22 weeks! :)

We are 22 weeks this week! Only 18 to go!!

Someone was sleeping for our pictures today!

 How big is baby? K is a spaghetti squash this week! 10 inches and 1lb... We've graduated to the pounds now!! YAY!

Weight gain/loss: +14lb and according to my doctor exactly where I was with MK at this point in my pregnancy, so we're both not worried about it.

Sleep: starting to get more uncomfortable at night now, but it was only a matter of time!

Movement: She's moving like crazy still- rolling, kicking and jumping around in there.

Symptoms: back pain, my feet and hands are starting to swell (good bye wedding band that's always been a size too small) and the most attractive one... I've starting peeing when I sneeze!!!! Awesome.

Food Cravings: Watermelon, grapes, grilled turkey and cheese sandwiches.

Gender: A precious baby girl! Khloe Margaret Vogelaar

What I miss: This week I miss being able to do yoga without modifications, but I'm still thankful to be able to do yoga, it makes me feel sooo good!

What I'm looking forward to: I've only got 6 weeks until I'm in my third trimester! I can't believe my pregnancy is going this fast. I'll see my doctor in 5 weeks for my 7 month check, my glucose tolerance test (yuck) and a growth/check the fibroid scan. I'm also so stoked for a three day weekend and the start of college football! We've blocked off Saturday as a "college football day!"  I also can't believe it's going to be September soon- football, cooler weather and pumpkins will be here soon!

Dr. Appointment notes: Today was just a blood pressure, heart rate and weight check. Dr. C also measured my belly which measured in at 25 weeks. My belly has been 3 weeks more than I am every time she's checked... maybe that means a December baby?? Fingers crossed! :)

Mk messing around at the Dr appointment!



If I knew then what I know now...

I've been thinking a lot about my pregnancy with MK this past week and what I'd do differently now that I've been a mom for 2 years. A lot of my list has to do with all of the stuff that you have to buy/register for when you're a first time mom. Those big box baby stores really make you feel like you need to have everything, and I was definitely one of those suckers! Some of these are also not baby gear related, just my mommy reflections!

Here's what I'd do differently:

1. Ditch the travel system!
I've already written a post comparing my Chicco Cortina Travel system to the Phil and Teds Dash stroller here. I wish that snap and go strollers would have been popular when I was preggo... it was a trend that came out just after I had MK and I was already pot committed with my stroller. That's what I'd go with now until I knew for sure what I wanted out of a stroller.

2. You don't need a ton of cloth bibs!
I registered for a ton and got a lot as gifts, but once I started needing them I realized that they were a terrible idea! I learned quickly that the bibs you wipe off work so much better, and if they have a little pocket in the front that's even better! My favorite (and I've tried a lot!) are these Tommy Tippee bibs.

3. Buy 0-3 month clothes and bigger.
This also could be because I had a bigger than average baby, but MK only wore newborn clothes for such a short time... we've got a huge tub of onesies she wore once! Also, people will give you clothes at baby showers (note to people going to baby showers: stick to the registry, it's so helpful to new moms... bottle liners and diapers aren't sexy gifts, but to expecting parents they so are!) so wait until after your showers to buy a lot of clothes. Also, if you can, keep the tags on them and wash when you get the baby home and figure out what sizes work best for your baby. Also- GO TO CONSIGNMENT SALES!! I was just at Divine Consign and they had a ton of barely used brand name newborn clothes for $1-2! Why pay $5-8 for a onesie they are going to wear a couple times?

4. Really research what bottle you want to use and think SIMPLE!
We got Dr. Browns just because we heard that they were the bomb and for MK they were great, but they were a pain to clean! I bet if she'd been gassy or had reflux issues we'd be singing a different song, but she was great so we had time to complain about washing bottles. The Dr. Browns have so many little parts that required little brushes! Once my milk dried up at 7 months and we were cleaning 8 bottles a day we decided that we'd had enough of the tiny parts and tried different bottles. We landed on Born Free bottles which only have a couple things to clean.

5. Don't focus so much on the "big day"
I was way too focused on what MK's birthday would look like that I didn't prepare my heart enough for being a mom and all that would entail. I wish I would have read more books, memorized some scripture and had more detailed talks about parenting with my mommy friends. It's kinda like planning a wedding, it's so easy to get caught up in the one day and not investing in the life time after the big day.

6. Plan a nursery for a big girl room.
Now that I'm planning a nursery again, I find myself thinking way more about how this nursery, that'll be used as one for less than 2 years, is going to turn into a little girls room. I'm so happy with MK's big girl room now, but I do wish I would have looked past the little baby phase when decorating her nursery. What would I have done differently: ditch the cutsie patterns and colors and used more safisticated simple bedding and fabrics that could have been used in big girl bedding. If we would have kept MK's room a nursery for K then I don't think I would feel this way... so if you're planning on making the nursery a permenant fixture in your house for all of your babys then make is as cutsie as possible!

7. Write everything down!
I blogged a little bit for the first few months of MK's pregnancy and then stopped, but I wish I would have kept a journal of how I was feeling for the rest of my pregnancy. I'd love to compare weight and how I was feeling physically and emotionally. Well, at least I'll have something to compare next time with! :)

8. Consider things outside your comfort zone.
I wish I wouldn't have turned up my nose at cloth diapers when I first heard about them! I am so jealous of my friends who got thier diaper stash as gifts at showers... talk about saving money from the start. I also wish I would have embraced the Moby wrap instead of getting intimidated at it's complexity. I'm excited to use it this time around now that I've watched this video from my favorite blog about how to actually tie it! :)

Here's my list... what's on yours moms? I love learning from other moms experiences!

Love,
K. Vog

21 weeks!

Today I am 21 weeks! 19 to go :)

Finally getting this blog post together on the day I graduate to a new week.

How big is baby? Baby is the size of a carrot! 10 1/2 inches long and 3/4 of a pound in weight.

Weight gain/loss: Up 12lb... still gaining like crazy.

Sleep: Still sleeping great, only getting up once a night to pee and sleeping very soundly cuddling my body pillow.

Movement: Khloe is one active girl. She is definitely more active that MK at this point in my pregnancy. I always wonder if how you are in the womb is any indication for how you'll be outside the womb... prepping myself now for a high energy girl! Oh and Mike FINALLY got to feel her kick the other day.

Symptoms: back pain and occasional leg cramps when I exercise, but that's pretty much it!

Food Cravings: salty food! Chips, crackers, guacamole... anything with salt sounds SO good. I craved sweets with MK (ice cream especially), but sweets sound awful to me this time! It's crazy how pregnancies can be do different.

Gender: a precious baby girl... Khloe Margaret Vogelaar!

What I miss? Nothing this week, loving being pregnant!

What I'm looking forward to: Our 6 month (what!!!) check up next week... it's really at 22 weeks (I'm two weeks early for all my appointments for some reason... the gender scan at 18 weeks is throwing it off) but it still counts as my 6 month check up! I think this check up is just a weight/bp/heart beat check so it should be low key. I've been sewing up a storm for K's room and almost have her bed skirt done. I'll be working on her roman shades next and that's pretty much all I'm sewing for her room at this point! We're getting her paint to paint the nursery this weekend and I'm so excited about that! :) I really would love to get all the big stuff for her nursery done soon while I'm still feeling good and energized and we've got free weekends. Mike and I are now Baylor football season ticket holders, so a lot of our Saturdays in the fall are going to be spent in Waco!!! Sic 'em!

Front of the ruffle layered bed skirt! :)

Big sister:  Is officially a two year old! CRAZY! When asked this week "Where is Khloe?" she said "In mama's bewlly!" She still doesn't like that someone who's not here yet named Khloe has a room with a crib and stuff she can't touch... that will be a fun transition! 

Much love!
K, M, MK and KM Vog!  



Pool Olympics 2nd Birthday Party!

Here are some pictures of Maddie and Mckinley's second birthday party! It was so fun!!

Mck enjoying her cupcake!

Happy birthday girls!

Chicken fighting!

Precious Mckinley swimming!

Team Mckinley!

We won the gold! :)

The coaches of team Mckinley and team Maddie

Such sweet friends

Team Maddie!

Family pic! Loves the widemans!

The youngest member of team Maddie... and the cutest!

Maddie loving her cupcake... and change from last year!

Thanks to everyone who came out and made the party a blast!

Go team Maddie! :)

Love,
The Vogs

MK at 2 years!

I can't believe I have a two year old... crazy!

Here are MK's stats at 2 years:

Height- 36.5 inches (<95 as="as" br="br" usual="usual">Weight- 28 lb 10oz (80%)... She's really slowing down on her weight gain, which I know is normal.
Head- 19.25 inches (80%)
She's in size 2T-3T clothes and wears a size 8 shoe.

Mama's stats at this age (Mike's stats stopped at 18 months in his babybook!):
Height- 35 inches
Weight- 27lb

Her 2 year check up went great! She has developed a fear of the doctor... thanks to the fact that the past two times we've been she's gotten shots. Thankfully, we're all done with shots (except the flu shot, which I'm not 100% sure we'll get for her in the future) until 4 years! I did promise MK that she wouldn't get an "ouchie" this time, but it turned out I was wrong... she got her flu shot! I really wanted her to get a flu shot this year because Khloe will be born smack dab in the middle of flu season and I don't want MK bringing the flu into the house for Khloe. Other than the shot, MK got her eyes tested (she passed!) and Dr. Hayes says she looks great developmentally! I was given the OK to start potty training when I thought MK was ready and Dr. Hayes talked about the signs of being ready. I'm really not ready to start anytime soon, although MK might be, so we'll tackle it in October if she's up for it. If not, I'm gonna wait until the spring or summer cause I can't image having a newborn and a potty training toddler... I'd rather have two in diapers!

MK is talking up a storm, and using two and three word sentences. She's really smart and picks new words and ideas up very quickly. I'm going to be looking into home school pre-school curriculum to start homeschooling her in the fall. I'd love to send her to a two day a week Mothers Day Out, but that's not in the budget for this one income family. I am so not a homeschooler, but I figure that I can handle pre-school level!

Maddie's favorite toy right now is her baby dolls. She is quite the little mommy. Baby doll must be with us at all times and has to be doing the same thing that MK is. She likes to change baby's diaper and put her "night night' in her bed. I think she's going to be a super helpful big sister (maybe even too helpful!).

She's still sleeping 12 hours at night (7-7) and takes a nap in the afternoon which is usually 2-3 hours (12-2ish). She's eating three meals and two snacks a day and drinking skim milk only after dinner. She's mastered using a spoon and fork, although sometimes, it's just easier to use her hands! She sits at the table with us in booster seat, which I love because she feels like part of our family!

She is a really sweet girl and has a very caring heart. She picks up on our emotions very easily and gives us random hugs and kisses and tells us "wuv wu mama/dada". She is also a very happy, go with the flow girl. Besides from the occasional melt-down, she is usually very easy going and responds well to discipline. I have noticed that she's becoming a lot more independent and wanting to exercise that new Independence... something that I'm trying to foster and manage at the same time! Welcome to the world of toddler-hood I guess!

Mk's two favorite things in this picture: her baby doll and exercising Independence in what she wears (the yellow rain boots!)

Love,
The Vogs

Happy Birthday MK!

This isn't a good start to "two"... :)

Happy Birthday MK!

Today, you are two!!! I can’t believe how fast the past two years have gone by. We were driving in the car the other day and the David Crowder song “How He Loves Us” came on and a vivid memory of two years ago came flashing through my mind. I remember listening to that song and driving to work in the last weeks of my pregnancy, looking in my rear view mirror at the car seat that had been installed since 36 weeks and thinking to myself “In a couple weeks, I will rarely ever drive alone.” Even though at times driving by myself somewhere seems like a luxury, I love having  you as my little passenger. I am so in love with you precious girl. You have such a caring sweet heart, I can see that in how you meticulously care for your baby dolls. You are also very cheesy, something you definitely get from your dad and I love that about both of you. You are so out-going and like to say “hi” and “bye” to everyone you meet… that will take you far in life dear one. You LOVE to sing and play the piano and I love to hear you perform.  Even though you don’t know Him yet, I think you have a small understanding of who Jesus is and you love to read your Bible and ask us to “pway” before dinner if we’ve forgotten…. Oh how that warms my heart! My constant prayer for you precious MK is that you would never remember a day where you didn’t love Jesus and walk faithfully with Him as your Lord and Savior.

Daddy and I are so proud of the little girl you’ve grown to be in these past two years, and can’t wait to see you blossom in the next year!

Love,

Mama and Dada

Enjoying her present from Mommy and Daddy!

The birthday princess at Disneyland for her Fields' birthday celebration!

20 weeks! Half way there!!

Today we are 20 weeks pregnant!!

20 weeks to go!

Miss MK was more interested in drawing than in taking a picture with mama! :)

How big is baby? Khloe is the size of a banana!

Total weight gain/loss: I am up 11lb since pre-pregnancy. I'm definitely struggling with the weight gain. I'm not usually a self-conscious person, but I am really struggling with body image lately. I had a good cry with Mike the other night and he was so sweet and patient with me... it's totally not like me at all!

Sleep: I'm sleeping great!  Not waking up very much at night and if I do, I can go right back to sleep.

Movement: Khloe is moving a lot! My sisters and mom got to feel her kick when we were in Cali, but she's still being shy for Mike! Just like her big sister.

Symptoms: Increased appetite, some back pain if I've been standing for a while... that's pretty much it! Nothing too crazy or unbearable! LOVE the second trimester... have I mentioned that before?? ;)

Food Cravings: Still craving mac and cheese, I'm craving mexican food and salty foods... PICKLES! :)

Gender: a GIRL! Khloe Margaret!

What I miss? Nothing this week... I'm loving pregnancy right now!
What I'm looking forward to? Getting Khloe's nursery all ready! I've got the color scheme down and some fabric to make her curtains and bed skirt and we're going to get paint this weekend! My goal is to have everything done by mid-November, so we can relax and enjoy the holidays before miss Khloe makes her grand entry. I'm also looking forward to our fall schedule getting underway in the next couple weeks... I love a schedule!  

Big sister: Has taken a huge interest in babies... she got a new baby doll for her 2nd bday in Cali and she hasn't let the baby out of her sight since then! I think she's going to be a super helper big sister! She turns TWO tomorrow... I can't believe that! She'll get her own birthday post tomorrow!

Love,

K, MK and KM Vog!