baby journal: week 13

Journal from Monday, May 19 ● Posted 5.27.14

 

So, we thought we'd celebrate this week of pregnancy by...babysitting a whole bunch of kids.  Just to give us a flavor for what we're really getting ourselves into, ya know? Five kids Monday through Tuesday, ages 4 to 16, and six kids Thursday to Sunday, ages 3 to 15. Talk about exhausting, but fun, but exhausting. It also makes me think that maybe four kids is the magic number for me ;) 

I've done these marathon babysit-athons before I was pregnant and could handle it fine energy wise. This time around?  I need a nap as much as the three-year-old. It was an adventure in parenting and what it will be like to be pregnant with a second or third child. Read: exhausting. But worth it.  Like on Sunday?  Forget third hour of church - I went and took a nap in the car with the air blasting.  Don't even feel bad about it.

This was also one of the funnest weeks of pregnancy so far because I got to go to the doctors and see our little bean wave at me for the first time! It was amazing to see what really looked like a baby on the ultrasound screen instead of more of a white bean the doctor assured me was my child. I got to watch her move and kick and stretch her little arms while turning around and around. It was all sorts of amazing and I CAN'T WAIT to go back for our next appointment in a month. The doctor even thought he might be able to tell us the gender by then, that is if our little squirmer will hold still. So, no promises. 

Another 13-week update: I'm really starting to somewhat, kind of show (and the shirt pictured above does it no justice)! Before I was just bloated and poppin' outta my pants, but now it's starting to look like a bona fide baby bump! Kinda.  Ok, mostly when I eat a big dinner and wear a tight shirt, but still.  I was wearing a tight-ish maxi dress the other day and all of a sudden David turns to me and was like Oh my gosh! Carly that's really a bump!   It must have started to make this whole experience start to feel real for him, because I almost can't walk by him anymore without his reaching out and touching my belly.  It's the beginning of the end!

We've also started to let the cat out of the bag to our friends locally and it's been so fun to share our excitement!  Finally!  Thirteen (ok, nine) weeks is a long time to wait, okay?

In other news, this little peach-sized person (wow, that seems huge) is:

• Giving up the nausea card all together, at least for now. Life is grand. Not that it was ever that bad for me. Counting my blessings.
• Still tuckering me out, but I'll never complain about more naps. 
• The cutest little thing I ever did see. That little silhouette??? I can't get enough. 

baby journal: week 12

Journal from Saturday, May 10th ● Posted 5.27.14

So, I swear, a funny thing has happened in just the past few weeks: I am ALWAYS hungry.  And not just the slight tummy rumble, oh yeah I should probably eat something soon kind of hungry.  It's more like an urgent message sent from stomach to Carly: eat something RIGHT NOW.  The jokes on me, however, because I'll get up and prepare this huge helping of goodness and...eat half of it.  Every.  Stinkin'. Time.  It's too funny.  Now, in an effort to combat the madness, I've started eating about 6 mini meals throughout the day instead of the standard big 3, and you know what?  It's working pretty good so far.  I used to be a little concerned earlier on in my pregnancy because I wasn't always starving, like I read so many women are from the get go.  Guess it caught up to me!  This babes got an appetite after all.

highlights #92

Life lately has been spent apartment hunting, hunting, hunting!  Goodness gracious, if you, or your neighbor, or your grandma, or your second cousin once removed knows of a decently priced apartment in Pasadena/South Pasadena, give me a holler!  I'm in the thick of it.  Trulia, Rent.com, PadMapper, Craigslist, you name it, I'm all over it.

So while I head back to check out listings, here are some fun finds from the web:

these letters will boost your self esteem

an easy pop of color

love this art round up

a cute upcycle

for mom

love this flower arranging tutorial

I love everything about this video

a DIY on my list

something we all need

my newest chocolate chip cookie test run

how to open a new book

a cute print

and holy smokes.  This is pure madness.  I keep watching it wondering how I'd drive there...and I just decided, I wouldn't...

xo

baby journal: week 11

  Journal from Saturday, May 3rd ● Posted 5.27.14

Alright, call me a silly overly prepared pregnant lady, but since finding out that we're expecting, one of the first things I thought of was: Oh no!  I'm going to be pregnant over the summer!  Not a crazy big deal until I added up all the beach time we're going to be doing between both of our family's summer vacations - over two weeks worth!  I'm definitely going to need a few somethings I feel cute in.  Cue the mad rush maternity swimsuit shopping spree.  And now, a few weeks later, I'm pretty happy with my thrifty finds: 1 // 2 // 3.  That last one was a very thoughtful (and brave!) birthday gift from my mother-in-law.  She knows me too well - black & white?  Polka dots?  Sold.

Little babe is about the size of a lime right about now and for some reason that makes me feel like we're finally gaining steam - it's a little harder to get excited when my app tells me my little house guest is the size of an olive...or worse yet, an apple seed.  Just dying for this baby to get growing!!

We've also started to eek out our news slowly to close friends, mostly those who live further away, but this weekend we announced our baby news to some friends here in the valley.  It was so fun to share our excitement, to which they congratulated us, laughed, and then exclaimed: us too!  The wife was too cute and was all like, "I'm not very far along, just 16 weeks so..."  We had a good laugh after I told her I'm only 11 weeks and I'd be soooo happy to bump myself up to her 16-week mark.

We're also in the midst of trying to find a suitable place to live for the next couple of years and holy moly, I'm already sick of the whole process.  All I want is a 2 bedroom 1.5 bath for a reasonable-ish price, in a decent neighborhood, with a regular-sized oven, oh and a fridge, some closet space to speak of, a washer/dryer in unit, and a tub.  You know, the little things, but I digress.  It's actually been pretty fun to start looking at places and imagining what it will be like to bring baby home to this or that apartment.  Will this work for the nursery?  Can I childproof this kitchen?  Etc, etc.

As of 11 weeks, our little lime has been:

• Getting his mama up nightly to use the bathroom. Guess I better get used to this disjointed sleep schedule now, right?
• Making me never want to wear pants again.  Waistbands?  No way.  
• Weirdly enough, looking at pictures make me feel more nauseous than a lot of things.  And not just pictures of food (no pictures of In-n-out burgers please), but also pictures I took when I didn't feel good - I remember and then don't feel well all over again...ok, that's just odd, right??
• And making me count down the days till 2nd trimester - just two more weeks!  Soooo close!

O-H-I-O

Ok, let's not talk about how I fell off the face of the earth there for a while.  First things we're pretty slow and boring and then things got fun and busy: neither of which are conducive to blogging.  So here I am, really and fully back to real life after a lovely week long stint in Ohio taking care of the newest and sweetest of nieces: Miss Hazel Michelle.  Take me back already!  Can you say baby fever?  Cus I've got it.

We started off the week by getting up ridiculously early to beat LA traffic down to LAX - no fun, but, sadly, necessary.  And while a 4-hour flight felt like for-ev-er, we were mugging on that cute baby's face by dinner time.  Air travel is really kind of amazing.

And holy crazy cuteness.  I don't think we gave that little lady up to her parents more than was humanly possible.  She was the sweetest, happiest, cutest (I guess I'm biased), easiest little baby you ever did see.  And now I'm pretty sure I've got crazy high expectations for my own future children because all babies are this easy, right?  Praying that trait is hidden somewhere in the Tobler genes, and my mom said I was an easy baby so...hey, I can dream, can't I?

We were pretty rotten and almost never put that baby down when she slept - which WE loved, but, you know, she probably shouldn't get used to.  And, if I'm being honest, I wasn't the best at taking pictures of anything except that cute baby.  The rest of us who were there?  Didn't quite make the cut.

We also celebrated my birthday Ohio style with some seriously good eats, baby girl snuggling, and a cronut!  Not sure if it was legit because it was basically a glazed croissant, but I'm not complaining.  It's also the only picture we got of me on the first day of year 24, which was an epic fail, but oh well.  There were babies to be mugged on.  Priorities people.

We also bundled up baby girl that night and took her on a twilight stroll.  It was ridiculously fun to watch her little eyes take in the world and just cuddle her.  Pretty much the sweetest thing ever.

I mean, look at that little Buddha baby belly - I could just eat her up!  And her little ruffle bum leggings??  And little headbands?  And sweet little coos?  Babies are the best.

And I could just lay on the couch like this all day, every day with a sleeping babe on my belly, thank you very much.

I wish that picture was better quality, but between studying for finals (one of the real reasons we were there to help), this is the spot you could find Brendan.  Just staring at baby girl in her swing.  She's a daddy's girl already.

And then there were the saddest of goodbyes.  Makes me choke up just thinking about kissing that little lady's head and knowing I won't see her forever!!  Ok, really it's just two months, but that's forever in baby time.  She's going to be so big by then.  These are the perils of living much to far away from family.  Add that to the list of things I would change in a perfect world.

So glad we could come and stay with you Brendan and Megan!  Give Baby Hazel an extra cuddle from Aunt Carly!