.:35 Weeks:.

Wow, it's hard to believe that I am 35 weeks now! It doesn't seem real that this girl could really come any day now! This pregnancy has gone by sooooo fast!

Here's a few comparisons of this pregnancy vs. Reece's pregnancy. (This is more for me to remember, so feel free to skip it if you want!)

Exercise: I didn't exercise at all with Reece. Well, towards the end I was going on evening walks, but that was about it. Although, I was on my feet teaching first graders all day, then subbing when the school year ended, and then nannying, so I guess that has to count for something! This time I've exercised pretty consistently, aside from when I've been sick. It's been more difficult since the majority of this pregnancy has been during the colder months (I hope to never be this pregnant during the holidays again!) but luckily I had a good pregnancy workout video to help me along. Which brings me to weight gain.

Weight Gain: I had really hoped to not gain as much this time around, even though I was well within the healthy range with Reece. Apparently my body doesn't care what I do - it just wants to gain weight! I think it's all gone to my thighs and my belly! But I can't really complain. It's temporary, and I'll be able to work on it after baby sister gets here. I've done what I can, and it is what it is. Seems silly to complain about it too much when we've been so blessed with such a great pregnancy.

Swelling: If you saw me pregnant with Reece, then you saw how gigantic my feet, ankles, and calves got! My swelling is just barely starting this time around, but it doesn't hold a candle to Reece's pregnancy! I'm hoping it won't get too bad since it's not as warm!

Heart Burn: I never experienced this with Reece at all. But I've been oh so fortunate to have it a few times with this one. Now I can understand why Reece was such a fussy baby with her reflux - it's not fun at all!

Stretch Marks: Totally got them right at the very end with Reece. And as of now, they are starting to make a comeback! They don't really bother me because I know they'll fade back away. The thing that does bother me is that they itch!

Rash: I got a nasty, nasty rash on my feet and calves when I was pregnant with Reece. It was red, itchy, and looked like horrible welts. It even surprised my doctor! Luckily, that hasn't shown up at all this time. Hopefully that was just a heat related thing, as well! I could do without that this time around!

Nausea: I had a tiny bit of nausea with Reece, but nothing too horrible. I had it much worse this time around - to the point of not eating and losing weight - but again, nothing horrible! It didn't last too long either time, so I consider myself lucky for that!

Braxton Hicks: Never felt these with Reece. Not once! This time, I've been feeling them for quite awhile. They are especially strong when I'm exercising!

Belly Button: Stayed in with Reece (although it was threatening to pop out towards the end) but it's been totally out for weeks now!

Hip Pain: It seems like I had this earlier on with Reece, and it was pretty confined to sleeping only. I haven't had it this pregnancy until about a week ago, and not only do they hurt in bed, they hurt all day long, too! I was limping around all morning today because it hurt so much. Guess baby sister is settling in!

So really, I've been so fortunate and blessed to have really great pregnancies, both times! It's interesting to see the differences and the similarities!

I had a doctor's appointment last week, and got to have a surprise ultrasound to make sure that baby sister is head down. She is! My doctor also checked to make sure she was still a girl (not at my request, but I wasn't complaining!) and she is still a girl! It was fun to get a little sneak peek at her again, and made me that much more excited to meet her!

I keep thinking that she is going to come early. I wouldn't really call it wishful thinking, at least not because I'm so done with being pregnant that I would do anything to get her out. I'm definitely not even close to that point at all yet! But I am anxious to meet her, so we'll see when she decides to make her appearance! I've got what I can of the hospital bag packed, with a list of things to grab when it's really time to go. I've also got birth announcement envelopes addressed, and the birth announcements are already designed thanks to my awesome sister in law, Nikki. (They are so cute, I love them!) Baby clothes are washed, closet is organized, pack and play is ready to go, and I've got Reece's schedule typed out for whoever ends up taking her when the time comes. I'm sure there are a few things I'm missing, but one major thing is we need to get our infant car seat out of storage so that is ready when the time comes!

Here are a few pictures that Sam and Nikki took this past weekend. (Yes, I know I look like a chunky monkey - what can I say? I've been exercising, but my body hates me. :) ) Thanks Sam and Nikki!

.:More Sewing:.

I just feel completely addicted to sewing right now! Here are a few of my latest projects:

Matching skirts for my girls (I'm pretty proud of these and can't wait to make more!)

Car Caddies - These are birthday gifts for my nephews (sorry Dani and Sharon for ruining the surprise!) Definitely not perfect, so don't look too close! I want to make a girly one for Reece. I think she would love it!

Baby legs - These are SO EASY to make out of women's knee high socks! I want to buy a bunch more socks now!

Pregnancy update coming soon....had some pictures taken by my brother and sister in law, so we'll see if any turned out decent enough to share! :)

.:Neurologist:.

Today was Reece's long awaited neurologist appointment! I was mostly anxious to get in there and get a plan to figuring out what is going on with her, but also a little apprehensive about what tests we might face.

After some bubbles while she got her blood pressure taken (thank you nurse!) we met with the neurologist. She was super nice, and very grateful that we had brought in video of Reece tensing. Almost immediately she was telling us that they see that all the time and that it was completely normal. She said that for Reece, it's some sort of self-stimulating/self-soothing behavior. She said that for some children, it's looking at the sun, or watching a fan. For Reece, it is tensing her legs like that - and apparently lots of other children do it the same way as Reece, as well. We clarified with her that even though she looks extremely uncomfortable and kind of holds her breath, that it was normal. She likened it to an adult needing some time to take some deep breaths and let some steam off or however you might need to un-wind.

She also said it was something that Reece will eventually outgrow. Seems hard to believe since she is doing it more than she used to! I asked her if there was a general timeline on when we could expect her to stop doing it, and she didn't really have one. Her advice was to ignore it and that would probably help her stop doing it sooner.

Another thing she mentioned was that often, children will get angry if you try to make them stop doing their behavior. Which is what we've been doing with Reece because we always have thought that something was wrong! And she is so right - Reece doesn't like it when we try to make her stop. The neurologist also said that often, children will do things like this when they are less engaged - which again, is exactly like Reece. If she is busy playing or something, then she doesn't really do it. But when she gets tired, or is alone in her crib, etc. then she is more apt to do it.

So it was a good appointment in the sense that there doesn't seem to be anything to worry about! That is definitely a relief! On the other hand, I'm not looking forward to watching her continue to do it. Whether she wants to or not, it's not fun to watch!

.:Happy Valentine's Day:.

Our Valentine's Day started off yesterday with Reece getting a fun package from her Grandma Z and Grandpa Paul.

She was so excited, and kept saying 'whoa' everytime she pulled something new out of the bag.

She's a total girly girl, so of course, the crown and necklaces went straight on!

Open the candy Mom!

Another fun thing that she got was a book that had my parents' voices recorded, reading the story. You can see the smile on her face when she first heard them! She loved it and we've read it many times since yesterday.

My mom had also sewn Reece this darling jacket and sent it our way. I love the fabric, and think she looks pretty dang cute in it!

Thanks Grandma Z and Grandpa Paul!

Last nite, Josh and I were able to go out to dinner on our own. We tried out this newer Chicago style pizza place, and it was super tasty! We splurged and got an appetizer, and I'm pretty sure it could have been our entire meal; it was huge. Thanks to Grandpa Andrus, Uncle Mike, and Aunt Em for taking care of Reece so we could go out!

This morning, I woke up to find these beautiful flowers out for me, along with a sweet card, chocolate, and a gift card to Michael's. My husband definitely knows the way to my heart!

We had orange rolls for breakfast, and let Reece open up her little Valentine's gift from us. She loves to do 'lips' - put chapstick on - so we got her some of her very own chapstick, as well as some candy.

As you can see, the crown and necklaces look smashing with jammies and bed head.

We've had a nice day at church, and spending time together this evening. It was a nice Valentine's Day, and I'm so lucky to have such wonderful people to be loved by and to love! Josh is my best friend and the best dad ever, and we have the sweetest little girl on the planet! Doesn't get much better - we're so blessed!

Here are just a few other random pictures from lately.

Pretty lady!

I love how her feet are crossed - she has always done this and it cracks me up!

Looking out from her tent window.

.:We have piggies!:.

Maybe this doesn't really warrant its own post, but it makes me excited. Before church yesterday, I decided to see if I could get Reece's hair to go into real piggies, instead of her antennae piggies (which I think are adorable anyway). And she has enough hair to do it now! We used some hairspray and an extra clip for the longer parts on top, and she looked absolutely darling (and very reminiscent of her cousin Andi!) She definitely is starting to look more and more like a little girl - what happened to my baby!

.:Sewing:.

I got a sewing machine for Christmas (thanks Mom and Dad!) There have been a few battles with it already, but I am loving having it and can't believe I didn't want to learn before now. Here are a few of my latests projects for baby sister.

Tag Blanket - I love this fabric, and it was soooo easy to make!

Burp Cloths/Snuggle Blanket - Just something small for baby to cuddle or use as a burp cloth.

Blanket - Kind of different fabric combo, but I love it. It's definitely not perfect, but I am still happy with how it turned out.

Car Seat Tent - A couple friends and I tackled this, and again, not perfect, but I still love it!

And sewing is always great when you have an adorable assistant!

I haven't tackled any clothing yet, but I'm hoping to venture into that a little bit to make some stuff for the summertime for the girls. Easy stuff that is!

This isn't a sewing project, but just a magnet board I made for one of Reece's Leapfrog toys. She already has an animal one on the fridge, so I figured this was a good solution for her letter/word one.

Other than random projects, the sickies have hit our house. Luckily Josh has escaped it, but Reece got it first, and passed it on to me. She seems to be feeling better today, but the poor girl has had a rough week or so. Which I can understand now that I have what she has had. How she looks in this picture is what I feel like doing, too!

She's been trying so hard to be happy and hang in there, though. She's such a good girl! Now if only Mommy could handle sickness as well as Reece....