Deja Moo at 15 weeks

When I was pregnant with Faith, it took awhile for me to gain any weight or "show." Some days I wondered if my belly would ever get bigger. Those were the days. 

I didn't surprise too many people with this pregnancy. Once your first child reaches a certain age, people are always wondering when the next one's coming and looking at you sideways to see if that's a pooch or you just ate too much turkey on Thanksgiving. Unfortunately for me, I started to show before Thanksgiving this time around. We've been meaning to take weekly bumps shots like we did for Faith, but, you know, 2nd child syndrome. 

This is the first one we've taken. 15 weeks now on the left and 15 weeks then on the right. Now that I look at them side by side, they don't look all that different, except things are a bit "looser" near the bottom of my belly. Plus I think I may have been trying to stick it out for the camera in 2009! I do feel a lot bigger this time around though.

While some things are different during this pregnancy, one thing has remained the same. Each time I go to the doctor and hear baby's heartbeat, the happiness I feel in my heart is just like it was with Faith. Now that I know what it's like to have a 2-year-old, I'm even more anxious to get to know the little person growing inside me. That's just one of the reasons we'll be finding out the sex of the baby. Jan. 11th, if you're reading this, hurry up!

It's been a while for me...

So as it turns out, I (Rob) haven't written on here in a while. And looking at the blog - it doesn't look like Nic has kept up maybe as much as she would have liked to. So here's what you've missed since I've last posted (9/19/12 - The Birthday Post):

The President was re-elected

Faith is fully potty trained (knock on wood)

ISU Football became Bowl Eligible

I got to dance with Bruce Springsteen (well, touch him; creepy)... Amazing concert.

That happened... 

And I created a 1-minute movie trailer:

                                                                        Cute, huh?

It's very artsy-fartsy and hoity-toity. It's an indy film, so I don't expect everyone to get it, but I do want the feelings to be expressed throughout the magnificant artistry and benevolence that come with... That's what directors sound like right?

If you didn't watch the video yet (or follow us on Facebook, or Twitter, or in real life): SPOILER ALERT! Baby numero deuce-o is on the way. Expected arrival - end of the school year (Late May/Early June 2013).

And it's funny because Nic and I have had this grand master plan for a while now, and things are still working for us. But planning for #2 and knowing #2 is on the way feels different. Everything has been different for Nic. Faith seems to think she's getting another baby Susie (doll).

So that means we've been looking for our old baby stuff. Found out, Nic has "lost" all of her maternity clothes. We get to buy new I guess. We were walking through Target and a teacher-friend of mine happened to be purchasing a baby shower gift, and was getting Baby Crack (something remembered from our post), which made me look for ours (check).

It's Baaack: the Baby Einstein Baby Take-Along Tunes Infant Toy

Anyway - we're happy. Nic is doing well. I have already gained the required empathy weight. Faith seems to get it... I think. And now that Howie is completely comfortable with Faith, we're going to throw this at him. Good luck, buddy.

I can't go into much more detail because Nic is going to be sending out the Christmas letter soon. It'd help if she had started writing it I think though. Have a Merry Christmas.

~Rob

Happy Halloween?

 Sorry there hasn't been much to read here lately. I'm hoping I can pick it back up in December...you know...when things die down.

"Better late than never." It could be a slogan for feminine products. Or it could be how I feel about a Halloween blog post in mid/late November. You decide.

Anyway, Halloween.

Howie's alligator (or is it a crocodile?) costume was purchased at TJMaxx in September. For the next four weeks, we proceeded to hear from Faith that she, as well as everyone she knew, was going to be "a alligator" for Halloween.

While that would be really weird/amazing to see so many alligators out on Halloween, we weren't convinced. Someone suggested having her dress like Steve Irwin, in little khaki shorts and a button-up shirt, and walk "Howie the Alligator" around on his leash. I loved the concept, but "Sleeping Beauty" had other ideas.

This child is obsessed with princesses. Not only do I feel like a commercialized failure, she also will only wear skirts and dresses. (Her worst tantrums involve Rob or me trying to put some leggings on her body. It looks slightly like an exorcism.) One of my good friends asked me how I ended up with such a girly girl. Well, I blame karma (and one of my sisters in particular :)

Needless to say, we went with a store-bought Sleepy Beauty costume from Target.

Faith and our neighbor boy/partner in crime, Thomas -- er, I mean Tigger.

 As someone who thrives on homemade Halloween costumes,

I never said they were well done.

 I was disappointed. I wanted her to be McKayla Maroney from the Olympics for Halloween, complete with the face!

Faith can do the face. This is the best one we've got on camera.

But putting on that gymnast outfit was almost as bad as putting her in jeggings.

Instead, I lived vicariously through myself. After spending the day chronicling my fellow employees' costumes for a work blog post, I came across "Michael Jackson." After we got done singing "Heal the World" together, I looked her up and down and thought, 'Hey, even I can do that.'

The most impressive part was my lone strand of curl. The least impressive part: my three quarter mitten-glove, that was supposed to serve as MJ's white glove. I did go for the crotch grab a couple times for authenticity purposes.

I have to thank my neighbors for accompanying us and taking great photos. Without them, MJ would've had to photograph the kids trick or treating and that's never good. I also want to thank my dad for coming with us while Rob handed out candy. He was a big help walking Faith up to doors and encouraging her to say "trick or treat" and "thank you" even though 9 times out of 10 homeowners got a blank stare for their candy. Dad also kept Rob busy with the gift he got Faith for Halloween.

She loves it, but we're still working on singular digit puzzles.

All in all, it was fun. And oh what a different a year makes.

 

There's always hope for Steve Irwin next year...