26 weeks with Griffin

*How far along?: 26 weeks

*Total weight gain?: 16 pounds

*How big is baby?: the size of an eggplant
*Sex: another sweet boy!
*Maternity clothes: yes, and it is about time to start living in dresses. It's too dang hot for anything else.
*Stretch marks: Nope. fingers crossed! Palmers is my friend!
*Sleep: Now that it is blazing hot outside, not too great. I have this 7lb heating pad that insists on sleeping RIGHT UP ON ME every single night. Seriously, y'all, I sweat bullets all night long.
*Symptoms: had some back pain this week...probably from painting G's new room & not so much from Griffin.
*Best moment this week: Grayson's new room is painted!!! We just have to touch up a few spots & hang his window panels. I even got a few antique-y tractors to put on his {as of now non-existent} bookshelf.
*Movement: Griffin is a mover and a shaker...just like his big brother was! He makes my stomach shake around quite a bit!

*Food cravings: nothing new this week. 

 *Labor signs: hopefully not anytime soon!
*Belly button in or out: still flat. guess I should be thankful for that.
  *What I miss: being able to get up and down easily. It is getting harder to play on the floor with G because I struggle getting up. I'm like an old lady!
*What I'm looking forward to: Finishing up G's room & getting him settled so we can start putting Griffin's stuff in the nursery. I feel like my house is in shambles right now & I am ready to be organized!

Baby Round 2: what I want to do differently

When you are pregnant with your first baby, you are totally going into parenthood blindly. I didn't read a single parenting book. I decided we would just kind of "wing it." All in all, I think we did a pretty great job with G...but he was a pretty easy going baby. One of the perks of having a 2nd baby is that you kind of know what to expect. Now, I know all babies are different, but, I have a few things I would like to do differently with Griffin. Kind of a "If I knew then what I know now" sort of thing.

• Starting in the crib from day 1. Before Grayson was born we set up the pack'n'play in our bedroom. I assumed that I would not like him sleeping in his own room. Well, G was the loudest sleeper in the world & I would wake up every single time he made a noise. Also? He didn't like sleeping in the pack'n'play...he preferred the Rock & Play sleeper. We tried to move him to his crib around 4 weeks but realized that our video monitor wasn't working anymore. *face in palm* SO, we had to wait a few weeks for our replacement and then we moved him. He was around 7 weeks old. And guess what? We all slept better! My plan for Griffin is to put him in the crib at night starting with our first night at home. I want him to nap there too. With a loud toddler & 3 dogs, it just doesn't make sense for him to nap wherever we are.  We are buying a 2nd video monitor so let's see if I can actually stick to this one! 

• Swaddling. I know this isn't a necessity. Grayson hated to be swaddled & we have used the sleep sacks since he was a few weeks old. However, I never had any of those fancy shmancy swaddlers. All we used were receiving blankets & little Houdini G could kick out of those in 3 seconds flat. I will be investing in some good swaddle blankets...ya know, the ones that look like baby straight jackets. Anyone have a favorite they want to recommend?

• Nursing. I had no clue what I was really doing. G had horrible reflux and a milk allergy & literally projectile vomited every time I nursed him. It stressed me out more than anything. I already have the Rolls Royce of pumps so I will give it another shot. I made it 4 weeks with Grayson. I'm not pressuring myself with a certain time frame because I certainly have no problems with formula, BUT, it sure would be nice to save that money! Again, I need to educate myself with this topic. Any good books out there you would recommend?

•  Not letting the baby give up baby food so easily. I made all of Grayson's food & plan on doing the same with Griffin. It's easy, cheaper, and I like controlling the ingredients. And honestly? It tastes better. Grayson decided he just didn't want to eat any more pureed foods over the 4th of July weekend when we were out of town. He was 9 months old. I really didn't care because he had quite a few teeth & already ate lots of table food. I thought it would be easier to not have to deal with bringing pureed foods everywhere. Ha! Maybe it would have been easier if G wasn't the pickiest eater ever. He never had a problem with pureed veggies, fruits, or meats. Now? His go to foods are chicken nuggets, grilled cheese, grapes, and yogurt. HE HASN'T HAD A VEGGIE SINCE JULY. I wish I was kidding. Griffin will not give it up without a fight. 

I think that's all I've got right now. If you could change the way you did things, what would you do differently??

So What! Wednesday

Happy Wednesday, friends! You know the routine. This week I am saying SO WHAT if...

• I complained earlier in the week about the scale at the OB office & just ate a piece of s'mores pizza from Papa Murphy's? I blame my husband. His pregnancy cravings are worse than mine. 
• I threatened to give ALL THREE OF OUR DOGS away this morning when they would not stop barking? Seriously. I might lose my mind. It's a good thing they're cute.
• 16 & Pregnant makes me feel like Mother of the Year?  I mean, these kids must be joking...right?! 

• I think this kid may be the funniest toddler ever? 
• my main goal for April was to get G's new room painted and it still hasn't happened? and by hasn't happened I mean his room is still full of storage bins. Oy. I guess the "nesting" thing doesn't kick in as early with the second baby. 
• the new Blogger layout freaks my world out? I don't do well with change. 
• painting my toenails last night was like a partaking in a ridiculous yoga routine? See also: I can't easily reach my feet anymore. 

Go link up with Shannon for SWW! 

a day downtown

Ben works every other weekend so when he is home, we really take advantage of it! On Friday morning we ventured downtown to check out the new Cumberland Park. It is literally right on the Cumberland River & sits next to LP Field. It was so neat! 

This cool kid had a blast running around and checking things out. This park is different than most & doesn't have a legit playground. Lucky for us G just needs space to run! and I literally mean run....walking was so yesterday.

There was a huge slide Grayson loved. I was surprised because my child usually does not like to slide. We had to pry him off of this thing! I went with him too but I will refrain from showing you those pictures. Holy cow...let's just say that being 6 months pregnant doesn't look pretty going down a slide! 

G is ALL BOY. Seriously, he can hear construction work a mile away. ha!

We enjoyed watching an old man fish (with his chihuahua...G kept yelling "JACK! JACK!" ...that's my boy!), looking at boats, and watching things going on across the river. I'll be honest and tell you that my toddler being THIS CLOSE to a river freaked me out. But? Fearless Grayson loved it! 

I love getting out of our Franklin/Brentwood bubble and venturing downtown. If you're a local, go check out Cumberland Park!

25 weeks with Griffin

*How far along?: 25 weeks 1 day

*Total weight gain?: 16 pounds. {I am going to continue to think that 4 of these pounds are in my bra, ok?} 

*How big is baby?: the size of an eggplant
*Sex: another sweet boy!
*Maternity clothes: absolutely. This has been difficult considering I only own spring/summer maternity clothes and we went from 80 degree weather earlier in the week to 48 degree weather this weekend. Crazy!
*Stretch marks: Nope. fingers crossed! Palmers is my friend!
*Sleep: I have slept great the past few nights...fingers crossed that this is a continuing trend!
*Symptoms: is being big a symptom? no? It should be. The whole acid reflux thing from the very end of my last pregnancy is happening. So, that's fun...notsomuch.
*Best moment this week: Spending some family of 3 time this weekend. I'm trying hard to soak up these last few months of G being an only child! Oh, and we are now LESS THAN 100 days away from meeting this baby boy!
*Movement: Griffin moves a lot. This could be trouble:) He really dances around after 9pm...seriously, days & nights are already messed up!

*Food cravings: nothing new this week. shocking.

 *Labor signs: hopefully not anytime soon!
*Belly button in or out: flat. I absolutely despise the popped out bellybutton...not looking forward to that again. I know it's coming soon!
  *What I miss: not too much!
*What I'm looking forward to: I'm pretty sure we picked out Griffin's "monthly picture" animal today. That makes me happy!

G is 19 months old!

...I'm behind. BUT, Grayson is now 19 months old! 

The stats:

Weight: 22lbs

Height: Somewhere between 32-33 inches

Diaper: 4 during the day & 5 at night

Clothing: his shirts & jon jons are all 18 & 24 months; shorts are 12 months. ha! G is SO skinny and all the 18m shorts fall right off of him. Ridiculous!

Shoes: size 5

What's Been Going On:

• G has this new, strange fascination with bandaids. He calls them "bambos" and always wants to put them on his boo boos....but then immediately takes them off. He loves putting them on/off/on/off until the sticky part no longer works and then he gets mad. 
• He LOVES stickers all of sudden. He gets them confused with "bambos" & tries to put them on his scabby legs. We are finding stickers all over the house! 
• Last month at the pediatrician we were told that G needed to start talking more. Well, G took that to heart & has started saying new words and trying to say new things everyday! He now says: football (boofball--ha!), duck, truck, juice, booboo, bandaid (bambo), and we added "baaaaa" to his repertoire of animal sounds. The kid loves his animals!
• He finally uses "mama" correctly! He hardly ever said it until recently & now he says it all the time. It's usually in a whiny voice, but I'll take it:)
• G is sleeping later! Usually from 7:45-8ish until 7:30ish...hoooooooray!
• Grayson can point to his nose, eyes, mouth, ears, feet, hands, arms, legs, and bellybutton!

 All of a sudden, G seems so much older. He has an opinion & is becoming so independent! I wish I could bottle up his sweet & funny personality right now...he makes me laugh all day long!

Happy 19 months, G!

So What! Wednesday

This week is going by fast! I can't believe it's already Wednesday. This week I am saying SO WHAT if...

• I got a little overly excited last night when RaeLynn got kicked off The Voice? As in, I kind of scared the chihuahua. 
• I bought a bag of kettle chips on Monday & the empty bag now resides in the trash can? oops...
• my Kelly's Kids clothes are still set up for my open house because I am way too lazy to move them? Yep, my house looks like a clothing store.
• I feel inappropriate when The Lucky One preview comes on because I think Zac Efron looks HOT?! Isn't he a Disney star and aren't I a married, pregnant mama?! 
• benadryl might become my new best friend? Pregnancy insomnia sucks. Thank goodness G is now sleeping until 7:45. 

Go link up with Shannon @ L.A.I.D for So What Wednesday! 

24 weeks with Griffin

 Please excuse the windblown hair. Also, I think I like this maxi dress from the front a lot better than I do from the side.

 Just for fun before Picnik closes (let's all do a collective sob), here is a comparison from 24 weeks with G & 24 weeks with Griffin. Here are my observations:

• WHY ON EARTH DID WE PAINT OUR DINING ROOM THAT RIDICULOUS SHADE OF YELLOW?!?!
• I'm a blonde. Born and raised. And blonde I will be next Thursday!
• My arms were skinnier with G. hmph.
• My stomach has rounded out a lot sooner with Griffin than it did with Grayson. 
• I had only gained 3 pounds (!!!!!!!!) by this point with Grayson. I have gained at least 11 pounds this time. So there's that...yay. 

Okay, on to the survey!

 

*How far along?: 24 weeks

*Total weight gain?: Last I heard it was 11lbs. I don't own a scale & that's probably a good thing.

*How big is baby?: an ear of corn; Griffin weighed 1.7lbs this week at our ultrasound!
*Sex: another sweet boy!
*Maternity clothes: absolutely.
*Stretch marks: Nope. fingers crossed!
*Sleep: My hips hurt at night so I know I toss and turn. BUT, when I am asleep, I sleep great!
*Symptoms: ya know, normal aches and pains. I feel a lot more pregnant than 24 weeks.
*Best moment this week: getting to see little Griff at my ultrasound! He went from being a sloth baby last time to being extremely active this week. He is a mover just like his big brother!
*Movement: He moves a lot at night. I love feeling him!

*Food cravings: nothing new this week. shocking.

 *Labor signs: hopefully not anytime soon!
*Belly button in or out: in, however, it's already flat. It's pretty uncomfortable. I dread the sticking out belly button.
  *What I miss: not too much!
*What I'm looking forward to: G's new room is slowly getting cleared out & we are ready to paint!

I was seriously SO amazed at how much Griffin looks like Grayson as a newborn. They have the same exact fat cheeks, full lips, and nose. Pretty amazing! I wonder if Griffin will be a mammoth baby like his brother?!

Toddler Discipline: maybe we ARE doing something right.

Toddlerhood. It's tough, y'all. 

Grayson is good kid. He usually listens to what we say & follows directions. But, he has his moments, just like any kid. His moments of head-flinging tantrums, hitting, throwing things, and saying "nooooo!" in his {cute} Grayson way.

I have found disciplining a toddler to be quite challenging. I am a former 1st grade teacher & am used to disciplining kids who understand what I am saying. This is not always the case with a 1 1/2 year old. I'm not big on spanking; if it works for others, that's great. For us? Not so much. We started using the time out method when G had just turned 1. For a long time it has frustrated me because I wasn't sure if Grayson got it. I would sit him on the first step, tell him why he was sitting there, and tell him he needed to sit until he had cooled off.

Sometimes he just sat, sometimes he cried, & sometimes he would laugh. Yes, laugh. In time out. I would like to think that's just the snarky toddler coming out in him.  

I had never really felt like our discipline methods were making an impact....until last night.

The 3 of us were hanging out in the kitchen while I was getting dinner ready. Grayson is obsessed with the pantry and thinks he should be able to pick out snacks all.day.long. Well, he gets into the pantry and sees the goldfish. G immediately starts doing his happy food dance, furiously pointing to the bag of orange fish, & shouting "da! da!" {in Toddler language this means, "I WANT IT NOW! GIVE ME MY GOLDFISH!} 

Ben & I both told him "no"...thus, bringing on the epic toddler meltdown. There was flinging to the ground, crying, and all around pitifulness.  

In between screams, I told G that he could go sit on the step to cool off. Usually, this does nothing. However, right after I said that, G walked off. Ben followed him & sure enough, he went to the step to cool off! Lots of praise followed this incident & I was so impressed that he actually understood what I had said. I couldn't believe he left the kitchen, found his usual step, & sat down to cool off. After a minute he walked back into the kitchen and was as good as new.

My mama heart was happy last night. After all the frustrations that toddlerhood can bring, it was nice to feel like maybe we ARE actually doing something right.

So What! Wednesday

This week I am saying SO WHAT if...

• I'm having to block a lot of the facebook smocked auction sites because I can't handle the matching jon jon/bubble sets for my boys? Yep, I will be that mama that wants my boys to match while they are little.
• instead of making our planned pancakes last night for dinner, I got Ben to take me to our favorite local meat & 3 for some chicken fried chicken? what? Don't judge. GriffDawg is going through a growth spurt & I was huuunnngry!
• I may cry when MOPS ends soon?
• I totally went against what everyone told me and got G a bubble for this summer? NEXT summer he will be too old. And? This one has smocked roosters on it. He can say "dooooo doooooo!" like a rooster! 
• I could give a crap if Facebook bought Instagram this week? Everyone is all in a tizzy about it. If I was the creator of Instagram and Mark Zuckerberg offered me $1 billion, I'm pretty sure I would accept. {what amazing app can I design?!} 

Go link up with Shannon for SWW!

confessions

...because sometimes it just feels good to let it all out. 

• I don't drink enough water. I know that I don't and I know that I need to. I especially know that with the hot weather coming quickly I need to drink water or I will puff up like blowfish. {which I don't get by the way. why does drinking water until I feel like I will float away keep me from swelling a ton? makes no sense to me.} Water shmater, I prefer a cold Diet Coke or gatorade. 
• Right before I sat down to type this I sat on the couch and scarfed down ice cream. No bowl, just the carton. Bachelor pad style. Just keepin' it classy, folks.
• Grayson has 4 main things he eats for lunch & dinner and that's it. FOUR things. 2 of those things are chicken nuggets & fish sticks. Mom of the Year, right here. 
• 90% of the time I am SO flipping excited about having 2 kids. That other 10% of the time? I am nervous. The only thing that really makes me nervous (so far) is how the heck am I going to get 1 toddler & 1 small infant to bed all by myself when Ben works late? 2 baths? 2 bedtime routines? eek. makes me nervous. I know in my head that I will figure it out, just like I did with G...but for now, it makes my head hurt thinking about it.
• I'm just gonna say it & I apologize to the 4 guys that probably read this: the girls (you get my drift) are out of control right now & make me feel SO self conscious. Basically, if I'm not wearing a t-shirt, they are out there. I can't help, I hate it, & I promise I'm not trying to show off "the goods" to the world. 
• I don't miss teaching. I feel like I should at times, but I don't. 
• If Ben is at work & someone rings my doorbell, I grab G and hide. Seriously. Not because I'm scared of people or anything, but because my dogs are so dang crazy that it's too big of hassle to juggle a toddler, open a door, and hold 2 big dogs back. 
• I feel like I have failed my child already when it comes to school. I threw around the idea in my head of G going to a 2 day/week MDO program in the fall for a few hours each day. I started looking at programs 2 weeks ago and apparently everyone did registration in early February. I'm already behind and he is only 18 months! Gah, I suck.

phew. I feel better. 

23 weeks with Griffin

*How far along?: 23 weeks 1 day

*Total weight gain?: 11ish lbs...I go back to the doctor next week! 

*How big is baby?: a papaya
*Sex: another sweet boy!
*Maternity clothes: absolutely.
*Stretch marks: Nope. fingers crossed!
*Sleep: Ben says I toss & turn a ton at night; my hips are killing me!
*Symptoms: My feet are starting to swell a little just after being on my feet a lot during the day & my rings are starting to get tight when it's hot out! Maybe it's time to purchase another ridiculously huge fake diamond?!
*Best moment this week: spending Easter with family & seeing G's excited face when we gave him a new train set!
*Movement: Griffin is a mover & a shaker. I can now see my stomach move & Ben felt him a few days ago! Baby boy likes to have dance parties any time after 9pm. I bet we'll be having late night parties in August, too!

*Food cravings: ice cream & milk. So random. I only drink milk when I'm pregnant!

 *Labor signs: hopefully not anytime soon!
*Belly button in or out: in..slowly getting flatter. ick.
  *What I miss: sleeping comfortably without having hip pain
*What I'm looking forward to: continuing to clean out G's new room & organize things so we can get this ball rolling!

Easter Recap & Woes of a Traveling Toddler

We are back from a fun weekend in Alabama with Ben's family! G was a trooper on the ride down there. He only slept for 30 minutes, but he loves looking out the window now & shouting "truck!" (his version, anyway) when we pass big rigs.

 Grayson loves the new SUV because it has an air vent right above his head. Of course, he wants it to BLAST on him at all times. He was cracking up when I cranked the air on our way down! 

We got there on Friday afternoon just in time to watch Ben's little brother play baseball. G is obsessed with any sport that involves a ball right now so we figured he would love a real baseball game. He did! He watched the game, ate a hot dog, and ran around talking to everyone. Such a people person!

We brought G's tailgating chair and he sat right next to a new friend, drank his water, and watched Uncle Thomas at bat. He was such a ham! 

Everything was all good & dandy until bedtime on Friday. Grayson is still in a pack-n-play when we travel and after 2 hours of sleep, he decided he was not having it. He has to sleep in the room with us when we are in Alabama & my child does not cosleep.  I'm pretty sure that he thinks that big beds are wrestling rings because he acts like a crazy person when he is on a bed! He flipped, flailed, and rolled around all night long. He slept for a total of 2 hours. We were all pretty miserable on Saturday morning. He ended up hating the pack-n-play all weekend; no napping in it & no sleeping. He did sleep last night with us, very squished in between. 

Here's my question for mamas of toddlers: What does your child sleep in/on when you travel if they are still in a crib at home but hate the pack-n-play? We are going to the beach in mid-May and I am now nervous of the sleep situation!

Easter was so fun this year since Grayson is older & understanding more. We had fun filling up his Easter basket with trucks, books, bubbles, and skittles!

I even found a matching blue basket for Griffin...just need to get them monogrammed! :)

Can you tell trucks are our favorite thing right now?! G is obsessed!

Look at that sweet boy! ...let me tell you, it was SO hard to get him to stand still for this picture. It's still kind of blurry! Seriously, photographing toddlers=no easy task. 

I can't believe this was our last Easter as a family of 3. We will have another sweet boy to add to our picture next year! 

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter weekend! 

"There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain:
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave he rose again!
And as He stands in victory
Sin's curse has lost its grip on me,
For I am His and He is mine -
Bought with the precious blood of Christ."

happenings

I feel like we have been so busy lately. Last week was too much. It was one of those weeks where we literally had a couple things we had to do every single day. I was overwhelmed. I was telling Ben earlier this week that I need to be better at saying "no." I can't do everything; certainly not with a toddler in tow.

On Ben's off day last week we took Grayson to the zoo! We went a few times last summer/fall but I knew he would be way more interested at this age. We actually bought an annual pass & I'm excited about going a lot more! 

We brought the stroller along with us even though G walked most of the time. I need the stroller for the 20 pound diaper bag. Seriously.  G is getting SO good about walking and holding hands. Such a big boy. 

The Nashville Zoo has an area with farm animals and I'm pretty sure Grayson would have just stared at the cows all day. He kept mooing at them. He also loved the birds! They were flying all around us and he was fascinated! 

G loved the elephants too! I wish they had gotten closer for him to see. He loves to "do what elephants do" and use his arm as a trunk. Animal lover? Absolutely. He get it from his mama! 

We were supposed to participate in our neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday morning but I was feeling lazy. I wanted a day with zero plans. So, on Sunday we had our own little egg hunt in the backyard. Please note that our backyard doesn't have a single tree or anywhere to hide eggs. ha! 

Really, it wasn't much of a "hunt." 

He figured it out pretty quickly. G would open each egg and quickly discard it if was empty-ha! He was on the hunt for skittles!

Ben: "Do you want me to help you hold your skittles?"

G: "NOOOoooooo!"

G had a good time and enjoyed a few skittles once we got out of the blazing sun!

I've been enjoying the backyard SO much more now that it's "clean." I got G a water table that was on sale this week so now he has plenty of fun things to do out back. I'm not sure why it took us long to actually do things so we could enjoy our yard...it's one of the reasons we bought this lot!

Grayson has his last x-ray tomorrow morning to make sure his arm is 100% healed & then we are heading to Alabama! One of Ben's friends is getting married on Saturday & we will spend Easter with his family. I hope everyone has a great Easter weekend!

So What! Wednesday

This week I am saying SO WHAT if...

• I saw Titanic in theaters when it first came out but am totally itching to see it again? I mean, you just can't beat Rose and Jack. 
• I feel like I'm already 30 weeks pregnant? I'll admit it. I am not enjoying it as much this time around. Everything is happening sooner & it is exhausting chasing that little hooligan around! 
• the OCD list-making part of me wants to go ahead and make a packing list for our beach trip....in mid May? I'm crazy. I'm aware. 
• I think it is totally lame sauce to leave rude comments as a no-reply blogger? 
• my poor feet are already getting a Rainbows tan line? I live in those flip flops...the tan lines happen every summer!
• I've been bribing G with a jellybean in order to take his nasty allergy meds? This is the first time he hasn't liked the flavor of a medicine...but the kid loves candy! 
• I think Blake Shelton AND Adam Levine have lost their dang minds? I have professed my love for them & The Voice many times...but praising RaeLynn for her ridiculous twang and horrible voice? REALLY?! Come on. She was awful this week. I hope America is smarter than them. 

Go link up with Shannon @ L.A.I.D so you can join in on the SWW fun!

22 weeks with Griffin

*How far along?: 22 weeks

*Total weight gain?: 11lbs

*How big is baby?: a spaghetti squash...that seems big!
*Sex: BOY:)
*Maternity clothes: Yes. Is this really a necessary survey question? It's pretty obvious!
*Stretch marks: Nope. fingers crossed!
*Sleep: Some nights it's fine, other nights it's bad. Just depends! At least I'm not up ALL night though!
*Symptoms: My feet are hurting when I've been standing & walking too much. I get sore when I sit in the same position for a long time...this means our long beach drive in May will be fun, right? Also, my hips are hurting in the middle of the night if I have slept on one side too long. Shouldn't all of this be happening LATER in the pregnancy?!
*Best moment this week: Griffin decided to move!
*Movement: Yes! finally! My placenta is in the front this time which is why I have not been able to feel anything. I starting feeling little jabs earlier in the week. He moves a lot more at night than during the day...uh oh!

*Food cravings: ice cream...it's hot outside!

 *Labor signs: hopefully not anytime soon!
*Belly button in or out: in
  *What I miss: my energy & regular pants:)
*What I'm looking forward to: we picked out the paint for G's new room so I am ready to get started...probably not until after Easter!