Stuffing it all in

I'm really starting to feel fatigue now that I only have 1 1/2 months left.  During the work week, I come home completely exhausted and find I can get nothing done. My job isn't that physically demanding, just getting up and down, moving from room to room. Still, we've been pretty busy and I guess that's all it takes for me to feel tired. So, when I have a complete day off, I want to use it effectively as possible. My first goal for my days off is always to sleep in.  It's just so nice to wake up naturally.  

On a side note, I woke up with Henry this morning and he was so cute. He started talking to himself at about 6:15 and stayed in his bed and talked to his stuffed animals and even sang a song until about 6:45. Because of his talking and singing, it was a nice gradual wake up. I asked him what he was talking about and apparently he was waking up his stuffed animals. So great.

Anyway, yesterday I got to wake up at 9:30 and I got right to work. I find I have more energy in the morning. Besides doing a ton of laundry, Henry and I started making Christmas decorations. He loved gluing and cutting so it turned into a Henry art project and a mommy craft project.  Here he is below cutting paper and then gluing everything together.

This next picture is a half way picture. I already had colored card stock. I cut strips and then varied the length of three strips. Then I folded them in half and glued each end. Not too hard....

yet they look great!

Henry and Aaron were upstairs when I put them up and when Henry saw the decorations he literally stopped in his tracks and just looked at them all.  After some silence, I got a round of applause (who doesn't need a round of applause every now and then).

Besides crafting, I got a little baking in too. Since this pregnancy, I have been baking a ton! It's actually been a lot of fun because Henry likes it so much. A few days ago I thought I smelled Spritz cookies for a split second. Since then I have really wanted to eat them. I know it is more a Christmas cookie, but why is that? It's close to Christmas anyway. We made them and they turned out delicious. I was thinking about doubling the batch, good thing I didn't. Henry got to pick the colors, the shapes and got to press the trigger down on the cookie press. Doesn't this picture make you want to eat them too?

I wonder if I will continue to bake after the baby is born. My guess is no because I won't crave them as much and my caloric needs will be down.  Still, it has been a lot of fun. My poor Henry is going to be so disappointed after the baby comes. No sugar cereals (well maybe a little for Aaron), no cookies, no cheese-itz, no ice cream. At least he gets a baby sister out the deal. 

33 Weeks

So, today's been a good day. I'm 33 weeks and it's all good.  I thought it would be fun to compare this pregnancy with last pregnancy. It's a little hard because I am wearing a dress now, but I'm pretty much the same size. Besides being tired, I'm doing alright. I have noticed that I am starting to waddle a little. I can stop it, but it just seems natural that my toes want to point out when I walk. I think it's the laxity in my pelvic ligaments. I also blame those ligaments for the hip pain I wake up to most days.  Really though, it hasn't been too bad.

We had a little fun at my doctor's appointment today; we got to have an ultrasound. I guess my doctor likes to take a look close to delivery to make sure the head is down and that I have enough amniotic fluid. I'm good on both counts. Her face is backwards, so although we couldn't get a good glimpse of it today, it makes labor easier. I'll take this trade-off.  We also got another surprise. Our baby has lots of hair! You can see it with this ultrasound picture. It is the fuzziness around the head. My doctor said it's a good amount and it makes me even more excited to see this little girl.  I've secretly wanted a baby with hair. I wonder if it will be dark like Aaron's.  

If that wasn't enough today, we also toured the hospital. Since we have been there last, they have started remodeling. There is a whole new labor portion with a new entrance, new elevators, and most importantly, new delivery rooms.  The big drawback is that even though the labor rooms are swanky, the mother and baby unit is just the same as when we were with Henry. About half the rooms are minuscule in size and last time we were unlucky enough to have one of those rooms. Sleeping at night was really hard. The first night Aaron tried to sleep in a reclining chair. The second night he slept in my small bed. It doesn't seem good to start off taking care of a newborn already sleep deprived.  Hopefully we can get a big room this time. Maybe less people will deliver during the holidays.  Henry took the tour with us and was a little disappointed we didn't bring our baby home. We told him next time we will.

A few days ago before bedtime, Henry told me he didn't want any other mommy. So sweet and I reciprocate that sentiment. Even if Henry has tough days, he's perfect for us and I wouldn't want any other kid.

Short Fuse

These last couple of weeks Henry has been lucky enough to have some fun events scheduled. The first event was Yo Gabba Gabba Live. We bought tickets to the show months in advance and Henry was so excited that it was finally time to see the show. Yo Gabba Gabba is all about fun music that gets kids to dance.

This picture above is right before the show. Henry is very excited and we had superb seats (first row on the balcony). Then..... the show started. I think they said something like, are you ready to have fun, or some other thing to get the crowd into the show. They repeated the phrase a couple times and then at the end there were two loud bangs and confetti. Well, we weren't expecting this. Suddenly Henry went from being super excited to being filled with fear. His whole body tensed up and started crying. I picked him up and tried to sooth him, but really it wasn't working. In between the acts, you could hear Henry crying. He probably cried for a good 5-10 minutes. On one hand, I am his mother and want to comfort him and make him feel better, but on the other had I have to teach him that some things are okay and are not harmful even if they are scary. Plus, we paid good money for this show and there was no way I was leaving just as it was starting.

So, eventually he stopped crying and had his hands over his ears and eyes closed and refused to watch. What is a parent to do? That's right, bribery. If he watched the show, he would get a little light up toy that you can see in the pictures above. It worked! After that he opened his eyes and then after intermission, he unplugged his ears. He never got out of his seat or danced, but he watched the rest of it. People have asked him about the show and he says at first it was scary and then okay.

This picture is taken during intermission when I got paged by a hospital. While waiting for the show to go on, I arranged to discharge a newborn with adequate follow up. Not bad, right?

So, then yesterday we went to the Buck O'Neil race. Henry has been asking and asking to run a race. Before I was pregnant we were doing more races and Henry loved it. I'm not running much anymore, except to chase my boy around the bases.

This little baseball field was constructed by the Negro League Baseball Museum. It's pretty cool and Henry loved it.

Unfortunately for us, he was running a little too fast around the field before the race and fell. He skinned his knee and hurt his hands a little. I've skinned my knee quite a few times, and they really can sting. After the stinging went away, so did his positive attitude. He didn't even want to run in the race anymore.

So, Jim pushed him most of the way. You can tell by this picture how excited he was about everything.  Aaron and I lagged behind Jim and Mary and turned around early to catch up with them. When we caught up with them Aaron took him out of the stroller and told him to run. He seemed excited and took off with Aaron. Then we applauded and he got very upset. Apparently, we weren't supposed to cheer him on. Who knew? He lost it again and refused to run. He walked a little, crying the whole time, and then finished the race in the stroller. I was very disappointed. He was so excited and I think the injury just ruined the whole event. Jim said something wise to me yesterday. He said that Henry is so advanced in many ways, but emotionally he's just a 4 year old. He's right, maybe my expectations are just too high. When he was little he was so sensitive to everything. I can't expect all that to disappear. It takes time. So for now I'll be grateful that we watched the whole Yo Gabba Gabba concert and that we all finished the race. With time, he'll get better, but no rush. He's just a 4 year old.

Cooking With Grammy

I've had a busy week. I've been rounding in the newborn nursery every morning. I'm happy to say that this morning was my last morning. Time for a little break. The good news is that I only have one more week total to do nursery rounds before the baby comes. That makes me happy and makes me feel like I'm on the home stretch.

Anyway, amid my business, Jim and Mary were occupied themselves.  This weekend Rob and Jenny went to St. Louis alone and the girls had some grandparent time. We went over yesterday to help out a little and for Henry to play with the girls. It was a great time, but not much resting.

The best part was dinner time when everyone wanted to help out with the meal preparation. Both Henry and Anna did a great job of tearing up the lettuce and putting the vegetables in the bowl. They both love peppers, so I'm not sure how many peppers actually got in the bowl vs in their mouths. I love it when Henry helps me cook, hopefully Grammy feels the same way.

 While the older kids were helping to cook, Ashley was doing her best to stay involved too.

 Quickly Ashley was hungry and I got a chance to feed her. I'm ashamed to admit, but I think I'm a little rusty. The food got all over her face and she didn't like me cleaning her face too much. Such a cute face, even with broccoli on it!

It's so nice to have Henry's cousins around. Anna and Henry are really playing together and it's fun to watch their progression.  There were a couple times I happened to see Anna patting Henry on the back or Henry give Ashley a hug. All un-provoked and oh so cute! Can't wait to see how our baby will fit in the mix.

Post Holiday Let-down

Well, I supposed it was bound to happen. The birthday/Halloween high, must have its corresponding low.  Yesterday was my day off, and since I feel pretty recovered from my cold, I wanted it to be a productive day. In the morning Henry and I made a list of things to do. I think he likes lists as much as I do. This time he put things on like "play Super Mario Galaxy" and "blow up balloons." I hate to say it, but we never finished the list because we never blew up balloons. Ooops.  Anyway, yesterday was a busy day filled with an OB appointment (went well and my doctor wasn't mad at me for the last visit), grocery shopping, laundry and cleaning. Even though these were on the list, Henry was not happy about it. All he wanted to do was play Wii, play computer games or eat candy.  Really, that's not a very healthy day.  So Aaron and I tried our best. Aaron took him to the park and we read to him, but the whole day he kept asking about those three things and would have a little tantrum when we said no.  The worst part is that he kept asking every 5 minutes. Man, that can really drain you. I think he got used to us celebrating him and he's not wanting to get back to reality. I definitely see a correlation to his frustration and playing lots of Wii/TV/computer games. This bad day yesterday makes me feel like we need to reel things back a little. I suppose it's my fault for spoiling him a little. This will stop because I miss my lovable boy.

This morning he was a little mad I wouldn't let him play Wii, but he got over it pretty quickly. Yesterday we did get Henry a hair cut. He did great and this is the result.

 I took this picture above and Henry said he did not like it and wanted to try again, so I took another one.

He posed for this one and is happy with the result. Why wouldn't he want to smile?  Still, it's a good hair cut that's not too short.  Sorry the pictures are not the best quality, I took them with my phone.  I wish my sister-in-law was around 24 hours a day and that way I could guarantee great pictures. I guess she has her own life or something.

Halloween Night

Last night we celebrated Halloween and had a great time. Jenny's sister Anne and brother-in-law Todd were nice enough to invite us over. Our night started out with a Halloween parade near their house with all the neighborhood kids. We sported our best Star Wars dark side impressions. Sadly, we were not as recognizable as I thought we were going to be. Some kid asked me if I was Princess Leia. Really? I guess I can only claim responsibility for my son and hope that in time, that kid's parent's will school him in the facts of Star Wars.

Anyway, the parade was great and we got to see lots of costumes. The weather was absolutely perfect;  such a change from the wintry mix of past Minneapolis Halloweens. After the parade we had a lovely dinner and then on to the fun!

As you can see above Anna is a Pink Lady from Grease and Kate is princess Jasmine. They all did great going door to door, especially Kate and Henry. I think they fed off the energy of each other and wanted to run from house to house forever. Henry said at one point that someone told him to be careful about "spooks" and that was what he was doing. When a kid went by with an especially scary costume (usually a skeleton or the guy from "Scream") he would just freeze. When the offender went past him, then Henry would resume walking.  Funny guy.

After getting all the candy it was time to check out the haul. Not bad for a 4 year old. Henry even got a birthday present from the Fimmens. It was a set of easy readers that are absolutely perfect for him. We read some last night and they are a hit.  After that we went home and called it a night. Such a good night.