18 week check up

So this morning I went in to see the doctor for my 18 week check up. We went over all my lab results and the doctor said everything looked good including my blood pressure & weight. Phew! We also listed to the baby's heartbeat again and this time his/her heart rate was around 150 (last time it was 155-160). That was an interesting surprise since Madison's was consistently 155 at all my appts. While the doctor was looking for baby's heartbeat she mentioned how active he/she was. I thought that was pretty funny considering I've been feeling him/her moving a lot in the last week or so. I had forgotten what it felt like so when I first noticed it made me realize how much I missed that feeling. It also reminded me...there really is a baby in there & I'm not just gaining weight. hahaha! So here is our latest bump pic.

You can definitely tell the baby is growing. I swear I look like I'm over 5 months and not 4 1/2. The funny thing is that even though I look much bigger than when I was pregnant with Madison I weigh less. Isn't that crazy?! I can still wear most of my regular jeans and haven't had to put on any maternity pants yet! We'll see how much longer that lasts. hahaha! I'm thinking...if I'm lucky I'll have another week or two before putting on the stretchy pants. =) We're suppose to find out if Madison is going to have a baby brother or sister very soon. I'll keep you all posted...

1 Little Girl...

So I just had to share this cute little video that my sister-in-law, Kayla, made. It was a total surprise and I'm not sure if it's my preggo hormones or what but it totally made me cry. I know...funny right?! I just couldn't help it...I guess the video reminded me of how much my baby girl has grown & the fun times we had when Jaime's family came to visit. I ♥ the video and can watch it over & over again. Thank you sissy! We love you!

Just for fun!

For a couple weeks now my coworker (who is due 4 days after me) and I have been talking about trying IntelliGender (an over-the-counter test you can buy that supposedly determines the gender of your baby). At first we were a little skeptical and decide to just wait until we had our ultrasound appointments in a few weeks to find out, but then our curiousity got the best of us and we bit the bullet and each bought a test. We figured why not...it would be fun to do it together and it will be interesting to see who's test is right or wrong. We know we can't really rely on the results so it would be purely for entertainment purposes.

So this morning was the big day...we both agreed to do it before work since it requires the use of your first morning urine. We text each other right away with our results. According to the test Jaime & I are having a baby...

 

My coworker got the same result...I already assumed hers was going to say boy, but I forsure thought mine would come out girl. It'll be interesting to see what the real results are at the end of the month.  I'm definitely not relying on this test, but it was a lot of fun to do...especially since I had someone doing it with me. I'll keep you all posted in a couple weeks to let you know if it was right or not.

Party of Four?!

Did someone say Party of Four?! Yes, you read that right I said FOUR not three! For those of you who don't already know...Madison is going to be a BIG sister! Crazy right?! We thought so too! heehee! We are expecting baby Antoque #2 to arrive at the end of January next year. My estimated due date is 1.26.12. We are all very excited and still in shock! As some of you may know I had a very hard time getting pregnant with Madison. It was a looong 2 year roller coaster that I assumed we'd have to go through again when we decided to have baby #2, but to our surprise we were pregnant without even trying! Jaime and I had talked about expanding our family eventually and figure it may take awhile so we were going to start "trying" towards the end of this year. I thought that we wouldn't get pregnant til atleast the middle of next year if we were lucky...boy was I wrong! hahaha!

So I started to notice back in May that I was feeling a little more tired then usual and my body was feeling a little different. I didn't think much of it since there was so much going on at the time but as time went on I noticed it more and more. The thought crossed my mind at one point that I might be pregnant, but then I brushed it off thinking it was impossible due to my history. A couple weeks later I decided to take a test just to be on the safe side since I was a few days late (which is normal for me since I've always been irregular). I took the test and to my surprise 2 lines appeared! I was in complete SHOCK!!! I really thought it would come out negative but I was totally wrong! I wanted to wake Jaime up to tell him the great news, but I thought of a better way to tell him so I kept it to myself (which btw...was the hardest thing to do!).

Jaime and I were both off work that day so I ran a couple errands while he hung out at home with Madison. While out I wanted to pick up a shirt for Madison that said "big sister". To my surprise I couldn't find one in her size. I guess it isn't that common to have siblings so close in age (Madison will be 18 months when baby #2 is born) the smallest size they had was 2T. Since I couldn't find anything I had to improvise a make my own shirt for her. When I got home I hurried upstairs to put everything together. After I finished I told Jaime I wanted to show him this cute new shirt I bought for Madison. I put the shirt on her then showed it to him. It took him a minute to realize what was going on, but when he did he was so excited and couldn't believe it. Here are a couple pictures that I took...

5.27.11
Madison and Daddy

Someone is excited to be a BIG sister! =)

Here is a closer look at her shirt. You know I HAD to add the cupcake! ;)

I am now 16 weeks along. During the first trimester I was feeling VERY tired (more so this time than with Madison) and very nauseous. I even had to run to the bathroom a few times from being so sick...that never happened before. It was not fun! My symptoms are definitely different this time around. I'm hoping that's a sign that she may be having a baby brother, but I'm not getting my hopes up. In a way I'd be happy if she had a baby sister since they would be so close in age. I keep going back and forth...at this point I'm just excited that she is going to be having a sibling so soon! =) Never in our wildest dreams did we think this would happen. We feel sooo blessed! We just pray for a healthy baby no matter if it's a boy or a girl. The good news is we won't have to wait much longer. We find out what we're having in 2 1/2 weeks. I'll be a little over 18 weeks by then which is a surprise since last time I had to wait until I was 20 weeks to find out. I'll make sure to keep you all posted. For now here is a picture of our little peanut's first ultrasound and of course "the bump". I had to do a comparison picture from my 1st pregnancy just so you can see how much faster I've grown this time around. They're not joking when they say you show sooner...yikes!

Baby Antoque #2 @ 8 weeks & 4 days

Left: with Madison Right: with baby #2

Day at the lake...

Since the weather has been so nice and we haven't had the chance to take the boat out this summer I decided to take the day off and go to Folsom Lake with my family. This was Madison's first time on the boat so I was curious as to how she was going to react. I wasn't sure if she was going to like it or hate it. Turns out she loved it!!! She had such a great time with her cousins! Here are a few pictures that we captured of the day. We couldn't have asked for better weather and what made it even nicer was the fact that it wasn't crowded since it was a week day. Hopefully we'll get to take another trip before the season is over!

1 year check up...and the results are in!

Today Madison had her 1 year check up with her doctor. According to him, she looked great! He was very happy with her height and said she was going to be pretty tall when she grew up. He was also happy with her weight and surprised considering most kids her age usually don't gain much from their last appt until now. I guess it's all the eating she's doing. hahaha! Funny thing is she is only in the 54% tile for her weight so that was interesting to hear. Makes me wonder...if she is only in the 54% tile what does a kid in the 100% tile look like...yikes! Anyway, here are a couple pictures I took while we were waiting for the doctor. Since Madison's appt was first thing in the morning and she woke up late we had to feed her breakfast on the go. Here she is....our little monster! =)

And here are her 1 year stats:

Weight: 21 lb 7 oz (54%)

Height: 30.7 in (91%)

Head Circumference: 45.2 cm (52%)

* Growth precentile is based on average for her age

Our baby girl is definitely growing up! Check out her 1st Birthday pics..isn't she a cutie?! Daddy and I think so! Even though she wasn't feeling very well she still took some amazing pictures. I had her birthday tutu specially made for her and I LOVE how it turned out. It went perfectly with the theme of her party!

Under the sea...

Today we took Madison to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. We thought it would be a fun way to continue her birthday celebration and since Jaime's family was still in town it would be a nice place for them to visit as well. It had been years since Jaime and I had been there so it was nice to come back & enjoy it with our family. We got very lucky with the weather considering it's next to the ocean...you just never know what to expect. Madison had a great time looking at all the different sea creatures and calling them "CAT"! Hahaha! That's her name for all animals right now...we're working on adding to a few more words to her vocab. I'm sure soon enough she'll be able to name a couple more since she's such a smart little cookie! Here are a few pictures from our fun filled day. We all had a great time!

Happy 1st Birthday to my lil' cupcake!

Can you believe our little Madiboo is a 1 year old?!?! She is officially a TODDLER! Ahhhh...where did the time go?! My baby girl (or should I say toddler) is growing up so fast! She has had so many milestones in the last 12 months from rolling over to crawling to walking on her own! It's amazing!!! I am so proud of her!

Since we had a big celebration for her yesterday with all our family and friends. We decided to just hang out a home and relax before heading out for more fun tomorrow. Instead of going out to eat we just had our close family over for dinner. Now that Madison is one, I have become a lot more lenient with what I let her eat. It was definitely hard letting her dig into all the frosting yesterday but how could you not...it was her 1st birthday and she seemed to be enjoying it so much. Here are a couple pictures I took of her birthday breakfast & lunch. Isn't she the cutest?!

And here she is cheesin' with all her presents..what a lucky girl! =)

Happy 1st Birthday Cupcake! Mommy & Daddy love you to the moon and back!!!

Leopard print & cupcakes...what more could a girl ask for?!

We decided to celebrate Madison's 1st birthday a day early since her actual birthday fell on a Monday and most people had to work the following day. We figured it made more sense to have it on Sunday that way everyone could still enjoy their holiday off and relax before the work week started. I had been planning Madison's birthday for a couple months now. I kept going back and forth about certain ideas but I had one thing for certain...the theme of her party. Since she is still a little young and doesn't really like any particular cartoon character yet I decide to save that type of party for when she is older and let her pick her theme. I had noticed for a while now that I have been VERY drawn to leopard print and you could definitely tell by Madison's wardrobe. =)

Since I really wanted to do something different than your average 1st birthday party I ran with the leopard print idea! What better way to think outside of the box than with leopard print for a 1st birthday right?! You don't see that very often and of course I had to throw my all time fave in there...what's a party without CUPCAKES?! =) So that is how the leopard print & cupcake theme came about. I was oh sooo excited!!! I had SOOO many ideas of what I wanted to do, but unfortunately due to some surprising circumstances I wasn't able to do all of them since I wasn't feeling very good. Oh well! There's always next year! Luckily Jaime's family was in town visiting so they were able to help me ALOT! I probably wouldn't have been able to do half the things I wanted without them and my family. I am so lucky to have them all in my life. Madison's party was a huge success! Everyone had such a great time especially the birthday girl! Here a just a few of the many pictures we took that day. Thank goodness for Madison's biggest and best birthday presents...her very own waterpark! It sure helped to keep all the kids cool on this scorchin' hot day.

 

 For all those that were able to share this special day with us...THANK YOU!!! It wouldn't have been the same without you. We really appreciate everyone coming. It is definitely a day we will never forget and we're so grateful to share it will all of you.

Madison's 1st Vacation

Every year we take a vacation with all of my family since my parents have a time share in Mexico. For our last vacation (in 2009) we went to Cancun, Mexico but this year we decided to switch it up and go to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico instead. I was very excited to go on vacation (since we didn't get to go last year because I was pregnant with Madison), but also a little nervous for 1) it was Madison's 1st vacation and 2) her 1st time on a plane. I've heard so many horror stories of babies on planes and prayed that wouldn't be our baby girl. Lucky for us she did great! I made sure to give her something to chew or suck on when taking off and landing to help with her ears and that seemed to do the trick. Not a peep out of her! On the way there she slept half of the time and played with her cousins the other half. And on the way home she slept almost the whole 3 hour flight! I guess she was exhausted from all the fun she had on our trip. Here are just a few of the many pictures we took there. We all had such a great time and can't wait for our next family vacation!