Bumpdate: 32 Weeks

Forgive me for being a day late with this prego update.  There were more important things last night.  Like the special Tuesday-night episode of The Bachelor. :)

No major thoughts this week.  Though it does seem crazy that I'm already making plans for May.  Like travel plans to Iowa.  That revolve around a second baby!  And did I mention the hubs has to go out of town for work for a week in May and again in June?!  I'm already terrified.  Hence, the potential traveling to Iowa to--fingers crossed--have some help from the fam!  Though I'm trying to figure out if it'll be more work to pack and drive to Iowa alone with two kids, or more work to stay at home and care for two kids alone...

How Far Along: 32 weeks

Size of Baby: ~16.7 inches, 3 3/4 pounds; the size of a jicama

Gender: BOY

Weight Gain: 25 pounds, the same as last week = relief!

Food Cravings: Nothing specific

Food Aversions: None

Movement: The same

Sleep: Back to sleeping pretty well!

Clothing: Same--maternity pants, long sleeve maternity tops, dresses with leggings.  Turns out, I don't love winter maternity clothing like I do summer!  What I wouldn't give to wear my maternity skirts...

Other Pregnancy Symptoms: The frequency of Braxton Hicks seems to have lessened, but maybe I'm just getting used to them so much that I don't notice them?  I'm back to wearing my wedding band every day and have worn the same shoes that killed my feet a week ago every other day this week--so swelling must have subsided.  Some acid reflux here and there.  5+ days in a row of headaches, but I think it's more weather than hormone/pregnancy-related.  Mostly just uncomfortable and big-feeling.

What I Miss: The ability to have my back popped.  I've had a headache everyday for what seems like forever now and I often think it would improve if the hubs could just pop my back to release some tension.  But since I can't lay on my stomach, it's not really an option. :(

Best Moment: Realizing I only have to work seven more work weeks this school year, INCLUDING this week!  Then, no work until August!

Looking Forward To: Spring Break in 2 1/2 weeks!



{The Little Things} || Sleep Eating

I have so many "little thing" moments in my iPhone library.  This week, I had to go back a couple of months to find one of my favorites.


Over Christmas break, we attempted to transition Brantley to one nap per day.  As much as I didn't want to (because let's be honest, naptime = me time), I knew that at 18-months old, it was time.  He'd already been taking one {afternoon} nap per day at daycare, but he still took catnaps each morning en route to and from preschool, errands, activities, etc.--which held him over nicely until that afternoon nap.  (To this day, he still catnaps on daycare errands each morning.)

As we transitioned him at home over break, he wasn't getting these mini-morning catnaps.  Therefore, he often struggled (and I mean struggled) to stay awake until after lunch.  Here's a video I took of him sleep-eating one of those days!



And a few pictures, as well!  He gets so delirious that he smiles and laughs as he's falling asleep!




Still, at nearly 20 months old, he can barely make it to afternoon naps on weekends!  What can I say--he likes to sleep like his mama!

Practically Famous

So a friend texted me this picture this morning...


In case you're unsure of what or who you're looking at, let me help you...


Yep, that's the hubs!  And myself!  Apparently, we made the news.  Fox 4's morning news.  So, we're practically famous, right?

The weirdest part?  This was nearly three years ago!  Three years!!  Pre-pregnancies, pre-kid(s)...just me and the hubs!  Never did I expect to be on the news...ummmm...three years later!

We were at the Overland Park Farmer's Market on a warm Saturday in April.  Check out the box of herbs Craig is carrying.  And then, look at this post I found!

Everything about this is funny to me.  Especially when I showed Craig the picture [this morning} and his response was, "Who is that?"

And even funnier?  The news headline is about eating healthy.  If you know me at all, you know eating healthy is not, nor never has been, one of my main priorities!

Random, right?  I sure think so!

 

{The Little Things} || A Boy and His Dog


During one of my snow days a couple of weeks ago, I was in the kitchen cleaning and heard Brantley giggles coming from the living room.  I went to see what was going on and found him laughing while repeatedly shaking Kinnick's hand.  Over and over and over.  This kid loves Kinnick.  Poor Kinnick doesn't love him to quite the same degree (or at all), but was taking it all in stride  I quickly grabbed my phone to snap a pic of this sweet moment.  And then realized it'd make for the perfect "little thing" post!



Since Kinnick was being such a good sport, I told Brantley to give him a hug.  And he did.  (He tries to do this often, but usually Kinnick sneaks out from under him and Brantley ends up on the floor.)

Such a sweet moment between my two beloved babies!



A Valentine's Pool Party

We may not have gone out for a fancy Valentine's dinner, but celebrated something special on Valentine's night nonetheless.  Our friends' little boy, Brayden, turned three on February 6.  His birthday pool party, originally scheduled for the weekend prior, was rescheduled due to illness - and happened to be rescheduled for Valentine's evening.  Despite not wanting to put on a swimsuit at seven months pregnant and in the midst of winter, a pool party was just what we needed to fight the winter blues.  Brantley loved it and it was such a fun Friday-night activity for all of us!
















Next up - swim lessons!  We were supposed to start those in February, but rescheduled for March after losing a session (day) due to snow.  And by "we", I mean Craig and Brantley.  I'll be on the sidelines watching, and snapping photos of course. :)

Bumpdate: 31 Weeks

We're down to single digit weeks to go!  Assuming the baby comes on time, that is!  Since I was induced with Brantley, I have no idea what to expect this time around.  Speaking of being induced, oh how I'd love to do that again!  No guessing about when to go to the hospital, no suffering through hours of contractions at home first, no surprise phone call to parents who are 2.5 and 4 hours away, no chance of my water breaking at school...the list could go on and on.  With Brantley, I really wanted to experience going into labor on my own, but now looking back, and realizing how nicely my body responded to induction, I'd happily agree if it were an option again! 

At 31 weeks pregnant, I feel like I did at 39 weeks before.  I feel HUGE.  And heavy.  And quite miserable at times, if I'm being honest.  Things seems to wear me out like never before.  Even something as simple as carrying a laundry basket up a flight of stairs is exhausting.  It's nearly impossible to bend over or squat down and trying to sit Indian-style to read books to Brantley is almost painful!  I get so tired at school, especially on days when I teach three blocks in a row.  Seriously, maternity leave (even partially unpaid) is sounding better and better each day!  And so is having this baby on time!

For the first time over the weekend, I noticed that I'm starting to swell.  I put on a pair of flats to wear and felt as if my feet were bulging out.  After attempting for five minutes, I couldn't bear to wear them any longer and opted for looser boots instead.  I also went without my wedding band over the weekend as I felt it was cutting off my circulation, but I'm back to wearing it today.  I have a feeling my days are limited.  (Call me crazy, self-conscious, whatever, but I hate not wearing a wedding ring while pregnant!  Luckily, my engagement ring is looser and should fit for awhile longer still.)  I also feel like my face is a little fuller in my bump picture this week.  Ugh.  And I still have nine weeks to go...

How Far Along: 31 weeks

Size of Baby: ~16+ inches, 3 1/3 pounds; the size of a coconut (and according to Baby Center, heading into a growth spurt...)

Gender: BOY

Weight Gain: 25 pounds - only 4 below my total weight gain with Brantley :(

Food Cravings: Nothing specific

Food Aversions: None

Movement: Feeling kicks, punches, and somersault-like movements.  It's so weird watching my stomach jump from the outside.  He often pushes his butt(?) up against my upper stomach and I even felt an appendage when I pushed back the other day. 

Sleep: I had been sleeping great, until last night when I woke up with the worst acid reflex ever.  I could literally feel it fizzing and tingling in my throat.  Not a good feeling.  I tried to prop my head up higher, thinking that might help, but that's not an easy thing to do when trying to lay on your left side and stay comfortable at the same time.

Clothing: So ready for skirts and dresses and flip flops!  Even my maternity pants are feeling less and less comfortable.

Other Pregnancy Symptoms: The Braxton Hicks contractions are becoming more and more frequent - about once every hour or two.  They have never hurt, but at times can be really uncomfortable.  Other symptoms include swelling, acid reflux, uncomfortableness.

What I Miss: Sleeping on my stomach and just being able to get around easily.

Best Moment: My 4-day weekend.  Thank you Parent Teacher Conferences and President's Day.

Whoa Moment: Scheduling a hair appointment for this week, only so I can go again eight weeks later--which will be right before Baby's arrival!  Also, discussing future travel plans with my doctor.  I can't believe I'm going to be 35 weeks so soon!!

Looking Forward To: March and everything about that month!



 

Happy Valentine's Day 2014

In keeping with tradition, I decided to make Valentine's photo cards to send to Brantley's close friends, cousins, grandparents, and great-grandparents.  I limited myself to ordering only twenty of them, so my apologies to those who didn't get one.  The hubs would surely kill me if I spent the amount of money I do on our Christmas cards...

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone! <3


 Click here for last year's Valentine card.

All Things Valentine

Craig and I have never really been big Valentine's Day celebrators.  No roses, no chocolates.  Usually, one of us remembers to get the other a card.  And the one that remembers differs each year.  (Though, in the past, we have used the holiday as an excuse for a couples' massage.)

But now that I have a kiddo and said kiddo has daycare friends, I took full advantage of the holiday and my love for being crafty!  I'm not at all creative...but I am really good at copying others fantastic ideas.  So what did I do?  Search Pinterest, of course!  And here's my version of what I found.



I filled a snack-size Ziploc with goldfish (vanilla cupcake flavor), added a Swedish fish, and created a label (5.5 inches tall by 6.6 inches wide) using a combination of picmonkey.com and Microsoft Word.  I printed the label on cardstock, cut around it, folded in half, and stapled over the top of the Ziploc.  That's it.  Super simple.  And so much cuter than the store-bought valentine cards. 

As for Brantley's Valentine gift - we kept it to a minimum, but got him three of his favorite things - a personalized book (that I bought a Groupon for in January), a basketball-themed Valentine tin of goodies, and the Mou (mouse).  He has carried around this Mickey Mouse toy at Target each week we've grocery shopped for the last month and a half, but we always managed to sneak it back onto the shelf without him noticing.  Low and behold, last weekend Mommy finally decided to buy it!  And I'm pretty sure he's going to love it!




Happy Valentine's Day Eve, everyone!  Check back tomorrow for my little sweetheart's Valentine cards.

{The Little Things} || Stitches

Last week I took Brantley to have his stitches removed.  Before we walked in to Urgent Care, I realized we never took any pictures of the actual stitches...they were always covered by a band-aid.  Maybe not a huge deal, but for someone who likes to document absolutely everything in photos, I realized this was a major fail!  So I quickly snapped an iPhone photo of Brantley's {first ever} stitches at nearly 19 months old before going to have them removed.





The doctor said the stitches (and cut) looked great and Brantley was a champ in having them removed.  I know it's only a matter of time before he needs them again, but let's hope that time is much later than sooner!! 

Bumpdate: 30 Weeks

Somehow I went from 10 to 30 weeks in the blink of an eye!  I cannot believe it's mid-February already and this baby will be here in just over two months!  Nor can I believe I'm only ten weeks from my due date and seven weeks from being considered "full term".  I'm definitely getting more excited (and less nervous) as my BFFs recently welcome their new babies into the world!  (Congrats to high school bestie, Sarah, on the birth of Adrian Michael, and college bestie, Casey, on the birth of Lincoln Norval!)  Still nervous, but excited seeing all the newborn pictures and hearing their birth stories. :)

We went for our level 2 sonogram last Friday and thankfully, everything looked great!  The technician checked the brain ventricles first and foremost and both measured well under the 10mm mark that Brantley's measured at this point.  Everything else appeared normal, as well, and as far as we know, that was our last sonogram before Baby's arrival.  The technician went a little overboard and printed about 15 photos for us, so I scanned eight of them below.

I also got the official word that I passed my glucose test.  Thank.goodness.  Back for another OB appointment this Friday!  As far as how I'm feeling, not much has changed.  Same symptoms, though I feel much larger than I did at this point with Brantley.

How Far Along: 30 weeks

Size of Baby: ~15.7 inches, 3 pounds; the size of a large cabbage

Gender: BOY

Weight Gain: Still not sure.  Weighing myself hasn't been a top priority.

Food Cravings: Nothing specific

Food Aversions: None

Movement: Same as last week.  He's pretty active in there!  Sore right-side ribs, oftentimes in the evenings, and kicks to my bladder.

Sleep: Sleeping great!

Clothing: Same. 

Other Pregnancy Symptoms: Same - acid reflux, Braxton Hicks, uncomfortableness, feeling the urge to pee often, even ten minutes after I go.  I don't think I'm swelling too much yet, however, and my rings still fit!

What I Miss: Being able to move quickly and easily. Being able to easily stand up from a sitting position. Not feeling so exhausted by day's end.

Best Moment: Learning at our sono that Baby is developing normally.  I feel like this pregnancy has gone much smoother than my first (at least in recent weeks).

Whoa Moment: Buying a new bottle of pre-natal vitamins (a 90-count) and relaxing that once they're gone, Baby will be here!

Looking Forward To: The ten-week countdown is on! And spring. Definitely spring. Warmer weather, lighter clothes, and walks around our neighborhood. 


Front view of face

Hand

Hand again

Ear

Face - straight on

Foot

Face profile

Face profile again