Hello, Love.

18 Jun

Today we got to see our baby girl for the last time before she joins us on the outside. I have been really worried that she is breech because I am feeling hiccups really high up. Our midwife thought she was head down based on feeling my belly but we wanted to be sure. She is head down and ready to go! She has hair and this sonographer made no mention of a “huge” baby like they did when I went in with Caleb at this time in my pregnancy with him. There was also a great amount of fluid (I had excess with Caleb and when my water broke, it was like a flood).

The best part? We got to see her face! I started bawling when I saw her. I am just so excited to meet her. Here she is looking right at you. Her head is on the right and she is laying sideways in the pic. I am officially in love.

Baby Face

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Orange Slice Nursery Paint

16 Jun

We picked a color! It’s crazy bright, guys. It wasn’t one of the first three we painted and we knew we wanted to go bright- so we went back and got more samples. It’s been an interesting task and is taking us a lot longer than planned but we are chugging along!

We started here:

paint

We weren’t in love with any of those three colors. While I did love the berry color- I was really set on orange. I had been thinking about orange from the moment I found out I was pregnant. So we went back and got more samples.

paint 2

I threw in that bright green just to see how I felt about it. I was still jonesin’ for orange. We made sure to paint two coats so we could see how it actually looked and make a firm decision. We did end up picking on of these colors. Bottom left. It’s called Orange Slice by Valspar. It has a nice mix of orange but there is also a bit of red in it so makes it appear a bit more coral. You can see a little sample below:

paint 3

I know not a lot of people would choose to go so bright for a baby’s room but since we are doing bead board wallpaper on the lower walls like we did in Caleb’s room (which I still need to update since we’re 90% done!) we knew a bright color would be A-OK. You can tell from the picture above that there is visible paint under the wallpaper- but that’s OK because we have to paint a coat of white paint on the wallpaper anyway. That means it’ll disappear.

Ty has been painting the trim white and that’s an arduous task and now that the second coat of paint is on the walls I can start hanging wallpaper (yeah, I only have one strip on the walls right now). The longest process is marking where the wallpaper will end and then going around the room and ensuring the line is level and straight. That line is crucial in assuring the wallpaper looks straight and plum, so I spend a lot of time working on that.

Because the room is so bright, we are keeping a lot of the art really basic and white. I bought a gorgeous pink mirror from Home Goods for $34 and just spray painted it white, so that will look really nice in there too. Every time I go in there I feel happy so I cannot wait to see the finished product!

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Salt Dough Ladybug Ornaments

27 May

Pretty simple and basic.

ladybugs

1. Make salt dough. (You can find the recipe anywhere online.)

2. Cut out shapes. (I used shot glasses and regular size glasses to make the circles and then just sort of shaped them with my fingers)

3. Bake salt dough.

4. Decorate. I used acrylic paints and then sprayed it with a high gloss top coat to make them really shiny.

5. Add googly eyes.

6. Enjoy!

008

I haven’t 100% decided what I am going to do with these– but for now, I have them hanging from our ornament tree.

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Caleb Says…

23 May

Sprayground

(While pooping Caleb likes privacy)
Caleb: Mommy, leave please. Mommy go out window.

(As I put him to bed the other night I was struggling to grab his book)
Me: Oy, Caleb, mommy’s tired and moves slow.
Caleb: You have to be patient with mommy.
(He actually says this at random times when I am, apparently, not quick enough)

Tyler: Caleb, no throwing balls in the house!
Caleb: ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?

Me: Do you want corn on the cobb with dinner?
Caleb: YEAH! I want corn on the hot dog cobb.

021

Me: Give me your leg so I can wash off the bubble paint.
Caleb: Mommy, it not your leg!

(While putting Caleb to bed)
Me: Do you want me to sing Twinkle Twinkle or Apples and Bananas?
Caleb: I want you to sing We Will Wock You and Nother’ Bites the Dust.

Caleb: I want to play bubbles with baby sister. Mommy, blow bubbles with belly?

(Driving up to Starbucks)
Caleb: Mommy I see it! There’s cake pop building!

Caleb: I want to drink the water in mommy’s belly.

Caleb: I want some hard scrambled eggs.

(Upon first waking up)
Caleb: I chase butterflies today. I can touch them. No touch bees. I touch butterflies and spiderwebs!

Caleb: I want the Belly Button Book. Tell Daddy go to Costco and get it in morning?

Caleb: Mommy white and Caleb black.

Caleb: Daddy have to go to work. Daddy need to get monies with screwdriver.

bubbles

(After sleeping with us in our bed all night)
Caleb: I snuggle baby sister in mommy’s bed!

(Caleb is struggling with the difference between “with” and “on” and gets confused and says things like when he wants me to get right next to him)
Caleb: Mommy lay on me. Mommy sit on me.

Caleb: Mommy, I want to go to zoo.
Me: OK, we should go right before baby sister comes.
Caleb: No. I don’t want baby sister to go. Only mommy and daddy. Baby sister stay home and take shower by self.

Caleb: I want to make some popcorn. (It was 7am)
Me: It’s too early.
Caleb: (yelling) I GO STRAIGHT TO BED!

Caleb: I talk to Daddy when he gets home from work and tell him about school.

(After telling him our friend was in a plane)
Caleb: (pointing at the sky): I SEE DERRICK IN SKY!!! He flying a plane!!!

(Playing basketball one morning)
Me: Do you want me to shoot the ball or pass it to you?
Caleb: Mommy shoot me.

Caleb: I coughing; I almost throw up. Mommy hold me like baby and rub back?

(Holding pliers)
Caleb: Come’ere Bubby, I wanna cut your toes.

Caleb: Oh! There’s a garbage truck. Mommy, I need to drive it.

(During a thunder and lightning storm)
Caleb: Mommy, what’s that!?
Me: That’s just thunder.
Caleb: (whining) NOT WANT THUNDER!
Me: It’s OK, it’s all gone.
Caleb: (whining) I WANT THUNDER!

(When he wants Ty to chase him and play hide and seek)
Caleb: Daddy, run you?

Caleb: No pet bees. Bees give owies. I pet butterflies. I want to touch them.

(Driving next to a Coca-Cola truck)
Caleb: Mommy, that’s yilk!
Me: Yeah, that’s icky.
Caleb: Don’t drink that. People drink that. Daddy drinks that!

Me: Caleb, are you going to snuggle your baby sister?
Caleb: No. Not want baby sister.
Me: You don’t want her now!? She’s gonna be here soon.
Caleb: NOT WANT BABY SISTER!014

He’s a multi-tasker

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Pregnancy Two- Part III

8 May

If you are interested, here are weeks 3-12 and weeks 13-20.

21 weeks21 weeks:
Cravings: Fruit. Subway veggie sandwich.

  • I had a dime size blood clot the day I hit 21 weeks. It scared me so bad. Thankfully, I called our midwife and she said it was probably part of the SCH I had early on working its way out. There were no cramps or blood after that so I am very happy that was the only incident.
  • Still getting nauseated at night.
  • I am also starting to get heartburn. Yippee.
  • More and more people are asking if I’m pregnant now. You can see the fear in their eyes as they ask, knowing I could actually be pregnant and risking the possibility that maybe I’ve been eating way too many waffles.
  • Still having hip pain at night. The pubic bone pain seems to be most aggravated after sex. That’s the truth! Otherwise, I rarely notice it.
  • This girl is kicking my bladder now. She kicks so hard in the evenings and kicks me every time I put Caleb to bed. It’s like she already knows her goal is to keep Caleb awake.
  • I felt hiccups for the first time!
  • Still no names picked out. People keep asking. We have no short list like we did with Caleb. In fact, I think Caleb was named at this point.

22 weeks:
Cravings/Aversions: I’m sill not the biggest fan of meat. I’ve really been into peanut butter/banana sandwiches.

  • I am getting a lot of strong kicks now. In fact, she kicks consistently every few hours when I finally sit down.
  • Hip pain has been really bad at night and I end up tossing and turning a lot.
  • I got the nasty head cold that has been going around from Caleb. I’ve been congested for days.
  • This is the first week where the baby has actually woken me up kicking me.
  • Hiccups! I remember this feeling well. Truthfully, they really annoy me but it makes me happy baby is practicing breathing.

23 weeks:
Cravings: Tomato/avocado sandwiches

  • It seems like I had a few weeks without any pubic bone pain and now it’s back. I’ve been running myself ragged with work and home so I think it is totally related. I need to lay low for a while.
  • I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned my intensely dry skin yet. It’s been so dry since about 17 weeks. I seriously have to moisturize my face two times/day (normally, I have really oily skin).
  • Lots more hiccuping this week.
  • Still congested.
  • I had a trace amount of protein in my urine at my appointment so hopefully it’s nothing.

24 weeks:
Cravings: Fruits and salads.

  • My hip and pelvic pain have been really bad this week. Especially at night. I bought a support belt but it’s freaking uncomfortable so I am just going to have to work myself into getting use to it.
  • The baby kicked and it moved my arm! Now I can see her movement from the outside. So cool! Sometimes I can feel movement on the side of my stomach and at the other side, so I know she is stretching out and kicking/punching/headbutting me from all angles.
  • My breasts are starting to leak colostrum. Nothing big more like one drop I noticed after my shower one day. This happened with Caleb but not until late in the 3rd trimester.
  • Can she hear? I think so. She really responds to Caleb’s voice.
  • I feel hiccups every day now.
  • Name is confirmed. Isla! (Pronounced like “island”, but without the “d”.

25 weeks:
Cravings: Fruits, salads and Subway veggie sandwiches

  • I am starting to feel kicks really high up, like 2 inches above my belly button. It’s so weird to feel since I’ve been so use to feeling movement down low in my pelvis.
  • I am HOT. This has actually been going on for a few weeks but this week has been the most noticeable. I sweat and my face turns red like a whine-o. I have no way of gauging how warm/cool a room is because I am almost always roasting.
  • Hey, guess what sucks? My butt is bigger. I already have a big butt so this is something that is really bothering me. It’s not getting wider, it’s getting bubblier (is that a word!?). What the heck is this baby doing to me!? The other day Caleb walked up to me and kissed my butt and then turned me around and kissed my belly. I really think he got confused :(
  • No hip or pubic pain! YAY!

26 weeks:

  • No hip or pubic pain for two weeks! Yay!
  • I’m having really weird pains like constipation is back. I am also getting full quickly and not able to eat as much .

27 weeks:

  • I spoke to soon. My hip pain is back at night.
  • This week I had my glucose tolerance test. I also had trace protein in my urine again. Not enough to be concerned and my blood pressure is excellent so I don’t know what’s going on. I passed the glucose test with flying colors BUT I have borderline anemia. This really busts my butt because at the beginning of pregnancy my iron was really good (for the first time in probably 6 years, which is really amazing for me [I thank juicing for that]) so it felt like defeat when I found out I’m anemic. Boo…now I have to start chugging the Floradix.
  • I’ve been getting a lot of pains in my stomach (they feel like round ligament stretching) but I’m assuming it’s Braxton Hicks contractions because I only get them when I over-exert myself. I never had Braxton Hicks (that I could feel) with Caleb so I have no idea what those feel like. They go away when I drink water and rest right away but it is really uncomfortable.
  • The baby is measuring right on. She moves so much these days. In fact, the movements are so strong that I sometimes gasp and I can feel her pushing with her arms and kicking with her feet. Most of this happens in the middle of the night.
  • Hello 3rd trimester! Ive gained a total of 13lbs.

28 weeks:

  • Caleb was sick again this week (cold and ruptured ear drum). The second he felt better I got sick. The cough is really painful and my head is throbbing. I had really bad sleep issues because of this and probably only got about 6-7 hrs of sleep in 2 days. I finally went to the doctor and have bronchitis and a head cold so I have to take some antibiotics. Not happy about that but it’s for the best.
  • I had really bad gas/heartburn for the first time ever. My chest felt like there was a lump in it and my stomach was achy. Thankfully, it only lasted the second half of the day.
  • My belly button area is starting to hurt. Its about to pop out and each time I laugh I can feel it protruding (gross, huh?)

29 weeks:

  • I have nothing to really update this week except for the fact that I am sick. My cough is horrendous and I worry this poor baby is not getting any sleep because of it! The antibiotics FINALLY started to work but what stunk was that the annoying part went from being bronchitis to a sinus infection with massive headaches. Thank god for Tyler letting me take naps and my students’ willingness to hang out and watch videos because I couldn’t/didn’t want to talk.
  • Not sure if it’s sickness related but I have been really really cranky. Poor Tyler gets the brunt of it all. It’s been bad and the mood swings are super exciting.
  • I can now feel actual body parts of the baby in my belly. I can tell where her butt is and usually where her feet are. This was one of my favorite things when pregnant with Caleb and I still love it. It makes me feel so much more connected to her. Her arm is still in my low abdomen/groin so I get a lot of pinching feelings but thankfully, no rib kicks yet (I never once had rib kicks with Caleb so I wonder if I will get them this time)!

30 weeks:
Cravings: Fruit and veggies…and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

  • Lots of abdominal tightening/soreness.
  • My hip has started hurting again. Not every night, thankfully, but more than it has in weeks.
  • I have had a few cramps that were a little worrisome. Nothing major and they went away but it was still weird/scary.
  • Bloody nose every single morning. Well, it’s not a real bloody nose, but every morning I blow my nose and all that comes out is blood.
  • I haven’t been very hungry lately which is weird. I normally NEED breakfast (even when I am not pregnant) and eating in the morning is grossing me out. I try to make it to lunch by eating a banana. Apparently, I need to up my food game and really start eating more (and more protein).
  • I mowed the lawn and for the first time in weeks and I started to feel public pain again. NO! It’s hurt for 2 days now. Hoping it’ll go away soon.
  • I’ve also encountered the point where total strangers say things to me. Things like “I can spot that pregnancy walk from a mile away” or “not too much longer” or “are you sure you will make it to the end of the quarter”.
  • Baby is growing right on track. She is moving a lot but she is nowhere near as active as Caleb was. We are hoping– really hoping she will be a chill kid…

30 weeks

(That’s a shadow, not a hairy armpit)

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Back to the Drawing Board

1 May

I got some paint samples for the baby’s room. I really wanted to do a bright orange color since we are going to do the same white bead board wallpaper in that room as we are doing in Caleb’s.

The colors after 1 coat: paint

 

The colors after 2 coats: paint 2

I like the really vivid orange but it looks a lot like I chopped open a pumpkin and threw its guts on our wall. Ty and I like the red/rose color but it’s a little too dark for us (we’ll probably put that in the closet). The lighter orange is really nice but I think the nude undertones make it bland.

For now, we’re going back to get more samples. Hopefully we’ll find one that sings to us.

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My Foreign Body

21 Apr

The other night, as I got ready to take a shower, I looked down at my body and thought “who’s body is this!?” Let me start by saying that I am not freaking out about my pregnant body I am just sort of in awe of it. This pregnancy is so very different from my pregnancy with Caleb. Maybe it’s because I am older and the changes are affecting me more or maybe it’s because I am chasing a toddler and working (I didn’t work the 3rd trimester when I was pregnant with Caleb because I had the summer off) or maybe it’s just because my pregnant body is different this time.

I sort of thought it would be the exact same experience. I should have known once the horrendous morning sickness kicked in that this one would be different. With Caleb, I felt glorious and beautiful. Seriously, I felt amazing and thought I looked amazing too. This time, I just feel really tired. I remember one time when I was pregnant with Caleb, I was in Target and I was really pregnant. I dropped something, picked it up and a woman said “how did you do that!?” I said, “do what!?” I had no idea that bending over was tough. I told her I have a long torso so there was a lot of room for the baby to move. I bragged about how easily I could shave my legs too. Now I realize, it might have been so easy because Caleb was breech up until about 35 weeks. It didn’t hurt to bend over because his mass was so high up in my belly. This time, I’m in my 28th week and bending over is killer sometimes. And sometimes it hurts! This baby has been head down the entire time and I feel her bulk in my lower abdomen, so bending over is rough, especially because I swear I feel her hand jabbing me when I try to bend.

I don’t feel beautiful like I did with Caleb either. I am sweaty in class, I get winded and I feel really tired most of the time (thankfully I just found out I am anemic so that might explain some things). I got hot with Caleb but that was at the end of my pregnancy during July and August. This time I am sweaty in the Pacific Northwest in April.

My nipples are bigger and darker too. These things didn’t happen last time. My breasts got bigger but that’s it. I look at my breasts now and think “these babies are built for food”. They don’t look like my breasts…they look like they belong to someone else. I sometimes stare at them because I have never seen them before on my body and I am not use to them. My butt is bigger this time too. Not wider, but bubblier (is that a word?) I already have a big butt so adding more is not my idea of fun. I feel like I am carrying a baby in my belly and my butt. A butt baby.

So what’s better this time? My nose isn’t getting bigger! This is definitely different. With Caleb, my nose got wider and so far that hasn’t happened. Yahoo! I am also still wearing my wedding rings. I do get swelling but my rings still comfortably fit. I had to take them off around 30 weeks with Caleb because my fingers were too swollen. I am able to squat a lot more this time. Not necessarily something that people can see but I try to do the hunter-gatherer squats as much as possible and I am really hopeful these will help in labor and delivery. (Getting up from the squat is always a challenge because I’m off balance).

The other day Caleb’s teacher told me I was blooming beautifully. I decided that this is the only way we should address pregnant women; it made me feel good. I have 80 days to go until our estimated due date. I imagine it will only get more intense. I am getting really excited to me this little girl but I am also really nervous and it feels sort of surreal.

28 weeks

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