14 Weeks-Baby #2

I haven't really gotten the chance to talk much about this pregnancy yet.

So I'll start by saying that we found out we are expecting on May 27th. It was a Friday and Gabe and I had plans to meet for lunch that day (Avery and I go to his work to have lunch with him occasionally). After Gabe left for work, I took a home test and it came out positive. I know with my OB that I have to go there to confirm my results so after Avery and I got ready, we ran to my OB's office. They confirmed that I was pregnant! So I quickly took Avery to the Carter's store and picked up this shirt for her. When I got to Gabe's work, I called to tell him we were there and he came down to my car to meet us. When he opened the door to get Avery, she held the shirt out to him! Needless to say, he was a bit surprised!

We waited a few weeks to tell our parents and when we told them, we just had Avery wear the shirt and had them figure it out on their own. And they all got it pretty quickly!

I will say that being pregnant and having a toddler is a totally different ballgame! You just don't get any "down" time at all and it really wears you out by the end of the day.

I was nauseous this time from the get go---in fact I was feeling a little "off" a few days before taking my pregnancy test, which is what made me take it. With Avery my nausea was an all day thing but would come and go so I would at least get some relief. This time I'm not as lucky. My nausea has been all day, every day. From the second I get up until I go to bed all I feel is sick to my stomach-it's terrible. If I feel good for 5min a DAY, that's good! And lucky me even vomitted this time around (in a real classy manner-out the car door while driving!). After a few weeks of it not improving and trying everything imaginable (sour candy, gum, preggie pops, ginger ale, ginger tea, sea bands), I asked my OB for some help at my appointment. She suggested taking vitamin B6 and if that didn't help on its own to add in 1/2 of a unisom pill (which is a sleeping pill that helps with nausea). The B6 didn't do anything for me so after a day I added in the unisom. I would have given the B6 more time, but it was the weekend of Avery's birthday party and I really couldn't afford to be feeling crappy that weekend. Anyways, the meds helped a LOT! I'm still taking them now and hope to stop in the next few weeks. With Avery I was nauseous until about 15/16 weeks so I'm giving it a few more weeks. I'm afraid to stop taking it in fear of feeling like shit all day long.

Of course the sleeping pill makes me groggy in the morning and I just feel tired a lot. I'm not sure if its the sleeping pill making me tired all of the time, or what but I really just feel drained a lot of the time these days. I'm hoping my energy picks up soon!

I'm not in maternity clothes yet, but I am showing for sure. I feel really huge compared to last time already!

I haven't had any really strong cravings or aversions yet. I will say this though-nothing sounds appealing to me when it's time to eat. I literally will open the cabinets and just stare at the food and nothing sounds good to me at all. And I'm normally a girl who could eat ice cream every day and I haven't wanted it at all lately. It's not that the thought of it makes me gag, but I just don't really care if I have it or not. Which for me, is odd! So yeah, I've been very not into eating I guess you can say-which is hard when you're starving every two hours! It makes it hard to decide what to eat-and mostly I've been going for saltier foods. I really think I'm dehydrated to a point and it's my body's way of getting me to drink something. That's another thing-nothing to drink sounds good either. I normally drink water all day and lately it doesn't appeal to me-I drink it, but I'm just "eh" about it along with everything else.

So, I think I'm caught up now!

Here's a pic of me today at 14 weeks (left) and a pic of me at 15 weeks with Avery (right):

Pan Fried Pasta and Ricotta

I had some ricotta cheese in the fridge that had to be used. Typically I'd make calzones or baked pasta/lasagna/stuffed shells with it, but with the heat we had last week, that wasn't happening. I really did not want to turn on the oven. So I turned to Google to see if I could find anything. And....I got a winner!

Pasta and Ricotta
Any pasta you want (I used a mix of ziti and penne-roughly 1lb)
3 tbsp butter
2 1/2 tbsp oil
1 cup ricotta cheese
1/4 cup parmesan cheese

1. Cook pasta according to box instructions. Before draining, reserve some of the pasta water.
2. While cooking pasta, heat oil and butter in a large skillet until melted.
3. Add ricotta and parmesan and heat until mixed well.
4. Add drained pasta and stir to coat. If sauce is too thick, add some of the reserved pasta water.

Notes-I also added in some spices to my oil/butter mixture. I threw in some garlic powder (my real garlic wasn't any good), pepper, and Italian spice blend. I also added in peas to ours to get some sort of vegetable in there, but anything you add would taste good!

I have to say that this turned out really good! I LOVE ricotta cheese in anything and I can say I've never thought to use it as a sauce. It was very yummy and we'll make it again for sure! The recipe is very easy too!

Girly Girl

I paint my toes in the summer, as I'm sure most women do.

Avery was very quick to notice them when I painted them weeks ago. She would point and say "Mommy pink toes!" So I asked if she wanted hers to be pink as well and she would always tell me "No." One time she said yes, so I grabbed my polish only for her to freak out when I got near her.

So pretty much everyday I would just hear her say "Mommy pink toes" over and over.

On Friday she started saying it, but then she followed it with "Avery pink toes." So I asked if she wanted hers pink too. She just kept saying "Mommy pink toes, Avery pink toes." We went to the library for our usual story time and throughout the morning she kept bringing it up. So I said to her, "Ya know, Mommy can paint your toes pink later if you want." After she brought it up a few more times I asked again if she wanted them painted....and she replied "Yes!"

So while she ate lunch I grabbed my polish. She immediately put her foot up on the table (while eating) and I started to paint. As soon as she saw one of them pink she said "OOooohh!" and was all excited. So she let me finish all of them! After I finished she said "pink toes again!" I think she wanted me to keep painting!

And look how stinkin' cute these little pink toes are!
So now both Mommy and Avery have pink toes for the summer!

Spray Park = FAIL!

We've had quite a stretch of heat around here lately!

Wednesday was in the low 90s, yesterday we broke a record and got up to 98, and today we're in the low 90s again! It's pretty toasty out there!

On Wednesday, I decided to take Avery to a spray park to try do to something outside that would be "cool". I found one very close to us and figured we'd try it. So, I got her in her bathing suit, packed up a bag and off we went.

It was a decent sized spray park (although I'm told it's small) and maybe 10 kids at most were there....at least half of them were Avery's age or younger.

Here's a pic of some of it: And with more fountains going:

And what did my daughter want to do??

This:

Yep, she sat in the swing for a half an hour and wouldn't go near the darn water. After pushing her for 15mins, I was drenched in sweat (did I mention it was in the 90s??). I picked her up, took her to the water and ran through part of a sprinkler with her. Well, you would have thought the world ended! This child had a complete meltdown! So....back to the swing we went for another 15min before I decided it was time to go home and cool off.

The thing I don't get? At daycare they claim she runs through the sprinkler/plays in water daily. Yet at home, she won't get within 10ft of a sprinkler or go near her pool. It makes no sense. Maybe the peer pressure makes her go in?! Who knows!

Three Years

I remember....


barely sleeping the night before. friends showing up at my Mom's to get their hair done. eating pastries. having my hair done. rushing to get my makeup just right. flowers arriving and I didn't get to really look at them. going to the bathroom before getting dressed and taking a deep breath and looking at myself in the mirror. my Dad showing up and I wasn't in my dress just yet. having my dress zipped up and feeling like a princess. pictures at my Mom's. taking a ride in the limo on the way to church so we could actually have some time in it! parking outside church and seeing people walking in. just my maid of honor and I sitting in the limo and waiting. getting the ok to come out and that the procession had started. waiting outside the church doors nervous and excited. standing with my dad at the end of the aisle. walking down the aisle looking for Gabe and when I finally saw him, I lost it. trying not to do the ugly cry. seeing him beaming and waiting for me. the mass-the readings, music we chose. saying our vows and exchaging rings. the kiss. seeing everyone at the receiving line. getting in the limo with everyone this time. pictures at the park and having it rain shortly after arriving and cutting our shoot short. seeing the reception hall all set up for us-beautiful. cocktail hour-too busy to eat. waiting to be announced and hearing our music play-got us so pumped up and excited. eating dinner and stopping to see all of the wonderful people that were there just for us. cutting the cake. first dance. dancing all night even though my dress was hurting me. having him by my side all night. never wanting the night to end.

Yeah, I remember it like it was yesterday. Three years....it feels like yesterday, it feels like an eternity ago (how is that possible?).

Best night of my life.


Happy Anniversary Gabe! To many, many more years together!

And my wonderful husband sent me these beautiful flowers at work:

and my Mom sent us these strawberries-so huge and SOOOO good!

We Have Windows!

Yesterday we all went for a ride to take a look at the new house! We now have windows and doors...and the start of a roof!

Our garage door is in as well-Gabe tried lowering it, but there was a ladder in the way so he couldn't get it all the way shut.

Side view of the garage:

Back of the house:

The kitchen/morning room:

Family room with windows in!

Our jacuzzi tub is in as well!

The framing of our walk-in shower:

And the tub surround in the 2nd bath upstairs:

Lots of progress being made!

Date Night

Last night, Gabe and I went out for a date night to celebrate our 3rd anniversary!

We started out with dinner at Pier 45 which was really nice. It was a beautiful night out so we got to sit outside right near the water. It was so relaxing watching the boats go by! And the food was really good too!


After dinner, we went to see Transformers in 3D! It was our first time seeing a 3D movie and it was good! We're not sure it's worth the extra money to see it in 3D, but it was a neat experience nonetheless. It still amazes me that they're able to do that with films!


Avery went with my in-laws for the evening. They took her to the Italian festival nearby. I guess she had a lot of fun and was good for them. They brought her back here and gave her a bath then put her to bed. Apparently she was a good girl overall!