Pregnancy Comparison

I haven't really written much about this pregnancy. I feel like with Xavier I enjoyed and soaked up every second of my pregnancy. This time around has been a little different. With planning our future and chasing after Xavier I haven't taken much time to sit back and think about this one. Plus the 1st trimester, let's just say, is not a fun one. I wanted to write some of the similarities and differences of the two.

XAVIER : BABY 2

Working vs: Stay at home

Nauseous 24/7 vs: Nauseous 24/7, but more severe and the worst in the middle of the night. This prevented me from sleeping all that great.

Many food aversions, craved meats and fruit vs: More cravings, than food aversions this time. My favorite foods during the first trimester were pretzels dipped in peanut butter, tuna fish sandwiches, egg and english muffin breakfast sandwiches, cheese, and chocolate. Fruit made me more nauseous.

Tired vs: So tired I feel like an 80 year old woman

Serious sinus infections vs: Feel like I have had a sinus infection since September

I was able to exercise the entire pregnancy vs: I've managed to exercise 4-5 days a week despite my lack of sleep and lack of energy.

Thought Xavier was going to be a girl vs: Didn't have any feelings either way.

Felt baby kick at 21 or 22 weeks vs: I felt the baby kick around 18 weeks


Had a wonderful and happy demeanor throughout the pregnancy. My mood probably fluctuated less during pregnancy than it ever has. vs: Extremely moody. I can be fine one minute and biting Tim's head off the next. I'm easily frustrated and easily stressed out with this one. It's just a complete rollercoaster; kind of like severe PMS for the past 5 months. (Tim will definitely
be glad when this is over with. Sorry honey)

My skin broke out like I was in middle school again vs: My complexion has been clearer than it ever has been. (I'll keep this one)

Smells really bothered me vs: Sense of smell pretty much stinks right now, so smells don't seem to bother me

Crazy and vivid dreams vs: Same

The most exciting part about having a second baby is to see what his personality will be like and who he will look like. Xavier seems to take after me in the looks department and after Tim in the personality department. So, we could have a boy who is completely opposite of that or anything in between. We may even end up with a redhead. The possibilities are fun to think about.

February Crafts

Here are some crafts we've worked on during the month of February. I don't tend to keep them, but I like to take pictures of the things we make so I can still have a record of the creations Xavier puts together.



Love bug



Heart bean collage



Xavier's Valentine box. Since I didn't think he'd be into pink and purple I found some cute blue and brown patterned paper to use in its place. Some of the paper even had hearts on it, so it worked perfectly for the box.



I made some lollipop flower Valentine's for Xavier's friends at the S3 party.

Family Valentine Dinner

Here are the two people I love more than anything. What better way to celebrate than to have a fun family dinner together on Valentine's. I wanted to do something simple and something that would make this day special.



This is the table setting: simple Valentine themed paper plates, napkins, and cups. Adorned by the lovely rose my husband had sitting in our car after our date the night before, and a few candles to set the mood. Xavier loved blowing out the candles and kept saying happy birthday to me.



We drank white grape pomegranate juice. I made a simple spinach, bleu cheese, pecan, and raspberry salad.



I made homemade pizza dough and shaped it into a heart for the occasion. I added all sorts of veggies and ham to the pizza. I also made a mini heart pizza for Xavier knowing he wouldn't eat the veggies on his pizza.



Last but not least some cookies for dessert.

I enjoyed making this day special for my family. I hope they know I don't just love them today, but every day! Hugs and kisses. xoxoxoxo

S3 Valentine Party

The week of Valentine's I was in charge of planning a children's Valentine party for S3. This is what we did! The kids had a lot of fun and we had a great turnout!


We had pizza and salad to eat. Doesn't Brent look excited for his food? I made a "Love Potion" punch that consisted of pink lemonade, raspberry sherbet, and 7 Up. It was a hit.



I also made these little hearts to go on the kids straws. They thought that was pretty cool.



I had a couple crafts for the kids to do, one of which is this butterfly. I also had a dog that was made from hearts too. If the kids weren't into either of those I had a bunch of heart stickers and paper so they could make their own valentine cards.



Yohann and Michela making the dog craft.



Nelina- she is the cutest little thing although I don't think she was too happy that I took her picture.



Here is Nelina's brother, Asher enjoying his cookie. I made a bunch of sugar cookies and frosting dyed pink, red, and purple for the kids to frost their own cookies. We also had some sprinkles and m&m's to top it off.



Keile



Yohann



Xavier and Aiden. Xavier had no interest in the craft or the frosting of the cookies. All he cared about was eating as many of the m&m's he could grab before I cut him off.



Of course, boys will be boys. Who wants to make a craft when there is a cool cart to ride on? The boys played on this thing forever. I'm glad they had fun!



Xavier, Aiden, and Connor (Aiden's little brother)



Xavier and Asher both had blue lollipops and wanted to show me their grins!



I had the kids go on a heart hunt by the student's lockers. They loved racing each other to collect as many hearts as possible.

Baby Brother

We are going to have another boy! I'm so excited. I love having the ultrasound because now it seems more real. We don't have to call it a baby gorilla or a baby anymore. We can now call him baby brother. He has an identity.

The week leading up to the ultrasound was quite interesting. I was getting super anxious to know if it was going to be a boy or a girl. Partly because I'm a planner and I could start getting ready for the baby and partly because I don't like surprises when it's this important. Many people thought it was a girl. Since I didn't have a feeling either way I didn't want people's opinions to get my hopes up for one or the other. As it got closer and closer I kept feeling more sure that it was a boy. Two days before our ultrasound I asked Xavier for probably the millionth time what he thought we were having and he said without any hesitation, "A brother". He confirmed my feelings.

The night before the ultrasound I did not sleep. I don't remember being this nervous or anxious with Xavier. I just tossed and turned and couldn't stop worrying about what would happen in the ultrasound. I kept praying that everything would be okay. That our baby would be developing like he should and that they wouldn't find anything out of the ordinary.

Xavier had choroid plexus cysts on his brain. These are somewhat common, but CPCs have become associated with a severe genetic disease called Trisomy 18, also known as Edwards syndrome. There are many physical abnormalities that are associated with Edwards Syndrome, some babies can be stillborn, and others have many medical problems early on in life. Since Xavier didn't have any other indications in his ultrasound the doctor assured me that in Xavier's case the cysts would most likely disappear as he developed in the womb. But it was still a worry for me until he was born. (Not the best thing to hear when you are like myself and always prepare for the worst case scenario)

Thankfully this time around they didn't find anything like that. Our doctor said that the ultrasound was perfect! Our baby boy is in the 50th percentile for weight and everything seems to be developing as it should.

Xavier was great during the ultrasound. He enjoyed looking at the screen for the first few minutes and then became occupied with his surroundings. He said the cutest thing to Tim during the ultrasound. He said "Daddy when I'm big like you I'm going to be just like Gabe." Gabe is his cousin that's about 10 years old. He is a great kid and if he turned out like Gabe that would be fine by me.

After the ultrasound I asked Xavier what he thought about having a baby brother. He said, "Nothing."
I explained to him in terms he could better understand. I said, "Xavier, Zach and Eli are brothers. Zach is the big brother and Eli is his little brother. Now you're going to have a little brother."
I think the lightbulb in his head just went off. His face just lit up as he instantly exclaimed "We're going to be like Zach and Eli."
Zach and Eli are Xavier's cousins who he absolutely loves to death. So I think Xavier's pretty excited. He's already talking about taking his baby brother to a Pistons game.

We can't wait to meet this little guy and welcome him to our growing family.

Sick and tired little guy

Over the weekend we had a visit to the ER. We are averaging about 1 per year with this little man. This time it was for his croup. It all started one evening after dinner. He was coughing pretty bad and it sounded like the typical croup-like cough. We took him into the bathroom and turned on the shower to steam up the room. It seemed to help a little.

A couple hours went by and same thing happened. His cough was getting worse, Xavier was getting more upset, and we tried the steam again. This time it wasn't calming him or his coughing down. It got to the point that he couldn't breath very well. For any of you who have had kids with croup you're aware that it usually isn't at its worst until the middle of the night. Which is so stressful to any parent. In Xavier's case it was only 9 or 10 at night. We knew if we didn't take him to the ER then we'd end up there later on in the night.

Off we went. They got us into the Pediatric ER right away and took care of Xavier. Once we were able to calm him down they gave him a breathing treatment. He fell asleep as we were administering this. Then we had to wake him up to get x-rays. He was such a trooper. Lastly they gave him a steroid to decrease the inflammation in his throat so that he could breath easier. After 3 hours of observation and treatment we were able to go home.

The first couple days were rough. Xavier's been living off of liquids and popsicles and refuses any real food. But he's finally doing much better. I'm so grateful for priesthood blessings and the wonderful nurses and doctors that took such good care of my little guy.

Note about the picture: Despite it being the dead of winter and Xavier being ill he still manages to strip his clothes off when he sleeps. It reminds me of my brother. He used to keep his bedroom window open in the dead of winter. Silly boys.

Black Eyed Boo

If the mustache wasn't enough here is something else to add to Tim's manliness..... A black eye.

It's not unusual for Tim to come home from basketball with some kind of minor injury. Usually it's an elbow or a thigh or something a little more discrete. Tuesday night it was the eye. I was just thanking my lucky stars it wasn't his ankle.

Some of Tim's classmates warned him people might give him looks if he's walking around with Xavier sporting both the mustache and the black eye. This is my future.....boys and injuries. I hope my heart can handle it.

The "Stache"

It probably doesn't surprise any of you to see Tim with facial hair. This month is somewhat special. There is a professor who has a foundation that raises money for childhood cancer research. This professor had a daughter who had cancer. So, this is a big deal in this MBA program. The kick-off event is a mustache contest. Someone has to nominate you. Tim was nominated by a classmate. This classmate had to pay $15 to nominate Tim. The money goes to the foundation. If Tim didn't want to participate he could pay $30 to get out of it. But come on, this is Tim we're talking about, any excuse to grow a cool "stache" he's game.

This picture is day 3 or something like that. He has to grow it for an entire month. He can groom the edges to keep it looking nice, but he can't cut any length off of it. Oh, and it can't be anything but a mustache. No beards or gotees allowed.

At the end they'll vote. Some of the prizes are best peach fuzz, best overall mustache, best thickness, etc.

Best of luck Tim! It's a good thing I like his facial hair.