Sunburned

This morning was a easy breezy kinda morning.  We ate breakfast.  I let the boys play in the back yard for awhile.  We came in a little before 11 so their skin wouldn't start getting pink from a stronger mid day sun, so I turned on a cartoon to keep little feet still while I swept the mountains of grass up that had been tracked in.  We had lunch.  It was nap time. 

Here's where the day took a turn for the unusual.  Right after nap time started, I decided I wasn't ready for lunch and still wanted to take advantage of the beautiful weather outside.  So I put on my little black bikini and went back to the work-out bench on the back patio.  I had my phone with me to play music and a little sudoku to pass the time.  About 10 minutes into my sunning session, I heard a voice.  See, there is this one little section of fence right next to the house that was supposed to be a gate, but never got bolted to the hinges and is just propped up against the rest of the fence to close off the hole.  Normally it's not a problem, but with the extremely high winds we've been having this spring, it gets blown down almost daily and has to be propped back up. 

I'm 95% sure that it was up when I was out with the boys this morning, but when I heard a voice, it was coming from my old man neighbor who was standing in the open hole.  Startled me greatly.  He asked me if I wanted him to fix my gate.  What?  I didn't know what to say.   On the one hand I'm sure he was tired of seeing part of our gate on the ground, but on the other hand  I felt guilty for having him do any repair work on our fence.  I sputtered on about how it was okay, I did need to get my dad or father in law over to fix it, we would take care of it, excetra.  But he insisted that it would give him something to do, being retired and home by himself all day.  (His wife still works)  Who was I to argue with that?  So he started working on my fence and I awkwardly sat there, 35 weeks pregnant, glowing white, in a bathing suit.  *sigh* 

It didn't take long before I realized I really needed to be headed inside before I started to burn, and I was starting to get hungry.  He wasn't anywhere close to being finished, but I felt bad just leaving him there.  So I sat some more.  And sat some more.  Finally I bucked up the courage to tell him I hadn't had lunch yet, and would just be on the other side of the wall having a sandwich, so if he needed anything I would be right there.  I went in, made some  lunch, ate it, and then went back out to check  on him but he was done and had put everything away.  The fence looked good too.  So I just got in the shower and went about my day.

Turns out I was right about the sun burn.  The top of my back and the top of my belly are pretty pink.  That's going to be a nice effect in a few weeks, after Evan is here and my belly isn't quite so robust.  The top half will be a bit darker than the bottom half.  I didn't think it was that bad, until Luke and I went over to Mom and Dad's for dinner and she made over how burned I was.  At least dinner was good.  My aunt, grandpa, and cousin all came into town last night and we had a big family fajita dinner.  After dinner I took Luke upstairs to give him a MUCH needed hair cut, and that's when disaster struck again.  Normally I give him a hair cut with scissors in our living room so he can watch tv while I work, but it takes at least 30 minutes to do and I just knew my back couldn't handle that at this point.  So I used Mom's clipper set on him.  I am fully aware of how terrified Luke is of the clippers, but I didn't think it would be that bad.  We were up in their bathroom, with Mom holding Luke, Ashley reading him his favorite story, and Dad trying to soothe with fruit snacks, but the kid was so panicked he was sweating bullets.  I'm talking soaked hair and clammy skin.  And clammy skin equals all the hair coming off his head sticking to his body.  He was like a little ape man.  After I was done with the clippers we had to wash him down, so he got a bath, another thing he is hating right now.  Poor guy.  But the hair cut and the bath together only took us about 20 minutes.  Much better.  Even though it turned out to be a giant family affair. 

Play Day

This morning Shae brought Dakota over to play.  (and Mikah too, but he didn't do so much playing)  They played trains and cars and puzzles and lots of other things.  We sat on the couch and talked.  I mean, isn't that the real reason you have play dates?!  They stayed all morning and left right before lunch and nap time.  Ashley came over during nap time to sit with Luke while I ran out to an appointment, and then the three of us met back up with Shae and D at the library where they had something with fire trucks.  At first Luke wasn't paying attention to who was around, more of what was around.  When he realized it was D standing next to him he goes "Oh!  Hewwo!" in a surprised sort of manner.

We weren't quite sure what we were getting ourselves into.  Turns out not much.  They basically had one over every kind of city owned vehicle there is and let the kids get in them.  Except some kids kept honking the horns causing our kids to be terrified of the whole thing.  I did get some cute pictures though. 

"hewwo?"

He wasn't so sure about sitting up there, and Aunt Warshwee (Ashley) offered to go up with him, but my big boy did it anyway and even managed to give me a grin.

There was a long line to get in the fire truck, but no line to sit on the front of it!

They also had snacks.  I promise they were sitting right next to each other at one point.  Shae has it on her camera.

He loved the pop corn, and even tried to share it with Ashley.

And I let him have a cup of lemonade.  It's the first time I've let him use a real cup out in public, and it wasn't even water!  Look at how big my boy looks.  He only spilt a little!

After we were done with the hulabaloo outside, we headed in to look at the books.  We found all kinds of trains and trucks books that he just had to "go night night" with.  I'm guessing that meant he wanted to get them and read them at story time before bed.  So being the dutiful Momma that I am, I signed up for a library card and checked my boy out some books.  We said goodbye to Shae and Dakota and Mikah, and headed home.  As soon as we got home we just had to read all 4 books, and then I dozed for the 45 minutes before it was time to leave for church while Luke played trains some more.  So having trouble with getting enough rest.  But soon enough it was time for church, where we sat for dinner at a big table with Mom, Dad, Ashley, Shae, Joby, Dakota, and Mikah.  Yep.  This time when D sat down next to Luke, Luke said brightly "Hey!"  As if, "Hello!  Why wouldn't we be eating dinner together?"  After dinner when it was time for bible class Dakota ran off and called over his shoulder "Come on Luke!" and they took off for class.  So cute.

Reasons

Reason's why I'm ready for this week to be over with:

-one week closer to girlfriend getting here

-my church shower is on Sunday and I'm looking forward to a fun time with girls

-Luke's speech evaluation for the school district is next week and I'm super curious as to what they will say

-just that much closer to my prize coming in the mail!  What am I talking about?  Lindsay had a little give-away for anyone who voted on her friend's kid's picture on facebook (did you get all that?!) and I won!  The give away was for the headband of my choice from her (one and only) favorite headband shop on Etsy, Eme Kay, and I got to pick whatever I wanted!  I ended up saying I wanted something custom- all I said was a white rolled flower with some lace, so it would go with a variety of Sunday dresses.  I can't wait to see what it looks like!

Now on to today.  Today was a lazy day.  I spent my whole day getting chores done yesterday, so today I could relax.  There was coffee.  And internet.  And cartoons.  And a visit from Taylor.  This evening Dad came over and mowed my lawn, edged, AND sprayed my weeds with weed killer.  It looks so good out there now!  Mom brought Ashley, lasagna, and bread, while I made some brownies.  Luke and I had a great dinner with everyone, made all the sweeter by the fact that I didn't have to cook.  We all know how I feel about that.  After we ate we all headed back out side, because it was perfect weather, and cut off a few tree branches that were having trouble after all the winds.  Dad cut one, Mom cut one, and I cut most of one. I think it was the first time Mom had wielded an old fashioned saw, and I'm pretty sure she really liked it.  Ha!  Tonight I am determined to get to bed a little sooner....last night I barely slept at all, and I didn't nap today solely to ensure there wasn't a repeat tonight.  This momma is tired!

34 Weeks

Confession time:  I broke one of the cardinal rules.  One of those rules that every mom knows not to break.  The rule that says you never ever EVER brag about something your kid is doing because it WILL jinx it.  Yesterday I posted about how Luke has never been scared of thunder storms and has always slept through them.  Enter 4 AM this morning.  The rain had come back, the flashes of lightening, and the low rolling thunder.  Not scary lightening and thunder, more like the kind you would hear in thunderstorm sound tracks on noise machines.  None the less, I was awaken by a "Mom!  Momma! *long whine/cry* Mom?"  So I stumbled in the darkness to my boy and asked him what was wrong.  He said "Go night night wif Mommy?"  *sniff sniff*  How in the world could you turn that down?  I scooped him up and tucked him into my bed.  I guess one of the good things about having a big bed all to myself is when you have a little visitor, no one is squished!  We slept comfortably side by side, with no little feet or elbows digging in unwanted places.  It's actually the first time he's lasted longer than 30 minutes in my bed.  Although, occasionally before he drifted off into a deep sleep he would reach over and make sure I was still there.  You know, it actually was the first time in a long time I felt like a true mom- like he needed me.  Sure, I take care of him every minute of every day, but he's not a very needy child (praise the Lord) so sometimes it feels like he doesn't care who's doing the job as long as the job gets done.  It also made me remember all the time I would scare the bee-jeezus out of my own mother when I would show up at her bedside during thunderstorms and crawl in between her and Dad.  The way that I depended on them for comfort and security is how he was viewing me.  Just makes me want to squeeze him all over again.  But I won't, because he's currently talking to himself in the dark in bed.

I tried really hard to get Luke involved with this one since it was on a timer.  But I couldn't get him out of the shot.

But I finally was able to convince him to get with the program.  Doesn't the belly look so different covered as opposed to uncovered?  I included the covered one because Mom told me last week that some people cringe a little at my weekly bare belly.  If you know me, you know I'm not the most modest person around town.  Deal.

How Far Along: 34 weeks- 42 days left.  That's 6 weeks folks!  Yikes!

Size of baby: the weight of a cantaloupee.....4 3/4lbs and almost 18 inches long

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Well, according to the doctor on Friday, I'm up 28 lbs total.  And I still have 6 weeks left.  So yes, it looks like I will at least match Luke's 37 lbs that I put on.  Joy.

Maternity Clothes: How could someone put on almost 30 pounds and not need maternity clothes?!

Gender: I'm having me a baby girl! Evan Elaine Carver will be here at the beginning of the summer!

Movement: Still the same.  She still loves the right side of me.  I've never felt her near my left ribs or on my left hip, it's always been the right side.  And she greatly prefers me to lay on my right side.  When I roll over onto my left she starts thrashing around in there for a long time.  Maybe I some how lay farther onto my belly when I lay on my left than on my right, but whatever the reason she lets me know that she's aware of the change in position.

Sleep: Blah. If there is a reason I'm ready to not be pregnant any more, it would be this one.

What I miss: Looking like this. Or this. I'm wondering if I ever will again.

Cravings: Nah.  Not really.

Symptoms: Nothing new this week. Still the popping, the pain in my hips and knees when I walk. Exhaustion (I may or may not take a two hour nap every day). Feeling like a giant hippo. 

Best Moment this week: Well, last night was a pretty good moment.  Hearing that my blood pressure and everything looked good at my appointment on Friday.  It's nice to know that although things have not been great around here, and I've felt the stress (hence the naps), that my body seems to be handling it along with the pregnancy okay.

Easter

Today was Easter.  The day my Savior conquered the grave.  What an amazing thing to be thankful for.  It was also a day for candy.  I'm positive my boy was thankful for that.  Ha!  This morning after I got him dressed, Luke got to see his Easter basket.  I was thoroughly disappointed that he really wanted no part of it. 

I tried so hard to get him interested.  "Oooo, look at the trains!  That's for you!  Look a the truck!  Those are stickers!" yet this was as close as he would get.  Reminding myself that I was slightly hormonal from Sister, I tried not to take it personally.  But when I huffed off to go put on my make up and he followed me into the bed room, I told him he needed to leave Momma alone, I was a little upset at the moment.  I said it nicely, I promise.  Of course a few minutes later (when the camera wasn't around) he took more interest and didn't put the trains down the rest of the day.  I did wake Cody up to take a quick picture of us, but someone wouldn't cooperate. 

Once we got to church I had my friend snap a quick picture of us before I dropped him off at bible class.  And this was the best she could get.

Oh well.  He got to have an Easter egg hunt in bible class, and then he spent the bulk of the service puttering those trains around.  Including up and over Sister, who seemed to provide a nice mountain to chug over.  For lunch we went over to Cody's parents house, where we had a big roast dinner, another egg hunt, and they tried to dye eggs. 

He did one egg and wanted no more.  It seems my basket wasn't the only  classic Easter tradition he wanted no part of.  Then we came home for a nap (a blissful 2 1/2 hour nap that I slept through too), then up to piddle around the house.  He wanted to do ANOTHER egg hunt, so I tossed some in the front yard and sat in the grass while he went after them.  Then we came in for some tv.  Ta da!  That was Easter.

On a non-holiday  note, there have been some nasty storms around here lately.  The last two nights have been tornado-y, with short but heavy rains, extremely strong winds, and the scary kind of lightening and thunder (not to mention the fact that the rain, plus high heat has made for some horrifically humid days already).  Thankfully Luke hasn't seems scared of any of it.  Friday night I went to a sleep over with my girl friends, and yes, it's exactly what it sounds like.  10 of us met at a house (where the husband  was kicked out for the night!), had dinner and stayed up till 2 talking.  Then those of us that were still left for breakfast ate and talked some more until 10:30 that morning.  Where was my boy all this time?  Having a Nana and Papa night of course!  They had pizza on the patio for dinner (which included a lively round of bubbles, one of his new favorite things), a bath in Nana's big tub, and breakfast a Dunkin Donuts followed by a big Wal Mart shopping trip.  Between the donuts Saturday morning and all the candy he ate today, it's a wonder he has any teeth left, or will grow at all this month.  And we still have gobs of candy left over, which will be rationed out much more delicately from now on than it was today.  I tried to just let it go and tell myself he won't have a candy haul like this until Halloween, right?

Wednesday

Last night Luke and I went with Mom, Dad, Ashley, and Grandmother to Macaroni Grill for dinner for Dad's birthday.  His actual birthday is tomorrow, but Ashley wasn't going to be able to go to dinner tomorrow night, so last night it was!  She came over about 2:30 and we made a cake, watched some t.v., and decorated the cake.  Luke even finally started saying her name!  Granted, it comes out like "Warsh-wee", but that's a heck of a lot closer than "Dis" was.  I had my camera to take pictures, but I ended up using Dad's camera instead, so I came home with none. 

Today was another gloomy, cloudy, rainy day.  I did a lot of DVR catching up.  Started filling out Little Lady's baby book.  Luke got busy with his stickers.  Before we even had breakfast he had gone through an entire sheet. 

But not to long after that he got a diaper change and didn't want to wear his jammies anymore.  So where did the stickers land?

I know you want some of those stickers.  The rest of the day passed slowly and surely.  He spent the bulk of the afternoon/evening playing out back.  There's one little section of fence that is not screwed into anything, because it was supposed to be a gate, but it's been blown down in the high winds lately.  Problem was that I didn't realize that until I let Daisy out for awhile and then heard her barking at a cat in the front bushes.  Awesome.  That led to a long afternoon of trying to keep Daisy inside while Luke was outside, because when she got out, she ran straight through the hole.  Then Luke took to escaping.  But he was easier to spot through the window (which I was facing), and every time that little body appeared I just called out "Luuuuuuuuuuuke" and he would high tail it back into the yard.  At one point he even got his tools out and tried to "fix" it himself.  It was so hot and humid that by the time he and I ate dinner, he was s.o.a.k.e.d.  That boy sweats more than anyone I have ever seen!
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Saturday morning

Saturday morning I took Luke to the pancake breakfast/egg hunt up at church for all the kids under 5.  We had fun!  The new picture in my header was our first picture of the morning.  I'm smiling and Luke is chowing down on a sausage patty.  Typical, right?  After breakfast we did some of the crafts and games set up around the room.  First there was putt putting using a plastic egg instead of a ball.  For the life of me, I could NOT get Luke to use the correct end of the putter.  I tried three times to turn it around, use hand over hand, show him by example.  And every time he went back to this.

So we gave up and moved over to try the crafts.  At first he didn't want to make a bunny mask, but after a little cajoling and seeing Dakota working on his, I persuaded him.

Luke's turned out a little different than D's did. (I think Shae had more input on D's than I did on Luke's!)

After getting our craft on, the Easter bunny showed up!  I had a little friend who wasn't too sure about him though.

Eventually we got him in the Easter bunny's lap for a picture though.

Finally it was time for the egg hunt!

He had a great time.  They were only supposed to get 12 eggs (to make it fair and that everyone would get some), but even after I told him we were all done he kept just "finding" them.  So when he wasn't looking I'd sneak the extras out and toss them behind me.  Hey.  He got to keep picking them up, and we were staying within the limits.  Finally I got him to sit and start crackin them open.

There were stickers, candy, and bubbles!  Oh, the bubbles!  We actually got a little photo of some of the boys that are Luke's age...and we actually got them to sit for a minute to take a picture.  Key word is sit.  Getting them to look in the same direction was a totally different story.  And a gigantic fail.

But that's what we've got!  Zane, Dakota, Jack (Zane's little brother), Mikah (D's little brother), and Luke.  Poor Evan would have been totally outnumbered!  I think at this point Luke had eaten three or four pieces of chocolate from his basket, and the feast continued when we got home.  That child ate more chocolate than I have in the past two weeks!  But I just told myself that this doesn't happen every day (well, not until this Sunday when the Easter bunny visits our house!) and tried to let it go.  I really am trying to be more relaxed about stuff like that!

33 Weeks

Tomorrow I'll catch up on what happened over the weekend....but for now it just about today.  I cleaned a little bit this morning.  We watched some cartoons.  We were watching the Disney channel, and the movie Cars came on.  I have no idea why, but Luke is just terrified of that movie.  As soon as he realized that it was coming on instead of his beloved Chuggington, he got all panicked and pleaded "Turn off Momma!  Turn off Momma!  Turn it off!"  So we switched over to PBS.  Isn't that funny?  This afternoon we played in the back yard.  I got out his black truck.

"It's Wuke's back twuck!"

And he peeped at the neighbor washing his car next door.  I've got one Nosey Nelly on my hands. And can you see what he's wearing?  When he wanted to go outside I told him he could go out in bare feet, but he insisted on shoes and socks.  Actually, he insisted on black shoes and RED socks.  So yes, he's wearing black and red argyle socks with an orange and white striped polo.  Hey, at least we stayed in the back yard.

How Far Along: 33 weeks- 49 days left

Size of baby: the weight of a pineapple.....4 lbs and 17+ inches long

Total Weight Gain/Loss: No clue.  But I've kinda lost my appetite lately, and I've got my doctors appointment on Friday, so I'll let you know next week!

Maternity Clothes: Oh yes.

Gender: I'm having me a baby girl! Evan Elaine Carver will be here at the beginning of the summer!

Movement: Same ole same ole.  She really likes to stick her bum out where my belly button is, so it makes for a nice point on this big belly some times.  We'll play little games where I poke her and she pokes back.

Sleep: Blah.  If there is a reason I'm ready to not be pregnant any more, it would be this one.

What I miss: Wearing whatever I want. Solid, uninterrupted sleep. Wine.

Cravings: None this week.  Like I said, I've kinda had a slump in the food area.

Symptoms: Nothing new this week. Still the popping, the pain in my hips and knees when I walk. Exhaustion. Feeling like a giant hippo.

Best Moment this week: When Luke told me he was happy this week.  :)  Also, tonight after I read him his nightly story, Luke wanted to rock.  So I took him into Evan's room and we sat and rocked for a long time.  It's hard for him to get comfortable in my shrinking lap, but he snuggled up to my chest as best as he could.  He hasn't done that in a very long time.

Another one!

Well, thankfully today was another pretty good day.  Started out normal enough.  Made breakfast.  Ate breakfast.  Had a bit more coffee than normal because it was that good.  Watched Luke's must see morning cartoons- Chuggington and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, then turned off the tv and read a magazine while the boys played.  Sounds luxurious, huh?  And it was, but it was also out of necessity.  Cody had taken my car to work, and it was way to windy to get out and take the boys on a walk.  I didn't want them to veg in front of the tv all morning, so instead I set a good example of turning off the tv and reading.  Good Housekeeping.  And the funny thing was, Luke brought a couple of books over to the couch and started "reading" them out loud to himself.

Then I got a phone call- Taylor was climbing the walls at her house and needed to get out.  What's better when you can't go visit a friend than have a friend come and visit you?  We sat and talked for a couple of hours, and I got to hold baby Vera.  Once again I tried to show Luke what sister would be like when she comes to meet us, and once again he couldn't be bothered (although in his defense, I had turned the tv back on while he ate lunch so we could visit in peace, and they are shows he never really gets to see).  She is three weeks old today, but still so very very tiny!  Like, barely 7 lbs!  Seeing her, and the baby Adelaide last night has really given me the itch to meet my girl.  Not that I want to speed up these last few weeks, I'm really trying to enjoy them since it's for real the last time I'll be pregnant, but it's made me really wonder what will she look like?  What will her temperament be?  How will this nursing thing work for us?  What's her labor and delivery going to be like?  Will she be as easy (in every way) as Brother was, or is Sister gonna give me a run for my money?  These are things that for one reason or another I just haven't gotten around to thinking about.  Having done the newborn thing before has really taken a lot of that anticipation and anxiety out of my mind.  Not in a bad way at all, just been different this time around.

Tonight we went and picked up Cody's truck, then came home and rested.  Okay, Mom and Dad rested, Luke played.  Then he ate chicken nuggets with ketchup and mac and cheese for dinner (or as he calls it shi-shin nooguts and chetchup and ma cheese) while Nemo played and Mom rested some more.  This week of child rearing, house keeping, and baby growing really wore me out!

Good day

Today was one of the better days that I've had in awhile.  For reasons left unsaid, the last couple of weeks have been really rough, and they've taken their toll.  But thanks to a quiet morning full of cartoons, and my sweet Shae who delivered a big ole Dr. Pepper to my doorstep during nap time, today was actually a good day.  This evening Cody called me and told me I needed to go pick him up from the car repair place- his truck was acting funny again.  Bummer.  But we stopped at Cozeymel's for dinner (so yum) and then in the car Luke just randomly blurted out "I'm 'appy!"  What a great thing to say unprompted.  I'm so glad my boy was happy.  I'd do anything to make him that way.  Which was not far from the truth today, because if there was one hiccup in our day, it was due to a little someone being Mr. Crabby-pants for about half of it.  We also took a family trip over to a friend's house who just had a baby.  I was interested to see what Luke would do around this four day old little girl, and just as I predicted he ignored Adelaide completely.  I tried to tell him about how this was just like sister will be when she comes to meet us, but it didn't phase him.  He was WAY more interested in their dogs and the doggie door next to the couch. 

New items

Today I spent the whole day cleaning.  When I say whole day, I mean whole day.  I started with the kitchen at about 8 this morning and I finished with Luke's room a little after 5.  This is not to say I did any special cleaning, or anything more thorough than normal, but it's more of a testament as to how bad I'd let it get over the last few days.  Dishes from Sunday morning were still out.  Piles of clothes all over the bedroom.  4 loads of clean laundry just hanging out in the laundry room.  Floors so grimy I've been washing my feet in the tub before getting in bed each night.  Yikes. 

I did take quick pictures of the two things I made for Evan yesterday.  I liked one of the onesies I made for one of the orders so much that I made my girl one too.  I guess that's the plus side of trying new things out on other people!  Front:

Back:

I also finally got around to making another bib for her. 

So now we're up to two.  But I'm not really in a hurry for those, I know it will be awhile before she really needs them, so I'll just make one or so each time I get the sewing machine out.

32 Weeks

Yesterday after we got back from church and lunch I spent the rest of the day sewing.  This morning I took the boys over to Shae's and we stayed until lunch time.  I sewed more this afternoon.  That's all I've done in the last 36 hours.

Not gonna lie, I'm getting really tired of taking these weekly pictures.  I almost skipped out tonight.  Blah.

How Far Along: 32 weeks- 56 days left

Size of baby: the weight of a jicama (no clue what that is).....3.75 lbs and 16.7 inches long

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I'm still supposed to be putting on about a pound a week, so probably around 25 pounds total this week.

Maternity Clothes: Oh yes.

Gender: I'm having me a baby girl! Evan Elaine Carver will be here at the beginning of the summer!

Movement: Hasn't let up at all.  I think the weirdest feeling is when she bumps into my hip bone.  It's a numb tickley shocking kind of feeling.  Very odd.

Sleep: I don't think it's going to get any better for a long time.  I'm waking up 2-3 times just to roll myself over and haul my pillow with me.  Plus another time to go to the bathroom.  Plus when Cody gets up to get ready for work. 

What I miss: Wearing whatever I want. Solid, uninterrupted sleep. Wine.

Cravings: I actually had one for chocolate milk at Walmart last night.  I saw this woman in the store had Yoo Hoo in her basket, and all of the sudden I had to have some chocolate milk.  My mouth just salivated over it and I couldn't get to the milk section fast enough.  I've never in my life had Yoo Hoo.  Is that stuff even chocolate milk?  Anyway, I put a 20 oz bottle in the cart and made a bee line for the checkout (good thing I was done shopping).  I made him scan that thing right away and stand there while I opened it, before I pulled anything else out of the basket.  I had it finished by the time I walked out of the store.  But I forgot that when I drink milk by itself it gives me tummy pains.  They didn't last long.

Symptoms: Nothing new this week.  Still the popping, the pain in my hips and knees when I walk. Exhaustion.  I already  mentioned the contractions on Tuesday night, but luckily I haven't had any more major ones this week.

Best Moment this week: Pass.

I'm alive

I know I've been MIA this week- I've just been kinda blah.  Plus we really haven't done anything.  Tuesday night I had some pretty good contractions- 4 to 5 minutes between and lasting for a minute each- and the doctor wanted to see me on Wednesday to confirm that they didn't do anything.  She said I'd thinned out a little but Evan is still very high, so she wasn't concerned. (This was crazy news to me, I feel like she is sooooooo loooooow.  I actually asked her twice if she was sure.  I'm sure she appreciated me doubting her expertise.)  The rest of the week I just took it easy and we laid low on the couch!  Last night (Friday) we went out to dinner with some friends, and today was a baby shower for an old friend from high school who is pregnant with twins!  Her due date is 5 weeks after mine, but if she doesn't beat me to the hospital, I'm guessing our babies will come about the same time.

I've got a pimple coming up on my chin that itches.  That's some big news.

Also there is a chance the dog has mange.  She's been itching like crazy, leaving big tufts of hair all over the house and in the bald spots are scabby dots.  When I showed Luke's speech therapist on Friday when she came for our appointment, she said that's what it looked like.  They had gotten a puppy that turned out to have mange and her parent's had a dog who had gotten it.  Hmmm.  I'm afraid to google it cause I don't really want to see what comes up.  Yuck.  We should really take her to the vet.  Cody wants me to do it during the day, but yeah right I'm gonna drag a one year old and a two year old to the vet with a dog who goes ca-razy when we pull into the parking lot.  Esh.  I get frazzled and exhausted just thinking about it.  I told him to do it when he gets home from work.  Actually I told him to do it today, but like that was going to happen.

Oh, I do want to have permanent record of something funny Luke said the other day.  He likes for us to play pretend sleep, and then wake each other up.  We were sitting on the couch alternating who was "sleeping", and it was his turn so I said "Night night baby!".  He sat up and looked at me, then said "No Mom.  No baby.  (patting himself on the chest).  Dis Wuka."  ("This Luke.")  I just had to laugh and hug him, and told him yes, yes he was a big boy Luke.  It made me wonder if he was registering "baby" as in the baby in my tummy that we keep talking about, and he wanted to make sure I wasn't confused as to who I was talking to.  And earlier I had caught him chewing on his toes.  YES.  Toes.  I haven't seen him do that, um, ever?  I quickly told him to get those out of his mouth, that was yucky.  Isn't regression supposed to start AFTER the baby comes, not two months before?!

31 Weeks

Holy shamoly was it windy today.  I mean, it's been windy the last few days, but today was just ridiculous.  I checked the weather and the gusts were 40 mph.  No wonder I thought the back doors were going to blow in.  I would have liked to stay in out of the wind, but I had my dr. appointment today plus I needed to make my weekly grocery run.  That's why my hair is pinned back with a clip, bobby pins, and a head band in the picture!  Nothing like trying to keep up with two boys in the wind with hair all in your face.

(Doesn't look quiet so big covered as Saturday's bare belly picture, does it?!)

How Far Along: 31 weeks- 63 days left

Size of baby: the weight of 4 navel oranges.....3.3 lbs and 16 inches long

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Well, per the doctor today, I'm only up 3 lbs this last month!  Whoo hoo!  That puts me at 24 lbs total.  When I stepped on the scale and saw 134 I panicked for a minute, but after asking what my weight was last time I was in (I'd blocked it out.  Ha!) I calmed down.  Dr said I was right on target!

Maternity Clothes: Oh yes.

Gender: I'm having me a baby girl! Evan Elaine Carver will be here at the beginning of the summer!

Movement: Still constant.  Somersaults, kicks, tap dancing, and a little shimmy here and there.  Girl is still moving all over the place.  I'll feel her WAAAAY down low, and then moments later get a foot in the rib.  I think she's a snake.

Sleep: Meh.  I've had some crazy and bad dreams lately, that's woken me up.  The wind has stirred up a lot of junk in the air, so allergies have been up some what keeping me awake.  And girlfriend doin a little dance at night night time doesn't help either.  I'll sleep again some day.

What I miss: Wearing whatever I want.  Solid, uninterrupted sleep. 

Cravings: Not too much this week.  Milk shakes?

Symptoms: I've noticed the popping has come back, but I really only hear it in the quiet of my room at night.  When I was pregnant with Luke towards the end I would hear this random pop coming from my belly every now and then, at first (right now) it's like the sound when you flick your finger nails, and later it will shift into almost a cracking like knuckles popping.  I've also been feeling a lot of pressure, and my exhaustion has really been up this week.  At the appointment this morning I found out that baby girl is measuring about 2 weeks ahead!  She's been right on track this whole time, so my guess is she hit a growth spurt in the last couple of weeks, and it will even out over the next visit or two.  No, my due date did not move up!

Best Moment this week: Finding out that Evan is growing like a weed and hearing her strong little heartbeat.  Also, tonight I laid in bed with Luke before turning out his lights for the evening, and we had a little chat.  I mean, I actually had a pretty lengthy conversation with him.  That is a huge first!  I mean, we talked about cars and family members, but he was able to tell me the car color of everyone he knows.  And we talked about friends, naming all the people who is his friend.  I just love that sweet sweet boy.

Party time

I forgot to mention the other day that our neighbor got a sprinkler system put in.  I hope the workers didn't mind being on display all day.

Cause that little face was fascinated by what they were doing.

Today was another birthday party.  Zane's birthday falls near Easter every year, so it's become tradition to for there to be an Easter egg hunt at his party.  Luke was way more with it this year!  I didn't take my big camera to the party, but I did get a few fun photos of my boy with blue icing smeared all over his face on my phone.  Too lazy to download them though.  In those Easter eggs are little treats, and what I did get was a picture of my new tattoo.  After nap time Luke ate more candy than he's seen since Halloween, and looked at the 5 choices for a tattoo that he now has.  He chose a bulldozer for his arm, and then a ladybug for sister.  Yes. For sister.

Aren't you so jealous?!

Park time

Tonight I decided to do something a little different.  The weather was beautiful again today, high of 86.  We had stayed inside most of the day so I thought for dinner I'd throw together a sandwich and take my boy to the park.  We stayed for a whooping 2 hours!  At first he went to the playground, but then his running legs got the best of him.  Normally when we go to the park we are with a friend, so I make him stay on the playground so I can chit chat on the bench.  Tonight it was just the two of us, so I let him roam the gigantic frisbee golf course where ever his little legs would take him, and I just trailed behind (as quickly as this belly would let me). 

Mostly his little legs wanted to go down to this concrete drainage creek thing, which had the nastiest water trickling down it.  But to a 2 year old boy, does it get any better?!  As long as he didn't touch the stuff, I was fine with whatever. 

Per the picture, I tried to just walk beside him on the grassy part, but he insisted that I walk behind him on the concrete.  So particular.  After a little while I got hungry, so I herded him back to the picnic table where I had left our dinner, and we sat down to eat.  After using a wipee AND hand sanitizer of course. 

He dined on lunch meat, cheese, a fruit cup and my chips while I had the best sandwich of peppered turkey, cheese, mayo, avocado, and tomato.  Yum right?!  I haven't had much of an appetite lately, so this was a welcomed meal in a tummy that was actually hungry.  While we ate I tried and tried to get a picture of us, but it's like he didn't know where to look on the phone.  I guess I should have used the term "phone" instead of "camera", cause now that I think about it he was probably looking down for Mom's big black camera, instead of the back of my phone.  Oh well.

This was the best I could do.  After we ate we went back down to the "water" then once more to the playground to swing and run across the bridge before headed home to the bath.  That boy should be sleeping well tonight!