A quick update

1. The family.
We had a HUGE weekend! We went up to NJ to throw Evan's parents a surprise 60th birthday party. Doug's birthday was this past Sunday (Sept 27); even though Lynn's isn't until November, we decided to do the party for both of them now. The party was a blast - tons of family, little kids running around, and everyone got to meet Natalie for the first time! I do have some good pics, but they're still on my camera - I'll get them up hopefully tomorrow.

We then headed to Queens on a spur-of-the-moment trip to see some friends! These are friends from our apartment building that we lived in on Wall Street while I was in grad school. We all got to know each other because we have dogs that played together, and I've stayed friends with the ladies because we now all have kids! So, we stayed with our friends Natasha & Adam in their townhouse in Queens (and their two kids Paul & Juliet, and dog Simon); in their basement apartment live our friends Jennifer & Evan, with their son Hugo and dogs Frieda & Diego. It's a full house! We had a great time, and I got tons of pictures of the great things we did in the city with the kids. Natalie went on the subway for the first time when we took the kids to the children's zoo in Central Park - she LOVED the train.

On our drive back home on Tuesday, we stopped for lunch at my cousin's house in Delaware. They live right off of I-95 on our way, so it was a great place to stop and have lunch. Plus, I hadn't seen her in about 5 years since her baby shower, so I'd never met her twin boys! It was a short visit, but a nice one.

2. Me!
So, I'm now officially 13 weeks pregnant, putting me at the start of my second trimester. I've been feeling good for a little over a week now, and am able to eat full meals. Plus, I've gotten quite a bit of my energy back, which is great, as it means I can have more fun with Natalie! So, things are good on that front.

Birthday ideas

I need to start by saying that this is NOT a troll for birthday gifts (my birthday is Oct 3). Every year my family members ask me what I want for my birthday, and I always say "I don't know" or come up with some idea. This year, I'm trying to be a little proactive and think of things I actually want and/or need. So, for those of you who were ALREADY thinking of buying me a gift (if you weren't, that's totally fine! Just wish me a happy birthday, that's enough), here are some ideas.

First up: the wants. I updated my Amazon.com wishlist with new books, dvds, and cds that I'd like. So, take a look. Note: a bunch of the stuff at the beginning isn't coming out for at least a few weeks, so if you get that for me, I won't get it until it's released.

Second: the needs. I actually do need some more maternity clothes, as this time I'm going to be at my most advanced stage of pregnancy for the coldest months (Jan, Feb, and yes, March). I didn't have to worry about this last time, so my options on what to wear then are limited at this time. I had put some things I want from both Motherhood Maternity and Old Navy into shopping bags and linked to them here, but of course the links don't work when you're on a different computer from the one on which I made the shopping bags! So you can't see the cute shirts I picked out (i'm hesitant to buy pants online). Instead, I guess I recommend gift certificates to either of those stores.

Just some ideas - feel free to use or ignore!

Pics since last Thursday

Now that I'm feeling a bit better, I've been better about taking pictures of Natalie. I managed to get at least one good one of her from each of the past 4 days! So, chronologically, here she is:

Thurs, Sept 17: here is Natalie relaxing on the couch before bed, showing off her cute new cat pajamas (they're actually part of a set of two that mix & match)

Friday, Sept 18: We bought a new lightweight stroller from target.com, and it showed up on Wed and sat in the box for two days. Natalie was itching to try it out (seriously, she kept saying "go, stroller, want stroller!"), so when the weather was beautiful friday evening we went walking. She loves it! We went for another walk in it each day over the weekend, she's liking it so much.

Sat, Sept 19: Today was chilly, so Natalie finally got to wear one of her new outfits (from Kohl's mix-and-match selection; I love them!). Isn't the shirt darling? And I think the pigtails make the outfit.

Sun, Sept 20: Before Natalie went to bed, we vacuumed the house. The vacuum is one of her absolute favorite things, so after Evan finished, we let her "help". She managed to push it around quite a bit!

And after all that pushing around, she got sleepy on the floor, with her best friend Calla!

A special announcement

I mentioned previously that I had a reason as to why it had been 2 weeks between posts in late August/ early September. Well, as of today I'm ready to officially tell everyone why...

I'm pregnant!

That's right, baby #2 is on the way. We're super excited, but nervous too - it'll be a change from our nice routine with Natalie, that's for sure! But a good change.

The reason I didn't post for a couple of weeks because of how absolutely awful I was feeling. I had a rough time from weeks 6-9, and since then have had good days & bad. Today I feel fine; yesterday I threw up twice. This is NOT like with Natalie, when I just had a crappy third month but that was it. This time, I can't seem to predict what will set off my stomach, so I'm just being careful with what I eat. I'm just hoping that when I reach second trimester I'll feel much better!

I'm currently 11.5 weeks pregnant, and had my first scheduled ultrasound this morning. Everything looks good; the little guy/gal is scheduled to appear in the world on April 7, 2010. Measurements were dead on for his/her "age", heart rate was great (170), and we got to see him/her moving around all over. Unfortunately, the little one didn't want to turn the proper way for the nuchal translucency test (to check for neural tube defects), so I had to deal with lots of poking & prodding (i.e. shoving) with the ultrasound wands, but eventually they got the measurements they needed. I'll get official results at my midwife's next week, but the radiologist said everything looked great. I wanted to put up an ultrasound pic here, but she only printed crummy ones, so it'll have to wait til next time.

And yes, I'm going with a midwife this time. We had a couple of issues with how induction-happy my OB was last time, and the inflexibility she had with changing my due date. So I met with this practice of certified nurse midwives, and really like them. I still get to deliver at the amazing Birthing Inn at INOVA Loudoun (no, it won't be in my living room like some thought!), and they're willing to let me use drugs if I want, which is key.

Walking is fun!

We spent last weekend at home together, just the three of us. It was wonderful! We so rarely have weekends with nothing scheduled, no plans with friends or family, or anything we absolutely have to do. So, we ran some errands, spent lots of time playing, and went on a number of walks. Here are some photos and a video from the fun walk we took on Sunday. Turns out that letting Natalie have something to push was a great idea - she stayed right with us, and listened really well!

Teasing my husband

As I head to work so early in the morning that Evan gets Natalie up, dressed, and over to daycare. However, I try and pick out her clothes the night before, as she's got such cute clothes that it's fun for me to do. I was at a work retreat in Gettysburg last Thursday-Friday, so couldn't pick out Natalie's clothes for Friday. After I got home, I went to get Natalie from daycare, and found her wearing this:

Now, I know my child doesn't need to be a fashion plate. And there are two things in Evan's defense:
1. all of those pieces of clothing DO contain pink. He is correct. However, I don't think I would choose to put a pink hoodie with yellow & teal birds over a (different shade) pink t-shirt with multi-colored hearts, paired with navy blue, pink & white diamond print capri pants.

2. It got chilly last week, and I hadn't yet washed Natalie's fall clothes, so Evan didn't have many options to choose from. But, there were outfits that went together better than this, I promise. :)

Really, it doesn't matter. She's just at daycare for the day. But it's fun to have something to tease Evan about.

Note: the kind of weird face Natalie is making is her attempt to "smile" on command for the picture. She now stands still for pictures and says "smile" before you take it, and wrinkles up her face like that. Kind of cute!

Sensitivity

A few months ago, Natalie was diagnosed with eczema (I think I mentioned that previously), leading us to change many of the products we use on her skin. We're using only Dove soap or all-over Johnson's body wash (no dye, a little fragrance) in the tub, and Aveeno products after the bath (lotion and a 1% hydrocortisone cream when she gets rashy, or on bug bites). Her rashy spots on her inner arms & backs of her legs are GONE. Completely. It's wonderful! I'm a little worried as to how her skin will fare once it dries out a lot this winter, but I think if we keep her well-lotioned, we can keep it under control.

Interestingly, I've discovered I have a skin sensitivity too, which I didn't even realize! I've used Bath & Body works products, including body wash, for years. I had discovered a few years ago that I couldn't use the cherry blossom body wash as it made me itch in some very uncomfortable places, but otherwise I was fine. The itching went away with other scents, and I've used their lotions & body spray with no issues.

In what I thought was a non-related issue, the backs of my upper arms have been all red and bumpy for years. I thought this was just the way my arms were, and never thought anything of it. Well, when I was searching for products to use for Natalie, I found a body wash by Pure & Natural (all natural ingredients, free of all dyes, just a small amount of fragrance) that I really liked because the scent is Almond & Cherry Blossom. I thought to use it for her, so I bought it. Since the Dove & Johnson's products worked so well for her, I started using the P&N product myself. I noticed last week that after only a short time of using the body wash, the skin on my arms is completely fine: no more redness, no more bumps. Apparently it was a skin allergy and I never even realized it! So, I recommend if you've got any skin issues and are unsure of their origin, try an all-natural body wash!

Labor Day Weekend

I'm a little behind on posts lately (as you can tell from the almost two weeks between the last two posts!) - the why about that will come later (it's a long story). So, before it gets too far away from the holiday, here's what we did last weekend!

We went down to Richmond Va last Friday to spend the time with some friends. We stayed with our friends Brian & Katie (and their two boys, Adam & Ben), and our friends Peter & Alison (and their son Liam) came also. So, we had 6 adults & 4 kids (with Natalie being the only little girl!), but they have a beautiful large home, so we had plenty of space for everyone.

The one "outing" we did that weekend was when we took all of the kids to Maymont Park on Saturday. There's a small animal park there, and we thought the kids would like to see the animals, run around a bit, etc. Here are a few of the pictures I took!

1. Adam pointing out a peacock to Natalie:

2. Natalie showing off her cute shades:

3. Natalie staring at the black bears while we snap a picture:

4. Natalie, Ben & Adam posing for a picture (Adam really didn't want to; we had to force him to stay there!).

5. I took Natalie up to the top of a waterfall in the park, and helped her put her feet in the water. She ended up sitting down in it before I could stop her, and getting a nice wet butt!

We came home on Sunday, after quickly stopping to see my sister. We then threw a bbq on Monday (labor day) with a few friends, and even though it rained on us, we had a lot of fun!

Another new fun game!

Here are Evan and Natalie playing "rosies", or "ring around the rosies" as many of you would know it. We upped the fun factor by spinning her around as you'll see below. My favorite parts are a) her laughter (can't get enough of that), and b) her dizziness after we put her down!