The Name Game

We find out on May 29 whether we are having a boy or a girl. I am very excited to know & to start preparing! I get so much more attached to the baby in pregnancy when I can call the baby by name. But speaking of names, we've made a decision this time that is different than what we did with Isis. We have decided not to reveal the baby's name to anyone until they are born.
I wrote this post right after I found out Isis was a girl. We had chosen her name and were very excited about it and were surprised to find out that people had some very strong opinions against unusual names. 
We have a boy name and 2 potential girl names picked out for our baby and all of them are unusual, along the same lines as Isis' name. We are super excited and look forward to the big reveal when the baby comes! It'll be fun to tell everyone this time because nobody is going to be rude when they are holding my beautiful baby! Isis has totally grown into her name and it is perfect for her and I look forward to the same thing with this baby!
Yay for baby names!!!

5 Baby items I want this time around

Luckily, having baby #2 has many perks, including the fact that we have most baby items we need! I kept a running list in my head of things I wish I had with Isis or things I would've used a lot. I made a wish list of things I'd like this time!

1. Glider

I sat on our futon in Isis' bedroom when I would nurse her. I wish it had rocked or moved in any way. I would love a glider to go in the baby's bedroom this time!

Options: Stork Craft Hoop Glider & Ottoman, Graco Avalon Glider & Ottoman, Stork Craft Tuscany Glider & Ottoman

2. Jumper

We had something that was more like an exersaucer with Isis. She couldn't bounce like she could in a jumperoo like this. Every time we would go to someone's house who had one of these, she loved it! It would be fun to have this time.

Options: Fisher-Price Rainforest Jumperoo, Evenflo Jump and Learn Safari Friends Jumper

 

3. Baby Bullet

We had a Beaba Babycook from Williams-Sonoma with Isis. I still have it, and I did like it and would be okay with using it again, but I have to say I would really love a Baby Bullet! And they are way cheaper than a Beaba. Wish they had those when Isis was born.

Order: Baby Bullet

4. Dria Nursing Cover

I had several kinds of nursing covers with Isis. None of them were as fabulous as the Dria nursing cover seems to be! My mom and I are trying to make our own right now. Watch the video on the website and just try to tell me that you wouldn't find that totally helpful when you're nursing! I love that it covers the front and the back, that it's really stretchy & that it can be used for other things.

Order: Dria Cover

 

5. Breathable Mesh Crib Liner

These things look really cool! I am personally in favor of bumper pads because they keep baby legs from going through crib slats and they keep pacifiers and other items inside the crib. Isis' bumper pads were thin enough that I never worried about suffocation or her using them to climb up the crib. But this mesh crib liner accomplishes everything I like about bumper pads without actually being a bumper pad. Nice.

Order: BreathableBaby Breathable Safer Bumper

 

Happy Mother's Day!

My husband pays attention to my blog. He bought me one of the necklaces I mentioned! I love it!!!
I hope your Mother's Day is wonderful and that you get time to celebrate your mother and to be celebrated for everything you may do as a mother!
In honor of mothers, here are a couple of mother-related posts that I've enjoyed lately: Really, TIME Magazine from The Planet Pink, Breastfeeding is a big deal from The Mommyhood Memos, Cheering on MOMS from Life Wrapped in Pink

Hey, preggo..

I have a couple of friends who are pregnant for the first time and I was having a conversation with one the other day. I realized that half the stuff I was talking about, I had posted about on here at one point. I decided to put together a little go-to list. The thing to keep in mind with all of it is that this is all from my experience and my experience. That'll look different for everyone, but I took from other mom's experiences & perspectives to piece together what worked for me, so take what works for you & leave the rest!
PregnancyBaby Stuff I Can't Live Without (while you're registering!) My Top 10 Pregnancy TipsIsis' Big Debut (Birth Story)General Info & Baby Sleep BooksParenting Books
Coming HomeWhat's Been Surprising (then I thought of one more) The Hard Stuff (a post written in the middle of my baby blues weeks)5 Ways to Calm Those Baby FearsNew Mom TipsI did a New Mom Tips series with guest posts from other bloggersPost-Partum Hair Loss, Stretch Marks & More14 Steps to an Easy Baby
BreastfeedingTop 5 Breastfeeding Tips A Breastfeeding Update (great overview of what breastfeeding was like at each stage)Sickness (mastitis)
Cloth DiapersHow to Easily Use Cloth DiapersA Dad's Perspective on Cloth DiapersGrobaby to GroVia (has a great video of the GroVia diapers)

Mother's Day Gift Ideas - Jewelry

Mother's Day is on Sunday, May 13. It's fun to have a holiday that is still new to me to get excited about! I've been looking around at cute gift ideas and thought I'd share a few!

Custom Bird Bracelet Etsy$32.50 I like the idea that this one can have as many initials added as you want.

Bird Initial NecklaceEtsy$36.50I love love love this one! It's probably  my favorite one, but it looks like it can only have 2 initials. That's fine for me right now, but when I have baby #3 one day, I'll have to find something else! Although, here's another Etsy seller who has one with 3, they just don't have the initials? (Mama Bird & Babies)

Family Bird NecklaceEtsy$36.50This one is super cute, too. Can you tell I love the birds?

My Baby Birds BraceletEtsy$27.50This is so cute and simple. And you can get as many birds as you want to start and then purchase additional ones later as you have more baby birds!

Family Tree NecklaceEtsy$38.50Getting out of the bird theme, this one is a tree!

Antique Brass Birds NestEtsy$26.50This one isn't personalized, but I like the idea of 3 little eggs for 3 kids.

Initial Bird BraceletEtsy$34.00This one looks like the necklace I like, but it's a bracelet.

Silver Fingerprint NecklaceEtsy$60.00This one is a little more expensive, but also a little more personalized. You get your child's actual fingerprint and send it in to have them make the necklace. That's really cute.

Vintage Frames NecklaceLisa Leonard Designs$46.00 + $14.00 for additional charmsAgain super cute. Not an Etsy seller, though, so a little more expensive.

Family Tree NecklaceLisa Leonard Designs$142.00A little more expensive, but super cute!

Create Your Own NecklaceDogearedPrice variesYou can choose your chain, your charms, your letters, everything! I think this could be really cute. When I price mine, it's about $136 for a silver one and $160 for a gold one. So this can be expensive! But it's nice picking all the different parts and putting it together.

Straight Up Stats

11 weeks (almost a month ago) I realized the other day that I have a hard time remembering all the details of my pregnancy with Isis. I looked back on my blog to see how much of it I chronicled & I just didn't keep up with much. I felt like I needed to somehow record the things I do remember and what is happening this time.
Pre-pregnancy:Isis - It took us 8 months to get pregnant. I was nervous about whether or not we'd be able to get pregnant toward the end, but then it finally happened.Baby #2 - We got pregnant the 2nd month we tried. It was actually really surprising because after the experience with Isis, I had planned for it to take longer, so I was actually expecting to wait more. I'm not complaining, though!
Morning Sickness:Isis - I had nausea and smell sensitivity from week 6/7 to week 11. I never threw up, but I felt nauseated pretty much the whole time. I still wanted to eat and there were plenty of things that tasted good.Baby #2 - I had nausea and smell sensitivity on a large scale from week 6 to week 13. Again, I never threw up, but I felt nauseated a lot. I think it was more difficult just because I was working in an elementary school and all the smells there were a little overwhelming. I also had Isis at home, so I couldn't just come home and crash like I did the first time around. All in all though, both pregnancies haven't been too bad.
Aversions:Isis - With Isis, I mainly just had smells that bothered me, not that I would actually call aversions. I could still be around them, I'd just not like it at all. The main ones were gold or bronze metal jewelry, the orange dial soap and Lew's hair gel.Baby #2 - I have had lots of smell sensitivity, but only 1 actual aversion. Uncooked onions - and even sometimes cooked onions - push me completely to the edge. At one point I was in the produce section at Kroger and had to actually leave my cart and go to the car because I thought I was going to get sick right there in the middle of the produce section. This is very disappointing, considering I'm an onion person. I like onions on my sandwiches, my burgers, in my salsa, etc. It's actually been an inconvenience and an annoyance.
Weight:Isis - I think I gained around 6 pounds in my first trimester with Isis. I actually wanted to eat and I didn't go overboard, because my total weight gain for the whole pregnancy hit 30 pounds right at 39 weeks, but I did gain some weight in the beginning.Baby #2 - Combine my nausea with my smell sensitivity and I guess I just lost my appetite. I had a hard time finding foods that tasted good or sounded good to me at all. I focused on trying to get protein in my diet, but it was hard. I actually lost 3 pounds and then gained it back at the end of the first trimester, for a total of 0 pounds gained. Now I'm about 2 weeks into my 2nd trimester and I've gained about a pound. My appetite is coming back, though, so I'm ready for that number to go up! LOL.
Growth:Isis - I was about 14 weeks when I started showing a hint of a bump. I was about 20 weeks before I actually looked pregnant and not like I'd eaten a big burger.Baby #2 - I was about 11 weeks when I started showing a hint of a bump. Now I'm at about 14 1/2 weeks and I look about like I did at 18 or 19 weeks with Isis. I feel like I'm about 3 weeks ahead right now from where I was with Isis. They say that everything just knows where to go with the 2nd pregnancy & I'm definitely finding that to be true! Cravings:Isis - I hadn't eaten red meat for almost a year before getting pregnant with Isis and I just remember I wanted a burger pretty quickly with her. I also wanted bananas.Baby #2 - I've craved Gold Star Chili (gross, I know), burgers and McDonald's coke and fries. I also majorly want Sour Punch Straws. I need to work on healthier cravings! Luckily I'm not giving in to all of them very often...except the sour punch straws...

That's about it right now! I'll check back in a few weeks.

I am not a sports person, but...

I am not a sports person. I watch the Olympics every other year. That's usually about the extent of anything sports-related for me. Although, every year, there is the possibility that I could jump on a very huge bandwagon that comes through my city every March. I'm always late to the party, and I suffer the ridicule of all my friends.
But this year, I find myself strangely excited about the UK vs Louisville game tonight. See, I live near Lexington and I went to UK. Literally almost every person I know freaks out about every single UK game. You don't know sports fans if you haven't been to Lexington, KY in March. It's insane.
So alas, I will be watching the NCAA tournament game tonight. And if they win, I'll watch the championship game. Now, many people, including myself, believe that I can be bad luck, since I rarely ever watch a game and usually when I do, they lose. But I secretly watched the UK vs. Indiana game last week and we still won, so I feel okay now about watching the game tonight.
I just felt like this was a milestone I needed to share, because it really is rare for me to get excited about sports games. I really don't even claim to be a UK fan. I like UK. I always hope they win. But I'm not a fan like the fans I know around here. It's more that if you live around here and you don't watch the games at this caliber, you're really making a concerted effort to avoid it. So I'm giving in.
Go  Big Blue! 

Related posts: Go UK

Baby Makes FOUR!!

Due date: October 17

 

Looks like Isis will become a big sister in October!! I've been waiting 4 weeks to share & I'm so excited to finally let everybody know! As this blog serves as a sort of virtual scrapbook or journal of my pregnancy/baby stuff, I feel like I want to remember some of the stuff from the last few weeks!

First of all, after trying for 8 months to conceive Isis, it was a SHOCK, to say the least, when it happened right away! I don't think I really believed it until we went to the midwife's office for blood work the week after I got a positive test. I have to say one of my absolute favorite things about my midwife is the fact that she's just very proactive about staying on top of things. She said to come on in to check blood work and hormone levels and everything. She also said that since you can see a heartbeat at 7-8 weeks, that I didn't need to wait until 10 weeks or more for my first ultrasound.

That means that yesterday afternoon, we got to see and hear our little blueberry's heartbeat! 160 bpm! Perfect little thing in there! The midwife said it was safe to tell everybody, even though I'm only 8 weeks. So I'm very excited!!

Lewis was almost more excited than I was at first because I think he really believed it was real before I did. I was just shocked that it happened so fast! He's the one who has been calling it a little blueberry because I told him the other day that it's the size of a blueberry right now. 

We keep telling Isis she's going to be a big sister & she will say to people now "big sister" but I don't think she really gets it. But as my belly gets bigger & she gets older throughout the year, I know she will! 

Most things are the same this time as they were with Isis. I have the same dull nausea constantly, but not bad enough that I actually do anything. I've felt light-headed when I don't eat. Smell sensitivity is crazy. I'm breaking out a little and I'm having vivid dreams.

Major differences: I'm working in an elementary school, therefore the smell sensitivity is bombarded constantly with funky smells. One student in my class threw up the other day & I about lost it. I normally handle that pretty well, but mix it with pregnancy & it was rough. I also have actual food aversions this time, which I didn't with Isis. The big aversion: uncooked onions. OH. MY. GOODNESS. It's out of control. I went to the grocery the other day & walked past the onions in the produce section and literally had to leave the grocery 5 minutes later because I was sweating & about to throw up in the store. That's just crazy. I also have a major loss of appetite. I didn't have that problem with Isis. I think I gained a few pounds within the first trimester. This time, I've lost a few pounds. I've been told to EAT. Working on that.

Other than that, things are about the same! My prediction: it's a girl. We'll find out on May 29!!!

Little Miss Independent

Dear Isis,

You are changing and growing so much lately! In the last few months, you have grown 3+ inches and you've grown even more than that if I measured attitude and personality in inches and pounds! You are so like me and your daddy. Independent, feisty, opinionated, but also sweet, sensitive and caring. You are apprehensive at first around new people, choosing to sit back and wait before joining in on the fun. This is more me than your dad. You're developing such a little attitude about things. You have opinions now on what thing you wear and what things you want to do. You are becoming more and more independent as each day goes on.

We recently had to let you cry again at night because we had let you get into a routine over the holidays (due to all our life changes) of crying at night and us coming in to comfort you. When it got up to about 4-6 times a night, we decided we needed to do something. We let you cry without coming in one night. It only took one night this time, but I still wanted you to know my heart here. I want you to know that above many things, your dad and I have paid extra attention to being intentional with you. One way we've done this is with trying to help develop your independence. As you get older, your independence will look different. Right now, it's going to sleep in your own room & being able to put yourself back to sleep as well as being able to go to the sitter or be with your grandparent's without us. It's playing on your own for a little while each day. Later, it will be choosing your own clothes and picking up your own room. It will grow and change as you do. One day you'll bathe yourself and do your own chores. Finally, you will make decisions about your life without us. You will move out and move on and become an adult. We hope to be introducing things to you now that help you to develop on this path to independence in a healthy way.

When we get to that point when you're a teenager and you're needing to make some decisions on your own, you may need to remind me, "Mom, you helped me become independent on purpose. Let me make these choices on my own." And I'll probably laugh, maybe need a minute to think about it, but ultimately yes. I'm building towards that on purpose. Your dad and I had a whole conversation today about how to intentionally affirm and model certain behaviors for you so that you set high expectations for yourself so that when you begin making decisions about boys, or later men, in your life, that you are making wise, independent decisions there as well.

I pray daily for wise choices in your life. I pray for the person you are now and the person you will become. I pray for wisdom and for grace. I pray that you look at the world with a servant's heart. I pray that you will never treat others as less than yourself. I pray that you will be honest and sincere, a woman of integrity. A woman of peace. I pray that by teaching you moment by moment to be independent and someone who can think for herself and behave in a way that is in line with what she knows to be Truth, will help you to make these wise choices and will help you to become that woman who can one day be proud to say that her parents intentionally helped her to become who she is. I already am so proud of you.

Love,
Mom

You are describing "unity"

(Pic from Adriel's post)

I read the book The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky when I was in high school and at the time it really resonated with me because of just where I was and who I was and what was going on in my life at the time. I haven't read it in years, but I doubt it would have the same effect anymore because I'm not the same person anymore. Interesting how perspective changes... That being said, there was a quote in it that I have always remembered and it reminds me of why I read blogs...especially this week. I'll explain.

"And all the books you’ve read have been read by other people. And all the songs you’ve loved have been heard by other people. And that girl that’s pretty to you is pretty to other people. And you know that if you looked at these facts when you were happy, you would feel great because you are describing “unity”."

I feel like blogging has always been this to me. A place where I read someone else's thoughts or stories or life experiences and I find myself thinking "you too??" and for a moment, I feel connected to a stranger in a way I sometimes don't feel connected to people in real life. Because not everyone in real life is pouring out those stories or thoughts or life experiences because honestly life is messy and who wants to share all their junk with other people? Especially not face to face when they could laugh or be mean or worse than both of those, be apathetic or uninterested.

I tend to wear my heart on my sleeve and share too much and be honest about the junk in my life because with everything I've been through, it just doesn't make much sense to hide the junk because it's made me who I am and it allows me to be real and sincere and authentic with people.

So, short story way too long, I read 2 awesome blog posts this week that you must read. Both of them brought me to tears. Hopefully you will also feel connected because of them.

Marriage. - Stay Forever Sunday

Hello Judah: A Birth Story - The Mommyhood Memos