Pregnancy Update- 27 weeks

Today I am 27 weeks....hello 3rd trimester! 

I can't believe how much faster the pregnancyseems to go when it is your 2nd all those normal aches and pains of pregnancy have def snuck up on me and I feel like they have all started way sooner than when I was pregnant with Harper. 

I wake up between 2 and 4 times a night to go pee, I am constantly switching from one side to the other throughout the night- with all my pillows; one in between my legs and one for my arms and one for my head. Haha. 

I think the baby is back pretty far because I feel her kick and it seems like she is kicking my spine. My tailbone is killing me and I have had a lot of sciatic nerve pain too. But I would take all of this anyway over being nauseous! 

When Harper was born she measured at almost 23 inches and I am pretty sure this little girl is going to be long too because my ribs have already been hurting. 

My weight gain has gotten much better and at yesterday's appintment I had gained 15 lbs! 

I have been so happy for this warm weather we have had because I can be so much more comfortable in dresses and shorts! 

Harper is so sweet with my belly, she loves to talk and hug her little sister and is always telling her she loves her. It just melts my heart! 

We have a name picked but we aren't announcing it until she is born. I am so excited to meet her and still can't believe we are going to have two kids! 

~Easter 2014~

We had a wonderful Easter and I am so blessed to have a family and in-laws who like each other and all get along! It has always made holidays so much easier because we can have one big get together with both families rather than having to go to multiply places.

This year we went to church in the morning and then got together with both families. It was perfect weather, we had amazing food and Harper and my nephew Jack got to do their first Easter egg hunt together. 

Harper (who I don't let eat sweets usually) had her first donut hole at church. She seriously savored it and was munching it for about 25 mins! Haha 

Our family 

My gorgeous mom and sister.

My sissy Hannah (people think we are twins ALL the time even though we are 2.5 years apart! 

Jack and Harper- they are only two months apart and absolutely adore each other! 

Since I don't really let Harper eat sweets I filled their eggs with craisins, Pirates Booty (her all time favorite snack) and Puffs baby snacks. They alreay had a blast hunting for their eggs but when they realized there was stuff inside they got REALLY excited! 

My whole family 

Hope everyone had as great of a day as we did! 

Bedtime Drama

Spring is officially here! Though we don't get much actually spring weather (it's been in the 90's all week) I am absolutely loving it and welcoming the change as it has been a pretty crazy last week or so. The warm weather makes me feel extra happy and I am very glad to be wearing some summer clothes since most of my winter things don't fit this preggo belly very well now.  

The last week and a half has been very rough with Harper. She has been in her big kid bed for a little while now and was doing great until last week. At nap times she started freaking out, screaming, crying hysterically, yelling "mama mama". I was kind of at a loss as to why she was acting like this since she has always been a great sleeper! It also is especially difficult when I have to nanny in the afternoon and she only has a certain amount of time to sleep but takes an hour or so do actually fall asleep. 

The second day of her tantrum (1 hr and 15 mins) at nap time, a day where we had to be somewhere in the afternoon, I decided to put her in the car and see if I could get her to fall asleep by driving around. Well we didn't even have to drive for 5 mins before she passed out. I went back home and carried her to her bed where she slept for her normal amount of time. In all of her 19 months if life I had NEVER had to drive her to fall asleep. 

The next day was just as bad and we had to go to work again so I drove her to sleep again.

That night she woke up at 2:45 in the morning and was very upset, I brought her into our room since Kyle was at work and she WOULD NOT go back to sleep until a little before 6am when I took her for a drive. By this point I was so emotionally and physically exhausted having a few terrible days of naps already before this. 

I really didn't want to start the habit of driving her around to sleep so thankfully the next day I didn't have to work and then it was the weekend and I had this whole week off to work on sleeping with her. 

Kyle came home from work that next day too and I think having him here to say goodnight at nap and bedtime really helped. I also gave her tylonal before bed in case it was her teeth hurting. 

Things on most days have been better since last week...today however she was pretty hysterical again at nap time and just wanted me, but she finally fell asleep after about 45 mins of crying and screaming. It's so sad to listen to but I know I can't drive her to sleep every day. 

Things as a parent can be tough but nothing lasts forever. I am so thankful for the friends and family I have to help and are there for support! 

Any other moms out there have a similar experience where all of the sudden your child didn't go to sleep well? I would love to hear about it, what you think it was from and if it got resolved? 

Harper was sick the last couple days so I was so happy for us to take a little stroll this morning, spend some fun mommy/daughter time together and enjoy this great weather! 

I am obsessed with this new outfit of hers!! Romper and adorable gladiator sandals are both from Target. 

Pregnancy Update- 20 weeks

I am loving that I have a blog for this pregnancy because I am writing down so many more things than I did when I was pregnant with Harper. 

I am not the kind of person to take the time to fill out a pregnant book or even keep a baby book. (Sad I know) I use a great app for Harper's baby book instead called Moment Garden and you can upload photos, videos and stories right to it! 

Yesterday we had an ultrasound for my 20 week check up. The baby is still a girl (haha since we did the gender check at 14 weeks I wasn't sure if maybe they had gotten it wrong) and everything looks good. 

I finally am showing more now and Kyle felt the baby move for the first time last night. I officially don't fit in my size 28 pants anymore (boo hoo) and am anxious for summer to be here so I can start wearing dresses and skirts and lose shorts) I have gained 7 lbs so far which is good because at my last apt 2 weeks ago I had only gained 3lbs and they said I need to gain more. My mom said she was the same way with both her pregnancies and it's how I was with Harper too- but she came out just fine. I eat normal, several meals throughout the day. No cravings, just enjoying fruit and salads extra lately! Also Mexican food, which is pretty normal for me too. 

I am getting more excited about having another girl because I know her and Harper will be so close and have so much fun together being only 2 years apart. I seriously feel like this baby is going to be Harper's little twin. Even in the ultrasound yesterday we got some pics that are almost identical to ones we have of Harper at 18 weeks. A thumbs up, the one of the spine perfectly curved and some other that I swear look like Harper! I am so curious if this baby will be similar in size to Harper too. (The dr had estimated that she would be 6.5 lbs when she was born and she came out 8lbs 7oz 😳) I was definitely surprised! The nurse said te baby was in a weird position yesterday too and Harper was the same way at that time! 

Harper got Kyle's blue eyes, my hair color as a kid and dimples that no one knows who they are from. Her skin tone is pretty pale more like mine, whereas Kyle's is much darker. I am so curious if Harper and baby will look alike or not! (Harper had jet black hair for her first few months) I think they will look similar but Kyle thinks the baby will get the darker features; his tan skin, my hazel eyes and a little darker brown hair...guess we just have to wait and see! 

I still can't believe we will have two kids soon! Harper loves to kiss my belly, talk to baby and as soon as the nurse printed the pictures after the ultrasound yesterday Harper started kissing them. It was so sweet! 

I am so thankful for this amazing family I have been blessed with! Thanks for reading....until next time....

Xoxo

Passed Down

I have never been a sentimental or emotional person. I don't save things unless I need them, I don't feel sad over things that I used to have. Because of this I never would have thought I would have loved it so much that my mom saved different clothes and accessories that my sister and I wore as kids. 

However as my mom has started pulling out different bows, clothes and shoes that either my sister or I used to wear, I think it is so fun and special that Harper gets to wear those things too! 

There will always be clothing that will go out if style and you will wonder, why was I ever wearing that, but I definitely plan on saving a few of my favorite things from all my kids to pass down to their children one day. 

Many people save jewelry, wedding dresses or other expensive items, but I think some of the simple day to day things can be most fun because they can be worn or used often! 

This bow is in so many of our pictures as kids. I wore it and then my sister did too, and now Harper is using it. 

I encourage everyone to set a few things aside that you can pass down to the next generation! With Harper as a recipient of those things that my mom saved I can tell you how much fun it is! 

Bow: mine

Shirt: Carter's 

Sweater: H&M 

Pants: Target

Shoes: hand me down 

Big Girl in Her Big Bed

We moved Harper from her crib to a twin sized bed five days ago. Surprisingly it has gone MUCH better than I anticipated. 

She has never tried to climb out of her crib before and has always slept so well in it that I was worried the change of a bed where she could get out on her own, wouldn't be a good change. 

With the baby do in August, just 5 days before Harper's 2nd birthday I have felt like I needed to do some of those things that are normally done closer to two years, early so that she wouldn't regress when baby comes. 

We took the pacifier away about month ago and things are all better from that now too. 

Harper is in a twin sized bed with a railing on the side that is not against the wall. We set the bed up about two weeks before she actually slept in it and I think the excitement of the new bed helped the transition. Every time she saw it she would start yelling, "new bed, new bed, new bed!" 

A few days before I had her sleep in the bed I started going over the rules with her every time we were in her room. She has a light switch and a window with blinds on the wall that her bed is against. I kept constantly pointing to them and saying "no touch" until she was repeating it too and listening. I also told her that when she went to sleep in her new bed, she wasn't allowed to get out without asking mommy or daddy. 

I started with a nap in the bed for her first time sleeping in it. I sang her two songs which we usually do before bedtime at night, laid her down with her blankies and her little wind up lamb that plays music. I told her to close her eyes and that it was time to take a nap now. When I left the room I sat outside her door to listen to her. (We have a regular baby monitor but not a video one) I wanted to be close so that if I did hear her get out if bed I could go in right away and put her back. She whined and talked to herself for a couple mins then passed out! 

That same night she went to bed just as well (it helps at night that it is pitch black in her room so she isn't distracted by anything). 

Harper also sleeps with a fan in her room as a noise machine and it seriously helps SO MUCH! She doesn't get distracted by  or wake up from any outside sounds. I highly recommend that! 

So far she hasn't gotten out of bed on her own yet. She cries and calls for me when she wakes up. Nap times have been shorter since the paci was taken away but I am hoping as she adjusts to all this they wil get longer again. 

Most days for naps she will talk to herself for 15-30 mins before she falls asleep but if I go in and tell her to stop she usually listens and goes to sleep. 

It's definitely been a new experience as a parent with all this change as she is getting older. I just hope this next baby adjusts to things as well as Harper has! 

I think having the bed set up ahead of time and her getting excited about it, as well as going over the rules ahead of time really helped the transition! 

Hope this helps or encourages any other moms out there getting ready for this change with their little ones! 

Bye Bye Paci

The pacifier...that wonderful little tool that helps your newborn sleep at night, your infant fall asleep anywhere, your baby stop crying when they get hurt, your toddler cuddle with you...yes, that amazing little paci, that you one day have to take away. 

Well that day for us has come. Harper turned 18 months old a couple weeks ago and this past Friday the pacifiers went bye bye. 

Harper has always been so amazing with every change that has come her way. She weaned herself from nursing a week after her first birthday, she used a bottle sometimes when I pumped without a problem, she took to any kind of sippy cup right away and she has always slept perfectly for naps and night time. I just had a feeling that this paci thing was going to be our first real difficult transition. 

In the last few months she has become more attached to her paci than she ever was. Whenever she had one in her mouth she had to have another in her hand to play with. 

I decided to wean her now because I want her to be completely done with it by the time the baby arrives so that she doesn't want to have hers constantly like the baby will. Also, she talks so much and pushes it to the side of her mouth to talk sometimes and I don't want it to affect her speech. Lastly, I found in some of my research that the constant sucking can change the shape of their mouth and teeth. 

I was talking to another mom one day and she said that when she took her kids pacifiers away she cut off the tip of it rather than just taking it away completely, this way they loose interest when their sucking doesn't seem the same as before. 

So Friday afternoon after her nap I cut the ends off her two pacifiers. When bedtime came that night and she asked for them she laughed when she saw them and stuck them on the ends of her fingers. She looked a little confused and then cried for 7 mins when I left the room. 

I was so happy and thought that it was going to be smooth sailing. Boy was I wrong. Nap times have been terrible. She alternates from crying hysterically to talking to herself for about 45 mins before falling asleep for a MUCH shorter nap than usual. 

I think bedtimes have been easier since it's pitch black in her room and she has no choice but to fall asleep. Whereas with the naps it isn't as dark and is taking much longer! 

We are on day 4 of this and I am hoping it gets better soon. It's so sad and I know she misses them and we are all a little worn out!

Any suggestions or encouragement- bring it on!