Stroller decision

I decided to buy my cousin's Graco Duo Glider b/c she lowered her price and made it a deal I just couldn't pass up. I think I will just start off with that stroller and then buy just the single Sit 'n Stand when Grace is really ready for it and I'm ready for her to be able to get in and out of the stroller. I guess I'll just have to get over the large size and bulkiness of the stroller. It really is a nice stroller and a blessing to find it for so cheap!

Thanks again Leigh!

Question

We are dying to know what we having. I can't imagine waiting the full 9 months to know what you having. How do our mothers and grandmothers wait that long?? The planner in me wants to already start getting things ready, buying things, etc.

So just curious... Was the Chinese Lunar Calendar right for the sex of your children?

It was right for Grace, but I don't know if that was just luck. Afterall, it is just a 50-50 guess. Anyway, just wanted to poll you ladies and see what I got. Click on this link HERE to go to a calendar if you haven't ever done one.

Oh and for this pregnancy it says I'm going to have a girl. But I'm really feeling boy... who knows. I guess I'll know this week. Either way we would be excited, we just want to know. And of course we want to know that the baby is healthy and growing like he/she should be!

Thanks again for the stroller recs. I still have no clue which I'm going to go with. I also had another friend recommend a Combi double b/c they are pretty compact. Who knows!

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Update to above post:
We are suppose to have my ultrasound on Tuesday morning, however my OB just had his gall bladder out and had a few complications. He is the one that does all my ultrasounds so I'm suppose to call on Monday and see if I need to reschedule. At worst, if my appointment gets moved it will just be to Thursday when he has a ultrasound tech in his office. I'm really hoping my OB is well... he is pretty young and has never been out of the office for this long (4 weeks) in the 4 years he has been practicing. He has actually delivered every one of his patients babies except for 5! But now of course that changed.

Double Strollers here I come!

Okay so I need a little help from mamas of 2 or more. As many of you know I'm expecting our second baby in March... just 2 weeks after my daughter celebrates her 2nd birthday! We use our strollers (we have 3... an umbrella, the big travel system, and a jogging stroller) all the time!

I can't imagine that in 5 months that my daughter is going to miraculously be able to walk independently while we are out and about, while the baby takes a ride in the stroller. Thus we need a bigger stroller. However, most double strollers are HUGE!

The Graco Duo Glider is the one I was leaning towards at first, but it is still just so big when it is folded down. I currently drive an Accord so its not like I have loads of storage space in my trunk. One good thing about the Duo Glider is that my cousin is selling hers, which is in great condition, for a great price of $100. But new I could get one from about $150.

Then I found the Sit 'n Stand Elite Double Stroller. It goes from a traditional double stroller (like the Duo Glider), but when your older child is ready it converts to a Sit 'n Stand where the older child has the option to sit on bench or stand. And it really isn't that pricey at just under $200.

There are also so many other brands and choices. I'm just really so confused. Thankfully I have a while before I have to make any big decisions, but I just wanted to see what else is out there that I might not know about.

So what has worked for you or what do you think would work for you if you don't have 2 kiddos yet. Thanks for your help!

Miss Pris

My little Miss Pris is so grown up all the sudden! Where oh where did my baby go??

She is such a girl. She LOVES shoes. In fact it was one of her first words. But if we happen to leave a pair out she usually claims them. I normally have to hide her little hot pink crocks otherwise she would wear them to bed. Oh my... what do I have to look forward to.

I've been wanting to get Grace one of those pop-up tents, but after realizing how much they are ($50 bucks!!) we decided to wait and make it one of her Christmas gifts. So we made a make-shift tent with our card table and a blanket and she loves it. She doesn't know that there is no Dora the Explorer on the side. She even has lots of room for friends (as you can see in the picture!).
She is copying me in this picture b/c I got on my tummy to snap this picture. (Which I wont be able to do much longer!) Oh and you can't tell by the picture, but she has started to say "Cheese" whenever you pull out the camera. It is too funny!!
Grace is also getting ready to have a little brother or sister soon. She put her Muddy the Mud Hen (Toledo's minor league baseball team's mascot... we have friends up there) in her booster seat, snapped him in and was attempting to put her bib on him. It was too cute.

And an update to the peanuts allergy: Grace is doing GREAT (as you can see in the pictures). No rash anymore!! My friend has been telling all of our friends that Grace is allergic to peanuts... so sweet... she still just feel terrible. To be honest, I'm sort of happy that I know how Grace reacts to peanut butter, as bad as that might sound.

Well I'm off... nap time is over!

NO PEANUTS!!!

We had a scary Friday afternoon.

Let me give some background info first. When Grace was around a year she was having some constipation issues and the doctor thought it might be food related so we allergy tested her for the big ones... wheat, corn, milk, peanuts, etc. We found out that she though this allergy test that she was allergic to peanuts. So we have never given her peanuts.

Well yesterday morning, I dropped off Grace with a friend for 2 hours while I ran down to the hospital to sign some papers and get her pre-registered for her eye surgery on the 1st. Grace had already eaten breakfast and I knew I would be back before lunch so I only packed some Cheese-its for a snack. Well as things would have it, my friends kids got hungry and she fed them some peanut butter crackers and cheese sticks. And you know how kids are... if one of the has something they all want it. She actually didn't know that Grace was allergic to peanuts... I just never thought to tell her and this was the first time she has watched Grace for me without me there. Anyway, she thinks Grace only ate maybe one cracker because she was more interested in the cheese (she LOVES cheese!).

When I picked her up she seemed like her normal little self so I brought her home fed her lunch (just spaghetti that she has had a good hundred times) and laid her down for a nap.

After about 1.5 hours she got up screaming. She is normally my pro napper, sleeping for 2-3 hours most days and usually wakes up happy. I went into her room I noticed that her ears were really red and looked a bit swollen. Then I realized within seconds that she was scratching her tummy like she had just been bitten by 10,000 ants! I pulled up her and shirt to see huge welts... a VERY bad rash! I pulled her out of crib and inspected her body to realize she had bumps and redness everywhere... her arms, back, tummy, diaper area, legs! (It looked very similar to the rash she had when we found out she was allergic to penicillin.) I immediately called the doctor and they told me to give her Benadryl and come in immediately.

I loaded her up and drove to the doctors office (30 minutes away). By the time I got there she had stopped itching, but was still very red and her poor ears looked so big! (I wish I had taken a picture, but I was so scared that was pretty far from my mind).

I knew the doctor would want to know what she ate, but everything I fed her she has had many times before... oatmeal and a banana for breakfast and spaghetti for lunch. Then I thought maybe my friend fed her something, so I called her on the way and she told me about the crackers. I knew that was probably our culprit. He thought for sure that was it and gave her a steroid shot and a prescription for some other stuff to help her skin clear up. Which today looks so much better!!!

He also gave us a prescription for EpiPens. An EpiPen is just a shot that we push into her thigh if was having a severe allergic reaction... like is she was having a hard time breathing or swallowing.... give her the shot then get to the emergency room b/c it is only temporary. He wants us to have one on hand at all times in case of an emergency. He said since she reacted like that to such a small dose of peanuts he just wants us to be safe in case. Especially as she gets older.

So moral of the story... tell everyone that my child is allergic to peanuts!!

Oh and my friend feels terrible. She called at least 3 times yesterday to make sure she was better.

HUGS

Grace and Sammie are true buds! Not sure why Grace has a stressed looked on her face? She loves Sammie so much. Sammie lets her ride her like a horse, pull her tail, give her hugs and kisses and just all around pester her! She is such a sweet dog to have around a pretty girl!

A little of this and that....

We're here... just busy I guess. This past weekend we made a quick trip to the Big D to see some family that came in from out of town that we haven't seen in forever. Although we didn't get to spend as much time with them as we would have liked it was nice to see everyone. For those of you that don't know my family its pretty big. My mom is one of nine children and my dad is one of eight children so I have LOTS of aunts, uncles and cousins. Grace seems to love the craziness of family get togethers as much as I do. Although this weekend she was more interested in climbing the stairs then socializing.

On Saturday morning I was craving my usual everything bagel so I decided to go to Einstein's bagels which is just minutes from my parents house. All I have to say is gross! They put some extra seed on their everything bagels that make it disgusting... so I'm staying loyal to Panera Bread from now on.

Last Friday before heading out of town, I brought Grace to the opthomologist (spelling?) to see what we need to do about her clogged tear duct. It was decided after much thought and questioning that Grace will have surgery on her eye. In a nut shell, they will have to put her under, probe the duct and insert a tube in the tear duct. The tube will stay there for 3 months and then they will remove it. The surgery is scheduled for October 1st. I'll post more as I know more.

In other news, Grace has been a delight this week. The last couple of weeks I was beginning to think the terrible 2's were beginning, but thankfully my sweet baby girl is back. Hopefully to stay for a while... because my patience sure can't handle it right now. I blame it on the hormones.

I've been feeling really good the last week or so. AMEN!! I've only gotten sick briefly in the morning, but I am fine once I get something in my tummy. This little one sure is a hungry one! Two short weeks till we find out what we having. I can't believe it! This pregnancy really is going so quickly. I'm also so excited that I have so many friends and family that are preggo too and due within weeks of me. My friend Hailey is due February 18th, my friend Tiffany is due March 4th (I think... her date keeps changing), I'm due March 5th, my aunt Julie is March 9th, and my sister-in-law is due March 23rd. How exciting!!!! What do you bet that they all have their babies before me. For some reason I feel like this little one is going to hang out in my belly longer than I would like.

So I'm rambling now!! Oh I almost forgot... please check out my friend's new blog... MAMAVICE. It is really cool. It's basically a place to ask questions about your kiddos and get some advice from other mamas. Check it out!!

bagels ... Part II

So finally made my way to Panera Bread this morning and bought the remaining 7 they had. Seriously, it was only 9 in the morning and they only had SEVEN left. Oh well I got some so I was happy. Very happy! Then I head home after hitting Target (yes the nearest Target is also 30 minutes away from my house) and head to Walmart for groceries (the only grocery store in my town). While picking up some tortillas for dinner (I'm making some yummy sausage quesadiallas on the grill) I happen to notice EVERYTHING BAGELS sitting on the shelf in my walmart that is 3 minutes from my house. WHAT! Granted they aren't Panera Bread everything bagels, but hey I would have taken Pepperage Farms everything bagels in a heart beat this week. Why did no one tell me?? Honestly I've never noticed them before... maybe they sell quick too, but at any rate I drove 30 minutes when I could have driven 3. Oh well I guess I only wasted like $10 bucks in gas :)

The Itsy Bitsy Spider

How stinkin' cute is this?? Forgive my terrible singing!

YEA!!!!!

Went to the doctor today and everything is looking good. I'm measuring exactly 15 weeks and I've gained back a few pounds but I'm not quite back up to my starting weight. I seriously don't see how I haven't gained more because I'm practically in all maternity clothes now!

Anyway, we did find out that in 3 short weeks we will find out if Grace has a brother or sister on the way. So stayed tuned till October 2nd!!

cravings...

I should start by saying I really haven't had any true cravings. I really have had more food aversions than anything... can't really eat chicken or really any plain meat for that matter which is odd for me b/c I am normally a big meat eater.

But back to the cravings... the last few days I've been dying for an everything bagel from any type of bagel place. Seeing how I live in rural Oklahoma with NO bagels places in my town, I convinced Adam to drive me 30 minutes away to go to Panera Bread to buy me a dozen everything bagels. I was so excited! However, little did I know that once Panera Bread runs out of bagels for the day that is it... they make no more until the next day! So when I got to Panera Bread and ran in I learned this and I also learned that they only had ONE everything bagel left... so I bought the one everything bagel and I already ate it this morning. So now all I think about is what I am going to have for breakfast in the morning. I would totally drive the 30 minutes in the morning if I didn't have to work.

The thing that is more funny about this is up until 1 week ago I didn't even know I liked everything bagels... I always bought a plain bagel... maybe its the onion or garlic, but yummmmmm I just can't get it out of my mind. So the next chance I have I am on my way to Panera Bread to get me some everything bagels.

Enough of my ramblings... did anyone else have weird cravings like this? With Grace I really didn't crave much... sometimes candy (which I crave with this one too) and salty foods, but that was about it. How about you?

Hey there

We have been a busy little family over the last week and a half. Last weekend (pretty much last minute too) we decided to go visit our good friends Joey, Hailey and Molly in Arkansas... so we drove 5 hours one way to spend a quick weekend with them. Even though it was too short was enjoyed hanging out with them. It makes me realize how much I miss them here! It was so beautiful in Arkansas with it's rolling hills and trees everywhere. Makes rural Oklahoma look even worse. Molly and Grace had a blast hanging out and stealing toys from one another! Will they ever out grow that? Everything was "mine" or "my"... can't wait till that new baby gets here. I'm sure Grace will steak claim on all the babies toys!

This picture was taken near the Arkansas River on a beautiful day! Bikini girls!Hugging and feeding her baby in the car

Then on Monday of this week (after getting back Sunday afternoon) Grace and I got back in the car and headed to see my friend Katie and her little girl Paige in East Texas... a 4.5 hour drive. We hung out, got pictures taken of the girls by one of Katie's friends (I'll post when I get them), went shopping at the Woodlands Mall and ate some yummy food. It was a nice little trip despite the fact that Grace didn't sleep well. She was waking up a couple times a night... which is hard when you are pregnant and tired and use to having a toddler that sleeps at least 11 hours at night! We headed home on Thursday. I have to say that Grace has really gotten to be pretty good in the car. After all it is pretty hard for a toddler to be restrained in a car seat for hours on end. Amen for portable dvd players!!

Here is a cute picture of Paige(3 months) and Grace(18 months). Grace did pretty good with Paige... despite the fact that she nearly sat on her several times, kicked her (on accident), and nearly smothered her with hugs she will make a good big sister in March. (I HOPE!)

dancing baby

I got the idea from my friend Michelle to post a video of Grace dancing.

Her little one is a dancing fool and so is my Grace! Enjoy.

canceled

Why is it when you plan your day around one event, then that one event is cancelled. Gracie's eye doctor appointment got rescheduled b/c the doctor had an emergency surgery so I guess that is a pretty good excuse. Unfortunatly we couldn't get back in till September 14th. Oh well... I guess we will just have to live with eye goop a little longer! Thankfully it doesn't seem to bother Grace.

CHEESE!

I can pull the camera out at any time now and she just starts smiling... it is too funny. She was in a terrible mood tonight and I was able to get this goofy smile!

This one is from yesterday.
(she had just finished a cookie, but it was such a cute smile not to share)

We'll keep her...

One of my favorite foods is artichoke. YUM! I love it! When I met Adam he had never had an actual artichoke... just the hearts mixed in pasta. I got him hooked and now when I make artichoke I make one for each of us. I don't really like to share! Grace hasn't ever had artichoke until last night and she LOVED it. She even knew exactly how to eat it! Although I do think she liked it more b/c we dipped it in miracle whip and melted butter. I'm hungry just talking about it. I may have to go buy another couple for dinner one night this week!

Here is a picture of her eating mamma's favorite.

Boy or Girl?

What is your guess?

All the questions have started including ones about the sex of the baby. Here are my answers to the ones I've been asked a lot lately!

What do you think you are having? A boy. Why? Not sure... just a feeling I guess. Although I did think I was having a boy with Grace and well we all know that she is far from a boy.

Do you want a boy or girl? This is a tough question. For us, it would be wonderful for Grace to have a sister and we also have a few pink things already on hand. But at the same time, a boy would be fun too, to have something different and buy all new blue things. I don't think that God wouldn't give us anything we couldn't handle!

Are you going to find out what you are having? OF COURSE! I think if it were 1950 and I wasn't able to find out what I was having then I would be fine with that, but since I can find out why not. Plus if you know me you know that I'm a huge planner and I would probably die of anxiety if I waited until the baby was born.

Do you have any names yet? Yes... we have a girl name, but no boy name. Not sure if we are ready to annouce the girl name yet since we might not have a girl and we may still change out minds. Shoot we didn't decide on Grace's name until I was nearly due. If you have any cute boy names that go well with Grace let me know!

So to keep things fun... What do you think we are having? We will all find out in 6 weeks time... early October!!

well check today!

We went to the doctor this morning for Gracie's 18 month well check and everything looks good. She is right on par with other 18 month old's. Here were her stats:

Height: 33 3/4 inches (95 percentile!!!)

Weight: 23 pounds (25 percentile)

Our little long and lean girl... wonder if this means she could be a model or basketball player?? Two things I would have never have imagined for myself being only 5'4" :)

Only bad news we got is that Grace may have to have a little procedure done on her eye. Her eye is still getting this yucky goop in it pretty much on a daily basis. A lot of babies have this ... it is called a clogged tear duct, but it is normally goes away on its own by this age. So we have to see a Opthomologist (spelling?) next Tuesday to see what he thinks. Our pediatrician thinks they will just have to release the duct which will require Grace to be put under anesthesia... sort of scary, but it is a common procedure that takes about as long as it does to get ear tubes. I guess the concern is that the goop in her eye could lead to vision issues so we would rather get this taken care of now. We will let you know how the appointment goes and what the doctor says next week!

Here is a picture of Grace after nap showing off her battle scar... thankfully there was only 1 shot today!! Grace didn't even cry, but probably b/c the nurse distracted her with a bracelet and a sucker. (Her sticker has hearts on it. The ones they always give her b/c she was our little Valentine baby!)

Pig Tails and 12 teeth...

Sometime in the last week Grace got 2 more teeth bringing her grand total to 12 teeth. Unlike all of her other teeth these were quite uneventful. Maybe she knew that mommy already had enough going on to worry with a unhappy fussy toddler! So she definitly gets the BEST Toddler award.

We have also been trying to find some new hair styles for Miss Pris.... well here is our attempt at some piggie tails... they look okay in the picture, but she just really needs more hair. Hopefully that will come soon!

OH and I did want to tell everyone that I've been feeling MUCH better. I've only gotten sick a few times in the last week and it wasn't near as bad as it was. I've been able to eat more... in fact I've quite a little appetite already! So I'm sure I'll be putting on the pounds in no time!!

Hi!

Grace just wanted to tell everyone to have a good weekend. Here she is holding her baby! We are already starting to teach her to be gentle with the baby. It's a work in progress.

Have a good weekend!