Colorado 2012 & Charlie's First Plane Ride.

A couple weeks ago, we flew out to my parents lake house in Colorado with Charlie and his cousins. Even though it was a bit crazy at times having 3 little ones together, I think it made it a little easier. They were able to entertain themselves a bit by chasing eachother around. I think if it were just Charlie, it would have been a bit more challenging to keep him happy.

Overall, Charlie did better than we thought he would. There were times where we wanted to pull our hair out (especially around take off and landing where the attendants insisted on having him in a seatbelt even though we'd be taxing for awhile). Often times we would let him not be in the seatbelt and then when the attendant came by, we'd try to put it back on so we wouldn't get in trouble. After we landed in Colorado we rented a big car and the 7 of us drove 2 hours to the cabin. It was a looooong travel day. Did I mention we also had a 2 hr layover in LA?

We stayed in Colorado for 4 nights and did a lot of hanging out and playing in the snow. Getting Charlie to agree to wear snow clothes just didn't happen so we had to stuff him in the clothes. By the time we were done, Rob and I were sweating and swearing. It was awesome! ;) I think the highlight of our trip was sledding. My dad bought 3 sleds for the kids but the adults had fun with it, too. There is a little hill by their house that we walked to and played for awhile. Charlie didn't want to sit in the sled but I held him down and went - he looooved it.

I love this one. Rob accidentally went over a bump and they totally went airborn. Rob is trying to slow down with his hand, and Charlie has his hand over his forehead as if to say "geez dad, what are you doing?!" I think I might frame this. It makes me laugh whenever I see it.

The day we came home, we had to leave the house at 5:30 am. It was snowing and super windy so it took us 3 hours to get to the airport (almost 3.5 after getting gas). In the morning when we left, Rob checked the flight and it was on time. We pulled into the area to return our rental car around 9:00 am and Rob checked our flight status again and it said, wait for it...CANCELLED. WTF? Rob called the airline and they said they could get us on a 1:00 pm flight but we wouldn't land until 8:00 pm in San Jose. Rob told them that wouldn't work so they ended up getting all 7 of us on a non stop flight to San Jose and ended up landing hours before our original flight was to land (our original flight had a 3 hr layover at LAX). It caused some stress for a short time but in the end, the travel gods were working for us.

All in all it was a good trip but its always nice to come home and to come home to almost 80 degree weather was wonderful. There's no place like home!

Some of My New Favorite Things - Skin Care Edition!

My skin had been looking a bit blah lately and by lately I mean in the past two years since having Charlie. Its dull, wrinkly and saggy. I'd seriously do botox if 1.) I weren't pregnant and 2.) if it were a heck of a lot cheaper.

Rob and I spent a night in Monterey a few weeks ago and I splurged on a massage AND a facial. I hadn't had a facial since I was pregnant with Charlie. The aesthetician told me my skin looked like the average 30 yr old skin. She said it wasn't "bad" but there were a few products I could use (and stop using) that would make it look and feel better.

The first order of business: stop using MAC makeup. I was bummed becuase just three months ago I spent a pretty penny on foundation, powder and concealer. And I loved how it looked, it was a little heavy but it covered like a dream. She said it was really clogging my pores and its just a heavy makeup in general. She told me to go to Macys and ask for a refund. I did and I got one! The only thing I didn't get a refund on was my powder because I had dropped it and it was shattered.

The aesthetician gave me a sample of a mineral makeup called True and I really liked it. A place in town carries it and got myself a full size loose powder.

I also got the skin tint. Its lighter than a foundation and because its made from the same mineral ingredients as the powder, it won't clog my skin.

She assured me these will both last me at least 6 months, probably longer.

Back in Monterey, I purchased some skin care items that I took a chance on. They were a bit spendy but I hadn't invested in my skin in a long time and after having an amazing facial, I felt like I wanted to keep my skin happy.

I bought the epicuren citrus herbal cleanser

and the epicuren colostrum cream

I also bought a pumpkin purifying enzyme peel by naturopathica

and finally, a phytocell detox mask by emerginC scientific organics

If I had to only recommend my absolute favorites, they would be the makeup and the cream. I like the cleanser but I'm not sure how much of a difference it makes vs a regular department store cleanser. And the last two items are only to be used once a week and I've only applied them two times so I'm not sure yet.

Baby #2 - 17 Week Survey

How far along? 17 weeks, 5 days

Total weight gain/loss: +7

Maternity clothes? Yes. I need to stop buying new clothes. Not a smart thing to do since hopefully I won't be wearing them for too long after the summer.

Stretch marks? No.

Sleep: I'm enjoying sleeping on my back and realize this luxury will be gone in two weeks.

Best moment this week: This was a BIG week. Tuesday we found out the sex (more on that later). The day came that I've been (literally) dreaming about. Then that night, we hosted a gender reveal party. Gender reveal parties (I think) are sort of new. I had never heard about them when I was pregnant with Charlie but when I heard about them I thought they were such a cute idea. We invited only my parents and the Strombergs. Rob's family doesn't live too far but they would get in major traffic on the way down so Rob told them the old fashioned way, by telling them "its a _____" in person and by phone. I'm not planning on having a shower for this baby so I thought the gender reveal party would be something special to do to celebrate "it." Here are some pictures from the reveal:

It's a....

Boy!!!!!

Charlie is going to love having a brother. I look forward to watching my boys play together.

And another highlight this week: helping co-host my friend Dorothy's baby shower! Her baby, Ivy, is due April 2nd. She's going to be a great mama.

**Sorry its a bit blurry (trying to protect her identity) ;)
Movement: Not yet. I'm surprised I haven't felt him yet. I thought I felt him a couple times but it was gas. Oopsies.

Food cravings: No big cravings these days.

Gender: Baby boy!

Labor Signs: Nope

Belly Button in or out? In

What I miss: Tummy sleeping

What I am looking forward to: Getting the nursery under way. Oh I've got plans, baby!

Other Updates: I had my blood drawn again and they gave me my revised down syndrome risk numbers. Last time it was 1 in 2600 (with Charlie it was 1 in 10,000 so I was surprised it was such a higher risk, though not "high risk"). The revised number is 1 in 12,000 which is amazing. For some reason my risk for Trisomy 18 actually went up but I'm still not high risk. The dr. said the ultrasound tech would typically be able to point out multiple markers to indicate the baby has Trisomy 18 but my ultrasound came out great so there is no concern.
The other big update: we're pretty sure this baby will be named Calvin, nickname Cal.

This week, baby Calvin is the size of a turnip!

Getting Organized.

Someone on facebook posted that she is following a 365 day plan to get organized. I asked for the link and I think I'm going to start doing it. I might even do the tasks for January if I have time. The task for today says "Only keep your good, sharp knives". I'm skipping this because I don't have any dull knives.

So I'm going back to January and will do one thing on the list today.

1/1 - Think about who you want to be this coming year (ugh, no thanks!)
1/2 - Set up a donation station (I have a box in the garage for goodwill, I think thats good enough)
1/3 - Declutter the tops of your cabinets and dust (I do not have cabinet tops)
1/4 - Declutter the top shelf of one of your cabinets - Ok, I can do this!

The top of our pantry shelf contains plastic cups, Rob's protein shake pitchers and to-go containers, plus zip log baggies. There isn't much on the shelf so it was nice starting with this task but it was unorganized and I straightened it up in less than 5 mins. I mainly just combined the cups together since we have the vertical space and grouped things together so it looked more organized.

Before

After

I'd love to tackle other things on this list (I'm feeling the urge to organize for once in my life!) but I should really do other things that are probably not on the list like do the dishes.

Go here to download the de-clutter calendar: http://mysimplerlife.com/