Thanksgiving Day (Mostly) in Pictures

 We kicked the morning off with a visit to the playground.

 It got chilly fast, so we didn't stay long.

 Making pancakes for brunch with Bampa!

 Football with Daddy!

 Working a puzzle with Uncle Larry--clearly a hilarious activity!

 Playing the Curious George match game with Nan.

 Playing cards (or napping) after dinner.

 What an excellent family picture!  This was only take #2!

The Belly Report: 1/3 Finished!

We are twelve weeks along!!!  I am starting my second trimester this week (the thirteenth week) :)  The baby is now the size of a lime--oh, how I wish I could have a margarita ;)

I'm feeling better in the sense that I have a bit more energy and my appetite is regulating a little...  Greasy food and my original stand-bys still sound the best most of the time.  My symptoms are staying the same mostly.  Heartburn is increasing a bit, and I noticed over the last week that my hips start to hurt if I sit in the same position for a long time.  My arms are also falling asleep during the night when I sleep on my side with my arm bent...  Weird!  I think the mantra of this pregnancy is definitely going to be how fast everything seems to be showing up this time around...

I have gone shopping ON Black Friday before, but never in true Black Friday fashion where I get up early and go when the stores open.  This year stores opened at 9pm and midnight, and that sounded WAY more appealing!  I'd rather stay up late than get up in the middle of the night.  I wanted to head to Kohl's to check out the maternity clothes.  Mom was more than happy to go with me, and Larry offered to be our chauffeur!  He was awesome!  I would highly recommend hiring him for your Black Friday outing next year :)  We had a really fun time, but the two stores we went into at the mall were plenty for us.  As I found out last time, maternity pants are amazingly comfortable--they are not failing to disappoint this time ;)

Our baby has reflexes now!  According to what I've read, if I poke my belly, the baby will squirm in return, but I won't be able to feel it.  Fun!  I CANNOT wait until I can feel him/her kick!!!  Our baby's face looks more like you would expect, and his/her eyes have moved from the sides to the front of his/her face.  Now our baby measures just over two inches long and weight half an ounce!  How can something this small make all of these changes?!?!?!

Last time we were pregnant we referred to the baby as Sam while it was in utero.  We like the name Sam a lot, but Sam Smith doesn't sound like our cup of tea.  We wanted to do something similar this time, so we will go with Sammy.  Still could be male or female, but it seemed weird to "re-use" the same nickname...  So, from now on the baby will be referred to as Sammy :)

Flashbacks: With a Lime, Please!
Prego Pants are Fantastic!

Jackson's Big Boy Room!!!

Our transition to a Big Boy Bed began unexpectedly while we were on vacation at Virginia Beach when Jackson outgrew the Pack-n-Play.  I am SOOO glad I was "forced" into just diving in since I was a bit nervous about this transition.  Jackson still LOVED his crib, and that wasn't a problem.  But, if we wanted to continue our flexibility with travel and sleeping away from home, we needed to be able to have Jackson just sleep in a big bed.  He did AWESOME!  This made me very un-nervous about the actual transition at home!

We made our soft deadline Thanksgiving since we'd be spending that in Evanston at Mimi and Bampa's, and the Pack-n-Play wasn't an option anymore.  Josh decided to build Jackson's bed!!!  It turned out fabulously--Jackson LOVES his bed that Daddy built :D

After Josh finished building the bed, we painted it all white and I stenciled in the colored letters at the foot of the bed spelling out Jackson's name.

 I had plenty of extra decals from when we set up Jackson's room in May, so I just did a little adding and rearranging to complete the decorations.

Jackson feels so special that Daddy made him a super special bed--he LOVES his new room :)

The bed compliments Jackson's rocket ship bookcase quite well :)  I am SO happy with the final product--the room looks so different now...in a good way!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Football, yummy food cooking and making the house smell good, and my two guys :)

My Talented, Talented Husband

 I am LOVING Josh's new hobby of woodworking!  It's not a brand new hobby: we designed and built our own wall-sized entertainment center when we moved into our house in Crystal Lake.  Right when we moved into our new house, Josh built himself a work bench to keep in the garage.  He has found lots of good ideas on this website: Ana White: Homemaker

 Josh built the Rocket Bookcase for Jackson's birthday!  Jackson LOVED his special present :)

 I got to help with the painting and lettering :)

As Josh and I were talking about setting up Jackson's Big Boy Room, we came across the plan for a Twin Farmhouse Bed!  Josh decided to tackle it, and he did an amazing job!  What a special piece of furniture :)

I can't wait to see what "we" build next ;)

The Belly Report: Ultrasound #2!

Only one week until we head home to Evanston for FOUR weeks!!!  We are eleven weeks along and our baby is about the size of a fig: just over 1 1/2 inches long--still so tiny!  But this tiny person is BUSY--his/her hands will begin to open and close into fists soon, tiny tooth buds are forming under the gums, and some bones are starting to harden!  He/She already spends time kicking and stretching--I can't wait to feel all of that!

This week was really busy!  We had our second doctor's appointment Wednesday morning, and we got to have another ultrasound!!!  Dr. Hibshman found the heartbeat easily, and when we looked at it on the screen it looked like two tiny hand clapping :)  Everything looked great during the visit, and I got a LOAD of blood drawn!  We met with the insurance coordinator and decided we would go ahead and have a scheduled C-section.  A vaginal birth is a possibility, but there is a long list of complications.  Obviously there are risks with any major surgery, but we would rather just start with that route rather than possibly go through a long labor ending in an emergency C-section--that just increases the risks.  As long as everything goes as planned, the planned surgery would be scheduled about a week before my estimated due date, so June 3rd would be that date!  SOOO exciting to think about :)

On Thursday I saw the eye doctor and the dentist and on Saturday we headed out of Dumfries at 4:20am Eastern time and arrived in Evanston just before 3:00pm Central time.  We had a really good drive: good weather, good travelers, and good traffic :)  Jackson was THRILLED to finally be in Evanston at Mimi and Bampa's house!!!

Flashback: How Big is a Fig?

Pumpkin Bear

I am a little behind this year on my Pumpkin Bear post, but here it is, better late than never!!!

 Josh bought Pumpkin Bear for Jackson while we were still in the hospital!  Here is their first meeting when Jackson was four days old!

 November 1, 2009: Jackson is just over one year old!

 November 1, 2010: Jackson is just over two years old!

November 18, 2011: Jackson is just over three years old!

And, some bonus silly pictures: