25 wks 3 days - BGB2 Bumpdate

Not really a fan of my facial expression here but it's a good pic of the bump. And I got lots of compliments on the sweater when I posted the below pic on FB. A great Target find and gift from baby daddy for Christmas. 

It SHOULD Be Easy!

Shouldn't blogging be easier? I have an iPhone for goodness sake! I capture pictures on my phone almost daily. Yet I haven't posted on this blog or my other blog in months. It's the same old story - I just don't take the time to do it. I read so many other blogs but won't take the time to keep up with my own. Maybe it's b/c of all of the other social media outlets - Facebook and Instagram specifically.

I'm 5 months pregnant with our 2nd girl and I've BARELY blogged about it. I haven't taken the weekly pics I had hoped to take when I found out we were going to have another baby. We have about 15 weeks to go before we I bring this sweet baby girl into the world and this blog wouldn't know it!

Maybe in 2014 I'll do better. Maybe not. But it will still sit here, waiting for posts about our life with Aubrey and BGB2. That IS why I started this blog anyway - to keep up with our life as parents.

SO for now, I'll leave you with a few pics from my phone that were taken over the Christmas holiday! Enjoy.

Baking Cookies!

And eating M&Ms

Waiting to leave for church

Christmas Eve 2013

Christmas Eve 2013

Santa Came!

The Dreaded Question - 9.16.13

Are you pregnant?

Well... It happened. I was asked if I was pregnant and I had to bold face lie to her. Something I am not taking pride in. But our parents don't even know yet. 

Tomorrow we have our first ultrasound and once we receive affirmation that everything is moving along as it should, we will start sharing our news. Family first. 

So I am sorry to the person I had to lie to, I do hope you will understand when I end up telling you that you were right. 

Biscuits - 9.12.13

Biscuits. I crave them. I had Steve buy some ready made frozen biscuits so I can just pop them in the oven one at a time when I want one. So far I've eaten them with actual meals though, not because I was craving one and had to have it that moment! 

But what prompted this post? I'm craving one of those biscuits. And I may just run home for lunch to make one. :-)

I went home. I baked these. They took a while so I had to bring them back to work with me.  But don't they look so good? And the jam? Freshly canned by my friend and coworker Doris. Delicious. 

The Constant Bad Taste -9.6.11

The constant bad taste in my mouth? Yeah. I could do without it. It's as if I've eaten sour candy and the taste won't go away. I recall this happening with Aubrey too. It's not enjoyable. But I guess this has to be better than throwing up! Praying that doesn't start for me. I was spared from getting sick with Aubrey and hope I'm spared with this pregnancy too! Whew!

I do have moments of an unsettled stomach. I try to munch frequently to keep the feeling at bay. I can't think of anything that sounds good to eat. So meal times are a bit of a struggle right now. 

11 days and counting until our first ultrasound! Can't wait!!

Pregnancy Confirmation - 8.21.13

"Well you can't get anymore pregnant that that!"

Today I met with a midwife to confirm my pregnancy. Simply meaning I peed in a cup and they ran a professional pregnancy test on it. Don't know if they're able to check the hormone levels or what b/c the comment "MWA" (that's what we'll call the midwife) made when she walked in made me think there must be some sort of level that was high.

It was a quick appt. I was able to ask some questions that I had and we made an appt. for me to have our first ultrasound to make sure everything is progressing as it should and also meet with Dr. F (my fave) to discuss the plan for this pregnancy. With Aubrey, I had to take blood thinner injections due to my Factor V Leiden. I'm sure the plan will follow the same as my pregnancy w/ Aubrey, but MWA wanted me to meet with Dr. F to make sure. For now, I'm taking a baby aspirin daily.

I am also considered AMA (advanced maternal age) b/c I'm 35. Higher risk for women once they're 35, and apparently now there is a blood test that can tell you the gender at 10 weeks (as well as test for chromosomal disorders)!! I have 2 friends that have been able to have this test done to find out they're having BOYS! Wonder if we'll follow that trend?

So I have the ultrasound scheduled for Tuesday, 9/17. It feels like that is forever away, but I'm sure it will be here before we know it. Steve will join me for that appt as well (and all others following).

Once we have that appt., we will plan to share the news with our parents. And BB Squared is the size of a sweet pea. Amazing that in a just a few short weeks, baby has gone from the size of a poppy seed to the size of a sweet pea!

Prayers for a Friend - 8.15.13

One of my dear friends had her 8 week pregnancy appointment today and sadly found out via ultrasound that the baby stopped thriving around 5 weeks gestation. She is hoping her body will take care of this naturally. Lifting her up in my prayers. My heart hurts for her and her family. :-(

Pregnancy is so scary. There are so many unknowns. My friend has a strong faith and good attitude about it. She believes, just as I do, that everything really does happen for a reason.

I try to remain optimistic and feel that I'm much less stressed about this pregnancy than I was with AG. Likely because my pregnancy with AG was following a miscarriage, so I was on high alert. But I do have some not-so-positive thoughts about this pregnancy that creep into my mind and I pray daily that I have a healthy pregnancy and healthy baby. This is in God's hands. This is His doing. His creation. I am blessed to carry a baby in His name. Thank you Lord.

One Week Later - 8.15.13

One week later since a positive pregnancy test.

Still not many symptoms. Maybe some mild morning sickness. And I mean mild.

Still no period. Officially 4 days late.

Called to go ahead and schedule an 8 week appt. with the midwifery group that my OB practice started right at the end of my pregnancy with Aubrey. I figure we could go down that route with this pregnancy. They've changed things up a bit though since my pregnancy with Aubrey. Now they bring you in prior to the 8 week appt. for a pregnancy confirmation appt and they go over insurance and pregnancy prep stuff. So I scheduled that for next Wednesday.

I tell myself daily "holy crap, you're pregnant". Gonna be a fun ride!

An Orange Seed - 8.12.13

Still so early in the pregnancy but I'm 4 weeks along. Don't have any pregnancy symptoms I don't think. Baby is the size of an orange seed.

Girls weekend was great! We had a small group (9 of us) and I drank odouls all weekend. Someone who's the party starter and not drinking will always raise some questions, so I informed my besties that I had in fact, taken a pregnancy test and that thing came up positive. What is funny is that 3 of our friends announced their pregnancy in the last 2 weeks and another friend announced over the weekend. We will have 2 new babies in our group come February, 2 in March and 1 (mine) in April. 5 pregnant friends!! What's even more funny is that the other 2 friends I was pregnant with when I was carrying Aubrey was Kory and Kristina and they are the 2 due in March! I informed the rest of our girls weekend crew via email but asked to keep it off of Facebook. Our parents don't even know!

Hope to come up with a fun way to tell them. I did go ahead and buy AG a "big sister" shirt. But it's a 3T. Lol. Gonna be a little large. Maybe she can wear it as a dress with a cute little belt!

Pictures...a few of my faves - 1 year, 8 months old

History Just May Be Repeating Itself - 8.1.13

Back in 2011, I had a trip planned to Charlotte to visit with friends and drinking was going to be involved. Steve and I had suffered a miscarriage the November prior and had been trying to get pregnant again for 3 months. I wasn't having any pregnancy symptoms and I wasn't "late" yet, but just to be safe, I decided to take a pregnancy test. I would have hated to have found out I was pregnant after a weekend of drinking. Well, long story short, the test result was positive. And now we have a beautiful baby girl who is almost 2!!

Fast forward to today. I leave tomorrow for my semi-annual girls weekend and of course there will be drinking involved. How many people take pregnancy tests revolved around drinking? Anyway, Steve and I weren't exactly careful the last month and so to be safe (again), I decided to take a test. Steve ran out to buy one, along with some ice cream and I took the test this morning. FULLY EXPECTING the test to come back negative, I peed on the stick. 

To my surprise, that darn thing starting displaying a cross sign for positive. Well I'll be damned. Monday will mark me officially being "late". I will refrain from alcohol this weekend with the girls. 

I'll call the doc next week for an appt in a month or so. Pretty exciting and crazy all at the same time! AG is gonna be a BIG SISTER!

Now...what's a fun way to tell the parents and then friends and family?

Some Recent Pictures

You're going to be 18 mo. tomorrow and I can hardly believe it! Here are some recent pics. 

  

The Cute Things You Say

Aubrey
You are just the cutest thing on this green earth. You are becoming quite vocal, babbling away in your toddler talk. I'm looking forward to the day I can decipher what you're trying to say. You have a good bit of words in your vocabulary so far.

Reese, Daaaa (Dog), Please, Amen, Dada, daddy, Mama, Mommy, Up, Down, ehlo (hello), hi, da do (thank you), byyyeee (while waving your hand), peese, twinkle twinkle, ashes, ashes, NO (while pointing your finger), shhhhh (when dog barks), beach, shells, nonna, bite...

I know I'm leaving out do many more but these are the most common. 

It's so fun watching how your mind works. You are so smart. We love you. 

Jace's 3rd Birthday Party

Painting on the Paint Wall

Crawling through the tubes

Swinging in the bear swing

Aubrey attended her first official birthday party on Sunday (not counting her own). It was held at an outdoor adventure park called Three Bears Acres. They had a lot of activities, mainly geared towards older children, but AG still had fun exploring and swinging in the super cute bear swing.

This could be a place she really enjoys when she gets older. They even have paddle boats!

Steve thought it would be fun to create a paint wall on the fence of our next home. Great idea!

a few pics from the weekend!

Easter 2013

Thanks to Leslie for capturing this adorable shot!

15 Mo. Checkup for AG

Pat Pat Reese Kitty

AG proudly carrying 31 thermal totes

In the waiting room at doc office

Sitting with her feet crossed. So cute!

Yesterday's checkup for AG went great. She continues to grow steadily, with her head and weight falling in the 50th percentile and height in the 75th. Doc was pleased with her progress and had no concerns. She weighs 21.7 lbs.

Pics from the Weekend - 2.17.13

A few moments documented by pics!

Peek-a-boo!

Some NC Snow - Maiden

AG & PaPa Lou - hanging on the stairs (her fave)

She loves these boots (and her bunny)!

Shopping at Tanger Outlets - kissy kissy!

Exploring with Nonna Jo - Saks 5th Avenue!

"Just before you decided to walk!" on Vimeo

2 nights ago, Aubrey and I were in her room playing before bedtime. I was waiting on my awesome neighbor Jen to come over and look at something medically related with Aubrey, so I had her stripped down to her diaper. She was talking away and I wanted to try and capture it on video. Of course once I hit record, she pretty much stopped, but I kept recording what she was doing anyway.


Jen came over, checked out AG and we let her play some more while we talked. She was all over the place, here and there, and at one point she was standing at the door. She turned around and just started walking! We've been waiting for this. A few months ago, she would throw tantrums if you didn't help her walk. She could do it, assisted with one hand or even one finger!! But she wouldn't let go. Then she decided, "walking is for the birds!" and back to crawling she went. We did capture her taking 10 steps just after her 1st birthday.

That video is here:
First Steps

She's been content with crawling for a month, at least, but she has been standing independently more frequently. And of course she's been walking assisted all over the place - using the couch, her zebra walking toy...anything that will give her some assistance.



She "walked" 2-3 more times and I even called Steve upstairs to witness it - and he did. It was very exciting!

I don't have her walking on video yet, but i DO have the video of her JUST BEFORE she took those wonderful steps on her own.

The video is pretty boring, I won't lie.  Enjoy!
Just before you decided to walk!

Solution to the Head Slump!

I purchased a product that got mixed reviews, but it's a pillow that is supposed to keep your baby's head from slumping forward (see previous post). Looks like it works (for now)! Yippee!