Pink or blue??

We had our ultrasound on Friday the 20th and everything looks great. Baby is healthy and all the measurements were normal. Of course, everyone wants to know, boy or girl? Here are some pics and see if you can figure it out.







We're still undecided about a name though! We had the same problem when we were pregnant with Isabella. Hopefully we find something we both love soon!


As for Miss Big Sister Bella, she still insists that it's a sister. We try to tell her it's a brother, and she says, "no sister!" Eventually she will cave in and say, "hi baby brother." However, each day, we go through the same thing!

We also started getting her used to the potty this week. We have a potty seat that is part of the regular toilet seat (really cool actually). It flips up into the lid and has a lock to hold it in place when a big person needs to use the toilet. The tough part was getting her used to it. She was scared at first, and I have been going with the door open so she can see. Well, yesterday (I think) I told her I had to go pee. She grabbed her privates and cried, "Mommy! Pee pee!" So I asked her if she wanted to go and she smiled and said yes. I said, ok. I took her pants and diaper off, and put her on it. She seemed perfectly fine. At first she was holding on to me, but I showed her how to hold herself in place. She didn't actually go, but just getting her on it was a big step I think! Today, she sat on it twice (neither time did she go) and she sat there for a good 10 minutes. She didn't want to get off! She told me she was going pee pee (even though she didn't.) But that's ok. It's a start, and I don't really want to push her. She seems happy to sit on there, so we'll start with that!


Oh and last night, Rich finally felt the baby move! It wasn't a huge movement, but he said he felt it. I think he still gets a little weirded out by it! I asked him if he wanted to feel again, and he's like, Um, no, that's ok. I felt him already!

I saw movement!!

Yep, I finally actually saw it and not just felt it inside! It's still really subtle and hard to notice, but I was so excited to see it! So I've had a few people tell me that they think the baby is a girl. One of the women I know that I haven't actually met (we are on the same birth board) told me that she had a dream the other night that I am having a girl! Apparently, Jenna told my sister and Dennis that Bella is going to have a sister, and that she's inside my belly right now. Too cute!

I hope this good news is contagious. Right now, we are very anxious in our family because Rich's dad had a heart attack last week. He's in the hospital and he's going in for bypass surgery tomorrow am. We are just keeping our thoughts positive and praying that everything will be ok. It's been tough to go visit during the week because he's an hour from us and by the time Rich gets home, it's so late. It's very difficult for me to go too because I have Isabella and she cannot visit him in the ICU. I know that he knows we are thinking of him though.

Bella's latest

I have no idea where she picked it up, but now she loves to say, "uh huh" and "uh uh." It's really cute the way she says it, but I'm trying to get her to say "yes mom" instead. What I really love though is when she spells her name. She sometimes pauses and looks around like she's thinking. When she's done though, she says her last name, "carmomo!" It's so cute, I have to get it on video!

Yesterday, we took her to see Dora Live. She was mesmerized. I don't know if she was confused by the "real" people on stage, but she seemed to like it. We bought her a little Dora doll from there and she just loves it!

Surfing on the Mac!

Yes, I finally got my beautiful new 24" iMac and it's the most gorgeous computer I have ever seen! Of course, right now I am just web surfing and checking email because I am waiting to receive my editing software and stuff. Whenever Rich sees me on the laptop, he jokes why did he get me the Mac if I'm going to be on the PC? I may have to convince him to get me a Mac laptop so I can be mobile! LOL It is really a great computer and I can't wait to be able to fully use it for my business.

Last night, I was sitting in bed online and this baby moved really hard! I felt my insides move like jello! I've been trying to see if I can feel the movement from the outside with my hand but we're not quite there yet. I can't wait until Rich and Bella can feel the baby moving!

Otherwise, all is going well. I am having bad sciatica pain down my right side (painful to sit in certain positions sometimes), but feeling the baby moving makes it all worth it. I have had chocolate/peanut butter cravings the last couple of weeks. I have had the Girl Scout Peanut Butter Patties cookies, a peanut butter cup cookie from Starbucks, and the new Ghiardelli chocolate/peanut butter squares. I saw the commercial for them and I was craving them! I couldn't find them at the grocery store, but lucky me, my friend brought them up when she visited this weekend! So yummy!

Bella's 2-year portraits and Valentine's Day

I had a photo session this weekend that finally forced me to set up the studio again. I took advantage of it and took Bella's 2-year portraits on Monday. I was worried that she wouldn't cooperate, but she did fabulous! She was so excited to get dressed up, put on her jewelry, and take pictures. She kept saying, Pictures?? Of course, once we were up in the studio, she didn't want to sit, but I told her if she didn't, I would have to take her necklace off. That kept her sitting! Then she was disappointed that we were taking anymore pics, but she refused to take off her dress. The dress is actually Chloe's dress. When we visited in November, Chloe had this dress for her 2 yr birthday. Jaime loaned it to us for Bella's birthday. We always have a matching outfit for them when we are together, so it was cute to have them wear the same dress for their birthdays. Now I have pics of each of them in this dress. So cute!












She did so well with her 2-year pics, I figured I'd try my luck again and took her Valentine's Day pics yesterday. She did great! She had so much fun! The funny thing is we have the same kind of lollipop as she had in her pics last year. It's so amazing to see how much she has changed since last year and also how much my photography has grown since then too!

The pics with Jocelyn and Jenna were taken on Sunday. Bella would not pose by herself at my sister's, but she did great at home. I have those images on my other computer so I will have to upload Bella's pics later.

Ultrasound set for Feb. 20

I have been so laxed about blogging this pregnancy! I have been feeling like this kid has already been getting less attention than Bella did! I think it's because in the back of my mind, I still feel so anxious. I never felt that way with Bella. I was blissfully unaware of things, and now I've experienced and heard others experience things that just make me nervous! Definitely feeling movement has been reassuring but this week, I was a little freaked out b/c I couldn't remember if I felt any movement since Sunday. Sunday, this baby was moving a lot and then I don't think I felt anything since. I texted my midwife and she said that at this stage, I wouldn't necessarily feel movement consistently, but if I was really concerned, I could come into the office and they could check with the doppler. I said it was ok and I just wanted to be sure it was ok that I didn't feel it. Sure enough, tonight, this sneaky little bugger has been moving a ton! This baby is freaking me out already! We have our ultrasound scheduled for Feb. 20, so we will see if the baby wants to let us know. Rich wants to find out and I'm find either way. Although now I told my midwife that I don't mind being surprised, so she joked she will tell the u/s tech to tell us that she can't tell what the baby is!

As for big sister Bella, she is amazing! My friend Vicki came over yesterday with her two boys. Her son Nathan is two weeks older than Bella and they are like twins. They developed very similarly (same teeth at the same time) and they have very similar personalities. Her younger son Oliver was born the day after the first day of my pregnancy, so I know exactly how old he is all the time (by the way, he is 4.5 months old). Anyway, Bella adored him! She hugged him as much as she could and kissed him constantly. She even wiped the drool off his mouth. At one point, I had him on my lap on his belly, and she was standing by his face. She said, baby and then looked at my belly, and said, Mommy's baby. She kept going back and forth between him and my belly with a sort of puzzled look on her face. It was so cute! I was almost in tears when I saw how good she was with Oliver. I know she is going to be a great big sister!

We had her 2 yr appt on Friday. She did great. The doctor was very happy with her development. She is 33.5 inches tall (45%) and 26 lbs 8 oz (46%), so she is perfectly proportional. The dr was very impressed with her ability to spell her name, so she said we should teach Bella our address next. That may be awhile still! I was almost sad that we weren't going to see her ped for a year, but now that we are having this baby, we get to see her often again. Her ped is soooo nice! She always asks how my business is going and everything. It's nice that she always remembers.