Baby Girl #2: 36 Weeks

How Far Along: 36 weeks! 

How Big is Baby:  the size of a large cantaloupe (19 to 22 inches, 6 lbs)

Sleep: soundly- with the exception of 3 – 4 bathroom breaks a night J

Diet/Cravings/Aversions: still only craving ice cream!

Symptoms: too many to list.  The only new thing I have noticed is that my neck is starting to darken as well just like it did last time.

Movement: yep- rolling and pushing all over my belly.  This is seriously the best thing about pregnancy and the thing I will miss the most.  I am almost positive that she is head down and that I am feeling her booty, legs and feet.  Sometimes she pushes so hard on my bladder, I have a hard time distinguishing if I really have to go to the bathroom or if it is just pressure from her. 

What I am worrying about:  not too much, which is very surprising. 

What I am loving: being pregnant.  Seriously, I was out of sorts last week.  I haven’t had a break down or crying fest in a week now which is a huge accomplishment.  Also, the comments have slowed down a bit- so my self esteem is still intact.  This is probably the last time I will be pregnant so I am just trying to soak it all in- the good, the bad and the ugly.   

What I am looking forward too:  the weekend (date with my hubby, maternity pics and having Kelli and Cecil over), quarter close being over, holiday next week.  Also, this is a ways off, but I have been dreaming of a sushi dinner with a big glass of wine and sleeping on my tummy again!

Best Moment of the week:  great news at work!  Also, finding out I am already 1 fingertip dilated.  I know some people would not be that excited about 1 fingertip, but last time it took me two trips to the hospital for prevacid and one dose of cervi(something) to be one fingertip dilated.  I am really hoping my body will go into labor by itself this time!

Happy 80th Birthday Bobbob!!

Emma's great-grandfather (and my Bobbob) turned 80 on June 19th.  Before my parents headed out for vacation in colder Colorado (me and my pregnant belly are extremely jealous), they threw him a birthday dinner to celebrate.  Emma loves her Bobbob a lot- she gives him unlimited high fives and will typically kiss him and hug him when we tell her to do so.

I got out the camera before dinner which made everyone super please :).  Emma and her Nonni :).  I still think it's unfair that they look more alike than Emma and I do.

Emma, Ally and Nonni (with Travis in the background).  This picture cracks me up, because Emma is already done with the camera.

Little did she know, that I was about to take a few more pictures of her and her daddy together for Father's Day (the party was the day before Father's Day).  Check out the look these two twinsies are giving me.

They were over it and it had barely begun. Sweet kisses for daddy :).

Emma started to perk up a little when we asked her "how big is Emma".

And then we asked her to give daddy a high five! Nailed it!

And then I let her get down, but she ran straight to Nonni so just a few more pictures needed to happen :).  Puckering up to give Nonni a kiss.

Then, she planted one on her lips.  Oh, how I already miss those open mouthed kisses!

Me and my dad :).

Then we moved back inside where Emma was equally as pleased to be getting her picture taken :).  She really was much happier than these pictures represent.

I like to call this picture "Ally scares me".

Me and the hubs :).  A rare picture of the two of us without Emma- we will have to take some of these!

Emma is not used to seeing her Uncle Bubba and was not so sure what to think when he wanted to hold her :).

Then, it was time for dinner!  My favorite, lasagna, was on the menu :).  It's one of Emma's favorites too- she ate her whole plate and had a little seconds!  She is getting so good at eating with a fork.

Candid shot of most of the group eating dinner.

Ally and Bobbob being goofy!

Then, it was time for the party hats, cake and ice cream.  At first Bobbob was not so sure about the party hat, but then he embraced it.  I mean, you only turn 80 once, so why not?

And blew out his candles (for the first time).

This next set of pictures cracks me up.  Bobbob giving a cheesy grin.

Followed by Ally giving the same cheesy grin.  We had to have a picture re-do on the cake so that is why the candles are lit again :).

All of the party hat participants :)

Before Bobbob left, we got a picture of the girls with Bobbob.

And then one with dad too :)

Happy Birthday Bobbob- we love you!

Emma: 16 Months

Accomplishments: at 16 months, Emma can now also identify her ears, titty toes, eyes, mouth, hands and fingers.  We are working on knees and elbows- but she is not getting them right consistently.  After that, I think we are almost all out of body parts.  She can identify where her baby sister is located (even though she still has no clue there is going to be another human coming to live with us in a few weeks).  It is so sweet, when I am putting her to sleep, she will lift up my shirt and lay her head on baby sister to give her a hug.  One night I asked her if she was  going to share her papi with sister and she walked over to my belly and gave sister a hug.  She can play two new games.  When we ask her where did Emma go she will use her hands to cover her face until we say ‘there she is”.  Also, we can ask her “how big is Emma” and she will raise her hands up and say “this big” although it sounds more like “th bi”.  She can make the sound of a cat- it is the sweetest meow you have ever heard.  We are currently working on sheep, bird and dog, but she is not 100% accurate yet.  If someone/one of the dogs walks out of the room- we will say where did daddy/mommy/ball/papi/bailey go- she will raise both of her hands as if she is saying she doesn’t know.   I can’t remember if I have mentioned this before but she can say Bailey’s name and she identifies Starbucks as the bad dog.  When Starbucks and Bailey go out the doggie door, she always says bye bye to them and then will sometimes go to look out the doggie door. 

Likes: this baby girl still loves her cheese.  In addition, she loves strawberries, guacamole and dipping anything.  We were at Aldi the other day and Emma wanted to eat the chocolate chips, but to distract her I asked her if she wanted to eat a strawberry.  She turned in her cart and pointed at the strawberries and ate three of them while sitting in the cart.  It is pretty hilarious- she doesn’t want any of the green stuff to be on there.  If we only take off half of the green leaves and give it back to her, she will take one look at it and give it back to us and grunt.  She likes to give everyone (but mommy) kisses.  Joking- she just doesn’t give me kisses every time I ask for them, but Wes says I ask too much.  She now puckers her lips rather than giving her sweet open mouthed kisses- it is bittersweet.  Oh, how I will miss those sweet open mouthed kisses.  We are still going strong with kissing on the lips though.  It is just a little awkward when the other person doesn’t want a kiss on the lips :/ #ohwell.  We will tell her to give hugs and kisses bye bye and she will mostly locate the correct person that we have asked her to do this too.  She likes going to the outdoor concerts- she is fascinated by the other kids and likes to have a little bit of freedom running from mommy to daddy to Nonni to Grandpa George.  She has developed an obsession with balls this month.  She likes to kick them, throw them, run after them like crazy.  She thinks it’s hysterical when we bounce a (soft) ball against her head.  She also likes to dance.  This has been going on for awhile now.  She will stomp her feet real fast, shake her arms from side to side, stand up and down up and down on her tippy toes, or turn around in circles all to show that she is dancing. 

Struggles: we are still struggling big time with the high chair.  It can be completely hit or miss.  I have noticed that if we give Emma something to eat the second that she sits down, she typically does better.  It is the waiting that normally has her bored and wanting out of her high chair or booster seat. We are also struggling with getting Emma to listen to us when we tell her no.  She seems to not listen to me at all, but she will typically listen to Wes.  She will throw her food to the dogs at dinnertime and we have had to take her plate away from her several times (which of courses leads to tears).  I am learning follow through at such a young age even though it breaks my heart.  

Superficial: at Emma’s 15 month old appointment, the pediatrician let us know that Emma’s 1 year molars were coming in.  I felt a little dumb- I had no idea that baby molars come in as early as one.  She spent much of the month pulling at her ears since that is where the pain was.  Emma still has 7 teeth + 2 molars for a total of 9 teeth.  She still wears size 3 diapers and mostly 12 – 18 month clothing. 

Love this little munchkin to pieces- so blessed that I get to be her mommy!

Swing Swing Swing

Our 16 month old is still obsessed with her swing.  If she is not taking a nap with one of us, she is taking a nap in her swing.  I find it oddly hilarious that she is now big enough to crawl in her own swing.  She doesn't do this all of the time, but when she does I think it is so funny.

29.5

Today is my half birthday.  You might not think my half birthday is that important, but with a Christmas Eve birthday, I live for half birthdays J.  My husband made me the sweet sign this morning (its half of a birthday card) and a half of a birthday cake- he knows that this day is important to me and it means everything to me that he remembered.  

Over the last few days, I have been reflecting on the fact that I only have six months left in my 20’s.  My 20’s have been so so so good to me.  I graduated college, got a good job, graduated grad school, became a CPA, married my best friend, bought a house, gave birth to Emma and now we have another little one on the way.  I don’t know how my thirties are going to be able to top this decade.  I briefly thought about making a list about what I want to do/accomplish in these next six months before I turn 30.  However, when I was thinking about it, only a few things came to mind.  I want to deliver this sweet baby girl, I want to integrate her into our family, I want to keep on loving my husband and I want to spend time with family.  And oh yes, I cant wait to drink a glass of wine ;).

I also want to sleep through the night, but that goal seems like it will be better saved for my thirties :).      

Randomness

Ready for some random on a Friday night??

Sometimes Emma and Wes eat breakfast on the front porch.  Super adorable, right?  I love the way Bailey is looking on in case Emma drops any food :).

Emma is obsessed with tooth brushes.  We lost the first tooth brush that we bought her so then she became obsessed with our tooth brushes.  When we were at Target, I remembered that she needed another one and she kept trying to open the package in the store.  I think for Christmas, Santa might be bringing her the electronic toddler toothbrush.

Emma's grandma has been pulling Emma's hair up in a high ponytail for a few weeks now- I think it makes her so grown up and cute!

Sweet reading time between daddy and Emma- they love to read together!

Bobbob gave us a mirror that he didn't need anymore- Wes prepped it for some spray painting :).

We have really been enjoying the concerts at the Levitt- averaging 1 -2 concerts a week.  It's nice to let Emma run around and play and listen to some live music.  It is getting pretty hot though, so I don't know how many more summer concerts I have in me.

We went thrift store shopping last weekend, and Emma was obsessed with the motorized cars.  She threw a huge fit when we made her get out of it.  I maybe see one of these in her future :).

After Wes painted the mirror, we hung it up above our fireplace!  I like it, I don't love it but I think it works for now while I search for the perfect mirror for this spot.

On Father's Day morning, I had Emma bring daddy his present.  She was more interested in opening it before she brought it to him- it was awfully cute though!

On Monday morning, we had a work crew from AT&T show up.  They needed to dig a hole in our backyard in order to splice the line.  It is a HUGE hole.  The guys that were digging the hole were shoulder deep.

This is the current state of our backyard.

Wes thinks Emma needs a bangs trim- I am not on board with this idea, yet ;).

Adorable decorations from my work baby shower- look at the little ponytail on some of the diapers.

Also, super creative.  A spoon on the back with a washcloth as the 'lollipop'.

Sweet diaper stork.

We also played a baby guessing game- we will see who wins!

This picture is not for the feet adverse.  I texted this picture of my swollen feet to Wes and told him that pregnancy is not fair.  He told me maybe it was time to wear house shoes.  That is when I started to wear my tennis shoes.

Wes texted me this picture when I was at work today- apparently Nate Berkus and Target are just as obsessed with rhinos as I am.  Too bad it doesn't come in white ceramic or gold :(.

This is the current state of our living room- we are getting so close to being done.  I just wish we had prints for all of our frames.

Enough randomness for one post!