Baby Miller #2 [34 Weeks]

[26 weeks]

[30 weeks]

[34 weeks]

I'm now 34 weeks! Since our family took a 6 week trip to Papua New Guinea, the weeks have flown by! It's hard to believe that I just have a little over a month left before we meet this little girl. While I'm thankful I still have a little time left, we are also very excited to meet this little one! After Christmas this week, I will begin getting ready for her (getting clothes ready, getting the bassinet, bouncer, and other things out... I'm sure that'll help me feel like we're really going to be having a baby!)

Sickness: I still have heartburn every day, and it's the worst at night. I have been taking tums every night for the past couple of weeks because I can't go to sleep if I don't. I did throw up on 2 airplane rides during our time in Papua New Guinea, but both were a result of a mix of things (being on the plane, airplane food, having a child sitting on my lap, feeling hot... and then, of course, being pregnant). I'm very thankful that I'm done with plane rides for this pregnancy!

Movement: This baby moves ALL.THE.TIME. There was a short few weeks (around weeks 27-30) where I didn't feel her much. But now I feel her a lot, especially when I'm trying to go to sleep at night. I feel this baby girl much more than I felt Sophie. She pokes out my side all of the time, and she pokes out much further than Sophie ever did. She also likes to put her foot into my ribs which is uncomfortable. I feel her hiccup too, so I know she's head-down. While she is less comfortable than Sophie was in the womb, I am thankful that all the movement means she is okay.

Pain: I am mostly uncomfortable because of all of her movement. I guess I wouldn't consider it pain, though- mostly just very uncomfortable. My back is doing well.

Gender: Still a girl as far as we know!

Weight Gain: I'm up 24 pounds now. I've gained more than I did with Sophie, now, but I'm still not up to my end weight with her. I definitely wear maternity pants now, but I can wear maternity and regular shirts, which is nice. 

Who Needs a Baby Doll When...

Who needs a baby doll when you have a flashlight? Sophie began liking baby dolls over the summer but has really gotten into them a lot in the last month. We had to pack really lightly to go into Pei, so a baby doll wasn't one of the things we took with us. But no worries! Sophie found a flashlight and began rocking and "hushing" it. So I gave her a pot holder and turned a little wooden bench upside down, and then she had a blanket and cradle for her baby! 

She also used a scotch-rite scrubby and an iphone as babies too. 

And to round out this post... here's a picture of the adorable "mother" to the flashlight baby.

Sophie's Development [19 Months]

One thing I love about Sophie is that she adjusts well. Of course, she notices change (she gets scared easier), but I think she really adjusts quickly overall. We decided to take a month-long trip to visit Papua New Guinea since there's a good possibility this might be our future home- and because Ben is helping friends of ours build their home here. Sophie only took 4 days to get back on her regular sleep schedule (and wasn't that far off to begin with), was fairly pleasant the entire time, and hardly seems bothered by the heat and mosquito bites. I'm so thankful for her! Praying this new baby will adjust easily as well.

The newest development of Sophie's that is my favorite is that she recognizes shadows now! Last week we were in the bathroom, and the electricity went off (as is common here- the town electricity usually goes off once a day at least)- so our friend brought us a little lantern. When Sophie was finished with her bath, I was drying her off, and she pointed to the wall and said, "Mama!" I was confused and then realized she was talking about my shadow. I showed her her shadow then and asked her who it was, and she said, "Sosie" (Sophie). Since then, she's seen our shadows a couple of times and always knows who they are. This is just so cute and so amazing to me. It's one of those moments where I want to be that mom that brags about how smart her kid is.

I don't keep track of her words anymore because she says too many. But some fun ones... she says and remembers names really well now - I love it that she calls herself "Sosie." She also has started calling Ben "dah-ee" (daddy) instead of "dada" now. She says, "See ya."

She's such a cautious girl... not a dare devil at all. She likes to be silly and pretend she doesn't know things that she does (like trying to put a shape block in the wrong hole). She has the sweetest, loudest laugh that she usually will do about once a day. She can sometimes be bossy, but in general, she lets other kids walk all over her (and then she just cries or yells, "No!"). It'll be interesting to see is these parts of her personality stick or not.

Loves: books ("Bubbles Bubbles" which is an Elmo book is her current favorite), playing in the water (filling up cups and dumping them, specifically), blocks/shapes, food (cheese!!), playing outside, sitting on people and bouncing on them (which is especially fun since I'm pregnant right now <<sarcasm>>)

Dislikes: Having her hair washed, getting in water that she can't touch the bottom on her own, and many other normal toddler dislikes

[Photo taken by Abby Dunn]

Baby Miller #2 Update [25 Weeks]

[22 Weeks]

Wait, what did that say? 25 weeks??? Wow, this pregnancy is flying by! I know everyone says your pregnancies after your first go much faster because you're busier, but I think the main reason it's going faster for me is because I'm not wishing the moments away. With Sophie, I didn't have a child yet, and I just couldn't WAIT to meet her. Of course, I can't wait to meet this sweet little girl, but I don't want to wish away the moments I have with Sophie right now because I'm enjoying her too much. And by time this little girl comes, Sophie will almost be TWO! I'm not ready to wish away these months. So I'm just enjoying them for tall they're worth :)

Sickness: I get heartburn every night now, and I get it throughout the day if I eat more than 3 bites too. It kind of stinks, but it could be worse, and I'm holding out hope that it means this baby will have a lot of hair too! I take tums, but it never takes it completely away. I haven't thrown up since around 20 weeks, so it's nice to be staying away from the toilet. I have a lot of energy. I love the second trimester. 

Movement: I still feel kicks all the time, and now I feel movement as well. It's so amazing <3. I learned that the reason I feel this baby so much more than Sophie is because my placenta is in a different spot. So interesting, but it makes sense. Occasionally, all the kicks and movement are uncomfortable, but it's so enjoyable and reassuring to feel this little life inside of me.

Pain: No real pain yet. My back was hurting pretty bad the other day, and I realized it was because I was still sleeping on my belly sometimes. So sadly, I've had to give up the belly sleeping. Sleeping on just my back and side has definitely improved the condition of my back.

Gender: We found out 6 weeks ago that we're having another sweet little girl. We are so excited. I was guessing boy, so I was surprised! It will be so fun for Sophie to have a sister close in age, and it will be nice to be able to use all of Sophie's clothes again.

Weight Gain: I'm up 14 pounds now! I only gained 21 pounds total with Sophie, so I think I'm going to gain more than I did with her. That's fine though, because I started at a lower weight than I did with her. I'm still wearing my regular jeans (no maternity), but I am having to start to unbutton and use my bella band as the buttons are getting uncomfortable. Maternity will still be too big for me though.

Sophie's Development [18 Months]

Sophie has recently learned how to match puzzle pieces with her puzzle (the cow piece goes to the cow picture). It's neat to see her connecting this as in the past she has just tried to randomly throw the puzzle pieces on the puzzle board. This also means we have a new toy to occupy Sophie!

And incase you're wondering about her outfit in the photo above... Sophie was invited to her first birthday party! It was a ballerina birthday party for a three-year old girl, so we dressed Sophie up. She didn't love it when I gave her the buns, but they were a must for a ballerina party.

Sophie ADORES helping her daddy as he works. She likes his tools (she knows that they have buttons, which is fun for her, but she likes the screwdriver and hammer and others tools without buttons too). She also likes to help mommy with cleaning and cooking. Her cooking skills still need a lot of work, however.

Sophie has also recently discovered her love for movies. Ben discovered a few colorful movies with kid songs on youtube, and Sophie is slightly obsessed with a few of them. We monitor her time with watching them, because I really don't want her to watch tv all day, but it's nice that we have this option now as we will be going on a l o n g flight soon! Whenever she wants to watch her videos, she says "bus" because she loves "The Wheels on the Bus" song.

Sophie has also been asking for her pacifier more recently. We would like to wean her from it by time she's 2, so we'll see how that goes. We also would like to potty train (she's gone in the potty about 3 times now) and move her to a big girl bed when we get back from PNG, so that along with having a new baby in February is going to make the beginning of 2013 a bit crazy, I think.

She's also began pointing out who people are a bunch ... like mama and dada. But if you ask her where Sophie is, she points at herself now... so she knows who she is now :) She still can't say her name though.

Loves: books (she loves to have me read to her and especially likes books that we can sing to and "We're Going on a Bear Hunt"), puzzles, dogs, food (especially cheese- which is funny, since I'm allergic), pacifier and blankie, baths, playgrounds, pretending and "helping," grandparents and aunts and uncles, water (in her cup), shoes, hiding

Dislikes: Being dirty or having stuff stuck to her (what kind of 1 year old is she?), having her hair washed in the bath or really having her hair done at all, being "stuck" (which includes having her hands or legs being held or being strapped into things), being dropped off at nursery (but thankfully she does well once I leave)

Sophie Happenings

Lately...

Sophie has worn all of her hair in pigtails. However, we had to redo them 3 times during the day because she moves around too much. So I decided it's really not worth it yet to do pigtails.

Sophie ate a cake pop to learn if she was going to get a little sister or a little brother! To be honest, she didn't care about the sister or brother part. She just wanted as many cake pops as we would let her have.

I heard the fan going in the room that Owen, the boy we babysit, sleeps in. Sophie's not allowed to turn the fan on unless I tell her she can, so I went to investigate... and this is what I found. I just couldn't punish her for this. It was too cute...  (as a side note, she LOVES her Bear and Baby right now... she feeds them, rocks them, takes them on wagon rides, and apparently even puts them to bed now)

And a favorite snack... apples! I love it that she can eat them whole because it saves me time. Yesterday she ate the ENTIRE thing... well, I think she did spit the stem out. Anyways, I'm glad she loves apples, and she's super cute when she eats them.

I'm so thankful for this little girl, and she makes me excited about having another one!

Boy or Girl? Baby #2's Gender Announcement!

Boy or Girl? That is the question!

We learned the gender of our baby yesterday. We went in for our ultrasound in the afternoon, and waited patiently as the u/s tech checked everything else, and then finally asked us if we were wanting to learn the gender. Yes! We wanted to know.

So she checked and was able to tell right away.

And so, it looks like Sophie will be getting a little...

SISTER!!

We're very excited to know what this energetic little baby is! We can't wait to meet you sweet baby girl!

Thanks to Created By Carrie Photography for our wonderful pictures!!