24 Weeks (6 Months)

I am 24 weeks pregnant today. This makes me 6 months pregnant and I only have 3 more to go! Things are moving right along and I feel like it is going by really fast. I can't believe I only have one month left of my second trimester. I weighed in this week at 144. I really hope I don't gain much this time. As long as I don't gain more than 4 pounds this month I will be happy. I go back to the doctor in a week and a half. The thing that really sucks is that it is the Monday after the Fall Festival. I always pig out big time at the Fall Festival. I look forward to it every year and especially this year. Now I am not going to enjoy myself quite as much. Maybe I will just be really good over the weekend before I go. I feel like I am getting so huge! I am really curious to see how I measure at my next appointment. Supposedly the baby is supposed to be taking on a big growth spurt in the next four weeks. I have started getting sick again about once a week also. I will say this week it was my own fault though. On Sunday night we came home from my parents from having a fish fry and I went to take some chewable Pepcid ac and it was Ibuprofen instead. I of course chewed and swallowed the whole pill not knowing. It was the most disgusting thing I have ever ate, not to mention I'm not even supposed to have Ibuprofen while I am pregnant. Well, needless to say it was so awful that I started gaging which then made me puke everything I had just ate up. Once I started I couldn't stop. I thought I was going to die because I couldn't even catch my breath I was puking so much. At first Jason thought it was funny that I chewed up Ibuprofen, but once I couldn't stop puking he got a little worried. I couldn't even stop long enough to tell him I would be okay. I probably won't be eating fried fish for awhile. I will say my heart burn as gotten really bad in the last week or so. It seems like anything I eat gives it to me. I was like this with Christian and it got really bad at the end. I always heard that if you have heartburn really bad when you are pregnant then that means that the baby is going to have a lot of hair. Christian just had a normal amount, so I don't think that holds true too much. I've been getting a little of that acid reflex also. I had this also with Christian. I never have this problem unless I am pregnant. I can eat anything and it not bother me, but when I am pregnant every thing I eat will bother me. Spicy foods and red sauces bother me the most. It does make feel sorry for Jason, since he has to deal with this all the time. I'm glad it is only for a few months for me. I ordered some more clothes this week for Jaxson and Christian. I love getting all this cute stuff in. I also ordered some more Etsy things. I hate having to wait so long for the Etsy stuff. Once it all comes in I will take a picture and post it. So far everything has turned out so cute. I am going to hold off ordering any more from Etsy until November. Alisann and I's semi-annual big shopping trip is coming up in a couple of weeks and I can't wait! I am going to go really crazy on this one as far as baby things go. I did make some progress this week on some projects around the house. I went through and organized all Christian's toys. I still need to get totes for them. The ones I have aren't big enough. I also finished my Spring photobook and I started working on my Summer photobook. I would love to have the summer one finished by Sunday. I got my cleaning closet and my coat closet all organized. I got all the many trash bags of my clothes and baby clothes out of my house. I took them all to my Mom's. She is going to send them all to my Great Aunt Clara who has five daughters who all have kids and some of their kids have kids of their own. I am so glad that all the clothes will be put to good use and I don't have to worry about them anymore. My mom and I have also made some good progress on one of the stocking we are working on. I am trying really hard to enjoy fall, because I love it so much, but I am getting really excited for the holidays. I got my Pottery Barn Magazine in the mail yesterday and it had Thanksgiving and Christmas decor in it. I need to order Jaxson his stocking for next year. I might go ahead and order it now even though he won't be here in person yet. I feel like I need to hold off on my holiday spirit until at least November 1st and I am going to try and wait until after Christian's birthday. Last year we started decorating our house the weekend before Thanksgiving and I really liked doing it that way. Then I can enjoy it all more and I am ready to take it down right after the holidays are over. Back on the pregnancy subject. I have been craving more and more sweets and less of salty things. This happened also when I was pregnant with Christian. I have really been craving Kool-Aid, Chili, Chicken and Dumplings, and mashed potatoes and gravy. All those homestyle type meals sound really good right now. I think a lot of it has to do with the change in the weather. Christian got to feel Jax kick a couple of times this week. He was really excited the first time he felt it. Jax is definitely getting stronger. Sometimes his kicks are starting to hurt a little. Especially when he kicks my bladder. That is one of the worst. I feel like I am doing pretty good on swelling also. The weather has cooled off just in time for me there. I was having a few days when I would feel a little puffy if I was up doing a lot. Now it seems to be better. I do notice when I do a lot or I am on my feet for very long I start feeling a lot of pressure down low. I know this didn't start until a lot later when I was pregnant with Christian, but I was in a lot better shape and walked 4 miles almost everyday with him and this time I haven't been doing anything other than chasing after a two year old. I am going to ask my doctor and make sure that this is normal this early. I think it is since it is my second one, but I just want to be sure it's not a sign of something bad and I ignore it. I have also been having some crazy dreams that I have Jax at 24 weeks. He is always perfectly fine, but he only weighs 1 pound and 1 ounce. He doesn't even have to go in the NICU. He is just really small, but he looks fine and acts fine. I have had this dream a couple of times now and it makes me a little worried. Maybe I should go ahead and pack my bags just to be safe. That is always part of my dream to is that I have to go to the hospital with nothing and sometimes I don't even deliver in the hospital. In one of my dreams I deliver in the mall down in Nashville and I never even got my maternity pictures taken. I think these dreams is what has motivated me to get some things done around here. I think I am going to start sorting through my stuff and see what all I still need to get for myself for the hospital. I'm sure I will need to get all new everything and I am wanting to wait until November or December to get most of it. Maybe this weekend I can put the finishing touches in Christian's room and the Nursery. It would be great to have both of those totally finished this weekend. I can't help, but wish away the next 3 months because I am so anxious to meet my sweet little boy, but I also have plenty that I need to do before he gets here. It will be a super busy next three months with so many fun things to do!

23 Weeks

I am 23 weeks pregnant today! I weighed in today at 144 lbs. I have still been feeling good for the most part. I did throw up again on Sunday morning. I think I just needed to eat something sooner. One thing I have been noticing is that when I am super busy at work and I don't have time for a break I notice I am feeling a lot of pressure in my lower abdomen. I'm sure it is nothing. It is probably from standing and the extra weight pushing down. I also feel like I have to pee all the time. I know when I was pregnant with Christian I had to go more often than usual, but this time is really ridiculous. It seems like every time I turn around I have to go pee. I am starting to get annoyed with it. I must be carrying Jaxson lower or something. My gums are still bleeding like crazy when I brush my teeth and heartburn is starting to get worst. When I was pregnant with Christian towards the end it got really bad, but it started out that when I ate pizza it would be bad. We had pizza the other night and I had heart burn really bad that night. It kept my up tossing and turning. I haven't had to deal with swelling too much yet. When I was pregnant with christian it was really bad, especially at the end. I am hoping that being winter I won't have to deal with that as bad. I at least hope the swelling holds off until after my maternity pictures and the holidays. We are doing are maternity pictures about middle of November. Alisann says it doesn't look good unless you have a big belly. She said if you do them too soon you tend to just look fat. I am a little worried about how fat my face will look, but she said she can pose me so it won't look that way. I originally was trying for October, but she said that would be too soon. I am looking forward to these. I really regret not doing them when I was pregnant with Christian. I felt stupid going by myself and Jason thinks it's gay to have pictures of him kissing the belly or putting his hands on it. I could kind of see his point, but now that we have Christian I think they will be really cute with the three of us. I am so excited that we just about have the nursery finished. I love going in there and just sitting and looking around. I did this a lot with Christian, only we didn't get his nursery finished quite as early. One reason have been on the ball is Jason doesn't want to mess with it during hunting season and I don't want to mess with it during the holidays.We should have everything finished in Jaxson and Christian's rooms with in a couple of weeks except for pictures. I am hoping we will have all of our projects finished around the house before the holiday season starts. I really want to be able to relax and enjoy the Holidays this year. I think Christian is going to be so much fun at Christmas and I can't wait for Thanksgiving. I love all the yummy food! I swear I have a serious obsession right now with buying baby clothes and things off Etsy. I am going to try and hold off some for a couple of weeks. This is when Alisann and I are taking are semi-annual shopping trip to Cincinnati. I am so looking forward to this. We are going to shop till we drop. This one might be really bad since we are both in baby clothes mode. I am hoping we might have time left over to stop at Lush to pick up more bath and body products. I'm sure we won't though. We never have enough time before the stores close. If I keep going the way I am going on clothes I don't think Jax is ever going to have to wear the same thing twice. As far as clothes for me go I have had a really hard time finding things that I like. I have had to order almost everything off the internet because the stores have no selection what so ever. I just got my order in from Gap this week and that has helped a lot on my clothes selection. Once the weather cools off I will be in good shape as far as clothes go for myself. I still need to find me something for Christmas and stuff to wear while in the hospital and going home from the hospital. I am also going to have to buy me some Uggs for the the fall and winter. I want a pair of house slippers and I would like a pair of the croquettes. I might have to get me another pair of Sperry's while I'm at it also. That should take care of me for the fall and part of winter. Even though the weather is still hot I am really excited for fall to officially be here today. It is supposed to cool off next week and I can't wait! I love all the fall scents and I have been lighting all my fall candles this week and I have all my fall soaps out. I need to pick up some fall decor, but I am not going to go crazy with this this year. We have too many other projects to worry about right now. One last thing I forgot to mention is how much Jax has been moving around. It is non stop. I swear he never sleeps. he is supposed to be getting his sleep patterns down now and I don't think he is doing a good job. I hope this doesn't mean I am going to have a bad sleeper on my hands. He even keeps me up at night sometimes with his moving and kicking. Christian was active when I was pregnant, but I don't remember him being this active. Maybe it has something to do with it being my second one.

Breast Feeding Christian

When I was pregnant with Christian I had mixed feeling about breast feeding. For one I didn't think I would feel comfortable with it and and two I didn't want to have to be the only one getting up through out the night and still having to work and take care of Christian all day. Jason was pretty insistent on me trying to breast feed because he of course read so many things that say how healthy it is for the baby. I agreed to give it a try to see how it went and to see if it would work out. For starters, Christian never wanted to latch on from the first time that I tried to feed him. This is totally normal for newborns to not latch on right at first, but I was getting frustrated with it. The lactation people all had a million and one things to try out and it was overwhelming. Not to mention they got mad and irritated with me for putting Christian in the nursery and having him bottle fed at night. It is also really hard to try and breast feed when you have constant visitors that want to hold the baby. My intention all along was to breast feed at home during the day and when I am not home or at night to bottle feed him. Christian never did get the hang of latching on even after we got home. I started stressing because I had one week to get this whole breast feeding thing down before I went back to work. I can remember one night sitting downstairs pumping and Christian is upstairs crying and Jason is getting frustrated with me because I'm not finished pumping and Christian needed to eat. We were both SO tired from having a newborn that we were besides are selves on what to do. Once the milk came in things actually got a lot worst. I have never in my life been in so much pain. I would lay with ice packs all on my boobs to try and help. The whole thing was a disaster. I finally started to realize that this was not going to work out and I needed to stop, but I had no clue how to go about doing it. I of course ask my sister Alisann for advice. Her advice to me was to just quit cold turkey, so I could get it done faster. She said if I don't pump or anything that in a couple of days it would all be over with. I thought I would rather go through a couple of days of pain rather than stretching this thing out and doing it slowly. That is what I did. I quit pumping and went through pure agony for 24 hours. At this point it was time for Christian's one week check up and of course the doctor asked how the breast feeding was going. I told him the whole ordeal and when he heard that I had quit cold turkey his eyes about popped out of his head. He said that I must be in some real pain. I told him that I was but I just wanted to end this god awful thing. He recommended me to try and pump just a little to help relieve some of the pain and to take it a little slower. I did pump a tiny bit to help after that, but my goal was to have those babies dry up fast. Jason was totally fine with me quitting once he heard the doctor say that the baby will have the same bond and be just as healthy no matter what method you choose. He said the most important thing is to do what works out best for the mother. After we got that okay we both felt so much better and things went a lot smoother. Whenever I got pregnant this time Jason made the comment about how I should just breast feed for the first couple of days and then stop. I was like that is the worst part and I am not going to even think about going through all that pain again just for a couple of days. I would totally do it if they said ti was the best thing for the baby or if money was an issue or even if I had more time to dedicate to doing it, but when you throw having a 3 year old and working on top of it I am not about to put myself through that hell again. the thought just makes me want to cringe. I know plenty of kids who were breast fed and they are just as sick as ones that are bottle fed. I will say since I stopped breast feeding Christian I was pretty particular on who could feed him and when others could feed him. I did enjoy feeding Christian a bottle. I liked the bonding time of that. I may feel differently with Jax, but I think I will be the same way.

More Organizing

Lately I haven't been able to help myself from getting everything out of totes and putting it where I want it to go. Part of it is because I am so excited and impatient that I can't wait. Part of it is because I would rather do this now while I feel good rather than at the end when I am tired again. The other reason is because I am trying get as much stuff as I can out of my storage room so I can go in there and clean it out and get everything organized again. Today I brought up all the bottles and rearranged my cabinets so I could get them all to fit. I also cleaned out a cabinet to keep formula and baby food in. I am not even going to attempt to try and breast feed this time. It will be straight bottle feeding for Jax. The whole breast feeding thing was a disaster with Christian. I will be telling the details of that ordeal probably tomorrow. I know with having two and going back to work right away again there is no way it will work out this time, so I am not even going to try it.

Nursery Almost Finished

We are almost finished with the nursery! I love how everything looks so far and I can't wait for the finishing touches. Jason has to install the light dimmer. I still need to pick up a rug for the floor and a roman shade for the window. I decided I want Jason to add one more shelf in the closet and we still need to pick out a shelf to go above the changing table. I need to get a couple of antique airplanes for decorations. I also need to take my basket liners to get embroidered. As far as what else I am going to put on the walls I am going to do a gallery wrap collage above either the dresser or the crib and a big 16x20 above which ever doesn't have the collage. I am going to have to ask Alisann for her opinion on those. We of course still have to wash and deep clean everything in the room, but I am waiting until a lot closer to time, so I don't have to do it all twice.

The Name Decal Is Up

Tonight Jason put the name decal up! I was really nervous about messing this up. It ended up being pretty easy. We took our time and planned it out and everything went smoothly. It took us awhile to figure out where to put it. I wanted it to go up high and I wanted it to be seen when you walked in his room. I was thinking to put it above the crib, but I didn't want the mobile to take away from the airplane decal. I think it turned out pretty good where we decided. After it was all finished Jason and I both really liked it. Christian thought it was pretty cool also!

The Mobile Is Hung

Tonight Jason hung the mobile up in the nursery. I was super excited when this came in and I loved it as soon as I took it out of the box. I love it even more seeing it hung up! I love the it is different than most mobiles that I have seen and I love that it hangs from the ceiling instead of on the crib. I just know Jax is going to love laying in bed looking at it. After Jason hung it up we both just stood there and stared at it for awhile. Jason is pretty excited about it also!

Dresser Is In the Nursery

This morning Jason got Christian's new dresser and bed all put together, so this evening we were able to move Christian's old dresser into the nursery. We now officially have all the furniture set up in the nursery. I of course was exctited and had to start putting things in the drawers rights away. I have a drawer for bath towels and rags, a drawer for newborn onseies, and a drawer for 0-3 month onesies. I put baskets in the side cabinet. One for socks and one for shoes. I still have to get all my baskets embroidered. I am contemplating switching the Changing table and the dresser also. Jason likes it the way it is, but I am thinking I need to see it both ways before I make up my mind. I love how quickly and smoothly the nursery is coming along.

Organizing Clothes & Blankets

Yesterday I hung up all the newborn clothes and 0-3 month clothes in the closet. I had gone to Target to pick up a few things and ended up shopping in the baby section. I got some gowns and sleepers for Jax. When I got home I figured it would be a good time to get the rest of the things out of the totes to see what else I should buy. After I did the clothes I got motivated to get out all the blankets. I am still waiting on more baskets to come in so things will be organized better, but it is all coming along great and we are way ahead of schedule on things I feel like. I think part of it is because we know we will both be way to busy during the holiday season to do any of this, so it is better to get it finished now!

22 Weeks

I am 22 weeks pregnant today! I am going with my weight from the doctor's office on Monday for today which is 144 lbs. They measured me at my last appointment and told me I was measuring 23. I assumed it meant 23 centimeters from the bottom of my uterus to the top. Then when I got home the more I talked about it the more I realized I had no idea what 23 really meant. I know she said I was measuring a little big. I asked my friend at work if she knew and she thought it meant that I was measuring at 23 weeks, so now I am all confused. I need to ask my sister Becky or my Mom. Surely they would know after all the kids they have had. I am still feeling much better overall, but I will say that I puked Saturday morning before we went to St. Louis. I was brushing my teeth and it just hit me and I started puking. Other than that I have felt pretty good. It seems like when I have to bend over a lot to pick up things I will still feel a little sick and need to lay down. I have had more energy lately also, so that is nice. I think a lot of my energy is coming from the excitement of everything and planning. My list obsession is out of control. I have been making lists of everything I need to get for Jaxson, things I need to get for Christian, things I need to get for myself, I have even started making lists of what to pack for the hospital and things that I want done while in the hospital. I got all of my baby blankets out and put those in the nursery this week and I got out all of Christian's newborn and 0-3 month outfits and hung those up also. I really wanted to be able to see what all I had, so I know how much more I need to buy. I still have more shopping to do which I love! I did a little yesterday and I think I am going to do some more today. Christian's new furniture should be in next week sometime and then I can move the dresser into The nursery and we will be officially finished putting the furniture in. All we will need to do after that is hang shelves and other nursery decor. This could take a while to decide how we want everything laid out and where we want to put everything. I need my sisters and sister-in-law to come look at everything to help me decide. I will say I am going to miss posting my weekly updates after Jax gets here. I have started looking forward to every Thursday morning before I get out of bed and start my day I get to relax with writing down all my thoughts and feeling for the past week. I know I will enjoy looking back on all of these posts in years to come. I really wish I would have had all this with Christian. I have been trying to post as much as I can remember with him, but it's just so easy to forget all the little things. I have thought about starting another blog after I have Jax that is more of a Mommy blog where I could every week write down my thoughts and feeling of motherhood. There are so many special moments that really just grab my heart and I don't want to for get them. I am sure I will have a hard enough time keeping up with all the other blogs that I have. I'm not great as it is now. I am getting overwhelmed by all the things that I still want to finish before Jax arrives. None of the stuff has to be done, but I will feel so much better if it is finished. My main things are finishing organizing and scanning pictures, taking home videos off my computer and put on dvd's, finish all the photobooks I want done, print out blog books, organize my cleaning closet and make it a craft/cleaning closet, and go through and organize Christian's toys and get rid of any that he doesn't need. If I get motivated now I should be able to get everything finished, but I have got to get more motivated. Jaxson is one active little boy. It seems like he is always moving around. Even when I am moving around. I swear he never sleeps. I can see my stomach twitching just a little bit now when he moves around also. I can't wait until I can see bulges from a foot or an arm. Christian used to always have either a foot or a fist right under my rib cage and I had to constantly try and maneuver him out of it. I am trying not to wish away my time being pregnant and I am trying to enjoy it but I am just so excited to hold this sweet little baby in my arms. I am not looking forward to the lack of sleep I will be getting, but it is all worth it. I am worried about how I am going to juggle giving enough attention to both kids and manage my job and house also. Jason is usually a huge help with things and he is a trooper and gets up in the middle of the night half of the time for feeding and stuff. We have a good system worked out for us, so that helps! He also is really good about helping keep the house clean. He does slack on picking up after himself and leaving things laying around. He also is bad about helping with laundry. Those are my two big complaints and after five years that's not too bad. He makes up for it in so many other ways. I know everything will be fine eventually. I just need to get myself in a routine and stick to it. Once we had Christian on a schedule life was so much easier. I am really frustrated with the lack of maternity selection in all of the stores that carry maternity clothes. The only place I can find things is online because the stores selection is awful. I was really disappointed in St. Louis and we don't have a ton of stores to chose from around here anyways. It looks like i will be ordering off the internet the rest of the time.

Crib & Bedding Set Up

Tonight after Jason got home from work we took the crib apart and and scrubbed down and put it back together in Jaxson's room. I of course immediately put the bedding in the crib to see how it all looks. I love it all set up together. I still need to get Jaxson's name embroidered on the quilt, but other than that it is all ready to go!

22 Week Doctor's Appointment

This appointment ended up being a very exciting appointment for me. My weight was just okay. I weighed in at 144 lbs. I gained 3 since my last appointment which puts me at a total of 11 lbs. gained so far. As long as I continue to only gain a pound a week then I will stay exactly where I want to be when I deliver I didn't want to weigh anymore than I did with Christian and I should weigh in at exactly 161 and that is the same as I weighed with Christian. I got to hear Jaxson's sweet little heartbeat again. I always love the sound of that. It was beating in the 160's again. Dr. Leinenbach started measuring my belly today. I measured in at 23. She said this was a little big but still in the average category. I told her how I feel like I am just so much bigger than I was with Christian. She said that was totally normal especially being that this was my second. She said my weight gain looked good and that she thought I looked great. She asked my if I had had any problems with contractions or spotting. I told her that I hadn't had any spotting, but that over the weekend I had some tightening and cramps from walking so much. I think most of it is from me being out of shape and Dr. Leinenbach didn't seem concerned, so I guess that it is fine. Then I asked her about how common it would be for me to go more than a week early being that this is my second one. I had always heard that you go early with your second and I have been scheduling my clients up to a week before I am due. I was wanting to make sure that the chances would be slim for me to go before that. She said that I should be fine with that. I was relieved to hear that because I am almost all booked up in January and I didn't want to have to worry about rescheduling them. Well, that conversation led me to ask her about possibly being induced on the 17th if I hadn't gone by then. Dr. Leinenbach does not like to induce and is typically against it it seems like. I know with Christian she was not going to induce me until my exact due date or slightly after. When I asked her if it would be okay she said that she would have no problem inducing a few days early if I had already progressed and was dilated on my own. She said since I was progressed really early with Christian (36 weeks) that it should be no problem with this one also. She also said that since I had to push for so long she would like to induce early to help with that. Then she looked at her schedule and realized that she was going to be gone on vacation that weekend. She told me then that she would prefer I be induced on the 12th or 13th just to be on the safe side. At first I asked if I could come in after I got off work on the 13th and she said that it would have to be in the early morning that day. I thought moving clients back a day would probably work out okay and then I would know for sure and be guaranteed my doctor. She went ahead and penciled it in for me to be induced on January 13th. As soon as she did it I kind of freaked out and was like 'oh my gosh I am so nervous now'. She just laughed at me. I asked her then if the second delivery would be easier than the first and she said it would be even if I have a bigger baby. That made me feel better. Once I got to my Mom's to pick up Christian I looked at my calender and realized that I had my dates confused. I thought the 13th was a wednesday and it is actually a Thursday. I have my last day scheduled to work on the evening of the 12th which should work out good. I will work and then come home and go to sleep and then wake up early in the morning and go deliver my baby. I'm sure I will be exhausted from all that, but it will be nice to know exactly how it is going to go. Everything seems so final now and for sure. It makes me nervous and excited all at the same time. I feel like I have so much to do in four months. I was hoping to have a couple of days off before the baby to be able to relax and spend time with Christian, but this is better than taking a chance of going when my doctor is out of town and then I can plan better for babysitting with Christian. I was also wanting a few days to deep clean my house right before Jaxson gets here, but I think I am going to hire someone to come and do that for me while I am in the hospital. Then I won't have to think or mess with it. Now if I end up going before the 13th I don't know what I am going to do. Dr. Leinenbach should start checking me about middle of December so that will give a little bit of a better idea of things. I think it is safe to say that if I don't go on my own I will have Jaxson Kenneth on January 13, 2011. I can't wait! My next doctor's appointment is scheduled for 4 weeks from today. Hopefully I stay on track with my weight for that one!

My Latest Indulgence

Whenever I was pregnant with Christian I obtained a slight obsession with pampering myself with body butters, bath soaks, bath salts, and all other kinds of wonderful beauty products. I figured since I couldn't obsess with clothes and stuff I might as well indulge and pamper myself in other ways. I love to relax and soak in a bath. It is the best way for me to relax and unwind. I have lots of relaxation music on my I pod to help set the mood. Most of my bath products came from Bath and Body Works when I was pregnant with Christian. It was inexpensive and easy to go shop and stock up. This weekend, while shopping in St. louis, I found a new line of bath essentials that I have fallen in love with. The brand is Lush and it is wonderful. they have all kinds of bath salts and soaks and lotions and everything is so different and smells so good. One of my favorite purchases from there this weekend was one of there massage bars for achy muscles. I used last night in the hotel room and it was awesome. I got several other things also and the pricing wasn't too unreasonable. I was even more excited to see that they have an online store, so I will have no problem keeping things stocked up. If you like bath and shower things I highly recommend checking this line out. I can not wait to relax in another bath tonight. We spent the last two days walking around and my body is sore and tired!

Moving Furniture Into The Nursery

Okay I am a very impatient person. I couldn't wait anymore and I decided to go ahead and put some of the furniture in the nursery. I did it when I got home from work. I figured if I waited until Jason got home he would not let me do it. He would complain that I always jump the gun on things and I can never just wait. I figured if it was already in there then he couldn't say much. He did get a little upset with me for lift the stuff. I will admit that it was a little heavy, but Christian helped me with it. I also hung up some of Jax's clothes in the closet for him. ordered the dresser for Christian's room and Christian's bed yesterday and it is supposed to be in in a week or so. I also ordered more baskets for Christian's room and the nursery. I really want to take apart the crib tonight and set that all up, but I know there is no way Jason is going to go for that. Hopefully on Monday night we can take the crib apart and I can put it back together. Jason is very handy with any household task or project that needs to be done, but when it comes to putting furniture together forget it! Travis and I put all of Christian's furniture together except for the crib. I did most of the crib and Jason did very little. Let me tell you he did not use the right screws and do something right because it has never quite seemed to fit together right. I intend to put it together this time or at least supervise the project so it is done right. I am dying to get the bedding in the crib so I can see how it looks. You would think by my excitement that this is my first child or something. I used to always think that having the second child wouldn't be as fun and exciting since you have already been through it once, but I am just as excited as when I was pregnant with Christian. In a way I might be a little more excited because I am not quite as nervous about having a baby. Don't get me wrong I am already stressing about managing with two kids, but at least I know what to expect out of a newborn. With Christian I was so worried about the delivery and what to expect as far as pain goes. I didn't know how I would do as a mother. I was worried about cutting my hours back at work and how that would go over. It was one worry after the next the whole time I was pregnant. I have worried a lot with this pregnancy, but I know now first hand how wonderful and exciting it all is also. For all the worries and stress there are so many wonderful things that out way the bad when having a child and that is what I am so excited about and can't wait for.

Nursery Paint Is Finished

Tonight Jason fished all the painting in the nursery and took all the tape off the walls. I love when he pulls the tape off because then you can really see how the colors look with everything. He also took up all the furniture pads and plastic off the floor. I love how everything has turned out so far. I am super anxious to get the furniture in the room now. I think we will be all finished with both Christian's room and the nursery by October! I can't wait. Then I can finally start getting my storage room all organized.

21 Weeks

I am 21 weeks pregnant today! I am over halfway there now an dam on the downward slope. I weighed in at 142 today. I go back to the doctor on Monday. I am anxious to see what I weigh there. I know my scale at home has got to be off. There is no way that I only gained 1 pound this time. I would be thrilled if that were true though. We have made great progress on the room this week and I am hoping that by the end of next week we will be finished except for all the little details of decorating. I can't wait to go shopping in St. Louis. I need maternity clothes so bad and I am dying to do some more shopping for the boys! My Etsy purchases have been coming in this week and last. I am still waiting on one more package that I ordered. I will take a picture of everything when it comes in. I am going to try and hold off until November before ordering anything else from Etsy. I think by then they will have new things out for winter and maybe even spring. So far everything I have ordered from there I absolutely love. I finally gave in to my little chinese craving last night and fixed me up some Chinese food here at home. I think that satisfied the little craving. I have been in the mood for steak lately. It hasn't been a craving where I'm going to die if I don't get it, but I definitely am in the mood for it. I also have been craving fried fish and hushpuppies. My parents are doing a fish fry the first weekend in October, so if I don't satisfy it by then I will get to at there fish fry. I am so in the mood for fall. I am so glad things have cooled off a little bit this week. It has been so nice to be able to go outside and play with Christian and not feel miserable. I haven't started swelling yet. so that is good. Jason did tell me last night that I have been snoring and mumbling in my sleep. He said I did this when I was pregnant with christian. I have been really congested lately and I have been having really strange dreams also. The other night I had a dream that I was bleeding, but everything was fine with Jax and then last night I had a dream that I delivered Jax at 24 weeks and he ended up being fine. I was too scared to hold him in my dream though. I hope to god none of these dreams come true. I had a lot of weird dreams when I was pregnant with Christian. I know one time I dreamed that Becky gave us Maggie to come live with us so she could help us with Christian. Maggie wasn't even two yet, so you can imagine the stress that put me under in my dream. Last night Jason was drinking an ice cold beer and he was saying how good it tasted. I took a sip of it and it made me miss being able to drink. I am not a big drinker, but it sucks when you can't have something. It makes me want it more. I keep thinking about when I am going to be staying in the hospital with Jax. I am going to miss Christian so much. I hope he is able to come visit me a bunch. I normally am not away from him for more than a few hours at a time. I am so glad Travis is going to stay the night with him at our house. I did not want him spending the night somewhere that he wasn't used to sleeping at. I figured during the day my mom and Jason can take turns watching him while I am at the hospital. I want there to be as little change for him as possible, so we can keep him on the same routine and schedule. Another thing I have been dealing with more is heart burn. It's not real bad yet, but I am having to watch certain spicy things. It got really bad when I was pregnant with Christian. I remember pizza being the worst. Lately I have been peeing so much! I think Jax is using my bladder as a trampoline. I can feeling him kicking my bladder constantly and I always feel like I have to pee. I have been getting up twice night to pee sometimes. It really sucks. My gums are still bleeding some, but not quite as bad as they were last week. I think Jax had the hiccups the other night. I could feel a steady twitching and I think that's what it was. With Christian I remember laying on the couch and he would get the hiccups and you could see my belly twitch in a steady pace when he would hiccup. Jason thought that was so neat. Jason hasn't felt a real strong kick yet. It's not because Jax isn't kicking strong enough, but mainly we haven't had time to sit down and let him even try. By the time we get to bed we go straight to sleep. Things should be slowing down for him at work soon and once we get the nursery finished we can both relax. I love feeling Jax move around. I think it is one of the best things about being pregnant. He's getting to the point now where if he isn't moving around i can poke around on my belly and he will kick back. It's like he's saying 'leave me alone mom. I'm trying to sleep'. I hope everything looks good at my doctors appointment. I think this is when they start to measure my belly. I can't remember for sure though. I will post the details of that appointment on Monday.

Nursery Closet Shelves

Jason finished the closet shelves tonight in Jaxson's nursery. Now I need to get the rest of the baskets for the shelves and get the liners embroidered. I also need to start hanging up clothes. Jason still has to paint the trim, so I am going to have to wait until he finished that before I start putting things in the closet. He is supposed to be painting the trim tomorrow night. I am hoping to get some of the furniture put in the nursery on Friday and hang some of his clothes up. Jason and I still need to discuss how we want to put all the furniture in. Things are coming along good. Jaxson's mobile should be in sometime this week also.

Nursery Walls Painted

Today Jason got the walls painted in the nursery with a little help from Christian. I love how the color turned out. I think it is the perfect shade of blue to go with the bedding that we got. I also think the few red accents will look really good with it! I am so anxious for Jason to finishe the rest of the painting and to get the closet organizer hung up. I want to get the furniture all set up and all the cute clothes hung up in there. I am hoping that Jason will be finished in there by the end of this week and then next week we can work on getting the furniture moved in and I can start decorating! I am really anxious to get started on Christian's room for him also. We have to get the nursery finished first before we can move on to his room. I also still have to order Christian's bed and dresser still. I need to get on that soon. I have been trying to plan out where I want all the furniture to go in the nursery. I think I have a pretty good idea of how to situate it all. I just need to run it by Jason. He might have a better idea and once we get it all in we might come up with something different!

Favorite Baby Items

Lately I have been thinking about all the different things that I used all the time and loved and the things I thought I needed and I really didn't use or need. I am wanting to make sure I have a good stock of everything and I want to get rid of anything that I know I won't use. I want to get rid of as much clutter as possible. I have a feeling that by adding tis little guy to our family is going to make things a little cramped in our home. I also thought this could be helpful for everyone else in my family having babies. Now every baby is different, so they will like and dislike different things and every mommy is different too. I tend to get stuck on certain brands and I go a little overboard and buy tons of things in what I love.

Bottles: I love Dr. Brown's and I don't even own another brand of a bottle. They worked great with Christian and I am going to stick with those for Jaxson.

Passies: I only used two kinds with Christian. When he was a newborn I used the hospital gave us which was the green Soothie. This is the only one he would take. Once we got home we stocked up on lots of these. Then someone told me that I needed to get him broke of that one because it would mess up his teeth. They told me the only ones to use were the Nuk kind. I of course freaked out and by the time he was 6 weeks old switched him over to the Nuk brand and he took those until he was 18 months. Then he didn't take a passy at all anymore. I don't know how true the teeth thing is. I just didn't want to take any chances.

Bibs: I love the big ones that pull over there head. I hated that there wasn't more of a variety of them out there. So many of the bibs are small and don't fit right unless they are tiny babies. Jamie got me some for my shower and she told me that she loved them. at the time I didn't understand what the difference was, but by the time Christian was eating baby food I totally agreed with her. I might have to get with my mother-in-law and see if we can't make some cute ones like this style sometime.

Sheets: I am not a fan of Target's sheets. I feel like they are thin and not very soft. I like plain solid color jersey knit sheets. They are soft and thick. I got mine at Babies' R Us. I also got plenty of mattress pads for under the sheets. My Mom told I would need these and I didn't really see the point, but they have saved Christian's mattress plenty of times.

Sound Machine: This was a life saver with Christian. Becky suggested this to me when Christian wouldn't take very good naps. We got this and he slept great. He still uses this along with a fan. It also makes it nice when I need to get things done around the house and I don't have to be so quiet when he is sleeping.

Light Dimmer: This was Jason's wonderful idea. It all started when we redid our basement. He bought a light switch dimmer with a remote so we wouldn't have to get up off the couch to turn off the light. I know we sound super lazy right now. Whenever we did the nursery Jason thought it would be a good idea to put one in there so when Christian woke up at night we wouldn't have to turn on a bright light. He also got this one with a remote, so we could be sitting in the rocking chair and turn the lights up or down. Then we decided since Christian was going to be sleeping in our room in the bassinet for the first few months that we better put one in our room to and of course this had to have a remote with it also. Who wants to have to get up out of bed to turn the lights on or off. We have also now purchased one for Jaxson's room. They are $40 each which is pretty high for a light switch, but they are worth every penny. I could not live without them now.

Changing Table: My sisters both told me that they never used their changing table. They both have carpet throughout there houses. I am so glad that I got one and didn't listen to them on this. We have hardwood floors or tile all through our main level, so we changed Christian on it all the time and it came in very handy.

Diaper Genie: Once again my sisters told me not to get this. I am so glad I listened to them on this. It would have been a waste considering how close our rooms our to our kitchen. It was one less thing to worry about in the nursery and I haven't missed it once. I do see how some people would use it if the nursery was on another floor or far away from the trash can.

Diapers: I loved Pampers for the first two stages and then I switched to Huggies. Once Christian got to be two a friend of mine told me to try Target's brand of diapers. I had tried a couple of off brands before and hated them, so I was skeptical, but I now don't buy anything else. I don't know if I will use these for the first couple of stages. I might stay with Pampers at first and then switch over.

Wipes: I used the Pampers sensitive wipes forever with Christian. I had one time tried some with lavender or aloe or something in it and he broke out. I still use unscented wipes on him just to be on the safe side. I actually really like Huggies brand for him now because they are thick and durable. I got two wipe warmers as gifts from people when I was pregnant with Christian. I never used either of them. I took one back and I think I ended up selling the other one in a yard sale.

Diaper Cream: I started off buying Butt Paste, but when Christian ended up with a horrible rash at 4 months old, I switched to Balmex. Christian's pediatrician recommended this one and I don't buy anything else. I don't use powder or anything else on him.

Shampoo & Body Wash: Johnson's hair and body wash. I love the smell of this and I love the regular Johnson's baby lotion. I do like the bedtime wash and lotion also for something different. I tried off brands and different brands and I hated the smell of all the other ones. I really didn't like the smell of the Baby Magic baby wash. I know a lot of people like this scent, but for some reason it smells like old lady to me and is just to perfumey.

Baby Bath Tub: I started off with this spa bath tub that had bubbles in it and was kind of expensive. We used it once. Then I went to what my sister Becky had told me to use and that is this cheap bath sponge that is shaped like a bear. It is perfect for when you have to just give him a sponge bath and it is perfect to lay in our regular tub for a bath. I love this thing!

Wash Cloths and Towels: I didn't like the thin towels and wash cloths that they have at Target. We got spoiled with a really nice towel from a friend for a present. It was so thick! We went to get more and found out that this particular towel ran $70 for one. We about died! We did find some really nice thick towels at Carter's. I will be stocking up on more of those for Jaxson.

Burp Cloths: To be honest I never really used any burp cloths with Christian. I always used a thin receiving blanket or a wipe or something. I will say I am a little obsessed with all the cute burp cloths on Etsy and I will be stocking up on those this time!

Sleepers: For night time sleeping when Christian was a baby we liked the gown type sleepers. It was nice to not to have to unbutton everything in the middle of the night and then button it back up.

Blankets: Christian loved to be swaddled! We found one brand of blankets that we loved and worked the best for swaddling. I wasn't a huge fan of the swaddle me blankets. We preferred to just do it the old fashioned way. The brand that we loved was Koala baby from Babies R Us and they were a waffle type style and really big for when he got older. We actually used two blankets to swaddle with. one was small like a receiving blanket and ten we used the big ones. I am a little worried because when I went to Babies R Us the other day they didn't have these blankets anymore. I am hoping they will get some in soon. We have several from Christian but it would be nice to have some more. Since Christian was born in the fall I had lots of soft blankets for when we left the house. I will be stocking up on more of these also.

Monitors: We got a video monitor when we had Christian. At first I didn't know how much I would need the video part. It was so nice to be able to be outside or downstairs and just look on the screen and see him sleeping. I highly recommend one of these also.

Bassinet: I know a lot of people start their babies out in their cribs, but It was just too hard for me to have Christian all the way down the hall. I am paranoid and worry over everything anyway. I was always so worried about sids with Christian. I would wake up constantly at night and have to put my hand on his chest just to make sure he was still breathing. I am so glad that we had the bassinet in our room for this reason. It would have been so much harder to check on him constantly all the way down the hall. He slept in this until he was 5 months old. Then we finally moved him into his crib. He also stayed swaddled at night until he was 5 months old. We thought we were going to have to swaddle him forever. We also propped him up with towels under his bassinet mattress. It helped him to sleep better.

Swings: We got two swings for Christian. A Boppy one that was a travel swing and an Eddie Bauer big swing. The Boppy travel swing Christian used all the time and even slept in at night until he was a month old. The Eddie Bauer swing we used only once or twice. I have thought about getting rid of it but I am thinking that I might use it more since I will be taking care of two kids now.

Car Seats & Strollers: We got the Combi Travel system with Christian. We were not happy with this at all. I actually sold it this past year and we are going to go with Chicco. Alisann has this stroller and car seat and she loves it and I have always loved hers.

Pack-n-play: We got a Graco one. We were told that these were the easiest to pack up and take down. I really like the one we got. It has a changing station on it which was nice to have set up in the basement. It was super easy to put away and take with us.

Carrier: I got a Bjorn baby carrier and I only used it a couple of times with Christian. I do think I will get more use out of it with Jaxson since I will need my hands free to do things with Christian.

Clothes: You can never have enough clothes! I love to shop, so I am not conservative in this area. I will say that typically you only use newborn size clothes for a couple of weeks and then you switch to 0-3 months size. I still can't help myself buying all kinds of little outfits. Jaxson will probably not have a chance to wear all of it, but it is all too cute to pass up!

This is all I could think of for now on things that I think are important and some thing that aren't so much. I'm sure I will think of more things later the more I start to get everything out for Jaxson.

20 Weeks (5 Months)

I am 20 weeks pregnant today! I am officially half way there. I weighed in today at 139. I felt sick a couple of times this week and I have another stupid cold. The sickness was nothing like what I was going through. Thank God! It seems like when I don't eat for awhile I feel sick. I have also started with heartburn in the evenings. I had this with Christian. It's not too bad yet, but if ends up anything like I was with Christian by the third trimester it will be horrible. My gums have been bleeding a little worse than they were this week also. When I was pregnant with Christian they bled awful for the whole nine months. This time they weren't bad until now. Jaxson has been moving like crazy all the time. I have been feeling him kick while I am at work and all throughout the day. When I am laying down I can feel him really good with my hand on my stomach. I have very few things I can wear anymore as far as clothes go. I can't wait to go shopping to get more maternity stuff. Most everything I have is all fall and winter stuff. I need to get some thing to hold me over until the seasons change. This second trimester is flying by. I can't believe we are already into September. I know September is going to fly by also. We are so crazy busy this month! We have something going on every weekend and we are going to get the nursery all finished. I have been spending the last couple of days making lists of everything we are gong to need to get in the next 4 months and then budgeting all of our finances out. I am a freak when it comes to budgeting and keeping things organized financially. It drives Jason crazy! I have been on him lately about needing to know everything he is going to need for hunting and anything else for the next few months. He is going insane with all of my questions! I like to analyze and organize our budget every 3 or 4 months. It helps to stay on track. I like to pay cash for just about everything and anything that is put on the credit card I pay it off every month. I have a slight OCD problem with having any credit card debt. I pride myself on never having any before and I hope I can always keep it that way.I have to also plan for my maternity leave from work. Since I am self employed, if I'm not there I don't get paid. Plus I still have to pay my booth rent if I'm not there. I still have a few little things to tweak on our budget. I also need to make specific lists of everything that Christian, Jason, Jax and I will need for the next several months. I also need to decide on what pictures I need to get for maternity and Christian's three year. I was talking to Alisann yesterday and she was telling me not to forget about newborn pictures. I of course would never forget that, but once we got to talking, I realized that it will probably be triple what I was thinking and I was estimating high. I am going to try and figure all this stuff out today also. I also started working on getting our home videos all organized and labeled and put on DVDs. I am trying to decide if we should get a HD camcorder or just stick with our DVD camcorder. Originally I was thinking to get a new one, but the one we have works fine and it might be an unnecessary purchase for us. I will have to talk to Jason and see what he thinks about it all. We are going this weekend to get paint and closet organizing stuff for the nursery. I can't wait to get started on it all! We decided to go with a solid blue on the walls. Benjamin Moore makes paint specifically for Pottery Barn and I got the color swatch for the blue that they used for the bedding. Jason is a huge fan of Behr paint. He used to teach classes on it and work in the department at Home Depot. I would rather just go to Benjamin Moore and get the exact paint, but Jason says they can match it exactly with Behr paint. I am a little skeptical of this, but I trust Jason on it. If I don't like it we can always go to Benjamin Moore and get paint to paint over it. I am excited to get all this stuff finished so then we can put the furniture in and I can start hanging clothes up. They are quickly piling up around the house. I have been getting some of the stuff in that I ordered from Etsy. Everything is so cute! I can't wait for the rest of it to come in. I am looking forward to fall. It can't get here soon enough. I am ready for the cooler weather and all the fun things that fall brings. I can't wait to get out my fall scented candles and to spend the evenings sitting outside by a fire. I hope we get a lot finished this week on the nursery. I am getting really excited!