26 Weeks With Baby #2

Whew!  Finally made it around to getting this post out!  Svea and I traveled to Jamestown this past weekend for my Mom's birthday and we didn't get home until late Sunday night. But, more on that later as I've got a lot to share.  This post is for little boy and he seems to be doing really well.  I started feeling his hiccups this weekend and it made me so incredibly happy to feel them.  They were extremely faint, but are there and it means he's swallowing fluid, practice breathing, and his lungs are starting to get into full swing of development. I am starting to feel just the slightest bit tired.  I notice after I put Svea to bed.  I'm usually motivated to get a few chores done and do something fun before hanging out on the couch to relax for awhile, but lately I'm having to push myself to keep going.  When we got home on Sunday night Dan surprised me and put together the new crib.  It made me so excited to see his room starting to come together!

18 Months Old

Clothes: 18 month clothes! Some of your shirts are almost getting too small and some of the pants still have to be rolled at the waist and legs.
Shoes: Size 3 and a few pairs of size 4 shoes
Diapers: Size 4 diapers
Sleep: You sleep approximately 12 hours at night and anywhere from an hour to two hour nap each afternoon.  You have been down to one nap a day for a very long time.  When you are tired you'll go and get your bunny and paci and then you rub the soft part of your bunny on your eyelids or around your eye.  It seems soothing for you.  Mom does the same thing when she twirls her hair.
Teeth: 12!  Your last eye tooth just poked through the other day.  It was a painful one for you!

Traveling: We traveled to Mayville, ND to see your Great-Grandparents.  It was for a quick night and it was the Friday before Easter.  You got sick in the middle of the night, but you were still such a sweet little girl.  Grandma and Grandpa loved getting to see you and gave you lots of Easter Bunnies!
 Talking:It's getting to the point that we can't really keep up with the words you are now saying.  You've really entered the "repeat almost anything we ask you to stage".  Words that come to mind are cracker, tree, owl, and ? When Mommy or Daddy start counting we'll say one and you'll say two and we'll say three.  It's so precious and cute! There are a ton of other words that you'll repeat and we know what you're trying to say, but they sound nothing like the word.

Favorite Activity: Outside!  As soon as we say let's go outside and get your shoes you'll run to your room and grab a pair and wait by the door.  You are still throwing tantrums when we come inside. You still love blocks, stickers, cars, and playing with your little people.
Favorite Books:Right now you are loving books with Rhyming mostly, especially the nursery rhyme books we got you for Easter.  You have a "Baby Brother" book that you got from your Grandma and Grandpa Dornfeld and you like to read that in the car each day on our way home from daycare.  You love to point out the babeeeeee!
Favorite Foods: The same as before......sweet potatoes, peas, oatmeal, and this month you've been very open to new fruits such as raspberries, blackberries, and pineapples.
Foods Disliked:You are quite picky.  We have our menu of what you like and it's difficult to try new things.  It's about a 50/50 percent chance that you'll even try something new. 

Favorite Songs: You actually tried to mimic Mommy the other day when we sang Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes.  I can picture your smile right now and you are such a sweet little girl!
Dislikes: Brushing your teeth, putting on your pajamas at night, and diaper changes.  We've reverted to turning on the TV at times for the five minutes it takes to change your diaper and get jammies on.  Most times you wiggle and cry your way through it though.  

Favorite Word: You started saying Mommy this month instead of just Mom.  You'll lay in your crib and say it over and over and over.  I SO want to come in there and snuggle you up, but I know you can go to sleep by yourself.  Baby and Uh-oh are at the top of the list right now too.
Things we are learning: You are starting to get a little bit of separation anxiety when Daddy drops you off in the morning at daycare.  You sometimes cry for him when he leaves and some days you run right off to your toys and friends.  You are so good at listening to directions.  The other day I asked you to go and pick out a pair of shoes in your room so we could go bye-bye.  You ran to your room, opened your closet door, and grabbed a "matching" pair of shoes.  You then brought them to me and sat in my lap so we could put them on.  You like to touch our noses and say "beep beep", especially when I am trying to get you to go to sleep!  Silly girl!

Svea Grace, our love for you grows more and more each day.  You're all we think on our way home to see you.  We always look forward to playing and doing all sorts of activities with you at home. We love you!

A Little of This, A Little of That

 

-I think it's ironic that I checked out a book on how to juggle the work load at home between the adults in the household, but I don't have time to read it:)

-I  think we are excited that our church voted to call a new pastor.  His name is Paul Schumaker and he's actually been a big part of our congregation since before we even came along.  I am so happy and I'm praying this is the right fit for him and his family.  Kari, his wife, is so cool and they have three girls that are wonderful as well! UPDATE!  They've accepted the call!  We couldn't be more pleased!

-I think that this pregnancy is going much faster than Svea's.  I can't believe in three months we'll have another little one in the house.

-I can't believe all of the things Dan has accomplished in the last couple of weeks.  I will have pictures to update soon!  He still has finishing touches to do and it takes a lot longer when you have to go back to work.  

-I think it's great that I got my toilet back!  No more middle of the night trips down to the basement!

-I still have to stop myself from laughing at Svea in the middle of the night when I think she needs a diaper change only to find out she's waiting to pee for when I get the diaper off.  Then she giggles at me.  

-I think the best sounds in the world are little girl babbling with her toys.  You can tell that she just wants to be able to have these long conversations with you, or her toys:)

Papa Came For A Visit

 My Dad and Lynn came to visit this weekend after their winter in Mazatlan.  Svea was shy at first and went down for a nap soon after they arrived on Friday, but thanks to Skype she slowly figured out who my Dad was and would go to him all weekend after her nap. She calls my Dad Papa and had fun playing blocks with him, of course!

 This cute little shirt is from Grandma and Grandpa Dornfeld. It's supposed to be a dress, but works great as a shirt too!

 Goodnight kisses!

 Goodnight books!

 Snuggles on Sunday morning right before they had to leave.

My Dad, Lynn, and Svea.  Can you tell she's not fully awake yet?  Thanks for visiting us! We had a great time playing even if Svea was teething and quite crabby on Saturday.  She did manage a trip to Zorbas (yum), but slept quite a bit.  She needed tylenol twice in the night on Saturday and Sunday morning I saw the new tooth that had popped through.  It was an eye tooth....ouch, but thankfully her last one to come in.

25 Weeks With Baby D #2

Pregnancy Highlights

How Far Along:25 Weeks!

Total Weight Gain: 15.5 lbs. 

 Maternity Clothes:The belly band and my work pants are getting too tight.  I'm mostly wearing my maternity skirt, maternity leggings, and have just started wearing my maternity pants, which are cargo pants and decently comfortable.  Only six more weeks of figuring out what to wear to work!  I just want to wear my yoga pants everyday!  Also, maternity shirts!

Best Moment this week: Dan was finally able to feel our little boy from the outside just a few days ago.  He's getting much stronger! I can tell he's moving farther up.  I felt him the other day way up high and on the side by my ribs while lying on my side.  It is such a weird feeling and makes me startle a little bit.

Gender:A little boy!  It's finally sinking in that we are having a boy.....I did this with Svea too.  It's so surreal for many weeks whatever you are having.

Movement: On and off everyday and it's so much fun!

Food Craving:So I've been able to keep the sugar cravings at bay a little bit, but I still crave cheerios every once in awhile.  We haven't had Chinese food in awhile as well, but I often catch myself thinking about it. Ha!

What I miss: Nothing right now.  I can still bend over without much effort and am still feeling pretty good.  I know that will change soon as I expand!

Sleep: Good, except for I have to push myself to go to bed!  I'm such a night owl and having normal energy right now doesn't help my body clock.  Svea's been sick and had quite a few rough nights so I've been tired, however I know it's from being up in the middle of the night with a toddler and not from pregnancy.  She slept until 8:15 this morning so I feel very refreshed.

What we are looking forward to: Getting the baby's room ready now that he has a closet! Thank you Ron and Dan!  It just needs to be painted and the room cleaned and I believe we can start.  I'm itching to get in there, but trying to be patient as Dan is putting finishing touches on our bathroom.

Symptoms:just feeling baby move and getting bigger!

Cheap Entertainment?

Or is it?  My geeky math brain actually thinks about figuring out the energy loss and the amount we pay for the three and a half minutes I allow Svea to play in the fridge (timed, of course).  Not because I'm worried about it, but because I'm obsessed with real life math problems!  She loves re-arranging the plastic bottles on the bottom two shelves and sitting inside.  You can't tell from the photos, but this is an outfit from Grandma and Grandpa Dornfeld!

It's the Simple Things.....

 in life that are the most fun! This girl loves to play and she actually wears her sunglasses too!

My Mom helped me put together this new outdoor water toy for Svea while she napped.  I wanted an alternative to the pool in case we didn't want to put our swimming suits on this summer.  Of course, I realize if we are in clothes those will have to be changed as well:)  Svea loved this and had a blast playing in the water.  I can't wait to get more use out of it when it gets consistently warm!

Out For A Walk

 Last Saturday was gorgeous outside (76 degrees) and Svea was finally feeling better.  I brought out her sunglasses and new silver sandals and we were off. 

 She's really starting to get into running now and it makes me nervous.  She only fell once and said, "Uh-oh", which IS the word of the week.

 Also this weekend she started saying "cracker", and in her sleep on the baby monitor she said "why". We have to hide the crackers from her or that is all she wants.  Bananas too, but she can't say that yet:)

 I thought this one was so funny.  She's into picking flowers (dandelions).  Then she hangs onto them for awhile before she'll drop them on the ground and say bye to them.  Bye, bye, bye....she likes to say goodbye to the ants, the grass, a leaf, and more while we walk!

After a long walk (for her) we headed inside for the car to relax our legs a little bit.

Last Week Sick City

 So I'm pretty sure last week was tough on all of us. Svea had what seemed like a virus that eventually turned into some somewhat worrisome constipation that required an x-ray to prove the doctors concerns.  One mild fever, two throwing-up episodes, and many bouts of diarrhea we finally got to the bottom of what was going on.  I could also stop feeding my child bananas!  Hello!  Who knew diarrhea can be a sign of the opposite problem! I cried when they had to do her x-ray.  They brought me the heavy cape to wear in the xray room while she had her pictures taken, but when I let them know I was pregnant I had to leave the room altogether and leave her with strangers.  Oh, did she cry....not fun!

She did a lot of sleeping, cuddling, and her fair share of whining At times she was just plain miserable.  With some suppositories, prunes, prune juice, and a little Miralax we finally got things moving for her and she is now much better.  Just in time because the day after she started feeling better we had a beautiful day outside and we ran around, she played with a new outdoor water toy that Dan and I got for her, and went for a walk.  That's all coming up this week!

24 Weeks With Baby D #2

24 Weeks!  Ahhh and it feels good to be here:) No picture yesterday as I didn't make it to the shower again and it was one of my most stressful days of being a parent so far.  With Svea being sick and being up for almost four hours the night before I could barely function.  The good news is Svea is finally back to her normal self.  Here I am in front of our bathroom where we normally take my bi-weekly pictures, but there is no door because Dan and Ron are working!  Pics to come when it's finished.  That might be next fall...ha, j/k.  I can see the end in sight and we are SO incredibly thankful for Ron and helping Dan with this project.  It's making me SO anxious and exciting to get started on little boy's room!  I'm feeling great and had a dr. appt. yesterday.  I'm measuring right on target and baby's hb was 147 bpm. I literally was with the dr. for a total of six minutes. We had an awesome and beautiful day today and played outside a ton.  I'll post some pictures soon!

Random Thoughts From the Dornfelds

 Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad!  I can't remember what she was saying here, but that's what it makes me think of:)

-Elephant....this is the term that comes to mind when I think of my face these days.  I'm already retaining a lot of water in my face...arghgh.  It's that or that's where all 14 lbs that I've gained so far have gone:)  Well, I suppose some is my belly:) I was sitting on the couch Sunday night thinking little guy was pretty quiet when all of the sudden he kicked so hard my stomach twitched so much that I could actually see it. yeah!
-Svea can now say two and three word phrases together.  She will say "Down Meeko" to the cat when he jumps up on places he shouldn't be.  She also says, "there you go" and in Mayville the other day she said, "Where Gaga go".  I was floored!  When we went to the other room where she was she ran to her and gave her a huge hug.
-My Step-Dad Ron came to visit us in the evenings and help Dan with finishing our bathroom/closet renovation. They've still got some work to do, but I'm guessing they are at least halfway done.  Little boy will have a closet and it'll increase the value of our house.  I'll post pics when it's done.
-I stayed home the last two days with a sick little girl.  It turns out her intestines are a little too full and she's having a hard time passing some things, if you know what I mean.  She was throwing up and having diarrhea so I took her in today.  She's got a small list of things we are doing/taking  to try to get things moving.  Please pray that they will work.  I am one nervous Mama!
-I have my 24 week appt. tomorrow morning.  My Mom got here tonight so she can watch Svea so I can go. I will keep you posted on how she is feeling and how little boy is doing from my appt.

I Love Sunglasses!

 Easter Attitude!

 We SO need a full length mirror.  Little girl likes to peak between the dishes in the hutch to see herself. 

 Hey Mom, are we ready for church?

 I love this little dress she wore for Easter.  The fun part is the light pink part of it might work as a baby doll shirt later too.

 New sunglasses from Svea's college aged babysitter. She thinks she is so cool in them!

Kisses for herself!

Visit to Mayville

 Svea opening her Easter basket from Gaga and Grandpa Ron.

 She still fits in the boppy.  I brought it along as a highchair.

 Stickers!

So I don't have many pictures from Mayville this time.  Svea was so silly and happy when we got there and proceeded to eat a huge supper.  Those words haunted me later when she got sick at midnight:(  She spiked a mild fever right before bed and had an interesting diaper change.  I went to bed at 11:30 and texted Dan how cute it was that our little girl was talking in her sleep.  Not twenty minutes later she woke up and threw up in her pack n play.,...all over!  I got all of her messy clothes off, took her sheets off, and gathered bunny and we headed downstairs to throw them in the wash.  She was happy  and silly so I was thankful, hugging my leg as was putting her clothes in.  We found a replacement "bunny" for the rest of the night and I used a dishtowel as new sheet for her.  We sang and cuddled and she was soon back to sleep, however the new sheet idea didn't work so well so I brought her in to bed with me.  She slept ok, but I maybe got a half hour here and there.  I was too nervous she would fall out of the bed despite my pillow moat around the bed.  The next day she was a little out of sorts and very clingy.  We visited with my Mom and Grandparents and then hit the road in the afternoon after she had finally started to at least eat.  Thank you Mom so much for helping me with Svea. I couldn't have taken as good of care of her without you!  It was worth it to see my Grandparents and have them see her.  It was good to make it home too!

Blessed Easter To You

 We had a wonderful Easter this year despite Svea just getting over a touch of the flu.  We are so thankful not only today, but everyday for this gift of life that we get to enjoy with each other all because of God and God's son. 

 Such a silly girl!

Dan taught Svea how to make the sign of the cross on his forehead.  He just has to ask her now and she'll do this on his head, mine, and all of her babies.  A very sweet Easter gift.  Tonight when I put Svea to bed she has her water in one hand and her bunny in the other.  When I asked her if we should pray she didn't let go of her water, but she at least closed her one hand in a giant fist to pray.  So cute!

 Opening her Easter basket from Mom and Dad.  Svea spiked a fever this weekend on Friday night and then woke up in the middle of the night throwing up.  We were at my Grandparents and I'll tell the whole story later, but she's been a snuggly got to have my paci and bunny girl the whole weekend.

 Thank you Grandma and Grandpa Dornfeld for the Easter package in the mail.  We tried calling a few times, but haven't been able to connect with you.  We just LOVe the books, dresses and thanks to Ashlyn as well for the purses.  Thank you Mom and Grandpa Ron for the fun stickers and toys from France in Svea's Easter basket.  We also LOVE  the cute clothes as well.  Svea walked around in her new beret after her bath tonight by her request:) Thank you Grandma and Grandpa Fugleberg for having us for a night.  We LOVE coming to visit and thank you for all of the bunnies.  Svea played with them all this morning while I got ready for church. 

Our sweet little bunny! Hope you had a wonderful Easter.  Dan andSvea  had, a nice long nap this afternoon and then we just had a great day at home together.  Despite Svea getting over the flu she was quite happy.  It was just nice to be home today:)

23 Weeks With Baby D #2

Pregnancy Highlights

How Far Along:23 Weeks!

Total Weight Gain: 14 lbs. 

 Maternity Clothes: Belly Band, maternity shirts, and I found my larger sized capri jeans.  I also dug out my maternity jean skirt and I wear it about twice a week!  I'm thinking I may need to go out and buy at least one or two pairs of maternity shorts for this summer.  I got by with my belly band the last time I was pregnant during the summer, but I will be much bigger this time.

Best Moment this week: Feeling baby boy move on the outside!  I've felt it a few times, but we're still working on Dan being able to feel it too!

Gender: Precious, sweet, little boy!

Movement:Everyday here and there!  I don't think I've used the doppler maybe twice in the last two weeks since I"m feeling him so often. 

Food Craving:I am having these INSANE sugar cravings.  I'm thinking my body is just addicted at the moment to it, so I'm trying to cute it out completely (we'll see how that goes) for two weeks so that my body can detox!  ha!  Ironically my other craving at the moment is vegetables.  The other day I had brocoli and cauliflower for a snack, green beans and mushrooms for dinner, and sweet potatoes.  I'm very thankful for this craving that hits every once in awhile.

What I miss: I miss Zumba:)  I was listening to some of the music and it made me want to dance, but I know I'd pull a muscle in my belly so I don't:).

Sleep: Great!  I'm thankful for chiropractor!  I think my bi-weekly visits are helping with all of these changes going on with my body.

What we are looking forward to: Easter Weekend!  Svea and I are going to run up to Mayville for a quick trip visiting my Grandparents.  They haven't seen Svea since last September and my Grandma has been itching to see us.  Then we'll be home Saturday night in time to celebrate with Daddy on Sunday.  I'm also looking forward to Dan's upcoming construction project the week after Easter.  My step-Dad Ron is coming and they are going to finish the bathroom and make a closet in little boy's room! I'm excited about this because then we can start working on his room!  I've been "pinning" ideas on Pinterest if you're pinterested!

Symptoms: growing belly and really that is it! Otherwise I feel normal.

First Easter Egg Hunt

 We gave her the empty Easter Egg basket and you could tell she wondered where her eggs went?

 Then, we "hid" the first egg right where she could see it.  It worked and she figured out what we were doing right away.

 She needed a little help, but for the most part would go right for the egg to put in her basket when she found an egg.

 She didn't say a ton, but we think she had fun.

 We sat down for awhile to show her what was inside her eggs. Stickers of course!

 Later we went inside and she put every sticker on a piece of construction paper.  She's so good with them and I'd have to say they are her favorite thing to do right now.

Happy Easter Egg Hunt Day little girl!  We sure had fun watching and helping you hunt for your first time...even if it only last seven minutes:)