Doctor's Appointment

I had my doctor’s appointment on Friday. Sometimes I think I’m just waiting for those appointments to really breathe a little bit easier. I feel sick all day, but then instantly after hearing her little heartbeat I am starving and ready to go!

 

This appointment was the exact same way. I was anxious all day. To top off the normal pregnancy anxieties, I knew David couldn’t come to this appointment with me. Okay, I am totally and completely spoiled. David has gone to every appointment with me during my pregnancy with Annabelle and so far with this baby girl. I know this is crazy, but he’s just so calming and excited that I don’t get so sick if I know he’s going to be there. I’m spoiled.

 

Anyway, I was especially anxious because my doctor is out of town so I was seeing someone different, getting a shot, David wasn’t going to be there, and I’ve been having some contractions that have concerned me a little. It didn’t help that once I checked in they let me know the doctor had just gotten back from delivering a patient so she was running behind. I had to sit and get anxious alone for 45 minutes.

I spent my time texting with David and my friend (thanks Marissa for distracting me!).

Everything was just perfect with our sweet little girl. Her heart rate is about 145 – similar to last appointment, I’m measuring right on schedule, I’ve gained 21 pounds (which I was a little shocked about since I still have 12 weeks and that’s almost what I gained overall with Annabelle but ohhhh well) and she was active and busy the whole time.

Waiting for the doctor!

Now I start going to these appointments every two weeks! That is just crazy to me. I remember when I got to this point last time how it all really started flying by. I know soon enough we will be holding our new little girl!

28 Weeks

Third Trimester!

 

I seriously cannot believe how fast this pregnancy is flying by. I have an appointment this week so I will know more about the little girl soon. I can tell ya already that she is a mover just like her big sister. At our last appointment she kept kicking the monitor out of the way so it took the doctor a while to chase her down to get her heart rate. I get so excited (and slightly tired) thinking about Annabelle and this little girl chasing each other around and playing.

 

I have been feeling better in the last couple of weeks and think the vomiting may have officially stopped. I’ve also been sleeping a little bit better. We’ve been eating healthier since the sickness stopped and I’ve been trying to do things at night to unwind before bed. I try to put my phone down after 8 and I’ve been enjoying reading and taking baths. We’ve also had such beautiful weather so I get to play outside with Annabelle and go on lots of walks. All of this has made this pregnancy so enjoyable.

 

Although I can’t wait to hold this precious girl in our arms, I am trying to really appreciate this time with Annabelle. I remember towards the end of my pregnancy with her feeling the same way. So excited of course, but a little bit anxious about the change in our family dynamic. David and I have had fun building a to do list of things we want to do before she gets here, things that we know will be put on hold just a little bit with a newborn.

 

I will give a better update after my appointment, but here are some things I already know about this baby girl (who has a name but we aren’t ready to announce it):

- She loves her big sister – every time I hold Annabelle or Annabelle talks she kicks and moves like crazy.

- She is completely loved by her big sister already – Annabelle calls her by name in prayers now and told us yesterday that it’s “my baby” when we asked what was in my tummy.

- She’s busy – she doesn’t hold still, that’s for sure.

- She must have hair like Belle did if the old wives tale is right – my heartburn is out of control!

- She must be long – she jabs me in the ribs and kicks me in the side at the same time sometimes – I think she’s all sprawled out in there.

New

I just recently finished the cute book, The Hurricane Sister’s, and picked up three more from the library. Two I had on a waiting list for David, and one random read since my pick was still on hold. I haven’t started mine yet and I’m glad I didn’t because I received my favorite email this morning, letting me know my “on hold” book was available for pickup.

 

I cannot wait to start this book.

Have you heard of Robert Gailbraith yet? I hadn’t either. I was browsing some “must read” lists when I came upon this book and new author. Well, not so new author really. It is my beloved J.K. Rowling. Now, don’t get me wrong, I was highly disappointed with Rowling’s adult release,Casual Vacancy. But I have high hopes for this new adult book. New name, new book, new season, new trimester. Let’s give it a try!

Quiche

Last night Belle and I were in the mood for comfort food. David had a late board meeting so I picked up Belle and went home to make a super unhealthy, but delicious dinner. 

We made quiche. I love that one of her favorite things to do is to cook. This time she was truly involved in almost the whole process. I was going to let her watch one of her shows while I did the final cleanup and final steps, and she didn’t want to. She wanted “mow stir” – more stirring.

Here’s the recipe I used. I did add, just to make sure it wasn’t anywhere near healthy, some sausage to ours. We also had cheesy rice to go with this.

http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/broccoli-cheddar-quiche-92025.aspx If you are in need of some good old fashioned comfort food, I highly recommend this.

 

Fall Already

You all know that Fall is my very favorite season. Today is the last official day of summer, and it has been a beautiful one! But I can’t wait to get all my Fall things started. To be honest, I’ve started Fall already in our house. Decorated with my favorite owl napkin rings and orange napkins, replaced all my summer colored flowers with Fall ones, popped pumpkin scentsys in the holders and lit pumpkin candles, and even had my first pumpkin latte. I’ve set the mood, now I’m ready to get started on our fun to do list.

 

Since Belle is an outside girl, I can’t wait to experience a beautiful, Midwest Fall with her again this year.

Here’s what we have planned so far:

 

·         Visit the apple orchard as often as possible – we’ve already been once and she loved it!

·         Go on a hayride at the pumpkin patch

·         Let her pick out a pumpkin and color or paint it

·         Have tons of fire pit nights in our backyard – but at least one or two that she gets to be involved in

·         Roast her first s’mores on the fire pit

·         Go for a nature walk to let her collect leaves for a craft

·         Say hi to the spiders every morning – yep, seriously. She is obsessed with “Biders” and blows kisses to them. We had to teach her not to touch by telling her they bite. Now she rambles “Piders. Bite. No, no, no!”

·         Read all of her Fall books we’ve been collecting

·         Rake leaves and let her jump in them

·         Have her help me make pumpkin waffles, bread, or treats

 

These are just some of the things I have in mind for the next few weeks. Hopefully we can squeeze everything in before it gets too cold!

 

Happy First Day of Fall Eve! And incidentally, I start my third trimester tomorrow too! Yay!

Dinner

Last night we made the most delicious dinner. I have to apologize because now I cannot remember where I first found this recipe. I have the original source, but I’m thinking it was on a blog I read to start with – so I’m sorry if I’m not giving credit. Anyway, this was so super easy and so good. And we have leftovers to throw over quinoa tonight.

http://www.momswhothink.com/easy-recipes/baked-pesto-chicken.html

We’re talking so easy that Annabelle helped me with it so we had a nice warm meal ready for when David got home. I love that Belle continues to love cooking with me. It’s so much fun.

 

We had it with some whole wheat pasta and a spinach and kale salad. Delicious! Annabelle wasn’t the biggest fan of the pesto so I shredded hers up and added it to her pasta and I don’t think she noticed it as much.

 

She has gone from being a picky eater to eating almost anything we put in front of her. I have a couple of theories on this. We are working on limiting any snacks between meals. I think she has a better appetite. When she does snack, it’s something light and healthy like a rice cake or a handful of cereal.

 

We are encouraging her try more things. I was having anxiety over the fact that she was eating mac and cheese and chicken nuggets almost daily! But I was scared to serve her anything with too many spices. Now we just don’t offer her the chicken nuggets and it turns out she loves flavors! She ate every bite of what I was worried would be a too spicy burrito.

 

We also bribe her. If she will try two bites of something like pesto chicken, then she gets her greek yogurt at the end of the meal (this is what she thinks dessert is and we want to keep it that way!). I like that she’s getting to be old enough to reason with in this way.

 

This is a relief to me not only because I feel like the things she’s eating are healthier, but because it means I’m not making two meals all the time – one for her and one for us.  

Snack Post Again

I know I post way too much about food. Just stick with me for a few more months.

 

This week I have been taking some pointers from my girl Annabelle in the snack department. Every night she asks for yogurt and applesauce. I decided this is a pretty healthy snack for me to try too. So this week I have actually been eating the two together as one snack. I will see if she likes the combination tonight – usually she eats them separately.

 

I have been using vanilla greek yogurt and blueberry applesauce. Last night, Sister #1 gave me a jar of homemade applesauce though so I will be switching to that yummy treat.

 

Happy Wednesday!

26 Weeks

The last 4 weeks have been a whirlwind. We have been on the go nonstop. I love it because it’s making the time until we meet our little angel fly by, but it also means that the time with Annabelle at this age is going too fast.

 

This pregnancy is just so different than mine with Annabelle because with Annabelle I would work all day, go home and take a walk with David and Bo, workout or do yoga, and relax. This time, I rush out of work so I can get to Annabelle as quickly as physically possible so I can rush her home to start our evenings as a family. I have this constant fleeting feeling that I want to soak up each and every second with our little family of three (plus Bo of course).

Annabelle is hilarious. David and I both tell her daily that she is our best little friend. I think she is the smartest, funniest, and most beautiful baby to walk this world. I am serious. She constantly amazes me and cracks me up. She loves bugs, her dadda, and talking about her family members. All day she likes to talk about our family members and whether they are at work or night night, and every night her prayers consist of saying “more” while I go through our family members’ names and prayers. The funniest thing she has been doing lately is joking with us though. She loves, loves, loves “noonoos” or noodles. And she always reminds us that they are hot. Well then she goes on to her other favorite foods and tells us they are hot – yogurt, applesauce, cheese. And when we say “noooo, those are cold.” She says “noooo, hot!” and cracks up.

 

See, another difference between this pregnancy and Annabelle’s is that this baby isn’t even getting a post without Annabelle commentary strung throughout. J That’s okay though, I just know they are going to be the best of friends.

 

Back to this pregnancy. I am 26 weeks along today. I have had a few appointments lately and everything’s perfect. I passed my glucose test, have gained 18 pounds, and my health and the baby’s health is perfect.

 

The only complaint I really have is that I have had the worst heartburn. I don’t really remember this with Annabelle. It is so bad that sometimes it makes me throw up. It’s crazy.

 

I am still throwing up quite often too, which is different than with Annabelle. I’m pretty sure by this far along I was done getting sick with her. It’s not every day, but every couple of days I still get sick a few times in the morning or throughout the night.

 

We are pretty sure we’ve settled on a name for this little one. It’s funny because even Annabelle seems to agree. Any time we’ve asked her what the baby’s name is she says Yellow or Purple. When we say, how about X, she says “no, no, no, Yellow.” But in the last few days we’ve asked her about this one specific name and she tells us “Yeah!” So I think it’s going to stick.

 

I can’t believe I’m almost to my third trimester already. Here’s to meeting this baby girl soon, but at the same time slowing down time!

 

IKEA

This weekend we were able to go to the IKEA friends and family opening in Kansas City. I actually had never been to an IKEA so I’m so excited about one opening here.

 

We took miss Belle with us, and she’s still not the absolute best shopper, so I was a little bit distracted. I think she had a great time though!

I had the intention of grabbing lots of items for her new big girl room, but had a hard time focusing on much other than trinkets I could grab as we rushed by since she is on the go every minute.

 

I did pick up a couple of things that I absolutely love!

 

You’ve all seen the inappropriate pictures of her sitting on our kitchen island helping me cook. She loves to help me with breakfast and dinner and I love this time with her! The sitting on the island part doesn’t seem all too safe so I’ve been excited about a stool tall enough for her to be able to stand next to me. This one was a great find!!

 

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/60178887/

Before we went I knew I was interested in this cute lamp.http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/90194447/

 

But once we got there and I saw it in person David pointed out that the cord didn’t seem too safe. We are wanting her big girl room to be a place where she can play on her own at times without having to worry about dangerous things. I quickly decided this one should wait until she’s older.

 

We did find the cutest little safety plugs that double as nightlights! I think she will love her big girl room illuminated in pink for bedtime. We bought two.

http://www.ikea.com/ae/en/catalog/products/90258868/#/70258869

 

You know miss Annabelle had to head straight to the first baby doll she saw. I actually think this is not the cutest doll, but she grabbed her (actually two of them) and carried them around from the minute we got there until it was time to go. She is such a good little momma. She has been playing Ring Around the Rosy with her and sleeping with her ever since.

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/70196305/

This isn’t a big deal to most of you, but the item I grabbed for myself, colorful straws. I have to drink smoothies out of a straw and they are so much more fun when they are colorful. Annabelle loves it too!

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/00235980/

 

The only item David grabbed for himself? $2 slippers. Seriously. We are weird. Straws and slippers and baby dolls.

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/10215887/

 

We are so excited about the IKEA though and will definitely be back when it’s time to do some more decorating for Belle and Christmas shopping.

 

 

Football Food

We have had the busiest and best weekends lately! I don’t remember the last weekend we were at home, and this one was no different except we came home Saturday night and stayed in for the big Chiefs home opener.

 

Since we decided to stay home for this one, I wanted to still pretend we were there by making some of my favorite tailgate foods.

 

I ordered our favorite meatballs from Heartland’s catering, made this yummy recipe I found on a cute blog for chicken parm bites (http://www.lambertslately.com/2012/10/tailgate-food.html), made a classic staple of buffalo chicken dip, and threw a box of brownies together. We had some friends over who all brought yummy snacks too.

It would have been the perfect Fall day, except the Chiefs didn’t win…We aren’t really talking about that though.

 

What are some of your favorite tailgate foods?