17 Weeks

How far along?: 17 Weeks
How big is baby?: 5.1 inches 5.9 oz
Food cravings?: Nothing really that I absolutely have to have. I do enjoy baked potatoes a lot.
What I'm looking forward to: Only 11 more days till we find out what we're having! Can't wait!
Milestone: Baby is starting to master reflexes, sucking, blinking and swallowing!
Sleep?: Sleep??? Ha, what's that? The last few days I have been suffering from some sort of pregnancy insomnia... I lay down exhausted and just lay there... I think I've got about 5 hours of sleep over the last 2 nights.
Best moment this week?: Feeling the movement for sure. It's exciting, I can't wait till baby is big enough for Sam to feel.
Belly button in or out?: In
Feelings this week?: Tired, a little bit shocked at the realization that we are almost halfway through this pregnancy, only a couple more weeks and we are 50% of the way through... With Sam it felt like I was pregnant forever, maybe the difference is that with Sam I was so excited to meet my little man, and with this one, I'm excited... BUT I also want to enjoy as much time as possible with just us three before we add baby #2 to the equation.  I'm just enjoying my time right now before our lives are changed again. 

Yawning on Christmas Morning.

 

All the toys he got for Christmas

Watching The Wiggles

16 Weeks

How far along?: 16 Weeks
How big is baby?: 4.6 inches 3.5 oz
Food cravings?: Hot sauce. Love it.
What I'm looking forward to: The ultrasound, on January 11th! Can't wait... it seems like this pregnancy is going by so much faster though!
Milestone: Baby is getting to the point where he/she is just putting on a lot of weight and growing, baby can sense light and sound now.
Sleep?: I'm getting into a routine with my new shift so sleep is easier.
Best moment this week?: Finding out the ultrasound date and hearing the heartbeat at our appointment.
Movement?: It seems like it, but it's not all the time yet.
Belly button in or out?: In
Feelings this week?: Ok. ready to celebrate christmas, and be off for the day! Can't wait to see Sam's face in the morning and to start explaining Santa to him. :-)

15 Week Update

How far along?: 15 Weeks
How big is baby?: 4 inches, 2.5 oz. The size of a large orange.
Food cravings?: Clementines are a big one still. salty snacks too.
What I'm looking forward to: This is the week of Christmas! I'm looking forward to doing Christmas with Sam this year since he'll understand a little better now.
Milestone: Baby can sense light now, and the bones in the ear are starting to form so it won't be long before baby can hear.
Sleep?: Depends. I started a new shift and it depends on how early I go to sleep the night before.
Best moment this week?: I think I'm starting to feel the baby move now.
Movement?: Maybe, we'll see if it continues.
Belly button in or out?: In
Feelings this week?: I'm feeling ok. Tired a lot of the time and I'm starting to get my daily 2nd trimester headaches. I had these with Sam as well and they lasted between 20 and 25 weeks. Hopefully they don't continue for that long this time though. I'm also starting to get the heartburn again... if this is anything like Sam I'll be dealing with this until the end.

I am super excited for Christmas this year because Sam is old enough now to actually understand  a little bit about what is going on. He's such a sweetheart and I love, love, love him. When I am at work I really miss him and can't wait to get home.

 

Hamming it up for the camera, he now knows how to say cheese and when a camera comes out he smiles real big and then closes his eyes cause of the flash.

This is him eating hot sauce. I couldn't believe he ate this without freaking out that it was so hot! He kept just sucking the hot sauce off of the chip, didn't even cry or anything, lol.

My little drummer boy, he loves banging on that drum. The sticks used to be attached but I had to detatch them cause it was making him mad.

14 weeks

How far along?: 14 Weeks
How big is baby?: 3.4 inches, 1.5 oz
Food cravings?: Any vegetables, Clementine oranges--love it.
What I'm looking forward to: Today I'm looking forward to the Santa Express with Sam. I'm also looking forward to Christmas this year with Sam because he's going to understand a lot better. For this pregnancy, I am excited for the next appointment and finding out when our ultrasound is.
Milestone: Baby can make expressions now, and hair is starting to grow!
Sleep?: Depends. I started a new shift and it depends on how early I go to sleep the night before.
Best moment this week?: Feeling better, I feel a ton better now about 95% of the time. For a while there I thought I was going to be sick all the time but it finally passed. I also have a lot more energy now.
Movement?: None yet so far
Belly button in or out?: In
Feelings this week?: Pretty good week... I am finally feeling better and I started my new shift so I have more time to spend with Sam. I'm not feeling so overwhelmed with everything either. Finally feeling like I have more time for my son... which is making me much happier. He's at such a fun age right now so I love it. I'm also starting to feel more into this pregnancy. I pulled out my fetal heart monitor and was able to listen to the babies heartbeat, and it made me feel a lot more attatched to this baby. It won't sit still long enough for me to get a good strong heartbeat yet, but hopefully soon so Sam can listen to it. (If I can get him to sit still long enough, lol.

Mama Love

Lately I can't help but notice how wonderful my little Sam has become... He's so sweet, polite (for a 1 year old,) and crazy and just plain fun... I thought I would take a minute to list all the things I love about him lately.

1. He can now recognize when Daddy is home from work. He'll sit and listen to the garage door open and then once he hears AJ car beep he'll look at me and say: "Daddy!"

2. He has started blowing me kisses and can pucker up his lips for a kiss, which he gives me frequently now.

3. When I rock him to bed at night he has started listening to the books I read and wanting to turn the pages... he gets upset when it's time for bed and we have to put the books away, he already loves to read.

4. After we put our books away, I usually sing him a few songs. He now sings twinkle, twinkle, little star back at me. (And also randomly throughout the day he sings it as well.)

5. Sometimes he'll be running around the living room and just randomly stop, bend over and talk to me through his legs, he thinks this is hilarious.

6. Right before bedtime he gets a burst of energy and spends 30 minutes running around the living room, jumping and stomping his feet and he thinks everything is funny. This is one of my favorite times of day.

7. One of his favorite words is thank you, and he says it about 90% of the time after you give him something.

8. He's got a blanket obsession, but not with one specific blanket, just blankets in general, we have a few blankets in the living room and he will walk around with as many as he can hold. I find this adorable.

Lately I just find myself in awe of how much I love him and how much he means to me. He is one of the best little things that has ever happened to me and I love him more and more each and every day. I knew being a mom would be one of the best things I've ever done with my life, I just didn't know how much fun it would be.

Stay at home mom vs. Working mom

First let me just say that I have nothing but respect for people who stay at home with their kids all day. In fact I'm immensley jealous of those people....

I'm a little frustrated this morning, there was a news article online that incensed me a little bit... Basically it talked about all the things a stay at home mom deals with... as if those of us who have to work don't deal with all the same things on a daily basis. So I just want to clear a few things up.

-Yes I work a full time job, not by choice, if I could stay home with my children all day and be able to afford it I would do it in a heartbeat... not because it's easier than working, but so that I could be with my kids as much as possible.
-Even though I do work a full time job, I still deal with all the every day aspects of motherhood.When I come home from work it's not all sunshine and roses. I still deal with poopy diapers, runny noses, temper tantrums, not being able to go pee by myself anymore, as well as all the wonderful smiles and kisses and hugs.
-I'm not saying that stay at home moms don't work hard. But do not tell me that I don't work just as hard as you. When I go to work (at 5 am.) I deal not just with whiney toddlers, I deal with whiney adults.Whiney toddlers can't help it. Whiney adults can, they just choose not to, and toddlers can't be assholes.
-When I get home from work, I go into full Mommy mode, which means playing peek a boo and patty cake, and chasing around my 1 year old.
-I do not have a maid, not only do I work a full-time job, but then I come home, play with my baby and hopefully have time to clean my house a little bit too.
-Unfortunately since I do work, that means I have to try and be everything to everyone. I have mom responsibilities, spouse responsibilities and work responsibilities, coming to work doesn't mean I get to have a fun day of chitchatting with adults and that it gives me a break from my child. That is completely oposite of the real situation.
-Every day that I come to work, I have to deal with the guilt of leaving my child with someone else. Now don't get me wrong, I am one of the immensly lucky working Mom's in that I at least have family who love him staying with him throughout the day. But it doesn't change the fact that my heart breaks a little every time I have to leave him and he's crying and reaching for me.
-Yes, I do enjoy a little adult time and intellectual stimulation, but coming to work isn't what gives me that. Talking to my spouse, my family and my friends is what gives me that. (Also playing words with friends, lol.)

So in conclusion, I just want all the stay at home mom's out there to know how lucky they really are. You get the privelege of staying home with your children every day and never missing a moment or milestone. I already feel guilty enough that I don't get to spend more time with my son, please don't make me feel worse by saying that I don't do everything that every good Mom does.

13 Week Update!

How far along?: 13 Weeks
How big is baby?: 2.9 inches, .81 oz
Food cravings?: Any vegetables, not really a fan of fried foods at all right now.
What I'm looking forward to: I'm looking forward to the Gender ultrasound, and to Sam really understanding what's going on right now.
Milestone: Baby is past the point of greatest risk now... this is the last week of the first trimester!
Sleep?: Eh, some nights I get more than others, it just depends on how I'm feeling.
Best moment this week?: When I finally started feeling better. It's not constant now, but I don't get nauseous all the time.
Movement?: None yet so far
Belly button in or out?: In
Feelings this week?: Sad, when I was pregnant with Sam, I enjoyed it SOO much, every little thing was just awe inspiring and amazing, even the days when I was sick. This time around, I have been through it once before, it doesn't have that same awe, especially since I pretty much just went through this not very long ago... so being sick all the time and everything so far... I'm really not enjoying it nearly as much. Hopefully if i start feeling better then I will start to enjoy it again.