Family of Four

We had our first doctor visit today, and it went well, so we are ready to 'officially' announce the addition of baby #2 around August 20th! We are a little over 10 weeks along.
I remembered this 'first visit' all too well from being pregnant with Gabbie...they draw what seems like enough blood that I forgot if I was there to donate blood or just for labs. They ask many questions-my favorite one being "so are you feeling well?" Well I suppose, for the shape I'm in. Then it gets a little 'uncomfortable'...but I guess what modesty is left after having had a child already. Finally the fun part...time to look for the heartbeat. It took what seemed like a while to find it, but all of the sudden I heard that swoosh, swoosh, swoosh going way to fast to be my heartbeat! That was pretty exciting-all of the sudden being pregnant again seemed real, and more than just constant nausea and headaches.
I thought we'd be having an ultrasound today, as we did that with Gabbie also. But it turns out we just did that with her to figure out the due date, since she had surprized us :) This time we can figure a due date and doctor said he won't worry about an ultrasound until sometime around 20 weeks. We are planning to leave the gender a surprize again, and doctor said we measured at 10 weeks, so there would be no need for an ultrasound right now anyway.
I didn't take any baby bump pictures with Gabbie. I guess just 1 a couple of days before she was born. This time I am keeping a journal that has spaces to include pictures, so we took one today. I included it at the bottom here. Although I don't have pictures to compare, I do know for fact I did not look like this at 10 weeks pregnant with Gabbie! I was able to wear my regular pants until almost 20 weeks with her. People told me you 'pop out' faster the second time, but that is an understatment. Today at work I was told several times "geez, you are already showing!" That, or I am just enjoying the reason to eat extra just a little too much...
I hate to use the word 'crabby'; but I can't say I've been 'pleasant', but I'm not 'emotional', so crabby would be the best descriptor for how I have been to those who have to tolerate me on a daily basis. Otherwise it feels about the same as last time; nauseated, tired, headaches, acid reflux, carpal tunnel, and up every few hours at night to use the bathroom. I manage to make it through work at the care center without puking, but then I go to see my home health clients and I vomit during my treatments at their houses. I feel best early in the morning, so I've started exercising at 5:30 or 6 a.m. instead of waiting until I get home at night, which is when I feel really crappy and tend to just sit on the couch. I'm glad to be getting through this being sick part in the winter, so hopefully I'm ready to run around outside again come Spring and Summer. I think Gabbie is wondering where her old Mom went.
Okay, so although that was an entire paragraph of me whining about how I feel physically, I do truly feel blessed to be adding child #2 to the family. Gabbie has been such a joy to us; its hard to imagine how watching 2 of them grow will feel! I'm really trying to absorb every moment I can of this pregnancy. Not that I didn't try to do that with Gabbie, but we were definetly in a different phase of our lives then. I worked full time, then typically worked a PRN job in the evenings and on most weekends and it felt like we were running all the time. Gabbie has taught me so much about simplifying my life, including working less, not obsessing over a clean house so much, ignoring the computer and phone, and just taking time to play.
That's the main news from our house today! It has been harder to keep this one a secret since we have known for so long. We were about 7 weeks pregnant with Gabbie before it dawned on me that I wasn't feeling quite right...that made the first trimester go a bit faster!

The belly...I give up on even trying to find a baggy shirt or sweater right now

Gabbie's new favorite thing...a fish. Brice caught it while ice fishing and put it in the tank. She loves it, but I don't think 'fishy' loves her playing in the water and hitting his tank.

Hibernation

Here are the Hundling house we are certainly in our "winter funk" as I call it. Seems like after Christmas we have a tendency to spend a few weeks on our lazy bottoms and be bored. We finally tried to snap out of it this week. Brice took Gabbie and I ice fishing a couple of times. He caught one small enough to put in our fish tank, which Gabbie has found to be quite entertaining! I decided my short bouts on the treadmill were getting tough to count as 'work-outs' so I joined the gym in town and started the morning routine again. I took on a couple extra home health clients, figuring I can make more money sitting in someone elses house than in my own. And this morning I brought home donuts after my workout to eat prior to taking Gabbie to the library and then to see her great-grandparents. Tomorrow we plan to go sledding. Take that, winter blues!

Gabbie is just soo busy...she can't even put the phone down long enough to finish her meal! Actually this was so funny. We sat down to eat, and randomly Gabbie would pick up the phone (during a bite) and say "hello?" Brice and I don't talk on the phone at the dinner table, but I guess we aren't as important as Gabbie!

Thank goodness, someone to help me dust! She loves doing this; our TV and tables have never been so dust free!

Christmas 2010...Happy New Year 2011!

We hope everyone had wonderful Christmas and New Years Days! Christmas was nice this year-we had power, a healthy child, and church wasn't cancelled (comparisons to 2009). The main thing is that I got the game "Wheel of Fortune" to play on the Wii and so far I have won trips to Italy and Alaska! Just kidding ;-) The main thing is we continue to be blessed with each other and good health, and had good food and a warm place to celebrate the holidays.

Before our company arrived for Christmas Eve-a great picture of these 2 goofballs!

Apparantly she wasn't as happy to have a picture with me?!

Hooray for Christmas morning!!

Gabbie got a new T-shirt for Christmas! I think most of the population who reads our blog knows about this (as well as the home health client whose home I got sick at a few days ago...) In August we are adding another. Almost 8 weeks down; according to the doctor the fact that I feel sea sick all day, many headaches, and want to go to bed at 6 p.m. are all good signs things are going well. We'll have more details in a couple weeks after our first ultrasound :-)

Yup, we butchered chickens the day after Christmas. Obviously they are huge; they are literally taking up 1/4 of the space in the deep freeze. Still trying to figure out if my roasting pan will even be big enough to cook them. I figured their average weight at 13 pounds.

Great-grandpa Rollie was 'pretending' to yell at Gabbie, so she was 'pretending' to cry. It was entertaining, but I think next time I will let them sit by each other instead of me inbetween :-)

I said to Gabbie: "Pose for one last picture of 2010". This is what she did. None of us saw midnight that night-she went to bed at 8:30 and I'm sure I was asleep by 9:00!

Fun weekend!

We've had a great 'family style' weekend doing some fun Christmas activities! Saturday we went to Wall Lake to see Santa and have soup & sandwiches. After that we went to buy our 'real' Christmas tree. Saturday night we drove to Carroll to eat and look at Christmas lights with Brice's parents. Today we were excited to have a well behaved child in church and use the afternoon to finish up tax preparation. Even had some extra time to return to my Internet coupon searching before I grocery shop this week. Here's a few pics:

Gabbie likes to sit and read the paper with Dad.  I hear a lot of "tractors" and "trucks" being pointed out.

Last weekend after attending Grandma's Christmas concert

She didn't want to visit Santa at first...she just wanted the candy...

Then we said that to get the candy she had to sit on Santa's lap with her dolly. I love the apprehensive look on her face :)

We each needed a picture with Gabbie after Santa got one :)

Cutting down our Christmas tree. We picked one of the first ones we saw, since there was too much snow to walk the whole path. 

I guess I should say that today "I" finished up tax preparation, as Brice was out doing recreational activity. He asked me to take this picture, as he says today was the first time he's ever shot the limit of pheasant for one day :) Not sure how he stands the cold for the afternoon, but glad we have supper for the week figured out!

I love winter for the fact that Brice is in the house earlier on Sunday's and we can usually have a nice sit down family supper. Right now he is in the kitchen with Gabbie and they are dancing to songs on my I-pod while they cook. Too funny! Of course everytime I sneak in to video tape it they both stop. Tonight Brice is making us a roast and he's making homemade bread :) Life is good, Gabbie even pooped 2 times today! Merry "Christmas week" to everyone!

Big News

That's right, you heard it here first. Yesterday, the first time in nearly 3 weeks, Gabbie took a normal sized poop all on her own! I do not care how gross that is, we are thrilled. A few weeks ago we were noticing days going by without Gabbie having what she calls a "yuck". When she did have a "yuck" it was pretty small and not very solid. She was eating poorly and being more naughty than we'd like our 2 year old to be. So we went to the doctor last Tuesday. They did an x-ray. Dr. came back to our room and said "whoa, that must hurt, she's full". It took me a second to realize that he would not have come in the room so fast and he would have been breaking the news a bit softer if he had been talking about a terrible condition (yes, I'm a cancer-phobic). So, once I realized he was talking about her being full of poop, we drew up a game plan (literally, he drew it on a piece of paper with arrows and all). Start with a suppository, than an enema, then a few days of milk of magnesia, then daily MiraLax. I tell ya', the last 10 days have revolved around whether or not Gabbie took a "yuck". There have been some frustrating moments, some serious communication between Brice and I and the daycare provider (what she ate, how she acted, and of course, did she poop). We were not having much luck (without using a suppository anyway) and so I talked to the doctor again this past Thursday. He said keep trying, getting her back on track may take us 1-2 months. Well, last night at what was previously her usual time to take a "yuck" she did it, and didn't act like she was in pain and was more than willing to let me change her diaper. I'm excited and hope that with good eating habits and routine Miralax that we will have her on track and crack down on potty training in a month or so.

Did I seriously just type a whole paragraph about poop? Wow.

In other news, we are enjoying another snow day! We just got an automated phone call from the county to avoid travel as several motorists are stranded and rescue workers are having trouble getting to them. No argument here. I sure needed a day to sit here and work on the church books and catch up on some other paperwork, just wish it wasn't such a hazardous situation. Brice managed to do a little hunting today. You know, some days I think to myself, "gee what a good man, doing the work he does in such cold conditions", then he goes and chooses to expose himself to blizzard like conditions causing me to wonder if I should be respecting him or having his mental state examined...

Speaking of hunting, Brice did have his weekend get-a-way last weekend with his friend from college to do some deer hunting. I managed the chores pretty well and Gabbie and I spent some good times together (note to self: do not take Gabbie out to eat with friends without Brice's help, or better option, quit taking her to place's where she needs to sit still). Her and I went to my friend Leanne's for a Discovery Toy party one night, she tagged along for a home health visit, out to eat, saw Santa, and had a popcorn/movie night. We were both glad to see him come home. I feel the need to lock all the doors while he's gone and practically sleep with one eye open, Gabbie kept looking around the house saying "Brice?" I compare this trip he takes to a high school girls slumber party. They stay up too late chatting, get up early to hunt, and add to that Brice getting made fun of by all his 'bachelor friends' for showing up in a minivan, you can imagine the state he came home in...we think he's back to normal now :-)

Here are a few recent pictures...

The Wii is Gabbie's new favorite thing. She has no idea how to play, but loves to watch.

Playing with Daddy. Her friend Abby at daycare likes to do her pigtails that she has in :-)

Getting ready to see Santa

I'll make sure the elf is real by pulling her ears...

The previous front door from the inside...

...from the outside...

The new door from the inside. I refuse to go outside today to take a picture from the outside, but its the same as this obviously. We'll worry about painting it this Spring.

The project for today...moving Gabbie into our bedroom to accomodate some more home improvement projects. Of course it wasn't just a matter of bringing the crib in. It didn't fit through the door, so I had to take it apart. I thought we'd clean it while we were doing that anyway and Gabbie was a great helper! I also decided to make it into a "big girl" bed while I was at it. It was no good for her nap today, we'll see how tonight goes!

Today Gabbie has been crawling with her head down and enjoying the static it makes with her hair on the carpet. Weird.

Gypsy staying warm inside! The sled is my new idea to accomodate her leaking problem. Its easier to clean that than the carper.

Our (fake) tree. We are still hoping to get to the tree farm to buy a real one.

Yes I did let Gabbie stay in her PJ's all day! We had some serious playing to do and no time for changing clothes...

Snow Day!

I knew this was going to be a great day when Gabbie woke up at around 2:30 a.m. I stubbled through the dark and realized, it was truly dark, and the house was a bit cold. No electricity!! I was pumped-the power being out could not last past today, so we were in for a fun filled day of going no where and instead coloring, snuggling, laundry folding, napping, reading, etc. The only downside I could see was not getting my morning coffee. Well, somewhere around 8 a.m. it came back on. The day still looked great-I looked out the window and could tell that 10 inches or so of snow meant we were going to be able to stay home for the first time in weeks! I always laugh at how I look on days like this. 10 years ago I would not have let Brice catch me dead with no make-up on and frizzy hair, and now I look forward to such days. So far we have had a dance party, made bars, made bread, tried to catch a mouse, colored, read books, and I'm working on our massive pile of laundry. The best part-Gabbie and I are still in our PJ's.

The duck and geese blazing a trail

I'm really wishing I had gotten my roses and other plants 'winterized' before today!

Brice has been the entertaining part of my day so far. I was supposed to work at a craft fair today, then go see home health clients. He said "no way, you'll never make it out of the driveway". No arguments from me. He decided to try some bow hunting at the neighbors and saw "tons of deer". Apparantly he ran out of some needed materials and after dinner asked what I thought of him going to Carroll. I said "whatever" (meaning, I am not going to help you if you get stuck). He said he would take his car. After he saw it was piled with snow up and over the headlights and past the bumper he said he'd take my van instead. Gabbie and I had to watch this show from the window. I bet he had to go in reverse/drive/reverse/drive 15 times before he made it down the driveway. Gabbie was waving at him saying "Bye Bye", he'd wave back, then get stuck. We kept watching and seemed it took him an extra long time to get from the driveway to the highway (we couldn't see through the trees). I stood there thinking of a title, like "The determination of a man and his van", and laughing at the irony that I can not make it to work, but he can make it to Carroll to buy recreational hunting supplies. He is currently out enjoying this wonderful weather. And by the way, the van is currently stuck about 30 feet from the garage. At least he made it that far!

Another fun part of today-shoe shopping. I 'need' a new pair of boots. Yesterday I received my first ever check from Brice, wages for helping on the farm. He asked what I was going to buy with it. I said "mostly save it, but I could use some new work boots". I think he really belives that these are boots to help on the farm. But they are boots for me to wear to work (not on the farm).

Finally, this video from today cracks me up-the part where I ask Gabbie if I can use the "Sit-and-Spin". Maybe its not as funny as I think it is...at the time I totally felt the "duh Mom" look going on.

End of October Fun

We officially have a 2 year old! We had a great weekend and appreciated all the friends that came (some in costume!) to help Gabbie celebrate. She is now able to proudly tell anyone who asks that she is TWO (as she reaches out 3 fingers). I've attached our favorite pictures of the weekend. Not much else to add, we have busy weekends all through November as I participate in all the local vendor fairs and craft shows and Brice is baling corn stalks and welcoming a new group of piggies. We both cringe to think its November...this is always the time of year we realize we have not kept up on bookwork since probably April, and our December tax appointment is fast approaching. Oh well; for now we will just continue to enjoy the nice weather and pull a few 'all nighters' doing bookwork in December!

I made cupcakes a treat for her to share at daycare the week of her birthday. In what Brice calls one of my "pie in the sky ideas" I thought I'd take a picture of her with her "2" cupcakes. I'm not sure how it is that in every situation I can think of the worst case scenario, but when it comes to common sense I'm totally lacking. Obviously then she wanted a cupcake, or at least the frosting off the top.

The "new thing", feeding the baby. Leaving the bottle empty worked for a day. Now she insists that her baby needs milk. So far she's settled for an ounce of water. To be funny the other day I told her to go change the baby's diaper. Sure enough she went to the diaper box and tried. Too bad the baby's outfit is sewn on to her.

Birthday party fun with Tyler! And yes, I did put white socks on my daughter with black shoes and a black outfit. And no one made fun of her.

Her most used birthday gift-toothbrushes :)

Opening cards from the mail in the car.

Eating leftover cake after church. Yes, I did let her eat cake for pretty much every meal the entire weekend. You are only 2 once after all! Now we have had enough cake to last us until Brice's birthday in April.

Our Halloween spider!

Family picture before I took Gabbie trick-or-treating. Too bad Dad was busy working-maybe he could have stopped me from thinking I needed to drag Gabbie to 'several' houses!

With Great Grandma, however already looking on to the next candy stop!

This is as orange as our pumpkins got...guess that's what happens when you plant them on August 1st.

The sunset on one of our 'after work/after daycare' walks last week. The picture isn't very clear, but the sunset was beautiful. After this weekend we'll have to take our short walks in the dark!