Baby #2: 12 Weeks

Edited to add: written 11/18/13

Symptoms:

So I didnt write about 10 or 11 weeks because it was much of the same. Take Zofran, try not to throw up, throw up anyways, just try to make it through the days...what fun! Amelia has watched more TV in the last monthish than I would care to admit but a moms gotta do what a moms gotta do. Im almost afraid to write this for fear of jinxing but it SEEMS like I might be turning a corner with this whole "morning" (read: ALL DAY AND NIGHT) sickness. This past weekend we traveled to Iowa to visit with some cousins and attend a college friends wedding. I woke up Saturday morning feeling more normal than I have felt in weeks. I continued to take my meds but had more energy (and less vomitting) than usual! I was up pretty late Saturday for the wedding so I was exhausted when i woke Sunday, but still less nauseaus! I did get pretty sick on the car ride and when i got home but i attribute that more to my late night and car ride more than anything because its now Tuesday and im still feeling better! im absolutely still reliant on the meds and still pretty tired but this is MUCH better than the last several weeks so ill take it!

On the positive side i had another OB appointment and baby is looking great with a strong healthy heartbeat in the 160s. (they are much less specific at this practice)

I'm still losing weight and not getting enough water but I'm confident that will get better as i continue to feel better! No belly pics yet as there is nothing to see. ill probably start next week regardless.

Amelia is the sweetest little companion ever. She is so motherly and nurturing. When I'm having a particularly bad day she looks at me and says "Its ok Mommy." Love that girl!

Stats:

12 weeks

Down about 6 pounds

Still sick, but better!

Sleeping pretty good but must immediately use the restroom upon waking :)

Baby #2: 9 Weeks

Edited to add: written 10/28/13

Symptoms:

Well I'm back to Zofran, the Compazine just wasn't working for me so we decided to trying a lower dose of Zofran more often and see how that works. Here's hoping! Day one of the new schedule is a vast improvement, hopefully this isn't a fluke! (edited to add --- not a fluke, this dosage seems to work MUCH better! I am a functioning adult again!)

Throwing up with a toddler in tow is quite a different experience! Amelia will never let me go to the bathroom alone so she followed me right in when I was going in to get sick, I tried to deter her with no luck so she saw the whole gruesome event. Then she said to me "Mommy blew her nose in the potty!" I just smiled and said yes, at least I got to end that experience on a positive note with a laugh! 

Amelia is loving all the baby talk. I'm not sure if its coincidence or not but she has really been into babies lately. She carries Baby Sara (technically all her babies are named Sara but she mostly been into the Bitty Baby lately) everywhere she goes. She loves to talk about the baby in mommy's belly and how shes going to be a big sister! She obviously has no idea what is coming but its fun to see her so excited about the idea of a baby!

Stats: 

9 Weeks

No idea on weight
Baby is the size of a GRAPE

Still sick but not as bad!

Sleep is a little rough, I seem to wake up a lot at night

A little New Years Photoshoot

For New Year's this year we had a few friends over (with kids) for some food drinks and fun. Before our guests arrived we took a few pictures while we were all showered and dressed to impress…because this is not always the case! :)

Baby #2: 8 Weeks

Edited to add: Written 10/21/13

Symptoms:

I don't look pregnant and no on knows but if there was any doubt it was erased in the last week. I went from a little tired and a queasy moment here and there to full blown all day sickness. I had hoped this pregnancy would be different but alas it is not, if anything its worse. I'm not sure if its actually worse....although it sure seems like it or if chasing a toddler while sick just makes it worse. I got a prescription for Zofran called in the first day I was so sick. It helped but not like last time. Last time I could take it 30 min before I got up for the day and I would really be OK for most of the rest of the day...not this time. It seemed to take a lot longer to kick in and I was barely making it the 8 hours until the next pill. No fun.

The Wagner's came up for a visit just in time for a little relief and relaxation and to stay with Amelia for my first pre-natal appointment. Unlike in SC they don't do first appointments until 7-8 weeks. It was awesome to officially confirm the pregnancy and I even got an ultrasound! It was wonderful to see a few pics of the tiny thing! Doc also prescribed me a different medicine to try. It seems to be working, I'm still sick and generally icky but I'm not throwing up every day. The meds do seem to make me more tired than usual but I guess Ill take that!

Stats: 

8 Weeks along

Down 3 pounds, no belly yet 

Baby is the size of a Lima Bean

Mommy is sick :(

Up at least once a night for potty break

Big Sister is very excited and has announced she would like a baby brother and a baby sister (sorry kid, doc says there is only one in there!)

Amelia's First Movie (in the theater)

During the month of December the awesome old school theater in our sweet little town shows Christmas/Holiday movies several times a day and night. We decided this was the perfect opportunity to take Amelia to the theater for the first time. We decided on The Polar Express and joined Shannon, Jon and Aidan for a little movie date. We loaded up on popcorn and hoped for the best. She did pretty well and of course there were several other children there so a little movement and noise wasn't that big of a deal. She got a little antsy about 45 minutes in and then spent the rest of the movie in our friend Jon's lap sitting quietly and enjoying the movie! Funny girl!

Just call me fertile myrtle...

Eric and I had been talking about baby number two for awhile now. We had gone back and forth on when to start trying. We really wanted A out of diapers and maybe into a big girl bed before the next arrived and we didn't want them too close in age. We also didn't want them too far apart and it felt like everyday I heard a sad story from a friend who had been or has been trying for a year for their second or third. Turnig 30 didn't bother me one bit but realistically "they" say it gets tougher as you get older. I know that's not true for everyone (obviously!) but I didn't want to take the chance of having kids 5 years apart! So we decided to start trying. We sort of tried for one month and didn't get pregnant....then I got a weird hives rash right around ovulation the next month so we took that month off. Then we tried again the next month. Although we very much wanted me to be pregnant I think we had both prepared ourselves for it to take a long time…or at least some time!

A and I had gone to DSM the week before Abby's wedding to hang out while Eric was on a business trip. All week I felt ...off...extra tired despite the fact I was sleeping more. Then we headed to Chicago for the wedding and I still felt not quite right. Even a little nauseous at times! I decided to play it safe and not drink too much, I kept to two glasses of wine a night...tough at a wedding! When we got home Sunday I took a test and low and behold…instant positive! Pregnant on our second try...just like last time! We are truly elated but a little in shock as both of us really truly believed it would take forever! Can't wait for May/June 2014 to meet out newest addition!

Yep...I took 3 tests just to be sure!

Over the next week or 2 I will be posting the few blog posts I actually wrote regarding the pregnancy up to this point…I'm trying to be better now that I am farther along and feeling better! :)

Amelia's First Haircut

We thought my mom's visit was the perfect opportunity to give Amelia her first haircut. I have been soooooo hesitant to cut it because it is growing in SOOOOOO slowly but her mullet was really starting to look crazy in the back. We decided to just take a bit off the back to even it out and get rid of what was starting to look like a rat's tail! (remember that AWESOME trend from the 90s!)

Before:

During:

We may have bribed her with a cookie to sit still…maybe

After: 

Thanks Nana!

Munchkin Meals: 2 years

Today I am linking up with Brittany from A Healthy Slice of Life to talk about what my munchkin, Amelia age 2 plus 3 months, is eating!

As I'm sure any toddler parent will tell you we have good days and bad days but overall I am pretty happy with Amelia's eating habits. She loves a variety of healthy...and some not so healthy foods and I can usually get her to try anything at least once...usually, sometimes it does require cheese bribery. As Amelia has gotten older she has developed a few food quirks that drive me nuts but the good far outweighs the bad so I will take it! 

Here is a snapshot of a day of eats with Amelia.  (in terrible iPhone pics…sorry!)

Despite the fact that she always wants to play with daddy when he gets her out of bed, the first thing she usually says to me in the morning is "I want to eat breakfast." So after changing from sleep panties (pull ups...shhh) to real panties we head downstairs for breakfast. Amelia is a creature of habit when it comes to breakfast and usually asks for pancakes with honey and banana. Today however she had toast with peanut butter and banana. Other occasional breakfast favorites include waffles, cereal with milk and (coconut milk)yogurt and berries. I usually serve Amelia coconut milk with all meals but lately she has been on a big water kick and has reduced the amount of milk she is drinking. She makes up for it in cheese. :)

Depending on the day and what we are up to Amelia sometimes has a morning snack.  I forgot to snap a pic but on this day Amelia had some dried apples on the way home from story time at the library...and more water. 

For lunch we seem to rotate through a few easy meal options, for example: Annie's Mac and cheese and peas, cheese and cracker and veggies (raw carrots or peppers) and hummus, PB and J and fruit, grilled cheese with a fruit and veg or beans (usually black beans or chickpeas) tomatoes and fruit or veg. I don't usually have the time or patience to get too creative at lunch. On this day Amelia had pretzel crisps and carrots with hummus and raspberries. 

Amelia is always ready for snack when she wakes up from nap and being 23 weeks pregnant I'm usually ready for a snack too!  She always asks for fruit snacks (fruit leather)...like every day, I oblige sometimes. I usually pair it with some type of fruit. Sometimes we do cheese sticks or snap pea crisps or pretzels. On this day Amelia had a clementine and a fruit leather. She also stole most of my unpictured pop corn. This girl can really put down some food! 

Ugh…especially terrible pic! The only way I remember to document food is with my phone!

For dinner Amelia eats what we eat for the most part. If we have something especially strange I will make her her own meal but I try to keep it similar to ours if possible. She has a strange thing about foods mixed together and she still doesn't really care for meat but she eats plenty of beans and greens so I'm feeling good about her protein intake. For this meal I made homemade falafel with tahini sauce and naan served with salad. Amelia loves chickpeas; she helped me prepare this and ate the parsley, the cilantro and even the onions (um…yeah…she kept telling me they make her feel good, whatever works for you kid!) that went into it so I had high hopes she would enjoy it as a meal despite her weirdness about combining foods. She wasn't an immediate fan but after a little naan bread bribery(similar to cheese bribery) she gave it a try and ending up eating most of the patty.  She also loves salad!

So that's a sampling of how my munchkin eats. Thanks to Brittany for hosting this link up! 

Amelia's Big Announcement

Amelia has some long overdue news to share…

We are so excited to (officially) announce that we will welcome Baby #2 in June 2014. 

Christmas 2013

Now that Amelia is two we decided we wanted to spend Christmas at home and begin our own family traditions. We blended the traditions of the Wagner and Fessler families and invited everyone to join. We still had to do a little shuffling for schedules to include everyone but it all worked out in the end and we had a wonderful family filled holiday.

Before the actual Christmas holiday we traveled to Iowa to visit with Bob's family and then Mary Ann's family. Our first stop was Dubuque to Jack and Jeans. It was such a wonderful turn out and a great opportunity to see people who have hardly spent any time with Amelia due to our living so far away. Another benefit of moving back to the Midwest! Next we traveled to Riverside to Katie and Allen's for the annual Beck Christmas.

For the actual holiday the Wagner's were the first to arrive. We basically shifted everything (except Santa, he can't change his entire schedule just for us!) one day to accommodate traveling relatives.

On Christmas Eve we attended Mass. We almost didn't make it! Our church has an "old church" downtown that holds daily mass and a "new church" a few miles north that holds weekend mass. We thought it would be fun to experience the old church as they were holding Christmas Mass in both so we headed out early, but not too early as we had a toddler in tow and low and behold we were turned away as they were full! We jumped back in the car and sped to the new Church with only a moment to spare. They were full too so we had to stand in the back/lobby area. Thankfully there were speakers for us to hear and plenty of room from Amelia to run around so it all worked out in the end!

We let Amelia open one gift before bed then set out (almond)Milk and Cookies for Santa and a carrot for his hard working reindeer!

On Christmas Day Eric and I immediately popped out of bed when we heard Amelia making noise on the monitor. We checked to make sure Santa had indeed come and ran upstairs to get Amelia. We walked her down the stairs and into the living room where she was shocked to see what Santa had brought her! I can't count how many times she said "Oh WOW!" We allowed Amelia to open one more present and then we waited for Abby and Laz to arrive before digging into the rest.

Once Abby and Laz arrived we did our usual Christmas Even appetizers a day late, opened stockings and opened presents. Amelia played delivery elf and loved every minute of it!

The next day my mom arrived and we spent the day cooking and listening to Christmas music. We ended up with a beautiful, delicious and actually pretty healthy meal featuring ham, cheesy potatoes, brussels sprouts and an AMAZING kale salad made by Abby… I was eating the vegan "Parmesan" topping by the spoonful if that tells you anything! 

Later that day Abby and Laz headed home and Bob and Mary Ann left the following day. We opened presents with my mom and enjoyed another week visit with her as well. 

We are so blessed to have such wonderful family near and far to spend the holiday with. Merry Christmas!