Baby Bump Watch - Round 2

Oh the joys of pregnancy and watching yourself get fatter each day. With this pregnancy, I feel so much bigger.  Trey and I realized that I've been pregnant more than not during our marriage.  I'm ready to have my body back.

4 weeks pregnant

17 weeks

18 weeks

20 weeks

22 weeks

23 weeks

25 weeks

27 weeks

30 weeks

32 weeks

35 weeks

I wanted to write a few things about this pregnancy, because I haven't really documented it at all.  It's definitely been different from the first time around.  When I was pregnant with Kylar, it felt like she was doing karate inside of me 24 hours a day.  I would always wonder when she slept.  She was seriously trying to break out of me.  With new baby, she is so gentle and calm.  She doesn't really kick.  I just feel her moving around and rolling.

My first two trimesters were great.  They were super easy.  Then came the third trimester, which has brought an endless amount of pain.  At first I thought it was normal to be in lots of pain while you were pregnant, but then I started asking around and everyone I talked to said that they didn't experience the pain I was describing, but it was more just being uncomfortable and not being able to sleep.  Then one night the pain was so bad I couldn't roll over in bed.  Come to find out the pain I'm having is not normal pregnancy discomfort, but symphysis pubis dysfunction.  Basically I have pain, sometimes unbearable pain in my pelvis. Apparently, there are even support groups for pregnant woman who have it.  This whole time I thought this was just what it felt like to be pregnant.  I couldn't understand how pregnant women managed to exercise, because anytime I would try to exercise I wouldn't be able to walk for a week.  The severity of the pain just depends on the day and usually how active I was the day before.  The pain is the worst at night and trying to roll over in bed is excruciating.  There was one day in particular that was the worst by far.  I couldn't get out of bed, sit, stand up, or walk.  I didn't know how I was going to get through the day with Kylar.  Luckily, Trey volunteered to stay home from work.  I was so grateful that he offered, because I couldn't have done it without him.  Trey had to take care of me and Kylar.  He would swing my legs up and down from the couch, pull me up, and help me walk to get to the bathroom.  Kylar was so cute that day.  Every time Trey would grab my legs to put them somewhere, Kylar would be right by his side holding onto my big toe.  One time my foot was hanging off the couch and Kylar tried to move it, but couldn't, so she grabbed Trey's hand and put it on my foot.  Then another time she grabbed my foot and with all her might and a really big grunt she lifted it up and dropped it.  It was really cute.  It's so interesting how kids watch and catch on to every little thing.  And of course with Kylar she has to be in the middle of the action.

I've been told by the doctor that the pain typically gets worse with each pregnancy.  So....... our family may not be as big as we (I) initially wanted.  We'll see....

It's been very hot here or maybe it just seems hot since I'm double in size.  I'm pretty much a big ball of sweat all day long.  I feel for those woman that have to be pregnant through an entire AZ summer.  I'm so glad I only have until mid-June (hopefully sooner).

Kylar loves to sit on laps and be read to.  It's getting harder for her to find room on my lap.  There is less and less space.  I feel like she knows there is a big change about to take place, because just in the last week she has been extra clingy and cuddly with me.  It's super cute.  I love it.

We've been telling Kylar that "baby sis is in Momma's tummy" and we point to my tummy.  When we ask her, "where is baby sis?" depending on where I am at the time, she will either pull up her shirt and point to her tummy or she will pull up my shirt and point to my tummy.  She also has a fascination of pulling up my shirt and blowing raspberries on my belly.  She's a cute kid.

I'm super excited to meet my baby girl.  I'm excited for Kylar to have a sister.  It's gonna be good.

My favorite day of the year

I love Mother's Day.  I think it's way better than Christmas or my birthday or any other holiday.  Being a mom is the best job in the world.  I am grateful every day of my life that I am Kylar's momma and will soon have another baby girl.

The night before Mother's day our A/C went out and in just 30 minutes the temperature in our house had already rose to 86 degrees and was continuing to go up.  When you have a 13 month old and a 35 week pregnant woman and it's close to 100 degrees outside, there was no way we could stay in our house.  So we packed our bags and went to my parents' house.  It was a full house with the three of us, my parents, Marne and Sage.  Sage and Kylar were both on cloud 9 that they got to play together.

When it's time for Kylar to go to bed, normally at home we do our routine, put her in bed, and she falls right to sleep.  But since she was in a different house and different bed, she cried and cried when I put her to bed.  It was so sad.  I could tell she was scared, because of the different surroundings.  I ended up holding her and rocking her to sleep.  I couldn't let her be scared.  She fell asleep in my arms, but when I laid her in bed, she woke up and started crying.  She eventually fell asleep laying in bed while we rubbed her back.  It made me so happy that she needed me.  Kylar is such an out-going, active, friendly girl.  She will really hug anyone, sit on anyone's lap, pretty much go to anyone.  Sometimes I think she doesn't need me at all, because she is really happy with any person.  But that night I realized she really does need her momma after all and she would miss me if I weren't around :).  It melted my heart.

I wish I would have taken more pictures on Mother's Day.  Trey and Kylar made it a very special day for me.  I have such a sweet family.  Kylar is not much of a talker, well not at all of a talker.  She can say mama and dada and sorta say bird and kitty, but she rarely says any words at all.  She just babbles and screams and does signs.  One of my presents was a Shutterfly photo book Trey made with pictures of Kylar and I.  Kylar was sitting on my lap while I was looking through it and she pointed to one of the pictures of me and as clear as day she said, "mama."  It wasn't her typical babble of "mamamamama."  And it was in the cutest voice.  It was the best Mother's day present.  She really does know who I am :).  Yay!

One more special treat that I got was when Sage and I were changing Kylar's diaper on the ground, she rolled over and jumped up (with no diaper on).  She is fast and I get slower every day with my growing belly.  Before I could grab her, she squatted and had a nice poop and pee on the ground.  It was like a little puppy.  

Splash Pad

We took Kylar to the splash pad at San Tan, because our girl loves water.  She loves going in the backyard and playing with the hose and having me spray her with water.  When we put her down at the splash pad she wasn't quite sure what to think about it all, until we showed her how the water sprayed out of the different holes.  She immediately got the hang of it.  When one fountain disappeared, she was off running to the next one that was beginning to spray up.  Most of the time she would get there before any of the other kids.  At one fountain there was a girl about 2 times Kylar's size and she was stepping on the hole so the water wouldn't spray and Kylar gently gave her a little tap on the chest to say, "get off the hole, I want to play with the water."  That little Kylar is not a timid one. The temperature was in the 90s, but the water was a little chilly, so Kylar didn't get to play for too long. Her little body was shivering and her teeth chattering, but she didn't want to leave.

Easter 2012

This was Kylar's second Easter, but kind of felt like her first, because last Easter she was only weeks old and the Easter bunny didn't bring her anything.  I know, that bunny is horrible.  

Here Kylar is on Easter morning right after waking up and discovering her Easter basket. (I know I did a stellar job of hiding it. Trey wasn't impressed that it was just next to her crib. But she's only 12 months. Next year it will be harder to find.) The Easter bunny brought her a ball for the pool, a couple books, and a couple cuddly, stuffed animals.

I love this picture of her giving her frog a big hug.

And of course, here she is making a mess.  I wouldn't expect anything else.  After Kylar found her daddy's basket she was slightly traumatized that hers did not contain any Cadbury eggs with shiny foil that fit perfectly into her hand and mouth.  Oh, the disappointment on Easter morning. 

Kylar didn't want anything to do with her headband on Easter.  I managed to get one picture of her full ensemble.

I tried to get Trey to take a cute picture of us together.  Of all his attempts, this was the best one.  

Sage was so sweet and hid some eggs so Kylar could find them and put them in her basket.

Those are some good hiding spots.

Kylar had lots of fun with the eggs.

Apparently after some time, Sage felt Kylar should be picking the eggs up faster and she was tired of waiting.  So, she finished up for her and you can see her basket was overflowing with eggs.

Daddy and Kylar.  So cute.

Kylar loves playing with her daddy and getting thrown in the air.

Trey found this really pretty rose on the ground and gave it to me.  I thought it would be so cute to take a picture of Kylar holding the rose all sweetly.  hahaha.  As soon as I gave the rose to Kylar, she took off running frantically around the backyard.  This is the best photo I could get of my sweet angel with the rose.  She makes me laugh.

Growth for the first year

I am kinda weird when it comes to growth.  Maybe because that's what I did for 8 years before Kylar came along.  I like seeing how much kids grow and where they fall on the growth charts.  I get excited when Kylar gets to go to the doctor, and I can see how much or little she has grown.

At birth Kylar was:
6 lbs 12 oz  (25th %ile)
18 3/4 inches  (25th %ile)

She seemed so small to us.  We were expecting a much bigger baby considering the sizes of our families.

After one year, she has grown about a foot.  At her 12 month check up she was:

18 lb 9 oz (~10th %ile)
30 inches  (~75th %ile)

Everyone comments about how tiny she still is.  But after looking at her newborn pictures and comparing them to how she looks today, I can't believe how big she is.  A little toddler,

who loves getting into everything and has to be right in the middle of all the action.

Here she is throwing rocks through the pool fence, as they fall to the ground she waves 'bye bye' to them.

A letter to Kylar

Dear Kylar,

I can't believe you are already one year old.  You've been in our family for a year.  And what a year it has been.  How I longed so much for that sacred title of "mom."  It seems like I waited my whole life for it.  I know you are too young to read this now, but one day you will read it and hopefully appreciate it.  You've brought so much joy into our little family.  We feel so blessed that Heavenly Father gave you to us.  I am grateful for you every day of my life.

The first few months of your life were hard, very, very, hard.  You didn't sleep and you cried and cried and cried.  The day you were born you were so alert.  You didn't sleep.  You just kept staring at all the family that was at the hospital.  The nurses kept saying you would sleep so well that night, because all babies sleep well the first night from their big exhausting journey of coming into this new world.  Well, you didn't sleep.  You cried all night and the night after and every night after that for the next four months.

It was hard, exhausting, and draining, but you were worth every minute of it.  We loved and adored you so much.  All that mattered was that you were ours and ours forever.  We couldn't believe we had made such a cute little person.  From the day you were born we loved you unconditionally and we always will.  That is something I never want you to forget.

At four months you realized your dad and I weren't going anywhere, so you decided to turn into this little angel baby.  It was shocking how different things became.  Almost everything changed.  Since then, you have been so sweet and easy-going.  It's been wonderful.  You rarely cry.  You will cry when you get hurt or when we put up the baby gate, because you don't like being trapped in prison.  You are such a happy baby and so friendly.  You wave to anyone that comes into your path and you try to be best friends with everyone.

You love kids, swimming, being outside, solid food, and putting everything into your mouth.  When you have something you know you aren't supposed to have you will take off running from us.  You love having your daddy chase you around the house.  As soon as he gets home from work you take off running from him, so he will chase you.  When you see him first thing in the morning, you take off running.

You are so active and don't stop moving ever.  We call you our little tornado, because you literally destroy the house and everything in your path.  From the day you were born, you were strong.  You could hold your head up and roll over.  You crawled at 5 months and were running at 8 months.  You said 'mama' at 7 months and 'dada' at 9 months and that's where the the talking stopped.  You've always been a pretty quite baby and so far have not had any interest in talking.  You like making sounds though, especially the growl and that's how you got your nickname, "monster baby."  When your dad and I tell you you can't do something, you growl back at us.  Or if we take something away that's not a toy, you will growl at us in disapproval.  And you growl just for fun, because you think it's funny.  You can do sign language, which has made things less frustrating for you.  You get excited the more and more you understand and pick up on things and can do signs.  You can even put two signs together.

You are smart, very strong-willed, happy, loving, curious, and a thinker.  I can already see some of my characteristics in you.  With that determination you have, I know that you will be able to accomplish anything your heart desires.  Just remember that.  Nothing is ever too far out of reach.  You are a very special girl.  You will never understand how much I love (and worry about) you until you have a child of your own, then multiple that by 100 and that's how much I love you.  Every day your daddy and I thank Heavenly Father for sending you to us.  We are so grateful to have you, Kylar.  Happy 1st Birthday.

Love,
Mommy

The actual birthday

We had Kylar's birthday party the weekend before her birthday.  Her birthday party was the first party I have ever thrown.  Crazy, right?  I've always been so self-conscious that no one would show up and that it wouldn't be fun, etc.  I'm pretty insecure when it comes to those things.  I told myself now that we have kids, I had to get over my fear of having parties, because Kylar's first birthday was just the beginning.  We had a great turn out.  Everyone showed up and seemed to have a good time.  We had a typical BBQ with all the cookie monster treats from the previous post.  We even got our swamp of a pool all fixed and clean just in time, in hopes at least one person would brave the cold and jump in.  We did have a few kids jump in!  There was only one bloody child by the end of the day.  I count the party as a success.

On Kylar's actual birthday, which was on a Wednesday, my parents, Brent, and Sage came over to celebrate.  (I did a poor job of taking pictures of all the birthday festivities.)  Kylar got a lot of really nice gifts.  She loves playing with all her new toys.  Sage got Kylar this Cookie Monster MP3 player that plays 3 songs.  Kylar instantly learned how to push the button to play the music and started dancing.  She danced the night away with her new toy and has been dancing ever since.  It's really cute.

My mom continued with the cookie monster theme and brought over cookie monster cupcakes for Kylar.  She got into the cupcake more than the cake from her party.  Maybe because it was smaller and fit perfectly into her hand.

Before we could get through singing Happy Birthday, Kylar had already grabbed onto a cupcake and started eating the frosting.

Here she is shoving the entire cupcake into her mouth.

All done.  She ate the whole cupcake.  Just like that.  We had even just eaten dinner.  Kylar is a bottomless pit.  She eats and eats and eats and I don't know where all the food goes.