30 Weeks Pregnant and a Toddler Off the Bottle!

So, I am 30 weeks pregnant today! Wow, that is mind blowing just saying it! 9 weeks still seems far away but yet so close at the same time. We went to have our first bio-physical ultrasound yesterday. At these weekly ultrasounds they measure for amniotic fluid, fine movement (ex. movement of fingers) and strong movement (ex movement of limbs) and fetal breathing movement for 30 seconds. Well, Ann Mason must have been pooped because she insisted sleeping thru the whole thing! I had to turn over on my side and move around and finally she woke up and performed her duties and went back to sleep! :) All was well though and for right now she is a strong and healthy girl thriving in her momma's belly! Yipeee!!!

On a side note: It is with great pleasure that I announce that Palmer has been without the bottle for 24 hours now haha!!! It is TOTALLY my fault as a parent for not doing this sooner since he is 3 days away from being 19 months! He only took a bottle in the morning and at night and I have to admit that it was more of my time with him to sit and cuddle so that is why I wasn't very insistent on him giving up the bottle. The breaking point was the other night when Palmer was sitting in his chair in his diaper and he had his bottle in one hand and gave Tex a high five with the other and then proceeded to scratch his belly and burp! That is when I realized that indeed it was time for him to stop taking a bottle! :) He is a little man now and little men drink out of sippy cups! The only trouble we had was the first morning I gave him his sippy rather than the bottle he just looked at me like I had insulted him and threw it down! Eventually he was thirsty enough that he picked it up and went on his way. Last night he didn't even miss it!

As glad as I should be it is one more indication that he is getting bigger and that is so hard for me! Ashley introduced me to a new song by Darius Rucker (aka old hootie and the blowfish singer) and it is called "It won't be like this for long". You have to hear it cause it is so good... but here are the lyrics! I am trying to hold on to all of these moments a little longer. I don't want my babies to grow up!

Lyrics to the song

He didnt have to wake up He'd been up all nite Lay'n there in bed listen'n To his new born baby cry

He makes a pot of coffee He splashes water on his face His wife gives him a kiss and says It gonna be OK

It wont be like this for long

One day soon we'll look back laugh'n At the week we brought her home This phase is gonna fly by So baby just hold on It wont be like this for long

Four years later bout four thirty She's crawling in there bed And when he drops her off at preschool She's clinging to his leg

The teacher peels her off of him He says what can I do She says now dont you worry This will only last a week or two

It wont be like this for long One day soon we'll drop her off And she wont even know your gone This phase is gonna fly by If you can just hold on It wont be like this for long

One day soon she'll be a teenager And at times you'll think she hates him

Then he'll walk her down the isle And he'll raise her vale

But right now she up and cry'n And the truth is that he dont mind As he kisses her good night And she says her prayers He lays down there beside her Till her eyes are finally closed And just watch'n her it breaks his heart Cause he already knows

It wont be like this for long One day soon that little girl is gonna be All grown up and gone Yeah this phase is gonna fly by He's try'n to hold on It wont be like this for long It wont be like this for long

Pregnancy and a toddler....

I realized lately that I haven't been my normal sappy self and haven't written any sweet mementos of Palmer's development nor have a written about how I am feeling as a pregnant woman! :) My hormones have pretty much kept me from feeling all warm and fuzzy inside lately :) Is this what little girls do to you?

Even though my hormones are charged and ready to go I still have a moment each day where I feel like I am so blessed to be a mom. Being a mom has been by far the greatest thing that I have ever done. It seems like most everything else pales in comparison to being a mom and a wife. All the accomplishments and money in the world would never be as fulfilling as watching your child dance in front of the TV, or reach for you with a smile on his face in the morning from his crib, or my favorite, run to you with such excitement and open arms after you get home from a long day of work.

I look at Palmer and it is sometimes just too much... too much joy, too much pride, too much love. I then think that I get to have double the love, double the laughs and double the joy in just a few short months! I can't wait for Ann Mason to arrive into this world with her very own personality! I can't wait to see what she has in store for our family and the people that love her. Palmer has been such a joy and it is so hard to believe that he is days away from being 19 months old!

He is starting to talk with no real regularity but it is still so exciting to hear each new word come out of his little mouth. He now refers to his aunt Ashley as "wee" and that excites her! He of course has the words mine, no, bottle, milk,truck, etc... memorized to a tee! In fact his teacher Ms. Beth had to inform him that he was NOT the teacher at school the other day because every time she disciplined one of the kids Palmer was 2 steps behind her saying No, No and pointing his little finger :) Of course I think that is SO cute haha

He is a music lover! And all kinds of music and any genre from Beyonce (Single Ladies) to Prince (I need some extra time and your ..... kiss :) He really gets into his dancing and "Wee" says he looks like he is having a seizure but I think that he just really feels the music.

He is a great eater and indulges in most any food that mommy makes. Last night he ate an entire bowl of stir fry which I was impressed by! Currently tonight he is eating with Tex at their favorite gourmet restaurant Chick-Fil-A while I work late.

He is definitely his own personality and very strong willed at that. He is not going to be a cuddler and likes to kind of do his own thing and be independent. Sometimes it can come across that he doesn't like you but he just needs his own space :) Tex says he is like me especially in the mornings cause he needs at least 30 minutes until he becomes social! Once he likes you though you are in! He will be your best friend until the end of time!

This pregnancy is seeming to go by faster by the minute thanks to being so entertained by Palmer! I don't remember having such bad insomnia with Palmer but this pregnancy takes the cake and sleeping has become more of a memory that something that happens on a regular basis. I seem to tire out more frequently but then again I am lugging around a 26 pound toddler that I wasn't when pregnant the first time. I have really embraced this pregnancy and tried to enjoy all that it has to offer me. I LOVE feeling her move inside of me and kick. My favorite time is at night when I am lying in bed and I can see my stomach move when she moves. It is truly a miracle! It is also a miracle how much I can pee :) That never ceases to amaze me!

It is hard to think about this being my last pregnancy, not that it will. I don't know what GOD has in store for Tex and I but if he blesses us again with another child one of these days we will most likely accept the challenge! :) I am so excited for this stage of our lives. I was never the little girl that dreamed of a big fancy wedding and a pretty white dress but rather the little girl that dreamed of being a mom to a precious baby and my dreams have come true two fold!

Christmastime

Here are some more pictures from our Christmas photo shoot! Palmer did really well but didn't like sitting down :) He has definitely made thinking of Christmas more fun this year for sure! I kind of feel like scrooge this year and I can't figure out why I am in such a funk. Is it that I am almost 8 months pregnant and my hormones are that of a 13 year old girl going thru puberty :)

I guess I feel so pulled on Christmas. I am starting to really like Thanksgiving more! It seems like on Christmas that we go from point A to point B to point C without taking so much as a break to think about the true meaning of the holiday. It seems like no matter how hard we try we end up making at least one family member upset because we aren't spending enough time with each of them even though we spread ourselves so thin by going to 4 different family events.

Do others have this problem during the holidays? Is that why wine consumption more than doubles around the holidays :)? So for yet another year Tex and I are going to make are rounds to the different surrounding areas of our great state in hopes that Palmer hangs in there for the long haul and survives his second Christmas.

Is there any solution to this madness? I am hoping that next year we can scheme together some sort of a permanent schedule in which each family does not feel slighted by the time that we allot to be with them. :)

I should be looking at this situation as the glass half full and be SO thankful that we have SO many wonderful family members that just want to be surrounded with our love. We are a fun bunch, us Templetons.

May everyone having a Christmas or Holiday crisis try to remember the true meaning of Christmas thru your rage and frustration. It only comes once a year people so suck it up, spike your egg nog and don't do anything I wouldn't do! :)

Tis the freaking season! Merry Christmas!

Christmas Survey

*** So I totally stole this off of another blog but I thought it was fun!*****

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? EGG NOG!! Tex thinks egg nog is SO gross but I could drink it by the half gallon! I haven't bought any yet but I plan on having some Christmas Eve!

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Santa sets up the toys so that they are ready to play with as soon as Palmer will walk down the stairs! I just thought of something everything we bought is from "Santa"! I guess we can get away with it this year but next year I better remember that something has to come from Tex and I! Haha

3. Colored lights on house/tree or white lights? White lights and Formal tree for our living room!!! I plan to let each of the babies have their very own Christmas tree in their rooms that they can decorate with colored lights and homemade ornaments!

4. Do you hang mistletoe? No but that could get interesting :)

5. When do you put your decorations up? Normally the Friday after Thanksgiving.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? Corn pudding and broccoli casserole! My mom always makes sure she makes this for her girls :)

7. Favorite holiday memory as a child? Me, my sister and my brother when he was in town would all sleep in the same room! And Mark would always wake us up and ask us if we heard Santas sleigh and I would get SO excited. Ashley would usually sleep thru the commotion and one year peed on Mark, he was SO mad! But other than that I LOVED sitting on the top of the stairs waiting for mom and dad to make their coffee and set their video camera on a tri-pod until they said "Ok, go" and Ashley, Mark and I would coming running down to find all of the gifts that Santa left!

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? It was truly devastating. Anyone that knows me well knows that I had a major fascination with Santa! To find out in 4th grade that he wasn't real was very traumatic I remember crawling up on my mom's lap and just crying my eyes out.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? We open 1 gift Christmas Eve and the parents usually pick it out.

10. How do you decorate your tree? The past two years it has been red and gold!

11. Snow! Love it or dread it? LOVE SNOW Days as long as I can curl up at home!

12. Can you ice skate? Um, no! The last time I went was when mom and Scott were dating which was EONS ago and I think mom, Ashley and I came out with more bruises than anyone!

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? I don't know if I have a favorite, they have all been pretty great!

14. What is the most important thing about the holidays for you? Definitely spending time with family and since we have our own family now building special traditions with our kids. I can't wait till Palmer and Ann Mason truly grasp the Christmas spirit and we can spend time doing crafts and also doing things for those less fortunate!

15. What is your favorite holiday dessert? We were never a huge desert family but I do love the white chocolate and peppermint bark! YUM!

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? We have just started a few and we hope to have many more! We have been pulling one chain a night off of the construction paper countdown chain and reading what we are thankful for!

17. What tops your Christmas tree? A big red ribbon!

18. Which do you prefer-giving or receiving? I love giving and seeing people's faces when they open up their gifts. I am sometimes gift giving challenged! I am not one of those people that easily thinks of the perfect gift so when I do I get really excited about it.

19. What is your favorite Christmas song? Silent Night! I have been singing it to Palmer every night repeatedly for this whole month, he loves when his mommy hits that high note!

20. Candy Canes-yum or yuck? Yum, I can always eat a candy cane.

21. What do you want for Christmas? For everyone to be happy and healthy and for Tex and I to truly take the time to enjoy this Christmas with Palmer and make it as special and memorable for him as it can be! Sometimes Christmas gets so hectic with trying to go here and there that the fun and meaning gets lost along the way. We are trying to avoid that this year.

22. Do you attend an annual Christmas party? We always have both work parties and a wreath making party. This year our holiday calendar as been slightly bare! Maybe a Christmas party needs to be a new tradition! :)

23. Do you dress up on Christmas or wear PJs? PJ's!!! We dress up Christmas Eve for church and dinner.

24. Do you own a Santa hat? Nope never got one of those.

25. Who do you normally spend Christmas with? Well that is a touchy subject this year. It seems harder and harder to reach everyone and now that we have Palmer we want to be able to start some of our own traditions as well. We are going to head to Owensboro the 23rd and morning of the 24th and then come back for Christmas Eve service and dinner at our house with my family and Christmas morning with Palmer!

Hope you enjoyed my Christmas History! Everyone have a great weekend!

GREAT NEWS!

So, I went for my LONG Dr's appt yesterday and it was fabulous! I started off by drinking the ever sugary glucose drink. I am a pro at chugging fluids so that didn't pose a real problem, it kinds of tastes like a Sunkist with a lot of sugar :)!

After I drank it I got to lay down for my ultrasound with Kathy. Kathy is great and her and I have gotten to know each other over these last 7 months :) I too have become a pro at reading the ultrasound monitor and knowing what all the measurements mean and I even know every body part that she has to measure and it is like a game cause she quizzes me and I answer :) So she started with the head and it was measuring right on!!! Given the history of Palmer and Miss Ann Mason what happens generally is that I measure a lot smaller than the week I am on, so when the measurements are close everyone is ecstatic!

It got better from there and Ann Mason measured terrific in all areas! She is already 2 pds 9 oz and is currently in the 31% which is HUGE for my babies :) I was such a proud mommy, she is doing so good in there! Kathy is awesome and will take the time to let me see her face and also switch the monitor over to 4D so this appointment was truly unbelievable cause I got to see Ann Mason in all of her glory! She is turned around so her head is up by my ribs and she had one leg over her head and one leg down by my cervix, can we say gymnast? :0 She was opening and closing her eyes and mouth and even gave mommy a smile! I swear, Kathy saw it too! Her heart rate was perfect at 158 which Kathy said was a very girly heart rate! :) What amazed me the most was how much she looked like a thriving baby and to top it off she looked just like her bubby! I saw Palmer in her face immediately! It was one of the most exhilarating experiences that I have had thus far!

So here is Ms. Ann Mason herself at almost 29 weeks.


Here is her precious little face! I just want to kiss her lips!

Here is the little gymnast herself! If you can see
she has her leg up and her foot is by her head
and her elbow is touching her knee!


Here she is again all curled up and looking cozy!

It was a great appointment and Dr Walsh was so attentive as always! We talked about some dates for delivery and she said that right now we would stick with Feb 23rd but there were a lot of indicators that could make me go earlier such as low fluid or blood pressure so she said I should anticipate anywhere from Feb 9th to the 23rd!!! It seems so close! I can't wait to meet my sweet girl! I pray that she continues to thrive inside until she is ready!

SOOOO GIRLICIOUS!

So, my blog friend Melissa from http://melbelleart.blogspot.com/ sent me a picture of the final canvas for Ann Mason's room and I must say that I am in LOVE with it! It is so pretty, pink and just plain girly! It was better than I had imagined in my head! I totally recommend her for any nursery decor or gift that you can think of!




On a side note last night was the infamous Harmony Landing Christmas Party for Tex's work. It is usually a total bust but this year they spiced it up and Santa himself made a personal appearance and had a hand wrapped present for each child there! Palmer scored a bulldozer with legos. You can't get much better than that at 18 months old!!!

The greatest thing of the night was something that Tex's boss said to me. It was so inspiring to me for some reason! We all know that Palmer is a true boy and while he is so sweet natured his little body doesn't stop moving all day long. The Christmas party was no exception and I spent most of my time running around the clubhouse watching him explore each room! Tex's boss and his wife made a comment that he is a brave little boy cause he has absolutely no fear! :) In which I replied, "Yes, there are times we wish he used a little more caution"

Jay's response to me.....
"It is much easier to teach a person caution than it is to teach a person confidence!"
And he said Palmer sure has the gift of confidence :) That quote just resonated with me so much and it was nice to see Palmer's rambunctious nature in a softer light defined as confidence :) We can hopefully get the caution part down one of these days!

I want my mind and body back!

So, while being pregnant is definitely a miracle and I do enjoy it 90% of the time, I have to say I am slowly inching toward the point of wanting my mind and body back :)

I had full intention of hitting up the Kroger Salad Bar today for a healthy, delicious salad! Before I knew it my mini van was pulling into McDonalds and ordering a #3! Darn it! I have no control anymore :)

Ann Mason loves sweets and fast food, little does she know what it is doing to her mommy's back side! I feel like I am pregnant out of both ends!!!

I go for my gestational diabetes test, ultrasound and dr visit on Wed so I should be at the dr office for a good 3 hours! I will hopefully post some ultrasound pics as I will be having a weekly ultrasound from now until she arrives!