Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Guess who peed in the potty???

I'll give you one hint. His name starts with O and rhymes with "goin'." That's right. We had our first actual pee in the potty chair last Wednesday. Of course, it was totally by accident. When I removed his diaper before his bath, he just started to go, so I quickly shoved him down on the potty (but not before he wet all over Elmo's smiling face! Ha!)

(Here's a photo of the day Owen and Potty Chair Elmo were first introduced, from this overly optimistic post back in March.)


Despite my obnoxiously enthusiastic excitement, Owen was less that thrilled about the whole thing. I don't think he quite grasped that he actually DID that. That he made the pee come out, that is.

We've been putting him down on the potty before his bath for a while now, but without any success. I was hoping that the day it happened by accident, he would finally see what it was that he was supposed to do whenever I say, "just go pee-pee, buddy." But so far, he's only done it one other time and I think that was completely by accident, too.

So, I'm not holding my breath that we're actually "there" yet or anything. But at least it's a step in the right direction!

In the meantime, check out my little bug looking cute as ever. (Photos courtesy of Jackie Petersen Photography.)



Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Brain dump

I think one of the big reasons why I have gone so long between posts (besides the crippling fatigue of the first trimester of this pregnancy) is because I don't feel like I have any "big" news to share. But there are always things going on around here — things of varying degree of "interestingness" (a word I just made up — you're welcome), especially depending on your relationship to me and my family. But since I have a moment this afternoon, I thought I'd jot a few things down.

And so, I present to you, a random sampling of my memories from the past few days, weeks, etc.
(These really are random. Sorry about that.)

Yesterday at the park, Owen came over to show me an acorn he had found on the ground, but he accidentally dropped it before he made it to me. I told him to look right behind him on the ground where he dropped it. He looked for a little bit (although it seemed he looked everywhere but the spot where he actually dropped it) and eventually picked up something else and brought it to me. I was horrified to see a petrified (thankfully) piece of animal poop in his palm and immediately smacked it away. A chorus of "Eww, dog poop!" accompanied us on the immediate stroller ride home. That'll teach me to carry hand sanitizer in the stroller at ALL times from now on.

I've started jotting down some of the funny things that Owen says, as I know I will forget most of them much too soon. He really says all kinds of things now — some funny and butchered, others perfectly pronounced — and I haven't been very good at writing them all down. But here's one I like a lot. Ryan recently returned from a business trip to New York City and brought Owen back a little, yellow, toy taxi car, which he looooves. He calls it his "New Yor City tapseap." I LOVE how "New York City" comes out nearly perfect, but "taxi" is the part that gets slaughtered.

Last night during his bedtime prayers, I asked him what food he was thankful for and his answer was, not surprisingly, "ice cream." (We had just snacked on ice cream earlier that evening.) I also asked him what drink he was thankful for and, not nearly as expected, he replied with "coffee." Hmmm. I had to chuckle!

He also recites both the "God is great..." and "Come, Lord Jesus..." prayers quite well before each meal. I'm constantly amazed at how much he is capable of absorbing — his brain is such a sponge!

I bought him a DVD from the $5 bin at Wal-Mart that has a bunch of classic Christmas songs from classic children's Christmas movies. (Think, those claymation versions of Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, etc.) The very last song on the disc is "The Little Drummer Boy" from a similarly cheesy claymation movie I've never seen. The first time we watched it, I took some time to describe for him who the characters were in that particular song — Mary, Joseph, the Wise Men, and of course, Baby Jesus. Well, after that song ended, the DVD was over. And, because he wanted to see more, Owen started screaming/chanting, "Baby Jesus! Baby Jesus! Baby Jesus!" Too, too, TOO darn funny and cute! Now, he refers to the entire DVD as "Baby Jesus," and we watch it pretty much every single morning (and some evenings, too).

For Halloween (see, I told you this post was random), we borrowed a bunch of costumes from friends because we really had no clue what to dress Owen up as. That, and we're cheap. Here are a couple that I managed to get him to try on...

Buzz Lightyear





















Police Officer





















But the winner was this adorable monkey. So cute!


As for how I'm doing (which I get asked all the time), I feel great. I have finally started to feel some movement from the baby, though it's still just that faint, fluttery stuff right now. I've also had some unpleasant hip pain that I don't remember having this early with Owen. I'm not sure if it's just my hips widening to make room for the baby or if I actually maybe injured myself. (I first started noticing it immediately after walking in a 5K race several weeks ago.) It's not a constant pain, but man, when I try to get up from certain positions, I feel about 85 years old!

I have broken out some of my maternity wardrobe, though most of it is really still too big for me. I'm in that awkward stage where my regular jeans are WAY too tight to wear comfortably, but my maternity pants seem to fall off of me with every step I take. So, I spend most days in sweat pants or yoga pants, which, really, is just fine with me. It's so different this time around not spending my days in an office cubicle, surrounded by co-workers. I'm enjoying being able to just lounge around in comfies!

Well, that's about all I've got for now. I hope you enjoyed the spewing of my brain on this fine fall afternoon. I have a feeling this might be how my posts are constructed for a while. You're welcome. 

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Big news!


I'm not exactly sure why I've waited as long as I have to make this announcement on my blog, but here goes...Owen is going to be a big brother! Ryan and I are expecting baby #2 in April 2012 (April 24, to be exact.)

Maybe I put it off because most of the people that follow me on this blog already know this news. Or maybe it's because the excitement of a second baby is (regretably) less enthusiastic than with the first. Or maybe I'm just lazy. Most likely, it's some combination of the above.

But I am really excited! We've been "trying" for a while now, so it's definitely a blessing. Officially, I'm 16 weeks along and feeling great. (Gotta love that 2nd trimester!) The first was pretty good, too, though I'm glad to bid farewell to that overwhelming feeling of fatigue. I also had a little more nausea than I recall with Owen, but never anything too severe. (I never actually got sick, that is.)

I'm not sure yet how I will document my growing baby bump this time around, but I probably won't be as diligent as I was the last time, taking a picture every week. I did go back to my posts from February 2009 just this morning to compare how big I've already gotten to where I was back then and I'd say my progress is pretty similar so far.

Looking ahead...I'm excited to start feeling movement (hopefully any day now). We're planning to find out the baby's gender this time (so exciting!!!), but more on that in a few weeks. I am also planning to try to deliver via VBAC this time around. (Look it up if you don't know what that is — I can't bring myself to type what it stands for.) And I'm immensely anxious about introducing a new baby into our current lives with a very active (and very dependent) toddler. But, on the other hand, I just can't wait!

(Oh yeah, and I designed the decal on Owen's t-shirt in the photo above. Cute, eh?)


He calls it his "bird shirt" and he hates putting it on. Is that a bad sign?