Baby Hunter updates

5 weeks of summer went by so quickly! I can't believe that we are 2 days away from having just 9 weeks left! We had a great summer! It started with Quinn and I being able to go back to MS for 2 weeks to see everyone. Jessica and I got the bumps together:)

 It was a great visit! I love that we are expecting together. I definitely realized how much fun I had at my following doctor's appointment with a 9 pound weight gain- yikes! But we are back on track and doing great:)- totally worth it. The heat never bothered me with Quinn, but I really realized when we were in Orange Beach that my body doesn't like it for long this time around. I just start feeling like my body is swelling after an hour or so. I can't complain about anything though. I've been so fortunate with both pregnancies. The driving to MS wasn't bad at all. Between Quinn and I, we had to stop a million times to go the bathroom:) We were able to stretch our legs a lot. Baby Hunter and I were 24 weeks/6 months the week after we got back to Charleston. We had a mini photo shoot in Quinn's room.

Quinn is getting so excited about her little sister. She talks about her all the time. I think she's growing a little impatient with waiting to meet her, but we just keep explaining that she has to get big and strong first. She really wants baby Hunter to sleep in the bed with her, and she says she will help with giving her a bottle, pacifier, and changing stinky diapers:) She even made the daycare make an extra maraca just for Hunter. I know that having a baby sister is going to come with some changes for Quinn, but I hope that she stays this excited.

The sixth month flew by with summer plans and trying to finish organizing the house. Hunter's room is almost complete. I just have a few finishing touches. I have to share the dresser. I found what I wanted on pinterest first. Then I got really lucky with a craigslist find. I was going to sand and paint it myself, but I was afraid that the original paint was lead. A mom on one of my (many) facebook swaps did an amazing job.  Here is an idea of the before and after of the dresser.

 





Jessica sent the boxes of clothes that she was storing at her house. This baby will not lack for any clothes! Seeing all the small clothes and getting them ready for Hunter brought so many emotions of realizing how big Quinn is now and also getting excited to meet our new baby girl at the same time! I really cannot wait. Which is going to make these last 9 weeks go by really slowly.

Next thing I knew, it was time to go back to work for this school year. Fortunately, I love my job, and that made it easier. The seventh month came, and I got to take a photo shoot all by myself this time.  I actually had a week alone at the house with both John and Quinn in Mississippi. This was a first since Quinn was born. It turned out to be a blessing since my first week of school turned out to be a little crazy, but I was ready for everyone to come home by the end of the week.

 

Hunter and I had a great 7 month check-up. I had to double up on my iron pills with Quinn around this time, and I started doing the same a couple of weeks before my appointment. I could just feel it. Sure enough, my iron was low, and I'm hoping the new pills my doctor gave me will help. I already feel better after a few days on them. I scheduled my keepsake sonogram for two weeks after the appointment. The last time we saw Hunter was at 20 weeks, and she was still so skinny. I'm was excited to see how much she had changed now that I would be 29 weeks along. She had different plans. After spending around 45 minutes trying to get a good photo, we called it a day. This was the best picture we got of Hunter at the first keepsake appointment.

Fortunately, they scheduled another appointment for the following week on 8/20/14 to try again. She didn't really want to cooperate at that appointment either. The sweet sonogram technician had me doing bending motions, laying on my side, and she even used a noise maker to try to get Hunter to roll over into a better position. Hunter was just really snug in her corner. I think we ended with her having both feet and a hand over her face.  She did let us get one good squished face picture.

 

I did get to find out that she is now head down, and I have an idea of where she is when I feel all the movements and hiccups. Her estimated weight is 3 pounds 8 ounces (55% for 30wks), and she is measuring right at 30 weeks and 2 days.  She also has a lot of hair. We got to see it going down her neck at both appointments.

Her movements are getting so much bigger now, and she seems to get the hiccups a couple of times a day. I don't feel like my appetite has changed any, but I'm still craving spicy food all the time. Pretty much jalapenos always. I went to my friend's baby shower a couple of weeks ago. Three of us are due in October. I ordered jalapenos for my taco as one of them pulled Tums out of her purse. I do not know what it is about spicy food this time around, but I cannot get enough of it. I have pretty much spent the summer eating heirloom tomatoes, pimento and cheese with jalapenos, avocados on everything that I can think of, and at least 2 bowls of Kashi cereal a day. This picture pretty much sums up my summer lunches.

I'm now scheduled to see my physician every 2 weeks, and we go back on 9/3/14. One month of 2 week appointments, and then we will start going every week. I'm making my final list of things to check off. Jay is our person to keep Quinn should I go into labor this time around. I pretty much told him that he cannot have any plans the month of October. John got our infant carseat when he was in Mississippi a few weeks ago. There are only a few more things to check off the list, and then we can just wait for her to be ready!

 

 

Summer Break 2014

I know I'm slacking a little on my blog updates. We had a really busy summer break, and I have no idea how the 5 weeks went by so quickly! Still soaking in the fact that Baby Hunter's due date is only 10 weeks away. 

Quinn and I had a great 2 week trip back to Mississippi and Alabama to try to see as many family members as possible since it will most likely be Christmas before we are back. Here are some fun highlights from the trip. Obviously, you have to eat your favorite meals when you go home, and I requested fresh bass and hush-puppies for our first night in town. Sweet Paw Paw got up early that morning and caught the bass that day. I have to admit- they were pretty amazing, and I ate like a 6 month pregnant lady that night:)

That is pretty much the best way to sum up the eating portion of the 2 week trip for me. I enjoyed food from the Ole Country Bakery, desserts with meals, and all the awesome good cooking from my parents. I was made painfully aware of my cheating when I was informed that I had gained 9 pounds at my next doctor's appointment- haha. After turning about 4 shades of purple, I decided that it was worth it;)

Baby Waylen and Baby Hunter

Loving on Gaga

Quinn had a blast seeing everyone.  I really thought that we were going to have to get a cat after the visit. She played with 3 different cats while we were there, and she was a little obsessed. She chose to spend 2 hours playing with Bigmama's new kitten over going to the beach or swimming pool.  

I'm so glad that Quinn was able to spend so much time with all of her cousins! They are finally at that age where they play so well together. 

They are all growing up so fast! I hope that they always stay close. 

We also went to Orange Beach, AL to stay with Bigmama. It was my first time back since John and I got married there 6 years ago, and it was Quinn's first time seeing all the soft white sand of the Gulf beaches. We got really lucky because everyone was able to come for the long weekend! 

Quinn was a trooper with all of the driving that we did during that trip. We are now almost 3 months in big girl panties, and I couldn't be more proud of my big girl! She even learned how to squat on the side of the road during the MS visit;)  We got back to Charleston a few days before the 4th, and the rest of the summer was a blur of getting her room and the nursery organized, jumping in muddy puddles, and being obsessed with Frozen (Anna braids and nightly Frozen dance parties:)

water festival with Daddy

4th of July 

Love muddy puddles and rain!

Sweet "Acey"

"Anna" braids

 I love getting to spend so much time with this little munchkin. I'm so excited about meeting Hunter in a couple of months, but I'm also enjoying spending the time with Quinn while it's just us:)

Frozen dance parties

My sweet mama helped me do the curtains for the girls' rooms a couple of weeks ago. I got a sewing machine for Christmas, and I had no idea where to even begin with learning. We had both sewing machines going on the dining room table! I have a long way to go, but at least I'm not scared to try now. Quinn's room is finally put together! She's so proud of it too. She shows everyone that comes over her room:)

I'm Back with News!!

I cannot believe that it has almost been 2 years since my last post! Time really does go by too quickly. It has definitely been a busy 2 years for us with our move to Mississippi and back to Charleston, but I'll save that for another post. Today is about our new addition- Baby Stone #2! It is only fair that our sweet new baby gets some blog time too. I hate that I'm already 21 weeks, but I plan on catching up and staying on top of it...hopefully:) Here are some highlights over the past few months.

I found out that we were expecting on February 21, 2014. It was a little early to take a test so the line was pretty faint. So I took another 2 days later with no doubt! We were SO excited!!

 




The fun part about finding out that I was expecting is that my sister had just found out she was expecting her 2nd a few weeks earlier. She had already told our parents her news, but we kept my secret until Quinn and I visited the first weekend in March. We surprised them with matching Big Sister shirts! We told both sets of grandparents that weekend. Their faces were priceless!

We had our first appointment and chance to see the butter bean on March 25th. Our official due date is October 28th, 2014.

I was 9 weeks along at the time, and I had just started feeling bad. The first trimester started off really similar to when I was pregnant with Quinn. I hated the smell/taste of coffee at 7 weeks. With Quinn, it was certain strong food smells that would make me start feeling nauseated. This time around I just disliked food in general starting around week 8. I was hungry, but there wasn't anything that sounded good. I was also exhausted. I don't know if this was because I had a 2 year old this time around or not. Fortunately, it only lasted for a really LONG 3 weeks. Once the wonderful 2nd trimester hit, I felt more like myself.  Another fun difference this time around is that I think I started showing as soon as I found out. With Quinn, I held off on maternity clothes until I was 16 weeks along. This time around maternity was comfortable around 12 weeks. After it took me 20 min. to get dressed one morning at 10 wks along, I went ahead and told my supervisor before the office figured it out on their own. Fortunately, I started slowing down around 18 weeks.

Of course nothing is official until it is Facebook official:) Quinn did great posing for our picture, and we made our announcement on April 15th.

She is slowly understanding the idea that Mama has a baby in her belly. She thought she had a baby in her belly too for a little while:)  It is definitely going to be an adjustment for her, but she is going to be a great big sister! She LOVES babies. If I can't find her in her daycare classroom, I know she is visiting the babies in the infant room. Now that I'm showing so much more, she will kiss my belly to tell the baby hey. We both are getting better about me not picking her up as often too. I'm definitely trying to spend as much time with her over these next few months while it is just us.

Our first trimester screen was on April 22nd, and it was great to see the munchkin again. I couldn't get over how much the baby had changed and grown in one month. Here is a shot of my bump the day of the appointment with the sonogram picture. Everything looked great at that appointment! At that appointment, we went to schedule our 20 week anatomy appointment to check development and also find out the gender. Unfortunately, John was going to be out of town for his annual 2 week training during the appointment. We decided to schedule a gender appointment at 17 weeks so that we could find out together.

On May 13th, we found out that we were having another girl!! I couldn't be more excited for Quinn to have a sister. They will be almost 3 years apart just like Jessica and me.


 You can see there was a little change in the size of the baby bump over the month:) We already had a girl name, but we are still working on the middle name. We are going to call her Hunter, and we are hoping to have a middle name soon!! This second trimester has given me lots of energy. I have been in a serious nesting phase over the past month! I keep rearranging the house, and I'm so excited about planning the nursery. I've gotten some amazing deals on some mom swaps and craigslist to help with creating my idea for the nursery. Since we just moved back into our house in March, I've also been rearranging the house and trying to get it organized. I'm so excited that my summer break has finally started so that I can devote my time to getting everything together, and, hopefully, I will be able to shut my mind off;)  Our 20 week anatomy appointment was last week, and everything looked great! It is still a girl:) I started feeling Quinn early, but I have really felt Hunter as much. I like to think that means that she is going to be a very calm baby:) I started feeling a little movement around 19 weeks, but that has definitely picked up! I'm enjoying all the little kicks and movements..for now:)  I don't know where the time is going. I'm still in shock that I'm halfway through the pregnancy. So far, I don't really have any specific cravings. I've been doing some late night baking to keep me full until morning. Banana muffins, banana/strawberry bread, and blueberry bread have been some favorites. I've had some fresh local peaches the past couple of weeks that made me really excited too.

Quinn and I will be going to Mississippi to see family and friends this weekend. We are planning on a good visit that isn't rushed to see everyone, and we are even going to see Bigmama in Orange Beach. I can't wait to show Quinn the Gulf Coast. I can't believe that I haven't been back since John and I were married. It's going to be fun. I'll be sure to post when we get back!

Fun with an 8 month old!

I am having so much fun being home with Quinn this summer. I'm so sad that we only have two weeks left together. The summer has gone by so fast! So far, I love the 8 month stage. She has so much personality. She is crawling!! It's not perfect, but she is definitely getting around. There now isn't a safe spot in my house. She is able to go across the room before I even know it.

She loves going after my glasses, phone, and the dogs. She gets so excited when the dogs come around. She starts jumping up and down, and then she slaps them on the head. Ace doesn't really mind. He just lets her pull his ears, lip, and fur. Eddie isn't as much a fan.

 She still loves to pull herself up on everything. She was trying so hard to pull herself up on our chair the other day.

I caught her pulling the bottom drawer open on our chest in the den, and then she tried to pull herself up on it. We are in trouble now. It is definitely time to start baby proofing the house. We lowered the crib just in time. She now wakes up and then stands in her crib before making any noise. I find her looking at me each time I go in to get her.
She finally started holding her bottle on her own. This really hasn't been her fault since we hadn't used that many bottles at home, and I never really made her. She has been able to do it for a couple of months, but why do it if Mama will do it for you? Now that she is holding it on her own, I like to title the following picture, FREEDOM!! If I knew how amazing it would be for her to hold her own bottle, I would have made her do it a long time ago.

Freedom!!

She is such a good eater. She has been eating watermelon, avocado, eggs, english peas, sweet potatoes, squash, broccoli, cheese, and cheerios all by herself. I'm so proud of my big girl! She loves to prop one foot up on the high chair while eating. It cracks me up.

Monkey Toes

 One of my best friends, Jennifer, came and visited this week for our 30th birthdays. It was so much fun to see her, and it was perfect timing since John was away for a military training. We had a nice birthday breakfast! Even Quinn had a couple pieces of the cake.

 We had a fun few days. We walked the bridge, downtown, and we all went to the beach. It was Quinn's first time at the beach, and I'm not so sure she is a big fan. She wanted to eat the sand, but she definitely looked cute while hanging out on the beach.

We are now going to Mississippi soon. I'm so excited for everyone to see Quinn. The last time we were home was Easter, and she has changed so much since then. Now we just need to figure out the best time to make the 9hr drive with an 8 month old. I'm voting for night time because I can always drink coffee, and it's much better than an unhappy baby:)

7 to 8 months old

I still cannot believe that Quinn is 8 months old already! I meant to write her 7th month post before I went on my surprise birthday trip, but I didn't make it. More on the trip later...now for some highlights over the past month.

Up until right before she turned 7 months old, Quinn was not a fan of baths. Her Nana got her a seat to sit in for Easter, but that only helped for about a week or so. All of that changed once we put a mat in her tub and let her just sit with her toys.

Now she LOVES bath time!! She turned 8 months this past week, and her new favorite thing to do in the tub is to use the side to stand up. She is so focused! I've tried to distract her with toys, water, singing, but all she wants is to pull herself up! I've bathed her standing the past 2 nights.

Since John and I both have very curly hair, I knew the curl was coming. It showed up a few weeks after she turned 7 months, and it is right on top of her head!

I could not get it to lay down for about a week, and her new nickname at daycare was "alphalpha." Luckily, I figured out that it will lay down as long as I brush it right when she gets out of the bath. I know I'm going to have my hands full once it gets thicker, but I have 30  years of training on dealing with curly hair.

I am now home with her during my summer break, and it is amazing! She will be in the class above the newborns when we go back, and it was sad to leave her friends. Luckily, a few will be moving up with her!

Last day of daycare before summer

Her daycare providers were trying to get her to take better naps in her crib the few weeks before summer break. There was a little tough love along with putting a blanket over the side of her crib. She will sleep as long as doesn't realize she is missing anything. We definitely have a social butterfly on our hands!! She will not go to sleep if she thinks she is going to miss anything, and she gets so upset right before she gives in and falls alseep. She also started holding her bottle the last week of daycare. We don't give her many bottles at home, and I haven't worked on her much with this. We have been using her sippy cup for the past month, and she does great with drinking water from it.

On June 16th, I noticed that she had gotten her first tooth! Then I realized that it was actually two bottom front teeth that had broken through!! One day I will get a picture! It hasn't happened yet. She is still teething pretty badly. She has woken up a lot over the past week in pain. We have learned that frozen waffles help:)

Frozen fruit helps a lot too. I'll be glad when we get a little relief from teething. When she is not teething so badly, she usually sleeps well. We still can't get her to drop the 2am feeding, but I've gotten used to it. I keep telling myself that there will be a day that I miss this snuggle time, but I could use a few more nights with 8 consecutive hours of sleep:).

We have made new friends! One of my good friends, Laura D., set us up with a couple of her friends that just moved to Charleston. They have an adorable little girl named, Wylie, and we went swimming in their pool a couple of weeks ago. It was Quinn's first time in the pool, and she loved it! She just kept kicking and trying to blow bubbles in the water like she does in her bath.

She is so close to crawling! She teases us by getting on all fours and rocking back and forth. Not being able to crawl has not stopped her from getting where she wants to go at all. She rolls or scoots, and I now feel like she isn't safe anywhere that is elevated. She goes across the bed in seconds, and she also is out of her bumbo seat before I can turn around. Now she has her own space on the floor that is blocked from the dogs. Even that space isn't safe anymore, her new favorite thing to do is pull herself up to a standing position. She tries to pull herself up on everything! I caught her trying to pull herself up on our fireplace this week, and she was so excited to be standing in her pack n play yesterday.

 This is what I walked in on in her nursery after I got her dressed for the 4th.

I think it is time to lower the crib. She looked so cute on the 4th. I loved the little outfit that we had for her. I hate that the only good picture I got was with my Iphone, and it is a little blurry.

You can see the little spot on her cheek. We learned a couple of months ago that she has a bad reaction to bug bites just like her Nana and Daddy, but this was different. About a week before the 4th, I noticed this awful raised area on her leg and face when we woke up that morning. The spot was rough and almost looked like a burn on her leg. I took her to the doctor, and it was just an infection due to a bug bite. After a week of topical antibiotics, we could actually see the bug bite on her leg, and it is finally starting to go away. She is weighing in at 19 pounds 5 ounces.

She turned 8 months old this past Tuesday, and the best picture I got was her in her new onesie from my cruise.

We started more finger foods over the last month, and she loves the baby puffs and little munchies. I tried some steamed vegetables a couple of weeks ago with her, and she was not interested. This week, I gave her some steamed zucchini and broccoli with garlic, and she loved it!! She actually wanted more.

I've been very ready to give her real food for so long. I'm so excited that she is finally eating other foods than her baby food.

It is crazy how fast she is growing up. I feel like it is something new every day. She has picked up on the fact that I put my hand on our stair railing when I go up the stairs. Now she sticks her hand out to hold on too. It is so cute. She also knows to stick her hand under the faucet when we go to the sink to wash her hands when they are sticky.

I can't believe that I've almost been out on summer break a month. I will be back to work before I know it. I'm loving every minute of being home with our munchkin.  Daddy had her for the 5 days that I was on my cruise, and we came home to a spotless house!! It let me know that I'm slacking:) He is such a great father! It was perfect bonding time for the two of them. Next post will be about my trip.