Two Wild And Crazy Girls!

Busy, busy, busy!

It's back to business here at home after a week of craziness. I flew to Charleston, SC last Friday to visit my brother in law for the week and to meet his new girlfriend. It's only the second time I've spent an entire weekend away from Ally and my boys who were spoiled rotten by Grandma, Pop-pop and Grammy (her great grandmother visiting from Arizona.) While I missed them all terribly, a weekend away gave me a nice opportunity to eat at a nice restaurant without chasing a toddler around, stay up late, sleep in even later, and just spend some quality time with Brian and Amy. The weather was beautiful and very conducive to a few good games of cornhole! I even got to stay in a brand new hotel that had just opened up the day I checked in so I was able to put my normal paranoia of hotel bedspreads and linens to rest. Bonus!

After hanging out at home for a full 45 hours, we loaded up the whole fam-damily again and drove down to the lake for a few days of R&R. Amazingly, didn't take one picture the whole time I was down there! What?? Ally enjoyed being the center of attention, the boys loved lots of playtime in the water and some good naps, and I was thankful for the extra sets of hands for a few days. Especially since I really needed to take it easy.... the day we went down there, I was experiencing some Braxton Hicks contractions.

I woke up around 5am on Tuesday morning with some stomach pains which I immediately attributed to the Mexican food I'd eaten for dinner on Monday night. They pains continues on and off for several hours before it finally dawned on me that they were coming at 10 minute intervals and were lasting for approximately 30-45 seconds. While not unbearable, they were definitely painful and I started to panic. I emailed my doctor hoping to get some reassurance that there was no way I was having contractions at only 16 weeks- especially since I never had any with Ally. She responded back shortly and told me to drink lots of water and go to the ER if the intensified or I experienced any bleeding I considered not going to the lake, but in the end, decided that in the unlikely even that I did need to go to the hospital, I was going to need someone to watch Ally anyway. The contractions stopped by Wednesday morning so I guess all is well now. I have an appointment with my doctor on Monday so hopefully I'll get some reassurance then.

I've been fortunate enough to talk to Matthew twice in the past few days. His ship finally pulled into port in Bahrain for a few days. Sadly, his mornings and afternoons were spent on shore patrol but he was free to go out with the guys in the evening and enjoy some culturally diverse experiences... like an Irish pup with a Philippino band. Hummmm.... having a hard time imagining that one! Other than missing home and being really freaking hot, he is doing well. We're rapidly approaching the 4 month mark so I'll be planning a half way party before you know it!

Next week will be an exciting one at our home- we're expecting some visitors! My good friend Michele and her two kids, Ryan and Vincent, will be coming to stay with us for 5 days on their way to visit family in Philadelphia. We're really looking forward to the visit as it will serve as a great excuse to get out and do some of the things that I've not yet experienced in the Hampton Roads area- like the zoo, the Children's Museum, the water park, etc. Lots of pictures of our adventures to come.

Thanks for checking in with us!

Happy Blog Birthday To Me!

One year ago today I launched Oh, Baby, The Places You'll Go with this post. It's been a fun outlet for me, though I'm finding that I have much less time to blog now that I'm a stay at home mom... I know, that's a sad statement about my prior job!

So, now that baby #2 is on the way, I'm wondering if I should change the title of my blog to reflect multiple kiddos when the time comes. What do you think? Any suggestions?

Thanks for reading!

Selected

I'm clearly the braggart in the family so it is my pleasure to do a little bit of bragging now. Matthew was just notified yesterday that he has been selected for a promotion to Lieutenant Commander in the US Navy! It will most likely still be several months (possibly up to a year) before he's able to pin on the rank, but I'm still pretty proud of my 'LCDR select'!

Nearly Wordless Wednesday

Look who's starting to get some chubby legs- finally!

Two Lilys and a Poll

I found a local store that had an almost identical replica of Ally's favorite little lovey- Lily Mae. Since we've had a few close calls lately when Lily has been lost, I thought it would be a good idea to buy a spare. The only problem, is now she wants them both which sort of defeated the purpose- Lily #2 is now just one more lovey to add to her already crowded crib and this little girl isn't happy unless she has one Lily in each arm.

I posted a poll on the top right corner of the blog to help me determine the sex of baby Martin #2 (we seriously need to come up with a better name for this kiddo!) I really don't have a feeling one way or the other so please share your guess with me. My ultrasound is scheduled for August 13th so the voting will close at 7:30am that morning. Thanks for your input!

15 Weeks Already

15 weeks already and my oh my, how that belly is growing! It's hard to believe that I still have 25 more weeks of growing to do! According to the latest babycenter.com update, the peanut now weighs a whopping 2.5 ounces and is 4 inches long (which is about the size of an apple)- which begs the question.... where in the world did the 8 pounds I've gained come from??? Just kidding, I know where it came from but sometimes it's hard to believe that a 2.5oz baby can come with that much baggage! All for a great cause though so I'll try to refrain from complaining too much as I'm eating my latest favorite Coldstone concoction: cheesecake ice cream, graham cracker crust, and cherries! (Don't get the wrong idea- I ate Coldstone last night for the first time in over a year and I don't plan to make a habit of it, but man, was it good!!)

A Chance To Walk Again

Nothing like a little story of human tragedy and triumph to get those pregnancy hormones pumping early on a Thursday morning! After watching this on GMA I was a total wreck. What an amazing story!

Don't Mess With A Girl And Her Shopping Cart!

I've been trying to figure out how to upload this video from YouTube for the past 25 minutes and I'm giving up and going to bed. If you want to check out Ally's YouTube debut, click the link below. Any tips on embedding YouTube videos on blogger would be appreciated.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gjj1ySvxBE0

Smartfood, Dumb Wendy

Those insane cravings have officially begun! Yesterday I ate an entire bag of white cheddar popcorn! I haven't eaten it in years but a bag was calling my name from the shelves of the chip aisle at the Commissary. Now, I'm not a total pig- I didn't eat it all in one sitting. I ate about 1/2 of it for lunch- along with an apple so I could at least pretend that it was somewhat healthy, 1/4 for my afternoon snack, and the last 1/4 for my additional afternoon snack (which occurred approximately 10 minutes after the first afternoon snack because I couldn't stop thinking of that popcorn in the pantry!) Yes, I feel guilty, but I guess there are worse things on which I could be gorging myself. This little 14 week old dictator in my tummy demanded something tasty and a little salty yesterday- who am I to deny him/her the finger licking goodness of white cheddar?

13.5 Weeks

I officially entered my second trimester today and I'm excited to report that I have already felt this baby's first kicks! We spent the 4th of July in Lake Gaston. On Monday evening we were taking a boat ride with both sets of Ally's grandparents and her Uncle Brian. I bent down to pick Ally up and when I stood up I thought I felt a kick but I sort of blew it off because I thought it was way too early for me to actually feel any fetal movement. A few minutes later I was sitting down and I twisted around to reach something behind me and felt a big movement! So big, I gasped and whipped around in my seat and scared everyone. There is no doubt that the second time was a baby kick. So exciting! Can't wait until Matthew gets home and gets to experience that feeling for the first time. Here are two recent tummy pictures taken today. I just keep getting bigger and bigger!

Kissy Faces

Happy girls!

Ally's kissy face

Look at that big pouty lip!

Kissy face or bitter beer face?

Ally gives the sweetest kisses!

4th Of July At Lake Gaston

Fantasia Tamika Dominguez

I've been having some pretty bad lower back pain for 4-5 days now. As far as I can remember, I haven't done anything to strain or injure it so I assume it is somehow related to normal pregnancy discomfort. I emailed my doctor yesterday to make sure it was okay for me to use some icy hot and to alternate a heating pad and ice packs on my back. To my surprise, she responded that she'd like me to go to the lab for a urinalysis to make sure I don't have a urinary tract infection. I've never had a UTI, but I wasn't having any other symptoms but we agreed it was better to be safe and check it out since a UTI can be bad news in the first trimester.
So, today I head over to the clinic, take my number at the lab and have a seat in a grimy chair that has seen much better days. 10 minutes later, number 93 is called and I make my way to the counter. A pissed-off-at-the-world-Philippino lady hands me my collection cup and incoherently directs me to the bathroom. After wandering around for a few minutes, I find a restroom, collect my sample and return to the lab. When I arrive, the same grumpy woman instructs me to take a number. I informed her that I'd already gotten a number and was just returning my specimen.

Philippino lady: "Who helped you?"
Me: "You did."
Philippino lady: "Look over the information on this label to confirm that everything is correct."
Me: "This isn't my label."
Philippino lady: "You're not Fantasia Tamika Dominguez?"
Me: silence..... accompanied by an icy stare......
Philippino lady: "Oh, you must be Wendy Stahl Martin."

Seriously..... do I look like a Fantasia????