Update after my doctor appointment

Yesterday afternoon I went to the doctor for my 24 week checkup.  Casen's heart rate was perfect at 150. She was glad that everything went smoothly with my trip.  And blood pressure was still good. 

Not surprisingly when she measured my bump I am measuring 4 weeks ahead.  Measuring 28 weeks instead of just 24.  She said a lot of women measure big at that time of day because it is right after lunch (and I had eaten a big lunch at a catered meeting just before the appointment).  I also told her that this is when I hit my growth spurt with Cooper as well and gained quite a bit of weight.

If I measure big at the next appointment then she will schedule a sonogram to check on the baby's size and growth.  I doubt that I will end up getting a sono.  I think things will even out in the next 4 weeks, but I wouldn't mind seeing my sweet boy again!

I do plan to be a little more careful about what I eat because I am one of those prego women that eats whatever I want.  I don't go crazy, but I definitely let myself indulge.  Just ask Kyle and Cooper if the Nestle Valentine's cookies are yummy! We may have tried them out yesterday!

So for all of you that are wondering and didn't get a text or read my facebook...there is your update! : )

24 Weeks!

How Far Along: 24 weeks

Size of baby: Baby C is the size of an ear of corn (8.5 inches and about 1.5 pounds in weight)

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 12.3 pounds which is about where I was with Cooper...so much for avoiding the 40 pounds I gained with Coop!

Maternity Clothes: Yes

Gender: Sweet boy Casen Andrew!

Movement: Lots of movement and I love it!

Sleep: Fine.

Cravings: Last week I bought Chili Cheese Fritos! Cooper and I loved snacking on those! I also bought Blue bell creme pops (popsicle with ice cream in the middle) Yummy! Also last week I got a free lunch from a place near work that was yummy! Not sure if it was so yummy because it was free or what but I have been thinking about it since!

Symptoms: BHs is all I can think of right now.  But I am fighting a sinus infection that gave me a headache all weekend.

Best Moment this week: I loved sharing Casen's name with everyone and all of the positive responses.  I have so much to do before Casen's arrival, but I can't wait to hold my sweet boy and see Cooper as a big brother.

Hardest Moment this week: Dealing with my sinus issues and Cooper's ear infection. I am so glad he is sleeping well again!


I have my 24 week dr appt this afternoon!

House Hunting

Kyle and I are strongly considering moving.  We bought our house 4 1/2 years and knew that it was our 'starter home'.  It is a 3 bedroom house that we had built and I love it.  However the kids rooms are small and with welcoming Casen in a few months it is toughing switching things around.  Plus we have VERY little storage.  The only walk-in closet is in our master, our attic is small due to the high ceilings, and a jeep takes up half of our garage. I have become good at hiding finding a place for things and to be honest our 3rd bedroom is a disaster/catch-all/guest room.

Kyle has always wanted to live on a acre+ and has recently become interested in being a horse owner.  This is a whole other post because there is a lot of work, money, and consideration into being a horse owner, but whatever.  I am sharing that with you because that idea influences the properties we are looking at.

Sunday we saw a house that was obviously not for us.  We liked it by the MLS description and pictures, but after seeing it in person we both knew it was a no!

Last night we saw a house near the area we live in now that is on an acre, has 4 bedrooms plus a bonus room upstairs, allows horses, and we liked the listing.  Here is my run down of the pros and cons if you care!

Pros

• The house is adorable from the outside.  Exactly what I am looking for.
• It already has a fence around the acre and a cross-fence (new term I learned from Kyle that means a smaller area fenced off for dogs, kids, pool, etc)
• The interior of the house is painted different colors in various rooms and I actually like the colors they chose so that is fine with me.  When house hunting for #1 so many people painted crazy colors and it was a major turn off for us!
• I loved the kitchen granite, cabinets, and the big island!
• The kids rooms were a good size and had small walk-in closets.
• There is a room up front for an office/playroom.
• There is a bonus room upstairs with a half bath that would be perfect for storage/guest room.
• The master closet was a little small but I thought the flooring and shower were very nice!
• I liked the overall layout of the house and Kyle liked it too.
• It is close to Cooper's day-care so the boys could continue going there.
• Still close to our good friends, the Funderburks.

Cons

• It does not have a building for the horse supplies and to get out of the weather.
• It is "only" an acre and Kyle questions if that is enough for a horse.
• As much as we love Cooper's day-care we know they won't be there forever and teachers can come and go so we don't want to rely heavily on the day-care. But I don't even want to think about leaving those amazing teachers!!
• The location isn't any closer to my parents or Kyle's.  It is a wash.

Overall I really liked the house we saw last night.  The realtor we met with was great and very helpful.  The couple that owns the house is anxious to sell and get out so we know there is some room to negotiate.  If we were confident on staying in that area I definitely think we would move forward with things (we need to sell our house).

But as much as I love the area and Cooper's day-care ideally we would move to the southeast side of Fort Worth where we are closer to my parents and only 5-10 minutes further from Kyle's parents, if that.  Unfortunately that area is booming right now and pricey.


We are seeing another house tonight that is on 14 acres, has a pond, a building, a fence, and all kinds of other things that Kyle is excited about.  Based on the pictures of the house it is hard for me to figure out what I think.  A lot of the pictures are dark and limited on what they show.  I am anxious to see it in person.  The outside look of the house is more what Kyle likes (a ranch/country house) versus what I like (the house we saw last night, brick/stone). 

The good thing about last night's showing was that we got a lot of questions answered and really liked the realtor.  We are considering using him to look for more houses from us because he is originally from southeast Fort Worth and familiar with the area we are interested in.  I guess we will see how things go.

We have a lot of work to do. 

• If/when to put our house on the market. 
• Look into financing.
• Clean our house in order for pictures to be taken and other prep if we put it on the market.
• Continue to house hunt.
• Continue to save money for all of the expenses.
• All along with a million other things going on in our lives especially prepping for Casen's arrival!

January's motto was 'just survive'.  Any suggestions on February's motto?

The Name Is.....

Our baby boy #2 will be Casen Andrew Cline

The story behind the name-

Casen was the boy name that Kyle and I both loved after we got married.  Kyle suggested the name 'Case like a case of beer' and I said how about Casen?  I liked the sound of Casen better with our last name.  We chose this spelling so that it can be abbreviated to Case if we/he prefers.  Other spellings are Cason, Cayson, Kayson, and many other variations.

When we got pregnant with Cooper we decided that we still liked Casen but it wasn't the name for our boy.  Since then it has always been on our list for future little Cline boys!

We also considered Carter, Camden, and Cole for baby boy #2.


The middle name is after my paternal grandfather and great-grandfather.  I like traditional middle names and for the middle name to be a family name.  Andrew was the perfect easy choice.  I had it picked out before we knew the first name.

We think this will be the perfect name for our sweet boy! I can't wait for him to be here in 4 short months!!


Here are some outtakes of big brother trying to be still long enough for a picture.  These are the good ones. I didn't capture him wrinkling the paper, accidentally drooling on it, and thinking it was fun to hold until I said 'look at mommy' and pushing it away!  Finally candy did the trick which explain the bulge in his mouth for these pictures. Yep I am THAT mom!

23 Weeks Along!

I took these pictures last night during Cooper's bath.  I took the second one first but realized I am facing a different direction than normal.  So you get two!

I feel huge this time but checkout this post of Cooper at 23 weeks and I look the same size if not a little bigger!

How Far Along: 23 weeks

Size of baby: Baby C is the size of a papaya (8 inches and about 1.2 pounds in weight)  My weekly email says week 23 is when the baby starts to put weight on faster as well as the mommy...see below!

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 10.7 pounds according to the scale this morning! That is 5 pounds gained in 3 weeks! Oops!

Maternity Clothes: Yes and I have a feeling I will get tired of them quickly!

Gender: We are having another sweet boy and his name will be announced tonight to family and tomorrow on the blog!  Kyle and I decided for sure yesterday and can't wait to share with you all!

Movement: This boy is a mover and a shaker! Kyle felt him move on Saturday when I got back from Argentina and Cooper has tried to feel him several time but not luck yet. 

Sleep: okay.  Just the normal flipping from side to side.

Cravings: patio burritos (yes the ones that are like 75 cents at the grocery store.  I have talked about them on my blog before), chips and salsa, sweet tea, chickfila, Chipotle.  I fulfilled several of those this weekend and Chipotle is on my list for this week!

Symptoms: I felt a lot of BHs contractions on Friday.  Made me a little nervous to get on my flight that night but nothing was stopping me from getting home to my boys!  Other than the BHs I can't think of much else.  I am enjoying this part of my pregnancy because I have energy and not uncomfortable yet.

Best Moment this week: We have decided on a name and I can't wait to share. I am trying to find a cute way to announce it tonight with Cooper.  I didn't have time last night because Cooper was in bed.  And I love hearing Cooper say the name.

This weekend Cooper loved touching my belly and checking on the baby.  In fact this morning he woke up early and laid in bed with me for a few minutes.  He put his hand on my tummy and just left it there.  Of course his stubborn brother wasn't in the mood to play yet, but it was the sweetest thing.  (Now baby boy is dancing all around my tummy!)

And the VERY best moment was being reunited with Kyle and Cooper.  Cooper was so sweet and couldn't get enough attention this weekend.  He is so stinking sweet and cute and I missed him so much.  Kyle did an amazing job while I was gone and I was so happy to see him as well.  We had a wonderful weekend as a family and I am reminded of why and how much I love Kyle.

Hardest Moment this week: Was waiting to get home to my boys but we all survived and I am home!! Glad that trip is behind me!

Christmas with the Cline side

I have a lot of catching up to do!

Here are pictures from our Christmas with Kyle's family

Reading with Uncle Ron a day or two before Christmas

During the day on Christmas Eve we went to visit Kyle's great-grandmother who is 101! She loved seeing Cooper.

Cooper got a lot of fun presents!

I love this picture of my boys in their coordinating shirts.  And Cooper's little butt in those jeans is the cutest thing I have ever seen!

He loved this book from Aunt Shari and Uncle Ron and had a hard time concentrating on anything else!

Trying out his new stool!

I love that it looks like he is posing with me.

Cooper with Aunt Shari

The whole family

The camera was set on a timer and it would blink.  Cooper loved it and we ended up getting great shots of him looking at the camera!

With Nana and Papa (notice he is pointing to the light)

With Mimi, Grandpa, and Uncle Tyler (Uncle Kevin was in Germany)

Our little family (I need to crop this and print it)

Really into opening this present!

Playing in the paper

Sitting at his new table!

Reading with Tiffany which he loved!

He loves his Uncle T

My father-in-law made this awesome sign for Tyler.  I might ask him to make something for Cooper's big boy room!

Playing with Mimi

We put him in his pjs in case he got tired but this boy was happy all night! He didn't crash until the car ride home.

We had a wonderful Christmas and look forward to having two little ones next year!

Scared to go home ...

I have one more night in the hotel and one more night in the air (overnight flight) and I can't wait to get home.  That being said, I got very emotional this morning thinking about my arrival back in Texas.  I worry about Cooper's reaction when he sees me.  Will he know who I am?  Will he run to me?  Will he be confused?

This probably stems from our return from Colorado where he didn't seem to care at all because he was playing and in fact starting acting out and throwing a fit.  Which I hear is common.  We were only gone for 4 nights but I missed him like crazy and had expected a better response to me entering the room.  Maybe a hug, or at least a smile.

I posted my fear this morning on facebook and my cousin said "He will probably run to you smiling while music plays in the background.  Or at least that is what I think based on the movies."    At first this comment made me laugh because I knew exactly what he meant.  And then I realized that is exactly what I want (except I am okay without the music).  I want Cooper to know exactly when he sees me who I am.  I want him to run to me with excitement.  I want him to realize that something has been missing the past two weeks and his mommy is exactly what it was.

I realized I have the reuniting really built up in my head and now I am scared.  I am scared of being disappointed. 

I know I shouldn't expect what happens in the movies but I think I still picture it.  Just like a girl imagines being swept away by prince charming!  Man movies really screw us up, don't they?

I am just ready to be home and feeling emotional (teary-eyed as I write this and would be crying if I wasn't surrounded by 7 other people in the office).  Pregnancy hormones don't help!

Ultimately I know that no matter what the reaction is that he loves me and we will all be back together again. 

But if he could run to me saying mommy with a big grin on his face that would be great : )

48 hours until I see my boys!!