progress

36 weeks

Part of me can't believe how close I am to my due date and another part of me is anxious to see how everything goes the second time around.  On Sunday night I realized how quickly she just may come.  At midnight as I was laying down to go to sleep I started having really painful contractions.  I tried to just rest thinking they would go away.  They were so painful that I couldn't sit still and I was fearing that I might have really been in labor.  I decided to go and get a few things done just in case.  My contractions continued.  They were at least a minute long and seemed to be occurring within 5 minutes of each other.  At 2:40 I decided I would try to lay down because although the contractions continued to happen frequently, they were only lasting about 30 seconds.  I fell asleep at around 3 in the morning and woke up contracting again at 5, but after that I didn't have anything else.  I was so relieved that I hadn't gone into labor, but curious to go get checked at my appointment this week.  I went to see my doctor today and found out that the baby is head down, but still pretty high.  I am dilated to a 4, but only 50% effaced.  I'm trying to make sure that I get as much done as I can in case she comes soon, but also trying not to get too anxious!

33 weeks

I felt kind of bad about not taking any belly pictures this pregnancy, so Sunday morning I hurried and snapped one.  Most days I feel HUGE, but I'm still comfortable considering where I'm at in the pregnancy.  My favorite part of being pregnant is feeling this sweet little baby move and she moves all of the time!  In fact the other day Gustavo fell asleep resting on me and I was watching his head move every time she kicked him.  He couldn't believe it was the baby who was making him move like that. She did the same thing to Ella on Monday, but Ella didn't seem to notice.  At my appointment this week I found out that Sophia is measuring right at 33 weeks.  Ella consistently measured 2 weeks bigger than her due date and came exactly 2 weeks early.  I'm still hoping Sophia will come a little early, but I just want her to come when she's healthy and ready.  During Relief Society this past week I was watching lots of mother's with their newborns and it still doesn't seem real that I'm going to have a baby.  The planning part does, but I just can't fathom having 2 children.  It will feel real soon enough though!  I was holding my friend's little 2 week old daughter this week and  is was amazing to remember how sweet and tiny newborns are.  I'm excited to experience that again and am just hoping for a much smoother recovery this time around.  I feel very fortunate because Gustavo will be able to take 2 weeks off of work (the military passed 2 weeks of paternity leave after Ella was born).  When he goes back his mom is going to come and help out for another week.  I feel so spoiled just thinking about it!  I think this will be huge for Ella because I can only imagine how hard this transition is going to be on her.

 

We are trying to prepare Ella in every way we can think of so if you have any great suggestions I'd love to hear them!

nesting

When I was about 11 weeks into my pregnancy and realized that I was actually going to regain my energy and stop feeling gross I started going crazy with my "to do" lists.  I am always a crazy list maker, but add in pregnancy hormones and it has been intense! I made one big "nesting list" and have made about 30 smaller lists pertaining to the nesting list.  I have put everything on the lists from small projects like cleaning out drawers, closets, and organizing recipes so I have everything either in a cookbook or on recipe cards (no more recipes that have been printed out or written down on random papers) to large projects like finishing the yard, painting, and decorating both girls' rooms. 

Along the way I've found plenty more small things to take up time and make me feel a bit more organized.  While I love the feeling of getting things done (there is NOTHING better than crossing things off lists- okay, maybe a few things) I am starting to feel slightly burned out.  I am hoping to reach a point of satisfaction pretty soon here.  I still need to organize the garage, but my dad took me out this weekend to buy the peg board and wood I'll need for that.  I also want to make a few more freezer meals.  The rest of the lists are all things I need to buy for this little baby so I can knock that out in a day or two and have been waiting because I feel a little anxious buying some of that stuff this early.  It has been great having the motivation and energy to get so much done.  This weekend as we were laying sod I was thinking about how much we've done to make this house our home and I was very satisfied.  We've put a lot of us into the home within a year. 

The Nursery

My parents came up a few weekends in April and helped us with the bead board.  We are really happy with how it turned out.

 

Her initials stand for Sophia Caridad Gonzalez.

One more project down, only 2 or 3 left to go!

Happy Easter

Happy Easter!

Thank you Eleanor

 One of the many projects on my to-do list since moving in has been the entryway.  I had a good idea of what I wanted and decided to wait until Christmas.  Gustavo got me the table and my parents and Eleanor got me the frames.  Eleanor also told me that she would help me get prints for each frame and gave me some great ideas.  My little sister, Eleanor, is a graphic designer and the company she works for recently went through a re-brand so between all of that work, freelance projects, and her busy social life, it wasn't until a month ago that we were able to sit down together and decide on the prints.  She got everything to me this week and I'm so excited to have another project crossed off my list! 

 I'm not a photographer so the pictures don't really do it justice, but I am very happy with the way it turned out!

 Thank you Eleanor!

terrible, yet terrific twos

 Our little Ella reminds us that she is two every day.  Her favorite phrases are "Ella do it all by myself!" and "But that's Ella's toy!"  She has always been emotional and had some difficult character traits, but once she turned two I believe she kicked it up a notch!  Some days I can't believe my sweet little girl can be such a demanding little stinker.  She loves her friends and always wants to play with someone, but most of the time she tries to play with a friend it quickly gets embarrassing because Ella becomes so bossy and has a hard time sharing (even toys that don't belong to her!) 

On the other hand, the older Ella gets the easier and more fun parenting her becomes.  She is so much fun to play with!  She LOVES to have tea parties and participate in imaginary play.  Ella loves all of her toys.  She takes care of her babies, Barbies and stuffed animals all day long.  The other night about an hour after we put her to bed we thought we heard noises, but dismissed the thought quickly because she is such a good sleeper.  All of a sudden we heard Ella's Dora guitar going off.  Gustavo went in to check on Ella who was obviously playing.  He found that she had placed every single doll and stuffed animal on her bed along with her guitar.  She was trying to lay down and sleep with all of them.  She has done this multiple times so I went in and got a picture the last time she did it.  You can see she put on all of her toys and the new clothes I just bought her.  When Gustavo was talking with her and asking why she did this again she simply replied, "I love bunny, okay. Bunny needs to take a nap, okay."

 

Ella has great language skills which also makes life much easier these days.  We try to parent her with "Love and Logic" and for the past 6-8 months have been trying to help her remember to use words instead of whining.  The last few weeks when we give Ella the choice to "be a big girl" or go to time out, she has more often said "Ella be a big girl" and fixed her negative behavior.  When she is upset she can do a much better job of communicating what's wrong which helps us remedy the situation.  I LOVE being able to talk with Ella.  In fact, I've been getting so used to it that I get a little nervous about starting all over with the baby in a few months!

Ella has really eased up so much in the past few months.  She used to be incredibly clingy (her pediatrician even pointed out that she was much more anxious than most.)  She rarely, if ever, let anyone else hold her or play with her.  Honestly, she loved me, Gustavo, and her aunt Yolanda.  I didn't dare leave Ella with anyone else for their sake!  Ella refused to go to nursery for a very long time.  She is still inconsistent, but is getting so much better now.  She is opening up to her grandparents and other adults in our life as well.  In fact, for the first time ever she let her Grandpa Gonzalez hold her yesterday. The past few times we've left her with neighbors, family, or friends to be babysat she's done great- NO TEARS!  This has been so helpful! 

Other terrific things about 2:
-Ella is a pretty good eater.  She used to be incredibly picky, but eats quite a bit of different foods and is willing to try things much more often.  I really can't complain about her eating any more.  In fact, she even tries bananas now!  That hasn't happened since she was about 9 months old!!!
-Ella loves to pretend to talk to her friends and family members on the phone.  Her conversations usually sound something like this, "Hi Nena!  Good morning.  See you later.  I love you."
-Ella talks to her babies and animals in such a sweet voice which gives me hope that she'll be soft and loving to her new baby sister in a few months.
-Ella is much better about letting Daddy take care of her.  She's always been a Momma's girl, but there were a few months where she refused to let Daddy do anything- she just wanted me and it was SO HARD.
-Ella knows her colors.  She is learning her letters and constantly impresses us with her memory.  We think she's pretty smart :)
-Ella loves to watch Disney movies.  We got a bunch of her uncle Isaac's old VHS movies and she loves to watch them.  Her favorites lately have been Aladdin, The Princess and the Frog, Bolt, Monster's Inc., Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty.
-Ella continues to love to read books.  All of my books from teaching first grade are really coming in handy these days.  We also have started going the the library regularly and she loves it!