28 weeks - 7 months

Tuesday marked week 28 - 12 to go! It's hard to believe I'm in my last trimester already. I feel way less prepared for our little man to arrive than I did with Lily at this point. We haven't had time to get his room put together, just this week I spent some time going through the clothes we have and making a list of things we still need, and we have yet to decide on a name! But, I know his room will come together quickly once we finally have some time together to do it, that we will agree upon a name before he's born, and that he will have plenty to wear once he arrives, but sometimes I just get impatient :)

I continue to feel pretty good. It's definitely been a bit more challenging with Jimmy gone lots and not having the break that another parent provides. But I have really enjoyed this special one on one time with my sweet girl and it's really made this pregnancy fly by!

I am continuing to workout which I think has been so good for me. It keeps my body loose and flexible and just makes me feel better. I continue to experience quite a few Braxton Hicks contractions in my back and my stomach but they seem to be less frequent. I had my glucose test last week and everything passed fine with that however, my hemoglobin was low so I have begun taking an iron supplement each day in additional to my prenatal vitamin. My doctor visits are now every 2 weeks instead of monthly which just seems so crazy!

I am definitely feeling more pressure than I ever did with Lily however the doctor has assured me that it's normal and to just continue to keep an eye on things. I am experiencing some signs of preterm labor and measuring about 2 weeks ahead of schedule but that may be because of the additional stress of being alone so much with a little one. Nevertheless we are paying attention to them and praying that little man stays put for several more weeks!

Other than that things are normal and good. While spending some time in his room this week, folding clothes, and washing crib sheets I continue to get more and more anxious and excited to meet our sweet boy. I imagine how different a boy will be than a girl, what the relationship will be like between him and Lily both at first and as they grow, I picture the joy and pure love I will feel the instant I set eyes on him, I think about nursing him and cuddling him, I can smell his newborn scent, and picture him all swaddled up swinging contently in his little swing. There are so many things I am looking forward to. I am anxious to see Jimmy and him interact and how that relationship will be different than a daughter/daddy relationship - both so unique and special. But I think most of all I am just thankful - thankful for a healthy pregnancy, thankful for a body that is able to carry and create a human being - what a miracle, thankful for a wonderful man to stand beside me in life and through parenthood, and extremely thankful that I will soon be a mother of two to a daughter and now a son.

And here's the growing bump....

summer summer summer time

It's no secret that I LOVE summer time - the hot weather, the longer days, the pool, running in the heat, the farmers market, trips to the lake, grilling out, movies at the park, getting together with friends, weekend trips, and so many other things.

However, this summer is proving to be a bit different. Being 7 months pregnant and having Jimmy gone about 80% of the time so far thus summer has given me some new challenge.

While we've still made several trips to the pool, spent long afternoons playing outside, gone to the lake a few times and spent a few weekends away. BUT running in the heat has only happened a few times on those milder mornings, we've only made it to the farmers market once, the trips to the lake are minus all the fun stuff for me - skiing, tubing, and jet skiing, and we have yet to make it to a movie in the park (there's only been 1 to date, to my credit:). So while summer may be a bit different amongst our different circumstances I am still love loving it.

This time with my sweet sweet girl is priceless but life without Jimmy makes some days seem endless and just flat out wears me out. I definitely have a whole new appreciation for single parents and it's become so clear to me why God intended parenthood for two. We are all ready for this season of travel for Jimmy to come to an end - and it will soon! We are down to his finally trips away and then we have lots to complete before baby boy joins our little family! I am very quickly realizing how soon our family will forever change and we will no longer be spending all our time and energy on just one precious baby but two!

playing in the sprinkler

bath time

corn on the cob

modeling her new life jacket

all worn out and snuggled up

words

Lily has been saying all kinds of words lately - the ones we hear most often I got her to say on tape and thought I'd share. They include; up, this, baby, mama, dada, responses to what a dog says - wolf, what a cow says - moo, and what a duck says - quack. She has also said cracker, hot, nana (for Grandma) and often times shakes her head yes and no in response to something we ask her.

This little voice melts my heart everytime I hear her say something or learn something new. Where does the time go?!

weekend projects

We have accomplished our fair share of projects lately. In the limited time that Jimmy and I have had together in the last few months we have optimized our weekends by completing several to-do's and homemade projects. One of these last few weekends we tackled a revamping of some dining room chairs, painting the baby's room, a canvas art project for baby's room, and making a headboard for our new king size bed! That was a lot to tackle in one weekend but we succeeded and I think they all turned out great!

We've had a small dining room table that fits perfectly between our kitchen and living room for quite some time and I primarily use it as my decorations table - topping it with different centerpieces, place mats, plates, napkins, etc. However, just recently we've actually started using it to eat on - who'd have thought?! So I thought the beige colored chair cushions could use a revamp and with a little fabric, time, and staples here's what we came up with!

Next on the list was for Jimmy to paint little man's room while I worked on a canvas art project for his wall decor. We decided on a sky blue, got the paint, I helped him tape things off, and he begun the paint job. Meanwhile I worked on covering 3 canvases with different fabrics to create some art work for his room. I LOVE the patterns and colors in them and absolutely cannot wait to put together the details of his room. His room has a fairly modern theme with several different colors and patterns that uniquely all fit together - at least I'm hoping they do! And I must say Jimmy did a fantastic job painting this room all by himself!

And the last project on our list for the weekend was to create a two piece headboard for our new king size bed. We replaced a queen size bed so we could no longer use our headboard but like our other bedroom furniture so we figured we could come up with something on our own. After finding some fabric I loved we creatively came up with an idea of mounting the fabric to the back of two oversized picture frames - after removing the glass and backing - and viola! I really love the fabric and the way they look and am anxious to actually get them mounted above our bed - I will have to post a picture of that once it's all put together.

So that's what we've been working on lately - we've been quite crafty in our free time, I guess. I really enjoy creating things for our room, especially together. These were some fun projects and ones I am glad are complete!

I'll have to come back with the pictures - for some reason it's not working.....

24 weeks - 6 months

This week marks 24 weeks, 6 months, pregnant. Where has the time gone? I feel like it's been such a quick pregnancy. Although I'm sure the last trimester will be the longest as it seems to be the most uncomfortable, as I remember, it's still crazy that I am already this far along.

I am continuing to feel good - I get stomach aches quite a bit at night and my back has really been hurting when I get up in the morning. But we are having a new king size bed delivered on Monday so lets cross our fingers that that will help a bit! My headaches have gotten much better but the trade off is that I have begun having quite a few Braxton Hicks contractions where my belly gets really tight with some lower abdomonel pain but nothing too bad and it usually happens at night.

I had a good check up last week and it seems crazy that at the next one I will have the glucose testing and then start going once every 2 weeks already! It literally seems like it's gone so quickly.

Because of Lily's heart "condition" we had a fetal echo cardiogram conducted on this baby as well. I had that last week and thankful everything looks normal. They basically check to ensure that all the chambers, veins, and ventricals are developed and that the two "holes" that all babies have at this point were normal in size - which they were. So, at this point looks like this baby is in the clear. Even though the chances of this baby having anything wrong - 2-5% opposed to the normal 1% I was nervous leading up to this appointment. So we are very thankful for a healthy report and baby, that's for sure!

Other than that nothing new to share. I can definitely tell the belly is growing as it's becoming increasingly harder to bend over, carry Lily, climb the steps, change her diaper, chase her around, etc etc. In fact often times this past week while Jimmy has been gone traveling yet again! I have asked myself what we are thinking having them this close! And then I quickly remind myself that it is such a blessing and that it will be lots of fun as they grow and ares so close in age - right?!

And here's the belly in all her glory......

one year old pictures

We had Lily's 1 year pictures taken a few weeks ago and I love them. I figured I might as well post some here as well. She captured her little personality so well and it's amazing to see how quickly our little girl has changed.

Also notice her ears that we pierced on her 1st birthday - love them :)

brain dump

We have had lots going on around our house lately - house projects, busy work calendars, ramping up for Jimmy to be traveling lots in June-boo!, me getting ready for a work trip as well-boo!, doctor's appointments, garage sales, graduations, etc. So today is going to be a bit of a brain dump - what's been going on around our house lately. Some of them will have their own post later on but for now, this will do.

1. Garage Sale - last weekend I had my first garage sale. Our neighborhood was having a neighborhood garage sale, I had tubs of stuff I needed to get rid of so why not? Well....I didn't realize how much work they are! Luckily I had my mom to help me all weekend. My dad, Jimmy and mom got the tables Wednesday night - we got things set up that night, then opened for business Friday and Saturday. My mom, Jimmy's mom, and a friend put stuff in the sale as well to make sure I had enough stuff! And overall I'd say we did just ok. I wouldn't say I made enough money to neccessarily make it worth it but hey, it was a learning experience, right?!

2. Cleaning out the baby room - over the last week or so I've gotten a big spurt of energy and motivation to get going baby boy's room. I figured while I'm feeling good and motivated to do it I should do it. So, the closet is all cleaned out and new homes have been found for the things that were once there. The guest bed has been disassembled and moved into the now office/guest room, and just yesterday I went fabric shopping for an art project I am working on for his room - more on this to come....So his room is taking shape and it makes me really excitied.

3. I'm almost 6 months pregnant - that seems crazy to me and as I look at our schedule in the coming months I feel like the remaining 3 months are going to fly by! 6 month post with picture to come next week.

4. I celebrated my first mother's day this May - being a mom is truly indescribable and I will forever remember the day Lily made me a mother. More thoughts on being a mama in a later post.....

5. Doctor's Appointments - Lily was born with a 4-5mm hole in her heart and due to its location its called a VSD. Because of this we've seen a pediatric cardiologist when she was 6 months and then had a rather in depth appointment earlier this month once she turned 1 year. In short the hole is still there, it's the same size as it was when she was born and we will see the Dr again when she is 2. I've had such mixed feelings about this, while I know she is in wonderful hands and the Dr has assured us it is nothing to be too concerned about it just seems strange that she has a small hole in her heart. We continue to pray that it will close and that by next year this is no longer an issue. However, because of this we have a fetal echo for baby boy scheduled with the same cardiologist today. It's basically just an ultrasound that they do on me but are looking solely at the baby's heart to ensure there are no abnormalities or conditions they would want to know about before he is born. While I have no reason to believe that anything is wrong it still just makes me a little uneasy. So lots of prayers going up this morning as we await that appointment this afternoon. And then my usual 24 week check tomorrow. All of these on top of Lily being sick with a sinus infection and doctor's visits for that - so lately it seems we've spent a lot of time at the doctor.

6. My sister was here - my sister and her 2 boys were in Iowa in a few weeks ago. It was so fun having them here and being able to see them most every day and night for a bit. Her boys are full of energy and Lily loved trying to keep up! They were able to be here for her 1st birthday which was extra special and we so enjoy our time with them. Luckily, it's not too long before we see them next as we have a family trip scheduled over the 4th of July at a lake in NE.

7. Loving this weather - the weather the last few weeks has been so awesome. We have really enjoyed being outside and doing things that summer entails. Jimmy had Monday off so after our usual daily routine we took a late afternoon bike ride, came home and grilled out, and then went and got some Tropical Snow - that is such a summer evening to me and I love it! I've also made a committment to getting back on a regular workout schedule and with this weather it makes it pretty easy for me to get out and go for a run a couple times a week. I have also started a yoga/pilates class at the rec twice a week and am loving it!

Well that's about it for now - this is just some of what we've been up to lately - I have a list of posts I need to catch up on one of these days but this is at least the shortened version. First on the list is to post pictures and details of Lily's 1st birthday party! Fun Fun!