Sunshine Days

We broke out the pool one day last weekend! Yep that's right, It's April and it was warm (actually hot) enough to fill up the pool and get Hadleigh in her bathing suit for the first time this year.  She LOVED it.  The water from the hose was chilly, but she sat right in the pool.  She did.not.move from that pool until it was time to go in and take a nap (which she was super happy about - not).

My little water baby will have so much fun at the Rivah this year!!

You don't drink pool water like this mom?!

Loves her Isis & DuDu

Room #1 in New House = done!

I've resisted showing any pictures of our new house, as I wanted to do some "before & afters" on here.  We finally got one room pretty much completed (we still need some art/ pictures on the wall), but we will go with the room is done!

We decided our den was the first room to get tackled since it's where we spend a lot of our time.  Here's some before pictures.

We had a couple weeks where everything was set up with our existing furniture and rug.  I wish I had taken a picture with it set-up, but I didn't (slacker).  We hated the country blue walls and even the white trim was looking a bit rough.  Here's some "in between" pictures of the room - painting done, but with old rug, no love seat, and bare walls.  I love the new color - it's a navy/teal-ish.

Our rug and love seat came in and we finally made it out to HomeGoods and snatched up a piece of art work to hang on the wall. Only thing left to do is get a fireplace screen and some pictures on the walls.

The room isn't the craziest makeover you've ever seen, but it definitely fits our style much more than what we were working with before. Stay tuned for more rooms!

Easter Sunday

When we woke up Easter Sunday morning, we got dressed and then went downstairs to see what the Easter Bunny had brought Hadleigh!  She was a little unsure at first, but then dug right into all the goodies:

The Fresh Beat Band CD
Gerber Yogurt Bites
Bracelets & Necklaces
2 summer outfits
Sesame Street Coloring Book
2 new fun plates to eat with

Later that morning, Daniel and I hosted Easter brunch at our house.  Since we have the room to host a bigger group, and it was a way to have both sides of the family over, it made the most sense :)  I love hosting anyway!  We had a big group: Nana, Papa, Uncle Steven, Jessica, Gran, Gramps, Kiki, Uncle Chey, Erik & Jaxson, Aunt Lisa, and Laura all over.  Everyone brought something to contribute and everything was delicious!  While we finished cooking the kids and the guys hung out in our den watching TV and playing.  After we ate, Daniel hid some Easter eggs for Hadleigh & Erik to find.  It was a gorgeous day, so we spent the rest of the time outside watching them hunt for eggs and visiting.  Erik, Hadleigh, and Jaxson had so much fun running around the back yard!

Crown Colony Easter Egg Hunt

Our new neighborhood hosted an Easter Egg hunt for all of the kids.  It's definitely one of the perks of living in a neighborhood.  Hadleigh's age group were the first ones to go - birth to 4 years.  The eggs were just laid out on the grass for the most part, to make it easy for the kids to grab.  Hadleigh did really well!  She picked up each egg and put them into her basket without checking out each one.  We did look at the goods after the hunt.  Gran & Gramps even came to see Hadleigh in action!

Easter Crafts

Each holiday is becoming so much fun to celebrate since we have Hadleigh and she's getting older and is more and more active. We know it will only get better each year and with new additions to the family :)

Since we have this great site "Pinterest" I've been itching to do some crafts. Easter was the perfect time to get started on a few. First, I made a simple little vase with plastic eggs instead of flowers.

Then I made an egg wreath that will be saved, so I can bring it out each year.

We had Easter brunch at our house, so I made an AWESOME homemade carrot-applesauce cake, which I decorated with some peeps :)

I wanted to dye Easter eggs with Hadleigh this year, so the week before the big day I set everything up for us to do it. I actually bought the kit where you "sponge" the eggs to make it speckled. I figured it would be a little easier and something Hadleigh could help with a little more. Yeah, she did.not.like.it.one.bit. She speckled one egg a few times and then realized the dye was getting on her hands. It was funny - she just kept looking at her hands and then showing me that they were colored. I ended up s"speckling" all but the top one on the right. That is Hadleigh's beautiful egg! Can't wait to do it all again next year :)

25 Weeks Pregnant

It's been an eventful couple of weeks. We had a doctor visit on 4.2.12 for just a regular check-up. Everything looked great - heart rate was in the upper 150s. I had a really good visit where I brought up a few things that I had been wondering about. I've had a lot of contractions/cramping, so I made sure to tell my doc. She said it was fairly common, but if it got any worse or changed in anyway to call.

Later on that week, I ended up e-mailing my doctor's office because I had some floaters in my vision. I'm pretty familiar with them since I had so many last pregnancy. They only happen when I'm pregnant, and with Hadleigh it usually meant my blood pressure had spiked. I knew to take my blood pressure which was perfect. This time around I will say I'm a little more hesitant to call the doctor on things. Maybe it's a "been there, done that" attitude, or I really just don't want them to start putting me on bed rest (in the hospital). Nothing came of the floaters - they really just told me to start monitoring my blood pressure, but it's been perfect everytime I take it. I really only take it if something warrants me to take it.

Then this week the cramping kept me up most of the night one night, and they were more frequent than normal the next day. I didn't call the doctor until 2 days had passed. They definitely had toned down, but they were still more frequent than what I had experienced prior. She had me come in 4.11.12 in the afternoon. They put me on the monitor - which definitely confirmed me cramping/contracting. So she sent me down to an ultrasound to make sure all was fine with measurements. Babygirl checked out wonderful. She's measuring ahead of schedule by almost a week, she was 1 lb. 13 ounces, and her heart rate was in the 160s :) She's still all girl as I got them to "confirm" again.

GREAT NEWS: The cysts in her brain were gone! Woohoo! Although this exact same thing happened with Hadleigh, I was a little more anxious this time for some reason. Hormones raging I'm sure didn't help. The doctors kept saying "your chances are super low, like 1 in 20,000" but that didn't matter. Someone is that "1" and whose to say that can't be me? We are so grateful for the good news!!

Since the ultrasound came back perfect, my doctor was reassured. My uterus was a little soft, but fully closed. My urine actually came back horrible - showing I have a bladder infection. So for now, we are treating that. Hoping once that is healed the cramping subsides a little. Crossing my fingers - otherwise it's going to be a loooonnnggg 3.5 months!!

All those things aside (ha), everything is well. She is super active almost all day, so it's a great reminder she's doing what she needs to be doing. I go back to the doctor in a month, and then my visits are every other week! Getting closer :)