9 weeks

This week, baby is the size of a: green olive

How far along? 9 weeks

Due date: December 11, 2012 (my grandmother’s and brother-in-law’s birthday!)

Total weight gain/loss: not sure, think I have lost weight

Maternity clothes? Not yet, but I get bloated and have to unbutton my pants sometimes.

Sleep: Not great. Lots of weird dreams and wake ups.

Best moment this week: The ten minutes I didn’t feel sick. Also, when Jason got home from work as cleaned the whole house for me because I feel like poo.

Movement: Not yet.
Food cravings: Ugh, more like food aversions. I can’t really eat anything except carb-y things, and I am getting sick of those options. I crave tacos but my tummy rebels when I eat them.

Symptoms: I feel hungover pretty much 24/7. I feel sick when my stomach is empty, and sick when it is too full. I burp like it’s my job. I want to sit on the couch and not move all day (impossible with two kids running around!) because I feel supremely lazy.

Gender? We plan to be surprised this time!

Labor Signs: Lord I hope not!

Belly Button in or out? Still the same as pre pregnancy.

Feeling toward Pregnancy: Happy, and glad everything is progressing perfectly so far. Wishing for the next few weeks to speed by so I can get out of the first trimester.

What I miss: Drinking gallons of diet Dr. Pepper. A nice glass of wine. My energy. Feeling human.

What I am looking forward to: the end of feeling sick. Also, we have a first trimester screen and ultrasound at twelve weeks, so we get to see the baby again! I can’t wait to tell Aiden and Lilah about the baby once we are out of the first tri!

Milestones: Nothing too significant for now!

Friday photos

A collection of photos from my iPhone, taken during the past week.

Aiden played in a mud puddle with his buddies for a couple hours. Boys!

Lilah is ready for Mommy & Me dance class!

We painted our first floor office/sitting room. Beadboard is up next!

Blessings

We are thrilled to announce that we are due to become a family of five!

After the heartbreak of our miscarriage in February, I was shocked to discover that I was pregnant again so soon. I tested on April 1st and it was unmistakable… two pink lines! Sharing the news with Jason was a bit comical. He was convinced I must be playing some April Fool’s joke on him, which I swore I would never joke about, and it took a few minutes and waving the test in his face before he believed me! Ha!

We are so excited. Thankfully, this has been a textbook pregnancy so far. Absolutely no spotting, a fair amount of pregnancy symptoms, and an ultrasound last week that shows a growing baby with a strong heartbeat!

At my first official OB appointment this morning, I got another surprise ultrasound. My doc just wanted to check on baby since its a little early to hear the heartbeat with a Doppler. (Another reason I adore my new doc!) And there was that sweet little heartbeat once again!

I’m 8 weeks pregnant tomorrow. That makes my due date December 11th. just another reason to look forward to the holidays! So far, I feel tired and vaguely hungover most of the time… kinda woozy and queasy. This is a far cry from my first trimester with Lilah, which was a blur of headaches and vomiting. Even though I don’t feel great, I know I should feel grateful because I know how bad it can be!

So many of you were lovely and supportive when we suffered our loss, and I’m so happy to share this great news with you now! I’m looking forward to sharing all the milestones on this journey and documenting as our family grows!

Friday photos

A collection of this week’s favorite photos from my iPhone.

Aiden’s first fancy rootbeer

Lilah wuz here!

Posing with the clean house that he cleaned all by himself, just because he wanted to help me out.

Someone painted her own nails (and the carpet!)

Aiden’s portrait of our family.

Friday Photo Collection

A collection of iPhone photos from this week.

Growing up

Today Aiden and I went to register him for Kindergarten. What? How?! When did this sweet boy go from a tiny baby to a big boy who is almost five and ready for school? I’ve been feeling pretty bummed about this, to tell you the truth, but I’ve been putting on a very excited front for Aiden’s sake. Today he was really hyped up about visiting his school to register.

We got there early and took a quick picture in front of the school with their Gator Pledge. Aiden loves that the school mascot is a gator! Inside, he enjoyed some juice, colored with the other kids, and got a gator tattoo and pencil.

He proudly wrote his name with upper and lower case letters, and read every word he could spot on the walls. He is getting SO good at reading! After we registered, we walked around the school and checked out the classrooms and the cafeteria. Aiden thinks the cafeteria “smells good” and he wants to buy lunch there sometimes.

Before we left, I told him we could take his picture with the school sign. “My school sign!” he said.

As he got into the car, he told me, “Mommy, I am excited! I am so,so excited!” I am excited for him too. I know he will thrive in Kindergarten and is such a smart, sweet boy. Now if I could just stop thinking about how much I am gonna miss him each day.

Lilah, Age Two

Every day it becomes more and more apparent that I have two kids. Not one kid and a baby… but two KIDS. It’s only on occasion that Lilah reminds me of her baby days, because she is firmly in big kid territory and nothing is gonna slow her down!

Lilah turned two in late February. She is such a delight, and I want to be sure to chronicle some of the things that make her amazing before time and my memory make these sweet days fade away.

Here are some things that make our Lilah such a special girl:

• She talks like crazy. Full sentences, proper pronoun usage, the whole nine yards. She tells us exactly what she wants and can easily explain how she feels. Examples of how much she chatters? “Yook at dat, Mommy! Buzz Yightyear ridin’ da Bullseye!” 

 

• Her favorite thing to do is read. She can sit by herself and read alone for an hour, paging through her books and reading out loud to herself. She also points to each word on the page and attempts to sound letters out the way she sees her big brother do it. So she will read a book about, say, bunnies, and you’ll hear her say “T… T… T…. BUNNIES!” Her favorite books are the Berenstain Bears, which she calls her “Papa B. Bear” books.

• Speaking of her brother, they remain best friends. They definitely can annoy each other, but she adores Aiden and he feels the same way. Lilah has been known to hurt herself and when I try to comfort her, she will push me away and run to Aiden for a hug. When we drop Aiden off at preschool, she will say, “I yub you Aiden! Bye Bye! See you soon!”

 

• We recently joined our local YMCA and she does not like the babysitting area. She will cry when I leave and refuse to let the staff help her, running instead to bury her face in Aiden’s chest and sniffle until she feels better. Aiden {saint that he is} has even opted out of fun activities for the big kids because, “I knew Lilah needed me.” Girl doesn’t know how lucky she is!

• Princesses are becoming more popular in our household. She likes princesses and loves Beauty and the Beast. She calls the Little Mermaid Ariel “Pwincess Cereal.”

 

• Lilah makes the funniest faces EVER. Let’s just say this: I will be shocked if she doesn’t gravitate toward the performing arts, because she loves being dramatic, making silly faces, and performing to music. She loves singing and makes up her own words to songs.

 

• Potty Training. She is not interested. :) This doesn’t surprise me because she can be stubborn and independent. That’s why we aren’t pushing the issue. She will tell us when her diaper is dirty, and she will sit on the potty occasionally, but we’ve only had one {accidental, I think} pee in the potty.

 

• She knows exactly who we are and what our actual names are. She knows Daddy is Jason, Mommy is Kelly, and brother is Aiden.

 

• She thinks weiners are hilarious, and she thinks every animal tail is a weiner. She grabbed a goat’s tail at the zoo this weekend, shrieked with delight, and yelled, “A WEINER!!”

 

• She also likes to dance on any table or countertop. Combined with the above detail, we are very worried. :)

 

• She has the most beautiful soft skin, and gorgeous blue eyes. Except for her eye color, she looks exactly like her Daddy. That must be why I think she is so cute!

 

• She enjoys picking out her own clothes but isn’t too pushy about it at the moment. I think this may change soon!

 

• She still sleeps well in her crib, with her beloved Blanket named Benny, and her infant crib aquarium toy. We sing “You Are My Sunshine” every night at bedtime, and she puts herself to sleep. She also still naps every afternoon.

 

• She wears 2T or 3T clothes, size 7 or  8 shoes, and size 5 diapers.

 

• She adores swinging at the playground, listening to music, and the Wiggles. She plays Wiggles songs on my phone while we grocery shop and sings at the top of her lungs.

 

• She frequently gives hugs and will say {unprompted} “I love you, Mommy.” She does the same with her daddy and brother too.

• She will hear a song and pipe up, “Oh I yike dat song!”

 

• She eats well and her favorite foods are pasta, fruit, hot dogs, strawberries, cereal, milk, and juice.

 

• She is getting girly… she loves to make me sit and brushes my hair, and she thinks it is great fun to do makeup with mommy.

 

• She is an amazing TWO year old girl and we love her dearly. Lilah, you are an amazing girl, with an amazing feisty spirit! We think you are the best!