New Year and 37 weeks!

I can’t believe I didn’t take one.single.picture on New Years Eve, but I was in the moment.  We had a low key night that started with dinner with Meme, Poppy, Ben, Nuna, Kyle, Nancy and Mia’s favorite boys! After dinner we all put on some comfy clothes and played games at our house to ring in the new year!  It was also Meme’s birthday, so we had some yummy dessert to eat at the house.  I am so incredibly thankful for another year with my momma!  We love her so so much and hope and pray for many many more years to come!!  Life is so short and you are never promised another day, so I am thankful for each and every day I get with my loved ones!

My favorite moment of 2012 (among many!)…

Finding out this girl would be a big sister.  To a healthy little sister :)

Sammy girl started her new year out right with steak and chicken breast for breakfast!  What a good daddy she has :)



New Years Day, we did absolutely nothing.   We stayed in our PJ’s all day, played some candy land and watched some movies.  Meme, Pops and Ben stopped by for a bit to visit and play some card games!  It was a rainy, cold and gray day, so it was a perfect day to stay in and cuddled up!  Not gonna lie, I love me some lazy days :)

The epitome of lazy…

Laying on the couch in your jams, watching country music videos, eating an apple!  HAHA!  A girl after her momma’s own heart!

Today we had our 37 week ultrasound (to check for growth, since Mia was so small, although Finley has been measuring perfectly) and dilation check up.  I went in with the thought that if she weighed about 6 lbs. right now, that would be good and average.  Well not only did we get to see that little ones beautiful face, but we also found out that she is weighing in at about 7lbs 4oz right now!!!  NOW, the US is about plus or minus ONE pound, so she could be anywhere from 6-4 to 8-4!  I’m thinking more along the lines of 6ish, but still, I was ecstatic to find out that this girl is growing like she should!!  Mia put her momma and daddy through the ringer!  We feel so blessed and are so so thankful for this little bundle!

Here is Mia’s nose/lips (on the left) compared to Finley’s nose/lips (on the right)

Can you see that?  I think they look pretty similar, but also different!  I hope they both have their own little look, although looking like big sis wouldn’t be a bad thing, considering she is pretty stinking cute ;)

Ears. Finley left, Mia right


For the most part I am feeling pretty good still.  I am exhausted and out of breath most of the time and can’t quite get comfortable, but other than that, I’m hanging right in!  I said I wasn’t in any rush to have her, but after seeing her today, and packing the hospital bags, I’m so excited to get to meet and hold her!!  Still not in a hurry, just excited!  She will be here soon enough and will be a big girl before I know it. 

In the meantime, I am going to enjoy every last second with this girl before she is a big sister…

I have thoroughly enjoyed the last 3.5 years with just Mia.  I am so thankful for this girl, my first born princess and the one who stole my heart.

I love my girls!!

36 weeks with H2

Thirty Six weeks.  Wow!  As this pregnancy winds down to the end, I find myself not in a hurry, AT ALL, to deliver.  Not that I don’t want to see her, but because of how much I have enjoyed this pregnancy and how fast it has flown by.  And also because I don’t know that we will have any other kids, I am kind of sad thinking that this may be the last time I feel the movements of a growing baby inside my belly.  And what an amazing feeling that is.
I love this little girl to the moon and back already and can’t wait to hold her, but am still sad it’s almost over.  Bittersweet.



In other news, look what just came in the mail…

I am SO SO excited to see my sweet baby girls in these sister shirts!  It’s crazy for me to even say that.  Baby girls.  Plural. Crazy.
And also?  Finley’s diaper bag is already packed and ready for the hospital!!  AHHHH!!!
4 weeks to go.  At the MOST!

28 weeks with H2

Here we are 28 weeks in to baking this 2nd little princess and I can honestly say I feel great!  I am SO much more laid back and relaxed this time around.  I have enjoyed this pregnancy and quite frankly, it is going by WAY too fast!!  Here are some stats:
Craving:  Ice, still.  I am taking iron and it has helped with the gasoline and white out craving, even though I wouldn’t mind a good sniff if it weren't dangerous ;)  LOL!  However, I’m still loving the ice.
Weight gain:  Wouldn’t you love to know.  But you never will!  HA
Size: Baby is the size of an eggplant, or approximately 2.5 lbs. and 15 inches.  Not sure how accurate that is for me since I seem to grow ‘em small :)
This girl is a mover and a shaker.  Especially at night.  When it’s nice and quiet and everyone is in bed, she decides it’s party time.  I cherish these sweet moments with my bebe!



Moment of the week:  Some random visitor at the hospital said to me “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were having triplets!”  UM, excuse me?  I didn’t feel THAT big, but thanks for the complex mister.

I just continue to pray for a healthy growing baby girl and praise God for all He has done so far!!

24 weeks with H2

Well, actually, I’m 26 weeks now, but we had these awesome maternity photos taken and I wanted to wait to do this post until we had them back!
I am feeling fantastic, no complaints!  Praise the Lord!!
Here are some of my favorites…

22 Weeks with H2

Yes, I know I am terribly behind in these posts, but we have been extremely busy.  I have been taking pictures though!



I am definitely in the 2nd trimester bliss right now!  I feel great and I’m not too big to where I am uncomfortable yet! 
Cravings:  Well, not any particular food. I LOVE crunching ice (yes, I am probably anemic), and absolutely crave the smell of white out and gasoline. Weird.  I know.  Just know that I DO NOT go around sniffing white out or huffing gasoline (although I would love too!)!!  I will be talking to my doctor about this at my next appointment.  I have started taking iron, so hopefully that helps.  I did this exact same thing when I was pregnant with Mia!
Symptoms: None really.  Feeling great, but it is getting harder to bend over to bathe the kids or tie my shoes :)  HAHA
Movement:  This little lady loves to move around, but mostly in the middle of the night.  Not a good sign for what is in store for me ;)
I am truly enjoying this pregnancy.  I am in NO hurry what so ever to get her out.  I am cherishing feeling every movement and just being pregnant.  However, I feel like this time is going so much faster than with Mia.  I don’t worry about every.single.thing. this time.  It’s so nice!  God has definitely blessed me beyond what I deserve!

18 weeks with H2

I seriously can not believe I am already 18 weeks!  This pregnancy is flying by.  I suppose it is because I don’t have time to just sit and think about being pregnant like I did with Mia, and now I have a very busy 3 year to keep me on my toes and doing other things.  This pregnancy needs to slow WAY down. 
I am finally feeling good. Like got-most-of-my-energy-back-with-little-nausea-and-feeling-slightly-cute good. 
I have been feeling intermittent flutters from about 15 1/2 weeks.  It is getting more and more constant, but nothing consistent.  This is my absolute favorite part of pregnancy!
And?  We get to find out what gender this little sweetie is in a little less than 2 weeks!!!!


Comparison:
18 weeks with Mia and H2

What do you think??  Same belly?

Week 14 with H2

HELLO SECOND TRIMESTER!!!!!

I’m getting terribly lazy about this chalk board wall thing.  I wasn’t even going to do a post this week, because I feel like I’m still in vacation mode :)

Baby is approximately the size of a naval orange!
Symptoms:  Lessening fatigue AND nausea!  WAHOO!!!  The nausea is hit and miss.  Some days I feel great and have an appetite, and other days I have to lay around with Zofran and Phenergan.  But hey, I will take “every now and then” over every.single.day.all.day.long.  I have had a bout of sciatica, but is better for now.  Also, round ligament pain started this week.  Um, look at the pic, obviously I’m having round ligament pain!  HA! 
I would love to compare baby bump pics from this pregnancy to Mia’s but I didn’t start taking pics until I was 18 weeks with her, because I didn’t really have anything to show!  I’ll start that at 18 weeks :)
I still don’t crave anything.  Some days I will crave something, and the next day thinking of that same thing makes me dry heave.  HAHA!  Apparently the lack of appetite and nausea is NOT affecting the weight gain ;)
It is so nice to be feeling better!  I look forward to enjoying this second trimester!

Big day for both kiddos :)

Yesterday we went to see check in on H2 and do the Nuchal Translucency test.  For those of you who aren't’ familiar with that test, it is basically a test to check for chromosomal abnormalities, such as Down Syndrome.  I didn’t necessarily want it for that reason, but mostly to just see the baby again and get some pics!! HA!  Any who, everything looks perfect and that kid moves like crazy!  Dave even looked at me at one point and said “You don’t feel that?!” in disbelief!  It was such a great feeling to hear the words “everything looks normal.  Textbook.”  We NEVER heard those words while pregnant with Mia!  Praise the Lord!


Sweet little H2!  We tried to get the sonographer to tell us what gender she thought the baby was, and she tried, BUT the umbilical cord was between the legs and that little stinker would just not hold still!  It’s all good, we will know sometime in August!!

Today Mia had a follow up cardiology appt and a speech evaluation for Head start.
Let me just preface these things with this:
*Apparently when Mia was in the NICU, she had a murmur.  Either I was too out of it, or no one ever told us.  So the other day I was going through trying to find her birth certificate and found her NICU discharge paperwork.  On the paperwork said to “Follow up with Cardiology at 1 year of age.” OOPS!  She’s THREE.  I didn’t get to alarmed because typically when they say to follow up in 1 year, it’s just an innocent murmur, like a PDA or PFO (typically close on their own).  However, the worrisome nurse in me decided to call.  We got in today.
*As most of you know, after all the trauma and and ototoxic medications Mia received in the NICU, she has a mild, high frequency hearing loss.  She has hearing aides that she RARELY, I-can-count-on-two-hands, wears.  Not because I am the non compliant mother, but because she is the strong willed, stubborn child.  She takes them out if I leave her alone for a second. And then thinks it’s fun to put the battery down in her ear.  Long story short, kids with “delays” or “issues” can get into Head start and Preschool for free, with speech therapy, if needed.  However, they have to “qualify.”  Today, we took her to be evaluated.


Waiting and playing patiently!

They did an EKG and Echo, both of which were perfectly normal and murmur is gone!  By the way, the doctor said she had (at birth) a PDA and PFO!  Just what I thought ;)  I was still relieved though!

Next up was her evaluation for if she qualified (if she was considered “at risk”) for free head start.  I didn’t get to take any pictures because they took her in a room alone to play and talk :)  When she was all done, they told us that she was normal in ALL areas (speech, motor function, cognitive, etc.) and therefore did NOT qualify.  Again, PRAISE THE LORD!  I never want my child to be “behind” but I was hoping to get her into head start!  Oh well, MDO here we come!  She LOVES school!!

One last thing.  This has been happening A LOT lately…

She loves to line things up, or stack on top of each other.  OCD or gifted??!!  I say gifted ;)

I am so SO thankful for these perfect beautiful children that the Lord has blessed me with.  I love them both to pieces!  My cup runneth over.

The secret is OUT!

Mia has something to tell you...

After 18 long months of trying, God finally decided it was time to bless our family with another little one.  We are so blessed and SO SO thankful!

H2 is on the way!!!!!!!!!