12 weeks

Baby #2 @ 12 weeks

The 12 week appointment was pretty routine. Kyle got to come (along with the 2 kids :) for the 1st time this pregnancy. My vitals were good and we got to listen to the baby's heart beat. It was 169 bpm.

Here's the update:

How far along: 12 weeks 5 days

Total weight gain/loss: at the 12 week appointment zero gain

Maternity clothes: not yet, but this baby is definetly expanding faster than the 1st one

Sleep: only side sleeping with a pillow b/w my legs, ugh, I sleep so much better on my stomach

Best moment this week: hearing the heartbeat

Movement: Yes, call me crazy but I think I feel this baby move quite often, it's strange b/c I didn't feel S move until around 20 weeks

Food cravings: red meat, I've been sick the past week...I even had a dessert sit in my fridge the entire week and I didn't touch it, so you know I wasn't feeling well :)

Belly button in or out: I think this is a strange question...it's in and it never came out with S, so I may just stop answering this question and I'll keep you informed if it does pop out, since you're all dying to know :)

What I am missing: Having energy to get through the day, I hate taking naps

What I am looking forward to: having more energy and less nauseousness in the 2nd trimester

Milestones: Making it through the 1st trimester!

Pregnancy: 0-12 in a flash

Since I'm officially 12 weeks pregnant (@ least that's what the doctor says) I thought would do a quick recap of the 1st 12 weeks.

November: working at lot at my consulting job and trying to finish my MBA. Stopped nursing Sawyer right before Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving came and we went to CO. Looking back that's when I first started feeling the extreme exhaustion and nauseousness. I was somewhat oblivious, but on the eve of our skiing day I took a pregnancy test just to ensure this strange feeling wasn't another baby. One of the lines on the plus sign was very faint, so after consulting with Kyle we decided it was negative and ok to go skiing (since that time I've done some research...even a faint line=pregnant). Went skiing down lots of hard hills and fell only once.

December: Finished MBA. Low energy, but nothing suspicious in the early part of the month...maybe I was on a high after finishing school. As I prepared for our Christmas trip to Kansas the extreme exhaustion and nightly nauseousness returned. The night before we left I was out picking up a few last minute gifts when I decided to buy a pregnancy test. I waited until the next morning (as in 4:00 am when I had to go to the bathroom) and it was immediately positive. I couldn't wait to tell Kyle, so I woke him up. Lets just say I don't think either one of us slept the rest of the night. We then traveled to KS and all three of us were sick.

January: Immediately after returning home I went to the doctor who confirmed I was pregnant (January 5th). Then I went in for an ultrasound on January 10th to determine the due date and confirm there was only 1 baby(estimated 9 weeks and 6 days, due date August 9th). On Sawyer's birthday we told our family and friends the good news. On January 18th I had to attend the doctor's pregnancy class. Seems kinda silly for someone who recently gave birth, but because this is a new doctor and hospital it was good to get all the info. And on January 28th I went to the doctor for my 12 week appointment.

I think that pretty much sums everything up. Now that I am at 12 weeks I will commence the monthly pregnancy updates.

Custom Crayons

I saw a tutorial for creating your own crayons on Homemade by Jill. Click on the blog title for all of her wonderful instructions & pictures.

I simply bought a the large box of crayons, separated them by color, and removed the paper wrapper. Fair warning: removing the crayon paper is the most time consuming, tedious, make-you-want-to-pull-your-hair-out part of the whole process. I finally looked up suggestions online and they helped considerably. So to save you all a little time and hair here's the tip: use an exacto knife to cut through the paper then it usually can be peeled off easily.

Once the colors are separated according to your preferences boil water in a medium saucepan. Insert the crayons into a tin can (food can). Then insert the can into the water. Stir and wait for the crayons to melt. Once melted pour the liquid crayons into a chocolate mold of your choosing. Then stick those bad boys into the fridge until they set up.

This project took some time because I only had 1 chocolate mold, but the whole process was easier than I had anticipated and they turned out great.

First Cut

The day after his birthday we decided since he was now a big boy he needed a big boy haircut (not the old man comb over).

During bathtime daddy distracted while mommy made a few cuts.

We only cut the top. I wasn't brave enough to try the back.

Here's the new look. Much better on top...though his back is getting longer therefore resembling a mullet...we will get that taken care of soon :)

Winter ONEderland: The Decorations

The invitations: Saw some on etsy that were similar, but I made these in Microsoft Publisher

Front door wreath

Food table with really bad lighting

Super snowflakes above the food table. I used the tutorial from MADE.

Ice Cubes: Chocolate dipped marshmallows

Cupcakes on a self-made cupcake stand. Yeah for thrift store plates and candle holders!

Sawyer's special cupcake. The "S" cake topper is actually a Christmas ornament I found at Pat Catan's

Snowballs: Donut Holes

Snowflake cupcake toppers and blue cupcake liners. Toppers were homemade and liners are from Pat Catan's.

Bottled water with snowflake wrappers.

Hot Chocolate Bar

White tree with 12 months of Sawyer pictures on the gift table. I found a huge limb that had fallen from a tree. Kyle cut the prime branches and spray painted them white. I found small frames and spray painted them blue. Then we suspended the frames on the tree using fishing line.

The mantel: snowflake banner made with a friend's silhouette, then various candles and snowflake decorations I already had were placed on the mantel.

Bay window: 1 homemade snowflake was taped in each window pane. For the window ledge I purchased dollar store gold frames with mats. I spray painted the frames black. There are 12 frames for each of Sawyer's 12 months. I used Picnik to write the months on each photo.

Party favors: snowflake cups with a bag of hot chocolate, snowflake crayons, and chocolate dipped marshmallows (not pictured)

Sawyer's high chair decorations.

Most decorations were made by hand. All the others were purchased at the dollar store or Pat Catan's.

Special thanks to my sil Candace for all her help with the invitations, crayons, and cupcake decorating! I couldn't have gotten it all done without you!

Updated to add pictures my talented friend Liz Hehman took.

1 Snowflake Bib: handmade by mommy

Pictures of the actual birthday party fun can be found here.

Winter ONEderland: The Party

On Saturday, January 15th we celebrated Sawyer's birthday one more time with lots of family and friends during our winter onederland. He did suprisingly well considering all of the people and attention he received. He just ran all over the house trying to catch the other kids and/or eat people's food.

My 2 favorite boys

Sawyer & Aunt Candace

Our family of 3

B playing with a "snowball." We blew up white balloons and let the kids have a "snowball" fight in the playroom. Who knew that putting a few balloons on the floor would be such a hit :)

Tache feeding Sawyer one of many mini marshmallows.

Mommy blowing out S's candle.

The 1st bite...he loved the cupcake, he ate over 1/2 of it, but he would not get dirty. He just used his pincher grip to pick up small pieces and carefully put it in his mouth...strange kid, but at least his white shirt stayed clean.

The family again

Sharing his cupcake with daddy

S playing with Grandma

S laughing with Tache & Papa

The best attempt at getting all the kids together.

The happy birthday boy after the party.

And thanks to my sil Candace who took most of the party pictures, so I could enjoy the day.

1st Birthday Day

Mommy & Daddy wake-up call on the 13th

He loved his singing birthday cake

1st cake attempt

Looks like he's about to dig in

But he just took small bites, not sure what to think...can we say sugar rush

Clapping for the birthday cake

Opening the family gifts

Perfecting his wrapping paper rip.

Sawyer's actual birthday was filled with family, friends, play, gifts, cake, dancing, smiles, and love. While he had no idea what was going on I think he enjoyed himself :)