Veterans Day.

For those who served so that we may live free.  Thank you for the gift of our freedom, and our children's freedom.  That's you Daddy and Grandpa and Great Grandpa Berner, Karen and Frank Sartiano and many other members of our family.  God Bless you all!

Pregnancy: Week 9

Pregnancy: Week 9

DATE: November 11, 2010
How far along: 9 Weeks (though we thought you were only 5 Weeks at this point!)

Total Weight Gained: Unknown.  I never weigh myself, ha!

How big is baby? 
My little Olive.

 Your little embryo has now officially graduated to fetus-hood. Adding to the excitement, a Doppler ultrasound device might be able to pick up the beating heart. With basic physical structures in place and increasingly distinct facial features, baby is kind of starting to look like... well... a baby!
Maternity Clothes: No.

Sleep: Good.

Best Moment of the Week: Lunch with the Hubs, Dinner out with Nik and the Hubs, window shopping, then a movie with the Hubs, while Mimi and Papa watched Nik for the night!

Movement: Fluttering in my stomach.
Food Cravings: Milkshakes, Juice, Water. Very Dehydrated!

Food Aversions: The smell of over-ripe bananas makes me feel sick.  Any amount of caffeine makes me feel sick. Soda. And too much Juice.

Morning Sickness: If I don't eat in the morning, I get nauseated, sick, and close to fainting. I have to eat a bagel with cream cheese every morning.  And, usually need a morning snack as well.  Eating dinner earlier at night as well.

Gender: Unknown.

Symptoms: Nausea if I don't eat.

What I miss: Cocktails, ha!

What I'm looking forward to: My 1st Doctor's Appt. We have been waiting to avoid bills, ha!

Fall Festival.

It was high noon, and there were som harsh rays, but I just LOVED the colors (yellows, greens) we captured in the corn maze balanced with her fall coat.  I am in love with corn mazes, they are so much fun, and so great for photo ops!  This was an amazing maze!

I had Hubs take this picture of us peeking from behind the corn.

Fascinated with corn.

How Happy Does she look in this photo, on her way to the Festival.

Who doesn't LOVE Free Fall Fun!



Leaves.

These past three days have been so beautiful. I was missing the warm fall weather for photo ops for the Pumpkin. I took these on Sunday after the pumpkin woke up from her nap. Wasn't too long before the sun started to fade behind the homes in our neighborhood. The sun is setting so early now. When I get off work, it is already setting. I guess our photo sessions are going to be limited to the weekend now. I was so sad bc I had a couple shoots in mind, and had been waiting for some warmer weather. Mother nature graced us with three beautiful days in a row, and wouldn't you know it, my company has been in overtime for practically 8 months straight, and I wasn't able to take a hour off of work to take advantage of the warm weather and grab some shots I have been dying to take. Grr, Roar.  I had hoped to grab a couple possible Christmas Card shots before the cold weather hit. I think we have seen the last of the warm weather, and it breaks my heart.

The Daddy emptied our Little Tykes Turtle Sandbox out this weekend (the one that I snatched off the curb of a mansion near our home). Here I was trying to prevent him from dumping it, saying "No, No, No, it's still warm, she can still play in it, don't throw it out."  Nik was sad to see it go as well.  It just breaks my heart to think that summer is gone, and warm fall days are coming to an end. My pumpkin is getting so big. I swear she just went through a HUGE growth spurt. Where did the time go. I am so sad at this.

You might have noticed my blog header is a little different. I had a meltdown today. For some insane reason, I decided to try and change my blog today. I have been wanting my photos to appear larger than they do, and after ruling out that Flkr was the cause, I decided it must be blogger, and thought that changing the template would allow for larger photos. Well, I neglected to save my blog before hand, duh!, and I tell you I had a mess on my hands trying to get it almost back to where it was prior to my meddling. I don't know why I do these things to myself, ha!  So, I can't get it back quite the same, the pattern doesn't go all the way to the top, and I don't know why, so there's A LOT OF PINK at the top. I think one of these days I will switch to a photography blog template so I can upload larger photos. I discovered changing the template does not make the photos larger, so I just kept the right justified template.  I discovered I think you have to edit your photos in photoshop to get them to appear larger on your blog. If anyone else has any tips of this, please share.

Hope everyone is having a good week. I just realized last night, I have so many photos I haven't shared. From our pumpkin patches, etc. I hope to share some of those with you while it's still Fall.
Is anyone else getting really excited for Thanksgiving and well, Christmas. I think I am going to put up Christmas decs this weekend!  Is that crazy!??  I can't wait for Christmas for the pumpkin!

A Look at Halloween.

So, we're a little behind on pics lately, but I wanted to share.  I actually begged the daycare provider the Monday before Halloween to please, please, please use hand sanitizer and wash hands and try and limit hands in mouth all week before Halloween. We had a visit to Chicago to visit my brother, sister-in-law,& nieces on Thursday, a family memorial service in Iowa on Saturday, and Halloween on Sunday, and I really didn't want her to get sick. And, wouldn't you know it, she woke from a nap Sunday afternoon warm. The fever dissapated, and the hubs dismissed me saying she was fine, and I was over exaggerating.  Then, as we were going to leave the house to go visit family on Halloween, getting a late start already, the hubs says to me, have you felt her forehead, she has a fever. Ugh, are you kidding me???  Can we get any kind of a break, the child is sick every three days. EVERY THREE DAYS, literally.  What are they doing over there, licking each other. Come on, it's her first real Halloween.  We took her temp and sure enough she had a fever of 101.7.  Josh's sister and family were heading to his mom's house, and we didn't want to get any of them sick, so we were hoping to hit the in-laws house after they had left.  We were already dressed and Nik was in good spitits so we headed to my parents house to wish them a Happy Halloween.

Nik learned to say Halloween literally in 2 seconds, and she had it all night long. In that little baby girl voice of hers, with a little sing songy high lift at "ween."  I don't know why we didn't teach her Trick or Treat sooner, but she picked that up right away too, but sounded more like, "trick treat."  Of course, she "woofed."  BUT, she refused to wear her dog hat, which was the cutest part, with the big floppy ears. I even had the sewing lady fix it bc it hung down in her eyes to much, but she still refused to wear it.  Oh well, wait till I tell her all these stories.

And, with us running late, the sun setting earlier, and Nik coming down with a fever, I just didn't have the heart to torture her to take a lot of photos. I just wasn't on with my camera, and completely neglected to adjust my settings correctly, and forgot to shoot in raw and jpeg so I could edit at a later date. Oh well.

Daddy is usually "Jason," but Nik had run off with his mask, and we couldn't find it running out the door. I guess he looks more like a lumberjack here, ha!

I was just a cat again this year, cause it's cheaper, and easier. I had though about being a dogcatcher, but I never looked into the costume.   I think next year I will be a witch, my mom found me this great hat.

Nik and I with my brother.

Some mice showed up to the party too...Just kidding. I saw these through the door of my parents house and thought it was a cute pic.

This is Glenda. Nik loves her. She sits at the bottom of the steps at my parents house, and Nikolina gives her hugs and kisses and carries her around the house. Of course, she had to join us outside for pictures.

Look at that face. I had to apply her make-up, literally no less than 8 times, bc she kept rubbing it off, accidently.  She held that fever till Wed morning, when she finally broke it, just a little warm.  By wed afternoon, it was gone.  Just breaks my heart.

Hope you all had a Happy Hallo"WEEN."

Shutterfly Christmas.

Eeeeeek!!  I am so excited!! I LOVE Shutterfly!

Many of you bloggers out there may have seen the Shutterfly Promotion.  I LOVE Christmas, and I have sent out my own Christmas Cards since I was 18 years old!  Sending Christmas Cards has always been a Christmas Tradition in my family, and one that I want to carry on into my own family.  This tradition always puts me in the Christmas spirits, and the more you send out, the more chance you might get one in return, and who doesn't LOVE receiving Christmas Cards at Christmas!

Since I have met my husband 5 years ago, sending Photo Cards has been my favorite way to send Christmas Cards (and they are my favorite ones to receive).  It's like a present within a present.  Before, I started using photos, I used to write long letters in each Christmas Card. Family and Friends always loved it, but it was so tedious and took hours.  With Photocards such as Shutterfly offers, I feel like you often don't have to say too much, becuase a photo is a snapshot of your life in itself. Takes a lot of the pressure off of writing a long, personalized message on each card. And with a little one running around, that's a huge relief.

I discovered Shutterfly a few years ago, and I have always wanted to send Shutterfly Christmas Cards, but I have always simply ended up using a local Photo Print shop for printing the photos to insert or photocards.  But, the quality of Shutterfly cards is no comparison to local photo stores and the price is so affordable compared to most Professional Photography Christmas Cards, or even some non-photo Christmas cards bought at the store. 

I was given the opportunity to participate in a giveaway that Shutterfly is offering to Bloggers.  I went to their website, and I was blown away at all the choices.  They have a Holiday Card for everyone!  I was asked to pick three of my favorite cards, and I have to say, this was no easy task!  The choices just kept coming and coming. I thought I must surely be through nearly all the choices, when I looked at the scroll bar, and I was only 1/4 of the way down the page! But, I was really happy for all the choices. Even a slight difference int the design makes a visual difference and adds a personal preference to the card.

I have received Shutterfly Holiday Cards from family and friends throughout the years, and you will not be dissapointed in the quality of the photo, print, and paper card stock. It is fabulous!  You wouldn't believe that they were so affordable.  I am confident that everyone will LOVE these Christmas Cards, and I can;t wait to send ours out!

It was hard to look past the beautiul photos of children to find my favorite design, but these are my three favorite cards:

http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/cards-stationery/modern-damask-red-christmas-card?sortType=1&storeNode=93479

I Love the colors, the Damask design, and the saying, "Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas."  I remember that song from Childhood.  I also love the cursive writing.

http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/cards-stationery/oh-holy-night-religious-christmas-card-5x7-flat?sortType=1&storeNode=93479

I loved this as well. "O Holy Night" is one of my favorite songs and truly reminds us all the true meanign of Christmas. I loved the balck and white photo, and the simplistic nature of the colors. I loved the mix of the cursive with the block print.

http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/cards-stationery/modern-damask-gold-tarjetas-de-navidad?sortType=1&storeNode=93479

I loved the colors of this design. Shutterfly has some wonderfully brillant colored Christmas Cards with pinks, greens, and blues, which warm the heart during this cold, white blanketed season.  The damask is used here as well, and Feliz Navidad is one of my favorite ways to say "Merry Christmas."

It was so hard to chose, I LOVED them all!  I chose desings that would be perfect for one photo, but I also like the multi photo design possibilities.  I prefer the 1 sheet flat cardstock as opposed to an actual fold card.
I also have to show you these two, because I really liked them as well:

I Love that you can further personalize it by writing a short letter to keep friends and family informed on what has been happening in your life.

I LOVED this one as well!  If I had three or four children, I would def use this card. I LOVE that there is room to write under each photo to tell friends and family what each child has been doing/a little about themselves.

Beyond Christmas Cards, Shutterfly also offers Beautiful! Birth Announcements, Shower Invites, and  Birthday Party Invitations, Photo Books, and Calendars.  I am thinking of definently looking into the photobooks and calendars for Christmas gifts.

You can also become a member of Shutterfly and have access to free photo storage, where you photos are never deleted, and they are stored at full resolution. You receive a 100% satisfaction guaranteed promise, free 50 4x6 prints, and the convience of picking up your order at a local CVS, Walgreens, or Target.  You can't beat that!

Head on over to Shutterfly and check it out!  Happy Shopping!



Disclaimer: This post is a promotion for Shutterfly.  For this post, I am receiving 50 free Christmas Cards courtesy of Shutterfly.

Training.

So, I told you right around 16 Months, Nik would start to tug at her diaper when it was wet, right after she went potty in it. I bought her a training potty around this time, but never took it out of the box because everyone told me that a 16 Month old could not be potty trained, so I took it back to the store. Well, Nik's awareness continued and at 18 Months, while my husband was watching her one day, she pointed to her diaper and led my husband into the bathroom, and pointed to the potty. My husband put her on the potty, and she went to the bathroom. My mother told me the next week that while watching her, Nikolina led her into the bathroom as well, and she proceeded to use the potty as well while at my sister-in-law's house. 

Since that time, Nikolina has led us all to the bathroom on many occasions, or tried to before going potty in her diaper. Sometimes she goes, sometimes she just sprinkles a little, and sometimes she doesn't actually go, but she loves the whole process, and I still have yet to buy her a training potty. She even knows how to wipe and knows to wash her hands afterwards.  I can't believe that out little one is potty training herself without any prompting. Amazing.

I think she might be ready for pull-ups because she keeps taking her diaper off herself. I'm not sure when she will fully grasp the whole process and be dry and underwear ready, but I was so concerned about reading all these books and articles about how to potty train your child in one day, etc, and I think I will just let that go, and let her train herself, ha!  I'm just wondering if I should even buy a training potty. I'm not sure that she'll even sit on it. She didn't seem to be to enthralled with the training potty at my sister-in-law's house when we tried to get her to sit on it. 

Here are some pics I snapped the other day of her enjoying her new Toddlerton days.