Olivia is going to be a big sister!

Yes, you read that right! We are pregnant! Currently 4w1d along! Super excited! Went to the doctor this morning to clarify and he even gave me an ultrasound! How exciting it was! Nothing much was there, but he said he can definitely see a sac and the gooey stuff forming around it where the placenta will be. I took a couple of HPT last week and the positive sign was very faint, then over the weekend I took 3 more and the positive line was darker than the completed line! Dusten is hoping for a boy as I am hoping for another girl! We cannot wait to share the news with friends and family! Here are some pictures!

Here is the positive test I took on Saturday morning!

And here is the ultrasound he took this morning!

They drew my blood to check for HCG levels and I will go back on Thurs to have them rechecked and then on the 25th I go back for the 6w exam that is mainly a pap smear and another ultrasound! We cannot wait! Olivia will be a big sister and a fantastic one at that!

It's Friday!

Wow.. what a week! So happy it is Friday and I'm sure most of you are, as well! This week went by so quick. Dustens 25th birthday is Monday and unfortunately, he has to work, so we are celebrating this weekend! I found a coupon on Groupon yesterday for a restaurant we never tried before, The Melting Pot. The Groupon is for 40 dollars worth of food for 20 dollars! What a steal! They have a 4-course option on their menu that comes with cheese fondue for app, a salad, entree for 2 and a chocolate fondue for dessert! Yum! We've never tried that restaurant mainly because it is so expensive. We're usually Chilis or Chuys type of people, inexpensive but good. I made reservations for 5:30 tomorrow evening which is rather a bit early than usual for dining out, but that means we get to take our time and won't feel rushed to do other things before time runs out. Who knows what is in store for the rest of the evening, it's all up to him! Luckily the restaurant is in downtown Austin so there is plenty to do!


I've also been preparing for Olivia's birthday which is in a couple of weeks. This morning, I purchased a couple of gifts online. A V-tech sit and ride train that has number block that shoots out the back and a full attached book with the A B C's on it. I read the reviews as always and surprisingly they were mainly 5 stars! I also watched a couple of Youtube videos on it and it looks like fun! I also purchased a personalized butterfly/dragonfly piggy bank with her name on it. I figured it's almost time to start teaching her the value of money, especially saving! She loves to crawl around on the floor and she's found a couple of pennies so if she keeps on finding loose change, she can put it in her piggy bank and it'll start adding up! This weekend I'm also going to shop for party decor. I'm making homemade candles. Her theme is Ladybug so the homemade candles should look pretty neat! Here is how to do it:

Take old jars of baby food. Gerber, Beechnut, etc.
Wash them out very good, or put them in a dishwasher. Remove the labels.
Have about 5 sheets of your choice of color tissue paper.
Pick up some tissue paper glue at your local craft store (Michaels, Hobby Lobby, Walmart, etc)
Cut the tissue paper to fit the baby jar food.
Make sure not to have any tissue paper be inside of the jar, you don't want to start a fire.
Put little tabs of the paper glue onto the jar itself or on the tissue paper.
Wrap the jar with tissue paper a couple of times so that it won't become see-through.
Whatever your theme is, decorate!
(Mine is Ladybugs, so I will be having red tissue paper and put black dots with a Sharpie on the paper)
Let it dry. When you are ready to light, put 1 tea light candle inside.
(You can find tea light candles at Walmart. $2.50 for a bag of 20.)
Fun little craft you can do yourself or even with your little one!

Here are the pictures of the gifts I bought for Olivia:

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!


S.H.

What a weekend!

I have been super duper busy these past couple of days! This weekend was wonderful. Thursday nights dinner (which was supposed to be that casserole) ended up being my first time making enchiladas! Wonderful! My husband really loved them! Then on Friday night we went out to dinner at this restaurant called Baby A's and we both had enchiladas again (LOL), he had the seafood one and I had the shrimp. Delicious! The queso was great as well! He had a blue mexican martini and I just had a coke (not in the mood for a drink).

Then on Saturday, we brought Olivia over to Dustens parents house for the day since Dusten had to fix the brakes on our car. He didn't want to end up spending $200 or more when he could do it himself for less. He ended up paying $100 for all of the parts and saved us about $150! Way to go! Super proud! Olivia wasn't having a good time, though. She did not want Mommy AND Daddy (not just one of us) to be out of her sight. It's understandable, she sees us everyday and she's home almost everyday. Plus, separation anxiety came to visit, too. All in all, it was a successful day!

Sunday was my mothers birthday.. 44 years young! ;) Dustens parents came over to watch O for a little bit while we went to get haircuts and pick up some groceries. We went to this really neat place for a haircut -- Byrd's -- where they gave beer to their customers! The lady who cut my hair did a fantastic job! They did a great job to Dusten, too! Then we went to get some groceries and bought my mother a birthday icecream cake! Yum. She then went out to dinner with Dustens parents. Very generous and thoughtful of them! She had a great time! It was overall a great weekend!

I have to go to the grocery store again tonight to pick up some groceries and hopefully try some new recipes! Olivia is still asleep and it's almost 9:45! Sleepy head :) I also have to look at some birthday party items for her since it is about 2 weeks away! Getting closer!


S.H.

 P.S. Above is a picture of my new hairdo! :o)

Job Interview..

Haven't had a job since the beginning of my pregnancy last year. I was just browsing the internet couple of days ago and came across of a job listing at a local hospital for a Registrar position. I thought "hey, why not?" and went for it. Received a call this morning from Megan, the supervisor, and told me details about the job, explaining the hours and so forth.

I'm torn. Torn about leaving LO for a couple of hours in someone elses care and working. I do not have to work. We live comfortably right now. I have the weekend to think it over. Discuss it with my husband and friends. We shall see!

Whoohoo!

First post from my Android app for blogger. Way cool! That is all. :-)

10:00 am and where is Olivia?!

As I tend to fix up my blog, I keep looking at the clock on the computer and listen to the baby monitor. I don't hear a single peep. It's 10:00 a.m. What is going on here?! So of course, being the mom I am, I check on her and she is still sound asleep. She's been asleep since 8:00pm last night! Is she sick?! Does she love her sleep like her mama and daddy?! Ahh..

*sips coffee*

Well, I guess I can enjoy this "me" time for a little while. Read up on some news, daily gossip, e-mails, freebies, facebook of course, just the usual until sleepy head decides to wake up.

Agenda today? I have laundry to do and am wanting to bake some cookies. Dusten has his technology club weekly meeting tonight so he'll be home later than usual. Dinner tonight will be my yummy chicken french fried casserole. Delicious! Recipe? Sure!

4 pieces of Chicken Breast, cooked and cut to bite size pieces
2 Cans of Cream of Mushroom Soup
3lbs of Crinkle French Fries
1 cup of milk
1 tablespoon of garlic powder
1 tablespoon of paprika
1 tablespoon of onion powder
1/2 can of French's French Fried Onion

Heat oven to 420 degrees
Mix Cream of Mushroom Soup and milk in large baking dish
Scatter chicken breast on top of mushroom soup/milk mixture
Scatter the french fries on top
Mix combo together well
Sprinkle the garlic, papreika and onion powder on top.
Cook for 1 hr and 15 minutes
Let cool for 5 minutes; Sprinkle french fried onions on top
Voila!

:o) Have a good morning, ya'll!

S. H.

We love mailtime!

We got a knock on the door from the postal man! He brought us a big brown box and on the top said "Pampers Gifts to Grow!" I was so excited knowing that Olivia's birthday present from "Pampers" came! I am bad at keeping gifts a secret so of course I had to open it, pop in batteries and let my little one enjoy it. I saved up 1850 points from Pampers products to get this gift. She absolutely loved it! Thing is, it is for 18 months + and on the package it said "not intended for under 18 monthers. I wonder why that is? Maybe because she could bang up on the keys and break it? Nonetheless, here is what she got!

The Henderson Family!

So I figured I should post a couple of pictures of us. Mainly of our beautiful girl :o)

Welcome!

Hello :)

I have decided to start a blog. Mainly because my sanity is slowly dripping away, hopefully writing my feelings, what I do at home and etc will keep my spirits up! A little background to begin!

I'm Sarah. 22 years old and a mother of a beautiful baby girl, Olivia Grace, whom will be 1 years old on the 20th of next month (October!). I'm also a happily-married woman to Dusten, 24 years old, and we currently live in a rental house in Manor, Texas (15 miles outside of Austin.) We moved from an apartment in the middle of the city to a 3,000 sq foot house in the middle of nowhere! I am still adapting and getting used to it.

I am a stay at home mother and my husband works at a charter school as an I.T. Specialist. He takes our only car so I am car-less during the day. It's hard to try to find activities to do with Olivia, especially since most of the time it is a scorcher outside. When she naps or plays independently, I try to find different activities online or blogs to help, even couponing and finding freebies! A couple of my favorite freebie websites are

Hip2Save Freebies

Money Saving Mom Freebies

Of course, I enjoy Groupon and LivingSocial. My husband and I actually tried a sushi place downtown Austin a couple of weekends ago because I have purchased a $15 for $30 worth of food and in the end with all of the extras we had, we ended up paying an extra 20 out of pocket. Not too bad for some good sushi in the heart of downtown Austin!

I will be posting a couple of activities daily that my daughter and I do, and possibly some rants and raves and many praises!

Right now, Olivia won't take a nap in her crib. Fussing away. Have a good day, ya'll!