15 Weeks with Baby #2

There are so many differences in my attitude toward pregnancy number two, compared with Ez. I think it's pretty well illustrated by the fact that there is currently an ultrasound floating around on the ground. Ez's  ultrasounds are either placed safely in his baby book, or locked in Joe's safe. Whoops. Don't get me wrong, I love seeing this baby's ultrasounds, but I know there will be more ultrasounds in the future and that they will look more baby-like once the baby is bigger. And I know the 3-D ones are worth saving, and the 2-D ones just look like TVs without reception.

Basically I just have a much better idea of what's coming with pregnancy in general, and I'm content to let the baby do it's thing without giving it too much thought. With Ez I was thinking about pregnancy daily. I was reading blogs of other pregnant women, reading the forums on Baby Center, and memorizing how big he was and what new growths had taken place that week. With baby #2 I forget that I'm pregnant most of the time. Unless I'm getting up at night to pee. Or trying on clothes that no longer fit. Or tossing and turning at night. Or marveling at how huge I look in pictures now. (Ok, so that actually makes it sound like I'm thinking about pregnancy all the time.) I'm thinking it will all feel more real as time goes by, because it definitely still feels surreal that we will have two little ones this summer. Maybe I can blame the holiday chaos for being too distracted to think about pregnancy?

My symptoms are super mild right now (another reason I'm not thinking about my pregnancy too much). The main one is super itchy skin. Pre-pregnancy I don't really use lotion all that often. My skin is sensitive and usually more on the side of oily than dry. But with each of my pregnancies, pretty much as soon as I found out I was pregnant I could not get enough lotion. My legs and belly get soooo itchy. I was scared with Ez that an itchy belly meant I was getting stretch marks, but thankfully that didn't happen. Fingers crossed that doesn't happen this time! I layer on bio oil followed by Gold Bond lotion on my belly a few times a day to help with the itching. Other than that my only real symptom is eating. All the time. But again, I blame that on the holidays ;) Also, you may have already gathered that peeing at least once a night is in full effect. Getting out of my warm bed at night is definitely one of the less fun aspects of pregnancy. And I finally pulled my maternity jeans out of storage. It's nice to have some options other than leggings, as comfy as they are.

Things I'm loving: My new car! We drove it up to Modesto, and it got great gas mileage and drove so smoothly. I'm already looking forward to more road trips in the future. Also, my friend Jen made the most amazing snickerdoodles - so addictive! Mexican food is gonna make this list every week. Still obsessed with eggs too. And almond butter on toast, smoothies, and cashews. I ate my weight in See's candy and sugar cookies while I was visiting home. Kinda glad those are gone now though. As much as I love sugar, I can tell it's gonna be a problem as this pregnancy goes on. It gives me the beginning stages of heartburn, which thankfully hasn't progressed to full-on heartburn yet. Knock on wood! Also, I've been enjoying walking, either outside with Ez or on the treadmill while he naps. It feels good to sweat again. And I can't wait to try out my new Ballet Beautiful Baby workout DVD. I followed Mary Helen Bowers on instagram all through her pregnancy, and her flexibility and strength while she was heavily pregnant is pretty amazing.

Things I'm hating: Not gonna lie, I miss alcohol. It feels like everyone was enjoying a yummy holiday glass of wine, or a holiday margarita (that's a thing, right??) and I was sipping on iced tea. Not quite the same. Oh well, I'm sure that's just one more thing that would trigger heartburn anyway. I also miss our Christmas tree, the living room feels so empty now. As we took the tree down we did a little recap of how fun and jam-packed the holidays were. That was a nice little tradition that softened the blow of removing the decorations a bit.

Baby updates: I've felt a few more "kicks" (or possibly head butts, because they're pretty strong). It usually happens if I'm bent over, and it's still not too frequent. My next doctor appointment is this afternoon, so hopefully we'll get another ultrasound then (and I promise I'll keep this one for the baby book).

Here I am 15 weeks pregnant with Ez:

And here's a better shot of how big this bump is:

Over the weekend we went to check out the floats from the Rose Parade. Here are a few of my faves:

Hummingbird!

Anyone else excited for the Bachelor??