Jack's Orange Shirt Picture

Can't believe Jack is almost 13 months and I'm just now posting these! I took Jack's orange shirt pictures a few weeks ago. They turned out adorable...he's such a ham for Mommy's camera (for now).

Here was the last time the orange shirt was out- 

And here is our big one year old...his first time actually IN the shirt-

He is going to kill me when he gets older for making him wear this. I can see it now...a senior in high school and he's squeezing into a women's size medium bright orange shirt. Poor kid. At least it isn't pink. :)

Last of My Orange Shirt Pictures

I can't believe Jack has been here for a whole week already. It is starting to feel "normal" to have 2 kids...we'll see what happens after help leaves though. Haha. Jack is doing great, he had his first doctor's appointment yesterday weighing in at 8 lbs 10 oz...he's gaining an ounce a day but was there any question he wouldn't reach his birth weight soon? That butterball sure likes to eat!

Layla has been doing great in the role of big sister. I'll post another blog soon with some sweet pictures of them. She's been a huge help, her favorite job so far is to get diapers out of the box and stock up his pack 'n play and room with them. Cinderella, Cinderella....I know but we don't tell her to! She just does it. I love her.

We decided to take our last orange picture on my due date (today). So here we go!

And a quick recap (I'll do a better one later!):

38 weeks...almost there!

I can't believe how fast the second pregnancy goes. As miserable as I am right now I thought time would slow down...but it only seems to go faster! Thursday early morning I woke up with lots of cramping and contractions and I was pretty convinced Jack was going to be making his debut a little early. Nope! He listened to Mommy and has decided to stay until I'm ready...Tuesday at 5:30 AM is showtime. ;o)

Tomorrow is our last day as a family of 3. I don't even know what to think about this. It feels so weird to be welcoming a new baby (normal??). Part of me feels like this isn't really even happening. The room is done, swing is out, bottles are washed and my stomach could not possibly stretch anymore...but I just don't think I'll believe it until I see him.

Layla is totally psyched. She's ready to meet Jack, tells us she wants to hold him and will kiss and hug him. I might be more anxious about seeing them for the first time together than I am about actually having a csection at this point. And for those of you that know how anxious I am about the surgery, you know this is a big deal. I hope things go smoothly, I hope she loves him at least for the first few minutes and I hope that going from a 3 person family to 4 is going to be a lot easier than I think.

We are going in on Tuesday knowing NOTHING about Jack. I have no clue what he looks like or even have a guess on weight. We haven't had an ultrasound since 18 weeks and only got a 3D at our 9 weeks...so weird compared to our weekly "meetings" at the end with Layla. I don't expect him to look anything like Layla, but then again I never expected Layla to look like Layla so maybe we'll end up with another blonde hair, blue eyed child? LOL. I hope he's happy, healthy, screams like his sister when he comes out, nurses well (PLEASE GOD) and goes easy on us.

We took my last orange shirt picture yesterday. I was so glad to fold that puppy up. I can't believe how HUGE I am. I know I'll be glad I did this in a few years but geez...it is hard to squeeze into that shirt for the last time. It's even harder to edit the pictures...no need for 100x zoom this time. LOL.

So pray we have an EASY delivery, good recovery and a happy/healthy baby to bring home to Layla on Thanksgiving. And pray for Layla as she takes on the VERY important role of big sister. And for all our family coming to visit and traveling over the next month to see us (we are SOOOO grateful!). Good bye belly, hello baby...one more day!

34 weeks!

So I'm running behind AGAIN! I really thought I was going to be good at this but all motivation has come to a halt...all I want to do is lay on the couch, drink ice cold water and concentrate on breathing.

I'm fairly miserable. And by fairly I mean I feel like I'm overdue. Even with my blood pressure issues I was never this exhausted with Layla. Everything hurts, my tummy is as big as I was at 38 weeks with Layla. I took Layla to the grocery store on Friday and it was all I could do to get through it...let alone the rest of the day. Being pregnant with #2 is SO much harder than the first time around. I'm sure a lot of it has to do with the fact that I'm chasing L, but I just feel like Jack is bigger and stronger than she was in my belly. He has to weight 15 lbs...at least. And he kicks and punches like a true champion black belt. I feel him all the way from my ribs to my hips at the same time! I'm also having lots of contractions and my swelling is getting worse. I'm praying for 3 things now- a happy/healthy baby boy, no bedrest and for him to come as planned. Too much?

Layla is doing FANTASTIC with the whole big sister thing for the moment. You can see my comments in my picture but she really does seem to "get" it now. We are going to do a hospital tour sometime in the next few weeks and then take her out for ice cream. I'm sure she'll enjoy both...it is such hard work being a big Sis! She knows Jack is coming out of my belly soon, she even looked at me the other day and told me "the doctor is going to pull him out of your belly where I came out". Wow, yes he is. I'm trying to prepare her for my recovery, the baby crying and feedings...etc. I think we might be slightly obsessed with talking about all this and she's sick of it but I really want her to be as ready as possible.

I can't believe we only have 4 more weekends as a family of 3. I am a crazy ball of emotions about this. I can't wait to have Jack here and have our family complete, but I'm scared to death that I won't be able to juggle 2, that Layla will hate me or I won't give Jack as much as I was able to give her. I hate pregnancy hormones and I know it is only going to get worse before it gets better! Nothing a bowl of ice cream won't fix though.

So here we are with a special guest appearance by little miss Layla for week 34:

29 weeks...3rd Trimester is HERE

It's getting  a little bit real now that I have feet in my ribs...we are actually going to have a baby. I remember thinking that 29 weeks was a magic number when I was pregnant with L. Babies have a 90%+ rate of survival when born this early...she had a fighting chance. Little did I know that an early birth would be the last thing on HER mind. Haha.

So here we are at 29 weeks and I feel like like I have a bit of relief. I still want to see him, hold him and hear that cry before I'll feel 100% but the fact that he COULD make it just makes me feel better.

I've been having braxton hicks...something I never had with L. I honestly didn't have a single contraction (that I could feel) until after they broke my water. I am generally MUCH more uncomfortable this time around. My legs hurt, my butt hurts, my csection scar hurts, my back hurts...the only thing that doesn't hurt are my eyelids. I hate this part of pregnancy, but I see this as motivation to WANT him to come out...something I'm sure I'll appreciate as I'm laying on the operating table praying to God that I feel absolutely NOTHING.

It's hard to believe I'll only take 2 (maybe 3 if I'm feeling motivated) more belly shots before Jack arrives. So much do to...so little time! Here we go:

BOOM SHUCKA LUCKA...I don't even know what to say about the difference between the last two pictures. I'd say I've really "popped" but I think exploded might be the more proper term. This is what I looked like at 34 weeks with Layla. I've come to the conclusion that I'm just going to embrace the fact that look like the Goodyear blimp and will have a cupcake (or two) for lunch.

25 weeks already?!

I think to myself "Can I really be 25 weeks?" and "I can't believe I only have 13 more weeks to go!". Then I look in the mirror and realize that I was this size when I was 32 weeks with Layla. I feel so huge and so miserable already...but I am welcoming these feelings. Not only does that mean baby is growing but that I will hopefully be so miserable by the time I hit 38 weeks that I don't care about the delivery. Less anxiety = more sleep and a healthier Mommy so bring on the back pain, hard punches and general crappiness.

I just realized I'm wearing different pants in all of these pictures...geez. I also just realized that Bryan's picture taking abilities are getting worse as I get bigger. I think I'm going to need to purchase a wide angle lens for weeks 29 and beyond. Today's pep talk: I WILL loose the weight and he WILL be absolutely 100% worth it. :)

20 weeks!

We are more than half way there! Only 18 1/2 more weeks to go until we meet little Jack. :) We got an updated belly picture today...let's look at the progress:

I feel like I'm carrying lower than I did with L. Jack is also moving like crazy and thinks that it is VERY fun to kick Mommy's bladder. I'm a little scared he's going to be just like his big sis! :)

Baby Button is a........

It was so great to see Baby Button actually look like a baby this time (thank God the tail is gone)! Haha. Everything looked great and they got what they needed despite Baby not wanting to hold still (just like Big Sis...we are in trouble!). Layla got to see Baby in the last few minutes of our ultrasound. She kept looking from the TV to my belly and wanted to "touch" the baby at one point on the monitor. She was pretty interested for about 1 minute and then she was over it.
So I'm sure you are dying to know....are we seeing BLUE or PINK? Take your last guesses...

It's a....

BOY!!! I think practically everyone I talked to saw this coming and although I was getting a girl vibe there for awhile, I decided it was a boy the night before my ultrasound. A BOY!!! I can't believe we are having a BOY!! I was nervous about a boy at first because I have NO idea what to expect. Then I realized that boys are generally less drama, have short hair (bring it on curls!) and like to eat. Could this be my "easy" child? Haha!

Here are a few more pictures from our gender reveal session:

So Jack Edward will be arriving sometime on November 21st (yes, the day before Thanksgiving). We are scheduling a c-section but if I go on my own, I might try a vbac. Honestly, I'm getting more and more comfortable with the idea of a c-section and more anxious about attempting to do things normally. Either way...this baby is coming out before Thanksgiving!

I can not WAIT to start on the nursery...Grandma and Janet- get those sewing machines ready! ;o)

16 weeks already?!

I can't believe how fast this pregnancy is going. Baby Button will be here before we know it! I meant to take an orange shirt picture before we left for IL last week but just didn't get to it. Turns out that I'm not THAT much bigger than I was at 11 weeks...

Ok, maybe I am bigger. I sure feel bigger. But the sickness is gone, I'm getting my energy back (for now) and I actually sleeping a little bit better. The trade off for all that has been headaches/migraines the past few weeks. I got them with Layla too, the only difference is I can't take medicine that knocks me out because I have big sis to take care of. Oh well, I've had lots of help these last few weeks (thank you thank you THANK YOU!!) and they seem to be easing up.

We find out what we are having July 11th. I've had lots of people ask me about names and truthfully, we haven't really talked about it yet. We are pretty sure we will go with Jack Edward (that was the plan with L) if it is a boy, and I really like the name Liv but might had to settle for Olivia since I really don't want to have to L's (but she'd go by Liv...so is that really even an issue?!). Ugh...and no middle name for a girl...haven't even THOUGHT about it. Decisions decisions...

The next time we take a belly shot will be 20 weeks (eeeeekkkkk) AND we'll know what we are having. Since we didn't do anything majorly special for our family when we found out (just a phone call and/or some cookies) everyone will have to stay tuned for a special gender announcement around July 11th! 

The Many Faces Of Layla

I know I say this ALL the time but Layla has the best personality. Her facial expressions are hilarious...what you see is how she's feeling. See below for exactly what I mean:

;o) I'm sure a lot of you have seen this coming after my miscarriage post on Nap Time Tales. We are still a little bit in shock and denial that this is really happening. It isn't that we aren't excited, it's just that we are very nervous! I think this time around it is going to be hard to get head over heels excited until baby is safe on the outside.

Here are some stats so far:

- Due date: November 28th

- How I'm feeling: I had a few really rough and sick weeks...plus I'm exhausted but overall not much different than I felt with Layla. Other than the fact that I'm STARVING ALL. THE. TIME. I don't remember that with L until later in the pregnancy...so I'm expecting to gain at least 100 pounds.

- How Layla's feeling: This is where I get nervous. Layla has some serious issues with Mommy and Daddy holding other babies and really likes to boss little ones around. We are going to start including her in as much as we can with this baby (think nursery, ultrasounds etc...) and we talk about it often. We are trying to teach her that trying to push a baby off our laps is unacceptable, but Princess has other ideas. This is either going to be REALLY bad...or good for her. I'm freaking out.

- How Baby's feeling: Great! We went in for a ultrasound at 9 weeks and baby looks amazing. Here are some pictures:

And here is the highly anticipated belly shot. I'm doing things a little different for #2. First- we are just doing pictures every 4 weeks or so. Second- I have an orange shirt this time so the kids can have their very own shirts. Third- I'll write a little note to baby with every picture. We are still keeping a baby book, but I think this is more fun!

So our journey as a family of 4 is off to a better start than last time. We have high hopes that things will go great and that we will bring this bundle of joy home around Thanksgiving. You know, because we just LOVE to have babies around the holidays! ;o) So please keep us in our thoughts and prayers as little Turkey grows, Layla figures out the big sister thing and Mommy tries to keep her sanity through all these pregnancy hormones...and we won't even get into what poor Daddy has to go through with 2 crazy girls in the house.