Just for Fun...

Less than 24 hours to cast your vote! We had our ultrasound today and I am proud to say that Nick and I did not cheat! We dropped our envelope off at Cold Stone and they are making our cake. We find out tomorrow if we are having a boy or girl!

Now, I did all the old wives tales with Aurora and I wanted to do it again for this one. They were wrong with Aurora, but I thought it's still fun :) Enjoy!

1) Are you carrying high (girl) or low (boy)? I'm going with high since I'm carrying the same as I did with Aurora... GIRL

2) Hold a gold ring from a string over your tummy to see which way it swings (back and forth for a boy, circular motion for a girl): Don't have the patience for this...

3) If the hair on your legs grows faster its a boy, slower girl: It's the same I think...

4) Salty cravings = boy, sweet = girl: BOY

5) Pee bright colored = boy, light colored = girl: BOY. But I know all this is based on is how much water I drink and I know I'm not getting enough...

6) Pee mixed with Draino (bluish yellow, brownish, brown, black or blue = boy) (greenish brown, green, or doesn't change at all = girl): so not going to try this - sorry to disappoint everyone

7) Fetal heart rate above 140 = girl: Last check was 168, GIRL

8) Nick's weight gain (if any = girl): BOY

9) Round face for me = girl: GIRL

10) Larger left boob = girl, larger right boob = boy: BOY

11) Acne=girl: BOY

12) In a study, mom's guessed right 71% of the time. What do I think? I really have no idea... But if I had to guess I would say GIRL

13) Moody = girl: GIRL

14) Can't tell I'm pregnant from behind = boy: GIRL

15) Chinese calendar method: I didn't check this time...

16) Age at conception = 28, month of conception = 9. If they are both even or odd, its a girl: One even, the other odd = BOY

17) Ask the mom-to-be to pick a number. Match the number with the corresponding letter of the alphabet (A=1, B=2 etc). Then ask her to choose a name beginning with that letter. If she chooses a boys name, it will be a boy. If she chooses a girls name, it will be a girl: I don't think this one can work anymore since I know that's what it's asking for...

18)What side does the mom-to-be lay on while she's resting? If she lies on her left, it's a boy; on her right, it's a girl: GIRL

19) If young boys (pre-school age) show interest in you while you're pregnant, it will be a girl. If they ignore you, expect a boy: GIRL

20) Ask the mom-to-be to show you her hands. If she shows them palms up, it's a girl; palms down, a boy: GIRL

21) If you dream of girls, you will have a boy. If you dream of boys, you will have a girl: I've dreamt both...

22) Pick up a key - if you pick it up by the thinner end you are having a girl by the round part a boy: Unfortunately I read the whole thing before I could do that, so now I feel biased...

23) If the mom-to-be was the more aggressive partner when the baby was conceived, it will be a boy. If the father was the more aggressive, the baby will be a girl: Haha! I thought that was funny.

So the tally is:
BOY: 6
GIRL: 9

For whatever it's worth :)

Disney World 2.1

Yes, I know. We were just here. But Aurora had soooooooooooo much fun the last time. And we figured this was going to be our last trip before baby comes (and for a while after baby comes), so we went for it. This is a very long post. The next few probably will be, but I am capturing every detail of our trip. And I have the time to since we have to go back to the hotel for Aurora to nap...

 

Tuesday – Oh my gosh the last thing I wanted to do was get on a plane with Aurora. She was in such a bad mood! I don’t know why but she was fussy and clingy all morning and I couldn’t get anything done. Nick was home, but she would not let me put her down. It took me 15 minutes to address a card because she was being such a basket case. I don’t know what the deal was, but we finally made it to the airport and the drama seemed to stop. We were very fortunate – our original flight was cancelled, but they were able to get us on the next set of flights (to Dallas and then Orlando) and we made it to the resort only a few hours later than expected. Yay for Nick’s Priority Access. I always make fun of him, but it actually really helped this time.

Aurora was reasonably well behaved on the flights. She kept saying that she wanted to go home and she didn’t nap at her usual time and I think she was just tried and did not want to be in one place. Surprise surprise. She fell asleep on the second flight and sort of napped. It was really her bedtime at that point, but she woke up for the last 10 min of the flight and for the bus ride to the resort, so I’m calling it a nap.

Wednesday – Seeing as how Aurora went to bed after midnight we had to wake her up this morning. I was amazed how deep she was sleeping – she was really tired. And you could tell, but there was so much excitement that she handled it really well. We went to the Magic Kingdom Park first – have to start there of course. We saw Mickey first thing and Aurora was so excited! Last time we were here she spent the week collecting hugs. This time she wants to sit in everyone’s lap. She made herself right at home with Mickey J Then one of the cast members there saw she was dressed like Snow White, her name was Aurora, and it was her birthday (oh yes – I am going to use this birthday to every advantage. It may not be until next week, but she doesn’t know the difference. Her birthday can be a month long) And he short cut us in line to see the princesses. So instead of waiting 25 min we waited 5. Yay! We saw Cinderella (Aurora and her compared shoes), Princess Aurora, and Rapunzel (they danced together). And she sat in each one’s lap.

Then we got to see Scrooge McDuck which was awesome because Aurora has been so in to Duck Tales lately. And then we finally got breakfast (at 10:30 when we had planned to get it first thing). The characters were so distracting! Everywhere we saw one we had to go say HI. 

Then we saw the cute little performance that they do in front of the castle and Aurora loved it because we got to see everyone – Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and Donald. And I can tell my preggo hormones are out of wack because the stupid thing made me cry. The princesses all came out and were dancing with the princes and it was so sweet and then Mickey told Minnie that she was a princess to him and I couldn’t help it. I have issues right now.

We went in the Tiki Room and discovered that Aurora loves the birds singing but no longer loves the Tiki Men. They are kind of scary now. Then we went on the Jungle Cruise (she loved it), Pirates of the Caribbean (she hated it – she buried her face and would not let go of me. I will say though – high quality snuggling), and then It’s a Small World (she loved it). She said as we were beginning It’s a Small World, “remember that.” Which was funny because we kept asking her if she remembered things and she hadn’t really responded, but this she said out of the blue. So maybe that ride left an impression on her the first time.  

 

Aurora just wants more of everything. After each character it’s “More Mickey,” or “More Princess,” after the Jungle Cruise it was “More animals,” after the Tiki Room it was “More Tiki Room.” She just wants more of everything. She’s like the seagulls from Finding Nemo – they say “Mine, Mine, Mine,” but Aurora says “More, More, More.”

We went back to the resort in the middle of the day so Aurora could nap. It’s not ideal, but if she doesn’t get her nap then she really doesn’t have fun. And we figure this trip is all about her having fun. And getting hilarious video of her and the characters. And I will say that it’s giving me a chance to keep up on journaling for the trip and post pictures. Because you all know how on top of things I usually am.

 

We actually had to wake her up after 2.5 hours. We didn’t want her on a super weird schedule, so we had to. Who knows how long she would have slept. I know she was tired. Then we went to Epcot. Nick loves Epcot. I think it is a very pretty, romantic park and if you are wanting dinner it’s probably the best place to go, but for a 2 year old it’s not that exciting. We went on the Nemo ride 3 times. 4 times? I lost count. It was enough after 1. It’s cute, it’s just… Yeah. You only need to do it once. But Aurora loved it because she LOVES Nemo. We had dinner in “Mexico.” I know, I know, we basically live in Mexico, why not do something different, but it was easy. And Nick went on the Mission to Mars ride and said he almost barfed. He even took a Dramamine, but apparently it’s intense. I went on it when we were here years ago and I don’t remember it being that intense, but I’ve never had motion sickness problems. We are hoping Aurora (and baby) take after me in that regard. While Nick was on the ride Aurora and I played in a little kid area and I had the scariest experience of my life. Aurora climbed up into the crawl area and went all the way around by herself. It’s like at McDonalds in the tubes and nets. And I couldn’t get to her (unless I crawled up there myself). It was very scary for me. I know, and I think she’s the drama queen. But she really enjoyed crawling around and then afterwards she spun in circles singing “Frosty the Snowman” and saying that she was “so happy.” Awesome. 

Thursday – Yay! Aurora got her 11 hours of sleep last night and we had a well-rested happy girl on our hands. She had a great time yesterday, but today she was beyond happy. She was all smiles and very affectionate. Awesome! We went to Animal Kingdom and it seemed like there was a lot more to do this time than last. We had really only planned on half a day there, but we are definitely going to go back.

We got to see lots of characters which is always a highlight: Winnie the Pooh, Eeyore, Tigger, Donald, Goofy (FINALLY! That’s all she’s been talking about for the last month), Pluto, and Chip and Dale. We went on a spinning triceratops ride – she’s so my daughter. Spinning rides are the best.

 

We saw the Live Nemo show which she loved. It’s just like the movie, but Live and with music. Funny thing though – whenever we watch the movie at home we get to the sea turtles part and she gets bored and says she’s done. And it comes after different time intervals because I don’t always start the movie in the same spot and a lot of times she wants me to skip the sharks. So it’s not a time thing. And today when we got to the sea turtles she was done too. Apparently they are boring. I think that’s my favorite part but for whatever reason Aurora never wants to watch it. And she kept saying “skip it” when the sharks came on during the play – it really was just like we were watching the movie at home. And I think the whole theater heard her yell “Daddy!” when Nemo did. It was hilarious.

After Aurora’s nap we went back to the Magic Kingdom. It is definitely the park with the most to do with little kids. We saw Mickey again and did a few rides and how horrible is it that I can’t even remember which ones? Things are starting to blur together.

 

The Dumbo ride was a lot of fun. The best part is the line – they have a little play area that you can wait in so it’s actually fun. It is absolutely adorable and circus themed. Aurora could only play in a small part of it because most of it was for big kids, but she had a lot of fun. We were allowed to play as long as we wanted and I know we played longer than we needed to – the line was really short.

We went over to the new Fantasyland. They are still working on it, but the Beauty and the Beast Section and Little Mermaid section are open and super cute. We went on Ariel’s ride and Aurora loved it. She is very in to Princess Ariel. I think the ride is a duplicate of the one they put in at California Adventure not too long ago. Took them long enough! They have some Fairy Tale adventure thing that we haven’t done yet and a Be Our Guest Restaurant that I really want to go to but the line is always crazy.

 

We saw the Electrical Parade, which Aurora and I loved. The only thing I don’t love about it is how crazy it is trying to get a spot and how pushy people are. It never fails – someone always elbows their way in front of us. At least Aurora got a good view for the most part. We actually ended up staying for the beginning of the fireworks but Aurora hated it so we left. We were all the way back in Fantasyland when they started going off and they were too loud so Aurora buried her head and wimpered the whole time. We basically ran all the way through the park to get out of there. And we made it to the front gate as the fireworks were ending – so we beat the rush at least. Afterwards Aurora kept saying, “More fireworks.” Weirdo.

Candyland

Aurora’s 2^nd birthday party. January 19, 2013.

 

I know that I say this every time, but I cannot believe how fast time flies. I know that everyone tells you it will. And I knew it would. But I still don’t feel that I was prepared for my little baby to be 2. But she is (almost). Actual birthday January 30, but we did the party a little earlier this year because it is going to be a very eventful year. Usually things slow down after Christmas, but not anymore now that Aurora has a birthday in January and this year I am throwing 2 baby showers in February, becoming an Aunt in March, and making Aurora a big sister in June. It’s going to be crazy. LOTS to look forward to.

I had a really hard time deciding on the theme for Aurora’s party this year. I got off easy last year getting to choose what I wanted, but this year was tough because I wanted to do something she would be excited about. First thought was Dora (dora dora splor as Aurora calls her). But I cringed at the thought of buying all the decorations and couldn’t see where I could be real creative with it. (However, after doing this party I may reconsider a completely store bought party next year. Being creative takes time!) Next thought was Disney. I could handle that… Then Christmas came and Aurora fell in love with Frosty. Yes! Winter Wonderland! But Nick vetoed the idea. I don’t know why I let him – I think it would have been adorable. But then while we were talking about it we were playing Candyland and Aurora kept demanding lollipops. She LOVES lollipops. And I looked at the board and saw all the pretty colors and I was sold!

I think the party was a success. The kids seemed to have fun – they decorated gingerbread houses (and ate more of the candy that they put on…) And they ran around like crazy. The boys were really into the Candyland pathway that we put out and kept driving cars on it. Not the girls – just the boys. Kind of funny. They played outside with the bubbles and thank goodness none of them fell into the pond. They were trying so hard! And I thought for sure one of them would barf from all the candy/sweets, but none did. At least not at our house. Sorry to any of the parents if that was your fate...

 

So I was really happy with the way it turned out. Most importantly Aurora had a good time and she got her lollipop!
 

Teeny Cha-Wee-Wee

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Hope everyone had a great holiday!

 

Just a few updates since my last post:

Aurora has learned to say our last name. Sort of. When we ask her what her name is she says Ror-A, Cha-Wee-Wee. It's hilarious. She's been saying it since Thanksgiving and she's sticking with it :)

 

Aurora can now count to 10! Actually New Year's day she hit that milestone. She loved counting. And every time she sees letters or words she starts singing the ABCs. But its always "A B C D E F G" and she stops there. She knows her name starts with an A, but that's pretty much the only letter she recognizes.

We had another ultrasound just before Christmas for the NT-screen. Everything came back normal - yay! It was funny watching this one - I remember Aurora's and she was all over the place - kicking like she was trying to bust out. This baby looks significantly calmer... Just kind of chilling out. I'll take it!

13 weeks. 23 months.

So again it's been forever since my last post, but I have actually been sort of keeping track along the way so I can remember things.

I am currently 13 weeks pregnant which I'm sure you have all gathered from facebook or Christmas cards. First trimester down. I have to say it went a lot faster this time around, but that is probably because I am busy chasing around a nearly 2 year old (that has the attitude of a 16 year old).

So originally we wanted to wait to announce baby #2 until Christmas, but we decided we couldn't wait that long. It was hard enough to wait as long as we did :) We found out very early that we were expecting, so I have been keeping a little pregnancy diary to keep track of things this time around. Lots of info and I'm sure half of you don't care, but I figured I did a good job of keeping track of Aurora, I should keep track of this baby too :) So here it goes:

10/10/2012 (2 weeks, 5 days) - Seriously suspecting I was pregnant. I know it should be way too early to tell, but everything was exactly the same as last time. Boobs starting to hurt and overall feeling crummy. I'm sure I was imagining half of my symptoms, but I started to think that if I wasn't pregnant I really needed to see a doctor because I didn't feel good on a regular basis. But that's how I felt with Aurora too. And another weird coincidence - I was craving chorizo - just like I did when I was really early with Aurora.

10/15/2012 (3 weeks, 2 days) - Pregnancy test positive. I knew it was going to be. I know that you are supposed to wait until you are late, but I was feeling pregnant. My boobs don't lie. Serious pain. The hard thing about finding out you are pregnant early is realizing how long you are going to have to wait to tell people. We decided on Christmas because we wanted as much family to be together as possible (side note: Christmas = 13 weeks, 5 days preggo). And as you all know we didn't wait that long. Ended up being Thanksgiving.

10/16/2012 (3 weeks, 3 days) - Pregnancy test #2 positive. 10/19/2012 (4 weeks) - Ordered Aurora's "Only Child Expiring June 2013" T-shirt. Can you tell I'm excited?

10/20/2012 (4 weeks, 1 day) - Morning sickness starting to kick in. Want to barf on a fairly regular basis, but haven't yet. I think it's worse than last time. So far I have escaped the fatigue. Boobs still hurting. (I'm sure you all love hearing that)

10/22/2012 (4 weeks, 3 days) - Pregnancy test #3 positive. So Nick - do you believe me yet? :)

10/24/2012 (4 weeks, 5 days) - Morning sickness is awful. I want to throw up all the time. This seems to be a very constant thing :(

10/28/2012 (5 weeks, 2 days) - Had a bad day. It happens :( But on top of that I discovered that I was spotting :( I didn't freak out too bad since the same thing happened with Aurora around the same time, but still - not what I wanted to see.

10/29/2012 (5 weeks, 3 days) - Blood test at the doctor's office to check HCG levels. Came back at 12,000. I was told this is "VERY" good. As a side note. I think it's a girl. My pregnancy has been nearly identical to Aurora's (except I am sicker). So I think it's a girl. But I thought Aurora was a boy. So I'm probably wrong. But I sort of FEEL like it's a boy. THINK it's a girl, FEEL like it's a boy. So I can't be wrong then :)

10/31/2012 (5 weeks, 5 days) - Technically baby's first Halloween :) Blood test #2 to check HCG levels. Results came back good - levels doubled like they were supposed to.

11/7/2012 (6 weeks, 5 days) - Smells that make me want to barf: ANIMALS, cinnamon candles, cooking chicken, Nick's protein shake...

11/15/2012 (7 weeks, 6 days) - First ultrasound. Everything with baby looks great! Heartbeat is 165. Can't really see much, baby is still so tiny. At the ultrasound they did find a "mass" on my left ovary. The doctor said they don't know what it is, but I am scheduled to go back for another ultrasound to see if it has changed in 2 weeks. They will be able to tell more then. I am trying not to stress out. There is nothing that I can do but wait.

 

11/17/2012 (8 weeks, 1 day) - I barfed. I'm a real pregnant lady now :) I have been feeling terrible - surprised I was able to fight it this long.

11/19/2012 (8 weeks, 3 days) - I'm tired. Sooooooooooooooooo tired :( The fatigue is kicking in.

11/22-24/2012 (9 weeks) - Announcement! And Christmas card pics with Aurora wearing her cute shirt :) And I can't sleep at night :( I can fall asleep OK and sleep for a few hours, but around 2am I wake up and can't get comfortable :( and toss and turn the rest of the night. And I am tired all day and all I can think about is when I get to sleep next. Looking forward to second trimester...

11/28/2012 (9 weeks, 5 days) - Ultrasound #2. Everything with baby looks great! The mass on my ovary has changed (grown) slightly, but not enough to concern anyone yet. The doctor says we are just going to keep watching it - it looks benign so far, and they will do a more in depth look around 20 weeks. They see no reason that it should affect the pregnancy, but it may be something that needs to be removed later on. Again, not the best thing to hear, but definitely not the worst. Baby is healthy and that's what matters!

 

12/1/2012-12/4/2012 (10 weeks) - Nick and I took a trip to Cabo! We left Aurora with Grandma Lin and Grandpa Bill. She had lots of fun and I am still hearing stories about how Grandma Lin gave her 2 big lollipops (which apparently isn't true) :) But that's what Aurora remembers :)

I barfed twice on the trip. Once on the plane :) (before we even took off) and then one night right before bed. But otherwise I really was starting to feel mostly better. We had a great time relaxing and eating lots of food :) We spent the whole time at the resort sitting on the beach or by the pool. So nice! It was beautiful!

 

 

12/7/2012 (11 weeks) - I would say that the morning sickness is mostly gone. It comes in waves every so often, but nothing like it was before. SO happy about that. Just super super tired now. Maybe a little emotional too...

I have another ultrasound tomorrow (12/21/2012) - 13 weeks. Yay!

We do have a girl's name picked out, but if it's a boy that's going to be harder :( Nick and I just don't agree on boy's names. But we will cross that bridge if we come to it. We won't find out if it's a boy or girl until February.

So that's the pregnancy update. On to Aurora! She is talking so much now. It's hilarious because she has a lot to say, but she has a lot that she babbles still. Some of her favorite things to say are "No, Mommy," "lollipop," "Watch, Frosty" or "Watch, Nemo." She's obsessed with those 2. It's so hard saying no :( But she can't sit in front of TV all day. And I don't know that she even wants to, I think she just wants to have them on. She's funny.

Every meal is breakfast. When she's hungry she wants to eat breakfast. Even when it's dinner time she calls it breakfast. She has gotten pretty good at saying most things correctly, but there are a few she continues to say wrong. She still insists on calling Mr. Pickles, "Pick Pick." And instead of saying thank you she says "nice you." I love it.

Aurora has started singing - her favorite songs are Frosty the Snowman, Twinkle Twinkle, and there's a turtle song she's getting pretty good at. She doesn't sing all of the words, but she's got the first line down at least. And she sings "ABCD..FG...LMN..TUV" :) She can count to 6 when she wants to, but her standard answer for counting things is 3. Her standard color answer is blue, but she gets green, orange, and purple when she actually thinks about it :)

I know there is so much to say, but she changes so quickly and it's so hard to keep track of. They grow up too fast!

We have planned a another trip to Disney World. We figured we had to. She was so funny last time and loved it so much. Plus we are running out of time for her to be free on the plane and in the parks, so we have to take advantage while we still can. It's hilarious because we have been telling Aurora about it and she knows this: "tiki room. go plane. dora dora. after birthday. lollipop." See if you can translate :)

Well, it will probably be another 2 months until I update next :( That's just been the trend lately. Hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas!

I Need Help

I keep putting off blogging because I know I am so far behind, but the longer I put it off the further behind I am going to get and the more I am going to forget, so I figured I should do the little I can before I forget everything. Plus I need to do it before I get a text from Dom telling me how far behind I am :( Updates since August: Disney World was a blast!!!!! If anyone saw my updates on facebook this is repeat info, but mostly Aurora just wanted to collect hugs from all the characters. She is still talking about them 2 months later. I love it! She loved "Tig," "Pooh," "Qua Qua" (Donald), "Goof" (which she now says "Goofy" very clearly, but she emphasizes the y), and "Mic and Me." For some reason Goofy is now her favorite, even though while we were there she was really into Chip and Dale and the Winnie the Pooh characters.

Since then life is busy as usual. Aurora has been making friends and we've been having playdates. That's been fun for her and for Mommy :) We gave up the binky when we got home from Disney World and that was a rough week, but she got over it pretty quickly. She's such a big girl now :( Growing up too fast. Speaking of which, Aurora is talking so much now! 9/21 is when I am saying that she really started putting 2 words together and saying 2 syllable words. Among her favortie things to say at that time, "co mos" (cookie monster), "corvette," "go away," "goofy," "octopus," "strawberry," "fla-mee," (flamingo). I guess those were more my foavrites because they were sooooo cute when she said them. 10/10 Aurora said her first sentence, "I need help." The next day it was followed by, "I pick up," and "I make food." Ever since then she is on a roll. I feel like she is talking or babbling constantly and she has a ton to say. I can understand most of it, but some of it is still a little hard. It seems hard to imagine a time when she wasn't talking. Nick and I have given up having converstations with each other when she is awake - she interrupts way too much. And she's loud :) Aurora has started posing for pictures, but it's only because she likes to see what she looks like after we take the picture. She would rather be on the taking side when it comes to pictures.

Aurora is a super picky eater right now. It is very frustrating because I never know what she is going to want to eat. One day she likes something the next day she doesn't. I thought we'd given up baby food, but I was desperate for her to eat veggies so I bought some baby food peas and sweet potatoes and she gobbled them up. I think she has a texture problem or something. Fortunately she likes fruit a lot. Frozen blueberries are still favorties and she likes plums, strawberries, and watermelon. Her favortie food is either cheese or french fries. Either way she is definitely my little girl.

We went to the pumpkin patch last weekend and had a lot of fun. We went to Agua Linda Farm for the first time and I thought it was adorable - we will definitely be going back there in the coming years.

So that's a little of the excitement for now :) I know you were all just looking at the pictures anyway :)

Since I've Been Wondering...

Every time we go to the doctor and find out how much Aurora weighs or how tall she is I always wonder who she takes after - how she compares to Nick and I at that age. Well, I have our baby books so I thought I would chart it. I know - the engineer in me. But here's the results :)

Aurora weighs the most at 18 months. I was actually the tallest, but it looks like Aurora will pass me up pretty quickly. We weren't that far off from each other. It's fun to see the trend :)