Pregnancy Update - 26 Weeks!

This weekly updating is starting to stress me out, as we have rounded the corner and are now more than halfway to our due date of March 30! Holy cow. That means soon my world will be completely rocked AGAIN by a tiny morsel of sweetness who has not yet learned the beauty of sleeping for long periods of time. This is something that CC mastered by like 8 weeks, so hopefully, this new one will follow in her big sister's footsteps. We were encouraged at our last ultrasound when she fell asleep near the end and refused to wake up again and move for a measurement no matter how many times the tech poked and prodded her. That's my girl. Let her sleep!

So our last update was at 20 weeks, and this week I am 26 weeks! So sorry if you were checking all the time hoping for an update. I have sleeping and eating to do, and CC keeps trying to break the computer.

Size of Baby: This week TheBump says she is the size of an eggplant. Meh. Eggplant is kind of gross if you ask me, but the color IS lovely, so I guess we'll go with it. And, come to think of it, I do occasionally enjoy a helping of eggplant parm, but that may be more about the cheese and breading than anything else. Now I am thinking a trip to the Olive Garden is in order...

"would someone please come over to my house and make this for me?"

Symptoms and Other Random Pregnancy Tidbits: I want to die from heartburn. I know I said I wouldn't talk about it anymore, but it makes me want to cry. UGH. I drink so much milk it is ridiculous, and avoid acidic foods like the plague. But it still tries to kill me every day. Also, my ribs hurt. And I can't breathe very well. And my back feels like it is going to give out any second from hauling CC around. I feel like I did last time at around 8 months pregnant. The trouble is, I am only 6 months pregnant so I guess it is going to be a LONG 3rd trimester!

I have been craving chocolate milkshakes, which I think is more of a heartburn thing and less of a pregnancy craving thing, but we'll go with it. I am also totally overdoing it on peppermint anything, somewhat because of the holiday season, but mostly because I know that once this baby comes and I am nursing again, it is adios peppermint for awhile. It kills your milk supply. Look it up.

Since we are headed into Christmas weekend, I will wish you all a very merry holiday and leave you with a list of some things I hope to share in the next couple weeks. I am trying hard to push myself to keep up with this blog better, so maybe a little accountability won't hurt? MERRY MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Upcoming Blog Posts:

our recent trip to California where I drank my weight in horchata

CC's newest attitude problems

my obsession with The Hunger Games

some new recipes that I am making repeatedly because they are so TASTY

a tour of CC's closet, which is shamefully out-of-control. THANK GOD we're having another girl!

"And what attitude problem might YOU be speaking of? No one will believe you anyway Mommy. I mean, have you seen how cute I am?"

Pregnancy Update - 20 Weeks!

I realize I am about five days late posting this. Sorry. Let's all blame CC. She's the troublemaker of the house anyway. So you get TWO preggy updates this week instead of just one! You are welcome, as I know this makes everyone's day.

Baby C is halfway cooked!! And boy, is she a mover and a shaker! She still seems to have plenty of room for her womb acrobatics and when she is awake, she takes full advantage of all that space. I think she must realize that she is growing fast and soon she won't be able to move around very much at all. I'm enjoying this part because she can't quite deliver major kicks to my major organs, but I can still feel her moving. Its a big win for everyone!

Size of Baby: This week she is a cantaloupe! Which is ridiculous, since it is most definitely not melon season here in New Hampshire. Although we have been in the middle of a semi-heat wave, which is weird because it is two weeks from Thanksgiving...

"nicely illustrates my knife skillz"

I sort of feel that it is silly to compare her to a cantaloupe since it is fall, so we are going to go with a more appropriate and localized food here:

"mini-squash baby!"

Acorn squash. It is freaking delicious. And these days, I am all about EATING. So, go buy one of these and scoop out the middle, and then fill it with nuts and butter and brown sugar and maybe some chopped apples. Then roast it up and eat with a spoon. NOM. And try to forget that I just compared it to MY BABY while you are chomping away.

Pregnancy Cravings and Other Relevant Stuff: The other day Bill was all, "when did you get so PREGNANT?" Really Bill? Where have you been? I take that to mean that my belly continues to grow and look more grande by the minute. I am definitely wearing maternity shirts now, although some of them are big and silly looking, but not as silly as how I look whilst wearing non-maternity shirts. 

"finally wearing an appropriately sized shirt"

The cravings are weird this time around. I like steak and all, but I have almost never cooked it at home and in the last few weeks I have made it every week. I have steak in my fridge right now as a matter of fact. I pan-fry two ribeye steaks and then whip up a little whiskey cream sauce in the pan with all the steaky bits and juices. If Bill is being courteous to me that day I let him have one of the steaks. I also make garlic sauteed spinach with them and eat ALL OF IT. Again, this is not the norm for me. I could eat that garlic spinach ALL DAY LONG. So good. The trick here is to use lots of garlic and olive oil. Obviously.

I am also having a scandalous love affair with the mint hot chocolate from Dunkin Donuts. It caused me to break-up with the salted caramel mocha from Starbucks. Luckily, the minty love from DD is much cheaper, so I don't think Bill will be too mad.

One last thing about being pregnant that I found amusing this past week. I went up to UNH to meet up with some family friends who were taking a tour and we had lunch at the dining hall. Let me just tell you that showing up at a college campus with a baby, while visibly pregnant, totally made me feel like Teen Mom. People were staring and I assume I looked like some kind of cautionary tale illustrating what happens when you do too many kegstands at a frat party during Homecoming. It was a good moment for me, since I love Teen Mom and I assumed the stares were because I look young and sassy enough to still be a nineteen-year old college freshman, rather than a haggard, preggy, mom type who got lost on her way to the dorm where her oldest child lives. 

The all-you-can-eat dining hall setup was pretty sweet too.

See you Friday for Week 21!

"which way to Grandpa Bob's house? he'll give me some candy. plus he has a sweet hot tub."

Never Doubt A Mother's Intuition!

As many of you found out over the weekend via my facebook page, we discovered on Friday that we are having a BABY GIRL! My dad lasted until Saturday morning. So now the world gets to know!

I have to say that I never doubted that it would be another girl. So much so that I may have bought new girl stuff that is way too small for CC in previous weeks. I thought GIRL for the following reasons.

1. Death sickness for many, many weeks of early pregnancy. I was so so so sick. I know you all know this. They say that girls make you sicker than boys. I was just as sick with CC. And everything else about the pregnancy felt exactly the same. So I said early on that it must be another girl and that my daughters start out their tiny lives by trying to drive me insane. I assume it will get worse as they get older...

2. Dreams and life visions. I just never was able to get my head around the idea of a boy. I could not see myself with a boy, I could not think of boy names, I could not visualize our life with a boy in it. I think this was my inner self telling me not to bother because I was full of estrogen. It was always very easy to visualize girls and girl stuff and girl names. This all might be total crap, but it definitely is part of why I thought both of my babies were girls before knowing for sure.

3. The hairline test. I found this business online where I get all of my important information. Check it out. It works LIKE MAGIC! However, it only works if you already have one child. Sorry first timers!

Secret Gender Prediction Trick!

Bill reacted to the news of another baby girl with the following statement. "OH MY GOD. I have to pay for two weddings. And mow the lawn for the rest of my life." Bill tends to be slightly dramatic and had to sit down in the ultrasound room, then made a big deal of googling adoption websites and talking about what country could provide him with the largest boys to help him with yardwork and roofing. I told him to stop being sexist and just teach our daughters how to do that crap.

Anyway, we are totally thrilled, and I am especially excited because not only do I get to keep and reuse all of my adorable baby girl clothes ( and you KNOW there are SO MANY!!), because these two will be in opposite sizes in opposite seasons I also get to buy NEW STUFF! I have already started. You know this. 

Thanks for all the excitement and well wishes!! We could not be happier!

"Like I would have put up with a boy sharing my room. Also, being the big sister is going to be awesome. I'M THE BOSS NOW."

Pregnancy Update - 19 Weeks!

Ahhhh. This is the nice time in pregnancy. The baby is still small enough to not be causing any major discomfort to my inner self, I can eat mad amounts of food and not feel bad about it, I look pregnant but not orca fat, and people like to do nice things for me, like carry things up and down the stairs so I don't "strain myself." Too bad CC does not exercise this same concern for my well-being and sanity when she wants to be carried up and down the stairs all freaking day long!

This past week, little Baby C. has been kicking like crazy!!! It is awesome to finally be at this point; it was my favorite thing last time and I have a feeling it will be again. I could spend hours poking at my belly looking for little feet and kicks. I just love feeling that baby grooving around in there!

So this week we have...

Size of Baby: a mango!

"ummmm. maybe not this Mango? although, a J.Lo baby would be cool because then we would be RICH."

"those look delicious, but since I'm pregnant..."

"there we go! delicious mango baby!"

Sorry. That was a serious mango digression! Anyway, baby is growing like crazy, kicking like crazy, and generally getting bigger and squishier and cuter every day! I am starting to be very curious about how different or similar this baby will be to CC. I also hope this one sleeps like she does. Let's all hope for that okay?

Size of Belly: I feel silly updating this every week so from now on, no more of this. Obviously I am getting bigger. And will continue to do so until I can't hoist myself out of bed or walk without waddling like a sow. Good times.

My Symptoms and Cravings: I still have heartburn. We'll call this a given at this point and stop talking about it. Just do me a big favor and enjoy all your yummy treats and delicious water and tangy cranberry juice that you get to have whenever you want without fear of fiery retribution. The one thing that is especially difficult is that it is winter and the air is super dry in our house, and I wake up feeling SO THIRSTY I MUST DRINK WATER RIGHT NOW, but then I chug half a bottle of water seeking relief from my dry dry mouth and then I want to cry because the water tries to kill me with devil fire. No one is winning here. Except maybe CC, but she usually wins.

In terms of cravings, this past week I got it into my head that I really wanted some Cherry Coke, and I could not rest until I had a case of it in my house. I made a special trip to the store with my cart-hating child and everything. It is delicious, and obviously full of healthy vitamins and minerals. Also I have been craving eggs, which is weird because at the beginning of both pregnancies they grossed me out to the point where I would gag thinking about them. I think it has something to do with knowing that the baby comes from an egg and at that point still kind of resembles an egg. Extra gag. Anyway, now they are yummy and I dig them. 

Sometime very soon we are going in for our ultrasound!!! However, it seems that my father does not want to know the sex of his grandchild, so I may not be able to reveal it here. Take it up with him. Bill and I are operating under the belief that he won't be able to handle the suspense and that at some point he will beg to know, especially since we will know! We'll see though. He can be a stubborn guy for sure. Love you Daddy!

In a side note, my new little nephew Colin was born yesterday to Bill's sister and her husband, and we are going to meet him later today!! Since we have to be at the hospital anyway...(wink!). I am so excited to have this little guy here finally (although probably not as excited as my SIL!), and hopefully he will be good training for CC in terms of learning to share all the attention. Right?

See you next week for the halftime show!

"My cat posse and I feel that there is too much baby talk going on here. Babies are ruining my life. Also, can we get another cat?"

Happy Halloween!

When I was pregnant with CC, we referred to her as "Squid." So obviously when I saw this costume, it was a no brainer. The extra humiliation factor is totally a bonus for me.

"If this keeps up, I may have to call and report Mommy to the authorities. She even took away my candy. I'm currently taking suggestions on ways to exact my revenge."

Pregnancy Update - 18 Weeks!

We are closing in on halfway cooked! It feels like this pregnancy is going very fast now that I am not sick all day, and I am definitely feeling the reality of how our life will be changing very soon. Also, Caroline is teething her molars and is in a foul mood 90% of the time, so I get nervous thinking about dealing with two crabby babies at once! However, as I am not the first person to ever embark on this adventure, I am sure I will survive.

Let's get to the baby talk!

Size of Baby: A sweet potato!! Perfect for fall. Also perfect because I found a killer recipe for some sweet potato bread that I want to make this weekend. Yum....

"Mmmmmmmm... I die."

Speaking of sweet potatoes, I make this mashed sweet potato casserole every year at Thanksgiving and it is so TASTY. However, I only add about half the sugar it calls for, and I add shredded coconut to the topping. I highly suggest that you make this right quick. Gotta love The Pioneer Woman.

Size of Belly: Growing every day! There is no hiding this bad boy now! Here is a photo from last weekend when we took our annual trek to L.L. Bean. 

"perhaps I should invest in a maternity sweater, no?"

Actually our trip to Bean's was really fun, I got this sweater, which is not maternity but I love it so much and am practically living in it right now. I got the peacock blue, men's small, and it fits great and will fit after the pregnancy as well. CC got some adorable Smartwool socks, and a pair of slippers, which she hates wearing. No surprise there.

The highlight of the day occurred when I took CC into the viewing bubble in the trout aquarium and she FREAKED OUT because a giant, menacing trout stared her right in the face. I tried not to laugh because she was legit scared of the thing, but it was pretty funny. After that, she wanted nothing to do with trouts or aquariums.

My Symptoms and Cravings: UGH. Heartburn all over the place. Also, last time I was pregnant I got that whole "mask of pregnancy" thing that looks like patchy sun damage all over your face, which has a fancy name (melasma) that I can never remember without googling it. It turns out that if you have olive-toned skin you actually get it worse than fair-skinned people (whatever, I get a better tan than they do), and I found that when I was pregnant in the summer with CC it was way worse, which was a shame because I had a really nice tan. The speckles showed up this time right around the same time my pregnancy test popped up positive, so if you were on your game, you could actually tell I was pregnant from day one. They are better now that my tan has faded, but I don't think they are going anywhere anytime soon! Bummer. So in conclusion. NO. I don't have patchy sun damage and YES. I wear sunscreen every day. 

My cravings are staying pretty consistent and have been under control this week. I still have a THING for sugar, but the truth is, I have always had a THING for sugar, and now I just get to use pregnancy as an excuse. Its awesome. Bill says no more Pixi Stix though. 

So not much else to report except that last night when I was at work, I went to braid my hair at the beginning of my shift and when I reached my arms back, I felt a solid kick right to the center of my belly! It was crazy, considering I have not felt any other movement up until this point. I was so excited to  finally get a little "what's up Momma!" from my little love in there!

"Let's just add this sweet horse to the list of things to be filed under MINE. Since I heard I am expected to share with this new being in my house, I figure it is never too early to establish some clear boundaries."

Indian Summer

A few weeks ago, over Columbus Day Weekend, it was in the 80's here in New Hampshire! It was awesome. We took CC to the beach and I made her wear one of my favorite summer dresses so I could take some lovely pictures of her. However you can imagine, knowing CC, that things did not work out in my favor. She was sopping wet before I even got the camera out of the case. I think these are cute anyway, even if they are not the perfect pictures I imagined! She had the time of her life, and it was a great way to say farewell to summertime!

"this'll teach Mommy what happens when she doesn't let me wear my bathing suit!"