Just another sweet picture

If only I was turned more to the left, you could see how huge my belly is...

8 Months Pregnant

We're in the home stretch now. I was fortunate to get out of work early and am enjoying every minute of my time before the baby arrives, even though its getting very hard to move around. I get lots of regular contractions. Most the time, it just feels like my uterus is getting tight, other times its quite uncomfortable and almost painful. I've gotten them as close as 6min apart and when I go on a walk, it feels like I have one long contraction the whole time. I still have some pretty bad hip pain, mostly on my right side, my lower back is almost always sore from the weight, curvature of my spine and any bending or lifting I have to do, and sleeping on my side usually makes my upper back sore in the morning.

We have all of the baby furniture set up in his room and Violet has been set up with her new furniture, including a big girl toddler bed, in her room. I have a huge "to do" list but rarely get to cross anything off when I'm at home with Violet. I've been working on making a big tree to put in the corner of the baby's room but have made very slow progress because the only time I can work on it is when Violet is sleeping and the noise sometimes wakes her up. I have been able to cook and store about 5 meals and would like to put more in the freezer for after the baby comes. A home cooked meal that I don't have to prepare is the best thing after bringing a new baby home. There isn't anything we need except for more diapers and wipes - nothing a quick trip to Target won't fix.

I just hope he comes early or late enough for me to be able to see Violet go trick-or-treating this year!

Maternity photos

These were taken at 34 weeks. There might be a couple more to add.

Recent family photo

We'll have to reshoot because Violet was way too tired that day and wasn't cooperating, Nathanael didn't smile in too many of the pictures, I didn't care for my expression or make up, and Dominic wasn't having the best hair day.

7 months pregnant

Exactly two months to go until my due date. I just snapped a little self portrait so if anyone actually reads this blog they can see my little basketball sized bump.


I feel pretty darn huge and its weird to think that my belly is going to get a lot BIGGER over the next couple of months. Things are a lot better than they were a month ago. Dominic is out of his cast and actually walking around pretty well now. The baby is still moving around a ton. I can usually feel what body part of his is trying to break through my skin. I usually feel his hiccups at least once a day now too, usually in the evenings. The nesting phase has hit full force. I feel the need to fill every waking moment with cleaning, cooking or some sort of craft project. I painted his room a few weeks back. Its a sage green, the same color as our room. I'm working on constructing a big tree out of foam board to put in the corner. We'll see how that little project works out. We have a name picked out!!! I'm not advertising it until he's born though. Most people feel the need to comment on a name, either positive or negative, before the baby is born and once we've made up our mind, I don't want to hear anyone try to convince us to change it.

Long story short, I'm feeling pretty well and am really looking forward to meeting this little guy!

3D Ultrasound pics of Baby Boy Allori

I had a 3D ultrasound yesterday. I was 29w 3d along. The little guy cooperated very well and we got some great shots. I actually think he looks quite a bit like Violet when she was born. It was such an amazing thing getting to see the little guy move around. They gave me a bunch of pictures and a DVD recording of the whole thing. Sometimes he buried his head against my uterus and we couldn't see his face so the tech had me cough to get him to move and it looked like he was bouncing off a trampoline but it didn't seem to bother him. What got him smiling was when I rubbed his little toosh.

This is a picture of his left forearm and hand over the left part of his face.

He gave us a little smile. This must have been right after I ate a Hershey's kiss hoping the sugar would get him moving. He must already have my sweet tooth.

We caught him yawning.


Snoozing away...


Another smile...

This one looks like Violet when she slept as a newborn.

Here are a couple of Violet when she was first born for comparison. The picture of her face in the first one isn't very big but its the closest one I have to her little brother's picture.



Another cute picture of the little guy's face.
I love this picture. Can you see the snail? If you can, then you're looking at the profile of the little guy's unit. Swollen or well endowed? Time will tell.

Nathanael's latest injury - don't look if you have a weak stomach

Check out Nathanael's souvenir from summer camp. Of all the activities available, he chose mountain biking as his main activity. He had a great time at camp even though he left the skin on his left forearm there. It would probably be a good idea for him to wear some protective clothing, like long sleeves, next time. This is the worst of his injuries but he's covered in scabs from all the falls, plus a fair amount of mosquito bites.

This happened 5 days ago and its still raw, there's puss oozing out, and its bleeding a little bit. We're going to the doctor tomorrow morning to get it checked out. He leaves for DC early Thursday morning.

Violet pictures - 19 months old

I got her to smile for the camera despite the fact that she's sick and feeling pretty miserable. I just say "show me your teeth" and I get a smile in return.

...and without the hairclip. This is what she looks like everytime she wakes up.

6 months pregnant

On the 27th I hit the 6 month mark. I don't have a good belly shot so I'm posting a really cute picture of Violet and I on the carousel at the fair that we took that day. I have a friend who's trying to build her photography portfolio and she's offered to take maternity shots of me (along with Violet) so I'll post some of those after we take them.





All in all I'm doing pretty well although I feel like I've had a pretty hard time lately.


I'll start with the good stuff: The baby moves a lot. Seems like every time I sit still I can feel him move around. Sometimes I can feel his foot poking out which I love. I felt hiccups for the first time a few days ago and have pretty much felt them at least once a day since. I looked at my pregnancy log that I kept with Violet and at this point no one had really felt her move on the outside and I don't think I felt hiccups until much later so this little guy either moves a lot more than she did or I just know what to look/feel for. My weight gain is pretty good, I'm up 25 lbs and I think the range listed in the books is 16-24 lbs at this stage, but I believe this is about where I was with Violet. Unfortunately, I feel like only a small part of that weight gain is in my belly and the rest resides in my butt and thighs. Oh well.


Here's some of the not-so-good stuff: I've been quite emotional during the past couple of weeks. I honestly think that I've been a little overwhelmed with Dominic being in a cast and feeling like I have to do everything. Violet is going through a severe Mommy phase right now. We're not sure if its because of her age or because her normal routine with Dad hasn't been the same since he got hurt. I love that she always wants to be with me but it takes its toll on me emotionally if she throws a fit everytime I walk out of the room. I either caught a stomach bug or food poisoning from a VERY BAD dinner that I shouldn't have eaten (patty melt, fries, malt) and I think I had the worst night of my life. Sparing the horrid details, I lost over 2 lbs that night and was drained of energy for a couple days afterward. With the exception of not totally having my appetite back, I'm fine. On top of that I recently jammed a mechanical pencil about 1/4" up my finger as well as slicing a pretty good chunk into a different finger with a very sharp serrated edge knife which led me to a 3hr visit to the ER just to get the flap glued back on. I'm hoping I just had a rough couple of weeks and things will only get better. As far as pregnancies go, I know I'm incredibly lucky to have everything go so well.


My back and hips are starting to hurt more and sleeping has been a bit difficult but I just bought a pregnancy body pillow and have had 2 of the 6 pregnancy massages that I have scheduled which helps tremendously. Hopefully Dominic will get his cast off on Monday and things will get better after that. I think I need to go to pregnancy water aerobics as well because I didn't seem to have any back issues with Violet and I was really good about regularly going.

I have two sets of bedding for the baby and am trying to decide which to return. I think instead of going with a whole coordinating set, I'll just stick with a color scheme (sage green/chocolate brown). I'm looking into buying a double stroller although I'd hate to sell my BOB because I love it so much. We still haven't bottomed out on a name. I have a few in mind but I can't get Dominic to commit to any of them.


I guess that's the latest...

Dominic's latest injury

On June 30th, Dominic slid into second base during his softball game and tore the ligament that holds his tibia and fibula together near his ankle. The force was so great that the ligament actually broke the bone and took a piece with it. The injury happened to be on his right side, the same side where he got the Jones Fracture last fall that had him in a cast for 10 weeks. After he got the injury on a Sunday night, he went to the Orthopedic and Fracture Clinic the next day and they diagnosed the injury and Tuesday morning he was in surgery. They inserted two screws to hold the bones together because the ligament was no longer doing that. The screws will be removed a couple months after he gets his cast off - we don't know yet if that will require another surgery.

I've been a little overwhelmed, to say the least, having to work, take care of Violet, and do EVERYTHING around the house including cook, clean, shop, waiting on Dominic, etc. all while being 5-6 months pregnant. I had an emotional breakdown and felt much better after I fell apart and pulled it back together again. Nathanael was only here for a week between trips but he was pretty helpful. We also got some house cleaners to come through the house and that made me feel a lot better especially since I'm nesting and can't stand to have the house too dirty right now.

He's been in a non-weight bearing cast all of July and will get it off (hopefully) on August 4th and should get a walking cast at that point. Its been too hard for him to watch Violet so I spent some time away from work, my mom helped, Nathanael helped for the week he was here, and for this week and next week Violet went to daycare, or "school", for the very first time. Violet loves going to school so much that until the baby comes, I might start spending 4-5hrs every Monday morning donating my time to another classroom so Violet can hang out in her classroom for a little extra socialization. The classroom leader couldn't believe how smart she is and she has such a great attitude.

Playgroup at the zoo

This is only about half the playgroup gals with the kiddos. Violet is the motherless child on the far left (someone had to take the photo). This was taken back in the middle of June and its amazing how much all the kids have grown just in the last month.

Violet loves Daddy

Who else would Mommy allow to throw her so high in the air?

No, that second one was not photoshop'd. Her toes really are a good two feet above Dominic's hands. These pictures were taken on Father's Day so they're over a month old.

Trip to Butchart Gardens with my Mom

My mom and I celebrated two very important birthdays this year, however I won't say how many decades have passed since either of us was born. Let's just say it was a big birthday year for both of us. To celebrate the two of us spent a couple nights in Victoria BC and it was a memorable trip, to say the least. We went in the middle of June so these pictures are a good six weeks old. Some people couldn't really tell I was pregnant then but its pretty darn obvious now. As with most trips I taken, our travels centered around the cuisine. We stuffed ourselves on two different occasions with afternoon tea (it was excellent at the Gardens) and the breakfast at our B&B was to die for. http://www.fairholmemanor.com/

Here's a pic of the two of us in the Japanese Garden:

This is a photo of the Sunken Garden:

I was fascinated by these flowers. I believe they are a variety of poppy but they were huge with a diameter of at least 8 inches (or I should say 20.5cm since they were in Canada).

I think this must be related to a Dandelion. I just really liked the way it looked:

Pretty wisteria over a small pond:

Violet is 18 months old today

Its very easy to remember Violet's half birthday because it falls on the 4th of July. For those of you who haven't seen her in awhile (or ever), here's an update on how she's doing and an excuse for me to do nothing but brag about our little princess.

She is incredibly smart. She knows the entire alphabet and can say any letter that you point to. You can also tell her any letter and she'll bring it to you from her letter puzzle. She also loves to count and can easily count to 10 (except for seven - she knows seven comes after six and before 8 but she has never said the word seven and she usually just says eight twice in a row). She has an incredible vocabulary for someone her age and knows more words than I can list - there's probably at least 100 in her vocabulary. She's really good at stacking and loves to get into the pantry and stack cans on the floor. She loves to read books and has a lot of them memorized where she'll say the words before I have a chance to read them aloud. She knows any body part you teach her and can point out most things from her forehead down to her toes. Everyday she looks around for "Fan-yle" (Nathanael) but she doesn't understand that he's going to be gone for most of the summer.

We started trying to potty train her this month but haven't been super consistent. She knows when she has to go or when she's going and she says "poo poo" and as soon as she goes she says "check" because she wants us to look in her diaper to see the wonderful surprise she made. She actually pee'd on the potty once but I'm not sure if it was intentional. We just picked up another potty for the upstairs so it'll be easier to start putting her on it after she wakes up.

She has 12 teeth right now - 4 up front on top and bottom and 4 molars. You can see her eye teeth pushing through but they haven't broken through the gums yet.

She is a fabulous eater. She does a great job spoon feeding herself and isn't very messy at all. She loves fruit (mostly strawberries, peach/nectarine, cherries, grapes) and isn't a big fan of vegetables unless its corn or it comes in a baby food jar. She also loves spaghetti, certain types of meat like sausage or marinated chicken, cottage cheese mixed with fruit or veggies, rice, cheese of any kind... actually she like a lot of different kinds of food so I won't try to list them all. She loves sitting in adult chairs and at the table so we just bought her a booster seat so she can sit with us at the table instead of in her high chair. Her favorite store to shop at is Whole Foods because they always have an abundance of samples.

She is also a great sleeper (I'll give Dominic credit for this one because I'd probably still be running into her room with every little peep if he hadn't shown me how to wait it out and learn when she just needs to fuss versus when she really needs us). She loves to goof off in her crib before she falls asleep and after she wakes up and usually sleeps ~12hrs a night and has a good two hour nap during the day. Sometimes she'll take an afternoon nap if she's really tired. She has a very strong bond with a few items that if ever lost would probably impact her sleep. They are her sleep sack (very necessary item - its a blanket that will never come off no matter how much she walks or rolls around), Mr. Lamb, Mimi the mole, Ugly Doll, and her blankie.

Violet has taken a recent interest in clothes and likes to try to dress herself. We always have to keep a hair clip in to keep her bangs out of her eyes because we haven't (and probably won't) cut them but she sometimes likes to have 2 or 3 clips in at a time.

Basically, there's so much more I could say about her but there's just not enough time and not enough words to capture how incredible she is. Violet just has so much personality and intelligence and she is just so darn cute! She continues to amaze us every day and brings so much joy to our lives.

5 months pregnant

I'm exactly 5 months pregnant today and it definitely shows! I'm doing really well. Still more tired than when I’m not pregnant but I definitely have a lot more energy than a month or two ago - I don’t need a nap during the day. The nesting bug has definitely hit a few times. I get the urge to do something like vacuum a room but I end up moving all the furniture I can, dusting, and really doing a thorough job. My belly has really taken on a pregnant shape. Its very round and I look like I’m carrying a basketball. I’m up exactly 20 lbs. Pudding doesn’t do it for me like when I was pregnant with Violet – this baby likes ice cream! I don’t normally get allergies but the last two weeks have been miserable in that sense – sore throat, watery eyes, runny nose, sneezing. The baby moves a lot and I can feel whether he’s rolling or kicking throughout the day. He’s more active at night when I sit down to relax, especially after a meal, and I’ve been able to feel him from the outside for at least a couple weeks.

The baby's development: he now looks like a miniature newborn, around 11 inches long from crown to rump and about 1 pound. His skin will continue to appear wrinkled until he gains enough weight to fill it out, and the fine hair (lanugo) that covers his head and body is now visible. His lips are becoming more distinct, and the first signs of teeth are appearing as buds beneath his gum line. His eyes are developed, though the iris (the colored part of the eye) still lacks pigment. Eyelids and eyebrows are in place, and his pancreas, essential for hormone production, is developing steadily.

We're having a...

BOY!!!

We found out back on May 28 but just now got the U/S pictures scanned in. It was immediately obvious we were having a boy as soon as the U/S tech scanned over the leg area - his goods were extremely easy to see. We were both so surprised because we thought it was going to be another girl. I'm really excited about having one of each (of my own) and I'm sure they'll be pretty good buds and Nathanael will like having a brother.

Here are a few more of the U/S pictures...

The first one is a full body shot. You can see his two little fists near his head.

Head shot.

Foot (if not obvious from the word FOOT on the image)

This one was from our 12 week U/S so you can see how much he's grown.

Pregnancy Update - Almost 5 months

On Monday I'll be 22 weeks pregnant and a week from today I'll be exactly 5 months pregnant. I've been feeling the baby move for quite some time now but last week I was able to feel the little guy kicking on the outside and he's been going strong ever since. Seems like every day his kicks get stronger and more frequent than the day before.

My doctor went over the results of the ultrasound with me this week and she said we got an A+. They got all ~44 measurements they needed and everything looked perfect. I also tested extremely unlikely, like 1 in 40,000 (the lowest my dr. had ever seen), for spinal bifida.

I've gained about 18lbs so far. I checked my pregnancy log and I said I gained about 13lbs at this stage last time but I think I started out 5lbs heavier last time around so we're gonna call that even. I've finally started feeling a little more energy and I feel the nesting bug coming on!

Nathanael's summer schedule

For those of you on the Allori side of the family, you're going to have to schedule time to see Nathanael this summer because he's so busy! Here's a run down of his schedule in case you wanted to squeeze in a visit sometime:

Thursday June 18 - Sunday July 13: Sisters/AZ with his mom

Wednesday July 16 - Friday July 18: We're camping at Fort Stevens

Tuesday July 22 - Sunday August 3: Sisters for 5 days, then summer camp http://www.biglake.org/

Thursday August 7 - Tuesday August 19: Washington DC to visit Aunt Yvette & Family

Wednesday September 3 - 8th grade starts

So... his only available times at home are:
Monday July 14- Tuesday July 15
Saturday July 18-Monday July 21
Monday August 4 - Wednesday August 6
Wednesday August 20 - Tuesday September 2

Father's Day pictures

I took a few shots of the kids for Dominic for Father's Day. I would've gotten a lot more good shots had I known the exposure setting was off a little bit. It wasn't until half way through my visit to Butchart Gardens in Victoria with my mom that I figured out how to change the setting and my pictures started turning out nice again. Anyway, these shots turned out pretty cute.

3 months pregnant

I'll try to give a monthly pregnancy update. I'm now 3 months pregnant, technically 14 1/2 weeks, and I just entered my second trimester. I was feeling pretty nauseated for at least 6 weeks but that seems to have completely passed, although I can't stand the smell of Asian food and I occasionally almost gag if, say, I brush my tongue while brushing my teeth.

From head to bottom, the baby measures about 3 1/2 inches — about the size of a lemon — and weighs 1 1/2 ounces. The baby's body is growing faster than its head, which now sits upon a more distinct neck. By the end of this week, the arms will have grown to a length that's in proportion to the rest of his/her body. (The legs still have some lengthening to do.) The baby is starting to develop an ultra-fine, downy covering of hair, called lanugo, all over its body. The baby's liver starts making bile this week — a sign that it's doing its job right — and the spleen starts helping in the production of red blood cells.

Some think its too early to feel the baby move but I'm just about positive I can feel it move now. Its very subtle and doesn't happen too often but its definitely happening. So far we've had our original ultrasound at 10 weeks and we had our 12 week ultrasound. I've heard of some people being able to see the gender at 12 weeks but we had a very unfriendly U/S tech and she wouldn't even bother looking for us. I'll try to post the pics in a later post. I had my 14 week check up with Dr. Ogryzlo last week and everything looks good. Just as with Violet, she was able to pick up the heartbeat right away which is always so comforting to hear. I wore maternity pants for the first time today. They're super comfortable but won't stay up. I'm determined to actually get a pair that fits this time around.

Our next regular checkup will be May 27 and our 18week U/S will be May 28. As long as the baby cooperates, we'll know whether we're having a boy or a girl in 4 weeks! We haven't even started to think of names because we just want to know what the sex is. We both think its a girl but you never know!