What's New with Moses

I've been neglectful about writing about what is going on with my little man so here is an update on Moses:

- He has gotten really good at puzzles. I mean like REAL puzzles with only a picture to go by. I'm amazed at his skills.

- His verbal skills have gotten a lot better too. I asked him last week if he was going to help me with something and his reply was, "Eventually." Is he 2 or 22?

- He's so creative. He pretends a lot more than he ever has. He makes us things in his play kitchen. He loves to make coffee, pizza, cookies and sausage biscuits. He makes the noise for the microwave and everything!

- He has taken to chewing on his lovey Rocky. Let me tell you that thing STINKS after a night of him being slobbered over.

- He loves being a helper. He will clean up his own mess or help me with house work. He loves nothing more than sitting in a big pile of warm laundry looking for his socks.

- He has started singing. He knows all the words to "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" and almost all of "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star."

- He's mostly a shower boy now. It is SO much easier to bathe a toddler that way. Brett puts him the shower with him and he loves to draw shapes on the steamy shower glass.

- He is still a pretty good eater. I am so afraid all these boys are going to eat me out of house and home! I wish he'd eat more vegetables, but with some of the stories I hear I can't complain. He does have a sweet tooth but he knows that he has to eat his lunch or dinner before he gets anything "cookie" like.

- Before he goes to bed at night he begs to "snuggle one minute" over and over again until we finally have to put him in his bed.

- Even if we put him in his bed for sleep, he falls asleep on the floor in front of the door. Every night we have to put him back in his bed where he stays until the next morning.

- That boy can snore. Oh my goodness he puts his daddy to shame. This officially makes me the only person in my family (grandparents included) that does not snore.

- He is learning so much. Shapes are still his best and colors his worst. I actually gave him a color blind test I found online. He passed! We'll keep working.

- He loves to run all over the place. He'll even run in circles! He keeps us busy!

- He is such a creature of habit. He does things a certain way every time. If something is missing or different he can spot it in a heartbeat. Whether is is Brett's hat not on, photos I've switched on the mantle, or a napkin not underneath his plate he'll be the first to speak up about what is wrong.

I'm so proud of my big boy!

30 Weeks!

Oh my goodness this keeps going by faster (but not fast enough!). I can tell a definite drop in where Sutton has been sitting. He is much lower than where he has been. When I stand up is the worst. Usually means a bathroom trip is to follow!

I can feel Sutton stretching out all over my belly. He moves all the time especially at night. In the evening, I love to watch my stomach move with all his kicks and turns. It is still so amazing to know that he is in there and growing so fast! I really can't wait to just hold him in my arms.

I have noticed that I am having some inner thigh pains. I have scoliosis so things shift a lot more in my body. I have always been told that I will have to watch my weight because of this, but with pregnancy there is no choice! Hopefully things will shift again soon and I will have some relief.

The only other thing that I've noticed a change in is my hormones. I am taking things very personally these days! I am stressed out about things I can't control and that are going to happen AFTER the baby is born. How crazed am I?

I went to the doctor last week and I have gained 16lbs and my iron levels are not where they would like them to be, but much higher than they were. At this appointment I was 29 weeks but I measured at 32 weeks. I got really excited and asked if that meant I would actually deliver sooner or that they would move my due date. HA! No way, just means a big baby!

I put in my request for the doctor I wanted to deliver and I was told that they would schedule me on April 5 or shortly there after. They are suppose to call me very soon to set a firm date. I am SOOO ready to know when. There are a lot of schedules to rearrange! I also have to figure out what in the world I am going to do with Moses as well as a "birth plan." Of course in the past few days I have heard of a few people not making it to their scheduled c-sections with second children and my inner type A is FREAKING out.

As far as preparing for Sutton, I still have a lot to do. Clothes to buy, nursery to fix, and baby necessities to ready. Just about 9 more weeks to do it all!

Potato Head Master

28 Weeks

I'm feeling great this week! The nesting has really started. I have been cleaning out closets and getting rid of things around the house that we don't use/need. I've been trying to make this house "work" for us. This makes everyone who lives here very happy!

As far as the pregnancy goes, I'm feeling pretty good. I went to the doctor on Thursday and had my glucose test. I haven't heard anything so I'm feeling pretty good that I passed! I failed by one point with Moses. I really blame the Bojangles I ate 10 minutes before for that! I have gained 13 lbs and I feel pretty good about it! I know I really tend to pack on the weight my last trimester which they tell me is perfectly healthy especially since Moses was a big baby.

Dr. Gaines said everything looked great and Sutton's heartbeat was nice and strong. He said the contractions I've been noticing are normal and as long as they are not regular and not happening more than seven or eight times an hour I should be ok. I will start going every two weeks from here on out. The next visit I will put in my request for my c-section date! I'm so thankful I they allow me to choose my doctor. It looks like I will be working around Spring break schedules for their kids though! Keep your fingers crossed for us!

I can tell Sutton has made a drop a little bit lower. I do know he is pressing a lot more on my bladder! I have moved to that constant feeling of having to go to the bathroom, especially when I stand up. He is still as active as ever and I've noticed I can see him moving and not just feel it.

I know these next few weeks will fly by. January is almost over and February is a short month and then we'll be very close to meeting the newest member of our family. I am SO excited!

27 Weeks, Anniversary Contractions, and Cabin Fever

Hello third trimester!! We're in the home stretch! I've been mentioning to Brett that Sutton will be here before we know it. We have less than three months. He replies we have plenty of time. Then this weekend while watching college basketball, they mention that selection Sunday is less than 90 days away. He totally freaks out realizes that Sutton will be here right after. Seriously? I should have known to put it in sports terms for him! I think it's funny because with Moses we watched a lot of the Olympics in the hospital and apparently we'll be watching some basketball this time!

I can feel the weight gain this week! My nonmaternity stretch pants are filling out. And according to by belly button my little turkey is done! Moses thinks that it is super weird. He'll ask to see Baby Sutton and either pat my belly or push my belly button and run away laughing. That does wonders for my self esteem!

Everything else is pretty much the same. I'm still having the same cravings and tiredness and even if I have trouble getting comfortable sometimes I am sleeping pretty well and only having to get up once for a bathroom trip.

We ended up having a small one night getaway for our anniversary. We had dinner at PF Changs and stayed at the Renaissance at North Hills. Both were great choices! I usually love a good steak or somewhere downtown to eat, but when I can't eat soft cheese and have to get my steaks cooked nearly well done that limits my choices with those places! But dinner was great and we really enjoyed our hotel. How cool is this bathroom mirror. That is a TV INSIDE the mirror. We both thought that was amazing.

We watched the movie Unstoppable and went to bed. I had a bit of a hard time falling asleep not being at home. I awoke at 3:30am with a strange pain that would come and go. They started to feel like contractions and they would come and go every 10 mins. I started to get a little scared and didn't know what to do, so we decided to call my doctor's office. I really like all the doctors at the practice, but when I'm confused or a little freaked out there are about two or three I want to talk to and don't make me feel bad for asking silly questions. Of course, one I really would not have liked to talk to called me back. He gave me some suggestions of things to try and told me to call back and head to Rex Hospital if nothing changed. Luckily, some water, tylenol and deep breathing worked and I went back to bed. So much for a relaxing night!

That's pretty much it. We've had another blast of bad weather. Not much snow here but lots of ice. We had to drive from my parents house Monday morning. They had a ton of snow and I was a little scared until things cleared up once we got on I40. This means we're stuck here at home unable to go to school, run errands and generally get our wiggles out. Even getting the mail looks a little scary. With my grace I'd probably cartoon fall in the middle of the driveway. I don't want to spend my last few weeks on bed rest or with a broken leg or arm!

The Random Cell Phone Photos of December

I forgot to mention...

I wish I had better/more photos but apparently the rules for Disney are WAY more strict than Wolfpack football and they would not allow my SLR in. BOO.

We went to Disney on Ice! Because, you know, we didn't have a lot going on in December! Brett's mom had mentioned taking Moses and at the last minute we decided to go. We had a Saturday morning window available so we went to a Christmas breakfast party (by the way, a FANTASTIC idea) and headed to the RBC Center. I'm sure most parents were really trying to get close seats, and if Moses were a little bit older I would have done the same, but we some how ended up on the club level with the seats with a counter and TV that are very coveted for sporting events. It was PERFECT!

The show was very cute and Moses did ok with it. He did a pretty good job of paying attention but kind of lost it towards the end. He was way more pumped about his new spinning Buzz Lightyear. Disney does a great job with this show. Lots of music and dancing. Brett and I were very entertained by a little girl in the front row who stood up and danced every single time a song was played. She was hysterical.

Moses still asks about Buzz ice skating and will pretend to skate in the house. I'm guessing we might be going to Disney on Ice again next time!

4 Years of Marriage

Honeymoon in Tortola Jan 2007

This week, I was reading another blog that was talking about marriage being hard work. It's true! I usually spend this day on my blog reflecting on or wedding, but the real accomplishment on this day is our marriage. In the last four years, we've been through tremendous change, accomplishment, hardships, and triumphs. We've had to work very hard through all of it. I think so many women think that finding someone is the hard part, when in fact that's when the real work begins!

I am so fortunate to be married to someone with the same mindset that I have about important things. Our faith plays a huge part in our life and daily decisions especially in our relationship and our parenting. We do struggle to put our relationship first, especially with the demands of a toddler and our day to day chores. It's very hard to find time for just us with our closest family being 3 hours a way and babysitting rates skyrocketing! But more importantly, we really recognize when it is time for "us" and we do what we have to to make it happen.

I think that our biggest success as a married couple is recognizing when something isn't working and doing every thing we can to change it. I've always told Brett that if we don't fix the things that don't work now, that life will be a lot harder when those problems are still here and new ones arise. It helps tremendously that we can both work to make these changes. That's where loving each other makes it easier!

So, the wedding was a beautiful start. A party to send us off for our long term job and life together. So, on this anniversary, I think we should say here's to our marriage! I love you Brett!

26 Weeks

Shew! Last week flew by! Brett had all of last week off, which meant I got to sleep in! Sleeping in means 8:30, but I'll take it! Cooking and cleaning for Christmas and staying up late for company really took it out of me. Lucky for me, Brett and I are not New Years people so we stayed in and went to bed early just like we have the past couple of years.

I did not get the memo that my doctor's office was going to be closed last Friday, so I did not get my prescription called in for my nausea medicine. I was only one pill short so I was hoping that it wouldn't make too much of a difference. It wasn't that bad but I could absolutely tell a difference. I am really glad to be back on it.

Food cravings are really intensifying. I think I went about three weeks where I ate a hot ham and cheese sandwich nearly every day. I'm also still loving a bowl of cereal in the afternoons or at night. Also, some things just don't sound good. Luckily I'm really craving healthy foods.

I'm thinking the holiday has helped my weight gain. The belly is growing! No mistake that I am pregnant now. Sitting is still not a fun thing to do. It is much easier to stand or move around or lie down on my side.

Sutton is still kicking up a storm. As usual, he usually is very active when I am resting or before I go to bed at night. I hope this is not the case when he is born!