Moving day

Okay okay already, time for an update. I've been told by a few people that they forget we're pregnant since they never see me and my pregnant belly. So I figured I should stop being lazy and put up a few pictures. :) This is me at about 21 weeks.

I am indeed pregnant. Either that or I have a very active tumor in my belly... Little baby is moving a lot these days. Charlotte felt the baby move for the first time last week (I think on March 27, for purposes of "scrapbooking" on this blog). Up until now she has been really impatient with trying to feel the baby move. I'll say "Come quick and put your hand on my tummy! The baby's moving!" And she would dutifully come over, put her hand on my tummy for 2 seconds and say, "I don't feel it." I would tell her you have to wait a minute to feel it. So she would put her hand back on my tummy for another 2 seconds and say, "I don't feel it. Mama, I don't want to stand here. I don't want to feel it." And then she would walk away. But last week she happened to catch it moving and since then she's been excited and patient enough to wait and feel it move several times. And she likes to talk to the baby. Except that she feels the need to put her mouth on my belly to talk which is unbearably ticklish! Usually she gets mad because I am laughing hysterically and can't sit still long enough for her to say anything. :)

In other baby news, we had our anatomy ultrasound 2 weeks ago and everything looked great! It's funny the things you think of as good news when you're in the medical field. "Oh, the baby has a little pee in its bladder, so the kidneys are working! Hooray! No cleft lip? Great! There's the diaphragm, which means no diaphragmatic hernia!" We are nerds.

For those who are wondering, we did NOT find out the gender of this little baby. We did not find out with Charlotte either, and we liked not knowing (until she was born, that is. Then it's good to find out whether your kid is a boy or girl...). Matt would have liked to find out this time, but I really didn't want to know, and he didn't feel strongly enough about knowing to make me find out. So we'll be surprised! Charlotte thinks it will be a boy. Neither Matt nor I have any inkling one way or the other.

In non-baby news, a couple weeks ago I was working on a grocery list. I went to take a shower and left it on the kitchen table. When I came back, someone had added an item. I'll give you one guess who did it. :)

Now here is the standard belly photo for which I am posing in the same clothes and location each time so that Matt can make a flip book like we wanted to last time. With Charlotte we took all the pictures, but ended up not actually making them into the flip book. Maybe this time. Anyway, this is me at 18 and a half weeks.

Girls will be girls....

Today we drove by a construction area and trying to expand her interests from dolls and stuffed animals and other girly things, I said to Charlotte, "Look at all the bulldozers and backhoes and diggers and trucks!"

Charlotte replied in a dejected little voice, "I don't like diggers and trucks and backhoes and boy stuff. Well, except sometimes I like trucks."

Because you know what she did with the trucks she and daddy played with a few days ago? The big truck and the medium truck got married and had three little baby trucks...

February 2012

And now, here we are at 15 weeks and 4 days. Exciting news...I felt the baby moving for the first time yesterday! I thought I had felt a few little flutters over the last week, but for sure I could feel it yesterday, and could even feel it from the outside with my hand on my tummy! It's super early, but I felt Charlotte moving at exactly 16 weeks, and they say that it's usually earlier with your second because you know what to expect. I was so thrilled yesterday to feel like this is actually real! I have been feeling so good with this pregnancy that it's been fooling me sometimes into forgetting that I'm pregnant. So this little kicking is a reminder that there is indeed a teeny tiny little baby in there (probably about 5 inches long!). What a miracle!

Valentine's Day dinner was stir fry with the tofu cut into a heart for each person.
I'm so creative.... :)

Charlotte still loves tofu as much as she did as a baby!

Here is our little dare devil riding her brand new bike from Grandpa Randy (a Christmas present). She is doing so well on it, and the mild winter has allowed us to go out and ride a couple of times already! The bike is, of course, pink and purple with princesses on it.

All dressed up and ready to go! Helmet? Check. Sunglasses? Check. Hello Kitty gloves? Check. Pink cowgirl boots? Check.

And so it begins

When we were pregnant with Charlotte, we documented growth via pictures of the belly. We didn't start as early with this pregnancy, but here is the first installment at 11 weeks and 4 days. Stay tuned for our "expanding family." :)

11 weeks 4 days
Some of this tummy seems to be "left over" from my pregnancy with Charlotte...

Happy Fetus Day!

Today marks 11 weeks and 1 day of pregnancy, which also means today the baby becomes a fetus instead of an embryo! Big accomplishment! :) Everything is pretty much formed now, and just has to get bigger until the middle of August when we expect him/her to arrive.

The first picture below is at 6 weeks a 1 day, and was the picture we used to announce this little one to our families at Christmas. The baby is the tiny little jellybean at the bottom of the big black circle (the gestational sac). We could see the heartbeat even at that time when it was so tiny! The other two pictures are from 10 weeks and 1 day. We could see the baby moving around and waving its little arms and legs!

Charlotte's riddle

Charlotte has really been into telling knock knock jokes and riddles recently. She's actually pretty good at telling jokes and getting the punchline correct! Here's one she wanted to do on camera.

The next Dr. Florek

Technically, she is a veterinarian, taking care of 2 of her sick kitties. Shes wearing Kristi's scrubs and med school name badge and Matt's stethoscope and pager and a Mayo Clinic issue scrub cap. Cute.