26 weeks weeks an a whole bunch of new pictures

6 weeks. I know, it's awful. I can say we have been terrible busy, and although that's true, I was hoping I'd dedicate more time to keeping everyone in the loop on the happenings of our life.

Bump watch 2014 has been in full force. I'm enjoying this pregnancy. Yes, I'm exhausted all the time and I have wicked heartburn, but I have no complaints.

Weeks 22-26

Mike started another new job in the last few weeks. It happened to be right when my mom and stepdad were about to leave to go back to Illinois. So what's a girl to do when her Hubs is going to be busy all week? Take advantage of help and head on back for a visit! It's was entirely last minute so not much planning went into it.

We didn't get to see as many people as we wanted, but still enjoyed out visit. I promise next time we come up, it will be planned and I will get to see everyone!

So we drove about 15-16 hours there to Illinois and the same back.

But Cousins were reunited..

Fun was had...

And I enjoyed some peace and quiet.

And this little girl and I had our first road trip together! :)

 So E is obsessed with princesses right now, especially Frozen. She also loves to be a doctor who hears babies. Combine the two and you have a princess doctor, obviously.

A few recent pictures...

She's such a little girl now, I can barely take it! She's talking so much and loves to tell us stories and sing songs. She doesn't care much for talking about her baby brother yet, but I know she loves him and will love him even more when she sees him.

So with Mike working so much, I've been spending a lot of time getting back into crocheting. I did quite a bit before we moved and now that I have a spot where I can store stuff, I've been happily crocheting away making all sorts of fun things for the fall.

After several people asking me if I planned on selling any of my items, I'm happy to say that I will be soon. In a few weeks, I plan on launching an Etsy shop with everything I've made. That means I have a long couple weeks ahead of myself.

It's a huge step for me to do something like this. Normally, when I enjoy something I don't want to turn it into work, but if I'm already doing it, why not make some money while I'm at it ;) 

My outlook is that if it completely flops, no harm done, I'm still doing something I love to do and I just added a ton of new things to my wardrobe that I'm in love with.

I'm focusing more on trendy items like scarves, boot cuffs, hats, and headbands, vs. blankets or several baby items. I find it much more enjoyable if I make stuff I can actually see myself wearing.

Until the next time I decide to update.

With love,

J

Moving along: 20 weeks

Baby and I are just about over the half way mark for this pregnancy. I didn't realize how fast this was going to fly by. December seems so far away yet so close. This last week we were able to find out the baby #2 is a boy. I was in shock because I was feeling girl most of the pregnancy and always pictured myself being the mother of all girls. As soon as we saw him on the ultrasound I knew it was a boy! We still do not have a name picked out yet, because we can't really agree on one, although we have some front runners. No sharing yet!

I've felt pretty good still. No complaints really. I'm just so happy this pregnancy is nothing like Em's. She drained everything from me.

I'm definitely showing a lot more this time more than Em too. It's a blessing and a curse, because all the clothes I wore in the beginning of last time don't fit anymore for this time!

Left: 21 weeks with Em Right: 20 weeks with Baby boy

Now we are getting ready for our visit with my parents next week. Em has already picked out everything they are going to do together from going to the "Dinosaur park to playing Frozen."

Em is talking like crazy these days. I can't believe what she even says sometimes. Emeryisms are my new favorite thing ever. "Mommy, you're such a big girl!" Every time I do something that she deems a big deal.

We took her to the Frontier park Airplane Museum a couple weeks ago, and she had a blast. They were celebrating the landing on the moon, so there were lots of fun and different things to do, including a little airplane kids could play in.

Then we took a trip to Kylde Warren Park, which is by far the nicest city park I have ever been to. Chicago really needs something like this. It's not like Millennium Park at all. It's very family friendly with a dog park, kids park, games you can play for free, a couple splash pads, and food trucks.

Obviously you have to stop when you see a train.

She also is getting really excited when we get stuff out for the baby, like her old car seat.

And one last picture because having Mike in the kitchen, cooking is a rarity. This man helped make bread sticks from scratch! I had to take a picture because this never happens ;-)

With love,

J

17 Weeks

I'm so happy that I'm finally getting into the mid second trimester. Pregnant moms are always a nervous wreck during the first trimester and it's always a sigh of relief when you make it past the 12/13 weeks mark.

We found out around 13.5 weeks that I have Placenta Previa. Luckily, in my case, since they caught it early, my midwives are very optimistic that it will move out of the way and I will get to have my second home birth. Until then, I'm on what they call, "light rest". I can't pick up anything over 15 pounds. (They have got to be crazy to think I can't pick up my daughter for  8 weeks at least) I'm not allowed to walk around a lot and I have to take it easy. It makes it hard to take Emery anywhere by myself, so usually Mike has been accompanying us to the grocery store or errands and he has been the one chasing after her when we go out to events.

I'll be on this at least until 20 weeks when we go in to find out if it has moved or not. 80% of women's placentas usually move by then, so I'm giving it to God and not worrying until 36 weeks, when it's the deciding factor of what needs to be done.

I do have to say though, as much as anyone can tell me a c-section isn't a big deal, it is. It's a very big deal to me and I would really hate to go through a major surgery, so we are praying it moves and everything goes as planned.

I'm feeling pretty good though. I'm not sick that much anymore and I'm starting to get a little bit of energy back (not enough though).

I also feel a lot of movement! That has been the best part of it all. With E, I first felt a kick or two at the end of 18 weeks and this time I started feeling flutters at the end of 13 weeks. It's really crazy how different second pregnancies are.

15 weeks

16 weeks

17 weeks

Of course I don't think E quite understands what is going on, but she does talk about the baby in my belly and tells me all the time how she is going to snuggle it.

 We have been trying to do a lot of fun things with her lately, especially since I can't do much by ourselves. I got to okay to go walk around a museum and we ventured to Dallas to what E calls it, "The Dinasour Park" aka the Perot Museum. She had a blast and cried when we told her it was time to leave.

 She is such a ham. She is constantly making us smile and being silly. Her favorite book right now is a book I gave Mike before we had her all about the baby through pregnancy and the first year. She loves looking at the pictures and pointing out the babies.

She had her first 4th of July experience. We thought she was too little the last two years, so we met with our friends at church and she had a lot of fun...

Until the fireworks started...

 The look on her face says it all.

E loves the move Frozen now. Mostly, she loves the music. We didn't want her to get used to seeing the movie all the time, so we only play it on special occasions, but we let her listen to the music every day! She knows all the words and now thinks she is a princess.

We went from loving Thomas the Train one week, to be completely obsessed with Disney castles and princess the next. I absolutely love it! She's still a tomboy though, loving her trains and dinasours especially right now.

I hope the next time I post I'll be updating with what sex Baby Hulk is. M and I are thinking it's a boy this time, but we will see at the end of the month!

with love,
J.

That time my baby turned two

Ugh. She's two.

I wasn't dreading it, in fact I was so excited about her being a little girl. I've always looked forward to her milestones and growing up. I enjoy it.

But there was something about that sweet face this year.

It reminded me that at one point she looked like this...

and this, a brand new babe in her daddy's arms...

Sitting in a highchair was a big deal

So were dates with mommy.

And her giving me kisses was something new...

And that time that she looked like the cutest little baby and I thought she looked grown up...

Because now, she's this little girl... making "pancakes"

and when I can't find her, she's in here...

And then, just like that, she turned into a little girl. 

Who dressed herself in winter boots when it's 85 out and refuses to let me do her hair...

But most of all. She's my girl.

I love you E and I love watching you grow.

xoxo

Mommy.

Nothing can replace a Venus razor, unless it's $19.00

For a while now I have been a part of Influenster . They send me really neat products for free in exchange for reviews. It's been a really neat way for me to try new products and to get kind of spoiled. I haven't blogged about them before because I didn't see myself as that type of person but I figure hey, that's why they are giving me this stuff right? So I regret not sharing about the previous products I've received but I promise I'll share the goodies now.

The latest product I was given was The Gillette Venus Snap with Embrace razor. I was actually really excited for this because 1. I needed new razors anyways and I didn't want to go to Target to get them (the lazy reason for sure) and 2. I really missed buying Venus razors. You know the store brand ones just don't cut it sometimes.

I opened my box and saw my cute little razor with the adorable travel case. I saw that this razor had 5 blades! Whoa, there, we're getting fancy!

The good: I loved how small and compact it was. It could easily go in a purse, bag, or small suitcase and wouldn't take up much room. The case makes it nice so it doesn't get dirty. I actually found that the handle was easier to hold than the regular handle and I continued it for every day use. Also, it looks cute. I don't know if you ever thought that a razor would look cute, but it does. My first use was amazing. I felt like the women on the commercials. My legs were probably the smoothest they have ever been and at that moment I really wanted to spring for the expensive Venus razor again.

The bad: Okay, here is where I turn into Debbie Downer. The moisturizing border that's around the razor is really annoying. It is so bulky that I was missing spots left and right. Also, by the 3rd day, the same moisturizing border was sticking to the case and left and awful sticky film to where it was coming off when I would take it out of the case. The razor, started rusting after a week. I wasn't impressed with that. I expect that from my cheap razors, but not a Venus. But still I was willing to forget all of that and buy a refill of the same razor using the coupon that was also sent to me complimentary. I get to Target and see that the Embrace razor refills were almost $19.00. Um what?!Even with the coupon, I would be spending over $15.00 for 4 razor refills. Absolutely not. So instead, I decided to splurge on some regular disposable Venus razors with 3 blades and call it a day. (I actually liked those better.)

Overall: I think it's a cute product. I don't think it's practical, I probably would never buy it. It did however, make me miss a better quality of a razor and good old Gillette convinced me to spring for their brand over the store brand. So I say that won that battle.

First trimester down, 2 more to go.

Now that I'm past the first trimester, I feel pretty good.

I'm still tired all the time. I've been trying to get out of my habit of a daily nap, because it's starting to affect my sleep at night.

Speaking of, E is finally sleeping through the night. She may get up before 6am, but after 2 years of her waking up 4+ times a night, I can happily say that I'll take it!

It came at a really good time too. The first few weeks of pregnancy were so awful I was beginning to wonder if I'd ever sleep normally ever again.

So now I'm about 12ish weeks. My midwives and I have different dates. I believe mine is more acurate, so I go off of mine most of the time. (It's only a 5 day difference between them)

This one will be another home birth. I had such an amazing experience last time, that I can't picture myself doing it any other way. We were happy to choose an excellent midwife group that isn't too far from us.

Baby Hulk as we have so lovingly named it, if the size of a plum. So far I'm feeling that this one might be another girl. Mike of course thinks it's a boy, and good news is that one of us will be right! If you ask E though, she will tell her it's a girl and she wants a sister.

This pregnancy is very different from the last. I am feeling much better and am able to enjoy this part of the process more. My nausea was more severe but less frequent than my last. This made me lose some weight which I can't say I'm unhappy about because last time I had gained 15 pounds with E in my first trimester. I would really like to not gain 40 pounds this time.

This one has been a breeze and I hope it continues to stay that way. I'm interested to see how it goes being pregnant in the summer, especially Texas heat. As someone who is hot all the time, I don't see myself enjoying the outdoors very much this summer.

I wanted to be better about taking pictures this pregnancy. Things were so hectic last time (when are things not hectic in V household?) that I regret not doing weekly pregnancy pictures. So here it is Baby Hulk at 12 weeks. Yes, there is only one baby. Yes, you tend to show sooner during the second pregnancy, and No, I promise there is only one. ;) And yes, I might have just rolled out of bed during a nap to take this.

Here we go!

Please excuse me while I do a massive update with tons of posts. I planned on updating once or twice a month but with how I was feeling during the first trimester of this second pregnancy, I was lucky enough to keep my eyes open to entertain E, let alone type. ;) (Seriously, God bless Curious George and Netflix.)

Now that we are on our way out of the the first trimester and into the second, I'm feeling much better.

I found out I was pregnant a few days after Mike's birthday and it was such a shock for us, but very much wanted and we are so excited to give E a little brother or sister.

With E, I was very sick and tired throughout my whole pregnancy. It was really hard on my emotionally and physically because I wasn't really mentally prepared to what pregnancy would actually do to my body.

With this one, I had some morning sickness in the beginning that had lasted about 3-4 weeks but nausea has mostly gone away and now I just have extreme fatigue. I'm napping at least 2 hours a day when E naps, and I'm sleeping mostly through the night with only having to get up a couple times.

Overall, I'm enjoying this pregnancy more than E's because I'm not so sick. It's a struggle to go out and do stuff. Like heading the grocery store becomes a daunting task because it just drains me bu the time I get home. But I remember it's not just me, I'm also keeping track of a very energetic toddler.

E doesn't get what's going on, which I expected. However, I know she is going to be an amazing big sister. She loves babies and she will be so happy to find out we get to keep this one, and it's real!