Field Trip!

On Wednesday, Jocelyn's PALS group took a field trip to Chuck E Cheese. This was her fourth visit, and she definitely loves the place. What made this trip even more fun was that she knew all the kids there!

What could be better than friends AND pizza??

She wasn't a fan of ChuckE, though.

After using up the 32 tokens she had, and earning 160 tickets, she picked out a pair of star glasses (because her friend Ansley got them too), a photo key chain (who knows why), and her favorite--a tootsie roll pop (because they are delicious of course)!

What a fun morning!!

Little Poser

I can't seem to get a "normal" picture of Jocelyn anymore. She likes to pose in front of the camera or make a big cheesy face! She's still the cutest poser I know!

Change

I'm not sure if I have ever mentioned it, but I don't like change. Not at all.

Having another baby is going to be a huge, gigantic change. It's going to change almost everything I know. I found the decision to have another baby MUCH harder than the decision to have Jocelyn. She was an easy decision. I knew I wanted to have kid(s). We were ready to start trying. We got pregnant, were excited, Jocelyn arrived, and after a very, very brief period of wondering if we made the right choice (I blame it on those raging hormones after childbirth), and lots of adjustments and changes, I was truly happy being a mom and enjoyed my new, very different life. The biggest change, besides the addition of baby, was resigning from my job. That was a surprise decision made rather close to the time I was supposed to return to work. Quitting a job that you have worked at for nearly 10 years was a big and scary change, and I fretted over that decision as well. It turned out to be the right decision and I haven't regret making it. When I think about having baby #2, I think about the newborn days. They are hard. The constant nursing, the sleepless nights. Feeling like you can't go anywhere or do anything because you want to try to get baby on a schedule--a schedule that will change a million times before you finally get it down. It feels like it will be forever before things seem to finally settle down, when the time comes that you know when to expect what, and when baby is not so new anymore. But while you are in the middle of those first few weeks (or even months), it really feels like forever. Forever until you are normal again. These are the things that make me nervous about change. I know what to expect. I think I know how I'm going to feel.

When I first found out that I was pregnant, even though making the decision to have another child was so hard, I didn't think it would be as big of a change as having Jocelyn. We already know what it's like to have a kid. We've been there and done that. I am not going to be quitting a job. I'm just going to be adding another baby. Now that the time for baby is nearing I seem to be stuck on all that will be different and I get anxious about the changes. I love the routine Jocelyn and I have. It's so easy. She takes one nap a day. So much easier than the 6 or so a newborn takes, making it impossible to go anywhere and do anything. She eats three meals a day. She has a couple snacks, everything is basically the same everyday. We have fun. We go on play dates and to play groups. There's no way it can stay exactly the same, as much as I want it to. I am also sad thinking about how our family is going to be different. I love our family the way it is. No longer will it be Todd, Brooke and Jocelyn. It will change.

Feeling so upset about the change makes me feel horrible, like I'm not excited enough for this baby to come. It's not at all that I think we made the wrong decision. I already love her, I know our family will be different, but it will be a good different. I just fear the change. I have anxiety about how it will affect Jocelyn. I have anxiety about being able to handle two children and not becoming an irritated, stressed out b****. I want my life to stay easy and predictable. I hope I can handle the amount of love that I'm going to have. I hope I can handle the fears that go along with loving somebody else so much. I will have two little people to worry about rather than just one! I hope, most of all, that how I am feeling is normal.

The good thing about having already experienced things with Jocelyn, is that I do know that the "hard" stuff will end and I know it will seemingly happen in the blink of an eye. I can't believe that Jocelyn is already two-years-old. It seems like she was just born yesterday! I know the wonderful things about loving a baby. I know the excitement of watching them grow and develop. I need to keep focusing on these things! Everything will work itself out, new routines will form, the new family will start to feel normal, hopefully Jocelyn will relish in being a big sister, and I will still be able to be as good of a mom as possible--even with two children!

The Third Trimester

One Trimester, Two Trimester, Three Trimester, Baby!

Today marks the beginning of my 28th week of pregnancy. I have officially begun the third and final trimester. The home stretch. Unlike the first trimester, I didn't spend each week of second trimester counting down how many more weeks until I made it to the next trimester. In fact, I probably wouldn't remember what week I was in if I didn't have the pregnancy ticker at the top of this blog, or have the current week written on my calendar!

There are a lot of reasons I wanted the first trimester to be over, and many less reasons for wanting the second to be over. First of all, after the first trimester, the risk of miscarriage is greatly reduced. Secondly, I couldn't wait for the fatigue and nausea to wear off. Also, the pregnancy becomes more obvious with a growing belly...almost like a secret you can no longer hide and with the belly growing is a baby growing--one that you start to feel moving around! There's a reason the second trimester is called "the honeymoon period of pregnancy". You feel great, you look great, and the worry about the upcoming birth isn't in the forefront of your mind.

The third trimester is exciting for one reason: Baby only has about 12 more weeks until she makes an appearance. I am going to have another beautiful little girl that I am going to love more than words can describe. I will get to hold her and smell her and proudly watch her develop from newborn to infant to toddler. I will get to nurse her and bond with her and experience all of the newborn stuff all over again. I will get to watch Jocelyn become a big sister. I will get to witness sibling love as I never had the opportunity to experience myself. I will be the mother to two children!

The down side of the third trimester is eerily similar to the reasons you want the first trimester to end, at least when it comes to the fatigue. The bigger I get, the more tired I seem to become. I have already noticed that my feet are swollen at the end of the day. Chasing Jocelyn is a little more fun for her because I can't get to her quite as quickly. The belly gets ridiculously huge and you begin to start to worry that there is no way it will look as it did before! You're hot. You're uncomfortable. Those tiny movements from baby become bigger movements that sometimes hurt when the wrong place is kicked or shoved, or when your ribs are used as a foot stool! I start worrying once again. I worry the baby will come too early. I worry she's not moving enough--or moving too much, and this time I am worrying that having a sibling will be too traumatic for Jocelyn and she will not like what her world has become.

For me, I am really enjoying the time I have left with Jocelyn as my only child. Things are going to change quite dramatically, and I'm enjoying the routine and easiness of what we have going on already. I don't want to rush this time away. I want to enjoy it and treasure it. I'm trying to deeply etch how it feels to be pregnant into my brain--feeling baby kicks, elbows, rolls, hiccups, as this will most likely be the last time I experience pregnancy. I will have lots of time with baby once she is born. I'm going to enjoy the rest of the time I have with baby on the inside. She doesn't have to be fed every two hours in there, nor have a diaper changed, nor need numerous naps that keep me from the normal daily routine, oh and the biggest thing of all--she can stay up all night if she wants to, but that doesn't mean I have to be awake as well! Yikes! The sleep deprivation is what I am most scared of--even more so now that I already have a child who will keep me from napping throughout the day. I just keep reminding myself that the benefits FAR outweigh the downside of having a newborn!

All-in-all I am ready for what's to come. I think! A new chapter for all of us!

Now you can watch the belly grow!

5 weeks
14 weeks28 weeks

The Finished Product!

We finally finished Jocelyn's room today!!

Here's the final product!

First Night in a Big Girl Bed

Last night Jocelyn finally got to sleep in her big girl bed!

I spent months and months worrying about making this transition with Jocelyn. When was the best time to make the switch? Should I move her crib into the new room first? Should I buy her every transition book to get her ready? Should we start out by taking a nap in there for the first week and then try to add night time? All the possibilities went through my head a million times. I tend to over-think and over-worry. We ordered the furniture mid-February and finally had it delivered on Friday. Jocelyn was so excited!!!

We think she would have been ready to sleep in it the first night we had it, but we didn't have a rail yet. We didn't want her to fall out during the night and then be scared to sleep in it again, so we made her sleep in her crib. Then she wanted to sleep in there for her nap yesterday. Once again we didn't let her. We wanted to figure out where we wanted to hang her wall decorations while she was sleeping, so we made her sleep in her crib once again. We started to fear that the excitement would wear off and she wouldn't want to sleep in the bed anymore, so last night we let her sleep in the bed!

When it was time, we crawled into the bed and got her normal bed time stories out. She wasn't much interested in reading them. She just wanted to sleep. We tucked her in, turned off the light, and hoped for the best. I turned the monitor up really loud so I could hear if she got out of bed, or if she was scared because she was in a totally different room. I heard nothing. She just fell asleep. Easy as pie. I can't allow myself to think it will really be this easy to transition her to a bed, so of course I think that she will be waking up a few times during the night, wondering where she is. She didn't. She slept all night. I checked on her three times. I even took a picture of her snug as a bug in a rug.

Good thing we got the rail....

This morning she slept in until 8:00am. She's been waking at 7:30 for a few weeks now, so I guess that's a good sign. Maybe the mattress is more comfortable than the crib. Maybe she was just excited. I heard her start talking for a few minutes then I heard a huge thud. She somehow hit her head on the shared wall between our rooms. She started to faintly cry, so I got up and went into her room. She was standing right next to the bed, rubbing her head. She just looked at me and said, "Ouch." I picked her up and rubbed her head and told her how proud I was that she slept so well in her big girl bed all night long. I asked her if she liked it and she said "yes'" and was ready to start her day.

I have mixed emotions about the whole big girl bed! I am so excited for her, although I am a little sad to make the transition. I can't believe it's already time for her to sleep in a big girl bed, and at the same time, it makes the reality of having another baby more apparent. We now have an extra room with an empty crib waiting for another baby. This is the first thing we have really done to prepare for Jocelyn's baby sister.

Right now, I have the monitor sitting next to me while Jocelyn naps for the first time in the big girl bed. Nap time could be totally different as it's lighter in her room. She may realize she can just get up and play with her toys, but for now I hear heavy breathing (and snoring)...she's sleeping. This girl must really love her sleep! All I can do now is hope she continues doing so well and that we never have to put up a fight to keep her in the bed when it's time to sleep. Only time will tell, but for now this seems way too easy!

I hope I didn't just jinx myself!!

Jocelyn's Big Girl Bed!

She's SOOO excited about her new bed.
We will see how it goes with the whole sleeping-in-it part!

Easter Trip, Part IV

Easter Day!

Jocelyn found her basket in no time at all and quickly began eating her chocolate bunny for breakfast.

Later that morning Todd discovered that the Easter Bunny left eggs hidden all over MeMe and Papa's yard and told Jocelyn she should find them!

The Easter Bunny left a little treat inside each egg! This made the egg-finding process take a bit longer than anticipated, as each egg had to be opened before another egg could be found.

MeMe helped!

We had perfect weather for a sleeveless Easter dress. I'm glad I didn't get Jocelyn a sweater to go along with it...there's no need when the temperature is in the 80s!

My beautiful little girl looking so grown up!

Once family started arriving for Easter dinner, I forgot to keep taking pictures, so I don't have any pictures of Jocelyn with her Great Aunts and Uncles, nor with her cousins to post here. Next year I will have to do a better job! Dinner was delicious! Jocelyn really enjoyed the ham, but most of all she enjoyed spending time with family. She truly loves being surrounded by a lot of people and being the center of attention.

We had a wonderful trip and look forward to it each year! Thanks Mom and Dad for everything!!! We treasure the memories!!!

Easter Trip, Part III

On Saturday we went to Latta Plantation in Huntersville for an Easter Egg hunt! Mommy thought I looked too cute with my pig tails and Easter basket to pass up a picture before we left.

Here's a picture of me with my Mommy and Daddy once we got there.

We had to hang out for a while before it was time for the hunt. We looked at some old farm houses, and saw some roosters and cows.

Here's the place where the eggs were hidden.
Once it was time, Daddy went in with me to find some eggs.

I was allowed to find 10 eggs, which I did very quickly. Each egg had a prize inside! It was fun opening them all! Afterwards, the Easter Bunny showed up. Mommy and Daddy thought he looked scary, but I liked him and even sat on his lap. The other two Easter Bunnies I saw this year didn't have that pleasure!

Then we saw some real bunnies and ducks. They were so cute!

Walking between two trees is fun too!

Later that night Mommy and Daddy dyed Easter eggs. I helped pour the vinegar into the cups, put the color tablets in each, then put the first egg into each cup, but then I was done and Daddy did the rest. He did a great job. The eggs were very pretty!

It was another fun day in North Carolina!!

Easter Trip, Part II

After my nap we loaded up in the car and drove to Concord so that I could see some horses at my Great Aunt Jayne's horse barn!

My cousin Kristen was giving riding lessons so we went in the barn to see the horses close up!

Horses like to eat carrots and candy canes. Aunt Jayne gave me some to feed to the horses. The horse I am feeding in this picture is just as old as me!

I thought it was pretty funny to feed a horse!

After feeding it, I decided I was a little scared of putting my little hand so close to something so big and wanted to keep my distance...

...but I enjoyed eating candy canes, just like the horses!
I went back outside and watched the kids riding horses for a little bit and then Aunt Jayne asked if I would like to ride a horse as well. I was really excited!! Aunt Jayne took me back into the barn to get a horse ready to ride. We had to brush her first.
I was really excited to get on!
Up I went onto the tall horse's back!

It was so much fun!!

I sang the horsey song that Ms. Dolores sings at the library, and I thought that was fun too!

Daddy thought it was fun to try to make faces like the horses!

What a blast!!!!

Our Easter Trip to NC, Part I

Our annual trip to NC is always at Easter time. This year we left early on Thursday morning and made it to my parents house by 2:30 in the afternoon. Jocelyn was an angel the whole way down. She travels very well! Maybe it was the extra room we had in our new car!!

Once we got there, Jocelyn enjoyed relaxing in MeMe and Papa's back yard!

They also played ball...

...and bubbles.

MeMe made yummy cupcakes!
On Friday we went to a park nearby. It had great slides!!
The park was near a place where boats launch into the lake, so we watched a couple boats go out.
Then we went home for lunch and a nap because after nap I had something else fun planned...