Memorial Day weekend

We had a very nice but rather quick Memorial Day weekend. Friday, Clay's folks came up to watch Kenley as the sitter had the day off.  They had a great time together Friday morning but as Kenley didn't take a nap our plans to go out to lunch at Olive Garden had to be changed to Olive Garden to go. Kenley took the longest nap she has ever taken for us and slept from about 1240 until AFTER 3pm. It was awesome!!
I recently got some pics from my MIL's camera and I assume this one was taken that morning as Kenley was "reading" to her friends. HOW CUTE!!!

We also went out to the house on Friday as we heard they were pouring concrete. We couldn't get into the house but we liked the way the driveway and patio turned out.

 We headed back Saturday to measure for our new furniture and found the furnace was on and running constantly. It was 94 degrees in there and HOT HOT HOT!!!! Clay thinks it was to dry the tile since they were working on the master shower. I thought it was to dry the paint on the trim but either way I couldn't stay there long. Too hot for this lady!!!

Sunday we really laid low. Made a trip to the grocery store and did whatever to fill the day. It was a nice lazy day.

Monday brought our big plans and we packed up early and headed south to the campground to visit Grandma and Grandpa B. Grandma and Grandpa C were going to join us and so were some of Grandma and Grandpa B's friends.  Grandpa had Kenley's kiddie pool ready for her and the water was warm. Kenley liked it but insisted I get in with her and swim. We were in it a few different times.

We also took a few golf cart rides and Kenley really enjoyed them. She sat in the front between Clay and I instead of on my lap and she even tried to help steer. I'm sure she will continue to love the golf cart rides the rest of the summer.

 We all had a very nice lunch and a nice time visiting. Clay and I ended up staying for dinner so we gave Kenley a bath there and headed home in PJs. She was one tired buy happy girl!! It was a great day and I'm so happy we could spend it hanging out with family and friends.  Wish every weekend was a nice 3 1/2 day weekend! Oh life would be grand ;o)

Ever increasing vocab

Kenley just seems to have an ever increasing vocabulary and it's awesome to see. We especially love learning the names of animals and animal sounds or what animals do (like bunnies go hop hop hop.) We caught one of our newest on camera and it's one of Clay's favorites cause it's just so darn cute. Enjoy!!

An apple a day...

Kenley loves fruits!!! She doesn't really have favorites but she really only can say 2. She says Nanne (Nanny) for banana and she says APPLE clear as day. Well last night she found an apple in my purse that I hadn't eaten at work that day and she went to town. We let her eat it like a big girl (under the adult supervision of Grandma B) and she tore it up! She did so great avoiding the core and eating the peel. Here are the remains :o)

Wish she loved veggies as much as fruits but I'll settle for the fact that she loves something so healthy and if it fits the old saying it will help keep the dr away ;o)

It's raining, it's pouring, the old man is snoring...

It seems we can't shake this rain. The weatherman warned us all last week/weekend and nothing really happened but since then it's been a little wet! We'd really like it to stop so they can do the concrete work at the Hotel Brockman and we won't have to fight the mud pit to get in the house or feel like pirate captives walking the plank to stay out of the mud.  Oh well, in due time I guess. It will all get done. They keep moving along on the inside so definitely making progress.

Now as for the snoring.. good grief!! Clay and I have been occasional snorers in the past when we were "sick" or fighting some allergy/sinus stuff, but it has gotten out of hand lately. It seems it's always one of us. Now it doesn't matter if it's you cause you are sound asleep sawing logs but when it's your partner in the bed and you happen to wake up and can't get back to sleep then there is an issue.  Now here's the funny part (to me anyways), Clay and I handle the snoring differently.  While both unable to return to sleep, I am reluctant to give up my bed and tend to try to poke at Clay to get him to wake up or roll over. If that doesn't work I toss and turn so the bed moves or get up to use the bathroom hoping too that will make him stop. Clay takes a bit of a nicer approach and simply gets out of bed and goes to sleep in the other room. Simple enough but not on my list.  Hopefully our sinuses will clear and the snoring will come to an end soon so we can both get a good night's sleep.

In other news, Kenley is doing good. She has had some fussy nights and been waking up a bit earlier than normal. We've had some attachment issues in the morning when fussy but I think it's from being tired and she just needs a bit more rest. The other night at dinner we let her have a chipwich (ice cream sandwich made with choc chip cookies and a sprinkle of heaven's dust). She enjoyed it. Don't worry she didn't eat the whole thing, just a few bites here and there and then I made her share with me.

16 weeks and moving right along

So today is the 16 week mark and it seems things are uneventful (which I know is a good thing.) I feel more PLUMP than pregnant but I know that will change soon enough. I'm past all of my food aversions and "icky" stomach feelings and getting some of my energy back. Sleeping okay and can still manage to lay on my stomach but having some neck and shoulder issues as a result. Haven't made the transition to the side yet and still only have 2 pillows on my side of the bed. Clay indicated I have recently become a snorer (how do you spell that?) but I think that is due to the weather and not the pregnancy.

I won't do a ton of "babycenter" education this round as I did almost every week with Kenley but I did take a peek and it seems Baby B should be 4 1/2 inches from crown to rump and weigh a whopping 3 1/2 ounces which can easily explain my weight gain ;o) HA! It did say the few weeks will be a big growth spurt and the baby will double the weight and add inches in length. I'm sure I'll add pounds and inches too so stay tuned. My 18 week appt is scheduled for June 10th and my big sono is June 17th. Clay and I have decided again to NOT find out what we are having so we will be looking thru both sides of the baby name book soon enough.

I took my "belly" pictures this morning. Kenley wasn't happy and if you look you can see her protest in the bare belly pic.  I actually just look plump instead of pregnant too so hopefully that will change in few weeks too.

HEY!!

We had a great weekend and I hope everyone else did too. Saturday Kenley sported her rockin' shades. She loved to take a look in the mirror and just squealed with glee each time. What fun.

What a busy blur

It seems everytime I find the time to sit and update I have so much to catch up on. Life here really is a busy blur.

Right now....life in general:
We are doing well. Last weekend we celebrated Mother's Day by having a small cookout. We had both sets of parents over for the day. Clay and I ran some errands early in the morn while my folks babysat and then we came home and all had a nice lunch. Nothing beats a grilled hamburger (or even a burnt hotdog) on a nice day. Here are my two wonderful mothers, Kenley, and me.

Please forgive my white legs in the middle. Someone lives in Central IL over the winter and not sunny FL ;o)  During the week we have been enjoying time outside with after dinner trips to the park or just a walk around the block with the wagon. Kenley sure does love to be outside!!!

It's also had us laughing lately with the crazy bedhead she manages to have every morning. I tell you the girl's hair is WILD but it doesn't seem to phase her and she's always smiling.

In other Kenley news, her vocab is increasingly growing and it is the cutest thing. New words seem to come out almost daily at times. Some of my new favorites are cookie and cracker and I still get a good laugh at the standby words like kitty and apple (which fills in for almost all fruit except bananas which we now call nennes). It's also nice to switch her to shorts with the warm hot weather but we've run into a small issue. We did 18month pants for the length this winter and didn't have a problem but the poor girl for the life of her can't keep any of her 18month shorts up. She just doesn't have a waist. My little skinny minnie! Guess I'll have to hit a few garage sales and find some 12 month shorts to get us by.

In baby news:
I went to the dr yesterday for my 14 week appt. Everything is looking good. My weight is already at 180lb so I may need to start watching that as we get bigger but the heartbeat was in the 150s and all my early labs came back normal. We talked the dr into another sono so she could confirm the due date. It's always fun to see the little one. I wish they would do a sono with every visit but I know they can't. It's amazing to see how fast babies grow and change in the womb.

Not happy that those pictures rotated (esp since the both did head down) but the top is the baby head and body and the bottom is a profile picture (again both are head down.) Baby measured right at 14w3day which is right what I thought so I'm confirmed with a 11/7 due date and go back in 4 weeks for another appt and 5 weeks for the big sono.

In house news:

 There are days where it feels like a lot gets done and days when I get impatient. This was a good week! We got brick, garage doors, and now they are doing flooring.

(The garage door picture is from my phone and from the car since it was raining that day.) I don't have pics for the flooring yet cause they just started yesterday and when we went to the house there was a tile on the door that said "wet tile, stay out" or something like that, so Clay and I went around back and peeked in the patio door. I must say I think I love it ;o)
Yesterday after the dr we also finally got all the lighting stuff done. It was a long hot afternoon. Who knew a lighting store would be so warm with all those lights on. I think we did a pretty good job and I hope it all looks nice. The pendants for over the island aren't quite what I expected or wanted but they match the light we liked for over the table so I think it will look nice. We also ended up getting our ceiling fans too, so we are set. I want to double check fan blade color today but if it matches we should be a go.

Well there you have it. Another week with the Brockmans. Today we are going to a local campground where the in-laws are camping with their friends. We will hang out and have potluck dinner. If it doesn't rain we should be able to take a walk around the lake and look for baby ducks. Should be a fun day. I hope everyone has (or had if you read this later) a wonderful weekend!

Big news

Well it's time for some big news....Are you ready?? Any guesses??

We will let Kenley tell you :o)

That's right! The Brockman fam is growing (and so is my belly). Baby Brockman #2 is in the oven and cooking up for a Fall arrival. Due date set for 11/7 but momma is expecting an Oct baby if he/she comes early like Kenley did.

How we found out:
Well I stopped nursing at Thanksgiving and started my metformin meds again in Dec. Clay and I said we would give my body 6 months before we even considered going to the dr. I had a few crazy cycles super close in Dec/Jan and then nothing. At my annual dr visit she asked if I was pregnant and I said no. I had just had a test the week before for my MRI so I didn't give it a second thought. She told me that if I went much longer and my test was still neg, she would induce a cycle and let me go from there. So a few weeks passed and my bday rolled around. I decided I would take a test just to see and then call the dr sometime that next week. So at 4am after getting puked on for the 4th time and finally getting cleaned up and Kenley back in bed and asleep I decided I had to pee and then was as good of a time as any to pee on a stick. I did my business and went to the kitchen for a drink (yes I washed my hands first). Then I went back to the bathroom to check the results by the light of the night light and lo and behold... this is what I saw:

I could barely believe my eyes. I had to turn the light on to check for sure. What? I'm pregnant! 

I didn't want to wake up Clay since it had already been a long night with a sick kid so I waited until the morning but I had a hard time going back to sleep. 

Our first dr appt:

After calling the dr that first week (and all but arguing on the phone with the nurse about how far along I was), we set the first appt for 4/15 (right before Clay's bday). All was well. We did the paperwork and the basic vitals. Then the fun part...the sono. The dr wasn't happy with the measurements she was getting. The baby was too big for the internal sono but too small for the external so she knew I was a good 10 weeks along (which I had myself at 10w4d so take that nurse lady). So here is one of the pics she got...

You can see the head and body curled up and the 2 little legs at the bottom. The dr said she is going to do another sono at my 14 week appt next Friday 5/13 so I'm excited to see the progress.

First belly pics:
It's true what they say about getting bigger faster the 2nd time around. I've just started wearing some maternity pants but I can tell my belly is going to grow quickly. We took some of our "baseline" photos at 12 weeks. This time around, it looks like I'll have a helper for all of my morning pictures ;o)

 Feeling movement:

I've also started feeling some small movements already and I love it. They aren't strong enough for Clay to feel yet but I can usually feel them at least 1 or 2 times a day. It was my favorite part of being pregnant with Kenley and I already love it again. This time I also can't wait for Kenley to feel it. She's been already noticing a dwindling lap when she sits on my lap to read books so I just can't wait until the belly kicks her ;o)

All in all I've been feeling well. I had some nausea and food aversions during the first trimester. But Kenley and the house kept me busy so I don't really remember being any more tired than normal. I am glad to be past the "icky" tummy feelings and gaining some extra energy. I still get a bit winded at times but overall I can't complain. I'm not prepared to be big and prego over the hot summer months but I know I will survive and in the end it will be well worth it.

Oh and a few last things:
We will not be finding out the gender this time either. That was the best surprise and made labor and delivery that much more special for me. We will wait and be surprised on the gender of Baby B #2 when he/she makes his/her arrival. However, because of this, I'm looking for a name to use to refer to Baby B. We called Kenley Little Bean and it made it much better than saying it or he/she all the time. Any ideas for what to call this little one until arrival? I'm open for suggestions.

Stay tuned, things in the Brockman house are going to be even more fun-filled!

Still moving along...

Hotel Brockman is still moving right along. We have the end in sight (sorta of). We locked in our interest rate today ;o) and so it seems weird to say we will own a new home within 60 days. The realtor said we are about a week ahead (at least) and there really shouldn't be anything that would set us back at this point, so we just keep on trucking.

They got the siding on the back of the house Monday ;o)

And they are done with all the drywall, mudding, and sanding. Here is a shot of the eat-in area and the living room (standing in the kitchen.)

We are busy picking out paints and hope to have our final decisions by tomorrow afternoon.  All I can say is the Hotel Brockman will be bright and colorful!!! We have 6 different colors picked out and I'm super excited to see how it all turns out. We are taking a bold move with the kitchen and with our bedroom, heck I guess even with the hall bathroom but I think it will look splendid. Can't wait to show you!!! (Plus I'm busy coordinating decorations, bedding, curtains, and all that which is stressful but exciting too.)

We are still waiting for the brick to finish up the exterior and thought they were gonna do it last week but I guess they can still do it this week. Keep your fingers crossed!! Here's what the front looks like right now.

 So Hotel Brockman will soon have it's GRAND OPENING and be accepting reservations. Make yours today!!!

This is what happens when...

...you wash a cardboard block that your daughter hid in your pile of laundry on the floor. What a fun surprise to find ;o)

I guess our towers will be one block shorter from now on.