18 Week Pregnancy Update

We really know the gender now after last week's appointment! A boy! Can't you tell?.....

Ha! That's actually a joke sonogram that the tech did for us. I think the "man-sized penis" is really the baby's arm. ;) But it's provided a lot of laughs with friends and family! :) Here's the real one...

 

That is, without a doubt, Son #2! And we're thrilled! I have a killer video that shows how much this baby moves (like WALKING up the wall of my uterus - so weird/cool to see!) but Beau needs to figure out how to lift the non-sharable video from the disk. More on that later. 

Here is the rest of this week's update....

At 18 weeks, Baby is the size of a bell pepper!

How far along? 18 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: 10 or so lbs.
Maternity clothes? Yes, please.
Stretch marks? Nope.

Sleep: 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: Feeling the baby! At least, I think I felt him.
Movement: See above.

Cravings: No cravings really. Still love my sugar candy. And sometimes (like this morning), I loudly state how cool it would be if I had donuts. A lot of them. And then my husband appears with them 15 minutes later. The best! (I see him tiring of this quickly)
Symptoms: No more headaches! Whew. That took some time. I also noticed that I don't have acne like I did with Grayson. Out of breath a lot quicker these days. I still have the 2nd trimester energy, which I love. 
What I miss: Margaritas. Not so much wine and champagne anymore. But the sound of a margarita can really make my mouth water - ha!

What I am looking forward to: Now that we are hands down sure that it's a boy (yay!), I'm looking forward to finalizing a name. It's so much harder this time around, I'm really surprised. Also, feeling him move a lot more! And finally, looking forward to Fall, my Colorado trip in a few weeks and the holidays! I can't believe once all that flies by, that we will have a baby arriving!

Weekly Wisdom: I just don't have any wisdom these days. I don't have anything any more figured out than I did the first time. I don't even know if I can feel him yet, I mean sheesh!

Milestones: I have to sleep on my side now, we now know gender so are moving forward with nursery decor and naming. I'd say it's a good place to be! :)

A Little Bit of This; A Lot of That (That=Grayson)

Mama's Birthday at Neighborhood Services 

My parents flew in from New Orleans just in time for a great celebratory dinner. As if they hadn't been celebrating for 4 days in NO with my sister and her fiance but glad they left some for Grayson and me! As always, NS did not disappoint. There's a reason we keep going back despite the countless restaurants in the metroplex. Happy Birthday to our beautiful Mimi!

Amanda's Visit 

"Broken Record"-time: I LOVE having my sisters in town! Amanda's visit was 5ish days and she got some really good snuggle and play time in with Grayson, which she said is all she wanted to do while she was here. If I were President, I'd move Ohio closer to Texas. Or put a ban on Caldwells leaving this great State. Or something like that. 

Reviewing his construction book at the family dinner. Priorities, people.

Aunt Amanda has always been the best pool-time playmate!

At our new hang out - Bahama Buck's!

Plenty of couch time

Cousins' Dinner and Drinks 

While she was here, we met up with the Dallas Caldwell Cousins at Cru one evening. It's so cool being adults with them. A little different than our pool days as kids - same cool factor just with wine ;) It's also different conversation away from all of our parents. I sound like a kid saying that :) We hope to do this more with them!

At the bar after Cru, obvi.

Meet the Teacher Night 

My parents met me at Grayson's school Thursday evening to meet his teacher. Beau will meet her Tuesday but so glad my parents were there since Gray slept through the entire thing. Drooling on my Dad's shoulder. So he'll show up to school Tuesday not having a clue where he is. Great. But I'm in love Mrs. Jenny! What a perfect teacher. I've already received an email and a great Welcome packet from her. She will be perfect for Grayson! 

Later that night, I headed to One2One for a Going Away dinner for one of the moms in our play group. They're moving to Australia - we are going to miss Kirsty and Huxley! :( 

Safety Town 

Our play group organized a tour and play time there and it was awesome! The largest Safety Town in the country, the tour is really cool and it has an awesome little town of houses, streets, lights and street signs for kids to ride bikes and 4 wheelers to learn their street sense. They also have different rooms that are decorated as though you're in someone's home. You get to see how quickly a fire moves through and what to do in a tornado. Really fun stuff. I mean, fun for fire and tornado safety. :)

Grayson at the wheel

We are so happy to have these friends! 

Rosemeade Rainforest

I had never heard of this place until Alison and London introduced us a couple of weeks ago. A lot of fun! The water was chilly but it's just a really cool place to play. The kids are a little too young for us not to have been in the water with them so my wimpy-in-cold-water self was happy to just eat lunch there and relax with friends. :) 

He gets it from his Mama (the laying out part)

There were a couple of these that left emotional scars on the kids who were unlucky enough to be caught under it! when it unloaded. Grayson was one of them!  Poor baby :)

Scarred, I tell you. But really just exhausted enough to fall asleep with those adorable puckered lips.

A Smedberg BBQ

We hosted a BBQ for Baby Weston and his parents who flew in from Naples to spend the week with us and the Dallas girls! We really enjoyed having the group over and missed the girls who weren't here. Did we get pictures of the girls together?! NO. Did we get any of Weston and his precious wardrobe changes? NO. But I did get this video of Emmie and Grayson's first real date. He drove. Precious.

A Day in the Square

I dragged my Mom to McKinney Square and treated her to lunch in exchange for meeting up with someone on Craigslist from whom I bought something. Just trying to make sure I make it out alive, y'all. I did, we had coffee at an awesome, quirky little coffee shop there, shopped and lunched at Square Burger. I really want to live in McKinney! :/

Good grief, his schedule is whack. But the coffee shop had this cozy chairs by the window.  Mimi was in heaven and so was I with my Snickerdoodle coffee!

The Things We Do...

I've mentioned that Grayson is getting so crafty with that brain of his. He now wants to put his tools to use (sigh) and take things apart. Reminds of the Reynolds' stories about how Uncle Reyn always took things apart as a kid but never liked putting them back together. I NEED for my kid to put things back together! The Lord knows I won't be able to do it!

He left it just like this in my bathroom. Made me smile :)

Just included this pic of his stacked toilet paper b/c I love the pride in his face. He looks 4 here.

I have so much more but I know it all gets old! :) 

My Miscellaneous

I figured that doing a post based on my past several iphone pictures would be fun. After all, that phone is really what captures our daily lives it seems! So, updates in the form of pictures and captions and then a little something from my heart at the end.


Eskimo kisses!

 Monogram problem

While getting ready to meet friends for lunch at a splash pad, I realized that I have a monogram problem. I'm not apologizing for it but I understand the extent of it now! :)

 Parenting

My parenting is worsening the further I get into pregnancy.  By the end, he will probably be drinking beer and staying out all night. KIDDING.

B-day parties and lots of 'em!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Carter! I loved everything about this party and want to copy all of it for Grayson's 3rd! Coo Coo's is the COOLEST place for the young kids, the Market Street cupcakes were awesome (and Oni said affordable) and she put together a basket of unwrapped favors (puzzles, chalk, coloring books, etc.) for the kids to pick out their own since the age range was pretty large. Love that idea!!

Always front and center for the cake! 

Amazing little Beau replica

Beau has always had this incredible MacGyver thing going on and  Grayson seemed to get that. Watching him put random household items together is so cool. Here he wanted to load up all his lumber in the back of his Jeep but realized that the space was too small for all of it to balance. So he wedged the doggie door cover in there as a make-shift shelf. All done on his bathroom step stool of course. Love this Little Beau!

Daddy's softball game

Beau was home this week so he got to play with his old team. Grayson was interested...for a second.

This about sums up his interest: back to the game while eating. ;)

Smoke detector

Hahaha, this thing started chirping during a bad storm in the middle of the night (of course). Beau could NOT get it to stop so he threw it out into the front yard. Ha! Once it dried out, it went right back to chirping loudly and rapidly! 

Daddy snuggles

Are these Daddy/Son snuggles not the best? Melts my heart. We loved having Beau home this week!

New vacuum

Ugh, we did it. A lot of people recommended that pesky little Dyson Animal vacuum that costs more than my car. Just kidding but good grief are those things expensive....AS WELL THEY SHOULD BE! This thing has changed our lives! You only think your house is clean until one of these babies combs through it. And I'm not even talking pet hair here. Dust. Allergens. Dirt and stuff that you can't see. Beau is ready to become a door to door Dyson vacuum salesman b/c he's so passionate about the thing! Seriously, he wants to take it to people's houses to show them the nasties that come out of their "clean" carpet!

Death grip on the "dirt"

NO ONE comes between a man and his dump truck.

A cool gift

This photo just doesn't do this pen justice. My Dad (not Jeff, talking about Carol here) sent this to Beau last week. He hand-makes these from scratch! The gold is a bullet casing, the marble is something cool and the shirt clip is a small rifle. He is amazing and I'm glad to hear he's now selling these! You should see his wood work too - I'm so proud of him!

Last but most importantly...

I have the need in my heart to mention a sweet sorority sister of mine. She lost her baby girl at 40 weeks gestation. Just days before, she posted her final pregnancy picture so eager for Baby Madeline to arrive. My heart breaks for her and her family. I sometimes hate how the world continues to revolve when someone's life is shattered like that. I have been bouncing between communication with sorority sisters coordinating flowers and donations and while posting pictures of Grayson and commenting on other friends' baby & pregnancy pictures and writing this blog post. All the while painfully aware that I just feel like we should all freeze for a long, long time to mourn with her. I remember feeling angry that things kept going on around me when my grandfathers passed away in the same week. Like the world didn't get that it should just stop! But I guess the fact that things DO keep going is the only thing that forces us to continue on. Danielle and her family continue to be in my thoughts and prayers every day. 

16 Week Pregnancy Update

At 16 weeks, Baby is the size of a large avocado!

How far along? 16 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: 7 pound gain from pre-pregnanct weight (counting what I lost when I was nauseous for all those weeks: like 10+)
Maternity clothes? I'm loving them all! Fully in maternity bottoms and tops and they're so comfy.
Stretch marks? So far, so good!

Sleep: Better! Grayson is sleeping until 8am, I'm mostly sleeping through the night except for a bathroom trip or two and my dreams are awesome! So far, this baby is going to be a girl that we should name Sinclair and we are to decorate her nursery in peacocks. Ha! Loving this crazy subconscious. Beau is more relieved than ever that this is a boy with the whole Sinclair thing ;)

Best moment this week: Beau was home to help with Grayson! Since I'm not supposed to lift G, or really anything, Beau stayed home. Lovies. We have loved laying in bed with Beau in the mornings and having dinner with him in the evenings! (and bugging him through the office doors every minute in between) Also, Beau's 31st birthday! We loved having him home to celebrate!
Movement: Nothing yet

Cravings: No cravings really. But my Market Street bill was something to fear this week. Eek!
Symptoms: I think I've forgotten to mention my intense headaches. They are few and far between now but still can sneak up every once in a while. Ouch. My stomach feels stretched and I get aches sometimes. The good kind though. 
What I miss: I'm digging all the new Fall clothes out now! Of course I want more of them than I ever do when I'm not pregnant. Grass is always greener.

What I am looking forward to: We know the gender but are still looking forward to knowing for sure. I mentioned that Beau and I aren't 100% confident enough to go buy stuff. A week from today! And then the next day I shop Divine Consign - look out Mamas! I'll be ready to shop!

Weekly Wisdom: I'm really going to miss holding Grayson as my belly gets bigger. Even though I'm not supposed to pick him up, I still sneak in a quick hug when he wants "up" and I'm just going to miss it so much! He's still so squirmy for seated cuddles - boo!

Milestones: People can tell I'm pregnant now and aren't afraid to say something. Love being out of that beer belly/tumor/gained weight awkward phase!

Bump at 15 1/2 weeks. Family picture time went downhill from here....

Grayson finds his Daddy's discomfort so funny! 

Hopefully he'll grow out of that ;) Happy 31st Birthday, Daddy!

Is it February yet?! Killer designer duds for like 80% off.  It better be a boy! ;)

A Little bit of everything...

Probably too many updates for one post but I'll give it  a shot. Where do I begin....in story form, I guess...

Grayson
This past week, Grayson was referred to a third-party speech testing place by his pediatrician (at my urging) and little did we know, this would be the most eventful day of all of our lives (with the exception of his emergency c-section - that was just nuts).  The testing results are pretty much non-news so a quick summary: He didn't qualify for their services because he doesn't have any delays. That's right, we had him tested for no reason. He scored at his correct age or advanced in every area (they test for everything: motor skills, cognitive, etc; but I was only concerned with speech). I felt like I wasted everyone's time but in the end, I'm relieved and so proud of his behavior at the appointment. Two hours of three therapists (albeit the sweetest women in the world) throwing questions, tests, activities, etc. in his direction and he did great. They took about 4 minutes to deliberate before they came back and told us that he doesn't qualify for their services. I felt silly. Hand-written thank you notes headed their way this week - ha!

This would be the least exciting part of that day...

Me
After testing, we headed to the grocery store. This is where I might lose you. The moment Gray and I walked in the store, I felt something. Every woman knows it. It's when she knows her period has arrived. Except I'm pregnant so this was a problem. The quicker Grayson and I walked to the bathroom, the faster and worse things were getting. It was getting bad. So there the two of us were in the Tom Thumb handicap bathroom stall with blood everywhere. Everywhere. I can only be thankful that Grayson is too young to remember any of it because it was traumatic. There was sobbing from me, stern instructions for him to remain in the corner and not touch anything. He just didn't know what was happening.

Mama and Jeff
My parents came to the rescue within minutes. They always do! They were in separate cars doing different things in their days and they dropped everything to be in that grocery store with me. My Dad took Grayson with him for the afternoon. My Mom and Ma (they were on the way to Ma's doctor's appointments that they quickly canceled to be with me) took me to my OB's office. The bleeding and crying continued there and I was met with a lot of hugs from their staff (love them all). I was just distraught... 

Baby
Michelle, the best sono tech in the world, brought me in to her room and within seconds of having the wand placed, she told us there was a heartbeat. Stumped and emotional I said, "but there was so much blood"....I can't really explain the mix of emotions I had: sadness, relief, elation but so confused. The diagnosis from the doctor (warning: I might lose you for real now): Placenta Previa. I know, I know, that word should never be spoken or written and I'm not talking about "previa," you understand? But it's important to me that other women know that  you can have a terrifying experience like that and the baby can really be okay! It happens to 1 in 200 pregnancies, it's really not related to the baby much at all and just means that I need to take it easy, bed rest might be ordered if it doesn't correct itself (which it most always does) oh, and the grocery store bathroom episode could happen again anytime or anywhere throughout my pregnancy. Oh, joy. But the bright side of all of this - we found out Baby #2 is a BOY! I love my boys! :) 

To summarize, I went in to that office thinking I had lost my baby and came out knowing I had a healthy baby boy. Again, words will never be able to express the roller coaster of emotions that day.

Soo yeah. 4th sonogram in 14 weeks. :)

It's a boy! Okay so Beau and I aren't really convinced by this picture BUT our sono tech rocks and I trust her more than this pic. But to be safe, we aren't shopping until after 20 weeks. Except for what I already bought. ;)

Beau
Where does Beau fit into all of this? Everywhere. He can so be my rock even across the country (Minneapolis in this example) and the speed for which he can drop what he's doing, head to the airport and hop a flight to get to me still amazes me. He's my some kind of wonderful. Because I haven't told the FULL story. It involves a crazy freak situation where, after my Dad took Grayson out of the restroom that day, I called Beau at work to tell him what was happening. The phone rang and then went silent and I just held the phone forgetting to hang up, I guess. The crazy part is that he answered and could hear me but I couldn't hear him. So he heard me just sobbing in silence. He didn't know where I was, or where Grayson was, or that I couldn't hear him calling out to me. What a terrible thing to have to happen for him. No doubt he thought we had been in a car accident or something. He called back and I remember wondering why he was already in tears. I let him know we were both okay but that the baby probably wasn't, what was happening and that's when he headed to the airport. I don't even think I've changed a diaper this weekend. He's so hands-on and he's staying home with us this week. It will make his trip to Ireland on Saturday a little easier than last time! 

I'm still shocked that all 3.5 of us are here. We're healthy and happy and that's all I can ask for! 

What a day! My little trooper.

In the (Reynolds) News

Things have been buzzing along pretty nicely since we returned from Florida and as I mentioned before, it was exactly what I needed to feel refreshed and productive again. We have had a play date and/or My Gym every day since we have been back. It's nice to be out the door at a certain time every morning. One of the few things I miss about my work days: structure!

He was a little embarrassed when I caught him playing with George and the doll stroller at Emmie, Joe and Kate's house.  How does he already know that emotion?

The weekends have been a nice mix of time with friends/family and relaxing as a family of 3 - a balance that Beau was really needing from me and my calendar-booking craze.

I love this picture of Beau and Cole :) And of course, Cole's outfit!

If your Saturday night doesn't involve goggles and a towel cape, you aren't living.

Grayson is getting so good at projects and activities. I have said before that I'm most excited about seeing his imagination grow. I love seeing his ideas!

Okay, so maybe most of the resting is done by the dogs :)

Grayson had a haircut last week that went all kinds of wrong. But it made me realize that he already has a certain personality at this young age and it doesn't involve a buzz cut!

Before

Okay so it's not a buzz cut but it looks like....

this most of the time. [sigh]

We have been doing a good job of cooking at home and making some pretty healthy meals. Well, healthy for Beau and I make sure I have a carb side for Grayson and me.

It makes dining out so much more indulgent!

Anyone remember how stoked I was about my stroller and how it coverts to a double and how I have recommended it to anyone who would listen b/c it's so much cooler than buying a single stroller and then a double stroller later on? Yeah well, that only makes sense if your first kid isn't huge! Grayson is already outgrowing this stroller that is supposed to convert into my double! No idea what to do. I will need to have him strapped to something when #2 comes along. I can't even imagine the alternative.

His head is off the back of the stroller and that silver is the sun shade! Poor little big dude.

So, there's this resale group on Facebook for women in Frisco/Allen/McKinney/Plano who sell some pretty nice stuff and let you know about awesome garage sales and such before most other people know. I love being a part of it. We scored the twin mattress for Grayson's big boy bed (un-used) for $35. Also, I got 3 huge trash bags and a box of children's books for cheap, cheap. Keeping a lot, giving some to my mom and SIL and donating the rest. I'm addicted to a bargain!

Grayson and I going through all the books was like Christmas at Barnes and Noble. We had fun together :)

I have really enjoyed some girl time recently. Kelly, Martha and I (Alison's sitter was a no-show so she couldn't make it - ugh!) had dinner at Seasons 52 Thursday night and had so much fun. We just couldn't possibly fit in all the topics we wanted to. Next trip is to Blue Martini, which absolutely looks like a meat market/cougar den/plastic surgery convention - I can't wait! ;) And since I'm not a martini drinker at all, pregnancy is a great time to check out the place. Taking bets on how many other pregnant women will be there? I'm going with zero!

 My sugar cravings are back in full effect with this pregnancy. .98 cents a box at Walmart - don't mind if I do!

Upcoming! 
Beau and I have two sets of friends who are bringing their families home to Texas for a visit so that everyone can meet their babies! Their sip 'n sees are at the same time Saturday so I'll head to Dallas to see Brooke, Aaron and James (from New Zealand) and Beau will head to Ft. Worth to see Katie, Justin and Henry (from CA). Wish we could all make both!

My neighbor Britney and I have decided to brave a baseball game in August. In Texas. With three young children. Beau will be in Ireland and Scooter in Austin so who knows what kind of trouble we can get into! More bets on how long we'll last there? I'm going with 30 minutes! :)

Co-hosting Andrea's bachelorette party in Colorado! A spa weekend with average temps at 75/45. This is my mental happy place when it's 108 outside these days!

Divine Consign season! My friend Lori and I are volunteering again to get into the pre-sale. We (hopefully!) find out the gender of #2 the day before so, either way, I'm going to have a list!

Spin class with Mama at the FAC! No excuses, I have my energy back and feel amazing. Time to make use of it!