Baby Fuchs - Week 19

We're 19 weeks along today and recording another update. We're really discussing things we'd like to get, what we have of Brode's yet, what brands we prefer, and that we CANNOT wait to find out what baby is. Our appointment for ultrasound and gender reveal is the 28th - thats 21 weeks. Talk about waiting as long as possible.

 

Length: 19 weeks

Baby Size: Heirloom Tomato

Heartbeat: We have had 3 appointments and it falls around 155 every time.

Morning Sickness: Still none, but still loving my sleep. Trying to work around being very active and remembering to rest.

Big Brother: EXTREMELY excited and VERY interested in babies.

Gender: Dane and I have started discussing how we want to do gender reveal and it just makes me want to know even more!

Cravings: I'm over the gummi worms for now. The last 2-3 weeks I cannot get enough chocolate milk. We have been FLYING through it between Brode and I. I feel like I go to the store for a new gallon every 3rd day.

 

Here is to still feeling good and no believing we're already half way through!

Mites and Ice Dogs

Brode's hockey team, the Blades Mites were featured at the Fox Cities Ice Dogs last weekend and Brode couldn't have been more excited! It may have had a bit to do with his dad being #8 on the team and getting to skate out with him.

The kids put on their skates, jerseys, and helmets and were introduced with the starting line up of the Ice Dogs. They stood out with them for the National Anthem.

Brode spent the rest of the game bouncing around with teammates. He was sure EXHAUSTED when we left but still insisted on wearing his hockey helmet all the way home without falling asleep.

When we get together with all the hockey kids we all just say "here is the beginning to years and years together!" assuming these little boys will be growing up and playing high school hockey together some day!

Baby Fuchs - The Beginning

We found out the first week of October that we were expecting Baby #2 and tried to keep the secret until Thanksgiving. 

Of course we had to tell our parents....

... and our closest handful of friends (I needed girls to be excited with!)....

... work so they weren't shocked if I was sick and showing early...

... Brode told all of day care....

... and the dentist....

But besides that we kept it a secret (HA!).

We had taken pictures in Disney the week before with a hunch and praying it would happen soon!

Brode then wore a special Thanksgiving shirt to tell our families as Thanksgiving fell at 12 weeks exactly. After 7 weeks of holding in the secret we were all ready to tell the world!

From then on the secret was out, we posted on Facebook, members at my work began figuring it out, and we happily shared the information.

Currently everything is going great! I'm going to try and start some pictures around 18 weeks now that the showing is MUCH more obvious. Here is our breakdown;

Length: 17.5 weeks

Baby Size: Turnip/Apple

Heartbeat: We have had 3 appointments and it falls around 155 every time

Morning Sickness: NONE! I have not had 1 day of sickness, just a few mild headaches that hang around annoyingly. First trimester was a LOT of sleeping, but passed with the correct supplementation and movement into the second trimester.

Big Brother: EXTREMELY excited and VERY interested in babies.

Gender: We find out at 20 weeks. I felt Girl for a LONG time and have recently switched to Boy or just not having any idea. The majority of everyone that encounters us says girl.

Cravings: They've changed. I had 3 days early if I didn't eat a salad I wasn't going to be happy. For a month or so there really wasn't anything, and then I had crab rangoons and I could have eaten them every day (however, I didn't.... only twice!). Lately it's been gummi worms. We'll see where each week takes me.

Our nursery is still Brode's playroom and FULL of Christmas toys. We're not making any progress until after we find out the gender. We saved 3/4 of Brode's stuff and will begin sorting through when we know at the end of January. I set Dane and my dad with projects to finish organizing the basement and moving the baby stuff over by the end of the month so we can get a jump on it in February. The spring willy fly by and I want to be ready if anything happens early.

Mighty Mite

Brode is a Mighty Mite this year for the Fox Valley Blades. He has tripled his ice time at the arena and added on a few hours in grandma and grandpa's backyard. He has already made great improvement as a skater. We're working on the whole "GET THE PUCK" thing, but he loves games and getting on the ice. He is all about the team and talks about his teammates every day.

They practice each week, play games on the weekend, and they have attended a few small tournaments.

We'll be a mite until he is 8 and really working on the basics and game play.

Christmas 2013

Well here is my starting place! It's fresh in our mind, we JUST completed all of our celebrations, and 2013 was a great Christmas.

This was our first Christmas in our new house and as a married couple/famly of 3. We had last Christmas to figure out some of the routines, but now on our own we had to make a few new ones, and it's always exhausting when it comes around for a week straight.

We celebrate Christmas with both sides of Dane's family and both sides of my family, all along with work parties, and having time for Brode to celebrate with Matt's family as well.

St. Nick coming kicked off the entire season.

The following weekend we celebrated with Dane's family and had an ugly sweater contest. Dane brought home the coveted "trophy" and we can't wait to pass it along next year.

Weekends continued with more of Dane's family, Brode being a shepard in the church Christmas play, and the day care Christmas concert.

We attended Christmas Eve mass with my parents in our church before going to my grandparents. We had a late night with lots of snacks and gifts but had to get home so Santa could come.

Dane, Brode and I exchanged presents at our house in the morning, then with my parents at their house before lunch. We tired to get Brode some play time as much as we could before we had another gathering.

The day continued with my dad's family at our house and Dane's parents and brother for some dessert and gifts.

Dane and I both went back to work on Thursday, but quickly rushed out to get a skate session in with Brode in the backyard. It was fun to turn on the Christmas music, bundle up, and skate for a few hours.

Friday and Sunday we had a few more Christmas gatherings to see more people, but we did get some down time to rest, open new toys to play with, and hit the snow hill to sled.

I spent a lot of this Christmas thinking about that Walmart commercial with the song that says;
"Oh darling don't you ever grow up, don't you ever grow up, won't you stay this little...." and shows home videos of kids on Christmas morning. Brode is growing up so fast and between our work schedules and only getting a few days off together I tried to savor the moment and watch him enjoy it. Before I know it he'll be in Kindergarten and I don't have the choice to pick up him and play whenever I want. The good news is with baby on the way we'll get to do it all again and still have toddlers around for Christmas, but it is a reminder of how fast it really does go!

I Will Not Quit!

February was the last time I wrote. Ouch. I seriously started to consider I'd never get back into it or catch up. My schedule totally allows for a bit of downtime a few times a week that I can catch up, so I can't use it as an excuse. Then I asked myself; why do I write it in the first place? The reason I started the blog was for distant friends and family to keep up and see Brode grow! It then became more a memory keeper of daily happenings, fun events, and one liners from Brode's toddler mouth. I also kept a scrapbook of big family fun, but I have slowly fallen behind on both and now have no records!

That leaves me here, behind on both records of our family fun, texts and letters from friends and family I haven't responded to, and life picking up full speed.

I have hit the point that I don't mind if no one reads it, I need this as a record until I can get my scrapbooks back in order. I officially pledge to catch up one post at a time, even if they are out of order.

My list of topics to cover;
#1 - WEDDING! Dane and I were married June 21, 2013.
Fully moving into our new house
Summer fun
Brode's doctor updates
Baby #2
Brode's first year of T-ball and Mighty Mites
Christmas 2013

Where to even start! I think I'll begin with Christmas 2013 as it's still fresh in my mind...

Our Life in iPhone Pics

Things are NOT settling down. It is about that time you usually recover from the holidays and things start to slow down. Well, they're not! I had a birthday, wedding countdowns are getting closer, and the house projects are taking up the weekends. We've been keeping busy with productive stuff, lazy stuff, and fun stuff!

February started with my birthday. February 2nd came with great presents and amazing meals:

Nakashima's with Dane and my family. Brode inhaled his rice!

The Melting Pot as a family birthday and valentine's dinner, just the 3 of us. Brode's first fondue experience and LOVED it.

One of my favorite birthday presents. Hand painted mug from Brode and Dane. I got clothes, gift cards, and best of all - LOTS of house stuff!

Brode has been keeping up with skating - both on the ice in the backyard and through his hockey program. We're sad to see it finish up this Wednesday.

We also found a fun afternoon to hit the sledding hill. This little boy can't get enough.

 Lastly, Brode has been busy with swimming lessons. He was begging me to get into sessions so we started again and he is doing great! This was on deep pool and water slide day.

Valentine's Day was next and we got more amazing gifts and ate to much candy. Dane and I received our toasting flutes for our wedding. Engraved with our names and Cinderella and Prince Charming! I also got beautiful roses from Dane.

We made the last minute decision to go to the Green Bay Gamblers game and it happened to be Teddy Bear Toss night. When the first goal was scored, 6,700+ bears were thrown on the ice to be donated to pediatric centers in the area. 

 Brode received a gift (read 'present' as: a wedding present that didn't wait until June) so we have been having fun playing in the basement (read 'we' as: the big boys).

House projects are taking place like crazy. A few small ones and a few big ones. We've finally got blinds, appliances, new stools, a few additional chairs, and the toys are slowly making their way over. We're almost ready for a house reveal!

Laundry Room BEFORE:

Laundry Room AFTER:

 Brode/Guest Bathroom BEFORE:

 Brode/Guest Bathroom AFTER:

Here is to a successful and busy month and to hopefully moving forward and having another 4 successful months until Wedding Day!

Holidays

After a week of traveling we enjoyed coming back to 16 inches of snow and getting ready for Christmas. It was chaotic, but fun! 

After a night with Matt's family and a night at my grandparents we celebrated Christmas morning at our house. 

Brode was VERY excited to find a new mouthguard in his stocking. 

 He was more excited to find this giant pile of presents. Last year he had strep throat and we barely got a smile at the bottom of the stairs. This year he jumped up and down "Santa came and brought 1,000 presents!", much more exciting.

We all got a lot of great presents! New ice skates, new home items, Fitbits, and Monorails! Brode was EXTREMELY disappointed when we were in Disney and he couldn't get the monorail. Little did he know Santa already had a plan and had it under the tree. He loves his monorail with Disney accessories.

 The rest of Christmas Day we had more family over and filled the house!

It was quite loud and crazy, but that is what makes it Christmas with family!