Christmas 2011 at Hotel Charlton (abbreviated version)

That's right - we hosted our first Christmas here in West Chester and had 12 people stay over. It was nice to have everyone here and not have to rush them out at night. Everyone arrived on Christmas Eve (all at different times), we went to Christmas Eve mass and then had a big feast to follow. The first night we had a standing rib roast, grilled salmon, mushroom risotto, and asparagus. My sister in law Asia's mother and niece were in town from Poland so they brought some amazing dishes as well! Henry opened a magnum of really good wine (in which I couldn't indulge) and we all just sat around the dinner table and talked. I was exhausted and called it a night around 10 and the guys built a fire in our outside fireplace (the guys took turns going up into the woods and bringing small trees back) and drank more wine and enjoyed their cigars.

Christmas day we all got up on our own schedule (we got up on lil Henry's of course) and just enjoyed the morning. Henry built another fire and we kind of just did as we pleased. We opened presents mid morning which took a LONG time :) Around 1:30pm we all sat down and ate our Christmas lunch/dinner. We had baked ham, fried turkey, garlic mashed potatoes, cornbread stuffing, cranberry sauce and green beans. It was so yummy! We just relaxed the remainder of the day. Thomas, Asia and her family had to leave late afternoon so we had 4 less people Sunday night. That evening we were all still stuffed so just sat around the T.V. and watched Christmas movies.

My mom was able to stay through Wednesday so the house is pretty much back in order - but talk about laundry - WOW!!

Photos are somewhat out of order - forgive me :)

My mom keeping Henry busy while we prepare everything

All the women of the weekend

Asia (left), her mother Wanda and niece Klaudia

Henry and I - Christmas Day

Henry, lil Henry and his brothers - Thomas (left), Patrick (right)

My 2 loves

Grandpa helping Henry get his gift from Jes out of the box

Take 1

The crew - Christmas Eve, take 2

Family Pic

Another try...

Lil stinker :)

Trying Grandpa's coffee - Christmas morning

Enjoying some quiet time in the corner - Christmas Day

Love him

So that's our Christmas in a nutshell. It was such a blessing to have everyone together!

Henry's 16 months old :)

Henry's 16 month birthday fell on my 29th birthday - so we did a little celebrating together!! We spend our morning cuddling up on the couch with books and singing - he played his Leapfrog birthday cake over and over and over for me :) After lunch we went for a car ride (while jamming to some Christmas music) and Henry had his second haircut. This little guy has so much hair - it's crazy! He was very good at his appointment amazingly (lately he seems like he has ants in his pants 24/7).

New favorites:

He loves throwing things away and he's such a neat freak. He picks up every pine needle he finds on the floor and walks over to the trash to throw it away!

He loves reading me his books and we're really working on his vocabulary. Newest saying is when you ask him what Santa says "Ho, ho, ho"

He LOVES to go up and down the stairs - we play a little game where I throw the ball up the stairs onto the landing and he chases it. It's great exercise for the lil man!

He loves to push his umbrella stroller all around the basement. He also enjoys climbing on the treadmill and pretending to run (like mommy!)

Henry still loves himself a grilled cheese. He is such a great eater - he even loves brussel sprouts just like his mama

A new thing : He will come over and rub my belly and then pretend to cry like a baby - it's hilarious. My mom brought him my old magic bottle baby doll and he imitates the noises that the bottle makes :)

He LOVES his milk! He drinks 24 oz a day and would drink more if I would let him. We're working on getting him to drink it cold - but he still prefers to have it slightly warm, whatever works!

He's been sleeping from roughly 7pm-6/6:30am. He still takes two naps, but I think I may cut it down to one soon - we'll see!

He has his first set of molars in and overall has done great with them coming in. Total teeth count is 12.

I'm sure I'm leaving out a lot, but this mama is tired and going to retire for the evening.

Santa = Successful!

34 Week Ultrasound

Thursday I had another ultrasound to make sure that baby is growing. I was a little anxious going into the appointment. Amazingly enough - baby already weighs 4 lbs 6 oz and is measuring just under the 50% percentile. Such a relief!! Everything else looks great with Baby C #2. He/She was being a little stubborn and wouldn't turn over so that we could see the face clearly enough to get a 4D shot - but I can't complain because I already have two great ones.

After the ultrasound, I went to the lab to get my blood work done. I should know the results of that by my next appointment which is this coming Wednesday.

Then, after my blood work, I had an appointment to check my weight, BP, urine, and heartbeat.

Weight - I gained a pound. According to them I've now gained 15 lbs.

BP - 120/78; still a little high for me so we're watching that closely

No protein in urine

Baby's HR - 136

I'm now measuring at 28 weeks - 6 weeks behind. A little strange since last week I measured at 29 weeks. The doc was just thankful for ultrasounds, otherwise they'd be greatly concerned with the size of my tummy.

Overall I'm feeling great - no complaints really!

If I follow suit as to when I had Henry - I only have 4 weeks left - WOW!!

That's it for now - have a great weekend!

Christmas in NYC

Last week was a hectic one. On Tuesday our babysitter for Thursday (8am-7pm) had to cancel due to having the stomach flu :( I was super stressed because finding another sitter (who you can trust and be in your home ALL day with our love bug) isn't easy. Luckily that same day one of our other sitters who is in grad school called me to say that her classes just ended and to let her know if we ever needed her during winter break. Let's just say I was elated with that news. Prior to finding this out I was searching high and low for someone to come over and meet with us prior to Thursday - but it all worked out - WHEW!! My mom took off from work Friday and came down Thursday evening - and when she is here, all my worries are gone! My dad and Maggie came Friday night so Henry had a friend to play with all weekend!

So Thursday morning Henry and I left the house around 8:30am en route to NYC for the long weekend for Henry's work Christmas party. We first had to stop in the King of Prussia mall area for a meeting of Henry's - so I did what any other childless mother would do and shopped at the mall SOLO! Around 11:30 we headed into the city to grab the train to NYC. The train is always so relaxing to take - no traffic and only 1 1/2 hours and you're in the heart of NYC. We got to our hotel room (right in Time Square) around 3pm and I relaxed and Henry was off to meetings. One of the perks of Henry's frequent travels - we were upgraded to a club level suite and in NYC that means a lot since they try and squeeze as many rooms into the building as humanly possible.

Each night they had dinners planned for us. The food was amazing and meeting everyone was a lot of fun. It's always nice to put faces to the names I'm always hearing about. I've met a bunch of them, but his company keeps growing so there's always someone new. We walked EVERYWHERE and were able to see all the sights the city has to offer. During the day on Friday the guys had meetings so the ladies met up and just shopped and walked all day. We left Friday morning at 10am and didn't get back to our room until 5pm - and we had a blast!

On Saturday we all went to see the Broadway musical Memphis. I didn't know too much about this prior to going but it was such a great show! We were in the 3rd row center and had an amazing experience!

Note: Don't mind my tired eyes in some of the following photos - being 33+ weeks pregnant and staying out until 1:30 am some nights isn't quite ideal!

(Rockefeller Tree first night)

(Nobu for lunch - Friday)

(View of sunset from our room)

(Dinner in Del Frisco's wine cellar)

(On our walk home from Saturday nights dinner)

(Time Square on walk back to hotel)

(What we came home to ;))

I'm sure I'm leaving something out - but you get the jist of our weekend! It was a lot of fun but tiring. I spent Monday recovering with a lot of rest!

33 week status

Last Wednesday (12/7) I had my appointment with Dr. K. I had a sitter come and watch Henry (even though daddy had a home office day - he can't really be on calls and watch the lil guy at the same time) and I'm super happy I made the decision. My appt was at 9:15am and only had to wait in the waiting room for like 5 minutes. Well once I got back to the room, the patient beside me had some sort of emergent event happen, therefore I had to wait a LONG time in the room. I didn't mind really, but if I had the little guy it would have been pretty painful.

BP: 120/80 - slightly higher than normal and fairly high for me, but still in the normal range

No protein in urine

Weight: I actually lost a pound (Yikes), total pregnancy weight gain - 14 lbs

Baby's HR: 159

So an hour or so later (after many apologies from the nurse), Dr. K walked it. He measured my belly and I'm currently measuring at 29 weeks - so about 4 weeks off (he contributes it to me be thin and having a long torso). Because of this I am getting an ultrasound this Thursday, along with starting weekly appointments. So this Thursday I will have my ultrasound, get my blood work done and have an appointment. Let's just hope that the baby is just tucked away in there and hasn't stopped growing! With this news I also get to start drinking Ensure Plus - who's jealous?? I also was told to rest more (hard to do with an almost 16 month old) and lay low on the exercising.

33 week photo:

(Don't mind the mess on the bathroom floor - that's what it looks like when I let Henry play while I try and get ready :))

31 Week Status ( a little early)

So I'm actually 30 weeks 3 days as of today, but close enough to 31 weeks. I had my regular appt with Dr. S today and for the most part it was uneventful.

BP: 100/60 - still great

No protein in urine

Heart rate: The baby was super active and initially it was in the 140s then would spike to the 160s while doing some sore of gymnastics move

Measurement: I'm measuring in at 28 weeks, so still small. She was going to order another ultrasound, but I then reminded her that I just had one a little over 2 weeks ago. We came to the conclusion that if it continues to happen we will get one next time. She thinks I just have a long torso and the baby is hiding very well.

Weight gain: I'm up 14 lbs

(Might be a little too much so skip if need be)

Symptoms: I thought I lost my mucus plug yesterday. It wasn't as drastic as it was with Henry, and it wasn't blood tinged so I was questioning it. I mentioned it to the doc so she checked my cervix and it's still closed - thankfully!! I've been having some mild cramping along with some BH contractions. I've also been having quite a bit of pressure down yonder - especially the days I run longer than normal.

Exercise: That leads us into this topic. Running is getting a lot harder for me this time around. I ran strong until 36 weeks last time, but now I'm only able to run 2 miles at a time and then walk some. I guess it's better than nothing.

Cravings: Nada except the need to drink water continuously which then causes me to have to use the restroom frequently

Aversions: I continue to have a hard time eating meat and I'm experiencing a lot of nausea lately - I think it's due to the baby's position

Sleep: I have some good nights, however lately I've been waking at 3ish and then continue to wake every 1/2 hour - frustrating!

This past weekend we went to the Poconos - the PA 'mountains.' They aren't really mountains, but exaggerated hills. We are looking to sell our beach house and possibly look into a 'mountain' house that could be used year round with a lake and skiing. They had a promotion to come look at property - so we took advantage of it and got away for the weekend. My parents came to our house to watch the lil guy on Saturday morning and we came home early Sunday afternoon. It's only a 2 hour drive away - so it's pretty convenient. We stopped at the outlets on the way up to grab some baby necessities at the Carter outlet and did some other Christmas shopping. Other than that we just enjoyed our relaxing afternoon/evening together. We were in bed by 9:30pm, but hey why not?!?

We took a couple of photos from our outdoor patio:

(Side View of Baby C #2)

(Front View of Baby C #2)

Now it's time to get back to getting the house ready for our 2nd Annual Turkey Day festivities. Enjoy the holiday :)

We have a 15 month old - Really??

Time just seems to be passing us by and I can't believe my baby is already 15 months old!!! He's definitely keeping us busy and on our toes.

Henry has given up the whole walking bit and just runs everywhere! He's also big into climbing on everything, including our couches, the coffee table and he can race up the stairs in no time!

We are working on our vocabulary and signing. Thus far he does a lot of his own language, but also incorporates words that Henry and I can understand too! If you count to 3 with him, he can't quite make out all the words, but mimics the same tone. His favorite word is more, along with signing it. We can now sign: more (and say it), all done (and say it), please (we're working on that vocab), thank you and we almost have drink down.

We've also been working on our colors and he recognize blue, green and sometimes yellow.

Henry also enjoys talking on the phone - his pretend phone that is (or one of my old ones - or actually anything for that matter). Henry (daddy) actually asked me a couple of weeks ago if something was wrong with Henry's ear, and I just explained that he's a popular person and has a lot of phone calls lately :)

(Stethoscope or phone - who knows??)

(Just doing his morning conference calls)

Weight: 21 lbs 10 oz (12.6% for age)

Height: 30 1/4 in (24% for age)

Food: Henry's favorite foods include but are not limited to: Strawberries, blueberries, bananas, avocados, pears, apples, sweet potatoes, green beans, peas, chicken (baked not fingers), grilled cheese, cheese, yogurt, oatmeal, vanilla wafers, graham crackers, and the list could go on. He's definitely our good eater!

Milk: We're currently advancing with our whole (cows) milk to formula ratio and he can now tolerate 6 oz whole milk to 2 oz formula - so happy he's tolerating it. I asked today at his appointment if I should be careful the next time around just to be ahead of the game and Henry's doc agreed that I should try and eliminate milk products from my diet. It's really not a huge deal to me since I drink Almond milk - the biggest part is that I love my yogurt :(

Sleep: With such a full belly from all is fav foods, he's been sleeping wonderfully! I put him down around 6:45p and he sleeps straight through until 6-8am. I had stopped with the sleep sacks around his 1st birthday, but with it getting cold again and him being a crazy sleeper, I've started to use them again! Another issue we're having once again is that if he does wake up early, he does so because he's soaked through his diaper, onesie and often his sleeper :( I've limited the amount of water the lil guy can have with dinner and it's working thus far - fingers crossed!

Teeth: He's currently working on his 7th and 8th tooth.

We're currently working on Henry understanding the work no, but he now just stands there and shakes his finger back at you - it's really hard to not laugh!!

Favorite toys: The swifter, vacuum, broom, rake - pretty much anything that's not a toy! He also loves playing with his tractors - making the noises and all!

(Trying on Daddy's boots)

(Henry's own boots - only 4 sizes too big)

(BIG helper)

(Will clean for free!)

A case of 'All Baby Syndrome'

...or that's what the Perinatologist called it anyway! So all news today was good. Baby is weighing in at around 2lbs 9oz at this point, putting him/her in the 53rd percentile! If I were to go full term that would make for a 7 lb baby - so right on track as to where I was with Henry. We got some great photos of Baby #2, but he/she would not move the hand above the left eye. He/She was swallowing and opening up his/her mouth. Heart rate this morning was at 132 bpm.

So now that we're done worrying about this aspect, here is a great face picture the tech captured this morning. With my 20 week ultrasound I thought the baby looked a lot like Henry, but I'm not seeing it anymore. Guess we'll know in 12 short weeks, give or take a week or two.

Forgive me for the horrible quality of this photo. Henry left yesterday and we totally forgot to take a pic of the belly this weekend.

28 week status

I had my 28 week appointment today, and since Dr. K was on call I went to another doc in the practice. What was planned to be an uneventful appointment, turned around on me. I arrived at 9:45am, left my sample and was called back immediately - which is always a plus.

No protein in the urine - great thing for my history!

BP: remained golden - 110s/60s

Weight gain: Thus far I've gained 11 lbs

I then went into the exam room and baby C's heartrate was in the 140s and he/she was kicking like crazy - the nurse and I were laughing

Once the nurse left, I heard she and the doctor chatting outside the room about platelets...yes there were other patients but I was almost sure they were talking about me. Dr. S came into the room and then asked me when I had HELLP (Hemolysis, Elevated Liver Enzymes and Low Platelets) syndrome last time. I then explained to her that it was at 38 weeks 3 days, my day of delivery. I've been trying to get my medical records from my prior practice for 22 weeks now, very frustrating!! She then explained to me that my platelets were low at 128 (normal is 150-400) and that I would need to get them rechecked at 34 weeks and at that point we'll keep an extra close eye on them. Remember, most anesthesiologists won't administer an epidural with platelets below 100. Not that I'm banking on that this time around, since last time I wasn't allowed with a platelet count of 60, just if I have to get induced again it's something to think about. Good thing from this news: The blood work was from my gestational diabetes test; which I passed!

Dr. S then proceeded to measure my belly. I measured at 25 weeks (which is exactly the same time I measured small last time around) so I am scheduled for an ultrasound this coming Friday morning. She assumes that it's just how I carry, but we're going to be on the safe side and check.

I could use a couple extra prayers and I will keep you all posted with my news this Friday.

Keep cooking Baby C!!

Happy Halloween

Better late than never...

Henry's first 'real' Halloween/trick or treating went pretty well. I mean last year we snuggled on the couch while daddy handed out candy - this year we actually made it out of the house. We didn't make it too far, but since trick or treating started at 6 pm (Henry's wind down period), I'd say it went better than expected!

(The hardest part of the night - getting this kiddo dressed)

(Our little lion...with his vacuum)

We made it to a whole 7 houses in our development, but we mostly talked with neighbors while Henry invited himself into each house to explore. One of our neighbors has a 4 year old son, and we're actually due with baby #2 within 4 weeks of each other. She was very thoughtful and made Henry a bucket full of baby treats that he could actually enjoy and a stuffed animal!

Henry was infatuated with Luke's costume - an astronaut! We played at their house for a while and then hit a few more houses before we got home.

Luke then made his way to our house and Henry proceeded to put the rest of our candy into Luke's bucket, one by one. Luke was loving the idea and so were we! One less piece of candy here for us to eat!

We then did bath time and Henry was in bed an hour later than normal, but he did pretty well Tuesday - just doubled up on the naps...and so did mommy!!

Henry's 1st 'real' haircut

Lil Cheeser

At Henry's 1st Birthday party we let Henry's father give lil Henry his first snip snip at the hair. It's sort of a tradition in the family so he did two snips above Henry's ears. Since then I had trimmed his bangs once so that he could see :). Well his hair was getting SO long that we had to do something about it. I found a place nearby call SnipIts where they specialize in children's haircuts...Perfect for a squirmy lil kiddo! It was a great experience - all the stations have tvs and they put on an age appropriate video. Henry was able to play with his own comb and a truck so he was happy as could be...no tears shed!

Curls-pre haircut

"Hold off mom, she's almost done. No distractions!"

Post haircut...and only a few waves left. Bye bye curls :(

All I have to say is that if we have a girl, she better be blessed with the same locks as lil Henry! He looks like such a big boy now, amazing what a haircut can do!