I entered the "Love you, Mom!" contest through Victoria's Secret, and wrote an entry about why I love my Mom. Unfortunately, it was limited to 700 characters... my original entry included 485 words. (and I thought THAT was limited!) Please feel free to view my entry, and vote if you deem it worthy. :) I'd really appreciate it!
I had intended on posting on Tuesday as a follow-up to my appointment on Monday afternoon, but you know how it goes sometimes. :) This week has been a busy one for me. The appointment went great, though, and Ryan was even able to be there! I brought Brooke with me, so it was very nice to have him there as well. We heard the heartbeat via doppler, beating at 158 bpm. (For what it's worth, Brooke's heartrate was always much higher than that) And.... we scheduled the big ultrasound! Get ready.. May 14th @ 2:30 PM! I'll be just a day shy of 19 weeks.
Yesterday afternoon, Brooke spotted my shoes, and decided to try walking around in them. She's tried putting on her Daddy's shoes before, but never had much success! It was super cute to see her walking around in my, comparitively speaking, massive shoes. :)
Shuffle, shuffle ~
I'VE GOT MOMMY'S SHOES!!
Before I know it, she'll actually fit in those shoes...
Happy Thursday everyone! Be back tomorrow with the weekly belly picture.. promise!
Baby and I reached 16 weeks on Friday. At 16 weeks, baby is estimated to be about 5 inches from head to rump, (I think they start estimating the length from head to toe around 20 weeks) and roughly 5 ounces. 16 weeks is also around when they say you may feel the baby moving, but I've been feeling this one move for a couple of weeks already, here and there. I started feeling Brooke move at 16 weeks on the dot, but typically you feel 2nd+ babies earlier, because you know what it feels like. :) It hasn't been an everyday occurrence, obviously, but it's very exciting to say the least! It usually happens when I'm sitting still and quiet.
I also have my doctor's appointment today! I've been looking forward to it for a couple of reasons. Of course, I can't wait to hear the heartbeat again. Today I will also be given a slip that will allow me to schedule my BIG, anatomy scan ultrasound! (Praying they're flexible on the scheduling!) So, of course, that's incredibly exciting. We haven't seen the baby via ultrasound since 12 weeks, so it will be wonderful to see him/her again, AND be able to find out whether it is a him or her to begin with. (granted baby cooperates)
It's a whole lot easier, for me anyway, to talk about the baby as a her or a him, and for me, it helps with bonding with the baby. I can start calling the baby by his/her name, (that is, when we decide on one!) and talking to him/her specifically as a boy or girl, telling them what I wish for them and want to teach them. I figure that it's a surprise whether you find out at 20 weeks or 40, and it didn't change how miraculous Brooke's birth was simply because we knew she was a girl beforehand. It also will help with the logistics--if it's a girl, we're practically set with all of Brooke's clothes that I've saved, and her crib bedding. If it's a boy, we'll need a few things, so I'd rather be prepared beforehand. Either way, we'll need to stock up on some diapers. :)
And I didn't forget! Here's my latest belly pic:
A little late.. taken yesterday :) 16 weeks, 2 days~ (For reference: 16 week picture from my 1st pregnancy)
YES, I got sunburned over the weekend. Ouch. I don't know, I think this picture looks a lot like last week's picture, just in different pants for once. :) Ryan took a few shots, made a face, and said, "You don't really look that pregnant today." Funny, I FEEL like I look pretty pregnant! Maybe I'm just using better posture for pictures. ;-) The pictures never seem to do the belly justice. Ah well, give it time.
We did have a wonderful weekend! I got up early and did a yard sale on Saturday morning. It was warm and sunny, thus explaining my temporary new skin tone, but the actual yard sale wasn't exactly a huge success. I sold a few of the larger items, which is nice as far as storage space is concerned, but there just wasn't a huge demand this year like there was last year. At least the nice weather made it feel like less of a waste of time. :)
After the yard sale, we grilled out at my parents' house. First cook out of the season--YUM! Got home in time for the NFL draft... I'm one of those crazy women who actually enjoys those things. Sunday was another warm, beautiful day. I made a roast for lunch, then we headed out to a local national park. It was beautiful! Brooke totally wore herself out, and was even falling asleep on the way home in the car--first time THAT has happened in months. It was just one of those weekends where you feel like you spent it well, and really enjoyed it.
Brooke in her grandparents' sun room--she LOVES this bird book!
Cuddling with Grandmom, waiting for the burgers to come off the grill :)
Well, I'll likely update tomorrow with the big ultrasound date! :) Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!
Well, baby and I reached 15 weeks on Friday. It's hard to believe how fast the time is flying. I mean, can you believe that if we had an ultrasound next week, we could already tell whether we're having another girl, or a boy?! As it is, depending on when they will let me schedule it, we'll likely find out between 18 and 20 weeks. (somewhere between my birthday, 5/9 and Ryan's, 5/30) We found out at 18 weeks, 2 days with Brooke, but since this is a different practice, I'm not sure what their guidelines are for the timing of the big anatomy scan. I'm getting anxious, though! Last night I caught myself before referring to the baby as a "she," but then had a dream that the baby was a boy. So, really, who knows? I honestly have no clue.
So, here's the belly on Friday @ 15 weeks:
(For comparison's sake, here's my 15 week picture with my first pregnancy) So, you can see that I am actually showing more with this one than I was with Brooke. I feel like my belly is bigger than it actually looks in the picture, though. But, I'm still feeling great! I'm even getting back a lot of the energy that I've been lacking over the past couple of months. :)
Our weekend was pretty great! Friday was insane, with me getting our house in tiptop shape before our landlord, my friend Emily, and her roomie Deborah came by to see it that evening. When I had told Emily that we were moving July 1st, it just so happened that that's when their current lease is up as well. So, they were very interested in possibly renting our place. I wasn't there when they took the tour, but apparently they put down a deposit to hold it, and it will officially be theirs if they sign the lease. :) We've started looking around for a 3 bedroom place already, but we won't seriously start looking until next month. In normal cirumstances, they won't hold a place right now until all the way till July!
Saturday and Sunday were much more relaxing, since there was absolutely nothing that I had to do around the house. :) I did start gathering some things that we are going to yard sale this coming Saturday, but that's about it! The weather was amazingly gorgeous, so we took Brooke outside to play, and enjoyed the warm sunshine. While Ryan later helped a friend install new hardwood floors in their new home, Brooke and I hung out at home. For the heck of it, I decided to pop in the DVD of Brooke's first birthday party, which, amusingly enough, Brooke was enthralled with! I'm so glad that we were able to throw her that party, and that we have such wonderful footage of it. I love that so many people who love her were there to share it with us. She was so little, and that really wasn't even that long ago! It's impossible to think about the fact that, before we know it, she will be two. Nope, just not possible..
We had a gorgeous, memorable Easter this year! Thankfully we were given a really nice day; the weather was beautiful and sunny. (unlike the day before where we had over an inch of rain!) Saturday was a busy one for me, and I'd left myself WAY too much to do in one day. Shopping, errands, cooking as usual, baking, preparing, finger and toe nail painting, with just enough time to crash at 7:00 to watch the Ten Commandments. I did make my bunny cake this year, my longstanding tradition, and Brooke had a little Easter basket to wake up to Sunday morning! We got her a pair of bunny ears, a little stuffed bunny, (a gift to her from my boss) a stuffed baby chick in a zip-up egg, (her favorite thing!) and a little wind-up hopping bunny. The Springtime Max & Ruby DVD was from my parents, along with a little baby chick that chirps when set in the palm of your hand. (very cute! but not in the picture) As for the chocolate rabbit.. well, that was the one thing for me. :) I got Ryan some pastel Reese's Pieces, so he wasn't left out.
Bunny cake!
Proof that she wore a hair clip for all of 10 minutes before pulling it out!
Sunday morning was absolutely beautiful. The early service at church was moved up to 8:30, with a reception following afterwards, so we were out of the house pretty early. I did find out that a couple of our friends from church are expecting again! We were due date twins when I was pregnant with Brooke--she actually delivered her son first--and now she's due again in November! :) It's so fun to have friends to share it with. After the reception, we came outside and took advantage of the weather by taking some pictures!
Brooke & Mommy ~
Ryan wanted one of just me ~ you can see I'm showing, too ~
Pretty little girl ~
Smelling the flowers - one of her new favorite things!
Love this ~
Family picture! In matching pink :) Easter '09
Having a Mommy attack... Awwwww...
Do you think he'll kill me for posting this? :) LOVE IT! We both tried on the ears to get Brooke interested in them!
Finally, reluctantly wearing the bunny ears :) After this, she didn't want to take them off!
Well, hope you all had a wonderful Easter, and Happy Monday to you all!
Wow, it feels like I've got a lot to update on since I left off a week ago. How has it already been a week anyway?!
I did end up being able to go to the Third Day concert last Thursday, with openers Revive and Brandon Heath. Great concert!! I'd never heard of Revive, an Aussie band, or Brandon Heath, but it turns out that I actually knew two of his songs.. just didn't know his name. :) Revive was actually surprisingly awesome, too. You don't usually expect excellent openers, because they usually... aren't. :) During intermission, we went out to get a picture of Revive with the Stellan sign, and they also signed it for me. I was able to tell Dave, the lead singer, about Stellan's story, and they were more than happy to pose for a picture with it, and also sign it. He asked me twice to send him MckMama's website address so that they could learn more about Stellan. (which I did) Great group of guys, and their Australian accents certainly were a perk!
It's a good thing we decided to meet Revive. After the concert was over, we were able to find the tour buses, and waited for Third Day. They had their meet-and-greet right after the concert, so we knew it could be a little while. Well, over an hour, and many rain drops later, we decided to call it a night. We were told by a crew member that they were going into an artists' meeting, then getting showers, and that they'd be out after all that... around 2:00-2:30 AM. I REALLY wanted to get a picture of them for Stellan, but my pregnant body just could not survive another two hour wait when we'd maybe get a picture, but maybe not. Pretty disappointing, but it was still a very fun night!
Encore performance with everyone: Third Day, Revive, Brandon Heath
Everyone again ~
Revive, Me, and the Stellan sign!
Yesterday absolutely felt like Bizarro World. I present to you my case...
THAT picture, my friends, was taken yesterday morning around 8:15 AM in the business park where I work. Sunny, and just beautiful, right? Now, would you believe me if I told you that it was only 39 degrees when I took that picture? No? Well, what about if I told you that a mere 8 hours from the time that picture was taken, it would SNOW? Like I said.. Bizarro World. It'll reach 60 today.
Yesterday I also had a Mystery Guest assignment to the Cheesecake Factory. I thankfully was able to get a dinner assignment, which means... DATE NIGHT! Brooke stayed with her gracious grandparents while we were able to get away by ourselves for dinner. It was wonderful. :) After dinner, I had the realization that we had gotten through an entire evening together without once mentioning Brooke. Can you imagine that? :) Needless to say, it was very good for us, and we really enjoyed ourselves. And, of course, the food was fabulous!
Our sweet waitress offered to take this for us ~ I have NO idea what my husband was doing, but thought it turned out cute!
Aside from that, life is just chugging away as it often does, and going way too fast. I am really enjoying the changing season, though, and must say (when it's NOT 39 degrees outside and snowing) that I really, really adore spring. It's such a beautiful time of year! Full of new life, warm sunshine, and longer days. What's not to love?
If I knew that my second pregnancy would be such a breeze, I would've signed up for it a lot sooner! Kidding, sort of, but it HAS been fabulous in comparison to my pregnancy with Brooke. I was thrilled to be pregnant the first time around, obviously, but had nearly every undesirable pregnancy "side effect" imaginable. I'll be 13 weeks tomorrow, and by this time during my first pregnancy, I was still miserably sick, trying desperately not to fall asleep at my desk, passing out on the couch after work, breaking out all over the place, starving all of the time, and just generally chunky looking. I looked more like I'd simply overindulged, and less like I was with child.
This time, aside from being tired in the afternoons, (which should subside soon!) I've been feeling great. Very minor nausea early on aside, I haven't had horrendous morning sickness like I did with Brooke. I haven't been breaking out. I haven't really been hungrier than usual. I don't think I even look wider, because my little bump is hanging out in front, not sideways. :) I just feel... pretty great. I realize I may eat my words down the line, but I can say that for the time being, I am very happily pregnant. All of these things lead me to believe there's a baby boy in my belly, but I've been told every pregnancy is different, and not to base my assumptions on that!
Brooke, Mom and I went out for lunch yesterday at a wonderful local restaurant after I got back from work. Delicious food, and a very unique, gorgeous building. We love going there. It's pretty funny to watch Brooke get extra attention just because she's cute. (being well-behaved is probably a bonus as well!) The server gave her a little toy helicopter with the restaurant's name on it when we first were seated, (they do that for all of the kids) but then a waitress, who kept waving and talking to her, came by a little later and gave her a toy car. She has started a little collection! Everyone would wave at her when they passed by, or talk to her, and I don't think she knew what to do with the extra attention. :) *Sigh* It's gotta be rough being so adorable. When my Mom and I ordered a dessert to share, they brought Brooke a free scoop of vanilla bean ice cream. Highlight of her day, I'm sure. ;-) Personally, I'm just glad she's well-behaved. That's what I'm most thankful for when we go out. :)
Given we won't have to leave until Ryan can get home, (and I'm pretty sure we won't) I'll be going with Em to see Third Day tonight! I love concerts, so I'm thrilled to have been invited! :) We've seen them once before, (with Jars of Clay and Switchfoot) and they were great. I was hoping to maybe meet them afterwards to get a picture for Stellan's Name Gallery, (If you're not familiar with Stellan, he's MckMama's son who is very ill) but I think you have to be a part of their club to get into it. I'm familiar with the exits for most venues, but not this one. Guess you never know, though. I'd really, really like to be able to get a picture for Stellan, though. God willing, when he's older, his Mom wants to wallpaper his room in the pictures that were sent in, of all of the people who love him and are praying for him.
Well, here are some pictures from our lunch yesterday. Enjoy! :)
Brooke & Mommy ~
Brooke & Grandmom!
Mmm, icecream!
Blowing kisses to Mommy ~
Kisses for Grandmom~ (Yes, Puddles even tags along to restaurants!)
