Party time

I have to say, Mason's birthday party was one of the most successful parties that we've ever had! I was so thankful to have Cheri and Wally here to help Brandon and I get the house looking nice for our company. It was the first time most of my family had seen the house so I wanted to make sure it looked nice :) We had an amazing time being with everyone!

We had a total of 32 people here which was actually a really nice number. Mason had some friends over and was smiling ear to ear! Brandon and I both said we hadn't seen him this happy in a loooonnnggg time! The best moment was when we started singing happy birthday to him. It's almost at that moment that he realized "whoa, this is all for me!" He blew out his candles and got a chance to open up some amazing presents. He has more cars than any kid I know it's ridiculous!

Today was his 2 year check up and it was a really good chance for me to discuss with the doctor his speech concerns. We found out he is in the 100% range for height and 65% for weight. When I told his doctor my concern with the early on coordinator we were assigned (because she's ALWAYS late and spacey) My doctor agreed she would recommend to Early On that he needs an actual speech therapist assigned to us not a coordinator. She also seemed concerned that Mason isn't making sentences yet. I am trying not to get too emotional about it but man is it hard not being able to communicate with my little man! I so so so bad want him to be able to communicate his needs with me. I am crossing my fingers that the new speech therapist will pay special attention to him and give me an idea of what we can do more to help him.

This Thursday I have my 17.5 week appointment for baby! I have been feeling little movements but nothing like I did with Mason at this stage. I hope everything is ok in there! Maybe it's a shy and calm baby? I'm excited that the next appointment will be the gender reveal ultrasound. More importantly, we will be able to make sure baby is healthy and growing well. I think we are going to reveal the baby gender in a fun way! Mandi has already volunteered to video us doing something clever :) Here are some special pictures from the weekend. I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Love how serious he is!

Thanks for the drums uncle J!

The morning before the party..a little tired!

 Thanks for making an AMAZING cake grandma Renee!

               17 weeks! Boy or girl?? I think boy again!

Only Human!

Alright, so yes I just wrote a blog a few minutes ago but I feel compelled to do a second one right now. I am a sappy mess tonight knowing my mom isn't going to be at Mason's birthday party tomorrow and I feel like I want to share a few "mom" things before I end my blogs for the weekend. Yes, it's been 1.5 years since she passed but to me it feels like just yesterday still. I was running errands today and heard a song on the radio that made me cry. I've heard it a few times but today for some reason it REALLY got to me. When you first listen to the song it seems like a sappy song about pleasing a loved one. But the more I listened to it the more I could relate to it!

The song is called "human" by Christina Perri. There are a lot of times I hide how I'm feeling since my mom passed. I'll put on a smile at a family event, plan a party like a pro, go to a Christmas function and laugh with family and friends. But there is ALWAYS a part of me that is feeling crushed inside not having my mom at those moments. Yes, I have an amazing husband who has been there for me through all this. But as easy as it is to have someone tell me "it will be ok" I want to scream and be like "Listen, i'm sad, this sucks and I want my old life back. Is that so hard to ask" The song only human really describes that for me in my life right now. I think sometimes people need to remember that just because someone is sad, hurt, angry, it doesn't mean it's a BAD thing. It's the human thing to feel! Anyways, depressing rant over. I will stop being a sap. Miss my mom so much it's almost overwhelming that's for sure. I'll leave you with the music video and a funny quote I found on pinterest that I'm trying to use in my everyday life! Love you all! xoxo

How is this for an inspirational quote? It says it all.

Mace Man's 2nd Birthday

I'm so sorry that I have been so bad at updating lately. I think my brain is in toddler survival mode and pregnancy survival mode. I am exhausted about 90% of the day! I feel like when I'm not chasing Mason around I'm doing laundry, dishes, vacuuming, etc….it never ends! 

Brandon took the week off so we ended up enjoying some much needed family time together. We went to the Zoo on Monday and the beach for his birthday on Tuesday. We also imagined this amazing dinner at Fridays where Mason would be sang to sitting nicely in his chair but that was not the case! We ended up chasing him around the restaurant and I think he had a total of 5 minutes sitting down. We won't be going out to eat for awhile. ha! 

 Brandon's grandparents are also here which has been a HUGE help. Our house has been a disaster between toddler chaos and the outdoors coming indoors. His grandma helped me clean up each room while Wally helped Brandon organize the garage and paint the cabinets in our kitchen a brighter white. Brandon and Wally make a great team!

Today, Cheri and I got the last minute cleaning done for the house and made some food for tomorrow. I had kind of a scary spell this morning while cleaning! I was steaming the couches then went upstairs to get ready to meet some friends for lunch. All of a sudden I started feeling light headed and was having really bad chest and back pains. I noticed I started seeing black and white spots so went downstairs slowly to call for Brandon's grandma to get Brandon. He was next door and came over to see what was going on. I could have sworn I was having a heart attack with how bad my chest was hurting! Turns out I was having a bad asthma attack and it was cutting off a lot of my oxygen supply which was why I felt the need to faint. Luckily after some inhaler breaths and water I was finally better. SO SO freaky though! I wonder if that is a pregnancy symptom? Definitely haven't had an asthma attack in YEARS! 

I am really excited for Mason's party tomorrow to see my family and friends. I feel like it's been forever since I've seen everyone. It will be nice to have some familiar faces around :) I am also looking a whole lot more pregnant now. A guy at the store today helped me put waters in my car after he saw me struggling. He said "You're pregnant you can't be lifting this stuff!" It feels good I'm looking pregnant and not just fluffy finally. 

I also have a feeling this one is a boy even though my symptoms this time around are a lot worse. I am carrying a straight out belly just like Mace man! I'll have to post a pic next week so you can see how much it's grown. Hopefully after my doctor appt. I can announce the pregnancy finally too! I have just been a little nervous this time around. Have a great week everyone!

Tiny moment

I read an article tonight on Facebook talking about the 7 reasons why being a Stay at Home Mom is one of the most challenging jobs in the world. Today was one of those days where I realized how much my life has changed transitioning from teaching/real estate to having my first FULL year at home. Since I was 16 years old I have worked at least 2 jobs! In High School I somehow managed school, pom pon/dance, Working part time at the Buckle, babysitting and working at a doctor's office part time for co-op. College I got by being a server, daycare worker, and Gymnastics/dance coach. As many teachers know money isn't great so I worked for a promotion company, tutored after school, and picked up any extra Summer career development programs I could. 

With this busy work life my brain was always programmed that work=productivity and productivity=money and success. My success is different these days. I am not making any money with what I am doing but I can tell you the sacrifices for us with me staying home to raise Mason have definitely not been easy. It is a job I would never trade, take for granted, or want to lose, yet there are times where you want the world to know all the great things you are doing! It can be very lonely at times and I think that's the hardest part of it all. There is no one who truly understands what your day is like….except you! There is no pat on the back, evaluation, instructions and guidelines, or reassurance you ARE doing the right thing.

I wanted to share a special moment today because even though it was little, it gives you an idea how amazing my son is and how grateful I am to be with him each day. 

Mason has an obsession with cars. He doesn't say a lot of words but I can almost always understand his needs and wants just by looking at his expressions. He has over 100 matchbox cars thanks to Brandon's grandmas 1980's collection. Out of those 100 cars I noticed a trend. He would always want me to play with the same purple, pink striped, shiny car. I thought it was odd and wanted to see what he would do if I gave it back to him. He looked at my face and said "no mama's ca" There are a few reasons why this moment was so great. First of all, Mason has never put a sentence together and he took the energy to make this one. Second, he loves his mom so much that out of all 100 cars this is the special one he wants me to use. Maybe it's the sappy pregnant hormonal lady in me but it made me want to cry! He is so very special to me and even though I get down on myself for not being the 2 jobs at a time woman I used to be, I am thankful for this amazing, amazing, amazing, boy in my life. Love you Mason Dale!

 This is the car he wants me to use every time we play cars together. I can't get over the fact that out of ALL the cars he somehow searches and finds this one for me to use! So funny and adorable.

Always playing with the car ramp :)

 This picture sums him up best. Even has a booger in the nose I refuse to edit…this is him! ha :)

I asked him how many cars were on his ramp and he was trying to count to 3!

Transforming the house!

Hi everyone! Hope you are enjoying the Summer weather wherever you are. Brandon and I decided to take the weekend to finally get some projects done around the house. With Mason's birthday party coming up, I'm feeling the pressure to get some things accomplished before company comes. Since October, I have been without a working dishwasher which has been awful! I know there are a lot of people who only wash dishes by hand and I say "good for them not me!" lol. I hate having to take time away from Mason to constantly wash dishes and I know with a baby on my hip that'll just get harder. 

Our four year anniversary was July 10 and we decided to purchase a new dishwasher as a little gift for each other. Brandon installed it all by himself! He's becoming quite the handy man lately. In one of my previous blogs I shared the farm table that he made for our dining room. He made a bench to go with it over the weekend which will be so nice! I also have 4 chairs that I am going to refinish once baby is born and I can be around chemicals again. I miss painting already! Brandon also was able to paint our kitchen over the weekend too. Our cabinets are in really bad shape and will eventually need to be replaced but we're hoping to get by for the next couple years! Don't you ever wish you could be one of those lucky people on HGTV that wins a home makeover? I do!

I also forgot to mention how the Remax interview went! Sorry! The interview went really well. So well that the team leader wanted to hire me as the buying agent for her team. She sat me down and told me their team takes a 50% commission cut, a $250 a month Remax fee, and a $155 tech fee for their lead router program. When I started to do the Math of Mason's daycare on top of all these fees I realized I would have to sell at lest 2 homes a month just to get ahead. With a baby on the way that just isn't going to be possible. I am going to look at Century 21 again because I was able to work around Brandon and I's schedule a lot easier. I'll keep you updated! Hope you have a great week.

I wanted to share this picture because it makes me smile! Mason is seriously a mini version of Brandon in almost every way. It cracks me up and I love it.

The weirdness continues

I am not sure why this year has to be the year of the weird occurrences for me but unfortunately it is! I haven't officially announced this pregnancy on social media yet because there have just been too many scary things going on to feel excited and safe. If you are not wanting to hear any TMI information then I suggest stop reading now.

A couple of days ago I had a scary thing happen. I know spotting is common in pregnancy which I've had plenty of but this time I passed a blood clot. My heart sank and I immediately called my doctor knowing this wasn't good. Last time this led to miscarriage for me so in the back of my mind I was preparing for the worst. I went the next day to my doctor's office and he put the heart monitor on my stomach to listen for babies heart beat. After attempting for about 3 minutes or so he couldn't find it. Again, my heart sank and I was sitting there prepared for terrible news. Luckily, he did an ultrasound on me to see that baby was doing well. The bad news is he has no idea by looking at the ultra sound what is causing the clots and said because I'm earlier than 20 weeks, there is nothing he can do to stop or prevent it from happening.

I came home feeling pretty discouraged but happy at the same time that I got to see baby wiggling around in there. Today I experienced more bleeding and some clotting so I'm taking the advice of the doctor and seeing if lying down helps to make a difference. The other funny part of the ultra sound was I thought I saw a penis! If so, that would make 10 great grandkids on the Hauenstein side of ALL boys! I may have mistaken it for the umbilical cord who knows. Please send happy thoughts to baby Sev! This pregnancy has definitely been a roller coaster. I look back at my pregnancy with Mason and it was soooooooo easy. I was pukey but besides that everything was smooth sailing. Maybe this happens when you reach the 30s? eek I hope not! Baby number 3 is not looking so promising at this point….not sure if I can go through these emotions again!

One thing that brightened my day today was seeing my nephew and sister. We met up in Saginaw to take the boys to the museum. It is absolutely amazing there and I would definitely suggest going if you have kids between the ages of 18months-5years old. Mason was having so much fun I could barely drag him out of there. Mandi and I took the boys to lunch at TGIfridays afterwards and that was definitely an interesting experience. Mason was attempting to houidini himself out of the chair while Landon was screaming. Some people looked at us like we were crazy but honestly, I could care less what people think! 

I will leave you a picture of baby Sev at 14.5 weeks and Mason and Landon's adventure at the museum today. You be the judge if you can see a penis or not in the picture…lol. Have a great week!

Exciting Month!

Hope everyone had a relaxing 4th of July with family and friends. I have been so nervous and excited to announce that Brandon and I are expecting baby #2 close to New years! I was hesitant to post is anywhere because of the miscarriage in February but things are looking awesome this time around. I am 14 weeks and was able to hear the heartbeat last week. I have been feeling SUPER crappy this time around so that may explain the weird hives, lack of blog posts, and boringness in some of my posts hehe :)

We found out the baby is due January 5th. The doctor is giving me a choice of scheduling another C-section or trying the natural route. If I schedule surgery the baby would be born Dec. 29 or 30th in 2014! The other route will most likely be a 2015 baby. I have no idea what I am going to do yet eek! Labor was so quick for Mason but him swallowing fluid made it a super high risk situation. I really hope this time around that baby doesn't do that and I can have things go smoother. You just never know what will happen though.

Being our first summer back in Michigan, I have felt the urge to travel tons this Summer! I knew for the fourth spending it up north was definitely what we needed to do. I spent almost every Summer growing up visiting my Gloer grandparents and cousins up in Petoskey. We would go out on the boat all day, eat a yummy dinner, then head to the firework show downtown. I remember our parents letting us stay up as late as we wanted and even watching my uncle Jerry light up some not so legal fireworks for our own private show. Those were some of the best Summer memories and I want Mace man to have those memories with his family too. 

We arrived at my grandma's house and had some delicious BBQ and enjoyed sitting outside with her neighbors for their daily "happy hour". It's so cute what her neighbors do! They all walk over, bring an appetizer and drink, and sit and relax. I need to take some tips and do this with my future neighbors someday :) We then took Mason to the fireworks. He kept saying "ohhhhh ahhhh" and "woooooooow". Everyone around us was laughing at how cute and excited he sounded.

The next day we went up to Brandon's mom's house. It was a beautiful day and we got a chance to spend some time outside by the lake. Brandon and I decided to take advantage of some time together and we went out to eat at Little Traverse Country Club for an amazing dinner then dessert at the restaurant we met at! The view was awesome because the club is on top of the hill overlooking the lake. Afterwards, we visited Brandon's sister Brittany and enjoyed chatting with her and her friends. The not so fun part about the trip was the crazy traffic on the way back eek! took us 6 hours to get home :/ boo.

I am excited to share more baby news with you all this year. I will most likely find out the gender sometime in August. I have no clue this time around if it is boy or girl! So weird how I knew instantly that Mace was a boy. Have a great week :)

 Not the best photo….14 week bump!