Baby #2 at 29 Weeks

Total Weight Gain: 23.5 pounds 

Cravings What I eat: No more cravings... well, at least there's no point in dreaming about them since I won't be eating them anymore. Maybe I'll make this question about "what I do eat" --- Breakfast is my favorite meal because it's basically stayed the same.  I eat scrambled eggs with one egg & one egg white, an english muffin, a tiny bowl of grapefruit, and 8 ounces of milk. The only change from my usual breakfast is the lack of jelly.  Just a tablespoon full and my levels get too high. 

Nesting: The fabric is here!!! I've been tracking the box like a crazy woman and was so excited to see the UPS delivery on our doorstep yesterday.  This is a photo of all the fabrics that will go in the baby's room. The curtains are the first project on the list because the room is so bright and it needs blackout curtains to keep it cooler. Friday starts the big JoAnn's Craft Store sale that I've been waiting on...1/2 off ALL of the items on my supply list and an additional 20% off! It's like they made the sale for me. :O)

Big Brother News: Owen's a doctor and a personal trainer!  This week, big brother spent his fair share of time at the doctor's office. He went with me to get my lab work done and what I thought would take an hour took several hours. The nurse was so sweet to him and let him use the Fetal Doppler to listen to the baby's "heart beep" -- It was adorable! He stood on a chair, put the goo on the Doppler and then swirled it around on my belly. He even found the heartbeat! 

After he got a taste of the medical field, he decided to try his hand at personal training. I've been using Lindsay Brin's workout DVDs since Owen was little. He and I both have them memorized! I just bought the newly released Prenatal DVD. When he saw the new DVD sitting on the counter, he immediately asked me to do my workout. While I was using my weights and doing squats, he ran downstairs to get his maracas and pretended they were weights. It was so funny to see him "workout" in his little tighty-whities and the faces he made actually make me wonder if that's what I look like!  I took the most hysterical picture of him... I decided to crop out his underwear. I'll save the full photo for his future wife! 

Baby's Things: Our friends, Joe and Holly, sent us a gift on Wednesday and timing couldn't have been better! I'd just found out about the gestational diabetes and, that very same night, Brendon brought it home from work! I love that Mommy and Daddy have a onesie, and Owen keeps stealing the toy from the baby's room. :O)

This week: We've had tons of fun this past week - playing with friends at the pool, meeting buddies at the splash pad, going to the doctor's office, and relaxing around the house. 

 Friends sharing goldfish at the Town Square playground. 

 He was soooo worn out! 

Brendon's been TDY all week in Florida. Being the man of the house must be wearing Owen out. This morning, while I was making our eggs, he told me he needed to relax. He stayed right there in the kitchen floor until his breakfast was ready!  We are both excited for Daddy to come home on Friday :O) 

Baby #2 at 28 Weeks

I've made it to the 3rd trimester and the week has certainly been ... eventful!  

Sit back, relax, this post will take awhile to read. 

The previous 27 weeks of pregnancy have been pretty uneventful.  We've done lots of fun and exciting things, but in terms of pregnancy symptoms and issues I'd count myself pretty lucky. The third trimester, however, started off with a bang--- more like my doctor dropped a bomb on me!  

The week started out perfectly. Mother's Day weekend was full of all my favorite things... Hobby Lobby, 2 trips to JoAnns, and 40+ yards of fabric for the baby's room! Doesn't get much better than that :O) Brendon and Owen made me breakfast in bed and we spent the entire weekend together. It was so much fun! 

Then--- there was Wednesday. 

I took my weekly belly picture in the morning and sat down during nap time to write this blog post. But that never happened. Instead, I listened to a voicemail message from my doctor.  The nurse has called about appointment times or to double check about something small, but the doctor has never called before. I knew it was coming...I  just didn't know what it would be. 

I returned her call, but got her voicemail. Waited an hour. Called again. No answer. Then, started calling every phone number I have in my contacts for the Nellis Hospital. It was almost 3:30pm at this point and I knew that everyone would be going home soon. I was finally able to track down the doctor and she dropped the bomb on me. Two bombs, technically. The first was minor-- I need more Vitamin D, so she's prescribed an additional supplement. Then, she reminded me about the glucose test that I took 2 weeks ago. After being told that "no news in good news" I really didn't expect to hear from her about the test until my next appointment. As it turns out, I did fail the glucose test. I don't know that I've ever failed a test, but to fail this one really knocked the wind out of me. 

She told me my numbers, but really gave me no guidance at all about what to do next. My confidence in her dropped even more when she said, "I haven't really had a gestational diabetes patient here, so we'll just learn together. But don't freak out." 

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Silence. I decided to go with the "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all" method.  I couldn't wait to hang up the phone.  

I immediately started crying and frantically called Brendon. {I completely stumbled over my words while trying to ask his coworker to have him call me back.} 

Called my friend, Brandi. She's had gestational diabetes with both of her pregnancies and I knew she'd have good advice for me.  {I left a voicemail for her and have no idea what I actually said... all I was thinking was "don't cry, don't cry, don't cry"}

Called Mom & Dad's house. Finally someone answered! Dad somehow made me laugh. I can't remember what he said, but I'm thankful for it because he pulled me out of my hysterical whirlwind. Mom helped too ... First, because she's Mom and second because she somehow always has accurate medical information. How does she do it? 

After talking to Mom and then getting a call back from Brandi, I felt like I at least had a little more information about what would happen and how I'd spend the next 12 weeks of pregnancy. 

Thursday's game of phone tag was with the nurse. She was much easier to track down and very helpful. She set up an appointment for Friday morning to teach me how to use my meter, track my numbers, and to help me with my meals. 

By Friday morning, I was so ready to talk to her. I'd been living in a state of shock and food now felt like poison. I knew I shouldn't be eating sweets, but I didn't know what I should be eating and I was really hungry!  

The pharmacy gave me a grocery sack full of boxes. Everyone else walked away with a tiny little goody bag of medicine, while I hauled off a sack of things that I had no idea how to work. The nurse was so helpful and a great teacher! She spent an hour teaching me about the carb limits that I now have to eat within and then showed me how to work my meter. The first prick of my finger was quick but traumatic. I could feel my blood pressure rising and tears welling up. I felt ridiculous. It's just a finger prick, like a paper cut. But, I don't want to give myself a paper cut 4 times a day!!

Three hours later I left the hospital with one giant bag of lancets, test strips, a meter, and my Vitamin D supplements.  I guess this is my new reality. 

The past 2 days of testing my blood sugar haven't been horrible.

I am learning that some of my fingers are more cooperative at giving blood than others. 

Brendon's been the best cheerleader ever!  Along with being incredibly supportive, he's made it his mission to rid the house of all sweets and had done some serious carb loading the past few days. :O) He even made me a delicious dinner (perfectly within my carb numbers) Friday night. I'm so thankful that he sees this as a challenge. It's helped me to think of it in a more positive way. 

Today, I was much less hungry and figured out two great options for breakfast and lunch that kept me full but kept my numbers down. Dinner was my first disaster. I carefully measured my food and made a PBJ with milk. (Have you ever actually made a PBJ with measuring spoons? It's eye opening.)   The sandwich was well within my allotment of carbs, but apparently my body didn't like it. 

The reading 2 hours after dinner was 132. 

I cried. 

Not because PBJs are off my menu, but because I was really hoping that this whole gestational diabetes thing was a fluke. My doctor's performance so far has been underwhelming (and she will no longer be my doctor after Patient Advocate meets with me on Monday) and I was really hoping that it was just wrong. Unfortunately, this finger prick confirmed that, even if my doctor is proving to be lacking in the OB department, the lab was at least correct. 

Now, I'm trying to get over the feeling that I've been poisoning myself and the baby for the past 2 weeks, while I didn't know my results.  It's the doctor's fault for taking an excessive amount of time to check my lab results, but I still have a heavy amount of guilt about birthday cupcakes, pizza, and Chinese food that I ate over Owen's birthday weekend.  We ate out more that weekend than we ever do normally and I never would have done that had I known earlier.... Mommy guilt at it's worst! 

Baby #2 at 27 Weeks

Total Weight Gain: 23 pounds - Honestly, I can't believe that number isn't higher! I've spent the week eating Owen's leftover birthday party cupcakes. Despite the sweets, I've gained the exact same amount this pregnancy that I did at this point with Owen. 

Cravings:  Bagels, cereal, breakfast foods in general.  I'm sure that being tired has a lot to do with my food choices - Breakfast is much faster and easier to prepare than our regular dinner meals. Plus, Owen is completely happy to eat eggs for dinner!

Maternity Clothes: My newer maternity clothes are getting tight. They still fit, but wiggle room I once had is now gone.

Belly Button: It gone! My innie-belly button is now completely flat and feels so weird. 

Movement: The baby moves all day long. I usually feel extra wiggles and kicks shortly after I eat--- maybe it's all the sugar from the cupcakes! He moves mostly on my right side, which is the same spot I always felt Owen. I think that's so funny that they'd both decide to kick on the same side! He gets the hiccups way more than Owen, or maybe I've just realized the difference between the types of movements more this time. 

Big Brother News: Owen talks with us about the baby all the time and has even agreed to let him play with his trains once he's born! There is no other toy in the world that Owen loves more than his trains, so offering up a engine to the baby is earth shaking!

Nesting: I've organized every closet in the house and now I'm starting to work on the nursery. B has been assembling furniture like crazy since we came home from Ikea in California. He made a sewing desk for me... which is perfect and will get tons of use once I start making the baby bedding and curtains. It's also my first step in taking over the "man cave" mmwahahah! 

He and Owen assembled the changing table for the baby's room and it looks so nice in the room! 

Last weekend, when Jessica and David came to visit, they gave us our CRIB! We had a great dark brown crib for Owen, but I wanted to use a white crib this time. I've looked tons of places, but never really loved anything. Then, Jessica and David sent us a picture of a crib they found and it's perfect! It would have been assembled moments after they hauled it in the house, but we have a huge king size mattress in the room right now and I'm hoping to get it out within the next week or two. The big box around the crib is torturing me! 

Baby #2 at 24, 25 & 26 Weeks

I'm a little behind on blogging, but up-to-date on all my ETSY Shop orders!  I've definitely gotten the swing of running the business. There are new listings going up all the time and I've been filling and creating new products during nap time and at night. I haven't seen any of my favorite TV shows in 2 weeks - - the DVR probably thinks I'm still on vacation! 

Week 24

We went to Disneyland and had an amazing time!  This Florida girl has been to Disney World more times than I can count, but this was my first trip to DisneyLand. I've heard lots of West Coasters say that going from Disneyland to Disney World was overwhelming to them and now I understand why. The park is wonderful, but small when compared to Disney World. There are only two parks, two on-property hotels, a shorter monorail ride, and Sleeping Beauty's Castle's got nothin' on Cinderella's! Although the parks are so different, it was still fun to see how different they looked and enjoy all the fun thing that Disney does best, east coast or west! 

I'll post pictures one these days, either on here or facebook, so that everyone can our trip and Owen's excitement as he experienced the magic! 

25 Weeks

I spent this week unpacking, catching up on laundry, going to all our regular weekly events and opening the Etsy shop. It was busy! I needed a vacation after my vacation. The baby is doing somersaults throughout the day and gets the hiccups a lot. It was really cute when Owen and the baby had them at the same time! Owen giggled every time he'd hiccup and I couldn't stop laughing when I felt hiccups in my belly too.  I visited the doctor this week and everything look great! I've gained 20 pounds so far and my maternity shirts feel like they are creeping up higher and higher!

26 Weeks

This week has been a week without much sleep. Birthday party prep, cleaning the house for guests, and keeping up with my new little job is enough, but then the baby is waking me up throughout the night for potty breaks and I can't seem to fall back asleep very quickly. Once I am asleep, however, I'm gone. out. done! Owen's been waking up earlier than normal and I haven't even known. Good thing B is such a good sport and takes care of our little earlier riser for me. I did wake up early one day this week for my glucose test. 

5:30AM is not a good time for me! 

The test wasn't a good time either and the day ended up being horrible. After fasting, drinking the super sugary drink for the test, and getting tons of blood drawn over the two hour time frame, I really wasn't sure that I was going to be able to drive home. Even after eating, I just didn't recover. B stayed home and took care of Owen --- making that my 1st EVER Mommy Sick Day--- That's how bad I felt! In 3 years, I've never had to ask him to do that. On the plus side, I did pass the test! 

Speaking of our 3 year old... Owen's birthday was Saturday! I'll create an entire post for his party later, but here's a photo of the 3 {and a half} of us at the party. We were so thankful to spend the day celebrating Owen with all of our new friends from Las Vegas and our long time friends, The Rapers. 

I can't believe we have a 3 year old! 

BIG NEWS!!!

I'm pregnant!

No wait, we already knew that.

This is BIG NEWS about the blog, so... 

Did you notice anything NEW? 

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Take a minute, really think about it....

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Okay, here's a hint... yes, it's a picture of the blog, but if you look closely you'll see it! 

Who guessed it?!?

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The blog has a new banner, logo, and an ETSY shop! 

I'm sort of freaking out because I designed it all... and I think it's pretty awesome! A far cry from the ready made Picasa collage that's been up there for the past two years. {I can't even believe I started the blog over 2 years ago... February 12, 2011 to be exact}

Over the past 2 years, I've been posting my favorite projects, family stories, and parties I've hosted. Of all the posts, the Mardi Gras Bead Wreath is the most popular, followed closely by my Baseball Baby Shower post. I get emails daily about the baseball baby shower invites and, for a long time, I've been making them for the readers that emailed me. The traffic from my blog has given me lots of business. Every time I'd tell Brendon or Jessica about another invite I'd made, they'd ask my why I didn't have an ETSY shop. 

And, really, I've never had a good answer... I mean, why don't I have a shop?

This week, I decided to go for it! 

The ETSY shop is called SewInLoveBlogShop.  {Original... I know}

Currently, I've posted my most popular items and I've been working like crazy to prepare more items for sale. Everything you'll find at the shop has been featured on the blog and are the party printables from all the parties I've hosted or helped with. 

I was excited to have the shop, but tonight 

~drum roll please~ 

I sold my first invite!  

I've never been more excited to make $12.

Seriously, I squealed when I read the email. 

I'm excited to see where the shop goes and even more excited to spend my profits on a new embroidery machine! 

Now, I only need to sell 332 more invites and that embroidery machine is MINE! :O)

Baby #2 at 23 Weeks

Total Weight Gain: 15 pounds - The swelling is in full force. My hands are starting to hurt because they feel so bloated. I've been drinking water like a camel and therefore visiting every bathroom facility in Las Vegas! I've also tried to make a better effort to sit down during the day. It's just not that easy when I'm used to going, going, going all day with Owen.  

Nesting: I've made my shopping list and we'll be buying the baby's changing table next week! We're taking our vacation to Disneyland and while we're in California, we'll be going to IKEA. I can't wait -- I always keep a running list of things I want from there and this time the list includes baby items! The idea for the table came from this blogger at Cape 27. It's actually a bookcase. She just turned it on it's side and added drawers to the middle.  I like that there will be a changing table in the room while he's tiny, but once we not longer need the changing table it will work perfectly for toy and book storage. 

Cravings: I wish I had a real craving. I'm always hungry, but I never have any real strong cravings. Brendon called from work one day this week and asked for fettuccine alfredo for dinner. I was so excited that someone in our family was actually craving something specific.  I have been eating a lot of citrus salad and loving the grapefruit flavor. 

Maternity Clothes: No, this isn't a photo of my cankles! I chopped off my jeans and made capris. {Yes, I eventually cut them to be even!} It was cold in Shreveport while I was pregnant with Owen, so I have lots of maternity jeans.  In Vegas, the weather is warm and jeans just aren't comfortable. I changed 2 pairs of pants into capris and I love them now! I actually think they look better as capris than they did as long pants. 

My sewing helper is the cutest! He likes to sit in my lap while I sew and then peek through the back of the machine at me. 

Saturday, we went to A Day Out with Thomas... Owen got to ride the REAL Thomas the train!  If there's one thing in the world that Owen LoVeS... it's Thomas!

He was so happy but not into taking pictures... he just needed to ride! 

When we first boarded the train, Owen was pretty nervous. We were surprised by that. As soon as the train started moving, he immediately became so calm and at one point we thought he might even fall asleep. 

He keeps asking us to take him to "the city" (The ride was in Boulder City, NV) to ride the train again.

He got lots of new train cars from the gift shop fell asleep in the car on the way home, still holding onto his new trains! 

Back at home, Owen's been doing lots of chores... including watering the rocks. 

He's "reading" us books all the time. So far he's just memorized the books, but it's still so much fun to listen to his little voice tell the story. He sounds just like me when he reads! 

After meeting Sir Topham Hat on Saturday, he's been wearing his top hat everywhere. This day, I was vacuuming and he wanted to wear his top hat and ear muffs to muffle the noise. 

He took a turn vacuuming also and did a pretty good job!  Doesn't everyone vacuum in PJs and Toy Story boots?!?

The boots were hand-me downs from my cousin's little boy, Walker, and Owen can't get enough of them. They look ridiculous with his shorts, but he was happy and that's all that matters! He told anyone that commented on his boots that he's a cowboy! 

Baby #2 at 22 Weeks

This post is a week late... We had so much fun Easter weekend that I just didn't have the time or energy to type. Yes, that's possible. Then, last night, I attempted to write this post and fell asleep with the computer on my lap!  Momma needs a nap! 

Total Weight Gain:  about 13 pounds -- I can't remember exactly. Honestly, I feel like I've gained 10 pounds this week. If I even look at the salt shaker and my hands start swelling, which is not cool! I didn't have that at all with Owen and I don't like it, for sure! My wedding ring still fits, but it won't at 40 weeks if this keeps up. 

News from the doctor: Our doctors appointment was on Monday. This was technically my 20 week appointment. My schedule is off track for visiting the doctor. She cancelled, I went out of town and now appointments are booked out so far that it makes it difficult to get back on track. I'm measuring 2 weeks early, which surprised the doctor. I wasn't surprised at all when she said that because I feel 2 weeks farther along than my due date says. I'm not uncomfortable... I just notice such a difference between 22 weeks with Owen and 22 weeks with Baby #2. The doctor will keep tracking my belly growth at each appointment and possibly have a better estimate of my due date after my next ultrasound. 

Cravings: Deviled Eggs! All those boiled Easter eggs turned into deviled eggs after they were dyed. I don't eat deviled eggs very often and always forget how much I like them. 

Movement: The baby has been kicking for a long time, but this week I noticed that the movements are getting much stronger and have gone from a small kick to a huge roll within my belly. He's a wiggle worm! 

Big Brother News: Owen is almost patient enough to feel the baby move. He'll put his hand on my belly and wait {no more than} 10 seconds to feel a kick. The baby always ends up moving the second after Owen walks away, but one day he'll feel it. 

Fun this week... 

Brendon came home from work on Thursday and said he wanted to do something fun with Owen. So, we all went to Chuck E Cheese! Owen loved every minute--- he loved "playing" the games. It wasn't exactly playing... for several games he'd sit in the seat and turn the steering wheel, but we hadn't even put a coin in, so it was just the demo running. He also loves the "coin waster games" -- you know, the kind that you put in a token and get a few tickets in return. He wanted to keep feeding the tokens to the machine. 

This picture cracks me up --- he was so excited about those little paper tickets and I absolutely could not get a non-blurry shot of him! 

He's also very good at the water-shooter game. Right after he and Brendon played, Owen called me over and gave me a long explanation on how to play. 

What a cutie! He's looking so much older, like a big boy. Although, if you call him a big boy he corrects you and says, "My a little boy!"

Friday evening, we sort of went to our church's Easter egg hunt. We drove there, unpacked the car and Owen's sock monkey Easter basket, but as soon as we saw the crowd, we realized this it was a little too big for us. It's perfect for older kids and tiny little toddlers, but Owen was just small enough to get lost in mix. 

Instead, we ended up at Cane's for dinner and I nearly cried when the man behind us in line paid for our dinner.  Brendon was in his uniform, so he knew we were a military family, and he thanked Brendon for his service. It was just so thoughtful of him! Owen attracted a lot of attention as he wore B's hat and carried around his empty Easter basket. He refused to leave it in the car! 

As soon as we came home, Brendon hid eggs all over the house and backyard. Owen was hooked! 

He found almost all the eggs without help from us. 

We thought he would love to dye eggs, but it turns out he just likes to pretend to boil them! 

He stirred them... 

Did a little plastic egg taste testing... 

Tried to microwave them... 

and pulled them out of the "water" just like Daddy. 

*Notice who is actually dyeing the eggs in the background! 

Brendon's Easter eggs! 

Saturday ended up being a great day! Brendon was working all day and I had no plans at all. We walked to the park around 8:30 and when we got there we found the neighborhood "Spring Fling" was being set up. Owen and I stayed there for the rest of the morning. He refused to wear the bunny ears they gave us, but also wouldn't let me take my bunny ears off! 

He was in love with the hot air balloon and stood right there the entire time they took to blow it up... which isn't quick! 

We played ring toss and "fished" for prizes.  

My favorite activity was the mini golf. The kids got to hit the ball to the bunny to earn a prize. As Owen walked up to play the lady said, "He'll need some help, Mom," but as soon as she gave him the golf club, he showed off his golfing skills. He and Brendon play a little golf putting game almost everyday, so he was really good at it! 

The Easter bunny came to visit! 

Owen loved waking up and hunting for eggs all over the house! 

The basket was full of fun things too... but nothing as good as the mini M&Ms! 

While we were upstairs getting ready for church, Owen was quieter than normal... we walked downstairs and found him covered in chocolate! He ate almost an entire package of mini M&Ms while we weren't looking! :O) 

Owen loves to help in the kitchen. So, we let him sit on the counter and help us make carrot cake. 

He chopped the carrots... 

Mixed all the ingredients in the bowl with Mommy... 

and smelled the cake batter with Daddy.

The finished cake was beautiful and delicious. Check out Owen licking the frosting off the spatula! 

The guys grilled the meat for dinner and we had a wonderful day! 

 Happy Easter! 

After such an exciting weekend, Owen and I have been playing at home all week! 

He loves to play the alphabet game. 

Here he is with my sunglasses on! 

I wrote all the letters on our wall in chalk. Then, I write the letter on the small chalkboard and he goes to find it. He's really good at it too! 

 Guess who we caught with his hand in the cookie jar!?!  After letting him sit on the counter to cook, I guess he thought it was okay to climb up there all by himself. The trouble is... he can't get down! I heard his tiny worried voice squeak "Momma! Momma! Help!" and found him up there. Now, he reminds me all the time that we don't climb on the counter!