17 Months Old!

I have B-I-G news to share with everyone! I can officially WALK!! I did it for the first time the day before I turned 17 months old! It was such an exciting day, especially for mommy and daddy! They like to see me walk and cheer me on every time I do it. They even take videos!

Want to know what else I've been up to now that I'm 17 months old? Here's a quick look:

• I now have six teeth - four on top and two on the bottom. I look really cute when I smile big and you can see my pearly whites. Mommy and daddy brush my teeth every night to keep them clean.
  

• I can make the noise for dog, cat, pig, and car. I do it every time I see one of those in a book or outside while I'm looking out the window.
• Speaking of windows, I'm now tall enough to look outside the windows in my house. It's one of my most favorite things to do. I like to see the wind blowing and the cars drive by.
  
  
  
• Another one of my favorite activities? Playing in the kitchen with pots, pans, plastic utensils, and tupperware! I usually do this while mommy's in the kitchen cleaning up, making my meals, or while mommy and daddy are eating dinner.
• I like to crawl into my mommy and daddy's laps...sometimes it's to read a book, other times it's just to cuddle and be close. I love them.
  
• I still sleep 12 hours a night from 7:30pm-7:30am with two naps during the day!
• I'm eating really well...I'm currently on a fruit kick and can't live without my strawberries and bananas. I have them at almost every meal! I also love cottage cheese. And I'm still a fan of deli meat with hummus, chicken, green beans, pancakes, and of course Cheerios!
• Even though I can officially walk, I don't do it all the time yet. I still like to get around my crawling really fast, cruising along the furniture, or walking on my knees!
  
• I love my brush, comb, and my kitty Max.
• I have so many cool toys I like to play with. I especially love my blow-up pirate ship with all the colorful balls I can throw! I also love my train table where I can play with my trains, cars, and trucks. Look how silly I am - I can even crawl in the drawers!
  
• I love to dance! I've always liked music because mommy has it on most of the day. She plays all different kinds for me. I like to dance in my highchair while I'm eating...I raise my hands above my hand and shake my tush back and forth! It always makes my parents laugh.
  

I'm having so much fun at this age. Mommy and daddy always tell me what a good baby I am and how cute I am! Hey, these pictures prove it! Hope everyone has a great week - stay warm!

 

 



Old Wives Tales for Baby #2!

Just like I did with Ethan the first time around, I thought it would be fun to re-visit some old wives tales to predict the gender of Baby #2!

1.) How Low Can You Go: the tale goes if you're carrying high, it's a girl. If you're carrying low, it's a boy. I think I'm carrying low...BOY.

2.) Be Still My Heart: if the heart rate is under 140 bpm, expect a boy. If it's above, break out the pink. Our last two appointments the heart rates have been 170 bpm and 165 bpm...GIRL. (Although Kristen said her heart rates were always around 165 bpm and she had a boy) =)

3.) Lefty or Righty?: the theory goes if you prefer to lay on your left side, it's a boy. If you tend to prefer the right, it's a girl. I sleep on the right side of the bed because it's closest to the bathroom. I also sleep on my right side because my sciatic nerve has been present since pregnant and I can't lay on my left side for longer than 15-20 minutes...GIRL.

4.) Mayan Calendar: The Mayan calendar predicts the sex based on the age of mommy at conception and the year your baby was conceived. If both numbers are even or odd, it's a girl. If one is even and one is odd, it's a boy. Age at conception: 30 Year baby was conceived: 2013...BOY.

5.) Baking Soda Experiment: legend has it if you mix your pee with baking soda, the reaction will predict the gender of you baby. If it fizzles, it's a boy. If there's no reaction, it's a girl...GIRL.

6.) Chinese Calendar: The Chinese Calendar bases their calculation on the mother's age at conception and the month of conception. We are actually right on the line between boy and girl. When I first called the doctor after taking a home pregnancy test, they use the date of your last period to determine how far along you are. When I use that date (in Sept.), along with my age at conception (30), the calendar predicts BOY. However, during our first ultrasound they measured the baby and 'calculated' I was one week earlier than previously thought. So if I use October as the month of conception along with my age, then it's a GIRL. Since it's on the fence, I'll use the method using my official due date and go with the doctors...GIRL.

7.) Sweet Tooth?: the tale says if you are craving sweets, it's a girl. If you crave salty and sour, it's a boy. I haven't had too many true cravings, but I would say I'm leaning more towards sweets...GIRL.

8.) Morning Sickness: we've all heard that if you struggle with morning sickness through your first trimester, expect pink bows! If you make it through the first trimester without feeling nauseous, it's a boy. This one is shouting GIRL.

9.) Body Clues: legend says if pregnancy hasn't exactly given you that "glow" you dreamed of and you have things like acne, then it's a girl (because she's stealing your good looks). If you have certain things like dry hands and cold feet, then it's a boy. Maybe it's just because it's winter, but I have two pairs of socks on daily! =) ...BOY.

Total Tally:
BOY - 3
GIRL - 6

Only a couple more weeks!!

What We've Been Up To!

After the -30 temperatures at the start of last week, I can't really say we've been up to much lately! We enjoyed having Daddy home for a couple extra days throughout the work week and Ethan had lots of fun playing with him. Last Friday, we had our check up for Baby #2 - heard another strong, fast heartbeat at 165. Dr. Stowell said if we're playing the heart rate game then it's a girl =) Ethan was very intrigued by the noise and kept looking at the doctor and then my belly probably wondering what the heck was going on! I've started to tell him there's a baby in my belly and that just translates into him thinking it's hilarious to lift up my shirt and see my belly button! Haha - we'll keep working on that. Eric had solo parent duty  all weekend while I was on campus helping ZTA with their formal recruitment. I literally saw Ethan a total of 15 minutes all weekend! But, Eric did a great job sending me cute pictures like this...

Sleepy Head!

Love his serious face =)

I always think it's cute how attached Ethan gets to Eric after they spend the weekend together with no mommy...he loves his daddy that's for sure! This week we've had a lot of downtime as well, but also had lunch with Papaw and Ginka, got the second round of Ethan's flu shot, and made our usual Target run! I've been trying to get creative with some of our indoor activities - today I had him sorting wine corks into tin cans - haha! I knew I saved all those corks for a reason!

Getting a little taste of grapes!

 Yesterday, I let Ethan experiment with flour. I heard it's a great sensory activity and can be a lot of fun (and a big mess)! He wanted nothing to do with touching it with his hands...he was more comfortable using a spatula to fling it around and spread it all over the floor!

I'm officially 16 weeks pregnant today! This past week was the first week off my medicine and I can say I'm doing well and think I'm out of the "feeling crummy" phase! I can certainly tell a difference being off the medicine (hello, appetite!), but certainly not as bad as it was before. I'm still taking a nap almost every day - usually in the mornings when Ethan naps. Some days I'm good after 20 minutes, some days I need a full 90 minutes! I went back and read my 16 week update with Ethan and I pretty much echoed the same thing - felt so much better, but wasn't feeling that burst of energy women talk about in the second trimester. Eric keeps laughing that it hasn't hit him I'm pregnant...maybe it will once I start showing a little more and we find out the sex and I start bothering him with baby names and nursery ideas! =)

How Far Along: 16 weeks!

Size: 4.5 inches long and weighs 3.5 oz. - about the size of an avocado

Development: Baby's legs are much more developed, his head is more erect than it has been, and his eyes have moved closer to the front of his head. The patterning of his scalp has begun too! He's even started to grow little tiny toenails. A growth spurt is on the horizon - baby is supposed to double his weight and add inches to his length in the next few weeks.

How I'm Feeling: Pretty good overall! I wish I was sleeping better, but I feel like that's always been an issue! I've gotten a couple workouts in which has felt good - just still lacking the overall energy to make it a habit throughout the week.

Cravings/Aversions: Nothing major - although I've recently had a fix for raw broccoli with ranch dressing which is normally something I wouldn't choose as a snack. Been eating egg sandwiches in the morning on a consistent basis (more so than just the one week egg spurt I had with Ethan)!

Boy or Girl: We find out in three weeks!!

Watching the IU game with Mommy!



Precious Baby Blues!

Mommy's Due with Baby #2!!

12 Weeks!

We are so, so excited to be expecting baby #2 this summer!! The word is out and I'm happy to make it 'blog official' so I can start documenting my pregnancy on here! As of today, I am 14 1/2 weeks which means the first trimester is over! I'll start from the beginning...

Eric and I have always known we wanted our kids close together in age. I stopped nursing Ethan at 10 months in hopes of getting pregnant again fairly soon. Thankfully, we were blessed and didn't have to wait too long and found out I was pregnant on November 1! I didn't really have a cute way planned to tell Eric, but we were up in Indianapolis for our nephew's birthday party and I put a little card on the dashboard of the car that said, "guess what?? we're pregnant!!" Then we had a whole hour drive back to let the good news soak in and think about life with two! Literally the day after I took a positive test, the pregnancy symptoms arrived =/ It started with all day nausea which is similar to what I experienced with Ethan. It was a constant feeling of not knowing if I was hungry or if I needed to get sick...from the second I woke up to the second I feel asleep at night. I tried everything - the crackers, the bland food, the ginger ale, the eating small meals throughout the day, you name it.

14 Weeks!

Weeks went on and the nausea was intensifying to the point of vomiting every day. On top of that, the sheer exhaustion was setting in and it was starting to take a toll on me - physically and mentally! I heard several women say they didn't notice pregnancy symptoms with baby #2 as much because they were too busy taking care of their other child. Well...that was most definitely not the case for me! I could barely take care of Ethan - and certainly not to the level he deserved. I would lay in fetal position on the floor while he played, could hardly prepare his meals without getting sick, and the second Eric got home from work I would pass him off and be done for the night. Around week nine, I called my doctor to get medicine that would help with the nausea. Unfortunately, the first dosage didn't seem to help as I was still getting sick every day even on the medicine. Finally, around week 11 they were able to prescribe a higher dosage of the day time medicine and also give me a night time pill to take. The difference it made was incredible!! I felt like a whole new person! As of week 14, I'm still on the medicine and still feel woozy every night around dinner when there is a lapse in between the day and night time medicine. I'm keeping my fingers crossed I can maybe get through one more round of the medicine and then not need it anymore!

We started telling our families pretty much as soon as we found out! We're horrible at keeping secrets - especially an exciting one like this!! We love sharing such great news and seeing their reactions and how happy everyone was. We are so blessed to have a big family and love the fact that it keeps growing on both sides! Christmas was the perfect opportunity for us to share the news with our extended family and friends as we announced our pregnancy through our Christmas card! We absolutely loved getting the phone calls and texts from everyone...so fun surprising people!

We've had two appointments up to this point...the first appointment was to confirm the pregnancy and we got to see our little peanut through an ultrasound. The little bean was around 7 1/2 weeks old. Our second appointment was just a check up and to hear the heartbeat which was loud and strong! We will go back to see Dr. Stowell (who delivered Ethan) Friday for a heartbeat check and then we can find out the sex in February!!! That's when the fun begins with trying to pick a name, nursery decorations, etc.!

The black mass you see is baby's brain!

We know this pregnancy is going to fly by and the end of June will be here before we know it! Ethan and baby #2 will be 22 months apart (Kristen, we planned that just for you!!!) =) For now, we will continue to feel the love and blessings our family and friends have poured out since receiving our news. We are so lucky to be able to share this pregnancy with them and look forward to giving updates here on the blog! Here's to our FUN journey with baby #2!!

How Far Along: 14 1/2weeks!

Size: Baby is now measuring 3.5 inches and weighs about 1.5 ounces - about the size of a lemon!

Development: Baby can now squint, frown, grimace, pee, and possibly suck their thumb!  Baby's arms have grown to a length that's in proportion to the rest of his body. He's starting to develop an ultra-fine, downy covering of hair, called lanugo, all over his body.

How I'm Feeling: Good as long as I'm on my medicine! Only time I really start to feel icky is around dinner time when there is a lapse in between the day time and night time medicine. Other than that, I'm feeling well and looking forward to getting some exercise back in my day now that I'm feeling better! Also enjoying my little bump!

Cravings/Aversions: Early on, I had major aversions to pretty much everything, but that was just because I was feeling so bad and getting sick. Since being on the medicine, my appetite is much more level and I can't say I've had too many cravings. I went through a spell where I wanted chocolate milkshakes, but I only gave into that twice =) No crazy tomato craving like the first time around!

Boy or Girl: Only time will tell! So far, majority of people think girl since my pregnancy has been so different from Ethan's. But, some people still say boy because there are so many boys in my family! Also, the Chinese Gender Predictor Test says boy all the way!!! I will do the old wives tales like I did with Ethan when I'm a little further along (just for fun)! We can officially find out in February!