Get Me Outta Here

OHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSH.  So so so so much going on here.  Sooo…

1. We (Jack and I) are leaving on Friday for Michigan.  Woo Hoo!!  I cannot wait to get away from this stinking heat.  Right now my outdoor thermometer is reading at 106.  No joke.  Of course that’s in the sun and probably not 100% accurate… so maybe it’s more like 101.  Gawd, it’s disgusting.
2. Still prego.  Baby is a bouncing these days and I’ve started looking like I’ve got an alien in there at certain times of the day - somebody is stretching out in there and making himself at home.  My sciatica has eased up (in case I didn’t tell you, it was making me crazy there for a while) and I’m getting used to the contractions… which are typical Braxton Hicks.
3. So, in other pregnancy news, I passed my glucose test (woo hoo) and am finally where I should be with my thyroid.  Which is a relief.  The thought of going into vacation on a gestational diabetes diet makes me want to cry.
4. Oh yeah, did I tell you that we’re under contract?!  And we’ve found a house.  After a crazy couple of days last week, we have definitely found a house.  It needs some work, but it has sooo much potential.  Anyway, OH MAH LORD.  Talk about stress.  So, we get home on the 10th of August.  We close on our house on the 15th.  Then we close on the new house on the 18th (hopefully - keep your fingers crossed that this all goes accordingly).  AGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!  So.  This week is crazy, lining up movers and getting quotes on cabinets and paint and lining up the cleaning ladies, because I’m sorry, I’m just too damn pregnant to clean to the level of cleanliness that I will require to move in to the joint.  Anywho.  Yeah, it’s been crazy around here.  But wish us luck that everything goes smoothly.
5. In other news, Jack has gone from taking three hour naps to occasionally not napping at all.  Ouch.  All I have to say is that I refuse to give up on “quiet time.”
6. The other day I was putting sunblock on Jack so we could go out back and play in the sandbox.  He was all excited about going outside and to keep him still I let him hold the bottle of sunblock, which just about made his day for whatever reason, and he says to me, “Thank you mommy, I’m so proud of you.”

Tom and Meredith’s Shower

This past weekend I co-hosted a shower for our good friends Tom & Meredith, who are expecting their first baby in September.  Tom and E went to NC State together and were in the same fraternity, so they’ve known each other for years.  We have had so much fun with them since we’ve moved to the area (and very close to them) and Meredith has really gone out of her way to introduce me to people.  I started subbing for her bunko group last summer and am pretty much a regular at this point.  After meeting the girls from the bunko group, I started a playgroup (with a few of the girls that have kids Jack’s age) that meets weekly and we are all pregnant (well, Susan had Summer in June) with our second babies.

Anyway, the shower was a lot of fun and there was quite a turn-out - about 45-50 people.  It was definitely an eye opening experience, having never thrown a shower before.  I had no idea what to expect.  But luckily the girls that helped me out were fantastic and everything went so smoothly and was so much fun.  It really helped me to appreciate (that much more) the showers my sister-in-law has thrown for me in the past, just knowing what goes into putting it together.

I was just glad to be part of the putting something together for both Tom & Meredith, not only to thank them for being such great friends, but to help welcome their little Thomas, who we are just so excited is on his way!  Here’s a few of my favorite pictures from the shower - I’ve also put a link in the sidebar under my albums if you want to see the rest.

In case you're wondering, we did a Wolfpack theme... hence the tiny wolfies and red, black and white M&Ms in the baby bottles.

The cake turned out absolutely amazing... the cake flavor (mom & dad's choice) was strawberry. Let me tell you that was some seriously yummy cake. I'm still drooling just thinking about it.

My sister-in-law did this at my baby shower and I totally had to steal the idea. Everyone went on and on about what a cute idea it was. Thanks Toni!!

Diaper cake! Can you believe that I made this?! You can sort of see the invitation propped up front... the real cake (and the diaper cake too I suppose) coordinated with the invite.

Next to me is Meredith (mom to be), followed by Katy and Allison, who co-hosted along with me.

Here are the rest… if you’re interested.

Fun in the Sun with Ice Cream and Contractions

I hope everyone had a good fourth of July weekend.  Ours didn’t quite turned out as planned, but we really didn’t have much planned, so how can I complain.  After a very long day on Wednesday of fun at the playground, followed by two very long showings (that pretty much kicked us out of the house from 12:30-4), lots of errand running and sweating, and cranky cranking from my napless toddler, we received news that there was some interest in the house.  Which resulted in nothing but an offer to someone else and a trip to the hospital for E & myself as a result of dehydration and stress induced contractions.

Yeah, Wednesday was totally crazy and way more than I could handle.  It was about 97 and both Jack and I were totally exhausted.  I had some contractions that night and the next day, so I called (after hours, of course) and they told me to head in to the hospital so they could assess the situation.  And of course, I did not have one single contraction the entire time I was there.  They weren’t concerned at all considering they weren’t painful, and went away when I laid down.  So, after all of that, I was pretty paranoid for the rest of the weekend, only getting out to the pool (where I sat in a chair and watched Jack and E play) and to refuel on pizza and ice cream.  I spent the rest of the weekend on the couch.  Not too exciting, but I suppose I probably needed it.

Here’s a few pool pictures and a belly shot for fun!

Crazy man

Fun with Daddy

24 weeks

Just Guess How I’m Feeling Today

Besides grouchy.  Ok, so really I’m not grouchy at all.  Actually I just came out of a mega-funk, which I am thanking the heavens has passed because I was over it before it started.  Anyway, I’m feeling listy.

1. So first and foremost, the funk.  It’s over.  I won’t really go into it… ok, so maybe I will, but I’ll make it short because I’m sure you’re tired of hearing me complain.  I had a total melt down this weekend.  E had to work on Sunday and Jack was just a gigantic handful (but strangely enough, only for me… he was an angel, to the point of ridiculousness around the in-laws and E), I was totally exhausted (still struggling with the thyroid issue), and the showings (for the house) are seriously REALLY getting to me.  One can only take so much.  And well, I met my breaking point.  I called my mom and I’m not sure she could have said anything better than what she said about her situation when my brother was Jack’s age and she was pregnant with me.  She told me (and I hope you don’t mind that I’m sharing, Mom) that she sometimes thought that he was possessed by the devil and he was out to get her.  And honestly.  That is exactly how I would describe how Jack was being last weekend. 
2. So, E and I talked for quite a while about the whole subject - me losing it, Jack being crazy, the house on the market blah blah blah.  We discussed how I can deal with certain situations that always lead to frustration- me getting ready, getting Jack ready and getting the house ready for me to go anywhere.  The second big thing is wearing Jack out and keeping him busy.  When he’s bored, he’s bad.  So I’ve been working on it.  Just being able to step back and go, “ok, the kid’s bored or needs some attention,” helps me to deal with the situation a lot better.
3. Now, on to more exciting news!  We found a stroller.  E’s parents babysat for a few hours on Saturday so that E & I could go to a local store that carries all kinds of strollers including doubles and joggers.  Talk about a great experience.  The store owner was the nicest guy and pretty much knew everything about every stroller he had in the store.  He gave us all the pros and cons of each that we were interested in, showed us how to work each one and really helped to lead us in the right direction without pushing us into something we didn’t want to buy.  So, here’s what we decided on.
4. Thanks for all of the great name ideas… and strangely enough a few of them were already on our list.  Here’s our current potential names:  Abram, Jude, Morgan, Luke, Charlie, and Bennett (Carter, Henry, Peyton, Colin and Griffin were on the list but have pretty much been decided against for one reason or another).  I had been sort of thinking about using our girl name (Reese) this time, considering we most likely won’t have another baby (but you never know) and something tells me that if we do have another, it’ll be another boy.  So, I’m just not sold on any of them, and I’m wishing that we wouldn’t have used Theodore for one of Jack’s middle names, because Jack and Teddy would be perfect together.
5. Totally unrelated here… I was falling asleep last night thinking worrying about dealing with two kids and how it’ll go etc.  Then I started to think about my first real job in Atlanta, working as a Geologist for an environmental consulting firm.  We did a lot of Phase I’s and a little bit of low level remediation…  anyway, I was remembering a particular job, sometime in the summer (so it was hot and I had to wear pants and boots) and it was an abandoned gas station, in a particularly bad area (and of course I was working alone) where people would set up stands with random goods (most of which looked stolen) and sold them.  Anyway, I had to bail free product (which is pretty much gasoline floating on the top of the ground water) out of wells using bailers.  Which was a very messy, smelly, dirty, awful process.  Some days were painfully long and painfully hot, my arms and shoulders would ache from pulling the full bailers out of the well over and over again, and I would be nauseous and my head would kill from the fumes.  And I’d end the day with an hour to two hours of traffic, all dirty and sweaty and sunburned from the day.  It was terrible.  And the money.  Ridiculous.  And somehow I’m complaining about sitting in my beautiful, air conditioned house, with my kid.  Geez.

 

It’s About Time for a Popsicle

There hasn’t been much going on around here besides the fact that we’re staying busy, keeping the house in tip-top shape for the showings (still) and wearing Jack out in some way shape or form every day.  We’re getting pretty excited for a few upcoming events… the fourth of July, which hopefully will entail a long weekend for E, followed by a couples shower, I am hosting along with a few other girls, for some good friends of ours (which I’m getting really excited about), and shortly after that Jack and I will be heading home for two weeks.  E is going to meet up with us the second week and we’re renting a beach house about a mile down the beach from my mom.  My brother and sister-in-law and their kids are planning on spending majority of the week with us, so we’re pretty psyched to have the fam together again… we haven’t seen them since December, so the time together is well overdue!  And of course, we’ll be seeing Toot’s as well, which we’re pretty excited about.

Jack has been a bit of a gigantic handful these days, but despite his ridiculous behavior some of the time, he still manages to keep us laughing and beside ourselves with his cuteness.  I’m pretty sure I’ve told you about his obsession with flies… he calls them bees.  Talks to them and follows them around calling, “Hi bee!  Hi bee!  Where bee going?  Bee hiding.”  Then when he finds one that’s still, on the window or the floor, he gets as close as possible and acts all sweet, leaning in for a hug.  Ridiculous, it’s so cute.  Then he’ll follow it up with, “Oh bee, you’re so cute!”  Pretty much everything is “so cute” these days and/or is babied, rocked, and hugged - forks, sandbox toys, a lamp, and of course Ralphie… oh, Ralphie, he’s so cute (kiss Ralphie on the nose, and hold him cheek to cheek).  Pitaful.

We talk to him about the baby quite a bit and I’m feeling like he’s getting tired of it these days.  If I ask him where the baby is or to say Hi to the baby, he used to pat my belly or hug my belly and say Hi… now he pats/pokes my boob and says, “BABY!”  Then he pokes my knee, “BABY!”  Or just about any part of my body besides my belly.  Yeah, he’s over it.

I think I may have finally moved past my obsession with all foods related to sugar.  The last week or so I can’t get enough hummus with de-lish pita chips, apples, strawberries, and blueberries… and “ice cream blueberries” (frozen blueberries - a favorite of Jack’s), and Breyer’s Pure Fruit Popsicles.  The baby is a big fan of the popsicles.   

Let’s see… we’re still on the hunt for a stroller.  After all of the advice I still wasn’t sure, but thought I was still leaning toward the Phil & Ted’s, so I went to a local store that carries them and checked it out.  And right off the bat I thought it would work, but the more it all sunk in, the less I felt comfortable with it.  There were just a few things that bothered me about that I just couldn’t get over.  That and overall, for the price, it wasn’t as nice as I expected.  Sooo… back to the drawing board.  I’ve been checking out the Bob Dualie (but seriously, the price is killing me) and the Valco Latitude (price is better but it’s not a jogger… and I’m not sure how smooth it would be for walking in the neighborhood).

Ok, so I better wrap this up… it’s quite the novel and I’m sure you’re all bored by now if you’re still reading.  One last thing!  I need some help.  We’re working on the name list… and we’re struggling.  Any ideas? 

Coming Up For Air

I’ve been on a war path lately.  I mean the eating that’s been going on around here is absolutely out of control.  The amount of sugar I have ingested lately is particularly disgusting, which makes my teeth feel like they have sweaters on, so I’m brushing them like 37 times a day.  Andrea (my bff) sent me some of the world’s best popcorn (well, she sent Sting some) and I’ve seriously been inhaling the stuff for days.  How is it that a gallon of the stuff has lasted this long, I don’t know, because I’ve attacked it with such force each day that I finally have to pry myself away from it, all covered in caramel corn buttery-stickiness, teeth sticking together and jaw LITERALLY aching from all of the crunching.  And seriously, it’s presence in this house, is overwhelming.  All I can think about is that damn popcorn.  And about every hour or half hour or so I go into the pantry and dig it out of it’s hiding spot (because for whatever reason I thought that hiding it from myself would REALLY WORK), intending to only have five pieces, only to walk away with an aching jaw, a stomach ache, and a really active baby, kicking my bladder.

In other food-related news, I made a s’more last night.  Yes, a s’more.  Only one.  For whatever reason, and very similar to when you are getting married and the only thing on TV is wedding shows, there have been one too many commercials, magazine ads, billboards, and random people around here with s’mores.  So I figured out how (in a random magazine at the doctor’s office) to make s’mores in the oven (put marshmallow on graham cracker on cookie sheet in preheated 400 degree oven until cooked to perfection - approximately 3 minutes).  Which is incredibly easy and much better than making them in the microwave.

Let’s see, I managed to eat my birthday pie(with very little help from E) in three days.  And I can’t seem to figure out why or how I managed to gain four pounds in two days.  Hmm.  At least I can blame it on the baby, right?  Ok, enough about food.  Before I forget, I just wanted to say thanks for the wonderful birthday wishes from everyone and for all of the great advice.  And seriously, I wish I had you all hanging out here on a regular basis to inflate my head with all of those compliments, the way that you all did… I was walking around like a bobble-head for the rest of the week.

So, I sat down here today, intending to do a Love List, or some sort of update on Jack and what’s been up with us, but somehow all I managed to do is blabber on about caramel corn, s’mores, and pie.  Now I’m hungry.

31 & 20

It’s my birthday.  I’m 31.  And fired up.  Mainly because we just got back from a walk and it’s already 88.  Whew.  But I’m also fired up because I’m anxiously awaiting a pie which should be on it’s way to me.  Woo Hoo!!  So, in other news, I’m 20 weeks!  Half way there… yikes.  Here’s a picture of the prego belly.  Please ignore my sweaty-ness.  I doubt I’ll have time to tear myself away from the pie later today to do another belly shot. 

20 weeks and sweating.

And here’s a cute picture of Jack.  In my shoes.  All sweaty from sitting in the stroller.  It’s a tough life.

Making a List… A Baby List, Not a Christmas List

So, I’m in full on nesting mode these days.  Well, as much as I can be with the house on the market.  So I’m sort of at a standstill with the nursery and Jack’s big boy room.  I just don’t want to start any overhauling, unless I know we’re staying.  So I’m pretty much making lists and shopping and filling up our little bit of closet space with more and more baby crap.  And nursing crap.  And just stuff in general.  It’s ridiculous really, but hello, I’m nesting.  Must prepare for the arrival of baby #2!

With all that being said, I’ve been making a list of things that I definitely don’t have (because I didn’t try them last time or they weren’t around or whatever) but I need.  And I need them because everyone else out there loves them/couldn’t live without them/blah blah blah.  Whoorl lit a fire under my ass, after writing this post over at ParentDish.  And ever since I’ve been on a mission to find more baby stuff that I MUST HAVE.  So and so, from the Internet, just couldn’t live without her Hotsling, therefore I must have one too!  Oh, and by the way, is it me or does Hotsling sound like something you shouldn’t talk about in front of your kids, let alone wear in front of them?

This is where I need you… I know, Whoorl already asked, and received like 37 bajillion responses on the things that they loved.  And I read them all most of them a few of them and got tired and bored at a bunch of strangers long winded responses about the mei tai baby wraps and vibrating chairs and hotslings and their brest friends… man, the names of these things, is anyone thinking about how seriously funny they sound?  Ok, I have issues and my mind is in the gutter.  Anyway, so seriously, I read a lot of it, and I still need help.  Mainly because I know a lot of the people that comment here - and if I don’t know you, I feel like I do because I read intimate details of your life on your own blog.  And that’s just as good as really knowing you, just much creepier and weirder (if that’s a word).  Which immediately made me think of this… don’t you think I need it?

So here’s your mission:  Tell me about your double strollers (joggers and everyday), nursing stuff (I’m going to give it a go again this time - we’ll see), fantastic stuff that allows you to do a bazillion things at once (similar to hiring a nanny w/o doing so, or strapping on a sling and nursing while making pb&j’s and dancing a jig - all possible with what fantastic thing?!).  Tell me what is essential and totally stupid (so I can avoid it) and what do you wish you had but didn’t get because they hadn’t invented them yet, but everyone now tells you that they are the best things ever and you consider buying for fun, you know, because you could always strap that backpack baby carrier on and put your dog in it, right?

So here’s an example.  Jack was a summer newborn, born in April, which is pretty much hot already, and therefore only wore onesies for the first three months.  This baby is due in October, which is approaching cool weather, so (as silly as it sounds) what the hell do little babies wear in the winter?  I mean, aren’t pants sort of weird on newborns - they really don’t have waists just yet, so it’s all kind of weird.  That and changing them 700 times a day is a pain in the butt with those teeny tiny pants, trying to get them back on, ugh.  So what did you do? 

Here’s another issue.  The stroller.  Jack is a stroller kid.  I don’t let him wander around anywhere, because he has a tendency to dart out into parking lots and roads.  So I need a double.  But don’t want to have to buy seven of them to accommodate the stages.  Initially I thought this one would be perfect.  It’s supposedly somewhat lightweight and easy to fold, it’s a jogger/walker and can be used for everyday stuff.  And as soon as Jack grows out of the stroller (when he’s about 12) I just take off the toddler seat and boom it’s back to being a single stroller.  And on top of that, as a double it can fit through doors and aisles and it doesn’t weigh 800 pounds.  But after 700 hours of research on my part, E went to the website for five minutes and discovered that you can’t use the doubles kit (toddler chair underneath) with the infant seat on top.  Woah.  This is a problem.  Because it is a MAJOR pain in the ass to get a teeny tiny sleeping baby out of the infant carrier.  So what the hell do I do?  Help me. 

Back to the Beach

Ok, well, it’s a little late… but better late than never, right?  Here’s a few of my favorites from our Memorial Day weekend beach trip.  Enjoy!

The kid was crazy in love with the pool and the beach.  “A beach?  A water?  Ready WATER!”

Could he be any skinnier?  I mean, the ribs!  I just want to go feed him now, looking at this picture.

An alligator?  In the ocean?  Huh?

E must have dragged him around on that dang boogie board for 15 minutes… at least.  And it wasn’t exactly one of those hot days where you can tolerate the water for that long.  We finally had to pry his little hands off of the line and force him to go warm up.

Drip drip drip…

“Water!  Exciting!”  What a hoot this kid is.

If you’re interested, you can check out the rest of the pictures here.  There is also a link in the sidebar under albums, called Hilton Head May 2008.  Enjoy!

ps.  I can’t take credit for any of these… my father in law took most and E took the rest!  We only brought the tiny camera (because E is super anal about the fancy camera being at the beach… which is understandable considering what I did to our camera last year at the beach. hehe) anyway, and if the battery wasn’t charging, it was conveniently located no where near where I was.  So.  Fortunately, someone else was in charge of photography for the weekend :)  Thanks Grandpa Z.

I’m an Official Member…

of the boys club!  It’s definitely a boy!  I saw his little manhood with my own eyes.  And practically shouted to the ultrasound tech, “IS THAT A PENIS?!“

I had a funny feeling it was a boy.  I went to get on the elevator the other day, after a long walk on the beach (and I had been wondering if it was a boy or girl), and there was a little blue bootie on the ground.  Then yesterday, the Nordstrom piano player was playing the song with one (of the ten or so) of our boy names, and Jack told me it was a “beautiful song.”