Surprise!

One of my closest friends and co-worker surprised me last week with a baby shower at school.  I had no idea that she was planning a shower, and I was completely overwhelmed at how many of the ladies came to show their support of Baby Oppy!  It was a nice way to end a Monday...good food, excellent cake, and even better company!  Baby Oppy has many, many people that are excited to meet him or her.  Only a couple more weeks to go!

The theme of the shower was a "practical" shower, so I was showered with lots and lots of diapers and wipes!!!  You can never have too many diapers!

Sweet Dreams

Last night, Andy and I heard a noise coming through the monitor.  When we got closer, we realized it was "Larry Boy" from the Veggie Tales.  Ben sleeps with Ooh-Ooh (his monkey), his "cool giraffe", Nemo, and Larry Boy.  Lately, we've been finding Larry Boy on the floor each morning.  When Andy went up to check on Ben, this is what he found...I guess Ben wanted to be sure the Larry Boy made it through the night safely :)

Baby Oppy #2 - We're getting closer!!!

Baby Oppy #2 is measuring big (about 2 weeks ahead), so we had to have a second ultrasound this past week.  This came as no surprise to us, because Ben consistently measured 2 weeks ahead throughout the pregnancy, but it was nice to get a second look at Baby Oppy!

As of right now, they're guessing baby weighs around 7 1/2 pounds (with five weeks left to go...yikes, that could be another 2 1/2 pounds). I asked about the head size because Ben's head has been off the charts since birth.  The ultrasound tech never gave us a measurement, she just said "let's not discuss the head size...it's BIG"!  That's always reassuring to hear :)  I figure it's just a family trait, so I wouldn't have expected anything different.  Baby Oppy was also breech, so a c-section may be in our future.  Who knows though, because if babies are anything, they're unpredictable!

Right now, we're just excited to know that everything is looking good and baby had a great heartbeat.  We're counting down the days until we get to meet this little guy or gal, and it sounds like we may get to see it about a week earlier than we had planned...it's looking like we'll induce (or have a c-section if he/she is still breech) a few days before the due date.  We're ready!!!!

Here are some pictures of Baby Oppy...enjoy!

 This is a side profile of the face.  You can see the nose and the upper lip.

This is a picture of the face.  Don't pay attention to the fuzziness on the left side of the picture.  The baby's nose is just right of center.  Where is looks like it's sticking out it's tongue, it's actually sticking it's whole fist into it's mouth :)  I think we definitely have a thumb sucker on our hands.  Baby Oppy didn't take it's fingers or thumb out of it's mouth the entire time!

Get Ready, Get Set...Freeze!

I'm trying my hardest to be as prepared as I can for baby number 2.  Last night, I put 12 pounds of ground beef in two of my crock-pots and let it cook up.  I drained it and bagged it in 1 lb. bags and stuck it all in the freezer. 

Today, I had to go get groceries for the week, so I thought I'd get some extra stuff to make some freezer meals for us after the baby arrives.  I found a great website www.sixsistersstuff.com which had 8 meals that could be made in 1 hour (that's my kind of cooking)!  The actual link to the recipes can be found at http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/2012/09/slow-cooker-freezer-meals-make-8-meals.html

Needless to say, I was thrilled...so, one trip to the grocery and one hour later, I had the following meals in my freezer:

Hearty Beef Stew
Cilantro Lime Chicken
BBQ Ribs (I did two of these)
Black Bean Taco Soup
Chicken Broccoli Alfredo
Chicken Cacciatore (I did two of these)
Maple Dijon Glazed Chicken (two of these, too)

I also found a recipe for Balsamic Drumsticks on another website (I can't remember where).  It was 8 drumsticks, 1 T. honey, 1/2 c. balsamic vinegar, and 3 T. soy sauce...super easy!  I did two of these as well.

12 meals in the freezer should hopefully come in handy after the little guy or gal gets here in a few weeks!

Go Team!

A couple of weeks ago, we were able to go see one of our favorite little gals cheer.  Taylor is the daughter of "Uncle" Brian (who we are excited to say is marrying "Aunt" Ashley in just over a month)!!!  Taylor did a great job cheering on the team.  They went on to victory, and I'm pretty sure it was because of the fantastic cheering! 

Tis the Season...to be done with Christmas!

I know this post is a little late, but I just haven't had time recently to get on here and do posts as often as I'd like.  We officially ended our Christmas celebrations during the second week of January.  Andy's mother's family always wait until after the new year to celebrate Christmas, which is a nice break from all the hustle and bustle that revolves around the Christmas holiday.

This year, I woke up with a SEVERE cold, so I didn't get to go.  I didn't figure that a house full of kids and two grandparents in their late 80's was the best environment to go spread my germs.  It was probably a good idea, because by the time Andy and Ben got home, I was officially down for the count...could hardly breath, constant cough, bad sore throat, and a slight fever...yuck!!!

Anyway, the guys had a good time at Christmas, and Andy did a great job of taking pictures for me.  He took my new Christmas present (an external flash) with him and had fun trying it out.  Here are a few pics of the day.

 The cousins

 

 Queenie and Popsie :)

Let's Play!

Ben had his good friend, Blake, over earlier this week to play.  As soon as we got home, the boys immediately spotted the Gator and off they went.  I backed all of the vehicles out of the garage so that they would have room to drive around. 

While they were driving around, they spotted the four-wheeler and thought that they needed to go sledding behind it.  So, we hooked up the sled and went round and round the yard.  They had a great time, and really liked it when I took a corner too fast and they fell off :)  We had to take a break to go warm up, but when Andy got home, he took them sledding one more time before dinner. 

They ditched the sled and just decided to ride the four-wheeler...I think the cold weather was finally starting to get to them :)