Pregnancy, the 2nd Time Around

The first time I was pregnant, with my daughter Lexi, I have to admit I was a miserable mess. We were only 19, we had been married 7 months when we found out, and neither of us had a clue. My emotional ups and downs were severe, due partially to money stress and just the vast void of unknown, and my poor young husband had no idea how to handle it, or me.
Between the two of us, it was one long, miserable time.

But this is round 2. And it was SO much better.
For starters, we both have an idea of what we're doing. We're 23/24 now, which while still young, has given us several years parenting experience. Time to mellow out, get organized, and develop a plan based on our built up parenting skills.

A big part of what has made this pregnancy so much smoother is that I didn't gain nearly as much weight as I did my first time. At 19 I had never weighed over 112 lbs. Sick I know. I was rail thin by nature and I was in no way prepared for the changes that were about to consume my previously taut body, and transform it into a scarred, flabby mess. I had never had to work hard to stay thin, I just was. And I couldn't mentally process the changes it was going through. So I cried, a lot. I gave birth to my daughter weighing 166 lbs. Quite the jump there.
This time I started out at a toned 135 lbs (I had been going to the gym regularly, and a lot of that was muscle; husband makes a good gym partner!) and am finishing off at 160, which is only a 25 lb weight gain, perfectly with the range set by the doctors. And while it's only 6 lbs less than my end weight last time, I'm far thinner than I was then. Last time it was 54 pounds of fat, that I carried just about everywhere, including my face. This time it's 25 lbs, that I'm carrying mostly around my mid-section. So momma's feeling good about herself. And when momma feels good about herself, all is well!

Another huge part of this pregnancy going so much better has been my husband.
Last time he was a scared 19 year old boy with no experience with babies, or children, or pregnant women. Or really, women at all. Because I was a scared 19 year old girl, turning into a mother, not a woman yet. He didn't know how to deal with me, my feelings, his own feelings, the idea of having a baby, being a father...and because he didn't know how, he just didn't. I felt completely alone most days.
(You may have picked it up at this point, but our first was an un-planned pregnancy. I can attest that birth control is only 97% effective)
This time? So different. He has been a father for over 4 years, and that changes a man. Last time, he didn't know he could love a small, crying, pooping, "potato". And this time, well he can't imagine life without her, and I think that helps him. He knows that this little one will become just as big a part of our lives as Alexis has been.
He is excited, he is helpful, he is on my team, and we are on the same page. It has made such world of difference, never feeling alone in this. And seeing him get excited about things, even small things, is the best feeling. That's really key to an easy pregnancy, great support!

As stated before, we were very young. And an enormous part of what has made this pregnancy easier, is just being older. My hormone levels are much more balanced (zero mood-swings this pregnancy!), my body is more built to handle the physical stress, and we are at a more comfortable and settled place in our lives financially and otherwise. Those are all huge factors in pregnancy. The less stress you have going on in your life, the smoother this period of time is going to go. And being older has helped with that so much.
In fact, even though I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes this time, this pregnancy has been SO much easier, I know that if it had been this way last time we would already have more little ones.

The biggest factor though? Experience! We've already done this. And in worse circumstances than we're in now. We know we can handle it. We know how to prepare. And we have a tiny adorable 4-year-old distraction to help the time pass.

So good luck fellow mommies. I hope your pregnancies are smooth, and you have plenty of support. My next post will be after Talon is here, because tomorrow is the induction! ♥

Baby shower!

 Yesterday marked my 32nd week of pregnancy, only eight more to go! And last weekend was my baby shower. It was small, just family and close friends, but it was so fun and relaxed! The colors were the same as my kids room is going to be, so a lot of the shower decor will find new life there. I have to say, my mom's sunroom is the perfect room for parties! We rearrange the furniture and add different decor for almost every shower and party we have. The snacks were made by my mother and I, the punch was a recipe I found on Pinterest and edited which I will share in another post, most food was made by my mother, one dish was made by my sister's mother-in-law, and as far as decor I will include credits at the bottom. Without further ado, pictures!

These are the prize bags! We found the bags on clearance at Target, and I hot-glued twine and little mini-flags on them to match the larger banners we'd made.

The invitations were SO cute. We found them on Etsy (credit below), printed them at Walmart, and we found this frame again on clearance at Target!

These large poms we found on Etsy (credit below) and we used twine to hang them from the ceiling fan. They came with clear fishing line for hanging, but the garlands we bought from the same shop we ordered on twine so we wanted them to match.

These garlands were the best decoration! They are different shades of orange on twine, and we hung them from the curtains using safety pins.

We made several of these banners and hung them across the doorways and also above the present table. We bought all the paper at Michaels (most on clearance for 20 cents a sheet) and were able to get 3 good sized flags out of each sheet. Then we punched holes in the corners and threaded them onto twine in a specific pattern similar to the one on the invites.

These are the sweets made by my mother and I, and the cupcakes were iced by my sister and I. The marshmallows are dipped in white chocolate and sprinkles, and they're skewered on gray chevron paper straws. The pretzel rods are also dipped in white chocolate and sprinkles. The cupcakes were a special recipe created by my mom (almond vanilla, with sour cream in them which keeps them moist!), and the frosting was a special recipe also.

Me, my momma, and the little munchkin before the party started.

The flowers sent by my husband that arrived in the middle of the shower. :) He's so sweet! They were even prettier when they were all alive. In this picture only the carnations are still kicking.

Some party preview shots!

Credits:

Poms and pom garlands purchased from:                                       Pom+Love on Etsy

Invitations purchased from:                                                            katiedidesigns on Etsy

Gray striped paper straws purchased from:                                     BakeMeAParty on Etsy

Cute matching tin owl purchased from:                                           Ross

Yellow pillows (originally for the kids room) purchased from:             Target

Paper and twine for banners and assorted decor purchased from:     Michaels

The original Punch recipe can be found:                                          here (but we did tweak it a bit for ourselves, more on that later!)

Birthday and Christmas

Alexis is turning 4 on November 19th, and we're having her party this Saturday, I'll post pictures as soon as I can.

It's been hard having so many birthdays in October and November when Christmas is just around the corner. Especially with Cameron not working due to school, and with the little amount I make at Target....lets just say the dollars are in the red.

But this is a happy post!
Today I stumbled upon the CUTEST bicycle I have ever seen in my life, and my mom is considering getting it for Alexis for Christmas. Cameron and I would, but we already have in motion what we will be getting for her.

Voila, the cutest bike EVER.

Right? It has a seat for her dollies (she asked for a specific one from Santa this year), and a basket for all her little treasures she likes to collect. It even has giant polka dots on the basket and giant buttons on the training wheels! I can't get over the cuteness.

And since Alexis loves pink...it's just perfect.

Had to post!
As I said, birthday pics will come as soon as I've got some.

We're MOVING

So, do you remember how excited we were to buy our first house? Do you remember how hard we worked on it? Do you remember how much we l.o.v.e. it?
Did I not share all that with you?
My bad.
Well, none of that matters anymore.

Cameron's job in Organic Food Distribution was good. It was family oriented which we loved. He enjoyed his work. It had great benefits. It paid the bills.
But that was IT. We've lived on no extras for the nearly 4 years we have been married.
For instance:
I have no makeup other than what my sisters/mother-in-law have given me of their leftovers.
We do not go out to eat ever.
We go grocery shopping once a week and aside from bills that is the only money we spend.
My daughter almost didn't get summer clothes, and I was going to cut the sleeves off of her long-sleeved shirts, and the legs off of her jeans, but my wonderful mother brought over a bag of brand new summer clothes for her so that didn't have to happen.
This was not working anymore to say the least.

Sooooo, Cameron has decided to become an Air Traffic Controller.
The closest schooling for that is 2 hours away. So guess what? We're moving 2 hours away.
Byebye house.
*sniffle*
Hello apartment.
*sniffle*
And room-mate.
*sniffle sniffle*

Yep. We're renting out the house we love. Signed the lease agreement with the renters two days ago.
And we move on SATURDAY.
That's in 3 days.
3 DAYS.
Everything is happening SO fast!
We've spent the last three weeks looking for renters, creating lease agreements, looking for apartments, filling out applications, packing, filing for financial aid, registering Cam for classes, and driving up and down the 4 hour round-trip drive to the place that will be our new home.
Our first home away from our families.
It's scary.

I still don't have my license which makes it scarier, but I am working on it. Got my permit renewed (again), and I drove around our neighborhood the other day.

On top of all this, Cameron had to have emergency surgery to have his appendix taken out.
This was an ordeal in itself because he was in extreme pain for nearly 24 hours before they figured out what was wrong.
They thought we were trying to scam pain meds. =/
Not cool.

Anyway, I'm hoping to start posting more often now that I've revamped the blog. Stay tuned!

Colds for all

Everyone in the family is either sick or getting over being sick. :( Two little girls down the street who got sick at the same time as the monkey were diagnosed with pneumonia so we took her to the doctor yesterday and (YAY!) she's actually getting better. Tonight we watched The Cosby Show after dinner (the first time for the monkey) and she loved it. She wanted to watch it again, "one more time mommy!" It was very cute.

Tomorrow starts our weekend, I'm very excited! When husband gets home from work tonight we will probably watch a Roswell episode or two before hitting the hay. Then tomorrow we begin shopping for new flooring tile for the entryway/kitchen/bathroom/laundry room (the new house we bought wasn't well taken care of and the linoleum that is everywhere is terribly chipped, scuffed, and marred). It's a project we've been saving up for and I'm so excited to finally get started on it! It's the last thing to be done in the entryway, the first thing to be done in the bathroom which needs a major overhaul, and the last thing for now in the kitchen although eventually we plan to completely remodel it. It's all about taking it one project at a time. Slowly but surely our poor little 1939 mill-family home is becoming more beautiful and comfortable. The hardwood floors we did (ourselves!) in the living room are particularly wonderful. :) Who would have thought that at 21 I would about to celebrate my 4th anniversary with my wonderful husband, have a lovely 2-year-old girl, and own my own home?

I'm the luckiest woman in the world, bar none.

a little ho-hum and a little hum-drum

I'm missing my sisters today...a lot.
More than usual.
Which really, missing them at all is completely unusual, so missing them in the slightest would in fact be missing them more than usual, but you know what I mean.



For those of you who don't know, Bug and Nessy are in rehabs.
Yeah.
Remember how I said my family makes for good blog fodder?

Quick background:
my dad died in a car accident when I was 15, and none of us really handled it well. Que downward spiral through alcohol, then pot, then pills, then snorting oxycontin, leading to a full-blown heroine addiction.
Not me, obviously, the other two. I stopped at the second step, and then back-tracked to normal. Ahem...it is high school people.
Now don't forget that in reality this is a very long story that covers several years, and you got the very nut-shelled version.

My sisters are beautiful, wonderful people who got very, very lost. But they are doing really well now.
This is actually their second ventures into rehab. The first time they both went to separate 30-day programs which did a little, but mostly did diddly-squat.
Now they're in 15 month programs called Teen Challenge. One here in good old Washington but up north about 2 hours, and the other in Kansas City. Which Kansas City? I'm not telling. But either one is pretty far if you look at a map.

So anyway, when we were kids we were eachother's everything. We played together for hours on end everyday. We drove eachother nuts, but we were also eachothers best friends. And we had a great family. A mom who stayed home and did an amazing job keeping our family together, clean, fed, and happy. And a dad who worked tirelessly, only to come home and play with us until we went to bed. It was a charmed life really, although we didn't know it. The dream of the American middle class.

But when we were all grieving (badly I might add...as in we didn't grieve the way people are supposed to), we grew apart. We were all mean and hurtful, because we were hurting.
And after I moved out and got married, things got worse here. The girls eventually weren't going to school, stopped hanging out with old friends, started sleeping all the time, and had the worst attitudes ever. If they ever told us where they were going or who they would be with, which they usually didn't, there was a 99.9% chance it was a lie. Then Nessy turned 18 and moved out and got really bad, and Bug started running away...things just escalated until we finally found out what was going on.
Oh, and Bug is a diabetic so the fact that she spent inordinate amounts of time in the hospital wouldn't normally be odd for her, but it was always for really weird reasons. And then we found out and realized it had all been because of drugs. Even Nessy spent a lot of time in the hospital.
Looking back we feel blind. But the truth is, they were just really, really good liars. Drugs do that.

Actually, writing all this has helped a lot. I would write more, but monkey is awake and its time to head to Freddy's, so I'll bid you adeu. But before I do that, I just want to say that I love my crazy, insane, beautiful family with all my heart, no matter what happens. And that is saying something.