32 Weeks with Baby #2

Things have certainly changed since my 30 weeks update! 

How Far Along: 32 weeks on 3/1/13

Size of baby: Weighing about 3.75 pounds and measuring about 16.7 inches. That is a lot of baby, but get this...according to babycenter.com, he'll gain a third to half of his birth weight during the next 7 weeks. Wowzers. Perhaps that's why my ligaments have definitely started pulling and stretching and giving me a hard time. Ouch.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I'll find out for sure on Friday at my appointment, but the gym scale is saying still right around 10 lbs. I find it a bit hard to believe??

Maternity Clothes: Along with two tanks, I picked up this and this at Gap Maternity yesterday. Still have my eye on this in resolution blue, but they didn't have my size. I feel like I wear the same tops over and over, which is fine, but I am in the mood for spring colors!

Gender:  A boy. And guess what?! He has one of two names!! I'm so excited, although I really like them both so it'll be interesting to see what we decide. 

Movement: Very active, which I love. I am hoping and praying he's head down, although I do feel his hick-ups low in my abdomen so that's a good sign. There are times the movement is so dramatic and "wavy" that I wonder if he's literally doing somersaults still. 

Sleep:  I.am.tired. If I push through Gwendolyn's nap time and don't lie down myself (which takes a lot of self motivation of which some days I just don't have), then I'm pretty beat by 5 pm. Tom is amazing and so loving and caring and ready to help out take over as soon as he gets home. 

And I did officially break out the knee pillow that my mom got me when I was pregnant with Gwendolyn. Helps a ton. Definitely much harder to get comfortable at night and I have weird shooting pains while in the process of finding the perfect position. Once comfortable, I sleep well and wake up feeling good but it's crazy how this all changed in 2 weeks!

What I miss: I miss several things, but I'm also trying to cherish these last 7.5 weeks. Being pregnant is really just such a blessing and I love so much about it, so I'll take the pains and discomfort in exchange for the great reward at the end that lasts much, much longer than these more trying weeks.

Cravings: Nothing crazy.

Symptoms: Ligament stretching, overall body achiness, tired, occasional waddle, overly emotional, ya know...the normal stuff. (It's normal, right?? *smile)

Best moment this past week: It's a huge weight off my shoulders to feel like we've found our names. I can't wait to see him and see what he looks like and call him by it. At this point, it really could be either one of them so hopefully we'll have more clarity as the weeks go on, but if not we'll just decide once he's in our arms. 

And Tom took yesterday off so we could do something together as a family in the morning and then get some work done around the house (still lots to do) during Gwendolyn's nap time, and we really did just have a sweet time together as the three of us. We took her on rides (well, Tom did) at Nickelodeon Universe at the Mall of America and used her birthday coupon at Rain Forest Cafe for lunch. He's got a few more days he'll take off before "Rory" arrives so we have a few more fun activities up our sleeve for her and let me tell you, it's so nice to avoid the busy weekend crowds and be able to do things during the week instead. We're making major progress on the guest bedroom, which will be his room and decluttering and organizing feels so good!

January in Pictures

January was quite the month. We celebrated a late Christmas with my family, I stayed pretty busy with photography (still had 8 shoots during a "slow" month), did some spring cleaning (yay for cleaned and organized closets and cabinets!), and jetted off to Mexico for a romantic little vacation in honor of my 30th birthday and our 5th anniversary. Phew. It's amazing all that takes place in 31 days. Let's take a look....

Jacob had his 5th birthday party at the YMCA in Hastings. Per usual, Gwendolyn wanted to "help" Aunt Nikki with gift recording.

Trucks, trucks and boy stuff galore!

Baby doll needs some baby powder...

She loves giving baby brother kisses.

I used this picture as a "view from here" post and I just love it. She wakes up pretty slowly most mornings and loves extra snuggles. Don't you dare put her down before she's ready.

And this picture cracks.me.up. Tom sent this to me while I wasn't at home with a caption of "I want to doe" (go). She looks hilarious with her chubby cheeks.

He also sent me this...

With a caption of "we have a pantry problem."

Bless his heart, he was helping me knock things off of our to do list before his parents came to stay for a week so he cleaned out the cabinets where we keep chips and other snacks. 

Two bags of pita chips.

Three opened and used jars of honey.

Three bags of air-dried peas.

Two bags of raisins.

Three bags of kettle corn.

And the list goes on and on. I will admit that *sometimes* I buy things we don't need when I think we need them. Sometimes.

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"Auntie" Erin's boots are just a tad too big, but so cool!

She goes and gets all of her diaper changing supplies and lays down when she's ready to have her diaper changed. I turned around from the computer (it had gotten quiet) and see her like this...what a helper.

The funny thing is, everything you see in this picture was at the opposite side of the crib - all organized very nicely - when she went down. I think there was some pre-nap play....

Louie and Ashlyn! 

Would you believe Louie is only a week older?! 

Love them both!

Just another night of singing and dancing at the Barntsen house...

Daddy and Gwendolyn took a Sunday afternoon nap together, and finally at around 5 pm I had to go up and wake them up (otherwise who knew when we'd get her to go to bed). Neither of them was overly thrilled about it. Sunday naps just feel sooooooo nice, don't they?

I think they're ignoring me......

I'm pretty sure I could watch her sleep all day.

Still a little bit sleepy...

And then she fell back over. I don't blame her. Our bed is super comfy.

Best part about this picture? Her finger through the tag in her pillow, which she reaches up and plays with every.single.night. Oh and her sweet expression. And red cheeks. And sleepy eyes. And mismatched outfit.

Love it in b&w too...

If you're sitting, it's pretty likely she'll be right up in your business.

The girl loves to put on adult shoes...

She specifically requested that we call Daddy at work. And she talked to him. I mean, kind of. She told him she was eating nanas and said something about Elmo and that she loved him and missed him and bye.

Trisha and I were finally able to go visit our friend Leslie who had twins back in October. Brynn and Blake were just the sweetest, and I just can't wait to have a baby in the house again that I don't have to give back after a brief visit! Ha!

She's staying home with them and doing so awesome - I'm so impressed!

After seeing the babes, we headed to Grant's basketball game with Tom's fam. The girls ran around and per usual were connected at the hip. Literally.

Pics from our vacation coming soon! I have a spiffy slideshow completely made and finished, but Picasa is giving me trouble and I think I have to start over *mad face. Very frustrating. But at least I know what I'm doing this time, so hopefully it goes faster. So stay tuned....

It's February 21st. Which means my daughter turns two in one month and we'll have a son in two months. 

I just fainted.

I can't breath.

I knew all of these things were going to happen, but it's still crazy that they're happening. You know you're emotional when you cry at a hamster daddy taking his hamster daughter to see her new baby hamster brother at the hospital. Perhaps I need to stay away from sentimental children's books right now...

Have a blessed day!

30 Weeks with Baby #2

10 weeks to go!!

How Far Along: 30 weeks on 2/15/13

Size of baby: Weighing almost three pounds (the size of a Chinese cabbage) and measuring about 15.7 inches.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Thinking about the same - 10 or 11 lbs.

Maternity Clothes: Yes, for church otherwise living in comfy-I-am-a-stay-at-home-mom clothes! I love it when tanks are long enough to cover the bump and I can just throw on a cardigan.

Gender:  Baby brother (if only you could all hear Gwendolyn say those words. Her voice is so sweet.) Still no name.....sigh....

Movement: He rests occasionally, but when he's active, boy is he active!

Sleep: Gotta pump myself up to turn over and get out of bed in the morning now. I kind of throw myself out in a way. And it never fails, any sudden movement like that will automatically kick my uterus into a contraction. It's not overly glamorous, but all in all I'm still sleeping well and thankfully I can still make it all night without having to get up to go to the bathroom.

Afternoon naps have been happening on a regular basis as well. So wonderful!

What I miss: I do wish I could hold Gwendolyn on my lap without being a bit uncomfortable. I love our book reading/snuggle time so I push through and just kind of hold her off to the side. It's hard to say no when she wants "uppie" but she doesn't quite understand that she can't push and lay on my tummy like she used to. We have lots of talks about being gentle, but it's a lot for her to understand. 

Cravings: Nothing crazy.

Symptoms: I've been waiting for the ligament stretching, which has kicked in but still not super horrible like it was at times with Gwendolyn (where I couldn't even walk.) I also drop things constantly and am super forgetful. And tired. And lots of other symptoms that I'm sure some of you other moms can relate to.

Best moment this past week: Getting started and making progress on the guest bedroom closet. (It was literally spilling over with stuff.) Seems like a little thing, but thankfully it's not going to be as horrible as I thought and I'm letting go of things relatively easy!! 

I also made myself go to the gym and it felt so good to exercise and stretch again. 

I may have also gotten a massage and who can complain about a massage...life is good!

28 Weeks with Baby #2

Watch out 3rd trimester!! We have arrived!

How Far Along: 28 weeks on 2/1/13

Size of baby: Weighing two and a quarter pounds (the size of a Chinese cabbage) and measuring about 14.8 inches from the top of his head to the his heels.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 11 lbs at my appointment on 1/5. That's 5 lbs in 4 weeks. I blame it on the daily pina coladas in Mexico. (They were ahhh-mazing and so worth it.)

Maternity Clothes: Yes, for church otherwise living in comfy-I-am-a-stay-at-home-mom clothes! I love it when tanks are long enough to cover the bump and I can just throw on a cardigan.

Gender:  Boy. His nickname is "Rory", which is funny b/c we both actually like that name. Our search for his real name continues....one day I'll feel confident about one of the ones on the list and then I change my mind. It keeps me up at night. Not kidding.

Movement: Tom and I were both dying last night as he must have been doing gymnastics. Tom said he doesn't remember Gwendolyn moving like this, but I'm pretty sure she did. We can now poke him and he'll poke us back. He was playing games with daddy. It's amazing to literally feel his body parts. If only we had a magical looking glass to see what was where!

Sleep: Still fabulous. I am soaking up this sleeping through the night and waking up feeling rested business while I can. 

What I miss: These braxton hicks contractions are kind of kicking me in the bum lately. Midwife says I need to slow down and take it easy. Ha. (Just for my mom and my husband I am trying to cooperate.) Speaking of which, having one right now................................

Cravings: Still keeping it pretty plain and simple. I love coffee, cereal, toast, yogurt and fruit. Not exactly balanced.

Symptoms: The normal.

Best moment this past week: Passing my glucose test with flying colors and hearing his heartbeat - 140!

2012 Sinclair Family Christmas

We had a little change in our Christmas plans this year so we were able to stop in Charles City and spend Christmas eve with my parents, which was really nice since I hadn't been "home" for Christmas in 5 years. I always miss my parents decorations and their pretty flocked trees, not to mention my mom's oyster stew and our tradition of shrimp cocktail, cheese and crackers and egg nog after the Christmas eve service.

Even cooler was having my littleside kick participate in the tradition this year. She won't eat mac-n-cheese, but she loved her cheese and salami!

Decked out in her Christmas pj's.

Grandpa Sinclair gives the best hugs and Eskimo kisses.

Opening gifts with my parent's exchange student, Marina!

Can The Little Mermaid substitute for The Night Before Christmas? (Her first time reading it and she loved it.)

The other nice thing about stopping in CC was that it shortened our trip to Tom's parents on Christmas day. Gwendolyn slept almost the entire way and we were able to make the 4 hour trip without stopping - YAY! (Not sure how I made it that long being 24 weeks pregnant and feeling like I go to the bathroom constantly.)

We met at Bridges Bay in Okoboji, IA just like last year. It's super convenient - about 3 to 3.5ish hours for all of us, we each get our own rooms and bathrooms, have a shared kitchen and living room space, and a great waterpark for the kids and adults with a hot tub, lazy river and slides. Albeit a tad tight in the living room area, it's a great place to get together for a couple nights and spend time as a family. 

Bath time!

The eight grandkids ranging in age from 12 to 19 months.

The babies...

Enjoying their Cuties.

Weren't they just born?! And now they're playing with iPads together...

Pretending to give Gwendolyn a bottle.

Really giving Wyatt his bottle...love this pic. He looks like a giant baby.

Uncle Robert and Gwendolyn watchin' cartoons...

Buddies...

Gift time!

Yay! More Elmo pj's!

Nathan eating an apple for a snack...while Gwendolyn can't get enough of her first Icee. (What a mess, by the way.)

Swim time!

We play the stealing game where you can steal people's gifts from each other (super fun. If you get what you want.) We changed it up this year and did homemade gifts, which was both difficult...

"What should we make?!"

"Our gifts will never be as cool as other people's."

 and really fun at the same time. 

This pic is to document not only Tom getting the amazing clock my brother made in his wood shop (he's crazy talented), but also to document Nikki selecting MY gift that held not only the face wash and laundry detergent I made, but also the balloon that held the gender of our baby. And no one knew it was coming, so of course my heart was racing and my face turned bright red with excitement. Ha. My mom ended up stealing it from her and was the lucky one to pop the balloon and reveal the results.

Our homemade gifts...

Tom made peppermint liqueur along with the World's Best hot cocoa and I made olive oil facial cleanser and laundry detergent. I think we both had a great time making our stuff. It's no competition of course, but man there were some pretty cool presents this year. So fun!

So that wraps up our Christmas 2012 adventures. It was really a fun and joyous time, and we're so thankful for safe travels and time with our friends and families. 

And with that, Tom and I prepare to take off on a 5 am flight headed to Riviera Maya tomorrow! Leaving Gwendolyn for 5 nights/6 days is going to be hard, but she's in excellent hands with Mimi and Papa Barntsen and will be able to go see her cousins in Eden Prairie a couple times next week. I'm pretty sure she won't even notice we're gone...*smile