So close: An Update

Here I am at 36 weeks! Where does the time go? I feel like I just went in to meet my new doctor. Now, we're only a few weeks from Sebastian making his arrival.

I had a visit with my doctor today and it was so exciting getting to see Bean-dos all squished up in my belly. It was once again confirmed that we are indeed expecting a little boy and his sweet little face with that cute button nose just melts me. It's Amélie's nose. =) It was much harder to make out his body parts since he's so big now, but there were some very identifiable ones.

The doctor did an internal exam and said I'm dilated 1cm and slightly effaced. That's moving in the right direction, even if it isn't much progress. It's more than what I was with Amélie when I was induced at a little over 37 weeks. She measured me and I've been consistently measuring about an inch smaller than the week I'm at; today I was 35. I'm also very excited about the fact that I have not shown any symptoms of preeclampsia during this pregnancy! No swelling! No proteins in my urine! No abnormalities whatsoever! With that in mind, I'm hoping for the most "normal" laboring experience. I really hope to spontaneously go into labor and have it be much shorter than it was last time. Oh, and I don't want to push for three hours! I'm not scared or nervous and am keeping a very positive mindset. Positive and happy laboring thoughts are the only thing allowed, even with this very uncomfortable back pain.

Our bags are packed, the car seat bases are in the cars, and the nursery(including his clothes) are ready to go! My daddy man also asked me a few weeks ago when we'd like him to come stay with us. I wasn't sure if he was going to be able to make it out, but he got ill and had to resign from his new job; at his doctor's suggestion (my daddy recently became a medical assistant. I'm so proud of him. He went back to school.) Yay. We decided it'd be great for him to come at the beginning of July so he can celebrate Amélie's birthday with us since we wasn't able to last year and then stay as long as he likes and can. Right now the plan is that he'll probably be here until about a month or so after Bean-dos arrives. We're really thankful and happy that my dad can do that. He was here with us when Amélie was born and he helped us out immensely. He's so great with babies and can really cook! He's also the best houseguest.

Now all I ask of Sebastian is that he either come before July or after the 11th of July. I keep thinking how it's very possible he can arrive on Amélie's birthday and I'm crossing my fingers that doesn't happen. How weird would we be...the family with only two birth dates and four people(since Eric and I have the same birthday.) I also want my kids to have their own day. Think positive thoughts for us!

Oh, and because a post is not as much fun without pictures, here's a few from life lately. 

She put them on herself.

Park day in SF.

Having fun with my phone.

The teething has given her a really runny nose lately and on that day she had a fever. Not only was it hot outside, she was hot all over. When she woke up from her nap we decided to go bottomless. After some cold water, tylenol, and Curious George, she was up and ready to play at her table. 

My little lady having her "tea."

Riding the steam train through the Santa Cruz mountains on Father's day. 

A Special Space for My Little Boy

I couldn't wait to move Amélie into her big girl room so that I could put out all the things that I'd been working on for Bean-dos. This past weekend we successfully moved Amélie into her big girl bed, which, ended up needing some little repairs that I'll talk about in a post about her room. So far, so good! She LOVES climbing up the little step stool and just laying in her bed. We've had no problems with her not sleeping. Woo. I'll share more about her room soon.

After getting her to bed on Saturday, I quickly got to work changing the crib back to the regular set-up since we'd converted it into the toddler bed. I wanted to make sure that Amélie knew that wasn't her bed anymore and sure enough, the next day she went in there and was a little surprised and climbed on the side to peek in. She wasn't disappointed and even said, "Baby?" Maybe it actually makes sense to her?!

It took me a few days to get everything I made and bought (mostly thrifted) up and organized, although I'm sure there are little things I'll change before he gets here.  It's all the same furniture that was in Amélie's nursery that I shared when we lived in San Francisco. I basically set it up almost exactly once we moved to San Jose.

Oh, and because I made something I want to share that has his name on it and we're really not keeping it a secret, I'm spilling the bean's name; Sebastian. We're definitely decided on that name. It was really one of three boys names we liked and I think we're going with Gabriel (one of our top three and my brother's name) as his middle name. Yup, he's going to have a long name. My other choice was Julian, but Eric vetoed it because he said he didn't like the way it sounded with Johnson. We love his name and think it goes really well with Amélie's name and sounds great in Spanish, which, is an important factor for me. Oh, and people always ask what his nickname will be. Well, I'm not a fan of nicknames. So I'm not planning on him having one.

Here's Sebastian's nursery!

eric was so proud to have found that little collection of The Hardy Boys at a garage sale and is so excited about one of our kids reading them one day. it's so sweet.

sebastian got a new lamp. the giraffe had an unfortunate painting accident. representing SF, of course. we've joked about driving up there just to have me and the kids born in the same city.

the changing cover I sewed, little wooden bears that are engraved on the back with "Yellowstone 1969," that we found at an estate sale, a fox I painted, and a picture I enlarged from a Golden Book I found at an antique store.

same chair, different pillow, some thrifted art, new store-bought art, and curtains I made.

the larger piece is a needle point.

it's the elephant again

moses basket with bedding I made and the large ruler I stained and painted.

amélie decided her cow should sleep there for now. we've already marked how tall amélie is on the ruler. I hung it up so it's accurate.

the shelf above his dresser with random goodies

do you see gumby?! I loved him.

the bedding I made. you can't tell here, but the pleat in the middle has the houndstooth fabric I used on the curtains. a fun rug i picked up at IKEA and the vintage thrifted afghan that inspired the color scheme.

a boppy cover I sewed with the same fabric I used for the moses basket, same bumpers from amélie's room, some swaddling blankets I dyed and sewed, and the fox I made.

enlarged images from the Golden Book I found at an antique store.

eric even commented on how he got a more "manly" clock. he also said it's a good thing it has large numbers on it that I'll be able to read in the middle of the night. thanks, honey.

i kept that elephant watercolor in here from amélie's nursery because it's perfect in that spot. 

There are still a few of Amélie's belongings that haven't moved over to her room yet, but I still have time. I'm looking forward to taking my time putting all of his little clothes in the dresser, just like I did for Amélie. He has quite a wardrobe that I purchased from the huge baby resale event I went to and sold some things at two months ago. I'm so excited to dress up a little boy. =) I would say we're ready for him, but I can wait. We have lots of things going on until he gets here! Although, my back would say it's ready for him.right.now! pain!

Oh, I have a blog?!

It's been a while.

Daily life just keeps me busy and at this point, at the end of the day when we put Amélie down for bed, I honestly would rather just rest on the couch with my honey and save "pinteresting" things while watching funny shows. Naps are pretty much devoted to cleaning, housewifey duties, and all my fun crafting projects. Yet, today, I've decided it's about time I make an effort to share.

Lately, the weeks are a lot of visits to the fabric/craft store, picnics in the park, play dates, museum visits, projects, errand running, napping, thrifting, and generally having a good old time.

Amélie is getting so big and as we prepare for the arrival of baby boy "S" (yes, he has a name! Let's have some guesses, m'kay? Maggie, you have to pretend you don't know.), her toddlerness is really starting to show. There have been about a bajillion babies born in the last few months and when we spend time with one, Amélie is.just.so.big! Thank goodness she loves babies and hasn't ever shown any jealousy when I'm holding one. Yippee! So, let's hope that continues. I'm thinking she's going to be my big helper. She's such a great little person and for the most part really listens and follows directions. Of course there have been quite a few "moments" of screamingcryingyellingtheworldisgoingtoendifIdon'tgetthatonethingrightnow. But, we're working through them and trying not to lose our minds. We're currently reading The Happiest Toddler on the Block for suggestions. But, gosh, she blows us away with what she comprehends. We're just waiting for the day when she'll be able to use her words really well so that we can actually give her what she wants when she's asking for it. I understand a lot, but there's only so many Amélie-isms I can actually interpret. She "talks" almost all day and it's just so freaking cute. We love that girl.

Yup, in about 10 weeks time we're going to have KIDS! Not just one, but two! I'm so excited, I could just pee my pants. Or, maybe it's just the baby constantly on my bladder. He's growing and so am I. I'm up about 23ish pounds and feeling pretty darn good. I'll share more in a bit. I've been working my fingers to the bone (not really) getting things ready for TWO new rooms! This makes me sooo excited. One new baby, but I get to redecorate two rooms! A big girl room and sweet vintage feeling room for my baby boy.   I'm having so much fun and things are coming along so well. I will have two bedroom reveals by the end of this month. We, more so I, was hoping to have Amélie moved over by the beginning of this month in order to get her used to the new space, but we're waiting since we're having guests over next week. After that, our plan is to get her the twin and purchase a sleeper sofa for the front room/formal living room for our occasional guests. I think she's going to love her new room. She's already been spending more time in there since I've moved some of her things over and she loves getting in and out of her toddler bed in the current nursery.

Before this gets ridiculously long, I've got pictures! A little, "this is what life has been like lately" montage.

a lot of puffy pancakes. we love our pancakes.

watching the "doggy," (Kipper) her favorite on netflix.

new fabrics

lots of arts and crafts for baby...

...and for mommy.

bff time.

getting a new doggy, Bruce.

visiting Kansas

one of my projects for baby boy.

lots of redecorating. This one is in our room.

looking stylish

lots of yummy food

the bean-dos belly at 28 weeks

hey, third trimester. I see you!

hot weather = pool time

just doing our mommy/baby girl thing.

Yeah, so I'm now at 30 weeks! Where does the time go? Two months doesn't seem like very much time left. 

Goodies!

measuring right on

no swelling!!!!!!

not exhausted half-way through the day...yet.

we've got a mover!

itty bitty baby boy clothes. oh. so. cute!

new stroller (we got the baby jogger city select with the double thing. love it.)

belly all in front

sweet girl that likes to lay her head on my belly.

nice weather

a super duper hubby

practicing hypnobirthing

getting a post partum doula

lots of new baby friends for my babies

upcoming girls weekend with massages. yes.

Bad. boooo.

lower back pain by the end of the day

sciatica. what?! that darn nerve on my right butt cheek.

baby boy likes resting his body on my right side and it makes for a weird feeling.

feeling like I'm getting punched in the poody by a little boy

the end.

Tatos, Eche, and Niighe

In the last few months, Amélie's been slowly picking up a lot of new words in her vocabulary. She "talks" pretty much all day, but there are a few words that are distinctly obvious interpretations of real words. It's amazing to me how much she understands. Anything I ask her to do, she follows and she can respond correctly to many simple questions. Oh, and of course this is all mostly in Spanish since that's all she hears from mommy. Yet, she still has managed to pick up just as many words in English. Since most of these words will eventually be pronounced correctly, I wanted to make a list of what she knows now, at 19 months, and says in her cute little girl pronunciations.

tatos = zapatos = shoes
tines = calcetines = socks
eche = leche = milk
baeby = baby - she stretches out the "a"- she calls human and dolls alike
daggy = doggy - She knows when I say perrito, it means doggy
gato = gato = cat
agua= agua = water - although she likes to call anything in her sippy cup water
bubbas = bubbles
niighe = nice
uh oh
wow - it always surprises me that she knows exactly when to use "uh oh" and "wow"
si = yes
pee-pee = I believe this is obvious in both languages. She's currently potty training herself. She started it.
nana = banana
mMMmmm = yumm- she emphasizes the capital "m"
zana = manzana = apple
ousigh = outside
bajo = abajo = down
mimi = dormir = bedtime- she also has a special blankie that she calls mimi since she's almost always used it for bed
hi
bye-bye - says this to anything and everyone!
doe = dos = two
ballo = caballo = horse
shoo = shoes
mine -  with real emphasis on the "n." Yeah, not so thrilled about this one.
no, no, no, no, no = no. Also, not wonderful to hear sometimes.
mami = mommy
coco = Rosco, the dog
daddy
nigh nigh = night night

Really, at this point, there's something new everyday. She's constantly repeating words I say and adding them to her vocabulary. She's currently in love with the alphabet song and will ask us to sing and help her point to the letters in her A, B, C book. She sings along, although it's very far from accurate but completely adorable.

We've met other kids her age and they have a larger vocabulary, but I'm not worried. She's a sponge right now and she's bilingual. It's expected that her language development will be different and a bit slower.

All this in conjunction with her daily doings (she's hilarious to us) just makes me feel like my baby isn't much of a baby anymore. I'm considering not celebrating anymore birthdays from now on. That'll make her stop aging, right?

Baby Bean Numero Dos: The First Trimester

With a busy little toddler around, it's needless you say that things are not as easily completed around the house. I thought I'd perhaps chronicle this pregnancy as well as I did with Amélie's, you know, just to be fair and all. Unfortunately, things haven't worked out as planned in that department. At this point, I only have two series of pictures. One set at 5ish weeks; pretty much the beginning and absolutely no signs of a bump, and at 12 weeks; with a somewhat noticeable bean bump. Therefore, I've decided a trimester series of photos will be the plan. I like that. There will be much more obvious changes!  Also, I'm going to give some few good and bad points about each trimester. Can I just say, woo hoo to the first trimester being over! 

Two-Thousand-Eleven: Eric, Nancy, & Amélie

I thought it would be fun to take a look back at some of the major (and not so major) things that happened to our little trio. So, here it is!

January:
We moved to San Jose and I officially became a stay-at-home mommy. After a year of no free running, the boys (our dogs) were very happy to have a yard again! Amélie had her first taste of frozen yogurt. She tried her daddy's chocolate.

{yum}

February:
Amélie really started eating(other than mommy milk), got her ears pierced, and seriously started sleeping 12 hours straight at night.


March: 
After getting into a groove with baby and home, I whipped out my sewing machine to begin projects again after a few slow months of sewing. We made the long drive down to Bakersfield for our nephew Corbin's first birthday.

{she was so little!}

{cousins}

April:
I started a vegetable garden and enjoyed some amazing warm weather. Daddy man came back to the States after being in Guatemala for 4 years. We made some new San Jose friends. I cut my hair and now want it all back.

May:
I started seriously planning Amélie's first birthday party and the sewing continued! The summer started getting very busy with birthdays and wedding celebrations. I also got a new/used car!

{4 generations}

June:
We took family photos. celebrated lots of birthdays, had Eric's mom visit, and the hubby took two weeks off work from his remaining family leave. We took a mini-vacation to Arizona and were spoiled by my family. We laid out in the sun, spent hours in the pool with our water baby, had a movie date, and ate lots of yummy food and drink.

{eric likes to take pictures while the photographer is working}

{water baby at Charlotte and Samantha's birthday}

{with abuelito jj in arizona}

{at our neighbor, lucy's birthday}

July:
Lots of birthdays again! The big one being Amélie's first birthday. It turned out perfect. Amélie started walking! She also took her first swim lessons. There were also lots of other birthdays and weddings.

{amélie's birthday cake}

August:
There was thrifting, sewing, family visits, crafting, vegetable gardening and harvesting, theme park riding, bike riding, and more birthday celebrating. We had an adventurous trip to Pennsylvania for the beautiful wedding of our friends. We got to see Eric's brother while we were there.  Eric and I celebrated our birthdays.

{riding}

{delicious pancakes in pennsylvania}

{a mushroom bigger than our heads in pennsylvania}

{working off the yummy ice cream we had at the creamery at penn state}

September:
My brother got married. We drove to Bakersfield and experienced some super duper desert-like heat.  I got a little more serious about my running for the race. The weddings continued and we were able to enjoy our last wedding of the season without baby. It was awesome. Thanks Abuelito JJ! We had some wonderful weather. We found an official baby sitter in San Jose and went out on a sushi dinner and dessert date for our third anniversary.

{my brothers}

{the baby flower girl}

{our friend's Jen and Will got married on Lake Merritt}

{someone got new glasses. daddy did.}

{example of art from the chalk festival in our neighborhood park}

{anniversary dessert}

October:
The awesome weather continued! I sold some of my things at a craft fair put on by one of my good friends. I ran the Rock 'n Roll half marathon with by brother. We ran together the whole way. We bought Amélie's big girl bed frame. We stocked up on lots and lots of candy. I made Amélie's parrot costume and celebrated Halloween with our neighbors. I finally got an iPhone. Oh, and we went to Disneyland!!!

{waiting to get faces}

{we finished with a great time}

{at the fair}

{excited about pumpkins}

{beach day in october!}

November:
Eric's dad, stepmom, and brother came to visit. Eric's brother nearly got in a bar fight while we were out dancing. We had the best strawberry shortcake I've ever had. We found out that we're expecting baby number two (due July 2012)!* We ate REALLY good food during our intimate Thanksgiving at home and at my bestie's annual celebration.

{kansas johnson's in california}

{preparing our little thanksgiving feast}

{kristin's 25 pound turkey}

{enjoying great weather}

December:

Still enjoyed some amazing weather. When it is going to be winter (I'm not complaining)?! My brother Christian turned 20! We had fun ice-skating downtown with our friends Tegan and Daniel. Amélie and I took a really bad picture with santa and then went back and asked them to take it over again. Luckily, they did and ended taking about ten more pictures until we had the perfect one. Eric and I overate at his holiday work party. It was the first time in 15 years that my entire family celebrated Christmas together. All my brothers, both of my parents, new babies, and significant others were here in our house. It was wonderful and a little crazy. We had a quite evening at home to celebrate the new year. I made pizza and our neighbors hung out with us until the babies needed to sleep. Then, Eric and I went to the movies and got home in order to celebrate with daddy man at midnight. It was great!

{our 14th or so try}

{ice-skating!}

{those nerds are classy}

{making gingerbread houses with my family}

{we did a lot of christmas light drive-bys. amélie loved all the lights}

{we thank amélie for lots of sleeping in}

*if you actually read this far, good job! Yes, we are expecting again! Like how I threw that in?