Big News!

Our family received some big news on September 29th, 2013. I realized that I haven't officially announced it on my blog yet, even though the whole world knows by now. :)

We are expecting BABY #2! 

We had been not preventing pregnancy for only a couple of months, so when I was getting close to possibly starting my period in late September, I was feeling excited and anxious about the possibility of being pregnant. I knew it had taken a while with Charlie, so I didn't want to be disappointed by negative test results, but I had this weird gut feeling that I needed to buy some tests. So, first I went and got a couple dollar store tests. When it came back looking like the picture on the left, with a very faint second line, I was shocked! Did this mean I was pregnant? The line was faint and I didn't really trust the dollar store test, so I rushed over to Walmart to buy a nicer test. Well, from the test on the right, it's pretty obvious that it was, for sure, POSITIVE! I was really excited and completely shocked! I found out right at 4 weeks pregnant, so that's pretty early!

I made myself wait a full 8 agonizing hours until Trevor got home from work to tell him the big news! And then, we kept it a secret from everyone including our families until about 8 weeks, when my Mom came to town for Charlie's birthday and I couldn't help but tell her (and my Dad) because I needed her to know why I was feeling exhausted and a little gaggy. I also had my first doctor's appointment that week she was there, so that would have been a little hard to hide. That's when I got my first ultrasound at 8 weeks and 2 days, exactly a month after finding out I was pregnant! My brother accidentally found out the day before Halloween when he was in town because I left the ultrasound laying out. Haha! Surprise! :) We ended up telling Trevor's family the day after Thanksgiving when I was out with the girls for our traditional Black Friday lunch at Pizza Factory. 

Then, we announced it to the rest of the world in early December with our family Christmas card:

On December 23rd, at exactly 16 weeks, I had my third doctor's appointment. Since it was two days before Christmas, I asked if it would be possible to get another ultrasound and maybe find out our baby's gender! They said they would take a look and I was so excited! In hopes that things would work out, I had brought with me a note card and an envelope, and I told the doctor I wanted it to be a surprise for Christmas day. So, I looked away for the latter part of the ultrasound when he went to peek at the gender. He said he knew pretty quickly and it was really obvious what the gender was. Then, he wrote down the answer on the notecard and put it in the envelope for me. How was I supposed two wait two full days with an envelope sitting under my Christmas tree with that information on it?!?! Well... I exercised self control and was able to wait until Christmas morning. Trevor and I opened the envelope together and got the biggest surprise!

IT'S A GIRL!

I was honestly completely shocked. I really was hoping for a girl, but started to have feelings that it was a boy based on how quickly the doctor was able to figure it out. And I was probably also just trying to prepare myself for either scenario, just in case. :) But I really am SO excited to have a girl! I have another ultrasound coming up this Friday (Jan 24th), and I will get to see it for myself to be SURE! 

The picture above is the only pregnancy pic I've taken of myself so far. I was 18 weeks and 2 days along, and definitely feeling larger than last time! 

Symptoms: 

• As for sickness, it has been about the same as it was with Charlie. Really not too bad! From about 6ish weeks until 15 weeks I'd have to make sure I ate when my stomach was empty or I'd start gagging. There was only one time I didn't get food fast enough and got sick to my stomach, but it was the morning and I had nothing in me to barf, thank goodness! Haha. So, it was really manageable, but the only difference I noticed was that it lasted a little bit longer than it did with Charlie. No big deal. :) 
• I was exhausted tired from about 5-9 weeks. I was really glad when I started to get my energy back. And my boobs were ridiculously sore, too! Haha
• I haven't had too many cravings outside the norm. Mostly just mashed potatoes ALWAYS sound good. And sweet things all the time! Maybe a bit of an aversion to fish in the beginning when I was more sensitive to smells. 
• I started feeling her kick around 16ish weeks for sure. It really picked up about 17-18 weeks, and now I feel her ALL the time! In fact, I start to worry if it's been a few hours and I haven't felt her bugging me :)
• I've had heartburn once so far, but I have a feeling that may come back more and more often the bigger I get. Sometimes I get stretching pains in my belly, or a sharp jabbing pain if I forget and try to use my abs suddenly. 
• My nose has been pretty consistently stuffy/runny since being pregnant. Part of that is due to getting sick for most of the month of December, but even since I've been better I still need to blow my nose all the time. Silly sinuses!
• Overall it has been wonderful! I feel emotionally great during pregnancy! Thank you hormones :)

Halloween 2013

We had a fabulously fun Halloween this year! In preparation for it, here's how I decorated my house. The bats were made of card stock cutouts and hung using thin fishing wire and tacks in the ceiling. It was fun to have them hanging there for a few weeks, and every time Charlie would see them while eating he would point and say "bats!".

On Halloween day, my brother and his girlfriend Chandler were visiting for a few hours, so we decided to go ahead and carve pumpkins while Charlie was napping. Since it was a Thursday, Trevor was working most of the day and missed out on the carving festivities. I have to say I think our pumpkins turned out pretty awesome! I used a stencil I printed out online for my owl on a branch, and even though it had some tricky parts, I was completely pleased with the outcome!

Mike and Chandler created these cute little ghosties by free-handing it! Not bad, guys! :)

For his costume this year, I purchased the cheapest costume I could find that was still cute, and also didn't have a hat involved with the costume. Charlie was in this phase where he would pull off anything you put on his head, so a hat was a no-go. You wouldn't believe how lucky Meghan was to actually snap this amazing picture of him in his costume (in between all the trying to run away, pulling off the headband, not smiling, and looking all over the place)! 

We trick-or-treated with his cousins in Springville again this year! (See... his headband is gone already, haha!)

It was an absolutely gorgeous evening. No stormy weather, and it was cold, but not too cold that we couldn't acclimate quickly. Kelan was a cute little Mickey Mouse.

Cohen was dressed as Captain America, and I think we would lose him on occasion when he ran ahead or in a completely different direction before he realized he wasn't with us anymore and would come rushing back. :) Charlie also did his fair share of running. They have a similar little boy running stance, huh? Haha

Even though his legs are a lot shorter than the others, Charlie did his best to keep up with all of his bigger cousins. He definitely got the idea of trick-or-treating better this year. He wouldn't carry his bucket with him to and from each door, and sometimes he would run up to the doors so fast he would trip and fall. I also caught him taking multiple pieces of candy at a couple houses (I guess he was so cute that the people at the doors would say it was okay when I tried to make him put the extras back), and one time he even placed a candy he still had in his hand from the house before back into the next house's pot of candy. Haha... silly boy. I'm SURE he won't be putting back any candy next time he trick-or-treats! Once back at the wagon, we would help him deposit his new candy into his bucket.

Cousin Scarlett was a princess this year, and Kanyon (not pictured because I think he ran too fast) was dressed as a football player!

Going up... and coming back. My Mom was still in town again this year from flying in to help with Charlie's party. She said she couldn't miss the cuteness of Charlie trick-or-treating!

We saw a group of Dads along the way. It cracked me up to see them man-mingling. And one of them was dressed epically as Darth Vader, and he even had buttons that played a recording of Darth Vader quotes! Totally awesome.

When we were all done, we headed back to the Sonnenberg house to relax and let the kids enjoy their candy! Uncle Troy was there and Charlie had fun hanging out with him. I'd say for being only two years old, Charlie got a pretty good stash of candy. I'd also be lying if I said I didn't eat any of it myself..... ;)

We arrived home later that night and Charlie crashed in bed. We had left a bucket of candy on our porch for the trick-or-treaters in our own neighborhood. Surprisingly, only about half of it was gone! Usually the bowl is empty from some older kid who probably thinks it's a great idea to dump the whole thing in his pillowcase. I'd also be lying if I said I didn't eat candy for days and days after that... :P

Our porch was decorated with our carved pumpkins as well as some additional glowing Halloween decor I dragged outside for the evening. I felt bad we weren't at home for our first year in our new house in a neighborhood, but I think Charlie had way more fun trick-or-treating with his cousins!

Charlie's Mickey Mouse Birthday Party

Oh my lanta... I am SO far behind on blogging. One post at a time and maybe, just maybe, I'll get caught up through all the holidays! :)

First up, Charlie's second birthday party! We had a party at our house the day after he turned two. Here's the invite I sent out, minus a couple blurred-out pieces of personal information. ;)

In order to prep for making invitations, I took his 2-year-old pictures a couple weeks in advance. Here are just a couple more of my favorites, but I discovered it's really hard to make an almost 2-year-old smile or look at you on demand... especially when they are busy playing on a playground! ;)

So anyway, the party was obviously Mickey Mouse themed and I think everyone had a blast! My Mom came to town again this year and she helped me successfully create my vision with these adorable Mickey Mouse Oreo pops and delicious cupcakes (with fondant details!!!).

Mickey Mouse was such a fun theme to do because you can create the silhouette of his head and ears so easily! I bought paper lanterns and taped/glued black card stock circles to them to make them into Mickey's head! Same with the cute party hats! Also, I'm really glad that this theme's colors kind of kept with last year's theme, and I was able to re-use the circle garland strands I made! Woo hoo!

Polka dots are always fun to bring in, too, when you have a Mickey Mouse theme!

More cute details with the party hats, noise makers, and the setup of my kitchen:

Soon, all of Charlie's guests began to arrive. We had mostly family with a few close friends and a couple of neighbors. I've never been more grateful to have a nice, spacious house! Especially compared to our tiny apartment last year :)

I think we were able to keep all the kids sufficiently entertained with stickers, Mickey Mouse picture coloring, yummy food, and noisemakers. :) Soon it was time for Charlie to blow out the candles on his cupcake. I love the succession of pictures here. He was so pleased and excited that everyone was singing, but when the "hot" candles got too close, he got apprehensive and tried to push the cupcake away. So, I had to hold his hands down so he wouldn't knock it over and I helped him blow the candles out, even though we had practiced before! Silly boy... at least he's cautious around hot things! :)

And, of course, his favorite part was getting to enjoy the tasty cake! Look at him with that cute Mickey party hat! I die! I know every mom thinks their kid is the cutest ever, but I'm pretty sure he actually IS. ;)

Later, after cake, we all went into the living room for gift time, where I didn't take any pictures. He wasn't really interested in opening the gifts, but did get excited once they were opened and he got to see what was inside! He got lots of great things including more crayons and coloring books, a couple shirts and a monster knit hat, his first set of Lego Duplos, a soft monster bowling set, a wooden train, and a couple other toys. He was one happy two-year-old!

Later that night, after dinner, we let him have an Oreo pop since he didn't get a chance to eat one at his party. He was pretty thrilled with his Mickey cookie. :)

Thanks to everyone who came to support us! It was so nice to have you all there!