Prenatal appointment #7

Today, like the past few appointments, was pretty uneventful. I would love to charge people $142 for a 5 minute visit. Unbelievable.

Baby heart rate: 143
My blood pressure: 110/50
Lost 2 lbs (probably because I'm still not feeling very well)
Baby's head is down :)

I go back in two weeks and I'll be checked for Strep B in four weeks. I was negative with Bret but that doesn't mean I don't have it this time.

Jason and I agreed on a paint color - Olympic brand (NO VALSPAR) - "cornmeal"....It reminds me of buff :) We pick up the furniture on Saturday AM so I am SUPER-DEDUPER excited to get this room put together. It'll truly sink in that baby #2 is on his way when the crib is in the room with the sheets on it.....YAYYYY

Cider mill season is almost here!!! YAY :)

I've been doing a lot of research on cider mills around my area (NW OH). I've decided to make this fall very fun for Bret (and me/Jason) because I know I'm going to feel super guilty once Baby #2 is born.

I am determined to take Bret to a cider mill/apple orchard every week in September, up until the baby is born. I've picked 4 or 5 so far!

If any of the Detroit girls are planning on a trip somewhere around there, then let me know! Bret and I would love to tag along!!

Bret's birthday party plans

Jason and I have decided to have Bret's birthday party a month early. We agreed that having Bret's birthday party with a 1 - 3 week old would be sort of overwhelming.

We plan on a small gathering of family - nothing like his 1st birthday that's for sure - of about 15 people and about 5 or 6 kids. I have the invitations picked out and I'm debating whether or not to order his cake from the same bakery that did our wedding cake. It'll be a little more than I want to pay for a 2-year old's birthday cake but the bakery does such an awesome job. Most of the food will be ordered / catered with the exception of a few side dishes. I am taking the easy way out on this one; even though I don't want to because I LOVE to entertain / cook.

Since the party is going to be at the beginning of October, I thought it would be a good idea to rent a moonwalk/bouncey thing for the kids (ages 2 - 6). Jason says no because there's only going to be 2 or 3 kids that are "old enough" to bounce without supervision. Jason thinks it would be a good idea to do it next year. What do you think?

Bret's present from us will be a battery-powered truck - he's been loving the ones he rides at his cousin's house....shhhh, don't tell him :)

Prenatal appointment and getting nervous

I had a DR appointment on Wednesday and it was pretty much uneventful - except for the 5 LBS I GAINED....ugh. The nurse said I was fine since I've only gained 19 lbs so far but still. I think that's a lot in one month; especially since I've got 9 weeks left to go. Anyway...I've graduated to appointments every two weeks and that's got me super duper nervous.

I've been slowly getting things ready but now I feel the time crunch :) I've ordered new tubing, valves, etc for my breast pump, the baby's bedding came in today (YIPPEE) and we're going to order the baby furniture on Sunday and paint during Labor Day weekend. The swing and bouncy seat are out; we just need to bring them downstairs. I still don't know if I'm going to put up the Pack N Play to change the baby's diaper. Bret's toy box / toys have kind of taken over that space. I still need to wash the carseat positioner / Bundle Me-thingy and wipe down the carseat itself. Which reminds me....I need to look for the base.

Nesting has started. I've been itching to wash all the baby's 0-3 months clothes and start hanging stuff up. I'm pretty proud of the diaper supply we've got going. I would buy a pack of diapers for baby #2 every other time I had to buy some for Bret. So far, we're in good shape. I keep reminding myself to make appointments to have our duct work and carpet cleaned before October 15th. I HAVE TO MAKE THOSE APPOINTMENTS NEXT WEEK. I've contacted the lady who did Bret's birth announcement and hopefully she'll do baby #2's also.

After going through everything, this baby is going to need more burp clothes and a cool-mist humidifier (since we only have one for Bret). I need to stack up on breast pads, milk storage bags, comfy pj's and cotton grandma-ish undies for the first few weeks of recovery (I know, TMI). What I am PRAYING for is patience - and lots of it - after the baby is born. I just don't want to be too tired and overwhelmed at first and then take it out on Bret by having a short temper with him. He won't understand and I don't want to hurt his feelings :( I think that's my biggest worry right now. I hope baby #2 isn't jaundice like Bret was because I'd like to spend only one night in the hospital. I remember really disliking the food and not sleeping in my own bed. Plus it's annoying when you're trying to sleep and the nurses wake you up to check on you. Labor and delivery doesn't have me too nervous. I had a WONDERFUL experience with Bret and am hoping to repeat that this time around.

Jason and I were talking today about how excited/nervous we are to see baby #2. I just can't wait to know what he looks like!! Bret has been kissing my belly a lot. I've been trying to put his hand on my belly whenever I feel movement. He just rubs my belly and then plays w/ his toys. It's so adorable. I hope that Bret and baby #2 are close and loving brothers. *sniff sniff*

21 months old!!

I can not believe how much Bret's vocabulary has exploded in the past 2 months. He went from saying 'mama', 'dada', 'this' and 'that' to saying:

-ball
-yes
-no
-elbow (Jason always teaches him crazy, off-the-wall stuff)
-elmo
-more
-go
-yellow
-fish
-juice
-hot dog
-Gigi (my grandma)
-auntie

Words he tries to say:
-truck (sounds like he says "duck")
-I do it ( I doot)
-please (leeeese)
-tractor (dat - dat)
-cheese (eeeese)
-water (wa-wa)
-yellow (lellow)

It's amazing how much I understand him now. He's becoming VERY independent. He wants to buckle his seat at the table, his carseat and any cart buckle.....he wants to drink out of a cup - not a baby sippy cup - and he eats with 'real' utensils. It's so cute but sometimes very frustrating because he wants to do EVERYTHING. Bret is such a great kid and a huge blessing. Jason and I still can not believe how fast the time has gone by....he's going to be 2 years old in 3 months!!!

The haps

SIL, Ashlee, and me at Fricker's before the reception. Don't we look HOT?!


Justin, Jason's bro, and him at Fricker's....Yeah, we're married to these guys. So sexy :)

My baby's WT moment.

This weekend was full of ups and downs.....we had a wedding on Saturday, which was fun, and some bad news on Sunday.

First - the wedding. The ceremony was at Toledo Botanical Gardens and we couldn't have asked for more beautiful weather. It was sunny with a little breeze; just gorgeous. My SIL sang at the ceremony and sounded great (as always). Reception festivities were held at a hall downtown Toledo and was decorated beautifully. The food was good but the DJ left something a little to be desired. Don't get me wrong - he wasn't AWFUL but he definitely wasn't the best I've ever heard either. It was a lot of fun and it was the first time I felt really pretty in a while :)

Sunday AM we got news that Jason's uncle had a massive heart attack while up north and he's not doing very well. No brain activity. Bummer. God will take care of him if the doctors can't. So, we're preparing ourselves to attend a funeral some time this week.

Lastly - I have to share a secret......Bret is a nudist-in-training. This is how he wanted to play outside a couple of days ago....He wouldn't step foot outside until I put on his socks and shoes. I was slightly embarrassed but it was HILARIOUS at the same time.

'Bout to go ghetto on yo' a$$

You know how you become super protective of your kid(s)?
You know how you try to teach your kid(s) manners?
You know how you expect other kids to treat yours with the same type of manners?

Well, sometimes that doesn't happen and you almost go ghetto.....

Bret and I went to the zoo today to check out the newly opened Nature's Neighborhood. *Very cool, by the way* There was a big steam with rocks and fake sticks and plastic fish and colanders for the kids to wade in and play around. This little boy (about 3 or 4) walked up to Bret and threw a rock at him and hit him in the chest! At first I was shocked because I couldn't believe that boy did it. Thankfully Bret didn't freak out and start crying but he put his head down and gave me this look like "that kind of hurt but I don't know if I should cry or not". I turned around to the kid's mom and she had the nerve to say "Oh he's fine, it just hit him in the chest." OH NO YOU DI-INT JUST SAY THAT TO ME!!! I was pretty much close to decking her. So I did the next best thing. I asked the woman if it would be alright for me to throw a rock and hit her son in the chest. She didn't like that very much because she grabbed her son's hand and said "c'mon Caleb, let's go". I looked at her and smiled. Unfortunately, that pretty much ended our zoo trip. Bret thought it was now ok to throw rocks in the water. So after asking him three times to stop and not listening, I had to do the mean mom thing by taking him out of the water kicking and screaming and we left.

We had a great time though...the weather was BEAUTIFUL!! Pictures to follow :)