24 weeks pregnant

This week I entered my 24th week of pregnancy, and according to my weekly babycenter.com update the baby is just over a pound in weight and about the length of an ear of corn. And my uterus is now the size of a soccer ball. Which is coincidently how I feel when I look in the mirror - Like I'm smuggling round inflatable objects under my shirt.

So the ear of corn is getting bigger and bigger everyday, and so am I. And even though this is my second go-round with growing a human, it's still a bit alarming to watch your body being hijacked by something that weighs less then 1/15th of the weight you've gained. Yes, pregnancy is a beautiful thing and at the end of the 40-week process you produce this amazing little being that you will love more then life itself, but does this baby really need my hips and thighs to get this big? I understand that my body is now a vessel for my baby to grow in, but is it really necessary for my butt to grow so much as well?

And in a full-hearted effort to maintain the giant-ness, I have been trying to watch what I eat and making my frequent visits to the gym. Which, I'm sure is alarming to the other people working out beside me, in that the more I am there the bigger I am getting. This past month I've dedicated the majority of my cardio-time to cycling classes and the pool. And while spinning is pretty grueling, I always feel good swimming laps. But the only problem is that as my midsection keeps growing, my swimsuit is stretching tighter and tighter, pulling the neckline down to the point that Pamela Anderson might give me a disapproving look. So for Christmas I asked my Mom for a competitive two-piece to swim in, and after picking it out and having her order, wrap and send it to me, I tried it on and was completely HORRIFIED at what looked back at me in the mirror. I'm talking an offensive amount of curves popping out from all corners of the insufficient amount fabric that was trying to shield my bits and parts. I'm pretty sure the lifeguards would have had me arrested for indecent exposure if I had shown up to the pool to swim in that suit. Thank goodness Sierra Trading Post has an excellent Returns and Exchanges department. What was I thinking?

And while I have been doing my best to stay active while pregnant, Baby is definitely following suit and has been super-duper active in my belly this past month. At my 22-week appointment it kicked the microphone five times while Dr Simmons was listening to the heartbeat, and every night and morning I feel like I'm falling asleep and waking up with a tiny ninja in my belly. Baby can groove, and if it's half this active outside of my belly, Big Sister Taylor is going to have a hard time catching it when it starts grabbing her toys.

No unusual cravings or aversions this month. I'm still obsessing over citrus fruits and juices, and would rather staple objects to my forehead then eat a hamburger. The Christmastime cookies and candies were lovely, but I was really craving red wine and champagne during the holidays. Thank goodness a pregnant friend suggested Fre-brand alcohol removed wine to me, and while most people would say it just tastes like grape juice or sparkling cider, to me it is wonderfulness in a wine glass. Cheers!

And for the past few months Chris and I have been hard at work trying to narrow down our lists of baby names. We have a pretty good stock of girl names that we love and agree on, but boy names are really tough. We've combed through male family member names and online lists, but no boy names have really jumped out at us. With a girl name you can be really creative and whimsical, but try that with a boy name and it starts sounding feminine. Luckily we still have a few months to edit our options, but I have a feeling we're going to be arriving at Labor and Delivery with names still swirling in our heads.

And now that 2011 is here and spring is just around the corner, the realization that we will soon be a family of four is really starting to kick it. And I am so excited to meet this Baby. Because every time I look at Taylor and think about how wonderful and cute and sweet she is, I am overjoyed that soon we are going to have another amazing child in our lives. Another squishy baby to smother with kisses and affection. It makes me feel like both my belly and my heart are expanding in size right now, because come April I will have so much more to love and cherish that my heart might explode.

iMama

Chris and my Christmas gift to each other:

Which means you will have to be patient with me as I make the transition from my laptop to this new, shiny, beautiful machine. I already had one Taylor-sized tantrum trying to figure out the iPhoto software to download all of my Christmas pictures, and realized that it is going to be a process to retrain myself from my Picassa photo editing days. Wish me luck.

Best. Christmas. EVER.

Happy Christmas weekend from the Famous Amys household. I hope that everyone enjoyed their holiday as much as we did in snowy Asheville. Yes, SNOWY. It was the first White Christmas on record for our area since 1981. And while we usually revel in our year-round mild temperatures, it was quite the treat to have a winter wonderland surround us for the holidays. And even though the weather forecasters had been predicting snowfall for days leading up to Christmas morning, we were a bit skeptical while we were playing in the balmy sunshine the day before. Here’s the picture of Taylor and Chris I snapped right before Mass on Christmas Eve – note the lack of coats:

And after waking up to beautiful, big snowflakes on Saturday and having it steadily drop throughout the day, here’s what we had 24 hours after I took the previous picture:

So, snowy wonderfulness on Christmas is always a bonus, but what was more fun then any accumulation was watching the pure joy and excitement radiating through my toddler’s body while opening the presents she had patiently been staring at for the past weeks. And because Chris’s parents had come into town earlier in the week to celebrate the Amys Christmas, she already had scored a sweet dollhouse and had mastered the ability to rip decorative paper off of packages in record time.

And because the Young family always unwraps the majority of our presents on Christmas day, and the Amys clan opens all their presents on Christmas Eve, Chris and I had to meld our traditions a few years ago to encompass our present-opening heritage. And so at our house we open all extended family and friend gifts on Christmas Eve, and then we get our Santa presents and just-us gifts on Christmas Day. So on Friday night we watched Taylor enjoy all the booty that my parents, her aunt and uncle and my Granddaddy generously gifted to her. Which included some beloved princess shoes from YaYa and Papa, some crafty items from Beeba and Dirky and some blocks and a bus from Uncle Ryan.

And just a quick byline here – At the beginning of the month I got a frantic email from my 90 year old grandfather who was standing in the Homewood toy shop looking for a present for Miss Taylor. And when I responded, Anything to do with a Disney Princess, he took that message to the ladies working at the store and this is what was selected and shipped to my lucky daughter:

A Cinderella Barbie and matching pony. You can only imagine how excited Taylor was when opening the gift, and just moments after ripping it out of the package she looked at us with all joy and enthusiasm on her face and said, Opening presents is lots of fun!

And after falling asleep that night with Cinderella wrapped tightly in her arms, we awoke the next morning to find that Santa had made a significant stop at the Amys house overnight, bringing Taylor oodles and oodles of Princess loot for her stocking and the one gift she had been asking for since we starting questioning what she wanted Santa to bring her for Christmas, a Rupunzel Barbie doll.

We then ate breakfast, made a big fire in the fireplace and started opening the final presents under the tree. Chris and I were pretty excited to give Taylor her big gift from us – a Princess trunk full of dress-up clothes. I’m sure I have mentioned how much T loved her Cinderella costume, and how after months of nonstop wear she finally shredded the skirt and popped all the seams. So we knew she would be super jazzed about a whole trunk of shiny, sparkly princess gear.

And the cherry on top was her very own full-length mirror to put in her room. What can I say, my daughter’s a diva.

So after playing with our new toys, taking a nap to recharge and then building a giant snowman in the front yard, we packed up the Envoy and braved the roads to get to the Bound family’s annual Christmas night throwdown. Because the majority of our good friends here are all Asheville transplants, LeAnn and Jamie open their house for a big celebration the night of Christmas. And they definitely got the party-with-your-kiddos thing down, putting up a projector screen in their media room so the kids could watch holiday flicks while the parents were able to converse downstairs.

I even brought a bottle of Fre alcohol-removed Brut for the occasion – That’s right, even a preggo lady like myself knows how to get down. And baby-in-my-belly was having fun too.

And while driving home last night, Chris and I just kept remarking about how wonderful this Christmas was. Best one on record. The snow, all of our gifts, being with our best friends – We are a very blessed family. But the most awesome part of the whole weekend was being able to see the absolute joy in my daughter’s eyes throughout the last few days. To be a kid again on Christmas is pretty fun, but to WATCH your kids on Christmas is by far the best thing ever. And we can’t wait to do this all again next year, with one more little precious bundle

Making Christmas cookies and spreading germs

Every year I like to make a few bundles of tasty homemade treats to gift to our neighbors, the ladies that work in Chris’s front office and also the girls that take care of Taylor at the Y Childwatch. Oh, and for us to eat too. Because cookies and candies are as much a part of the holiday season as carols and Christmas cards. And since it had been about a year since I had last made sugar cookie cut-outs, I decided to make a practice batch yesterday afternoon to test that my recipe is still eatable.

And, lucky for me, I have a great little helper to assist in the whole process. And one who like cookies as much as Disney Princesses. The first job I gave my little elf was to stir the flour, salt and baking powder mixture, to which I totally caught her taking tastes of and then scowling at, being all, THIS doesn’t taste like cookies at all! But when I incorporated it into the sugar, butter and eggs, and then gave her a taste, I thought her head was going to pop off from pure excitement. And after two little spoonfuls of the delicious dough, she looked up at me and very sweetly asked, Um. Mom, could you please put some of that in a bowl for me? But since we still had cookies to make, I just gave her the beaters instead.

And after chilling the dough, rolling it out, cutting it into shapes and then baking the cut-outs into cookies, my little helper was put in charge of sprinkles while I frosted. And I’m pretty sure she put more sprinkles in her mouth then she did on the cookies.

And then she got a taste of the frosting, and kept licking and dipping her pudgy digits into each of the cookies.

And then, after not being able to hold off any longer, she just dove in and ate a whole cookie.

And from the crumbs, and the Mmmmms and Yummmms that spewed from her mouth, I would say our recipe is still good enough to serve to others. Except we’ll keep this set for in-house consumption only, and make a Taylor saliva-free batch for gifting.

32 months old

Taylor turned 32 months old this week, and I’m sure you might think I’m overly ambitious in continually recording her monthly milestones on here, but this blog is basically her baby book. Oh, and I AM being super ambitious. I’ve got four more months of being the mother of an only-child, and you better believe I’m taking full advantage of it. We’re sleeping in, taking our time while eating our meals, reading books and keeping up-to-date with my blogging. Come the end of April, I’m gonna have a three year old AND a newborn. I’ll be lucky if I get a chance to brush my teeth before dinnertime.

We had a lot of fun this past month – We went to a parade, we celebrated Thanksgiving, we hosted company, we got to see princesses ice skate. Combine all of those things with our daily adventures and other new activities and you can say we’ve had a pretty successful month. And watching how well Taylor has handled all of our escapades only strengthens my feelings that she is going to be an awesome big sister. FINGERS CROSSED. I mean, I am totally aware that we are due for some days where I will be stuck at home with a tantrum-throwing three year old and a screaming infant, but I am still holding out hope that those will be the exception. And while I have absolutely no idea what kind of temperament the baby in my belly is going to have, I am fairly confident that Taylor is going to step it up and become an fabulous helper and all-around great big sister. FINGERS AND TOES CROSSED.

One interesting new habit to note this month is Miss Taylor insisting on picking out her daily outfits. And while I realize that I would not be able to coordinate my daughter’s clothing forever, I was hoping to get a little further than 31 months. And even though my Baby Gaga isn’t trying to wear metal-spiked platforms or onesies made out of meat, her daily outfits have included tutus, cowboy hats and almost all of her way-too-small summer dresses that I squeeze onto her over a long-sleeved shirt and leggings. Oh, and the other day she took Ruby’s leash and turned it into a belt.

We have also developed a newfound love for arts and crafts at our house this past month, and I always have a steady supply of construction paper, watercolors, markers and glue sticks in the house. She absolutely LOVES to do projects. And with the weather turning cold and our trips less and less to the park, any fun activity for her to do inside is alright with me. We just need to invest in a bigger fridge to display all of her artwork.

And here’s a confession from Mom, and it KILLS me to post it, but even though my little peanut is just months away from being three, she is still sleeping in her crib. With her binky.

Oh just strike me down with your disapproval and judgment now! I’m a horrible, lazy mother. But to defend myself, we are moving Taylor into her big girl room after Christmas, and when we take the crib out of her room we are also taking the pacifiers with it. She has never once tried to escape her crib, and Chris and I have very much enjoyed having her be confined in her own space as we unwind at the end of the day. And we just really, really hope that once we get her into that new bed she continues to stay in it for two hours during the afternoon and around 10-11 hours at night. And here I am, crossing all my digits again.

And while we’re on the subject of lagging behind, let’s just throw all the cards on the table and talk about potty training. I HATE POTTY TRAINING. We’re actually taking a bit of a break from it right now. I’ve tried EVERYTHING. Prizes and incentives, keeping her buck-naked, asking her every ten seconds if she has to use the bathroom... Nothing seems to be working. And it’s super frustrating. And I know that when she’s ready, she’ll be ready. But I’M ready to stop buying pull-ups and cleaning poo off the floor NOW. But I guess I should probably just face the fact that we might not get a break in changing diapers between now and when the baby comes. Ugh.

But it’s not all frustration and freak outs. In fact, overall we’ve had such an awesome month. I had mentioned in a previous post how her vocabulary is evolving daily, sometimes with words that make my skin crawl – SOMETHING! – but mostly with ordinary words that get jumbled around her tongue and come out sounding way more adorable than they really are. Like Slippery. Whenever we get home from an adventure and she takes her shoes off, she has to take her socks off too because, My socks are SWIPPERY on the floor. And I always laugh and say, What are your socks? And she matter-of-factly says back, They SWIPPERY. They make me fall down.

Another word I’m loving her saying is Cocoa. This past month Chris and I took her to Parent’s Night Out at the YMCA, where she stayed and played from 6-9 at night while we went to dinner. When we came back to get her she was sitting there watching a movie and sipping hot chocolate out of a to-go coffee cup, and when we asked her what she was drinking she chirped, CO-CO! with such distinction and enthusiasm we just had to include hot chocolate mix on our grocery list for the following week. And, since I’m sober Sally this holiday season, her and I have been indulging in a hot cocoa with marshmallows a few times a week after naps. Her CO-CO! being served luke-warm with a straw.

And while she is growing up right before my eyes and constantly testing me with new demands and a sassy attitude, I still feel very blessed to be able to spend all-day everyday with such a kissable, cuddly little girl. I wouldn’t have it any other way. Yes, sometimes her behavior may force me to take deep, relaxing breathes while counting to ten in another room, but her sweetness and hilarious personality make my heart flinch with happiness everyday too. And every single day I am proud to be her Mom.

A dream is a wish your heart makes

I am pretty sure I’ve mentioned about a billion times about how Princesses have hijacked the Amys house for the past six months, and after reviewing Miss Taylor’s wish-list to Santa, it looks like they’re here to stay for a while. So when a friend approached me with the two of us taking her daughter and Taylor to a Disney Princesses on Ice performance, it might have been classified as child abuse if I had passed up the opportunity for my daughter to see real live Princesses.

So yesterday morning the four of us packed up the car and made the short trip to Greenville to watch our little girls squeal in delight. I don’t know who was more excited, Taylor getting to see the object of her obsession close up, or me being able to watch the happiness overtake her teeny-tiny little body.

And let me just take a moment to reflect on the whole production of the show, namely the outrageous amount of Disney Princess plastic CRAP that lined the hallways, positioned right at toddler eye-level. I hadn’t been to an event like this since the Shrine Circus as a kid, and immediately this morning I called my mother and apologized for the fits I’m sure I threw over not getting a $10 glow stick that was surely going to fizzle out on the car ride home. Mom, I’m SORRY! Because the tantrum that overtook my daughter as we were trying to leave because she didn’t get to take home a $20 plastic Tinkerbell crown was awful enough that I had to snatch off her feet and into my arms after the show and stomp out of the building fuming, Just wait until I tell Santa about THIS, young lady!

But I digress, back to the happiness that Disney was also responsible for before the toddler melt-down after the show. So we arrived in Greenville, parked, got an outrageously pricey box of Princess popcorn and got to our seats right as the lights were going down. And you could almost see the energy surging off of Taylor. I’m smiling right now just thinking about it.

I tried to get a good picture of T during the performance, but her expression was one of complete awe and amazement throughout the entire show.

Her favorite parts of the show were the bits about Ariel and, of course, Cinderella.

So the show itself was an entertaining ice skating performance... None of the princesses or princes fell down, which was pretty impressive. Especially considering the get-ups the characters were wearing. So, Bravo, to the performers. But a big whopping BOO! to the all the vendors waiting outside the arena, tempting all the impressionable kiddos with expensive plastic crap and causing a large amount of car rides home to be filled with, I wanna crown! sobs and cries. Is that what I have to look forward to during future trips to Disney World?

Oh well, even with the tantrum it was a pretty awesome experience for all of us, and I am so happy I was able to take her. Just seeing the excitement in her face as she was watching the Princesses made the road trip and the price of the tickets and refreshments totally worth it. Love ya, Princess!

A post about Something

Life is always interesting when living with a two year old. The energy, the curiousness, the defiance, the tantrums, the sweet squishiness and the ever expanding vocabulary. A few weeks ago Taylor began favoring the word, Something. As in, I need something in my mouth, and the synonymous, I need something in my hand. And while I always get a kick of the new words and phrases that pop out of those fantastically chubby cheeks, this is one word that is slowly driving me insane.

So. Let me tell you a little SOMETHING about it. The very first time she skipped into the kitchen and chirped, Mom. I need something in my mouth, I laughed. And then asked her exactly what she wanted in her mouth, waited for her to answer and then fulfilled it. Snack-time accomplished. I think I even told Chris about the encounter and we both shook our heads and chuckled at our sassy toddler and how she was tactfully applying new words in order to scam extra gummies off of us. She’s a crafty one, my girl.

And as her new phrase for, I’m hungry, continued for the next few days, it became less and less cute. Especially when I refused to give her what she wanted. Like more gummies. I mean, COME ON!, how many gummies can one little person eat? She has a dentist appointment coming up this month and I’m pretty sure our dentist is going to look into her mouth and say, Um. It seems this child’s molars have transformed into squishy sugar candies shaped like princess shoes. Are you also putting Mountain Dew in her sippy cups?

And because our dentists are actually our friends, I am trying to prevent any uncomfortable sugar-mouth discussions and limiting Miss T’s daily gummie intake to one a day. And when she comes in and asks for that second gummie serving, aka SOMETHING in her mouth, and I say No, her initial reaction is generally convulsing her entire being and then collapsing to her knees while doing that fake, really-loud-and-just-for-effects cry. To which I have matured enough as a mother to just watch the whole scene with a straight face, or I step around her and go yoga-breath in another room. Did you catch that, Taylor? I’m on to you and your not-really-hurting cry. It may work on your Dad and all of your grandparents, but I’m around you 24/7 and can differentiate your fake-cries versus your real-cries about as quick as I can distinguish Cool Whip from whipped cream. Try me.

So now that we’ve established that I’m starting to figure out how to be a mother and I’ve finished gloating that I outsmarted my two and half year old, let’s get back to the point of this post. So because I started continually responding to Taylor’s, I need something in my mouth, with, Alright, but NOT a gummie snack, and because I do offer plenty of perfectly healthy snack options in my house, the real mind-numbing battle of the wills started:

Me: How about a string cheese?
T: No, something else.
Me: How about some fruit?
T: No, something else.
Me: How about some popcorn?
T: No, something else.
Me: How about a few crackers?
T: No, something else.
Me: Well, Taylor, that’s all we’ve got. You decide.
T: NO. SOMETHING ELSE!
Me: WHAT then? NOT gummies.
T: Mom. I need something in my hand.
Me: Okay. WHAT do you want in your hand? NOT gummies.
T: Something.
Me: (Trying NOT to lose it,) Just tell me what you want.
T: I need something in my hand.
Me: (Handing her a string cheese,) Here.
T: (Starting to twitch and squeal,) NO! I need something else.
Me: (Walking away,) Well, I NEED a million dollars and a kid that doesn’t say the word, Something. Enjoy your string cheese.

Parenthood, folks. It’s not for the spineless or easily frazzled. Especially during these strong willed toddler years. Because, yes, while it’s mostly squishy cheeks and sunshine, there are plenty of days where it’s nerve-ending melt downs and whining. And of course it would be easier to just give into the tantrums, throw them the whole box of gummie snacks and be able to enjoy the silence of a happy child. But I’m not going to do that. Because I don’t want to be a lazy mother, and also because constantly giving in would just breed brattiness. Not to mention outrageous dentist bills.

20 weeks pregnant

This week we enter my 20th week of pregnancy with Baby Amys, which means we are about to push past that half-way point in our journey to meet our new little bean. Only 20 more weeks to go. And even though that sounds like a long ways away, with the holiday season upon us I have a feeling the next four weeks are going to go by as fast as this past month. And before we know it, it’s going to be spring and we are going to become a family of four. And, to me, that is both extremely exciting and super-duper terrifying. A toddler AND a newborn. BAM! No turning back now.

So this past month has been pretty amazing – I’ve got all of my pre-pregnancy energy back, we were able to see the peanut moving and grooving during the ultrasound and I’ve been feeling it kick and punch in my belly. I can’t even describe how wonderful it feels to be able to sense it in action inside of me, and Chris was even able to feel it give me a good round-house this past weekend. And because it’s only the size of a banana, the force behind the flailing limbs is still light enough that it almost tickles, and each day I look forward to laying down during Taylor’s naptime to feel the baby boogying in my belly.

So, as you can see, the belly is definitely popped out and I’m in full-on maternity gear now. Many, many thanks to all my mama-friends that have loaned me their maternity shirts and pants to help cover my ever-growing midsection. Luckily for me, this time around I’m not dressing up to go to the office, so some – MOST! – days I keep my yoga pants on all day. Which hopefully results in a calm, zen-like newborn. Namaste, litte one.

And it’s also nice to have the non-restrictive elastic band pants on considering my appetite is back in full force. Read: I’M STARVING. All the time. And one of my current cravings is anything citrus. Last week I made lemon bars, and while they were baking I realized I was out of powdered sugar to put on top of them, so I hormonally-bullied my wonderful husband to set out onto the cul-de-sac with an empty measuring cup. I’ve also been consuming about ten clementine oranges a day, so I guess you could say I’m good for my daily dose of vitamin C.

And because Baby is in constant conversation with my brain telling it to put something delicious in my mouth, my diaper bag now contains two snack-pouches – One for me and one for Taylor. And if I ever get separated from my kitchen or snack-bag and become hungry, WATCH OUT. My body will start shaking, smoke will billow from my ears and I can not be held responsible for anything that comes out of my mouth. Mama needs food pronto. So if you decide to hang out with me in the next few months, do us both a favor and stuff a few treats in your pockets. Preferably something citrus.

The only sort of hiccup we’ve had this month are the growing pains, or round ligament pains. Basically the ligaments that hold my uterus in place are stretching and pulling to support my new girth, resulting in sporadic, sharp aches and pains around my belly-region. Totally normal, and I remember having this same soreness while pregnant with Taylor. It’s not completely crippling, but just pretty darn uncomfortable.

So other than a few belly pains and hunger episodes, this past month of pregnancy was very tame. Which, after the first few months of total sickness, having very little to report is just fine with me. Let’s hope the next 20 weeks are just as relaxed, because once Baby arrives I know my life is going to become considerably more exciting. Lots and lots of action arriving to the Amys house this spring. And we can’t wait.