"Poopair"

This is the latest of words I'm learning to translate from our almost two year old. This combined with me trying to get her to tell me when she needs to poo got me a bit excited this morning. "Mommy, poopair." "What?" Does she need to poop? Oh, no, there's a polar bear on bubble guppies. Just a "poopair."

It's Been So Long Since I Posted We Have More Kids!

August 5th we welcomed our beautiful daughter, Ryan.  It was a relatively easy pregnancy and I was SO ready when August came around.  It was hot, I was fat and it was time to get her little feet out of my ribs and for my back to go back to normal.  Turns out I was in pain because she was 8 lbs 10 oz and 19 inches long!  She also hates to be swaddled, explaining the foot in the ribs. 

She is a month and six days old and is humongous! She's 21 inches and I would guess she's around 12 lbs.  She eats all of the time and sleeps rarely during the day and every three hours during the night.

Mom was here for about eight weeks.  She was a tremendous help and it was nice to have her here.  She'll be back in 17 days to watch the kids while Christian, Jill, Amanda and I go to the Austin City Limits Music Festival. 

Today I had my first trek out with the girls.  We went to the mall to return some shoes.  Fortunately, everyone was in a good mood.  So there I was with Parker in her umbrella stroller and Ryan in the Baby Bjorn.  Parker was good as long as we were moving.  Ryan slept. 

It's exponentially more difficult to go from one child to two.  It's emotionally draining and physically draining.  It will get easier but now it breaks my heart when Parker wants to be held and I can't pick her up because I have Ryan.  It doesn't help that the only thing Parker wants to do is watch Bubble Guppies on tv.  She carries remotes around and says "bubble?"  If I say no, she chucks the remotes.  We're working on our anger management.

Parker talks all of the time.  Sometimes I understand, sometimes I don't.  The other day Ryan sneezed and Parker said "bless you Ryan."  It was adorable and made my heart melt.  She likes to help with Ryan.  She especially likes to cover her up.  We're working on avoiding the head and face.  She also tries to give Ryan her binky, but just shoves it at her mouth.  Fine motor skills ARE important!!!

32 Weeks

We have reached 32 weeks!  One slow week at a time.  I'm trying my hardest to be patient, but the heat and my fatness (some call pregnancy) have taken a toll. 

T2, as she has been called, is doing very well.  Doc says she's big but we don't have any numbers.  Things are going well.  At our last doctor's appointment we found out that the C-Section is planned for August 5th.  Which is 50 something days away.  That will stand unless T2 has a wicked sense of humor and comes early.  Then we will still have a c-section, but it will be a HUGE surprise.

Parker has no idea what is in store for her.  If you ask her where the baby is, she'll point to my belly button and then kiss it and cover up my belly again.  Parker's Grams bought her a baby doll and her grandma bought her a car seat and high chair.  I'm hoping it preps her, but in reality it will only instill that babies are quiet, rag dolls that can be placed down anywhere you'd like.  I'm pretty certain she's going to want T2 to stay at the hospital. Fingers crossed she loves her as much as I loved Jill when she was born.  Seems to me that we will have to recreate some of the best pictures I have of Jill and me with Parker and T2.  Even the super dangerous ones where mom just let us sit on the counter without any supervision at all.  It's amazing I made it!

Patty Griffin at the Old ACL Studio

Last night Christian and I went to a special radio promotion on the UT Campus.  It was being put on by KGSR, a local station here in Austin, and their music lounge is under construction.  So KLRU, the PBS station, loaned their little studio.  Their little studio is Studio 6A where Austin City Limits has been filmed for years and years until recently.  There have been many legends on that stage and just being in the intimate little room was pretty cool. 

We were there to see Patty Griffin whom i've loved for years.  She has such a pure voice.  She has a new album coming out and she sang four songs from it.  For her last song she introduced Robert Plant and he sang with her also.  They have been dating for a year or so. There were less than 100 people there and it was AWESOME.

After the show Robert Plant walked within 2 feet of me up the stairs to see a friend he knew in the audience.  It was only after some research that I realized how truly amazing that moment was.  Yes, he's just another person, which is why I didn't oooo and aaaa, but he is a musical legend. 

I am so grateful to Sandra for calling the radio station to try to get us tickets and glad her southern charm and my pregnancy talked them into it.  The MC said that they had a greater response to last night's show than any other contest they've held on their station and that if you were there you either knew someone or were really really lucky. 

We weren't allowed to take photos during the show, but here is one from the radio station.

Egg Hunt

The Saturday before Easter our neighbor invited us to an egg hunt in their backyard.  There were about 20 kids and their parents there.  They had 500 eggs "hidden" in the backyard.  Being that most of the kids were under the age of 5, it was a cluster.

Parker had no idea what to do.  We ended up with 5 eggs in her basket, most of which I picked up and put in there.  And what I put in, she would take out.  She'd bend over, pick up an egg, break it open take out the candy and throw the plastic shell on the ground.

She was too enamored by the baseballs, soccer balls & three wheeler to care about plastic eggs.  Smart girl.

This face was one of the first I saw that reminded me of a face I would make.

Where's Parker?

Peekaboo!!!

Austin Rodeo with Aunt Jill

Jill came to visit and it was the last day of the Austin Rodeo.  Parker understands animals now, it was Christian's cheat day on her "diet" and Jake likes rides.  So we headed out to the rodeo.  Jake and his friend were let loose and given unlimited ride passes.  We went to look for the petting zoo and foods high in carbs and sugar. 

We found this longhorn hanging out behind some tents.  It was massive!  We couldn't get too close because he was pushing this rather rickety fence like it was made of toothpicks.  

Footlong Corndogs and unlimited sodas in a metal mug were next on the agenda.  We got the $12 worth on the unlimited sodas between the three of us.

We went into the barn where the kids were getting their cattle ready to show.  There were horses in their stalls too.  Parker wanted to touch all of them.  I was waiting for her to "moo" at a cow but we're still stuck on monkey, lion and owl noises.

All these cool places to hang out and Parker wanted to play on the bleachers. Cheap date.

The petting zoo was a hit.  It was hard to get good pictures since the animals and Parker are sporadic, unpredictable movers. Christian's goal was to not let Parker touch an animal butt.  Parker went straight for the exit when she was finished.  Lasted about 5 minutes, maybe.

Both Christian and I have issues going in circles, so Aunt Jill took Parker on her first carousel ride.  Jill tried to let us know that Parker really was enjoying it. Time for Disneyland!!!

The day ended as all trips to a carnival should, with Jake being upset that after spending $35-40 on a game he couldn't win the gigantic Pikachu Pokemon that he had his eye on.  Even after telling him how rigged the carnival games are, he cried most of the way home.  Poor guy. 

It's A Girl!!!

March 5th we found out that there was another little girl on her way.  Boy or girl didn't really matter much.  The best news was that there was no chance of another previa.  My pregnancy with Parker was filled with so much stress and anxiety.  We had emergency plans of action in place in case we weren't together and I needed to get to a hospital stat.  We counted down the days, not because I was uncomfortable, but because we wanted our first little girl to be healthy and safe.  Oddly enough, she would be safer outside of the nice cozy womb.

This pregnancy is EASY.  I hate to say that now because it could jinx it, but I don't believe in jinx.  (Maybe a little, knocking on wood)

No previa and baby is healthy and so far growing on track, if not a few days bigger than average.  We do not need to see our perinatal specialist again this pregnancy unless we just want to go get more pics of our little one. 

I'm slowly growing out of my shorts and all things that fit me.  Shirts are bulging and shorts are almost unable to be buttoned. 

I came up with the idea to announce the gender through a cute picture or two.  Well, it rained the day we were supposed to do it and I got overwhelmed with the amount of planning, so we just took them in our foyer.  One idea I had seen was to have Jake sprinkle confetti over Parker.  There were supposed to be smiles and laughter.  We got this...

Apparently Parker doesn't like confetti, especially if it's on her feet.

So we ended up with this as our final shot.

Anniversaries

2 years ago today we found out that we were going to have a baby!  We had no idea what was in store.  After the high risk pregnancy, bleeding and numerous trips to the hospital our precious baby girl was born.  She is so much fun and everyday she seems to learn more and become more of a little kid instead of a baby.  It's amazing how fast she's growing.  It's amazing how I can remember the date we found out she was coming.  It helps that it's my cousins bday. 

I have more to write but the dogs won't stop barking/whining in their crates and it's driving me crazy and I can't focus right now.  Oy, these dogs...

Anatomy Scan

Today was our anatomy scan.  Little baby Gribble is structurally perfect.  All of the right bones and parts in the right place.  AND, drumroll please, NO PREVIA!!!  When the nurse was in there doing the initial scan she said that the placenta went right up to the cervix but that it'd probably stretch away from it.  That wasn't a nice feeling.  Then our Dr. came in and looked again and said there are "miles between the cervix and placenta."  Although, I think that may have been an exaggeration, it was nice to see.  My uterus had just folded on itself or had some kind of contraction when the nurse was looking. 

We also saw what he/she is going to be.  You'll find out about that soon.  For now, it's under wraps.

Today has been the first day that I'm feeling T2.  It's weird to not have distinct kicks and punches, but in the spot where the nurse said the placenta ends is where i'm feeling some strange activity.  So i'm assuming it's not gas.  Although, gas is always an option...

Baby is growing well.  I am 17 weeks 3 days and baby's growth is at 17 weeks 5 days.  It weighs about 7 oz and is the size of an onion and VERY active.  Just like their sister was.  Constantly moving about.

It's always great to see your baby.  It's amazing at what technology can see when they are in utero.  We saw the four heart chambers, spine, bone structures, nasal structure, chin, eye sockets, brain stem, liver, lungs, stomach and all of the umbilical veins and how the blood is pumping through. Amazing.  We opted out of the $20 video, but now i'm wondering if we should've had it.  It's super cool to see.

17 Weeks

Tomorrow marks 17 weeks.  That is 6 weeks beyond the first time we went to the hospital when I was pregnant with Parker.  SO excited to not have the placenta previa this go round.  I knew it was a fluke the first time.

We went to the doctor today for a checkup.  All seems to be going well.  Baby sounded good.  It took her, what seemed like an hour, to find baby's heartbeat which freaked Christian and me out greatly.  But baby was lower than Dr. Siarezi thought. 

Tuesday is our anatomy scan.  Gender reveal day! (If baby cooperates.)

I've done three chinese gender calculations and all of them point to girl.  I also have girl in my gut.  Part of me is excited for Parker to have a sister and part of me is dreading picking out another girl name.  Christian and I have a list going and can't seem to fall in love with any of them yet.  Boy name, we've got!

I haven't felt T2 (TBNL 2) yet.  Still waiting. 

10 weeks!

Time seems to be flying by.  We are almost through the first trimester.  Thank you!!!  First trimester sucks.  If I wanted more kids i'd have to seriously contemplate having them because it's incredibly difficult to function when you want to puke all day, can't take a shower without vomiting and have no energy.  At least this is my experience.  I told Christian the other day that if I was a pregnant champ I would be a surrogate.  Make some money and grow some humans.  Simple!

Here is the 8 week ultrasound picture.  This was the last visit we had at the Texas Fertility Center.  

We had received a letter from our OB that she was moving practices.  We tracked her down and although she is in Round Rock (read: 45 minutes away) we decided to pay her a visit.  We walked into a Medicaid clinic.  We had NO idea.  The place was nice and the staff was awesome, but the waiting room was nothing like our old waiting room.  There were 40 chairs instead of 12 and there weren't nice slate accent walls.  The walls were stark.  We didn't fit in, to say the least.  But this was OUR DOCTOR.  Just because she likes helping people that are less fortunate doesn't mean her skills have gone down.  So now, we've driven 45 minutes, gotten lost, I've had a nervous breakdown due to being late for our appointment, Parker had a poopy diaper and we're sitting next to a girl that looked like she had been on a 4 day binge of something...

We finally got into our room and our dr walked in.  I was so relieved to see her.  It was then that we were informed it was a medicaid clinic.  There were no free prenatal samples to be handed out.  But, she did give us her cell phone number and tell us that she was moving to Seton Northwest (read: much closer) in April.  So we're in.  Only a few more visits to RR until we can only drive 30 minutes.  It still, however, will still be a medicaid office.  But the dr. that is going to cut out our baby is the best around.  All that matters.

Here is the ultrasound that we did "just for fun." (Dr. Siarezi said it would be for fun b/c we've already seen baby 3 times now).

Before she took the picture we saw TBNL 2 moving about.  The tail-like shape on the top of the round blob (baby) is the umbilical cord that is hopefully attaching to the placenta that it on the top of the uterus.