Fun with NC family!

 We were able to spend a lot of time with family while in NC.  I am thankful for every minute we get to spend with family, even though sometimes it feels like our schedule is jam packed while we are in town!  

One night, we were able to go to my Uncle's house for ice cream and corn hole, another favorite of Koen's.  The competition got intense and I believe there were several brackets completed!

 John Thomas, again, preferred sitting and eating ice with Nana!

 He also enjoyed some fresh zucchini bread from the garden, specially made by his Great Mimi.

 The before "losing" game-face:

 The after "winning" game-face!

 Another evening, Pa and Mimi had us over for dinner.  After eating we all went outside to enjoy the much cooler temperatures than we have been used to!  (I realize our kiddo is naked in most photos, in our defense, he gets really dirty while eating :))

He had a great time playing "soccer" with Jonathon and following Laryn everywhere!  She is such a good helper with him!

 Amazed by Laryn's clogging!

 Riding the tricyle with Aunt Allie that all of us grand kids have ridden at one point or another!

 Proof that he gets super dirty while eating!  He was eating fresh picked blackberries off Pa's blackberry bushes.

 After eating blackberries, we decided to go pick some blueberries and blackberries to take with us!  Needless to say, we had all kinds, ripe, not-so-ripe, grass, etc.!

 Great grandchildren and Pa and Mimi

 Four generations!

16 Week Pregnancy Survey

16 Week Pregnancy Survey

How Far Along: 16 weeks

Size of baby: An avocado! (Average size:  4.6 inches, 3.5 oz.)

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 4 lbs this month! (8 total)

Maternity Clothes: Yes, mostly maternity pants, I can still fit into some larger shirts, but they are getting tight.  No hiding the belly!

Gender: We find out at our August 13 appointment!  I spent a lot of time trying to convince Kris not to find out, but I was not successful! My prediction is baby boy, something inside just tells me I was meant to be a boy momma, which I am great with!  Although any baby that is healthy will make this momma a happy lady!

Movement: "He" moves all the time!  My tummy will go crazy most days, but I still haven't felt anything on the inside.  Maybe if I slowed down and focused, but he defnitely let's us know he is there.  The doctor was surprised I haven't felt anything because she could tell when finding his heart rate.  He is feisty and kicked it off as soon as she put it on my tummy.  She said we are going to have an active one :) we must not be able to have clam children! 

What I miss: Nothing really new that I miss.  Still wish I was able to run without having to walk, but I know that will come again! I miss caffeine, I try not to drink it most days, but decaf is just not the same!

Sleep: Not bad, although my hormones are making me become a sauna.  I wake up so hot every single night!

Symptoms: My back has started giving out, much like it did from 6 months on with John Thomas.  It is only for short periods of time normally but causes me to not be able to stand from laying or sitting.  After talking to the doctor she said most likely it is my SI joint and some women have SI dysfunction while pregnant from the moving and loosening of joints.  The only thing I can do is see a chiropractor, which I have never done!  If it continues, I may look into it.  For now, I will consider myself blessed that is the only symptom!

Cravings: Everything tastes great.  I had sushi (cooked) a couple of times this month and that seemed to really hit the spot!

Best Moment this week (month): Finally telling our friends and families!  Everyone was very excited and couldn't believe we had been able to keep it for that long.  Also hearing the heartbeat at my appointment.  My mom was in town and was able to go with me, so that was really special.  Being so far away she didn't get to go to any of my last appointments and I loved having her with me.  It was 140 (John Thomas' was 147 at 16 weeks)

What we are looking forward to: Finding out the sex!

Belly at 16 weeks!

North Carolina Trip - Fun at the Creek

 We went to visit our family in NC over the Fourth of July like we always do, and of course, day 1 Koen insisted we go to the creek.  He is still fascinated by it, and I can see why!  It is so peaceful and quiet, only an interruption occasionally from the cows.  Something growing up I took for granted, and now I just wish we had the land to go explore on! 

 Normally, Koen spends the first day cleaning the rocks so the water rushes faster, but my parents have had so much rain he didn't need his tools to scrape the rocks.

Allie, Koen and Kris went exploring across the fence on the neighbor's land.

 John Thomas got in on the fun too!  Although this didn't last long!

 He preferred sitting with Papa, he mostly prefers Papa over anything else!

12 Week Pregnancy Survey

(blog post written 06.24.13)

How Far Along: 12 weeks

Size of baby: A Plum! (Average size:  2.1 inches, .49 oz.)

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 4 lbs!

Maternity Clothes: Not yet, but I definitely need to go shopping for some summer maternity clothes.  With John Thomas I didn't really wear any until the fall, so none of my old ones are season appropriate!

Gender: Should find out in early August! Still referring to the baby as "he" most of the time

Movement: I can see movement from the outside, but haven't felt anything on the inside, but I cannot wait until the day I get to feel this little blessing make his/her presence known!

What I miss: Being able to wear normal clothes, I feel like all I wear are baggy belly hiding shirts! :) I am still not able to run long distances and my pace has slowed, but I am keeping up with around 15 miles per week, which is good for me!  I definitely miss having an adult beverage, but haven't really been able to have very many since I was pregnant with John Thomas, so it isn't a huge sacrifice :)

Sleep: Still not bad, I wake up often, but most nights I sleep well.  Kris has said I am making it harder for him to sleep because my knees find their way into his back, I think he's crazy!

Symptoms: Still getting winded pretty easily, and I have started having headaches and a little indigestion, both of which I remember having with John Thomas. Otherwise, feeling good most of the time.

Cravings: Nothing major in the past few weeks, all food tastes good!

Best Moment this week: Hearing our baby's heartbeat at our 12 week checkup, it took her a while to find it and I was starting to get very uneasy, but she finally found it and it made me just as happy as it did the first time I was pregnant.  There is no better sound!  It was 160 (John Thomas' was 172 at 12 weeks)

What we are looking forward to: Telling our family and friends!  We still haven't shared, but I suspect some are getting curious!  I feel so guilty not sharing the whole truth but it is important that we tell our families in person, and that sometimes is a challenge when half of them are 1,000 miles away!

Belly at 12 weeks!

8 Week Pregnancy Survey

I am going to try and be better about documenting this pregnancy than I was with John Thomas, so that being said, here is my first pregnancy survey! 

(blog post written 05.28.13)

How Far Along: 8 weeks

Size of baby: A Raspberry! (Average size: .63 inches, .04 oz.)

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Zero! (Over the past two months before I knew I was pregnant I slowed down running, combined with stopping nursing I had gained between 5-7 pounds, but I will be documenting from my first prenatal appointment at 7 weeks)

Maternity Clothes: Not yet, but any pants without stretch and shirts that are fitted definitely show  the bump that has shown up much, much earlier this time around!  At one point before we knew how far along we were, we joked that I may be 3 or 4 months and could be on "I didn't know I was Pregnant!" Thankfully, that was not the case and my body is just sliding right back into stretchy mode!

Gender: Don't know yet, but Kris and I both refer to the baby as "he"

Movement: Nothing yet, I cannot wait to feel him or her move around, it was one of my favorite things being pregnant with John Thomas.

What I miss: Being able to run long distances and at a fast pace without feeling like a hippo is sitting on my lungs, sleeping through the night without having to go pee!

Sleep: Not bad.  I am having crazy vivid dreams every night and get up once each night to pee.

Symptoms: None other than feeling super tired and getting winded easily, the past week I seem to have more energy, so I am hoping that maybe we are over the fatigue stage.

Cravings: Anything and everything sweet.  I have been craving birthday cake and cupcakes like crazy!  I refuse to keep anything sweet in the house because I know my will power to resist temptation is at a zero!

Best Moment this week: Spending the whole weekend with Kris and John Thomas!  We were able to work in our yard, have dinner out with friends and BBQ with friends for Memorial Day.  Perfect weekend!

What we are looking forward to: Telling our family and friends about baby number 2! We are trying to make sure everything is okay before we share, but with my growing belly it is going to be tough to hide!

Belly at 8 weeks! 

We are so thankful for a very easy pregnancy so far!  I pray I have as smooth a pregnancy as I had with John Thomas!

Announcement!

We are so thrilled to announce that our family will be growing again in early January 2014!! 

Please pray for a healthy baby and pregnancy!

Water Fun with Cousins

A few weekends ago we met everyone at the Harbor by our house for lunch and to let the kids play in the fountains that are nearby all the restaurants.  After an initial shock of the fountains coming on, all the kids (big and little) had a blast running and playing in the water. Thank you to my sister in law, Mandy, for taking all the pictures!

Pappy and his two sidekicks:

 This kid loves his brother!

 John Thomas kept putting his face directly over the fountain and letting it splash him!

 Waiting patiently to go back to the water:

 Pappy had as much fun as the kiddos!

 These two are best buddies, they really do love each other!

 Koen playing in the water.

 Love these two boys!

 Uncle Kris watching the littlest babies in the shade! My sister in law has a great set up complete with portable fans!

 All the little boys want to be just like Koen!

 Love each of those little baby booties!

We are so happy the kids have so many cousins to grow up playing and learning with.  This group will be a hard one to compete with one day!

Still confused...

You may remember back in January,  me posting here about John Thomas' confusion.  Well it appears that he is still confused.  He has been doing this for a couple of weeks, but Kris finally caught it on video.  We have a doggie door leading into our garage for Lainey where her litter box is.  Yes, our dog is litter box trained. We got the idea from my sister in law, and it worked great when she was a puppy and we worked long hours in Dallas! She still uses it if it is raining or if we are gone for long stretches of time.  

Now, John Thomas uses her doggie door as a way to get outside when anyone goes out and the garage door is up.  One day a couple of weeks ago, Kris had gone outside and shut the door behind him and all of a sudden there was a small, very excited and proud voice behind him shouting, "Hey!"  We honestly didn't think it would take him this long to figure it out, and now that he has, he often lets himself out running to greet us with the same proud voice! 

Tomato Lover

Father's Day weekend, we grilled out hamburgers and as I was preparing the veggies John Thomas was whining and wanting to be held.  As I picked him up he immediately grabbed the tomato I was about to cut and ate the entire thing!  This video is his second tomato he stole off the cutting board, right after he ate the first one!

(please disregard me, I hadn't planned on having video taken and this was after mowing the lawn and spending the day at the lake :))

Father's Day 2013

We had a relaxing Father's Day weekend celebrating Kris.  We started out by going to breakfast at one of our favorite spots, walking around the farmer's market, then headed to the lake so Koen could ski and wake board.  We had so much fun just hanging out with no real plans.  We ended Saturday by grilling out hamburgers and playing outside.  Sunday, we got up and went to church, I made one of Kris' favorite lunches, fried chicken, and then we laid around until John Thomas woke up from his nap.  Late that afternoon we took a last minute trip and headed to Sulphur Springs to eat pizza and homemade ice cream!

Unfortunately, this is the only photo I took all weekend! 

 I am so grateful for the wonderful Father Kris is to our kids.  He is loving, kind, correcting, playful, and dedicated, we are so lucky to have him!

 I am also very blessed to have an amazing Dad, who has always been there for me and supported me.  He has never discouraged me, regardless of the situation, and I cannot be more thankful for the woman he has helped me become!  I love you, Daddy!