This and that...

So I have received my Skin Food by Aubrey products!!! I am so excited to start using them.

 This order looks huge because some of it is for my mom. We got a variety of different things. I have heard nothing but great things about all of her products. I have several friends that use them and swear by them. So, I figured I needed to try them out! Especially because they are all organic and non GMO... My kind of stuff! She has an etsy store where you can look at all of her products. 

The main reason I wanted to try these products is because I have had terrible eczema on my hands since I got pregnant with Nash. It started with one finger seriously right when I got pregnant. Now, it is all over my right hand and it has been terribly uncomfortable. I have tried a ton of different lotions and nothing has worked! 

What's even worse is that regular lotions burn! That's not a good sign when you are trying to relieve pain and help your skin and it burns when you use certain products... I was using specific eczema aveeno lotion and it wasn't helping. 

I am now using skin food lavender hand treatment..

Here are the results after using it for just ONE day... Left pic is before, and right pic is 1 day after using her hand treatment. What a difference after just one day! 

This is my right hand right by my pinky. I had redness and bumps that was itching constantly. I am already happy with these instant results I have gotten. 

Here is an updated pic a week later... All this makes me want to do is buy more of her products! 

The only problem I am having is that I am constantly washing my hands.. Which obviously makes my eczema worse and I am going through the lotion like crazy. I am always doing dishes, feeding/cleaning up after my son, bathing him, etc etc.. But whatever it takes to help cure this! 

I also got some baby balm for Zane for his dry skin and several different bars of soap. Zane likes the baby balm rubbed on his back at night. I do it before he goes to sleep and it relaxes him. 

Since the weather is still crappy.. I decided to work on some projects for the boys' bedroom. 

I made all 5 of these pictures on the wall... The ones with the white frames are the ones I just recently did. I usually use my cricut for projects like these, but oddly enough I wanted to paint them free handed. I'm not the best painter by any means... But, I wanted them to look more handmade/ not perfect/ kid like (if that makes sense). I think I achieved that. Haha. 

I also just painted this little picture for their room as well. 

AND, I found the perfect frame laying around my house for Zane's little hand print project we did awhile back. Perfect size! That was pure luck! 

I also found these red baskets at the dollar store and just added their names to them. Easy stuff... 

I think we are almost done with their room... Few more things to do here and there but it's finally all coming together. 

Play date!!!

I do everything I can to get Zane and myself out of the house during these long winter months... If I'm going crazy inside, I'm sure he is to. My friend Ashley and I enjoy taking the kiddos out together. So far we have ventured to Boonshoft, run around fun town, and the Air Force museum (and of course at home play dates as much as possible). Today we took the kiddos to the Air Force museum.  There was so much room for them to run around. It was fun, but it wore them out quick!

Here's my little man brushing his teeth and getting ready... 

The kiddos actually sat still for a hot second for me to get a pic!

And they actually stayed outside of the bars that they were supposed to. They were all well behaved!

How cute is this little outfit!?!?

Of course Zane fell asleep on the way home. After his nap and lunch, we cuddled on the couch. Look at this sweet  boy holding mommys hand. Love times like these.

Ash and I are on the hunt for more fun indoor activities for the kiddos!

Scarlett's One!

This past weekend, we celebrated my niece's 1st Birthday! Her actual birthday is today (the 24th). She is a beautiful, smart, loving, little girl! We had an absolute blast at the party. It was a Winter ONEderland theme and everything looked so cute! Wish I would have taken more pics of the décor. They had so many cute decorations and a white chocolate fountain! YUM!

Here are some pics of her birthday party...

Zane Marshall

Scarlett Olive

Raelin and Zane eyeing the cake...

Scarlett's Bday cakes

All the Kiddos

Birthday Girl!!!

Mommy and Daddy with their baby girl

 

Diggin into her cake!

Grandma (my mom) and Zane

Yummy!!!

Grandma and Zane again

Me and my big bro, John.

My little family

Love my boys

Mommy and daddy loving on Zane

She was getting so sleepy..

Me and Teeny (what I call her)

Grandma and her babies

Look at these two beauties!

Zane and Scarlett. They look so much alike!

 

My little GQ model.

Handsome boy!

That smile! I love this little boy so much!



 

Nash Updates!!

I just wanted to take a minute and write down all my pregnancy feelings/symptoms/cravings etc this time around.

With my first, I was very very busy and don't remember taking it all in. This time, I definitely am. 

I am feeling kicks like crazy! He is very active and I love it! I don't love him kicking my bladder tho.. Haha and he feels very low. I felt low with Zane too, but this time he feels even lower. I feel great, no complaints at all really. I just wish I wasn't always so tired. I'm blaming this a lot on the weather and being bored inside. I really just don't like being pregnant in the winter. In fact, I am just completely over this winter. I am so ready for some warmer weather and outside time with Zane. For now though, I just keep myself busy with little projects around the house and cleaning. 

I am craving cereal like crazy! I can eat 3 bowls a day sometimes.. I try to eat healthy stuff though and not the sugary kind. I am also just craving sweets, which is really weird for me. I usually am not a sweets person at all. But right now, I love me a cookie or ice cream now and then. With Zane, I craved slushies and that was basically it. 

I have documented every week with Nash. I did the same thing with Zane (but missed a couple weeks throughout due to being too busy). 

I am using my Project Life phone app to document... You can read more about it in my scrapbooking tab.

So I am 27 weeks now. Zach and I can't believe how fast it is going.. We just had a recent ultrasound to check on Nash's progress. The cyst has completely gone away and he is just perfect! We got terrific news and it felt great! Now, just 3 more months to go...

I am sleeping well for now. The only thing I hate is not being able to sleep on my tummy. That's my favorite way to sleep.. So during both pregnancies I have hated the fact that I can only sleep on my back/side. It's also getting hard for me to get into our bed. My husband prefers it as high as it can go so his feet don't hit the footboard.. He's 6 ft 3 in, so he needs that extra space. He said he will get me a step stool when I am too big to hop onto the bed. Haha, thanks hubby!

No stretch marks! I didn't have any with Zane either. I actually bounced back to my pre-baby body easily. I basically lather myself up after each shower to ensure no stretch marks.

This is what I use to prevent stretch marks (for Zane and Nash). I buy it at the Motherhood store. It's $15 for this container. I go through probably three throughout my pregnancy. 

Big news for Zane this week... For nap, he now climbs into his big boy bed and falls asleep on his own, and sleeps for over 2 hours! Still waiting to transition him completely during the night. No rush since Nash won't need his crib really until Zane is 2, but he likes his big boy bed and I want him to be comfortable with it. 

Just look at him all snuggled up.. 

His red curtains make his room glow during the day.. Haha 

Well, that's it for now.. More to come later! :)

Cabin Fever...

It has been insanely cold and snowy here the past few days, which means extra quality time with my hubby. Since he works outside, he stays home on really cold/snowy days... Zane has been  extremely excited (and me too) to have daddy home all day with us. We have had endless cuddles, relaxation, movie marathons, and play time. It has been great!

I however, get cabin fever easily... Therefore I've been getting bored. We did manage to get out of the house Tuesday to go visit Zach's grandma and drop off a picture/frame to her that Zach fixed up for her. We had a nice little visit. When we got home, we decided to bundle Zane up and take him outside for a little while- just to get some fresh air and play in the snow a bit. He loved it!  

This was his first time playing in the snow :) we only stayed out for 20 mins or so, but it was worth it. 

Zane LOVES playing with his daddy! They are so cute together and laugh tons. And they are so silly together...

This picture cracks me up... These TMNT masks are from Zane's 1st bday party. He loves to put them on and have us put them on too... But you can't see anything out of them. Haha 

I also got bored and compared my baby bump pics at 26 weeks . Zane on the left and Nash on the right. I'm not sure if I look the exact same or maybe a little bigger with Zane.. Either way, it's fun to compare the two! Nash is moving like crazy... He is very active and I am loving it! 

Today (Wednesday) Zach decided to be productive and work on the flooring in our unfinished hallway.. 

This is the hallway from our kitchen to our garage. To the right is my pantry/storage room and to the left we have our laundry room/wash room. We remodeled the pantry last winter and finished the floor in there, but waited to start the hallway. The laundry room/wash room is our LAST room to remodel in the house! Wow! I can't even believe it... It will probably be next winters project. This spring/summer we are focusing on the outside again. 

In November, I temporarily painted the 70s style vinyl flooring in the hallway just to make is presentable.. When zach removed some of the kitchen tile to lay the flooring, he exposed it again. It was so ugly! So glad I never have to look at that again. 

Whenever Zach is doing a project, Zane INSISTS on being a part of it and helping. It is too stinking cute! He runs and gets his hammer and starts hammering everything.. 

He even insisted on helping daddy drill... 

In the end, it looks great! 

He stopped on the left side for now.. He still needs to add baseboard and we will eventually be replacing the door. 

This is my pantry/storage space...

While daddy worked on the floor, Zane and I did an art project and then had bath time. Here is our Batman, Spider-Man, and The Hulk art project... Of course I helped out a lot with this project.. 

He also took almost a 3 hour nap in his big boy bed. I checked on him several times.. He fell to one side at some point but when I went to check on him again later, he migrated back onto his pillow. He is getting so big... 

Speaking of Zane being such a big boy...

He really impressed me while we did our art project today. I always have done projects using his hand prints, and they aren't easy! However, I did them today for the first time in awhile and he listened so well. He didn't touch anything when I asked him not to and he followed my directions. I can't believe how much he has grown. His personality is really shinning through more and more each day. I love seeing him grow and learn.

He knows all of his body parts, can point to them and say them. He does puzzles all by himself.. He will bring me an empty puzzle and will run to his playroom to find the correct pieces and put them in the correct spot. He knows animal sounds and will point to their picture when we ask him to. He eats his meals the best he can with his fork/spoon and uses his words when he needs to. He even enjoys all my healthy food I make him... which always makes me really happy. His vocabulary is very good and I am usually able to understand what he is saying/what he wants. He listens to what I say, repeats things, and does what he is told (most of the time..haha). Don't get me wrong, he has "those days" but overall he is such a good little boy. He loves to do puzzles, color, play with cars, and his tools. He uses his imagination and talks to people on his play phone, makes car noises when he "drives" them, and crash noises.. He tells me in sign language and by using his words when he is hungry, thirsty, has pooped, he says more, please and thank you, etc.. And most of all, I love that he responds to our questions with a "yes" or "no". This cracks me up. He understands what we are saying and with legitimately answer our questions. 

I am loving this age and being able to stay at home with him to watch him grow. I am going to soak up every second I have with him for the next 3 months until our little Nash is here. I know once he makes his appearance, it's no longer just mommy, daddy, and Zane..  We have a lot to look forward to when he arrives, but for now we are going to cherish these moment with just Zane Marshall.