35 Weeks

Well here we are in the last few weeks of pregnancy #2! I know I still have some time left, but so far this pregnancy has really gone quickly. I'm sure being busy and keeping up with the toddler has something to do with that, but I'm really grateful! Our days are pretty low key (except for Fridays when I work at the school teaching music and coaching cheerleading) and I'm enjoying the leisurely times while they last. Most days we are hanging out at home with the occasional outing for errands, playing at the park, walk around the neighborhood, or getting the latest food cravings :) Jon has been taking over most of Josh duty for me once he gets home at night and just allows me to rest which is wonderful! I love watching the bonding that happens between my boys as they play cars, build elaborate train tracks or have dance parties together. I am constantly praying for Josh and his adjustment to baby girl when she arrives!


Speaking of our little lady, we had a bit of a "scare" (or just mom being paranoid) a little bit ago when her movements suddenly slowed way down for a couple days. She was still moving it just felt different and she wouldn't respond quickly to the usual stimulants (sugar, drinking something cold, etc) So, we had an ultrasound just to make sure everything was a-ok. It was very comforting to see her again! She looked absolutely perfect and healthy...except she had flipped head up, which explained her lack of movement in her usual places. My doctor assured me that there was still plenty of time for her to flip again and get in birthing position, and at my appointment last Monday she was head down! Hallelujah! She IS moving a lot more now, especially at night because I feel her the most right before I fall asleep and any time I wake up at night she's kicking away! She is measuring a little bit ahead (she was over 4 pounds at the ultrasound) but of course estimates can be wrong. Mommy is measuring on track with my belly measuring right at 34cm and a weight gain of 23 pounds. She wasn't too cooperative at giving us a good face shot at the ultrasound because she was sleeping with her sweet little hand up by her face (just like her brother!) We are SO eager to see what she's going to look like!

35 weeks at our maternity/family photo shoot

We started work on her nursery and are almost finished painting (her walls are a beautiful pale mint with a white accent wall) and most of her other things (bedding, storage bins, picture frames) will be pink. I'm starting to get the nesting bug and want to organize all the closets and drawers which sounds great until I actually start and then run out of energy! Everything will eventually get done right? And if not, Lylah obviously won't care one bit! Once I'm finished working (only 1 more week to go!) I plan on tackling more of the cleaning and organizing side of things to keep myself busy. Here's some pictures that I'm drawing inspiration from for Lylah's room!

Jon and I went away this past weekend for a night (THANK YOU to my mom for keeping Wubba for us!) We enjoyed a MuteMath concert Friday night and stayed overnight on Disney property. The next day we slept in (!!!) had breakfast in bed, went shopping at the outlet mall and had a quiet sit-down lunch together (I can't remember the last time that happened!) I'm so grateful for my hubby. He is my favorite person to spend time with :) We also visited my grandma Jo's grave because it would have been her 82nd birthday on Saturday. It was the first time I had been to her grave since we found out about Lylah, so I was a bit emotional. I'm grateful for the legacy Mom Jo left and for the stories of her love that we will be able to tell Lylah.

Meeting Todd after the Mutemath show! He plays keys, guitar and BGV's and is awesome

Visiting Mom Jo's grave with Lylah

Next up on our agenda is buying a new car (Jon's need a lot of work done to it and instead of fixing it we are looking at getting a bigger family car), finishing the nursery, Lylah's baby shower, and tackling my "to do before Lylah" list! Not much longer before our little girl is here!

3rd Trimester Update

I figured I'd do a quick update on Lylah since we are only about 2 months away from her due date. I feel like the time has gone very quickly so far (I'm sure these next two months will seem slow as our anticipation grows!) We've been keeping ourselves busy with everyday life and are so looking forward to meeting our little lady!

Here's mama at 30 weeks

How far along: 31 weeks + 2 days
Total weight gain/loss: +18 pounds
Maternity clothes: If we are going out I "try" to make somewhat of an effort putting on something cute. But for the most part when we are home or just running errands I stay in my trusty yoga pants and tshirts!
Stretch marks: I have a few from Josh but I don't think I've gotten anymore yet!
Sleep: It's been fairly good the past couple of weeks. Occasionally when I wake up to go to the bathroom it will take me a while to get back to sleep due to hunger, heartburn, powerful kicks, etc.
Best moment this week: Super happy to receive the news that I passed my glucose test and my iron level is good! Also my vital signs continue to be great (I struggled with high bp with Josh), which is great news!
Miss anything: I miss being able to bend over and hold Josh on my lap without him slipping off :)
Movement: Definitely feeling movement several times a day, usually early morning, after meals and at bedtime. She also gets hiccups pretty frequently which I find adorable!
Food cravings: This week I've wanted potstickers! I'm still craving berries on the regular too! 
Anything making you queasy or sick: Heartburn is rearing its ugly head again so sometimes indigestion makes me feel kinda sick. I keep Tums with me at all times!
Have you started to show yet: Oh yes! Giant whale status (not really, but that's what I feel like!) Everyone tells me I'm tiny still. My belly measured at 29 cm my last appointment (when I was 30 weeks) so right on track. I always measured 1-2 cm behind with Josh as well. 
Gender: Girlie Girl!
Labor Signs: Maybe some Braxton Hicks? I can't tell sometimes if my belly is tight because of L moving something around, or because it's contracting. Either way, nothing painful.
Symptoms: Some lower back pain, round ligament pain when I roll over in bed, heartburn and my nose has been stuffy. I haven't experienced any swelling yet which is wonderful!

Belly button in or out: Out

Wedding rings on or off: On
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy for the most part. Towards the end of the day my patience is usually pretty thin. My poor hubby often is the recipient of that (sorry babe!)
Looking forward to: Starting on Lylah's nursery (I've been Pinteresting up a storm!), going on a weekend getaway with my hubby in a couple weeks, and my baby shower next month!

Josh Update

Josh is keeping us laughing (and praying) these days! We are in the midst of figuring out the whole potty vs diaper thing (we still don't think he's quite ready but he's successfully tried a couple times). He loves playing cars and legos and watching "McQueen". He also loves turning music (which he calls mucus) on and dancing around. We read our big brother book almost every day and we got him a little baby to practice holding and sharing Mommy's attention with. He's talking in full (hilarious) sentences and is quite the social guy. We are so excited to watch him become a big brother!

Getting a cake pop (which he LOVES) after going with Mommy to check on baby Lylah

We are registered at the hospital, have chosen our pediatrician, and Mommy is finishing up her job at the school this month. Once I settle on a nursery color for the walls (hopefully this week!) we will be painting and getting little girl's room ready! 

*A lot of people have asked me my birth plan this time around. Well, my only "plan" is to have a healthy baby and get her out when it's time, however that needs to happen. My course of action right now is to try for a VBAC, unless I begin to have complications or if I'm not progressing enough. If that's the case, then we will have another c-section. Either way is completely fine with me! I trust my doctor completely and know she will make the right call. We are trusting God to bring Lylah to us in his perfect way and timing!

Christmas Happenings

I love Christmas and everything about the season. Yes, even the sometimes stressful moments are ones I enjoy. This year we were in Florida for Christmas with my people :) There is nothing sweeter than being with my family. We are loud, crazy, and goofy...and nobody does Christmas like a VanLue Christmas! I love being able to share in the same traditions I had as a kid with Jon and Josh (and Lylah soon!)

Our Sea World passes expire soon so we took a couple family trips there in December. I love Sea World at Christmas time. They really do a great job and it's way less stressful than Disney (although Disney is and always will be my fave) We aren't quite brave enough to take Josh to Disney yet (we want him to understand what it is and be able to remember it) and so far, he has no idea Disney even exists. Josh really loves Sea World and especially took major interest in the whales the last few times we went. We went to a few shows, including and Elmo Christmas, rode the carousel and train, looked at sharks and fish, had ice cream (yes, ice cream in December!) and made some really special memories as a family. We aren't doing passes again this year since we will have a newborn and have some other passes we want to get to other places, but I'm sure we will be back very soon Shamu!

 A few days before Christmas we had a play date with our VanLue cousins. Josh had so much fun! Cade brought out all his cars and planes for Josh to play with, Caroline is the best little mommy, and Josh and Mollie get along and play so well together. Josh asks to go back to their house all the time!

Christmas Eve was a busy day for Jon and me. We have the awesome privilege (and it really is you guys...we love our church!) to play/sing for the 3 Christmas Eve services at Grace Orlando. We started rehearsing around noon and didn't get home until around 8 pm which meant Wubba-man got to stay with Mimi and crew all day. I am SO grateful to my parents and sisters for always being willing to have Wubba tag along. He has so much fun with them and apparently never whines or complains (which he does ALL THE TIME at home). Why is it kids always behave better for other people? We managed in between services to snap this family pic (thanks mom!)

Our last Christmas as a family of 3!

Christmas Eve at Grace

 We have a tradition of sleeping over at my parent's house on Christmas Eve so we are all together on Christmas morning. I absolutely love it! I'm sure we will stop one day once our little family gets bigger but for now it's one of my favorite things and I so look forward to it! Another tradition we have that my mom and dad began when my brother and I were little is opening one gift on Christmas Eve. It's always a new pair of pajamas :) We started this tradition ourselves when Jon and I got married (we still get pajamas for each other) and plan to continue it for our kids as well.

Ready to open!

New monkey pj's!

Christmas morning was a fun blur :) We opened, took a break for breakfast, and then continued opening and opening and opening. There were some super fun surprises for everyone and I loved watching Josh try to figure out what was happening. He didn't quite understand that there was more than one present for him to open at first. He was perfectly happy with the pack of cars he opened first :) Eventually he figured out that everything wrapped in McQueen paper was for him!

Stocking gifts!

He would stop and play with everything after he opened it...especially the cars!

New puzzles!

A new car from Katie!

I love this picture :)

A new "soccer rocker" from Mimi and Gray

McQueen McQueen!!!! 

So many new cars (which he asks to sleep with by the way)

My sweet sisters opening their gifts from us

Fashion and makeup guru

Video games for my hubby :)

My favorite gift from my mama - beautiful blankie for Lylah

A new tablet 

Cars cars cars...all day long

The cousins are here!

My man washing dishes - such a servant!

Trying out the new "just dance" game

Pretty Christmas table! (one of 3!)

I sadly didn't get any pictures once the aunts, uncles, more cousins and grandma arrived because it was such a flurry getting dinner ready and catching up with everyone. But...it was a blast! We had the best time celebrating!

Merry Christmas 2015!

Thanksgiving 2015

I am embarrassingly behind on blogging! The holidays were crazy (but so fun!) and before I knew it here we are almost halfway through January. Between the holidays, preparing for baby girl's arrival in a few months, plus keeping up with our ever-busy toddler, there just isn't much time for blogging. Still, I did want to share our holiday adventures (mostly in photos).

First, we celebrated Thanksgiving/Christmas with the Brown's in Peachtree City, GA. It was our first time visiting Bill, Gisele and Miri in their new city and home. We loved Peachtree and can't wait to visit again soon! Here's some photos (a few are from my sis-in-law Steph because I lost my camera charger) from our wonderful week there!

On our way to GA!

Playing with GiGi at Chick Fil A

Riding on the golf cart (Josh's favorite thing!)

Playing at Shenanigan's

Christmas Lights going up!

Talking basketball strategy with Pop Pop

We got a fabulous date night while we were there!

Documenting 21 weeks with Lylah Jo :)

Seeing a Christmas musical with Gisele and Miri

Sweet cousin Winnie

They love playing with Miri!

The Brown kiddos

The other Brown kiddos :)

All the Brown girls

And the Brown boys

Impromptu trip to the fire station

Celebrating Jon's 30th birthday with a Star Wars party!

Watching the ducks at the pond

He would play outside all day if he could!

I love this picture of Josh and Miri!

Sweet siblings

A sweet moment of friendship

Happy Thanksgiving!

Coming up...Christmas 2015 recap and a 3rd trimester baby update!