Dreary Tuesday

I slept 12 hours last night! I feel great!

So that must be the secret to making it through pregnancy, just go to bed at 8:30 every night????

Anyway, Emery had school today so I did the grocery store sprint and hit up Costco, Publix and Trader Joes, all in the rain BUT kid free! I don't mind the dreary weather most days. But thought we all could use some cheering up.

Parisian style....

27 Weeks Then And Now

Here's two comparison pictures 27 weeks with Emery and 27 with Jesse. I'm much bigger here and Jesse's much lower.



Today I scheduled my C-section for Jesse. I didn't realize what a relief it would be to actually schedule "the day" but I feel so relieved about getting that out of the way. So February 23 is the big day!

I went back and read my blog post from the same week this time in 08 (with Emery)...It was funny to see that I had gained 30 pounds by now with her! DANG GINA!!!

I've definitely watched it this time and have only gained 14 so far. I weighed today at my appointment, which I didn't think was very fair so close after thanksgiving. :)

I also read in my previous posts that my stomach DID bother me with Emery as well. I swear I just don't remember, but I blogged it so it must be true! Crazy the things you forget about pregnancy. I guess that's natures way of making sure you have more than one. Ha!

I did the glucose test, which doesn't really bother me, heard the heart beat and even found a new recipe in a magazine while waiting.

We are excited to have our big day on the calender!

Home For The Holidays

Before we moved to S.C. we lived far far away in a land called Kentucky. For four years we were 7 hours away from family. The past two years traveling for the holidays has been a breeze compared to those four years.

I am so so thankful that the Lord allows us to serve in a church close to our home. We are so blessed to be able to share our children with our parents.

This thanksgiving was a much needed break from mine and Emery's routine. I got some rest and some food I didn't have to prepare! My sister and I even got in a tiny bit of shopping. We got some great deals at Old Navy on black Friday. No not at 3 a.m....I am definitely NOT that girl. I'd pay money to sleep in, so I'm certainly not getting up early to be stressed out shopping!

Anyway, we went about 3pm and it was not crowded at all and I still got some great deals on some maternity clothes. I also picked up some onesies for Jesse that I had been watching for awhile, got them for 3 bucks instead of 10! Yay!

Friday night we all piled into a limousine (borrowed from the funeral home that Benji's dad works for) and headed for the Lake Lanier Magical Nights of Lights. It was COLD! The wind from the lake was brutal, but we braved it and had a great time. Emery loved the lights, she loved naming all of the animals and things that she saw. When we left she wanted to "see more lights".... I remember loving this tradition through the years. I'm hoping we can take her every year.

My sis and I also got to spend some time with our friend Dana. Kathi and Dana have been besties for ever, luckly in college I got to know Dana and she quickly became one of my dear friends as well. The 3 of us met for lunch at one of the many places I have to eat each time I'm home, 2 Dog A Local Restaurant. One of my favorite places in the world. If you're ever in Gainesville, eat here. :)



Emery coloring in the "girls room" at Grammy and Granddaddies (Benji's fam)




Emery having marshmallow treats at the end of the ride through the lights. There is a Christmas store, complete with a great santa, huge fire for making smores, adorable window displays for photos,hot chocolate, coffee and lots of fair type rides for kids.

27 Weeks

Jesse is about 2 pounds now. I am exhausted! I keep thinking I don't remember being this tired all the time with Emery, but Benji assures me that I was...haha. So I'm taking his word for it and sleeping as much as I can....

My stomach has really been bothering me this time. It must be the hormones, or the pressure from the baby, or BOTH! I've learned to live with an upset stomach most of the day. It does kind of take the fun out of getting to "eat whatever" because most days I have to make myself eat.

I have been craving Texas Roadhouse fries lately! YUUUM! I also still find anything from Panera very appealing, which I craved while pregnant with Emery.

I've gained about 10 pounds give or take a few.

We just returned home from a few days with our families and it was a much needed break for me. I love going home to see family, but I also love coming back to our home. I'm so thankful for the way the Lord has blessed my growing family. It is so nice to come home refreshed and ready to start the routine again.

Dongy

Emery has the Fisher Price Little People Nativity Set that we get out at Christmas for her to play with.

There is a donkey in the manger scene. Emery calls it a "dongy".... and it is hilarious.

We die laughing every time.

Man, do we love her. Life is so much fuller with a daughter around.

Here are some pictures that her aunt Kaki took over Thanksgiving.

Cranberry Heaven

I'm not sure how I could forget my favorite new recipe of the season in my last post, but I did! (I Blame it on the baby hormones.)

Martha Stewart's Cranberry Sauce

One of my friends made this last year for our GNO and I have thought about it ever since. This year when we got together for our thanksgiving meal, I begged her to make it again. It is so fresh and so tangy, and FARRRRR from the canned jelly stuff. It's the perfect side dish for any meal. YUM!

Recipes To Die For!

So I had another interesting week.

It involved a fall retreat in the mountain with high schoolers and driving my car off of a ledge.

And two bats in the the bathroom. And butt dust accusations.

BUT I'll save that for later. This post is of the selfish nature. I've come across some new recipes that I can't wait to try.... It's easier for me to access the recipes if I have them linked on my own blog. (I'm lazy about printing stuff out.) NOW....If I ever get a minute to actually get my self together enough to grocery shop, I will cook!

Bobby Flay's Brussel Sprouts

Bobby Flay's Pumpkin Bread Pudding

I also have a mac and cheese recipe that a friend shared. I can not wait to make this one. I am always wanting a good mac and cheese recipe. Most of the ones I've tried are good but just not great so I'm hoping this one's the keeper.

Mac and Cheese

-1 3/4 c. small elbow mac
-1 1/4 c. 1/2 in. cubes extra sharp cheddar cheese (about 5 oz.) (NOTE: I think 1/2 in. cubes are too big & I make mine smaller)
- 2 tbsp. plus 2 tsp. plain flour
- 1 1/2 tsp. salt
-1 1/2 tsp. dry mustard powder
-1/4 tsp. black pepper
-1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
-1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
-1 1/3 c. half & half
-1 1/3 c. whipping cream
-2/3 c. sour cream
-2 large eggs
-3/4 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
-1 1/4 c. packed grated extra sharp cheddar cheese (about 5 oz.)

CHEESE SIDE NOTE: This recipe actually calls for 10 oz. total cheese but I just buy the 8 oz. block & it is plenty. I just open the pack, cut it in half & grate 1 half for the top & cube up the other to mix in with the noodles.

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly butter 13x9x2 glass baking dish. Cook mac in salted water until just tender but firm to bite. Drain. Transfer to prepared dish. Mix in cubed cheese.

Wisk flour-nutmeg ingredients until no lumps remain. Gradually wisk in half & half, then whipping cream & sour cream. Add eggs & Worcestershire sauce, wisk to blend. Pour over mac mixture, stirring to blend. Sprinkle grated cheese over.

Bake until just set around edges but sauce is still liquid in center, about 25 minutes. Remove from oven, let stand 10 min. to thicken slightly (sauce will be creamy).

Sounds like a complete meal is coming up! Look out Benji I know brussel sprouts are your favorite!

Natural Perfumes

I was going to do a post on the few perfumes I picked up awhile back at Whole Foods.

When I went to google more info on them I ran across a post that the Pioneer Woman had done on the exact perfumes...

So convenient! And such great taste she has!

I have the Guava, the Grapefruit and the Sandalwood. I LOVE them all so much I could never decide which is my fav. I keep the Guava in my purse so I probably use it the most.

Here is PDubs post on Pacifica Perfumes....
I know for sure you can find them at Sephora, Whole Foods, Earth Fare and online.

Do You Lilac It?

Yesterday was the first day I've felt remotely normal after a week of a nasty ol stomach virus.

So I felt like I needed a little cheering up! While Emery was at school I found myself in Ulta. (Sephora is much better, but we only have Ulta here so it does the job)....

One of the high school girls in my small group has this adorable lilac color nail polish that I have wanted for awhile. I finally remembered to look for it and let me say I LOVE IT! So fun and such a nice change from my usual dark polish.

It's from O.P.I and is called "Do you lilac it?" SO FUN!

I also just happened to mosey on over to the perfume section of Ulta and I found myself with a new one in hand.

I have a problem with perfume.

Problem is that I buy it. A lot.

Anyway I haven't "really" bought any in over a year or more. ( I usually get it for gifts).

I did buy some 'natural' perfumes, that I MUST blog about later, recently at Whole Foods, but I don't count those. :) (Since they were rather inexpensive)....

Any way, that's another story.

Yesterday I picked up Dolce And Gabbana's Light Blue. A perfume I've been dying to get for awhile. It was a perfect match for my new lilac nails. Fresh and clean and new!

I'm Baccccckkkk.

Well, the stomach virus Emery had that I thought was behind us, was not.

I got it and then Benji. It was a rough few days here in the Ladd house, but we are finally back to normal and feeling good.

Emery went back to school this week, she and I both were so glad! Putting her in MMO was one of the best decisions ever. She loves it, gets to have fun in a structured environment (I'm not great at the structured part) and I get a few hours to myself each week.

Today I slept the entire time she was gone! I was exhausted from all the sickness from the past week.

Yesterday a group of girls and I got together to swap Jesse Tree ornaments. There were 29 of us, so each of us were assigned a scripture and the ornament that went along with it. We all made 29 of our ornament and then swapped during a night of fellowship and great food!

Now I have 29 ornaments to place on our Jesse Tree, one each day for the Advent season. I'm excited about the tradition starting with our kids.

Here is a link to the devotions that we used...

And here is a blog post from a friend of a friend who did a Jesse Tree ornament swap one year. If you have a big group of girls, like a Sunday School class, MOPS group or whatever, this is a super fun thing to do together! This blog has great pictures of ornament ideas and more of what it is all about. Been There Blog....

The Hepners

I hope they don't mind that I stole their picture, but I really wished I had been able to get one of all of them while we were in Serbia in June.

Our trip to Serbia in June wouldn't have been half as special if this precious family had not been there.

The Hepners are some of our old friends from the first time we lived in Greenville.

They have been living and serving in Serbia for the past 3 years and are home for a few months.

We got the chance to spend a few hours with them today in our home and I am so thankful!

We love this family so much and are so overjoyed with what the Lord is doing with them and through them.

Please check out their blog, (it's in my blog roll) and if you are a praying person please add them to your lists! They're such a special family with FOUR adorable kids!

GNO Thanksgiving 10

This week we had our 2nd annual GNO Thanksgiving feast.

I love these girls. I say it all the time. But I am so so thankful that I have them.

We had a blast, Amanda's house was beautiful, and we ate like royalty!

I even had to rest on the couch for a few minutes after dinner. Baby Jesse wasn't making enough room for the two plates of food I had.

Our Christmas GNO is coming up soon and I can't wait.

New Each Morning

It's been a hard few weeks. Last week on Thursday Benji left to go hunting for a long weekend. It was his annual "man trip" with a few of his childhood friends.

Emery is a great child. We have the normal discipline issues, but on a whole she's a dream. She sleeps through the night, I just lay her down and she falls asleep on her own. She naps great still and she is pretty easy to take out to eat at restaurants.

All in all once she was born she found her place in our already established family, she didn't completely change the way we lived, if that makes since.

Anyway I say all that to make sure it's clear that It's not "hard" for me to be her mother. I love it, I can take her anywhere and I even get my pregnancy nap in while she's napping.

But it's exhausting, and long and draining when her daddy's gone!

Emery LOVES Benji so much. I mean so much that when he's not here she talks about him constantly. I think the reason she is this way is because he IS here so much. He is so involved with her and his work schedule allows him to be with her more than I ever imagined.

He takes her to MMO twice a week most of the time since it is at our church, he comes home almost every day for lunch with us (we purposely bought a home close to the church so that he could do this) So for that I am thankful.

Sunday night as soon as Benji walked in from his weekend away, I mean as he turned THE KEY in the door she started puking all over the couch.

All over. MY couch. My very light covered fabric couch.

He walked in the living room and she was still spewing.

Not a fun night. I did have to laugh at the timing though, haha, I simply said, "hey! perfect timing! Glad you're home!"


Needless to say the week ahead was not so fun. THEN Emery passed her bug onto me. The only thing worse than puking is puking while 24 weeks pregnant. It was a nightmare. Thankfully it looks like I'm in the clear now. Benji let me sleep in today and I'm feeling much better tonight.

It's funny that the same struggles seem to follow me. I have always had a hard time seeing past my immediate circumstances.

I'm a good dreamer, A good planner, but when I'm faced with difficult days I have a hard time remembering that the hard days, like all the other hard days before, will also pass.

So this post is to remind myself that thankfully, God's mercy is new each morning.

We are all feeling better, Benji's home for the weekend and tomorrow is a new day. :)

24 Weeks

Well we already take less pictures of the 2nd kid and he's not even out of the womb yet.

Honestly it's mainly because I'm fatter this go round so it's taken longer for me to really look pregnant, even though I'm bigger this time. And my camera memory card is full so we've resorted to using Benji's phone. It is SOOO convenient to be able to upload pics instantly off of his phone.

Any way, it's late, and I just got home from our GNO Thanksgiving dinner, we had a blast as usual. Hopefully by tomorrow there will be some pics to steal off of facebook so I'll have some to share.

Oh yeah! haha that is why there's whipped cream on the counter in the picture. :)

I was about to walk out the door for GNO and was taking it for my dessert dish.

Hot Air Balloon Guy

This is our friend David, he was at Angela's annual Halloween party.

Isn't this the best costume ever!?

W.W....Who's That Girl?

I tried to post this for wordless Wednesday...but I just couldn't do it with out SOME words.

I do not even know who that girl is, in the pictures that were taken only a few years ago. Before babies.

Yeah the one next to my husband.

Honestly, this is probably the hardest thing about being a mother for me.

I love the way I look when I'm pregnant. I feel pretty and whole and comfortable with a growing womb. My skin clears, my hair is thicker.

But once the baby comes out.

Well, you know.

I'll never be that girl in the pictures again. I wish I had known then what I know now. I would have loved and appreciated her more.

Halloween 10

Once again my friend Angela's Halloween party was the best party of the year.

Last year Emery and I only got to stop by for a few minutes because Benji had a party for the high schoolers at our house. THIS year I wanted to make sure we were able to attend because I wanted Emery to trick or treat for the first time. Angela has the perfect neighborhood for little ones.

We didn't get many pics of the actual trick or treating, because it was dark by then and we were having too much fun!

Emery had a blast, as well as the rest of the kiddos and of course the adults were having a pretty good time too. :)