it's all happening!

24 Months

2012-01-31T11:55:00.000-08:00

Dear Annie,

Well, here we are, Miss Annie - we've reached the end of the line with these official monthly letters - and if how today's photo shoot went is any indication, not a moment too soon ;) I might still try to coerce you into sitting with Raggedy Ann on your birthdays now, and hopefully in a year you are much more receptive to bribery!

We had your 2 year well child visit yesterday, and you checked out just fine - still a peanut at 32.25 inches (14%) and 24lbs, 13oz (26%). Which means that strictly according to height and weight, you'd basically still fit in your INFANT car seat - ha! Zero concerns about your development in any way, and you didn't even seem to mind too much when you got a finger prick! This monthly letter is going to be a long one, because I feel like I have to get in ALL the details before these letters stop!

In the last month, your ideas of how your life should go just get more and more pronounced. You have developed some STRONG opinions - not the pink shirt, MONKEY SHIRT! No brown shoes, PINK ONES! No bow, ponytail! Usually with some immediate whines. We are trying to teach you to ask nicely for things, and you usually will when reminded - "Please, daddy milk!" Sometimes your Dad and I are truly baffled as to where you even get the idea that you CAN do certain things - but it's all about you testing your boundaries - usually it's just funny to us and we have to refrain from laughing most of the time during your tantrums! Your favorite phrase still seems to be "No, I'll do it" and more and more we hear that one about everything - putting on a diaper, brushing your own teeth, putting your clothes on, etc. We have been trying to be better about letting you at least try for awhile and waiting until you ask for help before doing it completely for you every time. Often, when you are in kind of a cranky mood, for some reason your Dad greatly enjoys pushing your buttons and making you even angrier - such as by saying that all your toys are his, or holding something JUST out of your reach. I suspect you will get him back for this tenfold in, oh...... 11 years or so.

Other times, you can be as laid back as they come - it seems that a lot of times when you are around other kids, especially when there aren't a bunch of adults observing closely and stepping in, you'll all figure things out yourselves and find a way to play together happily. With a lot of toys, except for new ones and your absolute favorites, you are willing to share still, especially if a kid asks you for the toy and doesn't just grab it. Adults, and especially your loving parents, bring out your whiny side BIG TIME.

This month brought a love for your stuffed animals, finally - before you could take them or leave them - now you ask for your bunny frequently, and like your stuffed animals to be just so in your bed. You have tons of them, so I'm glad you are enjoying them now! You mostly still rely on sucking your thumb while touching your belly button with the other hand for comfort though - you resort to it nearly immediately when you are sad, tired or frustrated.

You got a brand new bed this month, and took to it better than we could have hoped! You are still adjusting to figuring out that there isn't anything there to hold you in, but you have never once asked to get back in your crib despite it being in the same room. You also typically stay in your bed until we come to get you - lately you've been waking up and say "DADDY! Open the DOOR!" As soon as we get in there, you immediately ask to "play?" which is obviously your favorite thing to do.

As with any toddler, playing is your primary activity all day - you love your babies, and love all of your bags - you carry them around with you everywhere, and put random things inside of them. You loved playing with the brand new kitchen you got for your birthday today, and setting the table, pouring "coffee", and prepping soup. You bustle around all day long from one thing to another - rarely getting into too much trouble or getting into anything you shouldn't - just playing with various things and moving on to new things. You have started building more with your legos, and still have an intense love for all types of tiny animals. Singing is something you do more often now, and with some actual words too - the melodies rarely change, but you sing quite a few songs, and sometimes ask to play "pocket of rosies" with us :)

If I am in the kitchen doing ANYTHING, you pull over a chair to "watch??? WATCH??" and "help" me do whatever I'm doing - you LOVE watching/helping me bake most of all, but even something as simple as making toast or filling a cup with milk are worthy of watching, apparently. I love how much you try to imitate me and hope that I am someone worthy of imitation! My personal favorite for some reason is when you "help" me put in my contacts and pretend to put yours in as well.

Books are still a hit with you, but not quite as much as months past. You can fill in more and more words to the stories we read to you regularly. This month, you picked out a book of nursery rhymes frequently, and My New Baby and You and Me - books about having a little sibling. I have hopes that you will adjust fairly well to having a new sibling, but I'm not kidding myself that there won't be any bouts of jealousy. You had some adjustment time even with the new baby at daycare, but now you love her - so hopefully with time, you will come to love your little brother as well! Sometimes I do get a tiny bit sad thinking about how much your world will be rocked when your baby brother shows up - just because there is no real way to prepare you. But that is mostly a good thing in my book - in a few weeks, you honestly won't even remember what life was like before him! You have been QUITE a lucky little lady to get so much attention the past few years as the oldest child, and first grandchild on both sides - I know you won't realize that until far later in life!

Eating and drinking has been much more frustrating this past month - especially on weekdays you really don't eat much of dinner. With VERY few exceptions, we just offer you what we're eating for dinner, and if you don't eat it, you don't eat. Sadly, this doesn't excuse us from you trying to get something else or sometimes throwing a tantrum because you don't like what you see! We usually don't give you snacks on weekends at all, and unsurprisingly, you eat like a champion then. Most of the time, you seem to love soup, anything in a tortilla, and meat. You would eat fruit all day long if we let you, and are still a huge fan of smoothies. You love to help your dad make them, and put the handfuls of spinach in (consequently, you think any leaf is "pinach"). You don't drink much, which I try not to worry about - I'm not sure how much you drink at daycare, but on a day at home you MIGHT have one sippy cup of liquid over the course of an entire day. To my knowledge, you've only had milk and water, and juice maybe 3 times total - you did drink quite a bit more water in the summer, so I guess you just aren't as thirsty lately!

As much as you can be a sassy little ..... toddler... you also are quite kind. If you even hear another kid crying, you are quick to offer a hug - even to a stranger. We had to restrain you from going to another little boy in the doctor's waiting room and giving him a hug when you heard him crying. You usually say "Sad... what happened? Hug?" You aren't quick to offer hugs, as the girls at daycare well know because you refuse them almost every day when they ask for a hug goodbye (but you always remember to give Susan a hug, even if that means SLOWLY going back down the stairs and going over to her) - but if someone is truly sad (or pretending to be sad, as your Dad often does) you will always give them a hug. If you yourself are upset, you also request hugs and kisses frequently.

These first two years have been a blur - the days can be long, but the years fly by. I think of where we were 2 years ago - with this tiny newborn who couldn't even focus her eyes, and 2 parents without a clue what they'd just done to their easy lives. If only we could have known then what we know now - that our lives would just keep getting better and better with each passing day - and that even if we didn't immediately fall in love with you the second you were born, that one day the love we felt for you would be so overwhelming that it wasn't even something we could comprehend before. You have grown into a beautiful, funny, gentle and kind little girl. Often I look at you and truly cannot believe how lucky we are.

Happy 2nd birthday, Annie! You'll always be my baby girl!

Love, Mom

****

Outtakes from this, the last monthly photoshoot :)

I asked to take a picture with you and Raggedy Ann - so you got THIS specific chair for her.

Happy enough to be alone

This is what happened when I tried to put Raggedy Ann next to you - "NO, Ann over THERE"

Right before you LAUNCHED yourself out of the chair

The only way we got a successful photo was to tell you to put a ponytail in Raggedy Ann's hair

One last "So big" for your Dad :)

36 Weeks

2012-01-30T09:40:00.000-08:00

Another shot with my not-so-cooperative daughter :) Oh well, at least she was IN the picture, in her adorable birthday dress, at her party! The fact that she WOULD. NOT. put that dumb cup down or look at the camera is just representative of her 2-ness :)

Compare to 36 weeks, 4 days pregnant with Annie.

Due Date: February 27, 2012. However, Ben and I have both totally fixated on February 24th (a Friday - will be my last day in the office) as our "goal date" :) Ha! It really would be QUITE ideal to start feeling contractions at, say, 4pm as I am leaving work, and have a nice quick labor and deliver later that night - take advantage of the weekend so we could have his full week off at home instead of the first half in the hospital like last time :) Ah yes. Because life so often works out exactly according to plan, right?? That also was the same gestation (?) that I was when I delivered Annie - 39 weeks, 4 days... and obviously everything will go exactly the same way it did last time :)

Weight Gain: right around 30lbs

Symptoms: Just general aches and pains - nothing else. My back hurts a lot, and I just feel really, really huge. I know I am very lucky to not experience many of the typical 3rd trimester symptoms... but I am still getting to the point of being ready to be done already because I'm uncomfortable and sore pretty much all the time.

What's different this time: Uhh.... nothing really in terms of symptoms. I feel WAY huger this time but looking back, I guess I was huge last time too. I do take comfort in looking at my belly pics from last time and seeing that in looks at least, it didn't seem like my belly got that much bigger after this point.... we'll see if that holds true this time too.

Cravings/Aversions: Still sweets, and it is still gross how much of them I eat, and how much sugar I need in things like coffee to like it. I need to cleanse myself at some point, but..... uh, not now :)

Sleep: Ugh - frustrating and really not happening. Plus, the last few nights Annie has cried quite a few times, and fallen out of her bed a few times (very sad when that happens!), so that makes it even harder. I now typically need to pee 2x a night, which involves going downstairs. If I don't time my bathroom trips well, the 2nd time is often so close to when I actually need to get up that it's almost not worth it so I just lay there for 45 minutes to an hour needing to go but not wanting to actually get up yet. Dumb.

I am loving: being fairly busy - January is usually a boring month, but it's been good to have a lot of things going on - and fun things at that! Lots of hanging out with friends - including last minute plans with my 2 "still pregnant" friends who should be having their babies ANY DAY NOW :) (Especially Molly... due last Wednesday... come on, child, time to come out! Oh well - at least we got in a photoshoot with the neighbor women because of his tardiness) And of course, lots of birthday activities for my baby girl this weekend!

Allison, 13 weeks; me, 35 weeks, 4 days; Molly, 40 weeks, 2 days

I miss: being comfortable... ever.

I am looking forward to: lots more fun this week - Annie's 2 year well child visit tonight (always fun to see how much she HASN'T grown ;), her birthday tomorrow and unveiling our present to her (a kitchen! I think she will love it), and then prep for a baby shower for Kate this next weekend.

I'm spazzing about: I think there was something... but now it's gone. So I guess it must not have been that big of a deal, huh? I have been feeling more positive this week, so that's good.

Best thing about this week: Celebrating Annie's birthday with our families yesterday! It was so much fun - Annie had a blast, and it was the perfect size gathering to not be TOO overwhelming (but was still mega exhausting for Ben and I for some reason - mostly having to pack all the stuff we needed to go to my parent's house - since we can't even fit just our families in our house). I wasn't really stressed about it, and actually had fun baking 3 cakes on Saturday, thanks to Ben removing Annie from the house for awhile to go swimming - I will post a few pics of that here because they are adorable and need to be on the blog for posterity.

Seriously. How cute is this?!

Simon and Mia were there to share in the fun

Only slightly blue from being cold :) But still wanted to get back in, of course!

Milestones: Last week before I'm full-term? Is that a milestone?

Movement: Still a crazy boy. My family got to see some insane alien movements in the belly yesterday. Becca (my labor & delivery nurse sister-in-law) felt my belly to determine his position and remarked "What is he DOING in there?" Yes. My thoughts EXACTLY. We surmise that he is currently sunny-side up with his back to my back, giving his legs and arms full range to punch OUT of my belly, thus the alien-like appearance. I will be looking up some things I can do to get him to spin around since I'd like to NOT push out another sunny-side up baby... if at all possible. It wasn't so fun the first time around.

It's a...: boy. Hopefully, at least. Several people have commented this week - "wouldn't it be hilarious if it was a girl?" Eh, this time around especially I really wouldn't care as much, but I think it would especially annoy my mom and sister who have bought him many outfits already :)

Exercise/Diet: I went to prenatal yoga again! Way to go, me! It felt really good and tired me out BIG TIME. I also tried to do a longer skyway walk every day at work, which I'll hopefully be able to continue - it does make a big difference with how I feel at the end of the day.

35 Weeks

2012-01-23T11:32:00.000-08:00

Ben was trying to get Annie to stand the same way I was by saying - "Face mommy's butt." - so thus, here is Annie, staring at my butt, with one sock off, and mardi gras beads on. The tiki torches were for a party Ben hosted on Saturday that had the theme "summer in winter" - so a bunch of guys hung out outside (it was like 10 degrees and windy) drinking and playing yard games. Literally nothing sounds worse to me. Men are very strange creatures.

Compare to 35 weeks, 4 days pregnant with Annie.

Due Date: February 27, 2012. 35 weeks and 35 days to go! I now am telling people I'm due "in a month" - crazy.

Weight Gain: 30 pounds. So that's 5lbs in 2 weeks. I will partially blame that on me wearing my snow boots to my appointment instead of a lighter shoe choice. Apparently last time at this point I was up 27lbs so I guess there's really not much difference. I think my belly size is pretty comparable as well.

Symptoms: Just really tired all the time. Irritable with everyone around me, pretty much. Sorry coworkers!

What's different this time: Not as anxious for the end this time. I don't know if I really was last time either, but while I'm uncomfortable, I'm savoring the calm before the storm much more.

Cravings/Aversions: I really eat far too many sweets. It's kind of disgusting.

Sleep: Do I sleep? Sometimes it seems like I don't at all between bathroom breaks and changing positions. I manage to get through the days, so whatever.

I am loving: This last month as a family of 3. Going out to eat and running errands as a family and knowing pretty much what to expect. Having 12 hours "off duty" (while Annie sleeps) every day.

I miss: Having a lap for Annie to sit on. It's pretty much gone now. I miss hugging her so tight without a huge belly in the way.

I am looking forward to: Annie's birthday! A low key celebration but I know she'll love it, and her dress is SUPER ADORABLE (thanks Mom!)

I'm spazzing about: I've been spending far too much mental energy thinking about things that can go wrong at this stage in the game, due to a few stories that recently popped up. I need to visualize positive outcomes and read all the good stories, because obviously there are many. There were a few times this week I heard about people due near me or much later that had their babies too soon and have to be in the NICU. Then stories of late term pregnancy loss. Just not fun topics to consider at all. I wouldn't say I'm spazzing about it, but my mind wanders and then I find myself near tears in a company meeting. Not good.

Best thing about this week: A few great moments! The biggest was at my midwife appointment where I found out baby boy is now head down, and I was measuring right on (I had the same fundal measurement 2 appts in a row - 31cm - now I was up to 34m) - so that was a huge relief!

Had a nice dinner out with some of my mom friends - I really don't think we've gotten together without our kids..... ever? So it was fun to.... uh, talk about our kids..... without them around for once :) Toddlers/babies sure do get in the way of conversation sometimes!

Also had a baby shower for my friend Allison, who is due one month after me! (Please note the size difference in our bellies. Sigh. I have too many very small friends :) We played pin the sperm on the egg and I was the winner - ha!

Milestones: 35 days left. OMG. Still get panicky when I think about actually having this baby. I really don't think that will ever change.

Movement: Okay, I know I sound like a broken record. But this kid? Is nuts. Seriously insane. From the moment I got out of bed this morning, until right now (1pm), I have felt him moving - literally all day. Sometimes it's less violent than others, but he's always shifting, rolling, kicking, moving moving moving. I wrote last time about Annie being similar and she's not some crazy mover, so we'll see - but wow. It's to the point where if I even went 15 minutes without feeling anything I'd probably drive myself to the doctor's office to make sure he was okay.

It's a...: Boy - and yet ANOTHER friend just found out on Friday that she's having a boy too! So that brings the count to 9 boys, 2 girls, 1 unknown (not finding out) and 1 too early to find out among my pregnant "real life" friends. 2012 will be the year of the boy around these parts!

Exercise: Registered for prenatal yoga at 8:30am on Sunday, but unfortunately Ben had a LITTLE too much fun at his little "summer in winter" party on Saturday night and didn't make it back in time for me to go... so yeah. No real exercise although I'm going to try to take more skyway walks now.

I was trying to just crouch down and hug Annie while she stood, but she's my little copycat :)

Funny Girl

2012-01-20T18:36:00.000-08:00

Annie is so entertaining lately - and challenging too, of course, but even in her meltdown moments, which are usually over something like the "wrong" shoes, or Ben using a blanket that OBVIOUSLY SHOULD NOT BE USED, you really just can't help but laugh. I've taken quite a few videos in the past few weeks, and I find them mostly hilarious so I wanted to share a few here.

We had tacos one night - previously we've just given Annie the taco filling in a bowl with cheese, but after she saw us eating with tortillas, she demanded that - and we realized that she will apparently eat ANYTHING wrapped in a tortilla. Amazing discovery! She was so hilarious taking bites of her taco and demanding it be re-wrapped.

The other day, Annie was singing to her baby - she had been doing this for at least 5 minutes before I even started recording, of course, but I luckily got in some good "songs" - she usually has only a few recognizable words and every song seems to have the same melody, but pretty cute nonetheless! I especially love how she claps for herself at the end of the songs.

The other day it was Adelaide's 3rd birthday - so we had to send her a little birthday greeting. After saying happy birthday to Adelaide, apparently it was also important to wish a happy birthday to her cup and fork as well :)

EVERY time I go to put in my contacts and Annie is in the bathroom with me, she does this (well usually she just "puts in her contacts" with no random chatting), so I had Ben come in and record her tonight - so crazy what they are observing!

Last but CERTAINLY not least is Annie's hilarious reaction to eating mustard - she did this at least 20 times tonight, and would have the same dramatic reaction each time... and then go back for more. Ha!

34 Weeks

2012-01-16T06:16:00.000-08:00

From our family session yesterday with Kate! Oh my, wrangling a 2 year old with a mind of her own for a photo shoot is a struggle. We got some cute ones, but gone are the days when you can just walk to the park for like 30 minutes and get exactly what you want! Now we just hope that some of her yelling or crying faces look like smiles in photos ;) ha!

Compare to 34 weeks, 4 days pregnant with Annie.

Due Date: February 27, 2012

Weight Gain: Yes

Symptoms: Starting to feel like each day is a workout - and all I'm doing is sitting on an office chair. It's pathetic, I know. Simple tasks feel very overwhelming - things like wrangling Annie and all her craft projects (2 per day, every day!) out of daycare and into her carseat - especially if it's snowing or freezing and she needs to be carried too. I'm getting up sometimes more than once a night now to go to the bathroom which is annoying. Once is fine and I've done that pretty much this whole pregnancy, but twice gets old. Definitely starting to feel just really sore and uncomfortable and gross... and yes, I know it gets worse. Yay!

What's different this time: The feeling of being over it has come far too soon. I am not TRULY over it, but just how blah I already feel is sad. I'm sick of nearly all my clothes and that doesn't help. Also, didn't ever need to think about trying to turn Annie - she was head down from pretty early on. Continuing on with the cat/cow poses and the daily inversions. Annie thinks they are ABSOLUTELY HILARIOUS and when I get down she says "Annie do it!" and gets right to work (with a little assistance).

Cravings/Aversions: Eating normally still.

Sleep: Not good this week - was still kind of sick, and so was Ben so he was making annoying noises all night too. Plus the aforementioned peeing twice a night - which also includes at least 20 minutes of debating with myself if I REALLY have to go... or can I just wait...

I am loving: how smoothly the transition to Annie's toddler bed has gone so far. Really a non-issue - naps and night sleep have been exactly the same. Yup, it's only been a few days but I love that at least this part was easy! I am also LOVING that I have today off - after a long stretch of short weeks, a full 5 day work week was killer.

I miss: being able to pick up Annie without any struggle - it's not so bad but the up and down gets tiring especially if I also have to carry a bag or anything else.

I am looking forward to: an extra day off, midwife appointment on Friday to find out if this kid has moved his head down yet, baby shower for my friend Allison, and a dinner out with a few of my favorite ladies, without our kids for once!

I'm spazzing about: Nothing at the moment - LOTS got done on our list this week - I just needed to MAKE a list and start cranking through items.

You already saw that Annie moved to the toddler bed, and I mentioned that the closet is now cleaned out, and so is the dresser, making room for baby boy's clothes. In doing this, I went through all Annie's clothes returned from Becca and picked out all the gender neutral items (and she discovered my psychosis for remembering every single outfit she's ever worn and asking about missing items... despite not even having a 2nd girl - ha! Sorry Becca ;). I also have all the hand-me-downs I got for Annie ready to return to their owners and and have Annie's stuff nearly ready to pass down to Laura. Phew! Annie has a blast "helping" me sort through clothes - which consists of mostly her attempting to put everything on herself.

Ohh how I loved this onesie - one of my favorite photos of Annie ever was her wearing it so it just always makes me smile!

Seriously. That tiny tuft of hair on the top of her head... gets me every time!

I sorted through all the clothes we have for baby boy and wow - we are seriously completely set. I counted nearly 30 (THIRTY) newborn or 0-3 month sleepers. Seriously. Also, ~30 short sleeved onesies in newborn or 0-3 month sizes - which I'm sure my child born in the middle of winter will make good use out of ;) So big shout out to Becca and Jen for their hand-me-downs! And of course to my mom and Liz for getting baby boy a FEW cute new outfits of his own :) Again, Annie loved this process.

What a mess!

Best thing about this week: Getting so much done! I feel much more relaxed now with a few bigger items checked off.

Milestones: Outgrowing some of my maternity clothes. Always a sad day.

Movement: Yup - and now when Annie sees me kind of push my belly and make a face, she says "baby moving?" Ha! Sometimes it seems like she actually is getting the concept that there is a baby in there, but I'm doubtful. Probably more that she just repeats what other people say to me.

It's a...: boy

Exercise/Diet: Nothing good happened this week. Well, diet was fine, but no formal exercise. Going to yoga tomorrow at least.

Damn, I was going for thoughtful. Name that movie! :)

Such a big girl...

2012-01-14T12:07:00.000-08:00

This has already been a huge weekend for Annie! Last night when we got home from work, we showed her the changes that had occurred in her room...

This is the best "before" I could find:

And this is now - I need to take a better one, but her bed is where her crib was, and her (well, now her brother's) crib is where the glider was... the glider is now in front of the window between her closet and her crib, for those of you who are familiar with her room. Ben took off the closet door and I organized the closet so her clothes hamper could fit in there. Still needs some work!

Annie was immediately excited, and said "what happened???" - she saw her bed being assembled the night before so she had at least seen it already. I had also tried to tell her a few times during the week that she'd be sleeping in her new!!! bed!!! on Friday. We told her that the crib was now for the baby (to which she did once say "No mine!!" and got an angry look on her face while sort of hugging the crib) and that the bed was for Annie - after telling her that a few times she seemed to get it - she'd point at the crib and say baby, or her brother's name (or sometimes Lexie, the baby at daycare's name), and then at the bed and say Annie's bed. She played on her bed for quite awhile last night, putting everything on there, climbing up and down. Ben got busy bolting the dresser to the wall (the bookshelf was already secured) JUST IN CASE. She's not a climber or really one to get into anything, but you never know!

She picked these sheets. They don't really "match" but they are her favorites so whatever :)

She was really excited to go to bed - after a meltdown about taking a bath, she seemed to want to rush through the rest of our routine to just get to her bed. We put her in there and covered her up and hoped for the best! This is yet another time when a video monitor is seriously the best investment ever - obviously I know you can survive without it, but it was so nice to see that she never even tried to get out or even sat up. It seemed to take her a bit longer to fall asleep, but once she was asleep, she literally barely moved at all until morning... at 8am!

We had already checked her a few times by then, but that's when she was sitting up - she laid back down a few times and was silent... so we went in there and she played some more on her bed and did get down on her own. I'm very curious to see when she decides to actually get down on her own when we aren't in the room. Thankfully, she can't open her door yet so she can't have free reign of the house just yet! I'm sure that the first night she'll go crazy with her new freedom will be right around the first night we are home with her brother - ha! Oh fun...

After all that excitement, we bundled Annie up to go finally do something about her hair situation :) Which really ended up being not much - just a trim, because I don't want to deal with bangs and still wanted the ponytail/pigtails option, but at least now it's all one length! We went to Kid's Hair, and they did a good job - they are clearly very experienced with this - little TVs at each station, and suckers at the ready when kids start to fuss, which Annie did as soon as she sat down. The lollipop went in her mouth and then she was pretty much sedated - seriously she barely made an expression or movement the entire time (which was maybe 10 minutes) - the best part is that they put a little braid in after each cut - so cute! So that also went really smoothly, but they warned us that the 2nd haircut for some reason is usually worse.

Raw fear in her eyes

Still nervous

She looks like such a big girl here... makes me almost sad!

hahahaha - she didn't break this face until we got to the coffee shop and gave her a muffin to entice her to give up the lollipop. At least she had a spinach fruit smoothie before we left!

St. Croix Falls January 6 - 8

2012-01-12T18:47:00.000-08:00

When I was pregnant with Annie, we took a trip during my pregnancy to Portland (don't call it a babymoon or Ben will slap your face!) - I wanted to do something again this time, but since we both traveled quite a bit this summer and fall, I knew it couldn't be anything too far away or expensive. After talking to a few friends (Molly and Kate) who had both stayed at St. Croix River Inn, we decided to book that for a weekend in January. I knew it wouldn't be as picturesque then, but we were pretty busy in the fall so that's what worked! As a bonus, at least we got off-season rates. Thankfully, Annie was well enough on Friday for us to leave her with my parents - a little later than we had planned (we wanted to leave right away in the morning but didn't go until late afternoon).

Our B&B

We chose the Osceola room based primarily on the separate sitting area and fireplace and I was very glad we did. It also had a beautiful view of the river and a patio, but we didn't use that at all. The huge tub was a nice bonus as well. The only thing that would have been nice was a king size bed, but we made do with a queen. We've stayed at a number of B&Bs in the past, and have had excellent experiences at all of them. This was the first one where there wasn't even the option of eating breakfast in the dining room - it was always just served to the individual rooms at a time you specified. This was pretty nice, but meant you were in your room pretty much all the time. I think of the B&Bs we've been to, I liked the breakfasts in Duluth the best, then here, then London and Bruges. We have been very lucky to never have a bad breakfast at all at a B&B! (Not so much LUCK, as my penchant for obsessively researching things and reading hundreds of Trip Advisor reviews, I suppose :)

At the time we booked this trip, I thought I'd want to do a spa day or something, but I'm glad I didn't book anything. We both ended up being kind of sick, so we just hung out, went out to eat to Tangled Up In Blue and Grecco's (where we had a 50% off LivingSocial.Groupon/Crowdcut/whatever deal - bonus! Review up soon), went to a movie and took long baths. It was exactly the weekend I needed! The photos tell the rest of the story here...

Bedtime snack at the B&B - too bad I had already gotten ice cream and couldn't eat it ALL :)

Coffee and pastries, delivered 30 minutes prior to the hot breakfast - we elected to have it delivered at 8:30 and managed to stay in bed until almost that time - a miracle for us who can't sleep in anymore! Yeah, I had been awake since at least 7, but oh well.

Took a walk into "downtown" Osceola - pretty boring in January, it turns out :)

A bonus of it being deserted is that you don't feel dumb taking timer photos

My lunch at a coffee shop

and Ben's

Ha - yup, I brought my teddy bear, since I need to use all available pillows to support myself and still wanted something besides Ben to hold onto :)

The view from our room

At this point, I was taking an epic 2 hour snoring nap - it was awesome. Ben enjoyed his "happy hour" snack alone (but saved half the fruit/crackers/cheese for me!)

Ready to go out to our 6 course dinner that ended up being 3 hours long!

Breakfast on Sunday

2nd course - yummmm this was delicious

And that's all! We packed up right after breakfast so we could get back to our Annie - we may have stayed longer, but even though we were getting good reports of her health, I wanted to see with my own eyes that she was feeling better! It was great to return to this face instead of what we saw last Thursday...

33 Weeks

2012-01-09T10:17:00.000-08:00

Near our B&B along the St. Croix River in Osceola, WI - so yes, we did go! Annie got much better on Friday and seems to just have a lingering cold now.

Compare to 33 weeks, 4 days pregnant with Annie.

Due Date: February 27, 2012

Weight Gain: Up another 3 pounds at the midwife last Friday, so now I'm at about 25 pounds. Might eclipse my weight gain with Annie (31 lbs) a bit, but probably won't go over the recommended 25-35 pounds at least. Just looking at my pic, I feel I'm looking pretty..... large. But I comparing it to last time I guess it's probably about the same. That shirt is just particularly accentuating of the bump.

Symptoms: I wasn't aware that this was a symptom, but looking at Laura's bumpdates from around the same time shows she also had very itchy palms - definitely has been happening to me, mostly at night. Super annoying but not anything that bad. Other than that, just the usual (for me) - out of breath, some back pain but nothing debilitating. Overall still feeling good.

What's different this time: Still easily wearing both wedding rings, they were off this week last time. Not even a hint of a linea negra (I had Ben check, because the underside of my belly is not something I am able to see anymore :). I have been sick a lot more this pregnancy. THANKS GERM-FACTORY TODDLER, for that one :)

Cravings/Aversions: Well, as predicted, I caught Annie's cold last week, so just wanting lots of water, soups, and food that doesn't require much chewing since I can't breathe :) We did go out to 2 really nice dinners this weekend, which was fun, but it was hard to truly enjoy it since tasting things isn't really happening right now.

Sleep: Eh, pretty crappy with the cold. This cold doesn't seem AS bad as the last one I had, thankfully. I took lots of naps this weekend which were awesome.

I am loving: that Annie is feeling better! It is such a relief. Now if Ben and I could follow suit... Also, just continuing to love that our families are so willing to watch Annie for us, even if she is sick. She had a fun weekend with the grandparents - was a perfect angel! Rewarded us for leaving by having about 400 epic meltdowns in the span of a few hours yesterday afternoon though, so clearly she had just been barely holding it together or something :)

I miss: breathing through my nose.

I am looking forward to:We are doing a family/maternity session with Kate this weekend - excited for that! I'm also planning on getting Annie's first hair cut (SOB/exciting!) on Saturday. Should be a relatively low key weekend which will be nice.

I'm spazzing about: Kind of a lot now. People are actually starting to... have their babies. Yowza. Sooo there is a sort of long list of things that need to get done before this kid comes. We have ~7 more weeks so I know that's plenty of time, I just need to get organized and make some lists.

I also am a bit sad each time I see a semi-elaborate 2nd birthday party for a kid because Annie's will be pretty tame this year. Pizza and cake with the family only.... which she will love and that is all that matters. Her 3rd birthday can be a blowout of epic proportions. Because I'm sure I'll be up for that with a 3 and 1 year old, right?!

Last, but CERTAINLY not least, baby boy is still transverse. So I'm starting to do the spinning babies techniques, working on my posture, and trying to remember to do cat/cow yoga poses as per the recommendations from Laura. If he's still not head down by the next appointment, more drastic measures will be taken (chiropractor/acupuncture, etc). I feel like he's still all over the place though. I DEFINITELY am feeling some sort of limbs up in my ribs at times, but also will feel movement out both sides of my belly as well. Because he was head down and is now transverse, I'm still measuring 31cm, which I was at my last appointment - this is explained by his position so hopefully the belly grows by next appointment. It sure seems like it's growing to me though...

Best thing about this week: Our weekend away - it was a delight to be able to just relax, take multiple naps that don't align perfectly with Annie's nap, go to a movie, and enjoy some nice dinners. I'll share more about that in a few days.

Milestones: First baby hiccups, earlier this week! That was a fun one, even if it was at about 4am after a particularly crazy dance party in my uterus.

Also, I got more stranger comments this weekend than the entire rest of this pregnancy or last combined. Ben gets really offended by these which I find hilarious :) "Why are they even TALKING to you? Ugh!" Some of them were super weird. For example - at one of our dinners, I got coffee - the bartender brought it over with a little ceramic container shaped like a bunny of cream and poured it, and said "I brought you the bunny pourer for your cream. You'll see someone else doing that soon!" I just kind of smiled and said "ha, yup" and then about a minute later he came back and said "I meant your child!" Um, yeah dude. That STILL doesn't make sense. WHAT?!? People are so strange. Maybe he was referring to nursing? Or spitting up? I doubt I (or he) will ever know.

Movement: Still crazy, still constant, and still all over the place!

It's a...: boy

Exercise: Just walks through the skyways and a little walk this weekend. Prenatal yoga hasn't been working well with my schedule lately - too many weekend activities going on, and I really do not like going after work because I'm kind of headachy by that point and I miss out on my only time with Annie.

This is my alternative belly pic for the week. Sort of psychotically, I have noticed that I have yet to repeat an outfit for my belly pics this pregnancy. I DID repeat ONE tank top, early on, but wasn't wearing the same bottom part of the outfit, so it wasn't a true repeat :) So now I feel compelled to make it to the end without a repeat. Since this outfit would be a repeat, I used the one above instead. Am I the only one this crazy? Probably :)

Sad Bunk

2012-01-05T17:01:00.000-08:00

I mentioned in my last weekly post that Annie was getting a cold on Monday - she was randomly drooling so much that she needed a bib, and had a runny nose - no other symptoms so I figured it was just a standard cold. Annie has been very healthy, but definitely had her share of colds last winter, and one so far this winter - no big deal.

It got worse as the week went on - she went to daycare fine (with bib!) on Tuesday, but on Tuesday night had a temp of 102, and it remained on Wednesday morning - I think maybe even was up to 103 by then (we have an instant read ear thermometer so I never know exactly how accurate that is). We split the day taking care of her and working half days. Temp went up and down throughout the day, but never was below 100. I gave her some tylenol before her nap after Ben talked to a nurse, and we gave her ibuprofen before bed. Ben went out and got a bunch of sick supplies at Target later because all our meds were from my baby showers and were expired... and he even took Annie! We probably shouldn't have taken her out but this was clearly the highlight of her day. Don't worry - anything she touched after being out and about was wiped down :)

Today was more of the same, still a fever in the morning but went down with drugs and was in relatively good spirits this morning. Less drool, and now with a worse cough - so pretty much normal "cold" progression. I made a preemptive appointment for tomorrow morning, since the nurse said to bring her in if the fever remained for 72 hours... but she felt so hot after her nap today I decided to just move it up to this afternoon instead - turned out to be a good decision!

Nice bib choice by Ben, huh? At least she ate most of this.

This was her first "real" sick visit - I did take her in once right before her 1st birthday because she was waking up like 10x a night and I wanted to rule out an ear infection. She's had a few random fevers, but that's it. We saw a resident, Annie was upset at most of the visit - the resident said it was just a bad cold and that her ears looked "perfect" - but when the doctor came in to check, she was like "Um, you said her ears were good? Maybe you should look again" - yup, double ear infection.

When we got back from the doctor, after giving her the first dose of amoxicillin... We were watching "Wonder Pets" (never seen that one before) and apparently Annie wasn't too much of a fan because she didn't even make it through one 20 minute episode. This has NEVERRRRR happened before, by the way.

So, at least there is SOMETHING we can do to help her - we'll give her the antibiotics, although the doc did say that won't help the fever or anything else, but will help her sleeping and appetite. Although her sleeping has been ok - waking up crying a few times, but nothing major. Of course she hates them so it's a 2 person job to try to get her to actually ingest the correct dosage (so far at least... maybe a few days in she'll learn to love it....??)

I mean really. I know there ARE sadder sights than this, but wow. This is more than I can handle!

Oh, and lets not forget that this is the weekend Ben and I are supposed to go to a nearby B&B for 2 nights... so yeah. It's non-refundable. I decided I can't leave her if she's still like she was tonight - just would be too sad - so I really hope the medicine works in addition to her fever breaking tomorrow! She'll be with my parents, so I know they will take good care of her, but dang... she's just so sad. Which in turn makes me so sad. We put her to bed tonight at like 6:15, after another harrowing dose of ibuprofen and basically no dinner (not like she wanted any anyway). That's about all - just wanted to record Annie's first illness for posterity. Fun for everyone!!

32 Weeks

2012-01-02T11:02:00.000-08:00

Before going out with Nate & Molly for dinner on New Year's Eve - it was almost strange to be out with them with no children to watch after!

Compare to 32 weeks, 4 days pregnant with Annie.

Due Date: February 27, 2012... next month.... yikes!

Weight Gain: Who knows, who cares

Symptoms: Definitely starting to get pretty uncomfortable. I typically sigh loudly or make some sort of "oof" noise every time I get up. Today I randomly felt kind of icky in the stomach area, but I'm hopeful that was just the result of not eating well yesterday.

What's different this time: Still no linea negra, and I haven't noticed any swelling in my fingers yet.

Cravings/Aversions: I'm almost getting sick of excessive sweets now. Starting to crave just normal food. That's not because of pregnancy though, just because of over-indulgence around the holidays!

Sleep: Pretty much the same, which isn't great. I have found some semi-comfortable sleeping positions, so that was nice.

I am loving: seeing all my family and friends - I saw tons of people over the past few weeks and it was really nice. Also loving that I can say I'm having a baby this year!

I miss: my normal clothes - and even being able to fit well into lots of maternity shirts. I swear, all of them could be a few inches longer and that would be just fine with me.

I am looking forward to: our weekend away at a B&B! Of course, Annie definitely got a cold today, so I hope she's feeling better before her time with the grandparents! Thankfully, she's still in good spirits, just leaking a lot :)

I'm spazzing about: this is starting to get real, now... so I'm just trying to make sure we do everything we need to get done before the baby comes. We have made some progress, so that's good! We started making a list of freezer meals we want to make before baby comes... we won't make them until early February, but the reality of this is setting in.

Best thing about this week: Ben had the week off work, and got SO much done - he cleaned out the office, organized and cleaned out the basement, and did a few other smaller things. If only he could just work 20 hours a week for the same salary - he'd be so productive around the house :) It was also nice to have a night out on New Year's Eve - thanks to my in-laws for wanting to take the grandkids every year on that night!

Milestones: Apparently, this is the week of peaked movement...

Movement: ...which CERTAINLY rings true for this little boy! He's barely stopped all week - one day at work I felt him moving around literally ALL DAY LONG. I made Ben just lay his hand on my belly for a long time to get a short feeling of what I experience all day and night! I do like it, of course, but it's starting to even get painful sometimes. Ben was inquiring if there have been any cases of babies actually busting out... like through the uterus and skin. Um, no :) It just feels that way sometimes :) Ben also thinks this kid moves more than Annie did, but apparently I wrote that she was also moving all the time at this stage, so who knows!

It's a...: boy

Exercise: I did prenatal yoga once, and just sitting at my desk all day is sadly starting to feel like a workout...

Diet: Excited to return to normal eating habits!

2011 in Review

2012-01-01T08:36:00.000-08:00

Compare to last year. Last year, I only noticed my blogger friend Amanda (private blog, or I'd link) doing this, but apparently it's all the rage. Who knew?? Since I know many people who aren't big fans of reading "words", I'll also intersperse some of my favorite photos from 2011 in this post.

1. What did you do in 2011 that you’d never done before? I feel I'm reaching for this question, but here we go. Umm... got pregnant with a boy child. Planned a semi-ridiculous in retrospect 1st birthday party. Yeah, this year is seeming pretty lame in comparison with last I guess :) Better luck next year??

2. Did you keep your New Year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year? As I said last year, I don't really make resolutions, but I do feel that I've been keeping up with respecting Annie for who she is and where she's at, which is a big accomplishment with a sometimes frustrating toddler. I definitely want to keep that up as it helps us all remain sane!

3. Did anyone close to you have a child? It's child-bearing time in my circle now, so yes. So many, in fact, that I fear I will miss them if I attempt to list them. The ones that are immediately sticking out to me are Jamie, Christie, Marianne, Maria and Kelley. I'm CERTAIN I've forgotten someone though. The number of friends who are ABOUT to have a child now numbers in the double digits as well.

This group will expand by 5 in the next year.

4. Did anyone close to you die? I wouldn't say I was CLOSE to her, but my great-aunt died a few months ago. It was very sad because she was definitely my Grandma's best friend and she is very lonely with her gone.

5. Where did you travel? Quite a few places, as a matter of fact. Mexico in February with Nate, Molly and Mia - Annie's first (and only, so far) flight and big vacation! San Diego with Lori in March, the cabin a great many times over the summer, Arizona in September with my college ladies, and Wisconsin in October with Ben's family.

6. What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011? Motivation. It was SEVERELY lacking in many areas of my life this past year and that depresses me. I hope it returns someday, in some form at least. I'm hopeful that once my children are a bit more self reliant (as in, can feed themselves and handle most bodily functions on their own) that I can return some mental energy to my professional and personal life.

7. What dates from 2011 will remain etched upon your memory? January 31st, Annie's 1st birthday. I remember many other birthdays but those seem lame to list. Yeah - this really wasn't any sort of milestone year so no dates are sticking out. I don't even remember the date I found out I was pregnant so I guess I can't even list that either!

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Gaining confidence as a mother, and letting go of any shred of guilt I felt about any of the choices I make.

9. What was your biggest failure? Failure is a strong word, and although I'd like to do better in some areas of my life, I don't feel I failed at anything.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury? Nothing major, just puking off and on for approximately 4 months. No big deal. Overall, I am very very thankful for my health.

11. What was the best thing you bought? Treating myself to a very luxurious spa day in Arizona was pretty amazing. I don't recall buying anything significant this year so that probably was the best. I guess I did upgrade my iPhone, which after spending a few months with a 3G (the horror!) felt pretty awesome.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration? I'm sure every year I fill this out, I'll sound like a broken record, but Ben - a million times Ben. He seriously did 99% of the household and parenting work while I was feeling crappy in the first and second trimester of pregnancy and never EVER made me feel even remotely guilty about it. He just does what needs to be done without complaint and usually goes over and above what I'd hoped. He loves Annie and I more than anything and shows it in so many ways. He's the best person I know.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? Commenters on blogs and message boards. Still. Again.

14. Where did most of your money go? Mortgage, I assume. Probably food, and daycare.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? All of Annie's accomplishments - it's been a big year for her, and it was SO amazing to see her go from baby to person in a year's time!

Photo by Kate NG Sommers

16. What song will always remind you of 2011? I guess any Adele song. No one song is really sticking out at me.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you: a) happier or sadder?b) thinner or fatter? c) richer or poorer? a) Happier - I feel much more at peace as a mother and person (not like I wasn't before - but I'm calmer now which to me means happier). b) Haaaaa. WAY fatter :) c) Richer I guess - thanks to Ben, all of our many funds continue to grow - until we have 2 in daycare at least ;)

18. What do you wish you’d done more of? Read books and spent more time outside. I felt crappy for so much of the summer that I didn't really get to enjoy it too much.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of? Surfing the internet mindlessly, which is related to wanting to read more books. If I'm searching for things to read on the internet, just step away. STEP AWAY.

20. How will you be spending Christmas? Done!

21. Did you fall in love in 2011? I fall more in love with Annie and Ben with each passing year, for sure. I should probably say that I fell in love with this little boy in my belly - but while I love him in the protective sense, I won't really fall in love with him or attach until he's on the outside - and if it's anything like Annie, maybe not for a bit even after that. However - it will come - this much I know for sure :)

22. What was your favorite TV program? Oh my gosh. I had two big TV loves this year - first, Friday Night Lights. I get a HUGE thrill anytime someone I know is starting it because they will get to know the joy of watching the show, and the beauty of Tim Riggins. I wish I could go back in time and watch it again for the first time, over and over again. One of the best shows I've ever seen, and the reason that I really want to enter every room and say "Hi, y'all". My other love was Make it or Break it - I laughed, I cried, I loved - and I can't wait for the new season to come out. I haven't watched live TV probably the entire year but there are about 20 shows that I have been told I "must watch" so I guess my maternity leave with little man is filled ;)

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? Nah - I definitely get REALLY WILDLY annoyed and angry at people for very trivial reasons, but I don't actually HATE anyone (in real life at least).

24. What was the best book you read? Did I even read a whole book? I think the ONE book that's sticking out at me is Then Came You by Jennifer Weiner, which I did really love. Thanks to my boss Amy for lending it to me! I guess I should give it back now... since I read it months ago. I also re-read Outlander, which was again awesome - I'm going to try to make it through the whole series this time around... we'll see if I can do it! My new Kindle should make it a bit easier.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery? Against all odds, and I'm still not sure why, but I became a Current lover this year. I think it really was just the lack of commercials that did it. Now I actually recognize some songs, and find myself WANTING to listen to things like Bon Iver. What have I BECOME?!

26. What did you want and get? I wanted to get pregnant and did.

27. What did you want and not get? I want a space to regularly entertain guests, but that's never going to happen here. I do not want for much, that's for sure.

28. What was your favorite film of this year? Totally out of love with movies lately. I liked Something Borrowed and Crazy Stupid Love. Saw Bridesmaids in the theater actually, and that was pretty entertaining.

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I had a great many 30th birthday celebrations this year :) My birthday brunch, family birthday dinner, and then celebrated a bit on my actual birthday. Yay for being 30! I have absolutely no feelings of sadness about turning 30 whatsoever.

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Again, just finding my motivation - mainly professionally and maybe having a hobby other than finding cute outfits for my child. Really though, it was a great year.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2011? I feel I've been keeping it pretty cute despite (or maybe because of?) being pregnant - at least in the last half of the year. I've embraced leggings and boots with dresses and long sweaters (as long as they cover my butt!). I still can be found in a plain colored v neck short sleeve or long sleeve top with jeans the majority of the time I'm not pregnant though.

32. What kept you sane? Ben, my family and friends. Also, having Annie start to really show me and tell me that she loves me has been absolutely amazing.

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Totally don't care about celebrities anymore. Really couldn't even begin to come up with someone for this.

34. What political issue stirred you the most? I've again remained blissfully ignorant, or at least emotionally detached, this year. I know next year will be a doozy with this though, because of the election.

35. Who did you miss? Still my friends that don't live here, and friends I've lost touch with but are too far gone and in different places in their lives to attempt to reconnect.

36. Who was the best new person you met? Again with the new blog friends - the main one this year was probably Laura - so glad she emailed me to clue me into our parallel lives, and that we made the leap from just internet buddies to real life friends. My maternity wardrobe wouldn't be the same without her ;)

38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2011. Let go of the guilt - I had let go of much of it already in 2010, but I can truly say now that I do not feel guilty AT ALL, EVER, about any of the parenting choices I make. The choice to work, to send my child to a in-home daycare, to feed her what I do, the activities we chose to do, going away for a night or 4, etc. Not one shred, and it is so freeing.

23 Months

2011-12-31T12:00:00.000-08:00

Dear Annie,

One more month of these letters to you... it's hard to believe that this was the 2nd to last month photo that you'll take with your friend Raggedy Ann - who you now know to go get and pose with. One month to go until your 2nd birthday, and this doesn't really make me nostalgic just yet, because you are so very decidedly TWO right now, that's for sure! One of your favorite recent phrases is "I do it" - and you get very frustrated if that doesn't happen so easily. You're still quick to ask for help, and we try to help you while still letting you figure out how to do things on your own as well.

You have some very specific ideas about the way things should work, and do not hesitate to let us know when the reality doesn't match up with it. If we are holding you and you want to walk, you wriggle out of our arms while yelling WALK!! You also have become VERY particular about what dishes and utensils you use. It is quite frustrating - you have several colors of forks, so we ask you which one you want - normally you say "purple!" but then half the time by the time we get to the table (2 seconds) you've changed your mind and proclaim, "no, YELLOW!" as if we are horrible people. Also, if we give you the "wrong" cup, you will usually spend a few minutes whining about it and saying "no, other oneeeeee" but we stand firm and eventually you drink out of the cup we originally offer. USUALLY. One never knows with you, though.

This month, I've really noticed even more that you're starting to remember things. For the first time, when I asked you a question about what you did that day, you actually responded factually instead of just saying something random or giving me a blank stare. I thought that was pretty cool - and you seem to remember more of your friends and their houses, and who belongs with who if we see someone. You also remember very random events, and talk about them for a really long time - for example, seeing a train get "broken" at the train store. For about 20 minutes in the car much later in the day, you repeated "Train broken... happened? Sad... choo choo, broken. Fix it.". On that note, if ANYTHING is or appears "broken", you asked what happened, and for someone to immediately fix it.

The time has officially come, as your dad has learned a few times, that we need to start watching what we say... because you are definitely repeating EVERYTHING! Especially if it's an ... ahem... one word declaration of frustration. You say more words than I can count or keep track of now, and are using short sentences - you can definitely get your point across most of the time now.

You still love books, but this has been such a busy month that we haven't had a ton of time to just sit around at home. This month, you demanded "The Thinks You Can Think" be integrated into your nighttime routine, and you point out many things throughout the book. There is one semi-creepy page that shows a little shadowy stick figure and a creepy ..... thing, and asks "what would you do if you met a Jibboo?" - every single time, you point at the shadowy stick figure and say "ANNIE!" and I do not know why. You can recite many of your books if we leave the words out for you to fill in.

This month, you haven't been super into coloring, but it could be because again, we were gone quite a bit. You DO love playing "rosie" and if any kids are around, you ask that they play too. Otherwise, you're fine spinning and spinning and falling down on your own. This entertains you wildly for many minutes. You still love playing night night, anywhere, anytime. You always find a pillow and blanket and lay down anywhere. A blanket can also be a rag or a towel - you do not discriminate. You frequently ask to get in your crib when awake. I do worry you will miss it when it's not yours anymore, but hopefully you enjoy your new bed just as much! Your babies are still a big hit and you play mommy to them all the time.

You've grown up so much in the past month - even in the way you respond to your name - now you say "What?" or "yeah?" like a little adult :) You understand if people are happy or sad, and offer a hug to them if they are sad. You're still good about sharing, although you seem a bit annoyed if you want to play with something and another kid takes it from you. If they ask for it, you're quick to give it to them, although with a sad look on your face. Most of the time, you are a very sweet and caring little girl!

This month, you've learned to love sweets even more so than before - you've certainly gotten your fair share! You ask for "more kee-kos" (cookies) frequently, but only get angry about not getting them rarely. You don't typically eat a ton at dinnertime, which is frustrating to your dad and I. We suspect it is because you have a big snack at daycare and fill up then. On the weekends, we don't really offer snacks unless you are REALLY asking for them repeatedly, and even then it's something small, so you eat much more then. You love to dip, and request ketchup and dips for chips a lot. You also now recognize even pizza boxes... ha. So I guess we eat pizza too much around here! It's definitely a favorite among us all. You love grapes, clementines, berries, and most other fruits. If we give you one clementine, you eat it in about 2 seconds and then demand MORE ORANGES - and do the same with the 2nd, and 3rd. We've cut you off after 3, but I think you could easily eat 5 no problem.

Your dad and I are pretty much obsessed with you, little bunk. We talk about you all the time after you go to sleep, recounting the funny things you did and said that day. We love you so much!

Love, Mom

Oh, Christmas

2011-12-29T19:27:00.000-08:00

I followed these directions to take this pic - guess I need more lights though :)

And so I join every blogger I read with my own recap of our Christmas. As usual, we had a busy and great one. We have one Christmas celebration to go this weekend (with my mom's side of the extended family), but we packed in a lot over the last week!

I will give a day by day account of the festivities!

Just a VERY small selection of Christmas crafts from daycare

My birthday

We started off with breakfast at Sun Street Breads, review up on We Got Served... tomorrow? It's all up to my Bunjamin :) Ben had to go to work after that, so we drove separate, and I took advantage of being all the way over in South Minneapolis by going to Heartfelt and Wild Rumpus with Annie.

This was the only snow we saw anywhere close to Christmas... it felt weird to not have a White Christmas!

Yup, that's a real chicken under there. It came out and FREAKED Annie out :)

After returning home for her nap, we went and saw my friends Lori and Erin and hung out for awhile - a low key and relaxing birthday! We got home early and Ben forced me to watch White Christmas - I also wrapped presents. I really am not a fan of any old movies...... but oh well, Ben wanted to watch it so I agreed :)

iPhone pics inside with flash... not so hot

Christmas Eve

This was our day at home, so we did our family presents this morning instead of Christmas morning. Luckily Annie doesn't know the difference. We haven't made a big deal about Santa yet since she doesn't seem to care/know who is giving her things - but we again gave her 4 presents from us with the theme want, need, wear, read. Her stocking is from Santa. The want was a table and chairs, need was some plastic dishes from Ikea, wear was 2 pairs of jammies and an outfit, read was 2 new books.

We had set everything out the night before - I recorded her reaction to the presents and it was pretty funny - she just was like - table! Sat right down, demanded water. The video is 8 minutes long so I assume no one will watch it, but for family, it's here. The best part was when she got to the slippers!! in her stocking - she immediately said "Jammies off, slippers on" and laid down on the ground :) ha! I loved listening to her recite each item that she got: book! jammies! shirt! pants!, especially in her stocking - it took her awhile to realize that the first things were stickers, but then it was stickers! colors! (crayons), or-ment! Santa! (got a bit confused because it was a snow man, but whatever) and finally the Socks! ..... SLIPPERS! Everything is very exclamatory :)

She had these same jams last year - the pickings at carters were slim :)

Bringing Ben his present from her - I had to make him open it right away because it was an aeropress and I knew he'd want to use it immediately for coffee :) We now have 3 coffee making systems.... sigh.

My parents and Grandma came over for lunch later - snuggles were had.

Just lounging

Insisted on eating dinner at her new table (and with boots on, of course) - Ben smoked a pork loin and we had roasted broccoli and mashed potatoes.

After dinner and clean up (since Ben refuses to do anything until the kitchen is clean and dishes are done...) we settled in to watch the Grinch - Ben was angry that the classic wasn't on iTunes, but we settled for the new version. This is the first movie we've ever tried to have Annie watch and she wasn't so into it! I ended up fast forwarding through like 45 minutes so she could at least see the uplifting end instead of the depressing middle before she crashed :) We did bribe her to cuddle with us for awhile with a cookie which was fun!

Christmas Day

We got up at what felt like the crack of dawn (real time - 7am) so we could get Annie up and get to Ben's parents house BY 8am. Our little Annie is NOT a fan of being woken up "early" (aka any time before she wants to get up) so she was NOT PLEASED to be woken up at 7:15. She got over it and was chanting the names of all of our family members most of the way down.

All 3 little kiddos in their matching Christmas jams!

Annie's stocking from her grandparents

Lucky Annie got a doll cradle built by Grandpa, complete with a doll blanket that matches hers - and a doll diaper bag that matches the fabric of mine pretty well! She loves it - mostly was thrilled to have actual diapers and wipes that she is ALLOWED to play with at her own free will :)

Grace and Sam got a busy board built by Grandpa!

New cradle, with wipes helpfully laid over the edge :)

The closest I could get to both of them looking at the camera. Presents are distracting! See those dolls?? Those were my present to Grace & Sam - twin baby dolls :) Awesome!

After the kids tore through their presents, the adults opened - Annie helped by bringing the paper from each one to Tony who would put it in a pile behind him.

Eating a cinnamon roll

Annie loves family pictures

We then got Annie all spiffed up for mass with Ben's whole family (note our coordinating diaper bags in the background)

Oh Annie. Any attempts to get her to not suck her thumb..... yeah, failed.

After church, we came home and all had lunch - and Annie looked cute :)

Ben and I brought this really easy tortellini salad as our contribution to the meal.

During baby nap time, we all sat around not talking on our various devices :) I got a Kindle - yay!

While the boys smoked their Christmas cigars

After Annie woke up, we headed to my parents house for our next Christmas celebration. Really thankful our parents live only about 20 minutes apart!

Oh Annie. I swear, 80% of the time she's playing, it's some variation of going to sleep. So excited to be in the crib!!!! (after probably not even really napping)

Definitely warming up to Maggie - she even tried to feed her some pretend soup. Maggie wasn't interested.

Playing Christmas tunes! Too bad we'll likely never have room for a piano... (or... good thing, for us :)

The past several years, we always just do appetizers for our small Christmas celebration - I love it! Not pictured: mini pigs in a blanket that took forever to bake.

Annie loves it too - especially the part where she dips her fingers in ketchup and licks it off.

Apparently eating cookies is hard work :)

More presents!

Liz trying out Ben's new chair - now he doesn't have to sit on the ground (the horror!)

Annie's new shoes and new apron

Got a new outfit from Liz - insisted it go on immediately! SO CUTE. Looks like it'll fit for about 2 years too :)

The big present of the night was my Dad's new iPad - I think he likes it!

We left around 8 and Annie was WIRED - I thought she'd crash in the car but she laughed and sang the whole way home. What a nut!

Day after Christmas

Since most had the day after Christmas off, my parents hosted my dad's extended family at their house that day - luckily it wasn't an early morning affair so we all got to sleep in. I got up around 8 and Annie was still completely passed out. We hung out at home and then went over to my parents around 11 and stayed all day - it was a blast seeing my family and seeing Annie play with all my cousin's kids - she's at the age now where she can kind of fend for herself a bit and doesn't need someone hovering, so she could just go play with them on her own. Fun for her and us!

Playing with Ella, who is the closest to her age - they were alone in the basement - just playing nicely with toy food - had to sneak a pic of them :)

Most hilarious part of the day was my cousin's kids "show" in the basement - they dragged us down there, performed their "show" then told us to go upstairs while they came up with more. We told them it was now or never, so they invited some audience participation! Annie was getting into it - after she saw them doing some cartwheels, she ran in, threw herself on the ground, and rolled around :) ha!!

And then, just laid there with the bears she brought over

This was all because I suggested they do a pyramid :)

It was an amazing Christmas - Annie was so excited about her presents and had SO much fun with her family both days. Having a kid makes Christmas about a million times more fun, for me at least, and I even was a huge Christmas lover before! I am looking forward to some slightly more relaxing times in the future though... the calm before the real storm begins :)

Then and now

2011-12-27T07:59:00.000-08:00

I'll do a more extensive post on Christmas soon, of course, but for now, I want to leave you with these photos. Are Ben and I the only ones that find these totally hilarious?? Especially the one from last year. Seriously. She looks so..... alarmed. She was so excited to pose for this one this year and it was super easy to get her to look - "Look at mommy and smile like the dolls!" ha!! Can't believe how bald she was and that in just a year her hair grew that much - it's nuts.

Last year, Thanksgiving.

This year, Christmas.

In reviewing these old photos, I found a few others - OMG. My chunky bald little babyyyyyyyyy................. and I get to have another one! This makes me excited for another roly poly little one, definitely more so than seeing newborn photos :)

31 Weeks

2011-12-26T07:56:00.000-08:00

Compare to 31 weeks, 4 days pregnant with Annie (I forgot to link/read my comparisons the last few weeks)

Due Date: February 27, 2012

Weight Gain: I gained a little over 4 pounds at my last midwife appointment, in 3 weeks. My total now is about 22 pounds.

Symptoms: Nothing new, still feeling good most of the time, uncomfortable sometimes but nothing major.

What's different this time: I definitely feel bigger earlier this time around, and I think the last month will be tougher than it was last time just in terms of getting out of breath and feeling sore. Also, since this pregnancy lines up date wise, I imagine I'll start to feel impatient sooner too, expecting it to be over at the beginning of February... but no. Luckily we have an EXTREMELY busy January already!

Cravings/Aversions: I should just take this off because it's boring - I'm still just eating normally with lots of sweets of course - can't really avoid those over Christmas!

Sleep: Eh, okay. Still not super comfortable and this baby seriously moves all night long, especially in the 4am range... I love feeling him moving of course, but ..... not so much when I'm trying to fall asleep!

I am loving: Christmas! It's been a great weekend of celebrations, and it's been so fun to watch Annie really participate this year.

I miss: sleeping on my belly, again.

I am looking forward to: Ben and I are going to a B&B in a few weeks - I can't wait to have a weekend of just dedicated relaxation!

I'm spazzing about: Good thing to spaz about, but fitting all of our Christmas presents in our house! Mostly Annie's. Seriously, that girl made out like a bandit!

Best thing about this week: Definitely Christmas, and watching Annie open her presents and get so excited about them.

Milestones: Not sure there are any major ones this week really... Except that I did get not one but TWO actual stranger comments - and once I was even wearing my COAT. Now that is ballsy. I mean... yes, that IS a baby bump, but come on, what if it was just a scarf?!?!?!

Movement: All the time, and some of it is getting painful. I don't remember Annie really ever getting up in my ribs, but this baby has found them already!

It's a...: boy! Of my 10 pregnant friends, so far there are 5 of them having boys (for a total of 6 boys since Kate is having twins), and 2 are having girls - last round it was almost all girls so the tides are a-changin'! Also, I find it interesting that I have 3 friends due on May 9th and ALL of them are having boys.

Exercise: No technical exercise, just chasing after Annie. I'm scheduled to go to prenatal yoga tomorrow - we'll see if that happens...

Diet: Oh, just amazing, obviously :) Christmas weekend really lends itself to healthy eating!!!!

30th Birthday Brunch

2011-12-20T13:21:00.000-08:00

When trying to decide what to do for my 30th birthday, I was drawing a complete blank but knew I wanted to do SOMETHING, and more than just go out to eat with Ben because that's a given ;) With our small house, entertaining in the winter months is really tough, especially now that everyone has kiddos who need a bit more room to roam. We have had several New Years Eve parties, I've hosted bachelorette parties and bridal showers galore, and had one notable large party - but never since the majority of my friends entered the childbearing stage of life. When thinking about this dilemma, I turned to my coworkers for advice, and Jen had the brilliant idea of utilizing the fact that we know and are friends with our immediate neighbors and using their house for childcare. Yes, you can ask people to get sitters, but I have enough friends that have no family around that I'd feel bad doing that. So - we came up with the plan to have a brunch at our house for the adults, and have the kiddos go next door to be watched by Ben's younger sisters Amanda and Laura.

Our living room/dining room and view into the kitchen on a normal day (except no high chair anymore - yes!)

On fitting a large group in a small space
Even with some hard core trimming done to it, the guest list was at a hefty 30+ adults. I had to not invite some people who I would have loved to be there, just because it would have included more than our house could reasonably handle. 30 was certainly pushing it for our 1200 square foot house anyway - especially since the actual space that people would be in is about 400 square feet (that includes our kitchen). Yikes! I remembered seeing tall pub height tables at Scottoberfest, so asked Janelle if we could borrow them. She let me know that she rented them for $9 each from a local party rental store - awesome! Ben contacted Midway Party Rental and we secured 2 tables for that morning for less than $20. This was KEY to the "success" of that large of a group in a small space - encourage people to stand and still have places for them to congregate. We took out the chairs in our living room, as well as the coffee table, and moved the dining room table against the buffet/wall. All other chairs that we own were lined up in the perimeter of the room. I wanted to move the Christmas tree to the porch, but my dad convinced me that was a bad idea so we just left it in there and it worked fine. I was actually shocked how well everyone fit - I think when all was said and done there were probably around 25 people in there at once. Only a few people couldn't come and most everyone showed up around the same time. There were usually 6 or so men huddled around the bloody mary station, and I don't think my brother-in-law Joe moved from the corner of the kitchen the whole time ;)

Annie certainly enjoyed the tall tables set up - she immediately started saying "Hide! Hide!" and brought her booster seat under the tablecloth before I tied it up.

Food/Beverages

Brunch seemed like the best thing for us to host - it's definitely the easiest for a crowd. It also seemed like the most pregnant women friendly, which is important since I and most of my female friends are currently with child. Our final menu was based on the ability to prep ahead of time since neither of us wanted to spend a ton of time the day of cooking/baking. It did take a lot for me to not make muffins/scones - just because I like homemade so much better than most I get at a bakery, but we found some that were definitely tasty and it was certainly easier. It worked out great because I didn't have to make a single thing other than cutting/skewering fruit - Ben took care of everything :) I did basically tell him which egg bakes to make, but he made all of them, so that works for me! I would love to recommend the place we got our pastries from, because they did taste great, but they were an hour late in having them ready - Ben ordered them for 9am, went at 9:30am and they needed "another half hour" (so, 10am, aka the start time of our brunch) - basically it's a good thing they are only a mile away! They WERE very good - so if you do want something really affordable and live in this area, it's a good choice, just maybe say you need them 2 hours before you really do :)

Spinach & Cheese Strata - made previously

Breakfast Casserole with bacon and veggies - made a few times now

Sausage and Cheese Egg Bake - made previously (we used the modifications we used the last time)

(Ben made all three of these the night before - baked 2 in our oven and 1 in the neighbor's oven in the morning)

Pastries purchased from St. Paul Classic Cookie - blueberry muffins, chocolate chip muffins, and cinnamon scones (cinnamon weren't on their menu but they were happy to make them for us)

Fruit skewers

Beverages

Water & Juice

Coffee - decaf and regular, with vanilla and peppermint syrup (we borrowed a 30 cup maker from my parents and a large carafe from Ben's work)

Bloody Mary Bar

(the Clamato jar is a mix that my neighbor Nate makes - not just plain Clamato)

Decor

I use this term extremely loosely. I basically didn't decorate at all other than putting up the Happy Birthday banner from Annie's birthday party (I figured - hey, it's my birthday too, and the point was to use this for FAMILY birthdays..... so might as well! :), got some flowers, and put a few in low bowls for each high top table in addition to on the food tables. That's it. Pretty sure no one noticed or cared, but I did get a few comments on the banner at least! Honestly, I think having too much in that space would have just made it kind of claustrophobic anyway. I did at least try to coordinate the tablecloths on the high tables to the banner - so A+ for effort for me!

The main event

Everything went really well! There ended up being 7 kidlets over at the neighbor's (including Annie and Mia, the neighbor herself) and 2 of them were my niece and nephew who are with Laura every day - and Annie knows Laura and Amanda too. There were a FEW tears, I heard, but overall all children were present and accounted for and unharmed after the event so I consider it a smashing success - we definitely couldn't have done this without Laura and Amanda, so HUGE thanks again go out to them for their help!

My sister stopped over there - I think these 3 were a little confused at who the strange lady taking their picture was :)

In closing, here are a few photos from the party - I only got a few but it was a pretty short event (perfect for me since I can only stand/socialize for so long right now!).

My baby sister! Weird to think that exactly a year ago that weekend, we were all busy with her wedding!

So I wasn't kidding when I said all my friends are pregnant! 8 of them at the brunch, 2 couldn't make it so it should have even been 10. I went back and counted, and there were a mere 6 NON-pregnant women there - wow!Yes, we lined up by due date :) (range is from 8 weeks to 35 weeks and 6 are pregnant with their 2nd children)

and here is the side view :)

The end of the brunch coincided with Annie's nap time - she was a bit worn down and overwhelmed after playing hard for a few hours so was cuddly and then loopy once she got home!

30 Weeks

2011-12-19T08:00:00.000-08:00

At my 30th birthday brunch! (a bit early - my birthday is on Friday) - more to come on that event. Also, this is the first time I've ever tried the whole "belt over the bump" concept. I felt a bit like a fraud, because I'm SO not fashionable. The belt is from my sister, obviously - I don't own things like that :)

Due Date: February 27, 2012

Weight Gain: Oh, I'm guessing it won't be pretty at my midwife appointment on Wednesday. Looking at some pics of myself from this weekend, I feel I'm getting a bit of pregnancy fat face - certainly not too bad, and it may just be the neckline of that particular sweater, but...... eh, it's there. Oh well. I know every pregnancy is different, but I gained ~31lbs with Annie, and had lost that and then some by my 6 week post-partum visit, so I'm just not too worried about it, although it is a bit disconcerting and mildly alarming to see the scale jump up so much.

Symptoms: Just the usual - out of breath quickly, get sore by the end of the day. I'm feeling now that my bladder is never truly empty, which is annoying. I already had been bending over so I'm parallel to the floor to get those last drops out, but even that's not working anymore.

What's different this time: I was thinking about how this baby boy is already benefiting from being a second child, even in utero! He's getting read to and sang to on a daily basis, when Annie in utero got that never. It always felt way too weird to me to read to my belly with her, but he obviously is reaping the benefits from Annie's love of books and songs.

Cravings/Aversions: Eating normally. It's weird how feeling sick was just ~10 weeks ago, but yet I can almost forget it happened. The amnesia is coming sooner this time, I guess.

Sleep: Not great. Lots going on this week meant a busy mind, so I didn't sleep well. I was also up 2 times a few nights to go to the bathroom instead of just 1. Also, this little guy loves to move around basically all night! Last night, I was holding Ben for awhile when we first got into bed, then informed him that I was going to roll over (it's become a production lately) - his response? "Good, because baby boy is keeping me awake" - aw, poor Ben. I felt really bad for him ;)

I am loving: my friends and family - I'm definitely lucky to have so many people who care about me and who I love to surround me during this holiday season!

I miss: Writing this We Got Served review made me miss eggs benedict... That was one of the MAJOR things I missed when pregnant the first time, but I guess I got used to it this time (plus, for the first 20 weeks, it wouldn't have even been a possibility anyway I guess) - sometimes though, when I see a really good benedict, I can't wait to be able to have it again!

I am looking forward to: the rest of this week - birthday dinner, my actual birthday on Friday, and of course, celebrating Christmas this weekend!

I'm spazzing about: nothing. Luckily, no repeats of the whole "wanting to be fed like a baby" incident from last week!

Best thing about this week: Definitely my 30th birthday brunch on Saturday! It was so much fun and reminded me of just how lucky I am (as mentioned above) to have so many amazing friends and family that are able to come celebrate my birthday with me. Again, I'll be posting more about that event later this week :)

Milestones: This isn't a milestone, but I find it kind of cool that I'm turning 30 the same week that I'm 30 weeks pregnant :)

Movement: Lots - and it seems to somehow spread through my entire belly now. A few times last week, I felt some movements near my cervix, on the side of my belly, and in my ribs AT THE SAME TIME. Really stretching out in there, I guess! Very curious to hear his position at my appointment.

It's a...: boy

Exercise: I had a day off on Tuesday, and went to Mall of America and Ikea - a workout for sure. Then I got a prenatal massage, which was nearly brutal, so that also felt like a workout :) Any event (like Macy's/Holidazzle) that involves a lot of standing and waiting in lines feels like exercise to me! I did also do prenatal yoga this morning - I SO did not want to go but of course after it was over I was glad. I registered for a few sessions and had to pick different dates/times than I normally go but I'm glad I'm making myself go a few times during the holidays even though life is really busy.

Diet: Threw this one back on here because the Christmas treats are just insane - not a day goes by that I don't get something else to nibble on, and usually many things! I'm trying hard to ration the things I know will keep until January so I don't eat ALL of them at once.

Christmas Traditions

2011-12-16T19:33:00.000-08:00

Like many Minnesota families, we've adopted the tradition of visiting the 8th floor display at the downtown Macy's and watching the Holidazzle parade. Because now, the Macy's display never actually changes (or it hasn't in about 4 years...) and the parade stays the same, this is kind of boring for adults - but Annie LOVED it. We went last year, and she definitely enjoyed it more than she did then - when she just kind of stared in awe but that was it.

It's possible that us matching was NOT a coincidence...

Ben left work a little early, picked up Annie, and they met me in my office. Annie loved all the long hallways and put a smile on everyone's face that she passed in the halls - it was very cute to watch her run around my office!

Best part of Annie's night, I think, was just running through the skyways - she was in love! It's gotten to the point where she's actually going faster than we prefer to walk... yikes :)

Ben trying to direct her - ha

Once we got to Macy's, it was actually pretty busy, for being a weekday afternoon. Last year it was pretty quiet. We were halfway through when I got a text that Becca and Joe were coming as well, with Grace and Sam, so when we finished we met them at the beginning and went through again! Annie seemed to really like it this year, and pointed out quite a few things, but it was pretty busy to really sit and inspect anything for too long.

She really liked this one - the woman was "catching" a mouse

After the 8th floor, we headed up to Skyroom for dinner - it's open until 6pm on days the Holidazzle is open (I believe - at least I know it's open on Saturdays until 6 too because I know someone else who went then). The options surrounding Macy's are not so hot for toddler dining, but a big salad bar is perfect.

Trying to teach Grace to cheers!

Hi Sam!

Annie was REALLY excited to ride in the double stroller

After a trip back to my office to pick up our coats, and then a stop in Caribou to get drinks and warm up, we watched the Holidazzle! It may be just me, but this parade gets lamer and lamer. I'd never even gone until 3 years ago, and now ..... well, Annie loves it. So I'll continue going. We had to leave after about 20 minutes because I had to get to my car by 7pm and I wasn't too sad :) Annie got her first sips of hot chocolate and was DEFINITELY a fan! It was an action packed and festive evening for us all.

This is how Ben gets Annie to put on her hat/mittens. Worked only for about a minute with the mittens before those were off, but at least we got her to keep her hands in her pockets.

The weekend report

2011-12-14T12:59:00.000-08:00

We have such a busy week this week - things going on every single day and night, but I wanted to be sure to blog a bit about last weekend before it gets too far gone and then I just never will. This seems to happen too often. I have a bunch of videos I think are hilarious but the events are old news now... so anyway, basically if you are family or just enjoy cute videos of Annie, check out my youtube channel :) My personal favorite is "crazy at dinner" because Ben didn't know I was video-ing - ha!

The weekend started off with a bang - a "special day" at daycare! Sue told me about this "special day" back when it was warm out - she made sure to spell S-A-N-T-A just in case. Ha - I don't think Annie was too thrilled. What you can't see in this photo is that Sue's husband Barry is right next to Annie - that was the only way she'd consent to sitting on his lap. This was all before we got there even - by the time we got there she was running around like a maniac, throwing a piece of plastic from her present in front of her and cackling with glee every time. I asked if she wanted to see Santa again and she just said "No" - fine then :)

Chaos at daycare! (No, that is not a beer in his hand - it's a pipe that blows bubbles :)

We then went to a game night at Ben's work - Annie ran around there too, and loved this little spot that she fit just perfectly in.

I had to leave after an hour to go to another gathering, but Ben said Annie had a great time running around with all the other kids the whole night!

The next day we were going to try out a tiny bakery near our house for pastries for my party, but they were closed, so we hit up Key's instead - Annie didn't seem to mind the change :)

Annie spent a lot of time this weekend wearing antlers and running around making a noise like "hooooooooooooooahhhhhhhhhh" like she was flying :) hilarious!

She also had to switch her new Christmas socks frequently (gifts from Sue from the day before) - and loved watching me bake (until she slipped while standing on the chair - oops!)

A makeshift apron for Annie!

On Sunday, we went out to brunch, and then Ben decided to wash the floors (much needed) so Annie's chair got moved to the couch. She was very excited.

I made 3 kinds of cookies over the weekend - it vaguely reminded me of my "relaxing day off" a few years ago where I made 5-6 kinds of cookies by myself in one day. YOWZA. Making cookies is an ORDEAL. But they tasted good and my coworkers appreciated them, so whatever! Saturday I made peanut butter blossoms, and Sunday I made gingerbread men and sugar cookies. Honestly, my main motivation for baking was that these are 3 of my favorite Christmas cookies and I like the ones I make the best so .... this ensures I get what I want :) ha!

Annie was an ace at helping decorate :) For about 20 minutes, then she kept just wanting to eat the sprinkles so I sent her on her way :)

I decorated the exact amount needed for my coworker boxes and then froze the rest to decorate/eat over Christmas weekend. Because wow... that takes a long time. And as you can see, I wasn't very... uh, artistic about it :)

The contents of each cookie box!

This was empty :)

Bringing good cheer to the office!

29 Weeks

2011-12-12T08:58:00.000-08:00

Outside Victory 44, where we enjoyed a lovely brunch with Kate & Kyle yesterday - review to be posted on We Got Served soon-ish!

Compare to 29 weeks, 4 days pregnant with Annie.

Due Date: February 27, 2012

Weight Gain: ?

Symptoms: Just general aches and pains, but nothing too bad. Super tired when I get home from work. All things considered, feeling pretty great.

What's different this time: I had really bad tailbone pain last time around now, that hasn't started too badly yet, but I have been trying to change positions at work and sit in such a way that doesn't apply too much pressure.

Cravings/Aversions: I have no willpower around a cookie tray, that's for sure. No aversions. A few might be welcome right about now ;)

Sleep: A bit better this week, thankfully. Still definitely get uncomfortable, still need to get up at least once to pee. But more often than not, I think I WAS sleeping while in my bed at night, so that's good.

I am loving: the proliferation of Christmas goodies - yum :) I did some baking this weekend, and enjoyed the fruits of my labor, and also attended a few gatherings with great food.

I miss: being able to walk for 5 minutes without getting out of breath and cramping up.

I am looking forward to: my 30th birthday brunch on Saturday! We're celebrating a bit early (my birthday is on the 23rd) and are having nearly 30 people in our house. I think it'll be a really fun time, if completely hectic :) Also, going to the Holidazzle and Macy's display with Annie on Thursday, learning about infant/child CPR on Wednesday (not particularly thrilling, but definitely necessary - something we should have done awhile ago, but at least we're doing it before we have a baby within reach of all of his sister's choking hazard toys!)... a busy but fun week. Edited to add - almost forgot that I'm taking an impromptu PTO day tomorrow because I needed to use some hours before the end of the year - including a prenatal massage, a bit of baking (again!) and lots of running errands - should be fun :)

I'm spazzing about: Annie has recently decided that she wants to be a baby. She laid herself down in my arms once after we read Goodnight Moon before bed, and I think I made some comment like, "Oh is Annie a baby again?" and now, every single night after we read she says "Annie baby" and lays down. She also says "Sing" - so, I do :) Last night, I started in with rock a bye baby, and she stopped me and said "No, sunshine." because she apparently wanted "you are my sunshine" instead. Hahaha - so she's clearly a very OPINIONATED baby too :) This is all fine and good, but last night at dinner she FA-LIPPED out when we gave her soup (that she'd been asking for and LOVED the night before), so I held her for awhile, and fed her a bite while she was sitting with me. She then laid herself down on my lap and said "Annie baby" again and opened her mouth to be fed the entire time. I asked her a few times if she wanted to sit in her chair, she just said "No, Annie baby" and then would say "more soup" and "Milk" when she wanted things. She ended up eating 2 bowls of soup - so it's not like she didn't like it! Hoo boy - hopefully that was just a one night thing, as hilarious as it was at the time :) I can DEFINITELY see her wanting lots of extra cuddles and attention when her baby bro comes, but I think she'll also enjoy being a helper too. Hope she does okay with the transition and doesn't become TOO needy! (To be fair to Annie, she had just spent probably a solid hour just playing nicely on her own while I decorated cookies and Ben was making a meal in the kitchen)

Yeah, of course we had to get a picture of this ridiculousness

Best thing about this week: Probably my first unprompted "Luh you" from Annie as I was leaving for work - I've gotten it a few more times and it just almost makes me cry!

Milestones: Nothing new that I can think of.

Movement: Tons and tons - some that surprise me, some that nearly hurt. I think he's either breech or sideways, because lots of times I feel punches/kicks/something out of both sides of my belly at once. Seems like he's constantly rolling around in there! It's pretty freaky/amazing.

It's a...: boy

Exercise: Prenatal yoga on Saturday morning, it was kind of a tougher class which was good. Then like 10 hours of baking cookies over the weekend - seriously a huge workout! I was EXHAUSTED at the end of each day - like my feet and entire body hurt. I do not know how people who have to actually be on their feet all day can do it, especially when pregnant!

Christmas is all around...

2011-12-06T17:37:00.000-08:00

We had a blast this weekend getting into the holiday spirit! Last year, Annie observed and seemed mildly entertained, but this year she really participated and it was seriously so much fun. I've always loved Christmas, but with a kid, it really does make it that much more amazing. Just seeing everything through the eyes of a kid - really helps you get back some of that wonder and delight that may have gone missing after years of cynicism :)

To review, here is the post from last year - please note Annie is wearing the same coat - definitely a benefit of a tiny toddler! There are a few decor items that really just aren't practical with a toddler - like a bowl full of ornaments on the coffee table, so things were changed up a bit. Also? I got Annie 2 Christmas books last year. WHERE ARE THEY?!?!?! Ugh. I know I'll find them around December 26th. So annoying.

While I was at yoga, Ben took Annie to Grand Meander, a bunch of Christmas events on Grand Ave

Breakfast with Santa was too crowded, so they just enjoyed a french toast muffin at Caribou - I think both of them were fine with the change :)

The only actual "event" they did was ride on a fire truck (big hit) and see a reindeer (of which Annie was scared, of course) - despite not hitting up the big parts of the event, we still had a great time.

I joined up with them after the fire truck ride, and we warmed up at Red Balloon bookstore (which doesn't seem like it's really very fun at all, but maybe I'm missing something. Not NEARLY as fun as Wild Rumpus, that's for sure.) I did get Twas the Night Before Christmas though, so it was worth it - and Annie can have fun looking at shelves of anything, so whatever.

We decided to just go to Bonfire for lunch instead of any of the events - it turned out to be a great idea - surprisingly toddler friendly, and lots of fun Christmas decor in there!

Annie spent much of the meal dipping her finger in the salsa and eating it, or "painting" her quesadilla

Best part? The build your own sundae that came with Annie's meal that I ate 3/4 of :) Not sure how much longer I'll be able to get away with that!

Later that afternoon, we headed out in the snow to get our tree! This is also the first time we've been out with Annie this year in the snow and she LOVED it - must take after her Dad there :)

Found a good one!

Annie kept saying "Tree! Car! TREE ON CAR!!!!" - it's the little things that are thrilling, apparently.

Christmas themed LEGO flowers!

We got word from Molly that they were going to go sledding, so we tagged along - how hilarious does Annie look in her new snowsuit? I'm surprised she can even walk in it :) (It's only 2T by the way - but yeah. It'll definitely fit her next year... then it'll be on to baby bro!)

We tried to get them to share (remember last year when we squeezed 3 kiddos on that thing??) but no dice!

Annie was THRILLED when it was finally her turn on the sled!

and then, her world came crashing down when it was Mia's turn - it'd be sad if it wasn't so illogical and hilarious :)

Seriously - such unadulterated JOY!

Had a HUGEEEEEEE meltdown when coming home - tried to hold her jacket on so we couldn't take it off. Hoo boy, life is traumatic sometimes for a toddler! Luckily her thumb and mommy were there to soothe her :)

Saying good morning to the tree on Sunday before we got to decorating!

Yup, this is me first thing in the morning - but it was so cute how Annie was so excited to help me make waffles!

Already wanted a bite :)

Finally got some! These Gingerbread Waffles are a huge hit - we made them last year and HOPEFULLY I get the waffle maker on my Christmas list so I don't have to borrow the neighbors the next time I want them! :)

Now that we were fed, time to decorate the tree!

Annie really liked all of "her" ornaments

Good job with the angel!

Very intently putting on all her ornaments - she was good about listening when I said each one got it's own branch and stayed interested pretty much the whole time I hung all the ornaments - I was amazed!

Yup, still in my robe.

She didn't bother the tree too much - we had to tell her a few times to leave the ornaments alone (I do let her take off one ornament - an apple that was Ben's ornament from 1987 - but that's it) The first day, she kept saying "touch it!" and would run over, quickly touch the tree, and then laugh hysterically. Hasn't done much more than that though, thankfully!

Most of the rest of the Christmas decor in the living room

Later that day, Annie was in her room for about 5 minutes alone, and this is what Ben found when he went to check on her :)

Then she wanted to put everything in her crib, get in, and hold each thing up individually to ask Ben to take it's picture ("Bear, cheese?", "Reindeer, cheese?" etc)

Unrelated to Christmas, but then, the best part of Annie's weekend happened when I came home with this monstrosity from Jen - seriously in love. I'm not joking that she played happily with it for nearly an hour without even coming out of her room, and the only reason she stopped is because it was time to eat. So, thanks to Jen's mom for finding this thing at a garage sale 5 years ago!

This is right after I set it up for her - she was bustling around that thing like crazy! So funny to watch.

Such a great weekend - definitely excited for all this month will bring!

28 Weeks

2011-12-05T08:54:00.000-08:00

Getting our Christmas tree! A few more versions of my weekly belly pic below :) The shirt I'm wearing is seriously my favorite maternity shirt ever - really cheap (since really, who buys anything at Old Navy at anything other than 30%+ off??), it's SO long even on me, and fits nicely, isn't too warm to cause overheating, can be casual or look nice enough to wear to some workplaces - I wish I would have gotten it in every color! But that would be dumb considering I'm only pregnant for 2.5 more months... but, still. It's awesome. Thanks to Rebekah for telling me about it!

Compare to 28 weeks, 4 days pregnant with Annie.

Due Date: February 27, 2012

Weight Gain: Up 17lbs (up 3lbs since last midwife appt 4 weeks ago) - So thankfully the weight gain has slowed to a normal pace now. Apparently last time I was up 20 at this point, so I'm pretty much on track to gain the same (31 total gained w/ Annie).

Unrelated (I guess?) to weight gain, but I also found out I don't have gestational diabetes! Yesss!! I got to my appointment at 8:10am, and they didn't have the glucola for me to drink (UGH) so I had to wait until AFTER my appointment to go to the lab and drink it, and THEN wait an hour for my blood to be tested. I hadn't eaten anything yet that morning, so this was extremely tough but I managed. Really think if I had to do the 3 hour test I probably would actually faint. I can't imagine going that long without food in the morning! I was already cranky and irritable enough with the nurse, midwife and lab techs about being delayed 45 minutes :)

Symptoms: Welcome to the 3rd trimester! Lots of general aches and pains but I've avoided anything brutal so far. Just general backaches and tailbone aches. Still no linea negra, and no swelling of the fingers which both happened last time. By the end of the work day I am just spent - and a lot of the time I can barely string a sentence together in the evenings. Luckily Annie mostly just wants to be read to - I can handle "Go Dog Go" sitting on the couch :)

What's different this time: No childbirth classes to go to, no showers - which kind of makes us forget a bit that there really IS a baby coming in a few months and we DO actually need to do some things to prepare for him! Slowly but surely, we're getting there. We did at least get the 0-3 month clothes from Becca, and Ben cleaned off his desk in the office so we're ....... uh, sort of getting there :)

Also, my midwife appointments? Seriously I am in there for maybe 5 minutes, if that. Especially this time, I wanted to get my butt to the lab to start my test! I just can't even think of any questions to ask. Baby boy is breech right now and was moving all around while she was trying to find his heartbeat (still in the 150s). Hopefully in the next few weeks he gets his head where it should be, but the midwife wasn't concerned at this point. My blood pressure remains very low, so there really doesn't seem to be much to discuss. I did make one of my upcoming appointments with the midwife who delivered Annie, so I might spend a bit more time chatting with her.

Cravings/Aversions: I've been eating pretty normally - the day before my diabetes test, I did want sugar (obviously) but that's just standard for me at this point.

Sleep: Ugh, horrible. Seriously horrible. I lay awake a lot, and my hips are just aching by the time I get up. I sleep with a pillow already, and flip over frequently, but it's really just hard to get comfortable.

I am loving: getting into the Christmas spirit! I love the snow, all the decorations downtown, at our house and just all around. "I can feel it in my fengers (misspelling intentional), I feel it in my TOES..." (Really can't wait to watch that classic Christmas movie!)

I miss: sleeping on my belly.

I am looking forward to: enjoying this holiday season and all it's associated goodies guilt free :)

I'm spazzing about: fitting 2 carseats in our cars. It's just going to be a tight fit in there! I know it won't be that bad, but it'll be... interesting... to see how cramped we all are on a trip up to the cabin when that comes. Annie is still rear-facing and I think we could keep her that way in the Accord easily, but it's a different story in the Jetta. I'm glad we'll be able to make it until she's 2 at least. Now when we have to put baby boy rear facing in his convertible seat? Hmm. That sure will be fun.

Best thing about this week: Picking out and decorating the Christmas tree with Annie! Finding out I don't have gestational diabetes!! Lots of fun times this week for sure.

Milestones: Quite a few this week I guess - first, entering the 3rd trimester, as mentioned. Second, by the afternoon some days my coat can't be buttoned, especially if I layer it with a fleece (it's not a super warm coat) - so it's time to either wear it unbuttoned or just wear my ski coat! Third (and weird that this apparently also happened this exact week last time), I got my first semi-stranger comment from an especially chatty coworker who I don't know - I was in the kitchen making my lunch and he walked in and said "Congrats!" I was a bit thrown, but said thanks, and then he asked if it was my first and I was relieved to say no, second :) He confirmed my suspicions and said that if I had been a first time mom he'd have for sure given me some advice. Dodged a bullet there, I guess!

Movement: Allllllll the time - love that this boy is such a mover, just like his sister was! Could do without the kicks to the hipbones though, and his frequent dance parties between the hours of 4 and 6am.

It's a...: boy

Exercise: Got back to prenatal yoga this Saturday, and it felt REALLY good, even though I was exhausted. I feel I kind of mailed it in, but oh well, still better than nothing.

Annie actually looking, but too bad Ben told me to put my head up and I overcompensated and look stupid :)

In my coat - couldn't really see the belly though so had to ditch it.

Thanksgiving Part 2

2011-12-02T10:09:00.000-08:00

Finally, the long awaited (I'm sure) conclusion to our Thanksgiving celebrations! On Wednesday night, we headed up to the cabin - it was a fairly uneventful trip with Annie either sleeping or content the whole way, except when we got pulled over going 8 over the speed limit (in a 65mph zone) on an empty stretch of freeway. Oh, Annie definitely enjoyed being woken up by blinding flashing lights in her face! Thankfully we just got a warning, but come on people. 8 over now?! Let's just say, it's a good thing I wasn't driving.

Anyway, the weekend passed in a blur of sitting around, baking, cooking and more sitting around watching Annie play. As you will see in the photos, we only left the cabin for a total of maybe 2 hours. It was really relaxing, and a nice way to spend the long weekend! Definitely the last time we'll get up to the cabin until baby boy comes along, so that's weird to think about.

Thanksgiving morning, Annie very excited to be at the cabin - first thing she wants to play with are the coasters. Whatever.

I got to work making Pumpkin Spice Lattes and Pumpkin Cream Cheese muffins - a perfect Thanksgiving breakfast! The muffins were kind of labor intensive for muffins, but seriously so delicious. (I just kind of pushed a tablespoon of the cooled cream cheese mixture into the muffin, by the way - didn't do the layering she suggests in the recipe)

Annie was THRILLED with her "muffit"

This makes 24 muffins, but we only had one muffin tin up there, so I just made the rest of it into a cake with cream cheese interspersed throughout - worked out fine, just needed to bake longer!

We didn't actually celebrate Thanksgiving on the day, because Liz and Jono couldn't come up until Friday - so we just hung around and did basically nothing on Thursday.

Weather was tolerable so we had a little fire

Going back up the stairs is really hard work, apparently.

Annie got to work coloring the Turkey. Really great skills she's got there, huh? (it's a leftover one my sister started 3 years ago - not sure why my mom kept it but Annie enjoyed it!)

LOTS of reading time over the weekend

Playing with her new doll, the one she named Nola. The shorts were doubling as socks here.

A great use for leftover cranberry sauce - put over cream cheese and have with crackers!

Maggie, so tired.

Annie disappeared downstairs for awhile - we found her in the furnace room, having dragged some diapers and wipes from her room in there - she loved being able to REALLY play alone down there - thankfully she doesn't get into much!

Someday this will be her bed... hope she's ready for that!

Our Thanksgiving meal - black bean soup and cornbread!

Aw, such a cute pic of my 2 loves.

Chilly morning on Friday!

Took a walk with Ben later - Do you like her "boy" boots and jacket? Yup, that's all she's getting now so that her baby brother can wear that stuff too :)

Ha

Playing with more new toys

Very nervous being too close to Maggie!

Our one outing was to Nisswa's Festival of Lights - aka the lamest lighting festival ever, but something to do!

Annie enjoyed the mini donuts

Annie was enthralled with this spectacular live nativity. I mean, really - just LOOK at the detail.

After the lights came on - tried out the night portrait - yeah doesn't work so hot :)

We then came home and enjoyed this delicious pumpkin chili (recipe will be on We Got Fed shortly)

Liz finally arrived, and immediately got to work on her puzzle!

And I made Ben help me knead dough for cinnamon rolls - as you can see, he was thrilled.

Annie was excited to help with the puzzle on Saturday morning

Dad got right to work with the turkey

Ben did a good job forming the rolls - so basically I mixed the dough and the filling, and he put them together because I was too tired to wait for them to rise :) Teamwork!

Annie wearing Ben's t-shirt for breakfast so as not to ruin her cute outfit by eating a sticky cinnamon roll :)

Big fan here

Cheese!

I thought the poof was dumb when I got the dress, but Annie made it cute :)

Peeking back at me

This is Annie's "PUT ME DOWN NOW" face :)

Mesmerized watching Grandma dust. It's an activity she rarely gets to observe ;)

Hey, I finally got in a picture!

Sad face

Happy face!

Liz made her first pie and documented each step. She made the Dreamy Apple Pie from Pioneer Woman and it seriously was THE BEST apple pie I've EVER had.

Annie was hanging out by the door, and came over with her boots, my scarf, hat, and jacket in hand - she convinced Grandpa to take her out despite the cool misty weather :)

Liz with her pie dough

She peeled 3 apples without breaking the peel even ONCE :) Liz wins!

Watching Jono - I told her if she stood on the chair she had to keep her hands on the table and she MOSTLY listened :)

That's one tired bunk!

Pie before baking

Turkey! Brined and with herb butter and herbs stuffed inside - delicious.

The table

and my plate

Later that night, Annie got to wear Liz's apron :)

Finished pie, finally!

Seriously delicious

I want more

By Sunday, Annie was brave enough to pet Maggie voluntarily, almost :)

Enjoying a leftover turkey and cranberry sauce sandwich before we left!

22 Months

2011-11-30T15:41:00.000-08:00

(This photoshoot was a bit of a disaster - Annie did not want to sit in the chair AT ALL (kind of a miracle that this is the first time that's happened in 73 of these photos, I guess) and then would only look at me and smile in this one single solitary shot - so behold, Annie and Raggedy Ann "stup" as Annie said - standing up. She did all the arranging here :) Also, this outfit is DEFINITELY a bona fide "daycare outfit" - forgot it was picture day when getting her dressed!)

My dear little Annie,

You are just 2 months shy of 2 years old now! I'd say that is hard to believe, and to slow down, and all those things other parents seem to say, but really I have just loved watching you get older and seeing you figure out the world. This month especially has seen a huge explosion in your understanding and vocabulary, that's for sure! The things you say are so funny, and you're starting to develop a lot of sass and a sense of humor with your words. Just last week, you slammed your milk on the table, spilling a bunch, so I said "Don't do that! Okay?" and you gave me a look right back and say right back to me, "Don't do that...... okaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay??" and now do that every single time I even give you a look - I definitely couldn't help laughing at that one!

Just recently, you've started saying "Annie's turn" when you want to do something yourself or basically want to do anything. I think it is pretty cute for now, but I can see that getting a bit out of hand! Usually you are pretty good at letting other people take a "turn" too, if necessary, but theirs are always shorter than yours. Right now, this is also a good way to get you to do something you don't want to do - such as put your hat back on - if your Dad puts it on and says "Daddy's turn", you immediately want it back, saying "Annie's turn!" Whatever works! You also like telling me "No cheese mommy!" if you are in a bit of a mood and do not want your picture taken anymore.

You still love playing pretend, and now can actually "read" stories to your babies, instead of just turning the pages. You remember some of the words on each page, and say them, or point out items. It's amazing to see all the things you can remember! Some of your dolls have gotten names - if I ask, most are named Annie, but you did name your magnetic dress up doll "Nola" (after your friend at daycare). Your baby dolls and books are definitely still your favorite toys this month, but sometimes you enjoy playing "catch" (which is more like fetch, but... whatever) or playing with Legos and other random toys. You love filling up bags and purses, putting them over your shoulder, and telling everyone "Bye bye!" as you walk out of a room.

This month you've learned your colors much better, and can name them accurately most of the time. You randomly announce the colors of things throughout your playtime, and at dinner, and definitely want to be acknowledged. You also like to point out (and have for a few months now, I just forgot) who things belong to, and point out "Mommy's cup" or "Daddy's jacket" or "Annie's shoes" as well. This used to be just Daddy, Mommy and Annie, but you've started identifying the actual objects now too. Your version of counting right now is pretty hilarious - you always start with 3, and it's 3-4-5-4-5-4-5 most of the time - you'll get it eventually :)

You're still a pretty good eater, with things you like. Your favorite meals are chili, black bean soup and spaghetti, and you will certainly never turn your nose up at carbs or anything sweet. You like to ask for a bite or more, and get quite insistent if we don't immediately respond. If you see anything resembling bread, you ask for "muffit" (muffin I guess), and you always want a napkin, which you for some reason pronounce "mackack", although if you get one, all hope of you eating is lost because you just then want to wipe up the table. You also love to "help" bake and cook - if you see me baking, you have tried to bring over a chair so you can stir and watch. I look forward to many afternoons making cookies and cakes together!

Daycare seems like it's a really fun place for you - you still love your new role as a "big girl" and greatly enjoy doing crafts. I guess several days you have completely not napped because you just lay there "chatting" with your friend Imogen. Imogen and Nola, who both just turned 3, LOVE to help you out - when you get there in the morning, one of them always pulls out your chair at the table while the other puts your booster up since you're a little too short for the chairs. They apparently alternate these roles - Susan runs a tight ship over there! Imogen and Sienna frequently try to hug you when we leave, but you're typically halfway up the stairs yelling "BYE BYE" and won't come back - as SOON as I get there, you run for your jacket and the second it's zipped you are off and running - you love pointing out the many things we see on the way out, too - the bears in the basement window sills, the rocks in the neighbor's landscaping, and now the nativity and the Christmas trees (pointing out all the different colored lights) that are up. It usually takes a good 5 minutes to get from the door to our car, and I think you'd sit out there for an hour examining things if I let you!

What has really been fun for family is that now you are GREAT at remembering everyone, including their names. Thanksgiving was especially fun for you, as you randomly proclaimed family names and pointed everyone out around the table. You have so much fun with your family, and they definitely love hanging out with you too!

We are so lucky to you have you in our lives little bunk!

Love, Mom

27 Weeks

2011-11-28T08:28:00.000-08:00

By the fire at the cabin!

Compare to 27 weeks, 4 days pregnant with Annie.

Due Date: February 27, 2012

Weight Gain: Not sure, but I'm guessing it won't be pretty at my midwife appointment on Wednesday after several Thanksgiving celebrations.

Symptoms: Getting out of breath quickly still, some cramping when I roll over at night or just when walking. Overall feeling pretty good!

My cold started subsiding on Wednesday, thankfully. I was really annoyed because Ben got me some Yogi tea to have to help my stuffed head, and then I noticed it said to not have while pregnant or breastfeeding. Seriously?! Even tea? I drank it anyway and it really did help and just for my own curiosity I called the nurse - I did google and saw that licorice apparently can be bad during pregnancy or something. The nurse basically said that with all herbal stuff, they just don't know enough to be able to say for sure if it's okay or not, but she did say that one cup of tea here and there PROBABLY is okay :) So annoying though!

What's different this time: Right now, it seems my pregnancies feel very similar - even looking at my belly pic from Annie, I feel the bellies are identical even too. Oh, what's different is being more laid back I guess - because last time I probably WOULDN'T have drank that tea because of the warning, and I also would have FREAKED OUT when I realized I forgot to take my prenatal vitamin the entire weekend up at the cabin - oops! But now I just feel like, eh, oh well. He'll probably be fine :)

Cravings/Aversions: Nothing specific.

Sleep: Starting to get mighty uncomfortable. My hip/arm/shoulders start to ache from laying on my side so I have to roll over which is getting to be an ordeal.

I am loving: getting into the Christmas spirit! Feels weird without snow though, although I know it's not that uncommon to not have snow yet. I hope it comes soon!

I miss: sleeping on my belly.

I am looking forward to: decorating for the holidays, picking out our Christmas tree, and taking Annie to a variety of Christmas themed events around town over the next few weeks!

I'm spazzing about: my upcoming Gestational Diabetes test - I'm following the same strategy to hopefully pass the 1-hour test that I did last time - trying to avoid all non-naturally occurring sugar the day prior, and no food after dinner until after my test (which should be over hopefully by 9:30am - will be quite difficult for me). I passed easily last time doing this. I know if I actually HAVE GD, I will fail regardless, but I want to avoid taking the 3 hour test! I'm not spazzing about the actual test, but tomorrow will be a sad day of eating for me without my sweets, that's for sure :)

Best thing about this week: spending 4 solid days with Annie up at the cabin - she was so much fun! It was hard to come into work today and say goodbye to her, although she was very excited to see her friends at daycare.

Milestones: nothing new is springing to mind. My mom and sister felt some kicks though, which is cool. I did realize that as of yesterday, there are 3 months exactly left until my due date, which seems nuts.

Movement: Starting to get crazy. Seriously, what I wouldn't give to have an ultrasound machine to see WHAT in the HECK he is DOING in there sometimes! I think he's still sideways so I feel punches/kicks on both sides of my belly frequently, and sometimes he moves so violently it literally shakes my whole body. It's crazy. I LOVE how much he moves, even if lots of it seems to be concentrated into the hours I am laying in bed...

It's a...: boy

Exercise: Sadly none - I was still feeling pretty crappy on Wednesday so didn't go to yoga, and was gone the whole weekend. Will get back in the saddle again this weekend!

Diet:Left this one on here this weekend because I ate like crap - ha! Sooooo much sugar and carbs and not much vegetables. Trying to compensate with a fairly healthy meal plan this week!