Memorial Day Weekend

Happy Memorial Day! We had such a fun, relaxing weekend. Even though it was a four day weekend, it sure did seem to fly by! After all of the fun on Friday afternoon with the ponies and the water, we hit the mall. I have NO summer maternity clothes and needed to get something to hold me over for the the next couple of weeks, especially with this heat! I found a few things, but I feel huge in everything! On Saturday, we spent most of the day running errands, shopping and grabbing lunch. We were very productive! We finally went to Lowes and picked up the paint for Mason's room! We keep saying we need to get his room done, but now that we are down to 9 weeks before he is due to arrive - we figured we better get moving (although I am sure he'll be in our room for the first couple of weeks after he is born). Rob will need to take down the border in Leah's old room and put on a few coats of fresh paint. We have the bedding and bought almost all of the accessories for his room. We are doing a sports theme. More pictures to come once his room is all done (so don't mind the pink walls for now)!

Sunday was another busy day! It was going to be a hot one, so we started the morning off by taking Leah to the pool at Lifetime. It just opened this weekend. We got there right when it opened so we were able to get a spot! I didn't get in the water because I am pretty self-conscious in my big prego body, but after sitting in the hot hot sun, I may need to just suck it up and buy myself a maternity bathing suit. It is going to be a long 9 weeks this summer. Leah had a blast - she loves the water. By the time we left the pool, it was completely packed! We were hoping the water and sun would wipe her out so she would take a good nap when we got home. Not the case....

After the pool, we came home and got ready for Gavyn's 2nd birthday party! I can't believe he is two already! He had a Thomas the Train party and my sister-in-law definitely followed through on the theme. Everything was perfect! Of course, I forgot my camera at home so I didn't get any pictures (besides the ones I took on my iPhone). They had a bounce house and Leah actually took a liking to it! She spent a good amount of time playing in there with all of the kids. I am glad she is finally over her fear. By the end of the day, she didn't want to come out. There was also a pinata, so Leah had her first chance at giving one a whack. It took a few turns by the adults to finally get it open! She loved singing happy birthday to her little cousin and enjoyed eating the cake (that was SO cute). Happy Birthday Gavyn! We hope you had a great day!

To finish out the weekend, we had my brother, sister-in-law, nieces, my dad, my aunt and cousin come over today. We had plans to get together early today. Leah has been talking about seeing Annabelle for the past couple of days. They play so nice together! I can't wait until they are older and can have sleepovers! I was also really looking forward to seeing my niece Alyssa too. She is 2 months old and I have not seen her nearly enough since she was born! My dad brought over some candy and bubbles for the girls (which they loved) so we spent some time out in the backyard. My dad also brought over some ribs and I picked up a few salads for lunch. My brother's birthday is next weekend, so we also enjoyed some cupcakes for dessert after singing Happy Birthday to him! Overall, it was a fun weekend!! Happy Memorial Day!!

Sweet little Alyssa Lynn!

Papa and his girls!

Cupcakes!

Friday Fun

I had the day off today, so we were able to start our Memorial Day weekend a bit early. Today was also the last day of school for all of the kids in our area. My daycare's neighbor was having an end of school party and we were lucky enough to be invited to join in on the fun. There were about 20 kids there. They had pony rides, a clown who made balloons for the kids and also did face painting, there were hotdogs for lunch and all of the kids received a t-shirt! They also had the "Mad Scientist" there that did a magic/science show for the kids too.  At first she was a little scared of the pony, but she warmed up pretty quickly and went on about 4 pony rides. Rob got out of work a little early and met us at the party. Leah had a great time.

Leah waiting in line for her next pony ride

After the party was over, the fun didn't end there. We went back over to Melissa's house so the kids could play in the backyard. She bought one of those giant blow-up water slides. The kids had a blast. Of course Leah was too chicken to go anywhere near it. She spent her time splashing around with the water table. Thanks for a fun day! It was a long afternoon out in the sun - I hope Leah sleeps good tonight!

Silly Teagan

Breaking for a snack

3D/4D Ultrasound was a.....bust

We had our 3D/4D ultrasound scheduled for early this afternoon. I was really excited for it. We invited my dad to come along too. He still has not been feeling well, but we thought he would enjoy getting out of the house for a little while to get a glimpse of his first grandson. We picked him up and headed out to Stork Snapshots near Yorktown Mall.  I am not sure what my expectations were for this appointment, but I thought we would get a good look at our little man and see his face and body. I guess he had other plans. Almost the entire time, he had his little hands and his feet covering his face. His legs were wrapped up towards his head, with his feet near his forehead. He is a flexible little guy. He was a wild man too and was constantly moving - he never stayed still. The ultrasound tech tried everything to get some good pictures of him. I would roll towards her and then roll the other way, but still no luck. She tried for a good 25 minutes to get some good pictures. We got 4 photos to take home and the remaining images on a CD. We also got a DVD with the live images. I'll have to wait to post the pictures that we did get until tomorrow when I get to work. Neither my laptop or Rob's has a CD/DVD drive. I took the picture below with my cell phone (of the actual picture). It's a little blury (and hard to make out) but you can see his hands by his head and make out his eyes, nose and mouth. His leg is on the right side of his head.

After the appointment, we went out to lunch and then took my dad home. Even though we had a Groupon for the ultrasound appointment, I am not sure it was worth the $60 we spent. I guess we'll have to wait until he is born to see what he really looks like! We spent the rest of the afternoon running around and then we came home and spent some time outside!

In other fun plans this weekend, we had Teagan's 4th birthday party on Saturday! It was at one of those indoor bounce house places. Leah is scared of them, but warmed up a little and did up having a lot of fun. The kids played for awhile and then it was time for pizza and cupcakes! Towards the end, Leah had a little meltdown and I didn't think she was going to make it. Luckily, she bounced back and we were able to stick it out! Happy 4th Birthday Teagan! We hope you had a great day!

Back to work tomorrow! Why do the weekends go so fast?!

28 Week Doctor’s Appointment

Today I had my 28 Week Doctor’s Appointment – time sure is moving fast! With my scheduled c-section, we have about 10 ½ weeks to go (unless baby Mason decides to come early)! At this appointment I needed to have another ultrasound. During my 20 week ultrasound the doctor noticed that the placement of my placenta was rather low, which could be ‘placenta previa.’ He said we would need to re-check it at 28 weeks to make sure it moved to where it was supposed to be. He said that in 95% of cases, it does exactly that – move to where it is supposed to be and not to worry. He told me not to go ‘googling’ placenta previa because I would just make myself upset. Luckily, things went as planned and it moved. It did give me the opportunity to get another sneak peek at my sweet little man!

The doctor I saw today is newer to the practice, so it was my first time meeting her. She did the ultrasound and if I didn't ask, I don't think I would have even gotten a glimpse at my baby boy (because the screen was facing her the whole time). She eventually turned it towards me so I could see (after I asked to see him). She did confirm that he is still a "he." She didn't give me any pictures to take home. Boo. I was hoping to have an updated picture to post. (The one below is from the 20 week ultrasound). I am measuring right on track.

During this appointment, I also had to do the gestational diabetes test where they make you drink that horrible bottle of orange sugary glucola. I then had to sit there and wait an hour before I could go and have my blood drawn. Luckily, I just start reading book 2 of the “Shades of Grey” trilogy, so my time went fairly quickly. If I have any issues with the test, they will contact me in the next 48 hours.

On Sunday, we are going for another ultrasound – but this one is purely just for fun! We are doing one of those 3D/4D ultrasounds. Part of me thinks they are creepy, but the other part of me is anxious to see what this baby boy looks like! We didn’t do one with Leah, but when we came across a Groupon for a great deal – we decided to give it a try! We figured we would bring Leah with us because it might help make it more real for her. She knows there is a baby in my belly and she talks about him all of the time, but I think it will be good for her to ‘see’ him. She was so funny – the other day she ran up to my belly and gave it a big kiss and said, “Mason, I love you so much. I am SO proud of you.” I asked her why she was proud of him and she said, “Because he is such a good boy.” I think what we tell her rubs off on her! We’ll be sure to share pictures when we get them on Sunday (since I didn't get any from today)!

Happy Mom's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all of the wonderful mom's out there! I miss my mom dearly and wish she could have been here to celebrate today. Rob and Leah did make me feel very special today though! I woke up to a dozen roses and a Vera Wang 'Princess' perfume set. It is my favorite! Rob took Leah out for the morning to run some errands so I got some time to myself! When they got back, we got ready to head out for a Mother's Day lunch at Carlucci's.

A smile that is a little over the top :)

Me 28 weeks pregnant today!

We were not successful in getting a good picture of Leah and Mommy

Lunch was yummy! They had a special Mothers Day menu that consisted of a three course meal. I had a caprese salad, pork loin and cheesecake for dessert! While we were eating, an older woman stopped by our table and told us what a cute little 'boy' we had! Ha! Oh well! After lunch we stopped at Buy Buy Baby and knocked out several more items off our 'Mason' list! I feel better that we are starting to make some progress on the things we need for him. We are hoping to start doing his room soon. I remember as soon as we found out Leah was a girl, we had her room done the following weekend! We are not quite on the ball this go around! I did order some stuff off of etsy this weekend too for his room. It will eventually come together! While we were at Buy Buy Baby, they had one of those pink cars that have a handle for the parent to push. Leah has wanted one for a long time and she wanted to sit in it and have her daddy push her around the store. Of course her dad is a sucker and had to get it for her!

After Buy Buy Baby, we stopped at the mall and then headed home. It was such a beautiful day, we decided to head to the park (of course, after Rob put together Leah's new car). Overall, it was a nice relaxing day with my family!

Leah yelling "No more pictures MOM"



It's so hard to say good-bye

Good-bye to the 'paci' that is! I am so proud of my little lady - we are well on our way to being paci-free! Leah has been a hard core user for the past two years. She would 'need' it before bed and always ask for it when she was upset or needed comfort. We've been trying to ween her off of it for the past few months, but haven't had much luck. She would cry. She would throw a fit. It was as if she was going through withdrawal and had to have it and we would give in. I didn't want to her to be that kid that is 4 years old walking around the store with a pacifier glued to her mouth.

We refused to buy any more pacifiers. We decided once they were gone, they were gone. We would be down to two, but then two more would reappear. (She would constantly lose them and then they would show up - behind the couch, in her toy bins or behind her crib). Over the past two weeks, she was teething horribly getting in her two year molars. She was gnawing on anything she could get her mouth on, including her beloved paci's. She chewed them to the point that there were holes in them. I had to take them away and tell her they were broken. She had chewed through 3 pacifiers and we only had one remaining! Sure enough, she bit through the last one and we had to tell her that was it.

The first night didn't go so well. She was visibly upset and kept asking for it. I kept telling her they were all gone and she refused to accept it. Tears were flowing for a very long time. I showed her the broken paci's and she said all she wanted to do was hold it. I decided there wasn't any harm in letting her 'hold' it. Baby steps. She layed down for bed and kept the paci in her little hand almost all night. When she woke up in the morning it was laying peacefully next to her. We got ready the next morning and left for daycare. She always asks for the pacifier when we make our short drive to school. This time she just asked if she could hold it. She was definitely making progress. Once we pulled up, she gave it to me and I tucked it away in my pocket. She did great at her first day at school without her paci. She went down for her afternoon nap without incident and we have now been paci-free for the past 3 nights. She will still occasionally ask for it, but I quickly remind her that they are all broken. She seems to have come to terms with it because she says "OK" and carries on about her business.

I am so proud of her! It is actually going better than I anticipated. I just hope she doesn't relapse when the new baby arrives! We'll just continue to praise her and tell her what a big girl she is! She takes it to heart and I think it makes her feel good!