Fuzzy Friends.

Claire's first Christmas, my cute little sister gave Claire a lamb. Claire became so attached to the fluffy animal. I'm afraid if I ever lose it, Claire will explode. This animal has special powers. It makes her fall asleep, and fixes every ache, pain, and owwie.

Ross wanted Aoife's animal with special powers to be from him. Friday night we had a little family fun night. We ventured to the dollar store to find Claire a couple treasures. She picked out a sparkly glitter baton and a book containing her latest obsession, Elmo. With our prizes in hand, we headed for Toys R Us in search of the perfect companion for Aoife. We spent a while browsing the couple aisles of furry friends, but to no avail. Luckily Babies R Us is right next door.

The selection was a little smaller, but the size of the animals were more what we were looking for. Claire spotted Elmo on some gift wrap and I kept an eye on her as she pulled every piece of merchandise with Elmo off of the shelf while Ross searched through the animal piles.

It didn't take very long to limit his decision to two animals. A fluffy pink bunny, and an adorable monkey. Ross said he felt like this gal is going to be a monkey. (With two little girls running around, I feel like we're ALL going to be monkeys.)

As we were walking toward the car, Ross jokingly said that we're all ready for her and she's ready to come. As funny as it was, that night I started having some pretty heavy contractions. I debated about going in to the hospital to get checked out, but decided against it. In the beginning, I told myself I wouldn't go in unless I felt like I was dying. I think we just went in one too many times with Claire and every experience was still fresh in my mind. Spending hours in a hospital in a breezy gown only to get sent home with a piece of paper telling me to take it easy just doesn't sound appealing to me.

Saturday I finally got around to sewing Aoife's quilt our of fear she'd be coming sooner than we expected. It took a huge load of stress off and I decided now that she has her cute monkey from Daddy and I have my matching nursery, she really CAN come.

Well, contractions continued all weekend. I ended up being sent to the hospital Monday morning from my midwife appointment and got that cool piece of paper filled with suggested restrictions. The last bit always feels the longest, and I'm trying to enjoy the last couple weeks of sleep I'm sure I'll get in the next 10 years. We're just too excited!!

Valentine's.

Valentine's Day fell on a Tuesday this year. If you know us Lovelands, Tuesdays mean only one thing: Biggest Loser night.

Even Valentine's Day couldn't get in the way of our date with the couch.

Ok, we're not THAT pathetic. We actually had a really busy Valentine's Day. Ross spent a few hours working on his internship. After, he rushed off to the gym. When he got home, he didn't even have time to shower before we headed off to Lehi to go pick out tile. (We're getting our shower and entry way redone over the next few days.) I never knew there ENDLESS possibilities when it came to showers.

By the time we got home, Ross still had some homework, Claire was tired and grumpy, and to be honest, I was tired and grumpy, too.

Luckily it was Tuesday and we had something to look forward to after the critter went to bed. Ross cooked up some delicious Sloppy Joes while I gave Claire a bath. And we sat ourselves down and had sloppy joes, steak fries, and a few too many cupcakes while we watched our show. And it was wonderful.

We exchanged our gifts for our sweethearts last week. (We always end up celebrating holidays and birthdays early. The anticipation and excitement KILLS me.)

Ross got me a Kindle Fire, which Claire of course thinks is hers. And I gave Ross this beauty.

Even though we got to spend Valentine's night together, I feel guilty I didn't cook, didn't plan on cooking, and frankly didn't want to cook. I felt obligated to make it up to Ross. Here's our set up for tonight.


On the menu tonight, we have filet mignon, which has been marinating ALL day, a green salad, and rice pilaf. And of course something bubbly and delicious to sip on. It's kind of fun getting a second fun day with my two Valentines.

Tomorrow the construction starts. Updates and pictures are sure to follow! Hope everyone had a great love day yesterday!

"Claire, You Are An Impressive Specimen."

Yes, that was a direct quote from Claire's ped, Dr. Later.

Yesterday, Claire had her 15 month appointment. I simply cannot offer enough praise and adoration for Claire's doctor. I feel so lucky and BLESSED to have found him. A year ago he was actually the one who told me I needed to get checked out for PPD.

Claire loves to run. (In the opposite direction of Mom and Dad in particular.) But she's also starting to get into the stranger danger phase. In the office, Claire was conflicted. She didn't want to stay near me, but she didn't want to go near anyone else, either. When we were called back, it just turned into a disaster.

She screamed and wiggled while the poor nurse measured her head and length. When it came time to weigh her, she was impossible. We made numerous attempts to get an accurate weight before deciding it'd be better to just weigh myself and Claire. (Luckily the weight was in kilos so I didn't have to see that dreaded number.)

Back in our exam room, Claire was free to run and explore in her diaper. She was having a blast. And then he came in. Before I could blink, Claire was hiding with her face crammed between my legs.

You can just tell how much Dr. Later loves and cares about kids. He talked and played with her for a while before getting down to business. I knew I had a big girl, but even Dr. Later was amazed by how big she is. Miss Claire is in the 100th percentile for height, weight, and head circumference. He had to just just sit in awe of her size for a few minutes and laugh. She's perfect, just an amazingly big, tall gal.

He then asked about her appetite, the subject that has been my main concern for months. I was shocked to not only receive some motherly comfort, but praise, too! I wish I had talked to him MONTHS ago when I checked out every book on toddler nutrition I could find. He basically told me my job is to provide the food. Her job is to eat it. Whether or not she does, doesn't actually matter. I can't make her eat anything, and she'll eat when she's hungry. She's not going to starve herself, and she obviously isn't hurting for food.

I thought I was going to cry, I was so relieved and happy. Even when I asked if it's ok that she once went FOUR DAYS without eating even a fruit snack or cheeto, he said that was perfectly fine. If she wants to live off of green beans, apple juice, and french bread, so be it!

It's always great to hear your kid is doing well and is healthy, but sometimes you just need to hear that you're doing a good job as a mom and doing everything right.

Dr. Later, thank you for taking an insurmountable amount of stress from me. I will no longer be pulling everything out of the fridge, frantic to find something nutritious for my daughter, or keep offering her food to only have her throw said food at me. Maybe I'll get to take a break from having food in my hair before we start the spit-up conditioner in a few weeks!

Child Labor.

Claire's being put to work.

Because I look like I'm going on an expedition to the moon every time I leave the house and I can't IMAGINE what kind of mess that'd turn into when we become a family of four.




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A couple days ago I found the most adorable animal backpacks on amazon. (We'll talk about my online shopping addiction later.) They had eight or so different animals and I just about died. Ross picked this one out for Claire.

So far, I think she really likes it. She keeps trying to put it on and loves poking the eyes, nose, and ears. (A wonderful alternative to mom and dad's face.) I can't tell you how excited I am to not have a 1000 pound diaper bag on Sunday.

Here's The Deal.

I want Jillian's upper body, and I want it bad.



But I want it when I go into the delivery room.

I've gained between 5-10 pounds. (Depends on the day and how much I've eaten, haha) At first it was a major concern, but after months of appointments and being told that baby's right on track and getting everything she needs, I've stopped worrying.

When we found out we were expecting, I had been working out 3 times a day, and watching what I ate with the intensity of a hawk. It was really hard to stop, and even harder to not obsess over my growing belly.

There was an amazing deal at a gym in Orem, with free personal training, so I had Ross sign up. He's been working out at home, but I think the gym will give him new motivation and opportunities. It's been hard for me watching him exercise and feel great while I help myself to a second helping of cookies. Every Tuesday we have a date with the couch and we watch The Biggest Loser together. It's something we look forward to every week, and I honestly block out my calendar for it. Last week we were at a friend's for dinner, and Ross told them we'd have to leave early because our show was on. It's been a struggle having all of this motivation built up, but being unable to do anything about it.

Last week I decided to start working out. Midwife wasn't thrilled, but was eventually comforted when I said I wasn't doing cardio beyond walking (mostly just testing out my fabulous double stroller), and lifting no more than 5 pound weights. (Granted, I've been doing between 60 and 90 of each exercise to make up for the low weight.) I've only been focusing on lifts for upper body and legs, figuring if I can get those areas going, I can worry about my belly and buns after this lady's born.

And it feels good. If I'm going to be hauling around 30 pound Claire PLUS a new baby, I better have some muscle. Mostly, I think I'm just excited for when I get cleared to really exercise and can put that double jogger to the test. I've only taken it out to walk around stores with Claire, and I'm already beyond in love. I didn't think I could love a stroller as much as our single BOB, but the duallie is one million times better and 100% worth each penny. I cannot wait for summertime when I can take the girls out for a run with mom.

Another Pregnancy Post.

Don't worry, y'all only have a little over a month left of my pregnancy posts.

I'll be 32 weeks on Thursday. When I was pregnant with Claire, at this point I was already dilated to a 4.5, feeling like a bomb about to go off any second. I've had contractions and cramping for the last six weeks or so with this one, but I haven't gone in yet. I figure, if I haven't had the baby yet, I'm probably fine, though I'm beyond curious if I have dilated at all yet.

My 32 week appointment was this morning. We started off by discovering I hadn't gained any weight. Midwife asked if I got a call about my GD test, to which I responded no. She decided to pull the results anyway to double check that everything was fine. With Claire, I was anemic, so it wasn't surprising to have the same results this time around. Except then the midwife got really serious and asked if I was eating. Yup. No worries there, pal. I am CHOWING down, usually going back for not just seconds, but 3rds combined with snacking throughout the day. I just have no idea where it's all going. Obviously I'm not too put out about the number on the scale.

I told her I started exercising last week. She looked like I said I punched a puppy, bless her heart.

As our due date approaches, I've been thinking a lot about PPD and the chances of having to go through that again and decided to bring up my concerns at the appointment. I'm really glad I did. She said that I was definitely at a higher risk of PPD with this one, especially because of how sever it was with Claire. We decided to get me on a REALLY high dose of vitamin D until my next appointment where we can reevaluate and talk about starting the prozac again that way it'll be in full effect by the time this gal is born. I love how she thinks ahead.

I feel like an old person, popping so many pills and supplements each day, but I'm really grateful for them. I'm excited about taking them. Hopefully they'll help with my energy and motivation levels. I still have a few things to get done before baby, but I haven't had the desire to do anything lately.

I think I'll get the other crib set up this week after it arrives. (I FINALLY decided to order it last week.) We'll see if Claire catches on to what's coming!