22 Weeks - Redemption

I'm redeeming myself from last week's picture. I was looking halfway decent so I made Walter take a picture of me right after I finished getting dressed. You know, before anyone could drool on me, wipe their crummy little hands on me, or try to mess up my hair.

So here is me and Baby #3 at 22 weeks. I've decided that black is my new best friend :)

Not too much has changed since last week. It does seem like overnight though a bunch of clothes don't fit me anymore. Boo hoo on that! I can definitely tell I'm gaining weight all over instead of just in my stomach. BIG boo hoo on that!

I've been around people drinking wine and margaritas twice this week and I have to say that I'd REALLY like to be able to partake in that goodness! I'm not a big drinker at all. I maybe have 10 drinks a year, but it never fails that when I'm pregnant a glass of wine sounds really good.

The baby still kicks a lot. One time this week he/she kicked so hard that I thought Wes had stepped on my stomach (he was right next to me and my head was turned). I was shocked that the baby could kick that hard already.

I had a dream last night that I was watching a video of the future and that this baby was a boy. So now that means I've had a boy dream and a girl dream. Xavier is still sticking to his guns. Every time you ask him if the baby is a girl or boy he says GIRL. The gender question is on my mind a lot more this time around.

The boys are napping so I'm off to get in a nap too. This mama is ALWAYS tired these days.

Bumbo Buddies and Crayons

Yesterday morning we went to play at Noelle's house. Apparently the Bumbo seats (ya know, for BABIES) can still fit 3 year olds just fine. This is how I found Noelle and Xavier in the kitchen - haha!

Afterward we stopped by my mom's house on our way home. Xavier decided to do some coloring and I let Wes play with this big box of crayons. He was in heaven.

Both boys went to bed at 7:30pm and slept 12 hours (say what!!). It was a good day all around!

Overheard

Xavier is really into having conversations with his race cars lately.

He was playing in my bedroom this evening with his cars and I overheard him say "Dump Truck, if you have to go potty you need to tell Trash Truck and he will help you." 

Too funny!

21 Weeks

I'm writing this on Monday but backdating to Sunday to keep the timing correct.

Let me preface this picture by saying that it's horrid! I actually looked decent both days this past weekend and forgot to have Walter take a picture. Today it's raining and the boys and I are staying in so my outfit choice is pretty scruffy. Combine that with the fact that my butt looks bigger than my stomach, the pic is blurry and there is an awful reflection from the mirror and the window, this is clearly not my finest moment. But, it's what I've got.

So here it is, 21 Weeks!

To catch up since my last post at 16 weeks:

• I started feeling the baby move regularly at about 17 weeks. I can now feel movement daily and it's stronger than I'd expect for this stage.
• I'm pretty much in all maternity pants now except for sweats. Shirts are still 50/50 as I can make some of my regular clothes work if they are long enough.
• I don't know exactly how much weight I've gained, but it's around 15lbs right now. I clearly need to slow that down or I'll be pretty darn heavy by the end. This time around I've been craving Little Debbie Nutty Bars. They are sooooo good -- too good! I have to ban myself from buying any more.
• Some days I feel more pregnant than others. We went on a family walk this weekend I was kinda winded at the end. I'm ALWAYS tired, no matter how much sleep I get. I think that's due more to the demands of X and W rather than being pregnant. I've been trying to nap when the boys nap lately.  I've also been getting sick occasionally in the evenings.
• I already posted about our 20 wk ultrasound - everything looks good and we are really thankful!
• We haven't talked about names the past few weeks so no decisions have been made as of now. 
• I had a very vivid dream that this baby is a girl about 2 weeks ago. Hmmmm...... 

A Perfect Day to.....

have a snack of Goldfish outside......

then eat the ones you dropped off of the driveway.

A perfect day to ride your tricycle around......

or just chase your brother up the street because you don't know how to ride a tricycle yourself.

A perfect day to push the lawnmower back and forth.....

and share a drink with Daddy!

It was unseasonably warm here today so we spent time playing outside after nap. The boys LOVE to be outside. Wes tries to steal all the neighbors' landscape rocks and rummage through their garages. Good thing we have friendly neighbors!

(Please disregard the blur in the center of each picture. I clearly had a smudge on my camera lens -- darn it!)

V Day, B Day, and a Get Well

Xavier been asking to wear my watch lately, and I've told him no because it's new, it's the only one I have, and I'd really like to see it not get broken by little fingers! So, for Valentine's Day I got him his very own race car watch. He was thrilled! (Sorry Wes, I didn't get you anything, but you don't seem to mind)

Xavier's gift to me was that he slept until 7:15am this morning. Since he has gotten up before 5:30am the last 9 days in a row, this was the BEST gift I could get today!

The boys also got their first Valentine from a GIRL - oh my! Thank you Noelle for the sweet valentine that you sent to my boys!

Today is also my mom's birthday. She is out of town so we can't celebrate today but we still wanted to wish her a Happy Birthday!

The boys also wanted to let Uncle Chuck know that we are thinking about and praying for him while he's in the hospital. We love you Uncle Chuck!!!

Home Alone

It's Sunday morning and I'm sitting in my house, completely alone, enjoying a cup of hot tea and checking email. I am LOVING the quiet.

Walter and the boys went to spend the night at his mom's house yesterday. This gives me 24 HOURS OF TIME AWAY FROM MY KIDS. I have not been child free for 24 hours in exactly 3.2 years (that would be since X was born). This was my first night ever being away from Wesley and only my 4th night ever being away from Xavier (and 2 of those nights were when I was in the hospital having Wes!)

Yesterday I watched a little TV, ran some errands, got myself a new pair of maternity jeans, went to church, and then went to celebrate a friend's birthday with a bowling night out. This morning I'm having breakfast out with another friend then I think I'll come back home for a nap! 

It's strange to be in the house alone, and really strange to wake up to an empty house. Thanks to X's lovely (read - RIDICULOUS) sleeping habits lately, my body is so wired to get up before 6  that I couldn't sleep in this morning. Oh well, even though I'm up early at least I don't have to make breakfast for anyone or change any diapers or watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

I thought I would miss Walter and the kids like crazy and feel guilty, but I'm actually really enjoying this! And don't worry, I plan to take the boys for a night at my parent's house soon so that Walter can have the same enjoyable kid free 24 hours at home.

Happy Sunday!!!

Tool Bench Boys

The other day Wesley was playing at the tool bench. He had on his red puppy dog pajamas and it reminded me that I have pictures of X in the same pjs playing at this same tool bench. So of course I quickly went for the camera. To me they don't actually look as similar as I thought they would. I think it's the hair and face shape that throws it off. Wes' hair is much lighter than X's was at this age and his face isn't as round. Either way, they are both still really stinkin cute (in my completely unbiased opinion of course).

Wes at the tool bench:

Xavier at the tool bench:

Ultrasound

Yesterday I had my 20 week (although technically I'm only 19.5 weeks) ultrasound for baby #3. In a stroke of luck for us, the technician was training someone so we got to see the baby longer than normal so the trainee could get in some practice time! I love having ultrasounds. I am always amazed at what you can see and what is going on inside of me.

The baby is doing great and everything looks normal - whew!. The heartbeat was ranging from 145-155bpm. Baby is about 11 oz right now. This one's a mover too. At the beginning of the ultrasound he/she was head up and facing right. By the end of the ultrasound he/she was head down facing left. At one point we saw the baby reach his/her hand up and scratch the top of his/her head. So neat!

As with our other kiddos we opted not to find out the gender. We are a minority according to the technician. I laughed when she told me that when she was pregnant she would scan herself almost every day and determined the sex of her baby at 14 weeks.

Here's our baby! The quality isn't great. I was too lazy to go downstairs and scan it, so I just took a picture of the picture with my camera. You can still see the cute profile though. Can't wait to see what he/she looks like in person this summer!

More Snow

We got more snow this week. Ice at the beginning of the week (not so much fun) but a good 3 inches of powder last night. So today we all went out to play. This was Wesley's first time in the snow. He's been sick every other time we've gotten snow.

I was very excited to see how Wesley would react. He was in X's old snow stuff so it was a total flashback for me. They look almost identical in a couple pictures all geared up at the same age. Wes seemed to like the snow. He wasn't bothered by all the clothes and boots, didn't try to take the mittens off, liked riding in the sled, and enjoyed walking around the yard. He fell over a zillion times and we'd have to help him up, but he just kept on going.

Xavier ate about 10lbs of snow and ran around like a crazy person jumping all over the snow fort and sledding down the hill on the side of the house.

Walter and X inside their little snow fort.

Me and X sleddin in the backyard.

Wessa in the snow! Click here to see how much he looks like X did in this snowsuit.

Hard to tell, but Walter is standing in the middle of the (frozen) lake.

You can't hear it, but I'm yelling at X to get off the lake -- too risky!

My little snow bunnies!

Making good use of the neighbor's swing set.

A Few Thoughts on Having Three

• How the heck am I going to manage them all???
• I will NOT gain as much weight as I did with Wesley.
• Xavier better keep napping every day!
• I wonder if it's a girl ???
• It's so nice to have the baby "stuff" already.
• As of this fall I will have a child in preschool for the next 5 years straight - OY!
• I am not worried in the least bit about physically caring for a new baby - been there done that!
• Wesley will be the middle child before he's even 2 years old.
• We got the minivan just in time (and didn't even know it at the time)
• We will probably never be able to afford to fly again.
• I've always wanted more than 2 :)
• Sooooo excited to have a summer baby.
• Xavier LOVES little babies -- hope he loves this one too!
• No one is going to want to babysit for us now.
• I feel even better about my purchase of a double stroller.
• WE ARE BLESSED.

I Need to Write That Down

Xavier is saying and doing some really funny things lately and I don't want to forget them. Here's a few funny phrases that have come out of his mouth recently......

(totally random) "Mom, I don't have a receptionist, I just have a phone."
(getting ready for my gma's funeral) "Mommy, after Mia's funeral let's go to the store and get Strawberry Mini Wheats."
(during my gma's funeral mass) "Mommy, did you see Jesus' bathtub (the baptismal font) back there?"


Lately we have had much success using the microwave timer as a 3rd party motivator to get X to transition to something different. He may refuse to come eat dinner if I just ask him to come to the table, but if I set the timer for 1 minute then when it goes off he will get right in his chair. What's ridiculous though is that he just stands behind his chair for that minute staring at the timer waiting for it to go off. Why not just get in the chair to begin with? It's not like he's using that minute to go play. CONTROL ISSUES!!!!!

The other night X kept asking us over and over to take him to "Professor Von Drake's House" (a character from Mickey). But he couldn't tell us where the professor lived. So while we were on our way home from small group a few hours later, Walter and I decided to humor him (and in an effort to silence him) and we drove around looking for a completely dark house. We pulled in the driveway of a random house, told X that this was the professor's house, but explained that there were no lights on so the professor must not be home. X was slightly taken aback that we actually found the house, but was satisfied with this and decided we should try back later. So we backed out of the driveway and continued on our way home.  THE THINGS YOU WILL DO TO APPEASE YOUR CHILDREN.

X also decided to get me at my own game recently. He loves to drive down this certain street (Street B) in our neighborhood on our way home. It's out of our way and sometimes I just want to get home. So when it snowed last week I told him we couldn't go that way because there was too much snow on that street. Fast forward to yesterday and he decides to tell me we can't go the regular way (Street A) because there is too much snow on that street and we need to go Street B (his favorite way). Sneaky little guy!!!