sluggish and crabby.. (also 17w1d)

and it's my own damn fault... I stayed up late (finally watching some old stuff from my DVR list... so many movies/show... so little time!!) working on a crochet baby sweater I started a month or so ago...

I just kept saying, "one more row!" and then it was 12:45...oiy...

but what a great weekend!!!

we got into the VFW hall Friday night to decorate (only got blurry shots from that night, meant to send them to my mom - who, due to long distance, couldn't come to the party)

(we put up a few more decorations Saturday morning... after I locked myself out of the hall by not bringing the right key, and having to wait nearly 25 minutes for E to come with it...)

 (and of course, all the great pictures of the cake, more decorations, people, etc are on my big Canon at home... which means I'll promise to post them later and they'll never get posted... but really, I do intend to take a look at them very soon.. this week... lol)

the only other pictures I could find from friend's phones/my phone:

(obviously the collage on the right is from a friend, so it's her son in the center lol)

yesterday was so hot... so so hot... we got out one of Button's new gifts (water table from MIL&FIL) and played on the front lawn for about 10 minutes, which is when Button even said, "too hot aiya! (outside)" 

 After nap time, we high-tailed it over to IL's house to lounge in their pool (and get dinner that I didn't have to cook!) 

And a quick 17W update:

I've been feeling baby (kick! pop!) a bit more regularly - 2-3 "sessions" with a few pops per session each day! - the last week or two... I LOVE IT!!! According to Button's pregnancy, two more weeks-ish until they can be felt from the outside!

Weight gain definitely slowed down/stalled - I think I overdid it until last week, and am feeling much better with what/how much I'm eating

Next appointments are an OB check-up (only weight, urine, BP & doppler) in two weeks, and in another week after that - the A/S!!!! (oh and in between there somewhere is my 30th birthday... GAH)

but it'll be a 30th birthday spent probably shopping for .....

GENDER REVEAL!!!!!

Ok so - we went in Friday right after work, and made nice with the "tech" (obviously they're trained at ultrasounds, but instead of working at a clinic are working at an elective ultrasound place, hence the quotes around tech. lol I dunno...) and made our votes on the cute little board in the room:

(these votes were totally based on the prediction we got at 12w... hint hint)

We got to see baby (hi baby!) and hear a great hb (154-156bpm!)

and then came the Money Shot... 

and boy, did SHE SHOW HER GOODS!!!!!

(I just realized, I plastered a picture of my daughter's VaJayJay on the internet... #worldsbestmother)


And so begins (ok honestly, continues) my P.interest obsession for all things Little Girl!!!! Time to make that board public!

HOLD THE PHONE!!!!!

Seriously.... you guys...
I got this in my email this morning...

HE IS TWO YEARS OLD!!!!!

We woke him up this morning with a whispered, "Happy Birthday Ben! it's TODAY!" and received a whispered, "yea!" back with a shy grin... sweet boy...

MommyOfTheYear sent in aaaalll the cupcakes to daycare yesterday, so we stuck his candles in raspberry cheese danish this morning...

His eyes LIT UP (no pun intended) as we lit his candles!
(He mostly spit when he tried to blow them out, so Daddy helped actually extinguish the candles...)

He's at grandma's house (MIL) now getting spoiled:

Today they plan to go see SIL's new apartment (where I'm sure there's more waiting for him there, she adores him!)

 ETA: Nana took Button to McD's PlayPlace for his birthday:

E and I have a 5pm elective ultrasound to see if #2 has an innie or an outie (OMG I CAN'T WAIT!!) and then we pick up the birthday boy! (and most likely E's adopted sisters to come stay the night & babysit - we've got to get to the VFW hall (we've booked for tomorrow's party) by 6:30 to pick up the key and start decorating!)

And then the big party tomorrow!!!!

So Monday (or, like, next month) should be a big birthday party post, as well as a gender announcement!!!

Have a great weekend!

16weeks! (16w2d)

 Best Moments This Week: Was using the doppler last night, and heard the "whoosh" that usually (I'm pretty sure) indicates movement, and felt it slightly!!!

Total Weight Gain: Well I'm not really sure the total... the OB has me starting at one weight (which nets 7 lbs gained), I'm remembering my real pre-pregnancy weight (as soon as I got my BFP, and which nets about 8.5 lbs gained) and then there's the first weight I noted on my little tracker at 12w (which nets only 5 lbs gained.)
soooo - anywhere from 5-8.5 lbs, and if it's 5-7, I feel good/ok about it.  8.5 lbs? I'm getting leery that I'm on a course to gain more than I did with Button.  That and I feel like I've done as much as a slug, physical-activity-wise the past few months... after-work walks starting tonight!!!

Maternity Clothes: I've kind of given up - they're so comfy, I don't fight with my wardrobe each morning (and leave a pile of discards all over the bedroom...) I'm still wearing non-maternity maxi-skirts, and some dresses and tops...

Symptoms: none really - there's times I feel like I forget I'm pregnant!!

Sleep: getting pretty good sleep, as long as I get to bed at a decent hour (not like last night, which was around midnight...) I think we're still adjusting to the time-change from GMT

Food Cravings: I guess still oreo ice cream... nothing really, otherwise

Anything making you queasy or sick:  Not really...

Movement: Some pops here and there!

Stretch Marks: Still just ones I had on my hips from highschool...

Gender Prediction: I have my prediction, the tech has hers as well - we'll actually find out this Friday at our elective ultrasound!!! (Check out the new countdown on the left!)

Labour Signs: Too early.

Belly Button In or Out?: In (never turned out last time either)

Wedding Rings on or off?: On

Happy or Moody?: I think I can officially say the mood swings have definitely improved, minus one or two here and there...

Purchases for baby: Officially made the first purchase at a cute little store in CO called Mountain Moppets (seriously, how cute is that name?!) I got a set of knit socks (one pair pink, one cream, one blue!) that were 75% off and only $7 or so!

Purchases for Momma: I hit Burlington Coat Factory this weekend looking specifically for loose, racer-back (shoulder baring for some tan!) tanks and ended up with shorts, two skirts, and a bunch of blouses!! Go BCF!!

Miss Anything?: Still probably a good cold drink, like a margarita or Twisted Tea... I also hear commercials for Six Flags and remember how fun the roller coasters were in our TTA BuggyList extravaganza!  (Holy cow.... that was over three years ago...)

Looking forward to: this Friday's gender ultrasound!!!!! (and even aside from finding out Boy/Girl for sure, just excited to see baby again!)

This past Sunday, at exactly 16weeks!


ETA: fun pics (from almost 18w) with Button for comparison!

another P.S.S. - Had 16week bloodwork done yesterday for "Second trimester" screenings (spina bifida is the only one I can remember now...) and inquired about the results from the 12week bloodwork/NT scan, since my OB had never brought it up... We are <1:10,000 for both Down Syndrome and Trisomy (13 and 18 I think) wooooooot!!

Monday Mish-Mash (16w!)

So we got back from a week in Colorado Springs Friday night! Big Family Reunion, lots of pictures and week's description to follow!

For your present entertainment, some nuggets from "precious" SIL (remember her from last Christmas?!):

(First off - her 21-month-old daughter is, in my opinion, severely un-fed and under-nourished (malnourished is too strong/harsh) - she's "allergic"** to all kinds of stuff, and due to missing key items in her diet, the poor girl has zero muscle tone and not much energy to run around and play, like her crazy cousin Button...)

(**Even my brother questioned SIL at one point, asking "but how do we know she's allergic to eggs? She only had them that one time a year ago!" (and the "allergic reaction" was something like, she scratched her neck alot.  sigh   Also - why wouldn't you be willing to try foods again, especially since you carry around an EpiPen Jr even though the girl has NO KNOWN anaphylactic allergies?!?)

Ok back to the list of "crazies" that I kept:

     - Supposedly her daughter dictates what she needs nutrition-wise.  Like, if she doesn't get enough of one thing one day (protein?!) she'll "crave it the next day" and so it all "balances out"

     - As we're having french toast with the house-offered regular syrup: "We use organic/all natural syrup, this syrup is much more watery"

     - Regarding the surprisingly low-level of baby-proofing of the house we rented (homeowners have two children) "Some people just don't baby proof - they just train their toddlers to stay out of things."

oh really. so you just TRAIN a 14-month-old to stay out of the cabinet of cleaners?!

     - As I was verbally going through the diaper bag before an outing (and mentioned Button's multi-vitamins) she spits out, "I've read that children/toddlers really don't need vitamins at all and ironically, it's the parents that give their kids vitamins who also feed their kids really well-balanced diets." (I really should have fired back, "then that must mean your daughter REALLY needs vitamins! too bad you won't give them to her!")

     - On the way in from a car trip, laughing as Button had taken off his shoes and socks again, and here was SIL carrying [baby's] shoes and socks as well - I asked, "oh [baby] likes to take hers off too?"

SIL responded, "oh no, she gets really uncomfortable if they're on too long, and I just really don't think she needs to stay uncomfortable!"  (again, I think of comebacks after the fact: "oh, why don't you try bigger socks and shoes?! they totally should not be uncomfortable...")

While we were in CO, E's uncle house- and dog-sat for us (for the second time.)

The first time? He broke a piano table that was in the guest room- like, legs all came off - broken. (He said he fell in the middle of the night...) but then he never told us.
We came home and discovered it... along with wet towels all over the bathroom floor, like he was at Hotel Buggy.

This time?
Jelly on the front door...
black dress socks (which did NOT match, according to E) dirty and balled up on the back of a kitchen chair...
a bag of peaches (that he had asked for!) that had rotted and had nearly turned to liquid...
in fact, one of the peaches he didn't eat somehow ended up on another kitchen chair, underneath where my leather Michael Kors purse sat - which I got to clean this morning when I discovered said rotten peach...
**AND I also discovered while driving Button to daycare, that the peach juice had dripped on my brand new B&W striped maxi skirt (OF COURSE on the white part!)
E is forgiving these transgressions because he's all, "oh but he does us such a huge favor, we don't have to go drop off/pick up dogs and he also watches the house..."

Yea, but he hasn't ruined/broken/stained any of YOUR things!!!

(Also - what's with people asking if this pregnancy's planned??  my bestie's BIL - a father of two - asked me that on Saturday at the First Bday Party for bestie's son...  Also at this party, fBFF cornered me by the bathroom with a shotgun, "Did you ever FEEL yourself ovulate?!" which led to a huge teaching session, schooling her on Luteal phases, and DPO count and when you can truly attribute "Symptoms" to a pregnancy (she was about 3DPO, she thinks, but already totally just felt pregnant...)

Next up - a 16week update (movement! I've definitely been feeling tiny pops every few days for at least a week! HI BABY AVOCADO!!)

And - AGH - Button's SECOND BIRTHDAY PARTY this coming Saturday!!!!!!!

whoa nellie - lots of books!

So the last Reading Challenge check in (two weeks ago I think) had the totals at:
     24 books read
     26 books left to read

The new current count!

(with an "extra" / uncategorized 4 books read!)

I had tried to keep a running total tally count of all books read (I think the last update ended at #29) but I'm not sure that's correct - 24 "categorized" and 3 "extra" read at the last check-in only run 27...

**Ok I found one extra book (#7 in the total list of 29) that I both never blogged about and never logged, not sure what book it was, and another extra book that was double-counted as a categorized book...**

SO the new total count is 36 books read, 30 Challenge books.

Here we go:

#30. Can't Always Get What You Want by Chelsey Krause    #4/50: A book published this year   (fin 6/19/15)

This was a book I just wanted to read, and lo and behold, it was published January 13, 2015! =) 

A cute romance with some hot sex scenes- good, light summer vaca reading!

#31. The Billionaire and the Virgin by Jessica Clare    n/a   (fin 6/20/15)

another book I just wanted to read, based on its free-ness and it was interesting - another light summer read, but the male lead is a brass, curse-like-a-sailor bad boy that I never did develop the "awwww he so deserves love!" feeling towards...

#32. Yesterday's Gone by Sean Platt    #40/50: A graphic novel    (fin 6/24/15)

ooooookay so this isn't technically a graphic novel, as in - there's no pictures... but it IS written in episodes and seasons! (I only finished Season One so far!) 

It's great though - a post-apocalyptic story similar to Left Behind where a number of people have vanished - the people left behind are trying to figure out who these SCARY-ASS creatures are coming after them! And why a few of them have dreamt of the others before ever meeting... Can't wait to dig into Seasons 2-5! (Must. Not. Distract. from Challenge!)

#33.  To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee    #25/50: A book you were supposed to read in school but didn't   (fin 6/26/15)

Alot of my coworkers were surprised when I told them I had been reading this book due to never reading it in school. And to be honest, it wasn't the phenom I expected... interesting ending...

#34. Remember When by T. Torrest    #36/50: A book set in highschool   (fin 6/28/15)

This was a great book - a "throwback" to growing up in the early 90's complete with grunge fashion and scrunchees.  It's actually a trilogy and I'm excited to read #2 - set in 2000 with the two main love interests all "grownup" and in their mid-20s! (And #3 I am going to assume is more present-day, to cover their 30's!)

#35. The Beckoning Fair One by Oliver Onions    #23/50:  A book more than 100 years old   (fin 6/30/15)

I originally had a different (free) book for this category to be read, but it was so freaking dry... (the issue with books written 100 years ago!) this book (published in 1911) was actually a "short story" (at 57 pages) and was a horror story! While it was a slow going for a bit, the ending was a cool curve-ball!

#36. In Too Deep by Tracey Alvarez    #29/50: A book set somewhere you've always wanted to visit   (fin 6/30/15)

(I obviously read this one a bit simultaneously as the scary old book (#35))

This one was pretty good - set in Australia, with a main female character who is a police forensic diver! Interesting characters - hot sex scenes (blushes) great summer read!  (And also part of the Due South Series, so if you choose to, you can read along as all the other main characters fall in love in their own steamy sagas!)

(currently reading Melting Into You (no-category) which is the second book in the Due South Series - I'll cut it off after this one so I can be sure to get on with the Challenge List!)

So there you go - only 20 books left with half the year left!! (And a flight to CO in a few days to read! - yes, Button is still a Daddy's boy when we travel, which lets me read!!)

a (late) 14-week bumpdate! (14w2d)

How Far Along: 14 weeks - SECOND TRIMESTER!!

Baby is the size of: a lemon

Best Moments This Week: There have been a few moments the last few days where there's flutters (not followed by any gas!) that I'm thinking are baby!!!

Total Weight Gain: At about 4 lbs gained so far... which at first scared me, I thought I was gaining quickly - but I'm on track with how I gained with Button (and considering I started 3-4 lbs lighter pre-pregnancy than with Button, not too bad!)

Maternity Clothes: So I'm actually back and forth on this one... I wore a regular pair of skinny jeans last week, with the zipper and button totally undone, rocking the hair-tie!  I also wore my maternity (full-paneled) turquoise skinny jeans last week, and they were amazing. lol

Symptoms: feeling kind of human again, regarding fatigue and empty stomach syndrome!

Sleep: I feel like I could always use more, but I've noticed the past week the nighttime pee sessions have ceased! uterus is moving on up!

Food Cravings: I think I've pinpointed an actual craving - but it's still not strong enough to run out the house at midnight - vanilla softserve (or fro-yo) with crumbled oreos.  LOTS of crumbled oreos - Baskin Robbins does NOT give you enough, and a mini-mcflurry barely does the job...

Anything making you queasy or sick:  Not really...

Movement: See "Best moments" - it's gonna come for sure any day now!

Stretch Marks: Just ones I had on my hips from highschool... lol

Gender Prediction: I have my prediction, the tech has hers as well - trying to keep it all mum as it's only a predicion!! =P

Labour Signs: Too early.

Belly Button In or Out?: In (never turned out last time either)

Wedding Rings on or off?: On

Happy or Moody?: so the horrendous mood swings have been getting better - until I walk into work this morning and feel roaring to go, ready to fight with anyone who even steps in my path! oiy...

Purchases for baby: still none yet... though I've started making the sweater!!!

Purchases for Momma: I got a whole bunch of used maternity sweaters & fall/winter shirts from ebay and Motherhoodcloset.com - an online consignment store for maternity-wear!!! (I also bought a second pair of jeans from OldNavy - the first (and only) pair I have are bootcut, so I got skinny - I ordered my regular pre-pregnancy size, and I'm not sure they'll fit this fall lol I might have to exchange for the next size up... oiy!)

Miss Anything?: I told a friend, I think it's harder to be pregnant (at the beginning of a pregnancy, vs at the end like with Button) during summer - I'd love a hard iced tea or frozen anything while sitting in the sun...

Looking forward to: finding out for sure if baby will be made of Snips&Snails or Sugar&Spice!! (found that phrase on a blog article, must find a way to use it when we announce the gender!!)

at 14w1d (and of course, at work)
((I only unbuttoned my jeans for the picture to show true bump, and not waist-band bump lol))

What goes on Mondays again?

oh yea, "Making things!"


and um... either I've stopped documenting all the Making (which is partly true) or I've totally stopped making as much (which is mostly true) but I've got a few old projects I never shared!

and I mean old - like, Valentine's day goodies for Button's daycare class
(check out the first pic - version.1 of the strawberry jelly heart pops for the teachers... something with how I re-rolled the dough for the top hearts, and they shrunk back in size after I cut them... lol
the final product came out much nicer, and looked great wrapped in plastic and tied with ribbon!)

Or how about the boot cuffs I crocheted this winter (and even though it's almost July - they can nearly be worn again like when it's almost 60 degrees and rainy on Sunday)

Or more interestingly, the cowl I just finished crocheting for this coming winter (as I layer my few maternity tanks and tees under cardigans) - no pictures taken yet, but it looks pretty AND warm!

And I'm actually working on the first panel for a baby sweater!!! And it's in cream, so it'll work whether the tech was correct in her prediction or not! ;)
I've never made actual clothing before, or anything that had to be pieced together - so I'm hoping to get alot of input and advice from my mom next week -

we'll all be together in CO for a large bi-annual family reunion for my dad's side of the family!

*And we all?
entails:  Parents, Sister (and family - husband + 2 girls), Brother (and family - wife and 21month old)

aaaaaand we're all sharing a house!
Should be veeeeery interesting, considering SIL is the crazy one from Christmas time who wouldn't let bubbles touch her daughter's skin, and who pulled a honey nut cheerio from out of her daughter's mouth because she didn't want her eating "high fructose corn syrup"
(also - they're pregnant again as well and due exactly one month before us!!!)

what's convenient is that they (brother and SIL) are renting a 5-passenger sedan while there, and parents are driving up from TX with a 7-passenger van, so between the two vehicles we can seat all 10 adults and 2 carseats (which is really awesome - because for us to rent a third vehicle would cost over $400!!!)

except now - it may become an issue because, even though bro and SIL are flying in a day earlier than everyone else, they may spend a day during the reunion week to go visit friends.  In their car...

whatever.

we'll walk to the hotel for reunion festivities.

or run shuttles with the parents' big van...

now I'm purposefully being the laid-back one when bro and SIL are crazy uppity "DON'T FEED MY BABY HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP" people...
lol

very interesting indeed...




(the previous Making Things Monday crafts/entries:)
1. Ben's playroom art wall
2. Jack-O-Laterns, delicious meals, and a shelf  (*STILL NOT HUNG!)
3. Birthday Board Reminder
4. Christmas Chargers & Paper Trees
5. Crochet has begun: hats!
6. Pinot's Pallette Paint Nights!
7. a Crayon Box for Button