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Wednesday, June 30, 2010

12 Weeks and 3 Days

Today we had our 12 week ultrasound to measure Baby's neck for the down syndrome test. The neck fold looks normal, so all signs are pointing to a healthy and well developing baby.

Baby TIME was quite happy to be moving around in there squirming and jumping around. Yawning and waving and kicking. It was a lot of fun to watch and it was also fun to watch Ace watch, which he did sporadically.

Baby TIME's heartbeat today was again at 155bpm. So like her (or his) brother very consistent with the beats per minute between each visit. S/he seemed perfectly content even though s/he was getting mushed around by the ultrasound tech. S/he is measuring right on schedule for a due date of 1/9/11 still.

We were not able to get a sneak shot at a confirmation as to the gender, although we did get a cute shot (although no printed picture) of Baby with legs up and crossed. Honestly, I am not a fan of this ultrasound tech. Yes, the likelihood of seeing the gender clearly are slim, but don't tell me it's impossible - I know people who have been told the gender guess at 12 weeks and it turned out right. Also if she could be a bit more liberal with the towels and a bit more purposeful with the wiping up afterwards that would be super.

Baby TIME gave us a wave before we said goodbye. :)

Monday, June 28, 2010

12 Weeks - 2nd Trimester!!

We've made it! Yipee! I can still recall when we passed this first milestone when I was pregnant with Ace. Breathing a sigh of relieve that we had passed the ultimate first volatile hurdle. And we've reached that point again. Whew! Today, we begin the 4th month of pregnancy.

Baby today is from crown to rump the length is 5-6 cm or 2.0-2.4 inches. So in size reference the size of my pinkie finger, a Vienna sausage, or in the fruit measurements a yummy plum! Baby weighs about 14 grams or 0.5 ounces. Baby this week starts to create insulin, guess I should make sure my diet isn't entirely made of sweets then ;-) Because I certainly crave them! And the liver starts to create bile. Somehow insulin sounds more dressed up and pleasant than 'bile.' But both are good to be developing!

Craving wise thus far have included funfetti cupcakes (as I had with Ace early on) and a LOT of sweets. I also am having baby amnesia at the moment and cannot recall any others at the moment.... ;-) but I know there have been others. Including when I ate blueberry waffles with a dill pickle. Both only tasted good if I had a waffle bite with a pickle 'chaser' bite. That was a pretty bizarre one. Otherwise there's been LOTS of aversions to food, including my beloved McDonald's double cheeseburgers. I keep joking this baby is NOT mine. Guess we're saving some money by not having McDs as often as I did when I was pregnant with Ace. Still not eating that much healthier though, so we'll see how the pounds pack on. :)

My energy level seems to be steadily improving which is wonderful. However, sickness and headaches continue to make their appearances. Although in truth the sickness is far less than it was several weeks ago. So hopefully, we're on the downward trend of those pleasant perks of pregnancy. ;-) We have also entered into the once a month category for pictures. So enjoy the 12 week photos!



Friday, June 25, 2010

Flashback Friday


Jess, Jackie, Me, & Shannon

A weekend bachelorette party! Yep four years ago (and less than 3 weeks after moving from So Cal to WA) I flew back to So Cal and headed out for a weekend getaway with the girls to celebrate Jackie's bachelorette party! We had a great day - hung out by the pool (got some sun!), went to dinner, had a lingerie shower, went to a club and enjoyed some booze. :) It was excellent fun!

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Twenty-Two Months Old

In eight weeks I will have a two year old! That causes me to mildly hyperventilate to think at how fast the time really has flown by, but every moment is a joy.

Ace continues to explore and do new and exciting things - as he grows older he's able to explore and do more things that the 'big' kids get to do... like go to the movies! Yep since I first heard word that Toy Story 3 was coming out this June I had been plotting and keeping track so that I could take Ace to go see it.

We chose a 9am showing on a Saturday. Sadly dad was away on his drill weekend, so he wasn't able to join us. I brought Ace in strapped in his stroller for added assistance and we sat in the handicap section (fully willing to move if someone in need required those seats.) Ace was in awe of the giant tv in front of him and he sat through commercials, previews, and the Picsar short with zero issue and then Toy Story started and he was THRILLED. He was so excited, he squealed! He of course had brought Buzz and Woody with him to accompany him to watch the movie, and they sat with him in his stroller. I had juice and snacks of various flavors and he did great! He sat for over 100 minutes (including all the pre-show 'excitement') before he sought to get out of the stroller and have a mild itching to get down and be free. It only lasted a moment and then he was back and engaged in the movie. He sat for a time on his own in his own chair, he enjoyed that. Then back into the stroller he went for the remainder of the movie. He loved it. He absolutely was enthralled with everything happening in the story and had a blast. I don't think he'd sit through with such ease through just any movie though - I think having some of his favorite characters on the screen was a big help in keeping his attention. Looking forward to adding another Toy Story into our movie rotation in the near future!

Ace is also talking up a storm in sentences. He likes to tell you exactly what he wants and that he wants to go get it. The other day we had the following conversation.

A: 'Breakfast, breakfast, breaaaaakkkkfaaast!;
Me: 'You already ate breakfast, it's almost time for lunch.'
A: 'LUNCH! Thai food? Thai food. Thaaaai foooood! Broccoli? Thai food. I drive!'
Me: (laughing hysterically)

Apparently our son LOVES thai food. We don't eat it THAT often - maybe once or twice a month MAYBE - but he apparently remembers it with fondness. He is doing wonderful at communicating what he wants and he says 'bless you' after he sneezes still and says 'thanks, welcome' after he's been given something. He's a very polite boy. He also finally in recent days has started to actually say 'please' rather than simply and exclusively signing it. He also the other day said 'I sorry' outloud rather than simply signing it. It was really sweet and heartfelt. I couldn't ask for a kinder soul than we have in Ace. We truly are blessed. I hope his heart stays this sweet.

Ace also has deemed that mommy's baby is: 'Seester.' The other day he came up to me while I was laying down and came and lifted my shirt up and hugged his 'seester' and then gave her?? a raspberry and then 'closed' my shirt and said 'bye bye seester' It was really sweet. And again entirely adorable. We'll have some serious explaining to do if Baby TIME turns out to be a boy. :)
Teeth wise Ace's got all but his final set of molars in! I'd say that his 'sharp teeth' are still not all the way in but they're mostly in and certainly doing their chewing job. He still has issues every now and then with his mouth hurting and I can't tell if it's the final molars coming in or its still his sharp teeth giving him issues. He's a trooper though, not too much complaining on his part.

He continues to enjoy swimming although the lead up to it, he often says he doesn't want to go. Although once we're there is loves it and the other day after swimming he was telling the checker at BRU all about it! The sun this week also has made repeat appearances and in light of that Ace has been able to enjoy time in his pool! He loves to use the hose to fill it up and then afterwards he enjoys splashing and transferring the water elsewhere. Gone are the days that I add boiling water to his pool so that it's warm. He's growing up and enjoy the cold hose water all by himself. Ace also in his 22nd month got to paint for the first time. He LOVED it. He asks to paint any day it's sunny now. It was adorable to watch him play with all the different paint brushes and colors. He was very deliberate about each stroke he took - and honestly did not get that messy! It was excellent. :)

Sleep for Ace continues to be a standard experience for us. He seems to wake up around 1 or 2 (sometimes as early as midnight) and come into our room to sleep. Most of the time after he does that he sleeps fine until morning. However, there are still a handful of days that he is a squirmy worm that causes both mom and dad to clench our teeth and contemplate that arrangement. It's been a long while since we've seen lengthy sleeping patterns on the first stint of sleep. I've given up keeping track. I'm too exhausted being pregnant to try and 'sleep train' him. If he'll sleep with us, sleep is the key, so location is secondary.

Ace LOVES to dance. We put the music on and he goes to town! He's got some good moves :) He turns the radio on in his room often and rocks out while up there. In recent weeks I've migrated more of his toys to his room so that he can play in his room more and less so all over the midlevel of the house. The playroom is still mainly focused on the lowest level of the house - but we honestly don't go down there on a regular basis - the arrangement of all that fun stuff continues to be a project in the back of my mind. I believe as the changing table and rocking chair move out of his room, more of 'his' toys will move into his room for optimal playing there.

Ace is growing, flourishing and having a grand ol' time. It's going to be a fun summer with him.

Monday, June 21, 2010

11 Weeks

Baby is growing and moving around in their space happily, yesterday I actually thought I could feel one of the flips - and it's possible - but I haven't felt it again.

Baby this week is measuring crown to rump length is 3-5 cm or 1.2-2.0 inches. Baby is the size of a lime. Baby weighs about 8 grams, about the same as two small, Starbucks-sized packets of sugar. Baby is also start to gear up to start training for all those diapers, as the bladder is forming and getting ready to start functioning in the near future. Baby's organs are also all developed and functioning, so the risk of defects decreases this week as baby becomes less susceptible to outside influences. Exciting!

I'm still having nausea full force off and on every day. No headaches in the last few days which I am thankful for. Looking forward to second trimester when (hopefully!) the morning sickness subsides. We're almost there!!!

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to my husband! Your son and I love you very much!


or playing and building puzzles...

reading books....

collecting walk-rocks...

working with tools....

Whether jumping and playing...

You have been a wonderful father.

From the moment he was here...our son adores you!

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Build A Bear ... er Tiger!

Ace and Sabria have been friends for well... all of Ace's life. They were born 9 weeks apart (yikes this means in only 9 weeks I *too* will have a TWO year old!) and have been enjoying 'play dates' ever since they were being carted around in their snugnrides. Vanessa and I have been plotting when would be the best time to take them to Build A Bear pretty much since we both found out we were pregnant. We thought it would be so much fun to do with them and it was well worth the wait.

Sabria turned two at the end of this week and to celebrate we enjoyed lunch at McDonald's with some play time and then onto the mall for some Build A Bear excitement. They both combed over all the drawers of bears, bunnies, monkeys, and tigers (oh my!) and both of them chose indpendent of one another the 'limited edition' tiger. Ace was most excited by the buttons that he could push that would cause the stuffing to change colors. He had a good time pushing those various buttons over and over again. And then it was his turn to 'make' his tiger. He was a tad nervous about the actual stuffing the tiger part, but he happily picked out a heart and placed it inside his tiger.


We then waited and watched Sabria's own tiger come to 'life' and the two of them occupied themselves during that process as well. Afterwards they were able to 'wash' their tiger which they did together. After their tigers baths Sabria collected the both of them, while Ace went exploring other areas of the store.


Next on the agenda was naming their tigers and filling out thier birth certificates. Ace chose the name Tag for his tiger. They both had a good time 'typing' on the computer for a while.

After they had obtained their birth certificates - we checked out and headed on our way with our new family member. They had a good time and so did the moms! :)


Tag came home and slept with Ace as he fell asleep (along with a sea of Disney pals as well) but Tag made the jaunt across the hall around 1am when Ace awoke and came into our bed, dragging Tag by the tail. So there was Tag next to Ace all night long.

Friday, June 18, 2010

Flashback Friday

Me, Sheila, Mark, & Shell


June weddings are great - especially when they are for your friends that you've known since you were six (and dated off and on all through high school.) Yes my high school 'sweetheart' got married on June 16th 2007 - and I could not have been happier for him. His bride is his perfect match and they are great together. I was so glad that I was able to be there to celebrate their special day.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

A Pillow

Soon after Jackie got into planning mode for her wedding she asked me if I would be interested in creating her ring bearer pillow for her and Dave for their wedding day. She had come across a design that she liked and passed it along for inspiration. As her shower date started to approach I began to hunt for the fabric that I wanted to use. The example she had shown was satin - and I just wasn't feelin' it. I'm not a HUGE fan of working with satin. It's very hard textile to work with.Especially if you're going to turn part of it into a rose. So I was on the hunt for the perfect aqua colored fabric (one of the wedding colors, of course.)

When I was in a little shop in our neighborhood I found this tea towel. It was perfect in color and linen. While linen has it's own demons of workability, I find it far more agreeable to work with - and it just felt more 'Jackie' :) I know that sounds weird.

The color was perfect and I thought the idea of repurposing a tea towel would be a fun way to make the present that much more fun. You see Jackie and Dave's wedding is going to be very sustainable. They are using many earth friendly products, upcycling and reusing a lot of things, and being extremely ecofriendly throughout the planning process. Which is fun to see their creative twist on traditional wedding ideas. :)

So having a broken iron at home after the near catastrophe with the quilt I had just completed - and not having time to acquire a new one before this project needed completion (I need a GOOD iron so I won't just go pick one up anywhere) I borrowed my neighbors for the weekend. :) and after Ace went to bed on Saturday night (I know nothing like waiting till the final hour to complete my project!!) I got to work. The rose on the top of the quilt is entirely hand sewn together and onto the pillow. I just did some gathering and sewing to create the floral effect. I braided the 'hand hold' together on the back because the ribbon was pretty thin to just put one - and then sewed it together. It ended up being a tad smaller than I planned, not sure where my measurements got off, but it still is a decent size. After all a child is carrying it. :)

The bride loved it! She gave it glowing reviews and said she's 'crazy' about it! Which is great - I'm pleased she liked it. It was a lot of fun to make!

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Jackie's Bridal Shower

If you recall a few weeks back we had Jackie's bachelorette party which was lots of fun, and on Sunday this past weekend we had her bridal shower at a local vegetarian resturant (the bride and groom are both vegetarians.) It was an excellent time!

Dana came up with the idea to have the presents be thematic to the holidays so everyone was assigned different holidays. I was assigned Valentine's Day - I couldn't NOT get her chocolate body paint ;-) but her real present was her Ring Bearer Pillow (a post on that craftiness to come later this week.) I also found Jackie a beautiful hair comb on Etsy, made by one of my friends from college. Her shop Pontellier has some beautiful hair pieces that she makes. I put them all together in a fun heart shape container sprinkled with a few heart shaped cookie cutters and some fake strawberries.

The party was lovely and the food was beyond delicious. We enjoyed watch Jackie open lots of great stuff - many people stayed true to their assigned themes which was a lot of fun. I loved her grandma who stood near by watching her open each gift! The games were fun. I even won one! Simply by having my anniversary so far away Jackie's. :) Nifty.

After we enjoyed games, present opening, and delicious food, we headed out to the courtyard to obtain some pretty pictures with everyone.


Tuesday, June 15, 2010

10 Weeks and 2 Days

Today we had another ultrasound. I've gained another pound in the two+ weeks I was gone. Which I find amazing consider the amount I have not kept down in those last two weeks... but it was more likely that we fooled the scale with that pound since I had just consumed a burrito and a half from McDs and nearly 12oz of OJ :) so more likely is I gained nothing at all from the last two weeks. Which is fine I had already gained 5 from my 'starting' weight. We also weighed Ace (fully clothed with shoes) and he weighed 23.8lbs. So that means he's gained weight - I know his clothing didn't weigh 3.8lbs I'd say 2max so that means our little guy has put on roughly 2lbs! YIPEE! That makes me excited because between 12months and 18months he put on 2lbs TOTAL. He's a skinny mini :)

So we went in and got the ultrasound done - more goo on the belly (and later on my clothes, delightful) and we got to see our little girl (or boy) s/he was laying on their back and we had a nice side profile where we could see the arms, legs, nose, mouth, and eyes. Everything is there and accounted for. His (or her) little heart was beating quite quickly at 163bpm, but that is still well within the norm. :) S/he was moving and waving at us and kicking her (or his) very tiny legs. Momma is looking forward to another mini-soccer player growing inside of her. To me his (or her) legs already look long like Ace's were.


Baby TIME wasn't quite big enough to do the measurement of her (or his) neck to establish if s/he has down syndrome. Although the measurement they did take was still within the normal range, so there isn't anything to be concerned about. So far Baby TIME is very happy and growing at just the rate s/he should.

We get to see Baby again on the 30th for the official measurement and can't wait for that date!

Monday, June 14, 2010

10 Weeks

A quarter done! It goes by fast! Then again I can still recall being pregnant with Ace and he's nearly 22 months old now. Time speeds by so fast when you have children (and are growing them!) This week I have many pictures for you. You see 10 weeks was the first milestone in my first pregnancy. 10 weeks was when I first started to show. So I decided to dawn the same outfit I had previously and give you a comparison of what I looked like at 10 weeks when pregnant with Ace and how I look pregnant at 10 weeks pregnant with TIME.

Baby's crown to rump length is 2.5-3.0 cm or 1.2 inches. Baby is the size of a kumquat or less glamorous a prune. Baby weighs about 3-5 grams or .25 ounces. Our baby's head is almost half the size of their body and all organs and external structures are now present. His/Her face is also well formed as of this week.

You'll get another post tomorrow about Baby TIME with more pictures, because we have another ultrasound of s/he tomorrow morning. We're very excited to see the baby again. Should be exciting! Always nice to see Baby and know s/he is safely growing away inside. Granted I've had plenty of morning sickness to bless me with the assurance that s/he's still happily producing hormones and affecting me. Enjoy these pictures of the belly.



Saturday, June 12, 2010

A Sunny Saturday!!

It was only a few days ago that this was the situation at our house...

... earlier this day it had been off and on sunny. So as Loving Husband was coming home I said let's grill some burgers. Certainly even if it wasn't still sunny, a little cloud cover wouldn't hurt. Well of course not seconds after we put the burgers on it started to pour. POUR! Ace absolutely loves to be out on the deck 'helping' his dad grill and when it rains he has a LOT of fun running around in it, especially without shoes. Mommy, not so much. So I crawled under the table to show Ace the water droplets on the table. He had a lot of fun under there.
But that was last week! Saturday was a beautifully different story! The sun was OUT it was shining ALL day and it was WARM!!!! It was wonderful. Sadly, dad was off to drill for the weekend, so it was just the boy and I. We decided to take advantage of the outdoors and paint for the first time. Ace loved it!


After he completed his 'first' painting (which he did all on his own. And yes, I will frame!) he painted on 4 smaller canvases and assigned which grandparent would get which one. The fourth he deemed was 'Ace's' and is now prominently displayed in his room.


Next on the fun agenda was the pool. Ace had a blast filling up the pool and swinging the hose all around and even at one point taking a drink out of it. I was surprised at how willing he was to play with the hose since obviously the water was pretty chilly, but he was having fun.


We let the pool sit for a while after it was full to get a little warmer, and we went and got lunch. Although before Ace could take his first bite, he was asleep. He took a good long hour car nap in the nice cool garage. Afterwards, he woke up and decided he wanted to paint and play in his pool. Sure, why not! Oh and also eat his nuggets. Quite a multitasker.



So we painted again and this time mom assisted and showed him that he could paint pictures and even write his name with the paint. He enjoyed having mom paint specific things he asked for and he getting to paint at the same time too. We had a good time.

We ended our time outside with a video message from dad who was walking between tasks on base and sent us a message saying hi. Ace enjoyed watching that and then after that we headed in the house for some coloring and eventually dinner, bath and bed! It was an excellent Saturday!