January happenings

It's hard to believe February is only days away! Even though it's January around here, winter seems to have skipped us altogether and most days I could swear it's really April. It's been hovering around 70 degrees, and on the sunniest days I've ventured out in tank tops and flip flops. It's fabulous!!
Jason's work schedule is a little unpredictable while he waits to start Armor school and on some days he's gotten off fairly early. It's great having him around to help and the boys love having Daddy wrestle around with them and take them outside. He's been painting our new bookcase he built so we can move all our books onto it, while the boys have been playing around the backyard.

I love that they can play outside! We never got to play outside in January, in New York. At least not for long and we were so bundled up that there wasn't a whole lot of moving around.

The boys have been stuck together like glue lately. They've always been close (one of the many perks of having kids so close in age), but I've noticed an especially close comraderie in the past few weeks. Maybe it's the baby's pending arrival? Maybe it's just that Daddy's been home to play and the testosterone seems to pool together? Whatever the reason, they're joined at the hip, and they really like stripping down to underwear/diaper and running around like wild animals.

Most days when James is in school, Riley and I head to the gym. He's back in his routine now and doesn't throw a fit when I drop him off at daycare or at school (thank God!). When we pull into the parking lot he says, "Play??". When we leave and get home, he "helps" me make a blueberry-banana-spinach smoothie by pushing the button on the blender. He only likes to drink it if he's sharing mine.

He's the sweetest little boy. I bit my tongue while eating my lunch and he ran to the garage and pounded on the door until Jason came in, then he led him over to me to tell him I was hurt. These boys sure look out for their mama! haha

He loves to pull out baby clothes and say "Awwwww!". He's starting to get the concept of the baby coming a little more. Slowly. Kind of. He currently thinks there's a poppy flower in my belly and a baby in his.

James's class had pajama day at school, so of course he had to wear his new space pajamas with footies. When I dropped him off this morning, he was telling the teachers all about how they light up in the dark and that Santa brought them to him. They had a "waffle breakfast" for their lunch time and watched a movie. When I came to pick him up, his eyes were tired and red-rimmed. I asked if he fell asleep and he said he did. Then he fell asleep on the ride home. And even after an hour and a half nap, he was cranky because he "didn't sleep good". Apparently there's nothing like a party in your pj's to put this boy in the mood for a nap!

It's officially less than a month till baby girl is here (4 weeks from tomorrow!) and we're all in nesting mode now. Jason and I have been cleaning the nursery out and packing things up to find places for them. All the de-cluttering makes me feel like we're moving again! Hopefully I can get it looking right in the next week or two and can devote a post to baby room pictures.

Some more sewing projects

Finished a couple goodies for Poppy's room on this rainy day.

First was the boppy pillow cover. I found these fabrics at JoAnn's, the whale snuggle one I've been pining after for weeks, but couldn't decide what to make with it. I found the tutorial at grosgrainfabulous.blogspot.com and it was meant to be! I went immediately and bought some!

It's not perfect, but I'm proud of it! I still need to go back and take in a little on the "arms" where it's a bit loose on one side. This was my first time sewing on a zipper, which I was really nervous about. Again, not perfect--but not bad!

A friend of my mom's leant us her Arm's Reach co-sleeper back when we had James, and for both boys it was a life-saver those first few months! I'm planning on using it right away with Poppy, too. The only sheet we have for it, is off-white (or used to be white anyway) and stained from spit-up and various baby juices. It's been well-loved. So thanks to some ideas/tutorials on pinterest (really, how great is pinterest??), I whipped up a brand-new sheet for it--and it matches her burp cloths!

34 weeks

How far along? 34 weeks

Weight gain? down a couple this week to 22 lbs total--it's fluctuating between water-weight gain

Sleep? It's hit or miss. Some nights I toss and turn and can't get to sleep til 1 or 3, some nights I'm so tired I could take a nap in the afternoon and sleep straight through the night. It's hard to get comfortable, so I sleep in nest of pillows. I still have to get up several times to pee, which just keeps getting worse as she gets bigger.

Movement? She's been getting hiccups several times a day and she hates to stay in one spot, so I always feel them somewhere new. She just can't get comfortable, so she's always on the go. She keeps spinning and turning around, so most of her movements are her shifting around, but there's still an occasional elbow jab or kick.

Symptoms? I've got the "end of pregnancy" crazy going on. My hormones are all out of whack again, so I'm nauseous, moody, breaking out, and energy is hard to come by. I've been trying to frequent the gym a little more and get my energy up, which works...sometimes. Some days it just makes me more tired. Working out has improved my back and knee pain tremendously though! There's a lot of pressure/pain in my ribs and stomach, which is probably where most of the nausea is coming from. It's hard/impossible to eat a big meal. Oh and I've been nesting like a madwoman.

Cravings? I've still been eating my weight in ritz crackers. Like a ridiculous amount of ritz crackers. Jason's craving oreos :)

Best moment this week? Getting baby-stuff shopping and sewing done. Oh and I love her hiccups! They're not violent like some of the kicks, and rhythmic, and James thinks its hilarious. He's still in such a hurry for her to get here! It must seem like he's been waiting forever, to him. He loves buying baby stuff and going through every thing. His involvement this time has just been such fun!

Looking forward to? getting all the final touches done in the nursery and around the house/car/etc. It's just getting here so fast. In 3 weeks, I'll be considered full-term, and in 5 weeks I'll be checking into delivery. As uncomfortable as the end is, I kind of wish I had more time.

Nursery stuff

Nesting instincts are in full swing and we've been working on clearing out the office and getting some goodies together to make it Poppy's nursery. We've found some goodies at the thrift mall, TJ Maxx/Marshalls, and some handmade (I owe many of my ideas to Pinterest!!).

Here's a sneak peek of some of our goodies--I'll post more pictures as it comes along (which better be soon! Less than 6 weeks to go!).

Also--excuse the mess in the background!

Thrift store chest of drawers. I found some pretty black and white, lavendar-scented liners for the drawers.

Taggie blanket

Lilly Pulitzer tote found on ebay = new, girly diaper bag!

Letters from Hobby Lobby, mod podged with Poppy prints from magazines. The background is the brand, new bookcase Jason just finished making for the living room, so we have a home for all the books that are littering the office. We'll be painting it an ivory/cream color.

Embroidery hoop wall art. Just scraps of colorful fabric on embroidery hoops. Super easy!

Burp cloths. They still need a couple cycles in the washer to get a good fray going on on the ends, but the boys were especially fascinated by them.

In our search for more storage space for the nursery, we got this little, antique corner cupboard. We found it at the same thrift mall as the chest of drawers.

There are some other pieces not shown, but there's time for that later. I've gone through the closet and baskets of baby clothes and will be washing them this week so everything can go in drawers and in the closet. I'm getting lists together to stock up on and recipes to cook/freeze. I've got a mile-long list of housework I want done, much of it probably unnecessary. Sleeping's hit or miss, so my energy is higher some days than others. I'm feeling like the end is flying by and there's not enough time to get everything done. I look forward to having my energy back and not being so uncomfortable all the time, but I'm in no rush.

There seems to be a baby boom going on! It seems like every time I have a get-together with friends, someone else has just found out they're expecting. It's so exciting that there will be so many new babies being added this year. As I'm nearing the end, I'm just now stocking up on all those essentials (I'm a little behind this go). There's a giveaway on twoboysonegirlandacrazymom's blog for the Evenflo Bebek bottle Collection to give you a head start in stocking up (or to give away to an expecting friend)! So run over to her blog between now and the 30th to enter!

haircuts

The first full week back-to-school seemed like the perfect opportunity for a trim. So the boys each got a turn in the barstools-turned-barber chair.
James before: Riley before:

After: He looks even more like his daddy now!

Riley after:

Don't they look dashing?

Resolutions/goals/intentions + a quick baby update

This year, I'm downsizing my resolutions. While I love to write a list a mile long of all the things I'm going to accomplish or change throughout the new year, it's much more practical to shorten and specify my list so it's more doable.

1. Find and attend a good church.
2. Start gym-going, regularly (2-3 times per week). Obviously having a baby will be an issue, but until she's here and once she's 6 weeks+, I don't have an excuse. I have the membership, I need to use it.
3. Put away money in a roth IRA. I've been putting this one off for too long. I'd like to save at least $300-500 a month.
4. Do some kind of volunteer work. Red cross? Humane society? ACS? Church? Toys for Tots? Something.
5. Nurture my relationships. Play with my kids, date my husband, spend time with my friends and family.
6. Run a 5k, 10k, maybe a half marathon? Just a race, period.

And that's what's important. Of course I have little goals like keep a cleaner house, cook more often, take a vacation, do some sewing, read often, be appreciative, lose the baby weight, learn more sign language, etc. But I'd rather focus on the important ones and aim for the others as they come.

Baby stuff:
I'm starting to break into the nesting-sweat now that delivery day is nearing. I've come up with all these sewing projects, some I probably won't do, but I would like to do as much as I can squeeze in. We're also working on the nursery, which is currently the sewing/craft/office/junk room/catch-all. It seems impossible to find a home for everything and make space, but at my sister's suggestion, I'm just salting the crap out of this elephant so I can eat it.

I had my 31-32 week appointment this morning and everything's going swimmingly! I'm a very boring OB patient (which is a great thing)!
I don't have another bump picture--but here's a quick update:
-how far along? 31 weeks, 5 days
-weight gain: 25
-baby's heartrate: 145 bpm--she seems to hang out there.
-movement: she's bouncing around and really active. I think she's hanging out sideways (both boys were head-down around 25-29 weeks, but not Poppy!).
-best moment so far? scheduling delivery!
-looking forward to? Um, having her?? I'm so excited that we're up on the calendar and delivery day is officially Feb 24! So exactly 7 weeks from Friday, we're going to be having a baby :)
I just picked up some fabric and some other goodies to fix up her room with, so we've got 7 weeks to get busy before she's here. I feel like there are a million things to do all of a sudden and I'm a little overwhelmed. Luckily, since my pregnancy is laid back they're not seeing me again for another 4 weeks, so I have 3 Wednesdays to myself while both kiddos are at school/mother's day out where I can do some sewing, get a pregnancy massage, or whatever!

Happy New Year

Happy 2012!
The past couple days have been an opportunity for reflection, anticipation, and hope. The more I read from friends of bad experiences from the past year, of hoping for better in the next 300-some-odd days and putting the past behind in lieu of starting anew, I can't help but wonder: am I the only one sad to see 2011 go? I saw my share of crises. Our orders changed several times, we didn't know if Jason was going to get to start OCS at all, if we'd find a house. The move itself was complete chaos. When we did get moved, he had to report in right away and I had to get us settled alone. The school-recycling situation had us worried about when he would graduate, if he would graduate, if he'd have to go back to Drum without us, if he'd be here when the baby is born. What was supposed to be a 12 week school became 7 months long. There seemed to be a thousand unexpected hurdles thrown at us.
This was also the year we moved Georgia--which I love! This year, I've met so many wonderful friends who got me through 7 months of being on my own. This year, we found out we're going to be completing our family with our third, our daughter, our OCS baby. This year we learned how to ballroom dance, I tried skiing (and hated it), started running again, and I started learning sign language with the kids. This year I played bunco with girlfriends, took the kids to the beach, attended my sister's college graduation, saw two of my friends get married, drove 7 1/2 hours each way to Tennessee about a thousand times, fixed the dishwasher, threw birthday parties, and chaperoned a field trip. This year my oldest baby boy started pre-school, I cooked another Thanksgiving dinner, my family from all over the country visited. This year, my husband's hard work paid off and he graduated a Second Lieutenant.
This year I learned to be more independent, more prepared, more flexible. I learned that the unexpected happens, often, usually to deliberately conflict with whatever plans you've already made, and when it does life doesn't stop. Life goes on and so do you. And even though it might not be what you had in mind or had your heart set on, it ends up being way better.

So 2011 wasn't so bad.

And 2012 is looking pretty promising.