Wallace Park

17 weeks pregnancy update

I've been a bit negligent in starting up the pregnancy posts but now that my belly is bumping out a bit it's starting to feel more real.  It is definitely a lot different than the first time.  I don't really obsess over every single change in my body or spend hours researching and reading up on baby products, labor methods, and newborn care.  It's just a lot more relaxed and with a very active toddler around it isn't getting as much of my time and attention.

My first trimester was a little more sickly than last time.  I'm not sure if I really was affected by the nausea more or if with my work at home situation I just had more opportunity to sit and wallow in it.  But around week 13 the nausea and exhaustion abated and I feel just fine now.  I do have a fair amount of round ligament pain in my abdomen from the growing and stretching of the muscles and I still get dizzy and out of breath pretty easily due to my crazy low blood pressure.   All in all though, it seems to be an easy pregnancy like the last time and I really can't complain, especially in comparison with what some of my friends and family have had to go through with theirs.

As for new baby Hoss, everything seems to be great with him.  I say him because as I tell everyone, I'm 99% sure it's another boy due to the fact that I feel similar to how I did with Cash and the Inman genetic history.  The heartbeat always sounds strong at my midwife appointments and all the ultrasounds and the nuchal translucency screening came out normal.  We have the big ultrasound where we find out the sex on August 24th.  Also, I may have started feeling the little guy kicking the other day but I still feel like it's too early to confirm.

Now that we are approaching halfway through (yikes!) we are starting to cross a few to-dos off of our list and beginning to think about some of the things we will need to set up or get in place before "the new one", as I like to call the baby, will be home.  We already got our double stroller - a Jeep Traveler Tandem - because I had enough reward points to get it for free.  We still need to decide on how we will have the baby sleep in our room for the first few months - do we just want to move the crib and old changing table into the room or get a deluxe pack and play and we also need to get a new larger dresser that we can use as a changing table in Cash and the baby's room.  Oh and yes, we are planning on having both of our munchkins share a room eventually which should be...interesting. 

Here's a few more pics of the new one from his 12 week ultrasound.  We can't wait to meet you!

Just Like Daddy

Big Boy Bed!

A few weeks ago we took the scary step of moving Cash from his crib to a toddler bed.  I say "scary" because in reality, we should have made this step months ago but Ross and I were too petrified of potentially messing up our relatively easy bedtime routine to make the change.  However, we had come to a point where Cash was starting to sleep in odd positions to fit himself into his mini crib so we had to bite the bullet.

Luckily for us, Cash is awesome and took to his toddler bed right away.  Even though he still has some nights he fights going to sleep right away, he never gets out of his bed and even stays in it when he wakes up.  We thought he would start getting up and waking us up by coming into our room.  Frankly, we were kind of looking forward to it - we thought it may help to promote morning time snuggles that have been recently replaced by his determination to watch an episode of "Pigs" (Olivia) before school.  But alas, he still yells for us to come and get him before bee lining downstairs for "Pigs". 

All in all, it was a smooth transition like most with Cash and he loves sleeping in his big boy bed.

Father's Day Bike Ride

2 Years Have Flown By...

Cash turned two last Tuesday, June 12th. I would say it's hard to believe but in reality, Cash has been like a two year old for some time now. It was more of a date marking than the feeling like he's a big boy now, because he's been a big boy for almost half a year. He's talking up a storm and we can understand probably 60-75% of what he says, he runs and jumps and plays like a big boy, and has finally even started to wear some 2T clothes which he tries to put on and take off himself. We had a party last Saturday to celebrate - just some pizza and cake with a few friends and Ross's parents who were in town for a family reunion. His big present from us was a water and sand table which he found an interesting way to enjoy. He basically lifts up his shirt and rubs the sand on his belly as if he was giving himself a body scrub. To each his own, I guess.

We decided to forgo planning a big kid party this year - a combination of work travel and other complications made me decide that it would be way too stressful to try to pull it off. In actuality, I wasn't even here on Cash's real birthday. I was in Ft. Worth, TX for an Editorial Board meeting. I was sad that I wasn't here and definitely felt some "bad mom" guilt about the whole thing but it was unavoidable and not something where I had the option of saying no and I realized that of all years for it to happen, this was probably the best one. We finished off his birthday week taking in cupcakes to his class at day care for a mini celebration so I felt like I was able to make it up to him.

I'm not sure what Ross and I have done to be blessed with such a sweet, funny and loving little boy but I'm not going to jinx it. Cash is seriously awesome and every day with him is a joy (even when he is tantruming out his terrible two-ness). He is growing up to be smart, capable and kind to others and I think that's just the way he is though hopefully Ross and I are teaching him these values along the way. I can't wait to watch him grow up even more this year as it will be a big year for him for a number of reasons. Because along with the sand table, legos and stickers that he received for his birthday, he also got a fun tshirt that informed him of this:



A new baby brother or sister that is due around the time he turns 2 1/2 in January 2013. Yep, two years old is going to be a wild ride for Cash and it has just gotten started.

Cash's new school picture