only 15 more weeks??

First, our baby girl has a name:  Miller Alese Reed.  It took us a long time to decide, but we're very happy with it!  I monogrammed her first item last weekend, and I'm sure there will be many more to follow.

She also has a lot of clothes.  Between consignment sales, sweet friends passing down stuff, and my online shopping addiction, she has some super cute outfits.  

Next up: she needs a room!  You might remember that we sold our house this summer, and we we are currently renting a house.  It's a great three-bedroom house, and we decided that since we wouldn't be here very long, {at least that's what we thought 3+ months ago} we would just leave the office and guest bedroom boxed up and keep the boxes in the 3rd bedroom.  It's worked out well... except for our guests that are limited to couches or air mattresses.  

Anyway, baby Miller does not have a room.  I started looking at furniture this weekend, but it's hard to justify ordering furniture when you don't have anywhere to put it.  Just for fun, I looked back at the blog to see where we were at this point in my pregnancy with Trent.  I laughed when I read that we already had his furniture and bedding and were painting his room at this point.  Thankfully, I know now that babies don't require cute nurseries upon birth:)  And we are still hoping to move before she gets here.

This pregnancy has flown by, and for the most part it's been very similar to my pregnancy with Trent.  Here are a few differences I want to document:  Miller moves around SO much more than Trent.  I think Trent just sucked his thumb and hung out in there;  Miller is always on the move! ...  I don't feel the "glow" this time.  I didn't feel cute with Trent, but this time I feel like I'm getting wider and less attractive each day.  Is it a girl thing? ...  I had my first, only and prayerfully my last migraine Friday.  It was horrible.  I literally spent all day in bed, most of it with a pillow over my face.  I feel so badly for migraine sufferers.  That is so not a headache.  I've had some weird vision issues, possibly ocular migraines, with both pregnancies. ...  I like being pregnant in the fall/winter months.  I'm rarely cold, even when it's 50 degrees outside, and I'm hoping I won't have to worry about swelling.  So, that's a baby Miller update:)  

Trent's Wall Art

I was less than three feet away when this happened, but I didn't know it transpired until he said, "Look Mama, I color with black."  I think he could tell by my reaction that I was not proud.  He knows better, and he felt very bad about it.  {At least he acted like he felt bad about it.}

Apparently the standing and thumb-sucking wasn't dramatic enough.  He had to get on the floor and cover his face when I called Mike in the room to show him.

Thank goodness for Google!  I would have never known that a hairdryer and dish soap would get crayon {at least almost all of the crayon} off the wall.

Super T {Superman}

After much bribery with candy of all kinds, our child who loved Halloween last year, finally agreed to put on his Superman costume without losing his mind being very upset about it.

Sweet Superman

Serious Superman

"I want my candy NOW" Superman

Happy After Candy Superman

We went back to the Pumpkin Patch

This is our third year to visit Jack O Lantern Lane, and we enjoy it more each year.  It's funny to think how Trent couldn't even walk {and Trevor was still an infant} the first time we went, and this year they were climbing up the big slide and sliding down by themselves.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from our trip this year:

And just for fun, let's compare the three years of pictures at the pumpkin patch:

                                                                         2009

2010

2011

It's hard to believe that next year we will also have an 8-month-old in tow.  I'm sure Trent will be happy to show his baby sister all of the cool stuff at Jack O Lantern Lane.

21 Weeks Growing {Baby} Belly

In typical second pregnancy fashion, I have not taken nearly as many pictures of my growing belly.  I find that taking pictures of a growing 2 1/2 year old is so much more fun-- and cute!  But I'd hate for baby Miller to look back on the blog one day and think her mama didn't didn't document her growth, so here it is...

I'm 21 weeks pregnant today!  

Trent says that Baby Miller is in his belly.  He pulls up his shirt, rubs his belly, and says, "Baby Muller is in my belly.  She growing.  My belly is getting big."  Wonder where he's heard that before:)

Consignment, Zoo, Appliques and Baby Girl

When you don't blog for over a month, you end up having a really long blog title!  September was a crazy month.  If you follow Mike's Caringbridge site, you know we've had some tough days, but we are okay.

The big consignment sale was in September, and it did not disappoint.

I looked at all things boy before I even thought about going over to the baby girl section, and I still managed to come away with more girl clothes.  I think this is going to be the new trend:)

My mom, Tracy and Trevor came over one Saturday and we enjoyed a perfect day at the zoo.  Trent's favorite part was feeding the giraffes... or maybe the playground.

The embroidery machine spent a week at my house, and I spent all day one Saturday appliqueing with a friend.  It was fun, but I was not sad to send the machine back to my sister's house last weekend.  I have a love-hate relationship with appliqueing.  I love the end result, but it just takes so long!

This next picture wasn't part of the title, because nothing came from it.  I put him in underwear for about two hours one afternoon.  I can sum up the experience in two words:  NOT READY.  I think I was making this same face that afternoon.

Finally, I'm 20 weeks pregnant, and baby girl is growing.  We got to take another look at her a couple of weeks ago.  Mike went with me this time, and we confirmed that she is definitely a girl.  We're still working on her name... I'm hoping Mike will agree that my choice is best any day now:)

Big Brother

We found out Trent was going to be a big brother on Fathers Day, so I told Mike in his card.

We waited until I was 10 weeks pregnant to tell Trent, and then we had a little photo session in his new shirt so we could send a picture announcement to family and close friends.

Yesterday we went for an ultrasound, and I asked the sweet ultrasound tech to write "boy" or "girl" in a card instead of telling me, since Mike was unable to go to the ultrasound.  We decided we would let Trent open the card and read us the letters.  {He can't read, but he knows the letters, so we thought it would be fun.}  I was 99.9% certain it was another boy, because most everything about this pregnancy has been similar to my pregnancy with Trent.

I was tempted, but I did not take a peak.  Trent and I played outside for a little while, waiting on Mike to get home. 

Then Mike FINALLY got home, and we came inside to let Trent tell us if we're having a boy or a girl.  I have a video of the announcement, but I didn't take any pictures until afterwards.  Here is the card...

We were SHOCKED but thrilled to find out Trent is having a little SISTER!

Even though our lives and Mike's health feel like a roller coaster right now, we know this baby is part of God's plan.  We decided to try for baby #2 the last month Mike was in remission.  I prayed and prayed after we found out about Mike's cancer coming back and the MDS diagnosis.  I told God that if we weren't pregnant we would not try again; but if we were pregnant, we would believe it was His plan for our lives.  I'm thankful He is blessing us with this baby girl, and I pray she and Mike are both healthy when she arrives in February.