Ho Ho Ho and 100 Days?!?!?

Merry Christmas everyone!!! Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and enjoyed themselves with family & friends. We had a great time - the kids especially. It's so much fun to see them opening their gifts and really getting excited for the big day. A friend of mine said it best when she said that her house looked like Toys R Us on Christmas morning.....yep - that would describe ours too!! Now we just have to find space for all the new stuff....its a vicious cycle...hahaha!

The kids got some wonderful presents today. There's a few that stand out for different reasons. I came across a doll online that was supposed to be very realistic - it cries and coos and sucks on a pacifer and/or bottle and when you take it out, it cries. I thought that would be a perfect thing for Brooklynn to have; #1 because she LOVES baby dolls and #2 because I thought it would let her feel like a little mommy when her little brother arrived - she could take care of her baby while I take care of her little brother. Well lets just say Brooklynn won't be babysitting anytime soon...hahaha. When her baby doll started crying and wouldn't stop, she got a little peeved with it - at first she was all cute and sweet saying "sssshhhhh" and patting the baby's back, but since its a doll and it only shuts up with the bottle or pacifier in its mouth, it kept screaming. Well obviously Brookie had enough and couldn't figure out how to make it be quiet. She covered the baby up (completely from head to toe) with a blanket obviously trying to smother the noise and then when that didn't work, picked it up and tossed the poor thing on the floor and went about her business across the room. Obviously we need some lessons on how to take care of a baby...lol. I wish I would have had the camera close by to catch it all but I was laughing so hard by this point....completely missed it. I'll try to get it another time to share.

Here are some cute pics from earlier today.

Our annual Christmas pose...

Waiting patiently to dig into their presents

Another big hit with BOTH kids was their new motorcycles. We let them open up all their other presents first and then had them close their eyes while we wheeled both of their new bikes out to the living room. They were both so excited. Obviously Andrew's is a little more high tech....its a Razor Dirt Bike which is pretty neat. It only goes about 14mph or so but its perfect for him......he couldn't wait to get outside to test it out. Brookie's motorcycle was just a plastic little push one (PINK of course)...but hey - as long as she was like her big brother, its all good. Here's a pic of our little biker gang when they first got their new wheels.....

Brookie testing out her new wheels...and for all

the out of towners...yes it was actually cold here

this morning - it was about 32 degrees outside

when we were out there.

And Andrew testing his new ride...

The cutest biker gang ever...lol

Anyway....moving on to the 2nd half of this post.....100 days. What does that mean? Well as of today, December 25th, I am only 100 DAYS from my due date!!!! How is that even possible??? It has flown by - it seems like just yesterday I found out but here we are 6 months into the pregnancy. The last month has gone much smoother and things are going well. I can tell I am close to hitting the 3rd trimester already - energy levels are being zapped and I am starting to feel my body aching from the growing belly. I am definitely bigger this time around - the last month I have just popped. Andy said to me earlier today that I am pretty much the size now at just under 26 weeks that I was when I had Brooklynn full term. Sadly...I would have to agree. I only gained 20lbs with Brookie and I am already at 16-17lbs so far and still have just over 3 months left. I'm not complaining though about the weight gain - its a nice change this time to actually have an appetite. I have had the strongest cravings for anything orange flavor - including fresh oranges - just can't seem to get enough. But like I said, I am already feeling a lot of the same things I felt with Brookie at the very end of the pregnancy - at 38-40 weeks.....so the next few months should be interesting. Here is a pic of me tonight. I'll call it the 26 week update - even though I still have 2 days left before I hit 26 week mark - but close enough.

I'll try my hardest to have more updated pics now that you can actually see progress...hahahaha!

Looking Up....

We finally got some good news this week.....which was a HUGE relief. I had my dr's appt yesterday with an ultrasound to see what the status of my placenta was. My Dr was thrilled that it had moved up quite a bit from when she last saw it a month ago.....so that was GREAT news. It is looking like the issues I have been having are being left in the past. I also was told that I am no longer on bed rest!!! YAY!!! Of course she told me that I can't go back to normal completely - I still have to take it easy and stay off my feet as much as possible - but I am able to get out of the house and do my everyday normal things - run errands (nothing major - just quick trips here and there), drive Brookie to/from school, go out to dinner, etc. So that was a huge relief. I honestly felt like a new person walking out of the office yesterday...so excited. I even went back to work today and was excited about it. I was only on bed rest for 12 days but OMG - it was beginning to get to me. The first week wasn't so bad - I was just so worn out from everything that happened, but this week when I actually felt normal - I was starting to feel like a caged lion...so things took a turn for the better just in time. I don't know how people do it for months and months at a time - but I guess you do what you have to do. Anyway...needless to say - I will definitely be watching what I do from this point forward - don't want a repeat of last week. This pregnancy has been completely different from when I was pregnant with Brooklynn....definitely keeping me on my toes. Hopefully this is it now for little bumps in the road :)

The ultrasound yesterday was a quick one - just to check my placenta. The technician did give me a great facial shot of our little boy......he's definitely getting bigger - she said he was just over 1lb at this point...its going by so fast. I can't believe that 4 months from today is my due date....crazy!!! I guess we should get going on getting everything in order - especially figuring out his name ;)


In other news....we had a nice (white)surprise today in Houston...it actually SNOWED!!! From what I've been told by friends/family in Toronto - we actually beat them for the 1st snowfall of the year.....something is definitely wrong with that picture. It was hilarious to see everyone so excited.....I wish it would have stuck around longer so I could have played with Brookie in the snow when we got home. By the time we got home, it was all gone from the ground and just snowing a little. Oh well.....we'll take whatever we can down here - definitely a nice change from the blistering heat of the summer. Just glad it doesn't last for months and months and months like up north.

Other than that - not much else is going on with us. Just getting ready for the holidays. We got our outside of the house done last weekend. We have some of the inside stuff up - just have to put the decorations on the tree - maybe I will finally get around to doing that this weekend. It actually feels like the holidays this year b/c its been fairly cold for awhile now...which is a nice change.

A Weekend of Birthday Fun

We had a busy, fun-filled weekend of birthday parties last weekend. It was a lot of work, but we all had a blast (especially Brookie) so it was all worth it. We ended up having 2 separate parties just b/c our house wouldn't have been able to accommodate everyone at one time. On Saturday we had our friends and their kiddos over and then Sunday we had Andy's family over to celebrate. Both days were a lot of fun and we totally lucked out with the weather - Saturday was perfect - warm and sunny - which was a lifesaver b/c we rented a moonwalk for the kids to bounce around in. Sunday on the other hand was rainy and cloudy all day but it didn't matter b/c it was all inside that day.

Anyway...I'll keep this post short (the written part anyway since there are a zillion pics I've included). Just wanted to thank everyone for coming out to help celebrate Brooklynn's 2nd birthday - we all had a blast and she has loved playing all her new toys :)

These first pics were taken on her actual bday on November 7th. She got to open up her presents from Andy & me. I also included her birthday present she rec'd a few weeks earlier from her Grandma Irma & Uncle Michael - she LOVES her kitchen.

The rest of the pictures are from both birthday parties on the weekend:

Here's a pic of her invites I made for her

party. This is where the whole Pink & Zebra

Stripe theme started. :)

(I just erased the personal info for displaying

it on the blog)

The entryway table with the party favor

bags for the kids

The niche in the front hallway

Fireplace in the living room


View into the living room from the kitchen

Kitchen Table

The theme continues with the bday cake

(l-r: Zoey, Blakelyn, Brooklynn, Chloe)

The neatest thing happened the year I had Brooklynn. All my friends that were pregnant the same time as me ended up all having little girls so Brookie has lots of little girls to play with. From the oldest to the youngest there is a total of 8 months difference in age so they all had a blast playing and jumping together.

Getting ready for cake with Daddy

Happy Birthday to you.....

Waiting for her chance to blow out the candle

one...two...three...

OMG - I did it!!!!!


Finally get to eat the yummy cake

Time for presents!!!

Maybe a future baker on our hands??

Well you gotta have the right outfit!

And finally...there were a couple of cute/funny moments caught on camera. Like this one - Brookie climbed up on her slide against the bar counter to help herself to some snacks - that is just so her!!

And this shot.....we were trying everything to get this girl to smile for the camera and she just wouldn't do it. So I asked her to show us her teeth thinking that she would open her mouth with a smile to show us.....well nope - we just got this instead - gotta love 2 year olds!


And if you actually made it to the end of this post - congrats! Thanks again to everyone who made Brooklynn's 2nd birthday so memorable! :)

Then & Now - 19 Weeks

Well I thought a fun thing would be to compare my 2 pregnancies. Anyone that knows me, knows that the first time around I didn't take very many pregnancy shots - I just wasn't loving the whole pregnancy look. Don't get me wrong - I was THRILLED to be pregnant but I just wasn't loving the expanding waistline - therefore leading to very few pregnancy pics. I promised myself that if I were fortunate to get pregnant a 2nd time, I would definitely make the effort to capture the changes throughout the pregnancy.

Well here we are - a few days away from reaching the half way point of the pregnancy and I am doing worse than the first time around. Tonight I finally took my FIRST belly shots. Shame on me. But honestly - before the last week or two - there really hasn't been anything to see. So I had a reason this time for lack of pictures. Anyway I thought this was a good time to start b/c looking back at the few belly shots I did take while pregnant with Brooklynn, I actually had some from right at this same time. A perfect way to compare the 2 pregnancies and the growing belly. I thought for sure I was bigger this time around - but comparing the 2 pics, they are pretty equal. I guess this time it just seems to have popped out of nowhere, whereas last time it was very gradual and less noticeable since I was so sick and not gaining a whole lot of weight. This time around I have already gained 10 lbs which I am completely happy with. I lost a lot of weight after Brooklynn - all the baby weight plus an add'l 15 lbs (not on purpose)so I had some room for catch up. So I am just a few pounds short of where I started when I got pregnant with Brooklynn. So hopefully the weight gain will follow the first time around and just be a little at a time. Its funny - with the first pregnancy I was so excited about getting the baby bump - it couldn't come soon enough. Little did I know how uncomfortable it would become later down the road. This time I am happy and content with the rate I am going - I know I will get to that point where it is obvious that I am expecting - just trying to enjoy every stage this time.

So here are the 2 pics. I tried to wear a similar outfit so the comparison would be pretty accurate.

Pregnancy #1 - 2007 - 19 Weeks

Pregnancy #2 - 2009 - 19 Weeks

Everything else is going well with the pregnancy. The morning sickness has kicked in (a little late...I know) but its only really in the mornings and occasionally at night. So I just keep granola bars beside the bed so I can eat something before I even get out of bed each day - that does help it some. After I am up and moving around the day, it generally goes away - so its not too bad this time - definitely not a 24/7 thing like the 1st time with Brooklynn. I guess they are right when they say every pregnancy is different b/c everything about this one has been very different from my pregnancy with Brooklynn - probably why I had that gut feeling all along it was a boy :)

Happy 2nd Birthday Brooklynn

November 7th, 2007 @ 5:52am

On this day exactly 2 years ago our lives changed forever. We welcomed our beautiful little girl into the world and nothing would be the same again. Everyone warned me how fast time goes and how fast they grow up but I had NO IDEA it would be this fast. I can still remember the day like it was yesterday - the happiest day of my life. It is so hard to believe that my baby is 2 years old today - where has the time gone???

These last 2 years have been some of the most challenging but at the same time most rewarding days I have ever experienced. I have probably laughed, cried and who knows what else, more than I have in my entire life. Just like the Johnson & Johnson commercials say, "Having a baby changes everything" - I now know how true that is. Brooklynn has grown into such a fun-loving, crazy spirited, caring and beautiful little girl. She makes us laugh so much with all her little quirks - there is never a dull moment with this girl. She is so active and into everything - keeps us on our toes. We have truely enjoyed watching her grow into an adventurous toddler.

Its hard to believe how much they change in such a short period of time. I was looking back through her pics from when she was first born - I can't believe she was ever that small. She was so tiny - so much smaller than I realized she would be - all the clothing just swallowed her up for the first few weeks - and the socks - I could pretty much forget about her wearing socks - her little skinny legs and feet were way too small for even the smallest ones. Its overwhelming to look back at those first pics from her first few days of life - we've come so far since those first few crazy sleep-deprived months.

The official parties won't be until next weekend but we'll definitely be celebrating our special girl on her special day. Happy Birthday Brooklynn - We love you!!!

Here are some of our very first pictures of Brooklynn...enjoy! )


Finally....my dream come true...



Getting to see you for the 1st time



Such a tiny little bundle...



Your favorite place to be - sleeping on Daddy

Ultrasound Pics

Well as promised - here are the ultrasound pics from yesterday's appt. The first 3 are basically looking directly at the face - you can see his (still seems so weird for me to say him and his and he...lol) hands right beside his face. The last one is what I like to call the "Money Shot"....lol - he's definitely a boy! Like I said yesterday, when the technician was moving around on the screen, before she even said anything - I kept seeing a little something extra that I didn't see on Brookie's ultrasound so I knew even before she confirmed it. I am really excited - getting even more excited as time goes by - its a whole new adventure once again :)