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! )

Grandma is coming to town

So I usually don't post on Saturdays UNLESS I'm getting my oil changed. I have my coffee and my laptop and SILENCE. For those of you with a toddler, you totally get how this is a nice peaceful atmosphere.

Anyway, I have a couple updates:

1. Grandma is coming to town! My mom is visiting us next weekend and we are in full blown "getting the house ready" Yes mom, we'll clean for you:) It's actually giving us the perfect excuse to finally start cleaning out the guest room. We are going to be housing my SIL, BIL and Nephew next month and want the office cleaned out nicely by then so that Felix has his own space! I mean, he'd have his own space now, but we really need the excuse to get it cleaned!

2. Hand, Foot and Mouth. Grayson and Dan got it. I did not. In the realm of "sucky sicknesses" this was probably the suckies. LIKE, I almost would've rather him be at the hospital for croup. Not that I wanted him to have all the breathing issues, but there is nothing that they can actually give a toddler for Hand, Foot and Mouth and Grayson was NOT a happy camper. Basically if he was awake, he was screaming/moaning/whining in pain. We had a very difficult last weekend. Thankfully he's back to his normal happy self. (Dan ended up getting sick Tuesday and Wednesday with the same thing!)

3. This is kind of random but I thought it was worth mentioning - Grayson goes up and down the stairs with such ease that we rarely use the gate anymore. I think Dan's mom was a little shocked, but to be quite honest, Grayson wants to do what the big people do...so we let him. He just holds on to the railing and goes down the stairs. No sitting on his butt or belly, even though we tried to get him to do that a couple months ago. For the first couple of weeks we were always behind him or watching him...now, we'll go downstairs and he'll just follow us. We usually keep the gate locked when we're downstairs anyway just so he's contained.

4. Dan is leaving for CO on Monday and will come back Friday, just in time to pick my mom up at the airport. They are both flying into Cincinnati only a couple hours apart - works out perfect! I totally wish we could've gone with Dan...I've always wanted to go to CO. Maybe next time.

5. Weight update for G - when I brought G to the doc for Hand, Foot and Mouth he had already gained 1/2 a pound! Granted, he most likely lost it since he didn't eat for almost 3 straight days...but he is totally back on board now that he's feeling better and doing really well. We are sooo happy that we found a solution to get him to sit and eat! My goal for him is that he gains about 2lbs by his 2 year check-up.

6. Grayson attended his first fire pit cookout. We've had to cancel plans a lot lately because of all the sickness going around and got to FINALLY catch up with John and Laura. We weren't sure how G would do with the pit, but are always willing to give things a chance. He actually did really great - we reminded him that it was HOT...I think having Scout there really helped take the focus off the fire for G.
We have another play date tonight with G's friend Dylan - they will be making homemade pizza's! So fun.

Nom Nom Nom

Playing with Scout - we were dying because Grayson would take one end of the stick and play "tug-of-war" and Scout would totally win and get G frustrated. 

Happy Weekend-ing!

Easter Weekend and Randoms

So I think it's safe to say we are all FINALLY over our sickness(s). Unfortunately, I was the last to feel better...and that didn't happen until almost Monday morning. 


Enough about that, though. 


This weekend we spent a good amount of time outdoors. 
Saturday we headed to the park for an hour or so, and then on to the church egg hunt. Grayson totally didn't "get" the whole egg hunt thing, but did end up grabbing a couple eggs to put in his basket. He is most definitely a well trained athlete - he kept throwing the eggs because he thought they were "balls". LOL! We were dying. 


Easter Sunday was very relaxing. We went to church, came home and played with Easter toys (play-doh, bubbles, baseball and mitt) and then took a trip to Grandma and Pepere's for dinner.....we headed home around 3:30 to let G nap for a couple hours and read/relax ourselves. 
..............


Now for a little bit of Random: 


Dan and I made a WONDERFUL discovery last week. We decided that even though it's a "questionable" practice, it's totally worth it to get our kid to eat. 

See image below - the only way Grayson will eat a meal. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, this child will finally eat if we put the freaking IPAD on the table with an episode of Elmo. He has eaten EVERY meal we have served him since starting this practice.


Everyone asks us if Grayson is a picky eater:  Grayson actually eats really healthy food!  It's getting him to focus on eating in the first place that is the difficulty/challenge. He does NOT want to sit still to eat. 

I'm not kidding you, if this is all we use the iPad for, it was well worth the $

Grayson has also decided that baseball hats are super cool and must be worn at all times. Like, he won't go to daycare without bringing his "haattt".  I'm pretty sure there isn't anything cuter then a toddler wearing a baseball hat. Just sayin'

Easter! 

Hope everyone had a great Easter! 

Sniffle sniffle

So last week didn't go anywhere near how I expected it would...

Grayson woke up Thursday morning with a high fever again and ended up coughing/vomiting up green mucus. The doctor had me bring him in because of the green mucus to make sure there wasn't an infection. It was also kind of perfect timing since we needed to check his weight anyway. At G's 18 month well baby, they told me to come in every couple months to check his weight/growth if I wanted to.

All checked out fine. The doctor was impressed that G could rock a high fever and function they way he does...like normal. I tried SO hard to keep him indoors doing quiet activities, but it's really hard when all he screams is OUTSIDE.

We got G's weight and height checked: 23.5oz,(10%) and 34.5in (95%). So the good part is...he's growing!. The doctor said they'd be concerned if he wasn't growing taller...but since he is having growth spurts(maybe not in the area we'd hope) he's ok. Obviously, we're going to continue feeding him everything we can, but at this point, we're resigned to our tall, skinny, beanstalk. We've also decided to up his pediasure intake to 2 a day again in hopes to put some lb's on. We're not looking for huge weight gain here, 1 lb would make us happy!

So long story short, Grayson held a fever ( a high one) until Saturday afternoon when during his nap it FINALLY broke. He took an almost 2 hour nap and woke up sticky and sweaty. YEY!  Unfortunately, we still all slept on the couch as a family Saturday night because of his cough and refusing to sleep. Last night was pure bliss to finally sleep in our bed after almost a full week of Dan and I rotating couch duty with Grayson. I seriously don't want to watch 101 dalmatians ever.again. Kidding. A little.

And now both Dan and I are sick. Figures! I actually think I would've been fine if Dan didn't get it. I was with G the longest and was fine until yesterday...Dan started coming down with it Saturday. I blame him :)

Because Grayson was sick and hardly slept in his crib, we haven't converted him to the toddler bed. When he climbs out, we just let him play for a little and then go back and put him in the crib. We will most likely transition him this weekend if we're up to it. but at this point, both Dan and I are too tired to even think about it.

Even though the week was a little rough, Dan and I were able to give each other parenting "breaks" this weekend. I met up with my two girlfriends for brunch and a movie Sat, and then Dan hung out at John and Lar's to watch the final four. After being stuck in the house with a sick toddler for that long, it was nice for each of us to get a reprieve.

This weekend should hopefully be better for our family. We have an Easter egg hunt on Saturday, Dan will hopefully get to go golfing for the first time this season (he missed the past couple Monday sessions between travel and now being sick) and we can enjoy family time on Sunday!