Because Greg said my crappy mirror pictures were no good. As shown below. 

Yes dear, your sister got the big camera and you get this. You’re welcome. OK i’ll try to make more of an effort to 1) bathe and 2) document this little one better than that  ^^ because that ^^ is just sad. I mean, my eye. Oh you didn’t notice? Never mind then. Hey! remember this? I probably can’t do it every week because I seem to be a bit busier than last time I was in this situation but whaddaknow, I’m already forgetting each thing so here we go!

How far along? 16 weeks

Weight Gained: So…. my midwife said in order to keep nursing through pregnancy I had to [HAD TO] eat 1000 calories extra a day. I’ve just been doing my motherly duty eating my plate and then yours. So… we are somewhere around 13 lbs haha.

Symptoms: Not much.. starting to finally feel some stretching. I think my uterus was like oh this, ya we got this. And now it’s like, wait, how big do I have to get again? And my nose this time around is outta control. And there’s been lots more fluids in the nose area as well which is actually a pregnancy symptom. I forgot how much fun this stuff is to write about ;)

Movement: Oh man I was so worried something was wrong cause I couldn’t feel baby for the longest time after those first couple days of kicks but then I did again and it brought back all the smiles. It’s the freakiest/most magical thing.

Food cravings: I really wanted some fruit loops in the middle of the night the other day but Greg decided to ignore his husbandly duties and said he wouldn’t go get them for me. I mean really. Also, steak smells amazing.

Food aversions: Not so much. I haven’t been hugely into cooking lately because nothing really sounds good but it doesn’t sound bad either so I’m just a puddle of needs over here. Just try and figure me out.

Sleep: Good except I haven’t been sleeping on my side. I feel constant guilt because of this but not enough to change.

Stretch marks? Heck yes! I got my first ones way down there ;) I guess this time around and after nursing etc I figure my body is what it is and I don’t care so much about it going back to the way it was. Because what if it doesn’t? I hear people make fun of how saggy you get after being a mom but what if we taught our kids to start admiring that? To look at all of those “imperfections” with pride and honor. Ya, I grew a human being inside of me. Ya, I fed that human being with my own body. And ya, I carried that baby till I couldn’t carry him/her any more and now my arms have flab to prove that I am among the warriors. Woman should be so respected for this job of motherhood not pitied because they lost something that our culture holds so dear. In my opinion ;)

Belly button in or out? In

Miss anything? I could have used some wine on Valentine’s Day. And every day cause yumm. Greg reminds me I can have my finger as is allowed but YOU JUST HAVE YOUR FINGER OF WINE AND THEN WE’LL TALK.

Mood? So excited!

Maternity Clothes? Not really… I feel like my pants are fitting way better than last time… maybe cause I got a bigger size after birthing my last child haha.

New baby items: Not yet :]

Exercise: I started pruning my trees yesterday and I am beyond sore today so I’m counting that as my yearly workout. But seriously, last time I said I will definitely stay in shape my next pregnancy so I’d really like to keep that because well, labor is hard! So. Goals. For next week.

Best moment of the week: Feeling baby kick again. They are just the sweetest! And Abbie running around the house squealing her joyful little squeal. Pruning my trees – seriously I’m having the best time. Getting our little nook finally painted – it’s been bothering me forever and it’s finally the correct shade of white ;) Our house is really starting to feel more like home which is such a great feeling. I’m seeing the light at the end of the ever so distant tunnel and my painting days may be behind me soon!!!! I’m praying before baby comes. It’s rather incredible how long it takes with a toddler running around undoing everything you just painted. There have been many deep breaths and calls for patience ;) But anyways… seriously that girl just does the cutest things. I should be writing them down but they’d read back like: she lifted up her shirt and looked at her belly. I just can’t describe all that cuteness appropriately! Also that steak last night was pretty good. See, I can’t remember past last night! Heaven help me.

Looking forward to: OUR RENO STARTING!!!!!!! We decided to do the upstairs bathroom first so we can have guests over and they actually won’t have to go through our bedroom to shower and I’m unbelievably excited. I never in a million years thought we’d be able to own a house here and DEFINITELY never in a million years thought we’d be able to do any sort of renovation on said house beyond like, painting, so this is a scary dream come true! We have no idea what we are doing but I figure it’s the smallest of the ones we’d like to do so it’s a good place to start. And to have a clean, new bathroom!!!! makes my heart sing. Ours are so gross and just give me the shivers every time I’m in there. Every time I give Abbie a bath, I empty the tub and there is so much dirt at the bottom… like it’s coming up the drain… this is what I’m putting my child in. A mud bath. To get clean. So this upstairs dream has got me so excited. Especially with hoping to have a home birth again – every time I think about laboring in our shower I think OH GOSH MY CHILD WILL COME OUT WITH EVERY DISEASE. There is nothing you can do to get that thing clean enough to make me comfortable, not to mention bathing a newborn with their fragile little selves!

Well obviously I haven’t written in a while ;) I’ll be quiet now. Until next time! Love and miss you all!

I got to feel you kick last night and it was just as magical as I remember. Thanks for that, baby. You’ve been such a little joy in there not making momma uncomfortable at all, that I worry if you are real sometimes. Your sister has been continuing with the many kisses and practicing with her baby dolls. She sure loves those dollies.. you’re gunna be like a dream come true when she finally gets to meet you! I’ll work on the eye poking until then :) Just wanted to say I love you and can’t wait to meet you! Keep on kicking sweet baby!

Oh baby, I’m sorry I haven’t documented your progress as much as your sister. You are welcome to give me all the guilt for the rest of your life, as is the right of the second child. Believe me, I know. You are somewhere between 13 and 15 weeks (and one day if we are really getting technical) and have made this pregnancy a breeze so far except YOU ARE MAKING MY HAIR SO OILY! I am very tempted to cut it all off again because this, this is just disgusting. Also, my face. I’m really surprised I didn’t get more pregnancy jokes leading up to this because I was sure someone would wonder what was going on there. Hi, teenage me. What else… if we are pretending you are only 13 weeks, we are almost through the first trimester! I can’t really wrap my head around that because WHAT!? How?!? You are creeping into our lives so quickly and although my to do list before you get here is out the door, I seriously can’t wait to meet you. I don’t know why it’s so hard for me to comprehend that we are going to have two babies before this year is over, but I can’t seem to grasp it. It seems too good to be true I guess, yet at the same time, completely terrifies me! I mean, if we were being really honest. But mostly that thought is so exciting. I’ve prayed for you to come for what feels like the longest time even though most people think you came quickly :) Well baby, I love you! I get to hear your heartbeat today and I’m so excited. Also, sorry about the lack of nutrition lately. I’ll work on that.

Love, Your Momma

Little things I want to remember about precious baby #2!

On the day I found out you were coming, I was sitting in church listening to a sermon on “Change of Plans.” Ha! I thought. This year has been a change of plans… mostly I was thinking how it looked like I wouldn’t be able to get pregnant again for a while and coming from a lady that has always wanted to have her kids close together, that’s really hard to accept. Everyone in my family seemed to have their kids 15 months apart – my sister and I were, my dad and his sister were, I think my mom and her sister even were! And then that opportunity ticked on by and then the next month and then the next. I never thought I’d long for dear old Auntie Flo to come on back but she kept remaining very mysterious popping in to say hiya there and then disappearing for months. Every day I’d have cramps and get so frustrated that I had to have cramps with no period and worse – cramps with no pregnancy. GO AWAY YOU LYING CRAMPS. They felt so much like the cramps I had with Abbie, I was almost sure this was it! I told Greg I really think I’m pregnant this time! And he said something about my crazy level matching up pretty accurately. And we got excited! And then sad when day after day tests came back negative. [ PS if you are a psycho tester like me, get the wondfo strips on amazon – they are the best ;) ] I decided to just put it out of my mind and not think about it anymore until maybe one day it would become glaringly obvious that maybe just maybe we were able to get pregnant again. So there I sat, trusting God that His change of plan was for the best and that His timing is perfect and that ultimately He is in control of our family. That night, I don’t know what possessed me, I took another test – do you see how good my self control is? I didn’t feel pregnant at all (minus the fact that I kept falling asleep on poor Jennifer) – I guess I just thought I should test one more time just in case, while Greg’s mom and sister are here so that if there is any chance, we can tell them all together at dinner tomorrow! I really don’t know what I was thinking because the likelihood of it all was so slim. But then, two little lines and cue Hillary going into complete shock. Everyone was out watching football and although I had the wonderful desire to call Greg away to tell him such good news right when the game had seconds left muhahaha, I just stood in there shaking from who knows what – shock I guess – and excitement – and every other emotion that floods you when you get that news. So I waited till everyone went to bed and left it out on the counter for my beloved to find ;) a stick of pee. how sweet. We are very romantic over here. He got the most boyish smile on his face and asked me if I thought it was real – boys never trust such things. So he picked up some fancy ones on the way home from work the next day and with bated breath, we waited and got the same result! Conveniently, we were going out to a nice dinner with both our parents that night as it was Lory and Jennifer’s last night with us, and we were able to tell both of them at the same time, which is something I wanted to do so badly. The thing about babies is, although some people seem to be able to get pregnant super easily, I still find every single occurrence such a miracle! The chance of it happening at all just blows my mind and so to me, it’s so special because every single child we have, whether they make it to this life or not, feels like a special gift from Him – something picked so perfectly for your family to complement you and stretch you and grow this unit into what He intended it to be. I see that so much with Abbie – she has been such a healing presence to so many of my family members through this hard year, and definitely to me. I can’t wait to see who He picked for us next. And although everyone who finds out how sweet Abigail is has decided to curse my next one and tell me they will be a terror, I am determined to love that little terror from one second child to another :) So welcome to our family, little baby! We can’t wait to meet you!

^^ you’re going to be a big sister Abbie! ;) ^^