Luke's room revealed

I am finally getting around to posting the pictures of Luke's new room. Yes, this was started at the beginning of the summer. Yes, I finally painted the furniture and got it situated 2 weeks ago. It takes me a bit longer to get things photographed than it used to. I love how it turned out though! The car tracks that are on his wall was a Christmas present that I kept putting off. I knew at some point the kids would be switching rooms (not because I was pregnant, that was before the surprise) and my bargaining chip for giving up the bigger room was being able to put the car tracks up.

 

Well, the move came and went and the bad momma I am still hadn't put it up. BUT, while he was gone I finally got around to it, and the look on his face was priceless. He loves it. Loves the posters I found to go above it (they don't fit with the cowboy theme, but Mustangs and Camaros are two of his favorite cars. I couldn't resist.) He loves the blue furniture. He's been asking for something to be painted blue ever since I painted my walls navy last year.  So it was out with the green dresser and bookshelf....

 

 

and in with the navy for my boy.

 

 

 

 

And because I was having fun taking panoramic pictures, I took one of the girls' room too.

 

 

32 weeks and the excitement level

 

How Far Along: 32 weeks

Size of baby: Size of a squash- length is about 16.5 inches and 3.5 lbs.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Yesterday at my appointment I was 131- only 1 lb in the last two weeks! I think that's the slowest I've gained yet.

 

Maternity Clothes: I dare you to find regular clothes that will fit over that belly that AREN'T a size XL.

 

Gender: Elyse Ann is on her way! (see, it's questions like these last two that make me glad I'm only doing this every other week, as opposed to every week.)
  

Movement: Still busy as ever. Moving mountains busy. I feel like she's long and low because it's almost like I've got toes in my ribs and a batter-ram on the other end all at the same time. It's......pleasant. And there are still 8. weeks. left.
     

Sleep: Still not great. I've developed a pattern of being up for at least an hour about 4 hours after I go to bed.
   

What I miss: Feeling skinny.

 

Cravings: Not really any.

Symptoms: So itchy. My poor skin and ab muscles are taking a beating- tight and itchy and generally uncomfortable. And again, there are still 8. weeks. left. Also, some may say that my patience level is waning. But those people probably aren't saying it to my face.

 

Best Moment this week: Passing the 3 hour glucose test! I found out at my appointment two weeks ago that I barely missed the mark on the one hour test. That meant I had to come back for the 3 hour one. While there are much worse things in the world than sitting for that test, there were also about a thousand other things I would have rather done. Thankfully I passed it with flying colors, and after speaking with my dr yesterday, she said it was highly unlikely that anything would develop in the short time I've got left. Probably one of the few times 8 weeks will be considered a "short" amount of time. Just ask a teacher. Or a kid waiting for Christmas.

 

You know, people keep asking me if I'm getting excited. If I'm ready. Of course I'm excited! Of course I'm ready! I can't wait to meet this little girl. See if I finally get my dark haired baby. My green eyed girl. To love on her and hold her and breath her in. But.....I'm also glad I know she isn't coming tomorrow. It's not that I don't want to do the work of parenting three kids by myself, I just know what it's going to mean not only for me, but for the two I've already got. And I'm okay with waiting until the time is right to dive into that. I'm enjoying these last few weeks with the family dynamic we've got going. Cause believe me. "Dynamic" is certainly a word you could use to describe my current children. This one?

 

She decided on Saturday she wanted to wear panties. Well I don't have any panties for her yet. So I plopped her on the potty (where she did go) and put on a pair of Luke's tidy whities on her little bottom, making a big deal out of DO. NOT. PEE PEE.

 

She lasted 30 minutes.

 

And her brother. Lord have mercy. In the last week he's told me that he MIGHT learn to read this year, if he feels like it, that he wanted me to drive home fast after work so he could love on me, and in his prayers has prayed for God to touch our hearts so we could make good choices and be kind.

 

Did you die yet? <3

Quiet on the home front

If you are curious to know why things have been quiet round these here parts (and I know you are on the edge of your seat), it's because things have been quiet at home the last week. Two weekends ago, the weekend I wrote my 30 week post, I had the kids and a quiet normal weekend. Evan decided she needed "a" sticker. Yikes. And don't you love her "cheeeeeeese" face?

 

 

Saturday morning I was greeted bright and early. Luke came in and said "I think it's morning because the sun is up so we can get out of bed now." I tried to tell him it didn't work that way, that just because the sun was up did not mean I was getting out of bed. Well they fixed that problem.

 

If Momma won't get out of bed, just join her in it. All three of my babies made themselves right at home.

Sunday before church:

 

 Evan decided she'd rather wear one of my necklaces and that the sunglasses were still a must. I couldn't get Luke to stop being silly.

Sunday afternoon I let Luke paint a wooden train all. by. himself.

 

 

The sticker placement makes my OCD veer way into the twitchy side, but he loves it, is so proud of it, and has displayed his train on his dresser. What did Sister do while Bubba painted?

 

 

Played Apple Baby.  I don't know.  I don't ask.

 

Monday morning is where the quiet hit. Luke has begged to go to Grandy's for months now, and we haven't been since Christmas. Mom started school yesterday, so last week was the last week they had the chance to go out there. Ashley didn't work Monday through Thursday, so they took both kids out west for a little cousin camp. I was bummed that I couldn't go, but I have to save all my PTO for maternity leave. Boo. They had a great time! My cousins brought their kids in too, so Grandy had a house full of great grand kids. They had the best week of playing and swimming. My aunt's friend has a pool with a diving board AND a water slide, and she was kind enough to let the family borrow it. I got some great videos over texts of my babies running and jumping off the diving board and flying down the slide.

 

Yes. Both of my babies.

 

I didn't have time to get too lonely though. I finally got around to painting Luke's furniture (pictures coming soon) and finishing up his room. That took two of the nights, I had a dr appointment one of the nights, and Dad (who also got left behind) took me to dinner one night. Thursday I flew home from work to see those sweet faces. Luke wanted to go for a bike ride, so I tossed his bike and the stroller in the back of my car and we zipped over to the park.

 

 

All was good in my world. I MISSED them!

 

Friday night was small groups at the Wyatt's house. Luke found a monster costume in one of the bins and managed to get the whole thing on by himself.

Y'all. I die.

 After he took it off, little Miss Copy Cat needed to try it on too. Then I died again.

The rest of the weekend was a quiet one again. Just glad to have my children home for a few days. The only thing we really did was go out to Jacob's mom and stepdad's house Saturday night for swimming and a cookout. Cindy is taking BOTH of her kids to college this week, so I've had to cobble together child care for the days she normally has them. Their grandmother took Tuesday, and to save herself the trip of coming to get them Monday and Tuesday, she had them spend the night last night. :( I was sad to see them go again, but I did get a hair cut and a pedicure and a grocery store run in, so I guess it wasn't a total loss.

 

 Flowers Luke picked for me at the pool a couple of weekends ago.



30 Weeks

How Far Along: 30 weeks

Size of baby: I've seen head of cabbage and cucumber- but regardless of the veggie, the length is about 16 inches and 3 lbs.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Two Thursdays ago I took my glucose test and weighed myself before I left- it was 128. I'm guessing my dr appointment on Tuesday will show 129.

 

Maternity Clothes: Yes. You've seen me, right?

 

Gender: Elyse Ann is on her way! (see, it's questions like these last two that make me glad I'm only doing this every other week, as opposed to every week.)
  

Movement: Girlfriend is so busy. Both kids have been able to feel her at this point. Luke now asks frequently when I'm around if she's moving or if she's sleeping. He's really enjoyed watching her little body glide under my skin and feeling her bump. And just two nights ago I was rocking Evan, with her pressed up against me belly to belly (can I just tell you how comfortable that was? Ug. I couldn't breath.) Elyse didn't appreciate Sissy pressed up against her like that and was pushing back. Evan sat up and giggling, patted her tummy and said "I feel it!". I died.
     

Sleep: Not great. My hips still hurt, the bathroom trips are frequent, and the sneezing got so bad I finally had to try allergy meds again. It helps some, but not a ton.
   

What I miss: Being comfortable in my own skin.

 

Cravings: Not really any.

Symptoms: Braxton Hicks have stayed at one or two a day. The stretching under my belly comes and goes. And I'm tired. So tired. Some of it is related to the lack of good sleep, but I also keep reading that its very common to get tired again in the third trimester.

 

Best Moment this week Probably the stories I mentioned in the movement section on the kids feeling her. They are both so excited for their sister to get here!

 

 

And now here is a fun comparison... the weeks are 31,31, and 30. I feel like there was major differences in the beginning, but at this point I seem to have caught up and my belly looks similar!

 

Luke at 31 weeks (no link, I didn't blog then)

 

 Evan at 31 weeks

Elyse at 30 weeks

Weekend

This weekend was another good one. Friday night the kids and I just hung out at home- I cleaned, they played. I'd had a rough day emotionally, and I was thankful for some down time with my little people. Saturday I let Luke choose the activities. We could either go to the regular pool in the morning and be home the rest of the afternoon, or be home in the morning and go to the water park after nap (it doesn't open till 1). He chose the water park (actually he wanted to do both, but I told him that wasn't an option!), so we hung out at the house and.....get this.....STAYED COOL.

Y'all.  I got my ac/heater replaced last Monday, and it's the first time we haven't sweated out the heat of the day. The ac/heater was original to the house (yeah, like 40 years old) and just couldn't keep up with our Texas summers of 100+ temps. It would run all day, never get below 83, and be pretty humid. But this Saturday? It was the first Saturday in the 6 years I've lived there that clothing might actually be an option. We didn't take the option, but it was nice to know it was there.

So what did I do on my first cool indoor Saturday?

Worked in the garage.

I know. Pitiful. But I had to start digging out Evan's baby clothes to take inventory. I THINK with some leggings and cardi's, I can make a good 3/4 of my summer baby clothes work for my new winter baby. Maybe? I'll let you know how that goes in 6 months. I washed two full loads of 0-3 months clothes, so surely something's gonna work. Just nod yes.

After our water park excursion, the kids and I went to the grocery store, then called in Fuzzy's to go because low and behold, the grocery store was out of rotisserie chicken. (come one people. It was 6 on Saturday. You didn't think I'd actually be cooking at this point, did you?).

Sunday as I was putting my makeup on, I turned around to a little someone playing dress up in my clothes. It has begun!

Sunday morning was church as usual, then home for lunch (Mom was sick) and nap time. After nap time I took the kids to the pool where we spent the remainder of the afternoon. Dinner time came and I still didn't feel like cooking, so we had the BEST. NIGHT. EVER. in the words of my children: peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, real (!) chips, baby carrots, and homemade chocolate cupcakes all in a tent while we watched Emperors New Groove. The pool was a hit. The food was a hit. The movie was a hit. Basically I won Best Mom In the World award last night.

 

One thing I do wish I was better at was recording some of the funny things the kids are saying these days. Yesterday morning before church Luke was playing with a Lego airplane he'd built. I'm getting dressed and he tells me "Mom, I crashed my plane." So of course I play along. "Oh no! Were there any survivors?" He just looks at my like I'm crazy and says "Um, no. It's just a model plane." Oh. Well. My bad, son. And then after nap we were all lounging on my bed (I'd taken one too), when I heard a toot. Silly me assumed it was Luke and called him out on it. That's when my precious, darling, sweet daughter pipes up with "No Mommy! It was me! I toot! 'Scuse me!" Oi.

 

This picture was taken a few weeks ago, but I forgot to write about it. Evan did really good in her bed when she first got it, but after about a month I'd have to go in there two or three times to put her back to bed. She'd turn on her little bed lamp and read books, play with her babies, change her jammies, basically do whatever she wanted. She'd always end up back in bed asleep, but I never knew what toys would be out when I went to check on her. See the proof? I always put my kids to bed with picked up floors- not baby items and stuffed animals everywhere. We've gone over the list of things not to do so many time now that as she climbs into bed she chants "No babies. No books. No wight. No ca-set. (closet) No cwothes off." It seems to help- I don't find toys mysteriously out anymore, but I do find her asleep at the end of her bed instead of on her pillow. My silly girl.

Sew it up

So going back and looking at all of those baby baby pictures of Evan has made me super excited for Elyse to get here. Not that I wasn't before, of course, but seeing the leeeeetle baby Evan made me remember how sweet and snuggly newborns are and yay for getting that again soon!

 

Another thing I was busy with this past weekend was sewing. I made Elyse a couple of gowns for the hospital and obviously I couldn't help matching something for Evan. Believe me, I thought about making Luke one too, but I thought the purple floral might make it a giant mistake. (see, I really do love you Son!)

 

 

The first gown I made a few weeks ago. It took forever to try and find a plain white gown, I finally had to order one off Amazon. Which was frustrating because I literally spent as much in shipping as I did the gown its self. I LOVE how they turned out though! The flowers on the beanie are actually detachable, when I made it I put an alligator clip on the back so it can later be put on a headband or clipped straight into their hair. I'm hoping that the beanie fits Elyse better than the beanie I'd gotten Evan for when she was in the hospital. Girlfriend was a huge baby and the hat was still 2 sizes too big.

 

Because it's me, I couldn't help but put a little sumpin sumpin on the back for my girls.

 

Another thing I made was a diaper clutch for my purse. I know I'll only use this for a few months until I switch back to the diaper bag, but it's handy now, and I can use it in a year or so after I'm done with the diaper bag. I didn't use a pattern or measurements or anything, and apparently I'll never learn.

 

 

 

Trying to get the wipes case to fit properly was a GIANT pain, and consequently will probably shorten the lifespan of the product, but it's done for now. If I make another one it could be a little shorter and a bit more wide, but I'm rolling with it. Plus it looks pretty in my purse amidst all the Vera Bradley.

 

If you look carefully there is a VB wristlet, iPad cover, and checkbook cover in there. Normally I've got a little VB cosmetic bag too, but it somehow got taken out and replaced by a little plastic cup?

 

 

I don't know. Life with kids I guess. But on the plus side, I drop my keys down into the cup and they don't get lost, so....I'd say that's winning.



2+ years later....

This girl has been sleeping the same way all of her life.  I don't think it's going to change any time soon.

 

 

 

 

I think one of the many fun aspects of parenting a child is watching their personality grow from the very beginning. You have this infant who has little unique habits and you wonder. Is this just a part of being a newborn? Is this a deep rooted part of who they are? Will they grow out of this trait? I never thought I'd wonder about someone else's sleeping habits the way that I do. Luke's thing was loud noises. Now granted, he still freaks out over public toilets, terrified that they are going to be loud, but he doesn't run screaming for the hills any more when I vacuum or run the garbage disposal. Maybe Evan will grow out of the habit of sleeping with her arms up. But for now. I love it enough to make little hearts come out of my eyes. It's very symbolic of her personality- this girl is going to take up as much space as she can, make sure everyone knows she's present, never be one to tuck into a corner.

 

VBS and Evan's weekend

Last week was VBS for my big boy. On Monday when I told him he was going, he was a little concerned about me dropping him off somewhere and not staying with him. This, coming from the boy who's gone to a baby sitter for the last two years, gone to preschool for the last two years, bible class for his whole life, and went to VBS last year. Sometimes I wonder at his thought process. I just laughed and told him there would be lots of people, all of his friends, and that I have never (nor would I ever) dropped him off at an empty building and driven away. Of course he had a blast. That first night he got to say the closing prayer in front of everyone- I'm talking over 200 people. What a proud Momma moment.

Tuesday morning he was a little shocked that he had to go back, but of course he loved it still. Tuesday was also the day I decided to head to Lowe's and pick up some of the items that Evan had broken around the house.

 

Yes, that is a toilet seat. I don't know how she managed it, but she did. Or at least Luke said it was her and not him. I'm more than willing to bet he's right, though. I swear I stood on the potty isle for 10 minutes trying to remember the shape of our toilets. Are they round? Are they elongated? This is something we use multiple times a day. Why was is so hard to imagine what it looked like? Finally I just picked one (as you can see, I picked elongated) knowing that which ever one I chose would be wrong. And yep. I got home and FYI we have round toilets.

 

Wednesday morning Evan decided to dress her self while I was putting on make up.

 

 

From this direction, the outfit wasn't too bad. Colors actually semi-work, if you can get past the clash of prints. Unfortunately the shirt is on backwards and you can't see the elephant and turquoise bird. A quick change of shirts and she still got to wear "her" outfit. She also decided to practice another new skill in the car.

 

 

What a proud day for us both.

Thursday night we had to hustle dinner before taking Luke for his final VBS night (which started at 6:30), so I just took them to Schlotzsky's for a quick bite.

I totally had one of those Mom moments where I looked across the table and couldn't believe how lucky I was to have such perfect little loves in my life.  *gushed*

Thursday was "family" night, so I got to stay at VBS and watch them perform the program they'd practice.

Friday night Jacob's mom and stepdad came over. They'd met the kids before, but Mom had offered to have us all over for dinner. Yep. You read that right.

My family.

His family.

Meeting.

I had them come over to my house first, so they would know where I lived, could see Elyse's room, and (hopefully) feel more comfortable about coming over once she's here. Then we went over to Mom and Dad's for dinner. I wasn't nervous. I was just acutely aware of the potential for awkward. Jacob and I are not together. The only thing this whole group of people had in common was the baby in my belly. But you know what? It wasn't at all. Our parents all hit it off, and blessedly the kids were well behaved. Evan was the life of the party (what else would she be?) and Luke was charming in all of his 5 year old boy ways. Jacob and I left about 8:30 to take the kids home for bed/bath, and his parents even stayed a bit longer to visit. That's what I'd call success!

Saturday morning I took the kids swimming, and we stayed until Sister friend looked like this.

Saturday night was our friend Jack's 3rd birthday, and Sunday was church as usual. I'd tried to put this blue outfit on her last Sunday and had mistakenly started with the pants. She told me right away she didn't like it, so off they came and I put her in a dress. I pulled the same outfit out yesterday, and immediately she looked at it and said "No, I no wike dat one." But I changed her diaper and stuck the top on her anyway. She stood up, looked down and said "Ooooooo! I wook cute! I wuv it!"

Lord have mercy.

Then while I gathered our things to leave, she decided she didn't want to wear the bow I'd put in her hair and needed a headband on. The only newborn sized headband on her board. By the time we got to church, she looked like this.

The sass. It kills.

Then Sunday after noon I put her down for a nap in just a diaper. She emerged from nap like this.

Except under those jammies was no diaper, and her bed was wet. Boo. Never the less, I scurried us out the door so we could go to the water park with plenty of time before it closed at 6. I'd say that was a very good weekend indeed.

28 weeks

How Far Along: 28 weeks

Size of baby: size of an eggplant- about a 15 inches and 2 1/4 lbs

Total Weight Gain/Loss: The dr on Monday showed 127. I can't believe I'm already almost to 130.

 

Maternity Clothes: Yes. You've seen me, right?

Gender: Elyse Ann is on her way!
 

Movement: Lots. I'm pretty sure on Thursday she flipped over completely. There was some weird stuff going on in there. More hiccups, lots of jabs, and the visible movement continues to glide along.
     

Sleep: Not great. My hips have really started hurting, I have to wake up to roll over, and things are just getting plain uncomfortable.
   

What I miss: Not anything comes to mind right now!

 

Cravings: Nothing here really, either.

Symptoms: Mostly I just have one or two Braxton Hicks a day. The skin in my lower belly has felt tight and uncomfortable though. Hopefully that just means I need some more moisturizer!

 

Best Moment this week Realizing the third trimester starts now! I looked it up, there is much debate on when it starts- anywhere from 26 to 28 weeks, but now it's officially official. And Friday I'll have been pregnant for 200 days with only 80 more to go. WHOA. Not so great moment this week? Feeling like I look full term and knowing I still have 10-12 weeks left. I've seen overdue women not look as pregnant as I do 2/3's of the way through. :(

Getting ready for baby, part 2 (girls' room)

So, I'm finally posting pictures of the girls room. Mind you, we actually did all of this the week before we left for vacation. This has got to be a record hold out for me! It took 4 adults 8 hours to get the kid's rooms switched around. Luke had the bigger room, and whomever was going to have to share would be the ones to get the bigger room. Obviously. (Evan's original nursery is here)

When you come down the hall, this is what you see. Evan has done great in her big girl bed. Only in the last week have I really had trouble with her getting out of bed to play after I tuck her in. She's learned how to turn on the lamp on her night stand, so I frequently find her reading in her chair or playing with her babies.

 

The last couple of nights have been better though. Right before I leave her room we go through all the things she likes to play with and say "nooooo" to them. "Do you get out of bed and read stories?" "Noooooo." "Do you get out of bed and play stroller?" "Nooooooo." It seems to help to go over these VERY SPECIFIC rules.

 

I'm a teacher at heart. What can I say.

 

Coming into the room you see the crib on the same wall. Does the bedding look familiar? ;) I just finished Elyse's name this week, and I'm not sure how I want to actually attach it to the walls. I hand painted Luke's name for his nursery. I did Evan's name in fabric which was used throughout the room. Elyse's name is scrapbook paper decoupage to wooden letters. I like that each kid has a different technique and a totally different look. 

 

And this is the final corner. The dresser is the only thing that didn't get moved in this whole process. Mostly because I didn't want to deal with trying to hang that mirror somewhere else. And look at those ruffly curtains! So unlike me, but looks so good with everything else.

Closer up of Elyse's space. Yes for now I have Evan's birth stats pillow in her bed, but only until she's born. Swearsies. And it may not look like it in this picture, but there is actually enough space on either side of the crib for there to be room for her twin sized bed (eventually). Whoo hoo for no more furniture moving!

 

 

Yes, it's a lot of stuff in a little space. But that's what happens when you put two girls in one room. The only thing that makes me a little nervous is knowing how much stuff a little person accumulates, and at least Elyse's brother and sister were starting with a semi blank slate when they were born. The good thing about small spaces: it forces you to be thoughtful about what goes in, so you don't end up with a ton of useless junk!