15 Weeks

Your Baby in Week 15 of Pregnancy 
One way to deal with the havoc of pregnancy hormones: Focus on how much is happening with your baby. She's about the size of an orange this week, her ears have migrated to the sides of her head, and her eyes are moving to the front of her face. Plus, your little smarty-pants can now wiggle her fingers and toes and make breathing movements in preparation for life outside the womb. (What to Expect dot com)



So I am officially in my second trimester. I feel like since I have been updating this less frequently I tend to forget what I have said so please forgive me if I end up repeating myself. We can just blame it on the baby brain... always. Haha. I have been feeling pretty good for the most part. A little bit of sickness but nothing like last time. I have been tired, but at least I'm not working full time AND taking three grad classes. I just have a full time toddler. Which may be more exhausting in the end but is way more fun. I can sometimes feel the baby move just a tiny bit. Usually when I'm calm and laying down I can feel little butterfly movements in my uterus and it is so nice to have the affirmation there that I can feel.

I am so much happier in my pregnancy this time. I love Declan more than anything... but it was pretty rough for me last time. I was pretty sick and my body had a lot to deal with. This time my body feels much more comfortable with what it is doing and is still stretched out a bit, making it easier. The whole being less sick thing is really the key. It makes me so much less miserable and I can move on with life. PS We find out about the sex on March 21st! Less than a month!

I am so excited. In less than two weeks I am going on VACATION. WITHOUT baby. When Dex was born my dad promised me a vacation when he turned two. Now the second birthday is approaching and my plane tickets are booked. I will have a nice long weekend of soaking in the sun (with plenty of sunscreen of course) and getting in my last bits of sleeping in that I will have for a very very long time. I am so tired right now that I can't even imagine the bliss of being able to travel on a plane by myself. I am pretty much the luckiest. While I may not have a lot of money... I am rich for sure.

Showing just the tiniest bit. (Though this picture makes it look like I'm showing more than I actually am)

Yes, yes. The top half of my torso got way bigger first. Again. I didn't know it was possible they would get even bigger the second time. 

Spring is arriving!

The past few days have brought about way more sunshine and weather above 70 degrees. I may not be rejoicing the melting of snow like my New England family and friends, but people here have a whole different concept of cold and what keeps them inside. It's nice to be able to bring the kiddos out again (even though our cold season lasted about three weeks). It may get cold again after this February thaw, but I'm enjoying being able to hang out with our porch door open and let Dex run in and out as he pleases. Constantly supervised of course. I'm pretty excited because today Logan and I got some new bubbles and sidewalk chalk so we can start making our little balcony a playplace for Dex. Next up is a way to creatively make it safer because the bars are pretty far apart and then perhaps a water table for the little man to splash around in. (Hint hint that Declan's birthday is coming up soon guys!)

But we have been able to sit out and eat ice pops and watch the emergency vehicles drive by. Stopping and watching that boy makes my heart stop.

My Valentine from my littlest Valentine

Bathing in the sunshine

Watching for the fire trucks and ambulances 

Ice pops!

Today I had the day off so we had a morning of sleeping in, pancakes, and then Logan and I dropped the little one off at school for a bit. We went to Target and had to buy some shorts for Dex since it's getting warmer. Anyone that has 2T or 3T summer clothes let us know! We're running out of hand-me-downs that fit! Then we actually went to the movies. In the middle of the day. And ate appetizers and chocolate chip cookies and held hands. It was really nice to have some together time that wasn't spent just running errands or doing chores around the house. I am so in love with that man. 

Now I'll be off to picking up Dex and probably hitting the park. Or maybe the hardware store to figure out something for our balcony. Any suggestions about putting up plywood or rope or anything is appreciated!

Happy warmer weather!

Too Cute

So Declan has been going through a small phase of pushing other kids at school. Not anything major, but it still made me a little sad to know that he was the one putting his hands on someone else. I think we're pretty much through it. Consistency and reminders about using gentle hands have made it better I think. (Also time-outs when hands were not being gentle with Mommy and Daddy... which I didn't think I would have to do with a one-year-old) However, in talking to one of his teachers about it yesterday, I had to laugh when she told me that it had gotten better, but even when it was happening it wasn't a huge deal because he was just too cute to get mad at.

I suppose a blessing and a curse.

Me trying to capture the beauty of his new cheese face, but he had lost it by the time the camera actually clicked. 

Now there's the cheese face. I told him to go to his kitchen and I would take a picture of him. My little ham. 

Random

If I had a ton of money (or really any at all) I would buy everything off this site.

So cute.


In other news. Declan has been flip-flopping between so cute I want to kiss his face off and so annoying I want to go and live under a rock forever. Luckily the cute thing makes me mostly forget about the annoying thing. I guess that's the life of a toddler? It has been super hard getting pictures of him recently. Every time I get the camera or my phone out and say "Cheese" he gets really grumpy and wants to grab it out of my hand. Not making it so easy to get a cheerful picture. I just need to get my camera back out more to get him used to it again. I miss my little ham!

Man, I am beat. I really wish I could write a poetic entry about how looking at Dec's little tummy covered in suds in the bathtub makes my heart aflutter. I would talk about the growing reality of becoming parents to TWO children. I would write my unborn baby a letter. I would discuss my excitement over the possibility of one of my closest friends coming and visiting for Declan's second birthday. I would write about how my heart breaks a little when I think of my baby becoming two.

However, I am beat. So I'm going to go and try to clean our room a little. (Since Logan started today when he put together our new bed. Thanks J! We don't just sleep on a mattress on the floor anymore. We're on the way to becoming real grownups again!) But the reality is... I'm probably just going to put on some trashy tv, eat some ice cream, and pass out. So happy tomorrow is Friday.

Out and About

I've been trying to be a little better about getting us out of the house recently. When we first arrived in Austin we were constantly scouring calendars and magazines for fun family activities and we had a lot of fun. Since then we have fallen into our normal routine which includes a lot more sitting around the house/ cleaning/ not really doing a whole lot. Mostly trying to catch naps when possible actually. Last week I decided enough was enough. We went to a puppet show at Book People. They have an independent and totally awesome bookstore with a huge children's section upstairs. They even have a little amphitheater for story time a few times a week (with a tunnel to run through underneath) and a puppet show sometimes. It was fun, but you have to get there early to get a seat which is hard with a little one. I have never seen it so crowded and we've gone there a few times, but not for the puppet show before. However, with the seats that we had, we had a good time.

Today I looked around and found a children's music show to go to. The Hey Lollies perform at Flipnotics the first Saturday of each month. Flipnotics is a really cute little coffee shop with delicious food and cute places to sit outside. The Hey Lollies are a three woman band that play super fun music and get the crown really involved. Declan was a little tired, but loved listening to the music and dancing around with Logan and me. Again, a little crowded so luckily we got there at the perfect time to get seats. They were so much fun. I would definitely take a look at their schedule and go see them again.

The great thing about both of these activities is that they were both 100% FREE!

Snow Day

Here we are, in Austin TX celebrating our first Texas snow day. This morning it was pretty slippery and I'm glad to not have to be travelling with the tons of other people that have no idea how to drive on icy roads. We have spent our morning with Declan sleeping in while I watched trashy TV, then meeting up with Daddy to go and get hot chocolate and a blueberry muffin. Now we're back home, Dex is playing with his toys and I need to get to washing some dishes. However, after hanging out with people at the coffee shop I may have a new outlook on being here. I really like being here, and love the weather... I just need to start being more active about forming some friendships. I think that once I have some people to hang out with I'll start feeling more like myself again.

And about the haircut. We did it. I got those little boy curls cut off. I'm hoping that since my whole side of the immediate family has curly hair that he continues to have curly hair, but I'm hoping even more that this solves the problem of him digging at his ears now that his hair isn't tickling them. And here are the pictures of our now so-much-more grown up boy.

Sorry for the runny nose and not-too-happy look. He really wanted to push the buttons on the camera.

Getting ready to go outside

Looking at the snow

All bundled up

Breaking my heart

So guys. I guess I'm at the breaking point. I think it's time to cut Dex's hair. I LOVE his little curls, but he has been digging in his ears lately. At first I thought that maybe it was an oncoming ear infection, but he has no other symptoms. (Save for last night's poor sleeping) After some thought I realized that maybe his long-ish hair is bugging him more than I thought. Maybe it's just his hair tickling his ears.

It makes me so sad to think about cutting his hair. I don't want the curls to go away. However, I don't want it to be a constant annoyance for him. Sigh. I guess that tomorrow is haircut day. I have to get my act together so I can take before and after pictures.