Friday, April 26, 2013

12 weeks

4/24/2013 - 12 weeks and 4 days

Today was my big doctors appointment and screening!  I'm happy to say everything went well with the ultrasound. The NT test (nuchal translucency screen) came back great, nice and thin.  Our little pumpkin (as affectionately referred to by the technician) was very active; moving around all over the place, stretching, and flipping from back to front.  We had to wait a good 15 mins for baby to tire out before we could get the right angle to measure the NT tissue.  The Dr said everything looked great and all limbs, brains, etc were all present and accounted for.  :)  The heartbeat was at a healthy 152 bpm.  After the ultrasound they gave me the MaterniT21 packet and sent me to the lab for blood work.  I was surprised that they only needed 2 vials of blood!  It will take 7-10 days to get the results back, which should also tell us the gender!  After the lab I headed down to my OBGYN's office for my checkup, which lasted all of 5 mins.  It's so nice that the ultrasound office, lab and my Dr's office are all in the same building!  Next appointment is in 4 weeks.
Nice profile!

Hi mom and dad!

Sweet baby foot and toes!
How I Look - The same as last week.  I forgot to take a bump picture, but I'll definitely provide one at 13 weeks.

Weight:  -3 lbs (the same)

How I Feel - Nausea has returned, sigh.  I thought I was through it but apparently baby said "ha!"  I started feeling icky again this past Saturday.  I felt sick after my nieces bday party, probably due to the fact that I ate two full lobster rolls.  My guess was the lobster was way too rich for me and ran right through my system.  Then on top of that I had a virgin piña colada, which I think was way too sweet and caused me to throw up.  :(  I managed to eat dinner and thought I was through the worst of it, but then Sunday morning as I was on my way to a 5K race I threw up again.  Needless to say no race for me.  I ended up sleeping most of the day away.  I've also decided no more lobster (I'll allow lobster bisque) or virgin piña coladas for me.  The rest of the week I've been OK, feeling icky here and there.

Symptoms - Tired, some headaches and dizziness, nausea....oh and pregnancy blemishes on my chest!  UGH!

Cravings - Fruit, veggies and mac n cheese.  Fruit seems to really help settle my stomach when I start feeling icky.

Exercise - Only worked out twice this week. Mainly due to the fact that I felt nausea and tired most of the week, or had lunch plans.  ;)  My run Fri morning was great!

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

11 weeks

4/16/2013 - 11 weeks and 3 days

How I Look - I'm apparently already showing.  At Ry's party I had several people tell me I had a little belly.  I'll provide a bump shot next week.

How I Feel - I'm still fighting my cold, but I think I'm finally on the mend.  My runny nose has slowed down and my throat really doesn't hurt anymore.  I still have the occasional cough and junk, but it's getting much better.  *** update - cold was gone by the end of the week!***

This week I've had a couple of days of feeling icky.  I think I overworked myself this past weekend getting everything ready for Ryland's 2nd birthday.  It turned out a huge success and everyone had a great time.  I'm just happy Ry was smiling when we sang happy birthday to him, last year he cried the entire time.  Anyways, by Sat night I was worn out and all day Sunday I felt drained, tired and weak.
Birthday Boy 4/13/2013

Cravings - Still craving fruits and veggies.  I want nothing to do with bacon.  I was able to drink a decaf cappuccino at home this past weekend.  I have noticed that I do crave chocolate milk in the evenings (did the same with Ry).  I still like sweets, but I'm not craving them, nor can I eat a lot of them as it makes me feel shaky and gross.  Heck last night I was snacking on raw broccoli, carrots and cauliflower!  This is probably why I've actually lost weight.

Weight: -3 lbs

Exercise - I am still running, but it's getting harder and harder to maintain.  I ran on Monday and it was all I could do to finish 3 miles.  I wanted to quit before I was even a mile in, and every mile after that was torture.  I was hoping to make it until mid May for the Deutschen Pfest 5K race, but now I'm thinking I'll be lucky to keep running into next week.  We love this race as it's 7 mins down the road and provides beer and pizza after the race.  :)  No beer for me of course, the hubby will take care of my share.  Maybe I'll just have to walk it (gasp!), I don't think I've ever walked a race...

What I'm Looking Forward To - Next week is my 12 week appointment and when I'll have the MaterniT21 test.  I'm excited and nervous about this test.  Excited because the test should be able to tell the gender, nervous because I'm just hoping everything will be OK and the baby will be healthy.

Monday, April 22, 2013

24 Months


I can't believe our little guy is 2 years old (as of 4/18)!  How time flies.  He's a curious, loving, adventurous, rambunctious, clever, sweet little boy and we love you so very much.  Happy 2nd Birthday Ryland!

We have his 2 year check up later this week, I'll post an update to this blog at the end of the week.
*** Update 4/29 -  Ry's checkup went really well.  The Dr said he looked great and is in the 50th percentile for height and just slightly below 50th percentile for weight.  He's 34 1/2 inches tall, weighs 26.8 lbs with a BMI of 15.4.  I had to ask for his head circumference (50.3 cm, 75th percentile?) because Pediatricians usually measure head circumference only in children under the age of two — the head doesn't grow much after the fontanels soft spots close at around 18 months.  We did ask about his right foot which turns in.  The Dr said that it's actually very common and he'll grow out of it overtime. Overall he's a happy, healthy, super smart, average sized kid.  :) ***

Ready for adventure!  4/8/2013
Ry has graduated to a big boy bed!  Towards the end of March daddy caught him climbing out of his crib, and almost falling.  So we decided to move him over to a normal bed.  I borrowed a guard rail from my friend Jenn and we tried Ry out in his bed the weekend before Easter.  He did awesome!  He didn't get out of his bed the entire night, probably because he slept straight through the night.  We he finally did wake up around 6:30am, he realized where he was (I can get out of this bed!) and shot straight out of bed and into the hallway...but he never came downstairs.  Daddy went up to meet him and found him in the hallway.  As soon as Ry saw daddy he ran back to his room.  Too cute.  Here's to hoping the rest of the week goes as well as the first night.  ;)

Ry in his big boy bed 3/26/2013

Ry loves to rough house with daddy.  Sometimes Daddy catches him by surprise and they wrestle on the bed.  Other times Ry tries to tease daddy into playing with him.  They've even started this routine where Ry runs up to daddy, throws him some rapid punches in his chest, then daddy will play punch back, and Ry throws himself backwards as if he's been knocked out.  This will go on for a good 15 mins before he tires of that game.



Ry loves our phones and cameras.  Every time we take them out to snap a photo or video, he immediately wants to see it.  He laughs and smiles while watching himself.  When Aunt Janie and Unkie Bob came for a visit this past month, they showed Ry their tablet and "Mighty Machines".  Ry was instantly hooked.  This prompted us to buy our own tablet for home use and trips.  He will sit still for a good 30min to an hour watching these shows.  In fact now every morning he insists on watching Mighty Machines on the tablet...if not, crying ensues.

Watching Mighty Machines with Aunt Janie
Took over the tablet to watch more mighty machines 4/3/2013

Our little guy is addicted to chocolate.  :(  It started off with an M&M here or there as a treat, then moved into full on 'I want chocolate' at all hours!  Seriously even when he just wakes up he'll take me to the pantry and say "chocolate?"  Oh kid you're killing me.  So now we're trying to wean him off it, so not fun, bad bad parents.  We also recently discovered that he can now finish an entire kid's cheeseburger!  This boy loves Sonic.

I love my own kid's cheeseburger! 4/7/2013
Ry has kinda learned how to blow his nose. He knows when he needs a tissue and will ask for one or get it himself.  He will then proceed to blow his nose.  It really sounds like he's going through the motions, but really he's just making the noises with his mouth!  He does manage to clean up his nose a bit and will then hand me back the tissue saying "ewww, yucky mom!"

Chillaxin' on the way back from the park 4/7/2013
Easter weekend was especially busy.  Ry had an egg hunt at daycare on Thursday, then we had an HOA egg hunt on Sat, followed by a friends Easter egg hunt at their house on Sunday.  We ended up stuffing around 48 eggs!  No more eggs...!  Unfortunately we didn't make it to the Sunday hunt as both Emma and I came down with a horrible stomach bug.  Puking at 3 in the morning and throughout the day makes for a miserable Easter Sunday.  At least Ry had a blast at the HOA hunt.

HOA egg hunt 3/30/2013



keeping his distance
On Good Friday we went to Mueller Lake Park for a family photo session (unfortunately the photog lost the photos and we have to redo them).  Here are a few of the pics that my hubby snagged with his phone.

Photos at Mueller Lake Park 3/29/2013

Where's the door?  Let's go play!  Mueller Lake Park 3/29/2013
Big Bro and little bro.  Mueller Lake Park 3/29/2013

We threw Ry a jungle safari themed birthday party the weekend before his birthday, which I've already posted.  ;)  Below are a few snap shots from his party.  Check out the post for more details.

Birthday cake!
The birthday boy! 4/13/2013
Happy Birthday Ryland!





Ryland's Jungle Safari 2nd Birthday Party

This year we went with a jungle safari theme for Ry's 2nd birthday.  I actually had some of the ideas for this theme since last year, which made it much easier to plan.  I love Pinterest, it's a great way to look up ideas and save them for later use.  I found so many neat ideas it was hard to narrow down everything I wanted to do!  I found some great arts n crafts and a game for the kids as well as cute cupcake cake ideas, decor and favors.  My friend Jenn even found me a face painter!  I'm super excited how everything turned out and Ry had a blast.

Welcome to the Jungle!

I found the wording for the invitation online and converted it to evite.

Come on a Jungle Safari Party
Who knows what you'll see?
Could it be a lion or a monkey in a tree?
No, it's the giraffe who stretches his neck to see.
Or the elephant, who waves his trunk with glee.

Friends of the Jungle have gathered to say
Dress up in animal or safari way (optional)
And join us in celebrating
Ryland's 2nd Birthday!

Cake and light refreshments will be served.
Face painter will be avail for 1 hour.
Jump house in the backyard (weather permitting).
Crafts & scavenger hunt planned.

When guests arrived they were greeted by jungle vines, the favor and craft table.  I had 3 different animal print pith helmets for the kids to wear, animal print sunglasses and the favor bags which contained lollipops and animal fruit snacks.  The craft table contained the binoculars for the kids to decorate with stickers.  The binoculars were made out of toilet paper rolls and multicolored yarn.




Upon entering the living room you came across the coloring station, animal print balloons, some safari friends (giraffes, elephants, lion and monkey) and pictures of Ryland.

I found the monkey coloring sheets online

Hollywood style pics
Cute idea I found on Pinterest, picture from Halloween :)
As you worked your way into the kitchen you came across the cupcake cakes and food table.
Giraffe cupcake cake and tiger cupcakes.  You can't see them but I used animal print cupcake liners as well.
giraffe birthday cake - made with love
Fruit and veggie trays, zebra cakes, tiger tails (Cheetos), gold fish, Swedish fish (piranhas) and pretzels (tree trunks).  Later on we also put out chicken nuggets.
To fit the theme Ry wore khaki shorts and a rhino safari shirt.

Thankfully we planned Ry's nap better this time around.  We woke him up early that morning so he would go down for his nap by 11:30am.  He ended up waking up on his own around 2:15pm.  Perfect!  By the time guests started arriving at 3pm he was fully awake and ready to party!  No crying this year!  :)

The birthday boy 4/13/2013



The bounce house was a hit!
tons of fun!


Hamming it up for the camera
trampoline fun
cousin Blake
Face painting by GlitteRee





Thomas the Train
scavenger hunt for wild animals

scavenger hunt for wild animals

I found the animals at Party City, 48ct
The animals were hiding in the grass


Organizing his animals after the hunt
Make a wish!
Happy Birthday Ryland!


Brooke




mingling

Hanging out with Ju-Ju and Nana
Ry and Baba
Ry loves playing his guitar

We love to color!
Wrestling with the kids
Happy Birthday to our little man!  2 years old!
Ryland and his friends had such a good time at his party, there were definitely plenty of things to keep the kids occupied.  I thought for sure Ry would crash, but he was happy and probably on a sugar high and stayed up well past 8pm.  We waited to open his gifts until the very end, after most of the guests left.  He loved everything!  A big thank you to everyone who came out and celebrated Ry's birthday with us.


Plastic Zoo animals, animal print balloons and zebra gift bags - Party City
Animal print sunglasses and pith helmets - birthdaydirect.com
Yarn, cupcake liners, food coloring - Michaels
Cake and food ideas - Pinterest
Stickers and plates - Dollar store
Face painting by GlitteRee
Vines and leaves - borrowed from my friend Jenn
Photog - my friend Amanda