Friday, January 31, 2014

20 Weeks!

We're half way there! I'm 20 weeks today!
Pregnancy Highlights:
How Far Along: 20 Weeks
Size of babies: 10 inches long (Measured by full body now, not just head to rump)
Total Weight Gain/Loss: Gained 13 lbs (gained 18 lbs this time last pregnancy).
Maternity Clothes: Yes, and I'm even growing out of my smaller maternity clothes and pants. Gender: It's going to be a surprise (but I'm starting to really want to find out!)
Movement: Yes, but still just small movements. David has only felt a few kicks so far.
Sleep: Falling asleep good but waking a few times to use the restroom and it's getting a little harder to change positions comfortably.
What I miss: Taking naps whenever I want like I did with the first pregnancy. I can't just come home and fall asleep on the couch like I did before because I have 2 toddlers to feed and take care of! Cravings: Not really any cravings except for cold things, like cold drinks and cold salads.
Symptoms: I don't think I've had anything lately, except just tired and achy legs and back at night.
Best Moment this week: Just feeling the baby kick and enjoying my time with my babies I already have.
 
Time to compare pregnancies.
OK, these pictures do depress me a little bit. I love the pictures of the old me, but not the new me! My hair was so pretty and I was tan and I don't look as tired as I do in the picture on the right! I've aged!!!!

Monday, January 27, 2014

Our Weekend

Connor and Chloe haven't had much one on one time with us lately because of the holidays and then getting ready for their birthday party. And I can tell when they have had too much time together and they need a break.
 So at the end of the week, I decided it was time for David and I to take one child and do separate things.
Since Chloe has dance on Saturday mornings (and David isn't too excited to go to Mommy and Me dance class), I took Chloe and he took Connor.
 
We went to dance, did some quick shopping to kill some time and then went to watch Frozen again. Chloe and I both loved this movie the first time we saw it so I knew she would love it again. I told her that morning that we were going to go to the movies and she said "See Frozen".
We ate popcorn (for the first time) and candy and she never took her eyes off of the movie. She was very concerned about princess Anna though and she would say things like "Princess Anna ok?" during the part where she becomes frozen.
 
David took Connor with him to visit his grandparents. He said he played and acted silly the whole time and showed everyone how he can do flips. He is such a silly boy. I texted him to get a picture of them together but Connor was already asleep in the car.
 
After both kids got home and took a nap, we all went outside to play since the weather was SO nice!
I guess Connor has claimed this bench because he gets really upset if Chloe sits there and I think she does it on purpose.
I think the time apart was good for them because when they did get to play together afterwards, they were buddies (for the most part). They followed each other around, laughed at each other, and I think I heard Connor say "Where Chloe at?" at least 30 times over the weekend.
Connor even helped Chloe up the slide...
 
On Sunday, we did more playing inside in the morning and then after our nap we headed back outside. The weather was perfect!
 
It was a great weekend and we had so much fun playing with the kids. They have changed so much even in the past week. They seem so much older since their birthday and they say and do so many funny things. And them getting along and playing together like best buds was the best part.

2 year check up

Connor and Chloe had their 2 year check up on Friday.


Connor:
29 lbs
36 inches tall
 
Chloe:
24 lbs
33 inches tall
 
They have really been in to their Doc McStuffins play set recently and we check each others ears and eyes, give shots and listen to every one's heart all the time. When I picked them up from school and told them we were going to the doctor, Chloe said "and get shots!".
 So they really liked it when the nurse was checking them out for real, like she was the real Doc McStuffins. They weren't as excited for their shots though. 
 
We mainly talked to the doctor about Connor's breathing and how the kids are eating. I'm very concerned with how picky they are and that they aren't getting everything they need to grow and be healthy. He reassured me that everyone has this same fear and that most kids are picky. He said they are healthy and growing and I'm doing all I can so everything is ok and normal. That made me feel so much better!

Friday, January 24, 2014

The New Baby

I'm 19 weeks today!
I figured it's time to talk about this baby and how special it really is to us. I know I keep saying this, but I honestly still can't wrap my head around it. It's crazy how this all has happened and I just can't believe it. How did this happen? Why did it happen like this? So many questions that I will never have answers to.
 
And I know I don't need the answers, it's just something I think about a lot. I also wonder why this happened to me and not others that are in the same situation. That really bothers me and I wish I could fix it or not feel as guilty as I do about it. I know I shouldn't feel guilty, it's out of my control just like our whole story has been out of my control. It's just hard to know the pain that others are going through because we have been there too.
I am also trying to embrace this pregnancy. Of course, I'm still complaining how I don't feel good and how I'm so tired all the time. But I think that's just part of it. I'm also chasing 2 toddlers around and not getting to just lay down when I want to. But I'm not taking all of this for granted. I know for sure this will be my last time so I take the time to feel every kick and jab and I let myself get excited. David finally got to feel a kick for the first time last night too!
 
One thing I hate about having a new baby is picking a name! It's so stressful. I feel like with the twins, I had a name I loved for Chloe and Connor's was a little harder to figure out. We couldn't decide if we wanted something that went together for them or if it even mattered.
I think we liked Connor just on it's own and it just happened to go with Chloe. I actually liked Chloe better with a "K" but since we picked Connor I decided to have it with a "C".
So we're having kind of the same issues with this baby. We have to pick a boy and a girl name again since we aren't finding out what it is (this is starting to get hard for me!), and I feel like we have a girl name that sticks out to us more than others and it just happens to start with a "C". I don't feel like we are doing that on purpose, to make them all have "C" names, but it does all flow together and we like them all.
 And again, we are having problems with picking a boy name. I think boy names are so much harder because there are not as many original choices out there. Girl names can be cute and sweet and there are a ton of them, but boy names have to be cute for a little boy and then also strong for them to grow into.
 I have a boy name that sticks out to me and yes, it starts with a "C", but I want David to be completely on board with it too before we decide for sure. He does like it and it's for sure in our top 3 but he just can't pick a favorite right now. It's so stressful! It's like this baby is a complete mystery and it's stressful! No gender and no name! Ugh!
 
People ask me if Connor and Chloe know what's going on. We do talk about the new baby and all they know is that Mommy has a baby in her belly and they usually say the baby is sleeping. And sometimes they stick out their bellies and say they have a baby in there too. But I don't think they have any idea that we will have an actual baby in a few months. How in the world could they possibly understand that right now?
We bought a book about having a new baby and I've read it to them once. They just thought it was a book about a baby, and a mommy and a daddy and a little boy.
I know they won't get it until it actually happens, so we will just keep talking about it as much as we can but also focus on giving them as much attention as we can before the baby comes.
  They are pretty used to having to share attention anyways, since neither one of them have ever been an only child. They have always had to share Mommy and Daddy and their toys (even though they hate sharing toys!). They don't seem to get jealous if I'm holding one of them and not the other. They don't fight over us, except when they are getting out of the bath tub, they both want Mommy to get them out.
 
Our plan for the bedrooms is to keep the baby in the original nursery we made for the twins downstairs. Chloe has already been moved to her own room next to the nursery and Connor is currently still in the nursery. They are both still in cribs and I'm really not ready to give that up, but I also don't want to buy a third crib.
So the plan is to move Connor to the upstairs bedroom and put him in a twin bed and keep the crib in the nursery. I picked Connor because I feel he is less likely to get out of bed. Chloe wakes up early and then plays in her crib for a while before we all get up and sometimes she even falls back asleep. I just know that if she was moved out of a crib, she would wake everyone up every Saturday at 6:00 am! Connor sleeps in later and even when he does wake up, he just lays there and plays with his blanket. So we're moving him upstairs and making him an airplane room.
 I figured we would make this move around April sometime. That way it won't happen at the same time the new baby takes over his current room. I want him to feel like he is getting a new big boy room and not like he is being kicked out of his room.
 
So that's all that's going on with the new baby.  I feel like we have the main things we need for it, so I'm not stocking up on baby things like I did the last time.  We're just taking it day by day and just waiting for it to get here which is really weird to not prepare for a baby! But I really don't know what I need to be doing.  I do have a list of things I know I need to get, but nothing major.  And I do have a crate of newborn clothes to go through and wash but I really don't know what else I should be doing!  This is so different from last time!

Monday, January 20, 2014

2 Years Old!

Connor and Chloe turned 2 years old yesterday!
We had their birthday party on Saturday (I don't have any pictures to share yet), but yesterday we went to the donut shop for breakfast, came home and watched a movie, took a nap, played outside, went to the park, went to McDonald's, ate left over cake, took a bath, watched our favorite show Little Einsteins and finally got into bed.
 
Connor:
*Super Silly boy. He turns into a clown in front of people.
*Loves roaring like a lion and randomly yelling "OU!" (which he did at the park yesterday).
*He is always bossing taking care of his sister.
*He loves trucks and tractors and airplanes.
*He loves watching Mickey Mouse, Octonauts, Little Einsteins, Toy Story, and his new favorite The Lion King. He tells me "Simba a lion...ROAR!"
*It's almost been a month since Christmas and he still tells me that Boomer, our elf, is with Santa Claus.
*He loves helping me unload and load the dishwasher.
*He loves to play with Brutus.
*He tells everyone he is "Momma's Baby".
*If you ask him for a hug he gives one and then says "kiss" and gives kisses.
*He says everyone is "silly" right now and that everything is "cool".
 
 
Chloe:
*Sweet, silly, shy, little girly girl.
*She loves baby dolls, her Barbie, princess stuff, and puzzles.
*She loves watching Mickey Mouse, Little Einsteins, Nemo, Cinderella, and Doc McStuffins.
*She is very independent and insists on doing everything herself like taking off her clothes for bath and buckling her car seat. She always says "Chloe do it!" and then she will say "I did it!" with a big smile on her face.
*Even though she is independent, she will follow her bubba around and do everything he does.
*She can count to 10 and does it all the time.
*Most of the time, she will give me a silly smile if I ask to take her picture.
*Every time she gets hurt, even if it's just a little boo boo, she says "Momma kiss it" with her bottom lip sticking out and when I do, she immediately feels better. I secretly hope this never goes away.
 
 
 
 
I didn't take any pictures at the birthday party. I wanted to enjoy it. So I had someone else take them and I just haven't gotten them yet.
  But here is one I took with my iphone at the end of the party of the kids that were still there and then one of just Connor and Chloe after everyone had left.

Friday, January 17, 2014

18 Weeks!

I am 18 weeks pregnant today!
Pregnancy Highlights:
How Far Along: 18 Weeks
Size of baby: about 5.5 inches long according to my BabyCenter app.
Total Weight Gain/Loss: Gained 8 lbs
Maternity Clothes: Yes!
Gender: As of right now, we are not going to find out!
Movement: Yep! I feel movement all the time now. But it's still too light for David to feel.
Sleep: Sleeping good, I'm so tired at night that I fall asleep immediately.
What I miss: Nothing that I can think of right now.
Cravings: Olive Garden Symptoms: Just tired.
Best Moment this week: We are really trying to come up with names! And buying a new monitor that I can see up to 4 rooms with!
Time to compare pregnancies!

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Throw Back Thursday and some Randoms

I can't believe these little babies are turning 2 this weekend!
 
Our first family photo:
 
The first time I saw one of my babies (Connor):
 
Daddy feeding Chloe. She was SO tiny.
 
The day we took Connor home. Chloe had to stay a little while longer.
 
 
Last night, when we were putting the kids to bed, David asked Chloe randomly if she wanted to sleep with Bubba and she said "Yah!" So we both just looked at each other like "should we really let them sleep together or is this a bad idea?". Well, she insisted on it so we let them and I fully expected to hear jabber and giggles as soon as we shut the door. But there was nothing. They both laid there awake in silence for about 20 minutes before Chloe fell asleep and Connor was right after her.
But around 10:30 I heard "No Chloe, No Chloe!" and when I looked at the monitor, she was trying to give him a binky and he was asleep. So David went and got her and put her in her bed and she feel right to sleep.
 
Last night when we were getting ready to take a bath, Chloe really wanted to sit on the potty. So I put Connor in the tub and I undressed Chloe and she went and sat on her little potty. And she sat, and sat, and sat. She was determined to pee pee. I even asked her if she wanted to sit on the big potty and she said yes, so she sat on the big potty, and sat and sat but nothing ever happened. So I put her down and she went back to the little potty. She would get up every once in a while and start taking the potty apart and I would say "Ok Chloe, let's get in the bath" and she would say "No! I potty!". So we waited. I bathed Connor and he was ready to get out. The water was getting cold so I finally just made her get in the bath while she cried the whole time. Still never went pee pee. When I got her out and put a diaper on her, she went pee pee.
 
  So this morning, her diaper was pretty much dry so I asked her if she wanted to go sit on the potty and she said "yah!" and jumped up and ran to the potty and as soon as she sat down, she pee pee'd! She was so proud of herself. I gave her some M&M's for her accomplishment. And when Connor got up I told her to tell him that she went to the potty like a big girl and she said "Got candy!"

Monday, January 13, 2014

Just because

I've been really bad about taking pictures of the kids lately. They were being super silly in the bath tub last night so I ran and grabbed my camera.
Chloe has started doing her extra cheesy smile for pictures again. I love it!
Chloe hugging on Bubba.
They love pouring water from one cup to another. Usually one will hold one cup and the other will pour water into it and the one holding the cup will say "More water!", like they are hard at work on something important.