July Activities

Thirteen weeks! I'm almost to my second trimester and I could not be happier. I remember feeling SO much better with Stella during this trimester, so I welcome all that it brings! This was also the week that we found out Stella would be a little girl. We've chose not to do the chromosomal tests this time for a couple reasons. First being cost and second being that it doesn't change anything. No matter what we would find out, there's no change in how we would handle the pregnancy. Plus, all those things would come out in due time. Although, I strongly believe God will give us a perfectly healthy baby! So, we should find out gender at our 20 week appointment. There's an ever-so-slight chance that at my 16 week appointment that my doctor MAY be able to sneak me back to the sonogram room if his schedule allows it. I'm clearly praying for a WIDE open schedule that morning! But, I'm definitely willing to wait on God's perfect timing for revealing everything.

Despite having more yucky days than good days this month, Stella and I were still able to get out and enjoy quite a few activities! We started our July with a 4th of July celebration at our small group leader's house. It was low key with just their family, our pastor's family, worship leader's family, and our family. We grilled, swam, shot off our own fireworks and relaxed with great friends. Our worship leader's family have two identical twin boys {about 6 months younger than Stella} and Stella calls them both Cash. She talks about Cash all the time during the week, although I'm sure she doesn't know which one she's talking about! She had fun playing with them and we had enjoyed all their company!

We also went to the Indoor Safari Park with my mom. Stella loved the ball pit and trying to go backwards up the slide. She'd get so frustrated when a kid would show up to come down the slide. So, we moved on from that portion! She also enjoyed riding the mechanical zebra and the train ride!

We also had a little family morning a few Saturday's ago and went to Ham Orchards in Terrell. It's a peach orchard and they also sell a bunch of fresh fruits and veggies. There's a bakery there with the BEST pies, fudge, and other canned goodies. We treated ourselves to some peach ice cream, which was so yummy. We decided to forgo the bar b q because it looked pretty crowded and lengthy wait for the food. I'm so glad we were able to get out and do something different.

We managed a couple swim dates with our friends Amber, Tanner, and Kellan! Amber's parents have a pool and they only live a mile from us, so it's awesome to go relax over there with them and we can enjoy swimming, visiting, lunch, and Stella loves her boys...so it's a fun time all around! My other friend Lauren and her two cuties, Landon and Emi, joined us for one of the swim dates and I know Stella was glad to have another girl in the mix! I'm definitely enjoying my time staying home and getting to do these type activities with Stella AND hang out with my friends!

My other girlfriend, Lauren, and her kiddos, Avery and Cutter, also came by one day. This was the day after Stella had ruptured her ear drum, so our plans for the water park got cancelled. They were so sweet to still make the hour long drive out here and we just did a lunch date instead. I'd been hearing great things about BurgerFi so we tried it and I definitely liked it. I love how much Stella loves Lala, Avery and Cutter and how she keeps asking to see them again.

I have not had a girl's night in a LONG, long time. I met several of my girlfriends in downtown McKinney at Cadillac Pizza. I can't tell you how nice it is to hang out with girlfriends and have a little no-kid time. I just love visiting and relaxing with friends. We walked and got ice cream after dinner and sat outside. Downtown McKinney is one of my favorite spots. They have so much shopping and very eclectic restaurants. I wish I could get together with these girls more often!!

Blake also took us for a ride in his semi-truck around Nevada and Josephine! Blake and his grandfather own the truck, but lease it to his uncle {who has his own trucks and trucking business - it's a little side income}. Stella loves 'big trucks' - so she was excited! I finally gave in to her pleas and her and I sat on the sleeper bed while Blake drove. She loved it!

Last week, we met my mom and my sister at Willowbend mall and Stella played in the big, indoor play yard they have set up for kids. There were so many people there, but we still had fun. It's nice to get out of the house and remember what it feels like to be normal! Stella is NOT a shopper {despite her telling me all the time that she's going shopping with her babies}. And I nearly refuse to go shopping with her because of how miserable it is. She despises her stroller and constantly whines. My mom and sister were gracious enough to watch Stella so I could go in a couple stores. I had to keep sitting down from getting light headed and ended up eating my lunch a bit earlier than them. Other than that, Stella was terrified of the toilets and refused to go potty. Somehow she held it all morning with no accidents!

Our last little July outing was today to the Perot Museum. It was our second time to go, but we went with our friends Kate and Carter. They're members at the museum, so Stella and I got in free! We spent the whole time down on the lower level in the area for kids 5 and under. It was crowded, but Stella and Carter still had a great time!

Just seeing this list of activities makes me feel so grateful for this time with Stella. I know the dynamic will change adding a second kid to our family, but I just love watching Stella grow and become such a smart little girl.

A Birthday, Ear drum, and Pregzilla

We celebrated my sweet mom's 60th birthday last Thursday! I love my mom so much and can't imagine having anyone else in that spot. She's so selfless and giving to our family and I owe so much to her. Thank you mom for all that you do - you help me so much with Stella when I've been sick and you're such a great friend, too. You're just the best!

We also found out on Thursday that Stella had a ruptured ear drum. I had noticed her ear was kind of yucky and had been cleaning it out for a couple days when I noticed that there was a nasty smell coming from her ear {gross, I know...the things we go through as mothers!}. So, I immediately called the doctor and made an appointment for that next day. I knew that could NOT be normal, but I had no idea what it could be. Her appointment was after Mother's Day Out and when I picked Stella up the teachers showed me her ear and it had been bleeding. I was mortified and we rushed straight to the doctor. Of course, they happened to be running behind so we were there at 2:15 and didn't leave until around 4pm. :( Not fun! But, as soon as I told the doctor about the bleeding she guessed it was the ear drum that had ruptured. I was freaked out, but the doctor assured me {after checking Stella's ear} that it would not affect her hearing and that once the ear drum ruptures then she's not in any more pain. Poor angel! The doctor wasn't able to tell if it was an ear infection that was made worse by all our swimming or if it had been a bad case of swimmer's ear that caused this. Either way, we were sent home with some drops and all is better now!

In other Stella news - we're pretty much doing big girl panties all day now, except for nap and night times! We started this potty journey on New Year's Day and I've been super laid back about letting Stella show the interest in this. After she turned two, I knew I wanted to buckle down and I figured that it would take me forcing her to wear big girl panties so that she could actually FEEL what it was like to wet herself without a pull-up on. And sure enough, she only had two accidents in her panties and I'm so proud of her! We've done a couple outings in the big girl panties, because I'm so paranoid that she's going to be too preoccupied to tell me she has to potty, but so far she's proved me wrong. I'll probably try next week to start napping her in the panties, but we'll be doing pull-ups at night for a while, I'm sure. Now that potty training is in the bag, next up is the pacifier :( I tried taking this away in May and she basically played for two hours in her crib without napping. I wasn't ready for her to give up naps in any sort of way, so I was ok with giving it back to her. But, I'm thinking we might have to use the "paci fairy" or something!

Ok...I have to admit...even if it's just to myself, that I might be a pregzilla during my first trimester. I promise, I'm pretty happy-go-lucky my second and third trimesters {at least I was with Stella}, but this 5+ weeks of feeling yucky is pretty depressing! I know Blake is more than ready for me to feel back to normal and I certainly am, too. I've had a sinus infection that wasn't cleared up with amoxicillin, so now I'm onto a Z-Pack, and I'm praying that works....cause I'm on my way to ENT if this doesn't kick it! And I'm not sure if the sinus drainage {yuck!} or the pain from the headaches is making me throw up even more. But it is not ok! I don't remember the insomnia being too bad with Stella, but waking up in the middle of the night and then not being able to go back to sleep is frustrating. At least I'm catching up on some shows from the DVR :) We have to end on a happy note - so I'm excited for my second doctor's appointment tomorrow!!

I'm PREGNANT!!

I'm so excited to share that we're expecting baby #2! We are thrilled to be adding to our little family and can't wait to meet this new little guy/gal! I did a due date calculator online and it gave me January 30th, but the due date at the doctor's office was February 1st! I was 8 days early with Stella when my water broke, so I won't be sad if this little one comes early too! I had my first sonogram three weeks ago and we got to see the little sac and watch the heart flickering on the monitor...priceless. Conception and baby-growing is just nothing short of a miracle.

We found out that we were expecting over Memorial Day weekend. I was only one day late at the point when I took the test, but Blake was convinced I was pregnant days before because I had my super-woman nose powers :) We went ahead and shared our exciting news with our immediate families that weekend, but since I was technically only 4 weeks pregnant at that point, we decided to wait until I was further along to share with others! I have to say, I'm not one for waiting - it's just too special and too exciting to have to hold out on people. But, last August (2012), I miscarried at 6 weeks so I wanted to be cautious about sharing until I felt the pregnancy was more established. It's always been a good sign when I'm sick, so about week 6 I started feeling that all-too-familiar nausea and I really haven't been the same since!

When I was pregnant with Stella, I was sick from about week 6-14. And when I say sick...I mean sun-up to sun-down {and most middle-of-the-nights} and can only describe it as having the flu for 8 weeks. I just couldn't figure out why people called it morning sickness if I was going to be throwing up ALL day. I'm really not sure how I even worked during that period of time. My father in law had to drive me to my first doctor's appointment while I was curled up in the backseat. Needless to say, I lost 10 lbs that first trimester, but that didn't bother me - it just meant I was started in the negative on how much I could gain! At week 14 with Stella, I passed out in Walmart, so I'm trying to be EXTRA vigilant to not let myself do that again. I'm pretty sensitive when I've stood for too long. {Yes, I am a hot mess when I'm pregnant - at least the first trimester!}

This pregnancy hasn't been near that bad and I'm so thankful it hasn't since I have a vibrant, head-strong little two year old to corral! But, it certainly hasn't been easy since I am still getting sick and have some pretty bad headaches almost daily. I'm so thankful to our families who have pitched in to help. Poor Stella and Blake haven't had a good meal cooked in quite a while...I can barely stand to be around uncooked food and I'm pretty much sustaining myself on cheese toast! Blake calls me Gollum, from Lord of the Rings, because I have this awful gagging cough most of the day...but I can't help it! So many things make me gag! However, all that to say, this part should be over in the next couple weeks and I truly LOVE being pregnant. I know this pregnancy will go by faster, but I'm going to try and savor it.

Stella is just precious about the "baby in the belly" and I love hearing her call herself "big sister." I know she doesn't fully understand, but it's adorable that she wants to come up and put her head on my belly and say "Hi Baby!" She's tried showing people, in public, my belly by trying to lift my shirt so I'm attempting to explain that people don't want to see that yet :) Or ever!

Belated Birthday

I can't believe I still haven't written about Stella's birthday party. So that is definitely the first order of business in playing catch-up! I'll post some of the highlights from her sweet, little unicorn party below. BUT, you should know that I've felt pretty accomplished this last month just making sure Stella gets fed and bathed! More on this subject in my next post....

We had Stella's 2nd birthday party at our house the day after her actual birthday. I was motivated by the photography session with the unicorn to do a unicorn-themed party for her. We already had the pony, so I ordered the unicorn horn off Etsy and the mane/tail extensions from Gypsy Tails and decided most kids love ponies so it would be fun to have "unicorn" rides! The only other thing that I ordered were the adorable unicorn cupcake toppers from Etsy. Basically, all my other supplies were from Party City, including the piñata! I made lots of snacky-type food and a lady at our church made the cupcakes. I was really so pleased with how everything turned out.

Most importantly were all the special people that joined in to help us celebrate. Stella is so blessed to have so many family and friends that love and support us.

Ok, confession...I'm absolutely tired of waiting on these pics to upload so this is all for now. I need some serious help from you more-experienced bloggers. It takes FOREVER to load pictures to my blog that I've taken from my DSLR. My iPhone pics load in a snap. So, am I supposed to be resizing my DSLR pic when I load them to my computer or any other suggestions as to why they take so stinkin' long to load onto the blog?