Bye Bye Binki

So on Sunday we went to my Sister's house for a birthday dinner in Provo for Brett (Happy Birthday Brett)! We had fun and Autumn enjoyed playing with her cousins and of course their baby kittens. On the way home though she was tired and started crying A LOT. She wanted her binki and of course, we forgot to bring one. We decided that it was time to get her off of it. If we ever forget to bring it somewhere it turns into a nightmare because she won't calm down with out it.

We decided to get rid of it cold turkey. It has be HARD. The first night she cried from midnight till four in the morning, she was exhausted, we were exhausted and in the end I finally gave in and gave it to her. She slept in until 10. To bad Logan couldn't do that. Poor guy was so tried at work and school that day.

So I decided we would try a different plan to get her off. I took her to the store and let her choose a new stuffed animal. And then we did a trade. She gave me all of her binki's so that she could have her new Minnie Mouse. She Played with it all day and was so happy. Nap time was a little rough and she cried for about an hour before finally giving in and going to sleep. She was pretty happy after her nap and played with her toys and her new Minnie more. But when bedtime came she really wanted her binki. She cried and cried and I reminded her that she traded them for her new Minnie Mouse. After that she threw Minnie at me and said "Take her back to the store, I want my binki." It took a lot to not start laughing. She is so stubborn. Well It was another long night, but I didn't give in. She has now gone 3 days with our her beloved binki. Nap time and bed time have been a sad affair. She cries a lot. But it's getting better! I just hope we did this soon enough that she won't be stealing baby brothers binki when he comes.


She hasn't slept all the way though the night since we took it away, but each night she is doing better and better. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. It's been hard for me to watch her cry and be so sad with out it. I feel so mean. But I know she won't remember this next week, so that makes me feel better. Ah, I just love my baby girl and want her to be happy. She is so dang cute. I like that I can understand what she is saying better now and we don't have to go through the fight of taking it away every morning when she wakes up (she was only allowed to have it and nap time and bed time and occasionally in the car). She is growing up. I can't believe she is going to be a big sister soon. She'll be the best!

Here are some photos of her and her precious binki (It was almost impossible to get a picture with out it in her mouth cause would always cry when we took it away...haha so hopefully we'll have an easier time taking pictures now :)

 Perfect example of the crying cause we took it away for a picture...

Pregnancy

So I am 20 1/2 weeks pregnant today, finally past the 1/2 way point! Yes! Here are  my "Belly Pictures" up to this point...

 4 Weeks

 8 Weeks

 12 Weeks

 16 Weeks

20 Weeks

About a month ago we had an ultrasound to find out the gender of our growing baby. We were very excited to hear that we were having another girl! We love Autumn so much and felt that another girl would be just as fun as she was and it would be so cute for her to have a little sister! We love the name Skylar Jane or just Jane for her (I was calling her baby Jane). Autumn seemed very excited about a baby sister and she would touch my tummy and say "Is that my baby sister down there? Can she come out?" It was seriously the most adorable thing.

On Monday we went in for our big ultrasound where they check the heart and the fluids and make sure everything is going well. The Ultrasound tech asked if we wanted to find out the gender and we told her our doctor had already done an ultrasound and told us it was a girl. She said congratulations and continued on with her process. About a minute later she said, "Um, do you see that? That is a little penis. This is a little boy."

(There really is just no denying that this is a boy.)

I felt completely shocked. I didn't know what to think. She went on with the ultrasound and said he looked very healthy (she also said he has very long arms and legs and will most likely be pretty tall, Just like his Dad!) and then she went out. She said  a doctor would come in in a few minutes to talk to us. As soon as she left Logan looked at me and said, "Honey, are you alright?" and then I couldn't help it I just started crying. It's not that I don't want a boy, because I really do. I just already thought of this baby as my baby girl and it felt so weird to think that it wasn't her anymore, it was a him. Logan said he was feeling the same way.  He had been so excited it was another girl, we had already gone through having a girl, this change seemed so unfamiliar like going through the whole process of having a baby for the first time again. But we are both feeling excited too. Such weird feelings. Of course I cried. I am so over emotional when I'm pregnant. It was a fun Birthday Surprise for Logan to find out he was going to have a little boy. I'm so glad he got off work early and came with me to my appointment because I wouldn't have known how to tell him the news, I'm glad he got to hear it with me.

I put my ultrasound pictures on Facebook that night and told everyone that it was actually a boy and the next day at work one of my favorite clients brought me this

She has two boys and was so excited to hear that I was having a boy. She got us our first boy clothes and it's weird but holding those little outfits and knowing that our little boy was going to wear them made me feel a lot better. I could just picture how cute and tiny he would be. I'm so grateful that she was so thoughtful because I really needed to feel that. Then we spent the next hour talking about how fun having little boys is. She is a great mom and I hope that I can raise our little boy to be as polite and sweet as hers are.

I think it has been a little confusing for Autumn too. When we were in the ultrasound we asked her if she wanted a baby brother and she said Yeah. But she still thinks she's having a sister. Even just a few minutes ago as I was writing this she came in and saw the ultrasound pictures on the screen and said "Baby Sister! Skylar...Jane...Sister." I tried to tell her baby brother but she wasn't interested anymore and was already walking out of the room to play with her toys. I hope someday we do have another girl and she can have a baby sister. But for now we'll be getting ready for a boy around here. I guess I'm going to need a lot of new stuff since everything we have is pretty dang girly :)

p.s. we don't know what we want to name a boy yet but here are some ideas that I really like. Logan will veto a lot of them I'm sure....

Evan James Cleveland

Colby James Cleveland

Easton James Cleveland

Jaren James Cleveland

Ryan James Cleveland

Of course James doesn't have to be the middle name but I really want it to be (we don't agree on this) but I think it sounds pretty good with all of these names.

Autumn's 2nd Birthday

Yesterday was Autumn's Big Birthday Party! I can't believe she is already two. We had the party at our house in the backyard and it was a lot of fun. My whole family (Minus Juli and Seth and their kids who are in California and James who is on his mission) was able to come and Logan's family minus Steven were there. Then a few good friends came too. All the kids had a blast on Autumn's new trampoline! Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Gingrich!

Here are some photos from the party...

P.S. I made the cake and it took forever to put all of those M&Ms on, but I love how it turned out!And so did Autumn. She loved pick them all off even better though ;)  

Yay for Matching Rainbow Socks, thanks Aunt Rachael

The Friends

Grandma Joy made her her very own little star cupcake to eat!

After everyone left I realized we didn't get one picture of just our little family, of course. So we took one with the timer. Autumn wasn't too happy about it. 

But she cheered up after we let her go play on her new trike from Grandpa Mike. I love how she piled all of her favorite stuffed animals in the back to come along for the ride. 

We had a lot of fun having everyone over. I just love our families! And so does Autumn, she has been talking about her cousins nonstop since everyone went home. 

Change

So I have been pregnant now for about 4 months and my body is starting to change. It's very weird experiencing this change, even though I have been through it once before. It's so strange how your stomach just starts to stick out even when you're laying flat on your back. All of your clothes seems to get a little tighter, everywhere. It's exciting that from all of this changes comes a little human being that you get to call yours. But at the same time, it's hard to embrace the change with a positive attitude, at least for me. So the last few days I've been feeling the need for a change. So I colored my hair. And I love it. 

Here is my hair before , and not that I didn't love it too...I did, but I just needed to change something.

 Here is my after...cute right? I'm loving it! And Logan said he thinks it's Hot! Oh Yeah!

I've never tried red before...