As I enter the third tri I thought it’d be fun to look back at all the weeks so far. There’s one or two missing but you get the drift.
Lindsay
May 122012
May 082012
How far along are you? 27 weeks
Total Weight gain/loss? so far still 13 but I’m expecting a big jump. I’m starting to swell some now so count that water weight…ugh.
Stretch marks? Not yet. Thank you genetics!
Baby Movement? She’s alot like Noah, she’ll go gangbusters for like 2 or 3 days and then we’ll have a few quiet days. Alot of it goes with what I eat I suppose.
Best moment this week? I started to piece together her quilt! I’ll have to post about it later.
Food Cravings?No huge cravings this week..but I’ve eaten plenty…
Belly button in or out? It’s anybodies guess now as to what it will do. It’s flat again but has a small lip that sticks out.
Milestones? We’re up to 2 lbs of baby (a head of cauliflower)….still waiting for her to turn tho.
May 022012
ETA: Reading this again I realize how terrible I sound by saying I’m oblivious to this pregnancy and that I’m too busy. I guess it didn’t come out right. This time around there are so many other things to focus on that I have to stop and remind myself to relish her kicks and being pregnant. This is the last time we’re doing this and I need to savor every moment. Just like I need to savor the moments alone with Noah:)
Funny how things are different the second time around. I could make a list a mile long but the one that I think bothers me is the fact that I’m so oblivious to the fact that I’m pregnant. I mean, I know I am because how the heck could you miss that belly but I remember it being so different with Noah. Every kick and movement, I knew exactly how many weeks and days I was, when my next set of test are etc.. Most days now I’m too busy to even notice her kicks and rolls and I have to look on here to remember what week I am. Heck, I have to look at the calendar to remember my due date (I figure she’ll show up when she shows up…). I suppose that’s what you get when you’re chasing a toddler while your hubby renovates the last bathroom in the house:)
How far along are you? 26 weeks
Total Weight gain/loss? so far still 13 but I’m not using my home scale so I’ll tell you for sure in another few weeks. I’m afraid there will be a huge jump this time around, I feel like I’ve gotten so much bigger.
Stretch marks? Not yet. Thank you genetics!
Baby Movement? Rockin and rolling now but I still think she’s breech…turn baby turn!!!
Best moment this week? Not baby girl related but Noah’s finally really starting to get this potty thing…wooohoo…here’s to hoping we can avoid two in diapers.
Food Cravings?Choco milk almost every night, a root beer float thrown in there on odd days…
Belly button in or out? It’s still hanging on with just that lip hanging out. You can definitely see it thru my shirts and it will pop the whole way out if I move a certain way.
Milestones? Braxton hicks are kicking in something fierce and so is the back pain. I didn’t have either with Noah so this is new and not welcome. I can’t imagine three more months of this….
Apr 262012
I had to laugh when I saw Jenni post about this exact topic just the other day. It’s good to know that I’m not alone in my need to have a ring on.
Knowing what my hands did with my pregnancy with Noah, I thought I’d get ready for it to happen again and remove my wedding band and e-ring early. They’re pretty tight anyways and I was worried that any swelling at all would force us to have them professional removed (which they likely wouldn’t survive).
The problem is, once they were off I felt bare. I’d find myself adjusting my phantom rings all day and it just didn’t feel right. Last pregnancy I looked around at Kohls and Target for a cheap alternative but couldn’t find anything that fit (even swollen my ring size is still under a 6 which seem to be the standard). I did find one band that worked but I wore it so much that I completely wore it out so it wasn’t an option for this time around.
Determined, I got on amazon and looked up rings size 5 and holy cow, they had lots! Pretty ones too and not for bad prices. I looked for a while and ended up with this bad boy….
A full wedding set for $35 (including shipping)! The seller is Titanium Kay and I was really happy with the whole process. They shipped it really quickly and it’s beautiful.
While it’s still a bit big (I could have done a 4.5 and been good) it leaves some room for swelling which since this baby is due in the summer, I’m sure will come.
Now, I don’t feel naked! How pretty right??:)
Apr 242012
I finally put new batteries in our point and shoot to take some pics of a project and noticed some videos started offloading (we have an eyefi card:) ). I sifted thru and found this one and couldn’t help but share it. It’s good for a smile:)
Apr 232012
I have to squeak this one out while DH and Noah are on a walk so let’s be quick. Had my Dr’s appt today and he declares me perfect:) Confirmed again it’s a girl and that my placenta is partially anterior. We discussed birth control after the baby and they scheduled me for my lovely glucose test:) Joy joy…
How far along are you? 25 weeks
Total Weight gain/loss? up to 153 which is 5 more lbs than last month. 13 or so over all. My home scale says 10 overall so either way I’m doing well. I think was up 17lb at this point with Noah.
Stretch marks? Not yet. Thank you genetics!
Baby Movement? Still kicking low and on a pretty good schedule. She doesn’t like to be squished so she tends to kick harder when I have to be over to get something (or pick up a screaming toddler)
Best moment this week? Finding I didn’t gain as much as I thought:)
Food Cravings?Goes back and forth between milk and OJ. Choco milk after OJ is my friend:)
Belly button in or out? I think it’s going to be an outtie this time. There is a lip on it at night that sticks out, probably because of how she’s positioned.
Milestones? I guess she could see colors if she was on the outside at this point. just over 13in from head to heal she’s starting to pack on some fat now too.
Apr 202012
We had a stretch of beautiful weather last weekend so I thought it was the perfect time to let Noah loose with some washable paints that I’d bought a while back. He’s still at an age where it’s all mess so doing it inside was out of the question. I set him up, in a diaper, with an open pot or two, a brush, and lots of paper. After a while we decided that one pot of paint at a time was best since he was just mixing them and dumping them anyways, no use it wasting them all at once.
At one point DH walked back and encouraged him to paint on his belly. That opened up a whole new world of painting. I found him painting his belly and then trying to lay on the paper to do a belly print (i guess they do hand prints alot at school?!). Seeing that belly prints were challenging I took his socks off and pointed to his feet. Perfect!
After he grew bored I needed to wipe him down to bring him inside. That required the use of the hose and I totally should have known better (noah’s obsessed with the sprinkler) anyways, there was no way I was getting out of this without at least a little hose time for him so I let him have at it. It actually worked quite well he was mostly clean by the time we had to come in (and I was only a little wet…he looooooved chasing me and trying to spray me). What I was most impressed about was the fact that he was running in the grass bare feet. He’s been hesitant to do that until now. Maybe his sand phobia is cured?!
Anywho, we both had a blast, enjoyed the amazing weather and managed to stay out of daddy’s hair long enough for him to get some trim work done on the front of the house (which is a story in its own). I look forward to more days like that one before the real heat sets in and we can’t bare to be outside.
Apr 192012
Keeping up with this weekly thing is harder with a toddler for sure! Especially one who’s loving this amazing weather and waiting to stay out until all hours (and promptly screams when you tell him it’s time to go in….)
Anywho, V week baby. Viability that is. This week marks 24 weeks (based on my LMP anyways) and a point in the pregnancy where, if born, with alot of medical help she could potentially survive. Now, not saying that we want to see her any time soon. In fact, I need her to cook for as long as possible (remind me I said that when I’m 39 weeks and miserable).
Enough chatter, on to the survey.
How far along are you? 24 weeks
Total Weight gain/loss? I haven’t looked so I’ll just assume 8lbs. Appt is next week so I’ll tell you then. I’m sure I’m up more than 8lbs at this point, how much? well, we’ll see. I’ve been good about eating for the most part (a milkshake or choco milk at night to help the heartburn never hurt anyone:)
Stretch marks? Not yet. Thank you genetics!
Baby Movement? I have her schedule now, early AM, commute in, right after lunch then she’s quite until the late evening. She does wake me at 4:30 or so in the AM and loves to kick Noah as we snuggle and read at bed time. I felt the thump from the outside the other day. She stopped when DH put his hand down, of course!
Best moment this week? Um..I guess viablity although if you take it by my ultrasound then we have another week. If you go by my LMP then we’re right on. Regardless, keep cooking baby!!
Food Cravings?Milk – helps the heartburn.
Belly button in or out? I think it’s going to be an outtie this time. There is a lip on it at night that sticks out, probably because of how she’s positioned.
Milestones? Feeling her on the outside and viability.
Apr 192012
It’s always nice when you can have friends in and spend some time with them. This past weekend we had friends in from out of town with their 6 month old little girl. We tried to keep things really relaxed and not plan too much but thanks to an early spring our idea of Cherry Blossom festival was out the window. We thought about the National Zoo but an hour train ride or 40 min drive sounded unappealing. Luckily we have a small zoo just down the road. I’ve spoken about it before and we love it. It’s a great short activity for days you don’t want to go far.
I love watching Noah’s reactions change as he gets older and recognizes the animals more. He was enthralled by the monkeys and the tortoise this time around and not so much by the prairie dogs or the goats (although he did reach down to pet a sheep for like 2 seconds). We stopped by the aviary that was full of parakeets and other small birds before we left and really wish we’d bought a few of the feed sticks they had avail. Those that had them had little birdies perched and noshing away. It was so cool!
Anyways, time wore on and it was verging on nap time so we headed out. A quick stop on the way home at the playground to burn the last of our energy and we were home:) Low key but still alot of fun!
Apr 172012
The weather last week was a bit schitzo (heck, this last month has been a bit crazy) and on one particular day the wind had kicked up enough to make trying our hand at some kite flying worth it. My parents got Noah this kite for his birthday and DH was more than happy to put it together and show him the ways of the kite.
He lost interest after 10 min but DH and I sat back and relaxed for more than half an hour while Noah just ran circles around us. It was a bit chilly but in the end it was a really nice evening after work.
Apr 152012
I’m just now sitting down to process all the pics from last weekend (and this weekend in turn). Figured rather than doing a huge photo dump I’ll spread the love out:)
This set is Easter last weekend with my fam. We drove up to PA to visit my parents and spent Saturday at my cousins house with the entire family (which was wonderful). It was organized chaos and was totally awesome. We had 5 kids under 4 (and two more on the way, due pretty much the same week), 4 dogs, countless cows, baby chickens, cats (and kittens), pigs, and a stuffed coyote. Yes, a stuffed coyote…don’t ask me, it was in the office with the kittens. My cousin is a vet and her husband runs the farm so they had a menagerie which was so cool for Noah because he got to play with all of it (well, not the cows or pigs but the chicks, dogs, cats, and kittens were entertainment).
We had an easter egg hunt in the back yard (noah’s second and he finally got the hang of it) and pulled out the power toys after lunch. Noah tried every mode of transportation they had – the tractor, a little bike, a bigger bike, the power jeep and the power quad (which was not working). To say he had fun is an understatement I think.
The story of the day was my brothers boxer and the mud pit. Buckley love (LOVES) standing water. He has a pool at home and there’s one at the dog park he regularly lays down in so it was no surprise when he found a small puddle at the end of a discharge pipe and submerged himself. Okay, small puddle was an understatement – it was a mud pit and he was happy as a pig rolling around and snorting. At one point he jumped out and came charging at the group of us. As we scattered he focused in on my dad who was forced to use a chair to keep the Buckley love off of his jeans:) My brother eventually corralled him and doused him with fresh water but not before we all had a great laugh (my stomach hurt so bad from how hard we laughed).
At the end of the day Noah was exhausted and had managed to pretty much skip his nap so bedtime was a challenge but we managed. On to the pics!
Apr 132012
How far along are you? 23 weeks
Total Weight gain/loss? I haven’t looked so I’ll just assume 8lbs. Next appt isn’t until 25 weeks.
Stretch marks? Not yet. Thank you genetics!
Baby Movement? She’s got a pattern now and prefers when I lay down. I haven’t seen my belly move but I’m sure she could move it if I just laid still long enough.
Best moment this week? Another boring week. Those are good in the pregnancy world.
Food Cravings?Nothing really thankfully.
Belly button in or out? In but barely….it very well may pop out this time (it does if i push on it now)
Milestones? Still have lovely heartburn but it’s manageable. My weekly email said she can feel me dance so I’m making an effort to dance with Noah more so she gets to participate too.
No picture yet..it’s been a hectic week….that said, I dont really think there’s any change.
Apr 102012
So, back at the drawing board, I decided to take a little different path to figure things out. I’d been using something called Olioboard to create mood board/room scenes for the other rooms in the house and thought it would be great for this. So, out to fabric.com I went for more fabric inspiration that I could take to Olio to pair up.
I grabbed an image of our actual crib and rocker and then went from there by adding fabrics and matching dressers (the dresser will hopefully be mine from my childhood painted whatever color. I just hope it’s in good enough shape to use…)
This first one has our original dragonfly fabric and chevrons. I added a damask in turquoise and a plum pattern too. I think all the patterns are just too big and the dragon flies feel out of place. This is when I started digging the turquoise dresser.
Option 2 was my first attempt with new fabrics. I love the chevron and damask so I found a neat paisley to go with it. still a little overwhelming but in the right proportions it could work.
DH was drawn to the birds fabric so I did one up for him. I put a pink dresser in here originally but he wanted orange. So there you have it. I’m kind of digging this..
This option (4 now? sheesh)…reduces the number of fabrics and introduces a stripe instead of the chevron (but you can be sure i’ll find a way to get a chevron in there!!). The pattern on the flowery fabric is simpler which I think I kind of like.
and last but not least, my pink dresser. For someone who said they didn’t want pink, I really kind of dig this. The paisley is busy for sure but oh so pretty. I can do the bed skirt in the dots, chevrons, and a solid (maybe that blue). Then use the paisley in the curtains or some other accent.
So that’s where I am today…kind of stuck. I dont want to order 30 more dollars of fabric that I’m not going to use but I need to see these in person. I figure for now I’ll just keep staring at the mood boards and see what sticks..:)
What do you guys think? what option is your favorite?
Apr 092012
I don’t know what it is about girls but my brain has been buzzing with color schemes, crafts, and things to make for her. I was crazy with Noah for sure but this takes the cake. I’ve ordered fabric to make a quilt and am just about ready to order the fabric for her dust ruffle and curtains. Not to mention the yards of skinny elastic and folder over elastic that arrived today! Like I said on Facebook – good thing I have 4 months still!
Anywho, this is about color schemes. I had a whole post written with my original few color schemes and the one that “won” at the time but the more I looked at it the less happy I was with it. So, i’ll break this up in to two posts to show the progression and where I am now (which i’m not positive will be the final resting place but we’ll see).
When I started to pick out colors I didn’t want anything too too girlie. I don’t know why, guess I’m just not your typical pink mamma (although, don’t get me wrong – pink rocks…just not for her room). However, I’m starting to rethink that just a bit. Plus, I’m stuck with taupe colored neutral walls (because DH refuses to add anything else to his mile long honey do list) so I had to pick around that.
I started with a few color tools to get a sense of what I liked (MyColortopia, Design-seeds.com, and Pinterest) and then went to fabric.com to find some fabric inspiration for her bedding.
The first option has pink in it and I really liked it but the fabric is back ordered until late May and I’m waaaaaay too impatient to wait for it. Plus, I wanted lime green, not olive. I could totally dig this scheme though.
The next one was again more olivey than limey if you get what I mean. Still great colors in my book but not quite what I was looking for. Plus the patterned fabric was suuuuuuper expensive.
Option 2
This last one is our original winner (and surprisingly – or not – the first set of swatches I ordered). I love the whimsical dragonfly and the pop of the orange against the green. The purple is magenta/plum so finding a coordinating solid is a little challenging. I could see a purple dresser in there too…
Winning Option
My plan was to do the bedskirt in a solid plum, the green basket weave and the dragon fly. Then curtains would be white on top and the the bottom 2 or so feet will be either the chevron or the green basket weave and the dragon fly. I also ordered some flannel in coordinating fabrics to make a baby quilt for her to use when she’s bigger (some of which will now become burp cloths and bibs since I think I’m abandoning this completely).
The turn came when the fabric actually arrived and I started to pair it. Nothing worked for me…not like it did online. Perhaps it was my excitement but in reality it just wasn’t working. My mom agreed. So….back to the drawing board of sort….and on to part 2.
Apr 032012
As the weather improves and spring comes into full bloom we’re finding ourselves outside more often than not. This past weekend we headed up north to visit DH’s family and celebrate a few birthdays and while up there the kids did an easter egg hunt on Saturday and then went for a tractor ride on sunday (very slowly:) ). Noah was in heaven (any time he gets to be outside he’s happy, he’s very much his daddy)
We thought Noah’d be all into the tractor ride and he initially seemed like he was. However, once J turned it on he wasn’t so sure. They made one loop around the yard and he was crying so hard that Daddy switched places with Uncle J to see if it would make a different. He calmed a little but was still not really enjoying himself so J shut it down, locked it up for safety and let them hang out. Muuuuuch better…Noah wanted to pretend to drive while the boys hung out in the trailer. It was the best of both worlds.
Anywho…it was a wonderful weekend with family and I even made it back in time for my photoshoot (we cut it cloooose!).
Apr 022012
How far along are you? 22 weeks
Total Weight gain/loss? Looks like 8 lbs, not bad (start=140, monday=148)
Stretch marks? Not yet. Thank you genetics!
Baby Movement? She’s still really low although I feel some around my belly button now too (mainly when I’m laying on my side). Which means she’s still feet down.
Best moment this week? Boring week actually. Things are status quo for the time being.
Food Cravings?Nothing really thankfully.
Belly button in or out? In but barely….it very well may pop out this time (it does if i push on it now)
Milestones? Heartburn city! To much of anything sets it off. Plus my hands are swelling some already. I need to look back to see when it started with Noah.
Mar 272012
This kid loves his beans! Doesn’t matter the kind, he eats them all. Many times after school he’ll come home, walk to the pantry and pull a can out asking us to open them. I don’t tend to argue since they’ve got protein and fiber in them and he really loves them.
See…
He’s crazy for beans
Mar 262012
How far along are you? 21 weeks
Total Weight gain/loss? Looks like 8 lbs, not bad (start=140, monday=148)
Stretch marks? Nopers, it’s stretching but no marks yet and it’s weird, no linea negra this time – at least yet.
Baby Movement? Doc gave me more info on why I’m not feeling her too much – my placenta wraps around from the back to the top front. So, where her head is (yes, her feet are still in my back), she has an extra layer of padding so I don’t feel it much.
Best moment this week? Getting complemented by the doc on keeping things under control weight wise. It’s been easier this time for sure (plus I didn’t have as far to go to get where I was with Noah so I have to try to keep things under wraps….)
Food Cravings?Nothing really thankfully.
Belly button in or out? In but barely….it very well may pop out this time (it does if i push on it now)
Milestones? It’s a girl and she’s starting to kick harder plus I’m feeling braxton hicks already. I never really felt them with Noah but I do with her (because i’m positive it’s not her repositioning herself, her feel are safely embedded in my back.)
Mar 232012
I’ve been neglecting my other child lately on this blog and I feel bad – it is his blog after all. I’ve also not been taking as many pictures of him (or of anything until recently). I’ll blame it on his unborn sister…she makes me tired already:)
The weather has been amazing so I thought we’d go for a quick photo walk after school…problem is, he doesn’t like to look at the camera anymore. I tell him to cheese and he immediately looks any direction but mine. I have to catch him off guard or bribe him with fruit snacks.
These pics are on two different days and of the 30 or so I took, they were the only ones that came out.
Mar 192012
How far along are you? 20 weeks
Total Weight gain/loss? 4.5
Stretch marks? Nopers, it’s stretching but no marks yet.
Baby Movement? Figured out why I wasn’t feeling her as much on friday..she’s breech and kicking towards my back. Makes sense now:) She’s getting stronger and enjoying the ice cream I just ate…she’s kicking me hard now.
Best moment this week? Catch the “she and her’s” in the previous statement? Yup, found out it’s a girl! Noah was right all along! I loved seeing her on the screen just chillin but she was not shy and gave the goods pretty quickly.
Food Cravings?Eh…potatoes if I had to name one.
Belly button in or out? In. It stayed in the whole time with Noah and I figure it will with this one too.
Milestones? Half way there baby! and it’s a GIRL!
And, since it was such a beautiful day today we went on a family walk thus no picture for you. Maybe tomorrow after I get home from work.
ETA: Finally got a pic!!
Mar 172012
I always had a gut feel with Noah on what he was so I never really subscribed to the old wives tales. This time around I’m conflicted, part of me says girl (because I’d love one of each) but the other part says boy. So, I decided to dig up the wives tales and figure it out. Unfortunately I’ve seen conflicting info so take this with a grain of salt.
Chinese Gender chart = Girl
Heartbeat (usually around 160 or so) = Girl (although, Noah’s was fast too so….)
Ring on string over wrist (or belly) = Girl (although I’ve read conflicting reports on this…it went in a circle for me)
Noah prediction = Girl (he keeps saying hi to his baby sister)
Carrying High vs. Low = Girl (but I carried high with noah too)
Craving sweets vs. sour = Boy (loving sour things right now – but then again, I always have)
Acne = Boy (my face has been really clear)
Evens and Odds (legend has it that the Mayans determined a baby’s sex by looking at the mother’s age at conception and the year of conception. If both are even or odd, it’s a girl. If one’s even and one’s odd, it’s a boy.) = Girl (age 31 conceived in 2011)
Morning sickness = boy (none for this babe really and really minor for Noah)
I’m sure there are more but at this point the overwhelming verdict is Girl….
Tune in on Monday for the weekly update to find out if it was right or not….care to take a guess in the mean time?
Mar 122012
How far along are you? 19 weeks
Total Weight gain/loss? 4.5
Stretch marks? Nopers, it’s stretching but no marks yet.
Baby Movement? The thumps are getting stronger. Still not as strong as with Noah but I’m feeling them at least. Actually I’m getting weird tightening on one side or the other like I did in the later months with noah when he moved from side to side. It’s too early for Braxton Hicks so I assume this is just fuzz moving.
Best moment this week? It hasn’t happened yet but I expect Friday will be exciting when we have our level 2 sono!
Food Cravings?The carb and junk food cravings are kicking in. I’m trying to stick with the fruit thing though.
Belly button in or out? In. It stayed in the whole time with Noah and I figure it will with this one too.
Milestones? Nothing big yet, the movements are getting stronger and people are getting braver to ask if I’m PG vs. fat:)
Mar 072012
How far along are you? 18 weeks
Total Weight gain/loss? 4.5
Stretch marks? Nopers, it’s far too early for that kind of stuff
Baby Movement? Again, still only small thumps. I wish this baby would get it’s act together and start showing mommy it’s in there. I know I’ll wish I’d never said that later but for now I miss the thumps..it was always my little moment with the baby…
Best moment this week? Actually been a dull kind of week…..
Food Cravings?Fruit…lots of fruit
Belly button in or out? In. It stayed in the whole time with Noah and I figure it will with this one too.
Milestones? Gosh, I’m really dull this week. No big milestones…
Mar 072012
okay, not really but this is really cute and I’m super hopeful that we’re raising a musical child (he has a 50% shot of inheriting that gene:) ).
My parents bought him a guitar because we found that he loves the guitar at daycare. I was really really excited to see what he did with it because he loves making noise (the drum has been a favorite lately). Color me impressed when he sat down and actually held the guitar right (one hand on the fret board with his fingers on the strings and the other working over the strings to make sound).
He sat down in his new Thomas chair (another big hit from his great grands) and gave us a little concert:) In this video his form is a little suspect but it’s what he needed to be able to play for us. Ignore all of our singing:)
Mar 042012
I finally managed to get thru the pics of the morning of balloons. I have no idea where the idea came from but the night before his birthday I thought it would be awesome to fill his room with balloons so that he wakes up to them all. We spent most of the evening blowing up balloons and I could have sworn we did like 100….in the end it was only like 40 or so:) Anywho, in the AM I dumped them in his room before he woke up.
First is the video we took of him as he woke up….the the pics:)
Mar 032012
This year we decided to keep things low key and invite family only down for Noah’s birthday and have a nice family dinner. This is in stark contract to last years 30+ person shindig – although, even with just family we were around 12 including 4 loud boys (really hope this baby is a girl, we need some bossiness up in the place to keep the boys in line). Anywho…I wasn’t even going to do a theme but then my mom mentioned dinosaurs and of course that’s all it took to get the wheels turning. It was definitely subdued next to last year but we did manage to decorate some.
It was a crazy and loud day (my house is not meant for 4 boys from the ages of 1 – 6) but Noah had a blast with his cousins and I really enjoyed seeing all of our family here in one spot. Since we’re so dispersed that doesn’t happen often (although we missed my bro and his girlfriend:( ).
Mar 012012
It’s taken awhile to get thru all the pics but here we are, a post about our recent vacation. It was kind of impromptu in that we only booked/planned it 3 weeks in advance. I had vaca I was going to lose and we both had deadline/launches that we had to dodge so we settled on a date that was just a few weeks shy of Noah’s second. There are some great benefits and drawbacks to this.
First, the details of the trip. We flew to Miami (noah in our lap – huge benefit #1..not having to pay for a seat for him) and hopped on a Carnival cruise ship destined for the Bahamas (and a few other ports). Super excited to have a balcony room (a must have with a toddler) and only one full day on the ship before we hit the first port we set off. Here’s where the drawbacks of being just two weeks shy of your 2nd birthday come in. He was pretty much ineligible for any of the kids programs on the ship…well, not pretty much…he was point blank. We were able to use the kiddie club between 8am and 10am before the programs started and that was it. Plus, he’s not potty trained so the pools (even the splash pool) was off limits. I won’t lie, we cheated a little the last day on the ship. Noah had already done his dirty bidness so we figured it was safe to let him splash in the wading pool…no one even noticed.
In the end the no pools thing wasn’t a huge deal. We had oceans in all three ports that were fair game (and honestly, he hated the sand which made the oceans a little challenging but we’ll get to that) but I think next time we’ll wait until he’s potty trained (and therefore older than 2) to cruise so that he can take advantage too. We did a lot of running around the decks of the ship to burn off steam. He seemed perfectly okay with that, DH and I however, were very tired.
We got to our first port – Grand Turk and hopped off the ship as early as they would let us. We needed land and an open area for Noah to run. Too bad it was all pretty much sand and he’s still terrified of sand. I eventually coaxed him into playing but only if he was on the lounge chair or on a towel. Oh well, small victories.
DH lugged along an inflatable raft that I chastised him endlessly about it. I couldn’t believe he’d bring this ridiculous thing the whole way along for the ride expecting to have Noah in it while we hung out in the water with him. And this is where I eat my words because in the end, it was the only freakin way we got him in the water. It worked out perfectly. Noah was in his little PFD, sitting atop his raft while DH and I took turns snorkeling. I admit now that it was a genius idea that worked just as well the second day in Half Moon Cay (Noah even zonked out and took a little snooze while we hung in the water…sooo perfect!).
Port 2 was a private island – Half Moon Cay and was a tender port therefore making it harder to get back and forth to the boat (you had to take a little boat from the big boat). Once you were on the island you were there for good (or at least until you wanted to go back to the boat for the day…it wasn’t worth making more than one trip back and forth). Fortunately they catered to us on the island and there was really no reason to go back until it was actually time to leave. We still hadn’t won any battles between Noah and the sand phobia but with a few fruit snacks I did manage to get him back on the raft and into the water. I even tried to lure this kid into the sand with the prospect of a trip down a waterslide….no go. He was not having it.
Port 3 was Nassau and by then we’d had enough of the beach and trying to get Noah to like it. We decided instead to head over to Atlantis and pay for the aquarium tours (since Noah loves fish). SOOOOOOOO worth it! Probably the best $80 we spent the whole trip. We spent all day on the grounds of Atlantis visiting the 9 or so aquariums they have set up there – loving each more than the last! By the time we were finished we were all exhausted and perfectly happy to head back to the boat a bit early. Noah napped great and so did I!
Dinner most nights was trying. He’s your typical toddler who can’t sit still for more than 4 seconds. We did dinner in the formal dining room just three times out of the 5 and only with the help of the wait staff, a huge bottle of milk, and fruit snacks. The staff would take him for a quick walk (always in our eye sight) while we scarfed our meals or perform magic tricks to keep him happy. They did a wonderful job. There was one night where Noah crashed early and we were able to put him in the stroller and actually go see things. Otherwise we were asleep in the room with him by 9…not a bad thing, just not what you’d expect to do on a cruise with great night life.
All in all it was a great trip and we really enjoyed ourselves. We were well rested and had just the right amount of sun by the time we made it back to NoVa. There are things we’ll do differently next time (taking the grands, waiting until they’re potty trained, etc..) but nothing that ruined the trip for us.
Feb 282012
Noah has a Santa obsession. To the point where I had to hide his special Santa pj’s because he wanted to wear them to school everyday. At one point at dinner we started saying something that sounded like Merry Christmas (I have no idea what now) but he started in. DH added “Ho Ho Ho” and things really got rolling.
Feb 272012
How far along are you? 17 weeks
Total Weight gain/loss? Looks like 4.5 lbs, not bad (start=140, monday=144.5)
Stretch marks? Nopers, it’s far too early for that kind of stuff
Baby Movement? Small thumps here and there. I’d expected something stronger by now but I think this babe is sitting back further.
Best moment this week? Getting two stitches in my thumb after an accident with a knife and a bagel…okay, not the best moment but memorable none the less:)
Food Cravings?Tom Yum Soup if you can believe it..i think the sour/tang is what i’m after
Belly button in or out? In. It stayed in the whole time with Noah and I figure it will with this one too.
Milestones? More blood work to test for alpha fetal proteins which tell us if the neural tube closed the whole way or not…
Feb 262012
Noah’s been hilarious lately….
