16 Weeks

Baby is the Size of a Dill Pickle

New for baby this week?  4.5 inches long, weighs 4 oz. baby can detect light through my belly, can straighten head and neck more, making first facial expressions, heart is pumping 25 quarts of blood per day

Total weight gain/loss? 2 lbs.

Maternity clothes? I have worn a few maternity shirts, mostly because they are comfortable because they are longer.  But they aren't completely necessary quite yet.  I am still fitting surprisingly well into my regular jeans.

Stretch marks? No

Sleep? Sleeping great, not waking up quite as frequently to pee in the middle of the night. This is a welcome break (for now!). 

Best moment this week? Our visit to Asheville.

Miss Anything? Not really.

Movement?  When I sit still for long periods of time I swear I feel tiny movements, but it could be wishful thinking?

Food cravings?  Not really.

Anything making you queasy or sick? No. Still dislike coffee and anything too spicy.

Have you started to show yet? Yes. My neighbor's daughter was the first one to comment and say "is that a baby bump I see?!" 

Gender? Unknown.

Labor Signs? Crazy to think it will only be about 24 more weeks, yikes!

Belly Button in or out?  In but looks kind of more like a button.

Wedding rings on or off? On, swelling has minimized now that the weather is cooling down.

How is mama feeling? I have been fighting off a cold which has had me feeling lousy and a little run down.  But I am finally on the upswing.

Looking forward to? Penn State game, Halloween 

Fall is in full swing at our house.  We got all of our decorations out (Bran really loves the skeletons) and we have been enjoying the cooler nights. I am so excited for Halloween!

Joe, Bran, and I went to Asheville for a long weekend.  It was our first big road trip since the beach.  Bran did amazing riding in the car! We took a bin of toys and books and he just played the whole way. Riding in the car was pretty easy on me at this point, although my belly did get a little sore when I had been driving for a few hours and couldn't move around much.

Unfortunately I spent a good part of the weekend not feeling very great because I was getting a cold.  Between Joe going to the meeting and Bran's early bed time we just didn't have time to do much or see many people. Traveling with a toddler is just so different. We stayed with the Ruscoes, and Peg was a regular visitor for dinner each night.  Bran loved chasing around their dogs, Chip and Nola.  He was a little unsure of their cat, Dabo, at first but he loved him by the end of our visit. Much like his last visit, Bran was obsessed with the dog crates. Bran is always a riot to share a room with.  He slept until his normal bedtime 2 out of the 4 mornings, so I will take that as a win.  He is so chatty as soon as he wakes up.  He could also hear Dabo downstairs and would start yelling "Meow! Kitty Cat!". The funniest was the morning he woke up sneezing.  *Sneeze* "Bless you!" *Sneeze* "Bless you!" "Thank you!". Having a complete conversation with himself. 

Hiding from Dabo

When Daddy went to the meeting Bran and I would go for walks around the neighborhood which is still under constructions.  Who needs a playground when there are big trucks, tractors, rocks, and dirt to play with?

We had dinner at Wicked Weed with Dr. Johnson.  I was a little nervous because when we got there it was super busy.  Bran was not being very patient waiting and was trying to run around like a wild man. Luckily I had a sucker on hand, and once we sat down to eat Bran settled in.  We had a nice dinner and Bran got a kick out of entertaining everyone.  Dr. Johnson said he was a "delight". 

It wasn't Yosemite but Baby L 2.0 went on their first hike to High Falls in Dupont.  It was also Bran's first hike not riding in a hiking backpack.  He really enjoyed all of the rocks, sticks, and dirt.  He did great running around on the trails, but Daddy may have had to carry him on a lot of the steeper uphills. There were also a lot of horses, and he would yell "neigh!".  But he had no interest in petting them once they came closer.

So happy to be "balancing" on a stump.

Daddy found a hiking stick for Bran.

Photo Ops

I love tomato soup!

Stacking blocks on Mommy's tea.

Mohawk and Chipotle.

Stole Dada's empty coffee cup. 

14 Weeks

Baby is the Size of a House Mouse

New for baby this week?  Making smoother more fluid movements, improved posture/longer neck, sprouting lanugo everywhere to keep warm, rapid brain development into hemispheres, sucking their thumb, reflexes

Total weight gain/loss? Anywhere from no gain to up 1 lb. 

Maternity clothes? Nope.  Although shirts seem a little shorter and pants a little snugger. I am in the I don't have a cute baby bump yet but my regular clothes make me feel pudgy phase.

Stretch marks? No.

Sleep? I have been working a lot and have been sooooo sleepy.

Best moment this week? All of the fall activities.

Miss Anything? Not really.

Movement? I keep thinking I feel flutters, but its so early I am sure it is just my belly haha.

Food cravings?  French fries.

Anything making you queasy or sick? The smell of beer. Jalapenos.

Have you started to show yet? I definitely have a little bump now.  Not super obvious but it's there.

Gender? I don't think a single person has guessed boy yet.

Labor Signs? No.

Belly Button in or out?  It's going to be out much earlier this time, but not quite yet.  

Wedding rings on or off? On.

How is mama feeling? The nausea is much better, although certain smells, an empty belly, and early mornings can all be triggers still.

Looking forward to?  Feeling baby move.

Well hello second trimester, you sure snuck up on me fast! To be honest until I sat down to write this blog I hadn't realized it was already here. With the weeks going by so quickly it is a relief to know we have almost all of the baby things ready from the first. Really our biggest "to do" is to get Bran moved into his big boy room so we can free up the nursery for Baby L 2.0.  Joe and I went and looked at some beds at Ikea.  It is kind of emotional thinking about moving Bran from the crib.  He has so few "baby" things left, this will be such a big milestone.  Although as usual I am sure it will be harder on mama than Bran. These kids grow up so fast!

Bran has started to drop "mama" and is now calling me Mommy.  He is frequently putting two or three word phrases together.  And he has mastered saying "Go Bucks!". His vocabulary is expanding so rapidly.  He has books memorized and has lines ("oh no!" from "Are you my mother?") and sounds (especially for animals) he yells before we can even get to the next page.

Grandma Lude came to stay with us for a few days to watch Bran while Mommy and Daddy went to work.  While she was here we spent an evening at Cherry Hawk Farm picking apples in their orchard.  Bran had so much fun running around all of the trees and helping us pick apples.  He especially enjoyed walking around eating an apple while we were there. We can't wait to make some homemade applesauce and apple pies!

We started Grandma Lude's birthday off by singing happy birthday with a candle in a donut hole.  Bran thought this was so much fun!

That afternoon we met up with a bunch of the Lude Family at Pigeon Roost Farm to celebrate Grandma Lude's birthday. This place was so much fun, and will definitely need to be a yearly tradition. 

Checking out the pumpkins.

Still wants to poke the goats in the eye.

Mini Corn Maze with Uncle Jeremy

Bran was obsessed with this slide.

I wonder if we he will hit the 3 ft mark by his 2nd birthday?

You have to start potty training somewhere.

The whole gang, in the middle of Bran's no afternoon nap meltdown haha.

We picked out four pumpkins at the farm. A Daddy, Mommy, Bran , and Baby L 2.0 pumpkin. We decided to use our pumpkins to make our official Facebook announcement. Bran is going to be a great big brother! I am sure the days (and nights...ugh) will be busy, but we are so excited to add a little brother or sister into the mix.