Monthly Archives: September 2016

five on friday (09/09)

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Happy Friday!

ONE. The transition to bunk beds has gone a whole lot easier than I ever anticipated. Kaelyn LOVES her big girl bed and willingly stays in there (most of the time!).  She did try to climb the ladder today, but after taking two steps, she was completely petrified and unable to go any further. Hopefully that means she won’t try it again for a long while!_MG_4860

Besides some minor goofing off, they actually do still take naps!_MG_4861

TWO. Kaelyn has been completely obsessed with my big belly and wants to kiss the baby all the time. Seriously… how cute is her little voice saying “baaaby!”? I’m glad she finally seems to know what’s going on, and I think she’s going to be the perfect big sister (just like Kaya always has been to her)!

A video posted by Tara (@tarairwin) on

THREE. This has been a rough week for me as far as nausea goes. I still have some kind of cold/sinus infection as well, so the combination of both has made me seem less than functional. I feel so guilty for slacking on my responsibilities, but the gratitude I have for my best friend and all his help is immeasurable. He works from sun up to sun down nearly every day, and never ever grumbles about it. He takes care of the kids when I’m feeling too sick, and somehow keeps us all laughing. I love you buddy. (I found this picture from last fall when I was backing up photos this week- it’s so perfect!)_mg_9985

FOUR. This entire time I’ve been planning out the nursery, I thought we would paint it a light, neutral gray… and then this week, I completely changed my mind. There are so many gorgeous gray nurseries out there, but I couldn’t help feeling like I was walking into a dungeon once I put those gray samples on the walls. I love bright, happy colors… so we picked up a light mint-colored paint, and I’m in love. Paint color is hard to photograph accurately, but you get the idea:_mg_4981

FIVE. I don’t usually buy worksheets for preschool (there are so many great resources for free!), but I saw this interactive notebook bundle and had to try it. 868 pages for $10? It’s super easy to just print off what I want, and it’s all ready to use. Kaya loves it so far, and I think it was completely worth it!_mg_4987

Linking up here, here, and here today!

labor day weekend 2016

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Labor Day weekend- when we celebrate working by not working! Or, in our case, Michael didn’t have to go to work, but we accomplished a bunch of projects at home. Our house is not a fixer-upper by any means, but I’ve still been surprised by how many small things we need to fix or want to change. We are always doing something, and I suspect we will never truly be done.

We kicked off the weekend with some juicy watermelon from my Young Women president! Kaelyn can eat a couple slices in one sitting, and I was surprised that Kaya willingly tried some. Mmmm!

On Saturday morning, Michael started putting together the girls’ furniture, only to discover that their dresser came without instructions! Meanwhile, he built their bunk beds (and we’re still waiting to hear back from the manufacturer about the dresser)!_MG_4840

Kaya begged and begged to sleep in her new bed, so we were sure to have it all put together by bedtime. I LOVE how they both screamed “yay! yay!” as soon as they saw it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXEexQrnB4I

I’ve been telling Kaelyn she would be getting a big girl bed soon, but I couldn’t have predicted how truly happy she would be!_MG_4848 This rocking chair is supposed to go in the baby’s room, but it’s actually been pretty nice to have it in their room for story time! We always read a book before nap and bed time._MG_4855On Monday, we bought a few cans of paint (which was actually great timing, since Behr paint has a $10 rebate per gallon through today)! Michael painted over the yellow ceiling in the stairwell, and started going over the primer on the left wall. This week, we’ll fix the drywall downstairs, install new baseboards, and finish the painting._MG_4863 On Monday night, Michael spread some new mulch, while I took a few updated portraits of Kaya and Kaelyn. The lighting was dreamy, and they were both surprisingly cooperative! Kaelyn didn’t want to wear shoes, and I’m actually glad- I love seeing those tiny toes wiggling in the photos. We ended up with a few great shots that I can’t wait to put on the wall!_MG_4898

baby #3: 33 weeks

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33weeksBaby’s size: About 19 inches long and a little over 4 pounds. As the Ovia app says, “she is getting HUGE!” I certainly feel like I have a giant baby in my belly!

Maternity clothes?: Does this still have to be a question? Obviously, YES!

Gender: Girl!

Symptoms: The rest of my family got over whatever congestion we all had going on last week… but I still have a sinus infection! I really don’t think it’s allergies because sometimes my muscles ache right along with it. Hopefully it goes away soon!

Sleep: I’m starting to get really restless at night! I have so many things to get done that I don’t want to go to bed, even when I know I’m exhausted. I basically work on my to-do list or read until I pass out, and then I’m up once or twice to use the bathroom in the middle of the night.

Movement: Wild and crazy, as always! I don’t think she ever really stops! She’s also had some serious hiccups this week. I keep joking that she must be tall, because she can get her feet all the way up in my ribs. I will be surprised if she isn’t!

Cravings: Hershey’s chocolate.

What I miss: Running faster? I think that’s always my answer at this point, haha! I also miss being able to get in and out of bed/turn over without so much difficulty.

Anything making you queasy or sick?: I’ve had some nausea again this week (the congestion actually seems to make it worse), and no food really seems appealing to me.

Belly Button in or out?: Part of it sticks out and part of it is flat… so weird-looking.

Exercising?: Ran 21.9 miles. I did one run without my belt because somehow it fell into the hamper and I couldn’t find it in time, and honestly, I have NO idea how I ran without one during my last two pregnancies. It makes a HUGE difference! If you’re a pregnant runner looking for a belt, this one has served me so well! Fitbit total: 81,674 steps.

Mood: I’m in full-on “nesting mode”, and I think Michael is too, because we have been getting so much done on the house! I’m so grateful for his willingness to help make all my crazy ideas come to life (even when I change my mind several times in the course of a project)!

Best moment this week: Getting my dress for family pictures! Now I just have to hope the weather cooperates and we get some great lighting!

Looking forward to: All the visitors we’ll be having soon! We have different family members each coming up for the weekend in the next three weeks. After that, it will be almost baby time!

Big sisters: Kaelyn is still obsessed with my belly and has been taking good care of her baby doll. Kaya still loves to tell me that she can or can’t eat something because “her baby does/doesn’t like that.” Hahaha.

Comparison: For the record, I didn’t even plan to wear the same shirt this time as I did at 33 weeks with Kaya; and I was at the beach at 33 weeks with Kaelyn. Take me back!

five on friday (09/02)

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I only have six more Fridays before my due date. SIX! With how quickly time is passing, this little baby will be here before we know it! Here’s our top five from the week:

ONE. We’ve done more baking this week than we have in the past few months combined (which honestly isn’t a whole lot, due to my weird pregnancy aversions and nausea). I love to create in the kitchen, and I’m so glad my girls do too. Baking also makes for great impromptu “math” lessons! 🙂_MG_4829 I’m just not sure how a third girl is going to fit at the counter in a couple of years…_MG_4833

TWO. We had a church chili cook-off last weekend, and everything tasted amazing. I think my girls missed out because they mostly just ate chips and cornbread! A couple days later, chili still sounded so good to me that we made more. We also tried out this cornbread recipe, and it was perfect!

THREE. We did the letter G for preschool this week, and the girls loved learning all about goats. These little “goats in grass” crafts turned out so cute!_MG_4836 FOUR. Kaelyn has been full of snuggles, hugs, and kisses more than ever lately. I think Michael’s expression also pretty accurately represents how we’ve all felt lately!_MG_4835 FIVE. We went shopping for Halloween costumes yesterday! Halloween seems so close (yet so far away), and I’m so glad we could check this to-do item off our list. Kaya loved trying on as many costumes as she could (even though she actually chose one pretty quickly)!IMG_20160901_155156 Kaelyn only wanted to try on the pink poodle and strawberry costumes. I had a hard time buying just one of them for her because seriously… does it get any cuter than this? She kept kissing and hugging the puppy costume and barking for the rest of the day!IMG_20160901_170442

Happy Labor Day weekend!

Linking up here, here, and here today!

september 2016 goals

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September… September ALREADY?! Now I can say that I’m having a baby next month! Crazy!

I bet you could have guessed it, but most of my goals are baby-related for this month. I still feel like there’s a lot to do, and even with our third baby being another little girl, there’s always some shopping to do, stuff to organize, and things to prepare. Here we go!september2016goals

1. Set up Kaya and Kaelyn’s furniture and transition them to their new room.

2. Choose Halloween costumes (we all know there won’t be time for this in October)!

3. Host Kaya’s birthday party.

4. Paint the nursery.

5. Finish taking out the old baseboards in the basement, install new ones, finish priming, and paint. Phew. Obviously I’m getting a lot of help with this one!

6. Go through the little girl clothes (for all 3 girls)- wash, sort, pack, and unpack appropriate sizes.

7. Put together “big sister gifts”. (Also known as: something to entertain them while I’m busy with the baby…)

8. Pack a hospital bag. I seriously did this while in labor last time. That is NOT happening again! I should probably also have a bag ready for the girls in case they have to be dropped off at a friend’s.

9. Write out birth preferences.

10. Take family photos.

There are probably a bunch of things I’m forgetting… but this is a start!