quiet moments

It is so hard as a stay-at-home momma to take a minute to just be still and quiet and do nothing.  Usually, if Max is napping I am cleaning the house, cooking, organizing, or something else of that sort.  When I start to sit down and relax I notice the pile of laundry in the corner that needs folding or the sink full of dirty dishes and I can kiss that quiet moment goodbye.  Even when I lay down at night to go to sleep, I tend to make a list in my head of all the things I need to do as I am trying to sleep (if you have ever seen the movie "I Don't Know How She Does It"...I seriously make lists just like Sarah Jessica Parker's character does in that movie!).

So, today Max fell asleep on me when he was having a snuggly moment right around his nap time.  Nick was asleep on the couch after working third shift last night (training the new night shift manager), and the house was completely still and quiet.  Rare, when you live with a rambunctious toddler!  I was sitting in the chair, looking around at the mess of toys and snack leftovers and shoes and clothes that covered our living room floor and it took over my thoughts.  I wanted to go lay Max down in his bed so I could get up and clean that mess! But then, thank goodness, Drew started kicking away and it made me stop.  I am so glad I did.  I decided that I was just going to sit there and soak up the goodness in that moment.  Max draped across my belly and chest, his sweet little face still looking like a baby's (it only looks like that when he is sleeping these days). Drew dancing so that I can feel every little move he makes.  Hubby sleeping peacefully on the couch.  And of course a nice view out the window of the beauty of the fall leaves.  It really was perfect.

I am so thankful for all that we have been blessed with, but I feel like I don't ever just take a minute to soak it up and thank God for all this beauty. As a stay-at-home mom, your job never stops.  You are "at work" 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.  I realized today how important it is to just slow down.  You only have that day for one day, and tomorrow it will be over.  Even though tomorrow is sure to be fun and exciting, we will never get today back.  And when you have a toddler that is learning and changing so much each and every day, each moment is so very precious!  I know I keep saying "soaking it all up" in a lot of blog posts in the past, and this is exactly what I mean.

I am going to make a conscious effort every day to slow down and take in every moment and LOVE it all.

This is how Max insists that Nick sleeps when he comes home from working third shift.  He is always snuggled up to him, rolling cars on his head. Golly, I love these boys!

22 weeks

-How far along? 22 weeks, of course :)
-Maternity clothes? Of course! I'm not understanding how some people go until the last couple of months without wearing maternity shirts!
-Cravings? Nope...so boring.
-Food aversions? Still meat, always meat.
-How do you feel? My allergies have come back with a vengeance today. Which is unfortunate since I can't really take any medicine at all. But other than that I still feel fantastic! It's definitely getting harder by the day to do some things (getting down in the floor to play with Max and things like that), and I'm not sleeping so well. BUT I would still say I feel great. I love being pregnant.
-Anything interesting? I went to the doctor for our regular appointment and everything is going wonderfully! The only unfortunate part was hearing about the weight I have out on since my last appointment! The doctor came in the room and said "did you take those cowboy boots off before you were weighed this morning?" So embarrassing. I have gained a whopping 11 pounds since my last appointment (which was just 4 short weeks ago). He says I shouldn't worry, but that I should be aware. In my defense I was technically underweight before I was pregnant with Drew, so I'm trying to tell myself that it's my body's way of catching up to where I should be. I'm going to try to be even healthier for the remainder of this pregnancy to make sure I don't continue to gain weight like that.

My next appointment is November 26th, which will be for a glucose tolerance test and an ultrasound. After that I think we will start going every 2 weeks!

This is going by so quickly, and it will go even faster during the holiday season, I'm sure! So exciting...

Hope you all have a great week and a great Halloween!

21 weeks

-How far along? 21 weeks!
-Maternity clothes? Yep! It's mostly maternity from here on out I believe!
-Cravings? Nothing this week...
-Food aversions? Still meat, always meat.
-How do you feel? I feel big, but great!
-Anything interesting? This week has been pretty boring! An I un-eventful week is a good week in pregnant land though :)

Halfway to Baby Drew!

I can't believe I am halfway through this pregnancy already! It is flying by. A dear friend of mine called me earlier today and we were talking about what life will be like for me with TWO boys, and now that is all I can think about. I love it so much! Drew strapped into the carrier most of the time while I continue my mommy duties with Max- playing outside, hunting for bugs, playing with cars, reading, cooking. Watching my husband fall in love with another sweet baby (while I fall even more in love with the man whose hand I get to hold for forever). I imagine Max's second birthday party...whih will be Drew's first family birthday party experience! Then later on...watching them play baseball and cheering them on from the bleachers...oh, I could go on for days! I know so many people were hoping we would have a girl this time around, (and I might like to add a sister to the bunch later on down the road), but honestly, being a mom of boys suits me. I love it so much already. We are blessed beyond measure, and I know this is going to be perfection.


How far along? 20 weeks
-Maternity clothes? Yep. Almost none of my regular clothes fit. I bought a few new maternity things at Old Navy yesterday, but they had almost nothing in my size. It was a pretty frustrating shopping experience. I hate maternity clothes, y'all.
-Cravings? All I can think about today is strawberry shortcake. Haha...
-Food aversions? Still meat, of course.
-How do you feel? Today I feel tired and disgusting. Mainly because I have a sinus infection and can't take any medication for it at all. Pregnancy-wise? I feel fantastic :)
-Anything interesting? Baby Drew has been quite active lately and I am feeling more movement every day! I love this part. I feel like it won't be too much longer until we will be able to feel him moving from the outside...maybe a few more weeks. I remember feeling that for the first time with Max, and I think I was somewhere around 23 weeks. I can't wait to see what Max does when he feels his little brother moving for the first time! Oh, and the belly button is officially "out," which is much earlier than last time. So strange how different things can be between pregnancies!

So...back to pajamas and snuggling up with my sweet boys (trying to feel better so I can get on with my life!)...hope you all have the best Monday!!

Boy? Girl?

I am so excited to be sharing this news with you guys!

Turns out, everyone was WRONG! We will be welcoming another sweet boy in the end of February or beginning of March! 

Say "hello" to Andrew Tate Brown!  He is named after his Daddy, whose middle name is Andrew, and we will call him Drew.

The ultrasound went perfectly! So far there are really no abnormalities at all.  He weighs a whopping 8oz right now, and was so very active during the ultrasound...it was quite entertaining!  Max got to go with us to the doctor today, and he loved being able to see his little brother on the screen.  It was amazing to see.  I love these boys so very much!

Thank you all for your prayers today!  They really mean the world to me, and I was much more at ease because of them, I am sure!

DIY T-Shirt Scarf

I have been wanting to make a T-shirt scarf for a long time, but somehow I just never got around to it...until today!

Another rainy, cool day, stuck inside with nothing to do.  I needed a project (even though I SHOULD be cleaning my house).

I pulled out a couple of old T-shirts that I haven't worn in probably a year or more.  I haven't parted with the purple one yet just because I bought it and then only wore it once or twice.  I felt a little bad about just getting rid of it.  The orange one I have had for probably 6 years!  It is the softest thing in my closet, but is has a few holes now, and doesn't fit the way I'd like it to anymore (even when I am not pregnant, obviously).

So this is what we started with!

The first scarf I made, with the purple shirt, is a fringe infinity scarf.  The first step? Cut the shirt across under the arm pits.  I was going to cut underneath the button detail, but decided to leave part of it for some added interest!  You will also need to cut across the bottom right above the seam...this piece can either be thrown out or saved for another project (I plan on making a headband or headband embellishment with the leftovers of this project).  The cuts don't have to be straight at all!  Just eye it, and do the best you can...but it really does't matter that much.

Step two?  Cut up from the bottom of the shirt about 3-4 inches to make fringe (more or less if you choose).  Each piece of fringe should be about half an inch wide.  Again, not important if the cuts are straight!

Step three? Pull each piece of fringe away from the bulk of the scarf and roll them between your fingers.  This will make them roll up a bit, and makes it look much better, in my opinion.  I didn't get a picture of this step...sorry!

Now all that is left for this scarf is to wear it!  I am a little afraid of fringe, but I am loving this scarf.

AND here is how I made the orange scarf...

Step one? Cut right below the arm pits straight across, just like in the purple scarf tutorial.  Then, cut strips across (about half an inch wide) all the way to the bottom.  You should have a lot of loops of fabric.  The one that is cut from the bottom with the seam on it? Cut it so that it is just a plain strip (not a loop) and set it aside.

Step two? Pick up all the loops at the same time and stretch them out so the roll up.  You should now have something that looks vaguely like the picture above.

Step three? Line up the seams on the loops however you would like them to be.  I just spread them out randomly, but so the would show.  The other option is to try to hide them under the wrap you are about to create.

Step four?  Take that strip you made from the seam on the bottom of the shirt and tie it where ever you would like the wrapped up part of the scarf to go.  The only thing I tried to cover was a seam that still had a piece of the tag under it.

Step five? Wrap that piece of seamed fabric around your loops until you have something that looks like the picture above.  I wrapped it until I was about halfway to the end of that strip and then wrapped back over it again.  Now...just tie the end of the strip to the wrap and weave the end underneath (I used a crochet hook for this, but I am sure you could do it without one if you don't have a crochet hook).

The orange one turned out a little more like a necklace, but I love it.  If you used a mens size shirt I am sure it would be big enough to wrap around twice, more like a scarf.  

You should really give these a try!  I made them both in 30 minutes or less...definitely worth it :)

PS...sorry for the terrible pictures of me wearing them. I could not get a good one with my "real" camera so I opted to use my phone (believe it or not these are better than the ones from my camera).

Hope your rainy day is fantastic!

18 weeks!

How far along? 18 weeks

-Maternity clothes? Dresses with leggings underneath are my go-to outfit, and still loving my Gap maternity jeans. STILL need to do some shopping, eventually :)

-Cravings? Dr. Pepper.  BUT I can't have it.  Until Wednesday morning! (my doctor suggests that I drink a caffeinated drink before the ultrasound to make sure the baby is moving around enough that we can tell the sex)
-Food aversions? Same-old same-old...I hate meat. This is getting boring, sorry.
-How do you feel? Anxious.  Ultrasound is Wednesday, and I cannot wait! I am trying to keep myself as busy as possible between now and then so that the time goes by quickly.
-Gender prediction? So the votes are in, people. You all think I am having a girl.  I just have no idea at this point.  We will find out in less than 48 hours if you are right or not!
-Anything interesting? I was talking to my mom about this whole "ultrasound is this week and I am too nervous about what could go wrong to be excited" thing last night.  And as always, she had a very good point, even if it should have been obvious. She told me to JUST be excited because at this point I have no reason to worry, and I shouldn't waste my time thinking about all the things that could go wrong when there is nothing I can do about it...especially not right now.  This is all in God's hands and I need to just let him have it! In the mean time, I just need to pray, relax, and enjoy the excitement that I feel about finding out if the newest member of our family will be a boy or a girl :) Be on the lookout for the announcement on Wednesday! We can't wait to know and to share it with you!