Baby Girl #2

We are so excited to welcome another sweet little girl to our family in May. I think I am most excited that we will have two girls close in age and that they have a built in friend for life. Just keep picturing all these life scenarios from everything from little girls playing with dolls to grown adults at each others weddings. Eeek!!

All was well with the ultrasound - she is healthy from head to toe, had a strong heartbeat and was very active. She's measuring exactly where she is supposed to, still with a due date of May 14.

Below is the picture we put up on social media for friends and family to find out, with the following caption:

"Tonight, Santa told Emma she would need to be sharing the princess role she has taken over because she was going to have to start sharing that role with a little sister in May! Excited to welcome another sweet girl to our family, to see the girls grow up best friends and to see Emma as a big sister."  

16 Weeks

I hesitated even doing an update because there really isn't anything to update. But then I realized why I do this, I do it for me and my family and for my own memory! 

I am almost 17 weeks along now and am feeling really good. Honestly, besides being tired and the belly growth, I don't even feel pregnant. This pregnancy is pretty identical to mine with Emma - feeling good, tired and terrible acne again. The only difference is more cramping on my lower left side, but that seems to have subsided lately. Matt said to me the other day that "I think this pregnancy is easier". Ha. Not sure if he means on him or me. 

So here it is, the 16 weeks picture. We find out on December 16 if we are giving Emma a brother or sister. I say girl while Matt and my mom say boy. What do you think? 

Weight gain with Emma: 0 lbs   Baby #2: 4 lbs

Thanksgiving Weekend

I love long holiday weekends, especially when it gives us time together as a family. 

Matt got home from a basketball tournament in time to celebrate Thanksgiving here in Ames. We kept it simple (my favorite) and spent it with my parents, Blake and Alaina. My mom always outdoes herself and gets requests from all of us. Dinner was delicious and the food comas sank in immediately. Emma hardly ate, but we are blaming those dang eye teeth on her lack of eating. She also received her post-Thanksgiving present from Nana and Papa, something my parents did for us growing up, of pajamas and a Christmas book. 

We are looking forward to spending next Thanksgiving in warmer weather: Destin, Florida! Men's basketball has a tournament down there and we are planning on all going. Crossing my fingers my family decides to make the trip as well. 

While Matt went into the office for a few hours on Friday, Emma decided not to nap (rare for her) and instead help in getting our house ready for the tree. This is the third year we have gone to Strautman Tree Farm in nearby Cambridge and love this tradition. We know some day when the kiddos are older we will go on the hunt for the perfect tree to cut down ourselves. But for the meantime, we will settle on the dozens of options of pre-cut ones in the barn. My mom offered to then watch Emma for a few hours that afternoon so we could get the tree in the house and set up without the distraction of a 16 month old running around. Probably wouldn't have ended well otherwise :) Now our biggest challenge will be keeping those little hands off the tree, or at least to be gentle with it. She does great with Nana's tree, so hopefully that continues at our house (probably not though). Life with a toddler! 

Let the holiday celebrations commence….next up: Porth Christmas next weekend! 

Emma: 16 Months

Sleeping: Nothing really new to report here. Taking two naps a day and showing no signs of dropping one (no complaints here). Still getting tired around 6:45 at night and then down for bed at 7:00 and waking around 6:30 on weekdays and 7ish on weekends. She's one too that needs her own time of waking up so we don't go get her right away. Emma just chills there silent or talking for 5-15 minutes before we go get her. Kind of nice so we can wake up ourselves and get coffee brewing!

Eating: Emma seems to not be eating as much as she used to (other than at breakfast). I remember our pediatrician told us at her year appointment that her appetite will lessen and that is perfectly fine, so I am not concerned. She went through a phase of loving raspberries and now refuses them. Although she at one point liked salmon, rice and green beans, she now hates all of that. I know their taste buds change, so I will keep trying but in the meantime, not going to force it.

Development: Some new words that little Miss Emma is saying are "toodles" (from Mickey Mouse Club House), "doggie", "nana" (this makes my mom so happy!), "please", "thank you", "nigh nigh" (night night), "Tor Tor" (daycare provider, Victoria), and more babble that we understand somehow that I am sure others are looking at us like "huh?". She knows where here eyes, nose, mouth and belly button are located. She's cutting her dreaded eye teeth and they are now my least favorite. She has always done terrible with teething, but these are the worst. Constant runny nose, bruised gums, refuses to eat certain things, crying, but lots of cuddles.

Likes/Dislikes: She's back to loving baths, but that is because she likes to shoot hoops in there with dad. Emma loves to give hugs, she is such a little sweetheart and charmer. You could just be standing there at the sink and she will come up and hug your legs so hard. She also likes to give hugs when you are telling her not to do something, she knows the way to your heartstrings. She also learned how to legitimately give a kiss, lip smack and all. No more open mouth kisses. Emma is Miss Independent and wants to do things herself: feed herself, brush her own teeth, decide when she's done with something, etc. You try and help her and she lets you know that isn't what she wants. Snow is one thing Emma was not impressed with last week. But Matt is bound to make her love it :)

Mom and Dad Update: We are doing good and staying busy with Emma and work. Matt is officially into the super busy time of year until April where he is working nearly seven days a week, long days/nights in the office (or at the games) and traveling. I am beyond blessed to have my parents nearby to help out when needed and am going to schedule more play dates with friends to help pass the time. 

Halloween

Can I say that while I don't ever want to wish away time, but I can't wait to enjoy Halloween more and more through Emma's eyes! This coming from the girl that is not a fan of this holiday and hated dressing up.

Our ladybug absolutely loved her costume. So much so, that she cried when we took it off each time, so on Halloween night she wore it for three hours straight.

Emma's pumpkins that Nana painted for her. What a talented lady my mom is! 

We live in the back of the neighborhood and hardly get any trick-or-treaters, so we spent the evening with Nana and Papa for dinner, hit up a few houses and helped Papa hand out candy to all the kids. She loved it.

Can't believe that next year we will have two little ones to be dressing up!

Here Comes Baby #2

Matt and I are switching from zone defense to man-to-man come May! We are adding a new player to to our team! Sorry for the basketball references, it's that time of year in our household for the next five months :)

Below are some notes I've taken the last couple weeks on how I've been doing...

September 7 (4 weeks, 3 days) - Well here comes baby #2, due May 14! While we shouldn't have been that shocked, we certainly were surprised it happened so quickly this time around. Crazy to think that Emma will be a big sister to a baby brother or sister!

September 12 (5 weeks, 1 day) - Carpal tunnel set in and it is painful. I had it the third trimester with Emma and I thought this time it was a fluke thing. But it definitely isn't. Only happens at night, but is therefore keeping me up.

September 17 (5 weeks, 6 days) - We told our parents today. I ordered a "Big Sister" shirt for Emma and our plan was to go down to my parents and just walk in the door while letting Emma's shirt speak for itself. My mom noticed instantly, while my dad took a little longer. Matt's parents came later that night and I bet it took a solid five minutes before we had to tell them to look at her shirt for them to notice. Both are thrilled for another grandchild to love!

September 21 (6 weeks, 3 days) - Migrane headache and lightheaded. With Emma running around and being clingy from cutting another tooth, I'm wondering how we are going to do this with another one.

September 25 (7 weeks) - Feeling extremely bloated and like my pant buttons are going to burst. I was able to wear pre-pregnancy pants with Emma for the first six months! That will definitely not be the case this time around.

September 29 (7 weeks, 4 days) - My stomach officially "popped" out. No, it isn't a food baby kind of belly. Legitimate pregnancy belly. It looks like I did when I was 14 weeks with Emma. Also gave acupuncture a whirl to see if it helps with the carpal tunnel.

October 4 (8 weeks, 1 day) - Bloodwork and paperwork at the OB.

October 9 (9 weeks) - Carpal tunnel seems to be gone and I am not as tired as I was. Other than my stomach, I don't even feel pregnant.

October 21 (10 weeks, 5 days) - Extreme cramping that caused me to double over in pain. Lasted a few hours. Had been spotting off and on the last few days, but don't want to read into anything. Every pregnancy is different, right? Could be nothing.

October 29 (11 weeks, 6 days) - First doctor's appointment went amazingly well. We aren't going to lie, we were a bit concerned with the intense cramping and spotting more than with Emma. Because of that, we had an ultrasound (something we didn't have with Emma this early) and everything looked great. Measured exactly to the due date and had a heartbeat in the 150's. Absolute huge sigh of relief.

Let the journey begin!

Berry Patch Farm

Matt had a full weekend home with little work commitments (rare September-April), so we took full advantage of it and spent some time at the local pumpkin patch: Berry Patch Farms in Nevada. Matt and I started coming here prior to Emma and have been here every year since. It is a family run farm full of pumpkins, apples, berries or whatever is in season. We like it because it is quiet, close, reasonably priced and they are super nice.

We made an epic parent fail by waking Emma from her morning nap to get there before lunch time. She was not impressed and pretty much cried off and on the whole time. I'm actually quite shocked we got some of these pictures. She had absolutely no interest in walking around either. 

Reason for the smile? Matt turned on the song "All About the Bass" (her favorite) to get her attention. 

Maybe next year we will have better luck with her interest.