Monday, April 30, 2012

Just Because...






I love these two dearly.

and

I enjoy watching them play any type of sport together.

and

I thought I would give picmonkey a quick whirl this morning and I like it (what was that other photo editing website called again?)

and

I was up for 2 hours last night timing my contractions on my contraction timer app on my Kindle Fire.

and

The contractions stopped once I got out of bed and started moving this morning. 

and

I'm bumming about this.

and

Bill has migrated into the house even though I said "not in the house"...I'm a sucker for nature.

and

After a long day yesterday of playing outside and helping Pat with a project I can't wait to share, the four of us snuggled on the couch for a dinner of popcorn and smoothies while watching Shrek 2. 

and

I'm loving the idea of weather in the 70's all week.





Sunday, April 29, 2012

He will always be my baby...


Owen may be gearing up to become a big brother any minute,
but he will always be my baby.

Saturday, April 28, 2012

39 Weeks




39 Weeks
Picture by Jack


Okay Baby, you can come anytime. We are ready for you. 

I'm nesting around this house like crazy. The freezer (with meat), refrigerator (with the $50 worth of fruit I bought at Costco today) and pantry (with snacks, back-up snacks and oh, 3 jars of spaghetti sauce) are stocked full of food. All of the itty bitty onesies, socks and jammies have been washed and folded. 

The gear, such as the pack n' play, swing, and pump have been brought up from the basement and thoroughly cleaned (after Jack pointed out to me how dirty and gross they were..ewe!)

I'm constantly cleaning, picking up this house and keeping up on the laundry in preparation for when the contractions start (or maybe to help them start?)

I am drinking Raspberry Leaf Tea with a side of Evening Primrose Oil every chance I can get.

I'm trying to spend as much quality time with the boys as I can. I'm trying to remain as present/in the moment as I can with them when we are doing activities such as playing outside/at the park, Lego building, drawing and playing games/puzzles.
 
Last weekend, Pat threw me a surprise baby shower where I was able to celebrate this new baby with some of my closest girlfriends, sister-n-law and my mom. I am so thankful for all these amazing women in my life that made that afternoon so special. And I love my husband for planning such an event, it was so thoughtful of him.

This past week, we took the boys to a New Big Brother/Big Sister class at the hospital where I am going to deliver. At the time I signed them up, I just thought it would be fun for them to maybe do, but I honestly did not think we would even attend because the baby would have arrived already. Well, because that has not happened, we decided to give it a whirl. I am so glad we did because it gave each of them a little boost in the preparation for a new baby department. Pat and I talk about this new baby all the time, but I think it was good for them to hear it from somebody else, it seemed to resonate more.

I'm scared, nervous, tired, nervous and anxious. But most of all, I'm excited to meet this new baby!

I'm ready.

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Popsicle Weather

The weather today...75 degrees and sunny.

Yes, it was most definitely a let's eat Popsicles on the front porch kind of day.

Monday, April 23, 2012

My Boys and their Slippers.

To remember...

The boys love their slippers, especially Jack. He wears them to bed, wears them around the house and if we should go out to play or run an errand where he needs to wear his shoes, he puts his slippers right back on upon coming into the house. He says they make him feel "cozy and warm".


Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Week 38

38 Weeks Pregnant
picture by Jack

Total Weight Gain: 40 lbs (yes, I did just admit to that)

Maternity Clothes: Yes, I have been wearing these for awhile now and I'm over them.

Stretch Marks: Just the few I have on my belly from my pregnancy with Jack. I have not gotten any new ones, thank goodness! I have religiously used my tummy butter ever night before bed.

Sleep: My sleep has actually been okay. As long as I can get myself all propped up and surrounded by pillows (so I can breath), I seem to sleep just fine. The major problem is waking up having to use the bathroom 1-3 times/night. I know what's coming, so I'll take it.

Best Moment of the Week: This was tonight and there were two moments. The first moment happened as we were watching American Idol and listening to one of the singers. Owen and I started dancing together and then he asked me to dance with the baby. I pulled up my shirt a bit and he danced with my belly. The second moment happened as I was laying with Jack in his bed snuggling before he drifted off to sleep. The baby got the hiccups and so Jack was able to lay his hand on my belly to feel them. He was simply amazed. 

Miss Anything: I miss have 100% of my energy. I miss being able to breath without feeling winded. And not gonna lie, I miss having a Corona every now and then.

Movement: All the time.

Food Cravings: Chocolate and Chinese

Anything making you queasy or sick: Not really. I just can't bring myself to eat Salmon after I prepare it and smell it cooking. 

Gender: We don't know!!

Labor Signs: Sunday and Monday night, I woke up having contractions that made me wince in pain, but they eventually subsided and I fell back asleep both nights. I haven't experienced them or any other signs since. I'm still only dilated to a one (have been for three weeks).

Belly button in or out: Out

Wedding rings on or off: They are on and actually, I have never had a problem with this.

Mood: Happy most of the time, but I have felt extremely emotional for the past few months. I have cried more with this pregnancy than the other two. It's actually makes me laugh to think back about the things I have cried over...chalk this up to pregnancy hormones.

Looking forward to: I'm so looking forward to meeting this baby! I'm looking forward to putting my worries at ease. I'm looking forward to loving up on my two boys during these next few days/weeks before the baby arrives. I'm looking forward to the boys meeting this baby and adjusting to a new way of life.

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Ten on Tuesday

1. "Houston, we have a problem...a big problem." After searching this house high and low, we cannot find our infant car seat anywhere. With a new baby due to make her/his appearance any day, it's kinda important to have this piece of baby gear. And the crazy part is that this was the second infant car seat we bought. When we were prepping for Owen's arrival, we realized we had taken apart our original car seat (for some odd, very odd reason) and couldn't find all the pieces to put it back together, so we had to buy a new one. Please Car Seat Gods, help me, I really don't want to buy a third one!

2. Owen is my silly and goofy child and he keeps us laughing all.the.time.


3. Have you heard of the Arbor Day Foundation? If you become a member for $15/year, you get ten free trees (seedlings at 6-12 inches) delivered to you plus 33% off other various trees and shrubs. It sounds pretty great to me plus what a perfect way to celebrate Earth Day this week!

4. My vacuum cleaner is diiissgusting right now. I'm going to have to give this a try.

5. One word: Craving.


6. This video of a loyal dog that stayed right by another dog's side after it was struck and killed by a car overwhelmed me with emotion and brought me to tears.

7. Mom, I think you need to create a butterfly feeder for your butterfly garden, just like this.

8. I went into labor with both Jack and Owen when terrible snowstorms hit the cities we were living in at the time. When I woke up to snow falling from the sky yesterday (ahem, in April), I thought, "this is it...it's a sign..baby's coming today". Nope, not so much.

9. On the docket for this upcoming weekend is building the boys a sandbox (right Pat?!)....a la this! I would also love to make my pantry look like this.

10. We have made these sandwiches twice already in the past two weeks. I marinate the chicken in Trader Joe's Island Soyaki Sauce for a few hours before grilling. Oh.my.gah! Sooooo good!


11. And just cuz...


Sunday, April 15, 2012

They're Baaack....

My Bubs were gone for the past three days spending the weekend with Pat's parents at their cabin.
Although it was a nice little break in the action of parenthood and we were able to check about 15 to-do's off our list and we were able to go out alone two nights in a row and we were able to sleep in two mornings in a row...I truly did miss my Bubs...a lot.

I'm so happy they are home!

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Tuesday Seven.

1. We spend Easter with Pat's family, which meant a quick weekend trip to Green Bay. The boys were in heaven playing with their three older cousins who treat them like little princes. This one of my favorite pictures of the weekend.
The boys all dressed up in their Easter Sunday best, Jack with his most favorite Easter Bunny present (that had exploded from overuse, but was quickly fixed up with duct tape), Owen with his cheese face, Lauren smiling and (and the only one) looking right at me and all three of them snuggling with Great-Grandma.

2. And a few more pictures from Easter...





3. Now that Easter is over, we are officially on a sugar detox around here. Jack has come up with clever way of asking though by saying,"Mommy, I sure wish I could have this Peep/Nerds/chocolate egg, but I know you won't let me" while looking at me with puppy dog eyes. My reply is pretty consistent, " You're right Jackers, Mommy won't let you...nice try though buddy."

4. I made Summer Vegetable Bake for dinner tonight with a few modifications. I added yellow squash and red peppers for color and yumminess. I used cottage cheese instead of ricotta because that is what I had in my fridge. And for the pasta, I used Campannelle noodles. It was light and delicious! All the boys loved it and Owen even asked for seconds.


5. Umbrellas are simply fascinating to small children, especially my small children. They carried them around all day and used them to watch an afternoon episode of Wild Kratts.


6. I had been unable to find the video recorder charger since we moved into our house. Miraculously, I found it due to my nesting bug..thank goodness. Today, the boys and I watched a bunch of old videos from when they were babies. The three of us were smiling and snuggling on the couch, it was precious.

7. That is all I have for now. I better get to bed because at 37 weeks pregnant with a terrible cold, sleep is becoming sporadic at best.

Sunday, April 1, 2012

An Easter Egg Hunt

We made it to an Easter egg hunt today, with two extremely excited and tired boys. A quick overnight trip to Milwaukee that consisted of a lot of swimming and playing with cousins wore these boys out plus resulted in colds for both of them. But, we most definitely had to take advantage of this Easter festivity!
The hunt was divided up by age group, so I helped Owen and Pat helped Jack. It started and was over in a flash as in the bell went off at 3:00 pm and by 3:05 pm, all the eggs were gone. Well, not in Owen's group (age 0-3), these little kiddos were just happy to get one egg and sit on the ground to eat what was in it. Too cute!



Here is my happy little man finding his goodies and as soon as he spotted the Easter Bunny....

he became terrified. 
He got as close to me as he possibly could, went into the fetal position and just sobbed.  Needless to say, we most definitely did not have a visit with big, white bunny. Maybe next year?