Happy Halloween!

I usually don't dress up, but I've seen some cute pregnant bellies painted for Halloween...

and have thought about it, but I don't have a big enough belly yet.

So again, I'm not dressing up this year.

However....

I am super excited about my daughter's Halloween costume this year!

I've waited a few years to do this one.  I wanted her hair to be long enough to do it.

2012 is the year!

Meet my daughter, Alyssa, aka Cindy Lou Who

 

I made the cape, trick or treat bag, and hair bow, bought the dress off Etsy, tights from Walmart, we had the shoes and socks.

 

We added some pink cheeks and nose, and some mascara and drew on a couple flashy eye lashes with eye liner.

Favorite costume of all time - thus far.

 

I packed her a special lunch - she is probably just sitting down at the lunch table finding her surprise right now!

A pumpkin theme lunch!

I had EVERYTHING already, but I did buy the Reese's Pumpkin candy tube.

I tied some scrapbook paper around the tube with a Happy Halloween note from mom & dad to it.

The juice I drew on the face and tied/twisted a pipe cleaner on for the stem.

The orange jello I used a glue dot to the top and stuck on a plastic spider.

Drew the simple face on the the sandwich bag.

Threw in some pumpkin homemade pumpkin seeds (perfect with the pumpkin theme)

And added a Halloween spoon for her to use with her jello.

I hope it makes her smile :)

And I have one more surprise for her when she gets home from school...

 

A mini Halloween Party of our very own

Games:

Skeleton Bone scavenger hunt

Toss the gummy body parts into the ghost bowl

Snack:
ORANGE is the theme

Carrot sticks

Orange Slices

**Last but not least - I bought her some silly string to get daddy with when he gets home from work!

Tonight we are going to eat dinner at Mike's Halloween Bash before the Trick-or-Treating begins!

This is Alyssa's last Halloween as an only child.  As sad as it is for me right now, I know next year we will have a baby to stroll around with us as we trick or treat.  And my motto has always been "the more the merrier!"

 

 

 

28th Birthday ReCap

I had a WONDERFUL birthday!  I wouldn't mind getting older just for birthday's like I had today.

I started the day with a facial given to me by my sister.  She is in training to be a Skin Therapist at the Skin Institute.  It was heavenly!!!!

Afterwards I did some running around while I was in town.  I bought myself a new bath robe.  Happy Birthday present to myself.

I came home to get Alyssa from school.  She had made me a very creative card/book for my birthday while she was in school.  Very sweet.

After we finished her homework, I got changed and fixed up for dinner.

Hubby, mom, Alyssa, sister and my good friend Megan and I all went to downtown St. Louis to The Old Spaghetti Factory.  Being that pasta is a "safe food" for me - I figured we couldn't go wrong there.  It was DELICIOUS!

Family Photo with my mom, sister, daughter, and hubby

Me and Megan

(little baby bump showing)

We all got ice cream for desert.  

They added a candle to mine and sang Happy Birthday!  Very fun!

All in all it was a great day!

Happy Birthday To ME!

So I want to bring up a couple of subjects within this one post.

First being, I am now 28 years old (today).  I KNOW - it's almost like a young and old age.

"Oh she's so young to have two kids"

and I say to myself "WOW, I turned 18 TEN YEARS ago."

My close friends are newly married, babies really not on their mind at the moment.

I, however, have been married for 8 years, have a 6 year old, and a baby on the way.

Mind you, these close friends I speak of, all graduated with me (same age).

I have always been the mature responsible type.  Not one to get myself into trouble or "let loose."  I like control and stability.  I am living the life I'd always wanted growing up.  A life that started young, not wanting to wait till after college and my career came along.

All in all I am a very content and happy person.  I'm very proud of our life and family, even if it isn't always the easiest.  We are for the most part happy, healthy, and in a good routine.

And that brings me to my next point.  I would be lying if I didn't say I was a little concerned about how this new addition was going to change the dynamic of our lives.  It's always the thought of the unknown that scares me.  That loss of control.  The what ifs...

This baby is exciting and scary all at the same time.

So for now - I'm focusing on the positives.  The moment we find out if this little one is a boy or a girl, seeing his/her face for the first time, breastfeeding (even though that's not always a picnic), snuggling, tiny baby clothes, and so on.

I think the rest will just have to be dealt with just as we deal with all the other ups and downs we have around here... one thing at a time.

I can't believe next year, on my 29th birthday, I'll have a 6 month old and a 7 year old.  So crazy - but can't wait!

16 Weeks

These photos are from Friday, October 26th - the day I turned 16 Weeks offically.

And since my doctor is going with my projected due date instead of theirs - I get to stay on my current track of when my weeks turn over.

The progression...

I really thought my belly had popped out a lot more since 12 weeks, but after looking at the progression photo below... maybe we are on a slow and steady pace.  Which would be wonderful!

(Less chance of stretch marks perhaps?)

Baby is said to double in weight and add to it's height in the next 4 weeks, so the next addition to this segment may actually be a noticeable change.  

 

 

I also find it very funny to look at my 1st two photos (4 & 8 weeks) from my 1st trimester.  You really can see how miserable I was, lol!  Thank you 2nd trimester for being much better so far!

BABY UPDATE:
Baby is the size of a Turnip

5 Inches Long

5 oz.

Doctor's Appt & ULTRA SOUND!

We had our 2nd doctor's appointment today.  We waited 45 min in the waiting room today instead of an hour and 45 minutes, which was still looong but much better then waiting for almost 2 hours.

I saw a nurse practitioner, Amanda.  She was very nice and helpful.  She said my blood work came back great.  Urine checked our fine.  Just reminded me about my O- blood type, which I knew about.  She did prescribe me some meds for morning sickness.  Not because I need it, but JUST IN CASE I would need it then I'd have it.  

I did ask about which hospital I could deliver at.  I went to St. Mary's SSM with Alyssa, and this is a St. Mary's clinic so St. Mary's is the logical choice.  However, they have opened a new SSM hospital that is closer to me.  She explained that it would be nice if I delivered at St. Mary's because they are taking care of me there; however, being that the other hospital is on the same server for hospital records - they could pull up my info and delivering there would be fine.  They would just inform the clinic after the fact, that the baby was delivered with them.  So I think that is what I'll do - I'll deliver at the other SSM hospital instead.  Maybe I'll do a post on that hospital another time.

And then she noticed I had missed my last scheduled ultrasound (due to the flu).  She seemed concerned and wanted to see what was going on with the baby and "squeezed" us in for an ultrasound TODAY.

We were surprised to say the least.

I knew we were just far enough along that could possibly find out the GENDER!!!

After another hour and a half long wait we made it into the ultrasound room.

Long story short - we do NOT know the gender.  Little baby kept it's legs tightly closed the whole time and the umbilical cord was right between the legs.

The best news of the whole entire day - we have a HEALTHY baby :)

Even better news - there is only ONE baby, haha!

So meet Baby "C"

 Profile

Profile with chest and spine

 Little baby had it's hand up by it's face a lot

Head to the right covering it's face with both hands

 Look at those cute lips and that sweet nose

 Hello scary baby! Ha!  Face shot

 Sweet little hand by its face

So all in all it was a long day.  4 hours at the doctor's office.  But it was also the best day being able to finally see our BABY and it looks like a BABY now <3  He or She will make it's self known in ONE MONTH.  2 Days before Thanksgiving we get to go back and have another scan done.  We plan to bring our daughter along with us for that one so she can find out the gender right along with us.  Very exciting.

Until then...

Total TMI Post

This is TMI (Too Much Information) in more then one way.

It is part of pregnancy, so what are you going to do.  But for me, it seems so soon.

What am I talking about?  Nipple secretions.  I have had very sensitive nipples from the very beginning.  I literally woke up to a pregnancy update today saying "you may notice your breasts are not as sensitive as they once were"... ummmm not me, not here. 

So as I took my bra off, my nipples just HURTTTT.  So I did a once over, and they were covered in "crust."  Omg, that sounds so disgusting, even typing it.  So I washed it off and noticed white speckles under the skin, squeezed, and stuff comes out... yuck.

At not yet 15 weeks, it seems so soon to already by creating colostrum or breast milk type substances.

So I tell my hubby, who gets probably more TMI then any man should far too often, and he says "Oh yeah, I noticed that awhile ago..."  And without going into detail, you get the picture of how he would notice such a thing.  So this has been happening without me noticing???  Weird.  Especially for "awhile" according to Steve.

I guess I should see it as a good thing.  I was able to successfully breastfeed my daughter.  Maybe it is a good sign that things are getting in gear to do it again this time around.  I have my fingers crossed that breastfeeding will go as smoothly as it did with Alyssa, as I hope to breastfeed for at least 9-12 months this time.  I made it 6 weeks with her, and always regretted having to stop (due to returning to work).  But this is a whole different topic I may address in a separate post as some point.

Birthday Plans

My birthday is fast approaching, and although I never really make it a big deal I do have some plans in mind this year :)

I have another doctor's appointment a week from tomorrow, being that I missed my last ultrasound I am hoping they schedule me for another sooner rather then later.  If they get me in there before I'm 18 weeks, I'm going to just wait and do that.  But if they decide to hold off till 20 weeks or so... I can't wait that long for a gender scan.

So the plan is to see what happens at my doctor's appointment.  And if things don't go the way I hope, we will go in on my birthday to pay for a private gender scan and find out the sex of this baby!

Also on my list of plans - a facial given to me by my little sister (she is in school right now to do this type of thing), and dinner at The Old Spaghetti Factory in downtown STL.

I'm not sure in which order those things will happen.  I am waiting till after next week's appointment to see what happens really with the ultrasound scheduling.

I can't believe I am so close to finding out if this baby is a boy or a girl!!!

14 Weeks 3 Days today!

Furniture Wars

This is my busy time of year with my business.  Which also equals, extra income.  I usually use a lot of that extra income on Christmas gifts.  This year I'm thinking about baby things.

So the furniture war goes on in my head

VS.

Of course Christmas will still be taken care of... but do I really want to buy ANOTHER crib when I have a perfectly good one here, that is FREE.  And no, it may not be the right color, but it is a bed and it will do the job.

In two years, when the crib can go and a toddler bed be put in its place I could still have a new living room set and/or dining room set.

Well the fact of the matter is - we ARE getting a new dining room set.  Ours is a hand me down anyway, and it's falling apart.  We've managed to put it back together a couple of different times but it's life is about up.  Being that we eat a lot of family meals at that table that is a priority.  Not to mention one of our chairs is broken (we have 4), so once baby arrives and sits at the table, we will be needing a replacement chair by then anyway.

But I still battle in my head the living room set.  We need one, but with a baby that potentially will be spitting up, playing on it, not caring that it's new... I'm just not so sure.

And lastly, being that this could be my last busy season, if next year doesn't go as planned with having 2 kids, we could have this one opportunity to take care of it.

Priorities.  A constant word that pops up lately.

Baby Pokes!

So a couple of days ago I said I thought I had felt the baby move.  And every so often, when I'm in bed, laying still, I can feel these very small pokes.

Today, Alyssa and I were playing with the doppler and listening to the heartbeat.  Two or three times when the heartbeat would be very loud on the monitor the probe would jump just as I was feeling a little poke from the inside!!!

I love that it is proof of me feeling those subtle movements.  I'm going to try and catch it on camera tonight if I can.  Very neat!

1st Day of Maternity Jeans!

No it's not the best photo.  However, it is of my growing belly in my yard sale find maternity jeans.

I felt SO MUCH better wearing them all day.  I had 2 problems with my old jeans

#1) Couldn't button them and used the hair tie through the button hole trick

#2) Every time I bent over they would slide wayyyy down... not attractive

So today I was much more comfortable.  Thank goodness I have enough jeans now to get my through fall and winter.  My plan is to get a couple of pair of yoga pants for extra comfort and they would be nice for in the hospital and after the baby comes for around the house.

Tecniqually I'll be in my 2nd trimester in 5 days... so that's close enough to making it through the 1st trimester WITHOUT maternity clothes.  For me anyway....

YARD SALE BARGAINS!

I will do a vlog on my Yard Sale Baby Haul - but wanted to get it in writing before I forgot.

Our town wide yard sales were today.  It was COLD and still getting over my illness I wasn't feeling the best.  We didn't get out and moving till about 8:30am which is kinda late.  But a I knew a friend of mine was going to have maternity clothes, that would FIT ME at her sale so I HAD to make it to that one at the very least.

SO GLAD I DID!

Maternity clothes haul:

5 pairs of jean: 

1 pair was skinny jeans so I'll be able to wear them with boots!

1 pair was a very nice dark wash I can dress up

5 maternity tops

1 cadigain

1 sweater

That's a great big chunk of my maternity wardrobe taken care of.  A lot of the pieces were Old Navy, GAP, and Motherhood Maternity.  Also "Pea in a Pod" brand, which I hadn't heard of before.

I also snagged:

A womb sounds lamb for $3 (Reg: $25)

A maternity pillow for $2 (Reg: $40)

and the best bargain of the day

a Baby Bjorn baby carrier for $15!  (Reg. these start at around $70)

So my grand total was only $66 for all that bargain goodness!!  YAY!

That's less then the regular price of a Baby Bejorn or 2 pairs of jeans at the store.

Couldn't be more thrilled!

Baby Movement?

It seems a little early, but it was with my daughter too (maybe around 14 weeks).

But I'd say it was Thursday, October 4th (12 weeks 6 days) we did a family doppler session.  I had been sick in bed all day and was a little concerned because I had been running a fever (which is not good for the baby).  So I thought finding the heartbeat would be reassuring.  

I swear I could feel movement pushing back on our pokes and jabs with the probe!  I don't think it's something anyone could feel from the outside, but pretty neat for me!

Now every once in awhile I do feel a little rumble in there, right around where we find the heartbeat.

I can't wait till the movements are big enough for the family to enjoy too.

13 Week Vlog

I need to take a second...

to remember the important things.  The blessing that is growing inside of me right now.  What a miracle being pregnant really is.  How lucky we are to have such a bright and loving daughter here with us already.  I'm so happy to have a nice place to live, a successful business, food on the table, and family that is very supportive.

But I am just having a very hard time seeing the positive things this week.

My body is tired.  It is not happy and I really think it hates me at this point.  If I'm not sick I'm tired, and when I'm not tired I'm sick.

Stresses this week include:

 School behavior problems with Alyssa (1st call from the teacher)

Overwhelmed with orders from my business

**As I just typed that my phone signaled another order that just came in...

Not being able to restock for my next show (1 week away)

Trying to juggle selling candles along with my bow business

House work

Dinners

Laundry

Doing the grocery shopping (let alone any extra shopping)

Alyssa has grown out of most of her clothes

Trying to recover from a long weekend at my last show - I just can't seem to shake that one off

And the worst part of all... we are finally going to be able to see our precious little baby tomorrow for the 1st time at our ultrasound.  And as much as I want to be excited, I also can't help but dread going back to that doctor's office.  Steve having to miss out on pay to be there with me.  Having to find somewhere for Alyssa to go before school because our appointment is at 8:15am and we have to leave at 7:15am.  Worrying about morning traffic.  Not getting enough sleep since we have to get up so much earlier then we usually do.

YES - these are all the things that run through my head OVER AND OVER.

ALL of those things.  All day long.

And what do I do... sit here, not feeling well, wanting to just take a nap, not doing a thing about any of it because I don't feel well.

Steve even told me yesterday how bad stress is on a person, let alone a pregnant person.  I just don't know what to do about it.

Sooooo sorry this is a downer post.  And maybe the sadness and depression has something to do with my up and down hormones... but I do write this blog for myself to look back on.  And I can only hope that at some point I can look back on this post and say - hey, I lived through that and am fine.

Edible vs. Inedible

I think it is true what they say, your pregnant body will crave the things that it NEEDS over things that are probably not so good for you.  Being at the mall all weekend, then driving by every every fast food restaurant there is... NOTHING sounded good.  All I wanted was my own cooking, fruit, and veggies.

Luckily there was a Bread Co. at the mall and soup was on my Edible list.

Here is my current Edible vs. Inedible list:

Edible:

-Bananas

-Aspearagus

-Block Cheese

-Pasta

-Pickles

-Hot Tea

-Orange Juice

-Cottage Cheese

...That's about it

Nonedible:

-Meat...

-More specifically: hamburgers and chicken

-Sandwiches

-Anything fried (except french fries)

-Milk

-Most breakfast foods

...There is actually a lot I'm no longer eating, but most fall into the above categories.

ALL I WANT TO DO IS - Go to Golden Coral and eat till I pass out.  But I know half the stuff on the buffet will not look good and the fact that I have to eat small portions at the moment (all day long), doesn't work out for me to get the most out of an all-you-can-eat place at this point.

Maybe next summer...

12 Weeks! 3 Months!

Wow, 1/3 of this pregnancy is already over.  Hopefully that was the worst of it.

Baby this week is the size of a PLUM

All the vital systems are now just about fully developed and now need to mature.  Baby C is also working on its reflexes, opening and closing its hands and curling its toes.

We will have a better photo on THURSDAY to really see how big our baby is.  Until them...

Belly Shot - 12 Weeks

 Still not too noticable (to the outside world), but to me, it is very noticable.

 

In love with making it to 12 weeks.  Feeling a little better, baby is growing, and I'm getting more used to being pregnant.

Progression so far...

 

 Soon the above photo will be filled in with more and more progression photos.  Without these three photos I wouldn't have been able to see the small, but noticeable change in the early first 3 months.  So glad I did!