Peas and M&M's

Quick story: So, two nights ago, we had chicken, peas, and macaroni and cheese for dinner. We didn't eat until about 7:30 or so and Atticus ate prior to that. Usually after school, he doesn't last long until he is ready to eat and depending what night it is, and whether he will eat what we are having anyways, he eats earlier than we do. Hopefully that can change in the future when we are home earlier than 5:45 and can start dinner earlier....as in since I'll be a stay at home mom, I can at least help Vic with the cooking! :)

Anyways, by the time we were ready to eat, he really wanted to sit in his high chair with us at the table and since he'd eaten such a good dinner earlier, I decided he could have some mini m&m's since that is a good treat for him. So, I put some mini red and green m&m's on his tray and he ate away at the table with us. Well, soon he was done and of course wanted more. He'd had enough so we told him no, but he was very interested in the green peas on my plate. So, knowing that he would never eat these because they are...A VEGETABLE!...I gave him a couple. He looked at them and checked them out and then put one in his mouth. And then another and another. And then wanted more. So, I gave him more. It was great! I know they tasted nothing like chocolate, but he must have liked the taste because he ate them. This was a big triump for Vic and I. We acted like it was no big deal and even told him he could only have a few more each time because he'd had enough - you know the good ole reverse psychology trick. Vic and I are really early in this process of learning to sort of trick our children when needed. It was just too funny that he ate peas!

Atticus is just really funny about what he eats. He is so hesitant to try something new, especially at his high chair. But, if it is not in the normal routine, such as this instance or if Vic and I eat in the living room after he has eaten, he will want a bite and might eat every bite on our plate of whatever it is that he has refused before. We are so thrilled and we offer the EXACT same dish to him the next day at dinner and he won't touch it. What a stinker.

Oh well - we are learning and he is getting better. But, i did love this pea & m&m story!

Pregnancy Differences

So, I just have time for a quick post. But, I wanted to document few things from this pregnancy so I don't forget. For the most part, I have thought it is pretty similar to my pregnancy with Atticus. A few differences:

1. Still taking nausea medicine; sometimes I skip a day and the next day I'm sick, so I just haven't stopped taking it once a day.

2. This baby moves SO much more than Atticus did. All day long; all night long. I do love it though.

3. My body is so tired. Physically tired. I find myself wanting to just sit down for a few minutes after doing things at the house or running around for an hour. Actually, at church yesterday as we were standing during a hymn, all of a sudden, I just really wanted to sit and rest my body. Good grief! And then I feel kind of pathetic. I know I was not this tired when carrying Atticus; but of course I didn't chase a 1 year old around either.

4. Am I carrying higher or lower? I am not sure. I think about it all the time mainly because I am wondering if this is a girl or boy. I felt like I carried low with Atticus and this time I feel like it's in the middle. The  baby is not so high that I feel like I can't breathe, but doesn't seem to be as low this time either. Hmmm....

5. Oh and this is embarrassing. I can't get up off the ground and back onto my feet easily. I mean, let's be honest here: when you have a baby or a toddler, you are on the ground all the time without even realizing it. I mean, you play on the floor and read on the floor and pick toys up off the floor and bathe your kiddos on the floor. But, recently as I've grown in this pregnancy, when I have to actually get myself up, I feel like this large elephant that is having to put myself on all fours and then crawl up one limb at a time. It's kind of hilarious and then kind of sad. And when mentioning this to my aunt recently and saying how hard it was to get off the floor this time compared to last time, she said "You probably never got down on the floor on a regular basis last time". Of course I didn't! I went home from work, and sat like a normal person at the table or on the couch. So, then that made me feel better. But, to those friends of mine coming in a couple of weeks, I will try to be discreet, but don't feel a need to hold back your laughing if you are wondering what the heck I am doing just to get off of the floor and back on my feet!

6.  To add to the situation above, I also get LOTS of leg cramps this time around. I know I know - drink more water but I am actually a really good water drinker. I think it's just the being pregnant thing that gives them to me; mostly charley horses, but occasionally at my waist if I turn strange and then one day in my rear-end cheek. HOW DO YOU GET RID OF THOSE KIND? haha. Anyways, so one day, as we had Danielle and Justin over, Danielle and I were on the ground visiting. When they got ready to leave, Vic pulled me up off the ground right as I got a leg cramp in my calf. I went back down before he had me up because I couldn't put any weight on my leg and it all happened so fast, I couldn't even prepare him or myself. All of this was fine except that actually as I went down, I kind of turned my ankle. (I didn't even tell Danielle and Justin (now they know hehe) because I was so embarrassed). Well, while it hurt for a couple weeks and is still tender sometimes, it was not at all sprained or turned and never swelled. Whew. But, really - all because of a little leg cramp during pregnancy.

7. Gender: I cannot decide what we are having. This is not too different from Atticus's pregnancy except that with Atticus I NEVER had a gut feeling. This time around, as soon as we found out, I was set that it was a girl. Then, a few weeks later, I decided it was a boy and stuck with that for awhile. But, now I'm back to having that gut feeling it is a girl. Ay-yay-yay!

I guess those are the most differences. I am trying to remember to start taking side view pictures as I did with Atticus around this time so my 2nd little baby side views are not forgotten. AND I am making it a "MUST" that I will not do the whole "forget little things about 2nd baby" routine that lots of people tell me is so easy to do with a second one. I am vowing to record the same information and take just as many pictures with this little one. I honestly am so excited I cannot wait! And our delivery plan is slightly different this time as we are not sure whether we will attempt VBAC or c-section. We prefer a VBAC if we can do it, but the risks, while low percentage, are pretty rough if they occur (ruptured uterus). So, we are praying and waiting for God to show us what we should do - schedule a c-section for 39 weeks or go for the VBAC assuming we go into labor naturally before 40 weeks (otherwise they do a c-section regardless). We would like 3-4 kids so we want my body to be able to handle that many c-sections if I have to go that route. Let me think  - what else is different this time? OH! Well, Atticus will become a big brother which will be so fun. I tease all the time with people and say that he will not know what has happened when we bring someone else home that needs attention. But, honestly, I think he will be such a good big brother and helper and will love his little sibling. I have been telling him that he will be a big brother and while I don't know that he understands what a brother is yet, he says the word "brother" in the cutest way! And one day I asked him if he wanted a brother or sister and while I am sure it was just luck that he responded at all and chose, he did tell me a brother. And when I asked again specifically about a sister, he said "No". Hmmm. Not sure where to go with that one.

So those are a few pregnancy things, as of now, that I want to be sure to remember!

2013

Hello everyone!

This post is not a promise that I will continue to blog regularly. As you can read in the past, I tend to "start again" on my regular blogging and then life gets busy and I get behind. But, as usual I will try harder!

2012 was good to us. Our baby boy, Atticus, has grown and grown. We are pregnant with another baby due in about 10 weeks. Our jobs are good, our families are good, our lives are full. Our cups runneth over!

Let's see: Vic is still CFO for TVMDL and does some extra work for another AgriLife department, FAZD, as well. He is happy and they take very good care of him. I am also very happy at the job I began one year ago working for Administrative Services at Texas A&M AgriLife. I am working in the same building, and now the same floor as Vic so it is fun to see him occasionally. I have gained so much knowledge this year and am so grateful to those who hired me. However, with another baby on the way, and a long-time goal of being a stay at home mom at some point, I will be leaving my job when this baby comes to become employed by my children. I hope they are as good of bosses as I currently have....I have a feeling they will be needy, bossy, and whiney at times; this is not what I am used to with my current bosses. But, I still can't wait to start this new job!

Atticus is a bouncing 20 month old boy. Actually, he no longer bounces as much as walks and runs! He just recently in the past month began saying many more sounds and words that include: bus, food (foo), snack (nack), car, tractor/cracker (both sound the same), eyes, school (skoo), walk (wa), bottle (ba for cup), horse, cow, dog (actually it is ba-ba), ball, out (outside), down, bubble, momma, dadda, atticus ("attis" - most adorable word lately!), geegee, molly (ma!), jill, pa (sometimes for grandpa, pa, or even pop), charley (ca-ca), ana (nana), and still attempts Janny and Grandma, but those are some long ones! I know there are other words and I'll try to document them as they happen in the future. He points to many of his body parts, knows all the animal sounds (including spitting when you ask him what a camel does), does the hokey pokey and head, shoulders, knees, and toes. He does a cute rendition of movements to Away in a Manger which I MUST get on video before he stops. He asks "what's that and who's that" all the time and knows that when he yells "momma" or "dadda" that it gets our attention. He also says "cheese" and attempts a smile when we ask him to take a picture. Oh and he says amen (nan-nan) and thank you (tant too). He loves to be outside and to make lots of noise. He is such an explorer inside or outside. He likes trucks, animals, music, mickey mouse club, and most recently, toy story. He loves to be read to. He likes electronic things (ipad, iphones, cameras). And he loves his nighttime routine of Jesus Loves Me, prayers, and hugs and kisses. We love it too! He has almost a full set of teeth - I need to double-check as he might still have one or two to go. He is not quite 3 feet tall, but weighs about 29 pounds and is just solid. He has blonde hair that has a hint of red in some pictures or occasionally when he is outside, but otherwise, I would just call it blonde.

We are excited for him to become a big brother to a little brother or sister and think he will be such a good helper and love his new sibling. Speaking of the new sibling, we found out in early July that we were expecting mid-March. Pregnancy has been good and similar in some ways to my first pregnancy. I am much more tired this time, but mainly because I don't sit down until 8pm at night since I have a little boy who needs so much attention! I have "tired back" pains, a little numbness in my big toe (weird I know), and longer nausea although I have been on nausea meds since day one and they are wonderful. We are working on our 30th week right now and I have an appointment today actually to get an update. This baby moves a lot more than Atticus did. So, this is either a very rambunctious little boy or a diva little girl! Either way, we can't wait to find out. I have felt like this is a boy a lot during this pregnancy. But, now after being home for a few days in Sanger, I am leaning towards girl now. Who knows!? Vic still thinks this is a little boy.

We have lots of to-do's to get our house re-organized for a baby. Mainly, we are just concentrating on moving my scrapbook room to our bedroom, as Atticus will be taking up residence in his new big boy room formerly known as my scrapbook room. And then we'll start preparing his big boy room so we can teach him to sleep in a full-size bed instead of the crib. And then the fun of getting out all of the baby clothes again begins as well as the swing and boppy and the nursing items, etc. It will be very fun to start this process over again! 

Other than that, we have an open calendar for the most part. We have a couple of other close friends who are expecting babies this spring as well. And, mom and dad will be having lots of baby goats this spring for the first time in a few years. So, it will be a very fun spring!

I'll try to have pics up next time I post!

Sarah