Update from the trenches

Aidan has his 2yr molars coming in and has been super whiny along with what seems to be the beginning of the terrible twos type tantrums and crying/screaming spells. So not fun for mom and dad.

Addison has reflux and colic. She is really good during the day and is still sleeping a lot, but every evening is a big inconsolable cry fest for her for about 2 hours. She started taking Prevacid last week, to heal and stop the pain from the reflux. Included in our arsenal for the colic are... Gripe Water, Mylicon, acidophilus, colic tablets and a hair dryer which usually stops the crying immediately, but only while it's on and adjustments from a chiropractor's office especially for babies w/reflux and colic. It's not what you're thinking! He doesn't put her on the table and start snapping her neck and back at all. She stays in my arms and most of the time sleeps right though it. He uses a small tool about the size of a sharpie on certain points up and down her spine and then on her stomach too. On the days she has these adjustments, she doesn't cry and scream at night - so I'd say it's working.

But in spite of all of this, we do have some really great moments in between all of this! For the most part, Aidan loves his little sister and she smiles at him when he's near her. It's very sweet.

In the rare quiet moments that I have, I have been enjoying reading the Twilight saga and am so addicted to the story. I've finished the first two books and will be getting the third and fourth books for Christmas from my dad (thanks dad!). Can't wait to read them and find out what happens next!

I had professional pictures taken of Addison when she was 4wks old and just got her birth announcements sent out. I'm really happy with how they turned out! The photographer we used was fantastic and would strongly recommend her! Robin Winkles Photography



We took the kids to see Santa in the mall and as you can see, Aidan did not like Santa one little bit. The hour long wait in line did not help either. Hopefully he'll like it better next year.

Sweet little Addison

This little baby girl is so sweet and such a good sleeper; I really like her and we've decided to keep her! LOL - Really though, she is such a good baby; hardly every cries, very tolerant personality and sleeps a lot. She smiles and laughs in her sleep and I cannot get enough of it. I love her so much. Aidan loves her too; every day he gives her multiple kisses, without us asking him to. When she cries, he brings her bottle to me, and her blanket and her pacifier. He's so good and caring. I gave her her first bath today since her umbilicle cord finally fell off and looks like it's healed now. I'm posting a pic of Addison from today and a pic of Aidan at 4wks old when he had his bath. They look so much alike - we have a matching set now!


Addison at 3wks


Aidan at 4wks

The madness is over, we are all much better now and life is no longer chaotic. Infact, we are going to have our first family photo shoot tomorrow morning and I can't wait to see how the pictures turn out!

Madness

This past week has just been so crazy busy with a newborn, a sick toddler and a sick mommy and my in-laws at our house. On Monday, we sent Aidan off to preschool and then Ray and I went to our family doctor to get our Tdap vaccine so we don't pass pertussis (whooping cough) to Addison and while there got a call from Aidan's school that he had a temp of 103.5. So we dashed over to pick him up and took him to his pedi. She listened to his chest and could hear him wheezing so she put him on a nebulizer, did a finger prick for a CBC and ordered a chest x-ray for him at a different location. We are also sent home with a nebulizer that we have to use on Aidan every 4hrs for 10min.

I then developed an ear infection from my sinus/allergy stuff I've been fighting for a while now and with that comes impaired hearing and pain. The chest x-ray shows Aidan to not have Bronchitus but he keeps running this high fever all week, so we take him back on Thursday to find out he now has a double ear infection too. Poor little guy, he gets so hot and is just not himself.

Addison had her 2wk appt this morning and she is doing well. She is 9.1 lbs now and is in the 94th percentile for her weight, and the 95th percentile for her length; 77th percentile for the head circumfrence at 36cm. She does seem to have blocked tear ducts just like Aidan had, but that should correct itself over time.

Now I'm just hoping that Aidan and I are feeling better by Sunday and that Addison does not get sick.

Addison Paige is here

Our baby girl was born November 7, 2008 at 7:51am, weighing 8 pounds 8 ounces and 19 1/2 inches long. She looks just like her brother! It was a scheduled c-section due to prior shoulder dystocia and was a very different experience from my previous vaginal delivery with Aidan. It was much faster (obviously) and very weird being awake while being cut open, just kind of bizarre and hard to wrap my mind around. But our little Addison is doing really well and is healthy and we are in love with her. Aidan is a great big brother! He's very interested in her and calls her "baby" and hands her bottles and pacifiers - he'll be good helper to mommy. So far, he's showing no signs of jealousy - yay! We weren't sure how he'd react to his new baby sister. I won't be able to lift Aidan or drive for 2wks but Ray and my mom have been helping with him so they take over where any lifting is required.

Addison has been an easy baby so far, pretty good sleeper and not a fussy baby. Ray and I are tired, but feel our family is complete and are very happy and feel very blessed.

38 wk appt

Today was my last prenatal appt; 38wks. No change in my cervix, still closed and firm, so he said I didn't need to come next week and I'll see him next on Friday the 7th in the OR! Holy crap! I'm having a baby next week! Sometimes it just blows my mind.

For a long time, I wondered if I'd ever have a baby at all and now I'm having my second. My heart is going to grow so much; with all the love that we have for our son, it's hard to imagine loving another one just as much!

Oh, and he was estimating that Addison is about 8.5 lbs now. So looks like another biggie for us!

37 week appt

I am posting this a day late, because I was very ill yesterday - throwing up and such. Seems Ray brought home a stomach bug that went from him to Aidan and then to me over the last few weeks. It seems to last about 24hrs; I'm feeling much better today than yesterday.

I went in for my appt yesterday as scheduled. Ray took the day off to help me get there and back. My OB checked me and the baby is doing fine, heartbeat in the 150's, no change in my cervix, still closed and firm so no progress yet. I don't have strep B and no protein in urine, so all looks great! OB estimates that Addison is about 7lbs now. So she should be at least 8lbs on her birthday, which is getting closer and closer by the way. She'll be here very soon! Two weeks from this Friday.

36wk appt

I had my 36wk OB visit to check on me and Addison today. Exam went well, no change in cervix yet, still closed and firm. Blood pressure looked good and no protein in urine. Baby looks to weigh around 6lbs 7oz right now based on measurements. Exciting that she'll be here 3wks from Friday! I'm more excited to see her and hold her than I am worried about parenting 2 under 2 at once.

I stopped at BRU on the way home to get a few things and found some cute ruffle-y diaper covers for little girls. I need to find more since they were out of size 0-9mos. Ahhhh!! So excited! No new pics of her to post, but we did record video of the u/s today. We won't see her again until her birthday, which is fast approaching!

I washed all her clothes and bedding two days ago and packed her diaper bag for the hospital, so I feel more prepared for her arrival now. I just need to pack my bag.

We are a minivan family now!

At some point after a million trips to the grocery store w/Aidan, getting him in and out of his car seat in the Tahoe, I put vanity down and started understanding why so many moms chose minivans. Those sliding doors.... oh I was starting to drool over them and envy the convenience of this mom friendly vehicle. So after months of talking about it to my husband and a few of my close friends, my husband surprised me and took me to the dealership on Thursday and we ended up buying a new VW Routan! I am so excited about the buttons that open/close the two side doors and liftgate. This is going to make my life so much easier! So goodbye Tahoe and hello minivan. So here I am with the new mom-mobile!



Here's a couple of pics we took today of us at the park today....

Aidan's first day at preschool

Ray took him to drop him off this morning and I cried after they drove away. He was so happy to be going "bye bye" with daddy, but I know he wasn't prepared to be dropped off at school all day w/o one of us there. Ugh... Ray said he did fine until he realized daddy wasn't there anymore, then he was really upset/crying (Ray was still in the bldg so he could hear him).

During naptime I talked to his teacher, she said he ate a good lunch, drank his bottle by himself at the table then laid down on his mat at naptime and they rubbed his back and he fell asleep (along w/his "must have" blanket and paci that we sent along for him). Then he woke from his nap and was sitting on his mat quietly with another boy looking at a book together. (SO wish I could see that!)

I have to say that I thought it would have gone MUCH worse than what she described, based off his last experience. I'm so glad that he seems to be doing much better than I had anticipated.

She said that day 1 is rough, day 2 is worse and then the rest of the week is rough. So I just need to be strong a little bit longer. But from what she described to me, I think he'll be fine in a much shorter time frame than I gave him credit for. I'm just so glad to hear that he ate, napped well and is not constantly crying (at his MDO experience, he did not eat, did not nap well and cried all day).

When I got there to pick him up, I watched him for a bit before going in. He was sitting on the floor with his teacher and 3 other kids doing some kind of activity and looked like he was having fun; I saw him smile and clap a few times. Then the girl next to him pulled his paci out of his mouth and he started crying. So the teacher made her give it back and held him. I waited for him to calm down before going in. Boy was he glad to see me! He got a little whiny but I acted excited for him and started to get his stuff together and after talking to his teacher, asked him if he was ready and he said "GO!" and headed for the door!

Once home, he played outside for a bit, watched his favorite cartoon (Little Einsteins) ate dinner, got a bath and went down with no issues. So I don't think he was traumatized this time like he was the last time we tried daycare/preschool. We'll see how tomorrow goes, but I think we'll all be fine.

Place your bets!

I'd like to go on record and guess our daughters birth weight. Assuming she's born on Nov 7th, I think she will weigh 11 pounds. That's right, I said ELEVEN pounds. Aidan weighed 9.6 and I think she will be bigger and I had a dream that she weighed 11 lbs, so we'll see if my dream was right. Anyone else care to make a guess just for fun??

Maybe it's because this is my second child, or maybe she really is just big, but I am feeling like I was just before I delivered our son. Very achy down low if I'm standing or walking too long, getting winded very easily, even needing to take breaks while I'm showering and sit on our shower bench. Oh, and picking up things off the floor is just mean to make me do right now. It takes a lot of effort and I try to get Aidan to "pick that up for mommy" as much as possible. Sometimes he does and sometimes he doesn't. My hands are very swollen today and yesterday it became uncomfortable to wear my wedding ring; plus I was scared it might have to be cut off, so I took it off just to be safe. I have heartburn and reflux at night and according to my husband, I am snoring like a freight train all night too. Pregnancy induced snoring. I had it last time too. Never snored before that and it stopped once Aidan was born. My poor husband has moved to the sofa almost every night to get away from all the racket I'm producing. Rolling over in my sleep to switch sides has become a monumental task now. I'm up a total of 33 lbs now.

In other news, we have chosen Aidan's new preschool and registered him and he will start in one week. I am anxious because I anticipate it will be a hard adjustment for Aidan (ie crying, separation anxiety) but I hope the transition comes quickly for him and that he has fun and enjoys making new friends. Both Ray and I really like the place and their philosophy and feel he'll be learning a lot and hope that he'll develop social skills and get a boost on talking. He'll only be there 3 days a week, but we think it'll be good for him. His teacher is young and sweet and seems like she's really good with the kids and his classmates all seem well behaved and interested in him. Crossing my fingers that he ends up loving it soon! Being away from mommy will be hard on both of us.

Long overdue belly pic

Not sure why we've never gotten around to taking pics of my growing belly with this pregnancy. Guess we've been busy with day to day life! So here's a pic of me and Addison at 30w4d on Sept 4, 2008 - still have 2 months to go! I'm also including a recent photo of Aidan; we love this pic, it makes us laugh!!

Good bye August!

I will not miss you August. I will not miss all your 105 degree days for weeks at a time. I will not miss that you force me and my son to stay inside to avoid your suffocating heat, even though my son wants nothing more than to be outside. I am very pregnant and you seek to make me melt each day. On some days, I would try to brave the heat so my son can go outside to play, but within minutes he is whiny because he is so miserably hot and his playscapes are too hot to play on. Some things cannot be explained to an 18 month old. Your heat and lack of rain, have also delivered the perfect opportunity for ants to take over our yard, which further prevents us from using the large yard we purposely bought for our children and dogs to frolic in. I tried in vain to kill all the ants and keep them away from my inquisitive son, but I finally had to break down and hire a pest control company to do it for me. Two days later, no evidence that any ants were ever here. Victory! A great start for September. So, so long August. I know you will be back, but for now, I can enjoy 11 months without you and that makes me very happy.

Chunky monkey

I had another OB appt today and got to see Addison again. She's estimated to weigh just over 3 lbs now, is head down and sucking her thumb! Dr S has scheduled my c-section for Nov 7th, so that will be her birthday unless something happens before then. I also had my Gestational Diabetes test done today (1hr glucose) so hopefully I passed that. Weight wise, I'm only up 20 lbs since I got pregnant, so that's not too bad so far. With Aidan, I gained a total of 54 lbs and lost 30 of that in the first month post partum.

Why am I getting a c-section? I had a rough delivery with Aidan and a long and painful recovery period too. On top of being a large baby, weighing 9.6lbs, he also had shoulder dystocia (shoulders got stuck on the way out) and my OB had to push on my stomach to get him out (it felt like the Dr was sitting on me, actually) and I had a 3rd degree tear. It took me 6mos to heal from the damage. So, since we seem to make large babies and I'm only 5'4" and don't seem built to accommodate these "little" ones very well, we are opting for a c-section this time so that we won't encounter another difficult delivery for me or the baby and my recovery time will probably be much shorter than what I experienced last time and that is important to me since I'll have 2 babies to take care of and need to be back to my self as soon as possible.

We scheduled the rest of my appts out as I left today, so it won't be long and Addison will be here! I'm so excited and anxious to see her! Her room is ready, but I haven't bought any clothes for her yet, and I've only bought one box of diapers so far for her. I do have some clothes from Aidan that are unisex (ie white/yellow/green) that I've put in her dresser and some from my friend April, but I still have some shopping to do for her. At least all the big stuff is done though.

Addison's nursery

I finally had time to take some pictures of Addison's room tonight to share with you. The stenciling is done and really pulls the room together and the bookcase came in, so the room looks more complete now. Enjoy!!!
Wall paint color is: Tate Olive (green) by Behr
So the room is a mix of Green, black and pink w/some off white

3rd trimester

Well, folks, just 3 more months and Addison will be here! We are excited for her arrival. I have become officially uncomfortable. It's hard to get in/out of bed now w/o help - some of that may be because our bed is tall. But it is hard to get up from a lying down position. I have had a lot of moments where I feel faint and my mouth has been dry a lot lately too. So I drink as much water as I can (it's one of my cravings anyway; ice water) and sit or lay down immediately when I feel faint or my heart is racing. The temperature outside does not help matters. It will be 102 for the next 7 days, according to the weather forecast. I'll be so glad when the cooler weather makes it's appearance, I can't wait!

My mom finished stenciling Addison's room with a delicate flower border that I had in my room when I was younger. I'll post pictures later. It looks perfect! Very sweet and girly.

104°

That is the forcasted high temp for today. Seriously?! When will this suffocating heat end? I remember one summer in August, it hit 112° here. And the heat is made even worse by the high humidity we almost always have here, I would much prefer a dry heat. I wouldn't be surprised if we got into triple digit temps again this summer; though I hope not. Aidan is very active and LOVES to be outside, but I just cannot bear the heat for very long. So I've been trying to take him to different places each day where he can play "inside" so that he still has an outlet for all of his abundant energy but we aren't melting. He is not content inside the house all day, so I have to keep giving him new scenery.

Addison's room is almost done. Her bookcase that I had made, came in a few days ago and my mom is going to start stenciling her room in a few days, so very soon it will be complete! At least all the big stuff will be done anyway; I still have lots of little things that I need for her still; like diapers, wipes, clothes, diaper genie, books, etc. And of course, I still need to pick out a double stroller to tote my two tots around in. Aidan can walk of course, but he won't stay with me unless I strap him into a stroller. He's a very fast escape artist when he wants to be. So I need to get over to BRU and check them all out and see which ones have the features I need but won't be too heavy for me to lift in and out of the vehicle. And soon, I'll need to move Aidan's car seat over to one side of the vehicle (he's in the middle right now) so that I can add Addison's infant car seat to the other side. Or maybe he can just stay in the middle and add her to one side; I haven't figured out the best configuration yet. I think Ray's days of being able to park in the garage are numbered. With my growing belly and soon having 2 kids to pack into the car, I'm going to need more room!

Relief!

I had my Level II ultrasound today. This is a 20-30 minute u/s where they spend a lot of time looking at each and every organ, the brain, the umbilical cord and take measurements of the baby. This was when we found out that Aidan had a 2 vessel cord last time, so I was a little nervous going in today, hoping that Addison wouldn't have that issue (even though the chances of that happening again are very slim since a 2 vessel cord is rare in the first place). But everything looks great with Addison! No cord issues, she has a normal 3 vessel cord, all organs were there and where they are supposed to be, 2 kidneys, brain looked great and she's measureing where she should be for her gestation.

She had both feet in her face most of the time and never moved one of her feet away from her face! Silly girl! I am very happy and greatful that she looks healthy, that was my greatest concern. The first picture is of her profile and the second one, you can see her foot by her head. The technician told me I should make sure my family doesn't think she has something growing out of her head! lol

Cute new thing that Aidan does now: he says "bye" and waves bye to me when I lay him down for naps and bedtime. :)

Aidan's 1st CAR!

Aidan and I hung out with my mom today. We met for lunch and then we went to Zingers (they sell hardware, furniture, cookware, etc) neat place! Anyway, when we walked in, I saw this neat little car for Aidan and pointed it out to him. You should have seen his little face light up and he couldn't wait to get in it! I pushed him around the store in it; it had buttons for a play radio that plays 3 songs, a horn, blinkers and a key and of course the steering wheel. He LOVED that thing, so of course I had to buy it for him. We went to 3 other stores after that, and each time I would put him in it and push him around instead of using his stroller and he was in heaven, even when we were stopped to look at something and talk about it, he didn't care, he was so content with his new toy! I snapped a picture of him in it once we got home with it. He's in love!

Aidan & Addison

What happens when mommy leaves the room to go to the bathroom? This...

Have you ever seen this many Cheerios on the floor at one time?! It took a while to vacuum it all up. Ugh.

Addison's room has been almost done for a while now so I thought I'd post pics of it. All I'm missing is a bookcase that I'm having made and then my mom is going to stencil around the top of the room.





I'll leave you with a picture of Aidan from tonight at dinnertime.

Back from California!

Wow, it's been a while since I've posted in my blog! Ray and I just took an early anniversary trip out to California for a week. We flew into San Francisco, spent 2 days there, then drove down the PCH to Santa Barbara, stopping in Carmel along the way. Spent the night in Santa Barbara and then drove to LA the next day, where we spent 3 days in the West Hollywood/Beverly Hills area. We stayed at Le Montrose hotel where we saw Rihanna and Chris Brown.... after that we drove to San Diego and caught baseball game and watched the Twins beat the Padres. Go Twins!

I also got to meet a very dear on-line friend I've known for 4yrs. She lives in San Diego so we arranged to meet for lunch when we got into town. She is one of my infertility sisters and we've been through a lot in the last 4yrs on our journey to parenthood. It was nice to finally meet her in person.

We just got back late last night and I'm still catching up on email and mail. Aidan's crib was part of a large recall, so we had to go and buy a new crib for him today. This is the THIRD one we've had to buy. The movers lost the parts for the 1st one, so we had to go buy another one; and now the recall makes 3. I know he's close to switching over to a toddler bed, but he's not ready just yet.

I had my 20wk OB appt today at Dr S's. It was just a nurse visit today; no ultra sound, but we did listen to her heartbeat; 150bpm. Hard to believe I'm already halfway through this pregnancy already. This time seems to be going by faster than when I was carrying Aidan. I'm feeling her move every day, which is very comforting. I have been having contractions (Braxton Hicks) for the last week or two, which isn't supposed to be happening this early, so the nurse said it's probably the heat and to stay hydrated and lay on my left side and stay indoors where it's cool. Now, if someone could please explain this to my 16mo old son who loves to be outside where it's 100 degrees.

I'll leave you with a few pics from our trip.....

It's a....

GIRL!!!

We are so excited! One of each now, how perfect. We would have been happy either way, but this is really cool. Little Addison Paige is on her way! We were both expecting them to tell us that we were going to have another little boy, so we were surprised! Now I get to pick out pink girly things, how fun! Aidan's going to have a little sister, how sweet. We will teach him to be sweet and protective of her.

Finding out the gender soon!

My 16wk appt was moved to Friday 5/30 since my OB had some surgeries come up. I was disapointed to find that we'd have to wait a few more days to know, but it actually works out better since that is one of Ray's days off and I got a time that works better with Aidan's nap schedule too. I'm excited to know if Aidan will have a little brother or sister! We don't care either way, just want to know! We've been calling the baby "#2" since we don't know the gender yet; it will be nice to call him or her by their name come Friday.

This pregnancy seems to have gone by faster than when I was carrying Aidan. I'm so busy with Aidan every day, the days go by faster. I can't believe I'm almost halfway through this pregnancy already. Crazy. I am waiting to feel #2 moving inside of me, but at my last appt, they told me my placenta was attached to the top of my uterus, so it would probably take longer to feel this baby. I think I've felt #2 a few times, but not 100% sure.

NT Scan was today

Here's today's u/s pic of baby #2. I'm 13w1d today. Had the NT scan today and all looks well. The fluid behind baby's neck is measureing 1.7mm and under 3mm is good. So it would indicate that this baby does not have Downs Syndrome or Spinal Bifida. No hint as to the gender, I was really hoping we'd get a glimps of something but this baby is modest. I also had some blood drawn for the FirstScreen test to check for our risk of Downs or Trisomy 18. Our next appt is set for May 27th at 11:30am with Dr S to tell us the gender. I'm beyond eager for that appointment! I am so ready to decorate and I've got an empty room just ready for the task. I am beyond greatful that so far, all looks well with our second child. Having a healthy baby is the most important thing.

Things I've learned as a mom

Before I had children of my own, I used to be very critical of other moms and say to myself, that I would never do this or that. It could be anything from how they treated or disciplined their children to how they dressed and wore their hair. I used to wonder why most moms seemed to "let themselves go" and I would never let that happen when I had kids. And I vowed I'd never chop my hair off and stop wearing make up or stop getting mani/pedi's. And I also remember how each of my friends would seem to fall off the face of the earth when their babies came into the world, they never had time for me anymore. And as time went by, with myself still being childless, we would have less and less in common.
But now here I sit eating a big bowl of crow. I am that mom now. I throw on whatever doesn't stink and is weather appropriate. I'm lucky to shower every 3 days and shaving never happens as often as it should. The dishes pile up so fast, I can't keep up. I'm good with the laundry, but for some reason, putting away the clean clothes is so hard for me! Why is that? And yes, I chopped my hair off after Aidan was born. Thirteen inches in all. My nails are short so I don't scratch Aidan by accident or get diaper rash cream under my nails and who has time for mani/pedi's anymore? If I had time for any kind of pampering, I'd rather get a massage. And of course, I have no time for my friends now either. Odds are, if you call me, it's not going to be a good time for me to be able to talk, so you'll get my voicemail and I may never call you back. I intend to, of course. But life is happening and by the time I do have a moment to talk, I'm too tired for conversation and I'm falling into bed. You are better off emailing me or texting me. Then I can respond when I have a free moment. So if you are one of my friends that feels abandoned by me, please do not take it personally. I am busier than I can even explain to my own husband and it takes me a day or more to get back to my own parents when they call, if I remember to call them back!! That's the other thing, my memory is gone. Pregnancy brain turns into mommy brain, and it's permanent I'm afraid. I had to break down and buy one of those pill cases that are marked with the days of the week that old people use so they don't forget to take their pills. Well, I couldn't remember if I had taken my prenatal and other daily meds, and I didn't want to risk taking it twice that day in case I was remembering the day before thinking it was today. Confused yet? So am I. No doubt that this will all be x2 when baby #2 gets here. To all my friends who became moms before me, I get it now. I have a big bowl of crow to finish, so bye for now.

Ok, maybe just a night nurse

After looking into Au Pairs and full time nannies, we are reconsidering our needs. The cost can be quite high and then you have a "guest" in your home 24/7 for 9mos-1yr. So maybe a night nurse/nanny is what we need instead. The lack of sleep was the hardest for us last time until Aidan started sleeping thru the night. So maybe I can manage through the day if I've had a good night of sleep. I think we will have family around for the first few months, and if that happens, then that would be a great help so that Aidan can stay on his schedule/routine while I work on getting the baby on a schedule. We'll see...

Wanted: Au Pair please!

Aidan's first and only day of daycare or MDO (mother's day out program) did not go well. He is still traumatized. When I picked him up, he was standing all by himself, looking out the window and crying. They said he had cried most of the day and did not eat lunch when they offered it to him. When he saw me, he did not smile, he came over to me and clung to me for dear life. I think he felt abandoned by me. I felt so bad for him! Broke my heart that all day, while I was hoping he was having a great time, he was miserable and sad. This was on Monday and ever since then, he has been super clingy to me, like he's afraid I'm going to leave him again and he's been waking up in the middle of the night, which isn't normal for him. He woke at 4am today and would sleep on me in the glider, but when I tried to put him in his crib, he'd throw a fit. So I rocked him in the glider from 4am to 7am when Ray got up and then I went to bed for an hour or so until Ray had to leave for work. It'll take some time to get Aidan back on track again.

So after lots of thought and talking with Ray, we decided that daycare/MDO is not right for Aidan/us right now, and I've decided to see if I can find an Au Pair or nanny to come live with us starting in November instead. I'll really need help for a while with two babies to care for. I'm hoping to find someone from another country to come and help us, as that would be the cheapest way. Going through an agency is really expensive. The other requirement is that I would need them to work every weekend since Ray does, so I've got a tall order, but I've got time too. Hopefully we'll find the right fit for our family. I've registered on an Au Pair website that matches families with au pairs/nannies and visa versa. A neighbor friend of mine just found her Au Pair using the same site, so I'm hopeful we can find someone too.

I probably sound like one of those "softy" moms, but it's really hard to justify making him go when I'm at home and he's miserable and sad all day. He's better with me where he feels safe and comfortable. So wish us luck on our Au Pair search!

Names

Ray and I have been narrowing down names for the new baby. If it's a boy, we are both pretty set on Connor Ryan; very Irish. For a girl, we liked Anna Sofia, but then there was a huge issue with the initials; A.S.S. Hmmmm, guess we can't do that. So then we liked Anna Catherine but now we are both really liking Addison with a middle name of Paige or Marie. I'm leaning towards Addison Paige for now.

My next OB appt is May 5th and I'll have my NT scan first and then see the doctor. The NT scan takes about 30 minutes and assess our baby's risk of having Down syndrome (DS) and some other chromosomal abnormalities as well as major congenital heart problems. Apparently, the NT Scan techs have been offering to guess the gender during the scan, so we may get an idea if our baby is a boy or a girl at this next appt. Four weeks after that, we'll know for sure! I'm itching to know so we can start getting the nursery ready and call this baby by it's name.

My sweet little Aidan

I've been meaning to blog about all the things that Aidan loves right now at this time in his life, so I don't forget. Everyday at the park, he loves to pick up rocks and he really loves acorns. He likes to collect acorns and we find them in the drink holders in his stroller, where he puts them for safekeeping. He likes to put pea gravel on the slide, this annoys the older kids, but what are you gonna do? He likes to climb anything and is starting to take the steps like a big kid instead of crawling up or down them. He absolutely loves to swing! He must be on the swing for a minimum of 15-20 minutes before he's ready to get off. If you try to take him off before he's ready to get off, he'll let you know! If I ask him if he wants some water while we're at the park; he goes straight to the stroller and gets his water bottle (sippy cup) out of the basket and then puts it back when he's done. He doesn't stay in one place for long, he likes to explore the large grassy area around the playground. He's very independent and rarely looks around to make sure I'm in sight. He's fast. Sometimes he takes off running and I have to catch him if he's headed for the steep downward slope of the water retention area by the playground. There is a house next door to the park and they have a new puppy that Aidan likes to visit every day and let the puppy lick his fingers. He shrieks with excitement every time. Our new friends we met at the park, Chad & Vanessa and their daughter Scarlett, have a big Rottweiler named Bella and Aidan is not scared of this dog in the least! Bella is just a big ol teddy bear of a dog and excellent with kids and licks Aidan's face with her big tongue. He loves it! Scarlett loves Aidan, but Aidan isn't as interested in her as she is in him. He'll regret that one day! She is so adorable and has beautiful blue eyes just like Aidan. She was the first girl to give Aidan a kiss! She kissed him on the lips about a week ago. Too cute! They are only 2 days apart in age.

At home, Aidan loves watching "A Bee Movie", "Cars" and "Happy Feet". There is a part in the movie "Happy Feet" where the penguin is swimming and runs into a glass wall and every time, Aidan laughs at the penguins misfortune. He also loves to eat snacks I give him, usually apple or pear slices and share them with the dogs. He also loves to make a break for the laundry room so he can play in the dogs water bowl. This doesn't happen very often because we are very good about keeping the door shut, but every now and then we slip up and leave the door open when he's downstairs. We've also become accustomed to keeping the doggie door cover on so he can't try to get outside. This prevents him from getting extremely upset when we have to pull him back inside. He loves his baths. When I tell him it's time for a bath, every night after dinner, he runs for the bottom of the stairs and waits for me to open the gate so he can climb up the stairs to get his bath. Once at the top, he goes straight to the bathroom door (which is always shut so he doesn't turn into the toilet paper bandit). It's really exciting to see him understand what we're saying to him. He also loves his blanket. It's a soft blue with white trim and he clutches it close to him every nap and every night at bedtime as I feed him his bottle of warm milk. When we get him up from his naps, he will lay back down on his blanket so we can rub his back for several minutes before he's ready to get up and out of his crib. When he gives us kisses, I go in for the kiss with my mouth puckered and making a "mmmmmm" sound and he does the same. Gets me every time! The best is when he initiates the kisses and sometimes give me more than one. That's the best! These usually happen right after his bath as I have him wrapped in a towel, carrying him to his room to put on his diaper and PJ's. Nothing else in the world matters when my son is giving me kisses. How much do I love my precious baby? More than words could ever say.

9 weeks

I'm in my 9th week of pregnancy now and I thought I'd post a picture of what our baby looks like right now. It's so amazing. I rented a digital doppler so we can listen to the baby's heart beat from home, just like we did with Aidan, and it should arrive tomorrow! I'm still feeling pretty good. I've only felt queasy two days, but didn't get sick. Aidan keeps me very busy! We are meeting my mom for lunch today to celebrate her birthday that was last week. She's been out of town until now. It's supposed to rain today and tomorrow, but Friday we are planning to go out to St Ed's and take pictures of Aidan in the bluebonnets.

Peanut is moving!

Had my 1st New OB appt today and they gave me my official due date of Nov 9th. I could see our little peanut wiggleing around, it was so cool and made me so happy! I go in again in 4wks for my NT scan and bloodwork. I'm still on PIO for now, but they'll probably start weaning me off of it soon.
In the u/s pic from today, the baby is sideways, with the head on the right and feet to the left. I could see his/her arms and legs already!

Reassurance ultra sound today

We had our 3rd ultrasound today. They offered it to me just for peace of mind and of course I took them up on it! Our little peanut is growing right on schedule and the little heart was pulsing away on the screen. It's nice to KNOW and see that your baby is still doing ok. I have another ultrasound next week where they will determine my official due date and then I'll probably only go in once a month after that.

They did more blood work on me today to recheck my progesterone levels. Last Friday, it was at 46.8 so they told me to drop down to 1/2cc every day of PIO instead of 1cc/day. Hopefully, I'll only need to keep up the shots a few more weeks until the placenta takes over hormone production. I was on them until 15w last time when I was carrying Aidan. I'll take them as long as I have to though.

We had a full day of errands today and Aidan was a real trooper! We had 3 morning appts, starting at 7:45am, but Aidan hung in there. This afternoon we went to Home Depot and were in the garden section and let Aidan walk around with us and he was so good! He stopped to check out all the different flowers and plants, but followed us and came when we called him to "come on". He liked walking with us like a big boy, and it was cool to us that he could walk in a store instead of us carrying him or having him in a cart. We tried it in HEB after that, and he took off running down one of the aisles! He's so fast and he gets such a kick from running away from us! Little stinker! We finished the day off like we always do; walk to park, dinner, bath and a few minutes of Happy Feet and then off to bed. He's such a good little boy. We really are very lucky and blessed.

2nd ultrasound today

We saw the little heart beating away today! Everything looks good so far. They checked my progesterone levels again today; should have results by Monday since they are closed Friday. I'm still doing the shots every night.

We bought 2 ceiling fans today at Home Depot for the other 2 bedrooms upstairs, so now all the bedrooms will have fans. We have a great electrician that will come out next week to install it all.

So that's it for now! Take care!

Our new zygote!

Yep, there's a baby in there! I'm about 6 weeks along and already we could see what looked like a beating heart. We go back in next week for another ultrasound. We are excited that Aidan will have a little brother or sister later this year. I'm sure they'll have fun playing together since they will be so close in age; 21 months apart.

I did have to go back on my progesterone in oil shots (PIO) last Tuesday night. I had some spotting and went back in to check my levels and my progesterone had dropped from 20 to 12. So better to be safe than sorry since progesterone is needed to maintain a pregnancy. Ray gives me the shots every night just like we did with Aidan. For those that aren't familiar with PIO, it's an inch and a half long needle that has to go into the muscle and the PIO is in oil so it's thick and takes a while to depress the plunger (takes a while to load the syringe too!). I will probably have to be on this until around 15 weeks just like last time. But it's worth it considering what it's for!

Surprise!!

After all the work we had to do to get pregnant with Aidan, you can imagine our surprise when we saw this last Sunday morning! Complete and total surprise, because we never thought we could get PG on our own like this. We are so excited!!

I just got my 2nd set of blood test results back and everything is looking good, so I wanted to share the news with everyone! My HcG went from 211 to 525 in 48hrs and my Progesterone went from 15.6 to 20. I'm so shocked that my body just all of a sudden started working on it's own like this!! No shots, no meds, no charting, etc. We feel very grateful and happy.

Our best guess for now, is that our "buy 1 get 1 free" baby or "BOGO" is due November 7th. My 1st ultrasound is next Friday, so we'll know more then.

Can you believe this?!?!?!

Aidan is ONE today!

Our little boy turned ONE today! Our sweet, little Valentine's Day miracle. He's had a good day so far. Ray's parents drove down from Minnesota last night to be here for the event and he's having fun with them. His birthday party is on Saturday. I've been watching the weather and it's a 90% chance of severe thunderstorms and a high of 55. So, I've had to cancel the reservation I had for the inflatable jumparoo for the back yard. Boo! I was so excited to get that for Aidan. O well, guess I'll have to rent it for him another time when the weather is good.

New hair cut for mama

Once again, I was back in pony tail mode and not liking it. So I went for a drastic, trendy cut that I've had my eye on for a while. I copied Jenny McCarthy's cut from when she was on Oprah talking about vaccines and Autism. I LOVE this cut! It's so easy to manage. I wash it and style it and I'm good for 3-4 days. So much easier!

We are busy getting ready for Aidan's first birthday party this weekend. We're so excited about it. My in-laws are driving down to be here too.

My BFF April, just had her 2nd baby, another son. His name is Gavin. He was born at 36wks via emergency c-section due to preeclampsia. Thankfully, he did not need to go to the NICU; he weighed 6lbs 11oz, 22in. I saw them today and he is just beautiful and April is so calm and happy.