Spring Break 2013

      Today is the last day of a 10-day-long break from school. I am sad to see it go. It has definitely had it's ups and downs. Our last week of school before break was a short week, but it was action packed. Rylee was having some issues and I had to leave school at 10 am on Tuesday to go get her and take her to the doctor to get things checked out. Then we had to go home and get ready for her school Easter party on Wednesday. She had a pretty good day Wednesday, ten we went out to dinner to celebrate Aunt Liz's birthday. We all had a good time. Then Rylee woke up at 3 am with yet another stomach virus. This makes 3 in 3 months. Since I had missed school Tuesday, Ryan had to call in to work Thursday to stay home with her. By the time I got home Thursday afternoon to start my Spring break, all I wanted to do was sleep! I had been up since 3 on top of us having Easter festivities at school and 18 hyped up 6/7-year-olds ready for Spring Break. This mommy/teacher was worn out!

      Friday, Rylee and I slept in a little bit, then I went ahead and dropped Rylee off at school, so that Liz and I could have a much needed shopping day. I got Rylee's summer wardrobe done, got myself some cute maternity clothes, and got Ryan a few things for his birthday, but most of all we got some much need retail therapy. There is nothing like a shopping day with my sister! :) After Friday, we spent a quiet Saturday at home. We just relaxed and had family time. Sunday we went to church, then Sunday night Ryan and I had a date night. Even though we've been married almost 4 years, I still absolutely LOVE going out on dates with my hubby!

     Monday, we spent the evening over at Nonna and Granddaddy's to celebrate Ryan's birthday with them since they were heading out of town and were going to miss it. We had a lot of fun. They treated us to a delicious steak dinner, lots of family time and laughs, and Ryan got a nice outfit and some spending money. Best of all, there were birthday brownies! Can you tell this preggo chick, had a blast feasting Monday night? haha!

     Unfortunately, a lot of my other Spring break plans were cancelled due to what happened next. Tuesday morning, I woke up around 6 with a deep pain in my belly and I knew what was coming, I had gotten a hold of Rylee's stomach virus...ick! I was sick all day Tuesday, until about midnight when I finally fell asleep and started to get a little better. I was still a little sick and VERY weak Wednesday, so both of those days, Rylee and I spent the days with indoor fun. Well, she had fun; I did not.

     Thursday was a gorgeous day, so we headed to the park and played a bit, then we headed to Mary's house for our weekly cousin play date. Lately there have been some big changes in Rylee's life with her starting preschool and Mary and Bailey moving out, and her behavior has been pretty unpredictable. She has been having wild tantrums and fits over the strangest things. It has been very trying and both Ryan and I have been trying to be understanding with her, but it has been getting worse and worse and it has started to affect her socially, so Friday, we decided to stay home and work on some different coping strategies and try to help her improve. We still had a fun time as a family at home, we just tried to help her feel secure in communicating her feelings with us without screaming, crying, kicking, hitting, etc. Oh, the joys of parenthood! :)

       Saturday, was Ryan's birthday, so Rylee woke him up with breakfast in bed and we spent a quiet morning as a family. Since Sunday was Easter, we had plans to spend the afternoon with Liz, Brandon, Kade, Mary, and Bailey to do and Easter egg hunt and then a birthday dinner for Ryan. It was all a blast. Te kids loved uhnting for eggs and then checking out the goodies inside their eggs. We also and a good time eating good food at El Patio.

     Rylee got some good stuff for Easter. She got an Easter basket from us, Nonna, and Granny. She;s a spoiled girl! After church today, we had an Easter feast over at Granny and Paw paw's and then we had a small Easter egg hunt for Rylee and Jenna. It was a lot of fun. Those sweet girls just keep growing and it gets more and more fun to watch them get into different holidays and events. We just wish their other little cousin, Austin could ave been there. Then it would have been perfect!

     This Spring Break has had it's ups and downs, but my main focus was family. Having Mary and Bailey move in wit us was wonderful, it was a great part of God's plan and I am grateful for tat time, but now that they're gone, I've realized that I missed having intimate family time, and that some things in that aspect have suffered. My family is the most important thing to me on this earth, so I want to spend every moment I can working on building a strong foundation for our family to continue to grow. I am blessed beyond measure with my wonderful husband and sweet Rylee-Love. I can't wait to see what our family becomes as it grows from 3 to 4.

The Big Announcement & Dr. Update

     Last Friday, we had the big doctor's appointment. We had our first ultrasound of the new baby and we also went through a screening for some birth defects. Everything looked great and right on track! We were waiting for this appointment before we announced this pregnancy, because we wanted to make sure everything was okay with the baby before we shared our news with the world. We made announcement cards to send out to all of our family. We put them in the mail as soon as we got home from the doctor so that they could be sent out, and our news could finally be shared! 

     It was such an amazing experience to see our little booger on the ultrasound. At only 11 weeks and 4 days, our baby seems so developed. We have 2 arms, 2 legs, hands and feet, an abdomen, and a cute little head with a sweet little face. I couldn't believe how much he/she was moving around in there. The baby kicked, waved, and wiggled throughout the entire 10 minute ultrasound. It was such an awesome experience.

    This is my belly at 12 weeks. It's definitely time to announce this pregnancy before the baby does the announcing for itself. My belly is growing more quickly this time than it did with Rylee, probably because I had more belly to start with-haha! But luckily, I haven't gained any weight just yet; I've actually lost 3 lbs in the last 12 weeks. :) I'm sure I'll start gaining soon, it's only natural, but hopefully not too much. Because we've been keeping this a secret, we haven't been talking much about it, so I haven't really "felt" pregnant yet. After seeing our little miracle on the ultrasound, it is all so real. I can't wait to meet the newest addition to the Massengill family. We are beyond blessed!

A New "Toy"

     This year we decided to put our income tax refund to good use: we got Rylee a swing and climber set so that she has something to play on outside at home. She was so excited. It was delivered this morning just before her nap time which was perfect because Ryan needed a few hours to assemble it. He worked hard and it was together before she woke up. When, she got up he took her out to see it and she was in awe. She couldn't believe that she got such a big surprise. She played and played and played on it. I have a feeling it is going to get some good use!

      So far, her favorite part is the slide. She just runs in circles climbing up, sliding down, then again. I like that this set is not too short, but not so tall that it is intimidating or dangerous. This play set is the perfect size for young children. The age on the box said 3-8, I have a feeling she will be using it throughout that age range. The only thing is the slide is a bit slender, so I think the slide is best for ages 2-5/6 depending on the size of the child, but that still gives us several years of good use! :)

     Today was an absolutely gorgeous day to surprise her with this gift. It was breezy and 70 outside today. We are so excited that Spring is on it's way! The only thing that could've made this day better is if I wasn't sick. I have a sinus infection and bronchitis and I have been miserable all week, but seeing her smile and laugh has definitely been good medicine! I love this sweet girl so!

Mary and Bailey's Big Move

      Yesterday, we helped move Mary and Bailey into their new home: a cute little duplex about 5-10 minutes from where we live now. It was very bittersweet. I am so very proud of Mary and all the things she's accomplished since she made the hardest decision of her life last May, but I am going to miss having her and Bailey here with us. Our lives completely turned around when they moved in, we had to make adjustments and so did they, but it was a lot of fun having them with us for the last 7 months.

      When we went over to start unloading things at the new place, the girls had a blast playing in all the empty space. First they had a dance party in the living room, and then a tea party in a closet. They are so silly together. They usually behave like sisters, they love each other, but they fight over everything, but the last few days they knew something was coming and they have been absolute angels when it comes to playing together nicely. It was too sweet.

     The most exciting thing about Mary and Bailey getting a new place is that Bailey now has her own room with a big girl bed! Bailey had to help Uncle Ryan put it together. She was so excited about her new room. When Ryan got the bed together, the girls had to try it out. They snuggled in it, then of course they had to jump on it!

     I met Mary at noon to help her buy things she would need for her new place. While we were shopping Brandon (superman) moved all the big furniture that she had to the new place, luckily she didn't have much and it only took him one load. Around 3 we dropped all the stuff off at her new place, just as Brandon was finishing up. He headed home and we headed back to the house to get the rest of her smaller stuff and bring it over. We loaded up my car, Ryan's car, and Mary's car, but got it all in one trip! Then we had to put everything together. Since she didn't have much furniture, she had to buy a lot and it all needed to be assembled. Just after 9, we finally finished with assembly. At that point Rylee was passed out on the couch and Bailey was asleep in her bed. It had been a long day. The move almost didn't happen. Kade got the flu this week (poor baby!), so Liz wasn't able to come help. I got the stomach flu Friday night, and was all better, but still feeling wimpy all day yesterday while we moved, and it was snowing all day Friday and Saturday, luckily it was too warm to accumulate. Now they are all moved out and this house seems awfully quiet....