Updated pics of Baby Remmert

Here are our 12 week pics of the little one for your viewing pleasure! I can't believe it looks like a real baby that early!! Crazy! Just click on the photo to enlarge the sonogram.

She's potty training folks!! Yipee!

Awhile back I posted that Ashley went pee-pee on the potty, which she did. And that was about it for a long time! She just wasn't interested and almost had a fear of the potty and refused to let us try to sit her on it without throwing a fit. It was very exhausting and frustrating, so we decided to take a break with it for about a month. My Mom came to visit the last week of August. She was unable to make it to Ashley's birthday party and wanted to bring her her gifts and also spend some time with me and help around the house while I was in the thick of my morning sickness. It was a wonderful visit and I was so grateful to have her there.

One of the gifts that my Mom got for Ashley was two new sets of underwear. Ashley really got a kick out of the Ariel and Minnie Mouse designs (even though we had purchased Ariel and Tinkerbell ones weeks earlier and she had no interest). She decided on Friday, August 28th that she did not want to wear diapers anymore and wanted to wear only "big girl" underwear. I was shocked. That weekend we were pretty much pee-pee potty trained with the occasional accident once or twice. She just was ready at that time. From then on, she has been wearing big girl underwear all day and diapers at night. (and the last couple of nights she's wearing underwear to bed and wakes up dry!!) The only stumbling block was #2. She had such a fear of going #2 after a severe bout of constipation, that she refused to go in the potty and decided that her underwear was much better....well not for Mommy and Daddy to clean up or for Judi at daycare. So this past weekend, after her day of fun with her birthday party and much coaxing of "if you go poo-poo on the potty, you'll get CANDY!!", she finally made it happen. She was so happy! I only hope that this will continue and that we can say goodbye to diapers for at least a couple of months before baby #2 gets here! That will be awesome! I am so happy for you Ashley Paige!! What a big girl you are!

Yeah, I'm actually blogging again....pregnancy update

Ok, I am first going to start out by saying "YAY!!! I am in my second trimester!!! Woohoo" I can honestly say that I am feeling better and pretty close to my normal self. Still getting exhausted quicker here and there, but I am not nauseous ALL DAY LONG anymore and I can have a microwave meal again for lunch. I lived off of "non smelly" lunches like PB & J and.... well, that's about it for weeks! This pregnancy is definitely different than Ashley in that I was sicker and more tired and that I am totally showing sooner (I am already in some maternity pants) and getting way bigger "up there" (if you know what I mean).

It's crazy how different it is the second time around. I am still very interested in knowing the growth each week (right now I am 13 weeks and it's the size of a peach!) and what feelings are normal or not, but the overall attitude is that we're adding to our family and we're very happy about. On top of all of this, I am just trying to enjoy Ashley as much as possible as an only child for as long as I can. She just had her 3rd birthday party on Saturday (separate post about that soon) and we truly went all out on decorations and small touches because we knew it was the last birthday she'd have as an only child. We are so blessed with Ashley and she surprises us daily with her intelligence and personality. I couldn't ask for a better kid.

This pregnancy also comes with some minor complications. Without getting too gruesome, during my delivery with Ashley I tore my cervix causing severe hemorrhaging. Not sure how this would affect future pregnancies, I asked my ob/gyn if there would be any problems with this pregnancy. She mentioned that I could have an incompetent cervix and may deliver early...real early...like as early as 16 weeks. So they need to monitor me (and my cervix) from 15-20 weeks to make sure that I do not deliver early. If my cervix decides to open too early, they can suture my cervix to ensure it remains closed until I am full term. Now, the chances of this happening are slim, so that's good, but they still want to monitor me to make sure all is well...which I am ABSOLUTELY fine with. The best part about it is that I get to have an ultrasound each week, so we get to see the little one a lot!

The biggest news is that we get to find out the gender of the baby in less than 5 weeks!! Yay! I believe November 5th is the day! I will keep you all posted!

So much to update...so little time...

For anyone who actually keeps up with this blog, I do apologize for the lack of updates the last several weeks. The majority reason for this is mostly because of the morning sickness and fatigue, but it is also because I was locked out of my Google account on Blogger for some strange reason. All is fine now, so I just wanted to let you all know that I have some fun entries planned over the next week or so. :o) Wee!! Some of the topics include: Ashley turning 3, my trip to Minneapolis for a work conference and some other fun pregnancy & Ashley updates! Tune in again this weekend! :o)

Conversation in the monitor

Lately, I have been so sick with the pregnancy, that I haven't had much energy to run around and play with Ashley. It is breaking my heart when she asks me to dance and spin around the house "like a princess". I usually would have done that, but between the nausea, fatigue and headaches, I am not up for much spinning and dancing. The only way to actually play with Ashley is to color, or read a book or paint nails - all sitting activities. One of her favorite things to do is "blush my hair" (that's how she says it "blush" so cute!). And that actually feels quite good, and I am always up for that. Last night was a pretty bad night with feeling yucky. I had a pounding headache and after preparing dinner and helping Paul tidy up, I decided that I need to go lie in bed with a cold washcloth on my eyes to help the headache. Every now and then Ashley would come in and check on me and then go back out to play with Paul. Paul was super helpful and played with Ashley the whole night. He got her ready for bed, and then I could hear through the monitor that he was kissing her goodnight. Then I heard her cry out, "I want Mommy" through sniffles and tears. She missed me, and it killed me that I missed an entire night with her. I walked into her room, and she stopped crying immediately. She wanted me to lie down next to her which I usually do. She wiped her tears on my shirt and nestled into my neck. We cuddled, talked and played for a bit - she gave me "rasberries" on my belly and tickled my belly button. She said that "the baby likes that" (isn't that so sweet). Then it was about time for me to go back to bed. She always says, "don't leave!" and then I tell her that Mommy needs to go to her bed and get some sleep too. She usually says, "I don't want you to go to your bed" but this time, she said, "Okay". We said our "i love yous and goodnights" and I shut the door. I walked into my bedroom and I could hear her talking in the monitor. She usually is singing or making noises, but this time, I could tell she was having a conversation. I turned up the monitor and listened closely. She was pretending to have a conversation with me! She was going over our usual goodnight conversation, and was saying things like, (as Ashley) "Mommy, I don't want to go to sleep." (as me)"But you have to, it's time for bed." (as Ashley) "Mommy, don't leave." (as me)"I'm tired, and I have to go sleep in my bed." (as Ashley) "Okay, goodnight, Love you!" It was the sweetest thing I have ever heard. She is growing up so fast. This pregnancy has been hard on both of us and she misses me. I am looking forward to feeling better soon so that I can absorb these last 7 months with just her. She is such an angel in my life and I am so blessed.