34 Weeks - Babymoon - Final Countdown!

34 weeks!

 

Today the final countdown begins!  I am due in 40 days!  June was full of fun family activities as we enjoy these last few weeks as a family of three. 

Someone is VERY excited about our Baby!

My 34 week check up with my OB went very well.  My blood pressure is normal, no swelling, no signs of any problems, and my weight gain even slowed a bit.  Baby Girl has been moving a ton lately and I can tell she is getting bigger because she is kicking and punching me all over the place from under my rib cage to numerous unidentified organs below! The plan is still to see what my body does and go for a VBAC.  We will know more about Baby Girl at our 36 week ultrasound and appointment on July 14th.  It seems like my body is still handling this pregnancy very well and I am so thankful!

Celebrating 11 years of marriage at Mikado in Palm Desert

At the end of June we took a 9 night "babymoon" to our timeshare in Palm Desert.  We had a blast swimming everyday, visiting the local zoo and children's museum, eating great food, and spending some quality time together with close friends. 

Relaxing in the pool cabana.

Lena is a fish in the water!  She learned to use floaties to "swim" all by herself.

Making a fun face craft at the Children's Museum of the Desert.  But Lena loved the pretend grocery store the best!

Feeding a giraffe at the Living Desert

Taking a boat ride at the JW resort to Mikado where we celebrated our 11th anniversary with a Japanese teppan dinner.

Dan took me to The Cheesecake Factory for our anniversary dessert and I picked the red velvet cheesecake.  YUM!!!

I gave Lena her first manicure which she loved!

Dan got a round of golf in and we got to watch him play since our room/patio looks out onto the 17th and 18th holes.

Decked out in their red, white, and blue to cheer on the USA in the World Cup.

Up next week is a fun two day trip to San Diego to Sea World!  Dan gets free tickets for being a first responder to the wildfires that happened there a few months ago.

Nesting

For the last several months I have begun to get things ready for us to become a family of four!  Since Lena arrived so early I am more cautious this time about our timeline of getting ready.  We already transitioned Lena to her big girl bedroom and potty trained her last month.  The nursery is pretty much ready to go because we aren't changing anything in it.  So we don't have any major set up to do before Baby Girl arrives.   I always function better in a clean and organized environment so I have tried to tackle some projects around the house to help things run more smoothly when we have TWO little girls here at home!  So far I have cleaned out the nursery, reorganized and purged our financial files, resorted and stored our supply of girl clothes, deep cleaned and organized the side yard and porch, organized and cleaned out the toys, and pulled all the infant items that were stored in the garage and stored them in the nursery for use.  I still have lots of things that need to get done and I am definitely slowing down now that I am only six weeks away from my due date.  I just try to get a little more done each day.

Both car seats are installed and ready to go!

New and improved organized files with labeled drawers and folders.

Part of the new file system.

The file cleaning aftermath: discarded papers to be shredded.

The next big project...sorting and reorganizing girl clothes. (COMPLETED a few weeks ago!!!)

Lena talking to baby sister.

Giving a hug to her baby sister.

More to do....

• Create a tote with new Lena activities and toys that she can only access while I feed the new baby.
• Pre-make some meals to store in the freezer.
• Pack the hospital bags and finalize plans for who will take care of Lena.
• Do one last declutter of the house and try to keep up with house cleaning and laundry.
• Finish several partially finished blog entries from the last few months.
• Set up last minute baby items like pump station, mini crib in our master bedroom, diaper changing stations, etc.

30 Weeks

30 Weeks!

Today I am 30 weeks pregnant, three-fourths the way to meeting Shack Baby #2.  This pregnancy so far has been much easier on my body.  I don't have any swelling (still wearing my wedding ring and tennis shoes).  I don't have any physical signs of preeclampsia.  My blood pressure has been holding steady.  (I came in at 130/70 at my last appointmnet.)  My glucose test came back normal so I don't have gestational diabetes. Baby Shack is kicking and moving a ton which is great!   I don't have many pregnancy discomforts at this point.  The only thing I deal with is vivid dreams/nightmares and insomnia at times both of which I rarely suffer from outside of pregnancy.  I am so thankful my body has been handling this pregnancy better this time.

At my last appointment I discussed with Dr. C my delivery options.  Since I had a c-section with Lena I can just schedule another c-section after I hit 38 weeks or I can just wait and see what my body does naturally and try for a VBAC (vaginal birth after c-section).  Truthfully, since I have had many surgeries, the scheduled c-section was appealing to me.  However, after talking with Dr. C (who is my age and has had a VBAC herself) I have decided to wait and see what my body does and at any point if I change my mind or if my body isn't handling the pregnancy well I can still do a c-section.  After my four day failed induction with Lena a labor and vaginal birth frightens me a little, okay....a lot.  I also realize that this is very likely the last time I will ever get the chance to experience pregnancy and thus childbirth.  I felt like I missed so much of Lena's birth because of how heavily medicated I was that I want to do my best to be mentally present for this birth.  

While I have gained much more weight than I wanted to at this point (34 pounds) I am still lower than the weight where I started with Lena's pregnancy.  I am so thankful that I made the effort to wait and lose those pounds before we did our 4th and 5th FETs.  I think being 40 pounds lighter for this pregnancy has made  a huge difference.  I know at this point that I will have to work pretty hard again to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight but I know I can do it as I did before.  

Favorite Things: Lena's List of Faves

One of the fun things about knowing a toddler is getting to know their little developing personalities, idiosyncrasies and quirks, and likes and dislikes.  I've compiled a list of ten of Lena's most favorite things:

Chick-Fil-A Nuggets with Chick-Fil-A "Dip"

 Lena will eat this for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert.  It is her favorite food.  She loves dip like her Mama!  We eat this at least once a week and sometimes more often.

ABC by Dr. Seuss

Lena asks for this book EVERY SINGLE NIGHT at bed time.  

Art Supplies: Crayons, Colored Pencils, Markers, Chalk, Paints, Etc.

We go through art supplies and notebooks pretty fast around here.  Lena has an art station set up in her room and we always have some on hand.  This girl loves to draw!  Her Sunday school teachers comment just about every other week on how much she loves to color.

Melissa and Doug Alphabet Stamp Set 

Lena has developed a very strong love for letters and numbers.  I bought several stamp sets off of EBAY for her and I might as well only bought this one because this is always the one she wants to use.  She loves calling the upper case letters "Big" in a really low voice and the lower case letters "Baby" in a tiny high voice.

Birthday Cake Pops from Starbucks

I am responsible for feeding this obsession.  (They are two pops for $2.50 so I get the other one!)  She calls them "Pop Pops" and actually now chooses them over ice cream as a treat.  One time I went through the drive thru at Starbucks and they were out of cake pops so I ordered a cookie instead.  I tried to warn her before we got to the pick up window that we were not getting "pop pops" because they were all gone but she couldn't comprehend such a tragedy.  When we got to the window and she saw the pink pastry bag she shrieked in joy, "There it is!!!!"  This quickly turned to sobs the whole ride home as she discovered the cookie and not her precious pop pops inside the bag.  It was funny, ridiculous, and sad all at the same time.

Mater's Tall Tales

I am not sure why this is her favorite TV program/Movie right now but she loves this 30 minute collection of Pixar shorts.  She will choose it all the time!  Seriously, we have probably watched it more than 25 times...at least!

Mc Donald's Sweet Tea

Lena's Daddy is responsible for this recent obsession.  She used to call it "Donald Juice".  It started just by getting a sip from Daddy's tea and then now she asks for it all the time when we see a Mc Donald's.  She wants it more than an ice cream cone!

ABC Song on You Tube

Grandma was the first to show Lena this 50 minute ABC song compilation.  It is pretty cute but dangerously catchy.  It gets stuck in Lena's head really easily and for hours she will randomly start singing, "H,I,J,K- La La La!" and it drives us bonkers.  It also has a lion for the letter "L" that freaks her out.  She is so scared of it and I can't figure out why but she still loves this video.  The dancing letters are pretty cute.

Pirates Booty or Trader Joe's Puffs

If it is cheesy and crunchy Lena likes it.  These are her two favorites.  

 

I can't say that I was too happy to discover this mess on our bed when Lena literally tore through the bag to have easier access to her puffs.

The Beach

About every other day Lena asks to go to the beach.  It is a good thing we live near a beach.  Sometimes we settle for playing in Grandma and Grandpa's sandbox instead.  I still can't figure out why kids like sand so much.  

Mother's Day 2014

Lena Joyce: Two and a Half!

On an early morning walk at Crystal Cove Beach

This month Lena Joyce turned two and a half!  She is growing into quite a lively and lovely little lady.  She reached several milestones in the last six months: she participated in her first soccer class, she moved into her new big girl bedroom and now sleeps in a queen sized bed, she played her first board games (Candyland and Hungry Hippos), she is learning to use the potty, and learning to ride a bike.  Her biggest change has been in her interest in the alphabet and counting.  She LOVES anything that has to do with the alphabet.  She knows all the letters in and out of order and both upper and lower case.  She loves calling out letters as she sees them on signs everywhere we go.  

Taking her balance bike out for a spin in the park.

Lena continues to be very social.  She enjoys spending time with her cousins and playing with strangers and friends alike.  She asks to go to "church" because she loves her Sunday school class so much where her teachers comment that she never cries and loves to color.  We tried two community classes for tots this Spring: dance and soccer.  She loved them mostly but we will probably wait until she is three years old to do that again.  She gets so into playing with other kids that she doesn't follow directions so well.  In fact she even got "kicked out" of dance class a few weeks ago for not listening.  

Getting ready for her first soccer class.

I would say the "terrible twos" arrived right around 20 months old for Lena.  We are having to begin to deal with various discipline issues as all parents do at this stage: crying when she doesn't get what she wants, getting mad when Dan and I are deep in conversation and she isn't part of it, purposefully doing the opposite of what she has been told to do.  The word "no" is heard a lot in our household.  The redundancy of parenting a two year old can make a body wearisome and there have been times in the past few months where for the first time I have begun to question my capability as a parent but never have I wished for life to be other than what it is right now.  Some of the BEST parenting advice anyone ever game me was to "appreciate the good things about your child at every age".  It makes me crazy when people say, "enjoy them now because when they get to be "such and such age" then life will be "awful".  The terrible twos are terrible for LOTS of reasons (and I heard the threes aren't much easier) but there are so many awesome things about living life with a two year old.  I love getting hugs and snuggles from my girl.  I laugh a loud multiple times a day at the funny things she says.  I enjoy watching her knowledge of the world grow as she learns to sing, read letters, draw, dance, and do numerous other activities for the first time.  I love her enthusiasm for the little things like eating popsicles on the porch, getting cake pops from Starbucks, making it on her bike all the way around the park, seeing her cousins or grandparents, seeing a snail, watching an airplane fly overhead, riding the train, showing off her most recent art creation....I could go on and on.  These moments...these little things...they are the reason I wanted to be a parent.  When I get a little perturbed when Lena yells "Mom!!! Mom!!!" a thousand times in a row, I just quickly remind myself of how desperate I was just a few short years ago for someone to call me "Mom".  Perspective is a wonderful gift.  I will never take for granted how special and miraculous it is that Lena is our daughter.  

Riding the train at the Santa Ana Zoo

Lena likes to pretend to cook.

 So Lena came up to me with great enthusiasm and vigorously stirring this pot. She declared,"I'm making eggs!!!! Mom! I'm making eggs!!!" How cute I thought, since I know she likes to help me make her scrambled eggs in the morning. Then she forcefully replied after I commented, "No Mom!!! Look look! I'm making 'eggs'!!!!" I looked in her pot and found that she wasn't making "eggs" but making "X". She had combined two of her favorites: cooking and the alphabet! Pretty funny!

Here she is "making X"!

Two and Half Year Stats:

Size 2T-3T clothing

Size 7/8 Shoes

29 pounds

Still not an adventurous eater

Hanging with Grandpa in the backyard

Lena loves spending play time with her fellow toddler cousins.

Her daily dose of fresh fruit in veggies in the form of juice.

Riding the escalator (over and over) after dinner at our favorite sushi restaurant.

Lena's idea of relaxing

Lena has become quite a big fan of hats.

Visiting the pigs at Amy's Farm near our house.

Helping Mom make cookies for Easter.

First night in her big girl bed! 

Playing Hungry Hungry Hippos