Husband Appreciation Week, Riesen and Braces

I appreciate Andrew because he makes life more fun no matter what we are doing.

Now you might be thinking that this is a rather random title...and it does seem like that at first; but the truth is that they are all connected to my hubby!

I was thinking about Father's Day coming up this weekend, and what Sophia was going to give her Daddy. That got me thinking about the fact that Sophia really does not know how blessed she is to have Andrew as her Daddy. She doesn't yet understand the full amount of love, sacrifice, training, prayer and fun that Andrew puts into her life on a daily basis.

Anyway that made me start thinking how blessed I am to have Andrew as Sophia's daddy...i.e. MY HUSBAND!!! So I decided that the week leading up to Father's Day will now be HUSBAND APPRECIATION WEEK in the Bains household.

Now I am not exactly sure how this will go, since I just made it up yesterday afternoon...but so far it consists of his favorite meals for dinner (gumbo kicked it off last night, shrimp po-boys will be tonight). And little notes and special treats for him through-out the week.

This leads me to my next point in the title..Riesen...so last night I went out to the store and bought one of Andrew's favorite candy and a card. Then I put them in his car and he found them on his way to work. Not a huge deal, but hopefully he feels a little extra love coming his way!

Which leads me to my third point...I might not have picked the best week to do all these fun little treats since my handsome hubby will be getting BRACES tomorrow!!! That's right...full braces, top and bottom!! This is why I gave him the sticky, chewy candy today...tomorrow he can't have it. I personally think that Andrew with braces is going to be pretty dang hot!! I am going to pretend that we are high school sweethearts...(is that too much info?)

Anyway...I love you hubby and I hope you enjoy your week!!!

love and kisses!

Baby Bains Ultrasound and Preggy Update

Here is the newest ultrasound picture of our littlest girl. We had a check-up today to see how things are progressing. This is just a picture of her profile, and it is still difficult to make out. Her little nose and lips are facing the top of the picture. We think she is just lovely :)

So we are at 26 1/2 weeks now, and the baby is already facing down and ready to go...we need her to hold out a tad longer (her room is not ready!). She is looking great, weighing in at 1lb 14oz and measuring just perfect!

I am doing pretty well. I have not posted all the preggo information earlier, but I think I will fill you all in. Earlier (10 weeks ago) they told me that I had placenta previa. This is not a big deal, most woman who have it early in pregnancy outgrow it by term. The only problem was/is that I have been having some strong cramping. Some times so strong that I can not walk. Three or four weeks ago it was really bad and I was also having lots of pressure, so they told me to come in right away. I did and they were concerned that I was going into pre-term labor. Praise the Lord!!! that was not the case. But I was told that I needed to rest/take it easy.

Anyway...todays check-up was to see how the placenta previa is coming along. The good news is that it has moved...but it is still very low and close. I am still having cramping, and since my Dr. is concerned about that and possible pre-term labor she told me to not fly after 30 weeks. Well 4th of July I will be 31/32 weeks. 

So I am bummed that I will not be able to come home like we had hoped. But I am confident that this is the best decision for me and the baby, we are trusting in the Lords will  and perfect timing  for our baby girl. I hope that everyone will take a million pictures and that you will forgive us  for not making it.

Love and kisses!

Twix Bar 64 cents

Wet Ones $1.89

First candy bar.....priceless

Mother's Day!

 "Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ." Colossians 3:23. 

I love being a mom, it is my greatest joy, 2nd only to being Andrew's wife. I am so thankful for my precious family and my job of raising and instructing my sweet little girls, and while the road is not always easy...it is always rewarding and I wouldn't trade it for the world!

I had such a wonderful day!!! Sophia and Andrew made me breakfast.  I was given the sweetest card from my girls (I cried..of course) we went to church for two wonderful sermons and a sweet tribute to Moms. Out to lunch,  home for a  wonderful 2 hour nap, out to dinner and enjoyed every minute of the day!! 

Andrew took pictures of us before we went off to church...so here they are!

Me and my two little ones :)

Andrew's girls...all three of us!

love and kisses!

MOPS Produce Co-op!

She is like the merchant ships,

bringing food from afar.

She gets up while it is still dark

and provides food for her family

Proverbs 31:14-15

Today was the first day of our new MOPS Produce co-op!!! I am so excited about it! A group of women from our MOPS group take turns every 8 weeks getting up at 5:30 am and heading to the farmers market to purchace food for the rest of the group. We then pick up our food at a designated home and have tons of great produce for a FRACTION of the price of grocery stores!!! I can not tell you what a blessing this has been already! Sophia eats like there is no tomorrow and the cost of berries and veggies was huge every month.

Can you guess how much my bill was for the produce above....here is what is included

1 box of strawberries

7 yellow onions

6 zuchinni

6  avacados

8 ears of corn

12 huge red potatoes

a TON of greenbeans

Any guesses???  Well the total was $14.03!!!! Can you believe it!!! I am so so so so excited about our savings and all the yummy things to eat!!

love and kisses!

19 Months and red toes!

For some reason (probably my scheduling error) Sophia's 18 month check-up was actually on her 19th month anniversary. But here are her stats! She is still only in the 24th percentile for weight. (21lbs) yet she continues to place in the 75th and above for height and head size :) We are thinking that she is very blessed to have so much hair~ otherwise she might look like a pumpkin on a toothpick! Her doctor said she looks great and might just be one of those kids who no matter how much you feed them just will not fatten up. Yeah...I feel so sorry for her, she obviously takes after her Dad :)

She is meeting all her milestones. Our initial concerns about a possible speech delay have been put to rest. She has begun talking (all the time) and has been picking up new words just about every day. She says "Mommy" about 10 million times a day. As well as Daddy, Mimi, Ali, dog, cow, shoe, nose, toe, eyes (and pokes you in the eye at the same time) drink, bye bye, hi, baby, food, etc...etc. Needless to say I am thankful that she seems to be picking it up just fine! (Praise the Lord)

Her newest "big girl" accomplishment is sleeping in her big girl bed. Tonight will be her 4th night in it and except for one small incident (she fell out) it is looking good! I will post pictures of her in her bed later. Sophia continues to bring us so much joy!!! We can not wait for her to meet her little sister, and know she will be such a sweet big sis!!

Here is another milestone...her first pedicure. :)

My loves!

love and kisses!

Lazy Spring Afternoons

Here are some random pictures of Sophia just hanging out last weekend.

Sitting in the backyard eating raisins

Life is tough...

Exploring the backyard

Playing with her sunglasses

Easter Dress

Thanks for the dress Gi Gi, and thanks for the sweater Mimi .

xoxox

Sophia and Mommy's Shoes

So, Sophia's newest fun trick is to wear my shoes. Now the scary thing is that she is REALLY good at walking in them. Every morning while I get ready she will go into my closet, open up shoe boxes and slip on the pair she feels like wearing. She is able to walk in 3 in heels! It really is one of the cutest things ever. She will then take a shirt or blanket and wrap it around her like a scarf and then grab something to use as a purse...she will wave and say "bye bye" and then she is off :) Who knew it started so early!

Not quite the right size

Grab a purse to complete the look

Walking around

Mimi, Aunt Ali and Easter Eggs!

My mom and sister came to visit last week. We love it when they are here...Sophia loves having them around to play with, and I love just hanging out with my family. We crammed a ton of things into the 4 days they were here. I will post more later on the big projects!

Anyway one of the activities we went too was an Easter Egg hunt that my friend Tanya hosted for all of our kids. It was such a great time and it was so much fun for both Soph and I to see all our friends in one place. I loved that my mom and sis could meet and put faces to the names of the woman and kids we spend so much time with. Anyway here are some pictures from the hunt!

Hunting for egg!

Waiting for the hunt...

Aunt Ali and Sophia

Can you find Sophie?

Playing with her friends.

Ahhh...the sandbox!

Cutie

Yummmy....candy!

Anita Louise, Sophia Louise, Abby Louise

Easter Basket

More eggs

All full!

Sorry...the pictures are all out of order...but you get the idea right?