16 Week Update

I'm now 16 weeks & Baby Perno is the size of an avocado this week! I read that the baby will go through a huge growth spurt & double in size over the next few weeks... pretty exciting!



How am I feeling? Pretty good! No major complaints other than more consistent heartburn. Some days I feel like there's battery acid bubbling in my throat!

Any new changes this week? I started feeling the baby move this week!!! Saturday (the first day of week 16) I was pretty sure I felt flutters & by the next day they were much stronger & I was sure it was the baby. I remember feeling Cam for the first time on my last day of week 16 so this little one was about six days sooner. I am beyond excited to finally be feeling Baby Perno... this is my favorite part of pregnancy! In other news, we'll be finding out Baby Perno's gender in an elective ultrasound we scheduled for this Friday!! I cannot wait! My gut tells me this is a girl, but does anyone else have any guesses or feelings?

Weight gain? I'm up one pound from last week but still down a pound or half pound from when I got pregnant.



Last Tuesday was my birthday so this weekend Mike completely surprised me by inviting our friends over for a birthday breakfast. Lets just say that I was not at all prepared seeing as it was a surprise & I happened to be sitting on the couch in my pajamas wearing no bra when everyone came in! I was so surprised but also embarrassed & quickly ran to change & make myself look less frightening. It was such a great morning & I'm extremely thankful for my friends & hubby!!



Our group is rapidly expanding! There were four two-year olds, two newborns & two babies on the way. Pretty soon there will be eight kids in our group!





Matt & Kelly were so incredibly sweet & baked me this gorgeous apple struesel cake. It tasted just as good as it looks!



Sunday my parents came up to celebrate my birthday & we had an awesome visit with them. Cam was so happy to see his grandma & grandpa!





I was telling my mom how awful the dollar store pregnancy tests were since I took them for five days when I just knew I was pregnant & got a negative each time. I finally went & got a drugstore test which was immediately positive. So my mom said, Wouldn't it be funny if you took one now & it was still negative? So we ran & got one but this time there was a bold pink second line right away. I pretended I just found out I was pregnant & everyone jumped around & congratulated me! Yes, we're lame!



It was then time for Cam's favorite activity.. birthday cake! And the candle thief was at it again & just had to blow out my candles before me!! Even after he did it once he was ticked off when they were re-lit & I blew them out.



Here's my cake hound! It was an absolutely fantastic long weekend spent with family & friends. We enjoyed the extra day off & the beautiful weather at Lauren & Josh's pool yesterday! It's amazing how much one extra day away from work can do for a person!

Rescue Pack!

Ages ago I started to dance through the living room each time the Rescue Pack song came onto Go Diego Go. Before I knew it, Cam began joining in & it became our thing to dance together. Sometimes I'll be distracted when it comes on, but he always finds me immediately & says, "Come on, Mommy!" No matter how tired I am when that dang song comes on, I get up & dance my butt off with him & by the time we're done, I always feel so much better!

You'll see by the end of our dance I'm struggling to swing him around... it's not as easy as it used to be when he was a lot smaller! Mike missed our high-five at the end which we always do!

15 Week Update

Well, I'm officially 15 weeks along!



How am I feeling? I've been more tired this past week/weekend which kind of stinks! Since I have OCD about keeping my house in order, it's hard for me to relax without having a guilty conscience. But, I am taking it easy since sometimes I'm just too tired to fight it. I hit the gym three times last week so I'm grateful for that!

Any new changes this week? It seems that my heartburn has officially kicked in! Yay for me! Thankfully milk extinguishes some of the burn. Other than that, I really haven't noticed any new changes.

Weight gain? I believe I'm a pound up from last week but still a couple pounds down from when I got pregnant. My appetite has definitely picked up since the nausea has subsided so the weight gain will definitely keep coming. Obvious statement since there's a growing baby inside of me!



On to other events, as we watched Brunch at Bobby's on the Cooking Channel yesterday & I began to completely crave biscuits & gravy so that's what we whipped up for breakfast this morning. Who knew homemade gravy could be so very easy?



Cam seemed to enjoy his breakfast! It's all a facade though since he didn't touch his biscuit, we didn't bother even giving him gravy since it was really peppery & he'd say, Too spicy! and we tricked him into eating half of his eggs. Ah the joys of feeding a picky toddler! Many times we have to chant, Buzz bite! Buzz bite! in order to get him to eat. Yes, it's in honor of Buzz Lightyear who you can see on his pajamas. Who knew we would be reduced to this?



And as I came into the kitchen to have some lunch this afternoon, I found these two snuggle bugs taking a nap together!

14 Week Update

I've been debating if I'll try to post weekly updates during my pregnancy & I decided I'd give it a go since this will likely be my last pregnancy. So here goes nothing!



How am I feeling? I'm finally starting to feel human again! Weeks 8-12 were extremely rough & I was nauseous/throwing up basically every day except Saturdays. I'm sure that was because my stress level is the lowest that day & I'm not forced to run around. With this pregnancy my vomiting was worse in the evenings; come 5pm, I had to be near a bathroom & I could barely eat dinner. With Cam, I vomited more in the mornings. My energy level has been ZERO so going to work all day & managing Cam in the evenings has been anything but easy. I'm so happy to be feeling more like myself these days! I've even gotten back to the gym which feels so great!

Any new changes this week? Other than hearing Baby Perno's heart beat yesterday, nothing new is going on except that I seem to be showing more lately. Most of the time I still look like I've just downed ten too many beers & burgers rather than truly looking pregnant.

Weight gain? I'm still a few pounds down from where I was when I got pregnant which was also the case with Cam. With Cam I lost about 8 pounds in my first trimester, this time I lost 5. I already seem to be gaining it back though since I can actually eat again.

Bolognese & Babies

As I watched Secret's of a Restaurant Chef with Anne Burrell on the Food Network last year, I knew I would make her Pasta Bolognese recipe. When I did, probably the following weekend, it was completely delicious & full of flavor. I decided it was time to have this sauce again so I made it again yesterday.



This is definitely a weekend sauce since it takes about four hours. It's very easy to make though so don't be intimidated by the time! The sauce is all about the concentration of flavors which takes time; lots of reducing & simmering. Click here for the recipe, you won't regret it.



This recipe will easily feed eight adults. We brought it over to Lauren & Josh's with a loaf of French bread & enjoyed it with a salad Lauren whipped up.



Any excuse to spend time with little Taylor is fine by us!



Is she beautiful or what?



And check out these dainty little toes!!

Speaking of babies, I paid a visit to the doctor for my fourteen week check-up today. I was able to hear Baby Perno's heart beat which was music to my ears! His or her heart rate was 156 BPM & the doctor said it sounded strong & healthy. It's funny because Cam's heart rate was always right around 140 BPM so who knows, maybe the difference means that Baby Perno is a girl?! We'll see in about 5-7 weeks! Honestly though, and I know most everyone says this, but as long as this baby is healthy, I'll be thrilled with either a boy or a girl. We are already so blessed!

Mother's Day 2011

I'm just now editing Mother's Day pictures since I came down with an absolutely miserable stomach bug on Tuesday evening. I was violently ill for 12 hours, didn't sleep except for half hour fitful stretches until it was time to be sick yet again. I stayed home from work Wednesday & literally never left the recliner. Thank goodness for Bravo TV & for Mike who took care of Cam so I could rest. The bug hit me just as my pregnancy nausea seemed to be loosening its grip on me so I really haven't had a break from throwing up in about six weeks! Fun stuff!



Mother's Day morning we headed to my parent's condo for family time by the beach & pool. The weather was spectacular & it was such a relaxing, perfect day.



Cam had a wonderful time swimming with his cousins & lounging around the pool.



Look at our lil beach bum!



He was looking super cool as he munched on some popcorn!



He was also lucky enough to share his cousin's root beer float! This was Cam's very first taste of a root beer float.



After dinner we celebrated Maddy's birthday as well as my mom's (which happens to be tomorrow).



Cam enjoyed Maddy's Barbie doll far more that Mike would have liked!



Mikayla made her mommy a precious Mother's Day card.



And Cam helped blow out the candles! Notice the chocolate on his face? He helped himself to a bite off the side of the cake before we were even able to sing! Click here to see the video on Cam's blog.



And we all opened our Mother's Day presents.



But this is the best Mother's Day present I could ever imagine! LOVE MY BOY!



Cam ended the evening in a bath/water fight with his cousin! It was an absolutely wonderful Mother's Day!

EXTRA Special Mother's Day!

This is my third Mother's Day with Cam (well, fourth if you count 2008 when I was pregnant) & though each one means the world to me, this one happened to be even more special than ever. Not only am I Cam's mommy but I'm also the mommy to Cameron's baby brother or sister who will be arriving this November!!



That's right, I'm 13 weeks pregnant with baby #2!!



And we couldn't be more excited about our newest blessing! Well, I guess Cam doesn't quite know that Mommy has a baby in her belly, but I'm sure if he did, he'd be excited!!

Happy Birthday, Maddy!

Today is my niece's 8th birthday!! I seriously cannot get over the fact that Maddy is already eight; time is flying too quickly. When Madelyn was born, we still lived in Illinois, but I was lucky enough to fly down the day after she was born. She is a big reason why I really wanted to move down to Florida. Every time we would visit Florida, it would take Maddy time to warm up to us since she was small & didn't really know us. By the time our trip would be coming to an end though, she was getting close to us... just in time for us to leave again.

I'm so happy to live near my goddaughter & for Cam to know & love his cousins. Happy Birthday, Madelyn, we love you so!!

The Dreaded Big-Boy Bed

Every so often Cam would fool us into believing that it was time to change his crib into a toddler bed when he'd decide to climb out. Just as we were about to make the transition though, he'd stay put & stop climbing out. He's probably gone through about three spurts of this, but he always went back to staying in bed. Until a couple of weeks ago, that is..



I've really dreaded the transition since I know Cam still needs true boundaries. I would have seriously kept him in his crib for another year if I could have. But, his safety comes first & we didn't want to chance him hurting himself on a stint of climbing out. So this Saturday before nap, we took the plunge. So far he's doing fantastic at bedtime but not so much with naps. Yesterday during nap time he managed to flip his mattress over a couple of times, knocking the guard off his bed. After Mike sat in there for a bit & made sure he simmered down, he ended up falling asleep.

With bedtime there is no difference between the crib & the toddler bed since he stays put & falls asleep wonderfully. The only change? He's now coming into our room at around 6:45 in the morning instead of sleeping until his usual 7:15-7:30. Yep, so this morning we were rudely awoken to our bedroom door slamming shut & our light being flipped on! Nice. But, if it gets any earlier than 6:45, we'll crack down & take him back to his bed. For now, we let him lay with us & watch cartoons.



Oh the days when I could keep my little monkey confined!! They were good while they lasted!!



In unrelated events, I was delighted to see that our hibiscus had bloomed while we were at work today! Each time we have a bloom, I can't help but admire it & smile!



Is that a weed growing near my hibiscus? Nope, it's just my little stinker butt! And he & his daddy make me smile the most of all!

Happy Birthday, Baby Taylor!!

This morning as I finished my previous post, Mike showed me his cell phone where I saw a picture of a newborn baby. I immediately shouted, "Is that Taylor?!?!" The answer was yes & I burst into tears of happiness! Lauren & Josh have been waiting for the arrival of their miracle baby & she made her big debut two weeks early at about 6am this morning! Hop over to Lauren's blog to read their story.



We are absolutely thrilled that she is here & that everyone is happy & healthy! Taylor is as gorgeous as I had imagined & I just cannot believe she's finally here!! Tears sting at my eyes at the thought of all that Lauren & Josh have been through. Taylor has a big brother & three big sisters watching over her from Heaven. She is one lucky girl & so blessed to have such amazing parents!



She'll definitely be spoiled with plenty of love & attention & I look forward to getting to know my new little "niece"! I am so blessed to have such amazing friends in my life who are truly family to me!