19 weeks

I am 100% positive I am feeling him moving now. It’s so exciting. This is what I have been waiting for. To me this is the best part of pregnancy. I just love it so much and I love having a baby in my belly. It’s still not all the time but enough to make me happy (for now). We are absolutely no closer on having a name for him. We just have a huge problem with boy’s names. Even when I was prego with Av and we didn’t know if she was a boy or a girl we never settled on a boy’s name. I was in labor and we still didn’t have a name. There are a few we like but none of them just stand out and say, “I’m it!!!!” to me. We have time, I know, but since there has never been a boy’s name I love I’m starting to feel hopeless. I feel great though. No real complaints. I crash/hit my wall about 9:30 every night and I am still sleeping really well. My belly button has stopped hurting so that is nice too. That has happened to me every pregnancy; my belly button gets very tender and sore to the touch. I get frequent headaches too but nothing horrible, not like the everyday ones I had with Camille. Also, better than the nosebleeds I had with Av or the carpel tunnel issues I had with Camille. I guess there’s still plenty of time though, better knock on wood.

house

We are contemplating a move. We love our house and even more we love where it is. The location is just the best. 4 blocks from the park, 3 blocks from shops, restaurants, Walgreens, Starbucks, ice cream shop, bars (not that we use those much anymore), 8 blocks from either girls school, 3 good friends within 8 blocks of us, great neighbors, and much much more. It’s just a great area. The 2 problems are, we are outgrowing our house and it’s a neighborhood on a grid (meaning it’s busy and gets lots of thru traffic). The road makes me so nervous. I want a road that the girls can ride their bikes on and that really does not get traffic other than the people who live there. It’s really hard to balance what we as the parents would ideally want (city) and what is the best situation for the kids to grow up in. We looked at a house last night. It’s father out than John ever wanted to be (still not the suburbs though) but the house is in a pretty neighborhood, great school, cul-de-sac, on a nice flat lot, and has great space (each bedroom (4) has 2 walk in closets in it all upstairs). It needs work. Can we really handle the work right now? We can’t afford the space we want, inside the city, and updated. What do you give up? Do we just stay where we are? I just don’t know what the answer is.

ever changing schedule

With the summer coming up our schedule will be changing. I will work on Tuesdays and Thursdays and that is when the girls will go to school. So for the first time we will be home together 3 full days a week! I will no longer have my day with Av and my day with Camille so I am going to enjoy my last 3 as much as possible. Av will start back at Camille’s school June 1st. I am sooooooooooooooooooo dreading that day. I know she will adjust as she always does but I hate it for her. Can’t let her know that though, only positive thoughts on it!! We have already started talking about it and she is excited as of now. Only problem is they still nap in the 4-year-old classroom. Ugh, that will make bedtime so much harder if she actually sleeps. She’s not used to having to lie down at school anymore but we have played that up too. She is excited to get to take her blanket and monkey to school and lay down with them. She really is such a good girl. Not sure yet what day will be her therapy day. I am trying to get her into a 6-week speech camp. It would be twice a week for an hour and half each time. It would be really good for her but not sure it’s going to work out. Keep your fingers crossed for me on that! We will have to do OT and speech for at least part of the summer. Next school year Av will go to school Mon, Tues, Thur, and Fri. Tues and Thur she will be there all day. Mon and Fri will just be in the am. Camille will go Tues and Thur all day (those are the days I will continue to work) and then depending on when Av’s therapy is she may go another day. We will see.

first minivan road trip

We went to WV last weekend to see my parents and sister. It was such a nice weekend. Too short and I got a cold so it was not enjoyed as much as it should have been but it was so nice to see everyone. The girls ate up the extra attention. Camille has quickly learned how fun Grandma and PP are. She wants nothing to do with me when they are around. It was kind of sad but I love seeing them having fun together. When we got there Friday we stopped at Aunt Anne’s and Uncle Matt’s. We had a yummy dinner there and hung out for a while. Av ran down to play with the neighborhood kids and got to drive one of those Barbie jeeps. That is all she wants for her bday now. On Sat we went to a very pretty park with waterfalls by their house. The girls loved it. We saw some tadpoles, frogs and salamanders. We walked there for a while and then headed back to g&pp’s house for a shrimp boil. My Aunt Jenny came in from Pittsburgh and joined us. It was great to see her. It was soooooo yummy. After dinner we took a minivan load of people to get ice cream (see it’s coming in handy). On Sunday we had to head back to KY. It was a quick weekend but so nice. The girls were great in the car and it was nice to have all the room in the minivan. Even Jack got to go with us!! I received lots of hugs and two very nice cards for mother’s day promising that we would postpone it and I could be properly pampered this coming Sunday when we didn’t have to spend all day in the car. I can’t wait!

minivan mama

John came home with a minivan yesterday for us. He claims it’s my mother’s day present. He has another thing coming if he really believes that. Hehehehe he will get a toilet seat for Father’s day. It’s very nice though. 2007 Odyssey. White with a tan leather interior. It drives very nice. The girls were so excited. Av could not wait until John put her seat in it and for us to go for a drive. I know I will love it (I am already getting there). Yes I know it was completely necessary but never did I picture myself driving a minivan. I don’t think a lot of people that knew me back in the day did either. I like it though, it’s my life, and I would not change it for anything.

all boy

One of the old wives tales about guessing the sex of your baby is the heartbeat. If it is fast (in the 160s) it’s a girl but slower (140s) it’s a boy. From my experience that has been true. Both of our girls were always in the 150s or 160s and this sweet little ncb was 136 on Monday and 142 last Wednesday. He does not at all want to be mistaken for a girl.

toilet seat

Our house has these seashell toilet seat covers that John just can’t stand. I don’t even notice them but they drive John crazy. Slowly but surly we have been replacing them. So the other day he bought a new toilet seat for the kid’s bathroom. It’s a really cool one. The outer ring is normal size but from the lid you can flip down a smaller ring for smaller bum bums. We figure we have 2 more small bums that will be on that toilet so why not. Av loves it! The first time she want potty on it she said, “look Mama, no hands!!!” heheheh so funny. Normal seats she has to hold onto so she does not fall in. I know gross in public restrooms but she is going to wash her hands no matter what so it really does not matter that much. We might buy another for the half bath on the main level of the house.