Hello 2nd Trimester!

Hooray! I've made it to the 2nd trimester - today I'm officially 14wks on the dot! I'll gladly wave nausea & fatigue goodbye in the next few weeks, thank goodness. Both of those are for the birds! Baby Lopez is now the size of a lemon (approx 3.5inches) and is quite busy these days...here's what's new in his/her world:

• Baby can squint, frown, grimace & make all kinds of other 'faces' - thanks to brain impulses, his/her facial muscles are getting a workout moving from one expression to the next
  
• Baby's kidneys are producing urine which is released into the amniotic fluid around him/her - a process they'll keep up until birth
  
• Baby can grasp now & has the ability to even suck his/her thumb!

I ventured into the Dr's office for my scheduled 14wk appt - one that I knew was to be uneventful...well, it turned out to be quite the opposite! Once I met with Dr. Duggar, and we went thru the usual list of questions on how I was feeling, he pulled out the doppler to check for the baby's heartbeat. We were able to locate mine no problem...slow & steady. However, we had a hard time locating the baby's - this made me nervous. I listened closely to the static and the hum of my own heartbeat - watching Dr. Duggar's face the whole time to get a 'read' on his reaction to the missing heartbeat. We did get a glimpse of it, but couldn't sustain it. He in his usual jolly manner, simply sat me up & said, 'Well, you must've been praying for this - let's get you an ultrasound to check on that baby!" I wouldn't say I was praying for that - but it was a bonus as it was a no-charge ultrasound! He sent me to the tech & explained we couldn't quite locate a strong enough heartbeat on the doppler & for her (the tech) to check things out & make sure all was well - Dr. Duggar said not to be worried as it's common to not be able to locate the heartbeat sometimes...it's almost as if the baby was playing a game of "hide & go seek" when he moved the doppler. When I realized Dr. D wasn't alarmed, I settled & decided to get excited about the impromptu visit with my sweet baby! Baby Lopez didn't disappoint either - he/she was having fun in there waving & moving their cute little feet! Baby L was laying directly across my tummy so we got some fantastic photos - I was so tickled that I cried! I was just hating that poor Rod was missing it! Since it wasn't a 'major' appt, I told him to not even worry about attending...who would've known!? Baby L even placed his/her hand up by their face (just like Big Sister Sophia did in her u/s sessions) and even began to suck their thumb!! We tried to peek for the sex of the baby to get any sort of inkling, but it was just too soon - as girls can look like boys and boys can look like girls at this stage. Bummer is I'll have to wait another SIX weeks before our big 20wk appt to check all vital organs & determine gender. Major 'sigh'....

What's fun is that I'm really showing now - now I don't just look fat - it's obvious I'm pregnant. If there is ever a 'bad' part in pregnancy, it's the period where you just feel bloated and look like a fat cow. Moo. However, I'm still waiting on the 'glow' to kick in too....any day now would be nice!

Here's our latest photos of Baby Lopez:

Baby L is approx the size of a lemon!

Sucking his/her thumb!

Another side view of baby

Baby L sort of 'waving' - Hello World!

So, today was a fun day for our little family - it was completed by Sophia getting a special trip after school up to Lake Martin with Rod's parents too! They had a wee of a time...and upon returning home to our house, Sophia joined the neighborhood kids playing t-ball in the cul-de-sac! Now off to the kitchen to eat dinner...we're ALL hungry!

Auburn's A-Day 2010

Auburn University A-Day Game 2010

I was able to talk Rod right into taking his two favorite girls to Auburn last Saturday for Auburn's A-Day game...can you believe it? Poor Rod, the 'Bama grad, married a die-hard Auburn fan & grad (not to forget that I also appeared in their national tv spot during my senior year!) who just can't stay away from Auburn football and the town for very long! The weather was supposed to be perfect, but hot. We made plans to meet up with my brother, Jim, and his girlfriend Amber Saturday morning. Can you believe us Lopez's were ready for departure from Montgomery 45mins EARLY? Believe it, because it happened! We all suited up in the orange & blue (minus Rod who opted for blue...it's progress & I'll take it...slow & steady wins the race ;-) ). Sophia & I happily chatted & chanted "War Eagle" while shaking our shakers in the car & Rod navigated to Jim's house. Upon arrival, Sophia wanted to visit with Hemi, Jim's large & in-charge lab/boxer mix (?). He's huge. Jim then showed us his 'man-cave'....I should've taken a photo...it's awesome. Sophia loved all of his cars in there - to my surprise he let her mess with them & drive them everywhere (he's usually very OCD about placement of his 'things')! We all decided on lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings in Tiger Town to avoid the big crowds of downtown Auburn - the service was so-so & took way too long so we missed out on some of the pre-game festivities. Oh well. We were all full & happy & ready to go to the game. Bummer is when we finally got to the game the stadium was packed to the gills & not a seat was available in the shade - the temp was 90+ with humidity & it was 1pm...brutal. Luckily, we were able to go to the east end of the stadium (across from the student section, but facing west) & we huddled up underneath the smaller scoreboard for a smidgeon of shade. Whew. Poor Jim & Amber stuck it out in the sun for awhile. None of us lasted much past half-time. We were all sweating, tired & ready to get in the a/c! We left the game & mosied to the campus bookstore...it was swamped. But cool. Sophia began a meltdown here, but couldn't be blamed as she was at least 2hrs past her naptime. We bribed her with a tiger print binoculars and a new Auburn cheerleading outfit for Fall (40% off!). After that, we decided it was time to head home. We had such a fun day up on the plains & can't believe that the next time we attend A-Day, Baby Lopez will be 5.5mos old!

Uncle Jim & Sophia after lunch

Waaarrrr Eeeeaaagle!

Sophia snacking on stadium popcorn

It's SO hot out here!

Uncle Jim & Amber

Happy Auburn Girls!

1st & 10!

War Eagle from The Lopez's!

Heading home...

One tired Tiger!

Come Hell or High Point...

Actually, I took both this past week - I made my seasonal spring trip for work to the High Point furniture market in High Point NC. I love being a buyer for the store I work at, but sometimes it can take it's toll when you're missing your family. The benefit this time was that it offered this preggo some great walking exercise & fresh air (vs. Atlanta's market that is indoors in a few big bldgs). Leaving last Sunday & coming back on Wednesday made me miss my sweet family. However, I think they had quite a bit of fun without Mommy around this past week! Sunday was spent over at Lopez's where Rod, Sophia & Uncle YaYa (Rod's brother, Javier) washed Abuelito's (Rafa, Rod's Dad) cars - Sophia had SO much fun getting soapy & wet! Later that evening Rod, Sophia & Javier were the cook's in Patricia's kitchen...they sent me photos of their delicious creation (flounder in parchment paper) - meanwhile, I settled for a mediocre quesadilla in High Point - ha!

Chef Sophia preparing the flounder

It's all in the details!

Sophia & Javier cleaning Rafa's baby

The week progressed & I came home on Wednesday evening - whew! I was really looking forward to unpacking, & crawling into my own bed. Everything was great until 12:45am...my body just 'woke up' and was wide awake until 3:30am! I tried desperately that whole time to go back to sleep, but if I didn't have a sleeping husband & child, I would've been up vacuuming or cleaning. That's just sad. However, I did try to 'exhaust' my eyes by facebooking it, going on twitter, omg.com, foxnews.com, etc. I even went onto YouTube & watched funny music videos of some of my fave tunes. Finally I was tired enough to get some zzz's...until my alarm rattled me at 5:45am. This wasn't going to be a pretty day to say the least.

I arrived at work to a barrage of voicemails & emails to catch up on (sigh). Then I had to crank up the creative juices to design two ads for the newspaper, update our website & put together our store e-blast. I was doomed. It wasn't helping my cause that I was SO hormonal & emotional either...I was teary-eyed over everything! Finally I took a break to go home for some lunch - while home, I couldn't even get into my fave soap...so channel surfed as I put my feet up. I came across Pride & Prejudice on VH1...some sad music was playing & that is all she wrote...I was bawling. Over that?! Yep. I simply went with it - after, I did feel better. Ugh. These hormones can SHOVE IT. I deemed Thursday the "Hormonal Day from Hell" - it was that bad. The afternoon came & went relatively quickly - then we spent the evening having dinner at Lopez's (thank goodness we didn't have to cook - what HUGE treat!). As usual, Patricia had a delicious meal ready & waiting - thanks!

Friday arrived (TGIF) & the day was a complete 180 from Thursday - Rod even surprised me by sending me flowers at work! He said he felt bad that I had had such a horrible day on Thursday & that he hoped the flowers would help make up for it - boy, did they ever! Truth be told that when Rosemont delivered them, the guy asked me what the occasion was & I said, "No occasion, but now I'm wondering what my husband did that I don't know about yet"! HA!

Thanks Rod for the beautiful surprise!

I was even able to spend the afternoon with my sweet Sophia running errands after my mom treated me to lunch at Panera (I totally had a happy plate! Thanks Mom!). Rod then met up with us girls & we all went to Kabuki for dinner. Sophia was definitely not a fan of the big fire fanfare, but got over it when the hostess supplied her majesty with a sucker! We had a dud for a cook (no flare), but had a good meal, so whatever. We were stuffed after leaving, and headed home to settle into bed. I was wondering how in the world I was going to be able to get up & meet my mom for a class at the gym in the morning after all I ate...we shall see how that goes (as I am meeting her shortly!). Today will be an indoors sort of day as we're supposed to get lots of bad weather...looks like I'll be ironing today. Bummer.

Sophia's 1st Haircut!

Can you believe we have NEVER cut a hair on this child's head until now? She just turned 3 on March 28th....not one little hair has ever been snipped...until Sunday April 11th! Sophia has had the most gorgeous tendril curls ever since her 1st birthday - the kind you can't help but twist your finger around & gently pull - just to see it bounce back up! However, we knew it was getting to be that time to give it a healthy trim. It was getting so long that it was becoming unruly to comb in the mornings & a pain at bathtime (when wet, it would cascade clear past her lower back onto her two little hams!). So, as I updated the blog on Sunday, I asked her if she wanted Mommy to give her a haircut - she agreed! We'd hesitated on taking her to a salon, for fear that she wouldn't cooperate...and really not like all the attention that a first haircut garners in a roomfull of ladies. So, I told her that if she could sit in the kitchen chair very still & watch tv, Mommy would give her a haircut. She was totally jazzed! She helped me set up the chair & the towels to sit on, getting the spray bottle, combs & scissors. She happily watched Garfield as I snipped away. Only after I was finished did I get a little sad - those long beautiful curls were gone. But that quickly vanished as Sophia was oh-SO proud of her new 'big-girl' haircut! We scooped all of the hair into a baggie & then taped one of the best curls onto a piece of paper to document the occasion. I measured the cut hair & discovered I had cut 4 3/4 inches off!! I was stunned! Her hair still looks long, but is considerably shorter. She adores it. Thankfully, after a bath, the wave & curls popped back (which made me happy) and she was swishing her hair around all day! What a hoot!

Sophia with locks on the floor!

Showing off her newly cut hair

Mommy reads this & weeps!

12 weeks & it's now a Lime!

Yesterday, I thankfully made to the 12week mark...I don't care to count how many weeks that leaves me to go! However, I'm feeling good & as usual I received my babycenter.com weekly email update on what the baby's growth & development look like this week. Each week they equate the size of your growing baby to something familiar....this week Baby Lopez is the size of a large lime - hooray!

12 weeks & Baby Lopez is the size of a Lime!

Some important things with Baby L's development this week is that he/she will be able to open & close their hands, wiggle their fingers, toes will curl, eye muscles will clench & their mouth will even begin to make sucking movements! Every week is so fun to read about - it's always such a miracle to think what is going on inside my body - this week they say that if I prod my abdomen area, the baby will like respond with their newfound reflexes...although I'm most unlikely to feel anything. With that said, I have felt a few flutters that I'm convinced are the baby (& not gas), and since it's my second baby, it's not out of the realm of possibility. Hooray! Here's what Baby L looks like inside mommy this week:

12 weeks - What Mommy & Baby L look like

If only I could have ultrasounds done each week to see what Baby L looks like development-wise, it'd be so much fun. However, I'll have to settle for gazing at our last u/s photos from my 10wk appt (which I need to get scanned & uploaded here). I'm so anxious for the day when we find out the baby's sex - right now it's all so 'generic'...and sometimes hard to 'bond' with the baby. Knowing if it's a girl or boy & then being able to call it by name will make a huge difference. Don't get me wrong, it's all very special right now, but I don't find it endearing to call my child an 'it'. Sigh. Thank goodness for modern science!!

My appetite is quickly growing -but am trying to keep that beast under control. I did splurge the other day at the grocery store & bought a bag of Granny Smith apples. I think in the past 48hrs I've devoured at least 8. Oops. Just can't get enough of them! They make great snacks, & they are some 'effort' to eat, so I feel satisfied post-snack. I also was dying for a big fat turkey sandwich like I had had at Subway last week. I'm talking I made that sucker on 12-grain bread dressed with mayo, fresh romaine lettuce, roma tomato slices, banana peppers, pickles & of course, turkey. It was so ridiculously good yesterday at lunch, it was all I could think about the remainder of the day!

8th Wonder of the World - my turkey sandwich!

Last night we ate at Lopez's house and had Patricia's delicious home-made meatloaf (SO not the typical gag-reflex meatloaf that has given this tasty dish a bad rap...hers is EXCELLENT!), eggplant with tomatoes, squash or zucchini (can't remember), cauliflower with oil/vinegar and I added a salad to mine. I was craving the ginger dressing that is served at the Japanese steakhouses & Lopez's found a yummy bottled version at Publix in the refrigerated salad section - hello divinity!!

Makoto Ginger Dressing at Publix = YUM!

I'm thinking we will be investing in some like...now!

BIG is such a little word!

Thought I'd share some cute photos of Sophia & what it's been like becoming a big-sister-in-training lately! This past week, we've graduated to a toddler bed:

Sophia's Big-Girl Bedroom!

Becoming a big girl also means looking so grown up when we go to school (when it was a tad chillier):

Ready for school!

Being a big girl also means trying new things at mealtime...and discovering that you LOVE it! For example, her experience with Daddy's famously delicious hamburgers - she built her own burger complete with condiments & cheese...and then ate the ENTIRE thing!!

Bon Appetit Y'all!

Being a big-sister-in-training also means getting fun things in the mail from Mommy & Daddy's friends - thanks to Heather & Gregg Ryan for sending this sweet Dr. Suess book, duck feet slippers for Sophia & duckie socks for the new baby. The card read that Sophia will learn how to have duck feet just like the books says, so that she can teach her baby brother or sister when they arrive too!

Thanks Heather & Gregg!

Being a big sister in training sure is going to be fun in the next few months!

Caffeine, Please!

Good Morning - or I'm hoping it will be. Pregnancy insomnia has kicked in these days & misery usually ensues. This morning I was up at 3:30am & couldn't fall back asleep until 6:30. Ugh. Thankfully, iPhone came to the rescue & I read up on the gossip news via omg.com, Fox News, Facebook & Twitter. I woke up to Rod & Sophia back our bed (as Rod spent the night on Sophia's floor to keep her company)...TV on, and Sophia playing with my hair. I really could've used my own personal Starbucks barista whipping up a fabulous peppermint mocha in my kitchen, but had to settle for my own handiwork instead. Really wanted my usual reduced fat turkey bacon-swiss-egg white breakfast sandwich too, but laziness won out & I ate Frosted Flakes. Nice, I know.

We've had a pretty fun weekend so far...Friday evening Sophia was treated to dinner at Chappy's with Mommy & Daddy (usually it's Papa & Nana), followed by playing at the park & a trip to DQ's drive-thru. Yum. Saturday morning brought at visit from our neighbor, Lee. Lee & Daddy went together to tackle some pressure-washing at Lopez's house & were gone all day (but earned some great moolah!). Mommy & Sophia made a shopping date with Nana to get out of the house - we ate lunch at Chick-Fil-A, followed by a trip to Motherhood Maternity & Old Navy. Found some cute cropped pants, shorts & shirt at Motherhood, but I'm not quite ready for the rest of it - I love being petite, but sometimes it can work against you! We then mosied over to the zoo, oh um, excuse me...I mean Old Navy. I found some GREAT buys over there! Some cute, cute, CUTE tanks (longer in the body to cover my baby bump), but still fit me perfectly elsewhere...only for $12.50 each! Cute embellishments on the collar/neckline area - love 'em! It was now late in the afternoon & all 3 of us were fading...so Nana dropped us off at home for naps - whew, we needed those!

Old Navy embellished tanks - $12.50 ea!

Once Daddy got home, we all went to the Eastdale mall to eat in the food court & ride the carousel - if I didn't have a child, you'd NEVER catch me in that mall - it's so trashy! My anxiety levels go sky high as soon as I walk in - the people in there completely creep me out....is it just me?? I simply couldn't get out of there fast enough! We then headed back to Motherhood, with pre-pregnancy jeans in hand...I wanted to try the tummy sleeve to see if it'd be worth the $17 investment. Hello 8th wonder of the world!! Why didn't I invent that thing!? Pure genius. I've got a big enough bump to be out of my pre-pregnancy clothes, but still too small to be in maternity gear. This tummy sleeve is meant to wear over your jeans around the button area to prolong the life of wearing your pre-preggie clothes....hooray! Can't wait to try it out this week at work with some of my pants!! Mommy 1, fatty maternity clothes 0!!

Tummy Sleeve (no this isn't me!)


Thankfully, I'm still sticking to my daily workout regimen of spinning approx 30mins & doing weights...I feel SO much better afterwords. It completely beats my fatigue & gives me a jumpstart to make it thru the long afternoons. Although I do fall victim to cravings, at least I'm willing to put in the sweat to burn it off.

Sophia's latest is that her crib was finally transformed into a toddler bed! The front crib rail was removed & the toddler rail was put up - she LOVES this new 'big girl' bed. Luckily, the past few nights she has stayed in it all night. She loves waking up in the a.m. & opening up our bedroom door to say 'good morning'! I'm relishing every minute of it - it's a slight feeling of freedom....that is until we start all over again with the baby in October! Sophia's growing like a weed & is just so darn smart these days - being witty in her own way, saying big words like 'telescope' & more. I'm floored by something every single day.

I suppose I should upload a few cute photos of the Easter Egg hunt last Saturday at Wynlakes too... Sophia was joined by her bff, Ava for the fun afternoon. The girls pulled in major loot.

Sophia prepped & ready!

Sophia & Ava race to the eggs!

Ava! Get THIS one!

Contemplating the finer things in life...

Conquering the inflatable obstacle course

Well, I should wrap this up & get to the grocery store...and I'm totally NOT showering before I go -it's a strictly ballcap & sweats sort of trip. Hooray!

Easter 2010 - Sugar Overload!

Sophia's 4th Easter has now come & gone...hard to believe her first one was spent sleeping in a little baby carrier...she was only 10days old!

Easter 2007

We continued tradition this year of attending 8am Mass with my family - but got lucky, as Lopez's attended the same Mass...our clan took up an entire row. That's just how we roll. After Mass, our little family of 3.5 headed to Nana & Papa's house to start "round 1" of eating. My mom always puts such fun touches on holidays...this year was a 3 tiered tray filled with pink Easter grass & LOTS of candy. As usual, my brother & I scrapped it out over the Cadbury's. Just so you know: Jim is a mature 32, & I am nearly 28. Some things just never change. We didn't really 'scrap it out' - however we did deliver some cutting glances towards each other as to say "don't EVEN think about getting that last Cadbury egg"!! Brunch #1 was totally delish & we all overate (as usual). Sophia happily hunted for eggs & gushed over all the goodies the Easter Bunny brought for her - despite the fact she's absolutely terrified of it!!

Easter 2008 - The terror begins!

Easter 2010 - Our Family of 3.5!

Sophia discovers candy treasures!

Just about to root thru her basket!

Last year, we tried to see if she'd sit for the bunny again - forget it. Meltdown city! This year, she completely flipped out at the Wynlakes Easter Egg hunt the day before Easter - we knew we had NO chance on Easter morning. Oh well. During brunch #2 at Wynlakes with Rod's family, she kept begging to go see the Easter bunny - she only wanted to view that bunny from INSIDE & through the GLASS DOOR!! She's her own woman for sure. We didn't push her to sit on his lap - as he is pretty freaky. Again, we all overate at brunch #2, but had great company doing it. Sophia happily bossed her poor Aunt Gabby around into getting her cupcakes, cookies & the like. I love my SIL as she's such a great sport & it affords Rod & I a bit of a break to eat meals in peace. Well, semi-peace. Eh, we'll take it! After brunch #2, we mosied on outside to the gorgeous courtyard of Wynlakes to snap some photos of Sophia - she somewhat complied. Cute enough for me!

Easter 2010 - Wynlakes

Zzzz - The End

En route home - delirium hits!

Sophia has had enough!

Our precious baby girl!

We had LOTS of fun this Easter & can't believe that it's our last one as a family of 3! Next year our lives will have forever changed with the addition of Baby Lopez's arrival...Easter 2011, Baby Lopez will already be nearly 5mos old! Yikes....