18 Weeks

Here we are at 18 weeks! Almost half way there. Ruby wanted to be in my picture tonight. :) The baby's about 5 1/2 inches long already. I've been feeling lots of little movements a few times a day. So fun. That's my favorite for sure.
I packed away all of my non maternity shirts this week. They're too short on my belly now. I can still wear all of my pants with my belly band, but some days I wear my maternity jeans. My winter coat is getting snug, so soon I'll have to transition to my maternity coats. It's been really really cold this week (9 degrees last night!) and it snowed on Friday! It's lovely outside. On the down side of that, my skin has been so dry because of the dry weather! My hands are cracked and bleeding in spite of putting lotion on several times a day and drinking more water. Hopefully we'll get our nice wet weather back soon.

Changes this week: My right hip has started going numb again like last time. :( Mostly when I sit for a while. It's horrible. I've also started getting a few little leg cramps at night, but nothing bad yet. Last time I put some soap under my bottom sheet and they stopped... It might have been a placebo thing, but it worked! I might have to try that again if they get worse.

Cravings this week: Home made hot chocolate, which Andy made for me tonight. It was delicious!

Link to Ruby's 18 week post.

Thanksgiving/Christmas decorating - photo overload

We've had quite a busy week! But it was full of fun and family, which was great. Ruby has been mostly sleeping through the night lately, she's been waking up a few times and giving a little cry, then putting herself back to sleep. Last night I had to go in there twice, but usually she can do it herself. It's nice, but I'm still waking up to use the bathroom a few times a night, so I don't know if her getting more sleep is translating to me getting more sleep at all. Oh well. She's totally night weaned now, and I'm cutting out the morning feeding too. So we're just down to nap and bedtime, and she gets a cup of milk with those too, so I don't think it will be too hard to cut those out in the next few weeks. I've really enjoyed nursing her this long for sure.

Ruby has been throwing less tantrums this week, so that's good. We are careful not to give in to them, and to not let her whine about things. No one wants a whiny kid. She's so happy most of the time, so it's not too hard. She's definitely better at not throwing things while we eat, but she still does it sometimes, and then the meal is over for her. Parenting sure is tricky.

This week Ruby said a few funny things. When we were saying goodbye to Andy on Tuesday she said, "Love you babe." And right before nap time yesterday she said, "Woooeeeooo. Siren. Big siren, little siren." Too funny.

 Big girl pony tail!

 She likes to pretend to sleep in Mommy and Daddy's bed.

 Helping me bake pies on Thanksgiving.

 She's strong!

 Sucking her thumb on the way to Grandma and Grandpa's house in Lake Oswego. She doesn't usually do it, so it was cute.

 Thanksgiving dinner. Yum!

 Playing with her cousins Chloe and Charlotte.

 Playing Candyland.

 Giving baby Coraline a kiss.

Cuddling with Daddy during his game.

On Friday we drove down to my parents' house for a few days. Here she is playing her harmonica on the way to Grandma and Grandpa's in California.

 And kissing her feet. She did so well in the car both ways. On the way home she barely needed any toys or books, but mostly just entertained herself.

 Christmas tree cutting with the family.

 There was a little snow, but not enough to need full snow gear.

 Playing in a hollow tree with cousins Quin and Lia.

My favorite picture of us.

 Reading the Bible on Saturday morning with Lia.

 They did a whole lot of coloring.

 "Napping" with Grandpa John.

 Silly girl.

The Wetzig clan.

Cousins.

Our little family.

 Walking to church on Sunday. She was in my mom's Sunday School class and apparently paid attention for a full 10-12 minutes!

 She wanted Daddy to change her, so she went in the room and laid on the floor.

 Finally home!

 Goofing around with Daddy.

Picking out a Christmas tree. "Dif one."

 We tied the tree to our car, and I asked her where it was. She said, "Right there."

 The toilet makes a nice baby-sized desk.

 Putting up the tree on Tuesday night!

 She had way too much fun.

 She loved putting on the lights. She actually does really well with leaving the ornaments alone. There are a few that she can touch, so she does, but she leaves the others.

 Christmas jammies!

 Sewing with Mommy. I think I have a picture similar to this with my mom when I was little. :)

 We went to story time at the library today and a bunch of our friends were there. That's always fun.

17 Weeks

We're at 17 weeks today. Woohoo! My belly's getting really big now and I'm obviously pregnant. I had some comments from strangers this week. Three more weeks and we'll be half way there. We're having the hardest time with names this time around. We still have time, but honestly, we can't find a boy one we both like. Ruby would have been Reid if she were a boy, but we don't want two kids with R names, so that one's out.

I went to the midwife this week. My friends Abbie and Janna watched Ruby so I went by myself. Everything looks good. I had her check for two heartbeats because I'm so big. She looked around and found a second one, but after going back and forth several times (like 8 or so), we decided they were exactly the same rate and that it was the same baby. So we're thinking it's not twins, but only time will tell for sure.

It was a long weekend with Thanksgiving at the Pullens on Thursday, then we drove down to my parents' house on Friday and just got back tonight. I haven't had a nap in 4 days, and I'm pretty tired! I'll be sleeping nice and early tonight for sure, and I'm planning on having a nice nap tomorrow after Andy leaves for class. Unfortunately he'll be gone all afternoon and evening on our 7th anniversary. But we're going out to breakfast and I think we're planning a baby moon/late anniversary overnight in March.

Sleeping on our new mattress we got in September has been amazing this time around. At this point last time, I was already uncomfortable at night and needed my body pillow. So far I've been very comfortable and haven't had any problems... except for my dumb insomnia. Some nights I'm awake for an hour or more in the middle of the night, and other nights I just wake up early (like 5am) and can't get back to sleep. No wonder I need naps in order to keep up with Ruby.

I got to do the devotional for my cousin Carla's baby shower on Saturday, and it was really special. We grew up together and our moms were pregnant with us at the same time. So I think we took about 10 pictures of both of us with our pregnant bellies together. How fun.

Changes this week: Not much has changed. I'm feeling pretty good in this second trimester aside from still being really tired. I can feel that my stomach muscles have separated about an inch so far, so that worries me. Hopefully I won't need to wear a band or anything.

Cravings this week: I'm not too into sugary stuff still. No specific cravings though.

Link to Ruby's 17 week post

22 Months

 Ruby was 22 months old yesterday. Does anyone else think this is the cutest picture ever? It shows her personality well. Such a goof.

I'm posting a day early because tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and then we're going to be gone for the weekend. So enjoy the early post, and there will be lots of pictures coming next week.

The big news this week was that she slept through the night twice in a row! But then she went back to waking up once or twice. It's progress though for sure. Hopefully that will become more of the norm now that she is night weaned.

Ruby's been throwing bigger tantrums lately when we're all done doing something she really wants to do, like coloring or playing at the library. Not quite sure what to do about that... We try to talk to her and give her warnings that we're almost done with an activity, but she gets upset anyway. I've had to put her in her room until she can calm down a few times. :(

 Morning cuddles with Daddy.

 Helping Mommy put things away.

 Horsey rides.

 She loves to help me stir, supervised, of course.

 Morning cuddles with Mommy.

 Toys!

 We helped the youth group with the canned food drive on Saturday. She liked rearranging the cans.

 Building a tunnel with Daddy.

 Wrestling.

 She loves putting her hands in her pockets. It makes her look so grown up.

 Cutie in a diaper.

 Cutie in a prefold.

 We played at the library on Monday after we went to Motion Monday. She had fun with the cookie jar.

 More from her 22 month photo shoot. She loves to lay down on the blanket and smile.

Play dough with Daddy last night.