This little boy... he makes my whole day brighter. He's just totally, unbelievably awesome. He makes me want to pull all my hair out one minute and then in the very next second has me beaming with pride over him.

I love reading mommy blogs. But so often I feel inadequate because they seem like perfect mothers with perfect children. Children who are exceeding milestones left and right. I recently read a blog post of a mom with a two year old talking about how she was a big handful and a birthday party. And it was so refreshing! Refreshing to know my son isn't the only one who acts up. I don't want to post pictures of my ridiculously cute son and make you think he's that charming all the time. Because he's not. He's a handful. He's so stubborn (Michael claims he gets it from me) and desperately tries to be wildly independent. Maybe not for all parents... but for us - it's extremely challenging. Wonderfully, delightfully, perfectly challenging.

He's actually upstairs with lip gloss still on his forehead because he's refusing to let me clean it off... and he snuck into my make up bag and got a hold of it within seconds of me not watching him. A lot of times we go out I worry someone thinks I'm kidnapping him because of the way he screams when I pick him up if he's been walking by himself. He always refuses to hold my hand and would rather sit in an aisle than walk holding my hand (BIG time stubborn and independent!) But at the same time... he's a gem. A wonderful child of God that I am so blessed with. Truly.

I don't want to be totally negative, either - just honest. Honest about how things are going with our toddler in hopes that someone reads this and feels that refreshing feeling of, "Hey, glad to know I'm not the only one..." Because you're not... at least, I hope not! :)

:)

lesson learned

So we all learned a lesson last night here in this household. If you come home with a sandwich from Jimmy Johns and you don't bring one to your wife or call to offer her one... there may be tears shed.

I had already eaten dinner with C but I've been perpetually hungry lately. The Mr. got home much later than usual last night and since he missed dinner he brought himself a sandwich home. And when I didn't get one there may have been tears. Luckily my hubs is a sweetie and shared some with me. But, sheesh! hormones, get it together!

toddler plates

I know this post may be a bit random... but I'm going to share anyway. :) So I've read dozens of articles about kids eating better if the food in front of them looks better. As in the way it's presented. Big brother has never been a great eater - he's is a good eater most of the time. But we certainly have our share of days each week where it's just not as great as I would hope.

Well, I went out and bought some toddler plates, in hopes of making meal time more appealing. Before this we would just put food on his high chair tray or use one of our smaller white ceramic plates, or one of his plastic bowls. But I wanted some divider plates... because they're just neat! I hoped that they would help him eat a little more or just be more interested in meal times.

They've been working about a hundred times better than I could have hoped! Plus it's kind of a challenge to me to make sure I'm offering more balanced meals because I don't want to leave a "spot" on his plate empty. He's much more interested in eating and is honestly eating probably close to double what he was eating before. It could be a fluke - we've only been using these for about 4 days now... but man! I've definitely noticed a difference.

So, if you've got a picky toddler.... go buy some toddler divider plates! Apparently those articles are right. :)

it's a ........!

So last we officially decided to find out the sex of the baby. We were on the fence about it - but with neither of us having strong convictions that we should wait to find out. And we were obviously very excited about knowing... so we called it and knew going into the appointment we would find out.

I asked Michael if he would like to reveal the gender to me... like after the ultrasound. It was still more of a surprise than just finding out in the room. Anyway - he was all for it. So we asked the lady to write the sex on a card for Michael to read and then I headed to my midwife appointment (the ultrasound place is totally separate from where I see my midwife this time around so it's two entirely separate appointments - I just happen to make them at the same time when possible). While he and Caedmon headed.... wherever. :)

I came home from my appointment and my boys were waiting for me in the kitchen and there was a beautiful bouquet of PINK roses on the table! We are having a baby girl! He actually had set up a video camera to catch my reaction, too. (No tears - I'm really not too emotional). It was such a fun surprise! I think Caed could sense the excitement between us two because he could not stop smiling and clapping... It was so awesome. Later in the day we even went out and I bought two baby girl dresses that are so darn cute!

We're definitely excited! We feel like we won't quite know what to do with a girl... but I'm fully confident we'll figure it out. :)

Now onto Pinterest for hairbow tutorials and cute baby girl nurseries! :)

twenty!

How far along? 20 weeks! So crazy we're halfway there!

Updates on baby: Baby weighs about the same as a can of coke... and is about the length of a banana!

Symptoms/Body Changes: No new ones really. Except for frequent trips to the bathroom. I asked the midwife about it today and she said as often as I'm going really isn't normal so I'm hoping there's no infection going on... Really don't want to have to go on an antibiotic! And I'm also having to sleep with a pillow under my tummy on my side... it is now super painful to sleep on my stomach. (Boo!)

Movement: At our ultrasound today little one was moving around so, so much! Crazy to watch the movement but not be able to feel any of it. I could feel C quite a bit at this point so I was a little concerned but midwife says to expect to feel lots of movement by 26 weeks and that I'm probably not feeling the movement as much because I'm much busier now with a toddler. But as long as I'm feeling something at least once or twice a day... no worries at all! 

Cravings/Aversions: No meat. I'm still loving the spicy and also anything and everything sweet... really trying to not go overboard! My mom had gestational diabetes when she was pregnant with me and I'm slightly terrified I'm going to get it as well.

Getting ready for baby: Nothing new here, either. I do plan to start some nursery planning soooooon though! 

What I miss: sleeping on my belly!

What I am looking forward to: Telling the news of little loves sex :) We DID find out and just have a few more family members to call before we post it online. :) Story to come tomorrow!

Weekly wisdom: Pinterest has such good ideas! I'm playing on that site now and I just can't get enough. It's awesome!

19!

ow far along? 19 weeks

Updates on baby: Baby is about the size of a heirloom tomato and may be able to hear us at this point! Hi, littlest love! :)

Symptoms/Body Changes: That photo was taken Saturday night and Michael said today we probably need to take another one today... It's like it's doubled in size since then! No new symptoms... and if it wasn't for being exhausted by 8:30, the awful heartburn, getting sick every morning, and constantly being hungry... I might even forget I'm pregnant :)

Movement: Little love is not quite the mover big brother was. I'm definitely feeling movement but it's just already so, so different. A moms advice to me this week was to not compare our kids... not even in the womb! Crazy he/she has such a different personality already!

Cravings/Aversions: I want spicy! Anything spicy. I have been eating jalapenos several times a week... This did happen with C but not until much, much later. Not to compare or anything, though :)

Getting ready for baby: No news. Trying to empty that office still. Hopefully we'll be able to get rid of quite a bit of stuff with a garage sale (Hi Tara! :)) once Spring comes around. (Seriously, I have about 4 boxes of junk... how does that even happen?!)

What I miss: not having heartburn all the time!

What I am looking forward to: Next week we get to see our little one! Very, very excited for this!

Weekly wisdom: Schedule something to look forward to several times a week. 

18 months.

My son is 18 months. A whole year and half! I kind of can't believe it. Or, really can't believe it if I'm being honest. It feels like just yesterday he was a toothless, giggly newborn... but that also seems like an entire world ago, too. Being a parent really changed your perception of time. Like, whoa.

I thought I'd do a little run-down of this little guys development. He's such a total joy and he amazes me with something new every day. Every single day. He's just so awesome.

Physically: He weighs 22 pounds and is 32.5 inches. He is a little skinny minnie! He has his daddy's skinny legs. Recently he's starting to put on some chub around his face and around his belly... We think he's going to have another growth spurt soon because of that. He grew 1 inch in 3 months - staying right in the 50% percentile for height. Weight he's in the 15%. (Only including the averages because they really help to see where our kid is. We know he's healthy and that is all that matters... but for those of us with little knowledge of how much toddlers weigh or how tall they are... I think the percentages help).

Verbally: He will say "no", "duck", and "hi" really, really well. He can also make a lot of animal sounds. But still not a lot of words. We asked Dr. W about this and he said it's nothing to worry about - he'll talk when he's good and ready. And he wouldn't be surprised if one day he just wakes up talking in full sentences. Who knows if that will happen. He also gave us some encouragement by saying kids with really good comprehension sometimes will take longer to talk. I can ask him to do just about anything - throw this away, come lay on the floor (to change diapers), pick up your toys, hand mommy a book, let's go upstairs/downstairs/to take a bath/eat/go night night - and he totally understands. He doesn't always oblige, but I know he knows what I'm saying. So, I'm not worried at all... just anxious for the words to start, I guess. Also, he's getting very frustrated and I think (I hope.) that this will help a little once his vocabulary grows and he can express himself more fully. Dr. W also said to make a list of the words he can say right now and if in 3 months that list hasn't tripled we may consider speech therapy to help him out. But also that no worries, someday he will talk.

Socially: I am nannying a 6 month old for one more week - he greets her every morning with a "Hi!" and a super big smile. He'll also give her hugs and kisses throughout the day. It's pretty adorable and makes me confident he's going to be the best big brother around :) He does not like to share, though. Any toy I hand to little A, little man will snatch it away and say "NO" We also have play dates with a little boy a year older than C and every time they get together C is just more and more interested in playing with him. He's started giving him hugs... pretty adorable. He is still not at all a fan of the nursery at church (or really anywhere where Mommy is not in eyesight). We have enrolled him in a 2 year old preschool starting in the fall to hopefully help with this anxiety... the directors assured me they've never had anyone need to quit due to crying - I'm praying C won't be the first!

Sleep: He goes to bed around 7 or 8 and will wake up around 6:45 or 7. He's taking one nap - usually from 12 - 2. But every once in awhile he's a stink and won't go to sleep so he'll take his nap in between 1 and 2 and wake up whenever. These days are really frustrating for mommy because I'm used to having just a bit of me time around noon and I might be cranky when I don't get it...

Eating: His favorite things are blueberries and spaghetti (with any kind of noodle). Some days he will tear up something and the next day he will have absolutely zero interest in it. He doesn't eat a ton but so long as I'm offering 3 meals a day... I feel like that's all I can do. We don't do many snacks (except for mum-mums on occasion)  because since he doesn't eat much as it is... I don't want to fill him up on snacks in between meal times. He loves milk and has at least 2 cups a day (but I really try not to offer more than that unless it's a day where he's not eating much) He also sometimes pretends his different foods are either airplanes or cars... taking playing with your food to a whole new meaning. It is pretty cute though. :)

Struggles: I don't know if it's the combination of being pregnant with a toddler or him cutting four teeth at once or what but OH MAN he has been quite a handful! He's starting to throw some pretty wicked tantrums. If we're out and about and he wants to walk around - I make him hold my hand. Well, now he will say "NO" and sit down in the middle of an aisle rather than walk and hold my hand. Yesterday he wanted to help push the cart at Babies R Us and he couldn't go the way he wanted so he threw himself onto the floor and shed some tears. M and I haven't figured out the best way to deal with these tantrums - right now we just are trying to shrug them off and laugh (they last less than a minute most of the time and his passion really is kind of humorous - I know that part is going to get old real quick) But a big part of me worries I'm going to end up on one of those how-to-teach-your-toddler-to-be-disciplined shows because I'm going to do something wrong and mess him all up. 

All in all, things are going really, really great. There are new challenges that come up at every stage but these new challenges definitely seem like the biggest ones so far. I'm sure I'll say that as the next ones arise as well. But we're getting through it. We're just praying we're making the right decisions and that we don't screw him up too much. :) Really though, I wouldn't change this kid for anything. He's a total wonder and we are just so proud he's ours. Children are truly a gift... and we want to remember to cherish him... even when that seems pretty tricky like when he's wailing on a dirty department store floor because everything is not going as he wishes. But like I said, we're working on it. :)