Today I am 22 weeks and 2 days pregnant

So. I'm still pregnant despite all of the vacation stress that occurred last week (I do have things to write about that, but I need to do this pregnancy update or another week will pass and I'll just be over it), so I guess that means this baby is in it to win it. Or something.

Anyway! I'm still relatively energetic (as opposed to the first trimester), but some small things are starting to tire me out.

• Dragging Hank up and down the stairs all the time, as he has suddenly been rendered incapable of doing it himself: really takes the wind out of me. 

• Trimming the bushes in the yard: I can only do one at a time, no more powering through the whole yard at a single shot. 

• Brushing the pool: I did it once and I will not do that for the rest of my pregnancy. I was pretty useless the rest of the day. 

• Cleaning the house: Ha! Gotcha. I don't do that anymore. 

I'm hoping that all of the running around after boys and carrying of children counts as exercise because I sure as hell am not inclined to do anything more than that.

I'm feeling more and more movement and most of it can be felt from the outside by this point, which is fun, and also awkward since most of the kicks are happening below the waistband of my pants... which probably looks weird when I want to feel them with my hand.

I FINALLY gained some weight while we were on vacation, probably because the food was delicious and plentiful and I didn't have to make it (isn't it always better when you don't have to prepare it?). Proportional to my increasing weight is my increasing belly, which looks WAY bigger at night than it does in the morning. Maybe because my body is feeling abused and tired by the time nighttime rolls around, so it just gives up. I'll have to do a picture comparison because I swear I look five months pregnant at 7am and seven months pregnant by 7pm. Regardless, this belly is all-around larger than it was last time and the time before. I suppose that's to be expected right?

Please disregard the streaky mirror.

This week, baby is the size of a: spaghetti squash

How far along: 22 weeks and 2 days

Next appointment: July 25th (THIS is the ultrasound appointment. I had to cancel the last one since I didn't think I'd make it back from NY in time.)

Exercise: Stairs. In our house. And traveling with two small children. That totally counts.

Sleep: Less than optimal since we were not at home for a week and a half, but not horrible. I would LOVE to take a nap every now and then though. I don't think that's in the cards for me.

Food cravings/aversions: No aversions. And no really strong cravings recently. Kind of boring.

Movement: Lots of kicks, punches and flutters.

What I miss: Having clothes that fit. The full-panel pants are still too large for me, but the below-the-belly waistband pants are a wee bit too tight.

What I'm loving: John getting to feel the baby's movements. 

What I'm looking forward to: Hmmmm. Not much at the moment. Cooler days?

Best moment this week: Coming home to our house. With the boys' things. And my bed. And air conditioning.

To accomplish before baby comes: Figuring out the situation for the backyard. John leveled the lower yard a couple of months ago with the intent of putting a swingset or the like on it... and then we didn't give it another thought. We should probably work that out soon.

Thoughts and feelings from Significant Other and Siblings: The boys are convinced that they are getting a brother. When I asked them if they think the baby is a boy or a girl they both replied confidently, "boy".

Hank's 2nd birthday

Hank's birthday was... a month ago. Whoops. So here's how it went down.

We had a date set for Hank's construction-themed (as the kid will not wear a shirt that doesn't have a construction vehicle on it) birthday party, but ended up having to postpone it since he woke up with a 103.5 fever the day before. Fevers tend to be a deal breaker for having other kids around. So, we had to push it back to the weekend following his birthday.

On his actual birthday, June 17th, I got out part of the cake I was going to serve at the party the previous weekend and made it his day-of birthday cake. He was SO EXCITED to blow out the candles. It was adorable.

Finally, the day of the party rolled around and neither Hank nor Johnny were sick, so celebrations were had! We had all of Hank's favorite things to play with: a bounce house (or as Hank says, and he will correct you, a jump house), a sand box with construction vehicles to move around, another box full of rice with more construction vehicles, a whole bunch of caution cones and caution tape, a kiddie pool full of balloons inside the house and lots of helium balloons on the ceiling.

The balloon room

Eating delicious food.

Asking to be held because there was CHAOS and he was tired.

Opening a gift that he just couldn't resist because it was wrapped with Cars paper

Playing in the rice box (Maureen, you were right. These things are awesome.)

The only picture I took of the bounce house. It was large and had big palm trees. Hey, it was one of the only options left.

 I usually make some kind of elaborate cake for these birthday parties, but since I made one for the first (nonexistent) party, I was a little caked-out. So I got a plain one from Costco and threw some decorations on it. It was still cute and quite delicious. :) Not a bad back-up plan.

Eating cake with Daddy

You may or may not have noticed that Johnny is missing from all of these pictures. Well, that's because after the first fifteen minutes of having friends over, he was done. He headed upstairs to the play room (which was off-limits for the party) and stayed there by himself for the most part. And then he fell asleep in the guest room downstairs. He had a good ol' time. :)

The party was a success thanks to everyone who brought food (since prepping for the party and making the cake was about as much as this pregnant mama could handle) and to everyone who helped clean up the aftermath. The aftermath included dirty dishes, serving ware, toys, wrappers, trash, etc. They were so good at their jobs that I didn't have much to do after everyone went home. Except nap, of course. Which was awesome.

Happy birthday, Hank! I'm glad you had a great time at your party.

Today I am 19 weeks pregnant

It's been five weeks since my last pregnancy update and I'm happy to report that I'm feeling MUCH better. The nausea has gone away completely, though the fatigue still lingers... though I'm pretty sure with two active boys to take care of, that whole tired thing isn't going away anytime soon.

Of course, the boys have done me a HUGE favor lately, by going to bed later (around 8 or 8:30pm) and not getting up until 7am. It makes such a big difference for me. Since they go to bed around the same time, there is no longer that discrepancy between when Hank's and Johnny's wake up times and bed times. So instead of taking care of children from 4:30am to 8:30pm, my hours are now from around 6:30am to about 8:30am. And those extra hours in the morning can be spent sleeping, which is absolutely glorious and quite fortuitously timed.

Otherwise, the belly is growing by leaps and bounds, but honestly, it's not even 1/2 baby. I was lying on my back recently and John looked at my abdomen and said, "Where did the baby go?" So yeah. It's mostly bloat and fat storage, courtesy of pregnancy hormones. But I obviously look pregnant since I got my first "Are you pregnant?" from a passing acquaintance.

One of the cooler developments started about three weeks ago (which is waaaay earlier than my other two): baby kicks! I'm just starting to be able to feel them on the outside, only if it's a really solid kick, though. The baby movements are one of my favorite things about pregnancy, so I'm excited to feel them early this time. :)

 I'm going to attempt to do this little survey thing at each pregnancy update so at least I have a little something interesting to post about. 

This week, baby is the size of a: mango

How far along: 19 weeks, 0 days

Next appointment: July 11th (ultrasound time! Nope, we're not finding out this time either.)

Exercise: Uh... chasing toddlers

Sleep: Getting it when the boys let me! Though I have been getting some awful back to left shoulder spasms that happen around 3am and will not go away unless I sit up and press a heating pad on my back for an hour. I know it's a product of holding the boys so much during the day and only on my left side, so I've been trying to hold them more on the right to even things out.

Food cravings/aversions: I thought I could kill someone to get some raspberry chocolate truffle cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory last week. But it was 5:30pm and the Cheesecake Factory is a good 25-minute drive away... John went and got me some anyway. :) Because he loooooooves me.

Movement: Flutters and the occasional solid kick/punch. He/she especially likes to hit me right where the waistband of my pants sit. Or maybe I feel it more because of the pressure?

What I miss: Sleeping a full night without having to visit the bathroom. Or just sleeping between the boys' wake ups without having a bladder to wake me up, too.

What I'm loving: Wearing maternity clothes that my friend Darcy loaned me. Yay for an expanded wardrobe!

What I'm looking forward to: Going to the East Coast next week to see John's extended family for July 4th. I think this trip is going to be a lot fun and so much easier than last year's trip. Hank is a whole year older this time and he won't be sitting on my lap on the plane, so yeah, easier.

Best moment this week: Hank's birthday party (as a whole) was a lot of fun. I'll blog more about it later, but it was a success on all fronts. 

To accomplish before baby comes: Figuring out all the sleeping arrangements. We haven't decided whether to put the boys in the same room to make room for a nursery, or to just leave them where they are since the baby is going to be with John and me for the forseeable future. The biggest trouble is where to put all of the baby's stuff if we keep the boys in their rooms. The diapers, changing table, clothing, burp cloths, etc are all in Hank's room and will be unable to be touched during nap and other sleep times... We have time to decide, but honestly, we're not doing much serious thinking about it. Probably a product of us still being in denial that we're going to have a third kid in 4.5 months.

Thoughts and feelings from Significant Other and Siblings: The boys have been told that they're getting a sibling and neither seems to really "get" it. John has done quite the imaginative reenactment of birth with an Elmo puppet and a small Elmo that gets stuffed into the puppet's hand-hole. They have now taken to calling these Elmos "Mommy Elmo" and "Baby Elmo". So... I guess they kind of get it?

Dear Hank

Dear Hank,

Today you are two. Gosh, just typing out that sentence brought tears to my eyes. Which is silly, because, let's face it, you're an old two. Strangers out and about are always shocked when I tell them that you're "not quite two" because they think you are closer to four.

You seem older than you are because you are so darn capable, kid.

• You can follow directions with the best of them. 
• You can get your own milk out of the refrigerator (after moving the step stool over since the shelves are kind of high). 
• You can climb every possible ladder at the park. Even if it seems like you shouldn't be physically capable of it.
• You can get your own snacks. 
• You can have yourself pants-less and diaper-less in four seconds flat. 
• You can carry your plate or bowl full of food to the table all by yourself. 
• You can tell me exactly what you want, using correct pronouns.
• You can carry on conversations with your brother. And know exactly how to tell him that you don't like what he's doing. And then you can tell me exactly what happened when Johnny did something you didn't like. 

You're truly amazing. When I went back to read posts from last year when you turned one, it just reminded me of how much you have learned and changed this past year. I would read one post and think "When did that change?" or "I barely even remember that."

I love you to pieces, but I wish you wouldn't grow so quickly.

Gone are the days of countless hours of peek-a-boo. Gone is the fixation with rubber duckies. Gone is the uncoordinated toddler running.

And now you're obsessed with building towers. And train tracks. And playing with cars. And making art. And watching videos about construction trucks on YouTube. All things that big kids like. You're only two! How can you be a big kid already?

But I don't want to change you. Because you are perfect the way you are, and will always be perfect to me.

That doesn't mean that I can't wish certain things wouldn't change. Like how much delight you find in making me a cake at your pretend kitchen and how hard you laugh when I pretend to eat it. Or how you always stop to smell and pick flowers when we go on walks. Or how you give my belly a kiss randomly and say "I kissed the baby!". Or how when you feel bad or get hurt, you want your mommy and no one else will do.

I know in my head that a day will come when you will run to others for comfort or help. I know already that's going to be hard for me to take, but understand that even though I wish these things to stay the same, I also know that's impossible because I also want you to grow up. And growing up means you have to pull away from me a little. And that's okay.

I love you so much, Hank. I cannot wait to see what this year will bring for you!

Love,
Mommy

Happy Father's Day!

 For John's Father's Day present, I did a little photo shoot of the boys wearing shirts they picked out themselves (yes, I know Johnny picked a pink shirt and no, I don't think it will affect his masculinity). I didn't get a single shot of both of them looking at the camera, but I got a couple that are frame-worthy.

We changed venues because I didn't like the look of our couch in the background. So here we are, in our garage.

This is the one I framed for John's office. Hence the color correction and nice cropping.

Happy Father's Day, John! I love watching you interact with our boys on a daily basis. You're a patient teacher, a great listener and excellent entertainer. I appreciate you so much, even when I'm too exhausted to notice that you've emptied the dishwasher for me, cleaned up the spilled milk or changed some nasty diapers. I love you!