Five Question Friday!

1. What is the funniest thing you saw on Facebook/twitter this week? I like the little comic things people keep putting on there. I really like these



2. What is your favorite Olympic event? Girls gymnastics! but it makes me SO nervous to watch. I also like the whole swimming competition with Phelps and Lockte, so we'll be watching that!

3. Do your kids to chores around the house? If so, what are they and how old are the children? Do they get paid for them? She doesn't get paid for anything she does b/c she doesn't do much. She is a big helper when wanting to do adult things...like helping with laudry and such....but picking up her toys?! She look at you all sad and pathetic and whine....'mommy help me?' And honestly we don't give a shit what our apartment looks like, there is stuff everywhere and we just don't care!

4. If you get bad service/food do you complain or keep quiet? Keep quiet and make the tip smaller. We haven't had bad service in a while, maybe slower than usual service but we aren't in any hurry so sometimes people just need to be patient.

5. If you could pick ONE frivolous item for your home, what would it be? (massive room sized closet? swimming pool? greenhouse? etc...) I kind of would like a pool....sitting by the pool reading a book...so relaxing! The neighbors right behind our new house have a pool, they are going to be my friends before next summer! LOL!

Baby, baby, baby

So I had my dr's appointment today. The ultrasound went good, baby is still a girl (kinda nice to have the confirmation!) and is measuring right on! She currently weighs 2 lbs, 5 oz which is about right on for 27 weeks. The heartbeat was good and everything looked and measured good! I was right in that her feet (and hands) are beating up my left groin/hip area. The doctor said so far it looks as though this baby will be bigger than P was (which shouldn't be that hard) and that they'll continue to monitor her growth.  I gained 4 pounds last month for a total of 12 pounds (per their records).
Then I had my glucose test, which I was dreading....b/c my eating habits are terrible!! And I failed by 3 points...so now I get to go back for the 3 hour test in 2 weeks. Boo!!

I finished another book, Stay Close by Harlen Coben. Holly and my mom read all of his books and I have read alot of them too. It seemed as though there were alot of characters, but the mystery and suspense was good! He has another book coming out in October, so I might have to read that one too!

Weekend Update

We were so thankful to see Friday afternoon come! We did dinner out and then took a family trip to Target, oh my how Friday's have changed! I hadn't been to Target in close to 3 weeks, which is crazy considering I used to go there at least twice a week b/c it was so close and convenient! We've been going to Super Walmart in Grimes for groceries and that's where I've been getting all the stuff that I used to go to Target for! I can't remember the last time I've been to the mall either. (there might be a small shopping spree in my future!)

Saturday morning we did our usual work routine, Steve got up to unlock the school he is working on and when he got home I went to work from 8-10:30, then when I got home Steve went back out to work and went up to the house to do somethings. Presley and I went swimming, she is getting more daring with jumping in and overall getting more comfortable in the water.
That night Kyle and Maggie had us over for dinner and to give the girls some time to play. Sadie and Grace are super cute! They had their pool out and the girls did some swimming. P watched them (she was too chicken to enjoy the water with them), they were like little fish! Grace is 17 months old and had no fear with dunking her head under the water, it was amazing to watch and made me want to get P in the water even more! Presley and Sadie (who turned 3 in May) took forever to warm up to each other! Finally after 3 hours of being there the girls started playing together! Of course, then it was time to leave! LOL!

Since we were up so late we all slept until after 9 am! It was much needed by all of us! We did our normal Sunday shopping and then hit the pool for a couple hours! It really is the only way to get out of the apartment and enjoy being outside when it is 104 degrees!
We have another busy week ahead before we leave for Okoboji and looking forward to my doctors appt on Wednesday!

Blah, Blah

- I finished another book on vacation, Gone Girl. It was good once it started going, the first 1/4 of the book was little slow and then it started with all the twists and turns and was hard to put down!
- Poor Baby G. I just think back to Presley and how excited and planned we had everything. I feel a little lost with this one and I know part of it is that we have no where to put a baby. We don't have a room to set up, we don't have the clothes washed and ready. My mom has bought some things for #2 and I have a couple things that I have bought also. We bought new bedding even though we could have easily used Presleys old stuff, but this kid shouldn't get all old stuff! Especially when you are having another baby of the same sex, it just seems #2 is already a shadow of her sister! I don't read my weekly update like I did with P, there is no baby shower, we don't have a single diaper or ounce of formula. I know we have time, but that time is going to pass by quickly in the next 13 weeks especially since we'll have a house to move into during that time! (See my optimism!)
- Speaking of the house, we have plumbing, electrical and the hvac system done. Next week they are saying we should be shingled, have siding and insulation and drywall! There is an end in sight!

This is the view from the front door into the living room.

 The future kitchen and dining area.

- We really couldn't have picked a better summer to move into an apartment. We don't have to worry about watering a yard and we have super easy access to a pool with this 100 degree heat. I haven't complained too much about the heat b/c most of the time I am inside working so I don't have to deal with it!

Five Question Friday

1} What do you call them- flip flops, sandals, thongs, or slippers? For sure flip-flops!

2} Are you a "my kids can do no wrong" kind of mom or a "Johnny punched you? Well what did you do to him first?!" kind of mom?  I definitely know Presley is not innocent.  And I know Presley is not the smartest kid her age, it's reality. People love to think their kids are innocent and can do no wrong and are SO smart b/c they blink. Those people are naive and wrong! ha!

3} Would you confront a good friend that looked/looks down on your husband/significant other? Ummm...no. I know not everyone loves Steve like I do and that is ok, there are spouses out there that I'm not big fans of either. You can't make everyone happy all of the time. And I'm pretty sure that if someone were treating Steve badly, he can dish it out right back at them!
4} Biggest pet peeve? Oh, I'm sure there are alot. Not using turn signals, people who talk on their phone while in line somewhere, the sound of static.....

5} What's your favorite take out meal? We don't do take-out that often b/c food is just better when it is fresh at the restaurant. If we bring anything home to eat it is usually Planet Sub or Panera.

Random Updates

26 Weeks

Somehow in the last week I became pregnant! HA! Maybe it was the crap food I ate during vacation but I'm just bigger and actually feel more uncomfortable now. I told Steve I thought I had grown in the last week and he just agreed (geez, thanks for making a girl feel good!). Then at work yesterday, three different people said something about how much bigger I was than I was before vacation (again, we could blame the danishes, donuts and cinnamon rolls).
It's definitely harder for me to pick up Presley (which is a good thing b/c she really doesn't need to be carried around!) and Baby G is active after 8 pm and most of the time I can feel her right in my left hip bone. I enjoy the pool, the feeling of being lighter just feels nice! We will be spending some time in the pool this coming weekend (thank you 100 degree temps! LOL!)

The house, well not much got gone while we were gone. Shocker! It seems Steve has to run this job in order for things to get done. I might have had a slight panic attack when we got back and saw that nothing was done that they said would be but I've decided that I need to stop being a brat about it. I should be happy that we are lucky enough to be able to build a house that we want and I need to just suck it up and stop complaining (well, I will try).

Congrats to our friends Hoots and Basler (or Mark and Kelly as some people would call them) on the birth of their baby girl Samantha! We are so happy for you guys!

Also to my friend Janelle, who is 36 weeks pregnant, I'm thinking of you girl! The next couple weeks are going to fly by! Hang in there and let me know if you need anything!

Rainy days are here to stay

By Wednesday we just had to suck it up and try to enjoy being outside while we could, between storms. I know here in Iowa, it has been a hot mess with little rain....but not on the beach...we are talking STORMS with inches of rain and flash flooding!

We walked the beach, looking for shells and crabs.

Presley even had her first cotton candy (Lots of firsts on this trip) when we had a joint birthday party for cousin Brians 18th bday and cousin Lee's 40th bday.

 Thursday morning my parents enjoyed an early morning walk on the beach.

 And we were determined to get her back in the water, rain or shine! She splashed in the puddles on the deck.

 and enjoyed the big waves of the ocean!

Overall we had a good time and it was so nice to see everyone since we only do this every other year.
Presley enjoyed the bunk beds the most, she kept telling me she was 'so tired', only b/c she wanted to go up and down the ladder to the top bunk. She never actually slept in the top bunk!

Friday we got up and made our way to the airport....driving into another bad storm. Of course, we knew if our flight got delayed there was no way we were going to make our connecting flight in Charlotte. The flight was delayed so we planned on staying overnight in Charlotte and catching the next flight into DSM 11 am Saturday morning.....but then our Houston flight was cancelled, so we were stuck in Houston for another night with our flight leaving to Charlotte at 5 am! We got a hotel, a taxi to go to dinner (Presley's first time in a cab and the first time without a car seat!) and went to bed EARLY since we had to be up at 2:30 to head back to the airport. It all worked out, a little more expensive than planned but that comes with traveling! Presley was not as good on the flights home (whiny as heck while waiting but did sleep thru the whole first flight!) as she was on the way there, but she was tired and we really couldn't have asked for more out of a 3 year old.

We got unpacked, started laundry and all went to bed early! Sunday we did more laundry and actually enjoyed the outdoors and went swimming at the pool...twice!
It is nice to be home and we only have 2 weeks before Okoboji! Just need to get thru the next 2 weeks! We can do it! :)

Family Talent Show

I know right now, you are all SO jealous that you are NOT a part of my family! We had a family talent show 4 years ago and it was a lot of fun so we decided to do it again this year. Believe me, we don't have that many talents so trying to come up with new and creative ways to show 'talent' is very interesting!

We had an award show, which was hilarious and awesome! It included categories such as Best Supporting Spouse (won by my daddy!) and Favorite Up and Coming Actor, which included all the little kids who all won in a tie! :)

 A great celebratory dance routine for the Packers Super Bowl win last year!

 Some awesome Vanilla Ice rapping and an original rap by cousin Brian!

 Learning how to make a new, favorite Texas drink.

 And my favorite reality show....American Idol featuring Ryan Seacrest, Randy Jackson and Steven Tyler!

Our family talent was a making fun of everyone's talents from 4 years ago! I have no pictures and I'm ok with that! We had ALOT of laughs and have decided to do it again at the next reunion in Colorado 2 years from now....And now we have to think of another talent, I might be all out of ideas! Talent is limited!

Family Olympics

P can be spoiled by her great-aunts! She was given this Tangled doll with matching dress, she refused to wear the dress in front of anyone, so we went to the bedroom so I could take pictures for proof of how cute she was. My princess!

Cameron and Presley watching one of the bean bag games....during one of the few times Presley was being friendly to her.

In addition to water pong and tippy cup as part of our family Olympics, we went to the nearest open area between storms for wiffle ball (everyone was paired up with someone of the other team to see who could hit the ball the farthest) and then a kick ball game!

 It's been decided that wiffle ball, makes everyone look adorable when they are swinging!

 Of course, there was controversy around which ball was hit the furthest so they had two really 'effective' ways of measuring the distance...how many bat lengths from the ball to home plate.

and 6 different people 'stepping' out the distance to see which was further. Both resulted in no decision and instead another round of hitting for those batters. LOL!

Then we played kickball! It's not cool when I get put in the outfield and then the kickers decide that kicking right towards me (being pregnant) and Holly (not the most athletic). We got beat badly, but it was still fun to play!

We even did the water balloon toss, Holly won it for our team (as she has in years past!) We never got in the volleyball or all the bean bag games to end our Olympics due to the weather, but my team won overall! Woohoo!

Monday = pictures galore

Monday we decided to take a trip to Galveston and do the sight-seeing, touristy stuff since it was overcast and kind of rainy.

Steve calls this our TMZ, paparazzi photo....yeah, we definitely look like Katie Holmes and Suri here, don't we! HA! (Jessica showing off her baby bump while shopping in Galveston with daughter, Presley....I can see it now!)

 We had our family pictures this night..all 30 of us in our Packer Super Bowl shirts!

 My immediate family.

 My grandpa and his 5 great-grandkids...see how happy Presley is with this? Boston is thinking, 'what the hell is your problem?...get away you crying baby!'

 Grandpa and his grandchildren (11) and great-grandchildren (5)

 My family!

My grandma passed away in May 2011 and we had a memorial for her and threw her ashes in the ocean, Surfside beach was her all-time favorite place to be!

There were a lot of good memories shared, many tears shed and even some laughs during this time. It was nice that we were all able to be a part of it and I'm sure she was looking down on us loving every minute of it!

 She loves her daddy!

Sunny days!

Saturday we were able to spend some time at the beach and then my cousin Sarah had a luau for baby Elias' 1st birthday party. Each family gets one night to cook dinner for everyone and this night we had pig, a pinata and presents!

 Boston got up there like a pro.

 and Presley did what she does best, cry. She wants to be involved but doesn't want to do it by herself or have anyone looking at her (sounds a little like me).

 she occasionally (once a day) warmed up to cousin Cameron, who is 4 years old. Cameron is so sweet and motherly, all she wanted was to play with Presley but most of the time P was moody! Cameron will be 5 in October and weighs less than P (and maybe even Boston too!)

 SO CUTE!

Sunday we had some more sun, spent a little time on the beach, blowing bubbles, watching the dolphins swim and the big ships come in!

Sunday night we started our family olympics with beer (water) pong! A great, new addition to the olympics since all of my younger cousins are reaching the legal drinking age! I was not good! I am not a big drinking game player (I'd rather watch than play!)...maybe I would've been better if I had been actually drinking!

Vacation, pictures and rain, OH MY!

So last Friday we got up nice and early at 4:30 to catch our plane to Houston (via Charlotte, NC). Presley got up and ready and was cooperative and excited! She did fantastic on the plane and thought she was pretty cool to have her own seat with her own fold-down tray! (ah the little things!)

 Her first plane right and bus ride (to get the rental car) all on the same trip! Lucky girl!

We got to our destination about 2:30, said hi to some family, went to the grocery store and then headed out to the beach so the kids could have their first experience with the ocean!

We didn't have Presley's swimsuit on at this point, she got wet anyway and her shorts were too heavy to stay up...so she went with just her tshirt! Who cares, it's vacation!

Her hair was meant for the beach!



 Future model?