Sunday, June 27, 2010

Belly Pics!

Robert left early this morning for a volunteer project, and Claire and I had some time to kill this morning before meeting him at church, so we decided to try to take some belly pics, finally. Feast your eyes on this...


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I'll be 20 weeks along on Wednesday, so I'm almost halfway! For comparison, here is my 20 week shot with Claire:


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I don't think I'm that much bigger, but I did start out about 5 lbs lighter this go around, which helps.

Claire wanted to get in on the fun.


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Mommy's belly makes a good seat!

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Our Little Dancer

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Almost ever since she could walk, Claire has loved to dance. Her school offers a Kindertots program for 2 year olds that helps develop gross motor skills, movement creativity, and body awareness before moving on to dance basics in KinderDance. For the dance classes, the kids can wear dance attire. Today was the second class, and Claire got to wear her dance outfit to school. She loved it, and I couldn't believe how grown up she looked in her sweet leotard with her hair all pulled back!

She was excited and kept running around the room, so I was only able to snap a few quick photos. The cuteness was killing me. :)


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Stopping to play "Night Night"
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19 Weeks

I haven't done a pregnancy update in awhile - things have been moving along really smoothly ever since I got out of the 1st tri. I feel great - I love this part of pregnancy! Today I got an e-mail from Baby Center reminding me that I am 19 weeks along today, and the baby is probably a little over 8 oz and the size of an heirloom tomato. The belly is definitely growing, and while I am still wearing mostly pre-pregnancy tops and can fit into a couple pairs of jeans and shorts, I've pretty much moved over to maternity bottoms. They're so easy and comfy! Since my pregnancy with Claire was mostly over the fall/winter, I didn't have any shorts, capris or summer tops. I've found some things at the Gap that are working and have ordered a couple of things from Old Navy that I like, although I've sent back as much as I've kept. It's so annoying that none of their stores in SA carry maternity wear!

My weight gain at this point seems to be comparable to a few pounds less than at this point last time, which is good. I'm trying to work out at least 3 times a week, although lately it's been more like twice a week that I've made it to the gym - still better than nothing! I've also been trying to make better choices food-wise while still allowing myself some indulgences. I did lose all of the 42 pounds I gained with Claire, plus about 5 more, so I'm not worried about the weight gain, but I'm hoping to maybe take it off a little more quickly this time.

My most recent appointment was a couple of weeks ago, and it was pretty uneventful. Just some extra blood work for the triple screen, which came back normal, and I got to hear the baby's heartbeat, which is always the most exciting part! I started feeling the baby move regularly around 16 weeks, and the movements are getting more intense every week. It's special every time I feel that baby moving around - easily my favorite part of pregnancy.

The next appointment is on July 8th, and it will include the "big ultrasound" where we can find out the baby's sex. We didn't find out with Claire, but I'm leaning towards finding out this time. Still have a couple of weeks to decide!

The Downside to Starting Potty Training

Claire moved into the next class at school a few weeks ago, and the teachers really start working on potty training as soon as kids move up into this room. One of the first things they teach them is how to take off their pants and diapers so that the kids can sit on the potties. Claire has picked this up really quickly, and at first she wanted to take off her pants and diaper everytime she saw a toilet - not that she really wanted to use it, but she just wants to sit on it. Occasionally she will go, so we've not discouraged her, but it does get old when she tries to take her pants off several times in a 15 minute span.

As I was writing the last post, Claire was napping peacefully - or so I thought. [Oh - I just felt the baby move! Love that feeling!] I was finishing up the post and started hearing her rustling around in her room. We'd started locking the door again when we left the room for bedtime or naptime to encourage her to stay in her room, so I headed down the hall to get her. I opened the door to find my 2.25 year old standing in the middle of the room with no pants, no diaper (!), and the partial contents of her diaper on her hands, legs, and a few spots on the rug (!!!).

I quickly assessed the situation and went into triage mode. Wipes were not going to cut it for this mess, so I snatched Claire up and got her in the tub. Once she was clean, I called Robert, knowing that he was probably either on his way home or about to leave the office. He walked in the door a few minutes later and took Claire upstairs while I cleaned the room. Fortunately it was a much easier clean-up job than I expected (Resolve is awesome!). We debated getting a steam cleaner, but it was such a small area it didn't seem worth it. Plus, it looks like we're not too far away from full-on potty training, and I expect that means many more accidents in the future, so we decided to wait a little while on the deep clean.

Robert and I both talked to Claire about leaving her diaper on unless Mommy, Daddy, or one of her teachers is with her. The next day Robert went in after her nap and caught her taking her diaper off again, so we are thinking that we might have to start putting her in zip up PJs for naps (more difficult access).

The other big lesson learned was no more locking the door - we want her to be able to come get us if she needs something. We decided to try the Super Nanny method of just putting her in her bed every time she got up, and it only took a few times for her to stay in her bed. After a couple of days, she started staying in her bed without us having to go in there, so it seems to have worked - thank you, Super Nanny!

Friday, June 18, 2010

Memorial Day Weekend

Note: I am having such a hard time keeping up with the blog lately! We have been busy lately (as always), and I think I may need to start doing more Lindsay-style "Gumbo" posts rather than trying to chronicle everything in detail with photos. I love her update posts since they give such a good glimpse into her everyday life - something I don't write about enough. So, don't be surprised if you start seeing more posts in bulletpoint format!

Now, on with our Memorial Day weekend adventures...

Many, many months ago we got an ice cream maker, thinking it would be so much fun to be able to sit on the porch and eat homemade ice cream. The maker sat in the box in the garage, collecting cobwebs. Finally, as we made plans to host my friend Jill and her family for lunch, we realized it would be a perfect chance to make some ice cream, and we'd better make sure we knew what we were doing!

HEB had some peaches that were actually really tasty, so we made peach ice cream. Is there anything that says "summer" more than fresh peach ice cream? We got it going and had it ready after Claire woke up from her nap. She was very curious about what was under all that ice, and after her first taste was ready to dig in!


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I have so many childhood memories of watching my parents make peach ice cream and waiting anxiously to be able to get the first bowl, and I love being able to share that with Claire!

On Monday, we took advantage of all of us having a day off to check out the San Antonio Children's Museum downtown. Claire was fascinated by the giant "Lite Brite" and spent a long time putting pegs into the holes.


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She also enjoyed "driving" the front end loader, playing with the ball machine, and driving the trolley - she took her duties very seriously.


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We had some time before lunch and went for a walk along the Riverwalk. We were just planning to take a short stroll but decided to go for a boat ride (something we've been talking about doing since we moved here!). It is already getting so hot here in SA that we figured it was our last chance to go before the fall, and obviously we are going to be pretty busy then. We had a good guide and enjoyed the ride, but were glad to get back into the shade after it was over! Summer has definitely arrived!

By the way, Claire got her toddler bed back the next day. We turned the doorknob around so that the lock is on the outside, and locked it after she opened the door for the 4th or 5th time. She cried a little when it wouldn't open, so I opened the door and reminded her to stay in the bed. We didn't hear a peep out of her until the next morning. Now we lock it after we put her in bed, and she never makes a fuss, although she falls asleep on the floor by the door every night. I go in around 9 or so and move her back into her bed - by then, she's sleeping so deeply that she doesn't wake up. We are all glad that she got her "big girl" bed back!

Tuesday, June 08, 2010

Not going to name names...

...but someone would not stay in their bed last night and had to have their big girl bed switched back into a baby bed. This individual was not very happy about it, especially this morning. She's gotten used to being able to come into Mommy and Daddy's room and snuggle for a few minutes when she wakes up, and she did.not.like having the return of the bars. Hopefully someone has learned that they have to stay in bed and can go back to sleeping in a big girl bed soon. :)