Smiling Through the Rain

Helping Daddy with the animals at work.  Notice that she's wearing his stethoscope! Riding a camel with Dawnkey at the Medieval Fair Riding a horse with Dad at the Medieval Fair- thus the reason that the horse is dressed kinda ridiculous Finishing off our Saturday by playing naked in the back yard after getting ridiculously wet and muddy while Dad cleaned the pond.    Her diaper just couldn't survive anymore!

Okay pregnancy, Please slow down.  I'm not ever going to do this again and I really want to savor every day!  I'm so thankful that I've felt so incredible.  The movement of my little one is great and so reassuring.  But seriously- how could I possibly be 21 weeks already?!? I'm not having any aches and pains yet.  My sleep is terrific.  I adore my ever-growing bump.  If I could just freeze time on about 20-25 weeks of pregnancy, I'd totally do it.  In fact, if I could just stay pregnant an extra year and give birth to a 1-year-old who may sleep a little better- sign me up!

Aaron and I (along with 2 of our employees at the clinic) were subpoened to appear in court in May as witnesses.  Our defendant is being accused of child kidnapping, drug trafficking, and assault with a deadly weapon.  Let's recap for those who have slept since that crazy day last March... It was a pretty spring day when we were planting trees in the front of our vet clinic.  Long story short, a young black male ("Victim") ran up to us yelling that "they" were trying to kill him and he needed to use our phone to call his mom.  Now, he should have wanted to call the police which we realized when we spotted the bigger, meaner looking male ("Bad Dude") across the street with a gun looking for him.  Problems really start when the gun-toting fellow decides to cross the street and head for our clinic.  The employees frantically start locking the doors and I head to the back to hide with our then 6-month-old baby and "Victim".  This was my chanc...

This pregnancy has been defined by one symptom that I certainly don't remember with Paisley's pregnancy....   Gas. It's like I've eaten nothing but beans for the past 20 weeks.  Yeah, I eat beans but that's not the dominant food in my diet.  And yeah, I've had gas before I was pregnant but not 24-7.  The real problem is that it isn't the type that you can just ignore and it somehow dissolves back to wherever it came from and leaves you alone.  It's the type that causes you to feel like your insides will explode if it isn't taken care of immediately.  Which leaves you no time to get away from people. And making matters even worse, it isn't silent, but it sure is deadly.  So even if someone manages to avoid hearing it, they'll definitely smell it.    Pretty sure I'm not going to have any friends by the end of this!   And does anyone remember how bad it was during labor and delivery with Paisley?  Every single time m...

Greeting her new baby!  Don't worry- I'll post my 20 week pic once we take it this week.  I've grown A-L-O-T in 3 weeks... Exploring around the duck pond at OSU where daddy proposed to mommy Paisley with the library in the background- the place where I spent the least amount of time Showing our plump lips and attitude Bubble time at Gymboree Super happy about bubbles

Baby Deuce is a strong little fetus!  I've been feeling some movement since 17 weeks which is WAY earlier than I did with Paisley.  And it's already pretty frequent, with something almost every day.  But tonight we were watching TV and I thought, "Wow, that is a pretty strong movement." So, I lifted my shirt to watch what I figured would be nothing at all, but to my surprise- you could already see little kicks!!!  And before you all think I've been drinking some crazy juice (which would be prohibited during pregnancy), Aaron could even see it!   What's really impressive is how far apart the little one could make jabs and punches, as if he/she is already 3 feet tall.  :) I remembered that I loved being pregnant, but I had forgotten just how amazing it truly is!  Thanks Deuce for being so active and strong!!! 

Thank you dear friends.   You reassured me that my own network of people haven't just decided that we are such awful parents to Paisley that they cannot imagine us having a 2nd.  (The thought actually crossed my mind.)  And when I come to think of it, I've kinda ignored people's subsequent pregnancies too.   Like the more you have, the less attention you need.  Yet, I've always thought people should have a baby shower for every baby because it's a celebration of its own.   I'm just a neglectful friend who commonly forgets birthdays and other sentimental things.  But I'm always here if anyone needs me! So, let's just talk about Baby Deuce for a moment.  Because last night I feel like I finally had a little bonding time with this baby while preparing my adorable, newborn, neutral clothes.  It's not as easy to do since I'm so busy with Paisley.  With her, I did my prenatal yoga and continuously rubbed my belly and dreamed about ...

So, I'm finding that pregnancy with a 2nd child is just different altogether.  My first pregnancy (well, technically my 2nd) was so long anticipated that everyone made a big deal about it.  All the time.   It seemed to be all that people could talk about at work, family gatherings, by text, by phone, etc.  In fact, I actually got a little tired of answering questions about my pregnancy by the end.  "Boy or girl?", "When are you due?", "What names have you chosen?".  These were all so common that I swore I was going to make a shirt that said, "we aren't finding out, August, and none of your business because you'll probably just make fun of them." But it was super nice to have so many people look forward to meeting my sweet baby and it kept me excited too.  What I've discovered is that after you successfully have one, the next just isn't all that great of an accomplishment to anyone else.  It's like everyone thinks that we...

Knocking on wood as I write this... I feel like this is the easiest pregnancy that has ever occurred in the history of procreation.  And it happened spontaneously.  No doctors, needles, medications or ultrasounds.  My charts were put away and my thermometer never left my drawer.  In fact, my RE doesn't even know that I'm pregnant this time.  This girl seriously won the fertility lottery.  So I expected that it would be a miserable pregnancy.  Only seemed fair really.  And I don't think I would have even complained if I'd been plagued by morning sickness, out-of-control mood swings, and extreme fatigue.   Paisley was a booger to get, so I was blessed with a great pregnancy with her which only seemed right.  Even then, I dealt with continuous nausea until 14 weeks, back pain that made my legs numb, and a funky heartrate that earned me a heart monitor several times.  This time, the biggest complaint th...

I cannot even count how many times I've whispered to myself "this too shall pass" since becoming a mom.  You know the times...  standing in a pool of vomit while home alone with a cranky baby, waking up for the 10th time in a 6-hour-period because your daughter wants to play, struggling to get a squirmy resistant toddler into a carseat while strangers watch like you're a bad parent, wondering how/where to change a poopy diaper on a plane and questioning your child's poor timing... It has kept me from losing my mind numerous times over the past 18-months.  And what I've learned in the process is that kid's have phases.  Phases where they don't eat at all or don't nap or cry a lot.  And then they just outgrow it on their own. Paisley has decided that she loves solids again.  For 4-5 days now, she'll eat whatever we have.  Meats, fruits, vegetables, breads.  Also, she hasn't thrown a fit nor vomited at bedtime anymore!!!...

My beautiful baby's profile! Cute foot Little Hand 5 Perfect Fingers No pictures please, paparazzi...

We had our anatomy scan today and everything looked perfect!!!  My bloodwork has all been normal and the measurements are fantastic.  What a relief! My due date with my OB is August 8th, with my MFM is August 6th, and my measurements today gave me a due date of July 31st.  So baby is pretty big!  We already weighed 9 ounces and they say I'm 17 weeks, 4 days.  I'll scan in the ultrasound pictures in a little bit but it's time for a nap for now!  Oh, and in case you thought I lost my willpower and found out the sex of the baby, no such luck for you!  Although we once again have a little one who doesn't mind showing off the jewels quickly.  The tech only took 10 seconds once again to scan this area.  :)

Nope, not Baby Deuce.  This little person still isn't causing any trouble at all and I feel fantastic.  Cute bump growing quickly, no symptoms still, lovely pregnancy hormones giving me that "feel-good" feeling. I'm referring to my little 18-month-old monster that has taken control of my home.  She's broken every rule I've made.  She's changed my opinion about everything that I believed to be true.  She's taught me to never, ever judge another parent for any decision they make unless I've walked in their shoes. And this week has taken the cake.  First of all, Paisley does not believe in dental hygiene.  She went through a short-lived phase where she was curious about the toothbrush.  Mainly mine.  And she'd chew on it for a while, but mostly loved rinsing it in the sink.  Anything with water.  But at least the toothbrush was in her mouth. She now hates anything to do with the teeth.  She doesn't want the toothbrush near h...