39 weeks and counting!

Sunday marked 39 weeks, and I can't believe baby girl hasn't arrived yet.  I know, I know, her due date isn't until the 22nd, but it's hard not to compare pregnancies and expect SOME similarities.  Since Sullivan came 3 weeks early and I started 'progressing' so early with this one, we all (even my doctor) thought she would have arrived by now.  Because I am of "advanced maternal age", they do a sonogram with a biophysical each week, and baby girl is doing great.  Plenty of fluid, great movement, placenta looks good, etc.  She's just not ready to make an appearance I guess.  I, of course, am really hoping to have her and be home BEFORE Christmas.  To that end, I've been trying some "homeopathic" things to bring on labor. Last night I finally resorted to making eggplant parmesan, and I did actually start having some contractions, but they teetered off again during the night.  Supposedly the eggplant parmesan can take up to 48 hours to work, so maybe that with tonight's full moon will be the magic combination. I really put no stock into these things, but worth a shot. I still feel great, so I'm very thankful for that.  I haven't been uncomfortable or swollen or anything.  Just impatient. :)

Happy as a lark!

Does this sweet thing look ready go meet the world? I love seeing her sweet smiles, but she may be entirely too happy in there!  Slight changes from last weeks appointment, but nothing major.  She's LOW, so just waiting for her to decide it's time!  Freezing rain expected this weekend, so I anticipate she'll decide to arrive during that loveliness.  They believe her weight is about 6 lb 12 oz which is what they guessed for Sullivan just before he was born. He ended up 6 lb 8 oz, so she's comparable as far as size and time. Doctor says changes in barometric pressure are causing waters to break all over the place, so I'll continue to keep you posted! 

Waiting game

I've reached 37 weeks, and so begins the waiting for baby girl to arrive!  Today marks the point Sullivan arrived, but Lord knows this girl will do what she wants!  My appointment last week had me at 50% effaced and 2 cm.  I go back on Wednesday, so we'll see how things have changed.  I had steady contractions most of Friday and through the weekend, but much less today.  My sleep has been good about every other night.  All it takes is one outstanding question or to-do item to keep me restless all night.  I think we have everything done and ready.  We got the tree and all the decorations for Christmas done this weekend, so I don't even have that hanging over my head!  Just hanging out, twiddling my thumbs!

4 years old

Somehow, this tiny baby...

is now 4 years old!

I know I say it every year, and I'm sure every parent says the same thing, but wow! How does the time go so quickly? I feel like we rush through our mornings to get to school, rush through our evenings to get dinner eaten, baths done, and in bed on time, and when I look up, a year has passed!  I am very thankful for all the photos and videos and blog posts to help me remember all the stages along the way.  Sullivan was so shocked and amazed that today was his birthday and he was no longer 3!  He kept saying, "I'm not 3 anymore? I'm really 4 now?!" I suppose it is a crazy concept to go to bed one age and wake up another!  We are trying to go easy (and cheap) this birthday by having 2 friends come spend the night for a backyard "camp out". We have an evening of hotdogs, smores, cupcakes, scavenger hunts, campfires, and maybe tent sleeping ahead of us. Well, the boys at least.  This mama will be in my bed, not a tent. :) Sullivan has been acting out a little lately with all the transition in his life, so I'm hopeful a day devoted to him and full of fun stuff will make him happy. He is so smart and so sweet (most of the time). I am really blessed. Happy birthday sweet Pooh Bear!

New Bookshelves

Daniel finished the bookshelves in Sullivan's new room this weekend!  I'm so happy with how they turned out.  Even with all these new shelves, we filled them up to the brim! I'm going to have to start weeding out some of the books that aren't our favorites and donating them.  I love that this one dead space behind the door is now so functional, and Sullivan has loved being able to easily see his books and pick each night.  My hubby is the bomb.

In other news, I figured it was time for another belly shot.  I feel bad I haven't documented this pregnancy like I did the first go round.  This photo also confirms that at the end of the day, I look as tired as I feel. Also, I need a haircut.

We (mainly Daniel) knocked a few other projects out this weekend:

• painted chest of drawers and moved it in new room
• hung curtains (with blackout, thermal liners) in new room- I'm not crazy about these, but they are doing the job for now and were cheap!
• got pillows for new bed- makes me much happier with bedding now

Still to do:

• finish the cradle (either milk paint it, or stain it, or paint it)
• hang pictures in new room
• move all Sullivan's stuff to new room
• set up changing table
• set up crib
• move rocker back to baby room
• Have and NAME baby girl

Baby girl updates

I had a sonogram and doctor's appointment on Monday, so Daniel and I got what will probably be our last peek at baby girl before she arrives in December.  She is measuring in the 51% percentile, so perfectly average.  They estimate she weighs 2lb 15 oz, has a good bit of hair on her head, and is in the head down position. She has never cooperated and given us a good profile or facial shot, so it will be a real surprise when she is born!  The office was running WAY behind, so we were there for about 4 hours.  Seeing our baby girl and getting a good update is worth it, of course.

I'm knocking on 30 weeks, so if she comes when Sullivan did, only 7 weeks to go! 7 weeks is NOTHING! My list of things to accomplish before she arrives is long, but I know a lot of this is just nesting, so I'm trying to just do one thing at a time and not freak out.  Daniel has stripped the 40?+ years of paint from the family cradle, painted Sullivan's new room (he's moving into the guest room), built book shelves for new room, and pulled out tons of baby stuff from the attic for me to go through.  Once I can get him settled in his new room, I'll be able to get the nursery set back up and organized.  Hopefully that will calm my anxiety a bit.

Sullivan showing off his new room that Daddy painted!

Sullivan had his first violin lesson yesterday afternoon.  It did not go as smoothly as I had hoped, but I probably need to lower my expectations considering he's 3.  He learned proper standing position and the parts of the bow and violin.  He and I will continue to work on this stuff this week, and maybe next week the class will go a little smoother.  (fingers crossed) He wasn't bad, but had trouble focusing and would come hide on me or pout sometimes, so I spent a lot of the class just trying to encourage him to come listen or pay attention to the teacher.  Oh well.

Anna and I took the kiddos to visit my grandparents last weekend.  We had a great time going out for lunch, playing in the yard, and visiting.

End of Summer

The first weekend of Fall, we took a quick trip down to Florida for one last beach trip.  We drove to Spanish Fort after work on a Thursday, so that Friday we would have almost a full day at the beach.  I'm thankful we did, since this ended up being the only sunny day besides the day we left. :) We tried to make the best out of the weather and ran down to the beach between rain showers.  This trip was a package that Daniel had won in an auction at a beer tasting and came with gift certificates to several restaurants, golf, The Track, etc.  Because of this we tried out some new places and pretty much didn't pay for food our entire trip!  Unfortunately, on our last day Sullivan started complaining of a sore throat and went quickly down hill from there.  It was a LONG drive home with a sick child, and he ended up with a viral infection in his lungs and throat that kept him home from school the whole next week.  All in all, not our best beach trip, but at least it was some time away from the usual stresses.

Lunch out upon arriving. Sullivan got to touch an alligator, but it was so fast I didn't get a picture.

Dinner out our first night. The last of our blue skies. 

One advantage of late season and poor weather; we had the beach almost to ourselves!

The waves and tide were too rough to really play in, so we did LOTS of sand castle building.

We had promised donuts all week, so we made a stop on our way out of town even though he was feeling so bad he didn't even eat his chocolate sprinkle doughnut. You know a kid is sick when that happens. :(

Our life the following week. Thankfully, he's feeling much better and back at school now. 

Sullivanisms

"You are cutting off your face to spite your nose."
"Actually," - he may be a bit of a know it all (no clue where he gets that ;))
"That's a good plan." - Think, Martha Stewart's "It's a good thing" for context. Although, one time he said, "I should stab her, that's a good plan." Don't worry, we emphasized to him that stabbing someone is never a good plan.
"__ is so cutie."- can be used in reference to bugs, animals, kids, clothes, whatever.
"Does this have cavity bugs in it?" - Sullivan has a cavity that he wouldn't let the dentist fill, so we are working very hard to prevent more cavities.  It's a hard concept to explain cavities and how they form to a 3 year old.
"When I'm a big brother..."- He will eat vegetables, be able to swim, ride a bike, etc. I think he's going to be a little disappointed in 2 1/2 months when the baby comes and he's not instantly all grown up.

Some of his favorite songs:
"Lexicon Lucky"- actual name: "Get Lucky" by Daft Punk
"Shake, Rattle and Roll"
"Sweater Weather" by The Neighbourhood
"Possibility" by Lyke Li
"So Good at Being in Trouble" by Unknown Mortal Orchestra

The pictures below are a bit random, but I thought I would share anyway.  The first is Sullivan and Sophie.  Sullivan loves to play with our pets and Sophie and Bailey (the dog) are both so patient with him.
 The second picture is for prosperity.  I never thought I would see the day that my child ate a baked chicken wing.  He usually won't touch meat in any sort of natural, un-nuggeted state, so this was huge!  I guess it is a sign of him growing up since in the past few days he's eaten scrambled eggs, beef jerky, and now baked chicken.  He's been trying new foods at school as well, so they must be a good influence on him.  Can't believe he'll be 4 soon!
The third photo is from his first ride on the double decker bus. Ole Eagle Eyes found a quarter as soon as we sat down!
The last is a picture from our beach trip back in June! Not many pics that I actually make it in, so I want to savor the ones I have!

I had my second glucose tolerance test today.  The lab tech didn't seem as confident in my results, so I'm mentally preparing myself for a failure.  At least i've had the last 3 weeks to eat without too much concern.  We are going to the beach this weekend, so I plan to enjoy what could be one of my last weekends of no diet and no finger pricking. Forecast calls for rain just about the entire time we are there, so we may be doing a good bit of swimming in the indoor pool and shopping at the outlet malls! Hopefully we'll get to squeeze some beach time in there somewhere.

I have photos from some of our home projects, but I'll have to do another post on those later. Maybe from the balcony at the beach!

Glucose Tolerance Test

So, I passed my 3 hour glucose tolerance test. Yay, right?  Except I have to take it AGAIN in 3 WEEKS! I plan to ask at my appointment on Thursday just how many times they expect me to take that damn thing.  I know since I had it last time, they are just trying to catch it as early as possible, but geez. I really didn't think I was going to make it through the first hour yesterday.  I got so faint and nauseous I went back and forth between laying out on the couch and standing directly under an air vent.  The nausea got better as the time went by, but I had a horrendous headache until I went to sleep last night.  I wasn't kidding when I said it would almost be better to be on the diet than to go through that test again. I'm supposed to be trying to enjoy and appreciate all the things that come with pregnancy since I plan for this to be the last time I'm pregnant, but some things just don't have a silver lining. Trust me.

Pregnancy Projects... the second time around

Some of you may remember, when I was pregnant with Sullivan, I decided I should make a needlepoint stocking for him.  I did finally complete that stocking before his 3rd Christmas....
So, this time around, I'm picking up my knitting again.  I finally completed this. And I made the booties below for my sister in law.  They are far from perfect, but a decent outcome for my first shot.  I have plans to attempt another pair in pink and then I HAVE to start on a hat for Sullivan that I've been promising him for years.  It feels good to have two completed knitting projects, and does inspire me to do more, so we'll see how long it lasts. I also have plans to make him a duvet cover for his new room...crazy, do-it-yourself, nesting pregnancy hormones.

*Going for my 3 hour glucose tolerance test tomorrow, so any prayers are welcome.  I'm mentally prepared to fail it, and have already started trying to follow the gestational diabetes diet guidelines. Sure would be nice to not be on a diet for half my pregnancy though.

Growing girls

Baby number two is no joke!  I've always heard your belly gets big faster the second time around, and "they" weren't kidding!  Below is a shot take on June 8 and then photos taken on August 10th.  What a difference 2 months makes!

12 Weeks

21 Weeks

I'm definitely feeling good now that I'm in the second trimester.  The first was pretty brutal this go round as far as feeling nauseous and exhausted.  My only complaint these days is some sciatic pain.  I failed my first glucose test, so I'll be having the 3 hour glucose tolerance test next week.  I've resigned myself to the fact that I probably have gestational diabetes again, so I'm preparing myself for the coming diet and finger pricking.  I haven't had any major cravings this go round, but no major aversions currently either.  We'll see how that changes when my carbs are limited!  Baby girl movements are no longer little flutters, but instead major acrobatics!  Sullivan and Daniel are both able to feel her now, which is always fun.  

By the way, Sullivan had a great first day at Willie Price.  He was so excited when he found out he got to go back the next day.  He's been dressing himself and  brushing his own teeth each morning and night!  We've had no separation issues when dropping him off! The second day he walked in all by himself! I'm so thankful that he's in such a good place and having such a wonderful time!

1st Day at Willie Price Lab School!

Today was Sullivan's first day at Willie Price Lab School.  He did so great when I dropped him off!  Actually, he did a little too great!  He walked into his classroom, and went and sat down next to his friend Jackson and never looked back.  I actually had to go to him and get a kiss goodbye! I'm so glad he's excited for this new chapter in his life!  I can't wait to hear how his first day went!  Where does the time go?

Milestones

Today was Sullivan's last day at his daycare before he begins Willie Price in August.  I did fine dropping him off, but picking him up from his last day was much more emotional than I expected.  His class and teachers were hugging him and telling him "bye", and I couldn't help but tear up.  Has it really been 3 1/2  years since I dropped him off for his first day?  I guess it just hit me how grown up he's getting and how fast it seems to happen.  I suppose it's only fitting that I cried that very first day and cried on his last.  One of many emotional milestones to come.

Filtered Life

Some of you may have noticed I briefly locked down the blog to approved readers only.  I've reversed my decision for a number of reasons, so welcome back public. I've been such a terrible blogger.  I come here frequently to post, and then decide not to share some of the more personal things in my life. It feels so scripted when I try to put together a post about my life while completely editing out major portions.  Regardless, I'm going to continue to try and find the happy medium. 

Summer is almost here, so if someone could pass me a load of money so I could spend it outside with my family, that would be awesome.

 More to come.

Weekend Recap

For a weekend with nothing really planned, we certainly stayed busy!  Sullivan had a haircut appointment Friday afternoon, so we went for an early dinner on the square after that.  Since we were home and fed by 6:30, I spent most of the evening drinking wine and pointing out all the things I have pinned on pinterest in regard to our house/yard.  It was a nice, low-key evening at home.  

Saturday morning, Anna, Lisa, and I went to a yoga class and then to Bottletree for lunch.  It was so nice to start the day with a work out!  This class did so many different poses from my typical class that I am sore in lots of new places!  Feels good though!  I bought a 5 class pass, so I need to figure out what other classes I can fit into my schedule.  I am still working out on Monday and Wednesday evenings and doing regular yoga class at work on Wednesdays, so I'm not sure where I will squeeze in other classes.  The weekend worked nicely though, so maybe that's my answer for now.  

Bottletree was selling king cakes, and since I needed to bring a dessert to the church potluck on Sunday, I bought 2!  I figured I needed something cajun-ish for dinner to go with our king cake, so I decided to utilize the gulf shrimp I already had in the freezer, and make gumbo.  I guess I have never made gumbo before.  I did lots of recipe searching, and ended up sort of combining emeril's and paula deens recipes.  I cheated and used a rotisserie chicken, but even that short cut didn't seem to save me much in the way of time.  It was a good bit of effort, but the delicious outcome made it worthwhile!

Anna, Ricky and Julia came over to have dinner with us, and the adults ended up staying up WAY too late, but it was a fun evening.  My Sullivan wake up call came early!  After attending church and the potluck, I enjoyed a long, fabulous nap! I was back in bed early evening to start reading our bookclub book.  The group decided to re-read The Great Gatsby, since the movie will be out soon.  I found my old college copy, and I'm enjoying refreshing my memory of this story.  

We've got nothing planned for next weekend, so I'm hoping we begin some outdoor projects.  We want to expand our concrete slab patio, so if you've any suggestions on good design websites, please let me know.  

Even the milestones?

Ok, so I realize I've been bad about blogging over the  past year, but I had no idea just how bad it was until I was skimming through old posts.  I did not blog about Sullivan's 3rd birthday.  How did I go from blogging his every month to forgetting to do his 3rd birthday?  Oh, the shame.

Sooooo....pretend today is a lovely Friday in November.

Since Sullivan's birthday fell on a Thursday and between two already full weekends, we decided to do an easy party at 'the jumpy place' on his actual birthday.  Unfortunately, this meant no extended family or out of town friends were able to attend.  Fortunately, this party made things really easy on me. I brought hot and ready pizzas and a cake, and they did the rest.  EASY!

I still can't believe my tiny baby is 3 years old.  He looks less and less a baby every day.  He is a talker and probably asks me about a million questions a day.  When he gets on a roll, every sentence ends with a "Mom?".  I love his curiosity (most of the time....when i've had coffee already) and always try and answer his question with real answers.  I do not always succeed, but I try.  He loves to play with his legos, his cars and trucks, his garbage truck, and the ipad.  He will play by himself frequently, but lately he says, "daddy, will you play with me?" most nights.  We typically read 4 books each night before bed.  He got a customized pirate book for Christmas that has him as one of the characters, so he likes to read that one A LOT.  He and I will always talk about what breakfast we'll have together in the morning as we are saying good night each night.  If I don't mention breakfast, he will bring it up before I can close the door.  So, we'll plan to have our oatmeal or our cereal bars or pancakes each night before bed.  I guess he and I both look forward to that time together (while daddy is still sleeping).  He loves to help me cook, but he still won't eat most of what he or I make.  He loves to 'tell us a secret' and then whisper "I love you!" in our ears.  He really is awesome most of the time.  He does act like a toddler and completely ignore everything we ask him to do on occasion though.  He can throw a fit and hit and spit like nobody's business as well.  Just thought I'd give a reality check there for a moment.  I figure with my stubbornness and Daniel's lack of patience, he's bound to have a temper! All in all, we still feel like the luckiest parents in the world.  I can't wait to share with him all the exciting things the world has to offer!

A New Year

I know better than to add blogging regularly to my long list of New Year's resolutions, but I do want to try. I guess that sort of is my resolution...to try.  Try to floss my teeth every night, try to wash my face every night, try to eat better, try to work out more, try to attend church more often, try to give back to my community more, try to be a better wife and mother...just try to be a better, happier person all around.  2012 brought many challenges and sad times, but lots of good times as well.  I definitely hope for more of the good in 2013, but I also want to just try to be in the moment.  I want to enjoy the small things and not try to rush through the day, week, month.

On that note, I tried a 3 day detox this week. Ha!  I figured it would be easy to limit my diet while stuck at work....only we weren't stuck at work!  The ice storm that wasn't kept us at home Monday and Tuesday, and that was the end of that.  We are still eating amazingly healthier food, but the strict detox diet left me shaky and cranky and really hungry.  Our dinner last night: baked salmon, brown rice, steamed broccoli, and wilted spinach.  Delicious!  I'm the grocery buyer and the chef in our house, so the power to do better is in my hands!  Oh, the pressure!  Sullivan and I also made some oatmeal, banana, chocolate chip muffins last night.  They are very good, but need to be warmed to not taste like a glob of cold oatmeal.  They contain no flour, so it really is just a glob of oatmeal held together with some egg!

I haven't downloaded our holiday pictures yet, but I'm going to try to do that this week or weekend.  We ended up going to 6 towns for Christmas celebrations, so we were worn out by New Years Eve.  I don't plain to repeat 6 again.  We are lucky to have so much family within driving distance, but it felt like we were never anywhere long enough to relax and enjoy the season. Lesson learned.

If anyone still reads this blog, I hope you are starting off your new year full of positive energy as well!