Sunday, September 25, 2011

35 weeks 1 day

35 weeks and 1 day. 34 days left to go. less then 5 weeks.

Not that I'm counting.....

OK, that's a lie, I am pretty much counting down the minutes right now. I  am so so sooooo ready to have this baby. I forgot how long the last month or so of pregnancy can feel, it's like your so close, but yet still so far away. I am ready to meet our little man and to settle into our new routine as parents as two. And on a selfish note, I'm ready to feel like a normal human being again!

As far as the basics of pregnancy go, everything is perfect ,we couldn't ask for anything better. Baby is head down and ready to go, heartbeat is strong, he is still moving and kicking and rolling all the time. My weight gain has slown down (Thank God!), my blood pressure is great and my Dr. says everything looks great to deliver a healthy baby right on time.

The only problem? I'm freaking miserable!

I know that there are women out there that struggle with hard pregnancies; bed rest, high blood pressure, high risk birth, diabetes..... trust me, I do realize that I am very lucky. But sometimes it's hard to remember those factors when it's 2:00 A.M. and I"m hauling myself out of bed to pee for the 10th time. Or when I literally have to fully wake up in order to roll over night, because gone are the days of easily tossing and turning in my sleep. Or when I have to pause halfway up the stairs because it feels as though someone has kicked my repeatedly in the crotch, possibly breaking my pubic bone.

But..... we are almost there. Like this week I will be packing my hospital bag and finishing making my "labor playlist" on my ipod and scheduling a haircut and hopefully a mani/pedi since I know there will be no time for those things once L2 gets here.

But I make no promises to suffer in silence... what can i say, I"m not tough like that!

Here's a few 35 week pictures. Did I mention I also feel like a whale?????


I don't know what L is doing in either of these pictures.......

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Maternity/Family Photos

A few weeks ago we did our Maternity/Family Photo shoot. My friend Ali (check out her blog here) did it for us, and I am so stoked with the results. With Landon we did awesome photos in a studio, and the turned out great, but I'm happy that we got so many family photos this time, as well as some adorable photo's of just Landon! Plus I love the beautiful outdoor location we shot it! Thanks Ali!

So here are about 20 of my favorite photos. I think they turned out great, even if it is hard not to be a little critical of myself (Hello Huge!!!!) But let's be honest, if there is one time in my life where I can be packing an extra 40 pounds and still be willing to be photographed shirtless, it's now!


This is such a perfect shot to capture his personality! He loves jumping!






There was a huge chicken like 3 feet away from us while we were doing these shots... I was a little worried it was going to attack!




Well Hello, Handsome!








One of my favorites!






Now we just need to decide which ones to print and frame!

Monday, September 19, 2011

Birthday BBQ!

So I have a little bit of "Mommy Guilt" because I didn't throw a full on birthday party for L's second birthday. There were several reasons we decided against this, the first being that we really don't know that many other kids. We only have a few friends that have kids yet, and L isn't in school or anything. The second, and probably biggest, reason is that I just plain didn't have it in me. At 8.5 months pregnant I just didn't have the energy or the patience to pull off anything that involved more that  fruit tray and a BBQ. There was no way I was going to be able to do the whole decorations/party bags/games thing. So the guilt is there a little, but it is fading. We did just a simply BBQ with a handful of family and friends. L had a blast, we had fun, and I didn't have to do too much!

So we had basic food: fruit, veggies, chips, hamburgers, hot dogs and, of course, cake!



And more importantly, we had family (my father-in-law came in from California) and good friends who are a big part of both L's and our lives.




We had two separate cakes (neither of which I baked). One for everyone, and a small one that my friend Erin made especially for L. The thought was that he would have his own cake that he could dive into and make a mess out of, but since he is being so picky with food lately he only barely tasted it!






And when he did taste it, he wasn't totally sure what to think. My weird child, he turns up his nose at sugar and treats, but can eat grapes and other fruit by the pound!


And of course there were presents. L got a ton of new clothes for the colder weather months, which he really needed, and toys and books.




And his big present from Mommy and Daddy was a huge hit. It brought tears to my eyes to see him on this because he just looks so big! But he is in love with his new tricycle!




So, it was a simple and small affair, but memorable and special at the same time. There will be plenty of time for huge and extravagant birthday parties as he gets older, so I think I"m actually pretty glad we did it this way for his second!

Thursday, September 15, 2011

TWO!!!!!

L is two!!!!!

How is this even possible? How can I have a two year old.... a toddler? It seems impossible how fast the time has gone. But two years ago today at 2:45 P.M. they placed a screaming, wrinkly, cone headed and beautiful baby boy in my arms and the pain and discomfort of the previous nine months (not to mention the 17 hours of labor!) disappeared. And I didn't think I could ever love him more then I did at that moment.

I was so, so so very wrong.

Every single day he amazes me. Every day he melts my heart with a hug or a kiss, he breaks my heart when he cries, and he makes me laugh with his funny and sweet personality. Everyday I love him even more.

OK, this post could get really sentimental and sappy, but I"m going to try and control myself!

First "big boy" change we made? Front facing car seat.





I'm not going to lie, this makes me nervous. I hate having him on the side instead of safe in the middle, but it's just the reality of having two car seats soon. Really, I wish I could just package him in bubble wrap every time we left the house, or could possibly upgrade to a tank for a family car.... but I guess that's out of the question!

So since Daddy had to work today, it was just me and L all day. I decided to take him out to a "birthday breakfast" instead of our usual cheerios routine. I took him to a place called "My Daddy's Bakery", which is (unfortunately) one of the only locally owned places we have out where we live. It is tucked into a dingy little shopping center on a busy stretch of road. The shopping center also houses such gems as a drapery store, western/cowboy clothing store and a butcher. Oh, and sometimes there is a guy selling either cat condos or knives (depending on the day) out in the parking lot. Trust me, it is not a place you would ever think, "Oh, we should stop there!".  But S and I discovered it a few years ago, and despite being not much to look at on the outside, the inside is cozy and cute, with cases and cases of fresh made pastries, cookies, breads and desserts.


I order us a cherry and cheese danish and a blueberry danish, figuring that L loves blueberries, so it would be a hit.

Um, wrong. He is going through a stage right now where he does not want to eat anything except for the few things he already knows that he likes. He won't even try new stuff. Seriously, I tried to make him taste the danish and you would have though I was trying to feed the kid liver and brussel sprouts.


So he got cheerios and Graham crackers and mommy ate both pastries. We were both satisfied. (Hey, lay of my, I"m eating for two!)




Next we stopped at Barnes and Nobles. It's still too hot to really do anything outside here (although it has cooled down to a chilly 98 degrees this week!)  But L loves running around the kids section and playing at the tables and looking at all the train books.





After that it was home to play, have lunch and then a much needed nap!



(Poor kid, he obviously doesn't have enough toys. Hopefully he gets some for his birthday!)


Finally Daddy got home and he brought him a BALLOON! He was in love with this balloon. Seriously, he wouldn't let it go the entire night until it was time for shower and bed.



(I snapped this pic about 2 seconds before Charlie decided he was scared of the balloon and bolted. Unfortunately he caught the string on his paw, freaking him out even more. The result was a toddler getting pulled rather roughly to the ground since he refused to let go of the balloon. There were tears, but were quickly forgotten.)

And of course a cupcake and a candle for the birthday boy. He was fascinated by the candle, he kept trying to reach out and touch it! And notice, he still has the balloon!




And last, but not least, presents. We gave him a few small presents tonight, he will get his big present on Saturday when we have a BBQ for him. I"m not sure if a big present will even top these though. He got a Thomas the Train book and two sets of hot wheels, both of which seems to be his most favorite things in the world right now. It was so fun to buy for him this year and see him open them, because he got really excited and was so much more aware that there was a celebration going on and that it was for him.




So there you have it. My baby is two. It makes me want to smile and cry at the same time. But, the bottom line it, even when he is 40, he will always be my baby.

And this face, will always make me smile!

Happy birthday Monkey! Mommy loves you more than you will ever know!