$h*t people say

when you are pregnant...

-I was politely holding the elevator door open for a lady who was carrying a purse, a smaller cooler and pulling two rolling suitcases.  When she stepped on the elevator I said "You've got your hands full".  She looked down at my waistline and said, "You've got your belly full".
-We were grocery shopping one evening and Ashlyn wanted to ride in the cart that has the car in front of it.  Halfway through the shopping trip, she escaped and was running around the store with Chance leaving me to maneuver the extra large buggy with a wide turning radius, through the busy aisles of the grocery store...on a Sunday. One gentleman looked down at the empty car in the front of the buggy, my belly and my struggle not to knock over the display and said, "Are you just practicing, or what?".
-One of the housekeepers at work whom I hadn't seen in a month or two said "Kristi, is that you?  I didn't recognize you being so (puffed out her cheeks and rounded her arms out by her side) and all!"
-One of our therapy techs said "I think Jennie (a co-worker who gave birth a few weeks ago) was as big as you are when she had her baby".
-My lovely husband commented "You look beautiful tonite, for a pregnant woman."

Awesome :)!

I don't mind my ever growing waistline one bit...being pregnant is truly one of the greatest blessings I could ever ask for.  There really is no comparison.  I remember actually missing being pregnant after Ashlyn was born.  I get a chuckle out of these funny comments and want to keep track of them.  I will add more as I get them!  Now, off to curb my sweet tooth!

At the carwash

For some reason that song was stuck in my head today as we waited for our car.  Snapped a quick pic of my cutie pies while we waited.  

Love these 2 so much!

80 degrees in February too!

Lots of playtime at the park lately!  Ashlyn and I will stop by and play for a few minutes on our way home from school.  We just can't resist when the weather is 75 and sunny!  Here are a few photos from our fun afternoons!

yummy yogurt!

24 week check-up

We had another sonogram at our appointment today to check on the baby's kidneys.  They are still mildly dilated (one is 0.4 mm and the other is 0.45 mm).  Our doctor still isn't concerned about it at this point.  It is encouraging that it didn't get worse, but we wish it had gone down.  We will be seeing a Perinatologist for a more in-depth sonogram in a few weeks just to make sure there isn't something we are missing.  Depending on what information we get from that appointment, we may meet with a pediatric Urologist.  Apparently this is more common with boys for some unknown reason.  Sometimes when a baby has kidney dilation in utero there is an increased risk for kidney reflux after birth.  Other than that, the sonogram looked great!  He is measuring a little ahead of schedule.  Based on the measurements from the sonogram he weighs 1 lb 11 ounces and is in the 74th percentile!  I am also measuring ahead of schedule at 28 cm (usually that measurement parallels how many weeks pregnant you are give or take 2 cm)!  And despite my mom's dream, he is still a boy!  My mom had a dream I gave birth and he came out a girl!  He wasn't cooperating for a good profile picture or close-up of his face, but he definitely showed us that he was a boy!  He is getting more active and his kicks/punches are strong enough to be seen on the outside now!  I am still working for now and getting my weekly injections.  We are going to revisit the working situation at my next appointment when I hit the 3rd trimester.  I think that was about it.  Can't believe we will be a family of 4 in 3 1/2 months!  So exciting!

Happy Valentine's Day

We started celebrating Valentine's Day on Saturday!  We dropped Ashlyn off with Gma, Gpa and Aunt Sarah and Chance and I headed out for a date night.  We went to Ft. Worth and had a wonderful dinner and then headed to Bass Hall for Monty Python's Spamalot.  We had a blast!  Sunday morning, Gma and Aunt Sarah helped me with some Valentine's "crafts" for Ashlyn's classmates and teachers at school.  It turned out to be a little more work than I anticipated (par for the course with me and crafts) so I was so thankful for the help!  We had a great Valentine's Day, just hanging out at home after work and school.  Chance made an awesome pot of chili...nothing says I love you like heartburn!  Here are some pictures from Valentine's Day 2012.

Pretzel Buttons for her teachers
Thanks Pinterest!

Mailbox Valentine's with snacks for her friends

I made breakfast before I left for work

All dressed up for school!

Peeking in on her classmates 

Ashlyn's Valentine 

Ashlyn and Daddy 

Sporting her new jammies

Silly girl-part II

I was hanging some clothes up in the closet and Ashlyn closed the door on me.  Here were a few shots from our peek-a-boo session.

Silly girl

I had Ashlyn's nap mat spread out on the couch because I had washed it for school.  She had to have it down!  I wasn't sure we were going to be able to get her off of it for bedtime.  Maybe this is the trick to getting her out of the crib?

Ashlyn's 1st haircut

I finally convinced Chance to let me get Ashlyn's hair cut trimmed!  I just wanted it cleaned up and shaped up a little bit.  When I pick her up from school, her bangs are hanging down in her eyes and she looks like a cute scraggly mess!  I thought a little trim would look nice.  Chance has been dead set on letting it grow long and I agree...I want her to have long hair too, just with a little shape to it.  I finally got his approval!  We took her to this cute little salon that specializes in kid's cuts because I really wasn't sure how she was going to do.  She wasn't too sure about it all, but Aurora was really sweet and I think it went as well as could be expected.  No tears were shed, but I didn't get any smiles either.  She got a certificate, a baggie of her locks and a prize when she was finished!

Aurora gave Ashlyn her first haircut 

Watching the movie

She was trying so hard to hold it together,
but she really wasn't sure about this cape!

Blowing a few bubbles as a distraction from the cape

Getting started

Watching another little boy get his haircut too 

We weren't getting any smiles!

Had to pull out the paci for the blow drying 

Ashlyn and Aurora
Thanks Aurora! You were wonderful! 

Getting her prize

Her prize was a very age inappropriate maraca that was a huge choking hazard!

The paci monster

Who shot J.R.?

Ashlyn and Chance ran into Larry Hagman this morning on their way to school.  And not a moment too soon! They are finished filming and he is moving out this weekend.

Whooah, we're (over) halfway there!

5 down, 4 to go!  And we are both growing!  I had my third injection this week.  So far, the only side effects I have noticed are hot flashes which are accompanied by a slightly nauseated/dizzy feeling and a tingly sensation throughout my body.  It almost feels like my blood pressure is high, but I have checked it and it isn't.  Since hypertension is a risk, I think I will keep monitoring it just to be on the safe side.  The peanuttiest has started becoming more active and his punches and kicks are strong enough to be felt on the outside!  Chance felt him kick for the first time last Friday night!  I have started looking around for bedding for his crib.  Our goal is to have Ashlyn out of the crib by the time he arrives.  I have, on a few occasions, had a slightly uncomfortable sensation in my right flank which makes me a little nervous because it is reminiscent of the horrible kidney pain I endured when I was pregnant with Ashlyn.  It goes away within a few hours, but leaves me a little on edge.  I hope and pray I don't have to go through that this time around.  I am a lot bigger than I was with Ashlyn and I am quickly approaching the time frame of when it occurred, so I am holding my breath!  Other than that, things are moving right along!  We are still working on a name for this little guy, but I promise we will share it as soon as we make a decision!  Here is a shot of this ever growing belly!

21 months old

I can't believe she is almost 2!  And wow, is she growing up!  Since there is not a well visit at 21 months, I am not exactly sure how big she is.  We have a few follow up appointments this week so I am sure they will weigh and measure her then.  At our last visit, she weighed 22 lbs.  She is wearing 18 month clothes, size 4 diapers (which she has been in for quite some time now) and size 4 shoes.  Her hair is getting longer and has some soft curls in the back.  It is darkening up a bit and has some red hues in the sunlight.  Her eyes are still blue, but have darkened a little as well.  She has 4 new pearly whites that have finally broken the surface, which gives her 16 teeth!  She has her first dentist appointment scheduled in March.  She will also have her annual (slightly late) check-up with the cardiologist for her EKG and echocardiogram to follow up on her atrial septal defect.  I am really hoping that it has closed up so that we can check that off our list.  We also have her post-op follow up appointments with the ENT and plastic surgeon this week.  She is in the midst of a cold and so far I haven't seen any drainage from her ears.  I am really hoping the tubes are doing their job.  She has been off the Propranolol (for her hemangioma) for 3 weeks now!  This is the first time since she was 6 weeks old our bedtime routine hasn't included a dose of medicine!  Once all of the swelling and bruising went away from her laser treatment, her cheek looked really good!  Since we stopped the medication, we feel like it has darkened up just a little bit, but they expect 10% rebound growth at that time.  Overall, it does look better than it did before the treatment.

Ashlyn's routine hasn't changed much.  She gets up between 7-8 and has breakfast with her daddy.  They usually get to school around 9 which is snack time.  They do their morning activities and then have lunch at 11.  After lunch is nap time and that is one area she has improved...she is consistently taking longer naps.  Nap time is until 2 then they have another snack.  They do their afternoon activities and I pick her up at 4:30.  She used to run straight to me when she would see me at the door.  Now she likes to show me what it was she was doing before I interrupted!  I have mixed feelings about that...it makes me so happy that she likes school, her teachers and friends so much but makes me a little sad that she doesn't drop everything for my hug.  I guess these are all signs that she is growing up.  Dinner time is 5:30-6:00.  We usually eat dinner at her little table these days.  We play a little more before we start our bedtime routine (bath, books, brushing hair and teeth and bed!).  She usually hits the sack between 7 and 7:30.  We turn off the lights, turn on the sound machine and her twilight turtle, say our poems and prayers and she snuggles up without a peep.  While she is falling asleep without a problem these days, she is having trouble going back to sleep if she wakes up.  She usually ends up in bed with us at some point during the early morning.  I figure we are going to have a big enough battle on our hands very shortly as we transition to the toddler bed so I just go with it for now.  The weekends aren't quite as structured, but we try to stick as close to her routine as possible.  

What's new at 21 months?  Ashlyn is running now and I swear her balance has gotten better since she got tubes.  She doesn't fall nearly as much as she used to.  She tries to jump, but doesn't get much air unless she is holding on to something.  She loves to dance!  She isn't climbing quite as much as she was there  for a while, which is nice.  She loves to play with her kitchen, dollhouse and ball pit. She is fairly independent and entertains herself pretty well.  She is stating to get more interested in baby dolls, barbies, books and TV.  If we are just hanging around the house, I put the TV on the Sprout channel and she will occasionally tune in.  She can now sort of blow her nose.  She also brushes her hair and teeth.  She is very helpful and will actually do what I ask her to do.  She throws away her diapers (wet only), puts away her dirty clothes, puts the soap/shampoo up after bath time, helps clean up her toys and will wipe up spills!  She likes to pick out her clothes (mostly shoes) and tries to help with getting dressed.  She still has a pretty limited vocabulary and points and grunts a lot.  We are really working on using more words, but haven't made a lot of progress. She talks all of the time, it just isn't intelligible.  She is just now starting to try to mimic words or sounds so hopefully that is a step in the right direction.  She is still in the throwing phase, but I have found she throws less food when we sit at the table versus her highchair.  She nods YES!  I think this is huge for an almost 2 year old.  It seems like no is usually the preferred word, but Ashlyn says yes all of the time.  And appropriately too!  And it is so exaggerated when she nods her head.  It is like she is really trying to get the message across.  She can drink out of a cup with very few spills and she loves to use a fork and spoon when she eats.  She can stab things with her fork and usually picks up pieces of food and places them on the spoon, but she can get the fork or spoon to her mouth with the contents intact!  She likes to play peekaboo, sing the "itsy bitsy spider" and attempt the hand movements and give five and knuckles.

Favorite things right now include:  cereal bars (some days that is all she will eat and she can put away 2 at a sitting), paper products...toilet paper, kleenex, paper towels, wipes etc, pulling clothes out of her drawers, helping with the dogs (putting them in their crates, giving them treats, feeding them), her pacibear when she is tired or in the car, making noise, riding her ladybug (her feet finally reach the floor...with shoes on), balloons and sitting in her chair from Aunt Nay Nay and Uncle John inside her tent.

Not so crazy about:  having anything done to her hair besides brushing it...no bows, clips, headbands or ponytails, having her diaper changed, having her nails clipped or nose suctioned, being carried when we are in a hurry, holding hands while she is walking and wearing shoes or socks.

A few things I want to remember about Ashlyn at this age:  she is figuring things out...I love to just sit back and watch her...you can literally see the lights going off!  If she has an "owie" and I kiss it to make it better, I have to kiss the other side too.  The sweet sound of her voice when she waves and says hi to most strangers we pass (including panhandlers on the corner), and it is usually more than once.  The way she blows on her food if it is too hot.  The way she "loves" her baby brother (pulls up my shirt and gives my belly kisses and puts her sweet check against it).  How she still sleeps on her belly with her legs pulled up underneath her with her feet crossed.  Her girly run with one arm swinging much more exaggerated than the other and elbows pulled back.  I could go on forever, but this post is lengthy enough!  I love you sweet peanut!

A few terrible quality pictures from the past 3 months that haven't made it to the blog yet!