Yummy!

We had a meal swap today with my MOMS club and we got some yummy stuff. Wade's favorite will be sausage and peppers or meatloaf (yeah - I still haven't gotten around to making it) and I also got peanut cilantro chicken, spaghetti bake, and mexican lasagna. We only swapped 5 meals this time - they were first timers and scared of doing more than that - but we had 14 people participate. So hopefully we can do more next time.

Disneyland pics are below

Ok - since I started the disneyland post a few days ago, but just finished it today - when I published it, it published it on the day I started it - so to see the disneyland pics, you have to scroll down quite a bit - but I promise they are worth it!

Random Pics from the trip

Here are some random pics from our trip -- I'll post the Disneyland pics soon.

Eating cinnamon rolls for breakfast (a grandma favorite).

Visiting Old Los Angeles with Grandma and Papa on Mom and Dad's day off!

Swimming in the pool with Daddy.

Visiting a "working" Tinkerbell in Hollywood. Check out were she keeps the dollars people pay her for pictures.

Dr. Appointment

Had one of those lovely dr. appointments today ... feeling ok, yes, blood pressure looks good, let's hear the heart beat - ok good. See you in 4 weeks. Heart beat was 150 this time. Ultrasound is the next appointment. Get your guesses ready!

And how could I forget ...

HUGE TV night tonight ... Survivor, The Office, CSI, and last but not least, Greys! Make sure your DVRs are ready!

The Beach

Keira has always loved the beach. She gets this from her mommy ;) She particularly loved it this time. The water was freezing, but that didn't stop her.

Keira also enjoyed chasing the birds while she was there. (The birds didn't enjoy it so much!)

And after all that running around, she worked up an appetite.

Disneyland

Well, we did it, we took her to disneyland. And she had a great time. Before I go too much further though, I will pass along a recommendation. If you were in our situation, where you have family that happen to live near a park, take the kids! But I wouldn't make a special trip yet at Keira's age. The whole standing in line thing was not a fun concept for her. Anything that was longer than a 10 minute wait, no way, total meltdown. She could see the ride and couldn't understand why she couldn't get on it RIGHT NOW. So unless you little one has the patience of a saint, I would wait at least another year, maybe two. That's my two cents.

It is hard to say what Keira's favorite part was. Everything she did, she loved. She got to meet both Mickey and Minnie. And she was in awe. She was very gentle with them and gave them both hugs and kisses. She even squeezed Minnie's nose. It was like she couldn't believe they were real. Here are the pics:

She rode lots of rides, though she didn't ride the one I most wanted her to ride which was the Dumbo one. We were in line for it, but it was just too long. She rode the teacups several times and said "Wee, that was a fun ride", she rode a rocket ship and a honeypot (a Winnie the Pooh ride), she took two boat rides, and I am sure there are some others I am forgetting. Oh, yes, she rode a roller coaster. It was sorta a kiddie one, but pretty big, I was shocked she even wanted to. But she really loved that. It was her favorite. In the pic you can't see her, but you can see my Mom and Mark and Wade - Keira is on the other side of Wade. Here are some pics from the rides:

She also went to the princess garden where they put on a little show to teach the girls how to be princesses. They show them how to dance and how to bow and how to behave at a ball. Then the real princesses come out. Keira was in total shock to see them. She danced and danced and danced completely oblivious that anyone else was there but her. It was just so cute.

Well, kids, I think that's it for vacation posts. This week you are just stuck with boring old us again. Hope you all had a good weekend!

The Aquarium

One of the highlights of our trip was the Long Beach Aquarium. It was great - it was very big, if you were going through without a 2 year old, it would probably take you about 3 hours - Keira did it in about 2. They had everything - sharks, massive amount of jellyfish, seals (my favorite), otters, you name it, they had it. Keira's highlight was an eel swimming right at her, she thought it was going to jump right out and get her.

She also LOVED the birds - they had a lorikeet area outside and she so wanted to pet one of them. There was an area where the birds could sit on a little fence that you could get close to them - she walked up and jumped back about a hundred times.

Here she is with Papa trying to pet the sharks!

After the aquarium, we walked along the little harbor that the aquarium sat on.

Well, that's it for this edition. Stay tuned tomorrow for either Disneyland pics or beach pics, I'm not sure which!

We're Back!

So, we made it there and back safely and had LOTS of fun! I'll post more tonight with a few pics from our trip. Keira got to do lots of fun kids stuff - swimiming in the pool, playing at the beach, visiting the Long Beach Aquarium, and last but not least, going to Disneyland! (Wade and I did some fun stuff too - behind the scenes studio tour and MNF game in San Diego). I'll post more details later - I am currently buried in laundry and unpacking!

Free Bag of Iams Dog Food

Go to the page below and click free bag on the top to get a coupon sent to you for free dog food - also, there is a link for catfood too!

http://www.iams.com/iams/en_US/jsp/IAMS_Page.jsp?pageID=IPP

Free Cold Stone Ice Cream

Get free Cold Stone Ice Cream on September 25th from 5 PM to 8 PM. Yum!

Prenancy Hormones?

So, I don't know what it is exactly, I'm blaming the preggo hormones, but I have a serious celebrity crush on ... are you ready for this ... Jerry O'Connell. I typically watch Crossing Jordan during Keira's naptime and man, he's just too much ;) I have been dreaming about him too! Wacky!

Fantasy Football Dynasty?

So it looks like the Hacker's are off to a good year for Fantasy Football. The MOMS club did one this year, so I actually have a vested interest when football is on all day sunday ;) Wade is unbeaten in all of his leagues - don't ask me how many there are or how much the cost, it is definitely not frugal - and I am also unbeaten in my league! Yeah!

Weekend

Talk about a-do nothing weekend. We seriously, did nothing! Went to the gym, ate out once or twice, and that is about it. It rained and rained and rained. Oh, we did take Keira to the park today, but that was it. Nothing exciting to post. We blew up her bouncy house for the first time in this house and she played in that for hours by herself. That was fun ;)

We are headed out of town on Friday - to the great state of California. There are a lot of things planned already - an Aquarium in Long Beach, a beach day, Disney Land, and who knows what else. Wade and are leaving Keira with the grandparents on Monday and doing one of those behind the scenes studio tours and then as a surprise to Wade (he never reads this), I bought Monday Night Football tickets off the Internet (Chargers vs. Jets) and we are heading down to San Diego for the rest of the day and to see the game that night. It all sounds like fun and sounds totally exhausting as well. I am sure we will come home more tired than when we left. At this moment, I have no idea what we have going on this week - so hopefully I have something interesting to talk about ... guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Pretty Woman

Don't you just love this movie? Wade hates it, but we watched it anyway. I have probably seen it 20 times (apparently TBS loves this movie too) - it is one of the few movies that I can watch over and over again without tiring. Gotta love a happy ending.

When life gives you lemons ...

It has been raining for 2 straight days - and is suppossed to rain for at least 2 more. So we went out and played in the puddles!

They say Art comes in all forms ...

Beagle?!?

So ever since Keira has started talking, hilarious things have been coming out of her mouth. Here was our exchange earlier this week:

Me: (Eating a bagel for breakfast - I don't think Keira has ever seen a bagel before)
Keira: Mommy, whats you eating?
Me: I'm having a bagel
Keira: That looks good mommy
Me: Would you like a bite?
Keira: Yes Mommy, I sure would like that beagle!

Bagel, beagle - they sound similar right?!? Too funny.

There's always hope

If you haven't read the story about the dad and his 14 year old autistic son who survived treading water in the ocean for over 14 hours, you should. It's a story with a happy ending that makes you realize that there's always a chance that everything is going to turn out just fine.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26639098?GT1=43001

Our first experiment with makeup ...

how does she look? I know I should check on her when she is quiet for too long ...

We're having a baby!

That's the news! I told you it was exciting! Official due date is March 23 - so it looks like Hacker #2 will share a birth month with some friends. Feeling pretty good thus far. Tired, but I am always tired, that is nothing new - a bit of nausea, but nothing that a few saltines didn't cure and other than that, good. I really wanted to post my early ultrasound pic, but my scanner doesn't want to work :(

We'll be finding out the sex at the big ultrasound, so maybe we'll get a little pool going! Hopefully I'll be able to post that ultrasound and then we can have some real guessing! Heart beat was 168 at 10 weeks - so get out the old wives tales book to see what that indicates. ;)

And that - is all I know. Not a bad post if I am only going to post one today, eh?

Oooh, I've got another one

Maybe I've been chosen as a contestant on the next survivor or even better, a houseguest on the next BB. Hmm, think of the possibilities!

Anxious for more exciting news?

So, I know some of you are just dying to know ... the suspense shouldn't last too much longer ... I'm thinking the news could be as early as tomorrow. Although 13 is my lucky number, so maybe I should wait until the 13th to share????

Maybe the posts have the excitement blown out of proportion ... maybe we just got a new puppy or won $1,000 in the lottery or Wade's going on Wheel of Fortune, or I'm now a secret agent for CVS? Ya just never know ;)

Pics from the weekend

Friday, Keira got to play dress up with her friends from next door.

Saturday, we went to Old Settlers Days, downtown Olathe where she got to ride these little cars.

Sunday was all about football! Let's just hope the Colts prevail! They aren't looking so good at the moment!

More exciting news!

There are some decent deals at CVS this week! Ya'll know how I love a deal ;) So CVS has the ever famous Chex Mix on sale for $1 (Wags does too) and there is an IP out there for $1 - so free chex mix!

L'Oreal cleansers on sale $5.99, with $5.99 back ECBs, plus there is a $1.00 off coupon from one of the inserts - so MONEYMAKER! I was on my last thing of face wash too, so this is great!

A couple deodorant deals for the hubby - Right Guard Professional $6.99 with $5.00 ECB plus $2.00 coupon from an insert, FREE. (Limit is 3!) Right Guard Sport, Xtreme or Soft and Dri $2.89 with $2.00 ECB, there are $1.00 coupons from previous insert! So you make about a dime on this one and the limit is 5!! So stock up for yourself or get some free to donate, I'll be doing a little of both!

I am sooo excited to actually get to go CVSing again! Wags just isn't the same for me. Plus I had ECBs that were about to expire and I didn't think I was going to get to roll them!

(Are you sick of my "exciting news" posts yet?? I am sure there are more to come ;)

Some exciting news!

Well, looks like it's going to be a week full of exciting news, I just had a feeling. Last night my little brother got engaged! It's shocking news to those of you that know him, I know. But he and Suzie are very happy, they recently moved in together and are now taking the next step! How very exiciting. Welcome to the family, Suzie!

I'll be sure to keep you up to date on the wedding plans! Ryan claims to want no part of the planning, but when I was talking to him earlier today, he seemed to have the date all worked out (unbeknowst to Suzie, I think). Looks like little Miss Keira will get to be a flower girl - now that will make for some cute pictures!

Hmm, that was exciting news, but keep checking back as there may be more to come ;)

It's Cold here!

So I woke up this morning, freezing! It is only 48 degrees outside. I was all for the cool weather, but that is really cold! It has been this way for about 3 days now and we had been kind craving some comfort food since it feels wintery - so I made chicken and noodles last night. I found a recipe on Allrecipes.com and it was fantastic and so so easy. I couldn't believe it. Cook the chicken, throw a few things in a pot and simmer for 30 minutes. And I cheated and bought the steam in bag mashed potatos, talk about an easy meal - if you like chicken and noodles but don't like the hassle, this is the recipe for you.

We've got a busy weekend coming up. Park day today with MOMS club. Then tonight we are going out with a guy from Wade's work and his wife. His daughter is babysitting. Saturday peanut has a vet appointment and then there is a festival downtown that we are going to go to. Old Settlers Days I think it is called. Really just an excuse to eat a funnel cake :) Sunday I imagine we will all be glued to the TV for the first weekend (of many) of FOOTBALL! Colts play sunday night, so we will actually get to see them.

That's all I've got. Have great weekends and maybe I'll have something exciting to talk about next week. Hint Hint.

First Day

Well, I guess it was a success! I didn't get too many details from Keira, but she did seem to enjoy herself. I dropped her off this morning at 9:00 am and expected lots of tears, but instead I got a "Bye Mom". Alright. I was a little choked up about it, but her, not so much. She didn't nap (I'm not really surprised) and she didn't eat her sandwich for some reason, but other than that, she did great. She did not have any potty accidents, which again shocked me as I didn't think she would speak up and tell anyone she had to go. As we were leaving, there was a little girl that was hugging and kissing Keira - wouldn't let her go, it was really really cute. And then on the way home, she said "My Lexie, my Lexie, where is my Lexie?" (Lexie is the little one we know from the MOMS club that is in this program). So she had a good time. I was able to clean my house top to bottom, run to the grocery store, the mall, and Target as well as get in an hour and a half of work. Yippee! By 2:00 though I was really missing my baby. I got a huge hug upon arrival and she said "Mommy I love you I love you" and then she said "My mommy loves me, my mommy loves me" So sweet.

Coupons

Keira just came running up to me, super excited, and said "Mommy, Mommy, look at all these coupons I found" I just had to laugh. She had found my stack of coupons that I cut this weekend and from the look on her face you would have thought she found chocolate or something! Guess the phrase, like mother like daughter applies here.

Weather

I just checked the 10 day forecast and the high for wednesday and thursday here is ...

63 Degrees!

There is nothing on TV

I love 3 day weekends! Even more now than I used to when I worked I think. It is nice to have Daddy home for 3 days in a row. What I hate about three day weekends? Tuesday! I imagine tomorrow to be a long day. Oh well. We didn't do too much exciting this weekend. Grilled out, which is always yummy! We took Keira to Deanna Rose Children's Farm. She loves this place. It is basically a gigantic farm with all kinds of animals - ponies, goats, buffalo, rabbits, cows, etc - you can feed all the animals, they have a playground as well. Keira had a blast as usual.

I was bracing myself for a potty accident because she was so into all the animals that potty was the last thing on her mind - but she suprised me as usual and told us when she had to go.

I had Wade working on the honey-do list today - hanging pictures mostly, this is his least favorite chore and thus the reason that it still hasn't been done. But other than a few rooms that I would like to paint, I think we are finally done with most of the stuff.

I'm going through a baking phase. I made chocolate-coconut drop cookies today. The other day I made ooey gooey butter cake. I am thinking of making a sour cream coffee cake in the morning.

Dinner has become a disaster again. The last 2 months or so that we lived in Lebanon, Keira was in a bad phase. She refused to eat what we were having for dinner, generally threw a big fit about it and dinner was something no one really even wanted to attempt. Then we moved here and suddenly dinner was fine. She'd eat anything and everyone was happy. (Note - I refuse to make her a second dinner. We tried this for awhile, it just made things worse). Now, the past 2 days we're back to refusing to eat and throwing a big fit. ugh. I'll be taking me dinner on the patio, please!

Wade had his FF draft this weekend. And has been obsessive ever since. Just a minute ago I saw he had the calculator application up on his computer with the FF screen up. I asked him what he was doing. He said he was calculating how long the whole draft took. Why this is important, I have no idea. Welcome to my life for the next 5 months or so. At least I have my own team (my MOMS club did a league) this year, so I at least have something to cheer for since it's unlikely we'll get many Colts games out here.

The Scrubs Wizard of Oz episode was just on TV land. That is one of my favorite episodes! And speaking of TV, I am missing the Olympics. There is nothing on TV in the evenings that we watch except BB. Come on end of September.

That's it, I have rambled quite long enough. Big week this week though - Keira starts her Kids Day Out Program on Wednesday. I'll be sure to blog about that Wednesday night!