This time around

I am going to try to get back into writing more on my blog, it is such a good way to document what is going on in my life, and honestly my brain isn't up to remembering all the details anymore! I have been enjoying going back and reading what I wrote when I was pregnant with Aubrey, and there are little things that I had forgotten. So this time around I am going to try to document everything so I can look back at these memories as well.

I am not sure if it is something to do with being pregnant for a second time, or if it is just because it is a different baby in there, or if it has something to do with having a toddler and therefore a lot more strain on my energy reserves, but the first trimester of this pregnancy was so much harder than last time around! I seriously felt nauseated before I took a pregnancy test (so before I was 4 weeks pregnant) and I still am not back to normal yet. The good news is, after 9 solid weeks of barely functioning, I am slowly coming back. Last time around I was sick only from weeks 7-11, I didn't know how good I had it! Also, last time I craved fruits and loved sweets. This time I am totally into the salty and really can't stand sweets, they taste off to me. Biggest craving so far: mashed potatoes. Yum, just thinking about them makes me want some right now! :)

Aubrey has been a good girl: even though I feel badly that I have been neglecting her somewhat. She now comes over when I am on the couch and pats my tummy and says, "you have a tiny baby in your tummy, Mom? She makes you feel sick?" She also covers her mouth and makes imitation gagging noises. Aubrey is convinced it is a girl, and also insists that we name her Archie, after a pony that she rode at a fair earlier this year. Yeah, that isn't going to happen.

Another interesting thing about this time around is that I am growing out of my pants so much faster! I guess my abdominal muscles gave up a lot faster this time around since they know the drill. I don't really look pregnant to a stranger yet, just like I have been enjoying dessert a little too much. ;)

We had an ultrasound last week and everything looks great. The baby was in there dancing around, waving his arms, and kicking his legs. (yes, I am saying his, but we don't know if it is a boy or girl yet, it just sounds right to me to say him and his for now. Maybe I am balancing out Aubrey calling the baby a her.)

We have an announcement...

Baby two is on the way--due May 3, 2010!

Some House Adventures

We have slowly been adding furniture and rearranging stuff since we have moved in here. Has it really been six months already? There is a blank wall that is sort of in our living room, but also is a high traffic area so we couldn't put anything wide on that wall. This bench was our solution--it is great. Out of the way when we don't need it, but it fills the space. It is near our door to the outside so is a good place to sit and put on shoes, well, once we start wearing something other than flip flops. When we have more than 5 or 6 people in our living room we can pull it closer to the couches and complete a "conversation area." This bench seats three people easily. It was a great bargain find at HomeGoods store, as was the painting above. I love that our living room now looks more complete with art, rug, seating, throw pillows, lamps, etc. that all coordinate so well! I wish I could take a 360 degree picture so you all could see :)

In other house news, we found out that we had a family of raccoons living in our walls and Aubrey's room's ceiling. Gross, I know! Our basement/crawl space didn't really have a solid door on it and they were getting in there. They tore out some insulation so they could climb up inside the walls. Bill and I shovelled out 14 wheelbarrows of mud out of there (who knows how long that had been accumulating, the house is over 100 years old!) and then the next weekend Bill and my Dad framed out the door and then built a special two layer screen door to shut it tight. It has to be a screen so that the air can circulate under the house so that it doesn't get too damp. We put a fine mesh screen to keep out mice and a sturdy wire screen to keep out bigger varmints. Once the door was done we left it open until we heard the raccoons leave in the evening. We shut it tight and locked them out! We haven't heard them since, so we are pretty sure it has worked. :)

Next we are going to be working on the bedrooms downstairs, moving the baby furniture out of Aubrey's room into the guest bedroom since she is in her big girl furniture now. I got some wall decals that match her new bedding, but want to paint her walls first. They haven't been painted for over 20 years (I think) so they are due! The colors in her bedding are pink, green, orange and tan. I found this picture and liked the idea of an orange stripe, maybe with pink background or a less khaki looking green.

The Out Takes

I will hold you by the nose and bash you with this musical instrument!

If I have to smile and look at the camera one more time I am just going to lose it!

Maybe if I tickle myself I'll smile.

You want me to lay on my tummy why? What if these creepy photo ladies creep up on me from behind?

Some pictures from Aubrey's Photo Shoot :)

Two Years Old!

Aubrey on her new swingset from Gramma and Papa

Aubrey with her new tricycle from Gramma and Grampa.

Aubrey celebrated her second birthday last week. We just had a small party with family, with a dinner and cake and ice cream. She really enjoyed opening her presents: a lawnmower, a backhoe, a little people airplane, and a cooking (pots and pans) set.

At her checkup she weighed 32.5 lbs (95th percentile) and measured 35.75 inches tall (90th percedntile).

Our other big news is that Aubrey is now potty trained! She is so proud of being able to wear her big girl underwear and go in the potty, she even makes it through the night without having to go. I now get woken up every morning with a little voice calling, "go potty, mommy?"

Cousins

You all might remember this picture of Aubrey with the frog from when she was about three weeks old. The frog was a present from her Uncle John (my brother)

Now, here is a picture of Kyle at almost 4 weeks with his monkey, a present from Aubrey. I thought it would be cute to post them both here for comparison.

We had a beautiful Independence Day celebration. Friday afternoon our Texas relatives flew in and we had some massive thunderstorms. All the rain was worrying us that all our outdoor plans would be ruined, but July 4th and 5th had the most beautiful weather that we have had so far this season! It is so nice to be on the lake when it is a holiday weekend and not be the ones to have to drive in all the traffic. :) Anyway, we had a wonderful time participating in the boat parade, eating, swimming (only the bravest, the water is still very cold!), eating, talking, watching fireworks, eating, hiking in a local park, and oh, yes, we ate. My Aunt and Uncle were up only Friday through Sunday afternoon, their visit flew by. My grandmother will be staying the whole month. She will be here for the birth of my brother's baby (already 11 days late!) and for Aubrey's second birthday.

I hope that this good weather holds because we have some outdoor work to do--we need to put deck preservative on the deck and we have some stairs that are falling apart that need to be replaced. Aubrey LOVES swimming and boat rides. She always asks Papa to "go FAST!" and then shrieks "Weeeeeeeeeee!" when he does.

And lastly, I just wanted to share a happy story:

Recently I have been trying to find doctors for us since it has been a few months since we have moved. I found a good pediatrician for Aubrey and then started looking for an OB/Gyn. I kept running into roadblocks and was getting really worried I wouldn't find one that met my requirements of a small all-female practice who encouraged low-intervention births who did not perform abortions. Everywhere I looked I found large (8+ doctors) practices of mostly men who provided abortions. With 8 abortion clinics in the small state you would think that an OB practice wouldn't need to do them as well! I looked for birthing centers: there is only one in the state 1 hour and 45 minutes away. I looked for midwives: the only ones I found were part of a larger practice with the above problems. I said, okay, I just need to prioritize what I am looking for and just let the other things go. So I decided I will go to a large practice and a male doctor if I can just find one that isn't an abortion doctor. I even gave up the idea of going to the closest hospital to us (1/2 hour away) and was going to look further afield. As I opened my computer this morning to start my search once again I prayed that God would guide me and lead me to the right practice. So I decided to look at the close hospital one more time and there was a practice I hadn't called yet! I called them up and found not only a two female doctor practice who do not perform abortions, but the head doctor specializes in low intervention births and VBACs (not that I need a VBAC but I think that says something about her philosophy on C sections.) I have an appointment scheduled to meet the doctors in two weeks, but I am fairly certain that I have found a practice that I can be comfortable and happy with. Praise be to God!