Observations

In both pregnancies, I've seen similarities...

1. Snoring. Grey says I SAW logs at night.

2. My "nesting" consists of uncontrollable crafting and baking.

3. I want to binge watch all 10 seasons of Friends

I no longer can:

1. Lay James down in his crib

2. Outrun my toddler

3. Only wake up once a night to pee. 

4. Get up quickly from the couch. Grey laughs. Mean.

5. Fit into half my maternity shirts.

6. Claim "no stretch marks" yet!

6. Sit with James in the rocking chair. With my belly, we just don't fit.

I can't wait to:

1. Eat whatever whenever

2. Sleep on my back!

3. Drink an adult beverage. 

4. Run. Freely. Without peeing.

Gingerbread Houses

It is finished.

 James's finished product!

We had a blast!

32 weeks!

Let's compare:

James's pregnancy-At his 31 week ultrasound, he weighed in at 3.9lbs, was in the 37th percentile, and his heartbeat was 137.

And he was quite crammed in my tiny uterus.

Baby #2 at 32 weeks

I think I'm a little more pointy?

Kiddo weighed in at 4.1lbs, was in the 37th percentile, was head down (YES!) and their heartbeat was 139.

Similar!? Yes. Sweet kiddo has my nose again and looks a lot like James :)

Ah. Pregnancy. 9/10 months of puking, back pain, constant urination, waddling due to feeling like the kid's head is coming out at any moment (too much information!?), cravings of corndogs and fudge, dance parties in utero between 1-3am, being kicked in the ribs...ahhh...

It's *such* a magical time. ;)

32 weeks - for the past two weeks, I've had a lot of back pain, some extreme pressure at times, and I've reverted back to the first trimester tiredness. BUT! I just cooked Thanksgiving dinner for 15 people, baked gingerbread houses for 15 kids, and  I chase a "Mommy! RUN!" toddler all day long with the normal chores of upkeeping the house and providing meals. Mom says I'm "overdoing it." Psh. 

Anywho, 8 months! 2 months at most left!  WOO HOO!!!

We finally have a boy and a girl name picked out!

YAY!

Yikes.

I just got an email from the baby gods asking if my hospital bag was packed.
What?!?!?!
No.
But! We are making progress guys!
We're stealing my sister's crib at the end of December (thank you!!) and after searching for MONTHS on craigslist for a dresser with a 50 dollar budget, I'm happy to report that I had success!
I found a solid wood dresser just like James's dresser (also a craigslist purchase for $40) for a whopping $30!!!!
This sucker was at an estate liquidation sale and it had the deceased woman's clothes in it when I got it home and opened it up...Yikes.
It needs a good bit of work but I'm super excited. I'll post before and after pictures once I'm finished.
Woo hoo!

Thankful

26 things.
1. Jesus
2. My family
3. Sweet little James
4. Clorox wipes
5. Wild gymnast that is baby #2
6. Both kids health
7. James's growth and development
8. Our new house
9. An extra bathroom to lock the crazy cats in during the night
10. One last time of painting my toe nails before I can't bend over anymore
11. Dark chocolate
12. A great backyard for James
13. The ability to stay at home with my kid
14. Friends
15. Sisters
16. Potato chips and pop tarts
17. A marriage centered on Jesus
18. Vicks vapor rub
19. Mint m&ms
20. Our adopted college student
21. Ice cream
22. Negative biopsy results
23. AC and Heat
24. Hard boiled eggs
25. The park (15 min away), the library (10 min away), and an indoor swimming pool (20 min away) to entertain James with during the day
26. Unexpected surprises from God. They may not have been what I wanted at the time, but I'm thankful that He's in control and not me.

Crafty Tuesday

A felt Christmas tree that James can rearrange all he wants! Total cost: $6

 Utensil holders for Thanksgiving/other dinner parties

Total cost? $10

 Here's a preview of some pictures that my dear friend Sammi took. She's trying to start her own photography business so we gave her an opportunity to practice!

BOOM! Are you thirsty for more?! :)

Steps

Step 1:

Invite your adopted college student over for a spend the night party. Fail to mention that we REALLY just need his muscles to help Grey move the freezer and install come cabinets. :)

Step 2:

Move the freezer to the garage and take out the cheap crown molding

Step 3: Bring some cabinets in, make 'em level, and screw 'em to the wall

 Step 4: Presto! The granite lady comes on Monday to take measurements!

 Step 5: Do a celebration "under the legs" dance with Daddy

**We had small group tonight where we discussed thankfulness and where God has brought us over the past year.  Every time someone read a bible verse, without prodding, James decided to yell out "AMEN!" afterwards. 
That kid :)

Pee Pee

James.
A 22 month old toddler full of raging energy

Like his momma, he runs around like a crazy person and then crashes at naptime and bedtime.

One month ago, he asked to sit on the potty and he pee peed.

Grey and I have talked about not potty training until later since I've read a lot about toddlers regressing when a sibling is born. 

But. 
For three days in a row now, the kid has randomly asked to go and every time, he has peed including a #2 in the potty today.

Welp. Here goes nothing. 

Thanksgiving prep

With Thanksgiving approaching, I've been planning and cooking up a storm!
The menu consists of:
Turkey and ham
Mac and cheese (family recipe)
Green bean casserole (crock pot recipe from pinterest)
Sweet potato casserole (pioneer woman)
Baked cream cheese corn (pinterest)
Crescent rolls (pinterest)
Stuffing (a box :D)
Squash casserole (southern living)
Apple pie (family recipe)
Chocolate pie (pioneer woman)
Pecan pie (pinterest)
Chocolate chip cheesecake (pinterest)

Hate me if you want. But I've already got everything prepped, frozen, and ready to cook/bake but the corn, Mac and cheese, and cheesecake.
Get. Your. Eat. On.

One for the WIN!

Bath Paint!

A 1:1 ratio of baby shampoo and cornstarch plus a little bit of water to make whatever consistency you want and some food coloring...this stuff keeps James entertained for consistently an hour each and every time. WIN WIN WIN! (Plus it washes off with just water and no scrubbing)

 I made my own butter! And it was pretty amazing!  Plus I got real buttermilk out of what was left. I feel like I'm a real pioneer woman :)

James LOVED it and ate up two pieces of bread smothered in it.

I had my 28 week appointment today! My blood pressure was good and my glucose numbers are good but they're going to have me testing every day since my fasting numbers have been giving me trouble the past 4 days. Understandable!

Baby's heart rate was in the 130's!  I got both my flu shot and my TDAP. From here on out, my appointments are every two weeks which makes it seem like its quickly approaching. 

Let me tell you,

I'm (kinda) ready.

I'm ready to meet this kiddo and see if it's a boy or girl! I'm ready to not be pregnant. I'm ready to sleep on my back. I peed my pants over the weekend when I sneezed. I'm ready to not have to struggle to bend over or get up off the floor. 

I'm NOT ready to try and breastfeed again. I'm NOT ready to try and wrangle a newborn and a toddler. I'm NOT ready to be up multiple times a night. I'm NOT ready to have my two hour blessed break when James naps be taken up with another child. 

But. Ready or not, it's coming. And the Lord has gifted me with this child. 

So here we come! They mentioned inducing about a week early if everything looks good, so here's to about 10 1/2 weeks left!

27 weeks

Hellooooooo third trimester. 
This pregnancy had FLOWN by. This time with James, I had the nursery completely set up.

This go around? We have a room for baby.
No crib, no moniter, no curtains, no car seat for James to move up into, no diapers, NO NAME...
Along with that, I've got thanksgiving dinner for 12-15 people to make, 15 gingerbread houses to make and assemble, freezer meals to make for after baby, and homemade Christmas goodies to make as presents. (Along with everyday cleaning, laundry, meal cooking, and toddler watching)
I'm going crazy and I love it. 
Seriously. All this baking and meal planning? It's right up my alley. 

Anywho, 27 weeks!
Baby is happy and well- I'll have my next appt next week.
Gestational Diabetes is going well. They're allowing me to test every other day as long as I promise to keep up with my diet and exercise on my days off. They said my fasting numbers were more of an indicator as to how I was doing, so as long as those stayed good, they'd allow me to continue doing what I was doing.
Weight gain? Eh. Next question please.
Cravings? None right now. 
I've been feeling some stronger movement. Last night at dinner, I swear I could feel the outline of a tiny hand or foot by my belly.
Will you hate me if I tell you I put on a pair of regular corduroy pants, zipped them up, and wore them to church on Sunday?
I have days where my feet are swollen at the end of the day. I'm struggling to bend over or put James in his crib for nap time.
Other than that, we're doing well!
Here is my 27 week pic with James

And for your enjoyment, I'm wearing the exact same shirt! 27 weeks with baby #2

Woo yeah!

Halloween!

James dressed up as a lion (again)!

Because:

1. I got lazy

2. I didn't have time to go thrifting for a costume

3. He still fit into the lion from last year!

Win. Win. Win. :)

Refusal to look at the camera, 

 Refusal to put the apple down, 

 And refusal to let momma finish drawing the third stripe on his left cheek = the definition of "Toddler-hood." :)

Next year, we're going big...FAMILY COSTUMES! All 4 (God willing) of us!

Pumpkin Carving and Mud

This is essentially James's older brother. The kid LOVES his Matt!

Finished product 

 As you can see, kiddo got really excited with the sharpie on the outside of the pumpkin

 And...we've been working hard to put grass into our front yard. When Matt came over, he MIGHT have destroyed half of our yard. Sigh.

James got a kick out of it though...

And in honor of tomorrow being "Throw Back Thursday", here is little man 1 year ago!

MIA

Gosh it's been a while. Sorry folks. Here's what we've been up to in the past few weeks!

Handsome man!

We took a selfie! 

 We went back to Nivens to pick a pumpkin

 Pure. Joy.

 MOM! I want this one.

 A pumpkin!

 It's one my size!

 I'm gonna get it!

 A little tour of our house - this is our living room. Notice the naked goose in the bottom right corner. I cannot get our child to leave the goose's halloween costume on it to save my life. "Goose, hawwo-ween no!"

 Dining room - Grey is in the process of building us a much bigger table to fit our banquet seating against the wall

 The kitchen! I loooove our island!

 An empty wall in the kitchen. This week, we will be picking up more cabinets and moving the freezer into the garage.

 One corner of the play room

 The other corner - the chairs have to go back into the garage. (That door to the right leads to a screened in porch)

 One corner of our room. On the left hand side of the bed is a dresser with two comfy chairs on either side. It's a pretty big bedroom. We still have to decorate and hang curtains.

 James's room. 

 Guest room with a craft area in the right back corner (not pictured)

 My child has taken a liking to wearing my headbands

 He loves his pumpkin!

I'm seriously going to try to blog on more of a weekly basis. This week we've got our college student coming over to carve pumpkins with James. Both boys are so excited! :)

27 weeks next week...it's extremely hard to believe that I'm in my last week of my 2nd trimester. Panic may have settled in a little this past week. Yikes!

Love y'all and thanks for reading!

-B