30 weeks!

We've stumbled into a small town and I have internet access for a brief moment! I wanted to update while I had the chance.

I'm 30 weeks today. Baby Belle is growing like a weed. This week while we've been gone I've felt especially big. Obviously I've had to sit a bit more than I'm used to which causes her to ball up right under my ribs. NOT FUN! It's quite painful and I don't like it :-). I have a short torso so this is very uncomfortable for me. So that's what I've been dealing with the past week-a bigger baby and a small torso. Only 10 more weeks to go. Yippee. I CAN'T WAIT to meet her.

I have a doctor appointment on Tuesday and then I go on the 8th for my second fetal echo. Doctor appointments are picking up and I'll stay busy with that I'm sure. Not to mention dentist and doctor appointments for the little girl-soon to be big sister! This will help the next 10 weeks go by super fast I'm sure. Not to mention allll the things we have to do before the littlest girl comes.

While we were in Missouri I got some maternity shots done. It was fun. I didn't do that with AK so it was a treat. Here is one of them...



And another...



Aaaaaand another...


To be technical, these were taken at 29 weeks and 5 days :-).

Pics taken by the wonderful Teresa.

Missouri

Today is Saturday and we're still in Missouri. We are leaving sometime tomorrow morning for the long haul home. I know, traveling the Sunday after Thanksgiving is NOT a good idea BUT we're going to brave it and we'll survive! AK did SOOOOO well on the drive here. I am still amazed by her. We stopped a total of three times. Once at McDonald's and the other two times at stores where she walked around outside for about 10 minutes and was good to go for another few hours. She did AMAZING! Napped and everything. Such a wonderful gal!

It's beautiful here and I LOVE all the big and tall trees. They make me very happy.

Especially when I can get a picture like the one above. Isn't that precious?! The high a couple of days ago was only 42 or something but yesterday and today the highs are/were in the low 60's. It's been pretty enjoyable.

We got our family pictures taken yesterday by the hubby's cousin. She is great and they look awesome. I can't wait to share them with you. She also took some maternity shots as well so I'll HOPEFULLY be sharing those with you sometime late tomorrow evening or Monday. She also got some AWESOME pics of AK by herself. Adorable. Precious. Priceless. Can't wait to see them again!

I have thoroughly enjoyed being here with my MIL's side of the family. They are fun peeps.

I hope you all had a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving.

catching up really fast

As I type, Isabelle is rolling about in my tummy. It's so fun to watch and feel.

Well, it finally happened, I missed a preggers update on Sunday. We've been super busy around these parts lately.

I was visiting my mom out of town this weekend since we will be in Missouri for Thanksgiving. It was nice and AK had LOTS of fun playing with her Cece!

I returned home to a sick hubby so that had me a little out of sorts. It's hard to prepare and plan for a trip that might not happen. I was praying him well while I was making lists, washing clothes, gathering things I don't want to forget and planning in my head what the trip will be like...all while hoping it wasn't all for nothing.

Today, the trip is still on. We will be leaving between 3-4 AM and returning sometime Sunday or Monday. We'll have the laptop and I will be doing a preggers update this Sunday complete with a belly picture. 30 weeks folks!!! It's hard to believe. Only 10 weeks to go when we return. Wow.

I must go now and continue gathering things. I would hate to forget something important with a two year old in tow. Like the DVD player for instance. Or her lovies! AAHHHH!

Until next time, may this sweet sweet face hold you over.



Also, a sweet friend of mine is taking her newborn son to Cooks Children's Hospital today to have some testing done. Please pray for them.

how to...

...remove a diaper-based off the tales a two year old.

Step one: plop down wherever you are and get comfy.

Step two: remove the left tab

Step three: remove the right tab

Step four: pull the diaper forward

Step five: Stand up so it falls off and jump around like a wild banshee. Also, this is where you tell your parental, if they haven't done so already, to turn the flash off so the pic will be blog worthy...without revealing anything inappropriate.


Disclaimer: I don't do this often. Really, I'm hardly ever in a diaper anymore BUT it was almost time for bed so mom had taken the first step to get me there and I totally removed it. I was hoping this would buy me some time.

all in a days work

I had my first episode of complete and total energy drainage yesterday evening. I was feeling fine and cleaning up the kitchen. Then, I stopped doing that to walk down the hall towards AK's room to do something and I suddenly felt like I was going to fall over. I'm not sure I've ever felt that drastic of a change before and it was weird! I could barely bring myself to put AK to bed. THAT'S how bad it was. It was not fun. The following pics might explain why my energy is being wiped from my very body.

^^^this right here is what I like to call raw talent. Feet in the hands, thumb in the belly button^^^

^^^hiding from "Mom-mom"^^^

^^^BOO!^^^

^^^trying to entertain her, while learning her ABC's and shapes online-she WILL be very techy^^^

^^^waving and saying hi to some lady with a little baby^^^

^^^giving mom a heart attack^^^

^^^"coloring" her favorite picture with her favorite color^^^

^^^a quick trip to Wal-Mart AFTER McD's cause mom was craving popcorn shrimp...I think she was taking a little siesta or something^^^

^^^how we both felt when the day was nearing an end...you know, AFTER she did some jumping^^^

I know it may not seem like a lot to you but that was a busy day. The girl never stops. She is always doing something worth taking a picture of which makes me tired cause I'm constantly chasing her around with the camera-HAHA! She is funny, cute, daring, "social" and wild all at the same time. Even though it exhausts me, I wouldn't change her personality for anything.

just wondering...

Does your little girl line up cars like this on the kitchen floor?


And does lunch look like THIS around your place?


My spunky little hilarious child. I don't know WHAT I'd do without her...probably be less likely to trip over a trail of cars that's for sure :-). I wouldn't change it for the world!

28 weeks

Third trimester here I come!!!

It's so exciting to be entering the last phase of this life with Isabelle inside of me. Speaking of her being inside of me, isn't it just so amazing (and weird kind of) to think that one minute she'll be cramped in my abdominal cavity and then the next second (or minute, possibly hours) she'll be in my arms. Wow. It's all too much to think about sometimes. One day she'll be AK's age and AK will be close to turning 5!!! Holy moly puddin' pie, I might cry.

Anyways, I'm plumping up nicely and I like it but I don't. I LOVE looking pregnant however I don't love all the things that come with getting bigger. Leg cramps, back pain, bladder control issues, breathing problems. It's a beautiful world huh?! Joy and misery in the same package.

I go to the doctor on Tuesday and then I'll continue going every two weeks after that. I can't believe I'm already at this point. Every. Two. Weeks. I'm super happy about it though because from here on it should go by super fast...not that it hasn't been super fast already. This past month has seemed to drag though for some unknown reason. Maybe because I've been anxious lately to get to this point. Who knows.

In three weeks I go for my second fetal echo. I KNOOOOW I've said this before but I'm so excited to get on that table, lay back and watch my little gal in action for a full hour at 32 weeks! I'll even get some new pics :)...if she cooperates. Does it seem weird that I'd be excited to be getting a fetal echo? It's not the fetal echo or the reason I've had to have them done that excites me, it's getting to see her again. Connect with her. It's like a little visit before the big day. I've had no reason to worry so far that anything is even wrong so in my head it's just another ultrasound where I get to see all the little and amazing details of her perfect body. God is good.

Sean's cousin's wife, whom we are close with, asked me about a month and a half ago if she could throw us a baby shower. At first I was super hesitant because I don't want people to think we're ridiculous to have a baby shower when I have most things necessary for a little girl BUT she said that EVERY baby should be celebrated with special little things just for him or her and that it wouldn't be selfish or rude to have another shower, so I complied. And really, it's so true. Why is the socially appropriate thing to just have one baby shower and that first child be the only one to receive special blankets and clothes and fun things when they ALL deserve to have it done for them. The first child is no more special than the second, third or forth. Now, I'm sure if we ever make it to baby number 4 we will not be having baby showers but I think the way she put it to me totally makes it okay :-). SO, we're having one the first week of January, tentatively. Yay!

I've been so excited about it all that I started registering online at Wal-Mart and Target. I don't want to register for things we already have so I've been thinking of things what will make my life easier with a newborn and two year old. Do you have any suggestions? So far I've thought to register for a double stroller, a sling (I have a moby wrap but it's SO much material...I'm going for quick and easy here), a nursing cover, nursing tank tops, an awesome nursing pillow that you can walk around and wear!, some long sleeved onesies and sleepers since big sister was born in August and her cold weather stuff is mostly 3-6 months, some awesomely cozy looking blankets that will be JUST hers, a diaper caddy thing to keep in a central room in the house and some other things that we kind of need-4 oz. bottles, cradle sheets (I currently have ONE), diapers and wipes and some other stuff. It's so hard not to just register for everything that looks cool because they are constantly coming out with new things. BUT then again, I want to keep it as simple and practical as possible.

OH AND I got her "coming home" outfit this weekend! It's so precious. Mainly I was sold on it because of the ruffle on the hiney. HAHA. And because it's going to be so close to Valentine's day that I found it appropriate to have something soooo...pinky. AND because they had it available in 0-7 lbs. It was just completely perfect for her I think. I can't wait to see her in it!

Well, that's all we have going on with this belly. Just fun preparations. I'm excited that when I get back from our Thanksgiving vacation that we'll only have TWO months left. Yippee!

my sweet life

Oh how I wish you could hear the laugh that goes with this face.

This little girl has a personality like NO OTHER little person I've ever met. I'm serious. It's completely and totally different. Outgoing yet reserved. Spontaneous yet predictable. LOUD yet quiet.

She loves people but not without close and quiet study first.

She doesn't like being touched by other little kids. It freaks her out.

Her favorite color is blue.

She loves balls and cups and french fries.

She loves to have two of everything. Two chips, two lovies, two cups...and she'll let you know, "two pease!" when you just give her one.

She's into saying bye to EVERYthing. "Bye airpane", "Bye bus", "Bye ATB (H-E-B), "Bye Dono's (McDonald's)", "Bye fins (friends)", "Bye home". It's all SOOO precious to hear. My ears are so delighted in her sweet little voice.

She's the best morning snuggler in the world and I enjoy that time with her more than anything.

When we ask her where baby Isabelle is it's either my belly button or hers which I find totally hilarious. I hope she's not completely confused.

She loves to sit and watch the videos we take of her. And not just anytime, you have to take the video and then immediately show it to her.

She's a talented gymnast as far as we can tell. Quite the tumbler.

She's into cars and rocks.

When asked if she's ready for a bath she'll say, "swim!". And sometimes randomly throughout the day she'll "demand" a bath or swim.

She can identify mostly every letter in the alphabet.

She is so much on the go that she often brings us her socks and shoes to put on and then fetches ours for us as well...all in attempt to go" walk" or "ride".

She's totally house trained but waits to go #2 until she has a diaper on even if that means AFTER she's been put to bed for the night. Sometimes we're successful in getting her to go but that one has been a little difficult. I haven't succeeded in getting her to go in a public place yet. Good thing we're home more than not.

She dances when she hears a beat she likes...even if that means in the middle of McDonald's with a fry in her hand or walking into a store with one of those obnoxious people driving by.

At bedtime, there is only ONE blanket that she'll allow me to cover her up with. All others get kicked off immediately and sometimes a whine follows the removal. I've never purposefully favored one blanket over another but I have always used it because it's the perfect blanket. She has apparently caught on to that as well.


This is our life as of now. I love having a two year old although it can be rather challenging at times. They learn SO much in this stage of life. It's so fun and exciting AND rewarding to watch. The hubby and I are amazed by the things she does on a daily basis. I can't believe we're blessed enough to get to experience this all a second time! Wow. It will be so fun to do little updates like this for a new little sweet one.

Hope you enjoy your weekend!

wordless wednesday (chasing squirrels)

27 weeks

27 weeks and growing big.

I have felt quite a bit achy lately and it's not fun :-). I knooooow I have a lot more growing to do but being pregnant at this stage (and further) with my "short stature" is very uncomfortable I must say. It's very tough being 5'2 with a two year old I still lug around like she is still mommy's itty bitty baby but stands a little more than half my height. I feel very out of whack to say the least. BUT, the doctor says I can carry her until I can't and I'll know when it's time to cut it out. Honestly, I think I'll carry her till the end. I just can't not. She's my baby until my next baby arrives and even after that she'll just be my first baby, still my baby, always will be.

ANYWAYS, things are going well. Isabelle is a very active little girl and I love it. It's so fun to feel her and see her moving about. Sometimes, when everyone in the house is either gone or asleep I just sit and watch her. She amazes me. The WHOLE thing amazes me. Being pregnant is just amazing. Ahhh.

I'm excited to get another ultrasound in exactly a month. It will be so neat to see a bigger version of her. Obviously at the last ultrasound she was fully formed and beautiful...I can't imagine how much more she'll be at this next one.

Two sweet girls. Wow, I'm lucky.

long yet short weekend

This weekend has felt mighty long yet short at the same time. Long because it's raining outside and it's felt like a VERY lazy day and short because my mom, stepdad and two nephews came down on Saturday afternoon for a spur of the moment visit to see us. They got in Saturday around 4:30 or so and AK was napping so they went to their hotel to check in and unload their stuff and then around 5:30 AK and I met them there. Anna-Kate was SOOO excited to see her "Cece", as she always is, and let out a squeal of delight when my mom met us outside as we were pulling up.

You see, my mom's real name has nothing to do with cece BUT AK gave her this name last time we were visiting in Waco. My mom calls her sister soooo in return AK calls her "cece". It's pretty darn cute and we all get a kick out of it.

ANYWAYS, we loaded up and went to the mall just for fun. Of course, AK had to ride the money guzzler carousal thingy. We enjoyed watching her be excited about that. After that we attempted a walk through in The Children's Place but AK wasn't the least bit interested. THEN, we went into the Disney Store. She insisted on having this WOODY miniature soccer ball ringing in at $6.50! Of course, cece bought it for her because that's her little princess. And a side note, AK has never seen Toy Story before so I have no idea why she wanted THAT ball of all the balls. We walked the mall and enjoyed hanging out. After that we went back to Wendy's to eat and then to the hotel where AK proceeded to jump on every bed and open and close every door. She was having herself a hay ol' time. When we left she wasn't happy but quickly recovered. She went to bed without getting out ONE time. Much progress!

This morning we woke up and met everyone at McDonald's for some exciting playscape play. Anna-Kate had a lot of fun playing with her cousin (my nephew who is five). We were there for quite a while and my mom got lots of pictures :-). After that we headed across the street to Wal-Mart. What's a fun outing without stopping at wally world? There, AK proceeded to need this overpriced little Lightning McQueen action car. She is sooo silly. Of course, she got it and my little nephew got a Buzz Lightyear guy. Kids are so funny. I got a DVD cleaner kit :-). After we left Wal-Mart we came back to our house so they could take AK's big log cabin back to Waco with them. AK rarely plays with it so no biggie.

Since then I've done a lot of nothing. It's one of those days. See, the weekend seemed so long yet short.

travel suggestions? & a giveaway

I'll try to make this as interesting as possible, you know, just by some chance someone reads it...I do know there is ONE person who will. Thanks girl-you're great :-)


There are some things I want to remember and I can remember them by typing them here.


Lately my dear child has been experimenting with making things plural. It is so interesting to watch and hear. She figured out where mom-mom stashes the two extra "uh-beez" (lovies) and can push her leap frog bus up to the dresser, open the top drawer and get them all out which gives her a total of three at one time. It's frustrating yet hilarious. So, when she has accumulated all three at times she is sure to say "uh-beeeeezzz" when she wants them ALL. "Uh-bee" for just one and "uh-beeeezz" for more than one. How smart is that! Then I have to go through the process of stealing two back and getting her back down to just one so I'll have clean back ups. I think it's time for a new hiding place.

Not only is she making her "uh-beeeezz" plural, she has been saying "ballzzz", "shoezzz", "sockzzz", "buurrrrdzzz", "friiiiiieezzz". It's so fun to hear. I love my little one.


She's gotten really good lately at pushing things away and swinging her arms around like propellers when she's super frustrated about something. I better hurry and nip that one quick. It's amazing to see such an attitude from such a little person.


I'm getting really nervous about how AK will react to her little sister. I really am hoping that all this attitude stuff is just from me being pregnant and not because she's mad about mommy having someone else to give attention to. I'm totally sure she doesn't understand her feelings about this or even what's completely going on and I shouldn't be trying to analyze it BUT there has to be a reason for her turning into such a wild child. I had a GREAT conversation yesterday where I was gently told I think about her feelings WAY too much which is kind of creating a monster. That totally makes since. She's just TWO and if I make SUCH a big deal about her becoming a big sister and her lime light getting stolen then it will be a big deal and she'll act negatively. I need to start focusing on the good and exciting things that Isabelle will bring our family.

This also holds true for our bedtime battles. I need to stop thinking that I'm harming or traumatizing her by allowing her to cry for over an hour behind her door JUST because she's stubborn and wants her own way. I don't automatically revert to shutting the door and letting her scream. We first battle in another manner for a good hour or so until mommy is so worn down that the only thing I can do besides lay in bed with her (which I DON'T want to do) is shut the door and let her handle it herself. She's making the choice to get up. She knows that the door will stay open if she stays in her bed BUT she CHOOSES to fight it and ends up getting locked in. I have a tough one on my hands.


We are about 90% sure we're going to Missouri this year for Thanksgiving with Sean's mom and brother. The only thing that would change this is the 10% chance he lands a full-time job before then. I, nor AK, have ever been up there and met that side of his family before and he hasn't been in yeeeeearrrzzz. I'm excited to go but SUPER nervous about
1. the drive
2. the sleeping arrangements seeing as how we've had a horrendous time lately getting her to bed
3. the new "habits" that will be created by her sleeping in the same room as us
4. not having our own space for AK to explore. She's into EVERYTHING these days and I can't imagine the stress of being in someone else's home for 5 days with nothing that's ours. Obviously we haven't traveled to far away lands with her before...atleast not to places that aren't packed with fun toddler things to handle. I shouldn't be so nervous about that BUT I am so I'm saying it. My hubby is really gonna have to step it up and help me out while we're there because I'll be bigger, more pregnant and more moody. I will be very unhappy if AK is getting into everything and I have to constantly tell her no no no no no! AAHHHH! Not that hubby doesn't help me enough here at home because he does, it's just that it's VERY easy when we're at his family's home for him to get distracted and forget he has a toddler he needs to help out with. I'm guilty of the same when I'm with my family. So yeah, we'll definitely need to discuss that. I want this to be super fun and exciting. I've just never traveled THAT far away from home before for that length of time with my little one before. Anyone have any suggestions?


One more thing, This will be my 285th post and guess what I'm giving away on the 300th??? Any guesses??? I'm sure you've got it-a BOW! So, be sure to stay tuned for more details and don't forget to tell your friendzzz ;-).

wordless wednesday

What you can't see is all the newspaper scattered on the floor.

momma's little flower child

Okay, I really don't feel like taking a pic today. I haven' t been feeling good since yesterday afternoon so I think I should be exempt :-). And because I don't have it in me right now to take a picture I'll just give you one from Saturday night. Excuse the unflattery of it all. The jacket being baggy in the back totally doesn't help.

25 weeks and 6 days

Don't you love how I have a light stuck to my tummy. I thought it was HILARIOUS. Hey, we couldn't see in some areas and that seemed to work out nicely.

Anyways, we left for Waco Saturday morning around 11 after I was up ALLLL night with my little one. I think it was just a terribly upset stomach from eating WAAAAAY too much corn for dinner the night before. It was pitiful. She would wake up every 30 minutes-hour and cry and cry. Eventually I got her to chew a children's pepto tablet and she got 3 straight hours of sleep. That was a bit of a relief.

Once we got to Waco I realized that my little sweetie was dealing with more than just tummy issues. She started running a low fever, sneezing and had an awful runny nose. Something you should know about me, I hate runny noses. I can't stand snot and so I carried a box of kleenex around with us everywhere just to be sure my kid wasn't one of those with snot smeared all over her face. Yuck.

I finally got her to take a nap from 4:30-6:30 and as soon as she woke up I got her dressed for the trick-or-treating festivities. I think this might be the last year we actually do t-o-t'ing due to her increased awareness of freaky things. Even though we MIGHT not do it again after this year we had so much fun with our family. My nieces and nephew and cousin and aunt and mom and brother and sister-in-law. Yeah, we all went together. It was a blast.

Every year we always park at this bank located right near a little "circle" neighborhood and walk the whole thing. The police department block of the entrances into the neighborhood so you have to park and walk it if you want to go. I love this area because it's safe and there aren't crazy people driving around. Plus, I don't feel it's exactly safe to be jumping in and out of a car over and over again to run to houses and back and blah blah blah.

I was super nervous that Anna-Kate wouldn't feel up to joining all the madness but she went right in and had as much fun as she could. You know, apart from me wiping her nose raw and all. I had her very bundled up, as you'll see in a bit, and I don't feel like she was ever cold for a second. That made me feel much better about having her out while being a little "under the weather". My mom did most of the carrying and walking her to doors and I just hung out at the stroller and took pictures. Eventually my mom got tired of holding her so I took over for a bit.

By the end of the night I just tossed her in the stoller and walked up to the doors myself and said, "trick-or-treat. I promise I'm not trying to rob you of your candy. My little one is in her stroller." Then they'd say, "ooooh, little one. Hmmm" and give me a SUCKER. I totally ruined the good candy for myself. Oh well. She's enjoyed herself a few suckers since Saturday. Once we were nearing the end of the circle I was in so much pain I could barely take another step. My lower back was hurting SO bad. I was tempted to sit in AK's stroller with her on my lap and have my oldest niece push us. HAHA! Now that would've made a good picture.

All ended well and we were ready for bed. It didn't take her but about 10 minutes to fall asleep once I got her settled in bed with me. I, of course, was up most of the night making sure she could breathe and didn't have snot all over her face. This momma just can't handle snot. Thank God she's only had about 3 runny noses her whole life.

We headed home yesterday afternoon and I could feel a scratchy in my throat. By the time we got to our house I wasn't feeling that well at all. Today my head, throat, nose and eyes all hurt. I'm not running a fever but I just feel terrible. I hope this passes soon. AK hasn't shown signs of a runny nose since we arrived home and hasn't been sneezing. It was only like a 24 hour thing which I find odd but I'm happy she's feeling better.

Now, for the fun part, PICTURES!


Okay, so I know the flower costume might have been a little over the top but I couldn't pass it up. I only paid $13 for everything and it seemed so nice and warm! And nice and warm she was!

Now that she's all better and I feel like crud I guess it's going to be a movie kind of day. I hope I feel better soon!

26 weeks

26 weeks prego and feeling like 35. I walked waaay too much lastnight trick-or-treating with very cute little flower. I woke up with a very sore lower back and lower abdomen. I'm feeling better tonight but still feel old. I hate that feeling.

Again, there's not much else going on this week. I haven't had a chance to take a prego pic because I've been out of town but I'll do that tonight or tomorrow morning and get that up soon. Until then, I'll leave you with this video I took a day or two ago. If you watch closely where I press down with my hand she moves a few times. So fun.