33 weeks

I had a feeling my belly grew this weekend, and I think I was right. I also noticed another thing that decided to grow, my feet. I had heard this happens during pregnancy, but I do not recall it happening with Madison. I thought it was a fluke when we went walking this weekend and my toes were rubbing the end of my shoes, but I noticed it today in two different types of shoes. I really hope they shrink back, eek.

I feel I am really starting to slow down now. I went to bed around nine last night, but was still beyond exhausted today. I think this weekend was the first time, I was a little bit ready to have this baby. I am still going to be patient and not wish the time away, but I can tell I am winding down.

In other, non pregnancy related things, we had a wonderful weekend. We all voted and saturday was one of the best days we have had in a while.

 We got the day started early because miss still wakes up at 6:30, even on weekends. We ate breakfast and headed out for a walk and stopped to play at a park for Madison. It was warm enough for a light sweater, I ditched the vest later, and the sun was shining. I then went to the gym for yoga. We all took a quick nap, then played outside until dinner. We grilled burgers and our friends over that have a daughter the same age as Madison. It was a great day.

It has been sunny the past five days or so, which is nice because we have another winter storm warning tonight. 

Tomorrow marks the first day of May, which means I can say I am having a baby next month. 

We also have our first round of visitors this weekend, Will's parents. Will is taking off on Friday, so it should be yet another week that flies by.

phone pictures

I think I have added the instagram app on my phone like three times already and deleted it. I love the way the pictures can be edited, but I still get so overwhelmed with the social media side of things. So instead I just purchased the app, camera +. I am still fiddling with it, (drives will crazy...) but I am hoping it results in more picture taking.

I am feeling really blessed that I could cheat the smart phone system and not have to pay anything for it. I just hope I don't become the person who is always on their phone every spare moment. 

This week seems to have gone by fast. It has finally been sunny the past two days. Unfortunately, I think I overextended myself again yesterday because my lower abdomen is hurting again. I just feel like my entire day revolves around moving. Lifting madison, picking up her toys, walking with madison, chores, constantly up and down. So when I am in physical pain it is hard to know what to do with myself and how to properly entertain the little miss. Will keeps reminding me its because I am pregnant, but I still do not like feeling weak. Plus, seven weeks seems short in general, but when I am in pain I automatically think how can I do seven more weeks of this. I still am feeling really great about this pregnancy, but I think my body is not keeping up with my mind.I think I just need to keep taking it week by week and not assume because I am hurting one day I will hurt the remainder of the pregnancy.

It should be in the 70s all weekend and I can not wait to just sit outside and get some much needed sun. It seems like there won't be any snow in the forecast next week either, yippee!

32 weeks and stuff

1. Looks like I am only posting about pregnancy again. I am now 32 weeks pregnant. I find myself still torn between anxiously counting down the weeks and a little apprehensive about how few weeks we have left. I am still feeling great, but have started to really notice the weight of the baby. I remember this with Madison, but all of a sudden I became aware of how heavy this child is inside of me. I think the baby weighs roughly 4 pounds now, that means it is a legit baby in there. 

2. I crossed over into the iphone world, well, the iphone 4 world. Madison broke yet another one of my basic cell phones and I was generously given the iphone 4 from one of my friends. I am pretty thrilled it cost us no money and I can start taking better quality photos with it. I am in the process of trying to sell my ipod since I won't need it anymore. Will has already gotten on to me for using it too much, but I am just trying to figure it all out. I feel so old trying to figure out a phone that everyone else has had for years. 

3. We had another snowstorm this week. I am trying to keep my perspective and remind myself we are so close to May and surely it won't snow then. 

4. Madison's runny nose has finally cleared. I have been taking her to the gym again this week, so hopefully she won't catch anything else. 

5. I am slowly crossing things off my before baby list. Went to the dentist yesterday, going to try and fix my chronic dry eyes today. Bought a going home outfit for the baby, it is gray and white stripped. It feels I could always add stuff to the list, but I am trying to really keep in check what is necessary and what is not. 

6. I french braided Madison's hair for the first time today. She will not allow me to take any pictures of it. It is moments where she is sitting perfectly still in front of me, letting me fix her hair, I am giddy I have a girl. I always envisioned myself as a boy's mom, but now I can see where we could be a family of all girls.

I think we may head to the children's museum today when little one wakes from her nap. We have kind of run out of snowy day activities. I need some sunshine!

31 Weeks

 31 weeks of pregnancy, 9 short weeks left. Baby is moving and grooving now and I have been able to poke various body parts. I have been feeling much better these past two weeks, no body pain. I am still trying to find time to go the gym even though Madison hasn't been able to go with me (runny noses and croup ruin everything). I have gone to two second hand baby clothing stores and found some summer maternity pieces to hopefully get me through. At this point with Madison, I was so sick of all my clothing. This time around because I am still in all my winter attire, I have a lot more options to choose from in the next two months. I just hope it warms up so I can wear all those dresses and skirts. 

We are snowed in this week again and Madison still has a runny nose. It snowed around 10 inches yesterday and is supposed to snow more later this week. Oh well... 

My last graduate class for this semester is coming to a close, then I will be done for the summer. I just hope I can pull off going to classes next fall with two kids. It is really all dependent on whether or not this next child sleeps. 

I made a list of all the things I would like to get done before baby comes. Mostly all of it revolves around getting things cleaned. This is about the time I wish we had enough money to have a regular house keeper. Bending down to sweep and constantly pick up things is beginning to be a drag, but at least the constant cleaning of messes keep me moving. 

Since I have not posted many pictures of Madison lately, here are a few from two weeks ago. This was the short window between each sickness. She has been grabbing her purse, phone, and keys and heads  to the door and yells, "BYE!" 

hello sweatshirt & croup

So this Hello sweatshirt has become a staple around these parts. Will loves it when I get a new clothing item and wear it continuously. It is a bit large because, well, I purchased a large. These sweatshirts are normally 50 dollars, no thank you, so when they were having a flash sale on this size and color for 17 dollars, I decided to go ahead and buy it. Oversized sweatshirts are in style right??? 

Unfortunately, the above was my go to attire all week. Every day blurred into one and by yesterday I could not even remember when the last time I showered was. As soon as my mom left on Monday, Madison came down with something awful, its called Croup. She had a raging fever and horrible cough.  The worst side effect was her inability to sleep with the cough, so we were up nearly ever 30 minutes to an hour every night this week. Luckily, she slept through the night last night, woohoo!

I keep thinking maybe I am exaggerating how much we have been sick these past several months, but I think the reality is that we have in fact been that sick.

 I realized how quickly this pregnancy is going by. I keep wanting to make the most of it and not wish it away. However, every week, I am wishing for the next week because maybe our health will find us. So by continually looking to the next week, time just keeps going by on super speed.

Today is supposed to be high of 65, the only glimmer of sunshine in the forecast for the next week. Hopefully we can spend nearly all day outside and rejuvenate ourselves after our week.

away we go (or rather, went)

        Here is a quick run down on our weekend away. Turns out we needed this weekend more than we thought because we spent all last night hanging out with a crying, feverish, throwing up baby. Today is pretty much been a follow up of last night. I am just so thankful Will is working from home to help me out. I am also choosing not to feel sorry for ourselves because life is just full of ups and downs.

 This was outside our "cliff side" hotel room. I thought Will would take a picture that included the mountains in the background, but just rocks. We were blessed with beautiful sunny weather the entire time. It was a little chilly, but that did not matter because we had hot springs to get in.

On our walk down to the actual resort. Will says this is my go to pose and I am squinting because of the sun rising, but whatever. We ate breakfast every morning in peace. There were a couple of dads that were having to pace outside with their toddlers during the meal, and I was really glad that was not us.

  

 After breakfast we worked out. It was the first time we had worked out together in a while. We had the entire place to ourselves, it was great. 

Then we made our way to some patio furniture surrounding a fire pit. Then we sat inside the lobby for a while. Then we sat in some lounge chairs by the pool. Then we got in the hot springs. Then we got some smoothies and sat some more. It was all so nice to just be able to hop from one chair to the next with no agenda.

This was our view from our room's porch.  All of the building below is the actual resort. We walked up and down that hill several times.

 

The resort had a river running through it. There was even an option to sit in the river in the spots where the hot spring ran into it, we opted out of that. I would much rather sit in a smooth surface rather than rocks. We picked a good time to go because we felt like we had the place to ourselves. Every where we walked it was silent except for the water running in the river.

I think that because we know how precious and short our alone time is together, we were fully engaged the entire trip. I felt the most connected than we had in a long time. It was really easy to take advantage of our time together before we had Madison, but now I think we know how to value it more. I think it gave us the time we needed to really appreciate our family and what our future looks like together.

30 Weeks

These pictures were taken on our "babymoon" we took this past weekend. My mom came into town and we took off without looking back. We went to a resort with hot springs about two hours outside Denver, it was wonderful. But this is a pregnancy post... 

So I am finally feeling good again. I can get up and move without cringing in pain. I am also at the point where I can reach down and poke various body parts on this little one. It used to my favorite when Madison would stick her butt up and I could give it a little pat.

I had another appointment with our midwives when my mom came into town. I am still measuring right on track. I probably only have about three more appointments left, which is crazy to me. We will be meeting this new person before we know it. 

Besides the random aches and pains and endless runny noses, this pregnancy has been much smoother for me. I love knowing what to expect and how my body will change. I also really like knowing what is going to come after the pregnancy is over with it. I truly loved my body more after having Madison than any other time in my life. All of the unknowns and what-ifs killed me the first time around, but the second I am much more relaxed.

So things have been pretty good this past week and I am much more hopeful about finishing the remainder of this pregnancy strong. Unfortunately, it is supposed to snow a foot tomorrow and Madison is sick again, but other than that, things are great. Will and I really needed some time away and I am so thankful we were able to reconnect. 

Here is to ten more weeks of growing baby number two!

Easter

This was probably my most favorite Easter we have had since getting married. I am almost certain that it was the first Easter I was able to wear sandals since getting married. It was just an all around wonderful day of celebrating Christ's victory over death. 

Madison was thrilled to be able to run free in the sun and eat some sugar. I hope that in the future she will know that Easter is not about the egg hunting and candy eating, but about our risen Savior. But I think that enjoying ourselves as a family right now should reflect the happiness we have because of what Christ did.

I felt really thankful all day Sunday for all that is happening in our life. I am really happy that we have found a new church to go to and be able to surround ourselves with people who seem so genuine and friendly. I am thankful for our wonderful little family and even getting excited about the birth and welcoming of our newest addition. I just loved having the sun shine down on me and just relax with the people I care the most about. 

It is an overcast, chilly day today, but we are going to be busy running errands getting ready for my mom to come tomorrow. I am so happy she will be here. I am actually feeling much better today. No physical pain and only a slightly stuffy nose, yay! 

28 and 29 weeks

I started getting dressed again, so I managed to take a few pictures. 

Will made the comment to me the other day when we were getting ready to go to the store. I told him that I was dressed and ready to go. He replied with, "I can't really tell these days if you are dressed to go out or not." 

The floor length dress is a new purchase from a consignment shop and I wore it on our Good Friday date. We went to the Good Friday church service and then out to eat. I actually made arrangements with a babysitter, go me! 

The weather was wonderful this weekend and we spent the majority of it outside. It was just what I needed. Except I caught some runny nose/scratchy throat thing and a stomach bug, so I did not move much all weekend. I think that the not moving helped with my ab strain thing, but I did not enjoy being sick. I kept thinking that this pregnancy has not been that bad, but I looking back it feels I have been sick continually. I guess my immune system is really low this time around. 

I have roughly 11 weeks left until my due date. With the way my body has been acting the past couple of weeks, I would think I only had a few weeks left. I feel much better today, so I hope that continues. 

We toured the hospital on Saturday and I now know where I should go when labor comes. I also have my glucose test this week. Then I think I have appointments every two weeks or so. 

My mom is coming in on Wednesday and Will and I are going to take off for some alone time. I am really thankful she can come in and watch the little stinker for us. Then in May we have a visitor nearly every weekend. I know that the remainder of this pregnancy is just going to fly by. I think knowing that with each passing day I get closer to warmer weather, my outlook is improving.