The Boys

We've been pretty busy so I'm doing a quick  2 for 1 post. First I just wanted to post a few pictures of Konnor and his new favorite thing to do. He is becoming quite the artist and has inspired us to recycle paper and start a new rule about using both sides of the paper. We even have a little box just for him to put his "used up paper" in. It wasn't all that long ago that we couldn't have payed the boy to draw or write. We are really excited to see him doing so well at something he enjoys so much.

The other thing is that yesterday we had our fourth ultrasound at 22 weeks. The whole purpose of this ultrasound was to check out Parker's heart because they had some concerns after our last ultrasound. We are excited to share that it went perfectly and we finally got to hear the words we have been waiting to hear through all of the craziness of trying to get Parker here the past couple of years "Mrs. Applegate, your baby looks great he's growing perfectly. Everything looks great." Wow. I didn't even know how to take that one in. Now I need to get used to and excited for the idea that we are actually going to have this baby.YAY!!  Here are a couple of the pictures we got yesterday.

Banana Bread Cobbler for those who were interested

1c self-rising flour
1 c sugar
1 c milk
1/2 c butter, melted
3-4 bananas, sliced

Streusal Topping
3/4 c packed light brown sugar
1/2 c self rising flour
1/2 c butter, softened (NOT melted)
1 c uncooked regular oats
1/2 chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 375 Whisk together flour and sugar until mixed. Whisk in milk just until blended. Whisk in melted butter. Pour into an 11 x 7 baking dish. Top evenly with banana slices.
Put chopped walnuts in a food processor and process until no longer chunky. In seperate bowl combine brown sugar, flour and butter until crumbly with a pastry cutter or fork. Stir in processed walnuts and oats. Sprinkle on top of banana covered batter in baking dish. Bake for 40-45 minutes at 375 until topping is browned.


The original recipe was not my idea but we've only ever made this changed version and love it topped with vanilla ice cream straight out of the oven.

What to do on a gorgeous Spring Day?

Well, we like to spend as much time outside as possible! Mckenzie doesn't like to be outside unless we are playing some type of organized sport or game. Today she played t-ball (which she is actually great at!) and, yes, she is left handed. Konnor, on the other hand, loves to be outside and is hard to capture in a still frame. Today he did sidewalk chalk, rode in a too small for him cozy coupe, and did lots of running before finally crashing.

 This evening the kids got to help me put together a treat for Mckenzie's mommy and me group tomorrow. This treat was not my idea, just something I was lucky enough to get the chance to make. The amazingly talented, thoughtful and creative woman who organized our Mommy and Me group (Danielle)  and puts together the lesson plan every week (including activities and snacks) found it here. She gives all of the moms who come a chance to sign up for an activity or snack or game. Kenzie and I only got to go a few times in the beginning before I got pregnant and sick and busy. We are hoping to get back as much as our Wednesday doctor visits will let us because it is a great opportunity to be able to participate in this program that Danielle was awesome enough to organize and invite us to.

I couldn't get a great picture of ours but I did get a cute one of my dirty faced children who had enjoyed snacking on all of the extra peeps, eggs and marshmallows they could grab when I wasn't looking. For a better shot check out the original link above.

Dear, sweet, baby Parker...

My bladder is not a water bed, and while I do so enjoy getting up and down to go to the bathroom between twenty and thirty -be right back- thirty-one times a day, I'd prefer to get my exercise other ways. And possibly keep some of my fluids. This is not a complaint, after all we have been through trying to get you here, I have none of those. It's a request. But, dear angel, if you need a water bed, then so be it. Love, Mom 

This week

I had my 19 week check up yesterday. Everything with the baby looks good and we are excited to have another good check up. Counting down the days until our next ultrasound. One thing that was a little different was that my blood pressure was really low (50/20). They said since I was walking and talking that there wasn't really anything to be done about it. It does explain why I've been feeling so tired and loopy the past week or so though. Today we took the kids to Bojangles and they got their first ever Bo-Berry biscuits. Bojangles is my favorite fast food place. I love everything there. E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G. Aarik does too but he likes the steak biscuits best, I prefer the cajun filet chicken biscuit.  Normally if we go to get biscuits I make the kids pick a non sweet biscuit but since we had already eaten breakfast a few hours before and I was just trying to get my blood pressure back up (nice excuse huh?) we got them bo-berry's. Seriously, I didn't even get a chance to take a picture they were inhaled so quickly. I love when my kids eat and love southern foods. We don't eat like that often in an attempt to keep our arteries partially unclogged, but today it made me happy!

It's A BOY!!

We are excited to share our news! We are having a little boy!!! We are all very excited and have a few fun ultrasound pics we will be posting as soon as we scan them. Since I'm not sure when I will have the time to do that I wanted to go ahead and share the news along with a few fun pictures from yesterday after we found out! The ultrasound went well but we do have to go back in for another one at the end of the month before we are completely in the clear since we couldn't get some pictures that the doctor wanted to get of the heart. For now we are celebrating and full of excitement and gratitude.

We brought balloons home to the kids to make the announcement to them. You can tell from the pictures that Konnor and Nana were a little more excited than Mckenzie. She has since warmed up to the idea and is just as excited as the rest of us.