It's All Downhill from Here!

We've reached the halfway point in this pregnancy. I am officially 20 weeks pregnant (even though I'm almost 22 week as I write this...) The last few weeks have been a little rough (see previous post), but I'm hoping we are through the worst of it.

20 weeks...not loving this picture, but it'll do!

Biggest Cravings: I have been craving gummy worms & cottage cheese (just not together)! I've also been dreaming about Red Bean's Bayou Grill & their Firecracker Pasta. They're officially closed now, but I did get a chance to have one last taste!
Biggest Food Aversions: None!
Clothes: The past few weeks, my staples have been t-shirts and shorts. Pretty fancy stuff.
Body: Since 3 complete strangers asked about my pregnancy this week, I'd say there's no hiding it! Time to embrace the bump!
Energy/Mood: I've been super sick (see previous post), so my energy has been at a low point and I am an emotional mess.
Movement: We can see him kick now! Pretty fun to watch my stomach move around! Evidently, we've been talking about it a lot because Reese lifted up her shirt this morning and told me her baby was growing and kicking. :-)
Sleep: I've been sleeping upright on the couch because of my cough. I miss my bed and hope to be reunited with it again soon.
Best Moment this week: Although this has been a pretty crummy week, Reese and I still managed to do a few fun things- like visit the splash park, go to the library, visit the farmer's market, attend 4 birthday parties, and enjoy lots of snuggles.

Miss Anything?  Being able to breathe! Every day gets a little better, but you really take your health for granted until something like this knocks you down.
Looking forward to: Healthy days ahead!

 

We made a birdfeeder this week as part of our summer bucket list. Reese loved painting and hanging it. She points it out every day and says, "I painted my birdfeeder." So far we haven't seen any birds enjoying it...might have something to do with our cat. ;-)

 

 

 

A Bit of a Scare.

It has been a scary couple of days. I've had a cold/cough all week, so Friday I finally broke down and went to the doctor. The main reason I decided to go in was because I was coughing so much and it was keeping me up all night. The last three nights I had spent sleeping upright on the couch because of the coughing. There are limited medications you can take while pregnant and those really weren't helping either. So, I made an appointment for Friday afternoon, thinking they'd probably end up giving me an antibiotic and maybe a breathing treatment if it was really bad (worst case scenario). I figured I'd be in and out in 30 minutes, so I brought Reese along too.

When I got to the doctor, they took my pulse and it was 135. A normal pulse (even for someone who is pregnant) is under 100. They were immediately concerned with this and starting doing all kinds of tests and rushing in and out of the room. My doctor came in and told me that they were worried I might have a blood clot in my lungs. Your blood thickens when you're pregnant, making pregnant women more susceptible to clotting. She said they were going to do a chest x-ray to see if they could find a clot. If they didn't find a clot on the x-ray, they were going to send me over to the hospital to get a spiral CT scan, which would be able to show a clot that a chest x-ray might miss. At that point, I panicked and asked if I should call Elliott. She said yes. Then I really panicked. They did the chest x-ray and nothing showed up that looked unusual. My doctor also decided to draw blood to check my thyroid levels, which can also be affected during pregnancy. Those results wouldn't be in for a day or two. Then they decided to do an EKG to check my heart. When Elliott arrived, they were putting wires and stickers all over me for the EKG- kind of a scary sight. That came back fine too, except for my high heart rate, which we already knew about. We spent the next hour waiting for my admittance paperwork for the hospital. Poor Reese had been at the doctor since before 2pm and it was now almost 5pm. She was a trooper and was rewarded with lollipops from the nurses! Once the paperwork was ready, we headed to Wesley Hospital for the test.

The spiral CT was an interesting experience. They put some fluid in my arm that made my insides feel really warm and I felt like I was wetting my pants. Fun times! Then they moved me in and out of a machine that was spinning around me. It only lasted about 5-10 minutes, but that was long enough for me. A few minutes later, my doctor called to tell me that the CT scan was clear as well. No blood clot. This was good news, but it still left us wondering why my heart was beating so fast. I was sent home for the night and my doctor said she'd call me about the thyroid results over the weekend.

On Sunday, my doctor called with the results. Normal. My doctor said she was going to contact a cardiologist in the morning to consult with them about what to do next.

On Monday, my doctor called and said they wanted to schedule an appointment with the cardiologist. After meeting with the cardiologist today (my pulse was still high at 126), she has decided to do an echo (ultrasound) of my heart tomorrow to make sure everything is working properly. Then she wants me to wear a heart monitor for 24 hours to monitor my pulse over a longer span of time to see if there are spikes or if it's running that fast all the time. She said that she thinks I'm going to be just fine, that some people have normal heart rates of close to 100 and pregnancy makes your heart beat up to 30 bpm faster, so it could be nothing. However, since I'm pregnant, we are trying to rule out all possible causes.

I am anxious to see how things check out at the echo and with the heart monitor. I have never had any heart problems or really any major ailments (not even a broken bone), so this is all a bit scary for me. It's also scary because I'm pregnant and I don't want to harm the baby in any way. Plus the thought of this being something life-threatening brings tears to my eyes instantly and all I can think about is how Reese needs her mom around and how I don't want to miss out on seeing her grow up. I'm probably being a bit dramatic (I hope), but these pregnancy hormones, plus just feeling crummy with this respiratory illness, have really put me on a rollercoaster.

Thanks for reading! I know this is a long post, but I wanted to let everyone know what's going on. Please keep us in your thoughts as we try to figure out what's causing this and continue with a healthy pregnancy. 4 months to go! :-)

We did manage to do a few things on our summer list this week. We went to another splash park and the farmer's market. Here are a few fun pics from both!

 

Reese said her favorite part was spraying other kids! :-)

Free Books!!! Dolly Parton's Imagination Library

If you have children ages birth through 5 and live in the following areas, your child(ren) could be eligible to receive a free book every month until their 5th birthday from Dolly Parton's Imagination Library!

The program is currently available in the following ZIP codes:

• Andover: 67002
• Augusta: 67010
• All ZIP codes in Sedgwick County
• All ZIP codes in Sumner County

Sign up by visiting the following website. You can sign up multiple children as well. I signed Reese up yesterday and we got an email today that said we should receive our first book in 6-9 weeks. We can't wait!!! Pass this along to anyone you know with kiddos in the area.

Dolly Parton's Imagination Library

Raising Our Strong-Willed Girl

Reese is definitely strong-willed in nature and has been since she was a newborn. When she was a baby she cried loudly, demanded everything instantly, didn't sleep well, was difficult to soothe, didn't take pacifiers, and met most developmental milestones ahead of the norm. Although that strong-willed personality has been challenging since the beginning, it has definitely come out more and more as she has gotten older and it hasn't necessarily gotten any easier. The twos have been full of fun and challenges so far. She has definitely tested our patience. The good news is, most things are phases and after a week or two we are back to "normal." Also, she is just getting to the age (2 1/2) where she can be reasoned with just a little. In the last 6 months she has gone through phases of refusing: dinner, to sit in a chair during meals, bath, bedtime, brushing her teeth, brushing her hair, fixing her hair, wearing clothes, riding in the car seat, going to daycare, going home, drinking from a cup, drinking water (she only wants milk or juice), trimming her nails, and leaving almost every public place we visit. And I'm sure there are tons more I am forgetting. This summer has been SO good for us because we are not tied to our morning hustle and bustle schedule like we are during the school year. Most of our trying times are because we are running late and she is refusing to do something. I have read about every article on how to deal with a strong-willed child and in the end, here are the things that work for us (most of the time).

• Transition Warnings- I give her warnings when we are getting ready to transition to another activity. Even when we are getting ready in the morning, I will tell her that I'm going to brush my teeth and then we are going to do her hair. That way she's not totally surprised later on. I had to do this the other day at Botanica when she didn't want to leave the trains. I told her we were leaving in 5 minutes to see the butterflies. Then I gave her a 3 minute and 1 minute warning as well.

• Sticker Chart- We just started a sticker chart when she decided to refuse all morning and evening routines at once. She gets a sticker when she completes each activity (getting dressed, brushing teeth, taking a bath, putting on pjs). There isn't anything extra tied to it- just a sticker, but it seems to be working, for now. Does it always work? No. But, it helps when she knows the expectation and knows she will have to do the task no matter what and it's her choice whether she gets a sticker or not.

• Time Out- I know everyone has their opinions about time out, but it works for us. We have a spot on the floor behind the couch that we put her when she continues to disobey directions. We tell her why she is sitting there, wait about 1-2 minutes, and come back. I think the most important part of time out is processing with them at the end. We tell her what she did that was not acceptable, tell her what we'd like her to do, and we always end with a hug and and "I love you." Most of the time she discontinues the behavior after time out.

• Choices- We do this about 800 times a day. We let her choose which activity she does first (pjs or brush teeth), where she wants go (park or walk around the neighborhood), where she wants to sit in the cart (front or back), what she wants to ride in (wagon, stroller, or bike), etc. Either way it's a win-win because she gets to make a decision and we get compliance! A new thing we've let her choose is what she puts on her plate for dinner. We used to put everything on plates before we went to the table, but after reading this article- Turning My Picky Eater Around- we've changed to more of a "family-style" dinner. We pass the food around and Reese decides if she wants it on her plate. This gives us an opportunity to describe the foods to her (especially if they're new). She also says "yes" to everything, so that makes it easier. She doesn't always eat everything, but at least she feels like she has some say in what goes on her plate and she seems excited to have it there, since she asked for it. She is eating a lot more dinner than she was eating (it was our worst meal of the day) AND she has tried a lot of new foods that she wouldn't normally eat.

• Helping- Reese loves to help and we let her! She loves to do little jobs around the house (take this to daddy, stir this, etc). We try to empower her as much as possible. Sometimes we have to make up little things for her to do if she's not able to help with a particular project. We want her to feel valued and put all that strong-willed energy to use.

One big lesson I've learned is not to judge other parents. Before I had Reese, I would never fathom I would be the kind of parent who would let their child ride in the back of the cart through Target with a candy bar. But, yeah, that happened a few weeks ago. She chose the back of the cart and it was not a battle I was going to fight. She got the candy bar for going potty at Target because she had been struggling to go to the bathroom in public places. Parent of the year right here. :-)

Even with all these tricks, we still have our rough days. We also have our amazing days where she is a perfect angel and we don't have to do any of this. I think surviving the twos is all about knowing that the phases don't last very long, other parents/kids are going through the same thing, and that having a strong-willed child means that you're going to have a strong-willed adult who will grow up to do amazing things! We loved our strong-willed girl and we wouldn't want her to be any different. Her spunky personality brings us so much joy and happiness.

Do you have a strong-willed child? What works for you?

Reese's Toddler Room...Plus Nursery Coming Soon!

We have been slowly transitioning Reese into more of a toddler room. We started in the fall by opening her crib to more of a daybed. But, she was really outgrowing the crib mattress and we are going to need that crib mattress for the new baby, so we thought summer would be a good time to get her into a twin bed. I've heard not to make too many changes right before or after the new baby arrives, so this should be plenty of time for her to adjust. Most of her décor and colors are staying the same from her original nursery. Her nursery was never super "babyish," and we still really love all the bright colors. Since we haven't changed a whole lot with the design, it has been a fairly easy (and fun) transition. 




Paint: Sherwin Williams Impatient Pink (6854)



Shelves



Jenny Lind Bed

Between the two "kid" bedrooms is a bathroom that they will share. Here's a look at that. There is a little pink, but I think it'll work for either a boy or girl. I wanted to keep this bathroom less "kiddy" since our guests also use this bathroom.



Kate Spade Candy Stripe Shower Curtain (no longer available)

And here's a look at the playroom, which will soon be a nursery. We have absolutely LOVED having this playroom space for Reese, so it is sad to see it go. Our plan is to create a space in the basement living room for a playroom. I think we will like that too and I'm looking forward to putting that space together soon. We also plan to put some of Reese's toys in her bedroom and in the upstairs living room, so that she'll have things to play with on the main level. In the mean time, we will continue to use the playroom as we transition it into a nursery.

We have a design theme for the nursery and we picked up the paint this weekend. Since it is too hot to work outside in our flower beds like we had planned and Reese happened to go down for nap (hallelujah!), we decided to start painting the nursery. We're only painting the ceiling and the wall above the trim, so it should be a quick project. Although I think Reese is going to be a little shocked when she wakes up and finds out the state of her playroom.



Paint Color: Sherwin Williams Open Air

Don't worry about the baby blue being too babyish. This room will transition nicely into a toddler room as well- wait and see! This is just the beginning!

4th of July Fun!

If you know one thing about me it's that I absolutely adore holidays. I love to decorate, make festive foods, wear festive clothes, and basically submerse myself (and my family) in each holiday for at least a week month. My FAVORITE holiday is Valentine's Day, followed closely by Christmas and Halloween. My least favorite holiday is the 4th of July. I love what it stands for, but I'm not crazy about the noise and I get a little anxiety about the dangers of fireworks (especially since Reese came into the picture). However, I can usually pull myself together and have a good time anyways! This year we had a great time celebrating on the 4th and for several days leading up to it. Here are some of the fun things we did!

We made a few 4th of July crafts!

We wore festive clothes all week. Reese might have been a bit tired of it. :-)

We played with festive star chalk (thank you target dollar bin).

We had festive pancakes on the morning of the 4th.

Yum!

After the pancakes, we had a neighborhood parade. Here's Reese and her friend, Everleigh.





We went to Stearman's in Benton for 4th of July lunch and watched the biplanes fly. We highly recommend this restaurant...such a fun experience.

Reese was decked out in 4th of July attire.

The best part about this restaurant was that there was a swing set a few feet away from the tables. PERFECT for busy toddlers and their parents who want to have a relaxing meal. Why don't all restaurants have this?!

Reese was SO excited to go to Maxx's Red, White, and 2 Birthday Party in the afternoon on July 4th. She held these flags the whole way there.

Then she fell asleep before we got there... She spent the first 45 minutes of the party in her stroller sleeping. This was actually a blessing because she got enough of a nap that she was in a good mood the rest of the evening. She had so much fun celebrating at the Hursh's house. She loved riding the train, running around with her BFF Everleigh, and eating a bazillion cookies & cupcakes (and no actual dinner). They put on a great fireworks show for us, too! We had a blast! Poor girl is going to expect every weekend to be this much fun!

We lit off a few fireworks in front of our house on July 5th. Our favorites were the panda that climbed the tree, the friendship pagoda. and sparklers (of course).

 

That was our 4th of July in a nutshell! We hope you all had a fun and safe 4th as well!