10 Weeks to Go!

Wow...time has gone by sooooo fast! I can't believe that there are only 10 weeks to go before my due date. In some ways it seems a long time because of how much pelvic pain I've been in. I feel like an old lady LOL. Getting up and walking is a big chore, and bending? Forget about it.
This little lady is very very active. Her kicks and pushes are very strong and are actually getting painful now. She is a mover and a shaker for sure!
Though it's starting to get tough, I am very thankful for this healthy baby girl and trying to enjoy my last pregnancy. Or I should say "planned" pregnancy, because God has a sense of humor ;)

Oh, and I'm thankful for no new stretchmarks - woohoo!

Here are a couple of 4D ultrasound photos taken at 27 weeks. She is measuring at a normal size, praise God :)

And a pic of the boy and I who have been a little sick with colds this week.

Moving to a Big Bed!

It's official, Caden is no longer a baby! He has graduated to a twin sized bed after falling/climbing out of his crib last week. We had bought a bunk bed set to use when (I thought) Caden would need it in the spring. I wanted to set up the top bunk in his room so he could get used to it, and and not get "pushed out" of his crib by the new baby suddenly. But good thing we did! Because he has been using it for a week now, and has transitioned beautifully. I must admit that I have been very wary of moving him, visions of a toddler wandering around the apartment at 2am freaked me out. But he is doing so well! He doesn't even get out of bed! And he loves to read books in his new space.

Reading.

"Again! Cheeeeese!"

Room Makeover

My latest project has been converting Caden's nursery into a shared sibling bedroom! I've been brooding over ideas for months, and now quite a few things have been accomplished.

Before:

Taping:

Edges:

Finished walls. We chose a lovely neutral grey called "sparrow".

More to come!

Catching Up

I have so busy lately, there are lots of things going on and many thought wooshing around my brain! I've been on nesting overdrive and feel completely scatterbrained lol. I am now almost 25 weeks and can't believe it! Time is going so fast!

I will try to catch up by posting (hopefully) one post every day or two. For now here are some lovely photos that my good friend Lizzy Martin took of me and my bump at almost 21 weeks.

It's a....

GIRL! We had it confirmed at a private ultrasound on Friday. How blessed are we??? One of each! I can't believe it, God is so good :)



Thank you Lord.

18 week

19 weeks

Drumrole Please....

We don't know for sure! Agh! Baby was shy! We could not get a clear picture of the gender :(

But the tech *thinks* it's a girl! (And honestly, from what I saw, the "parts" looked nothing like Caden did at that stage). I looked up some girl 18 wk ultrasound pictures online and they look SO similar.

So I am disappointed but still excited! I got pretty sad and emotional afterwards because I'm still feeling sick and Caden was sooo fussy the whole appointment. But I feel a bit better now :)

18 weeks

We Find Out in 3 Hours!

Baby #2

Well it's official! Baby #2 is on his/her way! Due to make an appearance February 4th 2011. A little sooner than planned but very much wanted nonetheless! We are very happy!

Here is the heartbeat for your enjoyment ;)

10 weeks along.

Trip to the UK

Back in May/June we took a family trip to England, the country of my birth/childhood. We try to go every 2 years, and this time was a little different because we took a toddler with us!

Caden did so great on the flights, 10 hours is a long time to be confined, but he took it in stride. On the way there he slept most of the way, though we had some rough turbulance. Not fun!!! Three days after we arrived it was on the news that a flight from London to LA hit the same patch of wind but worse, and ended up having 10 injured passengers/staff (including broken bones!!!). Praise God that wasn't us! It's so scary.

Once there we stayed with my dad and his family (wife and 2 kids). It was great to spend time with them, and while there I celebrated my 24th birthday. My older sister and two of my good friend came to see me and we went out for a bit. It was so nice to just be out with the girls! I just wish it could have lasted longer.

Nate, Caden and I visited museums, parks, Trafalgar Square, and generally mosied around London a bit. I also got to visit the most amazing, inspiring mother Clare and we had a good chat.

It was very special to travel to Kent and see my aunt and my grandmother for her birthday. My aunt Sally's house is BEAUTIFUL! It's from the 17th century (if I call correctly) and directly behind it is a very very old cemetary. And the scenery was breathtaking. The most gorgeous I've ever seen!

During the end of our trip, I got to go to our family's mausolem. My grandfather is entombed within and I believe it is the first and only mosoleum built since the 1800's. It was funny to read my entries in the grandfather's memory book. It was all kisses! I went a couple of times as a little girl with my father.

All in all it was a great time, though very exhausting! Caden did so well, though he was wary of anyone holding him. Once we got back to the US I felt like I needed another vacation, to recoup from the previous one LOL! We are very thankful to my dad and aunt for having us.

Lots more pics to be posted soon!

On the flight!

Not comfy!

Nana and us

Aunt Sally with Caden

Chatting at the Natural History Museum

At the park

By the Thames river

Buckingham Palace

Big Ben

Me, friends Millie, Joy and my sis Monique =]

St James Park

Trafalgar Square

Nephew and Uncle (Andre)

A "Blah" Kind of Day

Eep! I need to write about my marvelous trip to England! But that will have to wait a day or two more...I am tired. And a little under the weather these days. Food has lost it's color (colour) and my usually adorable son has been fussy, clingy and cranky for days now. And my house is a mess. And we have a party here tomorrow.

Now do you see why I'm grumpy today? ;)

A few days ago Cade got his first hair cut! He was just getting too hot so I whipped out the pet clippers and shaved it myself. And I don't think I did too badly either. But now he looks like a little boy and not like a little baby *sniff*.

Before:

After:

15 months

I always seem to come up with these lengthy blog posts in my head, but most of them don't even come close to fruition on this page! Caden has been doing so many new things, and I can't seem to keep up! He's a busy guy! Nate and I are enjoying him so much right now. This is the best age so far!
Today we spent time as a family of 3, going out and about and running errands. I don't think he fussed once! He even sat on his daddy's lap for 20 minutes while waiting for me at the mall. When I came out he was just sitting there, happy as can be...watching people go by and pigeons peck at the ground. He followed a pigeon across the whole outside pavillion, all the while holding his little arm out straight and pointing at it. So cute!
After talking about it, we've decided we really don't want to try for baby #2 anytime soon. We want to enjoy Caden by himself for a while and give him our undevided time, something we both feel we missed out on ourselves as children. Not to mention that travelling with one is much cheaper, lol! Once we are debt free, then we will plan. But of course, God is in charge! So who knows!

Last week C went to the doctor for a check up, and received the MMR vaccine. After 6 months of no vaccines, I've decided to space out his shots over the next year instead of cramming all 7 (+ combos) into his little body at once. He had no fever or reaction, I am so happy I did it this way! And our new doctor/insurance does a vaccine clinic once a month, so I can just walk in and get one. Perfect! As far as measurements, Caden is 32" tall (75th percentile) and 24# (47th percentile). His feet have grown 3 sizes since January too!

It's just over 3 weeks until out trip to England! We are sooo excited! But more on that later. I have to go work on the church nursery schedule, it won't write itself!

Getting so big!

My baby is a toddler...how did that happen so fast?

Almost 15 mths.

Childhood is Calling

Today I miss England. I've been thinking a lot about my home country these last few days, and it made me sad that I probably will never live there again. Maybe it was the clip on TV of adorable little English children growing potatoes for school. Their familiar accents and mature and articulate speech took me back to another time.

I remember the magic of my childhood, how I hid away from real life by spinning my own fantastical world of fairies and animals. Will Caden ever experience running through clouds of bluebells in between the trees of the summery woodlands? Or go pond dipping for newts and frogs and go nature exploring in the spring? Or visit cathedrals and castles that have a history unmatched to anything to be found here?

I do hope so. I want him to go beyond this grey city of concrete and celebrity...and have a childhood that's so organic, so fresh, so new.

I'm Bad at Blogging

I can never seem to keep up with blogging. I have so many entries in my head...but they just never make it to print lol.

It's been a busy few months, but now the last of the family have left and things are slowly winding back down to "normal". Except normal now involves chasing after a toddler who can now run away from me! Caden is everywhere! He can walk, turn, stop, bend and stand up.

I still can't believe he's 1! Here are some photos taken by the wonderful Lizzy for our 1 year family shoot:

I'm still nursing about 4 x a day...I dropped one feeding in January, and plan to drop one at the end of this month and another in March. Then it will just be am & pm and I hope to wean at 18 months. Though I don't really enjoy it, it seems like I've been doing it forever so stopping just sounds odd to me LOL. But I need to give my body a break before having another baby.

And as far as evrything else goes, here are the stats:

Weight: 23#

Height: 29"

Teeth: 2 (bottom)

Diaper size: 4

Food: No more jars. Eats pasta, bread, veg, fruit, white meat, eggs, tofu, water & whole milk to drink.

Schedule: Nurse, wake up, breakfast, nurse, nap, lunch, nurse, nap, dinner, snack, nurse, bed.

As for me, right now I am on day 5 of a no refined sugar diet. It's been tough! My body is in shock I think, and I've been feeling the effects. My plan is to last 2 weeks, that way I can still have chocolate on Valentine's day :)