Baby Wisely #2: Week 15

How far along? 15 weeks 

Best moment this week:  Feeling a little more human! The past few days have been quite lovely. Been relatively more awake, less dreading of dinner, and generally a bit more chipper!

Miss anything?  Nothing this week specifically

Movement: Still trying to decipher teeny movements...

Food cravings:  Milk and string cheese. Struggling a lot this week with the, 'I'm starving, but uncomfortably full feeling' paradox.

Anything sounding disgusting?  Coffee is still sounding pretty gross. Which is really unfortunate.  

Gender prediction:  I'm just going to permanently say, 'Boy!' unless the stars change and I suddenly feel more girly-like :)

Sleep?  Sleeping a whole lot better, other than the nutso dreams.

Clothing situation?  Still a bit pre-maternity, post regular clothes. I feel like the first to second trimester skip should have an officially named shift that is covered by a wider variety of clothing. (Unlike the tank top in this picture with my jeans hairtied down, making me feel rather beer gut-y.) Also discovered that dressing the ever-enlarging bump is going to be a lot harder in the fall/winter than in the summer, like last time. Do you mean my feet have to fit in actual shoes? (And I have to wear... PANTS?!)

I'm generally feeling: Much more like myself. If it wasn't for my lap shrinking slowly, this week I would hardly feel pregnant. Well, that, and the whole full-y starving thing.

Looking forward to: Coasting along happily for awhile! Hoping the sciatica of Norah's second trimester stays at bay, so I can enjoy more mobility and happier night-time sleeps before I turn in to full-blown baby aircraft carrier of the third trimester! (Bring it on, baby!)

Baby Wisely #2: Week 14

How far along? 14 weeks 

Best moment this week:  Having the week off to spend with my family! We had a great time going to the beach and playing, hitting up Wiggleworks and got spoiled with free dinner and goodies at Emerald Downs. It was awesome getting to catch up on sleep (Norah happily slept in until 8:30 every day… YES.)

Miss anything yet?  Having energy! I could miss not being hormonal, too—again, not pining over anything, just looking forward to the semi-nomalacy of the second trimester (here’s hoping!)

Movement: Still phantom spins!

Food cravings:  Been going through lots of plain bagels with cream cheese. I’m discovering it’s oddly white foods that sound good (what an odd thing to crave?! What’s so wrong with a salad, baby?!)

Anything sounding disgusting?  Still dinner. I can eat the world until about noon, then I’m done. And sad that I have to keep eating. Probably why I’ve only gained a pound so far.

Showing yet?  Oh yes. Nice, small and rotund.

Gender prediction:  Still thinkin’ boy!

Sleep?  Crazy dreams kicking in! Odd stuff man, I’m telling you. I should write short stories on these bad boys.

Belly button situation?  Totally out. Ring out. I really need to think up a new question next week (as I have a soft volcano of belly button sadness).

Clothing situation?  Kind of awkwardly in the middle of my regular clothes being super clingy and awkward, but maternity clothes are way too big. It’s silly, but short term. If you see me wearing the same three outfits over and over, smile and politely ignore the fact that you’ve noticed.

I'm generally feeling: Happy, but still a bit off-kilter. I feel like my brain is happy, but my demeanor is off. It’s still a bit surreal though to be totally honest—I’ve been so busy focusing on Norah it’s hard to imagine adding another!

Looking forward to: Knowing the gender! Looks like we will find out right around my 30^th birthday… fun!! Then the weirdo crazy nester in me will finally be able to go through all the baby things we have, and either sort or sell all the things—woohoo!

Baby Wisely #2: Week 13

Round two, here we go again! 

How far along? 13 weeks 

Best moment this week: Having Norah kiss my belly, and tell me she’s excited to see Baby Sprout. We’ll see if she continues the excitement when baby gets here.

Miss anything yet? Honestly? Nope. I had so much fun last time with Norah, it seems a bit weird to me to want to rush through this because of cookie dough or wine. This is our last kid (quote me on that), so I’m trying to enjoy all of it—even the parts that make me do without! (That being said, heating up deli meat is still a kind of gross pain.)

Movement: I swear I’ve been feeling spins. Which is hooey I think, only because I swore I felt baby spins and kicks the following few weeks after Norah was born. I’m waiting for an official jab of the coming weeks to make it official.

Food cravings: Milk, cherry tomatoes, baked potatoes and string cheese. Although soft serve chocolate ice cream always sounds like a good idea (even though I’m not the hugest fan of ice cream).

Anything sounding disgusting? Dinner. Planning dinner. Thinking about dinner. BLECH. Thinking about sitting down and eating a large meal literally turns my stomach. Bryan has been a champ and has been making me baked potatoes whenever I’d like it, which wins him all the points.

Showing yet? Oh my. Yes. Been showing since about eight weeks. Sup, tummy muscles that have done this before (and mom who never picked up crew since Norah!)

Gender prediction:  I’m convinced this one is a boy. Solely based on the fact that cookies, desserts and cereal don’t sound all that great.

Sleep?  I’m solidly working an every other day, insomnia and crazy person schedule. Every other day I can’t keep myself upright (just downright exhausted), or an chalked full of energy and can’t sleep if I tried. What witchcraft is this?!

Belly button situation? Been out pretty much the week after we found out. Again, what’s up second baby?!

Clothing situation? Baby is sitting pretty high these days, so most things are fitting decently well… other than trying to hide it the past few weeks! (That’s been a fun household joke—it took me 6-7 outfits a night of me doing the walk out to the living room, and Bryan telling me, “um, yes… I can totally tell.” I only had one co-worker say she saw it on me before we spilled the beans. I still want to make her a card for thinking I looked pregnant, not just letting myself go.)

I'm generally feeling:  Quite out of whack. The insomnia/zombie spins have me oddly grumpy, although it’s hard to feel this way for long when you have adorable Norah singing you songs and a sweet sweet husband spoiling me rotten. It could for sure be worse! I blame the hormones.

Looking forward to: Telling Facebook! We are a bit behind the times on this one (having a hard time figuring out how to present appropriately) but something about revealing it to everybody makes me feel so much better—I’m no good at keeping personal secrets!

Norah has something important she needs to say...

We are so excited to announce that Norah is going to be a big sister! Baby Sprout is expected to arrive on March 9th, and we couldn't be happier! At the moment, Norah has been happily kissing my belly and telling me she misses Baby Sprout... fingers crossed she's as excited to meet the baby when he/she is actually out of my tummy. Two-and-a-half-year olds are well known for being incredibly rational, right?

Planning on keeping up the weekly log-blog to document! As of now I'm 14 weeks, in the coming days I will catch up and post away! (I've been much sleepier this time around, so finding awake time to post has been challenging!) More coming soon!

YAY!!!
(The currently growing,)
Wiselys :)

Norah's Second Birthday!

My oh my. We are the proud parents of a two-year-old. And I've got to say, I've been loving every minute of it. Well, alright, not every minute is easy... but it's amazing, regardless. (The occasional tantrum doesn't hold a candle to John Williams dance parties, stories about Silly Willies--caterpillars-- and snuggles. So many snuggles.)

This year we had a small family get together the Saturday after her birthday. The weather was lovely (read: not blisteringly hot), the menu was easy (taco bar) and there was general happiness and, 'why yes! I have taken a very awesome nap today' vibe. Norah has been all about Frozen lately (most women under the age of 20 seem to be in this boat), so we did a "Frozen-ish" theme, with a blue and silver decorated house and snowflake cake. I'm going to go ahead and admit: I am no epic party planner. But if I get big smiles in the morning because there are a few streamers and balloons around the house, I will consider that a win!

Some general highlights:

• She got totally spoiled by everyone-- including lots of Frozen things, fun toys and outfits. The electric quad from Grandma and Grandpa Wisely got the most hilarious photos, however!
• Olivia and Meghan came over, so Norah got to partake in some general little person shenanigans (and wouldn't stop talking about them for two days)
• Still not a huge fan of cake. Had both chocolate and vanilla this year, instead of hippie banana cake-- and she wasn't too in to it. 

Still can't believe she's TWO. Two! So crazy! And just in general, here are a couple of highlights of what it's been like in our house, because I'm getting to be a lazy poster:

• She's never been much of a physical kid, but recently she's been all about dancing-- especially to the Star Wars soundtrack. We have a John Williams station on Pandora and she flips out over it.
• "Let it Go" is a new personal favorite. It starts: She makes me put her princess dress on her. Then forces me to stuff another down the front of my shirt. Then will proceed to sing along with the video, building her castle and all. At one point in the video, she will rip her hair out of her hairstyle, come over to me and pull out my bun, then smile appreciatively. I have this on video. It melts my heart.
• We're working out some anger issues. Hitting is confusing. Hugging it out helps.
• Anger issues aside, she's a super happy kid. Seems like she will go days on end with my open-mouthed silly happy face that I get. She loves applauding for people, and sports when they make dad happy.
• Food is now getting confusing. She gets the love of food confused sometimes with the words, 'no' and 'I can't.' Although I did ask her what her favorite foods were today, and she told me, 'Green beans, tomatoes, milk, and craisins.' Which is pretty accurate. 
• She is a total goof in the morning. I went in the other day when she woke up, and she told me, "Mommy. I found a fuzzy!" "Oh yeah?" "Yes. It's daddy's. It's beauuuuuuuuuutiful." (She found a hair in her crib)
• She still loves caterpillars in particular, (whom she calls, 'silly willies') but she also quickly learned the phrase, 'I squashed him.'
• A few weeks ago she started reciting the alphabet, and is now having fun counting to... I think 14 is her record? But if you ask her how many of something there is, she will most of the time quickly say, 'onetwothreefourfive' and run off.

I love this girl so much it hurts my heart. All. The. Freakin. Time. I feel so lucky she is ours, and still can't believe all the things she can do. We are incredibly blessed. I lost count a long time ago how many times Bryan and I will catch a glance at each other, and just shake our heads and say, 'Oh my goodness. I can't believe she's ours.' 

Now, onward-- let's tackle these twos!! 

21 Months, Chipper as Ever!

21 months old already. Let's talk about that. 

Wow. Where do I start? I feel like a broken record when I say that each new month is my favorite. This girl surprises and wows us each and every day (again, feeling like a broken record of every parent ever) but this is my blog, and this is where I must brag. So, here goes.

Checking herself out in the mirror. "I think I dig the buns."

Communication has been huge this month. Now, not only can she pretty awesomely repeat anything we say (God's way of saying, 'let's show you parents how dirty your mouths really are all the time'), but she can also tell us what she wants too. Which kind of snack, what she wants to wear, what book she wants to read. So helpful in the realms of toddlerhood. (That's not saying that it's 100% of a time, she still is, well, a toddler, and has been known to have the, "but mom, I wanted the BLUE CHALK" fits of head-thrown-back-stampy-rage-- but good lord is it a start!) 

The only non-blurry photos of her I can get is when she's doing/chewing on something she shouldn't be. I promise I don't make a habit of letting her chew my spin pins.

Here are a few jotted down thoughts of things that are going on, because I'm not quite sure how to make a sensible post of someone who, above all else, is a hummingbird of happiness and odd quirks:

Likes:

• Ketsup and salsa on everything. This morning she asked for ketsup on her oatmeal pancakes. 
• NANA!! (Any time my mom stops by, it lights up her day--she runs over and gives her a huge hug, and smiles forever!)
• "Working out" with dad. He stretches, she stretches. He does downward dog, she does downward dog. All types of adorable.
• Totoro. (She got pretty sick this month, which led to a whole day and a half's worth of cuddling/sleeping/not moving, which meant lots of TV. At least it's adorable Totoro, rather than something terrible.)
• "Flying." One...two... THREE! (Being picked up and flown all around the house)
• Being outside. More than anything. 
• Worms
• Oranges
• Dandelions
• Puddle stomping
• Oatmeal pancakes

Dislikes:

• Coming inside, once she's been out there
• Changing gears without notice (if you give her a heads up first, she's generally cool. Surprise her with a fast diaper change and your neighbors might think you are removing her toes.)
• When you try to convince her that french toast is really pancakes

Easter!

We all had a wonderful Easter this year, even though it followed the first bout of sickness Norah ever caught (sad, fever-y baby on Thursday... lots of cuddles happened). She had a bit of a grumpy morning, but quickly discovered the awesomeness that was egg hunting. And let me tell you-- we thought we had to do the, 'go easy on her, she's only 20 months old'-- but that wasn't the case! After cleaning up on the first round, we continued hiding eggs for quite awhile, and turns out she's a natural.

After playing in the yard and taking a good nap, we went to visit the family at Grandma's house, then to my parent's house for dinner. The weather was great-- happy day!