Ok I'm off to enjoy a popsicle on the patio now. Summertime has finally decided to show up in Washington! And by "summer," I mean highs in the 60s and low 70s, but at least it's sunny. Not hating it.
That's about it! Nothing too exciting coming up this week. Today we're going to Jared's brother's high school graduation. Then I need to decide on a wallpaper and/or paint for the nursery so I can take advantage of these last few functional 2nd-trimester weeks to get some projects done. Third trimester was pretty miserable with Jack so trying to keep my expectations for what I'll be able to get done in check.
Hey-o! We just got off a wonderful weekend spent with my brother Jordan's family who was visiting us here in Washington. They lived in a town about half an hour north of where we live now a few years back so it was fun to show them around Granite Falls, have the best sibling/cousin times, and they got to visit some of their old friends and hangs in Mt. Vernon. They picked an absolutely perfect time to visit--I've been feeling really pretty good for about a week now, my belly is still at a manageable size, and the current Washington temperatures are *chef's kiss*.
The forecast was mostly rainy during their time here, but we did get a sunny day on Saturday that we spent lounging on our own little riverside beach for several hours. When we pulled into the usually-empty parking lot by the river, we were surprised to find the lot overflowing with dozens upon dozens of cars. Apparently there was some kind of church party taking place. Everyone we walked by was speaking Russian, or possibly Ukranian? Maybe it was a refugee gathering? No idea but it was really cool, and in a beautiful spot. Almost felt like we'd stepped into another country for a bit. Luckily the party was in one central space, and after hiking about a quarter mile along the river we found a quiet, expansive beach all to ourselves. Much of it was rock, but there was also a lot of great sand for the kiddos to dig around in. My brother Jordan is the GOAT and carried 2 of our outdoor dining chairs the whole way to the beach so all the adults could have a chair to sit on, since we only had 2 camping chairs. We had a great time digging, throwing rocks, picnicking, and enjoying the perfect weather.
For what feels like, and probably is, the first time this year, I'm sitting down to write a totally normal-life-feeling, casual weekly update! Nothing too crazy to report, for which I'm grateful. Truly never thought I'd have a week that feels this normal in pregnancy (I don't feel non-pregnant normal, but this is better than it ever got with Jack). I guess to keep things casual, here are a few random things I'm loving this week:
1. @The_Car_Mom broccoli. With both of our cars being very old sedans, we've jumped into the car research game. The original plan was to upgrade to a bigger car before baby #2 arrives, but then I was like, boi, I'd rather have AC than a bigger car. So now our plan is to be well researched and know what we want so that when one of our cars bites the dust, whether that be in 5 years or 5 weeks, we have a plan in place. My silver Accord is good as new since we got the starter replaced this last week. But someday, we're leaning toward a Palisade or a Telluride. Possibly a Pilot. Mid-size SUV is the category we're currently feeling after watching a million Car Mom and other car reviews on youtube. Wow that took a tangent. I feel like I need a paragraph break to get back on track.
Ok, Car Mom Broccoli! I've been following The Car Mom on Instagram and she has a viral broccoli recipe that is very easy and stinks up our house because, broccoli, and makes me scarf down an entire bag/head of broccoli in one sitting, every time. I literally cannot help it. Here's the recipe: Steam a head/bag of broccoli in the microwave. While it's steaming, brown some butter real quick on the stove. As much or little as your heart tells you. Then pour the browned butter over the broccoli, squeeze half a lemon on top, and salt with Lawry's seasoned salt. Umm????? My life will never be the same. I try to make it right after Jack goes to preschool and then air the house out because he cannot even with the smell of steamed broccoli.
2. Air conditioning!! Also, the finally sunny forecast for this next week. I knew Jared would be singing me/the AC sweet praises come July when we start having 100-degree days in Washington. But he's singing those praises already even though the "hottest" day we've had since getting it installed last week was only 70 degrees lol. We both sleep hot at night, and since our bedroom is upstairs and has big windows it tends to be the hottest room in the house. I don't like sleeping with the windows open because I have tender little nighttime asthma attacks and I do better with windows closed and my new air purifier on high (bought it hoping it would lessen Jared's snoring--did nothing for his snoring but has helped with my asthma). The AC has already offered sweet cooling relief several times. Good timing because I think I'm starting to get pregnancy hot flashes. (Also my belly button's already popped completely out and I need to start wearing a support band because the back pain from my already full-sized belly ain't no joke. I kid you not, my belly is bigger at 22 weeks this time than it was at 32 weeks with Jack. Also my OB says baby's measuring in the 95th percentile :')
3. An outdoor dining table. I knew getting one would bring me joy, but not THIS much joy. The absolute most joy-filled purchase I've made since moving into this house. Jared and I took his parents' old suburban on a thrift store date last week while my car was in the shop to try and snag a dresser for the nursery. The thrifting gods were not in our favor, but this urge overtook me and I HAD to purchase a piece of large furniture while we happened to have a suburban on our hands. I have jumped through soooo many logistical hoops over the years getting our homes furnished with thrift store finds that are too big to fit in a sedan. So I whipped out the birthday money Jared's parents gifted me last week and was like, "Jared, drive me to Home Depot. This lady's buying a patio table." I'd already spent weeks scouring the internet to find a great rainy-climate-approved outdoor table at the best price. My search led me to a table from Home Depot that isn't available to ship and must be picked up in-store. We already tried it with our Honda and it of course didn't fit so we had to do a walk of shame back into the store to return the table. I love us and our misguided optimism. ANYway, I thought Jared might plot to work some logistical magic to try and surprise me with the table for my birthday. When that didn't happen (he did lots of other great surprises instead) and this situation presented itself, I jumped at it. So glad I did. Patio breakfasts and lunches and dinners 4evr and evr. I ordered some plastic/resin chairs (our patio is uncovered and it's always raining here) that will get here in a week or two. In the meantime I've been dragging our indoor dining chairs back and forth from patio to dining room all weekend. When the days start to get hotter I'll probably get an umbrella and spend all summer at my patio table while Jack plays in the backyard.
4. A successful Sunday nap swaparoo. For the most part, Jack doesn't nap anymore. He does an hour of quiet play time each afternoon, and then maybe once every week or two he'll end up climbing into bed and taking a nap during that time. Love those days because the naps last 2-3 hours. On Saturday night we got home LATE after a fun belated birthday-dinner evening at Din Tai Fung with Jared's parents and brother. Then of course Jack woke up extra early the following morning. After church I was hoping he'd fall asleep during his quiet time, but knew it probably wouldn't happen. Exhausted, Jared and I took a nap anyway during the quiet time. Sure enough, after the hour timer went off Jack came to wake me up. I was really groggy and he asked if he could come lay down between us to snuggle while I was waking up. When he was settled in with his stuffed bunny I started to rub his back for a minute, and then a Sunday miracle unfolded and he fell asleep for a nap of his own, allowing me to slip out and enjoy a few hours to myself. I felt like a criminal mastermind. Jack got quiet time and a bonus nap, I got a little nap and then a quiet afternoon of my own, and Jared took the double-long Sunday nap of his dreams. A true sabbath miracle. Here are some random phone snaps from our casual, normal week:
T-Rex!!!
That's what Jack will say if you ask him. I had a VERY thorough ultrasound on Friday. Baby was doing cartwheels and barrel-rolls, with legs crossed the whole time, so it took them over an hour to get all the measurements they needed. They even made me go empty my bladder, do jumping jacks, and eventually switch to a transvaginal ultrasound when that was the only way to get the right angle for the final head measurements needed. Wow I luv childbearing, gr8 fun. (Don't get me wrong, super grateful to be able to grow this healthy baby, and my OB experience this time around is DRASTICALLY better than it was with Jack's pregnancy. Although they did find a bunch of string of pearls cysts around both of my ovaries during the ultrasound, so that's a fun welcome to my 30s. I am assured that since I was able to get pregnant it's nothing to worry about? Sure, we'll go with that.)
To cut to the chase, she's a girl! We were over the moon to find out. That's the story I'm putting in my memory bank, instead of the one where Jared has always wanted a girl until like a MONTH ago when he got it in his head that this one would be a boy and he got all pumped about that idea and then it was kind of womp-womp on ultrasound day. He's back to excited again, no worries. I read somewhere that gender disappointment is so common because before you find out the gender, you kind of have the idea of your baby being both genders in your head, so when you find out either way you're always going to be losing half of that fantasy. That resonated with me. We're VERY excited to meet baby girl, even though we are obsessed with our current little boy life. Also I'm relieved to be off the hook on deciding a boy name. Jared's had our girl name on lockdown since before we were married, so this girl will be baby Alice. (I'll choose the middle name.) Last year Jack told me out of the blue that he wanted a little sister named Allie, which conveniently works great as a nickname. Although now he's more excited about Alice-saurus (Allosaurus), middle name "T-Rex." I'm not opposed.
After our appointment we drove down the street to Salt & Straw for ice cream (we got lavender honey and gooey brownie), and to choose out a little pink toy of some kind to share the news with Jack. Then we got back in our car, and right there, parked on the side of the road in 2-hour parking in a crowded urban shopping center, our car decided it would rather not start up ever again. In all openness I absolutely saw this coming and have been telling Jared for weeks that it would be cheaper to just take it to a repair shop for its startup issues then to unexpectedly have to get it towed from somewhere inconvenient. (It actually died on me at Jack's preschool this last week and I only got it started again by the miraculous apparition of a retired O'Reilly's worker who lived across the street and tried jumping it like 10 times before it sparked up enough to get going. But it's not a battery issue, it seems to be an ignition issue.) So I was feeling equal parts annoyed and smug as Jared spent an hour frantically flipping through the owners manual as if there would be a button he could press that would magically fix the issue. Eventually his dad came to rescue us, we went back to their house to share the baby news with Jack and Jared's parents, got some Mexican food for dinner, and then Jared and his Dad somehow figured out how to tow our Honda from the crowded street where it was parked to a nearby repair shop using a tow rope and Jared's parents' Suburban. So rocky Friday the 13th for Jared, but I feel pretty good about how everything turned out. No parking tickets or tow truck fees, and hopefully the car will be fixed by tomorrow. In the meantime we're borrowing the old Suburban that Jared grew up driving. Which means for our date this afternoon I will be dragging Jared to all my favorite thrift stores to pick up thrifted furniture for our girl's nursery! Honestly this is my dream date scenario haha.
So that's the story of the eventful Friday the 13th when we found out we'd be having a baby girl. Oh, we ended up telling Jack with a toy dinosaur egg that you squeeze, and out pops a red t-rex (see top picture). The toy store didn't have any pink dinos, so we told him if a green dino popped out it would be a boy, and if a red one popped out it would be a girl. He was into it. Mostly because he got to keep the dino egg toy haha. And then I let him announce to my parents the same way on a video call the next day. It was perfect.
Jared chauffeured his little brother and his prom date around downtown Seattle Saturday night while I watched Mamma Mia and scrolled Pinterest for nursery ideas. The vibe that's speaking to me at the current moment is a light blue and pink nursery with vintage wooden accents and maybe some whimsical wallpaper. Very Alice in Wonderland. Feels on-trend for 2022 (going for equal parts millennial cottage-core and gen z goblin-core), and obviously perfect for a baby Alice with a mom who loves to thrift. Here are some pictures I'm drawing inspiration from:
I spent a good chunk of this last week in the "deep cough" stage of a nasty cold, which catapulted me back into the "throwing up at night" stage of pregnancy. Last week I said I was done with nausea updates so I won't say much more about it, but it was NOT FUN and the next person who dares bring home another cold/virus this spring is canceled.
Speaking of viruses, Jack caught a 24-hour stomach bug and spent Friday and Saturday throwing up. He's fine now and so far me and Jared have been spared. It's a birthday/Mother's Day miracle!
Ok, birthday stuff! Yesterday was my 30th birthday AND Mother's Day. All said and done, it was a lovely weekend. Jack was feeling fine on Saturday morning so we spent the day my favorite way--day trip to explore somewhere new. We went to Leavenworth, which is a little Bavarian-themed village in the Cascade Mountains. We had just enough time to explore some shops, walk the streets, have a German meal on an outdoor rooftop terrace, walk along the river, and enjoy an ice cream. At this point Jack started to look a little pale and say his tummy hurt, so we cut our day short and booked it to our car to make the 2-hour drive home. Jack spent the first half of the drive throwing up (thank heavens for my foresight to bring a barf bowl just in case), and the last half of the drive sleeping. Poor little guy. After we got home I made dinner (yay for being able to make dinners again!) and got Jack to bed, then Jared and I watched a movie and went to sleep. Here are some pictures of Leavenworth. My favorite part of these Bavarian villages is the trim work. I love the scalloped edges and fun cutout shapes on all the shutters. Jack's favorite part was the horse-drawn carriages wandering the walkways. He wanted a ride so bad but it was $40 a person. Nooope. Maybe on his birthday we'll track down a horse-drawn carriage situation.
20 weeks pregnant today!!!!! (or 19 weeks today if you ask my doctor, which no thanks.) I'm feeling grateful, and hopeful, and happy that it's been going by faster than the first time around. By 20 weeks things are probably about as good as they're going to get in the nausea department, so shout hallelujah because this is probably going to be my last nausea update--I'm sick of hearing myself talk about it, and I'm sure you are too. The nausea is pretty good. It's substantially improved from the first trimester, and substantially improved in comparison to Jack's pregnancy. That said, it's still there all the time. My very best pregnancy day still has me feeling worse than my worst non-pregnancy day.
I usually wake up feeling juuust nauseous enough that Jack starts every morning off with a show while I hustle down to the kitchen to eat and take my meds, but not nauseous enough to feel in danger of throwing up. As soon as I get breakfast in me I'm doing pretty good! As long as I eat every two hours, I can keep my nausea at a 1-2/10 pretty much all day every day. It's amazing. I'm off all the heavy nausea meds and staying stable on unisom-type meds. There's definitely an ever-present queasiness but it's completely manageable. Per usual, I take a bit of a dive in the evenings. I feel nauseous enough that all I've got in me is a bath and a show, but not bad enough to throw up or have to go to bed by 8:30. It's nice to be able to stay up with Jared until the krazy hour of 9:30 before I slink off to side-sleeping heck (lifelong stomach sleeper over here). If this is the level things are going to stay at for the rest of my pregnancy, I feel ok about it. I mean, obviously I'm not pumped to have 4.5 more months of queasiness to go, but I know how much worse it could be and i AM pumped that baby is healthy and growing. So I'm feeling good about it, and now I'm officially signing off on any nausea-related blog updates (probably). Sayonara!!!!!!
Jack caught yet another gnarly cold last Monday and had to stay home from preschool all week again. Boooo. He promptly gave it to Jared, so the two of them have been coughing up a lung all week. For a while there I thought I'd avoided it, but over the weekend I got hit too. Jack is back at preschool this week though. I'll take cold symptoms in exchange for having my 12 hours of afternoon childcare a week back.
We've got our gender ultrasound coming up in 2 weeks. Leading up to this pregnancy I was feeling the pressure for a girl because Jared has always been enamored with the idea of having a little girl and has been quite vocal about it. But due to some things that have happened in the last few months, including Jack becoming increasingly SO MUCH FUN for Jared to play with since he turned 4 (they have a blast together), Jared's perspective has shifted and I think he's hoping for another boy now lol. It's been so refreshing to feel like the pressure's off and it'll be so fun to find out either way. I feel very natural being a boy mom, but it could also be fun to have one of each. We'll see! Or maybe not--our moms are going to cringe at this, but now that we both feel equally excited about a boy or a girl, we're toying with the idea of not finding out and being surprised. Pros: might make me feel some excitement for labor instead of just dread. Cons: Jack wouldn't have these next few months to get used to the idea of getting either a brother or a sister. But in the long run that probably won't matter much. We talk daily with him about becoming a big brother and what that will look like, so that's something. I have no problem putting together a neutral nursery and adding pops of color after baby's born. We'll see! Knowing Jared we'll probably cave and find out at our appointment. I'll keep you posted either way.
Happy May! Hope she's a beaut for you all. This Sunday is my 30th birthday AND Mother's Day! Yayyyy! Before I became a mom I thought the bday/mother's day crossover was so cute. Now I'm a sassy princess that wants my birthday pushed back a month so I can have space to enjoy and come up with lavish new lists of wants between my gift-receiving holidays. Condolences to all you angels with December birthdays. Someday I will rise above the angst. That day will be in a different year when I'm not pregnant and having my 30th bday/Mother's Day crossover. Don't get me wrong though, I'm pumped for my 30s! Just wishing I had it in me to kick this decade off with more of a bang. I was pregnant on Jared's 30th birthday too, plus he had to spend his 30th birthday at a stressful residency interview in Montana. Poor guy. Glad I'm not having a birthday/job interview crossover. Yikes. Gr8 things coming in May. For real. Besides turning 30 and having a cute Mother's Day, we're getting AC installed and I'm going to get my hands on an outdoor table because it's almost patio season. Living large up in this piece.
