Baby R2: 35 weeks

How far along: 35 weeks, and just 35 days until my due date! It seems like just yesterday we hit the under 50 days mark. April has absolutely flown by, and I'm hoping May does the same.

How big is the baby: Baby is about 5.25 lbs., 18 inches long,  and as large as a honeydew melon. Since things are snug in the womb, movements aren't as dramatic, but still there. Kidneys are fully developed and baby can process some waste products through the liver. His/her main job until born is to pack on the pounds.
Weight gain/loss: Exactly 31 lbs.

Sleep: Good for the most part, although it seems that I'm taking 2 bathroom breaks every night now. My heating pad is definitely a lifesaver.

Diet/Cravings/Aversions: Nothing specific

Gender: Still a surprise :) Kind of wanting a girl because we have two great girl names but nothing we love for a boy.

Movement: Still a lot of nudges, etc. Some are a bit painful.

Worries: Nothing eally. I've either gotten used to the back, etc. pain or figured out how to manage it, so while I'm still uncomfortable, I'm sure I can make it to my due date at this point.

The belly: Large. I measured the other day for fun (obviously I have a warped mind) and it was about 42 inches. EEK! All for a very good cause though.

  

 

 

 

 

 

What I'm Loving: Being so close to the due date, I feel like I'm in the final stretch and there is an end in sight.

Symptoms: Just tired and difficult to move. Lots of back pain.

Big Brother: Over the weekend he decided he wanted the baby to be a boy "like me and daddy." But still says "her." Who knows.
 

What's different this time: Just that the baby is low and I've got more swelling/back pain. Not bad swelling, but I know it's there.

What I'm looking forward to: Getting everything on my baby prep list done.

Best moment of the week: I'm on the committee for a large awards banquet in our town and it went off without a hitch, with lots of great compliments. The stinkers actually surprised me with an award as well, which was pretty cool. 

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Baby R2: 34 weeks!

How far along: 34 weeks!

How big is the baby: Baby weighs about 4.75 lbs. and is around the size of a cantaloupe. About 18 inches long, fat layers are still filling out the baby, making him/her rounder, and the skin is mother than ever. Baby's lungs are continuing to mature. For those worried about preterm labor (since I feel like this baby may fall out if I sneeze) the good news is that babies born between 34-37 weeks with no other health problems generally do just fine.
Weight gain/loss: Exactly 30 lbs.

Sleep: Really great. I'm finding that my back is aching a bit more in the mornings so I need to pull out the pillow to have in between my knees.

Diet/Cravings/Aversions: Pretty much in love with peanut M&Ms.

Gender: Still a surprise :)

Movement: Quite a bit and some rather painful. Baby is camping out low and getting the hips/bladder.

Worries: Absolutely nothing other than actually making it to my due date! I'm really uncomfortable and sometimes the thought of X more days (42 as of today) is a little overwhelming/unbearable.  

The belly: Big and low. I get comments from the hubby almost daily somewhat to the effect of "whoa, that baby sure is growing." Sigh. Stretch marks are still silver so no new ones and I'm glad for that. I can't bend over (had him get my shoes on the other day) and it's just generally hard to move these days.

  

 

 

 

 

 

What I'm Loving: The great weather because I can wear dresses and sandals.

Symptoms: Exhaustion and swelling. I think my feet were a bit swollen yesterday - nothing huge, but my shoes felt a little tighter at the end of the day.

Big Brother: It's touch and go. I'm reading lots of articles about the transition. He's getting a bit more clingy and starting baby talk but I think excited. Last night when going to bed (he has hubs lay down with him for 5 minutes) gave baby a hug and kiss and said "I love you soooo much baby toots." Then moved and insisted his daddy do the same. Super sweet.
 

What's different this time: Just that the baby is low and I've got more swelling/back pain. Not bad swelling, but I know it's there.

What I'm looking forward to: The baby getting here :) But not until I've had a chance to check most things off the baby prep list.

Best moment of the week: Definitely that hubs is working to get the baby room back in order so I can start really marking things off that list!

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15 minutes

Mornings are a struggle in our house. None of us are really morning people and with so much to do, it always gets a little crazy, which leads to me getting upset around 7:25 when I still have to get dressed and need to be on the road in 5 minutes, have a toddler who doesn't want to listen, etc.

But I've learned 15 minutes makes all the difference... I'm not rushed and walking in the door at 8:02 and just generally more pleasant.

Hubby is training a new guy at work, so while his job is typically flexible on when he arrives, since he has this guy riding along, J absolutely needs to be out at a pretty certain time to meet the new guy. Of course, it's not exactly fair to me for him to just leave and give me more responsibilities, so we are all just getting up a bit earlier to do things, and it's going perfect.

A typical morning now looks like this: Hubby's alarm goes off at 5:45 ... we usually snooze once before he gets up and showers. I try to wake up/get out of bed when I hear him brushing his teeth, around 6:15. I start getting ready (hair, makeup, etc.) until he is done and heads down to feed the horses. Then I make my way into the kitchen. I've been prepping coffee the night before so it's already brewed and I start making bacon & eggs for his and Cooper's breakfast and packing up J's lunch.

Since Cooper is much more cooperative for his daddy than he is for me in the mornings, the deal is that J gets him ready while I take care of everything in the kitchen. On a good morning, once they make it to the kitchen, I am finishing up breakfasts so they can eat. Spending time with his daddy in the mornings always makes Cooper a bit happier as well. J typically eats a bacon, egg and cheese sandwich while Coop has a couple pieces of bacon - he also gets breakfast at daycare, but steals bits from the hubs if I don't have something for him! Once J is done, we walk him to the door (which is a long process since we have to stand there and wave, etc. until his truck is out of site!) and then I get C set up in front of the TV. By now it's a little before 7 so I head back to my bedroom and finish getting ready.

Lately, I've been STARVING at breakfast time so I've been making a sunny side up egg with a couple slices of bacon. It still doesn't hold me over until lunch but it does hold me over the minimum 3 hours thanks to the lovely prenatals. So I have time to make breakfast, pack lunch then sit down and eat. By then it's usually about 7:25 and I just sit with Coop Man until his show is over (that kid gets pissed if you turn the tv off in the middle of a show!) and we get on the road. Not only do I have time to drop him off and say bye, I'm getting to work 5-10 minutes early and starting the day off pretty relaxed and stress free.

That, my friends, is totally worth it.


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What Cooper eats

When this baby is born, my parents will be keeping Cooper for a few days while we are in the hospital. He has "his room" at their house and actually gets mad sometimes when we pick him up instead of having him stay the night, so it will be a real treat for him.

Since my due date is quickly approaching, we are planning to have a bag packed for him and possibly some extra supplies at my parents house by the 36 week mark so it's one less thing to remember/forget, especially if we have to get on the road at 3 a.m. to take him. My mom is already trying to get things ready (they aren't excited at all :)) and was asking me what snacks, etc. to keep on hand. I thought it may be a good thing to blog - not only for other toddler mamas but also as a bit of a Cooper update.

In short - he eats what we eat 90% of the time. He really looks up to his daddy and PaPa and will do just about anything they do!

Not only do I think he just has a great appetite, the fact that I nursed and then made his baby food, I believe, played a huge role in this!

That kid loves his fruits and veggies. I was looking at a sale ad the other day and he saw the produce and was like "mom, can we get these and these," pointing to carrots and grapes. Strawberries are one of his favorites, and if he sees an apple he will often bite in, without even giving me a chance to wash it off (this is why I try to wash produce the minute I get home from the store!)

While most of our snacks are at home, we also like grab-and-go options - which may be vital when he is at their house, as my dad farms and depending on the weather, they may be out in the tractor a big chunk of the day.

We are big fans of crackers - animal crackers, goldfish, etc. These can, of course, be purchased pre-packaged or in bulk. Since I'm frugal, we typically buy the bigger containers and just package them into snack bags ourselves.

Cooper is also a HUGE fan of dairy products. He loves string cheese and yogurt. As a mom, I especially love giving him foods that pack in protein or some additional nutrition, so I love the Chobani Tots and Chobani Kids Greek Yogurt Pouches. Not only do I prefer Greek yogurt for myself due to the nutrition and high protein, when it comes to buying for Coop, I prefer it since it contains real fruits and vegetables and only natural ingredients - no preservatives or artificial colors and flavors!

If all else fails, I don't think Cooper would ever say no to "peanut butter toast" - which is actually toast with jelly - typically grape or my mom's homemade strawberry jam! And that kid continues his love for spaghetti. In fact, the other night he declared spaghetti as "my favorite, you know." I make it pretty often as hubs and I like pasta, I can buy pasta made with veggies, extra fiber, etc., and it's easy, but always keep cans of Chef Boyardee around - the ABCs with meatballs are actually his favorites.

Then of course, there's always chocolate and brownie batter :)

What do you all feed your toddlers?

This post is part of the new #ChobaniKids project. .However, all opinions are my own!

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Baby R2: 33 Weeks!

How far along: 33 weeks. Less than 50 days to go {not that I'm counting down or anything :)}

How big is the baby: Baby weighs more than 4 lbs. (about the size of a pineapple) and has topped 17 inches! He/she is rapidly losing the wrinkled, alien look. His/her skeleton is also hardening to prepare for birth.

Weight gain/loss: About 28 lbs. I think

Sleep: Pretty good, especially since we turned on the A/C. It was so stuffy at night that I did it and I'm glad.

Diet/Cravings/Aversions: I'm really loving pasta.

Gender: Still a surprise :)

Movement: A lot and I think I'm beginning to run out of room. Seriously not sure how this baby will practically double in size in the next 7 or so weeks.

Worries: Nothing right now.

The belly: Big and low. Thankfully none of my stretch marks have reappeared.

  

 

 

 

What I'm Loving: The weather is getting nicer!

Symptoms: I'm getting tired again. Some swelling. My doctor says I just need to slow down and relax more often. That's hard to do as a full-time employee, wife and mama to a 3 year old, but I'm trying.

Big Brother: He's been very clumsy over the past week. Split his eye open, hit his cheek, practically had his hand cut off. Just a boy I guess. I joke I need a girl to even things out a bit, because that kid isn't scared of anything!

What's different this time: Well last pregnancy, I had kidney stones at some point between 32 and 33 weeks so I'm glad that's not happened this time. But in my 33 week post with Coop, I commented on how shocked people were to learn how close I was to my due date since I'm still "tiny" (HA!) and I've gotten that comment several times over the past week this time as well!

What I'm looking forward to: I've finally gotten our room back in order and the baby's room cleaned out, so hopefully if it rains this weekend, the hubs will work on getting it touched up and the crib re-assembled, because next weekend I'll start in with laundry, car seats, swing, etc. Our house is about to get baby-fied again!

Best moment of the week: Getting our water running again :) Turning on the A/C. Maternity photos.

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Life lately

Man, oh man. I feel like all I have time for these days are my bump updates and honestly? That's a stretch but I'd feel WAY too guilty if I didn't do them since I don't ever want this child to feel like he/she is getting the shaft. So let's do a little catch up post, shall we?
{Also known as random thoughts and iPhone photo dump}

• Hell has officially frozen over. We turned on our A/C last night. On April 9. Typically hubs and I try to wait until June, but it's usually Memorial Day weekend. It was 78 in my house and I thought I was going to die. So on it went!

• Honestly, I probably would have turned it on earlier this week if it weren't for our water pump going out. We have a water heat/air unit, which is great on utilities. But yeah ... Monday morning I realized our pump was running, running, running ... so hubs just had me unplug it. (Thank goodness I was off work and home that day.) Tuesday night he was up until almost 3 a.m. installing a new one and trying to get it to work. The next morning, I called my dad to ask if he knew who could help, and he called the man who works on their well/pump. By noon, we had water, praise the Lord! Turns out there was a small crack on the pipe leading into the house. Never have I been so glad to have water and be able to do dishes, etc.

• Replacing that pipe meant a big pile of dirt for the little one to play in that night. So glad we had water to hose him off!

• My maternity photos are this weekend! The sad part? I had a dress in mind to wear but tried it on last night and it looks AWFUL. Seriously. So not to dig through the closet tonight!
• This popped up on my Facebook and I think it's pretty darn cool.

• I've been having some swelling, aches and pains so my dr. told me yesterday to pop up my feet and take some baths. So being the good patient I am, I listened. Thankfully hubby was at the appt. so he knows it's just doctor's orders!

• My parents usually watch Cooper when I have OB appts. since their house is more or less on the way. Coop's artic cat is up there and while he loves it, he's getting gutsier and gutsier. When he went over a hill on their acreage last night and we couldn't see him, my dad got on the Gator to go round him up. Then they "raced" back. Silly little boy.

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Easter 2015

We had a wonderful, laid-back Easter weekend.

I actually had Friday-Monday off for Easter break (gotta love working in higher ed!). Since this is my last scheduled time off until Memorial Day or the baby comes, I was glad to have the time to get some things accomplished.

Friday morning I had a haircut, and while out I also did some shopping and treated myself to a pedi. I figured my feet needed some love and since I can't exactly bend over, it was a good day to get it done ... now maybe hubs can help me keep them maintained until I deliver. That afternoon, I got a little work done around the house, and also made desserts for our Easter gathering on Saturday.

Saturday morning I took the little man to an Easter egg hunt/activity time at a nearby church some friends attend. Unfortunately we had to leave before everything wrapped up because we had to get to my parents' house for lunch. My parents do our big family Easter on Saturday, which is great because that way we aren't cramming 2 big family events into one day. We had an absolutely amazing meal and then spent a lot of time outside, which was perfect after all the rain we'd had over the previous week.

Family ride on the Gator

That night, we went home and just chilled and did some picking up around the house.

Sunday was a great day! After sleeping in a bit, we got up and let Cooper look through his Easter basket (we do Dollar Tree-type stuffer and useful stuff, so he got some new tennis shoes this year). He begged his daddy to make pancakes, so we did that and afterwards, J snuck outside to feed the horses and hide his eggs. For his eggs, I always recycle candy and then put some coins in - he knows the minute he picks it up what's inside!

 

After a little time outside enjoying the sunshine and his new "gubble" gun, we went inside to let him watch TV and J and I get some more house work done. For the first time in I don't know how long, I got my kitchen, main bath and living room all cleaned, and it was a wonderful feeling.

Mid-afternoon, we went my BIL and SIL's house for a cookout. At which Cooper was running around, slid and fell into a wooden chair. Ouch. Thankfully SIL is a nurse so gave him his first SteriStrips :(

Monday morning he wasn't feeling the best and although I had planned to take him to daycare, decided to just keep him home since he begged. I figured since he wasn't feeling well (his pesky cough has returned) he wouldn't be too much of a handful.

Then, oh, around 9 a.m. I realized our water was giving us issues and the pump (in our basement) was running nonstop, so hubby had me turn it off. I had C signed up for a sibling class at the hospital where I'll deliver that night, so we made plans to leave a bit early and stop at my parents house so I could shower on the way. Meanwhile, I took a lot of the paint supplies, tools, etc. we had been using but were done with down to our basement and worked on cleaning our master and getting some of the mess out of the nursery too, since it's next on the list!

Of course, I arrived home to hubs saying that the pump was shot and just needed replacing - which he couldn't do until the next day, and couldn't get off work. Of course. Thank goodness for bottled water. But a pretty great weekend, minus those lovely homeowner issues.

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Baby R2: 32 weeks

How far along: 32 weeks! I'm 8 months pregnant!!!

How big is the baby: About 3.75 lbs. and the size of a large jicama, whatever the heck that is. Baby is about 16.7 inches long and taking up a lot of space in the uterus. Of the pound (ish) I should gain every week, about half of that goes right to the babe. He/she has toenails, fingernails, and real hair, and the skin is becoming soft and smooth as baby fattens up in preparation for birth.

Weight gain/loss: No clue, I didn't weigh this week.

Sleep: Very restless. It's getting more and more difficult to be comfortable so lots of waking up and changing positions.

Diet/Cravings/Aversions: Nothing specific

Gender: We'll find out in 8 or so weeks.

Movement: Quite a bit and it's getting painful. I said the same thing in my 32 week post with Coop.

Worries: With the back pain I've been having, I'm worried I won't be able to handle the pain for another 56 or so days.

The belly: Big and low, and everyone says I have popped in the past week.

  

 

 

 

What I'm Loving: The nicer weather and that we are less than two months out from my due date. I'm not enjoying pregnancy this time around.

Symptoms: Back pain. Bad ... in my upper back, just below the ribs. I've done a bit of research that indicates I may need a lumbar support pillow so I'm going to pick one up today or tomorrow.

Big Brother: I took him to a sibling class at the hospital where I'll be delivering last night. I'll probably do a more in-depth post later, but all I have to say right now is good luck, Baby Brother/Sister.

What's different this time: Just that the baby is so low. Also being very pregnant while it's getting warmer ... These hot flashes are no fun.

What I'm looking forward to: Maternity photos this weekend!

Best moment of the week: Easter ... it's our last holiday as a family of three! Also taking Coop to the sibling class. He's going to be very loving, just not really realize how gentle he needs to be.

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April Fool's aftermath

Yesterday, I posted this to my Facebook and Instagram accounts:

Haha. Thanks to my friend with some very good photoshop skills, we fooled a lot of people.

Just to clarify: We don't know the sex. And this isn't our boy name. Middle name, but not real name.

Excited that the babe will be here in less than 9 weeks though. Ish is getting real.

Cooper also did a good one on me yesterday ... mind you, I'm pretty sure he had no idea it was a day of pranks!

Usually in the mornings, he likes to push the button to open the garage door, and wants the actual door from the house closed. He always says "You can come out now!" once he has pushed the button. Yesterday, I realized I left my big water cup on the bar (about 20 feet away) and went to grab it. When I went to the garage, no Cooper.

He is an outdoor kid and likes to run around back some in the mornings so I looked there and still didn't see him. Which is when I began to panic a little. He had been unsupervised less than 20 seconds and our front yard is practically an acre, so no time for him to get to the highway or someone to grab him, but where was he?

I should also mention here that he is into hiding these days, but typically not very good at it because he's always giggling.

I ran through the house yelling his name, back out to the garage (where I turned off my car), whipped around the house, looked in our shed, even ran out to the road. Looked under our vehicles. Still no Cooper. Obviously at this point it's probably been about 10 minutes and I'm terrified so I call hubby. When he answered I blurted out "I can't find Cooper. I promise you this is no joke, but I can't find him."

While on the phone I keep looking and hubby, who is about 30 minutes away, has turned his truck around to come home. He then instructs me to look in every nook and cranny of the garage. I am doing this and extremely upset, then look down between two couches. There is my kid, scrunched up, and has even moved a box in front of him to hide himself.

How he hid for that long and so quietly is beyond me. Even though it's not funny, I have to give him props for moving the box, staying quiet, etc. But yeah ... he got a spanking and punishment of no TV last night.

Something tells me my kid won't be giving me a heart attack like that ever again.

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