Baby Girl!!!

We had our ultrasound today! She measured everything and things looked good, normal and healthy! She said she wasn't able to tell what the sex was b/c the baby was curled up into such a tight, little ball....so we tried getting her to move, I turned on my side....anything to see between those legs! LOL!

Finally we did! And we have baby girl #2!! Of course, I had tears...it's just one of those moments!

Presley went with us, she didn't fully understand, she was more interested in watching the ultrasound tech and my tummy. She recognized the baby's foot but other than that she didn't really care....which we expected. She was concerned that I got an 'owie' from the doctor, after they pricked my finger!

We are super happy! Most people think having one boy and one girl is the way 'it should be', but I've got two sisters that I wouldn't trade for the world (on most days). Steve isn't disappointed either, he's used to a house full of girls with my family! He did say that if we ever tried for a third kid that it couldn't be another girl! ha!

Plus there are more girl names that I like than boy name and I want to use a middle name from my side of the family since P's middle name Grace is from Steve's side and there are NO good boy names to use for middle names from my side. (no offense Lester, Donald, Yale, Herman, Eugene!)

Sorry Sam and Janelle, someone else will have to benefit from your baby boy clothes!

Here is me at 19 weeks, already up 15 pounds from January...up about 10 pounds from my first doctors appointment.  I'm eating anything and everything I can! This baby might come out made of sugar!



Thoughts by Jack Handy

- I read three more books this month! 50 Shades of Grey, 50 Shades Darker and 50 Shades Freed. Great books! They suck you in and if you can handle the raunchiness of the sex that goes on in these books then you should read them!  I was a little shocked at the soft porn going on, but there actually was a story line too. All of my friends have been reading them, including my friend Amy who said her husband was mad at me for getting her into reading again b/c it is all she wants to do now!
- We have our ultrasound tomorrow morning, I'm excited and nervous. We want to find out the sex but more importantly we are hoping to find out that Baby G is healthy! We don't do the tests they offer for abnormalities so we are just hoping for healthy, finding out the sex would be a bonus.
- Presley is so funny, I just love the things that come out of her mouth! She always give Steve a hard time for leaving the toilet seat up, which I enjoy! A couple days ago she was telling me a story about walking to the store with daddy and how her 'leg hurt and I was like oh my gosh'. (she has little valley girl in her when she is telling stories)  I was laughing so hard!
- I hate it when I hear people talk about how there is nothing to do in Iowa or Des Moines. There is so much to do that we usually have to pick and choose what we actually do! Get out of your small town or off of your couch and enjoy all the things going on around you! In fact this Friday we'll be going down to the Simon Estes amphitheater to watch The Nadas play if anyone wants to join!

Sunday and Monday Funday

Sunday we did our usual weekend shopping and ate a quick lunch at Applebees and then headed to Indianola to hang out with some friends! It has been too long since we have seen that group of friends! Lots of food, drinks and kids! Of course, Presley took a couple hours to warm up, most of these kids she had never met but she did pretty good after a while. Presley didn't get to bed until almost 10 which worked out good since we didn't get up until 9:30 this morning. (I'm going to enjoy it while we can!)
Today we didn't do much, I felt like we should've got out of the house and enjoyed the weather a little more but I think we were all too tired after spending 2 whole days in the sun being busy.
We went to my parents house this evening to hang out, grill out and practice our family talent for my family reunion this year in Texas! (No worries, I'm sure there will be pictures to come!)

And now back to work tomorrow! Boo. We have a busy week ahead of us already with both Steve and I having to work overtime and we have our ultrasound Wednesday morning. Hoping for a healthy baby and if we can find out the sex, that would be a bonus!

Adventureland

We decided to hit up Adventureland on Saturday. It was supposed to be nice and hot so we could enjoy the water park and I didn't want to wait too long and then try to fit it in between our vacations, moving and new baby. I think Steve, Sam and Holly were nervous about the crowds since it was Memorial Day weekend and the first weekend the water park was open, but it was perfect! We got there right at 10 am and it was actually a little chilly, which gave us some time to enjoy the rides.

This Adventureland trip was 100% better than last year! Presley actually rode the rides! 

 

She was scared and not happy about the bumper cars, we later found out she wanted the red car not the white car!

 She rode the airplanes by herself but wouldn't pull on the lever to make herself go high up in the air, oh well, maybe next time!

Boston was unsure of some of the rides. Here they were riding the purple motorcycle and P kept trying to calm him down and once the ride started he was fine.

Steve got to enjoy some of the big kid rides with Holly and Nick and I was awesome at skee-ball and won Presley some dirty, cheap stuffed animals!

Then about 12:30 we headed toward the water park, we didn't want it to get too busy before we got to enjoy it!  The place is awesome! We could've stayed there all day! I think we all loved it! We had no problem getting chairs, getting changed and enjoying all the amenities! They had the perfect waterslide for Presley, but Boston was still too little for it.

 Even daddy got to enjoy one of the 17(?) waterslides!

Boston and P took advantage of the kiddie area and we all enjoyed the lazy river! (except Holly and Nick who didn't bring their suits and probably wish they hadd!)

We left the waterpark about 4 and it was just then getting busy but it was perfect. We walked back thru the park and rode a couple more rides since there were no lines for them! We all had a great time and it was the perfect day at the park.

 Look at my baby girl! I just love this little face!

We left the park and went out to Nick's house to grill out! It was a nice evening to calm down, cool off and let the tired kids run around a little more!

Five Question Sunday

1. Are you a napper? Um.....yes please! I have no problem taking naps, I don't get to that often and many times end up feeling more tired and crappy when I wake up.

2. What was your favorite subject in school? Most hated? My favorite would've been psychology and sociology. I love figuring out how people think and what makes people tick.
My most hated, science or art. Chemistry? Labs? No thanks! Being creative, drawing...not me!

3. Did you have the something old, new, borrowed and blue at your wedding? What were they? It is bad that I honestly can't remember?! It will be 5 years in September and I'm pretty sure that I did....but neither one of us has any idea on what they would be! That is kind of sad!

4. What one thing are you determined to do this summer? We had tickets to Adventureland and we used those this weekend. Other than that, get the house done and move in!

5. Ice cream or Popsicles? Ice Cream, hands down! Especially during the summer, it is one of my addictions! I would say 5 nights a week I have ice cream (after P goes to bed), usually mint chocolate chip!

Book Worm

Sorry, I will post again soon but right now I'm caught up in reading the 50 Shades of Grey trilogy.

Bossy

Presley calls Boston, Bossy....but she is the bossy one in this relationship. My parents and Holly took off for Colorado Thursday morning to go to my cousins highschool graduation party so April was going to watch P for us both Thursday and Friday. Of course, Thursday morning Presley still had her spots from her hand, foot and mouth so we really didn't want to expose any other kids to her. Steve and I decided to each take a half day and watch Presley and Boston (since they had shared their germs already we thought we should just keep the germs in the family). Sam brought Boston over in the morning and I watched them, took them to the park (which ended up with a 3 year old, a 21 month old, 2 baby dolls and a pair of flip flops that all wanted to be carried back home) and fed them lunch.

See how sick and sad they look. :)

They play pretty good together as long as Boston always does what P wants him to....otherwise, she'll sit on him. (or scream, push, pull, or grab him)
Steve came home at noon and I left for work while he took over for nap time.
We are lucky that Samantha decided to stay home on Friday so that was she was able to watch P for us since April had a family emergency and wasn't able to. Thanks again Sam!
Friday night we headed over to Chris and Colleen's for dinner! It was so nice, we haven't seen them and chatted in so long! It was Colleens birthday so we had dinner and cake! Presley finally started warming up after a good long hour of being her shy-self and began to play with Bridget and Conor (though she was a little scared of Conor, he is almost 2 and is a crazy little man! But oh,  SO adorable!)

We got up Saturday morning and headed to the Cystic Fibrosis walk!  We showed up just as they were starting to walk, I felt bad that we got there late but the kids enjoyed the playground while everyone was walking. It was a little windy but overall the weather was great for it! And I got to see my friend Andrea who I haven't seen since January!

Then Samantha and I had tickets to take B and P to Sesame Street Live at Wells Fargo Arena while Steve went to his other nephews highschool graduation open house in Creston. The kids were excited about seeing Elmo. I wasn't really sure how P would do, but I would say she was 75% good. I agreed to get her popcorn so she was happy....however the salt from the popcorn started hurting her chapped lips and some how that was my fault. So off and on during the show she was cry and hit me and grab my mouth or hands when I told her to drink some water. They both seemed to like the show and with two 45 minute halves it was just long enough to hold their attention but not bore them.
Tomorrow we need to get ready for another busy week, I've already agreed to work at least a 10 hour day on Monday but I figure I might as well get in my overtime during the week so we can enjoy the 3 day weekend to come!

More blah

- Presley saw one of those motorized scooters that handicap people sometimes ride around and said to Steve 'when I big, I want that kind!'. So I guess that is the upgrade for her pink big wheel?
- Boston calls me Tata. He's kind of cute!
- I'm about 90% in my regular clothes, but loving my new maternity capris and work pants...so by the end of the month it could be 90% maternity clothes. So I'll pull those suckers up to my boobs and embrace the elastic
- I'm occasionally feeling Baby G, mostly kicking my insides about once or twice a day. I can't wait for Steve and even Presley to feel it.
- At work, 2 more people have quit! Big corporations worry and focus on the weirdest things and don't seem to worry about the fact they have had 7 people quit on a team of 50 in the last 6 weeks! That is a big deal...... answering my phone with the 'script' they have given us (that will be monitored by a team of people that will call around and see if we answer the phone correctly) is NOT a big deal! (and the fact that they pay people to do that seems like a waste of time and money, but what do I know?!)

Yikes

- I always felt sorry for my neighbors at our house when we had the windows open and they could hear P screaming...in an apartment that noise is intensifyed and the neighbors are even closer.
- Steve took P to the doctor Monday morning and sure enough she got (whatever version) of hand, foot and mouth disease that Boston had. She started breaking out with the spots that you get and stayed home with daddy and watched the Chipmunk movie! Two times! She thought that was so cool! Finally, yesterday and today she is back to her fiesty self!
- P is beginning to really realize that I'm the mean parent. So she is wanting Steve to do more for her these days, realizing that he probably will and I will probably not!
- We need to reinvent our bedtime routine with P. It just takes too long and is such a struggle. By 7:30 she is in her pj's and eating her fruit (which is dessert to her!) and we head for bed about 7:45-8. Then we read a book, then she wants us to lay with her for 2 minutes...which ends up being 15 minutes. Then she stalls b/c she has to either go potty or poop. (She purposely waits until bedtime to go #2). And finally by 8:30, she is on her own. For my friends with toddlers, what is your bedtime routine?
- I feel like I don't talk about Baby G enough. Everyone is so excited with their first kid and by the second it just doesn't seem as intense. I don't follow my daily update, we haven't talked about names but maybe we just have too much going on to think about it. Maybe once we find out the sex in two weeks, it will get us thinking about it more......but of course, it's not like we can get a room ready or anything.
- I painted my fingernails for the first time in.....forever?! I never have nails, I'm a nail-biter. So I'm super proud of my long nails, don't be surprised if I show them off to you next time I see ya!

Happy Mothers Day!

We decided we were going to have a family picnic at Thomas Mitchell Park for Mothers Day, the same place we did 3 years ago. Once Presley got up, she just wasn't normal. Her face was bright read and she felt HOT! We gave her some meds and left for the park in hopes that she would be fine.

We ate and fed the geese...the kids threw rocks in the water

 Steve and Presley flew kites (when the wind cooperated).

 We went for a hike up the Devote trail (my dad's moms maiden name was Devote).

And Boston was cute, as always.

 and then Presley started to NOT feel good again. She just sat there, so sad.

We got home and she was miserable! She hardly ate all day, she was burning up and she was just so sad...she even passed up mac and cheese for dinner! There was lots of cuddling with mommy and daddy. She watched a movie and I read some more of my book. As much as I don't want Presley to be sick, it was the one day in the last year I haven't had to listen to her whine or be mean to me!

 Ga and Presley 3 years ago on Mothers Day!

So.....

As I mentioned in my last post the week was just a little too much for me. It just seems like every day it was something more and it seems that my brain has been leaving me a little too often. (example : $3000 vs $300 for the doctors bill) Presley is a totally different kid at home than she is when we are out and about. The apartment is obviously not her favorite place to be.

After two days with too much mommy time, Thursday daddy decided to take P outside to play. I followed them with the camera.

P taking a break from kick ball by sittin on the ball!

 Another fantastic shot of the rattail

Friday I got a call from my mom about 10:30, Boston had hand, foot and mouth disease. Great, I wanted to get P out of there so she didn't catch anything (normally people have to pick up their SICK kids from daycare)! I left work about noon and went to go pick her up and then we headed to a park. It was the perfect afternoon!
Once Steve got home we walked up the El Mariachi restaurant for dinner, which was good (it would've been better with a margarita!), then I headed up to Miss Kitty's for Locks B Gone 3! Another brave soul shaving their head! Unfortunately, for Matt (the brave soul) his niece passed away that night and the event didn't happen. It was so sad to think about!

Saturday Steve and Presley headed to Creston for a fundraising event for his step-sister Emily who has cancer...leaving me with about 5 hours to myself! I did a lot of reading, went shopping for chubby pregnant girl clothes and enjoyed the mall by myself! They got home about 3 and we then hung out, ate dinner and then went and drove by our land. We got to meet the neighbors on the north side of us. They have 3 kids and one on the way, due October 26th! Then we headed to Prairie Meadows to enjoy the night! Presley loves it and it is another good, cheap way to get her out of the house and enjoying the nice weather.
Of course, she didn't get to sleep until about 10 pm, which was fine since she slept until 9:30 am.

Five Question Friday (which I almost forgot, thanks for the reminder Lyndsi!)

1. What advice would you give a couple getting married? Don't get married before the age of 25. Most of the people I know who did get married young, are divorced. And don't be in a hurry to have kids.

2. If you could tell your 16 year old self ONE thing, what would it be? Boys are dumb!

3. What do you do to keep cool in the summer? (AC, windows, fans, swimming, etc.) All of the above including a nice, cold adult beverage.

4. What did you (or your wife) crave most while pregnant? With P it was orange juice and mint chocolate chip ice cream. Though I never made Steve go get me anything b/c I HAD to have it, I'm not sure I even believe cravings can be that intense....but heck, some prego people crave eating dirt, so what do I know.

5. Who is your favorite TV mom? Why? If I say Roseanne is that wrong? She was honest, funny, sarcastic and her husband and kids were the same way. They worked hard, they struggled financially, they liked to eat and their kids weren't perfect! Maybe I liked the whole family, not just Roseanne!

Yada, yada, yada

- I finished another book! These Things Hidden, based in a small Iowa town. It was a great, easy, suspenseful book. Shocking ending!
- The thing I'm going to love about our new house, that I love about the apartment...that our house didn't have, is the open kitchen. I feel that I keep the kitchen cleaner b/c I'm still a part of the action in the family room.
- I feel anxious, unorganized and overwhelmed. The apartment isn't organized, we have papers everywhere. There is probably some unpaid bill sitting in the bottom of a pile somewhere, along with Presley preschool papers that I forgot about. The last form and payment was due May 4th and of course, I got an email on May 8th reminding me about it! Damn it!
- I got a letter from my doctor about my insurance, I read it yesterday and flipped out. We have to pay $3000 in the next 3 months. Emotional pregnant woman breakdown **insert here**. So today I came home and re-read the whole thing, hoping it said they were going to GIVE me $3000 instead! Well, I was wrong, we have to pay 10% of $3000....$300. Whew, I can handle that.
- This whole time I thought we were flying into a different airport in Houston for our trip in July. Good thing I haven't booked a rental car yet since I would've done it from the wrong airport! How did I not realize that? Oh well, just a longer car ride for us to the beachhouse.
- I need a haircut badly, it's been 5 months and my dark roots are making a come back. I think I'm going to leave my BFF Josie at Bella Salon and go back to my friend Jeff at Sunny Salon. It will cost half as much and I'm all about saving money these days and I think now that I have the 'style' that I like, he should be able to mimick it.

Cinco de Mayo

Our weekend started with both me and Steve getting off of work late! Figures! Then Steve made an awesome dinner of pork and twice baked potatoes, even Presley couldn't get enough! We then drove up to take a look at our land. See our lovely plot of dirt!



We did notice there is a little boy and girl right next door and another 2 little boys next door to them, so there will be plenty of kids in the neighborhood! Presley fell asleep on the way home before 8 pm, which never happens!
We got up about 9 am and got ready to head to Earlham for the day. We picked up Holly to go with us about noon and then had Ava's 3 year birthday party! It was hot, but we still spent alot of time outside! Then we had Jake's highschool graduation party at the community center and then went back to the Cinco de Mayo party at Jason and Christie's.

Uncle Matt helping Presley shoot baskets!

Presley took a while to warm up but eventually was running around with all the other 40 kids around. She really wanted to be included with the older 9 year old girls but they weren't really interesting in her. She had so much fun running around, chasing kids, playing, eating fruit all day.
We left for home about 9:30, Presley was OUT by the time we got home! She never woke up while we changed her into her diaper and put her pj's on!
I was up at 8:15 and she didn't get up until 9:30! We spent the day running errands and don't even ask me about the hour we spent in RadioShack getting me a new phone. Steve apologized for talking me into another phone after the time we spent there!

On a side note, in the last week she has been dry 5 mornings!

Five Question Friday

1. What did you wear to prom? Include a picture if possible. Oh prom. My senior year. We only had senior prom at our highschool b/c it was a bigger school and I went with my boyfriend Adam and our whole group of friends. I wore a long, form fitting bright red sparkly dress. I think Samantha ending up wearing this dress to her prom too. I still have it and I will not be putting it on again. On a side note, Holly went to my prom b/c her boyfriend was in my class. I was so mad b/c that was MY prom, why should she get to go to MY prom?

2. Would you rather be on the biggest loser or a food eating challenge? Hmmm...depends on the food for the eating challenge! Donuts, I'm in! Hotdogs, I'm out!

3. Fave refreshing summer drink? Margaritas please!! This year I guess I'll stick to raspberry lemonade.

4. What was your first car, and what did you call it? The first car I bought was 1991 Chevy Corsica, I don't think I called it anything. My next car was my purple Sebring convertible, I named her Elvira b/c it was sexy and mysterious. I'm a dork, ok?

5. What's one thing your child or spouse does that sends you over the edge? With P, it is either when she continually does something we have asked her not to do. If she hits me a couple time and we tell her one more time and she gets a time out...she will either do it and then throw a fit when she gets a timeout? (hello, we warned you!) or she'll look at me with a sly grin and lightly tap me. Or when she wants to be carried ALL the time. As I said before, I don't mind doing it every now and then since I know my time is limited due to baby #2 and the fact that she is just getting too heavy!
With Steve, I have little pet peeves but nothing that sends me over the edge. Sometimes he thinks he is trying to be funny, but he is really being mean...or when he shaves and there are little chin hairs all over the bathroom counter! GROSS!

3.25

Presley is 3 years and 3 months today...or 39 months if you want to go that route. Since this is basically my form of a baby book at this point, I figure I better keep track of what she is doing these days.
Presley,
- wears 3T/4T clothes, usually 4T shirts to cover her belly! And wears size 8 shoes.
- LOVES the colors pink and purple. We have never pushed this on her, but it was inevitable.
- knows all her letters and loves finding letters. We read books every night before bed and some of the books she now has memorized.
- can count to 20, but usually there are a couple 17's and she misses 13. Oh well.
- her speech is getting better and easier to understand. The studdering is getting a little better, so I'm sure she will grow out it.
- LOVES gymnastics and is getting pretty good at it after only 2 months. She loves dancing, I think we might try dance classes next spring, but I want to do waterbabies in the fall and maybe soccer in the spring too. We'll see, I don't want to overwhelm her.
- is a master at her puzzles, loves playing kitchen and with her babies and is the master at stalling us when it is bedtime.
- is good 95% of the time we are out and about places. She is good about 50% of the time at home, we walk in the door and she changes into a little brat...maybe it's just the changes going on in our lives.
- will eat pork, chicken and steaks but won't eat chocolate?!
- would rather ride in dad's car b/c my Wicked soundtrack is in there and then we can 'listen to Presley's song'.
- is BOSSY! She has to tell you what to do, things have to be done her way, she orders Boston around like she has all the power in the world! Going to preschool in the fall will be good for her! She isn't like that at gymnastics or at April's house when she is around other kids or differnet authority figures. She knows she has us all tied around her little finger!
- has been 'potty' trained since September and we are still working on the 'poop' training. Her diaper been dry 4 mornings this week and she is always so proud of herself. We keep telling her that not very many 3 year olds can do that!

Random

- Not having cable, I am reading a lot and playing too much words with friends. Steve has been watching reruns of The Office on whatever channel, I don't like that show. I work in an office and I just don't like the show.
- I had my doctors appt today, waiting for 10 minutes in the waiting room and another 10 minutes in my room to see the doctor for 2 minutes...if that. I gained about 1.5 pounds and the heart beat was 150. That's it. A nice, quick, boring appt...I'll take it, hopefully they are all this simple. My next appt is May 30th at 8:30 am (yes Janelle, I changed it after our discussion!), we'll have our ultrasound then! We can see this little thing and hopefully know if we'll have a boy or girl on our hands. We are taking Presley with us, I think it will be good to help her understand a little more. We'll see.
Otherwise, I'm feeling good! Nothing weird, no complaints from me.
- We paid the down payment for our new house! They can have a hole in the ground in 2 weeks and I'm aiming for September 1st as a move in date! Fingers crossed. We locked our loan and bought our washer and dryer (so we can start paying it off!) and things are moving along!
- I love American Idol, I love Phillip Phillips and I do not like the Jessica girl on there. I wish she would get kicked off.
- I think we have figured out that a must for this spring and summer is getting Presley out of this apartment! She has been a bear at home the past couple days but good if we go somewhere or if we are outside. She must feel couped up in this place.
- Good news, our April restaurant and fast food spending went down from March! We are heading the right direction!