26 weeks!

98 days or less til we meet Little Mahaffey #3.

I am still feeling really great. I have had a decent amount of energy, and I have nested some. Mostly, I have been deep cleaning our entire home and my van due to our recent bout with scabies. We noticed bumps and bites on all four of us on Mother's Day, and our pedi is suggesting it is scabies. Don't let the Google images scare you, ours is not nearly as severe. Lily has it the worst. The pedi thinks she picked it up from another kid at school or church. Parker is second worse, and then Shane, and then me. We have all washed in the medicated body wash, and I have washed so many sheets and blankets and vacuumed so many rugs, pillows, carpet, and mattresses that I can't even believe it. Let's hope they are gone!!

So, anyways, I haven't gained much weight since my appointment three weeks ago, so if I can hold off one more week, my midwife hopefully will not fuss. But how can you fuss at a pregnant lady taking her glucose test, right? That fun comes next Friday. Luckily, Parker will be at his babysitters, and I plan to hit Starbucks or somewhere equally delicious after my appointment.

Everything is going well. I still haven't done much baby preparing, but I do have some time. Once we get back from our beach trip, I will slowly pull out and clean and prepare all our baby equipment. I still need to purchase a pack and play. And I'm waiting on 12 more newborn diapers...which I believe are about to be shipped.

How far along? 26 weeks
Maternity clothes? I need longer maternity shirts... and a great dress for an engagement party
Stretch marks? No new ones yet
Sleep: Pretty great.
Best moment this week: Less than 100 days to go!
Miss Anything? Moving with ease. I always feel so sluggish with this extra weight
Movement: Lots of little kicks and jabs, especially at night
Food cravings: Avoiding fried food, craving fresh veggies and salad.. but then eating way too much dessert almost nightly. GUILTY.
Food aversions: Lots of meat, but I did eat a chicken burrito today. Anything greasy and fried sounds gross.
Gender: Unknown for 13 more weeks
Labor Signs: n/a
Symptoms: My headaches have pretty much gone away, but I occasionally get a sharp pain on my left side. And I still think I am stretching and growing every now and then because I'll cramp.
Belly Button in or out? In
Wedding rings on or off? On and off... depends on how hot I am
Looking forward to: My third trimester, and my beach trip!

A Look at My Goals

I just found my "2012" goals on an old blog post from December of 2011. Since we are about 5 months into 2012, let's take a look at some of my planned goals.

Our Family 2012 Goals:
1. Make all our cleaning products-check! I have done this. I have also made hand soap, bug spray, dish wash detergent, and I am still considering making laundry detergent. I tried homemade toothpaste, but it wasn't a huge hit.

2. Obtain our own chickens-check! I have had chickens for over 2 months now, and they are growing every day. Still waiting on our eggs :)

3. Have a garden this spring-check! This is Shane's project, but I did help pick out the veggies. He is taking great care of our little garden, and I can't wait for some fresh veggies!

4. Eliminate fried foods-no dice. Pregnant=Chik Fil A at least once a week. But I haven't ate red meat in over a year, so no nasty McDonalds or Burger King, blech!

5. Use less than one roll of paper towels a week-check! I usually forget to buy them, so even if I only use one every 2 weeks, we might go another week without. I use lots of hand towels and rags now that I've built up a big stash of those, and I have so many that I constantly pull out a new one to stop the spread of germs. They do a better job too.

Personal Goals:
1. Give yoga a shot. -nope
2. Drink more water.-always need to drink more
3. Stay home more, drive less.-easier now that I am preggo
4. Visit the park at LEAST bi-weekly. -sorry kids!
5. Walk three mornings a week. -nope
6. Will myself to have more patience with my children.-always a work in progress
7. Read more. -I read the Hunger Games Trilogy, ready to read something new.

So there's my little update. I'm anxious to get working on some of these goals!!

24 Week Bellyshot

I noticed my last belly shot was 20 weeks, so here I am at 24 weeks and give or take a few days. I am feeling big, and it seems like so many people are noticing my big belly. Also, my legs and arms are getting nicely tan, but you'll have to excuse my ultra white stomach.

24 Weeks Pregnant

Sadly, I don't have any exciting bump pictures to post. My belly is certainly growing. I definitely look 6 months pregnant. I love feeling my little baby kick every day. Lily felt the baby kick for the first time yesterday. I have my glucose test coming up at the end of the month. And then I will be in my third trimester! Yikes. Once we get back from Florida next month, I'll start to get my baby gear ready. I really want to tie dye some onesies. Instead of buying a going home outfit, I'm going to bring a newborn outfit of Lily's and a newborn outfit of Parker's with me to the hospital.

Baby currently has 24 newborn and small diapers, 4 covers, and 12 more newborn diapers on the way from a co-op. Other than the diapers, I haven't bought a thing. I don't really need to. However, if Baby is a girl, she will have to gear up for a shopping trip for pink onesies, ballet slipper socks, and hair bows. It's been a long time since I had a baby girl, and my 7 year old baby girl will barely let me fix her hair, let alone dress her up.

How far along? 24 weeks
How big is baby? About a pound, and as long as an ear of corn
Weight gain? Must we? I got a verbal warning from my MW on gaining too much weight. Looks like I might gain just as much as I did with Parker (I gained 40 with Lily, and I gained 50+ with Parker. I'm a gainer!)
Maternity clothes? Absolutely necessary, and my small, cute ones are getting too tight.
Stretchmarks? I have some on my sides from Lily which are very faded, and I have one faded one under my belly button from Parker. I'm using stretch mark cream, but I'm also realistic.
Sleep? Pretty great. Just want more of it!
Breastfeeding? No more. Parker hasn't nursed in a week and a half.
Best moment this week? Letting Lily feel the baby kick.
Movement? Lots, and feeling it on the outside too
Food cravings? Lots of meat makes me feel sickish, as well as greasy fried food, but I am an eating machine right now.
Name? Can't agree on a boys name or a girls name. The battle continues. Just kidding. We really don't even talk about it much... poor kid.
Labor signs? Nada
Belly button in or out? In, my button has never popped out
Rings on or off? On, but feeling tight when I get hot
Morning sickness? No, thank goodness
What I miss: bending over, being thin, an occasional glass of wine, but wouldn't trade this for anything.
What I am looking forward to? Getting my glucose test over with, third trimester, convincing Parker there really is a baby in my belly
Weekly Wisdom? Rest. I've been doing it this week, and it has been heavenly. Ethereal.
Milestones: Baby has been a cooking for 6 months. 4 to go!

Easter 2012

Our little family had a wonderful Easter weekend. On Saturday, we all met up with Shane's grandparents for their annual Easter lunch with his entire extended family. It was very fun and yummy, with tons of delicious casseroles and desserts. Afterwards, I volunteered in the nursery for our church's Saturday night service. We had about 11 babies in the nursery who were pretty much all unusually grumpy, so it was a tough night! However, it is always a pleasure to serve the Lord wherever I can, and I did get to play with my friend's sweet one year old.

This morning, we were up early, checking out Easter baskets and getting ready for church. Both the kids received new giant coloring books, and Parker got a new tee and bat and ball, and Lily was overjoyed to get the Muppet movie, which we are currently watching right now. Then, we headed to an amazing service at our church.

"So I'll stand, with arms high and heart abandoned, in awe of the one who gave it all."

"There is no one higher, no one greater, no one like our God. There is none more able, Christ, our Savior, great and glorious."

I LOOOOVE our church! Have I mentioned how awesome our church is? It was a truly moving and beautiful service this morning.

After church, we hung around with Shane's family and went and ate La Bamba for lunch. We spent the rest of the day at Shane's parents house, and the kids received another Easter basket from Shane's mom. They are stocked up now. I just finished hiding the candy! Then all of the kids had a little Easter egg hunt.

We are now all exhausted at home. Shane threw some turkey burgers on the grill, and Parker was asleep before 730. Tomorrow, Lily goes back to school after a fun but seemingly short spring break.

Belly Shot-20 weeks. The halfway mark!

Kid's Activities and Updates

Spring easily becomes our busiest time of year. Shane is currently on two softball teams, which takes up our Thursday and Friday nights, in Dallas and Acworth, respectively. He joined our church's team this year, and he is also playing with his team made up of coworkers again. Besides that, the kids have been pretty busy as well... and I just try to coordinate, plan, and enjoy everyone's activities!

Lily is playing 8 and under softball at Taylor Farm again this year. Her team is called "The Diamond Darlings" (lol!) She is playing first base, her number is number one, and she is at the top of the batting lineup. So yes, all that talk of #1 has gone to her head! Just kidding. But really, she is playing absolutely wonderfully! She has come so far, and I can't wait to watch her improve even more!

Lily is doing great at school-I don't know if I ever posted about her conference, but she is still exceeding at everything and reading two grade levels ahead. She has got nothing but perfect behavior reports this year too, thank goodness. She is also still participating in her Bible study after school program on Fridays called Beach Club, and her counselor has nothing but great things to say about how much fun she has and how often she speaks up.

Lily has been doing great at church, easily memorizing most of her memory verses. She LOVES Sundays, and she even likes helping us in the nursery with the babies. During Spring Break, she got to go see the Lorax with her BFF Skyler and family, we visited my sister's new apartment and had a ladies lunch out, and she has seriously been the biggest helper ever! Two weeks worth of chore money, and she purchased new pink headphones for her hand me down Ipod.

Parker is turning into such a big boy. He is 21 months old, and is currently sporting a fever for what I believe to be some molars coming in. He has started putting two words together, but that is as close as he has come to sentences so far. Parker started tumbling class about a month ago, and he seems to like walking on the balance beam. Parker also started going to a little in home day care once a week. The lady attends our church, and she keeps two other little boys close to Parker's age. Parker already talks about "Luke" and "Jake." He seems to have so much fun-they play outside every day on the playground, and she has a huge playroom. It has been very nice for both of us to have a little break.

He also still seems like such a little baby. Parker is nowhere near potty learning, and he still likes to nurse on one side to get settled for sleep (although I pretty much have no milk and its rather painful, I haven't totally cut him off yet!) I really don't mind, he can stay a baby as long as he wants! I know how quickly it will all pass. I'm really not worried about washing more diapers when the new baby comes or anything like that. Just because he is going to be a big brother doesn't mean he needs to rush out of sleeping in his crib or instantly start going to preschool. I've never understood that! I still try to dress him in onesies when I can, he he he.

He is still very high maintenance and stubborn, but he is also becoming more goofy and animated. Him and Lily can really act crazy and have so much fun, and all Shane and I do is laugh and laugh.

This weekend is Easter Weekend! We will certainly be busy with family stuff as well as church! Have a great weekend.

Strawberry Picking

This morning, we packed up the van bright and early (well, around 9 30), and we headed to Harry Stacy's Strawberry Farm in Dallas, Georgia. We also picked up Shane's stepmom, his little brother, and another friend, Kristina. It was only about 20 minutes from our house. We were some of the first customers, so we got a front row parking spot :) (parking is key when preggo, ok?)

The kids got to pick tons of fresh, ripe, juicy, and bright red strawberries. Parker insisted on holding the basket, even as it got heavier and heavier, and he demanded that Lily hand him the freshly picked strawberries so that he could place them in the basket. Good grief. It was a little chilly compared to our 80 degree weather we have been having, but it was still really fun. We got a HUGE basket of strawberries for a great price. We will definitely be visiting again. The quality of strawberries was MUCH better than the often nasty ones at the local grocery store.

Hmmm. what else? There was a large coop of free range chickens, but there were so many of them, they were quite stinky! Also, I wish I had brought enough cash to purchase some of their local honey as well.

My kids faces are currently stained a pretty red from eating a bunch of yummy berries. It was a fun end to our spring break!

Here are some Instagram shots from our little field trip:

Our OTHER new additons

We have 6 new additions to the Mahaffey family-6 chicks! We've had them about a month or so, and we hope that by summer, we will be eating free range fresh eggs! We purchased them, their food, and other supplies at the Tractor Supply store near our house. They slept inside for the first week or two, but they moved outside to their coop, and they have really begun to thrive. They love Lily, and they pretty much can't stand Shane and myself. One of Lily's main chores now is to feed and water and check on the chicks. Parker will scream, "Chick! chick!" but he is way too scared to get too close.

Here are our babies when we first got them:

Here they are trying out the coop for the first time. We used to just put them out there during the day and bring them in at night.

The only picture I have of the coop:

Here is the most recent picture I have of them, although they probably have more feathers now:

I've got to keep up with this thing!

I can't even remember what we've done for the last month since I haven't updated my blog. I know we went to the zoo awhile back, and we have been doing lots of work on the outside of the house. Shane is tilling up our garden as we speak! We are planting this weekend, finally!

Baby is 20 weeks. Baby is doing great! Baby's gender is still a mystery... if I haven't already mentioned it, we won't be finding out until Baby arrives. Meanwhile, we will be buying yellow and white and coming up with a boy name and a girl name to take to the hospital with us in August.

Here is the most recent picture of Baby #3:

We just booked a week at Panama City Beach for the first week of June. Finally taking the kids to the beach!!

Sorry, what a random train of thought. I will try to keep these posts more organized and current-I swear!