24 Weeks - Baby #2

How far along? 24 weeks in picture....though posting this at 25 weeks + 2 days.

Total weight gain/loss: +18 pounds total so far (I think). Pregnancy brain is so real. I can hardly remember where my weight was when I got pregnant, let alone what the scale said last time I went to the doctor. So foggy! I weigh about as much as I did full term with Blake which freaks me out a little bit, but, the doctors said I gained abnormally with him (only +13 pounds and he was 9 pounds) so this pregnancy is more on the "normal" track of weight gain. The good thing is I don't feel overweight and still seem to be carrying all in my belly. 

Maternity clothes? Yes, yes, and yes. Except my Men's XL work t-shirt that I wear around the house occasionally. :)

Stretch marks? None so far. Brandon reminds me to use my belly butter; another thing I keep forgetting to do. (and the list goes on...)
Sleep: Sleeeeeep. I love sleep. Most days I fall asleep for about 15 min after school while Blake is playing. Don't worry, it's not a deep sleep. On the weekends I take a full-scale afternoon nap while Blake naps. However, Blake just moved to his big boy bed this weekend and though he's doing great with the transition, his naps have gone from 2-3 hours to 1 hour. Not so great for mom. :) In the evenings I usually get really sleepy on the couch when Brandon and I are relaxing and then we inevitably go to bed too late because we don't feel like moving, haha! I sleep great at night though. I usually start stirring about an hour before my alarm and almost always wake up once per night for the bathroom.
Best moment this week: My brother got engaged!!!!! I'm over the moon excited! Our trip to St. Louis was a lot of fun and that's where we got the engagement news (though I knew it was going to happen!)! Blake did great in the car but he was a tad disobedient over the weekend due to lots of schedule shifts. Also, we unofficially moved Blake to his big boy room and I don't see him going back into the crib so I guess it's official. :) We just thought we'd try it this weekend and it went well. What happened to my baby?! October 28 was his last morning waking up in a crib (wahhhh). It's so bittersweet. Anyways, I moved all of his clothes over to his new closet and dresser and he moved all of the books he wanted into his new book bins....so now I can officially start making the nursery a nursery again! P.S. I think I'm nesting. I've done nothing but organize and clean the house this week. 

Have you told family and friends: Yes!
Miss anything yet? Sleeping whenever I want (like when you're pregnant with your first). And to be honest, I miss buying all of the baby things. This time, we're pretty prepared so I don't need to buy much but I LIKE buying things. :) We did purchase a new stroller and we have a few small things on a registry (so we can get a registry completion discount!).
Movement: This baby is active. And STRONG. I told Brandon the other day that I feel like the kicks and punches are so forceful already that I can only imagine what they will be like in a couple of months. Maybe this is a subsequent pregnancy thing because my muscles aren't as tight, I don't know. But whoa baby, you've got some strong kicks!
Food cravings: Still thirsty all the time for milk and water. I'm also craving desserts a lot. Vanilla ice cream sounds good now....triple peanut butter cup, my old favorite, does not. And I can't resist the Halloween candy. No wonder this baby is so active, haha!
Anything making you queasy or sick? Not really.
Have you started to show yet: Yes, and everyone has a comment ranging from you're HUGE to your SO tiny. It's kinda funny! Good thing I don't mind the comments. :)
Gender prediction: This is such a stumper. I have no clue. Baby's heartbeat was 160 at my appointment this week. It's been around that every time and Blake's was always around 154 I think. So do I say it's higher or is it about the same? Also, Brandon keeps saying that I'm carrying lower this time. My students all insist it's a girl. Brandon and family don't seem to have a strong prediction this time. So, just for fun, I'll guess that it's a girl this week. :) We really do like not knowing though; it's so fun!
Labor signs: No, I had one very short episode of what I think were Braxton Hicks a couple of weeks ago but haven't had that again. I was dehydrated and had been standing at work all day so that was probably the cause.
Belly button in or out? In but getting shallower.
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy! But I was quite moody last week when I was sick. I have zero patience when I'm pregnant and sick....sorry everyone.
Looking forward to: Halloween and Blake trick-or-treating for the first time! Wedding planning and wedding season for my brother. Working on the nursery. And hopefully I'll get some pictures up of Blake's big boy room soon!

Blake - 2.5 Years

You are 2.5 years old ALREADY. How on earth did that happen?

Blake, you are certainly developing a personality and are such a goofy, silly boy at home! Out in public you are much more quiet and like to observe everyone around you, especially other kids. But at home we see your wild side!

Accomplishments:
-Popping through your 2 year molars...ouch!
-Daytime potty trained! You potty trained pretty quickly, especially for being like 2 and 1/4 years old. Everyone said cloth diapered kids potty train earlier....perhaps they were right. :)
-You know your alphabet (obviously) both big and little letters and you can read the names "Blake", "Mommy", and "Daddy".
-You can count to 20 but you pronounce fifteen, "five-teen."
-You know all basic shapes.
-You can sing lots of songs by heart (and on tune!)

Potty Training

From the mouth of Blake:
-"Daddy want a potty candy for trying?" (Daddy had been sitting on the toilet for a while)
-At the zoo, "Blake, where's your tail?" Blake: "I don't have a tail, I have a BUTT." (emphasized)
-"Daddy a cwazy driver!"
-"Daddy have a big peepee. (Looks down) Blake have a little peepee." ;)
-We say, "You're such a big boy!" and you respond, "I'm not big, I'm GETTING big."
-"Did you sleep well Blake?" Blake - "I did." (It's never yes or no, always I did or I didn't)
-"I have a little brother sister in my belly!" (holding up shirt)
-Mom says "Blake, you're silly" and you respond, "No YOU'RE silly, I'M goofy."
-After a spanking, "But Zoey does it too". Little stinker! I had to explain that she doesn't know any better but Blake is a boy, so he does know better.
-"I'm Nemo." Mom - "Who am I?" Blake- "You're Dory."
-"There's the MAIL MAN!" You are obsessed with mail trucks!

Pictures (so many pictures...):

Mommy probably shouldn't have taken this, but I love the way you look when you pray! I just wanted to capture it. :) Sometimes you spontaneously burst into prayer and it's adorable!

You LOVE animals. You had to hug every goat at the petting zoo!

Accessories are your jam! You love wearing grandma's pearl necklace around your head.

Family shot!

You are such a helper. You love helping mommy in the kitchen and daddy outside. Good thing you have your own wheelbarrow!

Recently you've started to love Finding Nemo (and the movie "Cars") so Nemo comes along on many adventures. Baby is usually only invited on walks. ;)

Your first camel ride. You loved it!

You love flowers (and plucking them when you probably shouldn't)!

Helping daddy get your big boy room together.

Play time!

"Mom, cars are silly. I put my letters on the road, see?"

Swimming at Grandma's. You LOVE swimming!

Checking out your new bed before the top bunk was added!

Helping daddy (again) build your bunk bed.

You were so excited to buy your first underwear that you wouldn't let me keep them in the shopping bag!

You loved the airplanes before the 4th of July Parade.

While mommy and daddy were cruising the Caribbean you had fun at Grandma's!

Wearing your necklaces proudly, haha!

Getting ready for bed....maybe? :)

Slipper theif

Photo from Grandma: Playing at the park!

Memorial Day - The day mommy found out she was pregnant. :) Also the first time you ate corn on the cob!

Pool time!

You love playing with water!

Children's Science Museum

You and daddy had lots of fun here!

Mini photo session :)

We had lots of fun waiting for Grandma B. to arrive

Blake and Daddy

Your first time on a school bus!

By the Big X (your word for windmill) :)

Blake, we think you're the best kid ever! You are going to be such a sweet big brother and we love watching you grow....although mommy may have burst into tears on a family walk just thinking about you growing up. Let's blame that on the hormones. ;) We are so thankful God chose us to be your parents!

20 Weeks & Ultrasound - Baby #2

4D Ultrasound Pictures

How far along? 20 weeks, 4 days

Total weight gain/loss: I've gained 14 pounds total now. Baby is 13 oz according to the ultrasound tech! So if my guess is correct, that's about a pound of baby, a pound of placenta, and 12 pounds of pumpkin muffins. Seems about right. ;)

Maternity clothes? Yup

Stretch marks? No

Sleep: There is definitely a trend to my sleep this week. Every other night I sleep great until about 5 am (drool and all). The opposite nights I tend to toss and turn most of the night. 

Best moment this week: Well, we enjoyed 90+ degree weather this last week in September...so that was strange but also a nice little add on to summer's end. And our new stroller and baby monitor were delivered, I was super excited about that! We also flipped Blake's car seat around to forward facing and he thinks that is pretty cool. :) Of course the best moment this week was hearing that baby was looking great at our ultrasound! This baby was not camera shy like Blake so we had to close our eyes for a while so we didn't see any gender details (not that I would be able to tell, I am the worst ultrasound viewer). Our tech even let us see some 4D pictures of our little babe! Oh my word is that fun! Baby had his/her cute little fists right up by the mouth like he/she was praying or pondering. :) Heartbeat was 145. The tech also mentioned that since Blake was such a big baby that they might do a growth scan ultrasound towards the end of this pregnancy to make sure baby isn't getting too big. She wasn't sure, as she said she's not the doctor, but she wanted me to be aware. 

Have you told family and friends: Yes!

Miss anything yet? Eating and drinking things without serious heartburn, being able to easily pick up Blake, and walking fast, haha!

Movement: I do feel movement and kicks (especially straight shots to my bladder....baby is breech right now) but most movement is felt at night when I'm relaxing or early in the morning when I'm still in bed. I can't wait for Brandon to be able to feel the kicks!

Food cravings: Water (can that be a craving? I'm thirsty all the time!) and milk. I can't think of any specific food craving.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Still not digging ice cream (except pumpkin flurries). And I thought at 20 weeks it'd be safe to take my prenatal vitamin in the morning....nope. I've never run to the bathroom so fast.

Have you started to show yet: Yes and I feel like I'm carrying similar to Blake so far.

Gender prediction: I truly have no clue. Maybe girl?

Labor signs: No

Belly button in or out? In but starting to morph.

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy!

Looking forward to: Meeting this baby! I feel like I'm in more of a hurry to meet this baby than I was with Blake....maybe that's normal the 2nd time around? 

19 Weeks - Baby #2

Wow! Sorry baby, mommy has been slacking in weekly updates. I'm guessing the beginning of the school year has something to do with that. ;) Anyways, here is our 19 week update!

How far along? 19 weeks, 1 day

Total weight gain/loss: I've gained 9 pounds I think. A lot more than last time at 19 weeks but I blame my constant snacking during the 1st trimester morning sickness period. Currently I get full after two bites of my meals...so weight gain may slow down. We'll see. 
Maternity clothes? Yes. I wore a normal pajama shirt and my belly kept popping out of the bottom, haha! I do still wear a lot of non-maternity dresses, like the one in the picture above.
Stretch marks? Nope...
Sleep: Sleep is good! I usually wake up about an hour or so before my alarm and toss and turn but the majority of the night I sleep well. I fall asleep on the couch almost every day after school for about 15 minutes while Blake watches a show (mom fail). Oh well, if that's the worst of it then I'll take it.
Best moment this week: We went for a nice family walk tonight.I had an extremely busy work/school week so I was not able to spend much time with family until today.
Have you told family and friends: Yes!
Miss anything yet? Sleeping on my back. I was ALWAYS a side sleeper until I had Blake. Then I started rotating between side and back sleeping. But right now laying on my back is a pregnancy no no.
Movement: Yes! I finally feel the baby briefly every day! Little rolls and kicks (or punches). It's lovely. 
Food cravings: Apples
Anything making you queasy or sick: The smell of sweaty people and Zoey's breath, haha! 
Have you started to show yet: Yes, definitely.
Gender prediction: Girl.
Labor signs: No
Belly button in or out? In but beginning to stretch.
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy!!!
Looking forward to: Our ultrasound (hoping all is well) and meeting this little one....in due time.

13 Weeks - Baby #2

How far along? 13 weeks, 3 days (officially in the 2nd Trimester!)

Total weight gain/loss: 4 pounds gained
Maternity clothes?  Today was the first day I wore full on maternity clothes and boy was it comfy!
Stretch marks? No
Sleep:  I slept a bit better this week. Not waking up as much to potty. I have been sleepier in the afternoons, but not taking naps. I don't want to jinx my nighttime sleep!
Best moment this week: I think we can officially say that Blake is daytime potty trained! He wears underwear everywhere now! Yay! Still an occasional accident but he definitely gets it. Also, we bought a dresser for his big boy room so I think we will transfer him over in the fall (?) so that I can start getting the nursery ready for another little one. :)
Have you told family and friends: Yes!
Miss anything yet? Enjoying ice cream. I mean, it's probably healthier this way....but still.
Movement: Haven't felt anything that I was SURE was baby since last week.
Food cravings: Milk, lemonade (not together!) Food just doesn't sound that great even though I'm constantly eating and snacking...
Anything making you queasy or sick: If I get hungry I get queasy...hence snacking all the time. I also still get nauseous every night from 8-9 pm until bed.
Have you started to show yet: Yup. I feel way bigger than I did around this time with Blake.
Gender prediction: I keep thinking girl...
Labor signs: No
Belly button in or out? In
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy but impatient when tired.
Looking forward to: Halloween and all things fall! And, dare I say it, I am excited to start a new school year!

We're pregnant (again)!!! 12 Weeks

We are thrilled to announce that we are expecting our second baby around Feb. 10, 2018!!! And mommy is not so secretly hoping for a Valentine's baby or at least a little newborn to put in Valentine's clothes. :)

We found out we were expecting on Memorial Day 2017. Baby 2.0 is already wrapping up the first trimester and mommy and daddy are starting to wrap our heads around the idea of another baby! 

Just like with Blake I plan to do weekly updates of my pregnancy. I love looking back at my posts with Blake and can't wait to do them again! I'll start with the bump shots we got leading up to this post and then share this weeks update. There are actually 2 weeks between the week 6 and 7 bump shots because the doctor changed my due date from Feb. 3 to Feb. 10, putting us 1 week behind what we originally thought. 

Baby bloat!

7 Weeks - In Florida for our cruise!

8 Weeks - On the cruise ship! Full of mashed potatoes. :)

A very real bump starting to replace the food bump!

How far along? 12 weeks, 3 days

Total weight gain/loss: 4 pounds (likely from last week's trip full of eating out!)
Maternity clothes? I wore a maternity shirt just because I liked the color, but, no I'm not in maternity clothes for real. I have two pairs of bigger shorts I'm rotating between. Most of my shorts and capris don't fit. I don't know about my pants since it's summer and I'm like a walking furnace.
Stretch marks? Nope
Sleep: I napped every afternoon earlier in this pregnancy (approx. weeks 6-8) but no longer need them. I have not felt as tired this pregnancy and I don't know if that's because I'm busy with Blake or my body is just more accustomed to growing a tiny human. But, if I do fall asleep in the afternoon I have a much harder time sleeping at night, which has already not been great. Sleeping at night has definitely been more hit and miss than I remember with my first pregnancy. I wake up 1-2(+) times to potty and toss and turn after about 6 am. Since it is the summer, I usually stay up until about 11 pm.
Best moment this week: We had our first official prenatal doctor's visit and got to hear the heartbeat (161) and were told that everything looked great so far! We actually had an early ultrasound done around week 5 due to some bad cramping I had and heard the heartbeat then too (it was 122 I believe at that point). It's always so cool to hear! Also, Blake has been improving with his potty training!
Have you told family and friends: Yes!
Miss anything yet? Sleeping soundly and not feeling sick in the evenings. Also carrying Blake without becoming winded like an out of shape whale. ;)
Movement: I swear I felt the baby rolling around once last week, last night and this morning. This morning I am pretty sure it was the baby!
Food cravings: Strawberry poppy-seed salad, cereal, milk
Anything making you queasy or sick: With Blake I couldn't do anything chicken....not the case this time. I know this is hard to believe.........but my (former?) favorite Triple Peanut Butter Cup ice cream just sounds AWFUL. Ughhh, it's crazy. Also, ice cream in general just doesn't sound great. And most things healthy just don't sound great. I'm eating like a little kid. Weeks 6-8 of this pregnancy I had terrible morning sickness from about 4pm until I went to bed. I actually had to take meds for it. Family and friends have joked that it's probably a girl because it's giving me a hard time. :)
Have you started to show yet: Yes. We were ready to announce to the world but I also knew I couldn't really hide the bitty bump much longer! Depending on the outfit, I'm in that "Is she pregnant or just fat?" stage. It's lovely. ;)
Gender prediction: Girl? (I'm afraid to say since I was wrong about Blake pretty much the entire pregnancy) Also, we aren't finding out the gender again! Sorry to everyone that disappoints, haha!
Labor signs: No
Belly button in or out? In
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy
Looking forward to: A growing bump, Fall things, and a "shortened" school year!

Baby 2.0

4 Weeks:

How far along? 4 weeks, 4 days
Total weight gain/loss: I'd say I've gained water weight! So bloated! I was getting mad at Brandon (sorry) taking my first weekly picture because I "already look pregnant". First appointment isn't until beginning of 2nd Trimester though so I can't track weight too closely yet.
Maternity clothes? No but I did order a few new items from Gap Maternity. I can't wait for elastic bands all day, every day without the guilt...hahaha!
Stretch marks? Nope
Sleep: I am pretty much confined to a computer lab during the school day so I can relax but as soon as I get home I get very sleepy. Blake tries to get my attention, not always in a good way, and I feel terrible because I just don't want to move. This only started like 2 days ago though so I don't think any serious parenting damage has incurred. :)
Best moment this week: Finding out we were expecting! This was a little bit more scientific than I would've hoped for. First, I tested too early and got a negative. Then, after waiting 4-5 more days I took a new test and it didn't work (and only 1 was in the box that said it was a 2 count...) so I retried and it turned positive but I questioned its validity. So I grabbed an expired test from when we were trying with Blake and that one turned positive but I questioned it again because it was expired! Mind you, this was all at 6 am in the morning because I couldn't sleep. So when everyone was awake I made a quick trip to the store, bought more tests, went home, retested and got a faint positive. Yay!
Have you told family and friends: No. ;) My mom said the wait was just too long when I told her the day we found out with Blake so we're going to wait a little bit. It's fun to have a big secret, kind of. ;)
Miss anything yet? Caffeine. I don't usually drink much of it but when I can't have it....
Movement: Nope...just gas bubbles. :)
Food cravings: Not yet. Trying to eat as healthy as possible during this critical stage of early development before any morning sickness kicks in.
Anything making you queasy or sick: Being too hot, which is more common now that I'm expecting, has been giving me that car sick feeling.
Have you started to show yet: Not technically. I have a little bloat pouch. There's only so much sucking in I can do! I am concerned that I may show so fast that we will have to announce earlier this time.
Gender prediction: No gut feelings yet. And I was wrong almost the entire pregnancy with Blake.
Labor signs: No thank goodness!
Belly button in or out? In
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time: MOODY. Irrationally moody.
Looking forward to: The last day of school and our cruise! Also, getting Blake's big boy room delivery from the Land of Nod!