Silent Sunday

Finally, our Christmas tree is up...and, we have newly re-finished hardwood floors!  I love it.  :-)  (Bailey likes it, too!)

Playing catch-up...

I'm alive!  I'm so sorry I've been MIA this past week. 

I don't have much of an excuse, other than the fact I think the 3rd trimester tired-ness has hit me HARD lately.  By about 2-3pm every day, my eyes are burning because they're so tired.  And, by the time I actually get home between 5-6pm, all I want to do is lay on the couch and not move until I have to get up to go to bed.  Basically, I'm a big lump.

Oh, and...I've been living in our basement since last Friday night, since we had our hardwood floors re-finished this past week.  (They look awesome, by the way!  I'll take pics this weekend and show you all soon.)  So yeah, it's been me, Hubs, Bailey, Roxy, and Fozzie Bear...all crammed into our basement for the past week.  Good times!  ;-) 

So, I'm definitely looking forward to moving back upstairs this weekend and getting back into our normal lives/routine.  It's tough only having one TV to watch, let me tell ya!  There may have been just a few arguments about who gets to watch what show.  And, since I usually go to bed earlier than Hubs, I may have gone all tired-cranky-preggo-mama on him a few times because the TV was too loud and too bright.  Oopsie...whatcha gonna do?  He still loves me.  :-)

Now, to play a little catch-up today...I want to finish up the last few days of Aly's 12 Days of Christmas. 

Day 11 - New Year's Resolutions

Unfortunately, I'm not very good at making/keeping New Year's resolutions...but, I definitely like to try each year!  So, here are a few that I'd love to keep up with:

• Have a BABY!  (This one I'm pretty sure I'll definitely stick with!  ;-) )

• Be on time....whether it's for work, appointments, parties.  I'm usually always late, and I hate it.  I definitely need to work on that.

• Stop procrastinating - This kind of goes along with being late.  I am the queen of saying "Oh, I'll just do that tomorrow, or the next day"....and then it ends up turning into days/weeks/months later, and I still haven't done what I was supposed to do.  Another trait of mine that I hate.

• Decorate our home!  I know I've mentioned this a time or two on here, but, I definitely need to work on painting/decorating our house (our living room especially), so that I'm not completely embarrased to have company over and can actually enjoy spending time in my own home.  Anyone know a good interior designer??  Aly, you know I'm dying for you to help me in this department!  ;-)

Day 12 - Show Us Your Decorations

Well, unfortunately, because of the re-finishing of the floors project, we have not been able to put up our Christmas tree or decorate anything inside yet.  :-(  We did put lights and fun blow-up characters outside, though...I just don't have a picture of those yet.  I'll definitely take pictures as soon as everything's all set and decorated, though, and make a whole post dedicated to it!  (I know you're all SO excited for that, right??)

Day 13 - Favorite Cookie

I don't have any good recipes for this, since I'm not the best cook/baker in the house...so, I'll just show you some pictures of my favorite cookies.  Those are always fun, right?! 

Snickerdoodles...Mmmm!

Sugar cookies...omg, I'm drooling

Day 14 - Oprah's Favorite Things...what I would want

Oooh, this one's pretty easy:

link

And maybe a nice vacation to a place like this:

link

Phew!!  I think I'm all caught up now!  I promise I'll make another post either today or tomorrow with my 30 week bump/quiz!  (30 weeks!!  Eeeek!)  I hope you all have a great weekend!  :-)

12 Day of Christmas - Day 10

Make sure you go link up at Aly's blog to play along!

Day 10 - Favorite Christmas Songs

Oh boy, this might be a long list, seeing as how Christmas music is my absolute FAVORITE!  :-)

For these first few, I love the whole cd!  I can't just pick one song.

{1}  Josh Groban - Noel

{2}  *NSYNC - Home for Christmas

{3}  Mariah Carey - Merry Christmas

{4}  Now That's What I Call Christmas

(Disc 1 has all the old classics that I LOVE...Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Burl Ives, Nat 'King' Cole...love them all!)

{5}  Michael Buble - White Christmas/I'll Be Home For Christmas

{6}  Andrea Bocelli and Mary J. Blige - What Child Is This

{7}  Alvin & The Chipmunks - Christmas Don't Be Late (Hehe, love this one!)

{8}  Frosty The Snowman

{9}  A Charlie Brown Christmas - Christmas Time Is Here

And that's all I can think of off the top of my head right now.  I'm sure there's a ton more that I forgot about! 

12 Days of Christmas - Days 7, 8 & 9

 

Day 7 - Holiday Craft/DIY

Unfortunately, Martha Stewart I am not, when it comes to cooking AND crafts.  I don't really have a creative bone in my body....but, I wish I did!!  I've always been so jealous/envious of those people that can just slap together something fabulous with some glue and a piece of string...if that even makes any sense.  lol  So, here are my holiday crafts that I wish I was able to do on my own.

How fun are these?!  I've always wanted to make my own wreath.

So pretty!

Day 8 - Least Favorite Thing About the Holidays

This one was pretty easy:

• Traffic
• Crowds
• Traffic
• Crowds

Done!  ;-)

Day 9 - Favorite Holiday Recipe

Oooh, this is actually one recipe I can make myself!!  :-)  That's an accomplishment right there...for me, at least.  Easy peasy!!

Chocolate Covered Oreo Balls  (Truffles, if you want to sound fancy)

Ingredients:

• One package of Oreo cookies
• One brick of cream cheese
• 2/3 containers of Bakers melting chocolate (or whatever melting chocolate you prefer)
• One large (thick) Ziploc baggie

Pour entire package of Oreos in Ziploc baggie and crush into teeny tiny pieces.  (This is why you need a thicker bag.  I put a few little holes in my bag the last time I made these b/c I crushed them so hard.  Whoops!)  After Oreos are smooshed, add in brick of cream cheese and smoosh all that together. (Don't you love my technical terminology??  ;-)  )   After the cookies and cream cheese are mashed together, open the bag, stick your hands in (prepare to get all ooey gooey!) and start making them into little balls.  I ended up with about 25 balls total with my last batch.  After all your balls are rolled, microwave your chocolate and start dipping!  I usually just line a cookie sheet with wax paper and line up all the ball on there.  After all the balls are dipped, throw them in the fridge until they're all hardened, and VOILA!  Chocolate covered oreo balls...

Mmm, mmm, mmmmmmm.....deeeeelish!!  :D

Here are pics of some 'fancy' balls out there:

Ruff day

Just because she looks so darn cute!  This was Roxy's napping position last night... 

(I swear, she really does fit in her bed.  She's usually curled up like a little fat blob in there, all snuggled!)

28 weeks...3rd Trimester!!

Um, hi!  WHERE have the past 28 weeks gone?!  I cannot believe we have less than 3 months before we get to meet Baby B!  I'm so excited/anxious/nervous/ecstatic/terrified/unprepared, and probably a million and one other feelings that I can't even wrap my head around right now.

But, slowly but surely we're getting things done around the house....sort of.  We've talked to my cousin (who owns his own flooring company) about coming over in the next week or so to re-finish our floors.  I can't wait until that's complete, because then we can finally start painting and setting up the nursery.  And, HELLO, decorate for Christmas!!  I'm SO sad that we couldn't put up our Christmas tree this weekend.  :(  We would literally have it up for a few days, maybe even a week, and then have to take it down again to move everything out to re-finish the floors.  Boooo.  So, the sooner that's done, the better!

•  How far along?  28 weeks and 2 days

• Total weight gain:  19 lbs total, as of my appointment last Tuesday.  But, and I can't believe I'm admitting this...8 of those 19 lbs were gained in the past month alone!  Eeeek!  Someone needs to lay off the candy bars, huh??  

• Maternity clothes? Oh yes, unfortunately.  And, some of the clothes I bought just a few months ago are even starting to get a little small.  :(

• Stretch marks?  Just a few purple lines on one boob.  I can deal with that.  ;)

• Sleep:  Ugh, not so hot.  Once I'm asleep, I'm OK, and I usually only have to get up once a night to pee.  It's just getting comfortable and actually falling asleep that are getting rough.  My back/sides start throbbing literally 5 minutes after laying down. 

• Best moment this week?  Finally hitting 3rd trimester...according to ALL sources! (The Bump, BabyCenter, my Dr.)

• Movement?  Yep, she's definitely an acrobat in there!  And, her movements are starting to feel more like rolls and flips, rather than just little jabs and punches here and there.  It's such a strange feeling...but amazing, of course!  :)

• Food cravings?  Ugh, too much junk!  Candy bars and donuts have been my weakness...hence the giant weight jump in one month.  

• Labor signs?  No, thank you!  And, the Braxton Hicks contractions have been less and less frequent, too.  Yay!

• Belly button:  I'm pretty sure it's going to pop any day now.  Not looking forward to that.  Hotness.  :P

• What I miss?  Just being/getting comfortable in general.  I can't even bend over and tie my sneakers without getting winded and needing help from Hubs.  lol

• What I'm looking forward to:  Christmas, of course!  And, just the holiday season in general.  It makes me so happy and puts me in such a good mood.  I'm also loving listening to Christmas music all the time now...my favorite!  Hopefully we'll get to decorate and put up our tree in the next week or so, too!

• Milestones?  3rd trimester!  We're in the home stretch now!  Oh, and I took the always fun glucose test this past week, and I passed!  Woohoo!  :D

Here's my 28 week belly in all its glory...with a rare bare-belly pic thrown in for fun!  Don't judge!  ;)

12 Days of Christmas - Days 4, 5, & 6

 

Day 4 - Tips/Tricks to a Budget Friendly Holiday Season

Unfortunately, I don't think I'm the best person to be giving tips for a budget friendly holiday.  lol  Seeing as how I'm such a last minute shopper, (since I never know what to get anyone!) I always end up buying what's easy and convenient for me, and that usually doesn't equal sale/budget friendly.  I just want to get it D-O-N-E.  Sad, I know.  

So, I'm just going to have to check out all of your tips/tricks, and hopefully this year I WILL have a budget friendly gift-giving season!  Lord knows we need it, with trying to save every last penny we have for baby/daycare, and everything else that comes along with that. 

Day 5 - Favorite Holiday Movie/TV Show Special

 

This category is definitely an easy one for me!  I probably have too many choices/options for my favorite TV show or movie...I love them ALL!  :)  So, here are a few of my top picks:

 

 

 

 See?  I told you I had too many favorites!  And, I'm sure I left out about 3908 others that I love.  ;)

 Day 6 - Gift Ideas...for ME!

This is another easy category for me...I love it.  :)  There really isn't too much that I want for myself this year.  Pretty much everything I want is for Baby B, and I'd much rather everyone spend their money on her, and get things that she'll need throughout the next year or so.  That would be the best gift to me right there!

 

But, if I did have to my choice to pick anything I wanted this year, here are a few things that I would love: 

 

OR

(I'm not picky with brands or anything!  I've heard they're both great.)

 

 

I literally wear these shoes almost every day during the winter (when I'm not at work, of course), and my first pair are now stained and looking not-so-hot lately...so, I would love a brand new fresh pair.  ;)

And, can I point out what the name of this bag is?!  The Madison Sophia satchel!  Hello?  Is this a sign, or what??  Two of our favorite girl names in ONE bag.  I think we may have found a name for Baby B...AND, I totally need this bag now.  :P