Mischief

You know how I have said at every age that *this* age was my favorite age for Barrett? Yeah, I am not sure I'll be saying that about 19 months. Sigh. It's not that he's not fun - oh, he is. He can laugh and play, hide, giggle and tease. It seems like he comes up with new words every day and he's so proud to use them. He's definitely a lot of fun and makes me laugh constantly with all the funny things he does.

But with that fun has also come a definite rebellious side and a short fuse. He is really into testing boundaries these days and one of his favorite games is called Disobeying. Spend an afternoon with us and he'll show you how much fun this game can be - for one of us anyway!

Here's a snapshot of a few instances from this weekend:
me: "Barrett, the chalk needs to stay on the patio." little legs run to the pool - splash! as the chalk goes into the pool.
me: "we need to keep our food on our tray." thud! as the sippy cup hits the floor.
me: "Sweetie, we need to keep our shoes on in stores" and "we need to stay close to mommy and daddy in stores" then smack, smack smack! as little bare feet run away at the furniture store.

And he knows he's disobeying too, he gets the little mischievous look in his eye and I see the wheels turning as he comes up with the Plan.

And when he's unhappy - woo, he lets you know. It's an instant screech, a tantrum complete with back thrusting, wailing and flailing. All eyes were on us at the furniture store over the weekend as this child had a full-fledged meltdown in his daddy's arms because he wasn't allowed to run around the store with bare feet.

It's a tough age we're in. There's lots of frustration as he can't communicate with us necessarily what he wants. He wants freedom and a chance to explore, but he's not yet gained common sense, so we have to stay after him at all times, which is frustrating for him and exhausting for us. He's still a picky eater, which leads to a lot of mealtime meltdowns, when he doesn't like what he's given and shows this by crying and throwing food. And he definitely wants to exert his will and test limits.

Unfortunately, I think this is new territory that we're entering here and we need to figure out discipline and rule enforcement. It is hard, because we don't see him more than a few hours every weekday and I hate to spend that time being Sergeant Mommy, but I also don't want to raise a little hellion either!

On the plus side, when the angel on his shoulder is winning, he is just the sweetest, funniest little thing. He recently learned to say thank you and please, so whenever I give him something, he says "thank you, momma" with a big smile (which sounds like "tee tee, momma"). So if I'm slicing strawberries, each time I give him a few slices, he says it and is so proud of himself as I keep telling him "you're welcome, baby." It's pretty stinking cute!

Weekend review - Sunday

Sunday was spent with Tim working on his car and me and Barrett playing outside in the pool, drawing with chalk and grocery shopping. It was sweltering here this weekend, like 93 both days, so we couldn't spend too much time out in the sun.
Barrett doesn't quite get the pool concept though. My idea - sit quietly and enjoy the cool water and sunshine. His - throwing everything in the vicinity into the pool, hopefully to make the biggest splash possible, then laugh hysterically. By the end of the day, the items in the pool had been: 5 plastic stacking cups, 3 pieces of chalk, 2 red buckets, 2 water bottles, 2 hats, 1 orange watering can, and 1 kiddie lawn chair. This kiddo is all boy.

We were tired but rallied to make a yummy dinner and ate on the patio, which we definitely haven't been doing enough this summer. I made a cilantro dip for an appetizer, recipe found here. This recipe is delicious. I made it for the first time a few years ago when I was searching for what to do with the cilantro in my garden and have made it a few times since. It always gets rave reviews when I make it for groups. So I had to whip it up again yesterday for us. I also made a pasta salad and spicy flank steak, recipe passed to me by my sister (only I use a lot less spiciness in mine). The only thing that would have completed the dinner would have been a chilled glass of pinot grigio. Sigh.

Weekend review - Saturday

Oh, what a busy weekend we had! We finally made some progress on starting to get things ready for baby #2.

We started out Saturday by hunting for a dresser and nightstand for Barrett's room, so that we can move his current furniture into the guest room. I love to shop, but furniture shopping is just not my favorite. I always struggle because I know what I want and it's just so hard to find what I have in mind. My style is pretty classic, I like dark woods and traditional shapes. Is that so hard to find? You wouldn't think so, but it is. We had gone to several stores but hadn't seen anything that we liked in our price range. We were passing the Macy's furniture outlet, where I've never seen anything before, and made a quick decision that I'd just run in and take a quick look around and Tim and Barrett could wait in the car. Well we made a good call because it just so happened that there was a clearance going on because the location is moving in a few weeks. Right away, I saw a dresser I loved.

Unfortunately there was no matching nightstand so we went on to check out a few other stores. We didn't find anything else and I continued to think about the first dresser so we ended up going back later on in the afternoon to buy it. And it was marked down another $140 in just those few hours! We got a great deal on a beautiful dresser. Here is a similar one by the same manufacturer:
The only difference that I can tell is the legs are different and I like the ones on ours better. So great deal! Hopefully I can find a coordinating nightstand that will work with it.

I also spotted a gorgeous chair at the same store and convinced Tim how great it would look in our bedroom. We don't have a place to sit in the bedroom besides the bed and I've been wanting a chair to tuck into the corner for a while. So this was a great find. Yes, we're taking a big risk with a *gasp* ivory chair with two little kids, but the price was right and I loved it, so hopefully we can keep grimy little hands and faces (and paws) off of it.
I also ventured over to Homegoods to see if there was any sort of nightstand that might work to match the dresser. No luck with that, but I did find a great chest-type piece that I thought would be good on our upstairs landing. With losing a bedroom currently housing my off-season closing in the closet and in the dresser, I definitely am in need of some more storage so hopefully this can work to hold some of it. No pictures of it yet because it's still sitting in our living room, facing the wall, sadly. I also got 2 lamps for the nursery that we just gorgeous. We still need to get a nightstand and twin bed for B's room and of course the bedding for the nursery.
As if we didn't spend enough money on the chair, the dresser and the chest, I also decided we needed to drain our bank account for some baby clothes! I had gotten an email that Once Upon a Child was having their summer sale and most of their summer stuff was a dollar. That's what I'm talking about! So I managed to pick up a ton of things for kiddos. I have to admit that it's so fun to shop in two departments now. I got them both lots of stuff for next summer. I hope I'm guessing right on the sizes. It won't be such a good deal if I got the sizes wrong, but B's been pretty consistent as far as sizing and I'm assuming little girl will be similar. I got Barrett around 5 or 6 pairs of shorts, the same amount of polo shirts for next summer, and a bathing suit. He also got a little Fisher Price lawnmower too. I bought little girl probably around 20 (!) outfits for the next summers. I know it really is a big gamble to buy ahead so far, but I guess the most lost will be what, $20?, so I'll be okay. Plus, at least with a girl, you can throw a sweater or tights under a dress and make it work a little easier off-season too.

So that wraps up our Saturday! Whew! We were on the go pretty much all day, finally settled in for the day around 9pm with delivered pizza and the television. Exhausting but productive at least!

Pregnancy - 22 weeks

I'd really like to write weekly updates but I just can't seem to do this more than every other week. I know I'll regret it later, just like I regret not doing weekly journaling/pictures the first time around too. I love seeing these posts from other people and comparing my belly to theirs at each milestone, but I can't get myself in gear to remember to take enough pictures! I am trying try to be better.

Baby girl is about 11 inches and she now weighs about a pound. She is getting bigger and definitely making me get bigger while she's at it. I'm starting to feel more pregnant. You know, the pains along the side of my abdomen when I stand up too quickly, getting harder to bend over and pick up things, and the heaviness in the belly.

I'm also starting to get The Questions. You know, names, nursery, etc. I am realizing how far behind we are. I need to get on the ball as far as ordering a dresser, a twin bed for Big Bro, and starting to think about decorating. Why do I have the feeling this child will be stuck in the Pack and Play until she's a toddler? Oh, poor, poor second child! I have to try to motivate Tim to get ourselves to a furniture store and start shopping.


How far along? 22 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: hmm, maybe around 12, I'm guessing? maybe a few more than that.
Maternity clothes? yes. I somehow am still wearing non-maternity jeans, although there are only a few left that I can fit into and they definitely don't button. I am carrying very high, so I'm still getting away with the lower rise pants. It's so funny how something fits just fine one day and three days later just doesn't!
Stretch marks? None. I'm faithfully applying Palmer's belly butter to my belly every night. I know people say stretch marks are hereditary and it doesn't matter what you do, but I applied cream to them the first time around and avoided them, so I'm not going to mess around this time either!
Sleep? okay. I have started to really try to sleep on my side, rather than my back, since this is the time that it's recommended to change for improved blood flow. I do miss the back sleeping though...
Movement? A very active week for little girl! She definitely is making her presence known lately. I saw a few minutes of "I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant" on TLC the other night and I can't believe these women can disregard these movements. I'm only 22 weeks now but I am definitely feeling this active little girl rumbling and tumbling!
Food cravings? no change, still fruits
Gender? girl!
Belly button in or out? In. but flattening!
What I miss: buttoning my pants
What I'm looking forward to: getting the nursery started. But what I'm not looking forward to: cleaning out the guest room and closet!
Milestones: another appointment this week - baby's heartrate was 140 and music to my ears.

Feisty

This little girl is much, much more active than I remember her big brother being at this stage.

She rumbles and tumbles and play around in my belly as I sit at the computer at work, talk on the telephone on my drives home, and lay in bed, waiting for sleep.

Every poke is stronger than I expect and makes me jump and sometimes exclaim "oh!" with surprise.

For now, we have our own secret language that no one else knows about. I'm the only one feeling this, the only one that really has felt it so far. She plays the same game her brother did, where she's all over the place for me, but becomes shy and quiet when I call her daddy to come share in the action.

I don't know if I'm just more aware this time around of the movements or if she's giving me a little hint of her personality. But the way she's dancing and tumbling in there makes me very anxious to get to know her. I have a distinct feeling that this little girl will be no wallflower, will not be a shadow to anyone.

Social butterfly

Since Barrett's been in daycare, there's been a little girl in his class just 3 weeks older than him. The two of them have grown up together since he was 12 weeks and it's been so much fun to see them grow and learn and now play together.

We and her parents have been getting to know each other too. They just welcomed their second baby girl this weekend so we're very happy for them and their growing family!

The daycare women joke that the wedding planning has already started for these two. They are just as cute as can be together!



And a few weeks ago we went to my friend's twin girls 1st birthday party. I didn't get any pictures of the kiddos together unfortunately. There's such a big difference between 12 months and 18 months that the kids weren't really interested in each other. What Barrett was interested in were the car and train tables! We could barely get him to leave them the entire party. Although he looks somber here, I swear he was having fun!

My good friend Jen, who I wish we saw more of!
And the YUMMY cupcakes!

Pregnancy - 20 weeks!

Right now the baby is about 10" long from head to feet and 6.5" long from head to rump and weighs around 10.5oz. She seems so big compared to the poppyseed she seems like she just was. (It's still so weird for me to type/think "she"!)

How far along? 20 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: around 10 lbs. I felt like this was a lot when I saw that on the scale this morning until I got my weekly pregnancy email update and it said a 10lb gain at this point was right on target. And that I should expect to gain about a pound a week from here on out. Dreading the chubby mcchubberson phase again!
Maternity clothes?A mix. I'm still somehow pulling off the regular jeans but those days will be ending soon as they're getting more and more uncomfortable.
Stretch marks? None and hopefully they stay away!
Sleep? okay, I just can't seem to get enough
Movement? Yes, definitely stronger movements
Food cravings? fruits and veggies still. I had Olive Garden this week and the breadsticks and salad were amazing. Oh, and golden double-stuffed Oreos. But really that's the baby craving those, not me. And who am I to deny her what she wants?
Gender? girl!
Belly button in or out? In
What I miss: it's getting harder to pick up Barrett but it's tough for me to think about decreasing that.
What I'm looking forward to: decorating a little girl nursery
Milestones: Being halfway to meeting this baby!

This week I went to Carters and usually have averted my eyes from the little girl side of the store, because it always made my heart ache for a little girl. But this time I got to shop in that section! I bought a few adorable little girl outfits and even Tim admitted the girl clothes are awfully cute.

I got a call from the doctor this week about last week's ultrasound. She said I have a low-lying placenta again. I had this with B too. So I'll need to have a follow-up ultrasound around 32 weeks to check and make sure it moves. Fingers crossed that it does.

Other pregnancy milestones of the week: I have hired a doula to assist with the labor. I am really going through a lot of stress thinking ahead to the labor and delivery and want to be sure that I take as much control of the situation as I can to avoid the same issues I had last time. I'm really looking forward to having another advocate on my side for any obstacles that I may face in a few months.