Tuesday, December 31, 2013

weekly updates: 4 weeks to 13 weeks!

So I totally get that this might be crazy baby information overload, but I wanted to keep track of how I was feeling each week from the very beginning of my pregnancy. I have a little journal to write things down in too, but I like keeping track of details here on my blog as well. And I feel like most people's weekly updates don't start until the second trimester, when most people are starting to feel better. 

Long story short I wanted to share these here. If you make it through all the weeks you're a truly dedicated reader haha. And if you're not interested in pregnancy stuff just feel free to skip over these types of posts!


How Far Along? 4 weeks (positive test today!)

Size of Baby: Poppyseed

Gender: No idea!

Weight Gain: None, so using my weight from today as my 'before' weight.

Maternity Clothes: Umm, no. Took some before pictures this week, probably won't take more for a while until I actually start showing. I didn't show until around 16-18 weeks with Riggs so I don't really know when to expect a bump this time around.

Nursery: Baby will be in our room for first 6 months at least, and there's still a long way to go to get things ready :)

Movement: None, but this is probably one of the things I'm most excited for! I loved feeling Riggs swimming around in there!

Symptoms: As of today, not much except for swollen, tender breasts. Riggs still nurses at night so that has been a little interesting, but I'm sure it will get better soon. This was actually how I knew to test so early :)

Sleep: Right now I sleep through the night mostly, other than the nights Riggs wakes to nurse.

Cravings: Nothing yet!

What I Miss: Nothing yet!

Best Moment This Week: That moment of seeing that second pink line appear on the test :) I had to take a digital too to be sure, and I loved seeing the word 'pregnant' there on the screen. Steve and I are so excited, both to have another sweet little baby and to see Riggs with a sibling!

Looking Forward To: Telling my parents (they're on a cruise right now and don't have phone reception!) And announcing the pregnancy to all our friends. We're hoping to wait until 14 weeks to do so, right around Christmas :)



How Far Along? 5 weeks

Size of Baby: Appleseed (.13 inches)

Gender: No idea!

Weight Gain: None.

Maternity Clothes: Haha not for a long while (hopefully).

Nursery: no plans yet.

Movement: None.

Symptoms: Breast still a little tender and sore. Using the restroom more frequently. Feeling pretty bloated.

Sleep: Right now I sleep through the night mostly, other than the nights Riggs wakes to nurse.

Cravings: None.

What I Miss: Nothing yet!

Best Moment This Week: Telling my parents and sisters :)

Looking Forward To: My midwife appointment in a few weeks. I made it this week and it made everything feel more real!


How Far Along? 6 weeks

Size of Baby: Sweet pea (.25 inches)

Gender: No idea!

Weight Gain: None.

Maternity Clothes: Haha not for a long while (hopefully).

Nursery: Baby will sleep in our room for the first couple of months at least. Not buying anything until we know the gender.

Movement: None.

Symptoms: Literally today the morning sickness started. No throwing up, just severe nausea all day long - not fun at all. No interest in eating at all even when I feel hungry the nausea overpowers that. Luckily I still have pretty good energy during the day and have only noticed fatigue in the evenings. Riggs goes to bed at 7:30 so I'm free to lay around after that;) Been falling asleep (either in bed or on the couch) before 8:30pm nearly every night for a week. Also definitely using the restroom more frequently.

Sleep: Right now I sleep through the night mostly, other than the nights Riggs wakes to nurse.

Cravings: None.

What I Miss: Not being nauseas all day long and actually enjoying food. Good thing it's all for a great cause!

Best Moment This Week: Reality sinking in that I'm actually pregnant!

Looking Forward To: Feeling some relief from nausea.


How Far Along? 7 weeks

Size of Baby: Blueberry (.51 inches)

Gender: No idea!

Weight Gain: About one pound - I feel like I've gained 10 pounds with how bloated I feel!

Maternity Clothes: Haha not for a long while (hopefully).

Nursery: Not planning anything or purchasing anything (except maybe crib if there's a sale) until we know gender.

Movement: None.

Symptoms: Horrible nausea all day (and in the night if I wake up). Very bloated and full feeling all the time, even when I'm so hungry my stomach is growling. Noticing some blemishes popping up here and there on my face, boo. More frequent trips to the bathroom. Breasts feel completely back to normal.

Sleep: Right now I sleep through the night mostly, other than the nights Riggs wakes to nurse.

Cravings: No cravings, living basically on yogurt, cereal, toast and smoothies. Anything warm or any meat induces gagging and dry heaving. Cooking for Riggs and Steve is definitely a struggle right now.

What I Miss: Enjoying food :(

Best Moment This Week: Waking up one morning and not feeling nauseas or bloated for about thirty minutes. Then it was back to the new 'normal'...but those thirty minutes were amazing!

Looking Forward To: Feeling better.


How Far Along? 8 weeks

Size of Baby: Raspberry (.63 inches, .04 oz)

Gender: No idea!

Weight Gain: About one pound.

Maternity Clothes: Haha not for a long while (hopefully).

Nursery: Brainstorming ideas for after baby needs to move out of my room and into a shared room with Riggs.

Movement: None.

Symptoms: Same old story, maybe getting a little better in the mornings. Nauseas, bloated, and pretty much all foods sound disgusting to me. If I'm hungry/desperate enough to actually take a bite, they usually taste pretty good. Living on yogurt, cereal, pizza and salad with ranch dressing right now.

Skin seems to be getting a little bit better. Still using the bathroom more frequently. Still feeling thankful for normal energy during the day.

Sleep: Right now I sleep through the night mostly, other than the nights Riggs wakes to nurse. We've been sleeping in until at least 8:30 every single day and I have to say it is amazing and I'm very thankful for the extra sleep!

Cravings: Salad with Ranch. And towards the end of the week tacos (with just refried beans, no meat - it's a step in the right direction!) Also french fries.

What I Miss: Not being bloated, not worrying about health of little bean, and enjoying food. But feeling more positive about it this week than the last couple of weeks.

Best Moment This Week: Hearing baby's heartbeat at 8w6d with my Doppler. Nothing could sound sweeter, and tears just started sliding down my cheeks as I listened. I called Steve right away and he was able to hear it over the phone too. I purchased the Doppler when I was pregnant with Riggs and it has been one of the best baby items every purchased to date. It's so nice to be able to listen in to baby whenever I feel like it!

Looking Forward To: My first appointment with the midwives on Thursday morning. 



9 WEEKS
How Far Along? 9 weeks

Size of Baby: Green Olive (.09 inches, .07 oz)

Gender: Already dying to know!

Weight Gain: About two pounds, pretty sure it's the bloating. 

Maternity Clothes: Clothes are all fitting normally including jeans, which is nice. Don't expect to need anything for quite a while.

Nursery: Not worrying about this until we know gender.

Movement: None.

Symptoms: Actually starting to feel a bit better. Still a little queasy feeling from time to time and often really nauseas before going to bed at night. Skin has cleared up (yay) but I'm still feeling pretty bloated most of the time. Also, very emotional! Not too moody, but I tear up over nearly anything, from a sad commercial to an old picture of Riggs. 

Sleep: Still sleeping great and sleeping in (thank you Riggs!).

Cravings: Salad, tacos, cereal, rice crispy treats. 

What I Miss: Feeling nearly back to normal so I'm not really missing too much. If I had to pick something I would wish to feel less bloated!

Best Moment This Week: Getting to see baby during our dating ultrasound. It's such a miracle that a little tiny human being is growing inside of me!

Looking Forward To: Seeing a little baby bump emerge. I've heard you're supposed to show sooner with your second, so maybe I'll show before 20 weeks this time. 


How Far Along? 10 weeks

Size of Baby: Prune (1.2 inches, .14 oz)

Gender: no idea

Weight Gain: About two pounds, pretty sure it's the bloating. 

Maternity Clothes: Nope. Clothes still fitting normally.

Nursery: Same.

Movement: None.

Symptoms: Feeling a bit better as far as nausea, but developed a horribly sore throat this week. Hoping it goes away fast and that traveling for Thanksgiving doesn't make it worse!

Sleep: Still sleeping great and sleeping in (thank you Riggs!).

Cravings: Salad, tacos, cereal, and fruit. 

What I Miss: Can't really think of anything...

Best Moment This Week: Feeling better nausea wise. Also this week Riggs patted my belly when I asked him where baby was. I still don't think he really gets it, but it's still so sweet!

Looking Forward To: Going to Homer for Thanksgiving to visit family and friends.

How Far Along? 11 weeks

Size of Baby: Lime (1.6 inches, .25 oz)

Gender: Already dying to know!

Weight Gain: Back down one pound, so total weight gain would be one pound from pre-pregnancy weight. 

Maternity Clothes: Clothes are still fitting normally. 

Nursery: Waiting to know gender.

Movement: None.

Symptoms: None that are really pregnancy related, except for lack of appetite and a little nausea caused by the smell of certain foods. But I'm so sick:( It started last week right before we went to Homer, and then I was sick the whole time we were there and Riggs got sick the day we came home. Sore throat, horrible cough, no voice and then the fevers started over the weekend. I am pretty strict about not taking meds during pregnancy, but when my fever got up to 101 I took some tylenol to bring it down. Luckily my fever didn't come back, but Riggs suffered with a 102-103 fever for about two days and two nights. We're all pretty miserable around here.

Sleep: Sleeping ok when I'm not waking up to a coughing fit.

Cravings: Not a fan of much food right now. Trying to choke down cereal in the mornings at least. 

What I Miss: Wanting food. 

Best Moment This Week: Getting to see family in Homer and eat some Two Sisters biscuits and gravy (I wasn't too sick for that! yay!).

Looking Forward To: Feeling back to normal.


How Far Along? 12 weeks

Size of Baby: Plum (2.1 inches, .49 oz)

Gender: I have no idea but I an't wait to find out in January!

Weight Gain: lost another two pounds so I'm down to two pounds below my pre-pregnancy weight. 

Maternity Clothes: Won't need them for a while.

Nursery: Not really worrying about this for a long time (maybe even after baby is born ha).

Movement: None.

Symptoms: Still some nausea and lots of food aversions. Also still sick with a cough and this week I've been throwing up from coughing so much. But other than that feeling pretty good.

Sleep: Sleeping a little better this week.

Cravings: Nothing. Forcing down food at this point.

What I Miss: Some nights I do wish I could stay awake past 8:30, but the extra sleep is nice too I guess :)

Best Moment This Week: Getting out some of the Christmas decorations. We haven't picked out a tree yet but I'm hoping to later in the week.

Looking Forward To: Not being sick.


How Far Along? 13 weeks

Size of Baby: Peach (2.9 inches, .81 oz)

Gender: Steve told me this week he thinks it's a boy. I'm kind of leaning that direction too, but I really have no idea. A friend found out she's having a girl in May this week so that was exciting!

Weight Gain: Back up one pound to my pre-pregnancy weight.

Maternity Clothes: All my clothes still fit fine. When I do start to show most of my clothes will still work for a while since I have lots of long tank tops and cardis/zip ups. Plus most of the pants I wear during the week are yoga pants with plenty of stretch ha. 

Nursery: Still just Riggs' room.

Movement: None.

Symptoms: Slowly gaining back an appetite and getting more energy back. I'm still sick, but I think I'm finally feeling noticeably better. Hoping to get my voice back soon!

Sleep: Sleeping pretty normal again.

Cravings: Salad, fruits and crackers.

What I Miss: Feeling nearly back to normal so I'm not really missing too much. If I had to pick something I would wish to feel less bloated!

Best Moment This Week: We got lots of new snow and went out in the beautiful winter weather to pick out a Christmas tree from our yard. It's so nice to have it up and decorated, it truly feels like Christmas now.

Looking Forward To: Watching my teeny-little-only-noticable-to-me-and-maybe-Steve baby bump grow. 

Monday, December 30, 2013

a little announcement


Last Thursday I announced some exciting news on my Facebook and completely forgot to mention anything here. I have been completely checked out from my computer and subsequently from my blog for the past couple of weeks, and to be honest it's been nice. But this morning I woke up and realized how much I miss this space and it feels so nice to be back.

Anyway, I've been dying to share our baby news here for weeks and weeks and now I finally can! I'm due with baby number two on June 26, 2014! When I shared the photo on Facebook, I just wrote 'July', as I was late with Riggs and expect to be with this baby too.

It's funny because I have seen so many pregnancy announcements over the last couple of weeks, and personally have quite a few friends who are due in May and June. This spring is going to be a mini-baby boom I guess! I'll be posting over the course of the week to share my experiences with this pregnancy so far, and then I'll go to weekly/bi-weekly updates, depending on how busy my weeks are.

I'm so excited for the new year!

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

weekending

I can't believe it's Christmas Eve! We are so excited over here!

Steve has been home since Thursday and we have been in full Holiday festivities mode together as a family, it's been great. We've gone to Christmas parties and pageants and are looking forward to the candlelight caroling service tonight at church!

Friday Steve and I were feeling a little stir crazy around the house. We've really been wanting to see the Hobbit but didn't want to drive all the way into town and find a baby sitter for Riggs last minute, so we just decided to try going with him. I honestly had no idea how it would go, since he won't even sit and watch a movie at home. But it was his nap time, so I was hoping he'd sleep for most of the movie.


He actually did amazing! We grabbed him a booster and he sat on it for about the first hour, actually watching! We were cracking up as he laughed and said things (very loudly) like "oh, no!" when there was fighting. I was worried he'd be scared but he wasn't at all. He thought it was hilarious and he loved all the scenery shots in the movie. He got a little antsy after the first hour so I stood with him in the hallway/entrance and he got sleepy then slept the last hour+ of the movie. Despite how well he did, I think I'd like to go see it again with just Steve. I was watching Riggs so closely I missed a few things in the movie!

Saturday and Sunday we had snow non-stop, it was like a beautiful winter wonderland the entire weekend! And the temperature was pretty mild too, so we were outside quite a bit, going on snowmachine rides and skis around the neighborhood.


Monday it cooled back off and today it's just downright freezing, perfect for spending the days inside baking wrapping presents and baking yummy Christmas treats. We made fudge and Riggs loved 'helping' and licking out the pan. We also made spice cookies, Steve's favorite. I'm trying to get the energy up today to make sugar cookies, we'll see if it actually happens!


Riggs is very excited for Christmas and we are too! I can't wait to have my family over tomorrow for presents and yummy food and just some good old gabbing. I also told Steve this morning that I'm a little sad, since once tomorrow is past, it will be a whole year until it's Christmas again! It's come up so quickly this year and I was so sick for so long that I feel like I haven't gotten to soak it in as much as I usually do.

I hope you all have a lovely Christmas Eve and Christmas day, and remember to spend a some time thinking about the real meaning behind our celebrations. xoxo

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

a few of my favorite things

I was digging through my Pinterest Christmas board this morning looking for the instructions to some salt dough ornaments I pinned over a year ago and I got so distracted looking at all the pretty pins. People, I just love Christmas. It's truly a magical time of year to really soak up the blessings in our lives and celebrate the precious gift of life we've been given.

I thought I'd share some ideas that I just love so much and can't wait to add as new traditions in our home. Most of them are kid-centered, I just I think Christmas just becomes even more special once you have your own kids to celebrate with!

1 | Christmas Card Collection

As Christmas cards come in from family and friends, punch a hole in the corner and use a big ring to hold them together. Then store them near your favorite gathering spot, whether it's on the kitchen table or the coffee table.

I love this idea as I'm always struggling for new ideas to display all the photo cards we get. Last year I attached them to ribbons and hung them on the wall, which worked ok but we have put our tree in a different spot this year and so I don't think that will work for us this time.

How do you display all the gorgeous photo cards you get?






2 | A Family Christmas Album

Purchase a big scrapbook and fill it with photos, recipes, and other keepsakes from each year. Keep it out from Thanksgiving to New Year and enjoy looking back at all those special memories.

Joanna posted this idea on her blog and I just love it! What a fun way to spend those cozy evenings sandwiched between the twinkling Christmas tree and the fire.

On a side note, this is the second Christmas idea/tradition that involves a coffee table. I guess I really need to find one for our space!


Purchase some official stationary from Santa Claus to leave special messages and add a little extra magic to Christmas for your kids.

We never did the whole 'Santa' things as kids, but I have always loved Santa. I still believed in him even though my parents always told me he wasn't real and we didn't get any gifts from him. I remember playing out in the back yard and looking up into the stars to watch for Rudolph :)

I would love to leave notes for Riggs from Santa, and will probably get some of this paper as soon as he's old enough to understand a little better. 

I love the ideas listed here for how to dress both comfy and cute on Christmas morning. Especially as I get older and am included in more pictures, I want to look somewhat nice/put together even first thing in the morning.

I think both of these outfits are pretty realistic as far as something I'd wear, although most of the price tags are pretty steep for PJs ;) 

What does your family wear Christmas morning? Do you have any traditions about special Christmas PJs?
5 | Christmas List Ornament

Make a miniature version of your children's Christmas lists or letters to Santa and stash them away inside a clear ornament with the year painted on the outside.

Definitely doing this one, I just love it!
6 | Year in Review

I pinned this quite a while ago and forgot about it until I saw that Kenzie from The Ashcraft Bunch had made an adorable version of this for her own Christmas cards this year!

I just love this as a way of keeping friends and family up to date on what's been going on in your life without having to sit down and write out a long letter.

So cute!

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

oh Christmas tree!

Saturday we went out in the new snow to pick a tree. It was fun tromping around the yard and through the woods to look for the 'perfect' tree. Steve found one that would work, and cut it down and hauled it to the garage to thaw out.


Sunday after church and a (failed) Santa attempt, we came home and set it up and started decorating. We had Riggs play in his room while we put up the tree so he would be surprised. When he came out of his room his smile was soooo big. He just loved it! 

He was very gentle and listened well as we decorated it together while Steve watched football. He loved looking at all the ornaments as I took them out of the packages. He was our tinsel expert and put up nearly all the tinsel on the bottom half of the tree....


All of our ornaments are so special to me, as they were all given to me by friends and family who are dear to my heart. My dad's parents have always gotten us an ornament every year since we were born, and have done the same for Riggs since he was born. I loved looking at each ornament and remembering all the times I've put them up since I was a very little girl.

And it was so special and a little emotional to see Riggs' growing collection too. I just love Christmas and all the memories it brings!


It really feels like Christmas now in our house, and I'm feeling very, very blessed this Christmas. I can't wait to start the cookie baking, then it will both feel and smell (and taste!) very much like my very favorite time of year.

Monday, December 16, 2013

new snow and a skiing adventure

Happy Monday everyone! It's been snowing here for the last couple days and has barely stopped since it started. We are LOVING it! Friday, when it was just starting to snow, we went over to the Matanuska River Park for sledding and skiing.

For my fellow Alaskans who love to ski, the Matanuska River Park is a great place to take kids or to go and ski with dogs off leash. It's an RV park in the summer, but in the winter, they don't plow the roads and when the snow is deep enough they groom them for skiing. We just discovered it this winter, and have already made great use of it.

Anyway, Riggs has been loving his skiis, so we took him over to stretch our legs, throw the ball for the dog, and let Riggs practice his skiing. It was a blast! Steve also brought a sled and we had fun taking Riggs sledding down a hill for the first time! We actually bought a downhill ski helmet for Riggs at Costco last weekend, and we plan to use it for sledding in the future. Sledding accidents are really scary and can cause serious brain injury for kids (and adults too)!

skiing in the driveway while the truck warmed up:

 and at the Matanuska River Park trails:
 like his 'mittens'?
I put my wool socks over his little wool mittens
because I couldn't find his heavier mittens at the moment
why are mittens always missing?
(or is it just me...lol)

video of our little skiier:

He has been doing so good at skiing by himself.
The first couple of times we went he wanted me to hold his hand,
now he wants to go by himself, and he says "Go, go go" as he skis along.


fun sledding with mama and daddy:

I know it's been blizzarding all around the country, what have you been doing to get out and enjoy it?