23 week appt. & backyard adventures

Our yard is much bigger this summer with all the overgrown shrubs gone and fence in place. We still have a lot of grass to grow and volunteer plants to remove but things are looking much better and less muddy! Kyle set up his hammock for a bit for us to enjoy. It is very enjoyable but difficult to get out of pregnant :)

Kyle set up a little fenced-in area for Poss. Long story short, Poss needs to be supervised when playing or else he needs to be in the hutch. Grr!!

She could swing and relax in here for hours

There's a little head in there!

Loves this thing!

Mommy and Lauren in the hammock together!

We had our 23 week appt. last night. Everything is still going good, we got some answers for natural childbirth classes in our area that combine a few different methods and names of doulas. Heart-rate was in the 150's and baby was moving...moving...moving the entire time she was trying to get the reading. I gained 1 pound since the last appt and up 10 total, midwife wasn't concerned and said that some women gain the majority of their weight at the end instead of throughout. After LOTS of research and contemplation, we scheduled an ultrasound for this upcoming Wednesday for the anatomy scan, I am now excited to see our little bundle of joy. We have to go to an outside imaging center and it looks like we will be getting a 4D one, never experienced that before!

Lauren's 1st Garden

We wanted to do something educational and fun for Lauren this year outside and decided on making a garden just for her. We will probably add either some peas, green beans, or a random assortment of herbs but haven't committed quite yet. I can't say enough about how awesome raised bed gardens are: they are much more manageable, easier to set up, easier to monitor soil levels, and nice-looking too! We constructed hers for just around $10 (scalloped edging, top soil, and mushroom compost). You do need to shave off the top layer of grass though before putting the soil down. Lauren enjoyed getting her "Circle Garden" ready, dumping the soil and mushroom compost in, and tilling it all by herself! Plus, it is right next to 2 of my raised beds so she can watch how I tend to them and mirror that...all about experiential learning! Since it will be a bit before the seedlings go in, she is having fun digging and dumping with her mini shovel and rake.

This is hard work Mom!

What a warm winter, my green onions kept growing!

She requested I take a picture of her with her hands in the sand table. My parents scored this for her still in the box at Goodwill!

22 Weeks!

We've reached 22 weeks! Things still feel so surreal but I have to remind myself that in a few short weeks, this baby could easily live outside of the womb (if not already)...yikes! We're hoping that it cooks for much longer though. My new supplements are working wonders. Who would have thought that fish oil, probiotics, and vitamin D3 could work their magic so much but my hair and nails are growing like wild and are so thick and my digestive tract is running much smoother.

Everyone at work keeps commenting on how large I look already in the belly region. I posted pics from Lauren's pregnancy so you can get a comparison, what do you think? I feel like I stick STRAIGHT out instead of wrapping around with Lauren.

Pregnancy with Lauren, 26 weeks

Pregnancy with Lauren, 24 weeks

22 weeks with Baby #2

21 Weeks and Hammock

We went back to Iowa for the weekend. Lauren enjoyed some time with Jemal in Grandpa's new hammock. Somehow I forgot to take my camera out during the Cousin Birthday Party, opps!

21 weeks, no more hiding of the belly anymore!

So much fun!

Can I take my nap in here, Grandpa?

Pure bliss and static electricity

Static and rocking equal much fun! They both screamed when we took them out.

Lauren Lately

Lauren called her Cousin Ethan to tell him "Happy Birthday" yesterday. While she was on the phone, she got the chance to talk to her Cousin Olivia too. Their birthdays are only about a week apart so we just recently bought both presents.

Lauren: "We got you Lincoln Logs, Olivia".

Me: "Shh...that is a present, a surprise, don't tell her what it is."

Lauren: "I was just asking her a question Mom, if she had some."

Me: "Don't tell her what we got her."

Lauren: "We didn't get you Lincoln Logs, Olivia!"

The good news is...Cousin Olivia wasn't even paying any attention to chatty Lauren on the other end so it will be a surprise still! :)

Then, tonight, as we are packing to go to the above-mentioned birthday parties, Lauren told me she wanted to change her pants to some that we packed for tomorrow.

Me: No, Lauren, you can't wear those pants right now, you are going to wear them tomorrow to the Lorax movie.

Lauren: Ok, Mom. I'm just borrowing them right now. Then I will put them back later.

Me: sigh

When do they get so smart?

20 weeks...opps!

We forgot about 20 weeks, we knew that it happened but never got around to taking the picture and here we are at just about 21 weeks so we've decided to skip it. Opps! Pregnancy is still going well. Baby is MOVING A LOT which really scares us knowing how much Lauren moved and how active she is now...I think this one moves more, yikes!! I think I am leaning more towards boy now and Kyle is adamant it is also a boy, then again...we were positive Lauren was a boy too! I think we have a good solid list of boy/girl names so now we just wait!

My parent's came out for my birthday weekend so we hopped over to the hotel pool. This one wasn't too eager about the water and just watched from the chairs.

I came home from work and said goodbye to my boots. Ouch! I can't walk/run around at work all day. I didn't think it would bother me this early on in pregnancy but it sure does! Thankfully, my birthday money went to a new nice pair of flat boots!

Check this out!

New cheese face. She loves headbands just as much as me!

Lauren wanted me to take a picture of her eating her favorite snack, apple slices dipped in a pb/greek yogurt cinnamon combo and her favorite shirt and headband

Aggravation

Told Lauren I was getting "aggravated" with her and she replied, "You have an alligator?" I guess her humor helped decrease the amount of aggravation a bit though!

18 & 19 weeks

Finally getting around to posting 18 & 19 weeks information just in time for me to take my 20 week one!! We had another appt last night with our new midwife (more on that later). Everything went great and thankfully they didn't do the full physical and blood panel again. I FINALLY got some questions answered about diet/exercise. I told Kyle I need someone to tell me: this how much you have to eat, this is what you should/shouldn't be eating, this is what you can do for exercise. I feel like many midwives aren't extremely educated on the topic of nutrition and it is so vital to pregnancy, labor, and delivery. I am on a strict diet now of supplements and food. I take my multi+iron, fish oil, probiotic, vitamin D3 (10,000 IU/day), and possibly calcium later if I am experiencing leg cramps which I haven't yet. As far as food goes...not much different than what I already eat but no more than 1-2 servings of whole grains a day with the exception of sprouted grains, buckwheat (my FAVORITE), quinoa, and brown rice. So less bread and pasta for me! Absolutely no white grains (white pasta, white bread, white rice); the only difference for me will be the white rice. I should aim to consume 80-100 grams of protein a day, which is a huge amount for me! Of course, no refined sugar. And the kicker....if I am not in the bathroom already, I should shoot for 1 oz. of water for every pound I weigh; about 3.5 nalgene bottles! I am up 9 lbs. from pre-pregnancy so I am thinking there is going to be a huge gain at the next appt with all the added protein.

Not the best picture but hey, some mornings are better than others! I think Lauren just got done throwing a fit too!

Busy and Tired...

That's how we have felt the past few weeks! Hopefully I will feel up to blogging soon!

Worms and Bins

Have been meaning to post Lauren's new sensory bins and spaced it off until I saw one of my sister's on her blog. Don't you just love pinterest; so many fun ideas!! They are instant entertainment while cooking or doing homework.

I made this one up on my own. I cut up a bunch of yarn in different sizes and gave her tweezers and a clothespin to pick up the yarn pieces. She is super pumped about getting to use tweezers!

Black beans and lentils with bugs, worms, and vegetables. Don't forgot about Strawberry Shortcake too, she takes care of the garden. This one is Lauren's favorite. Just swept a bunch of beans off the kitchen floor tonight :)

Farm Bin with colored rice

Didn't take her long to mix up all the colors and dig right in.

Also...I just have to document some great Lauren moments lately. Unfortunately a few were at the expense of the Friday babysitter. Lauren got to watch her little buddy Jaxson go potty in his little potty that sits on the floor. She had a few firsts that day: getting to pee in a little potty and seeing a little boy's penis multiple times.

1. She peed in the little potty while the sitter was upstairs and didn't know what to do with it so she just dumped it on the coffee table. Oopps!

2. All the little boy penis got her thinking about body parts. She obsessed that morning with "worms" and wouldn't stop talking about them to the babysitter. When I came to pick her up, she asked if that was the term we used for describing male genitals. Definitely wasn't something I conversed with her about but wasn't sure what Kyle was telling her. When Kyle got home from work that night, he hopped into the shower to get ready for date night. Lauren poked her head in the bathroom and screamed, "I see your worm, Hubba!". Kyle had no idea where she got it from so we explained that areas covered by underwear are private and we need to give people their own space when showering, changing, going potty, etc. I then added (which I shouldn't have), you can only see "worms" when you are married. A few days later, Lauren ran into the bathroom when Kyle was hopping into the shower and screamed again, "I see your worm!" Once again explained privacy to which she replied, "Oh yeah, I can see ALL the worms I want when I am married!" I asked her if she was married and she said no, which means, no worms for Lauren.

17 weeks

How far along: 17 weeks

Weight Gain: probably close to 5 lbs. will find out exactly soon

Movement: YES! Not very consistent or frequent but definitely there, especially when I lay down

Maternity Clothes: for the most part, some of my pants work with the belly band or pony tail holder. Not quite big enough for the majority of maternity clothes that were stretched out from last pregnancy

Gender: ?? Kyle is sticking with boy. I have no intuition but said I am going to say girl just so we can have opposite ideas :)

Baby Names: Clueless! Suggestions please! We need boy ideas, have it narrowed down to a few girl choices but are open to more. We like traditional, timeless, yet not too popular names.

Looking forward to: More consistent movement and next appt. and upcoming ultrasound!

Lauren Compared Me...

Lauren compared my cooking the other night to someone else. I am pretty sure this is her first comparison that she has ever made with me and I actually felt pretty honored. I consider this person to be an excellent mother, Christian, and wife. She is definitely someone that cares very much about her children, doesn't like junk food, and wants them to be honest and watch less TV...

Here is how it went:

"Thanks for supper Mom, you are a really good cooker. Just like Mama Bear."

Mama Bear...really!?!?...from the Berenstain Bears...great compliment if you ask me!

16 weeks

16 weeks today!! Sometimes I feel like time is going by so slowly and my belly isn't growing much but then I think, "Wow...16 weeks already, that is almost halfway, yikes!" We ended up switching midwife groups. We haven't had our first appt. with the new ones yet but for some reason I felt a disconnect with the old group. I don't know if I was comparing too much to Lauren's pregnancy and my experience in Chicago or if it was comments made about her labor/delivery with the new midwife that made me feel like I was not a good fit there. The other negative aspect of the old group was their hours (9-3:30), they honestly really only cater to a stay-at-home Mom or someone with a lot of work flexibility, definitely not someone in the school system. I had planned my first 3 appointments on no-school days but they are now few and far between before the end of the school year. Anyways...things are still going great. I THINK I felt movement yesterday for the first time. It was really low and when I pushed back with my fingers it happened again, hopefully I will be feeling more consistent movement soon; just love that feeling!!

Here are some of the ultrasound pictures from December at 10 weeks 4 days. I love the first two with the umbilical cord. Definitely brings the whole experience into perspective that you are providing life to someone!

agreed to take the picture if she could sit on her dress-up bin

fake smile from Lauren...

some weeks she is a little more excited than others...

Stuck Inside...Brrrr!!

Wasn't it just 50 degrees outside? Here are some inside things that have been keeping us busy lately!

Playing wheelbarrow with Aunt Amanda and Uncle Ryan

Ab work-out! Mommy is not partaking, ouchie!

Playing the Princess Fishing Game. Kyle was trying to teach her how to keep her hand steady and follow the gem until it opened, so she decided to "help herself" and hold onto her arm.

Sucking the snot out of her cat's nose. Guess it is cold season around here. She named her cat "Personality".

Eating Yummy Popsicles. These fruit bar ones are perfect because they are really short. I think they are called snack size.

Homemade play-dough and cookie cutters. I used tumeric to make it nice and yellow...don't recommend that, while it is still hot, it stains things temporarily.

Making her own "L"

Making her backwards "L" with fabric scraps, buttons, and flowers

14 Weeks

14 weeks along now although we have yet to take our weekly picture. Just had our 2nd appt with the midwives and things still sound great. Lauren got to go this morning and hear the heartbeat although I am not sure she really understood what was going on. Here are a few stats:

Weight: up 4 lbs (got in a bit of trouble and told to eat more protein) and uterus measured at 10, it will start aligning with the weeks down the road

Clothes: still wearing a mixture of maternity and regular; definitely can't fit into the my work pants anymore though, jeans are still okay

Gender: ?? Kyle and Lauren think boy, I have no idea but am kind of thinking girl. Lauren has named the baby Obie

Movement: Baby is moving tons per our ultrasound but I can't feel it quite yet, hopefully soon!

Cravings: Not much in particular, usually carbs. Kyle ordered me a Vitamix for my birthday coming up after we saw a good deal on TV. Can't wait to make some delicious and nutritious goodies. I've been slowly eliminating some more things from my diet so hopefully the Vitamix can help with substituting some things.