Young Party of Four

This week I will turn the big 3-0 (and also kick off our crazy July of birthday/anniversary activities). July is always a really busy month for us and I can't believe we are already back around to it again. I swear, Kenzie just turned 1 yesterday. I was just looking at our calendar late last week and July is so booked that there are days with things written on them and arrows pointing to the days they actual occur on just because the day the event actually occurs is so packed that nothing else would fit in its square. Pray for us... Anyway... a lot of this blog is about our family, specifically Kenzie. Lately I have been keeping up with updating to a point about myself with my weekly pregnancy journal entries, but usually this blog is dedicated to our family as a whole or children (even those weekly journals are somewhat about Will and even Kenzie.) So, in light of turning 30 this week, I thought it would be fun to try to come up with 30 (random) facts about myself to share with

Many years ago... BC (before children)... we spent a lot of time at the beach. As a matter of a fact, if it was summer and we didn't have other engagements already, that is usually where you would find us. Once we had Kenzie (and even the summer that I was pregnant with Kenzie) we ceased going quite as often. It wasn't that we didn't want to. It was more about the fact that what used to be an easy thing for which we took a few towels, a beach bag, chairs, and just our own change of clothes (because we like to make a day of it) turned in to an all day deal. One in which we had to start packing up the car and planning the night before. Last year we went to the beach once. Once. It was a sad year, apparently. We went to the West Coast and Kenzie was "eh" about the entire ordeal. Sand wasn't really her thing at the time. She played a bit, but it wasn't very memorable. This year we have been one other time but we went to a beach in St. Augustine. It was nice, b

Baby’s Size: Large Mango. The thing specifically said “large” so I’m including that. Who knows who comes up with these fruit comparisons? How far along:  23 Weeks Total weight gain: 9 lbs. Still on track but I am putting it on a bit quicker now a days. About what I should be, but it can be a bit disconcerting when I didn’t put on very much in the beginning and now seem to be gaining faster than I would have liked. It’s all still in what should be expected and I am good with that. I just don’t always like to see the scale go up so quickly.   Sleep:  Off and on. Still having sciatic nerve pain. More on some days than others.   Maternity Clothes:  Yep. I’m finding though that a lot of my shorts from being pregnant with Kenzie are not nearly as comfortable. I think it is because I liked the full panel stuff with her but now, because she likes to be outside a lot, I am soooo very hot when I put those things on. I prefer something I can easily roll down or that is the smaller

I want to make sure I start this post with a disclaimer... or three. First, what worked for our family, likely wouldn't work for everyone. Second, a lot of these tips/tricks are not my own. They are ones from family and friends as well as some online (cough*Google*cough) research. Third, I am no expert and would never claim to be. I wanted to write up a post that detailed a few tips and tricks for a couple of reasons. First off, one day I will have to do this all again. With a boy. =( I have heard time and time again that boys are harder. Not looking forward to that. So, in a couple of years when I am sitting on the bathroom floor wondering what on earth I got myself into and how I am ever going to get through this, I wanted to be able to look back and remind myself that I can get through it and give myself a refresher course on what worked with Kenzie (though that doesn't mean it would work with Will) just to have an idea of where to go. Second, I have a lot of friends tha

Baby’s Size: Spaghetti Squash How far along:  22 Weeks Total weight gain: Jumping between 7 & 8 pounds. Depends on the day and time of day. Technically, because I write these things on Tuesdays (when my weeks change) I am usually at the top of whatever range I give. I think that is because weekends set me back. If I were to write these around Thursday or Friday, they would likely be closer to the bottom of my range.   Sleep:  Okay I guess. The sciatic nerve pain is really bothering me lately. As Will gets bigger, the pain becomes more consistent and happens even when I am not laying down or standing for long periods of time. It is still making sleeping on my left uncomfortable most of the time.   Maternity Clothes:  Of course. I do have some shirts that I am working on stretching out. Not intentionally… I just like them. I have one pair of shorts I can sort of pull off because they were slightly too big before pregnancy and they sit low so they tend to hit the ver

This will be probably be my final daily update for how we are doing in potty training land. Kenzie has been doing great! I definitely can't complain when I think about the fact that less than a week ago, she was in diapers full time. While this wasn't always an easy process, it definitely wasn't as bad in retrospect as it could have been. Day 5: Today was a good day but (if I haven't mentioned it before) we shall now approach every day of potty training as you would a no hitter. No talking about it until the day is over and Kenzie is in bed for the night! Kenzie did great today though. She didn't tell me when she had to potty but I took her about every half hour. Most of the time, she went. We did have one accident but it was when she was playing with some friends outside in front of the house and when I asked her, she... of course... said no. She was really in to what she was doing though, so it wasn't surprising to me. The plus... we were outside. No clea

Day 3: Today was a much better day overall. I sort of expected it would be, but I would not be surprised if we have a set back at any point in time. Nothing surprises me with a toddler. If I thought before that being home with a very active almost 2 year old all day was tiring... I was wrong. This is exhausting. I thought I would more used to it by day 3, but it just seems to keep going at the same level of exhaustion. Today we had 3 accidents. So, Day 1: 9, Day 2: 5, Day 3: 3. While I would hope that would mean that tomorrow would be 1... I don't actually believe that to be true. I know it doesn't necessarily work like that. I'm hoping for no more than 3, but like I said, a set back wouldn't surprise me. We made it out to Publix today with no issues. The trip was maybe 30 minutes with us being in the store for about 20 and I always make her try to go before we go inside and when we leave a store. She doesn't always go, but better safe than sorry. I find mys

Baby’s Size: Carrot How far along:  21 Weeks Total weight gain: Still hanging out with my 7 lbs. I sometimes go up to 8 and sometimes drop back down to 7. I figure it is between 7 and 8 at this point. I just found my journal with Kenzie and at this point (well technically at 20 weeks, 4 days) I was up 10 lbs so I think I am still doing fairly well. Sleep:  It’s been okay. I have noticed that my sciatic nerve pain is better at night now so I am able to sleep on my left more often. I am having difficulty sleeping on my back though. Not a big deal but I tend to roll that way at night quite often and it wakes me up after a few minutes. Maternity Clothes:  Yep. Food cravings:  I managed to get those cheese fries with ranch, A1, and bacon (plus jalopenos) last week. It was awesome! I want more though.   Symptoms I HAVE: Still having major MAJOR heartburn. To the point that I have almost considered something stronger than Tums. I have decided to just deal with it usually