Modern Maternity

Back in March, when we were visiting The Fort, we made a point to have our maternity photos taken. I'm hell-bent on making sure Healey never feels like the forgotten second child - so any photo shoots we did for Bimmer, will be duplicated for her as well! My work BFF made us an adorable burlap banner with Healey's name on it for the shoot - and those photos are sooooo adorable! Unfortunately, I won't be sharing those particular ones here, but check out a few of my other faves. Cannot wait to get Healey's newborn shoot done!

 

I purposely didn't want her taking too many pics of just Bimmer, but a few can't hurt :)

 

Trip Me

As you are well aware, having babies puts a big ol' crink in my travel plans.

And I don't like it.

There. I said it.

I am frustrated that I haven't been to Europe since 2011. I'm frustrated that the extent of trips I consider "real vacations" has been no farther than to Florida. I'm frustrated that I can't be actively planning anything right now.

But I know that Healey is our last baby. I know that 2015 will be the last year I cannot plan trips because of pregnancy. I know that 2016 will be the last year I will be worrying about flying with an infant and having to only plan trips to visit family. (Our rotating years of visiting Florida and Michigan are getting all goofed up because of Healey's summer arrival, so we will be double-dipping in 2016.) I know that 2017 brings promise on the travel front... and while that seems so far away, it really isn't. We are closing in on being halfway done with 2015 already. Yikes!

So... where to next for Rushing Life?

 

Charleston, SC

Hilton Head Island, SC

Well... we aren't *totally* sitting still in 2015. We have a few little getaways planned... plus holidays in Atlanta and The Fort. Not really what I had hoped at this time last year (when we thought we would be spending May in Newport, RI, and November in the Turks & Caicos) but we'll make due. Poor pitiful me, right? Ha!

What do I expect in 2016?

 

As I previously mentioned, this will be the year of having to visit family. So we will be heading to rural Michigan (but only for a weekend - yuck!!!) at some point and we'll be spending our main vacation somewhere around Sarasota/Clearwater/Tampa. Haven't narrowed it down completely yet - but we had a nice time last year, so we'll find a way to make it wonderful. We may also attempt to find a condo for this visit - which is something VERY foreign to us! We've never done that before... so if anyone has any suggestions, that would be fabulous!

Will we get back in the groove for 2017?

 

Well.... sorta. Right now, we have decided that early 2017 is going to be the best time for us to try to tackle Disney World. We want to do it for Bimmer before she starts kindergarten (because yes, that's not a scary thought). And while Healey will be younger than we would have wanted, we assume we will do it again in a few years anyway, so we may as well attempt to do it big for Bimmer while she is at the perfect age. And while we can go during an off-peak-season too!

 

November 2017 is also the big 4-0 birthday for Puff. So I've got a nice little secret trip tucked up my sleeve that he is just going to love. I haven't yet decided if we will take the girls yet or not, but I'm ready for it. I just wonder how long I can keep it a secret!!!

Do you already know about 2018?

 

Plitvice National Park, Slovenia

Dare we attempt to drive around Croatia & Slovenia with a 3 year old and a 6 year old?

Just maybe.

Because who wouldn't want their child's first foreign country experience to be one of those?

Top Knots

As you are well aware, I take a lot of photos. Including having at least one family photo session (or two...) each year done by either a friend or a professional photog. So when it came time to thinking about Healey's newborn photos, I knew I wanted to do something different than what we had done with Bimmer. 

Here are a few of Bimmer's adorable shots...

 

 

I still want the same concept for Healey (although we are using a different photographer this time) but I wanted something special. I don't always want her to be the "forgotten second child."

Cue Knots, from Etsy. 

My photographer recommended them for adorable newborn hats, and I was not disappointed. Being the planner I am, I ordered it a few months in advance, just to make sure I got it in time. And I am in love! 

Here are just a few photos from her site of her adorable work...

 

This is the fabric I selected for Healey's hat...

 

I definitely recommend them. They were super easy to work with and I got it much quicker than anticipated. (Although I think her site is temporarily down for like a week!) Oh yeah, and it's adorable! Can't wait for Healey to get her to wear it! 

#LillyforTarget

I had heard about the Lilly-Target collaboration a month or two ago from a blog I read. I knew it was going to be limited, crazy, and probably a little hard to get. However, Puff left town this morning, so waiting in line (in the pouring rain, no less!!!) outside Target was not going to be an option. Plus, I've never done Black Friday shopping (or Tickle Me Elmo shopping) so I honestly had no idea what to expect.

I did try to get online at 4:17am - no dice. The Target site had crashed. I tried again around 7am. Still no luck. Bimmer had gone to bed late, so I let her wake on her own - around 7:30am. We got dressed and hurried to the most recently accessible Target for us... and the parking lot was FULL. We regularly shop at Target on Sunday mornings and there are usually only about 5 or 6 cars there. Not this morning. The minute I saw that, my heart sank. I knew there wasn't much hope to get much of anything.

Inside was a zoo. All of the women's racks were already empty... 5 minutes after the store had opened. People were standing with carts full of stuff - that I'm certain they won't all buy or will return in a few days. But just hoarding whatever they could get. The girl's section had one bathing suit left - in a size way too big for Bimmer. (And in a pattern I didn't like anyway.) And the toddler girl's section was completely bare.

Crap.

Bimmer was sad since I had told her we were going to try to find her a dress. But we walked around the store with our list and got up everything else we needed. On a whim, I walked back past the toddler section and randomly the shorts I had wanted for the girls... there was a 12 month sized pair! So at least Healey could get some!

We double backed a few times. There were at least 30 ladies hanging out at the bare racks in the women's section - I guess hoping for people to come back to hang something back up, or trade, etc. There were probably another 30 different women stalking the dressing rooms as people came out. I saw a large woman RUN up to a Target associate who had a beach towel in his hand begging him to let her have it. I stumbled across 6 women hunkered down in the corner on the toilet paper aisle swapping things and deciding if anyone wanted anything from anyone else. They had literally grabbed anything and everything they could grab. 

I was disgusted. 

When we got home, I tried online again and was able to snag Bimmer this shirt. (I only knew I liked it because the lady in front of me checking out was buying the exact size I needed!)

And yes, I had to get the next size up, so both her and Healey won't get to wear their spoils until next summer. But that's fine - I'm already contemplating having them both wear them for their 4 year old and 1 year old birthday photos. (Yup - ridiculousness happens here, folks.)

What did I want to get? Had I been luckier? Honestly, not all that much. 

I had hoped to score this dress for either one or the other of my baby girls. 

And these shorts were the only things I had wanted to get for myself. 

I was saddened that the stock was so limited at each store and that the website wasn't prepared to handle the volume. It sucked, but it's not the end of the world. I had friends who went later in the morning and weren't able to get anything at all. So at least I got something. 

I think I'll stick with the normal Lilly. I'm not obsessed with it, so it doesn't really worry me to not have too much of it. But it's nice to know that if I do fall in love with something, I always have the means to just grab it. Even if it's not at Target. 

Is 30 the Home Stretch?

Bimmer's pregnancy on the left, Healey's on the right

 

Here we go... updates every 2 weeks now for the rest of this pregnancy! Crossing this threshold is a breath of fresh air... only 9 more weeks until we get to meet Healey. And I get to have my life back! Ugh... remind me to NEVER EVER EVER get pregnant again. 

 

At 29 weeks, I had my dreaded glucose test. I had never been more scared of anything with any pregnancy (I don't think...) than I was going into that thing. With my one doctor almost insisting she thought I had it and that was the reason for my large belly and big baby, I was just sure I was going to fail. I purposely tried not to eat anything sugary for about 24 hours ahead of time. I chugged the drink in two big swigs. I met with a different doctor, who eased my nerves about it all - whom I will try to see from now on - and then I had my blood drawn. The next two days were PAINFUL. They had said they would call if I didn't pass. Finally, I saw an alert from the online test results and I logged in and there it was... my score was an 88. With the normal range being something like 65 to 139. Not only did I pass - I wasn't even anywhere close to failing!!!!

 

Otherwise, the past two weeks haven't been all that bad. Sleeping is increasingly difficult, since I wake up every 2 hours (or less) to pee. My feet swell more at the end of the day now, and being on my feet for an extended amount of time (like the 2 hours we spent one day at the zoo) is really rough. My back pain comes and goes still, as does the nausea. But overall, I'm in a bit of a honeymoon phase right now I guess. Nothing too worth noting - and maybe that's a good thing.

 

I go back to the doctor at 31 weeks, and fingers crossed, we can get this C-section officially on the books! It's hard to believe it's so soon, yet it still feels so far away. I cannot wait to meet my sweet little girl!

Life Lately

You have no idea how excited I was to come back from The Fort in mid-March and see the pear trees in bloom. That meant spring was right around the corner! And as those past their peak, the redbuds and cherry trees and peach trees and forsynthia and daffodils all came out and it was magical. I didn't even mind (sorta) the pollen that was all over my deck and car and shoes and Bimmer. Thanks to some scattered rain, I didn't even notice that yellow tint to my car all that badly at first. I had a bad day at the end of the month, and just being able to drive around aimlessly for awhile with the windows down, blue sky, and GREEN on the trees - it was just what the doctor ordered. 

So we have definitely been taking advantage of the new warmer weather. I swear, Puff and I rarely ever used our deck prior to Bimmer's arrival, and now we spend so much time out there! 

 

Papaw got her a playhouse for Christmas that we finally assembled. 

 

Mamaw got her a bird feeder for Easter that she was excited to hang. The birds actually love it and we are refilling it all the time!

 

My step-sister had bought these pots from Target for her older kids to paint, but I had to have them. Bimmer wished there were a bunch more! she was so intent on trying to stay just on the bugs - and for her age, I thought she did a great job. Now we just gotta find time to get some plants to put in them for the summer. 

 

 

 

We went to a friend's birthday party and she got to play with the parachute - which she loved. The kid acted like we had never taken her anywhere in her life. Ever. She giggled and squealed the entire party like it was the best thing in the entire world.

 

 

 

And we attended a toddler class about animals. She loved it! Arts and crafts with Daddy plus some time learning about the differences between animal parts and human parts. I'm trying to enrich this kid's world as much as possible! And trying to do as many fun things for her before Healey gets here and steals any of her spotlight.

Dive Right In

I've mentioned before that Bimmer is a serious water baby. No fear of the water. Whatsoever. Since the beginning. (Unless it's a shower - she doesn't care for a shower.) 

She was only 7 weeks old here!

 

 

Last summer, we did a month's worth of Mommy+Baby "swim lessons" at the local YMCA just because I thought Bimmer would enjoy some dedicated pool time. Not sure if I ever wrote about it, but here's a pic :)

Working on blowing bubbles with Daddy

 

This summer, I wanted to get a little more serious. I was always a good swimmer - swam competitively in fact for years - and with her "let me jump in immediately" attitude, I wanted her to learn a little bit more. So I found a local gym with a pool that offered private lessons at an almost too-good-to-be-true price, and I signed her up. Eight weeks of one on one lessons. Needless to say, my little fish was a wee bit excited for her first lesson.

I've been wanting this Vineyard Vines cover up for myself. When her size went on sale, I couldn't resist.

 

 

During the first lesson, the instructor just evaluated her. They played (while learning!) in the super shallow play area and focused on Bimmer closing her mouth when she would put it in the water and putting her whole face - eyes included - down in the water. She loved throwing the rings and then going to find them. 

Trying not to be "that mom" who interrupts the class to take photos

 

Although about 10 minutes into the lesson, she climbed out of the pool and ran over to me. My internal self was screaming "No! Get back in the pool! You should be loving this! Don't quit this soon!" But, as usual, the kid surprised me. She screamed "Mommy! This is so exciting!" and then walked right back over to get in the pool. Sweet girl! She did the same thing toward the end and yelled to me, "Mommy! This is soooooo fun!" 

Made my heart swell that I could do something as little as scheduling her a swim lesson to make her whole world seem awesome. 

She has been so excited for subsequent lessons and I hate that we only have 8 of them in total. I just know we will be doing more again next year, maybe structured in a class (???) but as long as my baby girl is having fun, that's all that really matters! 

Hippity Hop

The longer I am a mom, the more I feel the need to celebrate more each holiday. Just because Bimmer (and eventually Healey, I'm sure) love it. I don't remember the last time I colored Easter eggs, but gosh darnit, when I saw the kit at Target, I knew we had to get it. And I would be scouring the InterGoogle to figure out how to hard boil an egg. 

 

The Easter bunny may (or may not) have gone a little overboard on Amazon this year for the requisite Easter basket. It felt like a good year to get a little crafty... some watercolors, some bath crayons (that I hope to Troy Aikman won't permanently stain my tub) and I hunted Playdoh, but ended up nixing it because I had already gotten WAY too much stuff! 

 

Per usual, Easter is spent with the MIL in the ATL. It was a fine visit - no major drama. Although she did successfully avoid acknowledging that we are expecting Healey. But at least she didn't flat out ignore me when I asked her questions this time. Baby steps? Perhaps. I tried not to focus on that and spent more time worrying about making sure this adorable precious little girl had the best Easter ever.

 

 

 

Thank goodness my mom kept my old Polly Flinders dresses so they can get a new life with my girls! P.S. This is totally one of my favorite photos ever of Bimmer. She looks so grown up!

 

 

 

We also did a little egg hunt in the front yard while the MIL cooked. I kept envisioning next year when Healey will be able to sit (probably not walk - although, maybe if she's an over-achiever) and I can see Bimmer taking her eggs. Life will just be that much sweeter when I have my two babies together. Holidays will be double the fun!

Man Candy Monday

Because nothing brightens a day more than a little Shemar Moore. I wish CBS would get their line-up in check and show me some Criminal Minds every single week! Ugh... all the basketball and Survivor interruptions are no fun. Anyhoo... photos. Sexiness. You're welcome :)

 

 

28 Weeks!!!!!

Bimmer on the left, Healey on the right - I am soooooo much bigger!!!!

 

 

I tell you what... week 25 kicked my ass. My back pain was so excruciating some days that I could barely stand up and not cry. I got better about wearing my maternity belt that I bought when I could (like sitting at my desk for prolonged periods of time) and I started sleeping with a pillow under part of my belly or between my legs. And week 26 went a whole heck of a lot smoother after that! Like - I even went several days with no belt and no Tylenol. It's the small victories. Although there were days with a lot of tightening in my stomach and some difficulty breathing a few times.

 

Healey feels like she is constantly having a dance party in my stomach. I can simultaneously feel her moving on both sides of my stomach sometimes. Some friends have even been able to spot my belly moving from across the table! It is all sorts of freaky. Cool, because I already love Healey so much and am so excited to meet her and the person she will become, but at the same time, freaky. Because I have an alien growing inside me.

 

I had a doc visit at 26 weeks (because I can never fall on a normal schedule) and she told me that I was measuring at 28 weeks. And she was concerned I had a lot of fluid. She discussed gestational diabetes, but since I had no problems with Bimmer's pregnancy, she pushed back my glucose test to 29 weeks. However, she did warn me about eating too much white bread. Re: GAIL SHOULDN'T EAT ANY MORE BAGELS. Bagels have been my weakness this pregnancy - sometimes eating one a day - and when the doc told me that too much sugar could relate to a lot of extra fluid, I had to duck out of there with my tail between my legs. And regroup at the grocery store. What the heck was I going to snack on when the only things that ever sounded good to eat were loaded with carbs and sugar??? ::sigh:: She even signed me up for a 27 week ultrasound just to check to make sure everything was OK. I did point out that Bimmer was over 8 lbs. and I had a lot of fluid with her too. Doc agrees Healey is probably gonna be another big baby. That's fine with me... the bigger the better. The less I feel like I'm going to break 'em then. LOL.

(I would have inserted an ultrasound pic here, but my internet hates me these days and Puff just hasn't had time to call to see if they can reset it all and I just don't have the patience to try to fuck with it. Sorry!)

So the verdict at my 27 week ultrasound was that my fluid was within normal ranges, but on the high side. The baby is measuring at 2 lbs. 12 oz, which is larger than "normal." They told me that I need to continue cutting back on sugar and white flour. (Near impossible, I tell ya!!!) And they want me to have another ultrasound in a week or two. I'm not sure if this doctor is just more cautious than other ones in the group from last pregnancy, or if their philosophy has changed. Fingers crossed the glucose test goes OK - because this picky eater is dreading having to go on any sort of crazy diet!