My Little Super Hero

This was the perfect day for Ryder to wear his Batman shirt & cape because he really was a super hero today!  Ryder had to see an Orthotist today and get his left foot casted and right foot measured for his new Orthotics he’s getting made.  Last time this experience was pretty traumatic!  It took me & alan holding him down, and Jelena & Dr. H holding his legs steady so the mold could dry.  When I talked to Alan this afternoon and found out he was stuck working later than normal, I started to panic.  I was not prepared to go this appointment by myself!  But, I had no choice, so he gave me a good pep talk on the way, I prayed for God’s strength, and I stopped at 7-11 for a little candy ammunition.  I was armed with all my tools and ready for battle …

And he was a perfect little angel Big Brave Superhero!!  He sat on Mommy’s lap, skeptical of course, crying a little here and there, but did not have any exorcist moments like last time.  SHEW!  Me & the Doctor both kept telling him what a big boy he was being and how proud we were of him.  The worst part was after the cast dried and he had to use the saw to cut it off.  But he was so fast and Ryder was fine as soon as the noise was over. 

Then the fun part came and we got to pick all the colors out for his SMO to be made, I can’t wait to see the finished product.  Daddy pulled in the parking lot just as we were leaving!  He felt so bad for not making it in time, but looked super relieved when I told him how well it went.  I think Daddy thought HE would have to be the super hero who would run in the doctor’s office, hear his child screaming and bust through the door to save the day!! 

I had to throw this one in there.  This evening, Ryder packed a bag full of random things, then came and got my purse and said “Mommy, I carry you stuffs out to da Humma truck for you!” and drug everything over to the door.  He takes such good care of his Mama, he really is my hero! 

Valentine’s Presents

Daddy took Mommy out on a date for my Birthday this weekend…and go figure we would end up in a store buying Valentine’s presents for the love of our life – Ryder! 

Our date was fun, it’s so nice to be able to get out and spend alone time together.  But we were so excited for Ryder to get home today so that we could give him all of his goodies (no it’s not valentine’s day yet…we’re just impatient).  We were especially excited about his Batman shirt because it has a cape on the back…and he definitely runs around this house on a daily basis saying “Danananana BATMAN!”.  We were also excited about this adorable find:

His new shark back pack!  As much as he loves loading up bags and carrying them around the house, when Daddy spotted the shark back pack, we knew he had to have it!  He got right to work loading it with random things, then was so proud to walk around with his back pack.  He told us “time ta get on da cool bus!” and walked right over to the front door.  My heart skipped a beat as reality hit me that in a few very short years he really will be packing up a book bag and heading out the front door for school!  But for now, we’ll just pretend.

 

 

Oh my goodness, this little boy makes our hearts so happy!

Our other little love who we don’t have the pleasure of knowing yet also got her very first present today from Yaya…an outfit to wear on her first Valentine’s Day!

(Nicki, be prepared to make me some red & white leg warmers a year from now!)

So as you can see, we’re in the Valentine’s Day spirit big time around here.  Or maybe we’re just using that as an excuse to be all lovey-dovey…and to shop!  XOXO

18 Weeks!

Here’s what Alpha Mom says about this week:

Your Baby:

• Is about the size of a baked potato — five-and-a-half inches long.
• Has actual cute little ears and working ear bones and can hear sounds through the amniotic fluid — similar to how things sound to you underwater.
• Is moving, moving, moving. The baby is still small enough that you may not feel every kick and punch yet, but the movements will start getting less “bubble-like” and more “holy crap, that was totally a foot” pretty soon, if they aren’t already.

You:

• May notice some dizziness from time to time, especially if you stand up too quickly or go too many hours without a good snack. Try to stay hydrated and remember to eat every few hours — good stuff like yogurt, nuts, fruits, veggies and cheese. Empty calories like chips and junk food will just make the dizziness worse, not better.
• Might be getting a little uncomfortable at night. The best sleeping position for pregnancy is on your side (when you lie on your back you compress the blood flow to your uterus), but as your pelvis changes and your abdomen gets heavier this can get awfully hard on your hips and legs. Try sleeping with a small pillow between your knees or lower thighs — I finally grabbed a small decorative pillow from our bed and found it made all the difference in the world without taking up too much room or making me feel too hot at night like regular pillows or those full-body maternity pillows did last time. (While very comfortable, trying to roll over with one of those big things was just a giant exercise in AWK-WARD.)
• Oh, and let’s discuss our bladders too. You might soon find yourself at that lovely stage when you just can’t seem to fully empty your bladder in a single bathroom run. I don’t know whether there’s just something baby-related blocking the exit or what, but I pee and then stand up and realize that I STILL have to pee.

I love her weekly descriptions because they always seem to be right on point!  I can definitely relate with the dizziness right now.  Often times I stand up, take a few steps, then have to pause until I can see clearly to keep moving forward.  I think I need to slow down a little!

I felt my first two little kicks with my hand this week, that was very exciting, but hasn’t happened again.  I keep pushing around but am not getting kicked in return.  But I do love being able to feel her moving every day now.  Still not huge movements, but just enough for me to know when she’s awake :)

Heartburn is still a huge complaint and I have already started getting Braxton Hicks contractions again.  Both of these happened the whole time with Ryder too, so I’m not surprised.

Speaking of the big brother, he is so concerned with little sis, he even told me today to take my jacket off because my baby was too hot!  There is no doubt in my mind that he’s going to love this little girl from day 1!  It seems like they already have a bond forming…as crazy as it sounds. 

 

Mommy’s Special Day!

Today was my Birthday, and it was a very special day!  My Mom always goes out of her way to make sure that I have a fabulous birthday and this year was no different.  She brought dinner over lastnight and took Ryder home with her so that they could spend the day preparing for my Birthday! 

We were supposed to meet for dinner, but they surprised me with a delicious home cooked meal at Yaya’s house, this beautiful, and scrumptious dessert:

And PRESENTS!  All day long any time I talked to Ryder he would say “Mommy got you presents!!!”  And Yaya would be in the background saying “don’t tell her Ryder!”  So I knew they were working up something very special, and special it was!

It’s a patio stone with his handprints and name!!  This is the first present Ryder has ever made me, and I absolutely love it and will cherish it forever!  Mom has already bought another kit so I’ll be expecting one from the baby girl in a few years :)  I told Ryder thank you and how special my present was, so his phrase changed to “Mommy got you peshewl presents!!”

Mom & Alan also spoiled me and got me a new Nintendo DSi!!  I ruined mine on our camping trip last year and have been living without.  I never would have asked for another one after I was so careless with my first one, but they knew the true desires of my heart.  AND they were not supposed to get me anything since they helped me get my camera earlier this month…I know…spoiled.

But mostly I just really feel spoiled with love.  I got so many wonderful Birthday wishes today, and then got to end my day being pampered, it was perfect. 

Thanks to everyone who made this day so very “peshewl”!

Just a Few Changes

I’ve mentioned a few times that Ryder has had no interest in watching TV.  We bought DVD players for the car before our trip to Ocean City, which he really enjoyed.  When we get in the car, he asks for us to turn on his Elmo movie, but he has always just asked for it in the car and never cared about TV at home.  Well the other day, he asked us to turn on a certain show… It’s Blues Clues!!!  He has asked to watch it every day, and has already memorized a lot of the songs.  We have heard him walking around saying “It’s Mail Time!” or “Anything…Dat we wanna do!” or “we just got a letter!”.  I’m glad that out of all the shows on he picked this one, I can deal with that!  And he looks SO cute watching TV:

 

(There’s nothing wrong with a man holding purple & orange…go Rams! haha)

Also, we went to the store this weekend and bought Ryder a new potty.  This one is going to go to Nana’s house so she can start warming him up to the idea of going potty during the day.  He has done so good this weekend telling me when he has to go potty.  He has “peed in da bucket” atleast 3 times a day, and he even went #2 again!  One thing I’m noticing though is that he’s not emptying his bladder all the way.  This must be what his kidney doctor was talking about when he said that potty training would be really difficult for us.  Not that he is making things difficult at all so far, but since his bladder has so much muscle around it, he’s going to be able to hold it for a long time, then have to go really bad, but then just let a little out and not be able to feel that there is more that needs to come.  So, we’re taking baby steps, so far he’s really doing great with the whole concept!  And he’s so proud of himself, as he pees he always says “momma’s SO proud of you!!!”  And he’s right, I am!  On the way home from the store, he insisted on having his potty sit with him in his car seat, I had to get a picture of that:

We had an appointment with Ryder’s Physiatrist last week and have decided to do some things to work really hard with his left side over the next few weeks/months.  First, he will be getting new Orthotics, these will be more like a brace for his foot/ankle called a SMAFO (Supra Malleolar Ankle/Foot Orthosis).  His feet have always been pronated, and when we got his first set of Orthotics we noticed a HUGE change in the way he walked.  Now that he has outgrown them and has become so fast on his feet, he is dragging his left foot when he walks and it’s causing his knee to turn in too.  So hopefully we’ll see a lot of improvement once we get the brace. 

And for his arm, we have an immobilizer that we will be using on his right arm for a few hours each day this week.  It’s going to prevent him from using his right arm and encourage him to start initiating things with Lefty.  Hopefully using the immobilizer this week will prepare him for casting sometime next week.  We’re going to try a round of modified Constraint Therapy with him and see how he does.  He’ll be getting a cast on his right arm and we’re going to increase his therapy sessions and try to get the most out of Lefty that we can, in hopes that his brain will force some pathways to the nerves and muscles in his arm and hand. 

So, just a few changes I thought I’d share :)  Please keep Ryder in your prayers as he has some difficult things to face in the coming weeks.  More than anything, he hates being restrained…and we are about to face a fitting on his feet for orthotics and a casting on his arm where we will all have to hold him down.  Not to mention, taking Righty away is going to be extremely frustrating for him.  We wouldn’t put him through these things if we didn’t know that the benefit was greater than the discomfort, but it’s still hard for a Mommy & Daddy to watch their kid suffer in any way, so pray for us too, if you wouldn’t mind!

17 Weeks!!

This week really flew by since we had so much to look forward to…and then so much to be excited about!  Here is what Alpha Mom says about this week:

Your Baby:

• Is about five inches long from head to rump, which is the EXACT height of the jar of salsa I am currently quadruple dipping into. Bowls are for suckers.
• Has begun to develop the all-important adipose tissue — more affectionately known as baby fat.
• Is hard at working transforming its skeleton from soft cartilage into solid bone. Get this baby a part on Heroes.

You:

• Possibly feel immensely huge and very pregnant, but your bump probably isn’t as noticeable as you think it is. People may hesitate to comment or miss it completely, like the woman last night who came up and handed me an alcoholic cocktail and seemed genuinely shocked when I politely refused it, despite the fact that I feel like my belly eclipses my shoes at this point.
• “Normal” weight gain at this point can be anything between five and 13 pounds, although y’all know how I feel about the word “normal.” One book I read this week advised any woman who has gained more than 13 pounds to see a nutritionist and “be more careful”, while my doctor COMPLIMENTED me last Wednesday on not managing to gain a single blessed pound yet. I want to stab the world in the eyeballs with a fork right now, a little bit.

I had an OB appointment the day after the appointment with the Perinatologist.  I got to hear the baby’s heart beat again and it was 156bpm.  They said that everything on the Perinatology report looked good and they wrote me up a slip to go get all of the blood work done to check for that clotting disorder (it’s called Hereditary Thrombophilia).  I lost 2 pounds…which just blows my mind because I feel HUGE!  My stomach has definitely popped this week (as if it wasn’t popped before)…but now I really look pregnant.  I’ve been feeling the baby’s little movements more frequently this week, and I felt a few little nudges that are probably teeny tiny little kicks.  Feeling the baby move is by far my favorite part of pregnancy!  Keep them coming little girl :)

Here we are at 17 weeks (in my new favorite pajama’s that Nicki got me for my Birthday!)

This Should Explain It...

The funniest thing about finding out that I’m having a girl, is people’s reactions when they find out that I really am not into the pink, or lace, or ruffles, or all things girlie! Immediately people are like “oh yay, you get to dress her up and put bows in her hair” but my face must let on that that’s really not the part I’m looking forward to (nor really in my Mommy-to-a-girl plans!). I’m really not trying to take anything away from her, but I just don’t know if I have it in me to know how to make her girlie.


This should explain it…

That’s the little girl I was…one with messy hair who refused to wear a shirt because my older brothers didn’t have to! I never wore dresses or sparkly sunglasses or hair bows, my poor Mother was so excited to finally have a little girl to do all of those things with, but soon realized it just wasn’t me. But I was a happy little girl, and that’s all that I can hope for our newest addition as well.

 

I can’t help but look at these pictures and wonder if she’ll be a chunky little thing like I was with dark curly hair, or if she’ll get Alan’s genes and be tiny like Ryder with straight blonde hair.

My heart gets all soft and mushy when I think about having a little girl, so this could all change! She might get here and I might feel inclined to go buy her a pink tutu…but if that doesn’t happen I just wanted to put it out there now, as to not disappoint! Hey, she might even decide herself that she wants to be a Miss Priss and then we’ll just have to adapt to that. Even I finally turned a corner and started dance and cheerleading and left the tomboy behind!

Whatever her personality ends up being, all I know for sure is that she will be surrounded by love (just maybe not by pink!)

22 Months!!

Getting closer and closer to the 2 year mark!  I feel like I have so much to say about Ryder this month, it amazes me to watch him grow!

 

• He’s only 22 pounds and is swimming in his 18 month clothes!
• He got 3 new teeth this month, and I’m afraid to put my finger in the back of his mouth but I think he might be working on getting some molars.
• He has worked so hard on going up and down the stairs in therapy, that he’s finally to the point where we’re letting him walk up and down our porch stairs, holding our hand of course (sometimes he forgets to pay attention!)
• He is still entertaining us with his singing skills.  He has added Old Mcdonald Had a Farm, the ABC’s, and an Elmo song to his list (that only consisted of the Itsy Bitsy Spider).
• I have a really hard time taking his picture now because as soon as he sees the camera he says “Don’t say cheesey!!”.
• Ryder loves his little sister so much already.  He helps me put lotion on my belly and he kisses it and is so sweet, I don’t know how he understands that there is a baby in there, but he really gets it!
• Some of his favorite foods right now are hotdogs, crunch berries, steak, and blueberries. 
• His new favorite thing to do is find a bag and walk around the house filling it up with random things.  Once it is so heavy that he has to drag it behind him, he will bring it to one of us and say “Dis a present for Daddy (or Mommy)!”  I always act so excited, “really??? for me???” and then list everything in the bag “oh wow, a bowl!  A drill!  A 4-wheeler!  Your blankie!  You must really love your mommy!”  He thinks its hilarious, and so do I really, its always exciting to see what he managed to scrounge up.
• On that note, he loves to list things now and he does it in my exact tone of voice.  “Da Bear has eyes, anddddddd a nose, anddddd a mouf, andddddd ears!”  Like he’s teaching me.
• Some of my favorite things he says these days are “luzz you Mommy (or Daddy!)” for love you; he says “ummmmm” when he can’t think of a word “where’s da ummmmmm?”  somehow I always know what the um stands for!; when he says “say prayers” and then yells “AMEN!” when we’re done; “what we gonna do now??” or “what we gonna play somethin?”; “bye every guys!”; when we walk in a room, he always picks an object and says “what’s vaccuum doin in here???” “whats da chair doin in here???”.   I wish I could put a permanent tape recorder on him, I never want to forget these moments.
• He goes “potty in da bucket” every night now before getting into his pajama’s.  And he has even asked to go a few times in the morning.  I’m not putting any pressure on this, just letting him ease his way into it, and he seems to be taking to it well.  But I know that as soon as I start suggesting it or making it seem like that’s what he NEEDS to do the “don’t wanna go potty in da bucket!” will start.  So, I’m not even going there right now.

I really can’t believe he’s going to be 2 in just 2 months!!  I love this phase though and feel like he learns something new every single day.  So as sad as I am that the months keep flying by, I’m equally as excited to watch him learn and grow every day!

Here’s a video of Ryder saying bits & pieces of his ABC’s:

 

 

The Big Reveal!!

The appointment we had with the Perinatologist went great today!  We got to peek at the baby, who was curled up in a ball the whole time so they couldn’t get a good look at its heart.  But everything else seemed to look fine and we’ll be going back in 1 month for another scan.  The baby weighed 6 ounces today which is right on target for being 16 weeks along.  And the heartrate was 155 bpm. 

After the sono we went to the Perinatoligists office to have a consult, I was so nervous that he had something horrible to tell us, these appointments bring out so much fear in me!  But all he wanted to do was go over Ryder’s history and talk more specifically about the stroke.  He was the first doctor who didn’t completely brush it off as “just a fluke thing”.  He said he doesn’t want to go fishing around for an answer, but there is one blood clotting disorder that he wants to test both me & alan for to see if we are carriers, for the safety of the new baby.  If we found out that we were, he would just put me on a baby aspirin a day because it crosses the placenta and could help thin out the baby’s blood to prevent any chance of blood clotting, leading to another stroke.  So we’ll follow up with that, and see him again in a month for a better look at the baby when it is more developed.  Keep praying with us that everything stays normal and healthy!!

Now, onto the GOOD STUFF!!!  The sono tech knew exactly what the baby was, but we asked her not to tell us.  Instead, we called Aunt B and had the Sonographer leave the room and tell her what we were having.  She was on standby with cupcakes waiting to be filled with either PINK or BLUE filling.  We also had the sonographer write the gender on a piece of paper and put it in an envelope (just for more reassurance!).  So we carried around a sealed envelope for the rest of the day, and it took a lot of will power to not rip it open.  But we really wanted to share the surprise with some family & friends (just the local ones who could make spur of the moment plans to have dessert with us!).  So instead of the “It’s A BOY” or “It’s a GIRL” text that everyone was waiting for, we sent “Want to know what we’re having?? Come find out with us!  Be at our house at 6:30 tonight for dessert!”.

We had about 20 people over and here are the results of that:

The adorable cupcakes!

Mine & Daddy’s Reactions:

To the PINK filling!!!!!!!

 

Ryder’s reaction (He knew all along!)

Nana’s Reaction:

 

The adorable little favors that Aunt B made for everyone to have after the reveal:

 

 

And the note that was in the envelope from the sonographer (had to open it after the cupcakes to make sure it was still a girl!)

 

We didn’t get any sonogram pictures, but Aunt B did ask on the phone how certain the lady was, and she said she was 100% positive…so we’ll take it!  But don’t think I won’t be asking for a re-check at our next sono in 4 weeks, just to make sure nothing has changed!

So, looks like we will be adding a sweet little girl to the Marsh Family!  We are SO excited, and the family is ecstatic!  There hasn’t been a girl Marsh baby born in 33 years!  Our family will be perfectly symmetrical now with 3 boys and 3 girls in the house…it’s perfect! 

How Did I Get So Lucky?!

16 Weeks!!

Here’s what Alpha Mom says about this week:

Your Baby:

• Is a little over four inches long and weighs a little over 2.5 ounces. The chocolate bunny that I swiped from my toddler’s Easter basket weighed 3.5 ounces. But considering I shared it with my fetus, I am a good mom AND a responsible eater.
• Has fingernails and toenails, all of which will be flesh-tearing talons by the time the baby is born. For serious, pack a teensy nail file in your hospital bag if you’d rather your baby’s first pictures NOT include giant face scratches.
• Is covered with fine, downy hair called lanugo. THIS will mostly fall out by birth, so rest assured you will not deliver a giant razor-taloned gorilla baby, or something.

You:

• Are leaving the more miserable symptoms behind in the dust, more or less. My gag reflex and appetite remained extremely sensitive until about week 16 last time, and the same held true this time around.
• Can feel your rock-hard uterus about three inches below your belly button (especially when you lie on your back). As your baby grows your uterus will continue to inch upwards out of your pelvis. Translation: YOU WON’T HAVE TO PEE SO MUCH.
• May be having very vivid but bizarre dreams. Some will be obviously pregnancy-related (the usual ones involve breastfeeding something other than a human baby or putting an animal or your baby in the oven or microwave to “cook” awhile longer), and others will be just plain weird or upsetting, like your childhood nightmares. They should be interpreted as nothing more than dreams stemming from nerves, hormones and your constant thoughts about the future. (In other words, you aren’t really going to give birth to a turtle with a full set of human teeth.)

 

I’m SO happy to be 16 weeks!!  They say that starting at 16 weeks you can tell the sex of your baby, and since I have a sonogram scheduled for Tuesday afternoon, this makes me so happy and anxious to see if we’ll be able to find out!  I have to keep reminding myself that the point of this appointment is NOT to find out what we’re having, but to meet with the high risk Doctor and have him check everything out on the baby to make sure that whatever we are having is healthy!  BUT, I’m glad that I have something to look forward to because normally I would absolutely dread this appointment. 

So, back to the gender (it is consuming my mind, if you can’t tell), I just want to document that we have been thinking PINK ever since the very beginning of this pregnancy.  Me, Alan, and Ryder have all been convinced that this is a girl.  But of course, Alan flipped on us this week and is now adamant that it’s a boy, suddenly his instinct has changed.  Either one is totally fine with us…it will be so awesome for Ryder to have a brother so close in age to be best buds with.  And on the other hand, it would be so cute and fun to have one of each.  So whatever it is, we will be perfectly content, we just want to KNOW!  So stay tuned…(if we do find out, we won’t be able to post the news until later that evening, just an FYI!).

Tonight, we ate cinnamon rolls and chocolate ice cream for dinner…I’m serious!  And it felt so good!  I’m only confessing because I feel like I need to excuse my huge belly in this pic:

If You Shake It More Than Twice…

***warning: this post is a little more information than I would normally share…but I can’t resist***

Back when I was in my 3rd month of pregnancy with Ryder, I was sitting at the table filling out my Pregnancy Journal, and it asked me to write a message to my baby.  Of course, I thought long and hard and spoke from the heart “I love you already”.  Short and sweet, but summed up all of my thoughts about this unborn baby.  Then it asked for Dads message, so I yelled into the living room “Baby, if you could tell our baby anything right now, what would you say?”  He didn’t have to think long or hard before responding “If you shake it more than twice you’re playing with it!”  I laughed, and wrote it down.  Typical Alan, being silly.  He didn’t even know for sure if we were having a boy or a girl, but I thought it would be funny for his son/daughter to see this wayyyyy down the road.

Little did I know, that wayyyy down the road would end up being our 1 yr old child, running around naked after going potty in the evenings, shouting his Daddy’s words of wisdom “SHAKE IT MORE DAN TWICE, YOU PAYIN WIFF IT!!”

And to make it even better, he refers to “it” has his “MONSTER”!  So anything that comes out of his mouth relating to his man parts is just hysterical.  When he has a shirt on and no pants he’ll look down and say “where’s da monsta???” Then lift his shirt “OH, dere he isss!”  And if he’s telling you the correct way to go potty he’ll say “point, aim, shoot da monsta!!”  After bath he instructs me how to care for it “No lotion on da monsta!” And he always has to add in “Mommy don’t have a monsta!”  Thank goodness.

There’s always something to laugh at around here!

A Fun Visit

Over the weekend we had a special visit with some old friends, it was SO nice to be able to hang out and catch up.  Johnny & Jennifer were in our wedding and have always been great friends of ours…although in the last few years we haven’t been the best at keeping in touch.  But we vowed to change that (right guys??!!) so hopefully this visit was the first of many to come in the near future! 

They have 2 little girls, Justice & Jenna (Justice is Alan’s Goddaughter) and they are the sweetest/funniest/sassiest little things, we were entertained just watching the 3 kids play!

Here they are eating dinner at the princess table:

Being Silly:

 

Being Sweet:

 

And attacking Alan!

 

We had so much fun, can’t wait to do it again soon :)

15 Weeks!

Here’s what AlphaMom has to say about this week:

Your Baby:

• Is as big as a…wait for it…beefsteak tomato! Doesn’t that sound deliciously substantial? Am resisting urge to go pinch some produce as I type this.
• Has started “breathing” amniotic fluid in through its nose and respiratory tract, giving those lungs some very early practice for the real thing. (Late in the third trimester, you can actually watch the fetal breathing on an ultrasound, and lo, it is very cool.)
• Can sense light and pressure from outside of the womb, so if you want to get a jump start on annoying the crap out of your kid, shine a flashlight on your stomach or chase it around with the doppler wand every night. Or gently caress your belly while singing lullabies in a variety of foreign language and mediating on the Zen-ness of it all. You know, whatever your personal parenting style goes for.

You:

• May be experiencing some of the weirder symptoms of pregnancy, many of which can start early in the second trimester. Including! For example!
• Sinus congestion! Runny nose! Stuffed-up nose! So much freaking mucus, and not in the places where you would ASSUME mucus would be involved. It’s called rhinitis of pregnancy and once again, they just blame it on “hormones.” Get yourself a humidifier or vaporizer, inhale steam in a fogged-up bathroom or try those saline nasal drops. Ask your doctor before taking any decongestant or medicated nasal spray.
• Bleeding gums! A side effect of all that extra blood you’ve got coursing through your system. (Nosebleeds are common too.)
• Skin pigmentation! The linea nigra, or that darkish line that runs down the center of your belly, sometimes shows up as soon as you start showing, sometimes much later. Moles, freckles and birthmarks can spread and/or darken. You might notice some melasma, or “mask of pregnancy” across your face, particularly if you spend a lot of time in the sun or have a naturally olive or darker complexion. A lot — but not all — of these changes will fade after you give birth. When in doubt, slather up on the sunscreen to increase your odds that they’ll be temporary.
• Forgetfulness! Pregnancy brain! Gestational amnesia! Whatever you want to call it, you probably know what I’m talking about. In the past week alone, I’ve 1) run a load of laundry without any detergent, 2) made coffee without a filter, 3) tossed a Ziploc of frozen chicken to defrost in the sink but forgot to actually seal the bag, and 4) stared at my husband for three full minutes while trying to remember his name.

 

That last part makes me laugh because I can TOTALLY relate to the pregnancy brain issues.  I feel so forgetful these days and I remember going through this with Ryder too!  Things are so crazy at work right now too, so by the time I get home I feel like I have no brain capacity left.  Luckily home is easy so I don’t have to think too hard :)

I’m at that stage right now where most of my symptoms have gone away for the moment.  The heartburn has come back, but that’s about it.  So I’m enjoying these next few weeks, watching my belly grow bigger and BIGGER, and preparing myself for all the aches and pains to come!

Nope!

All of the “don’t wanna’s” and “ain’t gonna’s” have turned into a simple “Nope!”.  Today when we got home he did not want to get out of the car to come inside.  I ran inside and got my camera to document this stubbornness. 

 

 

Happy New Year!

Happy 2011 everyone! Guess I should start the first post of the New Year off with some updates!

First of all, Ryder is all better, thank goodness.  He has been fever free since Friday, and is completely back to his old self.  He went on a retreat to Yaya’s house yesterday and was so excited when I got there to pick him up today because he got to show me his brand new train table.  This was Ryder’s BIG Christmas present from my Mom, but we’re keeping it at her house since there is more space in his room at her house. 

 

I put all my Christmas money and gift certificates together…plus asked Alan & my Mom to go in on the rest as my early Birthday present and bought myself…

A new camera!!  I’m so excited about it, but now I just have to figure out how it works.  I’ve been following Ryder around all day snapping pictures of him, and the dogs too!

 

 

 

Ryder got so many awesome presents for Christmas that we put some to the side and have waited to open them.  This weekend we opened 2 big ones… a race track from Nana & Poppy:

 

And a house from Aunt Jess & Uncle Dwayne…this is why Ryder has marker all over his face in the bathtub pics above!

This house has kept our family pretty busy!  You know how much we like to color :)  So by the end of the first night, here is what our house looks like :

 

Alan worked so hard on the roof that he went through a whole marker, and then had to switch to a crayon and this is all that was left of it when he was done:

We take our coloring seriously around here!

In some serious potty news…Ryder pooped on the potty for the first time over the Christmas break!  I was very shocked and even more proud of him!  So he has now peed once and pooped once…just for the record :) 

So as you can see, we’ve been busy already in the New Year!