Birth.

Well, when I last posted I said little man had an eviction date of the 9th if I didn't go in to labor on my own.

I went in to labor on my own.

Saturday morning my dad came and picked me up and took me shopping for the changing table/dresser (it was the last big item I needed for the room and I was so relieved when he offered to get it for us).  I had Nick put it together during Ben's nap and we finished it up after Ben went to bed.  Then we got the trim attached to the wall.  All that was left to do at that point was fill in the nail holes on the trim, paint it out and hang up my decorations.  Junior's room would have been complete.

I went to bed that night around 11:00ish.  I read for a few minutes and went to sleep.  I woke up some where around 12:15ish feeling like I had to pee and when I stood up, felt two little sharp jabs in my lower belly.  I was nearly to the toilet when my water broke.  And man did it BREAK.  They were not at all wrong when they said I had a lot of fluid.  Nick was still up working, so I called him in to the bathroom and said "um... my water just broke..."

The look on his face was pure comedy.  All these different emotions flickered over his face and he started hopping around like a monkey "what do we do?  what do we do?  I'll call the doctor" and he dashed off.  :)  I wasn't too concerned but, I also was wondering what do we do?  I wasn't having any contractions.  I remembered there's a timing thing with how long you can wander around with your water broken before there's a risk of infection.  Turns out, my OB was on call that night and called Nick back and told him he needed to get me to the hospital.

So we called my dad (a bit of a comedy on that one too - my dad didn't answer his phone, so we called my brother who also didn't answer his phone so I started to call Lisa when my dad called back) who said he'd come on over and watch Ben while we headed in.  Nick made a comment about of all the days to not grab a shower, so I told him to go ahead and take one.  No rush.  ;)  Then I wandered around the house, tidying up a bit, packing our hospital bags (I really left everything to the last minute).

Then my contractions started.  And they were hard and coming quickly, so that's when I started to freak out a bit.  My dad was driving in from Caldwell and I wanted to leave NOW.  So we decided we'd have my brother come meet us at the hospital to get Ben and we'd head out right then.  We got Ben up out of bed, into the car and my dad calls back saying he's like 5 minutes away.  So out of the car Ben went, back into bed he went, and we waited for my dad.

We got checked in to St. Lukes, my contractions coming about every 3-4 minutes.  I was only dilated to about a 3 but they admitted me and moved me to a delivery suite.  Things were rocking and rolling and I labored on my own for about 3 or 4 hours before the anesthesiologist got to my room to put in my epidural.  Flashbacks to Ben's delivery where it didn't WORK.  With Ben, I was feeling all my contractions in my right upper thigh. This time, I simply had no relief.  A bit later, back he came to redo it.  Man, oh man, he hit a nerve that felt like an electrical shock in my knee.  Finally got that all straightened out and that was awesome.  I felt NOTHING.  Ah-mazing.

I really thought, with the way things were progressing, that we'd have a baby no later than 7 that morning.  Cue the 11:00 hour and it turns out I'd simply stopped progressing.  He was face up instead of face down, he wasn't descended far enough in the birth canal where they could reach him to turn him and I was exhausted.  Exhausted and I hadn't even started pushing.  Nurses, OB and I made the call to do a c-section.  And it's a good thing we did.

At 12:18 pm, Matthew Cameron Beesley was born weighing 9 lbs, 1 oz.  He's 22 inches long and his head was 14 1/2 inches & has a full head of black hair.

37 & 1/2 weeks

Another week, another baby update:

first, I had another ultrasound today.  Today the tech just checked my fluid, apparently I have a lot.  So baby is measuring large + extra fluid = big ol' swollen tummy.  My doctor said that the measurements can be off, but this tech is usually very accurate in her measuring, so my doctor is very confident that I've got a little porker in my belly.

Because she's trusting the measurements, she's suggested a 39 week induction if I don't go into labor on my own before then.  The longer he cooks, the bigger he gets.  The bigger he gets, the more risk of a complicated delivery and potential c-section.  I'm a-okay with her suggestion.  She's the professional and I trust her judgement.  This actually relieves some of my concerns.  I don't have a whole lot, but I am a little nervous about going in to labor.  I've never done that.  :)  I've never had my water break randomly or start the contraction process, so in a way this feels like my first pregnancy.  It's reassuring to me to know of a firm end date if I don't go on my own prior to then.

Today she checked me out and said I'm a full 1 cm dilated and 50% effaced (I actually had to look that up, I'd forgotten what the terms meant...) but that she could feel the head this time.  Whoopie.  Then she stretched my cervix to try to encourage labor.  We'd done that twice with Ben and I'd forgotten how unpleasant it was.  I remembered it didn't feel good.  I forgot how much it didn't feel good.

Anyway, after that she had me to a non-stress test.  Because I'm apparently rather fluid filled, she said it could be a sign that the placenta isn't doing it's job appropriately and she wanted to make sure the kiddo was doing okay in there.  So 25 very uncomfortable minutes later (I started out fine.... but then I started to get hot... and my sciatic started to really hurt and I couldn't get comfortable), all is well with me and the babe.  My weight remains the same but my blood pressure was amazing.  100/60.  I don't think it's ever been that low. 

My next appointment is Monday, no ultrasound this time.  She may attempt to stretch my cervix again and after that, I'll be referred to another doctor in her practice because my doctor flies out of town on the 5th for a family reunion.  Rude.  And then we'll schedule my induction for I think the 9th.  Which, hmm... I believe I'll ask if we can wait til the 11th.  Because then Nana B will be here and she can mind after Benny boy for us.  Hey, if I'm ordering up a delivery, I ought to get to pick the date, right?  :)

And now I'm off to finish putting the little dude's room together before Ben wakes up from his nap.  :)

Quick.

Making huge progress on my "to do" list from a few posts back:

1. clean out closet
1. hanging clothes to charity or master closet
2. sort through extra blankets - move those we're keeping to hall linen closet, rest to yard sale pile
3. sort through games - keep only those we actually play, rest to yard sale pile
4. find a new home for out of season household decor (garage?)
5. old TV to charity
6. box of misc glassware - sort what to keep (and move to new home - hutch?) and what to sell
7. wrapping paper, gift bags, bows & tissue paper - need a new home (move to hall closet)
8. other misc crap - sort through what to keep (and figure out where to store) and what to get rid of (trash vs yard sale)
2.  clean out dresser - misc wrapping paraphernalia
1. once empty, move to master bath
3. card table - clear off, fold up and move to garage
4. rocker - decide if going to recover or move to Ben's room. 
5. trunk - sort through items and move to living room
6. curtains - take down
7. b and w photos on wall - take down, possibly re-frame and move to another wall in the house
8. other decoration tchotchkes on the walls - remove, decide what to repurpose and what to sell
9. nightstand:
1. lamp - yard sale
2. small hat box - yard sale
3. stain to use in nursery
10. get twin bed from dad's house for guest bed
11. sell wicker headboard (list on Craigslist)
12. queen mattress/box springs - sell (listed on Craigslist)
13. Paint (one of the blues from paint chip - chair rail)
14. clean carpets (or remove and replace with snap together laminate flooring)
15. assemble crib
16. sort through Ben's old clothes/toys and put away
17. find and purchase changing table/dresser
18. make or order bedding (PBK's Madras bedding)
19. get crib mattress and bumper
20. fill room up with other adorable baby gear
21. bring home baby and be done with this planning nonsense :)

The closet is mainly full of baby stuff.  There's a small box of antique glassware that I don't have a new home yet and a few other miscellaneous items that need to be moved out.  Pretty much everything in the room now is only for baby. The crib is assembled and the mattress is in.

I went in a different direction with the bedding - when searching for something similar to the Pottery Barn Kid's Madras bedding I mentioned above, I found a super cute sail boat/nautical/light house themey set.  I realized I had quite a bit of that sort of decor throughout our house already and I knew from the beginning I wanted kind of an Americana-red/white/blue theme in his room.  I kept searching and found a very sweet red, white & blue with stars bedding set that I really liked for a reasonable price, so I ordered that today.  I've rounded up all the other decor items that we have that fit that theme and stuck them in his room.

I've ordered a bunch of stuff this week so now I'm just waiting for it to arrive.  I still need some things, mainly the expensive things like a dresser, the carrier and then some other random items like a mobile, curtains, a hamper, etc.  Hopefully this weekend we can choose some paint, find some nice chair rail moulding at the reStore and get that up and painted this weekend.  Then I need to clear everything out, run the carpet cleaner and start decorating and putting stuff away as it shows up at my house.

Today I bought a box of diapers, some nursing gear and new nipples for our bottles... it just got real.  The fun stuff is fun, once you start buying the practical stuff... it hits ya.   I walked in the house with the box of diapers and Nick had the same reaction I had "whoa".

Let's hope all my packages arrive before he does!!

2 & 1/2!

a quick baby interruption on Ben's 2 & 1/2 post: I had my regular OB appointment today + an ultrasound to make sure little junior is developing on track since I haven't gained much weight.  According to the ultrasound measurements of today, "little" junior is approximately 9 lbs.  Now, these measurements aren't always accurate and there's an over/under of 20% that could be factored in.  That being said, I'm also measuring ahead of the game.  Doctor suggested maybe stripping my membranes at my next appointment, as well as another ultrasound to double check the measurements and check my fluid (that sounds like I'm getting a car tune up...).  I am 1 cm dilated, but I'm also a carrying a little high still (but he is in the downward position like he's supposed to be). Got some nice face pictures - he looks a lot like a squishy faced Ben.  :)

Holy cow, bud you're 2 and a half today!  Half way to your 3rd birthday.  We've got you trained to answer when your birthday is when we ask: "in my-cember" you say.  ;) You're constantly surprising us with things you've picked up.  Yesterday we had lots of fun things.  After your nap, we were sitting on the couch and you announced to daddy that you were a friend.  When dad said "you're a friend?" you answered yes and said that uncle was your best friend.  You didn't forget all night, every time we'd say "Benny, who is your best friend?" you'd promptly reply "my uncle!".  The cuddles and attention you gave him yesterday were astounding.  It was very sweet and I loved to see it.  I wish your Florida fam lived closer so we could make some of these memories with them as well.  At the end of the evening, we pointed to uncle and said "who's that?" and he said "that's a dude!" - so funny!

BFF's

It's funny the things I never paid attention to until I had a tiny parrot in the back seat repeating them back to me.  Thankfully, I've been pretty good about cleaning up (most of) my language when you're up.  The things I apparently say a lot in the car while driving are "seriously people?" or "come on, dude." or "DRIVE!" and "oh my God."

You wore a 2T for about five minutes.  I bought you some very cute 2T clothes to take with us on our Florida adventure and they're all pretty much too small now.  Nana B bought you a bunch of 3T clothes that your daddy was worried you wouldn't fit in to until winter.  Thankfully, mommy & Nana B know what's up and you're wearing 3T perfectly now.  Your size 8 sandals that were slightly too big in Florida now fit just right and you'll probably out grow those soon.  That being said, there's still some 24 month clothes that you fit in to and you haven't outgrown all of your 2T things.  These manufacturer's really need to come up with a common sizing scale...

 Some of your favorite things right now: cars, planes, trucks, trains, emergency vehicles, anything that moves.  You love the Cars movies.   Your favorite characters are Mater, Finn McMissile (but you say Mick-ah-sile and it's very funny) and Francesco.  You also like Lightning McQueen but I think Mater & Finn are your most favorite.  When we go for walks, mommy is Lightning and you're Francesco.  Then we race.  Francesco always wins.  :)

Swings!

You are LOVING the splash pad at Settler's Park this year.  We've taken you several times and you love it every time.  You got soaked by the big dumper once and that made you cry (which I was sure it was) but now you're better about staying away from the buckets.  You're starting to enjoy swinging again this summer.  Your first summer you loved to swing.  Last summer you HATED it.  This summer you'll do it for a little bit.  You like to sit on the big boy swings by yourself, so we're working to teach you how to pump your legs.

You love to paint and color and choose stickers from your sticker pads to put on paper.  We spend lots of time playing pretend - you love to push around your little travel suitcase (though you call it a "coo-sase" and I think that's pretty much the most adorable thing ever) and we play airport.  Today mommy's bed was the airplane and we traveled to Nana B's house where I had to wake her up.  ;)  You love to play outside, look at flowers and bees and bugs and airplanes and pretty much all the other things you liked earlier in the year.  

You're a super good counter, you know your numbers up to 13 or 14 I think and you're good at counting how many of something you have.  You can sing your ABC's but we haven't worked with you as much on recognizing your letters, which is something we need to spend more time with.  You can spell your name.

You do not love to have your nails cut.  We can usually talk you through calming down to let us do your fingernails, but I know the neighbors think we're torturing you when it's time to clip your toenails.  You don't think it's necessary to hold hands in the parking lot and we battle over this nearly every time.  You've also discovered you can open the fridge and you don't think you need to ask permission to get whatever you feel like having.  

The terrible 2's have struck our household.  Mommy & daddy are working very hard to help you through this phase.  I'd wager you're the best kid ever 90% of the time.  Maybe even 95% of the time.  Those periods of rottenness, though... my goodness, they do tend to overshadow the good some times.  You find my buttons so easily and push them with glee.  Wherever Nana A is, I know she's laughing hysterically.  I used to do the same to her (though I'm not sure I did it at such a young age...).  What goes around comes around... You're beginning to role play a little.  I can hear you at nap time putting your teddy bear in time out for hitting "you hit Ben.  time out.  2 minutes, right NOW" you say in the meanest voice.  Boy, I hope that's not what I sound like when I tell you to get your bum to time out...


I'm both excited and dreading bringing baby brother home.  You have a little glow worm that Nana A got you for your first Easter that stays in your crib and you call it your baby.  We can hear you rocking your baby and singing "rock a bye baby" to him.  That's the part I'm looking forward to.  I've seen you interact with other babies and you're very tender.  However, I know you.  And I know how you act when you're not getting the attention you think you need and I'm concerned.  We'll make it through but more adjustments are coming.

You're doing fantastically with potty training.  You haven't had an accident in ages (well, except during some of your time outs.  you just don't tell us you have to go - we'd totally allow you to pause time out for a potty break).  We still keep ya in a diaper for sleeps, though you don't like it.  I should just cold turkey the diapers and power through but it's selfishness on my part.  I'm already sleeping like poop because of this pregnancy (leg cramps + a constant need to pee = awesomeness...) so I'm hoarding the times I do get to sleep solidly.

So, all in all, little guy, mommy & daddy love you to little bitty pieces.  I'm feeling guilty that we didn't give you more time to have all of your parents time and attention to yourself but I know you'll be a fantastic big brother.  I can't wait to see what the next 6 months brings us!

34 Weeks.

No picture today and no little survey to fill out because I'm uber lazy.  Maybe I'll update with a photo later.  I had a request for one.  :)

I made brief mention of my appointment yesterday on Facebook, but wanted to write it down on the blog where it's easier to find later.

So, I guess when I'm pregnant, I have this really awesomely fast metabolism that doesn't hang around when I'm not pregnant (figures, right?).  I've only gained 2 pounds this pregnancy.  I thought it was 4, so either I'm remembering wrong or I've lost 2 of the 4 I had gained.  Sigh.  I promise I'm not intentionally "dieting" or not eating - I'm eating 3 meals (almost) every day (some days I get so busy to rush out of the house in the morning, I forget to grab something to eat - but more often than not, I'm eating breakfast) and I'm doing my very best to snack.  I usually have an extra dinner after Ben's gone to bed, like a bowl of cereal or something.  I just can't get the weight to stick.  She pointed out to me that at nearly full term, I weigh less now than I did at my pre-pregnancy weight with Ben. 

Doctor says they want you to gain at least 10 pounds in a pregnancy.  With Ben I gained 7, so I wasn't quite there but I was measuring correctly, my blood pressure was great and his heart rate was great, so not too concerned.  With this baby, I'm not even close.  And even though my blood pressure is still great, his heart beat is just where it's supposed to be and my belly is measuring right on track, she's ordered an ultrasound for my next appointment to make sure he's getting the growth and development he needs.  She doesn't think there's an issue and isn't trying to freak me out, she just wants to make sure.  Which I am 100% behind.  Whatever needs to be done, I'm for it.

Then she dropped a nice little nugget of news on me.  She's on vacation (as in, out of town vacation) the week I'm due.  She's actually gone after the 4th and isn't back until after my due date.  Sigh.  So either we hope he's early (like the very first few days into July, so that I'm still at my 38 week mark) or...?  I guess I'll just be okay with another doctor doing the delivery.  I wanted her to do it, I like her, I'm comfortable with her and I know she's awesome in the delivery room (I don't remember an awful lot about that day, but I know how at ease she made me and how she stayed with me the entire time I pushed).

As far as this pregnancy is going right now - I'm done.  :)  I have reached the point of being ready to not be pregnant any more.  I'm terribly uncomfortable, my pelvis is killing me and I swear I'm waddling around like I've got a 5 pound bowling ball clenched between my thighs.  I can't keep up with Ben and honestly, I'm too exhausted to even try.  I feel like a very absent parent these last few weeks.  A few days ago, I woke up exhausted and I pretty much napped on the couch and let Cars 2 babysit my child.  Mother of the year right here!

I sure hope to have some nursery updates to share over the next few days.  We're having a garage sale on Saturday and anything we don't sell will either be donated to a thrift store or the dump.  Hopefully clearing out all our extra crap that we no longer need (and making some $$ in the process) will be enough to get this room going.  I know exactly what I want to do, I just need to get the stuff and do it.

And if any one has a dresser they're getting rid of (a shorter one, not a tall one), let me know!  I am having the worst time finding what I want in terms of the dresser/changing table and a rocker.  Either it's $1,000 or non-existent... 

Lately...

Lately I have been reading like books are about to be banned.  In the past month, I have read:

• The Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughlin
• These Things Hidden by Heather Gudenkauf
• Before I Go To Sleep by SJ Watson
• the 1st two books in the Matched series by Ally Condie (the 3rd is out this fall)
• All three books in the Maze Runner series by James Dashner
• All three books in the Fifty Shades series by EL James
• The 1st two books in the Divergent series by Veronica Roth (and, dudes, whatever, the 3rd book isn't even written yet)
• Let's Pretend This Never Happened: A Mostly True Memoir by Jenny Lawson (aka the Bloggess)
• Lone Wolf by Jodi Picoult
• The Last Boyfriend (2nd book in the Inn BoonsBoro trilogy) by Nora Roberts

So that's 16 books in roughly 30 days or so.  I feel like I'm missing some...

Lately I have been pricing crap for our upcoming garage sale.  Whoopie.
Lately I have been dialing it down and keeping Ben home more.  I think he was getting over-stimulated.
Lately I have been feeling incredibly tired, grouchy and pretty much done with being pregnant.  Only 6 more weeks...
Lately I have been completely stuck on little brother's name.  We thought we had it picked out.  Then I changed my mind.  But now I'm not sure.  So still no idea.  And no middle name at all decided on...
Lately I have been dying to start making over his room... gotta get all this crap gone, first (garage sale and/or thrift store and/or dump).  At least I'm making progress on cleaning it out.
Lately I have been attempting to find a nice rocker and dresser for little brother's room that isn't incredibly expensive but still functional and appropriate for his room... I'm not having much luck.
Lately I have been thinking a lot about crafting.  And then I take a nap instead.

And that's all my brain has the energy for right now.  Off to take a nap!  :)

Seattle and other randomness

I haven't been very consistent about blogging lately.  I haven't really been very consistent about much of anything lately, other than wasting time.  I'm supremely excellent at wasting time.

In any case, since the last time I posted we have:

• visited a farm of sorts
• played soccer
• had a 30 week baby check up
• have made progress on the nursery
• celebrated Mother's Day
• driven to Seattle
• visited with old friends (and Ben made new friends)
• had major melt downs
• suffered a set back in potty training (my fault)
• spent over 12 hours in the car driving home from Seattle

So here is my all inclusive wrap up of what we've been doing since then.

Pretty much every one who reads my blog (as far as I know) is my friend on Facebook, so some of these pictures might be familiar.

A few Saturday's ago, we went with my mommy group to visit a little farm here in Boise.  The nicest man, Andre, opened it up to us to feed & pet his horses, goats, sheep, ponies, chickens & pigs (I think that's everything).  Ben was not super excited to feed any of those animals.  He discovered a barn cat which was pretty much his favorite thing.  Then we let him into the area with the chickens and he thought it was incredibly fun to chase after them.

Later that day, we had another event with the mommy group, a trial class of Pee Wee soccer.  Ben had a great time, but also a hard time - which was our fault.  Not knowing what to expect, we just told him he was going to play soccer.  He got his hands on a ball and didn't want to let go.  At this age, it's not really "playing soccer" - it's learning through games.  So they'd set up cones that the coaches wanted the kids to kick over using only their feet (a concept Ben still struggles with) to find a prize underneath.  The prize is then thrown into a little goal.  Then they were to stand the cones back up, again using only their feet.  Another was to chase down thrown hula hoops.  Another was to build a tower out of cones and a ball and then kick the ball over.  Ben was less interested in the games and more interested in running around, holding the ball.

A few days later, I went in for my 30 week OB check up.  I gained 4 pounds since the last check up where I had lost the 2 I'd gained.  My blood pressure remains fantastic and the baby's heart sounds great.  I think I have one more "every two week" appointment (on Tuesday) before I go to every week til I pop.  I think.  Everything seems to be cooking just fine - the only problems I'm experiencing is this stupid sciatic.  I'm going to a chiropractor weekly and had a prenatal massage.  While both feel great at the time I do them, I'm not feeling any lasting relief as far as my sciatic goes.  It hurts all the way down to my calf, which really sucks.  As a result of my sciatic hurting, I'm standing weird and holding my body at an odd position, which makes my back ache.  Thank goodness we're almost done with this...

We've made some progress on the baby room - quite a bit as far as clearing out goes.  The closet is completely done.  All our clothes were sorted through one final time and anything that doesn't currently fit got bagged up and taken down to the Youth Ranch for donation.  The rest of the items were sorted through and either set aside for our garage sale, moved some where else in the house or just thrown away.  I hoard a lot of gift bags and tissue paper.  That supply got severely downsized.  There's still a lot of work to be done in there but we're making progress, which is good.

Speaking of the garage sale, we've set a date.  We were hoping to have it in May so we only had to pay for one month's rental on the storage locker we had to take out when my granny moved to assisted living earlier in the month (basically anything she didn't take with her to assisted living became my property - I can either keep it or sell it).  Between general laziness and procrastination on clearing out our own clutter and random, spur of the moment trips out of town, we haven't made great progress.  While we were out of town, our HOA sent out a newsletter indicating there had been interest in a community garage sale.  I called to see what plans had been made and it turns out, I was the first person to call.  So I got to choose the date.  Lucky me!  We're doing it June 9th, so I better be ready by then!!

Mother's Day came and went.  :)  It was no special affair at our house, but I received some lovely gifts from my boys (two new hydrangea plants... maybe these won't die this time..., a gift card to Barnes & Noble, breakfast in bed).  We drove out to the cemetery to leave flowers for my mom and had a BBQ dinner at my dad's house.  It was a lovely day.

Saturday before Mother's Day, Nick was advised by his work that he was expected in Seattle on Monday.  Seriously.  What.  Ever.  I looked at the calendar, looked at the bank account and said "I'm coming".  Forget this staying home by myself with no help crap.  That's not the deal I signed up for.  So Monday morning we took Nick off to the airport and Ben & I began our lovely journey across the ugly nothingness of Oregon and Washington (seriously - for me, that trip doesn't even begin to get pretty until you're almost there).  We didn't do too badly.  We got lunch before we headed out, we stopped a few times for potty breaks and Ben had a good 2 hour nap (after having a 20 minute tantrum in the backseat).  NO accidents on the way there - yay!!  We got there about 8:00ish, had some dinner and went to bed.  Ben didn't sleep very well - it took him forever to fall asleep (not til after 11:00) and then he was up at the crack of dawn.  Made for a crabby boy.

We met my high school friend, Jamie, and her daughter Allie at the Woodland Park Zoo and had a fairly good time.  Ben got too absorbed in what he was looking at to realize he had to pee and I forgot to prompt him (because I've gotten used to him asking me to go) and peed his pants in front of the meerkat exhibit.  Whoops.  I got him cleaned up and we wandered around some more before stopping for lunch.  Ben had a small attitude tantrum and earned himself a time out in the stroller, where apparently he wet his pants again.  Sigh.  At that point, I was out of clean pants for him.  So he got to ride back to the hotel in just his underpants (why I packed 2 pairs of underwear but only 1 pair of pants, I have no idea).

Ben & Allie at the zoo - he really liked her... she wasn't too sure about him ;)

Later that night, we met our friends George & Ashley and their kids George & Abby for dinner at our favorite Greek restaurant, Spiro's Greek Island (yummm).  After dinner (a particularly rowdy one, Ben refused to sit at the table and spent the meal basically running amok.  I've never seen him act that way at a restaurant before.), we took the kids to a park to let off some steam and then back to the hotel for bed time.

Didn't you know I had two kids?

at the park by the restaurant in Kent

The next day, I met up with Jamie & Allie again to go through Ikea.  IKEA!!  :)  I wish we had one.  I bought some things but didn't go overboard (even though I totally wanted to).  Mostly I just got some organizational bins for Ben's room and Junior's room.  Then I drove to Federal Way and visited my old work and had lunch with Ashley.  After Ben's failed nap (he fell asleep in the car on the way back to Bellevue and wouldn't go back down once we got to the hotel), we met up with George & Ashley & crew again, this time grabbing pizza's and heading to a park to let the kids play.

Thursday we dropped Nick at work and headed out.  That.  Was.  Awful.  Ben peed at the hotel and then again at the gas station.  40 minutes later, he said he had to pee again, so I got off at the next exit and pulled into a gas station, only to discover he'd wet his pants.  So I put him in a diaper, cleaned up the car seat as best I could and told him that the diaper was only in case he had another accident but he should still let me know if he had to pee.  Half hour later, he was crying that he had to poop.... so I get pulled off again (amidst construction over I-90) and he refused to pee OR poop.  Ugh, child.  So we got back on the road where he fell asleep and napped for an hour... waking up to poop in his diaper.  So I pulled off, got him cleaned up, got us lunch and stopped to let Ben run around and then headed back out.  Lather, rinse, repeat.  It took us over 12 hours to do an 8 hour drive.  No joke.

Anyway, he was a trooper despite the poor sleep and bad attitude that came with it.  Lots of hitting, tantrums and general nastiness.  I think we're done with traveling til well after the baby comes.  I'm pretty sure Ben is picking up that things are changing and some of his behavior is a result of that.  We've had some potty accidents since we've been back, where Ben will just pee where he's standing and then tell us about it.  So we're doing some re-training on the potty and some attitude re-training.

Maybe if I blogged more often, I wouldn't have to post such novels....

30 Weeks.

No photo today.  The camera is in the car with Nick at work and I didn't feel like doing a crappy cell pic. 

I am: 29 weeks, 4 days
Baby is: according to Babycenter, he should weigh about the same as a butternut squash (2 1/2 lbs) and is about 15 inches from head to heel
Total weight gain: According to my last OB appointment, I was down the 2 pounds I had gained.  Then I got sick.  So I'm guessing I lost more weight...
Maternity Clothes: yep.  I bought 2 new pairs of pants to take with me to Florida and I only end up wearing one of them. 
Sleep: depends on the night.  my body enjoys this game: wake up with excruciating cramps in my left leg.  exit bed to stand on said leg in an attempt to alleviate the pain.  bladder says "oh.. hey... since you're up, I have to pee".  Then mouth says "well, you know... since you're up... I'm thirsty"... but thankfully that doesn't happen every night.
Cravings: milkshakes.  I've been getting fairly consistent heartburn after pretty much everything I eat (or if I wait too long between meals) and milkshakes sound good to put out the fire in my throat.
Best moment this week: discovering Sonic will mix milkshake flavors.  chocolate banana - yay!
Worst moment this week: I was super sick over the weekend.  pretty much tossed my cookies all day on Friday and half the morning on Sunday.
Movement: extreme amounts.  this kid is making up for all the times I said "he's so quiet - that must mean he's a good sleeper"
Gender: boy
Labor signs: thought I was having Braxton Hicks on Friday but I really think it was my stomach warning me of the upcoming gastrointestinal theatrics
Belly button in or out? still in, but oddly enough - the scar from my gall bladder surgery has moved.  it used to be right in my belly button, now it's like an inch above it. 
What I miss: having energy.
Milestones: we've entered the 3rd tri since my last baby update post.  I passed my glucose test - yay!  I'm starting, slowly but surely, to do some work on the guest room/nursery.  oh and we picked a name.  well, the first name anyway.  we aren't 100% on the middle.  I think we'll keep it a surprise for now. ;)  oh and I picked a theme for the nursery.  The nursery that's still a disaster area.

Here's my list of plans that I need to do - this seems as good a place as any to keep track of what I need to do:

1. clean out closet
1. hanging clothes to charity or master closet
2. sort through extra blankets - move those we're keeping to hall linen closet, rest to yard sale pile
3. sort through games - keep only those we actually play, rest to yard sale pile
4. find a new home for out of season household decor (garage?)
5. old TV to charity
6. box of misc glassware - sort what to keep (and move to new home - hutch?) and what to sell
7. wrapping paper, gift bags, bows & tissue paper - need a new home (move to hall closet)
8. other misc crap - sort through what to keep (and figure out where to store) and what to get rid of (trash vs yard sale)
2.  clean out dresser - misc wrapping paraphernalia
1. once empty, move to master bath
3. card table - clear off, fold up and move to garage
4. rocker - decide if going to recover or get rid of. 
5. trunk - sort through items and move to living room
6. curtains - yard sale
7. b and w photos on wall - take down, possibly re-frame and move to another wall in the house
8. other decoration tchotchkes on the walls - remove, decide what to repurpose and what to sell
9. nightstand:



the Madras bedding from PBK that I heart

1. lamp - yard sale
2. small hat box - yard sale
3. stain to use in nursery
10. get twin bed from dad's house for guest bed
11. sell wicker headboard (list on Craigslist)
12. queen mattress/box springs - sell (listed on Craigslist)
13. Paint (one of the blues from paint chip - chair rail or wainscoting/board & batten?)
14. clean carpets (or remove and replace with snap together laminate flooring)
15. assemble crib
16. sort through Ben's old clothes/toys and put away
17. find and purchase changing table/dresser
18. make or order bedding (PBK's Madras bedding)
19. get crib mattress and bumper
20. fill room up with other adorable baby gear
21. bring home baby and be done with this planning nonsense :)

whew.  that's a lot.  I can do it.  I already did one thing. :)

Yesterday. Today.

YESTERDAY:

1. FIRST DAY ACCIDENT FREE!!! We pottied at Tumble Time (twice). We pottied at the park. We pottied at home. We went for an hour long walk. We did NOT potty in our pants!!! WOO TO THE HOO!!!
2. Ben prefers the pink M&M's (I got a bag of Easter M&M's). He will go for purple or blue after pink. I've not seen him take a yellow or a green one yet.
3. I bought a crib today!
   
4. I got my beautiful ICKY bag today. I'm very excited to start using it!
5. Looking forward to the hair appointment I made today for next Thursday. Cut, color & a brow wax. Look out world, it's mama's first hair appointment since 2011! :)
6. The Great Name Debate continues. This time on FB with input from lots of friends. Lots of good choices to mull over!
7. Getting some fun nursery inspiration from the interwebs today. I especially enjoyed the organization in this nursery.
8. SUPER HUGE fantastic day at Tumble Time with Ben. Like, maybe the best one ever. We had one tiny issue towards the beginning of class. I asked him if he wanted to go home. He said no. I pulled out my new weapon and said "well, your behavior says you want to leave. If you'd like to stay, show me behavior that says 'I want to stay'." And he did. Proud mommy moment.
   
9. Not only was it a good TT day, but a good day over all. Only two time outs today (and neither one was due to actions against mommy). One was on our walk.
10. Really looking forward to seeing the Hunger Games on Sunday. I hope it lives up to the hype!
11. We're going to see Rain on Friday! So excited! We saw them years ago in Seattle and we've been looking forward to seeing them again some day ever since. Then they popped up in Idaho, so we're going! Yay, date night!

TODAY:

1. Banana cream pie for dessert.
2. NO ACCIDENTS so far today, but some one did wait til diaper @ nap time to go poo. Sigh.
3. It's been a gorgeous two days. We are LOVING the outside play time!
4. Have been pricing outdoor play grounds for our backyard. Holy. Crap.
5. 20 days til FLORIDA (say that in your best Oprah voice. it's more fun that way).
6. Severe back pain today. What. The. Crap.
7. No Tumble Time next week. What will we do with our day?!?!?
8. Lots of mommy nights next week. Insert guilty + excited feelings here.
9. Starting to get some Sarah back. Today I actually felt like scrapbooking. I didn't, but I wanted to. ha ha, baby steps.
10. Did I mention banana cream pie? I want some NOW.
11. Send prayers to my friend Heidi. She's 34 weeks pregnant and struggling. She's not ready to deliver yet but her body isn't playing nice.
    

What's new with you?

22 Weeks & Other Randoms...

Man, I don't know about you guys, but I am not loving this week so far. This time change... wow. So far bed time and morning wake times have been good. We've adjusted Ben's bed time from 7:30 to about 8:00ish so far and I'll continue to move that back up to his normal time as the week goes on. I'm loving him sleeping in a little - he's usually up by 6:30 or so and so far this week, he's "slept in" til almost 8:00.

Naps on the other hand... dang. Yesterday I put him down by his normal time according to the clock. His internal clock said "no thank you" and proceeded to play for about 2 hours before finally going to sleep and sleeping til nearly 5:00. Today I pushed nap time back by about a half hour, 40 minutes and still... a battle to get him to sleep.

{car napping}

We're not having a great day, Ben & I. Last week he had a pretty terrific cold that made sleeping less than fantastic. He finally recovered and we went out of town for the weekend to Walla Walla for a memorial service. We learned that Ben doesn't really nap well in the car anymore. I got 3 20 minute naps from him. 2 on the way down and 1 on the way home. Yuck. He did fairly well, for being cooped up for nearly 4 hours straight (we did stop half way both ways) and not having nearly enough sleep.

{last week, too tired to sit up and play}

This week, we're dealing with lagging from traveling and dealing with the stupid time change. In addition to that, Nick is out of town yet again. I'm getting really tired of this. When he interviewed for this job, it was my impression that there would be some travel. Some, to me, does not mean 2 weeks pretty much every month. That's a lot of travel to me. And I hate it. I hate him being gone, I hate the lack of support I get at home because I'm all by myself... I hate the lack of a break... and on top of it all, I'm left with a crabby toddler who is angry with me for some reason and finding it incredibly amusing to push all my buttons.

However, in bright & shiny news.... less than one month and we'll be in Florida! I'm SO looking forward to our vacation!! We'll be gone 9 days. I've purchased our plane tickets, tickets to Sea World, tickets to Busch Gardens and have no other plans than maybe an aquarium, LOTS and LOTS of beach time and our traditional meal at Caddy's On The Beach. I'm looking forward to relaxing, letting Anne completely and totally spoil my son and give my sanity a rest.

The end of the term is coming up for Ben at Tumble Time. I've decided I'm going to do one more term of this and if I can't figure out how to shape up his attitude by the end of the next term, I probably won't re-enroll him. It's not a whole lot of fun to be one of the only parents struggling to get their child to listen and do the activities. We used to have a lot of fun at the Little Gym and we haven't transitioned that well to Tumble Time. Ben is not interested in doing what the teacher says, when she says it. He loves to go and he loves to play, but he wants to do it on his own terms. I'm exhausted by the end of every class, trying to keep him in line.

{tooth fairy at Tumble Time}

This Wednesday also marks quitting diapers cold turkey ('cept for naps & night). I simply have to do it. He will never learn to pull down his pants to pee if I don't enforce it. I keep waiting for "the right time" and there is no right time. I will never have a month of no activities, no things I have to do out of the house to do it. It's going to be inconvenient and frustrating but it needs to be done. He's old enough, he gets the concept of going to the potty, he just needs to add in the extra element of going to the potty when he's wearing pants as well.

And for a baby update. No picture today (awww boo hoo), but here's my little questionnaire dealie:

I am: 22 weeks, 1 day
Baby is: approximately 11ish" head to toes and weighs about 1 pound. This is roughly the size of a spaghetti squash (which sounds really yummy right now... ha ha).
Total weight gain: I don't weigh myself at home, so I'm going to assume still just a half pound.
Maternity Clothes: from here to the end, baby
Sleep: better!
Cravings: still no cravings, which is totally different than last time
Best moment this week: mmm more movement.
Worst moment this week: nothing really, just some random leg cramps that are not so fun
Movement: more and more! Soon Nick should be able to feel... I think
Gender: boy
Labor signs: none, whew.
Belly button in or out? still in!
What I miss: being not prego. :/ it's true.
Milestones: nothing. I've been totally lazy. No names, no room planning... nothing

So that's it. I think. Peace out, girl scout!

Life.

Life was hard last week. Way super hard. Nick was out of town to start (for the 2nd week in a row), I got a bad phone call in the middle of the night (never a good thing) super early Tuesday morning, my house felt like I replaced the front door with a revolving one nearly all week and Ben was not a happy camper.

But while it was hard for me, it was way less hard for me than other people in my family. And as much as you all know how much I dislike living in Idaho, I was reminded yet again of why I'm glad we do. I also learned that I can handle a whole lot more than I ever expected of myself. My dad asked me how I was handling it. I'm not sure how, but I am. :) Despite being high strung about knowing what to expect all of the time, I really am a "go with the flow" kind of gal.

So, after a pretty hectic/emotional/constantly changing week, it was nice to have a quiet weekend. We had hoped to see my niece play basketball on Saturday (we haven't got to see her all season) but Ben was still sleeping during her game. So instead, we tidied the house, cleaned up in the back yard, had a nice walk around our subdivision (with a stop to play at the school playground) and took it easy. Today we perused the antique mall, fed the ducks & geese, delivered a meal to a mama friend who just had a baby and visited my granny. Then Ben played in the back yard while Nick grilled out and I finished up dinner inside. We had talked about eating outside as well, but by the time everything was ready to eat, the sun was setting and it was too chilly. I sure hope this nice weather sticks around!

Ben's tantrums & hitting (and biting... and hair pulling... and pinching...) continue to be the main focus of my attention right now. I've just finished reading Secrets of the Baby Whisperer for Toddlers by Tracy Hogg and I'm going to have Nick go through it as well. She offers a lot of practical advice for what can be a difficult stage in Ben's (and ours!) life. I tried out a few techniques today that seemed to work well. I'm hoping 5 weeks is enough time to nip this in the bud. We're traveling to Florida in that space of time and I know it will be a stressful trip. If we can control the tantrums and acting out before we ask Ben to sit on the plane for an 8+ hour trip, I'm hoping we can make it less stressful. I still have flashbacks of our flight home from Chicago. Yes, we were that family - my child screamed (no exaggeration on the screaming part) for nearly the entire 4 hour flight.

I've been pinning lots of ideas for a baby nursery the last few days. I'm excited to get the room cleaned out and start making it a little boys home. We're uncertain on what to do as far as the crib situation goes. When I picked out Ben's crib, I got it with the intention of having it grow with him - it converts to a toddler bed and then to a full bed. Now that we're making room for little brother, I had originally intended to move Ben into a big boy bed and give little brother the crib. However... I'm hesitant to rush Ben into a bed before he's ready. I've heard lots of stories from other parents that once they made the move to a big kid bed, naps stopped and night time sleep problems began. I'm simply not ready for Ben to give up naps (and neither is he), so I'm concerned about rushing him into a different bed too soon. We may decide to just bite the bullet and buy an additional (convertible) crib for little brother. Either way, an additional bed needs to be purchased, we just have to decide if the money will go to a big kid bed or another crib.

Nick & I are still discussing names. At the moment, Matthew is topping our list. I also really like Andrew & William (as does Nick), but we have lots of family with those names already, so we'll probably not use either of those. Can you tell I tend to favor more old fashioned names? ;) I had hoped to sort of honor my mom with her name for our second child - I convinced myself that I already had a boy, so of course nature would grant me with a girl ;) - and planned to use the middle name as either Linda (her first name) or Darlene (her middle name). Now I'm stumped as to what I could use. I've considered using her maiden name as the middle name, but I'm not sure yet. Any one that knew my mom and has suggestions on names that were special to her, please pass them on! And, no, dad, Wolfgang isn't making the list.

Potty training is slow going. Sort of. If Ben has the opportunity to run around naked from the waist down, he's fantastic. He absolutely gets using the potty and I couldn't tell you the last time I had to mop up an accident. This weekend I decided to skip the diaper and and just do underpants and regular pants. I haven't given completely up, but our experiment was a total failure. Ben just doesn't seem to get it (or doesn't care) when he has clothes on. Added to that, he's completely unmotivated by wet clothes. We'll keep trying, but I really feel like we're starting potty training all over again.

Still working on updated blog names for once this little boy is an outside baby. I had one I liked but now I can't remember it... :)

20 Weeks!

I am: 20 weeks, 4 days (over half way there!)
Baby is: approximately 10" head to toes and weighs about 1 pound. This is roughly the size of a banana.
Total weight gain: 1/2 a pound. I went down some.
Maternity Clothes: from here to the end, baby
Sleep: meh. I'm so comfortable... just not all the way asleep.
Cravings: Nothing! :)
Best moment this week: we found out the gender!
Worst moment this week: well, this week was completely awful but for other reasons. The worst thing, baby related, that happened has I did puke a little. Poopy diapers + 1st thing in the morning = no.
Movement: much more than last time! this one is a busy little bugger in the evening, just like big brother!
Gender: It's a.... BOY!
Labor signs: none, whew.
Belly button in or out? still in!
What I miss: sleeping.
Milestones: gender reveal! now to start arguing about names and planning the nursery.

Other than finding out I'd lost half a pound since last month and the gender reveal, nothing too different this week from last. Now I've got to get busy on cleaning out our guest room and transforming it to a baby boy room! Lord, take pity on me! TWO boys!

Little boy is growing just the way he should. He has all the right parts, and they're all in the right places. He's breech at the moment, but he had lots of time to move around. I'm thinking Ben may have been the same way. I remember all of Ben's ultrasound pictures were blurry - he was moving around so much, it was hard to get a good picture of him. The first first image we were greeted with was his boy parts. ;) This boy is quieter during the day - we must have caught him at nap time - and we had to wiggle around a bit to confirm it was a boy, he kept his legs together the whole time!

Oh, and now that I know it's a boy, we will more than likely not have a baby shower. I kept so many of Ben's things, just in case, we don't need a whole lot. That being said, if some one wants to throw me one, I won't say no.... ;) but I'm not planning to have one. I have started a small registry on Amazon with things I'd like to have this time around.. you know.. in case you want to buy us stuff. :) Click here to view it. I'm sure I'll keep adding to it.

18 & 19 Weeks:

No picture & no post last week. But that's okay, it's pretty much the same as this week, so far.

I am: 19 weeks, 2 days at time of posting
Baby is: approximately 6" crown to rump and about 8 & 1/2 ounces. This is roughly the size of a heirloom tomato.
Total weight gain: 1 pound (as far as I know)
Maternity Clothes: lovin' 'em and not lookin' back
Sleep: still not so fabulous. tossing and turning a lot.
Cravings: Nothing! :)
Best moment this week: no puking!
Worst moment this week: leg cramps. I remembered getting cramps. I forgot they were the kind that would seize my leg, start to release as is if done and then cramp back up again. for about 10 minutes. A.W.F.U.L.
Movement: some but not a whole lot
Gender: 9 days (but who's counting?!?)
Labor signs: nope!
Belly button in or out? still in!
What I miss: sleeping.
Milestones: no pukies! that's good enough for me!

Taking pictures was really hard this time. I got irritated and gave up, so this is what you get:

17 Weeks.

Since I had Ben, I have seen so many clever and fun ways to document your pregnancy. I wish I had done more of this the first time around, but I guess I'll make up for it now. I stole most of this questionnaire from another blog, Shannon over at Shannanigans. I don't know if I'll remember to update it every week (and it doesn't look like she did either), but maybe once we get a little further along.

In any case, here are how things are cooking this time around:

I am: 17 weeks, 3 days at time of posting
Baby is: approximately 5" crown to rump and about 5 ounces. This is roughly the size of a turnip. I don't have any turnips, so I demonstrated (below) with a can of soup. :)
Total weight gain: 1 pound
Maternity Clothes: broke out the stretchy waist jeans last week
Sleep: not so great. it's not necessarily getting up to pee, I'm just not super comfortable. This does not look great for the future...
Cravings: Spaghetti, but that's died off some. I can't really think of anything I'm always wanting to have.
Best moment this week: Starting to feel some movement!
Worst moment this week: I vomited twice. Ugh. The problem is, I wake up at like 3:00 or 4:00 raging hungry. By the time I finally get out of bed around 7:00ish, my body is in a panic for food. If I don't feed it ASAP, oh man.
Movement: starting to feel some flutters. I don't really remember Ben at this stage, but I want to say this baby isn't as active.
Gender: too soon to tell. 3 more weeks!
Labor signs: nope! (and thank goodness!)
Belly button in or out? it's in. It never popped with Ben so I don't imagine it will this time, either.
What I miss: Nothing really, just still questioning my sanity at having a 2 & 1/2 year old and a newborn...
Milestones: felt movement!

And here is some photographic evidence that I am indeed, not just uber fat. There's a tiny person in there, wreaking havoc.

Torture (and other Tuesday ramblings)...

Oh man.

Oh MAN.

Let's start at the "beginning" I suppose. I guess by saying that, I need to rewind several years for a brief Sarah history lesson. Couple of years ago (more than 5, I think), I hurt my back. We're not exactly sure how it happened but one night I was having this pretty intense leg pain. I simply couldn't get comfortable. I couldn't lay, I couldn't sit, I couldn't stand - pretty much all I could do was pace our tiny little house and do laps around our kitchen & living room. After a few days of this, Nick finally convinced me to go to the emergency room. There was I given this kick ass shot of Demoral, where I proceeded to fall into a blissful sleep while they attempted to talk to me and figure out what was going on. Prognosis: sciatic. They sent me off for scads of tests (x-rays, MRI's, etc) and determined I had a slipped disc in my lower back that was pressing on my sciatic nerve.

Let me tell you, outside of what I barely remember of child birth - that was the most excruciating pain I have ever been in. Nothing helped but really strong pain meds. I went to physical therapy and got several steroid injections in my back for additional treatment. This pretty much worked, I don't have sciatic pain any more and my back bothers me only occasionally (or when I try to do certain things like any sort of Pilates moves). I have some semi-numbness in part of my left calf and some of my left toes. Other than that, no real issues stemming from this.

I worried that carrying a baby inside my tummy would cause more pressure on my back and/or sciatic but to be honest, I don't remember this being the case with Ben. Well, then I got knocked up with baby #2 and almost instantly (right around 12 or so weeks) I noticed by the end of the day, the sciatic running down my right leg was acting up. I couldn't get comfortable on the couch and the only comfortable way to sleep is on my right side.

At my 16 week check up, I mentioned to my OB that I was having this pain (along with this lovely prema-stuffed nose that there's not a lot they can do about), with a lovely bubble dream that I'd be told to go have a prenatal massage. She suggested physical therapy instead. So she sent me off for a referral and they called me Friday afternoon and got me in for an appointment yesterday.

According to the torture worker, I mean physical therapist, my tailbone was out of alignment and that could be causing some sciatic pain. She implemented several torture techniques to loosen my ribs, loosen my fascia (I didn't know we had that, I thought it was an architectural term...) and all that jazz. Holy crap. That was a painful 45 minutes of adjustment and just overall pain. Apparently she corrected the problem and I may have to admit that it helped my sciatic pain as I haven't noticed any. Although, that could be because I've been in nonstop PAIN since I left their office yesterday evening.

I've been complaining all day: I'm pregnant - why would they be so mean to a pregnant lady? How is this helpful? I hurt so much, it's all I can think about. Oh God, I moved again and it hurt.

I'm such a baby.

In other news, I had my 16 week OB check up on Friday. So far for this pregnancy, I've gained 1 pound. I'm sure now that I'm apparently all done throwing up, the weight will creep on faster... so I should probably limit my spaghetti craving to once a week, rather than every day. Baby's heart was great - Ben thought it was an airplane. :) I'm okay to travel in April to visit our family in Florida. Now all we have to do is wait for Nick's work to approve the time off and get our tax refund back and I can book our tickets! I'm so excited! Not at all looking forward to the plane ride but I'm hoping it won't be as awful as our trip home from Chicago was....

The demands for "come, mommy" aren't as intense as they were, which is nice. I'm still trying to figure out how to discourage hitting, biting and hair pulling when he's upset. My biggest thing right now (and my apologies if I've already blogged this, I can't remember) is trying to figure out how to transition from potty training with no pants on to potty training with something on. He does so fantastic when he's naked waist down but when I put something on him - underwear or a pull up, he doesn't get it. He peed through his underwear a few times and then came to tell me he was wet. The pull up is basically ineffective and a waste of money for us. Either the cool sensation isn't that great or Ben just doesn't care.

I think what we'll end up doing is another 3 day boot camp type deal of underwear and get him used to not peeing in it. I'm honestly just not sure what else to do. Any other experienced mama's have tips? What worked for you?

Gosh, there was so much more I wanted to talk about and then I forgot what most of it was. Maybe you'll see another blog post from me later today! :)

Yes or No.

What's working this pregnancy...
...fruit
...caramel frappuccino's
...gummy prenatal vitamins
...spaghetti (lots & lots of spaghetti)
...ice cream with banana's & chocolate sauce
...orange juice
...Criminal Minds on TV
...late mornings
...fried egg sandwiches (with cheese and mayo)
...a sweet little boy who says "mommy k?" as I run to the kitchen sink to puke
...brownies. I keep craving them.
...watermelon

What's not working this pregnancy...
...my nose. SO over a perma-stuffy nose
...morning sickness. are we done yet or what?
...my surgery scars. they hurt as my tummy expands.
...my sciatic. it's killing me by evening.
...sore hips
...no energy
...bad skin. no thanks, pimples.
...CHICKEN. yuck.
...changing poopy diapers. ughhh....

Just a quick list of things that are oh so yes and oh so no as of my 15th week of pregnancy. 5 more weeks til gender reveal! :)

Randoms.

{Super Ben! as he calls himself}

• Ben's vocabulary continues to astound us every day. He's stringing together more and more words, using actual sentences, referring to himself as either "me" or "Ben". He's starting to stutter a little bit as he struggles to find the word he's looking for.

• We're having a bit of a violent/aggressive/defiant phase with him. Today the TV has remained off or on a music channel all day and I've noticed a marked improvement in his behavior. Even though he didn't really "watch" TV, I'm now convinced even having it on was enough of a distraction to foul his mood
  
  
  
  {doing an arabesque on the beam at Tumble Time with Miss Calista}
  
  
• Last Wednesday we got about 5-6" of lovely, beautiful snow (our first real snow of the season - it's dusted a few times here and there but nothing significant - our ski area just finally opened for the season). By Thursday it was completely melted and Friday Ben & I walked around outside without our coats on. I'm glad Nick was able to work from home last Wednesday so we could enjoy it!

• We're having to be a bit strict/mean with Ben at dinner time. He eats fairly well for breakfast and lunch but refuses to sit longer than 1 bite at dinner. If I can't coax him to stay at the table longer (with trucks or stories or dancing or whatever), then dinner gets put away.
  
  
  {loving the sled}
  
  
• I've been wishing to talk to my mom a lot lately. I sure could use her ear with some of the things I'm dealing with, with Ben. It'd be nice to have her reassurance and even advice.

• We're planning our trip to Florida. I'm so excited! We're getting a fairly nice return from our taxes (thank you, Ben & school!), so we're just waiting to get Nick's time off approved from work, the money to hit our bank and plane tickets will be bought. I'm so excited to take Ben to the beach!! April is our target month.
  

• Nick's working on a new project with a company in Seattle, so I'm hoping he has to go visit that job site. :) Ben & I will absolutely be going with him and I'd love to visit my friends!

• This week I read two books. I read My Life In France by Julia Child and Belly Laughs by Jenny McCarthy. I actually really enjoyed My Life In France. I didn't think I would as I don't particularly care for French cuisine, but I liked her story. I even went and You Tube'd some of her episodes of The French Chef. Belly Laughs was pretty funny. This book isn't for every one, but I laughed a lot and am relieved my pregnancies haven't been as awful as hers! Next up on my to read list of Bossy Pants by Tina Fey.
  

• I read My Life In France for my bookclub that meets tomorrow night. I'm going to bring a Quiche Lorraine to share - I hope it comes out well! :) Seems like a fairly simple recipe that I can do most of it ahead during nap time and then assemble/bake during dinner.

• I've fallen behind on one of my goals for this year. Well, I can't even say fallen behind. I've completely neglected. I wanted to scrapbook a little bit every day. I haven't done it once. Today I organized my paper scraps and I actually felt like doing something, so that might be my night time activity today. :)

• One of the reasons I've been completely slacking on some things is my new obsession with a TV show that's been around awhile. Criminal Minds. I. Love. It. It was always one of those shows that we'd tune in to when we were surfing for something to watch and nothing else was on. Lately, I've been actively seeking it out. Most nights, Ion or A&E have it running from about 7:00 to 11:00 and that's pretty much all I do after Ben goes to bed. I find what channel it's on, I tune in, plop my butt on the couch and am lost in the story until bed time. :)

• I have been doing better about keeping up with my house keeping. I gotta tell ya, since I'm making a conscious effort to stay on top of it every day, I feel like I work nonstop. I'm constantly picking up after Ben or Nick (mostly Ben).

• I hate Snapfish. I put in a photo order on 12/29. On 12/30 they emailed and said it would ship the next business day and should arrive 3-5 business days later (and apparently they count Saturdays as a business day). Bye 01/18 I still hadn't received my photos so I complained. They said they're reprint my order and ship it overnight at no extra expense. My original order showed up on the 19th. I still haven't received my overnighted order. So now I'll have two sets of these prints. I'm so done with Snapfish. This isn't the first time it's happened to me. Shutterfly may cost a little more, but their service is fantastic and shipping times are quick & reliable.

• On the pregnancy update - morning sickness is finally almost done. I seem to be having more good days than bad days lately and actually have an appetite in the mornings. I'm going to have to buy new prego pants. The jeans I wore when I was prego with Ben are too big now (so hooray for weight lost but boo for having to buy new pants). We have a "well fetus" (ha ha, instead of "well baby") visit on Friday. Next month we find out if our bun is a boy or a girl bun! No names chosen. I have two I'm liking a lot for girls and nothing at all on the horizon for boys. Guess we'll do some serious thinking once we know one way or the other!
  

Randoms

Randoms that are too short for their own post and too long for a Facebook update. :)

^^ Ben discovered with one of his sippies, that if he flicks the straw - milk goes every where. He did this for a solid 10 minutes in the car, giggling like a loon the whole time. He was quite a mess.

He no longer calls me "mama". I'm "mommy" almost all of the time. I'm not sure where that came from, but I've decided I don't mind.

I've been meaning to get this down in writing, even though it's months old. In November Ben finally started to say "milk" instead of only signing it. I was cooking dinner and it required some milk - he saw it in the measuring cup and freaked out. Milk! Milk! Milk! He screeched at me, until I found his cup and refilled it. There's been no going back. In fact, he doesn't even sign it anymore. He'll still sign for please (while he says it) and for more (again, while he says it), but nearly all the other signs have stopped.

^^ Ben makes me laugh all the time, by spraying milk all over his face or digging into his outgrown clothes bin, draping some pajama pants around his shoulders and walking around. Silly kid.

It's started to hit me that we're having another baby. I've been quietly lusting over a minivan and part of this appalls me. My friend Stacy said it best - I'm not ready to accept that I'm minivan eligible yet. While she certainly has more need for a minivan than I (3 kiddos and another on the way), I can sure see the appeal of one. They're certainly roomy, have a lot of features that would be useful to have and make traveling so much easier. On the other hand. Ugh. A minivan. Blech.

I still have no feelings one way or the other as to what gender this baby will be. I find myself referring to it as a "he" but I think that's because I already have a he. :) In all my planning though, I keep looking towards girl items. I can tell you that this pregnancy is quite different than my first but I have no idea if that's any indication of gender.

^^ Making good on some of my goals for 2012: we took Ben to the Botanical Gardens last night. They do a yearly event called Winter Garden aGlow. I've been waiting for snow - several people mentioned to me that it's really much more beautiful in the snow but.... this is the last weekend it's on and there's no sign of snow yet. Ben really liked all the "peety yights" (pretty lights) but apparently thought we were at the zoo and kept asking for the zebra's & monkeys.

Earlier in the week, Nick & I were able to sneak away for a date night. My friend Kelsey had tickets for Cirque de Soliel's Michael Jackson the Immortal World Tour that she wasn't able to use, so she offered them up on Facebook. We had a really good time, the performers were amazing (I especially like the trapeze artists) and one in particular blew both Nick & I away: he only has one leg. So amazing.

I'm still trying to find a cheap and not completely hideous dresser for our room. I'd love to have a dresser. I'd love to finish my room and not have it look like the massive crap dumping ground that it's become.

I've been thinking a lot lately about why I blog and my blog audience. First & foremost, I blog for me. This is my little journal, where I note down things that I don't want to forget. Secondly, I blog for family. Not all of our family is local and I don't see our local family every day. This is a great place for me to update every one at once about what's going on in our (mainly Ben's) life. Thirdly, I blog for you. :) I share my trials and tribulations so you can relate, commiserate and offer advise or say "oh, that's what I should try". I share my recipes so you can try them out. I show you projects I've stolen from some one else. What about my blog audience? Well, most of it is family & friends and few blog friends I've made along the way. I've been considering making my blog private... maybe once we come up with a new blog title (since the We Three Beesley's isn't relevant anymore), I'll make it private. We'll see.

So that's it. Some random thoughts condensed into one post. Happy weekend!

Year End Review (and some goals).

Well, 2011 started off the worst way I could have imagined but ended on an upward swing. We lost my mom at the beginning of the year. It remains (and probably will for some time) the worst thing that ever happened to me and my family. We're all still adjusting but we're making our way through it. Life, does in fact, go on for those still living. People change, grow, adapt and move on. So while we started the year with a tragedy, we ended it with a miracle. Our family is growing by one more (which - very, very, very small change - means I'll need a new blog title. We won't be the Three Beesley's anymore!).

This year has been a pretty good one, I suppose, over all. Aside from my mom passing, Nick graduated college with honors and accepted a new job offer. He's learning lots and enjoying his new work. This job is allowing him the opportunity to travel, which is both good and crappy. Ben & I hate having Nick gone (and Nick doesn't particularly like to be away, either) and we aren't looking forward to him having to go again (not on the horizon for awhile, as far as we know). However, it's a great learning opportunity for Nick to travel on behalf of his company and work with the client.

As for myself, not much new. I'm trying hard to get more involved with my mommy group - it would be great to make some friends for myself but my main reason is to get some friends for Ben. I've been struggling these last few months with keeping my commitments to go - this pregnancy is taking a lot out of me so far and it's hard to keep up my motivation. Hopefully this phase passes with the 1st trimester ending and I'll be more reliable.

I thought I'd take some time to review our goals from last year and see if we made any progress on them over 2011. My guess is: no. :) But we'll see. Then I'll make some new ones for 2012. Lots to do with a new baby on the way!

Goal #1: Get my house clean, organized and to stay tidy every day.

Man o man, is this goal ever going to be accomplished? I fear not. As I seem to be using this pregnancy for a cop out on everything lately... :) It's true, though. I have had absolutely no motivation to do anything. I know the kitchen is bad when Nick stops to clean it. Oops. Maybe one day. I have great goals of giving my house a super thorough deep clean and then just doing a few minutes every day, one or two rooms a day, to keep it up. This has never happened. Or at least, not for very long.

Goal #2: Try something new every month.

Well, with a toddler - every day is an adventure and discovering new things every day. We aren't doing as much outside the house, necessarily. This will be an item we continue to work on in 2012. I'll pick out 12 activities we can do locally and cross them off, once a month.

Goal #3: Make baby food myself.

Ha. This no longer applies. Well. It will towards the end of 2012. :)

Goal #4: Clean out the clutter & live more simply.

Definitely always a work in progress. We clear and pare down and then a few months go by and we clear and pare down some more. I imagine we'll have a large purging process this spring, in preparation for the new baby. Maybe we'll actually have that garage sale this year.

Goal #5: Spend less, save more.

So I just died of hysterical laughter. We're horrible at saving money. It feels like we never have any, you know? So when we get some extra, we're so excited to be able to go do this or go buy that that we never hang on to that extra for very long. I'd like to start up a yearly vacation fund, so we can start taking Ben on fun trips like Disney World. Plus, it would be nice if we could afford to go visit Nick's family (at Disney World? ha ha) or my friends in Seattle.

Goal #6: Tackle some of those "I'd love to do ______" projects.

Hm. Sort of. We ripped out our backyard deck but didn't get any further on fixing it up (we're stumped on what to do next). We planted a few container gardens and I have some ideas on how to expand on that this year. I made Nick build our bed. Maybe we'll get to some more this year!

Now on to some goals (and just random things I want to do) for 2012:
#1 - we're hoping to be able to use some (or most) of our tax return money to visit our family in Florida (probably before new baby comes - I'm thinking perhaps April).
#2 - improve & expand our veggie garden
#3 - clear out and ready the guest room for new baby!
#4 - deep clean the house and maintain a little bit every day.
#5 - make a list of 12 things to do around our area and do one a month
#6 - fix our backyard. may need to contact a landscaping company for ideas.
#7 - for me: try to scrapbook every day. even just one page.
#8 - play outside, every day. Even if it's raining.
#9 - things to help Ben: get rid of the bink, finish potty training, try out a big boy bed, look into preschool options for late summer/early fall.
#10 - for Nick: clear out the garage, paint, create storage & organize.

Happy New Year to you all! I hope 2012 is a great year full of much accomplishment, personal growth and great experiences.