Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Merry Christmas 2011

You've found the San Diego Angells' Holiday Letter 2011!

First and foremost: Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and all that good jazz. We are so happy to have you in our lives and we look forward to many more years of family connection, friendship and goodwill!

What did we do this year? Let's break it down by person.

Scott (admit it, you're most interested in our newest member!)Scott started the year off at just 10 weeks old. By that point, he had already been through several of our infamous parties, gone with mommy to Disneyland and had been featured in his first holiday card. But 2011 brought so many amazing changes that it's worth a recap. In the last year Scott has grown approximately 14 inches (and is now 33 inches tall), gained 16 lbs (28 lbs total), sprouted 10 teeth (although it will be 12 by the end of the year), and learned to crawl, walk, dance, throw a ball, and much more. He's gone from a diet of exclusively breastmilk to eating pretty much everything aside from hard choking hazards like nuts. His favorite food is still blueberries and he can't wait until they're back in season. He's got a few words, although his understanding is much better than his speech. He survived a week of mom and dad out of town with flying colors. And possibly most exciting of all, he's looking forward to being a big brother in a few mounths. Or at least, he would be looking forward to it if he understood what it meant. He gets along well with other children at daycare, both older and younger, and he should make a great big brother. Which brings us to:

Laura
I started off 2011 with quite a bit of extra baby weight and on maternity leave. I went back to work 3 days a week at the start of January and sent my baby off to daycare! Work is much less interesting this year because my two best friends at work moved away while I was on maternity leave and I'm now the only female scientist in the San Diego office. I'm still at Trex Enterprises, and I hit my 5 year mark in June. Through a fun twist with one of the other companies in my building, I got my favorite perk of the year: free lunchtime workout classes. I discovered that I really like to work out, and managed to lose all of my baby weight plus an additional 5 lbs and3 clothing sizes! I did all of this just in time to find out on June 29th that I'm pregnant again! Being pregnant with a little one has been challenging, but I feel like I'm in much better physical shape this time, and I'm also more mentally prepared for this journey. I am due to have another little boy on March 5th! I'm now officially in my 3rd trimester and I can't believe how soon I'll have two kids.

The big event of the year was a trip to Scotland for the wedding of Hope (my other soul mate) and Colin! It happened right around the time Scott was a year old and we were able to leave him home with Eric's parents (Thank you!). It was great to get some extended grownup time, to visit Hope and Heather (I had 2 friends move to Scotland in 12 months...pfft), and even just to travel again. It was the perfect baby moon. And thanks to all my working out, I wasn't the obviously "pregnant bridesmaid" as I had worried, even at 20 weeks pregnant.

Eric
Besides the Scotland trip, which I enjoyed as much as Laura, my other big milestone this year was turning 30. However, my own roaring 20s came to an earlier end, and I already have a (wonderful) wife, kid(s), and a house, so I don't really feel any difference. My big birthday weekend was mostly family time spent eating Thanksgiving dinner and putting up Christmas decorations. I've now entered my second year at OnRamp Wireless, which remains as fun and interesting as I'd initially hoped.

Overall the branch of the Angell family is doing well, preparing ourselves and our home for a second baby and trying to enjoy each other as much as we can.













Can't baby-proof the baby!

Scott and I spend the day together twice a week, just the two of us. It's really fun for me to play with him, and teach him stuff and just enjoy my child. We're doing ok, even with my growing belly. Mostly.

There's one issue we have. During diaper changes Scott likes to kick and laugh his head off. And he likes to grab anything he can (sometimes). This is incredibly frustrating and makes changing him difficult. And then, it's equally difficult for me to wash his hands after. 3 more (increasingly difficult) months of this s*it.

I can baby proof the house so he can run around. But how do I baby proof the baby from himself?

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Third Trimester

Monday marked the beginning of the third trimester. Ok, the beginning of what I consider the 3rd trimester anyway. December 5th is 3 months before March 5th. But as I discussed with Scott, pregnancy math is strange.

So far so good. I had some issues sleeping last week and for the most part, that seems to have died down for now. I have been waking up every day some time around 6:15 (right about sunrise), but it's nice to lay in bed even if I can't fall back asleep.

I'm not swollen at all yet! Yes! Although I realy think a lot of that has to do with the weather. But between not being swollen and working out this pregnancy, I keep having people tell me that I don't look pregnant except for the belly. That is amazing, given how big I got everywhere last time. It's really nice to be "that annoying skinny girl who ate a basketball"... at least, sorta. I'm not that skinny and my belly isn't quite that round.

My lap is rapidly disappearing. I feel really bad for Scott, since he still really likes mommy time sitting on my lap reading books or watching TV. It's much less comfortable now.

I have one friend who gave birth at just over 27 weeks (which is where I am this week), and her baby was fine, but among other things, he needed heart surgery and he was in the hospital for 2+ months! You read statistics about how babies born after a certain week have X chance of survival, but I'm glad I know one so that I understand that survival takes a lot of medical intervention. Not that I have shown any signs of early labor (although I am having the occasional braxton hicks contraction). And Scott was born on his due date. But if this kid decided to come a week or two early, that'd be just fine with me. I am still dreading a leap day birthday. That just seems like a bummer.

In any case, all is well.

Days to go: 88

Monday, December 5, 2011

I just want to eat sugar all the time!

Eating well is SO much easier when I'm working out regularly. It helps to have trainers who remind me to eat protein and veggies and avoid sugar and alcohol for 24-48 hours after working out. Right now I am still doing well at the first part, but I eat sugar ALL THE TIME. I feel like I'm craving it, and I probably am, but is that pregnancy related, or is that just because I'm a lazy bum.

I am going to Disneyland tomorrow, and I am determined to get a fresh candy cane. I am excited. And at least at Disneyland with a 14 month old, I'm carrying a lot of weight some of the time and walking around a whole lot. That's like working out right?

In any case, I am in my Third trimester today! 3 months to go.

Friday, December 2, 2011

Fun with numbers and other updates

I'm almost 6 months pregnant.

Things that are interesting:
-Scott and I combined weigh 14 lbs less than I did when I gave birth to Scott. That means we have 13 weeks to combined gain less than 14 lbs and me + Scott + new baby will still be under my highest weight ever!
(Ok fine, I'll give numbers. At my peak last time I was 210, Scott and I are combined 196 right now)

-Scott is sleeping through the night, 100% of the time. Ok he sometimes wakes up at 4am, but we ignore him.

-Scott is putting himself to bed, and the routine from playing to him alone in his room is less than 5 minutes.

-I am craving chocolate peppermint something fierce. It's my only major pregnancy craving this time around.

-Sometimes I get enough sleep, but Shamrock is making it hard for me to sleep through the night.

-At my last Dr apt, at 24 weeks, Shamrock's head was measuring at 26 weeks. This child is either going to be very large, or he's going to come in February.

-We have no name still. There just aren't that many boy names, and we're picky.

-Scott is still eating everything! He got 2 new teeth in the last week, two molars diagonal to each other, so I imagine their respective mates aren't far behind! His new food of the week is persimmon and he likes it! We made the decision to stop letting daycare give him juice.. he doesn't seem to have a preference for it, so there's no reason for him to be getting a sugar rush like that.

Days Pregnant: 186
Days to go: 94