rings...

the combination of losing weight and the cold winter weather makes my fingers shrink to the point that my rings are falling off my fingers!  i decided to give silicone rings a try.  i have a hard time not wearing a ring on my wedding finger, so i thought these would be a fun and comfortable option.  so far i am loving them.  i got a pack of 8 different colors and they are thin bands that you can stack. 

19 weeks!!!

this has been one of my roughest weeks yet.  not because of the pregnancy but because having the stomach flu while pregnant is miserable!  i was really sick for 2 days and on the 3rd day jarad started to not feel so well and bowie was showing signs of improvement but still off.  so i took a shower, washed my hair and did 8 loads of laundry and started to disinfect.  i still didn't feel great, but i was the healthiest one at the time and that was not saying a whole lot.  i was very dehydrated, i was so thirsty but couldn't keep anything down.  i ended up losing 3-4 pounds, so after all of this, i am 6 pounds down from my pre-pregnancy weight.  while writing this now, i fully have my appetite back and am making up those pounds i lost during the flu.

it is a very weird and strange sensation to feel this little guy dance and move around so much when i was sick.  i spent a lot of time laying down, which is when i feel him the most.  so i felt him all the time and being nauseous on top of it was crazy.  of course it was very reassuring to feel him being so active.  i feel like i have been sick at least 75% of the time this pregnancy, and not with morning sickness but with colds and now the flu.  i think my family has spent more than our fair share of time being sick this year, so i am hoping this is the last of it!  i have upcoming travel next week, so i am anxious to get our house healthy and back to normal.

i am excited to be nearing the half way point in my pregnancy.  i still feel very nervous and fragile and had to cancel a doctors appointment we had last week due to us being sick.  i have an ultrasound this week, so hopefully it will ease my mind once again!  i am blessed to have easy pregnancies, but this time around some things feel very different.  for example my heartburn/acid reflux came early on, i have developed some nasty varicose veins, when i am sitting and twisting my body sometimes i get this really weird pop sensation inside (and it is not coming from the baby) and i am still shedding my hair like crazy (it stopped when pregnant with bowie).  who knows, each pregnancy is unique and different and beautiful.

baby milestones...

~developing a waxy coating that will protect from amniotic fluid
~beginning to sprout hair
~building better coordination with arms and legs as neurons make connections with muscles
~measures about 6 inches long and weighs about 8.5 oz, size of zucchini
~proportionate arms and legs, fat layers under skin and facial features are forming
~baby is awake for about 6 hours a day
~uterus may have reached belly button this week

arts and crafts...

we have been doing a lot of play-doh, coloring and water beads since we have been sick and indoors a lot lately.  today we are making some valentines day cards to send!

teepee tent!

our play room got a little make over recently.  the ball pit has seen better days and has a leak we can't seem to permanently fix.  we do have a new one, but i am gonna keep it in the closet until next year.  i also took out the trampoline and i put in our new teepee tent!  picked this cutie up at target on clearance for $20!!!  set it up with some pillows and of course minnie mouse and bowie is loving her new reading fort!

potty talk...

the stomach is flu is no laughing matter, until you hear bowie say "diarrhea cha cha cha."  sorry guys, but it's been a rough week...

pretend play...

bowie is very into pretend play with her stuffed animals and dolls and today she was all about feeding elmo and giving him his medicine.  what a good lil mama!

sick of being sick...

last weekend we went to a birthday party and then had a playdate on monday with one of our friends who was also at the party on sunday.  tuesday morning i woke up early to bowie crying in her crib (which in itself is odd) and covered in puke.  stripped her down, changed her sheets and got her in the tub.  only a few minutes later she is puking in the tub.  we got dressed in warm pajamas and went downstairs and turned mickey on and snuggled.  i texted my friend to see how her daughter was doing since they had played together the last two days in a row, and sure enough her daughter had been throwing up all night.  we later got a text from our friend who threw the birthday party and her daughter was sick as well.  well, we all got a stomach bug from this bday party and at least 7 of us (that i know) caught it.

i am catching up on my blog at this point, so i can tell you that this lasted all week for us.  a game of 1 step forward 2 steps back.  dehydration, no appetite, vomit and diarrhea.  this has been one of my worst fears since moving.  how to take care of a sick baby when you can hardly take care of yourself and not enough helping hands.  jarad took off 3 days of work to help out and we managed, but it was brutal.  it breaks my heart to watch bowie throwing up and not being able to fully communicate how she feels and what hurts. 

8 loads of laundry later and tons of clorox wipes, we are on the mend.  but bowie has had such severe damage to the villi in her digestive track that she can no longer digest milk, and we have to switch to lactose free milk until it heals itself.

so PSA if you are sick stay home!  you don't know who you are infecting or exposing and in this case it was a pregnant woman and a toddler, who both have compromised immune symptoms.  we had some good scares along the way with dehydration and this has been something that has taken a long time to bounce back from.