Bloglovin'

as most of you may know, google reader is soon to be toast, but do not despair! i have good news for you people! there's still time to import the blogs you read over from google reader to bloglovin'. i just did it and it was so simple!

just click this link and follow the steps! hope to see you guys over on bloglovin'!

some things i learned over the weekend, like how to get crayon off the walls, oh and i have a toddler.

so this weekend was a little busted and filled with things that we have to do rather than what we or i would like to be doing, ie. swimming. i could spend days at the pool just swimming my little heart out, heck, i could swim these next 3 months of pregnancy away in a snap.

but duty calls and so does nesting.

we literally have only about 14 weekends left til our little lady joins us and we're still working on getting the house in order, not to mention the baby's room has turned into the "take to goodwill" storage room.

anywho, i'm supposed to be telling you guys what i learned this weekend right?

first things first, i hate having to have rules about everything with rylan. for instance, we've started coloring. sounds so simple right? wrong. i have to make up 15 rules or more just to sit down to color with him. you know like, "no running around with the crayons!" or "no you don't need to have 50 crayons in your hand at once." and my favorite "don't put that in your mouth, yucky.". blah blah blah fun ruiners is what they are.

well one of my dreaded crayon fears took place for the first time in our brand new house...ry wrote on the wall. granted it wasn't that bad, but this obsessive compulsive type momma had a slight panic attack and started googling how to remove it immediately. and thank heavens for all you "experienced" out there-i found one trick that worked like a charm!

blow dryer + liquid dish soap.

hallelujah!

you just hold the blow dryer on the marks for a few seconds to heat up the wax and it wipes right off with the liquid dish soap!

i feel so smart ;).

onward to the good stuff >>

i think it finally hit me this weekend that rylan is in pretty much full blown toddler mode. maybe it was when he took off across the parking lot and tripped and somehow managed to skid his face from nose to forehead on the pavement or maybe when he just randomly asks at dinner one night, "where's bob bob?" (aka spongebob) or maybe the recent development of him taking his diaper off and asking to go "poo poo" then sitting on his little potty and doing nada over and over again. i'm not sure, but all the signs of toddlerhood are there in all their glory.

and i can't help but feel happy and sad all at once.

it's just amazing how fast rylan has grown and changed these past 17 months. today i was watching him while he was eating his lunch and i just looked into his eyes and couldn't believe those were the same eyes i looked into the day i became a mother.

what a precious soul he is.

happy monday.

2 for 2.

have i ever mentioned how lovely and glamorous pregnancy can be sometimes?

oh, you know, like the time i was stuck in rush hour traffic in some of the most excruciating pain i've ever experienced. yes, i was driving and no, i haven't a clue how i made it home safely. this pain seriously gave birth to the word "writhe". i was writhing in pain.

when i finally made it home husband rushed me to the hospital where i proceeded to spill my guts in front of the lady checking us in. after a quick butt-shot of morphine and a trip to the potty, the diagnosis: kidney stone.

yikes.

they kept me at the hospital overnight, hooked up to an IV and monitors since the pain was causing contractions. i was probably only about 26-28 weeks along. yes, this was last time.

saturday. woke up, 24 weeks. side pain.
i know this pain.

we went to grab some breakfast at the donut shop (since we had actually lost power at the house the night before) in hopes that the pain would subside.

no such luck.

next stop, urgent care. the pain was making it uncomfortable to even sit still. and i thought i was about to pee my britches, but i knew i needed to save that for the good ol' urine sample.

alas, it was finally time to leave my mark and i had nothing to give. i downed a bottle and a half of water and left what i could. the doctor came in and said there was blood in my urine which most likely indicated what i feared: kidney stone. he prescribed some pain meds and told me to call my doctor immediately to see if i should go to the hospital.

on the ride home it hit me, the writhe. the most intense 5 minutes of horrific pain causing tears to stream down my face.

i was certain we would end up at the hospital.

but after waiting the 2 hours it took for my mom to come watch rylan, my pain level continued to drop off. once she arrived, we decided to stall out for a bit.

and call it what you want, but i'm writing this down as a miracle in my book...i must have passed the stone at home because, well, the pain went away.

and that's that.
my 2 for 2.
2 pregnancies and 2 kidney stones.

let's hope that's the end of hailey and the stones.

amen.

the day i became a mother.

there is no day like this day.

although i am anxiously awaiting the arrival of my little girl in september and i'm sure that day will be just as sweet, there is something to be said about the day i became a mother.

it all began the day that i found out about you. i started my journey to motherhood that day. you see it's somewhat of a process-becoming a mother, it doesn't just happen overnight and there's always room to grow.

but maybe it began before all of that. maybe it was just even the thought of you. like the time your daddy and i were looking for our wedding reception site and we were dreaming of little blonde babies (ok maybe that was just me, but whatever).

maybe it happened slowly over the first few years of marriage, all the talks, the hopes, the dreams and prayers. or maybe in the long months spent waiting to meet you as you grew within my body.

i'm not certain where exactly it all began, but what i do know is that i was a mother that day. and as i held you in my arms and looked upon your face for the first time something in me was changed forever,

and your life became bigger than mine.

and all of a sudden,
i became a mother.

Baby Baker #2 is a.....???

GIRL!!! 

and we can't wait to meet her!

i'm almost 21 weeks now and still battling cycles of nausea. most of the time i feel like september will never get here, but then i look down at my belly and can't believe i'm over halfway there. pregnancy is a funny thing that way, lots of mixes of emotions.

p.s. someone please help us out with the girl names-we are struggling over here!

i've been a terrible blogger.

sorry i dropped off the face of the earth for a bit folks, but moving is rough! we are finally getting settled in and the boxes are starting to diminish. still lots to do though! anybody want to come finish things up for us? anybody??...anyone? bueller?

anywho-we are glad to be in the new house and are ready for things to get back to normal-we're tired of living out of suitcases and boxes!

on another note, we did find out the gender of baby baker #2 a couple of weeks ago...i know...i know, what a horrible blogger i am...blah blah...i'll get around to sharing soon. promise!

for now here's a shot of my little helper :)

my baby.

it's started to sink in that my baby will no longer be my "baby" when this new little one comes along.  

big brother.

it's hard to take in right now. i'm feeling all sorts of emotions about it and the pregnancy hormones don't help. it's one of the most bittersweet things i can imagine, watching one baby grow up, taking on a new role in life and then welcoming another in his place.

it's the weirdest of feelings, a mix of loss and gain that i most definitely can't describe in its entirety.

whenever the sadness starts to creep in i remind myself that i still have 5 months with this baby sitting in front of me. 5 whole months with rylan as my baby. 5 whole months to kiss his chubby cheeks and to dance around the living room. just me and him.

i'm doing my best to just soak it all in. i love you baby.
both of you.