23 Months

Taken by the super talented (in more than just photography!) Stehanie from www.stephaniesteinerphotography.com

Mateo turned 23 months on June 23rd, the same day his auntie turned 23 years. Fun, huh? We were driving the last leg of our journey. Portland-Home.

Mateo has had a big month! He has met a few hundred new people. Everyone asks how he did on the journey over. I have to answer that he did amazing. All things considered that is. It was not a 'fun' journey for us, but we survived in fine shape. We left our house at 5:30 am, so 8:30 pm here. 22 hours later we got to my parents' house and during that amount of time, little man slept only like half an hour. After he FINALLY fell asleep and we got him comfortable in front of our feet, the stewardess came and told us to pick 'her' up, because the seatbelt sign was on. Grrrrrr!!!

 Our little guy has picked up more English words this month *Yay* Shoes, "no-no-NO", "More" and "oh, no!".

He has been great. So flexible with the crazy schedule we have had and the multiple locations.

Everyone comments about how big (and tan) Mateo is. I did not ever think he was so big for his age, but he is taller than all the others we have met who are his age. His feet seemed to have grown since we left 5 weeks ago and his hair has lightened with the sun.

Mateo has had the chance to play with some young'ins his age. He and his cousin have a love/hate relationship. They are so excited to see each other, but start screaming at each other within a few minutes. It is funny to see how much Mateo picks up from the older cousins! He and his little girlfriend have gotten along wonderfully. I guess there is no competition?

--------- I am 22 weeks pregnant and LOOK every bit it. I 'popped' around 20 weeks. Feeling good, just tired, but that is probably also from all the visiting and not enough sleeping. Photos to come at some point. We found out that it is supposed to be a girl. VERY excited, however the doctor said it was difficult to see, so to be prepared that things could change by my next appointment. I am hoping the gender doesn't 'change,' but if so, we are also fine with that.

18 weeks

Today marks 18 weeks. no photos because this is my first blog post on my kindle. SORRY for.mistakes. wenare I. America and did not bring.laptops. All.is.well with #2! We saw the doctor before we left last Thursday. I wore a maternity outfit for the first.time yesterday. A post with photos coming up.about the awesome gender reveal cupcakes!

Happy Easter!

So I had plans to take some really cute family pictures, maybe even announcement pictures today (or yesterday). I was finally gonna triple-barrel curl my hair and we were all going to wear springy clothes. Well, it is colder now than at Christmas! I just did not feel like putting all that effort it. Plus, I am babysitting my niece, so we have been a little busy this weekend.

I am writing right now while I am feeling GOOD! Maybe the prenatal vitamin I started yesterday helps?

I am guessing I am around 8 weeks, but should know better in a week or so. This pregnancy is rougher than the first on so far. With Mateo I don't remember feeling nauseated. I have been feeling nauseated since about week 5 (my calculations). Not that I have to throw up (VERY thankful!), but just feeling BLEH. Tummy pain and a gross taste in my mouth. It isn't all day or necessarily mornings. What I am noticing is that it is when I am resting. How annoying is that?  It makes it then very hard to get up. Maybe when I am busy I just don't notice it? Often when I lay in bed at night, I start feeling awful, so I hope to fall asleep ASAP.

My issues with food are familiar, only they seem to be lasting longer than last time. I remember about a week of something similar. First, nothing sounds good, so I don't eat, but then I am STARVING, which makes me feel sick and super grumpy, but then really nothing sounds good, but then suddenly something will and I have to try to have that. Once I get it I feel better, but then right after that thought of that same thing may make me feel gross.

Too much sugar makes me feel nasty, so that is a good thing. I am really going to try not to gain as much as last time, but I know it will be hard. I wish fruits and veggies were appealing, but right now I mainly want those comforting carbs. Toast with peanut butter, crackers, I would LOVE a bagel, pancakes...get the idea? Anything pasta is my idea of a good meal.

I was thrilled when I weighed today. Only 100 grams up from my lowest weight. I felt like I gained 5 lbs already.

Sorry my dear friend, Jessica. I did not exactly lie to you when you asked if I was pregnant. I just told you to answer the other friend 'no.' I thought there was no way I could tell someone besides one of our parents first. These days with all those connections out there, I don't dare trust anyone...

That is all for now...blogger friend here will keep my secret until I am ready to go public. I had better make sure I push save instead of publish!

22 Months

Once again, another month FLEW by! I am going to post this a day early, because tomorrow I work, then the next day/night we have a visitor for Mateo.  Baby Eva. I think of her as his cousin, but technically she is my husband's half cousin, so that makes her Mateo's 2nd half cousin? (that is why her mom thinks they can marry each other).

Last time I we babysat

Our little man makes us laugh all the time! I have said before how he copies everything we say/do, but I could never get him to say sorry. Stubborn guy. He threw his plate on the ground a few days ago, so stuck him in his high chair in the entry way. He scooted his way over and opened the door. He looked so proud that he did it, but he had to go back. I was frustrated and told him, 'You are sitting here until you say, 'Sorry.' I know you can say it!' So I shut the the door again and let him sit there about a minute, opened the door and he yelled, 'Sawwy!' Woah, we were laughing. Now to get him to repeat it at appropriate times.

In case you can't read Dutch on my other blog...#2!

Mateo has added several more words to his vocabulary. Ook (also), Op (all done), Open, Hot, Apple/appel, Baba (bottle), Nigh, nigh (good night/sleep), Hot, pipi, poo poo, Ouwie, Uh, Oh and he continues to say/recognize ff-ff as HOT!

Saturday night, so exhausted from the camp that he fell asleep in our bed and let me take out his pacifier!

I think we have an athlete on our hands. A few weeks ago he went and did a perfect summer sault in front of us. I know neither of us have ever taught him it, so it is something he picked up most likely from his cousins.

He LOVES his balls and plays with them or balloons all day. I think he also saw kids playing basketball on the weekend, because he keeps trying to bounce his ball. Everyone (well, anyone who can actually play soccer) comments at how unbelieveably well he can kick a ball.

My handsome little man taking it all in at the kids' camp. May 19th

Mateo shared some exciting news on Mother's Day.

13 weeks

Today I am 13 weeks. One site says this is the start of the 2nd trimester and another one says it starts when you hit 14 weeks. Either ways, I am feeling good! I think the little bit of morning sickness (that should have been called resting sickness) is gone. Someone guessed that I was pregnant, because she said I looked it, but I am still convinced that I don't look it, but hubby said I do. So here are a few self-portraits from Friday. I always have a bit of a tummy, so it looks normal to me. Mateo also wanted in on the photo fun.

The top one is the best, the doctor said the legs were crossed.

I had planned to announce the news last week, but now I feel like waiting longer, hopefully until Mother's Day. Last time we told when we got back from America and I was around 12 weeks. Speaking of America. I checked how much I weighed at this point, last time around. I was already 10 pounds heavier! We were away for a month in America, so that was not good for my weight. I am happy that I am doing better so far than last time, but our 5 week vacation is coming up. I rreeeallly gotta watch it.

21 months

In just 3 months Mateo turns 2! Another year flying by.

Mateo is finally trying to say the words we tell him to. This morning he said Aap (monkey), Essy, Hanne, Leah, Oma, Grandma. I think we have a little Dutch speaker on our hands. The words he often says on his own are Auto (this in excess, think every car we pass on the road gets named and every train/tractor/bus in every book), Kijk (look), Ga Mee (go with), Nog (more).

I did not realize how good he is at pointing to parts of his body. His auntie and cousins are faithful teachers. That is also in Dutch. He gets ogen (eyes) and oren (ears) mixed up, but hair, tongue, teeth, mouth, foot, head, hair, bottom and belly he knows very well.

He is still our little imatator! Sounds, actions, you name it. I really need to film it sometime. It is so precious.

I am glad Mateo's growth is matching up with the season. Most of his long sleeved shirts are pretty short in the arms and his warm pants are getting a little small. We are ready for SPRING!

This month Mateo learned to climb up the ladder alone to go down the slide and to safely get on/off the trampoline (his cousins' of course).

Recently he is acting afraid of the vacuum. He is also scared of toilets flushing, which is just perfectly fine with me. He has not yet discovered that there is water in there!

Mateo is used to the webcam after being on it on a nearly daily basis. He is used that it is Grandma, so he always does tricks for her and comes and brings things to show her. We have also chatted with my aunt and a friend who also has a baby. He is very good about waving and blowing kisses goodbye.

Speaking about those blowing kisses, he blows them anytime I say 'say bye bye'-so he blows kisses to the rabbits, donkeys, cats, houses, people...

Until next month!

10 weeks

Today is April 9th. I had another appointment at 8:00 this morning. I was excited, because this appointment was going to give me a due date. I also like to go and see/hear the heartbeat. The ultrasound said 9w6d, so it matched pretty closely to what I thought. I figured a November 7 due date (birthday present for Ruth?), but she wrote November 5th. Either way, I don't think I will be going to Roekenbosch this year!

Same story as a few weeks ago, feeling sick when laying down, aversion to very sweet things, enjoying warm, cheesy things (pizza, grilled cheese, etc). What has also begun again is the DREAMS. I am not getting very restful sleep, because I dream the whole night vivid dreams. I always dream, but not quite as much.

No weight gain since last time. Yes! But I need to watch it. Keep it under control. I really don't want to gain as much as last time (nearly 40 lbs).

I am pretty proud how much restraint I have shown. I haven't told a single person yet! I wanted to tell mom a few weeks ago, but hubby wanted me to wait until today, so hopefully it works out tonight! Ok, I do admit I bought an adorable dress, but it can also be a gift for someone else.

There is not much to buy/gather this time around. I would like a new carseat, click-in-style. The baby will most likely be sleeping in our room for a while. Mateo stayed until he was 6 months. I would prefer to move baby out earlier if it would help them sleep through the night like it did with him, but we don't have another room. I guess the living room is also an idea! I have a few ideas to make a cute baby corner in our room, but I will wait a while for that.

Today I have been trying to figure out when I can stop working. I want to stop as soon as possible. Sorry clients! I did not know that last time I could have been done a week or 2 earlier. I think it is around 28 weeks unless the gynecologist writes me off earlier. I am gone 5 weeks, so 'just' 13 more weeks of work!

I know some people worry with the 2nd of if they will have enough love or something, but I don't worry about that. I worry about the baby not being as adored as Mateo. Mateo has always received lots of attention and still does. It is because he was such a nice baby (seriously, he only cried for food or dirty diapers), happy and sociable! Ok, yes, he is still that way! I would love to have another baby like him! But am prepared that not every baby can be as good as he was.

Poor Mateo has no idea what is on the way. He loved going with this morning to the appointment. He even loved holding and waving around the ultrasound photo. If only he knew how that teddy-bear-looking-blob is going to change his life!