2 Year Wellness Check

June was checked off today as a healthy little two year old. Here is her update on the start of year 2 

     

UPDATE: JUNE AT AGE 2 

WEIGHT: 21lb 3oz (below the 3rd percentile)

HEIGHT: 33.3 in (35th percentile)

HEAD CIRC. 48.9 in (84th percentile)

We have an itty bitty little thing on our hands still, with a pretty good sized head. She has always been our small little thing, and who knows if that will change. 

She wears 12mo pants, which are still a little big on her and depending on the brand between 12-18mo shirts. Any 24mo clothes drown her. But being a girl and small was never a bad thing! 

June is a meek and mild, and well mannered little girl. No really though, she is. I'm not trying to be smug, and I honestly do not give myself all the credit. Her little personality is just so dainty and happiness. She loves to be close to her mommy and daddy, but she is starting to venture out a little more and more on her own. 

She obviously has her moments. Trust me. Terrible Twos is not a term that should be taken lightly, and it is a difficult age, I know we are pretty lucky to not have to bad of an attitude... not yet anyways, KNOCK ON WOOD! 

THINGS ABOUT JUNE AT 2:

• June love's to be outside. We usually have our afternoon snack outside, and we are loving this cooler weather! It's nice to be able to stay outside much longer than we could before, without hopping into the pool. 

• June potty trained at 23 months. She was ready and was not rushed into it at all. She has taken to it very well and still is going strong. Our pediatrician told us that with baby #2 coming, that June could experience some regression and to not worry to much if she has more frequent accidents. 

• June is sleeping in her big girl bed and didn't miss a beat switching over. We thought  we would have some issues, but she has continued to sleep through the night, and take naps just fine. She did get out of bed one time and locked the door.. (HEART ATTACK) but thankfully our doors are really easy to break into, so it wasn't too big of a deal after all. She hasn't done it since, so we don't really know where it came from.  We ran into a little trouble with June wanting Daddy to lay by her and read non-stop stories at night, so that was a little tough to break, even harder for Dan. He loves laying by her. 

• She asks for water a hundred times at night before she will lay down and go to sleep. We learned very quickly to have a glass of water sitting by her bed, so she doesn't have an excuse to get out and go to the kitchen. She is pretty clever when it comes to finding ways to stay up just a little bit later. 

• Her mobility struggles a bit at times. She isn't so quick on her feet. She isn't running like crazy all over the place, and she falls down all the time. We have a goose egg probably once a week. She is still just figuring out how fast her little legs can go, and sometimes she wants them to go faster than they will. They will catch up eventually, but in the mean time we just keep kissing lots of scrapes and bumps. 

• Her fine motor skills are fantastic. She is very dainty when it comes to art projects and handles small little objects and toys very well. She plays very well with small toys like her La La Loopsie Dolls and all the small accessories that come with them. 

• June is a bit of a picky eater. She does pretty well with fruits, but vegi's are a different story. We have to be a little more sneaky when it comes to the green stuff! She feeds herself 100%. She does really well with it, except for oatmeal. For some reason we have oatmeal everywhere when she eats it. She really loves it and loves it mixed with fruit, but it drives me a little crazy to let her get it all in her hair and in her lap. She does great though, and I just clean extra good on the days we have oatmeal. She has a bit of a crazy mother. 

• Bath time is getting much more enjoyable for everyone! She used to hate baths and now she is enjoying them more and more. She is getting past the whole screaming phase when we wash her hair and she actually spends time in there playing and teasing Ranger with her toys. 

• June and Ranger really are becoming better friends. June love's chasing him around with his toys, and laughs hysterically when Ranger chases her. It's becoming both their favorite game. 

• June brushes her own teeth, and then mom and dad get to do a  "Sugar bug" check after she is finished.  Just to get all that extra bad out. 

• She loves to comb her hair and other's hair. Combing Sally's hair is a very frequent thing we do. Sally usually ends up with a tangled ball of hair, but June loves it and I found a great recipe on Pinterest that helps detangle doll hair. 

• She knows the color yellow VERY well, and is starting to catch on to purple, green, red and blue. She has a hard time with orange. 

• Her speech has been progressing very rapidly these past couple months. She makes 3 to 4 word sentences and comprehends most things that she is being asked. She says Thank you a lot, and even sometimes without being prompted. She is really good at her ABC's and sings along great, singing letters all by herself. It melts my heart. I make her sing songs all the time, because she sings specific parts by herself and it makes me laugh so hard at listening to her little voice, trying to carry a tune. Ah she is my favorite. 

• June knows her shapes and animal sounds like a pro, and likes to share what each animal has to say, each time she sees them. We mostly see ducks around our neighborhood, so we are really good at quacking! 

• June is a very big help around the house. She has her little chores that she does every morning. She feeds Ranger (all by herself) She helps mom unload the dishwasher, and makes her bed in the morning. We attempt to make it fun, so it isn't so much "Chores" as it is activities. I just like her learning the responsibility part of it. YES, I know she is only two, but you have to start somewhere right?! 

HER FAVORITE ACTIVITIES: 

• June loves stringing beads onto string. Any kind of bead she finds, anywhere, she has to find a string to put it on, or she will hold it in her hand all day. One time, she even ate lunch and took a nap, still holding on to the bead we had found. It's a fun thing she just loves to do. Our poor vacuum sucks up more beads than I think is good for it. It always smells like burning.... 

        

• Any time daddy is around is a favorite activity, but throwing rocks into water is the icing on the cake. She LOVE'S rocks, and then finding some sort of water to throw them into. Thank goodness for our pool gate, because all our little landscaping pebbles would probably be at the bottom of our pool. The pond by our house gets daily visits to throw rocks into. 

• She can never have enough I-pad time. I try my hardest to be strict on how much I-pad time she has each day. She plays puzzle games on there and matching, so thankfully it's not just all TV shows. I asked Dr. Tomecko about it today, and she said as long as it doesn't exceed 2 hours or more a day, than her brain will not rot. We haven't reached that limit yet, so hopefully that's a path we won't fall into. HEAVENS NO, am I against I-pads, or I-pods, or any electronic. I do think they are very powerful learning tools, and am so grateful June know's how to work them! I just think too much of something is never a good thing.... Really though, we have plenty of TV or I-pad time. I'm not crazy people!! 

• June loves to color and play with stickers. We draw pictures all day. Our fridge covered in her art work is proof of that. I'm addicted to buying her stickers whenever I can find them cheap! We have a dollar store right down the road from us, so we usually hit them up about once a week. We find stickers all over the house, and in places that we never thought stickers could go. But we just can't help but laugh. Ranger doesn't find it too funny when they are stuck all over his back, and hates it even more when we have to peel them off! Poor puppy. 

• June didn't take to the park at first. In fact it took all I had just to get her to move from my side to go play, but as she has gotten older these past few months, she has gotten braver and will go and play by herself, and very cautiously with other kids. She really doesn't like other kids invading her space, and will always back off if they try to do something she is doing.... I sometimes just want to teach her to push back, and say "Hey I was doing this first".... But I don't, and I keep my meanness to myself. I know the other kids are just playing. So we are slowly learning to play better with others. 

• She goes straight to the slides when we go to the park. She goes up and down the slide pretty much the whole time. She will even go down the big swirly slide, and the longer slides, that a few months ago I couldn't even get her to go near. She still hates the swings. I don't know where her fear of them came from, but she wants nothing to do with them. She likes to go and push the big kid swings, but does not want to get on them. Not even with me or her daddy. She prefers to stick to the slides. 

June never seizes to amaze me with all the different things she learns everyday. Everyday it's a new word, a new focus on a toy, or learning what a new object can do. It's too hard to write down all the little things that make her... her. She really is such a good little girl. We are excited to see what this next year will bring, and what she will bring into our life. I am nervous, excited and anxious to see how she handles a baby brother.... Only time will tell. 

2 year old June. 

Her Weekend Birthday

Her birthday. With all the changes that are about to be taking place at our house, we decided to make June's 2nd birthday a weekend for just us three. We wanted to make June the complete focus of the weekend and to celebrate her turning two. 

     We didn't do a birthday party this year, simply because we couldn't really plan one. I am due any day now, and we didn't want to plan a birthday party and have to cancel. Trust me I felt awful about it all week! How could I not throw my little 2 year old a birthday party, but it just couldn't be done, being so close to having June's little brother. 

     It ended up being such a fun weekend. It was just us three and exactly what we needed to make June feel extra special on the last weekend of being a family of three. All I want to do is make this little girl feel special about herself, and know how much she is loved. I pray everyday that she will never feel neglected or forgotten about, because of her younger siblings. It kills me to ever think that June would ever feel that way... That is my biggest scare. So June's 2nd birthday was a much needed weekend of no distractions, but of just our family. 

     June's birthday landed on a Sunday this year. Sunday birthday's are always a little tougher, because you really are limited with how much celebrating you can do. But it all worked out fantastically, because we got the whole weekend to celebrate. We started on Saturday morning first thing. 

The night before, Dan and I (Mostly Dan) built June a little desk and chair. We snuck it in her room and filled it with coloring books and crayons for her to wake up to in the morning. We were so giddy for her to wake up and see it. June love's to draw and color, so we thought that this would be a fun little thing to have in her room. We were going to wait until her actual birthday, but the excitement got to us and we had to let her have it on Saturday. 

She love's it and we now are drawing all the time! Not that, that has changed all that much, since we draw all the time anyway, but now she has a designated place to keep all her coloring supplies and pictures.  

June loves, absolutely LOVES, when daddy lays next to her and reads her stories in bed. She would stay in there all day with him, just reading stories and watching movies. Whenever he comes into her room, she gets all giddy, runs to her bed and says "Sit daddy, we read books" It never gets old to hear that! 

We got ready for the day and headed out! We did have to make our weekly stop to Costco to pick up a few things, but June loves riding in the cart and eating all the free samples, so her special day wasn't to ruined from going grocery shopping! 

We had to grab some cupcakes from our favorite place up at the mall, so June played in the play place and then we went and had lunch in the food court. 

After getting home, and getting calmed down, June took a good nap, while Dan and I did a few odds and ends around the house. Being our last Saturday before baby comes, we figured we better take advantage of every minute we have to get things checked off the list. June's nap time was that opportune moment! 

As soon as June was awake, we headed over to grapevine and went to Build-A-Bear. It was so much fun to watch her pick out what animal she wanted, and watch her excitement with each step, putting that bear together. 

Giving it a heart and sealing it with a kiss

Grooming station

She ended up picking out a white polar bear and she named her 'Apples'. She named it all by herself. It was pretty funny, and she was dead set on naming it that! We bought it a little pink dress and got it a birth certificate. It was totally legit and super funny to watch June get so excited. Now Apples does not leave her side! 

We then took her to "Rain Forest Cafe" for her birthday dinner. We took her here for her first birthday and she didn't quite get it, but this year was a whole different story. 

She was yelling like all the animals, banging her chest like the gorillas and screeching like the Monkeys. She had a hard time eating dinner because she was so distracted with what was going on all around her. She loved it and I loved watching her. 

She crashed pretty hard that night.

Sunday her actual birthday:

Dan usually has meetings every Sunday for church, but he managed to get out of them so we could have the morning as a family. His meetings usually take up most of the time we have before church, so it was nice to have him home. 

Since it was her birthday, we let her eat her breakfast in the living room, while watching Mickey Mouse! THIS NEVER HAPPENS, especially on Sundays. TV time is usually a very specific time that we really monitor so she doesn't waste her life in front of it or on the i-pad. But we made an exception, and she was in heaven. She wanted to do it again this morning, but I DO NOT want that to become a habit! So we were back to our booster at the table. 

After breakfast we walked down to her favorite spot, down on the green belt. There is a little island that is full of little pebbles and sticks and she loves to throw them into the water. It's kind of becoming a Sunday tradition to walk down there, since it is so close to our house! 

We all got ready for Church and headed out the door. Church was good as usual, but it was extra fun for June! She got to be the special birthday girl in Nursery, and lot's of her little friends were there to sing to her.

When we got home, June and Daddy went and played in her room for a while, until I could get everything ready for dinner. June's favorite food, is breakfast foods, like eggs, and pancakes or waffles, and fruit. So of course that is what we had for her birthday dinner.

She even helped daddy flip the pancakes 

She was ready! 

After our great breakfast for dinner feast, we sang "Happy Birthday" and let June blow out the candles. She was really good at blowing them out! I was really impressed! 

Later that night, once we got all cleaned up, we opened birthday gifts. She got TinkerBell Figurines from Grandma and Grandpa Lancaster, which obviously were a HUGE hit! We all know her addiction to TinkerBell so this was just the icing on the cake! They are adorable and she loves them! 

She got a few more things from us, like clothes and a few more toys and fun things to play with. She had so much fun tearing open all the wrapping paper and pulling out her gifts. It made me beyond excited for Christmas. Let's just hope she will leave them wrapped under the tree!! 

By this point we were all exhausted. Sundays are tough, because our church time is right in the middle of her nap, so she doesn't get one on Sundays. With all the sugar and extra excitement the little lady was completely worn out, along with her very pregnant mother! 

I can't believe that she is two. This past year flew within a blink of an eye. I can't believe how much I love her and how happy I am that we got to celebrate her life and happiness that she brings into our lives! It was a very fun and a special birthday. One that I know I will never forget. 

She's Two

                 

Dear June, 

     A two year old! Where has the last year gone?!? I definitiely think that this second year has gone by way faster than the first year did! Sweetheart, mommy always has a hard time writing these letters to you, simply because there is just to much to say and not enough words to actually express how much I love you. This year, is particularly hard.

      Baby brother is coming in just a few days, and I don't know how to prepare you for this. I am so glad that your daddy and me were able to have a special birthday weekend with you, just as a last little outing as a family of three. I really hope that you understand that you will always have a very special place in my heart. You were my first. You are what made me a mother. I learn from you every single day, and your siblings are so lucky that they have you as an example. As an older sister to guide them and lead them down the right path, and probably the wrong a few times here and there. 

     I hope that this birthday was a little bit more special just being us three. We won't have those moments very often anymore, though I hope we still make time for special little outings... Daddy cannot wait to take you on daddy daughter dates. You are his bud, his little side kick, and he loves you with everything that he has. 

     June, you are so full of wonder and happiness. You do things at your own pace, and don't seem to mind if it's slow or fast. You are such a sweet spirit. You really do find happiness in everything. You are so excited to learn new things and discover the world around you. You are meek and mild, but you definitiely have your crazy moments too. People love you for being so sweet and already considerate. You are such a big helper around the house, and you always want to help me with whatever chore I am doing, and you pick up your toys without throwing a huge fit. You love to clean, which I am super grateful for. That is a trait that I hope you maintain, to keep an orderly home as you grow up! Trust me, your husband will appreciate it one day! 

     You are a little sassy with me, but want nothing more than to please your daddy. No is a word you do not enjoy hearing and when I tell you, you can't do something you say "Go away mommy". I'm pretty sure you have never said that to your dad. 

You know when you have pushed your limits too far, and you know exactly how to get out of it, by giving me a giant hug and saying "I'm sorry mommy" and seal it with a kiss. You are very aware of other's emotions, and say sorry,even when you have done nothing wrong. I'm not really sure where you learned that from, but somewhere you picked it up, and you now use it when you feel someone is sad or angry with you. It just kills my heart when you get in trouble and run up to me saying sorry mommy. How do I stay angry at that face?!

I can't help but watch you play, as your imagination has exploded these past few months. Your mannerisms are so much different now when you play with toys. You create games with your toys, and you actually play with them like they are real, instead of just throwing them around. You are finding more and more creative ways to play with your toys around the house. 

     June I can go on and on of all the things that make you the perfect June, but I will save that for your two year update. 

I just wanted to write you a note, to let you know that this past year has been the best yet, and I know that they are just going to keep getting better and better. You are my world. You are still my absolute favorite little girl and I cannot wait for what next year's adventures will bring for us. Life is about to change so much, but I know that we can do it together and you really are my best friend. 

      We are so lucky to be your parents. Beyond Lucky. I like to pretend that we are just really good parents, but we know that everything you are is because that's just who you are. We could not have asked for a better first child. You are so good and just so much fun to be around. Thank you for making our job a lot easier! 

Ju Ju's, HAPPY 2nd BIRTHDAY!! 

We love you more than words can ever say. 

Love, Mom 

Baby Boy's Baby Shower

*Note: my phone was being super weird, so my pictures are lacking a little bit. Sorry about that! 

Baby Boy's Baby shower was amazing! I really am so grateful for such incredible friends who would do all of this for me!  I was a little worried at first, having a baby shower for my second child. Not because I love him any less, but it is my second... I had all the hoots and hollers with my first, so I wasn't exactly sure about the whole idea. But my friend Alison was pretty persistent and I am so glad she was, because it truly was so much fun having a baby shower for the little guy. It really did make me realize how much we didn't have until that day!

The Theme was mustache and bow ties! 

Alison made this fondant cake, for baby boy's 0 birthday cake. 

The delicious spread of food! 

These women are very talented in the kitchen. Everything was so good! I went back for seconds and thirds and continued to keep going until there was hardly anything left! 

We played games and of course I ruined one of them. Before everyone arrived, I was asked to put some M&M's on the food table that were in a glass jar. I totally thought they were apart of the food, and so I just kept popping them in my mouth.... Well as soon as we started playing games, They say we are supposed to guess how many M&M's were in that Jar! I just laughed and said I totally ate some of those... more than some! hahaha we all had a good laugh about it. 

Gift opening

One of my friends gifts also included something for June. It made me cry. I'm not sure if it was just the thought that they put into it, thinking of June or just knowing it really isn't going to be just her anymore. It was just so adorable that they (Nicole) thought about her, even through all the attention of baby boy. It was  heart warming!

We got hooked up with awesome stuff! It was so much fun to go home and go through it all with Dan again, and to really see what we got! He was spoiled for sure, and again I am so grateful for all the generosity and kindness that these ladies showed to my little boy! I seriously love them all! 

 Some of those fabulous ladies! 

And more of those fabulous ladies! 

(The banner behind us is the colors of his nursery. Alison made it to go in his room. LOVE!!)

Alison, (The greatest host ever!) and Me 

I don't even know how to thank everyone for such a fun special day. I know that  a lot of friends brought food, and planned games, and spoiled the little mister! I am so glad that I was able to have a shower to celebrate his life! I really am so grateful that I have friends who are my family. I don't think I would survive being away from my real family, if it weren't for them!

It was such a fun day!
Thanks again ladies!! XOXO

Update at 38 Weeks Prego!

Holy Smokes 38 weeks. This was the last belly picture I took of June's pregnancy and the last update I did. I'm not sure if this will be my last update or not with this pregnancy. I guess we will see if anything exciting happens in the next week and a half! Either way it's time to be done being pregnant. 

I very much enjoy pregnancy, up until this point. I would totally take the first few months of pregnancy... maybe because I have easy pregnancies, but still...  It just kind of gets old, peeing every 5 seconds, not being able to bend over, using every ounce of energy I have during the day, and then not being able to sleep at night, peeing in cups at the Doctors office, and so on and so forth with my complaints. The last month for me is a struggle. I'm huge, I waddle and I am beyond ready for this baby to come! 

We had a Doctor's appointment yesterday and you better believe I peed in a cup for the hundredth time! 

It was a fun appointment though! We had a sonogram, which most likely means we won't see the little guy until he is wrapped up in my arms! Dan was able to come, and we set a date to be induced! Good appointment. 

If I don't go into labor before, I will be induced on the 24th of October. My Doc still isn't sure if I will go in the night before or early that morning. My parents have booked their flights for the 23rd and will get here mid afternoon, so if everything goes according to plan, my parents will watch June until we get home from the hospital and then stay a few more extra days, because I need them here and I want them here. Who better to make me feel better about leaving June, than leaving her with Nana and Papa! Praying everything just works out that way! 

So I wore the same sweater, the same week and to the same appointment as I did with June almost exactly two years ago. I didn't see it before, but I was a little chunk when I was pregnant with June. I mean look at those cheeks! Marshmallow man! I do think I took better care of my body this pregnancy, and realized that Just because I'm pregnant doesn't mean I can eat everything in sight and not exercise. hahaha!! Just look at my face! OH MAN!! 

Ok, now update time: 

                                         UPDATE: ME 

FAR ALONG AND MEASUREMENTS: I am now 38 weeks and 1 day pregnant. I'm not really sure what due date to go by anymore, but following my app I am that far along. Weighed in at the doc's office yesterday and didn't gain any weight. In fact I lost some. Woot Woot. I mean like 2 ounces, but still! My goal has always been to not get as heavy as I did with June. So here it is, with June my complete end weight was 164!! I KNOW RIGHT! It's obvious just by the look on the face! hahaha. I know, I know, I shouldn't care about weight while pregnant, but I do, because soon I won't be pregnant anymore and then the work sets in to get back to pre-pregnancy weight. Thankfully I did just that with June, and I am not close at all to weighing that much this pregnancy, but I still have 2 weeks to go, so we will see. Don't worry I will let you know if I reach that number! 

EMOTIONS: I'm just a little cranky these days, and to complete strangers. I'm really really tired of the stupid same joke over and over again, about how we should name our son August because our daughters name is June. We did not name our daughter after the month. Yes, it is a month, but holy crap people just get over it! Name your own son August! So ya, I'm on edge just a little bit. 

CRAVINGS: Just my usual, cereal. I've gone through about two boxes in a week of Honey Bunches of oats. Wash it down with Cran-Pomegranat juice and I am a happy girl. I eat that constantly. One weird craving is Banana's. I never liked banana's before, but lately I have been loving them. We buy banana's all the time, but we had to stop giving them to June because of some problems in the tummy region... That's a whole other post on it's own, but anyways, I ate them so they wouldn't go bad, and discovered how much I love them. I have been downing them! Delicious! 

LOVE MOST: How everything is starting to come together. We are so close to getting the nursery done. We hung up a bunch of stuff last night. All his little clothes and everything that we have up to this point is washed, and I can finally start taking deep breaths and actually be ok with this little man coming any time! Well preferably the 24th. 

SCARED ABOUT: Not really scared, more just concerned that my right rib might be broken. June was not a kicker, or a pusher in the stomach. In fact I was always concerned because of the lack of movement from her, but this little boy is a fighter. My right side rib cage is taking a brutal beating. When we got a sonogram yesterday, I asked what body part was up there, and it was his little foot, just jabbing away at my side. Not just a discomfort pain, I mean I can't speak for a minute, because he kicks me so hard. It's so sensitive, that when the ultra sound tech was scanning that part of my stomach, I winced because it hurts so bad. It could be bruised from me pushing so hard on it just to get him to move! SO PAINFUL! 

UPDATE: BABY BOY

FAR ALONG AND MEASUREMENTS: He just keeps on growing and growing! He is going to be a good sized kid when he comes out. He, right now, is measuring at 7 lbs and 2 ounces. He now is measuring about a week ahead of schedule, which is why my Dr. is willing to induce me before my original due date. Everything looks good according to the ultra sound, and his heart is beating in the 140 range. I always love seeing their little heart beating. His spine looks good, and it was all smiles from the ultra sound tech, so I take that as a good sign that he is staying healthy.

NAME: We have narrowed it down to two names! GO US GO! Major progress from where we were last time. The name I really liked was a swing and a miss, but we have moved on to bigger and better names. Either one he can grow up with and not be made fun of as a kid or as an adult. That is what we are looking for. So we have two and we probably won't make the decision until he is born.

RANDOM THINGS: It's a topic that I am not quite sure what to do about. Neither Dan nor I can really come up with the decision... Circumcision... Here is the situation. Would you ever even think twice to not circumcise your son, probably not. But my thought is, why do an unnecessary, painful, cosmetic surgery for what exactly?!? You tell me. We really don't know what to do here. It's a topic I can only research so much, before we just need to make our personal choice. There are pro's and con's to both sides, and I don't want to just be a parent that sticks with what every other parent is doing. I want to know facts, and really see if it's necessary.  We will see how that goes, I guess in a couple weeks.

Ah, and here is a creepy looking ultra sound pic of my already beautiful baby boy. haha. It's his face if you can't tell. Ultra Sound pictures will always be creepy to me, no matter what the child.