The Second Time Around!

We found out on February 9th that we were expecting a little one. We were actually celebrating Valentine’s day that weekend and Alec was in Lamar. My last meal before we found out was sushi and wine, I guess it was meant to be!

We had our first doctor’s appointment on March 7th and got to see our new little one for the first time. Everything checked out great. We told some close friends and our immediate families over the next 2 weeks. We had our second appointment at 12.5 weeks on April 4th. We heard the heartbeat on the Doppler and the doctor gave us the OK to tell the world.

How far along? 14 weeks and 4 days, due October 13, 2013.

Total weight gain/loss: +4 lbs. My skinny jeans wouldn’t button on Friday, so I did the rubber band trick. Not super comfortable having my pants unbuttoned and unzipped at work but I made it work. The next day I pulled out the bella band and it worked like charm. I still mostly look like I ate too much at lunch and not like I’m growing a baby. I definitely show more later in the day. A few co-workers and strangers have guessed that I’m pregnant.

Maternity clothes? Here and there for comfort, most of my clothes still fit. I pulled out my old maternity clothes this weekend and was surprised that most would work this time around. I guess that’s a good thing about having your kids with due dates during the same month. I did make a few purchases to update my wardrobe for this time around. I’ll probably buy some maxi dresses for later on, they just work the best when you are growing everywhere and it’s 100+ degrees.

Sleep: At least once per night I’m getting up for a bathroom trip and it seems like Alec is waking me at least once also. So, not the best but I’m trying to go to bed early to counter the wake ups. This weekend, I pulled out my “pillow husband” as Eric and I affectionately call my maternity pillow. This time around having the king size bed has definitely made a difference – so happy with that purchase.

Food cravings: Fruit and more fruit! Of course pizza, burgers, and ice cream sound awesome but I’m trying to limit my junk food to once or twice per week. I’m also happy to report that I can actually eat Paleo-ish again. I’m not eating a lot of meat like normal, I just don’t want it as much. I try to keep the meals light and that helps with the queasiness and the super full feeling. On a regular basis, the only non-paleo food I’m eating right now is a gluten free bagel/English muffin for breakfast. I just need some sort of bread in the morning. Still can’t stand eggs but I’m starting to eat sweet potatoes again.

Exercise: Switched to modified Crossfit workouts this week. I warm up with the class and do a modified (less weight, not trying to max out) strength workout with the group. I’m really inconsistent on my workouts and trying to do at least 2 a week. However, illness and sleep trump working out at this point. I’m definitely more active this time around and it feels so good. I’m hoping I can get more consistent now that I’m getting my energy back.

Gender: So far, I’ve not really had a feeling either way. I was so sure Alec was a boy early on. I think girl but that could just be wishful thinking. I think having one of each would be so fun. Although, 2 boys would be awesome too.

What I miss: Sushi, wine, and being able to have any caffeine!

Milestones:  Finally starting to feel “normal” again – starting the second trimester and hearing a good heartbeat on the Doppler at our last doctor’s appointment.

This time around: So far, this pregnancy has been worse as far as symptoms. I’ve had all day nausea (no throwing up, thank goodness!). It was really bad around 6 weeks through about 11 weeks. I’ve been popping mints and preggie pops like crazy. Last time, I gained 8 lbs. in the first trimester. This time, I didn’t gain any weight. I also had a stomach virus in week 10 and that was no fun. Speaking of illness, I have been so sick this time around. Blame it on the weakened immune system and a preschooler who attends daycare. Also, in my first pregnancy, I was hot from day one. This time I’ve been freezing! I’ll have my hot flashes but I’m usually huddled under a blanket. The exhaustion seems worse, but that could be because I’m chasing Alec around. I’m always tired. There’s been a few days I’ve came home from work and just went to sleep, it’s been rough on all 3 of us. I’ve been trying to take it easy and that seems to help. This week seems to be the turning point and I’ve felt much better and my symptoms have subsided a lot.

The current state of my baby belly!

Alec is 3!

It's official - Alec is 3! We've celebrated all week starting with his race car themed birthday party this past Saturday.

The food! We had pizza, veggies, fruit, chicken, and tortilla pinwheels.

The cake - I love this cake, it turned out so cute.

We also had some cupcakes for the little ones.

Candle time!

Alec needed a little help blowing out the candles! :)

Party favors for the kids

Fun sticker crafts for the kiddos.

Basketball!

Skating (for some!)

Pinata Time!

Our family after the party. :)

We celebrated with a party at a local church that has an awesome recreation center. The kids could play basketball, play at the indoor play gym, and even roller skate. Alec was a sweaty mess during the entire party, he loves to go!

Alec was so excited to have his party. He kept saying he wanted cupcakes and everyone to sing happy birthday to him while he blew out candles. Well when the time came, he almost had a meltdown. He kept saying he wanted Francesco (a Cars character) on his cupcake (which I did not have!). He stalled on blowing out the candles, so another little boy at the party took matters into his own hands and blew out the candles. We lit the candles again and Alec took another try. You just never know what to expect out of a 3 year old!

 On Alec's actual birthday, he picked out some cupcakes to share with his class. He wanted orange and blue cupcakes (pretty sure the teachers and the other parents hate me right now).  Alec loved having a party with this friends from school.

After Alec's party at school, I took the rest of the day off from work to have a little fun. We headed over to the Painted Pig and painted pottery - we made a Halloween plate and Alec painted a football and a little pumpkin magnet. I think I had more fun than he did! We finished the day with a make up session at the Little Gym.

I can't believe my little guy is 3! Time flies!!


I've seen this on Pinterest and thought it was really cute so I gave it a try during bath time. He didn't have answers for every question but he did answer most:


1. What is your favorite color? Orange

2. What is your favorite toy? Orange cars (playing with orange cars at the time)

 3. What is your favorite fruit? Cantaloupe
4. What is your favorite tv show? Curious George

 5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch?  Pizza

 6. What is your favorite outfit? Guitar
 7. What is your favorite game? Fishy games (not sure what that is??)

 8. What is your favorite snack? Goldfish crackers

 9. What is your favorite animal? Elephant
10. What is your favorite song? Jesus Loves Me

11. What is your favorite book? Curious George

12. Who is your best friend? Gabby
13. What is your favorite cereal? No answer (we don't really eat cereal)

14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Ride bike

15. What is your favorite drink? Milk
 16. What is your favorite holiday? No answer

 17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Baby Bear

 18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Toast with eggs (he barely eats eggs!)

19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? Cupcakes

20. What do you want to be when you grow up? An Astronaut


A few surprises on the list but I think that's a pretty good snapshot of Alec at 3 years old.

Time for an Update!

So, I've been horrible at this whole blog thing this summer. We've had a lot of blog worthy moments and activities but just no time/energy to write it all down. Here's my best shot at about a month and half update, mostly going by iphone pictures.

First of all, we finished up the Whole 30 program back at the end of June. It was a huge success, Eric and I felt so good we've kept going. We have a couple of cheat meals a week but really have cut back on the bread/wheat, dairy, and sugar. I don't even buy bread or milk (for me and Eric) anymore. We usually have our cheat meals out so we don't have the "bad" stuff in the house.  A couple of weeks ago, I decided it was time to get Alec on board with eating less "processed" food. I still think it is important for him to have bread and dairy because his diet isn't as varied as ours. He doesn't eat a lot meat or veggies so he has to get his protein and vitamins somewhere. However, I have stopped buying the "healthy" junk food (by healthy I mean organic cheetos and crackers). I've also tried to limit his sugary food intake at home. He still eats regular lunch at school with a few modifications but we are trying!

We've been trying some Paleo recipes since finishing Whole 30. I've been drinking a lot of iced coffee with coconut/almond milk and I've been making Paleo pancakes for breakfast on the weekends. Alec even likes the paleo pancakes. :) During the week, we mostly eat eggs and turkey sausage/canadian bacon. Some of our other breakfast favorites are lara bars and these carrot cake muffins. We usually eat dinner leftovers for lunch. Some of our dinner favorites are chicken and shallots, baked sweet potatoes, honey dill carrots, and steamed veggies. I'm also loving almond butter from Whole Foods, one of my favorite afternoon snacks is a couple of spoonfuls of almond butter and blueberries.

I've also started going to WLR Crossfit regularly (3 times/week) since the first of July. I'm addicted! My adult ADD loves the random workouts that change everyday. I'm also seeing results, which is exciting, I've never been on the muscular/strong side. You also get a good cardio workout which I love. It's a nice change from doing a workout video in my LR with 8 lb dumbells and running 3 times a week. Plus, I can actually hold Alec over my head now - we both love it!

Push Press - my most HATED! I've never put weight over my head like this!

This photo was "altered" by Eric but this is our class after a workout :)

Bruised knees and shins from deadlifts and burpees

Worst part of Crossfit - the blisters on my hands. I almost cried washing my hair! :( Thankfully, my hands toughened up.

We took a long weekend trip to Dallas the last weekend of July, I had a training class there and we added time so we could visit my Sis. We had a great time and did a lot of fun things. We visited Legoland on Saturday and went to a Ranger's game on Sunday. Fun times!

Alec's favorite part of Legoland - the race track

It was over 100 at the start of the game, we were a sweaty mess. We sat in the sun for the first half of the game - it was brutal!

 The first weekend in August, Dawson and Chandler came down for a visit. We had a lot of fun with the boys. We ate at All Aboard for lunch on Friday and went to a Travs game that night. On Saturday, we painted pottery, went to Playtime pizza, and Eric took the older boys to the comic book store. 

Dawson and Chandler loved All Aboard

In our seats before the game.

Painting tiles at Firefly, the boys loved this too! :)

Fun times at Playtime pizza

Dawson the Pirate!

That's about it for major events in the last few months (or at least ones I took pics at). We have another month full of activities coming up. Alec starts a new class at school on Monday. We go on vacation to Destin the first week of September and Alec's birthday party is September 29th. I can't believe the summer is almost over, time flies when you're having fun! :)

June 2012

I think June has been just as busy as May! It could be the fact that we are doing Whole30 this month, swimming lesson (2x per week), and Little Gym on Saturdays. Plus, Eric has started going to CrossFit 3x per week in the mornings. Even though it's been busy, we've squeezed some fun in this month. Here's a recap in pics of June 2012 (so far).

My sister came home the first week of June from Dallas. We celebrated her 28th birthday (what?!). My whole family came and we had grilled out and had a cute little cake for her (Eric and I ate fruit!). I didn't get a lot of pictures, I've been really bad about that lately. Allison stayed all weekend at our house. We visited with Mom and Dad on Saturday,  and watched a local movie,  The Gleaning, at the Little Rock Film Festival. On Sunday, we stayed around the house and played outside.

Alec also finished up his first season of Little Gym. They had a show night on June 4th and family could join to watch the kids. Alec was a little shy with so many new people there and would not get his medal. The top picture is him hiding in this tube thing while everyone else got their medals. We love The Little Gym and will be going this summer too.

Alec had to put his underwear on backwards

No longer a "diaper bag" it's a change of clothes bag!

Alec wanted to ride his bike in just his undies and his tummy.

The weekend of the 9th, I had a 3-day weekend so I decided it was time to go diaper/pull up free and take potty training seriously. I stayed at home with Alec all day on Friday and we basically traded underwear for pullups (he still sleeps in them). We went to the potty at least once an hour. We had a few accidents but overall he did great. He got M&Ms every time he went potty. On Saturday, we had a lot of activities to do outside of the house. We went to Little Gym, a birthday party at the Painted Pig, and a cookout that afternoon. Alec did really well on the potty and didn't have an accident. He did well the rest of the weekend and went to school on Monday in undies. Since he did so well, we all went to Target and Alec picked out a toy - he picked a little Woody doll. We've had some accidents but he's doing better everyday. I'm so proud of him.

For Father's Day, Eric wanted to ride a train. So, I found a train ride in Van Buren that went to Winslow and got tickets. We had lunch on the train (it was provided but not Whole30 friendly so we brought our own food).  It was a lot of fun and very relaxing it was nice to just sit there and Alec did really well for most of the trip. The last picture is of some artwork Alec and I did for Eric. We painted Alec's hand prints and then Alec decorated it with stickers and some markers.

I think Alec splashed me in the face about 10 times

Alec after bath

One of my most favorite photos ever!

The rest of pics are random from this month. We started swimming lessons this month. Alec is doing really well and seems too advanced for the class he's in - it's such a nice difference from last year. He cried every lesson last year until the last couple of weeks. He loves to jump into the water.

We also watched Madagascar 3 last weekend. It's such a good movie and Alec loved it. I downloaded the soundtrack because the songs are just so much fun - Afro Circus is my favorite. We've listened to this ever day this week - Alec will say I want to listen to my new music.

A couple of random Alec-isms from this month. He's really started asking questions, you can just see the gears turning when he asks a question. One of his favorites to ask is "Where you got that from, Mommy?" This could be food, a toy, or some music we are listening to in the car. He's also realizing that he'll be able to do things when he gets older that he can't do now. For instance, he wants to swim by  himself at swimming lessons and I'll tell him in a couple of years you'll be swimming all by yourself. He'll start thinking and say "When I'm bigger like you and you'll be little like me?" It's like he asking a question, I think he thinks he'll be an adult one day and Eric and I will be kids and he'll help us do things. It's so sweet. I just tell him he'll be bigger one day like me (maybe even bigger than me) and I'll be the same size I am right now.

Alec is still really affectionate and wants hugs and kisses all the time. He's always telling me he loves me. It's so sweet.  He's also started playing really well by himself. He can sit and play with his cars or trains and be perfectly content. It's really nice for him to play in the kitchen floor while I'm cooking dinner. He still loves T.V. - we tried to back that off quite a bit this month. He watches Curious George in the morning when he's waking up and maybe a movie or 2 once a week. I'd rather have activities going then sitting in front of the T.V. all evening.

That's about if for June so far - we are going to Memphis this weekend to watch Norah Jones in concert. It'll be good to get away for a day. Happy Summer!