phew!

these little munchkins are wearing me out!!

i'm learning that in order to eat dinner (me, not olivia) before 10pm, i need to make ahead. like while olivia's in school kind of ahead. even that won't guarantee anything, but at least i won't be STARTING to cook at 7:45pm after she's in bed. today i'm making beef tips with rice and broccoli and it's a recipe that requires being in the oven for three hours. SCORE. and olivia even EATS THIS. wahoo!!

speaking of eating, my little audrey bean is having a tough go. she went back to the pediatrician yesterday (visit number 7 in less than four weeks) and was diagnosed with GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease). her symptoms are freaking TEXTBOOK (frequent vomiting, persistent wheezing, difficulty/crying out while eating, gas, abdominal pain, severe hiccups) so i'm not sure why it even took this long, but whatever. we know now.

she was already on nutramigen, but the doctor switched her to alimentum since some babies respond better to the subtle difference in the formulas. she's also on zantac now. we sent a stool sample off to check for bacteria and if it comes back positive and/or she doesn't respond to the new regimen, they'll switch her to neocate and refer us to a gi specialist.

i'm hoping this does the trick. she seems to be a bit better already. sleeping quietly and breathing easier (she was sleeping very fitfully before and holding her breath, crying out, etc.) so that's good.

she's also continuing to gain weight throughout this, so that's awesome! little monkey is up to 9lbs 10oz! love that girl!!

it's going by so fast!

poor audrey... you don't even have a baby book yet. but don't feel too badly. your big sister has one and it's mostly empty. most of olivia's big milestones are recorded here. lame, i know.

so let's keep the tradition alive! woot!

audrey will be four weeks old tomorrow. FOUR WEEKS!! what thaa?? she's had FIVE visits to the pediatrician already. her tummy, like olivia's, said hell to the NO to regular common-folk formula. she's on nutramigen. and we are in the middle of fighting it out with insurance to have it covered. sigh.

otherwise, she is awesome. she's 9lb, 4oz, little chub! she's officially out of newborn diapers. ;)

she can lift her head and hold it steady very well for short periods of time, which is a huge departure from big sis. olivia was completely lazy town on all of this stuff. she didn't want to lift her head, she didn't want to roll over or sit up or CRAWL. she was like, "f it. come to me, bitches."

audrey spits up. a LOT. which is also new for us. she spits up after every. single. feeding. but that's ok, because SHE IS A GOOD SLEEPER!!!! and now watch for the the dark clouds to roll in and lightning to strike me dead. whatever.

she's had a pretty good stretch of sleeping MOST of the night. going down between 8-10pm and sleeping until around 4am. waking to eat only once and she'd sleep for who KNOWS how much longer, but the megaphone better known as olivia wakes up at 6am SHARP, PEOPLE and lets the world know about it.

sorry baby ahjee.

we also had newborn photos taken a few weeks ago. olivia was not a willing participant so there are NO adorable sister shots. zero. but here are some adorable other shots:

and LOOK at olivia's face here... little stinker...

all photos by crista acosta photography

SHE'S HERE!

well, she arrived two weeks ago. i've been a little busy! olivia did finally respond when we asked her if she was getting a brother or sister... and she was spot on. BABY SISTER!!!

audrey elizabeth arrived on may 12 at 2:17pm and it was incredible. i only pushed for 17 minutes and she was born with no drama. just joy. seven pounds, fifteen ounces. nineteen and a half inches long. just incredible.

we love her so much.

38 weeks. this ride is almost over.

yesterday i had my last regular ob appointment - maybe ever. probably ever. i'm 2cm dilated and the baby is head down and waaaaaay active (tell me something i don't know!). heart rate is in the 140s. my cervix is soft, but still pretty long and omg the internal? YEOUCH. my b/p is great.

they estimate this bean at seven pounds. which is surprising because olivia was 8lbs, 10oz. i know this baby will be born at least four days earlier than her (induction is scheduled for 39w1d and she was born 39w5d), but i can't imagine a seven pound baby. that seems teeny! i'm not complaining; i'm just not getting my hopes up for that. ;)

this is me at 38 weeks pregnant with our beloved "carlos" as tom has been calling him/her since our very first ultrasound:

that looks like a bigger-than-seven-pounds baby, doesn't it? ;)

then i went back through the notes from my pregnancy with olivia. yes, i have notes. shut it. in my opinion, i DEFINITELY look bigger this time. here i am at 38 weeks pregnant with our beloved bean:

and guess what? they estimated olivia at six pounds at my 38 week appointment.

i hope they aren't off by TWO POUNDS this time!

carlos, we cannot wait to meet you. we are all so so so excited to have you join our family. we ask olivia all the time if you are her baby brother or sister. she completely ignores us. please give her a couple of days. i'm sure she'll come around. :) we love you! not long now!!!

i got da pride in my ride...

ok, so she isn't potty trained. in fact, putting her on the potty at school caused a twenty minute meltdown so we backed away sloooowly. :) she'll only be 22 months on friday, so i'm not pushing her. she still has interest at home on her little bjorn potty chair, so we'll just see where it leads.

in other news... we DID get a new (to us... it's a 2009) minivan! i know we are the biggests dorks around. i know. everyone hates minivans and i'm not even sure why? i mean, are you trying to hide the fact that you have kids? because pssst, everyone KNOWS YOU HAVE THEM. this thing is a freaking family dream. there are nine MILLION storage compartments, seven passenger seating that is a piece of freakin cake to get to... and the third row is a REAL third row. with reclining seats. 60/40 split and still the trunk area even with those seats up? is ENORMOUS. there are 8 cup holders... IN THE FRONT SEATS ALONE. why do *i* need 8 cup holders? whatever! i'll take them!

we're really so happy with it. and olivia thinks it's a fort. she loves to just walk around in it and sit in all the seats. adorbs.

mah swagger wagon. 

peepees in the pot-tay!

ok, so not yet. but olivia has started showing a FAREEL interest in the potty. she runs to the bathroom and asks to go potty... she's sat on it quite a bit lately and while she hasn't actually produced anything YET, we're taking it as a good sign.

so we've told daycare to go ahead and start putting her on during the day. EEEEE! of course this all comes 17 days before her younger sibling's scheduled arrival. i'm not expecting big success just due to all the chaos that's about to rock her little world, but i figured if she's interested, i'm not going to hold off. who knows? she's surprised us before!

and oooooh would mommy and daddy be happy to update our budget to only include ONE child in diapers!!! maybe we CAN afford that new minivan. HA.

oh and for anyone who's reading... this is what the first day back to school is like after a long weekend:

but once she remembered that she's now riding in her car seat FORWARD FACING (yes, i finally caved...) she was READY TO GO (the entire car ride i hear, "wheeee! woo hoo! yay!!!!" from her. so cute.):

yep. there are TWO car seats in the back of my car now. insanity!!!

almost time!

36 weeks today.

as ready as i am to meet this bean, this pregnancy has FLOWN by for me. i've been pregnant since AUGUST but it doesn't feel so long to me. i guess when you're chasing a crazy toddler around you are distracted. :)

i think we're ready. ish. we have three weeks until my scheduled induction. the room is just about done (missing a rug, but that'll come after we know if it's a boy or girl!), clothes are washed, diapers are stocked, bouncy seat and swing are up from the basement, clean and ready to go... formula is purchased, bottles are washed. i still need a few little things like binkies and nipples for the bottles - those are important, ha!

the double stroller is just WAITING for its second occupant! the carseat is being installed tomorrow. EEEEEE!

and i've gotten THE most important thing... a new, giant diaper bag:

yum. it's the skip hop studio. i can't wait for it to get here!!!

and finally, i am obsessed with smoothies. i ALMOST made tom go out at 9pm tonight to get me one, but thought MAAAAYBE i had some ingredients in the house. all those bags of frozen fruit i tried on olivia turned out NOT to be an epic fail! i made one tonight and it was delicious!

i see many more homemade smoothies in my future. YAY!