Goofy Kid

What can I say? He has been doing goofy stuff like this all week :)

Christmas Morning

Santa brought Keegan a big tent and tunnel set for Christmas. Here he is coming down the stairs to see it Christmas morning.

We finally felt like "real" parents as we spent way too much time putting together the set after he went to bed.

In the afternoon we went to Matt's oldest sisters house and had dinner, played poker (I won) and just had a great time with family. Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve morning we woke up to several inches of snow and beautiful blue skies. So, we bundled up and played in the show and shoveled the driveway.

In the evening, family and friends came over to our house to enjoy an easy and relaxing dinner, and lots of presents. Keegan's favorite was a train set. He knew what it was as soon as the wrapping came off, and Dad couldn't open up the box fast enough. Among many things he also got a rocking horse, books, Star Wars toys, a shield, stuffed animals and much more! Thanks everybody!

In attendance were, Kat and Ray, Tom and Brittany, and Mom and Dad Huber.

Christmas Family Picture 2009

and one that includes the fourth member of the family :)

Abby even enjoyed being in the middle of it all.

Merry Christmas 2009

38 Weeks: A post for posterity

During my first pregnancy I was very good at taking pictures and keeping a baby journal of all of my thoughts and bodily changes. Of course, this time I haven't done either. So, I am stealing this questionnaire from the blog of a pregnant friend of mine.

• When did we find out I was pregnant: The beginning of April, period was two days late. I actually had a doctors appointment to talk about infertility treatments and of course they start with a pregnancy test, and it was positive!
  
• How long before we got pregnant: This time 6 months.
  
• How I told Matt: He didn't come to that doctors appointment, so I stopped and got some hot chocolate from Starbucks and brought it to him at work. I said "the doc can't start me on Clomid" and when he asked why I said "because I am already pregnant!" Woo hoo!
  
• How we told our parents: I honestly can't remember. I think we just told them.
  
• Weight gained to date: 25+ pounds (nothing compared to the 60+ i gained the first time)
  
• Any Contractions? Not any real ones, just Braxton Hicks.
  
• Belly Button: Completely flat. Except for when I sneeze, it becomes an outie.
  
• Best part of pregnancy: Being spoiled by Matt, and feeling the baby move.
  
• Worst part of pregnancy: The discomfort in every part of my body, and the total exhaustion.
  
• Complications: For the first 16 weeks I had awful morning sickness. Enough to require perscription anti nausea meds. Now, horrible back pain.
  
• Nesting: I've actually been putting off the nesting as much as I can. First, because in order to get her side of the room ready (she is sharing with Keegan) I had to get Keegan to sleep in a big-boy-bed (which ended up not being a problem). I've also been hesitant to buy girl clothes, maybe because I still can't believe we are having a little girl.
  
• Favorite Ultrasound: The anatomy ultrasound. Even though we didn't get to find out the gender at that appointment, we got the best look at her, and got to see her stick her thumb in her mouth and start sucking.
  
• The Name Game: She was supposed to be Isabelle after my Great Grandmother, but my mom just named her dog Bella, and that kinda spoiled the name for me. I've liked the name Cadence for awhile and when I started thinking about it the name it just felt right. At this point, we still have not picked out a middle name.
  
• Some of the most surprising things about pregnancy: The most surprising thing is that this pregnancy has been completely different than my first one in every single way. I had morning-sickness way worse this time. The back pain is not as debilitating as it was last time. I haven't gained as much weight as the first time. She has actually "dropped" where KP never did.
  
• Craziest craving: Once again, not any crazy cravings. I have really wanted chocolate and greasy foods, and nothing really heavy, or that I have to chew too much. Most meats have not sounded good at all.
• Other thoughts: I have been having very realistic dreams the last few weeks about going into labor. Last night I actually kept dreaming that I was having contractions, and thinking "yay, it's time!" But then I would wake up and realize that nothing was happening. Also, before, my water broke in the middle of night when I got up to go to the bathroom. Now, everytime I get up to pee I wonder if this is the time it is going to happen.
  

Our little Santa

Thanks Aunt Jess and Aunt Jo for the cute Santa outfit!

That can't be comfortable

I just went in to check on KP and I couldn't open the door because this is how he was sleeping. Yes, that is his clothes hamper on top of him.

Dear Keegan

A sweet message to Keegan from his friends: http://nvwitteandkids.blogspot.com/2009/12/dear-keegan.html.

37 Weeks: Belly Pic

And just for comparison, here I was at 37 weeks with Keegan. It's hard to believe but I carried him even higher than this little girl.

Children's Museum

One of the best gifts that Keegan for his first birthday was a membership to the Children's Museum. We have used it so many times this year. It is so great to be able to go and if it is too busy, or Keegan just isn't in the mood we don't have to stay too long and know we can come back another day. It has been fun to see Keegan grow up this year and see the different things that he enjoys to do at the museum each time we go.

The other cool thing today was that this guy was there hanging out with his family.His name is Josh Blue and he was the winning comedian on season 4 of Last Comic Standing (the only season I have ever watched). Super nice guy, and great dad, his son and Keegan are 10 days apart.

She's a BIG girl!

I am now 36 weeks along in the pregnancy, and we had an ultrasound today to check on our little girl. First of all, it is still a girl, which I was actually nervous about since they never got a "great" picture before. Second, she is going to be BIG. Right now she has a head circumference of 13 inches (Keegan had a 14 inch head when he was born), and she weighs approximately 7lbs 6oz. Babies tend to gain about 1/2 a pound a week in the last month. I have 3 weeks left till my c-section, which means that she is going to be a 9 pound baby!!! (Keegan was 8lbs 2 oz) Whew! I think that I am now leaning towards the c-section rather than the VBAC.

"De-de!"

We went to visit my co-worker Mimi and her brand new baby girl. Once again Keegan was in love! He was so sweet cuddling with her, and he kept pointing at her, saying "de-de!" which is how he says baby.

Don't take a man's cookie ...

Tonight was the Ward Christmas party. Keegan had a great time flirting with the little girls and this is my favorite two shots. I'll post more pictures later.

Thank You Ladies!!

My best friend Jodi was in town this week for Thanksgiving so she and my other BFF, Jessica threw my little girl a baby shower. It was at my house, but they took care of everything. They had decorations, food, a diaper raffle (where if you brought a pack of diapers you got to enter the drawing), and everybody decorated a quilt square for Jessica to put together later. Thank you SO much to my Mother and my wonderful friends for showering our baby girl with love, presents and diapers. I had so much fun! (click on the pictures to make them bigger)

Lots of generous presents and cute babies.

Keegan got to hold his first baby. He LOVES babies! He was SO happy holding him on his lap. He just wanted to cuddle and kiss him all day. When Eli sat next to him he kept putting his arm around him and giving me a proud look. I think he is going to be a great big brother (at least till he figures out that she cries and won't go away).

Finally getting the hang of it all

I feel like I am finally getting the hang of being a stay-at-home mom, and a mom of one. I can keep the house semi-clean, I can have dinner on the table when Matt gets home, I can entertain KP for the whole day, etc. Is my life really going to be turned upside down again in a few short weeks?!?! Is it going to take another two years for me to get used to being a mom of two?!?!

Random Pics

I haven't been very good at posting pictures lately, so here are some random pictures of what we have been up to.

My wonderful coworkers threw me and two other pregnant ladies a baby shower. Mimi (on the left) and I were pregnant together the first time (he son Jake, holding onto her leg, is 4 days younger than Keegan) and she just had her little girl last week. Nicole (on the right) is due the same week as I am. Looking at the pic, I really wasn't showing much, but I promise the next week I "popped."

A few days before Halloween we had our first snow storm of the year. We got Keegan bundled up, took a few pictures, and he was done.

I had been looking for one of these on Craigslist all summer and finally found it, right before the big snowstorm. Since we had seventy degree weather shortly after our snowstorm we were able to put it together. Keegan LOVES it, and spends as much time outside as he possibly can.

We successfully moved Keegan to his toddler bed, but he still has some rough nights. He falls out of bed about once a week, and occasionally we find him like this:

In an effort to get Keegan ready for a baby, I bought him a baby doll. He is HILARIOUS with it. He carries it around, and feeds it, and wraps it in a blanket and puts it to bed. He is going to be a good big brother.

32 weeks (and counting)

I had my 32 week pregnancy check-up yesterday. Crazy! That means that I have 8 weeks till my due date, but only 7 till my c-section! How did the time go by so quickly?!? Everything seems to be right on track. My little girl has a great heartbeat and is measuring at 33 weeks. We are going to have another ultrasound at 36 weeks to 1. check to see if she is breached and 2. see how big her head is. I have the scheduled c-section on the 30th, but I have decided that if I go into spontaneous labor (my water breaks, or start contractions, etc) I will probably attempt to deliver "normally." That is depending on her head size. If it looks like she has a noggin like her brother than I might not even try. :) Who knows. Right now, I am not pulling for one way or the other, and I will hopefully be very flexible to my options when the day comes.

This whole pregnancy has been SO different than my pregnancy with Keegan. I had much worse morning sickness in the first 16 weeks with this pregnancy, even to the point that I needed to be put on anti-nausea drugs. Because I was so sick for so long I lost weight in the beginning and even to this date I am not even close to gaining the amount of weight that I did with Keegan. The first time I gained about 60 lbs total, and this time I have only gained 19 lbs so far. Not gaining so much weight has definitely made this pregnancy easier. I am so much more comfortable in my body and I can occasionally forget that I am pregnant (not very often though). My joints, muscles and most importantly my back don't hurt as bad as the first time. I really think that chasing around a 1 1/2 year old has really helped. My body is in different shape than I was last time, not necessarily better shape, I am just more used to lifting and carrying Keegan around. Also, before I was working full time and sitting around most of the day, and that killed my back. But these days there is very few times where I can sit down for more than 1/2 an hour (the length of a cartoon), and the movement really helps my back and joints stay loose.

I am getting to the point where I am about ready to be done. Although I am not ready to give up my one-on-one time with Keegan. I got teary eyed yesterday as we cuddled together after his nap, realizing that our days like these are numbered. I hope that I will still be able to take the time to spend one-on-one time with Keegan. I hope that once the baby sleeps I won't feel like I need to be doing something "more important" (housework?!?) and that I can focus on my #1 child. I also hope that Matt will forgive me if the house is cluttered or the dishes are not done everyday. Not that he is an overly demanding husband, or that he doesn't help out with the house (in fact, he probably does more housework than I do), I just have the guilt of not getting it done.

I guess I just needed to put my thoughts down. I don't always blog about me, or my thoughts, but there you go. That's whats going on in my little world and my big belly. If you made it this far, thanks for reading!

What Keegan has been up to while I'm at work

I've neglected to post the links to Keegan's recent activities while I am at work. He has so much fun with his friends Lucas, Bridgett and Scarlett. I love this picture of him, so you will see it twice, this is when they made TEXTURE RAINBOWS. They have also done FIST LADYBUGS, played with ROCKS, and made INDIAN CORN. Keegan always comes home with a great art project, and I am having fun staring a collection.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Keegan just got back from his first Halloween out trick-or-treating. He had a great time, and quickly figured out the routine.
I'd say he did pretty well for a first-timer. HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

5 little pumpkins

Here was KP's activity last week, I forgot to post it earlier. http://toddlerboredombusters.blogspot.com/2009/10/5-little-pumpkins.html

I need parenting advice...

Keegan is in this stage (please tell me it is just a stage) where he whines for everything that he wants. It isn't a sweet little whine, it is this horrible screech-whine thing that is worse than nails on a chalkboard. He does it when he wants something, but then it turns into hysterics (like someone slaughtering a pterodactyl) and sometimes a tantrum when I have to say 'no.' Lately it seems like all I am saying is 'no.' No, he can't have 3 packs of fruit snacks in a row. No, he can't climb on the back of the couch and dive off head first. No, he can't color on the walls. No, I won't pick up his fork for the 5th and 6th time that he has thrown it from the table. No, he can't color on the computer screen with a permanent marker.

Now, he isn't really talking yet, and so I know it is his way of communicating his needs and frustrations. But how do I teach him that it is not the correct way of communicating? He knows a good number of words, or signs (sign-language) but maybe doesn't understand yet how to use them all correctly in context.

I'm a pretty even tempered person, but whining is not the way to get something from me and it sends me over the top. This whole situation literally frustrates me to tears on a daily basis. I don't know what to do! Help?!?!

Big Boy Bed

Keegan slept in his "big-boy-bed" for the first time last night. He slept decently. He went to bed easily last night, but he woke up crying at 5AM and Matt got up with him then. He wasn't totally interested in napping this afternoon and he actually got out of bed, played around for a little bet then opened the door to get out of the room (we weren't expecting that)! So, it will be a learning experience for us all. Wish us luck tonight!

Pumpkin Patch (& a belly picture)

Also, on Saturday we went to a pumpkin patch with my folks to pick out our pumpkins.

Well here you go, a couple belly pics that people have been asking for ... not much to see!

Halloween Party/Chili Cookoff

Last night was our Wards Halloween Party/Chili Cookoff. We went dressed up as a family of zebras. It was a blast.

Magnetic Puzzles

Check out KP on the Toddler Boredom Busters website playing with Magnetic Puzzles.

Family Pictures 2009

Here are some of our super cute family pictures that Matt's cousin Pam (Etherdox Photography) took. I'm leaving out the best ones that we are using on our Christmas card, so sorry you will just have to wait for those :)

She also took some 18 month pics of Keegan.
Here he was blowing kisses."The itsy bitsy spider."Look at those baby blues.And of course in his Halloween costume.