The year in review...

So I saw this list of questions on a blog recently for expectant moms as a "year in review" template. So, why not?

1. Where were you/who were you with when you got your BFP (big fat positive)?

At home. I woke up to tend to Ellie and took a test before I went in to get her. It looked negative at first glance, and honestly, we had just started with the "whatever happens, happens" stuff, so I wasn't surprised. I got Ellie back down, popped in to look at the test, and the second line was there. So I woke Ryan up and asked him if he had plans for February.

2. What has been your greatest challenge this pregnancy?

Being a good mom to Ellie and still getting the rest I need to grow this little person. Especially in the first trimester when my thyroid was out of whack and now in the third trimester when I am huge and tired

3. What has been your greatest achievement/accomplishment this pregnancy?

Being calmer for the most part and my body working better (not dealing with GD, blood pressure issues to this point, etc.). 

4. How did you decide your lo's name? (Team green/undecided: How will you choose your name?)

I've loved the first name for awhile, but we had a really hard time picking out a middle name. Going into the anatomy scan, we had a first name picked for a girl and some ideas for a boy, but nothing concrete.

5. What is the most invaluable gift you have received? (physical or otherwise)

Hmmm...non-physical is definitely the love/support from Ryan. He is an awesome Dad and husband. Physical? Not sure. 

6. If you could choose a favorite day/week/month/season/trimester from this year, what would it be and why?

2nd Trimester was wonderful. I still felt pretty good, and with it being late summer/fall we could get out and walk a lot. Third trimester in the winter stinks. I will take being hugely pregnant in the middle of summer WAY before being hugely pregnant in winter. 

7. What has been your go-to comfy outfit this pregnancy?

It is a good day when I don't have to get out of yoga pants and a hoodie. 

8. What has been the most useless/otherwise obnoxious maternity item you've used this pregnancy?

I haven't really bought a lot of maternity stuff this pregnancy. A couple new pairs on jeans and maybe 5-ish long sleeved tops? So nothing really here...

9. What has been your favorite food/meal/guilty indulgence?

Being in the third trimester and eating however I want just feels like a guilty indulgence now! I'd say lemon ices, though. I cannot get enough of those. 

10. What food has been the worst? (flavor, aversion, bad after effects)

I haven't necessarily had aversions like I did with Ellie. Liquids on an empty stomach don't sit well with me. Chicken is hit or miss for me. Some nights it is fine and some nights it is a chore to eat.  

11. What has been the most surprising aspect of your pregnancy? (symptom, physical change, etc)

*Knocks on wood* How much less drama we've had this time. Yes, some scary stuff in the beginning with the thyroid issues and the antibody stuff, but that seems pretty minimal compared with all the stuff we had with Ellie. 

12. What do you most look forward to in 2014? (other than giving birth to a healthy lo)

Watching the girls together! I think my heart might be so full that I cannot even contain it!

Happy 2014!!!

It. Got. Real.

Well, apparently something clicked in my brain, and things just got real that Miss S will be joining us pretty soon.

At least, my subconscious is trying to get me prepared. Friday night/Saturday morning I had 2 dreams about Baby S's arrival. In both dreams, I was at the hospital, getting prepped, got my epidural put in but not meds turned on, and....I decided to leave. As in, my OB was taking too long to get there so I went back to the house to pack some additional stuff. Wha? With a port in my back? No thanks. Ryan has now reassured me that once I'm at the hospital I won't be going anywhere. Ha! But, this has made me go into super-nesting mode. I now feel the need to get packing and get things lined up, etc.

In good news along these lines...the first coat of paint is on the nursery walls! Yay! It will definitely take another coat (it is WAY too see through) but I love it! And I love my husband for staying up WAY too late to get it on there, considering we had to go to a Christmas party last night and didn't finish with the moving/sanding/taping with enough time to get it done before hand.

Isn't it pretty? I love it. So on today's agenda, after church, is coat 2, and then maybe even getting the stripe done. 

Oh, and while Daddy worked on S's room, Miss E and I played with what may be the hit of Christmas...her new Water beads. These kept her busy for like a half hour. That hasn't happened with any toy in awhile. Hmmm....

Christmas and 34 week update!

We had an amazing Christmas this year. Ellie is SO fun. She is starting to "get" it more and more, and to see her face light up is just incredible. Definitely the best Christmas present I got this year was to see her make this face as she came around the corner into the living room and spotted all the goodies under the tree. I hope I can always make her face light up like that on Christmas morning!

She immediately found the Little People house that Santa had left. That was a hit! She didn't want to open her other presents because she was SO wrapped up in playing with this. 

When she finally did realize that there was more, she had a lot of fun tearing into the paper too, of course. 

Truff liked his stocking too, and enjoyed getting some new toys and extra treats.

Ellie's big gift from Ryan and I was a hit too. I must admit, I thought Ryan was a little crazy for staying up until 2am wrapping her new power wheels cobra, but she had a blast tearing into it. 

She can't reach the pedals (not even close!) but she had fun climbing in and out of the car all day and pushing the buttons to make revving and honking sounds. And now she has a cobra just like Daddy. And, I think it eases Ryan's mind a bit about living in an estrogen pit...there may be lots of XX chromosomes floating around, but he still gets his little racers! 

Both sets of Grandparents and Grandpa Neese came over in the afternoon, and the Bean got even more spoiled. I should have asked Santa to finish the downstairs playroom for Christmas! Bikes, and dolls, and doll beds, and Little People took over our living rooms completely. Finding spots for everything should be another fun challenge for the rest of the week. 

On a sad note, Christmas eve, Elfie had to leave us. Ellie and I are so sad about this. We had so much fun with her! She did make a special Rudolph breakfast for Ellie before she left, though. 

This year, it really was the little things that 'made' it for me, and so it will be pretty sad waiting until next year for those opportunities to come again. Elfie and putting money in the Salvation Army buckets were my two favorites I think. 

Baby S got spoiled for Christmas too. She's not even here and she got a blanket and picture frame from Grandma and a hat and ornament from her Aunt. Speaking of baby S, here is the update. 

How far along:  34 weeks. Only 36 days until we meet our next little princess. 

How big is baby: The size of a canteloupe. 17.7 inches and 5 pounds.

What I've done to prep for baby: Not much. Christmas made things a bit crazy. I am still hoping to get started painting her room this weekend. Crossing my fingers!
Best moment of the week: Christmas. In general. We are so blessed. 
Food cravings: No cravings this week really. I am feeling a bit more sick so eating has been tough. And eating WELL has been even tougher. 

Symptoms: Still not sleeping well, and S is still hanging out on my sciatic. It stinks because just sitting on the floor to play with E sometimes is so painful it will take my breath away. I have been pretty much attached to a heating pad these days, which does help a bit. and Ryan is awesome in that he tries to massage it when he can, and prevent me from doing really painful things. But, with a super active 16 month old, bending down to pick stuff up is a necessity, unfortunately. 
Movement: She's still crazy. We went to a movie last week, and she danced through the entire thing. 

What I’m looking forward to: As much as I love the holidays, I am thankful to return to 'normal'. There is so much to do before Princess 2 gets here, and I need to focus on that1

Next appt: OB appointment this afternoon. Should be interesting...considering I've pretty much eaten like CRAP the last week or so. Tis the season! 

33 weeks, lots of pics, and I am a SAHM again.

Well, I am officially a stay at home Mom again! My last day of "work" was Tuesday. I gave my final, and so now I am done. Well, as soon as I get my grades in. Can't rush it here. 

I have mixed feelings about this. I guess I was a little more calm last time because I knew I'd be back. This time there are a lot more question marks. We are trying to take a "wait and see" approach to see how 2 kiddos work out for our family. There are pluses and minuses to both sides. I love being home with the kids. But I also love teaching. Anyways, I am trying not to think about it much right now.

Which...has been kind of easy because we have been BUSY. Shocking, right? So here are the updates...and a bazillion pictures. 

Ellie is amazing, as usual. She is SO MUCH fun. She blows me away every single day with how verbal she is, and how much she is learning. 

Like yesterday? She said 'craisin.' And no, she was not parroting. I had said it, and then probably 5 minutes later, she asked for more craisins. What? Her vocab is just ridiculous, I cannot even keep up with how much she learns. Of course, some of the words sound alike, which leads to a VERY frustrated little girl. How dare I try to give her a book when she wanted Belle? 

She is way into hide-and-seek, and therefore way into forts too. We have had a couple of good fort building mornings. Truff likes that too. 

Ellie and Truff are still BFFs and love to play together. Of course sometimes they are just conspiring against me, it seems. But they adore each other!

Ellie has also been a great helper in grading my finals. She just LOVES everything writing-related these days. 

Last Saturday we were up in GR for regionals. Ellie was awesome and enjoyed hanging out with Aunt Mandy. It is such a long day for her, though, poor thing! I did love however, that she would NOT sleep in her pack n play, so I got sleepy baby cuddles. 

I only teared up a couple times. Mommmy guilt is going strong now. I am so not ready to think of her as a 'big girl'. She is going to have to be my baby forever and ever!!!

She is still LOVING her sled. We've switched to that for taking Truff on walks since it is easier. Girl is a daredevil and likes to go fast. She takes after her Daddy!

And, of course when she's over at Grandma and Grandpa's, she loves to swim in the hot tub. Such a cute little fishy, and a good way to warm up from sled rides. 

We finally got around to picking out a tree last Saturday too. That was SO much fun. Both kiddos had a blast in the snow. 

Okay, that's about enough E updates and pics for now! Onto Baby S...

How far along:  33 weeks, 1 day. 42 days left until we meet Miss S!

How big is baby: The size of a pineapple. 17.2 inches and 4.5 pounds.

What I've done to prep for baby: Still working on S's room. Hoping to paint before the New Year. Oh, and I got some new nursing tanks as an early Christmas present. Nice ones. Note to self...those are worth the splurge. I have lived in $10 Wal-mart nursing tanks for 15 months now. I should have splurged on the Motherhood ones a LONG time ago. 
Best moment of the week: Curling up with E at the competition. Oh, and being able to calm down and get into the holiday spirit with the kiddos. 
Oh, one more. One of my biggest worries has been taking care of E after S gets here. I mean, with the c-section, I was worried about being able to pick her up and such. Luckily, I had an appointment with my doctor last week, and he is FINE with me picking E up as soon as I feel able to. He said a week and I should be fine. Yay! That REALLY helped me mentally.
Food cravings: I love my doctor. Really. I asked him again about the gestational diabetes stuff. His response? Well, if you have a 15lb baby, I will just get an extra nurse to scrub into your section so I can have help pulling her out. Ha! I told him I was pretty sure if I had a 15lb baby that I would rip her out myself way before 39 weeks. Anyways. Cravings. Yes. I am back to citrus-y things (Chick-fil-a diet lemonade...yum...) and minty things (peppermint bark...sigh). 

Symptoms: Ugh. Whine. Feeling totally icky these days. And I feel awful for whining about it. I was so in awe and thankful for even being pregnant when I had E that it just makes me feel crappy complaining. I try to focus on how there are goods and bads to have "been there, done that". Like even though I might be a bit more whiny, I am much calmer and less freaked out by every twinge, which has to be good for S, right? But my back hurts. Tons. S can get off my sciatic nerve ANY TIME! So sleep is not happening. 
Movement: Yup! Although she seems to be slowing down a bit. Maybe running out of room?

What I’m looking forward to: Getting S's room painted. I think I'm nesting a bit because it is starting to stress me out!

Next appt: OB appointment on the 26th. 

31 weeks

Time is just going SO fast! I cannot believe that it is December. Sigh.

This girl? Yeah, love her to pieces. She is so stinking funny these days. A handful, for sure, but I love her big, BIG personality.

She is having a BALL with Elfie. She looks for her every morning and gets so excited, squealing and pointing when she is spotted. Elfie even left Ellie a note on the dry erase board in the kitchen.

But the biggest hit was when Elfie hid in the wreath on Ellie's bedroom door, and Ellie spotted her as soon as I walked in the room in the morning. She was SOOOO excited!

Elfie is proving that E has some pretty fierce language comprehension skills. I can ask her "Where is Elfie" and she will go to the room that Elfie is hiding in and point. And we've had her less than a week. That blows my mind.

Ellie is loving the Thanksgiving left overs too. She has been chowing down on the leftover turkey, potatoes, and veggies. Yum!

Oh, goodness. Her dancing. Yes, she is a little dancing queen. Especially standing on one foot. She cracks me up. See? 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdLbKKm-EOo

She has learned another animal sound too! She can tell you that a cow goes moo!

And now for a baby S update:

How far along:  31 weeks. S will be here in 57 days. Gulp.

How big is baby: The size of a bunch of asparagus. Ok, this has got to be the WORST comparison yet. Really? A bunch of asparagus? hmmm. 16.2 inches and 3.3 lbs

What I've done to prep for baby: Ooooh, more shopping...kinda. Hit up Black Friday sales to check a couple things off my list. We got a freezer and a play yard. Oh, and I got a back up diaper bag. The whole diaper bag issue has been causing me major anxiety. Which is funny, because I didn't even bother buying a diaper bag for E until she was 3 months old. Yeah, I figure with 2, and especially with 2 in cloth diapers, I need a pretty awesome diaper bag. Of course, this is where the angel on one shoulder and devil on the other comes out. The one I WANT is $$$. Sigh. Of course I don't NEED that. So, I got a simple one. I'll be stalking the other for some kind of super sale, and if I can get it, I can always return the one I just got. But at least I'll have something to use. 

AAAAAAnnnnnnd...S's Namely pillow is done! I got a pic earlier this week. Isn't it BEAUTIFUL?

Now I'm even more excited (and anxious) to get cracking on her room. We have made SOME progress. It is just so slow because 1. Ellie and 2. We have to move everything to entirely different spaces. So there is a LOT more drama involved. That ready to paint by the first part of December thing? No way. Hopefully painting by Christmas. Yeah. My fingers are crossed. I need to get going full force on other room projects too. Curtains, crib skirt, etc. Those were NOT fun to try to do at 34 weeks last time, and it looks like I'll be doing them even later this time. Grumble. 

Best moment of the week: Spending the weekend with the family. We had a blast getting into the Christmas spirit!

Food cravings: There is still a vast amount of cranberry stuff in my fridge. Other than that, nothing too bad. I've been keeping an eye on my numbers and they have been great. Like, crazy-great. I had a plate of thanksgiving leftover, turkey, potatoes and sweet potato puff and got a 108. Well! That would have been double that last time. So that is good news. 

Symptoms: Sleep still stinks. Add in the fact that it is the time of the year for sinus gunk and I cannot take ANYTHING between being pregnant and breastfeeding E still and I am about to rip out my own sinuses. 

Movement: She is still a wiggle worm. Bad second time mom confession here: I am so not doing kick counts. She moves all the time, so I am not too concerned. If she slowed down, I'd do an actual kick count. But no app on my phone this time. 

 What I’m looking forward to: We are getting to the end of the semester, so I am looking forward to some of that stress dissipating, and hopefully getting some more time to work on stuff to prepare for S. 

Next appt: OB appointment on the 12th. 

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

With Thanksgiving 2013 in the books, it finally feels like it is Christmastime! The snow we've gotten recently helps a lot too!

So, how are we getting ready for Christmas?

Well, first of all, we went to see Santa on Saturday. The local firestation puts on an awesome pancake breakfast with Santa. So pancakes, plus seeing her friend Braylon, plus running around entertaining everyone made for one happy Ellie!

We had to wait in line. By wait in line, I mean either Ryan or I stood in line and the other chased our little Ellie-nado all over. She loved all the other kids in line. And she was fascinated with the sparkly pink boots a girl ahead of us in line had.

When we finally got to see Santa, she was still a bit more interested in the people in line. Miss Social Butterfly. She was still talking up a storm, though. 

Our elf also came on Saturday, and brought some presents with her:

Ellie loves playing with the Little People Nativity. She knows which one is the angel, and loves pushing her down to make the music play. She will carry the stable around everywhere. BUT...no one can be in the stable. Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus get thrown out with a loud "NO" if you try to put them in.

Elfie brought Truff a new toy too, so both kids were happy and entertained. 

I know Ellie doesn't really "get" the Elf thing yet, but she has SO much fun looking for the Elf. Every morning the routine is now 1. Find Truff, 2. Find Elfie. And she giggles up a storm when she finds both. That is worth it to me!

I am so excited to see what other antics Miss Elfie will be up to in order to get Miss Ellie to smile!