Our FIVE year anniversary was pretty laid back, but here are some pretty pink roses (that have opened so beautifully since then) and a delicious Oreo Layer Dessert that helped us celebrate the big day.

In the last five years we have explored Costa Rica, started our first "real" jobs, moved three times, adopted a dog, had fun in NYC, been skydiving, swam with a sea lion, bought a house, visited Washington, DC, faced Eric's major surgery, welcomed Maddie into our family, and we have begun planning for Baby Boy's arrival.  Whew!  Can't wait to see what the next five years hold!

Well Operation Get Rid of Passer was a failure.  When I first snipped the tip of the pacifier it was rendered unsuckable.  Maddie had a difficult time going to bed that night.  The next morning when she woke us up at the lovely time of 5:30, she showed me her pacifier and told me, "Daddy cut it." I'm glad he took the blame for that.  :)  Since she could still chew on the pacifier, she was not willing to let it go.

A couple of days later I cut off even more, meaning if Maddie wanted the pacifier in her mouth she had to hold it there with her hand.  This did not make her very happy.  She still had a hard time going to bed and woke up SUPER early in a terrible mood.

Yesterday morning Maddie decided to give her pacifier to Baby Brother.  Awww. . . . Later that morning we went to the library and one of the books we checked out was Pacifiers are not Forever.  She had Eric read it to her three times before bed last night!  Maybe we were making progress?  When Eric put Maddie in bed he reminded her that she had given her pacifier away.  She fussed some, like we expected, but around 2 in the morning she had a total meltdown.

Earlier in the evening Eric and I had discussed the fact that her waking up ridiculously early (and in a bad mood) was taking a toll on  us.  Maddie is also anxious to move into her toddler bed since she saw us putting it together in the garage the other day.  We thought that if we put her in her toddler bed without a pacifier she would be out of it constantly and fussing at our bedside.  In addition to all of this, Eric is going to be leaving for a two week training soon and he didn't like the idea of me handling all of this craziness by myself.  So at about 2:30 this morning we caved and gave her an uncut pacifier.  She didn't get out of her crib until 7 this morning and she was absolutely, positively cheerful when I picked her up.

Does giving her pacifier back to her mean that it's going to be harder on all of us the next time we try to take it away?  I'm afraid so.  Eric is optimistic and thinks that when she's ready to give it up it won't be so hard.  I guess we'll have to wait and see.

23 Week Update

Size of baby: Baby Boy is 11.5 inches long and weighs over a pound, about the length and weight of a Harry Potter book.

Total weight gain/loss: +16 pounds, yikes!  I've started walking 2 miles with Lucy in the mornings.  Hopefully I can keep that up and it will help keep off some of the weight.

Maternity clothes:  For pants and shorts, yes.  Just like with my pregnancy with Maddie, I am able to get away with my regular tops, although I may be stretching them out a bit.

Gender:  Boy!

Movement:  A lot!  I don't remember Maddie moving around quite this much.

Sleep:  Pretty good.  I just need to go to bed earlier.

What I miss:  Not much.  I didn't do many of the pregnancy "no-no's" prior to being pregnant, so there's not a lot to miss.

Cravings:   Nothing other than the usual sweets.

How I'm feeling:  Not too bad, just a little tired.

Highlight of the week:  Settling on a first name for the little man.  :)

23 weeks, 2 days

So I'm just a little behind.  Here's what's been going on the last TWO weeks:

• We participated in VBS at our church.  Eric helped with recreation, I did registration, and Maddie went to the nursery.  Eric and I took her to the opening program each night thinking the music and videos would be exciting, but Maddie preferred to play with the offering envelopes and Bibles.  With the exception of one rough night, each time I picked her up from the nursery she was talking away and having the best time.  Next year she'll actually be old enough to be in a VBS class!

• Eric and I have been working to get everything ready for Maddie's Minnie Mouse birthday party.

• We went to the Fourth of July parade where we saw lots of horses and important people (or people who think they're important) riding in cars.

• Eric and I went on a mini vacation this past weekend.  This also happened to be the first time we have both been away from Maddie overnight at the same time.  On Friday evening we went to a murder mystery dinner.  It turned out to be a lot of fun.  Yes, the acting was cheesy, but the mystery required thinking to solve.  Saturday morning we attempted to sleep in; we made it until 7 AM.  That afternoon we toured Cowboys Stadium.  We attended a Rangers game with Chuck and Sarah that evening and thanks to the cool weather, it was probably one of the best baseball games I've ever attended.  Sunday morning we attempted to sleep in again, and this time we both managed to sleep a little longer.  I think we were both anxious to get home and see Maddie, so after brunch we headed back.

• Tonight is Maddie's first night without her pacifier, or "passer" as she calls it.  She only uses it for naps and bedtime, but with her second birthday coming up we decided it was time to get rid of it.  I read about several ways to encourage a child to give it up and in the end I chose to cut off the tip.  It did not go well.  She cried and cried and cried.  Those people online who said their child just said that the pacifier was broken and gave it up without a problem must be lying.  Over an hour after putting her to bed, she is finally asleep.  I can only hope that tomorrow's nap won't be so hard.

21 Week Update

Size of baby: Baby Boy weighs three-quarters of a pound and is 10.5 inches long from head to toe, about the size of a Clementine Izze.

Total weight gain/loss: +11.5 pounds

Maternity clothes:  I think I am officially into maternity pants.  Lately I've either been wearing dresses or a pair of super cheap maternity shorts I found at Ross.

Gender:  Boy!  Now to figure out a name. . . .

Movement:  Yes.  :)  The other night while I was reading, Baby Boy made such a forceful movement that I was able to see it out of my peripheral vision.

Sleep:  No complaints.

What I miss:  This doesn't really have to do with what I miss about not being pregnant, but it's come to my mind a lot lately that I miss the fact that my grandparents never had the chance to meet Maddie or Baby Boy.  Two of my cousins on my dad's side are also pregnant right now and we're all due within four months of each other.  I think my grandpa would have been tickled about all of the new great-grandchildren.

Cravings:   Although I've been eating a lot of sweets, I had my first craving for something specific a couple of weeks ago.  We were grocery shopping when a bag of powdered donuts caught my eye.  I'm generally very good about only buying what's on the grocery list, but I couldn't resist those.  I ended up eating four of them in the car on the way home!

How I'm feeling: I think what I thought was a pulled muscle might actually be sciatic pain.  When I change positions it's not uncommon for me to get a shooting pain.  I need to ask my doctor about it at my next appointment.

Highlight of the week:  Maddie kissing my belly and sharing her pacifier with baby brother by holding it up against my belly.  Most of the time I don't think she understands all of this talk about a baby brother, but she did both of those things without being prompted, so who knows!

21 weeks

When we were looking to buy our house we didn't pay too much attention to the backyard other than to notice it was a nice size.  Lucy was the only one who went outside regularly and she obviously had no complaints.  :)

Last spring when Maddie was old enough to enjoy being outdoors we looked at our yard a little more closely and realized just how bad it was.  There were two small dead trees, some out of control bush-like things, and a million weeds.  Wanting Maddie to have a yard to play in, we sprayed the weeds, pulled some of them up, raked the yard, and put out grass seed.  We also dug up one of the trees and planted a new one.  A few months later we once again had a yard full of weeds and our new tree wasn't looking so great.  The super hot summer with very little rain didn't do much to help us out.

This year we decided to try again, with a little more effort on our part.  Eric cut down one of the dead trees and dug up the other.  He also cut down the bush-like things.  We sprayed the weeds, pulled some of the large ones, and then Eric tilled the entire yard a couple of times.  Some stinky compost was added, the yard was tilled some more and then we put out grass seed.  A new tree was planted along with some rose bushes.  We've been super diligent about watering and in a little less than three months our yard has gone from this:

to this:

Maddie has spent so much of her time on the patio that it's taking her a little while to warm up to the idea of actually walking on the grass, but she's beginning to venture out there more and more.  Yay for a nice lawn for Maddie and Baby Boy to play in!

"How you doing, Lucy puppy?"

When did my baby start talking in complete sentences?!