Husband Bonus Points

Last month, for our fifth anniversary, my husband did a wonderful thing and bought me the dining room table that I have been coveting for years. Years, and years and years. That post is here.

This past weekend, he gave me my Christmas present a little early because, well, who actually knows if we'll be at the house for Christmas, and it was a 'why wait' sort of gift.

So, on Saturday he comes home with four of the beautiful, red leather chairs that I have wanted to go with the beautiful table and have been drooling over for years. Years, and years and years.

On Tuesday, two large boxes showed up at the house, also from Crate and Barrel. He had no idea.

Inside, were two more beautiful, red leather chairs.

Our parents had gone in together to get the last two chairs we needed to complete the set.

Now I have this in my dining room.

I could not be more excited about my table and chairs. I love them. Love, love, love them. They're perfect. Exactly what I wanted.

I would give you the moon

This morning on our way in to Mama T's, Baby A saw the moon in the sky.

She is fascinated by the moon and frequently asks where it is. During the day I tell her it's gone to bed. The moon sleeps all day while the sun is out, and the sun sleeps all night while the moon is out.

This morning while watching it on our drive, she asked me to bring down the moon.

It was a moment that just warmed my heart and made me smile.

If I could, I would give you the moon.

12 Days of Chr...I mean...Pregnancy

12 trips to the bathroom

11 Oreo's eaten

10 kicks an hour

9 bottles washed

8 packs of diapers

7 footsie sleepers

6 pack of formula (just in case)

5 hours of sleep (not consecutive)

4 pacifiers

3 swaddle blankets (found them!)

2 bouncy chairs

and a completely ready mama!!!

Well, ready as in, everything is clean, washed, in place, organized and just waiting for a baby. That doesn't mean this little one needs to arrive today though.

My sister flies in from Germany this coming Sunday and she didn't get to see me pregnant at all the last time. She'd really, really love to be able to be at the hospital. We planned her visit for several weeks after Baby A's due date just in case. We didn't want her to fly in from Germany ahead of time to see me pregnant and then also have me be two weeks overdue.  This time around, she booked her flight for Christmas and, as it happened, my due date fell in just after her arrival. The trick now will be to stay pregnant until at least Monday morning.

I have a check up tomorrow so we'll see if anything has progressed. At last week's appointment I was 1 cm dilated but not started to efface. Tomorrow is also the full moon, so if old wives tales can be believed, we'll see what happens. In all honesty, I'd be ok with it. I don't have much to do at work and am basically here so that I'll sit more. If I'm home, I'm running around the house getting things done. Normal things, laundry, dusting, vacuuming, etc. I rarely sit. If I'm at work, I'm at my desk. I actually rest better here.

I haven't been sleeping well, mostly just discomfort. Having to wake up to roll over every time. I've had to start eating a late evening snack so I don't wake up at 2 am hungry. That's happened pretty regularly the last week or so. I've been super hungry and trying to pace myself but it's so much harder these days. The worst part is the battery on my bathroom scale died about four weeks ago so I haven't really been able to keep up with my weight gain except at my appointments, and I never believe the scales at the doctors office. At least in relation to actual weight gained. Yes, ok their scale is probably more accurate, but if my scale has given me my starting point, and I weight myself at the same time each day in the same clothes, that to me is more believable than the office scale which records my breakfast and liter of water drunk as well as my 'in public' clothes.

All that aside. I am trying to really enjoy my time with Baby A since I know things are going to change. I know that some day she will love and treasure her little sister just like I do and I hope and pray that she will have the kind of relationship that I have with my sister. But for now, I know it's going to be hard on her. It will be hard on all of us to make these adjustments, but it will all work out.

Morning Miracles

There are a lot of mornings where, by the time Baby A and I sit down in the car to head to Mama T's, I can't for the life of me remember the sequence of events that lead up to actually pulling out of the garage.

There are mornings where I would swear we were on time. I could have sworn that I was out of the shower early, hair done, and had Baby A up, fed, dressed and ready to go with time to spare, but then we sit down in the car, and when the clock comes on it's 7:32.

I aim to be out the door between 7:20 and 7:25. That is on time, anywhere in those 5 minutes is on time. Anything before 7:20 is early and anything after 7:25 is late.

Yesterday morning, Baby A woke up happy, ate her breakfast just fine, brushed her teeth, everything should have been smooth, but, turned the car on, 7:28. Late.

This morning was a mess. I ran out of energy last night to give Baby A a bath, and she needed one, desperately. My husband had a work thing last night so he wasn't there to help so I just decided to give her a fast one in the morning. Now I knew I was asking for trouble going that route. Baby A loves to take baths. LOVES them. She loves the water, loves to play, loves to be in there and I knew that trying to get her in and out quickly without the playtime normally involved was going to create a scene. My goal was just to power through but the whole morning turned into one big tantrum. I finally got her out of the tub, hair dried, only half dressed and downstairs for breakfast and I already felt like I needed a nap.

Once I got her some breakfast and got some pants on her, things settled down and I was able to get myself dressed and ready to go. At that point I looked at the clock. Baby A was just about done with breakfast, I was ready to go, she just had to put on her jacket, and it was 7:15.

We were in the car and pulling out of the garage at 7:24.

On time.

How the hell does this work?

I have calm, happy, smooth mornings and am 10-15 minutes late getting out.

I have manic, screaming, snot filled mornings, and am out on time or early.

There is something very unfair about that whole set up.

16 Days - I want a donut.

Good lord, that's just scary to type!

16 Days.

And that's assuming I make it until the 27th, which no one is betting on.

I have a short list of things to do for Christmas. I haven't finished wrapping yet and need to get stocking stuffers for Baby A.

I have a short list of things that need to happen in preparation for the new baby, but they're all pretty minor. Things that should they not happen before the baby comes, won't be a huge deal, but things that I would like to get done ahead of time if I can.

I have friends calling wanting to schedule visits and play dates before we have the new baby.

I have family calling wanting to schedule visits for after we have the new baby.

I have a few things left to finish up at work, but not many.

I am also losing my sweet tooth battle. I have been so good all the way through. I just keep telling myself I only have two weeks left. Two weeks and then this horrendous hormonal based craving will go away. I just have to make it though.

But I want a donut. I want a Dunkin Donut. A chocolate cake, glazed donut. Only, I don't want one. I want about six. And if I get one, and only one, I'll just be mad.

Add to that the crazy amount of desserts that were around for Thanksgiving. And that my SIL visited this past weekend and made caramel popcorn. And left it all with us!!

Yikes!

27 lbs gained. Really, I'm doing so well that I can just let go the last two weeks right? I mean, I may go into labor tomorrow, so I should go ahead and eat the donuts, right?

:(

Santa 2013

When Baby A was just over three months old, we took her to see Santa for the first time. It's at a local tree farm that he and I have been going to for years and they have a great Santa. We really thought that at 3 months old we could get at least one year in of a nice photo with Santa before it became a big deal.

She screamed!

Of course I don't have those photos on my computer here but it was pretty impressive.

Last year she was just over a year, about 15 months or so.

Yeah, totally let him have it, wouldn't even get near him.

This year we spent a little while watching the other kids visit with Santa first and have their picture taken and then get a candy cane. Well, Baby A really wanted a candy cane. Really REALLY wanted a candy cane. We told her that if she cried at him, Santa might not give her one.

She tried so hard. Very, very hard and my husband pretty much captured the whole thing scene by scene from grudging acceptance to tears.

 

As far as I'm concerned that is the most hysterical set of photos ever. 

22 Days left

Thankfully my husband and I spent a good portion of our Thanksgiving weekend getting things ready for the new arrival. So now, should I wake some random morning at 4 am with contractions, we at least have a clean and ready to install car seat and a cradle set up and ready to go for when we bring her home.

That at least has me feeling a little better about the whole thing.

In general our friends and family do not expect me to make it until the 27th. The full moon is the 17th although I have a few people making bets as early as this coming weekend.

Most of me wants to let this little one cook as long as possible and this coming weekend is definitely too early. Add to that, my sister flies in from Germany on Dec 22nd and is really excited about being able to go to the hospital with us for the birth. But, a part of me is just about ready. Not quite ready, but mostly. I think if something happened next week, say Thursday or so, that would be ok. I've started handing things off at work and my days at my desk are getting quieter.

There are a few things left to be done. All of Baby A's clothes from when she was first born are still in bins. They're all clean and sorted, but nothing is hung up in the closet or put away in drawers. There are still a few boxes of odd items on the floor in her room. I have finished the bumpers and bed skirt for the crib, but have to make and put the ties on the bumper so that they can be attached to the crib. They look so good too. I'm super excited about them. Which is dumb, because they're bumpers, for a baby crib, that will then be donated once she's too old for them. But still, I made them and they're pretty.

I have a few small Christmas things left to do. I need to get the group present for Mama T, like literally just go pick it up. I need to do Baby A's stocking and I need to wrap my husbands presents which are currently hidden at work in my office, because if they are anywhere in the house, he will find them. Every. Single. Time. Seriously.

The house is decorated, although minimally, I didn't want to have massive amounts of un-decorating to do with a newborn in tow. We are getting a tree this weekend and my sister in law is coming down for a visit to hang out with Baby A and to help me finish up the things that need to happen before #2 comes along. I'm happy to have her here. It's nice to have someone around to help entertain Baby A these days. It's so much harder for me to do much of anything. I can get down on the floor to play and color with her, but getting back up is tricky, and kind of painful. With SIL here, we'll be able to get the closet organized, do a little shopping and have a babysitter on hand for my husbands company Christmas party Saturday night. I'm having a hard time looking forward to that outing. I am 37 weeks pregnant and pretty much tired all the time. It sounds like a cocktail party type of setting, not a sit down dinner, which makes me a little nervous that I won't have a chair. Which starts off sounding a little stupid, but if you saw me right now, you'd be telling me to sit also.

I have started to gain a little more weight, which was kind of expected as I have had to stop walking due to the varicose veins. I did reach a point during my pregnancy with Baby A where I had to stop also because it was making me dizzy. This time around I actually made it further along before having to stop, but I really think being able to walk, even just one short walk a day, makes such a big difference. So, I think I'm at 26 lbs gained, which is still not bad. I gained 45 with Baby A so overall I'm very happy and I'm hoping not to put too much more on over the next few weeks.

I knew this day was coming...

I said ‘shit’ this morning while driving to Mama T's. And don’t you know, from the backseat comes a little voice saying ‘shit’ right back to me. *sigh* I tried to change it to shoot and kept saying, ‘mama said shoot, can you say shoot?’ and she kept saying ‘no, shit!’ She knew I hadn't said shoot. So then I just yelled, ‘look, a yellow bus!’

L

I really wanted to be able to blame my husband for it when it happened. 

Fun 'Firsts' with Baby A

I am very, very thankful that we chose to stay home for the Thanksgiving Holiday this year.

Yes, it would have been nice to see family and have a massive dinner and lots of desserts and do the whole big event. But, at the end of the day, it was really special to be home with my family. My core family. Me, my husband and Baby A. That's my family. It's great to have our parents and siblings involved, but what's really important and what we sometimes lose track of, is that we, the three (almost four) of us are our core family unit and we need to start creating our own memories.

So in that line of thought.

Baby A and I made blueberry muffins for breakfast Thanksgiving morning. She helped mix, she helped pour, she helped fill the tins and everything. She thought it was great and I had so much fun sharing that with her.

I spent each evening leading up to Thanksgiving putting one piece of the dinner together so that come Thursday, all I had to do was put everything in the oven. We were having a late afternoon meal and I bought a tiny turkey so nothing really had to be done before 1 in the afternoon.

I was able to spend the whole morning with Baby A watching the Macy's Day Parade. There were sections of it that I cried through to see her enjoying it so thoroughly. They had musical numbers from some Broadway shows that she just loved, like the Cinderella one. Completely mesmerized. She loved all the balloons and floats and of course when the Sesame Street float appeared she thought that was great. It was amazing to watch the parade through a 2 year old's eyes.

We put up Christmas decorations and her reaction to all that was great. We don't have a tree yet but will do that this weekend.

It was a wonderful and quiet long weekend at home that I think we enjoyed even more because we knew that our 'quiet' weekends are very quickly coming to an end and that life with a newborn is approaching. Even more than that, life with a newborn and a toddler. I don't expect that quiet will be part of our vocabulary until sometime next Spring, hopefully.

Last night when we put Baby A down for the night I told her that today she was going to go see Mama T. I wasn't sure if I expected drama after four days home, but she was thrilled. She immediately lit up and said 'And Max and Hunter??' who are her two little buddies. She even woke up this morning saying 'go see mama t, see Max and Hunter.' I love that she is so happy there and that she has her friends.

All in all, it was exactly what we needed as a family, for ourselves and for each other as we wind down toward the next stage in our adventure together.