The Chaser Becomes the Chasee

Tonight we had the sewing tape out to take some measurements.  It all started because Ryan wanted me to measure him for the National Guard.  It then led to measuring my belly (44 inches if you were wondering), and finally measuring Aric's belly because he was curious as to what we were doing. 

After I measured Aric's belly, Aric ran off with the measuring tape, only to discover that our cat was interested in pouncing on the end of it.  Aric thought it was the greatest thing in the world and ran around upstairs dragging the measuring tape behind him, getting chased by a cat and belly laughing the whole time.  It was a different turn of events since Aric is usually the one doing the chasing.

Insommnia

The last couple of nights I've had trouble falling asleep and remaining asleep.  It doesn't help having to make multiple trips to the bathroom either, but I guess that's God's way of preparing mothers for waking up multiple times during the night to tend to a newborn.

I just have too much on my mind: e-mails and thank you letters I need to get caught up on, items to add to my grocery list, things I need to clean around the house, laundry I need to do, last minute things that need put away, pulled out, washed or assembled for the baby.  It really is enough to drive anyone crazy.  Add in the unknown of what will happen Monday morning.  Yes, I know I'm supposed to be at the hospital at 5:30am and my surgery is scheduled for 7:30am, but what are they going to do for two hours, how will the surgery go, how will the recovery go.  Don't forget we're going to have a newborn again- will she be as easy as Aric was or will she be the tough little cookie that she's been throughout the whole pregnancy.  We're not just going to have a newborn, but we still have a rambunctious16 month old running around too.

It's enough to drive anyone crazy and hinder a good night's sleep.  I am looking forward to getting this watermelon out of my belly holding my daughter, though.  It doesn't matter if I get everything or nothing done by Monday morning.  We're just looking forward to her.

What Does It Mean...

...when your child stands underneath you, lifts up the bottom of your shirt, pokes your belly, laughs, and then runs away, only to return to repeat it all over again?

Just One of Those Days...

Last night I stayed home "sick" from work.  I wasn't sick per se other than I ended up pulling a muscle in my hip and lower back while walking downstairs.  That's what I call "too pregnant".  The day before I pulled a muscle in my belly from rolling over in bed, which I thought was bad, until I hurt my back.  I knew 10 hours sitting all night was not going to help anything.  I decided it would be best to call in sick and get some sleep and rest.  After 10 hours of sleep, I feel much better.  I can still feel the pulled muscle, but at least I'm able to function with it.

This photo is from yesterday, when I was injured and "feeling too pregnant".

And the white peeking out of my shirt is my belly brace, because, yes, I've reached that point.

Aric has been in a destructive mood today.  He wants to play with anything and everything and spread it all around the house.  Anything and everything isn't easy for me to clean up in my current state.  We allow him access to a couple of cabinets and drawers in the kitchen, and he likes to spread around the items that occupy those cabinets.  Today I saw him walk across the dining room holding a jar candle.  Apparently there are still items in the cabinets that are not childproof.  I came up behind him to grab the candle out of his hands only to make it in time to watch him throw the candle on the floor.  Glass went everywhere, but I was right there to scoop him up before he could react.

I stuck him in his high chair with some crayons and paper and proceeded to clean up the mess.  To my annoyance I remembered our dust pan is missing, which we discovered at the end of last week.  Thankfully we have a shop vac in the house.  I vacuumed the glass and then pulled our other vacuum out to finish cleaning the floor, while Aric sat happily playing with eating his crayons.  Yes, I said eating.  I looked over while I was cleaning and he was chowing down on a green crayon as if I hadn't fed him lunch.  I think that might've been the last straw.

I cleaned him up, put him in the car and went to the store, where I proceeded to buy more cabinet latches and a dust pan.  I don't know why eating crayons tipped me over, but I decided I need less chaos in my life.  Today my version of less chaos is putting cabinet latches on all of the cabinets.  I'm just tired of cleaning up the mess he makes in the kitchen, and with a new baby almost here I had visions of two of them making twice the mess.  Add in hormones and pregnant woman grouchiness and visions of two little ones terrorizing the house was more than I could handle.

Aric is currently napping, the kitchen has more cabinet latches and Mommy is in a much better mood!

Photo taken on a day when he wasn't destroying the house.

It's October

Twenty-one weeks ago we found out about the abruption and we were unsure of the future.  My OB was optimistic, however, and we prayed and trusted God to heal the abruption.  Four weeks later we found out that He had healed me and the baby was doing fine.  We never thought we would have more problems.  Then eleven weeks ago we found out about the second abruption and were thrust into a path of darkness.  No one knew what was going to happen and we feared the worst.  We chose to trust God through it all.  No matter what happened, if the baby was born early or if she didn't make it at all we knew that God would be there for us.  We took it one day at a time, because that's all we could do.

We've made it to October 1st.  The baby is 37 weeks along and doing well.  She's large, healthy and quite the little acrobat.  In eleven days we'll be given the opportunity to meet this little fighter.  She will completely change our lives and add on a new dimension to our family. 

We can't wait...

First Gift

Last night I arrived at work, opened my lunch bag and what did I find?   A half eaten Nilla wafer on top of everything- a gift from Aric.  I  laughed.

Ryan and I caught him playing with my lunch bag right before I left.  The bag has an easy access velcro flap on the top that Aric discovered.  Ryan told him to leave it alone, which probably scared him and he dropped/forgot/left the Nilla wafer where it was.

It was pretty nice to find, though.  Not because I was going to eat a half eaten Nilla wafer, but because I'm sure it will be the first of many creative gifts surprises from my son.

Little Ham

The first photo we are usually able to catch him unaware...

By the second photo, he knows his picture is being taken and he'll move away or even closer and sit down for a photo...

He might even pose for the photo...

(Don't mind the drool, he's still working on his molars.)

He'll still move around and pose for the photos...

And he'll even ham it up for the camera a bit...

Finally, he'll come over to take a look at all of the photos that you've taken.  He'll smile and point at each picture of himself and cry when the camera gets put away.