Baby Bug's room is done too!

Please ignore the picture overload. I'm pretty happy with it and anxious to share! :)

Yes, as the second child, she currently does not get a crib, just a pack n play. I'm hoping that someday soon Brendan will decide that he is a big boy and want to sleep in his awesome bunk beds, but until then...she gets a pack n play! At least it has butterflies on it to go with the theme of her room.

Brendan's Room is Finished!

With Mamaw's help, we got the finishing touches done on Brendan's big boy room. I think that it turned out quite well. Now if we can just get him to give up the crib! :)

23 Months!

32 Weeks

Hard to believe that in about 8 weeks we will have two kids! I wasn't really letting myself think about getting ready for this baby until after we were past the Christmas rush, so now I feel like it's crept up on me!

I had my 32 week appointment yesterday...blood pressure's good, baby looks good, measuring at 33 cms or 33 weeks. (So far no "big baby" threats against my VBAC attempt.) :)

I was also able to sign up for doula services with Community yesterday, which I'm very excited about. My doula likely will be a lady named Charity who has had a successful VBAC herself...at home in fact! (Don't worry, I won't be attempting that!)

The nesting bug has started, which is a good thing in my opinion...otherwise I might not get everything done!

Last Sunday, I pulled out all the neutral baby clothes, the girl clothes that I bought off of Craigslist and other baby items (sheets, burpies, changing table covers, pack n play sheets, play mats, car seat covers) that Brendan used. Got them all washed (5 loads!) and for the most part put away. Baby Bug's dresser now has some clean clothes neatly folded in it. I even have some cute outfits/dresses hanging in her closet. I got all the bins in the nursery filled with clean burpies, sheets, boppy covers, etc. I have some newborn clothes that will go in our room, underneath the co-sleeper once we make room for that in our room.

Now that Brendan's moved into his Big Boy room, we can start re-painting the nursery and setting that up. That will likely be my big project for next weekend!

I cleaned out a kitchen cabinet for baby bottles, formula, etc. I plan to try breastfeeding again, but I know that there is no way I can exclusively pump this time around, so it's all or nothing! :) So, I'm preparing for formula feeding, but hope to be pleasantly surprised.

As far as this pregnancy goes...it's been so different. I kept meaning to write more about it as I don't think that I wrote enough about my pregnancy with Brendan.
As far a good things, (which I hesitate to post for fear of jinxing myself...) no swelling - I am still wearing my rings, which I know that I was not able to do with Brendan as early as Christmas, no stretch marks, my weight gain has stayed in check - only 23 pounds as of now - which is good for me.
I think that this baby is much more active or positioned such that I feel much more of her movements. Some of her kicks are almost painful and often times it seems my whole belly moves!

Bad things, I've had more BH contractions, which is likely just a side effect of being a second pregnancy and not being able to rest as much with a toddler at home. Back pain - the last 2 weeks or so my pain has been minimal, but it has returned today with a vengeance. (I went to my physical therapy appointment yesterday and my back/pelvis was perfectly in line, which is why I wasn't having really any pain. Now of course one day at home with Brendan while Chris is at work and I'm back to square one.) I think that I am more exhausted this time around, even with working less. I also have less of an appetite this pregnancy, which is probably why I'm not gaining as much weight...some things just don't taste right or good to me. Unfortunately, ice cream still does...my weakness. :)
Lately, I have been very, very dizzy/lightheaded. I haven't passed out, thank goodness, as that would be embarrassing. :) But I often feel close to it and am no longer able to stand and talk to patients or families while at work...I have to find a chair to sit in or at a minimum, lean against a wall. Dr. E. says that this can be normal in the 3rd trimester, but I'm to keep any eye on it.

Many people have asked if we are done after this pregnancy...we'll have a boy & a girl. I honestly don't know. I always thought that I'd have three children. I love the idea of pregnancy and deep down, I do enjoy being pregnant - despite being very uncomfortable at times. However, this has been hard on me physically. IF we do have a 3rd baby, I don't think that they will be only 2 years apart. Also if we have a third, I'd really like to have the gender be a surprise, which will be hard, but so exciting at the same time. So, I guess time will tell3

Goodbye Nursery, Hello Big Boy Room!

Once we got all the furniture re-arranged upstairs (Chris' office became the guest room/office, while the guest room became Brendan's big boy room. Baby Bug will have the nursery.), it was time to start moving things out of the nursery and into Brendan's new room.
For sentimental reasons, I of course had to take some last pictures of Brendan's nursery.


We are re-using Brendan's nursery bedding in his new room - this allowed me to splurge on new baby bedding for Baby Bug. :) We got his bunk beds at a garage sale. One of the comforters was from my dorm room in college, the other I found at Walmart for $12. Otherwise, all we really needed was a couple sets of twin sized sheets.
Hopefully, he'll enjoy his new room...we've been talking it up for awhile now, so we'll see! We are going to put his crib in his big boy room for awhile. I just don't feel that he's ready to sleep in a big bed and I'm not ready to jeopardize the good sleep that he gets (& we get!). (He goes to bed at 8pm - usually talks for a little while until 8:30 or so, but will sleep until 6:30-7:30am. He also usually takes a 3 hour nap.)
I found a pack n play on Craigslist that we will put in the nursery to serve as Baby Bug's "crib" for the first couple months, let Brendan adjust to his new room & new sister, then try to get him into a big boy bed.

Here's his big boy room, minus the crib. We still need to hang some shelves and the curtain, but it's 95% done. :)

Lots of snow

We got a good 5-6 inches of snow today. So, once Chris got home from work, we bundled Brendan up and took him out to see what he thought. He got to wear his red snow pants and snow boots for the first time. :)

Despite constantly wanting "outside!", he was not a fan. Not sure if he was tired, hungry, or what, but he fussed/cried pretty much the entire time we were outside...which wasn't long!

He refused to leave his mittens on, so I'm sure that his hands were cold, but there was nothing we could do to keep them on him. But he did try a quick spin in his sled.