Last Thoughts on Pregnancy

37 Weeks with Alyssa

I went back through my blog post the last one I did was 32 weeks. So here are my 37 week pictures. 37Weeks with Colin

Total weight gain: About 30 pounds

Maternity clothes? Yes at the end that is all I could wear and most of those were to small.

Sleep: I was sleeping okay as long as the baby wasn't moving too much or having contractions

Best moment this week: Going to the doctor and hearing the heartbeat again. That never gets old.

Movement: I feel the baby every night now he is getting stronger by the day. He likes to stretch with his head in my left hip and his feet in my right ribs. He also liked to push as hard as he could out of the right side of my body.

Gender: Boy! Colin James for a name

Labor Signs: Yes starting at 36 weeks 5 days I had constant contractions for 3 days. They then stopped for a day and then my water broke at 37 weeks 3 days.

Belly Button in or out? Still in, but getting more shallow.

What I miss: Being able to bend over and not think about how I'm going to breathe. My lap is also shrinking so it is getting harder to hold Alyssa for long periods in my lap.


Weekly Wisdom: Slow down and take it easy.

By day 5 after he was born I had packed away all my maternity clothes.
By 4 weeks post baby I am down 24 lbs. (So I have 6 left to lose) though my clothes do not fit the same. I still have a small flabby belly. I can put on my size 8 pants and even button them but don't ask me to sit down in them and it gives me really bad muffin top.

I am not sleeping at night but that is due to my noisy baby sleeping beside me.

My belly button has gone back to normal but does not seem as deep.

2010

2010 has been a year of some of the scariest and saddest moments for me and also some of the very best moments.

I'm sure that can be said about every year but I do have to say 2010 held more good than bad for me.

When 2010 started I was still getting over the miscarriage and my job was getting more and more stressful by the day. By March I could not take my job any longer and started looking for something else. On April 5 I started a new job working with pre-school kids.

On April 6th (my second day on the job) I found out I was pregnant (in the bathroom at lunch time no less).

In June I got offered to do my own in home daycare and turned it down. In July I was offered another time to run my own in home daycare and I took the leap.

Since July I have become my own boss and LOVE it. I have enough kids to hire an assistant part time and she will go full time soon after the new year.

I was supposed to have a baby in December to end the year but he blessed us with his presence the very end of November.

Alyssa is growing up before our eyes she is a blast to play with. To look at pictures and see how much she has grown in the last year is amazing. She is full of words and comes up with the cutest things to do and say. We just watch and play with her at night there is no need for the TV.

2010 has flown by and has been more than I could ever imagine, I can't wait to see what 2011 brings.

Christmas 2010

Christmas was a blast this year. Alyssa was a blast. She knew how to open presents and she loved everything she got. She got to open presents on 3 different occasions with one more to come. She loved all the attention she got and could not have been in a better mood considering she was low on sleep during the whole thing.

Colin could have cared less and slept through the opening of presents. He did look adorable doing it though so that is what is important.

On Christmas morning both Chris and I were wide awake at 5am. Colin and Alyssa were still asleep so we laid in bed talking and laughing that we were up earlier than the kids. Once Alyssa was up at 6 we came downstairs and played for about an hour and then had breakfast and then went up to open presents. Alyssa got to open all of them no matter who they were addressed to. If they were for Colin she would walk over to his car seat and show it to him then be ready for the next one. She loved playing with her new toys. She had a tea party with Grandpa and drew on the chalkboard with Nana and draw a picture on the magnadoodle with Daddy.

She loved playing with her cousins and seeing family.

It was a great Christmas.

Big Girl Bed

Last Saturday I decided Alyssa was big enough to move from the crib to a toddler bed. This was what I thought would be an easy move and just take off the front of her crib and put on the railing. Well an hour later it was fixed. I had to move the mattress down and find the correct screws but it was on.

That night Alyssa went to bed super easy. On Sunday she did not take a nap but went down easy for bed. By Monday night we were having trouble getting her to stay in bed at night. Last night she was so tired from no nap that she fell asleep on the couch at 6:15. By 10pm she was awake and coming into our room. By midnight I had enough of putting her to bed and told her to crawl in bed with us. An hour later she was finally asleep. But I was kicked out of bed at 2 by legs in my side.

This morning I put her crib side back up on her bed. This time it only took me about 20 minutes. For nap today I put her down she screamed for about 2 minutes and was asleep in under 10. She was the first one asleep of all the kids in the daycare. Hopefully we can go back to her easy sleeping patterns.

She was usually so easy to put down. You would lay her down and within minutes she was asleep with no crying and sleeping almost 12 hours at night straight with an hour and half to two hour nap a day. Hopefully we will be back to that by the end of the week. I can't deal with two of them up at night!

Snow

On Saturday night it snowed. On Sunday Chris and I figured Alyssa should get to enjoy it. The wind was still blowing about 20 mph with gusts up to 40 so we left Colin inside and took Alyssa out on the deck. Her shoes became covered in snow and I showed her how to make a snowball. She loved it. The whole time( like 3 minutes) we were outside she had the biggest smile on her face and enjoyed everything there was about the snow.

When we came inside she decided that she should put on her daddy's snow gear. She looked adorable and she knew it.

There was not enough snow for a snowman but I promise you that when there is, she will have to be out there making one.

Firsts

Colin has now had his first bath, his first doctor's appointment and his first visitors. It is amazing how different the second child is than the first.

I LOVE to hold Colin and snuggle up with him but I do not hold him half as much as I held Alyssa. Part of this is because I'm already back to work and can't hold him and take care of kids at the same time, but the other part is I need time with Alyssa too.

Colin is very content sleeping in his swing or bouncy seat for hours at a time while I play with Alyssa or take care of the daycare.

Another difference is the firsts. When Alyssa got her first bath we took like 100 pictures. The first time we put Colin in the bath someone had to run to get the camera because we had forgotten it.

As I uploaded pictures to my computer yesterday so that I could write about some of his firsts I realized that Alyssa still had more pictures on the camera than Colin.

Chris and I both love being parents to two kids and are way more relaxed with the second but sometimes I feel a little guilty because we aren't as overbearing as we were with Alyssa.

Picking the Christmas Tree

We usually get our tree the first weekend in December. But this year we waited until the second week because Colin was so little that first week.

On Saturday we packed up the family in two cars and headed out to Home Depot to get the tree. Now usually when we go we walk up and down each aisle at least two times picking up trees and admiring them from different angles to see if there are bald spots and if it will look good in our house.

This year we get out of the car to the bitter cold and wind. We ran inside and got all the things we needed from inside including a cart. I put Colin in the basket part and tried to put Alyssa in the seat but she wanted to walk. So out we go to find a tree. We start up the first row with the wind blowing at about 40 mph. I pull a tree out and say this looks good. Chris pulls a tree out and we say we like that one but it looks like it has been sitting awhile. The wind blows again. We grab the first tree I picked up and I head to the car with the kids.

Once in the car Alyssa is crying because her hands hurt from the cold and Colin is crying. And I'm driving with the heat blowing full blast.

If you know me you know that picking out a tree usually entails at least 20 minutes. This year I could have cared less. It was cold and the kids were cold. It is amazing how your priorities change.

We brought it home to decorate. Alyssa walked behind Chris saying "eww" to every pine needle that dropped.

Alyssa loved the lights on the tree and enjoyed hanging a few ornaments though most were to hard for her to hang.

Colin James

On Wednesday I had my 37 week check up. My blood pressure was up and since Thanksgiving was the next day I was sent to Labor and Delivery for blood work and monitoring. My blood work came back fine and my blood pressure went down but I was having contractions. The contractions did not amount to anything so they sent me home.

I had BH contractions all day Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Saturday night my family went and walked the zoo lights. That finally made the contractions stop.

All day Sunday I felt great and got a lot done.

On Monday morning I got up and at 6:15am my water broke. It was a huge gush that would not stop coming. There was mecuim in the fluid so I knew we needed to head straight in to the hospital.

We left for the hospital at 7:20 and checked in about 8:30 am. When I checked in I was 2 cm and 80% effaced. They monitored my contractions for about an hour and they were not strong or consistent so they started pitocon.

At 11 they finally let me get out of bed and onto a birthing ball. This only lasted about 40 minutes because with every contraction his heart rate would drop. They decided that I had lost too much fluid. So I got the epidural and they inserted an internal monitor and pushed fluid back into my uterus so that he wasn't being squeezed during contractions.

At 5 pm I was finally 5cm. At 6 they checked me again and I was 9. They started setting the room up. At 6:25 I started pushing. He was born at 6:33 after 3 pushes. The NICU nurse that was supposed to be in there to suction his lungs since he had mecuim did not make it in time and he took a breath, but was fine.

He was born at 37 weeks 3 days. He weighed 7 lbs 14 ounces, 20 1/2 inches long and was healthy.

He is eating like a champ and I am so in love.

Cute

Two quick stories about my growing baby girl.

1. She loves to sing songs. She has two that she likes to watch on youtube one is KT Tunsel called "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" and the second is "Kiss the girl" from the little mermaid. We also sing a lot of songs. Her favorite is "5 little monkeys swinging in a tree". Any time I start another song she asks for this one next. She can do the movements to wheels on the bus, patty cake, If your happy and you know it.

Well anytime I start to sing the ABC's she runs to her toy area and gets a toy that sings the ABC's we think it was pretty smart. Today I was changing her clothes at swim and I heard a lady singing "Twinkle Twinkle little star". I thought to myself I never sing that one to Alyssa. So tonight I started singing it. She ran to her toy area got a music book turned it on and played the song. I had listened to her play with that book a hundred times but never payed attention that it played that song.

2. Tonight Chris is out with friends so Alyssa and I are home by ourselves. I really want Wendy's and think I will pack Alyssa up in the car to go get it soon, but she was hungry so I was giving her a pop tart to hold her over.

I gave her a piece of pop tart. ( we are sitting on the floor in the TV room). She puts it down, folds her hands and starts to say prayer. I could understand God good and Amen. She then waited for me to repeat the prayer then picked up her pop tart and started eating.

I know she doesn't know why or what prayer means but it melts my heart that she knows that we are to do it before we eat. There are times she also will do it when we are out.

She is a smart little girl and I am so lucky to be her mom.

Halloween

Alyssa had a blast Halloween weekend. On Saturday we decided kind of last minute to go to the mall and trick or treat through the stores. We were told it was going on from 4-6. So we got there at 4:30 and over half the stores were out of candy. We didn't really care because Alyssa doesn't eat candy. Everyone thought she was really cute and she loved that people were putting things in her basket.

We came home and ate dinner then headed back out for the Alton Halloween Parade. You can tell we haven't been to a parade in ages because we didn't take a blanket or chairs. Alyssa was 2 minutes from falling asleep when it started but had a blast watching the floats.

On Halloween I only let her go to 4 houses of people we knew pretty well. She then ran around the front yard while we passed out candy for a little bit then came in for bed.

She did not know why people were giving her things but she LOVED it and spent two days taking the candy out of her basket and putting it back in.

I would say it was a good Halloween.

Day Care

My daycare is taking off! I just had to put an ad up looking for an assistant to start after the new year. I need one more kid and then I will need full time assistant. Praise God.

Starting in Jan I will have 4 kids under a year( with another baby in March).

2-3 kids in the 1-2 range. (though 2 will be a month from that 2 point)

and 3 kids in the 2 -7 range. Two of those will be my kids but other than that they are daycare and paying customers. I wish a few of them would be more full time but I will take what I can get.

I'm to the point where I don't have to be as flexible. I told Chris no more kids that have to have weird hours. I will keep the ones I have but I will not take on anymore.

I go to a class next Wednesday to really get the licensing process started. Hopefully I can get things moving quickly and have it done by the new year. Now I'm off to find more pack n plays and maybe another high chair.

Brandson/ Silver Dollar City

This past weekend we went to Brandson to celebrate Chris's parents 50th wedding anniversary. It is amazing to know that they have been married for 50 years. It is such a blessing to see people that are so happy and have been together for so long.

We got condo's down there and there were about 25 of us that went down for the celebration. Many of them went down early Friday and spent the day doing touristy things. Since we have a baby on the way and I just started my business we knew that we couldn't take the day off. So we left after work and got down late Friday night.

On Saturday everyone went to Silver Dollar City. This was a hard day for our small family since a lot of the loud noises scared Alyssa, and she did not feel well. We had fun walking around and looking at the different craftsmen and seeing all the people. It was really crowded and about 2 o clock we left. That night we all went to one of the condo's and partied to celebrate the anniversary. Alyssa feel asleep soon after the party started and took a short nap then was crabby the rest of the night.

On Sunday we all went out to breakfast together. Then Chris and I were going to do the touristy stuff. It took us 20 minutes to go a mile and at the point we turned around and headed home.

All in all it was a good weekend to see everyone and celebrate such an amazing event but hopefully next time everyone can be happier in our small family.

Grants Farm/ Godfrey Maze

Two weekends ago we went to Grants Farm and the Godfrey Maze to get in the fall spirit. Both were fun events with grandparents involved as well.

Grants Farm is in the evening and she got to wear her Halloween Costume. When we got there we put her in her cow costume and she loved to wear it but she refused to wear the hood. We( Grandma and Grandpa Knight, Nana and Grandpa McK, Chris and I) wait in line for the train and she is having fun playing with the people around her and giving smiles to all. We got on the train, the air brakes go off she starts screaming and crying and buries her head in my shoulder. Chris and I look at each other and think that it would be a long tram ride. But she calmed down very quickly and loved looking at all the animals. She had fun seeing the horses and other animals, though she called everything a cow and mooed at it all.

Two days later we went to the Godfrey Maze. This time we only took my dad(Grandpa McK). We were able to navigate the maze and didn't have to put up our flag for help. We then took a tram ride around the park and let her play in a big box filled with corn kernels. She loved to play in the corn and would have stayed there a long time but we had to pull her out because the kids got too rowdy.

Pumpkin Patch

Today we went to the pumpkin patch. We did that last year and you can read about it here. This year was so different than last year. She wouldn't look at the camera, but loved looking at and picking the pumpkins. When we got out to the patch she went from pumpkin to pumpkin trying to pick them up. She finally found one that she could pick up and she carried that one around for awhile. We did not let her buy it because it was half green and not hard.

When we got back to where we had to buy the pumpkins we let her try some apple cider. She loved the apple cider and would have drank the whole glass if we would have let her.

It was hard to get her back to the car because we had bought 4 pumpkins and so Chris was carrying two and I had two. This left no hands for Alyssa and so we had to keep calling her name and encouraging her to walk. If we were not talking to her she would just stop and look around. Finally I sent Chris to the car and then asked him to come back and help with her. This worked the best and we were most of the way to the car by the time he came back.

Alyssa had a great time and it was fun watching her take it all in. She had a very serious face every time the camera came out, but when it was put away we had a lot of smiles.

32 Weeks

32 weeks with Alyssa 32 weeks with Colin

How far along? 32 weeks

Total weight gain: About 20 pounds. It depends on the day and what I ate the day before.

Maternity clothes? Yep there is no way to fit into any bottoms that aren't maternity anymore and tops don't cover my big belly..

Sleep: I am actually sleeping okay but I do wake up a few times a night to roll over which is now a process and my hip hurts from whatever side I'm sleeping on.

Best moment this week: Going to the doctor and hearing the heartbeat again. That never gets old.

Movement: I feel the baby every night now he is getting stronger by the day. He likes to stretch with his head in my left hip and his feet in my right rib.

Gender: Boy! Colin for a name

Labor Signs: none but if I over do it during the day I get a lot of cramps and don't feel good.

Belly Button in or out? Still in, but getting more shallow.

What I miss: Being able to bend over and not think about how I'm going to breathe. My lap is also shrinking so it is getting harder to hold Alyssa for long periods in my lap.

What I am looking forward to: Starting to wash clothes and put the finishing touches on the nursery.

Weekly Wisdom: Slow down and take it easy.

Milestones: By now, your baby weighs 3.75 pounds (pick up a large jicama) and is about 16.7 inches long, taking up a lot of space in your uterus. You're gaining about a pound a week and roughly half of that goes right to your baby. In fact, he'll gain a third to half of his birth weight during the next 7 weeks as he fattens up for survival outside the womb. He now has toenails, fingernails, and real hair (or at least respectable peach fuzz). His skin is becoming soft and smooth as he plumps up in preparation for birth.

Bad Blogger Again

Wow my last blog was Sept. 6. I have been a bad blogger. I guess because there really isn't much to say.

I do need to upload pictures off my camera and then I could have a blog about picking apples. We also went down to the lake this past weekend so I could blog about the trip down to the lake where it was too cold to swim or boat.

My daycare business is going well. I now have six kids on my roster and consider myself full. Two of those kids won't start until January and I am okay with that because it means things won't get to crazy busy until after the baby comes.

Right now I have four kids. One is here 45 min a day 3 days a week. That is pretty easy. The other 3 have more hours at the daycare and we are all working on settling into a routine and getting to know each others moods and issues.

I will try to update the blog this weekend with pictures from the apple picking and my ever growing belly.

For now I will just leave you with a picture of Alyssa. She is growing up way to fast!!

19 Months

Dear Alyssa,

Today you turn 19 months. We have stopped telling people how old you are by months now and just say you are a year and a half. I can't believe you have been in our lives that long. In the last month you have gotten to see your Grandpa and Nana, and your Uncle Michael.

You are starting to love people more than ever. You are shy for the first two minutes and then you warm up to them and enjoy playing with them. At church you love to dance to the songs and then you shake everyones hand when it is time to greet the people.

You are saying more and more words and imitating everything we do like crazy. You know where your mouth, nose, eyes, ears, tongue, hands and feet are. You can put on your own shoes and love to take off all your clothes.

Every now and then you will go potty on the potty.

This month has brought some changes to mommies job and I now stay home and watch other kids. You enjoy playing with the older one and watching the baby. Whenever the baby cries you run to him and make sure he is okay. I love being home with you all day and can't wait to see what time will bring us in the way of more kids.

You have found a new favorite TV show called Yo Gabba Gabba and whenever you want to watch it you walk up to us and say "wiggle wiggle" which is your favorite song on the show.

Daddy and I enjoy every minute with you and love to laugh at your silly faces and chase you around the house.

You are growing up way to fast little girl but we are loving every second of it.

Love,

Mommy and Daddy

25 Weeks pregnant

5 weeks 24 weeks

I am 25 weeks pregnant (as of yesterday).

This pregnancy hasn't been as easy as the one with Alyssa. I have had a lot more pain and sickness with this one. I don't know if it is because my muscles already knew what to do and just stretched faster or what. When comparing pictures I think I'm a little bigger than I was with Alyssa at this point but not much. I really didn't think I had grown much in the last few weeks but I have noticed my belly bumping into things and getting harder to bend over to pick Alyssa's toys up off the floor. I have been walking every morning with some neighbor ladies and I think it has been good for me to get out and moving every morning.

But there have also been some pluses to it. I have gained about 13-15 lbs depending on the day. This morning I decided it was time to try on my clothes because they say you come home from the hospital about 6 months pregnant and I'm in that stretch right now. So I tried on my size 8. They were super tight in the thighs but they went on, the button was just very far away from each other. So next I pulled out my size 12's. I put them on no problem and was even able to get them fully zipped and buttoned, with my hands in the pockets, just don't ask me to breathe. That was exciting because I know I will be able to wear those a few weeks after the baby is born as long as I don't gain to much more weight.

I then put on my size 14 skirt. It was tight and I could put it on but it sits higher than my 12s so even though it was bigger it was still tight. I probably could have worn them for an hour or so but then I would have been very uncomfortable. So I then took it off and put on my wonderful comfy maternity pants.

I am so excited to start the nursery. The crib is to arrive today and I can promise you that by Monday it will be put together, the bedding will be in it and there will be a few hangings on the wall. We will have also gone to pick out paint for the changing table and bookshelf. Hopefully the bookshelf will be bought and put together too.

I'm so ready to start doing things for his room. The wall is not finished but it is coming along and we will just leave space so that the other stuff doesn't get in the way.

Nursery

My step mom has offered to paint a mural on the new babies wall. She has now come down two weekends to work on it. We think it will take about two more times to finish but a good start has been made.

Bedding, this is the quilt. It has a cute bumper, wall hangings, and a mobile to go with it.

End of week one

End of Week two

The Crib should be here at the end of this week and so by the end of September, middle of October the nursery will be complete!

24 Weeks

24 weeks with Alyssa 24 weeks with Colin

How far along? 24 weeks

Total weight gain: About 13 pounds. But I'm still 2-4 pounds under what I was at the day I got pregnant with Alyssa.

Maternity clothes? Yep but I do still wear some no maternity tops. There is no way to fit into any bottoms that aren't maternity anymore.

Sleep: I am actually sleeping okay but I do wake up a few times a night most night and have a hard time going back to sleep.

Best moment this week: Letting my dad feel the baby move. Also watching him move from the outside

Movement: I feel the baby every night now he is getting stronger by the day.

Gender: Boy! We are thinking Colin for a name

Labor Signs: none but if I over do it during the day I get a lot of cramps and don't feel good.

Belly Button in or out? Still in, but getting more shallow.

What I miss: Being able to bend over and not think about how I'm going to breathe.

What I am looking forward to: Getting the crib this week so I can start setting up the nursery.

Weekly Wisdom: Patience is a virtue.

Milestones: Your baby's growing steadily, having gained about 4 ounces since last week. That puts him at just over a pound. Since he's almost a foot long (picture an ear of corn), he cuts a pretty lean figure at this point, but his body is filling out proportionally and he'll soon start to plump up. His brain is also growing quickly now, and his taste buds are continuing to develop. His lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help his air sacs inflate once he hits the outside world. His skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon.

Week One of Day Care

Well my first week of daycare did not go the way I had thought it would. The day before I was supposed to open one of the families called and told me they were not bringing their 2 daughters to me.

On Friday I got another call that another lady had decided not to bring her daughter to me. So I went from 5 kids, down to two. One of those kids is a before school kid that I only have 3 times a week for about 45 minutes.

Monday was a hard day because Alyssa was teething and the baby that I watch was gassy. It was a long day and when Chris got home I told him I could be a secretary.

Tuesday I only had the before school kid and then Alyssa and I spent the day together. We went out to lunch and to the mall.

On Wednesday I had the baby and things went well. So did today.

I am so grateful to Chris for letting me try this. I know money is tighter than we wanted it to be since I lost 3 kids but I love being home with Alyssa and can't wait to see what the future holds.

My husband is an amazing father and husband. He has been with me through so many things in the last 13 (WOW!) years we have been together. I am one lucky woman!!

Blood

Last night Alyssa was outside playing in the grass. She picked up two small pieces of wood that Chris had under the deck and started to come up the stairs with them. On the second step she slipped and fell. I saw it and heard the scream. I ran and got her and all I could see was blood. I ran her inside and started rinsing her mouth out. I counted her teeth and thought one was missing. My heart stopped beating. Then I counted again and realized she had all her teeth, but she had two really big gashes in her lower lip.

I didn't know what to do and of course Chris wasn't home. So I took her next door to my neighbors and asked them what I should do. They said that there was nothing the hospital could do since it was the inside of her lip. They reassured me that she would be fine.

By the time I put her to bed her lip was swollen but she was acting fine. This morning she was acting fine and just had lips that looked like we gave her botox. If you didn't know her or didn't look closely you wouldn't notice but I notice.

I'm sure its not the last time I will run her in the house with blood coming from somewhere but it was scary. The mommy part of me wanted to take her straight to the hospital. The money rational part of mommy hoped that all would be okay.

I'm glad she is okay and won't even remember in a few weeks.

New Day Care

Alyssa is 18 months old and starting Monday will be at her 4th daycare. Well really her 3rd. The first place we picked we backed out of before she even started. The second place she went to for 9 weeks. The third place she went to for a year.

Starting Monday she will go to her fourth and hopefully final daycare until she starts school. That daycare is the closest to home she has ever been and has the best ideas so far. I say that because starting Monday I am her daycare. I get to stay home and spend time with my daughter.

I am so excited that I get to stay home with her and get to see her all day everyday. I'm excited to get to see her play and interact with other kids. I won't have to feel the guilt I would get when I would go pick her up from daycare and they would tell me what a horrible day she had.

I started out with 5 kids, 3 families but as of last night one of the families backed out. So now I have 3 kids and one is just a before school kid.

I know I will get more and I just have to have patience and faith. It is giving me time to get my business up at started. I now have a Business bank account and tax id number. I also have an accountant and some clients. I'm officially a small business.

So hopefully the kids come soon and I can start feeling like this was the best decision ever.

Lake Baby

My daughter is a lake baby. She LOVES the Lake of the Ozarks. I swear it is in her blood. We did not get down there until late Friday night (think like 10:30). She did not want to go to bed. I think if we had let her go swimming she would have.

On Saturday morning she was up early to go swimming and play with all her toys that stay at the lake. We then went for a boat ride where she was so tired from staying up the night before, and getting up early that she fell asleep within minutes of being on the boat. This is a huge task for my daughter since she does not fall asleep in people's arms( like ever) or in cars (most of the time).

It was then home for lunch and a nap. Alyssa was the only one in the whole house that did not take a nap. It was then time for more swimming and then FINALLY Alyssa took a nap. But it was only an hour before she was back up for more swimming and another boat ride. On that boat ride she waved at every other boat, wave runner or bird that she saw.

On Sunday it was more swimming and another boat ride where she fell asleep again. This time we were able to get a few pictures. Then it was time to come home. She was so sad to leave the lake and I think she is dreaming of it nightly.

I'm so glad my baby is a water baby, hopefully her brother will like it just as much!

In Home Daycare

From the time I was in high school I knew I wanted to stay home when I had kids. I always assumed that I would watch a few kids in my home so that I could stay home and raise my own.

When Chris and I got married I told him I would work until we had kids and then I wanted to stay home. Well when Alyssa came we knew there was no way I could stay home we just bought a house and things were crazy. I told the babysitter that Alyssa had at the time by the time we had the second child I would be able to stay home.

Well here I am 5 months pregnant with my second child, unemployed and have had both the old babysitter and new babysitter offer me kids to watch so that I could stay home. At first I wasn't sure. (There is still part of me that is really scared about this).

But this is what I have said I wanted to do since I was in high school. I haven't been happy in the last few jobs I have had and I have loved spending the summer at home with Alyssa.

I know it will be hard and I know it isn't the same quality time at home with the kids I would get if I wasn't looking after other people's kids but at least I can see my kids grow up and their big milestones. There is less vacation, yet you are in your own house and have your kids.

I might need a few more nights out child free because of this adventure but how different can it be than raising someone else's kids for 9 hours a day then come home and raise my own?

Now I'm raising my 24/7 and someone else's 10.

I'm scared and nervous but I think it is just because it is something new and something I never thought I would be able to do.

Now I have to figure out how to re-arrange the house so that it is truly child safe and start finding kids. As of right now I have the potential for 4 with a 5th coming in Feb not counting my own two. If I could get it up to 7 or 9 I could hire someone to help me and then I could have small breaks with my own.

Maybe 5 with a few before/after school kids since the bus stop is my neighbors house.

If you are the praying type say a prayer for me. I hope this is what makes my heart and family happy because we all deserve to be happy after the last 3 years I have had!

Sleeping baby

We took the pacifier away about 13 days ago. Before that we would do a breathing treatment then she would give the parent not going upstairs a hug and go upstairs straight into her crib get her pacifier and blanket and go to sleep. Now everything is the same but I'm the one that takes her upstairs every night and I rock her for a few minutes before she goes to sleep.

I love sitting in the chair with her head resting on my chest. I love the way I can feel her body start to relax and her breathing get steady. I love the way if I stop rocking before she is ready for me to stop that she will move her body so that the chair continues to rock. We don't sing songs or read book ( that is done other times) we just sit there soaking in the love.

I have started to look forward to bed time at night. I know at some point she won't want to cuddle anymore but my baby is already growing up so fast I have to cherish the little things and this is what I'm cherishing right now!

Giving up the Pacifier

It is hard to quit an addiction. It is even harder when it is not your idea to quit that addiction. Alyssa used a pacifier to go to sleep at night and during naps. She never used it at any other time and Chris and I had talked a few times about taking it away and we never did.

After a talk last week we knew that we either had to get rid of it very soon or we were going to have to wait until after the baby came. I said I wanted to do it while I was still out of school so that if she didn't like it I could sleep during the day or at least take it easy.

We started on Friday night. She only cried for 10 minutes and then went to sleep. We thought
"wow this isn't bad". That night I went to check on her and found out she had gotten sick from dinner and was covered in throw up. We spent the next 2 hours cleaning her up and her throwing up 5 more times. I wanted to give in and give the pacifier back but Chris made me hold strong.

On Saturday she cried for 15 minutes very hard and then went to sleep. On Sunday it was 10 minutes and not as hard. On Monday it was only 8 minutes and even less.

Tonight Chris is gone for the night so it was just me for bed time routine. She cried for 10 minutes and went to sleep. She then woke up 45 minutes later and has now been crying for about 30 minutes. I have gone up and rubbed her back and rocked her, finally she just has to cry. I hope she falls asleep soon and she is just off her routine with Chris gone.

18 Weeks

How far along? 18 weeks

Total weight gain: About 5 pounds. That is about 5-7 pounds less than this point with Alyssa.

Maternity clothes? Yep but I do still wear some no maternity tops and I am wearing a size 14 skirt that fits okay. I really like dresses right now, pants are uncomfortable.

Sleep: I am actually sleeping though the night again I don't have to get up to pee. But when I wake up you better get out of my way. I wake up with backaches a lot of mornings though.

Best moment this week: Seeing the baby on ultrasound today and hearing the heartbeat.

Movement: I feel the baby almost every night now.

Gender: Boy!

Labor Signs: none

Belly Button in or out? Still in, but getting more shallow.

What I miss: Being able to enjoy a whole show or movie without having to go to the bathroom.

What I am looking forward to: Starting the nursery and buying clothes

Weekly Wisdom: Leave it in the hands of God he knows what he is doing.

Milestones: Well according to my weekly updates the baby is the size of a bell pepper and is 5.5 inches long and weighs 11 ounces. The doctor said he weighs about as much as a soda can right now.

It's a BOY!

Today we went for our big ultrasound. The baby looked very healthy and was very active the whole time we were in there. He kicked and punched and moved all around. He is measuring ahead of schedule and is laying transverse in my uterus. I also have an anterior placenta. This is not an issue now but if it doesn't move correctly can be an issue later but they said everything is fine for now.

I have spent the afternoon looking at cute boy things and can't wait to get started on his room.