It's a.....

We are so excited! Since I was convinced it was a boy, I actually have no names. Well, there's one that I like, but we haven't even begun to discuss, so who knows. You'll know when I know! I am thrilled. Evan is already a sassy bossy pants, now she's got a little sister to be in her corner. Poor Luke doesn't even stand a chance. Love my little family!

18 Weeks

How Far Along: 18 weeks

Size of baby: size of a sweet potato- CTR is about 5 1/2 inches (almost the length of my hand!)

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I don't know, I didn't think to weigh myself when I was at Mom's on Saturday. Actually, it's probably a good thing I didn't. My butt is visibly bigger (as in, a certain partner of mine even commented on it), and who knows what that's done to the scale.

Maternity Clothes: Yes. And yes.

 

Gender: I know I have said all along that it's a boy, but I do want to say that I will be just as thrilled with a girl. It's not that I want one more than the other- I don't think I'd be able to choose AT. ALL. I love both of my children exactly the way they are, and each one has such fun and unique aspects. I just FEEL like it's a boy. (whoa. I accidentally typed girl there. O_O What does that mean?!) If I were being totally honest, I think having a girl might be a little easier. She would be so close in age to Evan, that I think they could have a really close relationship. And I just know that this boy is going to be exactly like Jacob, which has me wondering about how the two boys will relate to each other. They are going to be such opposites. Which makes sense because their dads are such opposites. Cody is a tall, lanky laid back person with a complete "come what may" attitude. It's where Luke get's his supreme ability to do his own thing. They very much share the mentality of "That's nice what you are doing, but imma do this over here because that's what I wanna do." Jacob is average height, athletically built, and a Type-A who needs to be in the know and have a handle on situations.  

Movement: Still just faint flutters with they occasional bump. Not anything regular or definite. Come on. Any day now.
  

Sleep: Sleeping okay, getting up to pee or blow my nose is unfortunately becoming too regular.

 

What I miss: Meh. Not much.

 

Cravings: Flavored tea, pizza (well, really any Italian will satisfy), and hummus. Which is probably the oddest one of all the pregnancy cravings I've ever had, since it's not something I've ever eaten before.

 

Symptoms: Just the growing behind. And belly. Oh, and the belly itches. I put thick vitamin E lotion on it morning and night, but I still find myself absent mindedly scratching. Which is different than when I absent mindedly rub it. I do that a lot too.

 

Best Moment this week: The funniest was probably the morning that Jacob patted my belly (after not having physically seen me for a few days) and commenting about how big I'd gotten. Then proceeding to ask me if my belly was really going to get bigger every single day. Lord have mercy. Someone should send a list to new dads about things to never say. In the way of non baby funnies, I don't think I need to worry about my girl Evan. Ever. She and Luke were playing out in the yard, he was running around like a mad man and collided into her. She got the angriest look on her face and shouted at him "NO NO BUBBA. NO!" It's safe to say I think she'll be able to take up for herself.

 

Ordered this giant canvas for way on sale, and I finally have something more than Luke's 18 month picture on this wall. I LOVE how it turned out. And I also dare anyone to find cuter babies than what you see.

Lately

 Things have not been going well lately. I took Luke to the dentist for the first time last week, and it was bad. Now don't get me wrong- he did great. So brave, so cooperative, no fussing at all. I took him in because I could tell he had a cavity in one of his molars. Turns out, he has MUTLIPLE cavities in all but 4 of his teeth.  Ya'll. I cried. I've worked so hard at making sure my kids eat healthy, and I can count on one hand the number of times we've skipped brushing our teeth. The worst part was how much it's going to cost to fix it and the kids don't have dental insurance. I applied for financial assistance for him, but because he has regular (private) health insurance, he didn't qualify.

Then last night I had my a/c serviced. I knew he was going to tell me that it needed replacing, but what I didn't expect was that my furnace was absolutely unsafe to use. A crack in the heat exchange is causing unheard of high amounts of carbon monoxide to accumulate in the flu. So, before next fall it must be replaced. And my system is 31 years old, so pretty much I have to replace the entire thing (a/c and heater). That's going to cost only slightly more than Luke's dental work.

And now, before this turns into an even bigger pity party than the one I've been throwing for myself, lets just focus on the kids. Because, what else is there to do?

For Christmas I told Mom to get Luke a stomp rocket. After much back and forth about what it actually was, she finally found what I was talking about and did indeed place it under her tree for him. This past week it was finally warm enough (and he finally found it in the back of his closet) to take it outside and give it a go.

More like 50 million goes. It was a GIANT hit, enjoyed by all.

Last Tuesday was Luke's end of the year PTA program. I made sure the dress Sister up in a fun little outfit, and I have to say this dress is one of my new favorite things hanging in her closet. The bow detail on the back kills me!

 

He did great in the program- and by great I mean he did more than just stand there and look around.

 

Over the weekend, Luke's other grandparents took him out of town, so it was just me and my girl. The baby in my belly told me he wanted hummus (something I've never bought before), so Evan and I took a trip for some groceries and came home with roast garlic hummus. Believe it or not, she loved it just as much as I did.

And of course I had to get a picture with my babies on Mother's day this past Sunday. We had a lovely day of church, home for lunch, then dinner with Mom, Dad, and Grandmother. Despite how she looks in the picture, Evan was actually in a really good mood. She was her usual mischievous self, eating her half of the hamburger she and Luke shared, fries, ketchup by the handfuls (I wish I was joking), rice and veggies off my plate, then a popsicle for dessert. She flirted with the men that walked by, and only escaped the restaurant once (again, I wish I was joking).

Oh how I love them. I am so very glad, so very blessed, so very thankful that these three (you can see that baby belly trying to join in the picture!) call me Momma.

16 Weeks

How Far Along: 16 weeks

Size of baby: size of a avocado- CTR is about 4 1/2 inches

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Went to the dr yesterday, I'm up to 114 even. That's 3 lbs last month. Yikes!

Maternity Clothes: Yes for pants, mostly no for shirts. I am fitting into some shirts I've bought without them looking too baggy.

 

Gender: Still fully convinced it's a boy. I've made a list of boy names and got nursing pillow in grey today (for free! Shae has been passing on some awesome promo codes.) so I'll be able to applique his name on it like I did Evan's.

Movement: Just a couple of bumps here and there, nothing regular or even big. When the dr was listen to his heartbeat yesterday, we could hear him moving around a lot. Sounds like an active little dude!
 

Sleep: Counting my blessings that I've been sleeping just fine, in whatever position I want. It does help that I'm totally spoiled, having been single so long now, with having the whole bed to myself. No restrictions on how much room I take up!

 

What I miss: Really wanted sushi the other day.

Cravings: Flavored tea, and I haven't been able to turn down pizza.

 

Symptoms: Everything has seem to abated, sometimes I even forget I'm pregnant. Then I look down and realize I can't suck that in.

 

Best Moment this week: Getting to plan for the sonogram! The dr told me I could make my typical 4 week appointment with the sonogram, but I asked if I had to wait that long. She would only come down to making it in 3 weeks, but I'll take it! It's scheduled for May 30th!

Photo dump

So, I'll get my 16 week baby update posted soonish. Probably tomorrow. First I have to take the picture. Then I have to, you know, write it. In the meantime, enjoy a billion (okay, 9) phone pictures from over the last couple of weeks. (and that video I posted on facebook of Evan "singing" her ABC's? I can't stop watching it, and EVERY. TIME. she gets to the "lmnop" jumble I giggle. Every. Time.)

Two Friday's ago, on our way to small group, I noticed in the review mirror both children were miraculously wearing their sunglasses. Hey. She did it herself.

Look! Proof he has other things besides oxfords and polos! It's the hockey jersey Jacob gave to him, and he chose to wear it all by himself.

Saturday morning: Luke "playing" the guitar.

Okay, so I may have staged it a little. He was "playing" it, but more piano-style kneeling beside the couch.

 Papa spent a couple of days working with Luke on how to peddle his bicycle, and he's FINALLY got it! This is the bike he got last year for his birthday, and he may have already out grown it, but he was so. very. proud. of himself that he insisted on showing me how fast he could go. We walked around the block after dinner, and he did so good I nearly cried from the pride. For reals. Love him!

 This no dairy thing has been sad on some occasions  it's meant no cheese and no ice cream. (Luke has told me many times that when he grows up he's going to eat cheese on his pizza. I tell him every time that when he grows up, it will be his job to make his choices and that can be one of them.) I found some dairy free ice cream made with almond milk, and the kids were THRILLED. I wish I was kidding when I said by the end of her bowl, Evan was literally covered in chocolate. Face. Torso. Arms. Furniture. But she loved it.

Um, probably my new favorite picture. As if I couldn't love her more, I look at this and my heart just dies. 

 Made a little something for my girl. I thought I'd better get a picture like this since it's more than likely she won't be still enough for a picture of her actually WEARING it.

This past Saturday Evan came into my bedroom at the lovely hour of 6:15. Not cool. And she was grumpy. Totally not cool. Amazingly, she crawled up in bed with me, worked herself under the covers, snuggled up behind me, and fell back asleep. Look! She's asleep! And touching me! For an extra hour! This is literally a first.