I Should Be Folding Laundry

Baby boy is the size of a mango! How Far Along? 19 weeks Weight Gain? Probably at least 3-4 pounds by now. Maternity Clothes? I'm officially in all maternity clothes now. I'll be going through all my drawers in my dresser and the last load of laundry yet to be folded and remove all my regular clothes. Its fine though, maternity clothes are more comfy anyway.  Stretch Marks? Sadly, the ones on my tummy are starting to turn purple again.  Sleep? I've been way more tired this week than I have in a few months. I've needed to take a nap every day for the past three days since I just get so exhausted! (Its actually what I'll be doing once I'm done writing this post.) Best Moment This Week? Seeing the baby move for the first time. He kicked the waist band on my sweatpants so hard that even Josh saw it! Miss Anything? My hubby! He had two and a half weeks off and his first day back to work was Thursday. Even Lincoln wasn't happy, that day he wouldn...

Christmas this year has been everything we'd hoped for! Things have gone wonderfully (other than one minor setback) and I'm so pleased! So the night before Christmas Eve, I got the 24 hour stomach flu... Not much fun, but luckily, the baby was easily entertaining himself while Josh relaxed and enjoyed his holiday. Daddy and Lincoln first thing this morning We actually had to wake Lincoln up at 9 AM, which was so nice! Luckily, I felt better this morning so I was able to eat popeyed/bubble/german pancakes (whatever you prefer to call it...) just before opening presents. While Josh cleaned up breakfast, Lincoln noticed baby Jesus in the manger and tipped him out of it. Then he rubbed his bald head between his two fingers. Lincoln loved opening his gifts! His first present was a toy telephone and he couldn't put it down! We got to talk to Josh's little bro who is on his mission in Jamaica! (Photo to be added soon...) I'm loving Josh...

      So this Sunday morning was like other Sundays. We were running a little behind and some things weren't going as planned.      We made it to church five minutes after the hour and we sat in our seat in the chapel.      The sacrament was passed, Lincoln loved the bread and water. He was playing with a toy when all hell broke loose.      It was like the puking scene from the Excorsist. More fluid came out of my little boys mouth than what we thought was possible. Josh tried to keep it off the floor by cupping his hand but after a couple wretches, we realized that there was no hope and we would just have to let him finish.      Josh and my Mom-in-Law were up in a flash. I stripped the kid (luckily he had a clean onesie underneath his shirt and overalls) and took him to the bathroom to wash his face and hands. Josh and Mary Ann returned to deodorize the carpet and clean up what they could before it sunk in....

We are proud to announce the gender of baby number 2! Its a BOY! I won't lie; I was sort of in shock and then I was just confused since my symptoms are nearly 100% different. But, from what my aunt said about her pregnancies, its not that uncommon. You can see his cute little fingers!! Both Josh and I think that Lincoln will love having a little brother and we are so psyched that we're getting another adorable little boy! He was very cooperative when it came to seeing his little guy parts as well as having all his measurements done. I'm really glad he decided to listen to his mommy! I can't wait to meet my second little boy!!! Thanks for reading! Mackenzie

Baby is the size of an onion How Far Along? 17 weeks Weight Gain?  1 pound Maternity Clothes?  I'm gonna need to start wearing my maternity clothes exclusively soon since my tee shirts are starting to look funny. Stretch Marks: A few small ones have been popping up here and there but nothing major. Sleep? I've had two traumatic dreams and one that left me confused all in a row! Starting from last night: I dreamed that we went in for my ultrasound tomorrow and they told us it's a boy! Not that I would be disappointed or anything, but I really am convinced its a girl! It could be the fact that every member of my immediate family, aside from two who weren't present when we had the conversation, are guessing its a boy, or maybe its what my aunt said a couple weeks ago. I guess we'll see if its true or if it was just my brain playing tricks on me. Two nights ago, I dreamed that I had to be induced for some problem that nobody would tell me at 17 weeks. Talk ab...

 Baby is the size of an avocado! How Far Along? 16 weeks 2 days Weight Gain? 1 pound Maternity Clothes? I've been kinda bummed this week since I can't wear my medium maternity pants. All my maternity pants are medium but one pair is cut small, two medium pairs are the ones I wore most of my last pregnancy and the pair I've been wearing lately is cut bigger than the rest. This pair is slightly too big for my legs so they don't stay up very well but they don't squish the baby as much as the medium ones do. I was actually wearing one of my medium pairs on Saturday and the baby was kicking the top of them because baby was getting squashed too much. :( Stretch Marks? They haven't gotten any worse since week 14 so I'm pretty happy about that. Sleep? I've been sleeping much better this week than in previous weeks and I've been using my body pillow between my legs to relieve some hip discomfort. Best Moment This Week? Realizing that Monday was the...

So its 11 days before my ultrasound and I'm getting super anxious! I love the feeling of knowing what your baby is so you don't have to call it, well, an 'it'! The baby can hear you by week 16 so you can start calling them by their name after your mid-pregnancy ultrasound! That's actually the biggest reason I like to know what I'm gonna name them before I go. Good news in the name department! I think we've found the name we're using if its a boy! Well, not the complete first-middle-last combination, but we have found a first name that Josh loves and I'm learning to love.  I'm pretty sure my husband is the pickiest person I've ever seen when it comes to naming a baby. He doesn't care if I do my makeup, how I decorate the house or if I lounge in sweats all day, but he definitely has a thing or two to say about pretty much every single name I mention. Its usually negative or neutral feedback, so I was beginning to think this whole n...

Baby is the size of a navel orange! How Far Along?  15 weeks Weight Gain? 1 pound Maternity Clothes? Other than when we went out for Thanksgiving, I have been in sweats/pajamas pretty much all week. Stretch Marks? I haven't noticed any more of my old ones going purple this week... yay! Sleep? I've been pretty restless, and I've been waking up a lot in the middle of the night. Best Moment This Week? Feeling baby move distinctly late last night and Lincoln took his first little steps on Thanksgiving! Miss Anything? Nothing really comes to mind, actually. Movement? Its becoming more and more obvious when the little one kicks! Food Cravings? Chocolate, and Josh's biscuits and gravy. I love it when my hubby cooks for me :) Anything Making You Queasy or Sick? Bacon, marinara sauce and eggs Have You Started Showing Yet? Not even close! The lump in my tummy is getting bigger every day, it seems, so I'm guessing it'll happen any day now. Gender Predictio...

Being obsessed with names for years, I seem to have become desensitized to a lot of names that I could possibly like, so I'm really at a standstill when it comes to boy names. I've loved Marco, Lucius and Virgil, among others. All of them so far have fallen flat on their faces after a few days of thinking about it. I'm one of those moms that tries to have a name picked out for the baby by the gender revealing ultrasound. Since that's just over two weeks away, I'm sort of freaking out! So I've come to a decision: I'm going to open up to new suggestions! I've become desperate for boys names! My only rule is that there aren't any suggestions that end in -er. Since our last name is Packer, a name like Hunter or Parker I won't like because it'll be too -er heavy. Okay, so GO! Give me suggestions! Thanks for your help! Mackenzie P.S. If you don't follow my blog, you can either leave an anonymous message here or a message on this ...

I can't believe that Thanksgiving is already here! It seems like only a few weeks have  passed since I had Lincoln (HE'S ALMOST 1. SUPER WEIRD) So the fact that Thanksgiving is almost here is blowing my mind! Lets start off with a song for you to listen to while reading this post. :) Lets get started! 1) I'm thankful for chocolate! Its what I've been viciously craving all week (R.I.P. to that half gallon of Rocky Road ice cream I downed in a little over two days...) 2) Like I said last year, blankets! My mom-in-laws house has been freezing over the past two weeks due to some minor excavation work done on the foundation so I'm grateful I had something to keep my toesies warm! 3) Food! Since I can finally eat again, I'm thankful for yummy food! 4) Snow! If you remember from the last season, my favorite part of the Christmas season is the snow! We've only had two or three snow storms thus far but I'm looking forward to have blankets of white co...

Sadly, that 'bump' you see is just chub :( No baby bump yet How Far Along? 14 weeks Weight Gain? 1 pound Maternity Clothes? Its starting to get to the point where I need to wear my maternity pants all the time (or at least pajamas) since my belly is starting to expand rapidly. Stretch Marks? More and more are turning purple again :( Sleep? The weird dreams have stopped, but my dreams are still incredibly stressful. Best Moment This Week? Hearing my baby's heartbeat on the monitor at my appointment this morning and Lincoln has begun standing on his own for ten to fifteen seconds at a time since yesterday! Miss Anything? My normal pants! I'm too big for normal jeans, but still too small for my maternity clothes to fit well. Movement? I still haven't felt anything really obvious yet, but the taps are becoming more and more obvious! Food Cravings? Oranges. I bought some orange Yoplait yogurt and some real deal oranges at the store today and I can't w...

I've been meaning to write an update of what's going on in our lives for a while now, and I finally have a few extra minutes to write! So we three have been living with my mom-in-law since the beginning of September because we're saving for a newer car and a house. Its been a bit tricky bringing in the things from our old 780 square foot apartment to a home that already has furniture and decorations and organizing everything, but we're finally getting a handle on things! Lincoln finally has his own room, even though it has our huge dresser and a few storage items in it. Its his favorite play space though, since he can open drawers and he loves pulling all our clothes out of them. Also, it makes my life a little easier since his room is really the only place in the whole house where its baby proofed so I don't have to watch him like a hawk every minute of the day. Josh is busy working and going to school. He's still undecided as to what his major is, but w...

Baby is the size of a peach this week! How Far Along? 13 weeks Weight Gain: I'm not entirely sure since my scale is broken, but my pre-pregnancy pants still fit and my shirts don't feel any tighter... so I guess zero pounds I've gained?? Maternity Clothes: Even though I still don't really need them, I love my maternity pants, especially my yoga pants! Plus, I'm staying in my pajamas all day almost every day. The only real reason I wear jeans is when I leave the house. Stretch Marks:  My old ones are still getting darker... talk about a self esteem throw down... Sleep:  Still having bizarre dreams, and as I said in my last update, I really hope they stop soon. Half the time I wake up all freaked out and it seems like I didn't even sleep! Best Moment This Week? Finding out my hair is almost past my chin earlier today! I've been growing out my pixie cut for about two and a half months so its a big milestone! Miss Anything? Not gagging nearly every t...

I apologize for the delay in my preggo updates! How Far Along? 11 weeks Weight Gain? According to my doc, I've lost 6 lbs. on account of I can't eat hardly anything due to this queasiness. Maternity Clothes: Even though I don't technically need to wear any maternity clothes yet, but probably half of what I wear is maternity! Stretch Marks: I'm not getting any more but all my old ones are turning purple again... dang it... Sleep: I'm still having super weird dreams, I really hope they stop soon. Best Moment This Week? Hearing the baby's heart beat on the fetal doppler at my first appointment! Miss Anything? FOOD. That's it. Food. Movement? I've actually felt a couple taps already, but they're very faint so sometimes I wonder if its even baby! But my doctor said its not uncommon to start feeling the baby at around 10-12 weeks for second timers. Food Cravings? Peanut butter everything (pb crunch, Reeses Puffs, straight pb from the jar, et...

I finally remembered to do a weekly update instead of a bi-monthly update! Little Lincoln is getting bolder with his balance. He's been letting go of the things he's been holding on to and even though he can only stand for a second or two at a time, I'm getting excited that he's gaining more confidence! He's started making throat based noises, namely the y (ee) sound. I keep thinking he's saying yeah, and maybe he actually is! He's way more curious than he's ever been this week. He's tearing things out of cabinets and drawers faster than you can think! You look away for a minute and then he's made a giant mess! I'm pretty sure he's going through a growth spurt. He's eating almost as much as I do and he's sleeping for about 6 hours (collectively) during his naps. He's starting to laugh at things happening around him. The cat was batting at a stylus I was wiggling in front of her and Lincoln was laughing hysterical...

Some exciting things have happened since Lincoln's last update! Lincoln finally cut a tooth on the 12th of October! I would post a picture, but whenever I try to look at it, he sticks his tongue out! However, sometimes if you get him to smile really big, you can see it! Most of the time, if you say, "How big is Lincoln?" he'll raise both arms. If you say, "SO big!" he'll usually bust out a big smile or even start to laugh! Yesterday, we were watching My Neighbor Totoro on my bed and Lincoln was playing with some clothes from the clean laundry. He's beginning to love peek-a-boo so I lifted up the sheet, and played it with him for a couple minutes. After the game was over, Lincoln grabbed the sheet and covered his face! Then he quickly lowered his hands and he started laughing hysterically! He repeated that for about ten minutes, and then he was tired and went to sleep. I love how he's really starting to mimic things!! He'...

I'm so happy I filmed mine and Josh's reactions to the news that I'm pregnant! This was taken the day I found out, I hope you enjoy it! Also, here's the picture from my 6 week ultrasound! I know it just looks like a blob (since that's pretty much exactly what it was at this point in time) but I think its the cutest little blob ever! I can't wait to be a mommy again! Thanks for reading! Mackenzie

9/16/13 So, Josh and I have been trying to get pregnant for about two and a half months. I took a test on the 7th of September and it was clearly negative. I figured my period was just running late since Its 41 days since my last period and I'm still breastfeeding. But I took a pregnancy test today just to be sure, since my last cycle was only 35 days. I was shocked to see this: I'M PREGNANT AGAIN!!! So, I'm still so much in shock! I can't believe this is actually happening! My first thought when seeing the 'pregnant' word on the test was, "HOLY CRAP!". Actually, I still kinda feel like that, to be honest! Its just so surreal! I can't wait for you all to see the video of mine and Josh's reactions once I post them! I was touching my tummy today, trying to imagine my next sweet baby growing in there and I just can't even comprehend what's going on in this head of mine. I already feel such a connection with my next litt...

So my little man has been up to a lot in the past three weeks! I'm so proud of him! I apologize for the lack of photos again, I still can't find my camera and its driving me crazy! I did pull some pictures from my mom-in-laws Facebook, so I hope you enjoy the few photos there are. Lincoln can officially crawl! It was Saturday the 21st of September and he just got up and started going. He hasn't stopped since and he's been a lot happier since he can move around more. He used to get really frustrated that he couldn't get around as much as he wanted. Now, he's so much more mobile and he just loves it! Also, he's a pro at pulling himself up and leaning down to pick stuff up. He's not quite able to stand on his own but he's definitely on his way. He's officially in a convertible car seat! No more carrying him in that awkward infant car seat! (thank goodness!) His newest sound is jaja. He still makes the scream whenever he gets excited, esp...

Hey! Long time, no see! I apologize for my lack of posts for the last while. Things have been absurdly crazy for the past few weeks and I've been too busy to post anything. Luckily, I have a few extra minutes to make a Lincoln post this morning. Sadly, I don't have any pictures for this post! Hopefully I'll find my camera by next week so I can post some pictures! Lincoln has made some great progress over the past 4 weeks. He can pull himself to standing quite easily. Ever since he's figured this out, he's been so much happier. Half the time he just laughs while he's pulling himself up. He's trying to walk while holding onto your hands. It's so cute when he tries to walk because he breathes really fast and he can't stop smiling. Also, he's doing really well with cruising! Linc hasn't really made any further leaps to crawling. He still does the army crawl and he's like a speed demon. I leave him for about a minute while I toss his ...

First off, I'm so sorry I slacked off these last few weeks with my Lincoln updates! Things have been a little crazy around here so I completely spaced it!  My little guy is doing so well with sitting up! He can sit for periods of about three minutes before getting tired and toppling over. Sometimes, he'll sit up longer if he has something in front of him to hold his attention. I think he has a favorite stuffed animal. It's an adorable kangaroo and Lincoln loves to chew on him! He's eating bananas and they're still his favorite! We started giving him some baby puffs that are flavored like bananas to help him get used to chewing foods and they're working well. He's also showing some good progress towards the pincer grasp as well as chewing! Yesterday, Lincoln made a huge leap toward crawling! Watch this: So even though he's not off and crawling, he's getting pretty darned close. I guess its time to invest in some baby...

We finally had a bit of extra cash to spend on making the bathroom more 'Mackenzie'! Here's the bathroom before: Now, here's the after! I love the skyline curtain! We still need to change the color of the rugs, the art and the hooks for the curtain, but for now, I'm loving it! The black and white (and grey I guess) with pops of color really shows my style. I'm excited that my bathroom is starting to reflect me! I know its not a lot of changes right now, but I'll show you guys the end result once we've finished! Thanks for reading! Mackenzie

Here's Linc's next update! He said 'da' a few times while he was babbling over the past few days, which is a huge breakthrough! I've been trying to get him to say dada for the past month or so, so this is big! I've noticed something about my little one. He is so aware of his surroundings and he's very observant. He'll grab something, look at it for about 15 or 20 seconds and then decide if he wants to eat it, throw it, or shake it. Its really exciting to see! He's also very gentle. I'll be holding him and he will just reach up and gently touch my face. He used to pinch my skin because he didn't have a lot of control, but now he just strokes your skin and I think its so sweet. He started eating apples on Tuesday. He made a sour face when he first tasted it but then he couldn't get enough! Linc eyeballing the carrots just before tasting He tried carrots for the first time today and he actually likes them better ...