Pregnancy Update: 36 weeks

Maternity Clothes:  Anything I can fit into... which isn't much.  In the picture above I'm wearing my 'moo moo' shirt and gaucho pants.  Not the cutest outfit in the world but very comfortable.  Well,  as comfortable as it gets.  Still loving my yoga pants too.

Best Moment This Week:  Hosting my first Thanksgiving.  Having family around makes things so much easier.  It's relaxing to have another adult around to talk to.  It was wonderful to have Craig have a short break from school before the last 3 weeks which are going to be very busy. 

Movement:  This little guy doesn't have much room to move around lately. He should be measuring close to 6lbs. now.  He has the hiccups lots and lots though.  I'm almost wondering if they got my due date wrong.  I can't imagine getting any bigger. .. but I guess it's possible.

Food Cravings:  Barbecued chicken, orange juice, clementine oranges, bananas, apples with peanut butter, string cheese, milk, cake, pie, & Lindt Chocolates.

What I Miss Most:  Exercise!!  I've toned down the crazy mostly and my hormones seem to be more in check but since I'm progressing along pretty early, I'm trying to hold off labor.  I'm not completely on bed rest .. just trying to take it easy.  Which means trying to stay off my feet.  This is torture for me.  I REALLY miss being able to walk to pick up Jace from school and even though it shouldn't, exercising somewhat defines my day.  I always feel better if I've done something healthy for myself in the morning.

What I'm Looking Forward To:  Making it to 37 weeks.  I'm focused on one week at a time.

Symptoms:  We've already had one trip to the hospital (which turned out to be a false alarm) and now that I'm 36 weeks I'm 75% effaced and still dilated to a 1.  I contribute that to staying off my feet.  The contractions are pretty constant although they haven't been extremely painful.  There is lots of pressure and swelling down south, cramping in my calves, and the baby has dropped.  I feel like I can breath again. I've hit the nesting stage full force which is difficult because there are so many things I want to do while still trying to 'take it easy'.  I have put up the Christmas decorations, cleaned the house, set up the pack n' play, washed the baby clothes & blankets in dreft, and made a cute little baby corner in my room complete with rocking chair.  The hospital bag is packed. Should the time come - I am ready.

Other Thoughts:  I am so thankful for this precious little babe and am beyond excited for him to join our family.  I often daydream about holding him and think about how our family dynamic will change.  It's been 4 1/2 years since we have had a newborn. I have been waiting for this baby for a long time coming and can't believe it's almost time for his arrival. 

My First Turkey!

It's Turkey Day!!  We hosted my parents this year and I got the opportunity to make my very first Turkey Dinner.  Of course, my mom helped a LOT since I've been trying to take it easy so this baby doesn't make his grand debut earlier than he's supposed to.  At my 35 week appt.  I was dilated to a 1 and 50% effaced already and since the next few weeks are absolutely CRAZY busy for Craig with finishing graduate school I'm trying to hold this little guy in until after graduation which is not until December 16th so we can actually enjoy the birth of our son together. 

It was great fun to have Grandma & Grandpa Johnson visit.  They came bearing gifts that didn't disappoint: toy fighter jets for Jace and a Fern Fairy for Brooke as well as a bag full of posters, pictures and little knickknacks from the Nellis Air Show in Las Vegas that we missed out on.  I was so bummed we couldn't make it to that.  I'm sure it would have been a dream come true for Jace but no matter what I tried we just couldn't make it work ... so thanks to all that collected those items and sent them for Jace (Julie & Ben).  It was like Christmas morning for him I'm sure.  He carried around his 2 newest airplanes the entire time Grandpa was here and and wants to hang up all the posters in his room.  Brooke was constantly giving luvs and snuggles and enjoyed racing Grandpa to the park and being pushed on the swings as much as she wanted. 

Grandma made sure to bring pomegranates from her back yard to make her delicious pomegranate pie with the kids.  They loved every second of it.  It tasted extra good because they used lots of the most important ingredient : LOVE!! :)  Brooke was so excited to put the whipped cream on the top.  She thought it looked so beautiful and climbed on the counter several times .. 'just to look'. lol  By the time it was time for pie one of them was missing half the toppings.  Grandma helped put more whipped cream on and it was good as new.

Thanksgiving dinner was great success and now that I've done it once I think I could do it again.  It wasn't nearly as difficult as I had imagined it to be ... of course Grandma provided the homemade rolls, and my pumpkin pie contribution was from Costco. :) 

This year I am thankful for my family, near and far.  I am thankful that this bun in the oven is almost done ... and that Craig is ALMOST done with his MBA - the end is in sight - now if he could just get that awaited job offer...  I'll keep you posted.   

Look at our pies we made with Grandma!

The Thanksgiving chefs and Craig carving his first Turkey. 
(Don't you love Brookie's head peeking over the counter. 
She was an excellent helper and wanted to be in the middle of everything.)

Everyone at the table ready to eat.  What a beautiful family I have!

The BIG Leagues!

Jace got called up to the BIG leagues and played in the professional Peoria Sports Complex for his last tee ball game of the season.  The Dark Knights vs. The Little Rockets.  He LOVED seeing his name on the big score board. In fact we had to remind him several times to keep his eyes on the ball and off the score board.  He got some good hits and had a blast. He loves his new trophy.   It was a beautiful day to be at the ball park! 

The Dark Knights team picture

 

Watching big brother.

Jace with Coach Keith Coles holding his trophy.

Yeah!  We got doughnuts.

Hanging out in the Mariners Dugout with daddy and sitting on one of the BIG baseballs.

Brooke's Dream

Brooke always has the craziest dreams - I really should write them down more often.  Here is Brooke's dream from last night as she told it to daddy:

"  I dreamed that I was camping with Grandma Johnson and Grandpa Johnson and mom ... but she didn't have a baby in her tummy.  And I was sleeping in my shell (I think she meant the camper)  and mommy was sleeping too.  I sneaked out because I saw some ghostes and I wanted to see if they were just decorations.  But guess what!?! (wide eyed) They weren't decorations and they got me and floated me away.  And mommy didn't hear me because she was sleeping and ghostes aren't loud and I wasn't loud.  Then the mermaids saved me.  They were very magical and beautiful.  They were as pretty as Ariel but not quite as pretty as me.  If I saw Ariel I wouldn't tell her that because that might hurt her feelings or break her heart.  That was my favorite part when the mermaids saved me from the ghostes. "

Who KNEW!?!

An ironing board could also double as an aircraft carrier ...

Jace was furious when I put it away.  "Where did you take my aircraft carrier!?!"  Oh,  the ironing board?  I put it away.  "MOM!"  Boys will be boys.  The other day he also said "Hey, mom."  Yeah...  "Listen to this ...(he lets one loose in little spurts) ... I can make my toots sound like a gatling gun."  I don't know why on earth he thought I would be impressed with his gatling gun farting ... other than the fact that he is a boy. 

Also ... just in case you were wonderding, the very best spot to sleep ...

Is snuggled up on daddies chest.  :)

Pregnancy Update: 32 Weeks

Maternity Clothes:  My new favorite things to wear include: Nostalgia Yoga pants in both black and brown - I got 2 pairs because they are SO comfy.  I also really like my Capri style leggings from Old Navy and Craig's t-shirts when no ones looking.  Either my belly is HUGE or my past maternity clothes have shrunk over years of use and washings  because it seems like I need to put a tank top on under most of the shirts.  I'm going to pretend it's the later...

Best Moment This Week:  Watching my kids go trick or treating.  I almost opted out and I'm so glad I didn't. I loved watching them skip from house to house with their pumpkin buckets bobbing along.  They had so much fun and I love seeing my kids happy.

Movement:  This little guy is definitely rockin' and rollin' in there.  Just this morning I had a Dr.'s appt and while we were listening to his heartbeat my stomach was rolling all over the place.  The nurse practitioner just started laughing and said she wished she had a video camera because she usually doesn't see that much activity.  Whenever I'm lying still trying to get some shut eye he starts up.  He's already preparing me for the lack of sleep that I'm in for.  

Food Cravings:  I don't know if I've necessarily been craving candy but since it's been around I've been snacking on it .. lots of it.  Candy Corn will probably be the death of me.  I still love grapefruit and orange juice, string cheese, and peanut butter on whole wheat to snack on.  

What I Miss Most:  My sanity!!  Can you say "HORMONES" .. well,  mine are on overdrive.  Poor Craig.  I feel bad for him.  I can go from being perfectly content, to crazy mad, to super emotional.  The other day we got into an argument because I thought he spent too much time on his smartphone.  Somehow it turned into who pays more attention to the kids which turned into who is the 'fun' parent.  I was sure I was since I'm the one that bakes cookies with them, reads them stories at bedtime, lets them have bubble baths, takes them to the zoo, the park, thunderkid activities, ballet, t-ball, etc...  I draw pictures of airplanes for Jace and play babies with Brooke.  However when Craig asked the kids they both said him because he's the one that swoops in after a long day and wrestles with them, chases them around the house before bedtime, and tickles them until they cry tears of laughter.  He lets them stay up late after bedtime and sneak junk food after I've said "no".  I felt utterly unappreciated .. especially after I've practically been playing single mom and doing so much on my own.  I was so mad at Craig that I scorned him for the rest of day ... he was practically the devil.  After taking off in the car to have some alone time and trying on clothes at a few stores I felt even more depressed.  I came home crying that everything looked ugly on me.  Craig just hugged me and listened to me even after I was so horrible to him all day.  I finally realized that it's okay that I'm not the 'fun' parent.  I am the one that makes sure that they eat their veggies, delegates time-outs when needed, makes them do their chores, helps with homework, and fixes boo boos with snuggles and luvs.  Yes, I take them to the park but Craig plays tickle monster with them.  I'm fun .. just a different kind of fun and that's okay.   I'm lucky I have an understanding husband ... even if he changed my ringer on his phone to "Crazy Train" for that day. lol  - thus the song change on the blog.

Sleep:  Well,  I battled a cold this month that lasted 2 weeks so I didn't sleep much and ended up on the couch most nights.  I HATE colds with a passion.  Plus, whenever I'm about ready to fall asleep baby starts kicking up a storm and doing gymnastics in my tummy.  It's really odd to think that a 4lb. something is in there moving around.  

What I'm Looking Forward To:  Well, now that Halloween is over I'm really excited for Thanksgiving.  My parents are coming and I'm going to make a turkey for the first time ever.  I'm super excited to see family.

Symptoms:  My belly button is officially an outie! :)  I have been having lots of low back aches and my feet are really sore.  I've had some cramping, lots of braxton hicks contractions, and I'm tired, emotional, and bit crazy from time to time. lol

Other Thoughts:  Well, the next 3 months are going to be super crazy so I'm trying not to think about it too much.  This is really hard for me since I like to be organized and I'm not very patient.  It's driving me crazy that I can't do all the things I want to do.  For example,  I have this list of things I want to get done before baby comes/ before we move.  There just aren't enough hours in the day though and even though I really want to go through all the bins in the garage and sort through everything.  That may not be possible since I can't lift most of it in my current situation and Craig is gone most of the time.  It stinks!!  I'm hoping that we will know where we will be moving by Thanksgiving.

 

Photos courtesy of my talented 6 yr old, Jace.

Trick or Treat

Happy Halloween !!  Craig was able to take the kids trick or treating this year and I was going to stay at home and put my feet up but at the last second decided to come along.  So we put our trick or treating candy out on the porch with a sign (Please Take a Handful - I really wanted that candy gone upon our return).  The weather was perfect - 70 something degrees outside.  It was fun to watch my sweet kiddos run/skip with their little pumpkin buckets in tow eager to see what treats await them from house to house.  I was so proud that they always remembered to say "thank you".

I don't know if it's because we don't have the 4 seasons here or what but people seem to OVERDUE the decor for each holiday in hopes of making up for the lack of cool weather, falling leaves, wintry snow, etc...  I love it.  There was one house that even had set up a scary spook alley in their front yard.  We asked the kids if they wanted to go through and of course they did so Craig went with them.  I waited at the exit and couldn't help but smile when I heard the chain saw man, the screams that followed, and my wide eyed children run out.  They both were about in tears and said it was TOO scary.  Other than that they had a fabulous time trick or treating and got lots of loot.  Towards the end mommy and daddy had to help them carry their treat buckets because they were too heavy.  What am I going to do with all that candy in the house!?!  .... I'll have to hide it or something or they will both be on a sugar high for a month!

This year Jace wanted to be a Military Man in camouflage and after changing her mind nearly every day Brooke decided on being a fairy princess.  They both looked great.  I was going to put on an orange shirt and turn my belly into a jack o' lantern but was too lazy to put in the effort.  

Don't mess with this guy!!  (I don't think he'll EVER be allowed to have a 'real' gun).

 

I love how Jace's camouflaged face blends in with the tree.  

Those big brown eyes sure pop out though.

No smiles from him.  I think he was trying to look eXtra tough.

My beautiful fairy princess.

What a good daddy!

One of the many cool decorations out for trick or treaters to enter.

Look at all that candy .... yikes!