Happy Birthday, Jack!

The little man turned 2 yesterday!  We were so excited to get to celebrate with our dear friends, the Schuchards.  They recently moved to Virginia and we are thrilled to live just 75 miles apart!  Ross and Mike went to West Point together and Sarah and I met at the bride's coffee during their graduation week in May 2004.  We were all stationed in Fort Rucker for flight school and then moved to Fort Hood together.  Elise and John were born just 2 weeks apart and have had many, many, many playdates, especially when we all lived in Texas during their first 16 months of life.  We got to celebrate John's 3rd birthday with them when they came to Baltimore in January 2012.  Lila and Jack are just 6 months apart.  The kids had such a fun day together.

The birthday boy with his new train table.  What a hit!

His other favorite toys... he loves to "park" his trucks in different parts of the house and also loves to line them up as if they were on a road.  

Opening his presents from the Schuchards... Matchbox cars and Steam Train Dream Train.  The cars work perfectly on his table and this is one of the few "long" books that he will actually sit through!  Thanks!

Singing "Happy Birthday"

The group

Playing trains with Lila (6 months older).  Don't they make a cute couple?

Silly 4 year olds

     A more detailed 2 year post will follow after his checkup tomorrow.  Happy Birthday, Jack!

Baby #3 update!

Wow, it seems like the last 2 months have lasted forever!  We are SO excited about Baby #3 and can't wait to meet him or her in the fall.  I haven't had any panic moments about the idea of actually having 3 kids, yet :)  I mean, we figure that daily life can't get much busier, so why not squeeze another kid to the mix?  We love how much E and J enjoy playing together and can't wait to see them with their baby brother or sister.  

Baby at 7.5 weeks

So far, the pregnancy has been pretty similar to my first two.  I'm almost 14 weeks now and the nausea is just starting to subside as of this week.  I definitely have my queasy moments, but they seem fewer and farther between.  We found out about baby at 3 weeks and 2 days pregnant (crazy that you can find out this early!) on February 18, and by a week later, I was already experiencing nausea.  The worst was from 5-7 weeks, and like I said before, it is still hanging out but is much more manageable.  These days, I usually feel pretty good in the morning and early afternoon, so that's when I try to sneak in a workout and plan an outing with the kids.  Between food aversions and the nausea, cooking dinner (and having energy for two kids!) has been a challenge.  The worst has definitely passed, and I expect to feel much better in a few weeks.  The nausea phase ended around 15-16 weeks with E and J.  Some foods that I've eaten a lot include greek yogurt, fruit (we make a lot of smoothies!), bagels, cheese and avocado sandwich, breakfast sandwich, and soup.  I'm having a tough time even thinking about spinach and chicken these days.  Early pregnancy is probably the only time in my life that I ever have an aversion to desserts.

So now for the pictures... I can't believe how quickly my belly has popped out this time.  It's been there, even on an empty stomach in the mornings, for several weeks now.  I think I look a lot like this picture from 20 weeks with Jack!  Absolutely crazy.  The weirdest part is that I'm still down a few pounds from all the nausea and actually weigh less than I ever have while pregnant.  Somehow my pants still button comfortably underneath the belly that isn't even from the baby?!  I guess this is what happens the third time around.  I'm still able to run and work out (love the 30 Day Shred workouts) comfortably, though I stopped doing any exercises on my back this week.  My next appointment is on Monday and then we will schedule the big ultrasound.  Happy 13+ weeks, baby!

13 weeks in the morning

13 weeks and bigger in the evening!