twenty-four weeks

Wow.  I really need to clean my mirror... But unrelated, VIABILITY WEEK!  Twenty-four weeks just makes me breath a little easier.  Yes, this little lady can stay put for a minimum of twelve weeks in my opinion, but she has got a chance.  A chance at survival.  And that is huge in my opinion.

I had a doctor's appointment on Wednesday.  Naturally my doctor was called out right before I got there for an emergency c-section, but I managed to beat another doc's patient in by a few minutes so she just saw me first.  Blood pressure is fine.  No one complained about my weight gain.  And my next appointment is scheduled for the end of May, where I'll do the glucose test and get my rhogam shot.  All sorts of fun there.  I think I might even get to drag both girls to that appointment.  Can't wait, obviously. 

how far along:  24 weeks (compare to 24 weeks with Ryann, 24 weeks with Elsie)

size of baby:  I've seen everything from a papaya to an ear of corn.  Somewhere between 9 and 11 inches.

weight gain:  16 pounds.

maternity clothes:  Very much so, yes.  To prep for putting our house on the market, I've been cleaning out and organizing all the closets (like I should be doing yearly but probably haven't really done since before Elsie was born, whoops).  You know what makes downsizing your closet easier?  Being pregnant.  60% of my clothes don't fit or are out of season.  There are still PLENTY in there, but it looks much cleaner now, and organized in rainbow order.

symptoms:  Mostly just a lot of movement in my belly, as well as the inability to bend over comfortably.

exercise:  I attempted to run a bit on Thursday.  I could barely walk the rest of the day, but I managed to cover 3 miles in 45 minutes, and run just over a mile of it in short increments.  That sounds so pathetic, but it really is such a struggle right now.  I covered a total of 94,738 steps.  I've been doing pretty good making sure I at least get on the treadmill to walk for 30 minutes each night, if nothing else.

cravings/aversions:  Mustard.  For some reason I can't get enough mustard.  I've been eating hot dogs (at least the natural ones, eek!) with ketchup and mustard all week.  So weird.  I need to come up with something else I like with mustard besides hot dogs.  Haha.

movement:  She is definitely getting stronger and stronger everyday.  I can feel her while I'm standing up moving around, and sometimes she is just insane.

sleep:  Not too bad.  Sometimes I wake up randomly and just can't fall back asleep, but for the most part I can't complain about sleep right now.

gender:  Baby sister!

looking forward to:  Getting back to the new house to see the progress.  Seeing some of my sorority sisters in a week.  My birthday I guess.  I kind of forgot it was coming!

worries:  Not too much.

what's different this time:  Sounds like I was a little more uncomfortable and what not at this point with the last two.  Truthfully I think I just don't have time to worry about myself or how I'm feeling right now.  I am so focused on a million other things.

best moment this week:  Thursday morning we spent two hours at an awesome park, and it was just a really nice morning.  There wasn't any fighting, no tears, it was great.

sisters

Over the last month something amazing has happened.  This special little bond between Ryann and Elsie has become rather apparent.  Before I get too far, they still fight like crazy and beat each other up all the time.  But also?  They can spend an hour or more playing happily together and it is so damn cute.

Elsie still doesn't understand all the 'games' and pretend scenarios that Ryann wants her to participate in, but she so desperately wants to be by Ryann's side ALL THE TIME that she sure as hell gives it her best effort.  They are constantly having picnics and parities and going on adventures to unicorn and caterpillar land.

Whenever Ryann decides she needs a little space, she runs off to her room and closes the door.  Sometimes this occurs after Elsie has smacked her or pulled her hair or something, because she didn't like what Ryann was doing.  But as soon as Ry makes a move toward her room Elsie is up and chasing her.  And she'll stand outside Ryann's room and scream and cry until we either bribe her to calm her down, or we convince Ryann to come back out and play with her some more.  It's pathetic.

Elsie is also obsessed with matching Ryann.  Be it clothes, pajamas, hair styles, or even down to what Ryann is eating, Elsie wants to be the same.  "Elsie, what do you want for breakfast?"  "Ummm, what Ryann havin'?"  "Elsie, what pajamas would you like to wear?" "What jammas Ryann wearin'?"  "I want bwaids wike sissy!"  "I do it wike sissy!"  "Where Ryann goin'?" "What Ryann doin'?"  All day long.  Elsie constantly wants Ryann around.

Miss Elsie is also determined to go to kindergarten just like sissy.  I'm pretty sure there will be lots of tears that first morning Ry rides off on the bus.  From me and Elsie ;o).

These two can make each other laugh like nobody else.  They are so weird together.  Making strange noises and saying things like doody and just cracking up.  They have awesome dance parties with crazy moves and are constantly playing 'kitties' while crawling around and meowing at each other.

I hope they can continue to grow closer, and keep the hair pulling to a minimum of course.  Because watching them play with each other and love each other is just the sweetest thing.  And I hope that little miss number three can slide right in there with them.  Yeah, sure, there will be a lot more ponies that are run off with, coloring books that are 'ruined' by a little sister, made up dances that aren't being performed right.  But I think my heart will be so full and overwhelmed by the cuteness of three that it just plain won't matter.

Or something like that.  :o) 

elsie says

Oh man, this girl's vocabulary just continues to explode, and her sentences just get longer and longer.  She still has some words that I have to make her repeat like 10 times before I figure out what she is saying, but hey.  Some random ridiculous (and cute!) things she has said lately...

Me:  "Elsie, what are you doing?"
Elsie:  "Leave alone me!  I pooping!"
Me: annoyed at the thought of changing her diaper for the millionth time "Why?"
Elsie:  "Cause I wuv pooping!  I poop ev-wee day!"

Me:  "Elsie where are your shoes?"
Elsie:  "I don't know.  Dey seem to be hiding!"

Elsie:  "Mama, what doing?"
Me:  "Making some toast."
toast pops up in the toaster
Elsie:  "Whoa.  I better hide."

Elsie:  runs up behind me and grabs my legs "Mama I wuv you so much.  You my buddy."
Me:  melts into a puddle because that was so damn cute

When she demanded braids like sissy one the left, and just a touch of her sass on the right.

twenty-three weeks

how far along:  23 weeks (compare to 23 weeks with Ryann, 23 weeks with Elsie)

size of baby:  My What to Expect app says the size of a papaya. 

weight gain:  15 pounds.  I didn't gain any weight this week.  I have no idea how that happened.  But I'll most certainly take it.  I'm estimating that I have 15 weeks to go, so if I only average a pound a week I could possibly end up at only 30 pounds gained.  Fingers crossed!

maternity clothes:  Yes.  And my mom took me on a little early birthday shopping adventure for some more maternity clothes that I am so very grateful for!  I still need to get my hands on some comfy lounge wear that I really like, but now I have more than one pair of regular pants that I'll actually wear.  And a pair of shorts.  And a swimsuit.  YIKES.  Honestly while I'm at my parents pool I plan to let it all hang out in a bikini because I'm not washing a maternity suit over and over again.  But one or two that can actually cover the belly for public purposes might not be a bad idea.

symptoms:  Nothing too terrible.  My legs get really restless in the evenings and it is uncomfortable to just sit on the couch (THE HORROR) and bending over sucks.  But otherwise I haven't had any terrible headaches or anything.  I'm grateful for that.  In the last 10 days or so, I've had a couple of weird vision issues.  Not 'seeing sparkles' like I've experienced with the last two pregnancies, but something of that nature.  Like stuff just looks weird.  I'm not sure what to make of it, but I feel fine otherwise, so until someone tells me my blood pressure is out of whack I'm just going to assume I'm crazy.

exercise:  I'm trying to come to terms with not running.  It just hurts too much.  Hell I can barely walk at more than 3 miles an hour without something hurting.  Kind of depressing, but it is what it is and I'm still making sure to get my steps in and not be a complete lump.  Actually, 90,749 steps this week.  BAM.  I'm starting to feel like my arms are really really lacking definition, so I'm hoping one of these days I'll kick my own butt and lift a weight or two.

cravings/aversions:  I like to eat food.  Good food.  That's about it.

movement:  I definitely feel her moving daily, and sometimes it is strong enough that I see my belly moving.  But sometimes I have to stop and concentrate to notice it still.

sleep:  I keep waking up really uncomfortable or needing to pee.  It sucks.  And I stay up too late and get up too early.  Meh.

gender:  A little princess.  Or whatever the heck she wants to be.  ;o)

looking forward to:  Our new house reno's being finished and shopping for home decor!  My mom and I browsed Home Goods this week and there were so many things I wanted to buy, I'm just not sure where I'd put stuff.  I need to check the return policy, and then maybe go back in a couple of weeks and buy stuff, then just return what I don't use.  I have a hard time committing to purchases and generally end up just buying nothing, so I'm going to need a little push from my mama to come home with anything!

worries:  I'm worried that we will never agree on a name.  I've started joking that we're just going to go with 'baby sister', and call her BS for short.  Also I'm worried that selling our house is going to SUCK.  On Wednesday I sort of cleaned out my craft/office closet (which means I found the floor and my desk, I did not organize any of the shelves) and it was kind of miserable.  Bending over, getting on and off the floor.  Gross.  I need to kick it into high gear and get all my to-do's finished in the next couple of weeks before I get too much bigger!

what's different this time:  I absolutely did not run a half marathon this week.  Looking back at that, I almost can't believe it.  I feel SO different this time.  I assumed I'd just keep right on running like I did while pregnant with Elsie, but it just was NOT happening.  And it was all the sudden.  I ran at 10k without a problem at 16 weeks.  And now I can't make it more than .15 miles.  While reading my old post I was reminded that someone called me selfish for running while pregnant and that it was endangering my baby and what not.  To me this just proves that only YOU know your own body, and you have to listen to it.  I did feel fine running while pregnant with Elsie.  Not perfect all the time, but I knew I wasn't hurting myself or my baby.  This time around, I can just tell it isn't right for me to be running.  Every person and every pregnancy is different and only you and your doctor can decide what is right for you.

best moment this week:  Nothing major.  Coming home with maternity clothes that I didn't hate was pretty good.  And honestly, some of my favorite moments each week are when Elsie and Ryann actually play nicely together.  It just makes my heart so happy when they are sweet to each other.

ryann at five

I posted about Ryann's birthday, and her party, but I have yet to really post about Ryann in general lately.  It seems as though not a lot has changed, and yet she is so different than she was from a year ago.  She is still obsessed with unicorns, is a crappy eater and loves nature.  She loves school and learning and she is so freaking smart.

I taped a whole like nine minute interview where I asked her some of her favorites and such, but I'm too lazy to upload it.  So the overview...

Favorite color:  purple and pink
Favorite food:  chicken nuggets and bunny mac & cheese
Favorite sweet treat:  Starburst jelly beans
Favorite drink:  chocolate milk
Favorite movie:  The Penguins Movie
Favorite song:  Black Widow and Uptown Funk
Best Friends:  Brennan, Drake and Kamryn
Favorite place to go:  Community center explorer room
Favorite place to visit:  Georgia!
Favorite animal:  unicorns
Favorite things to do:  play kitties with sissy, play at Kidscape, and paint and color and cut!
When she grows up she wants to be:  a vet at the zoo

Recently reading has really really REALLY clicked with Ry.  We think she must have more of a photographic memory, or something of that nature, because she doesn't like to sound out words (even though she can).  But if she sees a word two or three times it is logged in her little brain file.  She has also done a wonderful job using contextual clues and the book illustrations to figure out what some words are that she is having difficulty with.  I've been in awe watching her pick up a book, and make it through nearly the whole thing with only a bit of help.  Last weekend I took her to see Home, and at the end of the movie "two weeks later" came up on the screen.  She immediately asked me why they wrote 'two weeks later' on the movie.  It is just one of those moments that surprises you.  Those are words I'm sure she has seen several times, it shouldn't be a surprise that she was able to read them.  But my baby!  She can read words anywhere and everywhere!  So crazy.

Ryann continues to love art projects and drawing.  Her detailed illustrations just get more and more amazing.  I'd go as far as to say that she can draw several animals, dragons and unicorns, things of that nature, better than I can.  She gets that ability from her father.  You'd think being the one with the fine arts degree I could teach her a thing or two, but not so much.  We found a little book at the toy store called I Can Draw Animals and she has done great with it, following along with the little illustrated instructions.

Another random tidbit Christopher wanted me to throw in, is that Ryann loves to watch a little Bill Nye before bed.  It used to be human body lectures, but after they went through all those, she discovered Bill Nye, and now it is her thing.  She can't go to bed without watching a little bit of an episode.

We went to kindergarten round-up last week, that is just plain crazy.  I wasn't exactly sure how the whole thing worked, but I didn't realize that they immediately separated the parents and kids and stayed that way for the whole two hours.  So I was a bit startled when they whisked her off after she had her name tag!  But she didn't even blink or look back and just made her way down the hall with everyone else.  She loves being around other kids and isn't the least bit shy.  Her personality can fill a room, and she approaches each little adventure which such enthusiasm.  Really though, she is going to be in REAL school.  I felt like preschool was the real deal with conferences and such.  But sitting through the parent portion, it was just so surreal.  This is just the beginning, but I know it is going to fly.

 

As scary as it seems to me for her to be entering kindergarten, I am so very very excited for her.  She is going to love it, and I'm pretty sure she is just going to thrive.  Her preschool teacher couldn't say enough nice things about her, and how much Ryann loves everything about class and has such a joy and passion for learning and exploring.  I'm sad that she'll be spending so much time away from me during the day, but she is going to have so much fun.  At least I really hope so.

There was a shirt at Target that said 'my spirit animal is a unicorn,' and I absolutely had to get it for her.  Between her love of unicorns and her infections spirit, it just seemed perfect.  The kid has a temper, and can drive me crazy like nobody else can, but she is really quite amazing.  I hope nothing can squash her enthusiasm for life.

Love you Miss Ryann!!

renovation progress

Some days it seems like so much gets done on the house, and some days I feel like this dang reno is taking forever.  But hey, we don't need to actually live there for another few months so I suppose it is alright.  I thought I'd throw up some progress photos for fun though!

One of the most exciting things, is that our kitchen cabinets were delivered last week.  They still haven't put in all the drawers or doors so it is tough to see how they're really going to look, but I'm SO EXCITED.  Originally we were planning to go with bar pulls for the drawers and cabinets, but now I'm second guessing that decision.  My contractor said they haven't drilled the holes yet, so he is going to hold off.  Just not sure what would happen to the pulls that were ordered with the cabinets...

back of the house, sink wall

opposite the sink wall, with the microwave and fridge

where the double oven will go

I'm so in love with the glass front cabinets.  There is just so much storage in general, and I can't wait to have a place to display some of my serving pieces and cake plates.  This is the lighting we've chosen for the space.  The glass pendant chandelier will go over the island, with the, globes?, hung at varying lengths, and the drum will go over the eat-in table.

And just for a refresher, a couple of kitchen photos from the listing:

We ended up going with Benjamin Moore's Revere Pewter for the paint color throughout most of the main floor.  I was having such a hard time picking for the kitchen, family room and back hallway, and after they painted the entry and we loved it, it just seemed to make the most sense.  Here is the family room as it is right now, some entry progress as well as the listing photo.

The master went Benjamin Moore's Rockport Gray...

And Elsie's room got refreshing coat (or two or three, thanks mom!) of Benjamin Moore's Gray Owl...

The playroom will also be getting the gray owl treatment.  We've picked most of the paint colors for the house, we just need to get to work painting the rest of the walls.  Most of the master bath items have been chosen, and I can't wait to see that come together.  It took probably at least four layout attempts before I settled on something I liked.  We aren't putting a tub back in the space, which I was a little leary of at first, but now we'll be getting a really awesome shower plus a linen closet, and I'm very excited.

Hopefully there is even more progress to be seen this weekend!

easter 2015

Easter weekend fell after our little jaunt in the hospital, so I was a bit stressed out going in to it.  But it ended up being a fun and relatively relaxing weekend in my opinion.  We started Saturday morning off with a breakfast and egg hunt at the country club.  There was a face painter, a balloon animal guy, and no shortage of good breakfast food.  Winning in my book.  They had the egg hunt broken up in to three age groups and it was pretty funny to watch the differences in each group.  The 3 and under crowd moved slowly through their space, and after picking up a few eggs each kid was a happy camper and went on their way.  The 4-6 kids moved a little faster but were overall pretty calm.  I couldn't quite see the 7 and up kids, but it seemed like they ran through there and picked eggs at lightening speed.

When we got home the girls spent a good deal of time playing 'Easter Egg Hunt'.  Ryann hid the eggs and then helped Elsie find them.  Really that went on all weekend.  It was cute.  I truthfully can't remember what we did the rest of the day.  Elsie napped.  We played outside a bit.  Made some dinner.  Nothing crazy.

Sunday morning we started with their Easter baskets (once there was enough light for me to take pictures of course, sorry girls :o).  They were so cute.  Ryann was super excited about a kalidescope, and Elsie was just excited about everything.  Then my mom whipped up some breakfast, and we rounded it out with a little egg hunt outside of our own.

After all that we got to work dying eggs.  Originally my mom had boiled a dozen, and I told her we needed at least 6 more.  Well we flew through those 18 so fast!  Ryann was loving making the eggs all different colors and combos.  I'm sure she could have dyed three dozen eggs and been a happy camper.  I just don't think I could have eaten all those hard boiled eggs...  We'll definitely do two dozen next year though.

My sweet mama spent the rest of the day in the kitchen cooking us a delicious dinner.  We had beef tenderloin, green beans with bacon, mashed potatoes with a mushroom gray and biscuits.  It was sooooo good.  But the only thing I managed to snap a picture of from the rest of the day was the cute little bunny cakes she baked.  I'm pretty sure I loved them the most, but whatever.  They were cute and tasty.

After dinner we loaded up in the car and made our way back home.  Next Easter is going to look a little different, with three kiddos in our new house!

twenty-two weeks

how far along:  22 weeks (compare to 22 weeks with Ryann, 22 weeks with Elsie)

size of baby:  Who the heck knows.  The bump says a papaya and around 11 inches, What to Expect says a spaghetti squash, but only 8 inches.  She's growing, and is comparable to the size of some sort of food item.  But I'm not sure which one.  :o) 

weight gain:  15 pounds.  I... just... I'm really enjoying food.  Whatever.

maternity clothes:  NOTHING IS COMFORTABLE.  But yes, maternity clothes.  Hopefully when my mom is back in town I can con her into another trip to the maternity store.  :o)

symptoms:  Just general uncomfortableness, nothing terrible, nothing great.

exercise:  Pretty much just walking now. 79,169 steps this week.

cravings/aversions:  I had some strawberry lemonade from Wendy's and that was pretty tasty.  Wouldn't mind some more.  Basically though, food.  Food is good.

movement:  Some days it is really strong and catches me off guard, and sometimes I don't feel her very much at all.  Often it is just a lot of pressure in various areas, as opposed to distinct jabs or kicks.  I told Christopher the other night I felt like she was stretched out in a giant X, because there was pressure on both my hip bones and up in my ribs.

sleep:  Not great, but not terrible.  Sometimes I stay up too late because I don't want to get ready for bed, despite the fact that I'm super tired.  Stupid.  Or I just pass out on the couch and wake up a few hours later.

gender:  Girl #3.  I get at least one 'bless your heart' or 'your poor husband' every day.  Three girls is going to be a blast, I just know it.

looking forward to:  Truthfully, I'm looking forward to September.  Ok maybe July, I could maybe handle July.  April, May and June just look too stressful.  So much to get done right now, so many decisions to be made.  I just don't wanna.  But I'm also determined to enjoy these last three months of living in KC so I better suck it up.

worries:  Lots of random stuff.  But I would say all that random stuff is just occupying my brain, not really making me worry in particular.  I'm stressed, but not worried, if that makes any sense.

what's different this time:  I'm pretty much still in disbelief that in probably 17 weeks or less I'll give birth to another little girl.  I simply cannot imagine it.  Can't picture our life with three kiddos.  It will be awesome, and amazing, I know it will.  But it still seems so surreal.  Also I feel like I've been to the doctor a lot less for myself.  That's cool. 

best moment this week:  Finding out that Elsie is really only allergic to cats was pretty stellar.  We don't have to worry as much about having her outside.