Random Friday Musings

1. I have a prenatal massage scheduled for Wednesday, and I'm SO excited. I didn't have one with Jeffrey, so I promised myself that I would get one this time. How easy is it going to be after I have two little ones to get some good calming time like that? Not so much. My chiro highly recommended getting one, as well, so that helped give me the little push I needed. Since she advised it, I get part of it paid by insurance. Sweet.
2. I'm starting to get pretty uncomfortable, which is unfortunate since it's still pretty early. I have this ridiculous fear of going into labor too early, even though I've had no real reason to think so. I have been having BH quite frequently, but I did last time around this time, as well. I guess it's just because they're a little stronger than I remember, although they still don't hurt. I'll relax on this when we hit 36 weeks. 
3. Sleep has been rough, but it's still not horrible. I can't understand why the snoogle isn't helping me as much as it did last time! Although, I'm pretty sure I was already sleeping in the recliner at this point with Jeffrey. I don't feel the need to stay upright just yet.
4. We've started using some ideas from the Love and Logic approach and have seen some great results. He's never been a bad kid and very rarely throws a tantrum, but we wanted him to understand his limits and try to minimize some whining. We've seen success in both areas. 
5. Jeffrey knows which shoe goes on which foot now. Sometimes, he doesn't quite figure it out until he has a shoe all the way on, but he always corrects himself. 
6. He's also started to get way into storytime. He used to enjoy it, but he just sat in the back or near me and watched all the other kids. This past week, he was up in the front and doing all of the action. He didn't want to leave after the craft and told me that "Storytime is my favorite; I don't want to go to my house"
7. He's graduated from eating a piece of bread folded over for his sandwich to a full out "big sandwich." Sandwiches are, by far, his favorite food. 
8. All of Gavin's clothes are washed and put away! Next week, I just need to start on washing all of the baby items and stuff that has to be done on an individual basis. It feels good to have that checked off the list! 
9. Our birth pool liner and Gavin's newborn photo hat arrived this week, so it's all becoming real!
10. Jony's been reading the Harry Potty series, so we've been watching the movies together at night after he finishes each book. I've really been enjoying the time together. I really look forward to our calm evenings after Jeffrey goes to bed. Only a few more weeks of that precious time!

Wordless Wednesday

34 Weeks!

Time is really closing in, which is a good thing since I'm starting to feel Braxton Hicks and getting a little more uncomfortable as the days go on. I feel like I did in the final weeks leading up to Jeffrey, which kind of freaks me out a bit. I'm still only 34 weeks. I'll feel much better once I get to 36, as that's when my home birth plans go live. I'm sure I'll be fine, but we pregnant women have to worry! I had an appointment with my midwife this weekend, and we discussed a bit of the birth plans. I found out that I have a gold star on my folder, meaning that they need to keep their supplies in the car and be ready to drop everything when they get the call from me. I get this special treatment for having a quick first labor. Jony was also given some homework- reading a little book pamphlet called "Emergency Childbirth." Just in case, lol! That's nothing we're too concerned about since we'll know that our midwife is on her way, if it happens. There's also the craziness that she has two more March babies (or at least due in March) and then I'm next! She has two conferences in mid April, so there are no April dates. Those conferences, along with Easter, made scheduling another appointment a bit tricky! So, I won't be seeing her again for a month, and that will be for our home visit!

We managed to get quite a lot more done this weekend than I expected, so I'm feeling much better about our house situation. There's still a bit to do, but our complete pre-Gavin to-do list is not too much longer! Our hope is to have it all finished by Easter, and I think it's absolutely probable. The only thing I'm not sure of is if I'll get all the baby clothes washed by then! I started sorting it all out yesterday, and we have a LOT more than I thought. Granted, I'm washing all the clothes that Jeffrey had grown out of, since I want to get the attic funk off of them and we have an extra closet in the nursery for it all. I'll be doing laundry every afternoon, that's for sure! At least it's fun to see the tiny little onesies again!

Can you believe that next Monday will be my 35/35 AND the month before I'm due (or could very possibly deliver in)?!?

Utilizing the Weekend

As the amount of weekends we have until Gavin is born gets smaller and smaller, we're having a hard time finding some balance. On one hand, the weekends are the best use of time to get all of the stuff finished that we need to do around the house (our to do list is frustratingly long). On the other hand, we want to still do fun stuff on the weekends since it's our last ones as a little family of three. We're trying to do something special with Jeffrey every weekend, especially in April. Today, Jony and I are actually going on a date to see The Hunger Games. I'm venturing to guess that it will be our last alone time out on the town for awhile!

I really wish that we didn't have so much stuff to do, so that we could fully use our weekends to relax and have fun together. I guess I'm hoping that by really focusing over the next two weekends, we can get most of it done and use the last few weeks to just be a family.

Our (unattainable) goals for this weekend:
-declutter and clean the master bedroom (already started)
-declutter the bathroom (finished!)
-fill the old curtain holes in the nursery
-arrange the furniture in the nursery/attach front of crib
-hang shelves in our bedroom
-put in the garden border
-final tweaks for the garden's watering system
-mulch
-clear out the tree that was cut down for us since it's dead :(

Ugh.

Wordless Wednesday

33 weeks!

I almost let this one slip me by- even with an e-mail reminding me. I'm obviously suffering from a major case of pregnancy brain, although I'm not going to let the toddler slip by that easily, either. He's the one driving me to insanity.

As for my sweet, easy (for now) boy, we are doing pretty good! I'm feeling way better since starting to see the chiropractor, so I'm so glad that I finally just bit the bullet and made that appointment. I'm so impressed with the care I'm receiving and the results that I'm getting. I'm having a bit of pelvis pain, but there's a lot going on down there as we near these last few weeks of being pregnant. This weekend was a bit scary, though. I started feeling super crampy and even had a few contractions. After a bit of research, I came to the conclusion that I was dehydrated. So, I started downing some water and forced myself to stay on the couch for most of Sunday (except for church, where I still just sat there) and am now feeling much better. For a little bit there, I was concerned that he wanted to make his exit as I felt very similar to when Jeffrey dropped. It was somewhat reassuring that I didn't deliver until three weeks later after that with him but not very. I'm pretty sure that I have to be 36 weeks to have my home birth- something I should verify at my appointment this weekend.

I'm starting to get the "that's so soon!" comments, especially as March comes to an end, which is really exciting to me. I'm nervous about how the dynamic of our family will change at first, but I'm super anxious for having my little newborn baby boy. There are so many fears surrounding the birth of your first child, and I just don't have those this time. I just have the new fears surrounding that same first child, lol! I'm fairly certain that he's going to be a fantastic big brother, though. He even wanted to poke the baby out today (he went with me to the chiropractor- ha!) and picked some flowers for him from the front yard. So sweet.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

3 years ago today, we found out that our little redhead was on his way! I still feel super lucky to have him in our lives. He is, for sure, our lucky charm.

Special shout out to Alligator Lane for decking Jeffrey out in some sweet shamrocks for the special day! My son is so fancy; he LOVES wearing his bow-ties. It brought lots of smiles at the Children's Museum this morning :)

Doesn't he look like a little leprechaun here? lol!

Etsy Intervention

I need one. Jony and I decided to order all the things we want from Etsy to make sure that it has enough time to get here, so I've gone nuts! Not too bad, but I feel like I've been pressing the 'submit' button a lot in the last day :) I'm pretty stoked to check our mail for the next few weeks!

Here's what I've ordered (so far, ha!):

(Lindsey's Loops)

(stolenmoments)

(Purple Possom)

Big and Little Brother, with the Little being a onesie- ((Gigi Stitches)

I also ordered a new diaper bag in the PPB outlet sale. I've been shopping like crazy! 

The Nursery

There's still most of the finishing touches left to do, so these pictures aren't that fabulous. I'm excited about it, though, so I'm sharing. We've (again, when I say "we," it means Jony) painted the stripes on the wall, hung the curtains and put up the decals! The crib is back up to the highest level, too, which is pretty strange to see. There's still a lot of Jeffrey's stuff in there and still some of his decorations up, as well. We're still trying to figure out some of those details. I'm hoping that my MIL will agree to make some stuff since she's really good at that sort of thing. With her artwork and my my mom's sewing, I think that would make the room super special!

This weekend, we're going to try and finish it all up (except for artwork and such): hang shelves, clear out the rest of Jeffrey's things and bring out some of Gavin's, raise the curtains up a little higher, and do a good clean of all the furniture, as well as placing it in it's final resting place again.

These pictures are of the decals, mainly, since that showcases all that we've done so far. Decal #1 says "Oh, the places you'll go!" and decal #2 says "You'll be on your way up! You'll be seeing great sights! You'll join the high fliers who fly to high heights!" I'm super happy with how they both turned out. They're both off of Etsy: letterexpressit and Initial You

Wordless Wednesday

Getting Cracked

Yesterday was my chiropractor's appointment. I had back pain and such with Jeffrey, but I was able to rest more often and not squatting/bending over/picking up 30lbs all the time. Plus, I just figured that pregnancy=pain. This time, though, it's been so much more severe. So, I finally bucked up a few weeks ago and called to make an appointment. Something had to be done so that I would at least feel like I was trying to fix it. I'd always been super intrigued by the concept of a chiropractor (my lower back has always felt pain, even not pregnant), so I finally had my chance. I'm sold. The detail and thoroughness that she went through all the questions and diagnostic testing was more than I've ever had done. The machines were super impressive, and she was so good about talking me through everything that she was doing. There's no way I would have been able to tell anything from what she was having me do, but she certainly did. Perfectly, too. I was in awe every time she'd point somewhere and ask if that's where I was experiencing pain. Dead on. Every time.

It turns out that I definitely needed to make an appointment, so I'll probably be going there quite a bit from here on out. My neck is all out of whack and there is major curvage in my lower spine (might even be scoliosis, but I obviously can't get an X-ray to find out. It may be why I always have back pain, though). She also found that my pelvis was a little misaligned which could potentially get worse and impact baby positioning. So, I had my adjustments done. It was interesting, for sure, and super strange to hear so much popping coming from my neck and back. I felt some immediate relief, though. A few hours later, I could feel some pain reemerging, but it's nowhere as severe as it was. She already warned me that it'll probably take a few adjustments to get things back to normal, so I had low expectations. Nighttime was SO much better, though. I wasn't in horrible pain whenever I needed to turn over, and I slept so much harder. That alone makes it worth it, since that was my biggest complaint. I'll be back Thursday morning for her to reevaluate how everything did and for another adjustment.

Overall, I'm so glad that I went (and even more glad that it's all covered by insurance!). I can see myself really utilizing it and overcoming any pains I may come across, instead of just telling myself to deal with it. Sounds amazing.

32 Weeks!

This week brings me into the 8th month and has me realizing that I could have a baby next month. So, needless to say, we're feeling the crunch to get the house in order. It's pretty sad that it's taking us so long since it's literally the only thing we had to do to prepare for this child. We were so much more on top of it when there wasn't a toddler running around the house! We got a ton done in Gavin's room this weekend, so I'm feeling pretty good. The wall is painted, curtains are hung (although we do need to raise the bar a few inches), carpets are cleaned and the crib has been raised back to the highest level. We didn't put the front back on yet since it's easier to get the bed skirt and such on without it. Word from my mom is that it's almost ready. She hasn't started the quilt yet, though, so that stinks. I'm hoping to have it before his newborn photos, but I doubt it's going to happen. It's truly amazing how much of an impact the stripes on the one wall has made in the room, and it's clearly gearing up for a different child. I love it! Jeffrey thinks it's pretty cool, too, but he still clearly prefers his room.

I had my 32 week appointment this past weekend, and all is looking fantastic! I'm about as low risk/key as you can get, so it's always pretty boring. I didn't gain any weight in the last two weeks, which she wasn't shocked about since I'd gained so much the previous two weeks. I'm measuring right on track, and the little guy actually let them find his heartbeat super easy! Of course, lack of room to really move out of the way may be a reason in that. He was super active during it all, per usual. He's definitely head down based on feeling around and the fact that I feel his hiccups down low, so things are moving right on track. It's actually time to start loading up the house with some of the birth supplies! I'm unnaturally excited about giving birth to this child. I'm starting to feel some major pelvic pressure, and I can't move very quickly because of it. Luckily, I still don't have too many complaints, and I'm hoping that the chiropractor today will take care of most of them!

A Good Effort

We had a pretty successful two days, but we just didn't make enough progress to push through the stress it was starting to cause Jeffrey. He kept forgetting that he needed to think about it when he has something on (as opposed to naked), so he'd catch himself as he started to pee and then get on the potty. Since he was having so many accidents, we were trying to catch them before they occurred. Meanwhile, all parties involved were just working way too hard. I'd give everyone an A for effort, but we're going to step back again and try in another month or so. He was so excited to run around naked after dinner (although, he did manage to say dry from nap until then- about 4 hours) and actually peed twice and pooped completely on his own. You could just see his pride built back up after every time. He really loves going on the potty, so I think he was getting really dissapointed in himself. Poor kid. I have no doubts that a few more days of staying on top of it would get the job done, but it doesn't seem worth it. There are a lot of cons to potty training! So, for now, we'll just do as we have been doing (diapers out of the house, naked at home) and do the brief thing again some other time.

In other news, Gavin's room is all painted! I love it and think it looks amazingly awesome. The tape comes down tomorrow, and we're going to clean the carpets and then put up the decals over the next few days. Expect pictures sometime next week :)

Keeping the Wetness Outside, hopefully...

Jeffrey has been pretty awesome with going to the bathroom on his own while he's naked. He has an accident here and there, but they're very rare. So, since we're having a very low key weekend at home this weekend, we're going to bust out the briefs for constant use (except sleeping) and see how it goes! It hasn't gone over well before since he just thinks it's like a diaper, but I think he'd get it after a few times. We've just never had that much time to devote to it. It's supposed to be pretty rainy this weekend, which stinks that we can't utilize the backyard at all or take a quick trip to the park, but we're going for it. We don't have many free weekends, so I'm taking it as a sign!

He is going with me to the church nursery on Sunday (I work there), so that could be interesting. I think it'll work out, though, since I'll still be right there. I just fear him letting loose during Children's Moment, when we're actually IN church- lol!

Wish us luck!

Wordless Wednesday

31 Weeks!

After a big Odyssey of the Mind tournament on Saturday, this pregnant chick is tired and sore. Yesterday, I could barely move. It was quite the vision to watch me climbing into bed at night. Sore hips are not very flexible! Thankfully, I'm feeling much better today, but I'm still pretty exhausted. I for sure got in some good exercise, though, which should help come labor time! I'll be almost 37 weeks at the next tournament, so I'm betting that how I feel now will be a joke compared to how I'll feel then!

Things are going pretty well, otherwise. I'm starting to really feel the pelvic pressure, and my hips/lower back are still in quite a bit of pain. I've somewhat gotten used to it, but I did make an appointment with a chiropractor next Monday. I'm pretty excited about that and hope that it helps even a little bit! The little guy is moving around a tremendous amount and has no problems making his presence known. He always gets so excited when I lay down, so it takes about 30 minutes to be able to fall asleep while I wait for him to calm down.

It's strange to think that I could potentially have this little boy NEXT month. My due date is 2 months away from Wednesday. Crazy.

Things That Get Old

1) People going on and on about how small you are, how much weight you must not have gained, and how you cannot possible have the correct due date. This is especially tiring when the same person tells you this every time you see them. My apologies that my torso is still the same length as the last time you saw me. At least I haven't been told that something must be wrong with the baby (yet, since I did get this with Jeffrey).

2) People going on and on about how we're basically going to ruin Jeffrey's life. Yes, there are going to be some major changes in his life, and he'll probably need some time to adjust to it. I'm not naiive. However, hearing stories about how your kids went wild and crazy when their sibling was born are not what I'm interested in hearing. I know that he's going to be okay because I know his personality. He loves babies and is super excited about having a baby brother (and this does not open up a door to say "well, he loves babies until it's a baby that lives with him!)" Again, this is more and more annoying when you say it every time you see me.

Congratulations to these people, though, because I am officially in that part of 3rd tri when I will not try to mask my annoyance with you. :)