Bring On The Pink!

We are having a girl!  I can't believe it and am still sort of in shock.  I will say that when we went for our 12 week testing a while back, they told us they THOUGHT it was a girl but they weren't 100% sure.  Then yesterday at our 21 week ultrasound the tech told us that she sees a lot of patients that are told that at their 12 week and then it turns out to be the other sex.  Soooo, before we even started I was convinced all over again we were having a boy.  Of course she proceeds to do the entire ultrasound first and then saves the gender for the very end.  Everything looked great and more than anything, we are most thankful that we are having a healthy baby.

As for the gender, we are just thrilled beyond measure to have one of each as this is more than likely our last.  In addition, I know that my mom was rooting for a girl because she has always wanted one of her own daughters to have a girl.  All these years she has saved knitted sweaters and booties, etc, that her grandmother had made and I can't tell you how excited I am to go through all those items with her and share in that special memory.  I also know my mother-in-law who only had one child is ecstatic to have a girl to shop for and play with.  All around it was meant to be and everyone is anxious to meet her in late January/early February.

Last time around we waited to find out the sex of our baby and it was a very exciting moment for Josh to be able to announce our baby and our sex all at the same time to our family.  So this time around, I wanted to do something special for the announcement rather than just calling my family on the phone.  Obviously we would have loved to do the same thing for Josh's family but seeing as they are in New Jersey it just wasn't possible.  So, I decided to have my family over for dinner last night and depending on what the sex was, I was either going to wrap up a little boy outfit or a little girl outfit and have my mom open it.  Below is a small snip-it of the video I took.  My Aunt Nancy also happened to be visiting so she is the one sitting next to my mom.  It was a great moment! (oh and the cute puppy in the window is my sister's new dog...how cute is she!  Obviously she wanted in on the action too)

Balloon Crazed

This video pretty much speaks for itself.  Liam is infatuated with balloons.  He gets one every time we go to Publix or "stoooore" (aka store) as he calls it and that probably explains why going to the store is one of his favorite things to do.

The other day on the way home he started going nuts in the backseat and I could not stop laughing.  I finally came to a red light and as I was stopping was able to convince him to do it one more time.  Talk about energy!

Baby Kicks and Cravings

I haven't really posted much about my pregnancy lately, so thought I would take some time to share a few things.  I officially started feeling the baby last week.  It is still pretty subtle and I know in a few weeks it will be full on punches and blows, so I'm really enjoying these small little nudges.  I forgot how awesome it is to feel your baby for the first time.  You go from having this bump with no association, to really realizing that your child is growing inside of you and the feeling is beyond anything I can describe.  Most recently I feel the little kicks after I eat a meal and I look forward to it every time...just can't get enough.  We are 17 weeks and some change today, so only 3 more weeks and we will know whether this little being kicking me is a boy or a girl.  So excited!

In other baby news, I've noticed some things that are just flat out different this time around:

• Cravings.  I never really had a specific one with Liam.  I mean, I'll always have the chick-fil-a and fries craving, but thats more of a "i can't wait to have that" craving, than a "I HAVE to have that" craving.  This time around has been different. I absolutely have to have, can't live without.....OLIVES.  I've never ordered olives at a restaurant and I've never gone to whole foods and gotten a container of olives, and in the past 2 weeks I have done both.  Twice.  

• So.Much.More.Tired - at the end of the day, after I put Liam to bed, it is all I can do to eat my dinner before I fall asleep.  I definitely feel better in the 2nd trimester, but I'm still flat out exhausted at the end of each day and I know it's because this time around I have a crazy toddler who is into EVERYTHING vs. coming home from work and relaxing on the couch.  Funny to think I thought I had it rough last time around...ha.  I guess its all relative!

• Time is flying - I remember feeling like I was counting the hours (not just weeks) with Liam.  And no matter what, everything felt like it was moving so slow.  This time I around I can't even keep up.  One week I'm 11 weeks and the next I'm 17.  I swear it is in fast forward this time.  What's funny is, I'm in no rush on this one.  We need Liam to be a little older and a little more mature once baby comes, so I'm more than happy for it to take its sweet time in the oven :)

• Not as much pain (yet) - In general, I haven't had as much body aches and pains as the first time. Hardly any round ligament pain, not a lot of cramping, no pain behind my belly button, etc.  Maybe its because my body has already stretched to the limits, so its easily going back to where it once was?  Not sure, but whatever it is, I'll take it.

Nona & Pop Pop

Last weekend, Josh, Liam and I went up to Virginia to visit Josh's grandparents.  Josh's parents met us there as well, and we had a great little weekend of visiting, shopping, "mimming", etc.  Before the trip, I had been showing pictures of Josh's grandparents (Nona and Pop Pop) to Liam and saying their names over and over in hopes that he would say them back.  Well, low and behold it worked and before we even left I was able to snap this little video and send it their way to show them that Liam was very excited to see them....

In other news, we have had a rough couple of days (actually couple of weeks) in our house.  Liam has basically been battling ear infections since early July.  This latest one puts us at number 6 since December.  Sadly, this one was not resolved by the oral antibiotic meaning that Liam's body doesn't even react to that medicine anymore since he has had it so much so often.  Sooo, our only other option to get rid of these was to get a shot of Rocephin, which is an intramuscular antibiotic that is pretty powerful and usually jumps starts things quickly (according to my doc anyway..I'm not the expert here).  The bad part was that if it didn't heal the ears entirely after one round of shots, we had to go back the next day (and sadly the next) to get 2 more rounds of shots.  We finally finished the last round this morning and I could not be happier!  I think I had more anxiety over it than Liam did.  After this last round of craziness, our Dr did tell us to go ahead and schedule an appointment with an ENT about possibly getting tubes for Liam.  I think its about time and honestly I'm pretty ready for them at this point.

Oh and in other news, Liam's daycare forgot to put bugspray on him yesterday and he came home with 6 mosquito bites that turned into welts over night....awesome.

On the bright side, at least the shots are done and the welts should subside over the next few days so we will be hopefully be on our way to bigger and better things :)

Video Dump

Had a couple cute videos that I wanted to post.  Nothing too special happening here, just liked seeing Liam in his element...

Playing with Bubbles

FINALLY learned how to go DOWN the stairs on his own.  Took him long enough!

Here is a little glimpse into our mornings.  This is usually the noise we wake up to every morning.  If you have to wake up early, this is not a bad way to do it :)

Beach Trip 2012

We had a great time in Hilton Head this year.  For the first time in a long time my entire family and their families all went to the beach together.  That means there were 14 of us (my sister/Brian and her  3 boys, my brother/Angie and their 2 kids, myself/Josh and Liam and my mom and dad) all in a 4 bedroom condo.  To say it was a bit tight and chaotic is an understatement but it made for a great time.  Liam absolutely LOVED playing with his cousins and especially thought Casey (my sister's youngest who is 6) was the best.  In fact, he barely slept the entire week because I think he was just so excited to get up each morning and play.  Little did he know that they wouldn't wake up for another 2 hours or so.

Aside from playing in the condo, we pretty much went to the beach every morning until around 12:30 at which point we headed up for bath and nap time.  Josh would then relax in the condo while Liam napped and I took FULL advantage of the quite time by reading on the beach (my favorite thing to do in the whole world).  After Liam's nap we would either hit the pool or head back to the beach until around 5ish.  Liam was a little touch and go the whole time but all in all a good sport.  I think he is just at that age where sounds and new experiences are pretty scary to him, so sometimes he would love the sand/beach and sometimes he was just not having it.  He was especially unsure of the texture of the sand.  He absolutely had to wear shoes on the sand or he would throw a fit and every now and then when he was covered in it he would lose it.  On the other hand, "miming" in the ocean and the pool were his favorites.  He loved swimming in the ocean with Josh and jumping the waves with him.  He would just yell and squeal in delight every time.

We are headed back to the beach in September, this time with Josh's parents, and we are absolutely looking forward to it.  Especially now that we have an idea of Liam's likes/dislikes, we can be a little more prepared.

Our family shot.  This was my mom's nifty beach wheel chair that we rented for the week.  It was amazing and worked really well.  We thought the wheels were hilarious and just had to all get a picture around it.

LOVE love this picture of my mom.  She looks so happy and relaxed here.

Playing in the sand

(Excuse my growing belly which thankfully is mostly covered)  Liam and his cousin Merritt (2) playing in the sand.

Daddy and Liam in the ocean

Twins.  We may not look alike, but we are pretty much inseperable

Liam pretty much had a PB&J on the beach every day for lunch

Being goofy with Daddy's sunglasses

Heading out to the waves

Our Newest Nugget

Since all of you who read this blog also are my friends on Facebook, you are all fully aware that I'm pregnant with baby Murph #2.  I was waiting to blog about my adventures of being pregnant while also handling a toddler until the news was FB official.

First things first, lets start off with a picture of little nug #2.  These were taken at our 12.5 week genetic testing.  Everything turned out in the clear so we are thankful for that.  We were lucky and got an extra long ultrasound because they were having a hard time getting a good angle.  Its funny because I wondered how I would feel the second time around and honestly it is the EXACT same aww and excitement as it was with Liam.  It truly is a miracle what the body can do.

 (Notice the complete 180 the baby did all within the same ultrasound)



Any way, enough of that.  Being pregnant with Liam has been tough!  Thankfully I'm almost 14 weeks and my sickness/naseua/yuckiness/tiredness is all waning.  In fact I haven't been going to bed until 9:30 or 10:00 lately which is huge for me.  Since Liam gets up at 7, I was having to go to bed at 8:30PM to get the sleep my body was craving.  In addition, I was way more sick with this one than I ever was with Liam.  In fact I even threw up a few times which was new to me.  Needless to say its been a rough 8 weeks or so.  HOWEVER, the tides are turning.  I'm starting to get some more pep in my step and I'm getting excited because the 2nd trimester is the best!  I remember feeling awesome the last time around and having unlimited energy.  I also remember feeling the first baby movements which I'm anxiously awaiting this time around.  Unless something unexpected happens, this will be the last baby for me and Josh so I'm going to do my best to really enjoy the pregnancy from here on out (fingers crossed).