Monochromatic Baby Nursery

As I mentioned on Instagram last week, our plans for this weekend were to leave Noah with the grandparents, get a ton of stuff done around the house, and spend one last weekend together without kids before the madness of having two begins.  We did a ton of outdoor work to the house. Finally got a new mower after the other one died out, planted some new grasses and flowers and mulched all the beds and the berries by the beach.  With most of the nursery complete I only had a couple of things left on my list.  We brought up the baby toys and organized the closet.  We got the best deal ever on a MamaRoo bouncer which I have been eyeing for like forever, and set that up in the room too.  We really are officially done with the exception of printing out some pictures, so this baby can come any minute now... well, maybe in a couple of weeks.

 

Charleston Glider - Target

Blackout Curtains - Target

Dresser - IKEA

Black & White Blanket - IKEA

Quilt & Crib Sheet - Little Unicorn

Crib - Target (Old)

Triangle Pouf - Target

Garland - A Little Lark

Triangle Decals - Just The Frosting

Kicking of Tri Season

Last weekend was our first triathlon on the season and it was a good start.  Noah is really enjoying being outside this year and just getting to see everything going on.  I think he's starting to get the idea of what Daddy is doing. We stayed the night at my moms so we didn't have to get up quite as early even though we were still up by 5:30.  Noah woke up in the middle of the night and he ended up sleeping with me, and Jeff moved to another bed.  I didn't get as much rest as I would have wanted but we made it.  I ended up dozing a little bit after we got home.  I was pretty wiped.  Noah feel asleep as soon as we got into the car after the race and slept all the way home.  He was pretty bummed when he realized he missed saying goodby to grandma but we bribed him with some beach time and the rest of the night was great.

Noah started to figure out the whole cheering thing except the part where he kept yelling "go slow bikes".  Luckily we made some friends with other kids and this young girl kept telling Noah how he should be cheering so by the time we had to leave he had it pretty down.  Probably the funniest part of the day was when I heard the girl cheer, "finish this race today guys!"  They're daddy was running the shorter race so we would see them in passing here and there and the kids loved to play together.   That girl really wore Noah down and I'm sure she had a lot to do with Noah passing out so quickly in the car.  I'll take it, it was nice talking to adults.

Maternity/Family Pictures

About a year ago we found a new photographer after our old one kind of started to drop the ball.  We made the switch and never looked back. She always takes the best pictures, interacts with Noah making him smile and even when he's all over the place she still manages to capture the best parts of our family.  If you're in the Grand Rapids area you should definitely check Kelly Jo Photography out.  She's the best!

Baby Stoll #2

I've really been putting this of for a while.  Partly because I feel like people would just find out as they saw us, and partly because I've been busy enough in life to worry about other things, but alas, now it's the time.

We're pregnant again!

Things are happening around here like putting together the nursery, and every day life with a belly that we just can't ignore.  It's really going to be more and more obvious as the summer comes and since mostly everyone already knows anyway I figured why not just put it out there.  I'll be doing random updates for the next couple of months but mostly just keeping it on the blog and Instagram (Ccristinat) so if you want to catch up, that'll be the best way.  Oh ya, and I finally got snapchat, lol, (CristinaStoll) worst idea ever because as I thought, I am totally obsessed and I have no time to be obsessed with anything right now but I'm on there and it's hilarious.

So.... surprise!  Kind of.... lol.

So for the basics that people might want to know.  As of today, we're 28 weeks 5 days and officially in my third trimester.  Our official due date is August 3rd although our doctor has told us this baby is measuring way big already and she wouldn't be surprised if we went at least two weeks early.  Cross your fingers.  I'm counting on that.  So hopefully somewhere in mid-July. Oh ya, and it's another boy.

Noah is excited to have a baby sibling although he was pretty bummed to find out it was a boy since we had been calling this bump baby Lizzy since about week 3 and 5days.... we found out pretty early. Join the club kiddo, mommy was also sad - again.  I had about a day of "this sucks", followed by "it wont be that bad, I kind of like Noah a little bit".  Plus although I'm super sad I don't get to buy girl things yet again, really, it's probably the best for our budget.  And really that just means we have to try for number three, right?

In true second kid fashion, I've been slacking on most things... like taking pictures, so here is the last one I took at 26 weeks. We have however gotten the nursery pretty much finished since we kind of kicked Noah out of the crib.  It made it easy to just move his baby furniture to the nursery and get him new stuff.  All we had to do was buy a couple of new things and wash his old clothes and that was that.

We're really excited for number two although in my opinion I feel like we're just living life as normal not really realizing what's about to come.  A toddler will do that to you.  The beginning of pregnancy was pretty miserable for me with lots of throwing up and sickness, none of which I had with Noah. It wasn't until about 22ish weeks that I finally felt better, and at that point I was starting to get big enough to just feel "big" and uncomfortable... so ya.  Maybe not as blissful as the last pregnancy.   With that said, I have worried way less this time around about having a miscarriage.  We still had a hard time getting pregnant and eventually went on Clomed again.  Took us a little longer on the medicine this time around, four months, and I can't say trying was really all that fun since our work schedules are complete opposite and this time we had another child. But we are so grateful to have made it this far either way.

• How far along?: 28 Weeks almost 29.
• Baby is the size of a: Eggplant?  That seems small. 13.6-14.8in and 1.5-2.5lbs.  So.. 2.5
• Total weight gain/loss: +15
• Symptoms: Lots of movement, lots of pee breaks, sore ginormous boobs, lower back pain.
• Sleep: Most nights I sleep pretty good as long as Noah sleeps good too.  I survive on 6-7 hours of sleep no problem.  My first-time mom self would have never uttered those words.
• Anything Making Me Queasy or Sick: Nope.
• What I miss: Mostly not feeling so big. Maybe taking naps, but again, that's more toddler related than pregnant
• Weddings Rings On or Off: On
• Any Names Picked Out Yet: Still nothing.  Unlike last time, this has been much harder.  We have a couple of options but nothing that sticks out for us.
• Movement: This kid is stronger and crazier than the last.  I'm sure this guy will be a beast and he pretty much hurts my body all day long.
• Maternity Clothes: Like since week 6.  There is no reason to try and squeeze into anything pre pregnancy.  Although I feel like my body in general has stayed smaller all around my belly is much bigger.  Blame it on the lack of stomach muscles or whatever but the only place I seem to be gaining any weight are my belly and my boobs.  So ya, can't fit into anything not maternity.
• Labor Signs: Nothing.
• Best Moment of the Week: Taking our maternity pictures was super fun minus out uncooperative toddler but that's to be expected.  Either way, we love out photographer and she always seems to get anything she needs even though people never look at the camera.
• What I’m excited about/looking forward to: Well, can we just deliver this baby already!?

So here we are - hopefully less than 10 weeks left!

Summer Days & Toddler Sleep Problems

You want to know what the great thing about summer is? Well, this summer anyway, I'm only working four days a week which means I get to skip the boring work days and spend more time at home doing things I want to do.  You know, like taking naps, and making food and snuggling with Noah.  Wait, who am I kidding.  This almost three year old wants none of that unless he's trying to keep me in bed at night just a little longer.

Remember last post when I said sleeping in his own big boy bed went amazing for the last month and we never had a problem?  I spoke too soon.  For the last week Noah refuses to go to bed, cries and cries and even one night ran out of his bed after me.  It was the worst.  Like I was laughing outside the door it was so crazy all while crying at the same time.  It makes me sad when he's sad but like, it's bed time dude, and I need my alone time so go to bed.  He's been waking up in the middle of the night once or twice almost every night this week.  The first couple of times we would go in and snuggle but realized he wasn't falling asleep while we were next to him to him plus he would try and tell us he peed his pants when he didn't.  Smart cookie.  We finally started to let him cry it out a little more and that has seemed to help as he cries less and less at night when he wakes up. Still, this sleep thing is crazy.  Who knew three year olds still had problems sleeping?   I think other parents fail to mention that when they talk about having kids.

I'm hoping he goes back to his normal sleep patterns of sleeping like a champ for twelve hours.  Maybe his teething might have something to do with it, or he might be coming down with something with his runny nose and slight coughing.  Who knows.   What I want to know is when do kids really start sleeping through the night?  Like forever.  I seem to remember sleeping in 'till the late morning in high school.  Is that really just in high school, because that sucks.

But back to the original topic; summer really is great.  I'm just waiting for the weather to get warm enough to spend some time on the beach with Noah.  Lounging on a blanket on our grass that's finally starting to look good, eating dinners on the deck so I have less kitchen to clean at night... these are the good days.

Transitioning to a Big Boy Room

So we finally did it.  It was about time and Noah needed to get his butt out of a crib so we can use it in the nursery.... soo we did it. After all the worrying I did, it worked out just fine.  Noah has been sleeping great from day one minus the random wake-up he had two nights ago.  Even then, he just cried out for us and didn't get out of his bed.

We really talked it up for Noah for about a month before he actually slept on the crib.  I had the mattress out in the nursery and had sheets on it.  We read books at night on it and just played on it during the day.  He really loved it and was excited to get to try it out for real so I think that really helped.   Jeff and I (mostly Jeff) put his room together while he was in school one day and we let him know that it would be all ready for him when he got home that day.  The first thing he did when he got home was run upstairs and check it out. Then he spent the rest of the evening testing it out and reading books.

I was a little worried the first night when I said good-night because he was definitely whiny and didn't want us to leave, but after about five minutes he conked out and that was it.  He didn't wake up 'till the morning.  I will say cuddling at night and reading books has been much more comfy for me though.  It's nice for both of us to lay in bed together and sometimes I even dose of with him I'm so tired.
I finally took some time to take pictures of the room so here it is in all it's glory.  And hoping not to have to re-decorate 'till he's in high school, right?  I'll source the items bellow.

Hemnes Dresser - Ikea | Hemnes Bed - Ikea | Quilt - Target | Circo Curtains - Target / No longer available online, in store only) | End Table - Target | Pomps - Etsy