Please Meet Fiona: My New Niece!

Timm and I would like to introduce to everyone the newest addition to our immediate family, Fiona Marie! We are so beyond thrilled to have her in our lives, and we are more than excited for her parents to experience the wonderful adventure that is parenthood.  Fiona is the daughter of Timm's sister, Julie, and her husband, Andrew, making her Timm's & my niece and Judah's first ever cousin.  I truly hope Judah and Fiona and all the future cousins will grow close together.  Timm and I  got to meet the bundle of beauty last Sunday where we each got a chance to hold her for the first time.  It was a fun and funny time.  Here are some of our memories : ) (All photographs are courtesy of Andrew, the daddy.  Thanks, Andrew!)

Judah meeting his cousin for the first time.  Doesn't seem too sure what to think, yet.

Seems as though he approves : )

Here Timm is holding Fiona.  Don't worry, he hasn't contracted any strange illnesses; he just had a cold. 

"Judah, this is a baby, your new cousin, Fiona! Say hi!" 

Here we are as a family adoring the new bundle.  Please don't mind my attire,
I don't normally dress in extra tight Christmas pajamas at family affairs.

Here Judah is trying on Daddy's mask as a hat.  Silly boy.  

Judah wants to be just like Daddy, all the time : ) 

Finally back into my normal clothes; it was my turn to hold Fiona.  She's so cute! 

Pregnancy Weeks 27, 28, 29 & 30!

My belly at 32.3 weeks.

Week 27 - This week marks the beginning of my third trimester. This is going way back now, but symptom wise, I think I was feeling pretty good.  I had a few friends stop in this week so that kept me company and kept those pregnancy blues away.  The hormonal blues have definitely crept up on me this pregnancy and really its no fun, for anyone. But this too shall pass.

Week 28 - This week I had my prenatal check up and glucose test.  I had been psyching myself out with drinking the glucola drink for the month that it was sitting in my fridge.  When it came time to drink limondex, after my breakfast of two scrambled eggs on a waffle and a small glass of milk, I decided to chug it.  The drink turned out not bad at all and oddly enough I almost enjoyed it.  Luckily I passed my glucola test with flying colors.  I weighed in at around 165 this time and got to have another ultrasound.  Mind you this ultrasound was on one of those old machines so, not very clear.  I did like how my doctor commented that he was getting so big that he didn't fit in the screen anymore! : )

Week 29 - This week along with past weeks, marks just how bad my back pain has become.  It feels nearly impossible to turn over from side to side.  I usually feel fine during the day, but the pressure from the baby must really weigh on my back when I lie down. (Now as I write this at 32.3 weeks, its getting hard to even shift positions while standing, whether it be putting my socks on or stepping in and out of the tub to shower).

Week 30- This week was a week of symptoms.  I have had the worst restless legs.  Sitting through a movie is near impossible without having to get up and walk around or stretch my legs out and turn my ankles or anything to keep my legs moving.   I also have been experiencing mild leg cramps.  With Judah my leg cramps were horrible to the point where when I got out of bed I could hardly walk.  Luckily this time around I only need to bend my feet back to relieve the pressure only on occasion rather than every night.  I have also had major pressure from the baby when he decides to get cozy in a certain spot on either side of my belly.  The pressure is almost painful, especially if I'm trying to stand up since he feels like he's right under my rib cage.    
     The most significant symptom that has started is Braxton Hicks contractions.  I am not sure I got them this early with Judah, but I do get them whenever I sit up, which is exactly the same way I got BH with Judah.  The sensation is odd since your whole belly tightens. When I first started noticing them I didn't think that it was BH because of how much pressure the baby has been putting on my belly, but I thought to myself that he couldn't make my entire belly this hard, so I figured BH must have started!

I'm officially 32 weeks and 3 days today!

Baby Buys For Baby Number Two!

I just wanted to share some of the items that we recently purchased for our second baby including the double stroller that we decided to get.  Making the double stroller choice was extremely difficult, but for Timm and I who are on a budget, I found one that I think is fairly priced and fits most of our needs. (Major thanks to Grammie Freitas for this purchase!)  Although, it doesn't fit all our needs to perfection, nothing would be perfect unless the stroller was custom designed, and I'm really not sure where you could do that!  We did decide to go with another crib and dresser because we felt Judah was too young to be transitioning to a toddler bed at this point, and we wanted to keep as much as we could the same as possible to make bringing a new baby into the home as least stressful for him.  Yes, we did have to dish out a little more money now than most people just buying a toddler bed for their firstborn, but we know that these cribs can convert to larger sleeping areas, and the dressers are theirs until they one day move out and choose their own furniture.  But until then, this is what they get and I am sure they will be thankful. Without further ado, here are the three major items we recently purchased:

The Crib
This crib is called the Sorelle Verona Lifetime Crib.  We chose this one because it was not made of pine, but a stronger poplar wood, and it just looked absolutely beautiful in person.  We purchased this on the very last day of the Great Trade-In event, so we got a great deal on it.

The Dresser
We chose the Sorelle Verona 5-Drawer Dresser that stands tall and upright.  The reason we decided to go with this dresser was not only because it matched the crib and was not made of pine (a biggie for me), but because it had 5 full drawers.  Judah's dresser is the same design and I really love it because it doesn't take up too much space, and its easier for me to reach things post recovery rather than having to bend down all the time, with a lower standing dresser.

The Double Stroller
This is the most interesting of the three items that I will be featuring, not only because of its unique design but also because of its unique color, bright green.  So, the name of the stroller that we decided to go with is the Joovy Scooter X2.  It caught my eye because of its great reviews and its light weight.  Most double strollers weigh 30-40 lbs and this one weighs in at just 28 lbs.  I also chose this stroller because I really did NOT want a front-to-back stroller, since I read it can be uncomfortable for the older child, leaving him/her little room, and I didn't like the fact that one of my kids would be so far away from me, not to mention turning corners doesn't seem too fun. I also really liked this stroller because the seats recline almost fully, can fit through any standard doorway, and is compatible with an infant insert, so I can put my little baby in the stroller from nearly day one. I watched a video review of this stroller as well as read many written reviews and think that we will be very happy with this purchase.  Not to mention this company has excellent customer service, something to help give us peace of mind.

Perhaps after I have used these items I'll do a review on them, but for now I am pretty confident I will like them all.

Pregnancy update is coming soon.  I've been more tired and busy, so it's getting harder to do updates! Soon though, I promise : )

"TAR"

Judah has gone through many phases of liking things such as toys and books in his little life so far, but the longest lasting "obsession," if you will, has been with his love for the guitar, which he so lovingly calls "TAR!"  Everyday after Timm gets home from work Judah will run over to the door and acknowledge that his Daddy has come home, but immediately after the short greeting, Judah presents the same question without fail, "tar?" So, Timm will retrieve his acoustic guitar, which he has been diligently learning how to play better and better, just so that our son may get the most enjoyment out of the instrument as he can. The most beautiful thing about this encounter is that Judah must play his guitar alongside Daddy and sway to the music each and every time.  Now I will leave you with some pictures of their "jam sessions" together. Enjoy!

"Daddy, Tar?"

Here Judah is trying out Daddy's guitar.  For a toddler, he's quite good at strumming.

Judah getting into his classic rocker pose and of course in the appropriate attire.

Here Daddy and Judah begin another "jam session" together with Judah's new guitar from his Grammie.

Notice Judah's great form.

Here Judah ends with a rocking guitar solo.

Judah Translation, Special Names, & Songs

Translations

Judah is becoming absolutely amazing with his talking abilities.  There are a few words among his growing vocabulary that may be hard to decipher to the novice Judah listener.  Here are a handful of those words kindly translated for your future understanding: 

Bee-an-nana = Banana

Hello Di-dit-tee! = Hello Kitty

Ra-lo-va-lee = Ravioli

 Tar = Guitar
Tay-yon = Crayon
Pem = Pen
Dipe = Diaper

Special Names

Judah, through the past few months, has also begun naming his belongings.  I find these names to be unique and unquestionably adorable.  Some of his special names for his things are:

Bray = His favorite Blankie

Happy = Police Officer Lego Toy

Peep Peep = Little Soft Chickadee Toy 

Ouchies = Rolling Alligator Toy

Songs

Lately, Judah loves to sing a variety of songs in his own special way.  Currently he sings "ABC, ABC!" for the ABC song (occassionally he'll say EFG, but that's rare).  He also loves Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and only sings the words "Up Above" (I think that is his favorite line).  Finally he also loves to sing The B-I-B-L-E by singing "B-I-B-I-B-I!"

Pregnancy Week 23, 24, 25 & 26!

My 26.5 week belly!

Week 23 -This week Timm was off school and we were debating whether or not we wanted to work on the baby's room, since we would be switching our room with the one furthest away from the heater.  The switching needs to be done because we want our babies nice and toasty in the winter and cool in the summer since the A/C's would be in the same proximity as their rooms.   Although this was our plan, we actually ended up NOT moving around any furniture or packing up anything as expected since we really thought we would be purchasing a home very soon.  What would be the point of switching rooms if we would just be packing up everything anyway, right?  Of course we didn't find out until two weeks later, but we decided against the house after a rather revealing inspection, which showed a plethora of home improvements that were simply out of our price range.  So that was that.
     Pregnancy-wise this week was basically pretty standard.  I had no doctors appointments and no odd pregnancy symptoms.  The only things that were becoming more pronounced were the size of my belly and the need to pee everytime I changed positions, whether that be getting up from a chair or changing positions in bed.  This incessant need to pee kind of made me not want to move, because I knew where I'd be moving onto next - the bathroom!


Week 24 - This week I had my 24 week appointment and I need to say first and foremost, I LOVE MY OB/GYN DOCTOR!!!! We have been through a lot together with the two miscarriages, delivering Judah via C-Section, and now my new baby boy!  He is the friendliest, caring, most personable doctor I have ever encountered (as being my own personal doctor because I just so happen to absolutely love Judah's pediatrician as well!)  Anyway, the main reason why I am saying this is because I had written in my last pregnancy update that I would probably not be having anymore ultrasounds, but the topic of ultrasounds just happened to come up during my appointment he said "Just remind me next time and we can take another peek at him with our (portable) machine."  I was so happy when he said this because it would be such a treat.  My first ultrasound was on one of those older portable machines at 5 weeks 4 days pregnant and even though it wasn't a full on scheduled ultrasound tech administered scan, it still counts! Especially since I get a little pictures each time : )
     Well onto the results of my appointment.  The heartbeat was good, belly looked good, no weird symptoms, but wait, I weigh 160 pounds???? I still have 15 weeks to gain more weight!  Well I did weigh 170 lbs. with Judah so hopefully I won't gain too much more.  Although I might not be exactly watching what I eat as carefully as I normally would in terms of calories, I know that with pregnancy gaining weight is inevitable, but I do honestly feel as though my belly is just bigger overall with this baby than I was with Judah.  As for other symptoms, I am still continually peeing all the time and heartburn finally kicked in. (Lots of hair perhaps? Just kidding! Those old wives tales haven't really worked for me.)

Week 25 - This week has been the ultimate week of feeling emotional.  At a moments notice I will become weepy.  Before I was pregnant, I'd have a chance at keeping myself from crying if I felt it coming on, but now with being pregnant it is as if I have an on and off switch directly linked to my tear ducts.  I will say "Timm, I'm going to cry" and I do! There is just NO stopping it.  I had a good crying spell after not getting the house, not because of not moving, but because I knew we wouldn't have all the modern conveniences that we lack in the apartment when the baby comes, such as a washer and dryer.

Same 26.5 belly, just a little bit further view : )

     Symptom wise I can't seem to get full no matter how much I eat.  I get hungry after about 2 hours at the very most and if I don't eat something substantial I have that pit-like feeling in my belly until I eat again.  My baby boy has also been moving around like crazy, pressing against my belly so I can feel body parts, and his newest ability is hiccuping.  That constant little poking feeling from inside my lower belly is his head going up and down with his uncontrollable hiccups, which he seems to get quite often!

Week 26 - Although not completely over yet, I figured enough was enough, I have to get this latest pregnancy post up.  It has been a month!  So, as for this week, I would have had my update in earlier but I had the WORST pounding headache for three days straight.  I thought to myself "If I have this for one more day I'm calling the doctor!"  I just had to sleep it off and put a cold cloth on my head every night.  It seemed to help and I didn't even take any medication.  Also, I had been feeling nauseous, which is very odd.  So nausea plus headache was not awesome.  I was thinking, wow I hope this isn't pre-eclampsia! (That's me being paranoid.)  Thankfully I stopped feeling both nauseous and my headache was easing, but of course my back has been acting up again.  It is at the point now where I cannot stand on one leg and getting dressed is a challenge. My back and my inner legs feel so weak these days, I can't imagine three more months of feeling like this, but I'm sure I'll bare with it. So that's it for now.  At week 28 I'll be having another appointment and get to drink that lovely glucola drink to test for gestational diabetes.  Hopefully the results of that test will come out fine.  Just 12.2 more weeks or less now! Crazy!

I will officially be 27 weeks on Monday!

Judah's Train: 5 Steps to Fun

STEP 1: 

APPROACH THE TRAIN

STEP 2: 

PLAY WITH SOME COOL FEATURE OF THE TRAIN 

(such as the block shoot to the caboose)

STEP 3:
BOARD THE TRAIN

STEP 4:
MAKE A REDICULOUSLY EXCITED FACE BECAUSE YOU KNOW
YOUR MOMMY CAN'T SAY NO TO THAT

STEP 5: 

MAKE MOMMY PUSH YOU AROUND ON THE TRAIN

AS MANY TIMES AS HER BACK CAN TAKE IT