Cravings

{Meet my new boyfriend, Mr. Canada Dry}

They say all pregnancies are different, and at first with Pie #2 I thought it wasn't different at all but now I completely agree.

This pregnancy has been more nausea, more acne, and more cravings. INTENSE cravings.

And the problem with me being pregnant, something that makes me constantly grumpy, is that I am {most days} in a state of constant hunger. But with absolutely no appetite.

Hunger pangs hit me at least every 30 minutes, no matter how much I had to eat at my last meal. Eating is usually something I enjoy very much {too much}, but when pregnant, it becomes an absolute chore. A chore that I dread. About every thirty minutes I have to stop what I'm doing {because pregnancy hunger pangs are at least 10 times more intense than they are for non-preggos, trust me} and head off to the kitchen. "Ugh, I have to eat - again!" Not only that, but I have to find something to eat that won't make me vomit, and that is not always an easy task... I'm talking to you, Cheerios.

The good news is, since I have entered into pregnancy both times now a full figured woman, that my typical cravings for things like chocolate & junk food are replaced during pregnancy with cravings for healthy stuff {mostly}.

Fruit sounds better than baked goods.

A smoothie sounds better than a milkshake.

A salad sounds WAY better than a hamburger.

This is a good problem. This is how I managed to gain only 15 lbs when I was pregnant with Eisley, and dropped a whopping 45 after giving birth {here's to hoping I can pull that miracle off again, and perhaps keep it off this time? This time, I'm prepared, having been enlightened by one Ms. Geneen Roth.}

But then there are the weird cravings. Things that make me feel freakish. My husband still teases me about my habit during gestation #1 - soaking apple slices in Fresca before eating them. {It was soooo good!}

This pregnancy has brought on a passion for Canada Dry Cranberry-Lime Sparkling Water. I'm obsessed with Panera's French onion soup, and have it about 3 times a week on average. If my mister mentions grabbing fast food for lunch I scowl at him, "That's too greasy! Yuck!" {This is something I would not say were there no baby inside of me.}

But they're not all healthy cravings. Last night, 11:45pm, we had just crawled into bed when I sat up and announced, "Ooooh, pizza by the slice sounds SOOOO good right now!" He looked at me like I was crazy, and for a moment I did sincerely feel possessed. {Wait, what did I just say? That wasn't me!}

"Totino's?" He suggested.
I looked at him as if he'd just suggested I dye my hair green, "That's disgusting."

You see, very particular, pregnancy cravings are.

Yesterday also held in store for me an intense craving for Dr. Pepper, a drink which I have always loathed my entire life. Can't stand the stuff - but knock me up and Dr. Pepper is the new man in my life.

I mused during the first pregnancy at how you feel like a totally different person when you're pregnant, and I still stand by that belief.

All that said, sorry for another boring pregnancy rant/post. But - well - it is my blog. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go find something to eat...

Baby Envy

It is a good thing Pie² is in the oven, I'm telling you. Eisley keeps rubbing it in my face that she is not a baby anymore.

Today I was in my towel robe, post shower, putting on makeup - I heard a rattling noise coming from Eisley's room where she was playing. I immediately stopped applying mascara and went to check on her.

She was in her crib, rattling the side rails and looking very proud of herself. Most certainly because I didn't put her there, she had apparently climbed in by herself.

A little bit later she runs up to me, hands me her bottle, gets a firm grasp on my finger and pulls me to the kitchen. This is her newest trick, to pull mom or dad towards what she wants. She points to the sink. She wants me to wash and refill her empty bottle. I think, what happened to the days when she simply cried, and we had to guess if it was food/comfort/change that she needed? Now she tells me, in her own adorable way, exactly what she wants.

So I fill her bottle, taking my payment via a long, smoochy kiss on her cheek {which is less puffy than ever, might I add, as she is turning into a child and losing her baby fat} and then she's off once again.

She scampers down the hallway to her bedroom, points to her crib and says "nite-nite". Is my almost two year old telling me she's ready for her nap? But first, we direct mommy to close the blinds, of course.

And so now she is napping, and now that I have a moment of peace to think about it, I'm feeling more grateful than ever that Pie² is coming soon.

I'm so proud of Eisley & her toddlerhood achievements, but it is so bittersweet to see the infant fading. She needs me a little less each day. And this is a good thing, but I won't say I don't miss her being a helpless newborn. Of course I do.

These days she climbs in and out of the car by herself, sings along to songs she hears, yells at the dogs when they bark, and sometimes can even get her clothes on without help. She used to sleep soundly in her car seat through a grocery trip, now she insists on riding in the cars attached to the carts, and has a conniption fit if we pass the free cookies without stopping to get her one. At night she holds her baby doll up to us, so that we can kiss the baby and put her to bed as well, each time making me think, "This isn't my baby, Eisley, you're my baby. I want to rock you to sleep."

I marvel at Eisley but I also can't wait to have another little baby to snuggle and marvel at. In fact this was a big motivating fact when we decided to try for Pie², with Eisley growing more independent each day, I was growing severely jealous of other moms with new babies, and more impatient to have one of my own.

Even though Pie² will undoubtedly grow up on me, too.

But I'm not done being a mother to infants yet.

Peony Petals - a photo post

{Disclaimer: I would never advocate the destruction of a perfectly good peony ;-), the petals were taken off peonies that were well past their prime & already browning.}

PS - Sorry I've been neglecting the blog lately...

When I was your age...

{Dear Eisley & Pie #2}

I grew up hearing all about things from the 50s, 60s, and 70s. Parents love to say "when *I* was a kid..."

So now I would like to share with you how different technology was during my youth. The 80s & 90s.

Here is what my first cell phone looked like. It was just a phone. There were no calculators, alarm clocks, texting, or fancy ringtones. If you were to see a side view of this baby, you'd see it's about the size of a brick. This was when I was 15. Prior to that, if you were out and about and wanted to make a call, you had to find a quarter and a payphone.

I watched TV during my early years on something just like this. Yes, ours even had a faux wood box {to match your furniture!}, turn dials, and {WHAT?!} no remote!!!
The first computer I ever used looked like this. Mind you, there was no internet quite yet. No searching Google for this or that. Instead we'd pull out the phone book to find a good plumber or the local pizza delivery.
Your Auntie Bea & I both begged for this one Christmas {and got it}, our first Nintendo Gameboys. This was how we played video games from anywhere, on a pixelated black & green screen, roughly 1.5" square.
And when people in my day wanted to listen to music "on the go", there was this handy invention - the Sony Walkman. You'd just pop your tape cassette in there, press play and - viola! - you're listening to music anywhere! If you wanted to repeat a song, all you had to do was hit the rewind button.... and hold it for 2-3 minutes. But *THEN*, my dear, was yet another great invention, one that came along when CDs overtook tape cassets: the Sony Discman! With this portable CD player, all you had to do was pop in a CD and press play. Later versions had skip protection, and that was a good thing...
And computers really got high tech when the Mac Classic rolled out. Notice the sleek mouse on this baby:
I remember how big a deal it was when we got our first caller ID! Now we could tell who was calling when the phone rang. It was utterly amazing technology.
And when someone called and we didn't have time to answer it, our handy-dandy answering machine allowed them to leave a message for us:
Mommy's first car was a 1986 Honda Civic. My arms got toned that year from the lack of power steering.
When we wanted to watch a movie, there was no pay-per-view or on-demand place to simply download it. Instead, we hopped in the car and headed here, a video rental store:
And we rented this, a VHS cassette:
And we popped it in this, our VCR:

We've come a long way, Pies 1 & 2.... a loooong way.

{Little Baby}

{The pregnancy test I was given at the doctor - hugely positive, yay!}

{Dear Little Baby #2 - Whoever you are...}

I love you.

Up until now this blog & my life as a mother has been mostly all about Eisley. But now you are on your way as well, another sweet blessing in my life among all the others.

It is still hard at this point to imagine loving another being as much as I love Eisley, but I know they say it is possible, and I know I will. Heck, already do. Don't ever forget it. Your momma loved you since the day she saw that faint pink line.

You & I have something in common {other than DNA} in that we both have a big sister. Another thing in common is that we both have really wonderful, amazing big sisters. How lucky are we?

Eisley is sometimes lonely and bored for a playmate and I know she will benefit so much from having you in her life.

Little Baby #2, you were planned and you were so wanted. I feel incredibly blessed to have conceived two "first try" babies. I have known of too many deserving women who did not experience this "luxury" and so I do not take that fact for granted. And so I thank God for your existence and His plan for your life. Even if you are making me sick and exhausted. And overly-sentimental. Blame the hormones. They make me cry at every little thing...

On the day I found out you existed I thought to myself, "God has smiled on me today!" I was just so excited and grateful.

You are like a smile from God in my eyes.

{Love, Mom}