22 weeks

This week seemed to be a pretty standard week. I had hoped this week would be our first shot at getting back into a full blown routine after Christmas break, but when I went to pick Karsen up from daycare on Monday, I noticed his eyes looked really tired and he had some discharge coming from both eyes. Both are signs are pink eye. UGH! AGAIN?! He just had it a few months ago and it looked like he had it again. Luckily, once he hit the 18 month mark, he was big enough to be taken into Urgent Care at CVS, so I brought him home, gave him dinner, then headed to CVS. Bruce met us there to get us "in line" but luckily there was no one ahead of us, so we walked right in. Karsen clearly knew this was a place he had never been before, because he was very agitated and clinging. One might assume it was because he wasn't feel well, but once we left CVS, he wanted to run around and play. Either way, we got a prescription for his pink eye and an ear infection. I have to wonder if he REALLY had an ear infection because he was acting totally normal with the exception of his eyes. No tugging at his ears or anything. Oh well. We are still giving him the meds for both just in case. He stayed home from daycare on Tuesday so the hope of getting back into a full swing routine, was shot. Oh well. He returned to daycare on Wednesday and stayed all week. His pink eye is gone and I am assuming so is the ear infection.

Because the weather was so nice on Wednesday and Thursday, I made sure to get him outside to play a little. Thursday, we even went to the park. Here are some pics.

He would get in the tunnel that lead to the curly slide, but never went down that slide. 

Another slide he enjoyed sitting on top of, but he never made his way down. The only slide he would go down had the waves in it. 

Our little daredevil started to climb this, but only made it up those first few rungs before he realized he was in over his head. Haha. 

And below is the bump picture. Hopefully the white background makes it easier to see it grow. Yikes! It's getting there!

How far along? 22 weeks. The baby is the size of Spaghetti Squash.

Total weight gain: I haven't weighed myself since last week. I wouldn't be surprised if I gained a solid 5 pounds this week. I've been eating sweets like they're going out of style. Sheesh.

Maternity clothes: Still the maternity jeans and I've started incorporating more maternity tops into my wardrobe for school. And like last week, still squeezing into my tshirts!

Sleep: Sleep is ok. The last few nights I haven't slept the greatest but neither has Karsen...so I think we are still all trying to get back on the rockin sleep schedule we had before Christmas break.

Best moment this week: I got some more things for #2's room. A cheap car mirror and breathable bumper. Both brand new but bought at a discount. It's the small things...

Miss anything? Still missing booze.

Movement: Still kicks throughout the day.

Food cravings: No crazy cravings...although maybe I should say sweets since I've been enjoying them quite often this week.

Symptoms: Like last week, I can feel when my stomach tightens. A few days this week it was super tight, but today it feels fine. Clearly some days are more stressful than others.

Belly button in or out? In. 

Wedding rings on or off? On and comfortable.

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy to be home with Karsen and Bruce...moody at school...

Looking forward to: Spring break! :)

21 weeks

Saturday marked week 21 of baby number 2. What an exciting week it was!

I have been feeling this baby kick as early as week 13. Since I knew what to feel for, it was easier for me to distinguish between a baby kick and a growling tummy. From that early, I only felt kicks from time to time, but around week 19 I was feeling kicks ALL. THE. TIME. With Karsen, I always looked so forward to doctor appointments so they could get out the doppler for me to hear his heartbeat. With this kid, yes it is nice to hear his heartbeat, but at least I know he is alive and well because of all the kicking!

Thursday we had our sonogram. With Karsen, we had a scan early in the pregnancy (10 weeks) as well as the 20 weeks scan, but with this one, Thursday was the only sonogram we have had. It was such a fun appointment! Not only did we get to see the kid moving his arms and legs all over the place, but the sonographer got him yawning as well as drinking some amniotic fluid. SO COOL! She also confirmed that he is a boy. Below are some pictures she sent home with us.

Here is a standard profile picture. Cute nose and big head!

He kept pressing his foot against the wand she put on my belly, so the lady got a good pic of his cute little foot and toes!

Kind of hard to tell but he has turned his head and is looking right at us. 

Saturday we had people over to watch the Chiefs kick butt then we went out to the Missouri Comets indoor soccer game. The soccer game was a total bust but it was fun to watch the Chiefs win. Here are some pics of Karsen in his Chiefs gear. He always knows when mom is taking a picture so he doesnt look at the camera too easily anymore. 

He spent some time reading Saturday morning.

Helping mom put the mobile up on brothers crib.

Karsen with his foam finger from Papa Ken! He was ready to cheer!

The Chiefs family hanging out on the couch. 

Finally, here is the bump picture for the week. Not quite sure where this belly came from but YIKES! I took this picture after school on Friday and I have noticed that it gets quite tight after a school day so it was a little swollen from that. Since we painted the bathroom walls, it has been hard to actually SEE the bump against the dark background, so I will need to change up my picture location. Bear with me. 

How far along? 21 weeks. The babe is the length of a carrot.

Total weight gain: According to my doctor scale, I have gained 6 pounds since the first appointment. During the first trimester I lost some weight but now I am gaining.  

Maternity clothes: The maternity jeans are feeling a little more like they should. I have also started wearing more of my maternity tops to school. I still try to squeeze into my tshirts. Haha.

Sleep: Sleep is still pretty good. Still getting up to go to the bathroom but I have started to realize that if I cut myself off of water around 7p, then I can sleep through the night.

Best moment this week: The sonogram and seeing this kid move!

Miss anything? Still missing booze.

Movement: I am feeling more kicks throughout the entire day, but still most numerous at night.

Food cravings: No crazy cravings.

Symptoms: I have started to feel my belly getting tighter throughout the day. So by the end of the day, I am tired just from tightened muscles.

Belly button in or out? In. 

Wedding rings on or off? On and comfortable.

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy to be home with Karsen and Bruce...moody at school...

Looking forward to: Spring break! :)

I bought a cheap dresser this week from $10 from Craigslist for #2s room. Unfortunately, it is white and that just wont work so I have been talking with my friend Erin to get her expert advice on how to refinish it. Ive gotten all the materials I need to make it happen so I hope to get a start on it soon. Obviously I want it done as soon as possible so I am not worrying about it later on this spring. 

MB

First haircut

On our way to Salina, we stopped in Topeka to grab some lunch.We had planned on going to Buffalo Wild Wings but they didnt open until 11a and the time we got to Topeka, it was 10:50a. As we pulled into a parking spot on the lot, Bruce noticed a Sports Clips right next to BWW was open and there was no one inside so we decided to finally get Karsen a haircut! Below are some pictures of the experience. He did GREAT! No tears! The stylist suggested one of us sit in the chair with Karsen, and since I wanted to take pics, Bruce agreed. As you can tell, there is a lot of reservation on Karsens face, but like I said, he did great!

Bruce had to get a good hold on him when she brought out the razor to touch up the edges. 

Stylin and ready to impress the ladies.

I hope every haircut experience is as positive as this one!

Christmas

This Christmas break has been so great! If we remember, Karsen was sick virtually all of break last year with his breathing issues but this year, the most he has had is a runny nose. I certainly dont want to jinx anything but he seems to be growing out of his breathing issues that he had the first year of his life. If we do breathing treatments, they are minimal and only once or twice per day.

Our yearly Christmas routine always begins at Great-grandma and great-grandpas house. Karsen LOVES the chickens! Obviously not something we have at home, so he really enjoys his time there. Here are some pics from the visit.

Helping mom and grandma put lights on the live tree.

Checking on the chickens.

Great-grandma had this great pull toy at her house. that was clearly well played with and Karsen enjoyed dragging it around the kitchen!

Four generations picture! 

Saying "bye bye" to the mules.

On Christmas Eve, we went over to my parents house to open gifts, have a Christmas meal and then we headed to church.

Grandma enjoyed helping Karsen open his gifts!

He has one of these toys at daycare and loves it!

Time for another present!

A family picture after mass with the grandparents and uncle.

Christmas mass. Family of 3!

Now that Karsen is a year older, I would really like to be home on Christmas day so he can enjoy coming down the stairs to see his presents under the tree. The pictures below are from Christmas morning at home. 

Got a mower for Christmas!

Dad helping Karsen open a gift. 

The day after Christmas, we got in the car and headed to Salina to celebrate Christmas with Papa, Grammy and the Kitchens clan. Cousin Simone LOVED helping Karsen open his presents.

It was a great Christmas break! We did have one day of snow, but I did not take Karsen outside to play in it. Some sleet fell prior to the snow so I didnt even want to deal with the possible ice. I am hopeful we have a snow day or two this second semester so we can get outside to play!

20 weeks

Half way through this pregnancy and things are great! Everyone continues to ask how I have been feeling and I have been blessed enough to tell them that I am feeling good! Truthfully, I hardly feel pregnant. I have been feeling kicks since about week 13 which continue to be more numerous and a little stronger as the weeks progress, but otherwise, I feel like I am still capable of moving at my normal pace and keeping up with Karsen.

Our next appointment is on Thursday and this is our ultrasound appointment! Surprisingly, we havent had an official ultrasound yet (we had one at week 10 but it was one of those old machines that the doc rolled into the exam room) so I am anxious to see how things are going and to get some pictures!

This week my parents took Karsen so I could paint and prepare #2s room. Here are some pics.

We decided to paint one stripe in this room so that took a while to tape off, but once it was done, the painting was super easy. 

Gray stripe and a blue wall! It is ready! I also got the crib set up. We plan on moving the changing table and glider chair into this room, but that wont happen until May.

How far along? 20 weeks. The babe is the length of a banana.

Total weight gain: I havent weighed myself lately. I FEEL like I have kept things really well under control but I will get an official weight gain at my appointment on Thursday. 

Maternity clothes: I have been wearing my maternity jeans occasionally but it is clearly too early because they are still pretty loose. I can feel my stomach getting bigger so I know the maternity clothes are close. 

Sleep: Sleep is good. I've been getting up once or twice per night to use the bathroom, but otherwise, I have no complaints.

Best moment this week: My mom and dad took Karsen for a few days this week so I could paint the baby room for #2 and so Bruce and I could enjoy a child free NYE!

Miss anything? I dont remember missing the booze this much with Karsen. Not saying I am a lush, but I could stand a nice pour of some chardonnay. 

Movement: I feel kicks from time to time during the day but they are most noticeable at night. 

Food cravings: During the first trimester I wanted nothing to do with anything sweet, but now, I cant seem to get enough. Ugh. I really need to tone it back because Ive got the dreaded Gestational Diabetes Test coming up...

Symptoms: No real pregnancy symptoms quite yet, since the nausea has subsided.

Belly button in or out? In. 

Wedding rings on or off? On and comfortable.

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy to be home with Karsen and Bruce...moody at school...

Looking forward to: Our ultrasound appointment on Thursday!

Here is a belly pic!

High hopes...low expectations

That title means that I am going to do my best to start writing weekly updates for this pregnancy, but I am sure I will let time slip by and miss a few weeks again.

I am currently in the middle of my 15th week of pregnancy. Once I got out of the first trimester, I started to notice that I had a little more energy throughout the day, and I definitely started feeling more like myself in terms of eating. Like I had mentioned before, I was VERY nauseous with Karsen, and this pregnancy hasnt been nearly that bad, but I still felt some of those side effects every once in a while.

Every doctors appointment is such a great visit because I love hearing the heartbeat. I had an appointment the Tuesday before Thanksgiving and the doc found the heartbeat with no problem, and said that everything else looked good. My next appointment wont be for 6 weeks when I will have an ultrasound to confirm proper growth (and gender...another boy!) and another check in with the doc.

Bruce and I still try to talk about a baby around Karsen but all he says is "Baby" and then moves on. Of course he doesn't quite get it, but once my belly starts growing, we will probably continue to talk about it so hopefully he is a little prepared.

Karsen has been doing so great lately! Over Thanksgiving break, he dropped to one nap a day so that means he is going down for the night around 7p and doesnt wake until after 7a. The one nap is a nice long one (2-2.5 hours) so it is an overall good change. I am also struggling to be creative with his meals. We have gotten in the habit of doing what is easy and I can tell that he is starting to dislike the food because it is the same thing over and over. I attended one of those freezer workshops a few weeks ago where we prepared meals that are kid friendly, and I finally made one of the recipes. I have really enjoyed the flavor so I look forward to giving Karsen some of that this evening for dinner. He is really loving spaghetti and pasta meals so I know it'll be a hit.

Here are some recent pictures of the kid. His vocabulary is growing so much by the day. It is so fun to finally be able to have a little conversation with him. Even though we dont understand everything he says, it has made life a little easier. We have also noticed he has started to throw small tantrums here and there. Nothing major, but he will be fine one minute, and then we offer him some milk or something, and he says "NO!" and starts crying and rolling around on the ground. SERIOUSLY KID?! Haha. Luckily, those are few and far between.

Just a boy in his wagon...thinking about life...

He is working on catching but hasn't quite gotten the hang of it yet.

He was so ready for Thanksgiving dinner!

Helping mom fluff the tree.

Go Chiefs!