Shoo Fly

Tonight was my night to rock Eden before bed time. We don't have a rocking chair in her room anymore, but she does like to be held while she lays down on our shoulder before getting into bed. This is one of those things that I hope we don't lose out on when Baby Boy gets here. Those are such special moments that I want to make sure to hold on to.

Before Lane said goodnight and left the room he gave her all of her kisses. She likes to get kisses on her eyes, nose, cheeks, chin, hands, anything! She got butterfly kisses and eskimo kisses tonight before Daddy left. She giggled when he tickled her with his eye lashes and she loved getting "nose kisses." Of course before I left the room we had to go through all of the kisses again. Eden wanted to "kiss eyes, kiss nose, kiss cheeks" and so on!

When she said "shoo fly kiss" it took me a minute to figure out what she was asking for. This was new to me. A "shoo fly kiss?" Ohhhhhh, she wanted a butterfly kiss! Night time routine just got more fun since she's asking for new things and using her own lingo. Reminds me why I love her so much! She's just too cute for words!

D Day!

Today is the day. 

The day that Baby Boy is due. 

The day that I want to hold my son. 

The day is here and I'm trying every myth possible to go into labor before being induced next Monday. I'm drinking raspberry tea like it's going out of style, I've purchased my castor oil and I dread taking even a sip of it, I've eaten spicy foods (Cajun and Mexican) and only gotten heartburn, I'm taking primrose oil capsules in addition to my prenatal vitamins, I've gone on walks even when I wanted to nap, and I've even tried carrying Eden around on the hike this past Saturday all while getting weird looks from other people. Baby Boy is cozy in the belly and I'm beginning to wonder if he's ever going to come out to meet us...

40 weeks. Baby Boy is DUE!

Motherhood Is...{8}

Being Selfish

Not all the time of course, but isn't the sight of bubbles in the bath one of the most beautiful things after a stressful day/week?! Ah, to allow yourself the time to be alone and in the silence of a bubble bath is nothing short of bliss. I told Lane about a month ago that one of the reasons I enjoy pregnancy so much is because I will allow myself to take time for me without feeling guilty about it. I will make time in the evenings to run a warm bubble bath. I will make time on the weekends when he's home to go get a pedicure {because I can't reach my toes on my own!} I take time out for myself and I'm not sure that I do that when I'm not carrying a child. When I'm not pregnant I worry about taking care of the house, the cooking, the groceries, and everything else {with help from Lane, too} and I feel like I'm more likely to try to take on the world. After the "off" days that I had in the beginning of the week the sight of bubbles in the tub was simply amazing! I couldn't have asked for anything better and I was glad to be selfish and indulge in the silence. 

A Whole Lot of Random

This week was a really random week for me. Over the weekend last weekend I had SO MUCH energy. We swore this baby was coming without a doubt. Well, the weekend came and went and so did my energy. I actually sent my dad a text message on Tuesday asking him for prayers because I was just in a funk and couldn't find my way out of it. It took me all day to fold a basket of laundry and every little thing that Eden did was the end of the world. I'm not sure if it's being pregnant or if it's just that I used all my energy and had nothing left on reserve after the weekend, but there was something. After talking to my dad, shedding a few tears and coming back to reality things started looking up and Eden and I started getting along again! 

February 16 - Eden decided she would stand in the window...on the window sill. Oh, and in her underwear! Where does she learn this stuff?! I know I've never done this before!

February 17 - My new sewing machine and all its glory! I've even made a {very simple} curtain for the laundry room with it! It's SO quiet!!!

February 18 - Fabric shopping because the only thing I want to do is sew, sew, sew! These were ideas for the kitchen, but I'm not sold on either one as of yet.

February 19 - 39 weeks, Baby boy doesn't have much more room to grow, so he needs to come on out already! 

February 20 - Eden's kitchen accessories were taking up the majority of the "counter space" that was allotted on her kitchen that she got for Christmas, so I painted a shelf we weren't using and hung it in the toy room for some added storage for her. 

February 21 - I was folding clothes and I had the tv on. My guess is that Eden got too impatient  with me and just decided to relax and watch tv too. This is how she set herself up...pillow, blanket and all!

February 22 - Eden set up her tray for breakfast. She loves to sit in the living room and eat on the floor!

February 23 - Such a beautiful and sunny day in Southern California! Eden loves to play with Cael and Cael loves to play with Eden. When they can play outside, there's nothing that can go wrong!

Goin' On A Bear Hunt

Ok, so no, we didn't go looking for bears - or any wildlife for that matter - but we did go on a hike with friends. There's a great place close by called Dixon Lake {where we did our family maternity photo shoot} and there are lots of walking trails. The area is beautiful. There are mountain views all around and when you're on a downhill portion of the walk you're overlooking nothing but an expanse of beauty!

We went out with our friends Angie and James and their two boys, Cael and Coen, to go for a short hike/family walk. I guess short is kind of an understatement. The walk was a total of almost 2 hours and I have no idea what the distance was - it wasn't as much as it seems because we were slowed down by the 2 year old and 3 year old and their slower pace. Eden walked some of it and rode in our carrier or on our shoulders part of the time. I was really proud of her for what she accomplished and without any complaining {for the most part}.

One of the reasons we went today was to hopefully get Baby Boy excited about family outings so he'd come join us. No such luck {yet}! He still doesn't seem interested in coming to meet us right now. He seems pretty happy where he is. Since the walk didn't work - and none of my other walks this week that were about 1.5 miles each worked either - I'm going to go get some rest. He's going to be here within the next 10 days so if I can't exercise him into the world, I'll just make sure I'm well rested for labor!

Just Wait

That's what I do these days, just wait. Baby Boy has decided to slow things down and take his sweet time to come meet us all. I had an appointment today and the doctor didn't seem optimistic about a delivery any time soon. Of course, he'll be here sooner than later at this point, but not too soon. She did another pelvic check on me and I've made SOME progress, just not much. Not a big deal to be honest with you. And actually, it was exactly what I thought she might say today. After all, even though my water broke at home with Eden I still only dilated to 1cm by the time I made it to the hospital.

This go round, I've already made it to 2cm! That's progress if I've ever made any on my own! All in all the appointment went well. My blood pressure looks completely normal {120s/80s} and Baby Boy's heart rate sounded good and strong {she didn't show me his numbers, but it sounded good!}. When she did my check she said I was between 2-3cm, but since my cervix isn't thinning she would consider me 2cm and 25% effaced. Not great, but I'll take what little progress I can make as long as we both remain healthy.

Oh, but I almost forgot...She also set an induction date. By the time March 5 rolls around we'll be meeting Baby Boy. I have to call labor and delivery on March 5, see if they're busy and if they aren't they'll let me know when I need to come in so they can get things going. Lane and I agree, if the kids are going to have birthdays so close, we want them to have the same birthday, but the doctor wasn't budging for that. She also said that she didn't see enough medical reason for inducing on leap year next week. Oh well, so by March 6 we'll be a family of 4! Get ready because you're going to know his name before too long!

Motherhood Is...{7}

Being Prepared

My goal was to stock the freezer this week in case Baby Boy came so I could still feed my family when I'm not in the mood to actually cook. He didn't come, but I did hold true to my goal and I made all kinds of meals for the freezer. I'm still stocking, as a matter of fact. Earlier this week I made the crock pot meals that I was so excited about. I found a website with a grocery list and recipes for 5 different crock pot meals that you can freeze. That's not even the best part about it. Each recipe is split, so I have 10 crock pot meals in the freezer and all I have to do is thaw them out, throw them in the crock pot, and call it a day. Another day this week I made a pesto sauce for a chicken pesto stuffed shells and I had extra pesto {about 20oz extra actually!} and I decided to freeze it. The recipe is a P90X recipe, so it's made in a more healthy way than using the butters and fatty things like that. Not to mention it's delicious! I decided to freeze it in ice cube trays {much like I did when I made Eden's baby food} so that it's in smaller sizes for thawing later. Hopefully by doing this we will still be able to eat home cooked meals that are well rounded when we're all too tired to put complete thoughts...I mean meals...together.

Time?

As I get closer to the 39 week mark I feel like that's the official "end" of pregnancy. Everyone says you go earlier  with each child and my water broke the night of 39 weeks and 39 weeks 1 day with Eden. We're quickly approaching that milestone and I'm so eager! Monday marks 39 weeks, which is the night that my water broke with Eden. If I'm going to hold true to going earlier with baby #2, then that means I'll have a baby within 48 hours.

There are days that I can see this happening, but there are days that I feel like I'll have to be induced. Days like today when I had a super burst of energy make me feel like I'm going to go into labor today. {Don't worry, we made sure to put my energy to good use and we cleaned out the garage so my car can fit in!} Then I remember that I've been having contractions almost every day for 3 weeks {just tightening of my belly, nothing truly labor-like} and I'm only dilated 1-2cm as of Tuesday. And there's the fact that about a week ago Baby Boy decided to decent from my ribs into my pelvis, so I should be in labor soon, right? Problem is that all "signs of labor" that I've experienced mean impending labor within the next few hours...days...or weeks! Ugh.

I guess we'll continue playing the waiting game to see when Baby Boy wants you to know his name! Patience is not my strong suit, so I'm just trying to remember that I have never been in control of this and that he will be here when the time is right...

A Week in Our Life

February 10 - Eden and her friends Henry and Cael while Mommy and Daddy enjoyed dinner with their parents! The kids got to watch The Little Mermaid - this moment didn't last long!

February 11 - Lane and I celebrating my birthday early thanks to good friends who kept Eden for us. We didn't know if I'd make it to my birthday without a new baby around, so we went out to play putt putt and have dinner a week early. 

February 12 - Eden napping on the video monitor. I find that even though she's not a "tiny baby" anymore I still can't take my eyes off of her! She's too perfect for words!

February 13 - At the playground on base before heading to the commissary and lunch with Daddy. Eden discovered that she loves the swings. I discovered that I can get tired from just pushing a swing now that I'm 9 months pregnant!

February 14 - Happy Valentine's Day! This is me and Baby boy before heading to the doctor. I had to make sure to get  a picture of the 2 of us just in case it was the last time he was hiding out in my belly! He's getting pretty low and rather large, ha ha.

February 14 - Eden wanted in on the picture and she loves looking at the light that tells us the picture is waiting to take when we have it on automatic setting.

February 15 - Eden in her "boots shoes" and her pjs. I told her that her black boots were shiny like Parker's, so we took her picture to send to him.

Happy Birthday to ME!

Today I was SPOILED by loved ones. Lots of messages and of cards and presents and calls! My friend Angie took me to lunch today and her oh so gracious husband agreed to keep Eden and their 2 kids so that we could have an adult meal. We found a great Mediterranean Cuisine restaurant close by and had a delicious {quiet} lunch.

As I'm sure you've realized, I've been sewing a lot more recently and trying to teach myself. Lane has also realized that this is the case and he's decided to feed my new addiction! He got me a new sewing machine and it even has embroidery functions! Oh. My. Goodness. I am in love with it! I can't wait to try to learn how to use it. The machine I've been using is the one that my mom used to make things for me when I was a baby {and maybe before I was even around}. Needless to say, machines have come A LONG WAY since this one was made! This new one is a lot of digital things and it threads itself and the bobbin is just amazing because all I have to do is drop it in! Along with the actual machine I'm able to go into the store where Lane got the machine and they'll teach me how to use it and I also can have free maintenance on it while we live here in California! Amazing!!!! {I will probably be using my gift card from Lane's parents to get the threads and stuff that I need for the machine so I can start using it as soon as possible!}

My parents sent my gift to me earlier this week {but I had to wait to open it} and it is just as amazing - in its own way! Lane and I are constantly trying to find a surface in the house that we can put the camera on in order to get family pictures. Most of my belly pictures have been taken from the bookshelf or the back of the couch. I asked my dad if I could have his when we were there for Thanksgiving and he gave me "his look" {that he claims he doesn't have}. When he gives the look, you know that you've asked a stupid question, done something he can't believe you did, or something along those lines. Needless to say, I love that I have my own tripod now!

38 Weeks

Today I had the joy of going to the doctor to find out if there might be any insight about his arrival. Thought it was awesome getting to hear him, I kind of got no news. They say no news is good news right? Well, unless its when you're trying to decide if you're ready for baby or not! I just need someone to tell me that he's coming when he's coming. I'm not patient and I'm a control freak! Add these two things together and it makes for an exhausting last few weeks of pregnancy for sure.

I first got to stand on the scale to start my appointment. I've gained a total of 37 pounds and the doctor hasn't said anything positive or negative about my weight gain. I'm happy with it and I know that when that number goes up it means that Baby Boy is healthy and growing. The doctor had my GBS test back and said that it was negative, so Baby Boy and I won't be needing any antibiotics during/after his delivery. Today Baby Boy's heart rate was 146 and the doctor actually used the word "perfect" to describe him. I'm glad she and I are on the same page about that! After we listened to his heart the doctor did a cervical check to see if I'm starting to make any progress. She said that I'm 1-2cm dilated and things can happen whenever now.

When I was pregnant with Eden I went into labor 7 days from now. I'm anxious, excited, nervous, ready, not ready, and everything in between about the idea of Baby Boy being here. I went to the labor and delivery floor when I was at the hospital when I was done with my appointment to see if it would make me more ready for his arrival. I'm not sure that it worked though. It was nice to see that the rooms are a decent size and I learned that I will deliver on one floor and be moved to another floor after the baby gets here.

I was a little shocked that they said they would probably send me home after being in the hospital for just one day! She said that as long as it isn't your first child "you know what to expect" and because of that they send you home sooner. Say what? I know what to expect? I mean, yes, I've had a baby before, but that was 2 years ago and I'm not sure anyone knows what to expect when it comes to newborns, do they? Oh well, we'll see how things go and we'll just sit and wait it out until the next appointment...if there's a next appointment!

Potty Dance

I find myself getting more and more excited when we have potty training breakthroughs. Today we had a HUGE breakthrough with Eden. Best part about it?! We didn't even have to try for it! I wanted to do the potty dance with Eden, but I knew she'd look at me like I was crazy since we've never done the potty dance before!

This morning she and I got up and I expected to be out of the house most of the day to run errands. We needed to go down to the base to go grocery shopping. I don't go down there all the time because it can take 30 minutes to get there sometimes and that isn't always worth the money that you might save by shopping at the commissary. Remember those 10 freezer meals I'm going to be making this week? Yeah, the amount of meat that I needed to get alone was money saving enough to go to the commissary. Anyways, since we were down on base we planned on lunch with Daddy too. Oh, and who can forget the playground? When it was all said and done, I knew it was going to be a long morning, and possibly a long day for us.

I changed Eden's diaper right before we left the house after she went potty. On the way down to the base she had a cup of milk and ate her muffins for breakfast. We hit up the playground first and had a blast. I got to talk to another mom and Eden got to have "my turn!" with her new friends that she made. After the playground we went to the commissary to get our groceries and Lane met us there. We got something to eat for lunch and we had a picnic in the back of the car {it was actually cooler than normal and drizzling, so we couldn't eat outside today}. With her lunch, Eden had an entire juice box. Last stop before leaving base was the gas station. While the gas pumped I was going to change Eden's diaper in the front seat because I just knew it had to be completely full!

I was shocked beyond belief that Eden's diaper was completely dry! Not one drop of pee pee in the diaper. Oh. My. Goodness! Could this be real?! Unfortunately, there wasn't a bathroom to take her to and she was very upset at not being able to try on the potty. I also didn't want to tell her to use her diaper after she had kept it dry all morning, but I didn't have any other options, ugh...I ended up telling her that we were on our way home and if she couldn't hold it she could use her diaper. I also told her that since we were on our way home she could use the potty when we got there.

Lane got her out of the car when we got home and...drum roll please...she was still DRY! She got to sit on her potty and pee like she had never peed before! I was so excited that even in the midst of playing and having a picnic in the car and all the excitement that the morning held for us that she stayed dry. I never even asked her if she needed to go potty and I never even attempted to take her to the bathroom while we were out because I knew she had on a diaper. I guess we're making progress that I didn't realize we were making. I'm super proud of her and couldn't ask for anything more with her potty training thus far - well, maybe that she refrain from ever pooping in the pantry again, but that's it!

Now we're off to learn the potty dance so we can enjoy these awesome moments even more when they happen!!

*Update, 2/16/12: Eden pooped on the potty after I posted this and has pooped on the potty 2 other times this week. That means that today is Thursday and she has pooped on the potty all but one day this week! She's told us each time that she needed to go and has sat on the potty knowing that she was going to poop! The only other time she's pooped on the potty prior to this was an accident. She had NO ACCIDENTS yesterday and we're on track today too! It's only almost 1, so there's plenty of day left, but I'm proud none the less!!!*

Motherhood Is...{6}

Crazy!

Eden loved looking at her crazy hair in the mirror after we got out of the shower today. I am just excited that it's long enough to be crazy now! I've waited almost 2 years to be able to spike her hair and now it's finally long enough to make her look crazy.

But for real, motherhood is crazy! Crazy emotions. Crazy kids. Crazy house. Crazy sayings. Just plain crazy! There are good crazy days and there are bad crazy days. Needless to say, my "normal" now involves being crazy all the time! As if from my posts this week about not being ready for Baby Boy and dealing with paranoia and then the next day being more than ready to meet him doesn't prove that life is crazy being a mom, surely knowing that I laughed while cleaning up Eden's poop out of the pantry proves that motherhood can make you crazy!

Half Way Through

As I wrap up this week I have a few realizations. 1 - The month is already about half over! {How did that happen} 2 - My birthday is next week {I totally forgot because I've been so excited about Baby Boy getting here soon} 3 - Though I missed having a "winter" I'm in love with the weather here because we can go outside whenever we want 4 - I love that my brother is a Sailor! {He's traveled a long bumpy road to get to where he is now and he deserves what he has and where he's made it to!}

January 5 - This is Parker's graduation gift for finishing boot camp this week. I had to make sure to get it done before Friday so he can at least have a picture of it at graduation. The Great Lakes plank has a "letter" on the back of it so he can always remember how proud we are of him for this accomplishment.

January 5 - Daddy was busy watching the Super Bowl and Eden got into his wallet! Here she is holding everything that she took out - cash, cards, business cards, and everything else.

January 6 - When Eden got up from her nap she came to "find me" in the office and she found Daddy's xbox gear. 

January 7 - My blue candle lit for Parker's completion of battlestations last night. We are SO proud of him for everything that he's done and for working as hard as he has to finish boot camp.

January 8 - Lane went to put Eden's lunch on the table and found this. She had put the brushes in a perfect pattern and fanned them out all by herself. I know when I put them on the table that my hands were full so I dropped them haphazardly on the table. 

January 8 - Our smart girl with her paint brushes. She wasn't interested in taking a picture, she wanted her lunch!

January 9 - Eden playing with the bubbles in the back yard. She still loves it when Ginger jumps at the bubbles and eats them! I think she likes that Ginger plays with the bubbles more than she likes the actual bubbles!

February 10 - This is how I found Eden's dresser this morning. The 2 empty sections are usually full of stuffed animals. She decided to get them all our {she's never done this before} and lay them down on her bed.

Nesting

It's that time! Time to start really getting this nest ready for a baby. Not only do I have urges to clean, but I have them to bake, cook, organize, and stock up. Today I went to the garage to find an extension cord because we got a lamp for Eden's toy room since she can't reach the light switch. I not only found the extension cord I was looking for, but I also rearranged the storage space that we have in the garage.

Some of the other things that are on my list of to do before Baby Boy are:

Make crock pot meals to stock the freezer with - I found a great website that has 5 different recipes on it and all can be put in the freezer just waiting to go into the crock pot! Um, yes please!!!! I figure with Lane's squadron setting up meals for us every other day for 2 weeks immediately followed by both sets of grandparents for a cumulative 18 days {4 are travel days, so I'm not sure how much of the day we'll have them around to visit/help/love on the kids...oh, and us too of course} these will be a lifesaver. Each recipe will make 2 rounds of dinner, so that's 10 homemade meals in the freezer that I won't have to cook - just thaw overnight and throw into the crock pot. I've already got the grocery list planned (it was on the website!) and I've labeled my ziploc bags so all I have to do is prep this week and throw everything in the freezer! This sounds like a dream come true for the amount of sleep I know I won't be getting. More than that though, this sounds like a dream come true for someone learning to split attention between 2 kids for the first time ever!

Get Eden's party organized - I've started making the decorations for Eden's party and I've sent the electronic invites. She's going to have an ice cream themed party this year and we're going to have a lot of fun, but keep it real low key. We only invited about 5-10 friends and their parents and it's just going to be a layed back afternoon of snacks, sweets, and sunshine {hopefully!} I saw somewhere that you can make ice cream in a ziploc, so we're going to have the toppings for the kids and let them make their own ice cream. {I should probably test this out before having it as our "main activity" for her party. I've also found some cute DIY ice cream cone balloons and even instructions on baking cupcakes in an ice cream cone! Can you say excited?! I know I am!!!!!

These are just the "big ticket" to do items on my nesting list right now since most everything is ready for Baby Boy. His room is set, he has a pack n play downstairs for naps, he has a cradle in our room, we have clothes for him to wear, his bag is packed for the hospital and all of his needs are taken care of! I'm sure as time keeps moving I'll come up with more projects to start and finish, but I'm going to try to get these big items taken care of and then take it easy! Yeah right, I'll keep you posted on that part of it!

Big Toot

Eden's bodily functions are typically no secret. We know when she has or needs to pee and poop since she's potty training {sort of}. She laughs and giggles when she burps. We try to follow these giggles up with "What do you say if you burp" and she'll reply "escusa me" with a big grin on her face.

When she passes gas she also feels the need to announce it. Though, she doesn't always take credit for the toots. The other day she climbed into Lane's lap on the couch, passed gas, and giggled at him and said "Daddy toot!" She's been known to blame her toots on the dogs too. I guess I don't mind too much as long as she continues to call it a "toot" and she does it at home. She has before told us that "Eden fart" and that got nipped in the bud pretty quickly. She's too young, sweet, and innocent to be "farting."

Today Eden was in the pantry pretending to get food down and fixing it for me. She had recently had a diaper change and we hadn't taken a shower yet, so I didn't put another diaper on her yet. I was waiting to put a diaper on her after the shower so we weren't being wasteful. Come to find out, we wouldn't have been wasting anything at all. As she climbed down from the step she was on in the pantry she said that she had tooted {she had, I heard it!} I went about my business of organizing bags for freezer meals for when Baby Boy arrives because it was my last task before we went upstairs for a shower.

Eden made another toot announcement and said "big toot" so I glanced over my shoulder to see what she was talking about {remember, I heard the toot, but I didn't hear this "big toot" so I was kind of curious.} Low and behold, there was poop on the floor...in the pantry...and Eden had no idea she had done it! She was standing there smiling up at me and when I asked her not to step in it, she looked down and realized what I was talking about. Oh. My. Goodness! I laughed out loud at the fact that she was totally clueless! I asked her to go sit on the potty to wait for me to come wipe her {secretly hoping she would finish on the potty} and so I could clean the floor.

If my dogs had pooped on the floor I would have been furious with them. When Eden pooped on the floor I found it hysterical and cleaned it up with a smile on my face!

Graduation Time

Today was the day! Well, I guess this morning was the morning. Parker took part in Pass-In-Review up at Great Lakes, near Chicago, and he will be heading to Pensacola tomorrow some time! I got to talk to him again and he seems so happy to be in the arms of Sara and with Mom and Dad! They will get to spend about 24 hours together {minus tonight because he has to go back to his quarters} and I know they were already talking about getting a steak meal for lunch. I know I've probably said it 19,048,572,920 times already, but I'm so proud of him!!!!! {And doesn't he make that uniform look good?!}

Things Just Got Real

Call me crazy, but I think I just realized today that the "alien" inside my belly is going to be real! I feel like I should have come to this realization a whole lot sooner. Either way, it happened. It clicked. I thought about it and it was like a light bulb went off! This isn't just something to talk about anymore, he's going to be here soon and he's going to be another child to care for. He's going to have 2 hands and 2 feet. He's going to have a belly button and a cute little baby butt. He's going to have needs and he's not going to let us sleep. He is real!

I know this probably sounds weird. There's a part of me that thinks it sounds weird, too. For a long time now I've been trying to figure out what he's poking me, "kicking" me, and rolling across my belly. My thoughts have gone anywhere from "oh, I think that was a foot" to "wow, that had to be a knee" and even "ugh, that was a great kick boxing punch." I've put real human movements and parts to him, but for some reason it just clicked that he's real, he's mine, and he's going to be here soon!

I've loved him since I knew he was a possibility {if that makes sense.} I love him more every day. I know that my love for him isn't even a fraction of what it will be. How did I just now realize that he's a baby?! I guess my brain just decided that now that the time is close, I need to come to grips with reality. I'm there. My body has been taking 9 months getting ready, makes sense that my brain needed to take time to get ready too. So, now I've come to terms with the reality of this being actually being a baby I'm ready.

Ya hear that Baby Boy?! I'm ready {as ready as you ever can be for a newborn!} I want to see your 2 hands and your 2 feet. I want to tickle your belly button and giggle at your cute baby butt. I want to fulfill your needs and wake up with you and be as tired as I need to be to take care of you. I'm ready to stare at you through all hours of the day and night. I'm excited to see your Daddy turn into a complete softy at the sight of his son. I'm excited about Eden meeting you and seeing the love that your sister has for you unfold before my eyes! We're ready. We can't wait to meet you!

Paranoia

All along I've thought that with a second child you're supposed to be more layed back and you're supposed to take things easy. I must have missed the boat because I've been super paranoid and kind of high strung since last week that I'm going to go into labor with this child!

Last week I had contractions that lasted all day and I swore that the baby was coming. And when I thought he was coming, I thought it was going to be sooner than now! I thought for sure he would have come last week and we would miss our family photo shoot. I just knew he'd be coming while Parker was making his phone calls to tell us he was a Sailor and I'd miss the call because I was having a baby. I seem to "just know" when he's coming every day, but really, it will be when I least expect him.

This week I've already walked out of the bathroom asking Lane if my water broke. Yes, I asked him and he rolled his eyes at me! I had gone to the bathroom 4 times in an hour and I could have sworn it was just like when my water broke with Eden {even though I was asleep when it happened then.} But believe me when I tell you that probably within an hour I had a decaf coffee, 2 glasses of water, and a Dr. Pepper. Anyone who had that much to drink within a short period of time would think their water broke...pregnant or not!

A friend of mine makes all of the embroidery stuff that we get for the kids {Oh my, yes, BOTH of my kids! AH!} and they made something for Baby Boy with his name on it. I know, I know, she knows his name! Anyways, I asked her not to post pictures of it because I didn't want people to find out his name before he arrives, but I wanted to have the shirt for him. I was looking at pictures that she's posted and saw Baby Boy's name and I freaked out! It was not his shirt and it wasn't anything that even made sense to be for him, but I still had a minor panic attack!

I need to have this baby so people can know his name and I can stop freaking out. I need to have this baby so I can stop assuming that I'm going into labor. I need to have this baby so I can stop thinking that every twinge I feel is a labor pain. I mean come on...I've done this once before, I should know what labor is like...right?!

Proud Sister

The picture we're sending to Parker's graduation on Friday since we can't be there in person. Eden got to color the poster with a blue marker and crayon because the color the families/friends of Parker's division are wearing is blue.

Today was the day! Parker got to call home and tell us that he is an official Navy Sailor!! When he called Eden got to talk to him. I asked her if she could say "you're a Sailor" and she said, "Parker, you Sayer" which made him laugh. She told him that she loved him and she was full of smiles when she was talking to him.

He did battlestations last night and has been up since 4am yesterday. He said that they had to do fire fighting, moving amo from one place to another while the ship was flooding and all kinds of other things. As of last week he had gotten perfect scores on his inspections and only had one inspection and one test remaining before battlestations. I could not be more proud of him and everything he's accomplished so far!

While the Recruits go through their battlestations "test" it is tradition to light a blue candle. This is tradition throughout the navy to bring the Sailors home safely. I made sure to light my blue candle yesterday as they were preparing for battlestations and I still have it lit. Lane wasn't too excited about having an open flame all night, so I put it in the shower so it couldn't get knocked down by the dogs or one of us and so that it was in a glass enclosed area. Let me tell you, when Baby Boy wiggled on my bladder last night, the delicious smell of the candle in the bathroom was pretty amazing! It was a fresh smell and I kind of liked it! I like to think that keeping my candle lit all night last night was part of what helped the guys through, so a huge thanks to Lane for not blowing it out!

My candle this morning. I took it out of the shower and put it in the kitchen.

 I can't wait to hopefully have the opportunity to video chat with him on Friday after his graduation. Everything will depend on if they are somewhere with internet connection {so I'm going to keep my fingers crossed.}

Maternity Session Part 2

As promised here are the second session pictures that we had done over the weekend! Is it a bad thing that these pictures are a big reason I wanted to make sure not to have a baby last week? I knew this was going to be one of the last times we were going to have family pictures of us as 3, so I wanted to make sure we could take advantage of the opportunity. {She's going to come back and get some newborn pictures of Baby Boy, so we will have some family of 4 pictures sooner than later!}

Again, I am very pleased with the pictures and we had lots of fun taking the pictures! Eden was able to run, jump, and play during the shoot and she was able to be herself. We took some of the pictures by a lake and Eden loved seeing the ducks.

Home Improvement

Yesterday was Super Bowl Sunday and we offered to host some friends to watch the game. We did chili, 7 layer taco dip, cookies, and some chocolate covered strawberries {that look like footballs!}

 Because we were having people over we made sure to tackle some of the projects that we've been putting off for forever! We finished painting the downstairs bathroom. We finished trimming out the paint on the stairs. We even hung the mirror and our last name frames in the kitchen!

I'm super excited to have this done now because I can justify getting the IKEA sofa table that I want. I've wanted this table for so long and haven't really had anywhere to put it before, so I've put it off and put it off.

I think this will be perfect for the wall under the mirror! I'm glad I can justify the purchase finally. I know it is going to be worth it too because I've wanted this table for so long now! I'm excited and giddy just thinking about it.

Motherhood Is...{5}

Rescue Missions

This is what I saw in the backyard when I checked on Eden the other day. She was trying to "bear walk" over some palms in the back yard.

Looking to Mom for rescuing! I asked if she was stuck and she said yes and asked for "Mommy help you."