Week 11

We had a little scare yesterday, during my OB checkup, because they couldn't find the heartbeat. I didn't think this was a big deal since I'm still early on, but she sent me for an emergency ultrasound anyway. Luckily, the second the transmitter touched me, I saw the baby kicking and squirming. He/she finally looks like a baby instead of a little gummy bear!

The heartbeat was 170 and everything looked normal, thankfully! The ultrasound place was great and the images were crystal clear. Unfortunately, I don't have a scanner so these are photos of the ultrasound pictures, using my digital camera. These are side views of the face and torso.

Baby, you've graduated

Much to Uncle Mikey's dismay, I'm going to use this blog to document both children's lives. He wants a blog for each kiddie, but I think all mothers would understand that there is not time for that. If you did have time to have numerous blogs, then you probably aren't the best mother you can be. Speaking of, I'm reading "I Was a Really Good Mom Before I had Kids" and, while the jury is still out on the usefulness of the book, I definitely like the message (which I'll explain in another post).

Anyway, this week, my embryo has graduated to a fetus. More or less, this means that it looks like a baby now (instead of a tadpole or a little gummy bear). The baby should be about 1-1.5 inches now and about 4 grams. I have one and a half weeks until my 2nd trimester and I'm hoping that all my nausea magically disappears. AHHH, 2nd trimester??? Where did the time go? How will I get everything done? I have no idea...I think I'll just go to bed.

Big announcement!!!

I can finally explain why I haven't posted in over a month.

I've been waiting to make my big announcement until after work and family had all been notifed.


Without further ado, Katie would like to tell everyone that she's going to be a big sister!!! Can you believe it?!?!?!




Baby Lamken #2 will arrive around Katie's second birthday. I wish I could say that this pregnancy is as easy at Katie's, but that would be a lie! I've been pretty sick and am hoping to feel better after the first trimester is over (in a couple weeks). Be prepared for lots of updates as things progress!

Favorite foods

I had to prove that Katie really is an Italian girl. She LOVES pasta! Doesn't matter if it is ziti or chicken and prosciutto tortellini...she'll eat it! Of course, plain old spaghetti is a favorite because you can play with it. YUMYUM!

She's also getting really good about eating bananas, as long as we let her do it herself. Check out our little monkey! Her favorite fruit is oranges (for now), I'll have to take a video of her eating an orange. It is too funny! In other news...

Next week, Katie moves to the Toddler (Waddler) room at daycare. We are a little nervous, but excited too. They have more activities and I also don't have to pack anymore breakfast or lunches. What am I going to do with all my free time???

What is your occupation?

Yesterday morning, I was home alone with Katie and Amber. For those that didn't know, I was watching the dog while my parents were in Rome (poor them). There was a knock at the door and I assumed it was a package that was supposed to arrive today. Note: I am an online shopping addict.

I ran to the door only to find an investigator that wanted to interview me because my neighbor was getting a clearance. I've done probably 5 of these interviews, so I know what they are about but warned her that I had a dog (that I was trying to push back from the door) and a baby in the house. Another note: I still call Katie a baby!

She didnt' seem to mind and came in to interview me. She asked all the normal questions and then said "For your occupation, do you want me to put Full Time Mother?"!?!?! I went on to tell her that I really do have a career and job title. But I really wanted to say that even if you go to work, you are still a Full Time Mother, in my opinion. Yes, going to work is a little bit of a break, but I'm still making doctor appointments, planning meals, etc.

YES...I am a Full Time Mother/Finance Manager/MBA student/dog sitter.

So, what is your occupation? :)

Katie's first time in the snow

Today it snowed for a short time, but I wanted to get Katie outside in case we don't get any good snowfalls this year! We're hoping for a good snowfall so she can really enjoy it...but this will have to do, for now. If you listen carefully, you will hear her "huffing" with excitement!

"Wow, this stuff looks pretty cool!"

"Chase me, Mommy!"

Holiday recap

I have so much to catch up on and I've been putting it off for too long! Below is a recap of our past month...be prepared for a long post!

Katie has been a very busy girl and is talking more than ever. She is becoming quite a helper and likes to clean up her highchair, brush her hair and throw away trash. Below is a video of how she helped us put ornaments on the tree.

Dec 20th - I held my first cookie exchange and I think it was a success. The cookies were delicious and we all went home with plenty of cookies to share with family and friends! It was great to get everyone together before the holidays and see friends that we hadn't seen in awhile.

Before we knew it, Christmas had arrived and Katie was ready for all the excitement! We were NOT ready for all the new toys though...oy vey! We started the morning by opening gifts at our house, just the three of us. Katie was excited to see everything under the tree, although she was not too good at opening her gifts. We had to do most of the unwrapping, but she was happy once the gift was revealed.

After Christmas at our house, we headed to Grandma and Grandpa's...where we met up with Uncle Mikey and Caitlin.

She was pretty tired after a full morning of unwrapping. Getting all those gifts must be hard work! In one of the pictures below, you will see that she kept laying on the floor and saying "night night".

She did pretty well for herself and has lots of new things to play with......puzzles, legos, plastic food, coloring books, crayons, clothes, a pink telephone, a car wheel with all kinds of gadgets, shoes, a puppy, and even twin baby dolls. The post wouldn't be complete without a display of Uncle Mikey's car toy.