Baby Number 2 Update!

We had our anatomy scan for McClements baby number 2 today. Everything went well and we were extremely grateful that our ultrasound tech was able to get all the images they needed in about 45 minutes. This baby was much more cooperative than when we went in when I was pregnant with Gavin. We were there for about an hour and a half and had to go back for another 20-30 minutes in order for the ultrasound tech to get everything they needed with Gavin. He was just not interested in cooperating. This baby was mostly cooperative, although he or she was moving around a lot, our tech was really good and able to work with the constant movement. I am not all that surprised that he/she was moving so much since I have been feeling movement for so long and it has been pretty constant from that time on.

As far as we know at this time, everything looks good and we have some awesome pictures of the baby. Instead of scanning one in, Scott was able to get a great picture of the monitor with his phone!

So far this pregnancy seems to be flying by, it is really hard to believe we are already half way through! I am sure time will continue to fly by between vacation, family visiting, more summer fun, a wedding and preparing rooms (and us) for the baby's arrival. I am really trying to do my best to enjoy my time with Gavin because before long I will have two kids to take care of. I am looking forward to that but I am also sad that Gavin and I won't have as much one on one time. It will certainly be an adjustment for our little family!

It's hot, hot, hot in NY!

Gavin and I have been enjoying the very hot weather from the last couple of days by spending lots of time in his pool and with the sprinkler. We have had so much fun splashing around in his pool and running through the sprinkler. Gavin is no longer afraid of the sprinkler, he now loves it and especially loves when you run through with him. He laughs and giggles like crazy!

Trying to get me with the sprinkler!

Filling up his pool...

Taking a short break from the water to play with his trucks.

Asking for some help picking up the sprinkler to try spray me some more!

We are going to have so much fun outside this summer as the weather stays more consistently warm!

Catching Up

Well, it is certainly about time I play catch up and share some pictures and stories. Although we haven't done all that much in the way of play dates, outings or trips in the last two months, we have managed to have some fun around the house.

Gavin and I have managed to stay busy with some new fun things when I was up to being outside. He has discovered the joy of chalk, bubbles and especially the hose and being able to spray everyone and everything.

Notice the random lines all over, those are Gavin's handy work!

Attacking with the hose...

Discovering a love of popsicles!

Helping me clean on the rare occasions that I didn't feel completely horrible.

Tormenting ants and their ant hills!

Getting into trouble by running to the neighbors house and hiding behind trees/bushes where he can't be reached...

Desperately wanting a ride in the backpack and not wanting to wait for Dada to get home to do it... so I had to give him a ride!

Airplane!

Troublemaker... always finding something new to get into and climb!

Hiding at our other neighbors house... so much trouble!

Gavin is certainly a handful. I am grateful that most of the time I wasn't feeling well the weather wasn't great so spending time inside resting was ok. We spent time outside as much as possible when it wasn't raining or cold but no where near the amount of time that Gavin would have liked. Now that the weather is nicer and I am feeling better we are often outside several hours in the afternoon and are taking walks most days, at Gavin's insistence. We go outside and he plays for a bit and then asks to get into the garage and insists on climbing into his stroller and us going on a walk. Some days are longer than others, it is up to Gavin what path we take through the neighborhood and how long we are gone. I know to pack water for us both and some fruit and carrots to snack on to keep him occupied while he points to all the cars, trucks, mowers, dogs, etc, on our path. I am really enjoying the exercise. I wish I was getting more, but even a mile around the neighborhood is better than nothing!

It is funny to watch Gavin wander around and play outside. He tries to walk around as if he owns the neighborhood. He likes to try to run into the road. About half the time he willingly turns around and heads back down the driveway to find something else to do while the other half results in a meltdown requiring that I remove him and force him to do something else. Those are always fun. He walks into our neighbors yards as if he owns them and tries to get into their houses, sheds, climb their trees, torment their pets, and whatever other trouble he can find. I rarely get to just sit and enjoy being outside because Gavin is almost always on the move exploring something. If he could spend all his time outside I am fairly certain he would.

The TV was on way more than I ever want to think about or admit with me trying to find things that he would sit and watch when he wasn't interested in playing so that I could rest and he was out of trouble. Cars and Cars 2 were on quite a bit until he seemed to be tired of them so I tried other Disney movies and of all the ones we tried, Ratatouille became a favorite and more recently, Toy Story 3 (no interest in 1 or 2... crazy kid). I recently got into a Christmas kick (yup, already... Scott is wondering when I will move on so he doesn't have to listen to Christmas music/movies anymore) and discovered Gavin liked a made for TV movie, Santa Baby 2. No clue why, but he always stops and watches if it is on. He likes a show called the Backyardigans but only certain episodes. We found Knight Rider on our Netflix streaming as well and he likes to watch pieces of those episodes sometimes. I am grateful that he isn't all that interested in TV but what little he has taken an interest in is a bit strange.

I am sure there are plenty of things I have missed and will have to go back and share but any other pictures are on the camera and that is a bigger time commitment to get those offloaded and sort through. So I will save those for another time!

Uh Oh!

A picture that is too cute not to share.

Hiding behind a bush and tormenting it led to breaking off a piece of a branch and this face followed.

Coming November 2012...

McClements baby number 2! Also the reason I have suddenly become a terrible blogger. The first two weeks after we found out were fine, life as usual. Then the morning sickness and fatigue hit big and stuck around for the next 10 weeks. Thus making it virtually impossible to do much of anything, including much cooking and cleaning. I was definitely in survival mode and doing only the bare necessities with a ton of help from Scott. I know Scott thinks I am crazy, but this was so much worse than last time. There is no way I would have been able to get up, go to work, be productive and pretend to not be pregnant if it had been this bad last time. The fatigue was probably about the same, the morning sickness was worse. Much worse.

Despite how busy he has been at work, he still managed to come home between 5 and 6 each night to take care of Gavin. He often picked up dinner on his way home, entertained Gavin the rest of the night, gave him his bath and got him ready for bed. Then Gavin and I went to bed together. I was doing very little during the day and there was more tv/movie time than I care to admit but by the time 5pm rolled around, I was done. I was literally unable to function more than just getting into pajamas and into bed. I even had medication that was supposed to help. It was not the miracle I was told it would be, it merely made it so that I could mostly keep food down and do what little I needed to take care of Gavin during the day. He was a trooper. I feel bad that we did so little and a lot of what we were doing was either cut back or eliminated all together because I just couldn't do it. I hope it won't scar him for life, I try to tell myself, it could have been worse and kids have survived for many years and grown up to be perfectly normal. I am just glad that part is behind us now.


Luckily, the last week and a half have drastically improved. The morning sickness seems to be gone and my energy is slowly picking up a bit, although I don't expect it to return fully, anything is better than feeling exhausted all the time. I had started cooking more often again, though it was hard because I had quite a bit of trouble coming up with our meal plan for the week when nothing sounded good and even if something was appealing, by the time I was done cooking I was as interested in whatever it was. Now that I am feeling better though, I am really enjoying being able to cook and bake again and enjoy it. Our house is no longer in constant disarray, although I am still working to reclaim some areas from the last couple of months of insanity. I really want to have things back to normal before we really start making decisions and shopping for the needed bedroom changes we are facing for the baby.

I have some catching up to do with blogging (no surprise there) but in reality, there isn't much to share since Gavin and I have been sticking close to home and I was terrible about taking pictures. I am working on trying to remind myself to pick the camera back up and start taking more pictures again. I feel bad that I went so long without doing more than a couple of pictures on my phone. Even though we may not have done much of anything exciting, Gavin has changed a lot and I wish that I had been better about capturing that the last couple of months. I will be sure to post what we have very soon!

Despite the tough first couple of months, we are doing so much better now. We are so grateful to be having another baby. I have no doubt it will be a tough adjustment but it will be worth it. Gavin is going to be a great big brother! We are looking forward to all the wonderful things to come!