20 weeks...

Well we have officially hit the half way mark...20 weeks!  So crazy to think that we're already halfway through this pregnancy.  I have a feeling the next few months will fly by.

I am finally feeling much better.  I hit the 2nd trimester "sweet spot" a few weeks ago...much more energy and no more morning sickness.  This was a few weeks later than with Kens, but I am thankful that I am finally feeling much better.  My headaches have subsided some and they are no longer a daily occurrence.  I am not yet into my maternity clothes (as I tend to put this off as long as possible), but am definitely favoring stretchy pants and sweats more often these days.

Here is my 20 week picture (on left) and just for comparison sake, on the right is my 20 week picture with Kensley.

Sisters, Sisters...

Yep, that's right.  Baby #2 is going to be a little sister! 

Sweet matching shirts to commemorate the news.  Yes, the big sister shirt looks a little big...apparently Carter's doesn't carry "big sister" shirts in small sizes.

We are thrilled to report that baby #2 is healthy and everything on the ultrasound looked normal!  The doctor said, baby girl scored an A+.  We are so thankful for good news and are so looking forward to welcoming another little girl into our family!

Kensley is getting excited about "mama's baby" (as we have been referring to the baby...I don't want her to think that all tummies have babies in them!).  Kens will often come over and point to my tummy.  She lifts my shirt up and is quick to lay her head down on my tummy and give kisses.  She'll often gently pat my tummy as well and it's so sweet to see (it won't be quite as cute if she continues this after there is no baby in my tummy).  I'm waiting for the day when she lifts my shirt up in public.

We are excited to start talking (more seriously at least) about names; however we are still up in the air as to whether we will share this time around.  Once we get our ultrasound pictures scanned in, we'll post and share.

She looks a little confused...maybe trying to figure out why there are two shirts.

Just a little trim...

We've been talking about trimming Kensley's hair for a while now and finally decided it was time.  She is still in the awkward hair stage, where it hangs over her ears and looks more like a mullet than anything else.  As of right now, it seems Kensley will have straight hair as her mama did when she was little.  Because it's so straight, it's even more noticeable when it's too long in certain places.

We decided to trim her bangs and just a few stray hairs over her ears.

Before shot in the tub.

Not too thrilled with the idea.

Holding really still for mommy.

Happy with the outcome!

Latest Happenings...

We've had a busy couple of weeks and I wish I could say it's been filled with all fun things.  About a week and a half ago, our household came down with the flu and we ended up passing it around for about a week.  Kensley ended up with it first and after a visit to the doctor, it was confirmed to be a viral stomach bug that was quick to hit, but wouldn't last long.  Despite vomiting and diarrhea, our little munchkin was in good spirits and after a few days was back to her normal self.  I managed to come down with it on my days off, which was tough with caring for an active little one, but thankful I didn't have to miss work.  Jeremy was hit hardest of the three of us and spent much of the weekend in bed.  After resting, disinfecting and staying in, we've managed to get back in good health.

This past weekend, we made a quick trip over to Columbus, OH to celebrate little Elliana's 1st birthday (she officially turns 1 on Wednesday, the 26th).  It'd been a while since we've made a long trip with Kens so we weren't sure how she'd do.  Nana and Papa got us a portable DVD player for Christmas and Kens loved watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on repeat for several hours.  She didn't sleep as much as we hoped (15 minutes on the way over and 30 minutes on the way home), but did pretty well over all.

She had a GREAT time playing with Elli, Elli's older cousins, and of course being right in the middle of all the action.  She was on the go all day long with no naps (with the exception of the cat naps in the car).  We're thankful we were able to help celebrate with sweet, little Elli.  It's so hard to believe that our little girls are no longer babies and now toddlers.

Here are a few pictures from the party.

On the go, getting tickled by daddy.

Sitting on Elli's cousin, Vander.  She was quick to make friends.

In the middle of all the action...helping Elli open gifts.

Sweet Elli in her new princess headband.

Trying out Elli's new toy.

This picture makes me laugh.  Naked Elli getting ready for cake...she hates her party hat.

Loving her cake!

Happy 1st Birthday, Sweet Elli Belly!

17 weeks...

Well I figured I should start documenting this pregnancy so baby #2 has something to look back on like Kensley does.  We are now officially 17 weeks and I honestly feel like the past few weeks have flown by.  I'm guessing this pregnancy will go by faster than Kensley's, as we don't seem to have much time to think/talk about it.

I am slowly starting to feel better. I feel as though I now have the second trimester energy burst which is very welcomed.  I'm still experiencing some morning sickness; however it typically hits later in the evenings.  I'm hoping it will be completely gone before too long.  I've started to get some headaches (which I did also with Kensley), but I can usually head them off with some Tylenol. 

At 15 weeks, I started to feel the baby move.  This was earlier than I experienced with Kensley so I was pretty shocked that I was feeling movement so early.  Also I haven't just been feeling little flutters, but rolling, pushing and light kicks.  This definitely makes all the physical symptoms mentioned above seem so worth it.  Jeremy has also already been able to feel the baby move which is fun for him.

I seem to be having more consistent pregnancy cravings than I had with Kensley.  With Kensley, it was more just food aversions, but not necessarily always craving the same things.  With this baby, I tend to want more salty/crunchy things.  I have had the quintessential pickle craving and am proud to say we just bought the large value size container at Costco.  I'm afraid at how quickly I will go through that container (I'm sure Kensley will help me as she is a pickle lover as well).  I've also been craving fruits and fruit juices (unfortunately I go through OJ and CranApple juice much faster than I like to admit).  Ok enough talk about food...it's making me hungry. :)

All in all, we are so excited about this baby.  Things seem much more up in the air this time around...with planning I mean.  We seem to have the attitude that we'll figure things out as we get closer (what we need, new furniture, etc.).  For now, we're taking it a day at a time and enjoying our little family of three. 

We'll leave you with a picture of me at 17 weeks.  I don't tend to take too many pictures when pregnant (as we only have a handful from Kensley's pregnancy) so these will show up sporadically.  I do feel as though I started showing much earlier this time around.

 Stay tuned...we find out the sex of baby #2 in a few weeks.  We can't wait!

14 Months Old...

This is a few days late, but Kensley turned 14 months old this past Tuesday.  Every month seems to go by so quickly and each stage seems to be more fun.  Kensley is so funny these days and she is constantly keeping us on our toes.  She is such the little entertainer and loves to make us laugh.

Kensley is definitely more vocal these days and seems to "talk" all the time.  She is trying hard these days to say words.  She'll try to repeat words that we say and every once in a while it sounds somewhat like what we just said.  We've been working on her consonant sounds d's, b's and m's lately and she's been doing great.  She also continues to point and grunt at everything.

Along with "talking", Kensley likes to sing.  She has the sweetest little voice and will often "sing" a few notes when we ask her to.  It's usually more of a "ya, ya, ya.." and it's so cute.  She still enjoys music and will dance (however it looks like more of a squat up and down) to familiar songs or when we do.

Kensley still has a strong love for her baby dolls and stuffed animals and loves to snuggle with them.  It's so sweet to see her hug them and love on them.  We say she's a little hoarder as she's always trying to hold or gather as much as possible (stuffed animals, blocks, blankets, etc.).

As mentioned above, Kensley is quite the little entertainer.  She's well aware when she has a captive audience and tends to show off.  As soon as she gets a laugh she'll repeat the same action over and over again while smiling and laughing.

Kensley is super curious and always seems to want to be where we are.  She follows us around the house, into bathrooms and even pushing aside the shower curtain to make sure, she's right there.  When we're in the kitchen, she'll pull on our pant legs or try to push us out of the way to get us to pick her up and show her what we're doing.  One of her favorite spots is sitting on the kitchen counter so she can be in the middle of all the action.

This little girl still loves her paci. Although we've restricted it to bedtime, naps and emergency situations (church, long car rides, etc.), she still sometimes fights to give it up. When we come in to get her in the morning she'll often scramble to pick up all of her paci's in the crib, pop one in her mouth, hold the others and sit in the corner. It's like she's trying to get every last second in with the paci before we pick her up and ask her to put them down. Our hope is to completely take away the paci's before baby #2 comes, but I'm nervous to think how that will go.

This past weekend, we decided to turn Kensley's carseat around.  She's been pushing her feet up against the backseat for a while and really rocking her carseat.  We took her for a little drive once Jeremy got it installed and she was so cute.  We could tell she was trying to figure out what was going on and she had the sweetest little smile as we pulled out of the driveway.  She's still in the middle for now, but before long we'll have to move her to the side to accommodate her little brother or sister.

Trying to figure out what is going on.

14 months old!
I couldn't get her to look...she was too interested in her book.

Crawling through the tunnel at the children's museum.

Sweet girl

 This little girl brings so much joy to our lives and we can't imagine life without her.  Happy 14 month birthday, little girl!

Merry Christmas!

Well it's hard to believe that the Christmas festivities are already over.  The toys have been put together, new clothes washed and Christmas decorations are put away.  Definitely a letdown as Christmas is one of my favorite times of year and each year (especially with little ones) seems to get more fun.  Jeremy and I have been off and home since last Thursday and we both go back to work on January 3rd (what a sad day that will be!). It's been so nice to be all together as a family for this extended period of time.

We had a great Christmas (4 actually) and had a great time with family.  We spent Christmas Eve with the Roberts...opening presents, eating, playing games, and going to the Christmas Eve service at church.  We then woke up Christmas morning and celebrated Christmas with our family of three at home.  We went to the Brauchler's later on Christmas day and stayed there through Tuesday morning.  On Sunday, we all went up to Huntington to celebrate with Great Grandma and Grandpa Zurcher and Great Aunt Carla.

Kensley seemed to really enjoy herself.  She loves playing with all her new toys and reading new books.  She helped open some of her presents, but her favorite part was definitely pulling off and playing with the bows.  Kensley also loved playing with her cousin Elli.  She often woke up before Elli and was so excited to see her each morning.  She'd walk around with her hands up wondering where Elli was.  She was such a "helper" and wanted to be near Elli when she was getting her clothes/diaper changed or eating.  We definitely think she is missing her as she loved having a little buddy to play with.

Here are a few pictures from our Christmases.

My attempt to take a pic of Kens in front of Grammy and Grampy's tree.  Apparently I was too slow.

Christmas morning at our house (picture is too dark, but at least you can see the lights).

Opening presents.

The loot at Nana and Papa's house.

Kens excited about her new books.

Having fun sitting on her present (a stroller for her dolls).

Nana and Papa and their new bikes

Sweet little girl all bundled up to go sledding.

She LOVED it!

Riding around the yard.

Pic with daddy.

The girls on their sleds.

Attempt at a photo before church

One of the many matching outfits they wore this weekend.

Sweet picture of them looking at each other.

"Touchdown!"

With daddy at the Zurcher's

Yes, there are lots of pictures with her hands in the air!

All bundled up and headed to the pool!

 What a fun Christmas!  We can only imagine how crazy next year will be with two little ones!