13 Weeks

I'm going to attempt to revive my blog, in order to keep a journal of this pregnancy.  Hopefully I can stick with it!  :)

On February 26th I found out that I was pregnant.  I dressed Maddie in her big sister shirt (as seen in a previous post) and that is how Eric learned of the pregnancy.  Just like when I told him about being pregnant with Maddie, he asked me if this was "for real."  We decided to keep the pregnancy a secret until my birthday when we would announce it to our family.

March 8th was my birthday.  After going out to eat, we invited everyone over to our house for cake.  Eric said he wanted to take a group picture so everyone crowded around Maddie and me.  Eric took one photo, claimed my eyes were closed, and then secretly switched the camera to video mode.  Right before "taking the next picture," he said, "We're having another baby."  Unfortunately we didn't quite get the response we anticipated.  Apparently no one believed Eric.

On April 16th Eric and I went for my first doctor's appointment.  We got to see the baby wiggling around and hear the heartbeat which was around 180 BPM.  I thought the baby looked like a little gummy bear.  :)  When we were getting ready to leave, my doctor regretfully told me that the ultrasound machine was out of paper and the pictures of our little gummy bear were lost.  He said he owed me pictures at my next appointment.  I thought I was okay with that until I got home and realized that I would not have a tangible reminder of my pregnancy for another four weeks.  So, I called the next day and set up an appointment for the day after that.  Thankfully this time Dr. F simply did an abdominal ultrasound and I got to happily leave with a picture of Baby T #2 (see post below).

I think that pretty much catches you up to speed, so on with the weekly update.

Size of baby:  Baby T weighs nearly an ounce and is 3 inches long, about the size of a Nutter Butter.

Total weight gain/loss:  +2.5 pounds

Maternity clothes:  My regular jeans still fit.  I did wear a pair of maternity pants yesterday and although they were comfortable, I don't think I'm quite ready for them.

Gender:  We don't know yet and I don't have an intuition.  With that said, based on how I'm feeling (just like I did with Maddie) and the heartbeat of the baby at our first appointment (same as Maddie's), I'd guess girl.

Movement:  Too early.

Sleep:  Pretty good, minus the bizarre dreams.

What I miss:  Nothing.

Cravings:  No real cravings yet, although I have been eating a lot pizza.

How I'm feeling:  If you ask Eric he'd tell you I'm more tired than normal, but other than that I'm feeling good. Just like with Maddie, I haven't really experienced any of the uncomfortable side effects of pregnancy. 
 
Highlight of the past week:  Telling all of you about Baby T #2!

13 weeks

The Little One

11 weeks, 3 days

The Big Sister

Testing, Testing 1, 2, 3

Zoo

We went to the zoo today with Emily, Adam, and Emma.  Maddie and Emma were so cute together.  I loved how they walked around holding hands, at least until Maddie's little legs got tired. 

Maddie was super excited to see bears at the zoo (or maybe she just really likes to say 'bear'), but unfortunately they weren't out.  Instead she enjoyed looking at the fish, giraffes, and lions.  We can't wait to go back again!

Random Thoughts

Thought #1:  It's a beautiful day!  When Maddie wakes up from her nap, I think we'll go play outside.

Thought #2:  Speaking of Maddie's nap, I had to put her down without her pacifier.  Why?  Because I lost not just one, but both of them.  After a brief period of crying, she did go to sleep.  Maybe I can start weaning her off of them?  In the mean time I looked all around the house, in the laundry basket, and in the outside trash can.  Yes, I went "dumpster diving" for pacifiers.  I don't really know what I would have done if I had found them in the trash.  I eventually gave up and returned to finish washing dishes.  Guess what I found floating with the spatula and slotted spoon. . . . That's right, her pacifiers.

Thought #3:  With Maddie sleeping peacefully, I decided to waste time on Pinterest.  I love pinning ideas; I don't love feeling like a lazy bum for not trying out 95% of the things I pin.  So in an effort to make myself feel (a little more) accomplished AND to give you some ideas of things that a person has actually done, here are some pins I've tried that have turned out well:

tile damaged bathroom cabinet

The under-the-sink cabinet in Maddie's bathroom had a little bit of water damage and it drove me crazy!  This was an easy, inexpensive solution.  I ended up tiling all of the cabinets in our house that are under sinks, as well as a couple of the cabinets in our laundry room.

minute to win it Christmas games

Every year right before Christmas, Eric and I get our families together for a gingerbread house building contest aka Lucy's birthday party.  This year we added in some "Minute to Win It" games.  We had cup stacking, nut stacking, and a cookie face race.  I think everyone enjoyed it.  Who doesn't like some friendly competition?

corndog muffins

super kid friendly + tasty

crockpot baked potato soup

A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!  I'm not generally a fan of leftovers, but this stuff tastes even better the next day.

baked pumpkin spice donut holes

These were yummy and I love that they are baked.

2 hour cleaning checklist

If I don't set a timer, it would take me all day to clean my house.  I get distracted easily.  I may be cleaning the kitchen counters one minute and the next minute I'm sitting on the floor organizing my tupperware drawer.  This checklist gives you a set amount of time to get each task completed leaving no time for distractions.

handprint turkey

I did this with Maddie and my kids at school.  Cute!

crockpot barbecue chicken

Eric's favorite meal.  I think he'd eat this everyday of the week if possible.

Thought #4:  Maddie is now awake.  Time to go outside!

Balancing Act

The Zyrtec is finally helping Maddie out.  Thanks Sarah, for telling me to keep giving it to her.  She still has some chest congestion when she wakes up, but at least she can breathe through her nose!

Ok, now for my blog-worthy Pinterest find of the day.  I enjoy taking photos, but I don't know much about photo editing outside of cropping and fixing red eyes.  Well today I happened upon a pin that linked to a website with tips about adjusting white balance.  I read through the instructions and thought it sounded pretty simple.

Take a look at how much of a difference adjusting white (and black) balance can make!

original straight out of camera

adjusted white balance

adjusted white and black balance

Amazing!  Maybe I'm the last person to discover this trick, but I am super excited about it and thought I'd share.  :)

Do you have any photo editing tips that I should try out?