beach take two, throwing up, and mini vans

It's August. There are less than five months in 2015 and that's weird. Summer has, as suspected, gone by really fast!

We have one more long vacation next week. We are headed to Carolina Beach with my family for the week. It's kind of fun that we bookended summer with two family beach trips. We spent a week with Aaron's family at Myrtle Beach in the beginning of June. I believe I mentioned in the blog that Graeme was not a huge fan of the ocean or sand back in June, so we are interested to see if a couple of months will make a difference.

Not a fan.

Graeme is mostly obsessed with trucks right now. There is a dump truck and a loader (not sure if that's the right name) that have now been working right down the street from us for about two weeks now. They are moving a MOUNTAIN of dirt and rocks and construction debris. They have made a big dent in it but I think it will take them quite a bit longer to finish. Graeme might cry when they are done. It's the first thing he thinks about when he wakes up and the last thing he wants to do at the end of the day:  watch the dump truck.

"Dump truck! Dirt! Where'd it go?! Back!"

This is what he repeats over and over again. It's super cute and I can't believe how long he will stay out there just watching the dump truck go back and forth. You would think it would get boring. The man that drives the dump truck always waves at him and we have talked to him a couple of times.

"You need to get that boy a dump truck for Christmas!" he said. He is probably right.

At least he doesn't want to watch sports yet.

I am 17 weeks pregnant now! I have still been feeling much better but I had a minor setback. I either ate something bad that gave me food poisoning or had a stomach bug thing last Thursday. I am not sure which it was. It was definitely not pregnancy sickness related. It was a really bad 24 hours and then I was still not quite back to normal for the whole weekend. So that wasn't fun.

I could have cared less that I felt horrible and was more concerned for the baby and that Graeme or Aaron would catch it if it was a bug. By the next day, I did feel better and was able to keep some food down. And by Monday, I was all back to normal. Yay. Oh, and no one else got sick so I think we are in the clear.




Other than that, things have been great!

We have begun the search for a new (used) car. And by car, I mean mini van. Yes. I said it.

Aaron and I used to swear we would never own a mini van. But then we had a kid and decided to have another kid soon after. With two kids under two, a mini van began to creep in my thoughts saying, "You know you need me!"

I was pretty sold on it, but Aaron was still pretty sold on making an SUV work. We went to a couple of different places last weekend to look. After looking at both options, the mini van wins.

The SUVs that we can actually afford may have a third row of seats, but the third row cannot be used with carseats and it removes pretty much all storage when it's up. Since we cannot officially say "Two kids and we're done," we don't want to settle on something that may not have enough seats in the long run.

The mini vans we looked at were in the same price range or less and had lots of seats and lots of storage. I am most excited about the sliding doors that open with a button. Getting Graeme to the car with all of the things is already a handful. So adding an infant carrier back in the mix plus baby supplies makes sliding doors sound like heaven. No more worrying about banging my car door into the car next to me while I maneuver children into the car. For the win.

I'll keep you posted as we attempt to purchase our first car together. We still aren't sure which car we are getting rid of to acquire this van. I am, of course, clueless on all things financial. Thank goodness for Aaron.

"Are you guys sure you know what you're doing?"

We are less than two weeks away from finding out the gender of this sweet baby! I am trying not to think about it all the time but it is so hard to wait! At least I will have the beach to distract me next week.

Until next time.

blogging is hard sometimes

Most people say that your second child is not quite as "documented" as your first. Meaning baby books, pictures, videos, journals, and so on.

I know this is somewhat true for me and my brother. My childhood photo album is a bit more crowded. Haha.

I saw a blog before I became pregnant this time. It was a mom writing an apology to her second child about how their baby book was often neglected and they didn't have as many photos and videos. Because this time around the mom was busy loving both kids. And chasing the older brother around.

I think I can understand that.

I blogged about every single week after the first trimester of my pregnancy with Graeme. This goal with Baby 2 is already seeming incredibly insurmountable. I was telling a friend that as much as I love writing on this blog, lately, it's been way down on my list of things to do. With Graeme only taking one nap (and needing constant supervision when he's awake), working part-time, and then barely having energy to take a shower and stay awake past 8:30pm in the evenings, blogging and many other things are falling to the wayside.

So, I will try my best to document Baby 2 during pregnancy and life. But I think I surrender to the truth that having two kids is way different than having one. And some things will just have to be more important than others. Sanity and rest will win!

But, today, I do have some time and some brain power to put some words onto the screen.

So, hi.


I am 15 weeks pregnant as of yesterday. Baby 2 is the size of an orange. I feel more pregnant this time around. For example, I already feel like it's uncomfortable to sleep on my stomach. And every once in awhile I perhaps maybe think I already feel the baby. I can't be 100% certain on that though.

Just like my pregnancy with Graeme, there is a magical switch that got flipped right around 14 weeks that made me feel a bazillion times better. No more nausea or throwing up. Most food sounds good to me again. I think Aaron is especially glad of this. Our restaurant and dinner choices were quite narrow for awhile.

So now, my only problem is being tired all of the time. This is most likely caused by pregnancy plus running after a very, very busy toddler all day long.

I had a routine appointment last Friday with my OB. When we made the appointment I wanted it to be with my favorite doctor. We were looking at dates a month out, and the receptionist said our doctor was going to be out of town but could do the Friday before. This happened to be a day that Aaron was at camp with the kiddos from church, but he graciously said I should go anyway and take my mom with me instead.

Before he left for camp, I jokingly said, "You know, if he can't find the heartbeat right away they will do an ultrasound. What do I do if he can see the gender?!"

Well, I should have kept my mouth shut because sure enough, my prediction came true. When he listened with the doppler, we kept hearing little jabs. He said the baby was kicking. He moved it around for a couple of minutes with no luck in finding that steady little beat. At one point, I heard one and said "Oh!" And the doctor said, "That's yours." 

"Oh."

After two or three minutes he said he wasn't going to chase the baby around all morning and we should just go next door and take a look. Even though hearing the baby's heartbeat is absolutely amazing, seeing the baby on the screen is extra reassuring and exciting.

Our little sweet baby had grown so much since Aaron and I had last seen them seven weeks before. The heart rate was strong and steady at 161bpm. The doctor moved around a bit.

"There's his head. There's his face. There's his stomach. There's his arm."

"Wow, that's awesome," I said. Because I still can't get over how amazing growing a baby is. "Wait, you're just saying 'his' like neutral 'his,' right?!"

He and my mom laughed. "Yes, neutral. I don't know that I could tell yet."

He moved the wand so we could see in-between the baby's legs. I of course have no clue what I'm looking at really and he moved it away quickly, so I didn't see much of anything.

"Well don't say it if you know!" I quickly added. "Aaron might kill me!"

"It's still pretty early to be sure," he said as he shut it down and pulled off a few pictures for me to take.

I sat up and we stood to leave. "Thanks so much. We will see you next time," I said as we walked out of the exam room.

"Yep. See you. And I think I know what it is."

"What?!" my mom and I both said loudly.

"I think I'm right, but you'll have a better look at it next month. And I will be curious to see if I'm right!"

This, of course, made it very hard not to just ask him. But, I knew I wanted Aaron to be there and I would never find out without him. Plus, if the doctor was wrong, I would hate to get my heart set on something that might change. The receptionist reassured us that he was definitely not able to tell that for sure at this point. Although I guess the only "for sure" is when you see the baby for the first time!

We left with the date for our anatomy ultrasound (August 17!!) and some sweet pictures of Baby 2's profile. That was more than good enough for me.

Graeme will be 16 months old tomorrow! Oh my!

He's very busy. He's very opinionated. He's very talkative. And he's very persuasive.

I know every parent thinks their kid is cute and funny. We are no exception. We think our little kid is so stinking cute and he's hilarious.

I love to just watch him play with things because it is fascinating to watch his little brain computing.

He is still very tall for his age. At his 15 month check-up he was 33.5 inches (over the 95%) and 25 pounds, 13 ounces. The doctor said he should be saying six-nine words. He's got about one hundred. Again, I'm not sure how he's so smart. God made him!

He knows a lot of his shapes, especially circles and stars. And bats. Because of course he knows what a bat is. He all of a sudden could say his opposites last week. We have an Eric Carle Opposites book that we read maybe every couple of days. When Aaron was at camp, he and I were reading it, and he just started saying the opposites. I was blown away. He can say almost all of the rainbow colors, but the one he is consistently right about is blue. He goes around the house and finds thing that are blue and will shout "Blue!" over and over until you acknowledge that "Yes, that is 'blue,' and you are very smart." Aaron Bauer's son for sure.

He loves to look for airplanes. Our house is right under some sort of flight path so we see quite a few planes. Some are fairly low to the ground and he gets so excited. When he can't see it anymore he will say "Where'd it go?!" and then wave "Bye-bye." Last week we were in the mall parking lot and the ABC11 helicopter flew over. He screamed "Airplane!"

"Yes, buddy, that's kind of like an airplane but it's called a helicopter. Helicopter."

He stared after it and then spouted off "helicopter" in his own little language. He then talked about the helicopter going bye-bye all the way home and when we got home he immediately looked up in the sky and asked about it.

"Well, unfortunately, I don't think we'll see another helicopter today. They don't come around very often."

I should have known better again. After dinner that night, we happened to be outside when a giant military helicopter flew over. Graeme was ecstatic. And so was I. Because how often do you see two helicopters in one day?

Graeme's hair grows like a weed and is already back in his eyes and on his ears. When he starts constantly rubbing his eyes to get it out of his way, it's definitely time for another haircut. He has an appointment on Friday.




Well, that's what's been going on around here with us and our two little ones. Until next time, friends.

so much change!

Hello.

I know, I've had quite the hiatus. A lot has been going on since my last post in April. Not only do we have a running, talkative, attention-seeking, adorable toddler, but we also have a new little addition on the way! Yes indeed, our family is adding another little baby to the mix. We are very thrilled and can't wait to meet Baby Bauer 2 in January.

My blog has taken a backseat lately because I have been exhausted. I realize being tired is the life of all parents and pregnant people. But it's true, whenever Graeme is sleeping, whether at nap time or at night, I can barely bring myself to do much of anything. Writing a blog has sounded like a tiring amount of work. Ha. Come on, second trimester.

Everything about this pregnancy so far is very similar to my pregnancy with Graeme, with a few exceptions. I have way more cravings this time. Not sure why. Specifically Chick-fil-a, Goldfish crackers, and Pirate's Booty cheese puffs. I have a strong aversion to eggs again. I have been pretty sick for the past six weeks. It seems a little bit worse this pregnancy just because this time around I can't really stop and rest whenever I want. No matter how I feel, there is a little ball of energy that feels great and ready to play! I do my best to rest or nap when he takes a nap. And Aaron will tell you that I pass out on the couch by 8:30 or 9pm every night. 

Knock on wood, I have been way less nauseous for the past three days, so I am hoping I am done with that! With Graeme, I started to feel better around 13-14 weeks and then had an amazing pregnancy for the remainder of the time. Here's to that happening again.




Graeme, of course, has changed pretty drastically since his first birthday. He is fifteen months old now! He's had his first major haircut that was more than a trim, although you wouldn't know it now. In two months it has grown out to be just as long as before.

Graeme Grayson
July 2, 2015

He wasn't walking by his birthday, and he wasn't in too much of a hurry after he turned one either! Right around 13 months he went from crawling to walking around within a couple of days. He didn't waste time once he decided to walk! Now, he runs and dances and walks backwards.

Graeme talks A LOT. According to the all-knowing internet (ha), the average 15-month old says about six-eight words. I don't know how accurate that is since every kid is so different. I started trying to make a list of the words Graeme says. Now, not all of them are pronounced correctly, of course, but my list consists of about 70 words so far. I might be forgetting some. I have no explanation for this other than:  God made him unique, we read him hundreds of books and have done this since he was born, and we talk to him all of the time and tell him what things are and what we're doing.

Much to our delight, the boy loves to read books. At times, we will go through a pile of 20 books and he will still ask for more. They are mostly board books, not novels, but we're still impressed. He has expanded his tastes in books a little bit and will even let us read new books more often and not the same ones over and over.

He loves Batman and Curious George. He and Aaron will sit and watch the old Batman TV series with Adam West on the weekends and he constantly asks to watch Curious George. His favorite character on "George" is the little dachshund, Hundley, so we have watched all of the episodes containing him about one million times. Yes, he still loves dogs the most. And no, he still doesn't consider "Peppy" (Penny) a dog.

We took him to the beach at the beginning of June. He had been to the beach when he was four months, but this time he could participate more than just laying there. He was not a huge fan of the actual ocean and sand part of the beach. The ocean scared him and he didn't like getting sand on his hands and feet. He did enjoy the little inflatable pool we brought him to play in on the beach and his beach toys. So, it was not a total catastrophe. He loves the swimming pool, so there is still hope.

Aaron and I took our first extended trip away without Graeme for our fifth anniversary. We went to our favorite place. Obviously that is Disney World. It was wonderful to get away for four whole nights and focus completely on each other. We of course missed Graeme like crazy, but it was very worthwhile to reconnect and not have a schedule that we were constantly making decisions around for a few days. We came back home overjoyed to see Graeme and he was just as happy to see us. Next year on our anniversary we will be leaving two kids behind...crazy!

On Sunday, 12-weeks-pregnant Me is perhaps insanely embarking on a solo plane ride with a 15-month old. In order to visit my grandparents and family in Florida, we devised a plan that Graeme and I will fly down to Tampa where my parents (who are already down there) will pick us up. We will spend a few days with family and then drive back to Raleigh through the night with my parents next Wednesday. Aaron and Penny are staying home this time, sadly. If I can make it to a seat on the plane and somehow entertain a restless Graeme for 1.5 hours, it will be a piece of cake. Yikes.


Well, I am not planning on waiting three months before I write again. Maybe once a week is doable for now. We shall we. Happy Independence Day!