Author Archives: Chase & Britt

27 weeks and growing!!

Chloe: 27 weeks — Lydia: 15 months

How far along? 27 weeks (on January 12)

Total weight gain: been over a month since I have been to the doctor and honestly haven’t stepped on a scale (who wants to do that?!)

Maternity clothes? Yes and I just went through my sister’s stuff and hit the jackpot! Can’t wait for all the fun new clothes I get to wear that actually fit!

Stretch marks? I found a couple :/

Sleep: not bad, but not great… I need to start borrowing my sister’s maternity body pillow

Best moment this week: taking this week’s pics with Lydia and asking her where the baby is- she points to hereof and rocks her arms back and forth as if holding a baby and says “bay-be” and “mom-ma”

Miss Anything? laying on my tummy on the floor when I play with Liddy bug

Movement: Yes! It has picked up this week- love

Food cravings: chocolate peppermint shakes

Anything making you queasy or sick: nope!

Gender: girl!!

Labor Signs: Nope

Symptoms: lower back pain and shortness of breath phase has started :/

Belly Button in or out? out!

Wedding rings on or off? on

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy and probably a bit moody 😉

Looking forward to: going to the doctor and hearing our sweet baby girl’s heart beat… its been far too long!

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    23 weeks…

    How far along? 23 weeks (December 15)

    Total weight gain: haven’t had time to get on a scale! I guess I will just wait till after the holidays- going to enjoy some yummy food this year!

    Maternity clothes? Yes! Need to buy some winter maternity clothes… it is cold here in America!

    Stretch marks? Nope

    Sleep: pretty good

    Best moment this week: feeling Chloe kick and move more consistently- and Jord got to feel her too before we left!

    Miss Anything? laying on my stomach and coffee at anytime of the day (still enjoying some decaf in the afternoons thou!)

    Movement: Yes! She is not as active as Lydia but is consistent which this momma likes!

    Food cravings: nothing really just food 🙂

    Anything making you queasy or sick: still can’t finish a meal without spitting out the last bite or two- guess this will last the whole pregnancy

    Gender: girl!!

    Labor Signs: Nope

    Symptoms: lower back pain

    Belly Button in or out? out!

    Wedding rings on or off? on

    Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy and tired (could be because of all the moving, packing and traveling- but I think it is a combo)

    Looking forward to: my family seeing me pregnant in person, for them to feel Chole move and get to share in this time with our family now that we are back in the states….

    yup we made it home yesterday afternoon! Will post more on this later… until then Merry Christmas Eve Eve!

      Posted in mcpeanut | 1 Comment

      Thanksgiving…

      on the beach! Yup. We got to eat our thanksgiving dinner on the roof of the Remke’s house which just happens to over look the ocean… ! What an amazing view with wonderful friends, yummy food and a gorgeous sunset. We have much to be thankful for.

      Just a few things I am thankful for this year…

      • Lydia May- she has been such a blessing to us and has brought so much joy into our lives
      • baby Chloe on the way- even though she was a surprise we are so thankful for her and the joy that she has brought to us already
      • The Remke family- they truly have become like family to us, we have been so blessed to get to do life with them
      • Our friends- we value you all so much and could not walk this journey without you all
      • Our family- they are such great supporters of us and have loved us well from a far
      • Chase- he is the best and I couldn’t imagine running this race without him by my side

      Thanksgiving 2012

      Thanksgiving 2013… very different 🙂  

      our setting for dinner

      our BFFs and party guests for the weekend

      great conversations (and Instagram-ing) by candle light

      dessert at our house… homemade pies, whipped cream and decaf coffee

      “be joyful always, pray continually, and GIVE THANKS in all circumstances.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

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        19 and 21 weeks…

        19 weeks 

        baby was the size of a mango!

        21 weeks

        How far along? 22 weeks (December 1st I was 21 weeks.. yes I am really behind! I took pictures for both 19 and 21 weeks, however this week I am 22 weeks… so I am going to write about how I am doing at 22 weeks! ha

        Total weight gain: at my last doctor’s apt (December 1st)

        Maternity clothes? Yes

        Stretch marks? a saw a few the other day! :/

        Sleep: pretty good just not enough!

        Best moment this week: deciding on a name for our sweet little girl… Chloe (we are still thinking about the middle name), getting to see her at our appointment on the 1st- she was wiggling around a ton, and Chase getting to feel her for the first time! Loving all the little movements in my belly!

        Miss Anything? cookie dough and laying on my back

        Movement:  a lot more the past few weeks… love it!

        Food cravings: grapefruit

        Anything making you queasy or sick: doing pretty good with this… still can’t finish a full meal without wanting to spit it out at the end

        Gender: a GRIL!

        Labor Signs: Nope

        Symptoms: tired, back pain, and I feel HUGE this week!

        Belly Button in or out? out! it has officially popped!

        Wedding rings on or off? on

        Happy or Moody most of the time: emotional and happy

        Looking forward to: seeing what Lydia will be like with her baby sister! I also wonder if she will ever react to my growing belly? So far she hasn’t noticed anything…

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          Liddy’s Ladybug Party

          Lydia got quite spoiled while we were in the states with parties for her 1st birthday. This was the first of three she had! It was on September 7th (so a month early) in Albuquerque at Gramzi and Jaju’s house.  What a blessing it was to get to celebrate her first birthday in the states with friends and family.

          My mom and sisters were a HUGE help with this party. I had so many ideas and things I wanted to do, however, being in first trimester loveliness (exhausted and nauseous all.the.time.) I wouldn’t have had the energy or will power to pull it off with them. So thanks guys for all your help!

          We made cupcakes for the guests and of course Liddy had her first vanilla smash cake! I had fun decorating my first cake for my baby girl… looking forward to many more over the years for her. We also had root beer/coke floats, which were a huge hit.

          We did a “build your own pizza bar” (got the idea from my friend Jord when she did it for her daughter’s 3rd birthday and husband’s 30th birthday party). Brooke picked up yummy gyro bread from one of our favorite Arab restaurants in Lubbock (thanks again!) for the base, then we had all sorts of toppings (pepperoni, ham, green chile, mozzarella cheese, pineapple, feta cheese, etc.), then the guests took them outside to the grill for Chase to cook up for them. This was a huge hit! We had zero leftovers!

          Uncle Nate did a little mini photo session of Lydia on my mom’s red bench before the party! Love love the way they turned out!

          Can’t believe our little bug is a year old!

          Love spending time with these people!

          Party guests

          Progression of Lydia’s first kiss form Cooper Gilmore- too cute!!… yes his parents and us are working on their marriage contract as we speak- if our Arab friends do arranged marriages why can’t we?!

          Happy Birthday sweet girl!

          let the smash cake fun begin!

          she really liked it, but needed to rest at the end!

          How blessed are we to have this little girl in our life. She is so much fun and always keeps us on our toes! We had so much fun celebrating her first year of life with not only one party, but four! (and possibly one more-ha) We are grateful for all of you who celebrated with us and love our sweet girl.

          We look forward to many more fun parties and years of celebrating you Liddy May! Mommy and daddy love you always and forever! 

          *thanks Uncle Knate for helping take pictures at Liddy’s party- we love you!  (check out his facebook page- he is talented!)

            Posted in Family, Mcnugget, Parties | 2 Comments

            17 weeks and we are having a….

            We had a doctor’s appointment last week and ended up having an ultrasound and finding out the sex of baby #2!! We were not expecting this at all, so it was pretty exciting. We decided to get either blue or pink donuts to share the news over skpye with our family and enjoy with our friends afterwards! (yes, there is a Dunkin’ Donuts in Muscat!)

            the predictions..

            my family waiting patiently 

            … it’s a GRIL!! 

            the remkes were there to enjoy some pink donuts with us!

            Nanny and Papa are excited for their 4th granddaughter!

            she is one loved little girl already!

            How far along? 17 weeks

            Total weight gain: 7-8 lbs.

            Maternity clothes? Yes and no… still able to wear lots of my tops, but lets be honesty maternity is much more comfy!

            Stretch marks? Nope

            Sleep: sleeping better the past week! So thankful for this… was beginning to think I wasn’t going to sleep through the night ever again!

            Best moment this week: getting to see our little “mcpeanut” and know that SHE is doing GREAT! Yup, we also found out that we are having another GIRL!

            Miss Anything? drinking coffee/tea in the afternoons

            Movement:  a little bit… looking forward to more movement as the weeks progress

            Food cravings: chocolate and spicy food

            Anything making you queasy or sick: feeling a lot better in this department 🙂

            Gender: a GRIL!

            Labor Signs: Nope

            Symptoms: tired

            Belly Button in or out? in, but starting to poke out… a lot sooner than last time!

            Wedding rings on or off? on

            Happy or Moody most of the time: still Happy, I love 2nd trimester! But I have started to worry if she is ok… I have to continually lay this before the Lord’s feet

            Looking forward to: coming up with a name for our sweet baby girl! We have a few ideas that we are trying out! I will share with you soon.

              Posted in Family, mcpeanut | Tagged | 3 Comments

              365 fail

              So as I am sure you have gathered (those of you who still read this… sorry posts have been so sparse lately… life has been crazy, we don’t have great internet to upload pics, and when Liddy sleeps I usually don’t have the energy or will power to blog..) that I quit my 365 from this year…

              Going home to the states for two months and being in my first trimester there with a one-year old traveling around and living with people did me in. I slowly stopped taking a picture a day, let alone put them on the computer to edit and then post… Hope to start one again someday, but I have decided to give myself grace and be ok with the fact that this in not the season for it.

              Hoping to post pics from Lydia’s 4, yes 4 birthday parties she had to celebrate her first year soon- she is one loved little girl! But for now I will leave you with this pic. I took it on our drive from Dallas to west Texas… I feel like it depicts the drive really well..

              “Surely goodness and mercy will pursue me all the days of my life.” Psalm 23:6

                Posted in 365, Everyday Life | 1 Comment

                15 week little peanut

                I had so many people ask me in the states if we were going to record this pregnancy with the chalk boards again… as much as I loved those and am so thankful to Jord for doing them each week it is way too much work with a one year old running around this time! So this time Jord is just going to take my pic each week while I am wearing the above maternity calendar shirt (got this cute idea from Pinterest). Hope its a fun way for you all to stay involved with #2!

                I laugh cuz we starting taking pics of the belly with Lydia at 9 weeks and with this poor child  we are starring at 15… I guess that’s how it goes for second and third and so on children! 🙂

                How far along? 15 weeks (October 20)

                Total weight gain: not sure? maybe 5 or 6 lbs?

                Maternity clothes? Yes (for pants… much more comfortable! I think I am in them much sooner this time around, but I have not shame… why be uncomfortable when maternity jeans are a.m.a.z.i.n.g! )

                Stretch marks? Nope

                Sleep: not so great… for one we are still jet lagging (well Lydia is anyway..) and two, pretty much since the beginning of this pregnancy I wake up to go pee in the middle of the night and then lay awake for another hour or two (or more)! It is so frustrating!

                Best moment this week: finishing making my maternity calendar shirt (thank you Pinterest) – I bought the shirt about a month and a half ago and just now had the time to sit down and make it!

                Miss Anything? sleeping through the night

                Movement: I feel like maybe I have felt the baby move a few times already!! My favorite part of pregnancy is getting to feel the little kicks and rolls, can’t wait for more!

                Food cravings: fatoosh salad (a yummy arab salad with crunchy bread on top), steak and potatoes

                Anything making you queasy or sick: I have in general been more sick (esp in 1st trimester) with this one… I was queasy most of the time and had to constantly be eating, I also got  “magic pill” to help with nausea from the doctor and it was amazing!

                goat brain… yes, I tried some during Eid (a local holiday we just celebrated out here with our friends). We were eating goat and rice (which tasted good) then the started to bang the brains out of the goats head and put some in front of me and said try it! I was already starting to feel a little bit queasy toward the end of the meal anyway, then thinking about the brain made it worse, but I decided to try it anyway, however, as soon as I did I spit it right back up and had to run to the bathroom to finish getting rid of it… blah! The totally understood since I am pregnant – I can’t say that the same thing wouldn’t have happened pregnant or not, but I am glad I had an excuse!

                Also, usually the last two bites of every meal I can’t finish… I usually feel sick and have to stop.- very strange feeling.

                Gender: not sure yet?!

                Labor Signs: Nope

                Symptoms: tired, emotional, bloated

                Belly Button in or out? in

                Wedding rings on or off? on

                Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy, I love 2nd trimester!

                Looking forward to: finding out the gender of our baby and hearing the heart beat… It has been about 7 weeks since we went to the doctor, so I am excited to go on Thursday and hear how our “mcpeanut” is doing!

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                  Lydia is going to be a….

                  BIG SISTER!! 

                  (most of you probably already know this if you saw us in the states or follow me on Instagram or Facebook – am a little behind in the blog world!)

                  Here are some of the pics we have take along the way as we told family, friends, and the social media world our news….

                  can’t wait to see miss Liddy May as a BIG SIS! She has already been practicing giving baby dolls hugs and kisses…. melts my heart.

                  We gave this to Nanny & Papa (Chase’s parents) to tell them the news since this little peanut will be their 9th grand-baby!

                  Lydia shared the news at the airport with my family by wearing her BIG SISTER t-shirt!

                  What a blessing it was to be in the states when we found out about baby #2 and that we got to share the news with our family face to face. We were not expecting another baby, but couldn’t be more excited about it. Lydia and this one will be about 18 months apart– I love that they will never know life without each other.

                  “For you formed my inward parts, you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” Psalm 139:13 

                  Stay tuned for growing belly pics!

                    Posted in Family | 2 Comments

                    one month from a year!?!

                    It almost seems serial that we have been parents for over 11 months now. I can’t imagine life without our little bug at our feet. Life has changed a ton, but I am so thankful for how it has changed and wouldn’t trade it for anything!

                    Clothes: Our little peanut is still in 9 months clothes and doesn’t seem to be moving up in sizes any time soon! She still wears some 6 month shorts and 6-9 pjs. She is still in size 2 diaper and wears size 1 shoes! I think half the reason she is so tiny is that she is ALWAYS on the move- she never stops so whatever she eats just gets burned right off!

                    Food: Don’t let Liddy’s small stature fool you into thinking that she doesn’t eat… cuz man this girl can eat! It amazes me at how much she can it. She loves food, loves feeding herself, and loves screaming for her food. Yes, screaming- not a super proud parent moment for us… we are trying to work on it by teaching her baby signing, but she knows what she wants and lets you know it. I unfortunately, don’t have much patience for meal time- Chase does a much better job than I do. Its amazing how much being a parent reveals sin in my heart! Any suggestions on how to work on meal time manners (I know she is only 11 months +, so it may just come with age), I would love to hear them! We are still nursing about 4-5 times a day. She can go much longer periods between feedings- which has been nice for momma!

                    One the menu this month:

                    • Pasta (loves it)
                    • Spaghetti (super messy, but yummy)
                    • We are doing more baby food veggies- she went through a stage of not liking them, but we tried again, and she really likes them- store bought has been the way we have gone- way too hard to make my own on the road
                    • Rice (fried & steamed)

                     

                    Sleep: Considering that we have been on the road and sleeping in multiple different places she has done pretty well. The first week we were at my mom’s in Albuquerque was rough- she was waking up 1-3 times in the night! AHhhh. that is rough when you aren’t used to it. She was teething (getting 4 top teeth in at once!) and had a cold- poor baby. Gramzi was sweet and took the monitor for us a few nights. But for the most part she sleeps about 9-10 hours at night. Waking up around 7:30 am every morning… usually no matter what time she goes to bed! She is a morning girl. We were in an in-between stage of 2 naps is too much, but one nap was not enough. But lately she has been taking a pretty consist 2 naps a day! Its crazy how you think they are going to start doing one thing and then change on you again… babies. 🙂

                    Travel & family: Since we have been in the states for a longer period of time than we planned, we have gotten lots of quality family time! It has been so fun to watch Liddy bond with her grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins! What an unexpected blessing. She has done so well with going to new people, traveling around, and getting lots and lots of attention- she of course hates that part- NOT! She loves getting so much attention. We have been to Dallas, Denver, Albuquerque, and Lubbock. She has gotten to go to a Ranger baseball game and a Texas Tech football game, to a water park and has spent lots of time in the pool.

                    love bare-bottom babies! esp these bare-bottoms

                    Other exciting stuff: 

                    * Lydia crawled on grass for the first time this month. She was so funny- wasn’t sure what to do at first, but warmed up to it by the end.

                    *Like I said before, she is getting her top 4 teeth in! All.at.once. = fun.times. Her top left one popped through first. On August 12 is when I first noticed them coming in. We are still waiting for them to pop all the way through.

                    *She is pulling up and cruising on all furniture. We have been thinking any day now she will start walking, but is still content with crawling around. She has gotten much faster at this skill- it amazes me at how fast she can change rooms!

                    *She is super curious and loves to explore new things. Her attention span is about 2 minutes long.

                    *She will play by herself, but also loves when you are on the floor with her playing.

                    *She loves to dance, clap her hands, smile, laugh, eat, get attention, loves dogs, and people.

                    *Since we have been in the states she has loved being around dogs! She tries to say “woof woof” in whisper while she points or crawls to dogs.

                    *Her favorite thing is to put her hands out in an “I don’t know” position…. it is so cute. (pictured below)

                    *She babbles and says “mamaa”, “dada” , but I am not convinced that she associates it with us yet, so I am not counting it as her first word yet!

                    *We got to spend a morning in the pool with a sweet friend, Lesley, and her adorable baby boy, Cooper- we are working on their marriage contract 🙂 They interacted much more this time than they did at Christmas!

                    *She went to Sunday school for the first time this month and did so great! We would have taken her soon if we had the opportunity… what a blessing child care is! We really enjoyed getting to go to church without a busy bee in our arms!

                    *Dad makes her laugh the most. I love seeing Chase with her- she is wrapped around his finger.

                    *We have started to put her in shoes this month- We never messed with them before- they would always fall off and it was way too hot in the desert to wear them, but I am trying to get her used to them before she starts walking.

                    *She has started to join in when we sing “patty cake patty cake”- its so cute, she rolls hers hands and everything. She also loves to sing “itsy bitsy spider”, “skdamarinkadink”, and “twinkle twinkle little star”

                    *She loves to climb on everything. Since being in the land of dishwashers – America- she has discovered how much she loves them (as does her momma, but for different reasons), including climbing on them! We have to keep our eye on this one!

                    *When she gets excited she claps her hands and kicks her legs super fast.

                    *We still watch Praise Baby, but mostly in the car, since she doesn’t sit still at home to watch it any more.

                    Lydia,

                    We love you. Our prayer for you is to grow up knowing and serving Jesus with all your heart. We pray daily for your health, that you grow big and strong and that you will know that Jesus loves you and so do we! YOu have been such a joy to have with us as we live this crazy life. Thanks for going with the flow and being flexible. 

                    We love you more than you know!

                    love, momma & daddy 

                      Posted in Mcnugget | 1 Comment