Wordless Wednesday

4 weeks!

(actually, yesterday, but what's the fun in having a second if you're not as on top of it as you were with the first? ha)

It still seems shocking, but I feel like I've really settled into the prospect of being pregnant already. I guess it's because I was feeling pretty gross already this weekend. It's been better today, thank goodness, so I'm thinking that the travelling was just too much for body to handle. I was a little worried there! Hopefully, this little squishy takes it easy on me since I still have to wrangle the big brother! The hunt is on to find a midwife since we're most definitely doing a home birth this go 'round. I'm SO excited about it! I can't wait to welcome our new baby in our own home. I love knowing that Jeffrey will be one of the first to meet his new sibling and that he'll be able to be as involved as he wants to be (we'll be inviting my mom to come over with him). I'll probably start calling a few today or tomorrow to get some initial interviews set up. I'd like to get a choice made by the end of the first trimester.

Jeffrey seems to be pretty excited about having a baby coming. When you ask where the baby is, he points to my belly and then exclaims "Effey Big" (translated- Jeffrey is the Big Brother). Adorable. Last night, while doing his nightly good-night kisses, he wanted to kiss the baby. So, my belly is now included in the nighttime routine.

I'm so excited to be beginning on this journey again. It'll be our little secret for a few weeks, at least, and then I'll be able to shout it to the world.

Here We Go Again!

We got our May baby!

I woke up early to pee, and my temp went back up. Even though it's a little early for me to test, we had decided to since I wouldn't this weekend (we're with my parents all weekend- eek!). It didn't come up immediately, but I was patient. Then, it came! It's super light, but it's definitely there. It took awhile to convince myself that I wasn't just imagining it. I'm still checking it every few minutes, haha!

I'm due right around when MY due date was! So, I'm hoping that I'm making a little me as opposed to another little Jony, although I would definitely not be upset about that. I just don't think his ego can handle it; he may just explode.

EDD is 5/7/2012, which puts Jeffrey at just under 2.5. Perfect.

Back to the Gym

Since we decided to wait on Mother's Day Out, Jeffrey gets the excitement of another year at the Little Gym. Today was his first day back since May. Jony had a morning off, so he decided to use it today to go with us and play with Tiny. As soon as we pulled up, Jeffrey yelled "A-HA" like he's been doing all the time lately when he finds something he's been looking for. He loves it there, and you could tell how excited he was. We got there a little early so he could adjust and get comfortable, but he didn't need it. He climbed up on the chair to watch the bigger kids (which are super old since Jeffrey moved up a level- he's with 19 months to 2.5 years now!). During the class, he was super crazy. He fit right in. The coach/teacher commented that this was a very active class, and that is a major understatement! Lots of fun times ahead, no doubt. He got right back in the swing of things: running, jumping, jumping OFF things, hanging from the bar, walking the beam, etc. He was on 90mph the whole time. Bells, bubbles and balls? He flipped out. He did cry a bit during the parachute, which was odd for him, but he was completely fine when he got to go underneath it. The craziest part, however, was one of the "skills of the week." They climbed up to about 3 feet and then were to choose how to go down. Jeffrey? He jumped. The first time, he asked for my hands. The next 50 times, not so much. For being one of the youngest in the class, he was sure leading the way in daredevilry.

Apparently, he wore himself out. He just finished a three hour nap. I think I'm going to really like Thursdays :)

Starting School

Since today is the first day of school, I figured it would be appropriate to talk about Jeffrey's current school plans. He was accepted into a great MDO program that's right by us, but we decided to forfeit our spot. It just wasn't worth paying the money for it at this time. Instead, he's taking another year at Little Gym, which he loves, and doing his learning at home! This may or may not be foreshadowing into his future, but only time will tell on that one. I've decided to do the Letter of the Week Preparatory curriculum. I like how it's structured for me but not really for them, which is good. I mainly want Jeffrey to continue playing and learning by exploring, but this gives me great ideas and activities to do with him. He's getting increasingly harder to stimulate and gets bored very easily. We're going on vacation this weekend, so we'll be starting up on September 5. I'll make sure to take a picture :)

In the meantime, I've been testing the waters with a few different activities, like sorting colors or identifying letters (I write a letter on the MagnaDoodle, and he finds the matching letter from his magnets). He LOVES doing it; he's always so happy to be challenged. I cannot wait to start this up with him. First unit: cows!

2WW

I'm currently 5 DPO (after ovulating even earlier this month- almost normal! yay!). I'm already starting to feel the excitement, anxiety, nerves and every other emotion that comes with waiting to find out if I'm pregnant or not. This is the first cycle for #2 that I'm really anxious, for a multitude of reasons.

1. It would be awesome if both Jeffrey and his little sibling were both conceived on the third cycle.
2. I wouldn't have to wonder if I need to wean Jeffrey (which I won't do until he's 2) :(
3. I'd love to have a May baby. For one, I'm a May baby. Also, summers are deathly hot here, so it would be nice to not be huge during the massive heat.
4. We had great timing.
5. Mainly, Jony may be working in Dallas for the next 4-5 months. He'd be home on weekends, but the likelihood of getting good timing/getting pregnant would be drastically cut. I'd rather not have to worry about it.

So, we'll see. I'll be upset if it doesn't happen, but it's still early on in our TTC career, and I know that BF is not exactly helping the situation. I'm hopeful, though. If nothing else, I hope my LP is longer than 9 days.

I suppose it's a good thing we're going on a mini vacation next weekend. It'll be a great distraction, if needed.

21 Months!

We are definitely in the middle of the verbal explosion! He's learning new words constantly, putting two words together (usually big + other word), and saying words with multiple syllables. It's amazing. We can ask him to say a word, and he'll repeat it! It's as though the verbal flood gates we're open, and it's so incredible. I love getting to hear what my little guy is thinking. He's all boy, so those thoughts are usually surrounding cars, trucks, dinosaurs or blocks. Or Coco, our dog. He's doing amazing in his toddler bed, can eat at the table in a regular chair and follows directions. He loves holding hands while he walks, and he's full of opinions. I just love it.

21 month stats:

• he's about 24-25lbs, according to Wii Plus. No idea about height, but he can reach way farther onto the counter than I would like
• wearing 24M/2T and 18 month about equally
• still nursing 2x a day: morning and night
• napping and sleeping amazingly (in his toddler bed)! He even waits in his bed for us to come get him out.
• still only 12 teeth
• probably has at least 50 words, if not 100+; there are no communication problems here, which means we don't have tantrums, either
• recognizes colors and loves to sort by color. He say all the names of colors, but his favorites are brown and black
• If you ask to point at a letter in the alphabet, he can
• counts to three
• jumps like a champion- even off of 2ft high play buildings. He loves jumping off of his bed or bunny hopping across the floor
• can scoot like crazy on his scooter and is really getting good at balancing with his balance bike
• has peed in the potty twice completely on his own
• will do anything you ask if told he'll get his vitamins or be able to brush his teeth
• Favorite food: Mango
• Favorite Book: Truckery Rhymes
• Favorite Activity: sorting his dinosaurs by size and just all-around playing with them (can also be said for cars and blocks)

Wordless Wednesday

Joined a Co-Op!

I finally found a local co-op that has a drop off site that's pretty close to my house, and I am so excited about it! I've been wanting to do one for forever, but it just wasn't convenient. Now it is! For a really good price, I get a selection of produce that's all local and organic. I figure it'll help make sure we're eating a good selection of fruits and veggies, as well as being healthier overall. I'll be ordering some every two weeks, so we should be all set! Our fridge looks ridiculously healthy right now. I love it. Plus, it's so much easier than grocery shopping in that you just walk up, get your bags and leave. Can't beat that with a toddler. He even got to help carry a bag which made his day. I'm hoping to, in the future, have most of our food bought in bulk and then this co-op so grocery trips will be small/infrequent. 

For our first share, we got:

• 3 green peppers
• 3 garlic cloves
• a head of romaine lettuce
• a carton of strawberries
• a carton of blueberries
• 7 oranges
• 6 nectarines
• 3 apples
• 2 mangos
• 7 red potatoes
• 4 avocados
• 3 eggplants
• 3 yellow squash
• 3 zucchinni
• a bunch of cilantro

Now, to find recipes to use it all!

A Few Updates

1. Jeffrey's shirt problem seems to have gotten better. I was hoping that, by putting it out there for the world, it would fix itself. That's usually how it happens. It's not 100%, but I'm able to avoid tears now. He just gets dressed very slowly now. Thank goodness that was just a stage.

2. My blood work came back all normal, so there's nothing to indicate my symptoms at this time. It's a good thing, but it's a bummer, as well. I'm not a big fan of "you're just ridiculously tired" as my answer. Jony thinks I need to eat/exercise more, so we'll try that for a bit. We just "stole" my parents Wii Fit, so that's been a fun addition to our household.

3. Jeffrey is sleeping wonderfully in his big boy bed. He would get out of it himself when he woke up the first week, but he doesn't anymore. He LOVES his bed and his blanket. He likes to climb in and pretend to go "nigh nigh." Not as cute, though, is that he loves to jump off of it, as well. Surprisingly (maybe not, if you know him), he's pretty dang good at it. He can even land on his feet without falling.

4. TTC is trucking along. I'm hoping to O within the next week, so we'll see what happens. We're giving it all we've got this month in hopes to have a due date before the blistering summer months. Being huge and pregnant at that time doesn't sound like a fabulous experience.

5. The bathroom is coming along nicely! We've basically just got to put it all back together now: trim, paint touch-ups, installing the sinks and toilet and then decorating!

I haven't really been feeling blogging much lately, but hopefully I'll be getting back into the swing of things a bit more.

Our Current Challenge

Getting Dressed.

Specifically, changing his shirt. The diaper's always been a semi-struggle, but that's pretty normal. I can usually slip on a pair of shorts relatively easily after that, as well. Shirts, though? Those have become a major pain. It started with just a change every now and then, and now it happens every single time.

What is he doing? Full on meltdowns. As soon as there is mention that it's almost time to change his shirt (as in PJs to regular clothes or vice versa), he begins to flip out. Yelling "no!" and running all around the house trying to evade me. I give him options, he repeats the previous action. Sometimes, he does choose one, but then he runs away yelling. Taking off the shirt starts the major meltdown. Tears, yelling, crying, face turning red, fighting me at every move. Then, there's getting the new shirt on. It's quite the process. I try not to get frustrated, but it's really, really hard. After he's had a few minutes with the new shirt on (and just hugging me while crying), he's just fine and goes about his business.

I've tried distractions, singing, making it a game, watching TV, giving him food, etc. I've offered to have him do it himself, but that doesn't work when he's running in the opposite direction.

He'll take his shorts off by himself with no problem, so what's the deal with shirts?!? I'd love any insight.