It's A BOY! 22 Weeks/Claire 11 Months

It's a.... BOY!!!!!

And we couldn't be happier :)

We are now at 22 weeks! Past the half-way point, and still feeling great. Haven't been sick at all. I go to bed between 9 and 10 usually so I can get plently of sleep. Drinking lots of water... and feeling great! I am feeling tons of movement lately :) Ben felt a kick the other night too, so exciting!

We had our ultrasound on Wednesday and got the amazing news that we are having a baby boy! We were hoping for a boy, and are so happy. We have to get one more done because he has a slightly enlarged kidney which is pretty common in boys I guess... They just have to make sure it goes back down. No biggie... doc said not to worry. Similar situation with Claire and those tiny cysts that ended up going away. Of course I had to google it... but sounds like I shouldn't be at all concerned. He wasn't in the best position for good pictures, so hopefully we'll get a few next time. He didn't have any problem showing off his boy parts, but I'll save him a little embarrassment and not post those :)

Claire is doing great. 11 Months old now!! Walking all over the place and just as happy as can be. I have started planning her first birthday party, and we're doing an owl theme... should be fun!!

All is wonderful in the Yost Household :)

Claire-11 Months

22 Weeks

Baby Boy!!!

My thoughts on the Super Bowl...

We just stayed home this year instead of going somewhere to watch the Super Bowl. I watched most of the first half, and then went to bed. I was not impressed.... I'm not a prude, but I was very put-off by most of what I saw.

First off, the commercials. Many of them were just raunchy. Sexual references everywhere... just inappropriate and not family-friendly. The Go-Daddy commercial with the super-model making out with the computer nerd was completely repulsive. The Calvin Klien commercial was way too much... Even the Best-Buy ad had me shaking my head. It didn't take me long to tune-out.

Next... the half-time show. I think Beyonce is very talented and beautiful. However... her outfit and dance moves were provocative and not for kids! I spoke with several other moms who said they turned it off quickly. She was wearing this tiny black leather thing while groping the floor and performing stripper dance moves. She is a mother now too... I just don't get it. She is supposed to be a role-model for girls. Apparently  they're trying to teach our youth that this is the norm, and this is what it takes to be "cool"....

I didn't watch much of the first half at all, but I heard later that there was swearing my players and coaches that was easily heard on the TV. Again, are these supposed to be our kid's role-models?

Our society has become SO desensitized. It saddens me. I'm going to be raising my kids in a very scary world. There is only so much I can shield from them... even many cartoons out there are not ok. I remember when I was young, the only show we could not watch was the Simpsons. My parents didn't have to worry about football games and commercials. It's hard to believe how much has changed in just the past 15-20 years. I guess all we can do is pray and do our best to raise our kids and hope they make good decisions as they grow... and pray, pray, pray.

20 Weeks!

I am now 20 weeks along with baby #2! Still feeling great. I've gained about 12 lbs so far, which is the same as where I was with Claire. I feel like my belly is popping out faster, which is expected. I have been feeling quite a bit of movement! I guess my only complaint is that I have to go to the bathroom 1-2 times during the night... but that is also expected. Our gender ultrasound is going to be Feb 13. 2 of my best friends who are also pregnant and due around the same time as me are scheduled for the 13th and 14th, how cool is that :)

Work is going well. We've had a ton of snow days lately... 4 in the past 2 weeks! It has been so great to stay home with Ben and Claire. It allows Ben to go work in his shed or get out and do some fishing, and I get to spend extra quality time with my little girl :) She is officially walking all over now! She truly amazes me. Her First Birthday is coming up... time to start party planning!

I absolutely love our little family... so incredibly blessed!!!

20 Weeks Baby #2!

Claire:10 Months/18 weeks with #2!

It's hard to believe that Claire is just 2 months away from her first Birthday! It is SO true that they grow so fast. About a week ago, she started taking her first steps :) She has taken 5 steps a couple of times now... she is well on her way to becoming a walker! As I've mentioned before, she is extremely active and doesn't sit still very often. Diaper and clothes changes are quite a challenge. I usually have to chase her around her room to try to button her PJs.... She sure keeps me busy!

She is still eating great! She gets 3 meals a day plus formula in between. Last night, Ben made some juice with the power juicer... apples, oranges, pineapple, carrots, tomatoes, and celery... we poured a little bit into her sippy cup. She drank it all... but later that night she was super upset :( I think it may have been too much citrus for her and gave her an upset tummy. I felt terrible. I was up pretty late holding her and walking around... she eventually calmed down enough for me to put her to bed. She cried for awhile, and then fell asleep and slept most of the night. Poor girl... momma won't be doing that again anytime soon.

She still has just the 2 teeth that I can see. I'm guessing we'll be seeing more soon. Her very blonde hair is thickening up, and sometimes is quite wild when she wakes up :) I try putting headbands on her sometimes, but she just takes them off within seconds. Maybe someday!

Her first Christmas was wonderful. We spent lots of time with our families, and Claire had a ball. She even helped open some of her presents (and tried eating the wrapping paper). She got a new big toybox that we put in the living room for her, a rocking horse, a Minnie Mouse scooter car (her favorite) and lots of other toys and clothes... she is a lucky girl!

As for the pregnancy, we are doing great!! I felt movement for the first time last week, so exciting :) I think I've gained about 8-10 lbs so far... I'm surprised I haven't gained 30 with all of the eating I've been doing. I'm seriously so hungry... I can't eat enough. I eat breakfast right before I leave at 7:30, and by 10, I need to eat! Hungry child :) I have an appointment in a week, and I'll get the ultrasound scheduled then where we will find out the gender!

I decided to start the Bible 1-Year Reading Plan... almost through Genesis! I'm almost embarrassed to admit that I have never read the Bible cover to cover. I've read many chapters of it, but never straight through. So far, I have loved it... it is really filling to just sit down and spend time in God's word. I am also reading a devotional every morning that my good fried Stacey gave me that was written by Joan Horner, the co-founder of Premier Designs Jewelry... and it is wonderful! So glad I'm adding more God to my daily life. Being filled helps me be joyful and stay positive throughout my day.

So incredibly thankful and blessed!

Baby #2 on the way!!!

Surprise!!! Baby Yost #2 is on the way... due sometime in June! On October 27 I decided to take a test just for fun. Well... it was a positive!!! I really had no idea, since my cycle hadn't returned yet. I just thought, what if....

We told our family and a few close friends. We wanted to keep it quiet until we went to the doctor. My first appointment was a couple days ago, Dec 27. We had the ultrasound first. The measured me at 14 wks 5 days, which put my due date on June 19! I guessed I was around 14 weeks, so I wasn't too far off :) The ultrasound tech gave us a guess on the gender, but she said it was very early yet, so we are keeping that quiet for now (until the next ultrasound). When I saw the doctor, she said my due date is June 19, give or take 10 days! So I could really have this baby any time in June... Since I never got my cycle back, it is hard to determine exactly how far along I am.

I have been feeling pretty good this time! I felt sick maybe 3 or 4 times total... and I think those times were either because I wasn't eating enough or ate something that didn't agree with me (orange juice). Much different pregnancy this time so far as far as the sickness... and I've been STARVING. I was hungry a lot with Claire too, but I feel like I need to be eating constantly. Tired too, but that's to be expected. I usually go to bed right after I put Claire down at 9. Not really showing yet, but some of my jeans are starting to feel snug.

So, they're going to be about 15 months apart. Yikes?? It's going to be a challenge for sure, but I've heard great things about kids close in age. Hopefully they'll be bff's :) Plus, Claire won't really know what it's like to be the only child, so there shouldn't be much jealousy going on. I am excited!!!

GOD IS GOOD!

Baby Y #2

Claire: 9 Months!

Our sweet baby girl is now 9 months old! She is doing so great... She is cruising all over the place. She pulls herself up on just about anything with no problem (including the Christmas Tree branches...) and walks all along the furniture. She occasionally lets go and can stand on her own for around 5 seconds! I don't think it will be long before she is taking her first steps! She is also crawling up on all 4's now instead of army-crawling.

Her first tooth popped through about 3 weeks ago! She acted fussy a couple days before it broke through, but that was it with the fussiness... I had to get up with her for a couple nights when she woke up crying. I felt her first tooth on November 24th :) Shortly after that, the second one on the bottom came in. So, we now have 2 tiny bottom teeth! She loves to chew on anything she can get in her mouth... including paper, dog food, and needles she pulls off our fake Christmas tree. She LOVES the organic puffs. Can't feed her enough of those.

Claire is still eating great. Not many changes since last month... still eating mostly rice cereal, avacado, squash, carrots, apples, bananas... I'll occasionally give her a small chuck of bread. I'm sure we'll be expanding in that department soon. She is on pretty much all formula now. I still pump at night and give her what I can, but it's only about an ounce... Will probably be stopping pumping all together soon. She does great with the formula, thankfully.

My biggest challenge with her is changing her clothes and diaper! She will NOT sit still. She immediately wants to flip over and hop up on her knees when I lay her down to change her. Really fun when she has a big poopy. I'm guessing this isn't going to get easier any time soon... oh well!

SO excited for her first Christmas :) We are blessed to have amazing families to spend it with! We will head down to Harrison this weekend and stay there through Christmas Eve. We're having a get-together at Grandma Jones' one night, and then Mimi and Papa's big event on Christmas Eve. Always a wonderful time :) We'll head back home after that and go to Christmas Eve service at our church... We'll open gifts at home Christmas morning and then head over to my parent's to spend rest of the morning/afternoon with them. We'll head to my Grandma and Grandpa's for dinner... It will be a busy few days, but we love our families and love spending time with them! That's all for now... Hope everyone has a very blessed Christmas! Remember the reason-JESUS!

Claire: 8 Months

Claire is 8 months!! This past month has been major in terms of development. Claire is now pulling herself up on everything she can, and with that comes many tumbles. She usually lands on the soft carpet and the falls don't phase her, but yesterday she took a spill in the bathroom  tile while I was in there cleaning and that wasn't so fun :(  I just do my best to chase her everywhere she goes and sit behind her when she stands up. She is EVERYWHERE. It is amazing. The other day I asked Ben, so what did you do today? He said... I chased, and chased, and chased, and changed a poopie, and chased, and chased, and chased....

She is babbling quite a bit more and saying lot's of "dada's" and "mama's" :) She hasn't associated us with her words yet, but it is quite adorable when she is in her crib saying "mamamamama!" She will get in little shouting matches with Ben which is hilarious. She will yell, and he will yell back, and they go back and forth for awhile and she has the biggest smile on her face. So sweet :)

Whenever I get home from work, she clings to me for quite awhile. If I try to put her down, she will often cry... and of course I pick her right back up. It makes cleaning and cooking dinner challenging sometimes, but I've learned to do many things one-handed. Ben is in the U.P. hunting and his mom is here watching her today, so I will take tomorrow off and have a nice 3-day weekend with her. Next week is Thanksgiving as well, so I'll get 4 days off then. Love the long weekends!

Claire is a great eater. She eats rice cereal, squash, carrots, avocados  apples, bananas, and we're about to start making some green bean purees for her too. We are still feeding her my frozen breast milk  but that is about to run out... I am going to start mixing with formula soon to start that transition. When I went back to work, my supply quickly diminished. I am so thankful I was able to store so much to keep her on breast milk this long. I wish we could keep her on it longer, but it just isn't going to happen. She is very healthy and happy, and I know the Lord will always take care of us :)

At the end of October, I decided to join Premier Designs and become a jeweler! My wonderful friend Stacey Walton has been with the company for a few years and I decided to join her team and give it a try. So far, it has been beyond what I've expected. I was nervous about doing a presentation in front of people, but after the first show, it was much easier. I went to Fall Round-Up which is a training/conference in GR, and had an amazing time. This company is all about God and serving others, which is just so awesome to me. They teach us to focus on enriching lives and spreading love, and selling really great jewelry is our tool. I am so glad we made the decision to join Premier, and I'm really excited about the possibilities with building my own business :) If you or anyone you know would like to help me out by having a home show and earning lots of great free jewelry, please let me know! :)

God has blessed our family SO much!!!