Rough week

You wouldn't know it by looking at this smiley face, but this was an awful week, to put it mildly. It all started last weekend. On Saturday morning I was out garage saling with my mom and Joe called to tell me that Jake had thrown up. I thought perhaps it was a one time thing - maybe too much food the night before - and told Joe to call me if it happened again. He called shortly thereafter. Poor Jakey had caught his first stomach flu :(
I brought home Pedialyte and popsicles because I didn't want him to become dehydrated. Amazingly, he was in good spirits despite the vomiting. It was a loooong day, but he was able to eat some goldfish crackers and chicken broth before he went to sleep, so it seemed to pass pretty quickly. On Sunday, he was able to keep down all 3 (bland) meals, and seemed to be almost back to normal. By Monday, he was totally fine. It was a different story for Joe and me. We thought we were in the clear, and wouldn't catch Jake's flu, but on Sunday night it hit both of us. Hard. Joe somehow managed to put Jakey to bed that night, and then we both went straight to bed. I'll spare you the details, but let's just say it wasn't pretty. I couldn't believe that we were both so sick at the very same time! It was a sleepless, awful night. I was really worried about becoming dehydrated and what that would do to the baby. I started to get a few Braxton Hicks contractions, so I finally decided to take my anti nausea meds that I had left over from my morning sickness in the first trimester. The pills helped tremendously, and I was able to keep liquids down the rest of the night. Luckily, Joe had the day off on Monday due to Presidents' Day, so he had that extra day to recover. And boy did we need it! We spent Monday taking turns napping, eating bland food, drinking lots of liquids, etc. We put on lots of movies for Jake because we were not up to doing much else. We watched a ton of movies over the course of the weekend, and Jake seemed ok with that! By Tuesday, we were both feeling so much better, and Jake (who had been fine since Sunday) was able to attend preschool.

On Thursday, our older cat Chessie passed away. We knew it was coming, because he had been deteriorating for quite awhile, but it still wasn't easy to deal with. At the very end, he didn't have any quality of life left, so we're glad he's now at peace. I have to say he was, by far, the most affectionate cat I've ever had! And he was like that with everyone! RIP, Chessie. We love you.

The other unpleasant thing that happened on Thursday was Jake getting sick again! In the morning I noticed he had a little cough, but no other symptoms. By the time I picked him up from preschool at noon, his nose was running. A cold on top of everything else?! This poor little guy just can't seem to catch a break! It seems to be a mild cold, no fever, no loss of appetite. Just a runny nose and a cough. But he just got over the stomach flu, and now this! And guess what? I caught his cold too! I guess our immune systems were still not fully recovered from the stomach flu :( I started to feel it coming on last night, and this morning it was here in full force. My nose hasn't stopped running all day! It was such a bummer too, because I was supposed to attend my friend Erica's baby shower this afternoon. I really wanted to help her celebrate her second baby girl (yes, I'm a little jealous that she gets 2 girls!) but I was feeling crappy and didn't want to infect any of the party guests. This is not the first time we have had to cancel something lately due to illness. We didn't make it to our friends' Super Bowl party due to colds (Jake, Joe and I all caught that one!) and Joe had to cancel his guys poker night last Saturday because of Jake's stomach flu. I can't wait for cold & flu season to be over! We are caught in the preschool illness trap, and it's not a fun place to be. Being sick and pregnant is awful! But, I'd much rather deal with 100 colds, than catch the stomach flu again. Ok, my pity party is now over.

This is my 21 1/2 week baby bump. Can you believe how much it has popped out in the last few weeks?! I blame it on my short torso - there is nowhere else for the baby to go but out! I'm excited to get the ball rolling on Baby Boy Balice #2's nursery. We have A LOT of work to do on his room, but we have 4 months before his arrival, so that should be plenty of time. I have started to sort through Jake's baby clothes and I can't believe that he ever fit into those tiny clothes! Jake is getting so big and recently had another growth spurt! We can't believe how tall he is! He is now too tall for his play kitchen. Not that he really plays with it anyway. He normally just throws all the food/utensils/pots on the ground. Typical boy! He loves to make his cars crash and he tries to make all of his other toys do the same. Little destructo boy :) And pretty soon we will have 2 of them! I can't wait to see what BBB#2 looks like! My friend Jenny just had her second baby boy last weekend (congrats Jenne family on your adorable new little guy!) and he (his name is Gavin) looks exactly like his older brother Ethan! I'm expecting our second baby boy to come out looking exactly like Jake, but I guess we won't know for sure until he arrives!

Let's hope this is a much better week! We are looking forward to helping our friends Erik & Janice's twins (Jake's buddies Kyra & Dylan) celebrate their 3rd birthday on Saturday - let's hope we are all healthy by then! We are also planning to have a date night that night (my parents are watching Jake) which we are long overdue for. We have to try and get a few more nights out before BBB#2 arrives! Once he comes along, I don't think we'll be able to have a date night for a long while!

Happy Valentine's Day!



my little stud muffin's Valentine's Day outfit



happy guy eating his breakfast on Valentine's Day (with awesome bed head!)

Jake's Valentine's Day bento box lunch for preschool

conversation heart brownies for a Moms Club V-Day party

Jake's special after dinner Valentine's treat

yum!

my Valentine's Day baby bump (almost 20 weeks)

 We had a great Valentine's Day! Jake woke up in a good mood and was a happy camper eating his "raisin tote and baneena" (raisin toast and banana) for breakfast! I made him a special Valentine's Day bento box lunch for preschool, complete with hearts made of fruit leather. His Valentine's Day festivities actually started yesterday at our Moms Club Valentine's Day party for the kids. I made conversation heart brownies for the party, and Jake handed out (ok, I did it for him) and received tons of Valentine's from his play group friends. Today at preschool they celebrated Valentine's Day, and he came home with a bag full of Valentine's from his preschool friends! Such a popular kiddo already! :) Joe, Jake and I went out to dinner with my parents tonight, and we gave Jake a special heart shaped sucker after dinner. It was ginormous, and he loved it! Of course he didn't finish it, but it was a great distraction for him while the rest of the grown ups finished dinner. Jake also received a bunch of V-Day presents from my parents and a few from us too. It was a fun family Valentine's Day. Hopefully, Joe and I will get a date night sometime soon - we are long overdue!

This weekend we went to Kyra Tipper's 2nd birthday party!  The theme was Paul Frank monkeys, and Jakey fit right in with his Paul Frank rocker monkey t-shirt:

the birthday girl!

Jackie and her adorable 2-year-old!

checking out the par-tay

Jakey and mommy on the train

What monkey themed birthday party is complete without bananas?

Kyra's adorable birthday cupcakes!

Jake devouring a cupcake

Kyra and Jake waiting for the train

Jake had a great time at Kyra's birthday party! Kyra is such a sweetie, and it was so much fun to help her celebrate her 2nd birthday! The party was at a huge park with train rides and pony rides (which Jake didn't do this time). Jake loved the train so much that we went on it twice! He had a hard time waiting for the train though! It took about 10 minutes or so for the train to make its way back to the station and unload and reload. Those were 10 long minutes for our impatient little man! But he had so much fun on the train that it was worth tne wait! From the train we saw ponds with lots of ducks, and even a peacock, but Jake's favorite part was the dark tunnel we went through! I think I see Big Thunder Mountain Railroad in our future! He is such an adrenaline junky already that I'm sure he will love it! Not sure when we will take him to Disneyland for the first time, or when he will be tall enough to ride it, but it is definitely something to look forward to. That was my favorite Disneyland ride as a kid, and I can't wait to share it with Jake! Jake's other favorite part of Kyra's party was the food! He ate almost a whole slice of pizza, along with other snacks, and then asked for a banana (which was part of the party decor and helping hold down the tablecloths in the wind), which he proceeded to wolf down! And somehow, he still had room for an entire cupcake. There were some cupcakes with blue frosting, and some with red frosting to go along with the party theme. Jake asked for a blue one, and as soon as he was finished he said "I need a red one!" :) Only one cupcake per party, little dude! The bummer was that he refused to nap on the way home. The party was a good hour and 45 minutes away, so we didn't get home until 3:30 which is the time that Jake normally wakes up from his nap. In the car we told him to go "night night", and he kept saying "no, go upstairs" because he wanted to nap in his room at home. When we got home we put him down for a late nap, and after he finally fell asleep at 4:15, he slept for about 40 minutes before we woke him up. Better than nothing. I guess it's something to think about for future nap time car rides. The other bummer was that we missed Jake's "girlfriend" Avery's 3rd birthday party, which happened to be the same day as Kyra's party. Jake and Avery are good buddies, and they have so much fun playing together! We used to be in 2 playgroups with Avery, but since both kids recently started going to preschool, they only get to see each other at our Monday group, with an occasional play date thrown in there. Happy Birthday Kyra and Avery!
 
Jake and I have been taking a class through the Park & Rec on Monday mornings called "Wheels on the Bus." It is a transportation themed class, and each week we focus on a different type of transportation (planes, trains, boats, etc.) One week the focus was police cars, and they had a real police car come to class! Jake had so much fun sitting in the police car, and seeing the flashing lights. This week was all about buses, and Jake loved checking out the bus that visited the class. It was a school bus or "cool bus" as Jakey calls it.

checking out the bus at our class on Monday

And last, but not least, here is a photo from Jake's first time sitting in a booth (sans booster or high chair!) He insisted, and this place was casual enough, and the tables were low enough to actually give it a try. He did really good for his first time. We had to remind him a few times to turn around and face forward, but for the most part, he sat there and ate his lunch like a big boy!

Baby Boy Balice #2 update: I am 20 weeks tomorrow, and I can't believe I am already half-way done! BBB #2 has been kicking me like crazy lately (in fact, I'm feeling his jabs right now as I type this!) If he is already this active, something tells me he may have a personality similar to his older brother Jake! Guess we'll just have to wait and see...

It's another BOY!

This is the first thing that we saw when the ultrasound tech placed the wand on my belly today:

 Apparently, we do not make shy boys! Baby Boy Balice #2 was on display for us quite clearly! We already suspected it was going to be a boy. At our previous ultrasound, when I had just entered the second trimester, the tech thought she saw "something" and although it was early, we were preparing ourselves for the boy outcome...and she was indeed correct! So Jakey gets a little brother! And we get another Baby Boy Balice! The first one turned out pretty darn cute, so we can't wait to see what this one will be like!

 This is a profile shot from today's ultrasound. Today was the anatomy scan, where they check to make sure the organs are developing properly. Everything looked great, and Baby Boy Balice is healthy and developing right on track!

This is what the Baby Boy Balice Bump looks like at 19 1/2 weeks. I will hit the half-way mark next week, and if the second half of the pregnancy goes as fast as the first half, Baby Boy Balice will be here before we know it!! I'm due on the 4th of July, but I'm convinced that this baby will be here in June. I'm already measuring a few days ahead, and Jakey was a week early, so I have a feeling this baby will also make an early appearance!

Baby Boy Balice has been kicking up a storm lately! Joe was able to feel the baby kick tonight for the first time, and baby boy was doing some serious kicking during my ultrasound today too. Maybe he didn't like the ultrasound wand pressing down on him for that long? :) Since we "knew" we were having a boy, we were completely prepared for the boy result today. I'm actually really glad we had over a month to prepare! We are excited for Jake to have a brother, and happy that we will get to reuse many of the same clothes/toys. But if one more person says "you're going to save a ton of money" because we're having another boy, I think I'm gonna scream! I was so looking forward to spending money on girly stuff. Oh well, next time! :) We are so happy that the baby is healthy, and we already know what to do with a boy! The funny thing is, I'm picturing another little Jake - looks and personality - but this baby may (and probably will) be totally different! I can't wait to find out what he will be like! I just hope this baby is a good sleeper like Jake!!

We are excited to be able to finalize Baby Boy Balice #2's name (although I really like calling him Baby Boy Balice #2, can you tell?!) and figure out his nursery! Now that we know for sure that he's a boy, we can get the ball rolling on preparing for his arrival. I'm more relaxed about it this time, since we already have baby boy clothes/bedding, a crib, changing table, etc. The big decision will be what room to put him in, and what color(s) to paint his room...

A few recent pics of Jake from my new iphone:

watching his show

playing the "guitar" at Kyra & Dylan's house

smiley guy

close up!

Jake's first Jamba Juice

saying cheese outside of Buca di Beppo

 Our first Baby Boy Balice is such a funny little guy. He is loving preschool, and asking to go there more often! He loves "special treats" and he was so excited to go with mommy to get a "special drink" this week. He was so cracked out on the Jamba Juice, it was hilarious. He also earned some special treats when he went pee pee on the potty before bath the other night! He was rewarded with jelly beans, and we were hoping this would start a potty trend, but so far, it has not. He turns 2 1/2 next month, and I'm not going to get serious about potty training until then. I'm hoping he decides to go on his own before that, but we'll see what happens. He is talking so much, and having full on conversations with us! It's crazy how big he's getting! He's also growing taller, and is fitting into 4T size shirts already! I'm sure there's so much more to say about Jakey Jake, but my pregnancy brain can't think of it right now. And it's getting late, so time to sign off for the night and get some sleep. More Jakey and baby updates to come...

18 weeks and counting...

I'm now 18 weeks pregnant and just 2 weeks away from being half-way done! Holy crap, how did that happen so fast!? I guess chasing after a rambunctious toddler makes the time fly by :) Next week is our BIG appointment where we find out the gender of Baby Balice #2...I'm actually enjoying my last week of not knowing! But at the same time, it will be nice to know for sure and start planning accordingly. If it is a boy, we won't need much in the way of clothing. Since our little man is well adjusted to his big boy bed, we will be using Jake's crib for #2 regardless of the baby's gender. We'll most likely use the same bedding if it's another boy. I have several friends who are also currently pregnant - they all have one boy already, and are all pregnant with boys again (one of them is having twin boys!) It seems to be really hard to break out of the same-gender-sibling cycle...most moms I know have either all girls or all boys. I am determined to break this cycle one day!

Jakey's latest preschool lunch: raisins, honey wheat pretzel rods, ham, cheese, baked peapod crunchies, and strawberries. I'm having so much fun making his bento box style lunches, and he seems to enjoy them as well! He's not really into sandwiches (he completely refuses PB&J, and will pull apart other varieties) so this makes the most sense for him. This way he gets a variety, and it's colorful and fun! I love the reusable silicone cupcake liners, and Jakey likes them too!

Speaking of preschool, Jake has been loving it! He only cried a couple times when I dropped him off - I think it was his second week - and according to his teacher, he stopped crying right after I left. Now he walks right in and starts playing right away, and I have to ask him for a hug and kiss goodbye! Guess he has adjusted! I knew he would. He loves playing with other kids and every time I pick him up, he is in a great mood! On Tuesday, while we were driving to school, he was chanting "it's preschool time!" We're so happy that he likes it and is having tons of fun and hopefully learning a thing or two as well! He talks about playing with his friends and even lists them by name :) We're planning to increase his schedule to 3 half days per week (instead of 2) over the summer when he's closer to age 3. This will give me 3 mornings alone with Baby Balice #2, and hopefully help all of us with the transition from one child to two! It was really hard to wrap our brains around having one baby (until he arrived), and now it is really hard for us to think about the logistics of having 2 kids...I think it is just a "figure it out as you go" kind of thing!