Last Night

I am loving the warm weather.  Gwen gets so exhausted from playing outside so much that she will tell us when she needs to go take a nap (go to bed at night) and will head upstairs.  Last night was no different.  I was cleaning the kitchen and Gwen says "I'm going upstairs" and headed upstairs alone.  This is rare as she always needs one of us with her.  Well I get upstairs she lets me get her ready for bed and then SHE reads ME stories.  She took a few of her favorite books and "read" them to me.  Some highlights:

• Little Feet Love:  It's a touch/feel book that you use your feet to feel everything.  She made me do it and touch every page with my toes
• Search/Find with Mickey:  She would ask me where things were on the page and I had to point them out to her
• Big Sister Dora:  She read it by pointing out her favorite parts and making sure she told me that she was only having one sibling whereas Dora gets 2 (for a while she kept saying she wanted 2)
• Tails:  She just turned the pages until she got to the skunk and yelled "Stinky Skunk" as loud as she could

Last night melted my heart.  I am so in love with that little girl.

Thankful Thursday

I haven't done this in a while and I am definitely due to put some perspective on my negativity.

1.  In ~8 weeks I will be done being pregnant and never have to be pregnant again!!!!!

2.  When Gwen looks at me and just has to hug and kiss me.  This happened while we were riding the carousal at the zoo the other day.  She just looked into my eyes and said "I love you mama" and kept kissing and hugging me.  It brought tears to my eyes.

3.  My job and fantastic boss.  I am lucky enough to love what I do and have the flexibility to work from home a few days a week and not have anybody "clock watch" me.  It's nice to come and go as I please.  My boss is fantastic about everything and doesn't make me jump through HR hoops just to work from home.  This makes me want to do a good job for him. 

4.  Sunny days and warm temperatures.  This means BBQs, pool days, the park with Gwen, walks with Kaiser, and very very soon...........COCKTAILS ON THE PATIO (I don't care which patio.  It doesn't even have to be a patio........it can be a driveway, or a deck, or my couch..............).

5.  The 6 years (our anniversary is on Saturday) of marriage to my best friend.  I am lucky that Mike is such an amazing husband.  With any man, he has his moments, but it has been a fun and crazy roller coaster.  The dynamics may have changed when Gwen was born (he's also an AMAZING father) and will change again with BP, but the foundation of love, trust, laughter, communication (most of the time), respect, teamwork, and me being right 99.9% of the time, and Mike knowing it, has remained in tact.  I look forward to all the years ahead of us and building our life as a couple and as a family. 

Wordless Wednesday

Our Final Vacation as a Family of Three..................

The first week in May we went on our final vacation as a family of three.  We went to Singer Island outside of West Palm.  My parents met us down there and Gwen finally got to meet her Uncle David, Aunt Gean, and friend Jenny.  I wish we had a bit better weather (it rained 2 out of the 5 days) but we had a great time anyway.

Gwen loved playing at the beach and in the pool.  She was a bit grumpy at Butterfly World, but I think she secretly liked it (even though she got bit by a bird) since she is still talking about it.  One of her favorite things to do was play with her "squirt squirt"..............aka water gun.  She would use it to clean the condo and squirt people (anyone in the elevator with us was taking a huge risk).   She ate dinner out almost every night (even had Cuban food) and got to spend quality time with Papa and Grandma. 

The transition back to home was a bit rough.  It all started when we dropped off the rental car.  Gwen cried so hard because they were taking the car from us.  She then threw the biggest tantrum EVER on the airplane where she was hitting us and everything (she had never hit us before).  I ended up crying which probably didn't help the situation.  The week after the trip was horrible too while she was trying to transition into the real world (back to a sleep schedule, school schedule, and eating healthy again).  Luckily though she is back to her old self (with some added tantrums). 

The Zoo

We took Gwen to the zoo over this Memorial Day weekend.  We had beautiful weather and it wasn't too hot or busy.  When I asked Gwen what her favorite animal was that she saw, she answered with "crocodile".  That was the one animal we didn't see.   She saw a baby Orangutan and was amazed by the size of the elephant poop.  She really enjoyed the carousal which she rode twice (was not happy that daddy chose one that didn't go up and down..............amateur).   She is already asking when we can go back.  I'll leave that up to Papa and Grandma when they come out in July :-)

Late Update

I am about a week late on my doctor's appointment update.  The office is currently seeing me weekly due to my pre-term contractions.  My blood pressure is still perfect (110/70), I am still only up 20 lbs, BP's heart beat was in the mid 130's, I am not dilated or progressing, and after an ultrasound my cervix is still long (not sure what that means).  All is well with me and I was able to go into work this week and will resume exercise next week if the weather ever cooperates (could be one of the wettest May's in history).  Luckily all this rain came when I was on modified bed rest so I didn't do anything I wasn't supposed to.

I got to see BP as well.  In one picture he/she looks like a cross between Mike and my dad.  This baby is either a boy or one ugly girl :-)  Enjoy the pics..............

Cross between Mike & my dad


 

The Big Question

Many mom's who are pg with #2 worry about being able to love 2 children with as much love/passion as they love their first child.  I actually don't worry about that.  I know I will be able to love both my children with my entire being.  My question is, do you love each child the same?

In life we are always asked "which do you like better?".  You always have a preference.  As I laid awake pondering this question I tried to come up with things that I love exactly the same.  My initial thought was my parents.   I love them both so much and if I had to chose one over the other, I couldn't do it.  I love them for different reasons but I love them just the same.  Is that how it will be with my children?

I was never one of those women that fell instantly in love the moment I held Gwen.  She was screaming and I was freaked out.  It took a few days but the unconditional love came.  What will those first few days with BP bring?  I have all ths love for Gwen and then I am initially going to throw a stranger (and some crazy ass hormones) into the mix.  I am so excited to see how this plays out............how strong the power of a mother's love truly is.