Photos of Rose

I'm so behind on writing on my blog. Rose and I went to Texas for a week, we did all sorts of fun things for Fall like going to a pumpkin patch and driving the Alpine Loop and trick or treating on Center Street for Halloween, we moved, and today was Thanksgiving. I'm afraid I won't ever catch up, so here is a post where I at least just share all of my favorite photos of Rose from the last few months. Feel free to look through or not. This is more for me and my grandma's scrapbooks than for anything else. :)

The photo above this is funny, because she thought she was doing the same thing I was doing in this picture. 

Rose at 18 Months

I know I've said this before, but I love getting to watch Rose grow! It is amazing to watch the miracle of her life as she learns and grows and becomes more of her own person. She hit her 18 month mark about a week ago and I just can't believe how much she's learned in the short amount of time that she's been alive.



What do you want to know about Rose at 18 months?

She's sassy. Very sassy. She knows what she wants and she is very good at letting you know if you have met her expectations or not. Lately she has developed this incredibly impressive scowl that just cracks me up. I probably shouldn't encourage her, but the amount of grumpiness that teeny tiny body contains sometimes is just hilarious to me.

She just barely started walking in the last month. She took her sweet time, but she has mastered the art of walking...well, I don't know if I would say mastered, but she is very good at getting around on two feet these days. She's also very good at falling down. But along those lines, she doesn't let that stop her and keeps getting up. Some of the obstacles life offers are just a little too much for a new walker. Like little dips in the floor, toys scattered everywhere, and the legs of your parents sitting down on the floor. It's easy to trip.

She also has started to become more verbal. She can say Mommy and Daddy perfectly. She also loves her shoes ("soos") and her socks ("saw!"). Her dad thinks it's hilarious because every time she sees her shoes she says "Oh Soo!" but sometimes it sounds a little bit less like shoe and a little bit more like... something else.

She can point to several different parts of her body when asked to. Eyes, nose, ears, mouth, teeth, hair, belly button (her personal favorite), hands, and feet. It's one of her favorite games to play.

She is also great at playing my favorite game of "Rose, go find your _____ (elephant, book, cup, shoes, blanket, etc.) Normally, the objects are in a different room, and she will happily wander off, and sometimes bring back what I asked for, but sometimes she gets distracted and stays busy for a few minutes and I get to sit back and relax while I wait for her. This game can last forever. She'll grab every single one of her stuffed animals if she's feeling up to it and with the amount of stuffed animals she has, that version of the game takes a nice long time. :)

She loves to explore, experiment with opening and closing doors, put clothes on, and pretend to answer the phone like Mom. Her favorite part of the day is when Daddy comes home. Her favorite food is anything sweet and sugary. And when she's feeling sad, she prefers to cuddle with her Mama.

She's exhausting and she keeps me on my toes, but I love watching her and spending every day with her. I'm so grateful that I get to be her mom, to teach her, to love her, and to be her best friend. I hope she always knows how much I love her, despite my imperfections as a mother.

One of my favorite parts of the day is going into her room to get her from her crib. On the days that I feel particularly like the worst mom ever, I can walk into her room and look forward to the guaranteed grin that she always has waiting for me. How lucky am I to be loved and adored by such a sweet and perfect little being?

Here We Go Again

I announced the big news on Halloween that we are pregnant again with baby number 2. We are mostly excited, with only a little bit of anxiety and nervousness mixed in there, like healthy parents.

Here are the pictures we used to announce this baby:

If you can't tell, we are dressed up as Roger and Anita from 101 Dalmations. Rose is a dalmation, and we are pretending that baby number two is another addition to our "litter." 

This baby is due April 17, 2020 which is my birthday, so he/she will most likely be arriving a week sooner on April 10. Because I love birthdays, and I do not plan on sharing mine with any of my children if I can help it. And also, can you think of a more miserable way to spend a birthday? The miracle of life is a beautiful thing, but not the most fun.

Speaking of that. Here are some morning sickness tips for any expecting mothers or women who plan on getting pregnant eventually. While pregnant with Rose, I had the WORST morning sickness. I was nauseous all day, every day and I threw up a TON. (tmi?) This time around I don't know if it's different or if I have done a better job of managing it. But here are the things that have helped me the most.

1) Have protein first thing every morning. I have an egg on toast, every day. For some reason, it helps with the nausea.

2) Never let yourself get hungry! That's how it gets you! This one is tough because morning sickness makes pretty much all food unappealing, but if you power through and snack throughout the day, you'll feel better.

3) Don't drink water right after eating. And just do the best you can. I don't know if everyone struggles with this, but water is really hard for me to drink when I'm dealing with morning sickness. I know that pregnant women are supposed to drink a boatload of water every day to help the baby grow, but just drink what you can throughout the day. I keep a water bottle by me throughout the day so that when I DO feel like drinking water, it's already right there.

4) I take a unisom sleep tab pill and half a vitamin b6 before I go to sleep at night, which has helped me the last two pregnancies to not throw up as often. But there are other medicine options as well and I would definitely ask your doctor about them. This literally saved me when I was pregnant with Rose. I couldn't keep anything down before I got medicine.

5) Take your prenatal vitamins right before you go to bed. That way if they do make you feel nauseous, like they typically do, you will hopefully be asleep before that kicks in and it won't have any affect on you.

6) Take it slow. Don't feel bad if you are not doing as much as you think you should be. You are growing a human being for goodness sakes! And don't let anyone make you feel like you aren't doing enough because morning sickness is the worst thing ever! (maybe not the worst thing ever, but it's not a walk in the park.) If I had to choose between delivering a baby and having morning sickness, I would much rather just give birth.

7) Not exactly related to morning sickness. But something that I feel is important to share. I am SO grateful that my body is capable of growing healthy babies. I recognize that that is something that many women struggle with and can't do. My heart hurts incredibly for those women, and I wish there was something I could do to help. I also am aware that motherhood and pregnancy are beautiful things and that God knows what He is doing. But I think it is also okay to be frustrated and discouraged by the uncomfortable side effects that come from being pregnant. So, don't get me wrong if you hear me complaining. I am grateful for the blessing that it is, but I'm still going to complain when I throw up in a gross toilet at work because sometimes it's hard to be pregnant, and sometimes it's hard to be a mom and I think that it's okay to feel that way.

Cute little baby legs <3