Lessons

Since Audrey has been in town, I've learned a lot.

Even though her clothes are tiny, I'm doing laundry twice as often as I used to. Even though her belly is tiny, I'm making her something to eat every 2 hours. Sometimes you just can't make her eat what's on her plate, and when you offer her something that she likes, she won't eat that either. If you offer time out, she'll gladly accept and go jump on the bed until daddy asks her if she wants a cupcake and ice cream for dinner. Then she'll cry before bedtime because she's high on sugar but low on energy and that's when daddy gets to handle the situation.

I've learned that situation is the perfect time to catch up on laundry and just stay out of the way.

I will forever eat my meals cold, after everyone else is finished, and then I'll be left alone with a pile of dirty dishes in the sink while daddy watches cartoons with the kids. I've learned that when she's tired she will do everything in her power to act like she's got boatloads of energy so she doesn't have to go to sleep. I've also learned that a quick car ride will knock her out.

I've learned that once the kids are awake, I am not allowed to go back to sleep. If the sun is shining, it's time to wake up, no matter what time I went to bed the night before.

When you're exhausted and it's 8am, you can't really be upset when someone is jumping on the bed informing you that "it's sunny, it's time to get up NOW." The zoo is a lot more fun when you've got a kid with you. You'll actually agree to go to the zoo in June while 6 months pregnant, tired, hot and sweaty, just to be there when she says "I've never seen THAT animal before."

It's a ton of work, but it's worth it. I have a feeling I'm going to be learning a whole lot more in the next years :)

26 week update

Things are better this week. I feel like a hormonal see-saw. Up, down, up, down. At least when I'm down, I'm aware that it's hormonal and I don't get too down on myself. Just try to let Chris convince me that we have a wonderful life and I'm doing just fine. That usually helps. This week I'm up.

I went back to work this week. Real work. At an office full of adults. Adults who don't scream and throw their food on the floor. It's nice. I do miss sleeping in until 7:45 and spending time with Audrey. We're finally getting into the groove of things having her around, which just reminds me that our time with her will be over soon. I hate sending her home. We still have a couple of weeks with her, and I'm happy about that.

Chris' birthday was yesterday, happy birthday love! We both had to work but I tried my best to make it a special day. He has a couple of old football photos from middle school and high school that were in old frames that didn't really fit. I got them reframed so we could display them in the house. Nothing big, but I think he liked it. The best part was what I found behind one of the photos. Behind Chris' 1994 Dripping Springs football team was.... 1993 Chris Tyre's yearbook picture! He was such a cutie, oh my gosh. If I had known him in middle school, I totally would have had a crush on him. Too bad I was still in elementary school at the time, haha. I'd post a picture of it but I don't want to embarrass him. I'll ask him tonight if he minds.

I made some awesome shrimp tacos and banana pudding. We watched tv and went to the post office. The only thing missing was Audrey. Her aunt was supposed to drop her off at 5, but instead called at 5 asking if she could spend the night with her grandparents. I wish they would have asked before then. Chris didn't want to be rude and say no, but it was his birthday! He should have his daughter with him if he wants. I guess she was having fun with her cousins, and we'll see her tonight. We didn't touch the banana pudding so we'll share that with her! I'll show her the old picture of her daddy, I bet she'll like that.

We've got a lot planned in the next month. Audrey really wants to go to the "museum with live animals," or the "two O's and a Z." Haha. If we ask her if she wants to go to the ZOO or the museum, she says "yeah, the museum with real animals!" Looks like we're going to the San Antonio Zoo this weekend! I haven't been in a while and I'm hoping we can get there early enough before all of the animals are passed out from the heat. Tomorrow night we're going to Jamie's dad's fireworks stand to see Jared's band play, I think it'll be fun. Audrey will like the fireworks, and she can run around all she wants over there.

Next weekend we're going to my uncle Joe's wedding! He has 2 little girls and the woman he's marrying, Katy, has 2 kids around the same age as his. They're all under 7, I believe. The wedding is going to be a pool party and totally kid friendly so I'm pretty excited about taking Audrey with us, she'll love having some girls her age to play with! Speaking of pools, we spent last Saturday at John & Kristen's. Audrey jumped in the pool the moment we got there, took a 15 minute break to eat a hot dog, and swam until we left at 8:30. She slept TWELVE HOURS that night, it was incredible. I wanted to keep checking on her to make sure she was actually still asleep! The weekend after the wedding is our baby shower! I can't wait to see everyone. My parents will FINALLY get to meet Chris' parents (at least they're not meeting at the hospital?), I think it'll go well.

I apologize for the scattered blog today, my mind is all over the place lately. The other day, I ran the dryer for 30 minutes before I realized there were no clothes in there. Did I forget to move them from the washing machine to the dryer? Nope. Nothing in there either. I'm losing it, people.

Here's my 26 week photos, there's no doubt I've got a baby in there!

25 weeks, is it over yet?

It's been a busy week here at the house. Chris went to pick up Audrey in Texarkana last week. He drove to Dallas on Tuesday, stayed with a friend, drove to Texarkana and back to Waco on Wednesday. They stayed in Waco with his grandma Wednesday night. They drove to Blanco on Thursday, took a nap, played for a while, and by the time I got home Chris was ready to go to sleep again. He laid down at 6 and I couldn't get him out of bed until 9 for dinner! I told him that I worked a full day and I was tired too, he replied that he'd like to see me switch places with him because his day was a lot harder than mine. I'm sure it was, that's why I let him sleep for 3 hours.

Fast forward to this week. I was able to work from home Monday-Friday so I could spend some time with Audrey. We've had a lot of fun, but I'm exhausted. I feel bad keeping her in the house all day, but I have to be at my computer working from 8-5 so there's not much we can do except on my lunch break. Roger has kept her pretty entertained, he really likes her. He waits for her to get up in the morning and follows her around most of the day trying to get her to play with him.

Last night I was exhausted and started crying, again. It's hard being pregnant sometimes. Not all the time, but it gets to you when you're tired all the time, your back hurts, and you're kept up all night by a baby moving nonstop in your uterus. Add working full time to that. It's hard being pregnant and working full time. I manage. Add your boyfriend's 4 year old daughter to that. It's hard being pregnant and working full time and watching a little girl all day. I'm lucky that she's a great kid, she's no terror, but she's 4, she's full of energy. I am seriously lacking in that department!

She's so much fun and I love being able to spend time with her. I've missed her so much, we haven't seen her since Christmas. I just wish that I was able to enjoy my time with her a little more instead of working all day.

I know I don't have much room to complain because I've only done it for a week. My mom watched me, Daniel, Rachel and Melissa every day for years and years. At one point, she had an infant, an 18 month old and a 2 1/2 year old at home with her. I would go crazy. Seriously, lock me up.

Last night, Chris let Audrey sleep in our bed last night. She's been doing so great in her own bed, she really likes being in the bunk bed and has slept through the night with no problem. Last night, Chris woke me up saying "Audrey. Audrey. Audrey, you're snoring. Audrey, stop snoring. Audrey, blow your nose. Audrey. Let's go to your bed. Audrey, stop snoring." Seriously, I didn't hear a thing! By that time I was fully awake and don't you know it, Chris passed right out and started snoring. LOUD. I was awake from 1:45-3:30. I almost went to the couch but I'd be even more uncomfortable there. Around 4:30 I woke up because I was getting kicked in the back. One is kicking me in the back, the other is kicking me in the ribs. I can't win! I laid there until Chris' alarm went off at 5:15, then stayed awake until 5:55 to let him know he was going to be late to work.

He left a little after 6 and I laid there until my alarm went off at 7:45. I'm exhausted. Chris wants me to go to Camp Ben with them tonight to take Audrey to the carnival. I tried to say "no" as nicely as possible. I just want to sleep. That's all. We're going to the river in Wimberley all day tomorrow to see his friend, then we're spending Father's Day at the river in Blanco with his dad all day Sunday. I need to sleep tonight, is it really that much to ask? I know everyone says "oh if you think you're tired now, just wait." Okay, I'll buy that, so why can't I try to get my sleep in now while I still have the chance?

I'm ready for it to be September. I know I'll be exhausted and I'll have a million new things to deal with, but I'm ready for something new.

Please excuse the no makeup and tired look, as I've explained I had a long night, haha.

Prego goes camping.

Last weekend I went camping. It was hot.

We got to Canyon Lake around noon on Saturday. We had gone to my sister's graduation the night before so we just slept at home Friday night. It was warm, but we were talking about taking the boat out so I wasn't too worried. Well... the boat wasn't working properly and the ladder had broken off a couple of weeks before when we took it out, so I could have jumped in the water but it would have been very difficult to pull me out. It's an old pontoon boat and the deck sits pretty high off of the water. So I decided against it. They got it running alright and Chris said we could take it out when it cooled off so we wouldn't have to get in the water.

Lisa and Jacob were there with their new puppy Lela, but they left pretty soon after we arrived. They had been there since Thursday night so I really don't blame them for leaving! We sat around in the shade with Cindy and her family. I really love Cindy's family, they're all so sweet and easy to get along with. They made burgers and hot dogs, we all ate, then sat around some more. I think I drank about 15 gallons of water, haha. They picked a spot relatively close to the bathrooms so it was easy to walk over, but not so close that we could smell them. They were pretty clean so I was satisfied.

By the time the sun started to go down and it cooled off, the last thing we wanted to do was wade through the tall grass (I'm slightly terrified of snakes) and get the boat up and running, so we decided to take the boat out another time. We sat around and listened to Sam talk about this fake palm tree another site had lit up the other night. I never saw it but I'm guessing it was something like this:

Sam decided he needed one, so maybe we'll have our own palm tree next time we go camping! He was talking about mounting it on top of the pontoon boat. He mentioned that you can't get drunk with a palm tree on the top of your boat because it's pretty much a dead giveaway, haha.

Around 9 everyone started to go to bed. Chris had gone out on Friday afternoon to get our tent set up so it was ready for us when we went to bed. He got a really nice queen sized air mattress, twice as thick as a normal one so it was actually pretty comfortable. He also cut a hole in the side of the tent and stuck an AC unit in there to keep it cool. It worked for the most part, but part of the top of the tent was mesh and there was no way to seal it off completely so a lot of the air escaped. Still, it was better than no AC. It was a new tent so we really didn't know what we were working with.

It took FOREVER to fall asleep. Despite Chris' best efforts, it was hot in there. The mattress was surprisingly comfortable. The worst part were the cicadas. Good lord, the cicadas. You know how you go camping and you listen to the frogs and the bugs and it's a low hum that kind of puts you to sleep? This was the complete opposite. It was like having surround sound turned the whole way up to ELEVEN, all cicadas, all night. There was one little bastard that must have been sitting right on top of our tent. Every time I'd start to fall asleep, he'd get going again and wake me up. Even Chris, who sleeps through everything, was bothered by them.

Needless to say, I wasn't in the best mood Sunday morning. It cooled off early in the morning (I even used a blanket!) but by the time we woke up it was sweltering again. I didn't last long. We had breakfast- Cindy cooked pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage, everything you can imagine. I ate about 5 pancakes and was good to go. I tried to relax and sit with everyone but I just couldn't do it. I just wanted to be home in the air conditioning. Chris was understanding and started packing up the tent. I got the car started so it would cool down and Roger jumped right in and waited for us, I guess he was ready to go too!

We made it home, cleaned the entire house, and I slept like a rock that night. It was wonderful.

6 months!!!

Today marks 24 weeks of pregnancy! That means I've only got 16 weeks to go, OMG. I consider 24 weeks to be 6 months (4 weeks=1 month). Using this logic, pregnancy is actually 10 months long because full term is 40 weeks. However, if you go by calendar months it's more like 9 months and 1 week, give or take a couple of days.

However you look at it, I am moving right along! Soon enough I'll be in my third trimester, and Emily Jean will be here before we know it!

Today is also "viability day," or v-day. The term refers to the point in your pregnancy where your baby has a fighting chance if born prematurely. I'm not counting on a premie, but it's nice to know that if anything were to happen, she's got a chance and it keeps going up from here!

For the past week or two, she has been kicking like CRAZY. It's constant, day and night, whether I just ate or if I'm hungry. She actually woke me up at 4:45 this morning with some hard jabs. I like to think it's her way of preparing me for nighttime feedings.

I feel most of the kicks up high on my right and low on my left. I'm guessing she's laying sort of diagonally with her feet pointed up right now. Sometimes she kicks hard enough that I can see movement on the outside! She's going to be a karate master like her aunt Tori!

Chris finally felt some real kicks a few days ago (until then he just felt some movement), it was pretty amazing. He had his hand pressed into my belly and when I rolled over to my side, he felt the length of her spine move across his hand! He said she felt about the size of our remote, which is about right. She should be about a foot long by now, somewhere between 1 and 2 pounds.

Chris has been talking to her before we go to sleep at night. I think she's starting to recognize his voice, she starts moving all over the place when he's talking now! I don't think I'll ever get over how incredibly amazing and weird it feels to have a little person moving around inside of me.

23 weeks!

Today, I am 23 weeks and 1 day AND my little sister is graduating from High School! I'm so proud of her, she is going to Texas Tech in the fall! My brother goes to school there too- it's a great school and I'm so happy for both of them.

Also- I get to see my grandma tonight!!! She's in from Pennsylvania for Rachel's graduation and I can't wait to see her! It's been a long time, and she's my most favorite person in the whole world. Chris has never met her, so this will be really special. I'll be sure to take a lot of pictures of everyone tonight!

Here I am this morning:


I'm getting pretty large! I can't believe it's been 23 weeks! On the other hand, I can't believe I have 17 weeks of growing to go!

I'm exhausted

I was really enjoying that burst of energy I got around the time I entered the second trimester. It seems to be fading quickly. It's a little different than before. During the first few months, I could sleep all the time and still be tired. Now I just can't sleep. I just can't. It takes longer than usual to fall asleep, every position is uncomfortable, some painful (my ribs hurt when I am on my right side for more than 5 minutes), and I am constantly waking up in the middle of the night.

Sometimes when I wake up I have the feeling that I could fall back to sleep if I just keep my eyes closed. Then I realize I have to pee and it's all over. Back to tossing and turning until Chris' alarm goes off at 5:15. He doesn't get out of bed until I do. My alarm is set for 5:45. Which means his damn phone robs me of 30 minutes of sleep for no reason. It rings every 5 minutes. EVERY. FIVE. MINUTES. He thinks it's funny because he can go back to sleep easily. I, however, cannot. I actually broke down sobbing this morning because I was so angry that I was completely exhausted and he seemed to feel fine. It's not fair!

Now it's finally Friday and all I want to do is sleep the weekend away. Can I do that? Not this weekend! We are going camping this weekend! And a pregnant woman who says she does not want to go camping because she are hot, uncomfortable and tired is a "baby." No, not carrying a baby, just acting like a baby. Because I'm probably making this all up. Pregnancy is a breeze and I'm just using it as an excuse! Right, honey?

He is trying to make the trip easier for me, I'll give him a little credit. He actually went out and got an air conditioning unit to put in the tent so I don't die of heat stroke. He bought a nice air mattress so I don't have to sleep on the ground. He got a new tent that we can stand up in so I don't have to crawl everywhere. It really is sweet. I hope he's not upset when I spend the entire weekend on that air mattress in the air conditioning instead of out in nature.

To give myself a little credit, I went out on the lake with him and his friends last week. Yes, I did have fun. Yes, I would have had more fun if it had just been us and my friends. No offense to his friends, but they like to get drunk and party and when I go to the lake I just want to sit in my float and be quiet. Thank goodness Lauren was there, she kept me sane all day. This is me looking like I'm complaining about something to Lauren:


Lovely, right? I did have a good time with her. And Chris. And Chris' friend Mikey and his daughter Delilah. It really wasn't that bad. Still, the fact remains that I went, that's got to count for something here. Roger had a good time. We got him a life jacket, but he's still not a fan of the water. In fact, he stayed as far away from it as possible most of the day:


Until I realized he hadn't gone to the bathroom all day and that he probably needed some dry land to pee all over. He can swim very quickly, but only in the direction of the boat because he wants out of the water as soon as possible. So, Chris ended up carrying him most of the way over and back:


Poor dog fought so hard he could barely walk the next day. He just sat in his bed looking depressed, and would limp whenever he had to get up. He's fine now, he was just a little sore from all the exercise!

Ew!

Chris and I found this on the "discounted for quick sale" table at the Super S in Blanco.


Gross!