Is it just me, or is the room spinning???

Wowzers - I'm going to have to check the blog I made when I was pregnant with Dyson but I don't remember these "dizzy spells"... I can't find a pattern either - it's not the same time of day, I'm not necessarily hungry or due to eat, etc... not sure what's going on. The little Google searching I have done points to high blood pressure side effects which I doubt is the cause, because I've never had high blood pressure at any of my checkups or low iron which sounds a little more likely.

We're due for our next appointment next Friday so I'm going to amp up my iron-rich foods (yum, huh?) based on the options listed on this site I found - http://www.fatfreekitchen.com/nutrition/iron.html - and see if that helps any, then just let the doctor know.

Stay tuned. ;)

Camping with mommy, daddy, Dyson and baby makes 4!

My two absolute favorite family vacations I can tie just about every fun, summer moment to are camping (in the pop-up!) and the houseboat trips.

Well I'm on lucky duck because Mikey enjoys camping too and last weekend we did three days at the lake camping with Dyson. Tents and all. We did make one improvement from last year - blow up mattress and it's just silly we didn't get one before - it's a 1000 times better than sleeping on the ground.

Everything was great - the weather was beautiful, the lake was great (http://www.virginia.org/site/description.asp?attrID=29489) . So good in fact, Dyson couldn't tear himself away to nap... at all. So he was up from 7-9 (when it got dark out) and crashed! The hardest part was 'holding it' every morning around 4 or 5 when Mike and I would wake up and be too afraid to go out to the bathroom out of fear that Dyson would wake up... that boy does not go back to sleep after he's up ;)

So we're on for next weekend. Camping trip #2. Can't wait!!!!!

Turning over a new leaf!

YUM! I'm obsessed with salad. I haven't made a salad at home ever since I found a dead mosquito in a bag of ready-to-eat chopped lettuce a few months back. But I had a coupon (heaven knows I love a coupon!) for a store brand garlic Caesar dressing and ready mix cut lettuce. I added some tomatoes from the farmers market and some spicy cut salami and a little chopped leftover bacon. It's AMAZING!!! Taste buds coming back to to me and baby's a salad lover - who knew?! Taking after mommy.... maybe we have a girl after all??? A love for salad is one thing Mike will not be passing down to any of our kids.

That said Dyson did eat some chopped lettuce for the first time with a lot of cheering from mom and dad and urging to see "sunshine mouth" - a wonderful trick from daycare where the kids chew, chew, chew to show you a clean mouth and get high fives ;) Hey, whatever works - my 2 year old is eating raw lettuce, I'll stand on my head if I have to! ;)

Mommy and baby... on a skateboard??

I had a pretty great dream last night. I was absolutely rocking out on a skateboard - mind you, I also had a waistline (aka wasn't pregnant). I'm 28 years old, pregnant with our second and I still don't know how to skateboard. A downright crime if you know my social circle from the Serrano Seahawk Jr HS days in Cali...

A lot of people I know have a bucket list, but I'm a Tunila (so I'm impatient), and made mine a "before I'm 30" list. Before I'm 30 I would like to be able to not embarrass my son on a skateboard. Sadly my skating career was cut short on a church trip to Mexico where I was trying to show I didn't have to sit on the sidelines with the other girls, that I could skate too. Well, the board went out from under me and so did my legs, I landed on my hip/bum and ended up black and blue (and couldn't cry, of course, to save face). OUCH!!!

So, why is this dream confession on baby's blog? Baby, I have you to thank. If I wasn't 13 weeks pregnant with you I'd have gone out to the store this morning and bought a board - not to mention me finding some random 15 year old kid to teach me.

So thank you baby, for keeping me off a skateboard (and my hip/bum bruise-less) for another 6 months (at least). Just one more reason daddy and I are excited you're a part of our growing family!

Second doctor's appointment.... not to be outdone...

Well, well, well... I guess it's the "Tunila" coming out of them kids. Our babies are very competitive and do things on their own time table ;)

At today's appointment the doctor tried to find the heartbeat with the monitor and couldn't (that was a short sentence, in real life, that was about 5 minutes ending with me in tears and eyes shut praying). Then she said, "Not to worry, this happens, let's do a sonogram to confirm everything is fine." So we did. And it was. Fine, that is. Baby just wasn't ready for us to hear her/his heartbeat... VERY similar to his/her older brother as Mike reminded me. We had the exact same thing happen with Dyson at 13 weeks. (This did not make today's visit any less unnerving - my heart was racing!)

I think I got my first glimmer of a "just because you've done this before doesn't mean it's any easier or less stressful" mommy moment. The lesson I'm taking away from this is 1) just to expect all the same jitters as I had when I was pregnant with Dyson, 2) when in doubt pray like heck and 3) again, it's nice to know I have my rock (daddy) in the appointments with me to calm me down and put things in perspective.

We're 12 weeks in!

Yay! We're 12 weeks in - first trimester done ;)

One lucky duck....

Baby,

This is momma... I was just thinking on my way in to work this morning how lucky you and I are. With an hour commute it leaves plenty of time to "just think".

Wait till you meet your father - okay, I'm already tearing up - he is the most amazing man. He'll do anything for you, your brother and me - anything to make you safe, happy and really just about anything to make you smile ;) Don't get me wrong, my picker wasn't always so keen - I dated some real pieces of work in high school and college - but if I must say so myself, I picked a good one with your daddy. He's so loyal - never a cross word - the strongest moral compass of anyone I know and works so hard for us.

And then there's your brother (daddy's mini-me) he's the sweetest kid - starts to get upset if anyone is hurt or sad - and so smart - absolutely in love with books and chatting it up at the age of 2! He's already in love with you too - talks to you through mommy's belly button, gives you kisses and even tried to share his Popsicle with you the other day (again, through mommy's belly button). He's excited to show you how to shoot hoops, swing a bat, play catch and pass/hit a volleyball - some of his favorites.

Yep munchkin, we are blessed. We are all so excited to meet you and welcome you in to your family! But for now, stay in there, keep growing and we'll see you when the snow starts falling (December!). Love you!!

First Bikini Day for Baby!

Oh, little one - if you only knew.... momma is out sporting a two piece with you showing off your roundness ;)

We had a great weekend with friends and topped it off with a pool party in our backyard - Dyson was a HUGE fan (pictures to come) - and this was all after standing in line for 20 minutes at the local county water park only to find out there were at capacity and that was NOT going to happen Sunday. ;)