Great Friday!

Today we hung out and played outside!  Trey got tired and went for a nap on the couch...

Trys is always energetic and loves to get pictures...

And I felt bakery like and just finished some donuts for us...

Poll: what do you think?

Boy or Girl?  

I want to hear what you think! Leave me a comment please.

Here is a few more pictures...

Baby's head and face 

You can see the spine, rib cage and hips...

My 17 week baby bump picture!

Soccer

So Trystian has been in Soccer for a few weeks now...  He likes it, although he's not really into it.  He really likes a couple of the girls on the team, and instead of playing he will sit defense and chat and giggle with his team-mate...  It's cute, but he needs to learn to play the game and stop flirting!! LOL

 One of his coaches is leaving for a TDY this weekend, so we did an impromptu picture before the game tonight so we could have at least 1 picture of everyone together!  Formal pictures wont be until the 1st of June...

 

 

 

Atreyu is not left out though, he plays Smart Start Soccer.  There's no teams and there is no games... He just practices moves and learns how to play, so that when he turns 5 he can have a jumpstart for the team he is on then...

 

 

Pregnancy Diary: 16 weeks

Well things are going well...  I have felt the pumpkin move a lil, and moreso I can hear him/her move around when I have the doppler for listening to the hearbeat!  Pumpkin doesnt like the doppler I think, cuz the kicking gets intense once I put that doppler on the belly! LOL

We had gone up to Hachinohe this weekend in hopes to get one of the kool ultrasounds... unfortunately we didn't get many pics at all!!  The doctor said he measured the pumkin at 14 weeks, even though I'm sure I am 16 and has been confirmed with the actual Dr. on base!!  My guess is he was at some wierd angle that he couldnt get an accurate measure of the head...  Which he was at a wierd angle, he had the wand thing all the way up at above my belly button when I know the baby ain't that far up yet!!!  Anyways, he said heartbeat was good, and we got to listen!  And because he said I wasn't that far along yet, he only gave me 1 picture, and well it's actually not as good as the other pics I have alread from when pumpkin was a month younger! 

I also wonder if the Japanese babies might grow a little bigger in the womb too since Japanese babies are HUGE at birth and when they are really young!  The smallest size of clothing and diaper they have is 50cm, which didnt fit Trystian till he was about 4 months old...

Anyways, things are well with baby pumpkin...  heartbeat is strong and my anatomy ultrasound scan is set for the 24th of June... We will find out if pumpkin is a girl or boy then!! :)

The "Home Zoo"

Stuffed Animals take over every one's house at some point I'm sure... Well I had an idea to help corral the animals up and still keep them accessible for the kids to play with when they wanted to!  I had seen the idea of the beanbag chairs for them, but wasn't sure that it was what we wanted...  So I thought this up and here you go...

 

Step 1: Went to the Homac and bought the wood...  Wood is a lot more expensive here, so I wanted to keep it small and simple...

 

Step 2: I screwed the large frame together, then nailed the small rectangle dowels to the frame to make it look like a cage...  Nailed on the top and bottom flats...

Step 3: Put the Zoo cage in the kids room and we placed all their stuffed animals in it that they don't want in their beds to physically sleep with each night.  Now their animals can have a safe place to hang out without being on the floor when the kids are in bed... (the stuffed animals used to cover the entirety of each bed that you wouldn't be able to find the kids if they laid in the bed under the animals!)  This idea is much better I think.  Trystian loves it!  He wanted to make sure he got in the picture!!

 

Another home creation I have done lately is make a cup out of mason jars for the boys...  They are long out of sippy cups, but when we have movie night with snacks and drinks, I really didn't want the kids to have open cups of liquids to spill on the carpet or couches...  so I thought of this so that they have something that is not baby like, but also good for when we go camping and stuff too to keep the bugs out!  The boys love drinking out of them now!

 





Boeuf Bourguignon

So I really wanted to share the Boeuf Bourguignon I made for us the other day.  I love food, and especially old time recipes that aren't rushed!  Here it is below:

 

about 2 pounds Stew Beef

2  onion, sliced

Salt and pepper

2 parts red wine

1 part beef stock

2 cloves minced garlic

about 3 1/2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons olive oil

about 1 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced

about 1 pound fresh carrots

celary hearts chopped

 

 

Preheat oven to 350 degree.

 

Marinate beef in red wine in the fridge for at least 3 hours, overnight is better.

 

Heat butter and olive oil in dutch oven until almost smoking. Dry beef in paper towels; it will not brown if it is damp!

 

 

Add beef to hot pot, a few pieces at a time, and sauté until nicely browned on all sides.

 

 

Remove beef with slotted spoon.  Add onions to pot and cook till transluscent.

 

Return the beef  to the pot along with all of the other vegetables.

 

 

Stir in wine and beef stock, just enough so that the meat is barely covered. Add the garlic and salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer on top of the stove. Cover pot and set in lower third of oven. Let it simmer for 3 to 4 hours. The meat is done when a fork pierces it easily.

 

 

 

Serve over noodles, rice, or mashed potatoes! I like it over egg noodles.

 

 

BON APPETIT!

 

 

Pregnancy Diary: 14 weeks

Excited, Exhausted, Happy, Overwhelmed!! 

I am now 14 weeks along in pregnancy number 3!  2nd trimester, so the fatigue has diminished a bit...  It almost feels like yesterday I just found out I was pregnant, but then again, I'm also dreading how long it seems all the same.  At work, we were doing 12 hour shifts for about 6 weeks, and so that's probably what made the time drag out...

At my last OB appointment (12 weeks), the Dr. did a little unltrasound because it was early and still hard to find the heartbeat on the doppler.  It was exciting to see the pumpkin move around!  Trystian insists on telling me that there is a boy and a girl in my belly, but the ultrasound only shows 1 baby so far. I guess we will have to wait to see if there is a twin hiding in there wont we?

I have a home doppler and was finally able to find the heartbeat on my own...  This is a relief to hear sometimes because I'm right at that in-between stage where you dont have many pregnancy symptoms, AND you also do not have a huge stomach and can't feel movements regularly yet.  It is a little hard to find because this pumkin keeps moving and moving!  I'll catch it for a few seconds, then *blip* *kick* and pumpkin moves...  Very active baby, and as each day goes by now, I can feel the movements, which are still very light and not that hard kicking feeling.

I'm thinking a girl, but what do you think??