January Photo Dump

 These are photos from January that never made it in a blog post but I felt like sharing.

Easton Thomas Crooks

 Last Tuesday, my sweet friend, Lauren, surprised everyone with a picture text to let us know that little Easton had be been born early that morning. I was so extremely excited for her and couldn't wait to get to the hospital to meet him. Coincidentally, Tuesday was also mine and Chase's anniversary but I still wanted to meet the little guy and see Lauren and Kevin before heading out to dinner. Lauren thankfully had a pretty easy labor and delivery, although she was pretty tired from laboring through the night and not getting much sleep during the day Tuesday.

Here he is...

 He was so tiny and so perfect! Easton was almost a whole 2 pounds smaller than BR was when she was born. It was pretty amazing to hold such a tiny little baby. I loved it! Even though he was sleeping, he made sweet little faces and didn't cry at all during my visit (and I don't mean that I had anything to do with that). He looks very much like his daddy already, which I think is really awesome!

I was so wrapped up in meeting Easton and taking pictures of him that I forgot to get one with his sweet Momma. I'll have to do better next time I see them.

Today marks his 1 week birthday so Happy 1 week Easton!!

At-Home Preschool

This week I have started teaching Brantley preschool. Over the past few weeks I've been realizing how bored she was and honestly, how lazy I was being and it was time to do something about it. Sunday night, I found THIS website that provides Preschool curriculum for free that was created by a SAHM as she taught her own children at home.

We are using the 26 week Preparatory Curriculum that teaches the letters of the alphabet, colors, shapes, numbers, has a weekly themes (animals) and a vocabulary word to go with each theme.

So far we are enjoying our "school" time. We only spend about 20-30  minutes each morning learning our new thing for the day and reviewing the previous days.

I'm thinking about doing the preparatory curriculum twice and then moving on the the Letter of the Week curriculum that begins to teach letter sounds and more.

Below is our Learning Board. I will be changing the pictures during the week depending on what we are learning about that day. This week, we learned about Cows and the vocabulary word- calf on Monday, the shape square on Tuesday, the letter A on Wednesday, today we'll learn about the number 1 and Friday I'll be reviewing all of these things and teaching Brantley the nursery rhyme "Hey, Diddle, Diddle".

This is my lesson plan for this week. On the website she gives ideas and suggestions for each day, including a list of books that can be checked out from a local library to support the theme for the week.

Day 1: Brantley colored a picture of a cow and we talked about them and I taught her that a baby cow is called a calf. So far, each day when I ask her about it she is still able to tell me that a baby cow is called a calf. I'm pretty impressed! After school, we went to the Hoover Library to check out a few of the books but unfortunately, they didn't have many of the ones on the list so we just read one of them at the library and then came back home. I'm going to have to do my preparations on the weekends or in the afternoons when I'm by myself so that I can go to more than 1 library.

Day 2: Brantley learned the shape, Square. She colored this page that had a bunch of squares on it. Then we went through the house taking pictures of things that are in the shape of a square. For some reason, this is the hardest shape for her to remember, but we're working on it and hopefully she'll get the hang of it soon.

Day 3: Yesterday we learned the letter A. Brantley painted the letter, we sang the ABC's and pointed out "A's" on boxes and signs throughout the day. I think that this will be the hardest part for BR. She can sing the alphabet all the way through but actually naming each letter is still a little above her head. This is why I'm thinking about doing this curriculum twice so I can make sure she really knows each letter before jumping into letter sounds.

Today will be day 4 and I'll be teaching her the number 1. Brantley can also count to 14 but she doesn't completely understand what the value of each number means. I'm hoping that after this morning, she understands just a little bit more about how many "1" is.

Our New Daily Structure

So far this week has been really great and I'm loving our new structure. I've started getting up with Chase at 5:15 for a cup of coffee and a quick devotion time for he and I before he leaves for work. 5:15am is really early but if Chase can do it every day then I can do it everyday as well. I then get a shower and I'm ready for the day by the time Brantley wakes up around 7:15. We eat breakfast until about 8:00 and then it's onto school time. After school we're able to run errands, go to the park or down to Star Lake to see the ducks and geese. Snack at 11:00, lunch at 1:00 and nap at 2:00. Ever since we said bye-bye to passy, Brantley has been fighting her nap. By moving it back to 2 o'clock, she is more tired by then and falls asleep faster. So far, her naps have been shorter than they used to be, which is hard for me to get used to, but she's growing up and I know she can't take 3 hours naps forever. Hopefully, our new structure continues to work and keep BR from becoming too bored and me from being to lazy. I know all of this will change come the end of May when Savannah joins the family but for now we're going to keep at it.

Here's to 3 years!

Happy Anniversary to Chase and I! On Tuesday, we celebrated 3 years of marriage by going to dinner at Surin 280 and spending a little time without BR. (Thanks, Mom and Dad for watching her!) Dinner was delicious! I was able to have sushi and Chase had the Thai BBQ Chicken. AMAZING!! We didn't take any pictures at dinner this year. Hopefully, I don't regret that one day but there just wasn't a good time.

Chase brought me these beauties with a card and some Snickers ice cream bars when he got home from work. He is so sweet and thoughtful.

We are still very much in love and I don't know what I would do without him. I (we) look forward to many many more years together!!
We're thinking about taking a vacation in March or April that will be our anniversary/baby-moon before Savannah gets here and we become a family of 4. We're thinking about going to Savannah, GA (Chase has never been there and it's beautiful) or just going down to Gulf Shores, AL. Updates on that decision will come later.

January 24th, 2009

My Big Fat Belly - 22 Weeks

How I'm Feeling at 22 weeks: I'm still feeling pretty good these days but I've started having a lot of lower back pain this week. Last night was the pain was bad and I had a hard time getting to sleep. I haven't had any more run-ins with heart burn (knock on wood) and I'm very thankful to record that. I feel like Savannah has been doing a lot of growing this week because I'm feeling bigger and more uncomfortable. It's getting a lot harder to get down on the floor with Brantley and then get up easily.I haven't noticed any new or worsening stretch marks but my belly is kinda itchy at times. I bought some Tummy Butter to put on it a few times a day to hopefully alleviate some of the itching.

Gender: GIRL!

Movements: Savannah has become a lot more active at times. I'm definitely starting to see a pattern in her awake times. She usually wakes up and starts doing gymnastics after I lay down to go to bed and then again in the morning after breakfast she moves around a lot.

Baby's size at 22 weeks:

From here on out the fruit picture only changes monthly.

During month five, the average fetus measures about 10.5 to 11.8 inches and weighs about 12.7 to 20.8 ounces. At our 20 weeks, 5 day ultrasound. Savannah was already 14oz so I'm pretty sure she's well over a pound now. We won't know her weight again for sure until we have our 4D ultrasound at around 28 weeks.

• Now that she's got more developed eyes and lips, she's looking even more like a newborn.
• She's sleeping in cycles -- about 12 to 14 hours per day (hint: they're probably those times you're not feeling any kicks!).

Belly pic for the week:

What I'm Looking Forward to: I'm still looking forward to starting on the nursery and changing Brantley's room around a bit. I'm not sure when we'll be able to do all of this but I'm ready. Also, I'm looking forward to seeing Savannah again during our 4D ultrasound in a couple of weeks and then meeting her after birth in just 4 short months. We are so excited!!

Bye-Bye Passy - Day 2

This is really just for my documentation but feel free to read.

Brantley finally fell asleep after about an hour of crying last night and slept through the night without a peep. This morning she woke up at her normal time, happy and not looking for passy.

Nap time was a little rough today but not as bad as last night. BR cried for about 15 minutes and then slept for a little over an hour. She usually takes at least a 3 hour nap every day so today's short nap was strange. Hopefully this will not become an every day length of a nap because I need that 3 hours to get things done and just for some "me" time.

Bedtime went way better than last night for sure. Brantley cried for about 10-15 minutes and then went on to sleep. Yay! I was strong and didn't go back in her room, despite her screaming, and I think that's why she gave up quicker tonight. Last night, Chase and I both went into her room once each to reassure her and calm her down but all that did was just start the crying time over again.

Lesson learned: Going back in the room does not make her(him) go to sleep faster. Don't do it! Stand your ground!! 

Easier said than done, I know!! haha

I'm hoping that after another day or so she will forget her ole' pal and we'll never hear about him again. Next up on the list of transitioning Brantley into a real big girl, is to buy her a twin bed and get her sleeping in it. Not sure exactly when this is going to happen but in the next month or so for sure.

My plan is to try potty training after the big girl bed but I'm still not 100% sure about the timing. I'd LOVE for her to be potty trained before Savannah is born, but I'm not sure she'll be ready before then. She shows us NO signs of being ready so I'm still going to give her some more time.

So that's all for tonight. I wish I had a super cute picture to share but unfortunately I don't. Maybe tomorrow I'll take some pictures during our playdate and then share those.

Bye-Bye Passy - Day 1

Today is a day I will remember forever and ever I'm quite sure. This morning when I went into BR's room to get her up she handed me her passy and said "passy broken". (She had chewed a hole in the end.) I told her that if it was broken she needed to throw it away. She got straight out of bed and went to the kitchen and threw it in the trash. I was totally shocked. Lucky for her I suppose, we had ONE last passy that she could have for nap time today. Which went just fine, as usual.

Tonight has been surprising and not as great so far. While putting BR to bed she decided that that one last passy was also broken (she had chewed a hole in that one also) so she came to the kitchen and threw it in the trash.

See! She ran back to bed and climbed in to read a few books. I read, she listened, just like we always do. Then I kissed her good night and left her room. For the first 5-10 minutes she was quiet and I was in total shock. By the time I sat down to write this post she started crying for me. I guess she had realized that she didn't have her passy anymore. She has now been crying for about 20 minutes and I'm not sure when she'll stop. Chase and I have both gone in there once to comfort her and she now has a sippy cup of water in bed with her, but none of that counts as a passy. 

We honestly don't have another passy to give her so she's just going to have to cry it out and be a big girl. I hope it doesn't last too much longer because Chase and I are ready to go to bed.

For now, I'm going to sit her and listen to her cry. Boo!

My Big Fat Belly - 21 Weeks

How I'm Feeling at 21 Weeks: I'm feeling pretty crappy at the moment because I'm having my first run in with heartburn as I type this. I'm actually writing this past a night early but that's because I'm awake and bored. I don't want to go lay down until I feel like the Tums have started to do their job.

Heartburn- Please go away and don't come back! Thanks, Allison

Other than the pain I am feeling at this very moment, I'm doing great. My check up yesterday was great. My blood pressure was very good (120 something/62, I think). My weight gain is right on track so my Dr says. I've gained 12 pounds in 20 weeks, 5 days. Yikes, but I'm okay with that! (I had to edit this part from 7lbs to 12lbs because I had my numbers wrong the other day when I wrote the post originally.)

Gender: As most of you have probably read, we're having another GIRL!! We are so excited that Brantley gets to have a little sister. I'm so happy for both of our girls because I always wanted a sister (or brother) and thankfully, they get to share the sister bond. Her name will be Savannah Claire!

Baby's Movement: Savannah (I love referring to her by her name!) has been doing a lot of kicking and wiggling around. I actually saw my stomach move for the first time last night while watching TV. She must have really enjoyed the cupcakes that I had at the gender reveal party. haha

Baby's Size at 21 weeks:

TheBump says that Savannah is the size of a Banana this week. It also says this, "at 10.5 inches and about 12.2 ounces, she's big enough now that you've probably been feeling her movements". While I have been feeling her move, she is actually weighing 14 ounces already, so she's a bit ahead of the game. haha Which partly explains why my belly is so big, or at least, I like to think that. (Again, I've only gained 7lbs, but it looks like I've gained way more than that to me.) She was also measuring 2 days ahead of schedule. She's a healthy girl!!

What I'm Looking Forward to: The same as last week...starting on the nursery. Now that we know we're having a baby girl that makes picking out bedding and other things so much easier and more real. Chase and I agreed on the bedding today but we haven't bought it yet. Wanna see a picture? Of course you do! haha It's called Dena Happi Tree by Kidsline. I'm pretty excited about it!! It's cute and girly and will go well with her pale blue walls. yay!

Bump Pic of the Week:

Next Doctor's Appointment: February 8th. This will be my 24 week check-up/Glucose test for gestational diabetes. Dr. S told me that there is no need to fast anymore for the test so thankfully I can have breakfast before the appointment this time. I'm hoping that I pass this first test because with BR I didn't and had to go back for the 3 hour test. It was a REALLY long time to be walking around the hospital and sitting in the waiting room. I went down to the gift shop at least twice just to get out of the office. I'm hoping for the best but we'll just have to wait and see.

The heartburn is feeling better now so I'm going to attempt sleeping. Good night!!

Her Name Will Be...

 We will call her Savannah. 

I've been thinking about a girl name for quite some time since we were pretty sure the baby was going to be a girl. We originally were going to name her Mary Claire and call her the double name, but then I decided that I didn't want to take the chance of her name being split up and just going by Mary. SO...I decided to come up with another girl name that I LOVE even more and that name is Savannah! I've always loved the name Savannah but wasn't sure that I'd ever get to use it and now I do! Chase likes her name as well so that is a plus. I had decided that I was getting to name this baby pretty much on my own since I didn't have much say in Brantley's name. I love Brantley's name and what it means or rather whom she's named after, I just didn't have a choice. Claire is Chase's choice for the middle name and I love how it sounds with Savannah.

Savannah's name has no family ties or special meanings other than the fact that we just love her name.

I just checked BehindtheName.com just for grins to see what the 

meanings are behind Savannah and Claire. 

Savannah comes from the English word for a large grassy plain. Not that great of a meaning but I still love the name so much.

Claire was a little harder to find a meaning behind. Claire is a variant of the name Clara, which is the feminine form of the Late Latin name Clarus which meant "clear, bright, famous". Maybe Savannah Claire will be famous one day or at least smart and bright.

Update: 20 Week Ultrasound

I wanted to post about my appointment today and baby GIRL's stats at 20 weeks, 5 days.

Update on Baby

Gender: It's a GIRL!! We pretty much knew it was going to be a girl because that's what I was told at 11 weeks, but there was a slight chance that boy parts could have popped out since then, but nope, that didn't happen. She is definitely a girl!!

Heart rate: 138bpm                Weight: 14 ounces

Measuring 21 weeks, 0 days

The US tech and Dr. S said she looked perfect! All her organs looked great and she was wiggling around in there. Seriously, ultrasounds are SO awesome! 

We are super excited to finally know that the baby is a GIRL so that now we can start planning for her arrival in May.

We were given lots of profile pictures of our baby girl. In one of them she is yawning. It's kinda cute but she looks kinda strange at the same time. haha!

See...you can't see her nose in this shot so she kinda looks like a monkey or something. It's not my favorite picture of the day but it's still cute that we saw her yawn. We also saw her gulping amniotic fluid, or at least that's what it looked like to us.

I'll update about me in my 21 week belly post on Friday.

Gender Reveal Party

Tonight we had our Gender Reveal Party. It was really fun to share the excitement of finding out the baby's gender with some of our family and friends.I didn't go crazy with decorations but I did make pink and blue cupcakes that were totally yummy!!

Once everyone got there it was time for the reveal...

As we suspected, we are expecting baby girl #2 and we are very excited!! Chase is going to be really out numbered now but I think he's going to love all the hugs and kisses he'll get from all 3 of us girls over the years. We love Daddy!!

Then it was cupcake time!

Chase chose to give her a blue cupcake even though we had just found out we're having a GIRL! haha Oh and she LOVED it!!

I love this sweet little girl! She still doesn't quite understand what's going on and what it means to be having a sister in a few months... and I'm pretty sure she's going to be extremely jealous, so we've got a lot of explaining and book reading to do to get her ready to no longer be an only child.

Sweet Big Sister giving her baby sister a hug and a kiss.

Confession: This was the card that we were going to have the ultrasound tech circle without us finding out at the appointment BUT once we got in there we just had to know!! SO we let her tell us and we watched the whole ultrasound. 

I love ultrasounds!! I love seeing inside my belly and getting a look at the sweet baby growing inside me. It is one of the coolest things ever!!

The party turned out great and we had a great time celebrating our new baby girl with our friends and family. Thank you to everyone who came and made the night so special! We love you all!!

My Big Fat Belly- 20 Weeks

How I'm Feeling at 20 Weeks: Anxious!! I'm so ready to know the gender! Other than hyped up anxiety about Wednesday (4 more days!) I'm feeling pretty great. They belly is growing and the baby is really starting to kick a lot more. Chase felt the baby move for the first time yesterday! It was so sweet. We were laying down to take a nap and Chase laid his hand on my belly for awhile before going to sleep and that's when he finally felt a few kicks. He smiled so big!!

Baby Movements: I can tell that the baby is getting stronger because every now and then I feel kicks that are a lot harder than the regular ones. They kinda catch me off guard sometimes. I love it!

Gender: Boy or Girl? What will it be? On Wednesday we will see!!!

What I'm Looking Forward to: I've been on Pinterest a lot lately coming up with really cute ideas for the nursery so I'm ready to get started on it. This means that we've got to buy Brantley a twin bed and move the crib into the nursery. I've also decided that we're going to swap Brantley's furniture, aka the nursery furniture, with the smaller more grown up furniture that is in the nursery now. There is a desk and dresser in there that will go well in Brantley's room. I'm hoping to have the twin bed by BR's birthday and get started on the nursery in February.

Baby's Development at 20 weeks:

Baby is about the size of a cantaloupe this week!!

Baby weighs about 10.6 ounces and measures about 6.5 inches from head to bottom (about 10 inches from head to heal). She's still got a lot of growing to do though. We are halfway done!!

• She's got working taste buds.
• Now, she's gulping down several ounces of amniotic fluid each day -- that's significantly more than before.

Bump pic of the week:

I'll be back Wednesday night to announce gender!!

Post-Christmas Gift Swap

Top Left Photo: Nikki, Erin, Jami, Ashley K, Ashley W, Me (19 weeks pregnant) and Lauren (35 weeks pregnant).

 This year the gift swap was at our new house. I loved having all these girls over for dinner and a fun game of Dirty Santa. There was quite a bit of stealing but in the end, I think everyone was happy. This year we swapped yard/porch decorations. They were all really cute!

I love these ladies and I love this tradition we have started!! I'm already looking forward to next year when we swap inside Christmas decorations.