1st Day of Preschool

 

My little buddy started a 2 day a week preschool last week at a nearby church. It's only from 9:30am-1:30pm Tuesday and Thursday. 

The lighting in our house is so sunny in the morning so these pics didn't come out as good as I wanted. He was excited about his lunch box, but not so much about the school. Mom and I went in the first day to get him settled. He started playing and even said it was ok for us to leave and he was going to have fun. When we got to the hall we could hear the hysterical crying... I called a bit later and heard that he was still crying on and off, but the teacher was doing a lot of holding him.

The teacher wrote me an email that night saying that maybe I could send in a special toy or something for him to hold all day because he was clenched on to his lunch box all day. That is funny and sad all at the same time. We have sent him with his little monkey stuffed animal and he doesn't put it down.

I heard he cried again at drop off today. I see this going on for a few more weeks, but hopefully it will get better. The teacher just keeps saying how smart he is, so he must be talking to her.  When we ask him if he had a good time, most the time he says yes and is OK with going back. Love my sweet little big boy!

Max is going to have a little....

SISTER! It's a girl!! 

Gender Prediction Old Wives Tales

Well folks, we've had to reschedule our ultrasound appointment a few times due to their schedule and then ours. The day is actually TODAY! We are going to have to keep it a secret all week for the little gender reveal gathering we are having Saturday. I thought it'd be fun to do some old wives tales so ya'll can be better informed to make a guess.

-Heart-Rate- If the baby's heart-rate is less than 140 beats per minute it's a boy. If it is more than 140 beats per minute it's a girl! Baby #2's has been in the 150's.

-Toddler Advice: Get baby advice from a nephew or friend's little boy. If a toddler boy shows interest in your belly, you'll have a girl. If he ignores you, it's a boy.
Well, Max pretty much ignores it, so boy. 

-Chinese Gender Predictor- Use the chinese gender predictor. This chinese gender predictor will change your month at conception or due date month into the "lunar" month. Mine says Girl

-Shape Of Belly- If your belly is high and wide it's a girl. If your belly is low and sticking strait out it's a boy. I don't really have a belly so Inconclusive.

-Cravings- Craving salt during pregnancy? Potato chips, pretzels, and popcorn means a boy is on the way. Need a little something sweet? Ice cream, chocolate, and candy means you're having a girl.
I still love mexican food and could live without sweets so I'll say boy.

-Upset Stomach- Little girls aren't always sweet. Extreme nausea means you are having a daughter.
I had all day nausea so girl?

-Partner's Weight Gain- If your partner is gaining weight like you are it's a girl. If there is no weight gain from him it's a boy.
David's probably more pregnant than I am lol. We haven't done a weight check on him though :) Girl

-Side You Rest On- If you rest on your right side it's a girl. If you rest on your left side it's a boy.
I thought you were supposed to rest on your left side per Doctors order so I have been... boy?

Mother Knows Best- The mom-to-be usually knows what she is having.
I think it's a boy. Everything is very similar to when I was pregnant with Max, almost exactly. So I'd be very surprised if it was a girl. Ya never know, though!



So there ya have it. Not very scientific, but those are the old wives tales. Prediction poll up for a few more days. Keeping a secret will be the hard part. My sister has refused to wait so I will be telling her husband and he will be doing a surprise gender party for her tonight! So fun. Make sure you follow me on instagram for the reveal Saturday night (Jens871).

Baby W #2 Pregnancy Survey: 17 Weeks

How Far Along: 17 weeks

Size of baby:  Your baby weighs 5 ounces now (about as much as a turnip), and is around 5 inches long from head to bottom.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: We'll go with 5 pounds. Same as last time.

What I miss: Nothing really.

Sleep: I like to sleep and nap. I got used to napping when Max napped over Christmas time off. I am really missing my 2pm nap! I still get up about twice to go to the bathroom at night.

Symptoms: I don't want to jinx myself, but the all day lingering sick feeling has gone away! I still need to make sure to have a full, happy belly all day but once I eat, I feel good! Exact same timing as last time.

Cravings: Nothing crazy. Still loving pasta/carb loaded foods. It makes me feel full and good. It's hard to meal plan because all I pick are the chicken/sausage and pasta dishes.

Maternity Clothes- Some of my work pants I just don't button (they still zip up) and wear a tank top under my shirt to keep my pants up. Works for now.

Best Moments this week: Spending time with my little buddy after work/weekend. He is getting so big. He's starting to use 2-3 word phrases and you can see him trying to think about what to say.

What we are looking forward to: Next week is the anatomy scan! It got moved to the 15th! 

Time for belly pics.

Max was being a little ham and wanted to be in the photos and I loved it!

We kept saying go touch mommy's belly so he'd run up.

Truth be told, he was just sticking his finger into my belly button haha.

These pictures make me laugh. So funny, buddy.

So there ya have it, 17 weeks! Don't forget to vote on the top right of the blog for boy or girl!

Christmas 2013 Recap

I finally got around to uploading the Christmas photos. It seems like Christmas was forever ago, but I have to document Max's 2nd Christmas.

I require food as soon as I get up so Buddy was helping me eat some Pops cereal. I look fantastic and feel the same way in this photo.

Coordinating PJ's were worn by most everyone that morning.

Last year Hadley was too small to enjoy Christmas and she had a great time opening the wrapping paper.

Cutie pies opening gifts from Auntie Marla and Uncle Chris.

We had the train table covered with a blanket in the other room. Max disappeared for a minute and uncovered it himself. He started playing and was really excited.

It didn't take long for Hadley to join in and for Max to start climbing all over the table. We had to glue the pieces down because it became a scatter fest pretty quickly.

Max got a fun backpack from Auntie Shelly and crew and loves to put things in it and wear it.

Gigi got Max a Dyson vacuum to help clean. He loves it. It makes vacuum noises and even picks up little papers (not enough to really make a difference).

We decided to do a little kid craft and didn't want to make full on gingerbread houses so we found the idea on pinterest to decorate ice cream cones with frosting and put candy on to make trees! Love my face. Max wanted to lick and eat the craft project.

David got me a video camera because I was tired of the one on our nice real camera. It makes this auto focus noise that doesn't go away and I'm so annoyed when I use it. I am so glad we got to document Christmas and can use this so easily now.

Hard at work.

Hadley was unimpressed as you can tell.

And Max was hungry.

Official family photo time. James, Hadley and Michelle.

Auntie Marla, Hadley and Uncle Chris.

Max, Me, Shell and Hadley.

Pretty princess.

Mom and her grand babies.

Grandpa and Grandma W with Max.

We should have framed ourselves better and had some height adjustments but here is my side of the family.

Much better balance. David's parents came over for our Christmas feast. My work gave us giftcards to Honey baked ham so I was overjoyed to have a ham (I have been craving one). It did not disappoint.

Can't believe next year there will be another little one in our photo! So glad to have spent the holidays together.

2014 Goals!

Well, they say that since today is the first Monday of the new year, that it is also the most depressing day of the year. Anyone feel that? What's depressing to me is that my goals from 2013 could just be duplicated on here to be this year's goals... That is a bad thing. Honestly, I had no idea what my goals even were. Definitely need to print them out and look at them for sure. This year is catch up time before baby W #2 makes his/her debut in 5 months (woah).  One thing that I did not even mention was learning a new craft/trade and I mastered my embroidery machine this past year so I think I'll pat myself on the back for that. I'll start with new 2014 goals and then do a quick revisit with 2013 ones.

2014 Goals!
Photo Books-
-I will make a blog book out of my pregnancy with Max
-I will finish (start) Max's baby book

Designing/Planning Rooms
-Max never got his nursery really completed when we moved so I think we'll just skip to his big boy room, which is still going to have the same Where the Wild Things are woodsy feel to it just maybe with a few diff. furniture pieces.
-I also need to plan out the basement. We are holding until spring to really get this going but I need to plan the play room/craft room, great room/ moms area (with her help of course). I want to make full on design boards because I need detailed visions.
-Nursery planning for baby W #2

Church-
Continue going on weeks we don't serve and join a small group

Sort/Organize/De-clutter Paperwork-
Need a mail/filing organizational system and to keep up with it.

New Baby-
All these goals need to happen within 5 months to get ready for new baby W in June. I am excited that I can enjoy summer without being pregnant, but I want to be able to enjoy a new baby. Max was a colic, ever demanding little boy so I am expecting nothing less with this one. I want to embrace that and just focus on caring for the little bambino the 2nd half of the year.


2013 goals revisited
Photos, photos, photos-
I need to make a pregnancy photo book  Fail
I also need to do Max's baby book, yep haven't started one. Shame on me. Good thing I have this blog where I've written everything down. Another big fat fail. These are priority for the new year.
Have printed maternity photos, newborn pics, others to display around the house I did this for Max's 1st birthday and now they seem outdated already, but what can ya do. Print some more I guess.

Photography-
I'd really like to take a class on learning the in's and out's of my camera and photo usage. Still would like to do that.


Socialize Max more
I want to start having my mom take him to story time, music play and out and about to start integrating with children more.  He likes to play with them, but has started to want to eat them (seriously). Max spent a lot of this past year with cousin Kinsley and that went really well. He is actually starting a church pre-school 2 days a week TOMORROW from 9:30am-1:30pm. Big boy!

Career Focus-
Find a job/company to invest significant time with.  I am not a job hopper, I like staying put and focusing on one place and learning everything I can there.  I would like to find a company that matches the culture I am used to and a job that is fun, yet challenging with great people. I did start a new job in April that I am still liking for this stage in my life so check on that!

Sort/Organize/Declutter paperwork-
A lot of this is from the move and living in 3 diff. places the past year, but I need to organize the stack of paper that David throws stacks in the office.  I'd like a great organizational piece for mail and bills. Desperately need to do this one.

Church-
I'd like for us to really commit to going to a church.  We have been to one that we like, but it's easy to make excuses of other things we have to do when it's time to go.  It's closer by now with the move and Max is old enough for day care there so it's time to hold ourselves accountable. David and I are enjoying serving on the guest services team that we started this past year. David does parking team and I am on Usher/seating team. Now, to get there consistently on the weeks we don't serve is the next challenge.

Redecorating/Planning-
Since our new house didn't need a lot of work right away we have decided to leave the original wall colors and resist the urge to upgrade all of our existing furniture and decorations.  As soon as funds provide we'd like to redo the basement first, but I would eventually like to redecorate all the rooms.  So I want to carefully plan each room of the house (probably using pinterest and houzz) to make it more homey/personalized without rushing to get it done. Even if that means living with mostly bare walls for now.  Since this will be our long term house I want to really put thought into it. This was a funds rebuilding year and is still under way so I will be back to planning/designing rooms soon.

Pregnancy #2 Survey: Week 16

Happy New Year! I'll post some goals and highlights of 2013 later, but I wanted to get back on track for weekly pregnancy surveys for baby # 2. 

How Far Along: 16 weeks

Size of baby:  Right now, he/she is about the size of an avocado: 4 1/2 inches long (head to rump) and 3 1/2 ounces. 

Total Weight Gain/Loss: About 3-5 lbs. I know that no one wants to hear this, but for my record I want to have it. I was under the weight I started with for Max's pregnancy so I am now just back to that number.

What I miss: Feeling good.... I hope the end of this all day sickness is coming sooooon.

Sleep: I am usually up about 2 times to go pee in the night. Once around 11:30/12 and then 4-5am.

Symptoms: Still just feel hungry/starving all the time. I seriously need an endless buffet of food available to me at all times. I'm starting to get my sciatic nerve pain in my back again. I think it's worse because of picking up Max all the time.

Cravings: I used my survey from last 16 weeks with Max and I was about to talk about the same pregnancy craving. I mentioned pasta milano from Macaroni grill. That's funny. I also love mexican, but no real big cravings.

Maternity Clothes- I busted out the bella band to keep my pants up, but not needing much of anything else. The jeans are still a bit baggy, but that could be because we stretched them out wearing them at the end of last pregnancy.

Best Moments this week: Spending time with family while they are/were still in town. I hate that the holidays are over, but it's a new year so that's kinda fun, too!

What we are looking forward to: Taking down holiday decor, organizing closets/papers, and getting back to normal. Of course Jan. 16th is a big day, but it seems far away right now.

 

Our camera broke temporarily so these are pretty bad quality Iphone pics because our lighting in our house is not good. 

 

David and I had a fancy dinner out for his work this past weekend and it was fun to dress up and get ready. 

 

Max was being a silly wiggly little thing as usual. 

Small baby bump. I promise to take better pics. Sorry baby #2!