Obvious now

The today was the day that a stranger at work finally asked about the pregnancy.

Yep, no longer the question of "fat or pregnant"

Right!?!

A Little Confused

Last night while potty training...

Leah decides she no longer wants to sit on the toilet.  She lifts the seat, and stands in front of it.

Leah: I do it like this.
Me: No!! That is how boys do it! You are a girl! We sit!
Leah: No. I do it like this.

Me to Brian: Uhhhh I think Leah might be watching the boys at school a little too much!

House Tour Part 3 - Let's be real

It took me forever to get pictures because I had to take them at night....

But at night is when we are home.... when the 2 year old tornado, who can destroy a room in record time is home.

So let's be real... the house is never clean at night.

Ok, Ok... the house is pretty much never perfect.  

I am a working mom who also studies 10+ hrs a week on a low side.

I am not a perfectionist.

I do not have OCD.

We live in this house.

And this is how the upstairs looks...

Very lived in.

The loft... The toy room....
I have big plans for this place in my head.... but again that takes lots of Moolah. I would love to paint  one of the walls in chalk board paint, get a fun rug, colorful wall decor, more storage... someday. 

This would be baby #2's future room. 

When we moved all baby items were just thrown into this room... then Leah will go in there randomly and play with the toys. 

Just looking in there gives me anxiety.  Im dreading sitting down and going thru it all and organizing it, and really getting it prepared for this baby who will be here in a little over 4 months! EEKS! 

The kid's bathroom.  I love that it has a separate door for the toilet and shower. I can definitely see 2 girls (assuming this baby is a girl and they are 2 years apart in school) getting ready for school, or homecoming, or prom, at these sinks in the future.  It will be here before we know it... 

Leah's room.  

Its huge. I think its about the size of our old master bedroom.  

Right now she does not have much furniture.... we transitioned her to a big girl bed by first doing a mattress on the floor.  She has moved up to the mattress and box springs, and will soon move on to the actual bed.  She also has a bookshelf and desk that is waiting to be painted white someday.  I hope for warmer weather, but then I will be majorly pregnant, and then have a new baby.... someday. 

This is Leah's closet. Its HUGE!  I am standing in a far corner of it which also has some shelf space. 

Each of the bedrooms in this house have HUGE walk in closets.  Its one of the reasons we loved this floor plan.  It will be great as the kids get older. 

And look... there's her bed! 

More of Leah's room.. and of course Leah jumping on her bed. 

I am not sure if I have ever mentioned but my child is a jumper! She jumps and hops all over the place! Constantly! 

A view of the loft when we walk out of Leah's room... 

And the guest bedroom... 

This is where Brian and I will probably be taking turns sleeping once the baby gets here. Having a master bedroom downstairs and a new baby upstairs was one negative to this house, but we know we will love it that way once we get past these baby stages. 

And for a few random pictures of the house that I did not put up with the downstairs... 

Kitchen looking into the family room. 

And yes, that is Leah on the counter.... Look at all that hair! I finally scheduled her first hair cut for mid February.

From the love seat... looking down our long entry way.  It really is LONG! 

Yesterday a girl scout rang the door bell while I was sitting here.  As I got up to walk to the door, she continued to put her little face in the window and watch me the whole time. It was slightly awkward. You almost feel like you need to run to the door when someone rings the bell. 

So there you have it...  The house we love. 

Its crazy to think that even a brand new house there is so much more we want to do to it.   

I look forward to comparing these pictures to next year, 5 years, 10 years, 30 years from now.

The evolution of our home... 

.

House Tour - Part 2

I finally got around to take some pictures at night.....

Here is the rest of the downstairs...

Just a fraction of our long entry way.... I hope to get a small table to put under the mirror in the future. 

Master bedroom.
Of course the kitty is sleeping on the clean clothes on the bed.... 

The only wall decor have up is our wedding photo.... I wanted to put a large mirror on the wall with the light switch, but the darn light switch is right in the middle!!!!! UGG. 

Master bath.... closet at the back, toilet room to the right.
I love our bathroom, but my one complaint is that its so big, it never gets hot and steamy during a shower so its freezing when you get out! I miss having a nice warm bathroom to keep me warm in the mornings. 

To DO: 

• I want to do some tiling around the bathtub.  Remember I love tile, and when Leah takes a bath in there (its like a swimming pool for her) she gets water all over the wall!

The sinks.  I also want to do a little tiling here around the sink... 

The family room and breakfast room.  We love the windows. 

From above..... desperately needing wall decor. 

In General.... our house needs some major C-O-L-O-R!!  We will get there.... stuff is expensive!!  I am anxious to see what the house looks like a year from now...

Project 1 Complete

The problem I always have when it comes to anything is I create a picture in my head of exactly what I want.... clothing and house decor mostly... and then I shop and shop and shop and never find anything that is exactly what I want, or in my price range.

From the time we started building this house I knew I wanted a big sunburst silver mirror in the entryway, across from the office.  I looked forever for the perfect one but they were always too small, too crazy, or over a hundred dollars, something I was not willing to spend.

On MLK Day, while I was enjoying some shopping, I found the PERFECT mirror at Garden Ridge.... but it was Black.... but only 59.99!

I guess I was feeling courageous because I actually had the thought "I can buy it and spray paint it silver!"   For some reason I never had the fear of  "What if I waste 60 dollars!?"

So bought it I did... and some spray paint... and home I went to get to work!

It took Brian 6 days to finally put it up for me... but I couldn't be more in love... with Brian or the Mirror.

What's a Pregnant Girl to do....

.... when your husband takes you into a liquor store.

I wondered.

Lets be honest... Everytime I get the chance to drink now, I become terrified of the possible hangover the next morning.

Taking care of a crazy, energetic child while hungover is NEVER fun.  

Drinking just is not worth it anymore...

I did not think I had been out of the drinking scene too long... 


I graduated from college 5 years ago this May.

I am still in my twenties....

But I guess motherhood has removed me from the drinking world more than I thought.


There is a whole new world of flavored Vodka's out there!!!

In my early years I was a big fan of Vanilla Vodka and root beer (Root beer float)... or Vanilla Vodka and orange soda (Orange-sicle).

But oh the fun that could be had with these....

Cake, Tropical Punch, Cherry Lemonade, Cotton Candy, Marshmallow

Uh, this one kind of grosses me out.... 

I told Brian I want this as my present for giving birth! 

I wonder if my sister, the college kid, knows about these.... 

My little princess

Just like Big Sis

Remember when it took us 3 tries to find out Leah was a girl....

Today was the day for our anatomy scan ultra sound.

I thought there was no chance that we would have problems finding out with our second pregnancy.

But I guess baby 2 is more like their sister than we think....

Baby's legs were stretched out and glued together.

The ultrasound tech tried a few little pokes and pushes to get the baby to move.

Move the baby did...

It crossed its legs.

It was like the baby was saying "Yep, not doing it!"

I have stubborn children.

Luckily the tech was unable to get any pictures of the baby's feet so we get to have another ultrasound and another chance to find out if we will be welcoming a baby boy or a baby girl.

I originally thought I did not want to know.

But now that I feel the baby, I need to give it a name.

And I need to know for preparation reasons!

If I know its a girl, I can search thru the buckets and containers of baby clothes we have to see if anything will work for a baby girl in June.  

If its a boy I need to get shopping.

I know I can always buy neutral... but where is the fun in that!?

And for a little stats... because you know me...

Baby is weighting in at 13 oz. (70th percentile)  Heart rate of 167.

Leah, at the 20 week ultrasound came in at 15 oz (90th percentile)

This time around I have only gained 10 lbs (WHOOOHOOO!!!) while last pregnancy I was over 15 lbs at this time.   It looks like carrying a 35 lb 2 year old around, up and down steps, can help keep the weight off!

Until March 1st....

Whoa time flies

1/2 way done with this pregnancy already!

Definitely pregnant.... and I feel like alot more than 20 weeks....

You know the first time you blow up a balloon, it goes a little slow and is hard to stretch.... but each time afterwards its super easy.... I read that pregnancy is that way. The first time takes a while to show, but afterwards you can quickly stretch and grow out there. I feel like I can proof this point.

Anywho... its been a while ...

I started on my FAP modules rather than my next exam.   This way I have my job for the next 18 months for sure, and no fear of losing it if I do horribly on my next exam!   Im having a little bit of a problem since its not the same sort of studying... its alot of reading. Its nice that its different but I actually miss exam studying!  I am also having a hard time making myself do it since I know I have so long to get it done... but my goal is to get thru the first 5 before the baby arrives.... I need to stay on track!

Leah.... her imagination is out of control lately!   She LOVES to dress up in her princess dresses and then slow dance with me.  I think its all because of Beauty and the Beast. She loves when Belle finally puts on her princess dress and dances with the beast.

She loves to change her babies diapers.   The things she says to them cracks me up!  "You're icky, I change you."   She has a little changing table set up on top of her box of diapers too. Its adorable.

I have also caught her having a dinner party with her dolls at her little table.   She even put a blanket down as a table cloth, cooks up a meal in her kitchen, and tells her dolls "eat, eat".

I wish I had pictures of her adorable-ness, but everytime I take the camera out she yells at me and comes running at me.  Hopefully this phase passes soon! I miss the "Cheese!", big goofy smile phase!

Her memory has been amazing me too lately.  We usually get home about an hr and a half before Brian in the evenings. Leah usually asks to go ride her bike in the basement and I usually respond "When daddy gets home he will take you downstairs to ride your bike." This gives me time to finish up dinner.   As soon as Brian walks in the door she asks him to go ride her bike.    Then this weekend Leah woke up at 615 in the morning and wanted to take the recycling out to the garage.   Of course its FREEZING out and I say "when daddy gets up."  At 8 am when Brian came out of the bedroom Leah freaked out, ran to the recycle stuff, and yelled at Brian to help her.

Then last night when I brought her home from daycare she picked up the book "Green Eggs and Ham." Its a book that usually hangs out in the car and we have not read together very much.   She opens it up, without me even saying anything about the name of the book, and just starts "reading" and saying "Ham ham, me no like-y ham".  She seriously amazes me!

We are working a little more on potty training. She has gone a few more times at daycare, and her sheet usually says "PA" (potty attempt).  At home she loves to sit on the toilet and use up all of the toilet paper.   I have stopped putting her in jeans so that she can freely take her pants on and off herself for when she does want to try and go.... But I feel like we are at a stand still. I dont think she is fully ready yet, but definitely getting closer!  Anytime I ask her "Will you use the potty today?!" she always responds "No diapers!"  The past few nights though she has woken up a few times a night. As soon as she gets up she tells me she went to the bathroom and needs a new diaper. I am curious is she knows she went and wakes up, or if she wakes up bc she needs to go and then goes once she gets up and out of bed.  .... We will get there.

The Things Leah Says

Because we are entering the age of awesome sayings... I must document!

At 8 am Saturday morning (Brian got up with Leah at 6:30 while I slept in. It was AMAZING!)
Leah: 2 cookies?
Me: No, not now.
Leah: 10 minutes?


Sunday morning while still in our PJs....
Leah: We go shopping.
Leah a few minutes later: We go to Target.
Leah a few more minutes later: We have a party.... for me.... with cake!
Me: Oh really?

Sunday afternoon, Leah fell asleep in the car (after refusing to take a nap all day) on our way to Kirklands. I had just parked the car and was opening up her door to pull her out.
Me: Ok Leah, time to get up! Lets go shopping
Leah half asleep: No shopping. Drive around more mommy.


And a conversation with my sister because sometimes she says the funniest things and what are big sisters supposed to do!?
 Background: We were at lunch and she was telling me about the new boy in her life..... oh the life of a 20 year old....
Me: So what is he going to school for?
Jessica: Radio-ology
Me: [blank stare].... Uhhhhh you mean Radiology?
Jessica: No. RADIO- OLOGY
Me: No,  I think its RADIOLOGY! Like x-rays and ultrasounds and stuff?
Jessica: Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh no wonder he laughed at me when I said it.

Good Day!!

I PASSED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

while I wait for my 12 million rows of data....

·         Leah used the potty yesterday at daycare!! This morning I told her that if she used it again that maybe we could go get a treat after school.  Her response “No potty! Diapers!”  … 1 step forward, 2 steps back.

·         Last night I dreamt that we had our ultrasound.  The baby was a girl with LOTS of hair… so much hair that the baby already had pigtails.  … maybe this is the result of me actually considering getting Leah’s hair cut for the first time…

·         I mentioned wanting to get Leah into some sort of activity. I looked into swim lessons and am rethinking it.  Reason 1: Brian is about to start tax season so that means I would be the one taking her… I am not really looking forward to getting into a swimsuit right about now. Reason 2: They are EXPENSIVE! Like 12.75 per ½ hr class! (sidenote: Brian thought this was very reasonable. I was shocked!) Reason 3: I talked to a friend who I knew had taken her little girl to the class (little as in less than a year) and she said it’s mostly to get them introduced to the water and they sing a lot of songs.   Singing songs, yes Leah would like.  But introduction to water? My child already loves it. Put some floaties on her arms and she is trying to jump in the deep in all by herself.   She has no fear of the water.   I think I decided that Leah just needs to be taken to the indoor pool to enjoy playing thru-out the winter.   For the same price of a ½ hr class we can go for a few hrs and just let her play. I might even consider pulling out my maternity swimsuit and take her in the evenings after work while we wait for Brian to come home…

·         I find out about my exam TOMORROW and I am so anxious! Honestly I am anxious to start studying again…. Yes. I know. I am crazy. I just kind of hate the free time at work and would much rather be sitting and studying!

·         Leah can officially ride her tricycle by herself! The other night she did 3 full laps around the basement with very minimal crashing into things. She understands needing to steer but sometimes it’s a little too late. Brian and I were so freaking proud of her! We just kept cheering her on and telling her how proud we were and how she was such a big girl.  It’s awesome watching her accomplish something new!

·         Im starting to feel baby movement. It makes me happy and so much more excited to find out the gender. I feel the need to name this baby and give them more of an identity.  Feeling them makes it seem so much more real.  2 more weeks…

·         I have a cold and it stinks…. No meds when pregnant…. Uggg. Some Nyquil would be awesome!

 

 

 

2012 Goals

I really enjoy writing out my goals for the new year and looking back at them in December...

But I have been having a hard time thinking of some good goals this year.  

Maybe its a good thing...

I feel settled and happy in life... not wanting/needing more?

Im just not really sure...

I will just go with some of the obvious...

• Welcome a happy and healthy baby into your family and live to learn as a family of four. 
• Pass atleast 1 more exam... 
• Become more settled in the house.... whether its finishing the basement, new projects, more decorating, or even finishing the baby's room! (That is kind of a must). 
• A new car for me would be nice. 
• I really want to get Leah involved in a activity... swim lessons or dance probably. 

Those shouldn't be too hard now huh?

Here's to 2012 being a fantastic, stress free year!