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.

Hotdog or Hamburger?

After much contemplation and peer/self pressure, Bobby and I decided to do a gender ultrasound (which you pay for) before our (free) 20week anatomy ultrasound (because 4 weeks is way too long to wait when you want to know if it's a he or a she). 

I've seen my fair share of ultrasounds and have gotten very, very good at knowing what's what.  So when the tech found the face, I knew "oh there's the face and he/she has his/her hands up by his/her face.  Awwww, so cute". 

The tech started moving her wand around to the legs and before she said it, my brain registered what I was seeing...

You don't have to squint to see it...(thank goodness or Bob would be sad)...

 

It's a BOY!

 

We are beyond excited, nervous, thrilled, elated, joyful, and still in shock.  This is a girl house.  I don't know a thing about boys...

 

We're a having a BOY!

 

Yahoo!!

Easter 2013

We've been gardening A LOT! 

I can't believe how grown up she looks.

Gorgeous Piper in her beautiful Easter dress from G-ma and G-pa.  Pip's favorite thing about Easter was wearing her new sparkly shoes.  She called them her glass slippers. 

I finally got a shot of B wearing her Easter dress from Oma and Opa.  When she sees the camera go up, she immediately scrunches up her face and says "cheese!" I love that scrunchy face.

 

A quick glimpse before she takes off...again

This is a typical shot of B.  Always running away, check out those curls.

We had a fun cook-out with our friends, dyed Easter eggs (Boo eventually took every egg and ate it), and then went on the easiest egg hunt in our flat, un-landscaped backyard.  Each year, the concept of holidays is made more clear, but P still doesn't "get" or care about hunting for eggs.  She's tickled pink with 1 egg.  Now B- she gets egg hunting and found quite a few.  It's funny how different they are.

Color Me Rad Houston (aka my last race before Lil'Bean gets here)

A few months back long before I was pregnant, I signed Ms. L and I up for a fun 5k "Color Me Rad".  I ran it back in September in Colorado and had so much fun I wanted to do it again.  Well, in between signing up and the race day, I found myself pregnant with Lil' Bean.  I already backed out of one race, but Bob and I both felt that this race was easy, fun, and noncompetitive so it wouldn't be too stressful to run it 4months pregnant. Plus, it would be a fun way to exit the world of competitive racing and training. 

We arrived just in time to use the restroom and line up for our wave.  We positioned ourselves fairly close to the front so we could get out of the gate quickly, but it was a madhouse.  We maintained a really good pace and got lots of color sprayed and thrown at us.  I think I ended up looking more rainbow-ish than I did at the first race.  We finished in about 27/28minutes which is pretty darn good for my pregnant body. 

While I'm sad that I won't be "training"  for anything, I'm still running 3 miles roughly 3 times a week.  Some weeks, I do only 2 days of running and the rest of the days I walk 3 miles.  But, I'm out there still moving my feet. 

all clean before the race

and after the race

Since I can't, shouldn't, and won't jump while pregnant I looked a bit silly dancing around throwing powder all over us

Crossing the finish line, together no less.  I think this is the first time Latsamy and I have a crossed together. Grateful that she stuck by me or I would've let my brain tell me to stop

Lil' Bean and Momma.  Wonder if he/she is going to be a runner?

Grateful to have my cheering team at every race!

This little fan, missed her momma

Goodbye, racing season 2013 I have a baby to grow.  See you in 2014...

 

"Finish Running"

Zoo-less Zoo Trip

Over Spring Break a few weeks ago, my friend and I decided to take a road trip to the zoo.  We packed lunches, loaded up the mini van, and drove in record time to downtown.  Everything was going smoothly until the zoo exit.  We waited in stopped traffic for over 30minutes before even seeing the entrance to the zoo.  Guess the entire city had the same idea we had, as everyone and their dog, grandmother, and kitchen sink were going to the zoo.  It was a zoo to get to the zoo.  After missing every opportunity to get into the lane where the parking garages were, we decided that the zoo might not be worth it- the line to get into the zoo was insane and we could only imagine what it looked like inside.  So we drove to one of my favorite parks that we used to come to when we lived in the city and ate lunch.  The kids played for about an hour.  We contemplated whether or not to return to the zoo and decided that we'd drive by it and see if things had calmed down.  NOPE, we were wrong.  We apologized to the kids and drove home for ice cream and playing the sprinklers.

Who needs to go to the zoo to see animals in cages?

It's crazy to think that the last time we played at this park, B was still a baby. 

Yes, she's screaming for me to take her off of the monkey bars.  But wait! Mom has to get a picture first.

Sprinkler fun!  Way better than the zoo anyday.

18-20 MONTHS (Jan-Mar 2013)

Wow, I missed quite a few months documenting Brynn's changes and milestones.  Everything kinda starts to blur together between 18months and 2 years old (2 years old now that is a milestone I am most certainly not ready to write about!).  Brynn is growing up faster than I believed was possible.  I often look at her and go "Where has my baby gone?" It's like I blinked and BAM! she grew up.

Brynnie is still our "perrma-bedhead", "curly-headed tornado", and "too much naughty for one little body" child.  We don't even try to comb her hair because it just wouldn't suit her, but it really isn't just about her hair.  The hair, yes, completely defines her.  If she had straight hair it wouldn't be Brynnie.  We love the wild, untamed hair...I mean personality. 

 

Brynn is quickly catching up to "big" sis Piper.  I packed up the 18month clothes and dug around in Piper's drawers pulling out all the 2T outfits.  At Brynn's most recent appointment she weighed about 24lbs, is 32in tall, and she wears a size 5-6 shoe.  Piper is 30lbs, 36 inches tall, and wears a size 7-8 shoe (and is a full 2 1/2 years older).  Before I know it, Piper won't have anything to wear because Brynn will be wearing it. 

Brynn LOVES spaghetti.  Brynn pretty much loves everything.  She has a great appetite.  One day, she ate an entire bunch of bananas.  She'd finish one and then 5 minutes later, "nanna, more, more".  She's a monkey apparently.  Oftentimes, I'll find her in my pantry pulling out snacks and eating them straight out of the container or in the case of a Hershey's chocolate, she'll eat it wrapper and all because unwrapping it would've taken too much time :).  She knows how to get her own cup of water from the fridge dispenser- most of the time the water spills on the floor, but she's trying and succeeds about 50% of the time.   

 

 

Brynn's vocabulary is continuing to grow.  Sometimes I worry that she's not talking enough or that her vocabulary is too limited.  I read that most kids her age should have a vocabulary of 10-50 words.  After counting up all her words (that I could remember), I think Brynn is doing just fine. Her current words are:

 "banana"

"Dumbo"

"Nemo"

"playdough"

"shoes"

"minivan"

"lion"

"ephant"- refers to elephant

"giraffe"

"neigh"

"roar"

"tiger"

"dog"

"woof"

"dolphin"

"moon"

"Piper"

"meow"

"Elmo"

"pyano"-refers to piano

"moo"

"Rella"- refers to Cinderella

"baby"

"up above..."-refers to her version of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star

"Ring, Rosie"- refers to Ring Around the Rosie (which is her new favorite game to play)

"Ava!"- refers to Piper's friend Ava

"apple"

"mine, mine"- refers to blanket

"Roo-Roo"-refers to Roo from Winnie the Pooh

"Boo Boo"

"here mommy"

"hello", "hi"

"bye,bye"

"cheese"

"belly"

"bottle"

"dog"

"ball"

"all done"

"ate or eight"

"nose"

"no"

"right"

"yeah"

"book"

"ouch","ow"

"oh"

"whoosh"- refers to sound when pouring tea

"good night", "night, night"

"off"

"eat"
"a-a-a-choo"- usually done to fake sneeze

Brynn loves to do whatever it is that sister is doing.  She loves playing with Piper (even if Piper sometimes yells or slams the door in her face).  When Piper is away at school, Brynn sneaks into Piper's room and plays with her toys.  I guess she finds Pip's room more interesting than her own.  At the park, Brynn is all over the place.  She goes up and down the slide, climbs the rockwall, tries to go across the monkey bars.  She is so adventurous.  The only thing she isn't fond of is swinging too fast.  She likes the swing, but if you start going too fast she signs, "all done, all done!"  Brynn is also a jokester.  She'll do just about anything for a laugh and she has a 100% success rate.  She also loves to play with Boo.  She and Boo have a special bond- they're kindred spirits. 

 

Brynn doesn't really let me "play teach" her. I usually just watch her and I feel bad because I never really taught her how to match up her shapes, do puzzles, stack blocks, or anything else you see all these super moms doing with their kids.  But one day, she surprised me and started doing all those things.  In fact, the only thing she "lets" me do is read to her.  She LOVES books. Sometimes, I'll find her sitting in the gameroom with a stack of books all around her. Now that I think about it, Pippy was the exact same way. So now, I'm convinced that the only thing moms need to do with their children is read to them (and talk (normally) nonstop to them) and everything else will fall into place.

 

 That's Brynn at 18, 19, and 20 months and the only thing I would change about her is her diaper...within reason because lately they've been making me gag.

Excuses, Excuses, Excuses

I have a very,very good excuse why I missed almost 2 months of blogging.  Here goes:

For starters our computers, yes both of them, are preparing to meet their demise. It pains me to spend an eternity waiting for them to boot up and then spend what seems like hours to load a page only to freeze while uploading pictures and then randomly shut off with the blue screen of death.

My second excuse is that nothing of much interest has been going on- I mean seriously it was January for 31 days and that's about it. I could muse about grocery trips, temper tantrums thrown by all, and the occasional " all I did today was stay in my pajamas and I may or may not have showered today" post,  but then there might be jealousy and that's not good.  February followed about the same, so really what is there to blog about? 

BUT

My third excuse is probably my best excuse and is the excuse that I think will pardon my lack of   blogposts:

I've been busy, super busy growing arms, legs, lungs, and a brain. Who has time to blog when you're growing a human?

McRae Baby #3 aka "Bean" will be here in September and we are thrilled, nervous, and excited!

Year End Wrap-Up

Hard to believe another year has come and gone.  Years go by like flashes now.  I remember as a kid always getting excited for a new year and all it's promises. We're on the eve of New Year's Eve.  2012 has only 1 more day left.  I'm trying to frantically get all the year's posts up before I turn this blog into a book.  I figured a befitting post would be some type of year-end wrap up.  I won't assign a number because then I'll get nervous to add more things.  Our life is simple.  So here goes:

TOP 2012 McRae MOMENTS

*The most obvious top moment for us was the purchase of our home

*Bobby got a big promotion at work in November

*Piper started preschool and learned how to write her name

*Celebrating 8 years of marriage with a trip to Augusta to see the Masters Practice rounds

*Brynn walked, talked, and turned 1

*We had our health and fair share of happiness this 2012



17 MONTHS

 

There's one phrase that perfectly sums up Brynnsters at 17 months:  "Too much naughty for one little body"  She is a curly-headed tornado. 

17 MONTHS:
*Brynn is talking more and more.  She's still not as talkative as her big sister, but her vocabulary increases by at least 2 words a week whether it's speaking or understanding.  Her words now:

"apple"

"mine, mine"- refers to blanket

"Roo-Roo"-refers to Roo from Winnie the Pooh

"Boo Boo"

"here mommy"

"hello", "hi"

"bye,bye"

"cheese"

"belly"

"bottle"

"dog"

"ball"

"all done"

"ate or eight"

"nose"

"no"

"right"

"yeah"

"book"

"ouch","ow"

"oh"

"whoosh"- refers to sound when pouring tea

"good night", "night, night"

"off"

"eat"
"a-a-a-choo"- usually done to fake sneeze

 

UNDERSTANDS:

"Let's brush our teeth"

"Stay close"

"No, no"

"Come here"

"Bring that to mommy, daddy"

"Where's your belly?"

"Give me a high five"

"Say hello, bye, goodnight"