Growing Another Person

Tint Jeans

2012-02-01T15:03:00.000-08:00

Today I'm wearing one of my two treasured pairs of size 12 Tint jeans. When I first put them on many years ago, I had no idea how long they would remain my favorite jeans.

When I bought them I was miserably unhappy at my last job, and I weighed the most I've ever weighed in my life (yes, that includes both pregnancies). I assume they fit me like normal jeans at that point, and I remember them being so comfortable that I went out and bought another pair in the exact same size and style so I would have two.

When I quit my job and lost a lot of weight they grew looser and looser until they were eventually folded and put in the back of my closet, my "fat jeans" that I didn't anticipate ever wearing again. But I just couldn't get rid of them because I loved them so much.

In December of 2008 I was pregnant for the first time, but literally days after rejoicing over the pregnancy I'd been wanting so badly for months, I miscarried. The jeans came back out when I forced myself to stop crying and venture out of my house to celebrate my 28th birthday with my friend Lauren. While I wasn't in physical pain, I just needed something more gentle to wear and my old Tint jeans were just the thing. I also wore the red Treasu(red) t-shirt that my friend LeShayne and sweet niece and nephew Tori and Tristan had sent me as a birthday gift...it meant even more to get something so sweet when I was feeling so down.

My sadness was thankfully short-lived when I found out I was pregnant with Carter in February of 2009. My Tint jeans were the last pair of jeans that I wore before buying my first pair of maternity jeans, and I wore them for quite some time with an elastic band around the button and a belly band around the top. After Carter was born, they were the first "real" jeans I fit back in to until I got the baby weight off, then they went back into the closet again until January of 2011 when I found out I was pregnant with Collin. I gradually outgrew them again as my belly grew larger, then once again pulled them out about a month after he was born.

And here we are once again in that in between phase. The weight is coming off a bit slower this time, and really I don't care so much that I'm not back down to my pre-pregnancy weight. I'm wearing the extra 10 pounds as a badge of honor. My slightly softer, rounder shape is not from unhappiness like it was when I bought my Tint jeans years ago, but rather from the joy of being a mom.

Falling Asleep

2012-01-05T12:58:00.000-08:00

I don't know if anyone is still reading this, but I want to start writing again, so here goes...

I try to sing him to sleep without curling up with him anymore since he’s two now—my medium boy—but today at naptime he wants to cuddle. He slips his silky head under my arm and wiggles his way under until my arm snakes around his neck, my hand wrapping around his head and resting atop his ear. I breathe in the smell of little boy…a tiny whiff of shampoo mixed with undertones of sweat (but not in a gross boy-sweat way, but the sweet-sweat of toddlerhood). I turn my head slightly to look up at the ceiling, but a quick hand darts out and pulls my cheek back, where a little face is looking at me. He presses his little lips to mine, then turns his head back around on his pillow and shuts his eyes.

“I love you, Carter,” I whisper.

“I love you too, Mama,” he whispers back before drifting off to sleep.

37 Weeks Pregnant = FULL TERM!!

2011-08-20T14:42:00.000-07:00

Best Moment of the week: Making it to the 37 week mark today! I never thought I could be so proud of myself for being so lazy, but I have to keep reminding myself that I'm actually doing something very important by forcing myself to do nothing. When I started dilating and having contractions almost a month ago, I'd really prepared myself for having a preemie, and I was scared to death about it. But with each day that goes by, I'm grateful for Collin having that much more time to be prepared to face the world...whenever it is that he decides to come. Will we actually make it to September, after all?

My doctor's appointment this week was relatively uneventful since it's perfectly normal for a 37 week pregnant woman to be where I am right now. I have progressed since last week...I'm now 2 cm dilated and 75% effaced, and his head is really low (she said it's about -3 right now). I'm still measuring small (about 34 weeks instead of 37) but I'm guessing part of that has to do with how low he is right now and how early he "dropped." I haven't had trouble breathing at all with this pregnancy, while with Carter I was totally winded for the last few months because he was crowding my lungs. I had a sonogram to check my fluid levels, which were fine, and if I make it to next week, they will check his size again. She wasn't able to get any good pictures because he's face down, back out, but since that's where we want him to be she didn't encourage him to smile for the camera. :)

Contraction-wise, it was a slow week until yesterday. I had contractions all evening and thought for sure we were going to end up in the hospital, but once again, I went to sleep and they stopped. I was up to pee several times and at my 5:00 pee, they started up again and were coming every 10 minutes until after 6 when I fell back asleep. We made sure everything was packed and in the car when we came over to Pinellas for the day today (Glenn is working on the house, I'm over at my parents'), including installing Collin's carseat (!!) just in case we needed to head to the hospital today. There have been more contractions throughout the day today, but nothing regular or intense, so we're still in a holding pattern...which is FINE with us! Hang out, Collin!

We had a nice visit with some of our cousins today, Kathy and Jim Grady. Kathy wasn't able to make it over for my sprinkle next weekend so they came over for a visit this week instead. Since Carter usually has "stranger danger" I didn't have high hopes for him being terribly friendly, but he did GREAT with them! He was sweet and cheerful the whole time, no tears whatsoever, and I was so proud to show him off. He was of course terribly precocious and smart as ever. :)

Epiphany of the week: We took Carter to the "sibling class" at the hospital, and it didn't go terribly well! I came to the conclusion (after the fact, of course) that this class was meant more for the 4-6 year old siblings, and definitely not the under-2's! He was just all over the place and wasn't getting anything out of it (aside from distracting everyone else), so we stuck it out until they brought out the baby dolls since I thought he might enjoy that, but it didn't go so well. He immediately said "eye" and poked the baby in the eye!! Oh Carter, please don't do that to your little brother when you meet him! So I guess my epiphany was that Carter is probably not quite ready to be a big brother, and this very well could be a bit more difficult that I was even anticipating. But he could just as easily go the other way, so that's the outcome I'm hoping for!

Entertaining question/comment/story of the week: Here are a few of Carter's brilliant quotes of the week:

- We've been watching the Leapfrog "Letter Factory" DVD lately, which teaches kids the letters and sounds they make, and it's become a new favorite! Carter now (after watching it maybe 5 or so times) knows almost all of the letter sounds in addition to the word he associates with each one, so when you ask him, for example, what F says, he'll say "F-F-F-Flower!!" with such gusto. He really loves this stuff, and I love it, too!

- When Kathy and Kim were visiting today, the girls were sitting in the living room and the guys were sitting in the dining room (as usually happens) and Carter played in with us for a little while then ventured out to the dining room where he "sat with the guys." Too cute!

- After they left, my dad said he was surprised how well Carter did with Kathy and Jim. I said "Me too!" and Carter chimed in with "Me three!"

Obsessions: What day will Collin's birthday be??

What I am most looking forward to this week: We've actually made plans to see some friends this week, which should be nice, assuming I make it that far! We'll hopefully get to have lunch with my friend Kara, a visit with my friend Meg and her son Hunter, and a visit from my friend Kim, her son Nathan and her new baby girl Caitlin...Collin's future girlfriend! But who knows!

What I miss the most: Still hurting, hurting, hurting. But I know that as crappy as my sleep is right now, it's about to get worse, so I'll take it while I can! :)

Symptoms: 2 cm, 75% effaced, head is very low.

Milestones:

Your baby is now considered full term, even though your due date is still three weeks away. If you go into labor now, his lungs will likely be mature enough to fully adjust to life outside the womb. He weighs 6 1/3 pounds and measures a bit over 19 inches, head to heel (like a stalk of Swiss chard). Many babies have a full head of hair at birth, with locks from 1/2 inch to 1 1/2 inches long.

Weight: 158

36 Weeks Pregnant

2011-08-13T09:02:00.000-07:00

Best Moment of the week: Amazing how even when I'm keeping the couch warm, I didn't have time to blog last weekend. Or maybe it's just because I've been too busy holding my breath! It's amazing how quickly the weeks are flying by, even with nothing going on. I thought they would start to drag toward the end, but thankfully that's not the case.

Highlights over the past two weeks include my first baby sprinkle with my wonderful moms' group, Modern Moms of Tampa. I was an hour late for it because my doctor's appointment took forever (see below) but the ladies held out in the HOT park until I got there and it was so nice. We got all kinds of goodies including lots of diapers, wipes, bibs, and even a few handmade goodies...a cross-stitched bib and a crocheted hat. So sweet! I'm so lucky to have such a great group of moms as a support system. Now the question is, will I make it to my other sprinkle on August 28th?? Or will Collin be joining us?

Hmm, what else? Our house permit finally was approved and there has been plenty of work (both before and after permit, actually) going on. The new house is still a complete disaster, but at least it's moving in the right direction. Glenn had already done a lot of gutting (everything out of the kitchen and ripped apart the back room, which was a sunroom that had not been converted properly from a porch and needed a lot of work). The walls that needed framing should be finished today, and the plumber and electrician will hopefully start working tomorrow along with the new windows and doors going in. My dad fixed some of the plumbing in our shower, and Glenn put in our pretty new bathroom vanity. Glenn and our friend Dan wired the house for phone/cable/internet yesterday and Dan was pressure washing the outside of the house today so it can be repainted. There's still a lot to be done, and realistically, it will still be a couple more months until we can move in to a finished house, but we're getting there. Still to come: electrician, plumber, insulation, drywall, new cabinets (purchased from IKEA this week!) going into the kitchen (then it takes 3 weeks to get a countertop fabricated, sheesh!), painting inside and out, new carpet in the bedrooms and our pretty new faux-wood vinyl plank floor in the rest of the house, tile in the back room, then baseboards and trim work in the whole house. And then moving out of our house and into the new one. Phew! And guess who can't do anything to help?? Oh yeah, that would be me!!

I had two doctor's appointments since my last post. One was the day of my sprinkle, and I had dilated to 1-2 cm, still 50% effaced, and he was measuring small, so I had a sonogram. It was nice to see the little guy...he looks totally smooshed in there, though! He's measuring at the 19th percentile (10th percentile is when they would worry) and they guessed his weight was about 4 lbs 11 oz as of 8/5. At the appointment this week, I hadn't changed too much, which is good, and his heart rate was up high in the 170's (I think it was because his big brother was SCREAMING BLOODY MURDER when the doctor came in to see his mama) but it went back down to his baseline in the 150's after my exam. Dr. Reiss said it's good that his heart rate was active because it shows that he is doing well and my placenta is still working.

On the not-so-good front, I had another labor scare on Monday of this week. I started having contractions in the morning, and while they never developed a consistent pattern, they lasted ALL DAY LONG, anywhere from 4 minutes to 30 minutes apart, over and over again. I was very uncomfortable. :( Thankfully my mom was there, and while I didn't tell her this was going on until later in the day because I didn't want her to worry, if I had I actually gone into labor, she was there to help, and she stayed late to help with Carter until Glenn got home. I called my doctor's office right before they closed at 5, and they thought I may likely have to go into the hospital, and since I was past the 35 week mark, they probably wouldn't have done too much to stop the labor. (EEEEK!) They told me to drink a lot of water over the next hour, and if I had 4 or more contractions over the course of that hour, to call back and talk to the on-call doctor (Dr. Dill) and see what she thought. Of course I did, so I talked to her (after making sure everything was packed and ready to go and that Glenn was on his way home to drive me) and she said to just wait it out. If they developed more of a pattern (closer to 5 minutes apart for an hour, and more painful) then I should call back/come in, but otherwise just wait it out. So that was a relief. I still thought for sure I would go into labor that night and I was totally emotional when I was getting Carter to bed that night. (Yes, crazy pregnant woman, party of one) The contractions kept going until I fell asleep, but in the morning, they had stopped. Phew!

Other than that, it's been pretty quiet around here. My mom has been over at our house a lot, and we've been over at my parents' house, too, on days that Glenn is working on the house, since I have to be "babysat." So we haven't had much of a social life lately or seen much daylight. Carter and I have been taking daily naps together, which is heavenly. I usually work through his naps, but it's been nice to just conk out with him and get some rest. It's been miserably hot and there has been a ton of rain, so if we're going to be stuck inside, now is the time for it!

Epiphany of the week: I might just make it to my due date...maybe.

Entertaining question/comment/story of the week: Here are a few of Carter's brilliant quotes of the week:

- He climbed into his high chair while we were making lunch in the kitchen and called out, "Mama, Cee Cee, where are you guys?"

- He now knows a word for each letter of the alphabet...A is for apple, B is for baby, C is for Carter and Collin and Cee Cee, etc. Today we saw a Circle K sign and he said "K is for kite!" He loves it when he recognizes letters, numbers and shapes out in the world.

- He brought out some letters to me and Glenn last night and said "Let's build a word!" (We've been watching a lot of a show called Word World and that's from a song they sing.) We built L-I-P and then he ran around saying "Carter built a lip!" And then we proceeded to build a lot more words with a lot more letters. So much fun!

Obsessions: Making it to 36 weeks, hooray! Now every day when I wake up I wonder, "Will this be Collin's birthday?"

What I am most looking forward to this week: I signed Carter up for a big brother class on Thursday. Assuming I make it that far, it should be fun! (And will give us an idea of how he'll do at the hospital, yikes!) Then I have another doctor's appointment on Friday. At this point, I think I'm most looking forward to meeting my little guy! Though he can wait at least one more week until he's full-term.

What I miss the most: Not hurting...the aches and pains are really getting to me, especially at night.

Symptoms: 1-2 cm dilated and a bit more than 50% effaced with his head "very low." It was difficult for her to check my cervix this week because she had to go around his head to get to it. If that sounds uncomfortable, it's because it was!

Milestones:

Your baby is gaining about an ounce a day. He now weighs almost 6 pounds (Collin is probably a bit smaller than this) and is more than 18 1/2 inches long. He's shedding most of the downy hair that covered his body, as well as the vernix caseosa, the waxy substance that protected his skin during her nine-month amniotic bath. Next week, your baby will be considered full-term. (WOO HOO!)

Weight: 156.5

34 Weeks Pregnant

2011-08-02T13:23:00.000-07:00

Best Moment of the week: Hmmm...I won't say this week has sucked completely because I am grateful for every day that I keep my little Collin in my belly, but it has certainly been a trying week. After being told I needed to take it easy at my last doctor's appointment, I cleared my calendar quite a bit. We still did manage to get in a fun playdate with my moms' group, where we got all of the current preggos together for a picture and dished on being pregnant while the kiddos played nicely. (I LOVE Carter's new-found independence!)

Thursday I had another doctor's appointment and while again, she wasn't planning on checking me, I made her check me, and then I watched her face grow concerned when she realized that my cervix had effaced 50% over the course of one week, and his head (previously breech) was already very low. While the word bedrest was never spoken, she told me I needed to take it very, very easy. Sit/lie down as much as possible, get as much help as I can. If I go into labor over the next two weeks (which she implied was quite possible), I will go to the hospital and they will attempt to stop the contractions until I get to 36 weeks at which point I'm fair game. Yikes. So while I was planning on having a September baby, it's now very likely that I will have an August baby.

So we decided that I need to be supervised at all times in case I go into labor and need someone to take me to the hospital. When Glenn went to work on the house this weekend, Carter and I went to my parents' house. We stayed pretty low key on Saturday, but decided to venture out a bit. We went to our favorite baby consignment shop, Stellie Bellies, then went to Lowes to pick up some paint samples and quote out carpet for the new house and took them down to Glenn. Later, my dad and I went back to Lowes to pick something up for Glenn, then went down to the house again, where I painted the samples on the wall. NOT a crazy, strenuous day by any means. But my body was yelling at me by the time we got back to my parents' house, and as we were driving home that night, I started having contractions. They weren't crazy intense by any means, but soon they formed a pattern and were coming every 10 minutes and lasting about 3:30 each. (Yes, I found an app for my iPhone to time contractions!) We got home and I laid down on the couch to try and get them under control, but they didn't stop. So I called my doctor's office and left a message for the on-call doctor, then went to take a warm bath since that was recommended by the midwife I saw this week, and thankfully that helped. By the time my doctor called back (and was not terribly friendly after being disturbed at 8:00 on a Saturday night), the last contraction had taken 12 minutes to come instead of 10 and she told me that as long as they didn't get any more intense or closer together, to just keep relaxing, but if anything changed, I would need to come in. Thankfully that was the last contraction I had that night. But it was a huge wake-up call for me. If I don't take it EASY-easy (not even just kind of easy), Collin very well may come weeks before he's supposed to.

Epiphany of the week: I am not in control. All I can do is behave myself as best I can and hope that's enough.

Entertaining question/comment/story of the week: Here are a few of Carter's brilliant quotes of the week:

"Mama has glasses. Cee Cee has glasses, too!"

He actually sang the whole ABC Song, and at the end he sings "Next time won't you sing with me, yaaaaaaaay!!!" (Since I cheer for him every time he sings it...now he cheers for himself, too!)

Obsessions: Keeping Collin in my belly!

What I am most looking forward to this week: Hopefully I will make it to my baby sprinkle on Friday. I have a doctor's appointment first, so hopefully I will make it that long!

What I miss the most: My chance of a September delivery.

Symptoms: Still 1 cm dilated and 50% effaced with his head "very low." I am now conscious of my cervix and just feel progress going on down there. Which would normally be exciting, but I would really like it to just chill out!

Milestones:

Your baby now weighs about 4 3/4 pounds (like your average cantaloupe) and is almost 18 inches long. His fat layers – which he'll need to regulate his body temperature once he's born – are filling him out, making him rounder. His skin is also smoother than ever. His central nervous system is maturing and his lungs are continuing to mature as well. If you've been nervous about preterm labor, you'll be happy to know that babies born between 34 and 37 weeks who have no other health problems generally do fine. They may need a short stay in the neonatal nursery and may have a few short-term health issues, but in the long run, they usually do as well as full-term babies. (GOOD TO KNOW!!)

Weight: 154

P.S. This actually happened this week, not during week 34, but I don't think we'll be moving until after Collin gets here. Our renters are getting antsy and since it's not looking like we'll be able to move in the 2 weeks we promised them, I think they're going to find another place. This is one part sad news, because I would rather have friends living here than strangers, but it does take a lot of pressure off of us, so I'm going to think of it as a good thing. There is too much going on with my crazy body to deal with trying to move into a construction zone right now! :)

33 Weeks Pregnant

2011-07-23T08:23:00.000-07:00

Best Moment of the week: Well, the week started out ok! My friend Amanda came over on Sunday with her sweet 7 month old, Ethan. Carter loved "baby Efan" and not only doted on him, but also didn't freak out when Mama held him. This is the third baby we've successfully avoided a meltdown with, phew! Let's just hope he does this well with his brother! We had a fun day on Tuesday, going to the aquarium with the Wesley Chapel Moms' Group, then having the Hansard family over to our/their house for a trip to the pool and pizza dinner. But then....

Epiphany of the week: I am officially not Superwoman. I think it was a combination of a lot of variables, but Wednesday my body rebelled against me, and as much as I've tried not to let my pregnancy slow me down, it turns out that I really need to slow down. From lifting Carter up and down a million times at the aquarium and carrying him halfway to the parking lot when he refused to walk, to catching him 50 times when he kept jumping in the pool, to just plain 'ole third trimester aches, pains and expanding joints, my body has never hurt so badly (with the exception of the week after Carter was born). My arms pretty much stopped working to the point that I couldn't even pick Carter up to put him on the potty/changing table/etc. and my lower back was just aching so badly I was miserable. There were lots of tears involved, but thankfully my mom was able to come over and help with Carter for a few days in a row so I wasn't alone with him in my poor, pitiful state.

Entertaining question/comment/story of the week: Here are a few of Carter's brilliant quotes:

"The shape of a stop sign is an octagon."

"I just sang the ABC song." (Well, not totally, but we're getting there!)

"Back to the Carter house to see Dada."

Watching Myna Mo, they were making pottery into shapes, and we were supposed to find the cylinder. Mickey: "Is that a cylinder?" Carter: "No, that's a square, that's a cube!" (And he can no correctly identify cylinders by name, too!)

Obsessions: Feeling better!

What I am most looking forward to this week: Hopefully I will be feeling like a human being again this week! If so, we're supposed to head over to a playdate at Maria's house to meet her new baby girl Soraya and play with Carter's friends. We'll see! We had to cancel a lot of plans this week because I was in too much pain to leave the house. I'm thinking that for the next few weeks, we will try to have friends come to our house more often so Carter is still getting to see his friends but I won't have to chase him around public places.

What I miss the most: I would really just like to be able to be myself again. It was really hard on me this week not being able to be a good mom to Carter, but I think I need to find a happy medium between where we've been and where we were this week. (My doctor told me I'm not allowed to carry him around anymore, so that will be adjustment #1!)

Symptoms: I think the only official pregnancy symptoms out of all of this week's aches and pains were the ones in my lower back. And at my doctor's visit this week, I made her check me and sure enough, I'm already dilated to 1 cm, which is EARLY! They hooked me up to the monitor to make sure I wasn't contracting (I'm not) so I got to hear Collin's perfect little heartbeat for about 30 minutes. Every time he would move (often these days!) you would hear a bit SWOOSH sound on the monitor. The moral of this week is SLOW DOWN.

Milestones:

This week your baby weighs a little over 4 pounds (heft a pineapple) and has passed the 17-inch mark. Baby may grow up to a full inch this week alone, and his brain is developing like crazy. Pretty soon, he'll be able to coordinate breathing with sucking and swallowing. Also, his bones are hardening, and he's started to keep his eyes open when he's awake.

Weight: 152

31/32 Weeks Pregnant

2011-07-16T06:26:00.000-07:00

Best Moment of the week:

31: We had a fun trip up to Brooksville to "Clare's house" (which Carter repeated all the way up there!) where my friend (and soon-to-be-tenant) Jen's family is currently staying. Her daughter Clare and Carter have already gotten to be good buddies, and we also played with her son Jackson and the other Jen and her kiddos Noah and Jack. We also had a fun trip down to Bradenton to see my friends Lisa and Kori and the gaggle of kids between them, Celine, Donovan, Brendan, Charlotte and Holden. Carter, Brendan and Holden are within a few weeks of each other, and they're finally at the point that they can all play "together," kind of, at least!

Best of all was Thursday, when we had our sonogram! When we first got there, Collin was flipped around backwards and we couldn't get a good look at his face (though the reason for having the sonogram...my low-lying placenta...was looking fine!) but the sonogram tech told us to come back after we saw the doctor and she would take another quick look for us! Next I went to see the nurse for all of my usual checks, and my blood pressure was a bit high for the first time. She let me sit for a minute since I was excited about the sonogram and had just walked from the waiting room, and it went down to normal, phew! (That was the first time it has ever been high!) Then I went to see Dr. Fallieras. I asked him about the Braxton Hicks I've been having lately, and it earned me my first internal check to make sure nothing was happening yet. Thankfully my cervix is still sealed up tight, but he told me to really keep an eye on the contractions to make sure nothing regular starts happening with them yet. Then we got to go back for another sonogram, woo hoo! Collin had flipped around so we got to see his cute little face, and he even stuck his tongue out at us! He also already has some hair, which is adorable! He's measuring at around 3.5 pounds and was about the 60th growth percentile...which of course you have to take with a grain of salt because ultrasound measurements aren't the most accurate, but good to know he's doing well in there. There's nothing like a sonogram...it really is like crack for a pregnant lady! :)

32: This week was pretty low-key after our big week last week. Carter and I mostly just chilled out, and I was busy with work, which has been pretty bonkers lately!

Epiphany of the week:

31: Carter started showing signs that potty training might be on the horizon. Previously, if you asked him if he went poo poo in his diaper, he would say no, even if he had. Starting last weekend, he came to me and said, "Poo poo diaper, let's change it!" then walked over to his changing table so I could change him. Now he tells me every time he goes, and he also kind of waddles, which is really funny!

32: I told my mom yesterday that I'd forgotten how hard the last few weeks of pregnancy can be on my body, as Collin has really started beating me up this week and I'm pretty darn uncomfortable. Her response? "Don't you have 8 weeks left?" As quickly as I'm sure it's going to go, 8 weeks is still a very long time when you're huge and pregnant! :)

Entertaining question/comment/story of the week:

31: Happy memory of the last space shuttle launch...Carter sitting on my lap excitedly whispering "space shuttle, space shuttle, space shuttle," as Atlantis blasted into outer space for the last time.

32: Me: "If you want a cookie, you have to say please first." Carter: (in complete seriousness) "Please first."

Obsessions: Still focused on moving. Work is starting on the "new" house today, and while we're still waiting to get the permit so most of the work can be done, at least we're out of the holding pattern we've been stuck in! I'm still really nervous about this whole situation though!

What I am most looking forward to this week: Aquarium with my moms' group and pool and dinner with the Hansards on Tuesday, Future Flipz with Auntie LeShayne, Tori and Tristan on Wednesday, and another doctor's appointment on Thursday.

What I miss the most: Being comfortable in my own skin. It's hard to find a comfortable position these days!

Symptoms: Collin is still so active! My boobs have also started getting bigger, which didn't happen with my last pregnancy. It's almost like they know what they're doing this time and are getting ready early. Sounds funny, but it's probably pretty true!

Milestones:

By now, baby weighs 3.75 pounds (pick up a large jicama...funny, this was one of my Millionaire answers!) and is about 16.7 inches long, taking up a lot of space in your uterus. I'm gaining about a pound a week and roughly half of that goes right to baby. In fact, he'll gain a third to half of his birth weight during the next 7 weeks as he fattens up for survival outside the womb. He now has toenails, fingernails, and real hair (or at least respectable peach fuzz). His skin is becoming soft and smooth as he plumps up in preparation for birth.

Weight: 151.5

30 Weeks Pregnant

2011-07-03T11:15:00.000-07:00

Best Moment of the week: We had a great week! We made more new friends on Monday with a "Jen and Kids" get together on Monday (there were three of us!), had a great time at the aquarium with Meg and Hunter on Wednesday, got to hang out with Auntie LeShayne and Carter's "cousins" Tori and Tristan on Friday, then met the adorable Baby Fischer afterward...what a cutie pie, great job, Auntie Erin!! I think the best moment, and quite possibly the most scary one, was deciding to rent our house out yesterday. I think I mentioned Jen from California in my last post...she and her family decided after looking at some other places to rent ours instead. We had to take a bit of a "pay cut" to make it work, but I think it will be worth it to avoid dealing with a property manager and to have nice, normal (and really, wonderful!) people living in our house taking good care of it. So we're MOVING IN 6 WEEKS. Gulp.

Epiphany of the week: Having a family is so much more wonderful than I ever imagined it could be. I had a picture in my head of how it would be, but really, nothing can prepare you for how wonderful children are and just how much you will love them. As we're about to welcome our second, I've been focusing so much on being nervous and worried about how we will all deal with it, but I need to keep in mind that it will also be more wonderful than I can even imagine, and I'm going to love Collin just as much as I love his big brother.

Entertaining question/comment/story of the week: Carter totally pooped in the bathtub this week! I think this has happened to all of my friends, and I thought I was just really lucky to have avoided it, but sure enough, my turn arrived on Friday! YUCK!! But we did survive, and the bathtub has been bleached to death. :)

Carter also started singing along to the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse song and trying to spell along with his name. Up until recently, Mickey Mouse was "Myna Mo" and that's still what he calls him most of the time, but he now calls him Mickey Mouse, too. He's getting so big!

Obsessions: Moving, moving, moving. I'm getting quotes for movers, putting together our rental agreement, and I'm going to start "purging" this week...getting stuff ready for Goodwill and tossing a lot of junk we don't need. We're also making a lot of decisions on the new house. We went to IKEA to figure out what we're doing for the new kitchen and partially new bathroom, and we picked out the kitchen backsplash and countertops yesterday at Home Depot. We have a plan for paint, and Glenn is picking the actual colors today.

What I am most looking forward to this week: SONOGRAM on Thursday!!!!!

What I miss the most: Sleeping comfortably, still. I think I will be in this holding pattern until I can roll onto my back again!

Symptoms: I have a very active baby now! He's visibly moving several times a day and getting vicious with those little feet. It's getting HARD to hold Carter now since my belly is massive, and my lap is almost gone! Otherwise, still tired and sore, but generally just feeling great and enjoying being pregnant.

Milestones:

Baby's about 15.7 inches long now, and he weighs almost 3 pounds (like a head of cabbage).

Weight: 149ish

29 Weeks Pregnant

2011-06-26T12:39:00.000-07:00

Best Moment of the Week: We made some new friends! I unofficially met Jen through one of my moms' groups...she was moving here from California and had some questions about the area, and I answered them for her, and we've been emailing back and forth ever since. Now it's a few months later, and her family has arrived in the Sunshine State, so she and her sweet kiddos came over for a playdate. Jackson is 3.5 and was perfectly content watching "Myna Mo" on TV while the little ones played, and Clare is 22 months old so she and Carter had a blast! We always love making new friends.

Epiphany of the week: My friend Sasha from one of my playgroups is pregnant, too, and she's due in November with her second son. She just announced that she's naming him Collin! We both got a good laugh out of our similar taste in names, so there will be TWO cute new Collins in our playgroup!

Entertaining question/comment/story of the week: Carter was "reading" Cat in the Hat to himself the other day. It was mostly babble, but he was turning the pages and got some of the words and storyline right on his own..."No, no, Cat in the Hat!" was one that I caught. When he was done, he said "The End" and shut the book just like I always do. I don't know how early he will actually read for real, but I think it will definitely be early at the rate he's going!

Obsessions: Still moving. We had talked about the possibility of the previously mentioned Jen and her family renting our house when they moved here, which would be great because there would be nice, normal people taking care of our house instead of random people who may not. It doesn't look like that is going to work out from a timing standpoint for us or a budget standpoint for them, so I think we're going to have to hire a property manager...booooo. But when?

And my NEW iPhone!! After dealing with my "possessed" Droid Eris for a year and a half, we finally bit the bullet and paid the $200 to get my pretty new iPhone 4, which is wonderful!

What I am most looking forward to this week: Pool party on Monday with the Meadow Pointe Moms' Club, Aquarium on Wednesday with Meg and Hunter, another playdate with Jen and the kids at some point in between, and (YAY!!) meeting my friend Erin's baby boy Fischer on Friday! Fischer and Collin will be about 3 months apart, and I know they will be good buddies!

What I miss the most: Not much.

Symptoms: Sore and tired with some crazy Braxton Hicks contractions

Milestones: Baby is growing rapidly now. This week he weighs about 2 1/2 pounds (like a butternut squash) and is a tad over 15 inches long from head to heel. His muscles and lungs are continuing to mature, and his head is getting bigger to accommodate his growing brain – which is busy developing billions of neurons.

Weight: 147.5

Carter at 20 Months

2011-06-19T09:17:00.000-07:00

Wow, 20 months already?! My little guy is not so little anymore. He's getting closer and closer to being a big brother, and thankfully keeps getting more and more ready with each passing month. I just wanted to take a few moments to capture Carter Glenn in all of his brilliance at 20 months. I know how easily I forget exactly when he did what (and a lot of this has been going on for a while) but I just wanted to document it here for posterity. :)

- He knows most of the alphabet (still mixes up a few letters here and there) and can identify most of the letters, match letters if there is more than one of a kind, and is starting to learn the alphabet song with me.
- He can count 1 to 10 well, sometimes up to 20, and is starting to understand how to count things...he definitely understands when there are a few items, but gets a little mixed up when there are a lot (I think once he starts counting, he just doesn't want to stop, so if there are 8 of something, he keeps going to 10 most of the time!). He's started counting the steps when we go up and down them.
- He knows all of his basic shapes (circle, square, triangle, rectangle, oval) and also knows star, moon, heart and even octagon. Glenn has even started teaching him crazy shapes like rhombus and parabola. If you draw shapes on a piece of paper, he can color certain shapes certain colors, which just amazed me.
- Speaking of colors, he knows his colors...red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, brown, black and white. The hardest ones for him to get were orange and purple. He still mixes up black and brown occasionally, and purple and pink.
- He has a crazy vocabulary! When we go through his books together, he can identify pretty much everything I point to in every book, even difficult items like microscopes, caterpillars, feather dusters and octopus. Sometimes his prononciation isn't the greatest, but he definitely knows what things are if you take the time to understand him. He loves his lift-a-flap books and his look-and-find books best of all, and I think these have helped with learning so much so fast.
- He can identify pretty much any animal we run into and knows sounds for most of them that make sounds, and motions for anything I could think of that doesn't make a sound. We go through these a lot in the car when I'm trying to keep him awake, and recently, I started telling him the sounds and he is able to tell me what animal makes the sound, too.
- While he's still far from reading, he's starting to understand the concept. He knows that "C" is for Carter and Collin, "M" is for Mama, and "D" is for Dada (plus a few others, but these are the main ones) and if you write those words down, he can identify the four of them by looking at the letters. He is also good at filling in words when we read books...sometimes by pointing at the pictures and he fills in the blanks for me (Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham, Goodnight Moon), sometimes just because he remembers from reading it so many times (Knuffle Bunny, Ferdinand).
- He's starting to understand relationships...big, little and medium (we work on this with his "quack quacks"), in and out, on and off, etc.
- He knows all of his body parts, even his eyebrows, and can identify them on himself, other people, and in books. He loves to pound on my back saying "backabackabackabacka" which I'm hoping will translate into nice backrubs down the road!
- Some of my favorite "Carterisms": duck = quack quack; bird = peep peep; monkey = ha; lion = grrrr; elephant = finit; pigs say "eh eh" instead of oink; roosters (and usually chickens, too) say cock-a-do; yogurt melts = myna melts; ice cream = ki keam; apples = a-a's; pineapples = a-a-a's; bicycle/tricycle/motorcycle = guycycle; Mickey Mouse = Myna Mo; Elmo = MoMo; Grancy = Cee Cee; Zoey = Suzzy; Sophie = Phie Phie
- He really is such a sweet little guy. Sure he has his moments, but he's a total cuddle bug, loves to give hugs and kisses and snuggle, and will occasionally say "love you" which melts my heart. What he lacks in independence, he more than makes up for in affection, and I don't think I would trade that for all of the independent sleeping in the world. :) I am such a proud Mama and just can't even believe that we made this amazing little person from scratch!

28 Weeks Pregnant

2011-06-18T07:23:00.000-07:00

Best Moment of the week: A fun day out at the Aquarium with my moms' group. I tried out Carter's "leash" for the first time since he's been so active lately and I was nervous about having to chase him around when I'm so pregnant. (I swore I would never be one of those parents who put a leash on their child, but there are a lot of things I said I would never do as a parent that I totally do now...those of you who don't have kids yet will understand this concept much more when you have kids...it's totally a survival mechanism...for me, and for Carter, too!) Not only did he tolerate the leash well (it's actually a little tiger backpack he can wear and a strap clips on and lets me hang on to him) but he didn't run away from me, either. He held my hand most of the time and I just kept the leash as a backup plan that I thankfully didn't even need. We went out to the splash park for the first time, and Carter LOVED it! He had so much fun playing in the fountains, looking at all of the "sea creatures" and running around like a crazy man. It was really, really, really hot out, so I don't know how often we will attempt it, but I loved how much he loved it.

Epiphany of the week: I am way less antsy with this pregnancy. With Carter, I just couldn't wait for him to be here already, to be done being pregnant, to meet him, etc. With Collin, I'm just trying to enjoy my pregnancy. I'm not sure if we will have a third child, so this might be my last time being pregnant, and while it does have its challenges, I really do enjoy pregnancy once I get past that whole first trimester nonsense. I'm also really trying to enjoy our time with Carter while he's still an only child. I completely understand how challenging life is going to get when we have two instead of one (and how wonderful, too, but also challenging), so I'm savoring the calm before the storm and trying to make each moment special.

Also, it really occurred to me this week that Carter is a "real person" now. As a baby, he wasn't really all that conscious or what was going on and didn't have that much of an attention span or memory. Now he really understands things. He obeys commands, remembers things that happened days or even weeks before, and just has such a personality. He is completely his own person now. I'm not sure if that's a GOOD thing or a BAD thing now that Collin is coming...guessing it will be a little bit of both. And yet he is still partially a caveman...doesn't completely understand the concept of being gentle, has to go to timeout a couple of times a day for hitting me, Glenn, my mom or the cats (he's just playing, not being malicious, but still) and doesn't listen all the time when I ask him not to do things like climbing on the furniture. We'll get there, right? Hopefully before September. :)

Entertaining question/comment/story of the week: "Wow, you really look pregnant now!" - Kara Clavio from my moms' group...not meant as an insult, just a statement of the truth...my belly is getting B-I-G

Obsessions: Moving. Not sure if I've even talked about it here, but we are planning to move from our townhouse in Wesley Chapel over to Glenn's dad's house in Clearwater. He's been in a nursing home since last summer, so his house is vacant, and we have to rent out either that house or our house. The Clearwater house is about 30 seconds from Glenn's office and 10 minutes from my parents, so it makes way more sense for us to be over there than over here. The catch is that it needs a lot of renovations before we can move in, which takes a lot of time and money. We're bartering a lot of work with a contractor (I did their branding and am going to do their website) but Glenn still has to do a lot of it himself. Between money stresses and not having enough time, there's still a big question mark hanging over the whole situation, and I don't know if we'll be able to get everything done in the less than 3 months before Collin gets here. Pregnant ladies need to nest, and I currently don't know where my nest will be, which is driving me bonkers. I'm just trying not to think about it...

What I am most looking forward to this week: Pool playdates with friends will be fun...but I also have a lot of work to do, including a lot of potential new business that has just been bombarding me this week...when it rains it pours! New business is always a good thing for my company, but I always get butterflies in my stomach as I take on new projects and new clients, hoping that everything will go smoothly and that they won't be "nightmare" clients. I'm also not quite sure how I'm going to juggle all of the work that is potentially about to start, yikes!!

What I miss the most: Not much.

Symptoms: Headaches are back, boooooo! I had really nasty ones during my first trimester, but they were almost completely, blissfully absent from my second trimester. My third trimester starts and within a few days, so do the headaches! I try not to take too much medicine, but I've had to take a lot more Tylenol to keep them under control, along with a daily dose of caffeine, which used to be all I needed. Yesterday, neither Tylenol nor caffeine did the trick, but a couple of pieces of dark chocolate knocked it out. Oh well, there could be worse cures, huh?

Milestones: By this week, baby weighs two and a quarter pounds (like a Chinese cabbage) and measures 14.8 inches from the top of his head to his heels. He can blink his eyes, which now sport lashes. With his eyesight developing, he may be able to see the light that filters in through your womb. He's also developing billions of neurons in his brain and adding more body fat in preparation for life in the outside world.

Weight: 146, up 13 pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight

27 Weeks Pregnant

2011-06-11T06:54:00.001-07:00

Best Moment of the week: Fun playdate at Carter's girlfriend Abby's house with my Mommy friends on Wednesday, and lunch with my ex-coworkers yesterday...always nice to spend good times with friends!

Epiphany of the week: By golly, I think I must have passed my glucose test! I should have had a call by Tuesday if there was anything amiss, so even if they took their time, I think I would have heard something by now. I thought about calling to ask, but nah, I'm just going to be happy about the lack of news!

Entertaining question/comment/story of the week: All courtesy of the Munchkin...

Carter had his first really good swear word this week, courtesy of Mama. I don't even remember what inspired it now, but Glenn and Carter were going upstairs, and I was closing up downstairs for the night. I think I dropped something on my toe, or stubbed my toe, or something painful like that, but I yelled "F**K!!!" really loud, and then heard a little parroted "F**K!!" from upstairs. Glenn and I both just about died laughing. Is this something we write in his baby book?? Guess it's officially time to watch my language.
Glenn was in the office and I was lying in bed, exhausted, but Carter was nowhere near ready to sleep. He ran helter skelter down the hallway, screaming "aaaaaaaagggghhhhhh!!!!" at the top of his lungs, then into the bedroom and over to me and said "Hi!" then "aaaaaaaaaggggggghhhhhhh!" down the hallway to the baby gate by the office and said "Hi!" to Glenn, then back and forth about 20 times, screaming and laughing the whole time. Eventually he burned off enough steam to slow down and go to bed!
Carter likes to play with Glenn's big Maglite flashlight, and he's learned how to turn it on and off himself. We were lying in bed at bedtime the other night and he would turn it on and say, "There it is!" then off and say, "Where did it go??" He did this over and over again, then turned it on and said, "There's the moon!

He is just so darn cute these days. I am so, so in love with that little boy!

Obsessions: Collin's little feet. He's strong enough now to give me some really good kicks, and if I push back at him, I can actually feel his feet just like I could with Carter. They are usually on my right side, about even with my belly button, but getting higher and higher up.

What I am most looking forward to this week: Going to the aquarium with my mommy group...always fun! I think I will bring Carter's little backpack-leash with me this time!

What I miss the most: Nothing this week. Carter is mostly back to his normal, sweet self.

Symptoms: Braxton-Hicks contractions started this week. I've also really had trouble sleeping. Twice this week, I spent a few hours awake in bed wishing I could get back to sleep, which is the worst when I know how tired I will be the next day (last night was one of them). Zzzzzzzz.....

Milestones: I'm in my 3rd trimester, woo hoo! Collin is about 2 pounds and 14.5 inches long. He's sleeping and waking at regular intervals and opening and closing his eyes. His brain is very active now (going to be smart like his brother!), and his lungs are finally developed enough that he could make it on the outside now with help.

Weight: 144.5

26 Weeks Pregnant

2011-06-04T11:57:00.000-07:00

Best Moment of the week: Feeling Collin's adorable little hiccups for the first time! I was sitting at the dinner table and thought he must be flailing around a lot since I was feeling a lot of movement, and when I put my hand on my belly, I realized that it was a predictable pattern and he just had the hiccups! He gets them a few times a day now, just like Carter did. Which means he will probably have them all the time once he's out, too! He's been moving a lot more in general, too, and I've been able to push back on his feet and have him actually kick me a few times, which is fun! Glenn has had a few "whoa!" moments watching the turbulence in my belly.

Also, a pool party with my moms' group was lot of fun yesterday, but it was flanked by one of Carter's worst days of crankiness yet! I really, really, really hate teething...it turns my sweet boy into a nightmare! Thankfully he seems to be in better spirits today.

Epiphany of the week: Go to the bathroom before I get in the car. Even if I don't have to pee now, I will have to pee as soon as you start driving and then I will be miserable!

Entertaining question/comment/story of the week: My friend Larisa told me my hair looked nice yesterday and asked if I had something done to it since it was almost curly. I told her no, my hair just gets wavy during pregnancy and laughed that I hadn't even washed it in two days. Our friend Birgit added, "So basically it's a combination of pregnancy and motherhood."

Obsessions: Hiccups! Passing the glucose test....my fingers are still crossed on that one. They're supposed to call within a week if the results are abnormal, so I've almost made it that far. Though I think they took their sweet time to tell me it was abnormal last time, too. We'll see!

What I am most looking forward to this week: Fun playdate on Wednesday, hopefully a fun lunch date with my ex-work friends on Friday.

What I miss the most: This week, it was my sweet Carter instead of the teething monster! :)

Symptoms: Sore and sleepy, but generally feeling good. Also still pretty emotional, especially on "bad" days when Carter is driving me nuts. :)

Milestones: He now weighs about a pound and two-thirds and measures 14 inches (an English hothouse cucumber) from head to heel.

Weight: 143

25 Weeks Pregnant

2011-05-28T11:45:00.000-07:00

I really thought I was 26 weeks pregnant today...guess I'm getting ahead of myself!

Best Moment of the week: We had a really nice and busy week! We had fun at Tori's party on Sunday, had our first trip to the pool this year (which was fabulous!) on Monday, had a fun playdate with Meg and her son Hunter (a little younger than Carter, but they played really well together) on Wednesday, Grancy came home and was back at our house on Thursday, and we went to a yummy lunch at Cheesecake Factory with Auntie Lauren yesterday. Today we went to the Aquarium as our little 3.5-person family, then out to lunch and IKEA...spending time as a family is just so precious to me!

Epiphany of the week: Wouldn't really call it an epiphany, but I started registering this week. I made a list of the "stuff" we still need, which really isn't much since we're having another boy! My wonderful friends Lauren and LeShayne are throwing me a "baby sprinkle" (which is a mini-shower) so I'm trying to make my invite list and get registered since at the rate this pregnancy is flying, it will be here before I know it!

Entertaining question/comment/story of the week: Carter started blowing kisses and saying "thank you, mama" upon request. My mom taught him to roll on the ground, and he really likes crawling under your legs when you're standing up. He also loves doing the motions for Itsy Bitsy and Patty Cake.

Obsessions: None, really. Much less obsessive in general for this pregnancy. Wait, I take that back...Godiva Chocolate Cheesecake at Cheesecake Factory...totally worth obsessing over! And I would really, really, really like to pass my glucose test on Tuesday. Pretty please??

What I am most looking forward to this week: Nothing big planned...maybe some down time after being social butterflies this week!

What I miss the most: Sleeping comfortably, still. I think I will be in this holding pattern until I can roll onto my back again!

Symptoms: I tend to get really congested whenever I'm particularly active (only during pregnancy), so our trip to the aquarium, walk to and from Channelside and around IKEA has me congested with clogged up ears, no fun. I'm also feeling the strain of the extra weight in my lower back right now and soooooo sleeeeeepy.

Milestones: Head to heels, your baby now measures about 13 1/2 inches. His weight — a pound and a half — isn't much more than an average rutabaga, but he's beginning to exchange his long, lean look for some baby fat.

Weight: 142

24 Weeks Pregnant

2011-05-21T12:33:00.000-07:00

Best Moment of the week: Collin really started moving and grooving this week! He put on a significant amount of weight (about 4 ounces depending on my email updates...which is a lot when you weigh less than a pound!), and I think that really helped him make his presence known. I can now visibly see his jabs, which is very cool.

Epiphany of the week: I finally have Carter on a decent nap schedule...but once Collin is here, how am I going to lie down with Carter, read him his book (Cat in the Hat), sing him his songs, and help him fall asleep when there's a newborn demanding to be held?? Please, oh please, let me have a laid-back baby this time around!

Entertaining question/comment/story of the week: Carter: "Where's the dog?" (looking for his green dog stuffed animal, Scout) "There he is!" "Hi!" I love that he was able to ask a question, answer it, and have such a complete succession of thoughts. He also continues to count up a storm, and is finally understanding the meaning behind the numbers. I love, love, love watching him learn, and he amazes me every day.

Obsessions: Double strollers...do I really need one? Can I make do without? Will I kick myself if I don't get one?

What I am most looking forward to this week: My mom getting home from her cruise TODAY! Also looking forward to my sweet "niece" Tori's 11th birthday party tomorrow and seeing "Auntie" LeShayne and Carter's "cousins."

What I miss the most: Sleeping comfortably. My hips and legs have started getting really sore at night since all of my ligaments are loosening, and I hobble around for a while whenever I get up (which is often!).

Symptoms: I got reeeeeally worn out on Tuesday...that was the day Collin first started his visible kicks, and I think his growth spurt really took a lot out of me. Some days I really feel like I have it together, but Tuesday was not one of those days for me!

Milestones: Your baby's growing steadily, having gained about 4 ounces since last week. That puts him at just over a pound. Since he's almost a foot long (picture an ear of corn), he cuts a pretty lean figure at this point, but his body is filling out proportionally and he'll soon start to plump up. His brain is also growing quickly now, and his taste buds are continuing to develop. His lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help his air sacs inflate once he hits the outside world. His skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon.

Weight: 141.5...hello again 140's.

21 Week Sonogram Pictures

2011-05-14T10:58:00.001-07:00

Here are the sono pictures from Collin's 21 week sonogram!

Profile shot:

3-D shot of his face with his hand against his cheek (the funny glitch over his lip is his umbilical cord casting a shadow)

Another 3-D face shot, rotated a bit. Already a beautiful boy.

23 Weeks Pregnant

2011-05-14T10:46:00.000-07:00

Best Moment of the week: Carter learned to count to 10 this week, and I couldn't be prouder of him! He'd been counting to 2 for a while, then started saying "1, 2, 3, 9, 10," then out of the blue was putting blocks back in the box with Glenn and he counted to 10 all on his own! Now he's obsessed with counting, and while he doesn't quite have the concept down all the time, he's getting there. He's also loving letters and likes to play with all of his different alphabets, matching the letters up and saying the ones he knows (and pretending to say the ones he doesn't).

Epiphany of the week: Going to the grocery store with two is going to be very, very hard!

Entertaining question/comment/story of the week: "One, Two, Free, Fo, Fi, Hicks (with gusto), Se-Nen, Eight, Nine, Ten!" - Carter

Obsessions: The little man (soon to be the big man, I guess) is just flooring me with his intelligence this week. I'm such a proud mama, and I just know having two is going to double that pride!

What I am most looking forward to this week: My mom getting home from her cruise next weekend. We've missed her greatly!

What I miss the most: Being able to get over the baby gates easily!

Symptoms: Peeing all the time, getting teary all the time...basically I'm just a faucet.

Milestones: (This totally cracked me up!) Baby's now the size of a papaya! Baby's little face is fully formed...minus the baby fat, of course. The next task at hand for baby: sprouting two teeny-tiny nipples!

Weight: 139...I'm debating whether I should be counting from where I started, in which case I've gained 6 pounds, or from where I bottomed out, in which case I've gained 14 pounds. Will have to check with my doctor!

22 Weeks Pregnant

2011-05-07T07:25:00.001-07:00

I've decided that if you take the time out of your busy schedule to read my silly blog, you deserve to get a little reward. So if you're reading this now, congratulations! You get to be in on our little secret, and I'd like to share with you our second son's name. Drumroll please...Collin Edwin McKay!

Now let's get one thing clear....this does not give you carte blanche to share the name with other people who might want to know. You're part of my special little club, so zip those lips! :) But I hope you like it. And if you'd like to leave me a comment to let me know you read this so I have some people I can say his name out loud to, I'd appreciate it! If you don't like it, or it's the name of some really awful person you once knew, or your dog's name, etc., you don't have to tell me that. :)

Best Moment of the week: Without a doubt, the sonogram on Monday. The one downfall was that we ended up having to bring Carter to the doctor with us (I got sick and since my mom was leaving for her cruise and didn't need to share my germs, there was no one else to watch him on short notice), and since he FREAKS OUT at doctors' offices right now, Glenn ended up sitting in the car with him instead of in the doctor's office with me. (He lasted about 30 seconds in the waiting room before making such a racket that Glenn couldn't handle it.) But the sonogram was still great. There's always that moment before the sonogram starts when I just hold my breath and hope that nothing is wrong, but as soon as he was up on the screen, he wiggled around and said hello, and all was right with the world. They checked his spine, heart, kidneys, bladder, brain, hands, fingers (and probably a few more things I can't remember right now), and everything looked perfect, which is what I like to hear. The only cause for a bit of concern (and not likely to be a problem) is that my placenta is a bit low, so they need to monitor it to make sure it doesn't turn into previa (where the placenta blocks the cervix, aka the way out). The sonogram tech said that I would definitely get another sonogram out of it, but my doctor really wasn't that concerned and wasn't going to schedule one. I begged though, and he consented, so at my 28 week appointment, we get another peek at little C. (And Glenn will hopefully get to come this time!) I've decided that there is such a thing as a sonogram high...despite being sick, I just felt so happy for the rest of the day.

Note: I will put up a few sonogram pictures once I get my scanner working again!

Epiphany of the week: After watching a "fat and happy" Carter after lunch today, we realized that in a year and a few months, we're going to have TWO crazy toddlers making laps around our house screaming like banshees.

Entertaining question/comment/story of the week: "There's one leg, there's the other leg, and there's the third leg." -Sonogram tech confirming that yes, we're having a boy

Me: Who's in Mama's belly?
Carter: Cah-yin (Collin).
Me: Who's Collin?
Carter: Bruzzah (brother).

Obsessions: My massively growing belly. It's amazing just how fast it's getting bigger now that I'm showing!

What I am most looking forward to this week: Mother's Day tomorrow, and spending some fun time with my hubby and Munchkin

What I miss the most: Nothing, really....no, I take that back. I miss cold medicine!!!

Symptoms: I am officially an emotional mess. For some reason I actually cried a lot less than "my normal" (which is pretty much like I am right now) during Carter's pregnancy and after he was born, but I'm back to crying at the drop of a hat...anything remotely sad on television and I'm all teary. And don't even get me started on how sentimental I am about Carter these days! Also, Collin has been using my bladder as a punching bag. I can literally feel it shake when he punches it, which sends me running to the bathroom.

Milestones: At 11 inches (the length of a spaghetti squash) and almost 1 pound, your baby is starting to look like a miniature newborn. His lips, eyelids, and eyebrows are becoming more distinct, and he's even developing tiny tooth buds beneath his gums.

Weight: 138...packing on the pounds!

21 Weeks Pregnant

2011-04-30T11:11:00.000-07:00

Best Moment of the week: We had a busy social week, going on three playdates, which is way above our norm. Especially enjoyed our Royal Wedding playdate yesterday and watching the fairy-tale-come-true of Price William and Princess Kate with Carter and our friends before my little prince can roll his eyes at me and tell me love is yucky. :)

Epiphany of the week: Things that are currently easy are no longer going to be easy when there are two little people to juggle. We picked up lunch from Moe's one day...which is challenging enough holding one squirming person so he doesn't tear the whole restaurant apart...what will I do with one squirming person and one tiny person??

Entertaining question/comment/story of the week: Glenn slipped and told our friend (and his co-worker) Erin the baby's name! We're so used to referring to him by his name these days that it's getting harder and harder to keep it a secret.

I think I will also add "story" to this category since I rarely remember the funny things people say. :)

Our cat Bailey's main goal in life is to go outside and this week he finally succeeded! Around 5pm on Thursday, I heard some meowing and thought I must have shut one of the kitties in a closet or the laundry room, so Carter and I went upstairs to look and couldn't find anything amiss. When we came back downstairs, I realized it was coming from the front door. I opened it and Bailey came running back in! He must have managed to sneak out when my mom left at 2:45. We always wondered after countless unsuccessful escape attempts (that involved us chasing him down and bringing him back) if he would come home by himself, and now we know that he will. :)

Obsessions: The 20 (well, 21) week sonogram on Monday, and making sure that our boy is really a boy

What I am most looking forward to this week: See above. What am I not looking forward to? My mom leaving on her 3 WEEK-LONG cruise. I hope she has a wonderful time (because she totally deserves it!) but we will miss having her here at our house twice a week, and I don't think I'm going to get much work done. :P

What I miss the most: Nothing, really.

Symptoms: Exhaustion. Getting a cold again, yuck-o! Dry, itchy skin on my face, but as my skin has dried out, so has my hair, which is looking fabulous these days and doesn't get greasy if I don't get to wash it every day. Also, baby is beating up on my bladder a lot, so I've increased my trips to the bathroom!

Milestones: Baby is 10.5" and three-quarters of a pound, about the size of a banana.

Weight: 135

HALFWAY THERE!!

2011-04-23T11:53:00.000-07:00

Best Moment of the week: Seeing real, visible kicks and feeling him flop around in there.

Also, taking Carter to his first Easter egg hunt. He did such a great job! I didn't think he would really understand the concept yet, but he ran around like a champ and picked up a ton of eggs! And this morning, he said "love you" for the first time, then pat me on the back and gave me a hug!

Epiphany of the week: None really for me, but Carter has finally started to understand color since he got all of those Easter eggs!

Entertaining question/comment of the week: The girls from my mom's group all agreed that I finally have a baby bump, and Glenn told me I actually look pregnant now!

Obsessions: Seeing those kicks

What I am most looking forward to this week: Nothing much planned.

What I miss the most: Nothing, really.

Symptoms: Exhaustion.

Milestones: Finally reached the halfway point. Baby is about 10" head to toe (we measure differently starting this week) and weighs about 1o oz, and the size of a banana or cantaloupe.

Weight: 133...nothing gained this week.

Dear Carter at 18 Months

2011-04-16T14:12:00.001-07:00

Dear Carter,

I've started a letter to you in my head about a million times, but somehow I never find the time to sit down and write it. I'm constantly making mental notes to myself to remember this, or write that down, so that I can remember all of the wonderful, endearing qualities about you at this age (and really, every age), but since my memory isn't what it used to be and I know it's not getting any better, I'm finally forcing myself to sit down and write you this letter as your turn a year and a half old, despite the fact that as you well know, your mom is a big sap, and I'm already teary as I write.

Let me start by saying that I really wasn't prepared for just how much I would love you. Before you were born, I spent a lot of time imagining what life would be like as a mommy, but nothing could really prepare me for you. Being your mother is my greatest accomplishment, or should I say that YOU are my greatest accomplishment. More often than not, I'm just amazed by you...watching you grow and learn before my eyes, the clever connections you make, your sweet, generous nature, and your ability to love. I know that someday you will just roll your eyes at me, but I love how much you love your family at this age, especially Mama, Dada and Grancy (CiCi). Your eyes light up whenever you see one of your favorite people, and you give us hugs and kisses freely.

In addition to loving your people, you also completely adore our four cats. Your favorite is Sophie, who you call Phie-Phie, our long-haired black cat. I think she grudgingly loves you, too, and especially loves that having you around means she gets to eat your leftovers. You call her name whenever you see her, and often go right up to her, push her down on the ground, and hug her, which she tolerates surprisingly well! You also love Bailey (Bay-ee), Kenny (Ken-eh) and Zoey (who doesn't really have an official name from you yet). Bailey doesn't have the good sense to run away from you, so he often scratches you when you over-enthusiastically give him love. Zoey is patient with you but keeps her distance, and Kenny is scared to death and has the good sense to steer clear of you whenever he can!

I've never laughed as much as I've laughed since you were born...your joy is truly infectious, and you love to be the comedian, whether it's intentional or not. My favorite moments are spent with you and your Daddy, and I love watching the joy you obviously both feel when you're together. I love how silly he can be just to make you smile, and I love to hear your sweet giggle when he makes you laugh.

It is so fun to watch you becoming an adventurous eater even at this young age. I was always picky, so it makes me happy to see you try and like so many new things, and I hope you stay that way! So far the only things you've rejected have been tacos and brownies, and you later took the brownies when offered them again, so I think it may have just burned your tongue since Mommy was eating one fresh from the oven...sorry about that! Some of your favorites, in no particular order, are avocado (cado), apples (a-a's), cheese, broccoli, black olives, pasta, and the rolls from Texas Roadhouse. You love when we go to salad bars, and you will always sample all kinds of different vegetables when we're there. You love your fruits and veggies more than meat, which is so rare for a little guy like you! I'm so proud of your adventurous palate.

You love, love, love to go outside now! It's really hot out already (in April!) so something tells me we won't be going out too much over the next few months, but you really enjoyed springtime. You're so curious about the world around you, and you love to point to things and either tell me what it is or ask "what's that?" and have me tell you. You love to look at the birds (peep peeps), trees, flowers, pond, dogs (woof woof), cows (either cow, or moooooo), sunshine, moon, cars, trucks and more. You love going to the playground, too, and can finally maneuver yourself around the play structures without too much help from me. You love to go down slides, though you do insist on lying down instead of sitting up. You love to steer the steering wheel and turn the big tic tac toe boards. And you love to ride on the animals...the purple dinosaur, horsies and anything else you can get your hands on. You love to run around, too. And while you used to need me to watch your every move, now you run off by yourself with barely a backward glance at me. I love to watch your growing independence as you find your own way in the world.

You've already learned to say so many words, and you learn more every day. You've recently become a little parrot, and you will repeat words back to us. I can almost see the light bulb go off over your head as you make the connection...oh THAT'S what that is! The best time to teach you new words is after you've just eaten, during which time we call you "fat and happy." I love that you're finally learning to communicate with us, and it's such a joy to watch you learn! You learn so much from looking at books with us...your Little People lift-the-flap books were the ones we started with (and you're a pro at remembering where things are!), and now you love your look and find books: Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (Myna Mo) and Elmo (MoMo). You love other books, too, but those are your favorites. I also love reading you Knuffle Bunny, and you always laugh when Trixie says, "Aggle Flaggle Klabble!" We have your books on a bookshelf in the living room, and you often bring books out for us to read together. You also love reading at naptime and bedtime now, and this seems to be the magic way to calm you down before sleep. You love reading Ferdinand, which was one of my favorite books when I was a little girl, and I love that we share that! And then we read one of two sleepy time books, Snuggle Up Sleepy Ones or Time for Bed, and we always end with Goodnight Moon. You always say "moon" when I bring it out, and lately you've been obsessed with pointing out the fireplace on each page it's on.

Which leads me to sleep. I know that some day this will absolutely mortify you, but you're currently sleeping in bed with Mommy and Daddy. I will remind you that this was TOTALLY your idea...we tried, and tried, and tried some more to get you to sleep in your crib, but you always hated it, and we really hated hearing you cry. So we finally gave in, and you just snuggle with Mommy at nighttime. Because you sleep with us, you also have pretty weird hours for such a little guy...you don't go to bed until 9:30 at the earliest (usually closer to 10) and you sleep until 8 or 8:30 in the morning, which I really appreciate! You've just gotten to the point that you refuse to sleep in your cute "footie pajamas" anymore and hate having anything on your feet at night, even covers, which you kick off. You were a really horrible sleeper for the first year of your life, mostly because I kept "fighting" you, trying to make you sleep in your crib, but now that you sleep with us, you sleep very well at night, usually sleeping from the time you close your eyes until morning. Mommy was very, very tired after months of not sleeping through the night, and it's so nice to finally have a good sleeper! We're really not sure what's going to happen when your brother gets here, but I guess we'll just figure it out later. You've also finally started napping very well. It's still hard to get you to settle down long enough to realize you're sleepy, but once you do, you usually sleep for an hour and a half to two hours, which is helpful for Mommy when I have work to do.

We've been working on your colors for a while now, and you're finally starting to "get" them...sometimes at least. You usually get yellow (ye-wow) right...sometimes green (gween), blue (boo) and pink...and occasionally red. The others are unlikely, but I know we will get there eventually! After your first Easter egg hunt, you had a lot of brightly colored plastic eggs to play with, and I think this is when you really started understanding color.

As I write this letter, I'm just about halfway through my pregnancy with your brother. While I'm nervous as to how you are going to handle having to share your favorite people (and your toys), I'm so happy to see how you've already started taking steps toward being a great big brother. You immediately learned his name, which surprised us, and whenever we ask you what your brother's name is, you repeat it back to us with a little smile. (And you even told Grancy the name, but thank you for not telling anyone else...yet.) You recognize that he is in mommy's tummy, and you will even give him a kiss there sometimes. And you point him out proudly in his ultrasound picture on the refrigerator whenever we walk past it, plus you've started pointing to pictures of other babies and saying his name. I hope that the two of you will be the best of friends...having grown up an only child, it's a foreign concept to me to have a brother or sister, but your Daddy and I wanted the two of you to be close enough in age that you could be good buddies. ( I just hope the two of you take it easy on your old Mom!) When he gets here, I hope you realize how much I love you...even if your brother has to be the center of attention for a while, you are and always will be my first baby, and I promise I won't love you any less, even if my attention is divided.

I'm sure there's much more I could add here, but I will just finish by saying how very, very much I love you, my sweet Munchkin. I'm so proud of the wonderful little boy you are becoming, and I'm so happy that you made me a Mommy.

Lots of love,
Mama

19 Weeks Pregnant

2011-04-16T13:58:00.000-07:00

Best Moment of the week: Carter's meltdown, funny enough. Usually this would not fall into the "best" category, but it was too cute. My mom found one of his little rattle toys and told him that he would have to give it to his brother because it was a baby toy. He excitedly walked over to me with it and handed it to me with a smile. I put it on my belly and thanked him from the baby. Before I knew it, his bottom lip was sticking out and he burst into tears. I think the realization just hit him that he will have to share his toys with his brother! I tried to give him the toy back, but he didn't want it. When he found it again later, he burst into tears again. So we've put that one away!

Another one is happening right now. Carter is watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse while I type this post (Myna-Mo, as he calls it), and he's sitting next to me with his head leaning against me and his hand on my belly. It's so sweet to watch him as he understands that he's going to be a big brother.

Epiphany of the week: For a brief moment in time, we will have "two under two," as Carter won't turn two until the month after Baby #2 is born. That just sounds crazy to me!

Entertaining question/comment of the week: I don't really have any that come to mind this week, but I will say that the baby has been either kicking or punching me way down low, right at my bikini line. I constantly have my hand sticking down my pants to feel the kicks and I must look like Al Bundy!

Obsessions: Movement. I'm loving his reassuring nudges.

What I am most looking forward to this week: Spending time with friends...we're having playgroup at our house on Tuesday and going to an Easter Egg Hunt on Thursday.

What I miss the most: Nothing, really

Symptoms: Exhaustion.

Milestones: Baby weighs about 8 1/2 ounces, and measures 6 inches, head to bottom — about the size of a large heirloom tomato. The hair on his scalp is sprouting, and his senses are developing. Which means that he will soon recognize his big brother's voice!

Weight: 133...so I'm finally back to my pre-pregnancy weight. Anything moving forward officially counts!

Baby Names

2011-04-11T13:50:00.000-07:00

I wrote a post on my moms' group message board today about baby names and I wanted to capture this information somewhere for posterity's sake since this is my baby journal this time around.

This is how we chose Carter's name...

We knew if we had a boy that his middle name would be Glenn after my husband since in his family, the father's name is always the first son's middle name. (If it had been a girl, her middle name would have been Jean after my family. It's my middle name and also my cousin's, my mom's and my grandmother's...who we later found out made it up in high school because coming from a big family, she hadn't been given one and wanted one! Which is TOTALLY my grandmother's personality.)

We wanted his first name to be something relatively modern and not too traditional that we chose because we liked it, not because we were obligated to use it. It had to be: easy to spell and pronounce; familiar (top 100ish) but not too common (top 10); sound good with Glenn and McKay (which ruled out most one-syllable names); sound equally appropriate on a business card and as a rock star name (I got that one from Kori); preferably not a predominantly female unisex name; and I know we must have had a few others, but can't remember them at the moment!

We wanted to keep it a secret because I didn't want to hear or see any "oh, THAT's the name" reactions or hear how it was the worst name ever/the name of someone's pet/arch-enemy/etc. We weren't planning to reveal it until after he was born, but when I auditioned for Who Wants To Be A Millionaire in June (at 5 months preggo), I told them that if I made it on the show, I would reveal his name on-air. Which totally happened, believe it or not, for those of you who weren't around back then. So we ended up revealing his name to Meredith Vieira and the live studio audience (and weeks later, the rest of the world) on national television. So if anyone hated it, I didn't have to see/hear their reactions and they had some time to compose themselves and tell me how fabulous it was the next time we talked! :)

For Baby #2, we kept the same set of rules (which really irked Glenn since he tends to like popular names this go-round...I love Ethan, but as a Jennifer, I had to eliminate that one!) and I added a few more rules. No presidential names because while Carter was not an intentional canonization of Mr. Jimmy, having a Jackson, Grant or Clinton might seem intentional. And we also tried to stay away from -er names, since having a Carter and Cooper would make it sound like we were terribly productive in our house, busily making carts and barrels all day long. :)

I had my favorite that Glenn nixed, he had his favorite that I nixed, and we finally arrived at Baby #2's name last weekend. Which yes, we are tentatively keeping under wraps for all of the above reasons. But since we've already told Carter the parrot and he learned it instantly, we don't have high hopes that it will stay a secret for long. He told my mom today, and thankfully she liked it!

18 Weeks Pregnant

2011-04-09T15:10:00.000-07:00

Best Moment of the week: Spending time with my hubby and sweet Munchkin and hearing Carter learn his brother's name.

Epiphany of the week: If we wanted to keep the baby's name a secret, we probably shouldn't have told our little parrot!

Entertaining question/comment of the week: "Let's tell Carter the baby's name is Bob." --Glenn, after above epiphany

Obsessions: Going in for my next doctor's appointment...it's the "big one" sonogram appointment where they check everything out. And we will hopefully have a final answer on the gender debate. May 2nd can't come soon enough!

What I am most looking forward to this week: Spending time with friends. Glenn being home finishing up his thesis.

What I miss the most: Nothing, really

Symptoms: I get really congested at random times and my ears clog up...very annoying! Exhaustion.

Milestones: We've made it to sweet potato week, which was the week Carter earned his nickname of "Tater Tot." :)

Weight: I hit 130 this morning.

17 Weeks Pregnant

2011-04-03T08:22:00.000-07:00

Best Moment of the week: We had our "re-do" sonogram on Saturday since the DVD didn't work from our last one. It was so reassuring to see him again with that little heart beating away. There was some debate whether or not HE was still a HE because of the way he was positioned, with his legs crossed and his cord between his legs. The lady doing the sonogram was really panicked for a moment thinking she'd gotten it wrong at 15 weeks, but by the end of the sonogram, she was back to being confident it was a boy. We're going to wait until our 20 week sonogram at the doctor's office to make any final decisions! :)

Epiphany of the week: Assuming he is a boy, we finally picked his name! While I won't tell you what it is, I will say that one of the names we really liked belongs to the son of someone I know, and we'd originally ruled it out because we didn't want to be copycats. Since we were having so much trouble picking the name, I decided to talk to her and see what she would think if we chose the same name, and she was totally fine with it, and even volunteered to pass along all of her personalized items with his name on them. However, once she gave us her blessing, we decided that we really did like the other name we were seriously considering...Glenn and I had both started calling him that in our heads, and that was really his name. So while I guess we can still change our minds, and that's always possible, I think we're finally decided, and we've started calling him by name out loud to make sure it fits. :)

Entertaining question/comment of the week: "I'm never wrong, but I'm really not sure right now!" -Sonogram Lady

Obsessions: Feeling those kicks. He's so active, and I usually have a hand somewhere on my belly waiting for a little "hi."

What I am most looking forward to this week: Nothing terribly exciting planned for this week, but I do have a doctor's appointment tomorrow.

What I miss the most: Nothing, really

Symptoms: My gums have been extra sensitive and bleed easily. This happened with Carter's pregnancy, too. I'm also reeeeeealllly tired lately.

Milestones: Right now, he's about the size of an onion, turnip, or my personal favorite, a baked potato! About 5" long, 5 ounces.

Weight: 129, finally going up, but still not to pre-pregnancy weight. Part of me will be sad to say goodbye to the 120's since it's been so long since I've been there, but I know I need to gain weight for the little man!

16 Weeks Pregnant

2011-03-26T15:07:00.000-07:00

It seems that I might finally be feeling better after having a yucky cold for a week and a half. Carter and I went to his friend Hunter's birthday party today and had a blast hanging out with all of the girls I used to work with and their cute kiddos, and eating yummy food. It was definitely nice to be out and about after being house-bound for the past few weeks!

Carter's newest obsession is Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on the Disney Channel, which he refers to as Myna-Mo. He absolutely loves this stupid show, which we are watching right now. I try not to let him watch too much television (for my sanity as much as his benefit), but he is certainly insistent when he wants his Myna-Mo fix. He has also starting calling 3 of our 4 cats by name...Bailey is Bay-e, Kenny is Ken-eh, and Sophie is Phie-Phie. He hasn't come up with one for Zoey yet, nor has he mastered my mom's name, Grancy. I think he was calling her Sissy or Sassy when we were driving to her house on Wednesday, but nothing with consistency yet. I'm sure she's anxious to finally have a name...though I will point out that I showed him a picture of me and my grandmother, who I called Nanoo, months ago, and he instantly picked her name up! :) I guess Nanoo is just easier than Grancy!

Best Moment of the week: Getting lots of flutters and kicks...I can't remember if I already recorded this or not, but I felt him so early this time...at 13.5 weeks. I let myself have one soda a day and he always goes nuts afterward, and I also feel him every night when I lie down in bed.

Epiphany of the week: If they decide to induce a week early with this pregnancy, there's a good chance he will share his birthday with our wedding anniversary. I'd like to avoid this if possible so Glenn and I actually have a chance of going out of town for our anniversary at some point in our life. :) Is that fate's way of telling me not to induce?

Entertaining question/comment of the week: Can't think of any.

Obsessions: Names, names, names! Glenn and I have a list, but he doesn't like my favorite and I don't like his favorite. We both loved Carter's name, so we're determined to find another name we both love for this little guy. But of course we will keep it a secret when we finally pick one. ;)

What I am most looking forward to this week: As of next Friday the 1st, I will finally have maternity coverage on my health insurance, phew!

What I miss the most: Nothing, really

Symptoms: Definitely some crampiness from round ligament pain. My belly is showing more and more by the day. Finally starting to feel GOOD, which is so nice after a long few months!

Milestones: Right now, he's about the size of an avocado: 4 1/2 inches long (head to rump) and 3 1/2 ounces. Carter LOVES avocado ("cado"), so hopefully he will love his brother, too!

Weight: I know most people will cringe that I'm adding this, but since it's something I want to keep track of and this is basically my pregnancy journal this time, I'm including it! I started out at 133, went up to 135 the first couple of weeks, then down to 124 at my lowest when I was sick last week. I haven't been under 130 since high school, so this sure has been strange for me! This morning I was 127, which is the first upwards movement on the scale in a while...I've actually been hungry for the first time in a long time and I'm trying to take full advantage of it...poor baby must be starving in there, and I'm sure he will be glad that Mama is finally feeding him!

15 Weeks Pregnant

2011-03-19T12:49:00.000-07:00

Since my last post there have been so many germs in my house, it's ridiculous! After going almost an entire year without getting sick (he had croup when he was 4 months old), Carter got his first fever on Monday evening. He was up around 102-103 for the next couple of days and we just kept him on Motrin to help keep it down. Poor little guy felt lousy! Wednesday night the seal cough and rough breathing started, and sure enough, it was croup again! After getting a steroid injection the next day and a lot of rest, he finally started feeling better when Friday rolled around, phew! We had a great weekend, but then Monday hit. I woke up a little congested and by the end of the day felt like I'd been hit by a train. I have a nasty cold and have been sick all week, which is especially fun when you're preggo and can't take any good medicine...the Mucinex made me wired so I couldn't sleep for two nights, which was even worse than being sick! I'm still congested, but am finally feeling more human today, which is good, because today was a big day!

We went to Look Who's Kickin' this afternoon for our gender reveal sonogram! And guess what? It's TEAM BLUE all the way in the McKay household...we're having ANOTHER BOY! While the part of me who loves tea parties, princesses and ballet is a teensy bit sad, I'm excited for Carter to have a little brother who will be so close to his age. We have a huge box of clothes he'll be able to wear again, which makes me feel way less wasteful. And the boys will be sharing a room, whether it's in this house or the house we hope to move to this year, so all of those questions of how the heck to integrate boys' and girls' things into one nursery have been eliminated. We're good to go with our orange and blue room as-is!

Here are the sonogram pictures from our session today. We got a video as well, but I have to figure out how to get it off the CD first (it doesn't play on my Mac, so I have to get Glenn to do it!).

The first thing she checked was the gender. And sure enough, I knew it before she even told me since I'd seen that same shot before!

He was "standing" on his head the whole time with his feet up, so here you can see his profile down low on the left side looking up with his spine heading upward.

Here you can see his beautiful heartbeat.

And here's his little face in 3D. They still kind of look like aliens at this point, but hopefully he will look a bit more human by the time I get my 20 weeks sonogram! :) You can also see his arms.

He has become SO active over the past week and a half! With Carter, I had an anterior placenta, so I couldn't feel any movements until about 18 weeks, but this baby made himself known at 13.5 weeks! I've been feeling him more and more over the past few days, and he was SO active during the sonogram since she was pressing down on my belly with the wand. He was punching up a storm, and it was neat to be able to see him do it and feel it in my belly at the same time! It really is amazing being pregnant...especially now that the morning sickness has subsided! :)

Let's wrap up this post with an update:

Best Moment of the week: Finally finding out who's in there!

Epiphany of the week: I really thought that because I felt so sick with this pregnancy that it was a girl, because I didn't feel nearly this bad with Carter. Not the case! So even with two boys, the pregnancies have been different.

Entertaining question/comment of the week: "Are you finding out if there's a stem on the apple?" --Random woman in the waiting room at the sonogram place

Obsessions: Finding out the sex

What I am most looking forward to this week: Feeling better....from my cold. See ya later, morning sickness!

What I miss the most: Nothing, really

Symptoms: Still having headaches, starting to have some growing pains

Milestones: Baby now measures about 4 inches long, crown to rump, and weighs in at about 2 1/2 ounces (about the size of an apple).

Week 14 Update

2011-03-07T07:27:00.000-08:00

I just got home from my monthly doctor's visit, and I was thrilled to hear the heartbeat on the doppler this time...strong and clear, hello baby!! At this visit with Carter's pregnancy, they weren't able to hear it on the doppler yet, but I'd just come from an ultrasound, so it wasn't a huge deal. While I wasn't expecting to hear it this time, I was so glad to have that reassurance that yes, someone is in there growing away! The heartbeat was 148 bpm for those of you who want to have a theory on what I'm having. (P.S. At this point, it's really too early to use heartbeat as any sort of predictor...it was totally wrong with Carter!)

I've decided to steal this fun weekly survey from my fellow preggo friend, Erin (hi, Erin!) to keep tabs on the pregnancy:

Best Moment of the week: Hearing that fantastic little heartbeat. I really did say, "Hello, baby!" when I heard it. :)

Epiphany of the week: Just because I'm in the second trimester doesn't mean I'm going to feel great yet.

Entertaining question/comment of the week: "So, you're doing this again, huh?" --Dr. Marston, who delivered Carter.

Obsessions: Feeling better!

What I am most looking forward to this week: Feeling better! Yes, obsessed.

What I miss the most: My appetite.

Symptoms: Some nausea (but thankfully not as much), killer headaches, congestion, clogged ears

Milestones: Baby has fingerprints and is 3 inches long, the size of a medium shrimp or a peach, depending on who you ask. And I'm officially in my second trimester, woo hoo!

Here we go again!

2011-03-06T17:11:00.000-08:00

Hello again, friends and family!

If you haven't heard by now, SURPRISE!! I'm pregnant with McKay Baby #2! Glenn, Carter and I are all so excited to be bringing the fourth member of our little family into the world. I'm due 9/10/11, so the Munchkins will be a little less than 23 months apart...we were shooting for 2 years, but it was much easier to get pregnant this time around, so here we are!

It's funny how much more obsessed I was with my first pregnancy. I had a belly picture taken every week, blogged frequently about my experience, and could tell you pretty much to the second just how pregnant I was.

Well here we are, 13 weeks and 1 day into pregnancy number two, and this is my first blog post in a new blog that has yet to be actually designed. (Maybe I'll find a spare moment to do that at some point in the next 6 months!) I've yet to take a belly picture. But yes, I can still tell you just how pregnant I am...thanks to my Baby Center and Bump emails that magically appear in my inbox every Saturday. :)

My first trimester is officially over, and I wish it good riddance. I felt truly awful for a good 6 weeks during this pregnancy...like think of the worst hangover you ever had, and that's how I felt from the time I woke up to the time I went to bed. Just constantly nauseous, occasional throwing up, throbbing headache, food aversions. I drank Ensure for dinner for 6 weeks because I felt too sick to eat anything in the evenings...whoever coined the term morning sickness was obviously a man, because it got progressively worse throughout the day! My doctor prescribed Zofran for me, which is an anti-nausea drug they give to chemo patients. I still felt pretty lousy, but it took my gag reflex away, so that helped! And while I still don't feel great (soon, right?!?!), I feel so much better now, which is such a relief! I felt pretty lousy when I was pregnant with Carter, but I'd say this was that x 10.

Hence my prediction that Baby #2 is a girl. I say this with fingers crossed, because I would really like to have one of each! But it would be much easier to have another boy since we have a whole closet full of barely-worn Carter cast-offs ready and waiting. So either way, we will be thrilled. The goal is to have a happy, healthy baby.

I don't know how often I'll be able to blog, but I really enjoyed being able to read back through my posts from Carter's pregnancy, so I'm going to make an effort...despite the fact that he is currently trying to turn my laptop off as I type.

Carter update: At 16.5 months, Carter is such a bright, caring little guy! He runs around like a crazy man, talks a mile a minute, and surprises us daily with how much he already knows and understands. He knows a ton of animal sounds and motions and will recite them for me in succession. He loves our four kitties an chases them around, squealing and laughing with abandon. He eats off of a plate and is learning to use a fork...in restaurants he sits in a booster seat. He goes pee pee on the potty almost every morning, and we're getting ready to amp up our efforts again now that Mama is feeling human again...hoping he will be potty trained by September. (?!) Discipline is starting to become an issue as it's his main goal in life to get Mama's laptop, the cable box and (now broken) DVD player, and climb on the furniture...even if I'm screaming at the top of my lungs, or smacking his hand or butt, he gives me an evil grin or giggle and keeps right on doing what he was doing. But despite making my head explode on a daily basis, he is the sweetest, cuddliest little guy...he loves all of his favorite people and shares willingly. And every day, I thank my lucky stars that he chose us to be his parents. That's it for now!

Love, Jenni