February Fun!

Adalee at 14 Months! Such a big girl!

Loves feeding herself!

"Helping" Dad bring in the groceries :)

Loves visits from her friend Avery
and her Aunt Alyssa!

She takes ordering food very seriously...

Her first ponytail! Her teachers at school
gave her a ponytail - it was such a surprise
when Daddy picked her up! He almost
didn't recognize her! :)

Showing Mommy the ponytail! :)

Baby Bell 2: 24 Weeks

This week...

Baby Bell 2 is... the size of a cantaloupe! Wow...that just sounds so big! Baby is weighing between 12.7 and 20.8 ounces, and is measuring 10.5 to 11.8 inches. Her skin is becoming more opaque and pink, as small capillaries begin to form. I still can't believe how fast this pregnancy is going - June is going to be here before we know it!

My bump is... an actual bump - sticking out and everything! Baby has been moving and kicking a lot lately - exploring her home! Part of me loves getting to feel her move all the time, but at night when I am trying to sleep...not so much! I am finally getting used to the side-sleeping again - as long as I got a few pillows tucked around me on all sides!

I have been feeling... much better! So glad to be over all the gross sickness! I am starting to feel some of the discomforts of pregnancy - heartburn, leg cramps, and backaches. I think I need to be more intentional about drinking water throughout the day, as well as watching how much I am holding Adalee. Picking her up has become quite the task, and I get tired after holding her for longer than 10 or so minutes. We are going to have to figure something out, because she looks at me with those "puppy dog" eyes, raises her arms, and says "up" - and of course I give in...

I have been craving... nothing too specific, but I have definitely noticed an uptick in my sweets intake - ice cream and chocolate are the current favorites!

Our favorite thing has been... just spending time with family and friends. Sometimes it is the simple things in life, and we have definitely needed some family/friend time lately. Plus, Adalee is doing much better when we go out, making eating dinner at restaurants much easier! No progress on the nursery or baby's name...we will probably need to start working on those things soon! :)

We are looking forward to... VACATION! We leave this Friday for Hawaii - and I couldn't be more excited! Our family is headed to Oahu with my parents and sister for 8 days of fun in the sun! We had originally planned a trip to Turks and Caicos, but with the Zika virus going crazy in the Caribbean right now, I thought we would have to cancel our trip. Luckily, my mom and I were able to work out all the details in order to change the location of our trip - one month out! I am so glad it all worked out, and now, I just need to get us all packed and ready to leave by Friday - that part will be stressful - but once we are there - it is all rest and relaxation! :)

Adalee's First Haircut!

Last weekend, Miss Adalee got her first haircut! I love, love, love her shaggy, curly locks - so I kept putting off her first haircut - but we finally reached the point where her hair was in her eyes all the time, and because she doesn't allow me to pull it back with clips and bows, she desperately needed a trim. So on February 13th, we took a family trip to Sheer Madness, which specializes in haircuts for kids. Her first haircut was everything I imagined it would be - a total and complete meltdown - but it will only get better... right?!?! Luckily her hair stylist was patient, and was still able to give her a good trim without too much lasting psychological damage... :)

Everything started out so well! She loved the pink car!

Ah the cape... Where it started to go down hill...

Yep... Not excited about the cape...

And the panic begins... "Mom, get me out of this car!"

Family photo! Everyone is so happy! :)

Finally got a smile on our way out!

Baby Bell 2: 22 Weeks

This week...

Baby Bell 2 is... the size of a papaya! Weighing anywhere from 12.7 to 20.8 ounces, and measuring 10.5-11.8 inches, baby continues to grow, grow, grow! Hence, the shortness of breath that I have been experiencing every once in a while - she is starting to invade my space! Baby's eyes and lips are becoming more developed, and she is starting to have recognizable sleep cycles, where I can tell when she is awake and when she is asleep!

My bump is... getting bigger, but not too big yet! My belly button has pushed out - you can now see it through my shirt. The bump has become bigger, to the point where I catch myself resting my hand on top of my belly. We have just started to see her movements from the outside, which means she is getting stronger, and I feel her movements more often. At first I had been worried about how little I felt her movements, but after we had the sonogram, the doctor let us know that my placenta is actually along the inside of my belly - so when she kicks forward, she is actually kicking the placenta - which is why I may feel less movement or less strength behind her movements. So that was good to know!

I have been feeling... for the most part - fairly good - with the exception of the past few days. Last Friday, I came down with one of the horrible viruses going around right now. I have never felt sicker in my life. Literally throwing up every 15-20 minutes for 8 hours straight.  Once we hit the 8 hour mark, our doctor became concerned with dehydration and I went to the Birth Center to have everything checked and to get some fluids and nausea medicine. The fluids were helpful, but I was basically a mess for three days straight - quarantined in our bedroom and not able to do much more than rest and sleep. Finally the following Tuesday, I began feeling better and started to eat normally again. It is times like these that I really dislike winter and all the sickness that gets spread around! Now, we are just hoping that Michael and Miss Adalee don't catch anything from Mama!

I have been craving... nothing really right now - except red gatorade - but that probably has more to do with the virus and sickness than with the actual pregnancy! :)

Our favorite thing has been... obviously the sonogram was the highlight of the past two weeks! Getting to see our baby girl and see how much she has grown was the absolute best! Also, now that we have started planning Adalee's big girl room, we have also started thinking about how we are going to change things up in the nursery for baby. I am playing around with some colors and themes, but haven't gotten anything decided yet. The color palette will definitely include navy - no way are we painting those walls again! :)

We are looking forward to... hopefully choosing a name soon?!?!? Or maybe that is just wishful thinking on my end. We chose Miss Adalee's name super early on in the pregnancy, and I loved being able to call her "Adalee". The first time around, Michael and I just had a really easy time agreeing on the name - and that was that. This time around, it is a little different. We are not quite on the same page. At this point, we don't even have one name we agree on. Welp, we have 18 more weeks to get it figured out!

Working on Adalee's Big Girl Room

Once the new baby arrives and is ready to use the crib, Miss Adalee will be moving out of nursery and into her own room. We have already started to get some new furniture and get her "Big Girl" room set up. Here is what we have so far...

Twin beds and nightstands!

Dressers and the much needed bookshelf!

Miss Adalee checking out her bed for the first time!

I think she likes it...maybe...still need to get the guardrail up!

Adalee's First Weekend at Grandma and Grandpa's

My mom and dad had been begging to have Adalee come spend a weekend with them in Manhattan. Literally begging. For months. Finally an opportunity arose this past weekend. I had bought tickets to a show for Michael for Christmas, and when I asked my Mom if she wanted to come up to Kansas City to watch Adalee for the night, she said "nope...I'm just going to bring her to Manhattan for the weekend instead." And that was that.

I was a little nervous - borderline anxious - as the weekend approached. The most time Adalee had spent away from both Michael and I was one night, and this was going to be three nights away, Thursday morning through Sunday afternoon. But ultimately I had nothing to worry about. She was a little fussy the first night, but otherwise, she did absolutely wonderful with my parents. My mom kept her nice and busy - from working in the office, to playing with toys, to riding around on the kubota doing yard work! They had a great weekend, and Michael and I were able to enjoy a nice weekend at home together - we even got our Christmas decorations down before the end of January - bonus! :)

Here are a few photos Mom sent me from the weekend - I asked for more, but she thought I was being too demanding... :)

Spent part of Thursday morning at work with Mommy
until Grandma picked her up in Lawrence! Got to meet
all of Mommy's coworkers for the first time! :)

Loved riding on the Kubota!

Cleaning out all of Grandma's cabinets -
just a little reorganizing!

Another Baby Girl!

We are super excited to be welcoming another GIRL into our family! And Miss Adalee is SO EXCITED to have a little sister!

On January 27th, we had our 20 Week sonogram and anatomy scan. It was incredible to see how much our baby has grown since the last sonogram at 7 weeks. At 7 weeks, baby was just a little oval ball. And now, well baby actually looks like a baby! As it was our second time around, I felt like the ultrasound technician did not go into as much detail on everything, but we still got to see all the highlights - her brain, her spine, the four chambers of her heart, all of her little bones, her hands, and her feet! It is so cool to see - to know that this little tiny person is just growing away in my belly! You would think the "wonder" of it all would fade the second time around - it doesn't. Not one bit.

While baby initially was sleeping in a downward position with her legs crossed, it only took me eating a little bit of candy to get her up and moving about. After 10 or so minutes of coercing, she eventually changed positions and the ultrasound technician was able to confirm that we were having our second girl! When she said "girl", I immediately looked at Michael to gage his reaction, and he was all smiles! We both were fairly confident going into the sonogram that we were having another girl - so many of my pregnancy symptoms had been the same as with Adalee. I am so excited that Miss Adalee and Baby Bell will have a sister to grow up with - it is such a special bond that they will be able to treasure forever!

Overall, everything checked out wonderfully with baby. Her growth pattern is right on track for her due date of June 13th. And there were no issues with my placenta placement this time around, which was such a relief! Now only 20 more weeks to go!

Random January Photos and Videos

Spaghetti has become a "go-to" dinner option! It is Miss
Adalee's favorite meal - but what a mess for Mom and Dad!

And yes... we sometimes leave her
socks on when she eats - but all other
clothes come off!

Loves riding her Frozen-mobil! Thanks
for the Christmas gift Aunt Jess!

Cheering on the Chiefs in January

Family selfie! Go Chiefs!

Sunday morning after church!

"But Mom, I don't want to get out of you bed!"

Once Adalee is done with her food,
she usually starts in on ours!

Trying out Mommy's fork! We went and
bought her a fork her size the next day!

On this night, Miss Adalee fell asleep
around 6:45pm while she was playing.

One second she was reading her book and feeding her
dinosaur, and the next second, she was out like a light!

Working on some teeth! Miss Adalee is up to six teeth at
the end of January!

Grandma and Grandpa gave Miss Adalee a
play set for Christmas, but it was SO BIG
that we couldn't fit it in the car for the drive
home - luckily they brought it to KC a few
weeks later! Adalee loves to swing and slide!