Weekend Wrap Up

The last few days were pretty low key around these parts since it's still cold and snowy outside, but we did our best to fight the stir-craziness taking over our house and this weekend didn't turn out half-bad, if I do say so myself!

We took the lovely Jean-Marie out for a belated birthday sundae - because who needs cake when you can have Mary Coyle, seriously?

(I wonder how many posts I can mention and/or link to Mary Coyle before I have to admit I may have a problem?)

Why we only got a picture of Wes with said sundae and not JM? I have no idea...But here you go, a photo freshly poached from the face books

(See, lovely no?)

and bonus points to us for knocking off a few things from the Baby-To-Do list this weekend ---

scratch off shopping for supplies, add on re-finishing the baby's bedroom floor 

(sorry Josh! I'm not trying to make you crazy, I swear!)

And in big toddler news, we got Wes a booster seat for the Dining Room table and he hasn't looked back since - see ya highchair!

We also had dinner at my mom and step-dad's, visited Josh's mom and step-dad and survived a minor emotional breakdown in the aisles of Lowes while shopping for closet shelves

(Don't ask, I'm hormonal)

BUT stay tuned because we have lots more exciting things coming up that I shall describe to you in painful detail, starting this weekend including (but not limited to)...

a stay at Great Wolf Lodge

 a maternity photo shoot with another one of our lovely lady friends, the talented Katie Ardner

(ok, so I'm actually terrified of this, but shhhhhhh don't tell Katie)

aaaaaaaand in a few days we start our HypnoBirthing classes

(and I'm afraid of the photo shoot?! Ha!)

The Changing of Seasons

It's March now and I can feel the anticipation rising in my chest. March, the month where winter battles spring, where dark heavy snow clouds and endless gray skies give way to sunnier days, warm gentle breezes and the determined tiny buds of new life. Unstoppable, inevitable.

Since that hot August day when I first discovered the new life growing inside of me, facing months of chilly weather, heavy coats and holiday planning, spring has always been the finish line. It seemed so far away in those first few sweltering weeks, waiting for the cold to come. Fall, then winter and now, at long last, spring. It's so close I can feel it, every cell of my being pulsing with expectation.

It's March now and the battle inside of me is waging too. Excitement and trepidation rush over me in waves of opposing emotion. I soak up these last normal days, the comfortable routine, this precious time of pregnancy. So strange and amazing. Watching my body transform before my eyes, I try to focus on the present and how easily I will forget how it even felt to be here. Memorizing the feel of the little flutters from within, locking them into my memory. Watching the baby move under my skin, elbows and knees rippling across my abdomen. This tight, hot belly, stretching out in front of me.  Knowing it will be gone soon, this temporary body I'm living in, and soon enough there will be no sign of what was once here. These few fleeting months with my baby all to myself, their movements our little secret, just for me. The wonder of not knowing who this person is yet and how they will change my life in unimaginable ways. Amazement at the love and closeness I already feel for them.

It's March now and as springtime shows it's imminence and the world begins to blossom around me I feel myself blossoming too, readying. That moment is finally, unexpectedly, upon me. I feel my old life giving way to my new, changing with the seasons. I let the cold, familiar grip of winter slip away and embrace the long awaited springtime and with it all the new life it will bring.

No Sleep for the Weary

!!!WARNING!!!

The following contains inappropriate amounts of self pity and an obscenely large dose of whining

you have been warned

*********

So, I don't sleep anymore

No, really, I don't

Like, at all

It's pretty terrible if I do say so myself

What I do, do is roll around the bed slowly and uncomfortably, re-arranging pillows endlessly all night

Behind my back

Between my knees

Under my side

And juuuuuust when I find a position that's tolerable

...I have to pee

I'm talking about getting up roughly 5 or 6 times per night

When you get up at 5am anyway, that's practically once an hour (depending on when I start this little nightly ritual)

Really! I have been known to go pee and before I even make it back to the bedroom, have to turn around and go pee again. (TMI? I thought so. Sorry)

...and if it's not the full bladder, it's the dry mouth. I am constantly thirsty, which only exaggerates my previous predicament

(Vicious cycle, I'm telling you)

...or Wes, there's always Wes

Yeah, he still wakes up about once a night and needs coaxing back to sleep
(Do you think he ever calls out for Daddy in the middle of the night? Ha!)

...and there's Josh's snoring

...or the baby's nighttime dance parties

...and then there was that freak February thunderstorm that lasted the whole night through complete with a treacherous downpour and flashing bolts of lightning and I was all, "Are you serious?!"

In other words, I'm tired. Really tired

So please, just smile politely and forgive my appearance and/or attitude if I closely resemble a member of the walking dead next time you see me, as there's really nothing I can I do about it

And now I'll stop complaining since I know deep down inside that this is only temporary and the reason for all this suffering (dramatic choice of words, I know) is because I have a healthy, growing baby on it's way

but thanks for indulging me, I needed it

Probably a milkshake, duh

Sometimes Wes says things like this now

along with other such gems as "Look at me when I'm talking to youuuuuuu!" and "Asking questions is my job"

But where was I going with this again? Oh yes, milkshakes.

Right.

So, I had just picked my munchkin up from the babysitter and we hurried home for a hot minute to pick up Josh and feed the wild animals before hightailing it out to Hudson for the grand-opening-wine-and-cheese (water please!) shmooze fest for the new model home we had just finished designing.

While I tended to the zoo, Wes found a Steak n' Shake add in the pile of mail on the coffee table and boldly declared that he wanted "THAT!" for dinner!!!
Using my cunning parenting skills I suggested that if he was good at the open house (to which only well behaved children are permitted to attend - meaning Wes obviously) and "didn't break anything" we would reward him with milkshakey goodness afterwards. Genius move on my part I'm pretty sure.

So Josh, Wes and I rubbed obligatory elbows with my clients and co-workers for awhile (of course Wes was the star of the night, not that silly old house, believe me!) and without breaking a single thing we made it out with both ourselves and the model unscathed - success!

Afterward, we drove aimlessly around Hudson on that ever so familiar quest in search of an answer to that age old question; "What do you want for dinner?" for so long I thought my fetus was going to go on strike.

"Eh, I don't really feel like eating that..."

"Too expensive..."

"That'll take too long..."

And so on and so forth before we finally had the bright idea of leaving the decision making up to the one person in the car who always has an opinion...

"What do you want for dinner, Wes?"

To which he matter-of-factly replied

"Probably a milkshake, duh"

Why don't we always let him decide such things? He clearly has a gift.

Turns out Steak n' Shake isn't actually very good, but they have sweet hats, so.

Two and a Half

and just like that, here we are