There really needs to be three days in a weekend

This past weekend flew by, as weekends tend to do.

My FIL came into town to visit and he and Kevin had a nice weekend together.

Friday night we all went out to dinner for sushi. Mistake #1: It was right at Preslie's bedtime. Mistake #2: I failed to bring an extra change of clothes for her. Our child gagged herself to make herself vomit three times while at dinner! By the end of the meal (which we had to wait an hour-and-a-half for!) she was "that child" with nothing on but a diaper and bib, walking around outside with one of us to keep her occupied.

Preslie and her Auntie before dinner on Friday.

Saturday, I was able to go grocery shopping alone *angels singing* while P napped and Kevin and my FIL worked on our new office. I haven't posted about this yet, but we put up a wall in a huge room we have in the front of the house to make an office/man cave for Kevin. Our old office is now Landon's nursery. The new office will be a long work in progress since there is much to do in there still.

That night Kevin made some great steak and shrimp tacos. I ate way too much. Red meat is my go-to right now, so I can't pass up some good steak tacos!



Relaxing with Papa.

Sunday came around and Kev drove my FIL to the airport and then he went golfing (yeah... I'm a nice wife ;)) while P and I stayed home and I washed a lot of Landon's clothes and ironed most. Call me crazy, but I have a thing about my kids' clothes being ironed. I don't iron them all, but the ones that have collars, ruffles or wrinkles must be ironed.

I only had to put Preslie in timeout once on Sunday, so I count that as a good day. She decided to pick up the dog's bowl of food and dump it all out on the floor. She knows she's not supposed to do that so that earned her a time out. And while she was crying in the timeout spot, I was struggling to bend over with a belly the size of a watermelon to pick up the dog food off the ground.

Pouting in timeout

I should also mention that I hadn't taken a shower in two days by this point. I like to keep things real like that. Preslie also had a cold that started over the weekend and we wiped lots of snot. And...Kevin's car stopped working mid-u-turn as he was driving to the hardware store on Saturday.

This is our life! :)

Baby Pino 2.0: Twenty-six Weeks

I am carrying this bambino so low. He is always down in my nether-regions.

Weight Gain/Loss: I've gained 18 pounds as of this morning. I gained 18 pounds TOTAL my last pregnancy so I'm now accepting the fact that I'll be gaining much more this time around.

Size of baby: He is almost two pounds; 14 inches long; about the size of a large zucchini.

Gender: BOY!

Movement: All. The. Time. With Preslie, she kind of just floated around in my belly and I could tell definitively when her sleep schedule was. Landon on the other hand, has been the complete opposite. He is up and moving as soon as I get up in the morning, and moving well after I'm laying down for the night. It seems like he only sleeps in the afternoon. Lord help me. ;)

Sleep: I've been sleeping great! P and I visited my parents last weekend and I got a lot of good naps and relaxing in while Grammy and Grampy kept P occupied. It was wonderful.

Maternity clothes: All maternity clothes and some dresses that are non-maternity. I still feel like I'm wearing a mu-mu when I wear dresses while pregnant, but it's too dang hot here to care at this point.

Symptoms: The usual...
1) Back pain
2) Achy feet
3) Contractions. They're braxton hicks but as of yesterday I've been having one every hour. The doctor said if I have six in an hour then I should be concerned and head to the hospital. So I guess it's okay for now.
4) Thick hair! I got my hair thinned out just a month ago and it's growing so thick and fast that I can't keep up!
5) Very tired. I remember last time that I went through a few weeks of feeling first-trimester-exhausted right before my third trimester hit, and it's proving to be the same thing this time around. I feel like I could sleep forever!

Aversions: Grilled chicken, vegetables (although, I do like certain salads) and anything sweet.

Cravings: 
1) I'm still getting Quiznos almost twice a week.
2) Over July 4th weekend I was really wanting deviled eggs and I got plenty; but now when I think of them I get grossed out. Weird.
3) Alcohol and coffee.

What I miss: As it's been with this whole pregnancy: ALCOHOL.

Best Moments:
1) Getting Landon's crib set up.
2) One big thing on my "To-Do List Before Baby" was shampooing all the bedroom carpets (we only have carpet in the bedrooms). So I was able to do that and my clean-freak self feels much better about it.
2) My good friend Breanna gave us a bunch of her son, Lucas', baby clothes. Lucas and Preslie are only eight days apart, and Breanna is due with a girl just about 12 days prior to my due date with Landon. So crazy! So I gave her all of P's baby clothes. It has worked out great and saved lots of money.
3) Feeling all his movements. This time around I am not so much a fan of physically being pregnant as I was with Preslie. I just want the baby to be here. But I am savoring all his movements because I know I'll miss them big time when I'm not pregnant anymore.

What I'm looking forward to:
Basically, finishing the nursery and Landon being born.

Baby Daddy:
1) Kevin asked how much longer until my third trimester, and when I informed him it was just about two weeks, he almost choked on his food. He was thinking it was more like four or five weeks.
2) Landon will always move when he hears Kevin talking. So one night Kev got really close to my belly and was talking to him and Landon did a complete flip that he's never done before. It was pretty funny to us.

Big Sister:
1) Preslie is still not a fan of babies. However, she will give my belly a kiss. I don't think she gives it a kiss because she knows her brother is in there; I think she does it because I say "awww" every time. Smart kid.
2) We're trying to transition her out of some things to make Landon's arrival a little easier. For example: we no longer do nighttime sippy with milk while reading a book before bed. We stopped that last week and give her the milk with her dinner and it hasn't seemed to phase her one bit. Also, we're no longer sitting in the rocker while reading a book before bed. We lay on our bed and snuggle and read. The reason for this is we're using the rocker in Landon's room so I want to get her used to not having it now so it doesn't become that big of a deal later on.

Some Stuff

Whew! It has been forever and a while since I've written about something other than baby updates.

• There are some changes coming to the Pino household soon; and I don't mean with Landon's arrival in October. I can't elaborate more for another couple weeks, but it's been kind of a stressful last few months. I hope to fill in the details soon.
• Other than the stress, everything in our lives is moving along as usual. Time goes by way too fast - as always.
• Preslie is becoming her own little person day by day. She is FEISTY and FUNNY! It's still a trip to see her walking all over the place, even though she's been walking for more than two months now. Oh, and she's bossy. She loves to tell the dogs "No!" all the time and shakes her head and finger at them. She couldn't possibly get that from me. ;)
• I'm slowly but surely getting Landon's nursery together. Luckily, we're able to use a lot of Preslie's things (like the wipes warmer, closet organizer, glider and ottoman, etc.) so it helps save on money.
• It's been so hot here lately that we pretty much spend every weekend up at my MIL's house, swimming.
• Speaking of swimming, Preslie completed her first round of swim lessons last month. I think she was kind of bored with it and I wasn't that happy with the facility. She did learn how to go under water, float on her back, blow bubbles and climb out of the pool. I think we'll wait a couple years to enroll her again somewhere else when she can concentrate a little longer. We're able to practice almost every weekend so she improves all the time. The first day of swim class the instructor commented on how relaxed and "at home" she was in the water. The girl is a water baby!
• For Father's Day I got Kevin the Nike+ FuelBand and he loves it! It's gotten him so motivated to continue working out and eating healthy. I just thought it would be a fun gadget for him, but it's been more of a motivator than anything. Good purchase!
• My goal during this pregnancy was to begin Prenatal Pilate's at 20 weeks. Well, at 21 weeks I did my first Prenatal Pilate's class and that was it. Ha! It's just been crazy since then that it's hard to find the time. But...I'm going to get back into it once things settle down in a couple weeks. Pinky swear!
• Only about two more months until my maternity leave begins! I'll be off work September - February and I CANNOT WAIT! During that time I hope to update this blog which means I have to go back all the way to November 2013 for Thanksgiving. Yikes!!
• The past few weeks I've had my hair in a top knot almost every day. Today was the first day I've actually done my hair (i.e. blowed it dry and straightened it) in a while, and it took so long to do! Thicker hair during pregnancy is no joke. I think I'll go back to the top knots. ;)
• I hope you all have a great weekend!

He has a name!

We have finally decided on a name for our Baby Boy!

We've gone back and forth because certain family members (ahem...Dad!) have requested their name be included and since this is most likely our last child we (most importantly) wanted to be happy with the name of our son.

His name will be...

Landon Mark Joseph

"Landon" is my brother's middle name and it's aways been a name I've really liked. I knew a long time ago that I would like to use that name if I ever had a boy. Luckily, Kevin is a fan of this name too!

"Mark" is my dad's name. My dad (and mom) do a lot for us and even though the name "Mark" isn't very popular it was important for us that it was included.

"Joseph" was Kevin's Grandpa's name and had to be in our son's name no matter what. Joe was basically a father figure to Kevin growing up and I hold Joe close to my heart as well. Most of the first-born boys on Kevin's side of the family have the name "Joseph" incorporated in their names one way or another.

So that's that! We're happy with it and that's pretty much all that matters. Now there's just about three more months left to wait until we have Landon physically in our arms to put a face to a name!

Baby Pino 2.0: Twenty-two Weeks

I'm not sure how my belly in my 18 week photo looks bigger than my belly in this photo. One morning I woke up and it was like Baby Boy dropped lower and my belly deflated a bit.

Weight Gain/Loss: I'm up 14 pounds so far. Not too terribly bad since I'm over halfway done.

Size of baby: Baby Boy weighed in at 12 ounces at 19 weeks 4 days, which Baby Center indicated he would be around 8 1/2 ounces, so he was measuring a tad heavier than "average." As of right now he probably weighs over a pound, 11 inches long and is about the size of a spaghetti squash.

Gender: Sweet baby boy!

Movement: He moves all the time and he moves around down low. Preslie was always up in my ribs, but this little guy likes to hang out down in my pelvis.

Sleep: I've been sleeping great! I'm still able to kind of sleep on my tummy. It's more like part on my tummy part on my side. I think because he is lower that I'm able to. Who knows.

Maternity clothes: All maternity clothes. I purchased my first pair of maternity jean shorts the other week. I'm not a fan of shorts for myself, but it's too hot to be picky right now. They're not too bad.

Symptoms:
1) A lot of back pain. I will usually ice my back at night before bed. I purchased one of those belly/back support things but I was not a fan. It was so uncomfortable and made my belly look deformed.
2) My headaches have eased up a lot - so that's been really nice. :)
3) Hip pain - which I expected.
4) I've been kind of sensitive lately. I'm sure Kevin can attest to that.
5) NESTING! I want to clean out every cabinet in our house and clean out underneath every bed. I'm a clean freak as it is but it's like I can't reel it in now. Everything must be done!!!

Aversions: Grilled chicken, vegetables, sweet drinks and candy.

Cravings: Red meat and potatoes - whether it's baked potatoes, tater-tots, french fries; doesn't matter. Just give me some potatoes! This pregnancy I haven't once craved chips - I did a lot last pregnancy. Pasta with a butter parmesan sauce.

What I miss: Drinking alcohol. Just expect this answer at each update. I MISS IT! Bending over to pick up things off the ground.

Best moments:
1) Feeling Baby Boy move a lot.
2) Having my 20 week ultrasound and getting to watch him on the screen for a long time. He was basically bent in half the entire time. He didn't want to move for anything, but we were able to confirm that he is indeed still a boy and most importantantly, he is HEALTHY! :)
3) Ordering his nursery bedding this week.
4) Getting started on his nursery as of this week!
5) Finalizing his name.

What I'm looking forward to:
1) It mostly has to do with cleaning our house: shampooing carpets, cleaning out closets and cabinets, washing all the things.
2) Inventory what clothes Baby Boy has (which isn't much) and start stocking up on what he needs.
3) My maternity leave! I have about three more months until I'm off for four months.
4) Of course I'm looking forward to our baby boy being here.

Baby Daddy: Kevin felt Baby Boy move for the first at about 20 1/2 weeks. He gave a big kick too, so Kev was sure to feel it. I think it always makes the dad feel like it's a little more "real" when he can feel the movement too.

Big Sister: Preslie currently has some weird obsession with belly buttons. She'll lift up my shirt to touch my belly button (which is still an inny by the way) and if she has on a shirt she can lift up, she'll sit and touch her belly button too. At the same time, she's also kind of grossed out by belly buttons. She'll make a disgusted face and give a little whine. It's so weird. She has started to notice my belly is bigger and she'll pat it sometimes. She doesn't understand why it's big or what's in it, but she gives it a little pat every now and then.

Baby Pino 2.0: Eighteen Weeks

How is it that I'm 18 weeks along already???

Weight Gain/Loss: I've gained nine pounds so far. Luckily, the weight gain has been slow and steady - much like last time, which I'm thankful for.

Size of baby: Baby is about 7 ounces, 5 1/2 inches long; about the size of a bell pepper.

Gender: We found out when I was 14 weeks 6 days (on Saturday, April 26th) that we'll be blessed with a baby BOY!!! We are so so so excited. Both Kevin and I have always wanted a boy and we're so thrilled we now have one of each.

Movement: I'm feeling a lot more movement. None strong enough to be felt from the outside, but I sure can feel the flutters from the inside. He is most active when I wake up in the morning and at night after dinner.

Sleep: Sleep is good. I've had to start sleeping with a throw pillow in between my knees. No pregnancy pillow for me because NIGHT SWEATS! I also find myself still sleeping on my tummy which is weird because said tummy is not flat at this point, so I'm trying to be more conscious of sleeping on my sides.

Maternity clothes: All maternity; even dresses. I really don't like wearing dresses while pregnant. I just feel like there's way too much flowy-ness going on with dresses and they make me feel bigger.

Symptoms:
1) So. many. headaches! I have them probably three to four times a week and they're the pounding kind. I take Tylenol for them and I'll sometimes have a diet coke or something with caffeine, but most of the time I'll try and just lay in bed, in the dark with an ice pack on my head. I'm sure Kevin is sick of hearing me complain about my headaches all the time. Ha! ;)
2) Typical aches and pains that come with growing a human: hip pain, lower back pain, etc.
3) I haven't had as much of an appetite. I experienced the same thing with my last pregnancy. I can never decide what sounds good to eat.
4) I think I'm experiencing severe effects of that Relaxin hormone. I collapsed the other day while holding Preslie. I was walking down just a couple steps and all of the sudden my legs just stopped working and I slowly just kind of sank down to the ground. Preslie was fine because it was more like I was slowly sitting, but it scared me. Now I'm afraid every time I hold her that it will happen again. Handrails are my new BFF.

Aversions: Grilled chicken, really sweet drinks, anything that leaves an aftertaste in my mouth (which means I chew a lot of gum and brush my teeth constantly - fresh breath FTW!), steamed or grilled vegetables.

Cravings: Nothing in particular these past four weeks. I still enjoy french fries tremendously! I was craving a Mulberry Pie from this place in Auburn, CA called Ikeda's and I finally got one yesterday. It is delicious!

What I miss: ALCOHOL!!! Boy, do I miss alcohol. The summer is my favorite time to enjoy adult beverages and it's absolutely killing me to not be able to this summer. All worth it in the end, but it's torture!

Best moments:
1) Of course seeing our baby boy on ultrasound a few weeks ago and finding out his gender.
2) Now being able to buy boy things when I'm at a store!
3) I've finalized the colors for his nursery so I'm starting to slowly purchase things for that.
4) We were able to get a free crib and mattress from a friend so we are so thankful for that. Just means I can spend more money on other boy things! Ha!

What I'm looking forward to:
1) Feeling movement from the outside.
2) My 20 week ultrasound to make sure everything is as it should be.
3) My appointment with my OB after my ultrasound so I can discuss my recovery from my last pregnancy (it was no bueno) and alternatives to ensure recovery this time around is much smoother.
4) Getting a wall put up in our front room so that will be Kevin's office/Man Cave and turning our old office into the nursery.
5) Getting baby boy's clothes organized.

Baby Daddy: Kevin gave the biggest sigh of relief when the technician announced it was a boy. He likes to call him "my guy" or "the little guy." He seems to have more opinions this time around about things than he did before Preslie was born. I think because he's a little more knowledgeable the second time around and also because it's a boy, I think he feels attachment to him a little sooner.

Big Sister: Still no clue what's going on. Once we found out this one was a boy I immediately started to go through Preslie's clothes that she's outgrown to separate what I'm giving to a friend who's having a girl, what I'm donating to Goodwill and the few things I'm keeping. It was bittersweet, that's for sure. Preslie has started to hug her stuffed animals and is getting pretty good at giving kisses. I hope that translates well for when baby boy gets here!

Preslie Kay at Twelve Months



I realize this update is over a month late. Maybe it's me not wanting to admit that our daughter is over a year old, now!

Preslie turned 12 months old on Wednesday, April 2nd!

Measurements: At Preslie's one year well-check she came in at...
Weight: 20 pounds 10 ounces (62nd percentile)
Height: 29 1/2" tall (59th percentile)
Head circumference: 18" (70th percentile)

Appearance
~She has a lot of hair now but refuses to let me do it and she rips bows out of it. I keep trying though!
~Her eye color switches from blue, to grey, to green depending on what she's wearing. No doubt they will stay light.

~She still has just her two bottom teeth - and she knows how to use them! Her top teeth are definitely coming in. Her gums are red and swollen, so any day now!
~The cutest dimple on her right cheek when she smiles and laughs.

Sizes
~12 month tops and 18 month bottoms.
~Size 2 shoe but she's already growing out of them so I think she'll be in Size 3 shoes in about a month.
~Size 4 diapers.

Personality
~I'm not quite sure how to describe this little girl's 'tude. She is generally a happy child, but she can get MAD if something doesn't work for her right away (like if she can't get a toy to turn on or something like that) or if she doesn't get something immediately. Her patience is non-existent. We are working on that.

 ~I'm going to be honest and not sugar-coat things, but she is the bully at Miss Kara's. She hits and she bites. We have "that child." I have no clue where she learned this but definitely not from us. She doesn't yet understand when we say "No hitting" firmly to her when she swats at us - and it's not like we hit her back. What would that teach her? I think when she gets a little older she'll understand a little better. And the whole biting thing...I don't even know. So these are a couple challenges we're working on at the moment.
~She is starting to laugh a lot more! She usually makes you work for a laugh, but now she'll willingly giggle. And it's one of those guttural giggles - which makes it that much more funny.

~She is doing a very good job at being gentle with the dogs. She'll actually pet Stella nicely and softly. Kahlua doesn't allow her close enough to get the opportunity to do that.

~She shakes her head "no" if she doesn't want something. The funniest is when I ask for for a kiss and she shakes her head "no" and smiles so big. I'm sure that won't be so funny 14 years from now.
~If Preslie is tired she pops her thumb in her mouth and will lay down wherever she is. Whether it be the ground or Papa's slipper. Ha! ;)



Likes
~She has developed an attachment to her Lovies. She has a rabbit lovie for home and an elephant lovie for Kara's.
~Preslie has some weird obsession with her jammies. I have a couple pair in the living room because I need to sew some holes in them and she'll get a hold of them and put them around her neck, take them off, put them around her neck, take them off. She'll do this for hours! I have no clue why.

~She loves jewelry; especially necklaces. She likes to try and put necklaces on and play with a necklace if you're wearing one.
~She also loves sunglasses. Girlfriend loves accessories!
~Her water table is one of her favorite things right now.

~She still enjoys books. Right now a favorite of hers is "Brown Bear, Brown Bear."
~Sweet P got one of these Radio Flyer tricycles for her birthday and it's her absolute favorite thing right now. We take her around the block in it when it's nice outside.

Dislikes
~The car. Any car drive longer than an hour and Preslie is not an enjoyable passenger. She also doesn't take very good naps in the car.
~Being changed. It's impossible to keep her still and happy during this process.
~Having her hair brushed.

Eating
~She does a great job at feeding herself - we rarely feed her with a spoon now. Unless it's something super messy like applesauce or yogurt. We're working on using utensils but she's not quite there yet.
~She eats pretty much everything we eat at this point.

~She is completely off formula and is drinking whole milk. However, I think she has an allergy to milk so we're trying to figure that whole thing out.
~Preslie is also completely off the bottle and we only give her sippy cups. It was a very smooth transition. I started at 11 months and gave her a sippy in place of her morning bottle. And just within the past two weeks I switched her bedtime bottle with a sippy.

Sleeping
~She sleeps pretty well. There may be a night here or there where she wakes up for some unknown reason but it's not very often.

^Her last night as an 11-month-old

~Preslie is still taking two naps a day. While she's at Kara's the duration of her naps seem to be short, but when she's home she takes nice, long naps!

New Experiences
~The most important is that she had her first birthday! I hope to have a separate post up about that.

^Her first taste of sugar at her first birthday party. Look at her toes! Now, that's some excitement right there!

^Enjoying a cake pop for dessert on the night of her actual birthday.

~Preslie is standing and cruising along furniture and stands on her own. Still no walking though.
~This month she had two ear infections and bronchiolitis. That was pretty scary and I hope she doesn't get bronchiolitis again.

^She was so pitiful and sick and her little eyes were so droopy.

~She is allergic to amoxicillin. She developed a rash all over her body.
~Preslie also developed Hand Foot Mouth Disease (HFMD) right after her allergic reaction. The doctor tells us the two were two separate occurrences, but I'm not so sure. Unfortunately, she had HFMD at her birthday party (at the time we thought it was still an allergic reaction to amoxicillin) so a couple of the kiddos who were there ended up getting HFMD too. We felt so awful! Obviously, had we known what it was, we would've rescheduled. Oh well. I guess these things happen when you have kids!

 ^The beginning of HFMD around her mouth. :(

~She can say "eyes," "hi," "outside," "uh oh," "that," "dog," "Dada" and "Mama." She only says "Mama" rarely.
~Mama and Papa got her a Pottery Barn Kids chair for her birthday and she loves it. She sits in it and gets out. Sits in it and gets out.

~She attended her friend Lucas' first birthday party.

~She had her first official Girls Weekend! Unfortunately, she developed bronchiolitis during this time so we weren't able to play and be with our friends as much as we would have liked. :(

^Miss Madison was not in the mood for pictures. ;)

~When we say "Preslie, how big are you? So big!!!" she'll throw her arms up over her head. I love it.
~Preslie experienced her first St. Patrick's day. It was pretty uneventful, but a fun holiday nonetheless.
~We announced that she is going to be a Big Sister!
~She discovered the doggie door as Grammy and Grampy's house!

 ^She even looks guilty!

~We set up a new play area in the house for her. I found a good storage bench and we laid down some foam flooring and it's worked out pretty well. I can't handle all the toys!
~We went to a food truck event that was pretty fun.

~She has eaten dog food - much to our dismay. Ha!


This past year has been so fun and exhausting. Both Kevin and I are looking forward to her becoming her own little person as she transitions from a baby to a toddler. Each day she makes us smile. Some days she makes us feel like we want to scream - but luckily those days are far and few between. ;)
We couldn't have imagined a better first child if we tried. We feel so fortunate to have Preslie as our daughter.