Life As We Know It

Monday, June 23, 2014

Double Weekend Wrap-up!

Ever since returning from vacation, we have been busy busy on the weekends. I can't complain too much because we are really enjoying the summer weather and getting outside. We had a long winter, and were going completely stir crazy there at the end!

Two weekends ago, we made a certain little boy's day by going to see the "real Thomas" at the railway museum about an hour away. Hudson lit up when we saw Thomas and was so excited that he got to ride on him. The train ride was only about 20 minutes long, but little man enjoyed every minute. They had some other fun activities for the kids - a petting zoo, train tables for them to play with and of course a shop full of Thomas items to purchase. Nonna, Poppy, YaYa and Pa Rick all joined us for the excursion as well! We have some pictures of us standing in front of Thomas as well, but those are on Daddy's big camera and those take a while to get ;)

And...crashed!

Sunday, we went on the boat with Nonna, Poppy, Cassie, Ryan and the girls to celebrate Father's Day. Hudson LOVED swimming around in the lake and playing with his cousins. When they weren't swimming, I'm pretty sure the kids were eating snacks most of the time :) It was a beautiful day to get out and enjoy the summer weather! After a nap, we went to YaYa and Pa Rick's house to celebrate Father's Day and Pa Rick's Birthday. Pa Rick made homemade sushi and we had lots of other yummy food and desserts! It was a great, but busy day!

In between then and this past weekend we found a house! It's in a great neighborhood and we fell in love with it! We are under contract, and pending the inspection, we should be able to move in mid-late July! YAY! This makes me stress level go down about a million times just to know we have a home that we can get settled in before Miss Sloane arrives! It does add some stress with packing and moving in the middle of me training someone at work to cover for me while I'm out on maternity leave, traveling for work, busy summer weekends and just preparing for Sloane's arrival in general, but I will take that over being homeless! :)

Sneak peak...say prayers that all goes well!

Anyway - on to this past weekend. Saturday, after a low key morning and naps (for Hudson and this tired, pregnant mama), we went to play with baby tigers! There is a place over in Indiana that has a bunch of wild animals that they rescue and keep on their property, and when they have new tiger cubs, you can go play with them! They were 6 weeks old, and mostly pretty lazy, kind of like new puppy. Hudson really loved petting them, up until one of them started to get a little too rough and was biting him in a playful way. I don't know if they just liked that Hudson was close to their size or if he had some peanut butter and jelly remnants on his clothes that they wanted, but Hudson was skeptical of them after that! We also got to see a "bamboon" (aka a baboon), a baby monkey, baby fox and several big tigers (they were in a big cage, no worries). It was a really neat experience and the little babies were so cute!

"Banilla" ice cream is the perfect way to end the night!

On Sunday, we met up with the Hughes family at the splash park/park so Hudson and Maddie could get their "fix". Hudson loved the splash park last year, but wasn't super interested this year - apparently it was too cold. It was only a million degrees outside, so I'm not sure why the water wouldn't feel amazing. I almost ran through it! He kept going over to the regular park while Maddie played in the water. Daddy did carry him and run through the water once to at least get him wet! Hopefully he will warm up to the splash park because it's literally going to be 2 minutes from our new house! I failed to get any of the kids playing together, I guess because they were really playing in different areas for the most part. I'm sure Brittney got some, so you'll have to click over to her blog to see :)

Daddy running him through...

...and Hudson making an escape right after!

Friday, June 13, 2014

Baby Girl has a name!

I think mostly everyone knows her first name now, but I have been waiting to post it until we had decided on the full name. Without further adieu, little miss will be named:

Sloane Olivia

We love it! Kyle and I have both actually liked the name Sloane since I was pregnant with Hudson. I had heard it before and liked it, and then Kyle mentioned randomly one night that he liked it after he saw a character with that name on the TV show Entourage. So it's been at the top of our list ever since! We did have another strong contender for the first name - Aria - but after finding out that it is growing in popularity due to a couple of TV shows, and thinking that it might be confusing on how to pronounce it, we decided that we liked Sloane better. And, we decided at around 16 weeks, which is a record for us. It took FOREVER to decide on Hudson's name! Plus I think Sloane sounds great with Hudson. According to my BFF, Brittney, you have to make sure it sounds good together when you are yelling at them. "Hudson and Sloane, please stop fighting!" Yup - sounds good to me! ;)

Now with the middle name, we had a little bit harder of a time because we didn't feel like there were a lot of names that flowed well with Sloane. We thought about trying to use a family name or something with a little more meaning (Hudson has Kyle's middle name), but again, nothing seemed to flow. I have always loved the middle name Elise, and we probably would have gone with that, but then Kyle brought up Olivia one day. We got really crazy with it and realized that if we used Olivia, then all 3 names would have 6 letters in them, 6-6-6. I know that no one would probably ever think about that, but it did scare us off for a minute. After thinking on it for a few weeks, we decided that we both liked Olivia the best and decided to let the whole 6-6-6 thing go. We were going a little too deep I think :)Anyway, time to get monogramming! ;)

Thursday, June 12, 2014

Bumpdate - 24 Weeks

Marination Time: 24 weeks! Little Miss is almost a foot long and weighs almost a pound! Only 4 more weeks in the 2nd trimester - time is flying! Not a great picture, but we don't have a good mirror at our house, so I snapped one at YaYa's house this weekend. Looking at the picture from 24 weeks with Hudson, I think I look pretty similar actually. It's hard to tell since I am wearing totally different clothing. I must have really popped around this time with Hudson - click here to see 24 weeks with him.

Gender: Confirmed yet again at my ultrasound this week that she's still a GIRL :) A separate post is to come very soon about her full name. We have officially decided!

Legs up over her head - dancer or gymnast in the making?

Hard to tell, but she's yawning. Growing is exhausting!

Feeling: Overall, good! Still pretty tired after a long day, and I have some discomfort that comes along with getting bigger. My lower back has been hurting a little at night and heartburn has starting rearing it's ugly head when I eat certain things. Tums to the rescue! I also have noticed that if I pick up Hudson too much or don't stay on top of my water intake, I've had some tightening/discomfort - Braxton Hicks! I never had these with Hudson, so it's a new feeling for me, but the doctor said it's perfectly normal. I just have to drink lots and lots of water and be careful how much I try to do with Hudson.

Cravings/Aversions: No real aversions (FINALLY!), other than the heartburn thing that has made some foods a little less appealing to eat. Sour candy is still pretty appetizing, but otherwise I haven't had any specific cravings. While on vacation, I also indulged in quite a bit of ice cream :)

Movement: She is a mover! Even the ultrasound tech said she was a hyper child, as her heart rate was at 155 this week. You can feel her moving from the outside now, and I've even seen my belly poke out a little with a few of her stronger kicks. Pretty amazing considering she's only 1 pound! I feel her move mostly after I eat, but she's also started having a party after I lay down to go to sleep at night.

Sleep: Sleep has been great! I am super tired when my head hits the pillow at night, so I pretty much just crash. Still haven't had to get up for potty breaks in the middle of the night, so that's nice!

#2 compared to #1: Not too much of a difference, other than the obvious fact that I have Hudson running around and to take care of. It's definitely hard to get through bath and bedtime some nights because I'm just so tired. But I wouldn't trade that time with Little Man for anything! I also have only bought 1 item of clothing for baby girl thus far, which is just crazy. I'm pretty sure Hudson had a full wardrobe by now and we were already getting his nursery set up. 2nd child problems...

Highlight of the week: Getting to see baby girl at the ultrasound and knowing that she is healthy! We had an ultrasound for them to look at her heart and spine a little better because she was not cooperating the last time, and everything checked out great. I'm not going to complain about getting to see her so often! She is also currently head down, which can always change, but let's just hope she stays that way and doesn't stress us out like big brother did.

Big Brother Update: Hudson is at such a fun age and seriously cracks us up non-stop with the things he says and does. He is VERY independent these days and is always saying things like "I can do it myself - like a big boy." Oy! His energy level is ramping up a bit, and we are definitely learning that he is ALL BOY! He does have a very sweet and sensitive side though too, and I cherish his morning cuddles and random hugs and kisses when I get them! He now says 100% of the time that he is having a baby sister, and he knows her name and where she is (in Mama's belly). I'm still not sure he knows what that means for him, but I think he's excited. Here are some funny/cute things he has said about her:

"She can come out now?"

"She has to grow and grow, and then she can come out?"

"When she come out, she will play with me?"

"We can't step on her?" (with a very concerned look on his face)

And then my most favorite conversation the other day:

Me: Alright buddy, you need to finish up so you can go to school. Mama isn't going to ride with you today because I have to go to the doctor.

Hudson: I no go to the doctor

Me: No, Hudson doesn't have to go to the doctor. Mama is going to the doctor to check on your baby sister.

Hudson: They get her out?

Me: No, not yet buddy. She still has to grow and grow a little bit longer before she can come out.

Hudson: (looking me up and down, very intently) She's going to come out of your arm?

Me: (laughing hysterically) ummm, no buddy, she's going to um, come out of Mama's belly...

Hudson: yeah...

So there ya have it. I almost had to have "the talk" with my 2 year old. Here's some pics of Big Brother.

Hudson has been really into building forts lately

Reading with Daddy in the fort

"I cold Mama"

A boy and his Legos. He loves to knock it over when it's really tall

Playing soccer with Daddy. Love this moment between them!

Pool time with his main squeeze, Maddie

Sure, I'll squirt your bum! This actually scares me a little ;)

That slide is SO FUN!

I'm a silly boy with the BEST and CRAZIEST bed head around!

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Bumpdate - 20 Weeks

Well, I guess it's true what they say - you just don't do things quite the same the second time around! With Hudson, I think I posted a bumpdate the day I turned 14 weeks and was diligent about it every week. With this one, I finally have about 10 minutes to sit down and write something at 20 WEEKS!! That means we are already half way there, and I haven't recorded a single thing. Poor child! I will be sure to give her extra love when she gets here for my obvious parenting fail :)

I am using a different format for this time around that I got from another blog, as I thought it was a fun way to keep track of my pregnancy and include a little bit of Hudson since he's going to be such a good big brother!

Marination Time: 20 Weeks - half way there! In some ways this seems so quick, and in other ways it seems like I should be further along. Maybe because my belly seems to think I am further along, and is definitely showing itself more than it did with Hudson at this point! Click here to see me at 20 weeks with Hudson.

Gender: GIRL! Our ultrasound tech guessed at 14 weeks (girl), we went for an early ultrasound at 16 weeks (girl), and then yesterday at the 20 week appointment they confirmed once and for all that it is indeed a girl! We are about 99% sure we have a full name, so I'll post about that once we decide 100%.

Feeling: Just tired pretty much all the time, but happy! It's hard work to grow a human, but even harder when you have another tiny human to take care of on the outside as well. It's getting harder for me to carry Hudson and I just generally feel fatigued quicker these days. Huge props to Kyle for being super husband and Dad and helping out so much with Hudson and around the house. I don't know how we would have survived the first part of my pregnancy without him! He's so good about stepping in when he knows I'm tired, and I am grateful for that! I also had a little bit of swelling in my left foot the other day, so I'm trying to be really diligent about drinking water to help! I am a little worried about the swelling as we head into summer - it's supposed to be a hot one!

Cravings/Aversions: Well, after being SO sick for the first 16 weeks or so (I'm talking 24-7 nausea and also some lovely throwing up), I am finally pretty much back to normal. I still have to be careful with mexican food or spicy things, and I've also noticed that caffeine makes me feel bad if I have too much. I have really been trying to drink lots of water and eat small meals/snacks throughout the day, and that seems to help! Recently I have been craving sour candy - I found some extreme sour patch kids at the store the other day, and I can't get enough!! Baby girl likes them too because she starts dancing around when I eat them!

Movement: I am feeling her move around more and more each day. She definitely responds to sugar (is that a bad sign?) and I feel her move quite a bit when I lay down to relax each night. No big kicks or anything, but she's doing something in there to make me feel her. Kyle even felt a little movement on the outside the other night. I love this part of pregnancy - it's just such a cool experience to feel them moving around inside of you.

Sleep: Pretty good. I had to break down and buy another pregnancy pillow (my other one is in storage) because I was having a hard time sleeping on my side. The new one is AMAZING and has helped so much, but it's still not my preferred way to sleep. I wake up a couple times a night to re-adjust and then go right back to sleep. So far I haven't had to get up for potty breaks, but I know that's coming!

#2 compared to #1: As I mentioned earlier, my bump is much larger this time around. I feel more like I'm 30 weeks along instead of 20, but I know that's common with #2. I also feel like I'm carrying her lower than I did Hudson.

Highlight of the week: Getting to see baby girl at our ultrasound yesterday and knowing that she looks to be healthy and growing right on track! Also, it's exciting to finally feel confident enough to start buying some girly things - can't wait to buy headbands and PINK! I also really enjoyed celebrating Mother's Day on Sunday - I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to be a Mommy! It is a tough job, but it is also SO rewarding. I feel lucky to be carrying another healthy little one and can't wait to welcome her to our family!

Big Brother Update: Hudson is FINALLY saying that he has a baby sister. For the longest time he kept saying "No, I want a baby brother!" I think he's still confused about why she is in my belly and won't come out (he asks me all the time to get her out), but he knows that she needs to grow and grow before she can come out and see us. We are trying to talk about baby girl and get him used to her without bombarding him or making him feel like he's not important. I know he is still such a baby himself (even though his is a "Big Boy"), so I want to make sure we make the most of our time as a family of three this summer and make him feel super special!

He LOVES his new Thomas rain boots that he got for his birthday

Love this oh so serious, "cool man" pose

My silly boy - he loves to make us laugh

So excited for me to eat muffins with him at school for Mother's Day

Thursday, May 1, 2014

Back to blogging...

....very soon!

But for now, here's a quick little teaser!

We are happy to finally announce that Hudson will be getting a little sister in September! I am thrilled to buy pink and bows, Kyle wants to buy a gun, and Hudson just keeps insisting he's getting a baby brother...but we are all VERY excited to welcome Little Miss to our family soon

Friday, August 9, 2013

Reunited!

After nine long days away from our little man, we were ready to be reunited! When my mom first brought him home, he was very unsure about coming to us and cried. Talk about breaking this Mama's heart! But once YaYa headed out and Hudson realized we were really there to stay, he was super happy to see us and wouldn't let us out of his sight for next week! I think he was afraid we were going to leave him again.

Clinging to Dada on our evening walk

Sitting like a big boy in the booth with Mama

Being our silly boy!

Driving the boat and being goofy with Dada

So happy to see this smiling face in the mornings!

The weekend after we got back, Kyle went out of town for a friend's bachelor party. So Hudson and I had a fun Mommy/Son weekend! Friday night, the little man took me on a date to Chick-fil-A and then we stopped by to see Hadley, Mila, Uncle Ryan and Aunt Cassie.

Saturday morning I went to a baby shower for a dear friend (can't wait to meet baby Sutton!) while Hudson played with Nonna. That afternoon we did a little shopping and played with his new water table. Little man was being really fun when he was eating dinner that night - crazy little boy!