Making the Switch

I made the switch into maternity clothes. Everyone says you pop out sooner with your second child, but I am a good 10 weeks ahead of when I popped out with baby #1. I don't even care that I had to make the switch. I was SO happy last week when I pulled on my maternity jeans and could breathe.

19 weeks.

We are almost at the half-way point, but I can't say it has gone by quickly. This pregnancy in general has been completely different than my first. First of all, I have been nauseous all day long every day for the last 12 weeks. It has been strikingly similar to a deep and abiding flu. I really thought when I passed week 16 that I would feel better like I did with Blake, but I'm still trucking along day by day. The throwing up hasn't been quite as frequent as it was with my first pregnancy, but sometimes I think I would rather have that relief than to feel nauseated constantly. I was sick with Blake for a condensed 6 week period, which I would happily trade for now. I've been taking Zofran for the nausea but it doesn't seem to help.

Nothing ever sounds good to eat. But, of course I have to keep eating. To me, that is the hardest part about pregnancy. Eating has to be a part of my life, hour by hour even, and it is the last thing I want to do. I am in constant worry over whether what I eat will make me sick, or whether waiting another half-hour to eat will put me over the edge. I don't like to cook in general, but being pregnant definitely puts cooking at the bottom of the things-I-don't-want-to-do-ever list. I feel bad for my husband and son who have had to suffer along with my cooking strikes.

I'm very excited at the same time. As I feel the tiny movements that the baby makes inside me, I think how incredibly blessed I am to be a mother and to be able to bear children. Even though it was planned, sometimes it still comes as a shock that we are going to have two children. We are scared. How will we manage another baby? Although everyone says you do, how will we love a second child as much as our first? Who are we to think that it's okay to bring two persons (or more) into this crazy world? There's something that seems unfair about the whole thing — considering couples that struggle to have a baby at all.

Blake has been an absolute delight and a good distraction for me as I've been sick. I can count on him sleeping for a solid 11-12 hours at night and 3 hours in the afternoon which has been really helpful when I'm exhausted. We're not sure how much he really understands about the baby. He lifts my shirt up to "give the baby a kiss" all the time, but he also thinks that Daddy has a baby in his tummy. He loves to see the babies at church and out in public so we're hoping that he'll be happy about our new addition.

I gave him a little doll baby the other day that I played with when my baby brother was born. We don't have many other baby dolls around our boy-proofed home. He absolutely loves the baby. He gives him kisses and pretends to feed him snacks. He snuggles with the baby and even shares his nie-night with him, which is a big deal!

Last night, we had our friends over that have 5-month old twins. So, I brought up some of the baby toys from the basement. Blake was so enthused over the toys. It was so funny to see him help himself to the on and off switches and move the toys around himself. He thought the baby toys were for him, so sharing could be an issue when he has a little sibling.

We find out later this week if we are having a boy or a girl. We've already happily confirmed that there is just one baby growing in utero. We are both leaning towards the baby being a girl because this pregnancy has been so different, however, you never know. It would be fun for Blake to have a little brother. He desperately needs a buddy since he has no cousins. Plus, we have all of the boy clothes. I'm still imagining pigtails and pink bows and dresses though. So, we'll see.

Picnic

For Family Home Evening, we went to the park and brought a picnic dinner. A picnic is something we have been meaning to do all summer. I am loving that it is slowly cooling down a little bit. I love being able to finally whip out sweatshirts. Usually I am bitter towards any taste of cold air that leads to winter, but this year, I say bring it on. My growing belly is ready to be done with hot, hot, and more hot weather. Blake thought it was especially fun to eat on the blanket and play on the playground.

Revamping the Workspace

Our makeshift office located in our family room was in need of some major updating. What I wanted most was some storage space for my craft supplies. I also had issues with our computer and printer being out in the open for everyone to see (and for my toddler to constantly turn off and on). I found a used beauty to solve my storage dilemmas.

I think it was originally intended to be an armoire of sorts, but I knew that taking out the bar and adding shelves would work perfectly for what I had in mind.

I had a little helper throughout the process. We also lost our garage as a parking spot for a week while I worked on the transformation.

I added a little paint and some new hardware and voila!

Before - I looked down from the kitchen every day to a beat up, cardboard desk in detest. The printer was out in the open and Blake constantly made a mess of what was in the cabinet.

After - a much cleaner look.

The best part is all of the new storage. My computer, printer, and cables are all hidden and Blake cannot get to them. I have shelves of storage for files and supplies.

Tent

Blake's new favorite pastime:

It's one of those tents that you are supposed to set up outside to keep your baby safe from the UV rays. However, it also works well as a living room fort and reading area.

Labor Day Weekend

Well, I did it once again. We packed in a ton of activities this weekend and I only managed to take four pictures. I am the worst at remembering to take pictures of things.

The weekend started out with my Quarter Century birthday on Thursday. Troy surprised me with a sitter for Blake that he arranged so that we could go out to dinner alone. I will admit, I had little faith in him to make any sort of plans, so I was shocked when our cute neighbor girl showed up at the door around dinner time. We ate at The Cheesecake Factory and brought home dessert to share with Troy's parents who came over later to celebrate.

On Friday, we headed up to the Tanner's cabin. We woke up on Saturday morning to a gorgeous full double rainbow over the mountains. I couldn't even fit the whole rainbow into my lens because we were so close to it.

We stumbled upon the Swiss Festival in Midway when we were driving around the next morning. We missed the parade, but we walked through the art fair and bought cinnamon rolls from the Relief Society (so Utah). We went out to dinner in Park City where it was actually a little bit cool outside. I have been dying for some cooler weather so that I can pull out some of Blake's fall clothes. Usually, I don't like fall that much because it means that winter is on its way. But this year, I had such a rotten nauseated summer spent over the white porcelain bowl that I'm hoping the season change will be an omen to feeling better.

We headed home on Sunday to teach lessons in church. After church, we made my absolute favorite...fondue...with the Tanners. Oh man, I think I could live on bread and vegetables dipped in cheese fondue. Nah, skip the vegetables, just the bread and cheese would work for me. Too bad it's so expensive with the specialty cheeses and so time consuming to make, because otherwise we really might have fondue every night at our house.

On Monday, Blake got his first real haircut. We cut it ourselves all the time at home, but Troy had to get his hair cut anyway, so we brought them both in. Blake had a very shaggy before 'do. Troy psyched him up for the big event.

Blake actually held very still while sitting in his dad's lap and was really excited about the comb and sucker they gave him.

When Your Little Boy Starts Curling His Eyelashes...

...you know that he has been spending too much time watching his mom. I guess Blake is bound to learn such skills when he spends every minute with me. He doesn't know what to do with a razor or aftershave. However, he knows exactly how to use an eyelash curler, chapstick, bobby pins, headbands, and a hairbrush. We'll have to work on his manhood when he is older. We'll also have to work on his vanity as shown in this clip.

Blake is also interested in "moobies" (movies) lately. Except, there is only one DVD he will watch. He begs all day long at the TV for me to put in the "duck" movie - which to him means "Baby Einstein: My First Signs" (with a picture of ducks on the cover). It is seriously out of control. He has never shown any interest in the TV before, and now he would watch that movie on repeat all day long if I let him. When I go in to get him from his nap, he immediately asks for "moobies." He prefers the DVD to meals and playing with toys. I've tried renting other Baby Einstein movies and other baby signing movies but he immediately figures out that I am tricking him and he begs for the duck movie. I am really hoping this is a phase because even if I limit the movie to once or twice a day (which breaks his heart), I don't know how many more times I can see that DVD! He wants to sit on my lap and watch it so it's not like I can use the 24 minutes to accomplish other things. What is cute though, is how excited he gets when he sees the opening credits. You'd think he just saw Santa Claus by the way he squeals and stomps his little feet in pure delight.

Blake's other new obsession is dipping his food. Any dipping opportunity is a treat, whether it be ketchup, sour cream, cheese dip, soup, cool whip, or anything else of a dip-able quality. In fact, he is pretty certain that he needs ketchup at every meal. I apologize for the food in his mouth, but I love his attempts at asking for ketchup.

Revamping Our Room

In my efforts to update some of the rooms in our house, I added some flair to the master bedroom. I should have taken a before picture, but just imagine plain and boring.

The additions have been in the works for a few months. I can't take all of the credit because my mom helped me a ton with my limited sewing skills. I figured throw pillows would be an easy project for a beginner, and I was successful at sewing until I saw the pattern for the complicated round ruffle pillow (from Amy Butler's book, "In Stitches"). I just handed that one right over to my talented mom. Our duvet cover originally had stripes on it, which ended up clashing with the fabric prints, so I flipped it over to the pale green solid side.

I modified an Amy Butler pattern for a throw pillow into wall art. The circles were made out of fabric scraps, sewn onto solid fabric, and stretched over a canvas.

The window seat and windows were spruced up a tad.

Even the ties were made out of leftover fabric.

Blake's big boy room and the laundry room are still a work in progress. I just keep getting more and more ideas that may even involve painting walls if I can convince my husband. I can't wait for the finished products!