Thornock.Org

My awesome friends threw a baby shower for me yesterday morning.

(Sarah, Katie, and Tammy)
It was a brunch with delicious waffles, muffins, cinnamon rolls, and fruit. As mentioned in my tag post, whipped cream is a favorite so I caked it on my waffles along with strawberries. It was divine!

Overall, I had about 17 friends show up. We had a lot of fun! We played guess the brand name of baby items. It was actually harder than I thought it would be. My mind went blank on some of them even though I have seen the product many times.

The other game was a “Guess the birth weight of the baby.” I saw all the guesses and many are guessing he’ll be above 9 lbs. I’m feeling a little smaller this time around so I’m guessing he’ll be around 8lbs. We’ll see in a little less than 4 weeks.

They also had each person tie a knot in this darling monkey fleece blanket.

I had a lot of fun and I’m so thankful for such great friends! We have been spoiled with all the amazing gifts! Here are some more pictures from the shower.

Elizabeth, Iliana, Me and Tammy

Me opening presents…I got so much fun boy stuff!

We have a ton of crafty people in our area. These are the homemade gifts I received. Two knotted fleece blankets, 4 burp cloths (they are so cute…I don’t want to get spit up on them;) and a sling (bottom right) and a hooded towel. I should have captured a picture of all the gifts but forgot to do so.

Last but certainly not least, I received a package in the mail from my dad and Vickie. Vickie (Grandma Price) made an adorable blanket. Thank you so much Vickie! We love it and can’t wait to swaddle our boy in it.

A couple of months ago we noticed that Allie’s right eye will turn out for a few seconds when she is extremely tired and/or not focusing on anything in particular. I did some research and found that she has intermittent exotropia strabismus. I worried that she would need glasses, a patch or possibly surgery to correct her eyes. Last week we took her to a pediatric ophthalmologist. He tested her vision with many different tactics and dilated her pupils. He said she has perfect vision and although she does have a minor case of intermittent exotropia, she has great control over her eyes and it will probably go away by age 10. He didn’t recommend any treatment and said he won’t need to see her for another year. It was wonderful news!! We took her to get some ice cream afterwards because she did so well for the doctor. She looked a little scary later in the day when one eye finally came back to normal and the other was still dilated .

On to other news, I finally decided to get a hair cut. With the heat and humidity just around the corner I needed to chop off my long locks. I was hoping for a drastic change but the stylist played it safe. I probably should have asked her to cut more off…my hair grows so fast. For the price I paid, I’m a little disappointed. The stylist I have used in the past was booked until June though and I couldn’t wait that long.

Jake is extremely busy these days (when is he not busy?). With his comprehensive exams in June, he is starting to feel the stress. He also received a new calling at church. He is now the ward clerk (he was previously assist ward clerk). He is included in every bishopric meeting so that means he is gone Wednesday nights and for a good 6.5 hours on Sunday. He is enjoying working so close with such great men though.

Here I am a week ago with the new do and a big belly. I’m not too fond of this picture but I’ve come to the realization that I’m not going to like any picture of me at this point. Only 4 and a half weeks to go!

After what seemed like an eternity of rainy days last week, we have had gorgeous weather this week. The temperature high today was 81 degrees. We got out the kiddie pools and filled them up with warm tap water. We unfortunately don’t have access to a hose so we have to fill up our storage bins with water from our apartment and transport it in a wagon. Luckily, we live on the first floor. It’s a big pain to fill up these little pools but once you see the kids enjoying it, the effort is so worth it. They played for 3 hours!

Here’s proof of the fun:

Three little pools for six little kids! They loved jumping from one pool to the next.

Allie enjoying a pool to herself.

Popsicle break! MMMmmm…gotta love those Breyers All Natural popsicles. They are the best.

My sister tagged me and claimed that if I didn’t do the tag I will have bad luck for 46 years, grow 5 horns, all but my two front teeth will fall out, and I’ll burn in the fiery depths of tagging “H.” The idea of the tag is to use photo’s to show your favorites. So, here’s to hoping I don’t grow horns…

Color:

Holiday:

Animal:

Food:

Vacation spot (this is where I would like to go):

Worst habit:

Job:

Dessert: (I love ANYTHING with whipped cream)

Hobby:

There I am in a nutshell. I’d show a picture of me, but I’ve been having some frumpy days lately and haven’t felt like taking a self portrait. But you all know what I look like anyway. Feel free to do this tag too if you’re interested.

I officially love Craig’s List. I haven’t felt prepared for our little man until now, thanks to Craig’s List. On Saturday I found an ad for infant boy clothes; over 100 pieces for $30. I was skeptical because it seemed like too good of a deal. That’s less than thirty cents per item. But she claimed they were stain-free and in great condition. So, we emailed back and forth and set up a time to meet. When we met I was delighted to see her pull out two large trash bags full of clothes. Oh, but that wasn’t all. She went to her back seat and pulled out two more bags. It barely fit in our trunk. I waited until Allie was asleep and until all my chores were done before diving into the bags. The reward was GREAT! I was in shock at what a great deal I got. The clothes are in mint condition, for the most part, and I would say that there were closer to 200 pieces of clothing. Not only that, but she also gave me receiving blankets, swaddling blankets, socks, booties, mittens, hats, bibs, bottles, and newborn diapers. Now we just need to find a place to store all of it until he arrives. The clothes are mainly 0-3 months and 3-6 months so he probably won’t even wear half of them (assuming he’s a chunk like Allie and grows quickly). Anyway, just thought I’d share my great find. I finally feel ready for a baby boy.

(Each stack of clothing had between 8-12 things each).

Here’s the scoop on our Easter events:

Saturday morning we went to the ward Easter Egg Hunt. Allie wasn’t as quick as some of the other kids and ended up with only two eggs in her bag. But she had fun anyway. The oldest Bednar girl came over and gave Allie three of her eggs (such a sweetheart!).

Sunday morning Allie found her Easter basket hiding in the bathtub. She got a little purse, coloring book, bubbles, stickers and candy from the Easter bunny. We went to church, I taught the Easter Story to my eight year old girls, and then we went home.
We took a family picture before we changed out of our Sunday clothes.

Allie tried out her new bubble wand. She’s making a funny face in this picture.

Later in the afternoon our friends in our apartment building got together for another Easter egg hunt. This time Allie got plenty of eggs!

We took a picture of all the kids (minus Iliana, who did not want to be in the picture).

Then we took a picture of all the pregnant moms, which happens to be ALL of us.

(From left to right: Tammy-due in October, Julia-due in August, Elizabeth-due in July, Me-due in May, and Tiffany-due in April). There must be something in the water here.

Then Allie played with her friends. This picture cracks me up. Casius’ dad threw a big rubber ball and it hit Casius in the head. Allie and Casius thought is was hilarious!! Watching them laugh so hard made us all laugh.

We then headed to Jake’s cousins house for a delicious dinner. Matt and Amanda were great hosts (they are the couple in the back corner). They invited another couple from their ward. We had pork loins, asparagus with cream sauce, Martha Stewart’s yams, salad, mashed potatoes. For dessert we had double chocolate cake and I brought “better than (you fill in the blank)” dessert. Everything was delicious!

The other day while I was shopping I came across some chocolate wafers, which reminded me of a dessert that my friends, Diana and Shirley, used to have for their birthday. I bought the chocolate wafers and made the dessert for St. Patrick’s Day. I used food coloring to make the whipping cream green, although you can’t tell in the picture. Allie helped me make it this morning and we devoured most of it after FHE (I forgot to take a picture of the log before it was eaten). It’s a delicious and very simple dessert. It’s basically chocolate wafers with whipping cream and vanilla. The recipe is on the back of the chocolate wafer box.

In the past, I have made corned beef and cabbage and potatoes for St. Patrick’s day. This year we decided to go with a different menu. I made pork chops with gravy, mashed potatoes, salad, and rolls. Jake raved about the gravy. In fact even when all the pork chops, mashed potatoes and rolls were gone, he still couldn’t get enough of the gravy. He ended up eating it like it was soup. I love finding recipes that my family enjoys. Even our picky two-year old ate everything on her plate. So, for those of you looking for a good pork chop recipe, here is the recipe I used: Pleasant Pork Chops. I tweaked it a little. I cooked the onions and garlic with the chops. I also added about 1/3 can of cream of chicken and dried oregano to the sauce. It would be great over rice as well.

We had a delicious St. Patrick’s Day. We hope you all had a great day too.

For those who’ve been asking for more preggo pictures, here I am about 2 weeks ago. Only ten more weeks until we welcome our active baby boy.

Things were a little rough here the second and third night without the binky. Allie was awake, crying, for 5 hours (from 12AM-5AM) Sunday morning and about 1.5 hours Monday morning. She is getting better about falling asleep without it, she’s just having a hard time falling back asleep when she wakes up in the middle of the night. Last night, however, was wonderful. She slept from 7:30PM to 7:45AM. I heard her wake up sometime in the middle of the night but she was able to put herself back to sleep without the binky and without crying within minutes. It was a miracle. I’m hoping she will continue to follow last night’s pattern.

If you haven’t read the previous post, do so before you read this.

We decided not to drag out the process of eliminating the pacifier and instead left all of Allie’s binkies out on the table for binky fairy to come get last night. It took a little coaxing from us for Allie to put them on the table but she did it. It took her a lot longer to fall asleep than usual. She would cry for her binky for a few minutes and then we’d hear her talking about the doll house she was going to get and how binkies are for babies, etc. She went through that cycle a few times before she finally fell asleep on her own. We went in every so often to comfort her but after 50 minutes she was asleep. She didn’t wake up in the middle of the night asking for it, thank goodness, but she did wake up at 5:30 am ready to see what the binky fairy brought.

Her doll house is exactly what she wanted and she’s been playing with it all day. She has asked for her binky a few times but we remind her that the binky fairy took them to babies who need them and then she’s fine. I guess that’s the one advantage of weaning an older child…she understands a lot more.

I am very surprised at how smooth this process is going considering how attached she is to her pacifier. I hope tonight goes even better and that she sleeps in a little longer. My fingers are crossed.

Allie still uses a pacifier to fall asleep. We had originally planned on weaning her from the binky at 18 months old. Well, she’s now almost three and more dependent on it than ever. I don’t recall a time when she has fallen asleep without it. We are having a hard time justifying taking it away from her. It’s the one thing that she is attached too; it’s her comfort. She has never become attached to any stuffed animal, doll or blanket…just her binky. It’s not hurting her teeth or speech, just our pride. We’ve become closet binky-lovers. However, we have decided if we are going to wean her from it, we better do it before the next child comes. After much procrastination we started the process last night. Here’s the plan:

The binky fairy is a nice fairy who visits while you are sleeping. She takes your binky to give to babies and in return leaves you a toy. We have been talking to Allie about the binky fairy for a few weeks now to prepare her. We went to Toys R Us to choose a toy that Allie absolutely must have from the binky fairy. We then wrote a letter to the binky fairy and left it on her table along with a binky.

Allie has three pacifiers so we are doing one a night until they are gone. Allie asked for dolls, a doll house and a rainbow (thank goodness for colorful streamers). She woke up this morning to find this:

She has played with these dolls NONSTOP today. We are glad the binky fairy brought the right dolls.

Allie also loves to walk through the rainbow to get to her room.

Tonight will be the second night and Saturday night will be the final night. I have a feeling it’s going to be a long and rough night, as it will be her first night falling asleep without one.

The whole idea behind the binky fairy is for Allie to choose to give up her binky instead of us forcing it away from her. We’ll keep you updated these next two days. Wish us luck and much strength!