Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Baby Survey

I'm too tired to compose a blog post, but hopefully that'll all end once I'm out of this dreaded first trimester. For now, here's the same survey I did a few times when pregnant with B.

How far along? 12 weeks, 3 days
Weight gain? Down 2 pounds so far. But I already look a little pregnant - ugh!
Is your bellybutton in? Yes
Wearing maternity clothes? Not yet. Seriously doubt I'll be able to hold off past 20+ weeks like I did last time.
Cravings or aversions? Craving sour stuff again. Aversions to most everything except sugary cereal, pizza, and regular Coke.
Signs and symptoms? Everything imaginable. Nausea, headaches, heartburn, constipation, dizziness, frequent peeing, restless legs, etc. etc. 200 times worse than my pregnancy with B.
Feeling baby move? Not yet.
Pregnancy milestones? We heard the heartbeat with the Doppler last Monday. I will be in my second trimester next week - thank goodness!!
Upcoming appointments? Dec. 19 for my 15 wk. appointment.
Name? Nowhere close. I've been too sick and tired to even make Jonathan talk about it. Soon enough, soon enough.

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

20 Months Old!

Dear Brenna,

I'm FINALLY sitting down to write your 20 month post. I'm 2 weeks late. It's been a chaotic last few weeks, and although I've meant to sit down and do this almost every day, it just hasn't happened. There are 2 main reasons for the delay. Reason #1 - We moved to North Carolina! We packed up our house on Daddy's 30th birthday, October 28, while you stayed in Bristol with Nanie. We all loaded up and headed south on Monday, October 31. We unloaded the truck that day and have been trying to get settled in ever since. You seem to be adjusting well, which I'm so thankful for. Reason #2 - You're going to be a big sister! Your baby brother or sister is making Mommy SICK, SICK, SICK! It's terrible timing because I have so much I need to do here at the house we're living in, but I just have no energy. You've been pretty good about playing on your own, cuddling up to read stories on the couch with me, and being pretty tolerant of me when I'm barely in commission during the days. I'm thankful we are here with Daddy now, and he helps out with you and plays with you a lot! Hopefully I'll be feeling better soon and we can explore our new city together!

You still seem to be growing well and have been pretty healthy. You've had a bit of a cold for the past week or two, but it doesn't seem to bother you too much. You had a few days with a fever when you just wanted to rest and cuddle (perfect for me!), but otherwise you are your same happy self! You went through a period of short naps, but you've been doing much better this week - with 4 days of 4+ hour naps. Just this weekend you cut your bottom two canine teeth, so you've been drooling like crazy! Luckily none of this has required a doctor's appointment or any medicine other than a little Advil and some saline spray! I'm hoping for an ear-infection free winter!!

We celebrated your second Halloween on our first day in our new town. We met some of the neighbors and you got some treats while dressed in your Chinese girl outfit. We were walking between 2 houses and Daddy had a mini Twix bar in his hand. He looked down and you were chowing down on it through the wrapper, saying, "MMMM, choc-it!" It was hilarious. You don't have chocolate often at all, but you are definitely a fan! You still eat really well. Your favorite veggie is probably broccoli. You love ALL fruit. You like fruit snacks and crackers for snacks. You eat pretty much anything we give you for dinner. I'll even admit you've had a few helpings of pizza since that was the only mommy could think about eating for a little while during the early part of this pregnancy. Here's to more broccoli and less pizza!

You love counting, trying to say your ABCs, singing "Happy to you", which is your version of the happy birthday song, giving hugs, coloring (multiple times every day!), playing outside with your lawn mower and golf club set, reading your books, playing peek-a-boo, harassing Maggie, and playing "spish-spash" in the tub. I definitely notice a difference in your demeanor if you don't get to go outside on a given day. You've also played at the play place in the Hickory mall two times and you ADORE it. There is a slide you can climb up and go down on your own, and the way you look at us and grin when you do it is so cute. I have a feeling we'll be going there a lot during the colder winter months.

Some cute things you've started saying lately are:
*Good mornin!
*Brenna sorry. (Or Mommy/Daddy sorry if you think we should apologize for something).
*Mommy/Daddy hold her. (when you want to be held)
*Hi Daddy! Hi Mommy!
*Daddy home!
*Brenna want it! or I want some!
*Riding Maggie. (Apparently you think Maggie is a horse!)

You talk in sentences almost all the time these days and it blows my mind!! I think you got your parents' love of talking.

You've had a bit of a hitting/kicking spell lately. I'm not sure if it's because you're bored when Mommy is sick during the day, but it's a trying little phase. We're trying to discipline you in a way that shows you lots of love, but also lots of structure. We're still working on it and hoping it's a really short phase. You've started saying, "no hitting" when I get you from time-out, so maybe it's clicking!

All-in-all it's been the month with the biggest change in your life so far. I'm optimistic that we'll start getting more settled in our new town and can find new adventures to have together. I love you to pieces, Brenna, and so does your Daddy!

I love you, BIG SISTER Sprout!
Love, Mommy

Saturday, October 15, 2011

30Before30 - #20 - Get an iPhone

I got one!! We realized Jonathan's employer qualified for a good monthly discount on plans, and Verizon had a good deal on iPhone 4s, so we went for it! I love it already. So here is my first blog post written from my pretty new white iPhone! If only it could take a picture of itself for you.

Sunday, October 9, 2011

30Before30 - #1 - 5K and 10K

Recently I've really been trying to run at least 3-4 times a week. I've never been much of a runner, but when I train it seems like I can get the 5K distance at least down. I've been running about 2-3.5 miles on most of my runs, and my time is getting a little faster, although still a little slower then I was running before I had Brenna.


I signed up to run the Star City Women's 5K in Roanoke last Saturday, October 1. We woke Brenna up at about 7 and headed to Roanoke to get started. I was feeling pretty good, and the route was pretty easy. I ran the entire way, minus about a 1/10 of a mile walk up a really steep hill past the 2 mile mark. I crossed the finish line at 32 minutes, 24 seconds. This put me at a 10 minutes, 27 seconds average mile. I say you can probably take 10 seconds off my time since I was closer to the back of the starting pack. It was faster than the time I got on the only other 5K I ran back in 2009. I was 114th place out of 220 people. I was 12th in my age division (23-29) out of 33 runners. All in all I was proud of myself, and I was thrilled to see my cheering section at the end of the run!


Ready to run!



Almost to the end!




Brenna go to play with my finisher's medal.


So, about 2 days ago I decided I wanted to run the entire Huckleberry trail (I'll post about this trail soon...) before we move. It starts at the mall near our house and goes all the way to downtown Blacksburg. I've run most of the trail by starting at different points along it over the past 2 months or so. They've added a little bit to the trail at the mall end, so it makes the trail about 6.1 miles total. It's relatively flat with a few hills along the way.


Today I parked my car at the mall end and told Jonathan to pick me up an hour later at the other end! I just felt like I could do it today, so I went for it! I stopped to go to the bathroom (a new improvement to the trail!) at about the 2 mile mark. I stopped to let a car pass at about the 2.2 mile mark (Hey, just trying to be honest about the run!). I stopped 3 other times to walk up some bigger hills, but only walked 1/10 of a mile each time. I stopped at about the 3.6 mile mark, the 4.4 mile mark, and the 4.8 mile mark. I ran the entire rest of the way! I caught up with Jonathan at about the 2/10 of a mile to go and I just kept plowing on. I said to him as I passed, "I ran the whole thing!" and I know he was as shocked as I was to have done it! I got to the end and turned around and ran another little bit so I could get the 6.2 miles officially done, since I know this is the distance of a real 10K race. It really wasn't that hard of a run. The first mile of any run is always the hardest for me, and I couldn't tell much of a difference in 6 miles vs. 3 miles in my breathing or how my body felt. I'm not sure HOW much further I could have gone, but I felt good at the end of the run. I ran it in 1 hour, 13 minutes, 1 second. I kept an 11 minute, 46 second pace and supposedly burned 733 calories. Thank you Nike+ GPS!




I made it to the other end!



I wish I would have taken a picture of myself at the start of the trail also!

Saturday, October 8, 2011

30Before30 - #30 -- HOKIE GAME!

Jonathan and I got to go see the Hokies play today. We were supposed to be in Bristol, but it turned out that we didn't have to go, so we got some tickets from friends of friends. Lisa and Kevin were SO SWEET and came to watch Brenna for us. We then lucked out and got a parking pass from Jonathan's old boss. So, we headed over and go to tailgate with Darin and Lyndsie and their family for awhile. It's fun to tailgate with them, but it's also funny because it's a mainly Giles County tailgate, so I always see some people that I know. Sometimes this is fun, sometimes not so much. Today I got to see my sweet friend Patti, who is my good friend Sheri's cousin. She is a physical therapist at Macy, and I miss seeing her!

We spent the first 3 quarters in the West stands - which was nice because it wasn't in the sun and we had a great view. The Hokies were ahead all the time.

We went over to sit with Darin and Lyndsie for the 4th quarter, and things got a little bleaker. We lost the lead - but luckily they scored a touchdown to retake the lead. Miami couldn't score again, so we won with a score of 38 to 35. GOOOO Hokies!

This may be our last Hokie game for awhile, and we enjoyed the time together and the beautiful weather!


Tuesday, October 4, 2011

19 Months Old

Dear Brenna,

Another month has come and gone! These will be the last monthly pictures that we take at our current house. It's a little sad to be saying goodbye to the house where we started our family, but it's exciting, too! We'll be moving in 2 weeks, so this next month will probably be a crazy one!

You are growing like a weed! I can't believe how tall you are. At your doctor's appointment 2 weeks ago you were 33 inches tall and weighed 23 pouncs, 12 ounces. You still wear mostly 12-18 month clothes, but you have to wear 18 month pants for the length. I'll be glad when you fit in the adjustable waist pants!

You have been eating pretty well. You got your third and fourth molars (on the top this time), so I guess you can chew better than before! Some of your favorite foods are berries, applesauce, yogurt, "deeyas" (quesadilla), "memeal" (oatmeal), eggs, cheese, cookies, crackers, pickles, "madoes" (tomatoes), cucumbers, bananas, and pasta.

I really want to tell you about some of the super cute things you've been doing. This month, we've really enjoyed it when you've.....
...eaten all of your oatmeal except the last bite and then said, "Mommy do" so you can get the very last bite!
...insisted on giving hugs and kisses and fist bumps to everyone in the room. You always say, "Mommy kiss" or "Daddy fist bump" so nobody is left out!
...started climbing in our empty bathroom cabinets. You like to announce "bye bye" or "door" before you climb in and close the doors. This apparentely never gets old to you.
...carried your new Cabbage Patch doll around wrapped in blankets, towels, "Daddy's shirt", or whatever you can find. You sometimes call her "baby" and sometimes by her name, Ashley. You like to try to give her a paci or a drink of your milk, too.
...looked at picture books that we have and told us who everyone is. Just 2 days ago you started recognized Tinley - You call her "Tin eeeee". You also call most boys you see on TV or out in public London or Liam.
...learned that part of our routine before naptime or bedtime is to turn on your air purifier. You'll go hit the button and then say, "Night, night". You also go over to it and turn it off and say, "Off!" when I get you out of your crib.
...started calling Papa Bill "Pa Bill". You did this on your own, and it's so cute. He loves it, too, of course!
...stood in an empty clothes basket and signed "more". Daddy put you in a basket one day and pulled you around. Now you want to do it ALL.THE.TIME!
...started talking in more sentences. A good example is the other day during breakfast you heard a boy talking on the TV. You said, "Boy! Go see him?" to me. It's amazing how verbal you are!
...said "Amen" whenever someone was talking about Jesus.
...tried counting. You have gotten to 7 before, but you seem to want to just repeat "three four" over and over again. You are also obsessed with the ABCs. You want to watch YouTube videos of the Sesame Street characters saying the ABCs anytime the computer is close by.
...told us that you loved us. "Love shu Mommy" are the most precious words I've ever heard, I promise. You also have gotten really good at putting people's words with sentences. For example, you say, "Thank shu Mommy" many times a day. You also can identify "Daddy's tar" (car) and you say "London's" everytime you see a sippy cup like his!
...you love to hear songs. You used to always say, "Singing" when you heard someone singing. Now you say, "Songing" instead. CUTE!

There is no denying that you are a full-fledged toddler. You spend most all your time being happy and exploring the world around you. I know you're going to love our new house and all the room you'll have both inside and outside to explore! I love you more than anything!

Love you, Sprout!
Love, Mommy

Monday, October 3, 2011

Pumpkin Patch

Last Saturday we took Brenna to a pumpkin patch close to our house. She recently has been really, really interested in pumpkins, so we knew she's love it. Anything outside is usually a hit with her! It was a great, great family day - and we knew that it would be one of our last fun outings in Christiansburg before we move!
She couldn't get enough of the "pumkins"
Cutie! :)
We took a hayride to the pumpkin patch.
She loved it - even though this picture isn't too convincing!
Sinkland Farms - September 24, 2011
She loves her Daddy!
They had pony rides for the kids. We thought Brenna would be completely freaked out when we sat her down, but she didn't even hesitate. She loved it!!
Daddy stepped away for a photo op.
She kept saying "Bill" when she saw the tractors!
Hungry, Brenna?