All About Baby #2: My First and Second Trimester

I can’t believe I’m already in the third trimester with our second baby! I’ve gone back and forth on writing a full post about this pregnancy because it’s been a bit on the tough side, and I really didn’t want to make it seem like I’m complaining (I’m honestly so thankful to be pregnant, and all the difficulties are worth it). I mostly decided to write this post as a way of documenting some of this pregnancy for myself. During Anthony’s pregnancy, I wrote a daily journal about my symptoms and everything we did to prepare. This pregnancy, I haven’t written a single entry in my journal. I want to have at least some sort of record of this time, so I thought I would answer some frequently asked questions and share some more details about this pregnancy.

Was this baby planned?
First of all, why do people ask this? Does it really matter? I’ll go ahead and answer it here, but I do think it’s a strange question. Yes, this baby was planned. The smallest age gap we wanted was two years, but I honestly didn’t think I would get pregnant as quickly as I did with Anthony. It turns out I did, and I’m beyond thankful for that.

How do you feel about the age gap?
Ask me this question when the second baby is here! Haha. I’m excited to have children close together, but I know it won’t be easy at first.

How did you find out?
With Anthony I took a test while Chris was at work and told him in a creative way. This time around, I took a test while he was home on a Sunday (March 10) literally minutes before his parents came to visit. Like I said, I didn’t expect to get pregnant on the first try again, but I had been suspecting I might be pregnant for a few days because I was starting to break out pretty badly (I usually never break out, so this was a big sign for me). Chris was pretty convinced I was pregnant at that point, but I don’t like to take a test until my period is due. It took about 10 seconds to see a positive result, and we were so excited!

How far along are you? When are you due?
I’m 31 weeks! I can’t really say this pregnancy has been going quickly, but we sure have accomplished a lot in those 31 weeks. (Life update is here). My due date is November 15. If the baby isn’t late, the age gap will be exactly 24 months!

When did you start showing?
I definitely feel like I started showing faster this time around, but I think I really started to look pregnant about halfway through our trip to Europe (around 24 weeks). It’s funny because you can really see the change in our photos from the trip.

Did you have a feeling this time around whether you were having a boy or a girl?
I have felt strongly since I found out I was pregnant that I was having a girl. I was constantly doubting myself, though, because the joke is that my husband’s family is more much more likely to make boys.

Are you excited about having a girl?
I honestly would have been excited either way (I also liked the idea of having brothers close in age!), but I am definitely excited for Anthony to have a little sister. I can’t wait to see the two of them together, and I am all about the bows and dresses!

Do you have a name?
We do! We actually decided on a girl name more than ten years ago, so it will be really special to be able to use it. We didn’t have a middle name set for sure, but we have pretty much decided on that too. We don’t like to share names until birth, though a few people do know this time around because I’ve randomly shared our girl name throughout the years.

How have you been feeling?
I have been pretty open about it—this pregnancy has not been easy. I thought I had a rough time with Anthony, but this pregnancy has been much harder. I spent the first 20 weeks vomiting many times a day. Around 16 weeks I started having debilitating migraines that also caused vomiting. I would wake up in the middle of the night just to vomit. I also have a hard time breathing, and I have a lot of heartburn, which isn’t something I really dealt with during my first pregnancy. I actually mostly felt decent on our trip, though, which was a huge blessing! The vomiting just recently came back in the morning, but it’s only once a day, so it’s much easier to handle. I’m feeling quite a bit better overall the last week or so, other than pregnancy insomnia, heartburn, and normal third trimester aches and pains, so I’m hoping that the third trimester ends up being the best trimester for me! I think it’ll definitely be much better if we ever get past these 100 degree days!

Does Anthony understand he is getting a sibling?
I think he understands as well as an almost two-year-old toddler can. He loves to give my belly hugs and kisses, and he brings me toys to show to the baby. He thinks it’s hilarious when he’s sitting in my lap reading a book, and she kicks him. He did ask me the other day if there is also a baby in his belly, which was the cutest thing ever.

Have you had any cravings?
For a while, nothing really sounded good. I basically couldn’t eat chicken at all, and it honestly still barely ever sounds good to me. At first, I always wanted chips and salsa and fajitas. That craving has changed to ground beef tacos, which I basically never eat when I’m not pregnant (not that I don’t like them. I just like other Mexican food more). My biggest craving is fruit. I survived the first trimester on smoothies, and I pretty much always want peaches and watermelon.

Apparently I either don't blog at all or write over a thousand words! Honestly, it took me a few weeks to write this post, but I've also been working on a few travel posts, so I hope to have some of those ready soon.

Life Lately: Moving, Pregnancy, and a Trip to Europe

Hey, friends! Thank you so much for all of your messages on various social media about our baby news. I was going to write a big baby post for today, but I thought I would share a broader life update and save most of the baby news for when we get back!

Photo by Brittnie Renee Photography

I’ve never been one to sugarcoat things on my blog, so I’ll start off this update by saying these last few months have been rough for us. It just felt like one thing after another (sorry to be vague; there are just some things I can’t share), and we’re both exhausted. Chris was also in the middle of intense studying for his radiology board exam from the beginning of this year until the end of June (he won’t know the results for several more weeks), which added to the chaos. This was the first time I’ve taken time off from my blog and haven’t felt guilty about it. I just couldn’t add more to my plate.

We are so excited and thankful for this second baby, but this pregnancy has been hard. I thought my nausea and vomiting was rough with Anthony, but that was nothing compared to what I’m experiencing this time. I could barely function for weeks (so thankful for my mom helping me out with Anthony!), and once the nausea got better, I got hit with intense migraine headaches. I’m still dealing with those (and honestly, still vomiting at least once most days), but I think I’m starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Just to add to the fun, we moved on Tuesday! I need to go back and see how many times I’ve mentioned moving on this blog because we move an excessive amount. By an excessive amount I mean we have moved nine times in our almost ten years of marriage. I honestly didn’t want to do it again with how much we have going on right now, but it was necessary. Our rent went up so much for our townhouse (seriously, what is the deal with the rental market here?), and the place we were living in would have been crowded with two kids. We just moved into a house for the first time and signed a two-year lease, so fingers crossed we can stay put for that long! We picked this place because of the neighborhood-there is a really great park, an athletic center, and a large pond with a bunch of ducks. Have I mentioned that Chris has been on nights for the last two weeks and while this move was happening? Yep, it’s been all kinds of crazy around here.

Let’s talk about something happy now, shall we? We leave for our big trip to Europe to celebrate our big milestones (we turn 30 two days apart and then celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary two days after that) on Sunday! Once again, the timing is interesting, but it’s the only thing that worked with the dates Chris could get off work. We are flying into Dublin, Ireland and doing a 12-day cruise to several places in Ireland, Scotland, England, and a day in France. I picked a cruise because we wanted to go to lots of different places, and for once in my life, I honestly had no desire to plan. Of course, I did set up tours in various ports, but that was the extent of my planning, and I’m thankful for that.

I have been wanting to do a big Anthony update since it's been a while, and he has learned so much, but I will have to save that for when we get back! I continue to be impressed with how well he is handling the constant switching between Russian and English. He can say four-word sentences and recently learned colors (and now tells me the color of every object he sees). He also really loves to color and often asks me for his crayons and paper. He has really enjoyed exploring his new house the last few days and is excited to have a dedicated playroom until the baby moves out of our bedroom.

That's the gist of what's been happening lately. I'm hoping to share parts of our British Isles cruise on Instagram and Instagram Stories, so look for those if you're interested. I'll also hopefully be writing some more updates and travel posts when we get back!

Red, White, And...

Due with Baby #2! 

I know some of y'all had guessed why I suddenly stopped blogging again (though there was much more involved in that, and I will address most of it in a life update soon), but I am excited to share that Anthony will be a big brother this November! I will be sharing all about our newest little love next week, but I thought I would share on the blog in case y'all hadn't seen my Instagram announcement. 

Let’s Have a Coffee Date: Vacation Planning, Instant Pot Fun, and Residency

Hey, friends! It’s been a while since I’ve done a coffee date post (not since we were in DC in September), and I thought it would be a good way to share some of the random news I haven’t mentioned on the blog yet!

Life has been really busy lately, and Chris has had barely any time off. Thankfully, it will be a bit slower for a bit (and then more nights. Yuck). We’re planning some fun things with Anthony to take advantage of our time together! Also, Chris just got elected chief resident by his fellow residents and attendings! It’s a huge honor, and I’m super proud of him, but it does mean he will have even more work. He also has several conferences coming up, and he has to take the intense radiology board exam in June, so the next few months will be interesting!

All of that to say, we are looking forward to him taking two weeks off in July. We are celebrating our 30th birthdays and 10-year wedding anniversary during the same week this year, so we’re hoping to go somewhere fun. We haven’t actually planned the trip yet because we won’t know the exact dates we can go until the residency schedule for next year is final (the Medical New Year is July 1). Anyone have any ideas for us? It’s been hard to narrow it down since it is our first big trip since Anthony was born.

Speaking of it being our first trip since Anthony was born, I am already having a hard time with the idea of leaving him. I know we need time together as a couple, but I work from home, and the longest I have been away from Anthony is three hours. I know it’s healthy for both of us to spend time apart, and he will be in extremely capable hands, but I can’t promise I won’t be crying on the flight to our destination!

Anthony has been so much fun lately. He’s running all over the place, and I feel like he learns a new word a day. I just love seeing his personality come out more and more. For example, he loves cleaning up and putting everything in its correct place. He didn't get that trait from me. Haha!

I messed up last week and posted my books reviews a week early! I’ve read two more books since I published my books reviews, and they were both super good (Things You Save in a Fire by Katherine Center and American Duchess: A Novel of Conseulo Vanderbilt by Karen Harper). I’m currently in the middle of The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, and it’s one of the most complicated mystery novels I’ve ever read, but it’s really interesting. I’m definitely curious to see how it ends!

We finally got an Instant Pot for Christmas, and we have really loved using it for many different recipes! We just made a quinoa chicken fried rice in it yesterday that was super delicious! I might do a roundup for our favorite Instant Pot recipes soon if anyone is interested.

Since I didn’t blog much last year, I don’t think I ever mentioned that Chris decided to stay at his current program for his fellowship in neuroradiology (in an oversimplified explanation, he will be reading brain scans and doing procedures). He decided he didn’t want to spend the money to interview all over the country again (been there, done that), and it would be hard for us to move somewhere for just a year. He will be starting his last year of radiology residency in July and doing neuroradiology fellowship the following July. It still feels like we’re a long way away from the end of training, but we’re getting closer!

Anthony Update: Months Ten, Eleven, and Twelve (Plus Some Current Updates)

Hey, friends! I’m definitely late on this update because Anthony turned 15 months on Sunday (how?!), but I wanted to have his entire first year on my blog. Plus, who doesn’t love an excuse for adorable baby photos? At the end of this post, I’m including some fun facts about Anthony right now.

General Thoughts
The last three months of Anthony’s first year were so much fun. We got to do many new things with Anthony on our four-week trip to Washington DC, and I loved watching him explore.

Stats
At his 12-month appointment, Anthony was 21.4 pounds (55th percentile) and 30.75 inches (80th percentile). He’s come a long way from being in the second percentile for his weight at his two-month appointment! Around his first birthday, he had eight teeth.

Milestones
Those last three months before one were full of milestones. The biggest milestone was walking. He was taking a few steps here and there at 11 months, but he didn’t consistently pick walking over crawling until 13 months.

His other big milestone was his language. I had heard that children who learn two languages at once can be slightly delayed with their language, but Anthony has been doing well so far. The first word he said (and understood the meaning) was bye-bye. He always says it when we leave a room or go through any door (and he waves! It’s so cute). At his one year birthday, he knew eight words: buh-bye, dada, baba (for my mom), go, mmm good, ky-ky (Russian for peek-a-boo), kaka (Russian for dog), and ball. Since then, he’s added on quite a few more words. My favorites from his new words are mama (he finally said it consistently right after Christmas!), teeth, cheese, and bubbles.

Firsts
Anthony had so many fun firsts in months 10-12. On September 8 (at 10 months), he had his first flight. He did so well. For those of you with babies and toddlers who haven’t flown with them yet, the biggest recommendation I can give is to buy them their own seat. It is so much easier and much safer, too! We took him to the ocean for the first time at Assateague Island, and he went to the zoo for the first time at the Smithsonian Zoo. We also visited monuments, Monticello, Shenandoah National Park, and took Anthony to his first apple orchard. We added three new states to Anthony’s state list while in DC, so by the time he turned one, he had visited five states.

On our flight back, he really was a super trooper because we got stuck on the plane when we landed due to a thunderstorm, and we didn’t get home until 11 p.m. We also experienced 30 seconds of the worst turbulence I’ve ever experienced as we flew through the thunderstorm.

Sleep
Like I mentioned in my last Anthony update, I was beyond excited when he turned the corner with his nighttime sleeping. For a while, Anthony was wanting to do all of his sleeping at night. He would go to bed at 8 p.m., wake up at 6:30 a.m. to feed, and then he would want to go back to sleep until 9 a.m. It was really nice because I could get some work done in the morning. As a result of his night sleep, he would only take two 30-minute naps during the day. This changed again recently, and now he’s sleeping 11 hours at night (he does wake up once occasionally), taking an hour and a half morning nap and a 45-minute evening nap.

Food
Anthony still loves to eat! We made it to one year of breastfeeding (and we’re actually still breastfeeding, which is crazy to me. I doubted I would make it to a year, let alone longer than a year). He never really used bottles, so it was easy to transition to a sippy cup. He will pretty much eat everything. His favorite food includes eggs, cheese, tortillas (or any kind of bread), zucchini, squash, salmon, bananas, and strawberries. The only food we have noticed he doesn’t like so far is carrots. He’s also not a big meat eater yet. His Dada likes to say Anthony somehow manages to eat as much food as he does.

Likes
Anthony loves people (he is shy for about 10 minutes when he meets someone new, but then he won’t stop talking!), going to the park (swinging and going down the slide is his favorite), dancing (any time I say “dance, dance,” he starts dancing!), listening to music (Baby Shark is a favorite, of course), and reading books. He is also a huge fan of our dog Skyler and is always looking to see where she is. She is finally a big fan of his, now that he throws her food from his high chair. His favorite toys at that age were a dump truck (he loves to drive it around), his V-Tech Activity Walker, and any kinds of balls to kick and throw.

Dislikes
Really, the only big dislike at that stage was diaper changes. They got really difficult, and it was hard to keep him distracted.

Things I Want to Remember
Around ten months, Anthony learned how to give hugs! If you ask for a hug, he will cuddle in close, and it’s the sweetest thing.

Around the 12-month mark, he really got interested in Baby Shark. He calls it “Doo, Doo, Doo,” and he knows I say “Alexa, play Baby Shark” to get it to play. He tries to get Alexa to play it by saying, “A, A, Doo, Doo, Doo!” Then, as soon as the song starts, he starts to dance. He knows the last line too and starts saying “Doo, Doo, Doo,” so I’ll play it again.

Right now, we play with bubbles in the bath tub, and he absolutely loves it. He will watch them and say “bubble!”

He hands me my phone and asks me to see photos of himself. He calls himself “Tota” because his Russian nickname is Tosha.

He recently started wagging his finger and saying “no, no, no!” I think he saw us say that to Skyler.

He loves cheese! As soon as I put him in his high chair, he says “cheese?”

If he can’t see me at church or while we’re shopping as a family, he’ll call for me.

We bought him a Pottery Barn Anywhere Chair, and his favorite thing to do with it is roll it over and unzip it.

He is constantly waving at people and dogs.

Happy First Birthday, Anthony!

I can’t believe my sweet boy turned ONE on Saturday! We had such a fun day celebrating with family and friends at his football-themed “Anthony’s First Down” birthday party. This has been the fastest and best year of my life, and I’ve never experienced so much joy. It definitely wasn’t all easy (there were times when I thought I might go crazy from the lack of sleep during those first 10 months), but it was definitely all worth it for our little man. I love his sweet, gentle personality, and though I’m a little sad to leave babyhood, I can’t wait to watch him grow. Happy birthday, Anthony. I am so thankful to be your mama. 

PS-I will share more about Anthony’s latest milestones, his one-year shoot at the State Fair of Texas, and his birthday party soon!

Let’s Have a Coffee Date: Hello from DC!

Hi, friends! I’ve been meaning to update y’all on everything going on lately, but life has been all about getting ready for DC and then adjusting to our place here, so I haven’t been on my laptop much. I have really been missing blogging lately, though, and have all kinds of ideas for content, so I’m hoping I can start posting a bit more once we get back!

Overall, DC has been better than I expected. I was so nervous because Anthony had finally started sleeping well at night (usually one wakeup around 4 to 5 a.m., unless he is teething), and I had heard going to a new place can sometimes mess with that. We did have several days with two to three wakeups, but overall, he has done really well! The only exception was a few nights when he was randomly awake for a few hours, but then I realized he had two more teeth coming out, so that made sense.

One of the reasons I was nervous about DC is we are staying in a place that’s basically one big room. I came up with the idea of using a sheet and a curtain rod to separate the kitchen and the living area/bedroom, and we put Anthony’s pack n play in the kitchen. I’m also trying to keep him on Central Time as much as I can because I don’t want to get him used to waking up early due to the time difference.

Anthony has really enjoyed going on adventures with us! We have taken him to see the monuments and some of the Smithsonian museums. We also spent a day at the zoo, and Anthony absolutely loved it! He kept going “oooh” and laughing at all the animals. His favorite animals were the elephant, tiger, and lion.

We’ve been a little bummed because it has rained almost every day since we were here, and we were really looking forward to going on walks since it’s cooler here than in Texas. I feel like it’s been raining in a huge part of the country, though, and at least we haven’t gotten any of the terrible flooding! It has made it even more humid than usual, though. This is my first experience using a dehumidifier, and it’s so crazy to have to empty it five times a day!

If you have read my travel posts in the past, you know I always have a large list of restaurants to visit anytime we’re visiting somewhere new. We’ve already checked off several really great places, and I’m crossing my fingers I can get on top of blogging once we’re home and share a little DC guide with y’all!

This past weekend, we took a road trip to Ocean City, Maryland and Assateague Island for Anthony’s first trip to the ocean. I really loved Assateague Island, despite being practically eaten alive by mosquitoes. Anthony really loved watching the waves. I think the water was a bit cold for him, but he did enjoy watching it! Our three-hour ride home turned into six hours because of really horrible traffic due to the rain, but Chris and I both agreed it was still a really wonderful weekend.

This weekend we are heading to Charlottesville, Virginia, and then doing the Skyline Drive at Shenandoah National Park. We’re crossing our fingers for some nice weather, so we can do a little hiking.

It’s crazy to me that it’s almost time to celebrate Anthony’s first birthday! I’ve been working on his party details, which is so much fun. I’m excited to share the details with y’all in just a few weeks!

Anthony Update: Months Seven, Eight, and Nine

Hey, friends! Anthony turned ten months last Monday (what?!), so it’s definitely time for another update. I’ve really been wanting to return to this space on a more regular basis, but all of these crazy things keep happening (life update soon), and I just haven’t had the energy to sit down and write. Now that I’m a mama, I have really focused on not pushing myself and giving myself grace, even when I would normally feel like I am failing. Anyways, enough about me, and let’s talk about Anthony! These last three months have been my favorite so far. We have had so much fun, and Anthony has learned a lot. I’m excited to share all about them with y’all!

Photo by Brittnie Renee Photography

General Thoughts
One of my favorite things is the older Anthony gets, the more I see his personality come out. Anthony is observant. He loves learning new things and will watch closely when I teach him something, and then he will keep on trying until he figures it out. He loves exploring, but he also enjoys crawling into my lap to read a book. He is full of joy, and his sweet giggles are my favorite.

Stats
We went to the doctor the day Anthony turned nine months, and he was 18 pounds, 6.7 ounces. That’s in the 30th percentile. We were super excited to hear that because Anthony has always been low on the growth chart—at one point he was in the second percentile. He always grew well on his own curve, but we were still happy to see he is catching up a bit. My guess is he is probably closer to 20 pounds now.

Milestones
These last three months have been full of milestones! A few days after Anthony turned seven months, he started teething, and his two bottom teeth came out pretty quickly. A few days after that, he began to army crawl, and he moved to normal crawling quickly. By 7.5 months, he was moving really fast. At 8.5 months, he could go switch from crawling or laying down to sitting. On the day he turned nine months, he started consistently pulling up. Now, he does it all the time and will move from one place to another a bit while holding on. It’s pretty funny when he stands up in his pack n play and stares at me when he wakes up. Anthony’s top teeth broke through last week, so his new favorite thing is to hit his teeth against each other.

Firsts
The two big firsts I wanted to mention was Anthony’s first long road trip and his first trip to the dentist. We went to Hot Springs for our birthday and anniversary trip this year, which is about a five-hour drive. It went really well, and we had a great time on our trip! Unfortunately, on the way back, an 18-wheeler had a blowout right in front of us, and the tire struck our car. It did some damage to our car and ripped one of our tires to shreds, so we had to pull over and wait for AAA to come help Chris replace the tire (he wasn’t comfortable doing it himself because we weren’t in a safe spot). Thankfully, it all worked out, and we got home safely, but it was scary at the time. Anthony was a trooper and handled being stuck in the car for extra hours really well.

When Anthony’s teeth came in, they were super sharp, and he kept biting under his tongue and making it bleed. This created a large ulcer under his tongue that wouldn’t heal because he kept aggravating it. I ended up having to take Anthony to the pediatric dentist to smooth out his teeth, so he would stop making the ulcer bleed. I was really anxious about it because I knew he wouldn’t understand what was going on, but it went so much better than I expected. He hasn’t made the ulcer bleed since the teeth were smoothed, so I’m hoping it will fully heal soon.

Remember how I said crazy things kept happening? Those are just two examples.

Sleep
Months seven and eight were rough when it came to sleep. Anthony was waking up every two hours at night, and he decided he hated naps. He rejected his pacifier around six months, so putting him down for naps got really hard. As we were nearing the nine-month mark, I thought I was going to lose my mind from so little sleep. I talked to the doctor at his nine-month appointment, and she basically just told me some babies aren’t good sleepers, no matter what you do.

Then, all of a sudden, he turned a corner. He went from waking up every two hours to waking up at 11 p.m. and 5:30 a.m., then waking up for the day between 7 and 8. Now, he usually only wakes up once between 4:30 and 5 a.m (unless he’s teething). His naps got so much better, too, especially after I worked on dropping the third nap. Right now, we usually do a 2/3/4 schedule. It’s what seems to work best for him—I’ve tried to stretch out the morning wake time, and he doesn’t like it. He’s not super consistent with how long he sleeps, but before he was sleeping through the night, he would take a two-hour morning nap and a one-hour afternoon nap. Now, it’s closer to two one-hour naps (often more like 45 minutes). I can’t even begin to explain what a huge difference his new schedule has made for us. I feel like a new person!

Food
We’ve made it ten months breastfeeding! Anthony nurses when he wakes up in the morning and a short time before bed and then in four-hour intervals throughout the day (usually after his naps). I also feed him three solid meals a day. He always says “mmmm” after each bite, which is super cute. Puffs are also a huge hit around here.

Sounds
Anthony has been blabbing for a long time, but I think he’s getting close to making associations. In the morning when he wakes up, he usually calls for me, saying “Awa!” He has been saying Dada and Baba forever, but not directly at Chris or my mom (Baba). Chris calls on his way home, and Anthony will “talk” to him. The other day I turned on a podcast during playtime, and Anthony said Dada! I think maybe he thought it was Chris since it’s usually him on the phone. He’s also good at repeating sounds. The cutest is when we’ll ask him if he’s OK, and he say “OK!” back.

Likes
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Anthony loves swimming, crawling, and pulling up on everything. His favorite toys are this Baby Einstein Octoplush (which he has loved for months), a LeapFrog activity center, this VTech Musical Rhymes Book (music and turning pages! It’s a big winner here), and the VTech Sit-to-Stand Learning Walker. We also grabbed this cute little toucan  for our upcoming plane ride, and Anthony really loves it. His favorite thing for naps is this SwaddleMe Elephant Soother. I also like looking at sites like www.wikibuy.com for baby deals! He also loves going on walks. He will sit in his umbrella stroller for as long as we let him, looking at everything. I can’t wait for it to be cooler outside, so we can spend more time walking around.

Dislikes
I’m not sure if it’s a real dislike, but Anthony has started moving so much that changing his diaper can be difficult. I can usually distract him with a toy, but I still try to make it as quick as possible. He’s also developed a bit of separation anxiety. He is pretty good at playing on his own these days, but he wants me to be in the room.

Things I Want to Remember
Anthony loves to take my hands and use them to clap.

Christopher’s favorite noise that Anthony makes is a motorboat.

He will crawl up to his activity center, pull up, turn on the music, and dance!

Anthony loves peekaboo. He will find a box or big toy and hide behind it to play.

He loves pulling up on the window in his nursery (it’s the perfect height for him) and watching the cars (and dogs) outside.

He loves throwing balls in my direction and then chasing after them, so he can throw them at me again.

Overall, I’m just loving this fun stage! Now that I’m a bit less of a mom zombie, it’s such a joy to chase Anthony around and watch his discover this world.

Let’s Have a Coffee Date: It’s Been a While, Let’s Catch Up!

Hey friends,

I skipped blogging for most of May and all of June, and it felt really strange. I opened up my blog quite a few times and wrote several halves of blog posts, but I just didn’t have the energy to finish a post. I’ve been wanting to share about a million things with y’all, though, so I figured it was time for a coffee date!

Chris is officially done with the hardest year of residency so far! Of course, his medical new year starts with a month of nights, but he will have some free weekends soon! He’s worked almost every weekend since February, so we are super excited. It’s hard to believe we are finally halfway through training. He has two more years of residency and one more year of fellowship left.

Can I just say how proud I am of Chris for how he handled this year? It just hasn’t been easy-many nights and almost no weekends, all while getting barely any sleep. I know he’s a little sad about how much he has had to miss Anthony grow, but it has really made the times we did have together even sweeter.

We decided to book a quick getaway for our birthdays! We found a nice cabin with a scenic view about five hours away, so it will be our first long road trip with Anthony. Fingers crossed he does well! I can’t wait for a little change of scenery.

Speaking of change of scenery, I can’t believe we are so close to our four weeks in DC! I’m a little nervous because it’ll be Anthony’s first flight (we decided against a 20-hour road trip), and he’s super active these days, so I have no idea how it will go. I’m excited to go on some weekend adventures with Christopher and Anthony, though! I’ve never been to DC, so if you have favorite places there, let me know.

Photo by Brittnie Renee Photography

Speaking of Anthony, he is crawling all over the place now, and it’s definitely a whole new ball game! I am getting a workout every day while chasing him. I’m planning to write an update soon, but this month with Anthony has been so much fun! It’s amazing to me how much he has learned. I’ve mentioned about a million times that I think Anthony is just not a great sleeper, and that’s still true. He has never slept through the night, though most nights we are down to two wakeups, so I’ll take it. He’s also had a hard time with naps lately. I’m trying to see how I can adjust his schedule, so he gets a little more rest!

I don’t have much time to read these days, but everything I have read lately has been really good! I missed last month’s book day, so I can’t wait to share my reads from the last two months next week!

Linking up with Kristen for What’s New With You?

Anthony Update: Months Five and Six

Well, friends, move number eight in eight years of marriage is in the books! Our place is slowly starting to look more like a home, though I’m definitely taking my time with unpacking this time around compared to usual. I started to write a life update, but it felt like all I was doing was complaining because I’m having a hard time getting used to this new place and am really missing our old apartment. I think that life update will have to wait until I’m a bit further removed from the move. Instead, I thought I would share more about Anthony!

General Thoughts
I don’t even know how it’s possible that my baby is already six months. Everything they say about how fast time goes when you become a mother is true. These last few months have been so much fun with all the giggles and learning!

Who Does Anthony Look Like?
I debated on whether to leave this question or not this time because I don't really have a good answer, but I think it’ll be fun to remember all the changes in his appearance. The major developments on the looks front is I think Anthony’s eyes are turning green! When I’ve looked at him on a sunny day, I can see a hint of green, and other people have started to mention the same thing to me. Chris and I both have green eyes, so I’m excited that Anthony might have them, too. He also has quite a bit more hair, but it’s hard to tell because it’s mostly blonde!

Nicknames
We are a nickname family. I have about a million nicknames for Chris and Skyler, and Anthony now has a bunch, too. The ones used most often are Tosha (his Russian nickname), Buddy Bear, and Little A.

Milestones
So many fun things have happened over the last two months, but the biggest milestone is we gave Anthony solids on his six-month birthday, and he absolutely loves everything he has tried! So far we have stuck with veggies, and Anthony has eaten sweet potato (his first food), peas, and carrots. I was pretty surprised because he actually ate everything we gave him the first day we tried (and would have kept eating and eating). I thought he would spit it out and there would be a big mess, but he made basically no mess. Anthony is also a huge talker and loves making new sounds.

Firsts
Anthony was a trooper during his first move! Knowing us, it’s one of many, so I was glad to see it didn’t affect him much.

Sleep
At this point I’ve come to terms with the fact that Anthony just isn’t a good sleeper. He has never slept through the night, and until recently, he would wake up about every two hours. Now he will sometimes sleep three to four hours straight for the first two cycles and then wake up every hour towards the morning. In general, he takes really good naps, though. His morning and afternoon nap are usually an hour or two, so if he’s had an especially rough night, I’ll take some time to sleep. He does still sleep in our room in a pack and play, and I am considering transitioning him to his crib to see if he does better.

Anthony on Easter

Eating
I made it to six months exclusively breastfeeding! It hasn’t been the easiest journey (I might share more of it with y’all at some point), but I am proud we’re at the halfway goal. Anthony currently eats about every three hours during the day. Like I mentioned above, we are also slowly starting to introduce solids. Last Friday we went out to eat with Chris’s parents, and when his dad sat Anthony at the table, he started mimicking chewing and showing us he also wanted to eat some dinner! We were cracking up that he knew that’s what we were about to do.

Likes
Anthony basically likes everything. Chris and I always say we’ll take the difficult nights because Anthony is such a great baby during the day and very rarely fusses. He has recently started enjoying his jumper and really loves playing on the floor. He also always wants to reach out and pet Skyler, but she mostly prefers to ignore him. Musical toys are still his favorites, along with anything that rattles. I’m hoping to get my act together and write a post about all of our favorite things from zero to six months in case it helps someone (and so that I have it for future reference!).

Dislikes
Like I said, Anthony doesn’t really have a lot of things he dislikes. Tummy time hasn’t been a favorite lately because all he wants to do is roll from his tummy to his back. I guess I could also include sleep in this category, too.

I’ve been trying as hard as I can to soak in these sweet moments with Anthony. I know soon he will be mobile, and I’ll miss these days of early morning chats and giggles and hours of floor play. Motherhood is strange in that I love that he is so cute and little right now, but I am also so excited for all the new things he’s going to learn.