Week 22: Wild Child

We are on week 22 of pregnancy and counting down the days till meeting miss Eleanor! She had become quite the wild child in the recent weeks with her constant kicking at all times of the day and night! All that kicking and Daddy still hasn't been able to feel her move. She must not only be a wild child but also a little stubborn too! 

Luckily for Mommy the Zantac has been working tremendously so far and I have not experienced any more gallbladder attacks since taking it! Ahh what a relief it is! And just in the knick of time considering the cravings are still out of control and no they are not craving for salads or fruits and veggies but yet only junk food and things of that nature! Oops! 

CRAVINGS: Anything sweet!! Lots of chocolate and Yoo-Hoos! Ahh those Yoo-Hoos, just can't get them in my belly fast enough!

FEELINGS: Sleep has been horrible! I wake up every hour pretty much because I feel like someone is sticking a steel rod in my hip...I definitely do not remember feeling this way this early on with my first little! I may just have to break down and buy one of those expensive prego pillows for sleep! This is for the birds! And just think I still have 17 weeks left of feeling that way! Yikes!!

Flying with a toddler: Helpful Tips

A spur of the moment Tuesday decision to fly 4 states away on Wednesday morning with our 16 month old was one that didn't quite hit me and my type A personality until about 6 pm when I rushed home after work to pack for our family of 3 plus 1! I had to think quickly on what to pack on the plane and what to pack for the visit, that may not have all been a bad thing considering I would typically dwell on the idea for months prior to going! This time on the other hand dewelling was not an option since we had a plane leaving the next morning at 6:00am! My little had never flown before so I was not sure how he would do so I went with the assumption that he would not be happy and his ears would bother him the entire flight however, we were pleasantly surprised that on the first flight he fell asleep just before take off and slept virtually the entire time. Oh the second connecting flight however, was another story! He was ready to get out of that tight space and burn off all that energy! This is where what I packed for the flight came in handy! Here are some helpful tips I used to keep him occupied and happy as best as I could...

1. PACK PLENTY OF SNACKS: We found on our connecting flight that food was what made him happy, I thought if we had him chewing it would help with his ears to pop on the way up and the way down! Plus a plan to get breakfast between connecting flights may be changed if or when your first flight gets delayed like ours did!

2. BRING THE COMFORT: Ours is a pacifier! My little LOVES his paci! This is kind of a given that you pack the one thing that you find calms your little but just in case, don't forget it in the bags you check!

3. GATE CHECK A SMALL STROLLER: In addition to carrying all your luggage you will also be lugging your toddler if you are not prepared with a small stroller. The airline makes it easy to hand off your stroller to the attendant right at the time of boarding that way it's waiting on you as soon as you get off the plane and head to baggage claim! 

4. DRESS COMFY: This goes for all parties involved! Your toddler will be much happier in comfortable clothing and so will you! After all, being "wallered" by a toddler on a small plane is NOT fun especially if you are having clothing malfunctions at the same time! Let's face it, you will be bending down to grab the dropped popcorn puffs and toy car that was just launched and having New York Wall Street guy in the row behind having to look at your undies as you do so would not be the ideal situation!

5. TAKE A BLANKET: I packed one of his softest comfy blankets. I am notorious for being cold while flying and I assume so children are also! While he was sleeping it was nice for him to be extra comfortable with his blanket! 

6. USE A BACKPACK: My diaper bag happens to be a backpack, if yours is not, I would suggest using a backpack instead! The backpack made getting to and from gates much easier! Plus once you go to pick up the checked luggage you will need all the free hands you can get!

Here are a few pics from our flight! I will warn you...you will see no pictures from the second flight due to the close quarters and nature of attitude lol! All of these tips were in few swing leaving no time for pictures!

Hope these tips help you like they did me! Good luck on your flight! 

Week 20: 1/2 Way There!

We have made it to the half way point! Only 20 weeks to go! Our littleist love is growing wonderfully and by the looks of things is going to be our little wild one! She loves to kick during the entire day including when I'm trying to sleep! 

My goal for the next 20 weeks is to write a weekly post on this pregnancy! Fingers crossed I can keep with it!😁 Always easier said than done!

CRAVINGS: 

Anything sweet! I <3 chewy sweet tarts! Still eating several bowls of froot loops a week! Stearing away from drinking big red fountain pops may be the death of me! And anything nice and greasy sounds delish!

FEELINGS: 

This is where all the above means major TROUBLE! I am feeling terrible a lot of the time! Boy did that little Sawyer spoil me! The past few weeks have been anything but nice! We have concluded that I am having gallbladder attacks! Ugh yes I know NOT fun at all! The doctor has advised me to take a Zantac everyday and watch my diet closely to see what triggers the attacks! So far the past two days have been much better, I have been watching what I eat and taking the Zantac. Praying that continues to work! The next step would be cutting out any dairy and greasy fatty foods! Aka all the major craving I want! Bummer! 

PREPARING FOR BABY:

Big brother Sawyer loves giving the baby kisses and "trying" to jump on mommys belly! He also has had a slight confusion in just who carries the baby sister. He was loving on Daddy the other day while playing in his bedroom floor and started kissing his belly saying baby! As you can imagine we found a lot of humor in that and he seemed very confused as to what was so funny! Trying to explain that the baby is in Momma's belly to a 16 month old is vertually impossible!😂

Here is an updated belly pic for the week!

Enjoy your week!!

XoXo- Ashley

Tips On Surviving Pregnancy With A Toddler.

We all know pregnancy at times can be challenging to say the least. At times you feel as though if you don't sit or lay down that all hell may break loose, this is indefinitely challenging when you have a toddler running around! Napping like you did perhaps with the first little is no longer an option! You find yourself running on WAY less energy than you ever thought possible! I often wonder how I will make it until bedtime without clasping! Here are a few tips on how to survive that exhaustion...

Plan ahead.

I often try and plan out my days for the entire week. We will run errands on Monday, I work on Tuesday, story time at the library on Friday and so on. Being sure to have no activities during nap time also allows me to have the option to nap with my toddler. This doesn't always happen but being sure to at least plan for his naps help him be in a happier mood when he is up and ready to roll!

Lower your standards.

I have a type A personallity with a low tollerance for things not going according to plan. This is a huge issue for me right now! I have had to teach myself to lower my standards, your house work will still be there after you rest or complete those wifley duties! No one should expect you to constantly keep a perfect home and a perfectly dressed toddler! Easier said than done and I believe I will spend the rest of my pregnancy attempting to make myself believe this! But the most important thing right now is to be healthy and rested for the little miracle growing inside and also be a good Momma to your toddler! None of which can happen is you are constantly drained of energy!

Use your resources.

Obviously your husband is first on the list. It's show time for him! Stepping in at this point is key in the success of a easier pregnancy. My little was a huge Momma's boy from the time he was born however, as he gets older and now that I am pregnant and not as energetic at Daddy most days he is now becoming glued to Daddy's hip! Seeing their relationship grow is heartwarming to say the least and will be necessary when the new baby is here and taking up a lot of my time with nursing! Grandparents also play a key roll in this, after all chances are your toddler will have to stay with someone while your in the hospital having baby #2 so why not let them get accustom before the big change gets here leaving you fealing less guilty about it later when hormones are at their peak!

Make it short and sweet.

Trips to town are exhausting! Pregnant or not pregnant! With a toddler getting in and out while running around town can sometimes feel like a nightmare...buckling and unbuckling and the list goes on! Getting all your groceries in the store, checking out, and then loading them all in the car is equally exhausting! Don't make town trips any longer than needed! I try and plan out every trip with where is our first stop down to where is our last and if possible most important to least important. Toddlers are unpredictable as so is pregnancy! If you go to town with a must do, do it first if possible that way should something arise you have the option of planning the rest of your stops for another day if need be!

Have mommy time.

After having your first little this probably sounds humerous to say the least! What is mommy time you ask? Perhaps this means simply going to the grocery on your own, cleaning house while it's empty, or my personal favorite...pedicures at the nail salon while enjoying a chocolate milkshake! Ahh that's the ticket! Whatever mommy time means to you....have it, enjoy it, soak it up like a hot summer day! Knowing how much "me time" lacks after having 1 little, I can only assume it lacks that much more having a 2nd! So enjoy it while you can!;)

Good luck Momma's! Here's to pregnancy round two!;)

Xoxo- Baby Momma x2

wood floors on a budget.

Happy February ya'll! A happy February indeed it is for our family as we have moved into our farmhouse! The old beauty is far from done but...liveable, and that's all that really matters to us! I wanted to take some time today to talk about our wood flooring! We have had a lot of compliments since laying it and a lot of "wish we could afford to lay wood" well peeps do I have some news for you! You can! My husband and I spent countless hours searching for the perfect dark stained, hand scraped, wood flooring and found plenty, by plenty I mean TONS that fit our criteria! There was just one little problem...the beautiful hand scraped Amish made flooring that we both adored would cost $20 a SQUARE FOOT! Wowza!! Um I'm not mathematician BUT we needed a mere 850 sq ft for our living/kitchen/dining area  and common sense tells me that my pockets are far from being able to dig for that! So...back to the drawing board it was, when my husband made a miraculous find! He found that if we buy cabin grade tongue and groove flooring from a local dealer that is was SUBSTANTUALLY cheaper! Now buying cabin grade comes with some side effects as many of the boards have knicks and such but that's the style we prefer, we prefer the old barn, perfectly inprofectioned wood that looks old and ruged without hurting baby toes of course! After all our last flooring in our previous house was made out of plywood! You can see that blog post by  clicking here! We found our flooring for only $1.79 a sq ft! Click here to check out the website where we ordered our flooring! Which was actually cheaper than the carpet we put in the bedrooms! We layed it directly on top of our old original wood flooring that we were sadly unable to refinish!

What we used:

Finish Nail gun (we originally wanted a nail gun to do tongue and grove flooring however, were not able to find one so a regular nail gun and steady hand careful to not ruin the board it was)

16 gauge 2 inch nails 

A Hammer

1 awesome cousin that helped TREMENDOUSLY named Ryan;)

In the end I couldn't be happier with the results! And even more so I couldn't be happier and more proud to say we did so much for so little! Here are a few pictures of our wood flooring project from the beginning to the end!

Don't let this picture fool ya, I only lasted about 10 rows!