The Big Snow and other fun things!

We "sledded" down the street in a laundry basket.  Der looks rightfully a little scared....but I thought it was fun!

My two handsome boys...so cute!

Der and mommy :)

He looked so cute in his snow suit!  And other than his eyes watering the whole time, he seemed to be warm.

Der LOVED the snow.  His favorite activity was the bat the branches and watch the snow fall off.  Notice the cute grocery bag boots :)

February 4- A beautiful snow!  Here is the front of our house.

February 3- Daddy brought Der in some icicles...which he decided to taste.

February 2- So sweet!

February 1- After his first bit of orange...hes not so sure.

January 31- Is this the first picture I have posted of Der sucking his thumb?  This boy is quite the thumb sucker...its his "tell" of being overwhelmed and wanting mommy or sleep time.  He is all tucked into our bed.

January 30- This boy loves to bang his blocks together-its his way of clapping.

Pregnancy Update-14 weeks

Pregnancy Highlights (I copied this list from a friend-thanks Megan B)

How Far Along: 14 weeks tomorrow, Friday

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Gained about 4 lbs.

Maternity Clothes: none yet... but my shirts are fitting "differently" 

Gender: Not sure yet.... we find out at our next appointment (YAY!) which is May 9th (less than 4 weeks away!).  I have kinda thought GIRL from the beginning and Ryan refuses to guess.  We will be excited either way!!  A boy would be fun for Der to get to play with and a girl would be fun because of course we want one at some point.  :)  Either way, they will be so close in age, hopefully they will be really good friends.

Movement: I haven't felt anything yet, but i am looking forward to it!

Sleep: I haven't been sleeping well from the beginning.  It hard to say if its hormones or something else.  Some weeks are better than others.

Symptoms:  I only had one week of nausea this time, praise God! I have just been weary.  And I have had headaches the last week and a half (although not the last two days-yay!)

Cravings: CHEESE!  In any form... although grilled cheese has been a fav (which works great since this is one of Der's favorite too).  And last week I wanted a philly cheese steak so bad I made a special trip to Walmart (I couldn't even remember the last time I had one).  It was quite yummy.  My mom asked me this week if I have seen an Easter egg big enough to fit a philly cheese steak in..haha!  O, and I have been drinking lots of chocolate soy milk-yummm!

Best Moment this week: I had a check up on Monday and the doctor couldn't get the heartbeat on Dopler, so they checked on sonogram and my little one actually looked like a baby this time (it brought me to tears)   It was so special and made this whole thing more real (I was just sorry Ryan didn't get to see- he was home with our sick DerBear)  The baby's heart was beating at a speedy 154 beats per minute (it was 109 the first time, the 175 last time).  I guess it changes all the time.

Biggest change this week- I used to "remind" Ryan all the time that I was supporting three life systems (since I was still nursing Der).  But....as of last Sunday, Der has officially been weaned.  It made me kind of sad cause I really loved that cuddle time, but my OB wanted me to stop, plus my milk supply had gone way down since becoming pregnant.  All that to say, I can no longer claim I am supporting three life systems.  :)  Thankfully,  Der has adjusted great to the sippy cup.  This is just the first of many sacrifices he will have to make for his little bro or sis.  And Der has just started to crawl (its so cute to watch).  I said I would count it as a blessing if he didn't crawl until I made it through my first trimester....and he did exactly that!  I know my life is about to change big time!

Taken 4/1- I am 12 weeks (I didnt realize I was already showing this much until I saw this picture!)

EXCITING NEWS!!

We are excited to say....we have another baby on the way!!!

On Sunday, January 30th, Ryan got back from his weekend away at youth camp.  His only warning was a text message that morning that I had a gift for him when he got home.  Apparently the thought actually crossed his mind...  When he excitedly rushed in to get Der from his nap, he immediately noticed the little man's outfit that read: Future Big Brother.  His response, you wonder...He shouted whooohooo.  Not what I was expecting  :)

A few hours before, after taking a pregnancy test (I thought something was "off" the day before), I almost missed it.  From a distance, I couln't see that extra, oh so important line.  I sighed with relief and picked up the test to throw away....and there it was.  Faint for sure, but clear.  Baby O II was on board!  We wanted our kiddos close in age, but we were thinking more like 2 years, not 16 months.  But God had other plans, and after much experience, we know that His plans are always best!  So, I think the shock has worn off (although, as I am starting to show, I feel like I am going through shock all over again every time I pass the mirror!) and we are very excited!  Babies are always a gift and God certainly wanted us to have this one :)  I am exactly 13 weeks 1 day today and so grateful and relieved to be in my second trimester.  We are due October 14th!

Since I didn't keep track well with Der, I thought I would do periodic pregnancy updates (I have a few friends doing this and thought it would be fun).  Hopefully they won't bore you....

What a sweet family I have!

January 29- Der loved his time with Nonna and Poppy and I appreciated their company while Ryan was gone.

January 29- Before Ryan took the youth to church camp, my parents were sweet enough to come watch Der for the night so we could get away.  We stayed on the Mandalay Canals at the Omni...which was beautiful!  Last time we were there for a date was the day before we found out we were pregnant with Der...could this be a foreshadowing?!?!

January 29- I love this outfit with the tie :)  My little man!

January 29- A pretty cute dude!!

January 27- Don't I look cute in Daddy's hat!!!

January 26- Meme and Grandpa came back for another visit to hear Ryan preach in the main service. 

January 25- The changing table is now for play time :)

January 24- I love that sweet laugh!

January 23- Flirting with mommy :)

January 22-I've got daddy right where I want him! 

January 21- Who put this thing on my head?!?!

January 20- He prefers to be clothes-less.

January 19- Der has now become interested in whatever we are eating.  And so, he had his first few bites off my apple.

January 18- On the move....no, not crawling yet.

Re-posting again...

January 9- Der's first snow!!

Meme showing Der how to use his new toys.

Der's gifts from Meme and Grandpa :)

January 8- Meme and Grandpa came to celebrate Christmas!

January 7 - Weeeeeeeeeeee

January 17- FUN FACES!

A repost post to fill in the gaps...

We just started finger foods...cheerios being first.  We had no idea how entertaining he could be to watch eat.  It took a few days for him to get his little fingers to do what he wanted, and he would still miss about as many as he made.  Sometimes he grabs the cheerio with his fist and then sticks his whole fist in his mouth  in an attempt to eat the cheerio-hilarious and not always successful.

One happy boy!

January 6- "reading" all by himself.

January 5- His "learning" face.

January 5- This boy LOVES bath time!

This was the favorite Christmas present (mentioned last post) that has helped Der to sit up on his own.  What a big boy!

And there were 3 stocking hung by the chimney with care :)  This was our first year to have a mantel, which I was very excited about!

Prunes have been a favorite of Der's!

December 24- We got to play the Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus at the church Christmas Eve service.  This was a special memory for us...and we can't wait to tell Der when he understands that he played Jesus (quite a role!).  Also neat is that the year my older brother was born, my parents did the same thing in their church.

So in my middle of the night, crazed effort to get some pictures up, I didn't realize that we hadnt even loaded our good camera onto the computer...so there were lots of pictures that I need to fill in.  And I didn't realize it was illegal to post pictures of a naked baby (because he is so cute in the bath tub), that a few days got quickly deleted when Ryan saw the post (hopefully no one saw those, and if you did, you won't report me :) )

And just when you thought I would never blog again!

January 17- Der found himself in our mirror...which was hilarious because he definitely thought his new friend was cute.

January 16- This chilly day called for the snow suite, which he swims in it looks so big...but totally adorable!

January 15- Is he surrendering?

January 14- Date night!  Thanks Kathryn and Jordan for watching Der!  We hadnt been to our favorite happy hour in a long time.  Blue Mesa has the best blue margarita I have ever had, plus free quesadillas, which makes for a cheap date.

January 12- Excited to be in his "eating spot"

January 11- Doesn't he just look ornery? 

January 10- Since our little sweetie turned 6 months, he has refused a bottle...so on to the sippy cup, which he is actually pretty good at.

Still January 9- This boy LOVES phones....I keep saying that his first crawl will be to a phone.

January 9- "I'm in mommy and daddy's room!!"

January 8- Ryan got a ping pong table for Christmas and we did some men vs. women...and I can't remember now who won, but we were pretty evenly matched :)

January 7- Meme and Grandpa came up to celebrate Christmas and we went to Lake Ray Hubbard for dinner.

January 5- Family Fun Night...with my little DerBEAR in his bear hat...could he be cuter?!?

January 4- This ball is the favorite Christmas toy.  He props himself up and can sit up on his own!  So exciting!!!

January 3- Look at that cute belly!

January 2- Did he get any food in his mouth?

January 1- Happy New Year!  We had a pot luck at our house, where we played some ridiculous games.  For this game the team that got the most marshmallows in their mouth in a minute won- the boys dominated pretty much every game.

December 30- "What's going on?"

December 29- If only we had known that we should just get him strings to chew on for Christmas...I think Ryan wears sweatshirts with strings around the house to win his baby's heart.

December 28- Is there anything cuter than a wet baby wrapped in a towel?  And there is my adorable husband too-what cute boys I have!

December 27- Austen was actually fairly successful at getting him to eat.

December 26- We love this new "clip on" toy that Der got in his stocking.  He likes to play the game, I throw, you fetch!