Landscaping

Let me start by saying that landscaping is tough work.  Pregnancy does have its perks at moments like this, though.  I only did a little bit of shoveling and some picking up of branches.  But, boy was I tired and I know Chad was too.  After five years of having these unsightly bushes in our front yard, it was time for them to go.  They take up too much room, constantly have to be trimmed, and to say it plainly, are ugly.

We have such a little yard and rarely do any type of landscaping, that we didn't even own a shovel! Thank goodness for our Menards refrigerator rebate :)  I think we will be using the few hundred dollars for years.

We still are not 100% sure what we are going to put in place of the bushes, but we are thinking something that at least involves rocks so maintenance is easier and weeds aren't growing everywhere.  At least we got this done before the ground became frozen, which may happen in another month or so, depending upon Illinois' crazy weather.

I forgot to take a true before picture, since we had already removed one big bush at this point.

Workin' hard!

That root was tough! 

Much better! :)

Ponytail

Meredith's hair is finally long enough for a ponytail.  Well, sort of (her bangs aren't quite long enough to pull all the way back).  Her hair is so pretty, but also crazy at the same time.  It's very hard to tame it down and she still doesn't like to keep barrettes or bows in it for very long.  Can't wait until it's a little longer and I can braid it.

Fall Kickoff

Though the official date of the beginning of Fall is a few weeks away, it definitely feels like Fall here in the Prentice house.  Fall is by far my favorite time of year.  As a kid, I loved Winter and everything about it.  Sled rides, playing in the snow, and the possibility of cancelled school!  But, since the Winter storm in February of 2011 and since I have had to drive in the nasty weather, I now say Fall is my favorite (see pictures below in case you weren't in Illinois that Winter):

Chad trying to shovel us out before work the next morning.  What a lovely time for our snow blower to quit on us!  I was 6 months pregnant and was exempt from shoveling (he, he!) :)

At least our mailbox is still standing.

After day #2 of being stranded inside, a tractor came by and plowed us out.  The best $30 bucks we have ever paid :)

Okay, so back to topic.  It feels like Fall around here because we have had several activities start up that remind me of the beginning of school.  Or, at least, these are the closest activities Meredith will get to school for a few years.

First off, Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) began yesterday.  This is my third year in the program.  It is a great women's Bible study that goes very in depth on one book of the Bible each year.  I first went through Isaiah during the evening while I worked full-time and was carrying Meredith.  I nearly made it to the end, but delivered her a few weeks before class was over.  Last year, I went through Acts and Meredith joined me by going to the children's program.  It was a challenge to say the least!  There were probably 10-15 kids in her room in the same age group and class always seemed to fall during her nap time.  She was a trooper though :)  This year, we are doing Genesis which is neat because it's the same year long study my church is going through.  I dropped Meredith off at the toddlers room and like usual (like at church nursery) she whimpered and turned red in the face almost ready to start a full fledged screaming cry.  I told her she would have fun and to be good and headed off.  I hate leaving her like that!  She apparently settled down pretty quickly, though she was happy to see me when I returned to pick her up.  I'm so thankful to find a great Bible study for me, while also knowing that Meredith is learning about Jesus with weekly lessons.  I also find it interesting that in my group of about 10 women, another is due in February with baby #2, one is due in October, and one just had a baby over the summer.  Talk about a baby boom!


In addition to my Bible study, Chad began his Bible study with four other men this week.  It's a great chance for him to fellowship with other men his age.  This week he is also beginning to lead a group of High School Sophomores in a house church.  Meredith and I (okay, I will miss the extra help) will definitely miss him two nights a week, but I know he is making an eternal impact and using his talents.  Now to figure out how I will handle it when we have the next baby....may be a bit of a challenge!  At least my crockpot meals are going well and I keep churning them out during our busy evenings. 

Chad and I are also excited to be going to our first High School football game together (whether it be in Macomb, Flora, or up here) for a date night in a few weeks.  I still think it would be more fun if I knew anyone on the team or even which side to root for (since it's a crosstown rivalry), but as long as I have some hot cocoa, I'll be good!  High School football always signaled the beginning of Fall for me, though I'm more used to it from the Marching Band side than from the spectator side.

Meredith also began Baby Rock through our local library, since it has been out since the Summer.  It's about a 20 minute program geared at babies and earlier toddler age kids and involves the librarian reading a few stories, teaching some sign language,  and of course bubble time.  I didn't have my camera for bubble time, but it looks something like this, except with about 20 other kids:

We are also excited to visit Rader Family Farms this Fall.  I purchased a season pass and can't wait to go as a family on weekends and with friends during the week.  It's a local place that is basically like walking into a Fall festival.  There are pumpkins to pick/decorate, hay rides, tractor pulls, farm animals, and a corn maze to go through.  Have I mentioned before how extremely blessed I feel to live in such an awesome community with so many activities at our doorstep?  Well, if not, I've said it now!  Here are some pictures from their website:

If this doesn't put you in the mood for Fall, I don't know what will!

Finally, this is my second time partaking in this fun, yet crazy activity.  What else could cause me to get up on a Saturday at 6 am?  I guess I should have rephrased that, because that's Meredith's wake-up time seven days a week :(  Okay, what could cause me to get up on a Saturday at 6 am and wait in a line of hundreds of women 45 minutes before the doors open?  The Mothers of Multiples Fall sale, of course!  There is a sale in the Spring and one in the Fall.  During the last sale, I got nearly all of Meredith's summer attire for around $15.  It was awesome!  I didn't find as many great deals this go around, mainly because I didn't find the shoes I was looking for and wasn't super wild about the winter coat I got her.  But, I did get her several outfits for this Fall/Winter, along with a baby carrier for baby #2.  I will definitely have to go to the Spring sale next March, especially if we end up having a boy, because I will need to pick up some boy outfits for the year.  Here is a picture of Meredith and I in the next baby's carrier.  It fits up to 25 pounds, so I thought I would try it out.  Believe it or not, she wasn't that heavy at 23 pounds and my back didn't hurt like it has recently when I lift her.

Chores

Let me start by saying that the mention of the word, "chores", sends a chill up and down my spine.  Don't get me wrong, I love having a clean house and pride myself on it.  The perfectionist side (okay, OCD side) of me hates it when something is not put back in its proper place or if the spines of books aren't straight and the wording is not facing the same way.  However, I hate the daunting task of keeping things clean.  Of course, right after I clean, I make the rule that we can't eat snacks in the living room again.  Then, after a few days, I forget how annoying the task was of cleaning out each sofa and corresponding cushions.  The biggest thing I struggle with is not that the house is not "clean", but that things are not picked up.  The fact that I have a 15-month old hasn't helped that task, either.  However, she has begun helping us pick up her books and toys before bedtime, so she essentially already has a chore at such a young age :)

This brings me to another goal.  Refer back to "Meal Planning" earlier this month for one of my other goals.  To sidetrack a bit, I'm in week three of meal planning and it is going fabulous.  It helps me stay on my budget by shopping for sales and avoiding impulse buys and I have increased my variety of meals.  Win-win!  Okay, so back to my new goal.  I want to do a specific chore (related to cleaning/upkeep of the house) each day of the week.  I've really struggled with having the daunting task of cleaning the house as a whole, rather than trying to break it up into more manageable pieces.  In other words, my daily routine of doing dishes, keeping the kitchen clean, and the never-ending task of laundry, as well as cleaning up her toys each evening will go on.  Some things are just a must.  However, I think I can keep the house really clean all the time if I follow this pseudo-schedule (subject to change):

• Monday: Dust/Windex every room.
• Tuesday: Vacuum all carpets.
• Wednesday: Clean bathroom vanities/showers.
• Thursday: Sweep tile/mop all floors.
• Friday: Relax and enjoy all of the fruits of my labor :)

I'm really just starting to type this as it comes to me, so things may not make perfect sense right now.  But I'm thinking that if I can spend 20-30 min. a day on these things, then it won't seem so overwhelming when I have to clean the entire house.  And, who knows, maybe I will find that I don't need to mop once a week, etc.  I really thought I would have a better handle on things once I stayed at home, but it almost seems harder now because I'm here all the time and things are bound to get more dirty. 

I will say that I am doing this in part because of our new purchase.  I can't believe how excited I got about buying a new vacuum.  I must really be a stay-at-home mom.  I also realized this recently when starting a Christmas list and realizing that 90% of my wants were related to kitchen appliances or utensils!

With the length of my hair, I tend to go through the cheapy vacuums about once every year or two.  Anyhow, here is my new "baby":





I definitely grew up spoiled when it came to having a clean house.  My mom would spend several hours on Saturday doing a deep clean of the entire house and Derek and I would be her little dusters, going all over using Pledge and Windex.  I want to strive to have as clean of house as I did growing up, but don't want to sacrifice time on the weekend/evenings to make that happen.  Here goes nothing! 

Bun in the Oven

By the name of my post, you may think this is one of my recipe round-ups and I will be telling you about a good bread recipe I found.  Well, this is not the case.  We are expecting our second Prentice baby in February of 2013!!!!!  We are so excited and announced to our family/friends earlier this week after my 13-week checkup with my doctor.  Nothing like hearing the baby's heartbeat...one of the greatest sounds in the world :)

To back track a bit, we found out we were pregnant with at home pregnancy tests in June.  So, this has been our little secret (between Chad, me, and Meredith) for a while now so what a relief to shout it out.  I say pregnancy "tests", because we took three different ones and then of course later confirmed things with the doctor in July.  Not only did we not believe the results, but the positive line was a bit faint and you can see how it got darker over time and there was no doubt by the third it was true.

June 12th

June 13th (darker even after just one day)

June 17th (no doubt there is definitely a baby in there)

Well, I definitely didn't need to worry about Meredith spilling the beans to anyone, since she is not much for words these days.  So far her vocabulary includes ma-ma, da-da (most popular), hi, thank you (with her own unique pronunciation), more (sign language so it doesn't count), and Jesus.  So, no need to worry :)  However, when we would ask her where baby is, she lifts up my shirt (or Chad's if he is closer) and points to my belly/bellybutton.  I think I should have taught her the word belly first, because I'm now picturing her at pre-school using the word baby when referring to belly.

So, we wanted to be a bit creative with our Facebook announcement that would not only hit long lost friends, but most of our family.  We first started by calling our parents and my brother by telling them Meredith was going to be a big sister, then texted some close friends, then announced on Facebook later that evening.

Here is the picture we chose for our announcement, which said, "Coming in February":

This was, of course, right before Chad caught her as she attempted to walk down the stairs on her own.

And, for laughs, here are some outtakes.  Notice, she is wearing different clothes, because I took these pictures over the course of a few days in different locations.  She was very uncooperative and liked to throw the sign.  I don't have any of those to post, because I was upset and quickly deleted them off of my camera.

Love her face in this one.  Looks like she doesn't want to be a big sister.

She could care less in this one.

Of course, we are picturing have moments of being overwhelmed, remembering back to how hard the recovery and how challenging a newborn can be, but we wouldn't change it for the world.  I can't wait to have our two little kids as playmates.

Oh, and did I mention I really want to wait the full 9 months to find out if it's a boy or girl?  The planner in me says "Are you kidding me?", but I really want to have a big surprise.  We shall see if we can hold out that long.