My Sis is Preggers!

I am so stinkin' excited that my sister Miley and I get to be pregnant together again!  She called earlier this week with the great news that Avery is going to be a big sister.  She's exactly 13 weeks behind me, and she'll welcome a little baby Potter sometime in May. 

It's times like these that make me overwhelmed with joy and also sad because we live so far from each other.  I want nothing more than for my kids to grow up knowing their cousins, so we're gonna keep getting together as much as we possibly can. 

Love you, Sis, and I can't wait to see pics of your cute little belly starting to pop out! 

Belly @ 23 Weeks

This is for you, Marlita.  And you can all thank me for not having a bare belly like I've done with my last two pregnancies.  With this one, my stretch marks (which remind Jason of a flame paint job on a low-rider truck... so true and hilarious) are already flaring, so I thought I would be kind and spare you the sight.

We still have yet to pick a name for this girl.  It's so much harder coming up with a second girl name than we thought it would be.  And it's so unlike us to not have it all planned out in advance.  I'm not stressing about it.  When we find it, we'll know.  Heck, she doesn't even have a bedroom, so what's the big deal about not having a name?!

Jason's weight loss after 13 days?  13.5 pounds. 

Wags Diaper Deal

Great deal on Huggies diapers at Walgreens this week.  Last night I snagged 3 jumbo packs (in size 1 to stock up for baby girl) for $0.13 per diaper.  Cheap for Huggies!  They're running a Register Rewards deal for $2 off each pack, then I paired them with coupons that I printed from coupons.com.  If you go there, be sure to do separate transactions so you can apply your RR to each pack.

Also a great deal?  The 40% off Wednesday coupons from Gap.  Do you have these?  I, unfortunately, have two sets, so each Wednesday I'm finding a steal on a fall item for each kiddo.  I found Emerson's Christmas outfit (simple red knit jumper paired with a creamy white scalloped-neck shirt).  Simple and so cute. 

We're off to the park!  It's so gorgeous outside right now! 

Plano Weekend

Man, this weekend was fun!  I don't think I realized how much I needed a getaway until about halfway through our trip.  I told Lisa not having a schedule to follow and not having to get up with kids in the morning was a-freakin-mazing.  Friday we both got to the hotel at around 4 and ended up on a wild goose chase to find a GNC and a Chinese buffet.  I know, I know.  We are legit big spenders.  We started in Plano and ended up in Dallas close to SMU.  I stopped in a random Starbucks, and the guy working there kept saying, "You came all the way from Plano?" Like it was clear across the state or something.  He helped us find Mei Mei's Chinese Buffet, and for that I say thank you, dear Starbucks employee.  It was great Chinese.  Lisa and I have a long history of Chinese buffets.  When she lived in T-Town, many an evening was spent eating Chinese buffet and watching Bachelor. 

Anyway, back to our weekend.  Saturday we shopped, got pedicures, ate Maggiano's Italian (where the hostess thought we were a lesbian couple... long story but very funny), went back to the hotel for a long nap, then watched "You Again" at the movies followed by late dinner.  I think I probably gained 2-3 pounds, but I haven't stepped on the scale to verify.  Speaking of weight... the husband has lost 10 pounds in 1 week.  Whatever.  He looks ridiculously hot.

So Lisa thought it would be clever for me to make a list of our fun finds this weekend.  Here goes:

1) Forever 21.  Lisa had never shopped there and was overjoyed to discover the bargain accessories.  I forced her to buy headbands because they looked adorable with her short 'do.

2) Sephora.  Our favorite place to shop together.  I found a great new fall eyeshadow palette from Urban Decay (click here). We both also bought quite possibly the best-smelling body wash in the history of the world (click here). I used it today, and it's not the best sudsing shower gel I've ever used, but the scent absolutely makes up for it. Also, if you're not using an eye shadow primer, please go buy one. Now. Here. Your eye shadow won't budge all day.

3) This was also a fun find, but in a completely different way. We had to take a picture from the car. I promise we didn't go in. Lisa twittered (tweeted?) about it and a friend of hers replied, "Well, why would you want to use them there?" Great point.

  








4) Another fun find was discovering our differences when it comes to asking for directions.  I completely wore Lisa OUT because I wanted to stop and ask any random stranger how to get where we were going, and she really hates doing that.  I enjoy the adventure of talking to a new person, and she feels like it's totally bothering them.  We laughed and laughed about that. 

5) I discovered I don't enjoy driving in Dallas traffic.  I kept getting in the wrong lane at stop lights because there are like 5 or 6 lanes at any given light, and how are you supposed to know which one to be in before you get there?  And there are way too many frontage roads off the highways.  If you are in the left lane on any given frontage road, you have to quickly veer to the right to avoid getting back on the highway when you don't want to.  It's really a miracle we are alive to tell about it. 

6) I was really sad that I didn't have any OU signage on my car because it would've been nice to rub our victory in.  Boomer Soomer, Baby!

I think that's it.  It was a fantastic weekend, and I miss my Lisa today! 

Anticipation

I am counting down the hours until I hop in the car and get out of town!  I cannot wait, and the precious angels were particularly trying today... I think they knew and were punishing me. 

On another note, my sweet husband who has lost quite a bit of weight recently (15 pounds to be exact), thinks it would be great fun to lose another 20, so he's doing the HCG program.  People, he's lost 7 pounds in 3 days.  It's fantastic that as I'm gaining roughly a pound a week, he's soon to be looking like he did in college.  Don't get me wrong.  I'm thrilled for his health, and of course he's a walking Greek god to me no matter what he weighs, but it's not exactly fun to be ballooning to my normal 40-pound pregnancy weight gain while my husband looks fantastic.  Grrrr. 

Yesterday Jax turned 18 months, and today he counted to three!  And he pointed to three different fingers while doing it!  Cutest thing ever.  Didn't hurt that he pronounced three 'fee.'  He's also now pronouncing please 'peeth' while slapping his chest for sign language.  I just want to eat his face. 

I'll be sure to take pictures this weekend and do a recap early next week.  Peace out.    

I have to laugh

I just finished booking the hotel for Lisa and I to stay this weekend for our girls' shopping extravaganza in Texas!  Looking back on the 30 minutes it took me to find the best deal on Hotels.com (going through Ebates, of course, to get cash back), I've realized how much my life has changed since I quit working. 

When I was a pharma rep, I remember picking up the phone to contact our company's travel department anytime I needed to book a hotel for training or a regional/national meeting.  It seemed to always be a leisurely call... the rep on the other end of the line always made sure everything was booked to my satisfaction.  If I was attending training, there was always a car and a driver waiting at the airport to whisk me away to a great hotel where my food and lodging were taken care of.  What a life...

Fast-forward three years.  Today I made the mistake of starting the booking process during lunchtime.  One of the coupon codes I was trying to use online wasn't working, so I had to pick up the phone and talk to a Hotels.com representative.  Jax and Emerson decide it would be a great time to crack each other up for no reason, so I'm talking to the rep and mouthing silent threats and shaking my pointer finger to my children.  They thought that was quite funny.  Jax proceeds to smear his peanut butter sandwich in his hair which makes Emerson laugh even harder.  The rep says, "Awww, sounds like you've got some kiddos having a good time there, huh?"  Courtesy laugh from me.  Shut up and fix my problem is what I really want to say.  She proceeds to tell me that the hotel I'm planning to book is excluded from the 10% off coupon code.  Imagine that.  After I get off the phone with her, it's naptime (thank you, DEAR LORD IN HEAVEN) and I start narrowing down my hotel choices.  The Melissa & Doug marker board/chalkboard easel sits right by the breakfast table, so I figure I might as well make use of my whiteboard skills with the easel at my disposal, so I create a handy-dandy chart complete with prices, distance from the outlet malls, and reviews.  I'm feeling just like the UPS guy.  The only problem?  When I go to eliminate a hotel from my snazzy list, the wet wipe I use from the table has a hidden gem.  A nice, greenish boogie straight from the pits of Jax's nasal passages.  Now smeared across my whiteboard masterpiece.  I just sat and stared at that booger in awe.  Because it represented so much of the crazy journey into motherhood I've taken these past three years.  Are there days I think back to the all-expenses-paid travel, nice suits, free car, great salary?  Sure.  But then I just look at a green booger to put it all back in perspective, and there's not a place I'd rather be.