Moonwalks

I have a son who is in love with moonwalks. It's an interesting thing though because he may be obsessed with them, but he has also been afraid of jumping in them. We've gotten him to jump a few times now so I think he likes all aspects of them now, however he can't seem to get enough of them. All summer and fall he talked about moonwalks. One was in our garage for a while after his birthday and he talked about it constantly. We had to go out in the garage and look at it every day about 5 times. When Miriam took it, he was sad for days. If we are at my parent's house, he asks to go out to the building to see the moonwalks. Most of the time he just walks around and looks at them and gets sad if you say it's time to close the door.

Then came the "moonwalk" books. One evening my dad was going through all the brochures he'd picked up at IAAPA, a trade show he goes to every year. He was making a pile of the brochures and books he didn't want on the floor and L fell in love with them. That evening we left with a drawstring bag full of magazines and pamphlets. The next few weeks, L couldn't get enough of the books. He'd look at them for a long time. He quickly found favorites. One is a huge book with tiny pictures of all kinds of moonwalks/obstacle courses/blow up games--some with balls, one is a ball pit one, and another one has little pedal cars/carts. He knows the name of a few he wants "Daisy" is one from the ball pit book and he loves turning to that page. He also likes one of the ones with a football player, some of the slides, and the castles. I finally put them in his closet because I needed to look at something else for a while. That probably led to me reading the "farm book" from start to finish (that's over 300 pages with 30 or so stories) multiple times each week. Then one Sunday my dad said he was putting some books in my car. I didn't question him about them, but he said L would love them. I thought they were going to be actual books. Nope. When I got in my car I saw two huge bags full of "moonwalk" books. We haven't even made it through all of them. Our living room has seen many of them because the bags have been poured out over and over again. That led to him asking about his other moonwalk books and I told them they were in his closet. He drug out that bag again, so we are back to looking at moonwalk books for at least an hour a day.

Here he is with just a few of his pamphlets from the original moonwalk bag (and a Highlights magazine). Yes, pjs can act as clothes if you aren't going anywhere. 

On January 24th, L wanted to read the moonwalk books ALL day. He drug one of the bags into our bedroom while I was changing H’s diaper and wanted to sit on our bed with his legs under the covers and read them. After we started looking at them he wanted to listen to music. I asked him what song he wanted to hear and he said, “moonwalk.” I laughed and said, “I don’t think there is a song that is called that.” He insisted, so I asked Alexa to play “moonwalk” and lo and behold, there’s a song that’s called moonwalk.

He often gets sad when I put the moonwalk books back in the bags so I have to let him know I'm just cleaning them up, which leads him to start singing "Clean up. Clean up." I just can't handle dozens of moonwalk books all over the floor all the time. :)

He's already started saying he wants a moonwalk birthday party and that's 8 months away! You can ask him if he wants a _____ party or a ______ party... insert anything into the blank and he will probably say "no"... UNLESS you insert the word moonwalk into the blank. He did say balls were okay one time but then followed it with "balls...moonwalks" and I laughed because that sounds a lot like his 2 year old party. He knows what he likes. 

I keep seeing my friends post pictures of their kids on these Little Tykes moonwalk (bouncer and slide) and they set it up in their house or in their garage. Hm... I'm wondering if that's going to be something I purchase in the near future. He'd probably live there if it wasn't pretty outside. There seem to be two options in life....moonwalks or outdoors! I'm so glad he's so easy to please. I mean he couldn't live his life without a ball (or 15), a balloon (or 4), and books but if he has those things he is truly set. 

The Adventures of Potty Training

I've always heard that potty training girls is a lot easier than potty training boys. I've never trained either so I wouldn't know, but I will definitely agree it's hard nonetheless. The article I read about doing a 3 day potty training bootcamp made me aware it would be challenging so I didn't enter it thinking it would be a breeze. Originally, I didn't potty train L before H was born because I have heard children often regress when a baby arrives. Then I thought about doing it while Jeremy was home on paternity leave, but L just needed attention during that time so that wasn't good timing. We tried again a few months later (over Christmas break), but he seemed to want no part in underwear which surprised me. He's worn underwear quite a few times in the afternoon and evening because I didn't want to waste another diaper for something like 30 minutes of wear before bath time. Call me a cheapskate but I didn't think that was worth it. He always did great in the underwear during those moments, but when we tried to put them on him over the break he PITCHED A FIT or two... or just one really big one. We tried multiple days, but over and over he'd kick and scream. Yes, we have that kid who knows what he wants/doesn't want. I'm sure I'm not the only one with a child like this. I was so bummed that we didn't get to train him over the break because I thought it would help having someone there to help. Oh yeah, I guess I should mention the 3 month old sibling. She loves to be held and she loves to be in on all the action. All. The. Time. Now, that is fine and good when there are multiple adults in the house or on any normal day when I'm here during the day, but when trying to potty train... yeah.... and that's what brings me to write an entirely different post on just the potty training adventures.

The article I read had incredible information, but I read it during nap time of day 1. I didn't follow it precisely, so I'm sure it will take longer than 3 days... also I have a child that may not be completely ready but as the mother of the child, I'm ready so I'll forfeit my sanity.

Day 1: January 3
Accidents: 2
Gone on potty- 5
Sat on potty- 6
Reward-Stickers
He didn't love sitting on the potty and seemed a little fearful of it at times.

Day 2: January 4
Accidents- 2
Gone on potty- 0
Sat on potty- 10--- diaper from nap on because of plans with Evan and Morgan
He did okay sitting on the potty today but he didn't want to go. He wanted to hop right up.

Day 3: January 5
Accidents- 0
Gone on potty- 7
Sat on potty- 1 (long time on and off because he said he needed to poop) plus 9 other times
Wow! I'm so impressed with L today. He went to the potty 7 times. I asked him constantly, but we'd go about once an hour. He was so impressed with himself too. He'd clap and smile so big when he'd go. He got an M&M each time he went. I was most worried about nap time. He didn't want me to put him in a diaper so I took a deep breath, said a prayer (or two), laid down some mattress pads to help (oh he didn't like it that I put them down), and then looked at him every few minutes on the camera. He didn't go! We even went to a friends house for dinner. We took his potty seat and he went once there (with 2 other times just sitting there). Today he liked me to sit there with him and read books while he went.

Day 4: January 6
Accidents- 2 wet in hall, 1 poop in closet
Gone on potty- 2
Sat on potty- 2
The article said that day 1 would be the hardest. I think this day was by far the hardest (so far). The day started as any other morning. I went into L's room to get him out of his crib, give him his milk, and get him out of his diaper. He has a hard time waking up in the morning so he doesn't always want to get out of his crib. Some days he sits in there for a few minutes, then he will flop around and finally he will be ready to get up. During the break, I think he was still in the waking up mode and not quite ready to make the decision about wearing underwear. Well, this morning it started as a battle. He didn't want to get out of his diaper. He just wanted to stay in it. I don't know if it was because he was embarrassed that he wet in it or what, but he kept trying to hide from me and would cry if I tried to get him. It was so sad. I left him be, but knew I needed to change him soon because it was super full. He continued to act like this for a while and it finally was too full and started leaking, so I got him to let me take it off (but still was upset with me about it). I pressed on and he let me put underwear on him and even took his wet clothes to the laundry room to throw them in the washing machine.

I've learned over the past few days that he will go to the bathroom about once an hour. Even though I ask him if he has to go all the time, he usually says, "no." When it comes to the hour mark, I know he truly needs to go but may not be ready to tell me that he is indeed ready to go. He wet himself due to him being stubborn about not going. The article was very clear about making sure you don't make them feel bad, but it is always frustrating when I've been asking him, taking him to the bathroom, and trying to get him to sit on the toilet constantly. He's been really weird about keeping on his wet clothes today, I think that's due to him being embarrassed. It hurts me to see him like that.

When I try to get him on the toilet and he arches his back, cries out, or reaches for me as if the toilet terrifies him, it hurts me. It breaks my heart. I don't want to force something on him that he's not ready to do or is scared to try and I want to make it as fun as possible, but at the same time it's super frustrating when I'm trying so hard and he says he doesn't want to go and then that causes him to have an accident.

After accident #1, I kept asking him and finally I got him to sit on the toilet and he went. Phew... I thought we were off and rolling again, but I was wrong. The thing I was worried about for the entire day yesterday was bound to happen at some point and I was not going to let it catch me off guard. He hadn't pooped in a few days so I knew it was coming. He kept saying he needed to go but I wouldn't let him out of my sight. Well, then my body said that if I didn't go myself then I'd be in big trouble. Of course my little bathroom buddy joined me. He loves to play in the bathroom. He turns on the water in the tub, gets the toilet bowl brush, pulls out the cleaning supplies, and often brings his toys in there to play. He did his normal bathroom things but then he walked into the closet. I knew what that meant. I hopped up as fast as I could, but it wasn't fast enough. The frozen stance, grunt, and pursed lips only meant one thing. I failed. I rushed him to my toilet but he wouldn't have anything to do with it since it didn't have his little potty seat on it... and he wiped some poop on it in the struggle. I then rushed him to the hall bathroom and got working. Before I tell you what all that entailed, let me add to the story that I had to put H in her swing when I had to go to the bathroom and she immediately started screaming. Yeah, now review the story and think about a baby screaming for about 5 minutes. How can your nerves not be frazzled? I'm frustrated with myself because I didn't want him to poop in his pants but he did anyway. I'm also frustrated because it seems to be a much bigger mess than I even thought (and I knew it would be rough). Okay, back to the story... Beware it's gross.

As I slide his pants down to sit him on his seat, to find out that he doesn't need to go anymore, the poop spreads. There's no way around it. It's on his leg, foot, toilet seat, stool, and on the floor if he moves at all. I get his pants off and put as much of the poop in the toilet as I can, then I start to clean him with toilet paper. I then run to the bedroom to get some wipes so it will be easier. When I come back he made his way off the toilet seat and is standing on his stool so the poop spread even more. I am already grossed out by things like this, so having to clean it up is absolutely miserable. Oh and remember I have a screaming child in the living room waiting on me to come pick her up. The toilet clogs (of course it would) when I flush (and no I didn't flush the wipes). I then have to get out the plunger so it won't overflow. L then wants to play with the plunger and I'm just trying to clean everything up. I get the Clorox wipes out from underneath the sink and start cleaning with them. Then I get the toilet bowl cleaner to try to sanitize everything I can. I have a 2 year old running around the bathroom without any underwear or pants and he is trying to play with the plunger. From there, we venture to the laundry room and wash the poop off of the clothes in the sink, but of course he needs to watch (because he's super sad about what I'm doing). I tell him to go get his stool if he wants to watch, so he does. The 3 month old is still screaming. I finally get the clothes soaking in detergent, put knew underwear and pants on him (after a fit), and get to go pick up the baby. She immediately stops crying but is wet with sweat from all the crying.

When I picked him up from his chair after he finished his lunch, I noticed he was wet. He didn't even tell me he had to go, so I didn't have a clue he went. He cried a lot during lunch (about everything-what he got to eat, what he didn't get to eat, me washing his cup, me turning on his nap music...) but until then I didn't make the connection it was because he was embarrassed he wet himself again. After many tears and a change of clothes, he wanted me to lay the mattress pad covers down on his bed for his nap. We were both ready for a nap.

His new potty chair came. He went on it. Let's see if he will use it often.


Day 5: January 7
Accidents-1 on our bathroom mat
Gone on potty-3
He pitched a huge fit when I tried to make him go and he said he didn't need to go-"no potty no." We've had some incidences like that recently too. He will arch his back (if I try to put him on it) and make himself stiff or even lay on the floor and kick because he doesn't want to go. I was so afraid he would have an accident because it had been an hour since he went, but he didn't. Jeremy said he may not have to go all the time since I'm really not making him drink lots of drinks. He even held it during his nap!!!

Day 6: January 8
Accidents- 2 (1 in floor of his room, 1 in his highchair)
Gone on the potty-2
He kept sitting on the potty because he wanted a treat but he wouldn't go. He had an accident in his highchair at lunch at my parent's house because he kept refusing to go and then he said he needed to go and my mom was in the bathroom with his potty seat. He stalled 30 minutes after we got home from my parent's house because he said he needed to go but was just sitting there. He'd hop up and down from the seat. I finally made him lay down for his nap.

Day 7: January 9
Accidents- 2 in floor of room plus 1 with a little poop because he apparently didn't finish
Gone on potty-3, 1 poop
Face timed Miriam (and Jolly the cat) as a treat. He had his little people from his train set go potty too and wanted them to get a treat.

Day 8: January 10
Accidents- 1 in highchair
Gone on potty-2 standing up, 1 sitting
He wet through the diaper last night. He didn't want to sit down to potty today. He saw Jeremy stand up so he thinks that's what he needs to do now.

Day 9: January 11
Accidents-1 poop, 1 wet at church
Gone on potty-6
He insisted on standing up again today. He went two times out in public during the day. He went at Hobby Lobby and at Your Pie. He went for Hannah two times at church but he had an accident in the nursery at church.

Day 10: January 12
Gone on potty-5

Day 11: January 13
Accidents- 2 (poop/didn't finish; wet in dining room)
Gone on potty- 5 (1x at the park)
We went to the park in the morning because it was nice outside. I thought it would be fun to go play on the playground. What I didn't know was that he would find the bathroom (where we spent about 20 minutes) to be more fun than the playground (where were spent maybe 5 minutes). What a fun experience! I don't think he'd ever been to a public restroom other than the one at Hobby Lobby and Your Pie the other day. Well, this was the first time he'd been to a bathroom that had an automatic toilet, automatic soap dispenser, automatic faucet, and automatic hand dryer. Oh can you imagine the size of his eyes when things started without him having to do anything.... well, I will add to that... the size of HER eyes changed as well. His eyes were full of excitement, but hers were filled with fear because the noises weren't that soft in an enclosed cement room. Needless to say, he decided we needed to visit that bathroom another 4+ times. He didn't have to go again any of the times, but he sure knew how to get me there quickly. He found it quite fun. As soon as we'd get 10 steps, no maybe 5 steps, away from the bathroom door, he'd say, "potty!" and we'd have to go back in. Pulling a stroller in the door and then pushing it into the stall every time wasn't enjoyable to say the least. I finally got him to go on the track around the lake and that kept his mind off of going to the bathroom. Phew, it wore me out! After we got home from the park, he told me he needed to go, but he started to poop before we made it to the bathroom. He said he was finished when I sat him on the toilet and wanted to get up immediately after I sat him down. A few minutes later he went again in his pants because he wasn't finished. It got all over the stool (I had to wash it and use a toothpick to get it out of the crevices), on his foot, and even on the door because he turned around and hit it while I was wiping him. It was quite an experience. My mom and I were working on some scarf bibs during his nap time. When he woke up he was excited she was there and wasn't paying attention to his body and wet himself in the dining room while he was playing with all the sewing stuff.

Day 12: January 14
Gone on potty-6 (1x at Costco for me not Jeremy, 2x on small potty chair with Cindy)
He went to the grocery store with Jeremy in the morning and held it the entire time. Then we went to Costco. He went for me at Costco, but didn't want to go with Jeremy when he took him to the men's room. After his nap, he spent the afternoon with Cindy and the Cash family. They were outside and she had his potty chair on the porch. He told her he needed to go and they ran to the porch and he went.

Day 13: January 15
Gone on potty- 7 (1x at church with me; 1x at the Rosbury's house)
He went a total of 7 times. He went before we headed to church, held it during the entire service, then I took him and he went before we left church. I was so proud of him. We had a birthday party for three of the Rosbury's but he went during the party too. He seemed like he needed to poop but I think he is a little scared to go. He went back and forth to the potty a lot in the evening and even got out of his bath because he said he needed to go. Sometimes he just needed to toot. No accidents!!!

Day 14: January 16
Accidents-1 poop during nap; 1 wet in highchair
Gone on potty-5
Today, was Martin Luther King Jr. Day. I took H to the doctor for her 4 month check up so Jeremy kept L while I was there. He did great while I was gone. Then I had a Gym Dogs meet, so Jeremy got to keep both of the kids. First, we all went to lunch at Taqueria Tsunami and then he took the kids back home. L asked to go to the potty twice at lunch which was great. I was hoping things would go smoothly because much of the meet would be during nap time. Nap time was cut short by a fun pooping accident. Yeah, he went in his bed. It was contained though which was a blessing. Needless to say, he didn't really want to nap after that. He then had an accident in his highchair during dinner. I was feeding H, Cindy and Jeff were there and had just left, and then Jeremy and my mom were cooking a Blue Apron meal. He got a little distracted by everything and just went and didn't even say anything. I saw it dripping on the floor.

Day 15: January 17
Accidents-2 (in our bedroom and on backdoor mat)
Gone on potty-6
He went 6 times on the potty during the day. We went to turn in his preschool application and I was on the phone with Miriam when we got back home. I asked him if he needed to go potty but was on the phone so he was distracted by me. He started going in the bedroom and after I cleaned it up he went some more on the backdoor mat (I guess he wasn't finished/was embarrassed so he didn't go all the way).

Day 16: January 18
Gone on potty-7
No accidents!
Went a total of 7 times during the day! He went 3x within 5 minutes in the morning, went at Hobby Lobby, and went at Jason's Deli!!

Day 17: January 19
Gone on potty-5
No accidents- went at Zaxby's!

Day 18: January 20
So, this was the day I'd been anxiously anticipating for a few days. Yes, I can anxiously anticipate something. Since the potty training adventure started, L hasn't been pooping every other day so there are days I am waiting and waiting for the disaster to strike. It can strike at any moment and because I am not feeling what he is feeling, I don't necessarily know when the poop may come. I thankfully avoided the Monday nap poop, but now it had been 4 days and so I knew the poop had to come eventually. We had been accident free all day. I had to go to another Gym Dogs meet so I was preparing things for Jeremy because he was taking the kids to his great aunt's birthday party at Provinos while I was gone. In the midst of setting out things, L told me he needed to potty. I put H down on his floor and we rushed to the potty and he went and even had a solid bit of poop. I was SOOOO proud of him. First off, I was proud he told me before he went in his pants. Second, I am glad we made it to the toilet before he went. Third, I am thankful he went in his little toilet because there are times he's afraid to go poop or to sit there a long time. I asked him if he needed to go more because it wasn't a ton (for 4 days), but he said he didn't. I flushed it and cleaned the potty and went back to preparing things for Jeremy. I dodged a bullet, right?! Ha, I wouldn't tell you this story if I had. Over the next few minutes, he kept telling me he had to go potty. I took him every time because I knew he wasn't really finished. It wasn't until the 2nd or 3rd time that the fun times came. I laid Holland down again and tried pull his pants down as quickly as I could to sit him on his little potty. I noticed he went a little beforehand and it landed on the floor. I told him to sit there and go potty so I could clean up the floor. I noticed it seemed to be tracked on the floor. I looked on his shoes and they were clean. Phew...That's when I realized I stepped in it on the way to his little potty. I immediately took off my shoe, put it by the sink and got the chlorox wipes. He seemed to be done, but I wouldn't let him move until the floor was clean. That could have been so much worse, so again I thought I'd made it out fairly well. It was when I went to pull up his pants that the poop had made it's way into his underwear and onto his pants. Of course it smeared when I pulled them off and got on his legs and socks. By this time the house STUNK. I cleaned him off with baby wipes, cleaned out his toilet and then went to wash his clothes. My mom showed up during all of this and picked H up off the ground. L still didn't have on clothes because I was more worried about cleaning up the poop so I could leave. (Oh yeah, Jeremy got stuck in traffic so he wasn't home yet... if he had been home at the time we planned, he would have gotten to deal with this). While I was in the laundry room washing the things off in the sink, L came running to me rubbing his eye (that was super red). He wasn't too happy. I screamed down the hall to my mom to ask her what happened to him, but she was with H so she didn't even know what he was doing. I ran to the bathroom and realized he'd gotten some 409 out. Now, I know him well enough to know he turned the bottle around and sprayed it in his eye.... but the 409 is kept in the kitchen underneath the childproofed cabinet. Yeah... well he thought he'd help me out and clean some more and got the 409, that wasn't in the OFF position, and sprayed himself. My mom then put H down on the floor and we both went to splashing out the spray from his eye. Jeremy walked into this and was like, "what's going on?" Ha. He missed the adventure that's for sure. After that, L was great at Provinos for Jeremy and even went potty twice there. H on the other hand cried the entire time.

Day 19: January 21
No accidents!

Day 20: January 22
No accidents!
He did a great job holding it while he was in his class at church. He went right when I picked him up and took him to the bathroom.

Day 21: January 23
No accidents!
We had dinner at my parent's house and he went there without a problem.

Day 22: January 24
No accidents!
He still has days he doesn't want to get out of his diaper in the morning and today was one of them. He pitched a fit every time I tried to change him. I finally got him out of his diaper at 10:30 AM! Jeremy had to change him during the night because of a poopy diaper though so maybe he was embarrassed.

Day 23: January 25
No accidents!
He does a great job at going at church on Wednesday nights now. We haven't had another accident at church yet. For the past few days he has put some treat on his nightstand for when he gets up from his nap. I always think it's his treat for going before his nap but he doesn't eat it until after he gets up and goes potty.

Day 25: January 26
No accidents! He gravitates to the actual toilet with his potty seat on it these days. That's easier for me because I don't have to clean the little chair insert every time he goes.

Day 26: January 27
No accidents!
He went poo-poo in the actual potty--with his little adaptor! I can tell when he needs to go because he wants to go to the bathroom every few minutes. We took some spinning suction cup table toys in the bathroom with us and he sat there until he was completely finished. I was so impressed. It was right before I had to leave for the Gym Dogs meet so I was also glad no one else had to worry about it.

Day 27: January 28
He went at Publix and even got a balloon! We had an accident today during nap time. This was the first time we've had an accident in a while. He lays down about 1. He was still sleeping after 3:30.... then 4:00 came along. I was so impressed with how long he was sleeping, but knew it might cause a problem. He always goes to the bathroom before laying down, but that's a long time for a little boy to hold it. I don't know if he woke up and went, or if he went and then that woke him up, but either way I heard him and went in there as fast as I could. His pants and sheets were wet but nothing that a quick change of clothes and load of clothes couldn't help. I'm so impressed we've done really well with nap time over the course of the past few weeks and that's something I was most nervous about. We haven't started tackling night time though.

Day 28: January 29
No accidents!
He had a great day and even went to the bathroom at church for the nursery workers! I usually take him immediately when I pick him up, but I was super impressed he went for them. We had small group that night too and he even went for those nursery workers too.

Day 29: January 30
No accidents!
We went out with some friends and Momma kept L. After she had put a diaper on him and got him ready for bed he said he needed to go. She had to take off the diaper, but he wasn't kidding because he went. Some got on his pjs because his pants weren't down far enough so they changed his clothes. She asked him where his pjs were and he picked out athletic shorts. He said, "poo-poo" and put the wet clothes in his hamper and drug it to the laundry room. When we got home Jeremy smelled something and a little bit later L woke up. He'd pooped in his diaper and it STUNK! At least it didn't get all in his bed.

Day 30: January 31
No accidents!
He carried around a Costco muffin all morning and said "treat" as if he were asking if that was his treat for going potty... It was his breakfast, but it turned into an all morning snack/treat for going potty. It got pushed around in his shopping cart, put in a bowl and his pots/pans from his kitchen, and it even got put in his dump truck and wheeled around. We played outside in the morning and one time he said he needed to go and we ran into the house but he held it. He cracks me up with how he saves something from lunch and puts it on his nightstand so it can be his treat for when he wakes up from his nap and goes potty. These are things he picks out so it's quite interesting...Sometimes the treats are better than others (popcorn, raisins, fish sticks, M&M, Cheese-Its, cookie). I'd personally want something sweet, but to each his own. When he was in our bathroom, he said, "poo-poo" and pointed to the floor mat where he wet himself a long time ago and I told him we washed the mat. He went at my parent's house in the evening too. I still ask him if he has to go all the time. I am going to pull back on that and see how he does with just telling me he has to go.

Feb. 1-7
This week we had a few accidents mainly because I wasn't asking him constantly. He also didn't want to get out of his diaper most mornings (he doesn't like to be rushed) so when we did put on his underwear, he didn't let me know he needed to go to the bathroom since he was used to having on a diaper. One night he stood in the kitchen and went and I probably looked at him like he was CRAZY because he didn't even mention he needed to go and I'd been asking him throughout the evening. We had a fun time at Taqueria Tsunami one night because we were up and running him to the bathroom more than we were actually at the table eating. He said he needed to go over and over but never went when we took him to the bathroom. We finally put a diaper on him because we decided he must have had to go #2 and he still has a hard time sitting still and waiting. He didn't go in that diaper, but did go that night. He went #2 again a few days later but did a great job of sitting on the potty the whole time. It was an entire morning of running back and forth to the potty, but once he finally sat on it to go, he actually went. We now play with some toys, take a book, and even have a squeeze pouch for him while he goes so that helps. I think he's starting to get better at telling me he needs to go without me asking him all the time. He even started a trend at church because he said he needed to go and then a few other kids said they needed to go too. We are still wearing athletic pants most days though because they are super easy to remove when the time comes to go potty. Still, almost daily we read his "potty book" and learn things about going potty.

End of May-Middle of June
For about 4 weeks I wanted to pull out my hair. L would hold his poop in for days. He'd go about every 4 days. The 3rd and 4th day were MISERABLE for him and me. He'd walk around saying, "I need me mummy." He'd hang on me. He'd say, "Hold tight" and want me to hold him.

2 years; 1-3 months

2 years (October and November.. and a little of December)
His vocabulary is growing every day. It is really amazing how he has developed into talking overnight. He is starting to repeat more and more of what we say and started saying more two word sentences/phrases during these months. He says "oh" when I explain things to him... man he understands so much more than I can explain. We went to the beach October 9-12 and he picked up on so many new words because of the new environment as well as being with Patton and Micah much of the day. He loves spending time with them. Everything he does, he does so in order to make them laugh. It's too cute. I was worried he wouldn't enjoy the sand this year because he's shown a distaste for sand the past couple times we've been near a sandbox, but he proved me wrong. He loved it. He played with the sand toys, knocked down castles people made, chased and fed seagulls, and played in the ocean and pool. At meals, he did pretty well too. He missed his nap one day due to them working on the hotel roof. The next day we decided we'd go to the zoo during his nap time since we knew he wouldn't sleep again with the noise. He got to pet a kangaroo (and hopped like them when he was in their pin) and now he hops like them around the house. It's so cute. We even went to see the Blue Angels practice. The air show was so cool! He loved it. It was a 55 minute show and he sat on the bleachers for most of the time and was amazed. He now loves to look at the "lines" and "drawings" in the sky from jets. The trip there and back was actually pretty great too. He's such a good rider. He just sleeps, plays, and sucks his paci (which he loves since he doesn't get it unless he's sleeping or in the car).

He seems to be getting used to H more and we've been getting into a rhythm each day which has cut down on his tantrums. Many days we will sit and read books for at least an hour so he feels like I'm spending time with him. The weather has also been nice/not cold (70s and 80s most every day) so we will go outside to play, which also helps him since he'd live outside if he could. Sometimes H is in my arms and he is getting more comfortable with her being apart of our time together. There have been a few days where he wants my complete attention (or lap) and so sometimes he has to wait for me to rock H to sleep before he can have that. He's loved her from the beginning and wants to help out all the time, but he's learning to be gentle. There are days she may get a little slap on the chest/face/head, a finger stuck in her mouth, a nice hug where he lays on her, or a kiss that leave some teeth marks behind. Other days he's so sweet to her all day and puts her paci in her mouth repeatedly, turns on her swing, gives her toys, talks to her, pats her, hugs her, kisses her, and wants to hold her.

On October 25th, he fell while he was taking a walk with CiCi. He screamed and screamed for a few hours. He wouldn't eat anywhere other than in my lap, he couldn't nap, he didn't want to walk, and he didn't want to do anything other than cry. All afternoon I tried to get his mind off his leg to keep him from crying and we made it through the day until he fell the next day and opened the scrapes back up. Oh man. He talked about that incident daily for over a week until the scab went away. He'd say, "CiCi" and then "boo boo" and I'd retell the story and he would nod in agreement to what happened.

He made a crown at church one Wednesday night and wanted to wear it every day for about a week. Then he decided to take the foam stickers (jewels) off the side of it but still wanted to wear it months later. He's getting better at coloring too and will actually color more than a few seconds. We've been practicing the letters A, B, C and what words start with those letters as well as colors and shapes. I don't know how much he's learning, but we are trying.

I love it that L loves to sleep just like me! He still goes to bed about 7 (unless we are out and about or if he's at church on a Sunday or Wednesday night). Then he sleeps until about 8. We've had some days where his diaper filled up and it leaked onto his bed. Those are days he gets sad and is embarrassed. On October 31st/November 1st, this happened and he decided to take off his pajama pants and diaper then tear off little pieces of the diaper. He just said, "uh oh" when I went to get him up that day. It continues to happen on and off and he will wet in the bed once he takes off his diaper.

November 2- It was the first time L said "Bible" and he said it over and over. Then he went to his bookshelf and pulled off both of his storybook Bibles and said, "Bible." I don't know if I say the word lots for him to know what those books were, but he started saying it on Wednesday night when he came home from church so maybe they had those Bibles in his room there. It's the sweetest thing to hear him say. He asks for us to read stories to him out of it every night now. He knows he only gets 3 books at night and it's so hard to say no to him when he wants to read out of it plus other books.

On November 3rd, I asked him what he wanted for breakfast and he said "Da-da" and then I said "we can't have da-da." He then said he wanted me (and other family members), but I told him that we don't eat people. Then he said, "Moonwalk. Ball." His taste in breakfast foods sure is strange! He ended up deciding he wanted a muffin (or the blueberries off the muffin) and nuts/raisins ("nutch"). We had a tomato one day and he asked to have it. Another day he ate pickles. He doesn't know what makes a breakfast food, a breakfast food though so anything is fair game right?

We've been operating on one car since Jeremy's car was totaled. Some days we get to go places because Jeremy borrows a car here and there, but other days we stay at home all day and read or play outside. When we get to leave, we go to the park (and go about once a week). He's getting so good at climbing. He even started going down the slide by himself at the end of October.

I could write for days about this boy. Every day he is learning so much.

He's so helpful (when he wants to be of course). He always makes sure the doors are closed ("dah-be"-- is what he says when he's talking about a door that is open that needs to be closed). We got used to closing the doors because Maverick would sometimes go in rooms, but that was before most of our house was carpeted. If Jeremy leaves his shoes in the living room, L gets concerned and puts them in the closet. He also knows when things are trash and will go take them to the trashcan or recycle bin. He will also take diapers to the diaper gene. One day I searched the garage high and low just to make sure he didn't get distracted and put it somewhere else instead of in the pail. He did stick his whole hand down there and it ended up pulling out more of the trash bag than needed which made it jam a little, but he didn't realize he didn't need to push the diaper in that far. Now, I am not going to say his helpfulness is "immediate" because there are days where he will throw the diaper around in the air before taking it out there.

We've been practicing our ABCs and he will repeat me as I say the letters if he's in a pleasant mood. Other times he gets mad at me for taking a picture of him or videoing him doing things. He has a refrigerator magnet that sings the ABC song and he "sings" along with it. He seems to know the tune but says random sounds as it plays. It's cute! He "sings" other songs too like "The Wheels on the Bus" and other ones his toys play.

He finally ate a pizza roll "pee-ka" (Nov. 9) and chicken nuggets (Nov. 11). Oh I'm so drained of trying to figure out what to give the boy because he doesn't eat much. I'm glad we are finally starting to expand our menu. He wouldn't eat a CFA nugget though... still just a fry and rice guy out in public. I'll be a little happy when I don't have to pack him a food bag every time we go out though.

November 10- His new phrase is "shoot ball" for basketball. He started saying it all the time after this.

November 11- He has started telling me when he goes potty in his diaper. Sometimes he does a little dance and hits his diaper, but I don't know if that is for the same reasons. He now loves to sit on the toilet. Today he went in the guest bathroom and his seat wasn't on the toilet so he fell in. I found him and his pjs were soaking wet around the bottom area. He said "see you later" to Jeff.

November 13- He told me he needed to go potty and actually to go "poo poo" and so I took off his diaper carefully just in case he had already gone. He had gone a little but not a ton, so I carefully put the diaper on the mat and sat him on the toilet. I accidentally knocked the diaper and some poop came out on the mat. I walked away for a few seconds to put the mat in the laundry room and came back and he had gone a little in the toilet! YAHOO! He kept pointing to the corner of the room (in the book) and saying "boon" while we were reading Goodnight Moon. I kept giving him the name of things in the corner of the room because I didn't see a balloon on the page. He was trying to tell me that there is a balloon on the other pages in the corner but it's not on that page. It also rained for the first time in a few months. He was so excited (2 days before Cindy thought it was raining and told him it was and he got sad when it wasn't). He's been talking about rain for a few days now. He stared out the window all morning. However, he was really concerned about his bubble mower being out in the rain. I told him it was getting a bath. We also got out the playmat and he tried to teach H how to press the keys on the keyboard and how to play with the toys hanging on the toy-bar.

November 14- He went tee-tee in the potty at my parent's house! It did get on his pants but he was so proud. He's ready to be potty trained, that's probably why he fights me when I try to put a diaper on him.

November 15- He wanted to wear underwear all day. In the morning I got a diper on him after fighting with the squirmy boy. He started going "poo-poo" and so I took him to the bathroom but he was finished. The rest of the day he wanted underwear and ran to his closet to pick some out. Later, he told me he needed to go and I sat him on the toilet but he didn't go. I walked out of the room and when I came back he had accidentally gone but in the floor of the bathroom since he couldn't get on the toilet. He went the in the toilet next time!

November 17- We were listening to music on H's swing and he got his Tupperware container filled with dry noodles my mom made him when he was little. He opened it and the noodles came out. I told him it was to make music and that we needed to keep the noodles in it. He took a noodle over to the swing and put it on the control where the music plays! "Yes!" I said- "Music.. However, that's not the same music that your noodles will make." He then got all his instruments out and started making his own music.

November 18- One of his books got ripped and he was so sad. Jeremy said he'd take it to school to get it fixed but when we put L to bed we forgot to get the book out of his room. Jeremy went in L's room before he left for work in the morning and got the pages/book. When L woke up he started saying "dada" "book" "uh oh" over and over. He apparently saw Jeremy come in his room even though they didn't talk to each other and knew exactly what he was doing.

The rest of November flew by. L's milk sippy cup developed a leak a while back because he bit through the plastic spout. I replaced it and this one broke too. As a result, I changed over to a hard plastic sippy cup that he can't bite through, but this one gets extra cold. He asks for mittens "me-tins" on his hands as he drinks his milk each day and I think it's one of the cutest things ever!

We enjoyed having Daddy home for a week at Thanksgiving. We were so busy that he didn't get to see what a normal day was like. A normal day is spent being lazy (reading books all morning) as the weather started getting colder. There are days that seem super long with multiple time outs, but then other days go smoothly. The day after Thanksgiving we went to Banks County for the afternoon/evening. He thinks he's as big as his older cousins and tries to do what they do and go where they go. They were playing with flashlights when it was dark and L just followed along. Patton brought him back to me and told me he needed an adult with him because apparently it was too dangerous for him to walk around in the dark with them. haha

November 28th-he tried to put on my Boba wrap and pick H up to wear her. It was quite humorous.

November 29th- He was so excited to look outside and see the rain. I think I heard him say, "It's raining!" over a hundred times that day.

Jeremy went out of town for a few days (youth camp), which was tough, but we survived. While Jeremy was out of town I kept busy. December 1 we went to see the Clydesdale horses. The Dillards went along with me and the kids. Lincoln loved it! December 2 we went to the Lawrenceville Christmas parade. It didn't start until 7, which is Lincoln's bedtime, but he actually did really great considering we had been there since 4:30. It was super cold but lots of fun.

I can't believe how many things he says now, how many things he's repeated over the past few months, and how many times he says multiple word phrases. He has been practicing his letters and colors. He is starting to point to certain colors. There are moments he pretends to act like Holland (waving his hands around or hitting his legs/book, blowing bubbles (my least favorite), and then he imitates how she coos/whines). It's so much fun to see Christmas time through his eyes. He gets excited about things because there are so many new things to see and do. This has added to the increase of his vocabulary too. He's enjoyed Tuesday Claus and seeing family more, which is always a plus (and it gives us a reason to get out of the house).

Maverick had a seizure/stroke on December 5th and couldn't really get up the next few days before we had to put him down on December 8th. I kept telling L that Maverick was sick and might die. He was so concerned . He'd say, "awe" and love on Mav, which was the sweetest thing. I know he didn't understand what was going on, but he knew he was hurt and the empathy he shows when things/people are hurt is incredible.

He's hilarious when it comes to running out of a food item. If we run out of bananas, he says, "Dada. Home. Nana." They go to the store together each week so he knows he needs to tell Jeremy what they need to get at the store. Often he has a grocery list ready in his head when asked. Pears are usually called apples though so we have to know which one we really need.

Potty training: My next blog post may be all about the adventures of potty training. We started on January 3rd. We had some success, but he didn't really want to sit on the toilet. The next day (4th) was a bust because we had plans with friends after his nap so he was in a diaper from nap until bed. The 5th was wonderful. He went 7 times during the day, held it through his nap, and we even went to a friends house for dinner. The 6th was SUPER hard. He didn't want out of his diaper in the morning, then he had an accident when he got on underwear... then he went on the potty. After that he pooped and had another accident. I was exhausted after the first few days and thought about how many parents have daycares to help with this process. We went from stickers to M&Ms, to graham crackers/teddy grahams, and now we have M&M cookies that have been the best motivator. We went from little potty seat, to his own potty, then to standing up to get him to go, but now we know what motivates him and how he feels comfortable, we are doing well!

We got a double stroller and he often sits in it (inside the house) and makes me push him around. Then he wants me to put "bebe" in it too so she can ride around with us. Quite a few snacks and treats (for potty training) have been eaten it it already. We actually took it out for it's debut push/ride on January 12 because it was in the 60s.

My favorite words he says: dump bumk (dump truck), ohm (home), fa (water), no potty go or no potty no (that means he doesn't need to go to the potty), shoot ball (that means he wants to play basketball), sites (lights), ello (hello), beak (speaker-portable one), musee (music), sessy (alexa-Amazon's echo dot to play his music), fahm book (farm book-one with lots of stories)

Words he says most often: up, paci, ball, mum, dada, potty, 'side, milk, cheese

His memory is still amazing. He will recall things and I will retell him the story or about the event. If a nursery rhyme song comes on, he will go get his book with nursery rhymes. Oh, he knows his books inside and out. Sometimes he will walk around quoting Dr. Seuss books, "ball, all fall" "boom, boom boom" and a few others. It's fun to play a rhyming game with him. I say a word and he says another that rhymes. He's actually fairly good at it. He seems to even get when things are funny (in books) even though I feel like he still shouldn't be old enough to understand what makes something funny with something like that. He knows how to show off and be cute, as well as be loud/crazy wild, but he is also super shy/quiet when I'm on the phone or talking to someone he doesn't know well. His personality is one of my favorite things about him because there are so many great qualities.

His dancing skills are still quite amazing. He's always making up his own moves to songs and loves to spin in circles. He has a few favorite songs/songs he will sing or ask to hear. Jingle Bells, Frosty the Snowman, the Spongebob Squarepants theme song, Wheels on the Bus, the ABC song, and some popular songs that are pretty repetitive.

1 month
We had her one month appointment on October 21st and she's up to 11 lbs 1 oz and is 21 inches long. She got the Hep-B shot and even got some blood drawn (long process because the blood didn't want to come out) to look at her white blood cell count. They did this because she seems to have an ear infection due to the cold L gave her. If she ends up with a fever over the next little bit of time, they wanted to have a starter number for her white blood cells.

She's been sad the past few weeks due to her sniffly nose and ear hurting (even though it didn't seem to be a problem before we went to the doctor--it must have been the early stages of an ear infection). She has also had some pretty bad gas so we've started giving her gas drops here and there. It makes me sad to hear/see her cry. However, she usually calms down when I hold her or after she gets medicine.

She doesn't like getting baths and has screamed each time, which doesn't make me want to give her one often. That has probably caused her to get a little cradle cap. She also has a little bit of acne like L did at this age. His went away around 2 months though so I'm hoping that will clear up soon. Back to the crying...when she cries she SWEATS so she gets stinky (especially when she's hungry and Lincoln is already in need of me)!!! Screaming the entire way home from the hair salon about made me and Lincoln crazy, but he's been so good in the car when she cries (the two or three times we've experienced it). This time she was just super hungry and when I pulled over to feed her she couldn't calm down because she was exhausted from crying. She gets hangry just like me and Lincoln.

Her head control is continuing to get better and better. A difference we've already seen is that she doesn't mind tummy time and L couldn't stand it. Sometimes she will fall asleep on her playmat when she's doing tummy time. I've had to move her playmat into her crib because L likes to mess with her if she's where he can reach her. We've definitely cut down on the number of times he takes her paci, but it still happens almost every day.

At about 6 weeks, she started sleeping through the night!!! I don't know if I felt rested when I got up, but it sure was nice not to wake up to use the bathroom or feed her. Man, it's been a long time since I've done that! We try to have her fed and asleep by 9 or so. Then she will sleep until about 7. After a quick meal, she will go back to sleep.

She loves to be warm to sleep. She loves her pacifier. She loves to be held.

We participated in the baby dedication service at church right before she was 2 months.

2 months
She started really enjoying baths in November. I'm thankful for that because no one likes to wash a screaming baby!

She did well on Thanksgiving too, which made hosting a lot easier.

November 27th was her first time in the nursery at church. They said she fought sleep but was good.

She still loves to be held and some days my arm feels like it will fall off. It's difficult at times because L also wants to have my full attention (and lap) but when I'm holding H, she gets my lap. She can tell if you lay her down and doesn't always enjoy that. She is super observant like L was and wants to be in all the action. She sits in my lap most days as I read book after book to L and she's usually quite content. She has FOMO (fear of missing out) for sure. At our friend Christmas party (Dec 10), she didn't want to go to bed until everyone left. Instead, she just wanted people to hold her so she could look around and interact. She loves to be held close and put her nose/head under your armpit. It's an interesting thing and sometimes people make a comment about whether or not she can breathe. She also likes to be held up straight so she can look at everything around. Jeremy had a night with her and L and got to see how much she likes to be held. He was a little frustrated that she didn't want to take her bottle or go to sleep too. Both my mom and Cindy got to keep both kids all by themselves this month too. They enjoyed their time but saw how H loves to be held or would cry. That seems to be her thing right now.

She coos and smiles at people and thinks L is just the best. He taught her all about how to work his old play mat as well as how he loved his activity tray/seat. One day I got it out for her to sit in while we played, and he took it over instead even though he's a little too big for it (he even insisted on eating dinner in it).

She's still sleeping through the night (7-8 hours) and takes a few naps during the day. The naps are usually in my arms and not in a bed or swing though (unless I get her happy and wrapped up really tight).

3 months
She's particular on how she likes to be held, which is sometimes troublesome if someone holding her has her in a position she doesn't like. She loves looking around and being carried so she can see things. However, she still likes her head under your armpit (in the dark) if she's being held horizontally. Unlike L, she seems to be fine with laying on her stomach. She still likes to nap being held for at least one nap (or cat nap) during the day. If she starts to whine in the arms of others, I usually come to their aide since she is a little picky. I'm hoping she will get over this as she can hold herself up and be held on people's hips. I'm not wishing her to grow up too fast, but some days are exhausting because my arms feel like jello at the end of the day. This is so different from L. He could lay in his swing and sleep for hours. We'd even have to make him eat at times. This girl eats as often as she can and seems to have an aversion to the swing. It also seems impossible some day to put her down if she's happy in your arms because she knows if she's not being held! One day momma tried to put her down and propped a blanket around her to make her think she was being held, but H wasn't tricked at all. She may tolerate it for a minute but then she decides it's just not for her. If she's crying for no reason (due to the previous mentioned things), she will cry without opening her eyes. It's as if she thinks the world is going to end because we've just done something horrible to her.

Due to being born right before all the holidays, she's gotten to experience all kinds of things lately. We've had parties/family gatherings to go to and host, we had Tuesday Claus, we went to see the Budweiser Clydesdale horses, and we went to a Christmas parade. She has gotten to stay with her Mam-ma and CiCi some while we had parties, went to the FOX for a show, test drove cars, and went to a wedding. She's getting better about taking a bottle when I'm not around but sometimes she just isn't interested. Going to the Fox was the longest time I was away from her so far (about 8 hours). This was around the age when I had to go back to work with L too so I had to do that every day. It's hard to imagine doing that with her. She took the holidays like a champ! She even took some naps while gatherings were happening which made me happy.

Jeremy had to work the Christmas Eve services so he didn't get to go to Banks County with us. After I put H in the car to go home, I went back in the house to get L. When I got back to the car, H was super sad. I gave the paci to her and she calmed down after a bit and slept the whole way home. It wasn't until I got home that I realized why she might have been so upset. As I pulled the carseat out of the base of the car I noticed something dripping from the carseat. I immediately knew it was poop. It leaked out her diaper, through the carseat and was making a puddle on the base. I only had 30 minutes to change both, bathe H, feed H, clean the carseat/base and get things together to keep L occupied during the Christmas Eve service (mainly dinner). We were only 3 minutes late!

I love watching how her and L interact. I can't wait to see their relationship develop. She smiles and coos at him all the time, especially when he's being silly. She still sits so still in my lap when I'm reading him books too and will sometimes even share my lap with him.

She sleeps about 7-8 hours at night and is still in our room so she won't wake up L if she wakes up between 2:30-3:30 or 4-5 (which she seemed to enjoy doing while Jeremy was out of school). Eating is something she loves most but she will let you know if she doesn't want to eat too and cry about it, especially if her stomach hurts or if she's tired. She doesn't enjoy going to sleep if there are lights on though because then she thinks she needs to be awake. She goes to sleep about 9 PM and then gets up for the day around 8. She eats around 6:30 AM most days. Some days she just wants to be super lazy and sleep most of the morning after she eats twice. Other days she just wants to take little catnaps (when I'm holding her). Then other days, she takes a morning nap (usually in my arms) and then a good afternoon nap (sometimes also in my arms). Yeah, I know she should probably be in her crib or basinet for naps now, but I know it won't last long. She will be there soon enough. Her longest naps are definitely when she's wrapped up tight, done best by Jeremy, being rocked with a little music, and then put down.

It's so fun to see her motor skills develop. She is starting to grasp more things and "play" with things (her outfit, her animals, her blanket, and her toys on the toy bars). She can spin the ball on the activity seat and she hits the other toys as she flaps her arms. Many of her outfits and blankets go into her mouth if her fist or fingers aren't in there already. She may be a "tucker and sucker" but we've been trying to get her to stick with the paci so she doesn't rely on her thumb because I know that habit was super hard to break when I was little. She often gags herself because her fingers go so far down her throat. She also loves holding onto her feet and scratching the bassinet shade/hood-thing if she escapes out of her wrap at night.

She's so close to rolling over from her stomach to back at 3 1/2 months. Daddy practiced with her on January 1st. Although we practice this skill, she often spits up when we put pressure on her stomach (by laying her on her stomach or holding her against you even though she likes that position). She'd probably be rolling over by now if I wasn't always so cautious about the amount of time it's been since she last ate before placing her on her stomach. It's probably all because she has been starting to spit up a lot more lately. I often smell of spit up. There's even one sweater I've tried to wear multiple times this season, but it gets spit up on before I'm able to leave the house. I laugh because I have the same sweater in multiple colors so I just change colors, but it's the blue one that always gets the spit up!

We've moved to size 2 diapers and 6 month clothes (Jan. 1, 2017- 3 1/2 months).

January 4th she rolled over!!! I was taking pictures of Lincoln being sweet with her (on her tummy) and she was then on her side and then on her back! She rolled over, I can't believe it. I thought it may be a fluke and that he might have moved her but she did it again when I let her have some tummy time in her crib. Jeremy got to see her roll over that night.

A New Chapter Begins

I'll have to preface this chapter of our lives by a little back story of how we got to this point. Everything seemed to go "downhill" a few weeks prior to the due date and extended into the due date week. They say, "When it rains, it pours." I don't usually like to be a pessimist even though I could say I agree with that. However, in the end many of the things were mere inconveniences and were stressors nonetheless.

*Our ice maker broke. All other days I probably wouldn't mind too much, but for a pregnant lady who loves ice and has been super hot lately ice is what I want. (Sunday, August 21st)--- It started working again on it's own a week after we welcomed H into our lives. It scared me to hear the water run and the ice fall. When I told Jeremy, he thought I got someone to come out and fix it without him knowing.

*Our lock on the door to the garage/house decided to get stuck so we couldn't close the door. Jeremy had to replace the entire lock. (Wednesday, August 24th and Thursday, August 25th)

*Lincoln had the hand, foot and mouth virus which gave him bumps around his mouth. I was super worried about him giving it to the baby if she came early. He must have picked it up at church on Sunday morning, Sunday evening (small group) or Wednesday evening. (Saturday, August 27th we saw bumps-- no fever)

*Our washer died so we ended up having to purchase a new one and got a dryer to go with it. It would be delivered 2 days before the due date. (Sunday, August 28th it died- purchased a new appliances on Tuesday the 30th and they were delivered September 3rd)

*My uncle passed away so we had the viewing and funeral for him. (Monday, August 29th, Tuesday, August 30th, and Wednesday, August 31st)

*Dr. G was pretty convinced I'd go into labor and have the baby early Friday morning. We packed a bag and prepared to go... but nothing. Jeremy even rented a camera lens. He truly had me convinced, but maybe that was wishful thinking on his part so he wouldn't miss out on his Labor Day weekend plans at the lake. (Thursday, September 1st and Friday, September 2nd)

*Jeremy cooked (instead of defrosted) a biscuit in the microwave that smelled up the house for days. (Monday, September 5th)

*I had contractions for about 3 hours in the middle of the night from 3-6 AM, but they calmed down once I got up for the day. I must have been dehydrated from the busy Labor Day celebration (4 family b-day parties and swimming) from the day before. (Tuesday, September 6th)

*Our front door bolt decided to also get stuck so we couldn't open the door. I had to walk around the house to sign for the camera lenses when the FedEx lady came. Jeff tried to fix it but said it needed to be replaced. (I noticed it doing weird things on Friday, September 2nd but it wouldn't open at all on Monday, September 5th... Jeremy bought a new one and fixed it Saturday, September 10th)

*I tried to call the doc Tuesday, September 6th to make an appointment with Dr. G since I hadn't made one due to thinking I would have a child by now. The mailbox was full or the office was closed when I called, so I gave up. I called again the next day and I got one for 12:30. When I neared Athens, I got a call saying he was delivering a baby that they needed to move my appointment until 1:45. I goofed around Athens and then went to Jana's house. Then I got another call saying that it needed to be moved to 2:45. I got to the office at 2:45 and waited until after 4 and they said he may still be another 30 minutes. In the meantime, Jeremy had a wreck (with the car seats in there), lost his wedding ring (found it when he went back to the car the next day), and possibly totaled the car (yep it was totaled) so I left the doctor. They checked my blood pressure, weight and I went to the bathroom in a cup before I left though and they told me to call back again Friday if I hadn't gone into labor. (Wednesday, September 7th)

*I had contractions Friday morning starting around 6 and I was convinced she was going to come. I called and made an appointment for 11:30 since that was when Dr. G was coming in. I packed the car and prepared everything as if we were going to be admitted to the hospital, just in case. I even got Jeremy to come back from work (borrowing Daddy's truck) so he could go with me, again just in case. Well, the contractions stopped and weren't as painful by the time I got to the appointment. We scheduled to be induced on Monday at 12 if I didn't go into labor before then since Monday would make me a week overdue. Dr. G thought I might go into labor over the weekend (and I found out later that he told the nurses to expect me.) I felt bad for taking Jeremy away from work, but I was glad he was at the appointment with me since we made the induction decision. We even had a nice lunch out together. (Friday, September 9th)

*Saturday, I had some major cramping and the contractions were not fun during the day. (Saturday, September 10th)

The fun begins:
(This is a detailed account of her birth... read if desired.... If not, skip down to the "First Days at Home" section.

Monday, September 12- Jeremy went to work in the morning to finish a few more things. He came home around 10:30 or so and we packed up the car then Cindy came over to keep L. We then headed towards Athens (with a quick trip to Chick-fil-a). We got to the hospital right at 12. We got all checked in and got settled in a room around 12:30 or 1. A nurse (Donna) came in to get some info, draw some blood, and hook me up to the baby heart monitors and IVs. I was still only 3 cm, 30% effaced and my cervix was still posterior. Around 2:00 Donna was about to hook me up to the pitocin but got called out for an emergency (a pregnant lady came in who was 23 weeks along but going into labor). I didn't realize it at the time, but that meant I lost my nurse. Dr. G came in about 2:15-2:30 and told me they couldn't do the induction today because I didn't have a nurse. The nurse would have to monitor me once I had the pitocin so because I didn't have a nurse, I couldn't be monitored. He originally said I could come back tomorrow, but then he started thinking and said I could actually stay if I wanted since I was already prepped with the IVs and such. He talked about how I could do something called cervidil at the shift change. I hadn't ever heard of it, but he explained how it would work and that due to the small contractions I was already experiencing there was a good chance I would go into labor from. He also said that if I didn't go into labor then they would start me on pitocin in the morning, which is the normal protocol for someone who is using cervidil. We decided to stay since I was hooked up and because there was a chance if we left we could be bumped in the morning. We then settled in for a very boring afternoon as we were stuck at the hospital. I watched more television that day than I had watched in probably the previous six months while Jeremy played around on his computer. After a while he got a little stir crazy and went out to get some food for dinner and we shared a triple dipper. Ansley, Jeremy's cousin, was working at the hospital and when she got off at 6, she came by to hang out while we were eating. 

Shift change happened at 7. I got to meet the new nurses, whom I really enjoyed (Natasha/Tasha, Monica, and Christine). One of them, Christine was supposed to leave at 11, but she ended up sticking around since things got a little crazy around the time she was supposed to leave. Around 8, they prepped me for the cervidil and gave it to me. Around 8:30 the contractions became more regular and intense though bearable. By 9 the contractions were becoming painful to the point where I was having a hard time talking through them. I kept trying to be "strong" but some of the contractions were pretty rough and we decided the pain meds were a good idea when we met with the nurse around 9:15. They gave me the pain meds (demerol) and immediately after it got in my system I felt like I was flying. This was around 9:30 and while the demerol didn't make the pain go away completely they did help me care a little less about it.

Around 9:45 they came in to put me on 1000 mL of fluids in preparation for the epidural I would get. Around 10:15 they came back to a put a blood pressure cuff on the bag in order to increase the flow of the saline due to the fact the anesthesiologist was on the floor and he wanted to go ahead and give me the epidural. During the night shift the hospital has two anesthesiologists on call but they are based in the ER for the night so if an emergency comes up you may not get one of them up to Labor and Delivery for a while. The nurses said he was really good, so I was glad I was going to get to have him do the epidural. Jeremy and I both think it was the same guy who gave me the epidural when I was in labor with Lincoln. The fluids made me super cold so I asked Jeremy to put some socks on my feet. Around 10:45 as the last of the fluids were flowing into me, I felt a rush of liquid around my rump and I said, "Either I just went to the bathroom on myself or my water broke!" I pressed the nurses button on the bed and told them that and they said they would be right there. They came fairly quickly, and also brought the stuff to finish prepping for the epidural. Initially they didn't bother looking at the liquid but were more focused on getting the prep for the epidural done. They asked me to move to the edge of the bed in between contractions, which at this point were wracking my body in pain, and Jeremy asked them to look at the fluid because he said if I moved I would spill liquid all over the bed.

At this point the nurse looked at the liquid, confirmed that it was my water and put towels down to soak up as much as was possible. They put a new mat underneath me and helped me sit up on the edge of the bed. By this time the anesthesiologist had entered the room and was ready to prep my back and insert the needle into my spine. They made Jeremy sit in a chair off to my left facing me so he couldn't see the needle go into my back as many people pass out watching the procedure done since he was up on our wing. While trying to sit as still as possible I started having another contraction and the nurse held me still. They had me stand up again to move and yet another contraction froze me in a standing position clutching the nurse until it passed. The nurses were reminding me to breathe in and out as he was doing the epidural. I remained still and as the doctor finished up, I made a comment about how I felt like I needed to push. They asked me not to. Even though I was probably squirmy (and had to hug a pillow to keep me from focusing on the pain from the contractions), he was able to do his job. Once the epidural line was run the nurse asked me to lay back down. Once I was laying down again the socks came off because by then I was sweating. I asked how long it would take the epidural to take affect and they informed me that full effects would not be felt until about 15-20 minutes after it was administered. The nurse then checked and said I was now anterior and almost at 10. She left to call Dr. G. Unknown to me at the time, the doctors have to live within a certain radius of the hospital and I'm glad he lives that close (around 10 minutes away) because right as he came in the door, they checked again and I was fully at 10 cm ready to push. A part I didn't know (that Jeremy told me later) was that the epidural pump wasn't activated until the anesthesiologist came back later to check on me. Its effects could be felt in left leg but my right side still felt normal. A short time after I delivered the epidural would take full effect.

When Dr. Goggin got there, he asked if I wanted to go ahead and push even though the epidural hadn't fully kicked in. I told him I did. I pushed in sets of 3-4 for about 10 seconds each and she was out after about 4. She arrived at 11:47 PM. Throughout all the pushing  I kept making comments about how I sounded like a horse because after I'd breathe and push, I'd blow out which made my lips vibrate like a horse. I kept joking about how that must be better than me biting or cussing at the nurses.

Some of the first comments as she was being born were about her head of hair and about how big she was. Many hospitals have changed some of the way they care for babies in the first few hours. Even though I had Lincoln two years ago, some of the procedures were different. At Athens Regional, the mother has skin to skin time with the baby for the first hour after the baby is born. Then the "stork nurse" comes to do footprints, weigh and take measurements of the baby. They wanted to know her weight so bad they put her on the scale first just so we would know the weight- 9 pounds 5 ounces... Later we found out that she was 20 3/4 inches long.

I was moved to another bed and wheeled to my new room for the duration of my stay. Through the night, nurses came to check on me and I hardly slept at all because I was having some bad cramping/contractions since they put me on pitocin after I delivered. Jeremy slept pretty soundly though.

My hospital stay was short. Since she was born at night, we were there only 1 full day for visiting. Miriam was the first to arrive (with Chick-fil-a biscuits) Tuesday morning. Then the grandparents, great-grandparents and other friends/family started to show up. Right before lunch, a technician came in and gave H her first bath. She kept coughing up stuff and the technician sucked some mucus out of her throat with the nasal aspirator. H then fell asleep during the last part of the bath. We had a few coughing/gagging episodes at the hospital, but she finally got the mucus out and was good. I was even able to experience the hearing test this time since they do many of the things in the room instead of in the nursery like they did with L. It was really neat to watch them put headphones on her and see how her brain reacted to the noises. She passed the test in both ears! Nurses and visitors continued to come in and out through the day. Cindy brought L around lunch time so he could meet his new sister but after a few glances at her he was finished and ready to move on to something else (and he was ready for a nap). He didn't want to get a picture with her so that was sad, but understandable. Jeremy went with my family to lunch (Your Pie) while Cindy and Jeff hung out with us. A person came and took pictures of H during this time too. That evening Jeremy went to Taqueria Tsunami with his dad to get us dinner. During my stay, visitors even included the nurses from labor and delivery which was very kind. We got discharged the next morning. I was glad to be going home because I knew I would sleep better there. It was also good to be back home with L but then it also makes me sad because I'm not able to do everything right now. Rest is vital to healing quickly.

First Days at Home

Our sweet girl slept a lot of the first few days and nights. I was even a little worried she was sleeping too much because she didn't really wake up during the night to eat. Her third night being home she decided she would enjoy a tasty treat here and there through the night. Her appetite is so much different than L because she takes her time and falls asleep while eating EVERY time. I've tried stripping her down to her diaper, massaging her cheek/near her ear, and quite a few other things but she still wants to sleep after a few sips. 

One thing I wondered about was how L would do with her. He loves her already. He is constantly asking to hold her, he brings books and wants to read to her, he brings her toys, he wants to turn on the swing, he wants to carry the Boppy for me, and he's always asking about "Bebe" whenever he doesn't see her. He will even give her the paci when she's crying/when it's out of her mouth, but there are other times he takes her paci and puts it in his mouth then runs away to hide. Due to his recent hand, foot, and mouth virus I've been boiling pacis quite a bit because he puts them in his mouth. One day while Jeremy and L went to the school to print some things for L's party, I started boiling some pacis. I told myself I was just going to sit down for a few minutes and work on a Shutterfly book and then go get the pacis from the pot. Well, I definitely forgot and a while later I smelled something weird. By the time I realized what the smell was, the plastic parts of the paci were already melted to the pan. Woops. I told Jeremy he shouldn't leave me at home again. haha

We went to her first pediatrician appointment and left him at home with Mam-ma but he was so sad when he realized he didn't get to go with us. Her first doctors appointment (Friday, September 16- 3 1/2 days old) went well. She went down to 8 lbs 8.5 oz from her 9 lbs 5 oz birth weight and 9 lb hospital weight after about 12-13 hours of being alive. We went back to the pediatrician Friday, September 23rd as well and she was back up to 9 lbs 2.5 oz. and they say she should be back up to her birth weight by the time she is two weeks old, so she was on track to be there. L got really sad when we left him at home with CiCi when we went to the pediatrician the second time. He has gotten used to Jeremy being home and doing everything as a family because we've done lots together the past few weeks. Jeremy got to be home for two weeks so that allowed me to rest a little. Jeremy got to spend a lot of time with L (playing, shopping...). However, we know it will be a huge adjustment once he's back at work. When Jeremy left that first day back, L cried and cried. It made me tear up because he's loved his time with his daddy.

Jeremy made a comment about how it just seems right having two kids. It feels good. I sometimes miss the ease of having one kid because going places seemed a lot easier (well maybe it's because we are operating on one car right now too). I used to be afraid to go places with L because I didn't want him to cause a scene, but that makes me laugh now because it's inevitable for someone to be sad the more children you have. We are super thankful H is here. It is so exciting to have a little girl around. It is fun to dress her and put headbands on her. L gets concerned if she doesn't have a headband on her head. 

By week two, she's on more of a "normal" eating schedule (every 2-3 hours) during the day and at night. When she is hungry she cries and if she cries long enough the motorboat/engine sound gets going which sounds just like L when he was small. She is also like a little woodpecker and I say it's like she's doing a little mating dance with her face/nose/mouth as she starts to eat. It's hilarious even though that's probably TMI. So far she's a great baby too. I'm thankful she doesn't mind sleeping because I am still super tired.

She was awake almost all of L's birthday party (at almost 2 weeks old) and enjoyed being held and observing everything. Her legs seem pretty strong as she kicks around. She doesn't mind tummy time either, which is a great thing. We started giving her a paci from the beginning and that's definitely different than how we were with L. I wanted to hold off on that with him but finally gave in. She is a lot like him and is soothed by it. She'll stick her thumb in her mouth if she doesn't have her paci near.

We haven't had any really crazy diaper stories like we had at this point with L. We've only had one or two messy diapers get on her clothes and only one instance where she wet and it went up her back (just like L- and it was right before going to the pediatrician just like his instance too). The other story is when she was almost 2 1/2 weeks old, I was changing her diaper on my parent's couch because I knew I could change her fast and didn't want to get out the changing pad. Well, that was a mistake because she started pooping as I was changing her. It ended up squirting out on the couch and on my shorts. GROSS! Then as I was cleaning that up, I smelled L and he had a messy diaper so I got to deal with that nasty diaper too. Jeremy came in about 5 minutes later and I just laughed because he seems to always come in right AFTER crazy instances where I want to pull out my hair.

At almost 3 weeks, she went to our small group with us and was wonderful. She slept most of the time, then ate and then went back to sleep while K. Moody was holding her. The next day, she went to her first restaurant at 3 weeks (Rafferty's- with Pam-pa, Mam-ma, Daphne, Miriam, me, and L) and slept most of the time there and back too.

She's having more control with her eyes as she looks at things. She will stare at things for an extended amount of time too. It's impressive to see the changes that have taken place over the past 3 weeks. She makes all kinds of noises (and snores) when she sleeps which keeps Jeremy up sometimes. H also loves to be held and seems to fall right asleep when she gets picked up (when she's crying). L doesn't know what to do if she's crying in the car. He gets really quiet. She's usually really good in the car (unless she's hungry). She's already pretty strong with her neck too. She can turn her head to the right and to the left even when she's on her stomach.

It's been quite an adjustment from 1-2. A few friends have asked me recently about the adjustment and the difference between 1 and 2. L seems to keep getting into things while I'm feeding H. I've definitely had to figure out that part and it's still a work in progress. I've decided (at the start of week 3) that I will not feed her in our bedroom or in the living room because those are places he seems to get into things. I thought being in the living room would be good because he'd be around his toys, but instead he seems to want to jump on the couch, stand on the hearth, or throw the fall decorations (pumpkins). If we are in the bedroom, he wants to turn on the pump, jump on the bed, and go in the bathroom where there's a whole host of things he can get into. Instead, I decided I would feed her in his room since there aren't many things he "shouldn't do" in there. Other than the feeding part, there have been some other challenging aspects. L is so used to all the attention. He's used to me doing things with him when he wants to so that's been hard. There are times he wants to go outside, but then H is crying or sleeping if it's not time for her to eat. I've taken her outside, wore her in the wrap, taken a monitor outside, cracked the door, and done a variety of things but I don't want to neglect her or him if they aren't in the same place. L is so loving around her, but he is also doesn't understand that she is not big like him. He doesn't understand that she can't play and that he has to be gentle with her. She's gotten toys tossed to her and has even gotten loved on a little too hard (he sometimes tries to lay his head on her). It's crazy to see how much bigger he is. I am constantly on guard to make sure she is safe around him. If I'm in the kitchen, I have to watch him to make sure he doesn't do anything crazy while she's in her swing too. We've taught him how to turn it on and only press certain buttons so it doesn't go super fast, but there are times I see her rocking at super-sonic speeds and have to slow it down. He's always concerned about her when she's crying and he wants her to be part of what we are doing, but then he does want me to play with him without her too. How do you split yourself? There are times when both of them want to eat at the same time and my multi-tasking abilities aren't always the best. Sometimes I also want to eat (and know I NEED to eat or drink some water) or need to go to the bathroom but they are "crying" for my attention at the same time and I'm at a loss. Since I'm not good at holding children on my left side, it's super hard to try to eat and hold her. It's in these times I want to scream, other times I want to give up because I don't have the patience, but then there are other times I just take a deep breath and push forward. I often feel my heart beating faster, my blood pressure rise, and sweat beads form but I know I'm not the first mother that is experiencing these things. I know we will get through this and make the adjustment. I've definitely been thankful for visitors and family that have come by because that helps break up the day and makes it easier for making it through the day (especially long days where Jeremy has a funeral/wedding to work or something else going on at school/church).

October 4th (3 weeks after H was born) I had my first day where I did everything from 7 AM until 8:00 PM and I even warmed up a meal someone prepared for us and gave L a bath before putting him to bed. I also was able to take a nap during the afternoon so that helped me survive too. L only threw a few fits and they were mostly because I made him come in the house from outside. H wanted to be held all day too so that made it even more challenging, but we made it! I look back and think about how easy life was with just a newborn even though I probably thought that was challenging since everything was new.

October 9-12: (about 4 weeks old) I took H on her first beach trip with Lincoln, my mom, and the Robinson family. She did great in the car, at night, on the beach, at the zoo, and at the blue angels practice session. I was super worried about going and kept wanting to back out, but in the end I'm glad we went.

Those feelings again

Here goes.... Here's the story of my year up to this point.

December 31:
My ears have been doing that thing where they stop up and everything is loud in one ear. It's so annoying. I remember this happening when I was pregnant before. hm....

January 6:
How I felt: I started feeling sick. All day long, I had this weird feeling in my stomach as if it were churning and churning and churning.
How I slept: I keep waking up in the night. I've been tossing and turning. I lay on my side but my side and hands get tired of that position. I've had some strange dreams lately too, so it started making me wonder if something was up.
How I ate: I ate like I normally eat and didn't have a problem keeping it down even though my stomach felt off.

January 9-10:
How I felt: I stayed in bed most of the weekend. I was sick. I didn't want to eat but knew I need to. I tried to act normal.
How I slept: Naps and sleep help but they aren't always super restful.
How I ate: firehouse chicken (2 pieces and rice), half of a chicken sandwich and tomato soup

January 11:
How I felt: I threw up for the first time. I didn't have anything inside of me. It was rough. I don't want to eat. I just wanted to lay on the floor all day. Jeremy got some snacks for me to help me feel better. I took a pregnancy test at night and the horizontal part of the + sign wasn't as prominent as I would have "liked" to be convinced, even though I already knew I was pregnant.
How I slept: I slept okay. I wake up lots.
How I ate: Not well. The mornings are hard. When I taught it was easy to have Jeremy make me something to eat since we were both up and going. I try to fake it at school and with my mom/Cindy. I tried to eat snacks. I tried to eat meals, but I didn't want to eat. I did make it through some chicken nuggets and fries though.

January 12:
How I felt: I felt awful again. I hid under a blanket on the floor of the office during the day and in the bed at night. People came to check on me but I pretended I was fine.
How I slept: My eyelids are so heavy. I constantly look tired. I don't always sleep well though.
How I ate: I tried to eat food but mainly picked at it (chicken pot pie) and tacos that Jeremy made for dinner (didn't like the texture/smell of the corn tortillas).

January 13:
I took another test and it immediately had the plus sign. I couldn't eat. I couldn't keep anything down. I just wanted to stay in bed all day. It's different than last time though because last time I had to get up and go to work.
How I felt: I felt awful in the morning and my banana caused me to rush out of the shower. I felt better for a while and went to Bible study. Afterwards, I started feeling badly again and had to fight L on taking a nap. He finally went down. My heart rate kept jumping up because I was so stressed. Playing with L all day on days that I'm not at Providence is a struggle. Most of the day I'm in the floor as his plays around me. I want to have energy, but I don't. Changing his awful diapers is probably the worst thing. He must be getting some more teeth because his diapers have been terrible. They make me gag. My eyes are so heavy all the time but sleep doesn't come when I try. I wake up all through the night. I've decided that I'm going to record how awful I feel this time. Smelling his dinner also made me throw up but I didn't even have anything inside me. Jeremy didn't get home until after 6 so I was beat. I kept saying, "I'm dying." I couldn't get comfortable in the bed.
How I slept: I woke up so many times but my pillow between my legs is helping the comfort level.
How I ate: 1 banana (it didn't stay down), 1 sausage and cheese ball, a few bites from a half of a cheese sandwich, half of a Go Go Squeez, a handful of popcorn, and a protein bar.

January 14:
How I felt: I woke up feeling okay but once my feet hit the ground I started feeling badly. I went straight to the kitchen for a banana. As soon as I stepped in the shower, I knew that I had to get out because it was about to make its entrance back into the world.
How I slept: Jeremy told me that he was worried about miscarriage because I'm not eating, so that spurred some crazy dreams about how the baby was being removed from my body. I woke up around 1:30 AM and asked Jeremy to get me a Go Go Squeez because I felt like I was a tad bit hungry. I woke up a few more times, but I did feel like I got a few hours of good sleep.
How I ate: As soon as I woke up, I grabbed a banana and took two bites before jumping in the shower. The shower lasted about a minute if that because I hopped right out and headed to the toilet. Yep, that banana didn't make it far. Afterwards I ate the rest of the banana and then took some prenatal vitamins (today was the first day of taking them). I remember them making me sick last time so I didn't take them. These were sugary gummy vitamins and weren't too bad. I headed off to Providence, with a Go Go Squeez in hand, even though I felt awful. Thursdays are pizza days and I couldn't even think about wanting pizza. I spent much of the day in the floor until Jeremy asked me what I wanted to eat for lunch. I thought hard about it and decided I wanted a chicken sandwich and fries from Chick-fil-a. 2 hours later I finally finished my sandwich. It took every ounce of me not to give up after each bite.

January 15-18 (Friday-Monday MLK weekend):
How I felt: I had a few bad moments over the weekend but I didn't confine myself to the bed like I had been doing. I went to the doctor for the first time on the 15th for blood work. Then I went to Gap and Hobby Lobby with Miriam. Saturday, I made it through lunch with the Dillards and Terren's b-day party. Sunday, I made it through lunch with the whole family and then dinner/froyo with the Kindigs (told them). Miriam looked at my fitbit daily step totals and laughed. I just said I'd been lazy the past week and that was true. They are truly low compared to what I normally do. Monday, I made it through a trip to Costco, lunch at El Real, and a Gym Dogs meet, but I sure was pooped when I got home. When I didn't eat something for a long time that's when the sickness hit me. I made it Friday-Monday without throwing up though! YAY! I was super bummed because we originally planned a trip to New Orleans for this weekend and we canceled it due to me not feeling well. Even though I know I would have been miserable I still feel bad we canceled on Marsha. I was looking forward to the fun. Monday the Patty from the doctor's office called and told me my results were in and that I'm probably about 8 weeks along and we scheduled an ultrasound for Friday.
How I slept: I did fairly well. One night my sleep mask and pillow mist made its grand entrance back into my life and I slept so well. I seem to go to bed around 7:30 or 8 but then I wake up about 12:00 or 12:30 each night. A quick potty break and sometimes a snack break will keep me up a little bit longer but then I drift back off. I can't sleep late these days because I wake up ready to eat. My body has the hardest time moving but I try to reach over to the nightstand to grab something before "dying".
How I ate: I ate like a pig. I ate full meals but as if I were a child (tacos, chips, quesadilla, chicken parmesean, meatloaf, steak tips, bbq sandwich, chicken nibbler, egg sandwiches). I haven't been in the sweets mood, but I did fight down a piece of cookie cake for Terren's bday. I did a fairly good job about trying not to stop eating for too long because that's when I started feeling badly.

January 19-22:
How I felt: There were days where I felt okay for the most part because I was eating non-stop. However, I think I had at least one episode of not being able to keep my food down each day (mainly at night). Jeremy was gone two nights as he was shooting a video. Even though I tried to eat I just don't do a good job of taking care of a 1 year old and feeding myself enough. Maybe it was because of what I ate. Who knows? Either way I felt miserable when I was at home in the evenings. I did well during the days when I went to work (Tuesday and Thursday).
How I slept: I slept fairly well but woke up a million times due to who knows what. I have strange dreams too.
How I ate: Smells are really getting to me these days. I made myself some fried rice but couldn't even get past one bite. Jeremy just said I'm going to have to plug my nose. I ate pretty well. Veggie Straws have been my go to snack this week (other than saltless saltines, bananas, and Go Go Squeezes). Tomato soup=not my friend. Fried rice=not my friend. Plain toast=my friend. I remember craving Chick-fil-a last time and I've been doing that again (+ Zaxbys).

January 22: 
The count can start because now we have an official sighting of a baby. I went to the doctor today and he said I'm about 7 weeks 4 days, so I can officially begin weekly updates. All (four) of us headed to the doctor in the morning. We got to hear the heartbeat. It was about 155 bpm. Dr. Goggin said that was great! We did an ultrasound too and go to see the baby. He said everything looks great so far. Lincoln stared at the monitors/screens and was so intrigued. As Dr. Goggin talked to me Jeremy told Lincoln about how we used to watch him, how he always hid from us, and how this baby would be his sibling. Although he doesn't understand any of this, it was neat to hear. The tentative due date right now is September 5th. We were thankful to get a great report. He said that things would be worse the second time around, hence how badly I've been feeling. He said I'd get bigger quicker too. I have heard those things too so here goes. We've started talking about how we will tell people, but haven't come up with anything yet. We told the family about this time when we were pregnant with Lincoln, so who knows what we will do. If I had to pick what I wanted (boy/girl), I would say a boy because we have clothes and toys for a boy, but that just makes it easier so it's the easy pick. We will be fine with either and will love the child no matter what.

Weekly Update: January 25-January 31
How far along: 8 weeks
How big is baby: It's the size of a cranberry bean and about 0.04 ounces.
Total weight gain: I have probably gained a pound or lost a few. I've been eating non-stop but I've been so sick.
Maternity clothes: I love my sweat pants and athletic clothes, but no maternity things yet.
Cravings: It's weird but I like a lot of the same things that I did when I was pregnant with L (chicken in a biscuit, goldfish, Go Go Squeez/applesauce, bananas). I don't ever want to eat and it's truly hard to eat a complete meal but I make myself snack constantly.
Sleep: I haven't been getting up every night for the bathroom, but I get up most nights. I wake up a few times in the night and never feel truly rested.
Movement: Nope.
Best moment this week: Seeing the baby for the first time and hearing the heartbeat was great (at the end of last week). Week 7-8 were some of the most challenging weeks ever.
What I miss: Feeling well and having energy. I feel like my stomach is constantly turning.
What I am looking forward to: Figuring out how to tell people and then actually telling some people.
Pregnancy rant: The doctor said things are worse the second time. It seems to be true and I can't stand it. I feel like none of my friends were ever sick like this though and that makes it worse. I've thrown up 1-2 times most days. The evenings are awful. I really miss being able to have energy to play with L and do all the nightly routines with him too.

Weekly Update: February 1-7
How far along: 9 weeks
How big is baby: It's the size of a cherry and about 0.07 ounces.
Total weight gain: I still don't know. I've probably gained a little bit back from what I lost while being so sick the last two weeks.
Maternity clothes: No, but I don't like things to be too tight on my stomach.
Cravings: I still eat the same things almost every day. I try to force things down.
Sleep: I get up about once a night to go to the bathroom but it's probably because I'm going to sleep so early. I have been going to sleep between 7 and 8 and never past 9. I wake up quite a few times (sometimes every hour) during the night. I toss and turn. I love my pillow between my knees so I can lay on my side. Other than that I'm laying on my back. I am not super comfortable so I don't sleep really well and since I wake up a lot I am already dragging when I wake up. I seem to be less able to ignore Jeremy's alarm which causes me to wake up much earlier than I would choose.
Movement: Not yet.
Best moment this week: We told my family on Sunday the 7th. I tried and tried to think of a creative way to tell them and then just told Jeremy I trusted him. He came up with a little game/puzzle. Each family (including us) had an envelope that was taped to my parent's door. In the envelope were pieces of paper that had to be put together to make something. When all of them were put together and arranged correctly it said, "12 is coming" since this will be the 12th grandchild. It was fun to see people get all into putting the puzzle together. Everyone was excited. Jeremy FaceTimed and called his family and told them.
What I miss: Being able to change a diaper without feeling like I'm about to throw up everywhere.
What I am looking forward to: Telling people (before we actually told them) and then telling friends.
Pregnancy rant: My sensitive smeller is having a hard time this go-round. I dread changing dirty diapers because the smell is unbearable. We moved the diaper gene to the garage but that still doesn't help when the room reeks of a smell. The clean up makes me gag. I try to hold my breath but I can only do that so long. How do other people do it? I am thankful I only have one child in diapers right now because I can't imagine if I had to change multiple poopy diapers during the day.

Weekly Update: February 8-14
How far along: 10 weeks
How big is baby: It's the size of a kumquat and about 0.14 ounces. The eyelids and eyebrows are developing.
Total weight gain: I don't think so.
Maternity clothes: No, but I want to stay in my pjs all day.
Cravings: I am still snacking on all those same things but my snacking is getting less. I'm eating complete meals now and making it through them. I didn't really want anything fried this week (although I still ate fried things), I guess I was over it. Daph sent me an article about sickness and things to eat, but many of the things are foods I don't like (which is probably why I'm sick in the first place- according to the article). Oh well. My tastes seem to be much more heightened. Things that normally aren't spicy (since I don't like spicy) to me have been extra spicy lately. It's weird.
Sleep: I wake up about 2 or 3 times a night. My eyes always seem heavy during the day but I can't seem to fall asleep when I want to take a nap.
Movement: Nope.
Best moment this week: Jeremy told some more people at school so it's fun to see how excited they are. I keep telling people that I'm glad they are happy because I haven't been feeling well enough to be excited yet.
What I miss: Having energy. I came home after a day full of a b-day party and gym dogs meet and collapsed on the floor because I was so tired. I used to love our bedtime routines and I really have missed those lately. Due to waiting so long to eat dinner, I seem to fall apart in the evening. One night I thought I was doing well and even ate dinner at the table (that's very unusual these days- maybe 4-5 times this whole pregnancy). Then I sat on Lincoln's floor as I waited for bath time to finish up. I started feeling sick but tried to deal with it. Long story short, I didn't make it to the toilet. I was so upset at myself because I had to get help cleaning it up. I feel helpless. I miss saying goodnight to L in his room instead of him coming to me in our bedroom to say goodnight. I miss having energy to make it through the day without collapsing at the end.
What I am looking forward to: Having more energy. I felt glimpses of it this week so maybe it's going to be better soon.
Pregnancy rant: This isn't really a rant, but I don't think there would be any way for me to teach right now. I know I made it through each day last time, but this seems extreme. I am thankful I'm not on any kind of pump or anything to help me through the day, but there is NO way I could fake it each day. On another note, I feel like sitting and laying at times gets to be so uncomfortable because I do it all the time. All my muscle and fat seems to be gone too so I feel everything right on my bones. UGH. I'm definitely not getting many steps on my FitBit these days either. Upswing yet???

Weekly Update: February 15-21
How far along: 11 weeks
How big is baby: It's about the size of a brussels sprout and about 0.25 ounces.
Total weight gain: I am what I weight in December when I went to the doctor, so I've officially not gained any weight.
Maternity clothes: No. I can see that I'm expanding though.
Cravings: I have been eating a lot of cheese things recently (cheese its, goldfish, cheese sandwiches...) but I've also wanted Mexican food too. I feel like I'm snacking less and I don't have to eat right when I get up anymore.
Sleep: I wake up about 3 times a night now. There are times when I will have a crazy dream and wake up in a panic afraid that I just wet the bed. After I go to the bathroom, I have a hard time going back to sleep. A few nights this week I was up for about 1-2 hours just hoping I'd fall back asleep. I don't wake up rested. I just want to stay in bed all the time. L slept until about 8:30 or so most of the week which was nice. Even though my mind thinks I should be up at 7 something my body doesn't agree.
Movement: Not yet, but I think it's coming soon!
Best moment this week: We got to go to the doctor again this week (the 18th), for an ultrasound. We found out that the baby is doing well, that it has 2 arms and 2 legs, and that it isn't at risk of having down syndrome. Dr. Goggin was impressed with how everything looked. They asked me some questions about things and drew some blood too. I've had a little more energy and tried to do a little more this week because I felt better, but then I was exhausted afterwards. I only had a few instances where I was really sick, but I'm hoping we're heading into better days.
What I miss: Being able to stay on top of household chores. Jeremy is doing so much to help these days and I feel bad. I have a pile of clothes that I need to hang up but I continue to let it sit there because I don't have energy or a drive to do it. It's funny but when I get energy it's the last thing I want to do with it! Since I've been sick I have watched a lot of the sermons online from the comfort of my bed, but I do miss going to church. Jeremy is at New Hope pretty much every Sunday now and I finally got up the energy (and we skipped a nap) so we could go on a Sunday morning. I almost didn't make it through the service but I just kept taking deep breaths and focused on other things to keep me from getting sick or passing out.
What I am looking forward to: Being completely finished being sick and having energy to do things without getting so exhausted. Due to a day off of school on Monday and then a doctor's appointment on Thursday, and Jeremy being gone for an event on Friday, I had more time with L this week. I managed fairly well so I am continuing to look forward to having energy to play with him instead of just laying there in the floor. I stopped wearing my Sea Bands this week. I think I am going to make it through. :)
Pregnancy rant: I find it interesting that so many websites give these crazy statistics about how many people are sick during pregnancy, but I feel like I'm the only one. How can the statistics be so high when I feel like no one knows what I'm talking about when I say I'm sick? They can say, "oh I'm sorry" but I feel like I only know of one or two other people who were truly sick like I am each day. I feel like I'm surrounded by people who had incredible pregnancies and it makes me feel so isolated.

Weekly Update: February 22-February 28
How far along: 12 weeks
How big is baby: It's about the size of a passion fruit with nails and bones forming as well as hair covering most of the body. It's about 0.49 ounces.
Total weight gain: I feel like I've gained a belly but I've lost muscle so it evens out.
Maternity clothes: No.
Cravings: Chips and cheese dip. YUMMY! I still have been avoiding sweets. I got to a point this week where I told Jeremy that I didn't like anything we had in the house to eat so we went to the store to see if I could find anything that interested me. (Jeremy usually does the shopping for us). I finally got to a point where I don't have to eat IMMEDIATELY when I wake up. I dread getting up from the cozy bed, but at least I can get ready before I know I have to eat.
Sleep: I get up about 2 or 3 times a night. I toss and turn. I lay on my left side but I feel like my jaw is getting tight because I press on it too hard. I can't take naps although I finally fell asleep one afternoon this week. The body pillow has made its permanent residence in our bed recently.
Movement: Not sure, but there are definitely instances where I question it.
Best moment this week: There's lots to be excited about. I actually stayed up fairly late most days this week (8:30-9:30) which makes me feel so accomplished. I even felt like doing some household chores during the week too but felt awful afterwards. The best part though was that I made it the whole week without throwing up. YAY!
What I miss: Having full energy. I've also been getting some headaches because I'm not drinking enough water. I constantly have to be conscious about what I'm eating and drinking to make sure I am well.
What I am looking forward to: The weather is getting a little warmer. I'm ready to be outside. I'm ready for sunny days. I'm ready for pool days. Oh and I'm excited we get to find out the gender soon.
Pregnancy rant: My crazy ear is going to drive me insane. My left ear continually gets plugged and it's as if I'm in a tunnel. Although I've done some research and other people have dealt with the same thing, there are conflicting arguments about whether it is actually pregnancy related. It happened with L and it started again at the beginning of January so I doubt it's just some ear problem due to me being "sick". I laugh at posts like that because I know it's not because of a cold or anything. The people who say they dealt with it too attribute it to extra fluid. Either way I may go mad if my ear continues to go back and forth from being plugged up.

Weekly Update: February 29-March 6
How far along: 13 weeks
How big is baby: It's the size of a lemon and is getting vocal cords while being only 0.81 ounces.
Total weight gain: It's probably a pound or two.
Maternity clothes: No.
Cravings: Not other than Mexican food. I don't like sweets and purposefully avoid eating them.
Sleep: I get up about 2 or 3 times a night. I still have a hard time getting back to sleep after the 2nd time. I have some strange dreams-- Sitting on a huge pallet of girl scout cookies during a 5k
Movement: Not certain.
Best moment this week: This week was pretty good. I got to tell some more people at my old school and I felt good most of the week. I only threw up once! The ultrasound (gender reveal) appointment was moved up a day so that's exciting!! I stayed up late a few days this week too. I think I'm doing much better!
What I miss: My back has been hurting more and more, so I miss feeling "young" even if my back hurts on a normal day it doesn't feel like this.
What I am looking forward to: The gender reveal next week!!!!
Pregnancy rant: Aches. UGH! My body aches. My chest aches. My back aches. My head aches. There are worse things in life. I am thankful for a healthy baby so far but phew my body definitely feels the pressure.

Weekly Update: March 7-13
How far along: 14 weeks
How big is baby: The baby is now about the size of a nectarine and has all needed organs. It's about 1.52 ounces.
Total weight gain: The scale at the doc said I went up about 4 pounds. That makes me laugh because that's quite a bit, but it makes sense because I can actually eat and keep things down these days. I see myself getting a little belly too.
Maternity clothes: Nope.
Cravings: Cold water. I don't eat as many snacks. I like chips and cheese dip but may get tired of it soon because I have it so often.
Sleep: I sleep. I can't take naps. I still wake up a few times. I still have CRAZY dreams and scary/I don't want to think about this dreams.
Movement: Not sure.
Best moment this week: Finding out the gender. IT'S A GIRL!!!!! Lincoln started dancing to her heartbeat at the appointment. It was the cutest thing ever. Jeremy almost didn't make it to the appointment because L kept rubbing his eye and screaming so he was at the pediatrician. Jana came to FaceTime Jeremy just in case he didn't make it. He made it to the office about a minute or two after Dr. G came in the room! It was so much fun to find out and then be able to tell people. Oh I may run out of money with a girl.
What I miss: Not having headaches. It's probably because I haven't been drinking enough water but it's not fun having headaches.
What I am looking forward to: Decorating and figuring out all the nursery stuff.
Pregnancy rant: Names. They are going to be the death of me. It's so much pressure to come up with a good name. This is the thing that will stick with a person for their whole life. We want something unique but not popular. We want it to be cute but also be fitting. I feel like we have a strong name for L and we want a GOOD name for this little girl, but it's so hard! Why does picking a name have to be so hard? Some people don't tell others because they don't want people to make rude comments about the name they've chosen. Others tell and don't care what people think. Others have names picked out from the time they were children while others can't decide. We are among the ones that have changed our minds so many times but can't decide. J has been looking at unique baby names sites and has come up with some crazy names (Odessa, Pascal, Estella, Delphine, Leona...) but I'm not loving them and I'm sure you are probably there with me! We loved Harper but it became pretty popular after we thought about it many years ago so we can't use it now. I liked Hollis for a boy and Miriam suggested Hollyn, but then Jeremy said what about Holland? So for now, he's calling her Holland Elise. We also like Wren. I don't know what we will end up calling her, but it's definitely harder for a girl I think.

Weekly Update: March 14-20
How far along: 15 weeks
How big is baby: She's about the size of an apple and is about 2 1/2 ounces. Her brain controls the muscles to make her move.
Total weight gain: I bet I gained another pound or two. My stomach is really popping out these days. People have to question if I'm pregnant or if I just have a belly on me!
Maternity clothes: No.
Cravings: I don't think I craved anything this week. I still don't like desserts. I've eaten a lot of different things this week.
Sleep: I actually slept through the night a few times this week. It was wonderful. I slept late another day too. Naps were non-existent but the good nights sleep seemed to help me make it through the day. It was a hard week because we had daylights savings time (spring forward) this past weekend and so losing an hour wasn't fun. Man, I had some crazy dreams this week too. One included the mayor of Lilburn (who went to Kosovo with us a few years ago) and he was dressed in a green suit (St. Patricks Day Parade at a football game). Another one included me teaching my new crazy 4th graders and then the STEM teacher sent in a class full of my old students and they were wild. I was trying to manage both classes and was stressed out. Then I had a dream about swimming and then someone had a beachball attached to her mouth and was blowing a bubble inside the beachball. WEIRD. WEIRD. WEIRD.
Movement: Nope.
Best moment this week: We made it "official" and posted on Instagram and facebook. People were sweet with their comments. It was so fun to take the pictures at the park the other day with L and the ultrasound sticking out of his back pocket. I laughed because I went back to my post with L about this time with him and I was planning and actually telling my students at this point in the game and now we are just telling people. I was around a lot more people last time so it was more noticeable due to my sickness. I even went to Ellijay to see Katherine and made it through the day without collapsing.
What I miss: Having energy to play with L outside. I can't hold him very long before I feel the weight of him and I have to put him down.
What I am looking forward to: I'm looking forward to eating normal meals and not having to worry about eating ALL the time or think about how stressful situations can truly affect how I feel. I almost fainted this week. After I taught my 4th graders (yeah this is a new thing- I teach 10 of them the days I'm at Jeremy's school), I went back to the tech office and felt a little weird because I hadn't eaten. I tried to eat a banana and then I had to lay down on the floor because I felt badly. A minute after laying down I realized I couldn't lay down long because I was going to be sick. I rushed to the office to go to the bathroom and realized someone was in there. It echoes and I didn't want the whole athletics office to hear me, so I just went in there and stood. Preston's mom came out and told me congrats and that I didn't look pregnant. I told her I felt it and that I was going to be sick. She saw that I was white as a ghost and immediately took me to her office to get some crackers. I sat at the front of the office for quite some time while Teresa monitored my color! :) She sent for the nurse who was in the elementary office but I was a little better after I had crackers.
Pregnancy rant: No one, I repeat NO ONE wants to be sick in a public place. I don't know what I'd do. I've been very fortunate to have kept my sickness to our house this time. Places with one toilet are the scariest places because if someone is in there, you are out of luck. I can look back on the times when I got with sick with L in public places (restaurant/school...) but I was fortunate to make it to the bathroom. I know this is not pleasant talk, but sometimes you just don't know and can't stop it.

Weekly Update: March 21-27
How far along: 16 weeks
How big is baby: She's the size of an avocado and is about 3 1/2 ounces. She can make a fist or suck her thumb.
Total weight gain: I might have gained a total of 6 now, but you know I don't get on a scale regularly so I don't know.
Maternity clothes: I wore my belly band for the first time on Sunday (end of week 15 and again once or twice this week due to my pants being a little tight). I will say I enjoyed my experience with it yet again. I mean when I can wear my normal pants (aside from buttoning them) and just put an elastic band around them to make them into maternity pants without actually buying new clothes it's a win win situation! In my first time wearing it with L, I remember that was a day I was really sick and almost passed out and I wasn't convinced I liked it because I associated it with a bad feeling. haha- I did love it after a few more wears although I know others don't like it at all.
Cravings: I've eaten so many random things lately from bbq, to tacos, to hamburgers, and steak rollups. I haven't been wanting anything in particular either. Breakfast has been hard this week. L seems to get up before I can eat something and by the time I change his diaper, give him milk, and start feeding him breakfast I'm famished. It seems I've been consuming more bread lately too which fills me up. I have enjoyed snacking on these broccoli-cheese rice bowls where you just add water and put it in the microwave.
Sleep: I feel like I'm sleeping better most nights, but the time change a few weeks ago still messes with me. I wake up super early when Jeremy's getting ready and have a hard time falling back to sleep. There are times I wake up in the night only to be tormented by sounds in the house or outside which keep me away for an hour or two.
Movement: I think I felt her move a little one night.
Best moment this week: I went to a consignment sale (3rd one in about 3 weeks) all because I am looking for double strollers and other good finds. I ended up finding a baby wearing hiking pack for $70- originally $250. Jeremy was super excited about it and told me to get it. We've looked at them before but never wanted to spend a lot on them. L doesn't necessarily like it right now because he wants to be free, but hopefully he will learn to like it so we can hike up Stone Mountain again. Another fun moment this week was when one of my friend's sent me a text about a rock and play she was selling. It was nice of her to think of me before posting it for others. I said, "OH YEAH!" Later in the week she asked me if I wanted to go through her daughter's clothes and purchase some from her. Again, I thought it was so kind of her. I'm super excited about it because she went all out getting clothes/accessories for her little girl. I may end up spending a fortune when I pick out things but it beats paying full price when she won't wear things much.
What I miss: Having a normal feeling back. My back has been hurting so much lately. It's so painful to stand at times that I just crumple over onto the floor or back into bed. I even attributed it to how bad my back felt after I fainted off the camera stage a few years ago (even though it's still not that bad). Picking up a wiggling or limp 1 1/2 year old becomes a challenge.
What I am looking forward to: I'm looking forward to spring break (one more week) and another doctor visit.
Pregnancy rant: You know my rants aren't really ever "rants" but just thoughts...This week one of the office staff members made a comment like, "don't you just hate the awkward stage of pregnancy when you don't look truly pregnant but you have a belly so people wonder if you've just gained weight?" -- a little blunt?! :) I didn't get mad but, it is definitely an awkward stage. People/strangers don't know if they can ask you if you are pregnant or not and I'd say they probably shouldn't ever ask unless you are about to have the baby! Some people just try to make conversation though and don't truly think before speaking. It's in these times I am glad I have a good temperament and can laugh about crazy things people say.

Weekly Update: March 28-April 3
How far along: 17 weeks
How big is baby: She's the size of a pear and is about 5 ounces.
Total weight gain: Probably around 6.
Maternity clothes: No. I've fluctuated between sizes over the years so my closet is full of things I can wear with an expanding belly.
Cravings: I wanted some goldfish again and even a smoothy but the "smoothy"- more like ice drink from Sonic did not even come close to what I wanted. I haven't wanted another one, and I was actually surprised I wanted one in the first place. I even ate a piece of Cindy's birthday cake the 3rd, but that was out of ritual and not out of craving. I had a few headaches this week possibly due to not eating frequently or not having enough water.
Sleep: I feel like I'm sleeping, but I wake up tired. My back's been hurting so getting comfortable has also been challenging. My body pillow is my cuddle partner.
Movement: Yes. The butterfly feelings are here.
Best moment this week: We hiked up Stone Mountain. I thought I would die, but I made it! I actually didn't think I would end up going to the top, but we did. L got to ride in his new pack I got at a consignment sale. He screamed at first and then was fine once we got going. He was like a king and even waved at people on the way up. People were amazed at the pack as well as Jeremy's ability to carry him up the mountain. I was thankful Greg and Susan packed some granola bars in a bag they carried up the mountain because I was a little weak once we got to the top.
What I miss: Having a back that feels good. Any time I do anything remotely close to exercise (which isn't very much), my back seems to hurt for days afterwards. It may be because of the extra weight on the front and from carrying a 1 1/2 year old around here and there too.
What I am looking forward to: Spring Break!!!! It's here! I also am excited about our doctor's appointment next week.
Pregnancy rant: I feel like there are a million things to do but I just don't want to do them. I have more energy than I did, but I still would rather sit in bed, read a book, play on the computer (FaceBook or Netflix) or not think about things. I haven't been sick in what feels like weeks, but I still just want to sit. It's in this time that I've just been taking it a day at a time. People ask me how I'm doing and I realize I'm doing so much better than I was a few weeks ago. This makes me thankful, but then I also have learned in this time that I can't plan things too far in advance or don't really want too just in case I don't feel well. That doesn't mean I've started to be one of those non-committal people. It's more that I tackle each day when it arrives. I still can plan things in advance but don't worry about all the details I used to worry about because those things would stress me out if I felt like I couldn't accomplish all of them. It's helped me enjoy each day and not stress about what I'm not doing.

Weekly Update: April 4-10
How far along: 18 weeks
How big is baby: She's the size of a sweet potato and is over 6 1/2 ounces.
Total weight gain: We went to the doctor this week and it is a total of 6 pounds.
Maternity clothes: I search my closet often looking for longer shirts because I can definitely see more of a belly every day, but I haven't brought out any maternity clothes yet. I only got a few things and there are more for the summer. It's been back and forth between warm and chilly so I've been making do. My jeans and shirts still fit. I do love my maternity tank tops and have been wearing them more.
Cravings: Nothing really this week.
Sleep: I am sleeping, but my fitbit says I am restless about 20-29 times a night. Yeah. Ugh! I wake up and am still tired. I try to take naps but don't really sleep. I wake up about once to go to the bathroom, but sometimes I just fight the urge and go back to sleep.
Movement: Yes.
Best moment this week: I love getting ultrasounds. We got to see her spread out her fingers and toes and Dr. Goggin said most babies will have them clinched up. He said everything looks great so that is always a relief. I even ran the Insane Inflatable 5k. I signed up for it before getting pregnant and was so worried about doing it, but I'm so glad I did it! I am definitely sore, but it was lots of fun. Jeremy and I went to Macon the night before so I wouldn't have to get up so early. It was good to have just us time. Cindy came and kept Lincoln for the night.
What I miss: Having strength to pick L up for extended amounts of times. While I was sick I feel like I lost all my muscle (yeah I know I didn't have much). Getting him out of the bathtub, wrangling him when he's mad or doesn't want to put on clothes, and just holding him for a while is a struggle. Both of us are getting bigger so it will be interesting to see what the next few months hold.
What I am looking forward to: getting back on our normal schedule this upcoming week. We had spring break this week and were busy all week. I am exhausted!!! We started spring break with a hike up Stone Mountain, went to a doctors appointment, had swimming lessons Mon-Thurs., went to Ikea, went to Bear Hollow, had dinner with friends, went to Macon for the 5k, went grocery shopping, had family come over to visit.
Pregnancy rant: Why do people think pregnant people should decide things?! When it comes to food I never really have a huge opinion on where I want to eat. I am not that picky. Now, people think I'm the one who needs to choose where we eat (because I'm pregnant) and it drives me insane.

Weekly Update: April 11-17
How far along: 19 weeks
How big is baby: She's the size of a mango and is about 8 1/2 ounces.
Total weight gain: It's still probably 6-7 pounds.
Maternity clothes: Nope. I wear some of my longer shirts and my regular pants right now.
Cravings: Nothing really this week.
Sleep: I slept hard a few nights but woke up early and then had crazy dreams while I came in and out of sleep before I had to get up.
Movement: Yes.
Best moment this week: I got asked again to come back to my old school even though I'm pregnant. That shows me that they really valued what I did. I am not taking a job again so that's super scary for me. I don't know how that's going to look this next school year, but we are taking it one day at a time. We even had a "birthday party" for all the staff kids at New Hope. L got a gift- a dumptruck with shapes. He was so excited.
What I miss: The ability to carry things without feeling it later. Holding a kicking/screaming boy has definitely given me some workouts lately.
What I am looking forward to: Getting through the week and next few weeks with Jeremy being gone lots to events at church and school.
Pregnancy rant: Having a teething toddler, having Jeremy gone doing events at church, and being pregnant wears me out! We went to the pediatrician this week for shots and L screamed. He wouldn't get on the scale. He didn't want to lay down to get his height measured. He didn't want to get a shot and screamed and screamed the rest of the day. Towards the end of the week (before the appointment) and then on into the weekend he cried and cried. He didn't want to nap but he was exhausted. He couldn't sleep at night and would wake up. He didn't want to get a bath. He didn't want anything I gave him to eat. He didn't want orajel on his gums. He didn't want to put on his clothes. He didn't want to take off his clothes. He didn't want to get a diaper changed. I felt like running away or at least hiding under my covers but I was all by myself for a few days so I knew I had to make it. ;) Now I'm up in the air about teeth. I was originally worried he'd be born with teeth, but he got them super late. Does getting them later make it potentially worse on the parents because the kids are older and are more mobile/verbal...? Maybe it's just because I'm pregnant, but I was truly afraid to be seen out in public. He acted crazy when I went in a restaurant to order food; I was so embarrassed. Then he seemed fine at the park and halfway normal when people came over to visit but spent most of those days screaming. Phew! Let's move on to another week!

Weekly Update: April 18-24
How far along: 20 weeks
How big is baby: She's the size of an artichoke and is about 10 1/2 ounces.
Total weight gain: It's still probably 6-7 pounds. I'm seeing more of a belly each week.
Maternity clothes: Nope.
Cravings: Nothing really this week. I actually ate some desserts this week.
Sleep: I sleep but wake up. I'm not getting up for the bathroom much though so that's great! Jeremy slept on the couch a few nights this week because of drainage so I don't know if that made me sleep better or worse?!
Movement: Yes.
Best moment this week: Jeremy and I went to Atlanta to celebrate Jonathan's birthday, which was a fun time with family. The teeth are in I think, so that makes each day better and better. I am starting to see more of the old L pop up during the day. I even had a few people say nice things to me about teaching their child or that they've heard that I've been doing a good job with the 4th graders. It was teacher appreciation week and they even decorated the room I share with someone else (with my name too) and a few students gave me gifts! That made me feel super special. Then we went to Athens to celebrate Beth's birthday and so the night out was nice (Margie and Ray kept L and put him to bed). After the awful teething week we had last week/weekend, I'm thankful I could rest a little this week. We went to pick strawberries on Saturday too so it was fun to do something as a family.
What I miss: Having endless amounts of money (ha ha) to get whatever I want and not worry about the prices of things baby related.... which leads me to....
What I am looking forward to: getting all the stuff for the nursery (bedding, furniture, decor)- I picked out the colors this week- coral, gray, white, and mint. I don't want all the girly stuff so it's been hard to find things, but I found a place online where you can customize the entire bedding collection. Micah's teacher even said she would be willing to make a little baby quilt to go with the colors because some of the things online seem way too expensive.... which leads me to....
Pregnancy rant: I'm soooo over the craziness of the baby industry. It's so much like the wedding industry. Everything seems so overpriced and I'm sick of it. I spend a few days looking at crib bedding and was overwhelmed that bumper pads were over $100. That is ridiculous! We just got all new bedding for our bed and it was well under $500 for everything so I don't understand why baby bedding needs to be even close to that! Thinking about getting a double stroller makes me want to gag too because they are crazy expensive too. Don't even get me on the subject of nursery furniture. There's no way I want to pay more for baby furniture than I do my own bedroom furniture. I'm totally over it and have even looked on Craigslist quite a few times. We got an incredible deal at Costco when we got L's stuff but they aren't selling any nursery furniture in their warehouses right now.

Weekly Update: April 25-May 1
How far along: 21 weeks
How big is baby: She's about as long as a carrot and over 12 1/2 ounces.
Total weight gain: It's still probably 6-7 pounds.
Maternity clothes: No.
Cravings: Nothing really this week. I've been doing more cooking lately though so I guess that's progress in regular life.
Sleep: These dreams are crazy. Jeremy's still been on the couch here and there, but I still seem to wake up so many times in the morning as he gets ready/or when he's coughing. Bathroom breaks during the night aren't always necessary, but when I have to go I have to get their quickly. There have been multiple days this week where I was so tired during the day I just wanted to take a nap.
Movement: Yes.
Best moment this week: We went over to Jeremy's grandparents house while Jonathan and Kristi were there. Jonathan got onto L one time for knocking a picture over and he puffed out his lip and started to tear up and then went immediately to Jonathan for a hug. Then he came to me for a hug. As we said our goodbyes, L got really sad and hugged and hugged on Kristi. It's so sweet to see his personality develop. He is sensitive, but he cares about people. I'm so excited to watch him become a big brother.
What I miss: My back not making me feel like I was on the edge of death. It's been awful. I wake up and don't feel rested so then my eyes are super heavy all day. I definitely have more energy than I did, but I'm still struggling. I've teared up a few times this week from things. I've been a little more emotional concerning going on our 10 day trip this summer. I'm getting more and more scared and sad about being away from L for that long. I keep reading or hearing about people dying (some kids) and then find myself sad for a long time because I get worried about L or the new baby.
What I am looking forward to: going to the doctor to hear her heartbeat next week.
Pregnancy rant: Our dog has been driving me nuts! He drinks his water so loudly. He follows me everywhere. He wants me to pet him all the time. He's so loud as he walks around. AHHHH!!! I am so sensitive to things right now.

Weekly Update: May 2-8
How far along: 22 weeks
How big is baby: She's about the size of a papaya and about 15 ounces.
Total weight gain: I've gained about 10 pounds according to the doctor's scale. I'm up to 128. Yeah- that seems like a big jump. Also, it was a cold day so I was wearing more heavier clothes so that could also throw it off a little bit.
Maternity clothes: No. Belly band=1
Cravings: No. I can definitely feel myself filling up a lot faster these days.
Sleep: The evenings still hit me hard. I seem to yawn and yawn while trying to keep my eyes open, but the stinging often causes me to retire to bed. I wake up lots but I'm making it.
Movement: Oh yes. I went to the doctor and got to hear her heartbeat on the 5th. She was moving all around.
Best moment this week: I love hearing her heartbeat and feeling her move because I know she's doing well. I also picked out two things for the decor in her room this week! The colors have been decided now since I have some things. Beth also had her baby boy this week. I loved seeing how L was so cautious and watched the baby. I can't wait to see how he will be as a big brother.
What I miss: (again) my back not being in pain all the time.
What I am looking forward to: moving forward on projects around the house to prepare for her arrival.
Pregnancy rant: I started registering online for girl things. I think I finally picked out some bedding that I like. I've already given my rant on how expensive some of the stuff is, but there are also so many different things it becomes overwhelming. I want to be decisive, but I feel like I'm less decisive than I usually am.

Weekly Update: May 9-15
How far along: 23 weeks
How big is baby: She's as big as an eggplant. Her brain and hearing are developing more and she may even know my voice. She's about 1 pound now.
Total weight gain: I've still probably gained 10 pounds.
Maternity clothes: No. I've worn 1 maternity top and the belly band a handful of times the entire pregnancy. She's starting to get big though so they may have to make their way into my closet soon.
Cravings: Nope. I enjoyed a few homemade smoothies though.
Sleep: I am sleeping better. I'm still having crazy dreams because I wake up and try to put myself back to sleep. I seem to be waking up super early these days too and I don't really like that.
Movement: Oh yes. She is flipping around as I type.
Best moment this week: We went to the Children's Museum of Atlanta. It was so fun to see L play and I had energy to enjoy the different activities with him.
What I miss: being able to get out of the bed without looking like a halfdead fish.
What I am looking forward to: cleaning out some more closets and feeling accomplished as I get rid of things. Yeah, I've been on a cleaning rampage this week. I went through old boxes of letters/cards as well as some other stuff. The things that are hidden in our house are bothering me the worst right now.
Pregnancy rant: The heat is going to start getting worse and I'm starting to get a little nervous. I remember how miserable I was when I was out in the sun on Memorial Day when I was pregnant before. I could be in the pool all the time which helped, but this year I don't know how it will be with a 1 1/2 year old. At least we will escape the extreme heat a little bit while we are in Scotland, but I also have a boy who loves being outside so I know we will probably be outside more than I normally would be. We will have to lather up the best we can. I wish I could take naps because I think I would really enjoy some good summer naps!

Weekly Update: May 16-22
How far along: 24 weeks
How big is baby: She's as long as an ear of corn and almost 1 1/2 pounds.
Total weight gain: I've still probably gained 10 pounds.
Maternity clothes: Nope. I love my normal skirts and longer shirts or my athletic clothes.
Cravings: Nothing really.
Sleep: This week I've had more crazy dreams. One was about Beth going back to work already... but that one actually happened to be true too and one about a 4 x 100 relay race where people had to stop in the middle of it and pose like a tree or an owl on a bed. It was strange.
Movement: Quite often.
Best moment this week: We had a date night for our anniversary and had some great conversations about the future. L and I went up to Lake Hartwell to see Emily and Jackson. It was fun to watch the boys interact (first time we've met him) as well as to catch up with her. I also went to a retirement reception and graduation. It's been a fun week to catch up with people and know people care. An old student even cried (happy tears) when she saw me.
What I miss: Jeremy. He's been so busy with the end of school stuff and events at church that we haven't seen him much. I pretty much only see him at school when I'm there.
What I am looking forward to: Summer fun, birthdays, and celebrations
Pregnancy rant: I had my first leg cramp in the middle of the night this week and OH it was painful. I woke up and started moaning and talking about how badly it hurt. They are so painful. I remember getting some with L and I was sore for days. This time I hope I heal a little quicker. More water for me.

Weekly Update: May 23-29
How far along: 25 weeks
How big is baby: She's getting big and is now the size of an acorn squash.
Total weight gain: I've still probably gained 10 pounds.
Maternity clothes: Not completely. I got some new outfits so I've been putting them into my wardrobe. I am getting bigger faster though so I don't mind wearing some maternity shirts because of their length.
Cravings: Nah.
Sleep: I've been sleeping well and hard. I wake up once to go to the bathroom and I keep waking up around 6 something, but I force myself to go back to sleep or just lay there until an acceptable hour!
Movement: Quite often.
Best moment this week: She's moving so much these days that I just lay in bed sometimes just to watch her move. I told Jeremy she was moving lots and he just sat and watched and felt her move all around too. We hiked up Stone Mountain again (for Jeremy's b-day). It's getting more tiring and warmer outside so I have watch what I do or I'll sleep for days. :) One day I went to INK Children's Museum with some friends. I was worried about being able to handle L because sometimes he loves to be held and I can't do that for long because of my back. He did great though and we had lots of fun. I even balanced a cup on my stomach. haha
What I miss: my back not aching. :(
What I am looking forward to: the first swim of the summer (Memorial Day) and going to the doctor this upcoming week and our trip to Scotland even though I'm getting super nervous about my back and about leaving L for 10 days.
Pregnancy rant: My stomach is starting to get in the way. I ran into a few things here and there through the week because I forget I am wider than I used to be.

Weekly Update: May 30-June 5
How far along: 26 weeks
How big is baby: She's about as long as a zucchini while being about 1 1/2 pounds.
Total weight gain: I've gained about 15 pounds total according to the doctor's scale. I think I'm a lot bigger this time and made a comment about that. He said I started my pregnancy with L a little bigger and was bigger weight wise at this point along, but since I started smaller this time I have gained more this time even though I'm still not at the weight I was with him.
Maternity clothes: Not completely, but I am for sure wearing more maternity stuff this time a lot earlier. I feel bigger. I don't remember wearing my maternity bathing suits super early in the season but I wore my normal one for Memorial Day and it was hilarious because my stomach doesn't quite fit in it!
Cravings: Nothing really.
Sleep: I've had some good nights recently. I get hot sometimes and other times I toss and turn because Jeremy's been a little sick so the coughing wakes me up, but I'm sleeping well.
Movement: oh yes.
Best moment this week: We had fun at the Memorial Day parade and swimming. It's so great to see how L's face lights up at the simple things. I pray that this sweet girl will find enjoyment in the little things too. I got to go to the doctor this week and hear her heartbeat. Everything seems to be going well Dr. G said.
What I miss: having a back that doesn't ache constantly. L seems to want to be picked up constantly and it's getting harder and harder to lift him. There are other times where he doesn't want to be picked up so he drops his shoulders which makes it even more difficult to get him up and where he needs to go. I know I have quite a few more weeks of this and my belly will only get bigger, so I'm wondering how my back will be come September.
What I am looking forward to: I'll lie and say our trip because I know in the end I'll enjoy going but then at the same time I'm scared (about sitting in a plane for a long time) and sad about leaving L for that long. I know it will be good to be away from him because we spend so much time together already but I know I will be sad. I also know it will be really good to just have me and Jeremy time but all the nervousness and hormones get in the way of me being really, really excited.
Pregnancy rant: My sense of smell can get the best of me. At Dr. G's office, someone was a smoker and it made me want to leave the room. It was packed in the waiting room already and I had to wait a long time. The smell didn't make it any better. I laugh to think how I put the diaper gene outside in the garage early on and can't even imagine bringing it back in. Sometimes the thought of emptying it makes me grossed out! I know I already have a good smeller and that it will go back to that when I have her, but there are so many times I get tired of smelling nasty things. Then my left ear continues to be stopped up so I have awful hearing and smelling!

Weekly Update: June 6-12
How far along: 27 weeks
How big is baby: She's the size of a cauliflower and is about 2 pounds.
Total weight gain: I've probably another pound or so 16 total maybe. My schedule got a little off due to the time zone change when we flew to London/Scotland so sometimes we ate 4-5 meals during a day at the beginning.
Maternity clothes: Yes and no. It depends on the day and depends on what we've been doing. I usually wear my maternity tops daily.
Cravings: Nothing really. We've eaten lots of different things but fish and burgers are quite common around this area. Most of the time I just want some cold water.
Sleep: I've slept good for the most part. We flew to London on the 6th and I couldn't sleep at all. It was rough. I was so tired but I couldn't get comfortable. The hotels and bed and breakfasts had pretty good beds so I did pretty well most nights (other than one).
Movement: She's a mover.
Best moment this week: We have seen some pretty cool things so far (castles, land formations...) and she's been pretty active throughout the week.
What I miss: my energy. We have been walking between 10,000-20,000 steps each day and I don't complain but I know I'm not in shape like I used to be. We saw a half marathon and I looked at those runners and thought about how I'd be at the back if I was running.
What I am looking forward to: the rest of our trip and seeing L again.
Pregnancy rant: My stomach cramped up a few times this week because of all the walking. I was ready to give up because my body just wanted to give out. At one point I remember telling Jeremy that pretty much every part of my body hurt except my face. There were times my back hurt so badly that moving made me want to scream. These were all times that occurred because of walking around or after I laid down a while. The plane ride was another story. I was quite miserable because I wanted to sleep so badly but couldn't lay in any position due to aches and the tight space. Climbing hills seem to be one thing my body doesn't like, but we have learned to take it slowly so I don't have to rest as much. People make interesting comments about me doing the stuff we've been doing because they either think I'm crazy or because they don't want me to die while doing them! It makes me laugh.

Weekly Update: June 13-19
How far along: 28 weeks
How big is baby: She's about the size of a kabocha squash (yeah google it). She can open and close her eyes and is about 2 1/5 pounds.
Total weight gain: I've probably gained about 16-17 pounds. I eat every time I have a chance while on our trip.
Maternity clothes: Yes and no. I usually wear my maternity tops because they are long enough. On our trip I have worn my normal jeans though for the most part.
Cravings: Nothing really.
Sleep: I've actually been so exhausted at night that I've been sleeping pretty well. I get up about once a night to go to the bathroom but that's it. When we got home from our trip I started taking daily naps!
Movement: Yes, I've tried to record the crazy movement.
Best moment this week: Since we were gone 10 days, we anticipated the reunion with our sweet boy. We got in late on the 16th and so he was already asleep. We snuck in his room just to look at him, but when he awoke the next morning and saw us it made my day. He stared at us like he was really confused but then he got the biggest smile on his face and was so happy to see us. People were pretty nice on the Tube too and asked if I wanted to sit down. There were other times people would help me with my bags as we got off the trains. Jeremy was of course wonderful carrying both our bags up the stairs, but it's always nice to see strangers doing nice things for others.
What I miss: my ability to stand the heat. In Scotland, we had wonderful weather, but when we got out of the airport in Atlanta the heat and humidity hit me like a ton of bricks. It's hard to even want to be outside for more than a few minutes. I loved the breeze there even if it was a little chilly at times.
What I am looking forward to: For a few days, I looked forward to being home because then I wouldn't have to be so nervous about the plane ride home. Sitting for 8-9 hours isn't always comfortable. The ride was actually not that bad. We sat in the back of the plane so I was close to the bathroom, which I used frequently. I did get uncomfortable a few times but I managed.
Pregnancy rant: We made it home in time for Father's Day. Daddy wanted to go to Six Flags so we did (excluding Jeremy and Lincoln). I knew I wouldn't be able to do much while there but I went anyway. We split into two groups based on what people would ride. Of course I was in the one where people didn't love rollercoasters. One of the first rides we tackled was the carousel. I didn't think I would have a problem with this, but I almost fainted. They made everyone put on seat belts, which is a good thing now that I look back on it. My eyes couldn't see straight and although I tried to focus, I couldn't. Daphne spotted me looking pale and I said, "I'm about to faint!" Christian helped me off the horse, momma went to get me water, and then I sat down for a while. I don't know if it was a combination of being hot, hungry/thirsty, and the motion of the ride but something got to me. I was better the rest of the day, but then we got in line to ride the sky buckets and I saw a sign that said no pregnant people. What in the world?! It's like a little car that carries you over the park. I guess the heights thing could be a problem, but I was going to ride them anyway. No one said I couldn't get on when I got in though so that made me feel better. I guess they didn't want people to sue just in case something did happen.

Weekly Update: June 20-26
How far along: 29 weeks
How big is baby: She's the size of a large butternut squash and is about 2 1/2 pounds.
Total weight gain: It's still between 15-20 pounds. We will find out for sure next week at the doctor.
Maternity clothes: Pants- not always. Tops- for the most part unless I wear my medium t-shirts with running shorts.
Cravings: Not really. I still like Chick-fil-a sandwiches and fries and could probably eat that every day.
Sleep: I have been worn out. I've taken naps here and there. I think it's because I was on the go constantly during our trip. I am still trying to adjust even though we tried to stay on our timezone by staying up late and getting up late (on our trip). I still wake up about once a night. Sometimes my body thinks it needs to get up around 5 or 6 for the day but I make myself stay in bed.
Movement: Yes.
Best moment this week: I definitely think she got the hiccups this week. My whole stomach kept jumping. L got hiccups all the time but I will have to look back at when this started. This week we also emptied out the guest room. It's so sad to no longer have this, but it is progress. Now we have to paint, move L into that room, and get the nursery all ready.
What I miss: while we were gone, we thought they'd come and paint the house and stain the fence but they didn't. I miss the days where there weren't huge to-do lists of things I would like done before the baby arrives. Jeremy planned to have all the production people over to the house in July too so it makes me want things done a little quicker too. I feel like we came home from the trip to long to-do lists.
What I am looking forward to: showers coming up. I know they are just in the planning stages but I'm excited about them. I'm getting more in the girly mood and don't mind if I get girly things. Oh, and I'm excited about our doctor visit next week.
Pregnancy rant: Jeremy said something about me being in full nesting mode. I laughed and said I never nested with L. I think it's just because we have to get things out of the guestroom and reorganize things right now so we can get moving on the room switch/nursery project. I feel like there are a million things to do in order for all that to happen.

Weekly Update: June 27-July 3
How far along: 30 weeks
How big is baby: She's about the size of a large cabbage. She has times of sleep and times where she's awake and is almost 3 pounds. The doc said she is measuring big and may be around 4 pounds right now which will make her a 9+ pound baby at birth if she continues to gain an ounce to an ounce and a half each day.
Total weight gain: The scale said exactly 20 pounds at the doctor.
Maternity clothes: Pants/shorts are still iffy. My bigger sized pants are fine. I am in my maternity tops though because my belly seems to want to poke out of the bottom of my other shirts!
Cravings: water and cold things.
Sleep: I've been waking up twice a night to go to the bathroom and then again before I truly want to get up. I've had a few nights where I woke up and laid in bed for about an hour. Other nights I had a hard time falling asleep because I was too hot, but I like to have covers over me so it's a catch 22.
Movement: It's as if she is doing summersaults inside me.
Best moment this week: L has been really loving a few moments during the week where he just wanted to lay his head on my belly and hug the baby. It's so sweet. She's been kicking and moving up a storm lately and I've tried to record it, but she likes to be still when the camera is on her. We got to see her sweet feet and she even opened up her mouth for us while we were doing the ultrasound. That was pretty neat.
What I miss: feeling normal all the time. I've felt weird after I've eaten this week and quite a few times since we got back. Jeremy said he has felt it too so maybe it's just our bodies getting used to things over here again. I have a hard time being outside too because it's been so hot, so even though I love warm weather, I miss how my body usually regulates my body temperature. Also, I miss the ability to not feel faint! I almost fainted at the doctor while getting an ultrasound. I said, "I may need some water or something, I think I'm going to faint!" He had me flip to my left side quickly and said it would go away shortly. It did. He explained that it had something to do with my vena cava and laying on my back. Not enough blood was getting to my heart and my blood pressure dropped. He said it usually happens with people who are having twins and smaller people. I know I don't fit into one of those categories so I must be the other.
What I am looking forward to: going to the doctor on Thursday the 30th and having an ultrasound.
Pregnancy rant: My belly is getting larger and laying on it or pressing it against something isn't fun. You don't realize how much you do something until you can't do it/it isn't comfortable. L seems to always throw his animals and pacifier out of his bed or puts things under/behind the couch. They are always in the most hard to get places and I have a hard time getting them out. I have used other toys and household items like a broom and flipflop to swat at them or to drag them closer to me, but I'm not always successful. Of course he thinks it's humorous and looks under/over the furniture with me and begs to have his things back, but he doesn't realize my belly is getting bigger and bigger! I've had to change his crib sheets a few times lately because he's had some messy diapers in the night that stunk up his whole room and so I washed his sheets to try to eliminate the smell faster. Just trying to get his sheets on the bed is a task. I have to lean so far over the rail (since we lowered his bed) that it takes the breath out of me as I try to maneuver the sheet around the mattress.

Weekly Update: July 4-10
How far along: 31 weeks
How big is baby: She's as long as some leeks and may be between 3 1/2-4 pounds.
Total weight gain: The scale said 20 pounds at the doctor last week so maybe another pound could be added to that.
Maternity clothes: I'm so over finding things to wear. I would rather be in pjs or athletic clothes than anything else.
Cravings: Nothing other than sleep. I crave sleep these days. :)
Sleep: I go to the bathroom about two times a night and I have a hard time falling asleep. I can't get comfortable because my leg feels heavy on my other leg even with the body pillow and I can't decide if I'm hot or not but I have to have covers over me so it's always a problem. My backaches have also made me uncomfortable. I also have a hard time going back to sleep after the bathroom sometimes, and wake up early. I put myself back to sleep but I don't feel rested when I get up. I want to sleep all day. I have taken quite a few naps lately.
Movement: Oh yes. She moves much more than L did.... or maybe I just feel it more.
Best moment this week: I enjoyed spending time with family and swimming on the 4th. We also purchased the paint for the bedrooms so we can get ready for operation prepare rooms for move and baby.
What I miss: being comfortable when I sit or sleep. I feel like my stomach stretches and aches every time I try to maneuver around.
What I am looking forward to: nap time each day. Ha- I'm looking forward to the showers in a few weeks and getting everything ready in the bedrooms. We are down to under 60 days until the due date so we have to get moving.
Pregnancy rant: I'm getting a little stressed out about getting all the house stuff done. I feel like there's so much to do. I taped some of the guest bedroom (L's new room), but Jeremy didn't want me on ladders or anything. It remains unpainted currently. We've been waiting almost a year to get our fence/deck and house painted. They finally came this week to pressure wash so maybe I will have a few things marked off the list before she gets here. We have also been reorganizing closets and removing things from the guest bedroom so it will be ready, but all the tasks seem to large they have to be taken slowly. There are just so many things that I can't do because I'm not qualified, because it's not my stuff or because I'm pregnant and it's dangerous. Sigh. I guess that's why I don't feel like I really nested with L either. I am good at finding ways other people can help me but don't always get excited about doing the cleaning myself. Maybe I'm just a nester all other times and then a person that has a huge "honey-do" list when I'm pregnant.

Weekly Update: July 11-17
How far along: 32 weeks
How big is baby: She's about the size of cabbage and may be around 4 pounds.
Total weight gain: I went to the doctor again and the scale said about 23/24 pounds.
Maternity clothes: I try to get away with normal shorts these days but it's getting kind of tough. I've been wearing skirts and maternity tops as well as athletic clothes mostly. I have to wear a medium shirt though if I'm doing athletic clothes.
Cravings: Not really. I have eaten a few sweets recently which is pretty interesting because I'm not used to liking things like that when I'm pregnant.
Sleep: I am doing okay. I wake up a few times during the night and then my body is ready to go at 6:30 or so.... my mind however wants to keep sleeping.
Movement: She's kicking away.
Best moment this week: I always enjoy going to the doctor to hear her heartbeat.
What I miss: The normal me (feeling fine, not almost fainting...)
What I am looking forward to: I really want a prenatal massage or 3. I'm putting this on my birthday list so I will just look forward to it even if I have to pay for it myself! :) I really want to pick out nursery furniture though. SOON...We finally went and picked out a crib and ordered it, so it should be here in 2 weeks.
Pregnancy rant: I was at the point of wanting to amputate my left leg this week (more than once). She must be pressing on some nerve because the pain decided to shoot all the way from my lower back to my foot. It hurt to walk. It hurt to sit. I don't feel like there's anything I can do to make it feel better and I still have quite some time left. Maybe it won't be like this forever. I have been less than patient with a whiny son too because I haven't felt my best. I've had a few days where the mornings were tough and I just wanted to lay around or sleep. I've had other days where I had to eat a few times before 11:00 because I kept feeling like I was going to pass out. One day I felt like I was going to pass out on my way to PCA. It was rough. I kept breathing deeply and made it safely.


Weekly Update: July 18-24
How far along: 33 weeks
How big is baby: She's the size of a pineapple and is about 4 1/5 pounds.
Total weight gain: I'm probably up to 25+ pounds.
Maternity clothes: Yeah, pretty much. I mean, I can wear some other stuff but it has to be stretchy, big, or long.
Cravings: No
Sleep: I wish I could sleep more than I do. I feel exhausted. I mean, I have more energy than I did at the beginning, but I'm still tired through the day.
Movement: Yes. I even felt hiccups recently.
Best moment this week: I had my family shower. I felt so special. Daphne, Miriam, and Kristi did a great job with it. It's always so awkward sitting in front of people and opening presents but I made it!
What I miss: being comfortable.
What I am looking forward to: my shower on the 24th (at the end of the week) and appointment next week.
Pregnancy rant: I can't get comfortable. At the doctor a few weeks ago and ended up spreading out on the couch because I had to wait for quite some time and I was miserable sitting in a chair. It's hard to breathe at times. She's definitely sitting differently than L was.

Weekly Update: July 25-31
How far along: 34 weeks
How big is baby: She's the size of a cantaloupe, but I feel like she's bigger than that! She's almost 5 pounds.
Total weight gain: I went to the doctor again and the scale said I'd gained about 28 pounds.
Maternity clothes: My medium athletic clothes are getting kind of funny. It's as if I'm wearing a mid-drift shirt. Phew. I am too cheap to buy maternity shorts/pants so I have gotten used to wearing dresses, skirts, and athletic clothes most of the time. It's a good thing it's warm. There was one day I had to go to PCA and I didn't even want to go because I couldn't find anything to wear. I have a whole month of this left so that scares me.
Cravings: No.
Sleep: I am doing pretty well. I wake up once or twice to go to the bathroom and sometimes stay up a while because I can't fall back to sleep. I lay on my left side, but that often makes my left leg hurt because so much weight is on it (even though I have a body pillow).
Movement: oh yes. She likes to kick me. He said I feel her more because the wall isn't as thick with #2 or something. She's definitely head down though he said. I think I experienced some braxton hicks contractions too or something because my entire stomach has gotten tight a few times recently.
Best moment this week: We finally got a chance to paint L's new room and move him over to it. We even went and got some new furniture for L's room as well as for H's room. Another day, my dad and I went to go pick up the crib. Now we have to paint her room and assemble the furniture and we will be getting closer!!!! I love having her move so much. She moves all the time.
What I miss: fitting into clothes
What I am looking forward to: The doctor's appointment--- it went well. Her heartbeat is still strong. My iron was low (10).
Pregnancy rant: People don't always know what to say and it is quite humorous. Are they supposed to say I'm small? Are they supposed to be surprised when they find out I only have 6 more weeks? People always ask how I'm doing and I just sigh and say, "I'm taking it one day at a time." I had a few times this week (because Jeremy has been so busy with work the past 2 weeks) that I've just wanted to give up. I was so tired at the end of the day. I lacked all patience. L had some rough days here and there which made it hard too. Jeremy was getting home super late and one day he asked me a question in order for me to make a decision and I told him I wasn't making any decisions for 5 minutes! I needed a break.

Weekly Update: August 1-7
How far along: 35 weeks
How big is baby: She's about the size of a honeydew melon and is about 5 1/4 pounds.
Total weight gain: I'm probably at 30 pounds so far. I'm reaching numbers on the scale that I've never seen. YIKES!!!
Maternity clothes: Yeah, I pretty much can't help it other than my athletic clothes that stretch.
Cravings: Nothing really.
Sleep: I am still waking up about twice a night and sometimes still can't fall back asleep. One night I laid there for over an hour listening to Jeremy snore. I finally poked him and asked him to turn over because he was snoring. He responded, "I wasn't snoring!" The next day he didn't even remember that conversation!
Movement: Oh yes. I'm determined to get a good video of her moving. It's so creepy to see my entire stomach move.
Best moment this week: Jeremy is a superhero and is working long hours at work and coming home and trying to get things done around the house. This week he painted H's room all by himself. He even put together the furniture (crib and dresser). My friend shower at Beth's house went well. I was nervous and was sweating most of the time. I got diapers and some cute clothes for her. We're on the way to getting ready for her.
What I miss: My body feels huge. I think I'm waddling these days because my back. I miss not waddling and not feeling huge. I miss not being able to fit in my normal clothes.
What I am looking/looked forward to: My friend shower on the 6th.
Pregnancy rant: I don't know how it's possible but my maternity stuff isn't fitting well. It is too short or not big enough. Some of the shirts even ride up. It's crazy! Ugh. I guess I'm going to have to wear a bag for the rest of the time.

Weekly Update: August 8-14
How far along: 36 weeks
How big is baby: She's the size of a canary melon, which is funny because some lady at church said I was smuggling in a "water"melon a few weeks ago.
Total weight gain: I'm at 33 pounds. My goodness. I feel huge. That scale scares me. Jeremy thinks I've been retaining a lot of water lately. My feet had a few days where I lost my ankles. Oh the cankles (The right side has done it a few times. I haven't seen it in the left at all I don't think). BOOOO. Jeremy also says I don't look pregnant unless you see my stomach, but I definitely wasn't this big with Lincoln (as determined by my clothes).
Maternity clothes: Yes, unless I want to look crazy with my stomach showing.
Cravings: No. I have eaten more sweets lately with her though. I never even wanted anything like that with Lincoln.
Sleep: I have only been waking up once during the night, but I lay awake for 2 hours trying to go back to sleep after I go to the bathroom. I'm miserable. It's hot or I'm not comfortable or I am thinking about too much. I did sleep about 12 hours on my birthday night.
Movement: Oh yes. She has the hiccups a lot more these days.
Best moment this week: It's been a good week so I have a few (and I think that's okay on my birthday week). I'm so glad Jeremy got the furniture all put together at the end of last week. This week, I've focused on putting on the bedding and getting other things set up in her room. It's coming along nicely. I don't know if I'll make it all the way to my due date so it's better that I get it done now. I finally got my toes done (with Miriam). I went last week about 15-20 minutes before their closing time and they said they were closed. Although I was bummed, I dealt with it. I also had a doctor's appointment and got to hear her sweet heartbeat. This was my last every two week one. Now it's onto every week. Phew. The heartbeat was good but he said she's still getting big. I gained another 5 pounds though. UGH. We even got to have some nice family moments this week (dinner at Cheesecake Factory and a trip to the aquarium for my birthday). Jeremy's been so crazy busy with work we haven't seen him much. There are days Lincoln doesn't get to see him at all because he gets home so late, so that makes the family time even more special to me. Jeremy's boss even told him he isn't allowed to check his email for 2 weeks while he's home with me after we have the baby. I've never seen him home 2 weeks straight. It may be a little weird! The aquarium was so much fun. L loved sitting in front of the tanks and watching the fish. I was exhausted by the end of it though. I even finished off the week with a wonderful foot massage with Amber and Beth.
What I miss: Not gaining so much weight every time I go to the doctor. Well, last pregnancy he got onto me for not gaining weight but I sure don't have that problem right now. I also miss being cool. I stay warm most of the time.
What I am looking forward to: sleeping at night again?! Who knows when that will happen though.
Pregnancy rant: I have a million things to do but no desire to do them. What's all the talk about nesting?! I'd rather lay around. I keep being thankful I'm not teaching full time right now. I'm exhausted from doing "nothing" all day. I'm definitely in the phase of being miserable now so the complaining side of me comes out a lot more. I feel huge. My feet are starting to swell more. Nothing fits me. I'm hot all the time. I'm exhausted....

Weekly Update: August 15-21
How far along: 37 weeks--- 1-2 cm; things are still "pretty thick"- Dr. G. which means I'll go again next week. He said there was a study done that 2nd babies come about 4 days earlier than the first baby. If that's true she will come about a week early since L was 3 days early.
How big is baby: She's about 6 1/3 pounds and is running out of room.
Total weight gain: I actually lost 0.4-0.6 pounds since last week's appointment according to their scale (since I'm going every week). I'm still at around 33 pounds up. Seeing those numbers on the scale creep up scare me though.
Maternity clothes: Yes, but some of them don't fit. It's ridiculous. I wear the same 2-3 outfits/skirts all the time. I have some cute dresses that I've been wearing too though.
Cravings: No.
Sleep: I mean, I lay down, but I definitely wake up at least once to go to the bathroom. Once I fall back asleep, there are mornings I want to sleep until 8 or 9, but know I must get up. I've been hungry during the night a few times too so that's no fun.
Movement: Yes. Hiccups (even during my prenatal massage). Flipping around. I've definitely had some uncomfortable pressure in my lower regions in the evenings. Jeremy's been working a lot and late because of all the stuff that needs to get done at school so I'm always super thankful when he gets home because I'm at the point of misery some evenings. She's getting ready, but she hasn't dropped yet. Braxton Hicks.
Best moment this week: I am on the every week doctor's appointments now and got my first "check" this week. I mean, I guess that can be a best moment right? That means we're getting closer to meeting her. They did the strep test, so I hope that comes back negative. I'm 1-2 cm. He said she hasn't dropped yet though. Jeremy also got me a giftcard to get some massages, so I got a prenatal massage this week. Jeremy also asked one of our friends to come over and help me hang some artwork on the nursery wall. It makes me feel much more at ease that her room is pretty much complete other than a chair and a lamp (L broke the lampshade the other day. He knocked over the mattress that was leaning against the bed, because he thought he needed to jump on it, and it hit the lamp and knocked it over which broke one of the metal arms). We've checked off almost everything on the list, so I'm feeling better about things... By the end of week 37, we found a chair. We went to Buy Buy Baby and ended up getting the same one we have in L's room but it's a different color. They said there was a 16 week wait on other colors, so we just went with the gray they had.
What I miss: Not getting frustrated at little things. My temper has been a tad bit short lately (especially with L). He hasn't been listening and so we've had a few tough days where I just wanted to give up.
What I am looking forward to: Holding a sweet baby girl.
Pregnancy rant: I am still in the miserable phase, but I've been better this week about not complaining. I guess my rant this week is that I think the prices of nursery chairs are a bit outrageous. We looked a long time (at quite a few different places for them) and weren't ever satisfied with the prices. Last time our last stop was Buy Buy Baby and we found one. Well, this time we did it again. I don't know why we didn't just go there first. It seems a bit ridiculous to pay $1000 for a chair. I know most are between $500-$700 but it still seems crazy. It's a chair you will use a few years and it probably won't match anything else in your house later on so you have to get rid of it. Along with the crazy price, a 16 week backorder/wait on chairs is a bit excessive too. You'd think if they were that popular then the manufacturers would make more of them so there wasn't that much of a wait.

Weekly Update: August 22-28
How far along: 38 weeks
How big is baby: She's getting close to 7 pounds.
Total weight gain: I lost 2 pounds since last week so I'm back in the number that aren't "so" scary. Since I lost a little, I'm around 30 pounds heavier now. I looked back and laughed because I only gained 13 with L (but I started off weighing more) and ended up around what I am now.
Maternity clothes: Yes. If I saw myself in outfits that weren't maternity, I'd probably laugh at myself! :)
Cravings: Nothing really. I like cold things.
Sleep: I got up a million times during the nights this week to go to the bathroom. I was convinced she "dropped" before my doctor's appointment on Thursday due to the frequent bathroom breaks. It's as if I have insomnia too because I still lay there for about 2-2 1/2 hours in the early morning hours because I can't fall back asleep. Then I want to sleep until 8:30.
Movement: Yes. Every movement imaginable. She has hiccups a lot still too.
Best moment this week: I am yet again glad things are "done" so I can relax the remaining days. I haven't had swollen feet either so that's good! I've had some tough moments as a mother this week but I've also had some really sweet moments with L and with both L and Jeremy. It seems L wants lots of hugs and I'm willing to give them!
What I miss: Not being so exhausted. I feel like I could sleep for days. I also miss my wardrobe being greater than a few things.
What I am looking forward to: I always look forward to the doctor appointments to see how things are going. I know the excitement of not knowing when she will show up is going to start building even more. It makes me a little anxious at times due to me being here with L and J being at work 40 minutes away (without traffic). When I was teaching, I felt like I had a better plan of how to get to the hospital plus I didn't have another child who would have to have a place to go. With both of our families close, we have options, but you never know what time of day it will be or if people will be around. It's an anxious anticipation that we look forward to her arrival.
Pregnancy rant: The doc said I am still around the same place I was last week. That's so sad to me. I thought there might be some better news. He said he'd see me again next week. It's silly to get upset about things like that, but it's still nice to have progress. I guess she just wants to hang out in there for a while longer while her daddy is so busy at work. I didn't ask him if he thought I had "dropped" but I assumed I haven't since everything was pretty much the same (that's as detailed as he got). Now seriously, I have a rant... When it rains it pours. I've been so moody. It's ridiculous. My temper and hormones are going wacko which is funny because I have been pretty stable the whole pregnancy. However, it may be caused by a few things. Let's see. #1 our door knob bolt thing broke this week so we couldn't close the door. Jeremy was great and went to Home Depot and bought a new one and fixed it though so we moved on with our week. Then I noticed ice wouldn't come out of the ice maker. It wouldn't fill up with water to make any so we were completely out of ice. This girl loves ice when she's pregnant so I was so upset. Not to mention, L loves ice now too so he asks for it every time I make him some water. Yeah, imagine explaining a broken ice maker to an almost 2 year old. Then the big things. L started getting bumps around his mouth and I immediately had the thought that it was hand, foot, and mouth. It got worse and he showed other bumps on his body throughout the rest of the weekend. He never had a fever that I know about. We had a fairly good week towards the end of it so I don't know when his fever would have hit but that's supposed to come before the bumps. Well, then while we were staying home from church because of that, we heard the washer start pouring water into it and we were in L's room. Talk about weird! I somehow got it to turn off. Later I decided I'd try to wash some clothes and low and behold it filled up with water and then the motor wouldn't spin the clothes. UGH. Now we have a broken washing machine. I can't complain. The washing machine has been with me for about 11 years (since I moved into my apartment in college and it wasn't brand new then). It's washed quite a few loads of clothes. It just makes me even more moody because that's another thing we have to do/get fixed before the baby comes or I will be stressed out. All this may even put me into labor. I am going to try to rest and pray L gets well before she arrives because that will be so sad if he can't be around her. Maybe that's why she hasn't arrived yet... and maybe she's holding on because she knows this Mum is exhausted and wants everything "perfect" before her arrival. I thought I was all ready and then all of this happened. Ha. She may have a sense of humor and decide to come nonetheless, which will probably be God teaching me a lesson. Now for rest and week 39.

Weekly Update: August 29-September 4
How far along: 39 weeks
How big is baby: She's supposedly about the size of a mini-watermelon and is about 7 1/4 pounds. We'll see what she weighs at birth because I am thinking she's a little bigger than that!
Total weight gain: I went to the doctor and the scale said I lost a little bit more. I guess I'll end around 30 pounds though.
Maternity clothes: Yes. Yes. Yes.... well if they are dirty, it's a no because our washing machine broke.
Cravings: I've actually wanted some (cold) sweet things lately. I don't know if it's because of the stress or because I want cold things. Jeremy's grandparents brought over two bags of ice this week since our ice machine is still broken. It's been wonderful to have ice again. I find it interesting how so many people crave all these things and weird combinations of foods while pregnant, but I haven't really ever had a craving like those.
Sleep: I sleep but I'm awake much of the night too. I go to the bathroom a million times these days or if somehow I make it more than a few hours before waking up, I feel as if I may not make it to the bathroom! There are some days where I get about 8-9 hours of sleep though. Most nights I am up for about 2+ hours straight because I can't go back to sleep. This week I've also been hot at night. I have to have covers over me but I am miserable because I get hot as I wrap myself around the body pillow. One night I touched Jeremy with my foot and he said he never felt me so hot before.
Movement: Yes. She may force her way out due to all the movement. I think she dropped. My legs have been hurting and I've been feeling even more pressure. The doc said she's definitely ready to come out, we are just waiting.
Best moment this week: I've had some sweet moments with L this week. He's been very "lovey" and has wanted to hug me a lot. He follows me like a little puppy most of the day too but we've had some good laughs and fun times playing too. I know he will be a great big brother even though I'm super nervous about the transition. We got the pretty much the rest of the stuff on the registry from Jeremy's dad and then we made a few purchases for our photoshoot too so now it's go time. The washing machine has been purchased/delivered and the basinet is set up in our room too so all that's left is for her to come.
What I miss: I miss how easy things used to be (shaving, putting on shoes, bending over...). L usually sits on top of my stomach these days, which Jeremy thinks is pretty funny. He said that you can't tell from the back that I'm pregnant, but my stomach is quite large and always finds a way to run into things.
What I am looking forward to: I am excited about meeting her. The doc (on Thursday, September 1st) that he thought she'd be here early Friday morning. He also was going to the lake all weekend and it's an hour drive to the hospital so it would make it easier if I had gone into labor before he went to the lake. He also said that if he couldn't make it, that another doctor at the hospital would have to deliver her. I don't plan when I go into labor, but I'm glad I'm not worried about who delivers her. I know it's okay either way.
Pregnancy rant: The waiting game is one of the hardest things. When a doc tells you he thinks you will have the baby, it's hard not to get your hopes up high and then nothing. I know he was just saying what he thought but I definitely have a hard time sleeping when I'm thinking about something like that. Maybe she was waiting for things to calm down here at home since we had a million things that happened lately. (On top of everything last week- this week my uncle passed away). We wait patiently. On another note, it's been so hot lately. I don't know if it's because I'm pregnant or not, but I've been miserable to be around when I'm outside (other than in the pool). L seems to want to be outside all the time but I can't even think about wanting to be outside at all. We have been swimming a few times this week and the water is still warm. It's quite impressive.

Weekly Update: September 5-11
How far along: 40 weeks... well I didn't honestly think I'd do this part of the post due to what Dr. G said on Thursday, but here I am starting another week. I truly can't believe it. She's hanging in there. I didn't even make a doctor's appointment this week because I was sure she'd come by now. I called on Tuesday, the 6th and got an out of the office message, then I got a mailbox is full message. I called again Wednesday and got an appointment for 12:30... that got moved to 1:45 (because he was delivering a baby- since I already made arrangements for Jeff to keep Lincoln I goofed around Athens)... that got moved to 2:45 (so I hung out at Jana's house until then.... but I waited until after 4 and they said he'd still be about 30 minutes and there were people in front of me. Then I got a call from Jeremy saying he'd been in a wreck so I ended up leaving. They couldn't even find my chart because they had it in the "delivered" pile. I still got weighed, did a urine sample, and blood pressure check since I was there and told them I had to leave. They told me if I hadn't had her by Friday to call back and make an appointment. I'm thinking all this will put me into labor!
How big is baby: She's probably 8 1/2-9 pounds now, but we will find out when she comes...
Total weight gain: I've gained about 30 pounds still. I keep fluctuating up and down around the 30-32 pound mark.
Maternity clothes: Yes. I wear my athletic clothes and dresses as much as I can because they prove to provide the most comfort. I've had more comments the past two weeks about my belly though (well I have been in more "gatherings" that cause people to look twice). Someone came up to me Tuesday night and say that I'm one of those people that make other's jealous b/c I'm small. I feel huge right now. Other people (Cary and Jana-- both said it this week) say it's like I truly have a basketball under my shirt.
Cravings: Nothing really. This may be really strange but we got some liquid fabric softener that smells so good. I told Jeremy I don't crave food, I crave to smell that nice clean smell!
Sleep: I have been super tired around 8 or 8:30 and have gotten in bed. I sleep through the night other than some bathroom breaks but I wake up and am exhausted. A few nights I've been up for a few hours in the middle of the night with some contractions and hunger pains too. I have a hard time keeping my eyes open when I get up and often want to take a nap. I did get a few naps in this week.
Movement: Yes. She doesn't seem to have too much room to move around these days. My stomach is super tight. She's definitely lower because the upper part of my stomach is a little less firm than the rest of it.
Best moment this week: I have had the hardest time coming up with the best moment. I had a really good day with L one day. We had so much fun together and he was well behaved. I'm soaking in moments like this with him. Jeremy made the comment about how L won't ever remember a time without having his sister around since he's so young. This is so true, but I will. I want to cherish these sweet moments with our family of 3. We've had lots of laughs this week as we've watched him be silly (rolling his eyes up in his head, acting like he was swimming on the tile bathroom floor, walking across the floor on just his knees...).
What I miss: My ability to not be so anxious about when she will come. I wish I could relax until she came, but I feel on edge with every little thing. I think about whether or not she's moving enough. I think about whether or not it will be when Jeremy's at work/people are around to keep L. My mind is in constant thinking mode and it wears me out.
What I am looking forward to: I of course want to meet her, see the look Jeremy has when he meets her for the first time, and see what L does when he meets her too. I just don't know when we will get to meet her or if we will get to meet her before my scheduled induction day. I don't even know how long I might be in labor due to being induced too so that is also something I get to think about as I wait.
Pregnancy rant: Due dates are a funny thing. They are an expected time of arrival for a child but children come whenever God really wants them to come. Over the past week, I've heard myself talk about the waiting period so many times. Maybe she's waiting on Jeremy to finish ____ at work. Maybe she's waiting on L to have less bumps around his mouth because I'm so worried about pictures. Maybe she didn't want to interrupt Dr. G's Labor Day weekend plans at the lake and is waiting for him to get home so he doesn't have to drive back and forth/get a call while he's having family time. Maybe she's waiting for our washer to get fixed. Maybe she's waiting on the new washer and dryer to arrive at the house. Maybe she's waiting on my mom to finish all 10 of her appointments on Saturday. Maybe she's waiting for all the football games to end this weekend. Maybe she's waiting on Jeremy to finish church stuff on Sunday. Maybe she's waiting until Labor Day (her due date). Maybe she's waiting for me to celebrate the 4 family birthdays we have planned on Labor Day. Maybe she's waiting for Daddy's birthday on Tuesday the 6th/Jeremy's great-grandmother's birthday was also that day. Our front door lock is now broken, so I could add, maybe she's waiting on that to get fixed. Then I could add, maybe she's waiting on things to settle down after Jeremy's wreck (carseats technically shouldn't be used, he lost his wedding ring (found later)...) No matter what, I can find reasons for why she may be "waiting" or why she hasn't arrived yet. I can say she's a super sweet and thoughtful girl thinking of all these things too, but that makes me laugh because truly I know it's in His timing that she will come. Maybe all of this has happened to make us see we must keep our eyes on Him and that these little things are so tiny in comparison of how great He is and how he brings life into the world. Maybe He will use her in so many amazing ways in His kingdom, but these things have happened to try to get us down and not give Him the glory he deserves as he has helped grow this human inside of me. I don't really know what's going on. I do know the past few weeks have been the most challenging we've had as a married couple. The attacks have been real. I feel bogged down because I am not bringing money into the household yet all of the things that keep coming up seem to be in relation to things we are going to have to purchase or fix. Sigh. If she came earlier, maybe none of this would have happened, but then again, His plan is perfect so there's some reason why all of this happened.

I decided not to write about week 41, because on the first day of week 41 we got to welcome a new member into our family.