Interesting Facts: B had his first “play date” with baby C (my friend Laura’s newborn). He’s about 3 times her size. He loves to hold onto the “handles” on his walker and FLY!
Last month I said I liked this stage better. This month, it holds true. Every month is better than the last!
This month’s highlights include: First word = “dada.” He’s crawling!!!! Cutting two teeth, pulling himself up to standing (with help from furniture) — LOTS happened this month
We’re continuing to introduce a variety of fruits and vegetables. So far, he’s liked everything. I think he’ll take after his dad and be a good eater 🙂
Typical Day:
7 am wake up & bottle
9 am nap for Ingrid & Bennett in their own rooms
10 am – 5 pm bottles on demand, naps every 1.5 – two hours; in this time, errands/I try to squeeze in a workout/lots of playing
5:30 pm bath
7 pm put Bennett down
7 pm dinner & Ingrid & Jimmy hang out time
B wakes up once a night for a bottle – Ingrid gives him and then sleeps until 7 am
Monthly Questionnaire
Age: 8 months
Weight: (didn’t weigh him, fails)
Length: ” he’s bigger than big duck!
Size: 12 months
Eyes: blue
Hair: dirty blonde
Sleeping: he typically sleeps from 7 pm to 5 am. Wakes to chug a bottle. Then back to sleep until 7 am.
Eating: formula bottles: 6 oz each feeding; lots of pureed food; some solids
Milestones: 1) crawling, 2) pulling up to stand, 3) sitting independently, 4) has two teeth, 5) first word =”dada”
Interesting Facts: Bennett said his first word in the car while I was driving him to the cottage for a weekend trip. He said “dada.” He then proceeded to say it all day and night the rest of the weekend.
Funny moments: While in Blacksburg, my dad, Kurt, and Lizzy got sprayed by a skunk (long story), but B slept through the whole thing. I smelled it, thought a skunk was in our room coming after my baby, and proceeded to crawl around looking for it, but not turning on the lights at around 2 am.
Monday, we had off in honor of Christmas. Jimmy went duck hunting in the Eastern Shore – super rough since he got about 4 hours of sleep thanks to staying at my parents’, but apparently worth it because he said he had lots of fun. We got back home around 7 pm, ate some leftovers (and some honey nut cheerios for me) and went to bed ASAP. However, I did NOT sleep well. Monday night brought on a whole new pregnancy side effect: my hip and knee will go numb while I’m sleeping and wake me up, so I roll over to the other side, then that side will go numb. Rinse and repeat all night long. Getting ready to have this baby here.
Wednesday, I had an OB appointment. Baby is doing great. I however, had an elevated heart rate. So, I need to slow down a bit. I also used the appointment to turn in my Family Medical Leave Act paper work for my doctor to fill out. Surprisingly, my employer does not actually have a maternity leave plan, but they do follow FMLA. So, after meeting with HR, I am going to use all my sick leave & vacation time to get 6 weeks of paid time and 6 weeks of unpaid time for the total of three months allowed under FMLA as my “maternity leave.” In order to do so, I have to have my doctor fill out the form that says I will be needing medical leave. I really want Baby to be as old as possible before he goes to daycare so I’m planning on working up until “D-Day” (delivery day).
Thursday night, we watched the Tech Arkansas bowl game. I made Jimmy-shot venison chili in the crock pot to have for dinner while we watched the game. Jimmy got home late from work (well earlier than normal, but later than the 5:30 time I gave him) so we were delayed watching the game until halftime. Talk about a comeback! We went to bed smiling that night. Oh, and I slept great!
Then it was New Years Eve! (Friday was uneventful) We took it easy this year and stopped by The City of Falls Church’s Watch Night – great free celebration.
Then we headed home for some sparkling cider and to try the Fre Champagne I got – alcohol removed champagne. While sparkling ciders are great, they’re a little sweet for me and I miss the flavor of real champagne, so I thought I’d give this a try. This brand offers champagne and a couple wines, all with alcohol removed. Let me tell you, it was delicious! Tasted just like champagne but without the buzz. Definitely a win for pregnancy. And no, I didn’t make it until midnight; I lasted until 10:30 pm.
Sunday, we went to the movies with Jimmy’s parents to see the new Star Wars movie. I’ve been battling a cold all weekend, so this was my only activity of the day. It was fun to get out for a bit.
Questionnaire:
How far along? 33 Weeks
How big is baby? 17.2″ & 4.2 lbs; the size of a pineapple
Maternity clothes? Yes.
Sleep: Sleep is the worst now. If I’m not waking up to go to the bathroom, I’m waking up to a numb hip or knee. I cannot get comfortable. I spend most of the night petting Kai – poor dog is probably exhausted too – but this comforts me and helps me fall back asleep. I did have a couple good nights of sleep, which is life changing.
Best moment this week: 1) New Years Eve: 2017 is Baby year!, 2) watching our last Hokie football game of the year
Movement: Yes, but I think he’s running out of room because it’s more wiggles and waves than kicks and flips this week
Food Cravings: fruit, Chipotle, spaghetti
Food Aversions: had a few times where the thought of any food at all made me nauseous oh and I threw up my Honey Nut Cheerios (Tuesday’s dinner) so those might be out again just like 1st trimester
Labor Signs: none that I can feel. I inflated my labor ball to start bouncing around on the regular. A friend of mine said she would bounce while watching TV and eating Domino’s pizza
Pregnancy Symptoms: sleep problems; I am hot ALL THE TIME – like open the window when it’s 34 degrees out hot; Tuesday brought back nausea and a round of vomiting for old time’s sake (aka I’m hoping this won’t be a recurring symptom again)
Belly Button in or out? Flat but in more?!?!?
What I miss: sleeping, even for two or three hours at a time
What I am looking forward to: the ability to bend – to paint my toes, reach something I dropped, put on shoes, etc – currently I either can’t or it squishes Baby and he lets me know that is NOT cool
Upcoming appointments/events: 12/28 OB & 1/11 OB – we’re in the bi-weekly appointments now
Weekly Wisdom: slow down on the walks at this stage – apparently I elevate my heart rate easily
We started off Monday morning with a two hour ultrasound. I was so excited about this, I probably slept four hours Sunday night. It didn’t help that I was specifically instructed to have a full bladder for the appointment so I decided I wouldn’t pee after 5 am to make sure I did everything above and beyond. Needless to say, I thought I might die or explode on the table in radiology. However, I viewed it as one of my first sacrifices for baby.
Speaking of Baby, he (that’s right, we’re having a boy!) was very cooperative the whole ultrasound appointment. The technician got a ton of measurements and easily identified baby’s sex. I however, was left a little disappointed the best ultrasound picture I have of my little guy is his arm. Oh well, I’m sure I’ll more than make up for it with a million pictures when he makes his debut.
Baby Blurry Blob Boy
I was also disappointed I could barely see anything during the ultrasound. I know the purpose is to get measurements and make sure everything is developing properly and I clearly don’t know what I am looking at, but it would’ve been nice to watch more. The way the room is set-up, the technician can see the screen clearly (obviously) and Jimmy could see the screen pretty well. I, however, could see it at a very absurd angle. This meant I saw images that looked more like a cartoon venus fly trap than a baby. I have no idea why but the angle I was at, made the heart flickering look like a that plant opening and closing its “mouth.” At the end, our technician did rotate the screen and talk us through what we were seeing. That part was fantastic!
Tuesday evening my parents brought dinner over from Peking Pavilion <- my favorite Chinese restaurant. It was great to see them and celebrate Baby Boy Racine. Also, I employed my dad to take a look at a dresser I plan on using as a changing table and a dresser we accidentally broke. Dads are the best at fixing things!
Thursday was our fourth wedding anniversary <3. We kept up tradition and went to Rays the Steaks for a delicious dinner. Then home for cupcakes from our wedding cake bakery, a bubbly toast, and gifts.
Same cupcakes, different bubbles. (Sparkling Cider) and beautiful flowers 🙂 Friday, we headed to Blacksburg for Homecoming weekend! This is the second year we’ve done this Bburg trip with some of my best friends. We rented the same house on airbnb – I highly recommend Aaron’s house.
Of course, we go to the game. Meredith’s parents host a fantastic tailgate! It was so great to be back at Tech and go see our Hokies play in-person and that game was AMAZING! Also, we completely lucked out with our seats – West Stands Section 20 row QQQ – we were in the shade the entire game. It was super hot out so that shade made a world of difference! Unfortunately we all failed on taking pictures, but a have a couple of the stadium and one of the VT white chocolates I made.
VT white chocolates – yum!Orange effect on point
Jimmy and I used the drive productively and nicknamed Baby “Mini Moose.” Jimmy has had the nickname Majestic Moose for probably five years in my family. [Kurt, Jimmy, and I went ice skating one year. Jimmy is a tough man’s man who enjoys contact sports. However, when he got on the ice, he was doing spins and skating on one leg so gracefully. Kurt said “whoa Jimmy! You’re like a Majestic Moose!” and the name stuck] So naturally mini Jimmy’s nickname should be Mini Moose. My Mom and I independently each bought Mini Moose a fleece hooded footie with a moose on it. Then this weekend, my incredible friends got Mini Moose some gifts including a pair of socks with little moose on them. Too perfect! Other gifts: little baby shoes, baby jeans, a button-up onesie, a navy blue vest, a Baby Hokie lovie, and a maroon plaid romper (is that the right word??) for Mini Moose to wear next football season. This boy is spoiled!
Questionnaire:
How far along? 19 Weeks
How big is baby? The size of an heirloom tomato: 6 in & 8.5 oz
Maternity clothes? Pretty much yes to all. I still wear some normal dresses and shirts.
Sleep: overall, good this week minus Friday night being in our rental house – I never sleep well the first night in a new place
Movement: occasional flutters and little jabs. It was great to see Baby moving on the ultrasound – although I’ve felt him move and I know he is moving, I had this irrational fear Baby couldn’t move and was paralyzed. He was too small to move around at our first ultrasound. At the second (genetic screening) ultrasound, he was sleeping, but seeing him still, instilled this crazy fear in me. However, I got to see him dancing around on Monday. Jimmy got a good view of the screen to see him moving around most of the appointment.
Food cravings: flavored seltzer (previously I hadn’t been interested in seltzer, I just wanted plain water), applesauce, apples
Labor Signs: this question is irrelevant until later
Pregnancy Symptoms: still acne <- umm isn’t a boy supposed to make your skin beautiful??? I feel jipped; old wives lie! I finally figured out the name for the sharp pain I have every so often: sciatica. Luckily it only happens occasionally and doesn’t last long. Pain in the butt, literally.
Belly Button in or out? In and it seems to have paused in it’s exit campaign, hurrah!
What I miss: nothing this week
What I am looking forward to: Someone I didn’t already tell asking if I’m pregnant. Right now, I stopped telling people (most people in my already know and I’m way too awkward mentioning it in conversations) so people must think I’ve gotten fat. And decorating the nursery now that we know we’re using blue 🙂
Upcoming appointments/events: 5 month OB appointment 9/27
Weekly Wisdom: Buy Buy Baby is an amazing website and a lot of things are cheaper than Amazon.
Monday was labor day. I thoroughly enjoyed the long weekend. Summary: We went to the cottage, watched college football, went to Joe’s for lunch, moved around furniture to prepare for the nursery.
Thursday Jimmy headed to my parents’ to stay the night so he could get up early on Friday to go hunting and then head to the Eastern Shore for more hunting Friday afternoon-Saturday. After hunting, he raced back home so we could watch the Battle at Bristol. Of course I was disappointed by the loss, I mean, we basically handed Tennessee the win with two fumbles inside the 20. I’m choosing to remember the 1st quarter and how excited I was with the drive and fire we had starting off.
Saturday morning I went for my first pregnancy run. It felt pretty good. I was up early (before 7 am) and it wasn’t too hot yet, so I decided to grab my shoes and give it a go. I definitely listened to my body and didn’t even try to push myself. I “ran” one mile in 11:31 and then walked three miles. I am still sore today (Monday). I’m thinking I’ll keep the slow pace so I don’t pump up the heart-rate too much but increase the miles as I feel better and stronger.
Sunday I went to a wonderful brunch with some co-workers hosted by an amazing former co-worker – we miss you Laura! Sunday evening, we had a cookout with Jimmy’s parents & Katie to celebrate his mom’s birthday. It’s always great to see family.
Questionnaire:
How far along? 17 Weeks
How big is baby? The size of an onion, pear, or pomegranate (depending on the source). I originally went with a pomegranate, but it was super small, so I got a pear on a later grocery trip. [I was surely not posing with an onion.]
Maternity clothes? Pretty much yes to all. I still wear some normal dresses and shirts.
Sleep: I wake up exhausted every morning. I’m also back to my wishing I could nap every afternoon
Best moment this week: setting up most of the nursery furniture
Food Aversions: haven’t really wanted to eat much meat
Gender: I’m still thinking girl so we’ll probably find out baby’s a boy
Labor Signs: this question is irrelevant until later
Pregnancy Symptoms: tired! hungry!
Belly Button in or out? In but it’s coming out more and more
What I miss: a cold beer with my college football – however I smelled one of Jimmy’s and it seemed DISGUSTING so I really don’t have any desire to drink, I just miss the experience of tailgating maybe?
What I am looking forward to: finding out gender
Upcoming appointments/events: nothing until the ultrasound 9/19
Weekly Wisdom: won’t get to use this one for a while but I read it on a blog and want to make sure I remember it: when you make the bed for a crib, layer one waterproof mattress protector, one sheet, one waterproof mattress protector, one sheet. That way when baby has a blowout/leak/spit up in the middle of the night, you just strip the top combo (sheet & protector) and there’s another ready to go underneath. No fumbling around at 3 am to find a new sheet and realizing all the mattress protectors are in the laundry.
Milestones: baby’s cartilage is turning to bone
Bump Picture:
Kai is over this bump pic. Yep, I’m wearing white after Labor Day, I’m a rebel 🙂
Dress: Lilly Pulitzer Felicity Dress in Resort White Shellabrate [I got it via Lilly’s summer sale]
Well the sad day I knew would happen is here: my wedding rings don’t fit. I knew my hands were getting puffy as my rings started feeling tighter and tighter. Now I just don’t want to risk them never coming off again and cutting off my circulation (or whatever terrible thing could happen). My mom had a beautiful spare diamond band that looks just like my wedding band so I’ll be rocking that solo. Unless this is a combo of puff & humidity so the fall/winter brings a miracle and I can wear my rings again.
On happier news: we announced on social media this weekend! I had planned a super cute valentines card announcement with a sonogram photo but this kid won’t give me a good picture, so plan B = my love for Hokie football. I designed a onesie on CustomInk and pulled my “Future Hokie” maternity shirt out of the drawer I’ve been keeping it in since, probably this time last year, for some photos at the cottage.
Hoping the social media posts help word travel because I can’t figure out how to tell people in-person without sounding like I’m on “16 and Pregnant.” Seriously, my conversations go like this:
co-worker: “I think I’ll get the hash-browns and eggs”
other person “that sounds good, I’m so hungry”
me: “I’m super hungry too… because I’m pregnant.”
Or another actual example:
coworker: “have you tried the wine bar at Harris Teeter yet?”
me [trying to be normal]: “oh no not yet. Do they have some good wines there?”
coworker: “You need to go try it tonight!”
me: “I’m not drinking for a while.”
pause
me: “I’m pregnant”
I can’t work anything in naturally and I’m definitely starting to show, so this will make for some laughs in the weeks to come.
Questionnaire:
How far along? 16 Weeks
How big is baby? The size of an avocado
Maternity clothes? Yes for shorts & pants, no for shirts or dresses
Sleep: pretty terrible this week
Best moment this week: So many: 1)When I told Jimmy baby can hear now, he repeatedly said “hello,” 2) announcing on social media, 3) starting nursery set-up
Movement: When driving I feel some. Baby must have my car anxiety.
Food cravings: ice cream, cookies – baby’s got a sweet tooth whereas I would prefer fruit or salty things
Food Aversions: sweet potatoes
Gender: I am really thinking girl this week
Labor Signs: this question is irrelevant until later
Pregnancy Symptoms: headaches, acne,
Belly Button in or out? In but it’s coming out
What I miss: not needing 7 snacks & 3 meals to make it through a day – life was easier when it was simply 3 meals & 1-2 snacks
What I am looking forward to: finding out gender
Upcoming appointments/events: nothing until the ultrasound 9/19
Weekly Wisdom: if you’re buying a new rug for the nursery, buy it super early because it’ll need to be aired out like none other. Thank your pregnancy super sense of smell for that because your husband likely won’t smell a thing.
We spent our weekend raking leaves, baking pumpkin bread, helping Mom & Dad F move a bit, having a great dinner with Mom & Dad R, and of course watching our Hokies play. Kai was looking especially nice in his new bow tie that arrived this week; we called him “Dapper Dog” all day.
Still can’t believe we pulled off that win! Being the superstitious person I am, I’ve informed Jimmy we have to go watch the first half at Dogwood Tavern in our own Little City and then 2nd half at home from now on. Luckily for him and our wallets (they have Bold Rock Cider on draft, yum) there are only a few games left.
I don’t have a pic of the whole wheat homemade pumpkin bread – we keep eating it too quickly, but I do have a recipe. I did add additional pumpkin purée – one whole can instead of a cup because Jimmy thought the first patch wasn’t “pumpkiny” enough.
My parents (Mom & Dad F) are moving. Which of course would mean my Dad would break his wrist (cast pic to come). So we helped them move, set up/rebuild their water bed, and put things in the storage pod for the cottage. Fun Saturday afternoon. They’re leaving the home they lived in since before I was born so it’s a little bittersweet for the family, but they’re moving into Grammy’s old house, so that is exciting. Kai loves running around his old yard.
This weekend we visited Kurt at Clemson to watch the Clemson Virginia Tech game. We tailgated with mimosas and fried chicken – my favorite before 3:30pm game combination. We had a blast meeting his friends, going to his bars, and hanging out. Can’t wait ’till this kid graduates so we can hang out all the time 🙂
2 Hokies and a Tiger
I was super excited to go tailgate “Southern Style” so I spent hours online shopping and finally found this perfect skirt from The Loft. The necklace I got from a super cute Etsy shop.
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Racine Family Updates 