Day 199

WOW - we are in the 100's now! I'm sure that the numbers are inaccurate and there will be a extension (because there is always a extension). I hope everyone was able to take advantage of the great bargains that were about this weekend! I for one found a great deal for Little Man at ToysRus and he ended up with another item. I swear I was done shopping for him in October but somehow I just keep slowly adding.  So I found this 2 n 1 Activity table that was one side has a smooth surface and the other has a LEGO side. It comes with two chairs and was on sale for $29.99 but originally $49.99. The husband and I thought it was a great deal so I went to the store and picked it up Monday. The only cyber thing I bought Monday was undies from Victoria's Secret massive sale. 10 pairs for $37.50! Totally overstocked but that's ok.

Over the weekend little man got his Christmas photo's done. I decided to skip the mall scene and find a independent photographer, who happens to be a friend, who was having a Santa present. I got a couple of previews today and they are amazing!! She takes the most amazing pictures of little man! Too bad I already got our Christmas cards done because both of these could have been easy picks! {Side note: I used shutterfly for our Christmas cards this year & used a coupon for 50% off.. couldn't beat it! We will also be revealing baby #2's name in the cards.. so I'm excited to get those mailed out!}
                                                                             

Back to Little Man:

I mean he is adorable!! I love the pictures, I love the fact that she used his own stocking and I love that Santa is reading him a Dr Suess story. My friend does a great job in capturing his personality too. I love that she's really laid back and just lets him do his thing with the props that she provides. The only thing I would change is having the year somewhere in the picture. The mall Santa has the year printed on their pictures but that's small potatoes.

Gosh, he is growing up so fast! In a short couple of weeks we will start potty training.. seriously.. where is the time going?? He was just a 'wittle' baby a couple of days ago. 

Speaking of babies.. little bro had a visit Monday. His heartbeat was 150, I have gained 2 whole pounds in 17 weeks (which i'm worried about but the Dr didn't say anything). I have my glucose test this Saturday (I gotta take mine early since I had the whole preg Diabetes thing with Little man). We have our anatomy scan on Dec 21st, which Dad will be here for (so excited about that!) and we don't go back until Jan 5th!
I started on his nursery & I'm super excited on how awesome everything is turning out. The room is completely painted (as seen to the right) I bought the bedding over the weekend during all the super sales because it was all on sale. Most of the bedding has already arrived and I'll post a picture once it all is here. The instructions for the decals says I need to wait 30 whole days for the paint to dry before applying them.. crazy sauce. I wish I had known that because I am dying to put everything all together.. well what I can anyway.

So as soon as the paint is dry I get to recreate the whole 'transportation' decals all over again. {I have to admit that I even bought more decals because I didn't have enough cars}((my husband is going to kill me.. shhhh). I bought the dump truck set separately because it came with his name & I had the intention of creating a whole durt scene. So I went back and bought more cars and a couple more airplanes and a couple more tree's. I only got one tree so I needed a couple more, Oh and I bought more gray roads.. I just didn't have enough. The cars actually lay on the gray road so the cars will be placed differently than shown. It's going to be fun putting all of this together.
I knew I couldn't compete with Little man's Dr Suess theme but this is just as fun! I love the bold primary colors, I love that he can grow into this theme and I don't have to change it as he gets older because it's babyish. Oh, and that green.. is the exact same green we used for little man's room & I think that's pretty awesome!! So I'm very happy with all the things coming together.

With all being said.. we are in a good place right now. The baby is growing and everything seems good. Little man is thriving and growing; which is a blast to watch. I beat myself up a lot because my house is not clean enough, or I feel like Little man should be doing more..I know I have some area's that I need to work on but overall I think we are good.  There is a imaginary pressure to keep up or to out do other parents and kids - but I try really hard to just let it flow. I do think I have been really relaxed on boundaries but I also feel he's too young to really understand what a boundary is. So.. I really teeter totter on a things like that. However boundaries are going to really come into play with potty training after Christmas. It's hard being a single, pregnant, parent. I'm tired all the time but I keep going for little man. I do take naps instead of mopping or vacuuming. I do need to exercise more, which will be great for the both of us. SO I can admit that improvements could be made but I'm really happy at where we are at the moment.

Ok that's all for nights, it's almost midnight. I gotta get some sleep. Have a great day & I'd love to hear what deals you go over the weekend.

Day 201

I can't believe we just went through Thanksgiving! Can you? I hope that everyone had a great Thanksgiving holiday & that we are all geared up for Christmas. I just honestly can't believe that we are going to be saying goodbye to 2016 in a few short weeks!! Weeks!

I have finally started the decor process of the babies room. We are going with a Transportation theme. I bought a couple of decals off of Etsy & they have arrived already. I went and bought the paint colors and I even ordered the bedding. I am so excited and ready to start putting this room together! I really need to figure out how to add depth and details to my wall. I am no artist but I'll figure it out.

I have reached week 17 in my pregnancy and I'm tired. I don't feel I eat adequately enough & strangely enough I'm rarely hungry. I don't really crave anything and that freaks me out. I'm thankful that I have a Dr's appointment tomorrow because I'm mildly worried about this. We can only eat frozen pizza, salads, and pasta enough. Ok, we aren't that bad.. I just remember specifically craving certain foods at this point with Little Man. I can get a Jamba Juice smoothie everyday and be prefectly content. I can eat some popcorn everyday and be content and lord knows I love a good salad - but I did before my pregnancy. I seriously have to stop and make sure I have eaten that day because I'm never really hungry.. isn't that odd? I also am lacking on the H2O consumption and I gotta really work on that. I try really hard to drink the required amount of water.. honestly I do. Then along comes a distraction like Milk (lord I can't get enough milk), Sprite (I love sprite while pregnant) and Root beer (it's caffeine free).

I'm probably just worrying for nothing. I'm sure everything is fine. I'm really stressed with completing this room, with the husband coming home for Christmas (only for a week) and getting ready for Christmas while chasing a 16 month old.. while 17 weeks pregnant. Feel sorry for me yet? lol well please don't. I need to work on the declutter factor of my house too. I have a lot to complete and accomplish. Maybe I have too many irons on and that's why I feel so overwhelmed. Plus it's all me. It's just me and that in it's self can be very stressful.

Well I'm off to bed early tonight. I am planning on painting part of the babies room tomorrow evening after little man goes to bed. I also have to finish prepping and have to go to a Dr's appointment in the afternoon. Wish me luck!

Hope everyone is doing good! I'd love to hear from you - so please don't be shy and leave a comment.

Day 206.

I'm happy to say that the dates on the blog are wrong because the husband got approved for Christmas leave!! So we have a little over  27 days!!! Merry Christmas to us! I'm really excited because I didn't think they'd let them come home! 

I also had mentioned that we found out gender of the baby & yesterday I announced gender to the social media world. I am very happy to say that....

I was really shocked because I thought we were having a girl. I was wrong and I'm super excited it's another boy. With that being said I'll announce his name here first since I shared gender on instagram & instagram. The name we have chosen is: 

Michael Christopher. 

As far as news: 

My birthday was yesterday & I turned 25 again - lol. 

My brother was in port here for a week & I was very happy to get to spend time with another adult.

I already put up my Christmas tree & lights on the house. (When you have help you utilize it)

I've decided that I don't care that my floors don't sparkle like they used too because I'm just too tired to really care. I have put together a list of things to complete for the day & if they don't get done - we'll that's ok. My OCD really freaks out every once in awhile but I'm only one person. One person who is taking care of a 16 month old and currently creating another. My support system is on social media not IRL so I do what I can with what I can. 

Well that's all I really have well today. I know I haven't really posted a whole lot but I can only do what I can do! I am excited to get some Christmas cards done though. I gotta get those ordered here pretty soon. I hope everyone has an amazing Thanksgiving holiday! 

Day 214

It is harder to write a post everyday when you aren't really doing anything exciting - lol.
I'm writing during nap time because the evening writing sessions get harder and harder to do.

Last Monday we went to a fun inside play area called "Funbelievable" & little man had the best time. So we are going again today as soon as he wakes up from his morning nap. They have a "hero" monday special - so all firefigher, officer and military families get in for $5. It helps him burn off energy, play with other kids & I'm all for that. You can only spend enough time at home.. ya know?
My plan is to put this on the calendar for Monday's so he can go and play. The social skills are so important & getting out of the house is too. Bonus is they have a snack bar (with a working kitchen) and they have a ton of couches for the parents to just sit back and let the kids play. Little man still needs to be watched really closely, obviously, but it's nice that I can sit on the couch and watch him in the ball room or while he's in the infant area (as pictured).
I really like this place - a lot!

So this weekend we went to a birthday party - It was so much fun! There was about 8 or 9 boys running around. There was a set of twins that were a couple of months older than little man - oh man they hit it off right away! One of the twins, S, was really interested in playing with little man. Halfway through they put down these pillow mats (you know the ones from pinterest with the pillows in the sewn together pillow cases) and let the boys be boys. It was adorable! Since little man doesn't have a older sibling to rough house with, he got taken down quite a bit. He laughed the whole time & he just had a great time! 

It was great to see him, again, acting like a kid. He needs to be around kids his age so he can learn. I really want to get to know the twins Mom so we can have bi-weekly play dates. I think it is so important for little man esp now that he'll be a big brother.


We have also started instituting outside play time. I bought him a jungle gym for his birthday that we haven't really played with. I got that out the other day and set up a little water area too. He wasn't interested in the jungle gym or the water area - he just was so happy to be bouncing his bouncy balls around! He kicked the ball then would chase after it. He had a great time for a little while & then got tired of being outside. It just made me realize that he's at that age where I need to start really creating activities for him to do. I have a board on pinterest just for this but we haven't really done a whole bunch of them. It's hard to not think of him as a baby still but he's not. He's almost 18 months old... he'll be two before I know it. So I've got to start really paying attention to his developmental surroundings and allowing him to really get creative and learn to play. Our Y has a Mommy & Me time on Tuesdays - we used to attend it all the time! He was just too young for the class but now I think we can start back and really get involved.

Being a parent is a lot harder than it seems. These kids are constantly growing and it's so important for them to soak up as much as they can when they are little. They learn so much from newborn to five - it's important that he gets involved and starts really learning how to play and interact with other kids. Being a single parent right now - a single pregnant parents - i'm not always on top of it but I know for him it's important so I'll make the time and put in the effort. Well I'm going to try and get a nap in while he naps. Gotta get my energy up so I can really do these things I was just talking about.

Day 218

I have more to add from yesterday's post but I'm going to try and give it a rest. God knows I'm sure we are all really tired of hearing so much about the election & how we have the wrong president - elect. I can't roll my eyes enough - speaking of rolling eyes; they need to add that to the emoji's on facebook. I swear I could have used the eye rolling emoji instead of a heart or laughing or angry face.

So little man has decided that he'll take a morning nap but he wont take a afternoon nap anymore. That is killing me! By 2:30 my body is done and i need a nap. I know the 2nd trimester you are supposed to have more energy but dude I need to get a nap too. SO I guess I'm going to have to change nap time to the mid mornings (11:3-1) instead of trying to make it until 3. I know, life is difficult.. lol

Nothing else much to report. I'm constantly on the go. cleaning, cooking, picking up essentials, trying to create fun things for little man. I'm concerned that at all most 16 months he isn't really talking much. So we are working on names, like the dogs names. He does a really good job at recognizing animals but not saying their names or the sounds they make. I'm sure it's a little early but I guess it's better to stay on top of it then worry when we are behind it.

I gotta a couple of big items to remove from the babies room. So I'm going to get a crew together, or try, so that I can get started painting this room in before the first of December.

Well my battery is going to die so I'm out for today. I hope everyone has had a great week.

Day 219

Man it took forever to receive this laptop charger!! I'm so glad that it's back & I couldn't have arrived on a better day - IMO.

I'd like to catch you up on the 8 days that we missed. To be honest you really didn't miss that much, my life isn't that exciting. Little man & I both got haircuts - I even had a friend come watch little man so I could relax and take some time off. It was very weird to not have my little guy with me but really needed time away!! The following Saturday, the 5th, I asked another friend to watch little man so I could attend a 'girls night out'. I went out with a group of ladies that I met during chief season & we had a great time!! Again, it was time off that I really needed. On Monday I had a ultrasound for baby #2 out in town so we could find out gender. but I will share a ultrasound picture with you all.

I am not going to share gender with you today - you'll just have to wait until for the reveal. So that pretty much catches us up on all the things I haven't blogged about in the last couple of days.

So before I go I wanted to try and lightly touch on the election. I know, I know. We are all so tired of talking, reading and hearing about it.. but I have couple of things to say. First off - I wasn't able to vote because the county in Texas I was registered to vote in didn't add me to the mail in ballet list. By the time I called it was after the registration deadline; so unless I was taking a roadtrip to vote.. it wasn't happening. I was livid. I have followed this whole process from the beginning and I was very devastated that my vote wouldn't count. So before you call me yelling about our elected 45th president .. please remember that I didn't have a chance to vote.

I was all aboard the "Make America great again" slogan because: 

We do need change.
I want my kids to be able to play outside, ride their bikes in the neighborhood & not be scared.
I want my kids to try out for a play or a sport and not just get the part.
I want them to feel the pride of winning or the determination of failure.
I want my kids to learn the way they need to not be put in a certain box and expected to perform like everyone else.
I don't want them to learn to a test that determines where they rank but what will help them learn more.
I'd like children to learn to respect all walks of life, all races, all genders, and especially their elders. Our kids don't really learn that anymore & it starts at home but continues to grow in school.
I don't want to pressure my kids to go to college (it will be encouraged) especially if they aren't good in school - so the thought of having a trade school to follow back on would be great! I mean let's face it we aren't all great in school & most families can't afford college even though it's required.  
I don't want to be scared to go somewhere with my kids. Sadly that happens a lot because you never know how people are going to respond. That's so scary.
I want to take the sex and the inappropriate stuff off of TV, or at least make it all after 7pm. We can't teach our kids to respect other genders if we aren't respecting it because they learn through us.

With that - you don't know what people will say to your kids (or to you in front of your kids) - it's like we don't have filters anymore. Sadly we have come so far from the basic manners & respect that it's infuriating. I don't want my kids to be social piranha's by being so different but you want them to have respect and manners. You want them to excel and grow individually and become the people they are meant to be.

So I don't agree 100% with the views of Trump or with Hillary but Trumps slogan really made me think. Our country needs a good wake up call but I'm not sure Trump is the one who's going to start the domino effect. That's up to us.. the people.. to bring us back to what used to be and make some upgrades to the system. It may seem far fetched but I think winning the election was far fetched to Trump when he started this too. I may not have voted for the man but he is our Commander in Chief now.. so good or bad we should stand together as a nation and support our country.

227 days

Thankfully - today was a hell of a lot better then yesterday.
I was really excited that Bella slept out of her crate last night and didn't tear anything up!! Of course she made up for that later by getting two pairs of VS undies & my fav sun glasses. This dog is really testing my patience & I'm getting worried it's in prep for baby #2.

I bought a "saline fetal doppler" after my last appointment & I woke up this morning excited to give it a try - again. It was a great way to start my day to be honest & I found the babies heart beat right away!   That energized my morning enough that I was able to get some basic house chores done. I thought I had a hair appointment for little man today but due to miscommunication - it's tomorrow. So we ended up going back to Target to return the purchases that I didn't actually leave with. I also had the intention in going to the San Diego Public Library but the Target trip took so long that we didn't make it.

Just so you know - if you leave paid for items at Target & come back they will make you wait while loss prevention finds the purchase on camera. Then after he confirms that you left your purchase you can either go get the exact items to take home OR they can give you a gift card for the purchase amount. They will not refund an item that didn't 'actually' leave their store even through it's been paid for. That really ticked me off - considering both items left behind were for Halloween. So after some arguing they let me trade the two items for other items for the same amount. I was really hoping for a refund considering I didn't want or need anything. So that's how that works.. just don't leave your purchases at a store - lol.

The worst part of Halloween being over is all the ghost shows that plague the channels - I love watching them & I'm really sad they are all over.  I'm eager to take down the few decorations that I have up. I'm not a huge Halloween fan so the whole dress your house up is lost on me, but I'm trying for my kids who will love it. I just want to keep cleaning and reorganizing before it's time to start Christmas decor. To be honest.. I usually go all out on Christmas but I'm tempted to not put any decorations up. I'll be 20 weeks pregnant, by myself & with a 18 month old. Chances are I'll be fighting little man with the tree & I'm not really looking forward to that. I can, however, put up all the other decorations that aren't in his reach. OR I could put the tree up, put up the lights on it (which is my favorite part) and leave it bare. hmmm.

One last quick thing - I'm really in love with the new Starbucks holiday cup! I love the idea of something new & unique! I love that they are showing a community of togetherness & I can't believe how much outrage this has caused. Are people that petty that they have to complain about a company's 'good intention' design?  I had to look up the meaning of the cups design and I was so happy to ready that it has nothing to do with this stupid election. It's like last year all over again!! So Silly. {If you haven't read the article from Starbucks then you should before place judgement - NBC}

Tomorrow we have little man's 2nd hair cut & I really should try to make it to the library to exchange those books. I'd rather find a play area for little man to go and enjoy - I'll look into that after I wrap up this post. How exciting. Hope everyone had a great 1st of Nov!