September

Food cravings, #bellyshot pics, new nursery items, cute kids, working from home on teacher work days, math homework that is over my head, & Cub Scout popcorn. You went by fast, September. Hello to you, October. You month-before-my-due-date-month, you.

Weekly Update: 31 Weeks

Baby Wrenn has been baking for 31 weeks!!! She's over 16 inches long and about 3 & 1/3 pounds, heading into a growth spurt. Right now, she's the size of a coconut.

It definitely feels like there is a coconut in there...a coconut with lots of pokey things. Girlfriend is very busy (especially during the middle of the night - uh-oh) and likes to poke me from the inside.

I just cannot breathe most days. Well...I mean, obviously I am breathing but not well at all. She has pushed my innards around where I have hardly any lung capacity left (apparently the only relief for that is to have the baby - very helpful). I get heartburn when I eat the wrong things. But my sleeping has me really down right now. I am having a problem going back to sleep once getting up. So when she tells me it's time to pee between 2-3am, I usually lay in the bed awake for about an hour or two afterwards. Then I finally fall back asleep to have to pee again at 6 (or if it's a super fun night, for Landon to come get me around 5 to tell me he wet the bed - we're back at that again...I'll write a post dedicated to that after his urologist appointment next week). So I am getting about 4-5 hours of sleep each night and it is killing me. I guess she's prepping me for what's ahead. I really hope her activity now does not indicate her awake periods once she's here. If so, we are IN TROUBLE!

I have a baby shower this Sunday. I am so excited and looking forward to spending time oohing and aahing over all things pink with my family and close friends!!!

Lately, According to Little

As his ice cream cone was falling apart: "I CAN.NOT deal with this."

As he was putting on his ninjitsu gear:  "Dis whole entire world is hard. I have to do hard stuff all da time."

Putting a stethoscope on my chest:  "Deep bref. ::breath:: Again. ::breath:: Again. ::breath:: Again."

He also sings to me a lot and it includes verses like, "You are so precious. I just cannot believe it. I want to give you candy."

Popcorn!!!

It's that time of year again!

 

Landon is selling popcorn for his Cub Scouts pack (and is super excited about it). We walked around our neighborhood yesterday and he charmed all the neighbors.

 

He made a personal goal for himself to beat his sales of $800 last year, and sell $1000 this year. 70% of the popcorn sales goes directly to his Pack to support things like camping trips and other scouting activities (the other 30% actually pays for the popcorn).

 

If interested in supporting Landon and his Pack, let us know (the popcorn choices are below).

 

If you're not a huge popcorn fan, you can choose to donate either $30 or $50 and we will send popcorn to our troops (70% still goes to our local Pack).

 

Thanks for your support!

 

 

Microwavable

Kettle Corn Microwave (18-pk) - $20

Unbelievable Butter Microwave (18-pk) - $20

Butter Light Microwave (18-pk) - $20

 

Already Popped

White Cheddar Cheese Corn (6oz) - $15  NEW!

Jalapeno Cheddar Cheese (6oz) - $15 

Classic Caramel Corn (11oz) - $10

Chocolatey Caramel Crunch (18oz) - $25  NEW!

White Chocolatey Pretzels (20oz) - $25 

Premium Caramel Corn with Almonds, Cashews & Pecans (18oz) - $20  LANDON'S PERSONAL FAVORITE

Dark & White Chocolatey Drizzle (9oz) - $20  

 

Collections

Chocolate Lover's (17oz White Chocolatey Pretzels, 17oz Milk Chocolatey Pretzels, 14oz White Chocolatey Caramel Crunch, 14oz Chocolatey Caramel Crunch) - $55

Cheese Lover's (6oz White Cheddar Cheese Corn, 6oz Cheddar Cheese Corn, 6oz Buffalo Cheddar Cheese Corn) - $35

 

Military Donation

Gold Donation - $50

Silver Donation - $30

New Wheels

The mister got a new truck. And he looks really hot in it.

He's been wanting to upgrade to something a little bigger than his Nissan Frontier so all 3 kiddos can fit comfortably in the back. And he's also been wanting to change over to a diesel (it's the country boy coming out in him). He's been looking for a while and found this beauty - 2013 Chevy Silverado 2500HD with a Duramax diesel engine and 4WD. And she's fancy on the inside too (it ain't my daddy's farm truck, that's for sure)... heated and cooled leather seats, GPS, Bluetooth, tonneau cover, etc.

Can we have a moment for those cooled leather seats? My very pregnant girl parts are LOVING that right about now!!! TMI? Nah, never on here.

And did I mention how hot he looks in it? I think I'm pretty cute driving it too.  ;)

Weekly Update: 30 Weeks

30 weeks (technically 29 weeks and 6 days)

At 30 weeks, baby bird is 15.7 inches long from head to heel and weighs almost 3 pounds!!! She is the size of a head of cabbage.

She seems to have taken a liking to sitting on my lungs. I cannot breathe. It literally feels like the room has been deprived of oxygen. And I think that is making me really tired and slow. There have been some nights this past week where I've just gone home and crashed on the couch. I could barely put one foot in front of the other. I've managed to get the boys lunches/snack packed and homework checked but that's about it. There's been a lot of cereal, PB&J, and Spaghetti Os for dinner - the boys aren't complaining and I am past the point in feeling guilty.

10 weeks to go. Where that feels like no time at all, it also feels like forever.

I filed for my leave of absence at work and have the nursery well on its way (if you missed yesterday's post - check it out...partially-complete nursery tour plus NAME ANNOUNCEMENT). I washed all of the baby clothes, equipment, blankets, etc and put away (I had forgotten how good Dreft smells). Still nesting...I've purged/cleaned/organized the kitchen, nursery, and boys' room. The linen closet is next on my hit list. But I've got to save up the energy for it. And I'm going to try really hard to ignore our bedroom. Really hard.

I told Christopher last night that we need to get our hospital bag together, I need to add the "I'm in labor" number to our phones, and I need to type out details for school pick-up/drop-off for the boys for my caregivers while we're in the hospital. Oh, and I just realized that I need to check/replace batteries in baby stuff.

I have a baby shower coming up next weekend that I am really excited about!!! My SILs (Beth and Ash) and BF (Amy) are throwing it for me. ::blushes::

Partially-Complete Nursery Tour (and a NAME!)

We FINALLY got the guest bed taken down and out of the spare room so we're starting to have something that looks like a nursery. After purging the closet, reorganizing it, and washing and putting away all baby clothes, we put the crib together and (I) put an excessive amount of nail holes in the wall hung some decorations. (It took a full day and me purging the nursery and the boys' entire room and closet - nesting - to find the bag of crib screws IN THE GARAGE WHERE THE MISTER SAID THEY WERE NOT.) Nonetheless, the crib is together, although it is need of some serious TLC. One end has such bad peeling paint from where we sat the humidifier at the end of the crib when Carter was in it (dumb move). We're going to sand that down and paint in the next few weeks.

With the exception of needing to move out a big TV, the room is together-ish. I still need some things like a crib skirt, rug, sheets, lamp, and laundry basket.

Here's a tour of the partially-complete nursery, but I will definitely post more pictures once it's 100% together.

The walls were already painted a perfect pale yellow. It looks more golden/dark in some of these pictures, but trust - it's perfection.

Standing in the doorway, I have a high/low dresser (that I've had since Landon) with the changing pad, a wastebasket, and a Diaper Champ (wall to your left). I need to add a lamp on the high part for those late-night diaper changes (I have my eye on an adorable vintage hot air balloon lamp that I've spotted on eBay).

On the wall directly in front of you while still standing in the door (moving clockwise), I currently have an antique table which I am contemplating what to do with. Her hamper will go here. And I have three adorable wooden hot air balloons on the wall that I custom-ordered from Etsy.

Continuing to move clockwise, in the corner is my glider and footstool (again from Landon) with a nightstand complete with the essentials (lamp for late-night feedings, clock and CD player (for breastfeeding time-keeping and classical music for my baby girl), and books). I am keeping the white eyelet valance and added a beautiful homemade blanket that I found in a homemade blanket stash from when Landon was born. Not sure who made this one, but I can guarantee it was some cute little church lady. Also, the dead plant will be removed.

Then on the wall to your right when standing in the door is her crib with peeling paint and toy box that my Papa made. The toy box looks like it would be a good place to put a humidifier, but don't be fooled. It isn't. Oh, and above her crib is the other hot air balloon beauty that I custom-ordered from Etsy. Wait. What does that garland say???

Let me zoom in for you.

Wrenn!!!

Yes, baby bird will be called Wrenn Annalise. We chose this name because we simply liked it (just like we did with the boys). Wrenn is a version of Wren, the bird. And Annalise means full of grace (Anne) and God is my oath (Liese). The boys have already taken to calling her Wrennie (after giving up hope that her name would be Violet (Landon - I like that too, L) or Elsa (Carter - after Elsa in Frozen).

We've still got a little more to do but I wanted to share our progress and baby bird's name.

I'll Keep Them.

Weekly Update: 29 Weeks

29 weeks!!! Holy smokes. This junk is getting real, y'all. Next week, I will be in my 30s when it comes to weeks pregnant. Whoa. Cuz you know 40 is it, right? Gulp. (Or maybe 41...)

Sweet girl is fattening up in the home stretch. She is 2.5 pounds and a little bit over 15 inches long from head to heel. She's the size of a butternut squash. She is trying to crawl of out my body kicking a lot and HARD, to the point of being pretty dang uncomfortable. I feel pretty good though, minus the pelvic pain and tiredness.

I am nesting. Bad. Even I recognize the ridiculousness of it all. I purged my entire kitchen this past weekend (of small appliances, Tupperware, etc.) and wiped down the cabinets, inside and out. Then I started wiping down the chair railing. And this and that. It's absurd. I was so tired and my feet were killing me but I kept on. AB-SURD.

I had an OB check-up this past Monday, which included my glucose test. I passed! I also got a Tdap vaccine to give the baby a boost of antibodies against whooping cough as she won't get her first vaccination against it until she's 2 months old. This is something that they've started recommending over the past 2 years to pregnant mothers as well as primary caregivers and siblings of newborns with the recent rise in whooping cough (and fatalities among newborns). You can read about it here on the CDC's website. Christopher had a tetanus shot, which also included whooping cough, in 2013 and the boys are up-to-date. (Side note: GET YOUR KIDS VACCINATED, PEOPLE & STOP SPREADING THE YUCKIES. MODERN MEDICINE, YO!)

I haven't been paying attention to my weight at all during this pregnancy. I gained 56 pounds with Landon and 50 with Carter, so I just expected to gain a lot this time around too. Well, when I stepped on the scales and glanced down at the number (that number is not relevant to the story), I thought, "Huh. That's a lot lower than what I expected." So I asked the nurse what my starting weight was. Y'all...I've only gained 25 pounds so far. I am actually tracking with their stupid recommended weigh gain. Pretty sweet! (I guess I can attribute a lot of that to me being so sick the first 22ish weeks).

We also talked about a possible induction as early as 39 weeks. So...I'm not a fan of induction, unless if medically necessary. I refused to be induced with Carter (and had him at 41 weeks on my own, even though I WAS SO READY TO HAVE HIM OUT). However, the doctors are a little cautious to let me go over 40 weeks because of the size of my boys. And with being due around Thanksgiving, she said I need to decide and schedule in the next few weeks because everyone will want to be induced and home before Thanksgiving. Okay...the pluses. I will know when I am going into labor so I can have childcare for the boys arranged with some notice (and not a middle of the night call to my SIL). I can know for sure that I will be able to get the epidural. I'd go in, get the fluids and epi going while being induced. I'm very scared that this little girl is going to come so quickly (3rd baby and assuming she'll be half the labor time of Carter who was half the labor time of Landon) that I won't be able to get the epidural. I barely got it with Carter. As I said before, I love modern medicine (and so do my girl parts). Buuuutttt...I just don't know about being induced. I think (again, unless there is a medical reason) that baby will come when baby is ready and you shouldn't mess with that. Plus, I could have a longer labor with induction. I don't really care about the whole timing thing with Thanksgiving...it doesn't bother me if I am in the hospital over Thanksgiving cuz somebody better be bringing me some turkey no matter where I am. I'm still mulling it over and talking with Christopher. We'll make a decision (soon).

Christopher and I have been talking a lot about what we think baby bird will look like. I just cannot wait to see her. She's going to be so perfect. Squeeeeeeeee!

Thanks for reading and going on this journey with us. Until next week, my friends!

Kitchen Update

Dear kitchen countertops (aka white laminate ugliness),

I have loathed you since the minute we met back in 2007. You're an eye sore and you stain terribly. I have dreamed about replacing you for 7 years. And same goes for your shallow sink counterpart.

And finally, I have! We did some kitchen updating this past weekend and I AM SO EXCITED!!!!

We purchased the most beautiful granite countertops (typhoon green) from a local stone fabricator (Mogastone - I HIGHLY recommend them if you are in the Triangle area of NC). They installed them as well as a gorgeous, huge, deep 16-gauge undermount stainless steel sink this past Friday. We chose a single basin sink as it reminded me of the coveted farmhouse sink (which I can't afford). We also bought and had installed a brushed nickel gooseneck faucet  (I opted not to install the soap dispenser that came with it - I can just see that getting gunky and breaking down the road).

Oh! And we included an overhang on the peninsula to create a bar. These bar stools (in black) are on their way as we speak. I can see the 3 kids eating their breakfast and doing homework here for years to come.

Countertops and sink:
 

We even inherited a super creepy Victorian witch lady - see her in the granite?

The plumber came late Friday night and hooked up our sink, faucet, and dishwasher. He also installed a new garbage disposal because ours died the week before (ever tried to go a week without a garbage disposal when you're used to having one? Geez.).

Then, my very talented brother-in-law came over on Saturday afternoon and laid an entire backsplash of white subway tile, with Christopher's cutting assistance. Christopher finished it up on Sunday by grouting it with light grey grout.

And here's the final product - countertops, backsplash, sink, and faucet. I am so in love.

Still left on the kitchen to-do list: change out all hardware and possibly paint the kitchen cabinets (either all white, white uppers/black lowers, or white uppers/grey lowers).

Weekly Update: 28 Weeks

28 weeks! Wow! Only 12 weeks to go!!! It blows my mind to think that in just 3 short months, there's going to be a baby in the house again. I just can't wait to meet my sweet baby bird!

At 28 weeks, baby bird weighs 2 and 1/4 pounds and is about 14.8 inches (how specific of BabyCenter) from head to heels. She is the size of a large eggplant.

She has eyelashes!!! Hope they are long like her biggest brother (Landon has THE BEST eyelashes).

And hello, 3rd trimester. You came in like a wrecking ball...wrecking my body and wrecking my mood/emotions (just ask Christopher). I'm just really uncomfortable and my body hurts, especially my right hip. I'm not too hungry and experience heartburn when eating spicy foods (taco night was good last night, but not so good about 2 hours later). But I'm not sick anymore (and still off the NVP meds)!!!

And yes, Christopher...I AM NESTING. So what? I have cleaned out all boy clothes from our attic and gave away to other mamas - 6 Rubbermaid totes and 10 garbage bags from sizes 0 months through 4T!!! And yes, I cried a little. We got down (with the help of my sweet FIL - thanks, Grayson!) from the attic all the baby stuff like bouncie seat, bath tub, swing, Bumbo, Diaper Champ, bassinet, etc. etc. etc. Y'all...babies come with A LOT of stuff. Guest room (soon to be nursery) still isn't cleaned out but I feel like we are making progress. (But we HAVE to do that soon, Christopher!)

I go to the doctor for a regular check up and glucose test (yuck) this coming Monday.

Overwhelmed

Yesterday was Carter's first "real" day in K as he went to his classroom with his teacher (last week, he went one day for assessments during K staggered entry). He's starting to get homework and papers, etc.

I picked the boys up from school, got home, and was completely overwhelmed with doing and checking homework, looking through Tuesday folders, looking through daily folders, signing this, signing that, asking about their days (Carter didn't use the bathroom all day because he couldn't get his pants down and wouldn't ask for help), unpacking lunchboxes (to find out that Carter isn't eating half of it because he says he can't open it and again, won't ask for help), packing those lunchboxes back up (and struggling to know what to pack for Carter because A) he can't open certain things so he doesn't want them and B) he is SO picky), packing snacks, making sure I put the right things back in the right folders and book bags. After about 45 minutes, I realized I hadn't even started supper and we had to leave early for Scouts. About that time, Christopher walked in the door from work and I just broke down. Tears were flowing.

In 3 months, there will be a baby to add to the mix. And feedings. And diaper changes. And bottles to prep every night for daycare the next day.

I know the first of the school year is tough and you have to get in that groove. We've got to find our groove and our routine. But I am completely overwhelmed.

What works for your family?

Finally, We Have a Swimmer!

Landon took swimming lessons a long time ago (at 3 years old) but he was just not ready at that point...he was deathly afraid of water and stayed glued to me (fun mommy & me swim lessons with me 8 months pregnant with Carter! #sarcasmfont). Over the years, he has started to become more and more comfortable in water and has come so far this summer. We, and a lot of other folks, have been working with him all summer:  we went to the Y pool a lot of weekends, he went to the pool every day at Y camp, he worked with my Aunt Elaine at her pool, he worked with my niece, Elizabeth (a lifeguard) one week this summer, he swam all week (and jumped in water) with his buddy and his family at the lake for a week. He's been becoming better and better all summer swimming, going under water, and treading.

At the Y pool, kids have to wear a life jacket if they don't have a swim band. A yellow band allows them to be in the "shallow" end of the pool (4-6 ft) without a life jacket and a black swim band allows them to go into the deep end (6-8 ft). They have to take a swim test with a lifeguard in order to get a band. The yellow band swim test involves swimming half the length of the pool with face in some of the time and then getting out and jumping back in to tread water for 30 seconds.

Yesterday at the pool, after practicing for about 2 hours, Landon said, "Mommy, I'm ready to take the swim test." Okay, son. We'll go over and take it at the next break (they do the tests at the 10-minute swim break every hour). He asked me every 5 minutes how much longer. He had to go for a nervous pee 5 minutes before hand. He wanted to walk over to where you stand to start your swim test before it started so we went over. Finally...the whistle blew for swim break (and test) and he was ready!!! I stood on the side, watching my baby swim down the empty pool on one of the busiest weekends of the year with everyone on the sides watching. He made it to the rope. Exhale. (Didn't realize I was holding my breath.) He got out, jumped in, and calmly treaded water while the life guard chatted with him about superheroes. Time. Exhale. She said, "Time. You did it! And you have an excellent tread, by the way." I'm standing there like, WHAT?!?

He told me later that night that he was so proud of himself for passing the swim test. Obviously, we are so proud. But hearing that he is proud of himself cannot be measured.