Anna: Preschool and Summer Pictures

(Above: This is Anna with her best friend Clark. Real cuties, these two.)

20 Weeks: Some Ultrasound Pictures!

Proof that he's a boy...

My sweet little Charlie... it's so good to finally meet you. :)


I'll post a couple (but not all) of the ultrasound pictures of Charlie. I must mention too, before I forget it - Charlie was trying to suck on his fingers toward the end - he failed, though. Then he tried to suck on his toes! So cute!!! Cuteness overload. :)
Also, he had a full bladder and was already practicing drinking. He weighs 12 oz and is measuring 20 weeks 4 days. Let's hope that means he's planning on coming 4 days early. ;) Everything looks great! He's a healthy boy and I'm a proud mama! Paul came up to me today and rubbed my tummy and talked to Charlie... awww... I have a great Anna story in the below writings. I have such a wonderful family!


How far along? 20 Weeks 1 Day (today)
Weight: 131 pounds, as of yesterday.
Wardrobe? All maternity, baby... except for the shirt I'm wearing at the moment... But honestly, it isn't too good-looking on me. ;)
Stretch marks? Same ol'.
Sleep? Restful... Not too shabby, I guess.
Best Anna/Baby moment this week? Anna has been saying that she wants a baby sister and that she doesn't like baby brothers, but today she came off the bus wanting to see the DVD of Charlie's ultrasound, saying she wanted to see him wave at her again... she tried to show the video a little toy, but I had to explain it was just a movie. Anyway, she sat back and said, "I like baby boys!" I'm glad she feels that way, because we won't be trading him any time soon! ;)
Belly button in or out? Innie. It's getting shallower...
Movement? My cervix sure is getting kicked a lot these days...
Nausea: Feelin' good!
Symptoms: BH contractions, big boobs, big tummy, tired (!!!), dealing with an unusually unseasonal cold... Oh, the usual pregnancy complaints. :)

It's a Boy!

We're having a little boy and his name is Charles! I'll post pictures and a regular update later, but for now I didn't want to lose this information:

My BP: 110/60
My Weight: 131
Baby's HR: 148 bpm
Baby's weight: 12 oz.
Measuring: 20 weeks 4 days (big boy!)

19 Weeks and Grad School

How far along? 19 Weeks
Weight gain/loss: N/A
Wardrobe? I'm currently lounging in a pair of yoga pants and a black exercise top. In the picture above I am wearing a pair of size 9 non-maternity slacks (usually swimming on me), a black tank top and a non-maternity top. I was getting ready for my grad school interview.
Stretch marks? Nothin' new.
Sleep? So far it has been restful, but lacking.
Best Anna/Baby moment this week? In the above pictures, I asked Paul to snap some photos. Anna was very excited about being in the pictures. She wanted to be in all of them and touch my belly. Gosh, I have a lovely daughter.
Boy or girl? We find out in 6 days! (June 9th)
Belly button in or out? Innie.
Movement? Lots of kicks to my cervix. You know that's fun, right?
Nausea: Done! Although, there have been times where I've eaten something and not finished because it tastes awful to me.
Symptoms: Braxton Hicks, kicking, feeling like a small house... Good times. :)

On an unrelated note...
Yesterday (the day of the above photos), I had an interview for graduate school. The interview went splendidly. The lady who interviewed me told me that I have a personality of someone who would pursue a doctorate and asked why I wasn't applying for that program! That boosted my confidence. I know I can do well in the program... I'm a total geek and I can't get enough psychology... but I guess I have low confidence in myself sometimes. I didn't think I could do well enough to pursue a doctorate. That's a five-year program... how old would I be? 32? Goodness... that would take a while. With the MA program, I'll be done in 2 years flat. I'm sure once I'm done with this program, I'll crave the PhD. For now, though, I think this is the next step that I need to take. I will find out if I've been accepted into the program on June 17th.

Also, Paul's job is looking hopeful... We're praying he gets it. Things are looking up!!!

As for Anna, her preschool picnic is tomorrow and on Monday, we'll be attending her class trip to the zoo. This will be a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to getting a peek into her little world and meeting all of the friends she talks about. :)

Anna and the Worm

Weight

Weight is such a funny thing. Scales weren't even available for the average consumer until the sometime last century. Women all over the world, even today, go throughout their pregnancies, give birth, and never look at a scale. So why do mothers and women focus on numbers so much? Our interpretations of these numbers are so subjective - subjective to our modern culture. Thinness is beauty, our culture cries. Whether we choose to listen to or ignore those images and words are our choice alone. However, it's easy to say that even when we choose to say those numbers are unimportant, that we do feel some sort of pride when we are thin and shame when we are fat. It's a shame, really, but it's the truth.

Last summer I began running. It was mainly for stress-relief and because I wanted to see if I could do it (I've always considered myself a non-runner). Although I would win no marathons, by the end of the summer, I ran 2 1/2 miles with my friend Olga beside the lake. I did it! The girl who could hardly run a mile all her life, even in her best shape! It was empowering! But I still looked at the scale. I was thrilled to see that I was down to 117 pounds by the time August came around and Olga hurt her foot and I stopped running. School began and there simply wasn't time (or energy) to run. I know I gained (and subsequently lost) a lot of muscle in that time because by January, I was 118 pounds (120 being the average). Now that I'm pregnant, I'm 127 pounds and it's definitely hard to see the scale creeping upward. I've checked online calculators and I have gained a healthy weight so far. I'm happy for that. I know that my baby is growing inside of me and is doing well. I also know I'll need that extra fat for breastfeeding afterward. There's a bit of anxiety in me that wonders if I'll ever get back down to that weight. After I had Anna, I was obviously still holding onto pregnancy weight, but I told myself that I wouldn't and couldn't lose that weight completely. I threw out a lot of clothing. No, I'm wasn't even the same shape in August as I was before I had Anna. I was certainly lighter, though! My hips are wider, definitely. I'm just not a child any more and my body certainly reflects that. I have a woman's body. My husband tells me that I'm beautiful. He scoffs at women who hide their womanhood, saying that a mother's body is more beautiful than any girl's (how did I find such a man?). I am certainly among the lucky in a lot of ways. No, I won't have my fifteen-year-old body back (thank God) and yes, I'm sure that I'll be able to get out there and run again and feel the breeze through my hair, no matter how much I weigh or how much my body has changed.

Excuse Me While I Gush...

Today Anna's teachers came to our house for a little parent-teacher conference. We learned so many wonderful things that I just had to gush...

*She knows eight shapes from the list they gave her including: circle, square, rectangle, oval, star, triangle, heart and octagon. (She doesn't know the hexagon or pentagon... but what four year old even knows what an octagon is? Anna does!)

* She can rote count from 1 to 10. I know she also knows zero and she can count higher than this as well. She usually gets tripped up once she gets to 20. She recognizes most of the numbers (0-10) as well and mixes up 6 and 9.

*She can write her name very well. :)

*She knows her colors. At the beginning of the year, she didn't know black or brown, but now she does. :)

*She knows her ABCs and recognizes all of the letters in the alphabet. Her teachers actually said she didn't recognize the letter O, however we know for a fact she does and we were surprised that they said she knew W and V, which she mixes up when we practice at home! She also knows how to spell zoo.

*They said that she is very advanced for her age and she is doing very well (she's one of the youngest in her class and will have to take preschool again next year because of her late birthday).

*She is friends with everyone. Everyone wants to play with her. She tends to do dramatic things like faint in front of everyone and all of the kids will rush to her side (but if other kids try, the children won't rush to their sides haha). She is a little drama queen and she has "given birth" to a doll in class, in a very dramatic fashion. She has cried at a drop of a hat, convincing everyone around her that she ought to become an actress (not until you finish college, young lady)!

I just love my little girl and it's always good to hear praise of your child from someone else's lips. :)

18 Weeks

How far along? 18 Weeks
Weight gain/loss: N/A
Wardrobe? Cozy maternity jeans and a non-maternity stretchy shirt (pictured). I almost wore a maternity dress my mom got me, but it's still huge on me. Go figure.
Stretch marks? Same ol', same ol'.
Sleep? A pillow between the knees seriously helps with hip pain. :)
Best Anna/Baby moment this week? Paul was feeling for the baby's kicks today (no success). Anna turned and gave us this look that said, "Would you like me to leave the room?" haha! She's so expressive.
Belly button in or out? In.
Movement? I've felt some serious kicking this week. I even was able to feel the baby kicking from the outside, very lightly.
Nausea: Some food aversions, but it's mostly done! Wahoo! :)
Symptoms: Some sleep disturbances, feeling especially sleepy, etc.

Tap Tap Tappin' at My Front Door

The baby was just now kicking away, so I kept following the kicks with my finger tips. It took a while (because he or she would move after I put my hand there), but eventually I felt some light little taps from the outside! So exciting. :) Lately I've been feeling most of the kicks in my cervix. Fun times. :) Thankfully, it's not painful... yet.

17 Weeks 5 Days

Funny Mom Tweets

Dressing Herself

Over the weekend, I delayed dressing Anna for quite a few hours. I guess she got tired of waiting, because she came out dressed like this:

Later, on our walk, she picked me this lovely Northwest bouquet... :)

Ah, how I love my girl!

It's Science!

Degrees and Diapers

I don't think I've written about our experience here at the university. It certainly is an unusual experience. Whenever I would tell someone that my husband and I were graduating on the same date, both going full time at the university, and had a daughter, I was often met with shock or surprise. I guess I didn't think about it like that. I didn't leave time to think about it being difficult. Life is difficult in general. This was just our own personal journey.

We certainly sacrificed a lot to be here. Paul worked full time while I watched Anna. We dropped out twice. We lived with family for a short time. We struggled. We returned to school. We have never been on a vacation - although we did go camping as a family when Anna was two. We have a lot of unpaid bills. We put off having another child for a very long time. We bought second-hand and lived on a tight budget. When was the last time I had a haircut, anyway? Paul gets plenty of haircuts via Salon du Sarah (ME! And I'm pretty dang good at it, if I might say so). I remember when I bought each of my pairs of shoes because I haven't bought that many. We could seriously use a new dresser - the drawers are falling off the tracks. Anna needs a mattress for her bed that isn't old and freaky.

And yet... there's not a whole lot to complain about.

I have gotten to see all of Anna's firsts. First laugh, first time she rolled over (both ways), first time she sat up, first time she stood and walked, first time she said my name, first time she stepped onto the bus for preschool. No, it isn't a fancy preschool - it's Head Start. Over the last two days, we constructed and painted a paper mache volcano, filled it with Baking Soda and vinegar, and set it off. Anna laughed and squealed! Today, we're making rock candy, in hopes of passing our love of education on to her. She asks, "Can we play science?" We walk to the beach on sunny days and Anna plays in the sand. We go on walks every evening - as a family. My husband is an amazing father to our little girl - what special memories she has of building Kinex machines with daddy!

No, joy is more than money. Real joy comes from family and memories. So, I don't mind the little sacrifices here and there. The truth is, I've never been richer in my life.

On to grad school!

Beach Pictures

Today we went to the beach! It was a gorgeous 65 degrees and my little water baby kept splashing in the surf! She loves water. She wasn't cold at all, either. :)

17 Weeks Tomorrow

How far along? 17 Weeks tomorrow!
Weight gain/loss: 127, down a pound from last month, but I think that's more from getting more exercise lately. :)
Wardrobe? Maternity! It's way more comfortable this way and I don't have to feel bad about not fitting into my size 5s.
Stretch marks? Nothing new.
Sleep? Hip pain keeps me up at night and side-sleeping makes my ears ache. I think I need one of those fancy side-sleeping pillows with the little hole for your ear...
Best Anna/Baby moment this week? Today Anna drew a cute little picture of the baby today. Today she wants to name the baby Baby All-Gone. Heh. :)
Belly button in or out? In.
Movement? Lots of wiggling and stretching, especially at night when I'm relaxing.
Nausea: I have had a good week. I think I'm at the end of this. With Anna, I was done being sick at 17 weeks, so this is hopefully it. :)
Symptoms: I've been SOOOO THIRSTY this week! Also, still getting lots of Braxton-Hicks... hopefully that means baby won't be overdue. ;)