18 weeks!

I can sum this week up in one word: Exhausting. 


I honestly still can't believe it's already friday - I'm trying to get this post in while G eats breakfast. In about 45 minture I'll be enjoying a facial/massage at Becoming Mom...I've racked up a couple gift certificates there and am totally looking to put them to good use. SOOO worth it. Last pregnancy Dan mentioned that if it helped me feel that much better, I could totally do it more often with the next. Well. You don't have to tell me twice! 


The back pain has started which I was really surprised about. I've always had a certain spot in my lower back that would give me problems even after G was born, but it was never a big issue....so I should've seen this coming. Either way, it's not terrible, just a little funny when I lay down at night with G and literally can't get up off the floor. 


So Grayson realllllyyyyy (get it? really?) likes his gymnastics class. It's so adorable. The class is parent + child until the child turns 3. Grayson monkey-man'd himself to me for the first 5-10 minutes of class, but afterwards had a ton of fun. They start the class singing a couple of songs and then jump into  "playing" in the sectioned area they are in. There were multiple ladders, a mini trampoline, slides, balance beams, rings, a bar, and a "forward roll" area. Grayson's favorite in the toddler section were the rings. He loves to just hang and swing. 


After the kids played in their sectioned area, they were allowed to go out to the "running trampoline" I'm pretty sure Grayson would've stayed there the whole day if we let him. He thought it was the coolest thing ever. At the end of the long trampoline, the kids are encouraged to jump into a pit of soft balls. G wasn't so sure about jumping in at first, but after he got in the pit, he was definitely up for moving around in it. 


After THAT, the kids went back to their section, they played with bubbles....and THEN played with the parachute. My GOD, my child was so delighted by that parachute! I wish I had video of his excitement. Since I wasn't sure about pictures/videos, I didn't bring my camera/phone into the class...I will next time since a bunch of the parents in the class were taking pics. 


All in all, it was a really great class...especially for G. I loved seeing him get so excited at all the different activities...totally worth the expense! 


And now for my weekly update:

• How far along?  18 weeks

• Total weight gain:  my official weight check-in was 4lbs - not bad! (total side note, I thought I had gained 10 lbs this week when I weighed myself at work...apparently the scale was tipped a couple pds...I got back on it later on in the day and it was exactly what the doctors scale said!) 

• Maternity clothes?  None.

• Stretch marks? None  

• Sleep:  Starting to sleep on my side. This little girl likes to kick a lot when I'm on my stomach!

• Best moment this week:  Finding out we're having a girl and receiving awesome packages of clothes from 2 friends who clearly want to spoil this little one! 

• Miss Anything? right now, nothing.

• Movement: Movement is getting more frequent. Every night both Dan and I can sit on the couch and feel her move around

• Food cravings: Nothing

• Food aversions: Coffee still once in awhile

• Gender: GIRL!

• Labor Signs: Nothing

• Symptoms: Getting uncomfortable to sleep on my stomach

• Belly Button in or out? meh. It's pretty much out.

• Wedding rings on or off? On.

• Looking forward to:  my massage and leaving for vacation NEXT weekend! GAH! 
• Feelings: Ok, so the reason why I was exhausted...not because of being pregnant..but because my Hard Drive on my work laptop WENT. I was having issues with not being able to log-in to certain things, so IT advised me to re-start...when I did, NOTHING came back up. Everything was lost. This happened Tuesday and finally...IT called me Thursday to let me know they retrieved the ONE file that I was having I mild heart attack over. I was honestly worrying myself to death...until I got that beautiful phone call. HA! 

Other then my computer issues, I still feel really awesome this pregnancy. I hope to never have the hormonal issues I did with Grayson ever again. I love not being a crazy pregnant lady! I haven't had any random meltdowns (other then possible crying a tear or two about my work laptop..but who wouldn't?) and seriously still feel so much calmer and together this pregnancy. I don't get annoyed easily with people. if anything, I'm a bit more patient. Weird. 

Anyway, hope everyone has a great weekend! 

My Girl...:)

We're having a GIRL!! 


My intuition was correct - it only took the ultrasound tech 2 minutes to tell us we had a baby girl in my belly...and I literally let out a scream. I was totally wishing for a girl. I say this knowing the teenage years are ahead of me. yikes. I am so so sooo excited - I almost forgot how much adorable girl stuff is out there. Dan's even found some Met's outfits he wants to buy her :)


Now that we know that Baby #2 is a girl, we can work on a new nursery. Our plan is to keep Grayson in his room and convert the guest bedroom into baby girls nursery. The guest room is bigger, has more light, and is already painted a light color, so painting over it won't be hard. 


I've started pinning ideas on Pinterest, but am pretty glad we found out early...I'm having a hard time deciding on what I want her room to look like. I like a lot of pale pink, grey, light blue's, etc. We'd like to keep the room very similar to Grayson's in that there won't be a "theme". I love that with Grayson's room, if we want to change it up, all we have to do is put up a couple different pictures in the room. I'm not really into a room screaming "nursery". We kept his room VERY simple and I really LOVE it. We won't have time to do anything for a couple of weeks anyway, so it'll give us time to just think about what we want the room to look like.


Since Grayson is keeping his bedroom, we have to purchase a whole new nursery. I know we shouldn't complain...my mom was VERY gracious and bought us Grayson's crib AND dresser, so it's not like we've had to buy two nurseries! We also decided we need a nicer/more comfy rocker for this baby. Again, we didn't spend much money on the first one, and both agree that it will be worth the investment to buy a decent one. We would love to buy something we can put in our living room/family room when it's done being used in the nursery (if that's an option)



I'm also looking to invest in a couple baby carriers this time since I'm assuming I'm going to want to be as hands-free as possible with a toddler and newborn around. A couple ones that I'm looking at are the: Moby, K'tan, Sling Rings, Ergo...I will almost definitely invest in the Ergo, but would like a soft wrap/sling carrier for when the baby is tiny. If anyone has suggestions for a good wrap - send them my way! 



And for some random updates: 


*Gone with the old* Yesterday we went through ALL of Grayson's clothing and have given most of it away. There has been a baby boy boom in our neighborhood! Along with going through all of the baby clothes, Dan FINALLY went through all his BOOKS and sold a ton of them to Half Price Books. I'm still in shock he finally did it...He gave away well over about 150 books, while keeping a couple boxes he couldn't bear to giveaway. I was really proud of him. That's a lot of space we just freed up! 


Russ is coming to visit this weekend! The weather is looking pretty awesome, so I'm thinking a potential BBQ is in order. 


NEXT weekend we leave for OUR family vacation to Savannah, GA. We'll be staying on Tybee Island and taking day trips to the city. We are SO excited to get Grayson on a beach this summer. Which reminds me....we need a beach umbrella! 


I have to REALLY get on planning G's 2nd Bday party. I have the invites and date set...that's about it. I know I have almost 2 months (since his party is the last Sat in July)..but I swear time has been flying away these past couple of weeks! 


Oh....and guess who turns 30 this year!!! Not me. Ha. Dan. I've started some ideas on what I want to do for his birthday...no party since it's not really his style...but maybe a trip somewhere or nice dinner out with close friends. Since Dan's Bday is October 26th and I'm due Nov 9th, I'll probably plan it for the end of Sept or very early October. The end of September would work nice if I want to keep any of it a surprise...

Week 16 and 17 double post!

And we still don't know what we're having! I went to the ultrasound last week filled up on a ton of orange juice and the baby was certainly moving around...except the ultrasound tech needed ONE more shot to confirm the sex and just couldn't get it. The umbilical cord was blocking the good view...hopefully when we go back today, we'll find out what we're having.



****
We had family come into town for my father-in-law's 60th birthday celebration and it ended up being a really good, HOT, weekend. Grayson and his cousin Felix got to hang out a lot together and they seemed to be on a pretty similar schedule with bedtime/naps which was nice! 


****

And the weekly Quiz!

                                                 

• How far along?  16 weeks 

• Total weight gain:  2-3lbs. I think this past weekend was a jump starter in the weight gain department. Next friday's Doc appt should show a decent gain. 

• Maternity clothes?  None

• Stretch marks? None

• Sleep: Fine

• Best moment this week:  Getting to see the baby even though he/she wouldn't show us the goods! 

• Miss Anything? Just an alcoholic beverage once in awhile

• Movement: Kicks!

• Food cravings: Meh, nothing.

• Food aversions: I'm able to drink coffee again, although I don't really feel like it and still order iced when we go out. 

• Gender: Not sure - maybe we'll find out this week! 

• Labor Signs: None

• Symptoms: nothing much. 

• Belly Button in or out? hmmm, I wouldn't say ALL the way out, but it's pretty "out". It hasn't officially "popped" yet. 

• Wedding rings on or off? On

• Looking forward to:  Finding out the gender! 

I definitely had a big growth spurt this week and am DEFINITELY starting to feel pregnant.
Below is my 17 week quiz

• How far along?  17 weeks

• Total weight gain:  I'm getting between 3-5lbs. I'll get a good "official" weight gain at my 18 week appt next week. 

• Maternity clothes?  None. Although I didn't wear any pants to work this week. I wore sundresses since they are WAY more comfortable. 

• Stretch marks? None

• Sleep: Still good. Although it's getting harder to sleep comfortably on my stomach. I'll sleep on my stomach as long as possible since I have a super hard time sleeping in any other position. 

• Best moment this week:  Hearing Grayson say "More" at the dinner table. Definitely feeling much stronger kicks. Dan started giving me lower back massages..yes, he is awesome

• Miss Anything? Just an alcoholic beverage once in awhile

• Movement: Kicks - and they seem to be pretty strong!

• Food cravings: Meh, nothing.

• Food aversions: I'm able to drink coffee again, although I don't really feel like it and still order iced when we go out. 

• Gender: Not sure - hopefully we'll find out today!

• Labor Signs: None

• Symptoms: definitely feeling "heavier" down there. It's a very odd explanation, but I remember the feeling when I was pg with Grayson. 

• Belly Button in or out? hmmm, I wouldn't say ALL the way out, but it's pretty "out". It hasn't officially "popped" yet. 

• Wedding rings on or off? On

• Looking forward to:  Finding out the gender! 

On another note, I've been looking into a gym for Grayson to take some type of "Sports Class" at. I finally found one, the Kids First Sports Center, and since it was raining yesterday, decided to check it out. 

The great thing about this center is that it offers multiple levels of Gymnastics, Soccer, Trampolining, Swimming, Dance, AND karate. When we found out we were having a little boy, Dan was super excited to do some sort of Karate or TaeKwonDo with him - total win-win. 

Grayson can start the Karate and Soccer program at 2...so since he won't officially be 2 until the end of July, he'll be allowed to sign up for either Gymnastics or Swimming. We will be signing him up for the gymnastics! 

The gym was BEAUTIFUL. The picture below doesn't do the center justice because that is only a SMALL section of the massive Gymnastics arena they have. It was honestly unbelievable. I've been to a handful of cheer/gymnastics gyms in my time, and this one FAR outdid any of the ones I've been to. 

When mentioning this to the women at the front desk she mentioned that is actually WAS THE biggest Gymnastics Center in the U.S. And...a SUPER plus...they have a Cafe in the parent waiting area. So while your child is taking classes, you can relax with coffee, salad, or sandwich. Nice. 

Another huge plus - They have a pre-school program. I'm hoping to drag Dan in this weekend (summer session for Gymnastics starts next week) and hopefully we can enroll the little dude in a fun activity this summer! 

15 Weeks, Zoo, "Hi Pepere"

15 weeks! 

We will hopefully find out the gender later on this week - I'll be drinking lots of OJ to ensure tons of movement. Ha! 

• How far along?  15 weeks

• Total weight gain:  Looks like I gained 1-2lbs. 

• Maternity clothes?  Still nothing yet. We'll see where I sit at the end of this week with work clothes. I know it doesn't look like I've grown much, but at the end of the day I definitely bloat enough to be uncomfortable. I bought very few maternity clothes with G and am hoping to do the same with this pregnancy (it looks like it may be easier seeing as how I seem to be growing at a much slower pace this time around) 

• Stretch marks? None. I didn't have any with G and hopefully I won't get any new ones! 

• Sleep:  Fine

• Best moment this week:  G sleeping until 9am Friday, Saturday and Sunday. We have no clue where this came from...he's usually up between 6:30 and 8...most of the time 7.

• Miss Anything? a glass of wine and a mimosa! 

• Movement: Those flutters, pops and kicks seemed to have died down a bit...insert anxiety. Ugh.

• Food cravings: Nothing in particular this week. 

• Food aversions: Still the coffee thing

• Gender: Still thinking Girl

• Labor Signs: too early!

• Symptoms: I've gotten really tired here and there, but for the most part I just work through it. 

• Belly Button in or out? Still in...but I'm thinking it will be out within two weeks. Literally half my belly button is sticking out. LOL!

• Wedding rings on or off? Well...on...BUT my e-ring is off because I lost a diamond out of the band! Boo. 

• Looking forward to:  Finding out the gender on friday (hopefully)

• Workouts - same as last week - 40 minutes 3 days a week (20 minutes cardio, 20 mins weights) 1 day of 20 minute at home workout while G naps

• Feelings: I still feel really good this pregnancy. I've been a little freaked out lately because I'm almost positive I've been feeling kicks, and noticed I hadn't really felt anything the past couple of days. I know it's really early to be feeling anything consistent...and Dan and I joked that I would have this issue because Grayson was SO active in the womb. Other then that, I am still wayyy more relaxed this pregnancy and my hormones are not as "off the walls" as they were with G. No crazy crying over nothing, no emotional breakdowns. I love it. 

We have seen a huge word explosion from G - and it's so cute and fun to hear him repeat everything we say. Our favorite by far is hearing him say "Hi Pepere". We finally got it on video (sorry it's sideways!)

This weekend Dan's company had their summer picnic  - at the Cincinnati Zoo! We had gone to the Zoo last year at about exactly this time when G was around 10 months old. Things were a bit different seeing as he can run/walk. We brought his stroller and tried to keep him in it, but that proved to be difficult when we had to take him out to see animals. We let him walk around on his own, but he's 2 and it's really hard to convince him to "hold my hand" or go in the stroller. ha. 

We thought he'd really enjoy this zoo this year...but he was kind of unimpressed. The only part that got him SUPER excited were the monkeys. DUH. That would be G's favorite part. He started jumping around when they would fly from branch to branch. I guess all the other animals didn't move around enough for him :) 

He was getting pretty wiped towards the end! 

He enjoyed the petting zoo a bit! 

Hopefully the next time I post we'll know if we're having a little boy or little girl!

Happy Momma's Day!

Happy Momma's Day to all the Mothers and TO BE Mothers out there! 

We are having a super relaxing Mothers Day Indoors. It's a rainy mess out here, and it's been the perfect day to run errands and chill out....

Why YES, that is a picture of my smiling toddler. And NO, he isn't always smiling..but he is generally very happy:) This week has been a tough one in terms of terrible two's. Grayson is definitely pushing/testing limits and has been increasingly cranky. He did cut a tooth and has allergy issues, so we assume it's one of those. Today he seemed MUCH better and we're hoping that last week was just a fluke of feeling bad. 

On another note, Grayson figured out how to open the front door. We didn't have a child lock on the handle because he can't reach the deadbolt. WELLL....he finally figured out that he can push a kitchen table chair ALL the way over to the front door, unlock the deadbolt, remove the chair and BOLT. Sneaky kid I tell ya! 

And since I mentioned the outdoors, I know that I've said a couple times Grayson is obsessed. But I really mean. GRAYSON IS OBSESSED with outside. On my days off with G, I spend roughly 2-3 hours out with him. If he's been at daycare, that number is usually the same since the daycare provider likes to have all the kids outside as much as possible, too. 

Below is my weekly Quiz:

• How far along?  14 Weeks

• Total weight gain:  0lbs. The midwife wasn't concerned at all. I eat very healthy and she doesn't want me to change my eating habits at all....we will re-evaluate at my next appt if there isn't any gain, but both her and I think that I will definitely see a change at the next appt. 

• Maternity clothes?  Nothing yet. I don't even have to use the elastic band trick on my pants. ALTHOUGH my work pants are getting a little snug by the end of the day! 

• Stretch marks? None. I didn't have any with G and hopefully I won't get any new ones! 

• Sleep:  Fine

• Best moment this week:  Dan got to feel a kick! I know I thought I felt some kicks last week, but this week it was pretty definite. 

• Miss Anything? a glass of wine and a mimosa! 

• Movement: Starting to feel flutters, pops and kicks!

• Food cravings: Nothing in particular this week. 

• Food aversions: Still the coffee thing

• Gender: Still thinking Girl

• Labor Signs: too early!

• Symptoms: Nothing really

• Belly Button in or out? In, but that will be short lived. I have a very narrow "innie" so I'll most likely pop out early. 

• Wedding rings on or off? Well...on...BUT my e-ring is off because I lost a diamond out of the band! Boo. 

• Looking forward to:  Finding out the gender in a little under 2 weeks! 

• Workouts - same as last week - 40 minutes 3 days a week (20 minutes cardio, 20 mins weights) 1 day of 20 minute at home workout while G naps

• Feelings: I feel really great. I'm still super calm about this pregnancy compared to G's and have a much more "peaceful" idea/feeling towards the pregnancy and afterwards. I wanted to go into this pregnancy feeling more relaxed, and I feel I've achieved that. With Grayson I had a lot of anxiety, and for some reason (maybe being a mom already) those feelings are completely erased. 

13 weeks -seeing a bump

Not much to update since Tuesday, but I'll start the weekly quizzes now! I've added "Workout Routine" to the survey since there are times I've wanted to look back and see what I was able to do "at this point in pregnancy" 

I totally see a bump. Thankyouverymuch

How far along: 13 Weeks

How big is baby: baby is the size of a peach - you can totally see a little peach in my bellly:) 

Total weight gain: 1-2lbs (I'll get the official weight gain on tuesday. It looks like I fluctuate a 1lb or 2)

Sleep: Good 

Best moment of the week: I think I'm starting to "feel" stuff. I'm not 100% sure, but I SWEAR I feel little pops here and there. A few weeks time will tell.

Food cravings: Powerade. I have the healthiest cravings when pregnant. With Grayson is was water and ice, now when I get thirsty, I really want a Powerade or Gatorade. Random.

Food aversions: Coffee. BLANK STARES. Yep. I am able to drink iced coffee, though. There is just something about regular coffee that makes me want to puke. 

Symptoms: The migraines have started - hopefully they won't last very long.  

Gender: Right now I'm thinking girl, but we'll see how I feel in a couple weeks. We have an appointment at the end of May to {hopefully} find out the gender early (around 16 weeks). 

What I'm looking foward to: Meeting with the new midwife on Tuesday, getting to hear a heartbeat. Getting the house organized these next couple of weeks. We've already cleaned out most of the office so we're really just working on getting rid of the odds and ends around the house. We had done a MAJOR cleanout last year and it was really refreshing. We knew we'd have to do one more cleanout before everything was done. 

What I miss: Not much right now. Although we ARE going to a BBQ tonight and I really would like a glass of wine. I'll probably bring some grape juice. 

Next appointment: Tuesday!

Workout Routine: 3 days - 20 minutes of cardio, 20 minutes of weight lifting. 1 day of 20 minute workout while G naps. Free Weights used: 5-10lbs weights. If using the weight machines, 25-40lbs depending on the machine used.

Baby News: Weeks 8-12

So where do we begin??

Dan and I found out we were pregnant with baby #2 Tuesday, February 28th, which put me at approx 3weeks, 4 days pregnant. While I thought it would feel like forever until we were able to officially announce the pregnancy, these first 10 weeks or so flew by. I guess having a toddler to chase around keeps your mind a little pre-occupied. Honestly, I would've been able to "hold off" telling longer, except I've been eyeing nursery stuff on Pinterest and really wanted to update the blog for baby book purposes. 

We are actually very relaxed and calm about welcoming another baby into our worlds. We aren't stressing about much - just hoping to have a healthy baby at the end of this 40 weeks. It is so nice to feel this way! I remember with Grayson it was a big question of "what will our lives be like, ect" That guessing game is over now and we totally understand that things always work out in the end. We take on a team philosophy in our household, and I feel like that works really well for us...neither of us ever got completely overwhelmed with Grayson, especially as a newborn, because we balanced and do balance responsibility equally. Allowing each to have his or her own time with Grayson, time away with friends, and also time with each other was really key. 

I haven't been doing my weekly updates on purpose because I was afraid I would jinx something, but I do have an overall update of the early on weeks and some pictures:

So far this first trimester has been a bit different then Grayson's:

•  This pregnancy I've had a little more morning sickness between weeks 7-9, and feel relatively tired on and off throughout the week. Nothing terrible, though. I'm not sure if it's because I know what "tired" really means now...or maybe I'm really not that tired. Not sure.
• I'm much smaller this time around - even though this is my second pregnancy, I am still in all my regular work clothes and weekend clothes. With Grayson, I had already gone up to my "fat pants" at this point.
• I was never really bloated during these first 12 weeks, which is the most common annoying trait of 1st tri and was a huge reason I had to wear my larger size pants with G. 
• No weight gain yet, my next appt is May 8th and I'll be 13.5 weeks, so we'll see if there's any change by then.
• I'm working out roughly 40-45 minutes 3 days a week, and then 20 minutes on the 4th day since I workout during G's nap time. My workout consists of 20 mins of cardio and 20 minutes of weight lifting. I prefer free weights and usually go between the 5-10lb weights. My happy medium is a 8lb weight which the gym unfortunately doesn't have. 
• Gut Feelings from both Dan and I- that we've got a girl in there. We'll see soon! 

I will start the weekly updates at the end of this week

For the time being, I've been taking pictures from weeks 8-12

8 Weeks

9 weeks 

10 Weeks

11 Weeks

12 Weeeks (ok, you can definitely see a bit of a change, here! )