Mother's Day?

I'm finding it hard to believe that Mother's Day is just a day this year because I have been so blessed already this week and it's not even the official day yet!  Luke's elementary school, Gibbs, sure makes Mother's Day special:)

On Wednesday, Luke's class went to the Mother's Day Store at school to shop for their moms.  Each child could bring $1-$5 to purchase a gift for their mom.  Luke came home with a paper grocery bag decorated with a bow and stapled shut.  It will be fun to see what he picked out for me:)

On Thursday, Luke's teacher had the kids fill out worksheets completing sentences about their moms. I volunteered in Luke's class that afternoon, but was working in the hall with a few kids so didn't get to see Luke's worksheet until we got home.  It completely melted my heart!

Luke's worksheet for Mom (I wrote underneath what he was spelling if you have trouble deciphering:))
Click on photo to view larger.

On Friday, Luke brought home a small plant that they started from seed in their class last month while learning about planting and plant growth.  It is just a few leaves now, but it will be a flower soon!  Again, this gift was in a brown lunch bag, that was decorated by Luke, and stapled shut.  He let me open this gift tonight so we could water it and get it in the sun. 

Proud of his plant

I'm telling you, my heart is already full from these precious gifts...I cannot believe I have the Mother's Day Store gift and another gift from Brent and Luke yet to open this weekend.  I am truly a blessed momma to be loved by such a sweet son and loving husband.

P.S. I just love how Luke is so like me when it comes to gifts.  He loves picking them out for people, putting thought into it, and he gets very excited to give the gifts as well. He already asked Brent tonight if he could give me the other two gifts to open.  He is certainly a boy after my own heart:)  I once gave Brent his Father's Day gift on Mother's Day because I was so excited to give it to him:)

May Day

May Day 2012 turned out to be a busy one!

We started the day with Luke's follow up eye doctor appointment.  You may remember from one of my March blog posts, that was patching his strong eye full time (pretty much from when he woke until about bed time) for the month of April with the goal of strengthening his weaker eye.  He did a great job patching, as usual, and was very patient with the longer days of wearing the patch.  Today we learned that it paid off!  His vision improved considerably and for the first time (that I can remember) he was able to see some of the 3D images during their testing!  This exciting news after about 9 months of patching prior (for 6 hours a day) that wasn't making any improvements.  Our eye doctor wants Luke to patch for another month, this time for 8 hours a day, to see if his vision will improve even more.  So, the patching will continue through mid-June. 

Playing with the hypercolor board in the waiting room at the eye doctor

Fun, random tidbit from our drive to the eye doctor today:  The topic of conversation ranged from who was the strongest super hero to why do people smoke.  Luke thought the strongest super hero was either Hulk or Thing.  We had a tricky time explaining how your body gets used to having cigarettes, but that it's also bad for your body to smoke them.  Deep thoughts for a six year old:)

At school today, the kindergarten classes had Construction Day (or in Luke's terminology: Destruction Day...he has a hard time saying construction and instruction, they both usually come out destruction:)).  They built buildings out of boxes, cups, and paper plates, made building plans for their construction projects, got to try out different building toys, and played with some levers that catapulted cotton balls.  Exciting, hands on fun for everyone! 

One view of Luke's construction project

Opposite view of construction project

Building plans for construction project

After school, Luke had his first of four Community Ed math class.  In his words, "The class was boring because the kids kept interrupting while the teacher read a book 'Once Upon a Dime'."  We're thinking bored was probably not the word he was looking for, maybe distracted or bothered??? Not sure, but we'll see what he says about the class next week:)

This evening we had another class (see, it was a busy May Day!) as a family with Mayo's prenatal education.  It was a sibling class that explains some of the realities of having a baby at your house, and what it will be like when Mom and Dad go to the hospital to have the baby.  They got a tour of the postpartum unit and got to see a brand new baby in the nursery.  They also practiced changing a diaper on a doll and swaddling a doll.  Luke said his favorite was the tour:)  We're very excited to see Luke in action as a big brother in just a couple months!

Diapering practice

Swaddling practice

T'was a busy May Day for the Pickers!  We're all vegging in our own way at home recovering: Luke watching a show, Brent with his Kindle, me blogging:)

28 Weeks

At 28 Weeks, you are:

• Busy as always, which I especially enjoy at night when I read in bed.  It's a fun time together when I get to relax and really feel each of your movements.
• Filling in the space in mommy's womb.  I can feel your elbows, knees, or whatever little part pushing against my belly and can give you a little push back:) 
• Measuring right on target and your heart rate is strong.
• Gentle to mommy.  I rarely feel any "zingers" as I like to call them (aka kicks/punches to the bladder, etc)
• Get lots of kisses from your brother.  Luke loves talking to you and kissing my belly.  He talks all the time about things we can do with you once you're born and as you grow.  He will be a wonderful big brother:)
• Lying transverse (aka horizontal) according to the doctor today.  Nothing to be concerned about for now, but we hope you move head down in the next month to get positioned for your arrival.

 

At 28 Weeks, Mommy is:

• Feeling good!  I feel the best on days when I'm active and the nice weather has helped with that:)  I also continue to attend my pregnancy workout once a week at the gym. 
• Getting big!  Most reactions to people learning my due date is of surprise that I'm not due until July.  I got that even more when I was pregnant with Luke, but thankfully I have felt great carrying each of you!
• Enjoying a few new favorite foods (especially on days I work):
• Breakfast from the cafeteria - 2 slices of toast, 3 slices of bacon, and whatever form of breakfast potato they are serving (a great, filling breakfast for only $2 and change!)
• Almost daily snack of an apple and cheese stick.  The interesting thing is that I've never been much of an apple eater, but they sure taste yummy now; and I never ate cheese sticks before (not a fan of cheese by itself). 
• Sleeping well, other than bathroom breaks of course.
• Gearing up for labor and delivery.  We finished our childbirth review classes this week and it was a very good reminder of the stages and how they went with Luke.  Even though Luke was delivered by c-section, we went through all of the laboring and even pushing, so I'm grateful to have that experience coming into round two this summer.  I'm also feeling very educated and empowered after our class and ready to meet you as soon as you're ready:)
• Putting way too much thought into the stroller purchase.  I really just want to get one stroller that will last us through your infant/toddler/early preschool years and that will be versatile to use where ever we need it.  I'm hoping Daddy will help narrow the selections down soon because I'm overwhelmed.
• Avoids bending over as much as possible.  The lowest shelves in the kitchen are no longer my friends and picking things up off the floor is left to the boys in the house if I can help it.
• Hoping for a mild summer.  Being that I was pregnant with Luke in the winter, I have no experience being largely pregnant in the summer and am really hoping it's mild so I can stay active and not swell too much.

From the Mouths of Babes

I've had a few good comments/questions from the kindergartners in my life recently about my being pregnant and wanted to document them:

Last week while I was at the gas station with Luke, a woman asked when I was due and chatted a bit about pregnancy.  After we got back in the car, Luke asked "How did that lady know you were pregnant?"  If you've seen me lately, you would have no trouble knowing I was pregnant just by looking at me.  I thought it was so great that he thought it was our little secret or something;)  Since this incident, Luke has mentioned a couple times after I get dressed for the day, "I still see Nora."  Love it!

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While volunteering in Luke's class recently, I had the typical "pregnancy conversation" with a table full of kindergartners:
One girl asks "Are you having a baby?"
Me: "Yes, I am."
Another girl asks "Do you know if it's a boy or a girl?"
Me: "We know she is a girl."
Another kiddo asks "Do you know her name?"
Me: "Yes, her name is Nora."
A sweet boy, who had heard this entire conversation asked with a confused look on his face, "How do you know her name already?"

Keep in mind, I volunteer weekly in Luke class and this was the first time any child had asked if I was pregnant...funny in itself since they are eye level with my growing belly:)  The remark from the little boy got me good though.  I'm not sure if he thinks babies are born with name tags on or if the baby should tell us her name when she comes out, but I loved the innocence of his question:)

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All I can say is I'm glad none of the kiddos in Luke's class have asked where babies come from or how she comes out.  I'll leave that education to each of their parents;)

Easiest Lasagna EVER

I love this recipe, made it again tonight, and thought it was worth sharing!  If you like recipes with no meat handling, few dishes, quick prep, few and simple ingredients, then this recipe could be a lovely addition to your repertoire.  

Quick Lasagna (And they're not kidding about the quick prep!)
From Quick & Healthy Recipes and Ideas

You don't precook the noodles in this recipe so it is really fast to assemble.  This can be put together the night before and refrigerated without baking.  Increase baking time by 15 minutes if it has been refrigerated.

4 cups spaghetti sauce (less than 4g fat per 4oz)
2 cups low fat Ricotta cheese
1 cup low fat cottage cheese
2 Tbsp dried parsley
1 tsp chopped garlic
4 oz grated, part skim mozzarella cheese
3/4 lb uncooked lasagna noodles
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

Preheat over to 350 degrees.  Spray a 9x13 pan with non-stick coating.  Mix Ricotta cheese, cottage cheese, parsley, and garlic.  Pour 1 cup of sauce in bottom of pan.  Arrange 1/3 of the noodles in the pan so they touch but do not over lap.  Spread 1/2 of the cheese mixture over the noodles.  Top with 1/2 of the mozzarella cheese.  Top this with 1 cup of sauce, 1/3 of the noodles, and the remainder of the cheese mixture and the rest of the mozzarella cheese.  Add another cup of sauce, another layer of noodles, and the remainder of the sauce.  Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.  Bake, covered tightly with aluminum foil, for one hour.

Yield: 12 servings
Calories/serving: 240
Fat: 6g

P.S. I LOVE the recipe book this recipe came from.  I got it shortly before we got married and it has some of our favorite recipes in it.  Best of all, they are all quick, easy, healthy, and use few and simple ingredients.  I have the original addition and it looks like they are on the third edition now.

For Consideration

Thankfully we don't have to purchase much to get ready for Miss Nora since we kept as much baby gear as possible from Luke.  But, this does not mean that the few purchases we need to make have been easy (we can be pretty indecisive as a couple:(). We've hemmed and hawed about the car seat and jogger for a while, now I'm looking for your input.

We are looking for a reasonably priced, sturdy, jogger stroller, recommendations?  We were not very impressed with the selection at Babies R Us in Rochester.

We would really like to get a Chicco KeyFit Infant Car Seat due to the reviews and ratings we've seen for safety and ease of use.  Have you used one?  Your personal review?

We're contemplating paint colors for her room as well.  This is not stressing me as much, but I have a hard time shorting through the color swatches that look virtually the same.  A "creamy yellow" is the color I have in mind, now we just have to commit to one:)

Considering some colors with the wood and window treatment

Bedding

Close Up of Bedding

I appreciate your input!

Spring Break Highlights

Luke had his first spring break from school this past week.  He was certainly a stay-cation for our little man full of lots of fun!

Monday - Day at daycare with friends, the first day in quite a while that he was able to spend an entire day at daycare with his buddies.

Tuesday - Went to the Blue Gma's house in the morning for a two day stay.  They colored eggs, made sun catchers, played games, went on bike rides, went to the park, and kept VERY busy!

Wednesday - With Gma the all morning doing much of the above until I got off work and met Luke and Gma for lunch and a trip to TJ Maxx. 

Thursday - Morning at home with Mommy, then Color Me Mine in the afternoon with Gma & Aunt Bridgy (first time for everyone but me)

It was Luau Day at Color Me Mine, so Luke got a tattoo, lei, and sunglasses when he got here.

After painting our pottery - Luke's penguin pencil holder, my piggy bank for Nora, Gma's blue pot, Bridget's watering can

Thursday Night in our front yard

Playing a combination of La Crosse and Hockey with Daddy

Friday - Ethan spent the day with us and the boys kept busy, busy playing inside all day!  They even got to play that evening at Ethan's house so Brent and I could see Hunger Games.

Intently playing Legos on the kitchen table

Saturday - Got up early to help out at the Chop Drop (mega egg hunt that our church co-sponsored where eggs were dropped from a helicopter for the kiddos).  Luke went early with me and we got to ride a trolley from church to the high school where the Chop Drop was done.  After the morning at the Chop Drop, we had lunch with Greg, Cally, kiddos, Gma & Gpa at North Mr Pizza then they all hung at our house for the afternoon.  Saturday evening we went to the other Papa & Gma's house for dinner and an egg hunt. 

In the trolley on the way to the Chop Drop!

Checking out the goodies in his basket from Papa & Gma, including a tooth fairy pillow.

Checking out his loot from Papa & Gma's egg hunt

Flying his new helicopter from Bridget & Ross

Sunday - Went to church, then headed to Faribault for the day to celebrate with Kesters/Howells (Brent's mom's side of the family).

Looking for eggs on another hunt at Mary & Mark's house

Playing with empty eggs with his little buddy, Basil

It was a fun filled week for our little man, with lots of family time, lots of egg hunts, and lots of later nights than he's used to.  We've got him to bed early tonight to get back on the school schedule.  Only two months left of kindergarten for Luke...SO hard to believe!