big fat follower

On Monday, RyAnn and I had official Ry and Meg day. First we went to the Botanical Gardens so I could take pictures of Brock and Braxton. It was really fun! Then we headed to the zoo for a few hours. After a quiet afternoon, we finished off the evening with dinner at the Cheesecake Factory, just the two of us. It was a great day!

I’m about to be a big fat follower. I’ve seen these videos on several blogs (Susan’s and Cindi’s especially.) They are so cool! Here is a video with some of the pictures of took of B and B on Monday.

Feeling Good

Bear with me while I brag on myself for a moment.

Today I went to the grocery store. No biggie, in and of itself. I go to the grocery store all the time. I would say that in the past six months, I go to the grocery store on average 3-4 times a week. That’s because I just buy stuff as we need it. We’re out of milk…head to the store. No bagels? I’ll run to Randall’s. Major craving for strawberries and ice cream? Be right back!

But today, I did big grocery shopping for the first time what feels like forever! I even planned a few meals for the week. This is big time! (Just ask my husband…being pregnant has not been good for Meg the Chef.)

Not only did I stock our fridge and pantry with good food, I even cooked dinner tonight! We had cheese tortellini, meatballs, salad, and bread. It was a winner in everyone’s book. Even my biggest critic (Logan) ate it all up.

Besides making a good dinner and going to the store, I ran a bunch of errands, kept the house picked up, and did the budget. It feels good to make a big list of stuff to do and actually get it done.

I know this is just every stuff, but it feels good to look back on the day and feel like I accomplished something. Do any other moms out there ever feel like they never accomplish anything, no matter how busy the day feels?

Since I kept things pretty clean today, I took the official after pictures of the kitchen. I am so happy with it! Like all house projects, I think it looks better in person. And, like all of my house projects, there are always things to add. Like now I want to paint, and I still have my eye on a stainless steel fridge if old faithful ever stops working. But the next house project is for sure the nameless baby girl’s room. Suzy Q is coming to visit in less than 2 weeks, and she is going to help me paint. It’s so cute in my head, and hopefully it will turn out in real life, too.

Anyway, here’s the kitchen:

after

And some side by side comparisons of the before and after:

Friday afternoon, the kids and I loaded up the car and headed to Arlington for a visit. We made great time on the drive Friday afternoon, and the kids were both fantastic in the car, which is always a blessing. We arrived just in time for a yummy dinner. Saturday morning, my super talented step-sister took pictures of the boys. I can’t wait to see them! I take a lot of pics of the boys, but it’s been awhile since I’ve done professional pictures. The rest of the day was spent relaxing, with a little side trip to the Sprint store thrown in to work out some phone issues. That’s always fun. Today we have been relaxing all day long-it’s been great! Later tonight, we are having dinner and visiting with Derek’s parents. And tomorrow is the official Meg and RyAnn day. We are going to do something fun with the kids in the morning, and hopefully have a dinner sans kids tomorrow night. Tuesday the boys and I will head back home. I know by then we will all be ready to get back to our normal schedule, and even more importantly, to see Derek.

Derek skipped out on this trip mainly because of a work conflict. But, it actually worked out pretty well (for me, anyway…) While the boys and I are busy having fun with grandparents and friends, Derek is at home finishing up my little not-so-little kitchen project. He is installing the backsplash this weekend! I cannot wait to get home and see it. He sent me a little teaser picture, and I think it looks awesome.

backsplash

Thanks for all your hard work this weekend, D! As you can see, we finally decided on the silver. I flip-flopped so many times, but after having both panels up in the kitchen for 2 weeks, I decided I liked the silver just a smidgen more. I am a little ashamed to admit that I have a little more work on the cabinets. I have a few insides that need to be painted, and a few touch-ups. Finishing projects isn’t one of my strong points…

I guess that’s it for now.  This post is starting to bore me, which is never good.  🙂

It’s coming

I feel like summer is officially on it’s way. It seems like we’ve had a really nice spring- or it could be that I have gotten used to the heat. At any rate, it wasn’t until the past few days that it really felt like summer was on it’s way. And last year I remember thinking that in March.

This is what the boys did after school on Monday:

water fun

Doesn’t Austin look like an attack dog in this picture? I promise no children were harmed in the taking of this photo…

Such sweet boys!

And, just for good measure, here’s a pic of Logan I took this morning.

I love the mix of super hero and…um…the feminine pull up. Someday he is going to be so embarrassed by this. But I’m his mom, and taking slightly embarrassing pics of your kids is in the job description. For the record, he chose the princess pull-ups. I blame it on his little girlfriends at school. He is in a class with one other boy and six girls (and the boy is still in only diapers). And, also for the record, it doesn’t bother me that he wants to wear the princess pull-ups. It’s just about the only “girly” thing my all-boy kiddo has ever done. And, also for the record, he is doing great with potty training and usually wears his spiderman undies. So on the rare occasion he requests (or just comes out wearing) the princess pull-up, I just smile and laugh.  And take a picture.  He’s a real character, that’s for sure!

Earth Day

Okay, I’ll admit that I forgot that today was Earth Day until I read a blog this morning that mentioned it.  And I’ll also admit that I’m not the “greenest” person around.  But I still value this earth that God gave us, and I try and do my part to take care of it.  That may only look like teaching my kids not to litter, but it’s s start.

That reminds me of a story.  At Connor’s t-ball game on Saturday, Derek watched a little boy spit his gum out on the ground, right next to the bleachers.  Derek, trying to be polite, says “hey, I think you dropped your gum.”  The boy ignored him.  So Derek turns to the kids mom who is standing right there and says “I think your son dropped his gum right there.”  The lady replies, “well, he can’t eat it.  It’s on the ground.”  Derek couldn’t believe it.  What did my conscientious husband do?  Found a leaf and picked up this kids gum.  I can’t believe that mom didn’t see a problem with her son spitting his gum out, right where people walk.  I know it’s just gum (which is probably biodegradable), but come on.  Let’s bet better than that!

Anyway….

In honor of Earth Day, Paper Trunk is having a giveaway on their blog.  Paper Trunk is the first scrapbook company to go green.  The papers are printed on recycled paper, and the inks are environmentally friendly, too.  If you are interested in winning some cool scrappy paper, head on over to the blog and leave a comment!

brain mush

Today I saw a man get out of his car and help a stranger push his broken car through the intersection to the gas station. It warmed my heart. Most people just get irritated that someone is blocking traffic. But this kind man got out and helped. I loved it, and I bet that man has no idea that he not only helped the guy with car trouble, but also reminded me that there are good, helpful, selfless people out there. There are still those that will stop and help a stranger in need.
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Any scrapbookers who happen to read my blog, you need to check out the Paper Trunk blog for a contest to be next months Guest Designer!
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My dog managed to get a hold of 5 or 6 leftover pizza cheese sticks. Sneaky little booger. What do you suppose the odds are that he is going to puke those things up? I foresee the pregnancy card being played on that one…
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I have a new Friday tradition. A few weeks ago I started seeing a chiropractor about some nagging back pain. Turns out that two of my good friends also go to this same chiropractor. We all have appointments at the same time of Friday mornings. Afterwards, we head to Cracker Barrel for a late breakfast. Every time, I order one blueberry pancake, a side of hashbrown casserole, a side of bacon, and sweet tea. My friends also order the same thing every time (did I mention that they are pregnant, too? We are all due within 2 weeks of each other.) Over the past 3 weeks, it has become one of the highlights of my week. I hope we continue our Cracker Barrel tradition even after our chiropractor parties are over.
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Pregnant moment of the weekend. I had a brunch/baby shower to attend on Saturday morning. I decided I wanted to bring this yummy, homemade hashbrown casserole. I had my entire Saturday morning planned to the minute. Get ready. Prepare casserole in addition to breakfast for the fam. Get Connor ready for t-ball. Get Logan dressed for the day. Send Derek and Connor off to the fields at 9:30. At 9:55, put casserole in the oven. Pack up Logan and head to the t-ball game. At 10:45, leave t-ball game, swing by the house to pick up the piping hot casserole, and head to church. It was so smooth in my head. The only problem was the brunch started at 10:00, not 11:00. And I realized this at 9:50. After a mad dash to the t-ball field to drop off Logan, and a quick stop to HEB to pick up already made muffins, I made it to the brunch only 20 minutes late. Did I mention that I even had written on my calendar that it started at 10:00? Good one, Meg. Good one.
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I’ve gotten tagged on a few blogs do list 7 random or unknown things about myself. I haven’t done it for several reasons. For one, I’ve done it before. And two, it really takes some thought to write a post like that. Last night I thought of one thing I would add to the list, so I decided I will just blog seven random things as I think of them. This is one of those things that cements my dorkiness in stone. When writing an email, I will spend a considerable amount of time obsessing over how to sign it. Should I sign this email love? Sincerely seems too formal…love isn’t always appropriate…just signing Megan seems too cold…I’ll spend more time coining the perfect ending than on writing the actual email. This is especially bad if I’m writing an email to a group of people. There might be some in the group who would get a -love, Megan, but others who just need a -talk to you soon, Megan. Sometimes I go as far as to save a draft of the email so I can think over my choice.

I will also get obsessive over punctuation, specifically exclamation points. I really am an excitable person, and I think I write like a talk. But too may exclamation points is annoying. I always have to make sure I have the correct balance of periods and exclamation points. I don’t want anyone to think I am a freak! 🙂
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In the time it’s taken me to write this, Austin has regurgitated a cheese stick. It was pristine. I’m certain that one of my children would have picked it up and eaten it tomorrow morning if we left it on the floor. It was that perfect. One down, four to go…

See you soon…talk to you soon…love…blessings….sincerely….
Megan

Spring

I love the spring! Right now I am sitting outside in the backyard. There is a nice breeze, no humidity, and it’s a perfect 71 degrees outside. My dog is running around, so happy to be outside with everyone, and Connor are Logan are busy playing a Spiderman Batman game. It’s a beautiful afternoon.

Last Thursday, my sister arrived for a visit/work trip. We had a great time! We didn’t do anything too exciting, but it was fun just to hang out. We did go on a massive shopping trip to Kohl’s, and we spent lots of time with James, Kathy, Justin, and Kayla which is always fun.

fierce boys

justin and connor

Logie B

Kayla

Okay, the beautiful afternoon is over. It’s amazing how quickly kids’ attitudes can change….while the weather is still beautiful, my dog is now hacking up some piece of plastic he’s eaten, Connor has been sent to his room for hitting his brother, and Logan is desperate for some juice.

99 Days

It’s only 99 days until baby girl is due, which isn’t too much when you think that she started out with 280 days to go. In the next 99 days, we need to:

-Name her.
-Start and finish the nursery.
-buy a carseat. (I got rid of Connor and Logan’s infant seat for two reasons: first, it was all jammed with sand from the beach and the base was stuck to the carrier, and it could be unstuck with great force, but it sure was a pain. And second, it’s recommended that carseats only be used for 5 years since plastic can weaken over time. There’s my safety announcement for the day. We’re all about safety in this family. Derek is even on the safely patrol at work. Okay, maybe it’s not called the safety patrol, but I like to imagine that there are a bunch of science nerds running around wearing bright orange safety sashes handing out safety violations. Just like when Derek is working on a project, I like I to picture him laying on his stomach surrounded by markers, rubber cement, and printed pie charts, painstakingly gluing and lettering and creating a science project on one of those tri-fold poster boards.) I digress…
-find the perfect baby girl coming home outfit.
-buy all the necessary new mom and baby stuff.
-Enjoy all of her kicks and rolls.

26 weeks:
26 weeks

26 weeks

Take me out to the ballgame

This morning was Connor’s very fist t-ball game, and it was a lot of fun. I was really impressed with the kids-for the most part, they all knew what they were doing and what was going on. At practice, I sometimes wonder if the kids even have a clue as to what the point is. They really surprised me! Connor had a really good time, minus the sitting in the dugout part. It’s hard to wait to bat when you are 10th out of 11 kids. Anyway, here are some pics from his big Little League debut. I know there are a lot, but I just couldn’t decide which ones I liked the best!

During one of the innings, Connor got to play on the pitchers mound. I love his little baseball form in these 3 pictures.

pitcher

ready for actions

running to 2nd

1st base

all smiles

swing batter

New toy

Like I mentioned before, I ordered Photoshop Elements 6, and so far I am loving it! I’ve stayed up way too late the past two nights messing around on photoshop. I even revamped the blog a little…and I’m actually darn proud of myself because I figured out some html stuff when my husband was less than willing to help. So besides the new blog banner, check this out. I’m such a dork.

gladiator logan

And last night while Connor was at t-ball practice, I took some pictures of Logan playing in the backyard, just to have pictures to edit (and for some reason, the colors don’t look as saturated on my blog as the did in photoshop. Weird.) I especially love this first one. It’s a little deer in headlights, but I just love his little face!

Thanks for all the opinions about the backsplash. At first, I was leaning towards number 1, for the exact reasons some of you mentioned…the warmness and the way it brings out the floors. But when I brought them home, I started liking number 2 better. I am pretty sure we’re going to go with the silver, but I haven’t completely committed to that yet. I need to decide soon because I was really hoping this was going to be the weekend project. I can’t wait to see the entire thing finished!