An Introduction

Our sweet girl finally joined us! We are all so in love and she couldn't be doing better. I'll share her birth story soon, but here are some photos I snapped just to hold you over. My heart is full and I'm so grateful to have her in my arms.

36 Week Letter to Baby #2

Hi you sweet little rib-kicking baby,

I call these next few weeks the "time bomb phase", because I feel like I'm just sitting waiting to go into labor. Pregnancy is a weird thing, little one. You are such a part of me right now, and I know you so well already, but it's a finite time. It ends and you come into the world- it's a crazy thought.

You're basically just packing on the pounds at this point. The doctors tell me that I have small babies (something I'm perfectly ok with...), but for the next few weeks, you and I are going in twice a week just to make sure you're growing the way you should be. From what I can feel though, you're doing just fine and are doing everything you can to kick your way out of me.

We still have a few things to finish up before you get here, so it's ok with me if you wait a week or so. Your room is all ready though, and we have mommy and daddy's room set up for you for the first few months when you'll sleep with us. The hospital bag is all packed and we have all the arrangements made, so now we just wait.

Your sister was born at 38 weeks so, if you come early like she did, this may be the last letter I get to write you. If it is, until I get to see you for the first time, know that we love you infinitely. Know that I'm going to do the best I can to bring you here safe and sound- labor is a really scary thing, but one I'm getting ready to face again, since it means I get to meet you afterwards. Keep growing and kicking, girly.

Love you,

Mommy

27 Week Letter to Baby

Sweet girl,

This is the last week of the second trimester. That means next week we are officially in the home stretch! It's kind of scary how fast this pregnancy is flying by, but at the same time, I just want you to be here already. Every time I feel your little hand or foot kick me (or, more accurately, smash up against my ribs, bladder and stomach) I try to picture what it will be like to hold you for the first time. But I've learned with your sister that it's impossible to fathom how incredible those first moments together are. You wouldn't believe me if I told you how excited I am.

You're about 15 inches long and weigh over 2 pounds. You still have lots of bulking up to do, but your lungs, brain, eyes, heart- all of it- is developed and working like it should. You get the hiccups probably 8 times a day and it makes me laugh every time. How can someone so small get the hiccups already!? You're too amazing for your own good.

We are trying to prepare your sister for your arrival as best we can, but I'm pretty sure she doesn't understand. She loves babies though, so don't worry. You'll be her favorite. It's me she will be mad at- you're going to be pretty demanding at first ;) But we will figure it all out and get settled into a routine in no time. We just can't wait for you to get here!

I love you,

Mommy

23 Week Letter to Baby

Well, little one, it is almost the part of the pregnancy where I forget what it's like to not be pregnant. Feeling you kick and squirm and hiccup inside me (which you do almost constantly), feels so natural that I forget only (almost) six months ago you were just a thought that we hoped would surprise us soon.

You're growing so fast- almost a foot long and over a pound! My pregnancy app says you're the size of a large mango ;)

I've finally started going through all our baby stuff (I don't know HOW we've accumulated so much of it already with only your sister) and luckily, we already have a lot of the things we will need! I'm so much less overwhelmed this time. The first time you have a baby, everything is new and crazy and it feels like an unending list of things you'll need. But this time- now that we have our "learning curve" child under our belt ;), I know we really only NEED a few things and that if you surprise us and come out a boy, you're going to have to be okay with wearing all of your sister's old clothes. Sorry.

We can't wait to meet you, girly, so lets make these last few months fly by! Keep growing and dancing; I'll keep eating and eating.

We love you to the moon,

Mommy 

20 Week Letter to Baby

Dear little GIRL,

That's right, we know what you are now! I'll be completely honest and say that I was a little shocked. I had been picturing you as a boy this whole time, and so when we learned that we'd be having a girl, I had to do a little 180 in my thinking. But needless to say, we are SO EXCITED that you are going to be Evie's little sister and our second girl. Girls are the best, I would say. Bring on the tea parties!

You've changed SO much since my last letter I wrote you. You're the size of a banana and weigh around 12 ounces- still so tiny, but trust me, you're a mover already!

We've hit the half way mark, 20 more weeks till we get to meet you, sweet girl! My heart can hardly contain the excitement. I constantly catch myself thinking about what you will be like. Will you have dark hair and brown eyes like me, or will you be a blue eyed beauty like your sister? Will you be as easy of a baby as Evie was or are you going to switch gears on us? I only have your sister to compare this to, so bear with me here.

I know you're going to be completely your own unique person, and I never want you to feel like you have to live in the shadow of your big sister, or anyone else for that matter.

You are so special to us. I feel incredibly lucky to share this journey with you- feeling you move and helping you grow is one of my most treasured jobs right now. Keep at it, love, and I'll do my best to take good care of you :)

I love you,

Mommy

"You look so tired"

I work in a coffee shop a few days a week and naturally a big part of the job is talking with the customers and making them feel welcome. I usually absolutely love this part about being a barista- socializing and making coffee, what could be better, right?

Kind of.

Sometimes you get that customer who feels like, in your five, maybe ten, minute exchange, you've instantly become best friends and they've earned the right to say things that I don't even want to hear from my husband.

For example, there is one "regular" who comes in almost every shift I work, we will call her "Strawberry Smoothie", because I'm super creative. Now, don't get me wrong, Strawberry Smoothie is a very nice lady. She always compliments me, says the usual "I CAN'T believe you're pregnant...you're TOO tiny", asks about Evelyn and AJ...the typical small talk-y things. But sometimes I feel like she takes it a little bit tooooo far. "Wow, honey", she said, "you look SO tired. Did you not get enough sleep?" Maybe I'm over reacting though....you guys can be the judge of that.

A while ago, after the aforementioned Strawberry Smoothie moment, I posted a Facebook status that read something like "I'm sick of people telling me that I look tired all the time". That wasn't my actual status, but that was kind of the attitude that I wanted to convey.

But seriously.

Strawberry Smoothie, in her sweet, just-trying-to-make-small-talk way, actually really offended me by pointing out that I looked SO tired.

I was wearing make-up. I had on a cute outfit. God help me if I had the nerve not to put on eyeliner that day...

WHY did she feel the need to point out the already obvious fact that I, a pregnant mommy of a 15 month old might possibly look as tired as I feel? 

And then comes the question of how in the world am I supposed to answer. I'm pretty sure I said something along the lines of, "Yep". Which most likely nipped our small talk right in the bud, but... sorry not sorry. This is definitely not the first time this has happened. Not with Strawberry Smoothie, mind you, but with other random strangers or "acquaintances".

I know this sounds like purely a pointless, silly rant. And, ok, it is. And I don't (really) care that much about what people think of me to let it genuinely bother me, but the frequency of this situation got me thinking. Does this happen to other people? Or am I the only tired looking human out there.

Facebook confirmed my suspicions that I'm certainly not alone.

So here is my question to you all. HOW do we respond?

I want your input so that next time this happens I'll be equipped with a witty, socially acceptable, non-rude response other than "yep". Something that stops them in their tracks a little bit and makes them realize that hey, we are all human. We all look tired sometimes. Maybe I should just get this t-shirt and wear it every day of my life.

This is becoming kind of an all-encompassing post, so I'll stop writing before I start talking about something actually serious.

But, really, I want to know your thoughts! How should we respond in the awkward "you look so tired" situations?

Letter to Baby- 15 Weeks

To my tiniest love,

This week you are 15 weeks old. We've still got a long way to go, but trust me, you will be here before you know it!

You are about the size of an orange this week, which explains why my pants are having a hard time buttoning lately. My tummy is growing everyday and if I sit very, very still, sometimes I can feel you fluttering around in there. It gives me butterflies, not just because it feels literally like a butterfly, but because of how excited it makes me. Keep moving, little one!

You can already suck your thumb, and are practicing your breathing (even though its not oxygen yet). You can even hear things happening around you, so I'll try not to let Evie be TOOOO noisy. You'll probably just have to deal with it though- you are the 2nd child, after all ;)

I can't stop thinking (read: freaking out) about you. Sometimes it seems impossible that we will have another member in our family, but usually, it feels like there is a hole here just waiting for you to fill it. I'm starting to make a list of things I need to get done before you get here. Wow. I'm gonna be a busy momma trying to prepare for you.

We are so excited and wish you were here already. But take your time in there! Keep growing and moving, and giving me excitement butterflies.

I love you.

 Love,
Mommy

Merry Day-After-Christmas and an Announcement You Already Know About

Happy Friday, friends! I hope you all had a magically peaceful Christmas and were able to spend it with people you love. Our Christmas was exactly that- we spent the day at my parent's house with my brothers and new sister-in-law. AJ cooked his family's famous authentic Italian spaghetti and meatballs and my mom went all out with other Italian side dishes. Having "themed" Christmases is becoming a new tradition over here and I'm not mad about it.

It was awesome to see how much our family has grown since the last Christmas I spent at home; we gained three new members! Soon to be four, actually....

Which brings me to the main event of this post. If you're friends with either AJ or I on Facebook or in real life, I'm sure you've heard the news already, but I wanted to officially share it on here so that I can post updates as we go along. Yep, you guessed it. BABY #2 IS COMING! 

We are unbelievably excited (with a fair share of nervousness/howwillweeverhandletwokids thrown in)  and can't wait to meet this little one due to arrive on July 9th of 2015. 

I'm 12 weeks along and am SO excited to be past the horrible hump of the first trimester. Hopefully the morning sickness I've been dealing with (which has been SO much worse than with E) will start to subside and I'll start feeling happy/energized pregnant instead of shut-up-don't-talk-to-me/let-me-sleep pregnant. 

I wanted to share a few of the announcement photos we had taken that sort of double as our holiday/family photos for the year. E had her one year shoot as well, but I'll share those when I write her 12 month update :)

 

These were all taken by the incredibly gifted Amy at A Moment Photography. She is THE best at capturing special moments. I've loved every single photo we've had taken by her.