I LOVE pictures and I love getting professional pictures taken of my babies. When Jonah was born, we didn't do newborn pictures and I really regretted it, so we did have them done with Sadie. I was able to find a great photographer who has really great prices and does wonderful work! When we did get pictures of Jonah when he was a baby, we decided to do them at 4 months, 8 months, and 12 months (instead of the typical 3, 6, 9, and 12 months). We are doing the same with Sadie and so we just had her 4 month pictures taken this past Saturday. She was really crabby (as she is fussy a lot of the time) and she didn't cooperate for the pictures as we hoped she would. My photographer was kind enough to let us come back on Monday to try for a few more (at no charge!) I was pleasantly surprised with how all the pics turned out because we got some great ones on Sat and on Mon! I just wanted to share them with everyone since they are so cute!:)

4 Months Old!!

Today my little baby is 4 months old...my how time flies! She is still a little fuss face (as I was called when I was a baby), but she is just growing and changing so much!! We had a 4 month photo shoot with a photographer today and it was horrible! Sadie was not having it...she wouldn't smile for anything and she was just pretty crabby. I hope we at least got a few good shots! This picture is one I took on my own and of course she was smiling for me at home...haha! We have her 4 month checkup in a little over a week so hopefully she is growing just as she should be!:)

3 Months Old!!

My baby is 3 months old....CRAZY!!!! She is just "talking" up a storm and smiling at all the funny faces I make at her:)

2 Months Old!!

Yes, that's right...my little baby girl is already 2 months old!! She is just too cute and so much fun with all the smiles she is showing off now!!:) She is still pretty fussy at times, but she has slept through the night 2 nights in a row...YAHOO!!! Let's hope she keeps this up!!:)

French Stew

I haven't really been cooking many new recipes lately so I haven't made another food post from my first one, but I am going to right now! I made a great dinner tonight and my husband loved it too so I thought I would share with my readers:)

French Stew
2 Tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 pound pork tenderloin, cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cans (15 ounces each) cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
4 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
1 can (14 ounces) chicken broth
1 teaspoon rosemary, crushed
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
4 slices crusty french bread, torn

Heat oven to 375 degrees. In a 4 quart dutch oven, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium-high heat. Add pork, onion, and garlic. Cook and stir until pork is browned, apx 4 minutes. Stir in beans, carrots, broth, rosemary, and pepper. Bring to a boil. Cover and bake 25 minutes. Meanwhile, chop bread in food processor to form about 1 1/2 cups of coarse crumbs. Toss crumbs with remaining oil; sprinkle over meat mixture. Bake, uncovered, 20 more minutes or until pork is cooked and carrots are tender. Serve in shallow bowls with french bread slices, if desired.
ENJOY!!

1 Month Old!!

I cannot believe my baby girl is one month old already! This month has FLOWN by! She is just starting to smile for real and she is starting to coo. I love it!!

Thirty-One Gifts!!

My older sister Kirsten has recently started a business selling these great products! The stuff is just so cute! I am having an online party right now for her so I thought I would post the information here in case anyone would be interested in placing an order! You can check it out at this direct link:)

http://www.mythirtyone.com/shop/eventhome.aspx?eventId=E279542&from=DIRECTLINK

Not Me! Monday

I definitely have to participate in Not Me! Monday today:) I most definitely DID NOT eat a small bag of chips in the middle of the night when I was awake to nurse my daughter. I also DID NOT eat a frozen yogurt ice cream cone for the past 5 days in a row. I DID NOT leak all over my shirt when my baby started crying the other day. These things REALLY DID NOT happen to me!!!:)

Sadie's First Week!

So a little over a week has passed and Sadie is doing great! She took to nursing right away which was really nice (even though it takes her a long time to get started most nursing sessions, at least she latches on!) She is a champ of a sleeper, that's for sure! I don't know about anyone else who has or has had a newborn, but we only wake up once a night right now (around 2:30 am) for a feeding, and that is because we wake her up! I don't know how long she would sleep if we didn't wake her up:) Big brother Jonah is doing really well so far and I hope he keeps this up! Here are a few pictures in a slideshow that I thought you might enjoy. I love my little girl and I love taking her picture! We had newborn pictures done by a professional yesterday and when I get those back I will be sure to post some on here:)

Make a free slideshow

SADIE JANE TESDALL!!!

Sadie Jane Tesdall was born August 11, 2010, at 3:40 pm. She was 6 lbs 13 oz and 19 inches long. She is just perfect!!!!

39 Weeks!!

This is going to be my last belly picture because I am being induced on Wednesday! I am so happy the day is almost here...I am not a very patient person;) I can't wait to post pictures of my new baby girl!!!

38 Weeks!!

I had my 38 week appointment today and there was no change as far as dilation and effacement go. I was a little disappointed to hear this, but of course it doesn't always mean anything anyway. I had no change but I could go into labor tonight and I know that. I am set to be induced next Wednesday, August 11, if she doesn't come on her own before that. I really don't want to have to be induced so I am hoping she decides to come on her own before that. Everyone cross your fingers for me!:)

37 Weeks!!

I am now full-term...yay!! That means now I am REALLY ready to have this baby girl whenever she decides to make her entrance into the world. I had an appointment today and things have progressed even more! I went from 70% effaced to now being 80% effaced and I went from being 1 1/2 cm dilated to now being 3 cm dilated! When I was pregnant with Jonah, I was 3 cm dilated at my appointment that was 6 days before Jonah was born...let's see if that happens this time too!:)

36 Weeks!!

Here is my 36 week picture...I forgot to post it when we took it two days ago!
I had my weekly appointment yesterday and everything is going great! I am dilated to 1 1/2 cm, I am 70% effaced, and the baby is at a -1 station!

35 Weeks!!

I had my last ultrasound on Tuesday. After having a few ultrasounds this pregnancy, I cannot believe the next time I see my baby girl will be in person. I am so excited!!! The ultrasound went great! She is still growing just perfectly, the measurements are all great and the water around her is perfect the tech said! She is currently 5 lbs 9 oz. I think a 7 pound baby would be just perfect:)

34 Weeks!!

I had a doctor's appointment today and it went great again! My blood pressure was still good, I gained 2 pounds in 2 weeks so that was good, and Sadie's heartbeat was still very strong! Also, her head is still down which I am VERY happy about!! I will go again in two weeks and I will have my first check to see if I'm progressing at all...yay!

Dirty Rice Recipe

I LOVE cooking and baking!! I have always been a fan of doing this even before I was married, but at that point I didn't really have anyone to cook for so it wasn't as much fun. Now after being married for 3 years I have come to love it even more because my husband loves to eat and will eat almost anything, so I can try out new stuff on him whenever I want:) There literally has been only one thing I made for dinner in the past 3 years that he wouldn't eat because it was so bad. There have been things, of course, that he hasn't loved, but he ate it so I take that as an ok thing...haha:) I decided since I love to cook and bake so much that I will start using my blog to share some recipes that I like, starting with one I made for the first time for dinner tonight and it was DELICIOUS!!! This recipe was found on allrecipes.com which is a favorite recipe website of mine.


Dirty Rice (4 Servings)

1 pound ground beef
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
2 teaspoons beef bouillon granules
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 cups water
1 cup uncooked rice
Directions: Heat large skillet over medium-high heat and stir in beef, onion, peppers, beef bouillon, salt, seasoned salt, and pepper. Cook and stir until beef is crumbly, evenly browned, and not pink. Drain and discard grease (if needed). Stir in water and rice. Bring to a boil over high heat and then reduce to medium-low, cover, and simmer until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed, 20-25 minutes. ENJOY:)

Trailing Tuesdays

I just decided to join Trailing Tuesdays coming from Sugar Pop Ribbons Reviews and Giveaways blog! Check it out here and link up...it'll be fun! If you are a new follower because of the trailing Tuesdays fun, say hi and let me know you stopped by!:)

32 Weeks!!

I had a doctor's appointment yesterday and an ultrasound to check the growth of the baby due to a low hormone level I had back at 13 weeks. Everything went great! I gained the weight my doctor wanted me to gain, my blood pressure was good and Sadie's heartbeat was still nice and strong. My ultrasound showed normal growth of the baby so there is nothing to worry about at this point. I LOVE having ultrasounds!! They are just so amazing to me! Sadie is currently 4 lbs 2 ounces, she is doing what she is supposed to be doing, and my fluid levels around her were great! I am excited too because I get to have one more ultrasound in 3 weeks!:) I thought I would share my 32 week belly picture and two pictures of our baby girl! The one picture is of her face and the other is just so awesome of her nose and lips!

Vintage Pearl Giveaway!

I absolutely LOVE the Vintage Pearl and she is giving away a few gift certificates in honor of Father's Day on Sunday. Go on over here to her blog and check it out!

31 Weeks!!

How in the world can I be due in just 9 short weeks?!

30 Weeks!!

I cannot believe I am 30 weeks!! It's really kinda crazy how fast it has gone. It seems like when you get into the thirty something weeks that it is all going to happen even faster. Only 10 more weeks until my due date?! Yikes!!:)

29 Weeks!

28 Weeks!

27 Weeks!

Here you have it...Me at 27 weeks

I am still tired and just getting more and more uncomfortable! I was not uncomfortable AT ALL when I was this far along with Jonah! This baby girl is trying to kick my butt!;)

26 Weeks!

Tomorrow I will be 27 weeks and I just realized that I never posted my picture for 26 weeks, so here it is!:)

Lisa Leonard Giveaway!

Lisa Leonard has been doing wedding week on her blog and it's so much fun! I just love weddings:) In honor of this wedding week she is doing a GREAT giveaway and there will be 6 WINNERS!!! Go here and check it out!!

Toddler Bed giveaway at RaisingMy4Sons!!

Check out this great giveaway here!!! Raising My 4 Sons is a great blog and always fun to read!!

The Vintage Pearl

The Vintage Pearl is doing a last minute Mother's Day giveaway today for 5 $50 gift certificates to their website!! Check it out here!!!

25 Weeks!

Here is my picture for 25 weeks. I am feeling about the same....beat!!! I haven't announced a name yet, but thought I would now:) We are going to go with Sadie Jane Tesdall (Jane is Micah's mom's name)! We are very excited and really like this name:) Sadie is crazy and moving around A TON!!! I love being able to feel this and having Micah be able to feel it as well (my mom even got to feel her this weekend!) I hope everyone is having a great week!

I won!!!

I am so excited to share that I won an awesome prize from an awesome blog a few days ago!! Here is what I won from Sugar Pop Ribbons!!! Her blog is so great and she posts new giveaways almost daily! Check out her blog here and become a fan!!:)

24 Weeks!

I just got home from my OB appointment and Jonah is napping so I thought I would give a quick update with a picture taken last night! My appointment went great! My last appointment was 4 1/2 weeks ago and at that appointment I hadn't gained any weight from the time before so I was really hoping I gained a lot this time! Task accomplished....I gained 8 lbs in 4 1/2 weeks!:) My blood pressure was good, I still don't have any swelling or any concerns like that, and I'm actually getting my thyroid medicine lowered (instead of raised) so things are looking great! The baby girl is doing great too...heartbeat still staying strong in the low 150s:) Next appointment is 4 weeks from today and I have to get my Rhogam shot and do my diabetes screen at that appointment. Yay for a healthy pregnancy up to this point!:)

23 Weeks!

So I am going to be coming up on 24 weeks in a couple of days, but here is the picture I took at the beginning of this week....week 23! I am doing pretty good overall....I am just SOOOOOOO exhausted all of the time (I was not like this at all when I was pregnant with Jonah)! Being that I'm halfway through my second trimester, I'm not expecting this to get any better, but I'll take all the good days I can get!:)

The Winey Mommy Giveaway!

I just started reading a new blog and shes having a great giveaway!! Go here to check it out today!:)

22 Weeks!

As of right now I am 22 weeks and 2 days pregnant. I am doing pretty good. I am definitely still way more tired than when I was pregnant with Jonah and I just get worn out SO easily!! I thought I would share my belly pics from the last few weeks so you could all see how I'm progressing as this little baby girl grows:) So the pictures are 20 weeks on the bottom, then 21 weeks, and at the top is this week (22 weeks)!

In this wonderful life giveaway....

Megan from it's a wonderful life seems like such a great person! Go here to read her blog here and check out the great giveaway she's having (there are some great gifts for Mother's Day!)

Mckmama is great!

Mckmama is so wonderful and is yet again doing something great to help out others. Please check out the link here and consider taking part in this amazing giveaway!!!

IT'S A GIRL!!!!!!!

I had my 20 week ultrasound today (at 19 1/2 weeks). We were so excited to find out it's a girl!!!!!!! We clearly saw the three white lines showing "girl parts" and she gave us a wide open leg shot that clearly showed no boy parts:) The best part of this is that everything on baby girl looked great! Ten fingers, ten toes, and everything right in place where it should be and functioning just as it should be! My mom and Micah (my husband) were with me during the ultrasound and were both so happy it's a girl as well (mom was so happy she was crying:) Of course my mom and I had to go out this afternoon and buy a few girl outfits including ruffled socks and a little pink headband:) Oh the joys to come of buying girl clothes!!!

While the ultrasound tech was trying to get all the measurements she needed and see everything she needed to see, baby girl was moving ALL over the place! I can't quite feel her movements yet, just a few flutters, but we could see that she kept hitting me:) I'm sure soon I will be able to feel her all the time and just love it as I did when I was pregnant with Jonah! I am just too excited that we are going to have both a boy and a girl!!

The Adventures of Miss V Giveaway!!

The Adventures of Miss V is a great blog! She seems so wonderful with a wonderful husband and son and she talks about their lives and it's fun to read:) She also has a really cute Etsy Shop and is adding some new things including these awesome Digital SLR camera strap covers and she is giving one away!! Go check it out and enter to win. If you enter to win, please let her know in your comment that you were sent there through my blog! You can go here to enter! Thanks and good luck!!

Raising my 4 Sons

I love Raising My 4 Sons blog. She has great stories about her kids and it's just a fun blog to read. She also has some GREAT giveaways!! Check out her website here and her awesome latest giveaway for all the preggos out there:)

Another great giveaway!!!

I love to cook and bake!! I just came across this new blog and found this amazing giveaway!! Le Creuset is awesome and this color is so fun!! Check it out here and enter to win!!

Vintage Pearl Giveaway!

The vintage pearl is so awesome and they are having a giveaway for two $50 gift certificates to their website!! Check it out here!!!

God is Good!!!!

So for those of you reading my blog that don't already know, I am pregnant with baby #2!!:) I am currently 13 weeks and 2 days along! I have been feeling pretty yucky during this first trimester, just as I did when I was pregnant with Jonah. After the first trimester was done, I started feeling better and better when preggo with Jonah and then I LOVED being pregnant (I am crossing my fingers and hoping that is what happens again!) I want to be able to fully enjoy this little bundle of joy growing inside of me!:) I was not able to see my doctor for the first time until a couple weeks ago (I was 11 weeks at that point by my own calculations). I was so nervous before having this appointment because I was that far along and hadn't been able to REALLY comfirm I was pregnant (except with the positive pregnancy tests I took on December 17). I was SOOOOOOOOO happy when my doctor wanted to do an ultrasound just to confirm my dates. My date was exactly on track which makes for a due date of August 16! Everything looked great on the ultrasound and you could see the little heart beating away (which was such a relief, even though we didn't get to hear it at this point).

Today I went for an appointment in the maternal fetal care center on the same floor where I gave birth to Jonah and where I will be giving birth to this baby as well. I had never visited this center because my doctor was in Illinois up until I was about 7 months pregnant with Jonah. The nurses and receptionist were all very nice so I was pleased with that. The reason for this trip was my first trimester screening which is an ultrasound where the tech measures a couple different things on the baby and also draws blood from me, and then these things get sent in to a company in another state that assess the numbers and the blood and come back to me with the odds that our baby could have some type of chromosomanal abnormality. It of course cannot say, yes, your baby has some type of abnormality, it's just the chances that they could that we will find out in about a week. I was so excited to have another ultrasound though and see my baby again! The baby looked great!!! I got to see a bunch of different angles and the tech said he/she was very cooperative while getting the measurements she needed:) And finally I got to hear the baby's heartbeat which was a strong 160 bpm! Praise the Lord for the healthy baby growing inside of me!

P.S. My next ultrasound is scheduled for March 25 at 7:30 a.m. and that is when we get to find out if Jonah will have a baby brother or a baby sister!!!:)

Jenna's Journey Blog Giveaway!!

Jenna's Journey is a great blog that I have recently started following. Starting tonight, she has a great giveaway going on for a Rachel Ray Dutch Oven!!! She said she loves Rachel Ray products so that is proof this is a great giveaway! Go here and check it out and enter to win if you so desire:)

Blog giveaway from The Design Girl

The Design Girl is hosting a great giveaway! Go here and check it out!!!

15 Months!!!

Today was Jonah's 15 month well baby visit at the doctor. Everything went pretty well! He is now up to 23 lbs 5 ounces which puts him in the 30th percentile and he is measuring 31 1/2 inches which puts him in the 60th percentile for height (and he still has a big head:) The doctor was very happy with how he is growing. All of the physical checks looked great and they said he is developing very well with his skills too. It's always nice to hear such positive feedback about your child!:) He had to get three shots today which is never a fun time. He got chicken pox, MMR, and his booster for the seasonal flu. He cried and cried and cried and would not stop. Typically in the past, he would cry pretty hard while the shots were happening, but after a couple minutes of being held he would stop. Well not this time...he continued to cry while getting dressed, all the way out of the office and into the car, and for about the first 5 minutes of our 15 minute car ride home...we felt so sad for him!:( I was glad when we finally got home and he played normally, ate dinner, and went to bed. We have not had any issues with his sleeping on nights he had shots, so we'll see how tonight goes (hoping for the same!!)

The only small concern of the doctor's today was his iron level. He had this checked at his 12 month appointment and it was a little on the low side so they wanted to check it again today. Again, it was on the low side so they are sending us to the hospital to get a blood test done on him. They said their little machine they use in the office tends to run a little low, so they want a test that will be more accurate. If it's still low with the blood test, then we will have to talk about some type of supplement for Jonah to start taking. Not a huge issue, but something that needs to be further evaluated. Praise the Lord for that being the only issue with our little guy at this point!:)