Nana's Visit (again)

My mom came down for another visit this year and I’m so excited she did! We’ve had so much fun on her visits and I end up looking so forward to them when they come up again (and since we keep adding babies her visits aren’t likely to end anytime soon haha).

She flew in on the 21^st and got to spend time with my grandma. I took Gwen to her 1-year checkup and then met up with my mom and grandma at the South Town Mall (where they had a mini shopping trip) to get her, her groceries, and her luggage. We headed home and had dinner and just let her settle in (travel days are all about just getting settled).

On Friday, the 22^nd, we left the girls with Larry in the morning so we could meet up with Grandma at Gardner Village (not necessarily kid friendly), walk the shops, and have lunch. We found many, MANY cute things at all the shops. Mom and Grandma found quite a few gifts for the girls (I’m so going to have to go back to get these cute notepads I found and some cute books I’d love to add to the girls’ collection). Funny thing about lunch, I was telling Larry that morning how lately in my pregnancy I’ve been craving tomatoes all day long and I eat them as much as I can (in salads and stuff), but a BLT sounded really good so I was hoping we’d have lunch at a place that I could get a BLT. We went to Archibald’s (since it’s RIGHT there) and they had a half BLT and soup combo and one of their soups was a bacon potato soup so I ordered that and it more than hit the spot, it was BEYOND yummy! I was so happy (and content). After that we went home and played with the girls. We put a movie on after nap time and mom cuddled up with the girls and we just relaxed. It was a good night.

On Saturday, the 23^rd, we celebrated Gwen’s Birthday at Kangaroo Zoo. See this post about those details. Mom had a lot of fun with it haha.

Sunday, the 24^th, we celebrated our Thanksgiving with my family and I couldn’t have loved that more! We had all the best fixins, we had everyone there, and hardly any drama was involved haha. It was so nice to have another big family dinner (I don’t think my side has done that in many years, so it was very nostalgic). All the food was yummy, although Cara hardly ate any bites, but we all enjoyed it. I think my favorite part of these get togethers is how Olivia and Cara play together so well (of course Gwen tries to tag along, but she goes so slowly and hardly walks so she gets left behind a little bit haha).

Today was time to say goodbye to Nana. She always hates leaving, but it’s inevitable (I think I’m lucky that I get to come back to my girls after while she’s at the airport). The air was really thick and we got a really big snow storm so we were all joking that maybe her

flight would get cancelled, but that never happened. However, we did meet up with Grandma again for lunch, at Kneaders, and then walked around Kohl’s (where I found a ton of things I’d love to get, but also good Christmas gift ideas for others). Then it was time to head to the airport. Luckily we didn’t see so many turned over trucks this time and it was actually a pretty clear drive. 

We’re always sad at the end of Nana’s trips, but, as stated, we always have so much fun that they are more than worth it. I’m so excited for her next visit (probably after baby #3 is here) and having her help me juggle 3 kids haha.

Gwen's Party

We had so much fun at Gwen's party tonight - I don't know that it could've gone better!

On Friday Larry and I made cupcakes so that they’d be cooled off by this morning to be frosted. I was so excited to add the ladybug decorations to them. I may not be a Pinterest type mom or crafty, but I can do my best to stick to a theme for a first birthday haha.

This morning we got up, I went to grab the cake, we frosted cupcakes and added the extras to them and just let the girls have a normal morning. I will say Larry was MUCH better at frosting the cupcakes than I was, but they looked fine enough (some eyes made them look like they had a concussion, but whatever, they were edible haha).

We planned the party for a dinner time, so we let the girls nap while we made the finishing touches (putting gift bags together, collecting everything we’d need for the party together, etc.). After nap time we got the girls all dressed, including putting Gwen in her cute 1^st birthday ladybug outfit with matching headband and tutu. We then headed out to Kangaroo Zoo and met up with everyone. We started with eating pizza and letting Gwen dig into her cake and everyone else got a cupcake. We opened presents, got a visit from their Kangaroo character, and then let the kids go crazy with their arcade cards and sliding and jumping around. Luckily one of Gwen’s outfits was a gift so after she got cake on her 1^st birthday outfit we were able to change her (since I didn’t think ahead and didn’t bring anything with us – d’oh!). 

We only had the party room for so long so we cleaned up as much as we could and took the gifts and left over pizza to the car (well by we, I mean Larry did that) and the rest of us sat outside the room visiting. We were thinking about getting ready to leave around 6 when the Wilson’s showed up (apparently Facebook changed the 4:00 time to their time zone, which makes it 6 – whoops!) so we ended up staying for about another hour visiting with them and opening their gifts. I’m so glad they actually flew out to be a part of her day – it really means a lot to have family at these big days.

All the kids had so much fun bouncing and sliding and Nana (my mom) even went on a few slides with Cara, which she was so excited about! Around 7 you could tell Gwen had had enough, she was basically falling asleep in my mom’s arms, so we called it a night and headed up. 

Once we got home, we let the girls play with all the many good toys and goodies that Gwen got for a bit and then it was bedtime. Overall it was a great party and a great way to celebrate her turning 1 and I don’t think I could’ve asked for a better time or for it to go better.

Gwen is TWELVE Months

I am TWELVE months old!

I like: Food, being tickled, cuddles, my lovey, almost everything really. I'm a very happy baby! 

I dislike: not being held, being hungry, and being tired.

I am now: Wearing 12 month clothes and size 4 diapers. At my appointment I was 21.53 lbs. and 29.9 inches long. I'm growing so well these days :)

A Typical Day looks like:
A bottle and maybe some cereal to snack on for breakfast around 8 AM
Play around until lunch time at 11:30 (although she's been wanting to nap on daddy's lap around 10)
11:30 lunch - usually a bottle and some of Cara's lunch to try.
12:30 - 2:30 is nap time
2:30 - 3:30 movie time while daddy finishes work up (on weekdays); 3:00 she gets another small bottle to hold her over until dinner time
3:30 - 4:30 workout with daddy (on weekdays)
On weekends we usually go play somewhere or do something fun after nap time. When we get back from that, then they can watch a movie.
4:30 - 5:30 hang with daddy until mommy gets home
5:30 dinner time - a bottle and then some of our food.
5:30 - 7:45 hang around, play, whatever until bed time.
Sunday and Thursdays is bath night at 7:40
Bed time at 8

Pretty much the same as before.

This Month I: had fun with Halloween and going trick or treating, had fun with new Fall and some snow. Mom was feeling really sick from the new baby so we didn't do a whole lot.

Parent's Notes: Gwen has been such a great baby! I'm so glad she's made it

a whole year now. We're going to have so much fun at her party this weekend and celebrating all things Gwen (and ladybugs). She's been such a great eater, been so silly. She's also very snuggly and loves to cuddle so much. She doesn't fully walk just yet, but she's getting closer every day. I don't think I could be more excited about adding her to our family and watching her and Cara start to play together makes me so excited to see their future together. I'm also so excited to see how adding this new baby to the mix goes.

My mom is coming into town now so I'm excited to have her here for the party.

Update on last month's goals:

• Celebrate Halloween - big check off the list and had a lot of fun with it! Next year I'm REALLY hoping to do better (but that's been my slogan for the past 4 Halloweens haha)
• Get through being pregnant with a baby who likes to snuggle and be held all the time - I love that Gwen is so snuggly, but luckily my mom is here to snuggle and help us with her. YAY!
• Work on walking still - we work every single night on this with her and she's doing so good. Not a walker still, but she's getting so close.
• Maybe introduce her to having a blanket at night - we just barely started this with her. I'm still so nervous about it and check on her constantly, but she mostly just kicks it off and sleeps as normal.
• Figure out some good foods for her to try to replace her bottles - so far we've done good on this. The hardest part is balancing what she's missed with the bottles so she doesn't get hangry (because she does still get hangry). She loves everything we've given her and she seems to get excited to try something new.
• Wean her from the bottles by a year - check! She doesn't take bottles anymore, but we do give her cups with almond milk to top her off so it's only kind of passed off, but she does so good still.

2 Months (Weeks 5 - 8)




Compare/Contrast: So far this pregnancy reminds me a lot of my one with Cara. I'm sick -a lot! It finally caught up to me on the 13th of October. It has been SUPER rough too! I'm worried I might have a mild form of that Hyperemesis (extreme sickness) thing. I decided not to get my progesterone tested this time since I only had the one issue, but then I looked up foods that help boost progesterone and I loaded up on those, just in case, for a few days. Then I got sick of the foods and just started eating what sounded good and I think the food must have been effective, because I've been having such a rough time!

My symptoms have been exhaustion, sickness, aversions of any Mexican-type food, lots of boogers, and some crankiness. I also haven't gotten as bloated yet so I was able to keep my pants buttoned up until a couple weeks ago, however having them buttoned or a stretchy waist band on my belly makes it feel worse so I don't wear pants too often if I can help it haha. I had my appointment on the 23rd and the HR was in the 150s (which is the lowest any of mine have been), and it was amazing they actually found it with how tiny the baby was (I was supposed to be 9 weeks, but I measured 7 weeks, which doesn't surprise me seeing as how that matched up to when my sickness started). I caved and asked for some meds to help with the sickness because I've had a really hard time keeping up with the girls and being able to get to work - I was desperate. The pills make me SUPER sleepy so I now sleep as often as I can (girls are napping? So am I! Girls went down for bed? I'm heading there as well!). That's all nice since in the beginning sleep was on and off. I would sleep great, but I'd also tend to wake up every couple of hours and then be up for at least an hour - which, being sick during those spans made it really difficult.

As far as smells, I can actually handle the more flowery smells, but anything else makes me sick!  Also my food preferences are kind of similar, but also different. I love easy mac and very junky food like before, but I tend to go even more junky than normal (ramen noodles have been the best for me) and my only aversion has been the Mexican-type foods I mentioned, and I always feel like I want french fries. Also, I'm more prone to eating chips or pretzels than candy. So I feel like it's less sweets driven and more junky/not sweet haha.

And, of course, the girls tend to really get my stomach going! They are just so energetic and loud and my pregnancy motion sickness gets hit HARD with both of them! They both also stink constantly to me (not really, but their smells, even after a bath, set me off). I love them, but I can't ever have them close to me and that has brought some tears to my eyes. We rely on movies a lot lately - which also makes me sad.

Best Moments This Month: Definitely finding out about the pregnancy and going to the dr's to get confirmation and hearing the heartbeat. Also, I got to go to Thriller with Stacey before the sickness kicked in, so that was REALLY nice! Not going to lie, that's been all that's been good (aside from sympathy help from Larry!).

What I'm Looking Forward To: Not feeling sick, getting to my next appointment (on the 19th) to make sure things are still looking good (I'm telling family that day and then put up the announcement the next day so I can wear my maternity clothes again haha), getting energy back, and just all the rest of this pregnancy stuff that's to come. I'm also looking forward to feeling movement as so far the thought of getting a HUGE belly is kind of scary to me and I know the one thing that makes it worth it is feeling kicks and wiggles. Basically everything after the 1st trimester will hopefully be better. I'm not sure if this will be our last kid, but (just like with the other pregnancies) I'm sure feeling like it might be because being sick is so difficult. I'm also seriously considering getting sneak peek test on gender just so I have an idea what to expect at the ultrasound (I'm not depending solely on the blood test mail order one, but it'll at lest give me an idea), I'm also kind of looking forward to upgrading our cars - more on that later.