It's a BOY!

On February 22nd at 10:42am, we welcomed the newest member of the Frueh family into this world, Ian Zachariah Frueh. We were all surprised, but thrilled that our "Newbie" was a boy! Eric and I, both GG AND Grandma Schillinger, and most of our friends were predicting another little girl. But we were all wrong. Ian surprised us all by being a boy, and a big strapping boy at that. He weighed in at 9lbs. 3oz. and was 20.75 inches long at birth. He is an absolutely wonderful baby. He loves to sleep and snuggle and barely makes a peep. He's just so mellow and calm. If he needs something, he'll let you know in his own quiet way, but for the most part, he just likes to chill out (very different from his older sister, Molly). His birth story is a little longer and more complicated than Molly's was, so we'll save that for a different post, but despite the difficult journey, he made it here safe and sound and absolutely perfect. As you can tell here, Eric is incredibly tired, but also incredibly proud of his little boy.BIG stretch!Proud GG (two times over).Molly has had a bit of an adjustment period to being a big sister, but she absolutely LOVES her little brother. She likes to give him kisses, pet his silky hair, and bounce him gently in his bouncy seat. A favorite time to give kisses to Baby Ian is right after her bath, when she should be getting ready for bed, but running around naked and kissing her baby brother are much more fun!

I'll leave you with a look at the most precious and peaceful little boy's face in the world. This is the sleepy look we see on his face for 95% of the day. I should be taking advantage of all this sleepy time to catch up on sleep myself. But I just can't bring myself to secluding myself in my room when I now have TWO adorable faces to kiss and TWO beautiful babies to cuddle and love on!

The Home Stretch

We have arrived at the 40 Week mark...well, actually 40 weeks and 1 day today! I've been telling this baby for the last 2 weeks that (s)he had just better stay put because this mama was not ready yet. First of all, I wanted to teach all of my classes up until Friday (39 weeks and 6 days) because my maternity leave sub wasn't arriving until this weekend. Secondly, I wanted to wait until GG (Eric's mom) arrived from Pittsburgh on Saturday (my due date). And lastly, I wanted to make sure that everything was ready on the home front now that all of my school business is taken care of. Well, little Baby Frueh, now that all the boxes have been checked off on my to-do list, we're ready to welcome you at any time. We even have the welcome sign out and ready for you :-)

I got a little nervous earlier this week when we had something of a baby-bonanza in our circle of friends. I have three other friends who were also pregnant and all due between February 17th and February 27th. ALL THREE of them had their babies in one 24-hour period between Monday and Tuesday night. CRAZINESS!!! As the calls, texts, and facebook messages started pouring in about the three new arrivals, everyone at work kept looking at me, so sure that I'd be next. Well, "Newbie" knew that mama was not ready and (s)he politely stayed put. Now I'm just trying to be patient, reminding myself that babies arrive when they're ready and that this baby is not officially "late" until we pass the 42-week mark (although I very much hope we do not reach that point). We're just so excited to meet the newest member of our family and find out if Molly has a new baby sister or a new baby brother. We'll keep you posted.

Cravings!

My cravings during this pregnancy have been out of control! The only really intense craving that I remember from my pregnancy with Molly was Andy's cheeseburgers. After not eating red meat for 2 years, all I wanted for the last 8 weeks was greasy Andy's cheeseburgers! (If you're ever in North Carolina, you definitely have to give them a try).

Well, this time, my cravings have been so random and unpredictable that every grocery shopping trip has become quite an adventure. At this moment, I'm indulging my salt craving with some Utz Salt & Vinegar chips...gotta be Salt & Vinegar and gotta be Utz.
My most predictable craving has been for breakfast foods. I could eat breakfast 3 times a day (or more)! The ultimate fulfillment of this craving is the Cracker Barrel Country Sampler: eggs, bacon, ham, hash browns, fried apples, biscuits, and grits. What makes it even more perfect is if I can convince Eric to order pancakes so I can grab a few bites of those as well. Surprisingly, I can eat all of this with no problem, although it helps that Molly steals most of my grits and at least one biscuit.

Along with breakfast, my other predictable craving has been for comfort foods. This week's indulgence came in the form of good old Chicken & Noodles with crusty French bread and a tall glass of milk. YUMMY! I got my recipes from the Pioneer Woman's blog. If you haven't yet discovered this blog, you're definitely missing out. This woman may be the reason that I've already surpassed the level of weight gain that I had with my last pregnancy.

And, of course, what pregnancy-craving blog would be complete without the all-important ice cream. Woe is the day when our freezer is found devoid of ice cream! It's the only thing keeps my nighttime heartburn under control. That's my story and I'm sticking to it! Right now, my flavor of choice is white mint chocolate chip. I've experimented with a few other flavors, but this is the one I keep coming back to, which makes Eric happy because he gets to have my flavor rejects.Well, my chips are gone and the ice cream seems to be calling my name. The time to indulge is now since I only have two more weeks (give or take) where this behavior can be considered excusable. Bon appetit!