Chloe's going to have a baby...BROTHER!

 Yesterday, February 5th, we found out that we were going to have a baby BOY!  We, mostly I, had been looking forward to this day for what seemed like forever.  The day finally came and I was texting Paul every hour giving him a countdown to the hours we had left until we find out whether C was going to have a baby brother or sister.  Before the scan, I was checked in by the nurse and my heartbeat was 120 beats per minute.  To say I was a little anxious was an understatement! I was even asked if I was having blurred vision because it was racing so fast.  I am definitely not the type of person who could wait to find out the sex.

We went in for the anatomy scan and the technician spent time checking on the heart, brain, bone lengths and spine BEFORE telling us the sex.  It was amazing to see all the little parts of our baby.  Everything was perfect but it was a good 30 minutes before we knew the baby was a HE.  I tried to sit and remind myself to enjoy the anticipation.  The next thing I knew the technician said she was going to tell us what we were having because it was visible.  I looked up and said, "It's a BOY!"  I could tell before she even said it.  Our little boy was not shy.  It was an amazing feeling and I was totally shocked!  I was convinced it was another girl and was so excited.  Paul was just as happy!

We completed the rest of the scan and everything looked great.  Our little boy was a very active and bouncy baby.  He must have been excited to share (show) the news to us!  We immediately left the room and texted family and friends.  We were having a Sikora family dinner, so we decided to hold out  on sharing the news until we saw everyone in person.  It was so fun!

That night as we laid in bed I looked at Paul and we talked about how content and complete we felt knowing.  It is amazing how much we love this baby boy so much already.  We are even more excited for his arrival this summer and can't wait to get his nursery started!

Proud big sister.  Although if you ask her, it is still a "Baby Girl!!!"

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3-D profile with elbow in front of HIS face.

Hands resting on check.

Sticking out his tongue.

Everybody is already commenting on his full lips.

19 weeks!

C is a BIG girl!

I had a great winter break this year with Chloe.  We had a lot of fun together and we were able to accomplish two big milestones over the break.  Chloe transitioned into her big girl bed and is now wearing big girl undies.  We have been wanting to switch her to her bed for awhile and we decided to wait until Christmas break in case it would have not gone well.  We made sure to make a huge deal of her new bedding and she "helped" us take down the crib for the new baby and put her new bed together.  The next day we also bit the bullet and decided to put her in underwear.  At her first nap she refused to put on a diaper and we went with it and then again at night she insisted, "I wear my undies! No diaper."  Again, we went with it.  From that point on she was insulted if we suggested a diaper.  She is doing a great job in her bed and undies.  She has only fallen out of bed a time or two and had an accident a few times but is catching on.  Our goal was to have her transitioned and trained by the time the new baby comes and we are hopeful she is on her way.  Such a big, little girl!

BIG girl bedding!

Cutest little bucky!

our newest miracle in the making

On Monday, October 22nd we found out we were pregnant with our newest miracle in the making.  After wanting and wishing for a while we had decided not to "try" to get pregnant this month because it would be the start of summer and I again would not technically get a maternity leave but surprise! You had other plans.  We were in the middle of watching the third presidential debate when I took the test.  After not seeing a double line in the first two seconds, I was immediately negative and went on and on about how its better that we weren't pregnant this month, yada, yada, yada... But Paul, the voice of reason, chimed in and said he hoped we were pregnant and that it would be perfect timing.  A few minutes later I peeked again and saw a faint second line!  We were both shocked and automatically giddy, excited and in disbelief.
Because of our previous miscarriage last May, we were sent to get blood work to check my numbers and sent to a very early ultrasound.  I was only 5 weeks along and everything had looked good but they could not detect a heartbeat. Ugh...deflating.  More positive blood work and an ultrasound the following week, we had a strong heartbeat, 123 and a July 2nd due date!  It felt just as exciting as when we went to Chloe's first ultrasound.  When we were 12 weeks along we went back for another ultrasound and everything looked perfect!  The baby's heartbeat was a strong, 156.  While the technician was measuring and checking on things the baby stayed still with its hand held near its face.  We were even able to see a 3D view of the baby.  We look forward to seeing more of those as the baby continues to grow.  After the technician was finished our doctor came in and asked if we wanted to know the sex of the baby! We immediately said yes.  Our doctor is known to make a prediction that is correct 80% of the time and is done by measuring a certain angle of the baby.  Our perfectly compliant baby that previously didn't move, decided to have a dance party and was moving all around.  The doctor was not able to get a clear measurement and we will have to wait until February 5th to find out, GIRL or BOY!  We were spoiled last time by knowing at 13 weeks, so I guess it is only fair that we will have wait and build our anticipation until 19 weeks this time around!  Just about everyone is thinking BOY but for some reason I think girl.  Either way we are so excited and can't wait!  We are looking forward to meeting this little one around June 25th. We will be having a scheduled c-section this time around because I structural can't deliver naturally.  I am oddly excited that this baby will have a June birthday just like Chloe who was born on June 19th.

12 week 3D ultrasound

10 weeks

15 weeks

December 18th ultrasound

After I picked Chloe up form the sitter on the day of the 12 week ultrasound our car ride went something like this:

Mommy:  Chloe do you want to see a picture of our new baby in Mommy's tummy?

Chloe: Yes!

I hand the ultrasound picture back to her.

Chloe: OH MY GOSH! Awwww, Mommy!  It's booafull!  It's really booafull!  (beautiful)

Mommy: Do you love the baby already?

Chloe: Aww Mommy, cute baby.  OH MY GOSH! It's really booaful!

Then I quickly called Paul to tell him the sweetest thing I had ever heard.  I so wish I had it on tape.

Chloe Fall 2012

It is time for the seasonal update on our little Chloe Ann.  She continues to be a feisty, funny, bossy, lovable two year old. Chloe is repeating just about everything and her speech and language has really taken off over the last few months.  It is the most hysterical thing when she repeats something we say and sounds just like a grown up.  For example: “Oh no, What happened?”, “Careful Mommy, no touching.”, “ Oh my”,  “What’s this?” and “Silly Daddy!” "Two more minutes (extending her TV/iPhone time)" "Just a minute! (quite bossily) ""Come back here!"  These are just a few of the favorites.  Her favorite thing to ask is, “Mommy, Daddy what time is it?”  It’s like she has places to be and people to see.

She loves to play WITH us and will constantly ask things like, “Play a puzzle with me Mommy.”, “Close your eyes, hide! Daddy hide!”  She is quite bossy and is not afraid to tell you what to do and how to do it.  She is also very persistent and won’t give in until you are playing with her.  She is still addicted to puzzles and loves to race to see how fast she can complete them.  We have a few puzzles that tell you the shape or letter after you place it down and the first times she realized it she was very intrigued.  I caught her bringing random toys and things to the speaker and asking, “What’s this?” It was the cutest.  She is becoming more interested in puppies, Minnie Mouse, baby dolls, pretty princesses, cars, trains, dressing up and playing with her doll house.  It is fun to watch her imagination.  She really loves to play with her toy kitchen and food and continues to love to paint.  Her favorite is when the three of us sit around her tiny table and paint together.  She loves to trade paint brushes and make a real mess.  But after she makes a mess she typically likes to use the wipes to clean up.  Chloe also likes to play tricks on us and be sneaky.  She loves to cover her two seat belt buckles with her hands every time we turn off the car and try and to get her out.  She thinks it is the funniest thing.  She will also tip toe and creep towards us to sneak and grab our phones that she is obsessed with. She keeps her head really low as she tip-toes and looks up at us with just a slit of eyes seen under her brow.  It is too silly.  

Chloe continues to eat just about anything and most time eats more than you think can be possible.  I think she could constantly eat grapes, cheese, crackers, yogurt and mac and cheese.  She quite frequently asks for snacks or will go out to the pantry herself.  Her absolute favorite sweet treat is whip cream.  She is not too much of a fan of cake or cookies but cream is her jam.  She especially likes it when we the spray bottle directly into the ol' mouth.   She has to start every day with "milk, series (for cereal) and news".  She'll sit on daddy's knee eating cereal and watching the news.  She also asks to make the coffee every morning, too.  She's a morning person.  

Chloe has been focusing more on her studies.  She's doing a very nice job learning her numbers and letters.  She can pick out numbers from a crowd and can count to twenty -- most times remembering almost all twenty...  She knows a lot of shapes and colors, although the colors she can be pretty rascally about.  And by rascally, I mean she doesn't know them very well.   

C is typically going to bed around 8:30 and is waking up anywhere between 6:00-7:30.  She is still sleeping in her crib and we are pretty sure she may never learn/be strong enough to climb out but we plan to switch her to her big girl bed any weekend now.  She periodically will wake up in the night yelling in a cheery voice, “ MOMMMMMMMMMY, I want to wake up!” or “DADDY, DADDDDDY, DADDDDDY!” over and over again.   Usually we ignore it and she will fall back to sleep but the second she opens her eyes, she thinks she is ready to get up and be up.  She is also still napping around 1:00 each day for 2 hours or so.

Chloe LOVED Halloween this year and it was the first year we went out trick or treating with her.  She loved running, head down from one house to the next.  Before she would run up the drive way, she would say, “Mommy, I’ll be right back!” and take off.  She is also really starting to get into the Christmas spirit.  She loves looking at Christmas lights and decorations and squeals with excitement when she sees them as we drive through the neighborhood.  She also loved decorating with us.  I don’t think she gets the whole Santa thing but we are especially looking forward to Christmas morning.  She has been obsessed with Elmo’s Christmas Countdown DVD and loves to sing along to all the Christmas carols. Her favorite being, “Have a Holly, Jolly Christmas.”  This girl loves to sing!

Another trick she is definitely getting better on is her getting on the potty soon enough for her "twos".  A lot of times she yells "MOMMY!" but is just a few minutes late in getting there.  Regardless, she puts her head down and yells at us for help in getting the job done.  It's funny how even the grossest things are cute to biased parents.   Now, when we change her diaper, regardless of the time of day or location, she tells us "no poops" when we rip off the old one.  Goof.

Lastly, this fall we learned that Chloe is going to be a BIG SISTER this summer!  We don’t know if she really gets the concept but when we ask what is in Mommy’s belly she will proudly say, “A baby!  Baby Gurl!”  I look forward to the coming months and seeing her react to my growing belly and eventually feeling the baby kick.  We are pretty confident she will be a great big sister.  She is quite in love with babies and loves to be a mother hen to any and all that she meets.

Blind fearlessness = trouble...for a rattlesnake.

Loves showing off her shapes.

With friends Harry and gang. 

Past bored to tears and on to bored to sleep. 

She was serious fund raiser and looks darn good with a 'stache, too.

Always carry the purse for walks in case a bandaid or a crayon is ever needed.
 

'Cose yer eyes, Mommy!

I wonder why mommy and daddy went on a walk without me???

Obsessed. 

Most serious trick'r''treaters on the block.  

Daddy's birthday

Rockin' the kitchen.  

     

The Christmas season has arrived

Now that Thanksgiving has come and gone, we have started working away on getting ready for the Christmas season.   This year has been especially fun since Chloe is now starting to understand that something REALLY cool is going to happen sometime soon.  When we were getting the ornaments out of the box she would make all sorts of goofy noise.  She has also taken to Christmas songs quite well.  Here she is singing some Holly Jolly Christmas...

We're not really too sure what her plan was with the pants, but I'm sure she had an idea.  Here is some other decorating that's taken place around Parkside Drive.   Out of tradition, we slogged down to where we used to live to pick up our tree from Kreigers.  We met Uncle Adam, Aunt Cara and baby Reid and helped them pick up a tree, too.  We may not have mentioned it yet, but Chloe couldn't be more happy with her new cousin Reid.  You should ask him.  He's been smothered by Chloe since birth.  Here's the tree!

Notice the itty bitty stocking hung by the chimney with care.  We're worried Santa won't see it.  Chloe will make sure to leave a note.  She's very bossy.

Kateri made this banner for our front window.  You'll see the tiny version of it below.

TA DAH!  After a few shots at installing lights across the gutters like we always do (and I look death into its eye each time) we decided to mix it up.  

fall fun

This past weekend we celebrated Vincent and Beth's birthday in Garrettsville.  We started off the weekend by going to a fall festival near Grammy and Grampy's house.  Hay rides, farm animals, "cow" rides, pumpkin patch, and family.  A great way to spend a Saturday!

future model? or photographer?

I had the camera out and C asked me or should I say demanded that I take a picture of her.  "Take a picture, mommy!"  Then she proceeded to get into a variety of artsy positions.  Maybe not a model but pretty cute!

Soon after her photo shoot, it was her time to be the photographer.  I think the camera may weigh more than her.