27 (and a half) weeks- The Downhill of an Uphill Battle

I am almost there.  I'm so there, I can't wait any longer. I am almost to the mark in my pregnancy where I can do whatever I want, act however I want, say whatever I feel like saying, waddle till I can't waddle anymore, cry, mope, be emotional, and I finally get to redeem myself of these actions with the phrase:

 "I'm 7 ( or 8 or 9) months pregnant! and it's July (or August or September)!

 I look forward to that time.

Honestly, I still feel pretty good.  I have the usual aches/grumpiness and towards the end of the day I am dead tired, but it's still the easiest pregnancy by far.  I joined a Baby Boot Camp (intense) exercise group back in April with my neighbor (who is also due in September with a boy).  Joining the group has helped me tremendously with weight gain and overall self-image.  I still run (surprise, surprise) in fact, I love running past the non-pregnant ladies at workout class or when the super fit mommy has to one up me, it's such a validation of everything that I've worked so hard to achieve. 

Lil' Bean is kicking away in my belly.  He does somersaults and has the hiccups.  His favorite spot (no surprise here) is sitting very close to the front of my belly.  I won't get anymore pics of him unless we splurge for a 3D ultrasound, but rest assured he's handsome like his daddy. Pip loves coming up to my belly and talking to Lil' Bean.  The other day, she got to feel him kick and was absolutely delighted.  B, on the other hand, is completely disinterested in the baby.  I'm not sure she realizes there's a baby in there.  She's my girl and I worry about how she'll handle Lil' Bean once  he gets here.  Speaking of Lil' Bean, I have not fully committed to his name.  Both Bobby and Pip call him by his "supposed" name.  I have not been able to do that. I don't know why it's so hard for me to call him by his "supposed" name.  Oh well, I like his name.  I can't bring myself to call him that...yet.

I've been working on Lil' Bean's quilt (I can't wait to post pics of the finished product) , carseat cover, and I plan on embellishing a few diaper rags while I'm at it.  We also bought a new nursery set.  This was a hard purchase for us.  Our current set is still good, but B still uses it as she isn't ready for a big girl bed.  Since Lil' Bean is our "last" baby, it made sense to go ahead and purchase a convertible crib and furniture that can grow with him as he gets older.  We got a great deal on some quality pieces so I don't feel too bad about buying nursery furniture for the last baby.  

I feel good and I can't wait to bring Lil' Bean into our family!

Outside and Inside

It's been awhile since I've updated our blog.  I have a good excuse.  I went out of town- twice (post on that later).  I'm growing a baby and taking care of 2 kids.  Oh, and we've been home improvement fools. 

 

The term "move-in ready" is a big ol' fat lie.  Nothing is "move-in" ready, even a brand new house.  This past May we celebrated our 1 year anniversary of living in our new home.  Since then, we've completely re-landscaped the front yard and finally did something with the front room. 

 

So here's what we've done so far to the OUTSIDE:

 

YARD 2012

 

YARD 2013

 When we moved in, we were left with the standard builder picks of the crappiest plants you could find just plopped down in the generic formation.  In the back growing bed, we took out the boxwoods and some other shrubs and the front bed we removed the 3 live oaks, 2 trees I can't remember the name of, and a random assortment of shrubs.  We also found lots of construction material:  bricks, slabs of wood, concrete, wires, trash, and lots of sand.  Bob worked really, really hard and we still have a few more plants to purchase, but the yard is pretty much done.  Bobby planted a magnolia tree, Japanese maple (I've always wanted one of those), day lilies galore, a crepe myrtle, azaleas, and roses.  It's so beautiful.  Everyday when I pull in, I smile because I know it's "our" yard.

And now for the INSIDE:

 

When you first walked into our home, you were greeted by what I lovingly refer to as: the dog's hideout or what it really was: the entryway/formal dining room.  It was basically an empty room with our old Provo basement carpet (to help catch dog hair), the piano, and the dog.  We knew we didn't want it to be the dog's room (ya think?) or the formal dining room. So instead, we made it our formal living room.  I slowly started purchasing furniture for the room and found a few accessories that I had packed away that matched my vision: a Pottery barn-esque room on a shoe string budget.  Bobby wanted to create the look of wainscoting along the bottom and a dark gray on the walls.  We bought 6 cans of paint: 2 shades of gray + an extra gallon of the decided shade, 2 shades of white, and a sample gray that turned out more taupe-y gray- what a pain! 

Imagine more accessories, a killer art piece created by yours truly above the piano, and these drapes in white. I love these drapes, but they won't be here until August (bummer).

 



 The entry way is almost 100%.  It's missing something that I can't quite put my finger on.

 This wall will have a couch (pictured below or some variation of that style) along with a gallery of artwork created by P and B.  We're also going to change out the lighting in the entry and living room for something more industrial/casual (pictured below or some variation of that style)

 

I love the front room now, where before I dreaded going in there.  One negative, is that Boo still hides out in there, but at least the room doesn't look like a storage room anymore.

We still have a few more projects up our sleeves:  nursery for Lil' Bean, B's "big" girl room, and the kitchen, but funds and lack of time have caused us to prioritize what needs to be done and what we want to have done.  Story of our life.

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.