16 weeks.

week:16

baby stats: #2 is the size of an avocado now, which makes me want guacamole.  but let's face it, i always want guacamole.  s/he weighs 3.5 ounces, and has started to grow toenails. 

symptoms: feeling a little tired, but i think i've been pushing a little too hard (and staying up a little too late reading novels).  the heartburn that plagued me for all of emme's pregnancy is back in full force (it was only sporadic before this week), so i'm guessing we'll have another head of hair on this kiddo.  in any case, as i have always said, of all the pregnancy-related stuff i could have, heartburn is just fine with me! 

cravings: still nothing much.  i like milk a whole lot.  and seafood.  and veggies, which i hated most of the time last time.  i want to drink coca cola all the time, which i never EVER drink in real life, so that's super weird.  fortunately, i can usually convince jb to drink one and a little sip seems to satisfy me.  

aversions: still nothing, at least not before i eat it.  certain foods make me gag if i think about them too much (eggs).  but i'll still eat all of it...

bump: growing more and more human-baby-like every day. i have no shot at wearing non-elastic-waisted pants at all. 

worries: the usual, as usual.  i have my 16 week appointment monday and i always feel huge waves of relief (however temporary) after hearing the heartbeat and talking to my awesome care providers.

looking forward to:  bigger movements and a bigger belly.  i know lots of women fight this, but i love the big belly and a bebe rolling around in there.  getting emme's toddler room set up so we can figure out what we want to do with the nursery. 

boy or girl?:  i'm still feeling boy.  i don't know if it's because i am feeling more movement so much earlier, or what, but i'm pretty convinced we've got an XY in there.  

missing the most: sushi.  it's always sushi. 

pregnancy milestone:  movement.  i think i felt a little last week, but this week i am 99% sure it's baby.  still very much the feeling of a big goldfish in there flipping around, but i am almost positive that's not just my intestinal tract. 

what's different this time: the earlier movement is very different (and very awesome, since it assuages my worries just the tiniest little bit).  i think i'm carrying more in front this time, less in my face like i did for emme - although, definitely still have a pregnant face.  ha.  i haven't read a single pregnancy book (and probably won't!), which is unlike me, but i have such a crazy memory for that stuff, i think i can get through these 40 weeks without inundating my poor brain. 

15 weeks.

i have seen these pregnancy journal posts on some blogs that i follow, so i thought i'd give it a whirl this time.  i have not really documented/done a thing for this bebe yet, so this is as good a time as any to start something.  i certainly don't want him/her to think we weren't SO thrilled about his/her impending arrival...i'm just a slacker.  


week:15

baby stats: nino (still trying on nicknames for size.  not sure nino is the winner.) is the size of apple or a navel orange, depending on which random baby site you read.  crazy that s/he is already that big (crown to rump)...s/he weighs about 2.5 ounces and has bendy limbs and eyes that can detect light through closed eyelids.  nice job, baby! 

symptoms: feeling great after a semi-rocky and tired first trimester.  i seem to finally be over this stupid cough i had that prevented me from sleeping in my bed/through the night for 10 nights.  yeesh.  starting to show in less of a she's-really-let-herself-go way.  i've felt some movement but i'm not 100% convinced it's baby (maybe like 85%), which is way rad and my favorite part of being pregnant.  

cravings: none, really.  it's weird.  i was hungry - like, ravenous - from day one with emme.  i find myself forgetting to eat/forcing myself to eat at regular intervals this time.  

aversions: none really.  i was averse to everything for a couple weeks in there, but now i can kinda take or leave all food. 

bump: growing.  i really have no torso at all so this belly just pops right on out. 

worries: the usual - is it ok, am i ok, yadda yadda.  i took robitussin a few times (and a couple of benadryls) when i was coughing my face off and it's made me a wee bit neurotic.  doctors/the internet said it was fine, and i passed on the extreme prescription cough syrup that they said i could take, but i still just worry. 

looking forward to:  for real feeling movement/kicks.  working on the nursery.  finishing his/her quilt. 

boy or girl?:  i'm really feeling boy for this one.  it just feels like a different pregnancy than ek, but then, my life is super different now, so how could it not?  i love the idea of a boy, but also love the idea of another sweet girl (sisters!), so i guess that is a good sign.  justin is 100% sure this is girl #2. 

missing the most: sushi.  it's always sushi. 

pregnancy milestone:  i don't really know what this category means...i guess telling co-workers is a milestone?  sure.  being out of the first trimester (even thought that was a couple weeks ago).  

what's different this time: as i said before, i feel like a slacker mom this time.  it is SO hard to focus on a pregnancy when a toddler lives in your house.  it's really lucky that i have pregnancies that are easy enough for me to forget that i'm pregnant, even if that makes me feel guilty.  we haven't taken a single belly pic yet, whereas we were consistent with it every week from 9 on with emme.  i'm also much more curious about gender now than i was with round 1.  i still think we will be surprised again, but my will is not as strong as it was last time - probably because i now have a context and am trying to imagine emme with a brother or a sister. 

i press this.

despite my good intentions, i think the days of posting monthly emme updates have fallen by the wayside.  my original, unstated intention was to do every month up to 24 (when i swear i will stop counting her age in months...or at least i will try!).  but, with as busy as we are these days, and as incredibly active as she is, the time for portraits and organized photo shoots has not been a priority.  i'm going to work harder at posting/writing about the everyday pictures and activities instead of the formal monthly posts.  this is how i will rationalize my shortcomings in this department...

anyway.  emme is a little over 20 months now.  insanity.  i had to go to san diego for work at the end of june, and i came back three days later to a little monkey who was speaking in sentences.  it literally happened that fast.  her language has exploded over the last several weeks and it is so. much. fun.  she is really kind of a hilarious person.  the most common sentence we hear is "i [verb] this".  i press this; i taste this; i push this; i close this; i open this; i turn this off; the list goes on.  we also hear i did it! a ton.  i got her a babydoll (her first) in california and she is obsessed with it.  it has a beanie that goes in its mouth, so she will try to click it in there by herself (something she does with increasing ease and frequency, even though that baby's head is wily).  when she is successful, she stands back proudly and says i did it!  this also happens with coloring, putting on articles of clothing, etc.  so cute.  yesterday, i picked her up from school (wednesday is water play day) and i asked her if she had played in the water.  her response was "i played in the water" - instead of "yes" which was her response every week before now.  i am just so amazed at her correct use of pronouns and subject/verb agreements.  haha.  i'm also a huge dork.  what else?  oh!  she has this little toy remote control thing my mom got her.  it has eyes and you can push a button and close the eyes.  she was showing it to me one day and explained to me "he closes his eyes".  who knows where she gets this stuff?  it is amazing to me.  her vocabulary is growing daily, too.  she is always trying to sound out new words and then uses them again when i'm least expecting it.  i am obsessed with the way she says yogurt (her favorite breakfast option).  she still needs reminders to use words sometimes, especially when she gets upset or reactive about something, but i mean, she is a toddler.  it's just SO nice that she is capable of/knows the words to use now instead of the frustration of a couple months ago where she understood so much but couldn't say most of it.  anyway...i hope this isn't coming across as braggy - i am just literally stunned and awed watching/experiencing the development of language.  it's endlessly rewarding, and makes me feel like i have a much better glimpse into her little world. 

ek is also absurdly busy these days.  her default pace is running, which she lets us know by announcing "running!  running!" as she's running.  she wants to climb and subsequently stand on every surface known to man.  one of the most frequent phrases heard from me/justin is "ON YOUR BOTTOM".  her response is usually a mischievous grin followed by a slow descent back to her bottom.  i am only beginning to anticipate all the testing we're going to get from this little bug.  we are working really hard on staying consistent with certain manners/expectations, and for the most part she is doing well with these.  the stuff that i'm focusing on right now is:

• saying please and thank you (please is nearly perfect, thank you is still a work in progress).
• putting dirty clothes in the hamper (this involves opening a hatch thing, so she is pretty into it).
• staying at the table until everyone is done eating (this is from the french parenting book i read - we still have work to do, but she is MUCH better than she used to be...she will ask to get down, but doesn't flip out when i remind her that others still have food on their plates).  
• gentle touches (with us, the dogs, her buddies, her body).
• understanding where/how to play with certain things (i.e. we color on paper, not the furniture; we dig in dirt outside; we eat only at the table, etc.).  this is a definite work in progress, and likely will continue to be. 

i feel like there are others, but a lot of that is stuff that i am working on for me/me and jb.  stuff like watching my tone when she gets testy and being responsive when she asks for hugs/to be held instead of just assuming she's being needlessly clingy.  slowing down, in general, especially with her.  letting her be independent and encouraging her to do hard things.  the list goes on...

so i guess this is kind of rambly, but will suffice as an update.  i love this age - she is so sweet and curious and fun.  i love when she chuckles at some random thing and says "haha, funny mama".  i love the expressiveness and the endless fascination with everything.  we went for a walk with the pups last weekend after rain all week and there was mud everywhere...she stopped every 2-3 steps to stick her fingers in the mud and squeal about it.  i love that she has a very clear nurturing side but can be tough too....i hope she keeps that up.  she is hardly ever still these days, but we have great cuddle time before bed every night and during the slow wake up period in the mornings.  i love her little singing voice and we are endlessly amused by her obsession with the lalala elmo song and the birthday song (and birthday videos justin has made).  we really do love this girl.

deux.

when i found out i was pregnant for emme, i called my mom within probably 20 minutes of the second pink line appearing.  i was so shocked by the news myself, i couldn't really keep it to myself.  she has jokingly given me a hard time about it since then - wondering why, since i'm theoretically at least somewhat clever, i didn't come up with a better/more story-worthy way of telling that exciting news.  

so.  back in early may on a tuesday morning, i found out that i am pregnant again.  i had originally wanted to do something fun/clever to tell justin this time around as well (the first time involved me staring at him until he woke up), but i had taken a test before the weekend and it was negative (which i had told him).  so, when i randomly decided to take another test super early tuesday morning (even though we had had many talks about how unlikely it was that i had gotten pregnant this month), imagine my surprise when it was positive.  cue another classic-me moment of me being so excited i can hardly think clearly.  so, i did what anyone who is terrible with delayed gratification would do, and i put the positive test in front of the coffee pot.  when justin woke up and stumbled in to the kitchen, i was making emme's lunch for school, and i asked him if he wouldn't mind making the coffee.  of course, he saw the test right away, turned around, and his first response was "shut up".  hilarious.  

anyway.  i did manage to avoid telling my parents (or anyone else, really) right away.  this was made possible by their impending arrival for their may visit - i only had to make it through 2 weeks with the secret.  with marilyn coming to visit close on their heels, we figured we'd be able to announce to each family in person, which is super fun.  

we decided to let emme be the one to deliver the news.  we hit up the craft store, and i made her a little t-shirt that says "big sister to be", but the be is a picture of a bee that i crafted out of felt.  literal, but fun, we thought.  mom and dad were driving in around 6:30 or so on a friday evening, so we had ek bathed and in her special jammies to greet them.  when they pulled up, she was in her swing, so the shirt was obscured.  we exchanged hugs, etc., got her out of her swing, and then mom noticed something was written on her shirt.  she bends down and asks emme "what does your shirt say?".  then she reads "big sister to a bee....big sister to a bee?  what does that even mean?".  i wonder what the look on my face said in that moment - how was she interpreting this information as my daughter was acquiring an insect sibling?  hilarious.  it only took another second or two before it all clicked together and there was much celebrating, but the initial incredulity was SO funny.  

what made it almost funnier was that the following weekend, with marilyn, her reaction was almost EXACTLY the same.  she and i had had a conversation earlier that afternoon discussing some of our other friends' second children, and i guess i did a pretty decent job of throwing her off the track (i didn't want to spill the beans without justin being there).  

so, here we are.  expecting baby #2.  this little niblet is due in mid-january, so they will be 26 months apart or so.  crazy!  we are very excited, though much more distracted with a wee toddler running around than we were with round 1.  now that i'm about 14 weeks, i feel like i need to get it in gear and start prepping, at least a little bit.  we had an ultrasound at around week 8, and everything is looking good and normal so far.  i've been a little sicker this go-round than i was with emme, but seem to be on the other side of that now (yay!).  my belly is already starting to pop out, but i've only gained about 1 pound so far (as compared to the 8 i'd gained with emme by this point), so that is good news since i can NOT gain 50 pounds again (especially since i never lost the last 20 from the first go-round...woops).  

anyway...no strong feelings yet on whether part deux is a girl or a boy.  i think boy, but i always think boy.  justin, of course, thinks it's another girl.  i guess we will find out in january!  

gram's visit (memorial day 2012).

for memorial day weekend this year, marilyn drove down from kansas to spend some time with us.  emme's school was closed on friday, so i took a vacation day and she and i played.  marilyn arrived in the early-mid afternoon so we had a chance to visit before justin got home.  truthfully, the weekend was so jam-packed and there have been so many weeks since then, i can't even remember what we did when, specifically.  but highlights included: trudy's, marilyn getting to watch emme's swimming lesson, visiting various nurseries, searching for a particular type of salsa, a stroll at the dog park, and justin's gourmet grilling.  saturday, justin and marilyn took emme for a few hours while i rested and cleaned the house - it was so strange to have time away from her on the weekend, i kind of didn't know what to do with myself!

anyway...marilyn took lots of pictures, but jb and i were uncharacteristically absent on the photo scene. regardless, it was a super fun, laid back weekend and we were so glad to have gram over to hang out.