Thursday, September 22, 2011

Rody

These pictures aren't that great and this video is from awhile ago, but I wanted to include them on the blog because Lucy has had so much fun playing on "Rody". Thanks to Aunt Trit for this wonderful gift! She loves playing on it!

This was the first day we got Rody, and Ruthie was very interested in it as well! I think this video is from late July.




Tuesday, September 20, 2011

3D Pictures with Hank

Last week we were lucky and got another glimpse of our little guy at a 3D ultrasound. I switched practices from when I had Lucy and so far have really enjoyed the new practice and new doctor I am seeing, and to top it all off, they offer their patients a free 3D ultrasound at 30 weeks... pretty sweet!

Hank wasn't being super cooperative, so the pictures didn't turn out great, but you can definitely make out some more distinguishable features on the 3D ultrasound versus the regular one.

On the below two, you can see his hands are up next to his cheek...




And here's a little more of a profile shot...


We also had her check to confirm again that it's a boy... and he is! So we are feeling confident about the clothing/nursery colors we've picked out :)

The day before I had a regular 30 week appointment that I took Lucy to. While the doctor was listening to the baby's heart beat I asked Lucy who we were listening to and she shouted out "Hanky!"... it was pretty precious. We talk about "Hanky" all the time these days (like last weekend when we toured the hospital and she called it "Hanky's home"), but I still think Luc has no idea what's in store. I do think she's going to love this guy so much and I can't wait to see her as a big sister, but I also wonder what she will think of having to share mommy... I guess only time will tell!

Monday, September 12, 2011

Getting Ready for Hank!

Being in the third trimester, I of course am starting to get a little stressed about all we have to get done before the baby comes. Fortunately I was relieved to look back at my blog post when I was 28 weeks with Lucy to see that I was just as stressed then, and we got everything done before she came. So I have to take a few deep breaths every once in awhile and relax! Plus, I was looking back through my phone pictures and realized we've actually made a lot of progress. While the nursery may not be painted yet, we have taken several steps to get our home ready for Hank.

1. Get baby gear out of attic

Of course, Lucy had to test out all this "new" stuff that we had!

2. Pack up all clothes and pink baby stuff that we don't use for Lucy anymore (this was a really sad thing for me! I can only hope we have another little girl someday who can wear all of Lucy's adorable baby clothes that she only got to wear for a short time)

Lucy wanted to try on clothes as I was packing them up. Here she has on two fleece shirts on top of her t-shirt... what a goof ball.

3. Buy a double stroller

Found one on craigslist! And Lucy already loves it. I actually had to pack it away because she wanted to use this stroller instead of her single one.

4. Buy bedding, nursery furniture and clothes

I was so excited last week to finally pull the trigger on some crib bedding for baby boy, I ordered it online from Target and loved it even more once it came in the mail. You can also see our new bookcase that Ben set up for me and a growing closet of blue! I've been trying to stock up on sale items and use old giftcards, so fortunately I haven't had to spend too much yet... but having kids of the opposite sex sure is expensive! Hoping that I can find some good deals at garage sales, or borrow from friends so we don't break the bank.

5. Practice changing tiny baby diapers

Well not really, but I love that Lucy tries to put a diaper on her baby doll. I can't wait to see what a big helper she is with the baby. Of course, she probably won't be able to help out with diapers for several more years... but I guess that's where I come in!


We have so much more to do, but I do feel pretty accomplished about what we've done so far. And I love that Lucy has been helping all along the way!
A few weeks ago (I'm still catching up) we spent almost a full week in Northern Indiana at Lake Wawasee and Lake Webster. The first half of the week we stayed with Katy and Brandon at their family's cabin on Wawasee, then headed over to my family's cabin on Webster for the weekend. We had a lot of fun (as you can tell by all the pictures) and continue to be thankful for friends and family that have lake cabins and boats that they share with us! I hope Lucy has the opportunity to grow up going to the lake every summer like I did. (Hopefully she'll like the boat a little more than I did though!)

I must mention that throughout the week, Lucy was extremely happy! She slept at least 13 hours every night and would take 3 hour naps every day... she was perfect. We were so thankful to have a happy, go with the flow baby, while we vacationed.

The first day Ben worked out of the Ft. Wayne office, so it was just Lucy and I who ventured out on the water. All ready to swim! With her new gender-neutral life jacket (although I think it looks rather boyish), that I was reluctant to buy, but the practical side of me knew Hank wouldn't want to wear a purple and pink life jacket when he is ready to fit into this life jacket (or should I say Hank's father wouldn't want him to!)


Helping Bbop drive the boat!


Katy and Brandon were tons of help while Ben was away (and even when he was back) - for not having kids, they sure know how to love on Lucy and lend a helping hand!


Somebody found a new favorite food while on the trip...


Hanging out at the sandbar...


Testing out the tube as we headed back to the house... (I'm not sure Lucy liked this so much!)


Once Ben got back, we took everybody tubing. But first a business call... (this picture is kind of silly, but it's one of my favorites from the trip!)


Family tube ride...


Twinsies...


And of course the big kids went tubing too!


The next day was filled with some of the same activities, including a little wakeboarding...


And I can't forget my other baby who loves the lake too... Ruthie had a blast swimming. Although she can't tell me in words, I'm guessing it is her favorite thing to do. Whenever she was outside, she was jumping in and out of the water, fetching whatever we would throw her.




We had beautiful weather both days, and enjoyed dinner on the patio each night.


Some people enjoyed doing other things on the patio too..

(I know Lucy will probably kill me for including this shot when she is older, but I had to capture her famous poop face!)

On our third day, we packed up and headed over to Lake Webster. Most of that day was spent packing and unpacking, so it was pretty uneventful. We woke up the following day though and headed to the beach. The weather was not quite as nice, but we still got in some good beach time.




Playing in the sand with Jordyn...


Taking a goldfish break


Ben trying to get Lucy to swim... but she was not very happy about it!


Our final day, Sunday, we headed home and surprisingly got some much needed relaxing time! Funny how you usually end up needing to rest after vacation :)

Saturday, September 10, 2011

28 Week Belly (but actually 29)

Ok - so I say this every post, but this belly picture is a little late again!! This time I really am actually 29 weeks and 2 days, so I'm not really even close to 28 weeks... oh well! It's hard to grab pictures this pregnancy because I want to wait until I've at least showered (which usually isn't until late in the day) and by then I'm usually showering and getting ready in such a hurry because we are heading out the door.

So I've included a 28 and 30 week picture with Lucy. Baby boy's belly picture is sandwiched in the middle!

(Lucy 28)


(baby boy 29)


(Lucy 30)

Looks like I continue to grow about the same! Although, one nice part about being pregnant during most of the summer is the nice tan I get to keep for most of my pregnancy :)

Weight gain is actually the exact same, unfortunately! I have gained about the exact same weight that I am number of weeks, which is how I was with Lucy. I was trying so hard to gain less this time, but I just don't do well with exercise and proportions when I'm pregnant I guess! Looks like I'll be back doing Insanity after this baby as well.

Feeling really good still, things are getting more tiring and harder to do as my belly grows, but I still feel pretty mobile. Baby boy moves around a ton, so I feel like he is growing strong. I did have one concern at the doctor because I get side cramps a lot easier this time around, so he checked my cervix to make sure my body wasn't preparing for labor. It wasn't, so all is good! I guess I'm probably just walking more this time around so I notice the cramps more.

One last update - we have officially decided on a name! Henry Benjamin Wehner, but we'll call him Hank for the most part. We had debated on the name for a while- although it was the first and only name we loved for a boy, we soon found out after picking it that our good friends were naming their son Henry as well! We debated for about a month if we wanted to stick with the same name as our friend's son, but in the end I couldn't think of any other name that I loved as much. Plus we chose it in the exact same way we chose Lucy (I gave Ben a list, he picked his favorite and we went with it, clean and simple), so I wanted to stick with our gut feelings. And ultimately, our little boy will go by Hank and theirs goes by Henry, so they practically each have their own name!

We refer to everything at home that is baby boy's as "Hank's" and Lucy talks about "Hanky" in mommy's belly, so I'd say it's pretty safe to use that from now on :) We can't wait to meet you Hanky!

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Heels

Lucy was given a set of play dress heels by my sister. I thought she wouldn't be interested in them for a while, but there was a period when for several weeks all she wanted to do was put the heels on and walk around. I have to admit, watching her walk in heels was pretty impressive, even I have trouble walking in heels sometimes! Maybe she has a future in modeling?












Lucy 16 and 17 months

I need to do two baby updates - one on Lucy which I'm trying to accomplish here, and I need to get a 28 week picture posted, since I am almost 29 weeks... hopefully that will come soon! I stopped doing monthly updates on Lucy because I just didn't think it was sustainable, but she is still growing and changing so much, I want to make sure I remember these times and especially when it comes to raising future kids. So here's an update on our last few months...

For the most part, these last few months have been extremely easy. Once Lucy got over all of her illnesses, she went back to being a happy, easy going baby and was sleeping really well too. Lucy still sleeps 12-13 hours at night (7:30/8pm - 7:30-8:30am) and takes one 2-3 hour nap during the day (going down around 12 or 1pm). I've found as long as she gets in a good amount of sleep, our days seems to go much easier with few tantrums/melt downs and little whining. Things have been this way for most of the past two months, although the past two weeks Lucy has gone back to not sleeping well and being pretty cranky during the day (seems to be a repeat of how she was acting at 13 and 14 months). I guess all things, whether good or bad, eventually come to an end when you deal with babies! I'm not sure what phase we are in now, or if it's a sickness (she has a runny nose and I took her to the doctor to have everything else checked and they said she was fine), but I'm hoping my sweet little angel will come back soon!

An example of this change over the past month - we took Lucy up to Lake Wawasee/Lake Webster (more to come on that in the future) and she was incredibly happy and slept perfectly (I swear I didn't hear her cry once). Then the Monday we got back from vacation, everything was frustrating Lucy and making her have a melt down, leading to lots of "rest" times in her crib (when I wasn't sure if she was tired, but we both needed a break from each other!) and at night she has been playing in her crib for 30minutes - 1hr+ before falling asleep. I guessing the crappy sleep she is getting is related to the crabby attitude she has during the day.

Maybe the girl has just become more opinionated? Or maybe she is tired of being with her mom all day - i.e. she doesn't seem to cry at all when playing with Grandma/Grandpa/Mimi or JJ. Typically melt downs seem to happen when Lucy gets frustrated about something, I can't figure out what is frustrating her, how to help, or I refuse to help (i.e. give her a paci when it's not bed time) so she starts screaming/crying at the top of her lungs and flailing about until I am able to hold her/cuddle her to calm her down. Sometimes we get over this easily - like when we are at home and I can pick her up right away. Sometimes I go nuts in the car because I can't comfort her in her car seat so I listen to a screaming baby in the car till we reach our destination. Or sometimes these melt downs happen at the store and I must push the cart, hold Lucy and get out of there as fast as possible! (since I'm also carrying around baby boy all day as well!) sigh... welcome to toddlerhood I suppose...

Ok - now for more fun updates! I say all of the above, because we are in the midst of a crabby time, but seriously, must of the past two months Lucy has been all smiles and no tears - and a whole lot of fun. She loves to carry things around, whether it be her library book bag, her blankie or her baby, she loves to be responsible for toting something around. She also loves pushing things, again sometimes it's her baby doll stroller, but sometimes it's any random object, like her own stroller, boxes or items around the house. She has been giving the most amazing hugs lately, running up to me or ben and grabbing us around the neck (which seriously makes my heart melt every time) and has discovered a new fake laugh that she likes to show off when other people are laughing or when she is doing something silly. It's pretty cute :) She continues to LOVE dancing, seriously, this girl likes to break it down any time there is music playing and she also continues to love reading. We spend lots of time throughout the day going through her books while she calmly sits in my lap. She loves swinging and we also sing songs as she swings - whenever I say let's sing our ABC's, she starts us by going "A, B..." and the rest is her own language, but it's cool to hear her say the first two letters!

Her vocabulary has taken off, it seems she not only is learning several new words a day, but she is also willing to try out any new word you give her. She also has started making strong associations, like whenever we see a baseball park she asks for daddy (since she knows he plays softball) or whenever she sees a young dark skinned girl she thinks it's JJ (this ones kind of funny, but super cute). I think she has started to associate curly haired girls with Katy too!

Ben and I are absolutely in love with the stage Lucy is in, we love playing with her and find ourselves laughing with her all day long. She has become such a fun playmate and continues to be an absolute joy in our lives!

A few pictures from over the past couple months...

Debuting her two piece at the splash park...

We went to a splash park about once every two weeks this summer. Although Lucy would have fun, she still never warmed up to the idea of water being splashed at her by the fountains!

Playing in the back yard with Jadyn and Jordyn - I had them most Monday nights this summer and Lucy has a blast playing with her cousins!


Sleeping...
.


My absolute favorite part of the day is when I sneak into Lucy's room before going to bed to check on her and watch her sleeping. Watching her as she is completely passed out is the most precious thing in the world! I love seeing the different positions she has ended up in and watching her little chest rise and lower while she sleeps. I like to think that she is laying there feeling completely protected and without a care in the world, that her dreams are filled with happy things, and anxiety and worry don't bother her as she drifts off to sleep. I love that we are able to provide a warm, safe, loving environment for her every night and every day, and I guess seeing her laying there, completely vulnerable, reminds me of that.

Here's a picture of Lucy from a photo shoot we did... oh wait... that's Ben as a baby! Isn't the resemblance amazing! People always say she looks like her daddy, but I think this picture really shows how much she looks like Ben...


At the Park!



We usually make it to the park at least once a week, if not more. Lucy, my little dare devil child loves to do EVERYTHING at the park, so I follow her around as she attempts all the slides, all the swings, all the steps, etc.

Dinner at Bazbeaux. Lucy was dancing almost the entire dinner. I tried to get a good video of it, but our food came right when I was taping her, so I didn't get anything good. We had such a nice time sitting outside, eating, and watching our little girl dance throughout the entire meal!

Ikea Visit!

After my Chicago girls weekend a couple weeks ago, Ben and I headed over to Cincinnati for the day to meet up with our good friends the Kruithof's, who were in town from Grand Cayman, and to make a quick stop at Ikea for a couple baby boy items.

It was so nice to see the Kruithof's, even if it was just for a couple hours - we miss them a lot!


After lunch, we headed over to Ikea and Lucy fell asleep in the car - we were hoping she would transition into the stroller and sleep a little while we shopped, but no such luck, she popped right up when I picked her up. All in all she did great, she loved shopping and trying out all of the home items. Although sometimes Ben and I were ready to move on and she wanted to stay and play with the furniture...


As you can tell from below, she knows who is boss!


We didn't get a ton of stuff, I was a little disappointed with the amount of time we spent there given that we ended up only getting a few items I had already staked out online... next time we'll know not to get sucked into walking through the entire store! The best item was a new cube book shelf for baby boys room - I'm excited to get this set up and get his room pulled together (more to come on that).

Last stop - the cafeteria. We couldn't leave without at least getting some french fries!