Bumpdate? ok!

we made it to 28 weeks! baby g3 is doing so well. thanks for asking.

baby is measuring right on. so she's about 2.5lbs, and 16 inches.

her favorite foods are ice cream, cucumbers with ranch and peanut butter and honey sandwiches.

her favorite activities are quiet time on mommy's left side, doing the dishes and bath time.

as you can tell from the photo, i am oober tired. like two oobers, i think. i have never been more thankful for a weekend, and am ever so happy joseph is actually off tomorrow. i could use the company and help.

my heartburn is awesome. zantac is delish. the back pain is terrible, so much worse than either previous pregnancy. i can't wait to see what it's like over the next 12 weeks!

the snow is finally almost gone here, and it's warming up. i am enjoying no more winter boots, i've worn a skirt once, and i've been outside without a coat on. things are looking good here. 

i am looking forward to my glucose test on monday and our 29 week appointment on thursday. hoping they will schedule another ultrasound, given that our gender ultrasound at 20 weeks was fairly inconclusive. (though we've been referring to baby g3 as a her.)

and now, i am going to fall asleep to the dodger game on tv as we snuggle under the electric blanket, for perhaps one of it's last nights on our bed. come on, spring!

xoxo, al

CeCe Pants

cece fianlly made it to her 9 month appointment! her last appointment was cancelled due to the level 3 snow emergency. 

this adorable babe is 10 months and 7 days today. she's gained about half a pound since her last well visit, so as you can see, shes right on track with hadley. teeny tiny.

she's crawling like crazy, of course, and walking along furniture, between furniture, and now squatting on her two feet. in no time miss caroline will be standing unassisted. way to go, girlfriend.

cece's favorite foods are ritz crackers, grillers, yogurt, applesauce, and anything off mom or dad's plates. and she is really looking forward to peanut butter soon.

our little lady does not enjoy the snow, or cold. she hates socks, shoes, coats, and cold. bummer for her, living in ohio. she is looking forward to spring soon.

but aren't we all?!?! it. is. cold. 

xoxo, al

MLK JR

as we drove home from school friday, hadley asked me if i knew about Martin Luther King JR. i was so pleased her teachers had addressed this holiday, as i know a lot of these days off school go unnoticed by preschoolers. i was extremely impressed by her grasp of MLK JR and what he stood for. 

hadley told me MLK JR had very dark skin, and lots people with our skin didn't like him, or other dark skinned people just because of their color. hadley thinks this is ridiculous. A. MEN. SISTER.

and she can't believe he got shot. yes, her teachers went there.

then the conversation moved on. snacks, books, playing in the basement, can we go see daddy at work, etc.

"hey, i have a cousin with really dark skin, and i love him a lot."

and then we ate lunch.

i am thankful my girl lives in a time, place and situation where she thinks it is crazy to treat someone any differently because they are different, for any reason. and i am so thankful for sweet justin and the happiness he brings to our family, and for teaching hadley love is blind.

xoxo, al

Top Ten Things My Four Year Old Says That I am Tired of Hearing

1: why is (fill in the blank) older than me? (all day long. everyone she can think of.)

2: the baby is awake.

3: i can't wear those jeans. they aren't pants. (she's got a strict leggings only policy.)

4: can i have a treat? (we are still working through halloween candy, though in my opinion, all the good stuff is long gone.)

5: well what about a snack?

6: (just after she's told it's time to climb into bed) but i need some milk.

7: look mama, the baby's on her knees! (the baby has been up on her knees for weeks. in fact, she pulls herself up to standing, and walks along furniture now.)

8: can i have another treat?

9: are we half way there yet? (if i forget to mention as we drive by the yellow coffee truck that marks half way she gets upset. on the other hand, half the time i tell her, she's annoyed i am telling her. i can't win.)

10: did the baby poop while i was at school?

sigh.

xoxo, al

CeCe is 5 months!!

i haven't had a chance to break out the big camera to get our monthly shots yet. but i totally missed month four while we were gone on our west coast trip. so i'm posting without that one special 5 month photo in the pink diaper on the special back drop. i'll get to that soon;)

hey! cece is five motnhs now! 23 weeks today. shes doing very well. just a few weeks ago, she weighed 14lbs 6oz, and was 24 inches tall. she's our growing girl!

our smiley girl is happy most all of the time. she cries the most when we leave the room, or if she accidentally becomes over hungry. 

she is sleeping through the night still, but wakes VERY early. how did we get a morning baby? hadley sure isn't.

this babe enjoys her excersaucer, and loves to slap at the little piano keys to make music. cece also mastered rolling over both front to back and back to front. however, she can only do this in one direction, and enjoys rolling from one side of the room to the other. then i turn her around and she goes back!

she just picked up on the rolling around all day thing this week. here she is!

cece enjoys baseball, long walks, rice cereal and her sister. she thinks she enjoys coffee like mama, but don't worry, she wound't actually know!

see? this is cece hoping for a drink of my white mocha right now.

and there you have it. cece in a nut shell. she's awesome. stayed tuned for more awesomeness on the blog soon.

xoxo, al

fossil fest!

one of the greatest things about toledo is that it is also a metro area made out of a lot of amazing communities. or, you know, small towns. just like the one i grew up in. 20,000 residents, a main street with an adorable downtown, and really neat local businesses. and in these adorable little towns are adorable little markets and festivals happening all the time. 

well, not all the time. i'll be real with you. it's freaking cold here in the winter. so when i say all the time, i mean between like may and october. you can count the rest of the year out and stay home sipping tea and watching netflix.

anyway. 

today was fossil fest in sylvania, which is just down the road from us. it's all about fossils, as you can guess. there is a sweet hidden little historical area in downtown that is home to this fun activity. people bring amazing fossils and rocks to share or sell, volunteers run great games for kids, and best of all, KIDS CAN DIG UP THEIR OWN FOSSILS! there is literally a pile of fossils in the parking lot, just waiting for kids to dig in, chip away, brush of and clean up these finds.

 

so, moral of the story is, don't pass up the opportunities to get out and explore and get to know your community. it probably rocks, even if it's not toledo;)

xoxo, al

 

Baby g2

Given that CeCe is one month old today, I find it entirely appropriate to drop everything and take the time to introduce her to the blog!

Likely, if you read this blog, you've already been informed of Sweet Caroline's arrival, either by Facebook or intsagram, or even call or text. But here's the little story of our teeny new baby. 

And a few photos. 

On the 18th, I woke up to contractions around 2:30 am. After a couple hours, Joseph finally woke up enough to figure out something was up. 

We put the finishing touches on our hospital bags, showered, and dropped Hadley off at my sweet friend Marcy's house. 

Upon arrival to the maternity unit, I thought for sure I'd be sent home. After my long, long experience with Hadley, my expectations for this delivery were somewhat the same. 

But they kept me. I was so miserable that I didn't even have the energy to be upset my mom wasn't arriving until that evening. However, I was worrying about who would get her from the airport. When my friend Tammy volunteered a ride, we jumped on that;) 

Anyway. I was out of triage and into a labor room by 9. By 12 I had my epidural. And at 16:16, Caroline Claire Gilbuena made her appearance. We were so tired and relieved, and I was just ready for my mom and Hadley to arrive to meet her. 

This is all a long story short, and I am happy to share a birth story soon, I've had a lot of fellow moms and friends asking if I'll jump on the bandwagon and share. 

Now on to the last month of our life;)

Hadley was instantly in love with her little sister. Here's to hoping that lasts forever. 

My amazing friend Marcy hosted a baby shower for CeCe. It was orinigally scheduled for the 19th, but Cece's early arrival had us otherwise engaged. But this way, everyone got to meet her!

I don't know if you can tell, but my mom enjoyed her time here with us. Or rather, with them. 

Schlumpy baby visits Daddy at the office. 

CeCe goes to coffee. 

CeCe got her first bath. 

CeCe attended her first baseball game, at 9 days old. 

Miss tiny bum tried cloth diapers, three of four leaked. Will try again soon. 

CeCe got Daddy snuggles. 

CeCe got glasses. 

CeCe went to the zoo. 

CeCe went to Katie's birthday party. 

CeCe went to te beach. 

CeCe napped in our bed. 

CeCe held all our stuff while we played at the park. 

CeCe joined us for brunch. 

And now CeCe is alseep. 

You are all caught up. 

Thanks for stopping by! You can look forward to many more entertaining baby posts soon. 

Xoxo, al

Preschool!

the anticipation of this day has grown over the last weeks for hadley. she's been working hard to complete her potty training (still working on #2's.) and brushing up on her numbers, letters, nice to meet you's, and pushing hard to get to an early bed time. 

bed time. that is the hard one around here. neither joseph or myself are early to bed or early to rise, and hadley seems to take after us. but, she's been asleep by 9:15 most nights over the last weeks, so i could  count that as good!

anyway! this morning we were up early, eating breakfast and getting dressed, and definitely getting excited!

and as you've guessed, after just one little nudge into the "green room" this little socialite had no problem getting involved and chatting with her class. hadley is going to rock preschool's socks off!

as for us, we didn't even cry;)i thought about it for a few seconds, then i remembered i haven't been home alone in two years, with the exception of that time joseph took hadley out hot wheels hunting long enough for me to vacuum like a year ago.

and then i was fine.

happy school year, everyone!

xoxo, al