ultrasound

We had our ultrasound scheduled for Tuesday morning, but unfortunately Gustavo had a conflicting polygraph test so we had to push it back to Wednesday at 4:00.  This pregnancy has been so different (faster weight gain, not nearly as sick, super emotional, and I want to eat EVERYTHING- especially sugar which I didn't even like when I was pregnant with Ella) so I naturally thought it was likely that I was having a boy.  

 

I was wrong.  We are having a healthy baby girl!!!  I am so excited.  I love the idea of having two girls close together.  I love all of my sisters and hope my daughters will be as close as the five of us are.  This sweet baby was very cooperative.  The tech took about a million pictures and kept saying "Oh, this (fill in the organ) looks beautiful!  Textbook."  It was so wonderful to hear.  

 Ella has been right all along, I am pregnant with baby Sophie.  We're certain Sophia will be her  first name, but are still deciding which of her great grandmothers' names she'll have for her middle name.  We are absolutely thrilled!

Taking care of 6 kids

For the past 4 and a half days Gustavo and I have been down in Provo taking care of my sister's five children.  Including Ella, the ages of the kids were 11, 9, 7, 4, 2, and 18 months.  The older girls were all very helpful and things went well for the most part.  In all honesty, Ella was my biggest problem half of the time because she didn't do well sharing the spotlight with her 18 month old cousin Max. Of course I didn't make dinner as well as their mom some nights, but even looking back on all of the cooking I didn't receive too many complaints (some nights it just felt like a lot- I definitely need to develop thicker skin before my own family get's big enough to share their opinions).  I was doing fine until Saturday when Gustavo was off at guard weekend and I was trying to help everyone do their chores, keep kids from fighting, taking care of 2 extra nieces, fixing scraped knees, trying to save the dog from his malfunctioning electric fence dog caller, calling their neighbors and friends trying to fix the problems that arose for the dance pictures that were being taken in the evening, searching for dance tights, curling hair, applying make up, taking dinner orders, giving baths, and worrying about the 11 year old who was supposed to be back from her sleepover at 2:30 but didn't arrive until 6:30 (she was supposed to be ready for dance pictures at 5:45).  It was a little overwhelming and since things were out of my control (which I HATE) I allowed myself to get stressed out.  When the night was almost over and all of the kids were in bed I was cleaning the kitchen (I believe I did the dishes at least 50 times) and making muffins for Sunday's breakfast.  Gustavo came in to talk with me and to my surprise sincerely asked "Do you think we should be done having kids?"  I just turned around and laughed.  I pointed to my belly and he said, "Well after this one of course."  I said "TWO? Of course NOT."  He then replied, "Do you think you can handle it?"  I just laughed.  It was so funny he felt that way! I definitely want more children, just not 5 more at once!

any tips?

I have not spent any money on this new baby yet.  I'm waiting until I find out the gender to determine what I need to buy.  One thing I need to buy regardless is a new infant car seat.  My aunt gave me one for Ella that was only good for a few months beyond her first birthday.  I've done some slight searching and have been really surprised at how expensive it is to buy a car seat independent of a travel system.  Also, there doesn't seem to be much selection at stores (everything comes with a stroller and I already have 2 of those).  Do any of you have any tips for me?  Have you bought one for a decent price without a stroller?  THANKS!

the second time around

Our bellies.  The black dress makes it hard to see how big my belly really is, but I'm bigger than Ella now!

This pregnancy has been very different from my first.  Although I was EXHAUSTED the first trimester and definitely nauseous, I have felt significantly better this time.  I was on Zofran for my entire pregnancy with Ella, but I only took it a few days at the beginning of this pregnancy.  The only negative difference is that I'm gaining more weight (not my favorite thing).  I am definitely showing now and I'm only 18 weeks.  I've been really excited because I started feeling this baby at only 17 weeks.  It has helped everything feel so much more real.  I can't wait to find out the gender of the baby and am already counting down to the ultrasound appointment that is scheduled for March 15th.

 One of the things we're anticipating most is how Ella will deal with the new baby.  They will be two and half years apart.  Ella has always been very clingy and is definitely a mama's girl.  In fact lately she's been saying "You can't do that Dad!" and "No, Mommy do it" or "What's Mommy doing?" when Gustavo goes to take care of her or give her loves. I'm sure it will be difficult for her to adjust to sharing the spotlight and attention, but I have hope that she'll love and adore her little sibling.  Lately she's been taking extra good care of her baby doll.  We've overheard her saying things like "Are you okay baby?" and then watched as she'll rock the baby or snuggle it.  She's even started trying to give the baby diaper changes.

  When we ask Ella if she thinks the baby is a brother or sister, she'll answer either way.  She has never said the baby will be William though, she always insists that the baby is Sophie so we'll have to see if she's right.  If not, we'll have about 20 weeks to convince her otherwise.  I've got plenty of nesting projects and now have the energy, I just need to get going!  Maybe the next pictures will be of the nursery or Ella's room.  Both rooms are planned and paint is even purchased, but I haven't gotten farther than that.  Hopefully I'll get them done, or at least started soon.

bellies

Tonight I was reading Ella a little bedtime story while she sat on my lap.  She was only wearing a diaper and as I glanced down I realized our bellies are the same size!

5 visits in 2 months

 

Ella has been sick since November 2nd! Yes, of course there have been healthy days here and there.  There were actually 3 healthy weeks between her sinus infection and pneumonia diagnosis.  We finished her antibiotic for the pneumonia last Monday and five short days later (yes, the day of her birthday party) she had a low grade fever and a runny nose.  I figured she had another virus and gave her Tylenol.  She acted like herself and was sleeping fine so I wasn't too concerned.  I also was reassured by the fact that her 2 year old check up was Monday so I knew she would see a doctor and I could talk about how sick she's been.  Her fever was gone this morning and her nose hasn't been runny so I was surprised when the doctor looked in her ears and found that she has a DOUBLE EAR INFECTION!  This poor girl just can't catch a break.  She has been to the doctor 5 times in 2 short months.  This is her third antibiotic since the end of December.  I hope we can get over this and then finally stay healthy.  We did hear good news though.  Here are Ella's 2 year old stats:

Height: 35 1/2 inches - 89th percentile

Weight: 28 lbs. 11 oz. - 75th percentile

Head Circ: 49.7 cm - 93rd percentile

Ella has become quite a talker these past few months.  She speaks in 3-4 word phrases and sentences.  She can effectively tell us what she wants, needs, likes, and notices. I'm constantly amazed by her memory.  She is a very sweet girl, but is still full of spunk.  She loves to run and play.  She has also started to love watching movies.  Her favorite right now is Toy Story 3, but she loves The Little Mermaid ("Little Erdaid"), Beauty and the Beast, and all things Signing Time.  She constantly talks about her friends, neighbors, and family members.  She loves to read books and sing songs.  Every time we are in the car she asks me to sing songs from the minute we leave the driveway until we park at our destination.  She also dictates whether she wants me to sing loud or quiet.   She is learning her shapes and knows circle, heart, square, diamond, and star.  She knows the names of colors, but can't correctly identify them.  She counts "6,7,8,9,10" or "6,7,8,10."  She is fascinated with letters right now and loves to watch "the frog movie" which is Leapfrog's Letter Factory.  We are constantly surprised by the new things she learns.  We love our little two year old!

She's TWO!

Ella is trying to show 2 fingers.  It still takes a lot of concentration at this point.

Today we celebrated Ella's birthday with family and some friends.  As always, I wanted to do something simple, but even simple can be overwhelming with such a big family!  For days leading up to her birthday Ella loved to talk about her friends and family members who were coming to her party for cookie monster cupcakes.  Ella started getting excited about birthdays when "Five Little Monkey's Bake a Birthday Cake" was her favorite book.  She used to ask me to read it to her several times each day.  That is how she learned the birthday song and that on birthdays we eat cake.  Unfortunately Ella doesn't like to eat cake which is why I decided to have a cookie monster theme.  I figured that way we could have the cake she knew we needed and have cookies for her to enjoy.  I'm disappointed that I wasn't able to get any great pictures, but here is what I got.

 

Of course Ella kept with tradition and refused to even touch her cake again this year.  She did enjoy being sung to though.  Instead of wanting any of the treats I made she just wanted to sneak the valentine's day candy I set out.

 

Ella was shy until she opened presents.  Even then she didn't show much personality, she just told everyone "thank you" as she tried to open and play with the gifts they brought.

 

Before her all of her guests were even gone, Ella informed me that she was ready for a nap.  She had taken one earlier, but was worn out from all of the attention.  She took a nice long nap and woke up just in time to play with Makaylee for the night while John and Alysha went out.

 

The girls had a great time playing with Ella's new toys including this adorable tea set from grandma and grandpa Kramer.

Ella also convinced Makaylee to play her favorite game: run from the living room to the fridge as many times as you can, as fast as you can. Did you notice the adorable twosie birthday jumper Ella has on?  I saw the idea on another blog and got extremely excited when I saw the fabric on clearance at Ikea.  My amazingly talented mom helped me make it for Ella and I love it!