Thursday, December 8, 2011

Playing Catch-up!

I just realized that it's been a month since I posted! Let me tell you it's been no cake walk around here! We've really been struggling to sleep. It's been so easy for sooo long that when it's going bad it's incredibly noticeable! Lincoln has always been a sleeper, but about a week before Thanksgiving he started waking up and scream, scream, screaming! I mean, screaming! Like 3 or 4 times a night! We got up to rock him, like we would normally do but even that wasn't putting him back to sleep and when we laid him back down he screamed again! We spent about 2 hours just trying to get him back to sleep one night, then he screamed for about another hour. All the while I laid in bed listening while I cried. Needless to say we tried EVERYTHING we could think of. For DAYS!!!
Finally my friend, my dear dear friend, Kara told us to try "sleep training." So the plan is to go in when he cries to check on him and let him know you're there and that he's OK. Then walk away. Let him cry for 5 minutes and go in again and do the same thing. Tell him you love him, lay him down and walk away. Then wait 10 minutes...then 15 minutes....then increasing intervals by 5 minutes until he calms down and goes to sleep. The first night We went in 4 times....and during the waiting for the 20 minutes to pass we all fell asleep. I woke up again when my alarm went off and realized he'd slept. The second night we had to go in until the 10 minute time...not counting listening to him scream when we laid him down. Night #3 we only went in at the 5 minute time and he laid down. After that he didn't cry even when we laid him down for more than a minute or two and slept ALLLL night! Hooray!
We have been successfully sleeping through the night for almost a full week now. I don't want to jinx it, but maybe he just needed to "reset" his sleep button!!
My pregnancy is going great...we're 25 weeks today!! Baby girl is healthy, happy, and very wiggly!!! :) My placenta is in the front this time, so I couldn't feel her move until between 18 and 19 weeks. Even now I can only feel her from my belly button to the right side. She likes it when I eat...and I feel her every night when I lay down for bed. I've only gained between 3 and 4 pounds so far. Quite a difference than with Lincoln. What'll probably happen is that it'll all catch up with me at the end!
Today's doctor appointment brought good news. Her heart rate is still in the 150s and she's very active. My stats are good as usual, and I'd lost 1/2 a pound from the last appointment. Interesting news is that when she measured my belly it measured big: 29 weeks. I asked her if that was bad news and she just smiled and said nope...it just means another ultrasound! I have to admit that makes me happy! We saw Lincoln 5 or 6 times while I was pregnant for one reason or another. Only seeing baby girl once this whole time seemed sad and a little upsetting. She tried to get me into the ultrasound today but there was no time. So we're going tomorrow to see our little Sweetums again!


We had our big Christmas party last weekend with all our friends and we had a blast! We played a new game called Quelf and laughed until we cried!! It's always so great to see everyone again. We certainly don't get to spend enough time together since we're all grown up and stuff. The boys opened their Christmas gifts and were very cute. They pulled off one tiny piece at a time until they got all the wrapping off! So cute! 




Monday, October 31, 2011

Happy Halloween!!

Just really quick I wanted to share our family Halloween picture! We were the cutest skeleton family I've ever seen!


I found my shirt first...online! And I HAD to have it! I thought every member of the family deserved to be represented. So Baby Girl is here with us too! The girls at school LOVED it today. So that was a lot of fun. I added the pink bow just to show we knew that baby was a girl. 

Lincoln was definitely more fun this year than last year. He really didn't know what was going on or why we kept trying to get him to say "Trick or Treat" or why we kept moving on. He wanted to go in everyone's house. We started at Grammy & Papaw's house, then went to Nana's church for trunk or treat. He didn't really want to hold his basket or visit other people's cars. He just wanted to see Nana dressed as Papa Smurf at her trunk. 
After we got home we trick or treated some of the homes here in our neighborhood. He got some really good candies and yummies. He didn't get to eat any before bed, though! I'm not sure how much he'll actually get to eat! 

Anthony is already excited about next year. He thinks Lincoln will really understand what's going on next year and so he'll be excited about going. We'll see how that works with a 9 month old in tow!

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Bring on the pink!!!

Baby is officially a girl!! 

Look at that little baby girl! I know she looks a little bit like Skeletor, but she's beautiful anyway! Check this one out!! 

Her little hands are up by her ears and her little legs are crossed!  She was incredibly cooperative! She was wiggly but not so much that we couldn't see what we need. I have to say I'm a little disappointed that I haven't felt her moving around yet. I need to look back at Lincoln's belly book, but I'm pretty sure I could feel him by like 14 or 15 weeks. Turns out I have an anterior placenta this time...in layman's terms that means the placenta is attached in the front of the uterus. So when baby girl kicks around the movement is absorbed by the placenta and I don't feel it. The doctor says I will feel it more towards my back and of course once she gets bigger it will be easier. I just hope I'm not missing out on those first little wiggles!

As soon as our ultrasound tech, Wendy, put the wand to my stomach we had a gender shot! I made her turn the monitor my way so I could see. We were all really quiet for about 15 seconds while Wendy moved  the wand around. I sucked in a breath and said "Wendy, is there a penis there?!" She laughed a little and said she wanted to look in one more direction but she was pretty sure she didn't see one. So she moved and wiggled it some more and finally said it was certainly a girl!!!! In fact, she said with as much 99% accuracy as she can give me that it's a girl! I just squeezed Anthony and cried. Not that a brother for Lincoln wouldn't have been wonderful. It would've been. But to be able to have a girl, to have one of each, to get a brother and sister is just so special! 

 I know this will probably be terribly embarrassing later, but I wanted to make sure I showed you! Especially Anna F! Once the midwife took a look at these pictures she laughed out loud and said that she'd give me 100% accuracy that this is a girl! She said it doesn't get any more "girl" than that!

I met with Val at our appointment on Tuesday...she delivered Lincoln. Well, except for the part at the end where Dr. Faruque had to come in and use the suction cup. She congratulated us on another pregnancy and said girls were nice, she had two. Baby Girl is perfect. All is well and healthy and right on schedule. Her heart rate was 151, slower than Lincoln's.


The only thing that concerns me is that Val called her "petite." She's only 38%ile for weight. She said it's nothing to worry about, but she wanted to let me know that she's small. I'm sure she'll catch up. Lincoln was no little squirt...and hasn't ever been! We aren't scheduled to get another ultrasound and they won't start measuring my belly for growth until after 20 weeks. But I'm sure if anything is concerning that we'll get another look at her just to make sure all is well. We had soo many ultrasounds with Lincoln that will surely be an adjustment. Only seeing her twice through the pregnancy is "normal" but certainly doesn't seem quite fair!

I was resigned to the fact that this baby was a boy. Even my mom thought it was a boy. Even Anthony's mom thought it was a boy. These pregnancies have been identical so I just figured it was another boy. Sweet! We could reuse all those clothes, shoes, and sweet blankets. Lincoln is a most incredible kid, I totally wouldn't have minded having another!
But think of all the new frilly pink stuff we will get! Think of the room decorating we get to do! What a new adventure for our family! Plus all the drama I'm pretty sure will come...

I have to admit that we're both a little relieved this is a girl. We have had a "girl" name picked out since practically the moment we found out we were pregnant back in July. But NO boy names made us both happy. We couldn't agree on a single name. Lincoln was very difficult to agree on...it took Anthony a while to come around. What's funny though is that this girl name isn't the girl name we had for when Lincoln was cooking. We had a girl named picked for Lincoln too...but when we found out we were pregnant again Anthony told me he didn't want to use that name anymore. Great, I thought! Here we go again trying to decide! But thankfully our dear friend Erin was on vacation with us and as we were driving through Yellowstone National Park she was struck with inspiration! And voila!!!! Erin has named our baby girl!

Don't ask. Cause we're not telling!

At least not yet. We held onto Lincoln's name for a while before we shared it. It's kinda nice to have a secret that's just ours! I'm pretty sure we made it until December before we told Lincoln's name. Anthony just asked me today how long he thought I'd hold out. I told him it just depends on how I feel! Right now, I feel like keeping it a secret....but who knows in a few weeks. :)


I can't post a blog without bragging on my beautiful boy! He turned 18 months in October! Where did the time go?! Really?! He's incredible...he's always moving, non-stop! He talks ALL the time and can probably say between 50 and 60 words clearly enough that we totally understand. We are also still using sign language and he has probably 10 other signs for words he can't say. Every time he masters a sign I give him a new one, one that's more difficult since his motor skills are improving so much. 
I have to say that it's been a HUGE success and there's very little drama at our house and around. Because of his vocabulary and his signs he can pretty much communicate most of his wants and needs. If he's hungry he can tell us. If he's thirsty he can tell us. If he's stinky, if he wants to go outside, if he wants more something, he can tell us. I'm not saying there aren't tantrums and pouting spells here. But those are usually only because he's sooo independent and doesn't want any help. Or because he's not ready to come inside, or get out of the bath tub!
He eats fairly well..depending on the day really. He's still taking two naps a day, though I'm not sure for how much longer. He loves milk and juice. He's especially fond of mac & cheese, hot dogs, grapes, yogurt, fruit of all kinds, fries, chips, and crackers. He can build with blocks, "play" his guitar, he scoots alll over the house and the deck on his Radio Flyer scooter. He chases Lile from one end of the house to the other, screaming all the way! He loves buckets and things with lids, and MUSIC! He's crazy about music! His favorite song is "Move" by MercyMe. If you haven't listened to it, just one time and you'll understand why he's hooked! If he sees me holding my iPod, he shouts "Move!" and starts shaking his hips! So precious.

Monday, September 26, 2011

Heartbeat

We went to the doctor last week...Friday. It was the first time we were able to hear Baby's heartbeat! Unless you've had that moment for yourself you just can't imagine the feeling of hearing the life inside you for the first time. It's indescribable. Anthony was actually able to join me at the doctor's office. He can't usually make it to the appointments because he works till 5 or after every day. It just so happened that he had some strategically placed cancellations and was able to meet me there. I'm so very glad that he did. He wanted to hear Baby's heartbeat too. I can't blame him. I wouldn't have missed it for anything! 
Dr. Miletich found that thump thump on the first try, then she laughed because the squiggler wiggled away from the doppler. When she finally got a good reading on it she said it was right at 150 beats per minute. I was shocked! Lincoln's was always above 160 and I'm pretty sure there were times when he was in the 170s when it was this early in the pregnancy. This is the first difference in the two pregnancies. And an interesting one at that! I wonder what this means?! Does this truly mean that this is a boy because of the lower heart rate? Or is it a girl because it's different than Lincoln's?! Or does it really not mean anything because all of those factors are all very subjective anyway?! Who knows....
We scheduled our next ultrasound and appointment for October 18. God willing, and with a little cooperation we will find out if this Baby is a boy or a girl!! I'm VERY excited to say the least. I'm the kinda girl who needs to know NOW! I've gotta plan, gotta think , gotta get mentally prepared! Plus, I've gotta shop!!! :) 
It's funny how much faster things happen with baby #2. I am totally in maternity pants because nothing else fits. My shirts will fit for a long time yet since so many of them are flowy anyway. Thankfully being pregnant in the exact same seasons means I don't have to buy many new things. Of course I've gotten a few things here and there, gotta add some variety. But nothing like last time when I started from nothing! I've even shared some of my stash with a girl at work who is 10 weeks ahead of me and had NOTHING to wear. Poor girl. It was some clothing I received as a hand-me-down and it just wasn't my style. But they look cute on her and I was happy to help. I have some extra "Bump Bucks" to spend at Motherhood Maternity this week and I can't wait to buy a new pair of comfy pants for work. That's the hardest part, spending money on stuff to wear to work. Yuck...I'd rather by cute fun stuff. *Insert mantra: I can do anything until March!!!*
On an even brighter note, my niece is born!!! Zoey Taylor was born last Sunday, September 18, 2011 at 5:12 am. She weighed 7 pounds, 11 ounces and was happy and healthy. (No middle name decided on as of yet.) Zoey and Leslie are both well. Zane loves her to pieces and just wants to hold her and touch her and kiss her!! Sooo sweet. I hope Lincoln is a good big brother like that! 
What a chunker! She's sweet and very soft and snuggly. I held her and she just slept and snorted. She makes all kinds of little noises! I don't have a picture of me with Zoey cause Leslie took them on her camera and I haven't scavenged them yet. But soon!
Check out this SUPER cute poster I made for Leslie's hospital door:

I made one very similar to this 3 1/2 years ago when Zane was born. I thought it was only fitting that Zoey should get one, too! Holding her certainly makes me happy that I'm pregnant and that I'll get to hold this little one before I know it. Oh how time flies!
Lincoln update:
This kid is AMAZING!!! He does something new and wonderful every day. More on that later!! But for now here are a few cute pics of my toddler!!!
 Lincoln and Nana on a visit to Ma-maw's house this summer. He's such an outside boy! It was a beautiful day and we got to play outside.
His super cute Mickey hat! Did you see the ears!?

Monday, September 12, 2011

Announcing...

Drumroll please…..


Here is the first sneak peek at our newest, tiny, precious addition! Baby Vance #2 is expected to arrive sometime around March 22, 2012! I am sooo terribly excited! Lincoln is going to be a GREAT big brother. His favorite word is baby…well, that and truck! But who knows, maybe he’s just getting ready because he knows what’s coming!
I say scheduled to arrive…but you never know. I look at a due date as more of a suggestion. Here…be ready at LEAST by this date. You know, Lincoln was 5 days late…who knows what this baby will do? My best friend, Amy, is already begging me to hold baby in until her birthday, March 28. I’ve got some really bad news for you Amy…that baby better be outta here before then! Or someone (besides me) is going to be VERY unhappy! We also have some baby friends who were born on St. Patty’s day. I wouldn’t mind sharing my baby’s birthday with some very cute friends! And I don't think Kyra and Liam would mind! But, that would just add fuel to Erin’s fire to buy tons of green things for baby to wear….YUCK!!
We found out we were pregnant on vacation in Yellowstone National Park this summer. We were actually at the Old Faithful Snow Lodge. We had taken Clomid again, only one cycle, and I packed my pee sticks. When I could wait no longer to christen one of the tests I went for it. Finally, blessedly, thankfully….there were two lines. Ok, so one was VERY faint and just slightly there, but mind you…it was THERE! Oh how I cried! Hooray!!! Anthony kept asking if I was sure…the line was sooo faint. I said, “Listen here, buddy….if there are two lines, no matter the color, that’s it!”
We decided to try to wait to tell the family until we’d made it to our first OB appointment and had an ultrasound to see how many were in there. With Clomid you never know… so we just wanted to be sure! Honestly, I had NASTY dreams about twins! I was realllly hoping that wasn’t true! Turns out, just one happy baby that actually looked a lot like a gummy bear! Such a sweet sight to see! We went to the OB at 10 weeks for the first ultrasound and all was well and healthy and happy. 
We are now just over 12 weeks and ready for the 2nd trimester!
I haven't been sick or anything...just so terribly tired. Learning a new grade-level and the stress of going back to school, chasing a toddler, and making a baby does leave one extremely tired! Anthony's ready for that party to be over for a while, so I'm not always wanting to take a nap!
I have to say we are so very, very excited!! I can't wait to find out what this baby is! I'm praying for a girl, but honestly I'd be just as happy if it's another beautiful baby boy! Lincoln is definitely precious and I could handle that again!


Monday, August 29, 2011

A FEW Yellowstone Pictures


We started our vacation in St. Louis, Missouri and visited the Gateway Arch. It was miserably hot and we were very tired when all was said and done. Our Wyndham hotel was VERY nice and we welcomed it after a long hot day!



Here we are up at the top of the Arch. It stands 635 feet tall.



The very next day we landed in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. It was so beautiful and the weather was MUCH MUCH nicer. Check the snow on the mountain tops in the middle of July!




Anthony decided he needed to paraglide off the top of a 10,000 foot cliff while we were in Jackson Hole. This is Lincoln enjoying the ride up the mountain in the tram.



Anthony was tandem with a very experienced guide named Rolf. We watched them float down while Erin, Lincoln, and I took the tram back down the mountain. Anthony landed before we made it to the bottom!



The town square in Jackson Hole is flanked on all 4 corners by these enormous elk antler arches.



This is by far my favorite photo of the trip. It's a picture from Grand Tetons National Park. The colors were gorgeous and we just stood in awe of the beauty. The lake was like glass and reflected the mountains perfectly.




Our first entrance to Yellowstone, Wyoming!



Just one picture of the many, many hot springs. The bacteria causes the water to make such beautiful colors. Every color in the spectrum is there...from blue, to red, to orange and brown.



Our first buffalo sighting! How did I know that we'd see HUNDREDS more?!?! And of course, they rule the road! A very large traffic jam ensued while half of the herd crossed the road to join the other half at the realllly stinky sulfur springs! The ranger said they stay near the hot sulfur springs because it keeps the biting insects away.




Old Faithful! We spent one night here at the Old Faithful Snow Lodge. The Lodge was beautiful and Old Faithful was pretty faithful. I think the estimated time of eruption was 8:16 and she actually erupted at 8:25 or so.




It was so cold we all had to wear jackets! And the mosquitos were terrible!



One of several grizzlies we saw. He was jumping up and down on the logs looking for food.




Grand Prismatic Spring
This was one of my favorite places. The spring was absolutely beautiful and even the steam rolling off the hot spring was blue. We hiked up this mountain behind it so we could see it from above. It was much more impressive from up here! It just happened that we had to hike up a trail that required both hands and feet!






This is Lower Falls. Part of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone...they call in Little Niagara because of the sheer amount of water that falls every second.



Tons of snow around! This was piled up almost taller than us! Lincoln played in it and tossed it around.



Craters of the Moon, Idaho.
It's a giant lava field from about 2,000 years ago. It's one of the newest lava flows in North America. There were trails to walk and caves to explore. We even walked through Lava Tubes.





Lincoln wasn't entirely sure about the cave thing...so he and I stayed outside while Anthony and Erin explored the cave with a flashlight.




Salt Lake City, Utah
This is the beautiful Mormon Temple that's in the middle of Temple Square downtown. We had been here before, I think in 2007 when we went to Utah to snowboard. 

We have this EXACT picture taken in 2007...except without Lincoln of course! I'll have to find it and post it, too!
These are just a FEW of the 1,300 pictures I took, plus the over 600 that Erin took. It's a very abbrevited version of our very wonderful vacation!

Friday, August 12, 2011

I know...I know...

It's been forever!!! 

I am very sorry, but we've been quite busy. We've spent 2 weeks out west visiting Yellowstone National Park and Grand Tetons National Park. Once we got home we settled for a week or so and then left again for Virginia Beach. 

I promise I am working diligently to cull out my favorite pictures to share. I only took over 1,300!!! It's really hard to decide what to share, or what I want you to see. 

But for tonight I'll leave you with the sweetest thing my baby boy did for me today:

This morning as I'm checking my email Lincoln was playing outside on the deck. He pushes around his scooter, rides it around, throws his balls...he loves it out there. Anyway, he suddenly shows up in front of me holding my potted begonia! He looked at me all sweet and said "fowah," handed it to me and walked away!!! He had climbed up on one of the chairs beside the table, pulled the tray the flower sits on towards him, pulled the flower off the tray, hopped down off the chair and brought it inside to me! I just couldn't be mad! It was such a precious moment. My heart just melted a little bit! I don't know if he really knew that he was giving me a flower and that it was sweet, but it was soooo precious. 

Here are a few cute pics of the boys at Ian's birthday party in June.



Me and Lincoln at a water park in Pocatello, Idaho. The day before we came home from vacation.


Wednesday, July 6, 2011

And...we're done....

Nursing that is...

It's now been about two weeks since we nursed before bed. I'm OK with that. I'm pretty sure Lincoln is too. He was really only nursing for about a minute or two anyway, so it's not such a big deal to stop. Instead of nursing we just put on his pajamas and he sits on my lap with his paci and his blanket. He sits until I can tell he's good and sleepy and then I lay him down in his crib. Some nights he goes right to sleep, other nights he lays there and just talks and wiggles for about 30 minutes. For the first 3 or 4 nights without nursing he screamed....that was the hardest part! We'd just go in and talk to him ...lay him back down, and then say goodnight again. He'd scream for about 10 more minutes and then he was down.

He's sleeping between 10 and 12 hours at night. He goes down between 8 and 8:30pm and gets up between 7:30 and 8. Usually... Two mornings last week he was up at 5:45...YUCK! We were all tired. He's eating very well. Some of his favorites are mac & cheese, spaghettios, pancakes, pasta, hot dogs, chips, and the list goes on!

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Lincoln's Words

I just wanted to post really quickly the most wonderful things we've been hearing lately. Here is Lincoln's current vocabulary:

Mama
Daddy
Yiye = Lile
Nana
dall = ball
tu-uh = truck
ta = car
ni-ni = night night
bye bye
hey
uh-oh
no
doo = door

He also has lots of sign language:
cup
up
more
all done
bath
yogurt

We're working on outside, diaper, and dog. 


A quick pic of our recent trip to South Mountain State Park. I'll blog about that soon!

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Weekend Fun!

Lincoln got his first haircut on Friday! It was bittersweet....he was so precious as he sat there in that chair and was a perfect angel. He didn't fuss or cry once. He never tried to take the scissors away from Melissa or anything. Anthony decided that his curls over his ears were getting unruly and needed a trim. I had already said that I wasn't cutting his curls from the back! I'm afraid if I cut them off they won't come back. He looked at the comb and held one so he could brush his hair while she was cutting. He turned to see what she was doing maybe once or twice, but that was it. Otherwise he just sat there and waited to be finished! 





He gave her this look when she brushed his hair into his eyes so she could snip it. 


He had to help sweep when he was finished! He LOVES a broom! 



Here's the bittersweet part, he looks sooo much older!! Something about that messy curly look said sweet little boy. Now that it's all trimmed up and short in the front it's such a big boy cut! I have to admit I shed a tear! Anthony saw him when he got home and said he wished we wouldn't have cut it....we're going to let it grow back out!! :)

On Saturday we decided to check out a zip line course here near home. The Beanstalk Journey is here in Morganton, NC. The course has like 5 wood bridges and 5 zip lines. Here we are all suited up and ready to head out on the course.






You had to climb up the Giant's Ladder to get onto the course! It's a huge rope tube. 


My very fist zip!! It was tons of fun! We're about 50 feet off the ground and each zip is about 50 feet long.  Except for the last one, that's 500 feet!




Anthony showing his personality!! We obviously didn't take Lincoln. This place doesn't allow anyone under 4 years old or 70 pounds. Not to mention that after our 3rd rope bridge and 2nd zip line the sky turned ominous. Huge black clouds came rolling in and filled the sky. As we were trying to get from one treehouse to the next the wind REALLY started whipping! I mean, blowing the pine trees a good 15 feet over and showering us with branches and leaves. Then came the rain...COLD, cold rain! Just a few drops at first, so it was OK. They were going to let us finish the course. Then suddenly: thunder!! And the sky opened up and poured on us! They had to "rescue" us by tying us to a rope and rappelling us down from the tower. We made it about halfway through the course, enough to know that we liked it and want to do it again. The best part is we get a FREE pass to return any time! So not only did we get halfway, we get to go back for free!!! That's my kind of trip. And it was a big adventure! We weren't scared, just cold and wet! We will definitely return to use our free passes soon...

Sunday, June 19th was Father's Day. 

This is Anthony's 2nd Father's Day and he is such a good daddy. Lincoln adores him and loves to play with him. They wrestle in the floor and play guitar together. Ok, so Lincoln just really smacks the strings and carries it around. But it's still cute! Yesterday at a yard sale I bought Lincoln a big tool box full of cute little plastic tools. Some are Little Tykes toys that make noises (without any batteries!) that sound so fun. There's even a tool belt. We filled it up with tools today and he wore it around the house taking all the tools out of it! Anthony can't wait until Lincoln is old enough to start helping around the house. Not because he doesn't want to do the work, but because he wants to do it with Lincoln and teach him how to do things, like his daddy did. 


We got him a Kindle. He's always talking about how the books in the basement are taking up so much space and we've sold about all the ones we're willing to part with. So I thought that an e-reader would be a great way that he could still have his books, but not have them cluttering up the house. Plus, he reads like 3 books at a time anyway...and this way he doesn't have to pack 3 books in his suitcase! 

Lincoln loves Daddy!!!