Fall/Halloween

Better late than never, right??

Warning: Long post, lots of pictures!

I made Brynne these pants and I had Allison applique and embroider the shirt. We did the same for Whitney, Brooke, and Lainey and they all wore them on Thanksgiving.

 

This is how most of the day went, ha! 

 

I finally realized I was just going to have to let her play and try to get some decent shots that way.

   

   

This girl LOVES to play outside! She doesn't even need any toys.

 

 

A little sass... 

 

We went home for Thanksgiving one last time before Clay comes. The girls had such a great time playing together! Here is the best we could do for a group picture... Maybe in another year it will be easier, maybe!

As Halloween approached I didn't really have any ideas for a costume, so I asked Brynne what she wanted to be. She said a book with Minnie Mouse...? 

I decided that a Minnie Mouse costume would be super simple to make, especially since I already had the red/white polka dot fabric. I had gotten it for another project I wanted to do this summer, but because of the move, I never got around to it. The skirt was so easy to make! I can't wait to make more with some different fabrics!

I used a black t-shirt and black leggings she already had from last year and Allison found the headband for super cheap and sent it to me. The tutu under the skirt was a quick make as well.

We had several activities to go to for Halloween. He had something at the church where Brynne goes to preschool, something at Chris's work, and something at our church. Brynne definitely enjoyed all the outings!

Next up: One more pregnancy update before Clay makes his debut!

30 weeks and a comparison

I am 30 weeks today! Hard to believe there are only 10 weeks until my due date! I was at the doctor the other day and the receptionist commented on how my birthday would be here before we knew it, then I realized Clay is due exactly one month after that!

Nothing much to report except that I passed my glucose test "with flying colors" (exact words from the nurse), so I was pretty happy about that! I go back next Friday, then we'll be going home to TN for Thanksgiving!

I know I just took a picture two weeks ago, but both Chris and I feel like I have grown a lot in those two weeks so I thought I'd do another.

And this is the first time any of my pictures have lined up with one from my pregnancy with Brynne! I think I'm pretty close to the same size belly-wise, just less pointy this time!

Still need to get those fall pics of Brynne posted, I'll get on that soon-ish... :)

28 weeks, 3rd trimester, crazy!

I am 28 weeks with baby Clay today! This marks the beginning of the 3rd trimester! Nothing much to report, we are just trucking along. I had an OB appointment on Monday and everything was good. I now have to start going every two weeks! I also had my glucose test to check for gestation diabetes, but I haven't heard back about that yet. Clay also seems to have found his way into my ribs, just like Brynne did!

I really feel like I am bigger than I look in this picture, but Chris said it looked pretty accurate. I think I am wider this time, so it looks bigger when I look down at my belly.

I don't think she fully understands what is coming, but I think Brynne is excited about baby Clay. She knows he's in my belly and talks about what he will do when he comes out. Chris tried to get her to give him a kiss and she said she would after he comes out of my belly :)We'll see what happens when he actually comes out!

And of course what is a post without a picture of Brynne! Evey time I tell Chris I need him to take a picture, she runs over and takes her place on the floor and says she needs her picture too!

 

Planning to post some fall pics of Brynne in the next few days (weeks??). 

24 weeks and a name!

I am 24 weeks today! I had an OB appointment this morning and all is well. At my next appointment I have to do the glucose test, yuck!

This is was Brynne's response to "where's the baby?"

And as soon as I pull the camera out Brynne wants to pose... like this:

Her eyes are closed on purpose, haha!

She was diagnosed with fifths disease this week! I had to have some blood work done to see if I'm immune. Hopefully I am, so we don't have to deal with any potential side effects for me or baby!

We have also decided on a name!

Clay and Thomas were the middle names of both of Chris's great grandfathers on his dad's side. We are excited to start calling baby boy by his name! And I can wait to meet him in January!

Baby #2!

Baby #2 is on the way! And I'm already halfway there!!



We found out we were pregnant a few weeks before we moved. So yes, I have been pregnant for both moves! I was 7.5 weeks this time and 34ish weeks last time. I may just not be remembering clearly, but I think moving at 34 weeks was easier! That may also have something to do with not having a toddler to keep up with while packing/unpacking. I was also VERY nauseous on the flight from MN to TN, NOT fun!!

So far this pregnancy has been very different from Brynne's. I was suuuuuper tired at the very beginning, but was sleeping well (better than normal!). Then we moved and I have not had a good night sleep since! I also had a lot more nausea than I did with Brynne, but I finally realized that I was only nauseous if I was hungry so I made myself eat a LOT. Now I have no issues, hungry or not. I am not feeling this baby move very much, even when I'm specifically looking for it. I felt Brynne a lot and from pretty early on. Maybe this will be a chill baby??

As soon as I found out I was pregnant I stopped taking my RA medicine, but am still taking my steroid. I tried tapering down, but could tell I wasn't going to be able to go completely off, so I went back to my normal dose. About a month ago I started having pain in my hips. The point of pain has changed a lot over the last few weeks, but at the moment it is in my sciatic nerve on both hips. I am working on stretching them out, so hopefully I can get rid of this pain!



Brynne knows there is a baby in my belly and is excited, but I don't really think she understands what's going on or what's coming. If you ask her if it's a baby brother or a baby sister she almost always says baby brother. I will probably gets some books about being a big sister and talk about it more once we're closer to my due date.

Overall this pregnancy has gone by super fast! Tomorrow is the big anatomy scan where we can see this baby and hopefully whether it is a he or she!

Even though I haven't updated the blog I have been taking pictures!

I'll be back soon with the gender!

Big Girl Bed!

We have finally moved Brynne out of the crib! At around 37" and 37 lbs. she was more than ready for a bigger bed. We got an antique full size bed from Mimi and Paps that is 80+ years old. The bed is so high off the ground and Brynne moves around so much that we definitely needed a side rail for safety. We have been really talking it up and she has been very excited about it! We had it set up in her room the past couple of days and she has wanted to sleep in it, but we didn't have the sheets washed. Tonight was finally the night she got to sleep in it!








She went down great and fell asleep fairly quickly, so hopefully the rest of the night will go just as well!

Brynne is 2.5!!

I can't believe we will have a three year old in six months! Three seems soooo much older than two!

I won't have official stats because she doesn't go back to the doctor until three, but she is around 36 lbs. and by my measurement, a hair under 37 inches.

Brynne has changed so much in the past six months. Most notably she talks NON STOP! A couple of months before she turned two her vocabulary really took off and it has just kept going and going! She talks all day, recites parts of ALL of her books (which is a lot!), and sings and knows the words to tons of songs! She also pretends to call people on her cell phone all the time and have extensive conversations with them.

She still loves to read all the time too! When we moved here Chris took her to the library and signed her up for a summer reading program. The goal is 20 hours of reading. I only guesstimate, but I'm pretty sure we've already passed that and it doesn't even end until almost the middle of August.

She knows all her upper case letters, some of the lower case, and the sound most of them make. She knows how to spell her first and last name (lucky for her we have such an easy last name!). She can count to 20, sometimes better than others, and recognize many of the number 1-10. I wish I could take credit for this, but I have the great Leap Frog to thank!

She is quite active nowadays. She finally mastered jumping without holding on to anything and shortly after she turned two she turned into a major climber. Thankfully the climbing has calmed down a bit, but still more than before. Some days I wonder where she gets all her energy! I am glad we are in a bigger house now where she has plenty of room to run around and get some of that energy out!

She has some big changes coming, in the next couple of months we will be either converting her crib to a toddler bed or switching her to a full size bed, then we will be (attempting!) potty training shortly after that.

We are also planning to put her in a preschool type program two mornings a week starting this fall. I think she will love it and it will be good for her (and me!).

The biggest change of all will come right around her birthday!

More details coming soon :)


And because I'll never remember this in the future, her schedule is:

Usually wakes sometime between 7-7:30 breakfast

9:45-10 snack

11:45 lunch

1-3:45 nap, then snack at 3:45

5:45 dinner

7:30 bed

This schedule works great most days, but there is usually a day here and there where she doesn't fall asleep for her nap for whatever reason. On those days she happily plays in her crib for "rest" time. It is so fun to hear all the things she says on these days, even though I would prefer she be asleep!