Meet the Shaneyfelts

Archives for October 2023

Simple Joys No 7

I’m back with another Simple Joys post! I went and looked and my last Simple Joys post was maybe back in 2021–even though I haven’t been posting them regularly, I’ve had LOTS of Simple Joys!!

One

I actually have two simple joys from this picture….first, I love matching clothes for these boys. Literally such a dream come true in this picture. And now that we’re adding a baby girl, she’ll be matching along with these boys soon!

My second simple joy from this picture is the fact that I look at it and see God’s goodness. These boys are brothers because of God.

Two

I was cooking dinner one night and letting Harrison practice cutting with scissors and I had to stop and take pictures of him because this is how he concentrates…with his mouth open and his tongue out. I got several pictures of him like this haha! So much joy looking at his precious face and also watching him grow in his learning.

Three

I shared this on IG the other day, but Banks woke up SO EARLY on Sunday morning after we had been out late Saturday night for Dustin’s high school reunion. Banks typically doesn’t wake up until 7 am on days we’re not going to school, but Sunday he decided to wake up before 5:30 am. I decided to let him lay in my bed for the first time (Dustin had to go into work super early so he was already gone), and he laid on his back next to my pillow for the longest just staring and smiling at me. Then he decided to turn over and smile at me–he’s always in the best mood (unless he’s tired or hungry LOL). Banks truly is such a happy baby!

Four

My last simple joy is the fact that I’m back drinking my morning cup of coffee and I am truly enjoying it. My coffee has always been something that I’ve enjoyed in the morning and when I couldn’t drink it because it was making me sick, it was not the same doing my morning quiet time drinking water. So now I’m spending time in the Word and sipping my hot coffee and all is right in the mornings again ha!!

Life Lately on a Saturday!

Happy first Saturday in October!! Y’all, I love this time of year so much and as I’m currently typing this early on Saturday morning, it’s 53 degrees outside! Ahh! Last weekend I pretended it was fall by watching my two favorite movies–When Harry Met Sally and You’ve Got Mail!

Speaking of being able to watch my two favorite movies in one day, the only reason I was able to was because this cutie and his daddy went to the hunting club for a club work day. He was having the time of his life and Banks and I hung out and played all day!

While September marks the beginning of my favorite time of the year, October gets me really excited because it’s also my birthday month!

I snapped this the other day to send to my friend–I felt very fall with my brown dress and my fall apron. Now that my energy has come back, I really enjoy cooking a homemade dinner. That night I was making turkey pesto meatballs, mashed potatoes (I haven’t made those in years!), and a homemade gf Mac and cheese made with Banza noodles and Tillamook cheese….so good!!

We took Harrison to see the Paw Patrol movie on Thursday night. He was so excited and I was excited to see him so excited. I’m also proud to report that Dustin and I stayed awake during the entire movie haha!!

Banks wants to be everywhere Harrison is–they are so much fun to watch!

And earlier this week I posted a first trimester recap blog post–check it out here!

First Trimester Pregnancy Recap

Since this blog is really just a scrapbook of my life, I realized I hadn’t done a trimester update post–which is something that I would have done a long time ago. I still am just so amazed at this miracle and do not take this pregnancy for granted.

Tomorrow I will be 16 weeks, so here’s a recap of my first trimester!

Celebrating Banks’s adoption finalization at the end of July–I was pregnant here and had no idea!

How did you find out?

I was EXHAUSTED after school started back (which is typical) but this exhaustion never went away like it always does. I mean, I was having to focus hard to not fall asleep driving at 4 PM. I specifically remember one morning leaving for school with the boys thinking that there was something majorly wrong with me and I needed to tell Dustin how I was feeling. Then one day I realized I hadn’t started my period in a while ( I seriously thought going gluten free had gotten rid of my period and I was thrilled!). I took an old, expired pregnancy test just to put it out of my mind–when it was positive, I loaded the boys up to go buy one in date. It was also positive, so I was able to surprise Dustin when he got home. I, however, was in major denial because I did not believe that my body could get pregnant.

Symtoms?

Just major exhaustion!! I’m sleeping in as long as I can and falling asleep some nights before 8PM. I’m really feeling like I have no life right now–because I really don’t LOL. I have had some nausea but not a ton, and I’m so thankful that God has been gracious to me during this pregnancy because I’ve been keeping up with two very active boys–and one who is still a baby!

Food cravings?

Weirdly enough, I’ve been craving smoked chicken. I’ve wanted some sweets but really just anything with smoked chicken–a potato, nachos, by itself…..anything. I’ve also wanted to drink anything but water–which is really my favorite drink. I’ve been drinking mainly Sprite and Ginger Ale to treat myself.

Food aversions?

My morning cup of coffee. This has made me the most sad because I love my morning cup of coffee. Before I knew I was pregnant, I couldn’t figure out why I wasn’t finishing my cup of coffee…..so weird ha. Then one morning I was getting ready for church (after we knew) and all of a sudden I felt like I was about to throw up after taking a sip of coffee, so I quit drinking coffee right then. It’s made the exhaustion much worse I think.

How are you sleeping?

Great because that’s all I want to do! I just never feel rested when I wake up.

Body image?

Well, not great but that’s because I gained a lot of weight from the stress of our last adoption process. I actually had an appointment with my GYN in August to discuss my hormones and weight gain since I was having the hardest time losing weight, and then it turns out I got to visit her in August for a pregnancy confirmation appointment. Looks like I’ll focus on losing weight next year. I’m just way heavier than I wanted to be to begin with.

What is baby’s gender?

A girl and I can’t believe it! Since I’m considered a geriatric in the pregnancy world, we did genetic testing and also got to do a gender blood test.

Due date?

March 2024!

Baby’s name?

We don’t know yet ha! It was so easy agreeing on our boys’ names, but a girl name is so much harder.