Baby Jack #3 Update

After a long and worrisome weekend, we were able to get into the OBGYN on Monday to check on our little Gummy Bear. To put it simply, everything is fine and baby is doing great!

Gummy Bear is growing really well and really fast. There was such a difference in the sonograms that were only 3 weeks apart. GB has arms and legs and was moving all over the place, causing the tech to work for what she needed. haha! GB's heart rate was coming in fast at 178bmp, just one beat shy of the last check up.

For now, I need as much bedrest as my life will allow. No heavy lifting or strenuous activities. No more scares Gummy Bear, 3 months down; 27 more weeks to go.

General Mills For Breakfast

I am not a big breakfast person. It seems I cannot eat before 10am in the morning. Since having children, and making sure they do not follow in my footsteps, I've had to set my mind to getting the girls breakfast every morning. Most mornings they linger around and let me know when they are hungry and other mornings they are waking me up starving.

Everything from yogurt to oatmeal, fruit and toast to cereal has been tried. Besides toast, nothing really stuck for too long. When it came to cereal, I tried to go with simplistic brands that weren't loaded with sugars and prizes. The girls weren't impressed, haha!

My Blog Spark contacted me and gave me a chance to try some General Mills cereal. I was kind of excited! General Mills was very gracious and sent me coupons to try four of their cereals for free!

We tried Kix, Fruity Cheerios, Cinnamon Toast Crunch and my favorite, Lucky Charms.

General Mills has been doing great things to the cereals they advertise to young children.

"General Mills announced a commitment to further reduce sugar in cereals advertised to kids under 12 to single digit grams of sugar per serving. The company has already been reducing sugar in cereals while increasing key nutrients, such as calcium and vitamin D, and providing whole grain."

This is all great news! Of course, even when I was younger, eating breakfast always gave kids the upper hand. It gave them more energy, got them through their school day and helped them concentrate on test days.

The taste testing went pretty good and it seems the girls have become some what cereal-kind-of-kids. The Kix was most likely the least favorite. Hubby and I enjoyed them but I think they were less appealing to the girls because of their neutral color. We tried Cinnamon Toast Crunch next and this was Izzy's most liked cereal. She liked the squares and cinnamon is always a hit with her.

Next I went with Fruity Cheerios. I liked them, but mostly without milk. They were a good snack item. Emmy liked these a little better and I can only assume because they were colorful and fruity.

Finally we went to Lucky Charms. This has always been my favorite cereal. I figured the girls would like it because of the neat little multi-colored marshmallows. While they did like this cereal, it was not a good choice for my girls. LOL! They would eat the marshmallows and leave the oats untouched. haha!

We did find some new choices for our breakfast routine though and knowing that General Mills is refining their young children's cereals to account for more vitamins is a wonderful thing.

You can read more about what General Mills is doing HERE and you can even print a coupon for savings on your next purchase! Enjoy!

Baby Jack #3 Update

Today we had another doctors appointment for baby #3. We were able to get an up close look at out little bean, who quite frankly looks just like a Gummy Bear. haha!

Everything looks good with both myself and the baby. I'm already down 6.5 pounds and my blood pressure remains wonderful. The little Gummy Bear is measuring about 2.11cm with a heartbeat of 179bpm. Gestation is right on track as well and we are looking to book an August 9th delivery. Yay!!

It was really great to have a chance to see the baby and watch it's little heart flutter. Not having been sick (yet), I needed some reassurance that there really was a little baby in there. lol!

Sequential Screening will be at the end of January. They will also conduct a physical profile of the baby to ensure everything is on track as well. Then our next routine appointment will be in February.

Sun, Where Art Thou?

We are missing the Sun, Sand and Water these days. It's so dreary and cold! I pulled from the archives to wish upon us an early Spring.

Even Izzy has been asking to pull out the Turtle sandbox and digging tools.

Tea For Two, Please

"Each cup of tea represents an imaginary voyage." -Catherine Douzel

The Best Christmas Gift

While we've been freezing here in the Midwest, we've also been jumping for joy over a very fabulous Christmas gift.

Now, I can't say that the gift only comes from myself, but I think I topped the "best gift" list.

Two days before Christmas, I let the girls in on a little secret and told them to keep it from Daddy. It was a secret Daddy couldn't know. They did very well and forgot the whole conversation by the time Daddy came home from work.

When he did, I couldn't wait until Christmas morning to open his gift, so I asked the girls if they were ready to tell Daddy our secret. Izzy was of course first to jump up to the task.

In hand, the girls took Daddy a little green cloth bib, and announced loudly,

"Mommy has a baby in her tummy!"

The bib had Izzy and Emmy written on it as well as Baby. It said We love Daddy Times 3.

Yep, Baby number three is baking away and should arrive early August. We couldn't have planned it any better and are more than elated at the news! The girls are also very excited, more so than I imagined. They both want a baby girl named Princess, but if it's a boy they'd like to call him Fred. Hmm, we will have to see how the naming business goes, but Fred didn't top my list. LOL!

As for my absence in blogging, well no real excuse. I've been busy to say the least, but I'm taking some time off from photography for a couple of months and I hope to focus on blogging again. Thank you to those of you who are so loyal and have stuck through this little hiatus of mine. I'll be back soon and it will be fun!

Happy New Year!!