Life Post-Morning Sickness.

January and most of February was pretty miserable for me. I feel like the sun has finally come out, that picture of Brielle perfectly describes how I feel now. Two weeks ago I hit 14 weeks and I almost feel like a new woman! I still get a little bit of morning sickness but nothing like it was. It could have been worse but this time around I decided to be an intelligent human being and suffer but more of a reduced suffering. I asked for Zofran (nausea medication). It helped a lot. It didn't take the everything-around-me-is-disgusting feeling and the someone-injected-me-with-sleeping-pills feeling, but at least I was keeping some food in me.

As everyone with children knows, life has to go on, even when mother is sick...still have to take kids to school, still have to drive them to their classes, still have to go grocery shopping and cook, although we did eat crappy during those 2 months...still have to do laundry...mainly the essentials (I did 7 loads of laundry last week, I was SO behind!!!)

Let's just say that for two months, I did the bare minimum, I was so behind on EVERYTHING...my kids watched a lot of PBSKids and movies for most of January and February.

We told Brielle and Braden why I had been so sick around 12 weeks. They had been wondering what the heck was wrong with their mother! When we told them, Brielle asked:

"Did the germs make a baby in your belly?"

It was so innocent and hilarious.

The kids have made some of the miserable moments worth it with their excitement about this baby...and oh the questions! especially from Brielle...:)

We are all very excited and happy.

I think we can find out what we're having on my next visit, but Scott doesn't want to find out! I just don't know if I will be able to go that long without knowing!!!

We shall see what happens...

We had a few warm-spells in the middle of February and the kiddos begged me to go outside. It felt like we were coming out of our cave. We met up with our dear friend Rebecca for a short walk and even though, it was still a little chilly we had such a fun time! Rebecca used to be our neighbor our first year here and she is one of the kindest people we have met here in Virginia! Brielle and Braden LOVE her and she is always so sweet to them!

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Valentine's was interesting this year...I called a babysitter and all I wanted to do is have a quiet dinner with my husband, without children constantly interrupting. We went to Texas Roadhouse, shared a meal, enjoyed a great conversation with my husband and came home. It was all I needed. A few hours later, Scott came down with the stomach flu (the kids had had it a week earlier and Scott thought he had lucked out)...not so...thank goodness it was a 24 hour bug and by Monday he was all better.

For Valentine's Day we decided to have a few friends over to decorate sugar cookies. It was fun to have everyone over.

Later on the 14th, I was craving strawberries with chocolate. Scott brought me some beautiful flowers and we enjoyed a nice evening together.

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Mr. Braden is taking a gymnastics class and loves it. They had an observation day, where we got to be in the gym with his class. He was having so much fun and it was a blast to watch him.

His teacher is the nicest lady and so patient with the class, they are a little rowdy!:)

I love the little faces Braden makes when he jumps! Sometimes, Brielle and I laugh out-loud when we watch him! He is so cute and so into it!



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We've had warmer days and on those days, we just HAVE to go outside and enjoy the sun and warmth.

I'm so glad it's getting warmer. My kids tend to start fighting and be grouchy when we spend so much time inside. They do play together well, but sometimes they just need to run around. They are so much happier when they get to go outside, run around and use up all of that energy!

We've all been trying to drink more water around here...

Photographed by Braden.

Here I am at 13 1/2 weeks...what I like to call the awkward stage...not quite showing but my gut is bigger.

I am 16 weeks today.

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For almost a whole week, I ate these for lunch. A french roll with melted white cheddar, a slice of tomato and a few leaves of basil...heaven on earth!

This last week, all I wanted to eat for lunch was a sandwich wrap...

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Last week, our friends the Gardner's invited us to go bowling with them. Last time we went bowling Braden was 1, I think. It had been a long time. The kids had a blast! Scott and I suck so much at bowling is not even funny. We do enjoy it, we just simply have no skill. Needless to say, the Gardner's kicked our trash.

Brielle and Braden had SO much fun! I even think they got better scores than Scott and I! ha!

It was fun to watch Braden..."may be if I move to the left the ball will move to the left too!!!" so funny!

Monkey.

All those bowling experts out there can criticize my form all you want...:)

Scott and I decided we need to take a bowling class. Scott more than me. ha ha!

I beat him.

Sweet victory for me. ha ha ha!

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My dear friend Daija and Bridger came to visit us last week. I loved just hanging out and catching up. It makes me miss her so much though.

Bridger is just about the CUTEST 2 1/2 year old around. He is so smart and has THE cutest little voice. My kids had so much fun playing with him.

We loved having you Daij! Thanks for coming to see us!

Theodore Roosevelt Island

The weather was somewhat nice on Saturday, so we headed to Roosevelt Island in D.C. I have been wanting to go there for a while now and we finally got around to it.

The island is right in the Potomac River. There are a few short trails to hike.

We brought our lunches and ate them there. They have a lot of benches to sit on. It's the perfect place to go and enjoy some time in the outdoors.

It is such a beautiful place...I can only imagine what it looks like when all the trees are green and the fountains are up and going. We are definitely coming back this spring.

The boys having a "stick" battle.

After eating lunch and hanging out at the Memorial Plaza, we started our little hike. It's still dreary out there, but I was so excited when I saw some signs of spring!

It made me so happy!

We spend some time at the shore of the Potomac. The kids LOVED it!

Brielle posing for the camera. She definitely has a mischievous little face.

I don't know what Scott was telling the kids, but they were both intently looking at him.

We were sitting by the rocks enjoying the beautiful breeze and view. It was a little nerve-wracking at times with the kids though.

The thought that a year from now we are going to be planning a move, makes me very sad. I know I say it all the time, but I absolutely LOVE living in D.C/Virginia.

It is just beautiful.

The view of Georgetown University.

My little Braden is growing up and he is not my little baby any more. I have mixed feeling about that.

After enjoying the Potomac, we started our little 1.3 mile hike on the Swamp Trail.

It was the perfect trail for us.

We enjoyed each other's company. The kids were so pleasant and happy.

They explored, Brielle found tons of "precious" rocks. Braden had a full selection of sticks to choose from. Scott and I just enjoyed being together as a family. It was just a wonderful perfect day. The kind of day, you wish your kids will remember forever.

I think we wore those kiddos out! On the way out of the island, this is what they did. They just laid on the ground.

...and of course Mr. Braden begged to bring a stick home.

What do you say to a little face like that?

It was a perfect afternoon.

Happy News.

Brielle & Braden's Ice Cream Shoppe Party.

Brielle and Braden have been waiting for their birthdays since the day after Christmas. They both know that not long after Christmas they both have birthdays. I debated and debated on what to do about a party. They were both BEGGING me for one! Especially, the little girl of mine. After talking to my friend Jenny, she told me about the cutest party website to go to and we finally decided that we were going to do 'Brielle and Braden's Ice Cream Shoppe Party.'

They were both very excited about the idea!

I had a lot of fun with the decorations. Scott thought I was going a little overboard, but seriously, it's not everyday that I throw a birthday party for my children. I have actually decided that it will be an every other year event.

Scott helped me figure out how to hang those ice cream cones and I thought they turned out perfect! We could have used a couple more but by the time we were hanging them, we were both done decorating!:)

I made the little banner out of scrapbooking paper and stapled each little banner to the ribbon. It was super easy and it turned out like I had envisioned.

We had a variety of toppings for the kids to put in their ice cream.

Gummy bears was the most popular one.

I thought about making cupcakes from scratch but I was lazy and opted for the box. So much easier. Not as tasty, but kids can't tell the difference!:)

We had 10 little friends over! I totally thought it was going to be crazy but all the kids were so good! Scott was the balloon man. He learned how to make crowns, swords and dogs out of balloons. The kids thought he was so cool! They were entertained with the balloons for quite a while. Then we played a couple of games and then it was time for ice cream!

Thanks to my friend Melissa who took a ton of these pictures! Scott and I were so busy trying to keep everything under control, I am so grateful Melissa took charge of my camera!

Brielle and Braden were loving life, we very seldom eat ice cream...let alone all the toppings to choose from...I'm sure it is the same with the other kiddos, so I think they were all in heaven.

Brielle and Braden are the same age for 3 days. Brielle will officially turn 5 tomorrow. I don't think a day goes by that Scott and I don't marvel at the special little children that these two are. We are so blessed to have them in our family!

Then came time to sing happy birthday! They both loved having all of their little friends there with them!

Braden, of course, devoured his cupcake.

Braden's face! ha ha! We totally forgot about our traditional family picture on birthdays! At least I got one of them with Scott.

A few things we LOVE about Brielle:

-This little girl has so much spunk!

-She is so social.

-She's always so interested in learning her letters. She's always asking how do you spell this and that. She's already reading quite a few words and Scott recently showed her how to add and subtract with beans, she's been doing some math.

-She is always protecting her little brother.

-She has such an active imagination and is often role-playing and talking to her 'imaginary'

friends.

-She is my right-hand. She sets the table all by herself.

-She cleans her room all by herself.

We love that little girl!

Scott working his magic with the balloons.

Then came time to open presents! They were showered with presents! They were loving life!

Brielle and Braden are lucky to have such good little friends.

Braden was very busy trying to open one of his presents in this picture!

More little friends. Someone gave Brielle that little outfit as a present and she of course had to go change.

We had a few party favors left. I was able to salvage one last party favor from my kids after every one left. You can tell it's already been opened...it's not like my kids hadn't already had enough sweets that day! I guess they still wanted more!:)

The next day was Braden's official birthday. We left one present for him to open on his birthday from Grandma Karen and Grandpa Clay. He LOVED his turtle and book and that little turtle has been his constant companion since Sunday.

Braden, of course, requested blue pancakes for breakfast. I asked him if it'd be okay if I made crepes instead and he agreed.

A few things we love about Mr. Braden:

-Braden is the sweetest and most affectionate little guy.

-He is so humble and always willing to apologize if has done something wrong.

-He has such a good sense of right and wrong. I often hear him tell Brielle, 'Brielle, no, no, no, that's naughty.'

-He is our little artist! He is so good at coloring and is so creative.

-He is so not interested in his letters or reading or anything of that sort...but he LOVES science and learning about bugs and dinosaurs. This morning he asked me if spiders have noses! ha ha!:)

-He LOVES 'fixing' things. He goes around with a little screwdriver 'fixing' things.

He is our favorite little man!

On his birthday, he requested that we play Candy Land and he won without any help and he shouted, "I'm the champion!"

Yes, you are Mr. Braden!

Snow Days.

Last month, we had almost a whole week worth of snow days. Preschool was cancelled, Brielle's ballet class was cancelled and Braden's gymnastics class was too.

Talk about cabin fever!

Even, Scott's stayed home one day.

It is the end of the world when it snows here.

I have to say it was pretty bad, icy snow is not a good thing to drive on.

The day Scott stayed home, he took the kids out to build a snowman. By the time they were done building it, Brielle and Braden just wanted to come in and didn't want to take a picture. So I took one of Scott on the day they built it and another one a couple of days later with Brielle and Braden. You can tell it is lopsided. and his eyes, nose and mouth are gone!

On another snow day, my friend Jenny invited us to go sledding with her joy school group from Church. Since, we had been trapped at home for almost a week, I didn't hesitate and took the kids.

They had a blast with all of their little friends!

I kept telling Brielle that she needed to hold on tight to the sled's handles...as you can see it wasn't working very well for her...

But nonetheless, she had a blast! and so did Braden.