20 Weeks and Halfway There

I can't believe I'm already halfway through with this pregnancy and have not once posted a real belly picture. With Grace, I was documenting the belly progress from the time we read that plus sign on the pregnancy test.

But in my own little way, I have been keeping track. Again, I have to be grateful for the iPhone. In the 'notes' section, I try to summarize how I'm feeling each week and jot down any Grace-isms about the baby.

So here's how the first half of the pregnancy has gone so far...

WEEK 5: I'M PREGNANT! Seven positive at-home pregnancy tests tell me it's so!

WEEK 6: WHERE'S THE MORNING SICKNESS? Wow, this is so different from my first pregnancy. I don't have any kind of morning sickness. Could those 7 at-home pregnancy tests, the blood test at the doctor's, and the additional 3 at-home pregnancy tests I took, just to be absolutely sure, be wrong?

WEEK 7-8: I SPOKE TOO SOON. All day morning sickness has hit big time. I can't keep anything down. Grace has seen me sick so many times that when Mike comes home and asks how her day was, she tells him that mama's been throwing up and then acts it out for him.

WEEK 9: HELLO, PEANUT! AND ZOFRAN, MY MIRACLE DRUG. I had my first appointment with my nurse midwife and we get a sneak peek at what's been making me so ill the past few weeks.
I also discovered the miracle of Zofran, an anti-nausea medicine. I was very hesitant to take any unnecessary medication, but the fact that I was so dehydrated that I had to get an IV put in and it was getting extremely difficult to care for Grace when I was always face down in the toilet, convinced me that modern medicine had its advantages.

An IV in my arm, a bucket at the ready, some apple juice refreshments, and a bell to call for the nurse.

My cute bedside companion.

WEEK 10: PRUNE JUICE. Zofran is making me feel human again, but one of the unpleasant side effects is extreme constipation. We were visiting Virginia Beach for the month that Mike was underway and one day the constipation reached the point where I asked my brother, Josh, to babysit a napping Grace while I ran up the road to the nearest grocery store to buy some prune juice and dried prunes. I wasn't feeling the best so I left the house with my hair unbrushed, not a trace of make up on, and wearing 'house clothes' that could have probably passed for raggedy pajamas.

When I got to the register, the cashier says to me, "Did you teach 8th grade English at Landstown Middle School? Are you Miss Copon? You were my teacher!" Talk about embarrassing. Not only do I look like death, but I am buying nothing but prune juice- and we all know that you only buy prune juice for one thing. Thankfully she was one of my sweeter students from a long time ago, but I'm sure her Facebook status went something like, 'OMG, I just saw my old English teacher, and dang- the years have not been kind to her AT ALL!'

WEEK 11-14: SOOOO SLEEPY. All I remember in these weeks is that I couldn't get enough sleep. The moment Grace went down for her nap, I was sleeping right along with her. I could not make it through the day unless I squeezed in a nap. And I was falling asleep the moment she went to bed at night.

Ultrasound at my first trimester screening. My sweet friend, Liezel, kept me company because Mike just couldn't get out of work. It was so reassuring to see the baby doing well and we even got to see a few cute little waves hello.


WEEK 15-16: 'NORMAL' AGAIN. I am starting to feel 'normal' again. The word normal is in quotations because if I wasn't pregnant, I would still feel like I wasn't well. But compared to how I was feeling a few weeks ago, I feel fantastic!

WEEK 17: ZUMBA TIME. Things are starting to get rounder. And I'm not talking about the belly. I'm talking about my face, my arms, my butt, and my thighs. So it's back to the gym for some Zumba time. I can't bounce around as much as I would like, and I can definitely tell my time away from the gym has taken it's toll, but it's nice to be back to a bit of my old routine.

WEEK 18: QUICKENING AND A PREGNANT BELLY. I am feeling sweet little flutters and gentle jabs. It's such a miraculous feeling, and definitely one of my favorite parts of being pregnant. I'm also starting to really show in the belly. Every week I ask Mike, "Do I look pregnant, or just fat?" And for a while, he would humor me and say definitely pregnant even though I knew I was still in the in-between stage where people are too afraid to ask if you're expecting for fear you've just gained a few pounds. But now, I actually believe him when he says I look pregnant.

WEEK 19: ACROBATICS AND HICCUPS Those sweet little flutters have turned into acrobatics. This is one active baby! Compared to this one, Grace was so shy in my belly. And the hiccups! All. The. Time. Sometimes I get up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom and then have a hard time falling back asleep because of the acrobatics and hiccups.

WEEK 20: GROWTH SPURT AND CRAVINGS. Either the baby is going through a growth spurt or I'm just a big fat pig. I am starving all the time! I can't get enough to eat. I'm trying to make sure I'm eating well, but I'm craving chocolate right now and can't seem to resist a few sneaks here and there. I'm also craving fish this week. I want to eat tuna sandwiches everyday and would love salmon suppers every night.

BABY GRACE-ISMS:

Uncle Josh asks her if she wants a baby brother or a baby sister. "Uh, just a puppy."

While we were in the car, Mike and I were bouncing possible baby names off each other. Grace chimes in with, "Rudolph, Dasher, Dancer, Donner, Vixen, Comet, Blitzen..."

(On another day) What do you think we should name the baby? Let's think of some nice names. "Uh, let's name it Pup! That's a perfect name!" (And so this child has been nicknamed Pup by his or her big sister. We have been referring to the baby as Pup since this little Grace-ism a few weeks ago.)

She hands me her fruit snacks and orders me, "Eat it, Mama, so your baby can grow!"

Mike asked Grace if she thought my belly was getting big. "Oh, yes!" Why is mama's belly getting big? "Because she eats a lot!"

Weekend Picture Recap

I am trying hard to keep up with the daily blogging, but some days get away from me. All I can say is thank goodness for the iPhone and it's picture taking capabilities because without it, these past few days would have gone undocumented. Here is just a quick picture update of our weekend...

Pulled on my boots and called herself 'Puss in Boots'.

This nutcracker soldier kept her busy while we waited to be seated at the restaurant.

Mike came home from his underway and he took us out for my favorite indulgent meal, lobster carbonara from Maggiano's, to celebrate my birthday.

As I was cleaning the rest of the house, I sent her to her room to play. Her room was actually clean and organized when I sent her in there...(sigh)...

While her bedskirt was being laundered, she took the opportunity to crawl into the underbed storage. And broke it. (Sigh)

Showing me how she shakes her booty.

34 and Feeling Wonderful

I am officially 34 years old. And I feel wonderful! When I was in my early teens, I thought being in my thirties meant being old. I mean old as in wearing Christmas sweaters with sequins and jingle bells on them. Girdles. Wrinkles. Gray Hair. And while I do not own any Christmas themed sweaters, will remain silent on the girdle wearing (Do Spanx count as girdles?), and admit to the crow's feet and the beginnings of stray gray hairs, I still feel wonderful.

That's because I have a very blessed life. These days, birthdays aren't about presents anymore; it's about counting all my blessings. I'm so grateful to have so many blessings for which to be thankful- good health, a loving husband, and a sweet child, with another on the way, are among the most important. Life is good.

So even though I had to spend another birthday without Mike, it was still a wonderful birthday. My sweet girl helped me make my birthday cake and kept me laughing all day long. I received a couple of great surprises throughout the day. And I ate my weight in chocolate without feeling even a teeny bit guilty.

As always, a shout out to my mama, who had an integral part in making this day happen for me. Thanks, Mom. Happy BIRTHday to YOU, too! After all, 34 years ago, you're the one who was doing all the work.

A surprise delivery from my brothers!


Of course, Grace got the first taste.


Then I received another special delivery from Mike- a cupcake flower arrangement. Grace thought she could eat this one, too, just like the previous delivery.


She sang "Happy Birthday to Mama" and then helped me blow out the candles.


Chocolate fudge cake with coconut pecan frosting and chocolate covered strawberries. Grace ate her entire piece and half of mine. She gets her love of chocolate cake from her mama!

It's For Jesus! (and other Grace-isms)

We made a quick trip to the grocery store this morning and I ended up buying two things I normally would not- strawberry cake mix and funfetti icing. When I wasn't looking, Grace had grabbed the two items off the shelf and a lady passing by laughingly told me that my baby was doing her own shopping.

I tried to put it back because I don't particularly care for strawberry cake, but Grace protested wildly and said, "But it's for Jesus! I'm going to make it for his birthday!"

I couldn't really argue with that, so I guess we're having strawberry cupcakes with funfetti icing for Christmas.


Which brings me to a few other Grace-isms that I've been collecting during my recent blog hiatus.

One night as she was climbing into bed, she bumped her head on the headboard and started bawling.
Me: What will make it feel all better? (Thinking she would say a kiss from Mama.)
Grace: God

Me: Grace, you are so cute I could just eat you up!
Grace: No, Mama, don't eat me! I'm a choking hazard!

Me: Grace, it's time to clean up the table because it's almost time for bed.
Grace: (After taking an extraordinarily long time to clear the coffee table of her toys and books) I cleaned the table like you said but it took me a lot longer than I thoughted (not a typo, she really said 'thoughted').

"I can't do yoga in my car seat, but I can cross my legs like a lady."

She is very aware of Christmas this year and gets so excited when she sees holiday decorations when we are out and about. She points everything out and says, "That means it's almost time for Christmas!"

Grace also knows all about the Christmas wish list and is constantly adding things onto it. The good thing is there are absolutely no tantrums in the stores when she wants to get something because she just tells me, "I'm going to put it on my Christmas list." The bad news is her wish list is a mile long.

When we were traveling to Virginia Beach for Thanksgiving weekend, we stopped at the gas station convenience store and she swept her arms over the entire candy aisle and said, "I'm putting all of this on my Christmas list!"

She does not like the Grinch song and freaks out when it comes on. "I don't like the Grinch song. It doesn't make me happy, it makes me nervous."

And one of my all-time favorites... We were snuggling in bed and she said, "You make me happy and you make my heart feel better." I just love being her mama! The absolute best job in the world.

Christmas Card Pictures- Take 2

With Christmas just two and a half weeks away, I knew I had to get that Christmas card picture taken this weekend or else I could just forget about even sending them out this year. I refuse to let that happen so I decided that no matter what I ended up with this afternoon, I was going to pick something to put on our card, even if it meant a picture of my child crying hysterically.

Luckily, our photo session went surprisingly well. Considering we overslept and almost missed out on sunlight. My plan was to take photos after church, but Grace was cranky so I decided it was better to let the child nap so she would be in a better mood. I wasn't feeling so great myself so we all bedded down for afternoon naps.

We woke up at 4:30. The sun sets around 5:30. I ran around frantically trying to get everyone ready so we could go make it to the spot I picked out in our neighborhood that I thought would be perfect for pictures. But if we didn't make it out there before the sun went down, it didn't matter how perfect it was- our photo shoot would be pointless.

Grace's hair was a mess, but all I could do was pass a brush through it and hope for good camera angles. My plans for curling my hair went out the window. I just managed to slap on some face powder and lip gloss and left Mike ironing his shirt with directions on where to meet us.

The moment Mike met us, I frantically told him to hurry back to the house because, although I remembered to bring the tripod and camera, I forgot the little piece that attaches the camera to the tripod in the camera bag.

Let me say that my husband must really love me because throughout all my craziness and (ahem) bossy behavior, he just did as he was told and not once did he roll his eyes or make any snide comments about wild pregnancy hormones. When you see our Christmas card this year and see pictures of happiness and serenity, just know that behind-the-scenes, there was a wildly hormonal pregnant woman acting all crazy to get it looking that way.

In the end, all went well, and we managed to get a few decent shots for the Christmas card. The cards are ordered and I hope they make it here on time for me to address them and send them out before Christmas. If not, at least I tried.

These pictures didn't make the cut, but I thought they were at least blog worthy...

Saturday Fun

Why such a look of wonder on daddy and daughter's faces?
Because they were looking at this...


It was so big I couldn't even get the whole thing in my camera frame. We went to the ship's children's Christmas party which was held at a bouncy house place, and this dragon inflatable was huge. I've never seen anything like it. Grace was a little intimidated by the thing, as was I, and both she and I insisted that daddy go in with her.

After a while, she was okay with going in without daddy reinforcement. I was still a nervous wreck. Did I mention how HUGE that thing was? I was afraid I wouldn't see my child come out again!


The rest of the party was more relaxing for me since it involved pizza, cake and ice cream, and a visit from Santa.

Holding hands with her buddy while waiting to visit with Santa.

They were having such an intense conversation! When I later asked what they were talking about, Grace said they were telling each other what was on their Christmas wish list- Spiderman for Ty and a purple bear for Grace.

When Grace is nervous, this is what she looks like- she bites her cheeks and makes a fishy-face, and my normally talkative girl turns mute. In this instance, she is nervous because Santa was coming around for a quick little hello.


As you can see, she warmed up to him later. The fact that he had a small gift for her could have something to do with the smile, as well.

Thanksgiving 2011

This Thanksgiving weekend was busy- B.U.S.Y- busy. We started Thanksgiving day off with doing some last minute packing for our weekend trip to Virginia Beach and then headed over to Mike's ship for our turkey lunch. The meal was actually quite delicious, but dining on the ship also meant that we didn't hit the road for Virginia Beach until 1:30 in the afternoon; a trip that usually takes twelve hours.

Luckily, traveling on Thanksgiving day meant there was absolutely no traffic so we made great time. Unluckily, traveling on Thanksgiving day meant that there weren't any restaurants open. We were able to sustain ourselves on the measly snacks I had packed for the trip and things we found at gas station convenience stores. By the time we made it to my parents' house, it was 11:30 and night and I was starving. But my sweet family had saved us plenty of food and we got our fill of turkey, stuffing, and pecan tarts before crashing for the night.

Keeping herself busy on the trip by stealthily unrolling half of the paper towel roll.

The next morning, we went to check out a couple of stores for their Black Friday deals and then the rest of the day was spent witnessing and celebrating the marriage of my friends, Avigail and Gabe. It was a beautiful wedding and a much better way to spend Black Friday. I'll take visiting with friends over fighting my way through hectic crowds any day. A memorable Thanksgiving weekend indeed!





Saturday morning we watched Uncle Josh go behind the wheel for the first time. It's scary to think the baby in our family is old enough to drive! Especially when he was born during my first year of college. Makes me feel so darn old. Grace thought Uncle Josh driving on the driving course was cool for about thirty seconds. Then she was off collecting leaves for the rest of the time.

We finished our day with a date night and visited with some of Mike's friends. Our time in Virginia Beach was definitely short and sweet, and very tiring, but it was all worth it.