16 Week Appt

Well everything is going well with the bun in the oven.  Little Loving is measuring perfectly.  It took a while to find the heart beat because this one is a wiggler.  But, once the doctor found it, it was perfect, in the 150's.  I am down another pound, and my blood pressure was fine this time. My diabetes test came back fine, but they still want me to test again at 28 weeks, just in case I guess.  

Liam was not as interested as I thought he would be to hear the baby's heart beat, but he probably still doesn't really get it.  I still plan on taking him to the ultrasound, unless he's being a total butt that day.  Maybe if he can see the baby, it will register more.  I'm showing a little but I don't think that's something that 2 year olds notice.  At least not until I get a huge belly.  Maybe once the baby starts moving and he can feel it on the outside it will click a little more.  If not, I guess when baby comes home he will realize, haha... 

In other news, in case anyone was wondering, Liam is now a princess.  I tried telling him that only girls were princesses and that boys were called a prince, but he told me, "No Ma.  I a pincess."  That's how he says it, without the R, haha.  My little "Pincess."  Also, Liam is no longer a baby, or so he says.  If I call him my baby boy, he tells me, "I not a baby.  I Liam."  He is too funny. 

I doubt I will be back on here before Christmas with any news, so I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and gets everything they want from Santa!

Only in Alaska...

Santa Claus is Coming to Town!

So we took Liam to see the Big Guy today...  He didn't cry or anything, and he didn't even panic like he did last year.  In fact, once I told him that Santa would give him a candy cane, he walked right up there and let him pick him up.  That probably won't be a good thing in the future when strangers offer him candy, but this time it was cute, haha...

~Liam & Santa~

~Pondering what he wants for Christmas~

~I want Diego!~

~This one is my favorite~

Swim Lessons...

Greg trying to get Liam to do his back floats...

Finally doing his back floats...

Belly floats and blowing bubbles...

Piggy back rides with dunks...

Holidays and Life...

Thanksgiving came and went and now Christmas is right around the corner.  I have all of my shopping done, except for Greg, but I just have to go pick up his gift as I already know what I am getting him.  I joined the craziness that is Black Friday and got some great things for great prices and finished up all of my shopping for Liam in one day, and plus got him a few cute outfits.  All my packages of gifts for family across the country are mailed out.  I just have a few cards to drop in the mail after I get some stamps today.  The tree was put up the weekend after Thanksgiving and the lights are up on the outside of the house.  I am officially ready for Christmas!  Oh wait, I still have all the presents to wrap, haha... 

So the new baby, which I have yet to come up with a nickname for, is doing great as of my 12 week appointment, 2 weeks ago.  It was measuring good and the heart rate was great.  They had to take my blood pressure twice the last 2 times I have been there because the first time it was reading low, and then it was normal.  It was weird that it happened twice, so my doctor wants to keep an eye on that the next few times I am in, but she doesn't think it's anything to be concerned about because it was fine right after.  I already took my first glucose test.  Since I had diabetes last time, they wanted to test me earlier this time.  I haven't heard anything, but then again they could just be waiting until my next appointment to say anything so I can schedule my follow ups with the Nutrional Medicine Clinic.  Usually no news is good news, but with this hospital, you never know.  When they weighed me I was down 4 lbs from my previous appointment, which is weird because I haven't been sick or anything like that, and I have been eating pretty much the same.  But, I do still work out 5 days a week for an hour at a time on top of chasing a 2 year old around.  So overall, I have gained 6 lbs at 12 weeks, which is about an 1/4th of how much I had gained with Liam at this point, lol...  So this pregnancy looks like it may go a little better for me weight wise, which I am VERY grateful for. 

We have Liam enrolled in swim class now.  He goes to that on Tuesday and Thursday evenings.  He has only had one class so far, but he loved it.  He has another one tonight and Greg will be there this time too (he had to work last time) so we will be able to get some pictures.  Liam has been surprising me lately with the number of things he knows, that I didn't know he knew.   For example, I didn't know he knew what sounds animals made, other than like a cat, dog, and frog.  But he comes up to me the other day and says "Chicken , bawk, bawk, bawk."  I didn't even know he knew what a chicken was!  So here was our conversation after that:

Me: What sound does a cow make?

Liam: Mooooooo

Me:  What sound does a pig make?

Liam: Oink oink oink

Me: What sound does a lion make?

Liam: Don't know, Ma

Me:  Roar!

Liam:  No Mom, Puma says that...

Me: (laughing) Yes a Puma does say that too.  What sound does a horse make?

Liam:  Ummm....  GIDDY UP HORSEY!!!

Of course there where a number of other animals we discussed as well, but the horse thing was so cute and so funny.  I almost died I was laughing so hard...  And the Puma thing?  Who writes this stuff?  Like honestly, where do they come up with this?  It is so amazing to me how a kids mind works sometimes.  You just never know what is going to come out of thier mouths.  There is definitley a surprise around every corner.  Motherhood is great isn't it? 

 

I am EXHAUSTED!!!

I know it has been a while since my last post.  We have been so busy with the selling of the house, moving, and just normal day to day stuff it is exhausting.  When I even think about sitting down at the computer for more than 10 minutes, I get distracted by something important to do, or just decide to go to sleep instead.

Well since my last post, Liam has turned 2, we celebrated Halloween, and we have moved back onto base because we sold the house.  Like I said, busy.  Not to mention I am EXHAUSTED!  I do not remember feeling this damn tired all the time when I was pregnant with Liam.  I could seriously get off of work everyday and go to sleep until I had to be back the next morning.  But of course I can't do that because I have my wifely and motherly duties to tend to.  I mean, call me crazy, but after a long day at work, I do like to spend some time with my family when I get home.  I am almost a week away from my 2nd trimester so hopefully this will fade as my pregnancy progresses.  I will just die if I am this tired for the next 6 months!  I have my 12 week appointment Monday, so I will give a baby update after that.  

I figure with all that we have missed in blogging the past month, I will just post some pictures of Liam's birthday for now.  I need to load the Halloween pictures onto the computer still so when I empty my camera I will get those on. When I get the house mostly together I may throw a few of those up here too.  But for now enjoy what I give you, haha...

First Peek

Well my projected due date has changed to June 5th from May 20th.  Apparently I ovulate waaaaay late because that's 2 weeks and some change different than the due date according to my LMP!  I actually should have expected it, because the due date with Liam changed to about 2 weeks later too, but with Liam I was on the pill so my time of the month was forced and there was really no telling anything by dates.  I had some blood work to check my HGC levels and more tomorrow, and another ultrasound Thursday to be sure, but that seems to be the new due date, at least for now.

Nothing to see here folks, move along!!! (Except a tiny little sac, lol)

I need to think of a funny name for this Little Loving.  I called Liam "Cletus the Fetus" while I was pregnant with him, but I haven't been able to think of anyhting as clever as that yet.  Any ideas?

Translation Please?

I was just thinking how Liam cracks me up when he says certain things.  Like how he won't put an S at the beginning of words unless the second letter is a vowel.  Or how when says words I never even knew he knew how to say.  When he first started talking you could not understand most of what he said, but it's amazing how fast he has progressed with his speech.  Here are a few things he says, and their translation.

BongeBa = SpongeBob Squarepants

Cuck = Cup

Wuzzy = Wow Wow Wubbzy

Kayee = Kali (our dog)

Peas = Please

Tank Oo = Thank You

Nack = Snack

Gweps = Grapes

Tac Tac = Tic Tac

Cuhwa = Color

Waa You = Love You

Daygo = Go Diego, Go

Chutch = Aunt Rachel

M'on = Come On

Bayoon = Balloon

CHEEEEEESE!!!!

Little Loving #2

Well, I was going to wait for my first ultrasound to post this blog, but so many of you already know so...  For those of you who haven't heard already, I am pregnant with Little Loving #2.  I haven't had any Dr. appointments yet or anything, but right now my estimated due date is May 20th.  My first appointment is October 8th.  We have been trying for a second child since April, and month after month when nothing happened, I always felt a little disappointed.  I am very thankful that it only took five months, especially when I know there are plenty of people who it takes years for them to have children.  But, I think it's natural still to feel a little disappointment every month..  (I am stealing the following idea from Kelly, lol)

I would like to point out that I HATE any pregnancy test that isn't digital.  I've never taken a regular one  that I have been able to clearly read the results of.  The line is never clear enough to me.  It's never dark enough, or solid enough, sometimes only the ends of the lines look like they are there, or maybe that's just a mark of where the line would be if it was there...  It's so confusing to me, lol.  The same day I took this digital one I took a regular one and I couldn't tell without a shadow of a doubt what the result was.  Obviously I wasn't going to run and tell Greg I think I might be pregnant, but I'm not for sure, but maybe...  Because then his hopes would get all up and what if I wasn't?  So I ran out and grabbed a digital one.  I hadn't bought it to begin with because they are more expensive than the regular ones.  So to anyone who has questions about pregnant tests, I totally recommend digital ones.  The results are clear as day and there will be no doubt what it says, lol. 

In other news, one month and one day until my current little man turns two!  His birthday party is going to be a Spongebob theme since that is his favorite cartoon.  He is also going to be Spongebob for Halloween.  I already got his costume and it is so cute!  My  mom is coming in for his birthday and Halloween again.  Hopefully it is not as cold as last year, but I am thinking with the amount of snow we have on the mountains already, we will have snow on the ground within the next two weeks.  It is our last winter here so I am sure it will feel extra long and extra cold...  It's already dropped down to the 40's during the day and the 30's at night.

I am going to sign off with a few pictures of Liam at the park last weekend, and then I am off the the gym.

BedTime=Bad Time...

So, is my child the only one who screams like they are dying when you put him to bed?  Liam used to be so good when he went to bed, then a few months after he turned one, he started screaming.  Like not just crying and whining, SCREAMING, literally like someone is trying to kill him.  The only time he does it is bedtime at night.  He very rarely does it when it's nap time.  I have tried quite a few different things to get him to just lay down and go to sleep quietly, but nothing works.  All I have been able to do in order to not lose my mind is ignore him.  But, sometimes he screams an hour (on average it's 30 min), so it is harder to ignore him then.  Here are some of the things I have tried:

- Night light
- Leaving his door open
- Letting him pick some toys to sleep with
- Rocking him and reading to him for a little bit
- Letting him stay up 30-60 minutes later

I've tried other things too, I just don't remember them all.  He gets his sippy cup, his two favorite blankets, and his favorite stuffed animal everynight when he goes to sleep.  He also gets a snack and a half hour wind down time of cartoon watching before bed.  His bedtime used to be 8:00, but then I tried 8:30 thinking maybe he wasn't tired enough, then I even tried 9:00.  All a later bed time accomplished was him screaming until a later hour.  It didn't make him scream for a shorter amount of time, he just ends up staying up later.  So now he just goes to sleep at 8:30.  I try not to go in there becuase I don't want him to think just because he screams I'll come in and see what's wrong.

Another thing is, once he finally goes to sleep, he wakes up about an hour later and screams again.  I don't go in there when he does this either, because when I used to, I've noticed that he just gets more worked up when I leave, and it lasts longer.  On average, these screams only last about 10-15 minutes.  He gets up during the week at 5:30 A.M., which gives him about eight hours of sleep.  He takes an hour to two hour nap during the day, but doesn't sleep later than 3:30 at his nap time.  He usually stays up a little later on the weekends (so we can all sleep in, lol), and sleeps about 10 hours then, with pretty much the same nap schedule.  I don't know if I am doing somehting wrong, or if there is even anything I can do at all.  PLEASE HELP ME!!!!!

How do you know when time out isn't effective?

When your child puts himself in time out instead of just doing what he's told...

Terrible 2's???

Now let me start off by saying, Liam has never been a difficult child. From the day he was born, he never cried, never whined, slept wonderfully, ate anything you put in front of him, he wasn't the kind of baby that always needed to be held . In fact he's always been quite independent, very content playing on his own, doing his own thing by himself...

With that being said, I expect him to behave certain ways, to do or not do certain things. Things like not throwing tantrums, doing what he's told, realizing he can't always get what he wants, etc. Typical things you try to teach your child at a young age like that. Some may say at 22 months old, that is a little young to expect anything from your child, but I beg to differ. I know my child; I know his temperament, I know his attitude (and boy is there a lot of that lately), and I know how he behaves (normally). The thing is, Liam has known these things and what is expected of him for quite some time, and is fully capable of doing these things.

Now don't get me wrong, he's still a good kid, and I've definitely seen worse at his age. So if this is "The Terrible 2's" it is probably not a vicious as what other people might be going through. It's just really his attitude that gets me sometimes. The constant "NO!" (His new favorite word) His yelling and whining when he doesn't get his way. (Which is actually kind of funny because you can't understand a single word he says. I'm pretty he's fluent in Japanese, lol) And just not listening. All of this bothers me mostly because I know he's fully capable of behaving the way I expect him to. Keep in mind this isn't like an all day every day thing. He just gets in these moods a few times a day. I swear it's like he's bipolar too, one minute he will be laughing, playing, having a good time, and the next he's pissed and yelling at you.

So here are my questions to everyone...

Is it normal for a child to behave perfectly and do what's expected of them from the age of 12-20 months, then all of a sudden not?
Are these mood swings normal?
Is this "The Terrible 2's?"
Or is the the worst yet to come?

Oh Vacation...

I love taking vacation. It always makes me so sad to come home at the end of our trips. It's hard not seeing my family on a regular basis, but such is the military life. This year we took a trip to Arkansas to see my grandparents, who have never seen Liam. My sister, mom, and step dad drove down from Illinois too. We spent eight days there then went to Florida to see my dad and step mom, who haven't seen Liam since he was 2 months old. Rather than go into great detail about each leg of our trip, I will just post pictures and caption them with what was going on. I think that will be easier and more to the point and then no one has to read a long winded description from me, lol...

ARKANSAS

Liam attacking everyone with the hose

Liam and Grandpa Don

Great Mary and Liam watching cartoons

My little water baby

Me, Liam buried in the sand, and Aunt Rachel

Grandma, Mom, Me and Rachel after stomping grapes

Liam on the scale at the children's museum

FLORIDA

Grandpa Tony and Liam cleaning the boat

Liam and Grandpa driving the boat

Liam on the beach at night

Me and Liam at the beach

Liam sleeping with his Lily girl

Liam and Dad in the pool

Greg and my Dad went to the Red Sox/Rays game

Grandpa and Liam swimming at the beach

The family at the Sunken Gardens

Liam and Dad

~Liam and Me at the Gardens~

Liam on a bridge at the Gardens

Kisses on the beach, how romantic

Grandpa, Liam , and Dad feeding the pelicans

4th of July Camping Trip

Here are a few pictures from our annual 4th of July Camping Trip. I had my camera but no memory card, so there isn't much since I had to snag these from Heidi and I don't think she has uploaded them all yet... We had a great time as usual. It's sad that this will be our last Alaskan 4th of July trip, but we are probably going to try and go camping one more time with the crew this year before it gets too cold. Liam had a blast riding on the four wheeler and didn't even mind wearing the helmet... Although his favorite part I would say was playing in the Ranger while it was parked!

Greg four wheeling...

Heidi and Liam...

Liam with his helmet on before we hit the trails...

"I'm ready to go Mom! Let's hit the road!"

Liam playing on the Ranger... (It's really dark I know)
FYI a Ranger is like a golf cart on steroids with a roll bar, seat belts, and off road capabilities...

Happy Father's Day!!!

So today is Liam and Greg's second Father's day. It's the first one were Liam kinda knew what was going on. Well, he at least knew that he was giving Dada a present, lol... It was so cute when he gave it to him too. Greg was sitting there on the couch playing a video game and Liam walks up carrying a box and says 'Here Dadeeeeee. Here Dadeeeeee!' And then as soon as Greg took it, Liam was trying to rip it open. It was so cute! Greg got a plate for when he BBQ's to put the food on. Around the edge it says, 'My dad can cook better than your dad,' and in the middle there is a little drawing that looks like a child drew it of a guy cooking on a grill. It's too cute.

In honor of Father's Day I thought it would be a good idea to post some pictures of Greg and Liam . I don't have any recent ones because I need to find my camera charger which is packed away somewhere in one of the 100 boxes we have in the garage and my camera is dead.

Daddy holding Liam for the first time.

Daddy getting Liam dressed to finally go home from the hospital.

Liam and Daddy being silly.

Daddy and Liam on the four wheeler.


Daddy and Liam sliding down the ice slide. WEEEEEE!!!


Liam and Daddy in Fairbanks, Alaska.