Second Trimester

Wow! This pregnancy is going fast! I am now starting my last trimester as this baby is due in early September. I have been taking weekly photos to chart this baby bump. I forgot to take any pictures for a couple of weeks due to a very annoying eye infection I have been dealing with. To cover up my icky eyes I have been wearing my fake prescription glasses. It started out with what was supposed to be a stye. I had to research this as I've never had one before. I think I've only had pink eye once in my life, so eye issues are new to me. The medicine the doctor gave me didn't do anything but make it look more red and irritated. It got progressively worse as more little white bumps were forming, and even spread to both eyes! Not just that but painful too. I had to go see an opthomalogist who said I had a clogged duct in one eye and cellulitis in the other eye which was actually far worse than expected. Great. So he prescribed a safe antibiotic for pregnancy. By the time I got around to start taking the prescription my body finally started to kick in and heal the wounds. I hardly have any infection anymore and I now have a whole bottle of antibiotic if I need it. I'll avoid taking it if possible as I am not a fan of drugs.

Gender Reveal

17 weeks

18 weeks

19 weeks

20 weeks

Since I skipped a couple of weeks AND no ballroom dancing (sad face) I've really seen a growth...and so has everyone else. I think this little guy is gonna be a big one, just like our 9 pound Reina was. I seem to be measuring larger unlike our small 7 1/2 pound Baelor.

I have been feeling good, as expected and still able to do everything I normally do. Still doing my regular workouts and busy schedule. I'm been eating a lot though. Everything tastes good. Maybe that's the problem with my growing tummy (wink, wink!) If you couldn't tell most of my weekly pictures were taken on Sunday.

21 weeks

22 weeks

23 weeks

26 weeks

I have had to keep close watch on my blood sugar (yep, insulin and needles and lots of pricks every day to make sure I'm on track). Unless you have type 1 diabetes, you have NO IDEA how your daily life is interrupted by this quiet disease. It is the bane of my existence. Blood sugar running too high or too low could mean emergency room, coma, or death. It's pretty scary stuff and as I am learning more about this disease, I so hope they find a cure or at least way of reducing the risks involved with diabetes. So far, so good with my diabetes. The only scary incident I have had was a few weeks ago. Late one night before bed I took the wrong kind of insulin. It ended up being WAY too much. In fear that I would collapse into a coma, I quickly woke Paul up and we quickly rushed to the emergency room waiting area just in case something happened. Grandpa quickly came over to stay with the kids while I was chomping on candy all the way there. Luckily, I was safe and was able to avoid actually being admitted into the hospital.

My latest ultrasound at 26 1/2 weeks shows baby growth is right on track at 2 pounds 1 oz. Yeah! Everything looks perfect, even his smooshy face.

So finally it seems my eyes have cleared up. I've been really hesitant about wearing eye makeup and I've actually been pleased with my makeup-free eyes. I seem to look fresher. Or maybe I'm just getting used to getting ready in 15 minutes now including shower time!

Hopefully I can post a finished baby room soon. We are in the process of putting it together, but we have been spending a lot of our free time outside with the awesome weather we've had!

Tunnel Falls

How lucky we were to get away...even if it was only overnight. Paul and I have been waiting to do some long hikes together like we used to before kids. Our last long hike was Ape Caves. It was not actually long, but definitely not one that our kids could have done. Since we've had such a mild spring, we got surprisingly lucky to have an 80 degree day for a hike in the Gorge. It was perfect! We started out with a stay at Skamania Lodge (about 40 miles east of Vancouver), where we enjoyed the hot tub and just being together.



Crossing Bridge of the Gods

The Tunnel Falls hike tested our endurance as the hike was 13 miles long! It had all the Pacific Northwest decor that we just love about living here- moss, overly-green vegetation, water cascading down cliffs, and about six waterfalls.

 

So 13 miles doesn't sound all that difficult considering it's only half a marathon, but when you are walking over roots and rocks, your feet can take a beating. Being 20 weeks pregnant at the time it was my FEET that felt out of shape the few days following.

Punchbowl Falls

This was one of my favorite hikes EVER! Just amazing scenery and the fact that we succeeded and enjoyed our longest day hike ever.

The tunnel behind the falls

The destination of Tunnel Falls is named this due to the fact that you walk along a ridge and find yourself walking through a tunnel behind a waterfall. So pretty!

Tunnel Falls hike is probably not one for those who are afraid of heights. This hike had some narrow ledges and tall bridges. One of the bridges you cross is in fact called "High Bridge" because it is 120 ft. over the river. And at a few places they have cables bolted into the rock for you to hold on to since the passes are narrow.

After a full day of hiking we went to Chipotle and remembered why we haven't eaten there in years- not to brag, but my food is better.

Our Two Peas in a Pod

So I FINALLY got around to taking pictures of our kiddos for their birthday photos. Yes, I know they turned 6 and 3 in January and didn't get them done until end of April. Yikes! The biggest cause of the delay was the fact that our family was sick on and off since January until now. On the plus side, the weather is warming up and the trees are looking greener so this worked out great!

P.S. My sister actually took the pictures. She is much better than myself. :)

Reina is SIX years old and is excelling in her split Kindergarten/First Grade class. She no longer takes reading books home because she is at or above her grade in reading. Of course she still reads nearly every night. She has been checking out Frog and Toad books at the library lately and can easily read a whole book (which has at least 4 stories in them) in one morning. Sometimes I'll wake up to her reading them aloud in her room or she'll join me in bed and read to me. I love it. I enjoy walking her and the other crowd of kids to school, even if it means we have to wear rain boots every morning to march through the wet park. Her favorite things to do at school are writing stories, math, and practicing skipping cross-bars and flips on the bars at recess.
 

Her favorite past time activities include: gymnastics! (Or as Reina calls it Jin-astics.) She does this for hours on end after school. I'm impressed to see her do a hand stand and then fall into a bridge! I didn't even know she could officially do the splits! She impresses us everyday with how much she can do. She reminds me of myself, but more like me at age 8! Reina is such a "doer" like her mama. She likes to be involved in activities, especially when they are actively pushing her abilities and involving people. She likes to be in charge of groups of people and get them organized doing something. Wow, a lot like me. Toys have never been important to her. Although she has more than enough of the girlie dolls, dress-up and ponies, she still prefers to do activities with people. I, on the other hand, loved Barbies and ponies and dress-up.
 

She struggles with what we call "attitude". She is a talker and likes to respond to EVERYTHING that is said. If she is having a negative moment, she likes everyone to know it and to feel the same. Ugh. Sometimes I feel like I'm living with a 13 year old who has to find fault with everything. We are working on it. It's getting better and at least she keeps this part of her away from school. Reina really is a wonderful daughter who is full of personality, energy, and kindness. We've always said she could be a child actress with her natural ability to perform. She talks with so much enthusiasm and facial expressions- just like her daddy. We are very proud of our little girl who isn't so little anymore.

Baelor is THREE years old and I forget to treat him like a three year old all the time. He enjoys to be cuddled and coddled like a baby, until he goes outside, then WATCH OUT! This boy will run, dig, and climb on anything. He prefers to be outside as much as possible. This makes it hard for me to get any indoor work done because I am constantly checking on him to make sure he didn't leave our culdesac, climb into the neighbors pool, or get ran over by our speeding neighbors a few doors down. Usually we find him in the neighbors sand box, or at the edge of the culdesac pondering an escape out on his trike. We've finally started dealing with the weeds and getting the garden ready. Baelor loves to help even out the dirt and fill the holes with seeds or "help" get the big rocks out. He helps out Papa Will a lot, too, in his garden, washing cars and Papa Will's fishing boat, or just helping him out with other manly work. We often find Baelor doing his own thing as he doesn't care much for organized play.

I just took the kids to OMSI which is a science museum. This was perfect for Baelor as he discovered how to create energy from wind turbines or how a ball can float mid-air with enough force. It's funny to see how our kids are so different. Baelor enjoyed doing the same activity for as long as I'd let him while Reina found a nice volunteer elderly lady who was teaching a crowd of children about how a vacuum seal works. One child found discovery independently while the other child chose learning in a group setting. I, on the other hand, enjoyed people watching and found a friend to talk to.

It's fun to see our children grow into their own little persons. As an infant, it's hard to imagine what they will be like. Yet now as Reina is older, I can distinctly see her personality forming even when she was a baby. I am very pleased to see my children growing into such loving people. Reina is always kind to her brother and rarely do I hear her yelling at him. She likes to do good in all respects.

Baelor is such a sweet heart. I seriously don't think he has a mean-spirited bone in his body. I hope he never loses that, yet I know that he will have to become hardened to live in this world. I hate that. He really does see the world as sunshine and marshmallows.



A Real Spring Break

For the first time EVER I took a full week of spring break off of work! Usually I get caught up with driving students during this time. I have missed out on so much of the day-to-day events with Reina being in school and me working that I've just really missed the little things that a mom does all week. We didn't go away anywhere because Paul had to fill in for the other doctor who took a real vacation. Kinda bummed about this but I tried to do little activities with the kids throughout the week.

Reina finally got a library card! We have been to the library before but apparently everyone in her class has their own library card. I didn't know kindergarteners could get their own. We spent a whole lot of time there collecting a couple chapter books for Reina and an arm load of Bearnstein Bears books. I quizzed Baelor on recognizing his lower-case letters with this fun mat. I'd say he scored a 97%. A kind little girl even got them all hooked up to watch "Peep". I drooled at some interior design magazines.

Quizzing Baelor on his lower-case letters, numbers, and colors

We stopped at the Humane Society and always "choose" the pet we'd come home with. Here is our choice:

Reina got to choose some knick-knacks at Goodwill. You can't tell from scale but these are all really tiny. She has always loved tiny things.

Of course we took trips to the park. The weather has been on and off sun/rain this week so you can't really plan too much outside on any particular day.

Reina had a play day with her friend Abby at our house. I forgot a picture of them. They've been friends since Reina was two. She also had her friend Ella come over to play one afternoon.

After daddy and neighbor Stu mowed the lawn,
Baelor had to get in on the action.

One super-fun event was ice-skating! This was Reina's first time. She started out quite wobbly and held onto the wall at least five times around the rink, but she stayed positive and was determined to do it without holding on. Reina does not give up on something she really wants to do well. I was quite surprised how I didn't hear whining when I gave her some instruction, but rather an athlete's determination. We were both very proud of how well she did. Great job Reina

On another day we went to JJjump. Oh boy, I didn't know little kids can get so sweaty!! After burning all those calories they ate up their pizza. Even picky Baelor ate all of his pizza! We brought some to daddy at work while the kids enjoyed watching a movie at the office so I could sneak off to my Zumba class.

Pizza at Costco. Both Reina and I were surprised even Baelor ate more of his pizza than her!!

Chocolate sundaes make for one gross face!

Of course we had to drop in at Mummi's and say "hi" to all of their friends (and get an already made lunch). Baelor has really impressed us lately with his vocabulary. His sentences are far more detailed and easier to understand, but I didn't know he could build this?!? Sometimes I forget he is growing up because he is still not potty-trained. Sigh.

Finally by Saturday, Paul wasn't working and we thought it would be fun to finish the week off with swimming! On our way to the pool, Baelor threw up all over himself and the carseat. It was bad. Reina immediately started to cry because she knew it meant she would not get to go swimming. Since she was looking so forward to it, Paul suggested I take her while he cleaned and bathed Baelor. I think I got the better end of the deal! Reina has been scared to go down the slide every time we've gone in the past. I guess being a big kindergartener means you are not afraid anymore. She went down a few times on my lap, then the rest of the time she wouldn't stop going down by herself! It looks like she is ready for Great Wolf Lodge where there are many slides.

 I had all of these plans to do it all during spring break: get projects done, make dinner every night, do fun things with the kids, be an awesome wife... So, I didn't get everything done but overall I feel the important stuff happened. It was a good week.