18 weeks

I thought we had turned the bend with puking this week, but sadly that is not the case. nonetheless, it is so reassuring to feel him moving around in there:) 
baby boy this week: he is as big as a sweet potato (around 5.5 inches long!). He is now practicing yawning and hiccuping and has his own unique set of fingerprints. anxiously awaiting our anatomy scan- I think I will breathe a little easier after that:) 
me this week: I have started having what may be ligament pain? I didn't have it too much with ainsley but I am having pains in my sides and back a lot lately.  I went two FULL DAYS without puking and not too bad nausea. but it hit again last night and this morning. ::sigh:: ainsley gets so worried- she comes in the bathroom and says "mommy you ok?" and i tell her I'm ok just sick. she says "mommy sick beats" from the song 'shake it off'. last night she brought me her hippo to make me feel better. such a sweet heart.  To be honest I am feeling just so big already and it's making me anxious for this summer (hello whale in a swim suit). I know it's my second kid, muscles are stretched, blahblah. It's still a struggle to have your body change in ways you can't control. Luckily I have a wonderful husband who reminds me I am growing our baby and it may be the last time my body gets to do that.  I have been pretty good about exercising every day, even when all I want to do is take a nap when A takes a nap. 
cravings: peanut butter. just in time for reese's easter eggs:)  pickles (seems to be a constant for me, even with ainsley) 
Philip was off a lot this week and the weather teased us and was so nice. yesterday, it snowed again. enough already!  some pics from our week: 

first corn on the cob experience-- LOVED it! 

family dinner at Old Chicago 

our future rock climber. she got to the top and said "wahoo i did it!" 

puzzles at the library

17 week update

17 weeks! 

We had a good week this week. We celebrated St Patrick's day on Tuesday with this little leprechaun. Grandma took us out to dinner to celebrate my late Grandpa's birthday. we went to one of his favorite restaurants O'Charley's. 

Philip slaved away putting up ainsleys new playset ( her gift for her two year birthday). He worked at St Claire Monday night and when I came home Tuesday, expecting him to be sleeping, we saw her playset erected and being put together! He finished it yesterday (17 hours of work total) and A wanted to play on it. So out in the rain we went so she could play :) What a good Daddy:) 

Can't wait for warm weather!!! 

We also got to have a date night at a new restaurant in town called OBC kitchen. for an appetizer we got bacon slices with a side of peanut butter (pregnancy woman's dream). I had a nausea free dinner and night… until about eleven that night when my stomach decided it didn't like having food in it anymore:/ 

Baby this week : he is as big as the palm of my hand, 5 ounces and finally developing some fat (join the club kid). He is also learning to suck and swallow this week :) 

Me this week: Ok so the nausea and puking should stop soon, right?! i mean it's a boy- what the heck! seriously though, it IS getting better. I was just hoping it would be a lot better by this point. I am still taking medicine at night and nausea meds at least once during the day (no judging please). 

I have gained a pound from the day I found out I was pregnant (it had to happen sometime). 

Annd- the most exciting- I am feeling Baby Boy move! about 5 days ago I started thinking I was feeling him but wasn't sure. I am for sure feeling his subtle little movements now. I didn't feel Ainsley until around 19 weeks, but my placenta was anterior last time. this time it is posterior so I can feel him a little better. such a sweet sweet feeling :) 

We think we might have a name but are still trying it on for size. We will let you know once we know for sure! 

some pics from our week: 

park playmate with Kalyn. she got a little muddy :)

park with Auntie Jo! 

playing outside at NannyPop's 

Gap and Old Navy had a huge sale… I couldn't resist buying BOY clothes! 

clothes from Grandma Joy! cars and football :) 

16 weeks / Gender!

we have made it to 16 weeks! the nausea is still pretty consistent and frustrating at times but I do feel like it is getting better. I think this time around i'm not hoping every day that it will get better. I know from experience now that it might not really ever go away and even then, I will survive:)  baby this week: baby is 3-5 ounces, about the size of an avocado! I feel like it is much bigger than that based on my baby bump :)  baby can hear us now as the bones in their ears are where they are supposed to be. They are also developing facial muscles.  NOW, on to the good stuff! Finding out the gender!  Let me first say, God is so good. Seeing our little baby, and seeing that so far things look healthy made our hearts soar. We would have been happy if it was a boy or girl, we feel so blessed to have another pregnancy that didn't require a lot of effort or trying. God truly is amazing in weaving this tiny little creature together in my belly, and we are so grateful for this blessing. 

Our original appointment to find out the gender was Tuesday. But upon looking at our schedules, Philip worked thur, fri, sun, monday nights. so he was going to be meeting me at the ob after working a crappy run. I didn't want to find out what we were having then him need to go to bed- that's not fun! plus, let's be honest. If they tell me I can find out at 16 weeks, i want to find out at 16 weeks.  16 weeks and 2 days is good for me:) 

We took Ainsley along with us because we thought she would enjoy the whole experience. And she definitely did. She sat right next to me during the ultrasound but instead of looking at the massive screen it was enlarged on, she was intently watching the ultrasound probe on my belly. The tech started out saying 'well the baby is breech' and I was like oh no they aren't going to be able to tell! Then we saw the baby's face, their little hands waving at us, the loonngg legs and toes. P said he could tell at this point what he was looking at, i however was still clueless. She zoomed in on the boy parts and said the words i was hoping to hear " It's a BOY!". I started crying, P teared up. Ainsley was very concerned I was upset and I told her it was ok Mommy was just so happy. This proceeded to her repeating 'Mommy so happy' over and over all the way to dinner:) it was so cute. 

I had told Philip I needed bar food, in particular fried pickles, for dinner. Everywhere around hamburg was packed from the SEC games, so we went to the Pub for dinner. We were all so happy and excited and it was such a fun family dinner. From there we took Ainsley to get ice cream which completely made her night. 

I got "its a boy" bracelet and ainsley got "big sister" 

We haven't decided on a name yet- it's still up for debate. We had our girl name picked out for sure, but not the boy name yet. 

our announcement 

We are over the moon excited. I have felt like it was a boy since the week we got pregnant. I had dreams for 4 nights the first week that it was a boy. and I just felt like this one was a boy. I never had a feeling with Ainsley what I was having, P was the one who knew for certain it was a girl. Although he also thought this one was a boy :) Thank you to everyone for all the well wishes! 

baby boy's first clothes! thanks Nanny!!! 

2 year pics

My friend Jenny Mostad with Rugged Joy Photography (check out her page on Facebook!) took Ainsley's two year pics for us. We met her at Victorian Square downtown and had such a good time just taking pics of our sweet girl. We didn't have high hopes because well, she's two and impossible to control. We got them back today and are THRILLED with how Jenny captured Ainsley's personality so perfectly! I am so happy with them and the expressions she caught on camera:) She is a mom of 3 so she came prepared with bribes of candy- she's so smart!   here are some of our favs: 

To see all of her pics or to save and print, here is the link!  http://www.ruggedjoyphotography.com/Ainsley-2-Year/n-Q9Cqt7/

15 weeks/ more snow

We are 15 weeks this week!  We started out taking weekly belly pics the week we found out we were pregnant ( to keep up with tradition from last time).  

 I quickly realized I was not going to enjoy this as much as I did last time. 

First of all, I am not nearly as tiny as I was when I was pregnant with ainsley. second, my body is just different after a baby. third- I have popped out wayyy quicker this time than last time. The 'ol maternity jeans have made their appearance much earlier this go around. and I'm not even going to pretend that I don't the stretchy elastic. 

So anyway- I won't be posting my weekly pic this time:) 

But I will tell you what is going on with baby this week! 

They are about the size of an orange. Their little ears are moving to the side of their head and eyes are moving to the front of their face. He/she can also wiggle their fingers and toes :) 

our first dr visit 

As far as me: I am still feeling pretty rough. The nausea comes and goes all day, worse in the evenings. I tried not to take my medicine my OB gave me last night and have paid for it today- thank goodness Philip is home to help me! especially since we are snowed in with snowmageddon part 2. this round is worse than the last one that hit- Philip measured 15 inches at our house. The airport measured 17 inches. and Georgetown got even more than that. I love snow, but I am officially over it. Take me to the beach. Give me sunshine. this winter has beat me down and given me season affective disorder for real :) 

this is my chair i lay in in summer time and read. … 

 

and here are some more pics of the cutest child in the world:) 

ice cream with nanny and pop  

best dog ever 

ainsley and her favorite cousin anna beth playing in their fort. she is trying to get AB to high-five her.