I Think I'll go to Boston

I've decide I'm going to run the Boston marathon. On Monday I was sitting on the couch nursing Evan, trying to eat lunch, and was watching the stream of the marathon on my phone. KJ's cousin was running it and I was watching him finish. He's an awesome runner. He started with the first group (read: fastest runners in the world) of runners and finished in the top 400 out of 3500. Seriously awesome. But then I thought... Why couldn't I do that? Not at that world class level I mean, just in general... What's stopping me from running a marathon? Nothing. So, I'm going to do it. Not this year, not next year... I have a ways to go to get in that kind of shape. I know a marathon would require a lot of serious training. But maybe in 5 years? Why not? 

I'm turning 30 this year... In just a couple weeks actually. (How the hell did that happen??) I keep thinking about what I was doing five years ago... I was about to turn 25 and was trying to get pregnant for the first time. Then I spent the majority of the next five years trying to get and stay pregnant. That's all I really did. It was all consuming. I wanted two kids by 30, and I'm blessed to have reached that goal and am happy to close that chapter. Now I'm thinking... What about the next five years? What about the next ten years? What do I want to do by the I'm 40? I certainly don't want to be sitting on the couch thinking 'why can't I do that?'...

So, I'm going to do it. I realize it's very competitive to get into Boston, but what's to stop me from at least trying to make qualifying time? Both the Erie and Pittsburgh marathons are qualifying races, so getting to those would be no problem. I already had the goal of doing a half next year. I had planned on doing 5ks and 10ks this year and then start training for a half next spring. I actually had just decided to train for a half last spring, then the next day I got pregnant with Evan, so that had to be put on hold. So in two years, 2017, why not start training for a full marathon? This is doable!

I've had a lot of dreams, most of which I've realized are unattainable, but this, this marathon goal, is totally attainable. I can do this. I will do this. In five years I will be running marathons with the goal of getting to Boston.

"I think I'll got to Boston, I think I'll start a new life, I think I'll start over where no one knows my name... I think I need a sunrise, I'm tired of the sunset, I hear it's nice in the summer, some snow would be nice... Oh yeah..."

Here's to the next five years!

Lots of Love, 

KJsbabe

Adventures in Potty Training: Round 2

Day 1: What a difference 5 months makes! Today went surprisingly really well! Lexi is really starting to get it!! Woo hoo!! We had four successful pees in the potty, only one complete miss, and even a huge poop in the potty! 

I was really going back and forth about weather to start today or not. I had planned to start today for a few weeks now, but then yesterday Lexi came down with a cold. I didn't know if I should go ahead with it and risk her being in a horrible mood and not receptive because of being sick, or if I should push it off for another week. I really didn't want to delay it again, and Lexi woke up in a good mood this morning, so I said lets go for it. 

We started out sitting on the potty every half hour. She didn't want to sit at first, so I started rewarding trying with 1 m&m. She sat every time I told her to after that. The first pee of the day, Lexi told me she was leaking and I got her right on the potty right away. 90% went in the potty! Success! Reward of 2 m&ms. The second pee was after I told her to sit a few hours later. The third and fourth times she yelled "mommy I have to go potty!" I rushed her over and all the per went in. There was one attempt at poop then. She said she had to go and was really concentrating while sitting, but there was just a wipe of poop on her bum, none in the potty. Reward of 2 m&ms for trying. The fifth pee was a complete miss, and I'm still not sure why. She was sitting on the couch with the potty right next to her on the floor and I was about 10ft away in the kitchen door way. She said she had to go pee pee, so I rushed over to her, but she didn't move at all. She just sat on the couch and peed. All the other times she had tried to get herself to the potty when she felt she had to go. It was really disappointing. I explained that we don't pee on the couch. Pee belongs in the potty and that I was not happy that she had peed on the couch. We sat down for dinner after that and in the middle of eating she said she was going to go sit on her potty. I said ok. She went over, sat down, and pooped! It was an awesomely huge poop, too!! She had been holding that in all day! Lol She was very proud of herself for pooping on the potty, and I was, too!! Rewarded 5 m&ms (she asked for 10 haha, so that was the compromise).

We're running out of ink in the printer... if you couldn't tell...

Day 2: 5 complete pees in the potty, one mostly miss, one big poop in the potty. Rewards: 1 m&m for trying, 2 for pee in the potty, 5 for poop in the potty. It was a good day considering the major interruption... 

I wanted to go out for a run. It takes me about 40 mins to go 3.5 miles right now. Lexi had just peed in the potty and I had just fed Evan. KJ said he could hold down the fort, so I went out. About a mile down the road I passed a house. The people had just got home and let their dog out... And it came right for me. The dog attacked me. It ripped my clothes, broke skin on my back and left arm, and left bruises on my right hand and arm. It's a good thing it was cold that day because I was wearing a pretty thick hoodie, which definitely padded the bites. If it had been warmer and I was only wearing a long sleeve t, or just a t shirt... It could have been a lot worse. I called the police and the owners of the dog will be cited. The dog will be in quarantine for 10 days, in case of rabies. I'm on antibiotics to prevent and infection, and I had to get another T-dap shot.

I'm still really mad about the whole situation. A dog like that should have been tied up, period. This should have never happened. My back and arms are sore. I feel like I can't go running any more in my own neighborhood. I'm scared, and I'm mad about that. 

Anyways, back to potty training. KJ had to put a diaper on Lexi in order to put her in the car to come get me. Then I had to go to the urgent care to get checked out, and she had an accident at home with KJ. So what was supposed to be 40 mins turned out to be a three hour ordeal. But Lexi went pee and poop on the potty after dinner, so at least we ended the day on a good note.

Day 3: All five pees in the potty, one poop accident, and one poop on the potty. Same rewards as yesterday. Lexi did really well with getting herself to the potty on time. With the accident, a little bit came out and she realized she had to get to the potty, but it all came out before she got there. Same thing happened the second time, but got to the potty before she lost it all. 

I had to go out to see what the house number was where the dog was at, because they Health Department wanted to know. So I waited until Lexi had just peed, put her in pants, and ventured out. She was only in pants for about 15 mins, but she stayed dry! Definitely a step in the right direction! All in all it was a good day!

Day 4: Four pees in pants, six pees in the potty, one 50/50, one poop in pants, and one poop on the potty. Rewards, 2 m&ms for pee, 5 for poop. 

Well, we started off the day trying pants and it was a big old fail. It's like she treating them like diapers. She's not saying she has to go. She's not making any effort to get to the potty. Very frustrating! But, I had her go naked again for the second half of the day and she did great again. So, it's the pants that are giving us the hang up. 

It was a nice day to day (45 degrees! Heat wave!), so I waited until Lexi had just peed and put her in pants to take her outside to play. We were out for about a half hour playing and having a good time, then I notice that her pants are wet again :/ I asked her if she had gone pee pee or had an accident and she said no... I asked if her legs felt wet or cold and she said no... Ugh

I don't really know where to go from here. How do I get her to wear pants and still pee in the potty? 

Day 5: Four pees in the potty, one complete miss, two 50/50, one poop in pants, one poop in the potty. Same rewards as yesterday. 

I asked a group of my mommy friends how they added pants in while PTing and they had some good suggestions. First, we have to just forge ahead with pants. There will be accidents, but Lexi will eventually get it. Expect an adjustment time. Second, the legging pants I was putting her in might have been the problem. They might be too snug and feel too much like a diaper. So, they suggested using jeans or khakis instead. I never buy her jeans because they don't fit well over our cloth diapers. Since they don't stretch we'd have to size up, and then length becomes an issue. But sizing up on shorts works because length doesn't matter, and I don't like her to wear shorty shorts anyways. Anyways, I got her shorts out of storage and I saw a definite improvement. She still had some accidents, but she was actually recognizing that she had to go and made an effort to get to the potty. We're still working on pulling pants up and down. She can do it, but isn't very quick yet. We are making progress. 

Day 6: Four pees in the potty, one pee in pants, and one poop in the potty.

Progress! Lexi made it the whole day in the same pair of shorts until the end of the day when she had an accident. We switched on and off today between shorts and a skirt. The skirt is really easy for her to pull up and down and she still has that naked feeling, so she remembers to go to the potty. 

Every time she has an accident I just keep repeating myself, "pee pee goes in the potty, not in your pants". I show her the wet pants and ask her what happened? She says she had an accident. I ask where pee pee belongs? And she says in the potty. I say right, pee pee belongs in the potty, not in your pants. 

Day 7: Three pees in the potty, one poop in the potty 

Today we went to story time. It was the first time we've ventured out all week! I put her in a pull up, just in case, but I told Lexi we were still going to use the potty and pee doesn't belong in her pants. (We've been doing pull ups at night and calling them her "fancy nighttime underwear". We will tackle night training down the road.) She stayed dry the whole time! She really doesn't pee a lot in the mornings, so that definitely helped. I still don't have long jeans for her to wear and it's way too cold to wear shorts out, so that's why I did the pull up under her legging pants. One of our neighbors has some 3T jeans she said I could have, so I'm hoping to get those tomorrow. Then this weekend and next week we can work on doing outings while commando in jeans. I hope it works! 

Well, in one week of PTing we've gone from diapers full time, to 80% of pee and poop in the potty! Very exciting!! It's really true what they say, you have to wait until your kid is ready. Looking back now, I can see how Lexi just wasn't ready yet, even though I really wanted her to be. This time was soooo much easier than last time. We made so much progress just in that first day because things were actually clicking this time. She was ready this time. Lexi is on her way to being potty trained!! Yay!!! 

Lots of Love 

KJsbabe

Evan is 2 Months Old!

Evan is two months old now and getting huge! At his two month app he was 12lbs even and 24in long. He's getting so long! He's definitely not the little peanut that Lexi was. He's growing to quickly he's already getting into 6 month clothes. I bought a bunch of 6 and 9m cloth on clearance for him last fall, but they're all summer clothes. Short sleeves and shorts. Definitely not appropriate for March in Pennsylvania! I hope his growth slows down a little bit, just until it gets to be yard sale season at least, so I don't have to drop a bunch of money on clothes that he'll grow right out of. Come on spring!!

Little brother in the laundry basket

First baby smiles!

Evan caught his first cold at 6 weeks. KJ caught a cold from work, the next week Lexi and I caught it, and then a few days later Evan got it. I was really trying to avoid him getting sick. We haven't gone anywhere in eight weeks because I didn't want to take him out and get him sick. I'm so annoyed that he still got sick staying home all the time. It was pretty unavoidable once Lexi got, though. She was coughing and spreading her germs everywhere. Toddlers are seriously gross sometimes! It was a rough week and a half, but we are all healthy again, Evan included. I really hope that's the only cold he gets this year. 

Sister and brother in their matching rockers

Evan is such a happy boy! He loves to smile. It doesn't matter what time of day or night, he just smiles away. It's hard to be mad at him for getting up for the third time in a night when he's giving me that big gummy Evan smile :)

Birth announcement
 

Sleeping...
 

Lots of Love, 

KJsbabe

Newborn Pictures!

We had newborn pictures taken when Evan was three weeks old. We just got them back!

All pictures taken by the talented Carrie Harris Photography

















Lots of Love,
KJsbabe

Evan is 1 Month!

This month flew by! My squishy boy is already a month old! He's grown a lot! His birth wight was 8lbs 13oz, he lost over a pound by the time we left the hospital on day three because my milk didn't come in until day four. But since then he's gained like crazy. At his two week app he was back up to 9lbs even. Today, at four weeks, he's 11lbs 3oz. My little chunker! He spent about 2 1/2 weeks in new born clothes and is now in 3 months. The hospital gave us a nice fleece Halo sleep sack with the swaddle attached in size NB. He's already growing out of it, so I'm having to buy a 3-6m one with the swaddle now. The ones we already have don't have the swaddle and it really helps him sleep.

The end of our first and going into our second week was kind of rough. Evan had his new born doctor app at 5 days old. He looked fine, except for his circ. Our doctor wasn't available to do it at the hospital, so the NP in the nursery did it... And didn't do it well. It kept spotting at every diaper change while we were at the hospital, and while the NP said a little spotting was normal, it seemed like a lot to me. I kept telling the nurses about it and asking if it was normal and none of them really gave me a straight answer. So, at his app our doctor didn't like the way it was looking. The NP used the Plastibell method and didn't tie the string tight enough so the blood supply was not fully cut off on one part, so it wasn't falling off like it should. She told us to come back in a couple days to see how it was doing. We went back on day 8 and it was still the same, so our doctor had to fix it and remove it herself... That was fun. Obviously he was bleeding from the procedure, but he was clotting up pretty well by the time we left the office. She told us to leave his diaper alone for a few hours so he could clot well. I gave him about three hours and in that time I heard him poop twice (he's a really loud pooper!) so I figured I had better take care of it. I opened up his diaper and it was soaked with blood... I freaked out. That's definitely not a sight you ever want to see! He was actively bleeding so I had KJ call the doctor and see what to do, while I tried to clean him up. She had us run to the hospital to get this special clotting gauze called surgicel. She had looked for some at the office originally but was out of it. Once we got the gauze wrapped around the bleeding stopped   instantly. Thank goodness!! It took about three days for it to heal up completely after that. I was so glad when it was over!

Since the whole circ ordeal, though, things have been pretty smooth sailing. It's been really dry in our house so Evan's gotten pretty dried out and stuffed up from time to time. I've been using saline drops and that's really been helping to get the boogies out. He hates it, but he needs it.

And now for pictures!

Three days old


Showing some Steelers love
 

Lexi and I taking care of our babies


Trying out the pouch sling


First cloth diaper at 3 weeks. We had to wait to start them because of the whole circ ordeal.


Lexi cuddling Evan


Sister and brother <3


Floor time


Big yawn!


And asleep...


Napping on the quilt Grammie made.


Lots of Love,

KJsbabe

Evan Wesley's Birth Story

Short version: Evan Wesley was born Thursday, January 8, 2015 at 9:26am via repeat c-section, weighting 8lbs 13oz and 21in long. 

Long version: KJ and I arrived at the hospital at 5am Thursday morning. They got me admitted and in a bed to prep me for the c/s. When the nurse hooked me up to the monitor she asked of I was feeling the any of the contractions I was having. Honestly I wasn't! I had been getting a crampy AF feeling on and off for the two days prior, and figured it might be the very beginning stage of labor. Sometimes I would get a BH along with it, but since it didn't hurt I didn't think it was the real thing. Apparently it was! 

As I sat and waited for my c/s the contractions did start to get more uncomfortable and painful. By the time we were ready to go in they were 4 minuets apart. I'm pretty sure we would have been having a baby that day even with out the c/s! 

I had to wait much longer than anticipated for my c/s. We were supposed to start at 7am, but my doctor was late getting there. By the time he arrived we lost the anesthesiologist and had to wait for his next opening, which was 9am. So all the while I sat in an uncomfortable hospital bed, having real contractions, with a catheter in that hurt, in an insanely hot room. I got so warm at one point that DH opened the window for me. It was 15 degrees out and snowing, and felt great!

But once we actually got started, things went very smoothly. Evan Wesley was born at 9:26am weighing 8lbs 13oz and 21in long. He has strawberry blond hair, which was a bit of a surprise! Recovery has been up and down. The first day I felt like I had a major hang over. I was tired from getting up at 4am, dizzy all day from the meds (I couldn't see or think straight), and nauseous from the meds (I couldn't keep anything down). I did feel good enough to get out of bed and stand for a few minuets at the end of the day, though. Day two I felt much better. I had great pain killers, so no pain from the c/s. I did develop major swelling in my legs, though. I had compression stockings on my calves, but as soon as they came off my legs just ballooned. If you had looked at me from the thighs down you would have thought I weighted 500lbs! It was ridiculous! It was harder to move around because of my elephant legs than it was because of my c/s. Thankfully they have since started to deflate. I'm a week out now and they are pretty much back to normal. Other than that, I've been feeling good. My incision was sore for a few days, but I'm really feeling good now. 

Breastfeeding went really well the first day, Evan's a total natural. On day two he developed his super suck, though, and OMG it hurt!! My nipples quickly got very sore, and were cracked and bleeding. That's been something we've really had to work through. On day three my milk still hadn't come in and all he wanted to do was eat. He got very frustrated each time because he wasn't getting a lot, which made him suck even harder. Ouch!! But on day four my milk came in and things have improved a lot. Even though I'm completely engorged, he's much more satisfied. When he's happy, I'm happy. 

Lexi adores her baby brother! She's always wanting to help hold him or hug and kiss him. It warms my heart to see how much she has accepted him into our family and how excited she's been to meet him. I forgot how tiny new borns are! It's amazing that she started out that small and is now such a big girl! 

I'm just so happy our little boy is finally here and in my arms! 

Evan and proud big sister Lexi!

Mr Bright Eyes

Going home outfit

Momma and Evan

Big sister, Daddy, and Evan

Home at last

Finally home and comfy

Lots of Love, 

KJsbabe

My Boy is Here!

Introducing Evan Wesley Jackson! He was born at 9:26 this morning. He's 8lbs 13oz and 21in long. He has strawberry blond hair and is pretty perfect. He has KJ's nose and looks a lot like his big sister. 

It's so nice to finally have him here! Our little family of four is complete <3

Lots of Love, 

KJsbabe

Joanna Rose

Today I am heartbroken. A very dear friend of mine lost her baby over the weekend. She was 26w and had just had an app last Monday. Her baby seemed to be healthy and growing then. The last time she felt the baby kick was Christmas morning so she went to the ER to get checked out on Saturday. She texted me Sunday morning to tell me the sad news. 

I'm just so heartbroken for my friend. This is the same friend who had a miscarriage in April right before I got pregnant. She got pregnant again in July and everything seemed to be going well. She had good betas and a great early ultrasound. The baby was growing right on track... And now they're not. Just like that, her baby is gone. This is so unfair. 

My dear sweet friend is the best person I know. She is sweet, loving, kind, and generous. She loves The Lord with all of her heart. How could He let this happen to her? She's always wanted to be a mom. Even as kids growing up, she always loved babies (even when they grossed me out) and would talk about having a whole bunch of them when she grew up. She was meant to be a mother. She is the last person on Earth that this should have happened to. 

Joanna Rose was born sleeping at 8:07 tonight. Rest in peace, sweet girl.

Photo by Carlie Marie The Seashore of Remembrance

Lots of Love,

KJsbabe

8 Months - 32 Weeks!

Another month down! We are getting there! 

Ugh, not that I've had a lot of energy to begin with the entire pregnancy, but third tri fatigue has hit me hard. I'm so freaking tired all the time. More than once I've fallen asleep on the couch while Lexi watched Frozen. She's such a sweet girl. She puts a blanket on me, whispers "night-night mommy", and kisses me on the cheek. 

30 weeks

Another awesome thing I've been dealing with is being insanely warm all the time. It's 20 degrees outside and I'm wearing a tank top! Mornings are the worst. I get out of the shower, get dressed, and I can't cool off for the life of me. I usually have to stand out side for a minuet to feel better. I also can't drink hot tea, coffee, or hot chocolate because it makes me too hot. For once I've been really grateful for the cold weather!

The third tri aches and pains have set in. My belly gets sore a lot. It's uncomfortable to lay, sit, stand, everything. I'm so, so grateful for this healthy baby boy, but I'm looking forward to being done. Truthfully, I'm looking forward to be done with TTC, trying to stay pregnant, and the aches and pains of pregnancy. I'm looking forward to completing our family. I'm looking forward to closing this chapter of my life and moving on and just enjoying our little family of four. 

My apps have been going well. I'm going every two weeks now. Nothing really exciting to report. Baby boy seems to be doing well. I haven't been doing actual kick counts, but he moves a lot throughout the day. Some days are slower than others, but I always feel him here and there. My only concern is that at my past couple apps his heart rate has been around 130. I feel like that's low. Lexi always stayed around 150. On my Doppler at home some days he's 130 and other he's 150.

32 week comparison - Lexi in pink and baby boy in blue

How far along? 32 weeks

Total weight gain: 28lbs... I don't want to talk about it...

Maternity clothes? Yes. I still hate my pants. And now my favorite yoga pants are getting tight...

Stretch marks? Nope

Sleep: Most nights are ok, but I'm still dealing with the once or twice a week insomnia. Either I can't fall asleep to begin with, or I wake up in the middle of the night and can't get back to sleep.

Best moment this month: Feeling lots of movement. Baby boy is definitely a mover!

Miss Anything? Not having heartburn every night.

Movement: Most days he moves a lot, but every couple days he'll have a quiet day and it'll freak me out.

Food cravings: Fruit and yogurt Special K cereal

Anything making you queasy or sick: Not really

Gender prediction: Still boy :)

Labor Signs: none

Symptoms: heart burn, swelling, 

Belly Button in or out? Out. Way, way out.

Wedding rings on or off? Off. I made it to 31weeks and then my fingers started to swell a lot. They're just not comfortable any more. I broke out my fake ring I wore last time, but it turns my finger green.

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy, but tired

Looking forward to:  Being done

Next app: November 21 and December 1

Lots of Love,

KJsbabe

Adventures In Potty Training - Round 1

I'm doing the "Oh Crap" potty training method with Lexi

Day 1 10/13

It's the end of day one and I'm exhausted. Lexi peed 10 times today. One was a complete miss because she ran away from me, two were completely in the potty because I made her sit, and seven were caught mid stream and most of it got in the potty. She likes to help me dump her pee in the big potty and flush. Then we wave and say "bye bye pee pee!". She didn't like the couple times I told her to sit on the potty. She got mad and said "no I not sit on the potty at all!" She is a crotch grabber. 8 out of 10 times she peed today she grabbed herself and then peed any where from a couple seconds to a few minuets later. She did good at nap time, no peeing. I put her to bed without a diaper. She peed about an hour before bed, but didn't right before. She was willing to sit on the potty (improvement from earlier in the day) and sat for about 10 mins and didn't pee. I'm going to try to have her go around 10:30... If I can stay up for another hour. I'm seriously so tired. No poop today.

I couldn't find a potty chart that I liked, so I made one up myself with her favorite characters. She gets a sticker every time she gets some pee in the potty, sits on the potty, or helps her toys "go to the potty"

Day 2 10/14

Last night Lexi peed somewhere between 12 and 3. I tried to have her go at 12 and she didn't. I checked her at 3 and she was wet (changed just her pants, not the sheets). She had almost dried by 7 when she got up for the day, so she only peed the one time. I'm going to have her try at 1 tonight. 

I wish I saw some definitive progress today, but it was pretty much the same if not worse than yesterday. We started off the day with a 99% miss. I waited and waited for her to pee, finally I had to pee myself. So we went up stairs, I peed, then sat her on the big potty with her Ariel seat. She sat for a minuet and then said "I want off!! I all done!" So I let her off. She ran into mine and KJ's bedroom and peed yelling "I leaking mommy!" I ran and tried to get her back to the potty, but all that really happened was we just spread the pee everywhere. She did poop on the potty this morning, one tiny nugget. She was really proud of making poo poo in the potty. She finally did really poop in the afternoon, but it ended up on the floor. She had just peed, we flushed it, and then I thought I would have a couple minuets to start some laundry (bed sheets from last night). When I came back up stairs she ran to me and said "mommy! My big poo poo fell on the floor!" I was huge, poor girl! Lol I had her help me clean it up and flush it. While I was finishing up she pooped again. "Mommy, I have another tiny poo poo!" Well, at least she's getting used to not pooping in a diaper. 

She peed eight times today, two complete misses, two completely in the potty, and four mid streams. She was willing to sit on the potty when I told her to, which is an improvement from yesterday. I know was over prompting her, though. She kept faking me out by itching herself. I need to get better about reading her signs. I tried to take her outside to play because it was beautiful out today. She had peed not long before, so I put pants on her (commando), and we went out. Not five minuets later she peed her pants. One step forward, one steep back. I'm feeling discouraged. I don't know if we're ever going to get out of "block one".

Day 3 10/15

Day three did not go well. In fact momma's pregnancy hormones took over and I cried most of the day. Not good. I posted on a mommy's group I'm in. A lot of the moms have already gone though PT or are training now. It went a little something like this: 

Day 3 of potty training (ocpt) and I'm so, so discouraged. I feel like we've made zero progress. I've done nothing but stare at her, play with her, and follow her around the house with the potty for the past 3 days and I'm still only catching pees mid stream. I've missed a couple completely. She never gives the same signal twice. One time she'll grab herself, the next she'll run away from me, the next she'll look down as she starts to pee. I truly suck at this. I feel so bad because it's not her, it's me. She's willing to sit on the potty when I tell her and she's excited when she gets some in the potty. I'm a mess, though. I actually cried twice today when I didn't catch her in time she 90% of the pee went on the floor. I'm sure that's sending her the worst message ever, "peeing on the potty makes mommy cry". I just can't keep it together. :(

The general consensus is that she's just not ready. I really thought she was because she's been showing a lot of the readiness signs. But most everyone said that it shouldn't be this hard. She should be catching on more by now. If she's not getting it, she's just not getting. She's still on the young side and there are a lot of changes on the horizon. If I'm getting stressed out to the point of tears I'm not going to be an effective teacher. 

I hate to just up and put her back in diapers, though. We've been focusing so much on potty things and I don't want to confuse her. I also really hate to give up after all the work we've done in the last three days. I think we're going to try pull ups for a while and just take it one dat at a time. 

Day 4 10/16

Well today was much less stressful. We still worked on potty things, but it was much less pressure. Lexi and I even ventured out of the house in a pull up! First time we've been out of the house since Sunday! No real improvements today. I tried putting her in underwear and pants to play in the back yard and told her to keep Elsa clean and dry (Frozen undies), just to see what happened. She pooped, and now she keeps saying "I pooped on Elsa". I guess I won't do that again. I don't want her to get into the habit of going in her undies. 

Day 7 10/20

Well, I guess I didn't realize pull ups would be so much like diapers. When Lexi wears them she treats them just like a diaper. She still tells me when she starts peeing, which I guess is a good sign, but they aren't really helping us a long by any means. I put her back in a regular pocket diaper today and she wasn't phased at all.  *sigh* I guess attempt #1 is over. I'm bummed. I might try again in a month, or just wait until after baby boy is here.

Lots of Love,
KJsbabe

Hello Third Tri! 28 Weeks

Woo hoo! Hello third tri! 12 weeks to go! 

We're getting there! Sometimes it seems like the pregnancy is flying by, and sometimes it feels like I'm right where I should be. 

Well, I made it running as far as 25 weeks. Not quite my goal, but considering I didn't run at all with Lexi, it's better than nothing. I wanted to make it to 30 weeks, or until the weather got too bad, but truthfully I just couldn't hack it any more. Lexi and I would go to the park in the mornings, I would make it though my run (I cut back to 3.2), Lexi would play for a while at the play ground, we'd go home for lunch, and then I would completely crash. I got to the point where I was too tired to even function. I had no energy to play with Lexi, or make dinner, or really do anything more than sit on the couch. This baby loves to suck my energy! I also was getting really bad stitches under my belly every time I ran. Normally I only get them once in a blue moon. I usually clench my abs and they go away in a couple minuets, but my "abs" disappeared around 12 week, so it didn't really help any more. So, I had to quit running for now. Don't worry, I'll be back at it as soon as I'm cleared to exercise again after my c-section. 

My belly button is officially an outie. 26 weeks and there it is! Yikes! It never popped with Lexi. I don't know why it popped this time and so early. 

Another fun thing I've been dealing lately are hot flashes and dizzy spells. I've had three of them in the past month. Once in the morning before I ate breakfast, once in the middle of the night, and once in the morning while eating breakfast. Each time I got really, really warm, the time at night I woke up sweating. I got dizzy, my eyes went fuzzy, and I was nauseous. Really, really fun. I talked to my doctor about it at my 26w4d app. He said it sounds like low blood sugar. So to prevent it I'm supposed to have snacks throughout the day, especially right before bed and first thing in the morning.  

Also at my 26w4d app, my belly was measuring big at 28w, so my doctor had me go for an u/s. I hadn't seen baby boy since our a/s, so it was nice to see his face again :) And he's still a boy :) The tech said "yup, I see some boy stuff down there." He was measuring ahead at  27w5d. Lexi always measured right on, so I think he's going to be a bigger baby than she was. KJ thinks he's going to come early on his own since he's so far ahead. We'll see, I guess!

I also did my GTT at 26w and passed :) We are also in double digit days to go! 

How far along? 28 weeks

Total weight gain: 24lbs... Again I don't even want to talk about it... Since I stopped running I'm still eating like normal, but I'm obviously not burning the calories I was. I lost the weight before, I will do it again. 

Maternity clothes? Yes. Tops and bottoms. My yoga pants are getting tight :(

Stretch marks? Nope

Sleep: Ok. At least once a week I wake up in the middle of the night and can't get back to sleep. I'm either hungry, or baby boy is kicking the crap out of me, or I just can't get comfortable. FYI There's nothing on tv at 4am. 

Best moment this month: Getting to see baby boy again on the u/s :)

Miss Anything? Being able to wear my cute jeans.

Movement: Tons! Oh man this boy is active! Anterior placenta?? What's that??

Food cravings: cinnamon toast crunch, pumpkin spice decaf coffee

Anything making you queasy or sick: Lots of heart burn already. Anything the tiniest bit greasy or spicy and I'm popping tums all night. 

Gender prediction: Still boy :)

Labor Signs: none

Symptoms: Heartburn, fatigue

Belly Button in or out? Out! Yikes!

Wedding rings on or off? On, but getting tighter.

Happy or Moody most of the time: Tired, but happy.

Looking forward to: Getting bigger, because that means baby boy is getting bigger, which means he'll be here soon! 

Next app: Oct 20, I'm at every two weeks now! 

Lots of Love,

KJsbabe

Lexi-Pie - My Little Toddler

I'm going to start doing quarterly updates on Lexi. Since she's getting older she's not hitting a new milestone every month like when she was a baby. We're in toddler land now! 

Summer obsession: bubbles... seriously, this kid wants to blow bubbles for freaking hours...

 

Helping unload the dishwasher
 

So, since Lexi turned two in June she has been a busy little girl (not a big girl because as she says, "I still little"). We've been going to the park a lot to jog and play. Social situations have actually taken a huge step back this summer. She had been doing pretty well, still shy, but she was ok with being around and playing with other kids. But then we had a couple play ground incidents where some random little kid ran up to Lexi and screamed in her face for no reason. It happened once with KJ and once with me. I seriously hate other kids sometimes. When it happened with me it scared her so badly the poor girl just clung to me for dear life and balled her eyes out. Since then she's literally been terrified when she sees another kid at the play ground. I think she expects every kid to be scary now like those two little a-holes were. I've talked to her so many times about how it's ok to be nervous, but that most kids are really nice. And that I know she got scared, but mommy and daddy were there and she always safe with us. I feel so bad for her and I really don't know what to do. I know avoiding social situations is not going to make it better, but it's always such a disaster when we go out and try to play. She's fine with adults and older kids, but with kids her age or size she just looses it. It make me sad. :(

A new love: parades! She loves, loves parades and asks to go to one at least once a week!

Running beside the stroller because she wants to "run like mommy does" :D Love that!!

For her birthday Lexi got the movie Frozen... We are officially Frozen obsessed! She seriously can't get enough of this movie. She "sings" all the songs and acts out different parts. She loves to knock on the door and does the whole "do you want to build a snowman" bit. It's freaking adorable!! I got her a set of plush Anna and Elsa dolls and she's in love with them. They sleep with her every night. When we play she's always Anna and I'm Elsa.

Looking at herself in the mirror with her Anna doll

For Lexi's Halloween costume, I asked her a bunch of times what she wanted to dress up as. I didn't want her to say one thing, I make her costume, and then have her decide she wanted to be something else. So first she wanted to be Daniel, then Katerina, then she finally settled on Anna. I really like how her costume turned out! I spent about $13 on the material and trim, so less than it would have been to buy one, and this way when every other girl is dressed up like Anna or Elsa she'll look a little different. :) 

First French braids!

She's really gotten into playing dress up in the past couple weeks. She has a Tinkerbelle shirt and I got her a green tutu to wear with it, so she says she looks like Tink. She also loves her Ariel shirts. I found one at a yard sale that she calls her sparkle Ariel shirt and asks to wear it just about every day. That was $2 well spent! 

The Tinkerbelle outfit


My little tree hugger in her sparkle Ariel shirt. This shirt gets a lot of wear!

Lexi continues to love books. I've read some to her so many times that she has them memorized. She'll sit and "read" them to herself now and recite them pretty close to word for word! I love that she loves to read. I'm really trying to nurture that love so it continues when she gets into school. (Not this year, probably next fall we'll start her in preschool a couple days a week)

Lexi got this doll house for her 1st birthday, but only really started playing with it recently. She loves it now!

Other things, she learned how to pick her nose shortly after her birthday. So, now I'm constantly saying "don't pick your nose" and "get your finger out of your nose". She's a little parrot and repeats pretty much everything I say. Her favorite phrase right now is "don't worry, I promise". She also imitates Daniel Tiger a lot. She pretends to be mad and grrr, or wants to "twirl like Katareina does", or wants to rub noses and say "ugga mugga". She's working on dressing and undressing herself. She can take her jacket and shoes off, sort of pull her pants up, and put her shirt on and off. 

We're heading towards potty training. Lexi is starting to show a lot of the readiness signs, so I think it's time we get more serious about it. Right now we talk a lot about using the potty and practice when she asks to. We have a couple potty books. Princess of the Potty is a good one. It explains step by step how to use the potty, which some of the other books just kind of glaze over it, which isn't terribly helpful. She has yet to actually pee on the potty and doesn't always want to sit on it when I suggest it. So, I'm reading up about it and trying to come up with a game plan. The more I think about it the more I think it will be easier to PT before baby boy comes and deal with possible regression, than to wait and PT after he gets here.

Singing "The Elsa song" (Let it Go) on her "stage" with her "microphone" (the top of my turkey baster lol)


Lexi has been asking for weeks to go to the zoo (thanks DT!) so we all went to the Pittsburgh Zoo on mine and KJ's anniversary. The carousel was the highlight of the trip!


A very tired momma and a happy Lexi :)
 

Lexi is bigger than a 3 month old rhinoceros! 
 

Lots of Love,
KJsbabe