10 and counting down...

 10 more weeks!!! That's it!  I can't believe that's all I have left until we meet this little girl!!  We are in prep mode now... getting rooms painted, picking out big boy furniture for Brian, getting the nursery ready... all the fun (yet exhausting) stuff!  We are painting Brian's room tomorrow and his furniture should all be here next week, so we'll be making the big move soon.  I'll be sure to posts pictures of his room when it's done!

It's Official...

Can you see my feet?  Yeah, me either...  (if I really bend over, I can see those little piggies!)

A Change is Gonna Come...

Well, here I am, 11 1/2 weeks away from meeting our daughter.  11 1/2 weeks!  The thought of that brings on a ton of emotions for me - excitement, anxiousness, fear (yes, I fear delivery this time - I know what to expect!!), blessed, nervousness... all rolled into one.  I'm not sure what will be the bigger transition - going from zero kids to 1, or going from 1 to 2. I have a feeling it will be the latter.  There are so many changes that are taking place right now that it's a bit overwhelming to even think about!

Let's see...

* Brian's turning 2 in a few weeks. I can't believe he'll be 2. It just doesn't seem possible that 2 years have already come and gone. It has been an amazing two years and I feel so privileged to be Brian's mom.  He's definitely a handful at times (ok, a lot lately!!) but he really is an amazing little boy.  We must be doing something right :)

* We are getting everything ready to move Brian into his "big boy" room.  The mere thought of that is stressful!  The thought that he can just get out of bed anytime he wants to is, well, frightening!! LOL  We are aiming to get him moved into his new room by his birthday, so that he has a couple of months to transition before the baby gets here. My stomach is nervous just writing about it ;)  But, for us, it doesn't make any sense to buy a second crib when he'd be moving out of it soon anyway!

* Sleep.  Or shall I say, the lackthereof.  Brian, 99% of the time, is a good sleeper at night.  I'm not sleeping well because I'm pregnant, but except for the past few months, I've (we've) been very fortunate to be able to sleep through the nights.  That luxury will come to a crashing halt in a few months.  Thank God for coffee ;)

* It makes me incredibly happy that Brian's sister will be here soon. I cannot wait to meet this little baby girl and hold her in my arms. I can't wait to see what she looks like and kiss her sweet face.  There is a part of me, though, that is sad for Brian.  He's been the center of our world for 2 years now and now he has to share us. I know it's going to be tough on him at first, as he gets used to our new addition.  I want to cherish the next few months and spoil Brian with all of the attention that I can.

* We will now be a family of four... or as Vahe likes to look at it, we'll be playing man-to-man defense now :)  I am overjoyed about adding to our family. I can't believe how perfect it's turning out that we will have a boy and a girl. Welcome to the world of double strollers, different nap times, separate feeding schedules, etc. Welcome to the world of needing an extra set of hands, eyes and ears. But also welcome to the world of double the awesomeness of being a parent.  Double the smiles, double the fun, double the pride, and most of all, double the love.  It's hard to imagine me loving someone as much as I love Brian, but at the same time,  I can't imagine loving another child any less!!

I've learned so many valuable lessons as a parent over the past two years. Things that I've done right, things that I've done wrong, and I'm going into this feeling much more confident.  Change can be scary, but with change also brings new beginnings and new adventures.  I am so excited to be on this journey, and can't wait to see what all of these changes bring to us!

Yay for PINK!

Move over blue and brown, make way for pink and purple!!!  We are SO excited that we are having a little girl!  Vahe and I went for my 20-week ultrasound on 1/4 and we saw our little sunshine on the monitor moving around and kicking my bladder like crazy :)  She is perfect!  The ultrasound tech was very happy with all of her measurements, my fluid levels and all of the other medical stuff they need to check!  We saw the 4 chambers of her tiny beating heart (151 heart rate!) and her perfectly formed spine.  Based on her measurements, the tech said that if she keeps growing at the rate she is right now, we'll likely have an 8-9 lb baby on our hands!  Technology is so amazing, in that we get to see what is going on inside of me, and make sure that everything is developing as it should.  We were SO thrilled to learn that she is growing and developing so well, and equally excited when she told us that our little baby was a "she!"

Brian is going to be such a wonderful big brother - he is even calling the baby "sissy". Too cute!  I told him the other day that our lives as we know it were going to change dramatically in a few short months. His response to me was "Oh no..."  :)

On a somewhat related, though separate note, I am continuing to feel well... though getting bigger every day!  Nights are becoming restless for me, as I'm getting up 2-3 times to pee and falling back asleep can be challenging.  I feel movement all the time from this little girl, and she loves to kick my bladder.  That's fun :)  I'm having some serious "sweets" cravings right now.  My current craving is Hostess Ding Dongs. I haven't had or even thought about a ding dong in years, but I saw them as part of a game on "Minute to Win It" last night and now I so have to have one. I'm fighting the urge, but I have a feeling I may cave...

Here is the latest belly pic that I have. This was taken at 20 weeks (I'll be 21 weeks tomorrow).  This was taken on New Year's Eve before a wedding :)  I feel like I'm so much bigger already!

Well, that's it for now! Happy 2011 everyone!

Lauren

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

That's what I keep telling myself!!!! Hahaha!  No, in all honesty, I LOVE this time of year.  We kicked things off with Thanksgiving at my parents house and the food was delicious as always.  I love being pregnant during the holidays!!  "But the baby NEEDED that extra helping of pumpkin pie!" :)  Now, it's full force ahead until Christmas.  The holidays really snuck up on me this year.  I swear it was just summertime and now BOOM! We're less than a month away from Christmas.  Vahe and I did a lot of online shopping on Black Friday because we refused to go out into the madness.  It was nice just sitting by the computer in our jammies listening to Christmas music and drinking coffee while shopping and getting some great deals!  Maybe next year I'll go out to the stores... nah, probably not. :)  We got our Christmas lights up outside and our tree was put up as well!  It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas around here!  I'm enjoying decorating the house, even though there are boxes, lights, decorations, etc scattered all over the house (leaving me feeling a wee bit overwhelmed!)

As I'm sitting here typing this, I really should be back up in bed.  I started to not feel well yesterday (cold symptoms, etc) and this morning I woke up with a fever and feeling miserable.  There's nothing like being pregnant and sick and having your house in a complete disarray!  I have been in bed most of the day, but needed to come downstairs for a break.  Like I said, it's the most wonderful time of the year, right?!?! :)

On a happier note, I'm definitely starting to show!  I haven't "popped" yet, but there's most definitely a belly now. I finally broke down this weekend and bought some maternity jeans. Oh how I have missed the comfort of those!!!  Here's one of the latest pictures that was taken of me (I believe this was 1 1/2 weeks ago).  I'm getting excited that in a few weeks we'll be able to know if I'm having a boy or a girl!  Most people are saying girl... I'm leaning towards boy.... but we'll see soon enough!

It's been a while...

It's been a while since I have posted.  I've been really busy with Brian, but I've also been... well, pregnant. :)  With that comes the morning sickness (that lasts all day) and the sheer exhaustion that is 10 times worse this time around.  I have been meaning to update the blog for quite some time, I just never seem to get around to it.  So, I'm forcing myself to sit down and update instead of cuddling under the covers on the couch.  It may not be a long update, but an update it will be!

As most of you already know, we are expecting baby #2 on May 20, 2011.  We are SO excited.  What I'm not excited about is how I've felt!  This pregnancy has already been so different.  The first major difference... BRIAN. LOL!!  Brian doesn't understand that I'm extremely nauseous or so tired that I just want to stay in bed.  He just wants his normal, energetic Mommy that he's used to having.  So, it's been much tougher this time around to pamper and take care of myself.  I go to bed around 9 or 9:30 every night, and am waking up at least 3 times a night to pee.  Lovely.  I've been MUCH more nauseous this time, too.  I'm not throwing up really, I've just been nauseous morning, noon and night.  This is the first week (11 1/2 weeks) that I'm feeling somewhat normal.  My nausea began before I found out I was pregnant... so I've been feeling crappy for a while!  BUT. On the bright side of things, I am pregnant again. I am once again carrying a baby, a life, inside of me and I couldn't be happier.  I'm even starting to get a little belly, which is making this much more real for me!  I was able to get an ultrasound at 6 1/2 weeks, so here's a look at the little bean!

Brian is doing awesome.  He is such a handsome little boy, I can't believe he is already 19 months old. His personality is amazing and he makes us laugh every day (he makes me want to scream and cry on some days, too! LOL)  But he is so much fun and I just love him so much.  I know he is going to be such a wonderful big brother!  Just a couple of highlights: 

We went to a pumpkin patch with Grammy & Grandpa and Brian had so much fun!  He loved playing among all of the pumpkins!

Brian got his first hair cut at Great Clips... talk about a nightmare! LOL  That was NOT a fun experience!!

 

Brian's really starting to get into coloring... we like to color a lot now :)

Brian had his first "fluffernutter" or "peanut butter and fluff" sandwich.  This is one of my all-time favorite sandwiches, so it was fun to see him experience it! What a MESS that was to clean, though!

And, finally, Halloween.  Brian didn't like his monkey suit. AT ALL.  It lasted for maybe 5 minutes, and during that 5 minutes all he did was cry and beg me to take it off.  And, trick or treating didn't happen either!  He stayed at home with us in our driveway and helped us pass out candy.  That's where he felt the most comfortable, and he was definitely happy.  Maybe next year! But, come on... he was one cute monkey!!!

There are a bunch of other things that he's been doing and I have so many other pictures to post, but truth be told, I'm tired. Getting under the covers on the couch sounds pretty good to me.  Matter of fact, it's almost my bed time! I'll have to save more pictures for another post.  OH!  One thing Brian is doing... when I ask him where the baby is, he points to my belly :) It's so cute!  

I'm gonna do it.

Change.  It's a good thing.  Unless you make a change 1 month after you give birth, at your most emotional time in your life.  You are sleep-deprived, hormones are bouncing off the charts, your emotions are running rampant, and your body is some funky state where you still look pregnant, but you clearly aren't.  This was me... back in April of 09.  I decided to cut my hair.  It was already short... but I got it cut really short.  For those of you close to me, you know what a traumatic experience that was for me!  I cried for months after it happened and was SO incredibly self-conscious about my hair.  I've always been the type of person that looks at it like "it's hair, it will grow... no biggie". BUT, like I said, when you're an emotional new mommy, all of that logic goes straight out the window.

So here we are, September 1, 2010.  My hair is long, and I love love love being able to put it in a ponytail and get it out of my face.  When I have the time and luxury to dry and fix it, I love it.  However, that is becoming harder and harder to do.  It takes me an hour to dry and style it.  What mom of a 17-month-old has that kind of time?!? So, I have come to the conclusion that it's time. It's time for a change. It is time for me to put trust in a friend with scissors to cut my hair.  I must say, I'm terrified.  I know that what I went through back when Brian was born was just kind of freak thing... a bad cut.  The chances of another bad cut, aren't that high... but it still makes me nervous as hell.  But I'm doing it.  Appointment is made for Saturday.  There's no turning back now.... it's on the books!  Wish me luck! I will post a picture of it afterwards...