3rd Trimester - 28 Weeks

Another fun thing about Christmas this year is I hit 28 weeks on Christmas day. According to most sources that is the beginning of my 3rd trimester. Again I'm amazed at how quickly this pregnancy is going. Not much has changed since my last post. I've probably gained another 5 pounds from Christmas cookies. I also have discovered the wonder drug for heartburn. It has definitely come back full force and Tums just weren't cutting it. My doctor gave me permission to take Zantac everyday and it is amazing!!!! If you are pregnant with heartburn this is the way to go. I wish I would have asked about it when I was pregnant with Grace. One pill lasts 12 hours and I don't wake up multiple times in the middle of the night with shooting pain. I love Zantac!

The A Family Christmas

We headed back to Matt's parents' house after spending the day with my family to get a good night of sleep for our last Christmas celebration. It was nice to end the celebrations without having to travel again. We celebrated with Matt's family at his parents' house and were able to stay there for a two days.

Opening presents, eating and relaxing was again the theme. Grace got some fun toys that we didn't want to take out of the package during the present opening process. They just had too many smaller pieces that we were afraid would accidentally get thrown out. So she had one big meltdown. Thankfully, she did get some books and toys later that she could play with on the spot.

Uncle Jared helping Grace open a present.

Look what was inside. A Packers poncho!

So cute snuggling with her big bear from Great Grandma A.

The H Family Christmas

After spending Christmas day at Matt's Aunt's we headed to his parents' for the night and got up early the next day to head to my sister and brother-in-law's house for the day to celebrate with my immediate family. Our family has always had breakfast together to celebrate Christmas so we got there early to do that.

After breakfast we opened presents. All of them were great but I was happy to get some new maternity clothes. Something I don't want to spend my own money on right now but really enjoyed having something new to wear is nice. Grace of course got toys:) The coolest to play with that day was probably her new tent and tunnel. We can't wait to set that up in the playroom at our new house.

Hanging with Uncle Brett in the tent.

Crawling through the tunnel.

The U Extended Family Christmas

Matt's mom's portion of the extended U family.

After our mini celebration on Christmas morning we hoped in the car and headed to Matt's aunt's house for Christmas Day with Matt's mom's side of the family. I think everyone was able to make it so it was fun seeing all of his family. We even learned his cousin is expecting a baby just a few months after us so that will bring his grandmother up to a total of 5 great grandchildren!

In case you were wondering we ate food and opened presents. Grace got some books, toys and her very own cat piano!

Christmas Morning

This is what Grace woke up to on Christmas morning. I sort of regret not putting up a tree or filling stockings but it was kind of funny to just see 2 presents in the middle of the living room floor. I have a feeling next year I'm going to make things look a little different.

We woke up Christmas morning and had a little mini celebration as a family of 3. For the past couple of weeks I'd been asking Grace what she wanted for Christmas and she would always reply, "crackers." So, I feel that we really went above and beyond on our gifts for her.

We ended up getting her a pair of Elmo PJ's and an Elmo's World DVD set. I think she may have watched Elmo for 45 minutes that morning while we packed and loaded the car for our travels. It was a perfect gift!

Here is Grace holding her Elmo DVDs.

The Q Family Christmas

We are so blessed to have a wonderful church full of people that we can call our family. Our church family will do anything for us just like our real families will. We have been able to set aside Christmas Eve to celebrate with the Quest family the last few years.

This year we kicked it off by driving through the snow to get to church at 5. We ended up being a little late but it was worth it. The service was nice and reminded us to focus on the gift of Jesus Christ.

After church we continued our annual tradition of going out for Chinese food with whoever has nothing else going along. This year only 3 families made it but all 3 of those families have been there each year we've done this. Somehow Grace managed to stay up until 9:30 that night. She must have sensed the Christmas celebratory spirit. She only had a couple of minor meltdowns that were easily solved with Goldfish crackers.

Walking out to the car after church Grace was fascinated by the falling snow.

I didn't get many great shots at the Chinese restaurant but this is a cute one of Grace and her friend.

The H Extended Family Christmas

On December 18th we loaded up the car and headed to my Grandparents' house for Christmas. After exhausting herself making a huge Thanksgiving meal, we ordered my grandma to only make a veggie tray for Christmas and the rest of the women brought plenty of other food. I'm pretty sure all we did was eat all day.

And we opened presents:) This year was a lot of fun watching Grace open gifts. She actually liked ripping off the paper and seeing what was inside. She lost her patience a couple of times because we couldn't get her toys out of the box fast enough. It was fun to watch her play with her new toys!

Helping Great Grandpa open a present.

Playing with her 2nd cousins (one of her cousins got a cat piano that Grace loved. She ended up getting one for herself a few days later.)

Merry Christmas!

I have a lot of blogging to catch up on so I'm going to attempt to do a lot of it this afternoon during Grace's nap. 1st of all I want to say that I hope everyone had a great Christmas. We had a wonderful time with family and friends.

My Christmas started off on December 17th with my first gift. An HP Mini....

My old laptop has been having some monitor issues, I've been really wanting a Mini for several months, and Matt couldn't resist buying one for me (even though there were supposed to be zero gifts this Christmas).

So, I've been lagging behind in loading and organizing pictures. Hence the lack of blogging. I think I have them sufficiently organized now to be able to give some Christmas updates.

The Night The Savior Was Born

O holy night! The stars are brightly shining,

It is the night of our dear Saviour's birth.

Long lay the world in sin and error pining,

'Til He appear'd and the soul felt its worth.

A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,

For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.

Fall on your knees! O hear the angels' voices!

O night divine, O night when Christ was born;

O night divine, O night, O night divine.

Led by the light of faith serenely beaming,

With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand.

So led by light of a star sweetly gleaming,

Here come the wise men from orient land.

The King of Kings lay thus in lowly manger;

In all our trials born to be our friend.

He knows our need, to our weakness is no stranger,

Behold your King! Before Him lowly bend!

Behold your King, Before Him lowly bend!

Truly He taught us to love one another;

His law is love and His gospel is peace.

Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother;

And in His name all oppression shall cease.

Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,

Let all within us praise His holy name.

Christ is the Lord! O praise His Name forever,

His power and glory evermore proclaim.

His power and glory evermore proclaim.

Furniture

Less than one month until we close on our new house. Yay! The only thing that we have done in preparation for moving is buy some furniture. We have more rooms to fill (and some that will remain empty) so we bought a couple things.

We are inheriting some bedroom furniture for both Grace and the guest room from friends or family which is great. But we did have to buy a new mattress if we wanted to have a guest room and that was high on our priority list. We decided to hand our mattress down to the guests and buy ourselves a king size mattress. Woo hoo! Can't wait for that. Hopefully my dad will build us a headboard and footboard someday but we've never had one so we'll just sleep on the mattress with a metal frame for now like we are used to.

The other two pieces of furniture we bought are a sectional for the family room and a dining table for the dining room. Here are some pictures. FYI, the dining table expands to fit 8 chairs (we are getting 6 for now).

25 Weeks

Checking in for a pregnancy update....

Food: I've been enjoying the holiday season and eating lots of food. I have been craving salami and cheese sandwiches on delicious multi-grain bread from the Meijer bakery. It's pretty much been my lunch staple.

Morning Sickness: Unfortunately and fortunately I have realized that sugar is my number one trigger in feeling sick. So, I have been extra careful to avoid refined sugars and have found that to be very helpful. The unfortunate part is I can't control myself when it comes to Christmas cookies. So, after a large helping I find myself laying on the couch with a headache and nauseous.

Heartburn: The heartburn has started again. I don't remember when it started with Grace but it was pretty bad. I'm hoping because I'm carrying a little lower this time it won't be as bad. But, I do have Tums at the ready these days.

Doctor's Appointment: I'm nearing the end of the second trimester which means I will start seeing the midwife group at my local hospital soon. I love my family practice doctor but she doesn't do deliveries. I have one or two appointments left with her. The last appointment was in and out with no concerns. I even finally had some significant weight gain so as of 2 weeks ago I'm up a total of 10 pounds. That leaves me plenty of time to gain much more:)

I honestly can't think of anything else.

Buried Cherry Cookies

I just made 5 dozen of my most favoritest cookies in the world for a church cookie exchange tomorrow night. I hope the required 3 dozen make it out the door without me eating them all. Here is the recipe...

Buried Cherry Cookies

Source: Better Homes and Gardens

Ingredients:

1 10-ounce jar maraschino cherries (42 to 48)
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup semisweet chocolate pieces
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk or low-fat sweetened condensed milk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Drain cherries, reserving juice. Halve any large cherries. In a medium mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add the sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in egg and vanilla until combined. Beat in cocoa powder and as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Stir in any remaining flour.

2. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Place balls about 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Press your thumb into the center of each ball. Place a cherry in each center.

3. For frosting, in a small saucepan combine chocolate pieces and sweetened condensed milk. Cook and stir over low heat until chocolate melts. Stir in 4 teaspoons reserved cherry juice. (If necessary, frosting may be thinned with additional cherry juice.) Spoon 1 teaspoon frosting over each cherry, spreading to cover.

4. Bake about 10 minutes or until edges are firm. Cool on cookie sheet 1 minute. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool. Makes 42 to 48 cookies

House Update

It's time for our quarterly house update. So, our current house has been on the market for just over 6 months now. In the last quarterly update I posted that we weren't seeing a lot of interest in the house and I would say it is still the same. A few people have looked at it but not very many.

Over the last month or so we have been faced with the decision of what to do about our house. With Baby Caleb due in March we know we'd have to take the house off the market for several months. I cannot imagine keeping my house clean and being able to get out for showings with a toddler and a brand new baby. We'd also have to take it off the market a couple months before Caleb is due because we wouldn't be able to accept any offers that would involve closing in February or March because we don't want to move that close to my due date.

So, after much prayer, wise counsel and consideration we decided to buy a house before ours sold. We looked at every house in town in our price range and found a great choice that we can totally picture our family in. After a great negotiation process we accepted a counter offer last week. We had a good inspection today and are set to move in January. I'm so excited.

As far as our current home we will keep it on the market through the spring and early summer in hopes that someone will buy it. If not, we will look for a renter. While our house might not be what buyers are looking for right now we're pretty sure renters would love it.

T-day

We had a great Thanksgiving weekend with family and are ready for the Christmas season. I've gotten a good start on shopping all done from my couch. I love the Internet. Anyway, back to Thanksgiving. We started the weekend by visiting my Grandparents on Thursday and having a traditional turkey lunch. We played games, watched football and did what many of you were doing on Thursday.

Then on Thursday night we drove to Matt's parents' house. Friday we hung out with his family, Grace got to play with her cousins, we had chili for lunch and then had the traditional Thanksgiving meal for supper. After supper we were able to go see the musical Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. We went with Matt's parents and his brother and wife. One of their friends came over and listened to the kids sleep in the monitors. The show was really good!

Saturday we just spent some time hanging around Matt's parents house and headed home in the evening. The only downside of the whole weekend is I had a cold. I think it hit it's worst yesterday though so at least I was at home to rest.

Packers Game

This post is way late but I wanted to make sure to get it up before I post about Thanksgiving. A few weeks ago we were able to attend the Sunday Night Football game at Green Bay and watch the Packers beat the Cowboys by a whole lot. It was a super fun trip. We went with Matt's brother and his wife. All 3 kids stayed with Matt's parents. We were able to stay in a hotel Sunday night and got back on Monday. The weather was great football weather and it was a great fall activity. Below are a couple pictures from the game and one of Grace and her cousin hanging out at Grandma and Grandpa's house while we were gone.

Oops

This is what happens when you put something plastic on the stove and turn the burner on. Oops, I turned on the wrong burner. The smell and clean-up were both unpleasant.

Why Caleb?

I promised that I would dedicate a post to why we have chosen the name Caleb Matthew for the little boy growing inside of me. So here it is. Initially when we set out thinking about names we were definitely only thinking of girl names. For some reason it seemed like it would be easier to pick a boy name to go with Grace. So while we had a short list of girl names and even one that we were pretty set on we didn't really have a good list of boy names the day we found out Caleb was a boy.

One thing that is really important to us in choosing a name is that it has meaning connected to our Christian faith. There are many boy names in the Bible that are very usable so we started there. In the end we had it narrowed down to Noah and Caleb. But Caleb stood out above and beyond Noah to us for a few reasons.

According to most baby books the name Caleb means dog or also faithful and bold. Dog isn't the funnest thing to say your name means but faithful and bold are definitely good qualities to have.

We also love the story of Caleb in the Bible. The summary of it is Joshua and Caleb were two of twelve spies who went to scope out the land that God had promised their people. Joshua and Caleb put their trust in God and his strength and power, while the other ten spies doubted they could defeat the people in the land God had promised them. They said this to the people to declare their faith in God and his promises.

So with that story we had an amazing name. Also, our nephew is named Joshua so it seemed perfect. We were leaning very strongly towards the name Caleb and on the brink of making the final decision when at church that Sunday the verses our pastor preached on were the story of Joshua and Caleb. At that point it was set. Caleb is the name we chose for our son.

Oh and the middle name Matthew. Well we thought that we'd carry on Caleb's fathers name and Matt wanted some attention:)

We Survived

Grace and I survived this past week without Matt here. I honestly didn't know how I was going to when the week started. Of course I love having Matt around just because I love him. I married him because I like having him in my life:) But I also have really appreciated how much he helps out and takes care of Grace and me lately. The mornings are just really tough with this pregnancy and he gets up and feeds Grace breakfast everyday! Then he changes her first poop of the day and gets her dressed.

Matt left on Monday and I dug my feet in and said go. We had invites to hang out with people at least once a day and a couple of friends even had us over for dinner. That definitely made the days less boring. At the beginning of the week I made a list of 3 positives about him being gone. They were...

1. I got the bed to myself which is a nice treat every so often.

2. I got to hang my towel closer to the shower.

3. The bathroom stayed a lot cleaner.

Although the positives were nice I'm happy he made it home safely today and I'll gladly give back his side of the bed.

Cake

1. I am pregnant and when I want something to eat I want it right away.

2. I've been watching "Cake Boss" on Netflix waaaay too much.

3. I saw a picture of my friends' kid eating cake on Facebook.

These are the 3 reasons to justify why I put a yellow cake in the oven at 7:50pm. I will not go to bed tonight until the cake has been frosted in chocolate and partially devoured.

Halfway There - 20 Weeks

This pregnancy is going so fast. I can't believe that I'm halfway done already. If the second half goes as quickly as the first half our new baby will be coming home to a house unprepared.

Boy: As I posted already we found out that we are expecting a boy. While I was initially shocked and still am not used to it we are thrilled. I think having a boy is going to be a great adventure and I'm very excited about it. I'm thankful that most of our stuff is neutral or if it is girly it really doesn't matter. Our son can be swaddled in pink and he will be fine. The only thing we really need are clothes since I'm not really willing to dress him in pink dresses. I bought some newborn stuff off of Craigslist and have had some offers for boy hand-me downs that will definitely be helpful!

Name: We have pretty much settled on a name for our little guy. It is hard for me not to call him by name so we wanted to decide fairly early. Of course it is not set in stone yet but I think we'll go with it. Do you want to know what it is? Caleb Matthew. I'll give you the reasoning behind that choice in another post.

Pregnancy Symptoms: A few things to report on pregnancy. First, I posted a few weeks ago that I had to take my glucose screening test early and I passed it by 1 point. Yikes, that was close! I am still having issues throwing up first thing in the morning everyday and my breakfast a couple days a week. I'd really like that to end but I can deal with it if it doesn't. Finally, I've been feeling Caleb move a ton. I love how much stronger the movements are getting and am looking forward to the really strong ones as he continues to grow.

Hoppy Halloween

We had a nice Halloween weekend and enjoyed several fun activities with friends and also just relaxing at home. Our adventures started with a party at Matt's work on Friday afternoon. Grace got all dressed up in her bunny costume and headed over to see other kids and Daddy. She was hopping all over the office and loving being around other people. The highlight was a little girl dressed as the devil (about 3) who kept chasing Grace around because she wanted to hug the bunny. I couldn't stop laughing at the scene.

Saturday we just spent the day at home and enjoyed a nice walk around the neighborhood. We were invited to a couple of parties that we were unable to attend because we didn't get a babysitter. While they would have been fun I didn't mind spending the evening at home with Matt.

Sunday we had a fun morning at church. All the kids were dressed up and most of the adults went out into the community to do some service projects. I stayed back with the kids and several other moms/volunteers. It was fun watching the kids run around church and play together for a little longer than their usual 1 hourish Sunday morning class.

Sunday evening we invited our small group to come hang out and trick or treat with us. Only a couple of families came and we had a blast. Grace got to trick or treat with her friend Elliott. He was a good example of saying trick or treat and thank you at every house we went to (which was only about 6). Grace however left her bucket behind, emptied it on peoples doorsteps, tried to enter (and even succeeded once) people's homes, and didn't really get was going on. I only took 1 picture all weekend and it is posted above.

Glittens!!!!

I've never owned a more wonderful set of winter handwear than my new pair of glittens. My friend Jenna owns a pair that I love. She got these for me because she knows I've been on a quest to get a pair for at least a year. I've never found anything good. She found these though. I love them. I think they will be especially helpful in getting Grace in and out of her carseat in cold weather. I love my new glittens:)

Mexican Meatballs

Thanks to my friend Amy we have a new favorite recipe in our house. I made her Mexican Meatballs tonight and we LOVED them. The only thing I did differently from her recipe is I didn't measure anything (just guessed), skipped the onions and used onion powder instead, and I used medium instead of mild enchilada sauce. As Grace says when she eats something she likes these were nummy!

Ingredients :

• 1 pound ground turkey or ground beef
• ½ cup finely crushed tortilla chips
• ½ cup grated zucchini (sub. shredded carrots)
• ¼ cup green onions, finely chopped (sub. white onions)
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• ½ teaspoon ground cumin
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• ½ teaspoon oregano
• salt and pepper to taste

• 1 can (10 oz) mild enchilada sauce
• ½ cup water

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375. In a large bowl, mix all ingredients except enchilada sauce and water. Shape into 1 ½ inch meatballs. Place on a sprayed baking sheet with a rim. Bake for 20 minutes or until browned. (Freeze after this step, if freezing to eat later. Then thaw and follow directions below.)

In a large skillet, combine enchilada sauce and water. Add cooked meatballs, bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 5 minutes.

Serve over rice. Sprinkle shredded cheddar on top.

18 Months Old

Grace is 18 months old. Unbelievable. She is really growing up and is so much fun. We took her to her 18 month doctor's appointment today and she weighed at 23 lbs 14 oz which is about what we thought she would be. She also was 31.75 inches tall. Here are several things Grace has been up to since my last "report" at 15 months.

• Learned to identify and say the capital letters of the alphabet (16 months)
• Started climbing on furniture. She can climb on couches and chairs without help but she has a little foot stool she prefers to carry around and use to help her get up (16.5 months)
• Started eating off of a plate and is slowly learning to hand it to us when she wants more or is done instead of flipping it (17 months).
• Goes down slides all by herself at the park.
• Saying lots of words. I updated her list of words the other day just to get an idea how much she can say and she has over 200 words that I could think of.
• Still loves being read to. She would love to sit on laps and read books all day.
• Counting. Grace can count to 11 and is starting to show that she knows when she counts she is counting things. She likes to count fingers, toes, and blocks (17 months).
• Obsessed with putting on shoes and going outside. Mentioning either word sends her to the front has impatiently waiting for shoes to go on and the door to open.
• Learning to identify people by name. She knows Grandma and Grandpa for both sets of grandparents, her cousins Josh and Jenna, her aunt Laura, and several of her friends that she sees regularly.
• Throwing temper tantrums. She is really beginning to learn that she can have some independence and wants what she can't have. Hence the temper tantrums.
• Caring for her dolls. Very recently Grace has taken to carrying her dolls around, putting them night night, laying them down and saying diaper like she wants to change them and really being into caring for them. She has always liked her babies but this is a new thing. Hope this means she'll be a good helper when her baby brother is here.

That's all I can think of for now. I'm loving this age and can't wait to see what Grace will learn/do next.

Haircut Reveal

So I got my haircut a few days ago and am now finally ready to post a reveal picture. After the cut I was happy with how it looked and the style in general. Unfortunately it was not even. A friend of mine from church is a hairdresser and looked it over on Sunday morning and confirmed it was uneven. Even though you couldn't tell from afar or even that close up how uneven it was I knew and it bothered me. I kept messing with the longer parts and just felt a little unhappy with the cut.

My friend offered to fix it for me for free so today I went in and got my hair re-cut. She did and excellent job! So I booked my next appointment with her. I feel like I'm being disloyal to my other hairdresser but I guess I just need to move on.

Sorry Buddy...

...I hate to do this to you but I hope you'll be ok with it. Here are our baby BOY'S private parts for all to see. We found out that we are having a boy and can't be more excited. Now it's time to pick out a name.

18 Month Pictures

My sister came to visit this weekend and take 18 month pictures of Grace. They turned out AMAZING! I just posted one of them in this post but if you want to see more pictures you can visit her blog about them on her website here. I love them!

Go Pack Go

Grace wanted me to post this picture of her in her new Packers cheerleader outfit. It is pretty cute:)

Hair Ideas Please

I don't know what to do about my hair. I just made an appointment to get it cut on October 16th (exactlly 6 months after my last cut). It is getting really long and I always have it back in a messy ponytail. I just am sick of always having it back. I don't want to go really short and I cannot do bangs because of my cowlick. But, I'm looking for some ideas for a cute, fun and easy to maintain cut. Feel free to comment or send pictures that I might like. I NEED something fresh. Thanks ladies (and maybe gents). Below is a close up picture of my hair now. I can't believe I actually had it down.

Thankful Thursday

Today I am thankful for....

1. The right to vote. Grace is filling out my sample ballot and practicing for the day she is allowed to vote. Don't forget to vote on November 2nd this year. If you live in Illinois you can find out who will be on your ballot and info on some candidates here.

2. The consignment store a few blocks away. Grace has several pairs of jeans that are entirely too long so I hit up a local consignment store and scored 4 pairs for $13 total. Now I don't have to roll them 5 inches like in the picture above and I put a few pairs of jeans away that will serve her much better when she is taller.

Curtis Orchard

This weekend we took a trip to Curtis Orchard with our friends Teresa, Bryan and Ava Rae. We had a fun time eating apple donuts, petting goats, looking at pumpkins, and trying to stay warm. It was a windy and cool fall day so a great setting for an apple orchard. Here are some pictures.

16 Weeks Pregnant

Just checking in with a 16 week pregnancy update. I only have a few things to report. I had a doctor's appointment last week which went ok. I had gained 3 pounds which is what I think I had lost so I'm at my starting weight. I also enjoyed hearing the baby's heartbeat again. I have to take my glucose tolerance test early (usually taken between 24 and 28 weeks) to check for gestational diabetes sometime in the next couple of weeks because there was a little bit of sugar in my urine. I'm trying not to be worried because it is normal to have a tiny bit of sugar in your urine when you are pregnant and I had just eaten a bowl of coco puffs and had nothing to drink. So, pray it was just that.

I'm also happy to report that I have finally seen improvement in the way I'm feeling. Last week was pretty good. I was able to get out of the house a few times and was only throwing up first thing in the morning most days. I did that my whole pregnancy with Grace so I wouldn't be surprised if that happened again. As long as I feel good the rest of the day though it's no big deal. It's just the way it is for me.

Below is my 16 weeks picture. I'm wearing all maternity clothes now. I could probably get away with regular shirts. I just figure I might as well wear maternity shirts to get some use out of them and not stretch out my regular ones. I can't get my pants buttoned so I'm definitely in all maternity pants.

Paci

Grace at 2 months with her paci.

Contrary to popular advice we gave Grace a pacifier while still in the hospital after her birth. Everywhere I read said to wait if you are nursing so the baby doesn't get confused. Well due to lack of sleep and a brand new little being entering our lives we were the confused ones and really needed her to stop crying. So she got a pacifier.

Now Grace is 17 months old and still uses her pacifier during naps and at night. We debated long and hard as to whether we were going to take it away from her or just let her keep it. We ultimately decided to let her keep it since she only had it while sleeping.

Within the last week Grace has seemingly gotten really attached to her paci. Whenever I ask her if she wants to go to bed she runs to her room saying "paci, paci, paci." I'm not sure if she is tired or just knows if she agrees to go to bed she gets her paci. A couple of times she has pointed to where we keep them and thrown a fit because I wouldn't give one to her. We are still sticking to the only while sleeping rule but I can see how things could be interesting when she has to give it up someday.

2nd Trimester - 14 Weeks

Aaaah, it is finally here. The second trimester. Too bad I don't really feel any differently. O well. With Grace I was feeling better by 17 weeks so I keep telling myself the worst case would be I only have 3 weeks left of this ickyness. Here are some updates on this pregnancy....

I forgot about all the weird things that happened to my body while pregnant with Grace. Some of them are returning and some are new...

Skin: I didn't have any issues with my skin while pregnant with Grace but this time around I'm getting major dry spots. I've had to switch to super powerful lotion and that doesn't even help.

Hemorrhoids: Pregnant women get hemorrhoids during pregnancy and often times during delivery. I know you can get lots so I feel fortunate that I only got one during my pregnancy with Grace. It is back.

Stress Incontinence: I didn't even know what this term meant until I was pregnant. Here is a good definition..."Stress incontinence is an involuntary loss of urine that occurs during physical activity, such as coughing, sneezing, laughing, or exercise." Don't forget to add during vomitting. Not only am I worried about puking in public but also peeing my pants while puking. It happens. Maybe I should just wear Grace's diapers.

Food: Please feel free to bring me the Greek salad from Panera with a cinnamon crunch bagel and hazelnut cream cheese on the side any day. I cannot tell you how many times Matt has gone to get this for me. I just had a huge dinner and want it now that's how much I crave it.

Weight Gain: Ok, I haven't actually gained any weight yet. But I will. It didn't even phase me when I was gaining weight with Grace. I gained a nice round 30 pounds and felt ok about it. I wasn't one of the lucky people who lost it all in a month. It took a good 9-10 months and then a couple of months after that to feel comfortable with my body again. Then I got pregnant again.

So now I have this mindset of I finally fit into my clothes and I like them and now I'm growing out of them again. O no! So I hope I gain only 30 pounds again and we'll see how slowly or quickly that weight comes off. Also, due to the fact that I didn't spend 3 weeks in Europe eating carbs before this pregnancy like I did before getting pregnant with Grace I am starting out lighter. So, I can't complain about that.

Finally here is my 14 week belly shot...

Favorite Books

Just so you don't think that all we do is watch TV I thought I'd post about Grace's favorite books. This girl loves to "read". She would rather bring me book after book after book than play most of the time. And she definitely has her favorites. I was going to do her top 3 but I couldn't narrow it down so we're going with the top 4 (and they are clear favorites).

#4. Go Dog Go

My Aunt Melanie got this book for Grace and she loves it. She loves looking at the pictures of the dogs. She also loves the pages where two dogs greet each other with a hello. When she brings the book to me to read to her it is usually accompanied by her saying "hello, hello" just like the dogs do.

#3. If You Give a Moose a Muffin

This book was a hand-me-down from some friends who had 2 copies. They chose a great person to give this book too. Grace usually says "moose" multiple times as soon as she sees this book. There is one page that where the moose gets scared by saying boo and Grace loves this page. I think it is the whole reason she wants me to read the book.

#2. Clara and Asha

Our friend Holly gave this book to Grace before she was born. I think this one might be my favorite. I just love the illustrations. I think Grace likes it because its about a giant fish. She always brings this book to me stating "Ashy, Ashy, Ashy" which is the name of the fish.

#1. Happy to be Girls

This is the mother of all books. It is a clear number one in Grace's book of books. Thanks to Jacque B. for giving this to Grace shortly after she was born. We have had multiple and very dramatic meltdowns because we wouldn't read it to her. It is safe to say that Grace is obsessed with this book. Because of that we keep it hidden and only take it out when we are ready to read it over and over and over again. But when we do read it, it is so cute to see Grace. The book is very has a singsongy feeling to it when you read it. Before I even turn the page Grace is reciting the next words or sounds as best she can. It is crazy how much she loves it and has picked up on what comes next.

The Backyardigans

I have recently discovered one of the greatest kids shows ever made. We don't have cable so we are limited to PBS kids. PBS kids is good but I know there is a lot of other stuff out there. And a lot of not so good kids shows too. So, I was pleased to discover this excellent one. Also, until recently I put Netflix on hold for a few months. It was getting a little too addicting. But we got it back on September 1st and were quickly reminded why we love it.

Ok, back to the show that I recently discovered. We have some friends who have always told us how much they liked the show The Backyardigans. After looking into it I realized I could play full episodes on Netflix watch instantly. After that first 5 minutes of the show I was in love.

The characters are adorable, the music is good and it is not remotely annoying. I would love for Grace to ask for Pablo, a character on the show, rather than asking for Elmo. I can tell she enjoys it but she won't sit and stare at it like she does Elmo. That red monster is addicting.

Vomiting Vent

It's 9:31 am on Sunday morning and I just finished throwing up for the second time this morning. I did it for the first time shortly after I woke up and this time it was a whole bowl of Fruit Loops. They don't look as pretty coming up as going down.

I've been trying not to blog about my morning sickness because I'm so thankful for the baby growing inside of me. I look at Grace and think every second of the ickys I had while growing her were totally worth it. But, this morning I'm just in need of a good vent!

Matt is giving the message today at church and I really wanted to go. I've been doing a lot better the last week and am thankful for that. I haven't been to church in over a month because I throw up so much during the hours that church takes place. I'm not really a fan of throwing up in the church bathroom (which is in a school). I had high hopes of making it out the door this morning.

But since I haven't been able to keep anything down yet this morning I'm feeling worse and worse. Once I can actually eat I will begin to improve and probably by this evening I'll be feeling halfway decent. I'm just really bummed that I'm missing Matt's message this week. I have heard it several times around the house and am sure God will use him to challenge many people.

I took a short break and I'm back from my 3rd visit to the toilet and ready to wrap this post up. Don't feel sorry for me but thanks for reading my vent. I know there are a lot worse situations I could be in. Things are a little hard right now but I'm so thankful for so much. I'll leave you with this Psalm. It is worth meditation on.

Psalm 100

A psalm. For giving thanks.

¹ Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.

² Worship the LORD with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.

³ Know that the LORD is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

⁴ Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.

⁵ For the LORD is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Working With Petabytes

One of the interesting things I get to work on at my job is a technology called Hadoop. Hadoop is a set of open source software that includes (among many other things) a distributed file system, a software framework written in Java for distributed processing, and a high-level data flow language called Pig that allows for simple queries of large datasets.

In layman's terms, Hadoop allows for the storage, data processing, and data mining of ginormous sets of data (on the order of Petabytes*). I'm part of a team that helps write jobs that process advertising data on Hadoop to allow customers to run useful analytics and research experiments. The clusters that our jobs run on are made up of over 3000 different servers. A single job can run on almost all of them! Yeah, I'm nerdy.

If any of you are ambitious and want to try out Hadoop for yourself, you can install and run it in local mode (on your own home computer) by following these instructions.

* A Petabye is equivalent to 1024 Terabytes. A Terabyte is equivalent to 1024 Gigabytes.

2010 NFC North Preview

I (Matt) am back after a long hiatus caused by laziness and a twisted left ankle. OK, there actually wasn't a twisted left ankle. Only laziness.

The 2010 NFL Season is right around the corner, so an NFC North preview is in order. Thanks to my loyal reader(s) out there who likes reading about my sports opinions!

A Look Back

Last year, the NFC North contained riveting drama with the unretirement of Brett Favre to the Minnesota Vikings. He had his revenge against the Packers by beating them twice and leading the Vikings to the NFC Championship game. The Packers had a great second half of the season and went to the playoffs as a wild-card entry before losing in the first round in dramatic fashion. The Bears and Lions did not win many games last year.

The Prognosis

I see the 2010 season shaping up to be similar to 2009 for the NFC North. The Packers and Vikings will be in the top tier and fight for the division crown, while the Bears and Lions will struggle to stay about .500. One notable tidbit about 2010 for the NFC North division is they are scheduled to play for the AFC East and NFC East divisions, which are two of the three most difficult divisions in the league (I'd also put the AFC North up there).

My prediction is that the Packers will win the division with a 10-6 record by relying on their high-powered offense and an easier schedule than the Vikings. Their defense will still give them trouble and will prevent them from getting to the NFC Championship game. The Vikings will finish second at 9-7 and miss out on the playoffs. The Vikings have question marks at the receiver position and secondary that will lead to their demise. Brett Favre should have another solid year, but it is expected that he will retire and unretire a couple times during the season.

The Bears may show some promise with a new offense and I expect Jay Cutler to have a good year, but I see them finishing at 7-9, leading to the probable firing of Lovie Smith. The Lions will be improved, but I don't see them doing better than 6-10. They're still a year or two away from being competitive in the division. And they're from Detroit.

Selling a Home...

...is not very much fun right now. Our house has officially been on the market for over 3 months. So, it is time for a quarterly update. I know when I first posted about putting the house on the market I had a positive attitude and said I didn't care if the house sold soon or not. And ultimately I can usually get to the point of not caring. I would be lying if I didn't say it has been a little bit frustrating.

The reality is the market in America has a 9 month inventory of homes and in our town it is 8.5 months so not that much behind. There are also several homes just like ours for sale in our area. We have aggressively priced and have kept our home nice and have no issues with it at all. So if a house was to sell I'd hope ours would be on the shorter list. But houses aren't selling. If houses aren't selling it doesn't matter what list you are on.

We have only had a few showings in 3 months. Yes, I know it only takes one buyer but if that one isn't even shopping for a home then you are out of luck. I think the hardest part has been I have kept my eye on the market and have found some homes I think would be a good fit for our family. However, I have to remember that we have a nice home and there will always be homes that I think are a good fit for us.

One blessing about this whole process is I'm learning more about money and how to honor God with what he's given us. We've been able to really think through the budget that we set for our next home and really evaluate whether we want to stick with it or not. In thinking about all of this I've learned more about what it means when I say I believe that our money is really God's money. It's not just about giving away X% but about using 100% of our money in a way that we feel is ordained by God.

With all that said it would be really nice to sell our house by the end of 2010 so we can have a bedroom when the new baby comes. But I'd take new baby over an extra bedroom any day. So in the scheme of things Grace can share a bedroom with her brother or sister and I'd feel very blessed.

Bad, Bad, Bad

A few of our faithful readers may have noticed that Grace hit the 16 month mark a couple of weeks ago and I never gave an update. I decided that although she is growing and changing so much it is harder to update on monthly basis. So, as she learns and does new things I'll probably just dedicate individual posts to those things. I imagine I'll still do big ones like 18 months, 2 years, 5 years:) Ha, I wonder if this blog will fizzle by then.

Anyway, Grace has been doing something really funny and house elfish (Harry Potter reference) for the last week or two. The back story is Grace is our first child and we have no idea how to discipline. So, we're learning. Grace's main offenses are playing with the DVD/VCR player or the blinds. When this happens we usually put her in timeout. She continues to do the things she's not supposed to do so I'm not sure if that means timeouts are ineffective.

Another bad behavior that Grace has been exhibiting lately is throwing her food off of her tray when she is done. This does not go over well especially because our dining table is on carpet. So we immediately take her tray away. I think a few times we said bad and slapped her hand. But not enough that I even really remember doing it.

Then the house elf behavior started. Now, whenever Grace throws her food or even does something she is pretty sure she is not supposed to do she starts saying, "bad, bad, bad" and slapping her hand. She usually continues to make the bad choice but she's discipling herself. Let me tell you it is really hard not to roll on the ground laughing.

The Case of the Missing Coasters

The facts:

1. We are missing at least 6 coasters right now (4 quilted ones, 2 cheapo ones) and maybe more.

2. Grace likes playing with our coasters.

3. We discovered Grace knows how to shimmy her hand into the safety-locked cupboard and throw things away.

4. We have seen Grace throw away paper and other flat things but never a coaster.

5. I have been going through the rough and tough first trimester of pregnancy which means some dozing off on the couch while Grace roams the house freely.

Leading suspect: GRACE

But as they say in this great country: innocent until proven guilty.

Matt Got Anne Pregnant...Again

Yep, you heard it here. Matt did it again. We are happy to announce that we are expecting Baby #2. We had our first doctor's appointment today and it was so wonderful to hear the little heartbeat. I love that sound.

1. When are you due?

March 19th. I am 11 weeks along.

2. How have you been feeling?

Horrible. I've been experiencing nausea and vomiting for the last 6 weeks (well only vomiting for 4) and I'm not sure the end is in sight yet. It will end though. I have to tell myself that. I'm thankful for the people who have helped out with Grace as I'm going through this. They are my lifesavers!

3. Are you going to find out if it's a boy or girl?

Yes.

4. Any feeling on which one it will be?

Just like last time Matt wants a boy and I want a girl. Of course I'd love either I just don't understand boys. For a couple of weeks I felt like it is a boy and for the last month I've felt like it is a girl. Only God knows.

5. Was this planned?

Yes, this pregnancy is what we wanted but more importantly it is what God wants for us right now.