28 Weeks (third time around)

On Friday I hit 28 weeks, at least according to me. The doctors don't know what they're talking about this go-around because I am most definitely NOT any less than 28 weeks. I know. But due dates are all a guessing and estimation game anyways, so it doesn't really matter that much I suppose. Give or take 12 weeks and God-willing we'll have another kiddo in the house and that's all that's important.

28 weeks.

I have to say that I feel absolutely HUGE this pregnancy. I'm not sure what weight I started out at so I can't say exactly how much I've gained. But my "normal" weight range is between 120 and 130, with "healthy" for me being at 125 or so. I think I'm at 153, which means that I've probably gained nearly 30 pounds already. And I can feel it, too. It's just harder to move around, harder to squat to pick up anything, and so on. I bought new shoes today because I just couldn't take wearing my nearly-10-year-old boots another day because my legs would just ache if I stood or walked around for too long. So I'm definitely feeling huge, even if I look perfectly normal for 28 weeks.

I'm feeling pretty well, though, other than just feeling big. I still sleep all night if a kid doesn't wake me up. I'm not having to wake up to pee, although if I'm up (which I am nearly every night with one girlie or the other) I do take advantage of the toilet. I'm more likely to wake up because I'm starving than because I have to go to the bathroom. I've had a little bit of reflux but not nearly as badly as when I was pregnant with Noel. I've had no real food aversions or cravings this pregnancy. It's been pretty uneventful other than just being starving a lot of the time.

So that's life in third-trimester-land. I've got birthday party posts to write and lots about our time in the States to write about. I have a hard time convincing Shannon that I want to do something in the evenings other than watch television shows (we have been seriously deprived of television shows in English over the last almost-four years), so when it happens I read or blog. I'm loving not having to study in the evenings!

Off for a snack. This baby wants food. Again.

24 Months Old (A month and a half late)

Yup, you read that right. My baby's 2-year post is coming in at 25.5 months. Dear gracious what will happen when our third is here? Maybe we won't be traveling halfway around the world on his/her second birthday, which is what we did on Noel's…but that's beside the point.


Playing the packing boxes back in early December.

So…at 25 months and 11 days, here's what Noel is up to.

*has all of her teeth. She actually had all of them before her birthday…poor girl was miserable and cranky for awhile but this mommy is loving life now that there is no more teething going on in this household!

*is 100% potty-trained. We had a few accidents in airports and in the days following our cross-the-ocean jaunt, but within a couple weeks she was back on track and is now completely potty-trained, day and night. There were a few days after we'd first moved when she was struggling with going on a "big" potty (she had done it before but definitely didn't prefer it) and when we would sit her on the potty she'd say, "Don't fall in. Make me angry, make me cry, make me sad." It was so funny. And one night she woke up in the middle of the night crying and screaming, "I fell in 'da potty, mama, I fell in 'da potty!" And that, my friends, is what toddlers have nightmares about.


Christmas morning.

*is sleeping in a big-girl bed. Or a mattress on the floor, whatever. We had cribs lined up for when we arrived in America and it became apparent very fast that she was just over sleeping in a crib. We made her do it while staying with my in-laws because all of their beds are so high up off the ground that I was very worried about her falling off and seriously hurting herself (I had forgotten about box-springs…goodness those make beds so far off the ground!). But as soon as we got to the house we're staying in we pulled a mattress onto the floor and she's been sleeping there ever since. She never gets out of the bed and hasn't rolled out of it. Crazy how different kids are so…different.

*is our little snuggle bug. She loves to snuggle and sit close and give hugs and kisses. A few times this month she's just approached me and said, "I wanna snuggle wif you." She's definitely energetic and loves to run around and be crazy, too, but if we're all sitting down she probably wants to be wrapped around us in some way.


Eating her birthday cake.

*Is wearing 2T shirts and 3T leggings. She has a couple of pairs of jeans and they're 2T, but she's wearing all the 3T leggings that Lane never wore (since she skipped from 24 month/2T straight to 4T). She's still in her size 6 shoes but I think she's outgrowing them…she trips a lot when running in them.

*is very sensitive to our disapproval. She doesn't get spankings very often because she doesn't need them…a time-out seems to be much more effective with her. If she's pitching a fit or doesn't want to finish her dinner (in a "just being stubborn" kind-of-way) usually she will sit in time-out until she's ready to comply and then will come and follow the rules. She does not like to be spanked or popped and will burst out in heavy, "you've crushed my feelings" tears and sobs if we do spank her…it is never necessary to give her more than a gentle swat on the bottom for her to get the point. I hate feeling like I'm crushing her feelings but love knowing that I don't need to inflict any kind of actual pain on her for her to get the message. Once again…crazy how different kids are so different. Lane would have just looked at us and laughed if we'd swatted her as gently as we do with Noel.



*is learning how to pronounce the letter "l" correctly. It's crazy to me that she just turned two but can get the "l" right if it's at the beginning of a word.

*is just so funny. I really wish I'd had more time over the past couple of months to write down things she's been saying. Yesterday she was showing my brother how to fly (with fairy wings on) by flapping her arms up and down and telling him, "Jus' flap your wings and fly!" She was jumping up and down and getting upset that it wasn't working. A week or so ago we were playing play-doh and I made a pretend sandwich (using molds [side note, since I just googled it thinking that in this case I'd spell it "mould"…did you know that "mold" is American English and "mould" is British? Both are correct for both fungus and a form, but only in their correct countries.]) with light brown bread, yellow cheese, and green lettuce. She was absolutely distraught that she could not eat the sandwich. Tears and whining and everything.


First time on a sled in early December.

*Is getting to the stage where she wants to do everything herself. She wants to brush her own teeth, put on her clothes, pull her own panties/pants off and on for using the potty, etc. Some things she can actually do pretty well…others result in lots of tears because she wants to do it herself but just can't.

*still loves television. Her current favorite (which she gets to watch almost every night after Lane goes to bed) is Mickey Mouse Choo Choo Express.

*recognizes her name when it's written in capital letters.



*Is a pretty good eater these days. She definitely shuns new foods but usually will eventually try them. Some of her favorite foods these days are oatmeal, grapes, noodles (but NOT with any red sauce, heaven forbid), cucumbers, bell peppers, peanut butter, and fish crackers. She is also a big milk drinker…she loves milk.

And there you have it. The last of my monthly installments for this girlie. One more year of monthly photos before I completely neglect her each month on the blog! =)

Baby Bump

So…I've been horrible at documenting this pregnancy. Absolutely horrible. I have nothing to blame except, oh, the craziness of life. Not "normal" craziness, definitely abnormal craziness. Husband-out-of-the-country craziness (weeks 4-8, 17). Thanksgiving craziness (week 20). Moving craziness (weeks 21, 22, 23, 24, and oh yes, week 25 as well). Christmas craziness (week 24). Birthday craziness (weeks 22 and 25). All that to say…it's been a crazy pregnancy.


14 weeks. Mid-October.


17 weeks. Early November.

In the very early stages of this pregnancy (months 1-2) I felt just fine, for the most part. I had a little of that "need to keep my tummy full" feeling in order to stave off morning sickness, but overall I was ok. Months 3-4 I was so tired. Extremely tired. Like, I'd sleep as late as possible, go to class, come home and take a nap (I let Lane watch way too many shows while Noel napped so I could nap, too) and then cook dinner or do a load of laundry and that was it for the day. I was in bed most nights by 9 p.m., some nights as early as 7:30. Watching my kids, going to class, and keeping the bare minimum done on housework was all I could manage.


20 weeks. Late November.

Month five was better, and thank goodness for it since it was spent packing, packing, and packing. And moving. We moved out of our apartment, put all our stuff in storage, and moved in with some friends for a few days. They took us to the airport later that week, and we re-located to Alabama for a couple of weeks. We stayed with Shannon's dad and stepmom for our first four days back.


23 weeks. December 20.

The beginning of month six marked a move to Shannon's mom and stepdad's, where we stayed for a week before going back to his dad and stepmom's for three days. Then we moved to North Carolina where we'll be until mid-March, about a month before this baby is due to make an appearance.


26 weeks. (Right after I'd eaten dinner, of course.)

We've been in the States four weeks and have already put nearly 3500 miles on the vehicle we're driving. We've been to six states, celebrated two birthdays (three if you count Jesus'!), transitioned Noel to a big-girl bed, and slept in four different places. We've done some really fun things (Chuck-E-Cheese for Noel's birthday, a 2-night stay at a swanky B&B for me and Shannon, buying some new maternity clothes, seeing bambino #3 for the first time via ultrasound, our girls' first Christmas in America with grandparents), as well as some not-so-fun things (blood work, dental exams [Shannon and I each need a crown, ugh], Lane's first visit to the dentist, repairing the hatch-back of our 2002 van, jet-lag with a 2 and 3-year old) and so far...we're just plain tired. We are ready to get some rest, to recuperate from 3.5 long years of living overseas before we go back and do it all again.

So, that's the story so far of the bump. Just craziness. I'll try to get back on board with bi-weekly updates in the third trimester because I think we'll actually be in one place for most of it! This baby is already pretty active and moving around a lot…for not having felt the baby much at all until around 22 weeks…s/he is making up for it now!