My big boy

My fearless big boy...this was his first visit to the crazy bouncy place. And he loved it!

Big boy Cole from Sarah Shinaberry on Vimeo.
 

Baby Number 2 Details

I’m happy to finally be able to share details of baby number 2! This time around it already feels like it’s on warp speed, didn’t I just find out I was pregnant? After 9 LONG months of ttc it finally happened! I would like to say we did something different the month we conceived but it was just like every other month. There is no rhyme or reason why it happened. In fact that month I had finally taken action to get both Hubs and me checked out. 2 weeks after testing was done I found I was pregnant. Isn’t timing such a funny thing? If you have never experienced having trouble conceiving it’s hard to truly understand just how hard it can be. On both Hubs and me. With Cole we never went through any of that, this time around I learned a lot. This baby is a true blessing and I’m so grateful I get to experience this again.

When did you know? Well like anyone who has been ttc for a while you start to ignore the possible signs that you could be pregnant. I couldn’t bear the thought to think I might be pregnant every month then have AF arrive the next day. So the last few months of ttc, I vowed to myself I would not pee on a stick until I was at least a few days late.
Well two days late and no AF I actually started to let myself think there might be a chance. We put Cole to bed and were getting ready to go over our neighbors to hang out. I turned to Hubs and said I have to take a test…I was anxious …so was he. We both agreed that before heading over to our neighbors for some drinks I should probably go get a test just to be sure. So at 8:30pm I went to get a pregnancy test. As we stood together in the half bathroom waiting…man that minute felt like 10 minutes…for the second time in my life I saw the word YES! We both just screamed and hugged. I cried like a baby…

How far along? I’m 11 weeks, baby is due February 04, 2013.

How do I feel? We’ll let me state I’m beyond happy to be pregnant and would suffer just about anything to be. That said…this baby is kicking my ass! I’m tired ALL day long. I retreat to bed almost every night 10 minutes after putting Cole to bed. I have also been oh so lucky to experience morning sickness with this pregnancy. I’m not sure why they call it morning sickness … vomiting can occur at any time of the day. It’s awful. The only blessing is I don’t have it every day so that’s good.

How is the baby? We have had one ultrasound already and baby is good and healthy. Very strong HB, 182. That seems very fast to me.

Does Cole know? We framed a picture from the ultrasound and have been explaining to Cole that it’s his baby brother or sister. He seems to understand it’s a baby and when asked what mommy has in her belly he says baby. Do I think he really gets it…no not really.


Who else knew? We told our families the very next day…we went out that morning to grab a big brother shirt for Cole. My mom was quick to pick up on it and was so excited…my dad not so much...even after reading it to him we had to tell him I was pregnant. Really?! Men. We phoned the rest of our family and shared the good news! I also spilled the beans with a close group of friends right away. 

 Picture from that morning

What do you think it’s a boy or girl? Hubs is convinced it’s a girl. I think because how different this pregnancy has been. I’m not sure yet. I haven’t had that gut feeling yet to make a guess.


What I’m looking forward to? I’m counting the days down till second trimester. I’m hoping to find some relief just in time for our vacation in two weeks! 


I’m hoping to be able to blog more about this journey …well about anything really …just as soon as I feel up to it!     

& then there were Four...

 

Yep! And we are SO EXCITED !!!

Cole's 2nd Birthday Party!

I was torn on what do for Cole's birthday party this year. I didn't want it to be as big as his first birthday party but I wanted to make sure we made it special. Of course once I picked out a theme I became a bit carried away with it all. I think most mom's do. I went with a fish theme and it turned out great! The night before the party there were huge storms that knocked out most of MD and VA's power...the birthday party gods must have been looking down on us because we didn't lose our power! We did have to move the party inside due to it being a balmy 104 with the heat index. Woof. Of course that also meant all water related things for the party had to be thrown out but it didn't seem to matter the kids still had fun! We let the kids have full range in the basement (amen we had it finished this year)with all the toys. And once again Cole enjoyed having over 30 people sing him Happy Birthday...I think he loves having all eyes on him!

So now picture overload...you think with all the pictures I took i would have remembered to take pictures of the details but I didn't. Oh well :)

 Here is some pictures of the desert and food tables.

 

Cole's Cake- Hubs did a pretty good job! 

I'm so grateful for everyone who came and made it such a special day for Cole and us!

 

Cole's birthday shirt from Etsy.

Gone Fishing- my DIY game -super easy!

My amazing ladies

Cam, Cole and his Aunt Brooke

All the kids lounging at the end of the party

 

July Fourth!

Before it gets to late I wanted to post about this year’s fourth of July before I forget. Recently I have been looking back at my blog and it’s inspired me to blog more. It’s such a wonderful way to document my family and Cole’s life it makes me sad that I have slacked the last few months. So from this day forward I will blog more!
So Fourth of July... I digressed a bit…We ventured out early to try and avoid the heat. We went to our town parade with The Butler family, we set up chairs and had snack and cold drinks for the kids. It had been about 10 years since I had been to it, not much had changed. Ha. The kids seemed to really enjoy it, especially when the floats threw out candy at the kid! Cole consumed two lollipops in about an hour. Don’t judge. I pick my battles this was not one of them.

Cole, Reese and Bryce

 

The Butler Family

My boys

How cute are they?!

Holding hands and waving

 

 After 2 hours the heat became brutal and it was time for some AC. We headed home for lunch and naps. Yes I even had a 2 hour glorious nap that afternoon. We headed over to our neighbors for a good old fashioned picnic and sweated our behinds off. I mean 98 degrees and 100% humidity…that’s just gross. We did light off a few fireworks and the kids really got a kick out of them. Cole just sat there in awe like what on earth is this?! He kept telling me "loud mama"and he clapped when they would finish. I’m so grateful we have such good friends that are also our neighbors it really makes things so easy. Even better is both are baby monitors work in each other’s backyards. Can it get any better than that?!?  

Cole is 2 !!

Last Thursday Cole turned 2! I wanted to make the day extra special so the night before Hubs and me snuck into his room and put balloons all over the floor. When he woke up the next morning and saw them he was beyond excited! Lots of smiling and giggling took place, its crazy how the small things seem to mean so much! I took video of it so if i ever get around to it I will need to upload it.

 

 

His birthday was very hot like a 100 degrees hot so we decided to stick indoors but we did make a special visit to Toys R Us for some new train gear for his beloved train table. Then we had lunch at chick fil a before heading home. Homeboy must have known it was his special day because for the first time ever he decided NO NAP! Really?! Mama still needed some quiet time so we watched some Toy Story 2 and waited for Daddy to come home from work. Once daddy got home it meant gift time! We got him a new Strider bike...the one with no pedals. I wasn't sure what to expect but after a week its clear we made the right choice he's already moving around well on it!

   

 We invited over our family to sing Happy Birthday and have some cake with Cole. This by far was Cole's favorite thing about his birthday. Not only did he sing along with everyone but after blowing out his candles himself he requested we do it again. And again. In total we sang and lit his birthday cake 5 times that night. Ha ha ha. God love him he sure makes life fun!