Basement Update

Electrical 90% complete...

Light switches hooked up...

TV cable strung...

Drywall 75% complete...

Lighting purchased...

1 eager little helper...

Anticipation high!

Riley's First Haircut

I decided that Riley had spent enough time with her mullet and took her to see her Great Aunt Bev for her very first haircut.  Riley was unsure about it for awhile, but after a week of talking about it she was ready for her "snip, snip, snip."  Since Aunt Bev is super hard to get into we decided to go when Grandma Sheryl was getting her hair done.  Riley sat and watched Aunt Bev "paint" Grandma's hair and played with the mannequin's hair until it was her turn.  I think it turned out great and so glad that we finally cut her hair!

 The "before" shot with Aunt Bev

 Such a good girl!

 Almost done. "someone hind me, mom."

 Getting her curls.

 So cute!

The back

Riley Nicole At 2 Years, 5 Months Old

Here's the run down:

• She has grown 2 inches since her birthday.  She is now 35 inches tall!  In inch shy of 3 foot tall.  I'm not sure how much she weighs, it's been awhile since I've had her stand on the scale at home.
• She is still wearing her size 5 and 6 shoes.
• She is wearing Size 2T pants and size 3T
• Favorite colors are blue and purple
• She is saying the funniest things.  My favorite is "um..I don't think so" or "Not yet."  This is usually her response to any potty questions. "Just one more."  This is usually her response to wanting to watch another show, sing another song before bed, or read another book.
• She loves play doh.
• She loves reading books and has them memorized in no time.
• I have been upgraded to "Mom" and Daddy is now "Dad."
• She has full conversations with her stuffed animals now.  She likes to have pretend conversations with her phones which usually end in "Mom, Dixie (Grandma's doggie) wants to talk to you."
• She is scared by any noise that she doesn't recognize.  She usually says "the monkey's comin!" and jumps in my lap.
• She went to her first movie in the theatre and loved it.
• When she wants her dad to get something for her she yells (at the top of her lungs!...with Dad in the same room) "BETTTTTTT! BETTTTTT!"  Hmmm, wonder where she's picked that one up from?  I blame it on the fact that our house is two stories.  Sometimes yelling is appropriate. :)
• The past two nights she's broken out in hives during her bath.  Who knows what from.  We started the Benedryl routine again.
• She loves to give Sam his "wude" (food)...really it's his treats.
• She has a hard time pronouncing Fs, Rs, and Ls.
• She always remembers who gave her what toy and makes sure to tell everyone.
• She never forgets something at Hedy's.
• She loves her preschool work books.  Tracing, counting, and colors are her favorite.  She's finally remember to add 5 in when counting from 1-10.
• She loves hidden picture puzzles.
• She love her Hi Lights magazine from Grandma and Grandpa Burch.
• She says "what" for "who."
• Her hair is growing like crazy and she looks like a mad woman most days.

Riley's New BIG Girl Bed

Like I mentioned before we decided to go ahead and transition Riley from her toddler bed to her full sized bed now.  I've been getting the bug to start cleaning out the room that will be the new nursery, which included the full size bed that it held.  So after a few days of looking for the perfect bedding (which I found at Target), Brett and I moved the big bed into Riley's room.  It is actually the purple version of the bedding that she had on her toddler bed.  Instead of buying a comforter, I decided to buy a quilt hoping that it will last longer with all the jumping on that it's going to take.  It is perfect.  I'm in love with it, and so is Riley.  While helping Mommy and Daddy put the bed together we heard a lot of "I'm so happy" from Riley.  She could barely sit still for 5 seconds (which really isn't out of the ordinary!)

Here's her new BIG big girl bed:

As you can tell, Riley loves it!:

IT'S A..........

GIRL!!!!!!!!!!

Daddy''s reaction:  A big smile and a "I knew it."
Mommy's reaction: Nonstop smiles, and a "I thought so too."
Big sister's reaction: A look that I read as "um, yeah.  I've been telling you this for three months.  Not new news to me, Mom!"  And, super excited for her baby to "come out."

Needless to say, we are super excited to have another girl and for Riley to have the sister that she's been wanting.  Since we are only planning to have two children we are a bit bummed that we won't have the opportunity to raise a little boy. But, we are elated for our little girl.

Here I am at 21 weeks:

What We've Been Up To In 2011

• We started potty training NYE weekend.  Riley loved the potty chart, stickers, prizes, and potty for a few days...then reality set in.  It's been a slow process and she isn't close to being 100% trained.  She loves to wear her princess pull-ups, but still needs to work on telling us when she needs to go.  We'll keep pushing forward.  I'm bound and determined to get her out of diapers before the baby arrives!
• We've been exploring water colors. 

•  We took Riley to her first movie in the theatre.  Last Saturday night we were out shopping for some new rugs, and saw that Yogi Bear was playing at the discount theatre.  Randomly, we decided to quit shopping, grab dinner at Carlos O'Kelly's, and make it to the 7:20 showing.  Riley loved the movie and popcorn, hated the sprite, and did great.  She thinks we need to go back every night to "see that bear in the theatre."
• Riley went to her friend, Carter's, 3rd birthday party at Monkey Joe's.  She loved jumping "really, really high."  She went down two of the big slides, once without me!  Both times with a smile and yelling "do again, do again."  We had a small accident where she fell off of a blow-up chair and hit her head on a table.  The tough girl that she is didn't even cry.  She kept telling me that she was scared that the monkey was coming and that made her fall.  Really she walked off of the chair as my head was turned.  Surprisingly, the bump was barely visible by the time she went to bed that night, and pretty much gone by morning.
• We've been making preparations for Riley new big girl bed.  We decided to transition her crib into the full size bed.  It only makes sense.  We have a full size bed in our guest room, that will soon be the new nursery.  Rather than haul it down to the basement to be stored we are going to move it in to Riley's room.  This will also allow us to not have to purchase a mattress for baby's crib.  Riley has her new bedding and loves it!  Hopefully I'll get some pictures when it is all done.  She requested blue bedding, so we compromised with purple.
• We've been playing with a lot of play doh.  It's the new favorite toy these days.  It seems to keep Riley entertained for at least an hour every night, which allows me some time to read The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest - or cook dinner. :)
• Brett's been working on the basement finishing.  We are so close and I'm so excited to get it completed before the baby comes.  So far, we have all of the framing done, some dry wall up.  Next up, electrical - which should be run/installed in the next few weeks.  It will be nice to move toys down to the basement and to be able to have kids with me in the basement while I work out on maternity leave.



• We've been relaxing and remembering what it is like to have NOTHING to do!  All Christmas decorations are put away, and I've moved on to eating Valentine's candy.  Riley is still singing Frosty The Snowman nonstop.
• We helped Riley make snow angels...headless snow angels.  We dressed he up in last years snug snow pants, stretchy gloves, and boots that aren't made to be snow boots and she loved it!


• Now, I'm just waiting patiently for tomorrow morning at 8:30 for our ultrasound!!!! I'm super excited, to say the least!

20 Week Update

I'm officially 20 weeks along in this pregnancy.  Here's a run down of what's going on:

• Had my first progesterone shot on Monday. More on that below.
• Ultrasound is scheduled for Jan. 13th.  Super excited!!!
• I pulled the line "I've done this before.  This is my second child." when the receptionist tried to give me reasons to wait to schedule an ultrasound until 24 weeks.  Yeah, I know.  I just wasn't in the mood, and the doctor said I could schedule it anytime. So there.  This is the second time I've used this line.  The first being the cashier at Motherhood telling me that I shouldn't wear heals.  Seriously, you would think people that work around pregnant women would realize that hormones are raging and you just don't mess with them! OK, next.
• Seeing a "practice" of doctors, and not just one doctor, has proven to be frustrating, confusing, and a hassle.  Also, more on this below.
• I started exercising again.  I'm attempting to walk 2 miles at least 4 times a week.  So far this week, I'm up to 4 miles.
• Christmas helped me gain 6 pounds. Yikes! Hence, the new exercise routine.
• This baby is moving a lot!  He/she seems to kick down and inward - if that is even possible.
• For some reason, I've been obsessed with listening to talk radio.  Usually sports talk radio.  I think I might be channeling BOY.  But, I've felt like it is a girl all along.
• Overall, I feel great.  I do get tired pretty easily and seem to fall asleep well before my usual 10 pm bedtime.
• I discovered Oprah's new network and am preparing myself for lots of Oprah while on maternity leave.
• My belly is measuring 38 1/2 inches around. Yes, I really measured.  I'm one inch bigger than when I carried Riley.
• Riley is very concerned about where her baby is.  Whenever I point to my tummy she shakes her head no and frowns.  She thinks my boobs are where her baby is.  This will make for a funny story when she's older. 

Progesterone (HP17) update:

When I was at the doctor on December 8th he said that I would get my first HP17 infection at my next scheduled visit (Dec. 29th).  He said that the nurse would order it and I would get it when I was in for my doctor's appointment.  He also said that he was fairly certain that insurance would pay for them.

I showed up on the 29th for my scheduled appointment (with a different doctor, of course).  He reviewed all of my risk factors, and went on about how "spontaneous early rupture" itself, is not a risk factor, but that blah blah and blah were so there was the option of the HP17 injections.  I said that the last doctor said that I would begin to receive them this week. He then proceeded to tell me all about the studies on progesterone and that if I were his wife he would probably not recommend them because he is a "skeptic."  Really? Now, we were totally confused.  Brett and I decided that 2 out of the 3 doctors recommended the injections so we were going to stick to our game plan and do the weekly injections.  There are no proven ill effects to the baby and just a few side affects to the mother.

The doctor had his nurse check to see if the HP17 had been ordered, which it hadn't.  I proceeded to tell them this isn't the first time that something hasn't been done correctly this time around and explained that I had to have my blood work done twice since the nurse never labeled my first batch.  Which also means, the patient get stuck paying TWO blood work co-insurance payments.  All for the nurses mistake.

On my way home from the appointment I received a call that the HP17 had been ordered and should be ready to pick up that day.  I picked up the medication, which is not covered through my insurance and scheduled my appointment for January 3rd. And here I am. 20 week into a pregnancy, taking extra hormones, wondering if it is truly the best things for me. 

Progesterone side effects:

• Stinging at injection site.  The HP17 shot is an oily substance. [CHECK - for 24 hours]
• Nausea [CHECK - on and off]
• Constipation
• Extra moodiness [Not that I've noticed...ask my husband]
• Extra body hair [I sure hope not!]
• Spontaneous weight gain [Please no...I don't need help with this.  Eating Lean Cuisines for lunch hoping I stay out of the chocolate]
• Other symptoms that are rare and that I hopefully won't encounter. [So far, so good]

So there you have it. Next week, we'll know what Riley gets.  A baby brother. Or a baby sister.  Right now, she's only agreeing to a baby sister.