16 Weeks

Your baby has enough muscle strength and coordination to form a tightly clenched fist. Fine details are emerging, like fingerprints and the creases between the fingers, knuckles and palms. Also, the umbilical cord is completely mature, containing two arteries and one vein, enclosed and protected by a thick, gristle-like substance called Wharton's jelly.

Wharton's jelly?  Sick.

What's new this week?  Hmmmm.  Not a whole lot.  I'm not sure how much weight I've gained.  Somewhere between 5 and 10 pounds I think.  I'm conscious of it but not too concerned. I'm trying to wear my regular clothes as much as possible (aside from pants) to avoid wearing my maternity clothes out too early.  And not in the literal sense, in the I-can't-stand-that-anymore sense.  I have my maternity clothes from before, and I have bought some new items but I am trying not to buy any more winter items as I will have to build a summer wardrobe as well to get me through May, June, and half of July.  The bulk of my maternity wardrobe right now is winter stuff aside from a handful of short sleeved shirts and a couple dresses.  No shorts, no tank tops, etc. not to mention work clothes.  And we all know how hot June and July can be.  But I'm sure between Old Navy, Target, and eBay it won't be a big deal.

I'm sleeping pretty good, although this morning Rob asked me what was wrong last night. Apparently I was crying out in pain, but I don't really remember why.   Round ligament pain, I'm sure.  This happened all the time when I was pregnant with Avery, but it was Charley Horses in my calves.  Ouch.

I have noticed some back pain.  I've had occasional sciatic pain but fortunately it hasn't been constant.  I'm really not looking forward to that, should it happen.

16 Weeks

  















Ugh.  So I DID make a cute little chalkboard thing to write the weeks on and take normal pictures at home but there was just no time this morning.  Some time this week we will, but it won't be a morning, I'm sure.

Smoothies

We've been having smoothies for breakfast every weekday for quite some time now.  They are so good and provide a healthy amount of fruit and/or vegetables to start the day.    Here's what I typically use:

Bananas
Frozen berries
Frozen mango or other mixed fruit
Spinach (frozen or fresh)
Yogurt
Juice

In a week we will go through about a 32 oz container of yogurt, 1/2 bag (or so) of spinach, 5-8 bananas, about 3 pounds of frozen fruit, and about 1/4 gallon of juice.

I start with the yogurt, banana(s), and spinach.  Add juice and frozen berries while blending.  Usually add some ice cubes too.

Those nights that I'm thinking ahead I'll put this in the blender and stick it in the fridge for the night.

This makes 2 medium/large smoothies for Rob and I and a small for Avery.

I've also added tomatoes, avocado, oranges, apples, pears, grapes.  Basically anything that is in need of being used, is on sale, etc.  I know there are other great add-ins like flaxseed, oatmeal, etc. but I haven't experimented with those yet.  If you're really watching calories and/or sugar you could omit the juice and sub milk (soy, coconut) or even water.

This takes about 7-10 minutes to make in the morning.  It might take a little less time if I didn't  *ahem* have a helper who insists on controlling the buttons, adding one berry at a time, trying to run away with the banana, and so on.

I've been getting pretty much all my ingredients at Aldi for a while.  You simply can't beat their prices on frozen and fresh fruit.

For example, last week I got:

Bag of spinach .79

Bananas     1.00

2 lb frozen mango  3.29

1 lb frozen mixed berries 3.00

1 lb frozen blueberries 2.50

Yogurt  2.00 

(I didn't need any juice and I didn't use all the blueberries)

=

$13.00/5 days=$2.70/day for 2.5 smoothies/day=a little over $1/smoothie

Not a bad price! Certainly beats Jamba Juice or Smoothie King!  Also convenient and easy to drink on the way to work.

Weekend Wrap Up

Another great weekend of not doing a whole lot but doing exactly what we want.  Saturday we cleaned, ran some errands, and went downtown to eat at a barbecue place for dinner.

Sunday we took advantage of the nice weather and went to the zoo.  Aside from Avery tripping and skinning her mouth on the pavement, it was great.

Pre-skinned

Post-skinned

Arthur got a bath this weekend.  Touching or being within a 5 foot radius of him no longer results in recoiling in horror, so we were happy to pet him!

 

Shark attack after bath time

15 Weeks

your baby's the size of a navel orange!

The average fetus at 15 weeks weighs 2.5 ounces and measures 4 inches -- and his proportions are becoming even more normal, since his legs now outmeasure his arms.

your baby at 15 weeks

• You probably can't feel it yet, but she's squirming a ton!
• She might even be hiccuping in there.
• She's making lots of progress: her joints and limbs can all move now.

I intend to find a better and cuter back background
for taking pictures.  Something other than the
bathroom or my office.  Hopefully that improvement
will come by next week.

I received a call yesterday that my Anatomy Scan is
scheduled for February 23rd.  This is the "big"
ultrasound where the baby is examined and
measuredin depth and, of course, we hopefully
find out the gender!  It seems like forever, but it's
only 4 weeks and it will be here before we know it.  

In the meantime I'm trying to resist the temptation
of shopping.  Target has a major baby sale right
now and I bought a few things yesterday including
a yellow duck security blanket/lovie thing.  I showed
it to Avery and said it was for the baby.  Already
protective, she said "she's not a baby, she's a BIG
girl!" She deemed the baby would like it though,
as it is "super super soft."

Other than that, there's nothing much to report.
I have my next regular appointment on February 13th.

Weekend

Nothing too exciting.  Just relaxing and trying to get Avery back on track as far as attitude and sleep.

Last week she was very disagreeable and uncooperative and bedtime was a nightmare.   A few nights bedtime stretched on for over an hour, with us putting her back to bed countless times.  And then came the 3:30 a.m. wake-up calls.  It was a rough week and we were all pretty tired.  She got better each night and last night she only got up once before going to sleep and didn't get up until 6:30 a.m.  This is still a little early for Avery but after the week we had we'll take it!

Busted sunglasses

At the park after brunch

Heading to Claremore for dinner

Flapper outfit

Getting ready for bed

Bedtime stories

14 Weeks

First of all, I don't feel like this picture is accurately representing my size.  Here's a couple pictures from last week to give a little more perspective.

13 weeks and some change

12 weeks and some change

Second, NO you didn't miss anything.  We don't know that we're having a girl and we're not naming her Eleanor.  That's just what we're calling him or her for now, per Avery.  She is convinced that she is going to have a sister and she wants to name her Eleanor.

San Diego

Rob and I went to San Diego for his cousin Kristi's wedding. We had never been to San Diego so it was nice to get to see a bit of it over the 3 full days we were there.  The mornings and nights were pretty cool but the weather was nice during the day.  We also enjoyed some great seafood and Mexican.

We stayed at (and the wedding was at) the Island Palms.  The front of the hotel overlooks the bay and downtown SD.  The back of the hotel overlooks a huge marina.

We took pictures with our good camera but as usual I'm relying on my iPhone pictures.  Most of the pictures are self-explanatory:)

Pacific Beach

Morning bike ride

Hotel

Pacific Beach

Morning

Avery stayed with Mimi, but we would love to go back with her.  There is so much fun stuff to do that she would love (zoo, Sea World, beach).  We would definitely go back for a family vacation!

Whether She's Happy About It or Not

She's going to be a big sister in July.

You Might Watch Too Much Dora If...

you try to turn your mom into your own Junior Explorer.

"Mom, if you see a starfish, yell STARFISH!"

Diving for starfish and fishies:

2011

2011 was a fun year for us.

In January...well it appears nothing of note occurred in January.  Big shock as it is the worst.month.ever.

In February we had the great blizzard of 2011.

In March we went to Mexico.

In April went to Kansas City.

In May Avery turned 2 and Rob completed his MBA.

In June we welcomed summer and had lots of fun in the sun and we celebrated Dad.

In July we went to Tiki Island with good friends.

In August Avery started pre-school and we installed new floors.

In September we kicked off football season with friends and enjoyed the last days of summer.

In October Avery went to the fair for the first time and Halloween was celebrated several times over.

In November we kicked of the holiday season with Thanksgiving.

In December we met Santa and had a wonderful Christmas.

Avery has changed so much over the last year (as I'm sure she will every year until, like, forever).  She has become such a big girl.  Her vocabulary surprises me on the regular.  She knows shapes, colors, and can count to about 20 (things get hazy around 14).  She likes to joke (is that FUNNY Mama?).  She likes to read and do puzzles.  She's very sweet, shy, and a little sensitive.  She loves Dora and Minnie.  She is quasi-potty trained.

We can't wait to see what 2012 has in store for our family.

Post Christmas Vacation

Staycation, really.

I took the week after Christmas off to use the rest of my vacation time.  We had such a great week.  The weather was unseasonably warm and we had a nice balance between relaxation and activity.  Rob was home the Monday following Christmas and the Monday following New Year's, otherwise he worked.  He doesn't have to use his vacation by the end of the year like I do, so he's saving it for events this coming year.

I'll let the iPhone pictures tell the story.

Monday dinner at BWW

Cow puzzle sent by Aunt Lauri and Uncle Tom

Playing at the mall

First trip to the movies

After the movie

Playground

A rare nap together on the couch

Heading to meeting Gigi for lunch

Monkeying around

Mickey is funny

Carousel before lunch with Mimi

Wresting a bagel

Last day of vacation, breakfast at Panera

Another movie

This week has been hard to get through without my afternoon nap.  Avery was ready to get back to school.  Rob said she danced into her room Tuesday morning.  I can't say that I danced into my office, but I'm getting used to reality again.