It's a.... (20w)

GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ms. Zoey Belle!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

Belated OB check up appt update (17w4d)

Yay another pregnancy update! :)

Baby Kit Kat is doing great! Dr. Lasting couldn't get a heart beat on the Doppler for long enough again so he had to do another ultrasound. Kit Kat is measuring right on track and doing awesome. He tried to look for the sex at the appointment but the baby wasn't cooperating.

I finally got a number on his/her heart rate even though I still haven't got to hear it. The magic number: 162! That is sooo much higher than Brodie's heartbeat (135-140) and leads me to believe girl. I am also having a TON of heartburn (I only had heartburn like 10 days total with Brodie).

My blood pressure was good and I gained back 2 more of the pounds I had lost previously this month. I am still at -1 pound total from what I was when I started this pregnancy, which I'm pretty happy with. Seems like I'm gaining at the same rate as with Brodie. *With Brodie I was -2lbs from starting pregnancy weight at 18w3d and with this one its -1lb at 17w4d* (That last sentence is merely for my own comparison purposes :P)

My uterus is measuring ridiculously huge (I don't know the actual measurement but the OB measured 3x with the tape because he couldn't believe it either. I think it's a combination of my tilted uterus and my anterior placenta combined with the fact that it's my second pregnancy. But seriously, its like 2 inches above my belly button already and it's supposed to be AT the belly button at 20 weeks. Weird.

We are finding out the sex at an ultrasound on Dec 22nd! WOOT! Hopefully Kit Kat cooperates then and we can get a good reading. We will have the doctor write the sex on a piece of paper and seal it in an envelope for us that way we can open it on Christmas morning. :)

Luckily, we have already decided on names this time (something we didn't do until wayyy later with Brodie). If we are having a girl her name will be:

ZOEY BELLE

and if we are having a boy his name will be:

EVERETT ALAN

Lastly, here is a picture of me and bell pepper baby Kit Kat at 18weeks. I'm also doing the side shot belly pictures like I did with Brodie but I think I'll wait to post one until the 20 week halfway done mark. That will be Christmas day and we can actually incorporate the color of the sex into it :)

Til Christmas!!!!

~Heather
:)

Belated 14 month post!

Urg this last month went so fast. Brodie turned 14 months old on the 2nd. I'm trying to look back and see what happened since it seems like such a blur. I didn't take very many pictures and I think it's simply because I was chasing after my now incredibly mobile child.

Brodie went from not walking to walking between his 13mo-14mo days. He started walking his first independent steps on Nov 6th and he is literally running around now. I have to run after him many many times a day and he would rather walk than crawl (I'd say he only crawls 5% of the time now if that). It's amazing how fast of a change it was. He can even get up in the middle of the room by himself now so there is NOTHING stopping him from going.

Another HUGE change that happened this last month is the end of breastfeeding. It was a bittersweet transition but now I'm very happy with how much of a big boy he is. His last time nursing was November 20th, in the morning. So, we made it 13months, 2 weeks, and 4 days of nursing without any formula. :) He just never asked for the boob again and instead went straight to 2 full sippy cups a day of a milk type thing. We started out with rice milk because he wouldn't take soy or regular milk. Then, he went to soy effortlessly one day for no reason and from there we kept adding milk to the soy until he was on full milk. I feel like he's officially not a baby anymore and so independent because he doesn't need me for my milk or to help transport him around anymore. He can walk around the house with his sippy cup and go wherever he likes whenever he likes.

He climbs a lot more now...see picture below.

He also is talking more and communicating with us more effectively. He says "apple" (with his version of the sign). He says "please" constantly while signing it and "more" a million times a day while signing as well. He understands sooo much. I can tell him to go get me something and he can get it. I can say we are going to change his diaper or go eat or go to grandma's and he gets excited and follows me to where he should go. It's awesome to be able to have more of a dialogue with him and not just have screaming and crying for everything.

Lastly, we got family pictures taken by the amazing Heather Winters at the end of November and I LOVE them. Here are my 2 favorites :)

Done with the 1st Trimester!!!! WOOHOO! (13w4d)

I am FINALLY done with the dreaded first trimester of this pregnancy, and BOY am I glad! :) I was much sicker this time than I was with Brodie, and tired to the umpteenth degree. I'm sure having a one year old didn't help with the tiredness factor ;o)

My morning sickness is GONE! It was almost a "here all day every day" to "gone totally forever" overnight change. Of course I can't find the day that it stopped now, but I'm going to say around October 25th (at about 10wks2d). I'm SO grateful that I'm feeling better because that has resulted in a LOT more housework getting done and a LOT more food made.

I had a check up with the OB Tuesday (at 13w2d).  It started out a bit scary because Dr. Lasting couldn't find Kit Kat's heartbeat even after 5 minutes of searching meticulously with the Doppler. He said he thought the baby was hiding and said that he wanted to do an ultrasound to get a good reading. Well, that freaked me out right there because I thought something was wrong. I had to go back out into the waiting room until the ultrasound machine was available and just wait wait wait. When Dr. Lasting finally got me on the table for the ultrasound and fired it up we immediately saw a very squirmy and active baby on the screen. Kit Kat wouldn't stay still long enough to let Dr. Lasting get a heart-rate for more than 3 or so seconds! Dr. Lasting even seemed surprised at how active the baby was being. I mean, I'm talking kicking me repeatedly, waving his/her hands up and down, and completely squirming out of the ultrasound shot! I guess the reason that the doctor had such a hard time getting a heart beat (in addition to squirming baby) was because Kit Kat was hanging up near the top of my uterus (just below my belly button) instead of near the pubic bone like most babies. Also, my placenta is apparently anterior, I have a thick uterine lining, and I have a tilted uterus. All of those facts combined with squirming just made too much of a distance between belly and baby to get a good read. He said next time should be easier, because Kit Kat will be bigger and the heart will be bigger as well.

I'm so glad the ultrasound was a good experience, and that everything is alright with baby. I've never had an ultrasound at this stage so it was very cool to see how the baby looked at 13ish weeks. Dr. Lasting got a head/abdomen measurement of the baby while he had the ultrasound on and said Kit Kat was measuring right on track at between 13-14wks.

In terms of me, I'm doing well on the pregnancy front too. I gained 3lbs (making me at -3 lbs from starting weight) which is a good indicator that my appetite is back and I'm not nauseous all the time. My blood pressure was 128/80. Oh, and Dr. Lasting measured my uterus and I'm already at 16cm! The second he touched my stomach he exclaimed, "Oh ya, you are DEFINITELY showing!" He let me feel where my uterus was (it's like a hard ball that goes from my pubic bone up to a few inches below my belly button). I love my doctor and how chill he is with everything.

I have another check up appointment in a month (Dec. 8th to be exact). At that point I'll be 17w4d and at that time we will schedule the 20week anatomy/sex reveal scan with either Dr. Lasting or Pomerado. We are going to have whoever does it write it down on a card and we are going to open it on Christmas morning (if possible). I asked Dr. Lasting if we could do it before Christmas and he seemed pretty on board with it :) Just another reason I love him. <3

Oh one last thing. For the past 8 days (Since Nov 2nd, when I was 12w3d) I've been feeling the familiar little flutters and popcorn pops occasionally. :) I was hesitant to believe I was feeling Kit Kat move since I was so early but there is no mistaking it. The feeling is very unique and distinct. I personally think it's because of the way my uterus is angled, and because of it being my 2nd pregnancy with a feisty baby. In fact, just while writing this post s/he gave me a nice strong flutter. This is when I really start to get excited about pregnancy because I can verify daily if my baby is doing OK and be reassured that they are by kicks and punches.

I'll write when there are more updates but for now, that's where we are at. I have been taking biweekly pictures since 8 weeks but I'm not too pleased with my belly yet so when I have a bump bump I'll post one. The biweekly pics (so far at 8,10, and 12wks) are more for the progression collage I'll do after I give birth. :)

Til next time,

~Heather

13 Months

Brodie turned 13 months old on Nov 2nd and is really starting to show his personality. No longer is he a "baby," but instead he is turning into a little boy with his own thoughts and ideas about what should be happening in our house. I'm going to keep this short and sweet since I think Brodie is going to wake up for the day in a few minutes. So, in pictures, here is what we've been up to this past month:

 "Cooking"

Learning to feed himself




















Practicing brushing his teeth




















Picking pumpkins

Carving pumpkins















Dressing up for Halloween

And learning to walk!!!!! That's right, Mr. Brodie Cole started to just take off and go all by himself (like at least 10+ steps multiple times within an hour) on 11/6 (last Sunday). I guess that technically happened 4 days after his 13 month day but it's very notable so I'm including it. :-P I haven't been able to get a good picture or video of it yet since he is very independent and decides to take off when and where he wants. I'm sure I will get it eventually!

It is SOOOO much fun being in this phase of motherhood. Brodie is talking a ton and really being an awesome child! :) I'm loving it.

Until next month:

~Heather

And now for something (or should I say someone...) new! :)

I wanted to wait until Brodie got his 1 year alone on my blog before he had to share the spotlight....

We are pregnant again! :) I found out on Sept 1st that we are expecting another little bundle of joy and although not totally expected (we jumped the gun about 5 months) we are extremely excited!

I'm due May 14, 2012 and am currently 9w2d pregnant. I've had 3ob appointments, 2 of which I got an ultrasound at. 2 weeks ago I had this ultrasound and the saw baby's heartbeat and baby measured 10mm.

Just 2 weeks later (today) I got this ultrasound and baby is doing great! This time baby was 23-24mm, had a great heartbeat, and was measuring right on track at 9w2d. I could even see little arms/legs. I have a check up appointment in a month.

I am feeling much more nauseous with this pregnancy than with Brodie. The nausea hits worst in the morning and around dinner time, with waves throughout the day as well. I haven't thrown up, but at times I think it would be better if I did. This nausea has resulted in me actually losing 6 pounds since I got pregnant, which I'm not complaining about. :P I started the pregnancy at 6lbs less than I did with Brodie so I don't have baby weight left over from him that I'm tacking onto this one.

I am also WAY more tired this time than last time. I attribute this to having to chase Brodie around and not being able to nap as much as I was able to with Brodie. This is also obviously a symptom of the first trimester, so hopefully both the nausea and tiredness subside in the next month or so! :)

This time we are going to find out the sex just to see how that experience is. We should find out right around Christmas and if it's before I'd like to unwrap the sex on Christmas morning. I'm totally thinking girl this time and Nick is thinking boy. I'd love 2 boys but the more I think about it I would love love love a girl too. I don't know what else to say except that we are very excited to be adding to our family again (and final time). Since this is my last pregnancy I will try to enjoy every phase of it and document it carefully. :) I can't wait to meet our new little one.


Until next time!
~Heather

A year of Brodie in pictures

As you know I've taken monthly pictures of Brodie. I compiled them into a collage so I could see them side by side. It's crazy seeing him change month to month!

Brodie is One Year Old!!!!!!!

My little baby is not so little anymore! Mr. Brodie turned 1 year old on Sunday. I can't believe that it's already been a year since I gave birth to my amazing son whose head fit in the palm of my hand. How far we have come.

Today we had to go to Brodie's 1 year check up. The stats are as follows:

-Weight: 19lb 13oz (up from 16lb 9oz at 9 months) and according to the doctors that puts him at the 10%tile

-Length: 30.5 inches (up from 27.5in at 9 months) which makes him in the 72%ile! Finally! We always knew he was tall and now he is showing it. :) He definitely gets that from his daddy.

-Head Circumference: 18 inches (up from 17.6in at 9 months) which is the 29%ile.

The doctor gave Brodie a thorough check up and said that he was healthy and looked like he was an active little guy with a super fast metabolism. I'm glad he didn't seem concerned about weight like the other doctor. He told me not to worry too much if he didn't like cow's milk (he hasn't been very interested). He told me to just keep trying and if he really doesn't take to it then just up his dairy intake via yogurt/cottage cheese/cheese instead. He also told me that I could substitute with soy if needed (in case Brodie demonstrates a lactose allergy). I also asked about introducing nuts/peanut butter because of Nick's sunflower seed allergy. He said it's ok because they aren't in the same family and that if I wanted I can introduce peanut butter between 12-18mo. Lastly I asked about middle of the night wake ups and he confirmed that I could let him CIO if he wakes up in the middle of the night. He told me to just go in there every 5-10 min and soothe him until he falls back asleep.

Brodie also got 4 shots today, my poor boy! He got Hep A, MMR, Pneummococcal, and the flu shot. He has been super tired all day (took a 3 hour nap and then an hour and a half long nap just now). I think he's trying to re-cooperate.

We had Brodie's birthday party on Sunday and were blessed to be around family and friends for good food, conversation, and company. He was spoiled with gifts (which he is playing with as we speak) and did so great during the party. He was happy and awake the entire time! Brodie loved his mini cake, loved playing with bubbles, loved all the attention, and loved ripping wrapping paper. 

 

Now for some recent milestones:

-Brodie is VERY close to full on walking. He will do 3 or so steps in between the coffee table and me, in between me and Nick, and walks like a ninja while holding on to walls/ anything he can get his hands on.


-Brodie has 6.5 teeth. The 7th one is on it's way in, just today breaking through the gums but not quite through through yet.

-He LOVES to talk and babble constantly. It's super cute that he thinks he is telling us things, I just wish we knew what he was saying!

-Brodie has also started trying to blow kisses. He has it all down except for pulling away his hand from his mouth.

-Brodie tries to put shapes in his shape sorter, tries to push buttons on everything, and is working out how to play all his new instruments. It's really cool to see him actually "playing" with his toys!

That's all for now :) Brodie's done playing on his own and I need to go change a poopy diaper! :)

Our family <3

CIO success!

I have been against the CIO philosophy since Brodie was born and even before because of what I had learned in my child development classes. But, after several very sleepless nights and a month or 2 of Brodie screaming every time we set him in his crib awake we knew we had to do something for all of our sanity. As a last resort (and with a lot of coaching and encouragement from my mom) we decided to finally just try CIO for 1 week tops and if it wasn't working we'd go back to rocking Brodie to sleep.

Well, I am so amazed at how fast it worked and how good Brodie is doing now! Here is the breakdown of how long it took:

1st night- cried from 9:26pm-9:56pm (30 min)

2nd night- fell asleep nursing and stayed asleep during transfer to crib

3rd night- cried for 16 minutes

4th night- cried from 7:40-7:43pm (only 3 minutes) and slept (minus a 1/2 asleep diaper change/back pat at midnight) until 8am!

5th night- cried from 10:00-10:02pm (only 2 minutes!) and he had just taken a 2.5 hr nap and woken up at 8:15pm

This is an amazing change from the up to 2 hour cuddle/fight to get him to sleep in our arms. I feel like I have the nights back with my hubby.

The only thing I am trying to figure out is how to handle middle of the night nursing sessions if he doesn't fall back to sleep when I put him back in his crib. I've gotten good advice from several different people and am trying to decide what we want to do. My mom said that if he wakes up after nursing and it's near the morning (like 5am or something) not to leave him crying in his crib because he is too awake to cry himself to sleep again and just bring him in bed and let him cuddle and fall asleep with us until we want to wake up. I like the cuddling aspect of that but we don't sleep well when he's in bed with us and sometimes he doesn't fall back asleep for 30 minutes or so so he's tossing and turning and whining for a long time. Another one of the people I talked to said he has the physical capability to sleep for 11+ hrs without eating so I should just forgo the middle of the night nursing and give him several minutes to cry himself back to sleep without going in. The last person said to go nurse him and then let him CIO again in his crib. Trying to figure out what is best in that regard but I'll take him going to sleep in a few minutes for now! :)

~Heather

11 Months Old!

Ok here is the 11 month post not even a week later but at least it's on time this month. :)

Brodie is 11 months old today, and is as happy as he usually is. We went to the pediatrician to get a rash looked at on Wednesday and he weighed 18lb 8oz (15%). This was a new pediatrician and the experience was amazing! No freak out about weight, he actually involved Brodie in the appointment, and he was just super nice and helpful. It was amazing to have a doctor actually listen to you and not hurry you along!

Brodie is in the middle of teething hardcore, with 4 of those suckers working their way through. Two have broken through the gums already and the other 2 are bulging so it won't be long now. He seems to finally be less fussy so they must not be bugging him as much. He even slept from about 10pm-6:45am last night without waking up! That hasn't happened in a while. :)

The other thing that emerged this week is that he will put anything and everything up to his ear and pretend like he is talking on the phone. It could be a real phone, a block, some food, a glow stick, the remote, his hand, etc. It is really cute to see him beginning to pretend play and know the function of something. He even started to communicate with this sign. Yesterday I was rinsing out diapers in the bathroom and couldn't hear in the living room. I came out about 5 minutes later and Brodie immediately did his sign for phone and tried grabbing for my cell. I looked and had a missed call from my mom. He was trying to tell me it rang!

Speaking of signing, he is FINALLY starting to do a few signs. He understands a lot (food, water, milk, more, all done, diaper change, and sleep). He is actually starting to do the sign for milk and more which is freaking adorable! I'm so glad he is beginning to communicate his wants and needs with me. It is going to make it so much easier to deduce what he needs when he can tell me the basics. :)

I think that's all that has happened in the past few days. I can't believe my love bug is 11 months old and next month he is going to be turning a year old and entering the new phase of toddler hood! :)

~Heather

10 month post (much belated!)

Brodie turned 10 months old on the 2nd of August and I am JUST writing his post. Heck, he is going to be 11 months old Friday. I fail! Here are a few 10 month old pics (and after will be

pictures related to the blurbs, some of which happened before 10 months).

This month has FLOWN by, partially because I had surgery on the 1st and a week was spent recovering from that. But more than likely the reason it seems to have gone so quickly is because Brodie has become about 10x more mobile!

I'm solely relying on pictures and Facebook posts to remind me of everything that has happened this month and the dates on which they occurred....OMGosh I just reread his 9 month post and he has changed SOOOOOOOOOOOO much since then. OK, here we go!

*On July 7th Brodie officially started crawling! That is a month and a half ago, and he crawls like a pro now. He is SO fast and never resorts to scooting around anymore. He is ninja fast!

*I wrote in the 9 month post that he started pulling himself up on his 9 month day....yea he is standing up most of the day now! He pulls up on ANYTHING and EVERYTHING, including me, Nick, any furniture, a toy in the middle of the room, the toilet, cabinets, his high chair, etc etc etc.

*On July 13th Brodie started "cruising" by walking along the couch and since he figured out he could do that he NEVER STOPS MOVING! You know how I said he pulls up on everything? Yea, when he gets up on whatever thing it is he starts walking along while holding on. This includes our TV stand, couches, walk along toys, walls, etc.

*Brodie started walking on his walker toy on August 2nd and became great at it by Aug 7th. He still doesn't know how to turn it though.

*On August 17th Brodie began to let go of what he was holding onto while standing up for a few seconds. Since then, this act has become more frequent and lasts longer each time. I think the longest he's gone without holding on to anything is about 7-8 seconds. It's a trip watching him just stand unassisted in the middle of the room all wobbly. It makes him look like such a big boy it scares me! I have a feeling walking is just around the corner...he has made a few attempts already (and taken a 1/2 step on his own) but I'm not OK with saying it was his first step since he hasn't done anything since. :)

*The same day he started cruising (July 13th) he officially cut his first tooth. He now has 3 teeth in (the 2 bottom middle ones and top right one) and is smack dab in the middle of cutting the 2 next to the 2 bottom ones. He is miserable today, very clingy, and whiny. I am writing this during his longest nap so far of the day. :)

*He went swimming for the first time on July 7th. Since then he has been 2 more times and also to the beach, which he loved.

*On July 18th he started waving bye bye and babbling while he did it. I am not sure if he knows what it means exactly but he enjoys doing it often. :)

*Brodie ate spaghetti for the first time on Aug 10th. This is momentous because the pictures reminded me of my spaghetti face pictures. :) I am going to try to get one of Nick and frame them all side by side.

*Oh, Brodie started dancing this month as well. On Aug 11th he danced his little booty off to the intro song of the movie Rio (super cute by the way if you haven't seen it).

*Brodie started pointing at things on August 17th too! Whatever he is interested in or wants to talk to/look at he will point and babble (LOUDLY) at until we go over there. He also points at books, which I think is ADORABLE!

*We went to Sea World on the 20th and it was a blast. Brodie really got into looking at the animals this time, noticing them moving and smiling at the Walrus' and Beluga whales.

*I got a new camera at the end of July and have been having a BLAST taking pictures of the Brodster. As a result, he knows to pose when the camera comes out and I am a little afraid I've given him vision damage from the flash going off so much :P

*It is now wayyyy harder to get Brodie down for bed. If he's awake at all he will scream until he's hoarse or until we come get him. We don't like C.I.O. so we are trying to come up with another solution. In the meantime, that part of the night is hard most nights. :(

*Brodie made himself pass out from not breathing/crying too much when we took away his empty dinner plate. His lips/nose got blue and the eyes rolled in the back of his head. He was out 15-20 seconds and it scared the crap outta us and even though it's just because he was throwing a tantrum we are freaked out that he is going to do it again (he's gotten close 4x since).

*Brodie is (I'm just going to say this since it's happened 5x in the last week) down to 3x nursing a day, plus 1-2x at night depending on the night. I'm a little sad that the amount of nursing sessions are going down because I love that cuddling/bonding time with him every day. But, I am sort of happy about it because I can leave him now for longer without having to worry about him not taking a bottle (because he refuses to) or starving. I think he is SLOWLY self weaning but I am not going to encourage weaning until after a year at least. I don't ever want him to have formula; I'd rather him go straight to cow's milk at a year (I know it's a silly thing but that's just my breastfeeding goal in my head :) ).

*It's less than 33.5 days until my son's first birthday! That seems freaking impossible to me! This year has flown by and I don't want to think about my little baby becoming a big old toddler so soon. For his 1st birthday we are just having immediate family over for a hot dog/hamburger grill and letting Brodie eat a cupcake and smash it everywhere. I'm going to attempt a cookie monster cake but we'll see if that actually happens :P

I'll be writing another post this Friday (much shorter I promise!) when my little boy turns 11 months old! I'm going to attempt to weigh him using the Wii fit board and try to get a length on him. He has gone through a growth spurt in the last few weeks for sure. We moved him up to a "big boy car seat" last week. In a matter of 2 weeks he went from fitting in the infant carrier just fine to not being able to get his arms under the straps when they were all the way out and on the top setting! He is also getting a lot heavier (at least it seems that way to me)!

Til next time,

~Heather and family

9 months old!!!!

Mr. Brodie Cole Head turned 9 months old on the 2nd. I can't believe we are approaching his 1 year birthday so quickly!!!
At his 9 month well baby check up he weighed 16lb 9oz (gained 2lb 3oz from his 7 mo check), was 27.5in long (grew 2 inches since his 6 mo check), and had a head circumference of 44.75 cm (2.25cm bigger than at his 6 mo check).


Brodie had to get a hemoglobin test to check his iron levels (came back normal) and a TB test at this appointment.

The pediatrician said he looked great, and gave us the go ahead to expand his food list to everything but milk and honey. :) This is a huge step for me, because now he can eat table foods and it makes it easier for me to plan different foods for him based on our menu. Yesterday he ate scrambled egg, toast, and applesauce for breakfast. He liked egg once I had the texture fine enough and he's always liked toast/applesauce. Since Brodie had a rash after eating cottage cheese the doctor wants me to keep an eye out for any other rashes related to allergenic foods.

Since I just wrote a post last week about what Brodie has been up to there isn't much new stuff to report. He is getting up on his knees a TON more and rocking forward and backwards really fast. It's like he's prepping for takeoff!

The other new thing that Brodie started doing is pulling himself up from belly to standing using the couch. He did this for the first time on his 9 month day and has since done it a few more times. He has to be pretty motivated to use all that energy! Nick lowered the crib down this morning to the lowest setting to prevent any mishaps.
Brodie is also becoming quite attached to Nick and I. I think we have officially entered into the "separation anxiety" age which is a bit frustrating. He won't even go to Grandma or Auntie all the time if he sees me. But, it is cute to see him cuddling on Nick and so sweet when he nuzzles into my chest and wants me. This clingyness has made us be more creative in what we do with the Broders because we still need to get things done throughout the day obviously. Prime example, Nick letting Brodie help him do some programming while mom cleaned up breakfast! :)


Anyway, today we will be going to see fireworks with Brodie and hopefully have some fun family time for the 4th of July! Hopefully Brodie handles the fireworks as well as he did at Sea World a few weeks ago. :) Til next time!

~Heather