A Brother's Love

Kinnick is so over-the-top excited to have a brother.  He's so sweet already!  He can't go to bed without giving his brother a hug and talking to him.  If he does forget, I can almost guarantee he will be making a trip downstairs to tell him good night.  A few weeks ago, we read a book about 2 friends who made lists of 10 things they loved about each other.  That night Kinnick said "Mom, I want to tell C 10 things I love about him."  Here was his list:

• You're a cute little baby.
• I love you.
• Spiderman will fight the bad guys so you don't have to be scared.
• I'm SOOO glad you're a boy!
• I'm glad we get to share a room.
• You're my little brother forever.
• I will take good care of you.
• You're such a sweet little baby.
• I love you VERY much.
• I'll teach you how to play super heroes.

I love this little man and I'm so excited for him to meet his little brother!  He's so sweet, loving, and protective of Macey--I can only imagine how he will care for his brother as well.

Baby Update!

So I really was planning to do a few more prego updates... but well, that's life!  Here's my 2nd trimester in a nutshell:

3 Months

I first felt baby kick (for sure) around 17/18 weeks.  It seemed like it was much earlier with Macey so I was anxiously anticipating it.  I have been enjoying every kick ever since!  Sadie loves to feel this little guy kicking also. 



20 weeks--Halfway!

When I made it to about 22/23 weeks, I was FINALLY done throwing up.  I'm glad--it's not really any fun! 

We had our second ultrasound at about 22 weeks.  We were SO ANXIOUS to find out if we were getting a boy or a girl.  We (Marc and I) both wanted a boy and Kinnick REALLY wanted a brother so we were pretty pleased with the news.  Sadie got the treat of going with us to the "big reveal" ultrasound.  She lost interest after about 10 minutes--it was the longest ultrasound I've ever had and she didn't tell us the gender until the very end!  Sadie was bummed but it didn't last too long.

5 Months

This pregnancy really has gone be quickly (Marc might say otherwise)... I can't believe I just passed 30 weeks!  I'm starting appointments every 2 weeks--which really makes it seem like the end is near.  I've been the most uncomfortable (physically) this time around, but I guess I somewhat expected it.  I've still been staying active--Zumba twice a week and lots of walking.

6 Months--Easter

I can't wait to see this little guy's face and hold him in my arms.  I'm so excited to have another little Gorsch boy in this family! 

Jesus is Alive!

March 31:  I loved having a relaxing Easter morning at home.  We started our morning by telling the Easter story with "Resurrection Eggs" activity.  The activity is meant to be done during the 12 days leading up to Easter but we did it all on Easter morning.  I was able to put the kit together the day before using things I had around the house.  The kids loved taking turns opening each egg to see what  was inside.  After each egg was opened we read a corresponding scripture.  The eggs told the story beginning with Mary washing Jesus feet thru the empty tomb.  I used these instructions and printables to put my kit together.  I of course saved it with my Easter stuff so we can use it again.  I also used it at church with my 2-year-old class and they were very captivated!

After we read the Easter story we let the kids look for their baskets and their colored eggs.  They were excited for the surprises they found... Macey's favorite was the movie, Jamanji.  The kids had rented this from the library several times and Macey LOVES it.  She started screaming as soon as she saw it!  Kinnick's favorite surprise was his Derrick Rose jersey.  Doggie Dog also got a Bulls jersey.  Sadie loved her new umbrella and her Barbie earbuds.  She also got a "big girl" necklace--an "S" with a pink jewel.   

I can't tell the story or Easter morning 2013 without telling the WHOLE story--the good with the... not so good.  I took the girls shopping the week before Easter to pick out new dresses.  Every year previous to this one I color coordinated our family and a few years the girls had matching dresses.  Christmas and Easter are about the only time I splurge on new outfits for our kids (ones that aren't on clearance!)  I knew this year would be more challenging because Sadie has become quite picky and quite opinionated about what she likes to wear.  It was okay with me if the kids didn't match. 

Shopping: Sadie quickly picked out a hot pink sequined skirt that she was in love with.  I told her that was fine but we had trouble finding a shirt to match--every shirt I suggested had "something" wrong with it.  I finally told her we would have to look at another store but we could still buy the skirt.  (Macey happily picked one of the 3 dresses I suggested.)  Sadie also chose a dangly (like down to her shoulders) sequined hot pink hair clip.  We made our purchases and left.  I later picked up 2 shirts at Target that I thought would match her skirt.  She first complained that they were both black and that is her "worst" color.  After I convinced her that hot pink doesn't match easily with other colors she choose the shirt that was my second choice. 

Easter Morning:  When it was time to get dressed I gave Sadie some knee length black tights to wear under her skirt.  You would have thought I was torturing her--she did not want to wear the tights.  I decided not to pick this battle because I  didn't want to ruin my morning.  She put her skirt on and immediately burst into tears because the skit was "itchy."  Let me just say--the "itchy" that she was referring to was the 1/4" bottom of the skirt where the sequin material passed the lining.  By this time I was frustrated and we needed to get moving so we wouldn't be late.  Marc talked to her, I talked to her... nothing worked.  The only thing Sadie was sure about was that we "never listen to her because we always try to boss her around and that we just don't understand what she is telling us."  By this point everyone is ready--except Sadie. 

People like to tease us because we're always late everywhere.  Truth be told, we could always be early if we only had two children (you can guess which two).  Sadie's getting dressed escapade lasted well over 30 minutes and resulted in me asking her to get dressed in something that was appropriate for church.  She ended up wearing the black capri leggings (the ones that were not an option with her skirt) and a shirt still in her closet from last summer.  Her outfit didn't match.  I typically don't let her wear leggings with shirts.  In my mind it was far from an "Easter" outfit.  There were tears--mostly from me. It wasn't necessarily this one morning, it was more about how it is most mornings... and afternoons... and evenings.

I was crying as we drove to church and the song "You Make Beuatiful Things" came on the radio.  It was a perfect reminder that Jesus is making something beautiful out of my strong-willed little girl.  Even more importantly, He can take me--an imperfect mommy, and make something beautiful out of my shortcomings, my imperfections, all that is ugly in me...

That's kind of what Easter is all about! 

Egg Decorating

March 30:  We spent some family time the night before Easter decorating eggs.  This year we had 2 egg decorating kits from Build-a-Bear (freebies from Macey's birthday trip).  I did the eggs in vinegar and put 2 tablets in each--they turned out super bright!

The kit was pretty easy--there were stickers and glitter sticker outlines with glitter tubes.  The kids had fun using both.

 

 When we were done decorating eggs, Sadie treated us to an Easter bunny show.  It was a fun, laid-back night after our morning at Ms. Pearl's!

Easter Egg Hunt

March 30:  Our small group is currently going through a study called "40 Days of Community" by Rick Warren (similar to Purpose Driven Life).  Nate preached a sermon series on Community and most of our churches' small groups were going through this study together.  As part of the study we were encouraged to do a group service project.  Our group decided to host an Easter Egg hunt for the Roseland Community.  The timing worked out perfectly because Ms. Pearl had recently gotten HUGE shipments of new clothing and wanted to do a community outreach/clothing giveaway.  We planned our event for the week before Easter.

 

We all bought candy (and borrowed LOTS of eggs from the church).  We used our small group time the week before the egg hunt to stuff eggs.  Usually the kids are with a sitter, but the bigger kids enjoyed stuffing eggs with us.  It was a great family project! 

The Egg Hunt was also a great family project--and we all had our kids with us!  They enjoyed helping hide the eggs, playing on the playground, and getting some treats from Ms. Pearl when we were done.

 

I could not believe how fast these kids (about 50 total) snatched up almost 800 eggs.  We helped make sure all the little ones got some eggs in their basket but this "hunt" was started and done in about 3 minutes!  Lots of happy faces...

 

 

Macey's Best "Big" Bud--J.D.  She LOVES him!

After the egg hunt, Ms. Pearl shared a brief Easter message with everyone gathered.  I always love hearing her preach...

We ended with the clothing give away.  We helped set up about 15 big tables of clothes in the morning.  During the giveaway we helped bag clothes and assisted people in finding what they needed.  Afterwards we bagged the leftovers and helped clean up and put tables away.

Our whole group minus 1 was able to come to help with this event...

Everyone agreed that it was an awesome way to spend our Saturday morning!  We were also very encouraged to keep planning these types of events together.  Here's what we have coming up:  Feed My Starving Children packing event (on Saturday!)--we're all serve together for this;  Serving a meal at Ronald McDonald House--we get to cook and serve the families that have little ones in Hope Children's Memorial Hospital, still working out the details but this will probably be a "girl's night" event;  Making Blessing Bags to pass out to homeless/needy.  I truly LOVE this group God has blessed me with and I'm excited to see what He has in store for us!

Baking Party

 

 

March 28th:  I'm so thankful that Sadie agreed to let me help her plan a baking party... I say this because usually anything that is my idea is not what she chooses.  Sadie has been anticipating this birthday party for awhile.  We decided to let our kids have "friend" parties on their even birthdays so she's been waiting for #6!  She liked the idea of a baking party and I'm so glad because this party was as much fun for me as it was for her! 

 

Sadie and I had fun making invitations--I got cupcake paper, cupcake stickers & brads, and sparkly pink ribbon.  Making the invitations with Sadie was a little stressful--she ended up making 2 her way and I did the rest.  She invited 6 girl friends and Ms. Jennifer & Kyra.  She also insisted on inviting our Children's pastor from church (who was very honored!)  I also invited all the moms who wanted to stay and party with us. 

 

Here's what we did:

 

Decorating Aprons:

We got white aprons and fabric markers at Hobby Lobby.  Sadie picked out lots of fun embellishments.  Before the party--I made each girl a baggie with all of her add-ons in it.  The dinging room table was decorated and set up with the aprons and all the craft supplies.  I set up a hot glue gun and iron on a side table.  The girls got to color their aprons and arrange their "pretties" and the adults who were there did the gluing/ironing.  I loved seeing their creative side shine through.  Part of me really wanted to buy cute aprons for the girls ahead of time but this was so much better--they LOVED decorating their own aprons to wear!

  



 

Eight Works of Art!

 Making Mini-Pizzas

I had the kitchen table set up with 8 place mates for our baking projects.  I made dough ahead of time and wrapped it in individual-sized portions for each girl.  I had all the pizza toppings set up in bowls.  Each girl got a piece of foil (sprayed) with her name on it.  They made their pizzas and we baked them right on the foil squares so we would know what pizza belonged to each girl.  Again, I loved seeing their creativity and uniqueness--one girl made a heart shaped pizza!  (I also made a couple pizzas ahead of time for our extra guests and adults.) 

 Pin the Cherry on the Cupcake:

I helped suggest this idea in sticking with our party theme (Sadie really wanted to play pin the horn on the unicorn!) and Sadie agreed that a cupcake would be fun.  She made this game completely by herself!  I bought poster board and some sparkly red paper.  She drew and decorated the cupcake and cut out all the cherries.  Again--not what I pictured in my mind, but much better!  She was so proud of herself.  

 

Opened Presents:

 

Decorated Cakes:

Of course the most popular event was decorating cakes... it was my favorite too!  I made 9 small round cakes ahead of time (3 each of chocolate, funfetti, and strawberry--Sadie's favorite).  I used one cake mix of each flavor.  I made the cakes several days ahead of time, cut them in half, wrapped them and froze them.  On the day of the party I let the girls frost them frozen (easier than frosting a freshly baked cake).  I gave each girl a cup of white frosting.  They also got a spatula with their name on it to take home.  After their cakes were frosted they could choose from lots of sprinkles and candies along with 4 different colored frostings to decorate their cake however they pleased.  I set up all the decorating goodies earlier in the day and had them on a tray ready to go.  The girls needed help getting their base frosting on but after that they did fine on their own.

 

The Finished Masterpieces:

 

We ate Pizza and then there was DANCING:

 

And of course we ate CAKE:

The girls each got to take home their mini cake.  I bought cake squares slightly bigger then the cakes and we wrapped them with saran and tied them with ribbon.  Sadie decided she wanted the same Hello Kitty cake as last year (which was good with me because I had so much other stuff to get ready for her party!)  She did request a pink bow this year instead of red.  We found Hello Kitty cupcake liners and I scooped up ice cream ahead of time into muffin tins and stored it in the freezer until cake time--this was a HUGE time saver!



 

 

 

 

True Confession:  I NEVER could have pulled this off on my own!  My dear friend Sarah came over for the day to help me.  She is a teacher and was also on spring break for the week.  She came over around noon (after I got back from taking all 3 kids to the pediatrician for yearly checkups... Yes, I am crazy!) and helped me with all the last minute details.  She was AMAZING!  She also helped during the party.  While we were switching from one activity to the next, she cleaned up behind us and prepped the next thing.  She washed lots of dishes and wiped up lots of sticky frosting!  She stayed after everyone was gone and helped me clean up (a job I usually save for the next day).  I decided I can never again have a birthday party without having a personal assistant!  THANK YOU SARAH!

 

This was without a doubt my favorite birthday party so far!  I loved having a 4 year old superhero party but I'm a girlie girl at heart and this was so FUN for me.  I can't wait to have one for Macey in the future (maybe I'll wait till she's 8!)  I loved making this fun, fun memory with my favorite 6 year old.  Looking forward to lots of parties in the future but I truly enjoyed this moment in time!