13 Weeks

I have a feeling this pregnancy is going to go by fast! With so much going on in our lives, days just seem to fly by!

If you could tell, last week I started to worry a bit. It is really silly I'll admit. I've been so proud of myself for not gaining weight and easily fitting into my clothes. But then I read through past post from when I pregnant with Aubriella. By 10 1/2 weeks my clothes were snug, and at 13 weeks I wore maternity pants because I couldn't stand how uncomfortably tight my pants were. After reading that my pride in staying fit quickly turned to panic that maybe the baby wasn't growing, or maybe there was something wrong. Silly huh? For a full day I kept wondering if I've felt any pregnancy symptoms lately and letting my mind think all kinds of crazy things. Got to remember to trust in the Lord!

The really funny thing is literally a day later I caught a reflection of myself and thought, whoa, where did that stomach blubber come from?? I think I forgot that a baby bump isn't instantly hard and round, but instead the uterus kind of pushes everything else out(that I usually can suck in!). The past 3 days I keep bending over, or see myself in the mirror and laugh that I thought I wasn't showing! Even though I can easily button my pants, there is now officially some growth going on.

This past week was another fun week. A great wedding (more on that later!), start of the footbal season, and more. Three days included not one, but 2 trips a day to the 5cities area. Not fun when gas prices are so high! It is worth it though to be working in a dream job at the church, having fun at youth group, and being encouraged at an area Children's pastors meeting, and the following day at the area Vineyard leadership meeting.

And let me take this moment to pat myself on the back,flip my tassel and throw my cap in the air....drum roll please......I now have a graduate degree diploma, officializing my commencement, and honoring me the masters of arts degree in clinical psychology! Are you confused? Did you think I did all that almost 3 years ago? Well I did, but I skipped out on the commencement ceremonies and never got a chance to pick up my diploma. After the 100th and final letter from the university letting me know my diploma was still in the office, I sucked it up and sent $15 to have it shipped to me. So I guess it is official. I guess I never saw the need to go out of my way for the diploma...to this day my high school and undergrad diplomas are still in offices somewhere! Shame on me.

By the way, if smells weren't so overwhelming to me right now, I'd have all our Glade air freshners spewing the wonderful fall fragrances of spiced apple and cinnamon pumpkin by now!

Every pregnancy different?

I've been so excited to not be gaining weight, and still able to button my pants without a problem. I was looking through past posts from when I was pregnant with Aubri, and by this time my pants didn't fit and I had been unbuttoning them for a couple of weeks. I'm counting myself lucky this time around, but I'm also scratching my head a bit. Aren't you supposed to show faster in 2nd pregnancies?

Cravings

Believe it or not I crave pickles this pregnancy! I don't even really love pickles, and definitely didn't want them my last pregnancy. But this pregnancy is different. Payne's Perfect Pickles have been invented and they rock my world. They are sweet and spicy, add flavor to sandwiches, salads, anything really, and I've even used the jalapenos in salsas. I sound like an infomercial, but really I just love them. We ran out and I just really need to get my hands on some more!

Other cravings aren't too weird. I love fruit and orange juice, and like milk more (not really a fan). The biggest craving is pizza! To at least attempt to make pizza healthy, we've made it at home a couple of times. Start with yummy Trader Joe's dough (garlic and herb or whole wheat), top with a fat free, nutrient packed sauce, and top with your favorite toppings. My favorite combination is chicken, mushrooms, onion, garlic, spinach, and pineapple. Even Aubri is starting to love Pizza.

Looks good doesn't it?

And I'm not just talking about the pizza! ;-)

12 weeks

This past week has been great. Still no weight gain (in fact for 2 days I had somehow lost 1 1/2 pounds!) which is so exciting for me-- especially since the babycenter update let me know I'm entitled to 5 pounds by this point, and should be noticing a thickening waistline.

The pregnancy symptoms seemed to have all faded and it is hard to believe I'm really expecting! I did switch prenatal vitamins to some horse-pill sized variety (what did I expect? everything is bigger from Costco) and taking them on an empty stomach was not a good idea. My body seems to have adjusted, and I've learned to take them with food. My energy and sleep also seem normal (good thing because I have had the busiest week I've had in a looong time!).

It was a fun week because even though this pregnancy hasn't been a secret, it just became Facebook official. It is fun being congratulated and hearing the advice about becoming a mom to two.

I'm often asked if I want this baby to be a boy or girl. With Aubri I knew I really wanted a girl. This time around I really would be happy either way! I would love for Aubri to have a close sister (something I never had), so a girl would be great. Plus we have so much pink stuff already it would be much cheaper. But...then it would be nice to have one of each (not to worried about this because we know we will have more), and it would be fun to do a new nursery and buy blue
things (though expensive!). Jose would love to have a boy, so for his sake I think I'm torn 51% boy and 49% girl.

To give you an Aubri update....she has progressed from opening the front door, to leaving out the garage door. The other night she told us she wanted to "see Gugi-anna" (her cousin Gulianna). She told us she was going bye-bye and very seriously made it known that she was leaving. She proceeded to get the car keys from the drawer, walk out the garage, attempt to open the car door (hindsight is 20/20:should have stopped her there, but we wanted to see how far she would go), asked for help opening the door (driver side!), waved to us, said bye, shut the door and tried to stick the keys in the ignition! When we stopped her at that point, she cried and said she wanted to "drive, see Gugi-ana!" I'm keeping my eyes on this one, or else she is going to be the toddler who drives down the street.

Suggestions?

I'm taking name suggestions if you got them! Of course we don't know if we are having a baby boy or girl yet, but it is never too early to start thinking.
Here is what we got so far
Boy:Ezra, Luke, possible middle name Joseph
Girl: Alia, Alina, Alaina, Elise (the A names and similarities aren't intentional)

11 weeks

Only 203 days to go (give or take 14 days)! I'm happy to say that for the most part all yucky pregnancy symptoms are already behind me. I had a few uncomfortable days, but never threw up so I can't complain. Also, I haven't been nearly as exhausted this time around!

I have only gained about a pound--yeah!--and there is no sign of a baby bump (even though a few people have told me how cute the belly is, I haven't had the heart to tell them it is just fat!).

My life is suddenly even more pregnancy oriented as my first full Bradley series starts this week. I'm excited to "practice what I preach" and educate first time moms and dads in the joy of natural childbirth!

In other news, my life may never be the same again. Aubriella figured out how to unlock and open the front door today.

A big update!

My plan was to write a nice big update for Aubri's 18 month birthday, but that passed 3 weeks ago! I can't believe how fast time flies!
For the record, my lack of posts in no way reflects the lack of events to write about. In fact it is the opposite! So much always seems to be going on that I can't seem to catch up.

In the last couple months we've been out of town twice for my "little sister's" bridal showers (not biological sister), stayed at a lake house with my parents, attended lots of birthday parties, and so much more!

Aubriella continues to amaze us with her vocabulary and personality. She is quite the comedian always trying to make us laugh. I love that I can pick her up from her grandparents and ask what she did, and she tells me. I can always count on her saying ice cream if she was with Grammy or Papa! She is stringing sentences together now, and can almost always get her point across! As I type, she is looking out our front window at kids walking to school and is yelling to them, "People! I see you!"

She currently loves playing with her puzzle, playing on the swingset, carrying around her baby dolls, and watching Elmo. She eats a lot more these days, and will usually try something new. Her favorite foods are still cheese, peas, edamame, cereal, blueberries,watermelon and occasionally chicken. She is pretty good about eating any fruit or green veggie (I don't know what it is about the green ones, but I'm not complaining!).

I completely weaned her by her 18 month birthday, and it went so smoothly. She now asks for "Trader Joes milk" and asks for it in a cup. Speaking of Trader Joes, Aubri is obsessed. She sometimes wakes up asking "go Trader Joes." She LOVES going there. The workers recognize her, especially the sample lady in the back who knows Aubri is there for cookies. Usually once we are done at Trader Joes she asks to go to Costco next (her other fave place!). If we pass the Trader Joes/Costco parking lot and don't stop she has been known to cry.

She isn't potty trained, but continues to tell us she wants to sit on the potty (even if she doesn't go). Lately she will tell me "Potty! Potty!" as she is going or about to go. We are working on timing!

The cutest thing Aubri does lately, is come up to my me, lift up my shirt, kiss my belly, then say "Baby get big!" Did you catch that?? Aubri is going to be a big sister! We are so excited to be having another baby, and think the age gap and timing couldn't be more perfect. I am 10 weeks along, and feeling great. I had some early symptoms of mild nausea, but it already seems to be passing. Thankfully I'm not nearly as tired as I was when I was pregnant with Aubriella, but I have taken quite a lot of naps (something I did very rarely last time). I'm starting this pregnancy 13 pounds lighter than I started the last one, and so far haven't gained weight! I'm hoping chasing Aubri around will help me not get huge like last time!

So there you have it folks! A long overdue, but hopefully very exciting update on the Velazquez family.