Spring stuff

  So I am pretty much the least photogenic person I know! But here is a picture of me at 21 weeks.  I thought I would wear the same outfit as one of my other pics to compare them.  I'm not too much bigger, but I think this baby is sitting differently. We found out on March 20 that we are having a girl, and of course all of the previous names suddenly don't seem right. So for now it is going to be Aspen Brielle.  Jake didn't end up going to the ultrasound as promised, he ended up not working the day before so he couldn't miss work.  I was still pretty upset and of course emotional when I found out that morning that he wasn't going, because then I was going by myself.  I guess I have just always had a vision that something as exciting as that should be shared with at least someone. Oh well, I survived.

With the warmer weather here, me and Reese have been playing at the park a lot.  She loves it!!! She follows all of the big kids around and goes down all the slides by herself! I told her to go down the twisty slide and I wasn't sure how it would go, needless to say she crashed, but now she knows to slide on her tummy.

I found some home made recipes for finger paints that haven't worked out so well, but I guess she has had fun making a mess and painting, so it has been good to have something different to keep her entertained when we can't go outside.

Here is Reese's first easter eggs. She would pretty much drop or throw them in the dye.

For those of you that didn't know, I have been doing hair for 6 years now, and I finally have a salon in my house so if you need anything give me a call.  I recently started doing shellac nails and I love them!!! They last forever and the shine is amazing!  Here is what I plan on charging for different services.

Haircuts: (includes shampoo)

Women: $15

Men: $10

Kids: $5

Hair Color: (includes haircut)

1 allover color:  starts at $30

Weave/slices: starting at $45 for one color

For each additional color $5

Men Hair color: $15

Perm: starting at $35 for short hair, $45 for medium hair, long hair starting at $55

Spa Services

Deep Conditioning Treatment: $10

Facial: $20

Pedicure: $10

Manicure: $10

Shellac: $10

Eyebrow/facial waxing: $8 

Specials…

With any service $10 and up get a facial for $10, or a deep conditioning treatment for $5.

Refer 2 friends and receive a free haircut, free deep conditioning treatment or a facial for $10.

Get a facial and receive a deep conditioning treatment for just $5.

10 foil highlights, shampoo, haircut $45!

(one color, $5 for additional colors)

18 Weeks and Spring Fever!

I am officially 18 weeks today! We get to find out what we are having on Tuesday! I am way excited, Jake will actually get to be there this time! I really feel like we are having a boy, and apparently so does everyone else ha ha.  I'm good with either, and I know Jake really really really really really wants a boy too. He has this idea that he can teach a boy how to do wheelies on four wheelers and bikes, and that girls can't do that.  I think our little Reese can do anything, she is super active and already pretty athletic. We will show him. ;) When I was pregnant last time with Reese by this time we had pretty much decided on names for both a boy and a girl, at this point we really only have a name for a boy, Chance, and we also like the name Noah.  For girl names we can't decide on Tessa, Mindi, Journey and that's pretty much all that I can remember that we have agreed on.  With Chance we can't decide on a middle name, my dad has this idea that we should name him Chance Jacob, which isn't bad, we just aren't fans of naming our kids after ourselves.  So the middle name is still undecided, but I guess we have 22 weeks left to figure that out. 

I really wish that the weather would just warm up! Reese and I are going crazy staying inside all day, or maybe she is driving me crazy. She has a ton of energy and nowhere to put it. Sometimes we go to McDonald's or the mall's play place with friends so she can play, but it's just not the same. I took her outside the other day so she could ride her little four wheeler Santa brought her for Christmas and she loved it! When we came back in she kept grabbing our hands and taking us to the door so we could take her, but she was really mad when we didn't.  Today the high is supposed to be 63 degrees so hopefully the wind won't blow and we can go to a park and play.  

The other day we went to Uncle Dave and Aunt Steph's house to see all the animals.  We got to see 2 little pigs, sheep, ducks, and baby chicks! Reese loved it! She couldn't understand why she couldn't catch the sheep or the pigs.  She kept crouching down and patting her legs like she would call her dogs and they still didn't come, it was pretty funny! She has been learning all of the animal sounds and she can't quite understand what the pig says, so hopefully this video does it justice.  

Normal Life

So Jake was able to start working with his brothers doing masonry again  in December, which makes me and Reese super happy! He has been able to be home every night for this last month.  It's been really good to spend more than just a day or two or even a few hours a week together as a family. However, the times when he was driving and was only home for a few hours here and there really makes us not take this time together for granted.  

 I will admit though that it has been weird having to make dinner more often and try to have it ready by the time Jake and his brother gets home.  But I have been more motivated to cook and have good meals prepared. I thank pinterest.com for this! Seriously when I am in a cooking rut, I check out pinterest and can always find something new to try. Ok, ok maybe I actually check it every day for recipes, but I haven't tried anything from pinterest that I haven't liked yet.  

This is me at 16 weeks when I was pregnant with Reese...quite a difference.

 

I am now 15 weeks along! Time has gone by fast with this pregnancy, I guess the first 11 weeks were slow and really rough, but now I am past the morning sickness stage and getting more energy back. Thank goodness since I have our little one to chase around! We get to find out what we are having on Tuesday, March 20th! That will be here before we know it! I honestly will be happy with whatever we have, but with finances super tight it would be great to have another girl so we can just use what we already have.  

 At my last appointment, I was talking to the doctor about having a VBAC. I really feel that this would be beneficial for me.  I look back to when I had Reese and it was hard enough to heal and take care of myself and one tiny baby after a c-section, I can't imagine having to try to do that and take care of an extra person now.  I really like the idea of a faster healing process, but there are no guarantees so I need to be ok with whatever happens.  My doctor said that they could do an ultra sound later in my pregnancy to guess the weight of the baby, so that we can factor all of this in.  I still have time to decide. I have been praying about what would be best and I haven't received an answer yet, hopefully I get one before I'm 9 months pregnant for peace of mind.  I would just hate to go through a ton of labor again and end up having another c-section.  Anyone have any thoughts on this? 

It would be fun to see what everyone thinks I'm having so vote on the right hand bar on my page! Thanks :)

Great News!!!!

On the 23rd I went to my first official doctor appointment. Everything seems to be going well. When the doctor did the ultra sound the baby kept moving so my pictures aren't so great, hopefully this little one will cooperate for when we find out the sex of the baby. Oh and just in case you haven't seen, there is a poll you can vote on our blog whether you think we will have a boy or girl.

We are so happy and feel so blessed to be able to have our second baby.  I am just a little nervous about how to handle two kids (I will be outnumbered), oh and especially if this little one has the same energy and curiosity as our Reese.

I hope you guys don't just think this is an all about baby blog.  I read other people's blogs and they are always up to something interesting and in comparison to my life I feel boring. So that's why I don't post a ton.  Maybe I will get better at this.  

Reese has been changing a ton! The week of Christmas she started talking and actually mimicking words that we say. I told her "danger!" and sure enough she copied me! She is really smart and has a fun personality.  Lately though she glares at us when we tell her something she doesn't like.  (I'm sure this comes from her dad, ok ok probably both.)  And at night she has been helping me put her toys away before she goes to bed. Such a smarty and a good friend to have during the week :)

Christmas 2011

 Christmas was crazy! Next year I will note to not get as much for our family, since we always go to my mom's they always over do it! Not that I'm complaining. Reese was so spoiled! Santa brought her a motorized four wheeler which she loves, but can't steer yet, and he also brought her a vacuum that she loves. She did good opening presents this year, but as planned she wasn't interested in unwrapping presents after she got a few toys unwrapped.  I got Jake a camp chef stove, he was so excited for it.  I got too much! I got some useful things though. I got a scroll saw so I can get my craft on! And a cute way to display my products in my salon!
 I hadn't been feeling very well though for about two weeks before Christmas, so getting everything done seemed to take much more than usual. I thought it was because I had to chase around my little baby monster AKA Reese...but that wasn't the case. I started thinking more about how I had been feeling and wondered.....

yup sure enough it came back positive instantly!!!! I have already had one ultrasound because I was having some pains and they wanted to make sure I wasn't having another miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, etc. Everything seems to be going good so far the heart beat was at 175 bpm, the dr. said we should be able to have this baby! I still go to my first real appointment on the 23rd of this month, so hopefully things are still going good. I pray every day.  Since I had found out on December 23rd, 2011 I wanted to tell our families someway that was creative, but I still had mixed feelings letting people know. Jake said that he was too excited not to tell, and so I decided I should just be excited too until we have reason not to be. So I bought Reese a shirt and got some fabric paint and wrote "Big Sister" on it. I know it's not super creative, but it's always a surprise I think.  I still have reservations about telling too many people, but I thought I would write what I was feeling.  I don't want to brush off something so important as if it never existed.  One day if my children read this I would like them to know about our life and how we got through all the good and hard times.  With this pregnancy I have been more sick than I was with Reese. I honestly feel like a wimp! I don't know how people throw up all the time! Lucky for me it has only happened a few times.  Hopefully this part gets over soon.  Maybe this is a sign that this is a boy???

   On other pregnancy news....with my last pregnancy I felt bad about our baby being due a month after Christmas, which you really can't always pick the birthday, but I feel a little bad that this baby is going to be due on August 15th which is only four days after Reese's birthday! Like I said you can't really pick, but we will definitely make both special.

Family

  This year and summer have just flown by. Sometimes I feel that I hardly have any time to think.  Jake has recently started driving with Fed-ex so hopefully all goes as well as we are told.  He should be able to have more time off and at home.  I am waiting for my salon room to be finished so that I can start helping out with income.  I should hopefully get finished pretty fast, I have had my chair and sink for a while now, and it will be a lot better than doing hair in my kitchen. 
  I always seem to feel sorry for myself because we aren't the "normal" family with the same schedules as everyone else. But I have started to realize that everyone's family is different.  I should feel very blessed and lucky that he gets to come home, even if it's just a short time, because a lot of families have fathers who are deployed and may not even get to come home.  I guess this is where the song "Count your blessings," comes into play. 
 Our little Reese is such a busy little girl.  She goes everywhere and doesn't seem to be afraid of anything! She is so smart and such a fast learner. It is fun to see the different levels of learning she is at, and how she learns what she does.  It also amazes me that I am responsible to teach her the most important things she needs to know.  I only hope that I don't fail her and that I can show her love, patience, and compassion that every little girl needs so that she can turn out to be the best little Reese she can.  I know I am not perfect and I am still learning as well, but I hope my short comings won't affect her too much unless she is learning what not to do.  
"Try a little harder to be a little better." Gordon B. Hinkley

Our Little Beauty's First year!

Reese 5 months

Reese Day 1

Week 1

1 month

2 months

3 months

4 months

4 months

4 months

At 4 months she started to sit up by herself.

5 months

6 months

At 6 months she started crawling!

7 months

At 7 months started standing by herself.

7 months crawling

8 months Easter Egg Hunt

8 months Easter

8 months and she finally fit her blessing dress!

9 months

9 months started walking!

10 months

Reese 11 months

 

Reese 1 year old!!!