A little late night action

I really have to write this one down while it is still fresh in my mind.

As we are all very aware of, in most of the country the weather was gorgeous yesterday. Sunny, high 70’s, a breeze. It was like Mother Nature’s version of make-up sex after a nasty, brutal winter.

We took full advantage of her guilt and spent just about every second outside. Cleaning up the yard, walking to the playground, flying a kite. We made dinner early, got Avery to bed early (especially necessary since she didn't take a nap), and we were in bed by 9. It was a good day.

Sometime in the middle of the night, while finally enjoying a deep sleep that does not come easily in the 3rd trimester, a small hand creeps around my neck and I hear: “Here, Mama” as Avery is handing me something.

I never even heard her get up or come into our bed so I was a little disoriented when she just appeared, handing me something. I asked her what it was as I took it from her. I swear she said “Spiderman” and in my half conscience state I was thinking it was a Spiderman or batman eraser that she had found in her bed because like a lot of toddlers, her bed is her hoarding ground and you could probably survive the apocalypse if you took shelter there.  

As I groggily fumbled around to see what it was she handed me, I could feel that it was only about a square inch or so in size. Because I thought it was an eraser, I wasn't surprised that it was a little squishy.  In the light of her monitor, I could see that it in fact was not a Spiderman eraser…so that must mean that it was Batman and she was just confused.

Something made me put it to my nose and sniff.

It was not an eraser.

I jumped out of bed so quick – well as quick as a 7 month pregnant woman can do so – and went into our bathroom and turned on the light.

My sweet, adorable almost 3 year old had so generously shared with me a quarter size turd. Right there in my bed, in the middle of the night. A night we were all expecting to sleep soundly, in our own beds.

Now that I was fully awake, I said “Avery! Where did you get this?”

Her response, “Uh, my butt, Mom.”

So then I made her get up, sit on the toilet, change her undies (that contained a couple smaller rabbit turds), scrubbed her butt and washed/scrubbed her hands and put her back to bed in her bed.

Once I got her settled, since she was upset about pooping her pants, I went back to bed and laid there for a minute, until Ryan said, “Avery, where did get this? – Uh, my butt, mom”. And we both laid there and laughed until we fell back asleep.

Because what else can you really do when you are woken in the middle of the night by an almost-3-year-old turd burglar?

7 months/28 weeks : 12 weeks/ 84 days remaining

I’m going to try to squeeze this post out quick, in between my many to dos at work.

So today I am 7 months pregnant. For those of you not keeping track that is 28 weeks. Which means I have 12 weeks or 84 days left. It seems like forever away until I think start thinking of all the things I need to accomplish at home and work before ORG makes his way into the world.

His room is a disaster. Since we moved Avery to her big girl room, the baby room as become the dumping ground for everything else. Now I am trying to go through and get rid of all the unnecessary and find a place for the necessary. (a bit off topic: The Container Store opened near my house and my OCD is urging me to go) Anywho, his crib is in pieces because my brother is going to paint it and I have to get it to him sometime soon. I am not painting the walls, sticking with the ever-so-trendy gray that I picked when it was Avery’s room. I did find wallpaper to use on one wall and that makes me feel a little bit more accomplished. But who the hell am I kidding? I still have to buy it and pester Ryan to hang it. I feel like I learned my lesson about buying expensive crib bedding sets. The quilt was never used, the skirt was only used for a few months until we had to lower the mattress so low that it looked ridiculous. And really, it was all too matchy, matchy. I will pack it up in one of those vacuum storage bags and save it for Avery. Maybe she will like bees when she has a baby.For now, it will be sheets and swaddles.

At my 28 week appointment, my Doctor told me to keep track of fetal movement, to look for about 10 kicks in 2 hours. I had to stifle a laugh because this kid never stops moving. I can count 10 kicks in 20 minutes. A lot of the time, I feel like my lungs and stomach are being pushed up into throat while my bladder is constantly being massaged to the point that I am seriously considering wearing diapers from here on out. This morning when I was getting dressed, I glanced in the mirror and it almost made me cry. Not out of joy or sadness, but out of pure fear that I just can’t imagine this belly getting bigger. And we all know that in the next 12 weeks, it will.

I never understood why pregnant women mourn the loss of the view of their feet. I am more worried about the fact I cannot see my vagina any more. Blind shaving is dangerous business. I guess maybe it is better to not be able to see all the strange things going on down there. Yeah, I could get a mirror but I haven’t reached that point of desperation yet.

It is getting harder and harder to get to spin class, although I do. I’ve been averaging 4x a week and it makes all the difference when I exercise. I cannot do some of the positions like jumps or hovering so I have just modified it to what I am comfortable doing. If I am bent over for too long, I start getting cramps and/or want to pee. But I am going to stick with it for as long as I possibly can. Even if I just go and sit on the bike and pedal, keeping the habit and routine is important. I am still squeezing into my regular workout clothes (apologies to anyone who has to see me) but I cannot justify spending money on something I will most likely only wear for 10 more weeks. So squeeze it will be.I seem to do a lot of squeezing these days.

Avery is starting to ask when she can meet her brother. She likes to lift up my shirt and “look” in my belly button at him. I swear whenever we are lying in bed and she starts talking, he gets all squirmy. Of all I am excited about from this pregnancy, I am most excited to see these two together. We talk about him daily and while I know she does not “get” the full impact of what this new life will have on HER life, she is excited.

In 2 weeks Avery will be 3. I cannot believe it. And if it is true that 3’s are worse than 2’s, we are so F$%^. I am given very little say in her outfit choices. It is ALWAYS a dress. ALWAYS. And if you follow me on IG, you know about the yellow shoes. The yellow shoes that we regularly debate the need to wear IN bed, and agree to leave them on her dresser while she sleeps. Her hair has 3 options: A messy white-trash mess hanging in her face, collecting food from day (her favorite), a Rapunzel/Tangled do (one braid down the back), or Doc McStuffins (2 pig tail braids). Sometimes she allows headbands (when I can find them to fit her gigantic noggin’) and sometimes barrettes. I am learning, in my tired state, to reserve energy to fight about the important stuff like hygiene and health these days. She prefers daddy to me most of the time. And most of the time that is OK with me. I’d much rather lay on the couch then get you your 10^th cup of water or look for the spider you swear is in your bed. Daddy is very good at those chores.

So I went over my time limit to write this and I have to end my rambling. Plus my 25^th bathroom break for the day is calling/kicking.

Poor me.

xoxo

Pugs for Sale

Alternately titled: I am going to lose my mind.

Today I woke up 45 minutes before my alarm was set to go off. And when your alarm is already set at an ungodly hour, waking up earlier than it is torture.

You may be asking what it was that woke me up. Well, it was a lovely combination of a really bad dream (thanks pregnancy) and a sneezing attack, plus itchy fluid in my ears. Oh, and I had to pee for the 100^th time.

I finally accepted defeat after trying to go back to sleep, only to jump right back into the bad dream where I had left off. So I went downstairs and started my normal Tuesday morning routine (I work from home on Tuesday morning and then drop Avery at preschool and head into the office). Everything was fine, we all went about our regular routine. It seemed to all hit the fan as soon as Ryan left for work.

See, Avery has this new thing with mauling the pugs. Dragging them around, ripping them by their tail, scruffs of fur, legs, ears, trying to get them to play with her, or lay down to sleep. Malcolm will usually bite her – don’t worry, he only has about 3 teeth left so he doesn’t do much damage, but Parker just takes it and takes it and I know one day, Avery is really going to hurt her. I’ve already taken her to the vet once because “something heavy fell on her back”. It was mostly likely a pile drive from a certain toddler.

When I am not screaming at Avery to leave the damn dogs alone, I am screaming at the damn dogs to get out of the living room. Today, I was ready to lose my mind! Avery also like to roll around in their dog beds or on the crusty kitchen floor AFTER she is dressed and we are ready to leave the house. So usually we leave and she stinks like dog and is covered in dog hair. It’s gross.

The thing with pugs, at least MY pugs, are they are stinky little creatures. Their breath is horrendous and they just stink – mostly like corn chips but sometimes just dog funk. I guess it is because of their wrinkles and rolls on their face that collects all the snot and gross moisture that really gets the stink going. I do admit that I could keep better care of them, bathing more regularly, cleaning their face wrinkles (some people say daily – I say hahahahahahahaha), wash their bedding more often, brush their teeth – but really, I don’t have the time for all that. At least not at the frequency that will actually make a difference.

I am now admitting that 3 dogs are just too much.(and very comfortable with our decision to stop at 2 kids) Too much dirt, too much stink, too much! I have resigned myself to the fact that our house will never be truly clean again until we reduce the number of four legged freaks in our house. Seriously, I can clean that house like a mutha, and within 24 hours it is dirty again. I am all like “what’s is the point?” these days. It helps build immunities, right? My friends probably think I am so rude because I never invite them over, but honestly, I don’t even like being at my house, why would they want to be there? I totally gave up on housecleaners because I felt like my $ would have been spent better by shredding it up and mixing it in the dogs’ food.

While I had many thoughts of swinging by the SPCA this morning on my way to work, realistically, even in my craziest pregnancy moments, I could not get rid of those dogs. Will I be as upset when they finally kick the bucket (mind you, pugs live until 15 years old on average – Malcolm is 10, Parker is 9, and Grover will be 5 – so we have some time)? Probably not as bad as would have been a few years ago. The circle of life, right?

I am sure this will come off to you dog lovers out there as completely horrible. And maybe it is. But at this stage of my pregnancy, my usual zero bullshit tolerance has dropped to the negatives – kind of like our frigid weather – when will winter end for cryin’ out loud?!?!?!? But I do like my dogs, I do! I just think that maybe I have a little too much on my plate at the moment and unfortunately, they are the easiest to blame since they offer the biggest nuisance on a daily basis.

Plus, I’ve had a headache all day. And I cannot shake that bad dream. And people are annoying the hell out of me at work. Today is a day I wish I could go home and have a drink. Because that will most definitely help the headache.

Oh Boy

It seems we are evening things up in the Gibson home. Or, if you count neutered pugs, outnumbering the girls in the house.

On Wednesday, February 12th, we had our 20 week ultrasound and we found out we are expecting a baby boy!

The technician that did our ultrasound was super sweet and thorough. Ryan says she is the same lady that did our ultrasound with Avery. I have no idea. She went over every ounce of that baby, showing us his heart and kidneys and all the important stuff they look for. From what they could see in this ultrasound, he is a healthy and very active baby that measures exactly to his week/day age. I can never remember if I even breathed during the whole thing, this time or at Avery's. It is just so amazing to see that little tiny body dancing around INSIDE you. 

After the ultrasound, Ryan headed back to work and I went home, with a quick drive by at Wendy's to grab a Frosty to bribe Avery with so she would make the gender announcement video. I have no shame in my game. While I truly enjoy gender reveal parties and the like, I did not have it in me to plan anything. So Avery and I Facetimed my mom and I let Avery tell her. My sister was already at my house. I texted my brothers and dad and Ryan took care of telling his family. Everyone is super excited and just about everyone thought it was a boy from the get go.

We do have a name picked out for him, it is actually the same name we were going to use for Avery if she was a boy. We have told our family and a few close friends but will wait until he is born to make the big announcement. I really do not want to hear anyone's opinion on the name we both like and chose to name OUR child. There was a family member, when told the baby's name, said "Ew, I do NOT like that name! How about Christopher?" How about you shut your mouth, family member? This is the same person that had some pretty hideous name suggestions when we were deciding on a name for Avery. Excuse me for a minute while I remove the bunch in my undies.

It is pretty cute to hear Avery say his name and she likes to lift up my shirt when we are laying in bed and say hi to her baby brudder. We have been talking to her a lot about him, now that we know that it is a HIM. She seems as you would expect any 2 1/2 year old to be: interested for about 30 seconds then on to the next thing.

For now, I am staying busy at work and trying to organize my To Do lists at home to get things in gear for this baby. I have at least 10 bins of girl clothes I need to go through and give away. I do plan on keeping a few of my favorites but I have plenty of people that I can give to and I am excited to be able to see Avery's clothes on their girls. As for the nursery, it is pretty gender neutral already, so we will not have to do much (I hope). It is funny, I remember thinking I was so clever for painting Avery's room gray 3+ years ago, and now, I go on Pinterest and every single baby nursery is gray! We will not be painting the room again but I do want to paint the crib and changing table and rearrange the room, deciding those color may make me crazy.

Oh, and I still have a few things to finish in Avery's big girl room. Clock's a'tickin. I have some stuff to get done in the next 4 months. Hoping I can find some time to check back in on this poor neglected blog and save all my pregnancy crazy to the internets. And there is a lot of it.

Happy Friday and have a wonderful weekend!

xoxo

10+ Weeks later..

Well, well, here I am. I really did not intend to not write for this long (is that even proper grammar?) Don't most people get silent BEFORE they announce their pregnancy, not after? Then again, it was the holidays, I was having a miserable 1st trimester and just trying to make through the day without losing my lunch or my mind.

If it counts for anything, which I know it does not, I have written many, many posts in my head. Maybe one day they will make it to the screen, but if you have been reading here for any time at all, you know not to hold me to anything like that. Some are funny, some are serious, and I am sure most are the ramblings of a crazy, hormonal pregnant woman and in that case, you have been spared. For now.

This post will contain no pictures, since I am on my work laptop and all my photos are on my Macbook at home. And really, they are just taken with my iphone and you probably have already seen most of them on instagram. But even then, I have not been taking as many pictures since I have been really trying to put my phone away and be present. I have even had Avery ask/tell me on a few occasions to "take a piture, Mom!" when she is mauling one of the pugs.
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Avery is doing well and quickly on her way to the terrible Threes, of course preceded by the terrible Twos. There are many "No's" and "I NOT's", tears, screeching, flailing, and straight up not listening. I am preparing myself for this to double in July, when her sibling joins the world. Poor kid has no idea what is coming. I mean, she knows there is a baby in my belly, but she also says she has a "brudder" in her own belly so I don't believe she grasps the entire concept or what the ultimate outcome will be. That is fine. Ignorance is bliss. She is doing well in school, loves storytime at the library and gymnastics at the Y. Since our trip to Disney World at the end of January, she has slowly warmed up to princesses, her favorite being Rapunzel. I hope to have a chance to write about our trip in the near future. It is one I do not want to forget. Toy Story is still the front runner for favorites, Jessie being #1. Despicable Me 2 is on repeat and Doc McStuffins is watched daily. I even had to find a new Doc costume for her since the one she got for Christmas was just too small. Clothing is becoming a battle as my choices are not her's for the most part. And these days, just getting dressed is an accomplishment, I am choosing my battles and I cannot fight that one every day. All in all, she keeps us laughing and on our toes. She is happy and healthy and growing, I cannot ask for much more. (ok, maybe less of the tantrums but I know that is a long shot)
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My pregnancy. Well, on Thursday I will be 20 weeks, half way! I had my 20 week appointment yesterday afternoon and all is good. Our ultrasound was supposed to be on Thursday morning at 8 am. But we are in for ANOTHER snow storm starting Wednesday night into Thursday evening. I almost started crying when I heard this on the news. So I did what any sane pregnant woman would do: I called the doctor's office and was prepared to cry, beg and plead for an earlier appointment but I spoke a really nice lady and she gave me an appointment for today, Wednesday, at 12:15. AHHHHH! Thank you baby Jesus!

Yes, we plan on finding out the sex of the baby. And yes, we will share it with everyone who cares. But we aren't sharing name(s) until it is born. I don't need anyone's opinions or negativity on an already tough subject. I honestly have no idea what this baby could be, even thought today I have been feeling like it's another girl. I don't know why. This pregnancy has been almost completely opposite of my last one with Avery. Most people are calling boy but there are a few that say girl. The all day sickness ended around 16 weeks, even though if I don't eat as soon as I wake up, it can be a start of a gross day. I do not crave the sweets like I did with Avery - I would drink GALLONS of Hi-C fruit punch. Just of the thought of it now makes me gag and want to brush my poor teeth. Cookies and the carrot cake I made over the weekend just sit until Ryan or my sister cave. I have been making a diligent effort to eat closely to what I ate while on weight watchers and keep my portions in check. I am still going to spin and body pump on the reg and I really believe that it makes me feel better all around. I sleep better, eat better, just feel better when I exercise regularly. Some days, when it is colder than a witch's you-know-what, it is hard to get out and get to the gym but I never, ever regret going. I plan on incorporating swimming into my regime, but right now our Y's pool is closed until further notice...but being in water is so relieving after being weighed down all day by an every growing gut.

This post has taken me 3 days to write and I am finishing it up now so I can get my work wrapped up and head to my ultrasound appointment. Yay ME!

PS. have you noticed the days are getting longer - it is light out until almost 5:30! Spring/summer where are you???

xoxo

"Mama's got a baby in her belly"

Yup. And we have been hearing this for the last 4+ weeks. Luckily, most people cannot understand her, so when she told my mom (multiple times), my mom just thought she was saying something about shaking her booty.

Where do I start? Well, I am sure you guys thought I got all uppity since I did a guest post and haven't responded to comments or posted much of anything. The thing is, I have been so sick. This pregnancy has been WAY worse than when I was pregnant with Avery. All day nausea has been killer. It is everything I can do to get up in the morning and to work. I sip water and munch on cheerios all day long. Certain times of the day seem worse than others. And the headaches. And constipation. And Oh My WORD am I tired. Like in bed the same time as Avery tired. Some days I can pull it together and feel somewhat normal, but most days, I am checking my calendar to see how much longer until my 2nd trimester.

There isn't much that doesn't make me feel like I am going to get sick. Looking at a computer screen (not quite helpful when I spend 8 hours of my day doing it), scrolling through my phone. And for the love of food on Instagram! I have to scroll quick but the faster I go, the sicker I get. So I've been trying to limit my time on there. On any screen for that matter. It helps a little.

Enough complaining. It's all for the best reward, right? And the nausea is somewhat comforting in that this pregnancy is moving along and growing a little human.

In true Meg-form, let's keep this nice and long winded. Grab a pot of coffee and find a comfy seat. More points to you if you are fast reader.              

So I had my IUD removed at the end of July with the hope of getting pregnant in August for a May baby. We got pregnant with Avery the first try so I was confident that we would do it again this time. Except we didn't and it took 2 tries (which I know is fast), a lot of me being crazy, and a big thank you to Kaly for enduring my crazy train texts while she is trying to get through her own pregnancy. It seems the magic happened sometime around the beginning of October - because I know all the internets want to know That -and we found out with a good old box pregnancy test on October 23rd. I actually took a test on the 18th, 6 days before my period, because I wanted to give it to Ryan as a present on our anniversary that day. But it came up Not Pregnant. Can you believe those directions on the tests are actually correct? Crazy. So I waited and when I didn't get my always-on-schedule-period the 23rd, I stopped at Target on my way home from spin class and grabbed a test. I took one test before I got in the shower, while Ryan was getting ready to go to the gym and Avery was jumping on our bed, waiting to go to bed. It came up PREGNANT, I walked into our bedroom and handed it to Ryan. He looked a little surprised, since he didn't even know I was taking the test. I think we were both kind of surprised that it happened that fast.

Then we had the longest month ever, waiting for our first OB appointment. Ryan got stuck in traffic on 95 that day and was not able to make it in time but it was a pretty average appointment and my doctor was "pretty certain" that there is only one baby in there. See, there are a few twins in my family. Actually, one of my sisters and one of my brothers were both supposed to be twins but my mom miscarried. I have uncles that are identical twins on my dad's side and my mom has twins on her mom's side. The ultrasound machine was not working properly so we didn't get a good picture of the sweet little gummi bear floating around.

I got to hear the heart beat and that is always the most reassuring part for me. It was 168 so I am calling a girl. Avery's was about the same and my friend at work swears by that old wives tale. We will see though. We are definitely finding out the gender but will probably keep the name to ourselves until the baby is born like we did with Avery. I think it just avoids a lot of the name opinions. I have enough of my own, I don't want to hear anyone elses. The boy names are pretty much set, the same as it would have been if Avery was a boy. I know what girl first name I want, but I'm trying to sell it to Ryan. Middle names are giving me some trouble as I would like to use something that has meaning and honors someone in our family, like Margaret is for Avery. But there are not many names I either like or that haven't been overused by other family members. I know the right name will come. I mean I do have 7 more months to decide.

We have only told a handful of people, and will be telling our families on Thanksgiving Day. Since you are reading this on Friday, everyone knows now! We will be calling my dad and grandparents in Florida Thursday morning, then telling my mom and family around 2 and then Ryan's family at dinner around 5. It should be a very thankful Thanksgiving ;-)

I am due July 3rd and am already praying for a mild summer. Because Avery's shoulder got stuck during her birth, my doctor wants to monitor this baby more closely and if he/she seems to be getting too big or I don't go early, she may recommend a c-section. I really do not care either way, I just want to do what ever will be the best for the baby and my health. It seems Avery's birth was a lot more traumatic than I remember. I can recall the rush of nurses in the room and the nurse on top of me pushing on my stomach but I really have lost most of it these past 2 and a half years.

Besides the 1st trimester feeling like crap, I am really struggling with gaining weight. I have been working so hard to lose it, and now its all I can do just to get to work in the morning and home in the afternoon never mind getting to spin or body pump and forget running! I have been trying to make myself go to at least 1 spin class a week but I spend most of it trying not to inhale the room stank or puking on the person next to me after an interval of jumps. I am really hoping and praying that I can get back to my normal routine once I start feeling better. It is really important to me to stay fit and healthy through this pregnancy so it will be much easier to get back to it and lose the rest of my weight after. It is hard not fitting into those clothes I worked so hard to get into. And to have to put back on the "fat" pants - even though, oh man, are they comfy. I know I have little control of my expanding middle area, but I will do my best to keep my legs and arms in shape and hopefully my double chin at bay. I am in a much better state than I was 6 months ago, 30lbs lighter and a better idea of what I need to do to keep the weight off.

That is about it for now. If you are the praying kind, please keep us in your prayers.
I will leave you with a few cute shots my best friend in real life took of us the other weekend:

xoxo