Confirmed :)

Went to the doctor today. Had my glucose test....that drink is nasty - it gave me a headache. Anyway, they did another ultrasound....and it was confirmed to be a boy!!!! I'm feeling much more at ease about this. I know it's silly, but I was really obsessing over it! This is not a clear picture at all, but my mom wanted to see it....and there is a funny story behind it. After the doctor printed the picture out, Evie just had to have it. She was looking at it and then said "we have to find the balls." She kept jabbering about a ball and balls....I don't know where she got it. Probably because the little testicles look like a ball...obviously! Anyway, she makes me laugh :) The doctor also told me our little guy is breech. I'm 28.5 weeks along. She didn't seem concerned and I asked her if he had time to turn and she said he had plenty of time. I guess I just traded one worry in for another. Guess I wouldn't be a mother if I didn't worry!

Here I am at 28.5 weeks. Finally starting the third trimester. I have only gained 23 lbs so far and hope I can keep my weight on track. I have had a weird strain in one of my stomach muscles on the right side. If I do too much it really hurts. The doctor said it's just a muscle that is being stretched and usually gets worse with each pregnancy - great, can't wait!

No, I didn't have my baby! In our ward there are 7 of us having babies between Jan and July! 5 of us are having boys and 2 are having girls. This was the first little one to be born and he is so cute! Makes me excited to have a little boy! We invited them over for dinner last week and Evie was so interested in this little guy. I told her to watch him for us and she moved her princess chair right up to him and just stared and talked to him. I think she is gonna be such a good big sister! We went to Boise a couple weekends ago and there is a future blog post coming on that one, so stay tuned :)

Sleepless in Seattle or Moses Lake :)

Now a days sleep is hard to come by. I can't remember the last time I got a full nights rest...almost 3 years ago before Evie was born?! I don't know which part is keeping me up at night.....the acid reflux? Owen's snoring? Evie waking up? Racing thoughts of everything I need to get done? *Sigh* I miss those good old days of sleep.

So, because of my lack of sleep I'm going to share some random thoughts...read on if you care to.

I find it interesting that I get asked the question "Is this pregnancy different from your first one?" quite a bit - which is probably why I have been thinking about it so much. I spare them the long drawn out details.....but in answer to their questions, in case you are wondering.....yes, it's very different. I was relating this to my mom just the other day. When I was pregnant with Evie it was like this exciting, new world. Everything about pregnancy, I loved. I read every possible thing I could about the developing baby inside of me and what my body was doing. I loved my little baby bump and how cute it looked. I loved feeling her move around. I loved the "pregnancy glow" I had (or at least I thought I had!). I was so excited to pick out her crib and decorate her nursery...buying cute baby things. You know, the normal stuff! All of a sudden reality kicks in. You have this brand new baby and nothing can prepare you for becoming a mommy. You could read all of the books in the world and talk to every single person you know, who has become a mommy for the first time, and you don't know how hard it is, until you experience it for yourself. Suddenly, all of that other stuff that you were obsessed with for so long...doesn't even really matter anymore.
I remember that first night home from the hospital with Evie. It was one of the hardest nights of my life. She didn't sleep all night long (obviously, most babies don't....but like I said before, you don't really get it until you experience it for yourself). I was in tears by 6 am. After that, I dreaded the night. To top it off, at that time Owen traveled for work and was gone most nights of the week. I was literally doing it all by myself. I would cry myself to sleep every night for the first few weeks and praying to be able to know what to do (I'm sure there were some postpartum hormones that played a role in that) it's a stressful thing to realize that this little human being depends entirely on you. As time passed, mommy, daddy, and baby adjusted to their new life together.......I'm not gonna lie, though, that first year was hard! Lucky for me, my two older sisters AND a sister in-law had babies around the same time I did. My oldest sister, Angie, was the best resource I had, having gone through this 2x by then. She was always checking in on me and Ev's and always answered my calls and questions. If it weren't for her, I don't know what I would have done! Thanks, Angie - you are the best :)
So, connecting these thoughts together.....this pregnancy is different - not only am I experiencing aches and pains earlier than I did with the first one, acid reflux has hit much sooner than last time, and I feel like I'm carrying differently (blame it on the stretched out uterus and stomach muscles?!). I'm not obsessed with this pregnancy like I was with the first one, maybe because I have a toddler who demands most of my time and attention?! I haven't really prepared anything for this one, maybe because I'm not 100% on the sex of the baby, so it's hard to be really excited? I don't know. All I know is it's definitely different this second time. With that being said - I'm hoping the second time around coming home from the hospital will be easier. I'm hoping breastfeeding will be easier this second time. I'm just hoping that I have had enough experience with the first one, that the second one won't be such a shock. I know adding another child won't be easy and will come with it's own adjustments, and I'm sure nothing can or will prepare me for that..............Anyone out there reading this - is this a normal thought process?! Am I crazy?! Break it to me gently - how hard is it, going from one kid to two kids?

As cute as it gets :)

I love this little girl! She is the cutest blonde, curly haired girl ever! And she LOVES to wear daddy's hats :) Happy Valentines Day - from Miss Evie :)

Must haves

Ok. So this pregnancy I am trying really hard to eat healthy. With Evie I gained over 40 lbs - which is maybe just what my body does during pregnancy. I lost it all, so no big deal, right? This time around I am trying to be a lot more conscious of what I am taking into my body and how I'm taking care of myself. I'm not counting my calories or doing any sort of diet (don't worry, mom!) during pregnancy...I know that isn't safe, unless under doctors orders. Anyway, when I go to the grocery store, these next two items are usually a must on my list

I usually buy the Walmart brand of these veggies, unless I have a coupon or they are on sale. I know fresh is always better, BUT sometimes (and by that I mean usually) it's nice to have these on hand in the freezer when you don't have fresh. We have some sort of veggie with dinner every night and Evie loves them! She will usually eat her vegetables up first. We also usually have left overs so Evie and I will eat it with our lunch! Side story. Yesterday Evie and I loaded up the car and headed to Tri Cities to check out Target's clearance...it ended up being a waste of a trip, but we had fun together. Anyway, we went to Wendy's for lunch and I asked her if she wanted fries or apples with her hamburger.....she said "APPLES!" I remember thinking in the past...what kid would choose apples over fries? My kid, thats who! And she ate every single one of them! I am guessing I just got lucky with Evie not being picky with food....I might not be so lucky with this next one...

I love this rice! It's so nice to make for lunch and serve it with left over chicken breast from the night before (since Owen refuses to eat left overs) and a leafy green salad. AND there is only 150 calories for 1 cup of rice. That's a lot of rice! The whole grain fills me up for longer and it usually makes enough for a couple meals. Evie likes it too, so that's nice!

I usually make it to the gym every morning, except the days I have to work there. I have had to start taking it a little easier because of my back and just because my body can't do as much for as long. At least I am there, right?! Before the gym I usually have 2 slices of whole wheat bread with peanut butter and a banana. That's my favorite go - to breakfast. Fills and fuels me up :)

I also really like low fat cottage cheese and tomatoes or yogurt as a snack or in the morning. .....and then there is....

Pinterest.

That site is awesome/evil...hear me out. I don't mind baking. I don't think it's hard to follow a recipe and have it turn out...for the most part! But since I started using Pinterest I have made a few different dessert recipes, and they were all soooo good! The first one I made were these Peanut Butter Cup Brownies....let me tell you. They were delicous AND easy peasy! It only made 12 cupcakes, which was perfect because I took them to a friends house for dinner and was able to get rid of them!

I also made a Cinnamon Roll Cake.....turned out just as delicious as the Peanut Butter Cup brownies, which is why I ended up throwing half of the cake away! I couldn't have that stuff sitting around my house. Seriously, though...the amount of sugar and butter that were in those...no good. I couldn't eat it without a guilty conscience! And I'm pretty sure large amounts of cinnamon give me a stomach ache...not a big fan of LOTS of cinnamon. I also made this BLT Pasta Salad for an Elders quorum Pinewood Derby a couple weekends ago. It was really good and I left the party with an empty bowl :)

Owen getting ready to race his car :) He came in 2nd place.....that's ok, maybe next time! How can you beat a car with a potato gun sending it down the track?!

Long post....kudos to anyone who reads the whole thing! I just thought I would share some things that have helped me and my family eat healthy. I'm interested if anyone else out there has some foods or ways they eat healthy with their families. I'm always looking for ideas and tips!

Inspiring

I normally don't make it to the adult session of stake conference, but I was asked to sing with a small group for it that night. We didn't get a babysitter because Evie has had a bad cough the last couple of days. Owen was kind enough to stay home with Evie so I could attend the meeting. At one point during the meeting, they played this mormon message. I wanted to share it because it really spoke to me and gave me inspiration. Owen also stayed home with Evie this morning so I could go to stake conference. I'm really glad I went. It was a much needed uplifting couple of meetings. Since becoming a mom, I don't get the opportunity to have much "me" time, so I was grateful for this chance. I love that I have the blessings of the gospel in my life and so grateful to be able to share it with my little family!

24 Weeks

Here I am at just over 24 weeks along. Went to the doctor today and told them my whole story from my 20 week ultrasound and they felt bad about the whole situation, so they offered to take a quick peak at the baby to see if we could come to a better conclusion on the sex of the baby. Guess what?! The cord was right, smack dab in between the legs :( She said "well, now I know why the technician had problems seeing things." I saw it with my own eyes. The legs were wide open and stretched out....and then a big blockage over the private parts. I could possibly drive myself nuts with this one! This darn baby better move it next month! The doctor said she would check again for me next month. That's when I get my glucose test, so maybe the baby will be all hopped up on sugar and moving around like crazy! My friends want to throw me a baby shower....I told them they will have to decorate with question marks...... :)

My body is starting to feel the effects of the 20+ pounds I have gained thus far. My back, hip and feet are hurting. I finally decided to go to the chiropractor and it has helped quite a bit. I can at least walk at the end of the night as opposed to before. It only hurts when I have been standing or walking a lot. I am starting to get big in the belly which makes my pregnancy very noticeable...no more people thinking I'm just fat (whew!)The growing belly also makes it harder to put my shoes on, wash my face at night, help Evie with anything that involves her being on the floor, helping kids at the gym that are on the floor............anything that involves bending down :( I still have 15 weeks left of this! Oh boy...what am I gonna do? Send out some good vibes to this baby for next doctors appointment - I think we are gonna need it!