A Sweet Moment

My first baby Emma spooning me on the couch. She is the sweetest. I just love her so much.

In Memory of JP

Today I mourn the loss of a friend. He passed away last week in a car accident and today was his memorial. It was so sad. I wish I had a chance to say goodbye. I'm really going to miss him. 

24 Weeks

How far along? 24 weeks

Total weight gain? 15lbs last time I weighed myself but it could be more

Best moment this week: spending Christmas with family and seeing them so excited about baby girl

Miss Anything? speeding comfortably 

Movement: yes! All the time. 

Food Cravings: nothing really

Anything making you queasy or sick: when I get hungry I feel sick

Gender Prediction: GIRL! It's a girl :)

Symptoms: heartburn and pain in my left leg

Belly Button in or out? in

Wedding rings on or off? on

Happy or Moody most of the time: happy

Looking forward to: 2014!!

Baby Names? Ha. None at all. 

Thoughts: I have a feeling I'll be planning my own baby shower. My mom says she going to throw me one but honestly I'm not sure how much effort she's going to put into it and I'm afraid it won't be as good as I would like it to be. 

Merry Christmas!

From our growing family to yours, Happy holidays everyone!

An Early Christmas

My family from San Antonio came in last night to celebrate Christmas a little early since they will be home on Christmas Eve.

Mya in the Morning

She is so perfect. 

22 Weeks

How far along? 22 weeks

Total weight gain? 15lbs. I really need to start exercising and try not to gain anymore for awhile. 

Best moment this week: feeling movement! I love it. 

Miss Anything? sleeping on my stomach 

Movement: yes! When I wake up, when I'm hungry, when I'm laying down for bed, pretty much all day every few hours. 

Food Cravings: not really, ice cream maybe

Anything making you queasy or sick: meatloaf and deer chili 

Gender Prediction: GIRL! It's a girl :)

Symptoms: hip pain, stomach pain ocasionally, headaches sometimes, still throwing up at least twice a week. 

Belly Button in or out? in

Wedding rings on or off? on

Happy or Moody most of the time: happy

Looking forward to: Christmas!

Baby Names? not at all, none we can agree on. 

Thoughts: I want to start nesting and getting our apartment ready for baby. Rex thinks its too soon so we decided on waiting until after Christmas/New Years. 

For Future Reference

Babysitting my nieces for the past couple of months has taught me so much. Not only what to do but also what not to do. My nieces are sweet and cute little ladies and I love them so much. But, they have no structure and the older one is getting pretty bratty. I really don't want my daughter to be like that. 

Here's a list of a few things I want to do with my baby girl. 

Baby sleeps in her own bed. Co-sleeping is great and has its benefits but for us personally we don't have the room to let baby sleep in our bed. Plus, we have three dogs who have been sleeping in our bed their whole lives and I don't see them stopping after baby arrives. 

Only food belongs in baby's mouth. Keep hands and other objects out (unless she's teething). This is where I feel a pacifier could help. Yes, it's gross that she will suck on a piece of plastic but at least if she has that in her mouth she can't put anything else in there. 

Potty train early. Madison will be three in April and can go the bathroom by herself (I believe she started peeing on the potty soon after she turned one) and it's great. I really want to do that with my baby. Changing diapers sucks.

Eat at the table. Always. And stay there until you finish your plate. No eating in the living room in front of the tv. Ever.

I'm sure I will think of more later but that's all for now.

Sick Sleepy Baby

We were watching cartoons when all of a sudden I realized Emily had passed out on the couch. Two hours before her usual nap time and all by herself without milk or rocking. When she woke up she cried and it sounded like a baby seal. She has croup :( she so sweet and I hope she feels better soon. 

Tuesday

The exterminator came today so I had to bring my dogs to my brothers house with me. As I suspected the dogs did great with the kids. They are going to be awesome with our little baby girl. Emily was eating lunch and feeding Mya macaroni from under her high chair. She giggled so cutely when Mya would softly licked it out of her hands. It was so cute, I wish I had recorded it. 

21 Weeks

How far along? 21 weeks

Total weight gain? about 10 lbs

Best moment this week: Rex feeling his baby girl kick :)

Miss Anything? Not really. Just sleep.  

Movement: yes! 

Food Cravings: chic-fil-a

Anything making you queasy or sick: waking up hungry

Gender Prediction: It's a girl!

Symptoms: round ligament pain

Belly Button in or out? in

Wedding rings on or off? on

Happy or Moody most of the time: happy

Looking forward to: getting a decent bump so I look pregnant, right now I just feel chubby. 

Baby Names? we have the book and we've been looking but haven't decided on anything yet

Thoughts: my hormones are out of control. I've been so sensitive lately and cry over everything. 

It's Facebook Official Now

I changed my profile picture to this. Now it's officially official. 

Patience

As cute as she may look, she really tests my patience. Watching my nieces has been good practice but on some days it makes me question whether or not I'm ready to be a mom. I just keep telling myself that my daughter will be different. She will listen to me and eat at the table without a fight or getting distracted. She won't tell me no all the time or cry to manipulate me to get what she wants. Of course I know these things will happen from time to time but I just pray that when it's my child I will have more patience. I don't want to yell and be mean but it's really the only thing that actually works with my niece. She doesn't listen unless I raise my voice. Sometimes she runs off and cries (my SIL  does not like to let them cry it out) and then I end up giving in to what she wants and the crying stops immediately. That shows me that it's a manipulation. She knows that she will get what she wants if she cries for it. Well not my future child. I won't have a problem letting her cry it out. Now you may say I'm living in a fantasy world and that my daughter is going to be horrible. That may be true but at least I'm going to make an effort to teach her the right way. I can't wait. Hurry up April!!

Miss Madison

Ultrasound Pictures

I cannot wait to meet my baby girl!!

20 Weeks / Halfway there!

How far along? 20 WEEKS!!!

Total weight gain? 10lbs

Best moment this week: feeling a kick FROM THE OUTSIDE! Finally!!!

Miss Anything? sleeping

Movement: yes! Now I know for sure :)

Food Cravings: not really

Anything making you queasy or sick: not eating every few hours

Gender Prediction: GIRL! It's official. My mommy intuition was right. 

Symptoms: pain in my sides from my uterus stretching, headaches sometimes 

Belly Button in or out? in

Wedding rings on or off? on

Happy or Moody most of the time: happy

Looking forward to: a bigger bump

Baby Names? nothing set in stone yet but I like Riley and Dylan, or something Hawaiian 

Thoughts: I'm so happy my bambina is healthy and growing, I'm still dealing with the shock that we're going to have a baby girl but everyone's happy and things are going smoothly. Thank God! 

One Year Anniversary!!

We didn't do anything fancy. Just dinner at Outback which is where we had our first date almost six years ago. Rex knows the way to my pregnant heart so we split a chocolate thunder from down under for dessert. He was so sweet and let me eat most of it - that's love. The first year is paper so it was completely appropriate for Rex to get me a book. Plus, I've been nagging him to pick out a few baby names he likes so hopefully this will help him. 

Sleepy Pups

They are so cute when they're sleeping on each other. I cannot wait until the baby comes and gets to snuggle with them too. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

I don't know why but I didn't take a single picture today so here's a hilarious one my dad took of my nieces and my cousin's kids.

The Night Before Thanksgiving

We celebrated a night early so we could eat with my relatives from San Antonio. It was delicious!

Rex is so cute with my niece Emily. He's going to be an amazing father to our daughter.

IT'S A GIRL!!!

My intuition was correct! We will be having a little lady. I feel bad about it now but I cried after I left the office. Not because I was disappointed but because I know Rex was. He already has a girl so he really wanted this baby to be a boy. Unfortunately, he's not getting what he wants and once again I was right. I'm so happy and I can't wait to go register! 

Nineteen Weeks

How far along? 19 weeks, almost half way there!!

Total weight gain? 9 lbs

Best moment this week: feeling a little movement (I think)

Miss Anything? sleeping comfortably 

Movement: I think so but still not completely positive 

Food Cravings: ice cream, sans pickles

Anything making you queasy or sick: waking up

Gender Prediction: girl

Symptoms: holy crap my left side/hip area has been killing me the last few days

Belly Button in or out? in

Wedding rings on or off? on

Happy or Moody most of the time: happy

Looking forward to: Thanksgiving food!!

Baby Names? Seven. Always.

Thoughts: Rex is going to his first appointment with me tomorrow! He will finally get to hear the heartbeat.

Picking Flowers

Fun At The Park

I put the girls in the wagon and walked them to the park in their neighborhood. We don't spend much time playing outside so today was special. And the weather was absolutely perfect. 

Emily climbed up the stairs and went down the slide by herself. It was so fun watching her do it over and over. And when she tried to climb up the slide in socks I couldn't stop laughing.  

Red Trees and Blue Skies

The perfect fall color combination. 

The weather has been so perfect the last few days. Not too cold and not too hot. Windy with sunny skies. I'm loving it. 

Galveston

Rex and I met up with Leah, Michael and Emmy at the beach so the guys could surf while us girls froze our asses off. I looked at the weather forecast and it said it was overcast and 73* but dumb me didn't prepare for how cold it was going to be. When they finally finished we all went to eat at a delicious Mexican restaurant. I had the chicken soup and it was so good. 

Eighteen Weeks

How far along? 18 weeks

Total weight gain? 3.5 pounds last time I weighed myself

Best moment this week: looking at baby stuff with Rex. We haven't bought anything yet but it's so fun to go and look. 

Miss Anything? surprisingly, no

Movement: possibly. I'm not exactly sure how it's supposed to feel. 

Food Cravings: surprisingly, no

Anything making you queasy or sick: getting out of bed too quickly

Gender Prediction: I say girl, Rex says boy 

Symptoms: itchy stomach, throwing up bile when I wake up or brush my teeth, sore breasts, occasional headaches

Belly Button in or out? in

Wedding rings on or off? engagement ring is off but wedding band is still on

Happy or Moody most of the time: happy :)

Looking forward to: feeling baby move and growing a big bump

Baby Names? I love the names Seven (boy), Brody (boy), Riley (girl) and Bailey (girl). Rex hasn't suggested any yet

Thoughts: thankfully I got my Medicaid card so now I don't have to worry about paying for the birth. Phew!

Welcome to the World Baby Lucian!

Seventeen Weeks

How far along? 17 weeks

Total weight gain? 3.5 pounds so far

Best moment this week: visiting the birthing center and hearing the baby's heartbeat 

Miss Anything? coffee, sometimes

Movement: Not really. I thought I did once but I'm not sure since I don't know exactly what it's supposed to feel like. 

Food Cravings: corn dogs

Anything making you queasy or sick: waking up and walking the dogs before eating anything

Gender Prediction: I still think girl but I find myself saying he when talking about "it", Rex is convinced it's a boy

Symptoms: throwing up bile when I wake up or brush my teeth, sore breasts, occasional headaches

Belly Button in or out? in

Wedding rings on or off? engagement ring is off but wedding band is still on

Happy or Moody most of the time: happy :)

Looking forward to: feeling baby move and growing a big bump

Baby Names? I love the names Seven (boy), Brody (boy), Riley (girl) and Bailey (girl). Rex hasn't suggested any yet

Thoughts: I still can't believe it sometimes. I feel so blessed. 

Babysitting My Nieces

When they're not driving me crazy they're actually really cute.

From now on I will be watching the girls on Thursdays and Fridays. My sister in law plans to quit her job and be a stay at home mom so it's only until April. Or sooner if it gets harder for me when I get farther along.