11 weeks is 2 packets of sugar

Your Baby
All of your baby's vital organs are now formed and functioning, so the risk of defects decreases this week as your baby becomes less susceptible to outside influences. Phew! Other exciting developments include:

Baby's ears are assuming their proper place this week and the fingernail and toenail beds are beginning to form. Your little "pumpkin head" really lives up to his nickname as his head is nearly as big as the rest of his body.

While testes or ovaries are completely formed now, don't start decorating the nursery. You won't be able to see your baby's gender for a few more weeks yet.

Your baby is really on the move now. In an ultrasound you might be able to see your little acrobat flailing his or her arms and legs and doing somersaults worthy of Cirque du Soleil. You still won't be able to feel any movement, so if you feel something "kick" in there, it's probably gas.

In the next nine weeks, your baby will increase 30 times in weight and almost triple in length. You might feel like you're increasing 30 times in weight at this point, too, but we can assure you're not—because, honey, you ain't seen nothin' yet!

Your baby now weighs a third of an ounce, about the same as two small, Starbucks-sized packets of sugar, is about 2 inches long, the length of one of those sugar packets. Isn't that sweet?

A fun outing

We went to the Phoenix Children's Museum on Monday and it was SO much fun! It's 3 stories of pure fun and the girls loved exploring every room. Their favorites were the kitchen and grocery store where they could shop for food and create meals. The love the pretend play stuff so much.

This is what happens...

when we skip naptime. Ryan decided she didn't want to nap the other day and when bedtime rolled around she was sideways. We had some nice meltdowns including this one where she insisted that she HAD to go pee. She was so tired and finally just fell asleep on the potty waiting to go.

Enjoying this time

I took the girls to the Phoenix Children's museum today and we all really enjoyed ourselves. I'm trying to soak up these moments with R&R because I know it will be kind of crazy to take 3 kids out in the future, and these types of outings will be far and few between come next spring. I hope to tote little baby #3 with us everywhere, but it's still going to be lots of work. The girls had SO much fun at the museum. They played in the grocery store, the mazes & tunnels, obstacle course, and LOVED painting the house in the art room. It was really a great day for us.

10 weeks is a Brazil nut

Your Baby
By the end of Week 10, your baby graduates from embryo to fetus, which literally means "little one." It also translates to "I'm just going to keep getting bigger and bigger and so are you!" Other highlights this week:

Your baby has finally morphed from a little tadpole into, well, a baby. Not only is the face more human-like, but that unflattering "tail" (really just the developing spinal cord) has disappeared, fusing into the spinal column.

Your baby now has discernible fingers and toes, which will explain the steady stream of kicks and punches you'll feel down the line.

Junior's skeleton is starting to grow and harden. The ears are beginning to take shape and the eyelids are no longer transparent. Tooth buds are forming, although your baby won't get any teeth until six or seven (or eight or nine or 10) months after birth.

Baby's brain will make an incredible 25,000 new neurons every minute this week. While you may feel like you're losing as many as he's gaining, we can assure you it's not permanent. "Pregnancy brain," like nausea and bloating, is a temporary symptom that soon shall pass. (And then you'll get "Mommy brain," but we won't go there now.)

If you're baby is a boy, he's started producing that macho hormone testosterone. And whether your baby is a boy or a girl, the kidneys are creating copious amounts of urine. Lucky for you, you won't have to change a diaper for another 30 weeks.

Baby weighs only 4 grams and measures 1½ inches, about the size of a mondo Brazil nut.

Bye bye nausea

The nausea is going away. I feel pretty lucky that it only lasted a few weeks. I'm also much less tired. I'm excited to go to the Dr. next week and see the little peanut inside. It almost feels like there could be movement, but I know it's way too early. Maybe I'm just having gas rumbles in the tummy. I swear there are moments when I can feel something moving inside :)

A nice little remedy

I found some caffeine free ginger lemon tea at the store this week and I've been drinking it. Ginger is supposed to help with nausea and it seems to be working. I feel better this week and the tea is yummy. I forgot how much I enjoy hot tea.

My family is so happy

I have definitely neglected my family in the food department the past month or so, but I went to the store yesterday with the girls and we stocked up. It feels really good to have food that I can cook meals with and not have Cory asking, "What's for dinner, should I heat up another frozen pot pie?" I made zucchini casserole last night, chicken & dumplings today, and I think spaghetti is on the agenda tomorrow. The girls and Cory have been tearing it up and there's not many leftovers, but that just motivates me to cook more (I think). Let's hope I can keep up my cooking stamina.

9 weeks is an olive

I'm 9 weeks preggo and it seems like I'm so much further along, probably because we found out I was pregnant when I was only 4 weeks, 3 days along. Here's the latest update on little baby Whyte:

Big news! You may be able to hear the heartbeat this week with the help of a Doppler, an ultrasound device that captures the chug-a-chug sound of baby's heart. The first time you hear baby's heart, your own heart may skip a beat—it's the first real evidence that there's someone growing inside you! If you can't hear the heartbeat, no worries, your doc will just check again in a few weeks. Other amazing developments this week:

Baby is beginning to move, but you won't be able to feel anything for some time.

Baby is growing nipples and hair follicles (although there's still a chance you'll be giving birth to a baldy!) His pancreas, gallbladder, bile ducts and anus are all in place, ready to poop and pee a dozen times a day when he's born. Your baby's head is half the size of his body and his little chin is tucked into his chest. His tiny tail is beginning to shrink away, giving Junior a more human and less amphibious look.

Until now, all pre-babies look the same "down there." This week, however, your baby will begin to develop either male or female genitalia. In layman terms, your baby is beginning to develop her hoo-ha or his wee-wee. While you won't be able to find out the gender of your baby for several more weeks, the version you'll give birth to is being developed right now.

At this stage, your developing fetus is 1-inch in length, about the size of a martini olive (you remember martinis, don't you?) and weighs a mere 2 grams—a little less than a penny.

My interview with the girls

I was asking the girls some random questions the other day and I thought their answers were so funny. I got my piece of paper and pen and started writing everything down. Here's my questions and their answers.

Favorite Food?:
Ree: Mac & cheese
Ry: Watermelon (she'll be sad when summer is over and it's no longer in season. Homegirl can eat about 1/4 of a melon)

Favorite Color:
Ree: Red
Ry: Green

Favorite Animal:
Ree: Elephant
Ry: Lion

Favorite Movie:
Ree: Mamma Mia (knows almost every word to the songs)
Ry: Dora

Favorite room in our house:
Ree: Reesie's bed
Ry: Mommy's bed

Favorite animal at the pet store:
Ree: The doggie that got a haircut
Ry: Chinchilla

Favorite Toy:
Ree: Truck
Ry: Choo Choo Train (we don't have any trains at our house. Have no idea where this came from. Must go buy small toy train)


The girls talk so well but they have these weird little words that mean something to them, but nothing to the rest of us. Must be that twin language thing I hear about. Here's a few:

Gongie or Gonga
Boongo
There's one more that I know I'll hear tomorrow and will come back to write it down.

Time for some new clothes??

I got out the bag of maternity clothes from the closet and dusted them off, washed the ones that needed a good washing, and hung them up. They look so big and frumpy right now, but I better get used to them because it seems that I'm blossoming a bit quicker this time. I need to start taking the bikini photos again. I can still fit in most of my clothes, but there are a few items that I've got to put on and, nope, can't get it on. It's a weird feeling where you just kind of feel fat all over before the bump makes its debut.

Our grateful child

Ryan might be the sweetest child ever. She is constantly trying to help me around the house and says please and thank you for everything. We've always tried to teach the girls good manners, but it's innate with her. She is such a joy and I hope she never loses her sweet, kind, grateful demeanor. Here is an excerpt that my wrote to my Aunt Carol yesterday:

"I had the girls yesterday and then took Ryan to Vacation Bible School with me last night. Reese didn’t want to go, so they each got their alone time. Ryan really is such a sweetheart! Everything she did in VBS, she wanted to do one for Reesie, too. They had orange wedges for their snack and there were several left over. Ryan insisted on taking some to Reesie ‘to make her feel better’ and she carried them out to the car herself. Every time I do anything for her, she says, “Thank you, Mimi.” When I thanked her last night for going with me, she said, “You’re welcome, Mimi. Thank you for taking me.” Ahhhhhhh…….

My little copycat

Reese has been going around telling people that she has a baby sister in her tummy. She lifts up her shirt and says, "Look, I have a baby in my tummy!" or "Shhhh, my baby in my tummy is sleeping". Too funny!!

I wish I could, but I can't

I wish I could muster up the energy to cook for my family, but it's ridiculous how hard this has been for me. Cory has eaten more frozen pot pies in the past few weeks than he'd ever like to eat. I have dreams of cooking my good ole dinner staples, but I can't bring myself to do it. The girls have been eating a lot of PB&J, mac n' cheese, fruit, and breakfast foods. They don't seem to mind. I miss cooking in some ways, but it's just not my thing right now.

Vitamin OD

I found out today that the children's vitamin bottle is not childproof. Reese found a way to open it. It was on the counter and Ryan had been playing with the bottle earlier while I was with both of them in the kitchen. I walked out of the room for just a moment and when I came back in I saw Reese sitting on the floor with an empty bottle of vitamins. There were probably 60 Gummy Vites in the bottle and she ate them all. I couldn't believe it. I called Poison Control right away and they asked me her age, weight, and if the vitamins had any iron in them (they didn't). The operator at PC said she'd be fine but may have an upset stomach or diarrhea (no kidding) later today. It's 6pm and we've gotten by okay so far, but she did tell me that her tummy hurt. She kills me. Life is an adventure with that child every day.

Most mothers would cringe...

but I love watching my girls and Cory have so much fun. He's professional at tossing them in the air. Reese is crazy. She's such a daredevil and wants to go higher and higher every time. Ryan is a little more conservative, but she loves it too.

Look at Reese's little hands in the bottom of this photo. She's dying to be next. "My turn, Daddy, my turn!"

8 weeks is a kidney bean

Webbed fingers and toes are poking out from your baby's hands and feet, his eyelids practically cover his eyes, breathing tubes extend from his throat to the branches of his developing lungs, and his "tail" is just about gone. In his brain, nerve cells are branching out to connect with one another, forming primitive neural pathways. You may be daydreaming about your baby as one sex or the other, but the external genitals still haven't developed enough to reveal whether you're having a boy or a girl. Either way, your baby — about the size of a kidney bean — is constantly moving and shifting, though you still can't feel it.

MIA

I've been a bit down for the count for the past days. Every day I try to power through the icky stomach feeling, but it's rough some days. I told someone yesterday that I feel like I have food poisoning everyday. Not fun. I'm excited to get through this icky nauseous phase so I can really start enjoying the pregnancy.

Little dancers

The girls started a dance class at Rolly Pollies last week and oh my goodness, they are the cutest little ballerinas I've ever seen. They have real tap shoes and ballet slippers and the girls love tapping their toes to make the clackety clack sound. I was unsure about how they would do in class because they are so used to going crazy and running around in the gym area of RP, but they did great. They love having Miss Kyna as their teacher, even though Ryan thought she was in charge today. She was trying to lead everyone in the songs and take charge. Kind of out of character for her, but pretty cute :) Here are a few photos of the girls with their BFF, Avery.

Dance class

The girls started a dance class at Rolly Pollies last week and oh my goodness, they are the cutest little ballerinas I've ever seen. They have real tap shoes and ballet slippers and the girls love tapping their toes to make the clackety clack sound. I was unsure about how they would do in class because they are so used to going crazy and running around in the gym area, but they have been doing great in class.  There is nothing cuter than a bunch of 3 year olds in tights and tap shoes.

I LOVE these photos

Tami Proffitt took some photos of our family and they turned out amazing. Tami is one of the most talented photographers I've met. Check out our 2 1/2 year old girls that look like they are going on 5.Reese

Ryan

Carbaholic

Oh my goodness! I can't get enough carbs in my system and I know I need to eat more protein. I am totally craving bagels, mac & cheese, spaghetti, rice, & pancakes. Everything else just sounds raunchy. The past 2 days I've fed the girls french toast and it was YUMMY! I've also been munching on watermelon like crazy. Such a pregnant cliche, but it tastes so good when it's hot out. I wonder when I'll start craving the In N Out burgers and milkshakes? I ate those by the truckload when I was pregnant with R&R.

Good Day, Bad Day

I go back and forth with how I feel. I had a bad day on Sunday and laid around in bed almost all day. I just felt so wretched and Cory stepped up and took care of the girls all day. Best dad/hubby ever! Monday was a good day and I felt alright, but today was no good. I felt crummy most of the day and then slept for 2 hours in the afternoon. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day.

Summer is here

I can't believe it's already June. Time is really flying by. Today Karen & Holly came over with their kids and it was nice because they all play together and we can just veg on the couch and hang out. Karen & I are both in that tired & nauseous stage so it's great when we can just chill out while the kids play together.