Opening Day

In honor of baseball's opening day, Ryan is sporting his Cincinnati Reds today!!! And he's very excited about it!

Go Reds!!!

Banana Sour Cream Cake

We have had a low key day today! We went to the gym this morning then came home for lunch and naptime. While Ryan was napping I continued painting his room. It's almost finished. Just one more coat on two walls and it will be done! Our goal is to move Ryan into his new room at the beginning of May!

I think I've been watching too many cake shows, DC Cupcakes, Cake Boss...I'm totally addicted to watching these shows. We had some bananas that were about to go bad so I decided to make my favorite Banana Sour Cream Cake. It's so yummy and so easy to make I just had to share the recipe!

Banana Sour Cream Cake

Ingredients: 1 package yellow cake mix

3 eggs

1/4 cup oil

1 package philly cream cheese

3 mashed bananas

optional: 1 cup walnut pieces

Directions: Preheat oven to 350 derees. Beat cake, eggs, bananas, sour cream and oil in large bowl on low.

Bake for 35 minutes then cool completely.

Ice cake with cream cheese frosting then sprinkle walnut pieces over top.

And of course I had to add a picture of Ryan for the grandparents.

Sweet friends and fun cookies

Today we didn't have Bible Study because of spring break so our friends Tiffany and Presley came over to play! Ryan loves playing with Presley. He was running around the house so excited. They were so funny and played so hard! I'm so excited that Ryan will have a little brother that he will get to play with.

We let the kids play for a couple hours then we went down to The Works to have lunch. The Works is a little eclectic place in downtown Loveland that we love to go eat. It's a family run place and nice to have around the corner. It was yummy and the kids did so well!

This picture makes me laugh! Ryan was playing so hard his pants were falling down so I told him to pull up his pants. And that's what he was doing, ha!

They sat in the chair for a long time watching Mickey Mouse. They were so cute drinking from their cups and hanging out! We enjoyed spending some fun time with our sweet friends!

Ryan slept in this morning so I wasn't sure how well he would nap but we got home a little after 1 and he was out like a light until 4pm. I think he must be going through a growth spurt or something because this boy is loving his sleep lately! No complaints here!!!

Here are the cookies I made this past weekend! They turned out so cute! These were for a zoo/animal themed first birthday party!

I think these strawberries might be my favorite cookies so far! They were so cute and fun to do! And of course it made me think of my days in ZTA!

26 weeks

I'm 26 weeks!

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 26 Weeks

Size of baby: Baby D is the length of an English cucumber

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Gained 1 lb

Maternity Clothes: I wear maternity jeans and pants but everything else is regular.

Gender: It's a boy!!! Still working on a name but I think we are getting closer!

Movement: I've been feeling the baby a lot more lately!

Sleep: I'm sleeping pretty good!

What I miss: Nothing really - maybe sleeping on my stomach?

Cravings: Nothing really except maybe Sonic slushies this week! ha!

Symptoms: Mostly tiredness and heartburn. I live on TUMS!!!

Best Moment this week: Really feeling the baby kick a LOT!

I can't believe I'm already 26 weeks! My pregnancy app tells me I only have 96 days left til my due date. That's so hard to believe. I'm going to do an update on the baby's room later this week. I've got the first coat of paint done in Ryan's new room. Hoping to have it done by the end of the weekend!

Also, I had to post some pics of Ryan's new do! I love it! It's so clean cut and refreshing! It will be great for the summer when he's running around getting all hot and sweaty.

This afternoon we had a make up tumblebees class. Ryan had a blast climbing on everything and didn't want to leave. It's a little bittersweet that we only have one more tumblebee class left. I didn't sign him up for the next session since it's becoming challenging to chase and keep up with Ryan. The plan is to just take a break and come back to classes after the baby is born.

Weekend of firsts

We had a fun weekend of many firsts around here. Saturday we went to the zoo with some our friends and did a 19-24 month old class where you get to see animals up close and personal. The first animal we got to see was a chinchilla - think that's the right spelling. It was super soft and Ryan really liked petting him.

The next animal we got to see was a baby alligator! I do not like reptiles at all and I was terrified she was going to pull out a snake! I'm HATE of snakes!!! I was relieved she pulled out an alligator. Ryan was so good and wasn't scared at all. He enjoyed feeling the alligator and touching his tail.

It was such a neat class and I'm really glad we did it. We are planning to do another one in May! I'm so excited about spring and looking forward to going to the zoo more. It was pretty chilly Saturday morning so we didn't spend too much time there after the class. We have a great zoo and Ryan loves animals so I know he will love the zoo this spring/summer!

Today we decided today was the big day for Ryan to get his first haircut! Matt was dreading it but I was optimistic that Ryan would do well. Here Ryan is getting settled into the race car and watching mickey mouse.

And then this is where the fun began... As soon as she put the cap around him he freaked out!!!!! He was NOT excited about being there and could care less that mickey mouse was on the tv. I was pulling out all my tricks. I started with chips, he didn't want them. Then I tried a cookie, nope, didn't want that either, ha! I tried a game on my cell phone but he was not having it. He was screaming his head off and tears were flowing. He was so mad! I was afraid he was scaring all the other kids waiting.

Thankfully it only lasted a total of about 10 minutes and we were done. Ryan got a cookie and balloon at the end and was happy once she stopped cutting. Needless to say it was a little more traumatic than I anticipated but I'm very glad we did it. He looks so much better and so handsome!

He looks so grown up now and like such a little boy! I will post a picture tomorrow of his new do. It was a great weekend of many firsts!

A few things

I don't have much to blog about today! We haven't had too much going on the last few days! I've been busy making lots of cookies this week. I'm delivering five dozen cookies tomorrow and I can't wait to share the pics. They are super cute!

I absolutely LOVE this boys bathroom!!! I haven't done much with our guest bathroom since we moved in 4 years ago so I'm excited to change it up a little and make it a "boys/kids" bathroom. My favorite part are the personalized towels! So cute!

I bought the paint for Ryan's new room and the nursery this week and hoping to get started painting tomorrow. We are painting Ryan's new room light blue. As for the baby's room I wanted to do something a little different to make it "his" room. It's currently green and brown (top part of the room is green and the bottom half is brown) so I'm just going to paint light blue over the green. I'm planning to use the same blue as Ryan's room. I love blue and brown and think it will look great! Here's to happy painting this weekend!

Happy 6th Birthday Annabelle

Today our sweet "first" baby turns 6 years old! I cannot believe that she has been in our family for 6 years now. I still remember the day Matt and I went to "just look" at some mini dachshunds that were for sale. I immediately fell in love with Annabelle and knew we had to get her. She is the sweetest pup and full of personality! She is so sweet and loves to snuggle! We love her so much and cannot imagine life without her!

She's been with us through so much. She was born in Pennsylvania (we were living in State College at the time), moved to Cincy, moved to our current home, added a sibling and pal-Gracie, helped us welcome Ryan into the world and now she will soon help us welcome our 2nd baby boy into our family.

This was Annabelle when she was just a few months old.

She still loves to sleep in the crock of my arm. Sometimes she does this while I'm typing on the laptop, ha!

Annabelle and her father, Mason. Do you think they look alike, haha? Annabelle was the only pup from her litter that looked just like Mason. Her mom was a black and gray dapple. She also inherited Mason's personality - everyone loves him and he is the sweetest dog. (Mason is on the left and Annabelle the right).

Every dachshund has to be a hotdog for Halloween! My favorite costume for the girls!

We are so blessed to have Annabelle in our lives. She is so good with Ryan and of course he just adores her. She is our little snuggle bug and she will always be our "first" baby!

Our Tuesday

Boy oh boy, look at those curls! I have naturally curly hair and Matt has natural wavy hair so our sweet boy has inherited our curly locks. I love his curls but they are getting a little out of control. We are going this weekend for a haircut, just to even it all out.

We had a great morning at Bible study, then we joined some friends at McCallister's for lunch. We had 4 adults and 6 kids. It was a little chaotic but the kiddos were good for the most part. It has been so warm and sunny the last few days but it's supposed to get cold again. Boo! I was just getting used to the nice spring weather. Hopefully the cold doesn't stick around for long.

25 Weeks

I'm 25 weeks!

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 25 Weeks

Size of baby: Baby D is the size of a head of cauliflower

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Back to my pre-pregnancy weight

Maternity Clothes: I wear maternity jeans and pants but everything else is regular.

Gender: It's a boy!!!! Still working on his name!

Movement: I've been feeling the baby a lot more lately! Sometimes it feels like he is doing summersaults in there! I love feeling him move, it's my favorite part of pregnancy!

Sleep: I'm sleeping pretty good!

What I miss: Nothing really - maybe sleeping on my stomach!

Cravings: Fruit - just bought some watermelon at the store this weekend and it's been so good!

Symptoms: Mostly tiredness, a few Braxton Hicks and the ever present heartburn!

Best Moment this week: Hearing his heartbeat at the doctor and passing my glucose test! Woohoo!

I cannot believe this little guy will be here in just three months! It doesn't feel like it's gone that fast but I'm still not ready for him to be here that soon. We go on vacation in three weeks and I'm beyond excited. I'm planning to really kick the nesting into gear when we get back! Hopefully this little guy will have a name by then.

I just booked Ryan's 2nd birthday party at Little Gym in June. I'm really excited about doing it at LG! It will be so nice because they basically do everything for you, all you have to do is show up with a cake and they handle the rest. Since I will be 38 weeks pregnant this will be great!

I CANNOT believe Ryan will be TWO in just three short months. The past two years have gone so quickly and he is growing up so fast! They have definitely been the best two years of my life!

Spring Weekend

We've had a great and relaxing weekend here and so excited to welcome SPRING!!! Matt went into work for a few hours Saturday morning so Ryan and I hit the gym. I went to run errands in the afternoon while Ryan napped. I forget how fast I can get in and out of the store when I don't have Ryan with me. It was nice to get out by myself a little.

We went to Chili's last night for dinner and it was yummy!!! I've been craving it for a while and it was so good. Ryan did good. He is really into dipping his food into sauces, usually bbq sauce. He sees us dipping and he wants to dip too. It can get kinda messy but I'm just glad he is eating well.

Tonight we made dinner for our friends Richard and Anissa who just had baby Quinn. I made basically everything at home then took it over to their house and we all ate together. Ryan loved playing with Elizabeth! It's great how they just entertain each other. They have the best time. Quinn was so sweet and I was so glad I got to hold him. He is a sweet baby!

We are so thankful for such sweet friends!

Elizabeth and Ryan were chillin on the couch when she tried to lay a big one on Ryan. haha! We somewhat encouraged it but it was SO adorable. It was hilarious how we all pulled out our cameras and started taking pictures of them.

Spring Fever

It was an absolute beautiful day here. It actually got up 70 degrees. Everyone was out enjoying the spring weather! I am so ready for spring and warmer temps.

This morning we headed to the park for some play time. We were supposed to meet our friends Anissa and Elizabeth but E was sick so we were solo.

Ryan had a blast playing and loved running around. Playgrounds are so much more fun now that he can run around and play. We decided to try to have lunch at Panera but that turned into a disaster. Ryan started off well but soon he was not interested in eating anything and just wanted to play with his food. Sometimes he's really good when we eat out and sometimes he's really bad. He hasn't been in the best mood the last couple days (just fussy and throwing lots of tantrums) so it probably wasn't a smart idea on my part to eat lunch out. You live and learn right!

This afternoon was gorgeous so we went for a walk in the neighborhood to our pond. Ryan loves to see the geese and ducks at the pond. Usually we take the wagon up and then Ryan likes to walk back. He loves to watch the geese and ducks and I think he says "geese".

Tonight I went to our MOPS book club girls night out. The book was "Water for Elephants" but I actually haven't read it haha, but I am in the process of reading it now. I just started it this week and I'm liking it so far. It was such a great time to hang out with friends and just have some girl time.