25 Week Update and a Note About Connecticut

Let me just preface this entry by saying it feels really weird and wrong to be writing about something as trivial and brainless as updating my family and friends on where I'm at with my pregnancy given the tragedy in Connecticut that happened last week. I don't think I've fully wrapped my head around what happened. I learned about the event through friends postings on Facebook. I've shunned all news correspondence I've seen on the topic and have just today started reading articles about what actually happened. I can't bring myself to look at the photos of the children who lost their lives that day, I can't bring myself to learn their names. I know I'm being an ostrich in this situation and hiding my head in the sand in hopes that none of this is real. but as a mother of a young son who will soon be in preschool, then kindergarten and then first grade and a woman pregnant with a little girl it's all I can do right now to get past the tragic events of last Friday. I have no idea what the answers are to this problem are country is facing; more gun control? I'm all for it. More help for the mentally ill? Absolutely. How do we get there? I don't have a clue. I just want to be able to take my son to his first day of kindergarten in a couple of years and be excited about the journey he's about to embark on. I don't want my heart to jump every time my phone rings while he's tucked safely away in a school. I hope and pray that our country will get there and not just because enough time has passed that we've forgotten the events of this past week, but because change has occurred and we've found a way to protect our children. I don't know how that will happen but I pray that it does...

So with that, here's my mindless, trivial update on me and what's going on in my belly...

1. How far along? 25 Weeks

2. Total Weight gain/loss: I've finally reached the double digits! At my 24 week appt (1 week ago for those of you a little slow in the math dept) I had gained 10lbs - WOO!

3. Maternity Clothes: I'm definitely in them now! I still have one pair of jeans that I can get in to if i use the rubber-band method to secure them, however, I wore them one day a few weeks ago and by the end of the day, they had stretched out and the rubber-band wasn't working to keep them closed, so I figured I'd just button them up like a non-pregnant person. While that method technically worked, about 2 hours after doing so I started getting sharp pains in my belly and felt VERY VERY nauseous, thank goodness it didn't take me long to realize what the problem was and I promptly changed into sweats as soon as i figured it out - sorry baby girl!

4. Stretch Marks: Not a one!

5. Sleep: Sleeping well - just need to get to bed earlier (ya, it's 10:40 right now and I'm still down stairs snacking...brilliant.)

6. Best Moment this week: Feeling like my belly finally POPPED :)

7. Movement: Most definitely. It's funny though, she's very much like Logan. Let's me know that she's there and that she's doing well but is pretty mellow. I do remember Logan kicking more during the day (When I'd drive to work or I was at work during the day) but I don't remember what stage that was all happening at. It seems like every day she kicks a little more so I'm sure she's just amping up for an all day dance party. Right about now, 10:30/11pm seems to be her favorite time to get down :)

8. Food Cravings: Still no cravings...I am eating more so that's good, but food just hasn't been on the forefront of my mind this pregnancy. I did experience 2 things that did NOT sound/smell/taste good today however, both of which were weird. The firs was a sandwich made with toasted whole wheat bread. A gal at work ordered a sandwich and she wasn't in her office when the kitchen brought it over so they put it on my desk until she returned. I don't know what it was about that bread, but the sweet smell of it made me sick to my stomach. Then later tonight I had one of my most favorite snacks, sliced apples and peanut butter - the peanut butter just didn't taste as good as it normally does. BOTH of these taste things are weird because just this morning for breakfast I had a PB&J on WHOLE WHEAT toast...and it tasted fine.

9. Gender: As far as we know, it's still a girl :) haha

10. Labor Signs: No - thank goodness!

11. Belly Button: Still in and i hope it stays that way for a LOOONG time.

12. Wedding Rings on or off? Still on and I feel like they may stay on for a while this time around...again, SO WEIRD. I think I took them off at 20 weeks when I was prego with Logan.

13. What I miss: As of this moment, nothing. The pregnancy is going really well , I have energy, I feel healthy and I'm not completely uncomfortable yet...by the next entry I'm sure I'll have something to miss :)

14. What I am looking forward to: Going home to Seattle in a few days to celebrate Christmas with my family!

15. Weekly Wisdom: Umm...can I just say this is a pretty big item with some large expectations from a pregnant gal - WEEKLY wisdom?! First of all, it's expecting this prego brain to have any sort of wisdom and second of all, it's expecting it on a weekly basis...not happenin! The only thing I can think of at this point is to just enjoy pregnancy as much as possible and not stress about the details. I'm trying to get to that place now as we're in the time frame where we have to start thinking about delivery options - my Dr is telling me she thinks I'm a great candidate for a VBAC but for so long I've been set on having another c-section. I'm completely torn on this topic and not sure which way to turn. I'm trying not to focus on making a decision and to just think about being pregnant right now and hope that the right decision will just come to me.

16. Milestones:I passed my glucose test last week! WEEEEE! I wasn't as fortunate when I was prego with Logan and had to take the 2nd test which is 3 hours of pure torture. I am SO grateful I don't have to endure that this time around!

Guess What! We're Having A...

We found out what we're having on Friday and we decided to reveal it in a special way :) We had the ultrasound tech keep the results a secret from us and had her write it down on a piece of paper we brought in with us. Then we drove to a nearby park with 4 pink balloons and 4 blue balloons, after taking a few pictures, Jason pulled out the piece of paper and told me which balloons to release! As you'll see from my face, I was quite surprised!

Enjoy!

Monthly Pregnancy Update - 18.5 Weeks

Here's a pic we took last week and a pic of me from around the same time when I was carrying Logan - what a difference a 2nd pregnancy can make!

Here's the first pic we took this pregnancy - 17.5 weeks

Here's me while pregnant with Logan - .5 weeks farther along than the above photo. Oooh the days of a smaller belly!

1. How far along? 18.5 Weeks

2. Total Weight gain/loss: Thankfully I'm gaining now...but slowly. I think it's still around 4lbs.

3. Maternity Clothes: I bought a pair of larger jeans before we got pregnant so those thankfully fit as do my 1 pair of non-maternity work pants. I did buy some (hideous) work pants that I've worn a few times, and they work, but are probably the least flattering pair of pants I've ever worn (and that's saying a lot if you've known me since middle school!)

4. Stretch Marks: Not a one!

5. Sleep: It's definitely not as restful as it was a few weeks ago...I'm not physically uncomfortable but I did wake up a lot more throughout the night just because...maybe it IS physical but I'm not realizing it, but it certainly is annoying!

6. Best Moment this week: A few minutes ago, when I felt the baby kick for the first time!

7. Movement: Yup! I felt GRAND movements the other day, but I wasn't 100% sure if that was the baby or not (though I have no idea what else it would be), I even thought I felt THE BABY from the outside, but I'm fairly certain that doesn't happen until MUUUUUCH later...but again, what in the heck did I feel if it wasn't the baby? But just tonight as Jas and I were watching TV I felt a bunch of flutters all in a row - baby is here and KICKIN'...officially! Yay!

8. Food Cravings: Still no cravings...my appetite is getting better, but it may just be because I'm forcing myself to eat. I've been making protein shakes in the morning and trying to make lunch for myself to take to work so I can snack throughout the day.

9. Gender: We find out FRIDAY! You can be sure that there will be a post about that!

10. Labor Signs: Ummm....no! haha :)

11. Belly Button: Still in, but it looks FLATTER than it normally does which is just weird. Belly buttons weird me out during pregnancy. I'm totally that girl who will attempt to COVER the outie button once it pops...ugh, it grosses me out.

12. Wedding Rings on or off? Still on, and surprisingly I took them off to clean the other day and they came off more easily than they had before I was pregnant. Go figure!

13. What I miss: Feeling cute in my clothing! While there's definitely a belly, it's just still in that weird stage where some of my non-maternity clothes fit and a lot of my maternity clothes DON'T fit so I just kind of look like a sack of potatoes in everything I wear. Or a sack, with 1 VERY large potato in it.

14. What I am looking forward to: Friday November 9 so we know if we're having a LaubstO or a LaubstA!

15. Weekly Wisdom: Pregnancy is a state of mind (You can quote me on that). People keep asking me how I'm feeling and I think that's SUCH a weird question. I'm done with the first trimester, so I feel great. I definitely feel DIFFERENT than I do when I'm not pregnant, but that's because I'm pregnant! I think one way to deal with pregnancy and all of the physical curve balls it can throw at you is to put your physical state in a different folder than normal, put it in a PREGNANCY folder and things may seem more manageable. You're building a HUMAN inside you - if you didn't feel at all differently that would just be weird.

16. Milestones:We're out of the first trimester and looking forward to the remaining weeks!

Pumpkin Patch!

On Saturday morning, The Laubster's 3 ventured out to a local pumpkin patch to pick out our pumpkins for the very first time! I don't believe we've ever carved pumpkins as a family before; for one reason, Logan is just now at an age to get into Halloween, and for another reason, this is the first HOUSE we've lived in together - having pumpkins in apartments doesn't really make sense to me...

So anyway, we had a great time; Logan got to ride on a Helicopter with Jas and a train with me and then pick up and carry as many pumpkins as he could carry!

 

So excited to be in the helicopter with Daddy!

 

He was convinced we were riding with Simba...

Hi Dada!

Oink!

Big boy pulling our haul!

Checking on the pumpkins

Taking a break and riding in the wagon

My little guy!

Found one!

Putting it in the wagon all by himself!

My two guys!

The Laubster's 3!...and 1/2

Kissing the Baby's pumpkin

Forced smile for mama

Goodbye Pumpkin Patch!

We carved them that night for Logan to see. We did a traditional Jack-O-Lantern face for his, Jas used a drill and put holes all over his, I used a cookie cutter to make stars and Baba did a star/moon scene free hand :) All in all they came out pretty well!...we'll get pics of those out soon :)

Happy Halloween everyone!!

Bump

Here's a self portrait I took this morning...mainly because I liked my sweater ;)

Monthly Pregnancy Update

As my blog friends around me have gotten pregnant time and time again, I've loved peeking in to their baby bump world and reading how things are going for them. Now that I'm in that position, I'm excited to let everyone know how I'm doing week to week or month to month! One thing in particular I've loved is when bloggers put up a Pregnancy Questionnaire each month, answering the same question each time so readers can see how they've changing throughout their pregnancy! Though I'm sure I'm a little premature in doing this at only 14 weeks, it will at least give us somewhere to start, right? So enjoy my first Pregnancy Questionnaire entry!!

1. How far along? 14 weeks 4 days


2. Total Weight gain/loss: At this point, it's a loss - which is weird since with Logan I gained probably 5lbs within the first 6 weeks of being pregnant. Not having an appetite for the first several weeks and then getting the flu definitely isn't helping this one, so I think my total weight LOSS at this point is still 2lbs

3. Maternity Clothes: Though not out of necessity, I did wear a pair or maternity leggings and sweater yesterday and it was SO comfy! I'm still in my regular slacks at work, but I feel my tops may be getting more and more billowy throughout the coming weeks as this bump is getting more and more obvious.

4. Stretch Marks: Nope

5. Sleep: Once I'm in bed, I'm out...no waking up to go pee, no sleepless nights, though I did notice last night as I turned over that I need to be more careful when I do that and need to actually use my core to flip over because whatever I did last night (Flopping) did not sit well with the belly!

6. Best Moment this week: Getting to see the baby on the ultrasound and hear the doctor tell us "it" looked perfect!

7. Movement: Nothing yet, but it's early

8. Food Cravings: Nothing yet

9. Gender: We find out in about 1 month

10. Labor Signs: Nothing yet THANK GOD!

11. Belly Button – In or Out?: Still in - thank GOD!

12. Wedding Rings on or off? On...but I don't think that will last much longer. My fingers/knuckles never went back to their pre-Logan size after having him so while they are ON and comfortable, it basically takes a small army to get them off. We will definitely be resizing the engagement ring after this baby!

13. What I miss: It's funny, but I miss having a cocktail with friends! With Logan that was not the case. The mere mention of alcohol made me want to vomit...but last night we met up with some friends and everyone was ordering martini's and cocktails and I had a Pepsi...sure the caffeine and sugar rush was fun, but nothing like a good Captain and Coke...oh well...next year, right?

14. What I am looking forward to: Finding out the gender so we can start planning!

15. Weekly Wisdom: I'm trying to enjoy life as it is now; meaning I'm trying to enjoy Logan as much as I can while he's my only child-sized distraction, trying (and probably failing) at trying to connect with Jason because I'm sure once we add another one to our brood it'll just make it harder to have time together, and I'm just trying to savor and remember our life as it is NOW when we kind of feel like we know what we're doing!

16. Milestones: We've just entered the 2nd trimester so I'm feeling good and hoping this streak continues!

I hope to have a profile pregnancy pic up at some point...but we just haven't made the time to do it yet!!

Like Brother Like...?????

No, no, we don't know the gender of this next little Laubster swimming around inside me, but "it" IS already showing some similarities to Big Brother Logan!

Jas and I headed to Kaiser this morning for a routine, 1st Trimester Screening ultrasound appointment (Read "We get to the see the baby! We get to see the baby! Appointment). The 1st trimester screening appointment is a lot of fun for us, the parents, because we basically get a detailed look at the litlte one as the Ultrasound Technician looks at different angles and does measurements to hopefully rule out some chromosonal birth defects (Down Syndrom being one of them).

As I got settled in the chair and the ultrasound goop was plopped on my belly I was nervous about seeing our little baby! I just wanted everything to be ok, for the baby to be "perfect" and to be in a good position so that the technician could get the measurements she needed. My nerves were immediately put to rest as the tech exclaimed "Oh my, this baby is just sitting perfectly for me! This is amazing!" I couldn't help but laugh because that's basically exactly what our Dr said when we were doing this screening with Logan. It took both our Dr from last time and the tech this time a whopping 15 minutes to take all of their measurements and then they spent the rest of the appointment just showing off and looking at our "beautiful" baby (Their words, both times, not mine). At one point, the tech brought the Doctor in and she did the same thing .It was kind of hilarious. She said that this was the kind of screening they show at conferences because the baby is in such a great spot and you can just see everything!

As the baby laid in my belly, pretty stretched out, I just stared in amazement at this little being we've created...again! I can't believe we could see it's heart pumping, all of the chambers, we saw its brain, toes, fingers, spine! It's incredible! At one point, I asked the Dr how long this baby currently was in reality, and she said "Roughly the size of a quarter" even MORE amazement! I'm sure to most people this ultrasound shot just looks like any other baby, but to me, I think it looks a LOT like Logan. It looks like him, it performs well for tests, and so far seems to have a similar temperament...it MUST be related to Logan :)

Our next appointment is in early November and THAT'S when we'll learn if it's a boy or a girl! I can't wait!!

What's Cookin' Good Lookin?

Well, it's been FAAAR too long since I've posted anything! We've had such a crazy but fun last few months! Rather than bore you with silly words describing in long-winded detail about our adventures, I'll just leave you with a few photos!

Giants Game - This area was more fun than watching the game for Logan

Break dancing with Elmo...Best-Moment-EVER.

A friendly game of chess at Daddy's office

My 2nd job...Horsey!

Engineer in the making

Welcome to our jobsite - pants are optional

Chilling with cousin Brodie!

Monkey Toes!

Not the greatest photo of me, but SOOOO cute of Logan!

Where I found him one day while I was vacuuming, "I'm just reading, Mommy"

Saturday morning haircut

Sad attempt at a family portrait over Labor Day weekend

Showing off his muscles

Someone discovered water balloons!

Headphones...I can't believe how chubby he looks in this picture!

Stretching out in a borrowed travel crib

BK treat after dinner!

Calliou Backpack on and ready to fly!

Who needs first class?

Cheeseburger in Paradise - obviously

Captured coconut (It was really gross!)

Beautiful rainbow in Kaanapali!

Logan and his friend the frog!

Hi fishy fishy fishy!

I have no words...

Lounging...

Zen baby

And finally, our greatest adventure is just about to begin....

We are 12 weeks pregnant as of today! We're thrilled to be pregnant and to be adding another little Laubster to our family! So far things have been going well - I got a bit sick last week and it took me down pretty good but I'm feeling great now and looking forward to the 2nd trimester!

Vancouver Videos

A few videos from our trip...enjoy!!

Logan walking up the stairs like a CHAMP!

Jas & Logan on our bike ride in Stanley Park!

 

Logan's "magic" trick

 

 Chasing pigeons on Granville Island

 

 Logan's taking over!

 

More Granville Island fun!

Capilano Suspension Bridge!

One day on our trip, The Laubster's 3 ventured out to the Capilano suspension bridge! It's a must-see for tourists in Vancouver, and we were super excited to take our little climbing man with us on this day trip. Jas had come here on his solo trip to The 'Couv a few years ago, so we were excited to do it all together.

Logan did amazingly well here...he's been walking and clmibing like a champ (aka, 5 year old) since we arrived but we weren't sure how he'd do on a wobbly suspension bridge. We shouldn't have put even an ounce of worry in to it as Logan was a total rock star on everything.

The Capilano park has added a TreeHouse Adventure area beyond the suspension bridge which is pretty cool and totally reminds me of the planet Wookies live on in Star Wars (nerd alert). We all loved being there, and Logan did awesome. I think we honestly slowed him down and he would have preferred to Not have us with him! His independence kills us sometimes!

We have videos of Logan walking as well, but our internet connection isn't very fast so I'll do a post later (Maybe when we get home) of all of our videos :)