3rd Trimester here we come

It is hard to believe I am headed into my third trimester and we will be welcoming our little girl into our arms in a few months. The Texas summer heat is starting to arrive but for the most part it has been very mild so far. We have set lows for the month of May being 36 degrees! While being pregnant it can stay as cold as it wants for as long as it wants because summer will be here soon enough.

We just celebrated Mother’s Day and I cannot express enough how incredible my life is being a mother to Nolan Michael Connor. I am in awe everyday on how wonderful you are. You like to test your limits as we approach the terrible two but for the most part you are a well-mannered little boy. This weekend we played at the park a lot and you are officially at the age where you can go up and down by yourself while mommy and daddy watch you from a park bench. You love the slide and go up and down up and down. When you were first born I would describe being a mother as “he just makes my world stand still” and almost two years later I can still say when I am with you I feel at ease and like my world is standing still. I just want to soak in every smile, laugh and giggle of yours while smiling back at you. I tell you all the time you are so smart and you really are. You will repeat everything we say and you retain the information. It is so much fun to watch and you make us so proud.

You are very excited to be a big brother. You touch my belly often and refer to it as your sister while saying love you, goodnight baby, and sister. I can’t not wait to see you with her and the bond the two of you will have. You are going to be such a proud and helpful big brother. I have no doubt that you will protect her and teach her everything you know. I picture you now holding her hand patiently showing her how do things as she learns. And then on the other side I know that you are going to want your own space and she is not always going to get to follow you around.

How Far Along: 28 weeks

Baby Size: 15 inches, 2-3 pounds (the size of a head of cauliflower)

Total Weight Gain: 18 pounds

Maternity Clothes: Absolutely!!

Sleep: The first two trimesters were not bad but this last week that has changed. You are officially training me for what it is going to be like waking up all night with you.

Best Moment This Week: You are a little wiggle worm. You have non stop dance parties at all hours of the day and night.

Miss Anything?  Today I miss heels. Summer is coming and I am not a fan of dresses with flip flops but my heels can wait as I carry you around for a few more weeks.

Movement: All day everyday, wiggle wiggle wiggle

Food Cravings:  I still like ice cream and sweets but I like those when I’m not pregnant too, nothing unusual.

Anything Making You Queasy or Sick? Not this time around

Gender: Girl!

Baby Milestone of the week: If you were born today your lungs are developed enough that you would be in our arms soon after a few days in NICU

Labor Signs: You move so much I am trying to decide if they are Braxton Hicks contractions or just you running out of room. You do take my breath away sometimes.

Belly Button in or out? It is in but the top of it sticks out and you can see it in my shirts.

Wedding Rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time:  Happy, but I am definitely feeling more emotional.  

Looking Forward To: Meeting you, I think about it everyday. I cannot wait to see if you will have the same eyes and smile as your brother.

A few pictures from this weekend also

Spring Time

Spring is officially here despite the weather going back and forth from 75 degrees to 36 degrees. Daddy and Nolan decided this year the yare going to get the yard together. All their hard work is going to pay off!

I am 23 weeks pregnant. Feeling kicks, still have growing pains, this is my first year to have allergies. Nolan is so excited for his baby sister to arrive. He knows and understands she is in my belly. He has helped in starting the nursery and when you ask him where his sister is going to sleep he points to her room which is next to his.

Nolan you moved into your BIG BOY BED 2 week ago and you have not missed a beat in transitioning. You go to sleep on your own, sleep through the night, and have yet to get out of bed on your own in the morning. I am so proud of how you love to learn new things and due them the right way. You really take great pride in doing things correctly.

Every night we give daddy kisses goodnight, go to your room and turn on our stars and music. You then give mommy a big hug and kiss goodnight before climbing into your bed. In the past few weeks all on your own you pat my belly and say "good night baby" and then lean in and give her a kiss. It is so incredibly sweet and shows me how excited you are to meet her.

You climb into bed give mommy more kisses and say "night night, sleep tight, LOOOVE you!

Small Things Appreciated

I am so thankful that when I go to pick up Nolan from daycare he says "mommy" with a huge smile and runs to give me a hug. He is so happy to see me!

I am also so thankful to have a husband I come home to kiss and hug every night and someone who says goodbye and have a nice day in the mornings.

These are very simple things but in the rush of life and busy schedules it is nice to sit back and realize how special those little moments are.

Nolan, I know you will not always raise your arms to hug and kiss me but I cherish those moments so much of how happy you are for me to be picking you up and come home to see your smiling face.

Love,

Mom

Adding a new addition to our family

We are having a little Girl.

19 weeks pregnant

Estimated Arrival- August 7^th- I think it will be earlier than that.

How I told John if you were a boy or girl: Cupcakes filled with pink cake

Just as with your brother I can’t wait to meet you, see what you look like and watch you smile. You are coming into a family with a mom, dad and brother that are going to love you so much.

Speaking of your brother, he already loves you to the moon and back, he says hi baby and kisses you all the time. You two are going to be partners in crime. He can tell something is about to change.

Symptoms: This time around is much harder on my body.  I am very achy and sore. Unlike the first time around my sense of smell doesn’t seem to be that strong. I can eat Chinese food and don’t have any specific cravings, everything is fair game.

Mommy’s wishes for you: I want you to be an honest, ethical, loving, strong, and independent woman. I want you to know that you are loved unconditionally. There are going to be times that you do things that disappoint us but it will not change how much we love you, we all make mistakes it is what we do with what we learn from them that matters.

In the meantime keep cooking and try and stay off mommy’s sciatic nerve!

Love,

Mom

Trip to Sun City West

In a last minute decision we made a trip to Sun City West, Arizona to visit Great Grandma Eveyln, Great Grandpa George and Uncle Matt. Grandma Dawn, Aunt Maizi, Aunt Nellie, Michael, Lydia, and Noah were also able to make the trip. It was a wonderful weekend spent hanging out and visiting.

As a kids I got to spend a lot of time with my Great Grandma Nellie. We would go over to her house and play and one of the things we always did when we were there was feed the birds on her patio. Well while in Arizona Nolan got to have the same experience with his Great Grandma and Great Grandpa. By Sunday afternoon after we were done eating lunch Nolan said “eat birds, eat” he knew that it was time to go outside and feed the birds our scraps from lunch.  It was true proud moment for me as his mother watching him get this quality time in with his grandparents.

Great Grandma Evelyn and Nolan looking for birds and bunnies

All of us at Grandma's Quilt Show

Lydia at Grandmas quilt show

Grandma Dawn, Nolan and Aunt Maizi

 Grandma Dawn and Nolan

 Lydia and Nolan going for a walk

 The Boys

A White Christmas in Dallas

This year we spent Christmas is Dallas. We are trying to make it a family tradition to always spend Christmas or Thanksgiving in our home and travel to visit family for the other holiday. A few weeks before Christmas John’s grandma past away unexpectedly. We made the trip to Houston the weekend before Christmas to celebrate a wonderful life of an amazing weekend. Under unfortunate circumstances it was good to see everyone and Nolan got to spend time with his Grandma, Grandpa and cousins.

We Houston on Christmas Eve to make it back home in time for Santa to arrive at our house on Christmas morning. To our surprise our timing was perfect because we got to celebrate Christmas with snow in Dallas this year! It was Nolan’s first snow ever in Dallas, and it got to be on Christmas day!

Holiday Party

We kicked off our Christmas season with my company’s Holiday Party. This year the theme was James Bond. They rented the entire Hotel Zaza in Dallas and turned it into a casino. It was a very fun night and our first night leaving Nolan overnight with a sitter. In true rock star fashion he was great for Ms. Kelsey and let his mommy and daddy have a night together on the town.