I'm freaking out....man.

Here I was watching TV, finally, on this lovely Sunday evening.  Sean's in bed sleeping, Scott's upstairs watching a movie in bed, and I had the TV all to myself to watch my favorite trashy shows like The Real Housewives of Orange County on my DVR.  Then, BAM, just like that my mind was wandering from one topic to the next about how I suddenly feel unprepared for a second child (don't ask me why, since we have pretty much everything we could possibly need and we have the ENTIRE summer off of work to do/get what we don't have ready).

But, I know we need to buy a new changing pad for the downstairs.

And with that comes the need for new changing pad covers.

I should probably make a decision on the baby bedding that I've picked out from Pottery Barn Kids and just order it, but I keep waiting as if they're going to have some miraculous sale (yeah, right).

It's been decided today that we'll need to repaint the baby's room, even though I had wanted to avoid needing to do that.  I have yet to tell Scott...our official painter of every room of this house.  I'm sure he'll be thrilled...

I've been racking my brain for weeks straight now on what I want to do for a diaper bag/purse once I have 2 kids.  Right now I'm using Scott's "man bag" a.k.a the Columbia backpack diaper bag every since Sean was 5 months old.  After spending close to $200 on a Petunia Pickle Bottom bag that I just had.to.have, I hate the bloody thing!  It's so bulky and boxy and doesn't fit in ANY bottom section of strollers, and for how big it is, it doesn't hold a darn thing.  So, I've come to the conclusion that I want to find a diaper bag that will also pose as a purse so I don't have to carry around both.  Here are my choices thus far in my quest:

• JJ Cole Satchel Bag for $89.95 from Buy, Buy, Baby (Hey! I can use a coupon.)           
• JuJuBe Be Prepared, which I hear is the mother of all diaper bags for $160 off of Amazon.    
• Coach Diaper Bag (We all know I love my Coach purses - and I can find one from the Outlet for about $115). 
• Timi and Leslie, any of their stylish bags, from Buy, Buy, Baby (Again, the coupon).        

And lastly, my latest freak-out is regarding Newborn Photography.  I absolutely loved the pictures we had done of Sean by Angela Miller Photography.  Holy smokes did she take some stunning pictures of him.

 

There's no doubt in my mind that we have to get Newborn pictures done of this baby, but my challenge is going to be convincing Scott.  Ever since he went in on my DSLR camera for my birthday last October, his stance is that I should be able to take those pictures so we don't have to spend the money on them.  And even though I'm starting a photography class next week, I don't consider myself capable of that kind of quality.  So, I figure it's time to start easing into the conversation of this with him since it will take about two months to convince him.  And in the meantime, I hope the few photographers I have it narrowed down to don't book up...

That concludes my Sunday night rants of how under-prepared I feel for this baby.  Especially since we don't have a clue what we're naming him...

::Schleps off with a baby name book to bed::

Barren walls be gone! Kitchen edition...

HALLELUJAH!  I have finally figured out what to put on all the bare walls in our kitchen!  And after months of pinning on Pinterest and shopping at various stores, I've actually found what I envisioned putting up!  A few frames later and a few days of nagging Scott to hang them up on the wall, I'm proud to present, my kitchen!

Prints off of Etsy from Textured INK's Shop

The cork board and framed menu to the right of the pantry

I added some faux plants to the tops of the cabinets

I'm starting to build my plant collection for the greenhouse window.  The herbs were an epic fail this winter...

The random oversized fork above the stove

My favorite piece!  A new wall clock and two shelves that hold vases, candles, and the letters E-A-T!

It all looks great and not overdone, which is key!

Now onto the next project...the baby room...

Moo, Baa, La La La

Sean is learning his animal sounds!  Having only worked on this for 3 days...I'm pretty impressed with his Lion and Monkey sounds.  He can also interpret a cow and duck, but of course, was being stubborn during the video...

Here's my little monkey...

Tasty Treats a la Pinterest!

This week I tackled making two of my pins from Pinterest that I've had for a little while now.

With Sean's "special day" at daycare today I knew I wanted to make a healthy-ish treat for the kiddos considering some of the other moms opted to bring in frosted sugar cookies (thanks!) and sourdough pretzels.  One of Sean's favorite snacks is applesauce, so I decided to make some applesauce spice muffins.  It was a very quick and easy recipe.  Total preparation, cooking, and clean-up time totaled to 35 minutes.  And the smell when they came out of the oven brought Scott up from watching the NFL Draft in the basement just to check it out!

Scott picked up Sean from daycare today and was told that the muffins were a hit with the kids and the staff!

Recipe via Lemon Drop's Blog 

WHAT YOU NEED
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 cup turbinado sugar (not coarse ground)
1 stick (1/2 cup) plus 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 cup unsweetened applesauce

coarse turbinado sugar and cinnamon for topping

MAKE IT

PREHEAT oven to 400F
LINE 12 muffin cups with paper liners

IN LARGE BOWL, whisk together first 7 ingredients
IN MEDIUM BOWL, whisk together eggs and sugar
ADD butter and applesauce to egg mixture and whisk until thoroughly combined
FOLD wet ingredients into dry ingredients blending just until combined

USING your ice cream scoop, add one scoop of batter to each muffin cup
SPRINKLE tops with turbinado sugar and ground cinnamon
BAKE 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean

REMOVE immediately from muffin tray and place muffins on cooling rack.

The next recipe from Pinterest I tried was for dinner tonight.  It's called White Chicken Enchiladas and my goal was to fulfill my craving for Mexican food and use up the rest of the Rotisserie chicken that Sean didn't finish this week.  Both tasks were fulfilled!  Scott gobbled up two quickly, Sean had his typical few bites (darn teeth!), and I ate my quota as well.

Recipe via Joyful Momma's Kitchen's Blog

10 soft taco shells

2 cups cooked, shredded chicken

2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese

3 Tbsp. butter

3 Tbsp. flour

2 cups chicken broth

1 cup sour cream

1 (4 oz) can diced green chillies

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 9x13 pan

2. Mix chicken and 1 cup cheese.  Roll up in tortillas and place in pan.

3. In a sauce pan, melt butter, stir in flour and cook 1 minute.  Add broth and whisk until smooth.  Heat over medium heat until thick and bubbly.  

4. Stir in sour cream and chilies.  Do not bring to boil, you don't want curdled sour cream.

5. Pour over enchiladas and top with remaining cheese.

6. Bake 22 min and then under high broil for 3 min to brown the cheese.

Great week of cooking!  Next week I plan on making a Teriyaki chicken recipe for the Crock-pot and Smores Cookies!

19.5 Week BumpWatch!

How far along? 19 weeks 3 days.  Pretty much half baked at this point!

Weight gain/loss: 14 lbs.  At this point my goal is 1 lb. per week, which is manageable. 
  
Feeling: Still feeling really good...::knocks on wood::

Sleep: I'm starting to get more uncomfortable throughout the night since I'm not a huge fan of sleeping on my sides.  The dog seems to hide the bed and I know I toss and turn a lot throughout the night.

Food cravings: Back to cereal.  I'm seeing a trend here.  Next week will be back to chips?

Movement? I'm finally at the point that I'm feeling movement every day.  Especially in the evening.  And after our big anatomy scan appointment, I confirmed that I have an anterior placenta, just like I did with Sean, that blocks a lot of the kicks.

What I miss? We were at the Tigers game on Sunday...hence my shirt in the picture...and they were really pushing the Summer Shandy and man did it sound delicious.

Best moment this week: Finding out that the baby is a BOY!  And I was surprised how much during the scan I wanted it to be a boy.  We are elated with this news and we are loving telling Sean he has a brother now instead of just a baby.

What I'm looking forward to: Starting the nursery!  Sock monkey theme here we come!  I wanted to do that with Sean and hesitated and now that my mom bought me a Sock Monkey Crib Quilt off of Etsy, all systems are a go to go with my gut this time!

Next Appointment: May 17th at 3:50pm with Dr. Long.

Milestones: Did I mention, he's a BOY!  That's a huge milestone to me.  Plus feeling movement every day is a bonus!  But, Mr. Mango is measuring at 6 inches long and 9 oz.  He's busy working on his five senses and the nerve cells are developing for those in his brain.

It's a boy!

What an exciting week it's been around the Ferstle household!

First, we find out that Sean's "bump" on his leg is nothing to be afraid of, as it was officially diagnosed as a Solitary Mastocytoma.  In words we can all understand, it's basically a common birth mark that goes away between the ages of 5-10 on it's own without any intervention or creams.  Although, we can apply a topical steroid cream daily to help it go away quicker, we'd like to avoid those kinds of medications for as long as possible and are okay with it going away when he's older.  And he was such a big boy today as he ate his graham cracker while they removed his stitch.  He didn't even flinch or swat at the nurse's hand!

Yesterday, we had the much anticipated anatomy scan!  Scott and I both went in to the appointment guessing that it was a boy.  Everything about this pregnancy at this point is reminding me of how I was when pregnant with Sean.  And I think, deep down inside, I wanted it to be another boy for a multitude of reasons.  Although, the thought of shopping for prom dresses and being a Mother of the Bride was exciting.

The scan went great!  Faith, the technician, always like to make it even more intense though when she doesn't talk for the first 15 minutes as she takes the measurements.  But, our little peanut is in fact a BOY and is as healthy as can be!  A strong heartbeat, a functioning kidney, a growing brain, what more could parents ask for?  We got great profile shots, a face picture, pictures of his feet and hands!  Ahhh it was precious!  And afterwards, we picked up a blueberry pie to use as our "reveal" with the families over dinner at Pasquales in Royal Oak.  Yummy chicken parmesean, homemade dressing and breadsticks, and pie!  Heck yes!  Everyone seemed shocked that it was a boy and excited for Sean to have a brother!

We are over the moon with excitement and can't wait for September to come!  Now on to the hard part...picking out a name...::sigh::

18 Weeks BumpWatch!

How far along? 18 weeks on the dot!  First time in a long time that I've been on time with both the picture and the blog.

Weight gain/loss: 10 lbs. until we find out if there's been more weight gain on Thursday.  Thanks to the Easter candy I'm guessing there might be.

Feeling: Really energized after having this week off for Spring break!

Sleep: I've been having the famous pregnancy dreams that always leave me feeling awkward in the morning.  They are so vivid it's hard to tell if they really happened or not.

Food cravings: Back to chips.  Cheetos specifically.  And Easter candy...

Movement? It's funny that I was worried last week about not feeling much movement because baby sure made up for it this week.  Lots of flutters and rolls.

What I miss? Not looking like JLo when I wear comfy pants...check out last week's pic if you're not sure what I'm talking about.

Best moment this week: Purchasing the double stroller!  And having Sean respond to my question, "Where's the baby?" by pointing to my belly.  So cute!

What I'm looking forward to: Thursday's appointment and gender reveal.

Next Appointment: April 19th at 3pm with Dr. Garcia and the big ultrasound!

Milestones: Sweet potato is starting to harden it's bones this week.  It weighs 7 oz. and is about 6 inches long.  Baby is busy hiccuping, rolling, kicking, and moving all around.

First baby purchase!

I'm shocked at making it to 18 weeks before any baby purchases!  Perhaps it's because we own everything under the sun already from Sean.  Maybe it's that I'm anxiously waiting to find out if it's a boy or a girl.  Either way, I finally bit the bullet on a double stroller that I had been researching since we found out we were expecting.  I don't know what it is about baby gear that gets me all worked up.  But, I've spent hours scouring the internet for reviews on double strollers.  I've gotten up at 6am on a Saturday to drive to Troy for a huge Mom2Mom sale looking for a used double stroller.  I've even goose necked at every parent at the Detroit Zoo to see what kind of stroller they have.  And finally...I've made my decision.

I had it narrowed down to the Baby Jogger City Mini Double, which got great reviews on the internet and on thebump.com.  But, it's $400 price tag along with having to purchase every.single.accessory separate was really holding me back.  It's the Cadillac of double strollers and I had to have it.




And then I found the Joovy Scooterx2!  It was so similar to the City Mini, but the price tag was much more reasonable at $229 and it included all the accessories.  Plus, you could use a 20% off coupon to Buy Buy Baby, bringing the price down to $186 give or take.  I test drove it at the store and loved the huge basket, unlike the City Mini and found that it steered just as well and folded up just as easy.  I went back that evening to purchase it and found they had sold out of them that very day!  Including the floor model I test drove that morning!  But, they were able to order it online and ship it to me for free in 2 weeks!  It will be like Christmas morning when that bad boy arrives on my front porch!  Sean and his stuffed animal gorilla will be getting a cruise around the block.  I'm so excited!