Smiling Through the Rain

I've had several questions that we've been getting a lot of from both our real life friends and family as well as my loyal blog followers.  So, I thought I'd answer a couple of them. 1.) We are about 90% certain that we are going Team Green again.  It just feels right for us.  I'm not one for surprises in any other circumstance and I go crazy waiting to know what my friends are having.  But, I LOVED Paisley being a mystery and the absolute breath-taking moment when they announced that she was a GIRL.  I am also 100% happy with either another little girl or a boy.  Honestly.  Plus, not knowing makes our family crazy and that's just kinda funny. 2.)  We didn't exactly TRY for this baby but we certainly weren't trying to avoid having another one.  I never went back on birth control after Paisley and hoped that this would happen, but really didn't expect it.  While nursing, I had no periods and then they were erratic.  The last one ...

This pregnancy has been a piece of cake.  It's made it easy to keep it a secret, because I have a hard time remembering that I'm actually carrying around a tiny human.  Sure my belly is getting larger and my appetite is equal to that of a 300 pound man.  But otherwise, I'm symptom free this time. Obviously the 1st pregnancy was just a huge disaster with the miscarriage and I can't honestly remember how I felt during because the only thing I remember was how much it hurt to lose that baby.  Didn't really have time to think about morning sickness or moodiness. Paisley's stay in the uterus was marked by pronounced nausea throughout the 1st trimester, extreme fatigue (could have swore I had the flu), food aversions, volatile mood swings (sad and angry), and extreme worry.  I listened at least once a day with our doppler and freaked out the whole time in between.  An ultrasound would provide about 20 minutes of reassurance before I would start the whole...

I'm not one for keeping a secret about myself.  I've always been a very open book and like to share with the world anything they'd like to know.  My friends probably know WAY too much information about my bowel habits, embarrassing stories, and menstruation.  Not exactly a shy girl. Which makes it all the more amazing that I can keep a pregnancy secret for so long.  With Paisley, I announced it at 13 weeks after our NT scan.  Even then, I would have hid it longer if my belly bump wasn't starting to give me away.  It's kind of fun being one of the only people who knows that you are growing a miracle in your uterus.  And let's face it- who likes thinking that their boss, parents, and even strangers are calculating exactly when something personal may have been happening with the spouse. With that little tidbit of useless information, I'd love to announce that our 2nd baby is due in August!!!  I'm 12 weeks pregnant and things are checking out perf...

Our little family has never been so sick ever before.  This winter has hit us like a freight train and just when I think we're all feeling good again, the next "bug" seeks us out and attacks us.  We've had flu-like viruses, colds, stomach bugs, all the good stuff.  Mostly, I've gotten the worst end of it and somehow Paisley has come out on top.  She has still not ever had to go on antibiotics (17-months-old) which makes me super happy.  In fact, she makes it hard to tell she's even sick until the vomiting starts or I check her temperature. Being from the medical world, I believe that patients are strongly overtreated with antibiotics.  Our bodies are meant to fight off illness and we build up tolerance to antibiotics quickly if overused.  So, I am thankful that this tiny little person has really done so well. Her parents, however, have not faired quite so gracefully.  I mean, really, Aaron even ended up in the hospital in September from s...

Paisley has found her voice and she is using it to her fullest potential these days.  It seems like over the past month, her vocabulary is blossoming.  She already was ahead of the curve at her 12 month appointment by knowing more words than our pediatrician expected. But now she seems to be learning at least one new word every day.  And she'll repeat everything like a little adorable parrot.  Except not so cute when the word she chooses is "crap" out of a paragraph with 50 words... Today her word is "happy".  And it is sweet.  I'll ask, "are you happy?" and she'll say "happy, happy, happy".  She says it cuter than anything I've ever heard other than "mama".  And I like to think that it's because she actually is happy... Also this week, we were getting ready to leave for the clinic and I said "let's go bye-bye".  She turns and starts marching towards the front door saying "hut-two, hut-two...

When talking to a friend this week who has 4 children (one of which is a handful), I realized something about Paisley.   She is a difficult child.  And I would have thought that difficult meant bad before having a child but now I realize that they are two totally different adjectives. She isn't bad at all.  In fact, I haven't had to spank her yet and rarely have to tell her no.  And it isn't because I'm ignoring things or letting her act crazy.  She just doesn't get into things that aren't hers and rarely throws fits or acts up  (huge exception is putting her in the carseat at times).  She's very loving and affectionate.  She's interactive and playful.  And now that her vocabulary is expanding, she's getting really funny. But difficult.   This started on Day 1.  She didn't let us put her in the plastic bassinet like every other baby without screaming.  Endlessly.  She wanted to be in our arms at all times, day and...