Easter Weekend

Christ is Risen!

We have had a great Easter weekend. Saturday we hung out with little D and took him to a park. Greg and he fished some while Cambry played on the playground. Unfortunately they did not catch any fish.

Then we played a little game with him using eggs. I had made a set of resurrection eggs using this website with printable verses. We first hid the eggs for him to find. Then to make it a little more fun for him since he is older we said he could get a dollar for each egg that he correctly guessed what the object represented before looking at the verse. He got 7 right!

Sunday morning we went to church. It was a nice service and the worship songs were great. We went to the early 8am service which was probably the least crowded. Then we came home and relaxed a little. The weather was beautiful today. We sat outside a bit and then had the windows open throughout the day. We watched the storm roll in late afternoon which was fun to watch.

My parents came over around lunch time and brought brisket, potatoes, beans, salad, and cake. It was so nice of them to bring it so I didn't have to do anything and my mom did all the cleaning too!

Cambry got a few little things in her Easter basket.

We didn't do an egg hunt for Cambry, but she has done a few recently. Although she doesn't quite get it, she will pick up a couple eggs for a minute before becoming disinterested. Earlier this week we played with eggs in the front yard and she got a few.

Also, we had our small group Easter social this week and had a little egg hunt for the kids. I didn't go since I still feel so nauseous at night, but Greg took Cambry. It looks like the kids had fun. I filled Cambry's eggs with some healthy fruit snacks, graham crackers, and raisins. Although I don't think she noticed or cared, ha!

Happy Easter!

Baby #2 Bumpdate: 11 Weeks

How far along: 11 Weeks

Baby’s Size: Fig 

Maternity Clothes: Belly band sometimes, a couple maternity shirts although not really necessary yet

Movement: None yet

Sleep: Great. At least one bathroom trip a night though.

Symptoms: Nauseous throughout the day and extremely nauseous at night, tired.

Food Aversions/Cravings: Cheesy things sound the best - goldfish, mac&cheese, pizza, cheesy casseroles, etc. Also drinking tons of milk. I was crazy for milk last time I was pregnant too. I eat cereal at least 2 times a day and put in tons of milk. Then sometimes I will just have a glass of chocolate milk. Smoothies sound good too. Somehow at the same time food grosses me out. I can hardly think what to have for dinner because everything sounds so terrible.

Best Moment this Week: Being in the Cayman Islands with family!

What I Miss: Feeling good and being able to be productive around the house 

What I am Looking Forward to: My next appointment and hearing the heartbeat again!

The Shirt

Greg had just left for Prague for a week. It was super early but I was dying to know if I was pregnant. I took a test the day after he left and thought I saw the faintest faintest line. You really can't tell in the picture...unless you zoom in and squint ;)

My heart was racing and I starting getting really excited. I started googling like mad if a super-faint-barely-there line was a positive. Most agreed yes. The next day I took another test. It was a teeny tiny bit darker.

I was still not entirely convinced so I bought a digital test. Pregnant! I was bursting with joy. I was dying to tell Greg but I wanted to do it in a fun way and not just over the phone. So I turned to my trusty friend, Etsy, and ordered the cutest big sis shirt. It was on sale, the right size (wanted it a little big so she can proudly wear it to the hospital), and the seller would ship next day priority mail. How perfect was that?

When I picked Greg up from the airport Cambry was wearing her shirt. I knew he wouldn't see it in the car because her harness covered it and it was dark out. When we got home Cambry was walking all around and I was waiting for Greg to notice. He did not see it! Finally when they were playing on the bed I held Cambry up in front of him for a clear view. Suddenly his eyes got huge and he started saying what?? What?? He got so excited. It was the best reaction and totally worth the wait!

Exciting News

We have some exciting news in the Mattern household. If you haven't heard, we are expecting baby #2! We are so very excited!

My due date is October 16th. I am 10 1/2 weeks along. Although I look like I am in my second trimester. I am serious. They say you show sooner in subsequent pregnancies. They are right. The bump showed up at 8 weeks and the belly band came out at 10 weeks. But that's ok - because we have a precious little baby on the way!

I took this last night - 10 weeks and 3 days pregnant.

Um, is this looking similar to my EIGHTEEN WEEK picture with Cambry?? Should I ask my Doctor to check for twins?

I will probably have to write a separate post later about my big belly fears based on the largeness of the belly last time and the rate of growth this time. In case you forgot what the belly looked like last time I will post a pic soon. Of course it is all worth it and I am so overjoyed to be pregnant so I am not complaining, just keeping it real :)

I have been day dreaming about nurseries, remembering the tiny fingers and toes, those first days in the hospital, brainstorming names, looking for double strollers, mapping out a route from the hospital to Chick Fil A, googling maternity swim suits, and a million other things. Sometimes I start thinking about the scary things like labor, early weeks of breastfeeding, baby blues, and sleepless nights. But then I just think of the pure joy of babies and I don't dwell on those things for long. I can't wait to see Cambry take on her role as a big sister. They will be 22 months apart. I think that will be such fun for them!

So far this feels almost exactly like my pregnancy with Cambry. I have been feeling very nauseous. It starts out pretty mild in the morning and gets worse throughout the day. I don't throw up, I just constantly feel so icky. By the evening I can barely do anything. Greg has been absolutely wonderful taking on pretty much everything around here. He lets me lay down when he gets home and he takes care of Cambry, dinner, chores, laundry, etc. I am tired so I have been taking naps during the day and going to bed early. Plus I am pretty miserable at night so I would rather just be asleep. I have Zofran but it doesn't help much and has side effects so I hardly take it. With Cambry the nausea didn't start to improve until around 14-16 weeks. So I still have a ways to go! It is all completely worth it though.

With Cambry however, I could hardly eat anything. Food and water grossed me out. I lost a bunch of weight in my first trimester. This time, food still grosses me out, but I am constantly eating. Sometimes I get a tiny bit of relief from nausea right after eating something. Although I have been eating the most unhealthy things. As soon as this nausea goes away I plan on eating healthy again.

I have had one ultrasound so far and will have my next appointment in a week and a half. I am so looking forward to finding out if it is a boy or girl. We won't find out until 20 weeks but I know it will be here before we know it.

Here we go again!

15 Months

I am a day early but Saturdays get busy so I am posting today.

This little 15 month old is so adorable and fun!

Skills: She is starting to say a few words. She says bye pretty clear. She also says ba for ball, do for dog, ba for bath, and ru is what a dog says. She sort of signs all done but doesn't always use it correctly.

Likes: All things girly! Baby dolls, purses, necklaces, shoes. She also loves books. She brings me books all day long and then will back up and sit on my lap for me to read to her. She likes being outside. She also loves for me to put shoes on her. She will bring me a pair of shoes and want me to put them on her, even if she is already wearing shoes. She still loves milk too. Oh and recently she has become attached to her blanket. It is one of her Aden and Anais swaddle blankets. She now has to sleep with her baby doll and blanket.

Struggles: We have made a little progress on vegetables. She seems to like green beans! She has also eaten broccoli and maybe a couple other things. She still needs to branch out more though. We have also been working on teaching her obedience by disciplining her when she clearly understands but disobeys. She definitely knows the word no, although she doesn't always choose to obey. She has gotten much better about not throwing things off the high chair. She still goes after the oven knobs but is getting better at minding. Also, she can become easily frustrated when she can't do something - like get her shopping cart across the raised floor or around furniture. This results in repeated banging and fussing. I try to remind her to have a joyful attitude :)

Schedule: I think we are back to the 6AM wake up time after the time change. That means back to her 8:30ish AM, and 1:30ish PM naps. Times vary but usually at least an hour each. Bedtime still between 7:00 and 7:30.

She kept running off when I was trying to take pictures of her in her chair.

Time Change

Well we did have a nice little schedule going. It was nice to know when Cambry would nap. Well this week following the time change things have changed a bit. We will have to wait and see if they go back to normal.

The past 2 mornings Cambry has slept until 7:30am. That is a much welcome treat to sleep in past her normal 6am wake up time. However it throws her naps off.

We went to Pottery Barn Kids this morning because they were having a St. Patrick's day themed story time and craft. So Cambry wore her green and we headed out. It started at 11:00am. I had tried to put her down for a nap earlier in the morning but she would not take one. So I thought she would at least get a short nap on the drive there. Wrong again.

Here she is waiting for story time to start. It got super crowded. I guess lots of people looking for spring break entertainment.

Well Cambry lost interest pretty fast. She could barely see with so many people there and was getting tired of sitting still. So I let her play around the store a bit and then we left. We did not make it to the craft but she may have been too young for it anyway.

She fell asleep on the way home. She transferred to her crib and ended up taking a 2 hour nap. That ended up being her only nap for the day.

Late in the afternoon we met up with a friend who lives a few streets away. We walked to the park and then walked and chatted a bit. The weather was beautiful today.

So we will see if Cambry keeps sleeping in or maybe I will have to start waking her up earlier so she will take her 2 naps. Always a guessing game!

A Day in the Life

I read Kelly's Korner blog and last Friday she did a Day in the Life link up. I have been meaning to write one for a while, so now I am doing it. Here is what my day looked like today.

6:15 AM - My alarm goes off. I usually don't set one. However, today is a workout day and in the rare case that Cambry sleeps in past her normal 6:00 AM wake up time, I need to wake her up. I know that sounds crazy, but I need her to wake up at normal time so she will go down for a nap before we leave for workout. She is actually still asleep so I give her a few more minutes and I doze back off. Greg is already gone for work.

6:30 AM - I wake up and warm up Cambry's milk. I go wake her up and she sits in my lap in bed while she drinks it.

Then we go in the playroom and play. I get a bowl of cereal and watch her play. I usually turn on the news for a few minutes.

After a while I go to the bathroom to brush my teeth and put on makeup. Cambry either plays in the bathroom with me or in her room or back and forth.

Then we go in her room and I get her dressed and we usually read some books.

8:00 AM - I give Cambry breakfast - fruit and oatmeal. Then she plays for a few more minutes.

8:20 AM - I start the nap routine. I know it seems early, but the girl is ready for a nap by 8:30. Today it is a little early since she slept in a bit, but I need her to get a nap in before we leave at 9:30. I read her some books, sing her some songs, and then she falls asleep. I lay her down but she wakes up. I walk out and I watch her on the monitor. She lays quietly there for a while. She then starts standing up and babbling.

9:00 AM - She is still playing around awake, so I go in and rock her so she will go to sleep. She falls asleep finally. Love this sweet little face so much!

I usually drink coffee, try to have my quiet time during this time, and finish getting dressed and ready.

9:35 AM - I wake her up and we leave for the gym.

10:00 - 11:00  AM - I take the Lift work out class and Cambry goes to childcare.

11:15 AM - I am embarrased to say this but we went through the Chickfila drive thru...right after workout. Oops. Does it make it better that I substituted fruit for fries? I know it probably seems like SAHMs do this every day, but I rarely pick up food on my own. It just sounded so good and it was right there.

11:45 AM - Arrive home. I make Cambry scrambled eggs and grapes for lunch and share some of my nuggets.

12:15 PM - After lunch Cambry is good about playing by herself for a bit while I clean. She either plays in the play room, in the kitchen, in her room, or just continually walks all about the house. I wipe down counters, put up dishes, clear up clutter, and sweep (I don't sweep every day).

12:45 - 1:30 PM - We play, read books, look outside, play with toys, explore, etc.

1:30 PM - I give Cambry a sippy cup of milk. She drinks it while I read her books. Then I sing her songs and rock her to sleep.

While she sleeps I start this blog and watch a show on Netflix.

2:45 PM - Cambry wakes up. She stays quiet for a while rolling around or softly babbling. She is content so I let her be until 3:00.

3:20 PM - We head to Target to get a baby shower gift for a friend. Cambry eats some snacks in the cart.

4:30 PM - Back home. Play around the house, go in the backyard, etc.

5:40 PM - Greg is usually home at this time but today he had to work in the Woodlands so he will be late. I am out of ideas for entertainment so we head out on a stroller walk.

6:10 PM - Back home. Play around til Daddy gets home.

6:20 PM - Daddy is home! Horray!

6:30 - 7:00 PM  - Dinner time. Tonight is leftovers. I tried a new Pinterest recipe last night. I thought it was good. Super easy. Pesto Ranch Crock Pot Chicken. We also had a grain mixture (from Trader Joes) and mixed veggies.

Source: picky-palate.com via Jana on Pinterest

Cambry is usually happy and silly at dinner. She had some of what we had, plus cheese and yogurt.

7:00 PM - After dinner is bath time. Greg gives Cambry her bath. She has a good time.

7:20 PM - Cambry drinks her milk while we read to her out of the Jesus Storybook Bible. Then we brush her teeth, turn off the lamp, sing songs, and lay her down. She usually takes a few minutes to fall asleep but will stay quiet.

Now Greg is at Bible Study (guys and girls switch off weeks). I just took a shower and now I am relaxing. I am thankful for a great day today.