8 weeks Baby P2

 

 

How far along: 8 weeks

Gender: not sure yet, I'm going with boy though.

Weight gain: 0

Maternity clothes: Not yet but I have a feeling I will be needing them earlier than with Chase. I feel like my belly popped today

 

Stretch marks: No new ones

Belly button in or out: In

 

Sleep: No issues with sleeping, I'd like more of it than I'm getting though. I do try to nap when Chase does

Best moment this week: Being able to eat a normal meal on Thursday

 

Miss anything: Having energy, I feel bad for Chase as we haven't left the house in a few days

Movement: Nothing as of yet, I felt Chase at 13 weeks so not too much longer

Cravings: I wouldn't call them cravings but bagels, ice pops and strawberries seem to settle my stomach

Queasy or sick: Yes! I pretty much have a shaky stomach 24/7 but the Zofran stops me from throwing up so it could be worse

 

Looking forward to: Our trip to the Baltimore Aquarium this weekend and getting to bed early tonight

(sorry there are is no pic but I totally spaced on the 8 week pic)

Our Valentines

Valentines Day - this holiday is celebrated in the Prendergast household but in a simple fashion; a card and a nice home cooked dinner is usually how we celebrate.

This year we did without the cards and decided to celebrate the day with a trip to the doctors! Not just any doctor though, it was our appointment to confirm our pregnancy with Baby P #2. As soon as the doctor found Baby P2 on the ultrasound both James and I saw that magical little flicker of the heartbeat immediately. A huge sense of relief washed over me knowing that Baby P2 was doing just fine and growing accordingly. On Valentines Day we were 7 weeks and 1 day along, with a due date of October 3rd 2014, the EXACT same due date I had with Chase! However, we are opting for repeat csection ( I know what to expect and recovered really well with the first) the baby will arrive on September 26th, well if it doesn't decide to come early like their brother. Our doctor did say we should celebrate Chase's birthday a little earlier in the month, just incase this one decides to make an early appearance.

James and I are thrilled we will be expanding our family and we cannot wait for Chase to be a big brother. I have no doubt he is going to love his sibling so much and will be right in there with wanting to help Mummy and Daddy out. He has recently started throwing out his own diapers and putting things away in the closet, he gets the biggest kick out of helping out. Obviously Chase is a little young to understand there is a baby on the way, but I think as my bump gets bigger we will try to help him understand what is going on.

So far I have been feeling ok. It seems I am just one of those pregnant woman that gets terrible morning sickness so as long as I have my Zofran I make it through the day just fine, though I am already having food aversions :( Bagels, ice pops and strawberries have seemed the most appetizing of foods so far. James has been a huge help (just like the first time) with watching Chase so I can go lie down or ordering in dinner a lot so I don't have to cook :)

Only 12 more weeks until we find out if it's a boy or girl! What is your guess?

Lil Noggin

As you may have noticed Chase is sporting a helmet these days, and no we don't have him playing football already lol.
A common side effect of torticollis is plagiocephaly, or flat head syndrome and the helmet helps reshape the head. I have kept a close eye on his head shape during his torticollis treatment and all seemed ok. Recently, I had noticed a flat spot forming and I bought it up to the doctor at his 15 month check up and she agreed it should be checked out. We were told about a wonderful woman Allison who treats kids with this issue and she put us right at ease. As we suspected Chase's head does have a flat spot and this has caused his left ear and right eye to shift. Allison got him into a helmet immediately and in four to five months we should be done with treatment. Chase has to wear the helmet 23 hours a day (it comes off for an hour during bath time). As you can imagine he doesn't like having it put on, but once it's on he forgets he is even wearing it. Last night was his first night wearing it and he slept a full 11 hours without waking once. Thank goodness he is such a laid back guy! Honestly I think Mummy and Daddy are having a harder time with him wearing it than he is. I find it difficult getting the helmet in the exact position it should be and I have to keep readjusting which leads to a frustrated Chase and Mummy. Hopefully after a few days that wont be so much of a problem. In about 6 weeks we will rescan Chase's head to see what the helmet has done so far. We will keep you all updated!

A Very Merry Christmas

I can't believe we are on the other side of Christmas, there is so much anticipation and build up for the big day and then in the blink of an eye it's all over. Is it just me or is everyone in a hurry to take down the decorations this year? Not me, I'm going to leave them up for another week or two, the house looks so festive and I know Chase will be sad to see the twinkling lights go.

We had such a great Christmas this year and Chase was way more into that I expected him to be. Our first Christmas activity was making salt dough handprint ornaments for all of Chase's grand and great grand parents. It was so easy and he had a blast getting messy in the flour. We made one for our tree and it is by far his favorite ornament on the tree. We also attended a live nativity at my parents church and he watched the animals intently the whole carol service, while breaking Grandad's glasses..whoops! Of course we took Chase to see jolly old Santa Claus but he was not impressed and cried hysterically as soon as he was sitting in his lap.

This year I started a new tradition for us and that is the Christmas Eve box. Inside the box are pjs for the whole family to wear that night, a Christmas movie (one for the adults and one for Chase), and a Christmas book for Chase to add to his collection. It was fun putting it together and Chase enjoyed watching his Thomas the Train Christmas movie.

We met up with the Smith side of the family for an early dinner at a favorite restaurant of ours and then went to service. As soon as the music started Chase started clapping and oooing. He especially loved the candles we got to light at the end and he even got his own candle, aka a glowstick! Genius idea there. To end the night we went back to Dad and Jen's house to exchange gifts and have dessert. Chase was a trooper and was going strong even at 10pm! I have to say being a parent at Christmas and getting to play Santa is so much more exciting that being a kid at Christmas. I loved setting up all of the gifts around the tree and making it perfect for when Chase came down in the morning.

Christmas day started early! I was hoping Chase would sleep in seeing he went to be so late, but no such luck. His face when we came down the stairs more than made up for the lack of sleep. He slowly looked around the room and a smile spread across his little face and oo-oo oo-oo was being said on repeat. I then made the mistake of trying to strap him in his highchair for breakfast, BIG FAIL!! Lets just say breakfast was dry cheerios in a snack cup lol. He had so much fun tearing off the wrapping paper and moving from one box to another. He decided he should also get to open James gifts lol. Our little boy was so spoilt with gifts, but you know what he deserves it :) With not going to my Dad's house this year, it was the first time I was cooking Christmas dinner. Mom and Bill came up in the afternoon to join us and we all had a great time playing with Chase and eating an English Christmas dinner, Christmas crackers included! We ended the day with watching a Christmas movie.

Boxing day we were catching up with ourselves but got to have a nice lunch with Dad and Cathy as they came up to see us. Chase was clearly exhausted still as he fell asleep in his highchair but quickly found a burst of energy when it came time for opening presents.

And so let the countdown begin for Christmas 2014!!!!

15 Month Check In

It has been a busy few months since our last update on Chase. He has developed such a little personality since turning one, and along with that came the lovely tantrum. We still love him to death though. He is finally walking and he is so proud of himself whenever he does it. His affection for Cisco has grown and he throws a fit if Cisco doesn't co-operate by being right by him at all times.
My favorite, melt my heart moment is when Chase now squeezes my neck ever so tightly while giving me a hug, nothing beats it. Well it's a tie for first place with a kiss from the little man, but either or makes all of the craziness worth it.

We have started attending storytime and music class on a regular basis and Chase goes nuts when we pull up outside of the library, lots of 'oooo's ' can be heard from the back seat. He also just finished his first swimming class at the Y. He was too cute in his little board shorts and is most certainly a fish. I have a feeling we will be spending lots of time at the pool this coming summer, and that is ok with me! Chase also has made some new friends in our neighborhood, two boys, both of them are also 1 and it's so cute watching them play together. I think both of them had talks with Chase about the whole walking thing and that it's a must do!

Our little man was not much of a fan on Santa this year, but he is all about the Christmas tree and the lights. I can't wait for him to come downstairs on Christmas morning and see all that Santa has left for him, as he was such a good boy this year. It is crazy to think that last Christmas he could barely hold his head up and this year he is walking and tears into presents like it's his job.

We hope you all have a wonderful and Merry Christmas!!!!!

Bestie Time

Back on August 1st, my best friend (and her hubbie) had their first child, a little girl Ellie. They live in TN, so unfortunately I was not able to be there for this amazing time in their lives, but my wonderful hubbie decided we should drive to TN in November to see them, and their new house! Of course I was ecstatic (as was Leona) .

I'm not going to lie I was a little nervous about how Chase would do with the drive (10 hours plus stops) but he did great!

We spent 3 days with Shawn, Leona and Ellie and we had so much fun. We didn't do any sight seeing, or go anywhere really, but we had the BEST time. We got to do what best friends, that live near each other, do. We hungout with our babies, ate amazing food, watched girly shows and talked ALOT. I am so blessed to have a friend like Leona. Besides James, she knows me better than anyone and our bond has only grown stronger since having our babies. Ellie is the cutest, sweetest little girl and is such a good baby. I'm so happy we got to spend time with her. Our husbands, rock, they get that we need our girl time together and would pretty much do anything to make sure it happens. Oh and they are highly entertaining when they are together.

Here are some pics of our time together

Leona, Shawn and Ellie



Best friends!

Lil Bestie

We are so blessed

Us in TN

Love this girl!

Birthday Celebrations

 

As previously mentioned our family in England were arriving in the afternoon on Chase's birthday. After spending the morning at the park and a long nap we headed to the airport to pick them up. Unfortunately the drive there was a disaster; rush hour and an Eagles game made a 45 min drive take 2 hours. Instead of coming home to BBQ we at out and the service was terrible. We didn't get back home until 9pm. I felt so bad for the family as they have been up since 5am UK time. We couldn't let Chase go to bed without opening gifts and singing happy birthday, so we quickly snuck it in before everyone crashed. Even though things didn't go as planned we had a good time and of course excited that the family made it here safely 

The day after Chase's birthday was decided to take Chase to the zoo. Unfortunately David was working and couldn't make it, but the rest of us had a great time. Chase was fixated on the penguins and leopards. We got to check out the new KidsZooU and it was pretty cool, we got to pet and brush the goats and get up close to the mini horses. Chase seemed to enjoy it but I think was the one who was a little more excited lol.

Of course no birthday is complete without a birthday party. We had our family and closest friends over for a Dr Seuss 'Oh the place's you'll go" party. I spent a lot of time making the decorations and ordered poms from my friends business Simply Nesting (on Etsy). We also had amazing cupcakes and a smash cake for Chase, who went to town on that. I know Chase will never remember this party, but when he is older he can look back at the photos and video and see how much fun he had and also how many people love him. I'm not going to lie I was exhausted by the end of the party (and still had to pack for the vacation we were leaving on the next day) but it was so worth it. Thank you to everyone who came and/or sent gifts. We love each and everyone of you and are so thankful Chase has you in his life.