Chiropractor Fun

So I have been having this lower back pain for several months now and I decided that I just can't take it anymore. David, being the sweet husband he is, found me a chiropractor not too far from my work that specializes in pregnancy. I thought "How perfect!" Too bad they don't take insurance, but their appointments are only $40, which is cheaper than my co-pay would be anyway!

I had my first appointment on Monday and when I walked in, everyone was so friendly. They don't really have any secretaries or receptionists, it's pretty much just the doctors and a massage therapist. I also thought it was kind of cool that the doctor greeted me with her 6 month (I'm guessing) daughter in tow. Wouldn't it be awesome to take your baby to your job with you??

So after some in depth history and then an exam, she determined that my pain was not due to my sciatic nerve or the baby laying in a wrong position. Mainly there's a joint on my left side that is all locked up and I guess the extra pressures of pregnancy and trying to lift and play with my 25 pound toddler is causing my right joint to "overwork" and become inflammed and irritated. So the treatment? She made a few adjustments to work out the left joint and gave me an exercise I can do at home. So off I went.

That night I was still pretty sore from her just poking around, but I did sleep better and Tuesday was pretty good as well. Tuesday night I thought it would be fun to make cookies. Not sure if it was just me standing too long, but something irritated it and I was rendered immobile for the rest of the evening. The next morning (Wed) was better and gradually through the rest of the day I was just feeling a little "sore" again, not piercing pain. Today I haven't really felt anything at all.

I have a follow up appointment with her again today, so I guess we'll see what she says. I don't mind having to go back several times, even once a week until the end of the pregnancy, but only if she is actually helping. I know chiropractors are supposed to be known to keep recommending appointments when you don't really need them, but I trust this one and at this point, I've only seen her once so I can't honestly think she will have "fixed" me in 1 appointment.

Levi and holiday events

Last weekend, Danielle and Travis (and their adorable son, Levi) were in town to visit family and friends which was awesome since they haven't been in town since they had Levi. Here are some pics of me and my dad with the cutie. Hopefully they come back soon and visit!!

We decided that we should start incorporating some fun Holiday traditions since Noah is getting older. It has been so much fun involving him this year. He helped decorate our Christmas tree (with some assistance). He also loved helping place where our Christmas decorations went. We also, for the first time ever, bought a gingerbread house to decorate. I briefly thought about making my own and then realized I was crazy and bought one to assemble instead. Here's our finished product:

Noah did a good job decorating but it was so very tempting to just eat the candy rather than put it on this house. But it is now displayed beautifully on our serving buffet in the kitchen and Noah admires he every chance he gets (I'm sure he's thinking "How can I climb up there and eat the candy off of it without Mommy and Daddy noticing?")

Noah received a gift from a secret santa from one of my online forums. He loves race cars.

Another new tradition was going to see Christmas lights. This year, we chose the Santa's Magical Kingdom in Eureka. We decided to reserve a seat on the wagon rather than view from our car since it didn't dawn on me that we could take Noah out of his carseat and I figured he'd have a hard time seeing the lights from his carseat. Regardless, I think it was a good decision. It was a little chilly that night, but Noah didn't seem to mind one bit! He LOVED all the lights, particularly the ones that went over his head or had pictures of dogs or other animals.

Before we went out on the lights, we paid Santa a visit. Of course, a story accompanies this. We waited in line and when it was our turn, Noah jumped on his lap, no fear. We got him to look at the camera and smile and then moved on to get our pictures. I was even thinking, yeah he smiled. So we look at our 2 pictures she snapped. One was Santa closing his eyes and the other Noah was looking in the other direction. Seriously, the photographer couldn't even snap the picture while he was smiling????? So David asked if we could go again really quick. The lady was really hesistant but she let us. So we get him back on there and now he won't smile. Finally, David peeks his head around the corner to see how it was going and Noah gives me the biggest smile EVER. And thank goodness, the photographer actually took the picture. So we got a great picture and I was so excited to see the result on paper.

So then we get the picture and there is a line in the picture. David complains and they refunded his money, which means we got free Santa pictures, but still. David was able to take them home and photoshop the line. This is a picture before the photoshop and you can see the line is barely visible (it's on the right side, over Santa's left shoulder). Really I think it turned out fine, but we will probably seek out a new Santa next year.

Nursery pictures

Here are pictures of Miss Emilee's new nursery. I want to add a disclaimer about the color. We chose yellow because it works great with the bedding. Her room is our prior guest room and much smaller than Noah's room, so we wanted something bright and yellow works the best, especially considering the small window. BUT, the color that is displayed in these pictures are simply a lack of my photography talent and lighting. It really is not that dark. I would classify it more as a bright pastel yellow, not sun burnt yellow. Ok, continue looking at pictures...

Noah helping Daddy (excuse my husband's pants).

Changing Table and window. There is a changing pad cover that matches the set, I'll try and remember to take new pictures of it when we start using it. Also we hung up her quilt the same way we did Noah's, but hers is a lot thinner, so it creates a droop at the top that we are hoping to fix at some point.

Noah testing out the mobile.

This wall will have her name on it whenever we get around to purchasing the letters and painting them. More pictures to come later.

And to answer the inevitable question, no our daughter will not have her own flat screen TV at birth. That is for Mommy purposes only. We realized on night 2 or 3 of having to nurse Noah in his room at night alone that Mommy was quite lonely. So in came the TV. Once Emilee is sleeping through the night, we'll relocate the TV back to our computer room again.

Noah's new bedroom

Here are pictures of Noah's new bedroom furniture. Here is Noah enjoying his new bed. We had the pillows in there the first night and it threw him off, so we took them out and he slept much better. Then he developed a cough, probably from the dry weather, so we added them back in to try and elevate his head and help his cough. Turns out, he loved the pillows, so now he has one everynight. Although I will say many mornings, he is not sleeping on them. Baby steps.

Here is Noah's new desk. Although this is a picture of the original one, we had to have it replaced because of some damage it incurred during shipping.

Noah update!

First of all, I just have to say thank you to the comments I have been getting. Please keep commenting. Tell me what you like and what you hate!!!

To answer Amanda's question, we have sort of decided on a name. We are about 99% sure that her name will be Emilee. As for a middle name, a little more undecided. We both really like Teresa (after my mom) or Anne (my middle name). I'll also most some more updates with her nursery pics soon.

But this post is about Mr. Noah!!! What a little boy he has become in the last few months. I was just looking at pictures from his 18-month birthday and he seemed so young even then. Now he will repeat just about every word you say, most with pretty good articulation. I always assumed that little kids talked in their own language that only their parents could understand, but Noah does a really good job of saying every word slowly and precisely so that you can understand it all. He will say some very short 2 word phrases. The most common that I've heard are "Hold me" and "All Gone". Not exactly the 2 word phrases I'm hoping he can put together, but he's getting there. All in his own time.

Noah will also conceptually understand what you are telling him to do most of the time. He knows that when it's time to say good-bye, we give hugs and kisses and say "bye bye" or "see ya". He knows that Buddy has to go in his crate when we leave or when Buddy is being annoying, he should be on his pillow (Noah actually told him to go to his pillow the other night while pointing at it). He knows how to help with the laundry (both putting it into the washer and dryer and putting his clothes in the hamper) and dishwasher. He can feed himself just about anything with a fork and spoon. Occasionally he needs help cutting something, but he tells you "cut". He can peel his own banana and eat it all on his own.

Speaking of food, this kid eats like none other!!! Just a few short months ago, we were in that ackward phase of him wanting more than we were willing to share from our plates at a restaurant but he didn't eat enough to warrant his own kid's meal (especially when some places charge upwards of $5-6 for a kid's meal). Now, Noah can easily polish off a kid's meal and usually wants more. How am I suppose to satisfy him with a kid's meal until he's 12!?!?!?! Not only does he eat really well, but he's generally not too picky. He will have his moments, but generally if we tell him that he can't have a second roll until he has a few bites of this or that, he eats it relunctantly and relishes in the fact that he got a second roll, like he got a prize or something. I don't mind doing this sort of "trade off" since I don't think kids understand moderating at their age. By no means will I ever "force" him to eat any food. If he's done, then he's done, but that also means, he doesn't get a cookie or dessert or anything else.

Noah's other favorite activity is water. Not just bath time, but shower time, too. And I'm sure if it were summer, it would be pool time as well. He loves pouring the water over his face or just standing in the shower letting the water run over his head. He's recently learned that it's a lot of fun to lay on his stomach or back in the tub. A little scary for Mommy, especially when he gulps in a mouthful of water, but he's learning.

Lastly, Noah's big change has come in the form of his bedroom. Since we are expecting Emilee in just a few short months, we decided to start transitioning Noah to a new furniture set. He is staying in his room since I want him to keep his turtles for a little while longer and it prevented us from having to re-paint and decorate 2 rooms, since we would have to repaint Emilee's room regardless. Noah's new furniture includes a full size bed. And he has transitioned to it amazingly well. At first, we didn't use a pillow but he was having some coughing fits (probably from the dry air) and we brought it back and it helped plus I think he likes having it now. He does still have to use a little stool to get in bed, even though it's much lower than a traditional full size bed. But it's a cute little wooden stool with his name on it, so we should be able to keep using it in the future.

I feel like I have a ton more things to talk about (I guess that's what I get for not writing any posts in a while), but they will have to wait for another day.


P.S. I promise some pictures will be coming.

24 weeks

I'm 24 weeks now!!! I know that I haven't posted anything in several weeks and I apologize. First, I've been extremely busy with holidays, work, baby stuff, etc. Second, I've had several people come up and ask why I haven't been posting on my blog, so I know there are some people that do read my blog. But yet, no one posts any comments or anything!!!!! So this is my warning: If you like my blog and like reading it and you would like to see it continue in the future, please post a comment of love, please. All I need to know is that someone is listening. And if you absolutely hate everything I write about and would rather I write about something else, let me know that too. End Rant

Now for the actual post:

Weeks: 24

Weight Gain: I can finally report that I believe I've gained about 10 pounds so far. I know the last appointment at 20 weeks, he said I had a 5 pound gain and this time I'm up another 5 pounds. I still think I'm well within normal.

Symptoms: No more nausea for the most part. Just if I don't eat something first thing in the mornings. That also means I can go back to eating my spicy food (yum). However, it has all been replaced with terrible back pain. I'm pretty sure she is laying right on my nerve that goes down my back and into my legs which causes me excruciating pain by the end of the day. The best help is to lie down on my side. That's another thing - I can only sleep on my sides and not just on my side. I have to have my pregnancy pillow on one side and between my legs and a long king size pillow on the other. I get up several times at night to use the restroom, drink water and change positions. Not to mention all the times she wakes me up with her kicking. I don't recall anytime with Noah being woken up with kicking, but she is a fiesty one for sure.

Belly Size: Getting bigger by the day!! I guess I could do the TP test, but the doctor measured me yesterday and the fundal height (the height from my pubic bone to the top of my uterus) was 24 inches, so I'm measuring right on.

Baby Size: 8.5 inches and 1.5 pounds (size of an ear of corn)

Next Appointment: Jan 9. I'll be 28 weeks and after that appointment, I will start going every other week. Also, I have my glucose test that week.

I also want to update that I had my last appointment yesterday and everything went well. Heartbeat sounded really strong, he said especially for a 24 weeker. Nothing else exciting to report about the appointment.

It seems like this pregnancy is just flying by and before we know it, she'll be here!!!