Baby Girl #2: 23 Weeks

How Far Along: 23 Weeks #cantbelievethisbabyisgoingtobeheresosoon

How Big is Baby: the size of a papaya (8 inches, 1.2 pounds (as in more than one pound now!))

Sleep: Emma is still being an awesome sleeper!  I am still sleeping on my side- boo!  I am also having crazy dreams.  As in one of my friend’s dads had a heart attack and died- scary!

Diet/Cravings/Aversions:  I am a little over food, but I guess I prefer Mexican food and sweets currently

Symptoms: my belly is getting bigger by the day- seriously.  I am also starting to have a lot of heartburn- especially after I eat salsa.  My hair is seeming to grow at a rapid fire pace- I am planning on chopping off 3 – 4 inches this week. 

Movement: this baby moves so much more than Emma ever did- which is surprisingly comforting!  I hope this means that she is not going to be feisty out of the womb. 

What I am worrying about: that I chose the right paint color for our living room.  I know this is a small thing, but it is a little bit of a leap since I saw a picture of the paint color in a blog that I read and I just went for it. Also, we have made zero progress on the name decision.  

What I am loving:  the weather- it has been cool enough so I don’t complain, but not cold enough where it is miserable.  Also loving that we finally just decided to go for it and painted our front door yellow- I love it.

What I am looking forward too: the day off from work, celebrating Easter with Wes and Emma, knowing that next Easter I will have two babies to celebrate with. 

Best Moment of the week: all work related this week- that my presentation went well and that quarter close is almost over!  Also that I got my first milkshake of my pregnancy (it’s the small thing that count, right?)

Emma: 13 Months

Where has time gone, my baby is now 13 months!  Instead of Letters to Emma- I am going to start bullet pointing and categorizing her Monthly Posts.  Hopefully, these will allow me to get the posts up more timely :) as you can see, did not happen this month!

Skills: can say mama, dada, da (dog), bah (bottle), uuu (up).  She has recently started saying ba da (bad dog) and shaking her finger at the dogs.  Wes does this to show her when the dogs are being bad so if starbucks and bailey are barking or fighting she will start screaming “ba da” at the top of her lungs.  It is hilarious.  Wes- I hope you are not screaming at the dogs when you are teaching her this trick.  Another new skill is wearing shoes and continuing to walk- this was a struggle for awhile J.  The biggest and by far most impressive (only to her mommy) skill she learned at 13 months is SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT!!!! I cannot emphasize what a huge relief this is for me. 

Likes: to eat.  Wes says some days he feels like all she does is eat all day long- blackberries and blueberries are her new favorites.  She likes going to the nursery and doesn't even cry when we drop her off (let’s be honest, it is probably a lot more fun for her than walking around the back of the church and me telling her no).  She likes to be outside.  She gets so excited when we say do you want to go outside. She also loves to flirt with other people when we go to the store.  She gives a shy smile and it is so sweet.  

Struggles: staying in our high chair through dinner.  She is skinny enough to maneuver out of it, and just wants to stand up.  Another struggle is getting Emma to stay put in her stroller- we have had to start strapping her in.  This baby girl does not like to be confined!  Getting her bottle before bed in her room.  It is daylight when she goes to bed now, and she wants nothing to do with her room when she knows it means she’s about to go to bed.  Tantrums- oh the toddler tantrums.  She is so dramatic sometimes, throwing herself on the floor.  I have learned that the best way to deal with it is just to leave her alone and let her throw a fit for 30 seconds to a minute then typically she is over it.  Unless she wants milk.  If she wants milk, the tantrum is not over until she gets some milk in that round belly of hers. 

Schedule:  oh the schedule.  She wakes up between 6 and 6:30.  Eats a light snack with mommy.  After I leave for work, Wes feeds her breakfast.  Around 9am, she gets her first bottle and goes down for a nap.  Up for play time.  Lunch around noon.  Then bottle and another nap.  More playtime.  If we are lucky, she will still take an afternoon snooze around 3:30 to 4.  5:00, mommy gets home!  Playtime with mommy. Dinner.  More playtime with mommy and bed between 7 and 7:30.  However, this will vary on any given day :).  

Sweet Text Message

I received this message from my hubby about an hour before my big presentation (to the #2 person in the Finance organization) today.  How can you not feel motivated with a message like that!  My favorite line is "be a viking" :).  Luckily, the presentation went very well :).

Date Night

I feel like I am very lucky to love my husband as much as I do and enjoy spending time with him after nearly 8 years of dating.  When we were dating and newly married, we had a date night nearly every week.  There was one three week period where I was buried in CPA studying, but for the most part we were able to go out on a date at least weekly.  Now, I knew this would change once we had a baby- I am naive, but not that naive :).  I just didn't realize how much I would come to cherish each and every date night.  

When Emma was little, she was such a good baby when we would go out, that is almost felt like a date.  She didn't make a peep and we were able to focus on each other.  However, since she has been eating solids and sitting in a highchair- it has become dinner out and most definitely not date night.  We went out on a date (margaritas at Gloria's and then the James Bond movie) three days before we were expecting again.  Then, there was Thanksgiving, Christmas and first trimester exhaustion and morning sickness.  The next thing we know, it was the new year and we hadn't been on a date.  We have decided to do monthly date nights in 2013 going forward.  Luckily, my in-laws are pretty generous with their babysitting time and they love seeing Emma so this has worked out pretty well so far.  In February, we went to the casino night/mardi gras party at our church.  For our March date night, we went out to dinner and to see Late Nite Catechism: Las Vegas- Sister Rolls the Dice.

Here we are at dinner (Cantina Laredo)- it was so nice to just focus on each other and not have to worry about whether Emma was happy or satisfied!  Wes enjoyed a margarita (or two)- not me since I am carrying the baby.

We had the most delicious crab cakes- seriously, they were so good!  That green chimichuri sauce was amazing.

Then, we shared a meal that equally delicious.  This baby in my tummy must love Mexican food by now!

When our waitress was ringing us up, she said I will be right back with this.  It was so nice to be able to say "please, take your time- we don't have our 1 year old with us tonight".  It was nice to sit there and talk to each other after we paid without hurrying out of the restaurant.  It is in these moments, you realize just how lucky you are to have married your best friend.  Then we headed over to Barnes n Noble to meet my parents- then onto the "play".  Really, it was more like a stand up comedian dressed up like a nun.

It was hilarious- we had the best time.  If you are Catholic, you should see this.  We both laughed a lot.  Can't wait to see what we plan for April :).

Emma's 1st Birthday: The Party

After snapping a gazillion pictures of the party decor and Emma, the party guests started to arrive.  We timed the party perfectly to start at 11- after Emma's morning nap so that she was in her best mood possible.   I had a grand idea in my head that I could get a picture of Emma with every single party guest, but that was a fail.  Here is Mom, Ally and Emma :)

At first Emma wasn't so sure about playing with Grandpa George.  She is looking at him like "what are you about to do to me?"

But then she realized that she liked getting her head bonked by balloons and it was all smiles from there on out (ps- look closely, I love my dad's facial expression in this picture).  

Emma got down on the floor close to her cousin Noah and gave him a big hug! I hope this means she is going to be a good big sister!  

Then, it was time to eat.  Emma's plate :), just imagine her saying "this is yummy mommy, I am so glad we didn't have pizza at my party!".

We were all listening to Ally tell (apparently) a really funny story.  What can I say she is captivating.  

But, Emma wasn't having it, demanding the attention to be back on her- it is her birthday (not Ally's) after all.

A picture of me with my college friends- I am so glad they make the time to come to all of Emma's big life events!  My baby bump is definitely hiding in this picture :).

Aunt Celeste with her grand kids.

Grandma and Brent :)

Some of the men in the kitchen.

The rest of the guys in the living room.

After everyone was done eating, it was time to let Emma dig into her cake.  So I did the only natural thing and undressed her.

All of the guests waiting in the sidelines to sing Happy Birthday.  As you can see a few of the balloons had fallen by this point :(.

Then, the singing started, but also the wailing started.  Our baby girl did not like being the center of attention (at which point, I was wondering if we were related!).  That or she remembered the candle from the week before and recalled the fire incident.

Poor baby- this is supposed to be the happiest day of your life, you were not supposed to cry.  Here I am trying to calm her down and show her that in fact, she really does like icing.

All of the party goers looking on- probably finding this hilarious.

After much consoling, she was finally starting to calm down.

Then, she went for shoving it in her face.

Took a few bites out of her candle.

We gave her a fork (since she loves silverware) and she went to town.

At one point, she even had some cake hanging from her chin.

In the background, here was her special helper, Ally, helping to keep the tears to a minimum.

After we wiped Emma down, it was time for the presents.  We let her open presents without putting her dress back on- making for some extra cute pictures!  Emma was spoiled by all of our friends and family.  Here she is "tearing" into her first present.

Emma received her first baby doll from her cousins!  She was literally so happy to be opening presents- I think the cake scar was officially over.

Look at that grin- she loves books (and presents in general!).

Where did Emma go?

She loved loved loved and still does love her tea set from Stephanie!  Here she is examining it.
 

And then decided she needed to pull it into her lap to examine it a a little closer.

I am telling you Emma was obsessed with this toy (and still is).  This pictures kills me- literally.  Look at that protruding belly and those leg rolls- cuteness overload!

She would get distracted by her presents and we had to redirect her attention to the task at hand.  Here she is receiving Elly the Elephant from Austin and Ally.

Most of her presents were wrapped in sacks, so we really encouraged her to participate in tearing the wrapping paper.

Checked out that look of concentration and sucked in belly :)

What was inside of there? Emma's first pair of Toms from Kelli and Cecil!  I love love love this present!  Emma will be matching me one day :)

Emma received so many other cute gifts from her guests, but as not to bore you that is all I will blog about.  After the present unwrapping, I tried to get a few more pictures of Emma with her party guests.  Emma and her Bobbob.

Steph, Nat (my college roommates) and Emma!

Grandma, Grandpa and Emma

And last, but definitely not least- the birthday girl and her mommy.  I am so lucky that I get to be her mommy :).  Love you Emma, I hope you had the best, most memorable 1st birthday ever.

And in a few years when you don't remember this event- you will always have this blog to look back on!

Baby Girl #2: 22 Weeks

How Far Along: 22 Weeks!

How Big is Baby: whoah, belly! the size of a spaghetti squash (8 inches, 1 pound!)

Sleep: I am still happy to report that Emma is sleeping through the night!  Most of the time she goes down between 7 and 7:30 and will sleep until 6 – 6:30.  A few mornings she prefers to wake up at 5am- silly girl.  I am now officially sleeping on my side- which stinks!  And waking up several times a night to go to the restroom.  But really, I can’t complain because my baby is FINALLY sleeping through the night! 

Diet/Cravings/Aversions: definitely sweets.  On Sunday, I whipped up homemade chocolate chip cookies- Wes was wondering what happened to his wife.  Last night I made puppy chow- too die for! 

Symptoms: less achy this week J clearly as a result of picking Emma up less. 

Movement: still the best part of being pregnant so far J

What I am worrying about: what to name our baby girl. The name I love gets made fun of a lot when we tell people.  I feel like people are either really on board or really against it- I still love it, so we will see what happens.  I am also worrying that I have no idea what to do with Emma’s big girl room.  I can picture exactly what it will look when she moves from a crib to a full bed, but I can’t even come up with what to put on the walls.  I think maybe the pink crib is throwing me off :/. 

What I am loving:  my new maternity gear.  Anyone that knows me knows that I hate to spend money on maternity clothes.  You wear them for close to 9 months and then it’s over, never wear them again (unless you get pregnant again which I am NOT planning on doing).  Well, last time I was only big pregnant in the winter.  So I had 5 long sleeve shirts and two short sleeve shirts- just enough to get by.  Having a baby in the summer threw a wrench into my “never going to have to buy maternity clothes again” mantra- I thought I would be able to wear my old clothes again.  My mom and I went shopping this weekend (with our best shopping bud, Emma), and I am happy to say that I got 5 new shirts (all short sleeve), a pair of shorts and a dress for $120.  There is something about being able to wear a new top to work every day of the week.  I have seriously loved getting dressed this week.  I am sure this will change, but for the moment I am loving it.    

What I am looking forward too: the weekend- we don’t have much planned, but we will get to see Ally and possibly go to another baby sale J

Best Moment of the week: lots of good moments this week, but the best was when I got home from work one night and Emma greeted me with a big, wet, sloppy kiss.  She is normally excited to see me, but she has never kissed me when I got home unprompted like that.  

Spaghetti Face

As I have mentioned several times on the blog, watching Emma eat is one of the best things about having a baby.  Her ambivalence towards food is endearing.  I cherish dinnertime every night- it's normally just the three of us catching up on our day and watching Emma try new foods.  On Monday night, Wes made chicken parm and we let Emma go for it with full abandon.  Of course, we were smart enough to take off all of her clothes before this adventure :).  Started out relatively calm.

And full of smiles, giving us her full approval of spaghetti as a meal.

Shoving it in her face and wondering why are my parents always taking pictures of me?

Because you are so darn cute, Emma!

And ended dinnertime by shoveling it in her face!

In case you are wondering, she went straight to the bath tub after this dinner- I found spaghetti noodles everywhere!