Baby belly

I haven't posted in so long and it's because so many things have changed and happened!

We found out in December that we were expecting our second baby and we have been over the moon ever since! But there is a whole lot of information to tell about that so here we go:

 When Emilia was very nearly one, we knew that that year we wanted to start trying again for our second baby. We knew in order to do that the being closer to family would end up being very important. So over the course of a few weeks we decided to move our entire lives back to my hometown. That was a huge step in preparing ourselves mentally for a second baby.

Once we got settled back into our small hometown, we started in on the pre-trying to conceive testing and blood work to make sure that we were in the best physical place we could be before embarking on another journey of having a baby. If you followed our story you know that us getting pregnant the first time was not an easy journey or experience. So the first step was me getting into the best physical health that I possibly could and it took a long time! I started making my health a priority six weeks after the birth of our first child and worked on it religiously. Once I was really into my goal weight range and physical well-being, we met with my doctor for routine testing and not so routine testing.

Something that we haven't really mentioned to anyone outside of our immediate family, is that in the past few years I've had lots of cervical cancer tests because it runs in my family and I have questionable cells. So we knew we needed to get that checked on before we could proceed. Well the tests that came back were not only abnormal but had progressed. Which led us into a very scary time thinking that I may be continuing in the footsteps of the women in my family and had started to develop cervical cancer.  This led to our trying to conceive plan being put off and instead meant that cervical and uterine biopsies had to be performed. If you've ever had those kind of biopsies you know that they are very uncomfortable and have lots of cramping!

Anyway long story short, the results came back non-cancerous and instead I have chronic cellular inflammation. Which makes my cells look cancerous but they are not! Yay me!

So our journey to trying to conceive was back on! December 15th at about noon, I took a pregnancy test and honestly, I completely forgot about it while Em and I ate lunch. About 45 minutes later I remembered and went to go check. Immediately I saw a faint line. My initial reaction was that it was probably an evap line due to the test being way over it's time limit. So I took another cheap test. And then a first response plus or minus. And then a digital. All of them were positive!! I was in complete shock that we had gotten pregnant on our own and In a pretty short time period.

That night I told my sweetheart. When we first started trying to get pregnant, hy's beard was getting completely out of control. And if you know us, we like to make fun bets between us. So we made a bet that when I got pregnant he would finally shave off that crazy beard. Luckily (magically, heavenly sent intuition?) I decided to buy Hy a new beard trimmer and leather bag for Christmas. It had come a few days before from Amazon and was all wrapped. So that night we sat down and I told him that he got to open one Christmas present early. And I had him open the beard trimmer. At first he was a little hesitant because it wasn't Christmas yet! I basically told him that he had to be quiet and open it anyway. He opened it and loved it immediately and then I told him "you know what this means right?  He was so surprised and asked "Did you take a test today?!!"  We laughed and hugged and cried. It was completely wonderful.

Our excitement was a little short-lived because four days later I started to have severe cramps and some bleeding. We immediately made an emergency doctors appointment and got in with the doctor that I love who did all of my biopsies and is now my OB. We did a beta and an internal ultrasound. I was only four weeks and one day so there was nothing to be seen except for lots of fluid behind my ovaries. Our doctor warned us that that amount of fluid behind my ovaries was a really large indicator of an ectopic pregnancy and that we needed to prepare ourselves. We left that appointment feeling completely deflated and scared. My beta that Friday was 233 and I was scheduled for a repeat that Sunday with another internal ultrasound scheduled for that Monday. We really needed my beta numbers to double to have any hope of it being a viable pregnancy because in an ectopic pregnancy the numbers grow but not in the way that they should. The results came back on Sunday late afternoon and were 503!! We finally felt like we had a little hope again! We went to the appointment on Monday morning not really knowing what to expect. Our dr came in and wasnt really sure what we were going to see or if we were going to need the methotrexate shot (it's a low dose of chemo meant to disintegrate ectopic pregnancies). He really liked my beta numbers and agreed to do another ultrasound. And there in the perfect spot was a gestational sac. Nothing else but it was in the perfect spot. We were completely overjoyed and act topic was completely ruled out! All of the fluid behind my ovaries was agreed to be caused by my chronic cellular inflammation!

We had a few little more scares with bleeding around seven weeks, but with a few days of bedrest that all went away. At eight weeks we went in for a heartbeat confirming ultrasound and we saw a beautiful and healthy little baby!!

I did deal with some morning sickness and hormone headaches but nothing in comparison to Em's pregnancy!!

We decided really early on that we were not going to find out the gender and people think we are kind of crazy! When you're in infertility treatment there are so little surprises because everything about this pregnancy was completely different we decided to just go with it! so here I am 31 weeks and four days along and less than two months until we meet our little one!

We have so much going on right now and so many things that are coming up, but we are taking it all in stride and I will do another update (hopefully soon) with lots of pictures. But for now, we are so thrilled and Em HAS to talk to "her baby" several times a day. We are so in love with our little family.

Emilia's First Birthday!

So Em is already 13 1/2 months old and I am just getting around to putting this post up! In my defense, I also just cleaned out our office after the whole move! So I was slacking on more than one thing... way to nail it mama! Ha.

Anyway! We have a bonus room attached to the kitchen and we used that for most of party central. Cake table and goodies, lots of balloons, and pictures.

I didn't have a major theme as much as I wanted it to be very colorful and fun! Her cake however was a hot air balloon theme. I was so busy with everything else for the party that the cake was kind of a last minute project! (Terrible to say as a pastry chef!)

 



As favors for all of our friends and family that came and celebrated with us, ( I don't know why we didn't get any group shots?!) I made cookies for favors. Bags and bags of chocolate chip and snickerdoodle cookies. We also ate cheap pizza, but that was just because we never got around to lunch before the party!

 

 

To keep our younger guests happy, I loaded them up on sugar, let them pop all of the balloons on the floor, and gave them side walk chalk to go wild with!! It was so much fun!

 

We let Em blow out her candle... or try to!!

 

 

After we blew out the candles, we let her go hog wild on a piece! She picked that thing up and went for it!

 

Thanks to all of our friends and family that were able to make it! And lots of love to all of the people that sent gifts from out of town! They spoiled our little girl so much! She really is a wonderful and lucky little girl! It's so hard to believe that the love of our life is already one! I am already starting to think of her second birthday and of course Hy is already rolling his eyes at me being a crazy person! So life is settling into normal! Lots of love from our family!!

 



Miss Em

I never posted an 11 month Miss Em update and with her just turning one (!!) I thought I would just give a few little tidbits about what she is up to right now. And then later write a post about her birthday!

- She is walking! She takes a few steps and is getting more and more brave! She has been pretty steady on her feet for a while now and we think she has just been reluctant to try walking. Every night we would make her practice walking between Hy and I, which she loved, but she never wanted to do more than that! The day after her first birthday party, however, she took a few steps towards me! We got a big kick out of that and made her do it a million times!

- She can sign milk REALLY REALLY well and will clearly let you know when she wants it!

-Still breastfeeding...like a boss.

- Her curls are really starting to come in thicker and darker than ever before!
-almost reach door handles when she reaches and I see a whole slew of problems with that!!

-She loves my mom and dad.

-Almost as much as she loves going on walks.

-Her daddy installed a swing in the big tree in the back yard for her birthday and she loves it!

- She used to be pretty okay about being in her carseat before we went on the super long drive with all of our stuff here. Now if she is in the car for more than 5 minutes she becomes agitated. It's been about a month and it's getting better so I hope that the more time passes the better it will get!

- She loves to say mum, dada, mumu, lily dog, Wrigley, go go go, no, bath, milk, and a slew of other things. She is getting better at saying all done. And loves to wave and say bye or night night (which sounds like na na).

- She is still not a fan of sleep and we co-sleep most of the night out of convenience. It's been a little bit of a challenge with the move, but I have been trying to be really patient and that seems to help.

-Her big thing right now is the word "that". She likes to point at things she wants and say THAT. THAT. THAT. She says it loudly and will repeat herself until you say no or give it to her. She is actually in the other room shouting it to me right now.

-She is super affectionate and loves to give kisses and hugs. She is a big time snuggler.

-Also... she does NOT like being told no.

- She has this huge smile and it makes me so happy that I almost can't even stand it!

-Her eyes are the most gorgeous gray, hazel, green that I have ever seen. They still change with the weather, her outfit, her mood, the color of the walls, if she is inside or outside. every 5 seconds. Her eyes are always a surprise and totally gorgeous.

That's our Em in a nutshell for the moment!

Updates!!

I haven't posted in a long time, which means that there are several updates that need given!!

1. Hy and I just moved back to our home town and we are loving it! This deserves it's own post... but you get what you get!

2. Emilia Grace turned one years old!!! We had a birthday party for her this last Saturday in the new house and it was awesome. Also deserves it's own post!

3. Em started walking!! We are so proud!

4. I am getting pretty close to my original goal weight and am feeling pretty proud of myself!

5. I have done a few cakes this last month and would love to show them here. Mom's birthday, Jess' birthday, Em's birthday! March is a very busy month!

E.G. turns 10 months!

Emilia Grace is turning 10 months old! I seriously can't even believe it! Here are some quick things about our girl!!!

-She can say: dada, mama, ruda (rueger), yiyi (lily), Bat (bath), and boob.
-Still nursing like a champ and proud of it!
- A terrible sleeper and we have tried EVERYTHING! Name the method and we have given it a solid go. She is just an insomniac like her mama and thinks that 1 am means she has gotten enough sleep and it's play time!
- She is a speed demon on her knees! She is crawling all over the place and will be there one minute and gone the next! Have to keep a really close eye on that girl!
-She has 4 teeth ( her left front tooth is almost entirely done coming in) and an adorable smile!
-She has bitten me while nursing a few times now. Always accidental (of course) but super painful either way. I really try to discourage that kind of thing and it happens very rarely.
- She pulls herself up on everything and anything!
- She is standing up in her crib and it has had to be lowered a few times already.
- She loves to hold hands and walk around the house, and she is getting really fast and really good at it. She will be walking way before I am ready.
-She loves the dogs and they make her laugh every single day! Every morning we say good morning to the dogs and she immediately has a huge smile for them and says their names!

-She knows a few baby sign language signs, and is starting to use "all done" after she is finished eating dinner!
- She likes to be in the kitchen right under my feet! I bake and cook a lot and she likes to have her measuring cups and be right between my feet. It isn't easy to maneuver around, but pretty adorable.
- She is learning to open up cupboards and her favorite is the pot and pan cupboard. Luckily all of the other cupboards are already baby proofed (or dog proofed I should say!)

I love this little girl more and more every single day. I love her so much that her adorable face literally makes my heart ache! I always hoped that we would get luckily enough to be parents and now we have this perfect, sassy, funny, little girl. Life is pretty darn good.

And also... I can't believe that she is only 2 months away from being 1 years old.

* I was just thinking about her birth and remembered a little something:

I was attached to fetal monitors the entire time I was there, because I was having trouble with my blood pressure and they wanted to keep a close eye on her as well as me. When I was having contractions and even before then, I wanted to walk around to help things progress. Half way down the hall, the nurses would come chasing after me saying the baby had moved and was off of the monitor. They said that was usual and made me lay down and get her back on the monitor. She didn't like that and started squirming a whole bunch. Over and over they would have to come re find the baby's heartbeat, and I just remember one of my nurses saying "Well isn't she stubborn!"

If she only knew.

Emilia's first Christmas!

We just celebrated Emilia's very first Christmas! Christmas 2012 we spent in Idaho (like usual) and I was 28 weeks pregnant with our baby child!

This year we went to a different place instead of the usual McCall! We went and stayed at a condo in Coeur d'Alene. The condo was on the other side of the lake from town and up on the mountain! It was definitely a little out of the way and totally gorgeous!

We left home at about 5 morning so that Em would sleep in chunks of the 7 hour drive, and she did really well This is us at about 4 am and she was so exhausted!

About half way into our drive the sun finally started to come up!

 

The drive was pretty easy and we got to Coeur d'Alene before we knew it. The hard part was this: it was Christmas Eve and all we wanted was a stinking Christmas tree! We looked through out the entire friggin town and only one place had a tree! It was disgustingly over priced and 9 feet long! We drove in my car and there was no way that we could take a 9 foot tree! So after 4 hours of looking ( also the baby and I getting VERY cranky!) we settled on a fake tree! It was my very first fake tree... of my entire life. But at that point I was willing to draw a tree on a piece of paper and call it good!

 

Em was so helpful in putting up the tree! She just climbed right under and tried to help her daddy!

 

 

I mean look at those cheeks!!

 

We finally got it all up and it actually looked pretty good! The week before we went on our trip I had spent some time putting together home made ornaments. We had a few E's, some little feet, and a few h's and m's! It was a lot of fun but not something I want to make a habit out of!

 

 



She helped Hy open her very first presents (some were hers and some were not!) and loved tearing into everything!

 

 

Our little family before opening presents on Christmas morning

 

Me and our little sweetheart before opening presents and getting ready for the day! Super morning hair!

We were right on the lake and every night we had the most gorgeous sunsets! (sunrises I'm sure as well, but there was no way I was seeing any of those!)

 

 

Crazy mama and baby hair!

For the first few days, it was just the three of us and we had a blast exploring the town and just spending loads of time in the condo together. Emilia loved getting to spend all of that time with her daddy!

When we weren't driving into town or keeping the baby entertained (or feeding our faces like pigs) we built a gingerbread house! Before we left for our Christmas vacation, Hy had the great idea to make a gingerbread house instead of doing a puzzle like we usually do. When the idea started, Hy suggested using graham crackers and wafers. There was no way that the pastry chef in me was ever going to let that happen. So he made me a pattern and I made and baked all of the parts! We assembled the entire thing in the condo and it took FOREVER to decorate but we had a blast!

The day after Christmas my parents finally arrived and we opened each other's presents! We were spoiled and Em was SUPER spoiled!

Look at her baby feet! It wasn't too long ago that they were even tinier!

Hy and I were able to convince mom and dad to take Em for a few hours so that we could sneak away for a date! *It took zero convincing.

First we went out to eat at this great little Japanese place and stuffed our faces with super fresh sushi

It was sooo good.

After shopping around at all of the adorable little shops in town, my parents met us with our sweet girl and we did some more shopping!

 
We went out to eat as a family and Em loves eating at restaurants. So many things to look at and so many people to stare at.

A picture with my date after a fun filled day of being out!

After we got home that night, we decided to let the baby have at the gingerbread house! It was totally like a giant baby destroying a village. It was hilarious and adorable! She was growling and getting so excited!

She got soo messy and had a blast! We took this picture of a little candy cane chunk stuck to her thigh! I wanted to gobble her right up!

We had the best time ever and the views were so gorgeous!

This is my very favorite trip away every year and I can't wait until we go away some place else next year! Who knows what the year has in store for us, but I am excited to find out and hope that whatever changes are coming are for the very best!