ten weeks with baby number two

{Since I last blogged, we've spent most of our time in Maryland preparing to and saying goodbye (for now!) to my sweet Mamal. I've posted about her getting sick back before Thanksgiving and how it seemed like Heaven would soon be a reality for her. Last Wednesday night, my Daddy came and picked up LG and I so we could spend Mamal's final days with her. We were with her Thursday and Friday before she passed away on Friday afternoon. I have some sweet pictures and memories that will need a separate post, but I wanted to get this update blogged since I missed my nine week update last week!}

I am 10 weeks and 3 days along with sweet baby number two!

Size of baby:  Baby number two is  a little over an inch long and weighs less than a quarter of an ounce yet has completed the most critical portion of development!

Total Weight Gain/Loss:   I need to get on the scale today and find out! 

Maternity Clothes:  Not yet, but my button up skirts are getting a little snug and harder to button.

Gender:  Daddy is still thinking girl, but we still haven't nailed down our choice for a girl's name. Our boy's name has been chosen!

Movement:  still busy growing, no moving yet.

Sleep:  Okay, mostly only awake if LG wakes.

What I miss:  Nothing! Pregnancy is such a wonderful thing!

Cravings: Still mostly salty and surprisingly enjoying soda which is definitely unlike me since I'm mostly a water drinker!

Symptoms:  

Feeling nauseous most of the time. Eating seems to help.

Best Moment this week: I had my ten week appointment yesterday and we heard that precious little heartbeat for the first time! My midwife found it quickly and it was loud and strong!

Scheduling my ultrasound for this coming Monday morning! We are so looking forward to a peek at our newest little one!

eight weeks {with baby number 2}

Ah! I haven't blogged all week! I had grand intentions of getting our Christmas Day posted and also a writing a year in review post, but mama duties, housework and church activities kept me otherwise occupied! Maybe this week!

Anyways, I am 8 weeks and 6 days along with our newest blessing, so I need to get these facts and thoughts down before I hit 9 weeks on Monday!

Size of baby:  Baby number two is the size of kidney bean and a half an inch in length! 

Total Weight Gain/Loss:   Didn't weigh myself this week, but I'm sure I gained a little.

Maternity Clothes:  Not yet! 

Gender:  Daddy is still thinking girl. We're set on our boy name and still tossing a few girl choices around!

Movement:  still busy growing, no moving yet.

Sleep:  Londyn Grace has been sleeping better so for the most part I have, too! Other than some nauseousness at night keeping me awake some.

What I miss:  Nothing! Pregnancy is such a wonderful thing!

Cravings: Still mostly salty! This week, I already had dinner prepared when I got an intense craving for shrimp fried rice from my favorite Thai place in town. Needless to say, Daniel ate what I had made and I ordered take-out. It was delicious!

Symptoms:  Still having "night" sickness and feeling tired and hungry during the day

Best Moment this week: Getting closer to our ultrasound!

Continuing to plan and design the shared nursery for my two sweet babies!

My bloodwork costing about $300 less than we expected! Thank You, Lord!

Christmas Eve 2013

Since we are nine days into the new year, I thought I'd better get our Christmas Eve and Christmas Day pictures up!

After we had our Christmas here in New Jersey, we drove down to my parents house on Monday evening.

It was late when we got there, but we didn't want to spend a big chunk of time driving on Christmas Eve so we decided it was best to head down Monday.

Londyn Grace slept most of the trip so she was so excited to see Mimi and Pop Pop when we arrived. We let her stay up for a few minutes of visiting before getting her settled down again for sleep.

Tuesday morning, Daniel used my Daddy's garage to get the oil changed in the van. I bathed LG and got her dressed in another sweet SugarPig skirt and her monogrammed shirt and spent some time snapping pictures of her preciousness!

Around 2:00, my sister and brother in law arrived as well as my cousin, Tammy. We had our Christmas Eve meal early since my parent's church had a service at 5:00.

We had steamed shrimp, ham, corn, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese and a few other yummy sides.

Londyn Grace sat in one of my mom's vintage highchairs to eat!

It was our first family meal at the table that my Daddy had built for my Mama as their 30th anniversary present. The legs are made from the porch posts from the house he grew up in! The table is Amish built, but he spent several hours staining it and putting the finishing touches on it! It turned out beautifully!

After dinner, we finished getting ready and went to the Christmas Eve service.

We got to see my Granny (Dad's mom) and some of our other extended family!

It was a beautiful service and the perfect way to spend the evening, focusing on the true meaning of Christmas.

How different our lives (and especially our eternity!) would be if Jesus didn't come as a baby two thousand years ago!

Following the service, my aunt took a family picture of my parents, my sister and brother in law and of the three of us!

It worked out that we were all coordinating in our holiday attire so it was the perfect opportunity for a picture!

Then we all went back to exchange gifts at the house.

Daddy began by reading the Christmas story from Luke 2.

It took as awhile to open everything! 

Londyn Grace was spoiled loved like usual. 

You've already seen pictures of her kitchen set my parents built. She got lots of other toys and my parents redid my childhood toybox for her, as well.

 It was so much fun watching her interact this year. Last year, she was still so small and didn't really know what was going on around her!

While we were opening presents, we had a special present for Londyn Grace to open with Mimi and Pop Pop's help! We were excited to finally spill the beans about baby number two!

It was killing me to wait all day to share our news, but we wanted all of the family to be together so it was worth waiting!

We got their reactions on video, too!

It was such a sweet evening with our sweet family celebrating the birth of our Savior and sharing our news about the upcoming birth of our next baby!

After, we finished opening gifts, we loaded up to head to Daniel's parents house!

Having lots of family living close to each other makes for a busy but very blessed Christmas!

seven weeks with sweet blessing #2

I'm halfway through the first trimester! I want to do these weekly posts again during this pregnancy like I did each week for Londyn Grace. I feel so blessed to be experiencing the miracle of pregnancy again and to be growing this precious little one within me!

I'm using the same questions that I did with LG. 

Size of baby: Baby number two is the size of a blueberry and his/her hands and feet are beginning to form! 

Total Weight Gain/Loss:  Up one pound from the day I found I was expecting! I am so glad that thanks to nursing I am starting this pregnancy only 3 pounds heavier than I started with Londyn Grace. I lost 47 of the 50 pounds I gained while pregnant with her! I weighed 139 the day I got my first pregnancy test for baby number two.

Maternity Clothes: Not yet! 

Gender: Daddy thinks it's another girl. I go back and forth! 

Movement: still busy growing, no moving yet.

Sleep: Awake a lot, but mostly due to a certain little girl who still doesn't sleep through the night!

What I miss: Nothing! Pregnancy is such a wonderful thing!

Cravings: Mostly salty this week! I saw a jar of pickles on the shelf while grocery shopping and just had to have them! 

Symptoms:  

It's really strange, but I have the worst of my "morning sickness" in the evenings! A few nights it has lasted all night long! Other than that just feeling tired, but some of that comes from chasing a busy active 15 month old!

Best Moment this week: We met with my midwife last Tuesday! Even though it was still too early to hear the heartbeat, it made it seem a little more real that this is actually happening! I have my script to get my bloodwork done and scheduled another appointment at the end of this month! I'll have my first ultrasound at 10 weeks! 

I've already started brainstorming and planning for the joint nursery our sweet babies will share! We have an extra bedroom, but it's on the third floor (in the attic)  and I'm not comfortable being on a different level of the house than them while they are still so little  so they will share for now!  

Continuing to share our news with sweet friends and family!

Fifteen Months...

I say this every month, but why must babies grow so fast?!

Londyn Grace turned fifteen months on Friday!

She is getting so big and seeming less and less like a baby every day!

She is still a peanut weight wise tipping the scales at just 19 pounds 15.5 ounces! I haven't measured her height lately. She is still fitting nicely into her 12 month clothes. She now has 8 teeth, four top and four bottom with no signs of any molars yet!

We celebrated 15 months of nursing last week and I couldn't be more thrilled! The bond we have is so sweet and our nursing sessions are pretty much the only time she is still during the day! It makes for a very hungry mama since I am technically feeding three people, but my midwife is fine with it as long as I eat enough calories! (No worries there though! I am eating us out of house and home!)

She is eating better! She seems to have her largest appetite at breakfast usually eating a yogurt cup and Chex cereal. After I change her diaper in the mornings, I ask her if she wants to eat breakfast and she points to the kitchen!

Words are still few and far between, but she does say "this" a lot when pointing. Other words include Dada, Mama, ball, hot, Pop Pop, eye (when she points to her eyes), tree (when we had the Christmas tree up), dog (my cousin came to visit and brought her little dog), hi and bye. Last night she said "yucky!"

She is napping well. She typically takes one nap in the afternoon that lasts from 1.5-2 hours. Sleeping at night is still the same. We are going to look at a toddler bed on Craigslist tomorrow. We will probably just transition to that instead of the crib since the new baby will need to the crib soon anyway and LG has never slept in it all night long!

She loves to FaceTime with her grandparents. Technology is such a wonderful thing when miles separate us from those we love the most! She gives the sweetest open-mouth kisses to the screen.

She is constantly doing something new that just amazes me and makes it on my running list of accomplishments!

Here is our list for this month:

12/4 drank out of a straw and had first kids meal at Panera

12/5 pointed to the tree and said "tree!"

Climbed in bouncy seat and sat down by yourself!

12/8 learned how to move your little pink car with your feet
Carried a Santa decoration around and said, "Ho! Ho! Ho!"

12/9 pointed to radiator and said "hot!"
Sang "Yes I do!" when Mimi was singing her song to you
Spent your first night away from mama and did very well! We won't make a habit of it though!

12/10 smiled and said "cheese" copying me!

12/12 were carrying my phone around when you saw the charger laying on the floor so you picked it up and tried to plug it in!

12/14 got really excited when we woke up to it snowing, pointed to the window and jabbered about it

Went out and stood in it (still not 100% over your cold so I didn't want you to play in it)

Said "no!" after Daddy told you "no" asking you not to touch something.

12/18 said "Ben"  calling Uncle Ben

12/19 I asked you if you needed a diaper change and you pointed to your diaper

12/20 we were listening to Christmas music and heard the part "chestnuts go pop pop pop" and you said "pop pop pop!"

Said "Jesus" after I was singing it while looking at your Jesus Loves the Little Children book

12/21 I couldn't find my pen while wrapping and labeling Christmas gifts so I said "Goosey, where is Mama's pen?" You started looking around and when I spotted it I pointed at it. You walked over, picked it up, and brought it to me!

Daddy said, "Where's your ball?" You kept looking, picking up your toys and looking underneath them until you found it!

12/23 had your second Christmas morning at home. Loved the cozy coupe we got you!

12/24 had Christmas Eve with Mimi, Pop Pop, Uncle Johnny, Auntie M & Tammy! Loved the kitchen Mimi & Pop Pop made you!

Announced to the family that you are going to be a big sister!

12/25 had Christmas morning with Grammy, Grandpap, Uncle Ben, Uncle Matt, Aunt Rebekah, baby Sonya, Oma & Opa. Loved her new piano and working microphone.

12/26 got out of bed by herself

Said "Happy Birthday!" over and over again at Shady Maple after hearing several tables singing it!

12/27 shook head no copying me

12/28 shook head no when she didn't want something at dinner!

12/30 folded hands to pray at lunch when we asked you to!

climbed into the empty crockpot that was sitting on the kitchen floor and sat down in it!

Dipped your French fries in ketchup all by yourself at dinner!

It's been a wonderful month of making holiday memories, celebrating Christmas and finding out that our sweet baby girl is going to be a big sister!

Can't wait to see what she learns next! 

We love you, Goosey, more than you'll ever know!!

(Tomorrow I will post my first weekly bumpdate for baby number two and hopefully get our Christmas Eve/Day post up this week as well!)

I'll Be Home for Christmas...

Since we planned to spend Christmas in Maryland and Pennsylvania with our families, we had Christmas for the three of us on Monday before we left town.

Sunday night after we got home from church, we got LG dressed in her brand new pajamas and gave her a Christmas book to "read!"

I ordered the precious Christmas light pajama pants from my beloved Sugarpig Boutique on Instagram and had her shirt monogramed by an embroiderer in town.

We found the book "Santa is Coming to New Jersey" at Costco! It is the cutest personalized with the names of New Jersey towns and places!

After reading her book, I rocked her to sleep and came back downstairs to help Daddy put together her Cozy Coupe and to finish a little wrapping.

Do you have any idea how complex this crazy car was to put together? It took over two hours and lots of noisy hammering to get it ready for riding!

I had to rock LG back to sleep twice because of the racket, but her reaction when we came down the next morning was worth it all!

I could barely sleep when we finally slipped into bed because I was so looking forward to seeing how she would react to her gifts!

She did not disappoint! 

She was pointing and smiling before we even got around the corner!

To say she loved her car is an understatement!

The little trailer gets me every time! How precious will it be this spring filled with toys as she rides around the back yard?!

The Cozy Coupe was her main gift, but we also got her a few other toys, a puzzle, book, and some clothes and shoes.

The car wins as her favorite present though!

She loved her stocking stuffers, too. Her favorite was definitely the yogurt melts. I think she ate half the bag while Daniel and I opened our gifts to each other!

After we opened gifts, we made eggs and bacon for breakfast!

It was the perfect Christmas morning, just a few days early!