Fourth of July

We had our annual Kramer family 4th of July party at my parents' house this year.  All of my sisters were there- even Megan who is currently living in Africa.  I was pretty tired and didn't get pictures of the playing and swimming, but I got a few pictures of Ella's first experience with fireworks.

 

 We started out with no fire.

 Daddy decided that she could handle it as long as  she was right by him.

 She took safety very seriously- look at the fully extended arm.

She loved the sparklers as well as all of the other fireworks she saw this 4th of July.

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!