5 Months Me and Lil' Bean

 

Me at 5 months

 

 

Lil' Bean at 5 months

 

 Maybe someone can confirm or refute this claim, but I'm going to conclude that being pregnant with a boy is SOOOOOOO much easier than being pregnant with a girl.  My hair looks great- I can go 3 days in between washings and no one is the wiser! My skin is flawless, but dry so I slather on the moisturizer and it's smooth like butter with no pimples!  I feel pretty good too.  So good that sometimes I forget I'm pregnant and if it weren't for the belly sticking out a bit farther than normal I'd swear I wasn't pregnant.  Sure there's the aches and pains- hello round ligament pain, oh there you are sciatic nerve, and varicose veins how I've missed you BUT overall, this pregnancy has been very good.  I've steadily gained a pound or 2 between each visit (this is big for me as I generally gain about 5-6 pounds each month).  I crave salads and occasionally candy, not much fast food passes these lips or cake or cookies for that matter (lately I've been indulging in ice cream, but it's a passing faze as the ice cream helps soothe this cough I've been nursing for 3 weeks).  And, I'm still running and exercising.  I don't run near as much as I did (4 days down to 2 or 3), but I'm running 3 miles when I do run.  I joined a exercise group for moms to be and moms of little ones and I'm still out there squatting and lunging like my life depended on it.  So at this halfway point (22 weeks tomorrow), I feel good. 

 

Lil' Bean is doing great too!  He's growing normally and is right on track with his size matching his gestational age.  He's active and on the latest ultrasound I could see him trying to suck his thumb.  His kicks and jabs are becoming more noticeable to me, but Bob still hasn't felt anything.  Piper talks to my belly and tells Lil' Bean "hi!" and "I love you".  Brynn is still clingy and all momma's girl, but has opened up to the idea of "babies" in general.  Instead of hitting babies, she will say "hi baby". I think that's progress.

 

 

Several people have asked us if we have a name yet.  The answer is yes and no.  Before we even had kids, we had a boy name picked.  It appeared that this name was set in stone as our baby boy name, but Bobby threw in another name to the mix when we were pregnant with Brynn and I love it, too!  I can't decide.  With Piper and Brynn, I just knew as soon as I heard and said the name, I knew that was their name.  With Bean, I can't decide.  According to Bob and Piper, the decision has been made. But me...I need to see him first.  I need to see his face and see who he is. 

Let's Go Ride A Bike!

For Christmas, Piper asked Santa for a bike and Santa delivered a shiny bike (bur forgot the helmet).  Piper was so excited...until she sat on it and discovered that this bike was big and it was "scary".  She refused to touch it or even get on it.  Needless to say, Santa was pretty miffed when he heard this news.  Between Christmas and now, the bike sat in the garage unused and unridden.  Piper would look at it and say she needed to be 6 before she could ride it.  Brynn would climb on it and try to pedal, but the bike was neglected for months.  We thought about buying a smaller bike to see if that would help her get over her aversion to the "big" bike.

 

A few weeks ago, Piper started to get interested in her bike.  We bought her a helmet and took her to a nearby park where she could "learn" how to ride her "big" bike.  She loved it.  She had some trouble pedaling as the wheels are 16in and her foot kept slipping, but she did it.  She had a blast riding the "big" bike (with daddy's help and encouragement), but still felt a bit scared by its size.  We felt pretty good about her small success and told her that maybe the "big" bike was too big and that we would buy her a smaller bike until she felt more comfortable.

 

Well, a few days ago our neighbor asked if we wanted their smaller bike for Piper and a tricycle for Brynn.  Of course, we said yes.  Since riding the bigger bike, Piper got a new sense of confidence and wanted to ride the new, smaller bike all over the neighborhood.  She asks daily if she can go bike riding around the neighborhood.  Brynn likes the tricycle (in theory) but prefers to walk instead of ride. 

Learning how to push down

 

I love this picture of the 2 of them- a daddy/daughter moment.

"The Strawberry Thief"

See this face?  This innocent face is a thief.  A strawberry thief to be exact.

 

This spring, I planted 4 strawberry plants.  We finally got a few tiny strawberries, but before we could enjoy them- they were stolen! 

This is the strawberry thief looking for the tell tale red berry.  She learned quickly (after eating many green strawberries, stem and all) that the red berries were sweeter. 

"Hmmm, should I eat this berry?  yes or no?  I think yes!"

Going in for the steal and she finds one- stem and all.

 "I know you said not to eat them, but I can't resist!"

 

The Strawberry thief has eaten all our strawberries and now our little bushes aren't growing anymore.  I wonder if I have them too close together and if I should transplant them.  We only yielded about 5 teeny tiny strawberries...that I know about. 

Sea World Mini Vacay/Anniversary Trip

 

 

Earlier in April, Bobby and I celebrated our 9th anniversary.  We wanted to do a little road trip in our minivan and decided to go take the girls to Sea World in San Antonio.  We left late Friday night after rush hour and discovered that neither one of our children sleeps on long road trips.  Brynn closed her eyes for about 1 hour, but Piper is like her mommy and stayed awake the entire time.  The first night at the hotel was very interesting and late.  On Saturday we hung out at the resort, swam in the pools, and relaxed.  Then on Sunday we spent the day at Sea World before driving home.  The girls had a blast.  Brynn loved the Shamu show.  I took a video of her reaction to the whales jumping out of the water- too cute- all you could hear was "WHOA!", "OH BOY", "YEAH!"  She loved it.  Piper loved feeding the dolphins and watching them train.  We did that twice.  The day was getting hot and long so we decided to skip the dolphin show and head home.  We plan on going to Sea World regularly since it's only 3 hours away.