Apple Orchard time!

My latest craving is apples - it's not just a pregnancy thing though - it's a fall craving. Without fail, every fall, I crave apples!

Now that Ethan is a big boy, I decided to do something fun with him and took him to Kuiper's apple orchard out in Maple Park. We had a fun tractor ride out to the orchard (the ride itself was really short, but I'm sure it was more for the ride, than for any actual need), which Ethan loved - he waved and said hi to the tractor driver. He loved the apples and was a good boy about not picking up the apples on the ground, and only picking the apples from the tree that I told him to. Between the two of us, we ate 6 apples! After we were done apple picking, we went to the store and picked up some fudge and an apple spice donut - yum yum! Then Ethan got to sit on a tractor and play in the little play area.

We'll definitely be coming back soon and bringing Chris to reach all the good apples that were up high!

Here are the highlights from our fun day!

Waiting patiently (as patiently as a 2 year old can wait) for our tractor ride

"Ethan see tractor!"

Here comes the tractor!

Ethan's first apple orchard apple

Ethan picking his first apple - I was happy there were good apples at Ethan's height for him to pick :)

Driving a tractor like a big boy

Time to shift

One perfectly sweet boy

Growing boy!

Riding off into the sunset with an apple :)

Ethan's latest

It's been awhile since I've done an Ethan only post, so here's some of the photographic highlights from the past few weeks.

Ethan's "driving" outfit - he puts on his bunny mask from Easter on backwards and upside down and grabs the nearest hat. It's like one of those old fashioned driving outfits with the goggles!

Coffee date with mommy - don't worry, the pumpkin spice latte (or "spicy latte" as Ethan calls it) is decaf!

Someone loves their "spicy" lattes!

Ethan eating a pancake at Omega - an old favorite diner that Chris and I went to all the time when we lived in Schaumburg.

Ethan feeding a pear to the donkey at Heritage Prairie Farm, one of our favorite places to go together!

14 weeks!!!

Hello 2nd trimester :)

This week baby E is squinting, frowning, grimacing, peeing and possibly sucking her thumb. She's also getting bigger! From the top of her head to her cute little butt, she's most likely about 3.5 inches now and about 1.5oz. Her body is growing too, so she's not all head. The most exciting part is that she's moving about, but I can't feel anything yet. Anyday now though...I felt Ethan around 18 weeks, and they say second babies can be felt earlier - so pretty soon!

I am feeling much better. Haven't been nauseous since maybe mid 1st trimester and while I'm still tired, I'm not AS tired. Instead of wanting to fall asleep at my desk at work, I want to fall asleep as soon as I get home - I suppose that's a small improvement!

In good news, I only have to test my blood sugar 2x a day now (fasting and after dinner) - my OB was pleased with my levels so far and even said something along the lines of how I'm a diagnosed diabetic that isn't diabetic. Even though I failed my glucose tests, my blood sugars have been perfectly normal. Yay :)

Here's the weekly picture - I am definitely starting to show, at least Chris and I can tell. 

13 weeks!!!

I can't believe I'm already 13 weeks pregnant!

In baby development, the little one has formed fingerprints on the tiny little hands that I will love holding and is now at least 3 inches long (baby measured close to 2.5 inches one week ago) and weighs an ounce! Baby E currently has a big head - 1/3 of the body is her head. 

In random pregnancy cravings - pumpkin spice lattes! This will be a tricky one to fit in with the gestational diabetes and all, but maybe if my morning sugars are okay tomorrow, I will walk over to Starbuck's and pick one up - decaf of course!

As I come to the end of my first trimester, Chris and I can see the tiniest hint of a bump - I can't wait to be able to feel baby E move and kick around!

Here's the weekly picture:

12 weeks

Today I am 12 weeks pregnant!

Baby is just under 2.5 inches long (I had an ultrasound this morning) and weighs about half an ounce! Supposedly baby will squirm if I poke my tummy (reflexes are developing this week), and there is a lot of movement, but I won't be feeling anything for the next month or so. I started feeling Ethan around 18 weeks, so I'm anticipating I'll be feeling baby before then.

And most importantly (most importantly so far), the ultrasound tech is 75% sure baby is a GIRL!!! If you've been talking to me the past few years, you know how much I want a girl! Baby E (we have had a girl name picked out for FOREVER) wasn't being super cooperative this morning, but the tech saw enough to think it was most likely a girl. Needless to say, I will be happy as long as baby E is healthy :)

Back to the mundane - I've gained about 2 pounds so far, still fit into my regular clothes (didn't start maternity clothes with Ethan until I was nearly 18 weeks along), crave all sorts of things (today's craving was tartar sauce!), and thankfully am sleeping much better (it helps to not have to get up multiple times to use the bathroom)! My blood sugars are still measuring really well, so as long as the good numbers keep up, my OB will let me drop down to only measuring the fasting and after dinner levels. This girl has grand plans for a hot fudge sundae lunch (yet another craving)!

Anyways, here is the weekly pregnancy picture along with the ultrasound images!

12 weeks!

Baby E's profile

The evidence that baby E is a girl - apparently if the genital tubercle if pointed up, it's most likely a boy, but since in this case, it is not, baby E is most likely a girl. Information from http://www.baby2see.com/gender/study_ultrasound.html

Gazpacho!

This is seriously the best gazpacho ever! It's creamy (without a drop of cream), silky smooth and oh so tasty! It's been adapted from a recipe I found last summer on Katie Lee's blog and it's a family favorite. It's good for using up all those tomatoes in your garden or those beautiful heirloom tomatoes at the farmer's market!

1 blender full of tomatoes (mixed colors and different kinds of tomatoes is okay)

1/4c vinegar (I like using red wine vinegar)

1/4c-1/2c olive oil (do not leave this out - it's what makes the gazpacho so silky smooth!)

1 clove garlic

1/2c breadcrumbs

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground pepper

hot sauce to taste

Puree everything in the blender. Pour into bowl and refrigerate for a few hours - it'll thicken up a bit! I like serving gazpacho with garlic bread.

gazpacho with garlic bread - the orange color is from the reddish gold heirloom tomatoes I used

someone loves gazpacho!

Sunshine's first day of day care!

As some of you may already know, Ethan just started part time daycare. My parents had been watching him for nearly the past 2 years, but now that he is 2 and a big boy, it's time for him to go to "school" and meet and socialize with other kids his age. He will be going on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and to my parents the other days.

Ethan is going to Kensington School here in Geneva and so far seems to be having a good time. He gets fresh fruit every day (a very big plus!) and all the food the kids get is organic (big plus too!). My least favorite part is that daycare doesn't do cloth diapers, so I had to go out and buy a massive stash of disposeables (boo!) - however, I did get a super good deal - Dominick's had a bunch of boxes of Huggies and Pampers marked at half off, so I snagged 4 boxes and used the coupons that I had. My stash is currently at over 400 disposeables and my goal is to have that last through potty training. My favorite part of daycare - daily arts and crafts projects! So far I've gotten a colorful butterfly and a bug headband :)

Here are some pictures from Ethan's first day of daycare and from the dinner I took him to on Friday to celebrate his first week of daycare.

Happy boy awaiting his breakfast

Heart shaped peanut butter sandwich (saw the heart shaped sandwich cutter on sale at Williams Sonoma and couldn't resist!)

"Mommy, I'm ready for school!"

"Can I stay and play with the light table?"

Handsome boy waiting for dinner at Colonial