Friday, February 12, 2016

7QT: Giveaway, Baby, Snow Days and Renos

1)


Don't forget to enter my giveaway from the last post for an Ultimate Easter Basket, featuring ten awesome items!

2)

Baby Martin #7 Update:

Well, we hit 12 weeks this week, with the official due date being changed to August 24, 2016.  I had the NT Scan done, and everything looked perfectly healthy (thank you Jesus!).  The baby is so so so active on the ultrasound. He/she kept bending his/her legs, then jumping up and sliding back down.  It was so cool to watch, even the ultrasound tech couldn't stop laughing.  I had the blood work taken to find out the gender results within a week or so!

3)

Anybody want to guess what it is before we know for sure?  Here's some "symptoms" to keep you informed:


Baby's heart rate was 166.

My face is breaking out in pimples and coldsores.  It's like I'm Colleen Sweeney from 1996.

Dairy makes me super sick.

I've gained 9 pounds in 12 weeks (aye aye aye!).

And, well, that's it really.  I'm nauseous when I don't eat often (hence the weight gain) and I get pretty bad headaches/light-headedness in the evenings.

4)

The kids had Catholic Schools Week last week, it was very fun!  I only took photos of career day and the basketball game of Faculty vs. Kids.  Spoiler alert, the kids won!

Maggie as a baker.  And a mom and soccer player, in case you couldn't tell.

Eamon as a pro football player.  He still wants to be a priest, but we didn't plan ahead too well!

Andrew as yet another football player.  The Manning boys got nothing on us!

Xander as a builder like Grandpa.  But he's also a baker like Maggie.

JP as a CIA agent, when the business man idea didn't pan out because he couldn't find a briefcase.


And since Declan's not old enough to do things like this, here's a video of him trying to count, but with a potty mouth!

Only CYO kids were allowed to play, so only my Andrew could play - he's the cute one in the middle!  Who, me, biased?

Maggie and the girls cheering them on.

JP with his bff.  I guess 7th graders smile with closed lips??

Declan ate M&M's all night!

The amazing faculty and staff that didn't mind looking like fools ;)  That's our pastor on the end right!

Xander's 100th day of preschool.  Those ears kill me.  And the chapped lips below the mouth are totally what I used to get.  My older siblings called them Clown Lips.  We're not so cruel to Xander Blaise :)


5)

Kitchen reno talk...

We went to research and price out replacing out kitchen cabinets, counters, appliances, and adding an island.  Talk about sticker shock!!  We are thinking of keeping our cabinets, because aside from me wanting white cabinets, they are good quality and we can't justify spending thousands of dollars to replace them.  We will replace our ugly light counter tops with dark ones, and add an island with a matching counter top.  We will also replace our dishwasher, oven, and microwave which are all really old and in need of repair soon.  We're going stainless steel with those.  So...the decorating question I have is:

Should I go with a white island in the style I want, or match the island to the brown cabinets we already have?

I've been googling brown cabinets with a white island, and think these look nice.  I just have a fear that doing it in my actual kitchen will look mismatched:




6)

It's been snowing around here!  We got about a foot last Friday and school was cancelled and then another foot on Monday and school was cancelled again!  Yay for 4 day weekends, especially the Monday after the Superbowl :)

And yay for boys who can shovel!


The kids finally got to use their snowball scoopers they got from their Aunt & Uncle at Christmas!  And we colored some water and they prettied things up a bit!



This weekend is supposed to be in the single digits - which makes cuddling to keep warm a necessity and not just a smooth Valentine's Day move.

7)

Lent is off to a great start.  It's always so easy in the beginning, isn't it?  As a family we are giving up sweets at home and eating seafood on Friday dinners.  I'm the only seafood lover in the house, so it's really everybody else's sacrifice :)  We also "cheat" on Sundays (starting with the Saturday night vigil) and birthdays (you can't choose your birthday), and all major saints days.  So, umm, a lot.  As far as individual sacrifices, I told the kids it was between them and God what they wanted to give up or add on to make them a better person at the end of Lent then at the beginning.  It's funny how some of my kids are great at keeping things like that to themselves and others just have.to.tell.me.  I totally get that, as I want to tell Phil every time I practice a virtuous act.  Restraint is hard :)

Have a wonderful Lenten, wintery, romantic Valentiney weekend everybody!


Go see Kelly for more!

30 comments:

  1. Glad to hear that your NT scan went well! That's funny that baby was so active :) I have no guesses as to gender. Being pregnant with #6 (due 8/29), I know that every pregnancy is different. The heart rate theory never worked for me. My last 2 were always high (150-160's until the end) and one was a girl and the other a boy. I had an ultrasound at 9.5 weeks a couple weeks ago and my baby's heart rate was 178. I'm always hungry too and feel gaggy/sick when I don't eat every couple of hours. I was on Trim Healthy Mama before getting pregnant and I lost 12 pounds in 4-6 weeks. I've since gained almost all of it back (and, I'm too hungry to take the time to follow the THM plan much now.....I'm hoping that changes in the next couple of weeks). Enjoy your weekend :)

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    1. Yes! I keep saying I want to get back on THM when I'm over the nauseau, it would be nice to slow down this weight gain!

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  2. I love ultrasounds at the 10-12 week mark because they're always so jumpy like that! It's amazing that we can't feel it! With Sara I had an ultrasound at 10 weeks and then at 14 or 15 weeks, and the difference was remarkable. She was so squished just a few weeks later and she couldn't jump around anymore!

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    1. In 5 pregnancies, this was the first time I had an early u/s at 10 weeks. With all my other ones, I had the first/only u/s at 20 weeks, so it was pretty cool this time to see all the kicking/moving.

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    2. I think that's why it was so surprising...we've never had one done at this point before. It was so cute!

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  3. I think you are having a girl! I had a headache constantly through my first trimester this time and theat has never happened to me before.

    My parents just got their kitchen redone and did the "two tone" look. It looks great! Apparently, it is the "in" thing in kitchens right now.

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    1. Constant headache...I thought it was caffeine withdrawal at first (because just the thought of coffee made me sick) but even when I drank tea, they were constant. You're giving me HOPE :)

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  4. Why don't you have the cabinets repainted? I'm not sure how much effort that takes or how much money but it might be a good option for your budget. They are always doing that on HGTV! Can't wait to hear the sex of the newest Martin! Don't tell Maggie but I'm secretly hoping it's a boy so that she'll have three older brothers and three younger ones. I think that would be so cool. Also, she wouldn't have to give up her status as the only girl! Have a great weekend!

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    1. I've heard from people who did paint their cabinets that it doesn't look good after a while...and it's a LOT of work. I won't tell Maggie you want a boy, she would put you on the naughty list ;)

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  5. I'm no interior decorator but I think the White Island (not sure why that capitalized itself) with brown cabinets looks great. It breaks up the monotony of everything being so "matchy matchy".

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    1. Glad to know it's a thing to do, and not just us being cheap!

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  6. Wait...do you know it's a girl?

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  7. My guess is girl! :) Have you considered sending your cabinets away to be painted? I've heard of a business (local to us) where you take the doors off, send them to be painted, and then they give 'em back to you (while you paint the frames which isn't a lot). A family we know had it done and it was MUCH cheaper and looked super professional -- just a thought! But I do like the two-tone thing although my current crush is dark blue lower cabinets and white upper cabinets. Our kitchen is approximately 30 square feet (no joke) so anything with enough room for 2 people looks amazing to me!

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    1. Never thought about sending them away, that's another good idea!

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  8. I think a white island and brown cabinets, if that's what you want, will look fine. :) As my husband frequently says (jokingly, 99% of the time), "do what makes you feel good". Also, hooray for 7 babies! I'm the oldest of 7 and it was a blast growing up. :)

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    1. Thanks for the encouragement! I hope my kids feel the same way :)

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  9. I think it would be cool to have 3 older boys and 3 younger boys with Maggie in the middle. But Maggie with a sister is also awesome so... my vote is BABY! :) We have white cabinets and they are a pain in the butt. They get so dirty so fast and I spend a lot of time cleaning them. Just for what it's worth.

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    1. Well it's definitely a baby!! You win!!

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  10. Our cabinets are literally falling off the walls and need to be replaced, and it is very chic now to have different colors/tones in the kitchen. You're not cheap, you're on the leading edge of kitchen design!

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    1. Haha, I should start my own hgtv show ;)

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  11. I'm keeping a modified Coptic Orthodox fast (vegan all week) but I'm taking Sundays off AND St. Patrick's Day as I am an Irish-American lass as well as it being my dad's birthday so steak is on the menu! I am seriously looking forward to being able to put REAL milk in my coffee after church on Sunday.

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    1. Oh wow, that sounds so hard!! Good luck!

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  12. Ok, first, I have to say that JP as a CIA agent...he's got that look and the stone face down. Well done!
    Baby...I'm just gonna go with girl, for Maggie. And, while I'm at it I'll throw out a girl name...Zelie. Zelie Martin. How cute is that?! Our world needs another Zelie Martin. ;) Plus, Zelie was our girl name for Benny. ADORBS (our favorite word around here for everything that Benny does. lol)
    The kitchen..what fun! But not the cost. We had big plans for flooring replacement in our whole main floor that includes the dining and kitchen. It's only taken me 5 years to come to a decision. For fun though, our furnace had problems over a week ago and we had to replace it. Sticker shock! and nothing to show for it, besides a warm house. Now we're debating whether the floor can still happen eventhough we were just going with inexpensive replacement. Ugh. Ok, but back to you...I really like the idea of the two toned kitchen to break things up a bit. I think it would be really cute in your space.
    Eagerly looking forward to the photos!

    ps...please tell me a bestie gets to find out gender reveal before you post? I mean, like right after Phil. lol. Kidding. I'll be eagerly waiting to hear the news, whether boy or girl. SO excited!

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    1. My good friend just had a baby girl named Zelie, so I think that's out for us :( Xander and Zelie would be cute names together! And yeah, you're on the short list of finding out first :)

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  13. I think it's a girl because of the quick weight gain. I gained it very fast with my girls and then it tapered off. With the boys I started slow and then packed it on at the end. Have you thought of doing a gender reveal? Like have the doc write it down, you give it to a friend (or the kids even!) and then have a cake or balloons with pink or blue. That would be fun! I would go with the White Island. You could always paint your cabinets and then distress them for a rustic look. ??? Good luck figuring it all out. nesting already? ;)

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  14. My guess is for girl!!!! So excited for you!

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  15. Well I'm going to go ahead and guess that Miss Maggie is getting a sister! Wouldn't that be fun?? And not to brag, but I have a pretty good track record in the baby gender guessing department ;)

    We haven't gotten any snow this year!! Now I'm kinda ready for Spring.

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  16. I love the depth of a second color cabinet in the kitchen. I say go with your gut!!

    Also those are some rad looking snowballs!!

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  17. 1) all your kids are so beautiful! I feel stalkery, but truly can't wait to hear if you're having a boy or a girl!! No idea though because I have had completely different first trimesters with the last three pregnancies and they were all boys!

    2) I think you could totally do the white island with wood cabinets - IF you do a white subway tile backsplash. My husband did ours himself and while it was a lot of work (mostly just lining them up correctly), it was shockingly cheap. And made the hugest difference in our humble little kitchen! I think it would really help your future stainless steel appliances pop ;)

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  18. I say a GIRL!!!! I love the top kitchen picture!!

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