22 Week Pregnancy & Grayson Updates

This week, Baby is as long as a spaghetti squash!
It's also what's for dinner. Which is kinda weird...moving on!

How far along? 22 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: I don't know but I gained 5 lbs in Colorado alone! :)
Maternity clothes? I made the gutsy move of ordering maternity jeans online. In RED! I know, I know, I'm a big believer that wider spaces should probably steer clear of red jeans so I'm a little worried about how this is going to go....stay tuned!

Stretch marks? So far, so good. But I have got to get better at applying my cream!

Sleep: Good with the exception of the worst allergies in anyone's history ever. I just can't describe the intense itching, runny nose, itchy throat, watery eyes that only appear after 10pm. Zyrtec helps 9 out of 10 nights but omgoodness that 10th night is sleepless. :( I've even tried changing our fabric softener (thinking sheets?) but no improvement. 

Best moment this week: I was able to take Ma and my Mom to the sonogram appt. to see this little guy. It was Ma's 92nd birthday and I don't believe she's ever seen a sonogram in person. ;) She was so excited and we capped off a successful doc appt. with a lovely lunch at Chocolate Angel! Oh, the doctor said that this baby is in the 90th percentile for size (I don't remember them measuring like that with G?) so he said we'll need "to watch that." I assume that means take him a tad early if he gets too big? Dunno.
Movement: His movement is getting stronger and I can roughly tell his schedule. Certain times of the day there is a lot of movement and just today, it was such a force that I saw it and made my arm move too. I love feeling him move :)

Cravings: The same. I only want sweets, things that go with milk and meats are gross unless fried or slathered in something. Covering them in mashed potatoes or fettucini sauce helps. I'm going to gain 200 pounds this pregnancy, I just know it!
Symptoms: Just the terrible allergies! They only appear at night but did strike during the day in Colorado on Friday. Misery. There is nothing worse than constantly having to blow your nose and mouth-breathing upon meeting people for the first time. (sigh)
What I miss: I would say events with multiple cocktails (i.e. Oktoberfest, Greekfest, etc.) but I had just as much fun at the bachelorette party and felt great the next day. So I guess I don't miss much! 

What I am looking forward to: Seeing Grayson meet this little guy and watching them grow up together. I have always wanted to have boys to see how brothers grow up together. I just can't wait! Oh and matching them, of course :)

Weekly Wisdom: I would say that being pregnant requires more thought into special occasions and wardrobe since we're dealing with so few options. I just didn't prepare enough for CO and cooler weather. It's hard to shop for winter in 96 degree TX weather! :/

Milestones: We have a name! I think....

Grayson Updates - 2 years, 3 months old

• Oh man, is he growing up! The dancing and singing and talking and busyness and energy! I just can't keep up anymore! I say it every month but this is my favorite age! ;)
• 3T tops & 2T bottoms, Size 8W shoe, Size 6 diaper, and hats have been 3T and bigger for a while ;) 
• G will begin going to school 3 days a week next week! I'm excited for him b/c he likes it so much and seems to really benefit from it. Ms Jenny has the cutest stories about him too! She really takes the time to capture it all.
• We continue to be told just about everywhere we go what a BIG 2 year old he is. He is the same height as the few 4 year olds he's been around recently.
• He got 4 new teeth in recently but he didn't really act any differently. 
• He's really liking his Disney movies more. Lion King is the latest favorite. Anything with dinosaurs too.
• Our night time routine was rough there a couple of months back but we have gotten back on track and bath/teeth/book/bed is working great. I always need to remember how badly they need a routine at this age. 
• The repetitiveness (repetition?) that friends told me about is in full effect. "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, come on, come here, come on, come on." Repeat 300x a day.
• We removed the child lock on his door since he clearly was aware that he was being locked in. He still stays in his bed (except for the first 2 nights - that was creepy finding him in the hallway!) and comes to get us in the morning. When he wakes up, he walks over to turn off his noise machine, closes his bedroom door behind him (which I love b/c it gives me a warning that he's coming) and staggers in to stand by our bed. He hands me my glasses, hair tie and phone and then pushes the covers off of me. There is just no sleeping in for me! But I love that he has it all figured out :) He just seems so grown up.
• Gray is really into wrestling and horseplay these days! It makes me nervous b/c not only is he the biggest one usually, this age isn't quite there with the horseplay yet it seems. So, we've had to put the kibosh on rough housing with Daddy since G started fake-hugging his friends and then body slamming them to the ground. Sound familiar, Beau?! ;)
• He's definitely in the 3-word phrases phase. I'm not sure when it happened but he has mastered the "I want ___ " :)
• He can put back some food. Always interested in what others are eating and always seems to be hungry. I know feeding growing boys is expensive but I thought that was in middle and high school, not at 2!
• Also into - still loving construction equipment, tractors, tools (we now have lumber INSIDE the house), raiding the pantry, drinking our crystal light/water drinks (calls them "juice"), playing ball with new people, golf and baseball still, bubble baths, and helping Daddy work on the house. ;)
• A few of his cutest words:

Lowery (neighbor) - Wooowery

Plyers - pyers

Please - Meeeeeease

Gum - Dum, Dum, Dum, Dum, Dum, Dum (repeat 100x)

Smile! We love you G - just stop growing up!

Andrea's Bachelorette Weekend!

What an awesome weekend spent in Colorado Springs celebrating my sister's upcoming nuptials! It was the perfect mix of relaxation, celebration, laughter and quiet time topped off with some great food and drinks. I'll start off by saying that the girls really made this trip. There were 9 of us total and Andrea is so blessed to have some amazing girl friends. They're fun and just easy to be with. We were all on the same flight coming and going, which made traveling enjoyable and also really easy to get to and from the airport! The rest of the weekend:

Preparations
After a quick flight and easy breezy cab rides to the house, 4 of us took off to the grocery and liquor stores. Priorities, people. I'll keep this short but let's just say our liquor store bill was more than the grocery bill.

It's a good trip when they provide a box. I felt a tad scandalous being pregnant and running through the place with a bottle of Boone's Farm. 

We didn't really decorate since Amanda and I arrived with the girls and wouldn't have had time to set up so we had these cute personalized cups for spa weekend favors. They were stuffed with spa-type items from L'Occitane. I had big ideas of including Kashi bars and all kinds of stuff but I ran out of space. Oh well, thought that counts ;) 

I was so nervous about how these would travel so I took pictures beforehand - ha.

Adorable personalized candy wrappers. I wish I would have done these for G's birthday favors and called it a day.

Personalized confetti from the same vendor. I'm too lazy to link but let me know if you want their info!

The Broadmoor

There are not enough positive adjectives to express how spectacular this hotel and spa are. We had 2 meals there, one at the top point of the resort that looked out to the city (it was just our group - so cool!) and the other was Sunday brunch. I've seen my number of Sunday brunches but haven't experienced a brunch quite like this. More buffet tables and food than you've ever seen - promise. It was a great way to cap off the weekend. The spa was great too. I had a lavender bath soak and prenatal massage. And a lot of quiet time in this room.....

We all kinda camped out in this room and made it home.  It was divine.

Taking a stroll at the hotel

The Views
Anna took us for a drive through the Garden of the Gods, which offers incredible views of the red rock formations. We didn't take nearly enough pictures.

Top: Me, Rachel, Bentley, Janey, Anna, Meredith
Bottom: Amanda, Andrea and Emily

Lingerie Shower
I was so impressed that all of us were showered, dressed and ready in time for the lingerie shower. My Mom made her famous cookies for the affair (a bachelorette party staple in the shapes of hearts and lips), we had a cheese tray and we made Andrea sip on the awful, blue Boone's Farm when she answered Rogan's trivia questions incorrectly. Fortunately, she's the peanut to his butter so she answered most correctly. ;)

With Amanda and Andrea!

Cheers to the Future Mrs. Giles!

Andrea received some beautiful gifts! Some personalized with her new monogram - so fun! (Side note: Anna's parents just bought this home recently - hence, the bare shelves. That said, it had some awesome upgrades! I took notes for my future Colorado home :D) 

The Rabbit Hole & The Dirty Bee
Okay, so it's not really called The Dirty Bee. It's the Golden Bee. But hearing Andrea mistakenly refer to it as The Dirty Bee was the best ever and we decided that this should be the new name. If you've been there, you'd understand the slip up. ;) The atmosphere of The Bee can't be manufactured or drawn out in some business plan. I don't know it's long history but it almost seems like it's accidentally cool. Every table was full of some serious sing-along-bar devotees. Some great people watching and even better sing alongs!

That drink was on fire. No, really.

Delicious dinner at The Rabbit Hole

Rachel, Andrea and Bentley at The Golden Bee

A picture with our new (very-intoxicated newlywed) friend, Who's Jeff? That was the name we gave him.

Ahhh, the yard beer. Andrea was pleasantly (not really) surprised. Hehe.

Coming Home
I was really sad to leave Colorado. Even though I was eager to get back to Grayson and Beau, there's something about a relaxing weekend with great weather and fun people that can get you kinda sad when it's all over. I DID have pictures like this texted to me all weekend so how could I not be a little eager to get home? :)

Grayson hung out with Cole at Oktoberfest Saturday!

These cuties actually parked the car and came in to help me with my bag. Total sweethearts b/c we all know parking at the airport is up there with dental work.

We can't wait to celebrate the future Mr. & Mrs. Giles in New Orleans in just 3 short months! xoxo

We have a new niece! And other not as cool things...

Fall is in the air and things are picking up with our schedules around here! A welcomed shift from the long, hot summer. My friend Alison writes beautifully about this in her blog entry titled, "Doing the Seasons." This term plays in my head a lot and I love it. :)

Most importantly though, we have a new niece!
Edi Jones was born Wednesday night weighing about 8 1/2 pounds, beautiful and healthy. All we can ask for! Beau's sister, Kara and Todd took Edi home on Friday and we went out to visit them on Saturday. She seems to be such an easy baby so far and slept most of the time we were there. :) 

Cousin Payton (Reyn's daughter) holding Edi. Now all 3 Reynolds kids have kids. :) 

The 3 Reynolds grandkids. Payton loved her some Edi. Grayson was more interested in playing with tools and bubbles outside.

Look. How. Cute.

Silhouette
My mom and I took Grayson to a silhouette artist at The Posh Petunia yesterday. This guy is incredible! Armed with just a black piece of paper and some really sharp scissors, he cuts these from scratch with absolutely no sketching or drawing and is finished in under 5 minutes. It's really cool to watch him work! He's from California and his work is offered in Restoration Hardware - Baby & Child (umm, for $160 and it's not even your kid! Shaa right, we paid $25 :) ). But cool nonetheless since I originally got the idea to do this from the Resto catalog in the first place! Total coincidence that it was the same guy. I really look forward to having the new baby's profile done since my vision is to have them hanging on each child's bedroom door facing each other :) Possibly the only perk to having their bedrooms so close to each other :)  

Eyelashes!

Week 3 of school
What a weight off my shoulders that this transition back to school has been so easy. Grayson kisses me goodbye and walks right into Ms. Jenny and the other kids, sits at the table and begins the morning's project. He seems so grown up to me when this happens. I'm still expecting last year's tears! Gosh that was hard. Also, the Director of the school greeted Grayson by name this morning. She's either really good at what she does or he has given her reason to know his name! Time will tell...

Lunching 
I feel really fortunate that I'm free to coffee and lunch with friends and fellow-organization members (more on that below.) Here are some recent favorites that I recommend: Butternut squash ravioli - It's like dessert! And only at Maggiano's for a limited time. Oh, and Lori and I split the huge chocolate cake. Pregnant girl heaven for both of us! Also, the sweet potato fries at both Breadwinners and Mooyah are awesome! Not sure why I had been doing regular fries all along. New places you should try: Chocolate Angel for lunching in Plano - but make a reso - amazing place! And for lighter/healthier, Cedars Wood Fire Grill in Frisco.  Last, I know everyone raves about the Pumpkin Spice Latte at Starbuck's but it's too perfumey-tasting to me! I ask for 1 or 1 1/2 less pumps than usual and it brings it down to manageable. I'm sure I'm the last to know but thought I'd share.

Hope Park
I have officially joined the team of volunteers for Hope Park, a first-of-its-kind development for children with special needs right here in Frisco. The kids have had a hand in designing it and there will be features that just don't exist in our parks thus far. It will be 100% funded by donations and sponsors so we have a big mountain to climb to reach the projected $750,000 it will take to build in early 2013. I'm helping with the marketing side of things (duh) and submitted my ideas for our next event last week. They were really well-received and I'm feeling so proud and happy to be a part of it all! More to come on that event, Pairing for the Park, a wine pairing in October!

Play dates and birthdays
Beau and our neighbor Scooter were rather spontaneous last Sunday and decided at 4:30pm that we should do margaritas and dinner at our house. I swear they weren't this fun when I wasn't pregnant and would have loved a margarita! The Asels emptied their pantry in about 15 minutes and we actually pulled off a really good meal! And Beau loves to get the outdoor speakers cranked up with a good game of corn hole so there's that. Overe all, a lot of fun.

How do you feed 8 people in a pinch? A grill, a boxed cake and A LOT of mac and cheese and beans!

Brayden turned 2 this past weekend and Martha and John had his party at one of our favorites, My Gym! We hadn't been back since our membership expired so it was fun to see Grayson go back. 

Brayden is far right in the plaid shorts. Happy Birthday, buddy!

Grayson (center) put his hands to his mouth when he was in suspense - thought that was pretty precious :)

MOPS
These girls are always doing something! Several times a week in addition to the regular meetings. I enjoyed a MNO with them last night and last Thursday. They also do a dinner during the week for those of us with traveling or coaching husbands. I do that with my play group too so it's nice to fill up those week nights with other activities besides showing up on my parents' doorstep - ha! :) 

What Grayson's been up to...

He's a creative scavenger!

Why are the turtles on top of each other? Uhhh, they're playing leap frog. Moving on....[I have got to become more knowledgable on random stuff]

Oral hygiene, y'all!

20 Week Pregnancy Update

How am I already half way through all this?! Actually, more than 1/2 way since we'll schedule the c-section for 39-ish weeks. People have always said the second pregnancy flies by and I just couldn't understand that but I get it now. :)

At 20 weeks, Baby is the length of a banana! (I get my photo opps where I can these days)

Bump goes the belly.

How far along? 20 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: 10ish lbs.
Maternity clothes? I'm still loving my little maternity wardrobe - it's not getting old (yet.) I remember being so over my clothes by the end of the last pregnancy. A little nervous because I really bought quite a few new summery things but now that Fall is showing itself, I'm realizing how much I DON'T have for winter. That stinks too b/c I'm kinda over shopping for maternity and more excited about nursery and baby stuff!
Stretch marks? No

Sleep: Same: So much better! I mean I don't sleep through the night by any means but I feel rested when I wake up. It's all I can ask for.

Best moment this week: Beau and I were both able to feel the baby really move for the first time - at the same time. Just so happened that it was on a weekend and we were laying in bed watching a movie. I'm so happy to feel this baby move and as long as it keeps happening, I don't even care about my doc appts and sonos :)
Movement: See above. Actually happened right after I posted the 18 week blog post, so a couple of weeks ago.

Cravings: I'm really put off by any kind of meat :( and I'm all about anything that can be eaten with milk. Cereal, graham crackers, cake, muffins, peanut butter sandwiches, etc. I'm really aware that I need to get protein in where I can. Doing an okay job of that. Meat by itself, yuck. Meat slathered in cheeses, cream sauces, rolled up in dough or pasta and we'll talk.
Symptoms: I'll just say it. My boobs are big. Any bigger and I'll have to buy new bras. I HATE buying new bras. Especially for short-term, fleeting-moment boobs. But from a former A-cup gal to the rest of the blogosphere: these things are cool! :)
What I miss: soft cheeses. I had one night where I splurged on some goat cheese goodness at Gordon Beirsch and then spent the next 2 weeks until my next appt. regretting it. So, I take back anything I said about being relaxed with what I eat. I miss soft cheese so much!

What I am looking forward to: Nursery next steps. We have the bedding, paint samples on the wall, lamp, and ideas for wall decor and drapes. Just need to finalize things. We're going with navy and lime green. Not too different than the navy/pale green we started with for Grayson's nursery (that eventually turned into pale green/cream/touch of navy). It will look like a different room though, which I'm most excited about! 

Weekly Wisdom: Eat your fiber, ladies. And your fiber gummies and fiber pills. Do it.

Milestones: Half way along and we're 99% decided on the name - woo hoo! Also, doc office called and all the Downs testing came back negative. She used the word "perfect," which still freaks me out when medical professionals say that. But then again, the pediatrician used that word at Grayson's very first appointment and I kinda agree... :D

Boy Names (sigh)

Why is this so hard? I never understood why my friends had such a difficult time naming their babies. Grayson's name was so easy for us! But now. Now it's payback for all the crooked eyebrows I sent in the direction of those people who couldn't just decide. And we already have the middle name so this shouldn't be so tough!

We do know that the baby's middle name will be Beau (have I ever mentioned how much I LOVE the name Beau?? Even before I knew Beau! I wanted a son named Beau. And a dog. And the actor who played Beau in the original Dukes of Hazard series. Alas, my Beau is SO much cooler than all those. And also having a child with the middle name aint so bad either.) Pioneer Woman backs me up here on #10. Speak it, sister! ;)

Back to the first name, we have a list that alternated between about 3 - 6 names. When one would come on, inevitably another would be cut. But currently, we're stuck. No movement. Nothing coming, nothing going. Here they are in all their glory....

Dylan. I would really LOVE to have a daughter named Dylan. But I've loved it as a boy name for longer so I really see it both ways. 

Garrett. No idea why. It has stuck with me long before #2 came around.

Walker. Ahhhh, my front runner. Beau likes it a lot, which he's pretty indifferent to names in general, so that's something.He even passed my sly little test the other day when I read off the other 3 names and he immediately responded, "What about Walker??" That's a sign, right?!

Preston. I know too many adult Prestons for this to make sense (no offense or anything...) but I still love the name in it's own right. Is this one that will forever be cool or is it past its prime? 

Honorable Mentions:
Beckett. I would call him Becks! Which made me think of Posh Spice and Beau think that the kid would grow up to be a raging prick. Ha! ;)

Kieran. Beau returned from Ireland excited about this name! Not sure why it fizzled - just did. Maybe b/c it's a beer.

Leyton. This was actually on my girl list and was promoted to boy when we knew gender for sure. It was a no go for Beau. No-Go-Beau.

Hayes. I'm against one syllable names for both first and middle. Hayes Beau? Meh.

I can not even believe I'm asking this but any thoughts/opinions out there? Excluding, of course, the "my step-mom's high school-aged son's name is Dylan and he sucks" comments. We all have those and everyone knows moms don't want to hear them! :)

There are 20,000ish boy names out there and we can't pick one?!

Coming up: a sneak peak of the nursery progress! This may just all come together. Oh, and I never photographed Grayson's completed big boy room. I'll get to that too. Eventually ;)

This Week's Recap!

Smedbergs in town!
I mentioned before that this past week was Weston's first trip to DFW! They spent half their week in Dallas and the other half staying with the Rockenbachs here in Frisco so we got to see them a lot! Overall I think Brad, Nikki and Weston got to do everything and eat at every restaurant on their list. Nikki, Kristi and I even spent Thursday shopping and lunching while Gray and Emmie were at school - it was fun to be stay at home mamas together :)

Dinner one night at La Hacienda Ranch

MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers)
I am sincerely and genuinely thrilled that I a joined this group of women. Our first meeting of the year was this past Friday and it is everything that my friends (Alison, Julie and Annie) told me it would be. I just can not wait to dive deeper into the events, lessons, speaking events, etc. Just the message from the Coordinator's introduction on Friday has stayed with me all weekend. I'm also so happy that they have Bible-based curriculum planned out for the kids. I know Grayson is in good hands so that I can enjoy myself with this fantastic group! More to come on this, I'm sure!

Tree Down
I've had Beau convinced that it's very difficult for me to do any big projects while watching a 2 year old (mainly b/c they undo everything you DO).  So imagine my surprise when I returned home from a little child-free shopping to find that Beau had cut down the dead 20+ ft. tree in our front yard all while watching Grayson! He totally blew my cover! ;) We're really sad to see that big tree go but the yard doesn't look so bad without it surprisingly. Stupid parasites (or whatever killed it in a matter of days.) Thanks to Beau for cutting it down and hauling it off all on his own! 

Naan/Dolan's Housewarming party
Beau and I had a lovely dinner out with the Cooks last night. It was our first with them without kids (you may remember our family-focused Memorial Day trip to their lake house this year) so it was awesome to have some uninterrupted conversations - they are a hoot!! We look forward to more laughs with them. Sad that I didn't get pictures. I mean we had MAKE-UP on our FACES. And there were HEELS, people. And no pictures, pfft.

Speaking of no pictures, we later headed down to Dallas for Justin and Jen's housewarming party. Their place is incredible and we had a blast staying out until after midnight! with all the SAEs and their wives. So sad we didn't capture any of it. There were some hysterical moments with those kids. :)

Grandparents Day!
Ma's community had a big party for Grandparents Day today with food, crafts, mini golf, a pinata and some fun toys. We always enjoy visiting her over there - it's such a busy, exciting place! Not like you'd ever think of an active senior living place. I tried to get some of the same pics from this time last year but it just didn't happen. ;) 

I want a million more of these "4 generations" photos!

Family of 3.5

Beau bought Grayson a real, legit golf club for kids. Still a little long for him but he loves it. 

Grayson is twooooo! ;)

Ma and Gray playing with the new frog she gave him :)

Grayson's 1st Day of Preschool!

Today was Grayson's first day at his new preschool (not to be confused with his very very first day of preschool) and I was so nervous about how it would go! He's got quite the separation anxiety drama thing going on lately so I was wondering how drop off would go. Especially since he slept through Meet the Teacher night so he had never even seen the school before today.

G on his first day w/ his nap mat and basket full of  things. Toddlers really do need a lot! :)

So, just as my mom tells the story of my first day of Preschool where I walked into the room, over to the other kids and never even looked back at her, so did my "clingy Mama's boy". ;) He never even looked back! I received a lovely progress report where I could tell that the teacher really took the time to capture tidbits from his day. 

Apparently he was really sweet to his new friends, asked for me once before nap time but went right down, sat on the potty (um, whoooaaa, I'm not ready hence the DIAPERS I sent with him!) and ate most of his lunch. She even emailed me pictures. I couldn't ask for more - we really do love Ms. Jenny!

He's so big here! I didn't even know he could ride one of those - ha!

One last thing, I'm loving these Oliver's Labels for the inside of his clothes. More and more of the brands aren't doing labels anymore so the permanent marker thing just wasn't working. And everyone knows I love a good reason to personalize something! ;) Highly recommend!

All ready for school!

I spent my day doing the following: coffee with Mama at 5th Street, picking out granite and backsplash for the new kitchen that Beau doesn't know about, lunching at II Brothers, running errands and Beau and I picked up Grayson from school together. Not a bad first day for any of us! :)