14 months, 14 weeks

 

May I remind you that I was both sick and exhausted in this picture.  When you're taking pictures with toddlers, you have to go with the one where they are actually looking and it doesn't matter what you look like.

 

I was really excited when I realized that both of my babies were in the "14s" this week.  Getting a picture of my belly while holding Penelope was a lot harder than I thought it would be. 

 

Sometimes I almost forget I'm pregnant because my belly isn't in the way yet and no kicks.  I know as soon as he/she starts moving a lot, it will hit me. 

 

We will have to move to a bigger house.  I have been waiting until after the holidays to be put on the waiting list for a 3 bedroom.  I don't know how long the list is though.  I've been trying to think of nursery ideas.  For a boy I want to do teal and gray with elephants.  No idea for a girl though.  I'll have to do some Pinteresting. 

 

Penelope is getting two more top teeth and possibly another bottom one.  I'm hoping that's why she isn't sleeping.  Yesterday, she only took a 25 minute nap.  She fell asleep at 810pm by sucking on some warm milk.  Then she woke up at 9, finished her milk and it took me until 10 to get her back down.  She woke up at 1130, then again around 3.  And I was so tired that I took her to bed with me.  We woke up at 8 when Daddy came into the room to get dressed.  She will either go to bed at a decent time and keep waking up, or will be tired and fussy, but not go to sleep until 1030 and wake up less times.  Sometimes when I take her to sleep with me, she is good and falls right to sleep all cuddly, but other times she tosses and turns for an hour and I think she wants to go back in her crib but that doesn't work either.  There is no winning with her.  I just really want her sleeping through the night before I have a newborn in six months who wakes up every 3 hours.  Josh works at night, so I will have no help and no sleep. 

 

I got Penelope her own little chair for Christmas and I cannot wait for her to open it tomorrow morning.  I know she will love it!  I'll have to post more after with our Christmas pictures.  My mom, dad and sister will be here on the 26th.  I think I might be more excited for them coming that I am for Christmas itself.  But both are good. 

 

Well I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and a safe New Year!  Here are some outtakes of our photoshoot.

When she realized she high up and started to freak out.

 

When she realized she taller than mama, and that was funny.

I love this one, too bad my hair is in the way.

 

 

 

How far along? 14 weeks and 4 days

Maternity clothes? Nope
Sleep: When I wake up, my pelvic bone hurts so bad.  Sometimes it pops. I don't remember it hurting this early with Peapod.  I have to hobble around for a while.  
Best moment this week: Trip to Bass Pro Shop because with Josh's schedule, the three of us rarely leave the house together anymore.
Miss Anything?  Sleeping on my back and energy.
Movement: No
Food cravings: I'm not sure.  I think I crave something, then I buy it and it goes to waste.  Like a giant bag of cereal or Honey Buns.
Anything making you queasy or sick: I'm sick right now, but I bad cough will make me gag.  Haven't thrown up in about 2 or 3 weeks.
Have you started to show yet: If I'm wearing certain clothes, yes
Gender: I guess boy
Labor Signs: No
Belly Button in or out? Out
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time: I lose my patience sometime
Looking forward to: Gender ultrasound in 3-6 weeks

 

Christmas handprint ornament tutorial

Now that I'm a mom, I have to make holiday memories.  Literally.  My daughter doesn't go to daycare or preschool so she doesn't come home with cute handmade ornaments.  So made an ornament together, more so me than her.  I thought a handprint impression would be cute.  So here are the instructions so you make one with your little one, or even for your pet!

You will need:
1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
1/2 cup water
food coloring
ribbon
marker
wax paper

Combine flour and salt in a mixing bowl.  Add food coloring to water (I used red so it would be pink), then add to the flour/salt mixture. Knead dough well.  Should be smooth and stiff.  Form into ball and roll on to wax paper.  Dough should be about 1/2 inch thick. 

 

Next it's time to press your child's (or pet's) hand or foot into the dough.  I didn't get a picture of the actual act of impressing because it's all hands on deck and Penelope did not like it. The impression should be fairly deep because it will rise when baked. 

 

 

Use a butter knife to cut out the print.  Then make a hole at the top to string the ribbon.  I used a fine point Sharpie marker to make the hole.

   

There was a lot of dough left over so I rolled it out so you could see.  Enough to make two prints. 

 

 

Lastly, place on a cookie sheet and bake at 200 degrees for 2-3 hours.  After 2 hours and 10 minutes, I checked it and the bottom was still soft, so I baked it the whole 3 hours.  Timing will depend on how thick you make the dough.  The bottom was still a little soft, so I flipped it over and left it on the counter to harden. 

 



New cookie sheets are on my shopping list, don't judge.

Once it's cooled, you can write your child's name and year on the front.  Or give them markers and let them decorate it themselves!

 

 

String a ribbon through the hole and hang on the tree!



12 weeks

Yeah, how about I spent an hour typing this post on my phone and forgot to save it.  I hate when that happens. So instead of being like, "This is everything we did today!  We were so busy!" It's more like, "Eh, we did a few things."  But maybe that's a good thing so you won't get too bored with my ramblings.  Anyways....

12 weeks!  I feel like it's such a big milestone.  Only 5-8 more weeks until we find out the gender.  Only.... ugh. Going to take foreverrrrr.  Still not sick.  But I'm always tired and take a nap with Penelope every afternoon.  And just this week my skin has been awful.  I forgot that was a pregnancy symptom with all the hormones going crazy.  Don't remember that happening last time.  But I'm hoping it's just a first trimester thing.

I had an ultrasound at almost 10 weeks and the office I go to offers first trimester screenings to check for any defects or major problems with the baby.  Well, they actually give me a referral to somewhere and set it all up.  It's another ultrasound and with my insurance, I would only get two otherwise so I was like, uhh, yes!  Once they found out I was about 10 weeks along they had to make the appointment soon so it was scheduled for the next week.... in Kansas City.  That's 90 miles away.  They gave me the impression that it would be closer so I was kind of mad because I hate driving that far.  And Penelope doesn't like it either.  Josh works nights so I knew he wouldn't be able to go with me because he has to sleep in the afternoon so I asked my friend to go with me.  She went with me to Penelope's first trimester ultrasound too because Josh was in Airmen Leadership School at the time.  A few days before, I got a phone call reminding me about the appointment and they said children are highly discouraged from going.  I was like, too bad!  I don't want to leave her at a babysitters all day or pay for that.  Plus, they never said kids couldn't come.  And I had my friend to help with her.  But that morning Penelope woke up like she was in pain.  She slept awful that night and we wound up on the couch together at some point.  It seemed like every 20 minutes she would wake up and whine and I would shift her and pat her and she would go back to sleep.  When she woke up in the morning she wouldn't stop crying.  Like tears crying.  I had never seen her like that and have no idea what was wrong with her, even now.  She acted like she was in pain but we kept poking her and stripped her down to check for boo boos and couldn't figure it out.  We gave her some milk, so her tummy wasn't growling.  I suppose it could have been from teething, but that really seems extreme.  We gave her medicine and everything.  It took her about an hour and a half to calm down.  So I was thinking, there is no way I can take this poor child on a 90 mile car trip in two hours.  And to be honest, I wasn't that excited about it.  I had an ultrasound the week before so I knew baby wouldn't look that different.  If it had been weeks, then I would have been more excited.  So with Penelope being sick or whatever the heck was wrong with her, and then highly discouraging children from attending, I cancelled the appointment and didn't reschedule.  Afterwards my pregnancy emotions kicked in and I felt like I let my little one down.  Like, I only have a few chances to see him/her before they are born and I wasn't looking forward to it and cancelled.  I still feel really bad about it.  I keep thinking "what if they grow up and ask me why Penelope has more ultrasounds than they did or where is their 11/12 week ultrasound?"  How crazy do I sound right now?  This is what pregnancy does to you. So, my next ultrasound will be local and scheduled to determine gender when I am 17-20 weeks. 

Although I've decided not to do weekly photos, I will still try to update weekly, or at least regularly.  And sooner or later, I will upload the ultrasound pictures =]

The breastfeeding issue

This has been on my mind for a very long time and I finally need to voice my opinion. The issue is breastfeeding in public and why it is or isn't accepted.

I see things all over the internet that show a picture of a woman with a ton of cleavage and it says "why is this ok in public, but this isn't?" (Picture of a woman with her whole boob out breastfeeding.) Well, first off, who said massive cleavage in public is ok? I know it would make me uncomfortable. I'm sure it would make my husband uncomfortable too if only for the fact that he has to notice since he is a male and doesn't want to get caught and start a fight.

I am a mother and I am all for breastfeeding.  But I don't want to see your boob out of your shirt for any reason.  I don't see the big deal with covering up with a blanket or nursing cover in public. At least for the respect of others around you, or respect for your husband or to not embarrass your older children.  Even if I'm good friends with someone, I would use a cover and want them to do the same thing too.

Some people argue that it's natural so people should be ok with it.  Well, a lot of things are natural but I certainly wouldn't do in public.

My point is, (most)  mothers who argue for bare public breastfeeding think people who are against it are totally against breastfeeding. That's not true. It makes some people uncomfortable to see a stranger's boob when they are at a restaurant.  If a man can't enter an establishment without a shirt, why can a woman take her breasts out of her shirt at the same place? 

I am pro breastfeeding and even in public but I don't see the harm in being a little conservative and covering up, especially when you are around people you don't know.

Baby #2!

 

That's right!  We are having another baby!  (First off I have to say that I left Penelope's stocking within her reach before the paint was dry and that I'm really proud that I came up with this idea all on my own!)

 

Baby #2 is due around June 20th.  We are both hoping for a boy but I know it would be great for Penelope to have a little sister 20 months younger.  And I have all the clothes for a girl already. 

 

I was 6 weeks when I found out I was pregnant.  It was two days after we got home from visiting family in Ohio.  The last few days before we left I noticed my belly button was sticking out more than usual and I thought "Oh no!  I'm getting so fat from eating out every night!"  I didn't think I was pregnant, just fat.  So I was really surprised that I was pregnant.  But super happy, because we had only been trying for about a month if that. Since I knew I could be as early along as 3 weeks, I waited a while to make a doctor's appointment because I wanted to be at least 6 weeks along so I didn't have an ultrasound with no heartbeat and freak out.  (Found out Oct 25, apt was  Nov 12)  I had an ultrasound the next week and it was determined that I was 9 weeks 5 days.  I was very happy with that. 

 

I keep forgetting that I'm pregnant because I'm not sick like I was with Penelope.  I don't think my belly is growing very quickly either with is fine with me because I gained 50 lbs. with her and after losing it all, I'm going to be more aware with this pregnancy.  But I have no energy.  I think that's my only symptom. I can't make it through the day without a nap.  But I also am up sometimes 645-1130 and I've always been the kind of person that needs my sleep. 

 

Speaking of sleep, I could go on and on now that I can finally talk about it!  But it is after 11pm and I'm tired so night all!

 

How far along? 11 weeks 3 days
Maternity clothes? nope
Sleep: not affected by pregnancy.
Best moment this week: announcing baby #2!
Miss Anything?  cold deli meat and red bull
Movement: no
Food cravings: cheeseburger quesadilla and donuts
Anything making you queasy or sick: nothing comes to mind
Have you started to show yet: barely
Gender:  boy
Labor Signs: noooo
Belly Button in or out? out
Wedding rings on or off? on
Happy or Moody most of the time: not moody, just tired
Looking forward to: gender in like 6 weeks.