Easter weekend

This weekend´s weather started off really nice :) Which was awesome

for our neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt! There was TONS of people w/ their children at the baseball fields up the street.  They had grouped the hunts into different ages ( which was such a good idea), so we were all waiting in a huge circle around the egg field, 

Kate waiting patiently w/ her daddy.

And..... GOOOOOO!!!!!

But then ALL the parents went in WITH their children! So I guess we had to as well :)

Family pic :)

Gosh! Kate got sooo much stuff, she had at least 4 baskets full of treats and toys!

From both sets of grandparents and I did a spring swap (which is in the last post--oops I didn't take pictures of what I got) but it was mostly things I could give to Kate.  So I will defiantly be bringing those treats into work and get them out of my house!!!

Steven made a delicious Easter dinner :)

Also tried a new little project this weekend:

CAKE POPS!  We made too many and I have lived in my neighborhood for 2 yrs and STILL have not met everyone. So Kate and I decided to walk to all the houses were I knew there were kids to introduce ourselves and share our chickie CAKE POPS!

Later that day I had my dad take a couple pictures of Steven and I and my belly :)

They turned out okay, we only had a little bit of room on the memory card, so we didn't have much to work with. But thanks daddy! You did great!

We also had a pretty intense Kinect bowling tournament. My mom is a beast!

Then being my pregnant self, my body is changing every SINGLE day! So it was time for a new BRA!  My parents and I headed out to the mall today to do some bra shopping :)

But I found one! After at least an hour inside the dressing room with my mom

(P.S. didn't know bra shopping could be so much fun with your mom)

She even got in there and tried them on with me :)

Last but not least I got to skype with my brother and sister in-law!!

I miss them.

Spring Swap!

I joined a little spring swap last week on a friends blog-

The lovely Tammy :)

And here is what I picked out for my person:

Just a few little things: Jelly bellys! Because they are delicious and eastery right!?  Some really cute baby blue nail polish :) And a Honey Cream shea butter lip balm (I really liked the package it came in, I didn't get to test or smell it--so I just trusted my instinct) Hopefully she likes it!

I wrapped it all cute :) And well mae-mae wanted to be in the pic!

w/ a cute little note too :) aww..

AND I also got her a bag of my parents delicious FRESH ROASTED coffee 

Link here

Sent from two different places, so it will be 

more exciting to get TWO packages instead of one!? Don't you think?

It was just too nice of a day to drive to the post office. So Kate and I saddled up the wagon for a nice looong walk.

Ooooo, wait!! is this the FIRST belly picture!!??

(wow 6mnths 1wk already! I hope I don't get too much bigger!)

Can't wait to see what I get in the mail!!! I will post it so everyone can see too!

VERY EXCITED!

Give the belly what IT wants!!!

Browsing babycenter.com today I came across

a recipe for twix bars! Mmmm they looked soo yummy, I decided 

to try it out.

Link here

I made a couple changes, because pretzels just 

didn't sound as good as short bread.

So here is goes,

You really only need 4 ingredients:

*Shortbread (or pretzels)

*Nutella 

*Carmel squares

*Chocolate chips 

(I used both milk & semi-sweet--gotta keep daddy happy too)

Another reason I was so excited is that I had a $10 coupon @ Safeway! Oh yeah! So I think I paid like 5 bucks. yay!

1: I laid out wax paper and then began spreading a thin layer of nutella onto the shortbread.

Kate likes to lick EVERYTHING!

2: Unwrap your carmel squares and begin to work them with your fingers.

It was tough, not going to lie! So it might be easier if you have someone else to make these with! 

3: Lay the flattened carmel on top of your cookies. AKA cookie blankies! lol

4: Put your chocolate chips into a microwave safe bowl and heat 30 sec at a time until smooth.

5: Mix well, using a fork dab a little chocolate on each side and smooth around

the edges. (your treats don't HAVE to have chocolate on the bottom, at the end I got lazy and just did tops/sides) hehe

6: Place in the fridge for about 15 min to let the chocolate harden again.

7: Enjoy!  Sea Salt/princess sprinkles optional!

But HOLY COW these are rich! I ate half of one, and really should have just eaten a quater!

And I made 30!! Uh-oh!

Who will help me eat them all!!!??

Working mother while pregnant!

Working while pregnant with Kate was pretty easy I'd have to 

say.  I remember having some sickness while I was 

at work, but not too bad.  You'd think I'd have more dealing 

with other peoples mouths!! Teenage mouths for that matter! yuuck!

I worked up until 2 weeks of my due date ( I didn't want to leave but my office manager pretty much pushed me out haha), THEN had to wait until my due

date came and past, and WAIT ANOTHER two weeks for her to actually

come out! So I was still pretty big before I left, so my belly would bump patients in the head 

all the time!! Heehee!

Blueberry picking w/ my mom :)

Mariners game with Steven (groooss I am bigger them him!) WHAT!?

Oh well, he thinks I'm "cute" when I'm huge.. whatever that means right!

Looovee you babe!

But as you can see thats alot of extra weight on the back!

Being able to sit pretty much most of the day helped a lot so I didn't

have too much back pain, but sometimes being hunched over was a little hard 

at the end of the day.

My birth class teacher also gave me a bunch of stretches to do during the day and before bed, so that help a lot!

Kind of like this

In comparison I am already bigger then last time! So I'm hoping I'll do okay

at work.  I don't want another replay of being off work so long again, 

so I plan on working again until I'm sent home :)

The office I work in is so amazing, the boss, the girls, the actual job I have to do.

Its just going to make it so much easier to deal with the hard part I think.

They are always so considerate of how I'm feeling, when I'm hungry (hehe), if and when I need a break.  I can't even imagine working in a place that didn't have such amazing people!

I know it sounds like I live here... I pretty much do! I moved here by myself and I just never really went out on my own, so all my friends are here for the most part.  They are my family :)

Aww... Seahawks dress up day!

I got flowers the other day too from one of the girls :)

I had a little pregnant hormonal episode...sorries!

Needless to say, and not to brag or anything, I have it pretty easy, and I'm soooo

thankful for that!! Otherwise I would DIE!

Now AFTER work is a different story!!!

I get off work, go pick up Kate from daycare, come home, cook, relax for a hour, then bath time, then bed time! It is non-stop!  

We are pretty much all in bed by 8:30-9pm every night, just because everyone (meaning 

me and Steven) are just soo exhausted from work.

So I really want Steven and I to make it a goal to spend a little more time with her before we go to bed each night, especially before baby comes!  Any suggestions would be awesome!  

I feel like weekends are a big issue as well. I feel like "Ahhhh.... its the weekend, I can finally relax and have me time!" WRONG! I'm still up before 8.  And its go-go-go time with Kate.

We need more sunny days for one, and then we need to find more activities for free!

 Over all though I think I handle things pretty well.. I just need to learn how to wind down from the day...I would defiantly like advice if anyone has any, on any of my issues today :)

Wow.. this is a good place to vent! Love it!

~Names/Meanings/Visuals~

I've never actually payed much attention to names and the meaning of them. I thought it would be good to have a little visual to help me choose the right one! Now we aren't finding out the sex of the baby until birth so I hope I don't dwell on the "cutest" picture below, haha! I added in our names as well, again just to get a visual :)

Steven: Garland Crown

I'm sure they had manly garland crowns back in the day,

but this is wayy cuter :) Sorry Steven!

But he does sometimes think he is "king of the castle!" lol

Rebekah: Servant of God

I'm not a religious person but I feel this describes me pretty well.

I like to serve and give to others.

Kate: Pure

Ahh... I miss being so young and innocent, hehe

Possible baby names:

Calvin: Bald/Hairless

This meaning is a little sad,

but I guess it could be cute in its own way!

Marie:Bitter

I always think of bittersweet chocolate,

much better then just being bitter, I think.

Charlotte: Comes from Charles:

Feminine version of "Free Man"

In this case FREE WOMAN

Jane: God's Gracious Gift

I would think of Jane as OUR little gracious gift to each other

Brooke: Small Stream

I think this is one of Steven's favs!

Gwenivere: White Wave

This is the newest addition to our list.

We would call her Gwen, then how cute will

that be to be Grandma Gwenivere!

Now I don't have any FOR SURE middle names picked out yet, so any suggestions would be GREAT! Our last name is Neubauer (which I think means new farmer)

And if I come up with any other names I'll be sure to add them in another post :)

~Little about me ~

My husband, Steven, and I have been together for

almost 4 years and married for 5 months

photo taken by: Cheryl Jones

We did things a little backwards, but it works for

us! We have a little girl named Kate:

She will be 3 this year.

photo taken by: Kevin Russ

We are expecting our second little one in July!

And also the reason I started this blog!

Its a little late to track the whole pregnancy,

but I thought it would be fun to see if I can make mini-goals

for myself every week or so to help better myself

~and others~

through this pregnancy.

Hope you'll follow along my little journey!