in the Wal-Mart bathroom cleaning her foot & flip flop off at the sink! Let me just say, a big toe can bleed a lot!! There was way more blood on the bottom of my foot & my flip flop then I thought there was....thank God they had paper towels in there and not just the hand dryer things!!

Lesson of the day: never stand too close to the door on the milk refrigerator at Aldi and always carry at least one band aid in your purse at all times!

words can't explain.....

how incredibly happy I am right now!!!

Why you ask?!?!

Well, it's because I was just informed that I can get the Internet on my computer through my phone!!!

Did you know you could do this?!?! If you do you, why didn't you share this much needed info a loooonnnngggg time ago?!?!

Seriously though, there is an app that you can download on your phone & computer then you plug your phone into the computer and voila....connected to the Internet!! This probably isn't a big deal to most people but to me, it's HUGE!! And, you will probably benefit from it too because this now means I will probably be blogging more often!!

getting a head start

Last Friday {as in over a week ago...yes I'm aware I'm a little behing} we needed to get out of the house for awhile. We didn't know what we were going to do but we were going to find something, anything, just to get out of the house...so we headed to Fairview.

The first stop was Toys R Us. We figured we would let Keegan walk around the store and we would be able to get some ideas of what he wants for his birthday & Christmas. Well, we ended up spending roughly 2.5 to 3 hours there! Keegan played with pretty much every single thing in the store and I got almost all of my Christmas shopping done!! Not sure how I managed to do it with Keegan being with us but I did...guess he was too occupied with all the toys on the shelves to worry about what was in the cart!! I also didn't pay full price for a single thing that I got, which was definitely an extra bonus! The biggest deal I got was $20 off of a new bike.....even though the sale price was expired. They left the tag up so they had to give me the sale price!

At the end of the day on Friday, after a trip to Toys R Us, Target and a visit to Amazon.com {which I got some awesome deals on there too, plus free shipping & no tax} I am officially done with 3 people for Christmas! I have one more thing to get for Carson & one or two more things for Keegan and then I will be done with both of them too! At this time most years, I haven't even started to think about Christmas shopping but I have a feeling that I won't be doing any Black Friday shopping this year and I probably won't feel like doing any shopping after I have Carson {which will only be 4 weeks before Christmas}.

And because I had nothing better to do the other day I did this....

I still have a decent amount of stuff to wrap but I don't want to get too ahead of the game!! :)

The best deal that I have gotten so far on a Christmas present is this....

Store price: $74.99

Price I paid on Amazon: $46.50 plus free shipping & no tax!!

random thoughts

1. Keegan asked me why my stomach keeps getting bigger & bigger & bigger....and if it's going to pop. Those were his exact words....guess I gotta love the honesty!

2. I hate when I'm watching a show that is recorded and I forget that it's a recording...therefore forgetting to fast forward through the commercials. This probably happens about 75% of the time.

3. I love my husband, I really do but after one week of him being home all day I'm not sure how much longer both of us not working & being home is going to work....

4. I would say that I'm excited about football season starting....but then I would be lying to you and that's not nice.

5. If you don't already have the option of having a mobile version of your blog checked...you should do it! It's really easy to do, I can even help you if you would like!

6. If one more person asks me if we are going to try for a girl with baby #3, they just might get punched in the face. It never bothered me before when someone would ask but I'm pretty much over it now...can I get through this pregnancy & enjoy this baby before I think about having another one?!?!

7. I should consider buying stock in waffles & Sunny D, especially if I keep eating them for breakfast every.single.day.

8. The doctor that did my c-section with Keegan is no longer delivering babies....luckily I was able to pick my next favorite doctor to do my next c-section.

9. According to the forecast for next week our beautiful weather is going away, which means I'm going to have to close the windows and turn the ac back on. I really don't want to close the windows...I LOVE waking up in the morning when the house if kinda freezing from the night before.

10. Is it wierd that when I take a bubble bath I used Keegan's Sponge Bob bubbles instead of my Bath & Body Works bubbles?!?! The Sponge Bob ones just smell soooo good!!

bump watch



How far along: 27 weeks 5 days

Total weight gain/loss: 25 pounds....yep another 5.5 weight gain in 4 weeks! If there is one thing I'm doing right this pregnancy it's gaining weight! lol

Maternity clothes: completely necessary!! my regular t-shirts that I wear around the house are starting to show my belly a little =/

Gender: BOY!! Carson Charles

Movement: he moves around like crazy! Some days he doesn't move too much but other days he doesn't stop....he has even done a complete 180! He used to be butt down/head & feet up, now he is head/feet down & butt up!

Sleep: nothing has changed in this department....it still sucks!

What I miss: can't really think of anything at this point....

Symptoms: heartburn

Cravings: lately it has been ice cream...can't get enough of it!!

Best moment(s) this week month: quite a few things: picking out a name, adding more stuff to his room, getting another ultrasound done, starting to go every 2 weeks instead of every 4, & scheduling the date of my c-section!!!! Yep, you read that correctly, we scheduled my c-section at my appointment today....Carson's birthday will be November 28!!!

Other update: Carson is in the 70th percentile & weighs 2 pounds 13 ounces!! {love that they can tell how much he weighs!!} One of his kidney's got smaller {yay} but the other one stayed the same, they still are not big enough for the doctors to be too concerned about though. Today at my appointment I saw the nurse practitioner and she recommended that we go to St. Louis to get a more in depth ultrasound done & to have a specialist take a look at his kidneys just because the fluid hasn't gone away on it's own yet. I was told previously that I wouldn't have to go do that unless the kidneys got to a certain size {which they aren't yet} but she recommended doing it just to be on the safe side and to have a specialist determine if they want to keep an eye on it from now on or if I can just keep getting ultrasounds done at my doctor's office and so they kind of get familiar with what is going on just in case things would end up getting worse. So in two weeks we will be heading over to St. Mary's to get an in depth ultrasound done!

Ultrasound pics from today:

starting to get some chubby cheeks!

his arm is going across his face and that thing touching his forhead, that would be his foot!!

his other hand is between his legs holding on to his "boy stuff".....typical boy touching himself already!!

sailboats, whales & monkeys

While working on getting Carson's room put together I knew that I wanted everything as organized as possible. The first step to accomplishing this was to completely redo the closet. Carson is the lucky one and has the biggest closet out of all three of the bedrooms so I knew that I needed to take advantage of it and make it the best that we could to maximize the amount of storage we would have in it.

 I don't have any before pictures of the closet because Ryan decided to just take it all down one day without telling me so it was too late but it was really just an ordinary closet with one rod going all the way across and two shelves on the top of the closet. I knew that I wanted to add more shelves that didn't require me using a stool to reach and when I visioned the shelves, I knew that I wanted lots of bins to keep things in, in hope of keeping things organized. After getting everything in the closet and realizing that there are 9 bins full of stuff I knew that I needed to take my organizing/OCD-ness to the next level!!

 They needed to be labeled of course....but not just regular plain 'ole boring labels, cute ones that would match the rest of the room! That's where Stephanie at Parker's Prints come in the picture. She is the one who made Keegan's banners for his birthday party last year {which are now hanging in his bedroom} & I knew that I wanted her to make something for Carson's room also, so I contacted her as soon as I knew what I wanted and she definitely delivered!! His bins are now labeled with the cutest little things ever!!

Monkeys & whales!!

Everything is labeled with what is in the bin for easy access! {and a forgetful husband who doesn't remember where anything is!!}When Ryan saw the labels he said I have too much time on my hands but I insisted that I did it for his own good!! One bin has all of the extra bed sheets/mattress pads, one is full of receiving blankets, one is full of clothes that are too big & are for next summer {because I can't resist buying stuff} and the fourth one is full of extra wipes. The big one on the bottom has bigger/thicker blankets in it.

And the closet is finally completey organized.....left side:

Think he needs anymore clothes?!?! And the bin with the whale on it is full of shoes....but only up to size 3, there wasn't anymore room for any bigger sizes!! The smaller bin is full of hats and the big one on the bottom is full of toys.

Right side:

Just disregard the crap sitting all over the shelf in the middle....it doesn't belong there but I have nowhere else to put it for now.

And of course the bins that are in his dresser needed labels too....

That big one...is completely full of just bibs!! Seriously, how many bibs does one baby need?! The other two have socks & burp cloths.

And since Keegan has a banner with his name on it going across his window, Carson needed one too!

So cute!! Not sure if I'm actually going to keep it there are hang it somewhere else yet but for now it's on the window because that's where Keegan said it had to go!

We are slowly getting things up on the walls and I'm sure I will do another post once his room is completely finished!! Let's just say that I have already gone through a whole can of spray paint.....