Thanksgiving

We have so much to be thankful about year after year.  Even with the downs and lows of life, we have it good.  I am forever thankful for that.

Addison, it was your second Thanksgiving.  Daddy participated in his first ever Turkey Bowl, he was super excited to be around this year.  We got to stick around the house preparing my onion dip, which is our family's favorite appetizer :)  It was relatively warm and sunny this year!  We headed off to Great Grandma Terry and Great Grandpa Bill's house with Auntie Kim, Uncle Ron, Kyle, and Ryane. You didn't get a nap before we left the house and didn't fall asleep in the car.  Double bummer.  There was a small miscommunication between your father and I about what time we were leaving the house.

We arrived and you we down for a nap shortly after.  Bad thing was that dinner was to be served roughly an hour after you went down.  Of course, we sat in the formal dining room, which is located just outside of where you nap.  You quickly woke up and screamed for a good 15-20 minutes.  The whole family was waiting on you, little miss, to say the prayer.  All of us with watering mouths!  You calmed down, but did not eat a thing.  You ate more when you were 8 months old :)  You missed out Princess.

It was a good evening filled with family.  We FaceTimed our family in Texas and were thankful for technology and the ability to keep in touch with those we love.  Mommy planned out her Black Friday outings b/c this year the stores I wanted to hit were open at 8 and 9 pm Thursday night.  Daddy played Monopoly.  Addie, you will soon learn Mommy despises that game.  It takes entirely too long and everyone is competitive.  Game over for this Momma, especially pregnant and Miss Ads not being entertained by anything (insert another crying fit due to the lack of nap and the fact that it was past bedtime).

I never took a family picture *tears*  I am beyond very upset with myself.  But that's OK.  I'm very forgetful this pregnancy and that's where I point my blame.  Little 2.0, you had a great meal in my belly.  Surprisingly, we did not gorge ourselves and eat too much.  We ate just enough.  At this point, eating a ton of food only makes my mood absolutely terrible and my belly (mostly the skin that covers it) feel like it's stretch inhumanly far.

Thank you, Lord, for family and friends.  Thank you for my husband and for him being home to share this holiday for once; for me being a mother to an amazing little 20 month old girl and the bean growing in my belly; for food on my table and a roof over my head.  Thank you for giving me hands down THE.BEST. family- those I grew up with, my own little family, and those I got through marrying my husband.  My life is full- SO.MUCH. to be thankful for :)

X OR Y

Chromosome that is.  What do I think is growing in my belly?  A little boy?  A little girl?  It's the question I get asked the most.  Well, along with "How do you do it?" Referring to not finding out the gender.

My honest to goodness answer is- I do not know.  People always say, "I just had a feeling," "I knew it was a boy (or girl) from day 1," and "The second pregnancy felt different, so I knew it was a boy (or girl)."  I am not that way at all.  Quite frankly, I feel like those people are smokin' somethin' :)

Bottom line is folks, every pregnancy is different.  My mother has four daughters and we were all different pregnancies.  And I am 100% positive we are all girls(XX)!  So here's my story of how this pregnancy has gone for me.

We knew we wanted our children close in age.  Roughly two years apart at least.  We have friends and have heard of friend's friends that have had difficulty getting pregnant the second time around.  To be honest, it scared the living daylights out of us.  So, we thought we would get a jump start on the 'trying for #2' bandwagon.  Turns out we had no trouble at all.  I truly believe this is God's plan for us.  I've wanted nothing more than to be a mom my whole entire life.  Our two children will be 21 months apart.

In the beginning, I felt so sick.  I didn't want to eat anything and anything that I did force down my throat gave me a terrible stomach ache.  I never puked.  Thank the good Lord.  I was miserable.  This started my the downfall of working out.  The first trimester was nothing like it was Addison.  So, my first instinct was boy.

Second trimester was great.  Felt the same way I did with Addison.  I was exhausted though, therefore the no work trend continued.  When Mike was home, I was a bum and relied on him to do a lot of the evening routine around our house.  However, with his fabulous career, he is gone for four days straight.  This exhausted me to no end.  I dreaded the day he left almost more than ever before.  Feeling the same = girl.  Then my belly started to show...more and more.  My belly button popped early.  I feel like I am carrying the exact same way = another little girl.

The third trimester hasn't been terrible.  The morning sickness never came back- thank the good Lord again.  I have the normal woes of pregnancy.  I am completely uncomfortable.  It hurts to walk, sit, and lay down.  I feel like I cannot breathe and my whole abdomen feels as if I'm stretch armstrong.  Like, there are two professional tug-of-war competitors clawing their way to another victory...in my skin.  It hurts.  No stretch marks to date.  It doesn't mean my skin is not stretched.  Still carrying the same, although that's just how I feel, some people tell me this too.  Another point on the girl side.  I am measuring right on this pregnancy, which is different than with Addison.  This baby has its feet stuck in my right rib cage...it's lovely.  I do not remember this with Addison.  Baby B 2.0 also seems to wake me up in the middle of the night with movement, which I have heard is bad news.  A baby awake in utero in the middle of the night means a newborn awake in the middle of the night.

About a month ago, I was telling Mike that it's another girl.  I did all the old wife's tales and, if I'm not mistaken, they all said girl.  I did them with Addison and they all said girl, which turned out to be the case!  I've had moms tell me they felt the exact same with their second as they did with their first.  I have also had moms tell me they felt completely different with their second and it was the same gender as their first.  You just never know.  It's 50-50.  We know there is one baby in my belly.  And as far as we know, we are blessed with a healthy baby growing just as it should be.

Our name journey has been rough...we truly agree on so little in general.  With that said, our boy name was set awhile back.  It took us awhile to get there, but we have agreed.  A girl's name just became settled last week.  I love our boy's name and feel different about the girl's name.  I like it, but I don't love it like I do the boy's name. With Addison that's how we felt about the girl's name...we loved it.  Maybe that's a sign?  It's a boy?

And here I sit.  Some days I think it's a boy.  Maybe it's b/c of a dream I had the night before.  Other days I think, no way it's a girl.  Either way I know that this baby will have the best big sister and I hope and pray they have a sibling bond like no other.  I will jump for joy when we have a real life, healthy baby.  I will jump for joy b/c I am done with pregnancy #2, I get to become a mom of two, and I get to watch my children grow up together.  It's a wonderful thing...and I cannot wait till it's done ;)

Back Up The Train

Crazy, how I finally get a minute to sit down and a month has come and gone right before my very eyes!  Man, October must have been busy.  My Mac is still functioning minimally and my charger that I used bit the dust.  So, no computer on my part doesn't help the blogging world.

Anyways...I will pause on details of November to get everyone (my memory...cough, cough) caught up on October.

Miss Addison Irene turned 19 months old.  She now seems taller than ever before and talking all.the.time.  I love her talking though.  It may get old one day.  I'm sure when she learns the word why I will go insane, but for right now the talking is awesome.  She can communicate 24/7.  There isn't anything she says that we don't get...it may take a minute or two, but we figure it out.  Addison loves to play.  I guess she has started a new thing where she closes her door.  Needing privacy to read books this early in life?  Lord, help us for when she turns 16!

We broke down in October and started giving her half chocolate milk half whole milk.  The kid finally drinks ONE whole cup of milk a day.  We are hoping we can increase that in November to TWO cups!  Doc says she must gain weight, so we are doing our best to help her do just that.  We feed her nonstop, but she doesn't always want to eat.  Do you blame her?  Addie, your favorite foods right now are oatmeal (we buy the maple/brown sugar low sugar), which you call 'moat meal' respectively.  You like Velveta shells and cheese, broccoli (still), peas (still), toast and cereal (especially on Saturday mornings with Mommy).  You really could live without fruit, but you eat yogurt.  You are very big on feeding yourself.  You don't mind if we help you, but you are great at using a spoon and fork and do a lot yourself.  It's funny b/c, when you get frustrated, you use your hands.  I like that you are determined, but aren't afraid to revert to what you know :)

Still in a size 3 diaper...we are hoping this also increases with your weight gain in November!  Seems silly, but it's the small things in life sometimes, my dear.  You wear 18-24 months clothes.  We said good-bye to your 12 month jammies awhile ago.

This past month Addie has tried to give us a hard time when going down for a nap or bed.  We try to get into a familiar routine so that she knows what to expect.  It seems to be working thus far.  Mommy cannot stand it when you cry...and Ads, you've been giving Daddy a run for his money on days you are home with him.  You little stinker!

In October, Addison also learned all her Aunties' names.  She says them all when they aren't an ear shot away.  Rarely on FaceTime and the phone, of course!  She repeats anything and everything we ask her to...it's been a lot of fun.  Little girl, you still love to read.  We are all looking forward to some new books for Christmas.  Our next educational project is colors and the ABC's.  We haven't mastered those yet, but she does know the letter 'A' is for Addison :)  And it melts my heart!

Addie, you are such a sweet little girl.  Don't get me wrong, you have your stinker side that you like to flare often.  However, there are several moments when you will run up to me or Daddy screaming our name and only wanting to give a hug or snuggle up with us.  You are great at giving kisses still.

We are one more month closer to adding another addition to our family and I pray every single day that you, baby girl, do not feel less important or fall to the wayside.  YOU are the reason we wanted to have another baby.  Not only because you are a blessing in our lives, but because we know you will love growing up with another child around :)  We love you to the moon and back Princess!