Hello Again!

I'm back!! Our computer was in the shop for more than 3 weeks during the month of May, which was awful, but we lived :) After a new hard drive and a new graphics card (and a hole in our wallet) our beautiful computer is back. For a while we seriously thought this MAC was a goner, and I was grieving that loss and not wanting to downgrade to a smaller, cheaper computer (the iPad is totally cool, but just doesn't compare to what we have), but in the end the MAC tech folks finally figured it out.

Today we picked up the computer and set it up again and we've been taking turns getting our computer fix so this first blog post will be a short one. But don't worry, I have LOTS of pictures to post in the next week to catch up!

Thought you'd enjoy this belly shot -- 5 months pregnant (taken about 2 weeks ago).

Pregnant!

Yes, one of us is pregnant with a baby! We are all so happy, especially after having an ultrasound which confirmed that the baby looks perfect and healthy. Baby is expected late September. Yay!

(I love the 5 second delay feature on my camera, but it's not as easy to do as you would think! Especially at the end of the day with all of us (happy but) tired.)

7 Months

Yes, I feel huge. Thankyouverymuch.

I'm definitely a different shape than when I was pregnant with Jake. This may mean something, it may mean nothing. This shape is not easy to deal with, though! I get jealous when I see people easily bending over. I wish I had one of those grabby arm thingys so I could pick up after my toddler without having to do a weird squat or simply get down on my hands and knees. I have to remind myself that this too, shall pass.

In any case, we are starting to get very excited about meeting our baby. All of Jake's baby clothes have been washed and made ready. Cloth diapers are next. Then birth supplies!

We Survived the Heat

Whew, that was one HECK of a heat wave! Temps 100+ without nighttime cool-offs. Made for a very hot house and very hot people. Today is only supposed to get up to about 94, which actually sounds awesome. Jake did very well in the heat (probably due in part to becoming a nudist for the heat wave).
We had lots of popsicles.
Tried not to wear much clothing. I also took prefolds and got them wet then stuck them in the freezer and used those to cool down. Now I can say that I've experienced being very pregnant in the heat of the summertime.
Sweated a lot (notice that glistening chest!)
Mike begged me to shave his hair off since it was so thick and retaining so much heat. So I did, but left a bit in the front so it wouldn't look completely like a crew cut. He looks a bit like a rock star instead with this tuft of hair sticking up in the front. By the way, Jake took this picture!
Other things we did: splashed around in the kiddie pool in the afternoon once the shade was on it; made lentil salad, potato salad, and pasta salad, respectively, each morning so it was in the fridge and ready for dinner later on; watched a lot of movies with the fan blowing on us in order to take our minds off the heat; drank a lot of water; expressed gratitude for the window air conditioning unit in the bedroom each night and forced the cats to sleep in there with us all night; and kept reminding ourselves that it would soon be over. Wild.

Six Months!

Well, what do you know? The third trimester is here!

So is it possible to get that nesting instinct this early on? Because Mike and I have been doing some serious de-cluttering in our house, which feels great.

5 Months and Strawberries!

5 months and all is well! Feeling lots of kicks everyday. Jake lifts my shirt up and kisses my belly at least 10 times a day. Very sweet.
This picture was taken sometime after 5 months when I was pregnant with Jake. Bigger? Smaller? The same?

Today was a perfect day for strawberry picking in the countryside outside of Portland!

Jake is eating strawberries. We had to work hard to pick them faster than he could eat them.
He's still eating...
We picked 26 pounds!!!
I spent 4 hours de-stemming all the strawberries, making 2 batches of freezer jam, freezing 2 cookie sheet's worth of berries, making 3 mini strawberry crisps for the freezer, and there are more to eat or freeze. And this was after giving some to my mom!

Baby and Helmets

Today my midwife, Lennon, came over for my monthly appointment. So nice to get to do it in my own home! Here she is listening to the baby's heartbeat with the fetoscope. All is well -- I am measuring as I should be and the baby's heartbeat is perfect :)
Once a year the Legacy Health Clinic has a 2 hour clinic where they have new helmets available for anyone for $5 each. Mike and Jake both needed bike helmets, so they went. There were many, many, many people there. Jake was actually really excited as he has been wanting his own helmet. His new one is covered with bugs!
Mama feels so much better that this guy has a helmet on. Even though his bike is pretty stable, he's becoming a daredevil on it. While at Black Butte he loved riding really fast down the hills, and taking his feet off the pedals and letting the bike go. Made Mama nervous. Now I won't worry quite so much!

Four Months

I'm pretty much seeing the end of the nausea (yay!!) and am now feeling the baby move and kick multiple times a day. This is the best part of pregnancy. I can't wait, when, in a few weeks, Mike and Jake will be able to feel the baby move.
And some bonus pictures... a very active little boy with boo-boos on his knees. We are having to stock up on bandaids. Fortunately, strawberries make it a lot better.
I love this cute picture -- caught him reading.

3 Months

Over the weekend I could definitely feel things growing. I hope things slow down because this is what I looked like at about 5 months with Jake!
Am starting to feel much better, my energy is back. Am still having bouts of nausea, but not as intense. Really looking forward to the second trimester!

There's REALLY a baby in there!

We heard the baby's heartbeat today.

Joy.

Relief.

Tears and smiles.

Two Months!

I know they say you pop out faster on the second pregnancy, but this is a bit ridiculous. Nevertheless, unless I suck in my gut all day long, this is what I look like now, at two months! The power of a peanut-sized baby to push my organs up and out is astounding. And this was taken before my first big meal of the day.
Then I have this little cutie-pie to play with while we're waiting for his sibling... He thought it was great fun to have permission to draw on the wall!

Marching On...

Thought I'd give you all a little update, especially since I haven't been posting much -- I've not had the energy to either take pictures or post updates! Today I'm at 8 weeks, and on a roller-coaster of hormones. Occasionally I feel fine, but more often I feel tired, nauseous, hungry, or a combination of those. I think that means I'm pregnant! Am really looking forward to finishing the first trimester and getting back some of my energy, right when warmer days arrive and the yard/garden really starts to need some work and we can enjoy being outside.

Jake seems to have grown or be growing. I feel like I *just* went through his clothes and put aside the ones that were too small and now I need to do that again? Amazing. He's been working on numbers and the alphabet. He also enjoys tossing and catching a ball with his Daddy and me, and it will be fun to do that more as we can get outside. He loves anything related to Curious George, Thomas the Train, and Clifford the Big Red Dog. He's fascinated with the concept of it getting dark at night, and that the sun comes up in the morning. We have a book called Midnight Moon, and I've memorized it so now every night after we turn off the light, I recite the book to him, and he loves that.

I'll try to take more pictures soon...