3 years old!

We had Jake Jake's 3rd birthday party on Saturday.  He has been looking forward to his "Rocketship Party" for a long time.  

My sister Megan designed these great invitations while we were in Indiana the week before.  

 Jacob's birthday shirt.

 The Photo Booth

 Gift table with Jet Pack favors.

 Goodie Bag with astronaut ice cream sandwiches and solar system stickers.

 Daddy spent a lot of time getting the garage ready for the Moon Walk.  This involved black plastic, duct tape and the jump castle.

 Another fun activity center - a cardboard space shuttle to decorate.

 The food:

Rocket Fuel - orange Crush

 Milky Way Cheese

 Flying Saucer Pizza Bites - mini pizza bagels

Grape Rockets

 And the cake - and moon cupcakes on a space shuttle cupcake holder.

The marshmallow fondant recipe came in handy again and this cake was really easy to make.  Special thanks to Aunt Alissa for suggesting using the tops of the food coloring bottles to make the craters! She also proved to be a great fondant roller-outer.  :)

 Jacob had a great time at his party and the boys were so exhausted from jumping in the Moon Walk that they slept in until 6:45 the next morning.  That is pretty amazing.

Easter Egg Hunts

Unfortunately Joseph and Jacob's Easter Egg hunts were at the exact same time this year.  Daddy was able to pop in on Jacob's class and get a pic of the little bunny in action.

I went next door to the elementary school and helped the other room moms hide over 2,000 eggs for the Kindergarten class.

Each child had a prize egg with their name on it.  They had to find it first and then could fill their bucket with other eggs.

Spring Break - Part 3

We spent the rest of spring break visiting our family in Indiana.  We got to Chris & Megan's on Saturday night where Joseph promptly fell in love with June-bug.

 Unfortunately he woke up the next morning with a bit of a tummy-bug.  However it was very short-lived and thankfully no one else got it.  We escaped to Grandpa & Grandma's as soon as we were able in attempt to keep Cannon & June from catching it.

 The rest of the week was fun-filled with cousins and play time and birthday celebrations for Grandpa, Jacob and Rigby.

Spring Break - Chicago - Part 2

 After watching the river turn green we headed back to the hotel to warm up, pack up and to catch a little nap.  Then we headed to Navy Pier for lunch and the Children's Museum.

We also got to see our good friends The Witts while we were there . . . and somehow I have zero pictures of them!

Spring Break - Chicago - Part 1

We started off our spring break with an overnight stop in Chicago.  The boys are great travelers and did great the whole way.  Mama & daddy got a little antsy as traffic slowed to a crawl in the city and it took a really long time to get to our hotel. The boys were completely entertained by the "L" and the Metra sightings.  

The first thing Joseph did after admiring the view from our hotel was dig out his homework and start writing about Antarctica.  He was finally convinced to put it away and enjoy a picnic dinner in the room.

The next morning we enjoyed breakfast across the street.  Joseph & Jacob loved their pancakes and chocolate milk.

 And Joseph practically licked his plate clean.

 Then we walked several blocks to our friend's condo.  He has an amazing view of the river and the boys loved watching for the sneaky leprechauns.

 We never did see the leprechauns but we did see their handiwork!!

Pregnancy Survey #2

I had my 24 week appointment yesterday so I thought it was time to update the survey!

 How far along? 24 weeks - 3 days

Total weight gain/loss: I finally got my appetite back and indulged in lots of yummy take-out over spring break (food tastes so much better when I don't have to cook it!)  So I have made up my previous weight loss and gained a pound.  That makes an official +1 pound weight gain.

Maternity clothes? Yes.  I feel like the baby has had a growth spurt and has made me a bit bigger the past couple of weeks but I'm still carrying smaller than I did either of the boys at this point.

Stretch marks? No new ones. 

Sleep: Just starting to get uncomfortable sleeping on my back.  I keep waking up on my back though and have to remember to turn to a side.

Best moment this week: passing the glucose test!

Movement: movement has gotten a lot stronger and more noticeable.  I'm thankful for every bump and thump.

Food cravings: Thai. Chopped. Salad.  From Big Orange.  It's amazing.

Gender: Girl!!!

Labor Signs: I thought I was having a few contractions the other evening.  Nothing too painful but very tight and uncomfortable.  I think it was just baby girl turning around because once it was over I began getting a lot stronger kicks up close to my ribs.

Belly Button in or out? In.

Wedding rings on or off? On.

What I miss: maybe sleeping on my tummy?

What I am looking forward to: Finishing the nursery! It's getting really close.  The walls are painted and curtains are done.  I need to sew the bed skirt and some pillows for the couch.  And get the couch moved upstairs.  But right now I'm using the couch space for my sewing table.

Weekly Wisdom: Don't complain about pregnancy on a public forum.  Pregnancy is a huge blessing and I feel like complaining publicly is a huge slap in the face to anyone who has lost a baby and/or is longing to be pregnant themselves.  That said - pregnancy is tough - so call your sister/friend and vent to someone who will be able to listen without being hurt.

Milestones: passing the glucose test and making it to 24 weeks.  Both are big causes for praise!

Guest Room

Now that we have the boys moved into their new room, we have the space for an official guest room!  Below are the before and after pictures.

First - before when it was Jacob's nursery. For more pics of it all set up - here.

 We painted the room Perfect Greige.  I feel like I'm always taking a huge gamble when I pick out paint colors.  Thankfully I loved how it looked on the walls.

 And now - all ready for guests!!!

 I made this fun roman shade with a ribbon stripe on the sides.

 Our guest room is also doubling as Christopher's office and the armoire is his work station.

More energy = nesting

I had started to get just a little energy back before the tummy bug hit our house last week which put me full swing into nesting.  That - and we had ordered a new king-size mattress which meant that the guest room had to be painted so we could move all of our bedroom furniture upstairs.  We also decided to do a little rearranging and move the nursery to the front room and the guest room to the back.  Which also meant switching the closets.  No time like a "closet-switch" situation to purge.

Despite the tummy bug we've managed to switch and organize the closets, make several trips to Good-Will, paint the guest room, move our bedroom furniture upstairs, decorate the guest room and begin painting the nursery.  We have quite a few more projects to complete in the next couple of months and I'm so excited that I finally feel like doing them!

Pregnancy Survey

I stole this off a friend's blog and thought it would be fun to do occasionally.  

 How far along? 20.5 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: Due to 20 weeks of nausea and 2 tummy bugs I am -7 lbs from starting weight.  I finally got hungry yesterday so I'm expecting this to change quickly.

Maternity clothes? Yes.  Oddly for a third pregnancy I didn't need to wear them as soon as before and could still button jeans at 16 weeks.  However, I am solidly in the leggings and maternity jeans now.

Stretch marks? No new ones. 

Sleep: As long as I'm not having to sleep on the couch with sick kiddos I'm still sleeping pretty well.  And thanks to our new king-size bed I have plenty of space to stretch out.

Best moment this week: Having our 20 week anatomy scan and seeing a very healthy girl baby.

Movement: occasional bumps and thumps.  There having been a couple of solid kicks and both Daddy and Joseph have gotten to feel them.

Food cravings: Mostly aversions to . . . everything.  Especially if I have to prepare it. Until yesterday.  Then everything sounded good.  Coincidentally it was National Oreo Cookie Day and I celebrated.

Gender: Girl!!!

Labor Signs: None, thankfully.

Belly Button in or out? In.

Wedding rings on or off? On.

What I miss: I was missing my energy but that seems that have come back this week too.  yay!

What I am looking forward to: Finishing the nursery!

Weekly Wisdom: I really have very little wisdom to share.  I think you begin to realize that the more kiddos you have, the less you actually know.

Milestones: I picked a paint color for the nursery!  Next - fabric!

Icing on the Cake

Even though we have suspected for the last month and had about a 75% confirmation - it wasn't until today that we were 100% sure.  Baby Swearingen is a GIRL!!!  We are beyond excited and feeling extremely blessed that baby girl is looking healthy and growing strong.