It's a Girl!

Yesterday we found out that Baby Z # 2 is in fact a little GIRL! We are so very excited and feel very blessed!

 I have thought that this might be a girl for several reasons. To begin with,  this pregnancy has been VERY DIFFERENT.  With Scotty I had extreme "morning" (24 hour) sickness,  acne, high heartbeats at ultra sounds ( 8 week visit was around 165). Of course while I was waiting to find out what Scotty was I tuned into all the old wives tales, and the Chinese calendar's (for entertainment purposes only!) which all fit into the girl category.  The only "boy" wives tales he fit was that I carried low, and red meat and spicy foods were my best friends. Chicken made me gag, jalapenos were a staple topping on most foods.   I also always referred to him as a "he." 

With this baby, jalapenos give me heartburn, red meat makes me want to gag, and Mexican food is the last place I care to eat. I was  sick with this baby in the evenings starting at 4:00 on the dot everyday for about 3 months which was awful, but better then ALL DAY! Heartbeats were lower then Scotty's... 125 at 6 weeks, 153 at 14 weeks, and 143 at 18 weeks. Oh, this baby was always referred to as a "she". So, I thought there was a good chance!!! 

One morning  after praying about my wish along with many other things I was eating lunch and through a busy crowd of people this little girl with blond hair walked right by me, looked at me, and gave me the biggest smile. I knew God had heard my prayer that morning. Faith is what he teaches me often. 

18 weeks! 

She was laying on her belly. 

XOXO, 

The Zuehlke's  

Update!!!!

This past week we signed up for The Little Gym and Swim Classes. We already attended a class at LG this past week, and we start swim lessons in early May.

We did LG when Scotty was about 6-9 months and he loved it! The dynamics have changed a bit from the quiet little class of babies, to a room full of toddlers all under the age of two trying to follow directions. One word….WILD!

Scotty and his buddy Dean at Little Gym

We have also become avid rabbit hunters at the Zuehlke’s. We have a lot of rabbits running around in our neighborhood and every evening we go outside to hunt rabbits. Dre’ sniffs them out and Scotty calls for them “rabbi” “rabbi”? Then usually one will shoot out of the bushes and everyone follows. It’s fun for us, not so much for the poor rabbits!

Quick Video: Scotty Calling the rabbits in the beginning. 

We had a few firsts this week:

1.     Nature Hunt! We collected a few things and we also saw a “rabbi” and” DUCK DUCK DUCK! We couldn't bring those home for pictures...

First Nature Hunt Collection

2.     I doctored my first skinned knee as a mom!  That's what happens when you run down the driveway at full speed! Neosporin and Lightning McQueen band-aid! All better! We taught Scotty “boo-boo” and he is very proud to show it off! I guess I am doing good for this to be our first real boo-boo at 17 months! Many more to follow! 

Scotty's First "Boo-Boo"

Check it out Dad!

XOXO, 

The Zuehlke’s

Catching up....

Going to do some quick catching up…Gotta get on this more regularly so these aren't so long!

We recently celebrated Ryan’s 1 year Sesame Street birthday party complete with Elmo and Big Bird Balloons, Oscar the Grouch serving goodies out of a mini trashcan, and adorable character cupcakes! We all had a good time! Scotty let everyone hold him and he played really independently. I actually got to eat my meal first! We love spending time with all sides of our family!

Knuckle sandwich mom?!

Let me show you where your nose is....just in case you didn't know!

This past weekend I traveled to Austin to host a shower for my dear cousin and beautiful bride Meg. Soon to be Megan Moss. Perfect name, movie star-ish?! We had a nice time visiting and it was fun to meet all of her friends/ bridesmaids. I am also a bridesmaid and will be 6 months pregnant on wedding day. We ordered my dress already with extra fabric and length. I know one thing, it will be VERY interesting!  We had brunch Saturday morning complete with Mimosa’s. Don’t worry, I didn’t have any. I settled for punch which I thought was fantastic!  Meg got a lot of china and a few other kitchen items. We made sure to throw in some grilling tools for the groom. When Scott and I were getting married he was always annoyed with all the china gifts, even though I loved them! 

Here are some pictures of the shower!

Hostesses/Bridesmaids 

The NCAA final four was in Houston this year, and being that Kentucky was there was super special and fun.   My dad coached one of Kentucky’s players, Josh Harrellson, in high school. He has been following the team and attending games to support Josh for the past few years. He texts Josh before and after every single game.   This year on Senior night in Lexington, Josh asked my dad to walk with him onto the floor. Even though my dad resisted, his family insisted.  That meant the world to my dad. My dad eats, lives, & breaths basketball. He always has for as long as I can remember! There was always basketball on in our home growing up. Believe me when I say,  I don’t know anyone as passionate about something as my dad is about basketball!  In 2007, my dad was inducted into the Missouri Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame and most recently in March of 2011, into the St. Charles County Amateur Sports Hall of Fame and was honored in this year’s Outstanding Achievement Award. My dad is not just a coach, he is a GREAT coach, father, and my mom will tell you husband.  My mom is  GREAT to put up with all this BASKETBALL!!!!!

Headed to the Final Four

My dad did several interviews for sports writers over the past week regarding Josh. Fortunately, a friend got my dad tickets to the finals, and he was able to attend Saturday night’s games as well. We went as a family to the finals. It was too bad Kentucky wasn't there. 

Interview Links:

St. Louis Today

Coach Shares

 XOXO, 

The Zuehlke's

14w 4d and Counting...

We had another doctor's appointment this morning for Baby Z #2. All is looking great! We had a fantastic ultrasound and the technician got some great keepsake snapshots for us! Really, this is the first real glimpse we have had. It was one of those moments that passed way too fast. I could have watched for much longer then I was able to. Baby Z moved a little and I could see a tiny hand moving back and forth.  The baby's heart rate was at 153 today. Good and strong! Scott and I also noticed how much this baby's profile looks a lot like our little Scotty. The technician said she looked to see if it was a boy or girl, but she said it was still a little too early.  I think she might have an idea, my intuition, but wasn’t positive enough to actually say. I think we are going to do the gender scan so we can find out next month what this baby is. I can't wait another 2 months. I am going nuts already wanting to know. On another note, I am starting to feel better. I still don’t have my energy back, and I am not completely over all the nausea, but it seems to be improving! Thank you God! 

XOXO, 

The Zuehlke's 

Rough Week

We have had a pretty rough week around our house to say the least, so this post is a little long.
Late Thursday my mom was admitted into the ER due to shortness of breath. After a long night in the
hospital, many tests, and no findings she was discharged home. She has a follow up visit on the 14th with a Cardiologist. We hope to get some insight soon. We are grateful she is home and doing well. Scotty made sure to bring his Nana some flowers to cheer her up that were just about as big as him! Nana loved them.

My "morning sickness" which really only happens in the evening is still in full swing. It is starting to get, well annoying. I am ready to feel somewhat “normal” (as normal as a pregnant woman can feel) again soon! I am also still so exhausted. I look around my house and feel like there is so much that needs to be done, but I just can't seem to do it. I am barely getting the necessities completed. Laundry takes days to complete. Groceries are not getting bought, and no meals are being prepared. My hair and make-up, well they are things of the past these days! I feel so guilty when I just can't be super mom/wife and do it all, especially when it comes to my sweet Scotty because he doesn’t understand. Lately, he has really had to depend more on dad. It hasn't been easy on anyone so we are hoping things get better soon especially since next week marks my first week of my second trimester. Thanks honey for your continued help and support. Our next U/S is next week the 24th. Can’t wait to see our new addition…boy or girl? Next month.

Now to the extremely rough part of the week…

Late Saturday evening, my dad called about taking Bella into the ER. I instructed them on what to do, and they took her in. We didn’t think too much about it. Maybe she had eaten something bad etc. Nothing too major, but nevertheless she needed to be seen. When I woke up Sunday, I immediately wanted to check on Bella. I called my mom and through her tears Bella all of a sudden, common in her breed, had neurologic damage and is now unable to walk. I just threw her ball on Friday. She loved to play ball, run, and jump. She was so fast too. Seems the very things she loved most, besides her family as all dogs do, cost her a short life.

It was either a non-gauranteed back surgery to try and correct the problem or it was putting her to sleep. It seems so unfair to one day have a healthy loving young dog (her 6th birthday was coming up ) and the next you are faced with such a difficult decision. The guilt of either decision is great and if you are lucky enough to have the love of a dog you love them as part of your family. They love you unconditionally and they depend on you for everything. What a tough decision. At the end of the day after talking through all the variables, many prayers, tears, discussions with the vet, my parents had to make a very tough non-selfish decision to put our sweet girl to sleep. It was a hard day. We did a lot of crying and a lot of questioning. She will be buried in Missouri on our friends farm next to our dog Little Bit. What a perfect place.

Life was so unfair on that day.

We love you Bella and we will miss you and love you always. Thanks for being so good to all of us. We got to spend a few last hours with her at home. Some pictures below.

Dear Scotty,
Bella loved you very much and was always so sweet to you. She kissed you every morning when you got to your Nana and Papa’s house. She made sure you were always taken care of, and we nicknamed her “dog mom”. You used to tease her with her bear and ball. This morning when you came in to the house you called for her twice, and she never came. I wish you could understand where she is now. Unfortunately, you probably won’t remember her, but you guys were dear friends. Love, Mom.

Xoxo,

The Zuehlke's

Update!!!!

I haven’t been able to blog for awhile. Baby Z 2, is keeping me exhausted and sick every evening. However, I have to say this baby is treating me better then my little Scotty did, he kept me sick 24-7 for several months. My mom says she can’t believe I was brave enough try again! Lucky for me, I am not as sick this time around. Thank you Baby Z 2.

I am now almost done with my 11^th week, so hopefully I will have some relief very soon. Our last appointment was a bit scary as we had to get an U/S to hear the baby’s heartbeat. They were unsuccessful at finding it in the exam room. I felt everything was ok, due to the feeling of being pregnant, the nausea, and the just plain yuck feeling all day.  Thank you God for a healthy pregnancy thus far… Also, please let this be a girl! Amen. Of course, Scott and I don’t have the same feelings on this one. If it was up to him we would have a house full of boys! Again, please let this be a girl…I don’t want to even imagine that!  We shall see in April! Of course I would love another little boy too! 

 Onto our precious little boy….he is now 16 months. He is still loving the outdoors! He can stay outside and entertain himself for hours on end. He did get a few bumps and bruises this past weekend; He fell one time and scraped his knee, another time  his face! Poor guy! We also at one point had a bloody mouth. Popsicles made it better instantly! 

Throwing is constant. Everything MUST and WILL be thrown no matter what! When will this stop?!

Hiding! Yes, we love hiding in all the cabinets around the house. 

He also misses his cousin Jackson! He often sneaks in the office to look at Jackson's picture! So cute! 

We had a play date last Friday with about 6 other little boys. After arriving for the play date Scotty stood very still checking everyone out, not moving for a good 5-10 minutes. He finally decided everyone was ok to play with and ended up having a good time. Dad says it's good to be cautious. However,  I think we have somewhat of a shy little boy on our hands.He comes by this very honest. These pictures are posted on FB. 

We took Scotty to the Sweet Tooth Shoppe in Fulshear with some of his buddies over Valentines.  He had fun sharing a smoothie with mommy, and running around outside. (pictures to come) The following day we took him to Sesame Street Live at Reliant to see Elmo. Scotty did well for a 15 month old! 

 Hope to blog more once I am feeling better! 

XOXO, 

The Zuehlke's

This little thing already had a HB of 125. Amazing! I am not even
6 weeks here.

Scotty hiding in the kitchen cabinet!

Scotty talking about his cousin Jackson

Daddy and Scotty at Sesame Street Live

Bye Bye 14 months!

Bye Bye 14 months, hello 15 months! Scotty turned 15 months on Groundhog Day! I wanted to re-cap our last month because it seems like 14 months was jam packed with things I definitely want to remember.   For starters, Scotty’s conversation has really taken off. He is talking A LOT! We have many conversations. Some words are very good, others are somewhat code. Scotty is somewhat obsessed with the outdoors and asks to go “ice” or “outside” many times a day. In an effort to stay outside, he always plans a quick escape down the driveway upon returning home.  Of course Scotty is laughing the entire way, while I am freaking out as he gathers speed down the steep driveway!

He is really in love with all the special men in his life. Scotty is making all kinds of associations. Returning from our walk, Scotty says “Mom” while pointing at the basketball goal and says “ball” “baba.” (AKA Papa)  I thought it was so neat he associated all these things together. He also associates water, with rain, and ponds and water falls and points out water as we drive down the road. We had our first poop in the tub, sorry Miranda! Dad got the second one, which he seemed a little scared of, might I add dad was too,  and so far none for mom! Thanks son! We have a new love for books. We must read every single one more then once before bedtime, or we are not happy! We point and talk through the entire book. Scotty asks for one of his friends “Dean” quite often which I find adorable because Dean is adorable too! We are picky with our food and we throw tantrums and anything in our hands at the time.  We are spending more time in time-out these days, but this is just because Scotty is becoming so independent. He wants to do everything himself, including feeding himself, with his very own spoon and fork. He loves Dre’ Dre’ or “Do dr”, and is getting closer everyday to getting his hands on Flip! We can’t wait to see what 15 months brings us!

XOXO,

The Zuehlke’s