there you are...

I've been very impatiently waiting for this baby to give me a little "here I am" wiggle. The nurse made the comment that I should be feeling movement "any day now" over a month ago, and all the books and such you read say that you feel movement so much sooner the second time. So I waited. And waited. And worried a little. And then a little more. And then waited. And then finally, there it was.
I thought I felt a little bit of moving around when we were visiting Adam and Molly. And then every day this week, usually around 9 or 10 p.m., there it is. A little wiggle. :) Travis even got to feel it a bit the other night. Travis assures me the little movements are just a sign that we are having the most relaxed baby in the world this time. Here's hoping, world. :)

First days of summer and birthday celebrations

We officially kicked off the last summer we'll have with only one child last Wednesday. With all of the chaos that May is at school with senior nights and grad parties and all that hoopla, Eva was starting to feel a little bit left behind by her mama. This resulted in a daily heart breaking round of peeling her off me to go to work in the last few days, so boy was I relieved to finally be able to tell her, "It's you and me all day today, kiddo." The first few days she didn't seem to believe me and was still very clingy and cried a lot, but by the weekend it seems I had convinced her it was true.
We headed down South for Alexander and Amelia's birthday party a day early. As soon as we started to walk inside the house, Eva started to excitedly say, "Alex? Alex?" It was fun to see her so excited to see her cousin. Though I'm sorry to say, she may have been even more excited to see Briggs. I just have to laugh remembering how Briggs was the first thing I had ever seen her be legitimately afraid of. You'd have never known it based on how much she wanted to go visit him in the garage or the backyard. Unfortunately it was pretty stinkin' hot out, so we had to convince her to stay inside until the heat of the day was just a tad bit behind us. Eventually the kids played, Aunt Ashley and Uncle Trevor arrived, Grandma and Papa came over for pizza, and everyone had a good time. Aunt Molly and I had lots of fun getting the cakes ready for the party the next day!
There was a little worry about the party being really hot, but luckily we had such a nice breeze it was a great afternoon to be outside. Alex was so excited to open his presents. It made me think about how I can't wait until Evalee understands the excitement surrounding her birthday as well! He was pretty excited about this fireman dress up gift he got until his daddy brought out the gator he got as a gift from his parents. Oh the excitement amongst all the little people! Everyone wanted to ride (drive)! Eva did her best to keep up with all the other kids, and she did a pretty good job, I think. Travis and I were both impressed with how well she played with others. After a bath (which probably should have just been a hose down with how gross our daughter was by the end of the day) we headed home so Travis could work on Monday. It was a great weekend, and it was great to see my favorite nephew and niece on their special day!

Both babies' check ups

Evalee had her 2 year check up a few weeks late due to a scheduling difficulty. As expected, she still absolutely hates the sight of Dr. Moen. In fact, she is now smart enough to recognize the outside of the building the doctor's office is located in. I had to drag her in. She weighed 28 lbs and sized in at 33 inches tall. She still had a little back-up in her right ear, so we were told to keep a close eye on her. Dr. Moen was impressed with her vocabulary skills and letter recognition. Despite her screams and attempts to karate kick the nicest doctor in the world, I was proud of her.

Baby fetus is also making good progress. We had our 16 week check up last week. I continue to feel anxious and uneasy about how the baby is doing because this pregnancy has been so, so different than the first, so I was again ready to get in there and hear that beautiful little heartbeat again. So it only makes sense that I had someone new to the job attempting to find said heartbeat. After 7 solid minutes (and who knew 7 minutes lasted 38 minutes at times) of sweeping and poking and sweeping again, we got about 3 seconds of the baby's heartbeat, which was apparently enough to register 159 beats per minute and satisfy the nurse.  Me, I could have listened for a few more seconds.

17 Weeks pregnant.... 1 week until summer

Things have been so, so much better here in the lovely second trimester. I haven't felt nauseous for a couple of weeks now, which has made life so much easier from day to day. It was getting so old not being able to think of anything to make my family for dinner that I thought I could also stomach down, and not being able to do anything with Eva after I got home from work. Luckily, I have the world's best husband who never once complained about having random collections of odd food for supper or about having to give Eva her bath because I couldn't lean over the tub. And we got through it.
And now my appetite and energy store are growing just as quickly as my belly. There is only one more full week of school, and I am 20 papers away from 11 weeks of the last summer Eva and I have together just the two of us. I have visions of days at pool, visits to the park, bikes in the driveway, beautiful sidewalk chalk masterpieces, and bubbles. Lots of bubbles. 
We are only a couple weeks away from seeing our little potato (that's the size the baby is now) again via sonogram and hopefully finding out  if Evalee will have a baby brother or baby sister!

The only thing that is still a constant annoyance is my back pain. Sometimes I wake up with it and I have trouble walking all day, other days I can make it all the way through without any pain at all. I wish I could find a pattern. If it continues, Rita has recommended that I try a chiropractic treatment. We'll see how things go in the weeks to come!

The first pictures of our baby

 After all the heartbeat excitement, we were so ready to get to our sonogram the next week and see our little peanut wriggling around. When the door opened for the sonogram, we saw the familiar face of a family friend, Julie.
"Are you hoping for a boy or a girl?" Julie asked as we settled in.
"Either one, just as long as there is only one in there!" I laughed. It was a nervous laugh because  a small part of me was fearing twins because my back was hurting so much and my appetite had been so difficult. She got started and was silent for a solid 7 seconds.
"Well guys, there's two in there," she said matter of factly. Travis started rubbing his head and spinning in circles, not knowing what to say. I just kept repeating the same phrases:
"You're kidding, right. There's only one, right? Are you joking?"
"See here's one baby," she said, pointing to the screen. She moved  the image. "And here's a baby."
"Oh my gosh," I said, slack-jawed. Silence.
"I'm just kidding guys," she laughed. "That's the same baby."
I thought I'd kill her.
The rest of the appointment went very smoothly. We got to watch in amazement as arms waved and legs kicked. A thorough inspection between the legs revealed no indication of a boy, but as Julie said, it wasn't too late for something to show up still. We'll find out for her at 20 weeks!

Buzz!!!!!!

For about the last month or so, Evalee has been a huge fan of the Toy Story movies. She is so excited to see Buzz, every time it's like she's watching for the first time. We never got around to taking back a birthday present I got her and then found for a much better price somewhere else, so we couldn't resist exchanging for her very own Buzz. She's been in love ever since. We even brought him to church with us this week.

Elmo desk

 My cousin Abby sent Evalee a surprise birthday present in the mail, and Evalee thought it necessary to begin construction asap.

Who needs instructions?

All this work, and I need a book break.

Once Daddy was home, construction speed picked up.

She didn't need any help from Daddy, either.

Breakdown because Daddy finished a step without her.

So then she needed to turn the screws.