Miss me??????

Its been a few days since I last posted...did ya'll miss me?! I know Kelli did....thanks for the 'just checking in to make sure you're alright' email, Kel.....it felt good to know it my blogging was missed at-least a little. It's been a busy week, so I think I'll post in sub-headings.....

You know what they say about the squeaky wheel getting the oil???
That's kinda how I felt this week....my post from last week caught so much attention and comments that I kinda felt like maybe I should complain more often to get some of ya'll to post a comment or two! Sheesh! ***wink, wink***

My week in a nutshell....
Monday: A car-less day, since my 'ride' was in the shop for repairs. We hung out at home, doing laundry, catching up on chores and such, before Ty came home and I headed to a doctors appointment to get some suspicious looking moles on my skin checked out. All's well....have a dermatology appt. to have few removed two days before the baby is born!

Tuesday: Car-pick up day! Yay! I hate being without a car! Looking back, I have NO idea what I did that day! Grocery shopping, I think...sans Luke! :) A rare occurence!

Wednesday: Ummmm....again....no recollection! An interesting week, no? There's that pregnancy brain for ya!

Thursday morning: Hudson came to 'play' for the morning, while Sarah took Angel to some doctor's appointments. It was a good chance for Luke to have a play-date! Hudson arrived at 7:45 am and the morning was a non-stop play session for them (and a potty-training extravaganza for me! Whoa! Two toddlers learning to use the potty is back-breaking work, but they both did SO well and it was cute to watch them encourage one another!). One never realizes how active toddlers are until you get them together for an extended period of time! They had a blast playing in the playroom, learning to share, watching a little My Gym video together, snacking and just being silly, as you can see here:

They are good buddies! We shared a little cooking adventure too. We made Peanut Butter Clay (aka...edible play-doh) and that was a highlight of the morning. Here are the two washing up before we began:

Then anxious to start and full of enthusiasm"

And mixing....I was too engrossed in the fun (with hands full of dough!) to snap any photos while they played!

Sarah came back around 1:30 with lunch for all of us (thanks, Sarah!) and by then both boys were WORN OUT! Playing is hard work!

Thursday afternoon: Can you say N-A-P!!!! For both Luke and I! Phew! Much needed! But I awoke feeling even worse than I had before I slept! What's up with that?! Let's just say it was an emotional, and energy-zapped afternoon and Ty came home to find me sitting in my rocking chair upstairs with tears streaming down my cheeks. :( Luke was being such an angel, but I was so sore, frustrated, not feeling well and contracting a lot. My husband, being the sweetie that he is, came to my rescue with a long hug, lots of sympathy and an offer to take a drive for some fresh air. Ahhh....what a little change of scenery will do to take your mind off your own discomfort! We took a slow, leisurely drive up to Oak Glen with the windows rolled down (it was almost sunset) and just soaked in the beauty. We mosied home for a dinner of left-overs and I was conked out on the couch by 8:30.

Friday: brings me to my next sub-heading....

Reaching the summit!
Today marks 35 weeks of pregnancy! THIRTY-FIVE WEEKS!!!! I slept incredibly well last night (after several nights of fitful and broken shut-eye!) and I awoke with the feeling that I have reached yet another pregnancy milestone! I have, in my mind, hit the summit....the top of the mountain. Her development is pretty much complete and if she were born tomorrow, all would be well. The next three weeks are just a down-hill coast of fattening her up and dealing with my own discomfort. Gone are the worries. All is well. There is no longer anything to fear! What an awesome feeling!!!! Praise be to God!

35 weeks also seems to mark a new level for me as well....one in which my energy can be completely zapped in the matter of moments. I have found myself experiencing some strange episodes of extreme fatigue and funkiness the last two days. Almost like a sudden shift in my blood pressure, where all I can do is sit down and try (sometimes in vain) to catch my breathe and find a position where I am semi-comfortable. It seems to be related to my water in-take, and when I'm a little dehydrated, it's bad! But it gets better once I get a little more water in me, so I'm chugging like a camel! I know it's not a pre-term labor thing.....I'm not worried about that just yet. But I have to be careful not to over-do it now. and I'll be sure to mention it to Dr. Hage at my appointment on Monday. A bit frustrating, but so it goes, I guess.

6th in the nation...
An interesting tid-bit Ty found on the net tonight....our little city of Beaumont is the 6th fastest growing subburb in the nation, according to Yahoo. Here's the link, in you're interested.
http://promo.realestate.yahoo.com/americas_fastest_growing_suburbs.html

And last but not least....
The baby's room in complete!!! The letters that I ordered to spell her name out on the wall came in the mail today, so we were able to place the finishing touches on her decor and now I can officially announce her name (even though most of you already knew.....)


When we got home from the baby shower in June, Luke simply began calling her "Ellie" and after several days, we made it official. She is now lovingly referred to as Ellie in the Belly 'round our house! Here is the rest of her room....




A teeny pair of Bunny Slippers.. ***sniff, sniff***

And a closet fit for a princess...


Do you like it?! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it! It turned out just as I had hoped! It took awhile, but we did it! :)

And that, my friends....
.....is all she wrote. I think I've written quite enough for one posting tonight. Time to relax a bit before sleep. More to come, I'm sure. Now go and enjoy your weekend! :) Oh! And leave me a comment, would ya?! :)

Better days.....

Sunday morning....5:45. Couldn't sleep. I've actually been 'up' since 4:45, but awake in bed since somewhere around 4:15. Insomnia, night sweats and a irrationally hungry belly! Gotta love 'em! So instead of tossing and turning, I opted to get up, pour myself a bowl of cereal and work on the 'puter for awhile. A quiet house is always good blogging atmosphere. :)

So anyway...after my last post and a few days time, life seems a bit more tolerable. I was just feeling overwhelmed. The weekend has been better. Probably because Ty is home and I've been distracted by life. The discomfort is still there (as it will be more and more over the next 3 and a half weeks, I know) but the emotional sensitivity has abated for a bit. Thank you so much you guys, for all the supportive comments you left and to those who called or emailed me instead! I felt your love and warmth through your words. They were much needed and appreciated. It was good to feel rallied around and uplifted. Thank you! :)

The weekend has been pretty busy for us, surprisingly. We actually had NO plans until Friday afternoon. We thought it was going to be a rather ho-hum kind of weekend. But our new neighbors (who have a little boy who is 19 months) asked if we wanted to get together for dinner and my parents invited us to the beach. So yesterday, we got up early for a concrete guy to come and give us an estimate on our patio, ran some errands as a family and then came home to prepare for our dinner guests. Having them over was as good an excuse as any to give the house a pretty thorough cleaning, so I'm enjoying a tidy abode this morning! :) Ty was busy whipping up the best strawberry shortcake EVER in the kitchen in the afternoon, so I dawned my supportive back brace and attempted to vacuum the floors. Of-course Ty wanted me to wait for him to do it, but I insisted that I could give it a try. Not smart. I paid the price for my exertion last night in the form of some pretty intense low back pain. Lesson learned. Absolutely NO vacuuming for me until post-partum! I actually haven't vacuumed in many weeks....until yesterday. Ty's been great about helping!

Anyway...I digressed. Our little dinner turned out to be really nice! It's just such a joy to have neighbors our own age, with kids that Luke can play with. We seem to have a lot in common and it just makes living here all the more enjoyable. I've never really had neighbors who were (or had the potential to be) friends. Its a novel concept for us, but we love the impromptu chats in the front yard or the mini play sessions with Luke and Egan. Our long-standing prayers for good neighbors when we moved in here have been answered. Our block is actually full of very nice people. Yay!

Dinner lasted a little later than we planned last night, but that was okay. After they left, I scrambled to get Luke in bed (it was almost 9:15!) and get things pulled together for the beach today. We'll be heading down to Carlsbad where my parents have their timeshare, to have a quiet afternoon lounging in the sand and getting 'away' for a bit. I'm looking forward to the change of scenery, and I know that Luke will have a blast...especially with Grandma and Grandpa there to play with! It was ALL he talked about before bed last night. "Doe to da beach wif Dwampa an Dwamma after nigh-nights???" Sweet boy. I'm a little interested to see how the potty training will be at the beach. Who knows if we will be close to a restroom, or if I'll even be brave enough to allow him to use it! Eewww! Beach potties are NASTY things! He wears a swim diaper at the pool still, so I guess maybe he'll be in one at the beach too?! Ahh...the things we mommies have to figure out. Dilemma, dilemmas.

Overall, the potty training is still going pretty well. He stayed dry and clean all day yesterday until Egan had a poppy diaper while playing here. Then miraculously, Luke had an accident minutes later. Was he feeling left out of the whole diaper changing experience, or something?! I was a little irritated with him, since by now, he knows to tell me he has to go. But oh well. I just re-enforced the "you need to tell Mommy before you go because it's not okay to poop in your big boy pants" thing and let it go. I could tell he knew better. But I can't complain too much when he's doing so well most of the time. Accidents are going to happen.

Hmmm...what else? I turned 34 weeks on Friday! :) YAAAAHOOOOO!! That is precisely 2 weeks and 6 days longer than Luke! It's a celebration each and every day! I decided to snap a few self-portraits really quickly when Luke went down for his nap yesterday, just to log my belly progress. Wanna see one?


And this one is one Jennifer took last weekend when we at my mom's for Kailyn's birthday. I just thought that big 'ol belly looked funny to me! Not the prettiest of pictures, but you get the idea of how much she's growing in there! You can see that I'm actually attempting to pull down the edges of my shirt, since my belly was hanging in the breeze! I'm outgrowing everything!


So.....that's 'bout it for now, I think. I'm sure I will be hearing the pitter-patter of little feet upstairs soon, so I'm going to log off for now. Thank you again, my friends, for your loving words this week! Lord knows I needed them and will probably be in need of them again in the coming weeks! :) Have a wonderful Sunday!

Taking a ride on the hormone coaster?

Ahhhh...the up's and down's of pregnancy hormones. Am I hormonal???? I must be. There really isn't any other explanation for why I feel as I do. I'm actually quite sensitive the last two days. Not moody or cranky, really. Just sensitive to a lot more than I usually am. Sensitive in a way that makes me feel sad and lonely more often. :( I'm in a funk, and I don't like it. Especially when I only have four more weeks left until our little missy arrives. I want to enjoy these last few weeks and make the most of having one on one time with Luke during the day and Ty in the evenings, because I know those days are now numbered. But even the things that I want to do, I don't feel physically up to doing. I'd love to head to the zoo to use our passes one last time before she arrives, or spend a day at the beach. Or take Luke to the park to play (he hasn't been in what seems like ages because it's been so hot!). But all those things require so much exertion on my part that I don't truly believe I could handle it. Especially when its so hot. I feel frustrated and I feel like I'm jipping Luke. Poor child. He needs to play outside and be active more than he is. HOW do other pregnant woman do it this late in the game? I'm not one to usually be a wimp about things...I'm usually quite self-sufficient and active....but now I have to both rely on others and I tire easily or I'm so uncomfortable that I can't do what I'd like to, which is hard for me. And then, I feel guilty for complaining or moaning about how tough everything feels. Hopefully, you all know me well enough by now to know that at ANY time, I feel extremely blessed and lucky to be sitting here typing to you at 34 weeks pregnant, with a healthy pregnancy. I truly, in my heart of hearts, do NOT take any of this for granted! I know what it's like on the 'other side' and I thank God all the time that I'm not there right now! But does that gratefulness also require me to keep quiet about how hard it is sometimes? Sometimes it feels like I'm not allowed to voice it. Or maybe I don't allow myself to voice it, I don't know. Then there is the other side of that coin....the twinge of guilt and irritation I feel when people say "See....now this is what you've been "missing" with Luke's pregnancy. You're sure experiencing now, aren't you?" or "It's not all that it's cracked up to be, huh?" It feels almost as if they are telling me to shut up and stop moaning about it.....this is what I asked for after all, right? :( (And no Mom, I'm not pointing fingers at you....I've heard these things several times). Feels kinda crappy. And I know that whenever something like that is said, it's not said to be malicious....no one would intentionally be mean. I know that. It just doesn't always come across as maybe it was intended. And yes....I DID ask for this (many, many, many times!) and I AM grateful (more than probably anyone could know!) but I can't say that the fact that every single bend or twist hurts, or how each step I take is riddled with either back, tummy, or foot pain....that having to sit to 'rest' so often makes me feel like others see me as a wimp, or that sleeping in hour spurts at night and waking fitfully in pain or a hot sweat and THEN having to care for a little boy all day and keep our home in decent condition, food on the table (and in the pantry) AND then be in a pleasant mood about it all isn't tough. Grrrrrrrr...........maybe tomorrow will I will feel better.

Alright....enough of a rant. Just one picture for today to share....as Luke and I were hanging out in the afternoon after his nap, he found a book in the coffee table that my mom had give me recently. He plopped his little nakey body down on the couch and began flipping through the pages. I guess he was feeling the need for some preparation too....


It is a book about the history of birth through the ages. Pretty interesting. I was able to snap a quick shot of him (a blurry one at that!) just as he was deciding he was 'done'. I just thought it was quite ironic that he picked THAT particular book. :) Silly kiddo.

Well....I'll blog again soon. I have to get some computer work done this morning before my little guy awakens. Until then.......

In just one short month.....

...our little girl will be here! :) Hard to believe! ONE month from today! Phew!

I saw Dr. Hage this afternoon and all is well. My BP was a little higher (116/78) than my last (112/70), but nothing to worry about. Still no protien, no swelling....no worries! :) Yay! I was utterly convinced that she was laying transverse (sideways) in there, but when Dr. Hage scanned me real quick to verify (he said he'd rather her be breech than transverse....easier to deliver, I guess) she was actually head down. I was quite surprised, since I for sure what I was feeling poking out all the time was her little round head. But apparently, it was her little, hard butt! :) Hehe. What do I know!?

Other than our doctor's appointment, Luke and I opted to stay home all day while I picked up the house, did massive amounts of laundy, ironing and just 'stuff'. We've had a productive and completely successful potty training day (so far!) , which is WONDERFUL! I'm SO proud of Luke! He's really doing an awesome job!

That's it from me today....short and sweet. Time to cook dinner, so I had better get a move on! More to come....

Mission Potty Training: Day 2

Its actually Day 3 as I'm typing, since I didn't have time to blog yesterday. Just a quick update....

The day started off well......potty usage right off the bat in the morning and we were on a roll until mid-morning until we had a yucky accident around 10am. Luke had told me that he needed to go potty and hustled to the bathroom (we had been waiting for poop!) but when he got there, I had to answer the phone and he told me he didn't have to go anymore. Being the stupid mommy that I was, I believed him (WHY did Id o this?????!!!) and let him play a few more minutes while I finished my quick phone conversation with Ty. Well....I learned my lesson because not one minute passed before Luke was standing in the office doorway with the 'look' on his face. He had had an accident. And not a pretty one, I might add. I was SOOO frustrated. Not at him....how could I be.....I was frustrated with myself! And I got to pay the price for my negligence......cleaning poopy pants. THAT was just SO MUCH fun, let me tell you!

So...lesson learned. No waiting...even if you think its a false alarm! Better to be safe than sorry!
Luke stayed clean and dry all the rest of the day and even through his nap!!!!! We are still putting him in a Pull Up for sleep, but when he woke from his 2 hour nap completely dry, I was ecstatic!!!! After naps, Ty was home so decided to head out to pick my car up from the shop (it's still not fixed....apparently there is a crack in the cooling reservoir...it's leaking coolant, and we think that will be covered under warranty, so we'll be taking it to the dealership instead. More days without a car.....pooey!!) Anyway, I digressed. We left the house around 3 pm and Luke used the potty right before we went. We went to the car place, by Meemaw's house to see if she was home (she wasn't), then to Target to pick up birthday gifts for my nieces and then for a drive around to for ideas for our block wall that we will be building. We were gone for nearly 3 hours and despite asking Luke if he needed to use the potty several times, he managed to stay dry the WHOLE time! Yay for Luke!!!! We came home, pottied and then went to play at the neighbors house for just a little bit. It was while he was playing with his neighbor friend, Egan that he had a little pee accident (must've been too excited and busy playing to tell me he had to go) so we walked back home, changed pants and all was well after that. All in all, not bad for just our second day! 2 accidents and a long venture out of the house. I'm pleased. I think that maybe this won't be as bad as I thought it might be. We'll keep plugging along!

Thanks for checking in! And THANK YOU for your comments lately....I love knowing you're out there and that you're willing to tell me so!

Mission Potty Training: Day 1

It is currently 9:09pm as I plop myself down to blog. I am utterly wiped out, exhausted and achy in just about every part of my body! Who knew that potty training a toddler would be so taxing?!

Our day actually started out on a very nice note. Luke's morning routine now consists of getting out of bed somewhere between 6am and 6:30 (I can usually tell what time it is by how light our bedroom is! If the sun is coming directly through the window, its after 6:15) and coming to our bedroom to crawl into bed with me for some cuddling. I have grown to cherish and love this part of our day. Its just quiet, cuddly time with my son! This morning, I awoke from a pretty sound sleep to Luke standing beside my bed with Bear, Snuggie, Tucker AND his tiger backpack ALL in his arms as he was deciding which side of the bed to climb up on. He always looks to see if Ty is in bed still or if he's already left for work, and his presence or absence dictates which side he attempts to climb. This morning, Ty was already long gone, so Luke scurried over to Ty's side, thrust Bear, and then Snuggie, and then Tiger & Tucker up over the side of the bed, climbed up himself and said good morning to me. Not being at all ready to wake, I gently told him that he needed to get under the covers, close his eyes and go back to sleep. I never know if this tactic will work or not, but today was a day when it did and when I awoke next, it was 7:39am, Luke was still snoozing and I was well rested! Hooray! What a great way to start off potty training!

Once we were both awake, we immediately started a conversation about what the day would bring and I could sense the excitement in Luke. He was ready! We headed downstairs for breakfast and once breakfast was done, our adventure was scheduled to begin. I don't know whether he was just too excited or what, but breakfast was unusually frustrating. He pretty much refused to chose which breakfast item he wanted to eat (I usually give him a choice of a few things....this morning it was either a banana and yogurt or peanut butter toast. ) He chose the yogurt, but when I opened it for him, he wanted a different flavor, then refused the whole thing all together. He then proceeded to throw a small tantrum which landed him in a time out away from the table.....TWICE. This never happens. Breakfast is usually pretty easy. So I was feeling a bit frustrated and a little twinge of anxiety was rising in me as I wondered if this was a sign of things to come for our day. Well....he finally ate a few bites of both the banana and yogurt, but it was way less than he would have normally ate. Okay....fine....whatever. I cut my losses and moved on. We were on a mission, after all.

As the official potty training began, I felt optimistic and hopeful. Luke still seemed excited and I was pretending (quite well, I might add) to be just as excited. He started off well....peeing in the potty right off the bat, but as the morning progressed, he was having just as many 'oops' in his big boy underpants as successes in the potty. I was utterly shocked to see just how many times he pee'd over the course of the morning! He apparently is not one to hold a lot of urine, but rather just let it come out whenever he felt the urge. (I was not aware of this before, since he always had a Pull-Up on, and I couldn't tell if just a little pee was there or not). Several times this morning, he would pee just a little in his underpants and immediately say "Moooommmmy!" I would ask him to check if he was dry, and he would respond that he wasn't. So, we would haul off to the bathroom to 'try' anyway....spending about 20 minutes each time reading books and singing songs while he made his little attempts. And low and behold....he would usually have a big pee then! So I would praise and praise, offer his little reward, change him into dry underpants, and we'd go on our way...back to playing. This happened about 5 times between 8:30am and 1pm, when he went down for his nap. Play...minor accident...bathroom run-n-read....reward...new underpants...and back to playing! Sheesh! I was beginning to think that maybe he just wasn't ready for all this. But I was (and still am) determined to not give up too soon.....and at lunch I knew that we would give this whole potty training thing a few good days of effort before we'd make any judgements.

I laid Luke down for a nap in a Pull-Up, alongside his Pull-Up clad Chocolate Bear (our teaching doll) and he slept for a good hour and half. When he awoke, he was a teeny bit wet. We sat on the potty anyway, and he piddled a tiny bit and decided he was done. Not 2 minutes later, we turned a corner for our day and Luke actually turned to me in the family room and said excitedly "Mommy!! I need to doe poddy!!!" So we hustled to the bathroom, and sure enough, he pee'd up a storm! We sat for a LONG time this trip, reading books, playing with play-doh and blowing bubbles because I knew that he hadn't yet pooped for the day and he was long overdue. I think we must've sat there for 30 minutes! And by the end of this particular session, I was ready to be out of the bathroom for awhile!!!! Since nothing was happening, we washed hands, picked out a little treat for "using the potty to stay dry" and went out to see what Oprah was about today. (I NEVER get to watch Oprah! Today was a treat!) :) No sooner did we flip on the TV and I got seated on the couch did Luke excitedly turn to me and say "I need to poddy a-den!!" Thinking that he was just hoping to get another treat, I said "Are you sure, honey? You just went. Let's wait a couple of minutes." He obliged, but within another 2 minutes, he was dancing around a bit and telling me he needed to potty, so we rushed back to the bathroom, where the highlight of our potty-training day occurred.....he POOPED! :) I was SOOOOOO proud of him for 1) telling me he had to go and 2) for actually pooping that I think I was more excited than Luke was!!! I praised him to the ends of the earth, offered him a choice of a very special treat (a little ice cream or a Popsicle....he chose a green Popsicle) and called Daddy AND Grandma just to share in the excitement!!! What a BIG BOY!!! My hope was renewed after naps and Luke did not disappoint. The rest of the afternoon was one success after another, and rarely did I have to ask him if he needed to use the potty. Instead, he would initiate the bathroom trips and I only had to ask every 20-30minutes or so if he was still dry (no pee) and clean (no poop). No accidents ALL afternoon, except for one teeny-tiny leak when he got so excited when Daddy came home and they rough-house'd a bit. We ventured outside to ride his bike after dinner, and he stayed dry until we came in for a quick potty-break! And we even took a chance with a car ride to drop my car off at the repair shop (it's leaking antifreeze....) and he managed to stay dry the entire 45 minutes we were gone!! I can't begin to tell you how proud I am of him! He's doing such a good job!

So we embark on Day 2 tomorrow with lots of hope! We will remain home-bound again all day to make sure we have a firm foundation for this whole new concept, but hopefully by the weekend, we'll be able to get out a bit. I think tomorrow, we might work on using the potty seat on the regular toilet a little more instead of the little potty. It would be helpful for him to be accustom to going on a regular potty when we are out and about. So.....an overall success today. Let's hope tomorrow is more of the same!

Embarking on a potty training adventure!

First off....Heidi, I'm blogging for you today! Thanks for your comment...it made me feel really good to be missed and to know that you're checking in! I hadn't planned to blog today, but since you asked...... :)

Tomorrow, Luke and I will start our morning (and spend the next several days) locked in our house, attempting to master the daunting task of POTTY TRAINING! Yikes! Can you sense my trepidation ??!! While we have been casually familiarizing him with the potty, Pull-Ups and a plethora of potty books for quite some time, until now, we (I) have not fully embraced the whole potty training thing. Not that Luke isn't ready....I think he is and could have probably been 'trained' some time ago. It was me who wasn't quite ready. The thought of potty training doesn't seem so bad if we spent all day, every day at home. But the idea of having to use public restrooms (can anyone say EEEEWWWWW!), and risking accidents when we are out and about just seemed a bit too anxiety provoking for me. I just have not been up for the challenge. Until now, that is.

But with baby on the way (in FIVE short weeks, I might add!), the thought of changing two sets of diapers doesn't appeal to me much either. Nor does their cost! (Double yikes!!) And I figure I had better get some kind of formal training completed before I am at the mercy of a tiny babe whose schedule is so unpredictable at first. I'm prepared for regression...I know if will happen when Baby arrives, even if Luke has fully taken to the whole concept. I just need to bite the bullet and get moving with it sooner rather than later. So tonight, or this afternoon, we will do a 'dry run' (hahaha...yes, the pun was intended!) with his special teaching Bear and tomorrow, my soggy-diapered toddler and I will begin this new phase. We've been talking it up all week, have bought all sorts of special snacks, drinks and rewards (things suggested in the book we are following as a guide) and I must say, Luke is quite excited about the whole prospect. Let's just hope the excitement lingers awhile! :) We'll see....I'll keep you posted!

As for other things, today has been a bit of a crazy day for us. We've been gone much of the day, spending time with Sarah, Hudson and Angel, and going with her to Loma Linda for a 'planning meeting' with my co-workers for my friend Laura's baby shower in a few weeks. (geez....that was a long sentence!) We left our house this morning at 9:3o and did not return until 3pm! After the our 'meeting' at the 'spital, there was no way around a Costco run, since we were completely out of laundry detergent and some other necessities. I wasn't about to embark on our little potty training adventure without the ability to do wash! That would not be wise! So Costco is was! At 2:00 pm! (Luke usually naps around 1pm, so I was pushing it a bit!) But he was awesome! He happily sucked on a Tootsie Pop (my little bribe.....errr....I mean treat for him) while we rushed through the isles and he surprised me without one little tantrum! Good boy! As I huffed and puffed my way through the refrigerator isles, I overheard a middle-aged, fairly overweight lady say to her friend as she opened the cooler door to the milk, "Now if only I could keep it at this temperature all the time....." I giggled to myself, 'cause I had just been thinking the very same thing as I reached into the fridge for some coffee creamer. I smiled at her as I passed and said "I agree with you on the whole temperature thing! Wouldn't a cool 50 degrees be nice about now?!" I stood back from the cart to reveal my bulging belly and this sweet lady.....oh....she just made my day by what she said next. "Oh Dear! Aren't you adorable! How far along are you?! Have you even gained an ounce since you've been pregnant?! You look beautiful!" Ahhhh.....music to a pregnant women's ears! Even if it was just fluff and social kindness, her words were like a soothing balm to a pretty self-conscious me. I asked her if she wouldn't mind coming into my house every morning to tell me that! :) We shared a laugh and I waddled on my way....my heart feeling just a bit lifted. Thanks, Lady! :)

Anyway....I must get going for now. I've already clamored upstairs to lay Luke back down for more rest after he woke an hour into his nap, so I know I'm on borrowed time. But before I go, I wanted to share some of my most favorite belly pictures that Sarah took for me. There were so many beautiful ones and she did such an amazing job, that it was hard to choose just a few! Thank you again, Sarah! These pictures are priceless and precious to me! We took them about a month ago when I wasn't feeling quite so plump! :) Thank goodness for that! :)


My handsome hubby and my baby girl! Hope she gets his eyes! :)

My sweet son.....

Cradled in our hands......

And I just love, love, love this one with the gerber daisy and all!

A family portrait....


Okay....I'm off for now! I'll keep ya'll posted about how potty training is going! Say a little prayer for us that it goes smoothly! :)

Growing up and growing out....

Luke turned 2 1/2 this week. On Tuesday, he hit the 30-month mark. Two and a half! Its a little hard for me to believe! It is going by so quickly and I see him changing and maturing so fast! Ty and I find ourselves often turning to each other in amazement or fascination as he says or does something that seems like it should be beyond his age. But the truth of the matter is that he is doing just what he is supposed to be! About a week ago, he began singing the entire ABC's song, without missing any letters AND with including the last "now I've sung my ABC's....next time won't you sing wiff me?" part. Its adorable! I've been trying to capture it on video, but he turns into a shy boy when the camera is turned on him. Yes, he's my kid, but I think he's smarter than a whip!! His vocabulary is amazing and it is a very rare occasion that I can't understand what he's trying to tell me. He can count to 11 all on his own, knows most of his colors (even if he likes to be silly and tell you something is green when it's actually red or some other color), and he is pretty self sufficient in getting things around the house for me, or helping get dressed. I think I can thank our daily dose of Sesame Street for the ABC's and counting! I don't think that he could have gotten THAT much repetition from me alone! He definitely loves his Sesame Street and Elmo! And Thomas the Train, Curious George and his Baby Einstein videos. I'm still surprised at the latter.....I thought he would have FOR SURE grown out of those Einstein videos by now, but he asks for them daily. He calls his current favorite "My Tow" (read 'my cow') because its one about farm animals and starts off with pictures of cows. Funny kid.

Some other current favorites.....racing for the phone to hand it to me before I get to it when it rings, walking over to whatever is close by, planting a little kiss on it and saying "I love my.....(fill in the blank), listening for the trash man to arrive on Fridays and RACING as fast as he can to the window to watch it dump the trash, helping with anything and everything possible that I am doing around the house, playing "Tickle Lukey" with Daddy when he gets home from work, and playing keep away with us and his Snuggie (or bear or some other toy) with Ty and I. He loves to entice us to play by grabbing his Snug, walking over to us and saying "No!! Dat's MY Snuggie!!!" and then having us grab it away from him and repeat what he just said. He's really into the pretend play now too and anything that has to do with his little play buddies. He LOVES Hudson, Matthew and Megan, his cousins, Aiden and Owen......just about anyone his size that he plays with semi-regularly. There are just so many things.....he is just so much fun!

Though he is rarely naughty or gets into things that he's not supposed to, and he IS so much fun, he still has his share of terrible-two moments. It wouldn't be a normal day without a tantrum, timeout, hitting or being just a little naughty. But that's his job...he's two, after all! In the scheme of things, he really IS a good little boy! The terrible two's really aren't that terrible. I'm afraid we might be in for it with the next kiddo! We've pretty much lucked out with him!

So......are you tired of me braggin' 'bout my kid yet?! :) Let me just brag a little more via some pictures I took the other day to commemorate his 2 1/2 year milestone. You can see how he's growing up! He looks more and more like a little boy each day....

Isn't he a cutie pie??!!!


Being silly....


And as for the 'growing out" part of my title.....I turned 32 weeks yesterday. I am officially 8 months along now! And with that monthly milestone comes my next installment of belly pictures. I posted the progression the other day, and for those of you who scroll down to the bottom of the blog occasionally, you've already seen it. But here it is....


Heidi was asking about my maternity pictures that Sarah kindly took for me, so I think that in the next few days, I'll try to post a few of those. They really turned out nice! But I'm blogging from the laptop this morning, and don't have access to those pics here, so I guess it'll have to wait.

For now, I am off to cook up some French Toast for my boys for breakfast and enjoy our lazy Saturday morning together! Tonight Ty and I will have a date night....our first time out alone in I don't even know how long! I'm excited. Meemaw will come to watch Luke and Ty and I will head out for dinner and a movie. It may be one of the last times we get out like that for a LONG time, especially given our track record for how often we do it! :) Hope you all enjoy your weekend as well!

Happy Belated 4th of July!

I didn't get around to posting over the holiday....a day off from computer stuff. :) Besides, there would have been no pictures for you had I posted yesterday!

Our Independence Day was nice. We really didn't have much planned for the day, since the weatherman had forecasted temperatures near 110!!!! I was seriously frightened of heading outdoors ALL day and we kept a close eye of the temperature gauge in the backyard before deciding what we were going to do. My sister had slept here the night before, after returning from her Maui vacation (yes.....I'm jealous, but she really deserved the break!!!) so she hung out with us in the morning and we sipped Kona coffee, played with Luke and vegged out. After she left, we did some more vegging out (a theme for our day) before deciding to venture over to my parent's house for awhile. It was nearly 4pm by the time we made it over there, and we had plans to all go together to the fireworks show at the U of R, as we always do.

Lukey and I at my mom's before heading to the fireworks....


It was a quiet year for our traditional 4th gathering. Usually, we are able to round up a group of friends to celebrate with, but this year everyone seemed to do there own thing. Laura and Dave were out of town, Krystal and Will decided it was too much of a hassle with two little ones at home (who can blame 'em!) and Sarah, her boys and Nick decided to spend time with their own families closer to home. A different kind of year for us all, but I'm sure that we will resume our tradition of being together next year.....even with little ones in tow! :)

We had a good time anyway.....Luke loved playing with his 'tousins' and was really into the pre-fireworks show. He couldn't stop talking about the gigantic C-38 that did a very low fly over and the parachutists that landed on the track inside the stadium! A cute shot of the kiddos watching the crazy people jump out of the airplane! :)

It is neat to watch though!!!


The weather was pretty hot, but we were prepared with a mister full of icy water, lots of cool drinks and reclining chairs to relax in. Here's Kailyn enjoying a little snack! Couldn't resist this pic....she looks like a Hollywood diva to me with those sunglasses on!


Ty was a sweetie and misted me off every few minutes, as I chopped away on ice cubes and cold water, which all helped to keep this rounded body of mine comfy! But you can tell by Luke's red cheeks that it was a scorcher!




When the National Anthem was played and we all stood placing our hands over our hearts, I got a cute video of Luke patriotically copying us! As soon as I figure out how to upload it, I'll share it with you! It was darling! Here is just a little patriotic shot of him that I liked...


Once the fireworks began, Luke crawled into Daddy's lap for the display and counted the blasts as they happened. "One.......two......four...." He waved his arms to the music and smiled almost the entire time! My heart was so full watching him enjoying it! There is nothing like watching your child take such delight in life! Baby even enjoyed the festivities and jumped inside my belly almost every time a loud booming shell went off! It was neat! We had a good time!

Backtracking in our week....I did end up taking the girls and Luke to the pool on Tuesday for a few hours. I insanely forgot to put sunscreen on myself and burned like a crispy critter. Oops! We had a good time though, and Luke amazed me by hoping off the shallow steps and dog-paddling by himself for the first time! He was wearing a life jacket, of-course, but I was still surprised of 1) his lack of fear and 2) his ability to actually move through the water! I was right there beside him the whole time to keep him safe, but he's definitely a water lover, that's for sure! I love that he's not afraid of the water! We'll be spending lots of time at that pool in the next several weeks....especially if the weather stays this hot! Its miserable! Blegh!

Well....time for me to wrap up this post and get some things accomplished around here before the rest of the day evades me! Stay tuned tomorrow for some more new pictures! :)

I've never been this pregnant before!

Today I am more preggo than I have ever been! :) Yeaahhhhhoooooooo!!!! I have made it past my first major 'milestone' for this pregnancy....my original and very humble goal was to get farther along than I did with Luke, and today that milestone has been reached!! My next milestone goal???? To make it to 33 weeks....then to August 1st (36 weeks)........then of-course, to make it to my c-section. Wouldn't that just been incredibly wonderful and amazing?!! I pray I see those dates with this little girl still kicking and head butting me from inside.

Yes...headbutting. Her head is currently resting on my left side, just about parallel with my belly button and she just loves to poke that head out and say hello....as if she's headbutting my tummy. It's kinda funny! I knew last week, when I spent the majority of one night on the couch with her kicking and thrashing around in there endlessly, that she was no longer head down. Dr. Hage confirmed this afternoon that she is, in fact, side ways now. She likes to 'wag' her little head up towards my ribs and then back down again towards my hips, but I think she might be 'stuck' in that position now. No big deal though....there is no need for her to be head down for delivery....she can come out feet first, head first or buns first.....it makes very little difference for us! :)

As for my doctor's appointment today....all is well once again! My BP was a *little* higher than last time, but still very normal and just fine.....112/70. No protein in my urine...no swelling...no real concerns. Just the very normal things to discuss....my tiredness, my growing discomfort and my blossoming belly. But what a relief to talk about feeling like every other pregnant woman and not to have to share concerns about feeling ill like I did late in the game with Luke!!!! I'll take regular 'ol uncomfortableness over pre-eclamptic symptoms ANY day!!!

I went solo to my appointment today since Ty was pretty wiped out when he got home and offered to just keep Luke at home with him and let me have some "me time". I had NO complaints about that one! Luke was kinda being a stinker today and I relished the idea of an hour or so to myself. I knew the appointment was going to be pretty routine, so it was not a big deal for Ty to not be there. I stopped at the grocery store on my way to pick up some cookies for the office staff. Just my way of celebrating with them my milestone! When Dr. Hage came into the room, he joked that I was trying to get them all fat with the treats, and I slyly responded that I just figured since I was growing as big as a house, they should be too! :) I was just trying to share the wealth! :)

Without Luke there to distract me, I got the chance to talk to him a bit about what to expect following delivery.......like how long I should expect until the spinal wears off and when might be a good time for Luke to come see us and meet his sister. Luke's delivery was so late in the evening (11pm) and I was drugged pretty well that I just slept through the whole transition period and woke sometime in the early morning with pain meds on board. I was being pumped full of magnesium sulfate (which makes you feel like sludge!) AND I was not allowed to get out of bed for another 24 hours, so pain was not too much of an issue for me at that point. But this time around, I will not have the mag. and I will be encouraged to get up out of bed much sooner. I'll also have family around AND a baby to tend to (what a novel idea!) so I'm thinking that pain might be more prevalent. We'll see. He said that I'll have a good chunk of time post-surgery where I will still be under the effects of the spinal and he explained my pain relief after that. Talking with him today just helped me to be able to think through what the day might be like and how to coordinate Luke's first visit with all the excitement. Its kinda strange to be thinking of all this and actually planning it. In fact, that's what Dr. Hage said will be the biggest difference....the fact that I will be mentally prepared this time around. Its certain to be easier simply because of that fact!

Anyhooo.......that's pretty much it for my day. A huge milestone and a day to celebrate, but otherwise it was fairly routine. I came home from my appointment to Ty and Luke playing 'drums' in the family room. Both were full of giggles and in much happier moods than when I left. That's always good to come home to! :) We ate some dinner and vegged in front of the TV until is was bath time for Luke. A mellow end to the day. Tomorrow I think that my nieces will come over for awhile and we'll head to the pool for a reprieve from this miserable heat, and then who knows what we'll do for the afternoon. I like having these 'unscheduled' days. Its nice to do what we want, when we want to do it. I better enjoy them now, eh?!