My Thoughts Exactly.

"Obviously, I don't cook.  I even looked at a Martha Stewart cookbook... that was taking too long." --Scott Disick

Adventures in Sippy Cup Shopping!

Let me start by saying that George never took a bottle.  Ever.  So he doesn't understand that to drink out of some things, he needs to tip it up.  So the only cups he can drink from are cups with straws.  As you can imagine, it is much harder to find a straw cup that doesn't leak all over the place!  So we now own about a million sippy cups... and have primarily only used 2 up until today.  We finally found another one that I like... for now.

This Playtex sippy cup has no stop-valve.  It flows straight out of the straw.  It has been demoted to a "water only"  (and really, only when we're home) cup.

This Nuby sippy cup has a great valve and a leak-free straw... unfortunately, the threads are all messed up and it leaks from where the lid screws on!  These went back to the store immediately.

These Playtex cups are a close second.  They don't spill when all of the pieces are together the right way... but the valve has 2 pieces that come apart (for easy cleaning, I assume).  Well, sometimes when George is too aggressive with the straw, the valve comes apart on its own... so not only can he not drink it, but it also spills all over the place.  Also, sometimes the pressure builds up in the straw and the milk comes out like a volcano.  Not too much, though.  Other than those little issues, we use these a lot.

But today, I stood in front of the cups for way too long.  And after being terribly disappointed by the Nuby cups (which were the cheapest that Target sells), I decided to go with the most expensive that Target sells (a whole difference of $2... haha--am I that cheap??).  It's made by Tommee Tippee.  Well, had I known that these cups are awesome and really don't spill, they would have been the only ones I bought all along!

I have only found one problem so far... and maybe this is just me being picky.  It comes apart (fairly easily) into about SIX pieces to clean!!  Six pieces seems a little excessive to me... but maybe that's what it takes to make it spill-proof?

Anyway... hopefully this saves you a little bit of hassle.  Moral of the story:  Don't be cheap... the more expensive sippy cups are worth $2 more (that's $2 for a pack of 2... so really $1 each).

18 Weeks!

(Left:  Me at 20 weeks with Baby G;
Right:  Me at 18 weeks with Baby 2)

See the difference??  Aside from being smaller in general (after all, that was 2 years ago), I am much bigger with this pregnancy than I was with George!

How far along?  18 Weeks!

Total weight gain:  2 lbs.  (I was not my thinnest when I got pregnant... so I'm burning through extra fat.. which is kinda nice!)

Maternity clothes?  Sadly, since about 10 weeks (pants, at least)!

Stretch marks?  No new ones... and I really don't have many from G.

Sleep:  I already just can't get comfortable... it's going to be a long 22 weeks.

Movement:  A few sporadic movements that I'm about 70% sure are baby... but nothing definite yet!

Food Cravings:  Milk, Milkshakes, Ice Cream.

Gender:  We find out June 27th!! (9 days!  We can't wait!!)

Symptoms:  I haven't been very sick... a few quick trips to throw up, but I'm always fine right after.  However, I am tired!

Looking forward to:  Finding out the gender!! I seriously have no clue!

Ok, so there is my modified little quiz.  I took out the parts that don't really apply yet.  Maybe it's part of the fun to see how things change, but I don't even want to talk about things like labor yet!  My ring is on (and was all through my last pregnancy) and my belly button is still an innie (and got flush, but not out last time).

XOXO

And this is from George:

|]l\

(l,8+

Baby! Baby!!

Much to my dismay, George is fascinated by the computer.  He loves to bang on the keys, push buttons, knock it onto the floor, and even tap-dance on it every once in a while.  Well, yesterday he discovered the button that turns on the camera.  All of the sudden I heard "Baby!  Baby!  Baby!"  I looked up and he was pointing at the computer screen.  I thought he was looking at the picture of him that is set as our background.  Nope... he was looking at his reflection through the webcam.  So... enjoy a few pictures that I snapped ...

And some from today...

Big News!

For those of you who haven't seen it on Facebook, we are expecting another little baby in November!  I am 15 weeks along!  My due date is either November 14 or 15... not like that's any difference, really.  The baby measured a due date of November 15, but if you know how a due date is calculated, the calculation says the 14th.  I know that I sound totally dumb...

To answer the most common questions that I get:

• Yes, this was planned.
• George will be just shy of 2 years old.
• I will find out of it is a boy or girl on June 27th!  And I can't wait!

I feel great... just really, really tired!  Poor George watches way more cartoons than he should... but he is so sweet and comes over and gives me hugs when I'm laying on the couch!  For the first trimester, I started to feel sick around 11pm (after dinner digested and my stomach was empty).  As long as I got a snack, I was fine... but I did miss my "snack window" a few times and got really sick.  Throwing up an empty stomach is just about the worst!

I did have a weird symptom that appears to be gone.  I had a really sweet taste in my mouth.  It was gross and it didn't go away.  It made water (and other things without much taste) taste really bad.  I noticed last week that I think it's gone.  So that's good.

I am showing at 15 weeks more than I showed until about 20 weeks last time!  I really haven't gained any weight yet.  I think that's because I gained 10 lbs right away when I started weaning George.  So, I actually dropped 5 lbs immediately and have only gained those 5 lbs back.  My little sister asked me how much I weighed the other day... riiiiiiiight.

I have been in maternity clothes for about a month now.  At least the pants.  I got the most comfortable shorts known to man at H&M for Mother's Day, but had to open them early because it's so stinking hot here!  I realized that last time around, one of my friends let me borrow all of her maternity clothes... so I didn't get much.  I guess I didn't really think about the fact that I would have to give them back.  So my mom & I got a few more things the other day and I'm pretty set and a lot more comfortable!  (My mom was really getting sick of looking at me wear Steve's red basketball shorts!)

And last but not least, George dragged a baby doll around by the foot all week last week.  He was really sweet and offered her his binky.  He loved putting her to bed and giving her kisses (with his binky in his mouth).  If this is what I have to look forward to, he will never, ever, ever be with this new baby unsupervised... not even for a second!  Not even while I blink!  He was so sweet, but a little rough!

Busy Busy!

George riding a mechanical horse at the Stockyards.

George in the saddle at the "stroller corral" outside of a restaurant.

We've been MIA in the blogging world lately, huh?  Lots and lots has been going on!  We stole away for a few days to visit Steve's family and then the day after we got home, my dad & step-mom came to visit!  Now we're getting ready to go visit my mom!  It's the World Tour of Kathleen & George!  

We've been having so much fun the past few weeks!  When all of these fun visits are over, G is going to be so, so bored with me!  Seriously!  He has had cousins and grandparents who have spoiled him rotten!

Anyway, maybe I'll be better at blogging when things slow down a bit.  But that doesn't give you an excuse to not update your blogs... because I still read them daily... and I get angry when you don't post often enough! XOXO

PS-  I read today that Gossip Girl's next season is its last?!  That is so not cool.  Also, they cancelled Ringer.  The CW is on my list right now.

A Month of Firsts!

George got his first haircut this month!  Boy, did he need it!  Steve had these great hopes of George's hair growing out nice and curly... which didn't happen.  Instead, the top got curly, the sides just covered his ear, the back got ratty... complete with rat-tail!  It had to go.  Finally, Steve saw my point.  We set up Elmo's World and his high chair in the bathroom and Steve cut his hair! (Impressive, right??)  It took a really long time because Steve was kind of obsessive about it... but it looks great!

The Finished Product:

Much, much better!  My little boy now looks like a little boy again!  It's so funny that it took 16 months for him to get his first haircut!  Poor boy has just never had much hair!

George also went camping for the first time!  I don't really like camping, but I must say that we had fun!  It was our ward camp out.  We don't own any camping equipment (none at all), so I was planning on using that as an excuse to not have to spend the night... and then our friends Jenn and Ryan told Steve that they have a gigantic 2-room tent.  It was seriously gigantic!  We had room for a queen-sized air mattress and the pack and play with plenty of room to spare!  George did not want to go to sleep... and he was awake until probably after 10.  We were all awake talking around the campfire until about 11:30!  I didn't sleep much anyway because I wasn't really comfortable and it was soooo windy!  I probably got to sleep at 4 and then I woke up at 6:30 all because.... I woke the baby.  G was sleeping on top of his blankets and it looked so cold and we didn't have any spare blankets!  So I tried to gently move him... which didn't work.  So, good morning, campers!!  We've got a crying baby!  We got home around 10am and it felt like 4pm!  G fell asleep in the car... so he only slept for a few minutes once we got home.  I swear I slept all day!  I know for sure that we took a 2 1/2 hour nap in the afternoon... but I don't remember much more of the day... so I think I was probably asleep on the couch while G ripped the place apart!  Here are some pictures from that adventure:

And last but not least... G is really into putting on shoes lately.  He goes over to the door and grabs a shoe and puts it on and tries to walk.  Don't tell Steve this because he would be mad... but George has been walking around in one of my shoes for the past 2 days!  It's so funny!  For some reason, he has really taking a liking to this one shoe and I think it's really easy for him to walk in...

Ok--this should be long enough to make up for my terrible blogging in the month of April!  The months are seriously just flying by!

Silly Boy!

Today as I was getting ready to make his lunch, G went into the kitchen and dragged out all of my mixing bowls. He also found a spoon.  It is so funny to me that he picks up things that I don't even realize that he sees.  (I usually have him gated out of the kitchen while I'm trying to cook!) I guess that's a good lesson to us all--these little people see everything! The video is really short because my camera battery went dead!  (PS- don't mind the grocery bags in the background.  I haven't gotten around to feeling like putting these away yet.)

April, March & November...

Happy March 31st, everyone!!

Poor Kid!

He definitely was not blessed with dancing genes!

Also, I can't figure out how to get this the right way... so just tilt your head!