Little Bird {25 weeks!}

Today marks 25 weeks of pregnancy. Lilly Rose is a busy lil' Bird moving, kicking (kicking some more) and tumbling away. She is about 1.5lbs and the size of a rutabaga. To be honest, I'm not exactly sure what a rutabaga is! Maybe I should google it so I know about how big my baby is. Lately I try to go to bed earlier than usual, especially on week days when I have to get up for work. Pregnancy has been really good to me. I have few complaints, the latest is my hips hurting but nothing I cannot deal with, that's for sure. I'm looking forward to working on the nursery in the next few weeks. Billy put the crib together so I'll have to show you some pictures of Lilly's new bed. :)

Mom (yaya) bought these for Lilly Rose and I just had to share, aren't they super cute!? We sure are excited about our little Bird.

Have a great weekend! Mine begins right now... :)

Our Big Boy {turns 2!}

Today is a big day in the Bird house; our favorite little boy turns 2! Oliver has been such a joy and fun addition to our family. I cannot believe he is already 2 years old. We woke up singing Happy Birthday followed by lots of love and ending with Birthday gifts.  If I didn’t have to rush off to work this morning I’d be home baking him a cake. However, seeing that he cannot really eat Birthday cake and I shouldn’t after the yummy pumpkin cheesecake I made this past weekend in celebration of Fall, we’ll just settle the day with lots of puppy hugs and playing with his new toys later on today.

"Mooooom, don't take my picture AGAIN"

"Yay! New Toys!!"

 Oliver loves to give a good 'handshake'

And for those who think a pumpkin cheesecake sounds like just the dessert they need to whip up, here’s the recipe! It was very good if I do say so myself. :)

The Cheesecake Factory Pumpkin Cheesecake

Servings: 8

Ingredients:  

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

5 tablespoons butter, melted

1 cup sugar, plus

1 tablespoon sugar

3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup canned pumpkin

3 eggs

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon allspice

Whipped cream

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Make the crust by combining the graham cracker crumbs with the melted butter and 1 T sugar in a medium bowl.

Stir well enough to coat all of the crumbs with the butter, but not so much as to turn the mixture into paste.

Keep it crumbly.

Put foil partway up the outside part of an 8-inch springform pan.

Press the crumbs onto the bottom and about two-thirds of the way up the sides of the springform pan.

You don't want the crust to form all of the way up the back of each slice of cheesecake.

Bake the crust for 5 minutes, then set aside until you are ready to fill it.

In a large mixing bowl combine the cream cheese, 1 C sugar, and vanilla.

Mix with an electric mixer until smooth.

Add the pumpkin, eggs, cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice and continue beating until smooth and creamy.

Pour the filling into the pan.

Bake for 60-70 minutes.

The top will turn a bit darker at this point.

Remove from the oven and allow the cheesecake to cool.

When the cheesecake has come to room temperature, put it into the refrigerator.

When the cheesecake has chilled, remove the pan sides and cut the cake into 8 equal pieces.

Serve with a generous portion of whipped cream on top.

Lil' Bird {finally has a name!}

Don't you just love a monogram? Sad but true, our sweet girl's name was considered with the aesthetics of her monogram in mind. I love a lot of "B" names but that was not going to work with our last name being Bird. However, after much consideration and multiple (okay, tons!) of conversations, Billy and I agree we just love the name Lilly Rose Bird.

Lilly was a name we both loved from the beginning. Before even trying to have children we thought Lilly would one day be a contender in the name race if we ever were to have a little girl. The middle name however was tough. Rose came about one day when Billy said, "Lilly Rose" and I looked at him like he was crazy. Two flowers? ;) BUT after time and consideration of other names nothing seemed right. Billy stuck by Lilly Rose and it grew on me more and more. I really love her name. We wanted a sweet old-fashioned sounding name (that's the southern roots and old souls in each of us). My favorite part of the naming process is the fact that Billy picked out her name. I can't envision another name to call our sweet girl and am proud to say, Lilly Rose Bird has a very excited daddy and mommy who cannot wait to set eyes on her! :)

The weekend in review {family fun}

One thing is ringing truer lately and that's the fact that I not only forget to take pictures, I forget at the most important times. (very unlike me) I do however, always have my handy iPhone to capture something. So, that's what I have to share from our weekend... a few not-so-great pictures filled with fond memories.

Friday after my Doctor's appointment I headed to Folkston to see the family. I was greeted at the door with a big happy hello by my nephew, Carlo. We had some time to spend together before Billy arrived with Oliver (per Carlo's request). I learned quickly that Carlo is a very smart and funny little guy. He's such a joy. One of his first questions to me was, "Why is the baby going to be a girl? Girls cry a lot" ha! I think he wants a boy cousin. :) Billy arrived with Oliver a few hours later and we enjoyed a big family dinner. It was so nice to have everyone around the table, finally. Even Grandma Kriner joined us for dinner and visited.

I Looove Him! - Carlo

Saturday we planned to go to the beach, not the best idea due to the weather. It was really overcast and windy BUT it was still a lot of fun. There was a little surfing, football and of course a picnic.

 Uncle Billy was a big hit!
Carlo asked him as we were leaving the beach,
"When can I see you again?" :) So sweet.

Baby Bird was very active this weekend. She was very busy throughout the day kicking and tumbling around. Saturday evening I felt her kicking away so I lifted my shirt and saw my belly move. That was neat to see from the outside. Unfortunately, Billy had stepped outside and missed it and baby girl didn't give a show again. But I know it's coming! The Doctor's appointment went well and everything measured great. We are so thankful for such a wonderful pregnancy thus far. We're pretty settled on her name so we'll reveal that in the next post or two!

Busy Birds {23 weeks}

The weeks are coming and going so quickly! September has been so much fun. Billy and I have had a lot of time together (which is rare with his work schedule) and are out and about making memories. We're trying to soak up each moment we have as "us" before the baby arrives in January. Here's a little of what we've been up to...

Date night on Amelia Island

 Isn't he handsome :)

Aunt Donna and Uncle Jimmy were in Orlando recently so we headed down for a couple days to enjoy their company and get away. We had so. much. fun.

Universal

We're not too sure about this hand gesture here,

#1 or the family sign? We found this funny. haha

POOL TIME

Checkmate

22.6 weeks

Carousel fun with Aunt Donna

UJ and his pal Woody

ANNNNDDD to top off our fun, we met Jordan, Oana and Carlo at the airport Tuesday night to welcome them HOME. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures (shocker) except this one...everyone carrying luggage to the car (so very exciting, huh? ;)). My favorite thing about this horrible quality picture is the fact that everyone is walking across the street unaware and of all of them, Oana smiles and waves! ha - A girl after my own heart. I just love her. We didn't get to spend but a few minutes with them at the airport but we'll make up for that this weekend! Billy, Oliver and I will be heading to Folkston tomorrow. Oliver is very excited about this (yes, he told me so). ;)

  

I can't end the post without mentioning my sweet baby girl. :) Due to the busy schedules there has been no progress on the nursery however, we did register (that was a event in itself for two newbies). I'm feeling great and go to the Doctor tomorrow for my check up. According to my pregnancy app the baby is about the size of a large mango and weighs in at 1.1lbs with approx. 118 more days to go! She is kicking me daily, throughout the day, and I LOVE it. :)

My Girl {22 weeks}

22 weeks: Baby is as long as a spaghetti squash and weighs almost a pound. (Length: nearly 11 inches). I am feeling her move daily now which is really exciting! In fact, right now she is very busy with her daily exercises. ;)  Besides feeling tired easily everything is going smoothly. My next doctors appointment is next Friday so I'm looking forward to hearing her heartbeat again.

Papa and Yaya came over on Labor Day to build custom bookshelves in the nursery. They turned out great, as expected. Papa is a wonderful carpenter. :) I'll post pictures once Billy and I can make time to cock and paint them.

Uncle Jordan, Aunt Oana and cousin Carlo arrive in the states this weekend *for good*. SO EXCITING! I'm thrilled to finally have them in driving distance so we can see each other more than once a year. They leave Italy Saturday (10th) and should arrive home by Sunday (11th).  Aunt Donna and Uncle Jimmy will be in Orlando next week so Billy and I are driving down for a night to spend time with them. We have a lot of exciting upcoming events to keep us busy (much less we need to paint, pick out material, decorate nursery, etc etc etc). I have a feeling the next few months will flllyyy and It'll be Christmas before we know it.