Annie One Can Cook

South Dakota 2017

2018-08-01T10:34:00.001-07:00

After years of saying we needed to meet Brandon's family in South Dakota, we finally did it!

When the boys and I went to North Dakota in June for Brandon's cousin's wedding, Aunt Paulette and I started talking more and more about making the trip happen (and how Brandon was even saving vacation time so we could go!), so after getting home, Paulette started looking at Black Hills cabins and found the PERFECT one!

Fast forward 3 months and we were on the road to Rapid City!

Mal and Evie walking around the roads near the cabin

Jackson wasn't excited at all about being in South Dakota!

First night at the cabin!

We ate like KINGS the entire trip -- each family/group took turns cooking breakfast and dinner, and on the first night the Petersons/Dekkers grilled steaks.

This was a tough day... after MONTHS of our little history buff (Jax) reading/talking/watching documentaries about Mount Rushmore, he ended up getting a 24 hour bug and was a mess the entire day :( He didn't feel like doing much of anything, cried a lot, and just wasn't himself.

Not even the bust of Gutzon Borglum could get him excited.

After about an hour, I took Jax to take a nap in the car. I got him bundled up really well and he fell asleep right away.

Gabe with his wonderful Great Great Aunt Paulette and Cousin Evie

Daddy and Gabe checking out Mount Rushmore while Jax and I stayed in the car.

Spongebob popsicles from Great Grandma Bonnie

After Mount Rushmore, we took a trip on the old 1880 Train...

...and poor sick Jackson literally cried and panicked the entire trip, especially when our window was open.

Gabe did great, too! *eye roll*

All-you-can-eat crab legs in Deadwood... yum!

Feeling MUCH better in Deadwood (the second day of the trip)!

Walking around the casino while the dads gambled

Photo by Jax

Everyone took it easy on Day 3, so we made the trip back to Mount Rushmore... Jackson enjoyed it SO much more when he wasn't sick!

Last night :(

Cousins Paulette and Sandy

Birthday boys and their birthday kuchen

Craft night!

Gabriel's 10 & 11 Month Updates

2018-08-01T10:05:00.002-07:00

To my dear second child:

You turn ONE this Saturday and I often wonder how our family ever got by without you... you bring SO much joy to everyone you encounter, and are the smartest, cutest, and funniest little 11-month-old I have ever known. All of this being said, you are also extremely mischievous and curious, and keep me very busy... so busy, in fact, that I am just now getting your 10 and 11 month updates written and am combining the two since you are sound asleep and I don't get opportunities like this to blog very often.

These last two months have been both lots of fun and utterly exhausting, so let's get to it:

UPDATE (8/1/18): I started this post literally 11 months ago and am finally finishing it... Here's the getting most of the last year updated/posted while we are having a sick day at home and the boys watch The Incredibles!

Grammy came down for a night and we went backpack shopping for Jackson AND went to see Despicable Me 3 in theaters (which I believe is your 4th or 5th movie to see at a theater)!

A fun morning at the park

At Joshua's birthday party with your best friend/Joshua's little sister, Natalie.

This month we had your appointment with an allergy specialist at Children's Hospital... since your hives and eczema breakouts are so sporadic, the doctor didn't think it was anything food related and ended up not running any tests. In hindsight (a year later), I wish she had, as I still think your eczema stems from something food related.

Berry picking with the Behnkes!

Daddy's lasik moral support

Best friends at the library (Bennett Martin is only 10 days older than you!)

Jackson's first day of PK3

The boys' first visit to the Capitol! After walking around the Capitol/downtown, we surprised Aunt Nancy at work and took her out to Noodles for lunch.

Gabe's first trip to the Denver Zoo!

A fun Denver day! We visited the Denver Museum of Dolls and Miniatures and took a picnic to Denver City Park. We kept throwing Goldfish to a curious squirrel, which both you and Jackson got the biggest kick out of!

South Dakota trip! I am going to dedicate an entire post to this :)

Gabriel's 9 Month Update

2017-08-04T18:57:00.000-07:00

I literally just finished typing up Gabe's 8 month update, but I am sitting at a Starbucks childless for a couple of hours and figured now is the PERFECT time to finally get caught up on our cutie's monthly posts! Here is a little peek into Gabriel's month:

This boy moves CONSTANTLY, so ignore the blurry hands!

Weight: 18 lbs. 14 oz. (33%)

Length: 29 1/2 inches (88%)

Head Circumference: 19 inches (99%)

Nicknames: Gabey, Gabe, Blue Eyes, Red, Gabes, Chunks, Chunkalicious

Wearing: 12 month

Sleep: Still sleeps with us, BUT now that Jackson is back in his bed, we are seriously discussing getting Gabe crib trained... we know it isn't going to be pretty (especially with as vocal as he is about EVERYTHING), but according to the articles I've read, the worst of it should last 3 days... we will see.

Gabe likes: Jackson, Bella, standing on his OWN, yelling/being heard, crawling around on his feet and hands, getting into things he knows he shouldn't get into, climbing, cuddling

Gabe dislikes: When mommy tries to lay him down for our monthly photo session, having to stay still for too long, long car rides, his car seat, when Bella hisses at him, being pulled away from something

Mom & Dad's Favorite Things: His HUGE personality, his red hair and blue eyes, how smart and funny he is

~This picture still makes me choke up... As I mentioned in last month's update, Gabe's doctor recommended we get an x-ray of his hips since they seem so tight (he figured he was fine but wanted to rule out bigger issues), so we went into Children's Hospital for it. Because of a typo on his referral/prescription, we had to wait FOREVER to be seen (since the doctor's office had to fax over a new one) and then I wasn't even allowed in because of Jackson... As expected, Gabe SCREAMED the entire 2 minutes he was in there and poor Jackson just stood out in the hallway (with his doctor's kit) panicking and asking to go in with Gabey. Fortunately, it didn't last long and we received great news: Gabe's hips are fine and are most likely tight because he is just freakishly strong!

~Gabe just randomly stood up on his own this month... We were outside running through the sprinkler and out of nowhere, he went for it! In addition to *just* standing, he also walks along furniture and pushes things around the room in order to get from point a to point b.

~An update from his doctor: I guess Gabe is ahead on the curve on everything (which is always nice for the unbiased mother to hear, ha) and his doctor said he is excelling in both fine motor skills (i.e. clapping at 5 1/2 months) and overall development. We also found out that Gabe is in the 33rd percentile for weight and 88th for height, so his doctor guesses that he will always be a tall and skinny guy (maybe he's taking after Grandpa Tony?)!

~Oh my gosh, this kid. eats. EVERYTHING (shown here eating a blade of grass during a trip to the park). One day I was changing his diaper and noticed it glaring back at me... come to find out, Gabe found one of those googly eyes for crafting and ate it (oh the things that poor eye must have seen during its long and terrible journey...). Another memorable "Gabe eats everything" moment was when he found a ladybug, delicately picked it up and stared at it with such childlike innocence, and then shoved the thing in his mouth and clenched his jaw so I couldn't fish it out :/ (He knows I am going to pull stuff from his mouth and has learned to tighten his jaw and/or crawl away as quickly as he can.

Note: His older brother (who is wearing underwear on his head... potty training is going great!) trapped under the basket.

Baby's first 4th of July! (We hosted some dear friends for a BBQ... our neighbors shot of fireworks 3 nights in a row and Gabe did NOT like the loud noise!)

Jackson, Gabe, and Jackson's baby, who is coincidentally named Gabey (it's my old doll he found at my parent's house)

Gabe and his best friend, Bennett (who is only 11 days older)

Road trip to Kansas

Sooo happy to be out of the car!

Simon's wedding reception

Spangles with Nana

Meeting Great Grandma Miracle and Cousin Ashlynn

Fun on Nana's farm!

The boys with their sweet Great Aunt Jean

First haircut by his Great Uncle Denny (who also did both Jackson's and my first haircuts)!

Don't let this picture fool you... he did great until about minute 9!

Fun at Great Aunt Judy and Uncle George's!

LOVE these people!

Everybody loves Aunt Judy

Gabe and his sweet godmother, Megan :)

Gabriel's 8 Month Update

2017-07-27T16:55:00.003-07:00

Well, seeing as though our Gabe has been 9 MONTHS for about a week now, I figured now would be the perfect time to FINALLY post his 8-month update :/ Gabriel is seriously the busiest and cutest little guy who is always keeping us on our toes and making us smile! Here is what he was up to from May 21st to June 21st:

This was the best it was going to get... this kid is ALWAYS on the move!

Weight: He came in at 18.9 lbs during his allergy check up

Length: At his 6 month checkup, he was 26.75" long (56%)... and a noggin in the 97%... I will have this updated on his 9 month update!

Nicknames: Gabey, Gabe, Blue Eyes, Red, Gabes, Chunks, Chunkalicious

Wearing: 9 & 12 month

Sleep: Still sleeps with us, but takes a short nap on me every morning, long nap with Jax and me every afternoon at around 2, cat nap in the evening, and down for bed at around 10.

Gabe likes: Jackson, Bella, pulling himself up onto things, eating, cuddles, kisses, putting everything into his mouth, playing outside, taking Jackson's toys, visiting Grammy and Grandpa,

Gabe dislikes: Not being able to walk, long car rides, being hungry, not being able to crawl around whenever he wants, long plane rides, being left out of something

Mom & Dad's Favorite Things: His HUGE personality, his red hair and blue eyes, how funny he is

A few quick bullet points:

~I flew with the boys to Bismarck for Brandon's cousin's wedding (photos below) and we had such a fun time! The boys were both so good and loved all the extra attention they got from extended family :)

~Poor Gabe just can't catch a break... while we were in Bismarck, he broke out into hives (photo below) and we left the wedding reception early. I'm not sure what caused it that time, but the after-hours nurse line recommended we see the doctor when we got back and she referred us to an allergist at Children's Hospital. Anyway, in addition to his allergy testing next month, she diagnosed him with eczema and prescribed him a cream, which is all addition to his wonky hips (more on that next month) and never-ending ear infections (which his doctor said makes him a great candidate for tubes :/).

Another Tuesday, another "Cry Baby Tuesday" movie (this time it was Boss Baby)

First time pulling himself up!

Chick-Fil-A fun!

Brandon painted our bedroom one Saturday, so we all slept downstairs while the paint dried.

This is what I always think of when Gabe wears pants :)

Fun at the Sweet William Market

Can't stop, won't stop with the sleeping pictures

Grammy and Grandpa's 28th wedding anniversary dinner at Cheddar's

On the shuttle to the airport!

Kailey and Justin's wedding reception

The picture on my lock screen

Poor, poor Cassie... Brandon and I took Jackson to see Cars 3 and we asked sweet Cassie to come stay with Gabe... I had to come home about 15 minutes after the movie started because he wouldn't stop screaming :/ we will try the baby sitting thing again when he's a little older!

Gabriel's 7 Month Update

2017-06-12T17:50:00.000-07:00

Now, I know what you're thinking... "Wow, Gabe has been 6 months for almost two months now!" Right? Wrong. What actually happened is that this has been the craziest month ever and I FINALLY have a chance to sit down and write... Totally weird and unlike me, right? (Just nod along, please.) Anyway, it has been another wonderful month with our boy -- here is what our Gabey is up to:

This is how most of our photo shoot looked.

Weight: I'm guessing 17 lbs... we will have an exact weight for his 9 month update!

Length: At his 6 month checkup, he was 26.75" long (56%)... and a noggin in the 97% (18 inches!)

Nicknames: Gabey, Gabe, Chunks, Blue eyes, Chunkilicious, Stinker, Little Brother

Wearing: 9 & 12 month

Sleep: No changes, except that we have all been going to bed/waking up earlier since our trip to Tennessee last month! (Gabe normally goes down 9:30-10 and sleeps until at least 9.)

Gabe likes: Jackson, Bella, stuffed animals, crawling, tickles, cuddles, being the center of attention, being interacted with, bath time, exersaucer, sleeping, stealing his brothers toys, pulling hair, eating, sitting in the high chair at restaurants, plane rides (for the most part), the Sandmeier clan (Grandma, Grandpa, Great Grandpa, and Great Aunt Debbie)

Gabe dislikes: Not being able to walk, the stroller, when bath time is over, when everyone leaves the room, long car rides, having toys that are too small taken away from him, diaper changes, having to lay on his back for long periods at a time, not being able to move around when we are out and about, long car rides

Mom & Dad's Favorite Things: His interactions with Jackson and Bella, watching him learn new things, his adorable little smile and laugh, his rolls, how he tries mimicking things

I usually show pictures of something correlating to this month's big milestones, but I don't have many relevant pictures... soo, enjoy these quick bullet points!

~I kid you not, we only set Gabe up on his own once or twice and he not only had it down, but quickly learned how to move from a crawling position to sitting up back to crawling... this kid is way too stinking strong AND smart!

~My mom played Patty Cake with Gabe one weekend when she was here and Gabe was absolutely enthralled and started clapping a few days later... (To give you a little comparison, The Bump says clapping doesn't normally begin until between 8 to 9 months!)

~With all of this being said, it should come as no surprise that Gabe is extremely observant and studies every one and everything really closely... Future doctor and/or president? I think so!

First time sitting at the table!

Baby Besties: Gabriel, Natalie, and Bennett!

Sleeping on the plane to Grandma and Grandpa Sandmeiers

4 generations of good men in Tennessee!

First time in a high chair (sharing chicken tenders with Grandpa Bryan)

Somebody loved his grandma!

Last day at Grandma and Grandpas :(

Daddy introducing the boys to Star Wars on May 5th

Big boy's first time riding in the front of the cart!

Somebody was SO happy to be out of the car and at our New Mexico hotel!

Trip to Santa Fe for my cousin's graduation

Congratulations, sweet Sarah!

Can't stop, won't stop with the sleeping pictures <3

On the way home from New Mexico -- he wasn't a fan of the long road trip

Gabriel's 6 Month Update

2017-05-04T19:55:00.002-07:00

What a month! Our baby is now moving more than ever (which I didn't think was possible) and is also getting cuter, funnier, and even more of a sweet little personality. Month 5 was another busy one so I will skip the chatter and get to the update!

Weight: 16 lbs. (he's in the 22%, which can be attributed to the fact that he was sick and only nursed for a week AND that he is ALWAYS moving!)

Length: 26.75" (56%)... and a noggin in the 97% (18 inches!)

Nicknames: Gabe, Gabey, Chunkilicious, Red, Baby Gabey

Wearing: 9 month fits best, but he can still squeeze into a couple 6 month pajamas.

Sleep: He still sleeps great as long as he is on me... he likes to nurse throughout the night (which the doctor said is more of a pacifier issue), so trying to get him accustomed to his crib should be interesting!

Gabe likes: Jackson, Bella, Costco, going for walks, jumping, moving constantly, being included in things, being held and interacted with, reading, army crawling like a mad man, bath time, his exersaucer,

Gabe dislikes: Being hungry and/or alone, feeling left out, his crib, when mommy tries to make him sleep in his crib, being overly tired, not being able to do something he has set his mind to (crawling, putting food in his mouth, etc

Mom & Dad's Favorite Things: Watching him play with Jackson, his adorable laugh, seeing his little personality come through more and more, how smart and alert he is, his big blue eyes and red hair

I usually show pictures of something correlating to this month's big milestones, but I don't have many relevant pictures... soo, enjoy these quick bullet points!

~Gabe is OBSESSED with Bella and it is adorable -- I can remember when Jackson first noticed Bitsy when he was maybe 6 or 7 months old and got the biggest smile on his face... anyway, Gabe first noticed Bella at around 4 months and has been going after her ever since! Luckily, Bella is the sweetest girl ever and is really gentle with Gabe (even when he pulls her fur or tail).

~We learned how to army crawl this month and haven't looked back! Gabe can actually get around really quickly, but gets so frustrated in that he still can't figure out how to crawl on his hands and knees... maybe this will be the month he finally gets it.

~Jackson came down with a nasty fever followed by lots of coughing and snot which, of course, Gabe ended up with the next week. Fortunately (I guess), it was just a virus, but the doctor still put him on amoxicillin since he also contracted a double ear infection. This didn't come as a huge surprise, but his doctor brought up getting his tubes in his ears since this is his 3rd or 4th ear infection in 6 months. We definitely want to wait a bit to do the surgery (preferably until after he is 1), but are pretty certain it is something we want to go forward with. In other news, Gabe STILL can't rotate his legs out to the side like he should be able to, which could be because of hip dysplasia or just the fact that he is really stiff (which is what the doctor thinks -- he had a hard time getting his arms to even bend and joked that he will make a great football linebacker but a terrible gymnast), so he ordered hip x-rays to get a better look. Aside from that, everything looked great (and he once again marveled at how strong and stubborn Gabe is for a baby).

Baby's (and big brother's) first Nuggets game! We played the Cavs and WON!

Somebody got his first taste of cake this month (during mommy's birthday lunch)... he has yet to look back!

Baby's 1st opening day! We went to Cheddar's to watch the game and shared a dessert :)

At the Wish Boutique fashion show with mommy, Grammy, and Aunt Nancy! (Not pictured: All the ladies oohing and ahhing over him -- including former Miss Colorado, Kelly Johnson!)

Wearing his brother's Easter outfit

Gabe enjoyed sucking on the Easter Bunny's matted fur :/

The Easter Bunny left lots of goodies on Grammy and Grandpa's fire place!

Gabey's 6 month check up

Gabriel's 5 Month Update

2017-03-30T19:59:00.003-07:00

...and just like that, Gabe is 5 months old :/ This is the last month that my baby will be closer to being a newborn than he is to being 1... how can this be?! As always, Gabriel is a true joy and is beginning to show us his little fiery, go-getter personality. He loves being held, moving constantly, and trying to do whatever his big brother is doing (which tends to receive a mixed reaction from Mr. Jax). Whenever I think back to when I was pregnant and stressed out about whether or not I could ever love Gabe as much as I love Jackson, I have to laugh -- we truly couldn't love this boy more than we do!

Enough of my babble -- here's the man of the hour:

Weight: No scale at home, but I will guess that he's up a pound from his 4-month checkup (so 15 lbs. 15 oz).

Length: As per his 4-month checkup, 25 inches (68th percentile, with a head in the 93rd....)

Nicknames: Gabe, Gabey, Baby Gabey, Chunks, Chunkilicious, Cheeks

Wearing: Some 3-6 month still barely fits, but for the most part he rocks the 6-9 month clothes.

Sleep: No big change since last month... he still sleeps on me... BUT we have been talking A LOT about getting both boys back into their rooms, so I may have some stories to tell about that come next month.

Gabe likes: Being held, jumping while he's being held, eating regular foods, feeding himself, being able to do things on his own, watching Jackson, reading with Jax and mommy, rocking, being sang to, interaction, playing on his mat, chewing on EVERYTHING, kicking and rolling, Bella

Gabe dislikes: When he can't do something on his own, being left out of anything, when everyone leaves the room, staying in one place for too long, loud noises, having something taken away that he was chewing on, traveling long distances

Mom & Dad's Favorite Things: His blue eyes and red hair, cute little smile and babbles, his stubborn personality, watching him interact with Jackson, when he discovers something new and gets excited

~Right after we got the go-ahead from Gabe's doctor, we started him on solids! It's funny because I was SO opposed to starting Jax on real food until after he was 6-months (partly because we were getting ready to go on a big road trip and partly because I was depressed and didn't want my baby to grow up) but Gabe has been so fascinated with watching us eat since he was about 2-months and would always get so excited and enthusiastic about it... anyway, we decided to wait until we got back from Punta Cana to begin, but I ended up giving him some tortilla (pictured) the night of his doctor's appointment. He is already such a good eater and loves sampling just about anything we're eating (his favorites so far are any kind of bean, fruit purees, breads, fish of any kind, and chicken)!

~The boys sweet Nana (Brandon's mom) and her husband -- Grandpa Russell -- came out from Kansas for the weekend and we had a wonderful time showing them around Denver and introducing them to Mr. Gabe :)

~We took the babies to Punta Cana this month (which deserves a post of its own) and had a wonderful time relaxing by the pool, exploring the resort (Hard Rock), and overeating. The plane rides there were pretty smooth and uneventful, but the trip back was an entirely different story and made for one stressful day (long story short, we had a one hour lay over in New Jersey and didn't make our flight in time because of customs and the world's slowest security line and world's rudest TSA agents... fortunately, we made it on the next flight to Denver, but Gabe and I sat in a different row than Brandon and Jax, and Gabe only napped 20 minutes of the entire 4 hour flight... ugh!)

~You wouldn't know it from his pictures, but holy moly does this kid have a temper! He is usually pretty happy and content, but the minute something isn't going his way (he drops something, everyone leaves the room, he's bored with whatever he is doing), he SCREAMS. Personality wise, he is the dead opposite of Jackson, so I have a feeling we may need to tweak our parenting style a bit for our feisty and opinionated little man!

~No picture, but ever since this kid first rolled from his back to his stomach (at exactly 15 weeks), he has not stopped and now gets from point a to point b in record time by rolling himself across the room... Needless to say, we ordered a baby gate for the stairs and Brandon is getting it installed this weekend.

Pictures

Baby's first ashtag (and the first time he ever took his paci!)

Somebody loved his cousin, Gabby!

Meeting his godmother, Veronica (AKA Cinderella) after her performance

Jackson is always asking to hold Gabe and Gabe thinks that Jackson is the funniest person on earth!

Daddy and his 3 babies

5 am flights call for 1 am wake up calls :(

Trying on Jackson's hand-me-downs before the trip

3 best friends enjoying the playroom

Gabriel's 4 Month Update

2017-02-27T20:23:00.002-08:00

4 months... 4 MONTHS?! How can this be? The time is going by sooooooo quickly and our little Gabe keeps getting happier, cuter, and even more squishy by the day!

Things definitely stay busier around here with two (hence the reason it is once again taking me so long to write this post -- I have what I think is a touch of the flu, so I have been up with terrible sweats, chills, and aches all night and finally decided to get up, make some tea, and write while I feel like it), but neither Brandon nor I would have it any other way.

Here is a quick look back at another wonderful month with Gabe:

Jax was busy watching the KU game with dad, so I jumped at the opportunity to get a few rare pictures of Gabe by himself :)

Weight: 14 lbs. 15 oz (I was SHOCKED -- he seems so much bigger than that to me!)

Length: 25 inches (68th percentile, with a head in the 93rd....)

Nicknames: Gabe, Gabey, Baby Gabey, Chunks, Chunkilicious, Cheeks

Wearing: Mostly 3-6 month, with the exception of a few 6-9 months that I bought for him to grow into.

Sleep: Same as before: Great as long as it's on mom!

Gabe likes: CONSTANTLY moving, playing on the floor, rolling over, Jackson, having someone get down on the floor to play with him, being interacted with, mornings, Bella (he just stares at her), the electric train at Grammy and Grandpas, listening to Jax's books, observing the world around him

Gabe dislikes: Being left on the floor for too long, when mommy has any kind of dairy in her system, loud noises, when his brother comes close to his face and yells something that I still can't make out (it sounds like "Nemo-nastic," but he says it super fast and only says it when he's in Gabe's face because he thinks it's funny...)

Mom & Dad's Favorite Things: How stinking adorable he is, his rolls, how strong he is, cuddling, getting him to smile and/or laugh, watching Gabe interact with his older brother

Dr. Jax giving Gabe his shots :)

Jax at his 4-month well check // Gabe at his 4-month well check

~I was actually shocked to learn that Gabe only weighs 14 pounds! He is so solid and chunky, but his doctor assured us that this is normal at 4 months (because 4-month-olds get easily distracted) and recommended beginning solids with him. (Since we leave for our big trip soon, we decided to wait until after we get back so we aren't trying new foods with him in a foreign country.) She also got the biggest kick out of how strong he is and said she remembers how Jackson was the complete opposite and it took us forever to get him to even plant his feet on the ground to stand.

~Well, it happened. At exactly 15 weeks, Gabe rolled over from back to stomach. I thought that maybe it was a fluke (I was doing dishes and not watching him when it happened), but minutes later he did it again and hasn't stopped! In addition to scooting, he now rolls from back to stomach to back to get across the room... Oy!

~The local movie theater does a "cry baby day" once a week, so I packed up the boys one cold and snowy morning and took them to see "Sing." We were the only ones in the entire theater (not just our theater, but the entire building) and Jackson got the biggest kick out of eating popcorn and dancing to the music while Gabe nursed and/or slept.

~We made Gabe's second ever trip to my parent's for their museum's annual dinner (which I do the marketing for), and Gabe enjoyed the change of scenery... however, he wasn't having any of the entertainment/auction and cried most of the time, and then cried a lot more later that night when mommy failed miserably and had a piece of dessert covered in whipped cream :(

~Gabe, Jax, and I all had a go-around with bad colds this month, but -- thanks to our dear friend, the sun -- Gabe's didn't last nearly as long as I figured it would! (Seriously; babies should be allowed to get sick so often when they're so young... that must be the ONE trait he picked up from me!)

Random Pictures

His eyes keep getting bluer by the day!

Photo by Jackson

Baby's 1st Valentines (at Costco)

3 month Gave vs. Jax

Setting up the train at Grammy and Grandpas

Gabriel's Three Month Update

2017-01-25T19:02:00.001-08:00

Ah yes... another month has passed with nothing but radio silence... Oy!

We have been so busy and I have so much I am needing to document but just haven't had the time because of kids... and work... and life. Anyway, before I ramble anymore, let us talk about the man of the hour -- Gabriel Anthony!

Our (not-so) little Gabe is now 3-months old and is cuter than ever! I can't get over how chunky and absolutely adorable this kid is... his personality is definitely coming through more and more, and it is such a joy to not only watch him grow, but be his mamma! Here is a look back at another eventful month:

Photo by Jackson.

Weight: I can't find our bathroom scale anywhere, but I am going to guess he's pushing 15 lbs...

Length: 23 inches. at his 2 month -- will have this updated after his next appointment.

Nicknames: Gabe, Gabey, Baby Gabey, Chunks, Chunkilicious

Wearing: 3 month is officially too small for our big guy and 3-6 month is getting to be a little tight... Jackson had a bunch of his cousin's hand-me-downs, but since my sister-in-law had another boy we gave them all back and I didn't realize how few of our own clothes we had! That being said, Gabe goes through the same few outfits over and over (and I keep having to do more and more laundry) and I REALLY need to go thrifting to get him some "new" stuff! Hopefully soon I will have time to get back to my thrifty ways (instead of constantly shopping on Children's Place's website for clothes that he outgrows after only a month)...

Sleep: Still a great sleeper... as long as he is on me! He will usually take a 30 minute nap in the morning in either his swing or Rock n' Play, a nap on me at around lunch time, a long afternoon nap when I go to lay down with Jax, and then he sleeps all night,

Gabe likes: Being interacted with, smiling/laughing, eating, bath time, kicking, his playmat, sleeping on mommy, Jackson, staring at daddy, tummy time (when somebody is down on the floor with him), swinging, books, tickles

Gabe dislikes: Not being able to roll over, dirty diapers, car seat (though he is getting better), tummy time on his own, loud music, being left alone for too long, when he sees somebody leave the room

Mom & Dad's Favorite Things: His huge smiles/belly laughs, cute little jabbers, big eyes, and playing with him/showing him off to friends and family!

~My parents think I'm crazy, but I seriously think that Gabe and Jackson (right) look A LOT alike... what do you think? (Both are 3 months in these pictures)

~I got a little ambitious on New Year's Eve and decided that since we were staying up late anyway, I would try to get Gabe to sleep in his crib. It was... exhausting. I seriously rocked/nursed/sang to him for nearly an hour to get him to even lay down in the first place, and then he would scream the moment I laid him down. After letting him cry for a few minutes, I would start to process over again and he FINALLY slept in there for two hours (he would even wake up and put himself back to sleep)! Anyway, we tried again the next night and it was a nightmare so I decided to not mess with it again until he's a little older.

~Gabe's first Christmas was a huge success! We hosted and had my parents, brother, aunt, and uncle over on both Christmas eve and day, and the boys received a train set and Curious Georges/books from Santa! It was a wonderful day and Gabriel even gave us the gift of a long nap while we opened presents :)

~All day, every day. I think I had mentioned cutting dairy out of my diet in Gabe's 2-month post, but can't remember if I had mentioned what a difference it has made! It was like clockwork: Gabriel would begin to cry and was completely inconsolable for about a month there and once the dairy was gone, he has done a complete 180 and is now such a happy baby!

~For our 4th anniversary, we went to dinner with my aunt and uncle, took the boys to a DU men's basketball game, and stayed the night at the Denver "dinosaur" hotel and had an absolute blast! The game was a little louder than I had anticipated but the stadium was nearly empty (and we sat right behind the players) which made for the perfect first basketball game for both boys!

This was taken at 5:30 am, so ignore my face.

~Last week we attended the beautiful wedding of a dear family friend in Dallas! Both boys did AWESOME on both flights (and Gabe slept/nursed both trips) and we had a wonderful time visiting with framily, resting in our hotel, visiting the Dallas World Aquarium, and dancing the night away at a fun wedding reception! There is so much more I want to share about this trip and will hopefully get around to writing a dedicated post soon.

Pictures

Since Jackson got to have his friends over to watch a movie, it was only fair that Gabe got to have his besties (Natalie and Bennett) over, too!

Sweetest, most protective kitty ever,

We had the boy's passport pictures taken (and received the actual passports a few weeks later!) for our trip to Punta Cana in March!

Jackson crafting with an audience.

Gabriel's Two Month Update

2017-01-02T03:00:00.000-08:00

Well, here we are again and here I go posting Gabe's monthly update a week and a half late... ugh! I'm sorry, second child; even if these updates are not posted on the dot (since I know you get online looking for them each month on the 21st...), I promise I will still write them up at some point for you to one day look back at. Anyway, our second month with Gabriel has been just as fun and exciting as the first! He is SO cute and chunky, and we just can't get enough of this little daddy clone! Here is what we've been up to this month:

Big lighting fail :/

Weight: 12 lbs. 5 oz (nearly twice his birth weight... what?!)

Length: 23 inches.

Nicknames: Gabe, Gabey, Baby Gabey, Baby, Chunk, Baby Brandon

Wearing: We have officially outgrown just everything 0-3 month and are comfortably wearing 3-6 month... it is seriously comical to me how much different he is to Jackson (who was still in size newborn by this point)!

Sleep: He still sleeps in the crook of my arm during the night (and does great as he can basically nurse whenever) and takes naps in either his swing or Rock and Play during the day.

Gabe likes: Eating, bath time, clean diapers, Jax, being interacted with, the quilt beside the changing table, being held, Jackson, cuddles, the floor lamp in the living room, being moved, swinging, kicking, rocking

Gabe dislikes: Hiccups, acid reflux induced spit up, car rides of any length, having to wait for food, his car seat, shopping,

Mom & Dad's Favorite Things: How chunky and adorable he is, his silly little grin, when he gets excited and starts to kick, how warm and cuddly he is, watching him interact with Jackson, how happy he is first thing in the morning

~It's official: Gabe is colicky. When we went in to have Gabe's ears checked at around 6 weeks and upon speaking with his doctor, I discovered that his inconsolable fussing that happened every night at the same time meant that he's colicky... In passing, she had mentioned that I could cut out dairy and see if that would help, but she quickly moved on and acted like it probably wouldn't work... I went ahead and tried it anyway and about 2 weeks after cutting out my nightly ice cream, chocolate milk, and Life cereal, he was acting SO much better and way less fussy. YES! It has been hard giving up my beloved dairy, but if it helps his poor tummy, it sure is worth it.

~2016 was (obviously) Gabe's first Thanksgiving and we had a wonderful time spending the weekend with my parents and brother and eating way too much carby foods and desserts.

~I finally got up the nerve to take the boys on my first ever errand run with just the 3 of us and it went about as well as I thought it would... Jax slept the entire time we were in the SUPER crowded Dollar Tree (picking up favors and snacks for Jax's birthday party) and when Jax slowly ate his pretzel and cheese at Target, but once we got moving and started shopping at Target, he woke up SCREAMING! I tried to do the whole (covered) nursing while walking the aisles and pushing the cart thing, but that wasn't working well, so I finally just found an empty bottom shelf and plopped down on it and nursed him for awhile... After awhile, a sympathetic employee came over and offered the dressing room for my comfort (I had my nursing cover, so I wasn't exposing myself or anything), which I took her up on, but it still didn't calm him... the rest of the trip was loud and stressful, but we made it out alive!

~Gabriel was baptized on December 11th and I seriously can't put into words just how amazing of a day it was... Deacon Jerome gave such a beautiful sermon, Gabe's godmother Megan and her family (my Aunt Judy, and cousins Nancy & Angie) drove all the way out from Kansas to be here, and our awesome family from around Colorado all joined us for the baptism, dinner at Cinzetti's, and then a little visiting/gift opening back at our place to end the evening... it was so perfect and is an evening I will never forget! We are so blessed to be part of such a wonderful church!!!

~I took the boys to Bass Pro to visit Santa! Gabe slept pretty much the entire time (minus Jax's and my quick coffee shop stop, which is when I nursed him) and we ended up with this super adorable picture.

~A few pictures of the world's cutest brothers... just because :)

Jackson is THREE

2016-12-22T03:00:00.000-08:00

What happened? It seems like it was only last week when our sweet little Jackson Lee was released from the NICU and into a room with me... it feels like I quickly blinked my eyes and BAM -- our 5 lb. 13 oz. Jax is THREE YEARS OLD!

I don't know where to even begin this post... Jackson has absolutely flourished this year and has become his own little person. I'm sure I'm not the first parent to say this, but Jackson really is the sweetest little boy I have ever known.

His smile spans his entire face and his big eyes can light up a room.

He loves watching/observing (and copying!) people and literally squeals with delight whenever he sees "big kids" that he can play with.

He's smart and amazes his dad and me every single day. (He has a tendency of putting his mind to something new and doing it on his own -- like the other day when he just randomly started singing the ABCs to me during lunch or when he had just turned two and started just randomly counting things!)

I have never seen him push or hit another child, which seems to be a pretty feat at 3.

After months and months of worrying about how our only child would do with a younger sibling, he completely exceeded our expectations and hasn't shown an ounce of jealousy toward Gabe since we brought him home... In fact, he won't leave him alone and will often stand over him until he wakes up! One of the sweetest Jackson/Gabe moments was a few weeks ago at mom's group when I had a giant box of pastries I was taking home to freeze for our next meeting -- anyway, I can never leave Jackson alone at church (because he's completely scarred from the one time I left him in the childcare room with his friends for an entire 3 minutes), so I brought him out to the car with me to leave off the pastries while a few of my friends were still in the room with a sleeping Gabe. I guess Jackson thought we were leaving because he began to fuss and I couldn't figure out why and asked what was going on and with tears in his eyes, he points back to the door and starts saying "Baby! Baby!" He was NOT about to let me forget his brother and became really upset at the thought of leaving him behind. Gabriel is very lucky to have such a loving and protective older brother :) Other memorable big brother moments include him informing us that Gabe is "WAKE" every time he walks by (which is comical when we're either holding him and/or Gabe is crying), his random forehead kisses, and making faces at his brother in an attempt at making him smile.

Jackson loves to "read"/be read to, which makes this book loving mamma very happy. (I have even found him laying on his bed, legs crossed a few times just reading a good book to himself!)

He gets SO engaged with whatever he is watching (which has recently been Fixer Upper and Finding Dory), acts out what is happening with toys (like cars, if the characters are driving), and copies whatever is being said.

I have never seen a toddler act so well during church! He is usually really great about sitting through mass with or without his snacks.

The list seriously goes on and on, so instead of sitting here making myself tear up, I will share a few pictures from his 3rd birthday party!

Our original plan for Jackson's birthday party was to once again have it at our local rec center, but they were completely booked through the month and we needed to come up with a Plan B. Since Jackson LOVES movie theaters and talks about seeing Finding Dory in the movie theater last summer, we decided to throw him a movie theater birthday party at home! Since our December was crazy busy, we threw it the Saturday of the month and the kids had a blast!!!

Happy Birthday, sweet Jackson! Thank you for making me a mommy three years ago today!

Gabriel's One Month Update

2016-12-03T22:47:00.003-08:00

It's hard to believe that our sweet Gabriel Anthony turned a month old on November 21st! I once heard that the days with a newborn are long but the months go fast and boy is that the truth. Our first week home actually seemed to go by at a nice pace (probably because Brandon was home and we did a lot of fun little outings but also gave ourselves some time to rest), but since then it has just flown by. Gabe is about as sweet as they come and I love seeing him grow and watching him and Jackson interact.

Without further ado, I give you Gabe's first month:

Something tells me that every photo shoot from here on out is going to be photo bombed by big brother...

Weight: 9 lbs. 6 oz. (Up nearly 3 pounds since he was born... oy!)

Length: I believe he was at 21 something at his last appointment, but I will double check and update later.

Nicknames: Gabe, Gabey, Baby Gabey, Baby, Chunk

Wearing: Unlike his older brother, Gabriel outgrew newborn clothes in about 2 weeks and is starting to outgrow 0-3 as well... I definitely wasn't planning on him growing so quickly!

Sleep: As long as I'm holding him (or he's sleeping in the crook of my arm), he sleeps wonderfully. On his own though is a big no-go. He does okay in his car seat, but cries a bunch at first before falling asleep.

Gabe likes: Eating, Jax, cuddling, sleeping, diaper changes, bath time, stretching out on the floor, watching mommy and/or daddy, being held and bounced, rocking, singing,

Gabe dislikes: Dirty diapers, hunger, tummy pains, when mommy sets him down to help Jax, car seat, being laid down for long periods of time

Mom & Dad's Favorite Things: How much he looks like daddy, watching he and Jackson interact, how cuddly he is, how well he sleeps at night (in the crook of mommy's arm -- which we swore we would never do again, ugh), his cute little jabbers and big eyes, and his adorable rolls of fat

~It's really amazing how similar, yet different the boys look! I can definitely see a lot of the same facial features (like their lips, eyes, and hair) and expressions, but at the same time they look so different (coloring, head shape, and noses) -- it'll be interesting to see how Gabe looks a year from now!

~We had Gabe's newborn pictures taken at around 17 days (which was close to when Jax had his taken) and got some absolutely adorable ones that I will share later this week :)

~For the most part, Gabe is a pretty good trooper wherever we go and does a pretty good job of just sleeping... (With the exception of a few trips where I had to either wear him in the Ergo or walk and nurse him while trying to keep us both covered.)

~This poor baby got sick for the first time at about a week and a half... it all started when I came down with a cold on Halloween, passed it onto Jax the next day, and then -- of course -- gave it to Gabe, who ended up getting really congested :( Thanks to the Nose Frieda, I was able to keep him somewhat clear, but found out at his two-week checkup that he wasn't only congested, but had an ear infection as well.. ugh! After 10 miserable days of tummy destroying amoxicillin, we went back to the pediatrician only to find that he still had it, but not nearly as bad as before. The doctor gave us the option to either start a new round of more potent meds or to try keeping his nasal passages really clear to see if that helped drain it. (This next part actually happened after one month, but since I'm late in writing this update, I'll just go ahead and finish the story!) At his next appointment, we had some good news and bad news: The good news is that his ear was clear -- yay! The bad news is that now he had it in the other ear :/ Since he eats like a champ, looks great, and was no longer congested, the doctor said we could just keep an eye on him until his 2-month checkup (since it didn't look too terrible) or start him on that new medicine that would just upset his stomach and make things worse. We decided to keep an eye on it for the time being and will find out in a few weeks if it cleared up on its own... Pray for us!

Oh and she also diagnosed him as colicky (which didn't come as a huge surprise), but I'll save that for his two month update.

We Survived...

2016-11-19T03:00:00.000-08:00

Well, it was my first week at home alone with both boys (with Brandon working and without the help of my mom) and we survived! I'm not going to lie: It was rough and humbling, but I know that the day will come when Jax is getting married and Gabe is graduating from college when I will miss these crazy, sometimes stressful days with a toddler and a newborn. Anyway, here is how our week went:

Mirror selfie with my little shadow before heading out for a girl's night!

~On Saturday night, I had the opportunity to get out of the house (with baby in tow) to attend a friend's birthday at a local sip and paint parlor. It was a much needed couple of hours of adult time, laughing with friends, and painting some hideous trees (above -- I'm so not an artist and plan to give my canvas to my brother as a joke for Christmas) -- and Gabe slept like a little angel a majority of the time!

~No pictures, but on Sunday I packed up the boys and we drove into Denver proper to visit my aunt and uncle, and to do a lot of Christmas shopping!

~On Monday, the boys and I walked to the park for what is our last solo park trip for awhile... Gabe was on his last day of amoxicillin and was hating life the entire time :(

~I started telling Jax at 10 am on Monday that we were going to walk to the park and he was so excited, but we didn't actually make it out the door until about 2 pm (due to Gabey not feeling fell and just wanting to nurse)... He was SO good and patient while he waited and would ask "park?" every so often and go back to doing whatever it was he was doing in the playroom whenever I said we'll go in a bit... Anyway, we both needed out of the house that night so I took him to Safeway with me and surprised him with a cafe pop from their Starbucks, which he thought was the greatest thing ever.

~This kid... I decided that after Monday, we would just lay low the rest of the week and stay home, so on Tuesday we wrapped and decorated some Christmas gifts, played outside, and watched A LOT of Fixer Upper, which is his new favorite thing. Here he is browsing through my very worn copy of HGTV Magazine, which he keeps asking me to read to him.

~On Wednesday, we laid low again, watched more Fixer Upper, and had my friend Sondra and her three kids over for a bit to play that afternoon.

~Thursday was the first snow of the season (YAY!) and I took Gabe with me to mom's group at church while Jax stayed home with dad to sand down trim and watch Fixer Upper. I needed to get a bible personalized for my goddaughter's First Communion gift, so I took Jax with me to the Family Christian Bookstore that afternoon and guess what he found immediately and clutched on to the rest of the trip? (I ended up buying it so I could read it... he has already made me read the captions on the 4 pages of pictures to him about thirty different times!)

~Can you believe this little chunk STILL has an ear infection D: I took him to have his ear rechecked on Friday and lo and behold, still infected after 10 days of stomach destroying amoxicillin (but she said it did look better than it had two weeks before)... Before putting him on an even stronger and more potent antibiotic, she said we could try just keeping his nasal passage really clear, keep him elevated, and steamed up to see if that would help the ear drain on its own, but if it doesn't in a week, he has to start the new meds. Please pray this sweet Buddha baby is 100% again by next Friday!!

The good news from his appointment? Gabe isn't even a month and has already gained almost 3 lbs. (up to 9 lbs. 5 oz.) since he was born, which doesn't surprise me one bit... this kid likes to nurse!

I-Tee-A, Newborn Pics, and Both Babies First Election

2016-11-12T03:00:00.000-08:00

It *only* took me a year and a half, but I think I may have finally found a balance for work and blogging! I came to the realization that other day that if I can get one day ahead on my OIYS articles, I can have a day off to dedicate to updating this blog/working on my new Catholic blog/doing museum marketing work! Genius, right?

Anyway, as I have mentioned several times in the past, one of the reasons I do this blog is so that I can one have it printed and made into a memory book, so what I will probably do from here on out is update Annie One Can Cook with our weekly family updates, plus the boys' milestone posts.

Come next week, I should be able to finally publicize my Catholic lifestyle blog as well (that I have been working on for over a year now), so be sure to keep your eye out for that! Living Like St. Martha will have all kinds of simple recipes, easy decor tips, fun party ideas, reflections, and other ways to simplify your life (and keep what matters at the forefront), so be sure to keep your eyes peeled for the big launch!

Without further ado, here is a look back on another week with the Sandmeiers:

~Before Gabe was born, I found these brother shirts on clearance at Target and knew I had to get them! Jax wore his "Promoted to Big Brother" shirt when he came to visit us in the hospital the day Gabe was born and I have been meaning to get pictures of both of them together... I got out the Nikon and got them posed, but as you can see, none of the pictures turned out quite like I had envisioned...

Oh well... maybe I'll try it again tomorrow!

~Last week we had Gabe's newborn pictures taken by the fabulous Brandy Caruso and I am DYING to see them! He was a little stinker for most of the shoot and wouldn't sleep (which I blame on his congestion :( ), but she still got some great shots of both him and the family. Stay tuned to see more!

~After pictures on Friday, I took Gabe to his 2-week checkup and discovered that not only was our poor guy congested, but he has an ear infection :(. His doctor said that she would normally be more concerned about such a little baby being sick, but he looks so good and has been nursing like a champ (he gained almost a pound in one week!), so she sent us home with a prescription and told us to keep a close eye on him. Luckily, we're almost finished with his 10 days of tummy destroying amoxicillin and have a follow up with her next week, so hopefully we're on the mend!

~My mom came to stay/help with the boys Sunday-Wednesday and I didn't take any pictures, ugh! It was so nice to have an extra set of hands while Brandon was at work and we had such a fun time Christmas shopping (we made the trek to Ikea -- or I-tee-a, as Jackson calls it, Costco, and other places), visiting, and sipping wine on Tuesday night during the election.

~Jackson has his check up at the dentist on Thursday, so we made it a family outing by playing at a playground and getting some Hagen Daz after his perfect appointment!

~Happy Veterans Day to all active and retired military! We are going out to get our veteran his complimentary meal and to do a little shopping, so I better wrap this up.

Have a great week, everyone!

Party of Four

2016-11-04T03:00:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe that Gabe joined our family two weeks ago -- part of me feels like he's been here forever and the other part can't believe these two weeks have flown by so quickly!

Thankfully, the transition has gone extremely smooth thus far... Gabe is such a happy and easy going little guy, big brother can't get enough of him, and having Brandon around to help where needed has been a huge blessing. But alas, my maternity leave ends today (meaning I have to take the Mac to the comfy chair in Jax's playroom to write) and Brandon goes back to work on Sunday, so prayers for another somewhat easy transition would be greatly appreciated!

Here are a ~~few~~ lot of pictures and memories from these last two weeks:

If I am being completely honest, our first day home was a complete mess... Besides being overly tired and having crazy postpartum hormones (I lost count of the number of times I cried over nothing that day -- seriously, I cried because we were leaving the hospital that I couldn't wait to get out of; cried because my parents were going home; cried because Jax suddenly seemed so much bigger than he did 36 hours earlier; cried because my baby was already 36 hours old, etc.), Jackson was throwing tantrums and freaking out over every little thing, which we worried was because of the new baby. Fortunately, after a good nap, he was back to his sweet old self and has been obsessed with his brother ever since.

One of the things that Brandon and I have strived our hardest to do is to keep everything as "normal" as possible for Jax. Even though there is a new baby, we still do everything the same as before (baseball 24/7, play dates, bedtime routine, etc.) and I think it has helped him see that even though he has a new brother, our love for him hasn't changed at all and that being a family of four is even more fun!

Nap time during Finding Nemo :) I will forever treasure these sweet moments!

We had a very busy first week home!
On Sunday (the day after our hospital release), we went to church and ran errands.
Monday we took the boys to the library to play and check out books.
Tuesday we went to Gabe's four day checkup (pictured), Christmas shopped, and had lunch at our favorite Mexican restaurant.
Wednesday we took the boys to open gym at the rec center.
We played in the backyard and did yard work on Thursday.
On Friday worked around the house and had my parents and brother stay the night.
Whew!

Jackson seriously dotes over his brother!! He is constantly wanting to hold him, is always giving him kisses, wants to rock him to sleep with me every night, copies everything he does (which he thinks is hilarious), and loves to cuddle and play with him. Gabe is very lucky to have such a fun older brother!

My twins: Born (almost) three years apart! (Both are four days old in these pictures and are wearing the same jammies -- Gabe is on the right.)

While daddy and Jackson raked leaves, Gabe and I supervised.

One of Jackson's buddies turned two last week so we went to his birthday party on Sunday! (Gabe's first ever party.)

Trying to get a group picture before trick or treating with friends -- it was like herding cats!

After arriving home from our Halloween festivities, I started getting really congested and had a sore throat... luckily, my cold only lasted a good 36 hours and I had this handsome little guy to keep me company at 4 am and watch reruns of Fixer Upper on Netflix.

Go figure... the day after Halloween, Jax woke up with a cough and Gabe was (and still is) super congested... the three of us had a sleepover on the sofa bed on both Tuesday and Wednesday night!

My poor sick and sleepy boys :(

This morning we are having Gabe's newborn pictures taken and then my mom is coming on Sunday to stay for a few days and help with the boys! (We are so excited to not only spend more time with her, but do lots of Christmas shopping too! It'll be both baby AND grammy's first trip to Ikea -- or I-tee-a, as Jax calls it.) Here's to another fun and memorable week with our boys!

Gabriel's Birth Story

2016-10-31T03:00:00.000-07:00

Hello old friend! It is Saturday night and the toddler is watching the World Series and playing baseball with dad, and our newest addition is sleeping soundly on the couch.

Oh yes; I almost forgot...

Gabriel Anthony joined our family last Friday, October 21st at 2:59 am :)

Since the memories of Gabe's grand entrance are still fresh in my mind, I figured now is the time to sit down and document his birth story (just like I did with Jackson).

Our lengthy tale begins the previous week -- I had my regular weekly checkup on Wednesday, October 12th and figured that since I was just at 38 weeks, it would be fairly uneventful. WRONG. My doctor checked me, told me that I was at a 3, and that there was a pretty good chance baby was coming that weekend.

I flat out panicked.

The nursery still wasn't finished.

My parents were leaving for an out-of-state conference.

There was still so much to do!

My doctor told me to take it easy, not do any heavy lifting, and to cross my fingers (and legs) that he wouldn't come this weekend, but that the odds were leaning that way.

After frantically calling Brandon, my mom, and Aunt Nancy (who said she would come watch Jax whenever the time came), and texting a friend as another backup, I felt significantly better... however, my parents still cancelled their trip in order to watch Jax if need be (thanks, mom and dad!).

My family came down that Friday and the next day, we did a lot of walking, visiting, and spicy wing lunching (with my Aunt Nancy and Uncle Rolf), but there was still no sign of baby.

Go figure.

That evening -- as I was laying down next to Jackson -- I felt a weird trickle down my leg...

Could this be it? Did my water break?!

(Spoiler alert: It was pee.)

After calling the after hours line and being told by the doctor to come in if it would make me feel better, Brandon and I hopped in the car and made the unnecessary trek to the hospital. Long story short, my water hadn't broke, I was still at a 3, and Brandon and I walked every square inch of that hospital (for two straight hours) to see if it would help me progress any more.

It didn't and we were sent home at around 12:30 am.

Poor Brandon had to work the next morning, so Jax and I went to church with my family, made a Costco trip, walked every square inch of the warehouse, and then headed home to rest a bit. At this point, I knew that baby wasn't coming that weekend and felt a huge sense of guilt that I made my parents miss their trip.

**3 DAYS LATER**

With toddler in tow, I made my way to my 39 week checkup and discovered that this time I was at a 5...

"How am I at a 5 and not in the hospital?" I asked my doctor.

It was then we talked about induction options (I had been really stressed about when it was going to happen and what we would do with Jackson if it happened in the middle of the night) and my doctor suggested just checking in and having my water broken since I had progressed so much already. So I made my appointment for that Friday at 5:30 am, called my mom to see if she could come down Thursday evening to stay with Jackson, and we were all set to go!

Whew, what a relief! However, a feeling of guilt began sinking in at the thought of induction... I was still at just 39 weeks, so what if he wasn't ready? After weighing the pros with the cons (the pro being that we were guaranteed to have somebody here to watch Jax), I decided it was the right choice and finished prepping for baby.

Thursday was a pretty normal day... Brandon was off work and took Jackson outside to do chores with him while I worked on some articles, then we dropped a meal off to one of my good friends who had just had a baby, and we patiently awaited the arrival of my mom and brother.

This picture gives me the biggest smile -- Jackson got to play with one of his best friends when we dropped off our meal and they were both wearing Batman shirts :)

Throughout the day, I noticed painless contractions here and there and finally realized they were getting closer together... but since I wasn't in agonizing pain, I wrote them off a Braxton Hicks and went on with my day. However, after dinner that night, I had a feeling that we needed to go to the hospital and notified the on-call doctor of what was going on. After hearing that I was at a 5 the previous day, she told me it would be safest to just come in and get checked.

When we arrived, the floor was packed and instead of being sent to the regular triage room for monitoring, we were shown to a spacious delivery room, where I was monitored for the next hour. Since my contractions still weren't the strongest, the nurse wasn't quite ready to admit me. When we explained that we were coming back at 5:30 the next morning for induction, she told us they would probably just let us stay over night, to which we were extremely relieved. As the time rolled on, things were seeming more grim and the nurse notified us that now the doctor would probably send us home if I didn't progress more.

And that's when the contractions began getting stronger and stronger...

After another couple hours of monitoring, I was at a 5 1/2, which -- according the nurse -- probably still wasn't enough to stay, which is when I began to panic. By this point, I was sitting on an exercise ball having to breathe through contractions... what was I going to do if they sent me home?

It was FINALLY at around 12:30 am when the nurse came in and said that it looked like I was staying until I had the baby and I was SO relieved. We were then introduced to our new nurse and I began pushing harder for an epidural (#priorities), to which she assured me was coming soon.

She lied.

The contractions had gotten to the point of unbearable (those of you who have ever delivered a child know exactly what I'm talking about) and I could no longer keep my eyes open during them and would shake and sweat through the entire grueling 60-90 seconds (with a 60-90 second break between each one). That's when my nurse finally took my blood -- and got blood all over my shoes and the floor :/ -- had it sent out for testing, and then contacted the anesthesiologist.

I'm sure that what seemed like 5 hours was only a half hour or so, but I literally cried when the anesthesiologist walked through that door with his cart full of spine-numbing goodies.

"Whoa... what's going on with your back?" He bluntly asked.

(For those of you who don't know, I had back surgery when I was a senior in high school to place a rod on my spine in order to correct my Scheuermann's Kyphosis and I still a pretty large scar because of it.)

"Are you sure they let you have an epidural with your first one?"

"OMG YES! Just hurry up and give me the effing shot" I wanted yell, but couldn't because another awful contraction was coming on.

It seemed like another 3 hours, but he finally gave me the shot and sweet relief was in sight.

That epidural was nothing short of euphoric.

I could breathe again.

I could talk.

I felt so happy and relaxed.

By this point, it was close to 2:30 am and at last check, I was only at a 7, so I figured that now was the time to kick back and try to take a quick nap. Our ditsy but sweet nurse (who despite getting blood all over my favorite Toms and crushing my legs beneath the bedside tray while raising my bed for blood work) was now my angel, and I finally felt up to visiting with her, which is what we did for maybe a minute and a half before I felt a huge gush and wetness against my legs.

"I think my water may have just broke..." I announced.

Sure enough it had and I was beginning to feel a weird sensation in my lower stomach.

"Are you sure this epidural is working? Something doesn't feel right."

She assured me that I was still hooked up and that I could push the button every 10 minutes, which is when I felt the undeniable urge to push.

"He's starting to come out and I really think I need to push," I warned the nurse, who slowly walked around the bed, not believing that it was time.

To paraphrase what she said:

"The doctor is delivering another baby right now, but if it is time to push, I think I can do it... Oh shit!"

She yelled for Brandon to press the call button, quickly told the nurse that baby was crowning, and sternly told me not to push anymore.

(If you have been in this situation, you know that it is extremely difficult to not push when your body is telling you it's go time.)

Fortunately, the doctor had just finished delivering another baby (and was actually planning to come to my room right after to break my water) and the room was quickly filled with several new machines and nurses.

After 3 relatively painless pushes, all 6 lbs. 10 oz. of Little Brother Sandmeier was here! As I have discussed before, I spent 9 months stressing out over having a new baby and whether or not I could ever love another child as much as I love Jackson, but the moment the nurse placed him against my skin, my heart doubled in size.

I loved this little boy so much.

Ignore the exhausted woman with the chapped lips...

He looks nothing like his dad...

The rest of the morning consisted of the usual: Brandon slept on the uncomfortable plastic recliner, I cluster fed the baby for 2 hours straight, and then couldn't sleep from all of the excitement.

It was a very long night, but our name-less baby was here and he was absolutely perfect.

The next morning, my mom and brother brought in Jackson, who did about 2 million times better than I had anticipated. (Brandon and I acted the same as we always do and Jackson got a kick out of seeing the baby, laying in the hospital bed with mom, stealing mom's chocolate milk, and opening his new VTech digital camera from his brother!)

Grammy in her element.

Exhausted but oh so happy!

At around noon -- before Brandon, my mom, brother, and Jackson all left to go to lunch and take Jax to get his haircut -- Brandon and I decided we had to nail down a name. My entire pregnancy, I was stuck on the names David, Matthew, and Patrick, but he just didn't seem like any of those. We had been bouncing names off each other that entire morning (I like Braden and Gavin; Brandon liked Christian and Jacob) when I finally looked online at baby names and came across Gabriel.

For the first time ever, Brandon actually agreed with me on a name and we had it narrowed down to either Gabriel or Jacob.

To decide, I did what any logical person would do and wrote both names on different slips of paper, put them into an unused barf bag, and told Jax to draw one. It took a lot of coaxing, but he finally reached in and grabbed out the slip of paper that said Jacob.

It was settled. His name was Jacob.

However, something just didn't seem right... he just wasn't a Jacob to me. Brandon could tell I was having second thoughts and said we should name him Gabirel and that he also thought he seemed like a Gabe.

(Since Jackson's middle name is Lee, which is also both Brandon's dad's and Brandon's middle names, I asked from the get-go if we could use one of my family's names for his middle name, so we went with Anthony in honor of my dad.)

The rest of the afternoon was spent resting, visiting with family, drinking lots of chocolate milk (my major craving), and cuddling with sweet Gabe.

Aunt Nancy and Uncle Rolf

Joe (my brother)

My dad came in Friday evening after work!

Gabe's first bath with our favorite nurse, Maxine (during his 24 hour check up... at 3 am!)

Saturday was our discharge day, so after Gabe's early afternoon circumcision (and a visit from a few friends), it was time to go home!

Terrible quality but a lady brought by some homemade hats for Gabe and Jax couldn't help but try one on!

Our friend Sondra and her daughter stopped by Saturday afternoon to meet Gabe!

Post HUGE breakdown... postpartum hormones are crazy... more on that later this week.

Time to get these munchkins home!

The adjustment to becoming a family of four has gone way better than I could have ever imagined, which I will talk more about later this week! Thank you all so much for the prayers, texts, calls, and well wishes -- we are so incredibly blessed by our two sweet boys!

That Kid! (Volumes 6, 7, 8, & 9)

2016-10-07T02:00:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty sure that I have written this post in my head at least a million times now, but for some reason it never appears on Blogger... *sigh* I was just looking over Jacksie's last update and cannot believe just how much he has grown and changed in these 4 short months! He is now 2 years and 9 months and is somehow closer to being 3 than he is to being 2 D: There are days that are nothing but challenging (I swear that he just recently got the memo that he's two and should relish in his terrible twos while he still has the chance), but I am continually amazed by just how much joy he brings not only to our family, but to people we just randomly run into out in public!

Without further ado, here is a picture and text heavy post gushing about my (not-so) baby:

~One of the biggest things to happen this summer was that we put in an offer on a house (Thursday), had it accepted the next day (Friday), put our home on the market hours later (also Friday, we had to temporarily move out so it could be shown virtually every hour of the day Friday-Sunday), and then had both under contract by the beginning of the week (Monday). And that was just the beginning... even with all of the business, Jax was such a trooper and had no problem staying at Aunt Millie's for a weekend, waking up early to get out of the house, and "help" us pack. It was definitely a whirlwind of a summer, but it has paid off as we are now in our beautiful new home and couldn't love it anymore!

~Another big part of our summer was spending time with my Great Aunt Millie, who at 96 was diagnosed with kidney failure and was given only a matter of hours to live (which she proceeded to forgo by about a month and a half). Since we only lived a few blocks away, we were over there nearly every day checking on her, which Jax began to expect and look forward to. Sadly, Aunt Millie passed away on July 6th and the next time we went to the house was absolutely heartbreaking as Jackson got a huge smile on his face, ran back to her office to check on her (where she liked to sit and watch TV), and then find that she wasn't there.

Aside from creating a special bond with Aunt Millie, Jackson also became good buddies with her dog, Barney...

~...who is now the spoiled and adorable baby at my parent's house! We're so glad we get to see and play with him every time we go to visit or they come to stay -- he and Jax are good buddies.

~My mom and I took our second "Annie's pregnant, so let's go have a girl's weekend in Vegas" trip in June and I would be lying if I said I wasn't worried about how my little mamma's boy would do with just dad... they ended up having a blast and it really helped them bond! Aside from being sick the second day, Jax and daddy went to the zoo (pictured), watched Harry Potter, played, and even took in National Doughnut Day.

~Jackson and I did "Mommy & Me Swim Lessons" for 5 weeks this summer and both really enjoyed it! At first I dreaded it because Jax would freak out if you even filled the tub with water, but he ended up doing really well and loved going to the "pooooooooooool" twice a week!

~If you have seen and/or spoken to Jackson in the last few months, you know that he is literally OBSESSED with baseball... like, all he talks about is baseball, can ramble off facts about baseball (from his "Kawawa Wockies" book), wants to play baseball 24/7, and pulls up baseball highlight videos on YouTube any chance he gets. Brandon and I have never seen or heard of such a young kid so into sports (he likes football too, but isn't as die hard about it as he is baseball), but we are both enjoying it! I have a feeling he's going to be quite the athlete come high school...

~I am definitely beginning to worry more and more about how Jax will be once baby brother arrives (or how I'll be, for that matter -- ha). He really loves babies and gets so googly eyed when he sees them out in public (and talks about our baby all the time), but the other day at church when I pointed one out to him, he curled up in my arms and started acting like a baby. Umm, jealous much? I was able to talk him down pretty quickly ("You're a big boy, Jax. I brought fruit snacks for you to eat since only big boys can have them.") but it made me all sorts of nervous about how things will be come the end of this month.

~Right now, Jackson's favorite things include baseball, reading (anything Curious George, baseball, or nursery rhyme related), playing with friends, Altoids (seriously; this kid is addicted), mommy & daddy, when Grammy/Grandpa/Barney come to visit, (Uncle) Joooooooooooe, ice cream, Aunt Millie's cabin, Mickey Mouse, going to the park, watching sports on TV, coloring, cars, and Thomas.

~Jackson is definitely on his own time with everything and is FINALLY starting to really talk/ask for things/repeat everything he hears (including the word crap... oops). Neither Brandon nor I had ever been too worried about his speech since he could count and point to letters/shapes/colors on command, but his doctor was saying we needed to have him evaluated. Long story short, with the move, we never had him evaluated but now he's a chatty Cathy who can count to 15 (and actually understands the concept of counting), read along with me (read along = we read the same books every single day and night so he has them memorized), and point to any letter or shape to identify it.

~He has slept in his big boy bed every night this week! Granted, Brandon and I switch off laying with him/reading every night until he falls asleep, but it is still progress!

~With as much as he loved watching the Olympics this summer, Brandon and I decided it might be fun to enroll Jackson in gymnastics this fall... to say that he enjoys it would be the understatement of the year! It is amazing how quickly he picks up everything (his teacher even made a comment the other day about how she couldn't believe how quickly he moves during bear crawls across the bars) and how strong he is! He must get his athletic ability from his mamma! (Ha, ha, ha.)

~My last story took place on Wednesday after my 37 week doctor's appointment. As much as I hate to admit it, one of the hardest parts of this pregnancy for me is the thought of adjusting to life as a family of 4 and the possibility of not having as much time with just Jackson. Anyway I was overly tired from the previous night and just flat out hormonal and basically broke down crying during the middle of the afternoon. Long story short, Jackson ended up running over to me, putting his arms around me, wiping my tears (the same way I do for him), and just looking at me with the most concerned look I have ever seen on his sweet little face... Needless to say, this made me cry even more (ha), so I took Jackson's suggestion (He kept saying Daddy? Daddy? over and over... probably because he thought I was going crazy and was hoping Brandon was coming home soon to take over) and called Brandon at work to just talk and cry for a minute. I felt much better by the time we hung up and Jackson was sweet enough to lay down with me for a rare nap.

26-31 Week Bumpdates

2016-08-26T03:00:00.000-07:00

Yeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh... I'm once again lumping together several weeks worth of bumpdates... But, in my defense, we did just move and I try to sleep whenever I have a few extra minutes during the day!

I have definitely gained A LOT more this time around than I did with Jax (I was just over 20 lbs. when Jax was born), but it sounds like Little Brother is measuring right on track. I have had two different doctors appointments since I last blogged -- one a few weeks ago for my glucose test and then another one Wednesday for my (now) standard every two-week checkup. The doctor told me I passed my glucose test with "flying colors" (whew!) but am slightly anemic... she said it isn't anything to worry about (and if memory serves me correctly, I was also slightly anemic with Jax) but was just something to be noted.

At Wednesday's appointment, they did the standard heartbeat check (which gave Jackson the biggest smile ever -- he is so into babies right now and loves poking/talking to his brother) and measurements (I guess he is measuring a little big, but the doctor said it could be because we caught him during a growth spurt -- they'll check again in two weeks) and everything sounds like it is going well! Little Brother sure does like to move and still wiggles and kicks the most whenever Jax and I lay down to read.

Other than that, there hasn't been anything too eventful happening, so on with the bumpdate!

Messy master bedroom at the old place (and an adorable photo bomber) -- Week 26

Messy master bedroom at the new place (sans photo bomber) -- Week 30
Yes; I wear this crazy comfortable maternity shirt from The Loft a few times a week!

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I was up about 23 lbs. at Wednesday's doctor appointment.

Maternity clothes: Yes! I still haven't bought too many of them, but I basically live in the maternity shirts I do have (as seen above) as well as baggy shirts I already owned, maxi skirts, dresses, yoga pants, and over-sized shirts I received during high school and college.

Stretch marks: Negative.

Sleep: I didn't have too many issues up until week 30, when the dreaded nightly body aches/not being able to get (or stay) comfortable kicked in... However, I ordered a memory foam body pillow off Amazon this afternoon and look forward to receiving it and taking up both Brandon's and my sides of the bed with it.

Best moment last week: Best moments in the last month would have to be Wednesday's doctor visit and seeing the look on Jax's face when he heard the baby's heartbeat, our family trip to the mountains, moving/closing on houses/buying new furniture, and just the random time we have gotten to spend with extended family.

Movement: LOTS of moving!

Food cravings/aversions: I could eat fruit, fruit flavored candy, and mint Oreos for every meal and not complain.

Gender: Little Brother!

Labor signs: No, thank goodness.

Belly button - in or out? I'm carrying really high (again), so the top half of my belly button pops out.

What I miss: Sleeping through the night and being able to get/stay comfortable.

What I am looking forward to: We are actually going back to the cabin with my family in a few weeks which should be a lot of fun!

Unplugging in the Mountains

2016-08-23T03:00:00.000-07:00

Wow... it's been about a month and a half since I last blogged *insert solemn face, big eyed emoji here* I know that it seems like I have forgotten our little corner of the internet, but I swear I haven't -- in fact, I think about blogging A LOT and miss it.

This last month and a half has been quite the journey... we closed on both houses (the House Hunters townhouse and the one we bought), moved out of the HH house, moved into our forever home, and have basically been cleaning, unpacking, painting, and setting up ever since. Between that, being almost 31 weeks pregnant (WHAT?!) and exhausted all the time, having articles to write, AND being the mamma to a very busy little guy, sitting down to write a blog post just hasn't been in the cards.

*sigh*

However, I have made it my goal for the week to at least do a quick Jackson update and bumpdate (since we are both growing so fast, ha), so stay tuned! In the meantime, I thought I would share some pictures from last weekend's quick mountain getaway!

As many of you reading this probably already know, my Aunt Millie passed away on July 6th... it still doesn't feel possible that she is gone and I basically try to not think about it since I get a sick feeling every time I dwell on it. Anyway, my Aunt Millie has this gorgeous cabin that she has always generously shared with the family and before she passed away, she told everyone to sign up for dates to go. I was honestly a little skeptical to do it (since by that point we knew her passing was inevitable and I figured I would do better just not going back to the cabin at all vs. going and thinking the whole time about how we could never go again), but Brandon got me talked into at least putting our name down for a few nights.

I'm so glad he did because this weekend gave us some valuable family time that we wouldn't have had otherwise. I would be lying if I didn't state that I had a huge lump in my throat a good portion of the trip, but I could definitely feel Millie smiling down at us, happy that we were enjoying one of her favorite places.

Toasting to BBQ and family time with our Shirley Temples :)

I (obviously) didn't get to partake in the pitcher this time...

I often worry that we brought the wrong baby home from the hospital (since he obviously looks nothing like his dad)...

It was weird waking up and not having to worry about unpacking or meeting writing deadlines... but I somehow managed!

The caption says it all... oops.

When I was little, the loft was my favorite room in the cabin -- so glad to see my son enjoying it as much as I did!

Our first ever family hike... we even saw a moose!

Since there is a county wide fire ban, we decided to make our s'mores inside... however, I forgot the marshmallows (among a million other things) so we improvised with cookie dough.

Aside from having terrible acid reflux Friday night (and forgetting my heartburn medication at home :/), the trip was nothing short of perfect! We slept in, over ate, did lots of walking/picking up and throwing rocks (Jax), and just overall enjoyed each others company.

Thank you, Aunt Millie, for sharing your cabin with so many of us through the years. Some of my fondest childhood memories took place in this home and I am so happy to get the chance to share it with my family!

23, 24, & 25 Week Bumpdate

2016-07-14T03:00:00.000-07:00

Another one... two... and three weeks... another bump date. Yeah, there is definitely shame in my blogging game.

To be completely honest, these past few weeks have been some of the hardest in recent memory. My Great Aunt Millie (who I have been talking about my last few posts) passed away last Wednesday and we have her funeral this morning. I know that it was her time to go, but it's just hard... on top of that, I have never been around somebody on a nearly daily basis who is sick, so it was extremely difficult to watch her go from the feisty, independent, wine drinking, poker playing, red sports car driving 96-year-old to how she was during her last days. If you knew my Aunt Millie, you know that there were little-to-no stops for her in terms of getting into heaven... she was an amazing woman who loved her faith, family, and friends and we are going to miss her dearly. It's still hard imagining a world without Aunt Millie in it, but I am blessed to have so many amazing memories to look back on (like the time she took my brother and I skiing for our first time... when she was 80). I am hoping to get some sort of a memorial written on here over the next few weeks, so stand by!

In other news, I have a secret... I have been thinking about starting a new Catholic faith-based lifestyle blog for the last year, finally started working on it back in February, and completely shoved it to the side after getting busy with life and pregnancy fatigue... but after much prayer and thought, I am getting fired up about it again and hope to launch by the end of this summer! That being said, the formatting around here may be changing some... Annie One Can Cook will probably become strictly what it has been for the last year -- a place to share stories and updates about our family -- while this new one will be a place to write about faith, encouragement, home decor, simple recipes, entertaining tips, and so on. I thank you all for your patience as I make this transition -- I hope that you will stick around.

Okay, and now the reason you're here: my 23, 24, & 25 week bumpdate!

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I was up 15 lbs. yesterday at my doctor's appointment.

Maternity clothes: YES and I am kicking myself for not buying them sooner! I finally bought a belly band for my jeans, two tops during The Loft's big 4th of July 50% sale, and some other large shirts that are a joy to wear. (The pictured dress is actually a junior's large from Walmart, but it is about the most comfortable thing ever!)

Stretch marks: Notta one. Thank you, genetics!

Sleep: These last few weeks have been rough... I wake 3-4 times a night to use the restroom and usually can't go back to sleep after my 3:30 trip. Oh well.. it gives me time to research my articles and buy crap on Amazon!

Best moment last week: We didn't tell many people about it (because we didn't want to worry everyone), but during our 20-week anatomy scan, our doctor found a small cyst on Little Brother's brain. We were assured that it was probably just part of the growing process and that it should go away on it's own (since I'm not considered to be high risk and our genetics testing all came back normal), but there was a chance it could mean there were chromosomal abnormalities. Brandon and I both kind of decided from the get-go to not worry about it (growing up, my dad always assured me time and again that God would never give you anything He didn't think you could handle, so I knew that if our baby was born with special needs, it was meant to be and we would love him unconditionally), but it was confirmed yesterday that the cyst has disappeared and that baby looks healthy all around!

Movement: He's still a mover (and still does it the most whenever Jax and I lay down to read or Jax jabbers for a long period of time)!

Food cravings/aversions: On the cravings front, mostly just fruit and fruit flavored candy.

Gender: Little Brother!

Labor signs: No and it can stay that was for another 15 weeks.

Belly button - in or out? When I wake up after nap, it looks like it may pop, but so far it's stayed in.

What I miss: Aunt Millie :(

What I am looking forward to: Having the buying/selling/moving process completed at the beginning of next month!

19, 20, 21, & 22 Week Bumpdate

2016-06-27T03:00:00.000-07:00

Yeah, my blogging game is really, really weak... sorry, S.B.B. (who we are now referring to as "Little Brother.") Last week, we put in our first offer on a new home and had it ACCEPTED, resulting in us having to put the home we are in now on the market that same day... between back-to-back showings, being essentially homeless, and then the Father's Day fall (more on that in a sec), things have been pretty chaotic. The good news is that we had ELEVEN offers on our home and were under contract within 3 days, but now the stress that comes with packing begins.

Anyway, back to the fall. Two weekends ago, my sweet great aunt let us crash in her guest room since our house was being shown all weekend. That Sunday morning (Father's Day) I was woke up at 7:20 from a phone call from Brandon -- who had just left for work -- saying that as soon as he opened the door, my aunt's dog ran out. Still being half asleep, I grabbed my phone and shoes and darted outside and for the first time in my LIFE, wasn't looking down as I walked. Long story short, I slipped on some cotton from a nearby cottonwood tree, fell really hard on my knees, completely shattered my iPhone screen, AND landed on my stomach. I wasn't exactly sure what to do at this point (since the dog was still missing), so I turned around to head back into the house... luckily, my mom was in the bathroom when I walked in, so I told her the dog ran away and that I'd fallen, so she went out trying to find him. Around this time is when it finally occurred to me that I had landed HARD on my stomach, so I began feeling around and lightly pushing in hopes of feeling a kick or a wiggle. Nothing.

About one minute later, both Brandon and my mom walked into the house (with the dog, thank goodness) and I broke down because I couldn't feel the baby. Brandon and I then went into the bathroom, where he tried calling my OB, but since it was a Sunday, the office was closed. That's when we made the decision to just get up and go to the ER down the street. Fortunately, Jackson was still asleep during all of this, so my awesome parents stayed back at the house to watch him for us.

We were the only people at the ER that morning, so as soon as we walked in (all while I'm choking back tears), we had our own room and were seen by a doctor. It took awhile for them to find Little Brother's heartbeat (scariest. thing. ever -- and even when they did find it, they didn't bother telling us! They kept saying it was mine we were hearing), but once I found out they had it, I broke down in relief. Since they have an on-call ultrasound technician, we had to stay in the room and wait awhile, but were fortunately kept busy by both HGTV and by looking at new phones for me.

Once the ultrasound tech arrived, things got better and better -- Little Brother looked PERFECT, I was showing no signs of early labor, and I was assured that everything looked great. Earlier, the doctor had recommended we go into my regular hospital for a 4-hour monitoring, but after being reassured by the ultrasound tech that everything looked great (and that they were just going to do the same thing at the hospital), Brandon and I talked about forgoing in order to get home to Jax. When the doctor came back to the room, I asked her if she thought it was really necessary, to which she seemed offended and answered yes.

At this point, L.B. was kicking like mad and I wanted nothing more than to get back to Jax, so I walked out into the main area to nicely tell the doctor that we just wanted to get home to our son and that everything felt great. I know this will sound like an exaggeration, but I swear it isn't: the bully, shattered-ego doctor gave me the nastiest look I have ever seen and told me "Fine. But if you go into an early labor or miscarry, that is on you, not me," and continued to rudely tell me that I had to sign release papers refusing her professional opinion. I was shocked. I wasn't exactly sure what to say at this point, so I just told her "Way to make me feel like a terrible mother," and walked away. The nurse (who was sitting next to the doctor during all of this) ran after me and actually apologized for how rude the doctor was and I told her it was fine and that I just wanted to go.

After returning to my aunt's house, seeing Jax and getting him ready for church with my parents, changing out of my pajamas, and brushing my teeth, we decided to head over to my regular hospital (since they were expecting us anyway). I was hooked up to the monitors for about 30 minutes before the doctor came in and told me it wasn't necessary for me to be there in the first place (since I already had the ultrasound at the ER, everything looked great, and the simple fact that they don't recommend the monitoring until after 24 weeks), which resulted in me being even more annoyed with the ER doctor.

(You can bet that later that day I sent an email to the administration and filled out their survey -- you don't tell a pregnant woman who is already shaken up that she's a bad mother!)

And that, my friends, was one Father's Day that we will never forget! If you are still reading, thanks! If not, I understand... but here's my regular bumpdate anyway:

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I haven't been to the doctor in a few weeks now, but I'm guessing about 15 lbs.

Maternity clothes: No, but I really, really need to! One of my good friends (who is also pregnant) recommended checking Zulilly for their flowy and forgiving tops, so I plan to do that this afternoon.

Stretch marks: I thought I saw a few the other night, but it was just indentations from my shorts.

Sleep: Not too bad! I still wake a few times to use the restroom, but can usually get back to sleep right away *knock on wood.*

Best moment last week: Best moment in the last four weeks? Probably all the family time we've been getting with my parents (and great aunt, who is still here!) and my mom's and my Vegas trip.

Movement: All. the. time. I can especially feel him whenever Jax and I read or when Jax starts jabbering non-stop :)

Food cravings/aversions: None of the above... I just like to eat!

Gender: Little Brother!

Labor signs: Nope!

Belly button - in or out? In, but the other day it looked like it may pop.

What I miss: Fitting into my regular clothes and not being exhausted by the end of each day.

What I am looking forward to: Brandon leaves for a Vegas trip with a few of his buddies next week, so Jax and I are taking our own little trip to my parents!

Carol & Annie Do Vegas (Again)!

2016-06-08T03:00:00.000-07:00

A few months ago, I was laying around dreaming of future vacations and remembered how much fun my mom and I had when we went to Vegas in 2013 when I was pregnant with Jackson... after shooting her a quick text, we had a weekend decided and booked our plane tickets the next week. Once again we had the BEST time in Vegas and had a blast eating our hearts out, seeing shows, and shopping until we dropped. Here is a quick picture recap of our "Annie's pregnant again so let's go to Vegas to eat a bunch of food and see some shows" trip:

Since the buffet at Paris is our favorite place to eat, we decided to go ahead and give them and their rooms a try -- absolutely GORGEOUS and the beds were super comfortable! (Since our flight arrived at 7 am, we shopped a bit, grabbed breakfast, checked in at 10 am, and basically spent the rest of the morning and afternoon sleeping and relaxing in our lovely room.)

I think I've explained it before, but ever since visiting in 2011, we have always taken a picture with this statue at Harrah's for my Aunt Judy -- since there were no nice looking employees around to take our picture, this awkward selfie (of me -- mom looks cute!) had to suffice.

First night = Menopause the Musical!

The most important part of the trip: the food.

We spent practically all of Day 2 shopping, so I didn't feel so bad eating my weight in rich foods.

Second Night = Paul Zerdin (the ventriloquist who won last season's America's Got Talent.)

Before retiring to our room, sharing a sandwich, watching Dateline, and doing foot rubs, we did a little more shopping and chocolate tasting at the divine Hexx.

Since Brandon has Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays off, we took advantage and flew out early Thursday morning and came back Saturday afternoon. The trip was way too short (as vacations tend to be) but we had such a fun and memorable time that I will treasure forever!

Can't wait to do it again when we're expecting Baby #3 ;)

That Kid! (Volume 5)

2016-06-01T03:00:00.000-07:00

As I stated in yesterday's bumpdate, time just hasn't been on my side when it comes to blogging! We have been so very busy visiting family, playing, reading Curious George (over and over and over), and getting the house ready to sell that I have had no time to even sit down and write Jackson's 2 year 5 month update. Anyway, Jax is napping (and I'm miraculously not) so I figured now is the time to gush about this past month with our little cutie!

We had a few rainy days so I broke out the Play-Doh... and he's refused to put it away!

~Jackson had his third ever dentist visit this month and did so well! (If you need a recommendation for an excellent pediatric dentist in north Denver, shoot me a message.) She said all of his teeth looked great but noticed that his top jaw may be a little wider than the bottom, which could be the cause to his nighttime mouth breathing. Anyway, she said to bring it up at his next well-check (and have them check his tonsils since he's prone to having larger ones) but said everything checked out otherwise! Since he didn't have any cavities, he even got to add his name to the special tree :) The sad news from the visit? He has four remaining molars that are starting to come in at once...

~I swear that I'm going to write a full post on our Bismarck trip, but will just write this little tease in the meantime. We had SO much fun visiting Brandon's grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins in Bismarck last month. Between playing at Great Grandpa's house, on the Welch farm, and eating his little heart out, he had the best time! One of many heart melt moments was the way he acted around his little cousin, Emilia (pictured) -- he's never been too close to a baby before and loved waving at her and standing over her smiling.

~Jax has become a book FIEND and I love it! However, I wish he would part with the original Curious George book... he makes insists we read it at least once before nap and then again before bedtime. If anyone is interested in having me recite it to them, let me know. (This is a picture of him sleeping on the plane -- it has nothing to do with reading but is still cute!)

~One of the many perks of being from a small town is the fact that the everyone knows one another... case in point: my dad was asked by our hometown Boy Scout leader if he would enter his old "I Love Lucy" pinewood derby car into their upcoming race (he's an engineer and designed it for me to race back when my brother was a Boy Scout). Anyway, my dad let me know the race was coming up and asked if we'd like to come which was a BIG yes since Jackson love cars. Brandon ended up designing a car for Jax to paint/race last minute and he had the best time -- he even got a trophy that he wouldn't let go of for days (pictured)!

17 & 18 Week Bumpdates

2016-05-31T03:00:00.000-07:00

Okay, I swear that I'm trying to make the time to blog... but these past few weeks have been even crazier than usual :/ Like I always say, *hopefully* things will slow down soon, but who knows if that will happen... ugh, too busy! Anyway, I wanted to make it a point to get both this and Jacksie's next update written this week and figured I'd start with my bumpdate because it would be shorter and easier, ha! Here is what S.B.B. and I have been up to the last two weeks.

Sorry... making the bed, cleaning the mirror, and picking things up was just too much to ask!

How far along: 16 weeks, 4 days

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I had a regular doctor's appointment last week and weighed in at 149, bringing me to a 12 lb. weight gain.

Maternity clothes: I splurged on a few maxi skirts (pictured) and am kicking myself for not doing it sooner! They are so comfortable and forgiving... I was told by many that I'd gain faster/show earlier with this second baby and they weren't kidding!

Stretch marks: Nada.

Sleep: Eh... I still get up at least once a night to use the restroom and have about a 50/50 chance of immediately falling back asleep... we FINALLY got Jax back into his own bed at night too which has been a comfortable blessing for all! (More room = happy mamma!)

Best moment last week: It has actually been a very bittersweet week. My amazing 96-year-old Great Aunt Millie (who only lives a few blocks away from us) was given a few days to live so we've been over there daily entertaining her (with Mr. Personality, Jax) and visiting. The initial diagnosis was a week and a half ago and she's still going strong -- and still as feisty as ever -- so we've been enjoying this special time with her.

Movement: Not really... but I can feel those weird little hardening/softening of the uterus contractions a few times a day so it's easier to tell where he is.

Food cravings/aversions: Aside from fruit, no real cravings... we've just been overeating!! (My parents have been staying the night at Millie's this week and we go out/order in almost every night.)

Gender: BOY!!!

Labor signs: No, thank goodness!

Belly button - in or out? In.

What I miss: Being ahead on work... ha!

What I am looking forward to: Mom and I leave for Vegas early Thursday morning :D

15 & 16 Week Bumpdates

2016-05-16T03:00:00.000-07:00

I'm about a week and a half late posting my 15 week bumpdate... and about 1/2 week late posting my 16 week bumpdate... so I figured I would just combine the two into one rockin' post! We spent all of last week visiting Brandon's extended family in Bismarck and since returning home, we have been busy cleaning and slowing preparing our house to sell (more on that later). Anyway, it's been an eventful couple of weeks here, so let's get bumpin'!

Please ignore my face and note the adorable sleeping toddler and kitty in the background!

How far along: 16 weeks, 4 days

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I had my 16 week checkup on Friday and weighed in at 147 (which is 10+ lbs from my pre-pregnancy weight)... I am almost 94% sure that a lot of that weight gain came from all the delicious foods we ate in Bismarck...

Maternity clothes: No, but everything continues to feel tighter and tighter.

Stretch marks: Nope.

Sleep: I was shocked by how well I slept in Bismarck! Brandon, Jax, and I all shared a full-size bed and honestly, it's the best I've slept in months! (I think we were so exhausted by the end of each day that we all crashed hard.) Now that we're home, I'm sleeping okay and am maybe getting up to use the restroom once or twice a night.

Best moment last week: Finding out that S.B.B. is a BOY!!! Brandon's sweet aunt threw us a gender reveal during a family get together so we could all find out together -- it was so fun! Full post coming soon :)

Movement: There have been a few times now where I've thought I felt a kick, but I'm pretty sure it was just gas bubbles. (Sorry for the TMI, but if you've ever been pregnant, you know exactly what I'm talking about!)

Food cravings/aversions: No aversions this week, but I'm finally begging to crave veggies again (mainly in the form of relish trays with lots of ranch dressing)!

Gender: BOY!!!

Labor signs: No and hopefully it stays that way for another 22 weeks or so!

Belly button - in or out? In.

What I miss: The North Dakota bunch.

What I am looking forward to: Mom's and my big Vegas getaway in a few weeks!