34 Week Update

These are apparently the only posts I can manage to make now-a-days.  Honestly, I'm not THAT busy but I'm spending a lot of time Kayla on my days off and with Justin and Kayla on the weekends.  Normally I would write blog posts while Kayla takes her nap, but honestly, I'd rather take a nap at that time as well.  So my blog has taken a bit of a backseat.  Hopefully I can be better later.

• Baby is the size of a:  33 weeks: pineapple; 34 weeks: average cantaloupe
• Total weight gain/loss: Still trying not to pay too much attention to this until Linda (midwife) tells me that I should be worried.  And honestly, I think some of it is pure water/swelling weight most days.  Looking forward to working hard to get my old body back after baby. :)
• The bump: Growing and lowering I think.  The belly button still isn't quite popped yet, but it's getting there.  Oh, and I'm a little pissed I wasn't using some sort of stretch mark cream this whole time like I did with Kayla because where the hell did all of these come from??? 
• Symptoms:  I'm a little bit over the heartburn.  TUMS seem to help for the most part.  I have been having a lot of sharp cramping pains over the past week and a lot of Braxton-Hicks.  Just generally not feeling great.  Took a day off of work which was very nice, but I'm not going to be able to do that too much since we are trying desperately to save money.
• Food cravings: Nothing particular. 
• Anything making me queasy/nauseous:  Nope.
• Sleep:  Still not going all that great.  Can't get comfortable.  Pee at least 2-3 times every night.  
• What I miss:  Not having heartburn.
• Wedding rings:  Wedding band is still fine, but I tend to not put it on so I don't have to worry about it.  Honestly, I hate not wearing my rings though.  Thinking about putting them on a necklace.
• Maternity clothes:  Yes.
• Labor signs: Nope.
• Best Moments: My little sister's baby shower.  It was nice to see my family.
• What I am looking forward to:  Going to the Milwaukee State Fair this weekend.  Here's to hoping the weather stays bearable this week.
• Worries?:  Money.  How are we ever going to afford this?

34 Weeks:

18 Month Check Up/Update

Kayla turned 18 months old on Sunday.  I actually can't believe how much she has grown in the past 3 months even!  She is such a little lady now and really no longer a baby.  Here are some stats and info from her doctor's check up today and some other general info since I've been very bad about monthly updates regarding her.  (I'm a little sad about this since my blog is sort of my "memory book" of sorts right now so I hope I don't forget things!)

Weight:  22 lb 12 oz (25th percentile)

Height: 2 ft 10.5 inches (99th percentile)

Head Circumference:  48 cm (87th percentile)

I don't know if I remember doing a 15 month MD check up/update but these doctor's visits were seriously getting less and less exciting for me as she literally hated every single minute of it.  Cried the entire time and that is totally not like her.  Well, today she was a total angel for the nurse.  She laid right down and stuck her leg straight so she could measure her length.  She sat like a good girl on the scale and waited patiently.  She didn't even cry when she measured her head!


Speaking of which, apparently her head growth is slowing down.  The percentile is down and her head has only grown 1/2 a cm since her 1 year check up!  When the doctor came in, she was still very good until the end of the appointment when Dr. H laid her down to check her tummy and diaper areas.  She had a rash today so I think I'm going to try to bleach my cloth diapers.  We'll see how it goes.  I should probably do a cloth diapering update soon too! 



Dr. H and I talked about her milestones and her speech.  I told her Kayla isn't a big meat and veggie eater and that she loves orange juice.  Apparently we are doing everything right by pure luck.  I asked her about her opinion on vaccinations since it's sort of a hot topic in parenting right now.  She officially convinced me we are doing the right thing by vaccinating on schedule.  I told her this is the one parenting choice where I have a very strong opinion in one direction and my temperature rises a little bit when even thinking people partially vaccinate/don't vaccinate/vaccinate on different schedules.  I'm not sure I want to get into this debate on my blog but anyways...we are vaccinating fully and on schedule.

Some more milestone information:

Physical milestones:  Running, climbing, going up stairs wherever we can find them, throwing balls, you name it she tries it. :) 

Motor milestones:  Kayla can use a spoon and fork pretty well now and is actually quite good at drinking out of a normal cup without spilling everything.  She is quite the little mimic and it's amazing how much she picks up.  She is very helpful as well: putting laundry in the hamper, helping mommy get ready in the morning with her face lotion, hair brush and make up, putting trash in the trash can.  I hope she keeps being so helpful!

Eating:  I told the doctor the main thing Kayla won't really eat is veggies.  She will eat some corn, peas and soybeans randomly, and occasionally potatoes.  For the most part, she loves fruit, dairy and pasta.  She really loves fruit..any fruit.  And orange juice.  She has to have a cup of "joose" in the morning (the "J" kinda sounds like a "sh" sound.)  Dr. H said this was fine as long as she has yogurt like she normally does and maybe one other serving of dairy every day.

Sleeping/Napping:  She is still working on her 1 year molars and her I teeth :) so the sleeping right now is a little bit up and down.  She doesn't really wake up much, but she is getting up a little earlier in the day and her one nap (which we are down to) has been a little shorter the past week.  I was pretty hesitant to go down to one nap but the transition was SO much easier than from 3 to 2 naps.  And we get to go to appointments, run errands and have more fun in the mornings not worrying about naps.  And her one nap in the afternoon is considerably longer (well it was before this week), usually she is in her room for 2.5 to 3 hours for me.  She sometimes wakes up and plays but I get those couple hours of alone time.  (At this point, most of the time I nap during that time as well.)


She has also started to sing "Twinkle, twinkle" to her baby dolls at bed and nap time.  It's funny because when she "says" twinkle, it's more like this throaty guttural sound that kinda sounds like "twinkle."  She's been awesome with her baby dolls putting them down for "baps" (naps) and washing one in the bath tub every night.  I hope she is as helpful and accepting of the new baby!
Speech:  Kayla has a lot of words now.  A lot of them sound very similar and sometimes it's hard for even Justin and I to understand, but for the most part we know what she is asking for almost all the time.  Some of her favorites right now are: juice, more (mo-mo), apple (still), yeah (da, we are working on "yes"), please, thank you (achoo), babies, cups, nap, Hi, Bye (or bye bye but we are down to one bye usually now), mama, dada, hat, hot, ice, and many more.  She understands SO much, but she is still doing a lot of pointing and grunting.  It's getting better though.


Potty Training:  Wow I can't believe I'm even adding this category.  Around when Kayla was 13-14 months old, Justin and I decided to buy a potty.  Not because we were going to potty train her per se, but more so that we could introduce her to the ideas since she understands so much.  Sort of like really slow prolonged potty training.  She has pooped on the potty once (little seat on big person potty because she is not a fan of the toddler potty.)  I think she understands poop goes in the potty, but she isn't quick enough to tell us BEFORE she poops yet.  She usually will tell us right after she poops.  And she doesn't get the "pee pee" or "tinkle" in the potty yet.  We give her naked time for about 30 minutes every night before her bath and we haven't had many accidents during that time at all.  Still a huge work in progress.  Any advice on potty learning?


I'm constantly amazing at how smart she is.  Everyone says they aren't surprised because she is my child, but I honestly never thought I was that smart.  I got good grades in school because I have a great memory and I'm an awesome test taker, not necessarily because I'm smart.  Kayla is SMART!  She picks up on everything and uses it almost immediately.  She is such a happy social baby too.  She loves to be the center of attention and laugh when everyone else is laughing.  I'm so curious to see what she grows up to do!!


I love my little peanut so much and I'm enjoying every last second I get to spend with her before Baby Hales #2 arrives.

My skinny, TALL peanut at her appointment today.  She was so good!

I told you, the kid loves fruit.  Look at that giant container of berries!

Mommy and me date at the mall.  Red Mango vanilla frozen yogurt with strawberries and kiwi.  This might be a regular occurrence for the rest of the summer for us!

Kayla's naked time...she's playing on the iPhone. :)  (Not sure why she has the paci in her mouth...she doesn't use one except for naps and night time.)

This kid is definitely a fish.  She loves swim lessons with Dada, she loves the pool, she loves the splash pads.  I've never seen a kid happier to be in water.

And she still loves the laundry basket...18 months ago and a couple weeks ago. :)

32 Week Update

I'm getting much better at doing these on time. :)

• Baby is the size of a:  31 weeks: four navel oranges; 32 weeks: large jicama
• Total weight gain/loss: I'm heavier. :)  I'm still watching at my appointments though because after this baby comes, I actually can't wait to start getting back into shape.  I'm already forming goals in my mind which I'll post about after baby.  (Obviously not jeopardizing breastfeeding or the baby.)
• The bump: Belly button is slowly but surely creeping out further and further.  I think at this point I feel the baby is growing less outward and more upward and therefore my bump growth is slowing.
• Symptoms:  Congestion which isn't a surprise as I had it (and complained about it) with Kayla.  My hips are killing me, and my back is starting to hurt more and more.  Dr. Katie (my chiropractor) stretch me out a bit today and it feels so much better now.  Both Katie and Linda (my midwife) aren't thrilled I work 2 10 hour days but unfortunately that's what we need to do right now.
• Food cravings: Sweets, sweets and more sweets.  
• Anything making me queasy/nauseous:  Nothing, which is very nice!
• Sleep:  I've once again given up on getting any sort of good sleep.  I'm trying to keep a to do list and at least make my brain work a little less hard while I'm trying to sleep at night.
• What I miss:  Being able to squeeze through small spaces without bumping something.
• Wedding rings:  It's pretty hot here this summer so still mostly sticking with just my wedding band which is fine.  I tried to wear my engagement ring as well to dinner this weekend, we sat outside and I was a little afraid it would get stuck on my sausage fingers, so I took it off. :)
• Maternity clothes:  Almost entirely. (exception: see photo below)
• Labor signs: Nope, I still joke about having the baby early but honestly, it's really likely that's not happening.  I'm planning for late again just so I'm not disappointed.
• Best Moments: Spending weekends with Justin and Kayla doing things outside/at pools.  Loving our last weeks as a family of three.
• What I am looking forward to:  Aunt Lauren's baby shower in a couple weeks. :)
• Worries?:  Picking names...why is this SO hard!?

32 Weeks:

31 weeks 5 days:  out to dinner for Aunt Megan's birthday.  These pants are NOT maternity...just low cut with a bella band. :)

Someone wanted to be in my weekly picture this week....and how can you say "No" to that face? :)

Not-so-wordless Wednesday: RayBans

Sidenote: These baby RayBans from Target were dropped in the meat at Chipotle and I got a very very nasty eye roll from the burrito making lady.  Sorry lady, she's only a toddler.

Also, I was thinking about my little family on my way home from work last night and I came to this conclusion:

Why does it feel a million times more awesome when you hear the person you love and married tell your children "I love you."  Don't get me wrong, my heart still skips a beat when he tells me.  Maybe it's because my husband isn't always the most vocally emotional person.  And maybe it's because this little person is literally a part of you, like your heart walking around outside your body, but when Justin says "I love you" to Kayla (or somehow makes mention of loving her and Baby Hales #2 to me) my heart melts and I love him even more.

Memorial Day Weekend in VA Beach/NC

I finally edited my photos from our week long trip to Virginia Beach and North Carolina.  I have been very bad about photo editing and blogging recently and I actually am completely ok with it.  Here is why:
1. I have no time on the days that I work 10 hours...literally.  I guess I could post at least a picture but I only have so many of those. ;)
2. My "off" days during the week I often times have some sort of appointment (I see Linda, my midwife, every 2 weeks now and I've been going to the chiropractor).  Or I just try to get out and do something with Kayla since she tends to get a bit stir crazy with me at home.  Then when we get home for her lunch and nap, I end up eating my lunch sometimes while she is napping and I'm finding myself falling asleep on the couch while she naps as well.  Almost every day.
3. On the weekends, when I intend to blog, Justin and I have been keeping busy taking Kayla outside, to the pool, park, splash pad, etc.  And I really don't feel bad about not blogging because I am trying to enjoy my summer and last couple months as a little family of three.

Anyways, back to the point of this post.  I should have at least written it a long time ago because I don't remember all the small details about our trip, but here's the best recap I could muster. :)

Flight there:  Kayla was quite well behaved on this flight.  We had to drive and park in the cheapest economy lot, take a bus to the other economy lot to the train, and then get on the train to the terminals.  The flight was fine, no big deal besides Kayla doesn't exactly like keeping still in my lap anymore.

We spend the first few days at my in-laws in Virginia Beach.  We didn't do too much, except we went to see our friends the L's who just had there third baby...finally a little girl.  Justin was in their wedding and J was in out wedding, so it's always nice to be able to catch up with old friends and meet their brand new baby!  Despite Kayla's overnight sleep difficulties and the significantly varied sleep arrangements we had in her first year of life, Kayla has turned out to be a pretty versatile sleeper.  She napped pretty well in the pack n play at my in laws house.  She cries a little bit at first but then does surprisingly well.

Photos I took while we were outside on the deck:

Rolling and catching the ball

Slightly obsessed with cameras...probably my fault

Always on her toes :)

"It was THIS big!"

I hardly edited this one at all...sometimes I take one amazing picture in like 100 :)

Clapping

Most infectious laugh!

My sweet little girl

On Friday (3rd day there), we headed to the trailer across the boarder in North Carolina.  Kayla loves being outside so this worked out pretty well, minus I was really not feeling 100% and hating the heat with the passion of a thousand suns.  And night times here were pretty much horrendous.  Kayla was in the pack n play shoved between the end of the queen sized bed (which my in-laws kindly let us have since we have had Kayla).  First of all, the bed is on a slight angle and I had to turn around because I was so nauseous in the middle of the first night.  Second of all, every time Kayla slightly moved or turned over I could hear her and every time she woke up she cried because she knew we were right there.  The second night we tried to sleep in the bed with her but she is a wild sleeper and was all over the place.  Needless to say, I was a very cranky pregnant lady surviving on very little sleep in significant amounts of heat/humidity, who wasn't feeling all that great the whole trip.

Despite my discomfort, Kayla loved being able to be outside and everyone loved how friendly and easy going Kayla is.  I have to admit, a few times friends said to me, "So she's a pretty easy, happy baby huh?"  And I replied, "Yeah she is.  She's pretty fun to be around most of the time."  But later on in the trip, Justin and I were talking about how, yes, she was very easy and happy on the trip, but not QUITE as easy and happy as normal because of the lack of good sleep.  I guess only we would have noticed that anyways. :)

Still didn't love grass at this point.

So happy about the pool!

Snacks with my cousin

I was more than happy to let everyone else help her down the slide...a MILLION times in a row. :)

We were supposed to stay at the trailer until Memorial Day and then  head to my sister in laws for dinner, but I literally couldn't take one more night with Kayla in that trailer.  So we went back to my in laws by ourselves which was, by far, the best decision we made the entire trip.  She slept and we slept and it was glorious.

We had dinner at my sister in laws on Memorial Day and it was fun to watch Kayla with her cousin, E, all weekend.

She looks so sweet and innocent holding Lambie.

"Hi Mama"

Some photos I made Justin take of me and Kayla, since we have so few.

Tuesday, we got ready for our flight home.  Which was really the icing on the cake to not my favorite trip ever.  I was really miserable and felt really bad about it because it had nothing to do with my in laws at all.  I just felt like crap and wasn't sleeping and was having some seriously painful cramping for most of the week (so much so I went to see Linda (MW) when we got home.)  We boarded the plane on time but then sat at the gate for at least an hour while they tried to "reroute" us due to a line of storms in our path home.  Then they had to get more gas or something because the rerouting was going to be a longer distance (and therefore longer flight).  Kayla only wanted to be on my lap and I was feeling huge and uncomfortable in the tiny plane seat.  She was screaming because she didn't want to be stuck in the seat with Justin and I.  She refused to sleep (flight was at nap time) the entire flight.  Until we landed.  Literally, wheels hitting ground, Kayla asleep on my shoulder.  She slept the whole car ride home.

It was great to see our family and friends, but Justin and I were quite happy to be home.  I guess that's how it is with most vacations or trips, especially after having kids.  It's really no longer allowed to be called "vacation" in our house if the kids are coming.