Another Kry-Baby on the way!

We've kept the secret (poorly) for 12 weeks and are now over the moon to announce there is another Jeph & Amy original on the way! We are expecting Baby #2 this fall, in late October or early November (my official due date is November 2, but it will probably happen a few days before that). Gwendoline is very excited to be a big sister, though she doesn't really know what that means yet. She just gets very excited to see sonogram pictures and screams "BABY!" all the time. She's probably in for a rude awakening in six months.

We learned of our happy news on Saturday, February 22. Jeph was washing his car outside when I went to tell him that the little stick surprised me by turning positive. He didn't know I had taken a test, but as soon as I said, "Hey, honey..." his response was "You're pregnant!" I guess he could hear it in my voice. Things have been moving right along since then. The baby is measuring right on target and is looking great. We suffered another loss before this good news, so we're relieved and very pleased that things are heading in a positive direction. God is good to us!

(I've backdated this post to the day it all started, February 22, and will add a few more posts to fill in the gaps to our current 12 weeks.)

Happy New Year!

I'm not usually one for New Year Resolutions. However, our little family has decided to take one up in 2014. Actually, Jeph and I just discussed it this morning, which happens to be January 1, so we decided to make it an official Resolution with a capital R. Here it is: LESS PROCESSED FOOD. I realize that many people have been on the no processed food bandwagon for a while now, but it's a struggle in our house. Processed food is easier, faster, cheaper, and, in most cases, yummier since I (Amy) am far from what you might call a good cook. Or even a regular cook. The only exception has been with Gwendoline- I don't give her processed food, so why should Jeph and I be eating it?

Although this Resolution seems easy and attainable on the surface, I know it's actually going to be a challenge for us. So instead of just throwing the idea out there and then panicking in the produce aisle or when dinner time rolls around, I'm getting prepared. That means MEAL PLANNING. Although I am a planner and controller by nature, meal planning has always scared me. What if I don't want chili for dinner tonight!? What if I suddenly decide I want pork chops instead? But I suppose sacrifices have to be made, and if that means eating chili today and saving the pork chops for tomorrow, I guess I can power through and do it. There are worse problems to have.

For meal planning, I first looked into emeals, which looks awesome and is even endorsed by Dave Ramsey, so win-win. But you have to pay for it, and I don't want to pay for this kind of service because, you know, the Internet exists. (You also don't want to get me on my soap box about financial, no-debt, spend-less-money gurus who encourage you to pay money for their services or services they endorse.) So I did some more research and found TheBetterMom.com, which offers bi-weekly meal plans with recipes. These meals also seem to fit our familial appetite better than others I found online. Since I don't want to be tied to someone else's schedule of meals, I also appreciate the fact that TheBetterMom (along with TheNourishingHome.com) provides all the recipes up front along with a meal plan template for you to create your own weekly meal plan. So we're going with TheBetterMom's plan! Because who doesn't want to be a better mom and wife?

A wife of noble character who can find?
     She is worth far more than rubies.
Her husband has full confidence in her
     and lacks nothing of value.
She brings him good, not harm,
     all the days of her life. ...
She watches over the affairs of her household
     and does not eat the bread of idleness.
Her children arise and call her blessed;
     her husband also, and he praises her.
-Proverbs 31:10-12; 31:27-28

What about you? Do you have any Resolutions for the new year?

The Gift of Gab

Well hello there! It's been quite a while since I updated the blog. Apparently as toddlers get older, nap time decreases so they stay awake for longer periods of time during the day. I don't know why this surprised me... Pair much shorter nap times with the fact that I work from home a few hours a couple days a week and you have a recipe for a neglected blog. (I also like to go to bed early!)

Gwendoline had her 15 month well visit earlier this week and she's doing great! Her new stats are as expected- middle of the pack for weight and still tall like her Daddy!
Weight: 21 lbs, 2 ozs (48th percentile)
Height: 31.5" (79th percentile)

The biggest change we've experienced lately is Gwendoline's verbal ability. Just in the last four weeks or so, her vocabulary seems to have exploded! Her little words are so sweet to us and it seems like she learns a new one every day. Since this blog is as much a virtual baby book for us as it as a periodic update for our family and friends, I've listed the words Gwendoline knows up to this point below:

Mama	eyes
Dada	bellybutton ("bellbee")
Riley	shoes ("shees" through gritted teeth)
Lola	fish
banana ("nana")	bird ("bee")
uh-oh	puppy
up	duck
bye	no (she definitely knows this one- tells me "no" all the time)

She has a real country twang for a few of the words: Mama is Mowma, eyes are iiiis, and bye is biii. It's pretty darn cute, especially when I hear "Mowma!" echoing through the house.

This year, we celebrated Thanksgiving in Arkansas at my Granny's house. A big chunk of my extended family was there and we had such a fun time with everyone! Playmates for Gwendoline were plentiful in her second- and third-cousins: Nolan, Natalie, Carson, William, and Katelyn. Not to mention Grandma and Papa Gary, Great Granny, and aunts and uncles galore. As always, the food was delicious and we ate way too much!

First Thanksgiving meal

We have so much to be thankful for!

Tantrum

Gwendoline turned 13 months old yesterday, and today she threw her first public tantrum. She's had meltdowns in public before if she's been hungry or overtired, but this was a true tantrum. In Sally Beauty Supply. I needed one little thing, and since leaving your child in the car is frowned upon these days, I decided we could run in without the stroller. Big mistake. Gwendoline can walk proficiently now, so I thought she'd just hold my hand and go where I led her. I was incorrect. She immediately ran for the perm rollers and started scattering them- dozens of them- across the floor. Of course I told her NO and removed her from the roller shelves. She apparently didn't like this and proceeded to throw herself on the floor and wail as if I'd just broken her favorite toy, crocodile tears and all. I started picking up the rollers, content with her crying on the floor because that's better than her destroying anything else. Plus, I'm not going to give into a tantrum. But the next thing I knew she disappeared behind the counter where there were two employees working the cash registers and about four people in line. Just as Gwendoline was reaching into the trash can behind the counter, I scooped her up, apologized to everyone in sight, and ran for the car.

This is going to be fun.

Food challenge

Gwendoline had her baked-in egg food challenge yesterday. We decided early on after she was diagnosed with an egg protein allergy that we would do the baked-in egg challenge to potentially open new food options to her. It's surprising how many foods have egg as an ingredient, which means Gwendoline's diet since the diagnosis has been pretty boring and repetitive. So yesterday, at the recommendation of her allergist, we took her in for her baked egg challenge.

Apparently the protein in egg changes at a molecular level when it is baked or heated to a certain point. I don't know the details. It's science. People with less severe egg allergies like Gwendoline, who is a 3 on the 0-6 allergy scale, can sometimes tolerate baked egg, even though they still have an allergy to egg. So I did the unthinkable, at least in our house... I made blueberry muffins WITH EGGS! (Recipe from the allergist.) We took the muffins, Gwendoline, and an arsenal of toys and distractions with us to the allergist's office yesterday morning. The test is four hours long, and I know my kiddo well enough to know that there was no way in heck she was going to take a nap while we were there. Needless to say, Jeph and I were worried on multiple levels. First, because we were going to be feeding our child the equivalent of poison; and second, because we were going to be stuck in a 10' x 10' exam room with a very active, high maintenance 12.5 month old for four hours. Oh, and no food other than the muffin was allowed for Gwen, so using food as a distraction was off the table. This also meant she was going to be tired and hungry. Yikes.

The nurses gave Gwen her first bite of egg-filled muffin and we all waited for 20 minutes. No reaction! So then they gave her a larger "dose" of muffin and waited another 20 minutes. Still no reaction! We did this two more times until she had eaten the entire muffin, then we waited some more. Four hours after the first bite, she was reaction free! The allergist has deemed her free to eat foods with baked eggs!

The following types of food are now ok for Gwen to try, though we need to introduce them slowly and watch for reactions for up to 24 hours.

• baked goods- pancakes, waffles, muffins, biscuits, rolls, breads, cookies, cake, crackers, etc.
• pastas
• breadings
• ice cream!

We are still to avoid the following like the plague:

• whole eggs- scrambled, fried, etc.
• condiments- ranch, mayonnaise, Caesar dressing
• Alfredo sauce
• quiche
• souffle
• meringue
• anything that is generally considered "eggy"

We are very pleased that Gwendoline now has more food options. Not that we're going to stuff her with sweets, but it's nice to know that she can safely eat Chick-fil-A nuggets on the run or that we can have a family spaghetti night. And it also gives us peace of mind that she's not going to go into anaphylactic shock if she accidentally eats another child's cookie. We'll go back in 6 months, when Gwendoline is 18 months old, for another blood test to see if her egg allergy is gaining or losing steam. We're still very hopeful that she'll outgrow it completely!

Pulse and blood pressure checks every 20 minutes

Chilling out with Mom and some Yo Gabba Gabba

Baby-ventions

For the last year, I've been keeping a list of all the things I think would make life easier for mommies and babies alike. Here are a few of those things.

• Breast milk dehydrator- Because breastfeeding mommas want to carry around powdered milk to mix on the go, too. Also, more freezer space.
• Pacifier headgear- Because it's not that fun to get up to reinsert the paci six times a night. And during naps. Obviously, it would have to be designed in such a way as to not choke or suffocate the pacifier-deficient child. 
• Double-sided pacifier- It was a day of jubilation when Gwendoline learned to move her pacifier from her hand to her mouth. But it still took a while longer for her to get the correct end of the paci in her mouth. Paci nub on both sides would solve that problem.
• Disposable, biodegradable onesies- I had to cut Gwendoline out of a couple of onesies because I just couldn't bring myself to pull it up over her head. Got poop everywhere? Just tear this one off and throw away. (I added "biodegradable" so that my "green" friends wouldn't be upset with me for polluting the Earth.)
• Interchangeable walking/jogging stroller wheels- Because I want to walk the mall and jog outside without having to buy a second expensive stroller.
• Middle spouted sippy cup- Without fail, Gwendoline tries to drink with the sippy spout upside down every time, and gets mad when noting comes out. Putting the spout in the middle of the cup instead of on one side would ease this frustration. 

If some of these things have been invented and are commercially available, I'm sad I missed out. And if anyone steals my ideas, I guess I deserve it for posting them online.

Do YOU have any baby-ventions that would make life easier for mommies and babies?

Gratuitous cuteness

I love the way she...

Snuggles on me after a nap

Lays her books out on the tile and scoots them around

Hightails it to her bouncy chair when she hears me making a bottle

Waits until I'm looking before giggling and diving into the dog bed

Walks on her toes

Smells after a nap (sweaty and sweet)

Unfolds all the clothes as quickly as I fold them

Loves the sound of running water, just like her daddy

Sucks the juice out of watermelon- loudly

Can't stay awake in the car

Puts her forehead to my lips when I pucker them for a kiss