the one where I am 36 weeks along

How far along: 36 weeks (this Sat)!
Total weight gain: 33 lbs
Maternity clothes: Yep and I am getting really bored of the clothes right now which sucks. If I am home, I am pretty much in sweats. Poor Dan.
Stretch marks: Still just the same ones on my hips from when I had Tori, nothing new. (Thankfully)
Sleep: I wake up in the middle of the night pretty regularly right now but luckily I am able to go back to sleep. Ava loves to move when its bedtime.
Best moment of this week: Yesterday I went to a store & when I told the lady I was due with my baby next month (she could only see me from the chest up) she was totally shocked. One of the other perks of no pre-e this pregnancy: I am not nearly as bloated/retaining water as I was the last time.
Miss anything: Being able to get up and down without being totally worn out.
Movement: YES! A LOT!
Food cravings: More food aversions than anything else.
Have you started to show yet: I am massive
Gender: GIRL!
Labor signs: Braxton hicks.
Belly button in or out: Out
Wedding rings on or off: On but I take them off halfway through the day as I get more puffy
Happy or moody most of the time: Happy but my bod is worn out!
Looking forward to: the fact that the countdown is on!!! Another week until I try anything and everything to get this girl here :)

the one with Ava's Sprinkle and a nesting update

This was another weekend that was jam packed. Breakfast for my mother-in-law's birthday, park time, two real estate appointments, my last shift at LAF (before the baby comes), then sat around a fire with the neighbors for a little before I oh-so-typically went to bed early.

35 weeks pregnant. This week my app (which we all know you MUST follow) says I need to pack my hospital bag. That's a little terrifying. I am more nervous about giving birth this time around. Leaving Tori for potentially a few days, making sure everything goes smoothly, making sure I don't forget anything, and then.. bring home the new babe.

Sunday my girlfriend Lauren threw a "Sprinkle" for baby Ava and I. She made out like a bandit. Diapers, wipes, a couple outfits, some toys, gift cards.. Mommy even got a pedicure giftcard which I am very excited to use.

I don't know if any other Mommies felt this way but I am feeling more lost with where to start this time around than I was the first time lol. The first time, we got a registry, everything was brand new, put in its perfect spot.. this time around: I have to dig and dig to find everything, wash all baby girl's clothes, find a place in the house (in between Tori's stuff) for the pack-n-play, swing, etc.

My To-Do list before Ava gets here:
-clean everything in this house. Like top to bottom clean. Dust, sweep, mop, organize.
-Clean/wash/vacuum my car. We have to keep it until our issue with Ford is closed so that could be another two months.
-Buy cozy pajamas for  myself for the hospital
-Organize baby clothes from newborn to 6 months.
-Have pack n play and swing set up in living room
-Get blinds for the guest room

I know there are things I am missing but hey, this is a start.

the one with a weekend recap

This past weekend was fun and busy. Those two words do not always go hand in hand as sometimes too busy means over stimulation for Tori which means meltdown which means parents who are sweating and cranky and ready to do anything to get home and away from any public madness.
Saturday started with a morning at Corn Cob Acres for Colin's third birthday. I take Tori once a fall season and she loves it. It is not cheap but there are enough things to do that keeps her busy for hours and if you go early enough, you aren't waiting in lines. Tori woke up with some allergy issues so we really thought she would only last 20 min but she got distracted quickly. Tori had fun climbing (on anything and everything because she is a monkey), getting on the hayride and the tractor ride.. going up hay and down slides.. enjoying/scarfing down a hot dog, goldfish and donuts (rather than cake-birthday boys request haha). We ended up getting asked shortly after if we wanted to go see a movie, Sicario.. btw- it was awesome. Go see it! So in between getting rdy for that we were trying to eat dinner, I was helping my dearest neighbor girl get ready for her first homecoming (tears!).. and trying to get Tori ready to go to her grandmas while we were at the movie. None of this was an easy task but somehow we managed. After the movie the night ended with Tori being put to sleep and Chris and Mad coming over for drinks and politics talk. FUN FUN FUN. (sarcasm lol).
Sunday we crash cleaned the house as we were having friends over to carve pumpkins. I am currently pregnant enough that I am getting left out of plans and honestly-pregnant enough that I probably wouldn't go anyways. I feel huge and don't like wearing pants. Apparently not wearing pants in public is frowned upon. So anywho- back to the point: I invited our friends over for day drinks/pumpkin carving/snacks. Before everyone came over we made a very fun trip to Costco (lol).. where I discovered their pizza is delicious and me, Dan and Tori can eat lunch there, complete with drinks for less than $7.00. WIN!
We had brie cheese complete with my home made apple butter, pretzels and dip, pumpkin creamcheese cupcakes and wings to snack on while everyone was there and since the rain dampered our outside pumpkin carving plans we took shifts carving pumpkins in our sunroom which worked out perfectly. The ladies went first and then the guys. Football was playing, Fall beers were drank, snacks were ate, Tori was played with, laughter happened, baby talk happened, it was a really great day.

the one where I am 34 weeks along

How far along: 34 weeks!
Total weight gain: 30 ish lbs
Maternity clothes: Yep!
Stretch marks: Nope
Sleep: I wake up anywhere between 4am-7am pretty regularly. I can usually get back to sleep for a bit before Tori wakes up but it depends.
Best moment of this week: Tori is getting more and more aware of her baby sister. She will tell you her name and that she is "very little".. and that Tori is going to "be a big family helper". Its the sweetest.
Miss anything: Pumpkin beer. Being able to get up and down without being totally worn out.
Movement: YES! A LOT!
Food cravings: More food aversions than anything else. I tried Chipotle for the first time since being pregnant and almost puked.
Have you started to show yet: I am massive
Gender: GIRL!
Labor signs: Braxton hicks for sure. I never had them with Tori.
Belly button in or out: Out
Wedding rings on or off: On but I take them off halfway through the day as I get more puffy
Happy or moody most of the time: Happy but my bod is worn out!
Looking forward to: Painting Tori/Ava's bedroom! Its on my October to-do list! My Sprinkle!

I am feeling good overall but my body is worn out. So worn out. My legs cramp and ache at the end of the day. My back hurts if I sit playing on the floor for too long with Tori. I get very crampy if I carry Tori too much. Everyone who sees me says I am going to pop before my due date. The end is near, and for that I am very excited!

the one where I read a new book

"Parenting your strong willed child". That title really stood out to me at the library yesterday. There I was, every couple of minutes "Tori, this is not YOUR library, you have to share it with everyone"... you know, after we left toddler time early because she decided the songs were corny and the book wasn't interesting enough. I look over in the parent section of books and it was staring right at me. I had another friend who told me she was reading it so I thought hey, why not give it a try. I am about a quarter of the way through and this is what I have figured out so far:

-Kids are ALWAYS one step AHEAD of you. Especially mine.
-Letting kids watch tv while eating makes them fat.
-If your child is interrupting you while you are talking to other adults... (like mine does when she says "mom, mom, mom" over and over again until I look at her) you are supposed to ignore her.
-Praise over anything and everything they do the "right" way is necessary.
-Kids model everything they see. If they see other kids throw tantrums and get what they want, they will want to do the same thing to get their way.
-ADHD is genetic.
-There is no real test to see if your child has ADHD, more like doctors will observe their behavior.
-Tori has a low attention span.
-Tori needs to be moving and doing something at all times.
-I am still not positive that is any different than any other toddler.
-You must give children options.
-Lack of sleep (which Tori is experiencing right now since cutting out her naps) is very bad for a child in so many ways.
-You must watch how you respond to their bad behavior. If you get loud or upset then they think that making you loud and upset gets them what they want.
-Tori growls and says "oh my God" when she is annoyed. So do Dan and I. oops.
-Every child needs to be parented and disciplined differently.

I don't know where to start really. The tantrums are the worst. She hasn't been hitting as much lately, thankfully.. but the screaming, crying, throwing herself around is still very real. She currently doesn't want to nap because she is afraid of Cruella DeVil and everytime she sees a shadow is convinced its her. No naps are very hit or miss for Tori. Sometimes she can be ok without one as long as she is distracted and other times (like yesterday when we had to leave Costco after being there for 5 minutes) its a disaster. It can be hard to plan a day around that because you don't know what you are going to get. She is obsessed with dresses and HATES that she has to wear pants and long sleeve shirts right now so dressing her can be a real pain.
So basically, that's where we are at right now. One of the most challenging yet I guess exciting things about parenting is how it is always changing. No phases are the same and this is hopefully just another bump in the road that will pass.
If only I could drink my way through this phase, life would be much easier.

the one where I make EASY APPLE DUMPLINGS

Today me, Tori, Izzy and Summer went apple picking. We are three years strong in our tradition. Tori was pretty cranky majority of the time... which I refuse to accept may just be her personality for awhile. She has had a bit of a stuffy nose/cough combo so maybe that's it? Fingers crossed.
Anyways, we go to Cherry Hill Orchards. It is fun, easy to get to and a fair price.
I have been pinning apple recipes for a few days now and one of the things that made the list of course, was apple dumplings. So after picking, we went to Giant to get some ingredients and then headed to our house to get to work on our dumplings.

Ingredients:
-2 large apples (peeled and each one sliced into 8)
-1 cup of Sprite (weird I know, but you don't taste it)
-1 TBSP cinnamon
-1.5 TBSP flour
-1 stick of butter
-1/2 cup of sugar
-A roll of the Pillsbury crescent dinner rolls (8 per roll)

To do:
-Take care of the apples first. Peel. Use an apple cutter to get them cut into 8. Seriously, do that, its so much faster and easier lol.
-In a microwave safe bowl, melt the stick of butter
-Once that is completed, stir in the sugar, cinnamon and flour until mixed thoroughly.
-Take crescent rolls and lay the 8 pieces flat on the counter.
-Put a piece of apple on the thick end of the crescent roll and wrap as if youre making pigs in a blanket or something of that sort.
-Take a large cake pan and grease it.
-Put the apple/rolls in the pan and then cover each with the cinnamon/butter mixture.
-Take the cup of sprite and pour into the pan AROUND the dumplings. Do NOT put the sprite on top of them!
-Bake at 350 for about 35 minutes or until it looks like the rolls are done.

Serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and some caramel sauce.
Pregnant woman heaven.

the one where I tell a newbie what to expect

I have people reach out to me pretty regularly about my job and what it entails. I thought I would post about it and then anyone with any questions outside of here, please feel free to ask. Side note: I would also like to stress I have included some of my own opinion in this.

-You have to take two classes to get your license.
-You must pass a final at the end of each class.
-After the two are completed (one after another) you may then take your state license exam.
-The exam is held in Harrisburg. I don't remember how much money it costs to take but you do have to pay for it every time you take it. I know people who passed the first time and people who took it up to 5. In my opinion its a lot like a test you would take in college: you will probably not use the stuff again as so much of learning about the job must be done on the field.
-You interview places to work for. Yep that's right, the fact is, every broker wants you to work for them if they see you have potential to make them some money. So you shop around (this is often done during your classes you're taking). You will find out things like commission splits, mileage reimbursement (I only know one company who does that), what your desk space will be like, what sort of in house training you will have, etc.
-You get our own leads. The advertising you see on fbook, IG, the calls you get, the emails you get from agents.. this is because we start off completely on our own with our goal of eventually getting referrals.
-You do NOT get paid unless you SELL A HOUSE. The time you spend showing homes, getting people pre approved, answering endless real estate related questions, buying marketing materials, signs, your cards, you do not get any money back for that until you sell. This is NOT an hourly plus commission job. ALL THE MORE REASON PEOPLE NEED TO BE RESPECTFUL OF YOUR TIME. Do not be afraid to explain that to a person.
-As an agent, unless you set your own cutoff for when you will not work, you are on call 24/7. I have done deals where the negotiations went until 11pm. I try not to do any work later than 8pm so that I can wind down and get some sleep but that's not always easy.
-There are a lot of fees included in being a realtor. You have to pay for key access, MLS access, marketing materials, signs, photos, business cards, websites, your license renewal, your membership dues, etc.
-You get to make your own hours which is nice but at the same time, its really based on your clients and their schedules.
-The real estate market changes regularly. You have to be willing to learn something new.
-You have to take continuing education courses to keep your license valid.
-In my opinion, if you are going to get into real estate, you should go in FULL TIME. It is totally normal to have a transition period as you leave one job to go to another, clearly leaving a job to enter a commission based job is terrifying but as long as you hold yourself accountable for the things you are doing to grow your career, you will succeed.
-Don't fool yourself. If you are not the type to talk to people, to follow up, to be flexible with your hours, to do paperwork, this is not the job for you and that's ok.
-You cant take things personally in this job. Someone you know will use a realtor other than you, someone you are listing a house for will think they know what the price should be better than you do, someone you are helping buy a home will change their mind about buying after you have shown them 20 houses.

I love my job. The clients, spending time with people and getting to see their interactions/relationships, getting to see the excitement people experience when they find a house they love or sell their first home to buy their family home. I have done this for four years now and it hasn't always been easy. I have questioned if I should have a back up plan. Then I started a family and wow, my motivation was taken to a whole new level. Full time working mom AND I get to stay at home with my child?! She never has to go to daycare because then she gets taken care of by Daddy when I have evening/weekend appointments. My mom helps me when I have clients in York. It is an amazing feeling when you feel that something was truly made for you and is your calling.

Contact me today if you or anyone you know is in the market to buy or sell a home and please don't hesitate to ask any questions if you are thinking of joining this field!
Angela.Rera@cbhomes.com 717-332-4407

the one with the Stauffers fall fest

The past two weekends in a row, Stauffers store has had a fall fest.

Free to get in.
Free things for kids.
Free ways to wear out my child.
Free to spend extra time with my family.
Free. Free. Free.
Free is my favorite.

I was worried that the place would be crazy busy but lucky for us, it wasn't. I don't know if it was the wind chill or the fact that it was muddy out, but we pretty much had the whole place to ourselves. 'We" as in me, Tori, my mom, Summer and Izzy. I love including my niece in everything we do. When I was younger, ALL of my most favorite childhood memories include my cousins and I am determined to do the same for Tori. So to Stauffers (in East York) we went.
They had pumpkin painting, pumpkin bowling, pumpkin ring toss, a bubble stand, Halloween tattoos, a bake sale, coloring, a corn maze, etc. Again, please let me stress.. FREE.
Tori and Izzy did a great job painting their pumpkins. Tori is very artsy, we call her our 'angry artist', she gets very into her artwork and this was no exception lol. After they got crazy with their paint we put them down to dry and wandered around looking for more fun. They got some fun tattoos which Tori is STILL talking about and showing everyone she sees. Pumpkin tattoos are awesome. Tori also wiped out once while chasing Izzy and got a nice boo-boo on her arm which has also been added to the list of things she wants to show everyone. She is a bit needy haha. The bubble stand was Tori's next favorite thing. The girl LOVES bubbles and I am so happy she has all but mastered blowing bubbles because it is really not that fun to just blow bubbles over and over again.
Once the kids started to meltdown due to it getting close to naptime we got some goodies at the bake sale, everything was $1 AND SOOOO GOOD! Chocolate covered pretzels, peanut butter fudge, butter finger truffles... we got wild... and even brought the truffles home for Daddy (youre welcome, Dan). The day was followed by lunch at Marinos, meltdowns by Tori and Izzy both.. and then getting them away from each other so they could nap and wind down.
It is not always easy taking Tori to do this stuff, especially right now while pregnant. I feel heavy and tired and I know it would be easier to just stay home with her, but I just cant. I want her to have so much fun, build memories, make traditions. I know she loves it too.

the one where Tori is 2 years and 7 months old

Talking, talking, talking.
My girl is always talking. I obviously am not surprised that my child is a talker, she happens to have two of the most talkative/outgoing parents ever. So an introvert she will never be.

Some tidbits:
-Tori learns a new word or phrase every. single. day.
-"I cant" is her favorite phrase ever when it comes to anything she doesn't want to do. "Tori, put your coat on"..."Mom, I cant"... "Tori, eat one more bite of your chicken".. "I cant!"
-She has discovered what getting sympathy is. Especially when one's mother is 32 weeks pregnant. I have been hit the past two weeks or so with some intense back pain. Therefore I say "my back hurts" a lot. So.. if Tori wants a snack.. or a "treat".. and we say no, she follows it with "but my back hurts".. so clearly, that reason means she needs a snack/treat.
-I think she thinks my belly button is baby Ava. 9 times out of 10, when she wants to see Ava it involves lifting my shirt up, pushing on my now outtie belly button and then saying "put Ava away"
-She has become very sensitive to others touching her. Like in the kids club for example. If another kid touches her arm or her dress or whatever, she immediately tells on them. "Mom that kid touch me".. and I try to tell her that its not a big deal and they were just trying to be nice but that is not the answer shes usually looking for.
-She hates pants. And coats. This does not make for fun while dressing her for 50 degree weather.
-Her kindle broke. This sucks. We only have one tv in the whole house. We aren't a fan of TV's in the bedroom and have decided shes too young to put a tv in her playroom. That means if she wants to watch something, or more importantly, if I NEED her to watch something because I have work or need to take a shower or whatever else, it is on the main tv.. which means no one else can watch anything. We are currently trying to decide if this crisis needs to be taken care of right away or if it can wait until Christmas.
-Tori has been introduced to the world of Lollipops. She loves them. Who doesn't?!
-She can fit some 2T clothing right now but it probably wont work for much longer. I have been mostly buying 3T. Girlfriend is growing, growing, growing.
-She has been in school for almost a month and really likes it. Getting her out the door in the morning isn't easy (ever) but every time I pick her up from school shes excited to talk about her day and doesn't want to leave.
-Every night before bed.. while Im rocking her.. we talk about her day and she always tells me what she did that was fun. After that, I tell her I love her and that shes my best friend. The other day she was driving somewhere with Daddy and he asked her who her best friend was and if its Izzy and she said "No daddy, its Mommy!"