31 - week appt

31 weeks and 3 days! Wowza!

My appointment today went very well! I had a lot of issues to discuss with the doctor, but everything is fine. The baby's heartbeat was nice and strong! I love being able to hear her heart beating :-)

In terms of weight gain... gulp... a whopping 21 pounds to date. Not bad actually ;-) LOL! I gained 45 pounds with Brock. With less than 9 weeks left of this pregnancy, I really hope I don't gain another 20 pounds.

In the last few weeks, I feel like I have hit a wall. Physically, I am exhausted! Some days I have to take 2 naps! Its annoying, but I cannot function otherwise. I've been having some cramping, but the doctor didn't seem too concerned. She checked everything and said that my cervix is still long and closed. So that's a good thing :-)

Let the remodeling begin!

We are TOTALLY slacking on getting Lillian's room done. We haven't even started it and I only have 9 weeks left before she is born! OMG!

Here is a list of what has to be done in order to start on her bedroom (which is currently my office):

1) Completely empty out our bedroom, wash the mound of clothes on the floor, build our IKEA wardrobe closet.
2) Finish building the canopy for the fish tank that will be going in our room
3) Take apart the current fish tank from my office and put in new tank in our room
4) Remove all of my office furniture (huge desk, book case, and storage shelves)
5) Tear up carpet in the office and get harwood floors installed in what will be Lilly's room
6) Begin filling her room with the crib, rocking chair, clothes in closet, dresser, etc.
7) Move fish tank from living room into Brock's room

Wow! Before #1 was to purchase an Armoire Desk to put into the living room. This will now be my work space... which brings me to today's post! Here's my new armoire desk. I love it!!!  Here it is with our stockings (they'll be embroidered next year):

Here is the inside (I just added our other computer & my fax machine while these were loading, so hopefully one day I will update the blog with the finished inside!

 

Here's our cat, Joker checking things out when we brought the desk home:

 

Think he likes it?

Well look forward to lots and lots of updates in the next 9 weeks as we move into this remodeling stage! Wish us luck that we are able to get Lillian's bedroom finished before her arrival!

Tis the season to be giving!

I love this time of year! A few years ago, Spike and I adopted a little girl for Christmas from the Salvation Army and got to buy her tons of things from her Christmas list :-) It was awesome!

Last year, my mother-in-law heard on the radio about a charity event they were having. Its called "Stuff A Bus" and you just bring unwrapped gifts and literally stuff a school bus! Each year, my mother-in-law sets a budget for each of us for our Christmas gifts. Last year, she asked if she could take a part of our Christmas budget and use it to purchase toys for the Stuff A Bus. Of course we were all on-board with it!  I wasn't able to go last year because I had just had Brock.

But this year, (today actually) we all met up at Target and each of us had a cart to fill with toys! After that, we went to the bus location and filled it up! We had 3 cars FULL of toys!!! It was soooo cool! The radio hosts were more than grateful for our donation :-) It was so cold outside and they had 3 people helping us unload the cars. It all happened so fast, I wasn't able to get any pictures of our trunks :-( But I got one of the bus and one of us inside the bus!

 

 

 

 

Just a quick shout-out!

I just wanted to thank Jenni for her background layout and letting people access them for free! She always has THE CUTEST backgrounds :-) Check out her blog to see more :-) Just click on her name in the first sentence or link to it from my "Nest Friends" list on the right. She is mrs jenni in my list.

For my own memory...

Before I forget... Brock is officially a walking toddler :-( He's only been walking for about a week. I thought I would post in on here since this is where I go when I have questions about how old Brock was when he hit other milestones.

We don't have too much going on right now except for getting ready for the holidays.... always a stressful time for me, but like every year, I'll get through it!

Here is my belly at 28 weeks:

Here is a picture of Brock from this weekend. We were trying to take our family picture for our Christmas card. I'm not happy with the picture that's going on the card (mostly bc Brock wasn't wearing socks or shoes - it was bedtime and I took him out of his jammies to take the picture), but whatever. I'll get over it! I'll post it after I mail the cards out :-)

Brock's off the bottle!

Over the last few weeks, we have transitioned Brock from all bottle to all sippy cup for his milk! We started just giving him milk in a sippy for one feeding a day and he did just fine. Then we started taking away another bottle and substituting for the sippy. The last bottle I took away was his morning bottle. He never fussed and didn't even have a care in the world!

When we originally wanted to have Brock drinking out of sippy cups, we got him this one: 

He actually ended up using it as a teether because he still didn't get the whole "suck" thing. So I put this one away for a few months and bought him this one instead:

 This second one is the Nuby brand with a soft silicone nipple (these can be purchased at Target and Babies R Us). It was much easier for him to get the "suck" concept because the nipple was softer like his bottle nipples. So we got him used to drinking his water only out of this cup. Then one day I put milk in it. Once he had the whole "sucking" down, I brought out the Born Free sippy and he's been drinking milk out of it since! So he only drinks milk out of the Born Free cup and water/juice out of his Nuby cup!

This past weekend I put all of his bottles away! YAY Brock!

We're still working on the formula to whole milk transition. Slowly but surely! Right now I'm giving him 4 oz of formula and then 4 or 5 oz of whole milk. Depending on which size Born Free cup I use. We were using the 7oz cup, but I just bought him the 9 oz cups this weekend.

Oh, I originally bought him the training cup by Born Free. The ones I got this weekend were drinking cups and had a bigger hole for free flowing. The milk comes out soooo much faster. Brock's had about 4 cup fulls total since we bought them and he's getting better about not making a huge mess when he drinks out of them!

Our little girl FINALLY has a name!!!!

OMG! I feel like it took us forever and a day to agree on a name for the baby. So... her name will be Lillian Estelle :-) YAY!

BROCK'S 1st STEPS!!!!!!

Brock has been taking like one or two steps and then falling for the last 2 days. Well when daddy came home from work today, Brock had other plans for us!

Update on baby #2!

I haven't forgotten about her! LOL! I know I haven't posted very much about this pregnancy. I'm so busy with Brock I just don't get around to posting much about her and what's going on with the pregnancy.

So... I'm officially 25 weeks pregnant! OMG! Just about to head into my 3rd trimester... OMG again! I cannot believe how fast this pregnancy has gone by.

I had an appt 2 weeks ago when I was 23 weeks. Everything looked great. Weight gain so far has only been 10 pounds. I feel like I've gained an additional 10 pounds in the last 2 weeks too! As long as I don't gain 45 pounds like I did with Brock, I'll be happy :-) I remember this time with Brock my doctor had been giving me the 3rd degree about exercising and watching my weight... blah blah blah! So far, she hasn't said that, so we're good! My next appointment is November 18th and I'll have my Glucose Tolerance test that day to test for Gestational Diabetes. I didn't have it with Brock, so hopefully we're good this time around too. I ended up finding out I was anemic at my 27 week appt with Brock. So hopefully its not the case this time... although it might explain some of my fatigue.

She still doesn't have a name :-( But I think we're getting close! Spike's grandma's middle name was Estelle. We had thought about using Estelle as a middle name because we both like the name and think it's beautiful. Just the other night though, we were talking about it and are thinking that maybe we'll use Estelle as a 1st name since its really the only name we can agree on for her! So we'll see. We still have a little time (about 3 months) to figure it out. So if you have any suggestions for girl names, we're taking them! Just leave a post :-) Thanks!

So in terms of a theme for her room, we're going to do pink and green since the walls in the room are already green. Here is the bedding we've picked out from Baby GAP:

She's starting to kick a lot stronger now. This is my favorite part of pregnancy! I think its because I can share a little more of the pregnancy with Spike when he can feel the baby kicking and rolling around :-) ::happy tears::

Anyway, I'll try to post a few belly pictures and some comparison pictures so you can see what I look like this pregnancy compared to my pregnancy with Brock.

1 Year Well-Visit

I meant to post this days ago... but you know my story. LOL

Anyhow, here are Brock's stats:

Height: 30in (75%)
Weight: 20lbs (25%)

The doctor was very pleased with Brock's development thus far. She's still not 100% happy about his weight, but he's tall and extremely active, so that's why. He'll catch up!

We started the transition to whole milk a few days before his birthday. Well the day before his birthday he came down with a really bad cold, which resulted in a right-ear infection :-( To top that off, he had his second top tooth breaking through. So needless to say, he was in pain, super crabby, had diarrhea, and a really bad diaper rash. We had no clue that he had an ear infection until we went to his well-visit, which was 2 days after his birthday. He was put on ammoxicillan for about 8 days. I'm not convinced the ear infection has cleared up because he's still grabbing at his ear and waking up screaming in the middle of the night. So we're back to the doctor on Wednesday for an ear re-check and the seasonal flu shot.

Its been a pretty miserable few weeks because we didn't know if the diarrhea was related to the whole milk, the antibiotics, or the teething. So we had to eliminate dairy for 48 hours last week... he seemed better until today, which was the first time I gave him 2oz of whole milk with 6oz formula and he had diarrhea. So I'm going to have to see if there's another type of milk I should try since he has been on soy formula.

About 11 days after his visit, he started getting a rash all over his body. They were little read bumps, but they weren't raised and didn't seem to bother him. I called the nurse and she felt that it was a reaction to the MMR shot he was given. Thankfully it started to clear up over the weekend. I was actually worried he was getting chicken pox!

Now the diaper rash is back and I am starting to think that maybe this time it is his cloth diapers. So I'm going to have to see if maybe I'm not rinsing them enough or if he's having a reaction to the detergent I'm using on them. I don't know! But I do know that I cannot afford disposable diapers right now... So hopefully I can fix this whole diaper rash thing! It stinks cause I can't put any ointment on him for his rash when he's in cloth diapers because it can ruin the cloth diaper.

Happy Halloween!

Here's our little Yoda on his 2nd Halloween:

We ended up taking Brock to the Zoo on Thursday night for their annual Zoo Boo event. It was a cute way for kids to get out and have a little Halloween fun! We walked a 1 1/2 mile path and were able to stop at about 9 "treat stations" along the way. The path went through two indoor exhibits too! There was also a little show they put on under a tent. I have some pictures, but as usual, they haven't been uploaded yet... sorry! I'll get to it! And besides, I have a million things to blog about!!

On the day of Halloween, we went to a high school football game in the afternoon. It was Spike's alma mater vs our nieces high school... which also happens to be full of kids Spike coached when they played for the city as 8 year old kids :-) So it was pretty cool to be at the game. We of course sat on the alma mater's side!

The evening of Halloween, we kept Brock inside with us and he helped to pass out the candy. A little girl came to the door and was like, "Oh how cute! A turtle!" LOL! It was hilarious!

Vote for Brock!!!

Hey everyone!

Spike and I entered Brock into the GAP Casting Call. Please vote for him!! You can vote for him once every 24 hours.

Simply visit http://family.go.com/gapcastingcall/ and enter his ID number 604109829

Gap is selecting 20 finalists for this year's Gap Casting Call (five baby boys, five baby girls, five boys and five girls). In December, America will vote to decide the four contest winners (one from each category) who will be featured in Gap store windows nationwide in February 2010.

Brock is in the Baby Boy category!

In addition to the above, the 20 finalists will receive:

* Professional Gap photo shoot
* $500 Gap GiftCard redeemable for a babyGap or GapKids wardrobe
* Deluxe Disney gift bags


Thank you for your support!!

Spike, Larissa, and Brock

What our lives have come to...

So last night, Spike and I were getting ready for bed. First, I was cuddling him and was like, "um... your armpits smell like crayon shavings!" LOL! So we laughed for a second and tried falling asleep. A few minutes later I had to flip sides, so I flipped and Spike cuddled me. Then he takes a big whiff of my neck and goes, "um... you smell like A&D Ointment!" LMAO! I was like, "yeah? maybe because I have been rubbing A&D all over your sons a$$ all day!" LOL! So we laughed a little more, and Spike says "OMG! What have our lives come to?!?!!" It was a total "you had to be there" moment. We couldn't stop laughing! We don't know why his armpits smelled like crayon shavings (could have just been my pregnancy hormones), or why my neck smelled like A&D! LOL! Whatever. It's all good!! We wouldn't trade our lives for anything!

More Birthday Party Pictures

This was Brock's smash cake! My mom made this cake and the one in the previous post which was for everyone else.

Favors for the older kids

Favors for the younger kids

Both of the favor containers were filled with Halloween candy, yo-yo's, Halloween tattoos, spider rings, and Halloween erasers. They were a pretty big hit! They came out so cute :-)


Brock and my mom


Napkin holders! Seriously, my mom is so cute! The kids LOVED these!

Singing to the Birthday Boy!

Not sure what to do with the cake!





He really loved his birthday cake

Playing with his cousins

Brock giving the sign for "More." I forgot to tell you we're teaching him basic signing! It is a lot of fun!!






Happy 1st Birthday buddy! We love you more than you'll ever know!

Brock's 1st Birthday Party!

As mentioned in the previous post, we celebrated Brock's birthday with our family this past weekend since his actual birthday was on Wednesday. Brock had a great time - even without his afternoon nap!

My mom went all-out with the decorations, but as usual, everything was perfect!! There were lots of munchies and dessert, including cake & ice cream, cup cakes, and cookies.

We originally planned on inviting family and friends, but in the end decided to just do Brock's grandparents, aunts/uncles, and cousins. I missed having my girlfriends (and their kids) there to share this milestone with, but there will be many more birthday parties to share with them!

Brock LOVED all of his gifts. I wish I captured this on video, but as he was opening gifts he would say, "YAY!" It was sooooo cute! So cute!! I do have a video of him playing with one of his walking toys, but I have to upload it off of the video camera still.

Anyway, here are some pictures!!

The birthday boy!

Decorations and the spread




TO BE CONTINUED... (Blogger is having some issues and I can't upload pictures at the moment. Will try again in the morning).

Happy 1st Birthday Brock!!

1st Birthday?!! OMG! What a difference a year makes!



Since Brock's birthday fell on a weekday, we're having a birthday party for him on Saturday! It is going to be Halloween themed and I cannot wait to show you all of the fun stuff we have!!

Time for a little reflection on the last 12 months.

Brock came into this world and changed our lives drastically! I remember how incredibly nervous we were to have the responsibility of raising this little baby! Here we sit tonight, way more confident in our parenting abilities, but still extremely nervous of what's to come.

Brock has taught us to love more deeply and to enjoy every single second of every single day. There isn't a time (unless its in a moment of tantrum) that I don't look at that boy and get the biggest smile on my face! He just brings us so much joy! He is a kind, old soul. He loves making people laugh with his silliness! His laugh is contagious!

Some new things in Brock's world:

- He says "thank you."
- He is soooo close to taking his first step! So we're officially on "First Step Watch!"
- He has recently started trying to feed himself with his spoon/fork (super messy)!
- He says "tickle, tickle, tickle" and literally leans into you with his hands out and tries to tickle you!
- He blows kisses
- He says 'Buh-bye'

I can't believe an entire year has come and gone :-( I look forward to watching our boy grow into a man with all of the values we will have instilled in him.

So here's to you Brock! Happy Birthday pumpkin! We love you so much!!

Love,
Mom & Dad

We're back!!

We made it home from our wonderful 8 day vacation to AZ to visit my sister! Brock was AMAZING on the flight to and from AZ. You would have never known he was on the plane! I couldn't believe how well-behaved he was. I was so proud of him. It took him about 2-3 days to flip his schedule to 3 hours before our time.

Anyway, we did soooo much and took lots of pictures. Here is a list of things we did:

- World Wildlife Zoo & Aquarium
- Visit (quick drive through) Sedona, AZ
- Grand Canyon
- Visit to Scottsdale, AZ
- Drove to Las Vegas where we walked the strip for 2 days and saw Penn & Teller perform live!!
- Tour of Hoover Dam

I still have to upload some more pictures from the camera, but here is just a sampling of pictures:


My sister and her boyfriend, Zubie. His real name is Dan, but we call him Zubie.



Brock being silly in the car! He loves to hide things on top of his head. It cracks him up!



This picture cracks me up every time! Brock was trying to leap out of my hands over the railing!

LOL! Look at the lady's face behind my sister

Ok, I'll add more pictures tomorrow! Gotta go to bed!