27 Weeks: Our Little Rutabaga?

How far along: 27 weeks

Net weight gain/loss: 17 pounds. F.

Maternity clothes: the bump is big and getting bigger, and I'm getting hotter and hotter (not figuratively, unfortunately), so lots of shorts and tank tops.

Stretch marks: none yet

Belly button: popped like a turkey timer!

Sleep: not as great.

Baby movement: yes - lots and strong!

Gender: it's a BOY!

Food cravings: blueberry syrup

Food aversions: NERDS. Nothing like throwing up the rainbow.

What I miss: my stomach not being the size of a whale.

Looking forward to: getting this kid out.

Best moment this week: fun with Ava and enjoying just being with her while we still can :)

Milestones: baby is viable!

I Guess We Can Skip the L&D Tour...

Sunday, I woke up not feeling so well. This is nothing new, really, given that I'm pretty sure my morning sickness started immediately and I vomited for the first time this pregnancy the day after I conceived - true story, folks! - but I just felt off and not myself at all.

Nevertheless, I decided to go about my day like normal (aka busy) and run my errands/do some household stuff, etc and prepare for the upcoming MamaCents Consignment Sale. My back was really bothering me, but I figured that part of it was just from sitting on the floor for so long hanging and safety pinning clothing, and that I just needed to spend a bit of time on my heating pad with my feet up. Instead of getting better, though, the pain continued to get worse, and then spread to what felt like my uterus as well, feeling a bit contraction-ish. I should also note that I hadn't been able to eat anything that day without throwing it back up, so all around, I was starting to feel like though I was sure I wasn't in labor, something was definitely off. A call to my doctor had us set up to go in to L&D to be checked.

We arrived to find we were the only people in the entire Maternity Ward or "Women's Center", which turned out to be really swank. I am delivering at a different hospital this time around given that my insurance changed when D and I decided to get married, and so I've had my reservations about that, given how nice my first hospital was. Any hesitation I felt was immediately relieved, between the amazingly kind and accommodating staff and the HUGE rooms. It was even nicer than the hospital I delivered at the first time around!

Anyhow, I got checked in, and they could tell I was really uncomfortable by my vitals - my blood pressure was 132/80, which is unheard of for me, and my pulse was over 100, though that's a bit more normal - mainly a reaction to the pain I was feeling. They immediately had my get undressed and hooked me up to the toco monitor to check on baby and potential contractions. Long story short, it turned out I have hurt my back (probably by overdoing it) and my low back was spasming, which, thanks to its close proximity to my uterus, was causing some contractions. Thankfully, baby is a-ok, and so is mama now. They gave me a muscle relaxer to get my back to stop, and sure enough, once it stopped, the contractions stopped as well. Just like I figured, I'm at no risk of early labor - and while I would've thought so with Ava, I had no false hopes this time around of the baby coming a second before my scheduled c-section - haha! Both mama and baby are fine, though, and between the muscle relaxer, pain pill and mass dose of anti-nausea meds they gave me at the hospital, I left in a WAY better mood :) After seven months of clean living, that combo rocked. my. world!

The visit wasn't a total wash, either. I was able to get all my delivery paperwork filled out and my preferences for circumcision (yes) and breastfeeding (duh) recorded, and she wheeled me around the ward and showed me the OR and c-section recovery rooms, saving me another trip up :)

Quick question: When I went to L&D with Ava when I was having issues with my gallbladder, I was never billed for that visit. Ladies who have been to L&D for a check, etc - were you billed like an ER visit? Were you billed at all? Do they roll it into your ultimate hospital bill? I'm dreading seeing the bill, despite the minimal interventions needed :(

This Mama's Just Not Crafty!

I try to be crafty. I really do. So when I found out I was pregnant again and started thinking about the nursery, I knew I'd follow suit like with Ava's room and make baby boy a bulletin board. Of all the things in A's room, that's by far the thing that gets used the most - displaying her art work, photos of family, invitations and more! In fact, we already had the picture Ava drew of the baby ready to go for it - all that was left was for mama to put it together.

Let's just say I hope this kiddo has low expectations :)

And then hung on the wall over the (same) changing table set-up:

Phone Dump Friday: A Week in A's Life.

Enjoying some sorbet at our favorite, Amy's Ice Cream! YUM!

That's what it looks like when she thinks she's going to lose at something....

Ava took this one of Babs, our bunny!

Kitty pillow!

In the photo booth at Amy's Ice Cream another day... 

Twinsies! 

Sisters.

Everytime I feel the slightest bit sad about Ava not having a sister, I remember that she already has two :)

26 Weeks: Our Little Lettuce!

How far along: 26 weeks

Net weight gain/loss: skipping weigh in this week - ha!

Maternity clothes:  I feel like someday they won't even fit :(

Stretch marks: none yet, despite itching and constant worrying.

Belly button:  outie!

Sleep: sleepy ALL the time.

Baby movement: yes - lots and strong! I swear I feel like this kid is giving me high fives!

Gender: 100% boy!

Food cravings: Wendy's. Hmmph.

Food aversions: beef, sweets still, dairy, bleh.

What I miss: my waistline.

Looking forward to: Continuing to prepare the nursery!

Best moment this week: Getting the invite list to my baby shower hostess and prepping for that!  AND getting my pre-preg jeans to button (probably for the last time - let's be honest!)

Milestones:  Unfortunately, the morning sickness continues, particularly at night. Bleh. In fact, this week it's been so bad I've found myself pulled over on the side of the road, unable to even speak. Fun stuff.

Bump pics:

Wordless Tuesday: Mommy's Little Puppy Dog!

Lake Pflugerville - Our Hidden Gem!

Despite the terrible school district, there are a lot of reasons I love where I live. While the primary reason on that list is our home, another is the ease of access to a lot of different parts of the city and nearby communities, including being close to Pflugerville Lake. In fact, I was surprised to find out just how close a few years back when I would meet fellow blogger friend J there for walks around the lake. Now that A's older, though, we've started using Pflugerville Lake for a new purpose: swimming at the beach! Who knew you could find a "beach" less than ten minutes from our house?!

Ava, being a Central Texan by birth and in her heart, doesn't know that this man-made, sand-covered area isn't a real beach, and thought we were on vacation! Aww....

Camp Champions at Lake Travis!

A couple of weeks ago, Ava was offered the chance to spend a day out in lovely Lakeway, attending Camp Champions! As a former gymnastics student of theirs back in her toddler days, they offered us a chance for her to spend a day from 9-2 enjoying a fun-filled morning and afternoon filled with gymnastics, water play, arts and crafts and team activities. I was skeptical about her lasting the five hours, especially knowing she'd be outside for part and her tendency to overheat, but didn't want her to miss out on the fun! Boy am I glad she went - she LOVED it!!!

We chose for her to go on their "Beach Day" themed day, so she arrived bright and early in her swimsuit and cover-up, all sunscreen-ed up and ready to go! She was so excited to dig out her backpack and lunchbox from this past year and to attend a camp that she knew the big girls had done before, so I dropped her off and was on my way, anxious to hear about her day afterwards. One of the best things about Camp Champions is that they send out a daily recap email to parents, letting them know what all they did that day, and including some pictures, as well as posting pictures of the kids having a blast on their Facebook page (you can opt out if you're paranoid about privacy, don't worry!). Here are a few of the ones we loved!

Happy summer camping, everyone!

FourthFest 2013!

For the past two years, we've celebrated the 4th of July holiday by heading up to Wells Branch to attend their annual patriotic celebration, FourthFest! This year was no change, since we always have such a blast, and we had an even better than normal time because the party was in high gear for their 20th anniversary!

As always, they offered up their awesome pool to guests (including a dive and splash competition that Ava is determined to participate in when she gets older), had great carnival games with prizes hosted by the Girl Scouts (an organization I love dearly from my youth and can't wait until Ava is old enough to participate!), lots of great food, a photo booth, face painting, balloon animals, and more!

Here's just a bit of the fun that we had:

Who knew that Ava was such a natural at horseshoes?!

Close, but not quiet with the bean bags!

How mommy preferred to use the pool - that water was cold!

How Ava and David preferred to use it:

Our annual train ride, this year with daddy for fear mama would be sick :(

Ava's patriotic face paint!

25 Weeks: Our Little Cauliflower.

How far along: 25 weeks

Net weight gain/loss: up 14 lbs. KILL ME.

Maternity clothes:  I feel like someday they won't even fit :(

Stretch marks: none yet, despite daily, panicked inspection still.

Belly button:  yep. it's an outie.

Sleep: sleepy ALL the time.

Baby movement: yes - lots and strong! 

Gender: 100% boy!

Food cravings: french toast sticks from Burger King (post-pregnant me is grossed out reading this...)

Food aversions: beef, sweets (should make the glucose test next month fun...), etc.

What I miss: not feeling like a whale

Looking forward to: making baby boy's bulletin like I did for A's room - we bought the bulletin and fabric last night! Still need to get the whales, though! 

Best moment this week:  We painted the nursery gray, and then moved the nursery furniture in and placed the bedding in the crib. Now, we wait!

Milestones:  Baby is viable! It wouldn't be ideal for him to be born at this point, but he could survive with intense medical intervention. Woohoo!

And a bump pic:

Yes, I'm in a swimsuit. That will probably never happen again, but I was seriously trying to figure out this day how I could possibly wear this swimsuit for the next three months! I'm GIANT!

Wordless Tuesday: It's a Pregnant Woman on a Water Bike!

Recently, I found myself downtown, equipped with a swimsuit and with other adults who could watch Ava (my husband and in-laws, don't worry), so I took the opportunity to check an item off my Austin Bucket List and head out on Town Lake to water bike! I'm still dying to do some paddle-boarding and ride in one of the swan boats, but this was my first time out on the lake and it was high time!

Pardon the belly, y'all. I'm a whale.

Revisiting the Texas Memorial Museum.

We've been to the Texas Memorial Museum on the UT Campus a time or two, but we recently were able to go visit with my in-laws - some of Ava's favorite people to explore Austin with! Seeing her try to explain her surroundings and having been there before to them was so adorable - and seeing her excitement in showing them around was so enchanting!

Summer Camps at The Little Gym of Round Rock!

Ava has attended some summer camps this year at The Little Gym of Round Rock, now that she's old enough to realize that she's been missing out while the big girls are at camp, and she has LOVED them! With theme weeks ranging from Superheroes to Barnyard Bonanza to Cheerleading and Karate, she's gotten to have many different experiences and activities, all while being in a familiar place and with the same few coaches each week!

Mommy loves the camps, too, since they're three hours long - the perfect amount of time for me to run errands alone (and sometimes sneak in a pedicure, too!) - and the schedule is flexible, accommodating both morning and afternoon free time. AND, the best part? With my varied schedule, I can't always commit to a week, making it hard to find camps for A. Thankfully, though, the great staff at The Little Gym understands that, and offers up one day camp passes, as well as the full three-day week passes! 

Pictures to come from the four camps she has left this summer - I know we both can't wait!

Teddy Bear Picnic: Then, And Now.

I haven't been posting much about our summertime shenanigans, but it's not because we haven't been having any fun. In fact, it's been because we've been having too much fun!

Yesterday, we enjoyed some fun in the sun down at Children's Day Art Park, when we went to take in the annual Teddy Bear Picnic. I grew up reading that book with my mom, and singing that infamous song, so it is always so special to share this with Ava each year. We also love Children's Day Art Park (which takes place Wednesday mornings June through August, featuring a special guest each week) for the wonderful fun that it is, complete with face painting, arts and crafts, storytime, music, and balloons - to name just a few things! Add to that the fact that admission is .50 cents for kids, with lemonade at .10 cents per cup, and you've got the perfect morning outing!

Here is Ava last year with Teddy:

And this year: 

 On our walk to the park, 2012:

And this year, solo:

Playing the drums, circa last summer:

And this year:

 Girly face painting, then:

Goth arm painting, now:

LOL

Here are a few more shots from our fun morning downtown: