Nesting

People say that when you are pregnant you go through a "nesting" stage where you just want to clean and organize like crazy.  I didn't really go through much of that with Steven & haven't much during this pregnancy, either.  I do, however, love to get out all the baby clothes & see how cute they are ;)  I haven't really bought many girl clothes yet but my sisters & sister-in-law have been awesome & lent me a ton of their girl stuff.  After going through all of that stuff I found that I really don't have to buy much (yay!).  I did know, however, that we would need some place to put all these clothes because Steven's dresser is pretty small.  Cue IKEA!  I got the idea of these hanging shelves from my brother and sister-in-law.  We got these shelves a few weeks ago & I felt SO PROUD when I hung them & organized all the newborn clothes I have.  I was also very excited that it cost me a grand total of $7 for essentially a new dresser.  I love a good deal :) 

Ticker

I was just reading the info my little pregnancy ticker gives you & noticed that it says my baby is already 5 1/2 pounds.  That seems a little big to me if what they say is true about your baby gaining .25 - .5 lbs a week during the last 4-6 weeks.  Steven only weighed 6 lbs 3 oz when he was born & was only a few days early.  If that little ticker is correct, does that mean my baby will weigh roughly 8 1/2 lbs??!  I don't think I want to try to push a baby that size out...

18 Months

I can't believe that my little boy is already a year and a half old!!  I look at him walking around and think he's so little but then I remember how little he really was when he was born.  Just wait a month or two...he's going to look like a giant compared to his new baby sister!

Some highlights:

-Weight: 20.4 lbs (still "skinny" but I swear he's got fat on those bones!  But what do you expect?  Josh & I are not exactly giant people ourselves)

-Height: 31 inches

-He's got his front four teeth (top and bottom), his first molars, and both eye teeth (front & bottom). 

-He can say quite a few words now (yay!).  Some are pretty clear (ball...hi...ear...) & some probably only we understand...but that's the case with all parents of children age, right?  For some reason he uses "thank you" for both "thank you" & "please" which is a little weird...but I'd rather him be getting the concept than maybe the actual words!

-He loves his baby niece, Emily, & always wants to give her hugs & kisses when he's around her.  I'm hoping that bodes well for his little sister but maybe he'll feel differently when there's a stranger around all the time taking up mommy & daddy's attention ;)

Here are some pretty recent pictures.  Hope you enjoy!

Building with daddy

He was very excited about his new blocks.  He now actually has some patience to actually build something before knocking it down ;)

Yes, we make him do our bidding ;)  He actually started doing this on his own after he saw us using this AMAZING head scratcher/massager

Combing his hair in the bath

His first hair cut at home.  He did much better this time around

The finished product.  A little shorter than I had anticipated but I still like it! :)

How can you not love this face?? ;)

The banana looks pretty huge compared to Steven...

Steven decided that laying under the table and chair sounded like the best thing to do at that moment...

Steven has started "swimming" in the tub...all his idea :)

Pregnancy Update

Well, it's been a while since I've written anything about this pregnancy (well...it's been a while since I've written anything...) so I thought I'd put a little update on here.  Right now I'm almost 34 weeks (8 1/2 months) along.  (How lame is it that if you go all the way to 40 weeks you're actually pregnant for 9 and a HALF months??  And what if you go over??  Only a pregnant woman would be indignant about that...)  Anyway!  Things are going pretty darn great.  My first pregnancy was pretty easy & this one has definitely followed a similar path.  There definitely have been some differences & at times this pregnancy has definitely been more difficult.  I can't really complain because compared to those women who have morning sickness the entire time, I get off way easy.  One major difference: this girl likes to MOVE!  She kicks & punches & does who knows what else in there the majority of the day.  When I lay down to go to sleep, she just wants to do somersaults. 

I'm strongly of the opinion that 9 months is too long & am, not surprisingly, very anxious to welcome this little girl into the world.  Now, logically, I know that once she gets here my life will be turned upside down & everything will be different.  I am going to be way tired all the time for the first several months & it will definitely be hard.  But what can I say?  I'm sick of waiting. 

I think that every woman hopes that their baby will arrive early (not too early, of course), and I am of the same mind.  I was hoping that I would follow in the footsteps of my mother...and sisters...and even sister-in-law (although we're not related through blood) & have my kids a week or two early.  No such luck with Steven so I'm not expecting much better this time.  Of course, every time I have any sort of Braxton Hicks contraction or pelvic pressure, a part of my brain thinks, "Oh, maybe that means she'll come a little early!".  (The things we tell ourselves...)  So then the other option besides waiting for nature to take its course presents itself: Induction of labor.  Personally, I am not a real big fan of it if it's done for convience sake.  Obviously, if there's something wrong or you're overdue, that's different.  I definitely understand wanting to do just about anything to get the baby out but I am also a big proponent of letting the baby choose it's own birthday.  My doctor would let me induce up to a week early this time around if he considered my body ready.    I am not going to do that but the few days after my due date comes and goes is a slightly different story.  Two of my sisters will be in town the weekend after my due date for something unrelated.  Part of my brain is thinking I don't want to induce unless I'm a week - 2 weeks late.  The other part of my brain is thinking it would be really lame to have so much family around (my mom & brother who don't live here will also be in town) but just have the baby the day after they leave.  Maybe sillly thinking but that's just where my brain's going.  Josh says I shouldn't worry about it because I have plenty of time to figure it out.  That's very true; unfortunately I tend to obsess a little about things until I decide on a course of action.  Who knows, though?  The condundrum of to induce or not to induce maybe a completely moot point.  I may have her 2 weeks early & not have to worry about anything else ;)  Anyway, sorry about the really long post & the babbling!  The following are a few recent pictures.

Not that recent, actually...me at 30 weeks. 

4-D picture of the little girl.  No, that's not a crinkle-cut fry in front of her face, it's the umbilical cord ;)

It may look like a skeleton to you, but it's really a baby!  If you look closely, it looks like she has HUGE lips :)

Recent Creations

Here are some recent things I've made...I feel so crafty ;)

The start of a diaper cake I made for my sister-in-law's baby shower.

The finished diaper cake.  Not too shabby, if I do say so myself ;)

My new favorite bread recipe.  It's an imitation of Macaroni Grill bread.  Not quite as good but still yummy

Dinner I made for Josh's birthday.  Mushroom risotto and steak marsala (the mushrooms and sauce are covering the steak)

Chocolate souffle.  Can't go wrong with that!

Even better with whipped cream!

Tiramisu (yum-mee!)

Recent Events Recap

I haven't blogged in quite a while so I thought I'd just do a quick recap of recent events. 

On December 14 my brother, Dave, & his wife had their second child.  They had a little girl they named Emily Lynae (Hey, that's MY middle name! ;) )  This picture was taken this past weekend...she'll be a month old tomorrow.

This was a few days after they brought Emily home.  Josh & I brought dinner over & this is Steven checking out his new cousin.  I was interested to see how he acted around her because he's not around new babies very often.  He was pretty dang good around her...He just thought it would be fun to stick his finger in her mouth ;)

Steven is learning to give Josh back massages already! ;)

Steven insisted on having this over his head.  He likes not being able to see apparently...

This was Christmas morning.  We put a bunch of clementines in his stocking because he loves those things.  He was more interested in eating those than opening his presents

Josh trying on the new shirt I got him.  What a hottie ;)

Me trying to reach my present from Josh

The beautiful earrings that were on top of the tree :)

Me trying on my new earrings.

Steven in this storage box I bought.  He was pretty funny in there :)

Steven in his froggy robe

I think Steven looks like a little boy in this picture (rather than a baby)

Nice pose!

Steven with the rocking horse Josh's parents gave him.  He really likes it!

Steven really likes being a "big boy" & sitting up at the bar

An Ode to my Husband

The other day I came home from work and this is what I saw!  It may not look like much to you, but to me it was AMAZING!  Josh had taken it upon himself (without me asking or suggesting, even!) to clean the house.  And I do mean clean, not just putting a few things away.  That bar had not been free of stuff for quite a while.  He also fixed our dresser that had been broken for over 2 years.  I was in happy disbelief when I saw everything he had done!  I will be the first to admit that I am not a very good housewife & it's definitely something I need to work on.  Having such a wonderful husband makes me want to be even better.  I just wanted to put this on here to say just how great my husband is & how grateful I am to have him!  Love you babe! :)