Disney On Ice

Easter weekend was a busy one for us!  Saturday morning started off with Tracy, Ryan and the girls meeting us to see Disney on Ice!  It was the first time for all of us and the girl were just in awe!  This little girl in particular!  Hannah and Haley wanted to wear their princess dresses to the show, Leah is a big girl and opted out of that.  ;)  Each girl got to pick out one gift when we got there and Hannah decided on this Cinderella doll.  She loves it!

 

 

Tracy and her cuties

 

We got the girls picture taken in front of Ariel.  They are just too cute!

 

Once the show started Hannah's big brown eyes were glued to the skating rink!

 

Mommy Daddy, why are you even attempting to get a picture with me right now???

 

So in awe of the magic of seeing all of her princess in REAL LIFE!!

 

The show did not disappoint either, it was great!

 

During intermission the girls just chatted away.

 

Hannah is so lucky to have her cousins!  They all love each other so much!

 

Austin and Ryan were troopers for going to such a girly event with us.  Don't worry, Austin and Graham will have plenty of boy events to go to later on.

 

One of my favorite things about our girl, her silliness!  Love it.

 

The rest of the crew!

 

Ready for part two!

 

Even as we walked away she couldn't take her eyes off the rink.

 

It was a great morning and so much fun to see it through the girls eyes!

Bluebonnets

Every spring the bluebonnets in Texas bloom and are absolutely beautiful!  We make it a tradition (along with every other family) to take pictures each year and this year was extra special because our awesome photographer Amy Emory was offering mini sessions so off we went for 15 minutes in the flowers with our little model! 

 

If you're a photographer and you want a little girl model, I'm telling you this is your girl!  She is a HAM in front of the camera!!  Not for Mommy or Daddy, no way.  But for a photographer, it's like she just knows and puts on a show!  It is hilarious.  This morning it was really cold and windy too and she just hammed it up!

 

 

She just has the most fun getting her picture taken!

 

No one told her to do this, I swear.  She just kind of looked over her shoulder and looked down.  Perfect and so sweet.

 

I love this dress!  Hannah calls it her pretty dress and she loves it too!  I also love all her curls.

 

Our beautiful girl

 

I mean, really.  She just melts our hearts.

 

Mommy even got a little kiss in.

 

I can't wait to do these again this year with her baby brother!

 

Here are a few behind the scenes pics that I took with my phone. See what I mean about hamming it up for the photographer??  Haha.

 

Mommy, it's cold!

 

 

Brrr!  But I'll still flash my cute little smile when Ms. Amy tells me too. :)

 

Taking a little break to try to warm up.  Again, this session lasted 15 minutes max!  She did so great!

 

Hannah & Emma's 1st road trip

We should start this by saying this was the 1st of what I'm sure will be MANY road trips for these two girls together!  Katie and I have clocked in countless hours in the car together between basically as soon as we met in college that first year and now and I'm sure these two will be the same!  Last March we loaded up Katie's car and headed up to Dallas for a very special weekend to celebrate another of our college friend, Megan's baby shower!

 

This was Hannah and my stuff.  This is how you pack when you're going to stay at Aunt Jackie and Uncle Bryan's house who have no toddlers in their house.  You bring necessities and fun stuff to keep the kiddos entertained. 

 

 

The girls are ready for their first road trip together!

 

About an hour into the trip we stopped at none other than Bucee's for a potty/lunch break.  It took us 30 minutes to get in and out of that store with these girls!  Ha.  They were happy with their lunch though when we got back in the car.

 

This was Emma later in the trip.

 

And this was Hannah.  No nap for this girl!

 

We got to the house and Hannah was super excited about her new Sofia jewelry. :)

 

That night Beth, Daniel, Avery and Payden came over to play! The kids had so much fun together, I wish we saw them more!

 

Saturday morning we took a walk with J&B to their pond down the street and Hannah got to feed the ducks!

 

That afternoon we got dressed and headed to the shower!  We sent Daddy this picture so he didn't miss us too much. :)

 

Hannah enjoying the props at baby Wrenly's shower.

 

On Sunday morning we took some selfies while we waited on Katie and Emma to pick us up.  I didn't realize it until we got dressed but Hannah and I dressed alike!  Haha!

 

Silly Hannah.  Love her!

 

The girls did great on the way home too!  They love taking girls trips!  From now on they'll probably just have to settle with their little brothers crashing them for a while.  ;) 

Angel Run

Ok, it's finally happening.  I'm trying to get caught up on the blog!  I've taken on a HUGE undertaking the last few weeks and I've successfully organized my pictures and there were a TON!!  I've been working really hard on this between all of the pictures on my "good camera" and my iPhone (we're talking like over 10,000 pictures total).  It was one of those times when you're just so behind you don't want to start so I finally did it and hope to get caught up on the blog as well, it will just depend on when baby boy makes his arrival to see how far I get right now! 

 

So, last year I kept noticing people on social media, etc talking about running and how great they felt, how they never thought in a million years they would enjoy running, blah blah blah.  I thought about it and decided to take the challenge, I wanted to see what all the hype was about.  I HATE running.  H-A-T-E!  I was very athletic my entire childhood and played many different sports but I never participated in track as a sport so I just ran for warm-ups, etc.  In January I said this is it, I'm going to run.  I told Austin my plan and he said well, if you're going to run we need to have a goal so we signed up for a 5k in March.  I downloaded the Couch 2 5K app on my phone and every single day when I came home from work I would get on the treadmill and run.  That app is AMAZING by the way for anyone who wants to gradually reach a goal in running.  I seriously could not have done it without following that app.

 

The day finally arrived and it was time to participate in my first ever 5k!  This may not seem like a long distance to many people but I had never ran 3 miles at once in my entire life so this was a big accomplishment for me!  Unfortunately for Austin, he pulled his calf muscle that week so I was going solo for the run, he and Hannah were my cheering crew.  :)

 

I picked up my number and t-shirt a few days before the race!

 

 

Ready to go bright and early!

 

My view before I took off.  I ran with my phone since it was my music as well.  Austin likes to run in silence, I like music, it makes it go faster and helps keep me motivated. :)

 

After the race!  Hannah and Austin walked the one mile so she even got a medal!  Mommy's medal just looked a little different.  Austin didn't get a picture of me coming through the finish line because he was unprepared for how quickly I finished (that's what he said).  Haha.  It was funny, I was running in and they were announcing my arrival and he was fumbling for his phone to get a pic.  I'm just too fast!  ;)

 

My cheering crew!

 

I finished!  It was a great race, it was just hard because there were hills that I don't think anyone was expecting!  Not huge hills, but not teeny tiny ones either. 

 

Hannah finished too!

 

My sweet girl and me. :)

 

Our friends Amanda and Mallory ran too!  Maggie ran the 1 mile with her Dad, Austin and Hannah.

 

My stats.  Not too bad for my first run!  I came in 6th for females in my age range.

 

Fun morning

 

This is a little out of order but Austin took this as soon as I finished the race.  Love this picture!

 

Right before the run started

 

It was a great morning and I'm so happy I did it!  Something I definitely never thought I'd do!  We ran another one in April and as soon as I'm cleared for running in a few months I'm going to gear up for some later in the year.  I decided that all those people who say they LOVE running are liars though.  Running is flipping terrible.  It's how you feel from running that you get addicted to.  That's my opinion at least.  I still don't like running, it's hard and I'm tired but I feel amazing once it's done!  It's strangely addicting.  That makes sense, right?? ;)

 

Baby T#2 37 Weeks

Disclaimer: I wrote most of this on Saturday at 37 weeks and then updated it after my Dr appt on Monday.

Pregnancy Highlights:

 

How Far Along: 37 Weeks

 

Size of baby: Baby Graham weighs about 6 lbs and is over 19 inches (according to Baby Center).  I can confidently say that Graham has exceeded those measurements!  We had our last ultrasound almost two weeks ago and at that time they estimated he was 7lbs 7oz!!  Hannah at that ultrasound was estimated 7lbs 4oz and she was 8lbs 4oz at birth so I'm hoping they were a little high in their guess but we'll see.  We know for sure he's going to be a big boy!  He has really long feet and his head is right on track for how far along he is.  Hannah's head was always measuring a week ahead.  I went to the Dr on Monday (so 37w 3d) and she said he's a huge baby!  Nice.  Her estimate is that he's already over 8 lbs. Yikes!  We are very very close to his scheduled arrival date so I'm hoping he's not 10 lbs by the time he gets here!

 

Total Weight Gain: 24 lbs. Yep, that's right, I gained 4 lbs in TWO weeks!  I can't believe it but the Dr said it's totally normal to gain more at the very end.  Yikes.  This boy is getting big in there!   This was my total weight gain with Hannah so I'm guessing I will just go over that a little with Graham.
 

 

Maternity Clothes: All maternity clothes
 

 

Gender: It's a BOY!!!  

 

Movement: Graham is still a mover, but much less these days than before.  I almost feel like he's moving upwards since he was so low for so long.  He hasn't kicked or hit my hip bones at all this week.  He moves his arms and legs a ton and moves his little bottom around a lot.  He tries to stick it out super far daily.  I think he's officially out of room and just wants to find a new position any way he can.   Update: He is now low again!  He's back to constantly kicking my hip bones and is much lower than a week ago.  At 36 weeks Dr J couldn't feel his head and now it's definitely low and she feels it.  I think after the events of Monday night he's even lower.

 

Sleep: Sleep is so-so.  Some nights I only wake up once to go to the bathroom and I fall right back asleep and other nights I wake up several times and can't fall asleep for a few hours.  I get woken up some nights with TERRIBLE round ligament pains.  I mean TERRIBLE.  Like, someone is stabbing me in the side and it lasts for hours.  It's just excruciating.  I have it during the day as well but most of the time it's at night.  I did not have anything like this with Hannah and I will NOT miss it once he's here!  Last night I had the calf cramping in the middle of the night as well which I've only had one other time this pregnancy but I had more with Hannah.  It's like a crazy intense Charlie horse for no reason.  Luckily, that is few and far between but MAN do they hurt!!  As in, my leg was sore the entire next day from the cramping. 

 

What I miss: Sleeping well.  Not being in pain.  

 

Cravings: Chocolate!  He's probably going to have a pretty good sweet tooth just like his big sister thanks to my sweet cravings.

 

Symptoms: Heartburn is still a constant but not too bad, I just take TUMS like it's my job.  Tons of BH contractions still, my stomach is so tight just because of how big Graham is but I can definitely tell when I'm having a contraction, it somehow manages to get tighter.  Update: Monday night was a rough one.  I started having contractions (I'm used to them and don't pay much attention at this point) and then at 8pm I started timing them because I noticed this was happening more often than usual.  They were five minutes apart on the dot and lasted at least a minute each.  This went on for an entire hour so that was super fun.  ;)  I didn't notice a change in the intensity of the contractions so I just kept track and tried to watch tv with Austin.  After an hour they finally slowed down a little and I got in bed and just hoped for a good nights sleep because I was exhausted after all of that.  I slept well until 4am when I woke up with intense cramping in my lower abdomen.  Along with that was achiness in my upper thighs, just shooting down my legs.  It hurt pretty bad so at 5am I finally got out of bed and got in the shower to get ready for the day because I knew I was calling my OB when they opened that morning and didn't know if I'd be going in.  I talked with the nurse and she said it sounds like Graham is making his way down further than the day before (hence the lower cramping and leg pains) and contractions.  She said just to keep monitoring the contractions and if they keep up and intensify then call and we'll have our baby that day!  My Dr told me on Monday that as soon as I show signs of labor she's taking him out because he's ready.  I never experienced this with Hannah since I was induced so it's a whole new game for me.  So far he's been pretty quiet since all of this, just his normal movements and BH contractions, he must be resting from his eventful experience...  I appreciate that for sure! 

 

Best Moment this week: We got to see him a few weeks ago!  The last time before his arrival soon.  He was a sleepy guy but still showed off a little.  He's a big boy!  I wish we got better pictures but the ultrasound tech wasn't that fun so she didn't show us as much as the other ones in the past have.

Here's one picture of his profile with his hands in front of his face.

I also am now officially on medical leave!  I should have gone out weeks ago but I was trying to finish up a few important things before I went out on maternity leave until May.  The last few weeks were really hard and I could barely walk at times around work so the resting is definitely necessary!  I'm just taking it easy and staying home as much a possible until our sweet boy arrives.  We're ready!

This girl is ready too!  She can't wait for her little brother to get here!  She's going to be such a great big sister.

 



Baby T#2 35 Weeks

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 35 Weeks (less than a month to go now!!)

Size of baby: Baby Graham weighs about 5 lbs and is over 18 inches (according to Baby Center).  I call BS on that for sure!  He is way more than 5 lbs I'm pretty certain!!  We have our last big ultrasound on Tuesday so we'll get an idea then.  With Hannah she was estimated around 7lbs at 36 weeks and I'd bet money they say the same for little brother.  

Total Weight Gain: 20 lbs.  

Maternity Clothes: All maternity clothes now

Gender: It's a BOY!!!  

Movement: Graham is still a mover, big time!  He's definitely running out of room and staying in the same position (head down on the left and bottom up on the right) but that doesn't stop him from trying to move as much as he can.  He moves his arms A LOT!  It feels crazy.  He also still enjoys kicking my hip bone.  Sorry buddy, I can't move that for you!

Sleep: Sleep is so-so.  Some nights I only wake up once to go to the bathroom and I fall right back asleep and other nights I wake up several times and can't fall asleep for a few hours.  So basically, it could be better but it was the same way with Hannah.  I remember I got better sleep having a newborn than I did at the end of my pregnancy with her!  

What I miss: Sleeping well.  Not being in pain.  

Cravings: I think I can officially say Starbucks hot chocolate is a craving now.  I don't have to have it every day or even several times a week but when I think about it, I NEED it!  Ha!  It's just so good!  

Symptoms: Heartburn is still a constant but now that I'm taking Zantac about twice a week it's so much better.  I still take Tums daily as well.  BH contractions are just out of control, I have them at least a few times in every hour of every day, all day.  My OB said on Monday that she wanted to put me on medicine to stop the contractions but since those would elevate my heart rate she can't so I just deal with them.  Some hurt and some are just uncomfortable.  Sometimes I have a hard time breathing through them because my stomach is just SO tight!  She said that Graham isn't bothered one bit by them so I'm OK with having them so often.  I'm supposed to go to L&D if I have six in an hour but I don't count them so I just pretend that rule doesn't exist.  ;)  If I thought I was in actual labor that would be a different story.  I think the biggest symptom lately has been the ligament pain.  OMG, it is INTENSE!!!  I did NOT have it nearly as bad with Hannah but Graham is apparently bigger/stronger and likes to stretch my ligaments to the max!  The pain has woken me up several times and sometimes it lasts for a few hours.  It hurts pretty bad and I can't walk when I have it so I just try to lay down and take some Tylenol and deal with it and hope I get a break for a few days from the pain.  

Best Moment this week: Getting a good report from my OB on Monday!  Graham's heartbeat was 143 bpm and he's just hanging out happy in there.  I'm really excited for our ultrasound on Tuesday, I can't wait to see the little guy!  His bedding is done and after we hang some shelves this weekend we'll be done with his room!  I have my pajamas for the hospital, his coming home outfit and big sister/little brother outfits are in so it's countdown time now!  

I've also reached the point where people at work (most of whom I don't know) make unsolicited comments about my pregnancy to me as they walk by.  I've gotten the "you're STILL here?!  When is that baby coming out??" and "you look so much bigger than last time I saw you!".  Well....thanks.  Yes, the belly does tend to grow when you're pregnant but thanks for pointing out my hugeness to me!  And yes, clearly since you are talking to me I am STILL here!  But not much longer!  My Dr and I have reached an agreement about my stop work date, I'm trying to stretch it out as long as I can but she's not buying what I'm selling so my days of working are numbered.

Hannah came into the bathroom this morning with a tiara on and handed me one to wear (as I was drying my hair).  I took it off to finish getting ready and when she came back she said "Mommy, why aren't you wearing your tiara?" so I put it back on.  When your sweet daughter asks you to wear a tiara with her, you do it. :)