being productive

 

So what have I been doing while my little boy is having the TIME OF HIS LIFE? Running errands (I’d forgotten how easy it is to run in stores by myself!), cleaning, load of laundry #6, got my flu shot (and you should, too if you plan on holding baby Hollin anytime soon!), working on the nursery, and learning a few crafts.

Did I just say ‘crafts’? Me? I’m the least crafty person I know, but decided to give it a try. Here’s some pictures of the picture frame I made:

I started with a $1 wooden frame from Michaels. Found some cute scrapbook paper and paint at Hob Lob.                     And then added her name!                           Next up…blocks!                         Her name for the wall:  

Finally, some frames for the family to put Disney pics in:This last picture was taken last week. It just documents the other really important stuff I’ve been doing. You know, like growing a human.

He left me for a mouse.

Mickey Mouse, that is. Lucky little boy is spending the week at Disney World! I must admit – I’m jealous! I’ve never been to Disney, but at 34 weeks preggo, it was definitely not a practical option for me to go right now. So, instead, I’m trying to enjoy a child-free week! I’m relaxing, working on baby girl’s room, washing baby clothes, and running errands while Zane is dancing it up with Jessie!DeeDee flew up on Tuesday. The first words out of Zane’s mouth that morning were, “Hi Mama. DeeDee here?” Saying that they were excited to see each other is quite an understatement. They flew back to Arkansas on Thursday and Zane had lots of visitors. He was SO excited all the way to the airport. Giddy. Like he knew where he was about to go. Saturday was the big morning! He flew to Orlando with DeeDee, E, Lindsey, & Erik. He needed to read over the safety features first. Such a cautious flyer ;) They said when they first got to the hotel, he looked down off of the balcony and said, “I’m gonna have fun down there.” Matt could NOT stop laughing at that! Entering the park with Lindsey on Day 1. He quickly made another friend, too.          A few more pictures I’ve received today…                     Mesmerized by the parade. I know he is having so much fun! But it sure is quiet around here….

32 Weeks

 and 2 days.

Here’s the belly pic. She’s a growin’. Her ‘tiny little tap dancing’ on my hip bones now feels like she’s doing this yoga pose with her feet pushing my hip bones apart.But if her feet are pushing my hip bones apart….that would mean that her head was below the hips…Uh huh. That’s what it feels like. ‘Nuf said.

And when she finishes that pose, she moves on to this beauty:See that left foot in the air? It has no remorse for my right ribs…the same ribs that Zane had an affinity for. But at least they’re not numb yet.

Things that I miss: having more than one cup of coffee, sleeping through the night, taking a hot bath and having more than 50% of my body actually under the water, being able to bend over, wearing normal clothes, being able see/reach my legs to shave them. And this proves that you can find An.y.thing on the internet. The ‘Razor Reach’. Haven’t tried it, but I’m curious…. Things that are flat-out annoying: getting out of breath walking up the stairs (for that matter, sitting on the couch and feeling out of breath), getting up five times at night to pee, back pain, grunting every time I put on shoes or bend over to pick something up. And let’s face it, with a two & a-half year old, I’m constantly picking things up….including said two & a-half year old.

Things I’m craving: orange juice with lots of pulp and fruit punch gatorade. I eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch almost every day. It’s not so much a craving as it is that nothing else sounds good.

Things I fear: going into labor with no family here (what the heck would we do with Zane?), another baby that never sleeps, jumping back on board the Crazy Train, Zane’s world getting turned upside down again. I feel like I’m constantly telling him how much I love him and trying to explain what’s about to happen. I tell him that he will still be my favorite little boy, even when he has to share mommy with his sister, even when I can’t spend all my time with him. But how much does he understand? He just looks at me and says, “O-tay. Luj you, too, mama. You my besssss fran.”

Things I’m happy/excited about: having a healthy, uneventful pregnancy, getting the bedding in and finishing the nursery, looking at a closet full of pink stuff, getting a pedicure (it doesn’t take a lot to make me happy), meeting our little girl, going home in November, seeing what a great big brother Zane will be.

Things that make me laugh: Zane asking if Hollin will build a snowman with him and him bringing me a heating pad and saying, “You back hurt, mama?” Sweet boy. :)

Go Badgers & Woo Pig!

Rumor has it that it will soon get cold here. In fact…in extreme cases, it could be 100 degrees colder than it is right now. (As in 75 minus 100 equals –25.) I think that there should be an entirely different word for temperatures that low. ‘Cold’ just doesn’t seem to do it justice. I can think of a few words, but we’ll wait and see once I’ve actually experienced it.
Rumor also has it that our work/responsibilities around here will soon more than double. There’s a certain little girl due to make her arrival in about seven weeks or so.
That being said, when Matt was offered two tickets to the UW-Oregon State game, we weighed our options.
Cons: We didn’t have a baby-sitter, we didn’t have a ticket for Zane, and Matt was on call.
Pros: Matt rarely gets paged when he’s on call (knock on wood). We could hopefully find Z a ticket to get in to his first college football game & he could sit in our laps. It was a beautiful, mid-70’s, 11am game and only one child to keep up with (and buy a ticket for), so if we didn’t stay the whole game, it wouldn’t be a total waste, right? Right!We had great seats, with cushions and seat backs, right on the aisle. And God bless the person beside us who didn’t show up, so we actually had three seats! There were a few moments that could have potentially ruined the day. Matt got paged right at kick-off (luckily it was non-emergent). The second half of the first quarter sounded like, “Ane wanna go home. Ane not watch football AN.EEE.MORE. Ane really DOOO wanna go home.” Poor guy was really hot and tired. Enter….NAP! Right across our laps! The nap lasted until the beginning of the third quarter, and he was in a much better mood when he woke up. Aaaand, the M&M’s and Sprite didn’t hurt. :)We left right after the “Jump Around” at the beginning of the fourth quarter (a little scary because you can feel the whole stadium moving). We had to get home in time to change into our Arkansas shirts, put pork chops in the smoker, and get ready to call those Hogs! Zane sang the entire way down from the stadium…some song about us being up “weally weally high” and going to “Ane’s new home”.Here’s a picture of the back of his hat, just because it’s cute. I loved hearing him yell, “Go Badg-uhs!”  And when he said, “Woody say, ‘Go Pigs, too!’”

the big boy bed

 

It’s official. He’s in the big boy bed. And things are going surprisingly well!So our original plan was to keep Zane’s room exactly as it was in ‘Ane’s old house’, and that’s what we did at first. He was still doing so well in a crib (not climbing out) that I was afraid to rock the boat. We were going to keep Hollin in our room until after Christmas, get Z big boy furniture for his birthday (and by this time hopefully he would be used to baby sister being around), and then do the switch. But….somehow, once we moved to Wisconsin, we got in the habit of Zane sleeping in our bed. This was NEVER the case in Little Rock, unless he was sick and we wanted to keep an eye on him. I knew that this had to change before the baby came. And there’s really not room for her cradle in our room. And her room is right across the hall….so we jumped the gun. And here’s proof that he actually sleeps in there:Not to mention that I found this really cute madras quilt and stars sheets on sale at Pottery Barn Kids and just couldn’t wait to order them! (still need to hang curtains)The first night he woke up THREE times. He actually didn’t seem scared. The first time he wanted Buzz Lightyear. The second time he wanted his ‘haha’ (pacifier). While I was looking for it and covering him up, I placed Woody on the pillow beside him. His string accidentally got pulled and he started singing ‘Home on the Range’. Zane whispered, “Shhh, Woody! It’s night-night time!” I couldn’t hide my laughing! The third time….well, it was about 5:30am and I told Matt to just put him in our bed.He’s been in the big boy bed for six nights now. We’ve been laying down with him until he goes to sleep. The last five nights he has slept all night! And when he wakes up in the morning, he calls for me. When I go in, I either get him out or he says, “I get down now?”  So bittersweet that he’s not in a crib anymore.

him’s a giwaaaaffe!

 

An entertaining lunch with Zane today. First of all, he ate. A LOT! PB&J, cheese, grapes, baked Cheetos, Better Cheddars…I know, a lot of cheese products, too! The boy loves cheese, which I guess makes him a good ‘Wisconsonian’. ?Is that a word? He saw a package of Kool-Aid (that mysteriously showed up on our counter) and said, “I see that man. I wanna drink him!” He was, of course, referring to the Kool-Aid Man. So I made him some Kool-Aid and he really enjoyed it. I told him that I loved his beautiful eyes and so he started opening them really wide! Ha!He was very entertained with pulling his grapes off of the vine. There were four left and he was pretending that they were the ‘hawsey’s feet' (horsey). Then he saw that there was one really long part of the vine on one end. He said, “Him’s a giwaaaffe! Him’s got a weally long neck! Him a nice giwaaaffe…my besss fran!”He keeps me entertained. Love to hear his random thoughts….