12 Weeks

How far along? 

12 weeks!

How big is baby? 

The size of a plum, which I can appreciate since I've been eating one almost every day

Total weight gain?

According to the home scale, up 1.5 pounds

Maternity clothes?

 Still mostly regular stuff, though I did dig out my maternity camis for layering

Sleep?

Eh. I seem to be consistently waking up around 2 am. I have to pee and then I have a hard time falling back asleep. 

Best moment of the week?

Catching up with a very old and very dear friend!

Food cravings?

 I wouldn't call them cravings at the moment. It's just that when something tastes good I want to keep eating, and eating, and eating...

Food aversions?

 Ha ha, what are those? If it's food, I want it.

Symptoms?

 It has really warmed up here in the last week and I am finding that I feel a lot more worn out by the heat than usual. Also, I have been having very noticable and very uncomfortable sciatic pain that radiates from my lower back down into my legs :(  

Movement?

 Reflexes are functioning now - if I could poke baby, he or she would move!

Gender?

 I'm thinking pink this week, but mostly because we've been talking about girl names lately (and we haven't decided whether to keep the names a surprise too)

What I’m looking forward to?

 My next appointment with my midwife this Friday

What I miss?

 Feeling rested

Weekly Wisdom?

Homemade strawberry rhubarb crisp tastes AMAZING

Milestones?

Well, I thought I was in the last week of the first trimester, but upon double-checking it looks like I have one more week...

Look who special-guested in my photos this week!

On Books and Booty-Shakin'

I've recently discovered how much I enjoy listening to audio books in the car. It makes my half hour commute to and from work, as well as running errands and such so much more enjoyable. I've always been one to get lost in a good story, and making use of those wasted minutes in the car (when I'm by myself of course, not with the fam in tow) is a perfect way to do so.

My current listen is Patrick Swayze's autobiography, "The Time of My Life," which he co-wrote with his wife, and which he reads in the audio version. I'm a dork, so I have these little rules about my audiobooks; if I'm reading (as in, actually reading, not listening to) a fiction book, I like to listen to a non-fiction audiobook, and vice-versa. It helps me separate the two so I don't get confused. "The Time of My Life" was on display at my local library the last time I was there, so I nabbed it, having been a long time Swayze fan (have you seen North and South?) and I have to say I have thoroughly enjoyed it. Aside from the obvious perk of having Patrick read to me every day, I have learned a lot about a sensitive, hard-working, and complicated individual who truly did leave this earth too soon.

A perhaps unintended side-effect was that I now have the itch to revisit some of his classics, starting with Dirty Dancing. So I dusted off my collector's edition DVD and popped it in during Sweets' nap this past weekend. Hubs, who had never seen the movie all the way through, quickly became engrossed. We had finished the movie by the time Sweets woke up and were watching a behind-the-scenes special feature when he joined us in the living room. He yawned, rubbed the sleep from his eyes, then pointed to the screen...

...and declared, "Hey, she's shakin' her booty!" Well yes, yes she is. Who taught you that, son? A few moments later, the iconic lift appeared, and Sweets narrated again:

"Look, that girl is flying!"

Well, yeah, kinda. How about we turn the movie off and go play outside?! This is clearly why, when Sweets is awake and in need of a little downtime, our TV screen is dominated by cartoon critters or John Deere tractors. They teach valuable lessons, like "it's important to listen" and "everyone wins when you help out." As opposed to "this is how to shake your booty" ;-)  

11 Weeks

How far along? 

11 weeks!

How big is baby? 

HUGE! The size of a lime!

Total weight gain?

Still at plus zero...hungry baby!

Maternity clothes?

 Well. Hubs and I went out for my birthday dinner last week and I knew I was going to eat myself silly on seafood, so I very intentionally wore maternity jeans ;) But skinny ones, so that made me feel less ridiculous for busting out the full panel in the first trimester.

Sleep?

If my cat would shut up, it would be pretty good.

Best moment of the week?

Celebrating Father's Day with all the dads in my life.

Food cravings?

 The intense need for Mexican food is easing up and hasn't really been replaced by anything yet.

Food aversions?

 Ha ha, what are those? If it's food, I want it.

Symptoms?

 Starving (like I have a tapeworm, starving), tired, and still breaking out. 

Movement?

 Not feeling anything, but I read that baby is quite the little water acrobat in there.

Gender?

 Still don't have an inkling!

What I’m looking forward to?

 My next appointment with my midwife on 6/28.

What I miss?

 Being able to choose anything from my closet in the morning. I'm still too small for most maternity clothes, but rapidly outgrowing my regular stuff.

Weekly Wisdom?

Yoga pants are your friend.

Milestones?

Only this week and next week left in the first tri! 

10 Weeks

How far along? 

10 weeks - baby is officially a fetus!

How big is baby? 

The size of a kumquat. This doesn't mean a whole lot to me, since I've never had a kumquat.

Total weight gain?
Holding steady! Shocking, considering my caloric consumption...I guess it's all going to the peanut!

Maternity clothes?

 Nothing official yet. Still using the belly band on work pants and jeans. I have tons of sundresses that would work great, but apparently we've skipped summer and gone right to fall around here.

Sleep?

Let's just face it, sleep will never be the same until my kids go to college.
The sooner I accept that, the better.

Best moment of the week?

Seeing and hearing G2 at our ultrasound!

Food cravings?

 Oh Mexican food, you and I are truly becoming BFFs, are we not? And Gram, if you're reading this, I can't stop thinking about your potato salad.

Food aversions?

 Ha ha, what are those? If it's food, I want it.

Symptoms?

 Hungry, tired and broken out. Same old, same old. Oh, and one new symptom this week - round ligament pain. I remember this from being pregnant with Sweets, but can't for the life of me remember when it started with him.

Movement?

 Well I can't feel it, but G2 certainly has a case of the wiggles!

Gender?

 I'll let ya know in January.

What I’m looking forward to?

 Graduating to the second tri in a couple of weeks.

What I miss?

 My clothes fitting normally. This is definitely the stage where the bump just looks like I've overindulged in queso and chips ;-)

Weekly Wisdom?

If you're going to make a weekly stop at McDonald's, at least use a coupon.

Milestones?
So many this week! Baby is now a fetus, we saw and heart that little heartbeat, and I outed myself on Facebook. Good stuff!

Round Two!

Would you believe me if I said that this post is so titled because today is my 25th birthday (again)? ;-)

Well, though it is the day of my birth, I am not turning 25, which is ok, because as much as I enjoyed 25, I have so many things at 32 that I only dreamed of having seven years ago. No, this post is titled "Round Two" because Sweets is going to be a big brother!

Seeing double on Saturday, April 27th, 2013

If you know me in real life, chances are you know I have been undecided on the question of whether or not to have another baby. I love my son with all my heart and I would walk through fire for him, but man, he was an exhausting baby! It took me a long time to feel like I was ready to even contemplate having another and doing the newborn thing all over again. I was in that contemplative phase in December, seriously considering whether we were ready (and whether I had the energy) to add to our family when the tragic events in Sandy Hook, CT took place. And it sort of all made me realize that our time on earth is so short, and anything could happen to any of us. What were we waiting for? 

So here I am, 10 weeks pregnant today and feeling amazing. So amazing in fact that at my first appointment with my midwife two weeks ago I told her I was afraid she was going to tell me it was all in my head! Needless to say, when she offered me a dating ultrasound, I jumped on it! So last week, at 9 weeks and 2 days, we had our first peek at the little person we affectionately refer to as "G2."

Hi, little baby who looks more like a Teddy Graham!

G2 was wiggling away with a heartbeat of 179 bpm. So crazy! He or she (we will not be finding out this time around) is expected to make an appearance on or around January 6th, 2014. I have been writing a weekly update with bump picture since 4 weeks, and plan to go back and publish them on the dates they were written, so if you care to read them, check out my blog archive (below and to the right). That's all for now!  

  

Safari Style

 This past weekend, our family went on a wild adventure! We met two of our couple friends and their adorable kiddos at a nearby wildlife preserve park and had some close encounters of the furry kind. What a spectacular day! Take a peek:

Here's Sweets hamming it up for the camera. By the way, if he hears you saying he's a ham, he is quick to tell you, "hey, I'm not food, I'm a little boy!"

And here he is showing you how strong he is after climbing up a big rock pile. Check out those guns!

Aboard the trolley, ready for our safari!

Clutching his cup of grain and ready to roll!

Feeding the elk with Daddy. He was a little nervous at first, but the more animals we saw, the more comfortable he got. And of course, a source of endless fascination was the fact that yes, animals poop and pee too. Often.

Our tour guide referred to this water buffalo, nicknamed Samson, as her 2,000 pound boyfriend that smells really bad. She just loves him and I can see why - look at those big brown buffalo eyes!

Safari boy!

Excuse me, where is my food? Put the camera down. Feed me.

The stag elk were so beautiful and majestic! Did you know they shed their entire rack every year? I did not!

I was a tad obsessed with this adorable baby donkey. I wanted him to come home with us.

Ha! Can you even tell what this is? This group of baby alpacas was quite shy...I think the only reason this one let me snap his picture was because he was hoping I had food.

Sweets and his little friend A. How cute are they???

This goat cracked me up. Look at that ugly mug!

Donkey friends. Come on, how stinkin' cute is that fuzzy baby?

Prior to heading back home, we made a stop at the headquarters of the company Hubs' works for to say hello to the big boss and his colleagues. And the big boss was like "while you're in town, why don't you swing by my house and take the Gator for a spin?" Ummm....ok!

Needless to say, John Deere boy loved it!

The aftermath.

9 Weeks

How far along? 

9 weeks. Cruising right along!

How big is baby? 

The size of a grape. I feel like we're just working our way through a big bowl of fruit salad ;-)

Total weight gain?

 Honestly, I haven't checked this week. I would assume nothing, since that seems to be the status quo at the moment.

Maternity clothes?

 Nothing official yet. Still using the belly band on work pants and jeans.

Sleep?

Alright I guess. If I wake up at night, I have a hard time falling back asleep for a number of reasons: I have to pee, I'm hungry, my brain starts going...so annoying.

Best moment of the week?

Our day spent on safari on Saturday! 

Food cravings?

 Still Mexican...I might nickname this little bean Pepe

Food aversions?

 Not too many, honestly. Just a finicky appetite.

Symptoms?

 Still tired. Still hungry. Oh, and I find that scrolling on the computer makes me nauseous. I had to walk away from a project at work for a bit because I had that yucky carsick feeling, and Pinterest will do it to me, too.

Movement?

 We shall see if we can spy the baby moving around at Wednesday's ultrasound!

Gender?

 Well, it's either a boy or a girl ;-)

What I’m looking forward to?

 Wednesday's ultrasound - can't wait to peek at this little one!

What I miss?

 Energy. Caffeine.

Weekly Wisdom?

Carry snacks. Always. Because when pregnant tummies need to eat, they need to eat now.

Milestones?
We told a few more friends this week and they were so happy! It was so sweet!