It's another girl!

We had our anatomy scan for BB 2.0 yesterday, aka the ultrasound that reveals the sex of little one.  Turns out, we're having another girl!  Ridley is having a little sister.  Beforehand, she had said she wanted a little sister until I got her on camera and then it she changed her mind and wanted a little brother.  But after we told her she was going to get a little sister, she was plenty excited.  She loved looking at the ultrasound pictures of BB 2.0.
BB 2.0 also gave us a great picture of her face.  I want to share the pictures here.  We also took a little video of us finding out.

Meeting Santa

The family went out to Jingle on the Beach this morning to see Santa and to play around.  They had the event at the Wrightsville Beach Park, so Ridley was able to swing slide and climb in addition to getting a holiday tattoo, making an arts and crafts jingle bells and meeting Santa Claus!

She wasn't so sure about Santa at the beginning.  She definitely wasn't going to sit on his lap.  But after sitting NEXT to Santa on Mommy's lap and then getting a candy cane from the white bearded one, she became friendly.  She told him her name, that she was a good girl, and that she wanted a baby for Christmas.  She was happy with herself for talking to him and meeting him.  But I think she was more excited about her candy cane.

BB 2.0 is definitely making themselves known by moving around and being felt.  It's amazing, and it has me getting excited.  We find out whether BB 2.0 will be a girl or a boy this coming Wednesday!

BB 2.0!

So far, this pregnancy has been a bit different.  I am 15 weeks and 3 days.  I am certainly showing earlier than the first time around.  To be expected, I hear.  During the first trimester, I was slightly nauseous all day and utterly exhausted.  I remember the exhaustion with my pregnancy with Ridley, but definitely not the nausea.  I am still pretty tired most days.  I remember feeling much more energetic as soon as I hit the second trimester last time.  But my midwife said that I'll probably hit my stride by week 20.  That's another difference: I have a new midwife.  I'm still seeing the other three midwives, but they've added a fourth midwife to the practice.  It's very exciting.  Wilmington needs all the midwives it can get.  And she seems very nice, informed and intelligent.
I'm working right now, and that always takes up a lot of my time and my concentration.  But on my days off, the pregnancy has me thinking a bit about my mom.  She passed away this past July and as it turns out, I got pregnant right around the same time.  There isn't much more to be said about that.  Only that we miss her and she certainly won't be forgotten.

We'll be finding out if we're having another girl or if we're having a boy at our next appointment in December.  Babe numero dos, BB 2.0!  Here we go...

It's Almost been a year...

Oops.  I sort of, almost, let an entire year pass by without posting on the blog.  I have to say, I have sort of done it on purpose.  I started writing letters to Ridley instead.  More personal ruminations on her growth and development that I write in a letter format to some future Ridley, whom I imagine will read them one day and appreciate her truly wonderful mother...er, something like that.  I email them to myself and in that way, I feel I can be a little more personal.
But now...
I'm pregnant again!  Yay!  Wahoo!  So I feel the obligation to track my second pregnancy as I did my first.  If for no other reason than to say, "See.  I tracked 'em both."  Though of course, this time around I feel I have much less time to keep up with it, and will consequently most likely not be as thorough.   It's the thought that counts, though, yeah?

Happy er... belated Holidays!

Ridley very much enjoyed her second round of holidays. We spend Thanksgiving at the house with some close friends and family, Christmas close to home, and New Year's at the crib as well. So with all that sticking close to home, we up and left for California in January for a family vacation (Ridley's first airplane trip!).
Here are some pictures:

Thanksgiving! Ridley loved the cranberry relish. Yum!

Dance Party

The realities of parenthood are so often askew from what you could ever imagine before becoming a parent--good and bad. This morning, I realized (in the moment!) that Ridley and I were living one of those imagined scenarios together. Probably because I have so many fond memories of dancing around in the living room with my mom as a kid, I have always imagined being a mom and dancing around the living room with my hypothetical daughter. Dancing is just a fun shared experience, isn't it?

This morning, as Madonna played in our living room, I held Ridley and we both bopped up and down, smiled and laughed. I'm not sure exactly why this morning in particular felt so special. Ridley and I listen to music and dance together almost on a daily basis. Maybe it's because she's really starting to enjoy the music, enjoy dancing and "sings" along. Maybe it's because we were listening to Madonna (my childhood dancing music!). But it's nice to share something with Ridley and make memories together.

Trunk or Treat!

For Ridley's second Halloween, we went to the nearby church's annual "Trunk or Treat" event. They park cars in a semi-circle and decorate their trunks. The kids then trick or treat by each trunk. It was a lot of fun! And some of the trunks were really decked out! There was a Wizard of Oz theme, an airplane theme, and even a Mario Bros. theme. Ridley really liked the Wizard of Oz trunk b/c there were two dogs: one dressed as Dorothy and one (who looked like Toto) dressed as Scarecrow!

The event had bouncies, music and plenty of kids running around in great costumes. Once Ridley grabbed a hold of her goodie bucket, she didn't let go! Here she is enjoying herself.

Play with Pumpkins

The fall chill really hit us this morning! I had to turn on the heat inside the house and Ridley got to wear her "Happy Halloween" long sleeve shirt (she got this for her birthday from the Skinner Family!). We had plans to go to the pumpkin patch in the afternoon. But before lunch, Ridley was ready to get outside and feel the chill.

The whole family was playing in the living room when Ridley got up, walked over to me and grabbed my hand. She walked me over to Phil and with her other hand grabbed his hand. She then led us both to the back door and pointed outside! It was adorable. We went outside and played in the backyard as Kacy and Sadie continued their attempts to catch another squirrel (yes ANOTHER squirrel--they're working on number 4).

When we got to the pumpkin patch this afternoon, Ridley had a ball. She picked out a few mini pumpkins, played with the big blow up scarecrow and rode around in the wagon.

Happy Halloween!

Teaching the Teacher

While playing with all our new toys from the birthday party (thanks everyone!) Ridley showed me that she's paying attention to me. We were singing "patty cake" and Ridley grabbed my hands and showed me how to patty cake (as I had done for her a few times)! Since I laughed so much about this, it's become her new favorite activity. She'll smile and laugh and grab my hands making me do another round of "patty cake."
One of her new books about Curious George visiting the zoo is filled with "touch me" textures (a a patch of a penguin's wing that is actual fur, a section of a rhino that is actual leather, etc). While reading it, we landed on the page with the giraffe. Ridley was missing the soft fur of the giraffe, so I took her hand and showed her. From then on, (and we have read this book a zillion times just yesterday) every time we get the the giraffe page, Ridley takes my hand and shows me the soft texture of the giraffe.
Amazing. This kid is amazing, right?

Sugar and Spice

Ridley's first birthday was great! We held it at Hugh McRae Park here in Wilmington and the weather was great (a little windy, but otherwise perfect). Aunt Tammi came over to the house early to help entertain and watch Ridley while Phil and I set up for the party. I had spent a lot of time prior to Saturday prepping for the day and Phil took care of packing everything up and taking it over to the picnic shelter. Unfortunately, the banner that I had made was all tangled when Phil went to hang it up. Poor man spent over an hour trying to detangle it! He ended up having to cut it up and retape it! But it turned out great. Just a little snag.
Then Grandma Pam and Aunt Taylor came to help set up and by 3:27pm (Ridley's EXACT birthday and time the party started) everything was set up and looked great.


Ridley arrived shortly after with Aunt Tammi in her cute color coordinated outfit. She had such a good time running around with all her friends and getting dirty. And wow, did she get dirty! It was a great time and a great celebration of Ridley.




For prosperity's sake, I'll repeat my facebook status on Ridley's birthday: "Happy Birthday, Ridley! Flip my whole life upside down why don'tcha?! Pinch-your-cheeks love ya!! Celebrating you and your 1 year old awesomeness and our feat of getting through the first year. ::love::"
And of course the post-party status: "Birthday party, year one: check. Clean-up?...tomorrow. Feet propped up on the couch after getting lil' one to bed: check! Thanks to everyone who helped us celebrate and those of you who sent your love!"