Kitty & Kevin

Dear Pepper,

I'll be honest, I'm getting a little frustrated at this point in pregnancy. The restricted movements, the exhaustion, its just not all that fun right now. Painting my toenails this weekend was more work than it ever should have been, and I find myself very particular on what is worth going up/down stairs for at home if I'm having a day of aches. I fell today when getting dressed for work, as I didn't get my leg quite high enough to step into my pants, and went down hard after losing my balance...its things like this that make 3rd trimester a little less fun.

That being said, your nursery is REALLY coming together. Like it looks so perfect and I'm so excited to finish it up!

And yes, I again peed my pants. This time Kevin got me laughing so hard it was literally running down my leg, which just made me laugh even harder. My doctor's appointments are now bi-weekly which seems like all the time! We are getting really excited for you to arrive!

Let me just start by saying when I went to pick out new glasses this year, it took me 6 trips to the optometrist, two appointments, and trying 4 different pairs of glasses before we were able to get things right. If there was ever time a I was exhausted by my inability to see without glasses...it's now. 
I jumped at the chance to learn more about the LASIK procedure at an event hosted by the Refractive Survey Council at Kugler Vision. There were two primary issues holding me back from looking into this earlier:
1. Cost 2. Being told I needed to wait until after kids
I'll start with #2. I've been waiting to have LASIK until I was done having children, because I'd heard that many pregnant women's eyesight changes during pregnancy, and may not go back. Kugler Vision dispelled that myth for me, saying that there are times your eyesight may change due to the hormones of pregnancy, but it will go back! Just think...I could have been glasses free for a number of years by now!…

Dear Pepper,

Hello third trimester!!! I thought you'd never come.

We had a wonderful thanksgiving this week in Colorado. I'm not sure when the first time will be when we take you to your grandparents here, as we are realizing how difficult it will be to do this with two kids. Everything from the flight, cars with car seats and where we will all sleep...its just going to be more work than it was with just on kid. 

I know you will visit them a lot, but this time we don't have the plans to do it at over maternity leave as we are trying to keep it as stress free as possible. 

Good news is, this week we finally picked a middle name. I've said it before, but I just don't understand middle names. You never use them, why is it really necessary? Well, we gave you one because its the responsible thing to do. You will be:


Pepper Francine

This week I'm getting more uncomfortable, and overeating at thanksgiving probably brought it more to my attention. I went ahead and removed …

Dear Pepper,

This week somewhat got away from me. You're growing, and kicking and as far as I know healthy and happy!
My fingers are getting just a little swollen and a few shoes are a little tighter than normal...but overall feeling pretty good!

This week my pj's split right down the middle. A few things to mention: They were non-maternity, about 15 years old, already had some holes....but not enough to warrant the complete disaster that became of my pants when I squatted down to clean up one of Lorelai's "misses" from potty training. Nevertheless, huge ego boost on my part.

Last night I realized this "feeling" I've had off and on this week is actually Braxton Hicks contractions---something I never had last pregnancy. So that's a fun and new thing this time around!

Kevin and I did a little more work on the nursery this week. We put up the mobile and picked out some more decor. Hoping to have it ready soon!

Looking forward to thanksgiving next w…

Dear Pepper,

This week was finally glucose test week-- and we passed with flying colors. Yay! That just means more sugar intake for the rest of pregnancy :)

It's hard to believe 2nd trimester has come to an end already....its been a great run, but I'm ready to get this show on the road. Besides a lot of leg cramps at night, there haven't been many pregnancy symptoms bugging me this time around.

This time last pregnancy I was really starting to swell, and removed my wedding ring. I haven't had to do that yet, but I will say I also sized up my wedding ring after Lorelai was born...so that may be part of it. My feet still fit into my boots, for now, so here is to hoping I can continue to wear my normal shoes the rest of pregnancy.

Dear Pepper,

This week I decided to move that glucose test because of all the candy I planned to consume (don't worry, next week it is!). Lately, you're making it a lot more difficult to go from sitting on the floor with Lorelai to standing.

It's hard to believe there are just 15 weeks left in pregnancy. Its going to be a long 15 weeks...but we will get there! We are nearing the end of 2nd trimester already...which is shocking.

This time last pregnancy we hadn't found a middle name for your big sister either...and we are still struggling with one for you!

Halloween was this week, which was a lot of fun seeing Lorelai get dressed up this year. Kevin and I went to a party dressed up, then he got in costume with her again for Halloween night. 

I think the biggest surprise this pregnancy has still been how much you move. I really do not remember Lorelai kicking and squirming this much. 

Thanks to a recent Kiplinger article, I've found an entire movement of Millennials that I had no idea even had a name.

FIRE- "Financial Independence, Retire Early". What is the idea? Work hard for a number of years, pay off debt, stock up savings, live off of a small portion of what you are bringing in....then stock all the rest up into savings and retirement.

Sound familiar? If you've read our blog for long, this may sound familiar, as this is exactly what we do here. We call this making ourselves "Artificially poor" forcing ourselves to live on less than we bring in so we can pay off our mortgage (prior to that, the goal was paying off student loans), save for retirement and our daughter's college, travel and do things like have one parent stay at home. 

Here is the part where we differ: For the FIRE movement, the next step is once you've hit your magic savings number...you actually retire.

I was skeptical, as is my BFF Suze Orman, but here are some…