and baby will make 4!

With this post I have some exciting news to announce...come August, the star of this blog, the one and only Miss M, will become a big sister!

We've just started telling folks other than family. I still feel safer waiting until the first trimester is over, and now that I'm almost 15 weeks we're more comfortable sharing the news.

When I was pregnant with Madison, I kept a journal of how things were going. It was a separate blog, actually, posted to keep family and friends updated on our progress. I was looking though the printout the other day and realized I started posting at 13 weeks. Since I’m already worried about giving Baby #2 equal time—you know, where there are a zillion pictures and videos of the firstborn but half as many for any subsequent children—I figured it’s only fair to keep a pregnancy journal for him/her, too. I'm doing that in Word, but I may post entries from time to time here as well.

So far this pregnancy has been nearly identical to my first. I have had no morning sickness (didn’t think I’d be that lucky!) and have only the tiredness/exhaustion that comes with the body working extra hard to grow a little person during the first several weeks. I’m coming out of that now, so I’m feeling really good. I had my 12 week appointment two weeks ago and everything is going fine. Dr. Dutta (my new OB…Dr. Galvan, who took me when I was pregnant with M, left the practice) caught the baby’s heartbeat right away and it was perfect, at 160.

One think I’d like to do (but keep forgetting) is take pictures of my growing belly, week by week. I’ve seen people do this and it’s a really neat way to document growth. I’m just now showing a bit, so this would be a good time to start!

I do have ultrasound pics from the 8 week mark but haven't scanned them yet. If I don't get around to that (quite possible!) I will be sure to post the ones from the big u/s, which will occur around week 18, I believe. That's the one where we'll know if we'll have a girl or boy.

Hope everyone is surviving the winter doldrums. The good news is that Feb. is almost over...March is right around the corner! I know that doesn't mean warm weather necessarily, but at least "March" *sounds* springlike!

my funny valentine

You know the best part about almost-3-year-olds? They're pretty much game to try anything new and exciting. I made some sugar cookies the other day for Valentine's Day with the idea in mind that Miss M would get a kick out of decorating them.

We invited her friend Karsten over to help, but I forgot to take pictures of the kids that day. They both enjoyed using (and even more so, eating) the icing and sprinkles. M and I finished the rest yesterday, and I was on top of things enough to get the camera out this time. Here are some pictures from our artsy, edible event!

Mustard/ketchup squeezy bottles work wonders when you're trying to keep a mess at bay!

The sprinkle Queen

Ta-da! The completed batch.