Grateful for grey

It has been overcast and kind of rainy since Monday and I am loving it.  Well, today the humidity is at 91%, which is pretty awful, but I will take cloudy over the piercing bright sun right now.  I've had a near migraine since Monday and the sun just makes it that much worse.  Currently I am in "headache limbo."  I'm not in pain, but I sense that if I move to quickly or am exposed to just the right amount of noise I will be back in pain-land.  It really stinks to have these kinds of headaches when pregnant - there really isn't anything to do (fortunately I've only had one or two this pregnancy).  Usually Advil and sleep are my rememdies - however, I cannot take Advil AND sleep is nearly impossible.  SO, so sum up, I am fine, grateful for clouds, and hopeful that the headache is on its way out rather than developing into a full blown migraine.

Littleman started a one week "Land Before Time" art camp on Monday.  He LOVES it.  He cried the first day when I came to pick him up because he didn't want to leave!!!!!  They are making giant paper machie dinosaurs - I can't wait to see his finished product on Friday.  It's only for a few hours, but he's having a great time and it gives me a little down time.  I thought I'd use the time productively, but the past two days were just spent on the couch nursing the headache.  Today, however, I have retrieved the infant carrier, planted some basil, and am getting started on a huge batch of bolognese to freeze.

Just for the record, BabiesRUs and ToysRUs have the CRAZIEST, STRICTEST return policy!  I don't want to get into details, but they are insane, really insane...and a pain in the ass for pregnant ladies on a mission.

Littleman has moved from Spiderman to Superman, sort of.  He interchanges the two super heroes frequently.  He wants to be Superman for Halloween, though...I don't know how he gets onto these little obsessions.  Papabear is going to be Lex Luther and here is what Littleman said when it was suggested that I be the damsel in distress: "No, Daddy, Mommy needs to be my princess that I will save."  Hey, I can live with that.  Papabear wants the baby to be kryptonite, but we have a red hot chili pepper costume that I plan on using. We'll see.  Halloween is kind of a ways off.

Our barn swallows have left.  It's sad looking up at that empty nest.  When it rains they come back...and I think they still sleep there in the evening.  It's significantly more quiet out there now...I suppose we should clean up all the poop now. Gross.

Well, other than being huge, that's the latest.  I can't wait for my mom to come and I'm told that my sister, L, is coming with her.  I'm so happy they will be here.  :)

 

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Learning to fly

The little birdies in the nest outside my window are not so little anymore.  They have begun to perch themselves on the edge of the nest and practice flapping their wings!  It is amazing to watch.  Mama bird stays close and keeps them in sight when they do this.  Did I mention that they also taught themselves to back their bird butts up to the edge of the nest so that they poop on my porch and not where they sleep?  Clever little things.

 

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Here's a pic of Littleman with the paper chain we made to count down the days until his brother arrives.  This is no ordinary paper chain, though.  Many of the "rings" have stickers or notes on them.  Such as, each day next week has a dinosaur sticker b/c Littleman is attending a dinosaur art camp.  There are cakes for people's birthdays, balloons for the day my mom arrives, things like that.  I am a nerd, I know.

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Yeah, I know what you are thinking.  Either: "Man, that kid has such a great smile." OR "Hmm...25 days really doesn't look like much on a paper chain."  I thought both.

I put this next pic up on Facebook, but wanted to make sure is secured a spot here, too.  This is my favorite maternity t-shirt.  My friend, Gretchen, standing behind me, made it. (She actually made it for herself when her daughter was due in August four years ago.  Alas, her little angel arrived in late July, so she didn't get to wear it too often. She very generously passed the shirt along to me.)  When I wear this shirt it is like I am a rock star.  You wouldn't believe how many people comment on it!

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I have to say, my teeth look fabulous in this shot.  Don't they?

In other news, you can imagine the excitement brewing at our house.  Littleman has been giving his stuffed animals "rides" on the baby swing.  Sometime a line forms - he'll have about ten waiting for a turn.  It's pretty funny.  Instead of cleaning all the parts of the vacuum cleaner, I have been busy preparing for breastfeeding.  I am wearing "shells" most hours of the day when I am home (Littleman does not like them and makes me take them out when we hug).  I bought something called "Latch Assist" made by Lansinoh.  Let's just say it's a kind of "extractor."  I am trying to NOT be fanatic about the whole thing, but if there is anything I can do to make breastfeeding a more positive and successful experience this time around, I'm doing it.

I am pretty beat by about 2 pm every day.  The couch and my bed beckon and call in their most seductive voices.  I have to resist with all my might.  If I give in I KNOW I will fall asleep and then I am certain I will be up all night.  I think night time insomnia is worse than feeling very tired in the afternoon.  I need to be perky in the morning.  Not sure how long that will last.....

I'm pretty uncomfortable and large, but otherwise, chugging along.  On Monday I will attend my last step aerobics class.  "Last" for a couple of reasons - one, I really can't be doing that kind of high impact exercise anymore.  I look ridiculous and it's kind of dangerous.  Second, our gym membership will be put on hold as of August 1.  I'll admit, I cried a little when we decided to do this.  I love my gym...it has often been my salvation since we moved here.  BUT, it is very expensive and you can't bring babies there until they are 3 months old.  Plus, I can't really exercise for at least six to eight weeks after the c-section.  I have already added walking into my weekly routine, and when Littleman starts preschool in September, I will be walking even more regularly.  I am going to scour the earth/internet for exercise videos and really try to teach myself how to be fit and healthy without an expensive gym membership.  Wish me luck...and if you have exercise dvd's you don't use anymore, feel free to send them my way. :)

Today I wanted to eat bagels, a cheeseburger, fries, chocolate chip cookies, AND a couple of oreos.  Instead I had lowfat cheese and turkey on a high fiber whole grain wrap and some grapes.  Was I satisfied?  I guess.  I'm not hungry...just thinking about food I can't and shouldn't have. Pathetic. 

Well, happy Saturday, all. 

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Showered with love...

It really is a blessing to have really nice friends.  It is even more of a blessing when they decide to throw a shower for you.  I really didn't expect much - this IS my second baby, but these girls took out all the stops.  Balloons, games, punch, AND a designer cake I will remember for a very long time.  :)  It is especially nice to have a shower when you are large and hot and ever so anxious and excited to meet your new little family member.  It was so nice to get new onesies and Desitin and all that fun baby stuff.  Enjoy the pictures.  The best two, the ones I want you to remember are the one with the flowers covering my enormous belly and the one of my legs.  They are tan and muscular - probably the only muscular part of my body....other than my mouth which hardly ever stops....

Thank you to every one who was a part of this day...and all of you back east - I thought of you, too, because all of you wonderful friends were there the first time around and I really did miss you.  I know you would have been there, bringing your love and laughter, if I weren't thousands of miles away.

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This diaper cake was made by my friend Diana - who I never got a picture of (arg)!  It was filled with presents - bottles, booties, burp cloths!  Littleman was thoroughly impressed when we got it home and explored. :)

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A close up of the yummy cake.

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My SIL, Jen, my MIL, and me. Please move along quickly to the great picture of my legs....

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Legs....

 

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Carla and Gretchen

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Me and Amber

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Jan and Maria

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Julia and Michelle

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Get ready to laugh...

So, here's is a mid-eight month prego Shinesalot in my hot leopard print bathing suit top.  I actually left the gym in this exact get-up yesterday.  I don't think I've ever turned so many heads...and I am not sure if it was a good thing or not.  Needless to say, me in leopard print is enough to make ME laugh, so, enjoy this folks.  Savor it...and admire that I am not only putting a picture of myself up on the blog mega-prego, but in a bathing suit top, no less.

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In case you can't see so well, here's an ever closer one....for those of you with perfectly good vision, you might want to stand back.

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Permission to be jealous of my excellent tan granted.

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Cozy/Crazy brain...

Wow.  So yesterday was literally crazy.  I had a crazy person's brain, I really did.  For a moment, I stopped and looked at Papabear - all wild-eyed, my hair coming out of its bun, sweat shining up my face and arms - and said, "I think I really know what mania is now."  Papabear just ran away as he knew I could not take any drugs to quell my vacuuming/dusting/mopping/windexing frenzy.  It was such a crazy day that it actually feels like it was a week ago!

To calm myself, I have been trying to think of all the things that make me feel warm and cozy, such as,

-the day before the c-section I have lunch plans to eat a giant cheeseburger and fries at one of my favorite restaurants (Moo-Ya) with a bunch of friends and our kids.

-every Wednesday the local theatre shows children's movies for a buck.  It's a guarunteed quite, restful, air conditioned hour and a half of my week.

-my BF is only a phone call or email away when I have ridiculous questions about nipples or poop or whatever.  As blabber-mouthy as I am, she is the single person I have no fear or reservations with.  I pretty much share everything with every one...but for those utterly desperate times, she is always there and that soothes me.

-my mother is coming two days before the baby.  As much as my mom and I butt heads from time to time, I choke up a little just thinking about how much I want her here when "it's time."  And even more comforting for my soul, is knowing that while I am at the hospital for four days, Littleman will be spoiled, my fridge will be full (well, if not full, taken care of), the house will be tidy, AND I know she will make me a yummy dinner or lunch or whatever on the day I come home.  My mom's food and attention to details only she and I care about soothe my soul on a primal level.

-I have friends here who not only like me, but like me enough to want to throw a shower for me and offer to take care of my angelboy (oh, that's Littleman's other nickname).  It seems so hard to believe that in just a short time I have met so many people to love and be loved by.

-it appears that the mother AND father swallows feed their four chicks outside my window all day long.  I keep waiting for them to die because it is SO freaking hot here.  There are times when the chick's little heads are just hanging out of the nest...but just as I think they are done for, mama or papa shows up with a mouthful of regurgatated bugs.  We've put a little bird bath out under their nest as well.  Why this calms me, I don't know.  

-okay, there are more things, but Littleman is BEGGING to watch the "loud/quiet" segment that Kermit and Elmo do on YouTube.  If you have little people, I strongly recommend you watch it.  Littleman literally, yes literally, pooped in his shorts the first time he saw it.  He was mortified, but man, he was laughing so hard....okay, got to go.  And, just in case you were worried, he just had a BM, so I think my lap will be safe.

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Baby's room and other recent pics...

Hey there all.  We finally hung up the wall art in the baby's room.  We had a lot of input and ideas about how to hang them and I am really happy with the end result.  We are too tired, lazy, and hot to paint the room, so the wall art will have to do.  When #2 gets a little older and shares with us his likes and dislikes, I am sure we will paint him a masterpiece. 

I have been having trouble uploading photos to the blog, so I am just going to try and dump a bunch below this text.  Most are of the baby's room. The bassinet has been in my family for over 60 years.  When my mom comes in August she will add the traditional white eyelet skirt and blue ribbon. I threw in a couple of Littleman's room and around the house b/c I don't think I've put any up since we moved in.  Also, a few from fourth of july.  And finally, a shot of the bird's nest - it's our second batch of hatchlings.  It is breathtaking watching the mama feed her hungry little babies as I type my posts and play Word Challenge on facebook.  That sounds a little sarcastic, but it really is amazing.

I am in a nesting frenzy.  I've been doing really odd things like iron pillow cases and dust in nooks and crannies I never even bothered to notice before.  I don't think I had it this bad when I was prego with Littleman.  I have some sewing projects I want to tackle and I have the strongest urge to take apart the vacuum cleaner and wash all the parts.  If you live in the area, please call me and distract me!  Okay, enjoy the pics.

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Powerful

The force with which my belly buddy rocks inside my body is powerful, to say the least.  He seems so much more active than Littleman.  I am also hyper-aware of each kick, flip, and roll because this is the last time I plan to be pregnant.  I hold tight to those moments and savor every little...or large movement.  He feels so big.  I guess, compared to the space he's confined to, four pounds is pretty big.  If I picture a four pound weight from the gym tumbling around my womb, my perspective changes.  It never ceases to be amazing - the powerful life inside of me.

Also powerful - the set of lungs on the yappy dog two doors down.  Two nights in a row now, he/she's been out barking from 10pm until who knows when.  The other day he started up at 4:30am!!!!  I've been told that the couple who live there are nurses and work odd hours.  Still, that is NO EXCUSE for keeping your neighbors up all night.  I don't understand people who live in these cramped neighborhoods who can be so inconsiderate of one another.  Papabear got out of bed last night, walked over to their house, and knocked on the door - no answer.  I was going to put a note in their mailbox this morning, but decided to give it one more day.  It's really awful.  I am so frickin' tired.  And poor Papabear - not only do we have the barking, but the moon's been nearly full and its light falls RIGHT on his pillow at bed time.  He's a fussy sleeper, so it's worse for him.  Still, neither of us has slept well in two days.  I was counting on this...but not for five more weeks!

Also powerful - my love of chocolate yet surprising current will power to resist.

Powerful as well: my addiction to Facebook.  Evil thing, it really is.

OH, do you know what else is powerful? A sticker chart.  I have no idea why it works, but if we make a sticker chart, with a decent reward at the end, it seems I can make Littleman do whatever I want!  Well, he's been dry four mornings in a row - all for the lamest spiderman umbrella from WalMart you have ever seen.  Hey, whatever works, right?  I know when his brother arrives he'll probably backslide a bit...but perhaps...if we can get him on the path now....well...we'll see. 

The power of the upcoming unknown is also pretty staggering.  I'm excited and nervous to try nursing with this one.  I'm not worried about the basics, so much...more about how the dynamics of our family will change.  I know adding another "B" will be a wonderful thing, but I'm a little anxious about the initial adjustment...mostly because handling big changes is usually no problem for me...but to do so while sleep deprived.  Well, let's just say I'm a little nervous.  Normal nervous though and mostly excited.  After seeing that ultrasound the other day, I just want to hold those squishy little bones in my arms and kiss those already chubby cheeks.

 

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Nesting...

I'm going to leave you with a list of my recent thoughts and such, lucky you.

-I've been nesting like a crazy person...or more accurately, a pregnant person.  I've been updating photo albums, stocking the freezer, and I even bought a package of diapers.  It seems early for diapers, but I just couldn't resist one little package...I can't believe how small the newborn diapers are...they fit in my palm.

-The gestational diabetes is going.  It's mostly annoying - planning meals and snacks around the four finger sticks a day.  I am eating better and breaking bad habits, so I am not going to complain.  I've only gained 16 pounds and I plan to keep my total weight gain under 25.  I'd like to keep it under 20, but apprently the baby gains a half pound a week and that puts me at about 19...hmm...it might be possible.  Well, all I want is a healthy baby.  So, I am just going to keep eating right and doing what my doctor tells me to do.

-OH, my placenta moved - some of you may not have known that earlier in the pregnancy it hadn't and could have posed a problem.  BUT, as per last week's ultrasound, the placenta has moved and I get to keep my uterus. Lovely.

-A note about public restrooms - why don't people clean up after themselves? I mean really!  If every one just wiped up their own dribble, then we wouldn't have the gross mess. Ug.  At this point it's hard to hover over a seat and since I go frequently, I am often left without much choice over which restrooms I use.  Annoying.

-While on grossness - trying to shave is like hacking through an overgrown forest at night with a dull machete.  Seriously.  I can't see what I'm doing, I don't visit there nearly enough...and well...I have to wear a bathing suit just about every day.  SINCE I can't see, I don't really know how bad it is for the general public, but I can't imagine it's good.  I apologize to anyone who lives within my vicinity and has to be subjected to that mess.  I'm embarrassed by it...but not enough to endure the pain and suffering of waxing.  I never have and never will.  Sorry people.  I really am.

-I love folding laundry.  I don't know why, I just do.  I wish I could explain it, but I can't.  When I see other people's laundry, I want to fold it....even though I worry my folding technique might not match theirs, I still want to fold.  It might be a sickness.

-Dudes, I am officially 8 months pregnant.  It is as uncomfortable as you would imagine in the Texas heat, but I am loving it....well, the fact that in a few weeks I get to meet this little belly buddy, NOT the heat. 

-Littleman has discovered the fun that is water balloons.  He was introduced to them at a recent bbq and there's been no looking back.  He wants to buy them every time we're at the store.  It's pretty funny.  He'll say things like, "Hey mom, at my far away birthday can we have lots of water balloons?"  I love that.

-Today was my best friend's birthday.  I miss her so much. 

-Is it wrong to make Papabear take me to see the Harry Potter movie on our anniversary?  He's only going because I love HP....he'd much rather see something else.  Perhaps I can find someone to see it with me...I'm running out of time!

Alrighty, that's enough, wouldn't you agree? 

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Belly bud and cousins

I am so very happy to report only wonderful, amazing things today.  My cousin and his two wonderful children spent last night with us (see photos below).  Littleman has such a great time he cried rather passionately when they left.

I had a spectacular visit with the OB this afternoon.  The ultrasound showed us an almost chubby, just over 4 pound little boy (see photo below).  He was sleeping and would not, no matter how frequently or how hard the tech jostled my belly, wake up.  You can just make out his nose, cheeks, lips, and chin.  Littleman and my MIL were amazed, as was I.  I asked the tech to check one more time and confirm our he is, in fact, a he.  She shows us the scrotum and the penis and Littleman says, "Hey, his penis is a little one and mine is bigger."  And so, even at age four boys are comparing...

I showed the OB my glucose numbers - I've been sticking my finger four times a day since Monday - he was literally thrilled.  Said the numbers look great and to keep doing what I am doing...which is not eat any of the things I love...except rarely and about 75% less, apparently that's how healthy people eat every day!  Shocking.  Okay, enough talk, enjoy the pics.

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Water balloon fight!!!!

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The fort is under attack!!!!!!!

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True sibling love right here....

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Papabear in his GLORY being allow to break out all of his contraband toys.  I didn't even know he owned this many BB guns!

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Time to practice a little music in the baby's room...

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Waffles for breakfast (none for me though..okay, I ate two measly little hearts!)

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So there ya have it.  OH, some of you might be wondering about our little rodent problem.  Well, we've been so busy taking care of the hole in the ceiling we haven't had time to call the pest people....and wouldn't you know it? Haven't hear a scritch or scratch at all!!!!  Figures.

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