it's been one of those days

I want to complain, but know I shouldn't. Compared to a lot of people I have easy pregnancies. My all day morning sickness is minimal most days, except the last couple of days I haven't been able to shake it off. Doesn't seem to matter what I eat or how often I still feel yucky. Not to the point of vomiting, but close. Grace has been a sweetheart, just watches her movies while I groan on the couch. She's been extra snuggly too because she knows I don't feel well. For the last couple of months my ears have been plugged and my joints stiff. Not sure if it's the cold weather sneaking in or the extra blood flowing, but it's really annoying.

On the plus side, we don't have to drive across the country at the end of the month. there is a chance we might have to move in February, but other than the icy roads that won't be as bad.

The one complaint I have with my pregnancies that I don't know if a lot of other people have is that from 6 weeks my stomach starts hurting and I get cramps. I also got this weird burning sensation in my belly, it's like heart burn but in the wrong place. I think this time I will start showing before 4 months. I haven't lost or gained anything yet, which is good. Last time I lost 10lbs the first couple of months.

My food preferences are a little different this time too. With Grace all I wanted was dry cereal and fruit, with this one I am craving a things like meat and peanut butter, can't stand the smell of cereal and fruit gives me a stomach ache. I hated chocolate with Grace, with this one I can eat chocolate but I'm not craving it. with both babies I want slushies and popsicles a lot. I guess that's my body's way of saying I need more fluid. water is nasty, milk leaves a bad taste in my mouth, so I've been drinking a lot of orange juice. It's good except for the indigestion. no heart burn yet, it came later with Grace.

According to "pregnancy week by week" my little squishy is the size of a tic tac right now, seems bigger! lol, I think it's in the center like Grace was, which is good because I was paranoid with all the pain I had in my side. speaking of Grace...here are some more pictures. Grace loves to comb her hair (and mine) but doesn't always like to get it styled.

What do 15 month olds eat?

I figured you could help me. Grace is 15 months and still eats baby food (which smells disgusting). She didn't get her first tooth until 12 months, but now has 4. She quit drinking formula on her own (just up and decided she didn't like it) so I want to feed her nutritious foods. It's down right disgusting how much baby food we go through! Ok, so here's what I've tried. the things she hates are more of a texture issue than taste issue.

she hates bread/muffins/cake, (we made a breakthrough! she ate a cupcake on the 26th!)
loves cookies/cereal/crackers,
hates apples (used to like them)
loves pickles/cucumbers,
won't even try cheese
chokes on things like peas/grapes but likes them(we occasionally use that mesh thing but it's not worth the mess)
gags on canned peaches
hates mashed potatoes (unless they're sweet/yams)
will eat squash if I add butter and brown sugar
sometimes will eat rice
won't eat pasta
haven't tried any meats
loves popsicles
loves milk/fruit milk shakes
not allergic to peanut butter
doesn't like her food warmed
won't try green beans

I know she can chew pretty well now, because she will shove a whole animal cracker in her mouth and generally doesn't choke on it. I don't want to feed her the same things all the time, but not sure how to help her get over this texture thing. Erik blames me because I have a problem with textures too (malto meal, tapioca, and slimy foods like cooked onions).

Any suggestions? I don't want to spend a lot of time mashing things up or cooking if I can help it (it's hard to stand for long periods of time with this morning sickness).

Grace's vocabulary

It's been a long time since I posted so I figured I would at least tell you what Grace has learned to say (still waiting for those first steps).
In no particular order, she likes to say:
hey, hi, bye (good bye), bug, ball, doll, yay, dad (daddy), baby, mom (mama), good girl, shoe, bear, duck, dog (arf arf), book, chewy, Mmm, more, bath, me me, and her new one today cracker. I think she's said pop pop for grandpa/ma, bottle, cat, and car a few times too.
on top of that, she says a bunch of gibberish I don't yet understand.

She also has picked up a little sign language: ball, milk, mama, dog, eat, baby, and her own made up sign for remote control.

She even started hugging and kissing her mom, dad, and toys (loves her dogs). She still enjoys dancing, and has started singing a little too. She has also become interested in hair, she likes to lift it then drop it (repeatedly). Yesterday she learned how to click her tongue.

Her new favorite song is Chewy Chewy, and she likes to sing along (sometimes she says tummy instead).

Ups and downs

A couple of weekends ago we went to NY to visit again. It wasn't bad, but our whole schedule was thrown off again. We got stuck in traffic for 2 hours on the way home so got to bed around 5am. Not to mention I was feeling a little carsick on the way up.

The first couple of days when Grace slept in I thought that was the reason, but then tuesday she got a fever. A lot of people told me that fevers come and go with teething so not to make a big deal out of it, which I tried.

But on wednesday when her fever hit 102 we went to the ER (because the doctor's office was already closed). After 6 hours, they concluded that there was nothing wrong with her but I should keep giving her tylenol, UGH! It hit 103 at the hospital.

Despite the drowsiness, Grace was very talkative but extra snuggly. I was so relieved when the fever was gone, but then I noticed she was getting a little rash.

My dad and I figured it was just heat rash until it got a little out of hand! We called the nurses hot line (not wanting to be in the hospital another 6 hours). They concluded is was Roseola/baby measles. Great! We had just taken Grace shopping and exposed her to who knows how many kids. Besides being a little grumpy and snuggly, the ailment didn't bother Grace much.

Now that she's feeling better she is talking up a storm! I can't even remember all the words she's been saying! She now has 3 teeth and is 14 months old. She also learned the sign for baby and started hugging and kissing her toys. Oh, and she stood unsupported for one whole second on sunday (but she doesn't believe she can do it so she won't do it again).

Of course, I am feeling a little under the weather now, but that's ok, it's probably just allergies ;)

Here are some pictures of Grace's poor little rashy body(a lot worse in person, all red), and a couple of other cute pictures. Her hair is getting so long!