Something New to Look At

This is for those of you (you know who you are) who are "sick of looking at my pee bucket when they look at my blog." I'll get to some new posts, but I'm not feeling particularly creative and want to do the next post justice. It's a funny one. I would have gotten to it today but I'm still recovering from a particularly heinous car ride home from the casino. It was not pleasant...damn car sickness.

Biohazard

Since there really is no such thing as smooth sailing, this pregnancy has brought upon some high blood pressure. It started going up around week 12 and has finally reached the point where some extra tests are needed, 140/89. So they took some blood and I had the pleasure of doing a 24 hour urine collection. Go ahead and laugh. It's funny, especially for a pregnant woman who pees every 20 minutes and two drops feels like I've been partying all night and finally 'broke the seal.' I am really really trying not to worry about this too much because so far, it has had zero effect on the baby and despite feeling my heart pounding at various times and feeling a little flushed, it hasn't had too much of an effect on me. Oh, except for the stress and worry but I'm working on that. This did not happen while I was pregnant with Avery and I'm hoping that it's nothing serious but something that just needs to be monitored for the remainder of the pregnancy. I've also gone back to acupuncture because I really believe that it can fix anything.

Bud 20 Weeks

Avery (Sesame) @ 20 weeks | Bud @ 20 weeks
(please recognize how brave I am to put a picture of myself in a bra on the internets!)

(top) Profile with her arm by her head and (bottom) lady parts

(top) blowing a kiss with her leg up in the air and (bottom) profile

We had our big 20 week ultrasound this week and this is where they take copious measurements of all body parts to make sure everything looks healthy, and so far, she (and yes she's a she) looks perfect! My favorite parts of the ultrasound were when the technician was looking at her brain and said that the cerebral cortex, the part that controls movement was very well developed. Shocking! I could have told her that. My second favorite part is when Scott and I asked her to confirm that it is a girl and Scott ran up to the viewing screen to see the "three little lines." He only saw two.

At 20 weeks, I am generally feeling better than I did a few months ago, but I would not say that I feel good. There are significantly more aches and pains this time around and I'm still spending time in front of the toilet at least once a week. I can't say that I'm having any grand cravings, but eggs are usually on my list of breakfast foods I want.

This little lady is very active in comparison to Avery. She hates it when my belly touches my desk at work and kicks until I scootch backwards. Scott has yet to feel her moving but I think it's mostly because he's impatient and does not possess the ability to sit still and concentrate on one thing. However, her kicks are still pretty light when felt from the outside.

I'm glad I put my two 20 week pictures side by side because I can see some differences in how I'm carrying each baby. Bud seems to be a little higher and rounder than Avery was. Interesting.

Stats: Bud's heartbeat 150 bpm, approximate weight, 12 ounces. I've put on about 10 pounds.

When I'm not Looking

Please note that there is an entire bowl of Os and complete set of Scrabble letters mixed together on the floor.

Two K foam letters. Frankly, I'm surprised they're not the same color.

I love that Avery is equally if not more happy staying home in his jammies on Saturdays because this allows me to get my chores and projects done for the week. Today was no exception so while I was painting trim on the porch, no babies allowed, in preparation for our wood floor installation on Friday, Avery decided that since Os and Scrabble letters are the same color, they deserved to be mixed together and used to carpet the floor. However, I will take cleaning that up any day over having him "help" me paint on the porch.

We eventually got dressed and walked to Annie's cafe for lunch where he ate grilled cheese and french fries (I told you that I rely on Nikki to get him his week's worth of fruits and veggies). Every single bite was completely covered in ranch dressing. He is truly his mother's son and Aunt Christina's nephew.

Alphabet Backwards

This was freaking hilarious. I had tears...

Last night, Avery and I were skyping with Gamma and Papa and this usually means that we're trying to get Avery to sing, answer questions, hypothesize about the meaning of life, etc. Anyway, Heidi asked Avery to say the alphabet, which he did and only missed a few letters since elemenopee is one word. After, she said that he was going to have to learn to say the alphabet backwards like some of her kindergartners. Well, not one to walk away from a challenge. Avery, who was standing on a chair, turned around so that his back was to the computer and recited the alphabet. Quite literally he said the alphabet backwards. I wish I had that on video because my shoddy writing is not doing the story justice.

Who Knew?

Despite how it looks, he's actually enjoying the shower.

Ha! Despite water in the face I got him to look (please note that in his hand are the 5 and J from an earlier post)

So fresh and so clean

Modesty patch

Sometimes when Nikki talks about Avery I feel as though she's talking about someone else's child. For example;

Avery is the best eater I know.
I can always get him to eat his fruits and vegetables.
He slept for 3.5 hours today.
I gave him a shower. You mean a bath? No, a shower and he loved it.

Okay, so I've come to accept that he eats much better for her and rely pretty heavily on her skills so that he gets his week's worth of nutrition on the days he spends with her, but shower? Really? You've got to be kidding me. Cathryn and I have spent many a Saturday at swim class with Avery and Annabelle and this activity always includes a post-swim shower. Well, from the screaming, writhing and wiggling put forth by these two, you would think that shower = torture. So yes, I've been a little hesitant...okay, it didn't even cross my mind to give this kid a shower if I didn't have to. However, while I was showering today Avery asked to come in and since Nikki said he liked his shower earlier this week, I thought, why not, what's the worst that could happen?

Turns out, he LOVED it and even after I got out, got the camera, took these pictures, he still asked for one more minute. Who knew?

This showering thing could be such a blessing because it was much easier than giving him a bath...but he probably doesn't scream for Nikki when she washes his hair either!

Ipod Kid

The track suit and ipod is just too much.

The Way I Are is his jam

Avery has always been pretty interested in ipods and after 18 weeks of pregnancy, I finally rallied and got myself to the gym both this weekend and last to utilize said ipod. Note to self: do not choose an elliptical runner directly in front of the mirror, because yes, that is your ass. Avery kindly reviewed my shuffle selections before we hit the gym and he has been enjoying the playroom mostly because they have a movie playing nonstop. I did purchase a maternity swimsuit so that I can start swimming since I hear it feels pretty good for increasingly enlarging women so we'll have to try that next weekend.

27

"Other side 5 and other side J make 27!"

Dummy.

Big Boy Bed

"What's happening? Green is happening. Mommy made the big boy bed."
(He's climbing in for the first time)

"Blog. Blog. Blog. Avery sitting on colors."
(Colors is the name of his new comforter)

"I'm stambing up with a bear. Bear jammies. Avery get dressed."

"Hahahahaha. Other pictures."

"I'm mad. Help me."

"I want to see a mommy and daddy picture. Mommy and daddy fold the clothes."

Avery apparently had more to say about the pictures from Hannah's party because these captions took some prodding. He might also be distracted by the fact he's wearing underwear and I keep asking him if he needs to go potty (no, we're not really training but he was interested in it today, mostly for the M&Ms).

So, on to the big boy bed. A few Friday's ago I spent the whole day assembling Avery's new bed and dresser. The novelty of having a two year old helper lasted as long as it took to assemble the bed. He now officially knows more about tools and putting things together than Scott. Avery immediately loved his bed, so much so that it took a few days for him to be able to nap in it. There were just too many nooks and crannies to explore. He only slept at night because he was so tired from not napping all day. Luckily now he is comfortably sleeping in his bed for both naps and nighttime and the best part is that he does not get out of bed by himself. There was one incident where he "escaped" while Scott was still up watching TV and he asked, "What are you doing out here!" and Avery was crestfallen when he realized that the fun had ended. Scott didn't even say this in a scolding voice, but Avery is a pretty obedient child and hated that he had done something "wrong." That was the last time he has escaped.

Avery knows that the crib is for Sister and so is half of the dresser. He has no desire to sleep in the crib again which I think is a good thing. We love having this big bed as it is fantastic for snuggling, reading books and general loving time.