25 weeks

How Far Along: 25 weeks.

Fruit/Veggie: A rutabaga {I really didn’t know what in the world a rutabaga was, and I only know what it looks like from the Baby Center photo, so I just googled it and according to Wikipedia – I know, not necessarily the most reputable information – it is a swedish turnip. So there you go. Learn something new every day – check!} 

Size: Weight: about 1.5 pounds. Height: about 13.5 inches.

Baby changes: He is beginning to exchange his long, lean look for some baby fat. As he does, his wrinkled skin will begin to smooth out and he’ll start to look more and more like a newborn. He’s also growing more hair — and if you could see it, you’d now be able to discern its color and texture. {Yay! I hope he has lots of hair! 🙂 Though, I totally picture him being bald.}

Best Moment this week: We had a joint little party for Hudson & Mariah (one of my SILs) this weekend which was really fun. I love having people over 🙂 Especially family people. Also – have I mentioned how thankful I am that my parents & Jordan’s parents LIKE each other (sometimes they hang out without us), how often does THAT happen? Such a blessing!

Gender: Sweet baby boy. {Owen Paul Stone}

Movement: He currently has the hiccups.

This little guy is still much more chill than I remember Hudson being, but he does move around quite a bit in the evenings and sporadically throughout the day.

I had a moment recently {read: freaked out a little} where I hadn’t really felt him move much but it was a day that I had been SUPER busy all day, and I didn’t really feel him that night – only a flutter or two – and the next morning he was still quiet so I did all the things you are supposed to do {eat something, drink ice water, drink juice, lay on my left side, blah blah blah} and I was juuuuust about to call Dr. G when Owen rolled over and was back to his usual self. WHEW. I think it was because 1) he is still little and 2) he was just facing backwards so I couldn’t feel him well. He’s been back to his usual predictable self ever since. Thank goodness. We had to have a little chat about not scaring Momma.

Food Craving: Nope.

Sleep: Eh. It has been better.

Symptoms: I’ll be honest…I’ve been a lot more uncomfortable this past week. Round ligament pain {read: the right side of my abdomen hurts intermittently as my organs are shifting around and my uterus is growing heavier & stretching my ligaments}. SI joint pain {my tailbone/booty hurts}. My feet are really sore at the end of the day. The third trimester tiredness seems to have hit me about 3 weeks too soon.

All of it is very tolerable/manageable – just annoying – because I have to slow down my usual pace of life.

Just the side effects of being a human crock pot and having a rapidly growing person living inside me. It is WELL worth the price in my book.

What I am looking forward to: I am SO SO SO ready for it to cool off a little so I can go on walks & we can play outside (without feeling like I am going to die of heatstroke). Walks really help with a lot of the discomfort that has been happening recently. Please come soon fall!!

Belly pic:

That is life.

I woke up this morning to a big old honkin’ list of things to get done.

I also woke up to life with a one year old whose version of helping with chores = making three messes to every one that momma gets cleaned up.

So…on days like today…a day filled with the reality of life with small children & my own propensity to be impatient…

I am thankful for the sweet conviction of the Holy Spirit who causes me to repent of my frustration…reminds me how blessed I am to have a healthy, beautiful son who I get to stay home with…and I sit on the floor to play trucks.

My house is still a mess, but it will get cleaned later.

This is life in the little years…and I don’t want to miss it.

24 weeks

How Far Along: 24 weeks.

Fruit/Veggie: An ear of corn.

Size: Weight: over a pound. Length: about one foot.

Baby changes: His brain is also growing quickly now, and his taste buds are continuing to develop. His lungs are developing “branches” of the respiratory “tree” as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help his air sacs inflate once he hits the outside world. His skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon.

Best Moment this week: My precious firstborn turned ONE yesterday!!

Gender: Sweet baby boy. {Owen Paul Stone}

Movement: He moves mostly at night still…he moves quite a bit…but is still much more chill than Hudson ever was. I’ve noticed Owen having the hiccups several times recently.

Food Craving: No real cravings to report lately.

Sleep: Not too shabby…the usual frequent trips to the potty. I haven’t had as many bad dreams recently which has been great!

Symptoms: Nothing really new. My feet have been swelling a little…guess the heat has finally gotten to them!

What I am looking forward to: We are going to celebrate Hudson’s birthday this coming weekend {this past weekend was filled with celebrating Krystal (our children’s director at Providence & my very dear friend) & Scott’s wedding. She was a BEAUTIFUL bride today! We are so so happy for them!!}

Happy Birthday Hudson!

Yesterday, August 19, was actually Hud’s birthday, but I didn’t get this posted…

Sweet Hudson.

Daddy & I cannot believe how quickly the last year has gone by! Yet at the same time, we have only the fuzziest memories of life before you were in it.

The last year with you has been such a joy.

You are indeed the sweetest little boy we know.

You are always on the move. Walking. Running. Climbing. “Jumping” (i.e. you move your feet back and forth really quickly)

When we turn on music, you dance.

You can now not only climb onto the furniture, but get off carefully (you turn onto your belly and slide off feet first instead of just diving off head first. Momma is very thankful for this development!)

You love airplanes, balls, trucks, blocks, daddy’s guitar, the piano, being outside, animals of all kinds, your blue blankies.

You are almost always carrying something around the house (just like Daddy when he was little). Preferably something in both hands.

You are so smart and you love to figure out how things work.

You surprised Momma the other day with you ability to put several the plastic shapes into the correct places in your shape sorter all by yourself.

You love to sit on our laps while we play.

Being tossed up & down in the air by Daddy & wrestling with Daddy are two of your most favorite things. Daddy is your biggest hero. When he comes home from work and Momma says, “Daddy is home!” you go to the garage door and look out the little window (clear pet door from the previous owners’ cat) and wait for him to come inside.

You give Momma the sweetest kisses & cuddles. When I am working in the kitchen you come and hug my leg & bring me one of your toys. When I get ready in the morning you go into my closet and hug my clothes 🙂 I guess maybe because they smell like me.

You really like to take showers with one of us. Probably even more than you like to take baths.

We are working on transitioning from formula to organic whole milk & so far it is going pretty smoothly, for which I am thankful. Next we’ll work on moving from the bottle to a sippy cup all the time.

You eat like a champ. Sometimes I think you eat as much as I do!

You take 2 naps a day. I think we could probably drop your morning nap sometime in the next month or so, but I’m afraid you’ll just want it back when Owen is born, so I am going to try to wait until after he is born. One big change at a time!

You are developing more of a love for books. You will sit in my lap and read and we can actually get all the way through a book before you get up to find another one or a toy.

You, our son, are the most precious blessing from the Lord. We are so thankful for your life. We love watching you grow. We beg Him daily for your salvation.

We love you Hudson Mark Stone! With all our heart.

this was the morning of your birthday. i am greeted by this sweet expression every morning. oh what joy!

A year ago today…

One year ago today…almost to the hour…Jordan came home and I said,

“Hey, guess what! I think I’m having real contractions!”

Twelve hours later, at 5:27am on August 19, 2010 our sweet Hudson was born.

I can hardly believe it has been a year!

I’ll do a real birthday post tomorrow.

I am also going to write out Hudson’s birth story…because I never did it…and I probably should. So maybe I’ll post that at some point too…

23 weeks

How Far Along: 23 weeks {YAY big 23!}

Fruit/Veggie: Mango

Size: He weighs a little over a pound and is 11-12 inches long.

Baby changes: Blood vessels in his lungs are developing to prepare for breathing, and his hearing is becoming increasingly keen.

Best Moment this week: We got frozen yogurt last night. It is the little things in life 🙂 One of my favorite parts of the day is when hubby rubs my feet before bed. He does it pretty much every night…and my tired feet sure do appreciate it!

Gender: Sweet baby BOY – Owen Paul

Movement: I notice a lot more movement these days. Especially between 8-11pm – I say it is because he knows Hud has gone to bed and he thinks it is “his time”.

Food Craving: Frozen yogurt. Iced coffee.

Sleep: I have been having nightmares again, which makes my sleep a little stressful, but otherwise I am sleeping pretty well. At least in between all my trips to the bathroom. I really forgot how often I have to pee when I am preggo!

Symptoms: The usual – sore feet/ankles, my tailbone pops ALL the TIME (annoying), certain parts of my body that start with a “B” are growing {i.e: my boobs, my belly, and my booty}

What I am looking forward to: Sweet Hudson will be ONE on Friday!! I’m happy & sad about it all at the same time!

Also, Krystal (our children’s director at Providence & my very dear friend) is getting married on Saturday! So excited for her & Scott! Also, so excited that my bridesmaid dress still fits…I had big fears of outgrowing it before the wedding!

Photo of 23 weeks:

Oh the farmer in the…cabinet…

Our stuff migrates around our house these days.

This is the product of having a toddler.

{and my preggo brain…but we won’t go there…we’ll blame it all on the almost-one-year-old}

I can’t tell you the random things I find in the most random places…

Just look-ee who I found in our cabinet tonight

Sing it with me now…

“Oh the farmer in the cabinet…the farmer in the cabinet…hi ho the dairy-o…there’s a farmer in my cabinet!”

Can I just take a second to brag on how wonderful this guy I married is?

Seriously ladies, I hate to break it to you that I got the best guy out there!

Jordan gives Hudson a bath every night (well…unless he has a meeting or a game or something during bath time, which is rare. I have given the child 2% of his baths during his life)

It is “their time”.

Last night, a cute clean naked baby walked into the living room from the bathroom as usual.

The baby was followed by my cute, wonderful husband who matter-of-factly said,

“Well. Hudson pooped in the tub.”

First reaction – ew.

Please note: this is the first time this has ever happened. We made it almost a year with no poop in the bathtub. I call that impressive!

Second reaction – do I need to go scrub it?

“Nope. Already done.”

He didn’t holler for help.

He didn’t make a big deal out of it.

He just showered Hudson and cleaned the tub & all the toys.

When I walked in the bathroom later it was sparkling clean.

Isn’t he wonderful?

It spoke volumes of love to me!

It is the little things in life…{although dealing with poopy bath water is a pretty big thing in my book}…that remind me how blessed I am to be married to my man.

Monday Monkey

Hope you all had a good Monday!

Have I mentioned my son is a little crazy? One of his favorite things to do is jump off the couch onto pillows. I posted a video of it a while back. Lately he has also been climbing up onto our ottomans in front of the couch…the other day I walked in the room to find him standing on top of them.

I pray often, “Lord please protect this child from serious head trauma”.

🙂

He was at it again today…here are some pics of the fun. I couldn’t get one of him standing…he would jump off or sit back down right as I was about to take the picture

Kiddo loves to carry things around…the bigger and heavier the better…he has little baby muscles {grin} Tonight it was our couch pillows, which are like twice his size.

Pillows are so fun.

I am so thankful for this baby boy.

22 weeks

How Far Along: 22 weeks.

Fruit/Veggie: Spaghetti Squash

Size: Owen now weighs almost a pound and is about 11 inches long.

Baby changes: His lips, eyelids, and eyebrows are becoming more distinct, and he’s even developing tiny tooth buds beneath his gums. His eyes have formed, but his irises (the colored part of the eye) still lack pigment.

Best Moment this week: The increase in Owen’s movement is great…I love it.

On a more random note: I am trying to be a better coupon-er and while I am not amazing – I did save $45 on my last grocery shopping trip. Hip hip hooray!

Gender: Sweet baby BOY – Owen Paul

Movement: I notice him mostly at night…because that is when I’m still I guess. I have also noticed him kicking when Hudson is sitting on top of my belly – haha! I notice him most on the low right side of my belly, I think that is where his feet are most of the time.

Food Craving: Iced coffee. Mexican food. Pizza. How healthy of me 🙂

Sleep: I haven’t slept as much as I usually do this week, but more because we’ve been busy/had things going on late at night than because I’m preggo.

Symptoms: Still annoying lower back pain. Really sore feet/ankles – this is the product of a busy week. Some morning sickness – RANdom! It just hits me out of the blue – so weird – I never threw up when I was pregs with Hudson and I’ve only thrown up a handful of times this go around, but I get queasy.

It hasn’t been anything bad, more of a nuisance – I’ll be going about my morning with Hudson and suddenly need to puke. Gross. The other day he was in the bathroom with me and I was throwing up and he came and put his little head on my shoulder – Mama’s sweet boy 🙂 He is just the sweetest in the whole world!!

What I am looking forward to: Hmm…this is NICU nurse-y of me…but we are getting close to 23/24 weeks…which is kind of a blessing in that I know Owen is considered viable & could survive if he had to be born for whatever reason…and kind of a curse in that every week hereafter I think, “Ok. If I go into preterm labor this week, this is the scenario…”

It doesn’t stress me out as much as you would think considering my line of work…but it is always in the back of my mind. My knowledge of everything that goes wrong in pregnancy+birth adds an extra layer into surrendering my children over to the Lord and is definitely something we pray about often.