Welcome to the 3rd Trimester!

28 weeks

This pregnancy is seriously flying by! When I was pregnant with Abi it seemed like I was pregnant f-o-r-e-v-e-r and that he/she would never get here. But this time it seems like I was just waving that little stick in Adam's face saying, "I told you, so!" I have officially entered the 3rd trimester and am starting to see the signs. My back is starting to hurt, my feet are starting to swell and my rings are getting tight. But overall I feel great! This blog didn't exist with Abi so I never wrote anything down and I kind of wish I had, just for comparison.

So here goes: At 28 weeks I have gained 11 lbs. This pregnancy has definitely had it's little hiccups which have served as great reminders to be thankful for healthy kids. I had the usual morning (24 hour would be more accurate) sickness just like with Abi. But luckily it didn't last as long. Early on I was diagnosed with vulvodynia which isn't harmful to me or Baby Girl, just painful and annoying for me. I won't go into details explaining what it is. If your really interested you can Google it. When I did the glucose test a couple weeks ago my blood work came back that my platelets were low so I was referred to a hematologist. We waiting a very long, worry-filled week for the hematologist to inform us that my platelets are low (97 when they should be 150) but at this point we won't be anything differently. I will do bloodwork every three weeks from now until delivery to keep an eye on it. This morning I had a routine OB appointment and Dr. Reed said my platelets were a little low with my first pregnancy also. So it could be gestational thrombo-something or I could have a low platelet disorder not caused by pregnancy. Which the hematologist says would not really affect my life in any way unless I have to have surgery. I'll have bloodwork six weeks after delivery to confirm. So at this point theres no reason to worry and we just say prayers that my platelets stay where they are and don't cause any complications at delivery. Baby Girl seems to be growing well and is very, very active. Just like her sister was. She is always kicking, punching or whatever it is babies do to entertain themselves in the dark. We had the realization today that she will be here in 11 weeks! Which caused me to have a small panic attack. But mostly I'm starting to dream about what she will look like. Will she be born with dark hair like Abi? Will she be snuggly unlike her sister? I can't believe we're about to be parents to two little girls. I'm nervous about wrestling/balancing/controlling two kids under 2 years old. But I'm really looking forward to watching Baby Girl and Abi be sisters. Abi talks about Baby Sister and wants her "out!" We'll see how she feels when she's actually here! ha! Abi loves to give my belly kisses and squeezes and is constantly trying to lift up my shirt - even in public.

Giving Baby Sister a squeeze

Abi is only 20 months old, but it is already shocking to me how time flies. It makes me so sad to think it's only going to get worse. My friend Kristi emailed out some pictures from Marci and Boogie's wedding last Labor Day weekend. I was so shocked to see how much Abi has changed in just nine months. And I thought this was a super-cute pic so I thought I would share. So here's to discovering how to slow down time and enjoy these precious years!

Ladies and Gentlemen, Start Your Engines...

Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines....it's officially summer! Adam had his last day of school this week and we started off the summer with a busy, but fun, weekend. Friday night we met up with my friend Becky who lives in Cincy and took Abi to her first baseball game. I was a little apprehensive because it was supposed to be super hot and the game started at 7pm. She usually goes to bed between 7:30-8:00. It was definitely hot and Abi was definitely tired. After 6 innings of wrestling her between the three of us, Abi throwing water bottles at the poor people in front of us and Abi dumping the contents of Becky's purse 87 times we finally gave up. Overall, we had a good time and I'm glad we went. But shew, it was exhausting!

We stayed at Hotel Kramer (Becky's house) that night and she was a fabulous hostess as always! Saturday morning Becky and I did a little shopping/browsing while Adam stayed at the house with Abi. It was so nice to have "girl time" and liesurely browse without sippy cups, a stroller and a bag full of snacks.

Saturday night we drove up to Aaron and Sarah's to stay the night and hang out Sunday for the race. As usual, Abi and Eli had an absolute blast playing together. We noticed that this weekend was the first time they seemed to entertain themselves for the most part. They played together and we had actual adult conversations while keeping an eye on them. It was sooooo great!

Sunday set the heat record for the Indy 500. 93 degrees I think. So we kept the kiddos cool with the baby pool and squirt guns.

Being pregnant in 90 degree heat is always fun (insert sarcasm). I'm really praying this summer won't be as hot and humid as when I was pregnant with Abi. My feet are already swelling despite the bottles and bottles of water I drank. But it is a nice excuse to sit in the shade with my feet in the pool. :)

Ready to face the heat!



enjoying one of Aunt Sarah's yummy cupcakes!



Abi's Sweet New Ride

"beep beep!"

It seems like every kid Abi knows has a Cozy Coupe. Elijah has one, Harper & Hadley have the pink one and the little boy who lives next door has one too. Abi LOVES these cars. You can't get her out of it wherever we are. Sawyer (the neighbor boy) is always nice and lets her borrow his when they're playing outside. As a result, every time we're outside and they aren't I have to listen to "Sawyer's car?" over and over. Needless to say I (and mom) have been scouring Craig's List, kids resales and garage sales looking for one. Just this week I was thinking we might have to break down and buy her a new one for her birthday. 

Then Saturday morning our neighbor Allison, and Sawyer's mom, came over with this sweet set of wheels she found at a garage sale!! She saw it and knew we had been looking for one so she grabbed it for us. I was so touched by her thoughtfulness. She wouldn't even let us pay her for it. She insisted it was really cheap. The car has been well-loved and much-played in. But it was my favorite price (free), there's absolutely nothing wrong with it and Abi doesn't know the difference, let alone care.

Abi is in automobile heaven. And Adam and I both have sore backs from bending over pushing her up and down the sidewalk.

Happy Mother's Day!

Abigail is blessed to have one mommy, three grandmas, two great-grandmas, one great-great grandma and three aunts. One of which is also her Godmother. Which means I'm blessed to know all these wonderful women too! But as you can imagine it is absolutely impossible to visit all these ladies on one day. Plus I didn't really want to spend MY Mother's Day driving all over the tri-county area. So we do what we can and hope everyone understands.

A couple weeks ago Sarah and Eli came down to visit and we crafted these garden stepping stones for all the grandmas and ourselves. They didn't turn out as good as I had hoped, but I'm sure all the grandmas understood we were working with two 19 month olds and wet cement! They were a big hit regardless!

We started celebrating the middle of last week with Mamaw Deanna, Grandma Darlene and Aunt & Godmother Kristen with lunch at Stream Cliff Herb Farm. It is my absolute favorite place. The food is delicious and the gardens are beautiful.



I actually made reservations for Sunday lunch with the Megels at Stream Cliff also. Adam's mom loves to go there too. And since she raised four boys, she rarely gets to go to "cute" places as a family. Mother's Day ended up being rainy and cold which was disappointing. Considering our table was outside on the porch and we couldn't walk through any of the gardens. My visions of beautiful family photos went right out the window. Oh well.



Mommy & Abi at lunch



After lunch we went home and we napped and caught up on dvr while Abi napped. My only request to Adam for the day was that I didn't have to cook or prepare any food. He came through with flying colors. He made bacon and eggs for breakfast, Stream Cliff for lunch and we went to Panera for supper. After Panera we went to Rural King for some free popcorn, to look at the chicks left from Easter and generally roam the store.

In case you were wondering...no, I do not feel embarassed to whip out my camera at Rural King. I'm recording memories!

Even though the rain ruined our original plans, it was such a nice, relaxing day. I felt very spoiled. Plus, I always think Mother's Day is a little more special when you're pregnant.



The beautiful basket Adam and Abi got me



Sunday evening there was a gorgeous rainbow arching across the entire sky. I was standing in the middle of our street snapping pics thinking about how special it is to see a rainbow. And I couldn't help but think it sort of reminded me what motherhood is like. Somedays it rains (meltdowns in a restaurant, goldfish ground into freshly vacuumed carpet) but then there are rainbows (hugs and kisses, watching Abi learn something new, hysterical laughter). I absolutely love being a mom and am so grateful to all the women who have "mothered" me!

We've Got Summer Fever!

It's only May 3rd, but it is definitely starting to feel like summer is in full swing. Over the past couple weekends we've planted 200 strawberry plants and 50 grape vines on our parents' properities. Plus all the bushhogging, tilling and post hole digging that goes along with it. Ok, so Adam, my dad and his dad did 90% of the work. But between being 6 months pregnant and preventing Abi from getting run over by the tractor I kind of had my hands full. Although the next day my pregnant back was definitely sore from bending over to cut 200 slits in weed barrier fabric. I wish I would have thought to take pictures while we were working, but like I said, I was preoccupied. But here's one of Abi with Papaw Mike.

oh, look who's refusing to smile

I don't know why this makes me excited for summer, but this week I was able to french braid Abi's hair for the first time! I guess it's because I always sported french braids in the summer as a kid. They don't stay in very long with all the running, playing and thrashing around on the floor. But it's so cute and defintely makes her look grown up!

On Tuesday, Sarah and Eli came down for a visit. We were wanting to get some cute some really cute pics of them together in nice clothes since we weren't able to on Easter. But when one kid is stubborn as a mule and the other has the attention span of a gnat, this is as good as it gets! We also worked on some Top Secret Mother's Day gifts to be revealed later.

Sarah was able to get this super cute picture of Abi in the sundress I made for her. (Also accepting orders on the TLC Facebook page! )

Yesterday Adam, with the "help" of Abi, picked the first bowl of strawberries from our garden!

They were soooo good! All three of us are strawberry fiends so they didn't last very long. Long after the bowl was empty Abi kept saying, "More bo-berries!"

Abi's sour face! So hysterical!



I picked some more today, added kiwi and banana and made homemade popsicles! They are easy, delicious, dirt cheap and no added sugar! The perfect summer treat. 

Adam has less than three weeks of school left and we are really looking forward to the summer. We already have some fun things planned. Adam and I are taking a mini-vaca for our 5 year anniversary, Traci and I will be at the Farmers Market on Saturdays hopefully making big bucks, and a camping trip in June! My mind is constantly racing with summer projects I want to accomplish before Baby Girl makes her grand entrance in August. We are of course excited about that as well. I just hope we can remember to slow down and enjoy the summer while appreciating the ease of having only ONE little girl who loves the outdoors.