Little Heartbreaker

Every week Iyla and I attend a sweet little "Music Together" class. There are about 6 other kids in the class with us, ranging from 12 months-3 years old.

In particular there is one little 3 year old boy named Max who is just the most darling thing ever. He is smart, observant, & full of giggles. And he is sweet on Iyla.

This became evident a few classes ago when he started making a point to come sit right next to her and ask that she help him in any cooperative activities. He also seems to be extra full of giggles when in her presence.

Last night when he arrived to class, he quickly came over and sat right next to us, even though his mom and little sister were seated across the circle.

When it came time for a drumming activity where each kid was given two sticks to bang together, he very excitedly started banging his sticks on Iyla's.

She wasn't having it.

She quickly hid her sticks behind her back and stuck out her tongue at him, a new move she has developed in the past "growing" week, full of sass. I told her that this wasn't very nice and to just say "no thank you" if she didn't want to play that way. He got the hint and moved on.

Toward the end of class there is another activity where the kids help "blow out" all the lights, then snuggle down with their parent or caregiver to listen to a soothing song.

No sooner had Iyla and I laid down than little Max came running over and snuggled in right next to Iyla, rolling on his side so his body faced her. She immediately got up and laid down on the other side of me. Max quickly followed suit, running to the other side and again snuggling in right next to her. Again she got up and moved, again he followed. This time she took things up a notch and gave him a shove in the face. Poor Max was crestfallen.

I reminded Iyla that this was not a nice way to communicate and to tell him "no thank you" if she didn't want him there. She then very loudly and forcefully said NO THANK YOU to him several times in a row, until a sad Max finally retreated to his mom.

Not to be deterred, at the end of class Max came up and asked Iyla if he may please have a hug (cue my heart melting!). Thankfully Iyla obliged, and all was well again in the toddler world.

Iyla Grace- breaking hearts and taking names since 2012

18 Week Updates: Baby 2.0

Another Tuesday, another baby update! I keep aspiring to write posts other than these weekly updates, but alas, for now all general news will be confined to the contents of these weekly posts.

How far along? 18 weeks today!

How big is baby? Apparently baby is the size of a sweet potato this week, and is hiccuping, yawning, sucking, and swallowing. She's also working on her muscle development with lots of twisting, turning, kicks, & punches. I feel her almost daily in little blips all around my belly- most evident when I am laying down.

Weight gain? Up another 1.5 pounds from last week, for a total gain of 14 pounds so far.

Sleep? Same old, same old… some nights I wake a gazillion times, and most mornings I wake way too early and am then up for the day. Trying to get in a daily nap as best I can.

Food cravings/aversions? Still not wanting seafood (one exception: calamari!) and loving big leafy salads.

Symptoms? This week has been a doozy with my hip pain. Pretty much every single time I get up from sitting I am stiff and in pain, and have to walk like a waddling, swaying belly dancer for awhile to work out the kinks. I had one migraine this week, and thankfully no bloody noses. Also no nausea or vomiting episodes!

Big sister? Iyla went through another "growing" week last week. We use this term during times when her every mood and emotion are on HIGH OCTANE. There was a lot of testing, protesting, crying, and even a couple full on monumental tantrums (usually upon waking from the ever so elusive nap). But as usual, with these "growing" weeks a more refined Iyla emerges, complete with new language, new perception, new humor, and deep affection.

We did get a slew of adorable photos of our little lady last week- some while modeling new dresses that arrived, and some from our morning school portraits. Behold the cute:

Most looking forward to? Our yearly pilgrimage to Wimberley, which is just two weeks away! We are returning to the same lovely cabin we stayed in last year, and I can't wait to kick back and be ensconced in nature for a week with my loves.

17 Week Updates: Baby 2.0

How far along? 17 weeks today

How big is baby? Baby is estimated to be around 5 inches long now from head to bottom (about the size of an onion). She has distinct fingerprints starting to form and is starting to put on layers of fat. I'm also feeling more frequent "blips" in my belly, which I am pretty darn sure are baby dancing around!

Weight gain? I was at 122.8 this morning, so just a little over a pound gained from last week.

17 week belly

Sleep? Doing a little better overall, though I've been waking around 6:30-6:45 for no good reason at all. We usually don't fetch Iyla until 7:15 or so, so that's a good 30-45 minutes I could still be sleeping.

Since my nausea has gone down I've been working to wean off the nightly Unisom tablets. However, the last few nights I've again returned to waking up what feels like a gazillion times a night (it literally feels like I wake every 5 minutes, though I know that isn't likely true). So… we'll see if that continues, and if so, I may have to investigate alternative ways to help me sleep more soundly.

Food cravings/aversions? I haven't felt as ravenously hungry this week. Still no desire for seafood, which has been very consistent for the majority of this pregnancy. We had a funny tragic dinner event this week where BC was excited to cook us a family dinner Saturday night. I told him to make sure it would be something Iyla would eat, but didn't bother mentioning items to avoid for myself, since every.single.time we go to dinner I tell him I can't stomach seafood, not to mention HE READS THIS BLOG. As the smell of fish wafted through our home Saturday evening and I had to cover my nose from the nausea, I really really wished I would have said something. Poor guy was so happy to be cooking- had gotten flowers and everything- and neither Iyla nor I were into the fish dinner. After the meal he remarked that next week he'd check with me before deciding on the menu, since he never knew anymore what I'd want with this pregnancy. Wise man!

Symptoms? For the most part I am doing well, fully recovered from my cold and feeling more alert during the day. However, I still occasionally get very intense "pregnant" days. For example, on Saturday morning (the same day as the Great Fish Dinner Debacle) I ended up vomiting into a Ziploc bag while sitting in the parking lot of my local coffee shop. Later as I headed out on a walk with Iyla my right ligament tensed up halfway through and I felt like I had the worst side cramp of my life. I had to hobble slowly the rest of the way and was quite physically incapacitated for the remainder of the evening.

I've still been having a lot of the feeling of my inner thighs being pulled, and my prenatal yoga instructor said this is usually due to the pelvis being out of alignment. I'll make sure to schedule in another visit to my chiropractor this week, though these adjustments seem to only offer relief temporarily before the tugging returns.

I AM happy to report I didn't have any migraines this past week, which is oh so nice.

Bloody noses are still very frequent- I'd say 5/7 mornings I get them when I blow my nose.

Big sister? We had a really sweet Valentine's Day with Iyla. It started with a bubble bath before heading out for breakfast with Papa, followed by some holiday loot (a new unicorn stuffed animal & an array of chocolates). Chocolate is definitely the way to this little lady's heart… she often remarks out of nowhere "I just LOVE chocolate."

Iyla's school had a "Kids Night Out" Sunday from 3-7, where Iyla got to make chocolates from scratch, play games, & do crafts… and BC and I were able to head out to an early date night dinner at Perry's steak house. A win-win for all! It was a lovely day.

16 Week Updates: Baby 2.0

This past weekend, we had 4/6th of BC's siblings in town for a brief and lovely mini family reunion. It all started as a planned golf weekend for BC and his brother Chad, who resides in Kansas. Then- in a completely random coincidence- BC's sister Amy (who lives in Denver) let us know she was to be in town that same weekend for a girls' trip. Having heard this, BC's sister Christie (who lives in Boulder) decided to come in for a night, and of course we had to have sister Julie drive in from Houston to join in on the fun! It was sweet to watch how quickly Iyla warmed up to her family, as this was not always the case with her. She definitely reveled in all the extra attention from her Aunties and Uncle!

Selfie with Aunt Christie

The 3 Jules (Me, Chad's wife Julie & BC's sister Julie) & Christie

On to my 16 week updates!

How far along? 16 weeks today

How big is baby? My baby apps say baby should now be about 7 inches long- about the length of a carrot. The app also notes that in the next few weeks baby will go through a huge growth spurt, doubling it's weight and adding inches to it's length. Can't wait to see what that does to my already burgeoning belly! This is also the week that baby starts being able to actually hear, due to tiny bones having developed in its ears. I have this weird feeling that this baby may be our musical one (Iyla- bless her heart- LOVES to sing and is the cutest little singer in the the world, but appears to have BC's voice… meaning: tone deaf). Given that development, this is definitely the time to start really talking and singing to baby! 

Weight gain? It slowed slightly this week... I am up another 1.4 pounds as of this morning, for a total gain of 11.4 pounds so far.

16 weeks with baby #2

And for fun, here's my little belly (thought I'm sure I felt huge!) at 16 weeks with Iyla:

Sleep? It's been better the last few nights, likely from taking a Benadryl before bed due to a nasty cold I've been fighting. 

I also have to give BC huge kudos here for a moment. About a year ago his snoring picked up, and that coupled with my extremely light sleeping proved to be a not-so-great combination for sleep. In an effort to help, we got a new king sized bed and I started sleeping with earplugs. When that didn't help, we resorted to having BC sleep many nights of the week in the guest room. While we both slept well that way, neither of us wanted that to be a permanent solution.

This past week BC took it upon himself to do some in-depth research into his own snoring. Did you know there is an online quiz one can do to determine what type of snorer you are? This is the one BC took, which led him to learn he was a 'tongue snorer." This information helped him find and order this super sexy device, which lo and behold has proven to be a small MIRACLE. The snoring has been cut to almost nothing, and we are both happily sharing our cozy king size bed again.

Food cravings/aversions? Not much different this week. Still having aversions to seafood and craving veggies. Last night I cooked up a big pot of Green Curry Soup, which was the perfect remedy for both my cravings and my cold! I also made a batch of homemade chocolate chip cookies because, you know, balance. 

Symptoms? I feel like I am finally coming out of the first trimester fog. This past week my nausea has been much better and I am also getting into a better groove with my body- fully used to the belly and having less overall ligament pain. I did start my day today throwing up, but I think that was fully due to the combination of an apple slice + elderberry syrup + prenatal vitamins on an empty stomach. Poor Iyla G came into the bathroom mid vomit with a concerned look on her face asking if I as ok, then sat down behind me hugging my back while I retched over the toilet. That's love for you! 

Big sister? I had a super fun weekend with Iyla. BC was busy golfing & entertaining family, so she and I had lots of quality time to adventure together. On Saturday I took her to a toddler art class at a local Gymboree (which she LOVED) and on Sunday we ventured out to Dinosaur Park- a place I'd heard about several times but had yet to visit. When I mapped it out and realized it was only 20 minutes away, we were a GO! This is a kid who loves dinosaurs, and the gorgeous 65 sunny weather made for a perfect day hike. 

Here are a few photos from our past week:

Dinosaur Park!

Rawr!

This is a baby dinosaur hatching, in case that wasn't clear

Look out Iyla!

She was making all the dinosaurs gather for a "dinosaur party." It's so funny to me how differently girls and boys tend to play!

Meanwhile, at school, the teachers reported that Iyla spent an entire morning hand in hand with this little firefighter named Socrates

She worked on her back float at swimming lessons

Delighted in new presents from her Aunties

And rocked some seriously adorable braids! 

Most looking forward to? Right now, just getting over this cold and hopefully having energy again! 

15 Week Updates: Baby 2.0

While my girlfriends were living it up in Mexico this past week (sniff sniff), I managed to have a lovely 3 day "Plan B" getaway to The Lost Pines Resort. Here are a few highlights in photos:

View from my room

Makeup-free weekend!

It was admittedly a little chilly for pool time, but I was not to be deterred

BC and Iyla drove up to visit me Saturday morning!

Missed this kid

BC did a great job keeping Iyla alive, fed, & dressed in my absence. Here are a couple of photos he sent to me documenting their time together:

On to my 15 week updates!

How far along? 15 weeks (yesterday)

How big is baby? Baby is apparently the size of an apple now, and this week has started to be able to sense light (though eyelids are still closed).

Weight gain? Seems to be a trend here... another 2 pounds since last week, for a grand total of 120 pounds. 10 pound gain overall!

And just for fun, here's me at 24 weeks with Iyla. I seem to consistently be growing & gaining about 9-10 weeks ahead of what I was with her. Similar belly, pretty much the same weight gain (at 24 weeks I'd gained 11 pounds with her):

Sleep? Ok. Still not great. I'm sleeping but still waking up what seems like a gazillion times/night.

Food cravings/aversions? Still having aversions to seafood, and this week I have also had aversions to most meat. I am craving vegetables, as well as loving orange juice. Desiring more things like pasta and bean tacos, and continuing to love my omelets in the morning.

Symptoms? This week has been a doozy. Round ligament pain has officially reared its ugly head... I've been having a LOT of tight pulling on my lower right ligament when I walk or get up too quickly. I've also been getting a rash of bloody noses, including an Award Winning 45 minute gusher a few days ago that spilled over into both nostrils and definitely gave me a run for my money. The same day as the gusher I had a return to all day nausea AND got a migraine. Wheeeee!

Big sister? Iyla's been doing great. Here are a few outtakes from her "Big Sister" announcement shoot:

And here's one from nap quiet party time this week. This kid is down to maybe 2 naps/week, preferring to live it up most other days:

She also had the start of a new swim session! Iyla was super excited to try out these new-to-her inner tubes:

Most looking forward to? All of our travel coming up! In March we'll again rent out our house for the SXSW festival, and will spend 4 days in our beloved Wimberley before heading north to Dallas to accompany BC at a resort where he has a work conference. Then in late April BC and I depart for our one week kid-free trip to Northern California! We just booked everything this week and are super excited for one last hurrah before baby #2 officially joins the family.