Love my little family

This weekend was such a fun, family filled weekend.  I love so much the weekends where we all just hang out together as a family.  Bo has changed so much this past month and I know the next time my parents see him there are going to notice a big change in him as well. 

He is so much more active and loves reading books.  It is so special when he will grab one of his favorite books--cat in the hat, goodnight moon, i love you more, and brown bear--and brings it over and plops down on your lap and waits for you to read it to him.  That is one of my favorite things.  Josh really enjoys reading with Bo and I love listening to all the noises that Josh makes for all the animals in Brown Bear and listening to Bo try to imitate him.  He is a mini Josh and tries to copy everything his daddy does, it is the cutest!  He is already very ornery like his daddy also.  Josh started putting foam blocks in his mouth and blowing them at Bo and he just laughs and laughs!  Now Bo thinks he can do it and it is so cute to watch.  He has become quite the little ham (who am I kidding, he has always been in our eyes).  So Friday night was just one of the many nights that we hung out and played with Bo.

Saturday night we  made it family date night and took Bo to Texas Roadhouse for the first time.  It is one of Josh and I's favorite places to eat and knew Bo would enjoy all the energy and people there.  After we snuggled into a end table we ordered Bo his own kids meal (all beef hotdog and green beans) and munched on the awesome rolls they have prior to the meal.  He had so much fun looking at all the people and of course smiling at each of them when he could.

Sunday we went to a first birthday party for Mr. Greyson.  I am friends with Greyson's mommy and she did such a good job with the party.  IT was a Monkey themed birthday and she gave all the kids a goody bag with the game monkey's in a barrel (Bo's new favorite), coloring books and crayons.  So it was a very relaxing weekend with my family and I feel so blessed to have both my boys in my life!

Daddy reading Cat in the Hat

Bo loves his little sissy so much already, this is the bear that has
her heartbeat in it from our ultrasound.

at Texas Roadhouse - Bo the Bandit :)

 

handsome guy all dressed up for the party

learning his shapes

 

Week 15 Belly Picture!

 

 

Week 14

 

How far along? 14 Weeks 7 days (as of yesterday)

Total weight gain/loss: maybe 2 lbs gained, I go to the dr next week to find out for sure
Maternity clothes? Not yet, but they are much needed!
Stretch marks? No
Sleep: Sleeping good, but I think my body is confused on whether or not it is tired...
Best moment this week: Finding out that we are having a GIRL!!
Miss Anything?  I am missing alcohol way more this time around...wine, margaritas, beer (blue moon!!)
Movement: I felt her for the first time last week and since then there have been lots of fluters:)
Food cravings: anything with vinegar...still: Italian Dressing, Pickles
Anything making you queasy or sick: homemade pizza
Have you started to show yet: Yep! Some people say they can't tell, but I sure can, especially toward the end of the day when my belly is the fullest
Gender: Girl
Labor Signs: No
Belly Button in or out? In
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy!
Looking forward to: Thinking of how to design the nursery....

Baby R is a G!

We couldn't be more thrilled to say that Bo is going to have a little SISTER!  We can't explain how happily overwhelmed we are knowing that we will be blessed with a little boy and little girl.  Since I can remember this is always how I pictured it.  I had an older brother growing up and I have an extremely close knit family, so I always wanted it to be the same for mine. 

I know Bo will take such good care of his little sister like my brother did with me. He will teach her how to throw a football even better than most of his friends, push her to be the best she can be at all sports and keep a good eye on each boyfriend that she may have (a LONG time down the road:)) just as my brother did for me.  I grew up being quite the tomboy and wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

I am still in disbelief that we will be having a baby g, I thought after I had Bo that I would probably have all boys but like I told Josh if and when we have the next one it will be stress free because we won't be wishing one way or the other.  I am very anxious to share a different connection with each of my children.  I know that once she gets here she will be putty in Josh's hands. :)

Now onto the fun stuff...I can't tell you how many hours...that's right, hours...I have spent on Etsy already picking out outfits and headbands for our little girl.  I've only added them to my favorites but no purchases yet.  I first need to purchase some maternity clothes for work, because they say with the 2nd you get bigger faster and they are right!  I can't wait to actually have pants that are buttoned or dresses that I can stretch out in!

Once again, a BIG THANK YOU to Kari at Prenatal Visions for doing such a good job at what she does and giving us such great pictures of our baby g and letting us know so early!

Check out pictures of our baby girl!

Once again...suspense is killer!

***THIS POST WAS WRITTEN ON JANUARY 7, 2013***

I am pretty sure I have gotten way more impatient this time around with my pregnancy.  It could be that I feel like I have been pregnant for forever and a day already considering we found out before I was 4 weeks along!!  But I am dying to know what this one is...boy or girl, I would be fine with either, but I am ready to get planning already!

And I think I felt the baby move today.  It seems early compared to last time.  I didn't feel Bo until almost 17 weeks pregnant and I am 13 weeks 5 days right now.  But when I text Josh I said that I was "99.9% sure I felt the baby move". And having experienced it once already, I would like to think I know a little something about it now:).

But in FOUR short days we find out what we are having thanks for our friend Kari Newman at Prenatal Visions.  She said that she can typically do a gender determination at 14 or 15 weeks, but she has been able to do them at 13 weeks and 6 days (I believe).  I will be 14 weeks and 2 days, but I measured a few days later at our last ultrasound, so hopefully that will help! 

12 weeks!

***THIS POST WAS WRITTEN ON JAN 2, 2013***

I am currently 12 weeks and 7 days.  We have not yet "announced" our big news of the new little one to come, we have told family and it has leaked out to some friends unfortunately, but that is not stopping us for doing what we had planned to do for our big announcement.  We are sending out "Happy New Year" cards with Bo wearing a Big Bro shirt and quite the grin on his face.  We are so excited to share our new addition with everyone!

Last Friday (Dec 28) we finally had our first OB appt and another ultrasound.  We missed our original appt due to the snow storm.  Josh was unable to make it to the first ultrasound so he was very excited to see our little nugget this time.  We got some great ultrasound pics and the technician even guessed the sex--I won't share until we are 100% sure.  Josh still thinks its a boy and I still think its a girl.  We will soon find out!  They also confirmed that I was 12 weeks pregnant (I was 12 weeks 1 day and the ultrasound measured 12 weeks 4 days). 

first look at baby R #2

12 week ultrasound

 I was actually down in weight from my first appt with Bo, but I am pretty sure I am not as toned as I was with Bo, hopefully after Baby #2:).  Everything looked great and we only hope for a healthy baby.  The ultrasound did confirm that there are two legs and two arms so that is never bad news!

I am still feeling quite different this time around.  There is a lot of food that I do not want to eat.  I have been eating more salads and fresh veggies, which is a good thing, but I think it is due to my craving for Italian dressing.  It can't be just any kind of dressing either, it has to be the kind that you add the packet of seasoning, then add the water, oil, vinegar and shake!  It is so good!  Josh has been begging me to make homemade pizza so I finally broke down and made it last night.  I wanted to vomit the whole time.  I can eat any kind of pizza just not the homemade kind....weird, I know.  So I settled for cut cucumbers and tomatoes topped with italian dressing.  I think it's the vinegar that I am craving because I have been eating so many pickles, cliche yes, but it's the truth!  One night for dinner I had 3 pickles and 2 peanut clusters for dinner.  I don't know what has gotten into me with this appetite, but I guess as long as baby is ok, I am ok with it! :)

 

couple belly pictures...feeling bigger this time around

 

10 weeks

11 weeks



The differences

***This post was written on December 4, 2012***

I can't even tell you how different my pregnancy with this baby has been compared to the first time.  I had it soo easy with Bo!  The only thing I noticed with Bo was that I was extremely tired the first trimester, tender boobs, and slight nausea.  Well, this baby has thrown me for a loop!  Anyone that knows me knows that I have a pretty big appetite and not much gets between me and my food!  But there have been days where I have force myself to eat and usually about 30 minutes after I eat I feel terrible.  Along with feeling tired, the nausea has been the worst!  I have only gotten sick once, but I can tell you right now it will be awhile before I eat another banana!

And I have already had cravings with this one. The only type of craving I had with Bo was sweets.  I had never been a sweets person, but when I was pregnant I defintely ate more desserts that normal:).  Thankfully that went away!  But I have already had some strange cravings, one night I ate peas and oreos for dinner while another night the only thing I wanted to eat was plain spaghetti noodles with butter and parmesan cheese (which I have never eaten in my life!).  So to say the least this pregnancy is slightly different than the first!

I had actually lost a few pounds the 1st month, but I haven't checked recently because I have somewhat got my appetite back, still nauseous but there has been a slight improvement the past week. More updates to come!  I think I will start taking belly pics this week, since I am getting closer to 9 weeks.  I still think I am further along, but we will see at our next appt on December 20th!  Because if my calculations are correct...it would mean I found out I was pregnant prior to 4 weeks, so we will see!!

Baby Rhamy #2!!

***This post was actually written on November 30, 2012***

Josh and I are so excited to announce that we are going to be parents to baby #2!  We found out on November 1st that we were excpecting and I have been keeping this secret for some time now!  It has been super hard considering I have had some girlies that would like to drink wine with me and I have had to turn it down so many times (sorry Michelle!), but know that I have wanted to and there has been a good reason! :)

So after finding out on November 1st that we were expecting, we found out my expected due date was June 29, 2013 and I was about 6 weeks along.  Josh actually made me take the test because he just KNEW that I was pregnant.  I wasn't so convinced because with Bo I knew right away and with this one the signs weren't so apparent to me, except for my occassional moodiness (right, Josh - hehe).  So a week or so went by (after taking yet another test), I finally scheduled my first doctor appt, but wasn't in much of a rush because I didn't think they were see me until I was 10 weeks (like with Bo), but much to my surprise they wanted to see me between 7-9 weeks for an ultrasound!  So my first ultrasound was scheduled for November 19th!  We were so excited that we were going to see our baby so soon!

November 19th rolled around and that was when Bo had his allergic reaction and Josh was home with him that day, so unfortunately he was unable to go. (He didn't miss a single dr. appt with Bo, so he was really bummed but we were also so grateful that he could be with Bo when he didn't feel well.) After sitting in the waiting room, which felt like an eternity because I was so excited, my name was called back for my ultrasound.  This was supposed to be my 8 week day 2 appt.  I kept looking at the screen thinking I would see what we saw the first time with Bo's first ultrasound but nothing was appearing on the screen.  The sonographer then asked "why did you think you were 8 weeks?", I got very very nervous and thought to myself, oh my gosh I'm not pregnant!!  But I then said "that is what it calculated to be with my LMP and that is also what you guys told me.  I am pregnant right??"  She finally responded with a yes, but I don't think you are as far along as we thought.  I then sighed the biggest sigh of relief of my life!  She said she could only see the gestational sack during the normal ultrasound, so she then did an internal one and was able to get some measurements of Baby R.  She then told me that I am measuring to be 6 weeks and 4 days.  The picture of very unclear just because we are in the early stages.  That put my due date at July 11, 2013 (I am supposed to be in Jenna's wedding on the 13th so I am hoping that Baby R decides to make his/her debut early again!:)).

Needless to say, Josh and I are very excited for our addition and we are so excited for Bo to be an older brother.  We know he is going to be a great big brother!!

December happenings

Since I am just now getting all caught up on blogging (well, trying anyway!) I will throw all of our December events into one.  December was filled concerts, dinners, playdates, and parties!

I couldn't have started off the month better than seeing Jake Owen.  He has been quite the obsession of mine lately considering I got two of his CDs for Xmas and they are playing constantly in my car.  Jenna and I went to see him in a very small venue in Des Moines.  As most of you know, I LOVE going to concerts.  I knew once I heard that he was coming to town and playing at Val Air that this probably wouldn't happen again because he is getting big pretty quick.  It was a great show.  It started off with Florida Georgia Line, followed up with Love and Theft and the finale Jake Owen.  He is quite the entertainer.  He dances a lot on stage and really interacts with everyone.  Definitely worth baring the heat that filled the place.  We eventually made our way to close to the front.  I would do it all over again!

great view!

love her!

The next weekend was followed up with yet another concert.  This one was Carrie Underwood.  I had bought these tickets for my mother and I back in May for her birthday and was very excited to see her in concert.  Unfortunately Carrie was losing her voice, so she said she was about 50% (which I thought she sounded awesome for the most part!).  She announced during the concert that she had felt guilty about losing her voice and that whatever profit she was making from the event she was going to donate back into the community, which I thought was very classy and honorable.  It was a great concert as well.  She had about 5 costume changes and I loved every single one! Hunter Hayes opened up so it kind of felt a little bit like a Beiber concert at the beginning because all the young girls were swooning over him:).  I had a good time with you MOM!

My pretty Mom

The following night my mom played babysitter while Josh and I went to the Narcotics Christmas Party for the PD.  We had missed a couple previous years so we were glad we were able to go this year.  They had a white elephant exhange after eating dinner at Raccoon River.  It was fun to see everyone and also meet some of the new investigators.  After dinner we headed downtown for a couple cocktails and then home to see our little boy!

date night

The next week I had dinner with a couple girls that I don't see as often as I would like to, Sarah and Allison.  Sarah has a little boy named Conner a few months younger than Bo, and Allison is expecting a baby girl any day now!  I was so glad to catch up with them and see Conner.  I can't wait to meet baby Davis!

what a cutie

Another good friend of mine, Amanda, had her first baby on November 30th.  Amanda had the same due date as me so it was fun to follow her pregnancy.  They did not find out the sex so I couldn't wait to see if I guessed right (a boy).  After her husband, Greg, showed Josh and I the 3D ultrasound we both guessed right away that it was a boy and we were right!  Baby Aiden Gregory is so handsome and petite (like his mommy).  Can't wait to see him and his parents again!

 

We also gave Bo his big Christmas present from us a little early since it was too big to take with us to Villisca.  We got him an "anywhere chair" from pottery barn.  He loves climbing on the couch, so we thought he would love a chair of his own.  Right now it is more for playing than relaxing and he has learned some new tricks with it too.  But boys will be boys!

he will do anything to get to the table--needless to say,
we have few decorations up anymore

We finished up the year with a playdate with our favorite pair, Sara and Jack.  We met them at the mall at the play center.  This was Bo's first time, but Jack is an old pro!  You can tell because he isn't scared to jump and climb on all the fun toys.  Bo was a little hesitant at first but eventually warmed up.  This was the first time that they have really got to play with eachother since Bo started walking.  Bo was a little busy at his bday party:).  I enjoyed chatting with Sara, I don't see her as much as what I would like either, but love our time with them. 

BFFs!

He was tuckered out

a couple other fun pictures from this month...

eating a mickey mouse pancake

Christmas fun

Christmas Eve Eve Josh got up early that morning and went coyote hunting with Nick, Adrian, my dad and the rest of the group.  This is something that I have missed!!  Josh had been fighting off a cold and I think the cold won.  When he got back from hunting around 10 it had set it.  That afternoon we planned Christmas with Josh's brother, Justin, so we headed to Red Oak and met with them for a few hours and exchanged gifts. 

The boys had so much fun playing together as usual, but I felt terrible for Josh because he wasn't feeling well at all.  He layed on the couch most of the afternoon and tried his best to socialize.  After having some pizza and exchanging gifts we headed back to my parents around 4 to get ready for the big Christmas dinner my parents had planned with the Wolfe's.  Josh immediately walked back to the bedroom and laid down.  Needless to say we didn't see him again until the next morning around 11.  He had a fever of about 103 and didn't make it out to visit with Adrian, Norma and Avery.

getting ready for Xmas in Mommy's old hat

dressed like papa and even wearing his glasses

All of us had a great time on Sunday night.  My mom had prepared a feast - turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, rolls, corn, cucumber sandwiches, pumpkin pie, cherry salad.  I made pickle wraps and Norma brought a couple apetizers as well.  After eating entirely way too much we all sat down to play Left, Right, Center.  It was Avery's first time playing and it was a good way for him to learn his left and rights.  I think Avery had beginners luck because he won 2 games, Norma won 1 game, and Nick won 1 game.  Everyone gave all their winnings to Avery to put in his piggy bank when he got home.  It was a great time and there is never a dull moment when my family and the Wolfe's (our extended family:)) get together.  They left around 10 and we all got settled in for the night.

Christmas Eve Josh started feeling a little bit better so we were all happy about that.  My mom, Bo and I ran some errands.  She made beef stew and we got everything planned for the big morning to come! 

Twas the Saturday before Christmas...

The Saturday before Christmas the day started off with Bo having a slight fever (101), we didn't worry about it too much because he had been cutting his front teeth...finally!  We had planned on running a few errands and knew it would take a bit with the 13 inches of snow we had gotten the Thursday before (Dec. 20).  The top of our list of errands was going to see Santa at Bass Pro.  They always have such a neat display of Santa's elves and his Reindeer.  Last year Bo was just over a month old so he slept the whole time getting his picture taken with Santa.  This year Josh and I had made bets if Bo would cry or not when sitting on his lap.  Josh guessed he would and I said no.  Well, after Dad set him on Santa's lap, he looked at him for a second to see what he was all about.  He had a gazed look on his face (like what is going on??) But at least he didn't cry!:)  I think it is because he didn't feel the greatest and he was fighting off a fever.  We did some last minute Christmas shopping and went back home to pack for Villisca.  When we got home Bo's temp had spiked again to almost 104!  We gave him some more Motrin and waited a bit before leaving for his temp to go down. 

checking out Santa, not sure what to think

the official photo of 2012

After getting all packed (We looked like the Clampets and could hardly see out the back window) we headed south for my parents house.  Bo slept most of the way and we took his temperature throughout the trip to make sure he was doing allright.  About 10 miles South of Atlantic Bo's temp spiked again, back up to 104.  At this point I told Josh that we should probably head to the ER---it seems that Bo is never sick during the week so there have been a few ER trips, better safe than sorry:).  About 5 more minutes went by and his temp read 105.1.  I told Josh that he definitely needed to hurry to Red Oak because I was getting nervous!  I called my parents and let them know where we were headed and that we would be late for dinner. 


When we arrived at the ER we got in fairly quickly, but we still very nervous.  They took his vitals and his oxygen levels were great, which relieved Josh and I.  That was what we were most nervous about.  When the Dr. came in and began his examination it turned out that Bo had a fairly bad ear infection in his right ear, this is the ear that has fluid in it.  We were a little surprised because he had been sleeping good, it didn't bother him to lay down, and he had been acting ok.  The Dr. said the same about Bo's temperment.  He is always filled with such personality!  The Dr. was very helpful and gave us some great advice to avoid ear infections in the future.  My mom had also met us over there because I think I had made her slightly nervous when I called.  So at about 830 that evening we made it to my parents and ate dinner with them and my brother.  So our trip started off a little rough, but everything turned out ok.