Noodle Delight

So some of you have heard that one of my favorite places for lunch is Noodles & Company. We happened to go there for lunch today. For those of you that haven't heard or have never been to one, you're missing out. Delicious! Delicious! Delicious! It's a fast food type place with better than your typical fast food taste. I really do enjoy it for a semi fast lunch. Depending on the day they can get quite busy so it takes a little longer, but well worth it! I've even got the kids hooked on the place. It is Evan's favorite place to go for Macaroni & Cheese, and I'm sure if Em could talk a little more she would choose it too. We've been going to Noodles & Company for a few years now. At first I used to get the Penne Rosa or Macaroni & Cheese, until I was pregnant with Emmaline and I decided to switch it up a little. While the Penne Rosa and Macaroni & Cheese are very good, nothing tops the Indonesian Peanut Saute with Parmesan Chicken! Pictured above. (However, the picture doesn't do it justice.) When I say switch it up a little I really should say switch it up A LOT! You see the Peanut Saute is spicy, sometimes fairly spicy, sometimes REALLY spicy. I've never been one for real spicy food, until I tried this when I was pregnant with Em and now I love spicy food! Mmmmm, my mouth is watering already and I just had it for lunch! Yummy stuff! I highly recommend trying it (if you like spicy food) if you ever go there. I'm pretty positive that you will be back for more. If you're not into spicy then many of there other dishes are very good too, especially the Wisconsin Mac-n- Cheese. If you ever hear me talking about the Noodle place this is what I'm talking about. Evan's gotten into calling it that instead of Noodles & Company so that's pretty much what I usually call it too. You might think I'm a little crazy over my noodle delight, but it's the little things in life that bring a smile to your face, right? Just a little side note, if you go to their website you can sign up for their Noodlegrams and they'll email you BOGO (buy one get one) free coupons several times a year! Happy noodle eating!

Pregnancy Memories

A friend of mine in the neighborhood had her baby yesterday. FINALLY! She was overdue which I can't even imagine since I was early with both my kids. Which I was glad about because I always feared my water breaking at home or even worse... out in public somewhere. After hearing the special news of her new baby, it got me to thinking about my two pregnancies. Ahhhhh memories! If you don't know, I was one of those women that loved being pregnant! I'd have to say that I probably enjoyed it about 90% of the time. I loved watching the belly grow (for a good reason) and hearing the heartbeat for the first time. The kicks of a little one inside are the best feeling in the world. For all you moms out there that have carried a child in your belly, you know what I'm talking about. To all you men out there, the feeling is really indescribable. Pregnancy really seemed to agree with me. I didn't gain much weight with either pregnancy and I felt really good most of the time.

When I was pregnant the first time, of course I had no idea what to expect. The second time around I had a better idea of what to expect, and while there was a lot the same there were still many differences. Similarities- nauseated, hard time sleeping, never had an appetite, multiple ultra sounds, and measured big towards the end to name a few. Differences second time around- leg cramps, weird dreams, stuffy nose every morning, swelling towards the end, not to mention the cravings were different. From pepperoni vs. ham, o.j. vs. iced tea, to Taco Bell (I know, not healthy at all) vs. Jimmy John's, and Chinese food all the time to couldn't stand the thought of Chinese food.

Both my pregnancies I was induced about a week early. With Evan it was 11 days and Em 7 days. Both times because I was measuring big, as well as because I had high blood pressure with Em. While being induced started out the same way with both and called for an epidural along the way, the result completely different. First time around after pushing for two hours came a baby boy- 7 lbs. 10oz. Second time around after pushing for two and a HALF hours (the truth behind pushing the second time around is faster- not always the case) came a C-section (because my little peanut was face up and too big) & a baby girl- 9lbs. 14oz.!

While those times are long gone since we're done having kids, I will remember them like they were yesterday and cherish them forever! Unless honey, you want to have one more! Ha ha! Every minute of pregnancy good and bad is definitely worth it in the end when you can take on the title of being called a MOM! So with Mother's Day approaching congrats to all you moms out there-young, old, new, foster mom, step-mom, or mom-to-be, because if you've taken on the title of being a MOM then you deserve a little acknowledgment! Here are some newborn pictures of my little peanuts for you to enjoy!

Evan & Emmaline

A Pat On The Back

Well, here it is 5 days after I started working on this blog and I'm kind of impressing myself. I could've actually had it up and running by Sunday, but I kept playing with all the fun backgrounds once I figured out what I was doing. Besides the fact that I struggled with a name as I mentioned before. Now if you ask my husband, he'll tell you I'm no computer whiz. I'm good at your basics like email, surfing the web, uploading photos, and most recently Facebook. So getting this blog started I thought was going to be beyond me. My friend Ann, from high school has a blog and she does a very nice job. She offered her blogging services should I need some help. While I was very appreciative of that, I didn't want to have to "bug" her right away or every time I couldn't figure something out. She informed me that she really didn't mind should questions arise. So with a little trial and error I managed to get this blog going all by myself which sort of amazed me. Once I got the blog launched I figured down the road (probably way down the road because that would be how long it would take to figure out) I would try to add some music to it. That would be cool, right? Now to some of you, that would probably be a piece of cake, but for me, no clue how to do that so I figured I'd be calling on Ann for some help. Well low and behold I tried a couple things last night and ta da...music on my blog! A pat on the back for me! Yeah! So now a little music for your enjoyment while reading my fabulous blog! Okay, maybe not fabulous quite yet as it's just getting started, but it sounded good to say! A little special note of the song selection. Many of you know my little girl is Emmaline Grace so the songs Emaline (spelled differently) and Gracie are two of my favorites. This version of Emaline isn't my favorite, but still good. Many people can't believe there's a song with her name since it's so unique which is kind of how we got her name. More on that in a later post. So enjoy the music, and Ann don't worry I'm sure there will be plenty of questions to come so I'm holding you to the "I really don't mind helping!"

Like Father Like Son

Now, that I've got this blog going I can share in a very special day for Evan. On Sunday Greg started the mountain bike racing season by racing at Ft. Custer near Battle Creek. We decided Friday night that we would sign Evan up for the kid's race. He was beyond excited Saturday when we told him. He informed us that he was going to wear his bike shorts and his bike jersey and look very cool. However, he needed to get some gloves like daddy's new one's. It was just too cute for words! He wanted to be just like daddy riding in the race!

Sunday morning Evan made sure we had all his stuff in the car. Then the whole drive there Sunday brought me back to my childhood days... "Mom, when are we gonna be there?" over and over and over. Once we arrived Evan got all geared up, daddy put Evan's number on his bike and he was ready to ride! When Evan's age group was ready to start there was no turning back and Evan was off! Greg ran along side him through the woods while Em and I stayed back so I could snap some photos at the end. When Evan came around the bend and I saw the look on Evan's face of how excited he was and he told me he didn't stop once or fall, I was one proud momma. I became a little overwhelmed with joy because I knew how much fun he had and he was so proud of himself! All the kids received a medal which Evan thought was pretty cool. He was and still is beaming from ear to ear about that race. I'm definitely thinking we have a future mountain biker on our hands, although I kind of already knew that! Like like father like son.

Finally... It's a go!

After much pondering, debating, & making many changes, my blog is finally a go! I debated several times whether or not I even wanted to start this blog, with the conclusion being... lets give it a whirl. I'm not the most computer savvy person, but am getting better and figured it would be something fun to do and a learning process along the way. Hopefully I will keep up with it and you will enjoy reading it. I'm looking forward to sharing my journey in the blogging world with you! It's sure to include many posts about my wonderful, amazing, darling children! As a stay-at-home mom right now, they're pretty much my life so there's lots to tell- or so I think!

So with that said, a little about how my blog got its name. It had to be the toughest part of getting this blog going. What to name it? What to name it? Ugh! A lot had to do with trying to find something that fit me, us as a family, and the content of my blog, not to mention finding a cute background for my blog page to somewhat go with it! So first it was going to be "The Red House Buzz..." because as you can see we live in a red house. The only red house in the subdivision. The description we use to tell everyone who asks where we live, "it's the red house." However after searching the backgrounds for my blog page, I couldn't really find a red one or a bee one (to go with the buzz) that I was too fond of. So with many variations of the red house theme I then went in a different direction and chose the background first that I really liked. From there I pondered a name and finally decided on "The Shearwater Nest." Our house is on Shearwater Lane and we live in Hawk Nest subdivision. A majority of my blog will be about things happening in our "nest" so I thought that was fitting.

I'm hoping this will be a great way to connect our family of four with our extended family and friends, as well as chronicle the events in my children's lives. It's a journey that I'm living and would love to share with you! So without further ado.... it's time to enter the blogging world.