hmmmm

I've been trying to think of something to blog about and I've got....nothing. really? It's odd. My kids are in school 3 days, well mornings, per week. I have Parker on Tuesdays but it's not like we plan a lot in those 2.5 hours that Conner is at school.

I have started back at the gym this week (I hurt so good today) and am LOVING it. I'm really hoping that exercise will combat some of this water retention I am seeing. By the end of the day, my legs are so swollen. Dare I say that I might have cankles at 18 weeks?! That seems SO early to me. I am sore and Josh made the comment that I probably should have confirmed w/the specialist that I could work out again. I told him that just because I'm sore doesn't mean I'm overdoing it, I just haven't done anything in so long! He agreed and then stopped talking about it. I mean, I could always call the specialist but if the ob says it's ok, I'm going with that.

My kids do not have school today. I have tons of work to do. Maybe I should have done that instead of mani/pedi yesterday but we're getting family pics done on Sunday and I wanted a mani/pedi. Speaking of kids....these 2 are crazy today. I have NO idea what I'm going to do with them. It's supposed to be nice later but who knows. The weather has been pretty wonky lately. One minute it's sunny, the next it's dark and looks like the sky will open up.

There's my nothing for today. Tomorrow, come back and see 5 more favs!

So What Wednesday

This week, I'm saying so what to...

I went to the gym yesterday. I wore shorts. my legs are not shorts approved anymore. I just had to remind myself that I am pregnant. One of the first things that happen during pregnancy is muscle atrophy. In addition to that, I was not allowed to work out so my muscles didn't get used for 6w...more muscle atrophy. That means flabby low tone legs. GROSS.

A big kid (4-4.5) kicked Parker yesterday after school. I said, 'hey, hey no kicking'. He cried and his mom gave me a dirty look. I don't give a crap! Don't kick my 2 year old, big kid. I'm certain she no longer likes me. Again, I don't care.

I went to target after the gym and bought new workout pants...you know ones that will fit to hide those legs.

I tried to wear leggings and a cardi yesterday...FAIL. I took off the leggings and put jeans on. Much better for my self esteem.

Josh asked how much weight I have gained. I will never tell him.

I'm beyond excited about our family portraits this weekend.

What are you saying so what to this week?

Tummy Time

Every time I write 'tummy time', I think of that show on Disney Jr Timmy Time and I think how stupid that is since I'm 30 something. LOL

I have been feeling more kicks/punches lately and that's always fun. Conner has questions every single day about what he will get to do when the new baby gets here. "Can I hold my new baby?" "When my new baby poops, will you change the diaper or will Daddy?" "What are we going to name the new baby?" It's cute; Parker just knows there's a baby in my belly and he will kiss my belly button. Sweet boys.

18w.

Weekend News

How was your weekend? Ours was fun and busy! I had several different shoots, some w/new clients and others with long time clients. I love seeing old ones and meeting new ones. Conner had soccer on Saturday morning and Josh was not working, yay! After soccer, we just went home and the kids played outside until I left for my shoot. Nothing spectacular. After my shoot we had hot wings and watched football. Sunday, I got up early, headed out to photograph another photographer (HUGE compliment) and then headed home. I had a few hours between shoots so we decided we'd take the kids to a local dairy farm. It was really windy but we just threw on hoodies and went on with our plans.The kids had a great time, so did the adults :)

Friday Five

I have been so distracted this week and so not into blogging but it's Friday and I need to do my 5!!

This week's five...Top TODDLER items.

Last week we did baby..

My favorite toddler items

1. Nuby Cups; these are the only cups that I have found that do not leak all over my house. We have playtex, straw ones, random cheap ones and these work best for us.
2. Melissa and Doug Puzzles; we have several different types of wooden puzzles and my kids love these most. They love the chunky ones as well as the ones that make noise. They are also educational. win, win!
3. Children's place denim; I am a huge fan of The Children's place. I love their jammies for younger babies (until they won't wear the 'zip it ups' anymore) and their jeans fit my boys best. I especially love that they always have coupons.
4. Divided plates; My kids think that each spot needs a different food so it works and they eat varieties of things (sort of).
5. Flatware; it has to be the ones w/plastic handles and metal tops. I think it makes them feel grown up, I don't know. Target will get some that look like this (obviously not Thomas) and put them in the dollar spot.

What are your top 5 toddler items?

Specialist...

I spent my afternoon at the specialist. It was a quick appointment, which was a nice surprise. They told me to anticipate an hour and a half; I guess they were not running behind schedule today. They took my weight/bp (we will not be discussing that ever) and sent me back to the waiting room for a little while. The technician called us back and she started the ultrasound. If you've been pregnant before, you know that they don't really tell you anything. I could see her measuring different parts of his body and I could see what the measurements were. She looked at everything, brain, heart, limbs, fingers, toes, everything. Then she went to get the dr. He starts by saying her remembers my name from the past and he's glad he gets to see me again (whatever, like he really does). He tells me that the baby looks great and has all of his fingers/toes/limbs....things like that. He says that he is fairly certain (again not 100%) that we are not dealing with amniotic banding but scar tissue from the dnc that I had prior to having any children. He said that as the baby grows, the scar tissue will just get pushed out of the way. The only thing that I think is really concerning is that 5 weeks ago, the baby measured 12w1 day. Today, the measurements were 15w3d and 16w, depending on which bone the tech measured. So, in 5 weeks, this baby has grown equivalent to 3.5w, and now I'm basically 2 weeks behind where I should be and think I am? I am really confused. I asked the technician if she thought that I should be concerned and she made a snarky comment on how the first ultrasound should not have been the reason my due date was moved. (I have always had the first ultrasound date my pregnancies and they have always been accurate) She said that they can not make any growth calls until they have done 2 subsequent scans. I wish I could sit here and say that I feel better and am relieved. Part of me is very relived; it's not banding and scar tissue should not bother the baby BUT then I have this growth issue and maybe I'm over reacting, I don't know. I do not feel at peace and still have inner turmoil. I just want to go to sleep and wake up in March with a baby.

I came back to add that I am thrilled that we don't have the banding issue and that is a huge, huge blessing and it IS a relief. I just wish that I didn't have anything else to worry about.

So What Wednesday

 It's Wednesday and I'm linking up with Shannon again.

So what...
 I have not fully processed all of the ifs of this pregnancy. I can spit out info like the best of them but I haven't processed it at all.

I let Parker have fit after fit because I refuse to fight w/a 2 year old. I am the mommy, I win. have your fit. enjoy that.

I didn't take the kids to chilk-fil-a even though it would have been way easier than making lunch. Conner was mean to Parker and again, I'm the mommy. it was kind of a punishment for me too but whatever.

I had the kids' school pics taken together. Maybe I'll buy them.

I want a door w/a lock for the kitchen. I'm so sick of the kids making a mess in every room of my house.

I look forward to school days every week. I love the break that I get. I need it.

I baked a cake and have eaten most of it; it's almost gone (and I wonder why I've gained so much weight already!)

What are you saying so what to?

Tummy Time

I keep thinking I should move the 'belly' days to a different day. Last week, my appt was on Thursday and I see the specialist this Thursday. I wish I could give some sort of update but I don't really have one. I have not gotten on a scale again so I have no idea how much weight I have gained (although I know it's more than what I had gained by this point for my other 2). I started cleaning out Parker's room to get it ready for another baby. It's a huge work in progress. All of his clothes are still in there because I just don't have the space I need yet in Conner's closet, well their closet. We still need a dresser. It's working just fine and I'm sure I can continue to make it work when I have to put teeny tiny baby clothes in there. I can just hang up lots of stuff.
We are all still very excited. Conner doesn't know that there could be any problems with this baby and we will never tell him (unless it turns fatal). He's BEYOND excited! He tells everyone he meets that we are getting a  new baby. It's really sweet.

17w belly

Fitness?

really, fitness? did I just write that? YES, I did. I forgot to mention that my ob said for me to GO WORK OUT. No heavy lifting but I can do everything I was doing before (since the blighted twin thing wasn't what's going on in my uterus). I won't lie, I'm nervous about it. I did pick up a Pregnancy Fitness DVD today from Target. The creator of this series is a mom and has 3 small kids. If she can do it, I can too! I'm excited to try it out and am planning on getting up early tomorrow to get it in before I take Conner to school. I'm hoping it will help me get into my routine again.

I notice that days when I eat crap, crap, crap, my headaches are worse. I've been pretty lazy so I haven't been meal planning but then I found The Gracious Pantry. This site has clean eating crock pot meals. What?! Sign me up! They have a subscribe button and I totally put my email address in that box and clicked subscribe!! I am pretty excited to have not only crock pot meals but other easy options. The only "problem" that the clean eating recipes have is that they have (what some would say) a lot of ingredients. My start up (again) to clean eating's grocery list will be long but in the end it's worth it and maybe just maybe my headaches will get better.

Festival

One of the reasons I love Fall is because of all of the festivals that we go to. Of course today, I left my camera home but whatever. We rode a train, the kids jumped in every kind of bounce house, pet animals, held chickens, chased chickens, ate ice cream, looked at stuff to buy that we'd never buy, entered contests/drawings...it was a fun family day. Everyone was happy, the weather was great for being outside (overcast so not hot and light breeze). Right before we left, we decided we would let Conner do one of those jumpy things that have the harness on them. He LOVED it.