So this year I really wanted to take Sophie out while it was actually snowing to see what she thought of it.  Unfortunately it snowed while we were away this weekend and then only snowed for a bit this morning.  So we headed out this morning after her nap to play in the snow.

Now that is joy, she was very excited about the snow.  I wish I had proper snow clothes for her to wear.  She was forced to look like a crazy person wearing pajamas with baby legs and red patent leather shoes.

We did spent a little bit of time playing with the snowman that someone else built.

Next year I am sure she is going to absolutely love the snow, and maybe even catch a ride with her cousins on their cool sleds they got for Christmas.

It doesn’t usually last long because she has too much to do to sit around and watch cartoons.

I am excited to report that my morning sickness is getting better.  I have decreased my pills from 4 a day to 2 a day and it is great to no longer be feeling the side effects of the medicine.  Hopefully by the time I report next it will be completely gone.

We had a midwives appointment this week and it was so wonderful to hear the babies heartbeat.  The midwife warned us that it might be too early to hear it since we were just over 11 weeks.  But almost immediately you could hear a strong loud heartbeat, which is always a great feeling.

My belly is a funny thing.  I find with this pregnancy that I am not nearly as concerned with my weight as I was with Sophie.  I don’t think I am going too overboard but I am definitely not watching what I eat.  I think a huge part of that is that I remember how easy it was to lose the weight with Sophie.  Hopefully it is just as easy with this baby or I am going to be in trouble :)

Here is my 12 week belly.

I would like to think this is all baby, but it is definitely more of a food baby right now.  My belly is much smaller in the morning than in the evening.  It actually surprises me to see this picture because I know very soon it isn’t going to be getting smaller in the morning.

Here is week 12 with Sophie.

Pregnancy Highlights:

Since our laundry is downstairs I am able to get 3 loads done at one time, which is really nice.  On days when I am doing less laundry there is room for a little someone to get a ride upstairs with the warm fresh laundry.

Although it may not look like it in the picture she really did have a fun time riding up from the laundry room in the basket.

When christmas came around we knew we didn’t really want to get Sophie much since she doesn’t need anything so we decided to get her the trike that she had played with that day with Sean.

Sean and I found her the other day sitting on her trike watching tv which was really quite cute.

Although she is still pretty little for it she likes to be pushed around the apartment on it as well as pushing it up and down the hallway by herself.

The weeks continue to fly by.  Everyone says that your second pregnancy goes faster since you have a little one to take care of and don’t have as much time to focus on the pregnancy, they aren’t kidding.  In a few short weeks I will already be in my second trimester.

Here is my belly at 11 weeks.  Sorry for the absolutely horrible picture, and yes those are boxers I am wearing but in my defence they are really comfortable :)

Holy Wow!  There is a baby in there, even if s/he is only the size of a fig.

And 10 weeks with Sophie

Pregnancy Highlights:

I always knew I was going to breastfeed Sophie, there was no question in my mind that it would happen.  Sure I knew it wasn’t going to be easy but I always felt like the struggles would be worth it in the end.

The first few months were hard, Sophie was little and she just struggled to latch.  But thanks to practice and a nipple shield we had it down.  Overall it has been a great experience for both of us.

Breastfeeding got Sophie through those months of struggling to gain weight.  It made traveling Europe when she was 4 months old so much easier.  But most of all it was always in my bag of tricks when Sophie was fussy or sick.

Prior to getting pregnant with baby #2 I thought I would keep breastfeeding until Sophie was 2 or until she weaned herself, whichever happened first.  But with baby #2 arriving in July I knew I was going to have to wean Sophie with enough time for her to adjust.

Over the last few weeks I have noticed she has less and less interest in nursing before she goes to bed.  She is much more excited about the bottle of whole milk she gets from Sean after she is done breastfeeding.

When Sean and I started talking about weaning Sophie last week I figured it was going to be easy to cut some of the feedings out but I had figured the morning feeding was going to be the hardest to stop.  Not just for Sophie but also for me.

I had no idea Monday morning was going to be the last time I would breastfeed Sophie.

I am sad that this connection that Sophie and I shared is over.  We have spent so many hours of the last 15 months just like this.

 But I just keep reminding myself that I get to start this whole journey over again with our new little baby in 7 months or less.

Also, my friend Kelly has crazy amounts of twins in her family, like so many that I am shocked she didn’t have twins the first time around.  So it only makes perfect sense that because she has twins in her family that I must be having twins, makes sense right :)

But the radiologist confirmed that we are in fact only having 1 baby, which is good because I can’t imagine actually having twins especially after having one the first time.

Moving on…

The baby had a strong heart beat 178 bpm and was measuring right about at my estimated due date so unless the midwife says differently at our next appointment baby #2 is going to be due July 22, 2012.

Here is our first picture of this baby and I am so excited to hear the heart beat on January 6th at our next appointment.

I love seeing the baby’s heart beating, that is when it really sinks in that you are having a baby.  Sure the 2 or 3 (or 4) pregnancy tests you may have taken tell you the same thing, but until you actually see that heart beating it just isn’t real.