Top Ten Pregnancy Statuses I've Wanted to Post Over the Last Three Months!

1. My willpower went downhill while I was pregnant with Jackson.  It never quite recovered.  Now it appears to be non-existant :(

2.  AH!  Pregnancy Brain: If I need to go North on 95, I inevitably get on the South ramp. If I need to go South on 95, I get on the North ramp.  And, I continue to routinely miss our old exit for Springfield when headed that way :(

3. And...I cried at a Folger's commercial...

4. This pregnancy brought to you by the pasta shape rigatoni!

5. First Date Night with Baby #2 on board!  Too bad our goal was to look up baby names and the best we came up with was Purplicious...

6. I DO NOT recommend planning and throwing a birthday party in the early stages of pregnancy...

7. Today I cried while folding laundry and watching "Ellen..." Justin Bieber was the main guest :/

8. Halloween is NOT the best holiday to have a pregnant mommy!  Poor Jackson's candy might just be in jeopardy...

9. Pregnancy Brain: a football schedule on TV listed a game in London.  I say, "Like the country?"  Josh looks at me with shame.  I correct myself, "Like the city IN another country?"  OY!

10. In the last 24 hours I have had an ultrasound, seven vials of blood drawn, a flu shot, a dental exam, and an eye exam!

Check out other fun Top Ten lists at Top Ten Tuesday hosted by Oh Amanda!

Secret Blogging :)

I know I haven't had as many "new" blog posts, but that's because I've been busy writing pregnancy blogs...in secret!  LOL Before we got pregnant with Jackson, I didn't have a blog!  I was able to create this blog, write posts, and not have anyone reading them until we were ready to announce our pregnancy.  This time, I want to archive this pregnancy too, but we just weren't ready to have everyone read along right away.  So, here is a list of the "secret" blogs (they are all links) I wrote for whoever is interested:

The Belly Report: Dr. Confirmation!
The Belly Report!!!
The Belly Report: Big and Mean Part 2
The Belly Report: First Belly Pics...and Some Other Stuff!!!
Up and Coming Big Brother: Jackson Albert Smith!!!
The Belly Report: Ten Weeks!
The Belly Report: Ultrasound #2!
The Belly Report: 1/3 Finished!
The Belly Report: The News is Out!

Oh, Happy News :)

Josh has been busy writing me some special poems:

Haiku: The Smith blessing grows;

Bulging belly does show, that

June brings us one more

Limerick: We’re so thankful our blessings still grow;

If you see Dana she has quite the glow;

What a joy to be a mother;

And Jackson a big brother;

For in June kid #2 will show!

A Busy Year for the BETS!

We always try to see Auntie Abbey, Auntie Kelly, Auntie Dale, and Ryleigh whenever we are home!  This time was no different, and we got together one night to hang out and catch up.  The next twelve months are full of happy events for all of our families!  Kelly and Robb just welcomed their second daughter, Brooklyn Lois!  We are having a baby in June, Larry is getting married in August, and Abbey is getting married in December!  WOO HOO!!!  Plus, Abbey's married name will begin with and "E" (a vowel!), so we can nickname our little group: The BETS (Becker, Ehrlenbaugh, Tadelman, Smith)

 I love how Jackson makes himself at home with little girls' toys ;)

 Playing--Jackson LOVED the mailbox toy of Ryleigh's

 Posing with Auntie Abbey

 Ryleigh gets in on the action!

 Annual group shot :)

Opening presents!

Baking, Baking, and More Baking!

We have been busy baking!!!  We even packed my KitchenAid mixer in the car to make the trip to Evanston with us :)  HA HA HA!  Josh did not hesitate in making pretzels as soon as we arrived.  We made plans to hang out with our cousin, Beth, and she asked if I thought Jackson would like to bake while we were over.  Of course he would!!!

Beth pulled out the book Pretend Soup by Mollie Katzen and we made popovers with Jackson!  I have seen this book before, but never appreciated the special tips it includes for cooking/baking with toddlers!  The first thing Jackson did was use a pastry brush to "paint" the cups in a muffin tin with melted butter.

The milk jug was heavy, so Beth helped support it, but by placing a measuring cup IN a wide, shallow container Jackson was able to do most of the pouring since the mess would be contained.

We used the same technique for the flour and put the whole bag of flour in the dish.

Beth showed Jackson how to level off the measuring cup with a knife.  The book also showed a good technique for cracking eggs on a more independent level.  Jackson had a BLAST!  Each recipe in the book is written in pictures so Jackson could check to see what the next step was.  This book would make an excellent gift with an apron, cooking supplies, or baking mixes!

This past Sunday was a baking marathon at Mimi and Bampa's house!  We had hoped to head into the city to the Field Museum, but then we remembered there was a Bears' game, and that just didn't sound fun to fight all the traffic and parking issues...  So, we baked!  We started with Better than Crack Brownies, which turned out AMAZING!  I had been eyeing this recipe on Pinterest for a few weeks, and I thought it was the perfect thing to bake to take to the Cocallases when we went for dinner the next night!  I think the key is purposely under-cooking the brownies a bit so they are really gooey...

Next we made more pretzels, this time doing half kosher salt and half cinnamon sugar--excellent decision!  Then we made Cinnamon Chip Scones with chocolate chips instead of cinnamon chips :)

After he was finished being my helper, Jackson turned down his apron, put on his shades, and had a little dance party to some Christmas music--isn't he hilarious looking???

Jackson and Jonah :)

 Jackson was SO excited to drive to Kenosha and visit Jonah at his house and to play with his toys!  LOL  We had a great morning hanging out with Auntie Cassie and Jonah :)  Jonah showed Jackson his racecars, his big boy room, his fish tank (he even let Jackson feed the fish a little), and then they played in the sink!  It was super cute!  They each had a sink of cars that they were washing and letting play on some dishes.  Things got a little wet, but that's ok :)

 Once the boys were finished playing at the sink, they hid under the kitchen table!

 What goofballs!

 I know these two wished they got to play more often!

My Sweet Boy

 I LOVE this series of pictures of Jackson at the Botanic Garden Wonderland Express--he was so intent on watching the ladybug engine go in and out of the tunnel!  He loved this part last year, and he loved it even more this year :)