29 Weeks

How far along: 29 weeks
Total weight gain: ?
Favourite clothes: Any pants that still fit without a full panel!
Sleeping: Terribly thanks to the hip pain
Best Moment: Sleeping in and a delicious breakfast the day I got back
Worst Moment: Nothing terrible
Miss anything: California.
Cravings: Candy. Lots and lots of candy.
New symptoms: Increased back pain
Looking forward to: Our pre-admit appointment at the hospital
Crafting: A scarf, a blanket and planning out Baby's hat. This involved lots of notes and nerves as I only have one skein of the right colour!

Since there was a longer than usual break over 4th of July, James had everything done sooner, and his days off were actually days off! We were still at camp, but having him around more made such a difference. He let me sleep in (til noon!) on Sunday; I wasn't even aware he and G were awake I was so exhausted from the day before. I got woken up by a plate full of scrambled eggs, bacon and blueberry pancakes made with blueberries from the farm down the road. Absolutely delicious!

The next day was full of errands and work. We ended the day at a local restaurant, Old 27 Grill, and had a wonderful meal. It's pretty much open air, so there's not much air conditioning, but G was enjoying the booth which had a window into the kitchen and would wave at anyone and everyone inside! He was also thoroughly enjoying drinking water out of a straw. I still can't believe how grown up he's looking.

When camp started again we ran into some other issues. This camp session was full to bursting, with 120 campers. This meant that very rarely did we find two seats together at dinner. We ended up eating out on the porch a few times, and every morning, not something I'm that fond of with bugs and humidity. It was better in the mornings, but at dinner, I'd make sure we were early after the first night. That first night culminated with me trading G bites: he could have a bite of my ice cream sandwich, but only after he took a big bite of corn. He loves corn, but once he saw the ice cream, that was his focus. I got him to eat all his corn this way, and I'm going to consider the whole situation a win.

He did great being back at daycare and I enjoyed relaxing while he was at school. The bugs make me want to stay inside all the time: twenty bites just on ONE foot in the first few days I got back. Yuck. The only swelled and started itching after I put bug spray on my feet the next day. Really? I wish that our world's ecology could have developed in such a way that all biting bugs were now extinct. Or couldn't bite people. Or that G and I weren't allergic.

James has been spoiling me with junk food. I've been off food again since I got back, only wanting junk. I ate so well in California, and I'm not sure why nothing sounds good when I'm here. James brought me a 20 piece chicken nugget box and I ate all but the one piece G filched from me. That's not to mention the candy my parents bought me which is rapidly disappearing, and the cookies and the chips here. Ah well. The doctor said not to worry and just eat whatever sounded good to me.

All in all it was a pretty relaxed first week back; in fact I still haven't unpacked our suitcases fully yet!

She's right in front and making me feel huge!

29 weeks: Baby Girl is the length of a garden eel (~16")

28 Weeks

How far along: 28 weeks
Total weight gain: ?
Favourite clothes: Sweatpants, tunic top with leggings, shorts
Sleeping: Horribly
Best Moment: Getting to see friends, the aquarium
Worst Moment: The flight home
Miss anything: Sleeping in
Cravings: In n Out!
New symptoms: Hip pain is back, back pain
Looking forward to: Moving back home in...5 or 6 weeks
Crafting: Wave blanket, scarf

It was so weird to be home and NOT go to church on Sunday. We've been having great breakfasts at my parents' house and G has been eating great. I've been eating better too; I hadn't been very hungry before I left but maybe it's just that nothing sounded good to me because I've been ravenous since being in California. We took off Sunday afternoon for Monterey, and all things considered, the drive went pretty well. We stopped at the Giant Artichoke and I had a delicious fire roasted, balsamic marinated artichoke and we all shared fried artichoke hearts (G was unimpressed). We got to our hotel and G had a major meltdown. I haven't seen him that bad in a long time, possibly ever. It was horrible. I don't know what was wrong, but he was not happy. He finally calmed down and we got some dinner at a British pub. G enjoyed Grammy's rice, even asking "Granma mo rice?" a few times. He also ate two pieces of Gaga's calamari, which was surprising. He did pretty well and we coslept at the hotel, just like we've been doing at home.

The aquarium was a blast! We had a nice breakfast, and drove down to the aquarium. We started the day at the kelp forest, which G loved and he was spell bound by the fish. We stopped by the octopus and saw some pretty impressive moves. I've never seen the octopus so active; it even blew itself up like parachute day during gym class against the back wall. SO COOL! We saw the otters get fed, though it was super crowded, and managed to get good seats for the open ocean feeding. He peed through his diaper again while we were waiting, and this time there was no hand dryer to dry my shirt off in. Oh well. We changed him and got back just in time for the feeding. The turtles, the sunfish and hammerhead shark all swam right up by the window and we had front row seats. They fed the sunfish and the sardines, who schooled up and around. It was so neat. G fell asleep in Gaga's lap right in the middle of it. He stayed asleep as we walked through the Jelly Experience exhibit (too 70's, but still kinda neat) and the Tentacles exhibit, which was AMAZING! Octopi, squids and cuttlefish and it was just so amazing and cool and neat and awesome and every other good adjective out there. I learned so much and we saw all sorts of cool cephalopods, including a mama octopus aerating her eggs and living inside a blown glass vase and a cock-eyed squid, which has never been seen in captivity before (they actually thought it was a mutant when they caught it). It seemed it was naptime at the aquarium too because a lot of the creatures on exhibit were sleeping just as soundly as G was. He woke up in time for us to head to lunch. After a horrible experience at Sly McFly's that caused us to walk out before even sitting down, we ended up at the Fish Hopper for a really nice lunch. More rice for G, and I had crab-stuffed mushrooms and a cup of clam chowder. It was fantastic, and we had a table by the water, so G had fun looking at the boats and kayaks going by. He was fussy most of the afternoon, but really lost it when I made him leave the play structure. We did the touch pools, and it took about 10 minutes to get him to touch anything (a kelp leaf called a cow's tongue) and then he tried to pick up the star fish (a big no no). We went to the wave tunnel, and he seemed to enjoy it. At least, he stopped crying and had his sippy cup. He was completely not cool by the time we reached the penguins and I got a great angry glare from the little egg set up to take pictures. We left shortly after, though he got an awesome foam ball from the gift shop, which he loved! He did fall asleep on the way home for a while, but he was tired and tantrum-ed a bit. I did have a BIG win though. We stopped by a Fry's to use the restroom and let him stretch his legs, and to avoid some traffic. He found the Thomas DVDs. I got him to put them all back himself and walk out of the aisle of his own choice without the DVDs! Yay!!!

I got to see my dentist for a checkup. I know that sounds weird, but he's awesome and we've been going there for TWENTY years! I spent almost an hour afterward catching up with the hygienist (I was the last appointment). My BFF took me out to get my nails done the next day, and we had so much fun catching up and grabbing lunch and then she even helped me bathe G as my parents went to their dance class. It was extremely helpful and I miss her so much! The next day I had dinner with another friend, and it was great to catch up with her too. She just finished school for good and I was glad to celebrate with her. A delicious steak sandwich and gelato. There was a Brentwood corn flavour, but I went with straciatella. G decided not to sleep that night, continuously waking up. We decided to let him play, and Gaga and I waited for him to fall asleep. He crashed at midnight and we stayed up until 1 eating guacasalsa (why don't they have it here??? Anguish!) and watching Ancient Aliens. 4th of July was relaxed; a friend came over and we grilled out. G played outside and got wheelbarrow rides from Gaga and bubbles from Grammy. We also discovered that making your own bubble solution isn't too great and everyone got sticky. My child turned down lobster, but maybe that's because he loves the giant plush lobster Grammy got him? We also gave him some Benadryl. The doctor had warned us that it hypes some kids up and I didn't want to find out during the flight, but I wasn't going to be able to handle another flight like last time. Besides, we had a three hour layover!

The flights went meh. TSA are completely unhelpful again, despite my asking explicitly for some help, the assholes just went back to their personal conversation after looking at me struggling. They allowed me to "sneak in" since there's no pre-boarding and he actually did pretty well. He fell asleep during the descent, which led to a 20 minute nap. We almost got knocked over by the asshole passengers deplaning with us who couldn't wait five seconds for me move to the side and wait for the stroller. Thank goodness another parent helped me unfold the stroller because he was asleep on my shoulder at that point. He woke up and I got him some food, and got myself a burger. He was very upset and didn't understand why the fast food bag had no fries and kept asking "where french fries?" while looking in the bag. It was actually kinda hilarious. He did eat his pretzel bites, but I did give him some Benadryl hoping for a real nap on the second flight. It doesn't seem to have helped. I was told that they wouldn't allow pre-boarding because there were (and I quote) "too many kids." Are you freaking kidding me? I won't even bother explaining how pissed off I was. Then they wouldn't let me take him down the ramp in the stroller, which meant I had to carry him or risk us getting knocked down by people in a rush to board and wait forever. I was not freaking happy at this point. Basically I will never fly American Airlines again, especially through Dallas because their employees there just seem to be jackasses. He was calm, but definitely didn't sleep, and I was glad he had a window seat to entertain him. I found out airplane bathrooms DO have diaper change stations, on the wall above the toilet. I was glad to be home, even though it took a while to get bags and all, it was ok because James was caught in traffic and arrived just in time to get our bags for us. One was broken. Thank God my dad strapped down all the stuff so all we lost was a bunch of pull ups, but I hope it caused them problems because I was still angry at that point. G fell asleep after a few eating his chicken nuggets and a few fries, still holding the fry container. When I tried to change him before bed he ended up peeing all over the bed, but I was too tired to change the sheets right then, so I ended up just putting a towel over the wet spot, which was at the foot, and he went back to sleep pretty easily. I was exhausted, but so happy to see James again. All in all, it just cemented the fact that I will NEVER fly alone with a young child again. With someone else, I'm fine, but it's way too exhausting alone before they have a longer attention span. I'm very glad for staff break the next two days, and hopefully James and G and I can have some family time together and recover from our travels!

28 Weeks: Hello, Third Trimester! (7 Months!)

I like the ones without my face. Because I don't put on makeup or do my hair anymore lol

That one! Only two and a half row left. Eek!

27 Weeks

How far along: 27 weeks
Total weight gain: +10 lbs
Favourite clothes: Still my sweats
Sleeping: Pretty decent, though I toss and turn a lot
Best Moment: Going home!!!
Worst Moment: The flight, so basically all of Tuesday
Miss anything: Flying without children
Cravings: Cheddar and sour cream chips with nutella
New symptoms: Contractions are picking up and can actually make me catch my breath sometimes
Looking forward to: Taking G to Monterey Bay Aquarium for the first time!
Crafting: I need a knitting break, so I'm going to attempt my first chevron/wave blanket and can't wait!!

We celebrated our anniversary on Sunday, trying a new restaurant. It was a huge success and I want to thank James' colleague who suggested Cosmo's because our meal was fantastic and we had a great time, even with a 1 hour+ wait. It's always nice to get out of the house, and it was fun to get an appetizer and (virgin) margarita at the outdoor bar area, then explore the gift shop while we waited for our table. Our meals were fantastic, and I opted for the scallops special while James went with a fantastic stuffed filet. Our babysitter is wonderful and told us again how sweet G was, even at bedtime. I wanted to ask her if she was sure she had the right kid, but I suppose this is my karma: I was horrible for sitters and lovely for my parents, and G seems to be the opposite.

Going home was wonderful, though not the actual traveling part. I will never fly alone with young kids again. It was a mess. The stroller makes things so much more complicated, and the TSA agent was a total terror about moving along quickly--no line behind me, 6 months pregnant and trying to get all our carry ons and G out of the stroller plus folding and lifting it. But no help offered. He did not sleep at all during the first flight, though he had a brief nap in the car on the way to Pensacola. When we got to Dallas, we found out we were late and had to make our connection in 30 minutes in a different terminal. After our stroller was finally unloaded (15 minutes at least) we hoofed it to the gate to find out the gate was on the other end of the terminal. I asked the man at the gate if he could call a cart (6 months pregnant, remember?) and he told me "It's not that far, you can walk." I'm amazed I didn't stab the asshole. When I got to the correct gate, I found out we had an hour delay. G and I were seated in middle seats across the aisle from each other; it took them the entire delay to suss this out. Meanwhile G melted down about 5 times and was a screaming, hungry mess who wouldn't eat the food I got him as we got on the plane. He was still a mess on the plane, but finally passed out about an hour before we landed. I really hoped he'd stay asleep, but when I picked him up, he woke up. Then he peed through his diaper, all over me. That was awesome. We'd already had one diaper blowout, so I didn't have another extra onesie. He didn't sleep the entire way home, which took about two hours since the baseball game let out and they decided to close two lanes of the bridge (genius, obviously). During the second flight I almost asked the stewardess for some brandy...and not for me. Let me reiterate: NEVER. AGAIN.

We had a great time. Mom's vacation started to kick off her sabbatical, so she didn't have to be at work.
We took him shopping and out to lunch and even to the park for about 2 hours. He was still on a central time schedule, falling asleep for nap between 11 and 12, though bedtime was still around 7 or 8. We played outside because mama can handle the heat as long as there's no humidity. I'm a little bummed I missed the Harry Potter themed session at camp, but we had so much fun. On Saturday, I was lucky enough to be able to make it to my adopted grandmother's memorial service. I adopted the couple as grandparents through church, and had only recently found out Jeane had passed away. I hadn't seen Bob in years, but I was happy I got to introduce him to G (who had a tantrum halfway through the service before falling asleep and only waking up as we left) and seeing him again. He didn't recognize me. I got a lot of double takes because a lot of people at that church remember me as a 7 year old, and now I'm pregnant with my second (which a lot of people didn't know either). It was nice to see some of the people I haven't seen in years, and I was grateful that the timing worked out to allow me to be able to attend the service.

Then we took G to the steam train at Tilden Park. I don't think he realized people could ride on trains. He had a BLAST. Much like Disneyland, his face was just slack with complete and total overstimulation, soaking everything in. Every time the whistle blew, he leaned out the side to look at the engine car. He just loved it! We rode the train twice, and I think I did a good job of getting him to leave. We waved goodbye to the train and he blew it kisses and we made it back to the car without seeing it go by! WIN! The carousel was closed, but that was ok because he passed out about two second after driving off. He was just so excited. It was so much fun to watch him with these things. He's a very stereotypical boy: very active, and he loves trucks and trains. Someone from my mom's congregation got us a gift for the new baby, and one for G as well. She hit a home run: it was a pop up book of TRUCKS. I think I read it to him at least 50 times before we even left California! (It got hidden a few times, I have to admit).

And yes, I did eat cheddar and sour cream chips dipped in nutella. It didn't taste as good as it sounded to me, but I did eat like half the bag, and it grows on you. This is the only weird craving I've had out of both of my pregnancies.

27 weeks: Baby Girl is the size of a moon jelly

Baby bump is steadily growing, and so is our babe

26 Weeks

How far along: 26 weeks
Total weight gain: ?
Favourite clothes: Sweatpants
Sleeping: Pretty well
Best Moment: Getting my hair done for the first time since January
Worst Moment: Bedtime
Miss anything: A dishwasher
Cravings: Seafood. I love seafood!
New symptoms: Pregnancy rage
Looking forward to: Going home!!
Crafting: Still working on that scarf, but I need a crochet project to break up the knitting, and I've GOT to cast on our little Mermaid's cupcake hat soon


I'm so far behind on these posts, so this one will be a bit sparse.

It wasn't a bad week. Our Father's Day was pretty chill. I got up early with G, letting James sleep and made some blueberry muffins (I had to go buy some aluminum muffin tins actually!) I gave him the gifts I'd made and we spent the afternoon at Home Depot and Lowe's dealing with house stuff. It was just a really relaxed day.

James technically had Monday off work since it was between sessions, but even then he still has to work a lot to prep for the next session. We did find a pretty good Mexican restaurant finally though! It was really family friendly; there were 3 other families with kids around G's age, and our entire meal (with margarita for James) cost less than $20. The enchiladas were flavourful and the salsa was great. I can't wait to go back. I've missed Mexican food SO MUCH since we moved. I know I won't be finding anything lose to the shrimp enchiladas from Gabbi's (dream-worthy, literally) but finding a decent place is good. No alfredo or pork chops on this menu!

Camp is always a bit difficult. It's long days for James, and we don't get to see much of him. The earliest he gets home is around 11:30, although there have been nights he gets home around 3 am or so because he has paperwork, etc to finish. It's been a big adjustment aside from how much we see James: no reliable internet, no cable and worst of all no dishwasher! The internet we've gotten around with the hotspot and the lack of cable is a bit of a blessing since it cuts down on how much TV we watch (even though there are days when I really wish we had Disney Jr since I'm so exhausted) but the dishwasher is just a nightmare. I hate washing bottles and sippy cups. James has been great about washing the dishes a lot of the time, but I still dread it (and it isn't a divided sink so it just fills with dirty dishes and nowhere to fill up a pot, etc). Our babysitter is also amazing about this and washes whatever dishes are in the sink, not just the one she used to feed G (I try to clean up most before she gets here though because I feel bad about it).

Our 4th wedding anniversary was Thursday. Like with my birthday, it was in the middle of a session,  so celebrating got pushed off til between sessions. I can't believe it's been four years already and I really can't wait to see where the next few years take us. I got James a card that said "I can't wait to grow old with you. Or go insane, depending on how crazy parenting makes us." I felt it was appropriate. Bedtimes have been challenging this week, but I'll leave that for his monthly update.

It also seems crazy that we're fast approaching the third trimester! This pregnancy has been so different from my first one that it's almost like being pregnant for the first time (except for the toddler with too much energy for me...) I have another OB appointment next week, and we'll set up the second ultrasound then, so we get to check in our baby girl's growth soon!

26 weeks: Mermaid is the size of a clown tang

Traditional side-on picture. She's growing!

25 Weeks

How far along: 25 weeks
Total weight gain: ?
Favourite clothes: Maxi dress (it shrunk in the wash to the right length!)
Sleeping: Horribly
Best Moment: G's antics (see below)
Worst Moment: Finally having to admit that my depression is back
Miss anything: Sleeping
Cravings: I'm hardly ever hungry, and nothing sounds good
New symptoms: More of the same
Looking forward to: I get my hair done Thursday for the first time since January!!
Crafting: Knitting, painting

Sunday James took G and ran errands all morning. It was so nice to have a break! I stayed in my pyjamas and worked on the paintings for mermaid's room and a Father's Day gift all morning. G came home and had some lunch, but went down for his nap pretty easily. James got an AT&T hotspot so we could connect to the internet through that (hence the influx of posts!). Even though James had the day off, he had a lot of work to do to prep for the first session.

Tuesday was fun. I got to visit a friend who had her second baby in May. He was so adorable and tiny, and I got to hold him for about an hour while he slept. It was good to catch up and I was able to bring by the macaroni we made for them, which they enjoyed. (I even brought A1 sauce, but apparently that's an acquired taste). I was a little late picking G up, but it's so nice to be 10 minutes from his daycare instead of 40. 

Meal times are later with the high schoolers this session, so breakfast is a little more lonely for G, and dinner is at last week's bathtime. We've still managed, but neither G nor I are sleeping very well lately. He keeps waking up in the middle of the night, and regardless of his bedtime, he is wide awake and ready to go between 5 and 6. I've spent a lot of nights on his twin bed this week, and Thursday it took 3.5 hours to get him down. In addition, adjusting to a new daycare's schedule has been hard and his nap schedule has been completely wonky. He's been falling asleep during lunch, which means he doesn't sleep in the afternoon, which leads to a very cranky boy. I know he'll adjust, and we've already moved beyond the morning tears, so I'm sure we'll be on schedule soon.

James has been very busy again. Some of the campers and a counselor got sick, so he was working til 2 am that night. But it's been a HUGE help that he's made time to come and help me bathe G some nights. Bathing G and doing dishes is hard since Mermaid's bump is so high it's already getting in the way. Also, if I ever win the lottery, I think I'll make sure every mom has a dishwasher because this has been hell. I spent a solid hour washing our dishes Friday night (really should've worn my back brace because it wrecked my back for the weekend).

I did finally have to admit that my depression is back, which was difficult to do. I've dealt with depression before, but haven't been on medication since we started trying to conceive back in 2011. I was hoping it would just kinda disappear and never come back, but I think with all the stress of this past year it's been creeping back. My OB has put me on Zoloft, so hopefully that will help and I can get some of my motivation and energy back. I can tell you that after I left that message for my OB's nurse I got a call back within 15 minutes! Even talking about it to James was a huge relief and made me feel better, and it helped me realize that it has been a really effing hard year this year. We've been through a lot: in August we'll move for the 6th time in 18 months, we moved cross country to where we know no one, I've been pretty sick on and off since we moved, I have no idea how to meet people and make friends, I'm pregnant, G is adjusting to all the changes too and running me ragged and we haven't been settled since October. It's a lot to deal with, so maybe it's not surprising, though it's something I tried to deny and ignore, which doesn't help. But I'm optimistic for the future, especially once we get truly settled and unpacked in the new house. 

Which is coming along great! There've been a few hangups: the kitchen wall turned out to be load-bearing, the tub/shower surround won't fit with the window, city regulations won't allow certain windows (like the planned garden window in the kitchen), and the kitchen flooring we planned on won't work because there was a flaw in the dye lot and it isn't the right colour. BUT over all, I think things are going great! It will be so nice to have it be the way we want it, and I think the kids are going to love growing up there! I know I'll enjoy being so close to downtown, the library and the park at the pier. 

25 Weeks: Mermaid is the size of a round stingray

G thinks that running his hands over the chalk is a blast