Strawberry Picking

We were invited to go pick strawberries with some friends on Memorial Day. The boys (including Walter) had never been. We had a great time! The farm was only 15 minutes away and we got some great berries.

At first the boys were unsure of what to do, but they quickly caught on. I hadn't thought about the fact that I'd be trying to kneel on the ground and dig through these plants with my big belly. That was a sight!

Once the boys figured out they could sample the strawberries it was all over! We finally had to cut them off or they would've eaten everything we just picked before we even paid for them. Wes was eating strawberries so fast that I had to dig a stem out of his mouth because he inhaled it before I could get to him - ha!

So what are we going to do with them all? Not sure yet. Walter and I dipped a few in chocolate this evening after the kids were in bed - yum! I'm also googling simple jam recipes. I can be barefoot and pregnant making my own jam. Doesn't get more Little House on the Prairie than that!!!

We can't wait to go back next year!

35 Weeks - Hot Mess

As of today I am 35 weeks pregnant with Baby #3. Here's what's going on......

- I have gained 36lbs. No swelling - yeah! But I think my upper arms are bigger than Walter's now - boo hoo!
- Baby movements are starting to feel like baby jabs and getting a little painful as space becomes tight.
- Baby is still head down. I'm fascinated how someone could live for weeks completely upside down. All I can think of is how you get such a headache when you are upside down and all the blood rushes to your head.
- I believe we are finally settled on a middle name for a boy, thus completing the name game. It happened in a quick conversation in the car on the way home from church yesterday. I threw out a few names, Walter said he liked one of them, and that was that.
- I'm in total nesting mode. I'm getting a little stressed about having everything ready for when the baby comes. I finally washed all the neutral infant stuff and it's waiting patiently to be worn. I forget how little all the clothes are. Makes me excited!! I picked out my "going home outfits" and need to pack a little bag for the baby. I bought a dresser for the boys off Craigslist yesterday. I think I want to paint it, then it will be ready for me to start transitioning some clothes making room for baby stuff in the nursery. I still need to get some additional shelving for the closets to accommodate a 3rd person's "stuff".
- I've officially reached the point of the pregnancy where I'm always hot. I feel like I just wrote this post, and now here I am again :) Any slight bit of heat makes me feel like I'm in an oven. Thankfully we've had a couple unseasonably cool overcast days this week. But it's also raining a lot and the humidity from that is making me hot and sticky - that's even worse!. Walter just rolls his eyes as I turn on the AC and crank up the fans while he feels perfectly fine (or even a bit cold). He pretty much knows not to argue with me about it at this point - haha!
- I've also reached the point where I can no longer tolerate tomato based things because of acid reflux. I realized this the other night when we ate spaghetti for dinner. But, apparently I'm an idiot and it didn't occur to me that salsa might not agree with me either (hello -- tomatoes!!!) I went to dinner with friends last night, ate more than my share of chips and salsa, then woke up at 2am with hot flashes, my throat was on fire, and I started throwing up. Just lovely :)

About 5 weeks to go. I'm counting down. I can not wait to see what this little baby looks like (oh yeah, and the gender too)!

First Sleepover

It's only taken me almost 3 1/2 years to finally agree to letting Xavier spend the night somewhere besides home without mommy OR daddy. Yes, some might say that's crazy, but, well, that's me!

So the other night Xavier spent the night at my parents house alone for the first time. It was a spur of the moment thing as my mom saw I was really tired and Walter was out of town all week for work. She wore me down over the course of the afternoon with her offers to keep him for the night :)

For the record I had no doubts that he would be perfectly fine and have a great time. Xavier was not at all upset that I was leaving him at grandmas. He was quick to tell me "you can go mom - and take Wes!" It's just that he's still my baby and it's really hard for me to let other people be responsible for my kids.

I have to admit, I did enjoy sitting in the peace and quiet catching up on some blogs and watching a little tv that evening. Wes was super easy to put to bed - early too! I think Wes enjoyed having mommy to himself (and all the toys!)  for a bit as well.

The next morning when I arrived to pick Xavier up he was playing with binoculars and trucks. He had watched a show about fixing up old cars with grandpa, slept until 8am (why doesn't he do that at home??) and enjoyed eggs and toast with grandma for breakfast. In fact, he didn't really want to leave.

Guess his first sleepover was a success! I'm not quite ready to do it with Wes, but this was a good start :)

No Room for Grownups

We had our playgroup over the other day. Two of the 3 ladies were able to make it. And we had 6 1/2 kids between us! There isn't even room for the grownups at the table anymore when we eat lunch. Oh well, the more the merrier (and messier) I guess!

Note to self though -- hide the playdoh before playgroup comes when you are 8 months pregnant and "nesting". The colored bits everywhere about drove me insane :)

Wordless Wednesday - Two of a Kind

Why is Wes always on the left?? :)

Cozy Coupe Shoppin Cart

After church last week we ran into the grocery store to get a few things for later in the day. X spotted the "Cozy Coupe Shoppin Cart" as he called it and wanted that to be our cart. I normally avoid those things (i know, mean mom) because they are ridiculously hard to push because they are so long and not balanced well. But I gave in since it was going to be a quick trip. The boys loved it. They were honkin their horns and spinning their wheels. And I sugared them up by letting them split a donut in there too. (This particular grocery store has the best bakery donuts).

"Hey Mama, I'm lookin at you out da win-ow"

Good Times!

Bookworm

In the past few weeks Wesley has become obsessed with reading books. I was worried a few months ago because I could never get him to look at a book. He just wanted to throw it aside and move on to something more active. Well, that has all changed. Many times a day I will find him sitting thumbing through books. He likes to crawl up on the couch and make himself comfy to read too. Mostly when I'm looking for him, I look to the floor, but lately I'm starting to look at the couches first! In addition to "reading" on his own he loves being read to. And he knows what he wants. If he brings you a book and you don't stop what you are doing and read it to him he gets really MAD!

Wesley's all time favorite right now is CLIFFORD FOLLOWS HIS NOSE. I bought this book at a garage sale many years ago before we had kids. (We had friends who did have kids so I kept a box of kid stuff at our house for when they would visit) i think we have read Clifford about 600 times in the last week alone! Some other books high on his reading list are First Words, Bubbles Bubbles, Big Dog Little Dog, Dora Books, I'm the Big Brother (how appropriate!) and the Transportation Sticker Book (thank you Curry family -- we are STILL enjoying that book very much!)

Xavier has memorized some of these books so it's neat (and strange) to hear him sit and read to Wes sometimes. I love that my kids love books!!!!

Kick Me When I'm Down

At 33 Weeks pregnant I'm not feeling like my usual rested, spry self (oh wait, do I ever really feel like that??) even on a good day. And Walter was out of town all week too :(

Here's how the other day went.....

I went to bed at 11:30pm (too late, but I was craving some alone time)
Wes wakes up at midnight, before I even fall asleep.
Wes doesn't go back to bed until 3am.
I crawl in bed exhausted and fall asleep for the first time that night.
X starts chirping around 6am. I leave him in his room until 7, but can't fall back asleep.
Grand total sleep for me - 3 HOURS
X has wet the bed and himself (seriously Pull Ups -- do your job why don't ya!!!!)
Wash and change X's sheets.
Wes up before 8am in essence not making up for any of his lost 3 hours of sleep (and not very happy).

Fast forward to nap time.....
Wes and X fall asleep fairly quickly
I clean up lunch and take care of a few household tasks.
I lay down on the couch for a nap.
Twenty Five minutes later Wes is awake and crying. He refuses to go back to sleep despite my attempts.
And then he pees out his diaper all over my shirt.
Grand total of sleep for me - 20 Minutes

Fast forward to bedtime......
My mom put the boys to bed because I was having dinner with a friend (Walter out of town)
I get in bed by 9:45pm.
At 10:45pm the baby monitor loses it signal and stars beeping, thus waking me up.
At 1:50am Wes wakes up crying. Rock him and pray that we don't have a repeat of the 3 hour episode the night before.
While I'm rocking Wes I hear a big THUD.  My heart jumps. What was that???!!!!
X has fallen out of his bed. (Seriously, that never happens -- ahhh!!!!!)
Put Wes back in crib (he starts crying).
Check on X. He's fine but awake and asking "What happen to Wes, why is he crying?"
Get X settled back in bed.

Wes cried for 5 minutes then went silent. X was stirring around in his bed. I decide to write a blog post at 2:30am because I'm now wide awake and waiting to make sure the kids both fall back asleep. Halfway into typing my laptop battery dies and without warning the computer shuts off. Par for the course I guess.

These are the days of my life.........

Wordless Wednesday - My Housekeeper

New Shirts

These came in the mail the other day. I ordered them off Etsy and I love how they turned out.

I'm so excited to see everyone wearing them!

Looking at these makes it sink in that very soon we will have THREE children. Oh my!