31 and 32 week bumpdates!

Almost caught up!

How far along?  31.5 weeks!

Total weight gain: Last time I checked I had so far gained 1lb.

Maternity clothes?  Oh YES. 

Stretch Marks?  Starting to wonder if I got some above my belly button

Sleep:  Pretty good, but just less of it as we are moving which means late nights, early mornings and short or nonexistent naps.

Best moment this week:  Signing our lease

Worst moments this week:  Dealing with our (almost) ex apartment community

Miss Anything?  Hard cider and sushi

Movement:  Feeling lots of hands, feet or elbows poking out, hiccups, and can definitely see and feel when she turns around in my belly.

Food cravings:  Chocolate or really anything sweet.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Acid Reflux or really bad smells.

Gender:  Girl!

Labor signs:  Nope

Symptoms: Sore hips and my back gets sore easily.

Belly Button in or out?  Top half is out, bottom half is about flat.

Wedding rings on or off?  On!

Happy or Moody most of the time: A bit moody this week I’m afraid.

Looking forward to:  Getting settled into our new place and resolving things at our old place. 

(Andrew at 31 weeks)

**********************************************************

How far along?  32.5 weeks!

Total weight gain: 5 lbs. Which seems nuts since baby girl is supposedly a bit over 3lbs right now.

Maternity clothes?  Oh YES. And even some of them are beginning to not cover my whole belly.

Stretch Marks?  We have so much natural light in our bathroom now and I’ve noticed lots of lighter marks all along the side of my belly and above my belly button but I am not really sure if they are new or not. They haven’t been red at all but I suppose that doesn’t necessarily mean anything. Hmmmm

Sleep:  I sleep like a rock at night and have had a daily struggle keeping my eyes open during the day as I haven’t really gotten any good naps in this week.

Best moment this week:  Seeing Andrew open his Christmas gifts!

Worst moments this week:  Dealing with our (almost) ex apartment community.

Miss Anything?  Hard cider, sushi, beer, lunch meat, etc.

Movement:  It’s getting intense in there- she’s super strong and active!

Food cravings:  Chocolate or really anything sweet.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Acid Reflux or really bad smells.

Gender:  Girl!

Labor signs:  No, but I’m feeling like she has dropped a bit and I’m definitely feeling more pressure/ fatigued much more easily. I know I’ve been overdoing it lately and am beginning to wonder if she’ll make it to February lol

Symptoms: Sore hips, lower back gets sore easily, Charlie horses, pressure, shortness of breath, frequent trips to pee…

Belly Button in or out?  Top half is out, bottom half is about flat.

Wedding rings on or off?  On and loose.

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy. I’m so excited for baby girl to make her appearance (though she can wait at least another month, thank you very much), and am just loving watching Andrew grow and learn and play – and my heart practically bursts when I watch Jesse and Andrew interact. I can’t wait to see Andrew with his little sister or Jesse with his new daughter. It’s going to make me bawl, I just know it.

 

Looking forward to:  Mid-January!

(Andrew at 32 weeks)

Addicted to Old Navy.

But seriously though. Can we take a moment to appreciate this: 

I've seen it about 20 times and still I laugh at it. Julia Louis-Dreyfus is hilarious in these commercials!

Hokay, back to the point, I should not be signed up for Old Navy emails. They always, ALWAYS have amazing deals going on. I just snagged a super cute pair of distressed boyfriend maternity jeans for a little over half off and a super comfy dress for under $8. BUT before that, they had their kids and baby sale... and I had a coupon... and some super cash (which by the way they are giving out right now - $10 for every $25 you spend!)

So anyhoo, I obviously needed to stock up on a few items for Andrew. I lingered for a few moments in the baby section but I need to at least wait until we know if we're having a boy or girl to buy anything, right? That's what convinced me to walk away anyways.

Here are the items I got for the little man. His 3T clothes are getting a bit snug and believe it or not in a bit here even Florida is going to be on the cooler side, so I got some "winter" clothes. I also usually take advantage of the after Christmas deals to stock up on his summer clothes as well!

...I'll need to get him a few more tops (especially since he rarely gets put in pants at home) and we need a new pair of dress shoes as well, and probably a pair of sneakers - he doesn't fit in to any of his current shoes other than his sandals. Hmmm maybe when Payless has another BOGO promotion I will have to take advantage of that ;)

Well, TTFN <3

Oh and P.s. If you haven't already signed up for Ebates.com, you really should. You get money back for all your online shopping - even car rentals, hotels, airfare, etc! It's free to join AND they list coupons for every store you shop at :)

Andrewisms

Munchkin is just about 2.75 years old, and changing SO quickly, it's crazy!

Andrew is such a sweet little man. The other night I asked him if he was ready for bed. He says “Bed?” and runs for his bedroom. Once inside he went straight to his changing pad and laid down for me to change him and get him in PJs. Then afterwards, he puts his wipes and basket of diapers away in the closet, grabs the book he wants to read and climbs into bed. After we are done reading, he turns onto his side and pulls the blanket over his face and we say ‘night night’.

He is so helpful in the grocery store and at home – he loves to help put groceries into the cart and load them onto the conveyor belt when we check out. He is very good at putting all his dishes in the sink once he’s finished eating his meals, sometimes even before we ask him.

We still do 1/3 juice 2/3 water ratio in his juice at lunchtime and we just realized that he thinks juice comes out of the faucet. I put some apple juice in his cup the other day and he ran to the faucet, pointed at it and said “more juice?” He has had straight juice before but we try to avoid it as much as possible.

He loves to help pour his milk- helping to open the fridge, take out the milk, hold the cap, put it back and shut the fridge. He will pick up legos and put them in their bag if we ask him to clean up, and he LOVES to help cook. In the mornings when I make pancakes or muffins or something like that I let him pour in the measured ingredients and help stir and he gets absolutely giddy.

The obsession with trucks and trains is just strengthening as he gets older. We need to take him for a train ride again one of these days methinks. He points out the window and yells “truck” when we pass one in the car, sometimes also yelling the color (“RED TRUCK!”) and then “Where’d it go?” if we pass it or it turns or something.

His vocal skills are getting better and better. There are a few base words that he always uses correctly and well but there are some times where he points at something and says “Sss” or some nonsense and we both walk away frustrated, which sucks, but it’s definitely happening less and less. 

Potty training is going nowhere real fast and I’ve learned to accept it. He has once or twice said “potty” and run to his potty chair and used it, but mostly if we try to get him to go he just thrashes and cries so we’re just going to have to let him do it on his own time.

And lastly, as far as picky eating goes, he’s definitely picky. Veggies tend not to go down well whatsoever so I hide them in smoothies, yogurt pops, pancakes….wherever I can. Otherwise, he eats the same meals we do and try to make him at least taste everything but we mainly have a “eat or don’t eat” motto. He gets ample time where we leave his food out if he didn’t eat it with everything else (he always has at least one item he'll eat) but if he refuses to touch it, he doesn’t get anything else. And he never complains or cries when it goes away, nor does he say he’s hungry at all before bed so he’s just fine.

As I’ve said with almost every stage, this age is so much fun! He’s getting so playful, talkative, showing more personality, being way more social, and we’ve just really been loving it. So excited to see him as a big brother <3 

Munchkin is sick! :(

...and my pregnant self is not handling it well.

Having a sick toddler is the worst. It’s always crazy messy, you feel terrible for the poor little kid, and it’s just highly unpleasant. The only thing worse is being pregnant with a superhuman nose and quick gag reflex with a sick toddler.

Poor Andrew has some kind of stomach bug going on right now. Friday I woke him up from his nap to find his bed covered in throw-up. It took all my will power to strip the bed and throw everything in the wash without throwing up myself. Once that was done I threw lavender oil on his bare mattress, changed his clothes, cleaned him off and washed our hands about 5 times. He seemed fine for a few hours after that but then threw up twice in a row about 2 hours after dinner. I immediately held my breath and went to go hold the crying little man and then created a mantra to help me clean up. It was rough.

Thankfully my mom was able to come over and help me with him – she also brought some Pedialyte for him to drink which helped quite a bit, I think. Saturday and Sunday he was perfectly fine – no weirdness, no throwing up, nothing.

Monday morning, I entered his room to find diarrhea everywhere. Thankfully Jesse was home and able to help me. He cleaned up the bed and floor, bathed Andrew and got him dressed as well as doing the laundry and staying up to continue changing Andrew. He is the bestest.

Andrew had some probiotics in his milk this morning and is currently sucking on another bottle of Pedialyte so fingers crossed that whatever this is goes away fast! 

I’m so happy to be pregnant but it’s frustrating to be so “fragile” sometimes. Oh well. This too shall pass :) Just hoping the little guy feels better soon - it sucks big time when your kid is sick and you can't do much about it.

Being sick means cartoons in mommy and daddy's bed

Saturday morning

16 weeks ♡

How far along?  16 weeks

Total weight gain/loss:  Last I knew, down 3 lbs

Maternity clothes? Oh yeah. And soooo comfy :)

Stretch Marks? Still have 'em, yup!

Sleep: Okay, lately I've been waking up with a sore neck which leads to a headache later in the day though :-/

Best moment this week:  So far, it's been taking Andrew to the Children's Museum and planning a trip to the zoo.

Worst moments this week: Finding out that I may either have to choose between an OB I feel really uncomfortable with or having no prenatal care at all.

Miss Anything?  Lunch meat, sushi, hard cider, lying on my stomach, beer, not being tired all the time...

Movement:  Maybe one poke here and there but definitely not noticing much.

Food cravings: Fried pickles but even that has been calming down. Peanut butter M&Ms and Airheads always sound delicious though haha

Anything making you queasy or sick: Smells. My motion sickness is worse than usual as well

Have you started to show yet: Yup!

Gender prediction: I still think boy

Labor signs: Nope

Belly Button in or out?  In

Wedding rings on or off?  On

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy. Even yesterday which was a horrible day, getting to spend it with Andrew and watching him play and everything put me in a much better mood.

Looking forward to: Figuring out the OB situation. We have three possible routes though none of them are likely going to work. Just need to start praying and stop worrying and just trust that something, somehow will work out.

Celebrations!

Well, it is almost September. How did that happen?? The last week of August is always fun around here since my birthday is on the 25th and our wedding anniversary is on the 28th. Since hubby had to work on our anniversary, we celebrated the week before by going to the monthly ‘Latin Nights’ event at Maestro’s in the Straz Center here in Tampa. It was a lot of fun but also really showed us how out of practice and out of SHAPE we both were. We also went to the same restaurant where we had our first date after moving to Tampa – the one downside was ordering the dish that I adored last time but having an aversion to the sauce this time around. It tasted burnt and the thought did cross my mind to send it back but I had Jesse try it and he said it tasted good so… pregnancy strikes again lol.

 live band and dance floor

For my birthday, we got to go to a MN Twins game! I really did try to like the Rays once we moved here, guys, I really did. But when the stadium is a little over an hour away and the whole thing costs close to $50 to go for one game, you tend to only go when you really want to…and I only really want to when the Twins are here lol. I also love that we actually get to see the games on TV when they play against the Rays so it’s always a three evening event and this time I totally got Andrew saying “Home Run” and clapping when the Twins did something good. He clapped for the Rays a few times too but he’s still learning ; )

After the Twins won the game!

We had meant to go to this Chinese buffet place that we’ve heard good things about but decided instead to use birthday freebies. So on my birthday, we went shopping at Old Navy with a birthday coupon, got a free brunch at Denny’s, a free blizzard and even have another freebie or two lined up! All in all, it was a really fun day.

AND to top it all off, last weekend, Andrew was invited to his first birthday party! Jesse's co-worker's son turned three and celebrated at Chuck E Cheese, so we went out to join in the fun - Andrew didn't really get much of a chance to interact with the other kids but did have a tiny little girl scoot up close to him at the table, had his finger held by a little baby girl, and rode in a truck ride with another little boy - hilarious by the way as he kept clinging to the dashboard and sitting down on the floor. Obviously a bit freaked out but was still smiling and having a good time. He won a bunch of tickets, played a bunch of games - even operated a bumper car! It was a lot of fun!

playing a game with daddy!

Well, here’s to 27! Someone, somewhere, please have a glass of Moscato for me! ;)

<3

15 weeks and counting...

How far along?  15 weeks!

Total weight gain/loss:  Last appointment was negative 3 lbs

Maternity clothes? Oh yes. I've embraced them. Living in maternity leggings, yoga pants and shorts lately haha

Sleep: Good, but I have a hard time going to sleep. Once I'm out, I'm good. But always seem to wake up tired.

Best moment this week:  Date night with hubby for my birthday and seeing the Twins win! :)

Have you told family and friends: Yes

Miss Anything?  Lunch meat and hard cider.

Movement:  Again, I'm fairly certain that I'm feeling little pokes and movement but not 100% sure.

Food cravings: Fried pickles. Or really just pickles in general. Fruity things, and dairy.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Smells.

Have you started to show yet: Oh yes.

Gender prediction: I'm thinking boy, Jesse thinks girl

Belly Button in or out?  In

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time:  Happy.

Looking forward to: Going to see an OB again lol and also our ultrasound in October.

"Lazy Parenting"

Anybody else immediately panic when you read that kind of a title and wonder if you're going to read on and discover you're the worst parent ever? No? Just me? Okay.

Those were my thoughts when I saw this article on Facebook the other day.

And I feel so much better about life now. It's hard to not feel self-conscious about your parenting skills when you see those perfect Pinterest moms making their own play-doh every day and doing all these activities and stuff.... my kid is an independent soul. I try to play with him but once he's done, he leaves. And it's EXACTLY like I was as a kid. I just wanted to play on my own. I wasn't opposed to playing with others but when I wanted to do something else, I did. 

Andrew plays with his trains and trucks and books and blocks all day long. And while he runs up to me from time to time to show me something or 'talk' or have a cuddle (which I gladly indulge in), he ultimately leaves after a few moments to go do his own thing. It can make me feel like a bad mom but he's a happy, confident little boy. He's growing up to be very strong willed and independent and I kind of love it. So as long as he is happy, we will continue what we are doing :)

Just for giggles ;)

Wee Baby Schmitt #2

Estimated arrival: Valentine's Day, 2016 <3

Father's Day 2015

SO LATE!! Sorry! But I'm saving up quite a few blogs to post and now that I have my computer back from a nasty virus that ate all my files, hopefully I'll be on top of things now.
Here is my crazy late Father's Day post! :)

Well, unfortunately Jesse has to work for Father's Day. Boo. BUT the weekend before he had off so I decided to make some of his favorite foods and have us take a road trip to a new place! We visited Caldesi Island State Park and while it definitely didn't have as much interesting things as I had hoped it would, it does have beautiful beaches and the water was clear and beautiful! Here are just a couple pictures:

You can also watch our vlog on it here

Hope all you Daddies feel special and loved this weekend. Happy Father's Day!!
TTFN <3 

Taking a toddler to Church.

Sorry for being MIA! If you don't already know, hubby and I have started a vlog (found here). It's been hard adjusting to the schedule change but also my computer was infected by a virus two weeks ago and I recently got it back (minus all my files that were encrypted. Back up your files, folks!)

Anyhoo, as I was sitting in Church this past weekend, I thought this would be a good blog post. I remember taking Andrew to Church every Sunday when he was a little baby - it was always easy because I'd feed him just before going and then he'd sleep through the service. 

As he got older, however, and especially once he had learnt to walk, it was extremely hard for us to take him. He was always trying to climb and escape, crying, shrieking, etc. So we tried taking him to the Nursery. It did not go well. We'd sit in there with him for several minutes trying to get him comfortable but after the service we were always told he just cried the whole time. We'd come in to find him hiding under the table or in the corner and eventually, anytime we even went near there, he's bawl. So the Nursery was out.

I'm sorry to say, this stopped us from going to Church for quite some time. We'd occasionally drop him off at my Mother's but couldn't do it every week.

Pretty recently however (I think we started this around April), we decided to take a chance and just bring him to the service. The first few times we'd have to trade off skipping most of service to walk around with him outside, but one day I got smart and packed his diaper bag strategically. 

Then one day in May, he sat through the entire service! It was amazing and it made us both so happy! Here's our game plan:

• We bring one or two cars or trains (his favorite toy) for him to play with that he gets as soon as he starts getting restless (which is often after the first song).
• We also pick up one of the kid's bulletins so he can look at/ play with that at the beginning while we look through ours.
• Jesse takes him up for the Children's service which he usually does great with (though I have to kind of hide my face so he doesn't see me and get upset, haha)
• As soon as the sermon starts, we break out the snacks. This usually keeps him sitting, happy, and quiet for the entirety of the sermon.
• He comes up with us every time for a blessing during Communion.
• Then once we return to our seats I usually break out books and maybe another snack if he's too restless.

And this seems to work great with him! One small adjustment we made is bring Jesse's sweatshirt with - Andrew likes to push him trains along the chair legs and as there are spaces at the bottom back of the chairs, the trains sometimes roll off the back of the chair. Meaning the people sitting behind us get to pick up after him a few times. So the last service, I brought the sweatshirt and tucked it in all the openings on the back of the chair. Problem solved.

For us, we only go to Church twice a month (Jesse works the other weekends and it's just easier not to go), plus it makes me feel as though I appreciate things like Communion much more when we don't get it every week. It's very important for us that Andrew go to Church - when he's older we'll help him learn about other religions and let him chose what he identifies with most and allow him to attend those services. But for now, we love taking him every week to get comfortable there, enjoy the Children's Sermon, get a blessing from the Pastor (it's a Lutheran Church) and it also is a great way for him to learn to sit quietly - he's definitely getting better every time!

Well, I guess that's all for now, folks! Just wanted to share this with you guys in case anyone else had/ is having issues bringing their little one to Church :)

TTFN <3

Our weekend!

Well, I didn't take many pictures but here's what I've got. 

This weekend we tried to relax a lot and just have fun. SO, Friday we stayed in with a movie, Saturday we grilled hot dogs and made s'mores at the pool, and Sunday we stayed out all day! 

First we went to Granny's house, helped her set up a few things and hung out, then we went to the mall which unfortunately was closing (sigh), and then out for pizza and watched some planes coming in.

Very low key but that's how we like it.

Hope you had a great weekend break! TTFN <3

We love soccer!

A while ago, Andrew started soccer classes - we were really worried about how he would be about participating but he surprised us at how well he did!

Backtracking... we really try, I swear, to get him interacting with other kids. Jesse tends not to spend much time with other parents/ doesn't have time to and I am a total hermit since moving here (I'm trying - joined a book club and once we have money we'll be dancing and I'll *hopefully* be doing this stroller strides group thing. Just not there quite yet, haha). So we try to take him to the playground and parks often, but I swear we never run into the same people twice. Our next door neighbors have two twin toddler boys which would be great, but again, we've only seen the parents twice. Sigh.

We take him to music class once a week which helps, but most of the kids are younger. And actually, we've noticed that if I am with, he's more clingy. So we've started making Tuesday mornings father/son time. I get two hours to catch up around the house, tackle something special or just chill which is AWESOME and it's great for them to be getting time one-on-one. Apparently Andrew is very comfortable wandering around and is a great cleaner-upper haha!

SO, back to the point, soccer. He worked with another kid to score a goal, ran all over, participated in all the activities, even ran an obstacle course which had a tunnel - and with barely a pause he crawled through a tunnel for the first time EVER. It was awesome.

Also, I am a snack coordinator for our group. When did I become a soccer mom? Where is my minivan? Ha ;)

A mother's purse....

...I hope I'm not alone...

Inside: today's mail, epi pen for Andrew, keys, wallet, checkbook, spare sock (wonder what happened there), hand sanitizer, deck of cards (that always goes missing when we want them), play food, endless pile of receipts, tiny sunglasses (no idea where mine are), eyeglass cleaner wipe, kleenex, burts bees chapstick and the puppy's leash.

One of these days I'll go through the diaper bag, haha!

Easter Weekend!

Whew! What a jam-packed weekend!

Saturday Andrew had soccer as usual so we got up early, ate and dressed and headed out the door. Afterwards we got some lunch and then went to meet the Easter Bunny at Whole Foods Market. Andrew clung to me and kept an eye on the strange creature during pictures, but gave him a high-five once we said we were leaving - what a kook. 

After a nap, we took a nice long walk as the sun was about to set, made some yummy fried fish and asparagus (recipe will be posted soon!) and had a LATE night. We had dinner later than usual and then at the last moment realized munchkin still needed a bath - AND we hadn't dyed eggs yet! So we got our crap together, dunked the eggs in the dye, washed the little guy, pulled the eggs out and off to bed he went.

We also had to put together Andrew's basket - we filled a few eggs with some ANNIE'S snacks, THIS book, some bath toys, bubbles, and a Thomas engine. Here are some pictures:

Sunday morning we got up late - couldn't possibly have to do with the fact that we all got to sleep so late - made bunny pancakes and hunted Andrew's basket. We went to the later service at church (where munchkin did a great job being calm and quiet) and then off to granny's for more baskets, an egg hunt, and dinner. And then we stayed for a nap, a few movies and leftovers teehee ;)

Hope everyone had a wonderful, peaceful holiday weekend!