Our Weekend (in pictures)

Still love this smile best:-)

Wheel barrow ride anyone?

Turning our 3 season into a 4 season, sans hot tub

Learning to get dirty...he's all boy!

Grandma & Grandpa came to visit:-)

Pregnancy Update Week 34 (Baby #2)

Weekly Activity:

Monday: 1.91 miles in ~40 minutes (OW) + 20 squats

Tuesday: 4.09 miles in 20 min (B) + 20 squats

Wednesday: 4.68 miles in 20 min (B) + 20 squats

Thursday: 20 squats

Friday: Rest

Saturday: Rest

Sunday: Rest

Total Miles=10.68 miles in 1 hrs, 20 min + 80 squats

Current Pregnancy Weight Tracker:

Starting Weight:  149.0#'s (9/18/12)
Previous Weight: 177.2#'s (33 weeks)

Current Weight:  181.2#'s 
Gain so far:      +32.2#'s

For Comparison's Sake (between my 2 pregnancies so far):

34 weeks w/#2 (5/2013)

34 weeks with Braxton (9/2011)

Pregnancy Stuff:

• Sleeping is getting a lot uncomfortable.  Somehow I'm piecing together enough sleep to continue to function throughout the day, which is interesting seeing how I get up a few times to pee, Braxton sometimes wakes up, I hear dogs barking through our open windows (love sleeping with the windows open finally, but dislike the fact that we live in the country & dogs barking are aiding in keeping me awake), etc.  Here's the thing, it's only going to get a lot worse with nighttime feedings soon, so suck it up Gina!
• Holding Braxton & picking him up continuously are getting a little challenging.  I can't not do it ever though, so I try & modify or just do it for short spurts of time.  I can't really have him sit on my lap very comfortably either anymore and I am looking forward to that change for the better!
• Climbing stairs gets me out of breath!  Nuff said;-)
• Lots & lots of rolls, kicks, & punches from baby-to-be.  Still love it, even if it's in the middle of the night.
• I'm really looking forward to Braxton being a big brother & seeing how he reacts/embraces the baby over time.  I'm trying to focus on all of the sweet moments to come, rather than the challenges.  I'm sure there will be lots of both!
• I'm also very much looking forward to holding a sweet baby in my arms again & having him/her sleep on my chest. <3

6 weeks to go!

May Challenge Update

In case you missed it, here's where I talked about my goals for the month of may.

The brief summary is that I wanted to continue to focus on tracking my eats (to monitor, not restrict) and getting in some sort of activity daily.  These were the two continuations from my April Challenge that I've been working on making into habits.  My new goals for May are to do 20 lunges/day and floss daily.

Have you ever seen a very pregnant lady do lunges?  I just assumed that I could do them no sweat since I've done JM's dvd's a few times over the course of my pregnancy, but let me tell you I can't anymore!  I mean I can, but they're not pretty & my balance is not great.  There are probably many pregnant ladies that can lunge up to delivery day, but after doing them a couple of days (and being out of practice) and really not enjoying them, nor feeling that they were effective, I chose to switch them to a basic squat.  Also funny probably to watch, but much more manageable for me:-)

Here are the stats for my month-to-date:

Journaling: 13/16 days so far.  I didn't start my May challenge right away, which accounts for the first 3 days not tracking.  It was nice to have a couple day break, but I'm glad I started it up again.

Exercise: 15/16 days.  You need a rest day every once in awhile;-)  Still using the recumbent bike and walking, but think I may have had my last run at 32 weeks preggo.  I'll pick it up again post baby...I have to since I signed up for a half marathon in October, which will be just shy of 4 month's post pardom!!

Flossing: 14/16 days.  I decided on these new goals on May 3rd, so I missed the 2nd and missed one other day due to being too lazy!  It's going well so far; another thing I hope to make into a habit.

My PSA;-)

Lunges/Squats: 13/16 days.  2 days missed due to above and one day due to rest.

Yeah, not me!

All in all I think it's been a successful month to date!  If I weren't tracking my eating, it'd be likely I wouldn't be tracking the rest of this, so my food journal has continued to be very helpful.  I've continued to try & choose fruit for snacks, but have the most fierce sweet tooth (even more than normal) lately!  I think adding a  couple of small goals to do daily for a month (each month) will work well for me for awhile in order to continue to build healthy habits...that is until the baby comes;-)  Then all bets are off!  (But I will try my best).

I'm even learning to accept less than perfection; look at me growing as a person & stuff.

Not Mommy & Daddy anymore?

The "culprit"

The last two days have been quite comical.  Wade leaves for work at about 5am, which means that it's always me getting lil man out of his crib when he wakes up.  He's an early riser as I've mentioned I'm sure a billion times and has continued to get up earlier lately despite moving his bedtime back to 8pm and me not getting up to workout (hence making noise & alerting him that mommy is awake) in the mornings.

I usually let him call out for a few minutes (silently praying he'll go back to sleep, which almost never happens), before I get my ever-growing pregnant butt outta bed to say "good morning."

I used to almost always be the one to get up with him in the middle of the night (unless we knew he didn't need to eat) early on as I was his food source.  After we weaned, if Braxton woke up in the middle of the night we'd take turns.  Since I've been pregnant (and especially getting closer to the end) I've dumped this duty on Wade.  It happens maybe once or twice a week where Braxton will wake up from a nightmare or sound and cry out.  Last night was one of those nights.  Not only did he go to bed at 8pm, but he was half-awake for an hour in the middle of the night, and he still woke up at 5:30 this morning.

Let me back up to last week.  We ordered a pizza from Papa Murphy's and I had to give my name with my order.  We went to pick it up (take & bake) and I gave my name to the cashier.  Braxton was all, "Gina, Gina, Gina..." (incessantly, you get the point) for awhile after hearing it.  Obvs. Wade & I call each other by our first names, but also refer to each other as "mommy" or "daddy" in Braxon's presence as well.  It's just recently that he's put them together.

So Wednesday morning he wakes up (slept "in" until 6) and asks first for daddy (I think cause he's been attending to him during middle-of-the-night scenarios), then mommy, then blankie (he'll throw his out to lure us in as we take pity on him if he doesn't have his beloved blankie), then he starts asking for "Gina, Gina!"  Kid is smart, as you bet I got out of bed & went in and said, "It's mommy to you mister!"  What makes it especially entertaining is it's not like he just heard it & then repeated it immediately after.  He remembered & used that as his ploy to get me to come get him quicker.

(Just to clarify I don't make him sit in his crib for very long (5 minutes max?).  He's never overly upset, just letting us know he's awake for the day.)

So then this morning he wakes up at the butt crack of dawn and I was intrigued to hear what he'd go with today.  He did the same, daddy? mommy? and then, -which I find even more funny- he asks for "Wade, Wade."  Wade of course didn't think it was so funny as I was relaying the story on to him on my way to work this morning, but I did.  He didn't even believe me at first...

Our child is extremely verbal.  At 19 mo's (yesterday) he has a pretty extensive vocabulary and is in the stage of repeating everything and not hesitant to try new words.  I just didn't think he'd be addressing us by our real names so early;-)

My mom finds this all particularly funny as my only brother (4 years older than I & the first born) always addressed her and my dad by their first names after learning them at a young age.  My sister & I refer to her as mom & always have.  I'd be okay with Braxton calling my mom for the rest of my life, just sayin'!

Do you call your parents "mom" and "dad" or by their first names?  

For those of you with kids, do your children use your first names ever?  Do they know them?  If so, what age did they first start using them?

Baby #2 Guess Pool

If you haven't heard, we're having another baby;-)  Number 2 is due 6/30/13...less than 7 weeks to go!!

We didn't find out the gender with Braxton & chose to keep it a surprise with this one as well.  We hosted (a free) online baby pool, which was really fun in which participants could enter their guess as to the gender, height, weight, and birth date.

We are doing it again and you can either click on the above or copy/paste: http://www.expectnet.com/games/BabyHorkey2 into your browser if you want to take a guess.  No prize, except bragging rights.

So what do you think is hiding in here?

We're also still undecided on names (but brainstorming), so feel free to comment a suggestion!

33 Weeks (Baby #2)

Weekly Activity:

Monday: 1.5 mi (O-Walk) in 30 min + 20 squats

Tuesday: 3.67 mi (B) in 20 min + 20 squats

Wednesday: 6.2 mi (B) in 30 min + 20 squats

Thursday: 4.46 mi (B) in 20 min + 20 squats

Friday: 6.07 mi (B) in 30 min +20 squats

Saturday: Rest

Sunday: 6.59 mi (B) in 30 min + 20 squats

Total Miles=28.49 miles in 2 hrs, 40 min + 120 squats

Current Pregnancy Weight Tracker:

Starting Weight:  149.0#'s (9/18/12)
Previous Weight: 175.0#'s (32 weeks)

Current Weight:  177.2#'s 
Gain so far:      +28.2#'s

You may have noticed the little photo bomber in the background getting progressively more upset...we're raising a generation of kids that's so used to instant feedback that anytime we use the camera, tablet, or phones he wants to "see" the pictures IMMEDIATELY...mainly of himself;-)  I promise I give him attention!

Thanks for your kind feedback to my 5 Confessions Post.  I was just having one of those days.  Those of you that have been pregnant if you try real hard might remember those crazy hormones and how you got fixated on certain things?  No, just me...

I can't believe it's less than 7 weeks and we'll have a new BABY!  I'm excited to meet this lil one who is as active as can be.  He/she really knows how to settle in right on the side of my ribs, especially when I'm trying to fall asleep:-)  Wade gets to feel kicks often & is usually surprised at the force.

I keep going to the dr. every two weeks until June and then I'll be on weekly appointments already.  It seems to be flying by.

It's going to be really nice to have the time home when the weather is nice, rather than our infamous winters.  Hopefully we'll get to burn off lots of Braxton's energy outdoors.

Overall, still feeling great & am blessed with a very boring pregnancy:-)  Happy Mother's Day to y'all!

5 Confessions from the 3rd Trimester

1. I'm HUNGRY all.of.the.time!  So much for the baby growing & leaving less room in your stomach for you to fill up on food.  This girl can eat & lately too many things in the "sweets" category.  I have been journaling & sometimes it affects my choices or timing between snacks, but sometimes I get the "I'm pregnancy & deserve to eat since I can't do anything else fun," 's going on.  Today I've implemented some "rules" trying to stretch out the time in between said snacks (I guess the baby doesn't need to eat something EVERY hour;-) after getting on the scale yesterday & seeing a higher number than I wanted.  Dr. Oz rule of thumb: 100 extra calories in tri 1, 200 for tri 2, and 300 for the third trimester...not quite eating for two, huh?
2. In correlation with the above, the nanny may have baked peanut butter cookies yesterday (no prompting from me) and will probably think we're pigs as I bet they'll be gone by the time she returns Monday for her next scheduled workday.  Mmmm....peanut butter cookies!  I kinda want another one right now, but just had two with lunch...
3. Braxton is such a smartie (he can totally count to 20 @ 18 months old)!  I sometimes worry that baby #2 won't get the same individualized attention (okay I know he/she won't as it's just how it goes) and already feel guilty for not being able to provide the same "opportunity."  And then I feel guilty as Braxton won't get the same attention he's used to.  Repeat.  Dumb concerns I know, but there nonetheless.
4. I really want to have my "normal body" back for a day.  Can't the hubby take one day a week?  It's only fair right?  I really want to try & run long, fast, and hard.  Or just have the energy to chase little man around the yard a bit more.  Or sleep normal.  Or...the list goes on!
5. On the subject of the hubs...I'm pretty sure he thinks I'm a bit cray-cray.  These hormones have me a bit up and down and I get fixated on the weirdest things!  Lucky guy gets to hear all of my complaints!

Bonus one-I can't believe how big my butt has gotten!  I really wish it could've stayed the size it was...and I'm vain & don't want to have a post-baby body in the hot summer weather.  Wah, wah.

Last Summer

Last Week