Under the Big Top

Well, more accurately....inside the arena.

My uncle was able to get us some  passes to the circus through his work so my mom and I took the boys this morning. It was lots of fun. The boys lasted until intermission, which was actually longer than I'd expected!

I told X last night where we were going to go in the morning. So, first thing he said to me at 6:30am today was "Where we goin mommy? We're goin to the circus!!!!!" I'm not even sure he understood what it was going to be, but he was thrilled to be going.

Grandma is a sucker and thought X needed his very own tiger light up fan! Thanks Grandma!

We arrived in time to walk down on the floor and watch the elephant and pony rides. We didn't get to ride though because they had stopped selling tickets already. X was none the wiser though and just enjoyed looking at the animals.

I carried Wes in the Ergo and it worked out great not having to bother with a stroller in the crowds. He was my counter weight in the back :)

Our tickets were actually in a suite which was nice because it gave the boys some room to walk around and not have to sit still the whole time. It also had a private bathroom which was awesome because we all know how X likes to check out the bathrooms when we go places :) Wes of course was always trying to escape the suite and even figured out how to move the chair we had blocking him in.

The show was pretty neat. We saw tiger tricks, 4 wheeler stunts, dancers, clowns, gymnasts, people flying in the air and hanging from ropes, etc.  The boys had fun and X kept yelling "Mommy, we are at the circus!!!!" Wes enjoyed clapping with the crowd.

We decided to leave at intermission. The boys' attention span was giving out and we thought it was better to leave on a good note than pushing our luck and having one of them go into meltdown.

Thanks Uncle Drew for the tickets! The boys really enjoyed their first time at the circus!

24 1/2 Weeks

I guess I'm just going to do random pregnancy posts because I don't remember to take a picture every week :)

Last week I went to the doctor and was astonished (ok, not completely) that I had gained NINE pounds since my last appointment a month earlier. That is insane! I have 3 words for an explanation: GIRL SCOUT COOKIES. Darn you little girl scouts, you know how I'm weak to the call of the Thin Mint box. My nurse practitioner is so sweet and was trying to console me by saying that it's not like I gain that much every month and that overall I haven't gained within the normal range. That didn't make me feel any better though. It's clear from the picture above that my face is already chubbin out. Bummer. It's salad time, folks!

Other not so fun stuff:
-Every pregnancy I get acne on my face and shoulders.
-The, ahem, increased chest size has returned (I am not a fan - I would love to be flat chested!)
-I'm having quite a bit of back pain. I know this is in large part  due to the fact that I'm carrying around a 14 month old quite a bit. Wes is still a baby himself and can't exactly walk across a parking lot alone.
-I'm also having trouble sleeping already and REALLY miss sleeping on my back. My hips hurt from sleeping on my side so much.
-I'm getting sick at least once a week, usually in the evenings.

So, not my best month. On the plus side, the baby is moving a lot which is always a good sign and I do love maternity jeans! I'm also taking quite a few naps when the boys nap since I know my window of opportunity for that will be coming to a close by the summer!

Hopefully the weather will start warming up on a consistent basis and I can get in more walking outside. That lifts my spirits and makes me feel so much better. I've tried the treadmill but the boys just try to get on it with me :)

There's Nothing Like a Good Read

I seem to go in spurts with reading. I'll be all into books and then fall off for awhile when things get busy. Well, I've fallen back into reading and I've got a HUGE stack to get through! I always seem to get back into reading a few months before I have a baby. I think it's because I know how hard it is to read a cereal box, let alone a book, when you have a newborn and are completely sleep deprived. I've got to get all my good reads in right now!!

I  rarely buy books. For one, I'm cheap, and two, I hardly ever re-read a book and don't like clutter so I have no desire to store books in my home. (and no I'm not savvy enough to have a Kindle or the like).  We do have a decent collection of children's books. Most have been gifts or hand me downs and those are nice to have because the boys do enjoy reading things over and over...and over.

I'm a huge fan of the library. The boys go to story time occasionally, and there is a great children's section with comfy chairs and a train!

Yes, he did go to the library in his PJs and horsey slippers one morning :)

Last week Wes and I hit the library and stocked up on some new reads for me. But first he had to stop by the kids section and spend some time reading to his "friends".

While Wes was reading I picked out a couple of books with CDs for Xavier. Great concept! X loves listening to the story on CD while turning through the pages when he hears the familiar *bing* sound. It's a great calm activity to keep him occupied while I fix dinner :)
 
I love getting books at the library because I don't feel guilty if I end up not liking a book or decide 30 pages in that I don't want to finish it. You just simply return it and move on to the next one in your stack. No $$ has been lost. I do get a little stressed sometimes when I've gotten a book on reserve and only have 2 weeks to read it since you can't renew those.
 
I just finished reading I WILL CARRY YOU by Angie Smith. Amazing book. I highly recommend.
 
So if the blog seems a little neglected in the coming week it's probably because I'm head down into a good read (or have fallen asleep reading, which is also an unfortunate habit lately).

A Reminder Why We NEVER Go to McDonalds

***This post will get a complete and very satisfactory "I told you so" from Walter as soon as he reads it! ***

This seems to be the longest week ever. It's cold and cloudy. I ended up not having much on the calendar for this week and that has led to complete boredom for me and the boys. In addition, I'm having trouble sleeping - yeah fun!

Today I was desperate to do SOMETHING. The boys have so much energy lately and being cooped up in the cold is killing us! I'm totally out of ideas of how to entertain them. We went to Target to return some stuff and on the way home I was trying to think of a place that had an indoor playground. Then I remembered the McDonalds by our house had one. I hadn't been inside there in years but I always see it as we drive by. And you know, I WAS DESPERATE.

So we went. Big mistake!

I quickly remembered why we don't eat there - IT'S GROSS! My kids wouldn't even eat the food (guess they are smarter than I think!). Xavier liked the indoor playground, but it's a ridiculous design. There are two entrances to the play stuff and they both are enclosed stairs straight up. Once you are in the play stuff you are completely enclosed in tunnels and slides. This makes it very difficult to see where your child is and very difficult to rescue a confused child if they get lost in the maze of tunnels. Or in my case, when you have a 14 month old (who you intended to let play and burn off some energy as well) doesn't get the whole idea and crawls up the steps, stays there, and then makes you squeeze your 23 week pregnant self up a kid size swirly staircase (twice) to get him out. I saw the sign that said Ages 3-12, but come on, what am I supposed to do with my very active toddler who wants to play too and is very capable of climbing the steps? (and as an aside, I'm pretty sure anyone bigger than an 8 year old would never make it through)

Oh, and of course X had to go to the bathroom twice in a 15 minute span so I kept having to gather our things (and Wes!) and go back and forth from the table to the bathroom.

In the end it was a waste. The playground wasn't suitable for my kids, the food was nasty, I'm out $8, I still had to come home and feed them something, and I ended up getting sick and throwing up within 30 minutes of being home.

Note to self - stay away from McDonalds!!!!!

Wordless Wednesday - Random

Wesley - 14 Months

{Ok, so I'm a couple days late}

I swear sometimes I think Wesley is a lot older than he really is. He just seems to "get it" much more than I thought a 14 month old ever could. I give a lot of the credit to the fact that by being the 2nd child he has been exposed to more and has had more opportunity for observation of things.

At 14 months Wesley weighs about 23 lbs. He has fairly blond hair and fantastic blue eyes. He wears size 5 shoe, size 3 diaper (when not in cloth) and 18 mo - 2T clothing. The child eats like a horse. Seriously! Just today for lunch he had a 1/2 PB and J sandwich, 5 large strawberries, about 15 veggie straws, and an entire sippy of water. Wes likes to eat all day long too!

Wesley's motor skills are far surpassing my expectations. He can:

• Get himself on and off of the toy truck all by himself as well as use his feet to push himself and ride it all around the house.
• Go down a set of stairs backwards.
• Climb almost anything that he's tall enough to reach.
• Put straws into small holes of a jar.
• Eat with a fork about 50% of the time.
• Open the trashcan with one hand, put something in with the other hand, then close the trashcan again.
• Make marks on the ground with a piece of chalk.
• Get a box of raisins from the pantry, open it, and proceed to have himself a snack.
• Push a racecar across the room with the accompanying "vroom" sound.
• Climb in and out of a small chair.
• Walk halfway across the room in adult shoes.
• Climb a set of stairs, then come down a slide (on his bottom or on his stomach) completely on his own.

Maybe these are age appropriate milestones, but I don't remember X doing these things as early. Wesley studies what X is doing and then tries to repeat it. X didn't have another little person to watch like that.

I guess it comes at a price though. For all the motor advances that Wesley has, he has very few real words. Apparently it's common for a 2nd child to be quicker with motor skills and slower with speech. Wesley babbles all the time and he'll look at you and purposefully speak his jibberish, but he can't form many understandable words. So far he's got Mama, Dada, yeah, ball,  banana, and high chair (just barely, I'd probably be the only one to understand that one. It also doubles as Hot Tea).

Wesley certainly isn't lacking in understanding though. He understands verbal direction (go put this in the trash can) and will respond. He knows when he sees you with his shoes that he should sit down so they can go on. He knows if he sees his coat that he's gonna be a funny guy and run the other way! Wesley also knows the sound of the microwave finishing and will now run to it and want to be lifted up so he can open the door. (hmmm, I remember someone else doing that too!)

Our little Wessa has turned into a rock star sleeper too! Who knew all we had to do was put up with 13 months of no sleep? And he did it all on his own. (Which now proves to me that it's pointless to try and sleep train your children because both of mine have just done it in their own time). We put Wes in his crib awake around 8pm. He doesn't even want to be rocked at all anymore. He talks himself to sleep within about 10 minutes and sleeps until about 7-7:30am straight. He goes down for a nap around 12-12:30 the same way and sleeps 2-3 hours. He wakes up pretty happy too.

Wesley has a great personality. He's fairly easy going (except if you try to get him to come in from playing outside!) snugly, and loves to laugh. Wes is a daddy's boy and would let Walter carry him around all day long. He's in that stage where when he sees mom and dad he will run up and greet you with open arms. I love that!

Can't wait to spend the summer with you Wes! We know you're going to love the pool :)

I LOVE THIS BOY!

He seems so grown up in this picture yet he's still my baby. Man, I really love him!

Wordless Wednesday - Bowlhead

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!