The State of the Uterus Address

Hahhahaa.. I crack myself up.

Oh, Hi there. Not sure who's out there since it's been over a year but I wanted to get this on the record before I forgot everything. Not much has happened in the past year except around ~May we got pregnant with our second baby and it's a boy and he's due on Wednesday. No big deal.

My original due date was 2/4. It since got moved back to 1/31. I'm AOK with that.

He totally has my nose which makes me think he's going to look like me!

I didn't do weekly updates or photos this time around but I did want to make some notes about what was the same or different. I don't know if we'll have any more babies but I do know I'll regret it if I don't have at least something to look back on for both pregnancies. It has been nice to be able to look up my pregnancy with Abby by the week and see what was going on at that time and compare!

Overall I have been #blessed with two amazing, healthy, and easy pregnancies. They were very similar even though one was a girl and one is a boy. I noticed some slight differences due to what I believe are: age (+3 years), diet (I ate way healthier when I was pregnant w/Abby), and maybe things that weren't differences at all but just things I forgot.

Some notes:

-It took us slightly longer this time (ok only by a month) and I'm honestly glad because we would have had a New Year's baby! No thanks!! As I am super impatient, I wasted a bunch of pregnancy tests (even after I got a positive) and I found out when I was barely even 4 weeks. This made the first trimester excruciatingly long. We told our families on Memorial Day weekend and I had to fake drink at YET ANOTHER family wedding. (Congrats Jason and Lydia!)

-It's a boy!:

Spoiler alert.. we were trying for a boy. No idea if our methods worked or if we just got lucky. We found out because I did the blood test at 10 weeks and I got the call while Joey wasn't with me. The nurse asked me if I wanted to know and even though I knew he'd kill me, I told her to tell me. I was SHOCKED. I was 100% thinking it was a girl. So I went to the store and got a bunch of blue balloons and brought them home. He got over being mad pretty quick! Abby was a little disappointed - she wanted a baby sister but she's come around. :)

-Abby:

Everyone asks how Abby is doing and whether she is excited to be a big sister. I think she gets it a little because several of her classmates at school recently became big sisters/brothers so the idea is not totally foreign to her. We have been open about the baby being in mommy's belly and she knows I can't do certain things because of the big baby in my belly. She is very much looking forward to him coming out so she can sit on my lap again. She also knows where he comes out from, although she told me he's going to "use his magic" to do so. Which would be really freaking awesome wouldn't it? haaahah

-Heartburn: I had way more heartburn this time. Does that mean he will have more hair than Abby did? We will know soon.

-Morning Sickness: Didn't throw up, same as last time, but I believe I felt a bit worse. This could be due to age, shoddy nutrition or dealing with a 3 year old. Or all of the above.

-Showing: I definitely showed sooner with this baby but overall I look a lot the same. My belly may be slightly bigger but that's probably from all the chocolate croissants and not the baby... I can't wait to see how much he weighs in comparison to his sister!

-Exercise: I think I got the same amount. I did a TON of walking in the beginning although as it got colder outside I did less and less and now I'm basically a couch potato. Really looking forward to getting back out there in the spring.

-Weight gain: I gained about 10 more pounds this time than I did with Abby. So, about 35 pounds this time instead of 25. I'd still call that a win AND I am still under 200 pounds. I would love to chalk it up to "second babies and especially baby boys are usually bigger" but I would be lying if I said I didn't go to Starbucks all the time and that I didn't eat an obscene amount of baked goods. Being in your third trimester over the holidays is terrible. Almost as bad as being due on 31 January. Ask anyone what the longest month of the year is. It's January. FML.

-Placenta position: So apparently with Abby I had an anterior placenta (placenta in the front). I didn't even remember that until I read it on my own blog. Well this time I definitely don't. And this kid is SO. ACTIVE. Way more than I remembered Abby being and I don't know if it's due to placenta position or what. I swear I don't remember her doing some of these acrobatics. Right now he's trying to stretch all the way out. Soon, little man. Soon.

-Prenatal Vitamins: managed to remember them every day of this pregnancy as well. Proud of that.

-Complications: none (so far? I mean.. we have 2 days left.) I got flagged for potential GD after the 1 hour test because my dumb a$$ ate Halloween candy the night before but I passed my 3 hour glucose test with flying colors.  Thank goodness.

-Other symptoms: Same as last time. Basically none. Honestly my boobs hurt less this time/are smaller. SO OK WITH THAT. Basic aches and pains, restless legs at night, flopping over in bed like a whale, sore hips/groin area, etc. OH and I have been extra sensitive to smells this time. I think a little more than last time.

-Labor symptoms: I don't remember having anything last time but this time I have had some small cramping/lower back pain, etc that made me think he was totally coming over the weekend but... here we are.

I'm probably forgetting something major but the bottom line is my pregnancies were very similar. I was able to travel to Disney World at the end of my second trimester and while it was a bit exhausting, the worst part was still not being able to drink at the Food and Wine festival. (judge if you must).

Weeks 24-25 in Disney World

24/25 weeks

I'm literally flipping through my "What to Expect" book right now (that I didn't even re-discover until a couple months ago) to see what I'm forgetting to write about... haha

Oh I guess I should mention the biggest thing and that's at our 20 week ultrasound the doctor saw a small hole in the baby's heart that we monitored for about a month until it (thankfully) closed. A congenital heart defect is not uncommon or the worst thing that could happen but I am so thankful it closed on its' own. We are definitely planning to discuss with the pediatrician at delivery, though.

Preparing for baby:

My neighbor and I did a clothes swap. I gave her all my girl stuff and she gave me all her boy stuff. Between that and the fact that we made sure to buy gender neutral everything for Abby, we have not had to buy really anything. (Not that I didn't buy stuff... ha)

My family and friends threw a small sprinkle for me anyway just to celebrate, which was great. And we were able to get Abby set up in her big girl room so she could "share" her crib and other furniture with the baby.

Family and Friends at my Sprinkle!

In Summary:

Overall I am excited to complete our family, to give my husband the baby boy he wanted so badly, and to give Abby a best friend for life. I'm also worrying about loving another baby (and a boy) as much as I love my girl. But I know (from experience!) that everything will change when he arrives and with time. I am also nervous for labor and delivery since last time went pretty awesome. I'm ALSO nervous for recovery and breastfeeding since last time was pretty NOT awesome. I know we have some trials ahead and it's going to be tough with Abby in the mix but we will definitely get through it together.

Some people have asked if I'm going to continue to work. Absolutely. I have a fantastic job with amazing flexibility and even though we're going to be broke with 2 kids in daycare, they will only be in daycare together for a year before Abby goes to Kindergarten (HOLD ME). The struggle is about to be REALLY REAL y'all. But my career is worth it and plus remember we built this nice ass house and Joey hasn't taken over the world *yet. (He's well on his way.)

Other things I am looking forward to: My sister is getting MARRIED in Fall of 2019 which gives me 2 years to plan the most epic of all engagement parties/showers/bachelorette parties. #cantwait

So now it's time for the PICTURES. I did not take weekly belly pics but I did try to take them periodically! Here's what I've got:

15 Weeks at the beach!

Also 15 weeks :-)

A little comparison early on

Almost 27 weeks on Halloween

28 Weeks

My sister did a little Maternity Shoot for me since I didn't want to shell out for a formal one. I'm so glad I did and she did an amazing job! These were done over Thanksgiving which was 30 Weeks.

Christmas Eve (Week 34-35)

Dec 30th/New Years which was Week 35-36. This is about the time my face started looking pregnant.

36 Week Comparison. Abby on the left, Baby Boy on the right.

NFC Championship game between Weeks 38-39

GO BIRDS

Just took this the other day. I'm 39 + 5 today.

 And there you have it! 9+ months of pregnancy updates in one fell swoop! You may be wondering one last thing, and that's what we are naming this little cherub. If you've been around the blog a long time, you may already know. If you don't, here's a hint:

That's it for now.

See you on the other side!

~SG

Life Updates from the Gish Fam

Apparently it's time I started blogging again, per my sister. I guess that's true considering in the time that's passed between my last entry, we've moved to a new house, we went to Disney (again), I got a new job (again), and Abby's continued growing and changing at an alarming rate. I never even wrote her 2 year update- all of the details of which are now long forgotten and have been replaced by thoughts of "how do I handle the fact that she calls me by my first name?" and "potty training isn't actually required, is it?"...

We DID successfully detach her from the pacifier although it took a little white lie (isn't that all parenting actually is?) about Mickey Mouse needing it for some babies that didn't have pacifiers. And sometimes she still brings it up... and I'm slightly worried our next trip to Disney will consist of her marching up to Mickey, folding her arms/stomping her foot and demanding he return her paci immediately.

So where was I... oh yes. The house. We built a house. We sold our old house and we built a new one... like from dirt and wood and stuff. Well WE didn't build it...but we paid someone to do it and I picked out (and subsequently stressed about my choices) all of the details. Then we moved in, unpacked, and put a bunch of boxes in the basement where they will sit for the next 10 years. We also put in a fence and are fiercely debating between a deck and a patio.

Then we went to Disney World. We were super excited to take Abby to the Halloween party and for her to see the parade that she watches endlessly on YouTube in person... but Hurricane Matthew ruined all that fun. We ended up coming home early.

Then I decided to shake things up by getting an awesome job offer and leaving my job of less than a year. Between that, Joey's golfing and Abby's ballet lessons, we've been busy this Fall.

Thanksgiving came and we bravely offered to host both my and Joey's families. We only ruined one turkey in the process and other than that little mishap (tip: don't take your turkey out to thaw and forget about it...for a day) and the fact that I bought twice as much food as we needed, I'd say we were successful.

So here we are. It's Christmas time now and we are doing all the Christmassy things like making gingerbread houses and visiting Santa at the mall. It's going to be weird this year without Dad, but we have the memories and we have each other. 

Abby is starting to get Christmas (or at least, Santa) and I tried explaining the Christmas story to her when we visited "Baby Cheezus" at the living nativity at our church.... (all she remembers is that there were goats). Maybe next year...

I hardly blogged this year but maybe 2017 will be different. Or maybe it won't. I can at the very least assure you that we won't be moving next year. Or ever again.

Hope it's a very merry one for you and yours!!!

~SG

"I love you, Mommy"

My big girl turned 2 on August 13th and we had a little cookout with some family, friends and Mickey Mouse cupcakes.

 I need to do a whole write up with her stats and all the usual survey stuff but I'm busy now with work and oh yeah, we're buying a brand new house next week.

I just wanted to document somewhere (since her baby book is packed up) that on Sunday August 21st, Abby wrapped her arms around me and said "I love you, Mommy" for the very first time. It was the sweetest thing I've ever heard and of course I was choking back tears when I said "I love you too sweetheart!"

She has actually said "I love you" unprovoked before, but only ever to Chloe.... It is actually just as sweet to see her wrap her arms around Chloe and say "I love you, Chlo Chlo."

I'll be back after moving madness to finish her two year old write up, and maybe give a little house tour (maybe).

Hope everyone is enjoying the last of summer!!

~SG

Progress

Building a house, much like buying one, is a big emotional roller coaster. After signing, we drove out to our lot every weekend to see nothing but a bunch of grass and then finally, dirt. Things were slow moving for a while, but we finally "went vertical" (industry term, apparently).

Right now, the fun things are happening like cabinet and ceramic tile installation, painting, and doors on the inside. And on the outside, they are working on our grading, driveway and sidewalk.

Every time we do a drive by, we take pictures. So I thought it would be fun now that we're officially official to show you some of the progress on the outside of the house.

Enjoy!

Hooray!

I know I've been avoiding the subject for a while but I owe you guys an update. So here it is: We sold the house.

In fact, let me tell you how it all came to be because you are going to be like "Whaaat?!".

Remember when I wrote this post? I was feeling really stressed and worried that things weren't going to work out. I decided to just be honest about it because the situation was completely out of my hands. The day I wrote that post, I recognized both internally and then publicly that the process was out of my hands and that there was a chance it could not work out and that it was okay. 

That evening, I got a call for a showing around 5pm, which is what time I usually get home from work. Instead of going home, I drove down the street past our house to my in-laws' house.  When I drove by, I got a look at the family that was viewing our house. It was a Mom, Dad and two tween girls. They were outside talking with our neighbors, who also have two tween girls, and who had fortuitously set up a Lemonade stand. And their neighbors, who ALSO have two tween girls, who were helping them work the Lemonade stand.  And I had a feeling.  Right then.  I knew it. 

So I went down the street and told everyone this, and my phone rang and it was their realtor calling to tell me the house was beautiful... and that was it.  He said he had shown them a TON of houses but that our house showed really well. I was so defeated because we had been getting this type of feedback over and over. "The house is great but..." and no offer.

Monday rolled around and Joey was traveling for work and I had just gotten home for the day and was wrangling Abby and the dogs when the phone rang.  It was their agent. They wanted to come back for a second look and they would be there in 20 minutes! I grabbed Abby, threw some dirty dishes in my purse (ok not really, but I probably did something like this at some point), leashed the dogs and we all got into the car and drove down the street again. I prayed and positively visualized and chanted "under contract" like a crazy person. It worked.

The next day they put in an offer.

I don't know if it was my prayers, my acknowledgement that things might not work out the way I wanted them to, divine intervention, luck, standard real estate proceedings, or lemonade stands... but the moment I saw them I knew they would buy our house. And the moment I accepted that this process was truly and utterly outside of my control (which is super difficult to do as I am a control freak), we got what we'd been hoping for.

Yesterday we went to settlement.

I am so happy for the new homeowners. I hope they enjoy all of the hard work, blood, sweat (Joey's) and tears (mine) that went into making that house a home. I hope they enjoy their new neighborhood and their new neighbors. I'm just so happy for them.

And now I'm really happy for us. Because now, for the first time since all this insanity began.. I can get 100% EXCITED because holy crap... we're building a house!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Abby Lately!

Abby is growing and changing so fast that I can barely keep up with her. I should do a complete update as she is almost 22 months old, but ain't nobody got time for that...

I wanted to capture some of the funny or super smart things she has been doing/saying. Like how overnight she went from referring to Mickey Mouse as "Mimi" and started calling him "Mickey". (Majorly sad face.) Thankfully she still calls balloons "maynoons". In fact, the other day she drew a circular pattern with her crayon, pointed to it, and said "maynoon". OH! Speaking of drawing. Abby uses her left hand 99% of the time when drawing and also often when eating. Most things I read say that handedness isn't really determined until they are 4. So we will see, but it seems to me that she is a lefty! Strange because none of our family members are, except Joey's Grandfather who was a bit ambidextrous. 

Cuhyur-ing!

One of the funnier things that happened lately is we were driving out by our new house (we stalk it on the reg) and she starting Hooting like an owl.  Joey and I are like... wtf and start looking around.  Well sure enough, we are at a red light next to a Hooters. I basically died of laughter. It reminded me of the time Joey said the word "whore" and Abby started neighing (like a horse..). Love her.

Porch swinging with Dad

She's recently become obsessed with watching Disney Parks parades and shows on YouTube (thanks to her Dad) and now requests a "rade" nightly. Her current fave is the Halloween "Boo to You" parade, which she knows by heart. She tells me "Tick Tock coming!" and "Clarabell coming!" before you can even see them on the screen..... So she should be well prepared for our next Disney trip which, of course, is coming up this Fall. :)

Chillin, watchin a 'rade'

Abby is doing really great with speaking in (short) sentences and communicating to us what she wants or needs. She's not so great at understanding when she wants something and can't have it. Or understanding that just because you say 'please' doesn't mean you can have a "pop-it" (lollipop) before dinner or bedtime... Speaking of pop-its, they are so gross and sticky but I am trying to use them as special treats/distractions to wean her off of the pacifier. This is a somewhat terrible plan (but we do "bruh teef" every night!), but I'm trying my best so she doesn't go to kindergarten with a paci in her pocket...

Hanging with Grandmom and a pop-it

Last thing (for now), is that she recently took a liking to the book, "If you Give a Mouse a Cookie". I don't know if they read it in school but suddenly she wanted to read it every night. Which we did, and after a week or so, one night I decided to leave off the last word of every sentence in the book. And Abby filled in 100% of the words correctly. I immediately texted my family that she'll be going to an Ivy league school on full scholarship.... Kidding, obviously, but maybe we need to get some new books because after that she sat down with her pile of books and started "reading" them to herself.  "Goose Needs a Hug" is my favorite one. "Uh Oh! Goose sad!" I have also noticed she likes to point out when characters are sad on tv or in books. I'm glad she is aware of others' emotions but I really hope she is not a total empath like me. 

Side walk chalk!

Anyhooo..We are getting ready for a nice little beach vacay with my brother, SIL, and niece (and some Grandmom too!).  I'm excited to get to the beach for a little bit before things get crazy. Hope everyone is enjoying their summers!!!

~SG

Nerves

This is a safe place, right? I'm in the tree, in the nest....

Guys? I'm freaking out. How am I supposed to get super excited about our new house when we haven't sold our current house? What if we don't sell it? What if it's Fall and the house is built and nobody bought this one and we can't close? We accepted this risk 100% when we dove headfirst into this adventure. But that doesn't completely invalidate my worries...

Lately I have been thinking about how lucky we are to be even doing this at all. How fortunate we are to have a beautiful home to sell. A safe neighborhood to live in. Family living nearby. I have been focusing on the fact that whatever is meant to be, will happen. Whether that's moving or staying. I think I'm on the brink of an important life lesson. Whatever the outcome is has yet to be identified.

I'm tired. Tired of Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest. Pictures of beautiful things that I want to have. Jealousy, that evil green monster. Why can't I see the beauty in what I already have? Why do I need things? After all, they are just things. I have always maintained that experiences are more valuable (um hello, best vacation excuse ever).  Perhaps this experience, in itself, will become a valuable memory for us.

What is going to happen? I don't know. What is that quote about the journey being the destination?

Life on the Market

Selling your house means that people will need to come look at it in order for them to decide to buy it. (Duh) Knowing that people could come by the house at any time means that it needs to always be sparkling clean.*

*Note to self: This would have been much easier without 2 dogs and a toddler.

Since we never know when somebody may call us and/or pop by, we have to leave the house in pristine condition every day when we go to work.  That means adding stuff to my morning routine that I didn't do before like making the bed (sorry, Mom), emptying/refilling the dishwasher (or hiding dirty dishes under the sink.....), turning on lights in the basement, opening doors, etc. etc. We also have to lock up the dogs so they don't go making friends with everybody, or, you know, scaring them away. :-/

Having people coming and going all day also means dealing with their aftermath- they turn off the lights (leaving the dogs in the pitch dark), leave the doors unlocked or open, use our bathroom and leave the toilet seat up (sooo grooosssss), sit on our furniture (I can see your butt marks!), etc.

It is also creepy coming home after a long day of multiple showings. Checking every closet and behind every shower curtain is a MUST.

But the worst part, IMO, is the agents that can be rude and unprofessional. I absolutely loathe the last minute calls, waking Abby from her nap, throwing the dogs in the car, and driving around for an hour just to find out they never even showed up.

But there have been some positives to this experience as well. For example, I never thought I could live in a sparkling clean house. Side story - I have a girlfriend from high school who lives in a gorgeous, huge house. She also has 3 boys. I have always been jealous of the fact that there is never a thing out of place at her house. It's like magic. Like even with a cleaning lady I thought my house could never look like that.  But having to put EVERYTHING back where it came from every single day, and keep things put away out of view has taught me that yes, with a little bit of effort, my house can stay that clean and surfaces that empty! Maybe this was just common sense but..... it has been so nice to come home to a clean house, crawl into a made bed at night, and have to do minimal work to keep it that way. (Am I finally becoming an adult?)

SO Anyhoo... if you live around the DC area you know that Mother Nature has been less than kind this Spring. It has pretty much been raining nonstop since we went on the market, which is super great because pretty much nobody wants to go house hunting when it's raining. I'm not freaking out (yet) (ok maybe I am a little), but this is just part of the process and we're going to have to ride it out!

Ohhh and if you made it this far, I guess I should reward you by telling you we totally went against your fan vote and picked cherry cabinets for the new house. :) 

Happy Friday everyone!!

~SG

Easter Fun

For Easter, we went up to my Mom's and had a nice little break from the craziness of getting the house on the market. We also got to meet our new niece, Julia (heart eyes)! She is, of course, perfect.

The weather was pretty nice, and Abby got to play outside with sidewalk chalk and ran around my parents' backyard like I used to do. While she was running around, I noticed our old plastic blue elephant slide from the late 80s sitting under the back deck, where it has been for oh, 20 years probably. Collecting spiders, bees, dirt, and who knows what else. Well, Abby LOVES her slide at school. I've never gotten to see her play with it so the lightbulb went on and I crawled under the deck (spiders and all!) and dragged this nasty, dirty, muddy old thing out into the daylight.

The first thing that happened is my Mom's dogs freaked out because WTF is that. The second thing that happened is I had to crawl under the remains of a collapsed storage tent (that fell down in the heavy snow) to get the hose, which had been placed there for safe keeping. Finally, I was able to spray the slide off but the old elephant needed a little more elbow grease. I scrubbed it not once, but TWICE with a scrub brush and dish soap, until it was clean enough that I wasn't totally grossed out about Abby playing with it.  As I was drying it off, Abby was playing with her Dad and I heard her ask "Pease?" "What do you want, Abby?" "Pease? Slide?"

Needless to say, the slide was a HUGE hit. It still needs more TLC but the part Abby was playing on was fine.  On Easter Sunday, we went to the sunrise service at church and my Mom cooked brunch for our family and some close friends. Abby even had her own little Easter Egg hunt! My sister brought out my Dad's super nice camera, and got some great pictures. Here's a little snapshot of our springy Easter weekend!!

Proof that I attended the weekend's festivities 

My Mom filled the eggs with puffs and crunchies (baby snacks) so they were slightly healthier ;)

Shortly after Uncle Alex taught her how to smash the crunchies under her shoes. Thanks, Uncle Alex. You can see my Mom scolding him right behind me.