My not so secret, SECRET.

I have been away more than I planned, but I do have a very good reason! It seems my body has been taken over by a small human, baby #3!!!

Here he/she is at 11.5 weeks.  They still couldn't hear a heartbeat with the doppler so I had another internal sonogram.  Saw a strong 160 bpm! Baby was apparently napping, I would have been worried at the lack of movement if I hadn't seen the heartbeat. Dr said they were resting, and then they had a big hiccup and their whole body shook!!  Very cute :)   It's amazing to see how well developed they already are so early on. You can see the legs outstretched and the torso and left arm. The right arm and head were more visible in person than in this photo. Here they sort of blend in with the uterus wall.

My husband and I had been on the fence about whether or not we wanted to go for a third child. It was quite an adjustment for us going from one to two children, but we eventually got the hang of it. And I just had a feeling that somehow my little family was not yet complete. In July we decided to "see what happens" and what do you know, the first month we were very blessed and a little shocked to find out another baby was on its way!!! With 2 little girls, we are both hoping for a healthy boy this time. Although another girl will fit in just fine!

My due date is April 22, 2012. I'm very excited to have an April baby! Maybe he/she will even have an Easter birthday every 5 yrs, we'll see. My other kids birthdays are May & June, so it will be a busy time every year. They will all be a month shy of 3 years apart. Perfect spacing to me!

I am currently 17 weeks 5 days. My sonogram is scheduled for next Wed at 7:30am. Why so early, I do not know. Hoping that means we will be first and not waiting. This time around I really wanted to wait and not find out the baby's gender. I feel like it would make for a great surprise and be fun to do something different, especially since this should be our last child. My husband however now has a different idea and wants to know. I'm hoping we can come to an agreement before next week. My agreement :) So far most people I have told just can't believe I'm not going to find out, I even have a few friends being a little pushy on the subject. Which in fact makes me even more determined to wait! The way I see it is we have all the essentials, and if it's a girl, we won't need a thing. If it is indeed a boy, we would need clothes and boy bedding. But we use a bassinet the first couple months so the bedding can wait. I'm sure I can get a few boy outfits to have on hand, and besides, that's what grandma's are for!!! I know the second that baby arrives, both grandmothers will run out to shop!!

I will definitely post next week on the sonogram results. Praying for a healthy, developing baby!!!!

Yippie I found it!!

As I posted last week, I was planning a trip back to Home Goods to get my lovely Le Crueset pot, a late birthday present to myself and early Christmas from the hubby. After more than a week, I was surprised to see 2 left!!

As with most items from a store like HomeGoods/Marshalls, this one was labeled "Seconds" meaning it had a few flaws compared to the ones they would sell at full price from another retail store. I carefully looked the two pots over, the red one had a few imperfections in the enamel on the outside. But I couldn't find anything wrong with this one!!

Last night I used it for the first time to make Chicken & Dumplings, the cheaters way. I had a soup mix that contained all the spices and only had to add the water, chicken, veggies, and make the dumplings. It turned out quite well for being so easy!!! Of course home made is so much better but this momma needed something quick!

I forgot to take the picture until we had already spooned some out, hence the half full pot :) I promise to do better next time.

I have a feeling I will get a lot of good use out of this pot in the next few months. Already bought my ingredients for Taco Soup! Recipe to come!

Look what I found at Home Goods!

On a random trip to Home Goods the other day I was returning a lamp and of course had to wander the aisles looking for any fun finds. Their stock changes frequently and there are often one of a kind items that you have to snatch up when you see them. Those of you that have been to a Home Goods store know what I'm talking about!

I recently started looking for some new pots and heard about Le Creuset, a quality cast iron cookware brand that has been around for decades. They are quite expensive, so when I happened to see this beauty I was thrilled!!! However I was a little confused because the label on the pot did not tell you its size, say 4 qt etc and I am not a good judge by looking. This looked to be the medium sized French Oven in a beautiful burnt orange color. The price said $159.99, compare to $240.00. Sounds like a good deal to me!!

But, I wanted to make sure of the size and check the prices online to compare. And I felt a little guilty buying a pot for myself that I had intended to ask hubby for for Christmas. Yes, I left the store with out it. May have been a big mistake!! Once I got home I regretted not snatching it up. Afterall, it can be an early Christmas present that will get much more use starting now, with Fall coming and soups and chili on the menu! I'm going back this afternoon hoping they have at least one left. We will see!

Deal of the Day: PB Kids Games in a Bag

I came across this sale today while shopping online at Pottery Barn Kids. It's a great gift idea or perfect for keeping your kids occupied while traveling, or really anywhere.

Pottery Barn Kids Games in a Bag are currently on clearance for $5.99 with free shipping making it an even sweeter deal. They have Mouse Bowling, Dominoes, Memory and Tic Tac Toe.

I think I'm going to get a few for my girls and neices!! Check out their sales and clearance for more deals!

Wordless Wednesday

Operation Kindergarten

It has been a busy week here in our household!! My oldest daughter Keira started Kindergarten!
I'm happy to say the first day went off without a hitch. We picked out the perfect outfit the day before, packed her lunch, and made sure to get her in bed by 8pm. She is not a morning person and is used to sleeping in until at least 8am, especially over the summer. I woke her at 7am and as soon as those little eyes popped open, she had a huge smile on her face!

I made her promise to humor me and please let me take as many pictures as I wanted of her on the first day. She usually moans & groans anytime I whip out the camera (or my phone in this case-I apologize for some blurriness). But this day she happily obliged which made for a less stressed momma.

I admit there were several times I thought the tears were going to come a'flowing, but I held them in, not wanting to freak out my poor girl.

Here are a few pictures from her first day.

My sassy girl

On our way-she couldn't get there fast enough!

Outside her classroom

Ready to start the day!

When she got home, I asked how her day was. Her response "Good. I didn't have to go to the principal's office!" Well thank you Jesus! The funny thing is she is usually on her best behavior with others so there was never any worry about this on my part. I think when she learned the expected behavior for her class and the consequences, she was a little worried about ever having to go to that scary principal's office!!

Now let's hope it stays this way all year :)

I'm back, and hopefully to STAY!!

After a long blogging hiatus, I'm back!! I hadn't planned on being away for so long, but life just got too busy. We moved into our new home last July and with a new house and 2 kiddos to take care of, blogging just took a back seat. I've been wanting to sit down and write for months now and with my Virgo personality, if I couldn't sit down and write something and make it perfect, then I better just not write at all. I'm working on that though :) Hoping my new laptop will come in handy. On my ancient computer it took forever to write one post and I was confined to my desktop computer. Seriously y'all, my computer is 10 yrs old!!! Now I have finally caught up with technology!!

Life has been good to us in our household and I'm hoping to share some of our adventures, and, lets be real here, misadventures! I love reading other blogs and taking a peek into others' lives. Whether it's through raising kids, homemaking, decorating, or growing in my relationship with God, I can't wait to read your stories and share mine as well.