little buddies.

My girlfriends from High School are all still extremely close.
We have been on many traveling adventures together, added husbands and babies, and in truth we treat each other a little more like family than we do just as friends.  :)
Love every single time we are able to get everyone together.

Quinn's little buddies with mommy's high school friends (minus the few that are already in school! and a couple more that are still baking and will join the group soon :)).

"your tummy is full enough"

I can pretty much expect a new comment out of my sweet little daughter's mouth regarding my big belly on a daily basis now.
"mommy, your belly is much bigger today"
"mommy....your tummy is full enough now"

oh, my sweet girl. 
and they aren't entirely uncalled for.
This belly and this baby has gone through a big growth spurt the last 6 weeks.
I'm afraid there is no slowing it down, although I am really hoping so!
When you are used to stepping on the scale and seeing the same number for 10 weeks straight and then stepping on and seeing a new pound each week, well you just want to go back to those sweet 10 weeks of blissful no weight-gain.  I am eating so good and staying active with a 3 year old, but it's unstoppable when you get into the last weeks I guess.
We are now in the stage where baby is growing and adding lots of little baby chubbiness.
She herself has gained at least 2 pounds in the last 6 weeks, so I can subtract that from mine right?? ;)
Either way, we are nearing the home stretch and so glad that she is growing big and strong and healthy.  When she is quiet and sleepy she is very still, but when it's her active time - watch out! because I get trampled on in every which way inside this belly.  She is a mover and roller.

Otherwise, everything is going well baby and pregnancy-wise.

Quinn is very much ready for baby, we think.
She seems to know that baby is coming soon, she talks about baby sister being born a lot now.
Plus her sister's room is all ready to go!  Quinn and I did some final touches this week.

Otherwise, like many households, our house has been "Frozen" mania since Easter.  We have only watched the movie once, but the album is requested in the car every time we drive somewhere.  So, lyrics are being memorized and sung at all times of the day.  Elsa or Anna braids are asked for everyday and fixed about a dozen times during the day (because she loves to touch and play with the braids in her hair).  Today, it's Anna braids, 2 braids, so it's a special day from her regular Elsa request.

It's busy spring season, we have had family house guests the last two weekends and lots more the next two weekends.  Just a busy time of year and many little events coming up.  Looking forward to them all, especially if they speed up time a little and we get closer to baby girl being here.  I am much more anxious to get to that 37 week mark and be ready for baby to come at anytime than I was with Quinn.  I know May will fly by fast though!

Grocery shopping and house cleaning is on our agenda today, anyone have more exciting plans that would like to trade? :)  Enjoy the day!

baby #2 - 30 weeks.

Time for a little update on our growing peanut/baby sister. :)

7.5 months in... things are moving quickly.

a much bigger bump since our last update :)

30 Weeks Bump Update:

Baby Gender?  It's a girl! (for anyone who missed our gender reveal video). 
Name?  We do have one, and yes at this point we will be keeping it a secret till she arrives.  We really
             have barely talked about it, which can bring up a little doubt - however, this is exactly how it
             was when we picked Quinn Avery's name.  We kind of mentioned it, liked it and just stuck
             with it and don't really talk much about it.  It was easy like it was with Quinn too, so we just
             kind of felt it was a sign it was meant to be and that must just be how we do names around
             here.  I will say, I think this name will be more of a surprise.  Some people knew I loved the
             name Quinn before we were pregnant with her.  The new name is simple and sweet and
             sporty and unique just like "Quinn".
How are you feeling?  Pretty good :)  Right at 29 weeks I started getting hit with some 3rd trimester
             regulars - lower back pain, exhaustion.  But my 2nd trimester was a dream compared to with
             Quinn (much more relaxed).
Comparisons at this point to pregnancy #1?  I carried Quinn much higher, and this girl is lower and
             more out front.  It's definitely different.  With Quinn because she was higher I had more
             heartburn/acid reflux and therefore still got sick occasionally at this point.  This one sitting
             lower is a little more uncomfortable with her movements and pressure.  Because she is lower
             I also am experiencing more lower back pain.
Movement?  She has very regular active times in the day.  I've always said she was reliable and it
            continues to be true.  Usually between 8:30-10am, 2-3:30pm and 7:30-10pm.  There is other
            movement throughout the day, but that is apparently Open Gym time. :)  The way this one
            pushes on me is a little more uncomfortable and totally different than Quinn.  It's like she
            doesn't have as much room as Quinn did.
Position?  She is still flipping all around in there, but it seems that the coziest position in my uterus
            for my babies is butt down (breech position).  I am much more aware of the position she is in
            compared to Quinn (I think because she feels tighter in there).
Weight Gain?  12 pounds.
How much does baby weigh?  about 3 lbs 8 oz - at our last ultrasound last week.
Sleep?  For the most part, still sleeping pretty well.  I usually have one night a week lately when I am
           up wide awake for several hours in the middle of the night. 
Pregnancy #1 reminders?
            I get people asking me when we started experiencing complications with Quinn, delivered,
            etc.  Here is that info:
            I had some high blood pressure readings on and off throughout the pregnancy (working
                 full-time and in my last semester of graduate school probably didn't help).
            I started experiencing some swelling early on at about 19 weeks, and more regular swelling
                  about 27 weeks.
            30.5 weeks we were in the hospital with a kidney stone.
            32.5 weeks we were diagnosed with pre-eclampsia and bedrest started that day.
            36 weeks 5 days we delivered Quinn via C-section after a failed induction.
            Quinn was 5lbs 9oz, 19.5 in. and beautifully healthy.
            My recovery was really good from the C-section.
What's going on this time?
            Overall, everything has been going very smoothly.
            No swelling. (only on Easter Sunday when it was hot outside)
            My 29 week doctor's appt. had my first high blood pressure reading.  So, I'm taking a reading
              once a day at home (because I had to have a monitor last time with Quinn).  It's much better
              at home, my top number is consistently between 105-123, but my bottom number stays
              right at about 86-89 so that's the problem number as it's hovering closer to 90. Still not crazy
              or horrible, but we know it is just going to continue to go up.
            Just continuing to monitor it, but nothing changed in our plan at this point.  Although, my
              body and mother's intuition is telling me this baby will likely be here in mid-June.  We shall
              see. 
Delivery?  We will be having a scheduled C-section.  I am not a good candidate at this point for a
            V-BAC, but even still Todd and I really were not comfortable with all the risks it would have
            and how low the success rate would be for me, it simply was not the choice for us.  Healthy
            baby and then healthy mommy is all we want.  Plus, as I said before my babies like to sit
            butt-down most of the time anyway. :)  No date is scheduled for delivery, because of my
            history they really don't even want to look at dates until we see how these next few weeks go.
The nursery?  We re-painted the baby room to a pretty grey and then added a Damask stencil to the
            wall behind the crib.  It is pretty and I really love it.  I also made a crib mobile a few weeks
            ago as well.  Other than one or two more things, it's pretty much ready to go.  Clothes are
            washed and put away, tiny diapers are ready to go.  Once the final touches are in the room I
            will do a little room reveal (but since it will likely involve her name I will have to save it for
            after she arrives).
Nesting?  The last two months I've been all about getting things done, especially while I was feeling
            good and energized.  Most things are pretty much ready, we just have to bring up the large
            baby items from the basement, pack a hospital bag and organize baby's closet.  Otherwise,
            everything is washed, crib is ready, presents are set for baby from Quinn and for Quinn from
            baby, gifts for our nurses are all set and ready to go.
         
We made treat bags for our nurses with Hershey bars and some other goodies.  I made these tags and attached them to the bags.

Will keep you updated as we get closer to this little one's arrival!

easter 2014.

We are coming off of an Easter weekend filled with bunnies, grandparents, eggs, Elsa and m&m's.
The spring weather was beautiful, although Sunday thought it was summer - it was 85 and hot (summer just wait till July please!).

This weekend Quinn had lots of time with some of her grandparents.  Todd's mom, Genny and Derek came up for a 2 day visit, and then we traveled out to Todd's hometown for visits with his dad and grandmother.  Quinn says "great, great, great grandma is fun" :) (with two extra greats in there)
We quickly discovered this girl has a knack for softball, like really surprised.  We have never introduced her to it, but she picked up the bat, had a sturdy stance and swung at the ball like she totally knew what she was doing.  There wasn't a single demonstration involved.  She hit the ball on the first try, except it went straight for great-grandma!  She hit the ball many times, and we need to get this girl her own bat and ball.

It was a lovely weekend with good time spent with everyone.
Quinn's basket and treats this year were all about coloring, flowers, Elsa (from Frozen) and everyone knows she loves m&m's, so there are now tons of them around here now!
Quinn absolutely LOVES hunting for Easter eggs.  We hide and search for eggs for a whole month around here.

 

Hope everyone enjoyed a wonderful weekend!

our big girl in her big room.

A few weeks ago, our little Quinny made the big move from the crib in her nursery to her big girl bed in her new big girl room.  It was a big deal, well any mama knows this. :) 

We are parents that I call "waiters", we wait.  We wait until both child and parents are ready for big transitions.  And we find all of this so worth the wait, the transitions are easy and smooth.  We have done this with all the big and little transitions in her life, but most importantly it works for us.

If you have a child not climbing out of their crib, sleeps like an angel, and does not need to be evicted immediately due to another child on the way.... wait. 
Quinn moved out of her crib one month past her 3rd birthday and her transition was so smooth and easy.  And we waited until we felt like that last minute (we figured she would need a good 2 months to start thinking of the nursery as her baby sister's room.  Plus I was starting to drop her into her crib instead of laying her because of this big growing belly in the way! ;)
She understands everything, we can reason with her, and after the move she still sleeps like a little angel but her naps have become just slightly shorter (usually about 2 1/2  hours now, compared to the regular 3-4 we got before).  I'm not complaining, this girl is still an amazing sleeper!

The very first night, she fell asleep really late (about 10:30) and was up super early for her (about 6:00).  I'm sure it was excitement and a new place.  The next night and every night since she has done wonderfully.  Sometimes she gets down to play with her dollhouse, but she usually climbs up into her bed when she is tired and falls right to sleep.  I know, our super easy child.  Always.

And, this is what you get when you ask a 3 year old to "pretend" to sleep. :)

She is laying in all of the cozy bedding that her Grandma D. made for her.  Lucky little girl. :)  All of those details and more about her room are found OVER HERE @ all things DIY.  (with lots of pictures)

a little sneak peek.

 but go see all of the pictures HERE!

getting ready.

I have not been good about updates.  oops! :)

For the last week we have had Todd home all week and it has been amazing and much needed.
Our Holiday break was jam-packed and left no time for just the three of us so we knew immediately that we needed to save and cherish every minute of Spring Break.  We don't get lots of uninterrupted family time so we look forward to and treasure every break or open day.  There are no open weekends from here till June, and we needed time to just be "the 3 of us" before our family will soon be growing.  We also knew this was our only opportunity for trying to get any projects done before baby girl #2 arrives.  So, we tackled a few projects (nothing crazy or big) but good things to get done.  More on those updates later...

Quinn also made the move a couple weekends ago to her big girl room!  More on that later too...

Since she moved out of the baby room, we gave the room a little face lift and now its time to get it all ready for baby girl.  I pulled up all of Quinn's preemie and newborn clothes, washed them up and have them all ready to go.  Of course it led to some sentimental moments, especially looking at the incredibly tiny preemie clothes (which Quinn wore for almost 2 months!)  They are tiny and so sweet.  And is now leading me to this picture of our girl.

Those cheeks were just starting to get real juicy at 5 months, but she was always our little peanut.
We'll see what will come with this little one on the way.
At our last ultrasound she was measuring in the 40th percentile, so we know we aren't expecting a whopper of a baby at least. :)  Will see how she continues to grow.  She is always measuring exactly to her due date this one, never waivers.  One thing is for sure, she is a super reliable and calm little peanut - is it possible we have another ridiculously easy baby on our hands??  We shall see.

And soon enough...
We are already into our final trimester - crazy!  About 11 weeks to go.
We already have quite a bit ready, but our goal is to be all set by the end of May so come June we are ready for whatever plan this little one has for us, or should I say whatever plan my body has?
All is well so far! :)

More updates on Quinn's big girl room, baby girls room, the bump and more soon.