Saturday, September 21, 2013

Two and a Half

Dear Sarah,
 
Holy cow.  Two and a half?!  Really???  When did this happen?  My grandma used to say that she was going to put a brick on my head to keep me from growing anymore.  I have to say that I now understand and support that idea more than ever! 
 

You are such a big girl now, always eager to show off your increasing independence.  Here are a few of the things you say and do right now that I want to remember forever and always...
 
You call noodles "you-dles" and taxis "task-keys." 
 
You like to watch Peppa Pig and Bubble Guppies.  You call Bubble Guppies "Bugga Buggies," and you are picking up some adorable British mannerisms from Peppa Pig.  When we ask you a question, you often reply "of course."  ("Would you like some carrots for snack?"  "Of course.")
Also, all of your questions are just statements that begin with "please." ("Please I can have more milky?")
 
For unknown reasons, you call the hay bales in the field of a nearby business park "bumblebees."  When we drive past them, you want me to roll up our windows so the bumblebees won't get in the car. 
 
You are very into baby dolls right now.  You have a sleeping baby (its eyes are always closed) and you call it your "sad baby." The awake baby (baby with its eyes open) is your "happy baby."
 
You can walk like a champ in tiny plastic high-heeled shoes and are very into dress up.

When you're wearing street clothes, you are in mostly larger 2T clothes and some smaller 3T clothes. You wear a size 9 shoe, which is insane. 

Your favorite shoes right now are a pair of pink Crocs (little plastic clogs).  You call them your "clack-clack shoes" because of the noise they make when  you walk.

You are almost totally potty-trained at this point, and you very rarely have accidents.  You still wear pull-ups at night, but they are often dry in the morning.
 
You love, love, love raspberries and have been known to eat a whole pint at one sitting. You also like to eat at "Chica-flay" (Chick-fil-a).
 
You tell us when you're sad ("I'm still crying."), and then tell us what you need to make it better ("Milky will make me happy.").
 
You want a bandaid for every little bumb or bruise you have.  You prefer K-State bandaids, but you will settle for a Hello Kitty or Dora bandaid.
 
Anything that happened in the past happened "yesterday."  You might say, "Yesterday I went to the pool," when really it was two weeks ago.  Sometimes you'll say, "Yesterday I had cereal at breakfast," when it was really this morning! 
 
You have an AMAZING memory and will bust out facts from time to time that just amaze me and your daddy.  Sometimes you'll see a cow and say, "That cow is like Aubrey!" (the cow we milked two months ago at the Shatto Farm tour).  We gave Aunt Megan some candy dots for her birthday and, when you saw them, you said, "I ate those with Megan and Adam at the soccer game." (Which you did.  Back in June.) 

You are also super excited to be a big sister.  You talk about your "sister" all the time, and sometimes you'll ask if you can hold your sister.  When I give you the go-ahead, you come over, lift up my shirt, and "grab" the baby from my tummy.  It's super cute.  I'm a little afraid of how you'll react if this baby turns out to be a boy, though!

Every night, I have the joy of tucking you in and kissing you good-night.  Nothing makes me happier than hearing you say, "Love you too!"  I do so love you, Sarah Jane.  You are my favorite-ist Sarah in the whole wide world.  Now please stop growing up so fast...

Love, Mommy


 

2 Months Pregnant

I have developed a bit of a fear that I will neglect our second child in ways I never expected.  For instance, my mother never filled out my brother's baby book because she was too busy with two kids running around.  Will I do that?  I hope not.  Will I do everything that I did for Sarah?  Probably not.  I'm coming to grips with that reality, but I'm also trying to find a way to make things new and different for our second pregnancy.  What I've decided to do is a month-by-month pregnancy update on the blog!  See?  Sarah didn't get that.  I'm already rocking this two-kid thing...
 
Each month (because - let's face it - each week is way too much!), I'll answer the same series of questions and post a photo of my ever-expanding belly.  Or at least a photo in which I am featured.  Because it's hard to take cute belly photos when you have a pretty good sized food baby in there to start with.  :)
 
So, with no further ado, I present to you...
 
TWO MONTHS PREGNANT
The Survey
 
 
How far along? 8 Weeks

Total weight gain? Up 3 lbs.  YIKES.  This is especially disturbing because I have been off food for the last 3 weeks.

Maternity clothes? I'm still in my normal clothes, but anything with buttons needs to be unbuttoned and supported by the Belly Band.  Jeesh.  I think I started showing about 30 seconds after I got pregnant this time.  Yoga pants are my best friend.

Stretch marks?  Just the remainders of the beauties that Sarah gifted me.  I'm sure new ones are coming, though. 

Sleep? I am definitely tired.  And Sarah is definitely not concerned by my exhaustion.  I am sleeping fine between waking up with Sarah and needing to use the bathroom, though!  (Tom is sleeping GREAT, if anyone is wondering...)

Best moment this month? Hearing and seeing that tiny heartbeat for the first time!!!  Also getting to share the news with everyone and Sarah really understanding that there is a baby on the way.

Miss anything? I'd love to have a beer now and then, but it's nothing I can't live without.  My caffeine ween has been harder than anything, and I am craving pumpkin spice lattes.  Mmmm.  Pumpkin... 

Movement? I certainly haven't felt anything yet!

Food cravings? It's really hit or miss.  It totally depends on how queasy I'm feeling!  I really wanted tacos one night.  Another night I wanted meatballs and red sauce.  Fried foods and carbs sound best to me when I'm feeling yucky, though. 

Anything making you queasy or sick? Yes.  Everything.  All day.  I'm usually pretty good in the morning, but then things head south the later into the day we go.  By dinnertime I usually feel pretty gross and don't really want to eat anything.  By bedtime, I just want to lay in the bed and not move at all!

Gender predictions?  Sarah is telling everyone there's a "sister" in my tummy.  I don't have a gut feeling either way, but I'll support Sarah in her choice!

Labor signs? No, thank goodness!  I will say that the stretching along the incision line from my C-section has been interesting, though...

Symptoms?  General nasea and queasiness, increasing throughout the day.  Aversion to all foods after 5 pm.  Overall poofiness of belly area and gradual tightening of waistbands.  Constant thirst and (as a direct result) constant trips to the bathroom.  More easily winded on nightly neighborhood walks.

Wedding ring on or off?  On!

Happy or moody? Overall, I'm pretty happy.  I tear up at stupid things, though.  Thanks, extra hormones!

Looking forward to: Everything!  I know this is the last time I'll do this, so I'm trying to savor every moment of this pregnancy.  Also, I know what to expect now, so it's not nearly as overwhelming as my first pregnancy.  I am NOT looking forward to the early gestational diabetes screening (occurring next month) or the extra testing that comes with my "AMA" (advanced maternal age), but I'm going to do everything I can to keep me and Thing 2 happy and safe for the next 7 months! 

Thoughts:  It's weird how different this pregnancy has been for me.  With Sarah, I was crazy tired but rarely nauseous.  I'm not so tired this time around, but I'm definitely sicker than I was with Sarah!  Also, I walked around thinking about Sarah all the time and was totally obsessed with being pregnant.  This time, I often forget that I'm pregnant and have to really focus on taking time to "connect" with this baby.  It's not that I don't feel the same amazing, overwhelming love and joy that I felt when I was pregnant with Sarah - it's that I have lots of extra distractions/stress in my life right now that I didn't have pre-Sarah!  I think it's this feeling of "neglect" that I'm dealing with that lead me to decide to do these blog entries.  Sorry, Baby #2...
  
 9/22/13 - 8 weeks pregnant