Happy Graduation!

Things have been so crazy with the Holiday's I didn't get to share about Ben graduating with his Masters in Computer Science a couple weekends ago. It was very exciting! After 6 1/2 years in college he's finally done! (Though he's still toying with the idea of getting his Phd at some point). We are very proud of him!

Just for fun here's a picture of us from when he graduated with his Bachelors just 2 years ago...I was pregnant then too but only about 9 weeks LOL.

27 weeks

27 weeks with Kyle and then with Little Bean...I like how round my belly gets around now.

Wow are we really at 27 weeks already?? I can't believe it!

How big is baby? Almost 2 lbs. and around 14" long
Weight gained? 20lbs +

Symptoms? My back hurts so much. I try to wear my support belt when I'm on my feet as much as possible. It's so much harder this time with having to carry around a 25lb boy on top of the 20lbs I've gained. Thank goodness for my chiropractor.

Movement: This baby moves so much it's crazy. I don't know if it's just cause I can feel it more this time, or if he actually is more active than Kyle...makes me scared to know how active he might be when he's older...Kyle is already so busy!! LOL. He doesn't get hiccups as much as Kyle did.

Cravings: Oh Christmas food was so yummy. I'm sure I've gained 10lbs in the last month just from all the good food. I'm already guessing this baby will be more than the 8lbs Kyle was.

Dr's appts: Next Wed. Getting my bloodwork done Wed.

Best moment of the week: Realizing this time around I already feel like Little Bean is part of our family, just not big enough to be on the outside yet. I was rocking Kyle when he woke up in the middle of the night and I felt like I was rocking both my babies.

Christmas is so much fun when you have kids

I was just telling Ben the other day that this is the first Christmas since we got married that makes me feel like a kid again. It was always so much fun to wake up on Christmas morning and open presents. My dad always made it really special. Well this year was a blast because we got to stay up on Christmas Eve and set up Kyle's toys under the tree and then get him up in the morning. He loved it! Here are a few of the favorite things he got.

Cozy Coupe from Grandma and Papa

Shopping cart from mommy

Train table and trains from daddy (My $60 steal from the Mom sale this year!)

Merry CHRISTmas from the Lawry's

Just wanted to wish you and yours a wonderful, magical, joyful Christmas. May you have peace this Holiday season as we celebrate the birth of our Savior Jesus!

Love the Lawrys

17 months

I know this is a little late...Here's what Kyle's up to at 17 months.

He has 12 teeth now and more on the way. He is turning into quite the toddler. He's so curious and climbs onto just about everything. I also think he has an ornery streak (not from me I'm sure, LOL). He likes to do the opposite of what you ask just to see if you will do something. So he's spent lots of time in time-out this month.
We are working on him acknowledging when we ask him to do something by saying "Yes Mommy/Daddy". Which right now is a head nod. He's very smart and picks up things quickly. The key with him his consistency. He is learning to sign "thank you" and doing well. He is also only napping once a day now, which makes for a tired mommy.

He is a very happy boy for the most part and thrives on consistency and keeping busy with planned activities. We just started going to library story time which he enjoys.

25 weeks

Left is with Kyle, right with Little Bean

How Far along? 25 weeks

How big is baby? The size of an eggplant

Weight gained? +20lbs (seems like a lot to me, but it's not really)

Maternity clothes: Found out Ross has maternity clothes!! I bought a shirt and cute maternity pants for $23!!! Score!!!

Movement: so much it hurts sometimes, or makes me nauseous. But I like the reassurance that he's strong and healthy. He's also head down I'm pretty sure because I get kicked in the ribs and side ever so often.

Cravings: Chocolate...(it's bad I know). And still anything salty. I actually cooked a roast last week and loved it (I always hated roast)

Symptoms: Still needing 10 hours of sleep a night.

Dr. updates: I had an appt. Friday and updated this post.

Making Pizza

Turns out Kyle is quite the little man in the kitchen!

Christmas Jammies

Kyle had tons of hand-me-down Christmas jammies last year...this year we bought him some adorable ones....I just love the reindeer feet!! So cute!!

24 weeks

I look at these pictures and notice two things...I am carrying lower...and at this point with Kyle we already had the room painted...We've got alot of work to do...but it's waiting till after Christmas.

How far along? 24 weeks
Baby is the length of an ear of corn!

No weight update...have Dr. appt. Friday

Movement: LOTS! It actually keeps me up at night sometimes. I'm pretty sure he's already head down too...Kyle was at this point. I'm just shocked at how much more I feel this time not having an anterior placenta.

Sleep: Not great this week...my back has been killing me. I got an adjustment Tuesday...hoping a pregnancy massage will help.

Cravings: I finally like chocolate ice cream again and it was on sale this week!

Symptoms: TIRED...I can't get off the couch after like 6pm which makes it hard when Ben's gone in the evenings, but we're managing.

Baking Cookies

This is Kyle's favorite part about making cookies...(don't worry there were no eggs in it)
Are they done yet?

Helping roll them in powdered sugar

Such a good helper in the kitchen!

My Black Friday

Well if you know me at all you know that I LOVE a good deal. So naturally Black Friday would be thrilling for me. I'd been scouting the ads for weeks before they even came out...who knew they are leaked and scanned online for all to see. This year we are on a tight budget being on one income so I have very specific things I want for people and only a certain amount of money. So here's how my Black Friday went down.

Thursday morning...I'd heard that many places offer their doorbusters online on Thanksgiving...Kohls was one of them...I helped my mom get a gift for someone and got the good deal PLUS an extra 15% off through ebates (and 4% cash back) and we didn't have to wait in line for when they opened at 3am...

Thursday night...Toys R Us opened at 10pm...we get there at 9:30...see like a thousand people in line in the freezing cold and decide it's not worth it.

Friday morning...I get up around 7, eat breakfast, and leave about 7:30am. My strategy was if what I want is still there then it's meant to be. So I decide to try out Toys R Us and even though it's very busy they still had almost everything in their ad and there was hardly a line to check out...score!
Then I moved on to Target...What I really wanted for Ben was there at half off and they had 2 left so I now have enough left in my budget to get him a few more things!
I also stopped and Bible's Plus, and Joanns but that was just for little things...Joanns had the longest line to check out of any of the other stores...and I wasn't crazy enough to stand in the line to get fabric cut either...LOL Though I did notice they still had alot of their doorbusters left when I was there at 9am which I don't think they did last year.

Saturday night...Kyle and I are bored and I figure what the heck I'll check out Kohl's deals for kids holiday clothes and I have a gift card so I found Kyle the pants and shirt I want to go with his sweater vest for Christmas for $18 (normally $36!).

And thus ended my weekend of shopping. I would have bought alot more if it was in my budget. I just love shopping for people and getting them the perfect gift.

My online shopping has begun and will continue for the next few weeks. I've discovered all the great deals on books and other things I can get on Amazon rather than buying in-store and signing up for Amazon.com/ mom (free) gives me free shipping for 3 months!

I've also been using my Swagbucks to buy gift cards for Amazon and Paypal which has been helping too! Remember....all these money saving things like ebates, shopathome, swagbucks, and amazon mom are all FREE. So click on the links to sign up today and start saving!