Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Bumpdate

One week closer to meeting baby Grayson!!

21 weeks 3 days - growing boy!
Due DateJanuary 5, 2013
How Far Along: 21 weeks
Total Weight Gained: 124 (8 lbs). 

Maternity Clothes: Oh yes. I think they belly has grown larger the second time around!
Sleep: Pretty good. I have been getting tired a lot earlier than usual. Falling asleep on the couch after MC is in bed has become a slight habit. 

Best Moment of the Week: Hearing sweet Grayson's heartbeat at the doctor's office. Does this ever loose its amazing-ness? 152 bpm and doing great! Such a little miracle from God!
Food Cravings: Still craving sweets. Trying to keep it under control though.
Food Aversions: None.
Belly button/stretch marks: Nope. 

Symptoms: Still have an appetite the size of Texas and occasionally still get out of breath and dizzy at times. 
Adam's pregnancy symptoms: Hmmm. That's a tough one. Compassion. This man has been great this last week. I pulled something in my back (either moving Bean's furniture or doing something with MC) and he rubbed my back like 3 nights in a row. Feeling all better now! :)
Movement: Still sporadic and not very often. I tried to get MC to feel him the other day when he was kicking (of course he stopped when she put her hand up there). I said "MC, do you want to feel your baby brother kicking? He's in my belly kicking!" She didn't miss a beat and says "He's kicking your belly?! Well, that's not very nice!!" Hahahaha sweet, funny girl. 
Gender: Boy - Grayson Carter
Milestones: Well, I received 2 HUGE boxes of clothes from my mother so I would say having our precious baby boy outfitted for the first 6 months of his life is a huge milestone. He is safe from having to wear any pink hand-me-downs from his sister, hehe. We also finished setting up his room (we still have to get a glider and hang curtains) which was another HUGE accomplishment. Basically, we are halfway through the pregnancy and all ready for him to come! We still have all the "basics" from MC (I was sure to get green things so they could be used for a boy or girl) and now that we have clothes, we are good to go! 

Friday, August 24, 2012

Little Girl, BIG Personality

Every parent thinks their child is the greatest thing since sliced bread. However, I think we also have to be realistic.

Maggie Claire is independent, strong willed, outgoing, and social. She loves interacting with other kids and has no concept of personal space. Bless her, she insists on being no more than 2 inches away from whoever she is speaking to or playing with. Quite overwhelming for mellow children who like their own area. She has more energy than the energizer bunny and literally NEVER STOPS. Again, quite overwhelming for mellow children. When I was a child, if a kid like her bombarded me I would look like a deer in headlights too (which is the response most children give her). With that being said, she is also one of the smartest, sweetest, most compassionate, and funny children I have ever known.

While her little personality is hers and I respect and adore her for it, it can cause... well... problems.

Growing up I always imagined I would have a little girl like me. Reserved, somewhat introverted, quiet, and one who appreciates "alone time". Instead, I got my husband reincarnated. We are complete opposites. He and MC are like two peas in a pod. She got every single aspect of his personality. A grown man with those characteristics I can deal with; a two year old - I am clueless.

All of my years in college, student teaching, and actually teaching have been of no use during the terrible two's. (I, like most parents, must convince ourselves that most occurrences are simply part of a stage and will not continue through the rest of their lives. Don't judge- its the only way we stay sane.)

The first issue we are having is with sharing. As mentioned in my "milestone" post, this has become a problem. Is it because she is an only child right now? Is it because she's not in daycare? And the big question on mine and every other mother's mind who deals with this issue - Am I doing something wrong???

Let's face it, even if you are a mom, you judge other mothers by their child's behavior. Its wrong and its mean, but its true. If you go to the park and see a kid running a muck and beating up every other child there, you probably think "Whoa. That woman needs some parenting advice ASAP. She obviously has no concept of discipline..." I'm pretty sure we've all done it at least once. However, when its OUR child who is doing something wrong, we pray the other mother's sympathize and understand we are doing everything we can but our kid is just crazy or going through a phase.

In addition to sharing, MC also has issues controlling her emotions. I like to think she is "passionate", but really its a nice way of saying she has frequent emotional meltdowns - ie tantrums. I know most moms have to deal with this but I never thought I would. When it began, I researched. Oh boy did I research. I have put into practice several ideas and even come up with one or two of my own that seem to help. However, nothing has completely rid us of them. Is it even possible to raise a child who is tantrum free or am I just dreaming the impossible dream?

Just in case one or two readers are dealing with tantrums, I'll share two things that seem to work for MC. One is completely ignoring the behavior by sending her somewhere else to calm down. When the screaming begins, I say "Maggie Claire, no one wants to hear you scream. Its not nice and I can't understand what you need. You need to go to your room and calm down and then I will be happy to talk to you and help you." She then runs to her room, crying hysterically, while I sit and compose my own emotions. She will throw herself on the ground and scream in her room, but when she comes out of her room, she's usually fine. While this works at home, its not ideal for public places.

The other thing that has worked well to keep a tantrum from occurring in the first place is the timer. When she is playing and I know she's going to have to stop what she's doing to do something else (ie bath, go to bed, leave the house, etc) I tell her that we are going to play until the dog barks (gotta love iphone ringers) and then we have to ______. She says ok and keeps playing. When she hears the dog bark, she stops what she's doing and says "Its time to ____!" She gets it and its worked wonders.

While these two techniques have helped, they haven't stopped it. I don't even know if its possible to "stop" them. This is where ideas are welcomed ;)

I said it before and I'll say it again, I adore my child. However, her behavior baffles me and I don't want to be "that mom" everyone talks about at the playground. What do I do with my little girl with the big personality??

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Sandlot

Who doesn't love this movie? Total classic full of totally classic one-liners.

"You're killing me, Smalls!" This is a favorite in the Martin house. However odd it may be, the is frequently directed at MC. When I get to my breaking point and really just want to scream, I usually come out with "You're killing me, Smalls!". Sounds better than what I really want to say, trust me.

Anyway, Maggie Claire has obviously heard this a time or two, because, lets be honest, mommy gets frustrated on a regular basis.

Adam and I have also recently discovered that MC realizes this statement is used during instances of extreme frustration. Hence, last night. Adam was brushing her teeth and she was just not interested. She was being difficult and told Adam she didn't want him to brush her teeth and it was hurting her (it truly wasn't, she was just searching for excuses). After screaming about it hurting and making it clear she wanted no part of it tonight, Adam tried one last time to stick the toothbrush in her mouth. He got about 5 strokes in before she moved his hand, looked at him with all seriousness, and shouts "You're killing me, Smalls!!!"

Needless to say the hysterical laughter soon followed. Her timing was killer. The circumstances were perfect. Truly a moment I won't soon forget.

Bumpdate!

Ok, let's just be realistic and say that these things will ALWAYS be late. There, now I have no expectations to live up to ;) haha. Here we go!


20 weeks 3 days - Halfway there! Time has flown by!
Due DateJanuary 5, 2013
How Far Along: 20 weeks
Total Weight Gained: 123 (7 lbs). 

Maternity Clothes: Only. I still wear pre-baby pajama shorts and t-shirts, but I have started raiding the hubs t-shirt drawer too ;)
Sleep: Same for the most part - except last night. Ran errands with MC ALL.DAY.LONG yesterday. I was exhausted. Running all over town with a two year old will take it out of you. I actually fell asleep while Adam was reading our devotion last night. Since it usually takes me 30-45 minutes to go to sleep once I lay down, that was some sort of record. Head hit the pillow, he started reading, and I was out. 

Best Moment of the Week: DATE NIGHT! Oh yes. We actually went on a date last Saturday night. It had probably been at least 6 months since we had been out alone together. Long overdue to say the least. The best part is that during this opportunity to actually converse with each other, we were able to decide on a name for little Bean :)
Food Cravings: Coffee. Must have my cup of decaf after dinner and dishes are done and I actually get to sit down for the first time all day.  
Food Aversions: None.
Belly button/stretch marks: Nope. 

Symptoms: My appetite is out of control. I am hungry all the time. Its quite tragic. 
Adam's pregnancy symptoms: Nesting. I am going to go ahead and say that it still counts even if it is forced on him. Since we have moved into the new place I have been dying to get things in order. It has taken so long that my OCD personality is in overdrive and I may or may not be nearing a complete panic attack. Poor guy has been working on my "honey do" list each night when he gets home from work. 
Movement: Still feeling little man sporadically. Usually get a good rounds of kicks 2-3 times a day. 
Gender: Boy. As I mentioned in my previous post, sweet Bean also has a name now. Grayson (because its just an awesome name and we actually agreed on it) Carter (my grandmother's maiden name) Martin. Bean will probably stick but let's hope at least one person calls him Grayson. 
Milestones: Choosing a name. This was huge people. Adam and I don't agree on ANYTHING when it comes to names. The fact that we both loved a name was pretty amazing. 

Sunday, August 19, 2012

What's In A Name?

While I have a feeling "Bean" is going to stick regardless of how Baby Martin feels about it, we have decided on an official name for our new addition..... {cue drumroll}

Grayson Carter Martin


Yup. Its amazing what a date night with the hubs can accomplish. Apparently when you have time for an actual conversation, you can choose a name for your unborn child. I was pretty excited.

If you are a long time follower you might remember that in choosing the name for Maggie Claire, we chose family names. Poor kid even ended up with 4 names because we were so adamant about incorporating both grandmother's on Adam's side. Everyone wonders why a teacher would give their child 4 names (Margaret Claire Elizabeth Martin) knowing how complicated that's going to be, but we still adore it and hope she can learn to live with it ;)

Following the"family name" trend, we came up with Carter. This was my grandmother's maiden name and seemed perfect for a bouncing baby boy. We did break tradition with Grayson. It was selected for the simple reason that we liked it. That's it. Well, and the fact that we actually AGREED on it. Finding a name Adam and I both loved just varified the fact that it was the perfect choice - so we jumped on it.

There you have it. "Bean" has a name. I asked Maggie Claire what she thought of our selection and, of course, what did that little stinker say? She didn't like it. I said, "Maggie Claire, what do you think of the name Grayson for your little brother? Do you like it?". She looked at me for a moment and responded with a very quick and stern "No". I followed by asking her if she was just going to keep calling him Bean and she said yes. Oh well, no pleasing a two year old drama queen I suppose. She also told me the other day she didn't like ice cream, so I'm not sure how seriously I take her response anyway.

Have a happy week everyone! Hope to get the bumpdate posted (with picture!) tomorrow!

Friday, August 17, 2012

Milestone

I suppose there comes a time in every mom's life when you hit the milestone. You loose your child. Oh yes, it happens at least once - even if just for a moment - and yesterday was our day. Go us.

I've said it before and I'll say it again - mommyhood is messy. If anyone says it isn't, they are either in denial or lying. Or on something. Like 3/4 of the stay-at-home moms at the park and various museums in Charlotte. Whatever these gals are on, I want some. Each of them looks as if its Christmas Day and they're on cloud nine. Just once I would like to see someone look, well, like me. 

Don't get me wrong. I ADORE spending time with my child and, as an ex-teacher, I am proud of the fact that I am very involved and interact with MC. However, I'm gonna put it out there. Sometimes the kid drives me nuts. There, I said it. If you are a mom and have never thought this - not even once- I would like to meet you and shake your hand and ask how in the H-E-double hockey sticks you do it. You deserve a friggin' medal. 

Yesterday was one of those days where I may or may not have thought about dropping MC off at Adam's office and telling him to figure it out - I was going home. I didn't, but the thought did cross my mind. 

We started off having a great time at the Nature Museum with a few moms from my playgroup. MC was having a BLAST and was getting out some much needed energy. Then, we made our way to the puppet/puzzle/dress up area and she found the pretend milk. The damn pretend milk. Her friend SB had the coveted piece of blue plastic and MC wanted it. Bad. SB was playing nicely and wasn't ready to give it up. Understandable. Its awesome. MC proceeded to throw one of the worst tantrums in her little 2.5 year lifespan. Yup, hurled herself on the floor right there in the middle of everyone screaming at the top of her lungs. Embarassed? You have no idea. I could feel the daggers shooting from the disapproving eyes of every Stepford mom in the museum. 

I attempted to deal with it nonchalantly as if I had everything completely under control. I moved her to the corner and told her to sit and calm down. When she was ready to play nicely and apologize for her behavior she could come back. Didn't work. No sooner had I put that little tush on the ground than it was back up running to the middle of the room screaming again..... because we all know when you are in need of throwing a tantrum, privacy is not part of the deal. You NEED an audience. 

After a few minutes of complete and utter mortification I decided it was time to go. I reached down to grab my hysterical child and drag her from the museum - but this was also not part of her plan. She took off faster than a fat kid at a Dunkin' Doughnuts grand opening. My pregnant self attempted to sprint after her, but after being bombarded by running children my path was blocked. I watched her turn the corner and that was it. She was gone. 

I spent the next 3-4 minutes scouring the museum in complete hysterics. An employee must've noticed my distress and asked if I lost someone. YES! I've lost the spawn of Satan a sweet 2 year old in a purple shirt and pink bow!! She immediately radioed other employes with the special "some idiot mom lost her kid" code and they were off. About 3 minutes later I see a pink bow bouncing to the middle of the aisle where she spots me and puts both arms out and screams, "here I am mom!". Smiling. Like nothing had even happened.

I scooped her up and told her it was time to go. The hysteria began again. Yay.

As I exited the museum with my screaming toddler, I tried to remember that all moms have "those days". I tried to remember that even if in a state of utter denial through an overabundance of prescription meds and alcohol, EVERY mom has had a day where she felt completely humiliated due to her child's behavior. 

I suppose for the moment I'll just take pride in achieving the "lost child" milestone and pray that for most its a one time occurrence. 

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Revealing The Bean

After starting the new blog, I thought some of you might be new followers (If you're an oldie, feel free to skip this post). As you all know by now, we are expecting our second bundle of joy in January. Now, with that said, I felt it wasn't right to continue the second half of our pregnancy without backtracking to the big news. Telling the hubs we are pregnant.

This is a huge moment in any married couple's journey together. The first time we found out we were pregnant, I have to say that joy wasn't exactly our first emotion. It was a COMPLETE shock. Adam was still in school and we had just received news that he was going to be deployed for the 4th time. Not exactly the best timing. Its probably safe to say that panic might be the overriding emotion we both felt.

Of course our panic slowly gave way to excitement and God proved (yet again) He knew exactly what he was doing. Maggie Claire is the most amazing blessing we have ever received and we couldn't be happier to have her in our life.

This second go around I knew I wanted things to be different. I wanted us to be in a place where we were able to feel nothing but pure joy. And boy did I want to do it right. The first time I shared the pregnancy news it consisted of a phone call to Adam saying "um, honey, can you stop at the store and get a pregnancy test, because I just took one and its positive. I think its broken." Yeah. Not exactly romantic and exciting.

I had been feeling a few odd symptoms for a week or two and I immediately knew I was pregnant. However, when I took the test it was negative. I waited a week and tested again and... negative. I had shared my initial thoughts with Adam so when I relayed the news that they were negative, we both decided to forget about it. Well, he decided. I, however, decided to wait to test again as I am a woman and just KNEW I was pregnant.

I was proved correct when I once again tested and got two pink lines. It was the morning of Adam's HUGE presentation and I had to wait ALL FRIGGIN' DAY to share the excitement with him. Not easy. I had MC make a card that read "To My Daddy" on the front, and on the inside it said "I Love You" with the love being a big pink felt heart. As he raised it up there was a little message that said "...and so will my little brother or sister" I shared with MC that we would be giving it to daddy a big surprise when he got home and showed her the card. As you can see in the video below, she was pretty excited to give it to him.

Given that my husband never fails to disappoint in his reactions to surprises, I knew I had to get the camera ready. This was going to be good.... and boy was it! Enjoy!!

At the end I could tell he wasn't convinced so I went to get the pregnancy tests. He wanted to debate about the validity of my extremely faint second pink line, but when I showed him the digital "pregnant" I think it hit him. He then saw me walk to the video camera that he hadn't preciously noticed and was pretty surprised about that as well ;)

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Bumpdate!


Well, I hate to say it but I actually missed an 18 week picture. In 39 weeks of pregnancy with Maggie Claire and 17 weeks of pregnancy with Bean, I hadn't missed one. I suppose I should cut myself some slack and assume that it was inevitable... However, now that Adam is OUT OF SCHOOL and working, things should get back to normal!


19 weeks 2 days :) Please excuse the fact that I look a complete hot mess. The couch hair and lack of makeup is due to the fact that this was taken at 11:30 at night when the hubs finally got a break from unpacking boxes in the office. After missing last week, I said "I don't care, lets GET IT DONE!"
Due Date: January 5, 2013
How Far Along: 19 weeks
Total Weight Gained: 122.5 (6.5 lbs). I have to admit that I'm getting a little nervous here. 

Maternity Clothes: Yes please. I still refuse to buy maternity shorts with it being mid- August and our list of other items to purchase for the house growing exponentially, so I've still been sporting the two pair I do own and sleep shorts and t-shirts around the house. If I make it out to run errands I usually end up wearing a cotton dress.
Sleep: Same 'ole, same 'ole. Fall asleep, wake up to go to the restroom, lay back down, think of things I need to be doing for 30-45 min, fall back asleep, wake up to go to the restroom... I think you get the idea. It would also be fabulous if my husband didn't require 30 minutes to get out of bed in the morning. His alarm goes off literally every 5 minutes for 30 minutes straight in the morning. This boggles my mind. Why not just set it 30 minutes later and use that time to actually sleep??! 

Best Moment of the Week: Well, lots of great things this week. Two of which don't really have anything to do with Bean, but I'm sure he understands my excitement none the less. Adam's parents came up for a visit, Adam GRADUATED grad-school and is OFFICIALLY DONE!!!!!!!, we celebrated his birthday which is today, and yesterday was his first day of work! Whew! What a fantastic week. And the best event of all? Adam officially felt little Bean for the first time :) This makes my eyes water. Again, he was in Iraq during my entire pregnancy with MC and only got to feel her for one day before we were induced. At that point she was so big there wasn't a lot of kicking and moving around going on. To see his face light up at feeling those first little kicks was pretty emotional. So glad he is here to experience this pregnancy with me!!!
Food Cravings: Hm, nothing to speak of this week. 
Food Aversions: None. All food is still good.
Belly button/stretch marks: Nope. 

Symptoms: Still getting out of breath and dizzy at times. The two sets of stairs in the new house don't help - but at least it keeps me active! I must go up and down them 100 times a day! Next house will definitely be a single level!!!
Adam's pregnancy symptoms: Moody and moody. He doesn't exactly have a Saint's patience and gets pretty aggravated pretty easily. Factor in all he's had going on lately and that we are trying to organize a new house together and you get disaster. Bless his heart though, he always realizes it and apologizes. It takes a strong man to admit when he's wrong and I was super blessed to have one that does it almost every time he screws up ;) I try to learn from him as he is MUCH better at it than I am! Bless him for putting up with me!
Movement: Getting much more frequent now. Feeling those sweet kicks is one of the best feelings in the world!!!
Gender: Boy -  one day he'll have a name. Until then, Bean it remains. 
Milestones: So, after being with Adam for 6 years and him being in school or deployed for each one of those years, I'd say a regular job is a huge milestone. No, its not baby related, but let's just say momma is going to be much happier and more pleasant to be around with daddy back home each night before 4am. 


Thanks for catching up with Bean and I! Hopefully I'll have some new MC photos and updates coming soon via a sweet followers request ;) Don't forget to follow the blog - I have to admit that I miss the validation of seeing lots of faces on my followers section haha. Have a great week everyone!!

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Bumpdate!

Excuse the lack of photo this week - I'm hoping to get the hubs on top of that today... Poor guy has been SWAMPED this last week of school. Tomorrow is his last day and I look forward to getting him back. The studio has hogged him MUCH too long!


Due Date: January 5, 2013
How Far Along: 18 weeks
Total Weight Gained: 121.5 (5.5 lbs)

Maternity Clothes: Well the pre-baby shorts officially fit not more. I've been using my belly band to get more wear out of them considering I own only about 3 pairs of maternity shorts.
Sleep: Sleep has been pretty good. Still tired from everything going on with the move! 

Best Moment of the Week: Sadly, nothing really to report on this front. This pregnancy still astounds me as it is just so different from the first time around. If I didn't have this belly pooch, I wouldn't even know I was pregnant! I still feel Bean here and there, but its very infrequent - ready for Adam to be able to feel him!!
Food Cravings: The other day I craved a steak. A steak. I barely even eat meat, let alone CRAVE it. It was the oddest thing ever. 
Food Aversions: Yesterday I attempted to eat one of my go-to noodle bowls that I ate constantly when my two weeks of morning sickness hit. Wow. Could barely stomach it. I think the memory and taste took me back to the time period when I thought I was dying. Its like sushi. I used to LOVE sushi. Then, after one especially great meal, I got SICK. I mean SICK. Can't eat sushi without reliving the sickness now.
Belly button/stretch marks: No new ones. Still sporting the hip stretch marks from Maggie Claire. I pray I don't gain as much weight with Bean as I did with her!

Symptoms: Starting to get our of breath and dizzy - in the mornings especially. This also occurred with MC, but I feel like I was further along when it did. Anyway, trying to pack in the protein first thing in the morning to help regulate my blood sugar and drinking plenty of water. 
Adam's pregnancy symptoms: Hmm, I would have to say that I have no idea because I haven't seen my husband in almost a week. He has been at the studio pretty much from sun up to sun down everyday. If he's not there, he's upstairs working while I tend to little one. Can I just say AGAIN that I'm so glad tomorrow is his last day of grad school??!!!
Movement: Very infrequent and short. Every two days or so I might feel one or two kicks but that's about it. Although I'll kick myself for saying this later, I am ready for those big frequent kicks and for Adam to feel them!
Gender: Pretty sure he's still a boy ;) Maybe one day when Adam finishes school we can talk about names haha. We have a few we are throwing around but nothing definite by any means.
Milestones: Official baby belly. The pre-baby shorts button no more. I'm hoping I'm past the beer gut phase and actually look pregnant. 

Thanks for hanging in there with me guys. I know the posts have been sporadic. Having an absent hubs, staying home with a two year old, and unpacking everything we own in a new house has proven to be pretty time consuming. Have a great week!!

*Hopefully I'll get the new belly photo up today or tomorrow!

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Marriage Lesson 1

Marriage Lesson 1: Mexican music solves it all

In 4 years of marriage I have learned A LOT. However, I, by no means, claim to be an expert. One thing I have never known how to do properly is get over that awkward silence after an argument. You all know what I'm talking about...

You've been in the car together for a good 10 minutes and your innocent disagreement has now escalated into an all out screaming fest. Once you both figure out its going no where you retreat to your respective corners (well, sides of the car) and sit. In silence. Mulling over the events that just took place and how your significant other is a significant idiot. Then you think, "well, maybe he did have a point..." but you are not ABOUT to utter those words aloud. So you continue to sit on your side of the car, staring out the window as if you still believe you were 100% correct. 


Where do you go from here? Who breaks the tension and how do you do it? Listen readers, because I am about to tell you the ultimate secret to ending that awkward silence so you can get on with your day. Who ever would've thought my sweet Adam had the answer all along...


Mexican music. No, I'm not messing with you. 


Think about it. You could be absolutely furious (either at your spouse or the fact that he was right), but the moment Jose Pablo Martinez Sanchez starts belting out "Bésame, bésame mucho Como si fuera esta noche La última vez" flailing those maracas and your husband starts blaring it while driving down the freeway, you can't help but smile. 


And just like that, you slink from your corners and return to normal conversation. Its that easy. Who knew? Mexican music solves it all.