Every Day

I love my son. I love that my son loves books. I do not love that he thinks he has to pull EVERY book off the shelves before he can start reading one.

We seriously go through this every day. And I'd get annoyed by it, but once he has them pulled down he'll sit there in his pile of books and read them for at least ten minutes. Multiple times a day. And those are precious minutes that I enjoy having to myself. Which makes it totally worth the five minutes it takes me to put them away after he's gone to bed. (We've tried teaching him to put them away himself, but there are too many and they fit too tightly on the shelves that he has a really hard time with it. And since this Mama loves books as much as her little boy does, that's a problem that won't be going away any time soon.)

Mama's Ready!!

Sweet little babe, whenever you (finally) decide to make your appearance, Mama is all ready to bring you home from the hospital.

The fridge is stocked:

The wine rack is full:

And the liquor cabinet is ready and waiting:

Let's get this "family of four" show on the road!


Disclaimer: With the exception of the beer, pretty much all of that booze has been in our house since before we found out we were pregnant. Shockingly, we I haven't been doing much drinking in the past nine months. And since I will be breastfeeding, I still won't be able to indulge that much even once we get home with WEBS. But some is better than none, right? And this way I have my bases covered--who knows what Mama will be in the mood for after (what will likely be) crazy days wrangling two small children.

A Day in the Life

So I've seen lots of other people do posts like this and have always thought that it would be fun to document what a "typical" day looks like for us. And since WEBS will be here shortly I figured I should do one sooner than later so I can look back on this in a few months and realize just how easy I had it with only one kiddo :-)  So, just for fun, here's what our day on Friday looked like. And I apologize for the lack of pictures; it didn't dawn on me until halfway through the day to document with some photos, and even then I still forgot to take pictures for most things.

(For the record, "typical" is used very loosely, especially while I've been pregnant. This particular day happened to be a pretty good energy wise, so I was able to be fairly productive. That certainly has not been the case every day. Also--be warned that this post is super long. As Darrell will attest, I tend to be long winded and don't always know how to tell the "short" version of things #sorrynotsorry)

5:00--Nature calls. Considering this is the first time I've been up all night, I'm not too upset.
6:30--Alarm is off to start the morning. I need some alone time in the morning to casually eat my breakfast, putz around online, and just enjoy some peace and quiet before embracing the day. Darrell has usually left for work by this point too, so I truly get the house to myself. And I relish these morning minutes.
7:00--Since William is still sleeping, I decide to finish getting dinner prepped. We're having crockpot chicken noodle soup and I chopped all the vegetables last night, so all I need to do this morning is trim the chicken and dump all the ingredients into the crockpot (my favorite kind of meal!)
7:30--William starts to stir, but I don't get him until closer to 7:40. I'm trying to get him used to the idea that Mommy won't always be able to respond to him immediately. William is being particularly lazy this morning, so it takes awhile to get him changed and ready for the day
8:20--William is ready for breakfast. Today it's yogurt, blueberries, and Cheerios
8:45--William (finally) finishes breakfast and goes to play with his toys while I get ready for the day. I have a doctor's appointment, so I actually take a little bit of time to get presentable
9:00--I'm ready for the day and William is still playing contentedly, so I take advantage of the opportunity to pay some bills and tidy some stuff up in the kitchen
9:25--I need to leave for my appointment soon, so I check William's diaper before I go, and end up having to change it. Teething (or something) has really been messing with his bowels lately--not fun.
9:35--My mom shows up to watch William so I can go to my appointment
10:00--In and out at my doctor's appointment in less than ten minutes (have I mentioned how much I love my OB/GYN?). I take advantage of the free babysitting and run a quick errand on the way home
10:30--I get home and William immediately decides he needs to eat, because of course he didn't want to take a break from playing with Grandma to have his morning snack. Since it's so close to lunch I give him just a banana and hope that will keep him content for awhile. It doesn't. By 10:50 he is demanding more food, and even though it's 30 minutes before he usually eats, I relent and give him lunch. Today he is having leftover Panko Pork and potatoes, and his favorite part is the dipping sauce. He is a very delicate dipper, so it takes him awhile to eat lunch (plus Mr. Clean needs his hands wiped after every third or fourth bite; dipping is messy, after all). He wants more to eat after finishing up his leftovers, so I give him some cheese to keep him satisfied while I steam up some peas (peas = candy to William. He's weird).

Such patience and concentration while dipping!

11:30--William is finally done with lunch. We sit down to play together, which is short-lived because William decides he'd rather read stories by himself instead of playing with me. I take advantage of the opportunity to rest on the couch for a few minutes
12:00--William brings me a story to read. As I help him onto my lap, I stick my hand into a slimy wet spot on his pants. Diaper blowout--swell.
12:15--Blowout has been cleaned up, outfit has been changed. I locate the spot he was sitting when it happened, and it appears a book absorbed most of the blow. While his clothing will be salvageable, I can't say the same for the book
12:30--Nap time. We read a few stories, say our prayers, and down he goes
12:45--I eat my lunch, leftover tater tot casserole and a clementine. I've learned that it's easiest to eat my lunch while William is napping because A) I can finish it before it gets cold and B) William typically gets very unhappy if I am feeding him something different from what he is eating (regardless of how much he may like what his food option is)

Since I try to limit screen time while William is awake, I usually spend most of nap time doing stuff online. Most days I just end up putzing around on Facebook, blogs, and Craigslist, but today I'm also shopping for a new winter hat for William (Mr. Big Head is going to outgrow the one he has before the weather warms up) and trying to find a few recipes for Super Bowl Sunday. I also get a few chores done--emptying the dishwasher and taking out his diaper genie trash--because I don't want to do those while he is awake (our dishwasher is super old and gross and rusty and I don't like him playing in it. And it is tantrum central in this house if you try to go outside without him, especially since we've had a few nice days lately and he has been reminded how fun outside is).

2:30--William starts pounding on his door to let me know naptime is over. After another diaper change, we're good to go
2:45--William has a clementine for a snack
3:00--I consider heading to the library, but laziness wins out, especially since William is playing well with his toys and doesn't seem to need the change of scenery. I try to get a few more things cleaned up and put away around the house
3:15--William decides he needs more to eat. It's still two hours until dinner, so we pull out some Ritz crackers and peanut butter. I break open my jar of Jif Salted Caramel Hazelnut spread--have you seen this stuff? It's amazing
3:45--More play time. He plays with me for a little bit, but then wanders off on his own again. I don't force the issue; he's going to need to be able to play independently once WEBS arrives
4:30--Best time of day: Daddy gets home! William immediately wants to play with him and fusses until Darrell gets his clothes changed (this happens Every.Day.). I enjoy watching them play for a bit and then finish up stuff for dinner
5:20--Dinner time!
5:45--William is done eating, which usually means that it's time for Darrell to be done eating too (can you tell he's a daddy's boy much?). They play while I clean up and put away leftovers
6:00--I decide that since it was pretty evident from my doctor's appointment that baby won't be coming this weekend (or probably any time in the next week) that I deserve some homemade cinnamon rolls. We tried a new recipe over Christmas that was insanely good and I've been dying to make it again
6:15--I finish up the first step of the rolls and play with my boys (and try to squeeze in a little adult conversation with Darrell) while they proof
6:45--Time for the next step of my rolls, which basically just means measuring flour and letting my mixer do all the kneading (love my mixer!)
7:15--It's almost bath time for William, so we start cleaning up his toys. He decides to be cooperative and help out tonight, so it goes pretty quickly
7:20--I supervise bath time while Darrell works out

This is William's new "surprised" face. Not sure where he picked it up, but it's adorable

7:45--Darrell comes to get William out of the tub (way easier for him than me at this point). Time for pajamas, teeth brushing, stories, and prayers
8:00--William is down for the night. I change into workout clothes to do some yoga
9:15--I finish up my yoga (I love my DVD and the way I feel when I'm done, but it's definitely a time investment). The cinnamon rolls are ready to be rolled out and filled with cinnamon sugar deliciousness
9:45--Cinnamon rolls are done and in the fridge. I do a little bit of cleanup, but decide to leave most of it for tomorrow

A little time-consuming, but seriously the best cinnamon roll recipe I've tried

10:00--WEBS decides that we need a bedtime snack. I bat my eyes sweetly at Darrell and convince him to make a batch of smoothies (a tall order considering he is digging through the pantry to find a snack for himself)
10:15--We cuddle up in bed with our smoothies to watch an episode of "House" on Netflix
11:00--Show is over, so we brush teeth and head to bed. It's a little later than I like bedtime to be, but hey, that's what weekends are for, right?

Congrats! You made it to the end of our day. Just imagine how long one of these posts will be if I ever do one with two kids!!

Bringing Home Baby...

It won't be long now and we'll be expanding to a family of four! And of course, the question that I am most impatiently waiting for the answer to is: Which outfit will baby be coming home in?? (Please forgive the quality of the pictures. iPhone + poor lighting + lazy 8-month pregnant Mom = terrible photos.)

This super sweet gem (with coordinating hair bow, of course):

Or this dapper little set:

And I seriously think baby boy's outfit needs this final touch, but I can't quite bring myself to pull the trigger on it:

How adorable is that jacket? And if I bought it in the 0-3 month size I'm sure baby would get plenty of use out of it, even if he is born as large as William was. But the outfit itself was already more than we typically spend on baby clothes... And I have such a hard time paying full price for something that's going to get spit up (and possibly pooped) on... But still. Quite possibly the cutest jacket ever. For a boy at least--I'm equally swooning over the pink jacket that comes with baby girl's outfit. Granted, I'm not a huge fan of pink, but I suppose it wouldn't be the end of the world for baby girl to have a few pops of pink in her wardrobe--balanced out with plenty of greens and yellows and purples, of course.

Mama's getting anxious baby--please come soon!!

It. Is. Finished!

After what seems like an eternity, our contractor is finally done with the work in our house. And considering we only lived in this house for six weeks before the basement flooded, this waiting game has pretty much been the entirety of our nearly nine months in this house. But it's done. Finished. Complete. And we can finally move forward with the projects on our list. Which is certainly not a short list. But there is light at the end of the tunnel. And bit by bit, this is starting to feel more like OUR house. More like a place we are proud to come home to. Which is good, because in a few short weeks, we will be bringing a sweet little babe home to this place, and he/she will know no different home. So it had better be a good one.

Bump Update!

So finally, at long last, some much overdue pictures of my belly. Not that they are by any means glamorous, but they're interesting to look at from a comparison/look-how-huge-I-am standpoint.

28 weeks

31 weeks

35 weeks

38 weeks

In addition to doing a poor job of documenting my bump progression, I also haven't really shared that much about this pregnancy period. Truthfully, though, there hasn't been much to share. I honestly feel like I could link back to my pregnancy posts with William and everything would be pretty much the same. I have found myself trying to "force" some differences, primarily in my size and the way I'm carrying (maybe because I'm subconsciously hoping that a different pregnancy progression will equal a different sex at birth), but the pictures seem to prove otherwise. So even though I feel like I am massively larger than I ever was with William and even though I feel like my belly is sitting way lower (making things like keeping my legs together while sitting nearly impossible!), in reality, that doesn't seem to be the case. Here's the proof:



38 weeks with WEBS

38 weeks with William

I know the zoom on the pictures isn't quite the same (and I'm too lazy to do anything about it) plus the shirts fit a little differently, but it's pretty evident that pregnant me now and pregnant me then are pretty much the same. Despite the fact that I've tried to convince myself otherwise. And I suppose that's an okay thing--while certainly not enjoyable (although I don't think it ever really could be), labor and delivery with William went just fine and it is certainly an experience I'd be okay with repeating. And I guess in a few short weeks we'll find out whether or not that will be the case!

 

Oh, one kind of fun thing I am curious to hear about during delivery? How much hair this baby has (because yes, my doctor will probably comment on that while I am delivering, like he did with William. Apparently it was supposed to help motivate me to know that baby was on his way with a full head of dark hair. Needless to say, at that point, I didn't really care). According to the wives' tales, lots of heartburn means lots of hair. With William I had pretty much zero heartburn, and he was born with a full head of hair. This pregnancy, especially the past few weeks, I've definitely had a fair amount of heartburn (although nothing terrible, thankfully). So I wonder if that will mean no hair for this babe? (And in my family, it tends to be the girls who are born without hair--my sister was pretty much bald until two. So maybe that's another tally favoring a girl this time around? We shall see!!)

Cruel, Cruel, Fate

So I try really hard not to complain about my pregnancy (Darrell is doubled over in laughter at that statement--I give him the full brunt of my complaining since I avoid doing it publicly), but I've officially decided that one of the cruelest and worst things that can happen to a (VERY) pregnant lady is to get a cold. As if my lungs weren't already running out of room making it difficult for me to take deep breaths, now I can't take deep breaths even if I try because of all this lovely congestion. Plus thanks to dear little parasite in my belly, there isn't a whole lot I can take for said congestion. Joy.

But. At least I was able to get a reasonably decent night's sleep last night. We'll refrain from discussing how many pillows that required. And at least this is all I really have to complain about. I may be mopey and annoyed right now, but I still have the ability to recognize that I am fortunate to have been blessed with two remarkably uneventful pregnancies. And if the least of my worries is getting a cold while 8.5 months pregnant, well, I suppose I can suck it up and deal with it. But only after I throw myself a little pity party first.