Loving Swagbucks

I was hesitant to try Swagbucks...but last Spring I signed up, and have been loving it!! So far I've earned two Amazon giftcards for $5 each, $5 in Paypal $, and $50 in restaurant gift certificates. All of this for just doing normal, everyday searches online! I set Swagbucks up as my homepage, so instead of Google, I just use Swagbucks to search and earn great prizes. Just thought any of my (few) blog readers that don't know about Swagbucks might be interested in giving it a try! If you want to sign up for this free program, you can click here.

Hope everyone is staying warm! I think we're going to stay cozy inside tomorrow. The windchill is supposed to be 36 BELOW! Yikes. I'm already ready for Spring! :)

Random Recap

Joel went back to work yesterday after 10 days off. I was so looking forward to his vacation, and cannot believe how fast it went!

We did manage to squeeze in some FUN the week he had off. We went to the Family Fun Center here in town and had a blast playing video games. P was really into it. $20 in tokens got us hours of fun...playing racecar games, Skeeball, and more. We even redeemed the tickets we won for some (seriously junky) prizes. :) After play-time, we went to Fuddrucker's for lunch. Seriously. Love. That place. I had been craving a Southwest burger, and that hit the spot. We met my good friend from college, L, for lunch there and it was so good to catch up with her.

This past weekend we traveled to IA for 2 more family Christmases! The first was in Ames, with Joel's Mom's side of the family...Then we headed over to the town of Dike, for Joel's Dad's side of the family. Gpa and Gma Schmidt's house was packed to the seams with about 30 people there. It was good to see everyone. We spent the night with Joel's Aunt & Uncle and their 2 kiddos. It's always good to spend time with them, and they treated us royally with handmade malts that night, donuts the next morning and then delicious homemade pizza for lunch. I felt like I should walk at least partway home after that! :)

January 29th we find out pink or blue! I can't wait to know what we're having. In some ways I've felt different this pregnancy...but maybe it's all in my head. We're really hoping for a girl. P would love a little brother though, I'm sure, so either way is good.

Happy New Year!

P, playing with his Aunt Charity at our first family Christmas of the weekend. It amazes me that he has an Aunt only 4 years older than him. :)

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

We've been getting ready. Decorating. Last-minute gifts. Doing our Advent Calendar with P...It's such an exciting time of year! Last Wednesday night at church, the kiddos watched a Veggie Tale movie about Christmas, and then had a Birthday party for Jesus, complete with singing and a cake! I love it. P is totally excited that we're going to celebrate Jesus' Birthday next week. And yes, totally excited to open his presents under the tree. :)

Merry Christmas!

At last...

We celebrated Mr. P's Birthday. Presents, family, fun, and of course CAKE. The day before he turned 4, P asked me when he would be 5. *Sigh.* The 1 & the 3 candles on the cake are not because I'm wishing he was 13 (trust me, I do not want to rush him even more!)...it's all I could find before we cut into the cake. 1+3 is 4...so that's what I went with. P didn't seem to mind. =)

Time Flies

In some ways, it Seems like almost overnight, Mr. P went from this:

to this:

Time flies! P has been wanting to turn 4 for months now. He used to ask me daily, "Mom, am I 4 yet?!" I'd tell him, not yet...on your Birthday you'll be 4. December 8th marks the day that my little man will turn the big 0-4. We're having a family party on Saturday, so I'm sure he'll be thrilled to discover he gets to have his cousins over, presents, and cake EARLY this year.

Just Call Me Sherlock

I have figured it out! Well...at least I have figured it out-today. The key was for me to eat something every 2 hours. This week has been awful. Yesterday was the worst. I got sick the most in one day yet this pregnancy...I'll spare any more of the details. Anyhow, eating every 2 hours today helped me to keep everything down!! Small victories, right?

Also on the bright side, so far this pregnancy I have lost 5 pounds...NOT the way I want to lose it, but still. I'm trying to look at the positives.

We're ready for the weekend! Hoping for a date night and then a pizza and movie night with friends on Saturday evening, yay! Happy Friday. =)

News

Little Stellan had heart surgery yesterday, a risky ablation, and the procedure was a SUCCESS!! He is not out of the woods yet though, so the family still needs prayer. MckMama's blog has all the details.

This weekend we shared with my In-Law's (and church family) that we are expecting again! Our little one is due in June, so Lord-willing, Mr. P will be a big brother this Summer. :) He does seem excited about it, even though he told me recently, "Mom, we don't need another baby." Hmm...I'm thinking he'll change his mind when the time comes. It just may take some getting used to.

I'm 8 weeks along, so pretty nauseated and food generally does NOT sound good. Wonder why it is, that if I have to prepare and cook a meal, I'm gagging the entire time and have a hard time eating it...but if we go OUT to eat or over to someone's house, I can actually enjoy eating. Strange to me.

We did get to see our little baby (the size of a kidney bean I read online) yesterday on an ultrasound, so that was neat. The tech even gave us pictures! It's amazing how much you can see at this point. We even got to see where the back of the brain was developing. It amazes me that some believe that life does NOT begin at conception.

Hope everyone is having an amazing week!