21 months old almost 32 weeks pregnant

April 13, 2015

I guess it's normal to feel like you can barely remember what you did in the last month. There have been a lot of changes lately in my body and to our lives in general. Most recently, my dad (Pop Pop) came to town to cover the River Cats and hang out with us. One great perk to his job is that he covers the California leagues, and gets to see us more frequently. We grabbed some food downtown with him and strolled around downtown afterwards (in search of my favorite pregnancy treat: frozen yogurt). Sierra demanded that Gus sit down on the bench.

We went on a little nature walk in the morning by Putah Creek. 

Sierra loves to put on our shoes and walk around in them. I am often surprised that she puts them on the right feet. She still has a little runny nose from a cold her and I both had for a week and a half.

We were invited to a birthday party/egg hunt a few weekends ago. Sierra enjoyed the ball pit, cupcakes and the water beads more than she enjoyed "hunting" for eggs. 

Gus and I took a few 3 day weekends and went down to visit Grammy, Grandpa Jer Bear, and Great Grams this month. Great Grandma turned 88 and she even had a good friend from Washington visit to wish her a happy birthday. Jerry spent some quality effort to make a "9 hole" golf course, which we played on several times.

Here I am around 30 weeks, and I have only gotten bigger since then! Third trimester has been pretty rough on me. Acid reflux was really rough for a while. 

Getting out around the neighborhood with Grammy, Jer Bear, and Daddy. Sierra made sure she was protected from the sun before going outside (she only actually wore this hat for about 5 minutes).

This doll is actually Grammy's doll from when she was a kid.

Sierra did not want to ride on the lawn mower with Grandpa. It was too loud for her so she just hung out with Grammy.

We got out for some walks in the morning before work in the beginning of the month.

Sierra enjoyed her St.Patrick's Day treat.

She really enjoys trying to use silver wear; we just put her on the tile floor to test her skills (minimizing the mess).

We met up with Sophia and Arianna to pick strawberries earlier this month too. 

Sierra surprises us on a daily basis. We truly enjoy spending our time together with her as a family unit. She has such a large vocabulary and her ability to associate words with their meanings is very keen. She runs around just about everywhere when we're outside. She knows most of the ABC song and can count to ten. It's amazing to watch her develop, and this time in her life seems to go by so quickly. We started her at a new daycare this month so she could be around more kids her age, and have a more interactive schedule. At first it was quite difficult, but now she seems pretty happy to be there. It was emotional for the first week when she would cry and call for me on the other side of the door, but now I can actually say good bye to her without any problem. 

I just hit the 20 pound weight gain for baby Eve. I am guessing I will be about 28 pounds heavier at the end of pregnancy 2 which is 8 pounds less than Sierra (but I did start heavier this time around). I lift 3 days a week still, and attempt "cardio" at least 3 days a week. The cardio is not very intensive and usually only lasts about 30 minutes, but I'm still trying. Other aspects of our lives are very busy as well, but we'll get to that more next month! 

20 months old and 27 weeks prego

3.12.15

What a long month it has been!? Thank goodness for the photos, otherwise I would have a hard time keeping track of what we have done the whole month! On Valentine's Day, Aunt Lyn (or Giggles as she is known to her niece) watched Sierra for a few hours while Gus and I went to town and got some plants and seeds for gardening (our big Valentine's date). We enjoyed ourselves quite a bit actually.

We got out on the road bikes a fair number of times. I was able to run 3 miles every weekday with Sierra and the dogs up until last week (when she refused to be seated in the stroller). We went out for a few hikes around the area, and hit up the playgrounds in town as usual.

 On president's day Gus had off work and I went in late so we all went up to Folsom to hike along the river and visit the bakery there. Sierra enjoyed seeing the ducks and picking up rocks along the trail.

 We went to Rockville regional park a few weekends in a row, and hung out with some cows, frogs and tadpoles. Not much actual hiking was done, but I have come to accept that when going out with Sierra. I enjoy it for each little discovery we make along the way.

Grammy came to town one weekend and we all went out to dinner. The following day Lyn watched Sierra as Gus, Grammy and I made a Costco trip. We had Grammy babysit one Monday morning when I had a prenatal visit and the blood draw for gestational diabetes (which I don't have). Sierra and her had fun all day long, Grammy even brought her to gymnastics that morning.

We had some of our parent friends over the house one weekend for a potluck style meal, and kid play session. It was great to see 4 toddlers running around playing together. They hadn't all been together in so long, it was such a pleasure to see.

Most mornings before I drop Sierra off I try to go on a walk or an adventure of some sort. We walked to a nearby park here, and Sierra showed off her running skills to the passersby.

 Sierra is starting to like the chickens more, but I think it's mainly because I pick up Lulu for her to pet. When they cluck and make noise at her she seems irritated and frightened. Blowing dandelions and playing at playgrounds are great morning activities.

 She does enjoy seeing herself in mirrors and pictures, hence the selfies.

We invited Auntie over for dinner one night during the week because Sierra had been requesting to see her for several nights. It is a push for us to actually make plans during the week with anyone, but we were happy she could come over. This past weekend we met up with Auntie JuJu and Uncle Chris in Auburn for a hike along the river (it was actually in Cool because Auburn was so crowded). They were officially exposed to hiking with a toddler. Slow pace, and limited hiking. We told them to meet up with us and to hike on their own because our pace was much slower than theirs. We did met up again for lunch later.

Daylight savings wore Sierra out because she slept from 5:30pm through the whole night; it kind of felt like a date night for Gus and I though. 

She is often confused for an older kid because of her height and great language abilities (not to mention how commanding she is). She is growing up before our eyes, and is even starting to figure out that she has a baby sister coming along (thanks to a book we were given from Grammy). 

Eve seems like she is doing well, and as for me I am getting all of those trimester 3 symptoms a bit earlier than I had hoped. Back pain, heartburn, headaches, and generally feeling more run down. Not too bad though! There is plenty more growing to come in the next 13 (+/-) weeks.  

19 month & 23 weeks

February 13, 2015 (Friday the 13)

Here I am at 23 weeks preggers and feeling really great! I have ballooned a little this week, but just in size not necessarily in weight. Eve is incredibly active (as was Sierra around this time) kicking and punching a lot especially at night. Sometimes she does it more when I sing to Sierra, which I find flattering. Just that she likes my voice not that she knows what good singing from bad singing is.

This past week has been wonderful, I FINALLY got over my cold which lasted all last week, Gus switched to day shift (so I see him at night now), and we received our tax refunds (which means we paid our student loans off in full). FREEDOM! It was an incredible relief to hit the payment button, knowing that we would no longer have to throw every extra dollar we have at them, and that now we can actually begin the process of saving for a house payment.

I have been going on morning jogs with the dogs and Sierra in the morning as of this week. We only go for about 1.5 miles before I let Sierra out to walk about .25 of a mile (which actually takes the same amount of time it took us to run the 1.5). She always finds mini adventures!
  
On Thursday I was in a predicament, because I found out that our home daycare provider's child was sick, and Sierra had to stay home. This has to be one of the more stressful aspects for Gus and I. Who can take a sick day etc? Well, as it turns out we both had hectic schedules for the day and my boss approved me to bring Sierra into work. So Sierra "coached" 4.5 teams with me (Gus picked her up at 4:15 pm). I had a break between teams and she passed out on my shoulder:

She is so sweet. We love this age she is at. She is putting a lot of phrases together now. She says "I love you" now, although it is a bit jumbled, our parent deciphering abilities are keen. She also says "Sierra big sister":ADORABLE! She is catching on. Her charm has actually made us consider having a third child (we'll see). 

Over the weekend, Auntie Lyn came by and gave Sierra 3 new outfits from Grammy Anne and an Elsa doll that one of her colleagues bought for Sierra at Disney. The new obsession with the doll helped me decide on the movie rental for the evening, and I also caved and bought Frozen off of Amazon (which will deliver on Valentine's Day).





Gus and Sierra have been enjoying their hangout time at the end of the day too: playing in laundry baskets, you name it!

Sierra still enjoys her gymnastics class, going on meandering walks through town, going to playgrounds, playing in and exploring the arboretum, feeding the horses carrots, and going on adventures outside.
 

  

We got out for a hike while Gus went for a mountain bike ride, which meant we didn't really cover much ground. I don't really mind though; she enjoys exploring her surroundings. We took a trip to San Fran to see Eli and Lydia and go to the California Academy of the Sciences Museum. We all had a wonderful time catching up and hanging out!   

Gus and I went to get my 20 week ultrasound while Lyndsey and Anne babysat Sierra for a few hours. Sierra's 20 week ultrasound and Eve's look remarkably similar:

Here I am at 20 weeks (left) and here I am at 12 weeks (below): 




It makes sense that Oso would be in both pictures, and as you can see we don't make our bed regularly. :)