Weeks 19-21

Blurry photo from Wednesday--21 weeks, 4 days

Poor, poor second child!

Pregnancy symptoms include sciatic pain (which goes away if I don't strain myself exercising, or if I do yoga), extreme exhaustion (but that has more to do with Gabby than Artoo--see below), frequent urination, and hunger.  It's all I can do some days to get enough food in me.

We had Artoo's anatomy scan on July 2, and everything looked great.  My OB was very happy with the scan and all of the pictures we managed to get.  The first tri blood work also looked great, so we know that Artoo is as healthy as the (extensive) tests can indicate.

Here he is!!  He's looking at my bladder in the one on the bottom.

He is also a mover and shaker.  I've read that you feel more movement sooner in second (and more) pregnancies since the uterus is stretching earlier, so it could be attributed to that, but he definitely lets me know that he is in there.  I get the most movement after I eat, before bed, and at wake-up, and they are all very clearly baby.  Brian and Gabby both have been able to feel him from the outside (Gabby looked at me with big eyes when he kicked her one night and said "whoa!"--it was super cute).  He's head down right now, and most of my movements are low, so I assume he's head-butting my bladder a ton.  Even during the anatomy scan, the tech mentioned that he kept looking at my bladder.  I wish he'd get a new obsession, but I guess there really isn't that much to look at in there!

Now to Gabby

This sums up the time we've had with Gabby.  She got her very first black eye from a kid at daycare.  It was an accident, but it looked terrible!

Gabby has been having a tough time lately.  She hasn't been going down at bedtime easily at all (it often takes at least 1.5 hours to get her down instead of the 10 minutes it used to take), and has been waking up progressively earlier every day (we're now at 6:30--this from the kid who slept 12 hours straight for 2 years no problem).  We thought she might be scared of the dark, but a nightlight seems to be doing no good.  Now we suspect separation anxiety.  She has had a lot of changes lately--baby brother coming, she moved to a new daycare room with new teachers, and I work 3 nights a week--and it seems to be expressing itself when we try to get her to bed.  It's been really difficult--Brian actually stayed in her room from 10:30-3:00 one night (he did fall asleep on her floor at some point, so it probably wouldn't have been that long, but he shouldn't have to be there at all).  And another morning she woke me up at 4:30.  I brought her into bed with me, and she went back to sleep for a bit, but I sure didn't!  As you can imagine, none of us are very happy about this.  And we also have no idea what to do, except give her time to get over it.  So this is why I'm completely exhausted; and what makes it worse is working until 9:20 Monday-Wednesday.  I can nap during the day if I need to (I don't start until 2:00), but napping has always made me more tired, so I really hate doing it.  Plus, it eats into my prep/grading time (not to mention chores--our house is a mess).  I really have no idea what to do except wait for her anxiety to ease.

We have fun, too!  This is from Father's Day

Here she is driving the train at Fairytale Town.

 I assure you, she loved the zoo carousel, and asked to go again.  Despite the fear on her face during this movie!

See, I told you she liked it!

I bought her a monkey, and she insisted on getting a picture with it!  She calls the baby "monkey George" (her name for Curious George) and the mom "monkey George mommy"

 
We've been really busy over the past few weeks.  We went to our friend Charlotte's birthday party, and had a great time.  We actually got there as the party was winding down and stayed to have dinner for Chris's birthday.  Brian went a bit picture crazy.  You've been warned.

Kate floating along.

Gabby stealing some icing.

She's got nothing on icing-thief Phoebe, though!

Samantha and Charlotte swimming.

Gabby was hesitant to get into the water, but loved being splashed!

And she appreciated the noodle.

The birthday-sharing girls!

"Splashing!!!"

Phoebe showing no fear.

Gabby did eventually jump in to me.

And she had a great time.

So excited!

Going

in!

Floyd and Charlie floating along.

Gabby got tired of the pool and decided to take a drive.

The big boys had fun in the bounce house! First Chris...

then Lawrence took a turn!

They did have to stop when the kids wanted back in.

Gabby loved the bounce house!

See?

She also wanted a crack at the hoop.

Almost there!

Maybe just a little too little.

It was way more fun when the other kids came in!

The Lin/Frickeys in the pool!

No one show this picture to Justin's mom; poor Karen will never hear the end of it!

We also went to LA to visit Brian's family.  We went with his mom to the Aquarium of the Pacific, and the next day joined his sister, brother-in-law, and their kids at the beach.  We don't have many pictures from the aquarium, because Brian left his camera in Sacramento (on purpose), and cell phone cameras suck.  We did have a really great time with everyone, though!  Gabby was kind of meh on the aquarium, but she LOVED the beach!  She and Brian had a great time playing in the waves and on the sand.  We thought it would actually be the other way around (love the aquarium, be indifferent about the beach), but she really surprised us.  I think it helped that cousins Audrey and Olivia were at the beach with us, and she was able to see them having fun.  The 3 of them were a riot together, and when Audrey and Olivia stayed with us at grandma's that night it was so much fun.  Gabby loves her big cousins!

On the plane ride to LA

A rare moment not in the water (and stealing my chair!).  That was a shocker, after she hated the pool!

That's more like it!

With Uncle Joe, Audrey, and Olivia

Back at Grandma Romo's house.  The older girls played Disney Princess Yahtzee.  Gabby stole the pieces.

We didn't do anything fun for the 4th of July because we are still in the middle of prepping Gabby's new room.  The room is completely cleared out now, and Brian spent the weekend of the 4th painting the walls a really light pink, and the ceiling white.  He's going to work on getting the doors painted this weekend, and hopefully we can go and buy her furniture.  We've decided to get her a trundle bed to grow into (sleepovers!), which also means that instead of recycling Brian's old dresser and nightstand, she's going to be getting brand new ones.  That was Brian's decision, not mine!  She seems really excited about moving over (although that may be another stress adding to her separation anxiety), and OK with giving baby brother her old bedroom, but we'll see how she reacts when everything is done and she really has to move!

We've also given away all of our baby girl clothes.  We are definitely 2 and through (and would have been even if Artoo turned out to a be a girl), so we have no more use for girl clothes.  Most of the baby clothes went to one of Brian's co-workers who is due in September, but the older girl clothes went to a different co-worker and to our friends Robbie and Judy for their little girls.  I also set aside a box for a friend of mine who has a son born when Gabby was born, and is now having a little girl.  She's going to send me a box of her son's baby clothes in return.  I like this giving and receiving thing where we all help each other out!  Plus, it's really nice to know that Gabby's old clothes are going to people I know and not just to the Salvation Army to be bought by a random person.  I really wasn't sad at all to see them go to such good homes.

We have more busy times ahead, with a Yosemite trip (camping with a toddler--oh boy!), and a trip to St. Louis to see my family.  After that, we should be done with traveling until (well) after Artoo is born!