28 Weeks

28 Weeks

How far along?  28 weeks 

Total weight gain:  +8 total...but I feel like more now just bc I have popped out a lot in the past week and feel huge.  ;)

Maternity clothes? oh yes, but I still wear my jeans with a rubber band so they aren't as tight on my tummy, and other looser fitting tops  

Sleep:  on and off this week--couple nights of insomnia  

Miss anything?  having a normal taste in my mouth...my sister can relate.  I also can't wait to love water again.  I've had a terrible time with the drinking water because of said taste in mouth.  I do an okay job at this point and I'm sure as I get further along my craving for water will intensify and it'll be easier to get it down.

Movement:  she might be a dancer like Ella.

Food Cravings:  same as before....but this week, actually tomorrow, my wishes will come true!  I don't even know where I'll go first!

Anything making you sick or queasy:  still doing pretty good in this department.  

Gender:  GIRL

Labor signs:  nope!

Symptoms: the heartburn is starting to kick in a little bit.  Tums are my friend every other night or so

Belly Button in or out?  in

Wedding rings on or off?  on

Ella:  Is ready to give the baby a cup of milk when the baby cries.  For some reason she learned that when babies cry they need a cup of milk.  Good plan, really.

Mood: Amazing...we are going home today!!

Excitement this week:  Watching Ella open Christmas gifts and interacting with my family!

Looking forward to:  GETTING HOME!  Instant transport would be very nice at this stage but driving will have to do.

 had to take quick pictures this week as I was preparing for Christmas and watching a friends little girl as she went into labor the night before we left to go home.  So, I didn't get as many photos as normal.

27 Weeks

27 Weeks

How far along?  27 weeks <-- Whoa!

Total weight gain:  +8 total

Maternity clothes? leggins every day...for real  

Sleep:  ok  

Miss anything?  a glass of red wine, my favorite....we've been to multiple Christmas events this past week and everyone I talked to was drinking red wine, I'll be excited for a glass after she's born.  

Movement:  lots...one night she wouldn't settle down so I had to get up for a minute.

Food Cravings:  look at the answer to the last few weeks.

Anything making you sick or queasy:  not really...still don't really like meat but that's typical for me anytime

Gender:  girl girl girl

Labor signs:  no but am definitely feeling some contractions

Symptoms: none besides the contractions....I've had some times where I'm like yes...that is definitely what I remember a contraction to feel like.  Definitely not as strong by any means but the feeling rings a bell.

Belly Button in or out?  in

Wedding rings on or off?  on

Ella:  Is back to saying baby sister is in her tummy.

Mood: descent...is it Christmas yet?  I just want to go home!

Excitement this week:  Just getting through the week.  Luckily all of our Christmas events are officially over so it should be a bit more relaxing.  Oh and side night...my glucose test came back normal so I'll be looking forward to...  

Looking forward to:  Ok so our sugar cookie extravaganza was put on hold due to a trip to the park with our buddies so tomorrow is official make lots of Christmas cookies day.  I think we are going to try and make 3 to 4 different kinds and then keep some and take the rest into Kyle's flight.  We'll see if it actually happens....I mean the making cookies not the sharing part...no way we could eat that many!  :)

26 Weeks

26 Weeks

How far along?  26 weeks

Total weight gain:  + another 4 pounds

Maternity clothes? both--definitely lots of underneath tops that are longer and I wear leggings or yoga pants like everyday.  

Sleep:  still better but not great this week.  I've been really tired again this week so napping some days and going to bed early.  The actual sleep is sometimes a bit restless.  Baby sister likes to kick a lot right when I go to lay down.  Two nights ago I had to get up and go get another pillow to adjust my angle because she was so busy.  

Miss anything?  turning over in bed easily.  

Movement:  duh!

Food Cravings:  oh where to begin.  I really only crave the food from home.  There are things that sound good but no real cravings.

Anything making you sick or queasy:  not no more!

Gender:  GIRL aka Baby Sister

Labor signs:  no

Symptoms: Straining in my belly.  Possible Braxton Hicks only a couple times a week so no biggie.  Bloody noses.  <-- oh joy!

Belly Button in or out?  in

Wedding rings on or off?  on

Ella:  Got to go with me to my dr apt today bc my sitter situation fell through to a sick kiddo.  No Big Deal, though, because Ella was amazing.  I did bring the Ipad for her to play and she watched frozen for a bit and played her word games but she listened to me pretty well and didn't really stress me out....which was a blessing!  Today was also my glucose test so we had to wait longer than we would have for me to drink the yummy drink and then draw blood after an hour.  She was a gem.

Mood: Pretty good except for when i'm not in a good mood...   ;) 

Excitement this week:  We set up our Christmas decorations this week so the house is looking a little more merry.  I haven't put decor up for a few years because usually I'm gone but since we're here this year I just had to!  Hoping to put up a few more things today.  

Looking forward to:  Making Christmas sugar cookies tomorrow with a friend!  I can't wait to eat some!  yummmy!  Also, Ella has her first dance recital on Friday so that should be interesting.  AND meeting baby sister....can't wait!

25 Weeks

25 Weeks

How far along?  25 weeks

Total weight gain:  +4ish pounds..probably much more after Thanksgiving!  ;)

Maternity clothes? some!

Sleep:  a little better this week as there was lots of activity from Thanksgiving.  

Miss anything?  a cup or two of caffeinated coffee in the morning.  I mean, I do drink a little caffeine every day but I try to just have decaf coffee when I drink it.  

Movement:  oh yes.  This week I had a few kicks that actually made me jump a bit.  It could have been just how I was sitting, can't remember, but there were a couple stronger ones for sure!

Food Cravings:  Same...everything from home.  In Florida, we went to an Indian restaurant that is so so good and had some Tikka Masala...yum!  Then we also had some cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory which is obviously always good, too.  May have to make another cheesecake sometime soon or for the holiday!

Anything making you sick or queasy:  not really.  I've actually felt pretty good this week as far as the sick/queasy-ness.  A few times during the night at Kyle's parents I thought I was going to have to make a run for the bathroom but was able to keep it down.

Gender:  GIRL!!   

Labor signs:  no!

Symptoms: Lots of straining in my stomach this past week which was really uncomfortable while on vacation.  I don't know if it was from riding in the car, holding Ell too much, tummy growing, or all the above.  

Belly Button in or out?  in

Wedding rings on or off?  on

Ella:  I can't really think of anything from this week related to baby sister.  She took really good care of her baby while we were at Kyle's parents house.  She would swaddle baby and then throw put baby in the crib for a nap and then strap her in Ella's stroller for a walk.  She was really loving to baby this week.  Hope that means it's how she'll be with baby sister....

Mood: pretty good considering we drove for 24 hours in the car to and from FL...   :D 

Excitement this week:  Because I can't think of anything else that is super exciting this week besides, ya know, laundry and cleaning house....On Sunday, Kyle's squadron is doing family pictures with the T-6 so I'm anxious to do that.  Just hope they turn out.  We never got pictures with the C-5....which is super depressing so looking forward to this a lot!

Looking forward to:  Now that Thanksgiving is over I am very much looking forward to Christmas!  Woo!  And meeting sweet baby girl #2.  xo

**My photos turned out a bit blurry....sorry...too lazy to take more and I shouldn't have worn black.  

24 Weeks

How far along?  24 weeks

Total weight gain:  +4ish pounds..probably more, haven't been to the doc in 2 weeks

Maternity clothes? yes and no

Sleep:  so last week I couldn't sleep...wasn't tired at night so would stay up and do things by myself as Kyle was on super early mornings so would go to bed at like 8:30-9.  This week...I CANNOT get enough sleep.  I am napping during the day...which I hate doing because it's my only time to actually get stuff done and I am going to bed at like 9 or 10 and sleeping until 6:30 or 7.  Before I would totally wake up at like 2 or 3 and not be able to sleep for a few hours so that is why I would stay up.  Not this week.  Maybe my body is just catching up.

Miss anything?  Not having to pee or at least not feel like I have to pee every 5 minutes.

Movement:  yep, lots of kicks!

Food Cravings:  Same...everything from home.  We went to a mennonite bakery nearby this weekend and had cinnamon rolls and donuts and they were really really gooooood.

Anything making you sick or queasy:  just the smell of weird things or ketchup that has been sitting out for a while.

Gender:  GIRL!!   

Labor signs:  no!

Symptoms: throw up sick a couple mornings a week, some evenings I feel like blah, and then I've had this weird stomach feeling the last few days which is hard to explain.  It feels like I'm full and and my stomach is stretching out....kind of.  Now that I write it out that explanation doesn't sound like it but it's really uncomfortable.  Don't remember that with Ella.

Belly Button in or out?  in

Wedding rings on or off?  on

Ella:  When asked she still thinks baby sister is in her tummy.  Also, she saw something at the store and said we needed to get it for baby sister.

Mood: ugh...I don't even know. 

Excitement this week:  We head to Florida for Thanksgiving.  Ella is excited to see Grandma and Grandpa, Aunt Laura and Uncle JJ.  I've been reminding her about the pond in their backyard that has turtles and fishies and birds and she thinks that sounds fun.  Not looking forward to a 12 hour drive.  Eeek!

Looking forward to:  spending time with Kyle's family and watching Ella love them.  They don't know what they have in store for them!  She's a lot more active than the last time they saw her.  Uncle JJ hasn't seen her since Christmas last year so he'll see the biggest change.  

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!  

Cousins Galore

My sister and her family came to visit us down in Mississippi over labor day weekend.  With two toddlers and one who still naps twice a day we didn't really get to do too much.  However, we did make a trip to see the Alabama campus and went to see the Mississippi State campus as well.  In Starkville they have a wonderful bagel shop so we made sure to stop there for some bagels as well.  We had a great time just hanging out....the adults had most fun once the kids were in bed!  ;)  But Callan and Ella had a blast together.  We just love watching them play together.

I was 11/12 weeks along while they were visiting and because I was feeling awful and hadn't had an initial doctors appointment we decided to keep it a secret until I had my appointment the Tuesday before they left.  Anyway, they watched Ella while Kyle and I went to a squadron event doctors appointment.  Turns out everything with the pregnancy looked great and I was officially 12 weeks 2 days at that point so on the way home from the appointment I texted mom a picture of the ultrasound.  She of course immediately called and scolded me a little for waiting so long to tell her.  :)  Then, when we got home we of course lied about how the squadron event was fine and uneventful.  But I immediately went and got the Big Sister book I had bought for Ella and told her to go show Aunt Kiki her new book.  Ella still at this point was pretty clueless (well, let's face it, she still is) about being a big sister but you have to start somewhere.  I was kind of around the corner when Ella gave Kalee the book and it took her a second but she peeked her head around the corner with this look on her face that I knew meant something.  I said, "you too?!"  She shook her head yes and that's how we found out we'd be having cousins galore!  
Kalee and I went outside to talk away from the kids and the men real quick to give each other the down low.  They had only found out shortly before they had left to come down that they were expecting so she was about 5 weeks along and then I told her I was 12 weeks.  

We had a day and a half to discuss our thoughts and worries on having another child.  But we were so happy that these kids are close together in age.  I mean, how blessed are we that the kids will grow up together?!  Yes, they may be far away from each other but they'll be close.  Such an exciting time in both of our lives!  

Here are a few pictures from their trip here.

I was able to take a few family photos for them while they visited.

This was the email we sent out to our family, letting them know both Kalee and I were expecting.

Right outside the University of Alabama football stadium.

This was at the student union on the Alabama campus.  Very nice union.

We stopped and got popsicles at a local popsicle shop. The kids loved it.

Callan had to squat like his dad in order to take a bite.

Ella tuckered out after so much fun in Tuscaloosa.

this was suppose to be of Callan, but that's Kalee holding Thomas for Callan to watch since he wasn't napping.

This was the ultrasound picture I sent mom.  Little baby b #2's first photo!

Callan playing in the teepee I made for Ella.

Just thought I'd show you the goodness you're missing out on at the bagel place.  Yes, that's egg and sausage with scallion cream cheese...tastes like heaven.

23 Weeks

23 Weeks

 That's right, this is current!....I am 23 weeks pregnant again for those of you who didn't know!  My official due date is March 15.  We are so so incredibly excited and so so incredibly blessed to be able to add another little one to our family.  This is one of those exciting things that's happened in the last 5 months that I've been MIA.  Dealing with pregnancy and a toddler is terrible so fun!  ;)

I've been waiting so long to start doing blog posts....

1. because I haven't felt well...forever...ugh!
2. because it's much harder to get things done with a toddler running around
3. because we waited until I was 18 weeks to tell anyone (I wasn't showing and that's when we found out what we were having so we thought it'd be fun to say we were pregnant AND having a girl all at once)--you know, two birds-one stone.
4. because I haven't been able to share our news with a few of my close friends personally yet.  Literally, it's so hard to get a hold of a couple of you...you know who you are! 

How far along?  23 weeks

Total weight gain:  +4ish pounds

Maternity clothes? A couple maternity shirts but old clothes including jeans (for now) are still fitting.  I will be wearing tons of leggings this winter and I've had to order some maternity jeans since I was pregnant in the summer with Ella and I don't have many pants that will fit (besides leggings).  I'm sort of at that in between stage where I don't really have much of a bump yet and am just feeling like I ate too many cupcakes at a party or something.  Once it pops out a little more, I'll definitely be dressing the bump!  

Sleep:  sleep is great but totally not happening

Miss anything?  Sleeping through the night.  Feeling like somebody hasn't invaded my body.  haha

Movement:  oh dear, yes!  since 17 weeks.  She goes crazy when I'm slightly reclined sitting or laying down.  Maybe I should say like a 60 degree angle.  haha

Food Cravings:  any food from NE that I cant have and Chipotle (that hasn't changed with this pregnancy).  Mom and Dad came this weekend and mom and I made a cherry pie.  My hopes were that it would taste like Grandma Joyce's yummy cherry pie.  It didn't.  Mom says the cherries we used were not the same as what Grandma gets but it did taste good!  Also, mom was sure the crust wasn't going to turn out...but it was great! Maybe not very pretty but very yummy!

Anything making you sick or queasy:  meat!  Yuck!

Gender:  GIRL!!  We have another girl on the way and COULD NOT be more excited!  I'm just thrilled for Ella to have a sister.  They really are the best.  (Love you Kalee!)  Kyle is very excited to have another girl, too.  He said he knew from the beginning that this one was a girl.  I have reasons to believe that I had no idea just from differences in pregnancy which I'll expand on later. 

Labor signs:  ummm....no!

Symptoms: still getting sick in the morning occasionally, and by sick I mean throwing up.  But it's very occasional.  Sometimes in the evenings I have a rough time just not feeling great but I'm actually feeling a little better than the last 22 weeks so that's a plus.  :)  Also, last week at 21/22 weeks I started having some stomach pains for a few days and it felt like she was in there with a large paint scraper--scraping the lining of my stomach.  It was rough.  I'm sure it was just my stomach, etc. actually starting to expand and move around. 

Belly Button in or out?  in

Wedding rings on or off?  on

Ella:  Says she's a big sister and when asked where baby sister is she pats her tummy and says, "ella's tummy"  Then sometimes she also says in addition to her tummy "mama's tummy, daddy's tummy, gigi's tummy, papa's tummy" you know...just going around the room.

Mood: pretty good....except today I'm a little depressed as mom and dad took off after a weekend visit. Ella had the best weekend ever, so did I.  She LOVED having Gigi and Papa with her. 

Excitement this week:  I'm taking Ella to the Children's Museum this week so that means I may get a Target trip in and CHIPOTLE!!! 

Looking forward to:  putting another baby girl nursery together, the holidays, meeting baby girl #2!  Eating the 14 batches of scones mom and I made and froze for my freezer!  haha!

trying my hardest to push out the bump!

Long Hiatus…once again.

Well…where to begin…let's just start with a list of what has happened since our break.
-we took a trip to Nebraska
-Made a first trip to Atlanta
-Had visitors
    -My mom and dad  
    -Adam, Kalee & Callan
    -Kyle's parents and sister
-Ella turned TWO!!!!
-Ella was potty trained
-Ella started dance class
-lots of playgroups and library events attended due to the ridiculous temperature in MS
-and much much more…I will expand later as I remember

Until then, here is one of Ella's two year pictures.  We taught her to hold up both pointers for 2 years old bc it was just an easier thing to do that the peace sign.  How cute is her expression, though?!

You can be looking forward to some more 2 year pictures of her, a post on her birthday party, some of our visits from family, pictures from playing with her buddies, some updates on her learning, possibly a post on potty training, some crafts I've been working on, etc.  I'll be *trying* my hardest to keep posting.  I want to get back at it for Ella to have when she's older.  That's my encouragement to stay focused!  :)

Long Lashes

Ella had her first 'long eyelash girl' problem.  Both her and I have been having some major allergies down here in the South.  Never (besides 2 weeks while I was pregnant) have I ever had allergies before but boy it's bad down here.  Another reason for me to dislike it here.  Well, Ella's turned into more of a cold one day with her being kind of warm one morning and then her nose literally running like a faucet.  She was also rubbing her eyes a lot that evening (partially due to tiredness, I'm sure) because her eyes were super itchy.  I was cleaning up her room and Kyle was reading her a book and she was apparently rubbing her eyes like a crazy girl.  All of the sudden she began crying….hard.  I looked over and saw she was rubbing her eyes and knew it was something with her eye.  After a few seconds I realized it was a bigger deal than just having an eyelash or dirt in her eye.  She pulled her hand away from her eye long enough for me to realize there was something wrong with her eye.  It wasn't opening all the way but I couldn't tell what was the matter.  At first I thought her lid was flipped up/in all weird.   And then I thought maybe it was a huge black something(bug….eek) stuck in her eye.  I didn't know, my mind was freaking out!  haha  I took her from Kyle and just held her and he went and grabbed a damp cloth.  After he came back and I wiped it a few times and that wasn't helping so I just held her while she cried.

Then…I finally "MOM'd up" and held her arms down while I looked.  Then my heart just sank….get ready…this is the WEIRDEST THING EVER….YOU'VE NEVER HEARD OF THIS BEFORE….her top eyelashes were stuck underneath her bottom eyelid.  Yep, think about it….that's literally what happened.  And her lashes are so long that she couldn't open her eye wide enough to get them out.  I gently pulled both lids apart from each other and freed the lashes and she was as good as new but oh my goodness…the poor girl!  I mean, how does that happen?!  Wow.

I'm sure this won't be the last time she has issues with her lashes.  I always struggle with sunglasses/glasses not fitting because my lashes rub the glass part and you just can't have that.  It's terrible.  I also swear I go through mascara faster than the normal person.  haha…who knows but I think it's true.  I was also made fun of a few times growing up about how long my lashes were…but obviously it's a good thing.  I'm sure those girls who made fun of me then wish they had my lashes now.  :)
I took a couple of pictures of my sweet girl after she fell asleep in the car and realized this was the also the best way to get good lash pictures.

We were playing at the park with our friends one day and Ella was swinging and one of the other moms mentioned Ella's lashes and how it looked as though she was wearing eyeliner.  I laughed because I hadn't thought of that before but then I thought it kinda does…I think not only does she have long lashes but each lash is super thick so that makes them appear darker and fuller, too.

A Week of US

We had a somewhat uneventful week last week.  Ella started the week off with a low fever for just a few hours, really, but a super runny nose.  Which I still believe to be allergies.  She's just kinda had a runny nose for the last month since things down here in the South have been growing like crazy.  (like my garden…pictures soon)  After that miserable day of being sorta sick the rest of the week went well. I had a couple routine doc appointments where I had to bring Ella with me last minute because Kyle had some meetings come up at work and all of our friends were out of town at the same time.  But…I shouldn't have worried, Ell was amazing at both appointments.  I should have known.  

Here she is playing at the second appointment I had.  It was a specialty clinic and wasn't very busy and they had a kids play area so Ella was loving it!

We played at the park with some new friends and Ella was having a hay day.  Boy does she love the slides.  She was pretty cute and said to a boy who was in her way, "scuse me"  (excuse me)  It was darling.  

Then after her nap that afternoon, Ella woke up with a fever.  It didn't seem too terrible at first and she slept through the night ok.  Then the next day after her nap she woke up on Fire.  And had a VERY high fever through the night and then it slowly went down the following day.  Of course, it was over the weekend and so we contemplated the ER if we couldn't get it to break.  But we kept a very close eye on her and let her body fight it off.  

This was the morning after we spent the night checking on her a lot.  Kyle took a nap in her room with her sound machine on.  She eventually found her way in there and laid down beside him.  I caught a picture through the monitor.  At one point he was completely covered with his blanket and she was literally lounging on top of him like a recliner with her book.

You can just tell she was feverish in the picture.  She found her paci and I let her keep it and play iPad for a while.  We kept a cool cloth on her.  The only place she would keep it was her tummy.  Poor thing. 

This was the next morning when she still had a fever but it wasn't super high.  She was in better spirits and was still just loving on her dada.  Such a sweet picture. 

And just one more of her being a goof feeding Kyle her water.  She thought it was funny.