Girls' Weekend Trip to Phoenix

We had our yearly girls' weekend in Phoenix, Arizona March 12-15.  This year it included myself, my Mom, cousin Mia, Aunt Denise, Aunt Cindy, cousin Dennis' wife Kim, cousin Pat's wife Jenni and our honorary member this year was my cousin Dennis.  (Dennis and Kim live in Phoenix)  We had so much fun hanging out and catching up.  We laughed and laughed and laughed until we were crying.  (favorite story of Aunt Denise and Mia on the Disney tram will do it to you every time)  We went out to dinner two nights (Mexican and Italian) and cooked at home one night (Mexican).  We had fun hiking (we made it to the top), talking outside on the beautiful patio by the outdoor fireplace, grocery shopping at an authentic Mexican grocery store, cooking our Mexican feast, drinking lots of wine (minus me), eating lots of candy from the two sided kitchen cabinets and eating lots of desserts (Jenni made a homemade tiramisu). 

What a fun trip with some amazing ladies!  The Beurskens ladies sure know how to party!

Baby Braham #2 - 1st Trimester

My 1st trimester: 1 ~ 14 Weeks

Wow!  My 1st trimester is done.  I can't believe how fast it went.  In the beginning it went very slow.  I'm so excited that I made it to this point and pray everything continues to go well.  I'm still in shock and thank God everyday for this incredible miracle.  What a true blessing.

How I'm Feeling 

I'm feeling great and luckily did not have any morning sickness.  I definitely feel more hungry and have less energy.  I'm also a little tired at times.  I feel like I'm still dreaming and can't believe I'm expecting my second baby.  I always thought Grayson would be an only child.  I'm so incredibly happy that Grayson will be a big brother and we will add another amazing baby to our family.

Food Cravings 

My main food cravings are desserts and fruit.  My favorite desserts are molten chocolate cake and chocolate chip skillet cookie.  I crave these all the time, but try to keep it to a minimum.  My other cravings are chocolate with caramel and fruits such as pineapple, apples, clementines and grapes.

Weight Gain

I gained 45 pounds during my first pregnancy with Grayson, so I'm trying hard to gain less weight with this pregnancy.  So far I'm happy with only gaining 4 pounds compared to 7 at this point with Grayson.  The main difference with this pregnancy is I'm eating healthier and running all over the place with Grayson.  He is a busy body and keeps me on my toes.

1st Trimester Pictures ~ 

 

Grayson ~ 18 Months

~ 18 Months ~

Grayson Christian...

Grayson is 18 months old!  He is growing up way too fast.  I always say this...but it's getting better and better...our boy has the best personality and is so friendly.  He loves saying hi and bye to everyone we see and repeats it several times, especially when they don't respond.  It's so sweet.  People always ask me if he's always this happy.  Someone in Starbucks said that boy is going to be a politician.  Ha!

What he is saying...

He is repeating almost everything he hears.  His new words are No!, uh oh, wow, woah, this, owie (he says this when he gets hurt), cheese (his nanny taught him to say this when he takes a picture), happy, happy, happy (he shakes his head while he says this), I know, bee, Go Go Go (when he plays with his cars), push, thank you (sort of), cars, vacuum, coffee (he loves helping me make coffee), words from his books: bridge, balloon, baby, boat, goat,

His favorites...

When always know when likes a song on the radio because he swings his feet, the higher his feet the more he likes it.  He loves his momma and dada, playing with cars, reading books, cleaning with his vacuum or any of our cleaning tools, airplanes, play dates with the Ohlanders, his Bubbles class friends (this month Charlotte) and my nanny's granddaughter Ella, Little Beans Cafe, My Gym (he has a class every Saturday), his monkey (Oma pretends the monkey is drinking water out of a cup and makes a slurping sound), hanging out with JuJu and E-T (JuJu makes him chocolate chip pancakes ~ a tradition my Dad started with me; E-T lets him sit on his lap while he eats breakfast), walking around in Daddy's shoes, going to the park and using his fork and spoon (he's getting much better).  He is obsessed with the printer/scanner in our bedroom (Daddy showed him how to make funny pictures of their hands), ice (he loves to eat ice), playing with water in the sink, climbing on everything and opening doors.

18 Month Doctor Visit:

We went in for his 18 month doctor visit and he did great.  He didn't even notice when he got two shots, but did not like being held down.  He weighed 25 pounds 8 ounces (75th percentile), was 33 1/2 inches (90th percentile) and his head was 19.63 inches (98th percentile).

We love you sweet Grayson so much!