Toddle Along Tuesday

Today's Toddle along Tuesday is about milestones. Since I stupidly shut down my old youtube account which was linked to my old gmail account a lot of my "milestone" videos are gone. :(

Online anyways. I'm pretty sure I have them backed up somewhere... at least I sure hope I do!

Wilson got into my little 3 drawer organizer bin and has managed to scatter my cds with all the pictures backed up onto it somewhere in there!

So I wanted to share my first milestone I had. Here is the post.
Our First Video of Baby Kirk.

At exactly 10 weeks into my pregnancy, Andy and I got to hear the most wonderful sound. The sound of our baby's heart beating. I was originally upset that I wouldn't get to hear or find out anything until my first appointment which isn't until November 3rd. But I took matters into my own hands, researched around and found out that you can rent or buy your own fetal heart doppler.

I decided to rent one and rented it at 8 weeks. You can rent it for 4 weeks so I decided if I couldn't find the heartbeat myself at least I tried and I could go into the doctors.

At 8 weeks I didn't find anything. I wasn't really sure where to even look! The directions say right under your belly button but that made no sense to me. But I fiddled around didn't find anything and put it up for next week.

At 9 weeks I again didn't find anything. I wasn't worried just more disappointed as I really wanted to see if I was imagining being pregnant or if this was really real. (you would think 5 pregnancy test would make it real for me but haha it didnt!)

Finally last friday on exactly 10 weeks, I tried again. As you can see by all the lotion I tried every where! Started off high moved around and was starting to give up again when I moved lower I thought I could hear something. It was faint but I moved it around some more and then bam there it was fluttering away in my ear!

I yelled for andy to grab the flip and told him "I think I found it!!!"

And there baby kirk was. Andy was recording, I was super thrilled.  And then I ruined it by moving the doppler just ever so slightly. Or baby kirk got scared and swam away. Who knows but for a brief moment we could hear him/her, and know that he/she was really there. That I wasn't crazy!

Amazing!!

Girls vs. Boys

Last night Andy and I were laying in bed trying to fall asleep, and of course Callie was keeping me up. Hiccups and karate moves when you are trying to get to sleep is not easy, but it is pretty cute! So we got to talking about how we are going to have a daughter, and how much different it is going to be.

All we could come up with is that we just need to remember to wipe front to back. I mean how much more different is she going to be compared to Wilson?

He is a fun loving little guy who loves to play, and when the mood strikes, give cuddles and kisses.
Although Andy is a little upset that Wilson is more willing to give me kisses than him. Which I also find funny because Wilson wants sooo much more of Andy's attention than mine.


But as far as boy vs. girl when they are babies aren't they all pretty much the same? Feed them, change them, bathe them, comfort and snuggle with them.

Does the difference start happening when they are actual little people? Talking and walking?

Besides the whole sex factor, EVERY baby is different! Already Callie is different than Wilson as far as this pregnancy goes. She is far more active than Wilson ever was.

I can't wait to see what life is going to be like with another baby in my life. Plus I'm just ready to not be pregnant anymore. This last month is sooo exhausting! I feel like a big moo cow and the littlest things make me tired.

But at the same time I'm looking at Wilson and wondering how much this is going to change his world. I love love love my baby boy and really he still is a baby to me even if he is only 17 months old.

I wonder if he will feel jealous at all? Is he too young to understand? Will he like having a little sister? I think this weekend we are going to finally get his hair cut even though it will be more like a trim. Little guy doesn't have THAT much hair but it's longish in the back.

I'll be sure to post some pictures or a video of that.

34 weeks

How far along? 34 weeks now!
Weight gain/loss:136.4  up 20.9 pounds from my first weigh in. I bet that last month I'm going to gain double lol.
Maternity clothes? Definitely the shirts although I'm starting to be a bit disappointed in my old navy maternity shirts. Just plain tshirts but they don't cover my belly enough. I'm pretty much wearing most of my maternity stuff now. My belly is no longer small enough to fit into my regular shirts! Even my more longer shirts.
Stretch marks? Still none! but my belly button has definitely popped out!
Sleep?Actually a little better I tossed out the pillows and it seems to be more comfortable for me!
Best moment this week?Washing all of Callie's newborn to 3 month clothes. One more thing off my checklist!
Food cravings:Strawberries, apples, peaches, apple cider, grapes, ice cream! YUMMMMM!!!
Gender:definitely still a girl.
Belly button in or out? Popped out!
Movement? Tons of movement. She literally is doing kicks, punches, elbows, rolls ALL the time!
What I miss? I would love an alcoholic drink of some sort. Wine, Champagne, Margarita, something please!!!
What I'm looking forward to:Getting my house more organized, getting Callie's room done, getting maternity pictures taken!

30 before 30 update

I've actually been able to cross some things off my list! I'm super happy about it considering November is coming up and I'm about to be 28 so I have almost 2 years left. A couple of them I can't do without Callie being here but that's okay!  

1. Become Debt Free! -this one may be the hardest to try to complete in 2 years but if I were able to it would be huge which is why it's my number 1!

2. Learn to sew, knit, crochet something!

3. Breastfeed for 6 months! (I made it 6 weeks, so I think 6 months would be amazing this time around!)

4. Have a monthly dinner party with friends.

5. Take advantage of MyCaa and start taking classes.

6. Have three months’ worth of expenses in our savings account.

7. Pay for a military family’s meal (a family I don’t know and without them knowing who I am) while out at a restaurant. *This we completed but I feel like not technically because it was at a Dairy Queen and we paid less than 3 dollars. So it is not getting crossed off.

8. Organize all my photos that are currently on my computer eating up space.

9. Learn to cook on a grill by myself.

10. Get both kids potty trained.

11. Take a photography class.

12. Buy all my produce from a farmers market or local farmer.

13. Bake a pie and cake all from complete scratch. (Not at the same time though)

14. Get to spend at least 2 days/2 nights completely kid free, with my husband.

15. Go to a winery and do some wine tasting. (even if I don't like it)

16. Walk more, at least 4 times a week.

17. Throw a great 30th birthday party for myself.

18. Get a pet! (Preferably a dog)

19. Get Andy another car so we have 2 cars instead of 1.


20. Get a pedicure for the first time. (yes I have never gotten a pedicure)


21. Add something unique to my Hello Kitty collection of stuff.

22. Be able to get another cute birth announcement for Baby Bean like I was able to with Wilson.

23. To have driven under 10,000 miles each year on my car. *1 year down and we did it amazingly considering we moved from Indiana to Mississipp to Louisiana!

24. To go grocery shopping by myself with 2 under 2. (this one I'm scared about)

25. To be able to fit all my clothes again after baby #2. (hopefully this one will be super easy to do! EEP!)

26. To be able to cloth diaper both babies, which means I need to build up a stash of Cloth Diapers. (See how number 1. is going to be insanely hard to do?)

27. Attend the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University classes. *I think I MAY change this one to something else. It doesn't really seem "goal" worthy.

28. Be able to budget one going out dinner a month.

29. Get my in laws to come out and visit us for a little while!

30. Be able to visit Indiana at least twice!

Not ready..

Just a quick blog while Wilson finishes up his nap. Laundry and dishes are being cleaned as we speak and once he wakes up, I get the fun task of picking up everything and trying to vaccumm and sweep while he is hopefully distracted by lunch.

It's crazy how even the littlest task of bending over or getting down on my hands and knees literally exhaust me! Okay I'm almost 8.5 months pregnant so I guess it's not so crazy but I feel like I should do more and I know that I shouldn't try to but the OCD in me wants to.

I want this house to be finally all put up and cleaned up.

I want all my clothes that are sitting in a pile in our master closet to be hung/folded and (like an OCD person) hung from short sleeve to long sleeve in color coordination fashion.

I want to sort through all of Wilson's clothes and figure out what he has outgrown and sort his clothes that he hasn't grown into yet.

I want to get all of Callie's clothes washed and put away. Right now it's all stored in boxes (appropriately in size order) in our garage.

I want to have our guest bed set up so I can figure out how I am going to arrange anything else in the room.

I need to decide IF I want to get a dresser or not for Callie's room. I need to get her crib set up and buy a crib mattress for it.

I'm not ready and yet I'm soooo ready to not be pregnant anymore. But even as I type that I know I am going to miss being pregnant. Well certain aspects of it.

I'm not ready to have 2 babies under 2, but I am ready to meet my daughter.

I'm not ready for the labor process, and realizing that it COULD potentially happen at any moment is scary!


I'm not ready to try breastfeeding again. This is a big one. I'm scared and of course the old mommy guilt is starting to creep up again. (What if I can't keep my milk up again? Will I feel the sadness of "failing?")

I probably could do a whole long post about breastfeeding and my issues with it for me personally.
But the funny thing is a lot of moms who struggled with breastfeeding and have blogged about it feel pretty much the same way I do.


This was a funny one to read.

But in any case. Already I've blogged too much and still have things to do! So off I go. Perhaps I'll be able to actually feed Wilson his banana instead of laying on the couch and having him come up to me and take bites of it.

Hormonal Rant in progress.

Well I finally found out that I passed the stupid 3 hour glucose test. What a complete waste of my time. Thanks for making me have to starve myself and my unborn child, then forcing me to drink the nastiest drink ever, then sticking me with a needle every hour for three hours. Let's come up with a better way of being able to actually screen Gestational Diabetes. END RANT.

Okay so it's not really the end rant.

But I am a healthy person with no medical problems or weight problems. Clearly the odds of me actually having actual Gestational Diabetes were going to be low.

That being said, while being pregnant your body is doing all sorts of crazy things it normally wouldn't do, but why why why hasn't the medical field come up with something different to try to test for this?

I cannot comprehend how starving a mother and unborn child of nutrients for 12 hours and then making her drink a chockful of sugar liquid is at all healthy? Especially if said mother and baby really DID have GD.

If the mother having high blood sugar and not being able to convert it (which is what essentially GD is) causes harm to the baby. Why are we forcing women to take this test which clearly would do that?

How can gestational diabetes affect me and my baby?

High blood sugar levels can be unhealthy for both you and your baby. If the diabetes isn't treated, your baby may be more likely to have problems at birth. For example, your baby may have a low blood sugar level, jaundice, or your baby may weigh much more than normal.


Gestational diabetes can also affect your health. For instance, if your baby is very large, you may have a more difficult delivery or you may need a cesarean section. Gestational diabetes also increases your risk of developing preeclampsia, which is a condition that can be serious if left untreated.

Taken from here.

If the worst thing that can happen from having GD is a large baby, jaundice, (which most babies have anyways) or the risk of having to have a c-section, well then I'd say the risks aren't as dire as people make it out to seem.

If there is a possibility that we decide to have a 3rd child I know for sure I will refuse testing. I should've put my foot down for this pregnancy and basically got guilted into it.

"oh better safe than sorry." sounds a lot like "well everyone else is jumping off the cliff so you need to too."

My rant is over now although if I weren't so sleepy I probably could go on and on about this. It just irritates me so much. RAWR

My real thoughts on Cloth Diapering.

As someone who has done both cloth and disposables. I think I'm one of those moms who would actually lean towards disposables more if I could.

First off I had really wanted to do cloth diapering before I had Wilson, I read up on and realized that living in an sub-basement apartment with no Washer and Dryer was going to make it really hard, UNLESS I invested so much money that I could have a big enough stash to last me the week until I did laundry.

That being said. Leaving your cloth diapers in a pail/bucket/bag for a week is nasty gross. So. When the time came and Wilson was born, we went right into disposables.

I still WANTED to cloth diaper and save myself the money, even if I was losing out on the convenience of disposables.

So when we knew we were moving to a new place that would have a washer and dryer hookup. I thought "Finally!! I can cloth diaper!"

Only it was now almost a year into parenting and quitting those disposables are hard. (at least it was for me) and the initial cost of buying said cloth diaper stash was quite pricey! I did get lucky and was able to buy some used cloth diapers for about 40 bucks for like 6 of them which is awesome.

I miss just wiping Wilson's butt and throwing the poopy diaper away. Or if he gets a rash, if I can put diaper cream on it and not worry about the cloth repelling. Or if I am cleaning them right.

Now it's definitely an extra process, because my son of course doesn't always have that perfect poop that just rolls out of the cloth diaper and into the toilet.

Oh no. I have to sit there and put gloves on and scrub the sometimes yogurt/pudding/mashed potato-y substance out.

Also another thing I don't like about cloth is that once you start buying some, you see all the adorable prints/diaper covers you can get. And spend a small fortune on! 15 bucks for one diaper cover?? 20 bucks for an all in one?! That you only get to use once?

You'd almost think I was anti-cloth diapering.

I'm definitely that mom that is repeating in her head, "This is saving me money, this is saving me money."

With Callie coming, I will hopefully cloth diaper exclusively, but will yearn for those disposables when I have poop explosions, when she leaks out of her diaper, because as I have learned cloth doesn't absorb as much as disposables can, when I see cute girly diaper prints for cloths and spent over 50 bucks buying her a diaper or two, (when I could've bought like 2 boxes of disposables for the same price that would last at least 2 months, depending on size/package count)

I cloth diaper to save money. Period. And I do it grudgingly.

The only saving grace is there is something SO adorable about seeing that giant stuffed butt running around in a cute diaper cover.