26 weeks

26 Weeks and feeling good!

My mom says that I should write things down, so that this baby doesn't feel left out.  She is the youngest of five, so I guess she would know how it feels to have a small baby book ... and less pictures than most.  I will try to take her advice and give a little extra love to the Heinrich little.

This pregnancy has been going really well.  I feel great!  I work out (almost) daily.  I LOVE Zumba!  I try to do that 3 times a week ... with yoga, pilates, and bodyflow mixed in-between.  I think the only part that has me a little worried is that I have been LOVING sweet drinks.  I barely ever drink coffee when I'm not pregnant ... or for the matter none at all when I was pregnant with my first two.  Now, I want a sweet de-caf coffee drink every day!  I do not get one every day ... but I want one none-the-less.  I would choose water nearly every day of the week pre-pregnancy over any other type of drink ... and yet ... I want pop, juice ... and that sweet decaffeinated mocha gold.  I made up my mind to take initiative to stop all consumption of anything but water ... and a swig of OJ when I take my iron pill in the evening.  I hope that works out ... because I'm pretty sure all of the sugary drinks aren't doing me any favors.

Other than that ... I have no particular cravings ... and no particular avoidances.  Although, I dislike the smell of any kind of lotion, so I had to buy unscented lotion for people with sensitive skin.  It's the only lotion I will use or permit to be used around me.  The smell of scented lotions right now make me ill.  Though ... I still LOVE the smell of my fall candles!  Thank goodness!  That keeps me sane in the heat of the fall.

26 weeks ... and (knock on wood) no swelling ... no night insomnia ... no uncomfortable sleeping positions ... no extreme tiredness ... no extreme hunger ... no illness ... occasional heartburn, but nothing a little Tums can't handle!

We still have few ... and by few, I mean possibly one ... baby name for a girl.  We have a solid boy's name with several contenders.  We had this issue when we didn't know of Colton's gender yet, and we had this issue when we knew Khloe was going to be a girl.  Girl names are oil and water for us.  I hope we can think of at least two or three by the time he or she arrives.  It wouldn't be very nice for her not to have a name, if that's what the baby ends up being.  We'll have to battle it out sooner or later, I guess!

Onward I go ... hopefully, it's smooth sailing ... keeping my spirits up!

why must we?

I could punch myself in the face ... seriously ... why must we, as moms or soon-to-be moms, post every article that someone has posted on the internet to support our feelings on how we raise (or would like to raise) our kids?  Why do we have to post about EVERYTHING we feel?  Why do we have to justify our beliefs and shove it in our "friends list" faces by cluttering the newsfeed with an insane number of blog posts, articles, book suggestions, etc. on the best way to raise our infants/toddlers/pre-schoolers/school aged kiddos/teenagers?

"You Should Vaccinate"/"Vaccinations are of the Devil"
"Why 'Cry It Out' is Terrible for Your Baby's Mental Health"/"Why You Should Let Your Child CIO"
"Midwives, Doulas, Birthing Centers--the Only Right Way"/"Midwives, Doulas, Birthing Centers--What Were You Thinking" 
"Vegan Veggie Kids Unite"/"Why Meat Supports Better Brain Health"
"Stay-at-Home-Moms Caring for Their Children"/"Moms Who Work--Being Great Role Models"

I mean ... honestly!  Aren't there websites where you can post your comments and thoughts for the specific group of people who agree with whatever angle you are posting for?  Isn't there a group on Facebook directly geared toward your beliefs filled with people who are boosting for your same thoughts on parenting?  Why can't you post your thoughts and feelings there, instead of on your wall where it has to show up in my newsfeed making me feel like ... maybe you think I needed to read this article.  You know what I believe and how I am raising my kids ... maybe you are trying to gently get me to see the "light" that is your belief system by posting ... posting ... and OVERPOSTING your guilt ridden, one-sided, subjective articles.

It doesn't work ... what you believe is most likely what you believe because you have done some research into it yourself.  You have read books, articles, blogs ... yourself.  You have researched and asked doctors ... yourself.  And in the end, you have come to the conclusion that the way you are parenting your kids is right for YOU and your children.  No number of FB posts are going to sway my decisions ... as I would hope, it would not sway yours.

There is no ONE right way ... we all have different kids with different needs ... we are all different mothers with different personalities ... we all have different gifts and differences in opinions.  Let's praise each other for wanting so much to care for our children and to give them the best, instead of shoveling our ideals down each other's throats in a sad attempt to change the masses to the "right way".  There is no "right way" ... only the way that is right for you.

Fall? Is that you?

I don't know what has been up with this Florida weather, but we have had about a week of some fantastic, humid-free, low temp weather.  It's summer weather for most of you, but for us Floridians ... it's FALL!

We first took advantage of this gorgeous weather last Wednesday when my good friend, Gina, and her son, Gideon, came to visit us.  Our MOMs Club outing for the day was at Nanny's Educational Zoo.  The kids always love going there to pet and feed her rescued animals.  It was a GORGEOUS day!  Cloudy ... cool ... humid-free ... just lovely.  I kept waiting for the ball to drop and the heat to kick on, but to my good fortune, it was super nice all day ... and it has been that way ever since!

The kids always love going to the Nanny's Zoo.  They love to see the animals up close, and they enjoy feeding them.  Sometimes they taste the snacks they are supposed to be feeding to the animals ... stale crackers and such.  Yuck!  Khloe LOVED the horses!  She thought their kisses were tickly.  As usual, they both enjoyed feeding the goats.  There were a couple of HUGE snakes there ... and two emu--which is weird, you know, since they are indigenous to Australia. There was a super, cool Moluccan Cockatoo that could basically say anything you said.  Colton got it going and saying "good-bye"!  It was really cute!  They, also, had pigs, chickens, rabbits, iguanas, a ground hog, and four calves.

We spent the day with our friend, Gideon, and his Mommy, Gina!

Checking out the Iguanas.

One of the two huge snakes!

Khloe checking out the pigs.

Silly goat standing on the picnic table. 

Khloe was not a fan of the emus.  They were too aggressive!

Khloe petting the goats.  She is not afraid of much!

Just swinging away on the tire swing.

Hanging out with her pal, Carson.

Colton is talking to the rabbits. 

G shows Gideon the bunnies!

He had a good time looking at all of the animals!

The kids feeding the rabbits celery.

Khloe waves to the horsey!

Looking at the piggies!

Feeding the goats some stale crackers.

Letting the horse lick his hand. 

A goat, a llama, and some calves. 

Colton checking out the prairie dog.

After our trip to Nanny's Zoo, Gina and I took our kids to eat at Hungry Greek.  It was as tasty as always!  I love Greek food!  It was so good to catch up with Gina.  I have missed seeing her.  She only lives an hour and a half away in Orlando, but we find it difficult to make the time to visit.  She is healing from back surgery, and that makes for a difficult time for her.  We'll have to go up to see her and Gideon before Christmas.

Koki had her 2-year well-check this week.  She had to have three shots ... and poor Colton got surprised by the flu shot!  He thought it was just a check for Khloe.  Whooops!  The doctor said she is growing well.  Here are her stats:

Height--34 inches (75th percentile)
Weight--31.5 pounds (90th percentile)
Head Circumference--20 1/4 inches (100+ percentile ... our big headed babies!)

"Smiling" for her 2-year well-check photo. 

Silly! 

 I asked for a kiss ... I got a lick. 

This past weekend, we had some other friends visit us.  On Thursday, we all (minus Khloe) went to the Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Chicago Blackhawks game.  We invited our friends, Lindy and Matt Liepke, to join us.  Matt is a huge Blackhawks fan.  Colton got to meet some cheerleaders at the game, and he and I both got to ride on the zamboni after the first period.  Colton was super excited, and he had a great time!

Colton and me on the zamboni! 

Two crazy boys having some treats!

Colton with the cheerleaders!

Friday, I took the kids to the FL Aquarium.  They always love going there.  Khloe said her favorite thing was seeing the jellyfish, while Colton's favorite part was seeing the sharks.  We had lunch with our friends, Gwendy and Carson, at Alessi's Bakery.  It is SO good!

Checking out the big tank ... looking for sharks!

They found them!

Looking at the fish!

Just relaxing ...

On Sabbath, I taught Sabbath School, and then we just hung out with our friends and chatted the afternoon away.  It was so nice having Matt and Lindy here to visit with.  They live in Orlando now, so we hope to see them more often.

On Sabbath, Koki found my high heels after church.  She went tromping through the house in them!

Sunday was a full day of going to the park, working in the yard, and watching football.  We tried to take it a little bit easy ... as this week will be pretty busy as we prepare to head north at the end of the week.  We're going on a family vacation!  We're headed to see the fall leaves in North Carolina.  We rented a cabin in the woods, and I am SO excited!!!  We will, also, get to see our friends, the Murrills, for a little bit.  I can't wait for that, too!

Went to the park on Sunday morning ... love my dolly! 

Watching some football later that day ...

the haps of late

I have had my usual hard time writing blogs about what we've been up to ... I decided to do a small compilation blog with a bunch of random things we have done over the past month.  So ... it will be mostly in picture format with captions as the copy to let you know what we were up to.

Here are a few of the things the Heinrichs have been doing lately:

This is Mommy & Daddy's gift to Koki for her 2nd birthday! 

She absolutely LOVES it, and she plays with it all of the time. 

The nice part is that the floors are so large that she can fit her Barbie's in the house, too.

We headed to the Harvester's Pumpkin Patch again this year with MOMs Club ... it's at a local church.

I love my sweeties!

Through all of this craziness and fun, my birthday happened.  Billy couldn't spend breakfast with me, so he bought me these lovely treats for me to enjoy a special breakfast anyway.

He took me to the Tampa Bay Lightning home opener game.  We watched it in the owners' suite box.  Great view and all the food we could manage!

Happy 33 years to me!

What a fun time we had together!

I hosted my MOMs Club October Kids' in the Kitchen.  We made Greek yogurt covered frozen bananas.  They were cute! 

The spread at my MOMs Club event at our house.  Yum!

All of our banana ghosts! Spooky!

Koki listening to the children's story at church.

Cutie!

Praying ... not sneezing. 

Cradle Rolls A & B were in charge of performing a little bit at church.  They sang and did a hand poem.

Colton found Luigi (from CARS 1 & 2) at a car show at Wiregrass Mall.

I watched Gwendy's kids for an hour last week.  I found Colton reading about the fish in this book to Mason ... and Mason was patiently listening.

Koki was reading a book to herself.

A few weeks ago, Mom H was in town ... well, in Orlando, so we went to visit her at Brenda's house.  This is on our Sabbath evening walk.

Koki sliding with Grandma!

Riding in Ethan's little red wagon.

Peeking over the dock to see the fish.

Colton pulling Koki for a little ride.

My lovely family on a walk together.

This week, I hosted our MOMs Club craft play date.  We made hand painted pumpkins.

The finished product!

We visited a local fire station this week!

The kids enjoying the fire truck!

Our crew from MOMs Club who attended the Fire Station Tour.

We have been busy, and we have been having a lot of fun!  I love this time of year ... even if it's not too cool out.  Fall is the best season, and we are enjoying it immensely!