24 Weeks, Etc.

Today I am 24-weeks pregnant!  According to pregnancy websites, Little Sister is approximately nine inches long and weighs 1 1/3 lbs.

Here's a bit on how I'm feeling these days: She's an active little girl; I feel her move a lot.  I'm also carrying lower than I did with Daniel which gives me some lower back pain and more frequent bathroom breaks.  I've slept better over the past two or three days, getting a solid four hours at a time - woo!

My next OB appointment is on Tuesday.  I think this is the week where I'm tested for gestational diabetes through a glucose challenge test. I don't anticipate any complications, but hopefully I can update with more information on Tuesday.

24 weeks pregnant

And of course, no blog post is complete without a little update on Daniel.  We did get him a new pool, and I think he likes it just as well!

Yesterday we had some heavy downpours with lightning and thunder.  Until yesterday, I would have told you Daniel was scared of thunderstorms, but after watching yesterday's thunderstorms, he loved it!  He sat in the garage with Bobby (and me) completely fascinated by the storm.  Occasionally there would be a really loud clap of thunder and he'd put his hands over his ears and make a comment about how that one was really loud.

We're anticipating some storms tonight again.  At bedtime, Daniel told us that if it thunderstorms that we could put our hands over our ears (and showed us how to do it).  He's so cute!

Pool Time

Since the temperatures have reached "Summer" even if the calendar hasn't officially yet, we broke out the pool.  It's a pretty big pool by toddler standards, so it took a long time to fill up, but that just gave Daniel the opportunity to take the hose and spray lots of things... including me.  Unfortunately the sides kinda fell in and we discovered a hole, so the pools first appearance would also be its last.  I have a feeling I might have to make a trip to Target to get one of those hard plastic pools, very soon.

He did, however, have an absolute blast playing in the pool.  He liked it so much that we played with it in the morning and then again after his nap.

Here are a few pictures and a video of the fun:

 

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all you dads out there!  Mine was certainly a great one.  We had a very productive weekend.  We went shopping yesterday, and were able to pick out bedding for Little Sister's room.  Once the bedding was picked out, we went to Lowe's to pick out a paint color for her room.  This morning, after listening to Daniel beg to paint Little Sister's room for a while, I finally gave in and we spent the better part of the day painting.  Daniel was very 'helpful' with the first coat.  We gave him some very clear rules (only paint on the green parts of the wall, only stand on the drop cloths, etc) and he did a surprisingly good job following the rules.  He did eventually get bored so Amy and I finished up the second...and third (ugh!) coats while he napped.

The rest of the weekend consisted of getting things done around the house, dinner out last night, great pizza tonight, and lots of great family time.  I'm a very lucky guy!

A few other stories from the last week or so:

On Thursday, I was able to feel Little Sister move for the first time!  She was stretching and moving around a lot, and generally making her mother uncomfortable...but I was able to feel a lot of it.  It was awesome! :-)

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Earlier this week I walked in the door after coming from work to hear Daniel laughing hysterically around the corner.  He jumped out to show me he was wearing latex gloves (like, from a hospital) on his feet and hands.  We all found it pretty hysterical.

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My mom emailed me a video a few days ago.  I didn't have time to watch it when I first saw the email, and I kind of forgot for a few days.  This afternoon I saw it and opened it to watch it.  It was an Alton Brown video on how to cook eggs in the oven.  Daniel saw I was watching something on my phone and wanted to watch it too.  I showed him, expecting him to quickly lose interest.  Seriously, this kid has very limited interest in TV at all, and is very picky about what few shows he is willing to watch.  

As soon as the Alton Brown video clip was over, he wanted to "watch another one".  I decided to oblige him and put on another random Alton Brown clip.  He loves it.  Later, before bed, he was practically begging to watch more Alton Brown.  So, we gave in and let him watch a few more clips of Alton doing his thing.  Hopefully he'll continue to be interested in cooking shows and will start cooking for Mommy and Daddy soon!

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And, finally, a cute picture of Daniel playing with his water table on the deck:

NC/SC Trip

We just got back from a trip to North and South Carolina to celebrate Great-Granddaddy's 90th birthday and spend time with family.  We had such a great time!  Daniel was a great traveler and seemed to really enjoy spending time with everyone.

Some of the highlights, according to Daniel, were getting to do laundry at Grandmommy and Dondon's house (multiple times per day) as well as at Aunt Nancy and Uncle John's.  And he got to see the really big industrial washers and dryers, as well as some very cool water fountains, at Great-Granddaddy and Great-Grandmommy's home.  On Great-Granddaddy's birthday, he finally got to have some cake after asking all morning for it, non-stop.  He had a blast playing a silly game with Aunt Elizabeth, Aunt MaryJo, Uncle Gene, cousin Allison and Grandmommy that involved various people hiding under various things (sheets, blankets, yoga mats...) while he quickly uncovered them, cackling with glee the whole time.  He also got to do fun things like water the plants with Dondon, play with cousins Emmy and Alivia, play at the park while Buster and Misty went for a nice walk, and help Great-Granddaddy open all of his birthday cards.

Some of the highlights according to Daniel's parents were spending some wonderful quality time with family.  It was so great to sit and visit with everyone.  Looking through all of the old pictures, and other Rawls paraphernalia, was also really fun.  The time went by too quickly, but we'll be eagerly looking forward to the next Rawls gathering.

A very special thanks to Grandmommy and Dondon for hosting us and letting Daniel do their laundry and clean their house!

CAKE!

This is how Daniel napped most days

Multitasking - Showing Cousin Alivia the garbage truck game and drinking milk

Fun at Grandmommy and Dondon's pool

Quotes From Our Little Photographer

A few Daniel quotes from the last few days:

On our way home the other day

Daddy: Do you want to play in the basement when we get home?

Daniel: I want to play outside.

Daddy: I thought you wanted to play in the basement?

Daniel: How about I play outside first and then play in the basement.  Does that sound like a plan, Daddy?

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While talking about Little Sister a couple nights ago

Daniel: I might cry.

Daddy: Why are you going to cry?

Daniel: I might cry because I don't want Little Sister to come home.

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Last night, we had to go put cages on the tomato plants

Daniel: Can I help you outside, Daddy?

Daddy: Sure, buddy, you can help me.

Daniel: Even if it takes all day, even if it takes all night, we'll work together!  

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Daniel wanted to take some pictures last night, so I let him use my phone.  He walked around slowly, very deliberately taking pictures of things around the house.  Here is some of his work:

Daniel's cardboard washer and dryer I 'built' last weekend

An inside view of his toy washing machine

Little Sister!

20 Weeks

Yesterday, I hit the halfway mark in my pregnancy at 20-weeks!  I wanted to do a comparison of my growth with Daniel and my growth Little Sister.  I guess when you hear that you're typically bigger with your second child, it's right!  Daniel being a 9 lb. 3 oz. boy... what does this mean for Little Sister... and me?!

Pregnant with Little Sister at 20 weeks

Pregnant with Daniel at 20 weeks

With the exception of sleeping at night (general wakings and several bathroom breaks), I'm enjoying the second trimester much more than the first.  However, this pregnancy is much different from my pregnancy with Daniel.  Instead of sitting at a desk most of the day, I'm running around with a nearly three-year-old, fingerpainting, playing with toys (especially washers and dryers), and trying to keep up with a larger home.  It's exhausting sometimes, but I have an amazing support system!

Of course I couldn't post to the blog without posting a picture of Daniel, so here's a picture from last night:

He wasn't really in the mood for pictures.  He was much more interested in playing one of his games on the Kindle.