Go Hawks!

Yay!!! As most of you (the 5 people that probably read this) I am a Seattle Seahawks fan. I'm not really big on pro sports in general, but Seahawks football is my team. I have a favorite team in almost every sport, but out of all the sports and all the teams, I would say I actually follow the Seahawks and have since I arrived in Seattle. 

Lots of people say "Aren't you from Nor Cal? Why aren't you a niners fan?". Well, thats simple. I never watched football until I came to Seattle. So I was never Niners fan. Clearly, they are a good team and it would be easy to jump on that bandwagon, but no. Then I always wonder... what makes someone a fan of a team? I don't think you have to have some huge bond with a team to be a fan. If you enjoy a team, you're a fan. Just because I wasn't born and rasied in Seattle, and I have only been here for 6-7 years, doesn't mean that I can't be a fan. 

I think it's silly to have to justify enjoying a team and the people that do that are just taking it too seriously. It's a game.. its for fun. It's small and completely unnessicary to make a bad or negiative thing. 

The other thing I don't agree with, unsportmanship like conduct, among players and fans. Saying "my team is better than your team, and your team sucks..." again... its JUST a game!!! Why do you have to put someone down.. there are so many other ways to hurt people, why find another. 

I just think it's silly and I try hard to not be that way. I'm sure I may slip when someone particularly upsets me though. But I prefer to just cheer for my team and not cheer against another. I think it goes back to the time old saying "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say it at all."

I have a lot of niners fan friends, and last time was a big game (Seahawks v. Niners) so I was expecting a LOT of rude comments about the Seahawks. The Seahawks don't typcially win against the Niners either, so I wouldn't have been too surprised if they lost. But from the start of the game, the Seahawks had a good night, played a good game and won. I cheered for my team, and I was very excited for their win. I simply added to my fb "yay! Go Hawks!" 

But had the game gone the other way, I had to expect many people not only posting on my wall, but all over my news feed about how the Seahawks could "suck it" and how the Niners always beat them, and ruder comments. I guess I just don't understand that kind of mentality. Why make someone feel bad even in fun? 

Well.. enough of that. My point is, its just a game and the name calling and rudeness between fans of pro sports(or even non-pro sports) is ridiculous and ruins some of the fun in the game :)

On a side note, Merry Christmas Eve!!

  

cravings

soo.. This picture is at 8 weeks.. and I realize I should have 1, looked at the picture after I took it and 2, worn a long sleeve. 3. no flash...theres a glare on the frame that says 8 weeks. 4. remove elyse's toys from the picture.

Note: I will NOT be making those mistakes again :)

Last time I didnt take pictures of my face, I may do that again this time.

So pregnancy is starting to show. And I dont mean my stomach. Although in the picture I have a bump, I can assure you, its not baby. Its food. I am not a thin girl(at least not anymore) so I have a little tummy I have to fight with. But also, I just started getting really hungry. 

Last time, I didn't have any strong cravings or weird typical cravings like fried pickles or ice cream at midnight. But this time.. it's different. Cole and I went to dinner at Mongolian bqq one night. Within hours, I was SO hungry for a pancake. Being the amazing man he is, he made me a pancake. Then the next morning, I had a bad craving for a blueberry bagel with strawberry cream cheese. Its like I can't eat anything else besides what I'm craving cause it will taste disgusting. It's so bad.

So needless to say, this is all new to me. I also became REALLY bloated this week(10 weeks). So I look like I'm 25weeks pregnant and I'm not. It's deflated as little today but I have a pouching belly :( I mean, good thing I'm pregnant, but if someone asks how far I am.. I get embarrassed. I do know some of it is my uterus because I get little feelings, not exactly painful, but noticeable feelings were my c section scar is. The baby is a Lime this week so thats definitely bigger and if I was a smaller girl, would be showing. Instead Im "showing" my belly fat on top of my baby. 

oh well, we weren't all built with small frames or the strength to stay thin.

This Pregnancy

So far this pregnancy has been very different than the last one. I am now 10 weeks, 1 day. As I mentioned before, being high risk has changed things a lot. But even if I wasn't high risk, everything feels different.

1. Last time the morning sickness was miserable. I felt like death all the time, and missed work a lot. Oh and I worked.

1a. This time, I don't work but I have a toddler to chase constantly. I;ve been more sick with colds, and not as much morning sickness. I'm actually pretty okay when it comes to morning sickness this time around. Maybe cause this last year and a half I have been operating in a bit of a haze anyways, that I've gotten used to it.

2. Last time I was constantly thinking about the pregnancy and how big I was getting, what I'm craving, what the baby is doing, how big they are on a daily basis, etc.

2a. This time, I often forget I'm pregnant. I think part of it is that I have a lot of people around also pregnant but for the first time and I feel like that is more exciting and special and I don't want to make a big deal of my pregnancy and take away from anyone elses. I know its more exciting the first time and I want my friends to stay filled with that excitement.

3. I felt bloated really early and snuck into maternity clothes out of comfort early. Probably around 10weeks? I dont remember, I just remember it felt early.

3a. Although I feel bloated and any kind of pressure on my stomach makes me sick, I feel like I am expecting it more since I hear you tend to show earlier on the second baby.

4. Last time, eating made me feel better from morning sickness and I wanted to eat all the time. (and I did, and didn't really watch what I ate. I just ate what I felt like)

4a. Food doesn't sound good. Particularly chocolate and coffee. I tried a piece of chocolate the other day and almost threw up. But once I see a warm meal in front of me, then I'm hungry. I'm still relaxed about what I eat but I make more of an effort to eat more vegetables.

5. I wasn't tired really. I just laid down because of morning sickness. But once that stopped I had lots of energy and could do lots of things.

5a. Im fairly tried, all the time. Which makes my job as a SAHM VERY difficult. It's not like I get to take a break(I barely even get bathroom breaks).

6. I never had sudden cravings at weird times or strong cravings for something.

6a. Last night at like 930pm I was suddenly SOO hungry and needed something hearty. So cole warmed me up a slice of pizza.

I'll stop there but thats the jist of it so far. It's kind of nice things are different and I'm glad Im not so sick. I don't know how I would possibly keep up with Elyse if I had bad morning sickness!

Drumroll please...

So the news is...

We're expecting!! We are only 9 weeks(almost 10) along, and its a little early to share the news to the general public. But I figured very few people read this blog in the first place(and I am waiting to announce it on facebook for a at least another week so please keep the secret) and also, if something unfortunate would happen, I will probably blog about it anyways. Plus, when I was pregnant with Elyse, I announced on my blog at about 8 weeks, so I waited a whole week this time!! haha

Actually, a few months ago, while we were in Philadelphia, we were unfortunate enough to suffer from an early miscarriage. We found out we were pregnant at about 6 weeks and a few days later, while we were in New York City, we had a miscarriage. There was nothing to be done, so we continued to enjoy our trip the best we could and went from there. It was a sad time, but we weren't trying and it was an unexpected pregnancy. Due to that, I think it wasn't as upsetting as it could have been.

After that we realized we were ready for our family to expand and began to try to get pregnant. The next month, we had a negative, and then the following month(NOV) we had a positive pregnancy test. Of course, It was a little hard to be too excited with the somewhat recent miscarriage, but it was still exciting to get a positive.

Luckily we were back from the east coast and I could see an OB I was comfortable with. Although I liked my previous OB, I liked her practice partner a little more. Partially because her partner ended up delivering Elyse and partially when I was in the hospital for 3 weeks, I felt like I saw her more than my own OB. So, I've decided to switch.

So my new OB is the OB that delivered Elyse, and since I had a C-section, she is even more familiar with how she cut me and all of that gory stuff. She's also very pro active and I really like that.

I went to see her for a Pap a few days after I found out I was pregnant. Which thinking back on it, why did I schedule a pap when my period was suppose to be there? no idea.

Anyways, I went to see her and told her about the miscarriage. She told me that with the recent miscarriage and the early pregnancy with Elyse, that I am considered high risk and she would like to monitor me a little closer. Unlike last time, this time, I had a blood test done to see that the baby was progressing, and at 6 weeks we got to have an ultrasound done. When we did the 6 week ultrasound, we saw the flicker of the heartbeat which was a HUGE relief.

This gave us the comfort of telling our family a little early too since seeing the heartbeat drops the possibly of miscarriage to 5%. We told our family at thanksgiving or as we saw them. Elyse even got to wear a fun new onesie.

Also, it looks like Dutchess Kate and I are due around the same time. Since they announced it, I guess   I can to? But don't worry, I've been sent such wonderful articles as "6 way your pregnancy will be different that Kate Middletons" to remind me that we may be due around the same time, but thats were the similarities end. I particularly like the 1st difference if you decide to read it. 

http://www.parentsociety.com/parenting/kate-middleton-pregnant-6-ways-her-pregnancy-will-be-different-than-yours/?utm_source=nl&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=121012

Lastly, I have been experiencing some morning sickness, but not too much. Mild stomach discomfort and vomit. But I'm not dizzy as much as I was last time. Only when Im in the car and not driving. Food hasnt been as exciting as it used to be and the most I crave is salad(strange), fries, and soup. 

Elyse doesn't know what going on yet but someday she will. Hopefully before the baby comes :)

Leavenworth Tree Lighting

  

So since we've been sick, I haven't been out of the house much and most contact I've had with the outside world is via text or online. A little sad, but it's not really fun to get other people sick. So we've really kept to ourselves and tried hard to get better.

Thankfully, we have all been starting to feel better. We recently paid for a part of a trip to go to Leavenworth with some of our friends for the tree lighting there. Leavenworth is a cute bavarian town in the middle of Washington. Cole and I had been a lot before the baby. We really enjoy camping near Leavenworth in the summer. Breaks up the trip, camp a little, then go into town and shop a little :) Needless to say, it is one of our favorite spots of visit in the summer. We have a lot of memories there.

This was the first time we went in the winter time! Very different! (much much much colder) We weren't sure if we were gonna make it because we were all sick, but as of friday we were starting to feel better and went as early as we could saturday morning. I'm glad we went. It was great to see friends and get out of the house! Plus I love to stock up on my christmas stuff there. For a tourist spot, it wasn't too expensive for gifts!

Anyways, the lighting took all of 10 minutes and was great. I loved it. It got right to the point. The tree lit up and then the businesses behind us did as well. It was a great way to start the christmas season :)