April

Oh my! I am learning what it is like to live with a three and a half year old! I think this is the "hard" stage my mom referred to at three. It is also SO much fun! Zooey has so much excitement about everything, and as she's saying more every day and is understood more and more, it is a lot of fun to be able to communicate and hear her thoughts on things. I love how carefree she is about everything she enjoys. She dives in and enjoys with full abandon - whether it's ice cream, babies, animals or art, she loses herself in it. It's so neat to see how little kids are able to do that. There's no fear over what others think, no need to be perfect, she just exists in the moment and loves new experiences (for the most part). There's something to learn from three year olds in that way. As you'll see from her love of babies, Zooey is a very affectionate, empathetic child. She is moved to try to comfort people, big and small, who are sad. God has given her such a loving, sensitive little heart.

Zooey loves:
- Watering flowers
- Playing with water, be it the watering can, the hose, in the tub, and especially in her new pool
- Babies! During group hymn time at BSF, she was more excited to see and hug & kiss the baby than she was to sing. She is very gentle most of the time, and always tries to tell the babies who are crying that "it's ok" while giving them hugs.
- Music. She is starting to enjoy dancing a lot. She loves to hear her BSF hymns sung to her at bedtime.
- Peter Pan. She is obsessed with Peter Pan. And Captain Hook. And Jake & the Neverland Pirates. At this rate, we will be having a pirate themed birthday party. Which leads me to her other obsession...
- Birthday parties. We went to about three this month, and she loves to sing "Happy Birthday to you Peter Pan" and make cakes now. She loves to pretend birthday and says it's Peter Pan's birthday every day.

Zooey's become very curious this last month. She wrote on the floor and her wall with a dry erase marker, then tried to erase the wall (BTW - if anyone knows how to completely remove dry erase stains from the wall and the carpet, please let me know!). She filled up a toy cup with toothpaste one day and said it was paint. She also poured a bunch of shampoo into one of her bath cups to try to make bubbles.

Some funny things she said:
- "Like your hair Mommy!" I said, "Thanks!" "Like your boobs Mommy!" I said, "That's a little silly." Oh my! This was right after Gideon was born and she saw him nursing at Sarah's house.
- At dinner one night she kept saying, "That's my a-hole." I finally figured out she was trying to say ankle.

Snuggling up with me when I wasn't feeling good one day.

Splashing in her new pool.

Out for a dinner date with Mommy.

Zooey and her beloved flowers.

A trip to Target in Cinderella apparel.

Happy Mother's Day

Mother's Day Brunch

Today was a wonderful Mother's Day. Ryan took Zooey and I out to brunch at Le Peep, I took a nice long nap, we went over to Sarah & Rey's for dinner and finished up the day with Menchie's. Zooey made me four beautiful Mother's Day cards this week at her various activities, all of which I love and will treasure. At brunch she said, "Happy Mommy's Day! Love you so much!" and gave me a kiss. It was very sweet.
I've been seeing a lot of these "before I was a mom" posts on the internet. They're all so great and ring so true. I've been thinking a lot about how I personally have grown in my knowledge of God's love since becoming a mother. Lately, with a three and a half year old who very much seems to like to push my buttons or merely gets into trouble out of her own curiosity, I find myself muttering, "When are you ever going to stop that?" or "What on earth would possess her to do that?" I've also been stopping short halfway through those comments, because I feel like God's nudging my heart ever so gently, "Amber, when are you going to stop being unkind to that person?" "Amber, you know my Word says not to do ____ , yet you did it. Why?" And it's truly not a "guilt trip" God-voice. It is spoken gently, as a reminder that I am a foolish, faulty human being, desperately broken and in desperate need of a Savior who loves me despite all the foolish, faulty, sinful things I do on a daily - nay, an hourly or even minute by minute basis. My love for Zooey is not shaken when she hits me or calls me a bad boy or pours water all over the bathroom floor. In fact, in some of the quirky not so naughty stuff, it just makes me (eventually) laugh with her and love her more. I stand in awe of a King who continues to love me time and again...when I say the ugly thing for the thousandth time, when I tell a little white lie and justify it in my own way, when I mess up again with "that sin," the one I currently struggle to tackle by His grace. How? How can He possibly continue to love me? Because I'm His daughter. Pure and simple: God loves me, because I'm His child. Nothing will shake His love for me. Of course He moves us on a course of sanctification, which is why we must face discipline, just like our kids...we don't want them hitting people and calling them names when they're thirty. And that's a whole other topic. Thank God, though, for His unconditional, unfailing, beautiful, tender and compassionate Fatherly love!

Happy Mother's Day! May us mamas remember as we are in the daily grind that we serve a God who goes before us and stands behind us on both the wonderful, rose colored, everything-is-rainbows-and-smiles days and on the hard, watching-the-clock-for-bedtime, I-will-LOSE-it-if-you-do-that-one-more-time days. May He grant us the wisdom and grace to relish the good days and handle the bad to His glory. May He help us to cherish and capture the memories in our minds that are so fleeting. May He enable us to raise our children to forever impact His kingdom.

21 weeks and It's a Boy!!

How far along: 21 weeks

Size of Baby: As per the ultrasound yesterday, he weighs 1 lb. 1 oz. :)

Total weight gain: +16

Stretch marks? Nope.

Sleep: Most nights I sleep really well.

Best moment this week: Our ultrasound! We found out Baby is a boy, and he looks great. I didn't get to meet with my doctor, because she was over at the hospital; I'll meet with her Monday to go over everything. She told her nurse she saw no concerns. :) Baby is currently laying a bit transverse/a bit breech, not that it's a matter for concern now...or ever really, since I'm having a C-section this time.

Movement: Yes! He is very active! Yesterday he moved for what seemed like a good three hours straight. Some of that time was during the ultrasound, and it was fun for us to see him moving around in there.

Food cravings: nothing really this week

Gender: It's a boy!

What I miss: nothing notable right now

What I am looking forward to: Now I get to do all the fun stuff: pick out nursery bedding and colors, look at some boy clothes and picking out a name.

Weekly Wisdom: You already know your babies have different characteristics; now you'll get to learn what makes them unique and cherish them both for those.

Milestones: Baby has eyebrows & lids, is developing lanugo, is now practicing breathing and may begin hiccupping.

Labor signs: Nope.

Zooey was SO excited at the ultrasound! She just kept saying (practically yelling) "Look Daddy! Look Mommy! Baby!!" It was pretty cute. When the tech asked us if we had names, she said "Peter Pan!" It was so sweet to be able to take her. She is now calling all her babies boys, and last night at dinner she was pointing out the gender of everyone in the restaurant. She's so funny! When asked if she's excited to have a brother, she says, "yes," and said she will be nice, "no mean" to her brother. :)

21weeks

Our sweet baby boy

Could we have a thumb-sucker?

20 weeks - halfway there!

If you want to get technical, I'm actually a week past "halfway there," since I know I'm having a C-section this time and Baby will get here sometime in my 39th week (and prayerfully not before!).

How far along: 20 weeks

Size of Baby: About the length of a banana (approx. 10.5 oz. and 6.5")

Total weight gain: +13.4 (-0.9 from last week...lost a little of my appetite because of this cold)

Stretch marks? Nope.

Sleep: Not awesome due to being sick.

Best moment this week: Definitely feeling Baby a lot more! His/her movement is getting stronger s/he grows, and I'm feeling the movement a lot more throughout the day.

Movement: Yes, quite a bit more.

Food cravings: ice cream

Gender: Thinking boy, but I don't really know.

What I miss: "real" cold medicine

What I am looking forward to: Ultrasound next week!

Weekly Wisdom: Just trying to cherish these little movements, because I know I'll forget too quickly.

Milestones: Baby is swallowing more and producing meconium.

Labor signs: Nope.



20 weeks Baby #2
 Glamour Shot: sick with no make up

 

19 weeks

How far along: 19 weeks

Size of Baby: softball

Total weight gain: +14.3 Yikes. I had some rapid gains with Zooey, so I'm trying not to freak out too bad. But this just deepens my commitment to cook healthy meals and eat at home more. *I actually checked after I initially posted this, and I was up about 14-15 with her at 19 weeks, so I guess I'm about on track for me.

Stretch marks? Nope.

Sleep: Awesome!

Best moment this week: Loving when I feel movement

Movement: I feel Baby once or twice a day, but still not a lot

Food cravings: bagels, apple pie, Mike & Ikes...hmmm...I wonder if this is where the weight gain came from? lol

Gender: I seriously have no guesses.

What I miss: Being able to clean, tend to Zooey without getting a backache.

What I am looking forward to: Ultrasound and increased movement

Weekly Wisdom: I need to drink more water.

Milestones: Baby's brain is designating specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision and touch; arms and legs are in right proportions.

Labor signs: Nope.



19weeks

March to mid-April: Zooey's 3 1/2!

March flew by! Warmer weather brought some outdoor fun, which we were all excited about (especially Zooey). Zooey is growing and continues to change in so many ways. Her language has just exploded. Her SLP told me today that she doesn't even worry about the number of words Zooey uses now, but is just really focusing on her articulation when she strings the words together. Zooey's focus has improved SO much this year, too, which is another thing her SLP pointed out. I really thank God for BSF for that. I love that BSF has such high standards for the children and believes they are much more capable than many parents or places do. And the children meet the expectations time and again!

We have been working for the last three weeks for Zooey to be clean and dry in the mornings. Sunday night we officially moved her to underwear, and she has been clean and dry every morning. With Menchie's as her motivation, I think she could do just about anything! We're so proud of her, but what is really fun is to see how proud she is of herself every morning.

Zooey loves pretend play. I know I have said this before, but she plays imaginatively most of the time now. She has a dress-up box, and she loves to wear her dresses, hats, necklaces and shoes all the time. She pretends she's a princess or a clown or a mommy. She loves playing with her babies - dressing them, kissing them, feeding them. She has now named them all Baby Gideon, after her sweet new little cousin (whom she calls "MY baby Gideon"). Speaking of babies, Zooey is convinced that our new baby is a girl. She won't hear of anything else. She tells my tummy, "Love you baby. Baby girl!" I am very excited to take her to the ultrasound with us on May 8th! She continues to love books, and here's another way her attention span is evidently growing - she will sit and let me read two 60 page picture storybooks to her. We can sit there for almost an hour before she grows bored or restless.

What warms my heart the most about Zooey right now is her love for Jesus, who she talks about frequently. She also loves her Bible and Quiet Time, and she will ask for it if I forget to do it. She talks about how Jesus makes our yucky hearts clean. She will answer that Jesus loves her more than even Mommy & Daddy do. She loves singing Bible verses and the songs from BSF. She is such a sweet girl, and it is just amazing to see how God works on her little heart each time she goes to church or BSF.

We are having a few more challenges with Zooey the last couple weeks with yelling and disobedience, which I pray on how to handle (and for patience - lots of prayers that God will give me patience in the moment!). We have had a busy few weeks, and I think that's probably part of it, in addition to the fact that, well, she's three! I know it's actually a good thing, because she is asserting her independence and growing more confident in her language, but all moms and dads know it can be a frustrating stage sometimes. Thank God He's given us His Word and wise counsel to help us through.

Love our morning breakfast/snuggle time!

Giving her bear a bubble bath

Hitching a ride on Grandpa's walker at Furr's

Zooey the clown

Zooey the doctor 

A morning before church when she colored her face

Meeting Baby Gideon

Nighttime dryness celebration!

Praising God at BSF with one of her BFF's

 

18 weeks

How far along: 18 weeks

Size of Baby: about 5 1/2" long and 7 oz. (about the size of a sweet potato)

Total weight gain: +11.3. The 10 lb. mark is always a "scary" one for me for some reason. I compared where I was with Zooey, and although I didn't do an 18 week update with her, it was pretty comparable. That made me feel a little better!

Stretch marks? Nope.

Sleep: Pretty good this week.

Best moment this week: Since movement is still not consistently noticeable, getting the heartbeat on the Doppler.

Movement: Yes, a couple times a day when I'm really still. 

Food cravings: imitation crab salad, watermelon

Gender: no clue.

What I miss: Well, this week I really hurt my back and decided to actually obey the doctor and stop picking Zooey up so much. I think what I miss is the way we can get stuff done faster when I can pick her up lol. Oh, well, it's a milestone for her too, and she'll learn soon enough that she needs to keep up.

What I am looking forward to: Big ultrasound in 3 weeks!

Weekly Wisdom: If you must lift, lift with your knees not your back. :)

Milestones: Baby's busy flexing arms and legs, ears are in final position, vernix is forming to protect Baby's skin.

Labor signs: Nope.

18 weeks

Sarah put little Gideon in her shirt for skin-to-skin time, and Zooey put her baby in her shirt, too. Isn't she going to be a fabulous big sister? :)