3rd trimester here we come...

27 weeks is upon us and our little baby boy #2 is 2+ lbs! As I move into the last third of this pregnancy and feel the familiar heavy belly starting to weigh me down thoughts of how having two little ones start to get to me. In good and bad ways of course. Both Alex and I are going through a bit of an anxiety time wondering how the heck we're going to manage one rambunctious toddler, one newborn, and two fulltime jobs.  I know these thoughts are plentiful among parents worldwide, and I know somehow it will work out, but geeze, the complexity of daycare, when, how much, and the all familiar breastfeeding and pumping woes I know will soon be upon us.
I am conquering the anxiety by planning ALREADY for this summer. Calls to my mom, (who as a hard working teacher has this summer off...woohoo!) and my sisters have already yielded the much needed help that will be necessary to transition this fairly smoothly running family of three to that crazy number of 4! It certainly does help knowing how much work one is and what works for one and what doesn't, but then other parents warn that two kids is not only twice the work, but FOUR times the work and my thoughts go haywire again.
Despite all this crazy pseudo planning, this pregnancy is breezing by quite nicely. The next few weeks will bring my wonderful glucose tolerance test, (which is always good for a somewhat sickly sugar high!) and my baby appointments moving to every two weeks. Also planning on how the heck baby #2 is going to get out in this world is being discussed. Names are being bounced around, but no big announcements here yet.
My little wee boy is treating me well, as I'm still able to jog a few times a week and stay active in the garden and on walks with Forrest, (yes, despite the looks of that picture above!!!) Work is trying, as I do a lot of procedures on veins which leaves me crawling around on the floor or leaning heavily over somebody. Patients must think I'm nuts to be in the different unusual positions I have to be in with my evergrowing belly, but, again, so far so good! This little guy is a mover, and seems already to be taking up ALL his space quite nicely. Now comes the miracle of how in the heck 5 more lbs of him is going to fit in ME....
one stretch mark at a time...;-)

Forrest the blooming Picasso, (in 15 minute spurts....)

This warm Sunday was screaming for some more outdoor time, so after our lunch, and before the crazy nap time crankies hit we tried to fulfill the creative juices and create some Valentine's Day treats.
Forrest loves to paint...for about 15 minutes, and then his mind wanders, or he hears his Daddy's saw, or the scotch tape holding up the beautiful works of art just becomes more interesting.
Still, it's a fun way to burn up a portion of a sunny day and gives his mama some time too to express herself with good old washable crayola paint, (hopefully with practice she'll progress beyond hearts and fishies!)

My fiesty nearly two year old....

One minute laughing crazily giving his daddy kisses on his nose, the next minute hitting his mama and throwing a fit for who knows what, (lack of blueberries, wanting to throw food, wanting the steak knife he knows he can't have, etc.)
Tis the life of this little dude!

It's been the challenging terrible two's here in this household, and yes, we haven't even hit that two year old milestone yet. I know it's common, very normal, and just about every parent goes through some form of it, but woweeee, it can be tough!
How can this little being be so cute and cuddly one minute, helping mom throw trash away and saying his adorable "HIIII" one minute and the next turn into demon toddler that can't seem to communicate for the life of him, likes to throw his milk on his momma, AND follow it up with slamming his dad with his toy dino.
Hmmmmmm.
We do timeout. We do straight out NO. We do explanations, long winded and short winded on why things are dangerous. We do distractions. And we also try not to set too many limits so he doesn't get straight up fed up with NO, (not that NO has much of an impact anymore....hmmmm.)
So, just a phase?
This too shall pass???
Or, are we missing the boat somewhere. I don't think so, at least not a major boat, but sometimes I wonder.

And then I see this little smile and some mysterious drug seems to make me forget his crazy ways and say YES, you can be a mother of two, you CAN!
One sticky mess at a time....

6 month milestone, morning runs, and super January weather....

 We have had unbelievable January weather the last few weeks. 50-60 degree daytime temps which is AWESOME for us, sunny days, and little or no rain. On my weekends off we've been trying to take advantage of the lovely weather by getting outside, hiking, running, and starting our garden! Yes, via the greenhouse that is. In the last two weekend I've started lettuce, microgreens, spinach, broccoli, and cauliflower. Our greenhouse is a nice little oasis of a warm spot in our chilly climate here as even with these nice days, it still stays cold for quite awhile in the mornings.
Forrest and I go on walks and runs and I'm happy I can still push him in the BOB on our morning run. My pace is slow as molassas, but the point is we still get out there! After the run, (walk on other days...) he enjoys a little snack and then tromps around, terrorizing our Turkeys, playing with the dogs, jumping in the dirt pile, and "helping" start our seedlings in the greenhouse. The life of a crazy toddler...

 And on other news, Fultmeyer boy #2 is now 6 months baked! 24 weeks along and I'm starting to feel the familiar tight hip flexors, the wonderful round ligament pain, and the continued amazement at the moving belly. All in all I"m feeling great. I had some fairly consistent Braxton Hicks a week or so a go that I was questioning, but they have not returned and my midwife  is saying everything is measuring up well....including the lovely weight gain and belly size!

 I think I'm going to do a 5K next week, Trinidad to Clam Beach run, complete with a water crossing, sand run, etc. Should be fun and plenty of people walk it if I feel so inclined. 3 miles has been feeling about right lately so we'll see how it goes. I'm amazed at the people that continue to run till their 9th month. How in the heck did it feel comfortable? Pretty crazy how different our bodies can all be during this incubator time...

2's are wild! 22 month old Forrest, just 2 short months till he is TWO YEARS OLD!

rain walking with cars in tow...

Can you believe that? I can't. I nearly almost have a 2 year old! Forrest is still the incredible cute kid he always has been and is growing and saying more each day. Talking is still not his forte, though he tries just about any new word you can think of. New ones this month have been owl, Grandma, doggie, (a step up from his "da" which he still does love, but can  mean dog, dad, that, or whatever he feels like).
He is such a good eater and visions of raising two growing ravenous boys are filling my head. This kid packs in just about anything we eat for dinner with favorites of salmon, yogurt, any rice, apples, crackers and popcorn, and his milk. I'm not sure on his weight stats, must be inching closer to 30 lbs, his feet continue to grow, still in size 7 shoes, and a few 8's. His favorite toys include his animals made my Henoch and Schoeln, very life like and he is in love with his Dog and Bear. If one is missing he mopes around calling for it and looking under everything. Cars still rule his world, as do his blankies, favorite books, and anything to do with the outdoors. He is also still very mechanical and will spend eons, (in toddler time at least,) taking something apart and putting it back together again
Our dogs, Chester and Tessie are also best buds with him and he MUST say goodnight to his furry friends before going down in his crib. Yep, the crib still lives on, he continues to go down easily most nights with maybe 1-2 brief wakeups on average. Last week I had a bad night with him where he was up every 30 minutes...makes me wonder if he is plotting with his younger brother to get me "re-trained" to wake up with a newborn!
He is still super charismatic, friendly, and always saying "Hi" to anyone he meets. His little personality is coming through as well, he is a crazy energy filled kid who at times cannot keep still and runs laps and laps inside the house, climbs ladders he shouldn't, etc. He also has his orderly way about him, likes to organize his cars, close all our doors and cabinets and throw things in the trash, (lets just hope we can keep it to actual trash that goes in the can!)
We have yet to give him a haircut so these locks are getting a bit ragged...I think his first trim will come before he turns two.

He is pretty amazing...and will be a great big brother :-)

Single Katie to mama Katie of two boys, ( and an awesome husband...!) in under 90 seconds...

***Double click on the video to bring it up larger through YouTube...***
This was made very easily with "pummelvision" a website that seamlessly puts together these collections...
I have John, super duper hubby to friend Sheelagh to thank for this idea. His version is incredible simply due to his talent as a photographer. Go here to see his talent in action...

 

22 weeks: Baby is as long as a spaghetti squash. Your baby has stretched to the size of a spaghetti squash and weighs almost a pound. (Length: nearly 11 inches.)

 

Yep, 22 weeks...51/2 months...I'd be lying if I said I was amazed at how fast it was going. I am however amazed at how fast I am GROWING! When I catch glimpses of my baby belly I feel more 7 months along. I know your second child is supposed to pop a bit faster but wowee, we are enlarging fast in this household! I also feel like I am feeling stronger movements a bit quicker...at 21 weeks we also SAW the first real baby movements, as in my belly was jumping too and fro. This was a neat thing, as Alex got to see it happen as well. 

I am, however, feeling great. I don't feel all that pregnant yet, at least most of the time. I am trying to keep up the exercise if work allows. It depends on the day if I get the running in, somtimes it is a walk/run...though just the other day I surprised my self by running 3 easy miles. I love food and have a huge appetite. No nausea here! No swelling, heartburn, or any other hard to deal with symptoms yet...

My cravings, Greek Yogurt...yummmm!(though pricey...sheesh!) and CHOCOLATE! I am trying to keep that last one contolled by not eating ANY sweets at work and just having my treat for dessert. The holidays fed me endless sweets I think and now I'm trying to reel my sweet tooth back in!

Overall I'm enjoying the pregnancy and what will be most likely the easiest time of my life raising two boys! Forrest is nearly 22 months, as cute and lovable as can be, and I can hardly wait to see what two will be like! 

It looks as though the satellite dish is scarily beaming info into our baby boy....hmmmm....

Sledding fun...

 2 days after Christmas we took a little afternoon trip up to the snow, only a 30 minute drive from our place. Sometimes we get snow, but not ever enough to sled in... This was Forrest's first time sledding and did he ever love it! The snow man picture that is now my blog header came from this same trip. My parents were with us and my dad took part and got the hang of the toboggan. Poor Alex was our chauffeur and had to steer clear of the snowy slope due to major back issues....but a fun time was had by all including the little Forrest- meister. He wanted more, and more, and MORE despite his mama's tired body after huffing him and the sled up the hill a dozen times. We will be back, I can say that!

book worm...

Okay, so maybe not a true book worm, but a book on tape worm perhaps! Books on tapes are my new found hobby and make my work commute so much more enjoyable. So far I have been through the above titles and can't believe how much it has changed my drive. My drive has always been far more enjoyable than a city commute, but even the beautiful scenery and NPR has its limits.
Listening to books on tape is like following a movie, but better, (as isn't the book always better than the movie!) And it's making my commute actually feel productive and fulfilling, and NOT a waste of time which it can often feel like.
I am 1/2 way through the third Steig Larson book which is a great series....and Three Cups of Tea was an awesome eye opening adventure filled account of a true story. I highly reccomend all of the above titles...
(and it helps drown out the endless Sesame Street that is playing in the back seat for Forrest...not that I don't enjoy them, but anything can get a little old!)

It's a........

boy!!!!

Forrest is going to be a big brother to a little boy! Our big ultrasound was this morning and we were so excited to find out whether our little bean would be a smolt, or smoltess....
My mom got to accompany me to the event along with Alex, and signs point to a baby boy for this Fultmeyer clan!
Either way we would have been overjoyed, and the important thing is of course everything looks healthy and perfect on the anatomy scan...
2 little ranch boys....
:-)